ozarque

Wednesday; "Gone With The Wind"...

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:23:30 GMT

I just want to mention something here, in case you're not already aware of it. I want to mention the extraordinary craftsmanship that's demonstrated by Margaret Mitchell in Gone With The Wind</>. The density of it, and the way everything in it is woven together; the immediacy of it. It's truly remarkable, and I wish I could write that way. It's exactly what I want for Alien Tongues. Mitchell puts you right in the middle of her fictional universe, and is able to keep you there. I know the book is considered a pot-boiler, but I most sincerely wish I could write a post-boiler like that.

Saturday; the new novel...

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:24:56 GMT

I have to re-write the new novel, in longhand, from start to finish -- which will take a while. It does have to be done in longhand, and there's no way to speed that up. I need to provide a great deal more information for the readers about the Brethandi culture and surroundings.

Monday; the new novel...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:09:52 GMT

I'm pleased to report that the writer's block has come to an end. Apparently, all it took was a blogpost to the Magic Live Journal, and I was unstuck. I'm not satisfied with what I wrote yesterday -- I'm never satisfied with it, as you know -- but it's a real improvement over a case of writer's block. I'm grateful.

Wednesday; the new novel...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:17:15 GMT

Everything has been going very well with the new novel [Alien Tongues] -- until now. But now I've hit an absolutely implacable Writer's Block. What's happened is that Briar, my linguist protagonist, has fallen in love with one of the Brethandis, and for some reason that's made me totally stuck. I can't figure out why, frankly. I'm used to writing about linguists and linguistics; I'm used to writing about nonhumanoid ETs. I can't figure out what the problem is. But I'm really stuck. I can't even manage to write the first sentence.

Monday; the new novel...

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:58:43 GMT

The new novel is going well. I'm writing it all in longhand right now, hoping that will mean the results are better because it slows me down so much.

I think that the series of catastrophes that fell on me in 2009 have left a lasting trauma that means it may be a long time before I'm able to work as quickly as I used to. I'm just not as strong as I used to be, and I suspect that it may take me a long time to recover from the damage. I don't mean to whine, but I do want to be clear about this. And having severe diverticulitis isn't helping any; it's made me housebound.

Monday; weather troubles...

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:14:26 GMT

The weather here has been awful, and last week -- to escape the predicted power outages -- we [George and I and Sheba] drove south to Fort Smith and spent several days in a very nice Mariott Courtyard hotel, with excellent food and a staff that spoiled us rotten. We had of course not packed many things we needed, including George's laptop, but that was predictable. After we got back we learned that the Holiday Inn, only a few blocks from us, has backup power and takes pets, which will be a lot easier than driving all the way to Fort Smith, but we were very glad to be there while we were there.

They're predicting another round of the same -- another ice storm -- in the next few days, and we'll be pleased to have the Holiday Inn to go to.

I'm dreading the thunderstorm season that's just ahead of us, since this will be the first time I've ever had to go through thunderstorms above ground. I'll miss our underground house. It would be nice to think that the storms won't be bad, but I'm afraid they will be; our weather now, in this time of Climate Change, is pretty uniformly wicked. It's going to be hard for me, I'm afraid. But George assures me that the way our apartment is structured means it would be a good place to be if we have tornadoes, which is reassuring.

Friday; thank you one and all...

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:59:15 GMT

Many thanks for all the help. I think I can handle it now.

Thursday; computer troubles...

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:46:43 GMT

One of the things that happened when we moved was the discovery that there was no way my antique Macintosh could be made to work in our new apartment. Which means that I now have an iMac with many bells and whistles. That's good -- except when it gets in the way of getting my work done.

I've always written everything in MacWrite Pro and then used a utility program to translate the end result into a format my publishers would be satisfied with. I loved MacWrite Pro; I had it on automatic. Now, to my dismay, I'm stuck with writing in Word, and in spite of a stack of books alleged to explain how that's done, I am constantly at a loss. I don't know how to do headers or footers, I don't know how to make the cursed program paginate, I don't know how to italicize or underline ... I'm pretty helpless. And when I turn to the books that are supposed to be so encyclopedic, they don't tell me one useful thing.

This is seriously interfering with getting my new novel written, which makes it nontrivial. I can't afford the time I'm losing.

Any suggestions?

Wednesday; eldering...

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:35:47 GMT

Twenty years ago, my husband George was your prototypical angry adult male homo sapiens. On a hair trigger at all times, ready to fight at the drop of a syllable. I dreaded his eldering, because I was sure he was only going to get angrier as the years went by.

Instead, he Mellowed. And today he is the kindest and most patient and gracious person I know. Which just goes to show that sometimes things don't turn out the way you think they're going to; sometimes they turn out far better than you think they're going to.

I never would have believed it, if somebody had come to me and predicted that particular change.

Thursday; elderly skin...

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:46:41 GMT

You may remember that back in 2010 [For me, The Year From Hell] I was doing a lot of whining in this journal about the way the endless series of catastrophes I had to deal with that year was destroying my face. I was really upset about it, because when I looked in the mirror what I saw struck me as total devastation.

I just wanted to let you know that all that devastation has now gone away, and when I look in the mirror I see my normal [former] self again. I'm passing this information along because I didn't think it was possible for that kind of damage to undo itself, and I'm very glad to be wrong about that. It's such good news: that deep wrinkles and lines will reverse themselves over time.

The only substances I put on the skin of my face are Dial Bath Soap (the only soap I've ever used that doesn't cause a rash of tiny blisters) and witch hazel.

Sunday; eldering....

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:45:44 GMT

One thing you can be absolutely certain of, as you become an elder, is that you will have Bathroom Troubles. The older you get, the more of them you will have. They come in two varieties: you can't get to the bathroom as quickly as you need to; once you get there, it takes you longer to accomplish things than it used to take.

You need to plan for this. Plan on being kind and courteous and gracious. Plan on having more than one bathroom in your house when you get old, or expect to need elaborate routines for "playing through." George and I lived thirty years in a house with only one bathroom, and it's a miracle that our marriage survived that test. He has been so extraordinarily good to me about all this, and I know it's been a trial for him. But it's going to happen, and you need to plan.

It would be wonderful if Bathroom Troubles happened only when you were at home. Don't count on that. Expect them to happen in public. It would be wonderful if there were simple measures you could take for dealing with them -- there aren't.

Forewarned is forearmed.

I'm retiring,,,

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:17:45 GMT

I just want to let everybody know that I'm retiring ... which means no more newsletters. It doesn't mean no more blogging here at LiveJournal, but it does mean no more newsletters. Everybody who has sent me renewal money will get a refund as soon as they contact me with a snailmail address. I've been writing newsletters for so many years that I suddenly realized that I just can't face it any longer.

Old, old, old....

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:36:26 GMT

I just wanted to let you know that my new e-mail address is ocls at cox.net, in case you need to contact me.

Sunday...

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:17:36 GMT

Many thanks for all the good wishes!

Saturday...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:23:23 GMT

We're moved, finally. It almost destroyed us both, but we've made it to the light at the end of the tunnel stage.

Sorry for the lengthy silence. I've had an awful time getting LiveJournal to let me do anything.

Monday; Christmas links...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:14:52 GMT

Saturday...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:36:01 GMT

Many thanks for all the good wishes!

Friday... News!

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:14:01 GMT

Much news here....

We have sold our property and rented an apartment in Springdale. Now, all that remains is to get rid of thirty years of clutter!

Poem For The Winter Holidays, 2010

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:39:13 GMT

Poem For The Winter Holidays

There were shepherds in the fields, watching over their flocks by night.
And a bit of snow was there, blinding white.

Inside the stable, the Baby slept.
Inside the stable, a mousebabe crept.

Over the stable, a star glowed gold.
That star had long, long been foretold.

Peace on earth eludes us still, and always will
till we learn to turn the other cheek and love the meek.

Monday; _Alien Tongues_...

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:37:54 GMT

This new novel has taken a strange turn, and is evolving into a book that I never expected it to become. I'm very surprised by this development, especially since I had a complete outline. The book is escaping from the outline.

Monday; the new novel...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:37:16 GMT

The novel I'm writing now -- _Alien Tongues_ -- is going along at a glacial pace. I'm not sure why ... maybe it's just that like everything else I do now, I'm no longer able to work as quickly as I could in the past. On the other hand, maybe I'm just writing more carefully than I have in the past, since I don't have a deadline to meet. I dunno... I do know that I'd rather it went more quickly.

Monday; deja vu...

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:34:57 GMT

Something nobody warned me about as a phenomenon of old age ... the deja vu problem. I see a fleck of dust and am convinced that I've already seen that exact same fleck at least a dozen times before. I see a tiny gnat crawling somewhere, and am convinced that I've already seen that exact same gnat at least a dozen times before.

I understand this, logically. I've lived in this house for decades, and I've surely seen a fleck of dust in that exact same spot -- and a tiny gnat in that exact same spot -- scores of times, maybe hundreds. But it's weird all the same.

It's only in the things I do every single day that this happens; if I do something new, it doesn't happen.

Early warning....

Friday...

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:13:59 GMT

Well, glory hallelujah! The colonoscopy yesterday turned up none of the terrible things it might have -- just a severe case of hemorrhoids [indelicate, I know, but true] and worn spots on the colon that my doctor says will heal if I start eating enough roughage. Plus he had a good treatment plan for the hemorrhoids.

I was surprised, though, at how much it hurt. They had promised me it wouldn't hurt. My guess is that the anesthetist -- because of my bizarre medical history with all medications -- tried to keep the drugs to a minimum. I did a lot of unseemly non-Ozarker yelping. I wasn't conscious during all of that yelping, but I wasn't OUT either.

I had expected it to take me forever to come down from the sedation, but was surprised by that as well. I once went into the hospital for a trivial outpatient procedure and ending up having to stay three days, because they could not get me down off the high. I saw pyramids of golden buddahs; I saw fountains of roses; and I kept insisting that the nuns in their headdresses were seagulls flying through my room. I am for sure a very cheap drunk, but this time was brief.

The colonoscopy prep -- which is a Violent Purge & Fast -- was rough for an old lady; it dwindled me down to 89 pounds. But it's all over, and all is well. My thanks to all of you for your good wishes, good thoughts, and good prayers.

Wednesday...

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:00:36 GMT

Tomorrow I have to have a colonoscopy -- and I can't even begin to tell you how terrified I am. Please keep me in your thoughts, and [if you're a praying person], in your prayers.

Wednesday...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:21:57 GMT

Three very large cougar pawprints in our driveway this morning, right outside the front door...