So. I wrote a poem on my lunch hour. I didn't totally neglect my book, but what I wrote was more of an outline of the rest of the chapter than actual story. And then I gave it up and wrote the poem, because I was feeling particularly inspired, and I refuse to feel guilty about it because it's been years since I've felt inspired to write any kind of poetry and it felt good to exercise those muscles again. And no, you can't see it, because it's private, dammit. Plus it's still rough and needs some tweaking.

Linky-loo: Censoround: Book challenges and free speech news, via Bookslut Blog.

***

Yesterday was apparently the day for bad traffic slowing me down. On the way home last night I got held up by stupid-ass Oklahoma drivers who a) never figured out the most efficient way to handle merging traffic and b) deem it necessary to slow down to 10 mph for an accident on the other side of the oncoming lanes that isn't even on the road and isn't even that interesting to gawk at. So getting home took me about thirty minutes longer than it should have, and I was so tired that I almost nodded off at the wheel a couple of times, which has never happened to me before and was kinda scary.

Part of the reason I was so tired was because I didn't get a lunch break, due to the gal who covers our lunches calling in sick. Which I'm not really complaining about, because if it's a choice between an extra hour of overtime and being exposed to her sick germs, I'll take the overtime. But it meant that I got no writing done yesterday, which was more than a little frustrating. I should be able to make up for it today, though. *crosses fingers*

Y'know, I start to think that I don't really have much of a temper. But then I get stuck behind some yokel going 35 mph on a 2 lane road and I realize that if my car came equipped with laser canons, I'd totally use 'em.

Sooo sleepy. I didn’t sleep well last night—took me a while to settle down enough to fall asleep, and then I woke up for no good reason around 1 and took a while to doze back off. But I still got myself up at 4:30, and I wrote about a page. I should be able to do at least that much again on my lunch hour, too. Except, it’s a fight scene, and those are hard. I might just pull my standard fic draft cheat and write “Fighty fighting” in brackets and move on to the plot stuff and save the action for later. Sounds like a plan.

But in the mean time, I’m all draggy, and people are coming into my bullpen and saying stuff to me and I’m all, “wha?” and callers are calling and I keep forgetting my standard greeting/sorry he’s not in yet speeches, and when I do remember what to say my voice is all weak-sounding. And I’ve already had two cups of coffee plus a Vivarin, so I’m thinking I ought to lay off the caffeine for a while. I have a box of ginseng green tea stashed in the desk. Maybe that’ll do the trick. Here’s hopin’.

Heya! Haven't updated in a while, as, seeing as how this is here to chronicle my novel progress and all, there hasn't been anything worth updating about. But I managed almost three pages of a new chapter today--what will probably be Chapter 17, or close to it-- which is more than I've managed to write on it in the last two weeks, so I thought I'd post to pat myself on the back.

Just a drive-by update, because there's not a whole lot to update on. Today has been a loverly day so far, for a Monday. I finished drafting a chapter (15, I think?) that I've been poking at for weeks, so I'm thrilled about that. I'm out of money until my next paycheck, so for lunch I took my PB & (strawberry) J sandwich across the street to the garden courtyard of my old office building and ate by the fountain, and it, too, was loverly. If you're interested in a rundown of my weekend, check out my lj if you haven't already. And I think my computer time is about to run out so I'll leave you with that. Cheers!

Things are going well. And that makes for boring blog fodder. So here be a random list o' thirteen:

- I wore my red Chinatown mary janes today. These shoes make me happy.

- also wore my Chinatown dragon earrings. They make me feel a wee sexy.

- Got complimented on my hair, which I thought looked like ass today, and I'm pretty sure it was a sincere compliment, and that adds to the sexy feeling.

- I'm hungry. But I'll get to remedy that in another hour or so. Not sure yet where or with what.

- My nephew's band has a new web site, and it's much nicer than the crappy one I made for them back when. And now I can stalk them and find out when and where they're playing and actually go to some of the shows that Stacie always neglects to tell me about.

- Aww, Hanson is nominated for Artist of the Year at a local music awards show. I don't know why I felt the need to mention that. Especially since my nephew's band got snubbed. Bastards. The awards, that is, not Hanson. Although I think those Hanson boys have gotten snubby before, too.

- I might get a call from a cute boy tonight. Assuming I didn't piss him off in the last e-mail I sent him. But I'm all giddy with anticipation.

- Sidebar: must tape Joan of Arcadia so I don't miss any of it while I'm on the phone.

- I'm finally starting to beleive the rumors that I'm not an ugly duckling anymore.

- Tomorrow Tess and I (and my mom and her sister) are going to see the touring production of Chicago. Last time it was here it had Sandy Duncan headlining as Roxy. I have no idea who the female leads are this time. But Gregory Harrison is, er, whassisname, the lawyer guy. Should be fun.

- After that and dinner I think Tess and I are going to part ways with my mum and auntie and go see Team America. Whoo!

- I'm actually pretty disappointed with this season's Broadway tour lineup. The only show coming here that I haven't seen before that I can bring myself to care about is 42nd Street. I'll see them all, though, because woo, season tickets, which I have to keep getting because the year I decide to let them go will be the year that they'll announce that something completely fabulous that I've been dying to see is on the way and I'll have given up my guaranteed good seats. But that's okay, because even when the shows suck it's always a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

- I'm answering the phones some here at work, but I still don't have the switchboard down enough to be entrusted with it sans supervision. I'll be glad when the day comes when I've sufficiently got the hang of it and I don't have to ask questions every five minutes and I can actually feel useful around here.

Everyone seems to be excited about somebody's red socks today. I don't get it.

But seriously. I can't even force myself to care about sports. I love a good underdog story as much as the next person, but there's a distinct pattern today of people asking me, "Did you watch the game last night?" to which I reply, "Nope," at which point they go on to describe it as my eyes glaze over and I start mentally going over my To Do list. I just. Don't. Care.

I do care about politics, as far as deciding who I'm going to vote for, which I still haven't done. I don't discuss them much, mainly because most of my online friends and acquaintances are much more liberal than I am and they can get scarily hostile and I don't care enough to engage in lengthy, heated debates. But I'm starting to worry that I haven't made up my mind yet. I probably won't, either, until I'm standing in the booth on November 2. Politically, I'd describe myself as moderate with conservative leanings; but I also don't believe that it's the government's place to legislate personal morality. So I don't let myself get swayed by the moral issues. I'm not as informed about the war as I should be, either. These days I get most of my news from The Daily Show and my LiveJournal flist, both of which are pretty slanted. So my main concern that I'll probably base my vote on is the economy, and I just don't think I can bring myself to vote for a president under whom jobs have declined and the national deficit has increased. Problem is, I'm not sure I believe that Kerry can dig us out of this hole we're in. And like most good moderates, I can see the good and the bad in both sides of every issue, and in both of the major party candidates. So, yes. I'm still undecided. And really tempted to just stay in bed with my head buried under the covers on election day. I'm not sure I can handle the responsibility.

And here endeth my political post for this half of the decade.

This building has an onsite chiropractor. Score! Bit pricey, though, so I won't be going until after my probation is up and I can sign up for insurance. My back's been doing better lately, though, so no big. The yoga seems to be helping.

So here's the lowdown, as far as I understand it so far: I have a 90 day probation period in which I'm still working through the temp agency, and when that's up I'll switch over to the company payroll, at which time my pay will go up a dollar an hour and I'll be eligible for benefits. Which is cool with me right now because as long as I'm with the temp agency I'll get paid weekly. I don't know yet what the payday schedule will be after that. But until I'm caught up on everything and have a chance to pad my savings account and whatall, a weekly check is a very good thing. I also still owe people money for various event tickets they were kind enough to get for me, and that's my number one priority right now. Except, I'm so desperate for office-appropriate clothing that I think I'm going to go ahead and go shopping with this week's check. It's from last week's part time hours, so it won't be big enough to cover my debts, anyway.

I'm feeling good about the writing, too. Despite what I said elsewhere about holding off on novel work until I get acclimated, I'm actually managing to get quite a bit done on my lunch hour. Rewrites are still on hold until I get my own login and e-mail account set up, though, and know the phones well enough that they'll leave me by myself long enough to get anything done. For now I only get to be on the computer when the other gals go to lunch. But eventually I'll be on my own pretty much all day, and then I should have ample opportunity to work on my revisions. Yay!

Now if I can just figure out how I'm going to work in the working out...

I got the job!