I think the biggest problem with being a writer is that rejection comes via mail. When I open the mailbox, I dread seeing the letters addressed in my handwriting. It can only mean one thing: rejection letter. I always open the letter with the utmost hope, but it's always the same.

Today, I got a personalized rejection letter. The editor scrawled on the form letter, "The crossdressers on the staff voted for it, but..." The elipses were there; I didn't add them to leave something out. Hey, at least it means they read my story. I was starting to wonder of editors just tossed the stories away if they'd never heard of the writer and stuffed SASEs with form letters.

Yeah, I wrote a story about a crossdresser, but it seems to me that nobody wants to publish it. That's too bad because I think it's a damn good story. Every time I get a rejection letter, I have to send another submission. I want to keep a steady number of letters in the stream. Now, I've got 4 more submissions to write.
- posted by Lynn @ 6:02 PM

 
Today, I sat ouside on the patio all afternoon with my laptop and cats and worked on my book. It was a beautiful day! Mid-sixties and sunny. :) Could I ask for more? I've almost finished writing chapter 9, so I guess that means that I am progressing nicely on my book. The cats entertained themselves by chasing bugs and watching a ground squirrel that lives in the garden.

Soon, I'll need to start my seeds so that I can plant them at the end of May. I've decided to put some container gardens on my patio this year. So far, I'll be planting sweet pea and green beans. I also plan to plant purple prairie coneflowers and astors, but I'll buy those in plant form. Of course, I'll put my cactus plants outside come late May. I thought one of my cactuses was sick, but then it sprouted a little bud. It's going to bloom! I think I need to learn how to read my plants better. A similar thing happend last year with my aloe plants. I thought they were dying, and then they sprouted about 10 baby aloe plants a piece. The aloes will probably out-grow their pots again this summer.
- posted by Lynn @ 6:11 PM

 
eBay item 2448756945 (Ends 21-Dec-03 18:21:29 GMT ) - Honda CB500T rolling chassis - horrible

Wow, this is one funny auction, and what I can't believe is that it's already getting bid on! This is a bike that does not work had has been urinated on by a cat. I don't think you could pay me to even touch something that disgusting, let alone buy it.

What I find particularly amusing is the rant about dumb eBay users. As an eBay seller, I've run into several users who would give a nail a run for its money in terms of intelligence. Actually, this is the reason that I have stopped shipping internationally. Some people just don't get it. If I am located in Madison, Wisconsin in the United States, it is going to be expensive to ship to any other country, particularly those that require the crossing of an ocean. One gentleman even asked me if I could ship ground to a European country. I'm not really sure how that would work, given that the Atlantic Ocean prevents this...
- posted by Lynn @ 10:10 AM

 
.::WKRG.com :: - "Hole Punch" Cloud Photos ::

These are some Hole Punch clouds seen yesterday. WKRG TV station for Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL. Hole Punch clouds are caused by the jet stream punching a hole into a deck of cirrocumulus (mixture of 'super cooled' water droplets and ice crystals) clouds. The ice crystals in the get pushed into the super cooled (liquid) cloud layer. When this occurs, the ice crystals grow (at the expense of the liquid droplets). Therefore, a hole opened in the deck of cirrocumulus. Cool huh?

I got my information on what Hole Punch clouds are from:
http://www.floridatoday.com/news/columnists/larimer/111200larimer.htm

- posted by Lynn @ 4:02 PM

 
House issues

One of the biggest challenges I face in owning a house is the ever-persistant question of where to put stuff. I think I have a lot of stuff and not so much space, 990 square feet to be exact. The most challenging room for me has been the office. Since I am leaving my job at the end of next week to pursue novel writing and part time technical writing, I really want to have the office ready. I need it to be a nice space for me to work. Unfortunately, it is not, given that it might be better suited to a dark room or an oversized closet.

When we moved into the house, we realized that the previous owner had used the second closet in the office for a desk space. She had placed a large board across supports made of 2x4s in the closet. She could then close the doors on her computer and general office clutter. I figured I could use the same idea for my desk space, but it really feels like I am working in a closet. Not only is it dark and cramped, but there are no drawers to put my stuff. So, pens, pencils, sharpies, and paper all spread their wings across my desk. To even use my computer, I must dig up the mouse. After running out of desk space there, I pulled up another desk and placed it at a right angle to this closet desk. I still did not have enough space to put things like my printer, so I built a desk hutch for the secondary desk. As it turns out, I have more surface area for my printer, but I've enhanced a feature I can't stand. Now my desk area seems even more like a closet!

I was feeling pretty frustrated about the whole mess, and I vented over the phone to my friend about the horrors of this office. Well, horrors might be an exaggeration; it is only an office. Craig overheard my conversation, and so we sat down and discussed this messy room and how to fix it. We decided that the most important thing is to get me out of the closet and into a nice real desk. I insisted that it have drawers. We are then going to use the closet for storage of my crafty projects. Lately, I've been really into scrapbooking and stamping, but my project containers just sit in the livingroom now. Not exactly attractive! The office is tiny (10x10) and has 4 bookshelves in it, so we are going to move those into a different room. Mostly, we read in the bedroom, so I think we'll put the bookshelves in there. I'm really excited to get a new desk!

- posted by Lynn @ 3:56 PM