Saturday, February 23, 2008

Working 9 til 5...I wish

And breathe.

A whirlwind of occurrences, that's the life I lead.  Well, only sometimes these days, anyway.

The week went something like this:

Monday - The Kid was still not very well having just parted company with a sicky, coldy bug but still managed to soldier on through his 8 month check up with The Health Visitor.  He smiled at all the right things, burped loudly followed by a bellow of giggles, frowned when The Health Visitor tickled him under the chin, bobbed up and down to imaginary music and clapped on demand, and then when he got bored he chewed his shoe and farted. I then dropped him off at nursery whilst I headed home to try and get some work done.  It's amazing when you are writing how quickly nursery/school pick up time comes round...6 pages written; 9 calls made; 7 emails responded to.

Tuesday - The Kid took a backwards step in his recovery.  All plans - blown out.  Spent day with ass hovering over sofa, wishing I could just sit down for two seconds without mopping up snot, puke or rocking back and forth...0 pages written; 0 calls made; 0 emails read let alone responded to.

Wednesday - The Kid made a fantastically remarkable recovery and had so much energy all day I bit the bullet and decided to take him to his swimming class.  After a hard hour in the gym I dashed home to make a few calls whilst my Mum was still enthralled with her Grandson.  Perfick...0 pages written; 4 calls made; all emails read; 1 child knackered after a hard swim.

Thursday - first of all, thanks must go to the most courteous Mark for organising another little Blogette/Facebook get-together.  Yet again, a  very enjoyable afternoon which - horror of horrors - turned into an early evening minus child for me.  My system was so shocked by the lack of The Kid's bathtime "splash-splash", the fight to get him into his sleep suit afterwards and then the gentle prodding to keep him awake for his bottle, that I felt the need to consume more than my original 'just the one'...3 new chapters outlined; 5 calls made; 2 meetings attended; 1 social gathering attended; email read & responded to; 1 very odd journey home having laughed out [very] loud at my book on many occasions and then realising I wasn't the only person in the carriage. :0)

Friday - The Kid's music class and this week he emerged as star pupil due to his innate ability to 'bop' like a home boy whilst clapping furiously and, for the most part, totally in time to the music.  He was so immersed in the class that he only twice realised I was sitting beside him on the floor.  If I'd only thought to take MacBook with me I could have done a bit of writing. The only foot stomping occurred when the bubbles stopped and apparently the teacher felt so awful looking at his big, sad eyes, she carried on with the bubbles for a while longer, just for him.  I fear a future actor and/or muso in the making.  Either that or a Dictator...3 pages written (somehow); 0 calls made; all email read; 1 very proud mum.


Saturday - Amidst all the very tedious household stuff that has to be undertaken every weekend, I noted that Zone Horror have "Cut! The 2008 Horror Short Film Competition" running.  This is sponsored by C4's Fright Fest  and is worth up to £5k in winnings for a 2 minute film.  Closing date for entries is Friday 13th (!) June 2008 - so all you genre-istas out there - get going!  0 pages written; 2 chapters outlined; 0 calls made; 0 emails answered; 1 very domesticated-out mum.

Sunday - hasn't passed yet.  Anything could happen...may check emails.

And breathe.


Friday, February 08, 2008

There Be Snow

...in them there mountains.


I'm on a month-long countdown to skiing and just how excited am I?  Very.  It's been far too long - you know - the whole pregnancy and childbirth/early rearing got in the way.  I'll be back in the Alps with a vengeance though.  The area I am going to has loads of beautiful snow dumped on it over the last few days - at the time of writing, 245cm of the fluffy stuff to be exact.  Bring it on & long may it stay!


So what's new with you all out there?  I have started up another blog, 
D-Generation, which is a fiction outlet (like this isn't, at times?!), which will gradually grow when the whim takes me; I am cracking on with the book stuff; have a few more irons in the fire here and there, including the ongoing contract which still hasn't come to anything yet and am generally trying to get things moving along again.  I mean, The Kid is 8 months old soon.  Time for me to pull my finger out, right? ;)


Just don't know what I've been doing with my time.  Honestly.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

2008 - Take No Prisoners

Here's one I wrote earlier...the 1st of January to be precise.  And forgot to publish it.  Ho hum. Back soon with more of an update.  Promise.

And there it went. Ta-ra to 2007; ay-oop to 2008.

Not sure what you all did but I spent most of the 'celebrations' mopping snot dribbling from The Kid's nose, cursing the fireworks that woke him up from his boy-flu-induced slumber, rocking him back to sleep in one arm whilst transferring the millionth file from Old Slaptop to New MacBook. Hours of fun still to have but I need to purchase a few bits of software so I can actually do things. Hours of fun, like I said.  Ah, yes, those will be the hours I don't really have to waste...

Well, whatever 2007 left you with, may 2008 only expand and improve.  Unless it was an STD - in which case I don't wish for your sake it expands, just improves.  

Friday, December 14, 2007

Werds I Wish I'd Writ

I have just written an email stating my blog was 'a bit out of date': I hang my head in shame. I hadn't realised how out of date. Man, 'Tenacious Me' was starting to look like the pack of pitta bread I found at the back of my bread bin earlier on today - but at least the blog doesn't have the same mouldy aroma though. Not unless you have a scratch and sniff screen. And if you do, well...oh, never mind.

I digress.

Unusual for me.

Anyway.

The title of this post lends itself to a thought I had earlier in the week: if I could have written anything this year, what would it have been?

I had a long chance to ponder on this whilst stuck on my local ringroad due to:

1) Sheer volume of diverted traffic from the whole of London and the South East;
2) Traffic lanes shut due to the council lopping tree branches - WTF?;
3) Xmas shoppers hell-bent on 'ring-road-lane-rage' (which comes before 'parking-space-rage' and 'I-must-buy-everything-in-the-mall-rage)
and finally, my year round favourite:
4) Traffic signals that are totally out of synch for 2 miles

So, there I was - understandably for a while - running through all the totally brilliant pieces of writing I have heard/seen over the year. I managed to bottom out my top five and, as if by magic, a little ditty started playing on the radio. Then I realised, THIS is what I wished I had written. OK, it was released on their 2005 album, "All the Right Reasons", but hey. Call me simplistic, it kicks ass. Lyrics to laugh to. And then nod.

"Rockstar" by Nickelback
I'm through with standin' in line
To clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house
On an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
For ten plus me
(Yeah, so tell what you need)

I'll need a...a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
--(Been there done that)--

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, ha ha)

I think I'm gonna dress my ass
With the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
Blow my money for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars and
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
Today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
From a Pez dispenser

Get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip synch 'em every night so I don't get 'em wrong

Well we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary and Today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

Every time I hear it/see the video, it makes me smile. Hell, it makes me laugh out loud. Loving it. What a perfect take on today's 'cul-cha'. So, what would your "perfect piece of literary '07" have been?

I bid you all a very pretty, Victorian picture card Christmas.

Mwah, mwah, Sweetie.


Thursday, November 08, 2007

Heroes...

...of the Scribe Strike. No matter which side of the fence you fall, you've gotta laugh at this. Splendid fun.