A Typical Day

I write this blog early in the morning, so the prompt “Is today typical?” is somewhat humorous. Did I get up this morning at ten till 5 when my husband’s alarm went off? Yes. Did I get out of bed at 20 after? Yes, I did. Did I take my meds? Absolutely. Did I go downstairs and eat breakfast? Indeed.

Today is beginning in a very typical way. As a typical summer day, I can also expect to take some time writing or reading. I can do the dishes in the dishwasher. I can check the mail, and if I’m really ambitious, I will go to Starbucks to write.

In the fall/spring, typical means going to work and teaching two classes with office hours in between. I will meet with students and go to meetings. Life will be a lot busier, but I will be in tune with my new schedule. This will begin sooner than I’d like, because summer is winding down.

Today is a typical day.

And a touch of ennui

Yesterday, I thought I was blocked writing. Then I wrote 1800 words, which is the most I’ve written in a good while. I don’t know how I did this, except I kept writing what I had on my mind.

I still don’t know if I like the book. I feel like there’s a lot of talking and not a lot of action. The action is coming up, but is it enough? This book may take a lot of rewriting once I get it down. We shall see. It also might not make it to daylight.

Sometimes I think I am toward the end of my writing career. It has been — what? 10 years? It’s been a good ten years, but I think I’ve gotten as far as I am going to. It’s hard for me to maintain and not go forward. I haven’t had a Big Audacious Goal toward writing for a while. We shall see.

Self-Sabotage?

I am 15 days from my latest not-so-big audacious goal, writing in this blog for 365 straight days. Yet I keep forgetting to write! Luckily, I catch myself before the day is over, but all it would take is one day of forgetting entirely, and I would be back at zero.

I don’t really like all or nothing goals like this. They’re less about performance than persistence. ButI’ve been doing this blogging for 350 days, so…

Exuberant

The word I would use to describe myself is exuberant. I am a cheerful person, and one who is not restrained in my approach to life. I love life, and life makes me laugh. Exuberant is a good word.

I am not a small woman in any way. Even when I lose weight, I will never be small. I was not made to be small. Big and exuberant will have to be the way I appear in life.

I wonder if sometimes I’m too much, but I can’t be anyone but myself.

These Chapters are All Wrong

I wrote two or three chapters that are all wrong. The main male character seems perfect, the main female character is too ambivalent (although ambivalence is not a bad thing here), and it’s too talky. What does one do when the characters are all wrong?

Revise, revise, revise. I know writers say not to edit your work until you’re done, but this section can’t stand as is. It’s wrong. It’s going to lead the reader to the wrong place. It’s already leading the writer to the wrong place. So, there’s at least 5000 words down the drain (two of the chapters were only partially written) and time to write them over again.

I know what I will be doing at Starbucks today.

Two Free Plane Tickets

The prompt asks, “If you had two free plane tickets, where would you go?”

My answer is unusual. I have always wanted to go to Svalbard, Norway, specifically Longyearbyen. Why? Because it’s so isolated. I would love to go there in summer, because I always wanted to see what a day with no night would be like. I also would like to go there in the winter for the Northern Lights.

Svalbard lies above the Arctic Circle and is appropriately icy and cold. It is the home of the Svalbard Global Seed Bank and one of my favorite Internet radio stations, Arctic Outpost, which plays the real oldies (1902-1958). It is also the home of many polar bears, and you are not allowed to hike outside Longyearbyen unarmed.

I don’t really know why I’m fascinated by Longyearbyen other than its reputation of being the northernmost city in the world. It’s a town of 2400 people (approximately), smaller than the place I grew up. And it’s cold, with summer temperatures from 37-46 degrees Fahrenheit (or 3-7 degrees Celsius). Winter temperatures are 8.6°F (-13°C). I won’t be going outside much.

My husband would rather go to New Zealand, which is a much more reasonable place to travel to. But I want to go to a place few people have gone to (or want to go to) for a singular experience.

My Nickname Isn’t Too Exciting

When your last name is Leach, “Leachie” is a natural nickname.

I think it started in Kindergarten, which is a natural time for kids to figure out that “Leach” > “Leachie”. It continued through school, and I think people even called me that in high school. Not a terribly complicated story.

However, my favorite user name is “Lleachie”. If someone on the web has the nickname “Lleachie”, it’s a good chance it’s me. It’s pronounced like “llama”, with one L. Except for one person from Poland who pronounced it “ill-e-ATCH-ie”, which I’ll forgive him for.

My nickname isn’t exciting, but it has endured.

Summer Will End Soon

Summer is winding down fast. I am starting to look at doing beginning of semester stuff (although it is a bit early) and my annual trip to New York State to do moulage is looming. I know my days of leisure are coming to an end.

In the meantime, however, I might as well enjoy. Writing and resting are the order of the day. (Except for today; I have a couple school-related items in the afternoon).

I wish I could store up rest. It doesn’t work that way, but at least I can store up the memory of rest and let it sustain me.

BIG Audacious Goal

I guess I have a Big Audacious Goal after all.

My doctor told me to lose weight. She’s told me this before, but this time the warning is laden with health concerns. So I am losing weight.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels.com

I’m not going to talk about how much weight I need to lose, because it’s going to be an embarassing amount, but suffice it to say I’ve lost 20 pounds in the last month and a half and I’m not done yet. And I won’t be done for a while.

At my age, one loses weight for the health reasons and not for the looks. I’m never going to look slim because I’ve just been big for so long. But I admit wearing a smaller size would be nice.

So, this is the Big Audacious Goal for this year (and next). Not what I expected.

My Book Theme and the AHA Moment

I’m writing a book right now, where the female protagonist is (among other things) a folksinger, and her significant other is an immortal who wants to be human because he thinks it will cure his loneliness. One song she performs at open mic night is Child 39a, an old ballad called Tam Lin.

The ballad is about Tam Lin, a captive of the fairy realm who holds a plot of land, and any unaccompanied woman who passes there has to give up something of herself, including her virginity. One woman, who gets pregnant, returns to demand he support his child. He agrees to marry her if she takes him from captivity. He warns her he will turn into all sorts of vicious forms, and if she continues to hold on, he is hers. This goes according to plan and they live happily ever after.

I realized in the middle of writing this section that their story is basically Tam Lin, with a few changes. He is held captive by his loneliness. She rescues him and holds onto him as several layers of his existence are shed — immortal, being made in the image of humans, and then his final layer — inevitably other. No vicious forms, but the alienness of his being stands in. In the end, their story is bittersweet as I suspect Tam Lin’s is — how do you live in the ordinary world when you have been touched by the fey? How do you have a relationship with someone that alien to you?

I’m using the song as a framing device. I would tell you it all fell together accidentally, but I know the subconscious of a writer is a powerful thing.