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Monthly Archives: August 2009
September short, coming right up!
Keep an eye open on my Shorts! blog Monday night. That’s the night I post September’s story!
Earlier this week I found my cache of stories from way back when. Turns out they were on my wife’s computer in the old, failing hard drive that I left hooked up in case we thought of anything we still needed off of it. I’m sure glad it’s not completely gone yet!
I took one of my earlier stories and revamped it a little – well, a lot. For me, editing and revising an old story is similar to the definition of home remodel in Atlanta: tear it down to the slab and start all over again. This particular story I wrote ten years ago. The foundation of it is still there, but I tore down the walls and rebuilt them, even added a second story. When you read it, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Hint: second story isn’t figurative.
You know, ten years ago I thought I was a really good writer. Now that I look back at the way I wrote back then, I … man, that’s bad! I used to write like that? I did have the knack for painting a scene back then, always have, but I was using a sub-quality brush. The way I write now – it’s amazing the difference I tell you – is like comparing a Rembrandt to a first grader’s finger painting.
Anyway, I drove the final nail in last night and finished the story I began a decade ago and e-mailed it off to my editor. Keep an eye out!
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Project Compost Tumbler complete!
Since I started my compost kick a couple weeks ago, I’ve been composting in this bucket. It’s really easy. All I have to do is unscrew the small cap and drop things through it. It seems to work pretty well, but the big disadvantage is that I can easily put its five-gallon max capacity in it in just one week. Luckily the stuff I put in it breaks down quickly so I can fill it up again the next week. But I wanted to do more with it – you can only fit five gallons of crap in a five gallon bucket, right? I want to have a continuous supply of compost with which to amend the soil when I start my vegetable garden next year, as well as for potting and other planting.
Posted in Living Green
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The second chapter of my new book is coming today!
I’ve been toying with where I want the second chapter of my new book to go for some time now. This isn’t one of those stories that just flows out of me – hey, I’ve never written a novel before – like most of my others. This one being what it is…
I wish I could just channel Stephen King. In The Dark Tower, he writes of himself and in one of the seven books he says it’s more like channeling – or something like that. He also says America pays by the pound and Stephen King writes by the inch – or something like that. At any rate, the man is remarkable – a true literary genius. And speaking of the Master, I’m now over three-quarters of the way through Lisey’s Story. I can’t wait to get to the end of this one.
When it comes to my writing however, it comes in spurts. One day I can sit down and write twelve pages while the next day I can only write one. Then I might go a week or two without touching the story. I guess that’s just the way it goes. I’ve got the drive to start writing the second chapter today during lunch. Seeing as how I have to take my laptop in to work again today, I think I may do just that.
How many pages can I write in one hour (fifty minutes if you want to get nit-picky about it)? One? Six? Twelve? We shall see!
Hey – one more chapter, one step closer to publication, right?
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I built a compost bucket last night.
I’m on a compost kick lately.
Remembering the compost pile my great grandparents had at their little house in Oregon, how I used to have to turn it and water it and add the scraps to it, I decided it was high time I made one of my own. I’m not very eager to have a big pile sitting in the yard, and I’ve heard about composting in a bucket, so I searched online for a few minutes and found it was a whole lot easier to do than I thought.
Yesterday afternoon I went down to the shed and got the empty five gallon stain bucket out. The remainder wouldn’t wash out so I sanded out as much as I could. After poking the thing full of holes with the pointy end of a spade bit (for the drill), I filled it with a mixture of wet, dirt-covered leaves from the back yard and kitchen scraps I’ve been saving up. I added a little bit of water, rolled it around a bit, and set it under the gas grill so it’s partially in full sun all day (so it won’t completely dry out during the day). I’ll be able to add to it every day since I prep oranges, apples, and bananas every day to take to work. On the weekends I can even throw some egg shells in there. I was so happy with my work last night … then I realized I need something bigger.
I’m on the lookout for one of those big fifty-five gallon drums now, the kind with the screw-on lid (for easy removal of the compost), so I can build myself a tumbler. There are a few places around town that carry the big blue ones without lids; they would work for a horizontal tumbler but I want to build a vertical tumbler, the kind you have to flip end over end as opposed to simply rolling as you would with a horizontal one. I’ve been searching for them online and they’re way more than I want to spend, so I Googled how to make my own. It’s surprisingly simple. I already have everything I need readily available either in the garage or in the shed; all I need is the barrel.
I added a couple of banana peels to my bucket when I got home this afternoon as well as some spaghetti noodles after dinner and it appears I’m starting things off right. The thing doesn’t smell at all, even though it’s been sitting out there in the heat all day long. Theoretically I should have some compost in about four weeks or so.
In the mean time, I need to go find a barrel.
Posted in Living Green
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Monthly shorts are now a go!
Here are the first two paragraphs of the August short, Hag. Click here to to read the whole thing!
When I finally saw her she scared the ever-living shit out of me. So much in fact, it damn near killed me. When I awoke the morning after my encounter I bolted out of bed, threw on the jeans and T-shirt I wore the day before, slipped on my old, cracked cowboy boots and tore down the stairs. It happened so fast I don’t even remember grabbing the keys as I bolted out the front door. Hell, I don’t even remember shutting it.
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