Month: February 2016

I’m awake

Damn insomnia strikes again! Of course the worst thing to do is sit in front of a computer absorbing all that bad electronic light into my tired brain. But I’m tired so I’m stupid.

I have been writing nearly all day (at least 8 hours with church, meals and wine thrown in) so by about 8pm the letters started to be blurry with my glasses, and I was making mistakes. It was time to stop for the night. I didn’t watch the Oscars (never do) so I had no TV to bore me to tears and zzz’s. My preferred programming is interesting and would keep me awake, so pass on those.

I talked to Chuck around 9pm as he was getting ready to sleep in his hotel bed after driving from Dickinson ND to Cheyenne WY (500 miles.) He has a very pleasant, warm sleepy voice which is seductive for slumber.

Well that didn’t help either.

Did my night time bathroom routine (I know you want to know this) and got in bed. Comfy and cozy I decided to read for a while to get drowsy. I was losing my place, forgetting what I’d read and dropped the book a couple of times so that was a clue to turn out the light. That was around 11:30pm.

I then proceeded to toss and turn for the next two hours. It is now 1:58am.

I am now confronting the demon insomnia with words which are truly my best weapons. Millie wasn’t too pleased with my roaming the house and turning on lights. She grumbled at me in between yawns but has dutifully followed me and is now laying on the floor by the desk. Good Millie.

Cheers! (Yawn-I hope)

-N

Didn’t know where I was going

This morning I got up, got coffee, checked emails, looked at Facebook, watched the Weather Channel, played with Millie, showered and then…nothing…I didn’t know what to do next.

Ok I did have a something I had to do today but otherwise I had no real plans. I grabbed my purse and phone, got in the car and drove away.

I had no clue where I was going.

I knew I had to get some cash, but I could do that at a lot of places so no direction there. I just drove. I got about seven or eight miles from home when I saw the shopping center where my grocery store is and thought “vitamins”. I hadn’t been in the very cool vitamin store in a while so bingo, I had a target direction.

I parked and walked into the store to be greeted by the very nice woman who runs the store. She asked if she could help me and there I was again…nothing…no direction.

I began to tell her about my morning and how I ended up at her store. She seemed interested and we shared stories of similar experiences. I told her I was going to roam around and see if anything caught my eye. After several minutes I had an arm full of items and was ready to check out. I told her about my blog and that this would probably show up in it and Nancy (her name, right how cool it that) said she would like to read the blog so I wrote down the link for her.

So here’s a shout out to you Vitamin lady Nancy.

I hadn’t had any breakfast so I stopped in at The Good Egg. I like the eggs benedict there and the youthful servers. It has a nice vibe to it. I got more coffee and I pulled out my notebook I carry all the time, to make some notes on the story I am currently working on and proceeded to spend a pleasant almost hour there.

Left there and got the one thing I had to get which was the cash and headed home. After I got back my story was screaming out to me with some additions and edits, so I spent a pleasant couple of hours immersed in my own fictional world (glorious) and here we are!

Pretty cool day after all.

Cheers!

-N

 

Feeling crazy young

I just had the absolute best time. My nephew is painting my house, he’s a pro. Yeah he’s getting paid. Anyway, his daughter, my so extremely cool niece Trinity and her buddy Casey came by. They live just down the road so the girls walked over to ride back with my nephew Kris.

I turned on the music (of course) and I began doing my aunt duty by giving them lessons in wine tasting, mind you no one underage drank anything, but I showed them the finer point of wine tasting. Using a Malibu red blend I demonstrated what to do and what to look for. They took to it like the pros I expected from them. Trinity is related to me, and Casey is her friend so is awesome by association.

We talked, pretending to be grown ups as I described varietals and the best year for red grapes. We made fun of people who drank fruity wines and sweet Rieslings, you know the routine.

It is my duty to help.

Then we went into my office and Trinity saw the books were being packed up and my laptop open. This girl knows me well. We started talking about my writing and what they had happening in their lives. Such cute girls. These are the girls I did the Cupid Shuffle with at my nephews graduation party, but I digress.

I said, “Listen to this song,” and I played Walk Away by Kelly Clarkson, then Try Me by Jason Derulo. Then I played…House Party by Sam Hunt. There was excessive teenage girl squealing and then the three of us proceeded to sing at the top of our lungs and dance like it was a Hollywood dance club! We were laughing and singing and dancing and the years between us were gone.

God that was fun!

I think this needs to happen very often.

Cheers!

-N

 

 

That dog

Millie has figured out a way to distract me.

She is eight months old and has come into her own as a guard dog. She still is a little chicken shit as far as really protecting, she hides behind me. She has her big bad German Shepherd bark on and will go at it if someone pulls up to the house or comes to the gate. If they come into the yard then she runs up on the porch or around the house, still barking.

What she’s started pulling is barking and waiting for me to come find out what she is barking at. I will be working or doing laundry and I will hear her bark. This isn’t the full on warning bark that she does but a sharp loud couple of barks. I walk into the room and find her sitting there grinning at me like “Haha you came when I called!”

Ok, dilemma here. How do I react? I am the alpha human when Chuck isn’t here.

I definitely know the aggressive sounding bark, that one is easy to pick up on and it’s accompanied by hair standing up and that defensive posture. I gotta say it is very impressive.

With this other bark, it’s as if she is showing me that she is doing her job and waiting for the “Atta girl.”

We are still working on the jumping up on people bad behavior. She just isn’t getting it because everything is play with her and if she did that to an older person Millie is big enough to knock someone down.

Can you say “lawsuit?”

She is a very pretty dog, loving and loyal, but I will enjoy her even more when she is out of this puppy stage.

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Cheers!

-N

 

 

 

 

A change is nice

I just got back from four days away from home.  Two of the days were spent driving to the San Fernando Valley to be with my daughter and back home. We had a birthday party to attend and then whatever we wanted to do the rest of the time.

Splendid.

The birthday party was Saturday afternoon,  so morning was breakfast at Weiler’s and the best Eggs Benedict I’ve ever had. I always have breakfast at least once at Weiler’s when I go to the Valley.

Then the party. It was one of those parties for a one year old but really ends up being a more for the adults. Still very fun and the little guy made a haul.

That night was take out from Stonefire Grill. Yummy food.  Drank a good wine with the food and watched movies.

Sunday was sleep12771726_10208566974638499_4241239779438382470_oing in and then take out from another of my must visit places, Cavarettas Deli. We got super fresh deli sandwiches, pasta salad and cannoli’s that were so good as usual. We ate our lunch and enjoyed the afternoon at Rosenthal Wine Tasting in Malibu.

It’s one of my wine clubs.

After the food and wine we walked across the street to the Pacific Ocean.

Come on I cannot be that close to the ocean and not go get my feet wet. In this case I got wet up to my waist. I found a great rock to sit on just at the surf line so I just sat there and every four or five waves would wash up on me. That was the pic I posted yesterday of me standing fully clothed in the water.

It was heavenly.

We stopped at a pizza place to pick up dinner for friends who just had twin boys a few days before. We got to hold these tiny (5lb) humans. I love newborn baby smell and the person who could come up with a cream that could make your skin that soft would be a cajillionaire.

Since the next day was work/travel day we ate dinner at Marmalade Cafe, another yummy must add to my list and then chilled at Melissa’s place for an early night.

Monday morning I left for Tucson. The drive wasn’t bad even though I was in LA traffic during morning rush and Phoenix traffic during afternoon rush-ok I’m an idiot.

Sirius was playing jazz so I was calm.

Millie was glad to see me and it was nice to sleep in my own bed. My daughter is a very cool person to hang out with and she restores my faith in humans. I missed having Chuck there, but he is slaving in North Dakota. It would be nice to spend more time there with my girl, yet I’m good with my days of a little change of place.

Cheers!

-N

Manifesto

This is my manifesto:

I am conservative.

Unborn human life is more important than unborn whales. Leave the rain forest alone and keep your trash out of the ocean. As stewards of this planet we can make it flourish or destroy it based on our narcissistic desires. Rescue the elephants from captivity. Punish poachers with the maximum that can be administered.

Reduce the cost of energy alternatives.

I strive for success, this success is personal and I deserve it because of my efforts. My efforts are based on how hard I work, however the individual is not owed anything.

A well educated and adequately supplied military fairly compensated is the best deterrent to terrorism. Sovereignty of our borders is a priority. All people have the right to pursue happiness while considering the rights of others.

Each of us deserve the privilege of our personal beliefs without persecution or ridicule from anyone else.

All children should be treated with unconditional love, respect, affection and guidance.  This would eliminate most criminals incarcerated in our overcrowded prisons.

Humans come in all colors on the outside but are the same on the inside and when respect is earned it should be given regardless.

Cheers!

-N

You did it again!

To my wonderful blog followers I want to say “You like me, you really like me!!!”

Thank you so much for making this my best viewer day so far. It feels great and also extremely motivating.

It’s so cool 20150202_205314to do something that is personally so much fun and to have people who are interested come along for the ride.  Yay for all of us bloggers!! I am humbled by my connection with you and that I can share my take on humans as we share this planet.

Millie and I are ready to keep blogging.  Thanks again.

Cheers!

 

-N

Writer multi-tasking

Coffee-check, cell phone-check, window open, laptop on.

Open blog, open story for final edit, open new story, start writing.

This is my standard process and the way I get started. Moving between all the projects is comfortable and stimulating for my brain. I feel good about what I’m doing. I am predictable, but don’t tell anyone! I want to be perceived as this mysterious artistic human others are compelled to try to understand but can’t get past the wall of creativity.

Millie will come and lay down beside my feet while I work. She will tell me if someone is there while I lose myself in thought or get wrapped up in letting the words flow. When Chuck is here he will come and stand at the door to watch me or he will come over and give me a kiss then leave me to my words.

I think he is proud of what I am doing.

I have three reference sheets of descriptive words taped on a computer monitor I no longer use. It’s amazing how helpful those words are to my creative mind. Where I sit while working I am next to a nice sized window. As often as possible I have it open to engage with the sounds of dogs, birds and the leaves of the trees moving in a breeze. I have four plants in the room so I can breathe.

Tinkerbell is all over the place. I love fairies and pixies. A former boss used to call me Pixie.

The wine is for afternoon and evening writing. Gotta have wine, ha ha.

Cheers!

-N

Boxing up my muse

I have started to box up my library/office and it feels weird. I love being in that room. Blogging and writing, doing research or just getting inspiration it all happens in there.

I love books. The way they look and smell give me a wonderful, soul-stirring sensation.  People who know me laugh at me when I open an old book and burying my nose in it taking a big sniff. They say I close my eyes and smile.

When I am in the process of writing I look at them, touch them and get ideas for character names or a fictional town name. I surround myself with words. All kinds of words. Jude Devereaux and Janet Evanovich, a biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Atlas of World War II, old textbooks, Winnie the Pooh and Plants of the Southwest.

If I had to make a guess I must have 1000 hardback books. Now I have to close them up in boxes to be stored until we move. I hope the words will still find me. Maybe I’ll leave a few on the shelves just in case.

Cheers!

-N