Tagged With: Writing
Working from home: the regrets
See Part 1, Working from home: the recipes. In retrospect, cheddar cheese and lettuce are not going to taste good with soy sauce no matter what they’re wrapped in.
[Flies out using jetpack.]
Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I bet Joyce couldn’t have written the way that he wrote if he’d had to constantly battle Microsoft Word’s idea of what constitutes a proper sentence. I have managed to make it stop red-lining the words it thinks I’ve misspelled. (You know, those esoteric things like proper names, or … Continue reading
“High in a tower she sits by the hour, maintaining her hair…”
I’m halfway through my National Novel Writing Month project and I am pretty miserable about it. Naturally, I share this with you. I read a lot of reconstituted fairy tales and thought it might be fun to do a re-telling of Rapunzel. 32 pages in, I’m realizing that the reason no one ever rewrites the … Continue reading
The Mediocre American Novel
National Novel Writing Month begins next week, and I have signed up. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November, beginning at midnight on November 1 and ending by midnight on November 30. You don’t get anything, except 50,000 words you’ve written; there are almost no guidelines; and if … Continue reading
Near, far, near, far
I’ve been freelancing for a little over a year now, and I’ve decided that the toughest part of this job is measuring my own progress. In admin work, it’s easy. You judge your day’s success based on whether or not you reacted to things. When the copier broke down today, did you fix it, or … Continue reading
Book sale
The San Francisco Library Book Sale is coming up next week, and I have cleared my “pending” shelf in preparation. Even so, we’re almost out of book room in this apartment. I’ve filled the shelf on my nightstand, moved all my photo albums into my closet to make room, I’m using the end tables…if I … Continue reading
I learned how to get along
I am writing an article about a rally being held just outside my house. I was all set to start my article when they started singing “I Will Survive.” Now I cannot stop singing “I Will Survive” in the style of Cake,* tapping my nails against the keyboard and grooving my head around. I wish … Continue reading
Smile
It’s eight a.m. I just called the Human Rights Watch to try and interview someone there about an upcoming immigrant rights summit, but the office doesn’t open until nine so I got the main voicemail. I listened to the patient, fresh-voiced recording of the receptionist as she carefully listed each name and extension, and I … Continue reading
Phone interview with politico organization
“…And we’ve been working on the Uniting American Families Act.” “Great name, by the way.” “Yeah?” “Sure. It’s got the words ‘American’ and ‘families’ in it. Hey, I like those things! I’ll vote for it!” “…” “Sorry. That bitterness was directed at the voting public, not at you. I would of course vote for this … Continue reading
Working from home: the recipes
PB&J Burrito Ingredients: 1 flour tortilla (spinach tortilla not recommended) smooth peanut butter blackberry jam Instructions: Spread peanut butter and jam on tortilla. Roll. Eat. Disgustingness stars: three of five Satisfies hunger? Yes. Recommended? No.