What Else 2017, Week 9

Writing Stuff

Wicked Witch, Retired: I puttered around with a section that needs rewriting, even taking it to the library to work on it. Decided I needed to get a good plot timeline worked out.

Looking ahead: I need to finish my reread early in the week and finish rewriting the problematic section by Weds/Thurs. My goal is to have a draft by the end of March, which means probably another 20K words. That means I’m going to have to write more than 4K/week.

A Round of Words in 80 Days

Blogging Stuff

The blog is still getting the short end of the stick. That just might be how it is for a while. I did post my March TBR list.

Fitness Stuff

Ran sprints with Eric on Monday. We hadn’t done that in a while and both of us want to be in better shape for spring league. Since it rained Monday night and into Tuesday, the fields were pretty wet and there were no Tuesday/Wednesday sprints or ultimate. I ran a slow 5K on Tuesday to loosen up my back.  No Friday ultimate due to A/B league tournament on Saturday. On Saturday, Eric and I started the day helping a friend of ours load a moving truck. The process took about three hours and I probably managed a good 45mins/hour of lift and moving boxes. Then we went and played in A/B league finals. I played in 2.5 games. Today? Man, I am sore. My arms and back don’t know what the heck happened.

Other Life Stuff

Had a busy Friday too. We went and saw Logan at a matinee showing. It suffers from many of the general comic book movie problems (where is the science?!), but I liked it better than many of the recent offerings on either side of the Marvel/DC fence.

What Else 2017, Week 8

Good Stuff

Just in case you’ve forgotten that Christoper Walken was in a music video (for a song with a Dune reference):

Writing Stuff

Added 2621 words to Wicked Witch, Retired and started a rewrite section. I was a bit unsure about my next few steps going forward, but a day off let my brain work on it. Still, didn’t get as much rewriting done as I needed to.

Hop over to check out more #ROW80 authors.

Blogging Stuff

In general this week, I decided not to worry about blogging. I thought about posting a round up of the books I’ve been DNFing lately, but I didn’t have the heart. Things are looking up on the reading front, though.

Fitness Stuff

Went for a 5K run last Monday. My time was okay for not having done a run of that length in probably over a month. No ultimate league this past week, but we played pickup on Wednesday and Friday. As some point during the game on Friday, Jody and I both decided we were going to play. I’d like to say I held my own, but I’m not sure that was the truth.

Other Life Stuff

Still working on how much news is too much news. I feel like I should stay informed, but some days are harder than others.

What Else 2017, Week 5

Writing Stuff

A Round of Words in 80 Days is back on the non-Facebook side of the web. I gave it a go on Facebook, but that’s just not the place for me for this kind of thing. So, a big Thank You! to  Eden Mabee for getting things going again at the blog.

Belatedly, my goal for this quarter is to add 4,000 words/week to my main manuscript.

I did not hit that goal this week, but I did better than last week. I added 2457 words to Wicked Witch, Retired and rewrote 1932 words.

A Round of Words in 80 Days

The #FictFri prompt was “space/confine.”

Kelvaro was tall. He'd have problems on a regular couch, but on one sized for a giant, he had inches of space at head and feet. #FictFri

— Katherine Nabity (@Katen) February 3, 2017

Blogging Stuff

Only two posts this week:

• January Reading Wrap-Up
• Review ~ Moby-Dick; or, the Whale by Herman Melville

My Deal Me In story this week didn’t inspire any organized thoughts.

Fitness Stuff

Played B leagues games of ultimate frisbee on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then pickup on Friday at noon. The difference between regular league and B league for me is that in regular league, I might not even touch the disc during an entire game. In B league, I actually have a stat line. I’m averaging a score and a D per game!

I’m debating whether I want to get a run in before enjoying an afternoon/evening of watching other people play sports. Also, a Hurt’s Donuts just opened…on my block.

Other Life Stuff

Speaking of league, spring league registration opened on Friday. Stress! Chaos! Currently, we don’t have a league director, but we needed to get things going. Sifting through registrations and payments has taken a good chunk of my time during the last two days.

Lately, I’ve found that any added stress, good or bad, kind of sinks me. I need to get some resilience. Can you buy that in a can?

What Else 2017, Week 4

Good Stuff

My good stuff this week is more on the personal level than usual.

This weekend was the 35th annual New Year Fest ultimate tournament. New Year Fest is run by VOTS, the local ultimate frisbee organization. Teams from all over the country (and occasionally from our border neighbors) come to Arizona to play ultimate frisbee for the weekend.

I attended my first New Year Fest in 2002 (Eric was playing) and played in my first in 2003. In 2008-ish, I switched to playing one day and helping out on the other at “frisbee central” where we sell shirts and discs and have bagels and PB & J for players. The entire event is run by volunteers.

If being involved with VOTS  is like being part of huge extended family (and it is), NYF is a yearly reunion. I’m not a super social person, but it is nice to *see* everyone, to trade hellos and hugs and how’ve-you-beens. Sure, I might see their updates on Facebook, but it’s so much better in person.

It’s also really satisfying to be part of something that people enjoy and appreciate. The college division of the tournament is sanctioned by a national organization, but for everyone else, the stakes are low. Winners get some swag and a discount on next year’s registration. The other 32 teams play ultimate really just for the fun of it. When someone thanks me for being a part of running New Year Fest, “you’re welcome” seems inadequate because it is honestly my pleasure to contribute to someone else’s enjoyment.

Writing Stuff

I had a pretty weak-sauce writing week. I added 1500 words and rewrote a bit.

Shared this week:

Lilah returned with a pen and a pad of paper as well as watch and a large tome that seemed in danger of shedding pages. #1linewed

— Katherine Nabity 🌻 (@Katen) January 25, 2017

The anger that had been slowly encircling her heart suddenly tightened and firmly took hold. #FictFri

— Katherine Nabity 🌻 (@Katen) January 27, 2017

Blogging Stuff

• My favorite stories from the Nov/Dec issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
• Deal Me In, Week 4 ~ “In the House of Gingerbread”

Fitness Stuff

Played ultimate on Thursday night. Lugged a few banana boxes around on Saturday. Played two games of ultimate on Sunday.

Other Life Stuff

This week, I felt sort of…inert. I lost steam early in the week and never got going again. It’s hard to care about this world right now and not be continuously bruised.

What Else 2017, Week 3

Good Stuff

Moby-Dick was the subject of a Big Read project back in 2012. Each chapter was recorded by a different person, some of them famous. I’ve been reading and/or listening along. Not surprisingly, Benedict Cumberbatch does a pretty fine job here.

Writing Stuff

The laptop arrived Monday evening. While I’m still settling in with it, it’s been really nice to take work to a different area of the apartment. I’ve installed Chrome and Spotify, but the biggest differences between the laptop and my desktop system is that there is no room for video on the laptop and that I don’t have email notifications on the laptop. When I’m using it, I’m working. For right now, that compartmentalization is helping me get some work done.

Added 4020 word to the manuscript.

The #1LineWed themes was “tree”/”leaf”.

"Hopefully, tracking a giant will be as easy as I suspect it will be and we won't die in the woods." #1lineWed

— Katherine Nabity 🌻 (@Katen) January 18, 2017

Blogging Stuff

• Commented on a few movies I’ve watched lately.
• Read an early ghost-busting tale for Deal Me In.
• More writing seems to mean less reading.

Fitness Stuff

It’s been a rather wintery week in Tempe. Wednesday lunchtime disc was a little lighter than usual and Friday disc was rained out. Thursday night was the first night of “B” League. We scrimmaged instead of an actual game to give some of the newer people a chance to play before it “counts.” My team has some fast, quick-to-throw guys, but they were okay dumping when there was nothing open down field.

Class Stuff

Decided not to do the Science & Cooking class. One of the disadvantages of edX is that you don’t get to see make-up of the course before the course opens. There was too much reliance on making videos and such. Not for me.

Other Life Stuff

Other than the above, not much going on. I’ve felt a little scattered over the last couple days. Maybe just too much caffeine.

What Else 2017, Week 2

Good Stuff

One thousand musicians all playing David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel.”

Thanks to Sharon, a fellow ultimate player, for pointing this out on FB. Made my Sunday morning.

Writing Stuff

Gamification of the writing process, Katherine edition: I’ve wanted a new laptop for a while now. Our old one crapped out years ago and, for two ne’re-do-well writers, buying a new one is an investment not to be taken lightly. Eric finally came upon a decently priced system that met his specs: really good battery life without being stupidly top-of-the-line. Still, he was waffling. “Right,” I said, “how much writing do I need to do justify this?” There followed the purchase of a laptop and me going into “word debt” for it. A strong year of writing should pay it off.

This week, I added 3300 to my manuscript. I’ve started to embrace “shrug and write junk”. Meaning, at least three times this week, I wrote some very sketchy, junky paragraphs that got the job done only to rewrite, expand, and clean them up the next day. And I still got a net 3300 words added.

Started reading through Eric’s PHYSIC series.

Blogging Stuff

Slow reading week and “as scheduled” blogging week:

• Review ~ Blackwater Lake
• Deal Me In, Week 2 ~ “The House of Aunts”

Health & Fitness Stuff

Played ultimate on Wednesday and Friday. My week was going pretty well until an arthritis flare-up on Thursday. I still managed to play Friday only because I didn’t want the other woman that showed up to be the only woman at pickup. Started feeling better Friday night. “B” League starts this week so that will add a little more ulti to my life.

Other Life Stuff

Not much going on otherwise. It’s nice to be getting into some kind of groove again.

What Else 2017, Week 1

Good Stuff

Most of the time what’s trending on Facebook wouldn’t be considered by me to be Good Stuff. Usually, it’s some politician doing something dumb or the social goings-on of celebrities I’m not familiar with. But occasionally, Facebook’s trending sidebar gives me something like this: Tom Hardy reading a bedtime story with the best side character ever—a monocled, piano-playing badger named Jeff.

You’re welcome.

Writing Stuff

Did rather poorly with my writing goal. Maybe frequent rewrite passes aren’t a good idea…

Blogging Stuff

On the heels of a busy holiday season, I probably should have skipped this session of Bout of Books. I haven’t been the most social blogger ever. But I did get some reading done. I also set up my 2017 spreadsheets and am trying out some new post templates.

• Bout of Books Post
• Review ~ The Long Way Down
• Deal Me In, Week 1 ~ “Haunted”

Fitness Stuff

Played ultimate Wednesday and Friday. Convinced Eric to go run sprints with me on Thursday. While I’ve been moving pretty well during games, the sprints were painful. As they should be.

Other Life Stuff

Other than reading, I’ve been reveling in Nebraska basketball’s 3-0 start to conference play. Maybe I’ll get my Christmas tree down while listening to the game today.