I Write, Therefore I Am
Jan. 19th, 2011 08:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddy_radiatorWell, another Wednesday is here. I've uploaded my 5th chapter of Lay Me Low on Ashwinder, and once again, I have been amazed at the reception. I keep thinking that, any minute, someone will say "WTF?" but folks seem to be getting it, and thankfully the Muse is continuing to supply the goods. I invented a new spell for the story which features Sempra's way of drawing Hermione's hair. I hope she'll get a kick out of it. It actually does feature throughout the story, lest it sound frivolous. I'm a bit like those explorers in Antarctica; I'll leave stuff behind, hoping I can make my way back to pick it up later.
The Muse is a capricious little prankster, though. I'll polish up a chapter for LML, eager to hit the next one, and he'll say, "No, I want to work on Droxy's fic today." And suddenly I'm switching gears and working on Staring At The Sun. It's a very schizophrenic way of working, and it causes glaring errors. I sent Mimi some little bits to get her very valued opinion, and when she sent it back and I re-read what I'd written, my timelines were all over the place. It was hilarious when I think about it, but it means that I'm faced with continuity errors as well as grammatical ones now, and jeez, those are bad enough!
RL: Well, we had a surprisingly good day at the shop. Our decision to make a public announcement that we are struggling seems to be paying off, and folks are flocking in, trying to help in any way they can. It's so gratifying, that people want to help us so much. My chef made the most amazing Chicken and Corn Chowder soup, and people were practically fighting over it. My friend Kela, a baker, brought by a made-from-scratch Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Icing. It was huge, and we sold every slice (well, except the small one we QC'd - has to be done!). She wouldn't take a penny for it. Said she's just in a baking mood, but I have a sneaking suspicion her mood was brought on by a desire to help.
Next Tuesday, she's promised her Creme Brulee, which is the best dessert I've ever had, as far as I'm concerned. I've never had a dessert I enjoyed more. I was actually upset when I finished it. It is like silk, and tastes like something stolen from the gods, and Prometheus as got nothing on stealing fire. You just get the feeling that, as soon as they discover you eating it, you'll be punished, and it will have been worth it.
I am enjoying the new discipline of drabbling, which is so difficult for a verbose old windbag like me, but it is such a great exercise, and I totally get it when Mimi once told me they were addictive. I'm itching to try more, even though I'm up to my parts in two fanfics, plus a very crucial chapter in my original fic The Family.
The Hubs is invaluable at moments like this. He gets visited by the Muse lately almost as much as me. A few nights ago, he told me he had a dream, in which a huge black raven was sitting on a grey stone. The stone was covered in intricate carvings, and just as the Hubs had come upon the two of them, the stone had said something to the Raven, and the bird was furious. It gave the stone a vicious peck, and in a deep sonorous voice, said, "Consider yourself warned, Stone." It was kinda cool hearing The Hubs say this dire warning, speaking in his lovely, deep, voice. Hmmm. Doesn't hurt that he's from Surrey and sounds a little like...
He said, "I think your Muse was trying to give me something, but that's all I remember." Huh. That's all I need. I was jumping up and down. It sooooo fits my Droxy fic.
The Muse is a capricious little prankster, though. I'll polish up a chapter for LML, eager to hit the next one, and he'll say, "No, I want to work on Droxy's fic today." And suddenly I'm switching gears and working on Staring At The Sun. It's a very schizophrenic way of working, and it causes glaring errors. I sent Mimi some little bits to get her very valued opinion, and when she sent it back and I re-read what I'd written, my timelines were all over the place. It was hilarious when I think about it, but it means that I'm faced with continuity errors as well as grammatical ones now, and jeez, those are bad enough!
RL: Well, we had a surprisingly good day at the shop. Our decision to make a public announcement that we are struggling seems to be paying off, and folks are flocking in, trying to help in any way they can. It's so gratifying, that people want to help us so much. My chef made the most amazing Chicken and Corn Chowder soup, and people were practically fighting over it. My friend Kela, a baker, brought by a made-from-scratch Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Icing. It was huge, and we sold every slice (well, except the small one we QC'd - has to be done!). She wouldn't take a penny for it. Said she's just in a baking mood, but I have a sneaking suspicion her mood was brought on by a desire to help.
Next Tuesday, she's promised her Creme Brulee, which is the best dessert I've ever had, as far as I'm concerned. I've never had a dessert I enjoyed more. I was actually upset when I finished it. It is like silk, and tastes like something stolen from the gods, and Prometheus as got nothing on stealing fire. You just get the feeling that, as soon as they discover you eating it, you'll be punished, and it will have been worth it.
I am enjoying the new discipline of drabbling, which is so difficult for a verbose old windbag like me, but it is such a great exercise, and I totally get it when Mimi once told me they were addictive. I'm itching to try more, even though I'm up to my parts in two fanfics, plus a very crucial chapter in my original fic The Family.
The Hubs is invaluable at moments like this. He gets visited by the Muse lately almost as much as me. A few nights ago, he told me he had a dream, in which a huge black raven was sitting on a grey stone. The stone was covered in intricate carvings, and just as the Hubs had come upon the two of them, the stone had said something to the Raven, and the bird was furious. It gave the stone a vicious peck, and in a deep sonorous voice, said, "Consider yourself warned, Stone." It was kinda cool hearing The Hubs say this dire warning, speaking in his lovely, deep, voice. Hmmm. Doesn't hurt that he's from Surrey and sounds a little like...
He said, "I think your Muse was trying to give me something, but that's all I remember." Huh. That's all I need. I was jumping up and down. It sooooo fits my Droxy fic.
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 01:18 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're experimenting with drabbling and finding it enjoyable! It's a great exercise for telling a snippet of story in as concise a manner as possible. I find it easier to write when I have prompts, anyway.
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Date: 2011-01-20 01:52 am (UTC)Please see the comment below about ravens - it's fascinating!
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Date: 2011-01-19 03:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 05:11 pm (UTC)Glad you are getting reviews. I don't have time for much of anything fandom ATM. I think the schedule is so bad I am sacrificing costumes at this point. -sighs-
Yay for drabbles, its about all Ihave time for anyway!
Hugs
no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 07:34 pm (UTC)The fics will still be there. I'm getting happier and happier with your prompt fic everyday. If I can pull it off, I think it will be the best thing I've ever done. I'm childishly proud of it.
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Date: 2011-01-19 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 08:48 pm (UTC)Also:
And:
And:
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Date: 2011-01-20 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 04:02 am (UTC)He said the stone was about the height and shape of a standard-style tombstone, and it was covered with intricate carvings. It was sitting on a path of white-washed stones in a bright green field. He said it reminded him of the Tellytubby land, all green and white stones, like the ones that make up the Cerne Abbas Giant.
He said he went back there in his dreams last night, and the landscape was there, but the raven and the stone were missing, and the whole landscape was covered in snow...
no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 04:04 pm (UTC)Okay, taking a shot here, because I've had people in the past tell me that I'm pretty good at interpreting their dreams...
The green field may mean fertility/a time of growth/creativity; the path to/thru this field is not only clear, it is completely new (whitewashed) -- it has not been traveled on before.
The stone is a type of marker (it would help to know just what the carvings on it showed), perhaps delineating the boundary between the past/present, and what can be a future path. It reminded your husband of a tombstone because it shows the end (death) of one phase before leading to a new one.
I'm not sure how the Raven fits in -- for all the classic mythological meanings, it really comes down to what a Raven represents to your husband. But the Raven seemed angry/upset with the carved stone, which was more than a stone, since it was sentient and could speak. Perhaps Raven (whatever it represents to your husband) doesn't like Stone telling/showing your husband the clear path thru the fertile field...perhaps Raven thought it was too soon to reveal this information.
He said he went back there in his dreams last night, and the landscape was there, but the raven and the stone were missing, and the whole landscape was covered in snow...
The first dream showed him a future possibility; in trying to force his way back there, his Muse/Higher Self showed the same landscape, albeit in dormancy. The marker between the past/present and the future was not there, because the time to leave the past/present has not arrived yet...the fertile/creative time is not now, but sometime in the future.
Just MHO...
;-)
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Date: 2011-01-20 07:57 pm (UTC)Thank you for that insightful, thought-provoking interpretation. It has certainly made us feel a little more in control of things.
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Date: 2011-01-20 08:37 pm (UTC)Glad I could help. I seem to have a gift for being able to understand/interpret other people's dreams, I can never do it for myself! LOL
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Date: 2011-01-20 08:52 pm (UTC)You may feel that at this point there are many directions you could go, but the first dream showed that when the time comes there will not only be only one path, but that it will be obvious (bright, whitewashed stones)...
And Raven may represent your husband (and your) fears for the ending of one stage of your lives and the beginning of something new, as represented by the stone marker.
But in the first dream it seems that the weather was fine and sunny, so I would say that whatever the eventual path is, it is literally "looking bright"... ;-)
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Date: 2011-01-20 03:46 pm (UTC)I knew that the Raven is usually considered a trickster in American Indian myths, but that it also had additional mythological connotations.
Yeah, when I saw that Puget Sound myth I thought, "Hmmmmmm...."
;-)
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Date: 2011-01-20 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-21 01:30 pm (UTC)Good to hear from you...I know you've been super busy this week...missed you...
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Date: 2011-01-22 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-22 02:35 am (UTC)