We are several days into the standard time change.
It gets dark so early now.
Dinner is done, the dishes are washed, and I’m ready for bed by 7:00 PM.
I force myself to stay up until at least 8:00.
….and I’m wide awake at 4:00 AM.
Can we please stop this stupid time change thing?
I informed the Grown Son that when Dad is out of town, I am on Staycation.
I don’t cook or shop.
I’m quite happy to eat toast and fruit for dinner.
The Grown Son was very concerned.
What will he eat?
I informed him that there was cooked taco meat in the freezer.
He rummaged around until he found it, and then he objected.
Because it was frozen.
Excuse me?
What did he think he was going to find in the freezer?
A hot meal?
That reminds me…
I need to add some wine to my toast and fruit dinner.
Not only is November National Diabetes Awareness Month, It is also NaNoWriMo.
The idea is to write 1667 words a day.
If you do that every day, you will have written 50,000 words by the end of November.
I’m not entering the official contest.
In the official contest you have to upload your manuscript to prove your word count.
I’m not that trusting.
I’ll do the word count.
But I’m not uploading my work…
November is Diabetes Awareness Month.
Both of my sons have type one diabetes.
I don’t need a special month to become aware.
I’m painfully aware of diabetes every single day of my life.
I vowed, on that first day, even though I was terrified, that we would simply make the adjustments and carry on.
And we have.
It hasn’t been easy.
Some days have been awful.
Diabetes is like that.
On the bad days, we make the adjustments and carry on.
Because f**k you, diabetes.
Writers often ask if they can do writing on an unfamiliar topic.
“Do I have to limit myself to writing what I know?”
The answer is NO.
Stretch your mind and write on any topic you choose.
But be careful.
Your manuscript might get passed if your story doesn’t make sense.
I recently read a manuscript where the main character was a painter.
The author wrote about chiaroscuro.
But she clearly didn’t understand the notion of this artistic concept.
And she didn’t even spell it right.
I read another manuscript with Jewish characters.
But this author clearly didn’t understand Yiddish slang.
Words like “kvetch,” “schlock,” and “schmutz” were used completely out of context.
I started to binge-watch a popular Netflix series, but I had to quit.
The main character’s backstory is that he was a baseball phenom in high school.
However, there was a batting cage scene with the actor in a ridiculous batting stance.
A phenom should know how to position himself at the plate.
How in the world did this scene pass a technical edit?
I quit watching the show.
I quit watching that actor.
I’ll never get that goofy batting stance image out of my head.
The bottom line is that it’s OK to write about an unfamiliar topic.
But do your research.
Or your manuscript will get passed.
Or worse, it will get produced, and then it will become a laughingstock.
In the interest of wasting a whole lot of my valuable time, I just took an on-line quiz to determine which of the seven deadly sins I am.
I got Gluttony.
Gluttony?
Seriously?
I’m just a little bit insulted.
I would have preferred Sloth.
Which proves that Pride was the correct answer all along.
I received a text from SCE.
They told me that despite our medical exemption from voluntary rolling blackouts, we may experience a power outage due to fire conditions.
They told me to prepare.
Apparently SCE doesn’t realize that we have moved out of California.
I laughed and laughed.
Our insulin is secure in the fridge.
I don’t miss the Santa Ana winds at all.
Stay safe, Ventura County.
The storm on Sunday was severe.
The news is reporting that seven tornadoes touched down.
One of them was as big as an EF3.
I don’t like tornadoes.
At times like this, I miss California.
All I had to worry about in So Cal were earthquakes, fires, floods, power outages and outrageous gas prices.
But no tornadoes.
The thing that is really annoying me right now is that my neighbor’s massive blow-up clown is still standing.
Seven tornadoes couldn’t take that thing down.
That clown is haunted.
At least that’s what I think every morning while it watches me drink my coffee.
Wow – what a storm we had last night!
At first light this morning, we went outside to inspect for damage.
In the middle of the street was a large piece of debris.
It was a very wet sheet of cardboard.
Bob gathered it up and stuck it in the trash can.
That was the extent of the storm damage on our street.
Whew!
A tornado touched down nearby causing significant damage.
Luckily, our neighborhood was not in the path.
I’m not a big fan of tornadoes.
The neighbors have re-installed the massive, blow-up, Halloween clown.
The clown returned, and it continues to loom over my kitchen table.
It’s watching me while I eat…
However, I think it is some kind of bargain, knock-off, cheap quality sort of clown.
It’s already showing the ravages of time.
And we still have two weeks to go before Halloween.
I can only hope that bad weather will take it down quickly.
My husband says that I am not being neighborly.
Excuse me?
WHO is not being neighborly?
They are the ones who put up a clown.
Clowns are creepy.
I am simply standing my ground.
And praying for hail.
Very sharp hail.