Housekeeping

Randomly (except not really):

~ I think this entire week is going to be about catching up and taking care of business. I figure that the powers that be here at the office will smile a little more kindly on all of my recent absenteeism if I can show that I'm, y'know, actually getting my work done instead of blowing it off to write. In whatever spare time I can find, I'll be taking care of end-of-year personal crap and getting any necessary online Christmas shopping out of the way. All of which will free me up for...

~ MyNoWriMo! Seeing as how November did its ever loving best to beat me down and keep me away from my novel, once I'm caught up I'm going to declare the rest of December (excluding a few days off around Christmas) to be my own personal novel writing month. If I can't make 50K by the end of THIS month, then... well, then I suppose I shall cry. But rest assured, dear readers, that once MyNoWriMo gets underway you can look forward not only to more chapter updates at the writing blog, but also fewer in-depth and loquacious posts from me here. Oh yes, and a return to Gratuitous Marsters Picspam. And there was much rejoicing!

~ I think I've decided to forgo the Crapometer this time around. Like I said, my manuscript is nowhere near where I thought it would be by now, and even if it was, it would still be about a year away from being ready to query anybody. I think my time will be better spent, for now, focusing on how to tell the story instead of how to sell it. But as with previous Crapometers, I expect to learn a lot by observation, even without participation.

~ And in news that's totally unrelated to anything: if you're reading this via the feeds then you're probably not aware that I redid things a little around here. I just changed the background and coloring. It's not much, but I think it's both Holiday appropriate and non-specific enough that I won't have to change it as soon as the season ends. The new background reminds me of wrapping paper. Festive!

~ At last, I shall leave you with: Mittens!



These are a combination of two different patterns, one from each Stitch 'N' Bitch book, plus a little improvisation on my part. The main part is made out of Lion Brand Wool-Eze, so it's both low-maintenance and warm. The pair took me two snow days to knit, but again, I'm a slow knitter, and working in the round with (unwieldy!) double-pointed needles slows me down even more. A faster knitter could probably do the pair in a single day.