Lockdown: Each one beach one

I got sort of a decent sleep Saturday night, possibly because Saturday was so mellow, or maybe because I didn’t watch the news. Or I guess because I was so sleep-deprived last week and my brain needed to catch up.

I still got up kind of early after not enough sleep, to hit the beach for the first time in two weeks. I got a good parking and jumped in while it was still pretty dark. I wanted to get out before there were too many others on the beach or in the water, and it mostly worked. There was an alarming number of people out there by the time I showered and drove away.

I picked up a few groceries at Foodland Farms, then hit the office. I didn’t have that much work, so I hoped to be out by 11:30. I got out just past noon and I guess that’s okay. Got home in time to watch some football and do a few chores. I think I even took a short nap.

Banged out 2322 words in the NaNo Skype. It was sparsely attended but three of us made good use of the time.

I picked up breakfast in the McD’s drive-through. I wasn’t planning to, but I’m driving with a very expired safety inspection sticker on the back of my car, and in order to avoid driving past a police car on my way to the beach, I pulled into the McD. Egg McMuffin combo, eaten at the beach before I jumped in the water.

For lunch, when I picked up groceries at Foodland Farms, I also picked up a roast beef sandwich. For a pre-made sandwich it was excellent. Ate it in the office while my software was updating.

For dinner I attempted bagna càuda, thanks to a recipe Jennifer sent me some time ago. Olive oil, anchovies, garlic, butter. I don’t think I got it quite right — the photos I’ve seen look pretty different from what I ended up with, but it was still delicious. I dipped a couple of bagels in it for my dinner, then put the rest in the fridge for Monday’s dinner.

I don’t think I texted with anyone Sunday. It’s always the slow day for texts, and it was fine. I had a good, relaxing day and there was good connection in the NaNo Skype.

You got that too if you need it. Just leave a comment.

Lockdown: Pitch imperfect

I didn’t get much sleep Friday night, so when I got up super early to hit the beach, I immediately just turned around and went back to bed. As much as I needed the sun, sea, and salt air on my body, I needed sleep more.

It was a good decision. I slept well for the remainder of the morning. Got up in time to pick up a pumpkin-custard pie from Hawaiian Pie Co. and a combo plate from Young’s Fish Market. I’ve sorta been thinking about that Hawaiian food ever since the last time I had it a month or so ago and Saturday seemed like a good day for a return. Picked up some kulolo there too.

I took it pretty easy Saturday day. Napped a little. Did a lot of personal writing. Finally slid Pitch Perfect 3 into the Blu-Ray player. I hadn’t seen it since the first time in a theater, and forgot how truly bad a lot of it is. Still, it made me pretty happy. I also watched the second half of I Love Trouble (which I forgot to mention I started Friday night), and quickly scribbled my review (below this journal entry).

When I met with the Skype group, we were all pretty motivated, waging several word wars in a short time. When I thought I’d had enough, I saw I was a couple of hundred words away from 25K, so I wrote some more and hit 2558 words, my third-highest one-day total this month. And I went just past the midway mile marker. Yay.

I spent a little bit of time looking up places selling Thanksgiving family meals. I’m not getting together with my family, but I want to buy my parents a meal. Maybe a large meal so I can take half of it and give them the other half. I’m running out of options and need to do this soon — lots of places are sold out, including Zippy’s and Foodland.

Tried to go to bed a little early, in hopes (again) of hitting the beach Sunday morning.

So breakfast and lunch were the Hawaiian food. Dinner was a slice of pie and some kulolo. Not a great dinner, I have to say, but I was a bit too full of Hawaiian food for a real meal.

Penny’s laptop came in, so she texted me to ask a few questions. I helped her through them and haven’t heard back so I’m guessing she got it working okay. Ali texted to say she saw the new Borat movie and wanted to know what I thought. Crush Girl texted to ask if I’ve seen a certain Netflix series a lot of people are talking about lately. Some friends have said they think I specifically would find it very interesting. I mentioned this stuff to Crush Girl and she said she hasn’t seen it yet but has been seeing the ads.

Vaccine news is encouraging, but it’s going to be several months before regular shmoes like you and me get a chance at them. This means we have to remain vigilant and safe. I admit I’m getting a little antsy. I’d like to eat out, or write my stupid novel in a cafe, or zip down to the Cannery to catch a very late movie. It’s not happening anytime soon. I’m psychically prepared for it; are you? If not, leave a comment and I’ll send you contact info. We can help each other through this mess.

Review: I Love Trouble

I Love Trouble (1994)
Julia Roberts, Nick Nolte.  Written by Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers. Directed by Charles Shyer.

What a stinker of a movie.  I Love Trouble is proof you can’t just throw together two charismatic actors and expect them to work well on screen.  This is not to say Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte as investigative reporters for rival Chicago newspapers have no chemistry at all, and they are both skilled enough to create a certain believability, but every time they kiss in this film, all I could think was, “Gross.”  Except that one time I said, “Ew” instead.

Roberts and Nolte famously did not get along while making this film (Julia said Nolte is the worst actor she’s ever worked with), but I seriously don’t think their dislike for one another is the reason the movie is so bad.  It’s the writing, which is preposterous.  Nolte’s character is a cartoon, both actors deliver lines they must have hated, and the movie doesn’t give us any reason to believe their characters have genuine feelings for one another.

It still has its moments as the reporters realize the only way they’re going to get to the bottom of a suspicious train crash is by working together.  There are a few genuinely funny moments, and a few lines that had me laughing aloud, a few clever turns of phrase.  And of course Julia is beautiful to look at, her doe eyes and toothy smile lighting up the screen as they always do.

Its few good moments make it not a complete waste of time, but keep your expectations low.  It’s one of the worst Julia Roberts films I’ve seen.

3/10
36/100

Lockdown: My excerpt opinion

I wrote about Thursday this morning, so if you’re a completist keep reading after this entry, or skip to that one before this. I know how particular you can be.

Friday I had a super light schedule. I actually had nothing on the calendar, and nothing needing my immediate attention, so I worked on a couple of stories. A donor story about a chocolate farm and a donor story about Hawaiian archaeology.

After work I watched the news and just chilled. It was a long, busy week, and I had time to breathe for the first time. I didn’t have any work due early next week, so I could probably take the entire weekend just to relax. I spun the new AC/DC album about six times — it was quite good, probably the best album they’ve recorded since the 80s.

I was ready to crank when we had our NaNo Skype session. The energy wasn’t very high; I think people were really tired. But I banged away on the keys while they chatted, and got 2130 words, putting me back on pace.

Of course most of what I’m writing is garbage, but underneath and amid the garbage are some good story ideas. I think with a lot of work, I can turn this into quite the readable cozy mystery. This month, I’m just going where it takes me and see what else I come up with.

Here’s a little excerpt of Friday night’s writing. You’ll see it has a little bit of rhythm and flow but lacks narrative and could really be trimmed to about half this length.


“Stacie, I feel stupid bringing this up, but you do know about the bookmaking, right?”

“What do you mean?  In the art classes?”

“No that’s bookbinding.  I’m talking about Martin.  He was kind of a wannabe bookie for a little while.”

“He took bets?”

“Yeah.  Nothing big time, just friendly wagers.  But a lot of friendly wagers among the faculty.”

“Did you make bets?”

“Yes, I placed bets almost every week during football season.  Little ones, like twenty five bucks here and there.  Never more than a hundred bucks a week.”

This was definitely it.  It had to be.  People were always getting murdered over gambling wages.  It’s why Hawaii is one of only two states in the nation with no form of legalized gambling at all, a fact many residents were frustrated wtih.  People like to gamble, and as long as they’re playing with their own money, why should anyone care?  I admitted I mostly agreed.

That government which governs best governs least, and all that.

“Graham, don’t you think this has to be it?  Martin was killed because he was a bookkeeper?”

“Bookmaker.  And no.  He quit doing it years ago.”

“Why?”

“He was doing it to make a few extra bucks, and because he loved gambling on sports.  I think he was using his winnings from taking our bets, and making his own.  But he said he gave it up becaue it was taking the enjoyment out of sports for him.”

“GRAHAM!!  This has to be it!  He was taking bets on campus.  He was making bets with someone else.  Somehow things got messy, Martin backed off, and someone killed him.”

“Years later?”

“Maybe someone had a grudge!”

“I guess.”


Breakfast. I drove down to Pancakes and Waffles for a Denver omelette and a mochi waffle, late in the morning. Breakfast and lunch, I should say. For dinner I used up the remainder of the elbow macaroni I bought for the Portuguese bean soup and threw some canned sauce on it, with dried garlic flakes, vodka, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes. It simple but yummy.

Crush Girl and I traded texts through most of the day about swimming, takeout, movies, and our Thanksgiving plans. Vicky texted me a happy Friday message. Reid texted me some info I requested about the pool hours at the park he directs.

That was it. An uncomplicated, mellow Friday. I need more days like this.

If you need someone to connect with, these pandemic days are likely to get crazier. So don’t go through it alone. Leave a comment and I’ll send you some contact info.

Lockdown: Another one flies the coop

I was exhausted Thursday morning after working pretty hard Wednesday. My conference session began at 7 and went to 8:30. It was really interesting and kind of fun. We applied the famous Pixar pitch to projects we’re working on, shared them in small breakout groups, and then had a large group discussion.

Around 10:00 I knew I needed a break, so I took a couple of hours before getting back to work. I’m working on a couple of stories and made decent progress on one.

One of my coworkers is leaving the foundation after 22 years. She’s one of the defining personalities of the company, so losing her is major. We had a Thursday sendoff via Zoom, and it was lovely and several people cried. I was sad, but what really made me want to cry was that twenty people were in the office, most of them attending via Zoom from their desks, but I shuddered to think of all those people in that space. Come on, people. We shouldn’t be less cautious than we were in March; we should be at least as cautious. The numbers aren’t going down and people keep dying.

I met with the NaNo Skype group and banged out 2021 words, pleased about getting myself back on track and pleased with a few places my story took me. I’m writing a cozy mystery set in a Honolulu public high school. The main character is a forty-something woman math teacher, and it’s been fun writing about teacher stuff within the framework of this mystery. I realized Thursday evening that I hadn’t done much to develop the supporting characters, and any lover of cozies knows the supporting characters are the reasons to come back for a second book. You absolutely need likeable supporting characters. Even some hard-boiled mystery series, like Sue Grafton’s, rely on supporting characters for series continuity and reader loyalty.

Breakfast was a couple of hot dogs with sauerkraut, ketchup, and mustard. This time on Chicago-style hot dog buns, coated with poppy seeds. Yeah, Safeway’s hot dog bun game is pretty strong. For a late lunch, I cooked a ribeye a few days past its sell-by date.

Thursday was Suzanne’s birthday, and I always associate her day with tacos. When we worked together, she brought in a bunch of Taco Bell tacos for the office on her birthday. So I wished her a happy day and told her I was having tacos to honor her. Hit the drive-through before my NaNo session. I didn’t really enjoy that meal either. I usually love Taco Bell but once in a while I get a little disgusted with myself midway through.

I pressed on, though. For Suzanne.

Ali and I traded a few texts about our coworker leaving. I sent her a few photos I took of the Zoom party. Crush Girl and I talked about what we did during the holiday. That was about it.

Hit me up in comments if you want someone to connect with. Pandemic’s not nearly done and nobody should go through this alone. Dang it.

Lockdown: Holy freaking mackerel

holy mackerel

I’m writing about Wednesday at 5:30 in the evening on Saturday. Woo. NaNoWriMo and work are making it very difficult not to fall behind.

Wednesday was Veterans Day, a holiday from work. But the major proposal I’m working on with the CEO needed work and he wanted to see it soon. I also had an assignment for the conference, and it took me a while to get it right.

I seriously thought about either skipping laundry Wednesday morning or pushing it off to Thursday, but ugh. These days I hate the thought of strecthing early-week stuff into the rest of the week. So after two hours of sleep I got up and just did it.

Turns out early on a holiday morning is a good time for laundry. I was alone nearly the whole time. I thought I might hit the beach but considering what I had to do Wednesday, I knew my best option was to get home as soon as possible and get as much sleep as I could.

I kind of worked on the assignment most of the morning and submitted it around noon.

I needed a break. I was completely drained. I don’t know if it was sleep deprivation, stress from work and the conference, or the flu shot, but I had no energy, so I went to bed for a few hours.

I got up and worked most of the evening on the proposal. This one fell outside the usual process, but when the CEO wants you to work a different way, what are you going to do? So I drank a rare evening Diet Pepsi and got to it.

I don’t remember when I got it submitted, but I thought I did okay for a second draft. I popped in on the NaNo group Skype and banged out something like 350 words. I just didn’t have it in me, and I had a 7:00 conference session, so I begged out early and went to bed.

Breakfast was a Big Mac combo from McD’s, consumed with little moans of pleasure at the laundry, although I think I got the fries right before they threw that batch out, because they were cold and stale. For lunch I fried up a ribeye a day or two past its sell-by date.

When I was at Safeway early Sunday morning, I picked up a tin of anchovies for this thing I want to prepare, inspired by a link Jennifer sent me. While I browsed the options, I grabbed a tin of mackerel too. I’m familiar with the brand — I’ve had the boneless, skinless sardines and they are great. A coworker got me hooked on them, and when they’re on sale at Costco every few months, they’re like a buck-thirty a tin. A regular part of my intake in normal times. I think I’ve only had them once since lockdown began, though.

That was dinner. I made a fresh pot of brown rice, then just popped open the tin and poured the mackerel and olive oil over it and went to town. The mackerel look a lot like the sardines but they’re larger. I took a bite and oh my gosh. Sublime is the word I immediately thought. They also tasted a lot like the sardines, but they were a lot mellower. There was something almost creamy about the texture and taste.

I looked around for my Safeway receipt (I keep all my receipts for at least a couple of weeks) but couldn’t find the stupid thing. I couldn’t remember what I paid for those stupid little oily fish but I’m hooked so it might not matter. Next time I hit the supermarket I’m grabbing a bunch. Although I’m a little worried they’ve spoiled me. Maybe I should finish my enormous stores of sardines first.

My friend-coworker is a fellow sardine fanatic so of course I texted her a photo of my new discovery. She said she’d seen them on the shelf but never tried them. Also, most of those texts I said I got Tuesday? They were Wednesday. Because of course I messed that up.

I’m going to see if I can write about Thursday sometime before bed.

Blah blah blah connections. Blah blah blah pandemic. Blah blah blach leave a comment. I’m blah blah blahing this but I’m sincere. You need connection you got it.

Friday 5: It can’t be that bad

“If it makes you happy, it can’t be that baaaaad…”

From here.

  1. What movie makes you happy?
    Two that come immediately to mind are Groundhog Day and Sideways. However, the unexpected recent answer is Pitch Perfect 2, which isn’t nearly as good as the first movie (which also makes me happy). Still, for reasons I can’t identify, it really does the job. Oh-em-aca-gee!
  2. What song makes you happy?
    The one that’s almost guaranteed to do it is REO Speedwagon’s “Roll with the Changes,” with REO’s “Live Every Moment” a very close second. I’ve got them first and second in my REO playlist and they’re just great for driving to work with. Shout-outs also to Michael Franti and Spearhead’s “Say Hey (I Love You)” and “The Sound of Sunshine.” And don’t tell anyone, but “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves does it to me too.
  3. What food makes you happy?
    I’m going to be specific and say indian food at Maharani in Honolulu. I almost never go, since I typically dine alone and you always feel bad as a solo diner in such a popular restaurant. When I go with friends I actually feel lucky to be eating such great food. Like I woke up and Morgan Freeman as God said, “You’re going to have a fantastic meal tonight.”
  4. Who makes you happy with just a text message?
    I wish I could give a better answer, but almost always Crush Girl. I think I’m nearly over my interest in her as more than friends, but she still lights up my day when she initiates a text conversation. It makes me feel special to know she’s thinking of me.
  5. What beverage is most likely to lift your spirits?
    Nothing beats a good cup of coffee. It really fills me with joy, especially now that I seldom drink it. Yeah, nothing else comes close.

Listen to Michael Franti and Spearhead and feel good today.

Lockdown: How do you know it’s nice to meet me?

this guy. thinks he’s going to be the conference jokester.

I’m writing about Tuesday and it’s only 8:38 Thursday. I’m getting closer?

I think I only got two hours of sleep Monday night. I could have gotten another hour, but I forced myself up to get a PSL from Starbucks and a couple of breakfast sandwiches from McD’s before the conference began at six.

We had a couple of large-group sessions after the formal introductions and housekeeping. They were a lot like the sessions two years ago, but it was fine. Some of the same material, framed differently. One’s persuasive writing skills can always use a booster. The speaker in one session said his approach isn’t exactly to persuade someone to give; it’s to inspire someone to give.

Heck yeah I wrote that one down. It’s exactly the approach I take, and I’ve tried to muscle and finesse my influence on the writing I get to produce or edit. Sure, there are times and places for numbers and Things With All These Capitalized Words, but hit someone’s inspiration button and hit it meaningfully, and you can toss most of that in the slag heap. Make someone feel something.

There were three breakouts, for which we signed up weeks ago. I’m in the “major gifts” writing workshop. That’s a term in the business. The leader of the workshop is the same guy who did it two years ago, and I really respect him. It shouldn’t matter to me that he has two English degrees, but it does. It means he’s a development officer who understands writing from a writer’s perspective, not merely from a fundraiser’s perspective. Instant cred.

I’m socially awkward, so I always have difficulty fitting in at these things at first. It’s why I make a point of either asking a good question or offering a good answer sometime in the first session. I don’t need the others to take me seriously, but it helps me get the most out of the time we have; it makes me a lot more comfortable.

they really shouldn’t encourage me.

Being from Hawaii always helps. People want to talk to you if you’re from Hawaii, and I’m here for it.

They gave us a writing assignment that was going to take me some serious time. I didn’t even know for sure I had an active project to use for it, but when I looked at the material some development officers sent me for a group proposal, I knew I had something good to work on.

If I were at a real-world conference, of course I’d have the rest of the day to work on it and to do whatever. Probably get dinner with some of the other participants, which is what happened last time. We would have had an early-evening reception, which I would have attended with great anxiety.

But I’m in my usual spot at my usual desk this time, and because we’re on East Coast time, I’m actually done at noon. Which leaves plenty of the workday for work. Unfortunately.

I did it, too. After dashing to the pharmacy for a prescription refill, a spur-of-the-moment flu shot, and a takeout lunch nearby, I had a Zoom meeting, then a one-on-one with the boss, and I’ll spare readers the details, but I was utterly wiped. And still tried to do NaNoWriMo.

I only got 1124 words out of me before I had to run the white flag up the pole. And that was a struggle. I think the flu shot might have hit me hard, too, right into Wednesday.

I’ve often been accused of not knowing how to take a compliment, and I see why people say it. It took me until well into college to learn to say “thank you for the encouragement” when people say something nice about something I’ve done, just as it took me the same amount of time to learn to say “It’s nice to meet you” when I meet people. I told you: socially awkward.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate a compliment, and it’s not like it’s unpleasant to meet people. There’s just this part of my brain that takes these interactions literally. When someone compliments me on something, I’m thinking of all the things wrong about it. And when someone says “It’s nice to meet you,” all I can think is, “You have no idea if it’s nice to meet me.”

But these are not literal interactions. I know that now; I’ve known it since very late into college. I still have to coach myself ahead of time, though, to accept these things and to play my role.

I digress here because it doesn’t take long in these writers workshops for me to feel a quick shift. People recognize that I can write, even sometimes before seeing any of my writing. It’s one of the very, very few things I accept compliments on without forcing a thank-you. I know I can write.

And I have to say it feels really good to be complimented on my writing, because it’s one of the only things I want to be complimented on. My coworkers compliment me frequently, although less frequently than when I was new. They’re used to me now, which in some ways is even better.

But maaaaaaaan it feels good to be acknowledged for my ability to do something I really care about by people whom I’ve just met. It makes me feel for a short moment that all these crazy things in my brain and all these ridiculous things about my personality are okay. They might even contribute to my writing well. Even if they don’t, I feel myself carrying them a little more easily.

The foundation can’t afford to send me to this conference every year, and I’m only going this year because I didn’t have to fly to it — and the conference registration by itself is pretty dang pricey. But I may consider asking to go again in two years, and if they can’t pay for travel and lodging, I might offer to cover that part of it, just for the professional affirmation I get. It helps me sleep a lot more peacefully.

Breakfast was the McD’s stuff with a lovely, lovely pumpkin spice latte. For lunch I went to the 99 Ranch market, which is just called Moanalua 99 or something these days. Enormous food court where there used to be an enormous Asian grocery. There’s a local plate lunch place there that’s just okay, but it has one dish you don’t see anywhere else: Jamaican chicken. I don’t know how Jamaican it is or why it’s called Jamaican, but it’s freaking good. I haven’t had it in years, so when I was in Mapunapuna to get my scrips refilled, I picked some up and brought it home.

That was lunch and dinner, and part of breakfast the next day. I think I’m going to do something similar next Tuesday: not worry about food at all but get decent takeout. I should submit a per diem request since I’m at a conference. I shouldn’t be expected to pay for my own food!

I got the rare text from Susannah. She sent me some encouraging words about NaNoWriMo, which she’s participated in and won. Also from my friend Melody who is having Twitter problems. Someone took over her account, and she’s had it since a few days before me in 2006. Crush Girl and I traded a few texts to talk about our Wednesday holiday. She had a few fun things lined up, but I knew I’d pretty much be working all day.

Tuesday was in turns rough and terrific. I guess I’ll take it?

Leave a comment if you’re not getting enough connectivity these days. I’ll do my best. We can text or DM or whatever, if I don’t forget!

Lockdown: Don’t remember much but the voices remember it all

I’m writing about Monday on Thursday night at 10:55. Silly.

I had all kinds of trouble falling asleep Sunday night. I don’t really want to get into it, but it’s like turning off the part of my brain that was stressed about the election turned on the part of my brain that replays all the stupid things I’ve ever said and done. It was miserable.

The work day was difficult and kind of a blur. I know I didn’t produce any drafts. I did respond to emails. Spent a little time editing web content.

I spent a good chunk of my work day getting ready for the writer’s conference I’m attending over the next two weeks. It’s the conference I went to in Boston two Novembers ago. Although I didn’t travel this time, I did spend some time clearing some mental space. To see things with novice eyes, as a wise Japanese chef in Seattle once advised Reid.

I also spent time setting up my green screen for the Zoom meetings. That took much longer than it should have.

Breakfast was a couple of hot dogs with sauerkraut, ketchup, and mustard. Bad but good. Lunch was corned beef hash with hapa rice and a couple of eggs. Bad but bad. I regretted it so much I skipped dinner, opting instead for a couple of clementines.

Crush Girl texted me to ask for some help with a letter she was writing. One of my favorite kinds of messages. I love helping people with writing. Jennifer sent me a link about Powell’s (the Portland bookstore) but I haven’t read it yet.

That was it. This might seem short because I’m writing about it two days later, but Monday really wasn’t very outstanding in any way. And I was freaking tired from the stupid voices in my head Sunday night.

I’m a little bit of a mess. I was Monday and I am Wednesday night. More about that when I get around to writing about Tuesday.

Don’t forget to leave a comment if you need someone to connect with. I’m probably not much use to you this week but I’ll get it together!

Lockdown: Boba the clown

I’m writing about Sunday at 3:57 Wednesday morning. This is bad.

I got up really early Sunday. Now that most of the Continental U.S. has fallen back, the early Sunday football games kick off at 8:00 rather than 7:00, so I’m supposed to get an extra hour of sleep Sundays.

I guess my poor, tortured soul isn’t quite finished being poor or tortured. I slept pretty well but just not very long. I had considered getting up early anyway, to hit the supermarket and get my in-office work out of the way so I could come home and either sleep or catch a late-morning football game.

I got to the Piikoi Safeway at about six, or maybe a little later. It opens at five. I kinda wanted to get there at five to avoid as many people as I could, but ah well.

Didn’t pick up that much. I was shopping from an abbreviated list because of fridge space plus no planning for meals.

Grabbed breakfast at Zippy’s. A Surf Pac Deluxe. Yeah, it’s far too much food but I wanted mix of flavors and I figured it would definitely be enough for two meals. Which it was.

Man, I spent far more time in the office than I thought I had in me this weekend. Got there around seven and didn’t get out until after two. I had set a loose goal of exiting at noon. What a bozo. But I was doing actual work, mostly,

This means I got home in time for the ends of football games. I can’t remember which ones. Steelers and someone. And Cowboys and someone, I think. They both went to the wire and were fun to watch. Then I took a long nap and missed most of the late game, which is now really late. There’s a big difference between the last football game’s ending at 5:30 and its ending at 6:30.

It’s okay. I wasn’t really in the mood for football anyway. Plus, I think only one of my fantasy teams won this week.

I only managed 791 words on my novel and I can’t remember why. I did meet with the Skype group and I know we wrote. Was I working on something else? This is why I hate being so far behind on this journaling.

I’m pretty sure if I just open the file I’ll remember what happened. This year, I’m doing everything in Google Docs, with each day’s writing a separate document. It makes it easier to stick to my (loose) rule of only reading the work from the day before, plus it gives each day’s work its own character. I mean character as in quality, not character as in person in a story.

For dinner Sunday I had the rest of my leftover Korean veggies on hapa rice. Bean sprouts, kim chi, and cucumbers. Delicious.

Sunday I texted Crush Girl, Ali, and a couple of other people to see if their phones could display the new boba emoji. Of the small number of people I asked, none had updated thir iOS to 14.2. Too bad. I would have sent boba to everyone.

Sylvia texted me a photo of her latest gourmet popcorn purchase. I can’t get into popcorn like that for some reason. It doesn’t taste right to me if hasn’t just been popped. Although I guess I have SmartFood popcorn once in a while, so maybe I should give it a chance. The flavors Sylvia gets do look interesting.

Penny texted me to ask for computer advice. She finally ordered one. At age [redacted], she’s about to own her very first computer. I’m kind of excited for her, and she’s getting a good machine. Essentially the same machine I have but with half the storage. I’m glad also because for her birthday this year, I got her a four-port USB hub and a wireless mouse. The gift makes more sense now.

Computers don’t come with an adequate number of USB ports anymore. Remember when the fruit-flavored iMacs had two ports in the side and two ports on the front? My work laptop only has one port, and my personal laptop has two, and they’re too close together so if you’re using a bulky jump drive you can’t plus anything else in.

That was Sunday. I’m going to have to do two entries a day until I’m caught up, so Monday will be sometime later today, although where I’m going to find time is a mystery yet to be solved. Maybe the heroine in my NaNo project will take it on.

Reach out if you’re looking for some connectivity in these depressing days of pandemic. Just leave a comment and you too could receive emojis your phone won’t display.