Out on the river

Writer guy

Work on draft 6 of The Ridge Runner continues. Since starting work on May 10th I’ve revised, rewritten or written for the first time more than 225 pages. Using the Revision History feature in Open Office 1.1 makes it clear how much the book has changed in such a short time.

I’m not alone in the sudden decision to change the perspective. John Irving ( World According to Garp, Cider House Rules ) handed over in his manuscript for his latest book recently had a change of heart at the last minute. The publisher and editor had accepted the draft, which was in first person, but he decided that the story was best served as a third person kind of tale. Now he’s revising it from the top down in a mad rush to make the deadline.

Maybe there is something to just going with the gut even if it seems incredibly inconvenient. True, this is the same gut that was pretty sure first person was the one true path. Ah well, don’t want to question myself out of a good story now do I?

Sigh

Writer guy

This morning there was a baby starling in the bathroom. Very cute but very confused. It was cute and I was confused. The first hint of it’s presence was when it pecked my bare foot.

I scooped up the bird and placed it in the window sill. The bird refused to fly away through the open window. A few nudges later we were still playing chicken.

My method for resolving low impact problems is to let them fester for awhile. If it’s still an issue then I’ll deal with it. Unfortunately, the starling has read my play book, because it was in the window 5 minutes later.

It was time for Lecter.

sam: Hello Clarice.
starling (twitches) : chirp.
sam : You think if you sit in my window sill forever, your mother will stop screaming?
starling (twitches again)
sam: Better fly home to mama now.
starling flies away.

New look on life

Writer guy

In response to the Trojan/Malware/Adware rogue web site attack on my PC tech guy replaced nearly all my MS software with comparable products from other vendors.

Internet Explorer or Internet Exploder to tech guy? Gone. Now I use Firefox 0.9. Outlook Express? Replaced by Thunderbird. I guess these open source tech types drink a lot of cheap booze. Bring me the Maddog 20/20 photo editing program.

The cool part was that it all was free and easy to get running. All my contacts, bookmarks and email settings work like before. All the songs still play.

Of course, I had to learn how to use a bunch of new applications but it was pretty easy to get my swerve on. The interfaces are different, but not that different from the old stuff. Besides, it’s good to try new things.

PC strikes again

Writer guy

Whilst typing away this morning a fuse in the power box blew. The real fun started once the new fuse was in place.

The Wife: There’s something wrong with the PC.
sam: It runs perfectly.
The Wife: It won’t turn on.
sam( presses power button – nothing happens )
sam: I’ll call tech guy.
Tech guy: What did you break now?
sam: The PC won’t start.
Tech guy: Is it plugged in?
sam: Yes! Seriously it won’t fire up.
Tech guy: You’ve been googling again haven’t you?
sam: This is serious! Press button – we got no power.
Tech guy: I’ll check it out. Don’t touch anything.
Tech guy checked all the connections, but it still won’t start. Popping open the case tech guy made a discovery. He held up a massive wad of gray cat fur for me to see. It could be from only one critter in the house, the long hair cat, Electra ( Buddhapuss’s apprentice )
sam (to The Wife): Honey look at what your cat did! She broke the PC.

Tech guy vacuumed out all the fur and all was good. Now the PC runs like a top.