Week(s) In Review: A Pictorial Adventure

So where have I been, yes that would be the question considering that, unless we’re connected on Facebook, no one has heard from me in weeks. I don’t call, don’t write. Yeah, ‘dropped off the face of the virtual Earth’ (yet again) is pretty accurate. But I have done some amazing and fun stuff in my electronic absence.

And the train continues to roll so rather than sit here for ages typing out all the details of my recent misadventures in construction, paint, music, old friends and pastry, it occurred to me that a nice array of photos is surely a much lazier way to share the information.

And retain it for that matter. See? Really I’m just thinking of your time. Yeah, that's it.

So without further random babble from me, here is essentially a month in review…

A whole bunch of these got painted, glazed, varnished, etc. over the past couple weeks for Chucka Stone Designs, and more will be done this week (plus I might actually finish the furniture pieces this weekend, amazing!)

I hosted a week long giveaway over here that I enjoyed promoting.

This holiday came and went & Matt and I thankfully didn’t feel pressured to celebrate (because it is a silly tradition started just to make people feel bad who are single and obligated who are together so the card, chocolate, flower and jewelry industries can live on for one more day. OK. Jumping off my soapbox now…) But my mom sent us this card and it was very sweet of her!

The FINAL season (sob) of Tuesday night crack began. (Yeah I know he’s not on the show anymore but he was my favorite character and he did make an appearance in the first episode this season. Plus he’s hot, so there.)

We had a chance to catch this guy’s act live, and solo for the first time, which was so much fun! We were right at the edge of the stage in the Red Room at Café 939.

Then I started doing a whole bunch of this. (Thanks for the video still shots This Old House)

Of course that job is in central Mass so that meant I was in this a lot. Don’t worry, my car wasn’t recalled. Baby drives great.

Even though painting and plaster is a great workout it was good to do a little of this in addition to keep loose. Climbing ladders requires a certain level of already in shape-ness so as not to fall asleep on the sofa every night at 10:00. Oh wait…

I have been helping to clean out the family house which desperately needs to be finished and sold. My Aunt, mom and I spent six hours in this room getting it to look this empty. I wish I were kidding. But it is done now and so we celebrated with subs (hoagies, wraps, whatever you call it in your neck of the woods -- sandwich filling in a long roll). I took this round table home and it is now gracing my back hall under the window; it looks perfect with the bench on the other side, since they are a matching set.

Of course Thursdays have still been all about this. Wouldn’t miss that for anything!

Had a chance to catch one of my mom’s favorite performers, Seth Glier (on piano), this past Friday night. I can see why, wow this kid has talent!! At only 21, he has a long career ahead of him. (He plays SXSW every year so if you’re near Austin, TX go check him out!). Plus he remembered my mom on sight by name, asked her later what she wanted to hear and made a point to come over and apologize that he didn’t have time to play it after the show was over. Now that’s class.

And now this morning I’m finishing coffee and writing. Not to mention eating one of these; purchased after dinner with friends in Davis Square last night. Yum!

The month in review has now commenced. Holy crap, can’t believe it’s just about March already! Bring on the warm weather, yippie!

Focused Thought Thursdays, for November Anyway

As I’m sure everyone can imagine my thoughts have me pretty well focused on NaNoWriMo tomorrow. Actually midnight tonight but I plan to be attending a party at that hour (or already home and sleeping), the last hurrah of freedom if you will. That is a good escape because there is not much else going on in my brain right now outside of character development and scene and structure outlines.

But I am trying to stay true to the Nano process and not write anything concrete until tomorrow. That has not been a challenge, which I guess is the first hurdle crossed for me.

I usually get so wrapped up in a character I dive in with reckless abandon, not caring if there is anything concrete to back it up. What that usually means for me is I get about 8,000 words out and then abandon the project in search of something fresh and new because I have no idea where this character is going. This time I can actually feel the entire story coming together. Yippie!

So you want a synopsis? OK, here you go…

“Sarah, a freelance sports writer, has no Choos in her closet, but rather, enjoys spending time with the girls at a friend's bar on a Thursday night, drinking a beer instead of a highly overrated cosmo. Her girlfriends are self made and while one is nearing the brink of stardom, another is wildly successful in the ever growing Green industry. Sarah's mom can be a bit abrasive at times and only wants to see her happily settled with a good man, but the great man in all of their lives recently revealed some information that will have the girls opening their eyes to just how short life could be.”

Like I said last week, its Chick-Lit but I am keeping her a lot more real inside the world of fantasy. Everyone always says write what you know. Well I know sports and Green products and beer so it’s a start I suppose. I also know friendships, strong and lasting ones that weather anything. Currently I am learning music (which I think is what I’ll be doing with the “brink of stardom” friend; perhaps a lead singer) and I have had some experience with both comedy and tragedy in this life of mine.

The real test is going to be writing characters that encompass their own unique personalities while embracing a little bit of each other at the same time. I have some inspiration for this book but it is mostly chick-flick romantic comedies. Here is where I stand up and introduce myself so I might as well get it over with…

Hi, my name is Jenn. Although I am a writer I barely ever read.

There, now that the secret is out I can go into more detail as to why. When I put characters down on paper I actually see the scene I am writing in a mind’s eye, visual way. I can feel the table they are sitting at, notice the peeling paint in the corner of the wall, smell the garlic roasting in the kitchen, know how comfortable the main character is in their clothing. Its weird but when I write it is like a movie plays so I figure why fight it, I simply use that medium as my inspiration.

So anyway I need to come up with a whole slew of stuff but hopefully it will just come to me. Ha ha, yeah, hopefully. Pretty much it is all names -- the main character’s (not set on Sarah…maybe Sara is more modern?) including the last name, names of all the supporting cast, name of the band, the bar, the Green products company, the main character’s company. Additionally I need to figure out the moment we enter their lives and at what point I will have her meet a good man (if at all).

The good news is I have some standard Chick-Lit “stereotypical” stuff already -- fantasy jobs for all the characters, an intrusive mom, a bad boy (which I already have a name for strangely enough), the hang out spot, the conflict they will face, the age group, a love interest -- plus I already know that I will not have a gay “BFF” or any of them shopping for $500 shoes as retail therapy. I know it’s a fantasy world but I’m not trying to rewrite Sex and the City here.

Anyway, it all kicks off in the morning, thankfully the Patriots have a bye this week so I will be able to write as inspired. I already have my trusty composition book and about 4 black ink ball point pens ready to go and I intend on bringing that baby with me everywhere but my drum lessons. After all it is a little tough to write holding two sticks and in reality I think I just need to turn it off for at least an hour a week, it will be like really cheap therapy.

So have a really happy Halloween everyone, be safe and don’t eat too much candy unless its Reese cups. Then go and read everyone else who rocks out on Thursday (or there abouts, most of the time).

KC, Ginger, Kate, Bridgete and Bree

PS What’s really cool is that my word count for Nano should be 1667 per day and this is 875 (up to the links). A little over halfway there, and this stream of consciousness came to me in about a half hour; now I just have to channel that into a different character and its go time. Maybe I won’t be up as late at night as I thought.

Thanks for letting me borrow your picture Mom!

Beyond Cool

Wowsa, yesterday was great! I chatted with so many different people, handed out tons of cards, discussed the importance of using upcycled material in my designs, saw some family and friends and even sold a few items which had me not only reaching where I wanted to be but exceeding the goals I had set out for the day. WOO HOO!

My Mom did this fair last year and convinced me to give it a go because there was fairly decent traffic and a nice mix of buyers and sellers. She was not wrong! We were lucky enough to request tables right next to each other which was great so we could man each other’s booth when one of us had a need to venture out. Here are the original set ups; we both adjusted placement of materials as the day went on and after doing so both of us got more sales. Coincidence?

I promised to keep everyone updated on the progress of the entertainment center construction as well and Matt certainly got his pallet on yesterday! He located a coffee house in Brighton who was advertising on craigslist that free pallets were available behind the store for anyone to come and snag anytime they like. Some of the reasons he went with that particular one were because he figured they would be sturdy pallets due to the weight they would have to bear as well as a lack of leaked material on the wood which could mean mold or just yucky smells. Other than the aromatic smell of coffee, which if you know us at all is not exactly something we consider a detriment, the wood was mold and smell free.

He was able to acquire a good number of pallets that could be broken down on site (not always possible) and where he did not have to take everything just to get a few good ones (something many places actually required). When I arrived home yesterday he was out on the balcony removing nails and pieces from each other with a bunch of tools.

It took him a good five or six hours to complete everything yesterday from driving over there to completing disassembly but at the end of the day he had a nice stack of lumber drying on the balcony, ready to be planed down.

Since we are attempting to construct this unit completely for free (meaning we do not want to spend any money we have earned from jobs to pay for necessary material needed for construction like hardware, screws, biscuits, glue, paint, etc), as well as reduce the clutter in our apartment, I knew it was time to sell a few more items on craigslist as well. Friday afternoon I posted our old dehumidifier that we still had hanging around from the days of owning a house with a wet-ish basement.

Up until Friday we had been using it as a stand for our bedroom fan; not really operating in the way it should be (plus Matt can just build us a new stand out of pallets right?). Well while he was deconstructing on the balcony, I was in our living room meeting up with a guy who saw the ad on craigslist and came to buy it. Cha-ching. Fifty dollars immediately went into the entertainment center fund and someone who needed it would be putting the dehumidifier to use in its correct function! That will surely acquire a goodly portion, if not all, of the necessary materials we need to finish this baby up.

Matt just wrote up a little something on his pallet retrieval experiences; those who are inclined can read it here.

Based on his calculations we are currently at +$49.18. Yippie!