I've been doing PRETTY well with this writing competition that I have going with fellow Wyrdsmith, Kelly McCullough. But, yesterday, life happened.
I had way too many errands to do. I panicked about it for a while, but then I called my partner Shawn. She said, "You know what? Sometimes you have to do other things. It's OKAY."
And it was.
So I only got 461 words written. It's still 461 closer to "THE END." Some days, that's the best you can hope for.
Google Alerts found this gem for me: Review: Tall, Dark & Dead and Dead Sexy.
The last line made me laugh out loud. Though written by an Australian, it could have been written by a Minnesotan: "you could certainly do worse [than read these books]."
Uh... wow. I feel extra warm and fuzzy now. Although to be fair, the review, up to that point, is really quite nice. And, in context, the whole bit about doing worse is really quite positive. Still...I feel like calling my publicist and yelling, "Stop the presses! I need that tag line on the cover my next book: 'Could do worse!'"
According to my tarot journal, I drew this card on January 3, 2009. It's the first image in my new tarot journal for 2009, which I got from Shawn for Solstice. Anyway, here's my "mystical rambling" about why I drew it the way I did:
Here's Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans as the Empress. It's not totally rocking awesome, but there are still things about it that I like. One of the things I was fascinated by in the Rider-Waite version of this card was how the Empress seemed to be sitting at the boundary between civilization and wilderness. I really wanted that idea reflected in my own version, thus Medusa sits on a cushioned chaise lounge in front of a window that looks out on the moonscape (because, as you know, Bob, the Inhumans are currently based on the moon.)
I gave her the Venus shield and an orb with the equal armed cross because otherwise this card is devoid of the usual symbolism. You'd have to know me to know that I've always been fond of the Inhumans, particularly of Black Bolt, Medusa's consort/husband/king. He might have made a good Emperor card because responsibility is certainly his watch word given that he only has to utter a single whisper to destroy worlds. But, the relationship between Medusa and Black Bolt has also always fascinated me because, thanks to his awesome sonic power, she speaks for him. (She may be telepathic or, I don't know, they've maybe just been married that long.)Either way, there's got to be a lot of trust there, don't you think? Plus, if you like the Grail interpretation of the Empress and Emperor cards this makes her the "kingmaker," without her Black Bolt could not rule (as he could never make his wishes known.)
She's always seemed sexy to me, too, and -- though I can't point to any particular issue that makes me believe this -- I've always thought that she and Black Bolt had good sex and had a very sensual, loving relationship.
I feel like she's someone's mother, too, though I was corrected on LJ that she's Crystal's sister, not mother. Anyway, she seemed a good fit: mother, lover, ruler.
Yesterday was not a GREAT writing day for me. I only managed to get just over a 1,000 words written, though I did have a nice visit from a friend I hadn't seen in some time. So, there was that social upside thing. (Damn my need for friendship! How will I ever crush the competition if I keep having friends!!!)
Oh, and I should have a Marvel Tarot (tm) up tomorrow, as I took a picture yesterday. I'd get it up today, but I'm already late to start writing.
It's seriously ARCTIC outside today. Wind chills make the air feel -36 F, which is just... well, polar.
Mason, of course, was super excited. I think he was hoping to see my face ACTUALLY freeze off.
Meanwhile, yesterday was a good day for the race of words between me and Kelly. I wrote nearly 2,000 words (actually 1,784,) and am now at 26,220 words total. However, today has started out rough and I'm expecting a guest this afternoon which is going to completely derail me.
This is the problem with competition. There's no accounting for life.
Well, now that it seems the race is on, I'm going to be very motivated to keep my word count running. Have I mentioned that I'm very much motivated by competition? Well, it's true. I like to win. Or, really, I like to race, I'm not all that motivated by winning. I just just like the elbow jostling of a good competition.
Oh, and my digital camera seems to be working again thanks to the brilliant and technical mind of Shawn, my partner.
What else? I worked out today. My muscles ache.
Oh, and it's snowing, like really awesome, huge, white flakes. I kind of wish I had time to go for a nice long walk in it.
