teratornis

So, in my infinite wisdom, all my winterizing prep (getting firewood stockpiled, skirting the house, putting a new rug on bare floor) did not take into account the concept of drafts. The house has begun to leak like a sieve, and since the mild autumn (for which I was grateful every day) was replaced with instant heavy snowfall and below zero wind-chill on December 2nd, this has not been a fun week.

However, on the good side, the shock effect from last winter (where every day felt like three) has worn off and time is moving at a more normal pace. So the blast of cold misery will be over before I know it.

Things I've been doing, to relax during the cold mornings and evenings under blankets, include:

Discography dives. I used to do that for fun as a teen, and I've taken it up again, because everything is available online, and it's fun to have context and actually form an opinion. So far I've done Buffalo Springfield and half of Simon & Garfunkel, writing my impressions in a wordpad doc. I did check to see if there's a music community on DW, so I could post them, but nothing looks like a good fit.

Reading fic. For the past year I have read next to nothing, but I've finally found myself in the mentality to enjoy it properly, so I'm getting back into that. And the Shortcuts stories will be available soon. I don't regret sitting this year out, it was absolutely the right decision for me, but commenting on everything will give me the chance to say hi, anyway.

Writing fic. I have this forlorn ambition to actually finish both Sidelined and Counterclaims this month. I doubt it will happen, but I'm trying to treat it like a real deadline, because that busts up my usual procrastination and makes words happen.

I would also really like to finish reading Dune this month. I respect it, but I've also discovered that I don't actually enjoy worldbuilding. I love lore on TV shows because it's a spaghetti disaster with dozens of inputs that often contradict each other. It provides me a mental workout trying to make sense of nonsense.

Book lore is the work of one vision. The heavy lifting is done and there's nothing to parse. Unless the writer is incompetent, I guess (which Frank Herbert isn't). It's a superior medium for worldbuilding, but it turns out I don't actually care about any of that stuff. I don't want an encyclopedia, glossary and map - that takes all the fun out of it.

Well, I've pulled out of my most recent spiral of depression, so here's a quick update on non-real life.

I am writing again! I fell off completely after the last chapter I posted, and had been completely stuck with both WIPs, but here I am making actual significant progress with Sidelined. The end of the chapter is in sight, I just have some dialogue to figure out. This is an extremely dialogue-heavy chapter. But I will make it happen!

I have also started the task of going through my fic, finding and replacing all my incorrect (though convenient) usage of hyphens with grammatically proper em dashes. Because it's cold out, and this is the sort of finicky task that suits long evenings. I'm starting with my Highlander fic, because I've never yet written a multi-chapter work in that fandom. A subconscious attempt to keep my madness in check, no doubt.