Moved on

In case you didn't know, I moved over to wordpress.  You can find me here:

Allegraphy

Sunday, late morning

Ok, I was up quite early.  And, I took pictures!

Mostly I goofed around on the web while listening to Robert Jordan’s second installment in the Wheel of Time series, The Great Hunt, performed by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer.  Then, I watched an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and worked on my granny blanket project.

After this, I will be prepping my teaching materials so I can goof off the rest of the day.  It feels like a good day to mess about on my novel and do a data backup!  Wouldn’t want to lose all that hard work…

Maybe I’ll even get a walk in today–the sun is warm so maybe the roads will melt off enough to head out!

Seeing as it is Sunday, let’s try something traditional:  giving thanks for the daily bread.  Doesn’t it look yummy?

Fear not: Jonathan Swift said it was OK!

Source: Uploaded by user via Kaitlyn on Pinterest

How literature comes again to the rescue:  A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, 1729

What an eventful day

Of course, that title is an absolute lie.

I didn't do much of anything important.  I woke up and ate croissants that my sister brought me from Rachel's Bread.  [Yum!]  And then I graded some papers.  Then I procrastinated while watching Hulu.  And then I graded more papers.  Then I swept off the back steps so the sun could melt the ice and the dog would not go plummeting down to his death.  And then I graded more papers.  Then I watched more Hulu and procrastinated.  And then I graded a few more papers.

Then it was time for Facebook.

And of course, that brought about great wads of kicking myself because I still hadn't finished grading papers.  [At this point, it is dark.]  Then when I finally get the papers done, the participation grades still had to be figured and discussed.  So I worked like hell to get that accomplished.

Students are happy.  School isn't going to send little disapproving notes to my inbox.  So, more Facebook.

Now, it is quarter after 11pm and I realized I haven't eaten anything since this morning.  Damn my procrastination!

Miscellaneous

So today is Friday the 13th. 

I am considering taking the blog over to WordPress and I am testing it out.  I've been so used to Blogger and its easy familiar style that WP is a bit of a shock.  I need to figure out how to futz with their templates in HTML.  I don't like set-in-stone fonts or sizes.

So for the time being, I will post on both and see what happens.

[I'm still procrastinating!  Grades are due tomorrow...] 

Everything else

It is easy to forget writing.  Ten thousand other tasks loom up as the sun rises:  pay the phone bill, don't forget to water the plants, get those dirty dishes out of the sink and into the dishwasher.  These little tasks are like dreaded pop-up ads.  Only you can't just click the X to make them vanish.  They perpetually lie in wait.

I am a procrastinator.  I push things off until they can't be pushed off any more.  I procrastinate grading papers.  I procrastinate doing laundry.  I procrastinate mowing the lawn.  I even poke along at writing.  Heck, I am procrastinating this very minute!

What could I be doing instead of flapping my fingers here?  Writing.  Grading.  Dishes.

I need to continue with something similar to the NaNoWriMo habit of writing X number of words per day.  Surprisingly, even if I didn't really know what I would be writing that day, something always showed up and in a fairly compact amount of time.  I had plenty of time for procrastination afterwards!  This is the butt-in-chair process.

Have I practiced it since?  No.
Have I made any serious progress?  No.

So it is clear that my priorities are going to have to change.  Writing first.  Then all the other crap.

Future yummies

Guess what came in the mail yesterday?  My Seed Savers Exchange catalog!  [I linked to the page where you can sign up for a mailed copy or you can download it with no need for snail mail.]  I've had my 2012 Baker Creek catalog for a few weeks.  Both stores are amazing places to find heirloom veggie seeds.

I drool over the pictures.  I imagine growing wide swaths of vegetables and having them appear on the table fully prepared.  The canning shelves stock themselves with gleaming jars of summer love.  No more shipped-in veggies at the grocery store.  Food abounds!  Imagination--everything is magic. 

I am trying to be practical and realistic in my planning.  These traits being antithetical to my nature, I find this an exercise in overcoming wild flights of fancy.  I'm an idea girl.  Once I gain an understanding of what is required and how it is accomplished, I'm over my obsession.  But, this garden is one obsession that I feel is important.  [And each garden is brand new so I can't get bored or feel I've learned everything!]

I've still got seeds from my order last spring--things that I planted and others that wouldn't sprout or I didn't have room for.

1. French Breakfast Radish
2. Bull's Blood Beet
3. Rocky Top Lettuce Mix
4. Crnkovic Yugoslavian Tomato (pink)
5. Goldman's Italian American Tomato (red)
6. Ananas Noire Tomato (striped)
7. Black From Tula Tomato (purple)
8. Leutschauer Paprika (hot)
9. Black Hungarian Pepper (hot)
10. Quadrato D'Asti Rosso Pepper (sweet)
11. Red Cheese Pepper (sweet)
12. Eagle Pass Okra
13. St. Valery Carrot
14. Parisienne Carrot (an "extra" from Baker Creek)
15. Delikatesse Cucumber
16. Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean
17. Rattlesnake Bean
18. Purple Podded Pole Bean
19. Mayflower Bean
20. Musquee de Provence Squash (C. moschata)

There are still a few other veggies and varieties that I'd like to try and squeeze in as well...