doglight
  • Home
  • About
    • Godlight
    • Writing
    • Graphic Design Projects
    • New Media
  • Contact

Monthly Archives: December 2011

a day of Kelliness

Posted on December 27, 2011

Yesterday, the day after cx-mas, I took Kelly to the vet because she’s been licking at her left front paw. Zor said it had been bleeding, but I examined the foot and didn’t see any evidence of that. In fact, I didn’t see anything wrong with it, and feeling around didn’t show me anything either, no glass, no gravel. I was puzzled, but not particularly worried, until Cobie started trying to lick it too. Then T-Moth touched her paw and she yiped. Kelly doesn’t yipe, even when Cobie steps on her, so.

We use a multi-veterinarian practice, mostly because Cobie gets carsick and it’s close. I like all the vets we’ve seen there, but this particular vet’s name is Wolf so I love her more. They took Kelly to the back to examine her away from me, which always worries me, and I heard Kelly whine a little. Then Dr Wolf said her claw was cracked down by the flesh where the claw grows out of the foot, and that it was very inflamed and painful, and she wanted to (asked if she could) keep Kelly for a while so she could give her a mild sedative, clean the area (mud season has dunlap disease this year; it’s dunlapped over the holidays) and treat it without traumatizing the poor thing.

After laying all that out, she stood there waiting and I got a faint impression that she expected me to say no, and under different circumstances I might have had to, or at least negotiate for a payment plan, but I still had a wee bit o’ student loan money hoarded back (earmarked for folders and printer paper) and so, even though I’m quite sure that’s not what that money is for, of course I said yes.

Well, first I asked, “How long are we talking here,” to which she replied, “A couple of hours, until this afternoon.” But I was already going to say yes before I asked, although leaving her there, without even getting to say goodbye, was one of the harder things I’ve done recently. Way harder than, say, a colonoscopy.

“Pick her up after three but before six,” Doc Wolf said.

So I went home. Zor had watched Cobie, which she reported mostly consisted of listening to him whine disconsolately. So I spent the afternoon taking down the cx-mas decorations and wearing him out so he wouldn’t be so POUNCEY when Kelly got home.

This neighborhood isn’t laid out in nice normal blocks, and I have nick-named most of the routes it’s possible for me to go; there’s the little block, the double block and now the triple block–not very creative, I know. I was ecstatic to be able to make it all the way around the triple block in spite of not having been as active as I should have been since school let out in November. I’d never tried the triple block before; once Tim had to come get me from the little block when my back went into spasm from Cobie’s relentless yanking. But with Kelly not along, I could focus on getting Cobie to not yank, and he did pretty well, only almost yanking me off my feet one single time.

There seems to be a rule in this neighborhood that asshole dogs all live in corner lots so you have to walk past them twice as long. Mom suggested that maybe living in corner lots makes good dogs turn into assholes, and that could be so, but I don’t think it’s true. Our corner neighbor has a nice dog we hardly know is there.

So after the walk, we played Cobie-fetch with the Kong Ballistic boomerang. Cobie-fetch involves a wrasslin match at the end of every fetch, until he arbitrarily decides to “gizzame it,” which is my version of “release.” Oh, and he only plays fetch in the house. Outdoors he just looks at you crazy, or waits til Kelly fetches and when she’s almost brought it back, takes it away from her and runs away with it. Anyway, we played in the house, a hundred pounds of moose galloping up and down the hall, for a half hour or forty minutes, whereupon he suddenly required a nap.

After that I got hooked into a marathon of Property Virgins, a program I very much enjoy but hardly ever watch. I think I got my fill for a while yesterday though! It was on until seven, and I only took an hour break to collect Kelly.

The vet’s office was packed, and it took them a while to get to me. Part of the delay was caused by a dog an elderly gentleman had brought in, a stray. She was beautiful, a border collie and/or Australian Shepherd and/or something mix. I don’t know how long he had her before someone suggested her have her scanned. Sure enough she had a chip installed, and there were records on file. Unfortunately her humans didn’t answer the phone and the chip company had to leave a message. But they did learn her name is Tina and is an escape artist who has disappeared before. So Tina will be going home soon, if she hasn’t already. And seriously, I was willing to wait a few more minutes to collect Kelly for this.

Microchips work. Keep your info updated!

So finally Kelly and I were home, and she was really cold, which I related to because whenever I am physically traumatized I suffer low blood pressure afterwards and that just makes me BRRR. So I cuddled her up beside me on the sofa and wrapped her in my hoodie, whereupon evil Oliver the asscat decided to pretend he didn’t know she was in there and walked on her. I knew she didn’t feel well when she ignored that insult. After about a half hour she warmed up and stopped shivering, bless her heart, and she was fine for the rest of the night, even reporting for begging duty at dinner time, although perhaps not with her usual enthusiasm. She refused to go outside without a human escort, but she did all her business. She also whined a little at bedtime, wanting to get in the bed with us, but she soon settled down.

Today she seems nearly back to normal. She is stalking the hamsters, whining for tortilla chips, and devoured her peanutbutter-encased drugs (anti-biotic and NSAID) with gusto.

She’s supposed to go back before Thursday to get her injury inspected, but I anticipate she will be back to her usual unsinkable self before then, bless her heart. We made good use of the time she was gone, but we really missed her for those couple-five hours she wasn’t here.

Forgive a moment of sap on my part: She’s my Kelly Doll, and I wuvs her.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: dogs |

my lucky olphinaunt

Posted on December 22, 2011

I saw this little critter at Save-a-Lot:

Oh look, I thought, What a cute little olphinaunt.

Olphinaunt is what the twins called elephants when they were like, two.

He was as soft as a hamster but more amenable to pocket-travel. I bet you’re a lucky writing olphinaunt, I thought. I had to have him, even though no one in the store knew how much he was. Eventually we settled on 2.99, and Peanut (it says his name is) came home in the pocket of my hoodie, and I forgot to take him out. So when Zor (the youngest) and I went to the store yesterday, Peanut was still in there, although I didn’t realize it.

As I zoomed down the road that little voice whispered in my mind, “Go to Goodwill.”

It’s a build-it-and-they-will-come kind of voice, not to be ignored, so I asked Zor if she minded if we stopped. She said no, so we stopped…for two hours. We found clothes, a couple of books, and a picture frame for a project. And I found one of those wheeled bookbags, like I scoured the city for at the beginning of fall quarter. The cheapest I found then was $40. This one was $7. So, even though I’m really pretty in love with the leather backpack I found for $3 at a yard sale, the wheeled book bag came home with me. Not sure how it’s going to fit into all the things I need to carry to live at school three days a week, but if I need it, it will be here.

On to the grocery…

Hams for $10. Kapow! Almost made up for the $40 I spent at Goodwill.

Came home, carried things in, and when I reached into my pocket for my keys to open the van’s tailgate, I felt something fuzzy.

Well you really are a lucky lil olphinaunt! Maybe not a writing one (we’ll see about that shortly) but definitely a shopping olphinaunt.

Welcome home, Peanut.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Diary | Tags: critters, toys |

changes

Posted on December 21, 2011

It’s a miracle I ever read a novel, never mind wrote one, as I have the attention span of a flea. I signed on to post about the wild and crazy night of dreams I just had, and how I awoke with the knowledge that–oh look. Dog videos!

Anyhow, ahem. I dreamed rough and woke up because my arm had fallen so thoroughly asleep it hurt, and I was suddenly sure not only that I need to change the beginning of godlight, but also certain of how, which in spite of much mulling, has eluded me so far. A way, I think, to move the beginning closer to the beginning (if you will) and yet still sparing me one of those in media res openings.

Those are very popular now, stories that begin in the middle of action, but I personally hate them. I want to know a little about the character before she plunges through the old wellcap on her way to the mailbox, and it’s hard to fit that knowing in without telling, dumping, or what have you. But if I don’t know the character, I won’t care if she falls through and dies down there or hauls herself out just as the cap collapses, or if she subsequently leaves a bloody trail upon the ground as she crawls to the mailbox and finds a letter from her dead sister in there.

So, changes. Or a change, plus its ripples. In a story, everything ripples out.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Writing | Tags: godlight |

in which I send my first rejection letter

Posted on December 16, 2011

That’s right, SEND. Me, sending a rejection.

A self-published author sent me a message on goodreads. It said:

As you may recall, you entered to win my book [REDACTED] from the Goodreads giveaway.

As I would like to have a few more reviews for the book, I am writing to offer you a copy of the book, free of charge, if you would be willing to read it and post a review on several of the online book sites (Amazon, B&N, GoodReads, your blog).

Of course, I would ask that you give the book a completely honest review.

If you are interested, please let me know. I can send the book in any format (Kindle, Sony, Epub, Palm, PDF or a printed copy).

Thank you in advance.

Warmly,

[REDACTED]


I have no recollection of entering any such giveaway, but that doesn’t mean anything. Thank goodness goodreads has a page of giveaways I’ve entered. (This link will probably only work if you’re a goodreads member and have entered giveaways.) Anyhow, I gleefully pounce on the link to see whether my CRS has struck again or what, and nope–this book isn’t on it.

My reply:

Actually I don’t recall, and goodreads has no record of it either. Regardless, I’m extremely busy and can’t guarantee I’ll review any books at this time, much less promise to post reviews on multiple sites.

Thanks for thinking of me, though.


Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like someone was trying to hustle me here. As a result I am NOT HAPPY.

As an aside, maybe my mother did too good a job of pounding it into my head, “If you can’t say anything nice, just keep it to yourself,” but I never post bad reviews. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean it has no merit, or that other people won’t adore it, and just because a story is not to my personal taste doesn’t mean I’m all cool with making the author’s job harder. The Silmarillion springs to mind. Also Twilight, or pretty nearly anything with monsters as sex objects. I like my monsters ugly and eating people… No one’s really tickled my “monstrous and sensuous” bone since Claudia.

And yeah, sometimes books are not just not to my taste. Sometimes they’re really bad. But I am not the book police, and at least you know when I rate something highly, I really mean it.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Entertainment | Tags: book report, books |

the hunger games

Posted on December 15, 2011

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was surprised by how much I liked this story. It was a quick read in first person present tense–naturally. It didn’t put me off the way many YA novels do, by spending far too much time on dialogue and exposition. There’s enough action, and it’s well done. At no time did I pray for the death of the female protagonist. This is a rare and wondrous accomplishment, although I may have wanted to shake her once or twice.

This book is an odd blend of Witch World and The Long Walk, but it works.

View all my reviews

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Entertainment | Tags: book, book report |

a book devoured

Posted on December 14, 2011

It took me rougly eight tries to make it through Stephen King’s The Stand. At first he kept losing me after he turned his camera away from Stu Redman. I just didn’t care for Frannie, and I outright disliked Larry. Everyone said what a wonderful book it was though, so I kept trying, and Nick was okay. It was M-O-O-N, and that spells Tom Cullen, who led me through the rest of The Stand–although it took a couple of more tries, because King lost me again at a certain spoilery plot point late in the game.

It never pays to get too attached to King’s characters.

So another month, another attempt to make it through, and finally–success! I had finished reading The Stand. I didn’t care for the ending much at all. With King, and for me as a reader, endings are hit or miss, and he is one author where I never skip to the end to see what happens and then back track to find out why and how it happened. With King, the why and how might be the only part I want.

And with his science fiction, I might even want the why and how only once.

Is The Stand SF? Technically yes, although it’s softer SF than some. When I think of King’s SF, I’m more inclined to think first of The Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher. I’ve not been able to make it through either of those a second time despite multiple attempts, and despite the fact that I enjoyed them just fine the first time through. Under the Dome was ok, but I doubt I’ll ever try to read it again. And…the jury’s still out on Cell. I actually want to read that one again (since I’ve forgotten most of it) but I’m afraid it will fall under the Curse of the SF Re-reads.

Which brings me the long way ’round to my actual topic, which is his latest novel, 11/23/63. I very much enjoyed it, far more than UTD, more than any of his books since Lisey’s Story, which is one of my favorites. In this book, a teacher travels back in time to avert the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This premise tickled both my socks off, because godlight originally was supposed to be about someone travelling back in time to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which was going to lead to a chain of events that put a Lincoln decendant in the White House at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

See, too often have I come up with what I thought was a fantabulous story idea only to discover (or realize) King has been there first. The Pool Where We All Go Down to Drink from Lisey’s Story explains this metaphorically, but has never made me feel any better about it. I love you, but DAMN YOU, STEVE! I still haven’t forgiven you for Gray Matter, of which my version was called Couch Potato…

But this time, I drank first. This makes me happy.

godlight ended up nothing at all like that original premise, no backward time travel, no changing the past, nothing of the sort. And it’s win-win, because King obviously writes better than I do, and his story is miles and miles better than mine could ever have been.

Oddly, I didn’t care much about the whole JFK/Oswald plot line until just as it came to a head. Until then, King kept my attention with other things, including Oswald’s wife, and other characters also. Especially engrossing was the love story between the teacher and a woman from the past. When the time finally came and the teacher had to decide whether to return to his own time or not, it mattered hugely to me. (This same question failed to matter in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, sad to say.)

Are there ramifications to changing the past? How will we know if the protagonist never returns to the present?

The answer to those questions are spoilers. They are also quintessential Stephen King, and I hardly got any sleep until I found out.

So this book I give a big hooray to. Maybe even enough to forgive him for Gray Matter.

====================

My Top Ten Stephen King Novels (subject to change and re-ordering almost daily)

The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub)
Lisey’s Story
It
(Bev saved my life)
Dolores Claiborne
11/23/63
Firestarter
Rose Madder
Hearts in Atlantis
Insomnia
Bag of Bones

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Entertainment | Tags: book report, books |

godlight – what’s it about

Posted on December 11, 2011

I think I am supposed to be writing entries about the kinds of things that will appeal to and attract potential readers for my novel, but I don’t know what kinds of things those might be. I don’t really like discussing my unsold stories in public much, ever since a critique group member absconded with no less than two character names and a major concept, and since there is no way to protect ideas except not to share them, I re-envisioned the whole story and have kept it quite close to the vest since.

The novel is a dystopian adventure about a collision between the near future and the far future. Although I never come right out and explain it in the story, godlight is about using time travel to change the past, and to some extent, about the effect of time travel on multiple incarnations of the same soul. It’s about what it means to be human, and what it costs to belong.

In addition to the adventure, there’s a love story (actually three, now I think about it, one of them a love-hate situation) and a mystery. Did Cera–the heroine–kill her husband seven years ago and get away with it? Just about everyone in the story world thinks so, except her one crazy companion.

There is no god in godlight. It’s not religious fiction and it’s not my intention to confirm or deny the existence of a divine being.

Now if I think of any topics that might appeal, I’ll be sure to post them here. But while I’m working on Seldom, I won’t be able to discuss her story for fear of killing it. So I’ll probably continue to share minutiae about life, the varmints, and everything. I hope that’s ok, because that’s pretty much all I have in the silo right now.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Writing | Tags: godlight |

rodent central

Posted on December 1, 2011

So now I have eight hamsters and seven exercise wheels. Only Lita (the momma) and Algernon (the pup I suspected of having developemental disabilities) still share. Mostly they get along, probably because Algernon is so passive. I may or may not have mentioned that when she was a week old, I thought Algernon was dead, and actually removed her from the nest. A last minute blink saved her life.

Giving evil Lita credit where it’s due, she not only succeeded in raising six of eight pups in her first litter, she never rejected the oddball even after I handled it.

So, now I have Mom Lita and Algernon in one bin. Speedy and Jadis, both winter whites, live in the next bin. Then there’s one of the crittertrail cages I got used on craigslist, with nameless opal #1, and the other used crittertrail with nameless opal #2, who was the bully. She’s bigger than all the rest, including her father/uncle Zandy, and I don’t think she likes her new digs much. After Nameless #2 comes Rocky, so-named because Jadis gave her a bloody nose and I relocated her to Dmitri’s old cage. And then Zandy, the sweetest hamster ever, even more gentle-natured than Dmitri. His new white trim makes him look kinda grizzled and mussed, but he’s still adorable.

I’ve listed them on Craigslist and Petfinder, but I won’t give them away for free (unless it’s to someone I know) because I don’t want them to end up as snakefood. Intellectually I get that snakes have to eat, but my heart says, “Let ’em eat strangers.”

Some of these guys have personality. Jadis isn’t much one to fight, but the one time she did, she drew blood. I really hope she and Speedy continue to get along, because I am out of cages and room to put them. My husband named Speedy, who was a runt, but who zipped so fast on the wheel it was kind of hard to believe if you didn’t see it.

Unnamed Opal #2 picks (picked) at the others kind of relentlessly, but never did any actual damage. I gave her a wad of toilet paper to build a nest in her new cage and she immediately tried to drag it “upstairs” to the “petting area,” but she couldn’t fit it all in the tube. I opened the cage and moved it for her. Now she’s busily trying to drag it back down, and of course it still won’t fit through the tube.

Unnamed Opal #1 is a dedicated hoarder and comes to the petting area to be picked up.

Rocky does this wild thing where she leaps off the shelf in her cage onto the top of her wheel and rides it half way around, leaps to the top of her igloo, and then leaps again into the wheel. After a brief zoom, she gets off the wheel and climbs up the bars to the shelf and repeats the whole thing.

Zandy is a pudgy little guy who can’t be bothered to make a hoard. He usually ignores his igloo and sleeps in his wheel, or under it, although he’s in it now, and has turned the door opening so it faces away and I can’t see in. I’ve been trying to get a picture of him with his changing coat, but he’s not out and about much when the light is good.

Algernon is less passive than the little thing I almost discarded for dead. Living with her must agree with Lita, who is much calmer and more agreeable now than at any time since I brought her home. I wish they weren’t both opals; sometimes the only way I can tell them apart is to flip them over and see which one looks like she’s given birth, and who knows how long I’ll be able to tell that way? At least Jadis and Speedy are different sized. If I see them both at once, I can tell them apart.

And that concludes this episode of the “Overrun by Rodents Show,” ha. All I can say is, it’s a good thing they’re cute!

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: critters |

nook v book

Posted on December 1, 2011

+1 Nook

11.22.63 fits in my purse.

-1 Nook

I had to stop reading 11.22.63 fifty pages from the end because my battery died.

+1 Book

If a hundred pounds of dog steps on it, a book is not $250 worth of landfill.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Posted in Entertainment | Tags: books, toys |

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Godlight
  • Graphic Design Projects
  • New Media
  • Writing

Archives

  • October 2016
  • March 2016
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011

Categories

  • Critters and Varmints (18)
  • Diary (55)
  • Entertainment (7)
  • Maintenance (1)
  • Things (2)
    • Gadgets and Gizmos (1)
  • Uncategorized (18)
  • Writing (19)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Goodreads (Currently Reading)

Goodreads (Read)

Categories

RSS

RSS Feed

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© doglight
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.