All that Tolkien said that mattters

I said this to someone today, and she laughed, because it totally outed me as a geek. Most of the people I work with kinda know that about me. It just sorta comes out. I often think about what to do with the time I have, and I've blogged about it, and so, of course, you all know, I choose to write with that time (and quilt and bake and whine about the writing). One day, maybe, like Tolkien, I'll be published. I'm probably not going to write an entire epic journey filled with the most direly important quests - unlike Tolkien. And there probably won't be a separate language attached to my stories. But, there will be a book...

I've been thinking about the stories I want to write, and keep wanting to drift into a middle world fantasy, taking me far away from the Science Fiction I'm writing now - it's the ultimate escapism.

I've also been thinking about what to do now, in a world where suddenly, people are nervous and afraid for the future. Oh, they are. There's no use pretending they aren't, or telling them to knock it off. Or to work toward unity. We're too far past that. Too much has been said. It's part of the reason why I pulled back from social media, and the news even. There's so much pain and hate on both sides.

I feel our world has gone mad. Or maybe, looking through history, it's normal for our world to be mad, and this is just how it is. This is not like any other election, or any other year. People are not protesting because they lost the election, people are protesting because they are afraid they will lose their civil rights; their freedoms. They are protesting the voice of mockery and hatred that somehow was not silenced over the course of 16 months. This is a reaction from fear - fear that the things they had will be taken away. I refuse to rage and hate though. I still believe there's a better way than anger.

But I am sad. I didn't want my sons to grow up in a time of turbulence and strife, a time of hardship, when hate and intolerance are trying to gain a foothold in the hearts of my countrymen/women/children. I didn't want them to enter their last year of Middle School and enter High School in a climate of political and social turbulence.

Which brings me back to Tolkien. We all wish that our kids would know peace, prosperity, and kindness, but we can not choose the time they live. We have to raise them with integrity and character and strength, because they are growing up now, no matter the state of the country or the world,  and all they can do is decide what to do with the time given them.

Addicted to the Crown

This post is completely unrelated to the post title.
It's a marketing no-no. I didn't want a dramatic post title though, and I am addicted to the Crown.

I deactivated my facebook account. I think I need a break from it all. It's not the people on it, not my friends and family, it's the other 'stuff' that I didn't realize I was taking in, all the ads and upworthy content and things that, no matter how much you try to filter out, still pops up. Some of the comments from friends of friends or watching  Facebook's annoying habit of changing things around so all your settings sometimes, wonkily, reset to ones you didn't want. I'm over it. I didn't delete it, but I did deactivate it. I think people can still post on it or chat to me, but if you do, and I don't respond, you'll know why. I 'believe' I still have messenger.

I could have put this on Facebook but honestly, the thing that Facebook peeps hate is people posting on Facebook they're leaving Facebook.

These next two months of the anno horribilis I plan to hide out a bit, and regroup with myself. There's tons of writing to do, lots of quilting and baking, and of course, my job, my family, and my friends. Life goes on. It's not a call for complacency, it's a reminder to live. Be aware of the clowns, but don't let the clowns destroy you. Don't go off with clowns, either...

I won't be on Facebook. I'll occasionally pop on Twitter. I'll occasionally post to the La La Land Facebook through Husbear's facebook because he hasn't used it, so there will be literally nothing on his wall. We'll see how two months Facebook free goes, and maybe I'll be back in January, or maybe not. Maybe if my feed is all cats, I'll be back on.

I would love to move to Canada, but that's because Canada is becoming more and more what America is supposed to represent. (It always was, I mean, they haven't changed, but we have) but really, moving to another country requires well, a job in that country lol. It's okay, Canada, I'm not taking it personally. I always did like Canada, though, even before it was cool to like Canada!

See you all in a bit! I've got some writing to do.

It's still fall - no rush to leave the trees...

Winter is coming. Eventually. It's hard to believe, since outside it's sunny and getting into the high 60s. But this tree, this tree knows winter is coming. It's bright yellow leaves are drooping and some have already fled for the great leaf pile in the sky. My boys probably know winter is coming, though they've been avoiding it, still wearing flip flops and shoes. It is coming, though. The mornings and evenings are cooler and there's a slight nip in the air, even on warm days. I've mentioned a bunch of times that fall and spring, the seasons in-between, are my favorite. This year, I think the leaves are clinging to the trees longer than most. Usually, a storm or wind will come and take them away, leaving us stuck with bare branches until snow falls, and melts, leaving us bare branches again...

This year, I noticed the winter flannel sheets I normally toss on the boys' beds were missing. I have no idea where they went. I have found a pillowcase. That's about it. So I bought fun winter flannel sheets. I have this thing about winter. It's cold, so everything should be fun. Otherwise it's just a really cold season.  Changing the tablecloths for each holiday and season and the sheets each season is my one tribute to Pottery Barn, but I do it on a Target budget. These are the cutest sheets I bought this year. The fun prints go on the boys' beds. Husbear isn't as fond of fun prints as I am, so we get plaid, which I'm equally fond of. Of course, now that I've bought all the sheets and tossed them in the washer, I remember where I stowed last year's plaid flannel...But ti's okay. There has never been a case where plaid was overdone.

Bread enablers

My friends are enablers.
I've taken up the craft of baking homemade breads - everything from sandwich loaves to artisanal breads. I've just started a month or two ago, and made some quick decisions... no, I am not springing for a $300 mixer so I'm going to have to knead by hand. Yes, I have all the wrong tools, and need the right tools. No, I had no idea the dough whisk and chopper scraper really existed until now. I mean, I knew they existed in a sort of 'oh yeah' kind of way. But then when I was watching a video on how to mix and knead bread, both came into play and I was all like, 'I totally need those two things.' Then I didn't do anything about it, and tried to make my plastic spatula do the job. (Nope.)

So, thanks my enabler friends! My next two attempts will be a baguette (because YUM) and another sandwich bread. Looking for a much bigger surface this time on the sandwich bread.

Guess what I'm doing tonight. And writing, of course. Definitely
getting my nanowrimo words in!

Nanowrimo

I'm hoping to get a rough draft out of this.

I have the outline for this story.
I have the 'secret' that only I currently know.

I have the characters. The town. The setting.

Lets do this!