#180 - Smoked Meats and Fantasy

I had a dream. To sleep in until nine-thirty AM.

I had a request from my supervisor just before nine. Well, it was just a dream after all.

And that’s how the day started, with me logging on to my remote computer and looking for things we knew we had done but that had gone missing in the mad rush. I found them within a few minutes and then went downstairs to get some much-needed caffeine.

Then, I did some approvals and finished up a painting of my own. By that time, it was just after noon and the sun was shining, so I left for a walk in the crisp, fresh air. And boy, did I need the exercise. I returned feeling refreshed, if not a little tired, and my back felt better as well. The older I get the less time my body wants to be in a working-sitting position.

The gas line fix from last night held up beautifully, so I pushed the stove back into position after I got back from the walk. The new appliance looks great in the kitchen.

The kiddo is filming tomorrow at our house with a crew of fellow students as well as an actor or two. They want to use our master bathroom as one of the key sets, which has led us to give it a Spring cleaning. It got me to thinking about all the storage issues I have there, so I ordered some under the counter shelving, brackets to hold an electric toothbrush, and some racks that will mount to the insides of the doors.

There are extras for Robyn as well. This should allow us to remove most of the clutter from the counter space as well as make the cupboards seem less of a death trap.

Any attempt at organization has to be an improvement.

Needless to say, tomorrow is going to be another early start, and one in which I am not allowed to go into my own bedroom or bathroom after eight AM. Strangely, I don’t remember agreeing to this.

The silver lining is that I need to get a ton of work done on my story tomorrow. A full day’s work, and the film crew is as good a reason for me to get out of bed as any other. I plan to spend the whole day working on my story with obvious breaks, of course.

And naps. Naps are crucial to the creative process!

I am hoping that the number of words I’ll write tomorrow will go a long way to get me caught up in the word challenge as well.

Robyn will be away for a good part of the day as well, visiting colleges to find out more about their course offerings. So, I really need to use this time to get things done. No faffing around tomorrow.

I need to become the writing machine I am striving to become.

I ordered some pulled-pork, brisket and ribs from Stacked Smokehouse for dinner. We buy a brand-new oven and I go and order food. It was more of a convenience thing, I needed to rest after the long week for a few hours after work and Robyn was equally tired from all her running around and job seeking. It was just easier and I needed easy tonight.

I’d like to make something in the oven on Sunday, possibly from my new cookbook. The Ruby Chicken is calling to me, although I’ll have to go pick up a few grocery items in order to make it.

I’d like to say Sunday is going to be rest day for me, but I also need to gather all the tax forms for filing. I haven’t had the time or headspace to get to it, but the timer is running out. I know I’ll be up writing until the three AM deadline tomorrow, so I can’t see me getting to the taxes into the late afternoon. But it has to be done.

I was glad to see there is another season of “For All Mankind” on Apple TV. It’s a really good alternate history show about the space race. They are into mostly new territory in this season, as the world is too far changed to compare it to our timeline.

I love me some good science-fiction and they do not disappoint.

I managed to get my reading done today. I used it as my “cool down” period after work. Well, first I lay down on the bed with my eyes closed, and after a half an hour of that, I read. Jumping back into an imaginary world for a while feels great. I think I forgot how much of an escape from the world a good book can be. Maybe I just need to escape more than usual with all the extra work and writing pressure.

I’ll probably read a bit more before I go to bed. It seems to be good for my mind and soul. I’m nearly halfway through the book already. Lately, it seems to take me forever to finish a book, likely because of tired eyes. And I guess it’s been a while since I read a fantasy book. There’s been a lot of science fiction lately.

As a teenager I ate up fantasy books like they were penny candies. At some point I moved out of the genre and started reading more broadly, but I never stopped liking those books. I guess I just took a long break.

To fair, many of those fantasy books are over two hundred thousand words or more. And that can be a real commitment of time to read them.

I see “Project Hail Mary,” continues to do really well at the box office. This pleases me immensely. I think a lot of industry people are actually surprised that this is doing so well. It’s not a big IP like Marvel, Star Wars or Star Trek. And that might also be part of its success. The book and the author have a decent and loyal fan base.

The lack of previous work before this allows all the teams to do interesting thing with IP. This could be in the form of marketing and sales pitches. The lack of preconceived ideas from movie goers allows for certain amount of freedom. The movie was a good interpretation of the book, not a word for word replication. And it’s important to capture the feel of the book without being nailed down to a faithful reproduction. Different mediums require different treatments by their very nature.

It further bolsters my premise that the entertainment industry needs to return to its roots of just making, well, entertainment.

I was going to write, “Bolsters my faith,” but that is reaching too far.

Just today I saw Peter Jackson talking about a new Lord of the Rings project and his big reveal in the video was that he was working with Stephen Colbert. Now Colbert is a huge fan of the series, but there isn’t going to be cheers of joy to hear he is in some way attached to the show.

I am cautiously optimistic that Jackson won’t do us dirty, but I felt that way about Russel T. Davies return to head up the Doctor Who series. And look how that went.

I hope the people that make these shows stop trying to use them as vehicles for their own personal causes and remember they are in the entertainment business.

Be kind to us Peter!

The kiddo just burst into our bedroom asking if we wanted any cookies if he were to make them. Getting that new oven seems to be working out for me.

Not that I need another cookie.

This is my one hundred and eightieth continuous blog post. I find it amazing how quickly they all add up. The power of streaks!

I finished the evening with a little reading of Mythago Wood. We are both up early in the morning for multiple reasons. I have my assignment story to complete, and Robyn is touring colleges with a friend. And then there is the young group of film students that will arriving at our home by eight-thirty AM to use our house as a set location.

So off to bed we go.

Until tomorrow.