Fri. Jan. 30, 2026: Nationwide Shutdown

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image courtesy of Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Friday, January 30, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus & Jupiter Retrograde

Partly cloudy and bitterly cold

Here we are, almost at the end of the month. January often feels a thousand days long.

I am participating in the National Strike today. Even without the resources, support for the strike has spread fast, which is a good thing. Strikes aren’t supposed to be convenient. But they do need infrastructure, so let’s hope this keeps building.

I started feeling poorly on Wednesday, like I was coming down with something. I’m sure stress has a lot to do with it, with the different stressors pressing down on me this past week. I’m trying to pace myself and take care of what I can. I mean, I still mask when I’m out in the grocery store, library, places where people are likely to be sick, and I’m barely going out and about at all in this weather. I’m not being exposed to a whole lot of germs. I suspect a lot of it is the stress physicalizing. The disorder affecting my ears, especially the left, has increased, especially pain-wise, and I’m sure it’s directly connected to the increased stress.

After breakfast, I went out to dig out the car. One of the guys who’d helped get the new fridge in was there with the plow again. He said that if dipshit downstairs ever tosses everything on my car again and I can’t dig out, to just text over, and one of the guys will come help. So that’s good news.

The car started up just fine, and I scraped it down. I took it to the inspection, and, of course, it failed. There’s ice and water inside the rear light casing – on the side where the neighbor dumped all the extra snow. I can’t prove that’s what caused it (which means I can’t get the insurance company involved), but I’m pretty convinced.

It’s not a cheap repair, but it’s one I can manage as soon as I’m paid for the last big project I turned in mid-January. They have to source a new light casing (it’s an old car), and then will get back to me with the estimate. It’s the mechanic I deal with regularly, and I trust their work. They were as nice and helpful about it as they could be. There could have been a lot worse going on, and there wasn’t, and for that, I am grateful.

I’m not supposed to drive the car until it’s fixed. I’m hoping I can make do on foot the next couple of weeks until the payment comes in from the ghostwriting, the estimate comes in, and we can schedule the repair.

I managed the rest of the errands (grocery store, library, liquor store) and made it home to a scraped down parking spot, so at least I’m safely parked.

And we have groceries in for the week. If I use Instacart, it’s about 40% more expensive than getting to the store plus delivery fee plus tip, so, if it’s not storming, I guess I’m back to the rolly cart again for the next few weeks.

One day at a time, right?

I’m just glad I got home safely, with groceries, library books, and wine. And that, if I have to, I CAN get to the store on foot. And, for simple supplies, I can always trot down to Cumberland Farms at the end of the block.

Esther Bell has been named as the new director of the Clark, replacing Olivier Meslay when he returns to France this summer. She was the Deputy Director, and I’m familiar with her work on several exhibits, and attended several of her lectures. She’s excellent, and I’m so glad they promoted her, rather than going outside the museum.

I was happy that the Senate refused the funding bill, although I’m wondering how long it will take Schumer to cave. I thanked both my Senators, and had another good exchange with my House Rep. I’m also asking them to hold the line.

There are rumors that Schumer is in the process of selling us out again, so I’m not letting my guard down.

Once I got back, I was wiped out, so I wasn’t particularly productive. Some admin, some ghostwriting. I read a book on journal keeping (I’ve kept a journal for over 50 years at this point), and there was a resonant phrase: “Telling stories saves people from oblivion.”

Especially right now, that matters.

Tell the stories around you. Tell YOUR stories.

It also gave me the idea for the workshop I will give at the gallery during April’s show. I need to percolate that a bit, but I worked out some of it in this morning’s free write.

Slept reasonably well. Tessa and Charlotte routed me out of bed a little after 6.

The posts for the art journaling workshop are inconsistent, as far as when they arrive, so I’ve started blocking time nearer the end of the day for them.

I have some stuff to do around the house this morning, but the bulk of my day will be spent offline, downtown, with fellow community members. There’s work to do in real life.

What would be today’s marketing rounds will be done tomorrow instead.

Another big storm is coming in this weekend.

Stay safe, stay warm, and we’ll catch up next week.

Published in: on January 30, 2026 at 8:14 am  Comments (2)  
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Thurs. Jan. 29, 2026: Trying to Put One Foot in Front of the Other

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image courtesy of  Сергей Шабанов from Pixabay

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

You can read the latest on the garden over at Gratitude and Growth.

I struggled yesterday. How can we possibly keep on keeping on when our government is determined and allowed to murder us without consequence? Schumer and Jeffries aren’t just weak – they are complicit. The Dems backing off on defunding the murderers is unacceptable.

And yet, they’re going to cave, yet again.

I did the rounds of elected officials anyway. Because they can’t represent us if they don’t know where we stand. Mine are, at least, trying.

Digging into DreamHost more deeply – they charge per mailbox. Nope. I need unlimited domains/subdomains/email addresses to my websites. Or at least a lot of email addresses included. Moving on.

HostPapa looks worth digging deeper into. Bluehost looked good, but it’s promoting AI-built sites, so it’s out. I want to make sure I can put a plug-in on my site to prevent AI scraping (like I have now), and a site that uses AI to build is untrustworthy. Same with Hostinger. Fat Cow looks pretty good, with unlimited domains and email addresses, and their renewal price is within my budget, too. I might ask them some questions.

It was a struggle, but I got some decent work done on BETTING MAN, and I did the day’s marketing rounds. I’ll also be back with WAM’s Literary Committee this season, which is great. I’m delighted they want me back. The meetings are on a different day this year, which means it won’t interfere with yoga.

I did not have the spoons to dig out the car again. The sun melted a good deal of the snow on top, so as long as no one tossed anything behind my wheels, I should be able to scrape down the car windows and go for the inspection today. The careless neighbor looked like he was shoveling in between our cars yesterday afternoon, and not just back onto my car, so I’ll find out when I get down there.

Bruce Springsteen wrote and released a new song called “Streets of Minneapolis” that is riveting. I encourage you to listen. The lyrics are beautifully layered.

I checked in with our City Clerk. We usually get a city census form early in January, in preparation for the mail-in ballot paperwork. I hadn’t received ours yet, and I wanted to make sure it hadn’t gone astray with the weather. The Clerk assured me they hadn’t gone out yet. Sending them in December for January return had become problematic, so they’re doing it this month instead. Phew! We’re very lucky with our City Clerk.

Schumer’s “united demands” for cosplaying murderers to  pinky swear pretty please and follow laws is beyond pathetic. It’s about as useful as the pinky swear to continue funding health care, and we all know how that went. No. No, no, no. Not anywhere near enough. There are already laws in place that are being broken multiple times a day without consequence. There need to be consequences.

At least I had a really good session on the ghostwriting, and enjoyed myself telling the story, although I had to spend a good bit of time on research. I would like to get notes on the project that’s almost finished so I can wrap it up and invoice. There are bills looming.

Couldn’t focus on much in the evening. Tried to read, but wasn’t all that successful.

Woke up at 2, and managed to get back to sleep. Got up at the usual time, the usual morning routine. I’m skipping meditation this morning, because I have to dig out the car and get it to the inspection. Hopefully, it will start in this brutal cold, but it started up just fine on Tuesday, so I’m hopeful.

After the inspection, I need to run errands. I would like to honor tomorrow’s general strike, if at all possible, so I will try to get things done today, if the car cooperates. The so-called organizers haven’t built the infrastructures necessary for a successful general strike across the country, in my opinion, but I will do what I can. It’s too brutally cold and I have too much to carry to be able to do everything on foot.

And there’s no guarantee I can park when I get back, if someone takes my spot, so there’s a good chance I’ll be in a fight with the landlord about it.

I’m not sure what else I will get done today. It all hinges on getting the car dug out and running.

Have a good one.

Published in: on January 29, 2026 at 7:39 am  Comments (8)  
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Wed. Jan. 28, 2026: The Weight of More Than Snow

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image courtesy of🌸♡💙♡🌸 Julita 🌸♡💙♡🌸 from Pixabay

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

And here we are, halfway through another week.

It looks like the issue with the webhost is sorted, at least for now, and they will pull the money  on the contract date, “graciously” not charging me for the three days they claim to need to process it. Again, the flaws in their system is not my problem, and not my cost. The contract is on the 31st of January.

If they do honor it, at least I have breathing room to research and find a better host (at least for the next handful of years) and get up to speed on the migration tools. It seems one must change hosts every few years, because instead of valuing long term customers, most companies penalize us for staying. 3 full domains and 8 subdomains is a lot to move. Once the ANGEL HUNT series is ready to go, later this year, there will be 9 subdomains.

Oy.

Digging deeper into the mobile site I’m considering switching over to, it looks like I might be able to just switch to them from my current carrier with my current phone, and then get a new phone later on. I have to explore that farther. It would cut my monthly bill in half, with more data capacity. And when I did have to get a new phone, they have ones similar to mine (I do not need an iPhone, nor do I want one).

At least I feel a little better about that.

The ghostwriting client had a fact check question, so I dug into the research library I’ve been building as I work for them. Plus, I went out into the field for some actual training on this topic during the time we worked on the outline, so I also had my extensive notes from that.

Did the rounds of elected officials. Because they have to hold the line and stop the madness. Did some admin.

Went out to dig out the car and brush the snow off the top to find out that my careless neighbor pushed all the snow off his car onto mine and in between the cars, meaning, I couldn’t even get to my door. I was not amused. I dug out the back, I dug to the door, which was hip height because of his carelessness, moved the car back, finished cleaning it off, and moved it back into place. He’s more than half my age. I don’t expect him to dig me out, but he can clean off his own car without making more work for me.

I was late getting the ingredients into the crockpot, but they got in. I used a whole head of garlic for it, so after a few hours, the entire place smelled like an Italian restaurant, which I kind of loved.

I worked on BETTING MAN. I had trouble settling in, but got nearly 1900 words in on it. Since I’m behind where I hoped, I need to write more each day to catch up. It was a bit of a struggle today, and took far longer than it should have to get those words out, but they’re there, and I can build on them today. Writing about August in Saratoga when it’s in the minus degrees and snowdrifts is a contrast.

The crockpot meal was good, but not brilliant. If I do something similar, I might tweak it. It smelled better than it tasted, in my opinion.

Had a really fun session on the ghostwriting. I’m at the place where I’m telling myself the first version of the story, and then hone details and specifics. Since it’s not yet on deadline (I’m still waiting for notes on the last two projects, and hoping I can invoice for at least one of them soon, since I have bills to pay), the pressure is off and I can enjoy the storytelling process without feeling like I have to hit a certain point each day.

There are still a lot of stresses to deal with this week, but I’m trying to knock them out one at a time. It’s still stressful, but I’m just trying to get through the week/month.

Someone asked me why I haven’t attended any writers’ conferences in the last few years, and the answer is twofold. First, most places don’t have any COVID protections in place or vaccine requirements for attendees. I am not putting my family and myself at risk. I care for an elderly parent. Second, many of these conferences are in hotels that rent blocks of rooms to the current group of domestic terrorists. Instead of the position of, “oh, we’ve ALWAYS held our conference here” – move it. Take the money away. The fact that so many organizations and so many individual writers ignore this, frankly, makes me think less of them.

And then, these writers and conference organizers will act surprised when they are handcuffed and detained for walking in the hallways and lobbies of the hotel. The level of “this doesn’t pertain to me, so I don’t have to deal with it” is sickening.

Of course, many of these authors are the same ones who think it’s cute to use “witch” as a slur against other women. So I don’t know why any of this should surprise me.

Woke up to more snow, so I have to dig out the car yet again.

Be well.

Published in: on January 28, 2026 at 7:16 am  Comments (7)  
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Tues. Jan. 27, 2026: The Wrong Kind of Grind

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image courtesy of Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Welcome to another week!

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here. It’s our last week with the Ask the Witch deck. Next week, we switch decks.

By the time I posted Friday’s blog (before 9 AM), clouds obscured the sun and it already smelled like snow.

Of course, on Friday, I got the notice that my print proof copy was ready for THE VICIOUS CRITIC. I did not respond until Monday, when I ordered it. I’m hoping the print version will be ready soon after the digital version releases on Feb. 10.

I spent part of the morning doing relevant work offline, and then adapted one of my seminar handbooks into a Topic Workbook, which is always more nuts-and-bolts work than I expect. The slide out shelf of my desk fell off, so I have to find the right size screws and tools to fix that. I suspect it wasn’t put together correctly after the move, and it’s been hanging on as long as possible.

I combined ingredients I liked from the chicken peanut butter soup recipe with ingredients I liked from the Moosewood sesame noodles recipe, and came up with a good lunch and respectable leftovers. So good I had three helpings! Plus plenty of leftovers for lunches into this week.

In the afternoon, I read and I shared materials about the general strike in MN. Played with some ideas for short stories.

I received a very thoughtful email from my House Rep about concerns I’ve been raising with him. While I appreciate that he votes to stop the madness, I believe he should also be co-sponsoring some of this legislation, so that will be part of our next interacting. I am also very worried about my extended family in the area around Portland, ME, with the escalating raids.

Cooked dinner in the evening and read some more, while prepping the house for the brutal cold as best I could.

It was nice to snuggle down in the fleece sheets and piles of blankets, and I had a decent night’s sleep, although I woke up a couple of times. Charlotte stayed curled up next to me, rather than being at the bottom of the bed, where she usually spends most of the night after our initial 20 minutes or so of negotiations at bedtime. When I rolled over, she hopped over me and curled up on the other side.

I stayed in bed until almost 7 on Saturday morning. It was so comfortable. But Tessa was hungry, and when Tessa wants something, she does not stop until she gets it. So I got up, fed them, did the morning routine through the free write. Paused to make scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, shredded cheese, onion, sage, and a dash of Tabasco, which was really good.

I did the art journaling, and then the usual Saturday morning chores. The art journaling is geared more toward therapy than creative expansion in my opinion, so it’s not what I hoped, but I’m continuing on, at least for now.

My web host informed me that they are going to pull the next year’s fee early, and I replied that no, they are not. That is not our agreement. Telling me if I don’t let them take money early, they will interrupt my service is extortion, and the AG’s office will have something to say about it. I guess this year, I have to go on the hunt for a new web host, which is a shame, because they meet my needs so well on so many fronts. But ever since they “rebranded” themselves last year, I have been less than thrilled. Plus, the annual rate increases that they tell me less than two weeks before renewal annoy me. But I need to run multiple sites, and they are the only host I’ve found so far that allows me to do that within my budget.

I will just have to look harder. If I can find one who meets my needs, I will see if I can get a multi-year discount so I don’t have to worry about it for 2 or 3 years, and then slowly move everything over the spring and summer. The big things I need from my webhost is WordPress compatibility, unlimited domains/subdomains, and within my budget.

I started looking, but I honestly do not have the bandwidth to move all my sites to a new host this week.

I finally managed to delete my TikTok account. I hadn’t used it since the chaos around TikTok early last year, but it wouldn’t let me delete. I sure as heck wasn’t going to agree to geolocating and the other crap the new rightwing owners are adding. It took nearly an hour to delete, because I had to enter a code they claimed they sent but did not, so I had to keep asking to re-send until I got something I could use and then just delete everything. It was useful for the serials to a point, but honestly, my book sales are stronger without TikTok or Facebook. I’d like to dump Facebook, but that’s how the City does most of its communications.

I also turned off the “smart” features in my Gmail, because I don’t want them reading my emails and giving out information. Of course, that means they are no longer sorted into categories, and everything is dumped in the inbox and/or spam, but that might work better in the long run. It also makes searching for an email or a contact more difficult. I’ll take the trade-off.

I did the updated video for the Nina Bell Mysteries, and the individual video for THE VICIOUS CRITIC. They are on the media page of the Nina Bell website. I also updated the VICIOUS CRITIC page with the buy links I have so far. There were some glitches. I miss the iMovie software that Apple discontinued. I loved working with that. OpenShot looks like it’s pretty good. I mean, my degree is in film and video production, for crying out loud. Even though I was the era where you had to splice film together with tape and then clean out the sprocket holes. And Canva doesn’t really do what I want it to do.

Somewhere in this spring, I need to build in time for OfficeLibre and then try OpenShot.

Housework, because there’s always housework. It never ends. And some other work that needed to be done offline and not discussed publicly.

When I returned, I heard about the murder of Alex Pretti by government-sanctioned cosplaying goons. Another murder. This is firmly on the shoulders of the 7 Vichy House Dems who voted to fund this domestic terrorism just a few days ago as much as on the individuals who committed the murder and the administration who sanctions it. Absolutely unacceptable. And Jeffries and Schumer continue to do nothing but bleat on social media. It is literally their JOB to stop this. These fake Dems need to step aside.

Needless to say, I didn’t get anything else except storm prep done on Saturday, because this murder is so upsetting.

Tessa was quiet on Sunday morning, and I was worried about her, but she was waiting for me when I got up, and we did our usual routine.

The snow predictions went up to 30 inches. It started two hours later than expected (9 AM instead of 7 AM), but was ferocious from the beginning. Most places either closed ahead of the storm or decided to close early, thank goodness. People shouldn’t be out in this.

I went out on the back balcony to re-secure the tarp and my neighbor nearly locked me out there. His dog was barking, and he saw the door on the latch and went to shut it, but I caught him before I was stuck out there. He apologized profusely, and we’re all good.

Sunday was a snow day. I did my usual routine. I prepped the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. It is not a gentle reading, and demands we decide where we stand.

I read THE QUEEN WHO FLEW: A Fairy Tale by Ford Maddox Ford. I’d never read it before, and a friend sent it to me. It’s really delightful, with relevant subtext. It’s been years since I read anything by that author, probably college or a little after.

Read another book in a long series I’ve been working my way through, and it was a decent read.

Shoveled mid-afternoon, after the plow cleared what it could in the lot, so I wouldn’t have a snowdrift behind my car. Checked in with some friends, to make sure everyone was okay during the storm.

I did the art journaling exercise a little later in the day than usual. I drafted a short poem and did a sketch I actually liked.

I worked on some legislative language to send my elected officials.

Did not sleep particularly well. Up around 6:30, morning routine. About a foot of snow fell overnight, which meant more shoveling, although I waited until afternoon to do it.

Morning was for admin, dealing with over 500 emails. I got the feedback from the scriptwriting class I taught last March. The students really liked it, and the only “do this differently” was that they’d like it to be a day-long or weekend-long with meal breaks, rather than two hours/week over a month. Useful feedback.

I did the cover reveal for VICIOUS CRITIC and did the marketing rounds. I created the content calendar for this week and all of February (Friday, maybe?) and got back on the stick with that.

I had another pointed exchange with the webhost, and I have no doubt I will have to file a complaint with the AG’s office. The correct response to my concerns would be, “We understand your concerns, and we have noted that the contract renewal date is the day on which we will pull the money.” Instead, they doubled down on extortion. “Pay us early or else.”  

I may have to pay them this week, but I will file a complaint as I look for a new webhost. I’ve started. A friend suggested SiteGround (which looks to be out of my budget, but a host I’ve wanted to join for years). DreamHost looks like it might work, and another friend recommended them, but I need to ask them some questions first. It would have to wait until spring, when I can actually move the sites one at a time, if the new host doesn’t move them for me.(It looks like DreamHost charges $99 a move unless I’m on a plan beyond my budget, and that kind of a move is beyond my budget, so I’d have to do it myself). I have to move the domain site first, wait until it’s live, then move each subdomain as quickly as possible so the downtime is limited. And only move one domain at a time, so the downtimes are rolling. The whole process would take at least a month, even working every day on it, because there would have to be rebuilding and tweaking of sites.

I had to move each site myself when I moved from 1&1 to A2 Hosting (now Hosting.com), and it was not fun, but I learned a lot. And now I have even more sites. At least I now keep my site registrations separate from my hosting platform, so I don’t get into the situation I had when I left 1&1, where they wouldn’t allow me to point the domains I owned to a new host, because they held the registrations as well as the hosting platform. I learned from that mistake, and keep my registrations with NameSilo.

If I go with DreamHost, it looks like I can use MigrateGuru to help me move my sites.

My mobile phone is also giving me trouble, and I’d like to dump my carrier, so I’m looking at other carriers, such as BOOST mobile. It means buying a new phone, but maybe I can keep my number. Or maybe I should change that, too. But the amount of things I’d have to update if I change my phone number makes me roll my eyes. I actually sort of like my mobile phone (at least more than I liked my previous ones), but I’ve had it for going on 5 years now, so of course the manufacturer is going to try to force me to buy a new one.

None of this can happen until I know if the car passes inspection this week/if there are major repairs/until I buy new tires. But at least I can research and put together dossiers of information, so when I can make each of these moves, I’m ready.

Mid-afternoon, I shoveled another 15 inches out from behind my car. And then the plow came, an hour late, and pushed more snow back against the car. Plus, it was still snowing all day, so I’ll be out there again today.

I was not very productive all day. I didn’t get most of what I hoped to get done, done. How can I concentrate when things are in such a mess? And I feel like all I got done was little, piddly work, but I hope it will save me some time in the future.

I started reading the next book for review, and I did some proofing on the next Topic Workbook, but that was about it, other than riding my elected officials. I dumped a lot of accounts on social media who hold the “I’m not political” position. They’ve let us know they condone what’s happening, and are not accounts with whom I want to interact. Some of them belong to people with whom I’ve interacted with for years, but we are at a point where we all need to stand for something, and know where each other stands.

Schumer does his useless posturing that he will actually take a stand on something, but he’ll fold like a cheap plastic chair, the way he always does. No one believes him. He’s a laughingstock.

Nazi Napolean in his long coat has been “moved” out of Minnesota – so he can terrorize some other city? He needs to be arrested.

This morning was another email from the webhost, how maybe they’ll do me a favor to pull the money on the contracted date. I told them to do that.

Even if they keep their word (which I doubt), I am looking for a new host. I’ll renew, look around, find what works best, and make my move in the coming months. I’ll also ask around our local artist/small business group and see how much an IT person would charge to move the sites, or charge to teach me how to do it. I’d rather the latter, frankly. It’s a skill I should learn.

On today’s agenda: digging out the car again, writing, ghostwriting, continuing to read the book for review, maybe some proofreading. I have another crockpot dish to try, so that will go in after breakfast.

It’s all very disheartening, but the garbage still needs to be taken out, the car needs to be dug out, a living needs to be earned. However, I can choose where to put whatever doesn’t go to bills, and it won’t be to anyone supporting this regime. On top of that, the regional chamber, with whom I’ve great experiences, is now advocating FOR the use of AI in marketing. So I’m ending my relationship with them, and I will not support any business, especially any small business, that uses AI in their marketing.

Damn WordPress is still defaulting to small font and I have to manually change it. So sick of “upgrades” that are actually downgrades.

Onward.

Published in: on January 27, 2026 at 7:54 am  Comments (4)  
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Mon. Jan. 26, 2026: Intent for the Week — Navigate the Last Wintery Week of January

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image courtesy of Juncala from Pixabay

Monday, January 26, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Urgh. This template is defaulting to a different size font, and I have to resize every damn paragraph. It’s intentional, to force me onto a different template.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. It is not gentle.

There’s obviously a lot to say about the federally-sanctioned murder of yet another person in Minneapolis, and I will get into that here tomorrow.

For the moment, I need to deal with what’s immediately in front of me. We had snow. A lot of snow. We continue to have a lot of snow expected until midnight tonight. It snowed all day, and we had about another foot overnight, and it will snow all day today. I shoveled the car out once mid-afternoon yesterday, and will do so again late morning, and then probably again in the afternoon and again tomorrow morning. If I just wait, it’ll be 5 feet of snow plowed against the back of my car, so I’m going out every few hours and clearing it down to the ice layer, so it’s only a foot or so each time I have to shovel. That’s all I can physically handle right now.

Almost everything is closed here today. Around the shoveling and sending legislative language to my elected officials for a few things, I have both my own and client work to do. I am grateful I can work remotely.

The week will be challenging on multiple fronts, so I’m trying to get my head in the game and get it done.

What’s your intent for the week?

Published in: on January 26, 2026 at 8:10 am  Comments (4)  

Fri. Jan. 23, 2026: Long Distance Support

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image courtesy of Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Friday, January 23, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Partly sunny and bitterly cold

The end of another week. Although my weekend started already, and I am honoring the strike today.

Charlotte was delighted by our ZOOM meditation, and everyone was delighted their favorite feline princess participated.

Missing last week was fine, because the regular leader was out ill, so probably Madame Download ran it.

After breakfast, I bundled up and headed out to brush off the car. It wasn’t as difficult as I feared, and I was soon on the road. Grocery store, library, liquor store, home. I made it back before it started snowing again.

I joined the chat on Bluesky, which was fun, ate lunch, and then turned around the edits for the 2027 Spells. They were just minor tweaks, and my editor was right about everything (as usual). I wanted to make sure to get them to my editor yesterday, since Llewelleyn is located in MN, and I wanted to honor their choices today.

My bad hip was giving me a lot of trouble, so I decided to try one of those pain patches that you slap on and it gives topical relief. The first forty-five minutes or so, it made me dizzy. Then it was better for a few hours. Then, later in the evening, it made me dizzy again, and when I took it off, I was nauseated. I think I prefer Tiger Balm or the Badger brand rubs and a heating pad.

Read in the afternoon. Slept reasonably well, although I had odd dreams. There’s a very specific [fictional] hotel that turns up in a lot of my dreams over and over again. I need to figure out the various symbolism in that place.

I did not want to get up this morning, but Tessa and Charlotte managed to get me out of bed just before 7. Very late for this household. Everyone was fed, morning routine, free write, art journaling.

I am honoring the strike in Minnesota today by not doing any client work and not spending any money. I will, however, be doing community-based work offline.

I am furious that 7 House Dems voted to keep funding a domestic terrorist organization. May they be driven out of office this autumn, and may none of them have a moment of peace again. It also underlines how useless Jeffries is. He can’t keep the coalition together, didn’t even TRY (he refused to whip the votes), and basically, doesn’t give a damn that people are being kidnapped and murdered in the street. He can go to hell right along with the rest of them.

It will get well below freezing tonight and tomorrow night, and then another snowstorm on Sunday into Monday, dumping about 7 inches or so of snow. I have not made plans to leave the house this weekend. I will hunker down here at home, and hope the power stays on.

Have a good one, and we’ll catch up and warm up together on Tuesday.

Published in: on January 23, 2026 at 8:27 am  Comments (5)  
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Thurs. Jan. 22, 2026: Getting Colder

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image courtesy of congerdesign from Pixabay

Thursday, January 22, 2025

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

You can read the latest about the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

Yesterday, I caught up on some admin and email. I saw a project call I really want to submit a proposal to – I have until February 1, so it can percolate. It’s site-specific, and I think I could really run with it. No pun intended.

I had trouble settling into the ghostwriting. My mind wanted to wander to other things. There’s so much to worry about right now that it’s difficult to settle in and work.

But showing up and doing the work matters. The free writing is another tool for that, as it the art journaling. Show up. Do the work. Throughout my theatre career (and my writing career), there have always been others who have more talent and greater skills. But I show up and do the work, which is how I can actually build a career. Does it take a toll? On some days, a big one. But that’s the trade-off. And I hope that our generation can set a healthier foundation for future generations. In spite of what’s going on right now.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that my invoice for the book reviews was paid, so that was a relief. I still have to worry about the car inspection next week. Hopefully, I will get paid on one of the ghostwriting assignments before the end of the month.

There’s an intriguing job listing at a company with whom I’ve wanted to work since I moved out this way, so I need to put together an LOI today.

I worked on the ghostwriting all day, and submitted it a little after 4 PM. And then my brain ached!

I tried to read a little. I gave up on a book that presents itself as a cozy mystery but is a bundle of right-wing garbage. I gave up on another supposed cozy mystery with older characters because it was full of overused clichés. I’m finally reading another mystery that’s okay, but not great.

The human trafficking of a five-year-old child wearing a spiderman backpack and a bunny hat still isn’t enough for Congress to get off its entitled ass and do something. I am so disgusted. They are just going to let these goons run rampant and kill or imprison thousands of people. They can all go to hell. I don’t want to see anymore posts from Congress people about “this is so horrible!” Yes, mofo, we know, and it is LITERALLY your JOB to stop it. So do it.

I played with some poem ideas that I hope I can work on in more detail over the weekend.

Slept reasonably well, although I woke up a few times. Morning routine was fine, including the free write and the art journaling. The sketches in the latter are rather chaotic, but reflective of current times and emotions.

On today’s agenda: meditation, dig out the car, go to the grocery store and the library, , turn around the edits on the 2027 Spell-A-Day, get some work done on BETTING MAN, and start the next ghostwriting assignment.

I am the only one who hasn’t dug out the car yet, and I dread it. It’s supposed to be in the mid-30’s, so I hope it won’t be too bad. I want to do my errands and bivouac for the weekend. Tonight, it’s supposed to get brutally cold, -10F with windchills in the -30s. I want to be in for the weekend before noon today, if at all possible.

Published in: on January 22, 2026 at 8:04 am  Comments (4)  
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Wed. Jan. 21, 2026: Red Flags Everywhere

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image courtesy of Bernhard Stärck from Pixabay

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and very cold

Halfway through the week, my friends. Hang on.

I signed off on the digital proofs for VICIOUS CRITIC, and they are going to let me know when a print proof is available. I want to see it before I sign off on that.

I didn’t even get sick of the piece with all the proofing!

After I get this ghostwriting assignment out of the way, I have to get back on track with BUT IS SHE A BETTING MAN? I’m behind on where I hoped to be for that.

I was late putting the crockpot contents in, but I got it done. Buffalo chicken and potato casserole, using an entire bag of shredded mozzarella. It turned out really, really, well and yes, there are leftovers, even though I had two helpings.

Got my page proofs for the 2027 Spell-A-Day from my editor, and I will turn those around as soon as the ghostwriting assignment is turned in. She loves the spells, which makes me happy. I have such fun working on this annual. Her notes are usually small tweaks that are wonderful.

The bulk of the day was spent on ghostwriting. I’ll be working on it all day today, but I am confident I will get it in today, the deadline. I will simply work until it’s done. I didn’t make it to yoga. For some reason, at some point in the day, I started thinking it was Wednesday.

I got a weird email from someone in a Northampton digital marketing company about a proposal. No cover letter, just a cover sheet attachment that wanted me to click through. Um, no. I emailed saying it must have been sent by mistake, and got an almost immediate email that it was meant for me, and I should read the shared document and share my thoughts. To me, that sounds an awful lot like an unpaid consult.

I looked up the company, which seems legitimate. I ran the person’s name through my years of email files. We had a single interaction in 2023 when I submitted a listing for a reading.

I clicked on the link that supposedly lead to this shared document, and got another series of hoops to jump through, including something that wanted me to sign a document. I’m not signing something I haven’t read. And if it’s a legitimate proposal, send me the damn proposal and why it’s coming to me.

I emailed the person saying I was uncomfortable with the hoops to jump through, what was this regarding, and why sent to me?

No response.

So I deleted the document and ran a virus scan, which, fortunately, came up clean.

If this company is trying to sell me something (likely), this is not the way to approach me. If they are trying to get free labor, again, nope. If it’s an offer to collaborate on a work project, then give me the information about it in a cover letter, such as what it is, why me, timeline, and money.  Sending a cover page to click through a bunch of “security” links sets up too many red flags. If it’s legitimate, they have shown who they are, and are not someone with whom I want to do business. If it’s a scammer posing as this company, hopefully I’ve wiped them from my system, since I didn’t give the information asked.

It made me angry and like I needed to take a shower.

That Thing’s incoherent, insane rambling on camera yesterday was appalling. That Thing is deeply unwell.

And Congress continues to do nothing, which means there are a lot of politicians to replace. It’s beyond disgusting. Schumer and Jeffries are beyond useless, they are complicit. They need to be held accountable on the other side of this as much as their counterparts on the other side of the aisle. And the funding spigot needs to be turned off.

Slept reasonably well, considering (waves hands at the state of the world). Tessa yowled me out of bed around the usual time to get everyone fed. Morning routine was fine, free write was good, art journaling was interesting.

The person leading the art journaling experience is putting together a “magazine” of the work created in the project. Um, so we’re supposed to submit raw work and lose first world/electronic rights on our creations for. . .being in the workshop? I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know what will evolve in the 45 days of the workshop, but the prompts are for internal work, not shareable work, and the sketches I’m playing with aren’t something I would share. My understanding was that these 45 days were about internal work, not external. But it’s about generating unpaid content for someone else’s magazine? Another red flag. Nope. Not submitting anything. That was not the agreement.

After breakfast, I dig into the ghostwriting to finish it and send it out today. Fingers crossed I can get it all done!

Published in: on January 21, 2026 at 8:23 am  Comments (2)  
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Tues. Jan. 20, 2026: Rambunctious Cats

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image courtesy of TEREX12 from Pixabay

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Sunny and cold

And here we are, in another week.

The cat in the photo is not one of mine, but the attitude fits what mine have been up to lately.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

And, if you didn’t get a chance to read “Redefining January” on the GDR blog, you can do so here.

The high winds on Friday were annoying. Which is a ridiculous thing to say, but we’ve had high winds for weeks now, and I’m over it. Power fluctuations, water main breaks, internet in and out, incorrect weather information. Done already, thank you very much.

But nature doesn’t really care if we’re annoyed, does she? And we certainly don’t give nature enough respect.

At least it was sunny, which meant everyone at least tried to be cheerful.

I had to pick up a new sketchbook for a 45-day art experience that starts today, so I did that, then went grocery shopping, to the library, the post office, and a couple of other errands. It took a little over two hours, including chatting with people, which is pretty good for around here. Unloaded everything, put things away. Rode my elected officials. Each of us needs to keep up the pressure EVERY SINGLE DAY. Until we can replace the lot of them. Really, there are so few who should even open their mouths at this point, because the bulk of them are useless.

We all KNOW they are going to cave yet again at the end of this month, and then pretend there was “nothing they could do.” There is SO MUCH that our elected officials could be doing, and should have been doing all along, and they CHOOSE not to do it.

Found out that Charles Coe, the poet, died. He died last November, but I just heard about it now. That made me very sad. I knew him, and we were in touch sporadically. I loved his work, and I loved spending time with him. He was funny and kind and insightful and very smart and pulled no punches when it came to injustice. I will treasure the books he signed to me even more than I already did.

Cooked dinner, read in the evening.

After weird dreams, I got up around the usual time on Saturday, fed everyone, morning routine. Housework. It was snowing quite a bit more than predicted. I finished the next book for review, wrote and sent both reviews, and sent an invoice for the batch. I’m a little frustrated that there’s nothing else in the queue. That’s because now we grab them, rather than the books being assigned, which means there will be reviewers who hoard. The previous editor assigned to avoid that.

The script contest sent another email, “reminding” me to send them a resume to read for them. Again, no mention of how much they pay or timeframe. And I’m not sending them a resume. They have one, plus 4 years’ worth of coverage reports. Unless they make me a good offer, I’m not doing it. I am certainly not begging them to work.

Slept well on Saturday into Sunday and did not want to get up on Sunday morning, but Tessa insisted. Fed everyone, did the morning routine. It was Day 150 of the 15-minute morning free write. That felt like a good milestone, and the work done in those notebooks definitely has helped organize my writing time.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, a little perturbed by the 3 of Swords coming up as the central card. However, it makes sense in context, even though it’s uncomfortable.

I dug out the back of the car, but left the snow on top as a layer of protection.

I ate an early lunch, filled up the insulated bottle with hot tea, packed my bag, and headed out to the gallery on foot. The snow had paused, and the sidewalks were cleaner than I expected, so it wasn’t a bad walk. It wasn’t windy, which also helped.

Jane was already there, and had started setting up for the readings. We talked through how to handle the flow, and the timing. I was positioned somewhat like a human shield up at the front of the gallery, and she was set up still in the front room, but near the back of it. She had a steady stream of people wanting readings, not stacked up, they just arrived in good time, with a bit of a break near the end. I took care of anyone who was just at the gallery to see the art, not there for the reading, and kept the list of those wanting readings, in case we got backed up. It was a good, steady afternoon.

Reading ART SCOPE magazine, I saw a phrase that will make an excellent poem title, so I jotted that down in my notebook, and will let it percolate to see how I will build a poem around it.

It was snowing quite steadily again by the time Jane and I shut the gallery, took in the flag, turned down the thermostat, shut off the lights, made sure all the doors were locked. Jane gave me one of her paintings as a thank you for backing her up today, which was a lovely gesture, and completely unexpected. And she drove me home, which was very kind.

Home, unpacked, unwrapped (I’d wrapped up so much that I waddled more than walked), and heated up leftovers for dinner. Did some reading in the evening. I was confused by a message from the workshop starting today. When I signed up, I was told that the workshop leader wanted to run it on Patreon, but would run it on Circle instead. This weekend, I reluctantly signed up on the Circle platform. I don’t want to be signed into something else with yet another password and I’m app’d out. No more apps. But on Sunday, I got an email about it being on Patreon. Um? Where am I supposed to go for the daily posts? Why did I have to sign up for Circle? I did not like the terms of service, and will likely delete my account as soon as this workshop is over. I’d rather they were just damn emailed, that’s what I signed on for. I guess I’ll find out today, when it’s all supposed to start.

Tessa vanished at some point, and we turned the apartment upside down looking for her. We were worried she had somehow gotten out when I took out the garbage or on the way to or from the gallery. I mean, I’m very careful with doors, but still, they sometimes slither past. Tessa doesn’t really dart out. Neither does Bea. She’s happy that she’s now an indoor cat. Willa and Charlotte will pull a Houdini at the slightest opportunity.

So we were worried about Tessa. And then, suddenly, she just appeared in the middle of the kitchen, where she hadn’t been a moment before.

Dimension hopping again, I guess. Sigh.

I should have worked on proofs, but I was just too tired all weekend.

Had weird, disturbing dreams Sunday into Monday, but Tessa yowled me out of bed by six. Finished the GDR article, polished, and posted it. Posted the intent for the week. Made the graphic for the tarot reading, and posted that. Did the blog rounds. Did the daily rounds of elected officials.

The fact that the government has declared war on its own population and sent an occupying force into a state because That Thing is a petty narcissist, and Congress continues to do nothing is unacceptable. 90% of Congress, at the very least, needs to be replaced.

No more Centrist democrats, fundraising on our murders.

Got some admin done earlier in the morning, and read one of the plays for that night’s Athena Project meeting. In the Honor Roll session, I started reading the other one, and also worked on the timeline for I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I have certain dates when things HAVE to happen, and I’m trying to adjust things in other scenes to match it. Milly’s father Archie (Alice’s husband) would have been too young for WWI and too old for WWII. I noticed, as I worked the overall timeline for what I have of Alice, and for the Milly, Amanda, and Joy sections, that I don’t deal with historical/current events/news things that would also affect the play. I do utilize 1974 as giving Amanda the chance to get her own bank account and break away from Mick, and the play ends on New Year’s Eve 1999, but there’s other stuff happening throughout that needs to be addressed. Next draft, when I put it all together, I guess. I have to sort out this Alice section to write it, and then write the opening section, and then I’ll actually have a full draft. So that was a good session.

I got a decent session in on the ghostwriting, but not as much as I hoped, so I have to double down today, since it is due tomorrow.

I got the first half of VICIOUS final proofs done. I hope to finish this morning, and sign off on them.

Heated up leftovers for dinner. Grabbed the next book for review, glad that there is a next book for review.

The Athena Project Read ‘n Rant started at 8:30 my time. I got the computer set up in the living room, so it wouldn’t disturb the downstairs neighbors, who have a bedroom under my office.

Charlotte, Bea, and Tessa were impossible. Charlotte wandered across screen a few times and finally settled down. Bea was behind me, fascinated by the screen, playing peekaboo around me. Then, one of the dramaturgs had a cat, and they started staring at each other. Tessa wanted to get into the act, too, so she checked things out, then found a piece of paper she balled up and started noisily playing with, soon joined by Bea. Sigh.

Fortunately, the others on the call thought it was hilarious, and at least I was on mute when I wasn’t actually talking.

Both plays were solid, and it was a good, lively discussion. I’m glad I attended. The project’s dramaturg has a play that is part of Barrington Stage’s 10 x 10 Festival in February and March, so I hope I will get down to see that, since it’s in Pittsfield.

After the session was done, I needed some decompression time before I could go to sleep, so I finished reading LIBRIOMANCER by Jim C. Hines, which was interesting. Definitely interesting enough for me to order the next book in the series from the library.

Went to bed a little after midnight. Slept well, but not enough until Tessa howled me out of bed this morning. Fed everyone, did the morning routine, did the free-write (Day 152). It was also the first day of the Sacred Palette 45-Day art journaling project I signed up for (hence the sketchbook I bought on Friday), so I did that, too, which was interesting. The prompt came by email, so there was no reason to sign up on any platform other than the original sign up, which rather annoys me, but I’ll just delete from Circle at the end of the 45 days. I did the art journal prompt right after the free write this morning, but I might have it as a floating creative time and try it at different times of day throughout the 45 days.

On today’s agenda: toss tonight’s dinner in the crockpot after breakfast, finish the final proofs of VICIOUS CRITIC, and work on the ghostwriting. Hopefully, I’ll make it to yoga tonight.

Have a good one!

Published in: on January 20, 2026 at 8:07 am  Comments (2)  
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Mon. Jan. 19, 2026: Intent for the Week — Work Cozy

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image courtesy of  u_2nkv6uoetw from Pixabay

Monday, January 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold into sunny and bitterly cold

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

It snowed most of the weekend (more on that in tomorrow’s post). It’s finally sunny, but will become bitterly cold for the rest of the week.

You can read some thoughts I have on “Redefining January” over on the GDR blog here.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up here, using the Ask the Witch deck. Brace yourself, the center card is disturbing.

I’m going to keep riding my elected officials and doing the work this week while doing the work I need to do to earn a living (deadlines) and some of my own work. But I hope to do it wrapped up and cozy in the house, not running around, other than going out to yoga tomorrow and grocery shopping at the end of the week.

The birds are starting to sing quite a bit whenever the sun is out, which is a reminder that yes, spring will arrive.

I have two meetings on ZOOM today, two hours each, and the rest of the day will primarily focus on the ghostwriting.

We’ll catch up on the weekend tomorrow.

I hope yesterday’s new moon supports a positive start to your week.

Published in: on January 19, 2026 at 9:01 am  Comments (2)  

Fri. Jan. 16, 2026: The End of Another Week

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image courtesy of Karuvadgraphy from Pixabay

Friday, January 16, 2026

Day Before Dark Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

High winds, cloudy, cold

The end of another week. The weeks both fly by and so much happens, each feels like multiple months.

I wound up missing meditation yesterday. I’d had an inkling, earlier in the morning, that it would be a good idea to skip it, dismissed the intuition, but then got distracted and did. I’m sure it was the right outcome. Charlotte slept right through and didn’t notice.

I finished the VICIOUS galleys. Yowza, my editor caught a good logistical hole. Fixed that, and some inconsistencies the copyeditor caught. We think we’ve sorted the formatting issues. One final proof, and hopefully we can sign off on the digital, and then get the print proofs.

Got so caught up that I was late to , but got there eventually.

Bea is getting very chatty, and knocked my phone out of my hand when I tried to check messages at a time she asked for attention. She knows how to stand up for herself.

Updated my Fearless Ink site to replace all references to “content” with “copy.” I am not “creating content”  or “managing content.” That has come to mean they want to hire one freelancer to do 12 jobs underpaying what one should cost. I write copy. I tell stories. I added in rates for script coverage. Since I’m not going through a coverage agency, I can set my own rates. And they ain’t cheap.

I need to figure out what I want to do with the Ink-Dipped Advice blog. Possibly go down to once a month, in the middle of the month. I basically abandoned it last year.

I had a good, solid session on the next ghostwriting assignment, and read the next book for review, so I can review it today. I’ll read the next book tonight, and then invoice the batch.

Today, I’m headed out for errands: grocery, library, and a couple of other things. Maybe mail a few cards at the post office. Then, writing and ghostwriting (my deadline for the next project is next Wednesday). And doing the final proof on VICIOUS. And riding my elected officials.

Schumer, Jeffries, and even Cory Booker are all useless. Yeah, train murdering goons to be better at murdering, there’s a plan. No, guys, you defund the murder squads.

On the weekend’s agenda: I’m hoping for a quiet day tomorrow, just reading, writing, and some housework. Sunday afternoon, I back up a friend who’s doing tarot readings at the gallery.

I want to keep the weekend simple. I need some downtime.

Published in: on January 16, 2026 at 7:52 am  Comments (6)  
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Thurs. Jan. 15, 2026: Feeling Heavy in Spite of a Simple Day

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image courtesy of Nick_the_Photographer from Pixabay

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Waning Moon

Uranus & Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and raw

You can read the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

Yesterday was a solid, quiet workday. I got the laundry folded and put away. I took down the stair lights. I did some other tidying up. I contacted my elected officials, on state and federal levels. I’ve contacted my federal officials daily, but I needed to ask my state officials to vote “no” on an upcoming bill. I worked on the ghostwriting. I did 124 pages of the proofs of VICIOUS CRITIC. There are some formatting issues that I hope can be resolved. I may have to rekey a few things. I’ll get back to that today, and, hopefully, finish this round, and we can see where we are.

I’m much happier with VICIOUS now that I’ve had some time away from it. I’m sure I’ll be sick of it again after all the proofs and tweaks, but at the moment, I like the way it’s shaped up. It stands well where it is, and is very much a love letter to working off-Broadway at that time, and also sets some good foundations for series arcs.

I haven’t had the heart to do the marketing rounds, but I need to get back to that.

Leftovers for dinner, which were very good. In the evening, I read THE SECRET CHRISTMAS LIBRARY by Jenny Colgan, which was sweet, and played with the cats.

I managed to sleep until 4:30 this morning, with strange dreams, but didn’t get up until 6. Morning routine was good. I have the online meditation group later this morning (Charlotte will be thrilled), and then the chat at noon my time. I’ll do the daily rounds of elected officials. My House Rep’s contact portals are still all down. I’m sure it’s deliberate. I hope someone primaries him this year, because I don’t want to vote for him. I want someone who will actually listen and fight. I have to file paperwork with the Attorney General’s office about a scammer who’s been harassing me since early December. I sent a cease & desist letter by certified mail, and that’s been ignored, so I’m letting the AG’s office handle it from here. I’m not sure if I can block this bozo now, or need to keep all the contact attempts as evidence. The AG’s office will let me know.

The bulk of the day will be the proofs and the ghostwriting, and hopefully one of the books for review. They’ve started new protocols on all of it, and it’s a PITA.

I’m feeling tired and heavy today. But we just keep on keeping on, you know? Have a good one.

Published in: on January 15, 2026 at 8:29 am  Comments (5)  
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Wed. Jan. 14, 2026: Vacuums and Laundry

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image courtesy of StockSnap from Pixabay

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Waning Moon

Uranus and Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and raw

Slogging through the week, here. Yesterday seems like it was far away, somehow.

I did hearth and home stuff, like putting the dinner in the crockpot, dealing with some email, doing some filing, creating the questions for the chat I’m hosting on February 5, taking out a lot of garbage, and finally putting together the new vacuum. Of course, the directions were wrong, and they didn’t mention connecting a rather important hose, but I figured it out.

And it works really well. I spent about 90 minutes vacuuming, which is a good session to get things done for a place of this size, although I’ll leave deep corners and moldings for the deep spring clean in early March. But it does a good job. Tessa, Bea, and Charlotte hid while I worked, but Willa kept pointing out where I missed a spot. The vacuum doesn’t faze her at all.

In the afternoon, there was a webinar with the Author’s Guild about the current Anthropic Settlement. Chances are there will be more suits, since there was a cutoff date and not everyone’s books that were stolen (per the ATLANTIC database) made it into the suit. So there’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of hoops. But it was good to get the information and know the steps.

After that, I did a little prep work for the next ghostwriting assignment, which is due on the 21st.

And then it was time to head out for yoga. The sidewalks were pretty clear, except for a few patches, and I got up there easily. I’d considered skipping it, because the thought of hauling myself out of the house was a lot, but I’m glad I did. We all needed it. One of my fellow yogis is going through a tough patch right now and works almost across the street from me, so I told her if she ever needs to take a break and decompress, to come over, have a cup of tea, and a cat on her lap. At least she knows she has that, if things continue down the current path.

Home, and it was lovely to have the crockpot meal waiting. It was pork chops with apples that had been cut up and mixed with brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, cinnamon, and ginger. It was good, but I think I would either cook it for a shorter period, or put just a bit more liquid in with it.

And yes, more leftovers. I won’t cook much next week, because we have to eat down the leftovers.

I read in the evening and played with Bea, who wanted extra attention. The catnip crayons are a big hit with all of them. Thank you, Auntie Chris!

Woke up a little after 3 again, and got up around 5 to get the morning routine going and to get things out to the laundromat. Two loads, they’ve raised the prices again, and it’s kind of ridiculous. But we have clean clothes.

It’s easier to fight the world burning down in clean underwear.

Next week will mostly be fabrics from the holidays and the usual sheets and towels, so it shouldn’t be too bad. After breakfast, I will fold things up and put them away. I also have to unbag the 16 pounds of dry food into jars. The little monsters finished everything. They were very happy to be fed at 5 AM this morning, though.

Tessa was waiting for me at the front door when I got back from the laundromat to tell me everything that happened in the hour I was gone. Tessa is rarely down at the door, so it was pretty funny.

Also on today’s agenda: asking my state elected officials to vote “no” on a particular bill, and get on them for not doing enough to protect citizens against the cosplaying domestic terrorists; get on my federal officials (again); work on the galleys for VICIOUS CRITIC; work on the next ghostwriting assignment; work on the next book for review.

I’d rather take a nap.

Have a good one.

Published in: on January 14, 2026 at 8:17 am  Comments (4)  
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