Spoooooky ...

Monday, October 29, 2007
I made about four batches of these cookies and took them to many parties over the weekend:

Finger food

(Clicky to see big.)

One woman squealed, "Oooh, for Halloween!"

Uh, no.

I don't know what her household is like, but we eat creepy finger cookies year-round.

Kitty Kitty Bang Bang

Friday, October 26, 2007
This morning I was getting ready for work and rushing around the bathroom and doing whatever and turned around quickly and WHAM! I punched my cat.

See, I didn't notice when he jumped on the counter, and I accidentally hit him right in the kisser.

He looked at me, all sad and hurt-like before running away. But I was already late. And I didn't have time to play the role of inadvertantly abusive cat mama.

"Oh, you're fine," I said in the general direction of where the cat ran. "Don't be such a baby."

Just as I was about to leave, the cat slunk out of his hiding place and walked around my feet. When he looked up, his nose was noticeably red. Like, Rudolph red.

"Ack! You're bleeding! Help! What happened? Did you do this? Or did I do this? You know I love you, baby, right? I would never hurt you."

My cat does not yet know how to talk, and so he did not answer.

I cleaned him up, left for work and sent a message to my boyfriend about the bloody cat nose and how I unintentionally became Ike Turner.

And because I knew the boyfriend was stopping by the vet this afternoon for Ridiculously Expensive Organic Prescription Cat Food Made of Gold, I asked if he could get the vet's opinion on the bloody nose. Oh, and maybe see what he says about the tooth the cat chipped a month ago. And find out about the missing patch of fur too.

So the boyfriend called me after the vet.

ME: Did you ask him about the tooth?

HE: Yeah, he said it was no big deal.

ME: And the fur?

HE: It's fine.

ME: What about the bloody nose?

HE: Basically, the vet just said you need to stop beating up the cat.

Photo Friday

This week's challenge: Silence.

Train car

This was taken after last year's wildfire in Pioneertown.

The atmosphere was otherworldly, with an eerie sepia glow. The ground was charred black. Hills continued to smoulder in the distance.

At the time I took the photo, nobody but the media was allowed into the area. The place felt dead and desolate. No people. No wind. Not even birds.

The air was drenched in loss. It filled your lungs with the kind of desperation that gnaws at your bones. I couldn't even cry.

Right now I feel for the residents of my state who are dealing with this. My heart aches for you.

That was fast!

Thursday, October 25, 2007
I ordered my new laptop yesterday morning and just received notice that it should be delivered today.

That Steve Jobs knows how to get shit done.

Photo Friday

Friday, October 19, 2007
This week's challenge: The city

Here's Cincinnati, taken when I was back home this summer.

Businessmen

I love how those two businessmen look all suity and serious, even though it was a sunny August afternoon.

We don't get much of that in the desert.

Word Factory

Tuesday, October 16, 2007
It's NaNoWriMo time again!

And you know what that means.

It means I'll be trying to juggle a career, a household, two new TV shows and a personal life -- all while writing a 50,000-word novel in a month.

This year I'm much more prepared than in previous NaNoWriMos. I've started making an outline. I've created iTunes playlists of writing music. I even have some friends who will be doing it with me, and we're going to try to be each other's support system.

Besides, it's November. This writing thing is a great antidote to all the parties and festivities of October. I need to turn inward for a while; take a step back.

So I'll be making lots of chili and tea, lighting candles and curling up with my new laptop. Just me and my brand-new, shitty novel-in-progress.

Anyone else writing this month? What are you working on?