tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254900682009-12-01T22:26:35.334-05:00Because writing makes you do the wackyBarbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-69443980113019625622009-06-14T16:52:00.002-04:002009-06-14T17:06:55.076-04:00

For a while now, I've been posting the same content (at least mostly) to both this blog and my Livejournal. When it comes to comment traffic, though, this version of Writerly Wackiness has gotten rather quiet lately, so I'm going to put it to rest for now.I'll leave this blog up, and I may even resume posting on it somewhere down the road, but for the time being, if you want to find out what's

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-75559890709817495022009-06-06T12:19:00.001-04:002009-06-06T12:57:23.813-04:00

Crazy busy week. But despite the craziness, I just have to say that my new employment gig is awesome.Now I need to spend this weekend doing all the little things I put off during the week in order to get the not-so-little things done. I had been considering auditioning for a play for the first time in forever this weekend, but I don't know what the hell I was thinking given how much else I've

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-895245146949545992009-05-29T13:01:00.005-04:002009-05-29T13:41:58.423-04:00

It's been a weird week. And I start my new job on Monday, so next week will likely be even weirder.ReadingFinished Bitterwood earlier this week. I really wanted to like the book, but alas. It's essentially post-apocalyptic science fiction dressed up in high fantasy clothing, which could have been fascinating, but for me, it never lived up to the potential of that premise. I have several

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-86476423797857830542009-05-21T16:23:00.004-04:002009-05-21T16:50:22.784-04:00

Been feeling rather blah this whole week, and not even lovely weather and backyard chipmunk sightings seem able to cure it. It looks like I'm going to have to write off any hope of productivity and hand this round to the slug. I've kept up with the exercise and the piano practicing, but I haven't done any reading all week, and writing-wise I've only managed a sentence or two. I can't even use

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-58478939842166106342009-05-15T17:36:00.001-04:002009-05-15T17:38:57.362-04:00

ReadingThrough chapters 15-18 in Bitterwood. Also finished the audio book of The Road, which didn't end as bleakly as I thought it would. I give it a thumbs up overall.ExerciseIt's looking like I'm going to slack today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow. Otherwise, I've been keeping to the routine.MusicKeeping on top of my piano lessons and practicing. Monday was the last regular rehearsal of

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-8704942838873491462009-05-07T22:09:00.000-04:002009-05-07T22:10:36.362-04:00

...and beats it until it's worm goo.The week isn't over yet, but tomorrow's going to be a weird day schedule-wise and I keep thinking it's Friday anyway, so here goes. Any typos or incoherent sentences can be blamed on wine.ReadingOnly got through one chapter of Bitterwood this week, though I'll probably get through another one tomorrow. And only one disc left to listen to in The Road. Just

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-57067127285395805032009-05-02T13:42:00.004-04:002009-05-02T13:49:38.165-04:00

ReadingGot through chapters 11 and 12 in Bitterwood this week. I really wanted to like this book, but I have to admit to being disappointed so far. I'm going to finish it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to move on to the second book or not. Even if I do, it won't be for a while.I've also been listening to more of The Road in the car, and that--well, "enjoying" doesn't seem like the right word for

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-45329448045309016792009-04-24T16:14:00.000-04:002009-04-24T16:15:30.330-04:00

I came down with a cold last weekend, so between that and some major trouble sleeping and lots of beyond-the-ordinary-routine things to attend to this week, I didn't do so well with the productivity. I wasn't a total slug either, though, so that's gotta count for something.Reading: Didn't get a lot of reading done. I'm partway through chapter 11 in Bitterwood, and I started listening to the

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-19146220512354850132009-04-17T18:35:00.002-04:002009-04-17T18:41:50.761-04:00

This week has been strong with the bat-shit crazy side of the Force, making that whole productivity thing a challenge. Some of the things keeping me busy were good things (Easter with the in-laws, seeing a production of Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo, a reception where my dad got a firefighter-of-the-year award from the local VFW). But other things...well, I think my brain exploded a few

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-37146513274617256002009-04-10T16:38:00.001-04:002009-04-10T16:43:11.100-04:00

The week is not quite over as I still need to get in my exercise and piano practicing for today, but that won't be a problem, because the zombie story? DONE!Reading: Up to chapter 8 in Bitterwood, and up to chapter 35 in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. JS&MN has gotten much more interesting, so I'm glad I was able to go the audio book route with it as I doubt I would have made it this far

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-67635268467893169602009-04-06T00:27:00.000-04:002009-04-06T00:28:28.124-04:00

This weekend has come to an end far too quickly. Yesterday I made up for the exercise and piano practicing I didn't get done on Friday, and today I did almost nothing but work on the zombie story revisions. There were some brief breaks for food and an episode of Firefly on DVD, but otherwise, I was productive girl. I'm about 3,600 hundred words into the revision, and the story as a whole is now

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-13085208874952751232009-04-04T00:51:00.000-04:002009-04-04T00:52:43.333-04:00

...my shiny new iMac! The downside is that I didn't get much done today other than playing with the shiny new iMac, but that's ok, because shiny new iMac!I did get things done the rest of the week, though, so here's the productivity report:Reading: Chapters 4 and 5 in Bitterwood, and I believe I'm up to chapter 30 in listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (my god is JS&MN a long damn book)

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-68046696708941204222009-03-31T01:11:00.001-04:002009-03-31T01:12:51.324-04:00

* Snuck in a bonus productivity day on Saturday. A friend and I deposited our writerly selves down with some tasty tea beverages that afternoon, during which time I got all of chapter 3 revised (yay for short chapters largely unaffected by major plot changes!), and even got the zombie story revision underway as well.* After downloading the free trial to my Macbook over the weekend, I think I may

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-17153603580319755352009-03-27T00:11:00.002-04:002009-03-27T00:34:37.143-04:00

Since I have no idea what I'm going to be able to get done tomorrow--chorus concert at a school in the early afternoon, theater tickets in the evening--I'm gonna go ahead and post my weekly productivity report now.Reading: Two more chapters in Bitterwood, up to chapter 23 in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and a story at Tor.com that I highly recommend for fans of the play Rosencrantz &

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-34119612544055311832009-03-25T16:12:00.000-04:002009-03-25T16:13:06.083-04:00

Crappy first draft of the zombie story? Done! And when I say crappy first draft, we're talking Crappy McCrapperson from Crappsville. But revision is usually the easier part of the process for me, so hopefully I'll have less trouble turning this mess into a not-so-crappy second draft. And hopefully it'll end up being much shorter than its current 9,100 words, because that's way too much zombie

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-38521447613605906592009-03-21T15:23:00.001-04:002009-03-21T15:23:53.875-04:00

The slug put up a hell of a fight this week--which I now realize is sort of funny since that means the slug is working very hard at trying to get me to do nothing. But except for the exercise department, I actually achieved a fair amount of productivity this week:Reading: I finished Prime Codex on Monday. The last story was "Radical Acceptance" by David W. Goldman, which made me smile. Space

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-73942429622171125482009-03-14T17:13:00.004-04:002009-03-14T17:29:42.615-04:00

On a positive note, I got notice today that my short story "Jarra," which appeared in the July-Sept. 2008 issue of The Lorelei Signal, was selected to be in the e-zine's year-end anthology, A Time To ... Volume 3 - The Best of The Lorelei Signal 2008.On a less positive note, that would be my first sale of 2009. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely happy about it, but I've been plauged by this

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-3710547548894730822009-03-13T22:37:00.003-04:002009-03-13T22:50:42.642-04:00

It's been tough getting back to something resembling my normal routine this week. Monday was almost nothing but work and rehearsal, neither of which put me in a happy place. And I had been hoping to get a lot done today, but no such luck. I got a later start than I wanted today (I've been having a tough time getting my butt moving in the mornings this week), and my afternoon was mostly eaten away

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-17210609139468598642009-03-07T20:56:00.004-05:002009-03-07T21:15:06.340-05:00

I've actually managed to ease back into productivity mode these last few days better than I would have thought.Reading: Read two more stories in Prime Codex. "Tides" by Tobias Buckell was sad but lovely, with some truly wonderful world-building. "Urban Renewal" by Tom Pendergrass was a fun little tale in which the little old lady who lived in a shoe meets modern bureaucracy. Only three more

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-56805882749340216652009-03-04T18:41:00.008-05:002009-03-05T00:05:09.407-05:00

I was going to post my next writerly productivity report last weekend, but due to my father-in-law's death Friday morning, that and many other things didn't happen. After a sad and hectic few days, now is when life slowly slouches back toward normality, so here goes:Reading: I only got through two more stories in Prime Codex. "Button by Button" by E. Catherine Tobler was the first one in the book

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-61388004442796047272009-02-21T21:53:00.002-05:002009-02-21T21:55:57.861-05:00

The slug reared its ugly head again a few times this week, particularly toward the end of the week. So I didn't get as much writing done as I should have, but some level of productivity was still achieved.Reading: Read three more stories in Prime Codex: "Sister of the Hedge" by Jim C. Hines (this is one of those stories that I'm going to have to read again in the future to decide what I really

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-37417507578603173992009-02-20T14:37:00.001-05:002009-02-20T14:41:58.824-05:00

I have a huge amount of appreciation for my local fire department, and not just because I come from a family full of volunteer firemen. People dedicated to keeping your home from burning to the ground are a Very Good Thing in my book. However, the semicolon abuse (among other things) they recently delivered to my door hurt my brain. Names have been changed and/or removed to protect the innocent.

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-51906589313071697322009-02-14T20:48:00.008-05:002009-02-14T22:09:00.815-05:00

The Productivity Report since Wednesday:Reading: Read two more stories in Prime Codex. The first was "Wizards' Encore" by Geoffrey Girard. While there was a lot to like about it, particularly some of the imagery, the story never fully grabbed me the way I wanted it to. The second was "The Disenchantment of Kivron Ox-master" by Elaine Isaak, which was a fun story. I got a bit muddled by some

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-91830579655309052782009-02-10T21:25:00.001-05:002009-02-20T15:14:51.203-05:00

Slowly but surely, the productivity groove is being re-established. I feel like I have a much better grip on the new job now, and today I got my first grant proposal for them out the door, so yay. Another week or two, and life may start feeling normal again.I had a fun weekend that went by way too quickly: wine tastings Saturday afternoon, a fun dinner with friends Saturday evening, and an

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25490068.post-14795234350071117032009-02-04T22:48:00.002-05:002009-02-04T22:52:50.918-05:00

Two weeks ago, I had all the time in the world. Now with a new job and a bunch of other stuff that's landed on my plate, I find myself suddenly submerged in the world of twenty gazillion things to do at once. Quite an adjustment. My brain threatened to explode a couple times yesterday and today, but thankfully, the bomb squad got in there and defused it before it was too late. Basically, I

Barbara A. Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15031633304948114251noreply@blogger.com0