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Purpose-Free Pondering ...or the random stuff that pops into my head

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Lynn



Last Updated: 10/30/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Married
Country: US
Signup Date: 1/18/2006

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Sunday, February 15, 2009 

Current mood:  romantic
Category: Life
I hope everybody has had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

3:28 AM 
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009 

Current mood:  cooky/wacky
Category: Art and Photography
This girl must be crazy.  That's not news, is it?  One of my goals for 2009 is to take more photographs.  To learn more about photography.  And thanks to my buddy Tess I have the perfect vehicle.  As if I didn't have enough already occupying my time. 




Yes, I've joined the ranks of photographers who are taking at least one picture every day.  And seriously?  You wouldn't think it's as difficult as it is. 

First, there's the task of finding subjects worthy of photographing.  The first few days are easy; subjects are everywhere.  But then it starts to become tougher.  It's forced me to see the things around me in a different light.  Everyday, mundane objects have become potential fodder.  Could this photograph well?  What's a good angle for that?  Ooh!  Amazing light!

Forming habits is important.  It's taken a bit, but I'm finally remembering to grab my little camera every time I leave the house.  One hand holds my keys and wallet with cell phone and driver's license, other hand holds my camera.

And then there are the restrictions I've put upon myself.  I want this Project 365 to be representative of my year.  Each photo must somehow represent my day, or a part of my day. 

And they can't be landscapes.  Part of my goal with this is to expand my horizons.  I want to experiment.  Learn new things.  Step outside my happy little box.  Landscape photos are my comfort zone -- landscapes and my kid's soccer games.  So no landscape photos for Project 365, and no soccer shots. 

If you'd like to keep up, feel free to visit my Project 365 blog.  Pictures are also being uploaded to my Flickr account, so feel free to stop by there, as well.   And please join me in crossing fingers that I don't give up on this project before the end of the year.

Thanks.
6:04 AM 
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Thursday, November 20, 2008 

Current mood:  fascinated
Category: Writing and Poetry
Are you a Wrimo?

We're halfway through November, which also means we're halfway through National Novel Writing Month, better known to participants as NaNoWriMo.  And to Wrimos, November is the month you buckle down and write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Sound crazy?

It is.  Thoroughly.  People shut themselves away for the month.  Laundry piles up.  Dishes attract flies.  Dust bunnies abound.  Families are warned ("Unless you're dead, bleeding or the house is on fire, do NOT disturb me while I'm writing.").  I've even heard tell of women whose husbands take over the household chores during November.

Not me.  I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but I've kind of settled into a part-time writing schedule, and that works for me around my normal mom and wife stuff.  And unlike some Wrimos who logged 50,000 within the first week, I'll be lucky if I make it to that magic number at all.

I've talked about it at LynnDaniels.com a bit -- my NaNo project this year is unlike anything I've ever done, and I attribute that fact to the success I'm having.  And to the fun.

I'm not quite sure how to describe my new story, or what genre it might fit into.  It's kind of a children's story, but some of the language makes it more PG-13.  It's kind of a fantasy with rips in time and space and talking animals and brand new animals nobody's ever heard of, but it's also an adventure story.  A tale of bravery and friendship.

Regardless of where it might be pigeonholed, the one thing I can say for sure is it's been fun.  And a degree of freedom in writing I've never before experienced. 

The story is called Chester and Rube.  Chester is a duck with a smart blue felt fedora and Rube is a giant purple dinosaur.  Together, they'll have to save Feckerson Forest from the evil Centipig and his army of Pigipede minions.

During their trip across Feckerson Forest to the Land of the Larrys they're frightened by sporgled bloonks and accosted by a swearing snail.  They learn the meaning of true friendship and bravery.  And Chester learns to squish.

And the reader will learn that when a dinosaur is carrying you in his arms through the forest, don't be a little teapot.  You'll be in danger of falling when you try to tip yourself over and pour yourself out.
3:30 AM 
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Thursday, August 28, 2008 

Current mood:  quixotic
Category: Writing and Poetry
I was trucking right along yesterday, writing like I haven't written in months.  It was just coming to me.  Flowing through my fingertips.  I was on a roll!

Until suddenly, my brakes locked up.  *screeeeeeeeech!*

And all over one word.  No matter how I tried, I couldn't move past the need for this word.  Sticking a placeholder in the sentence and coming back to it later didn't work, because I couldn't stop thinking about it.  It was driving me nuts!

Still is.

Kind of like when I forget the name of an actor in a movie.  You know, whatshisname.  It'll stick with me until, hours later, the name will suddenly pop into my head and I'll yell it out.

Unfortunately, since it's hours later, the conversation's already moved way past that point.  In fact, chances are whomever I'm with isn't the person I was with when I forgot the name in the first place.  Which makes for strange looks when I yell out what seems to be a completely random name.

*sigh*

So if you could help me out, I'd really appreciate it.  The word I'm looking for would describe something completely decadent.  Sinful.  Something my main character wants but she knows she absolutely can not have. 

And the word would fit in place of the asterisks in this sentence:

The man behind me chuckled softly, a sound almost as ***** as the ambrosial fudge hidden in my purse.

You got anything?  Please?


12:57 PM 
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Monday, August 18, 2008 

Current mood:  curious
Category: Writing and Poetry
How do you research settings?

In the past, my stories have been set in fictitious places, usually in an area of the country I'm familiar with.  It's easy to make up your own cities and towns; nobody can point at your story and say, "That would never happen in [insert city name here]!"

In my current as-yet-unnamed WIP, I wanted to set a portion of it in a city I've never been to, but many people would be familiar with.  Problem is I'm stuck on the research.  I can ferret out business names and types, I can order literature from their Chamber of Commerce, I can even interview people who live or have visited there.  But how do I get the feel of a place?  The atmosphere?  The nuances of an area you might not consciously notice but always subconsciously recognize?

A great non-writing example occurred for me during an episode of "The West Wing".  One of the main characters was supposed to be flying into Atlanta for a quick airport meeting.  The fact that the airport in the episode clearly wasn't Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport didn't bother me a bit; I didn't figure they'd actually come down here to film.  But what did bother me was the character's repeated mispronunciation of one of metro Atlanta's counties.  He was supposed to be talking to somebody from DeKalb County, but he kept pronouncing the "L", like they do in Illinois (dee-KALB).  Here in Atlanta, the "L" is silent, and the county is pronounced dee-KAB.  And the character he was meeting with never batted an eye.

If I were interviewing somebody from here, I wouldn't think to ask about that specific pronunciation, but as an area resident, I immediately registered the error.  So my question is how do I avoid those errors?  How do you avoid them?
7:55 AM 
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Saturday, August 16, 2008 

Current mood:  hot
Category: Web, HTML, Tech
... has apparently taken over my body and forced me to join Twitter.  Yup, I'm a little behind the times, but I'm finally there.  What are you doing?  http://twitter.com/lynndaniels
6:18 AM 
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Thursday, August 07, 2008 

Current mood:  excited
Category: Web, HTML, Tech
I'm extremely excited to announce my website and blog have just undergone a complete overhaul, and the new and improved version is up and running!

I've added more pictures, integrated my photo gallery, and the whole site is much much sleeker.

If you have a chance, please stop by and let me know what you think!
4:55 AM 
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Saturday, July 12, 2008 

Current mood:  bummed
Category: Life
Vacation's over and we're back home.  Why is it things you don't want to do are eternal, and things you love never last long enough? 

Our trip to Yellowstone Country was amazing, as it always is, and after the stressors of the past year, it was a vacation long past due.

I've got hundreds, maybe even thousands of pictures to process, and I'll be posting trip reports, at least to my lynndaniels.com blog, soon.

In the meantime, another tradition continues -- I'm trying to figure out a way to facilitate a move to Yellowstone Country.
5:25 AM 
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Thursday, May 29, 2008 

Current mood:  contemplative
Category: Life
Today, I decided to do something I don't often indulge in:  I shopped.  Just a little pre-vacation shopping, no major damage done.

My husband will be glad to hear that.

Anyway, it's about a 20-25 minute drive for me to any shopping that doesn't start with Wal and end with Mart (hazards of a small town, I guess).  And since the stuff I needed wasn't at Wal-Mart (I know, I checked), I took the drive.

I opened up the moonroof and enjoyed the cooler temperatures while Ten's The Twilight Chronicles played in the stereo.  A couple miles into my trip, a little blue Ford pickup pulled out in front of me.  Didn't cut me off or anything, but I happened to notice some body damage right behind the driver's door.  I don't even know why I noticed it -- it was just something I picked up on.

The Ford pickup wasn't going as fast as I would have liked to, but it wasn't moving too slowly, so I changed the speed on my cruise control and enjoyed the drive.

A couple miles passed, and I realized I'd been staring at the back of that pickup.  There was something about it bugging me, but I couldn't pinpoint the problem.  So I started paying attention.

It took a few moments, but I realized that even on the straightaways (I was on a pretty curvy road) I could always see the driver's side of the truck.  It didn't seem right.  I mean, if you're behind another vehicle and you're both going straight, shouldn't you only see the ass-end of the vehicle ahead of you?

The truck was dogwalking!  Well, kind of.  It was like this truck's butt was constantly scooting a little to the right.  And for some reason, it reminded me of a dog dragging it's rear end on the ground.

Sometimes, it doesn't take much to entertain me, and today was one of those times.  I watched that scooting truck butt, snickering to myself, until it finally turned off the road.

And it made me wonder what my truck butt looks like.
6:08 PM 
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 

Current mood:  awake
Category: Life
A couple weeks ago, I had to take LittleDude to his semi-yearly visit with his allergy specialist.  The doctor's office is about a 30 minute drive from my house (we do live in the sticks, after all).  We left early because I no longer had the directions, which had been saved in Sophie's nav system.  I was flying by the seat of my pants on this one, so I played it smart.   I gave myself an hour to get there, figuring at worst, I'd do some reading while we waited; LittleDude could play the video game they have just for kids in the waiting room.

Forty-five minutes into the trip, I called SoundGuy.

"You're not going to believe this," I said.  I was rolling my eyes, but he couldn't see me.

"Not going to believe what?" he asked.

"I'm stuck behind a house."

Nothing but silence on his end of the line.

"Not in a I drove behind somebody's house and got stuck in a giant mud puddle sort of way, you understand," I said.  "I mean I'm literally stuck behind a house.  There's a damn house in front of me, blocking the road."

"How the hell...?"

"They're moving it," I said, answering the question he hadn't finished asking.  "They've got this stupid damn house on a trailer and they're moving it.  There are guys in a truck in front of it, driving ahead and pulling mailbox posts out of the ground so the house won't cream them along the way."

SoundGuy laughed.  And laughed.  And laughed.  "Leave it to you," he said.  "Is it at least a fast-moving house?"

"Dammit," I said.  In my head, I was stuck somehwere between frustration and giddy laughter.  "If it were a fast-moving house, I wouldn't be stuck, would I?"

After a few bad jokes about moving houses, I told SoundGuy I needed to hang up and call the doctor's office.  Despite the extra 30 minutes I'd given myself, there was no way we'd make it on time.

When I reached one of the nurses, I told her we would be late, and asked her how late an arrival would be too late.  I think I confused her, because she didn't answer for the longest time.  "Let me explain my situation, " I said, then proceeded to tell my story.

She laughed at me, too.  Then she told the doctor.  I could hear him laughing.  Then he said something I couldn't make out.  Luckily, the nurse was more than willing to relay the message:

"Tell her to get out of her car, run through the front door of the house, out the back door, and get here on time!"

Ha ha.  He's hilarious.

After I hung up with them (they assured me they'd wait for us), I managed to snap a couple photos with my camera phone.





As it turned out, we were only about 15 minutes late.  Despite knowing very little about the area I was in (we won't mention I have the sense of direction of a half-eaten cantaloupe), I took a chance and hit a side road when the house stopped moving and all the people moving it (including the police escort) were standing in the middle of the street scratching their heads.

15 minutes late and one helluva story to tell.
2:46 PM 
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