Tag Archives: health

February 21, 2025 · 4:30 pm

Find me at Ret-Con this weekend!

After two or three years trying, I got accepted at Ret-Con, a Raleigh-Durham specfic con. I have a 1 PM signing on Saturday, plus panels the same day: Comics You Should Read (noon), Does Classic SFF Matter (5pm), Never Have I Ever — Movies (6pm), Mean Streets and Magic Spells (9pm). Sunday at 11 PM we have the Pirate Panel. I might make today’s opening even though I’m not scheduled for anything. Then again, I might stay home so I can help TYG give the dogs their drugs.

TYG’s hand is much improved from last week, which helped the work week go well. It was completely devoted to nonfiction, primarily Jekyll and Hyde. I watched multiple movies, rewrote some parts of the book, did some online reading — mostly regarding the trans aspect of Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde — and read a section to the writing group (thumbs up).

I got two stories in at The Local Reporter, one about Carrboro road projects and an interview (not online yet) with the head of Carrboro’s new library branch.

Over at Atomic Junk Shop, I had an article about DC’s late Silver Age spy team, the Secret Six. I do love the Frank Springer cover I got this image from.

I also wrote about how Batman’s New Look era of the 1960s came to an end, as dramatized on Neil Adams’ cover below.

And that’s pretty much it. Given this week’s snow, I’ll wrap up with an image from the previous snowfall, a sad truck that froze to death alone.

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November 1, 2024 · 4:39 pm

A useful tool but not a miracle cure

I have recently started using a notebook to keep track of a lot of the little “do every day” kind of tasks in my life.

And no, you’re not expected to make sense of it. The notes are for me. Keeping track of stuff I’m doing in my calendar app or my Scrivener goals list doesn’t work so well as I have to open my computer to take notes. In evenings and on the weekend I try to stay off the computer and it’s often upstairs and out of the way. Good for relaxing, less for tracking.

While this has worked well as a spur to keep me going on my exercise regimen, giving my throat a steam bath every day (didn’t happen this month, but I came the closest I have in a while) and doing my stretching and yoga, I haven’t been on top of my writing in October. Finishing Southern Discomfort took longer than anticipated; work for The Local Reporter frequently takes extra time; and as usual, working on a movie book takes a lot of time (it will pay off down the road when I’m not rushing though) and I still didn’t get as far as I wanted. Lots of little things — article queries, short story submissions — fall by the wayside. I will carve out specific time slots for the little but necessary stuff this month and see if that helps.

This week I got next to nothing done. TYG was off for the whole week so Tuesday she offered to sit with the dogs all day so I could have a day free of dog-sitting. Monday, however, we went in to vote around 8:30 AM and then went out to lunch a couple of hours later. Even though the voting was quick — someone tipped us off to a polling station with no lines — that chopped up the morning enough I figured, hey, I’d take Monday off as well.

Tuesday turned out not to be my dog-free day. Indeed, if I’d been planning to work, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any done. Both our pups have been biting on their feet which is a sign they need cytopoint anti-allergy shots. And hey, there were a couple of other issues we could ask about — which meant that instead of a vet tech giving them a shot, we needed a doctor, which wound up being two appointments separated by a couple of hours. TYG took one of them in, I stayed home with the other.

When she took Plushie in, it turned out his glaucoma eye pressure was horribly high. TYG had to rush him out to our animal eye doctor half an hour away (the nearby location doesn’t have a doctor on Tuesday’s). Turns out his eye pressure was perfectly normal. Which is a YAY moment but we’re not happy with our regular vet (they did the test multiple times with TYG watching so god knows what the problem is). And of course that took a chunk of time out of our day. Then Trixie went in, which was quick but expensive: she had a massive diarrhea bout the night before (I slept through it on Ambien), way worse than usual. The vet did a lot of checking but nothing seriously wrong turned up. Which is good but frustrating. Though by the end of the day she was back to normal.

The end result was that I got in a bike ride but nothing I’d planned beyond that. However it was a beautiful day for an hour bicycle ride so there’s that. I cannot seem to recover my ability to cycle uphill though.

Wednesday I’d thought I might get back to work and I did. However it was a request from The Local Reporter to do a story on a 102-year-old woman voting early for the first time. I’d planned to skip doing a story this week as I had so little time but I couldn’t say no, so … Anyway, after that I settled for wrapping up odds and ends such as doing some research reading.

It didn’t help that I’d been hit by a hacking cough last weekend, the kind that with me usually becomes an infection. Aggressive early treatment with cough syrup and throat pastilles stopped it from getting that bad, so yay!

And I got in a couple of Atomic Junk Shop posts, one on a couple of extremely sexist stories, one on DC’s House of Mystery in the late 1960s being a place that has actual boarders renting rooms.

Even weirder, one of them is DC artist Gil Kane.

Despite the disruptions, having almost a whole week off wasn’t too bad — it’s something I haven’t done in forever. Hopefully I’ll be full of vim and vigor come Monday.

#SFWApro. Art by Kane, all rights to image remain with current holder.

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August 16, 2024 · 4:15 pm

Doc Savage and teeth: my week in review

Last week due to Hurricane Debby, my dentist postponed putting in my permanent crown. That meant I had two dental appointments this week, my regular checkup Thursday and my crown implant Tuesday. I called and got them merged into one Thursday appointment. Efficient!

However a variety of personal stuff intruded on my work days and ate into my time. I also wound up spending more time working on Savage Adventures than I’d planned. I’d wanted to finish this editing go-round this week and I did. It took me way more time than I’d anticipated though, so I didn’t get much done on anything else.

I did get a Local Reporter article in on Carrboro City Council candidate Cristóbal Palmer, and two Atomic Junk shop stories. One on DC’s teen humor books—

— including redrawing DC’s adaptation of TV’s Dobie Gillis as Windy and Willy.

— and one on Marvel Comics in early 1969.

Stan, Stan, Stan, you don’t think the Invisible Girl even has the brain cells to pick a baby name without a man? Jeez.

As for my teeth, the good news is, they’re in good shape. The bad news is, the new crown was slightly off and so they’ve ordered another — I go back in a couple of weeks. I can see why, too — while it’s not bad enough to cause major discomfort or an inability to sleep (as happened with my first crown many, many years ago) it does feel “off” somehow.

#SFWApro. Art by Emery Clarke, Bob Oksner (x2) and Jack Kirby. All rights to images remain with current holders.

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July 26, 2024 · 4:30 pm

This month of dread, this month of doom

Not really that bad, just me being melodramatic. Rereading Silver Age comics en masse can have that effect.

Not as bad as Sgt. Rock on the Joe Kubert cover above, either, though earlier in the week I did feel that exhausted.

First, Sunday night: TYG came home from a social event in the early morning. I would probably have gone back to sleep except she dragged me to see Wisp, thinking something was wrong. It probably was: she was reluctant to be touched, reluctant to move … but after 20 minutes examining her I couldn’t get back to sleep. Fortunately by Monday she’d recovered from whatever it was so we didn’t have to take her to the vet.

Then Monday night Plushie had a freakout over a thunderstorm and climbed on top of me. We’d doped him up earlier and it kicked in after around an hour of trying to comfort him. Wide-awake again, couldn’t get back to sleep. Same thing happened Tuesday night.

Oh, and I’d noticed some sensitivity to pressure on my upper-right molars so Tuesday I took time out to go to the dentist. Tooth under my filling had cracked so I came home with a temporary crown. Added to lack of sleep my productivity went down.

And to top it off, Snowdrop has some odd sores on his ears. We moved up his annual vet appointment to yesterday. He came in for breakfast, TYG shut the door and then it was three hours of repeated pleading to go out. After that he went in the cage and TYG took him to the vet. Good news: the sores are just mosquito bites and he’s otherwise healthy. And I did get some cute photos of him in the morning.

Needless to say, three hours of plaintive meows put me off my game the rest of the day, which I’d anticipated. But that didn’t make me like it any better.

And I took Plushie in today for a “just in case” checkup — looks like it’s nothing but TYG suspects a problem (not a major one, thank goodness) and her instincts are good.

Like last week, my output was sub-par. A Local Reporter article on a candidate for Carrboro city council. Atomic Junk Shop articles on some Marvel stories from ’68 and why the next couple of years are a blank spot in my comics-reading history. Various odds and ends, contractor appointments and so on.

On the plus side, I got some good work done on Southern Discomfort. First I went over the book and made sure all the streets I used made sense. A couple of times they didn’t — the Peachtree/Douglass intersection in one scene is the King Street intersection in another — but that’s now fixed. I did the same with the layout of Gwalchmai’s home. That was more complicated as I have to have Joan and Maria steal something from one of the rooms. The original location of the room didn’t work for that so I moved things around.

And then I ran it through Draft2Digital‘s bookmaking process, then took the PDF and ran it through Amazon’s hard-copy printing process. I don’t have a cover yet but as with past books, I simply snatched one off Amazon’s covers on offer. What I want is to have the finished book so I can give it one final edit.

Also I read a couple of key scenes from the book to the writing group Tuesday night. They gave them big thumbs up, which is good. I also got an invite for a final beta-reading which I accepted — I think I have time to make any last-minute changes if need be.

So that was good but between our pets’ issues, the dentist and exhaustion, I’ve underperformed as a writer this month. Better than a year ago when we were caring for Wisp after she tore her tendon.

Let’s hope August gets back in the swing of things.

#SFWApro. All rights to images remain with current holders.

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May 31, 2024 · 3:10 pm

If it wasn’t for the nights …

Insomnia was appalling the past three nights. I’ve no idea why. It made me feel miserable at times during the day but the days were still productive.

As I said last week, I’ve decided to switch to a four-day week for creative work, leaving blogging, email, etc. for Fridays. It worked well. The biggest problem is when I wrap up my assigned work for the day early, as happened yesterday; it takes a conscious effort to switch to some other productive work that needs doing. An easy fix, though: I have to make sure I have backup work in mind for situations like that.

The big accomplishment this week was finishing this draft of Southern Discomfort. I’ve edited out verbal tics, fixed plot problems and adjusted character bits. I also find myself wondering if it needs a bigger rewrite before the final proof, something I’ll blog about next week. Still, the work is good; I shall pat myself on the back for getting it done rather than fret about the remaining work.

There was some drama over the Ceaseless Way anthology when it became clear we’d had a major misunderstanding about some of our plans. We’ve worked out, though with some hurt feelings along the way. Everyone seems back on track, though. This was a good example of something my various business-writing articles over the years have discussed, the importance of getting everything absolutely clear. It’s why oral agreements often result in problems. We’re taking steps to avoid a repeat.

The Local Reporter ran my article about two Carrboro town leaders winning an award. Over at Atomic Junk Shop I look at where the Spectre’s Silver Age series went wrong.

#SFWApro. Cover by Murphy Anderson, all rights to images remain with current holder.

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December 9, 2022 · 4:00 pm

Working is now, thoughts are on then

Overall a good week. Except my insomnia — sleep-maintenance insomnia, where the sufferer wakes up and can’t get back to sleep — was in overdrive. Coupled with a couple of unexpectedly late nights and the time Plushie kicked me awake — he sometimes likes to sleep where my feet are — I’m feeling way zonked as I type this. Hence once again using this Jack Kirby cover for the Sandman story “The Man Who Never Sleeps.”But fortunately writing is something I can do in the dead of night if I’m up, then nap during the day. I did that at one point today only Plushie (again) nudged me awake, then waited expectantly for — well, I’ve no idea. Good thing he’s so adorable.As I mentioned last week, Paying the Ferryman loses a lot of the tension — okay, almost all of it — once we get out of New York. This week I rewrote it to increase tension and I succeeded. I also sharpened the direction of the story to fit with the ending — except I still have no idea what’s going to happen to Eleanor, my POV character in the remaining stretch before the end. She needs a challenge to fit her skills (amateur but gifted thief), a danger to go with it and so far I’m coming up empty. But I will find the answer because the rest of the story’s too good to give up on.

I also put some thought in on the next section of Impossible Takes a Little Longer. Depending who KC turns to for help, we either get to use a lot of the previous draft or I do more new stuff. I’m not sure yet which is the right way to go.

Today I worked on an old short story, The Love That Moves the Sun. After reading over the feedback from my writing group, I made a few changes but it really required much less work than I’d expected. With any luck, I’ll have it off after the holiday, assuming I can find a compatible market.

I also took one day off to handle various chores: contractor appointments for this or that repair, mailing some presents, planning for the writers’ group Christmas party TYG and I are hosting this weekend. Full credit to my wife, she’s amazing at organizing To Do lists for this stuff. I mostly handle invitations and the cooking (chili, apple tart, cookies, cornbread from the Bread Head book I mentioned this morning).

I also spent some time thinking about next year and what I want to accomplish. Coming up with a not-too-specific list of 2022 goals and getting detailed month by month worked well for me this year. I intend to do it again next year. But I’m also working on a 101 in 1,001 list of goals — 101 things to accomplish in the next 1,001 days — for the first time in several years. I may not use it as an actual goal list but coming up with so many forces me to be creative and think of things I’d like to do or need to do. That will help with whatever list I do make.

And I had two blog posts out, as usual, at Atomic Junk Shop. One expresses my distaste for nonfiction writers who think they’re the story, the other discusses pets and comic books, reworking a post of mine here from several years back. I have to say, this John Romita sketch (over Kirby layouts) of Ka-Zar snuggling with his sabertooth Zabu and talking to him like a beloved pet really touches me.  Wises, bravest, swiftest, I talk to Trixie like that all the time.#SFWApro. All rights to images remain with current holders.

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August 5, 2022 · 4:30 pm

It’s a trap — and I walked right into it!

Not really trapped but I do perhaps feel a little hemmed in. As it’s by good stuff and I had a good week, perhaps it’s more that I’m a bird in a gilded cage?

Yesterday McFarland mailed me the PDF of The Aliens Are Here for me to proof, edit and index. This is quite a job, especially the unimaginable tedium of indexing. Due by early September (the book comes out late that month). And wouldn’t you know, after a couple of months of quiet, Leaf suddenly has a ton of articles available. And one of my other clients wants me to do an accounting article.

I think this will rule out any chance of writing any more fiction this month. But that’s okay: I knew the proofs would arrive, I know from experience how much time it takes so I was prepared to drop everything. Well, except the paying stuff.

Oh, and I have a story I need to approve the edits on. I got an email Monday offering to buy Death Is Like a Box of Chocolates and of course I said yes. I got the email today saying they’d done the edits, would I take a look please? But hey, that’s a job I’ll do with pleasure.

I’ve also got some work to do on promoting Questionable Minds. That’ll have to wait, but it can’t wait too long.

But that’s a boatload of sudden deadlines when I normally don’t have any. I’m not really complaining because it’s all good, I just wish the timing had been spaced out. Still, having too much work as a freelancer is better than not having enough work.

Prior to everything heating up, I went over Don’t Pay the Ferryman and I think it’s in good shape. I’m ready to give it a final edit, but obviously not right now. And I finished this draft of Impossible Takes a Little Longer. It’s not looking as good but a first shot at replotting went surprisingly easily. Possibly the problems are more fixable than I thought. Again, not something to tackle right now.

Oh, I also had a filling adjusted yesterday. And posted a couple of articles at Atomic Junkshop, one on the debut of Marvel’s SHIELD and another on comic reboots that missed the point.

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June 24, 2022 · 4:24 pm

It feels like a suety puddingy week, but I did get good stuff done.

For starters I finished my rewrite of Southern Discomfort. Next week I read the revised first chapter to the writing group, edit the synopsis, do a quick last-minute error check (were their places I left Maria’s scenes in third person?) and send it off.

I also finished some finance writing that should put some cash in my pocket, so that’s great.

And Wisp stayed in one night this week, which was nice. Here she is lying out on the deck.

And I participated in an online panel for the online Con-Tinual con created by my friend Gail Z. Martin. You can also access Con-Tinual on FB, rather than that YouTube link. Either way, the panel I was on, on female sleuths and killers, isn’t available yet, but I’ll link when it is.

And I posted a couple of Atomic Junkshop posts about DC’s Captain Action: one on the toyline and first issue, one on the remaining four issues. Feel free to check out my review of the TPB last Sunday too.

So why the suet feeling? Well, last weekend I developed an inexplicable rash which didn’t go away, so Tuesday I took time out of the day to see my doctor (who happily had some time to spare). She provided a skin cream that eliminated whatever it was so it’s mostly gone now. But that left me off-balance Tuesday. Wednesday I got up late after the Con-Tinual session Tuesday night and barely had thirty minutes before the dogs woke up and came down. That wasn’t enough time to get my head in the game.

But I did get Southern Discomfort done and it will go out next week. That was my big goal this month, so I shall celebrate accomplishing it. Go me!

#SFWApro. Cover by Kane, as is the Steve Ditko-style scene below from the origin of Action’s arch-foe, Doctor Evil!

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April 1, 2022 · 5:03 am

Dizziness and diarrhea

No, not my diarrhea. Last Saturday, Trixie suddenly got the squirtles, requiring me to walk her in the early morning. And again, about an hour later. And again 90 minutes later. Every time I’d drift off to sleep, she’d get the need. Not a good night.

I almost lost my temper with her a couple of times, which would have been wrong. It’s not her fault and she was doing her best not to poop on the floor. She’s a good dog and it wasn’t her fault. Fortunately her tummy returned to normal after that night.

In more cheery news, my vertigo is just barely a thing now. I do my exercises regularly and I’ve gone to physical therapy to get some added exercises to try. Occasionally I still get a brief moment, but nothing serious; hopefully it’ll go completely before too long.

I was skeptical about physical therapy’s role in the process but it helps. Doing vertigo exercises is unpleasant — it makes things worse at first — so having someone push me makes it a lot easier to keep at them. And the results speak for themselves.

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February 25, 2022 · 4:30 pm

As expected, a slight drop in productivity

As I’ve mentioned frequently in this week-in-review posts, if I’m performing way above average or way below average the odds are that by random chance I’ll do less well the following week. When I’m at my very best it’s just easier to drop to a lower level than stay at the top. That’s the nature of averages.

So unsurprisingly, this wasn’t as good a week as the previous two. For one thing I gave myself Wednesday off: I had to take the car in for annual inspection and checkup and decided I’d just bring a book rather than my computer. Then I kept reading that afternoon. It felt good, so no regrets. We also had the housekeepers in Thursday. I thought we’d be dealing with the new dishwasher Tuesday but that fell through — there’s a part that was out (supply chain issues) so we’re rescheduled for a couple of weeks.

My dizziness continues but at a much reduced level so my daily exercises are apparently fixing things or buying time for them to fix themselves. I could drive safely to the car place and back so that’s good enough. I’m sticking with exercises that do not involve heavy head-jerking for now, though.

This week’s big breakthrough was figuring out the problem with the ending of Oh the Places You’ll Go! My new ending, with everyone in the future world of 2015, works much better though it does need some fixing and editing. I also figured out that the problem with Adventure of the Red Leech is the third quarter: there’s a lot of necessary exposition but no tension, nothing to up the stakes. I don’t quite know how to fix it yet, though.

Other than that, it was mostly Leafs, plus a new client asking for similar business articles. Better paying per article but not as many articles available.

And I had to resolve a problem with a couple of missing photos from the set I sent in as illustrations for The Aliens Are Here. All taken care of now.

All in all, not bad for the last week of the month. Month-in-review post will come next week.

#SFWApro. All rights to image remain with current holder.

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