http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog Tamara Siler Jones' weblog http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss © Copyright 2007 Tamara Siler Jones Fri, 09 May 2008 16:28:46 -0500 Fri, 09 May 2008 16:29:44 -0500 iBlog 2.0 RC3 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080509155610/index.html <br>Hey all. Things here are all in flux again. <br><br>Let's see. <br><br>I am a guest poster/columnist on Poe's Deadly Daughters this weekend, it's a re-print of an essay I did a couple of years ago about superstitions and crutches. Check it out!<br><br>We have three potential buyers for the house, all of whom want it, none of whom have the money. They're all working on financing, loans from family, and other cost issues. Hopefully they'll figure out something soon. And so we wait.<br><br>The Kid graduates next weekend. Other than a test or two she's finished High School. This simply isn't possible, we just brought her home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago, surely. She's out and about right now with 'the guys' which, literally, are guys - well, there's one other girl. They get together every Friday evening and play HALO. My daughter is a very good sniper and hide and sneaker, apparently. So they decide to play Tennis, which she sucks at, but that's not as much fun for the group as HALO, so they get bored bopping the tennis ball across the screen and go back to HALO. Where they all die. Except my daughter who has this maniacal laugh...<br><br>Anyway, she's out shooting her friends.<br><br>It's just recently, since the kidlets really, that our daughter has become social. Her normal wiring dictates iPod on, ear buds positioned, and nose in book for hours and hours and hours. She still does that, most definitely, but she's out and about doing things with - gasp! - people most weekends. Good for her, she deserves to hang out and have some fun. The only thing is, her parents miss having her around.<br><br>Bill and I talk all of the time about how we're soon to become empty nesters. She's off to college in August and it'll be just the two of us again. It's going to be a very, very odd adjustment. I've already informed Bill that we need to intentionally do things that get us out of the house sometimes to interact with other human beings. We're hermits by nature, both of us, but we need to do something once in a while right? I have no idea what we possibly might do, might get involved in, I guess it will depend upon what things happen in the small town that we move closest to. If someone ever buys our house, that is.<br><br>Writing wise, I'd very very much like to say that I'm churning out gazoodles of words, but I'm not. I am writing, sort of, a little, on Stain of Corruption and I've printed out some notes and things to work on with SPORE. I just wish I could reach down and grasp story again like I used to, it's just been so slippery and elusive. I can get words without too much trouble, they just never seem to connect to anything. Like I'll have a Lars and Jess scene that doesn't really have a time or conflict related situation. Then I'll write a bit of something that Dubric remembers from the war - again, with no story point reference. Then something else totally unrelated to anything. And another scene with Lars and Jess... I can't seem to find any threads connecting any of this and it's very aggravating. And what's the deal with Paul and the Narrator?!?<br><br>Something will break free. It has to. I just hope it happens soon. <br> Fri, 09 May 2008 15:56:10 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080509155610/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/E20080501124646/index.html <br>Woke up waaay too early, but when I went back to sleep I had a bad dream which ended abruptly when Bill came home. I was supposed to be up and ready to go - we had an important errand to run this morning - and of course, I wasn't up or ready. I was groggy, sore, and disoriented from the dream. And and feeling rushed because I wasn't ready, which didn't help. I've been on edge and pissy ever since and I apologize to anyone who's had to deal with my snippiness today.<br><br>Grr!<br> Thu, 01 May 2008 12:46:46 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/E20080501124646/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080429104106/index.html <br>I've been reading The Simple Dollar for almost a year now, ever since we fell into extreme financial distress with the kidlets. Trent has consistently solid advice on a lot of issues - admittedly, it's not always applicable to every person or situation, but what advice column is? - but the coolest things about Trent are: <br><br>1) he too is an Iowan (in fact, he shops at the exact same grocery store I do) and <br><br>2) he's a writer.<br><br>Anyway, this morning Trent wrote advice to a friend about following dreams and how to grasp them. It's all about passion, baby, and how to pursue it. He tells us how he became a professional writer - he'd just sold his first book, go Trent!! - and how any of us can achieve our own dreams, what ever they are.<br> Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:41:06 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080429104106/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080425111008/index.html <br>So far, exactly half of the folks who've toured our house have come back for a second look. The latest of those first saw the house Wednesday morning and are coming back for another walk through tomorrow (Saturday), with the kids and in-laws. They've also had several back-and-forth phone calls about financing with our Realtor and, assumably, that's in motion. We haven't received an official bid yet, but we're encouraged. Also, Sunday morning our house will be featured on Iowa Realty's weekly TV show, complete with a virtual tour and an open house that afternoon.<br><br>Hopefully this will move on to the next phase soon. We're keeping our fingers crossed!<br><br>As for writing, it's stalled, again, but it's more me that's stalled than the writing itself. I did eight pages yesterday, but I'm finding it difficult to sit still for long, let alone focus. <br> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:10:08 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080425111008/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080418223445/index.html <br>That's my total so far. I'm on page 17 at an odd place to end a scene, but so far so good. The narrative voice is completely different than anything I've written before. It's in first person, for one thing, and the main character isn't the narrator.<br><br>Still enjoying myself, but I'm done for the night.<br> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:34:45 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080418223445/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080417091026/index.html <br>I'm just trying to get a grip on this story. <br> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:10:26 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080417091026/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080416092800/index.html <br>I am not pushing myself. I will not force myself into another blockage by making myself write while my writing muscles are flabby and stiff. I'm just letting it come, as it comes, and getting surprised with every paragraph.<br><br>Another two easy pages last night.<br><br>And his name is Paul. That's all you need to know. <br> Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:28:00 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080416092800/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080411204714/index.html <br>I did two pages of fiction tonight, thanks to Holly Lisle's How to Beat Writer's Block course.<br><br>Two. Easy. Pages.<br><br>I cannot describe how utterly ecstatic I am. I don't want to push it, don't want to scratch and dent the process again, so I'm calling it a night and am gonna hang with The Kid.<br><br>Thank you, Holly!!!<br> Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:47:14 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080411204714/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080411102259/index.html <br>I've just confirmed that I'll be attending Gaylaxicon in Bethesda, Maryland on October 10-13th. My friend Leanne is coming with me, and this should be a really great convention.<br><br>If you're in the area, please come!<br> Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:22:59 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080411102259/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080407113350/index.html <br>We went to talk with a lawyer today since my neighbor's been rather reluctant to move or remove his shed that extends about seven feet onto our property. It's not like there's a disagreement over whether it encroaches or not; it does, that's pretty obvious, and it hasn't been there long enough to get grandfathered in. It's a pretty open-and-shut issue, straight forward and simple. Legal paperwork, filings, and things are being done up for us to get the matter handled so that there won't be a question when someone decides to buy our house.<br><br>Sigh. It never should have come to needing a lawyer.<br><br>In other matters... let's see... I sewed a quilt top over the weekend from some black batik block-of-the-month blocks I did last year. It looks pretty cute, definitely an art piece, and it's about 50" x 60". I also sewed 12 new blocks from a fabric line called Portobello Road by RJR fabrics. I picked up a couple of charm packs of the entire line on Saturday and sewed them Sunday adding in a white-on-white cotton print as a background fabric and I used an older-style traditional star block from a selection of 1930's patterns I have. The fabric and blocks are definitely not my usual style, but they're kinda cute. In a very old-fashioned girly sort of way. Last week I also finished yet another quilt top, a couch-quilt sized thing from the all batik goose-tracks blocks I made in 2006. It's also very pretty and reminds me of buckets of sherbet in an ice-cream store case. And I actually finished a small quilt, a purple and black table runner that I sent to a friend (but don't tell him because I don't know if he received it yet ;). And I got some more charm packs of fabric I wouldn't ordinarily buy because it's good for me to do new things in different colors and styles even if it makes me want to pull my hair out. lol And I have some Nancy Halvorsen fat quarters (she's my favorite fabric designer) and, well, I have a lot of sewing I can do to keep me from going completely out of my mind with boredom while rattling around this nearly empty house. :)<br><br>And, yes, I'll try to remember to take pics of the quilts and blocks. My camera's currently in a box. Somewhere. I think.<br><br>We bought a new car a couple of weeks ago. Did I mention that? (scrolls back to check blog files). Nope, I hadn't mentioned it. The commute - about 90 miles, one way, in a nearly 20 year old Ford Explorer - was killing us in gas, about $200 the first week. AACK! So, being cheap like we are, we decided to dump that money on a good very economical car instead of down the gas tank. We bought an '08 Prius Hybrid. It's been getting *about* 48mpg for Bill's commute which is WORLDS better than the 17mpg we got with the Exploder. We have never, ever, not once in the entirety of our marriage had a car payment. We've driven other folks' cast off clunkers and things we've bought really cheap from friends, never, ever anything less than ten years old, ever, and most have been considerably older than that. So it's really strange to have something new. It's silver and pretty cool overall, but I'm still getting used to all the digital doo-dads and the electric motor being silent and all that stuff. It doesn't even have a key, it has a power button, like a stereo! There's a sensor that detects when someone with the electronic chip key-fob thing is in or approaches the vehicle. No chip, no admittance, and no pushy the power button. We refer to it as The Space Ship. lol<br><br>The Kid has an interview for a scholarship on Wednesday. She's pretty nervous, the amount of her aid depends on how well she interviews. Bill, of course, is flipping her crap about it. Right now. And I'm having trouble concentrating on this post. So I think I'm going to sign off. :)<br><br>Have a lovely day, everyone!<br> Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:33:50 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080407113350/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/E20080402140837/index.html <br> Hey all!<br><br>I dropped my laptop the other day and messed up my ethernet port. Connection via wireless has always been... touchy. I'm trying to find alternative options or decide if I can afford repairs.<br><br>Otherwise, things keep on keeping on. I've begun some preliminary work on a new Dubric book, The Kid is prepping for Freshman Orientation at her new college and her high School graduation, Bill's doing great with the new job, and we've had 3 sets of folks come for a second look at the house, just in the past few days. So, mostly, we're keeping our fingers crossed!<br> Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:08:37 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/E20080402140837/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080319102803/index.html <br> The house is prepped and we've had a few viewings. Now we just have to sell. So we wait. And wait.<br><br>I keep trying to write, but nothing's coming. I can't seem to *think*, if that makes any sense. I physically can write, which is an improvement over a few months ago, but I find myself writing in circles without making any directional progress. This has been an ongoing problem for quite a while now and I'm not sure what else I can do to make it stop. I'm hoping that new surroundings, living somewhere away from a lifetime of angst, anger and bad memories will help.<br><br>Something will help. Right?<br> Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:28:03 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C2004362583/E20080319102803/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080314084844/index.html <br>We put a bid on a house!<br><br><br> <br><br><br>There are a lot of decorative items that we'll clear out - the inside of the house is covered in horses and frills - but it's about 2500 square feet on 2.25 acres. And it's about 10 minutes from Bill's new job. We've agreed that the sellers need to pass a water safety test on their well, and we need to sell our house first, but other than those two things, it's all set up for financing and transfer.<br><br>Here's hoping we sell soon!<br> Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:48:44 -0500 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080314084844/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080305080426/index.html <br>We've had two Realtors come through the house, one seemed to 'get' our house and location, one wanted to compare us w/ bungalows on city lots. Guess which we're going with?<br><br><br> <br><br><br>We're listing officially next week, after we finish with painting and moldings, at $130k, all appliances negotiable (and don't forget the new carpet, vinyl, lighting & kitchen counters we've installed). We've changed things outside since this picture was taken, like a new deck out front and some landscaping, but if you or anyone you know is looking for a great 1500 sq ft 3 bedroom house on nearly an acre within easy commute to Des Moines, drop me a line. :)<br> Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:04:26 -0600 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080305080426/index.html http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080227063417/index.html <br> I've been completely offline for about a week now, mostly because we'd stripped and painted the living room and have been waiting for carpet to get installed (hey, it's where my internet port is). Now that the carpet's in - was installed yesterday - the living room is covered in plastic sheeting and will be used to hold the kitchen and laundry room appliances so that we can get new vinyl installed tomorrow. I *might* be back to regular operating parameters by Friday. Maybe.<br><br>The house spruce-up is nearing completion, most of the interior is freshly painted and eleven years of dings, dents, scratches and other wear-and-tear are repaired. It's really looking gorgeous.<br><br>Our realtor is scheduled to visit on Monday to set up our marketing plan, and this is all coming together really, really well. My brother and uncle have both expressed interest in buying the house and don't think that we'll have too much trouble selling. I guess we'll see. :)<br><br>Anyway, we're all fine if a bit snowy, the weather has not been cooperating at all, but we're still on schedule and getting lots done.<br><br>I hope you all have a lovely week!<br> Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:34:17 -0600 http:/www.tamarasilerjones.com/blog/C1203046112/E20080227063417/index.html