personal

Snow’s a’comin’

They’re predicting a lot of snow for tomorrow — all that we didn’t get, I guess, over the past weekend and then some — but to hear people talk, you’d think they were predicting the end of the world. My sister, who works in Washington, DC, where they did get a lot of snow already, has been snowed in at home since the weekend and will be lucky if she goes back to work at all this week. We were reminded about our company’s emergency phone number this afternoon, just in case, but snow accumulation tends to be much less of a problem in Manhattan, if only because of all the tall buildings that keep it from getting to the ground (and all the traffic that keeps the ground from being there for the snow that does make it down). The snow on Long Island is sometimes another story altogether, and the railroad seemed almost giddy this evening with the prospect of canceling trains on Wednesday. If it’s really and truly bad tomorrow, just getting to the station or getting a train into Manhattan, I may take the day off regardless.

It’s already started to snow a little outside, but it’s not all that impressive so far.

Beyond the weather, there’s not much to report. I spent most of the day working on test questions for an art therapy research book we’re developing, occasionally posting grammatical questions to Twitter out of idle curiosity and boredom. (“Suppose a sentence like ‘Lions, tigers, bears, etc. are living in these woods,'” I wrote, for instance. “Should there be a comma after the etc.? If so, why? Why not?” I think the jury’s still out on that one.) That’s just the kind of Tuesday it was.

Sometimes it just turns out that way

Sometimes there isn’t a whole lot to say about a day, especially when it’s not significantly different from any of a dozen others, and when the most exciting thing that happened was when the new edition of the APA Publication Manual arrived in the mail. (Seriously, though, my ordering this was long overdue. We have one copy in the office, luckily on my bookshelf, but also the previous edition.) I did a little work on a theories book in the morning, a little on an art therapy research book in the afternoon, and in the middle I went for a little walk around town. Same old, same old.

I also did a little bit of writing when I got home this evening. All told, I only wrote about 150 words, but that’s actually not half bad for me, and I actually think I like where this story’s going. Maybe it’s partly being inspired by Heather‘s write-up of her ongoing writing residency, and maybe it’s partly getting waist-deep into editing stories for Kaleidotrope, but it’s really nice to want to write. (Though I realize the only way to consistently get and stay there is to write even when I don’t want to.)

Speaking of Kaleidotrope, I’m actually thinking of doing a one-time third yearly issue in July. Right now, the zine comes out in April and October, with #8 and #9 planned for 2010. This would bring me up to an even ten issues (!!!), but it’s mostly because I may have over-accepted and would like to publish some of these stories and poems before 2011. The cost involved, particularly with paying contributors and postage, isn’t a non-issue, but I’m seriously considering it.

And that was my Monday.

Sunday

Today was an awful lot like yesterday, only with nicer weather and the Sunday crossword. I haven’t quite finished the crossword just yet, but the weather did allow me to go for a nice walk and get caught up on a backlog of podcasts. (Did you know, when they’re designing a new typeface, they’ll typically start with the letter H?) Not a particularly exciting day, but pleasant nonetheless.

I’m not watching this year’s Super Bowl, even for the ads or the halftime show or whatever. I’m just not really all that interested. Instead, I’m watching some other television online — man, I love QI (and this was a particular funny episode — and trying to finish the crossword.

Hope you’re having a good weekend too!

Nomaggedon

I edited a few stories for Kaleidotrope‘s next issue today, thankfully none requiring too many rewrites. As a general rule, I don’t accept stories that need extensive revisions — if it feels like a first draft, I’ll let the author know, politely reject the story, and hope they’ll submit again when it’s rewritten. But even the best story can use a good copyedit and proofreading. Otherwise, I’m not doing my job, and then why am I even bothering? I’m actually pretty booked with material for the next few issues, with some stories accepted a while ago that may be pushed back until October. If I had the time, money, and resources, I might consider putting out a third issue a year.

Beyond that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Really cold, though the so-called Snowmageddon passed us by almost entirely, except for a very light dusting before noon. You almost wouldn’t know it had snowed at all, looking out the window now. It’s amazing to see just how much snow landed only a few miles away. My sister in Maryland got about two feet, so it’s probably good we picked last week, despite the bad weather then, to visit for her birthday.

This evening, I watched The Hurt Locker. I don’t know that it was the best movie of 2009, but I enjoyed it so much more than Avatar, the other top favorite for this year’s Oscar. It’s a pretty intense movie (something I don’t think Avatar ever really is), and a dark character study. I’d definitely recommend it.

And that, as they say, is that.

Thank God It’s Friday, Again

Today was a long day, but there’s not a whole lot to say about it beyond that. I finished reading through some chapter revisions I’ve been kept away from for most of the week by departmental meetings, and I sent my notes back to the author for review. A good chunk of developmental editing is just reading (and in this case re-reading) manuscripts, which doesn’t exactly make for exciting recounting. Still, what it may lack in daring thrills it makes up for in opportunities to use a red pen.

Beyond that? We found and removed a tick from our dog, Tucker. And we’re expecting a whole lot of snow over the weekend. And I have absolutely no plans to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. And, you know, that’s really about it. Not particularly exciting, but at least the weekend is here.