are you listening?

Settling in to another long weekend day of freelancing. No books to report, no exciting stories. I've just been working a lot. My last day at my old job was Wednesday. A lot of people came out to the bar after to say good-bye, which was really nice. I had hoped that this four-day weekend would be blissful down time, but since I'm behind on my freelancing, it wasn't meant to be. Next weekend is also a long weekend, I believe, so maybe I'll pull off a miracle and get my freelancing done by then.
The new job starts tomorrow. I hope I love it. I had a dream the other night that I started my new job and was given a huge, fabulous office with a window, but I had to share it.
Last night I dreamed. Most of it is fuzzy: something about traveling, on a train, and there was some sort of mystery or trouble. Here's what I remember: I was in a huge building (old apartment building, maybe?) that had a big, fancy, old-fashioned-looking elevator. I was in the elevator with another girl who was much younger than me, several partially full water bottles, and a cat (who looked somewhat like my Zoe). The girl was staring at this wall decoration on the back wall of the elevator. It was made of carpet, or some sort of weird thick paper, but if you looked closely there were words in the pattern. She said to me, "Bleeding heart isn't that much different from weeping eye!" (Maybe it was "sleeping eye"? I'm not sure.) I agreed with her and pointed out that we needed to find the other girl in our group, whose name I had trouble with but finally pinpointed as Allie. I kept trying to find a water bottle stiff enough to hold the elevator open if the door tried to close on it, but it wasn't working. Then a group of kids ran up and piled into the elevator. The cat ran, afraid of the noise. The kids asked what we were doing, we told them. A boy looked at us with pity and said, "You don't have your whole group. The elevator won't take you without your whole group." Then the kids commented on how crowded it was in there, and they closed the door in our faces and rode away in the elevator. So we went to look for Allie (and the cat). We went into this big auditorium on the ground floor, and there was a piano concert on, so we were twirling up and down the aisles trying to find Allie, and people were glaring at us. Oh, and earlier, I remember trying to make the elevator move, but I would just get a strange feeling in my stomach and the door would open on the ground floor again.
So that's that. Time to work for a bit, then do laundry. I'll report in later this week on the new job.
Blessed Be!

like i'm made of glass

I'm off to a bit of a rocky start with the blogging this year, I know. But remember how I said I had a few prior commitments I need to do in January, and then I would do a lot less freelancing? Well. January turned into madness. Two copyedits (the prior commitments), giving feedback on a friend's novel, band rehearsals, and I got a new job. So I've been working late most days to get everything in good shape for my coworkers to take over my books. Plus I'm still trying to squeeze in a few minutes here and there on my own novel. Oh, and I somehow joined the Sunday afternoon pool team at Boulevard. So, put that all together, and I am BUSY. Things will settle down after next weekend though. I need to be done with both copyedits by the end of that weekend. And I won't be scrambling to wrap up my job anymore.
I know it was yesterday, but happy Imbolc, everyone. Imbolc is a quiet holiday about purification and dedication. We did ritual last night with a couple friends who are becoming our regular company for religious observances. We created candle spells for ourselves to focus on what we need to happen in our lives in the coming months, and did a little dedication magic as well. It was nice. I'd like to incorporate more of my spirituality into my everyday life; that's definitely another thing I'll be thinking about more once I'm not running myself into the ground with work.
I read three books in January, which is a miracle given how busy I've been. Thank goodness for subway rides, that's all I can say about that.
1) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This book is CRAZY. It's a thriller about a missing wife, that's all I can tell you. It's smart, and horrifying, and witty as hell. If you like thrillers, or good writing, read this one.
2) Poltergeist by Kat Richardson. This is the second book in her Greywalker series, and I enjoyed this one as much as the first. I like Kat's setting quite a bit. Her books take place in Seattle and she's really captured the steady gloom with occasional bursts of beauty, and the weird history of the city. Her approach to the otherworld is really different than anything I've seen before. And Harper is a great flawed heroine. I recommend this series for anyone who likes smart urban fantasy.
3) Elsewhere by Will Shetterly. This was my first foray into Will's fiction outside of his Shadow Unit work, and I quite enjoyed it. It takes place in the Bordertown universe (if you're not familiar with Bordertown, check it out, it's great stuff). Will's language is sharp, his characters are raw in interesting ways, and I love that it's hard. There are no easy answers. You make your choices and you live with them, and sometimes that's not easy but all you can do is keep going. I really liked it, and am looking forward to reading the other fiction by him in my collection.
And now, as much as I could go on, I need to go freelance. The Super Bowl is tonight, so I'm hoping my partner-in-crime heads out to a bar for that so I can have a few hours of solitude this evening. That'd be pretty amazing.