paper graffiti

Our “vacation” officially ended last night as we drove back to Dallas from the in-laws’ beautiful lake house, but we still had today as a vacation day as well.  I was happy to sleep in and relax around the house with a book for awhile, but I had errands to run that I knew I had to accomplish today while I had the chance.  We had plans this evening, but thankfully the rest of the day was free for me to take my time and do what I needed to do.

I got my oil changed and some other maintenance work done on my car, then I realized how hungry I was.  I was practically around the corner from the giant Half-Price Books that I love so much, so I decided to head over there and eat lunch in their cafe.

I had been there probably 20 minutes when I glanced at my watch, almost out of reflex.  My sandwich was half-gone, I was close to finishing my book, and I realized that I was perfectly content, sitting at the cafe table, in my own little bubble of quiet.  I had nowhere that I needed to be other than where I was.  So, I stretched out that moment of stillness as long as I possibly could.  I wrote in my journal.  I read the rest of my book.  I finished my lunch.  And I was supremely happy.

It’s easy to forget how important just taking some time for yourself can be.  We’re always in such a hurry–somewhere to be, something to do, even on the weekends when we impose that sense of rigid order on ourselves.  But lately I’m trying to learn to let go of my need for structure a little bit, and just let myself be still sometimes.  It feels good, like a creative recharge.  I guess it’s hard for my creative voice to be heard when I’m always talking over it.  Baby steps, one at a time, starting with lunch.

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 0 | 2008: 4,473

It’s been hard lately, folks. I’ve had a lot going on, but I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, the home office is coming along, I’ve got to have a long talk with my doctor about how not having headaches every day may not be worth the price of drug-induced nail-biting anxiety, and the fact that I write and manage projects for a living always has to take precedence over my own writing.

Today I was in a horrible mood. I’m not really sure why; again, it could have been drug-induced moodiness (I find it unfair that a drug I take for chronic pain that is ANTI-anxiety and PRO-calming could make me a cracked out freak) or just the fact that I wished I was working in the comfort of my apartment with my sweet kitties keeping me company. It could have been the fact that a bunch of someones flaked out on something important that I needed for a project. It could have been the fact that it was only Tuesday, and I want it to be Friday. But I was not just moody–I was flat out SURLY.

When I get in a mood like that in the office, I find it best to retreat behind the comfort of my High Fidelity-worthy giant headphones and block out the environment so that I can focus better. Today I fired up the My Neighbourhood radio station on my last.fm account, and suddenly I was more myself again.

I have been a last.fm user for the last three years, but I’d stopped using it awhile ago when a playlist got stuck playing on my laptop one long weekend and totally screwed up my play counts. I could have gone in manually and fixed it, but that was too much of a pain in the ass. So, recently I set it all back to zero and started fresh. I’ve been scrobbling the tunes I play on my iPod during my 30-45 minute commute each way, and I’ve rediscovered their radio stations.

One of the cool features on last.fm is the tagging feature–you can tag a song you’re listening to with anything that you like. When the song is playing, you can see what other people have tagged it with. I haven’t gone so far to tag all the songs in my played library yet, but I have started tagging songs that I like but do not have “toget” so that I can go back and remember who to search for in the iTunes Store or at Good Records.

Music has always been a balm to my soul–it sounds cheesy, but music is a big part of who I am, and it grounds me. My husband is the same way and it’s one of the biggest things we bonded about when we first started dating. Let’s put it this way–he always leaves the house with his iPod, but doesn’t always make it out of the house with his cell phone! (That will all change when we both get iPhone 2.0 in August, of course!) I know that as I get back to writing for myself again, iTunes and my iPod will be keeping me company.

In the meantime, check out my recently listened tracks in the sidebar of this blog, or click below to listen to My Neighbourhood radio. To see more about what I’m grooving to these days, you can visit my last.fm profile for some serious track stats.

What are you listening to these days?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 0 | 2008: 4,473

I’ve got two new music reviews featured on the most excellent pop culture blog, CultureFeast. I’m really enjoying writing for the blog–and listening to all this great new music!

She & Him - Volume One

The Weepies - Hideaway

Be sure to leave some comment love on my posts, as well as all the other great posts on the site. CultureFeast features a little bit of everything, so you’re bound to find something you enjoy reading!

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473

I always get ideas in the most inconvenient places. I know a lot of writers and other creative types suffer from the same problem–the ideas flow best when you’re not really trying, when you’re occupied with something else, and most likely when it is difficult to record your idea to remember for later.

The lightbulb always turns on for me when I’m driving, when I’m in the shower, or right before I’m about to fall asleep. All these situations make perfect sense, because those are probably the only time I’m actually letting my thought processes rest. But how am I possibly going to capture those ideas before they get away? I’ve lost too many great snippets of poetry or song lyrics, pieces of dialog, or plot ideas because I had no way to safely and quickly record them. So how can I manage inspiration when it hits out of the blue? Here are a few tools that I’ve found invaluable:

1. Evernote - I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–Evernote is a killer writing tool. When I have an idea that hits right before I fall asleep, I’ll grab my Windows Mobile phone off the nightstand (I use it as an alarm clock, so it’s always handy), fire up Evernote, jot down the idea, and then sync the note to my Evernote account. It’s then accessible from the desktop version of Evernote (Mac or Windows), my mobile device, or the Evernote web interface. I can tag the note with a story name or other identifier so that it’s easy to call up later when I’m ready to use it. I honestly don’t know how I got by without Evernote on all my devices.

2. Jott - I have a long commute to work each day, and some of the best ideas hit me when I’m in the middle of the highway. I can’t exactly pull over and grab my notebook, and it’s not very safe to try and use Evernote while I drive. Jott to the rescue! Jott is a phone service that allows you to manage your life hands-free–you can take quick notes, add appointments and get schedule reminders, add to your to-do list, Twitter right from your phone, blog, and more! I added the secret Evernote email address (Tip: Check your Settings page to find your own Evernote address!) as one of my addresses in Jott. The Evernote email address allows you to email yourself notes that get automatically added to your Evernote account. Adding it to Jott means I can call up, Jott to myself, and the note will get transcribed into Evernote. Now I can take notes on the go without ever lifting my hands from the steering wheel.

3. Circa 3×5 PDA - This is my favorite analog writing tool for managing ideas. If I’m at home, or sitting at my desk at work, or anywhere that I can write things down the good ol’ fashioned way, I use notecards. They help me break my ideas down into plot points, character cards, important notes, etc. Then I punch the cards using my awesome Levenger Circa punch and file them on a set of rings set up to handle 3×5 cards.  I even made hard plastic covers for each end of the Circa PDA to protect my notes. I am experimenting with entering my notes into an interface like StorYbook or SuperNotecard to have a digital backup of all my analog inspirations.

How do you manage inspiration?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473

I had a thoroughly enjoyable and tiring 3-day weekend, which was the capstone on a very hard, tiring week. I am glad to put that behind me and plan to keep forging ahead.  We did a lot of IKEA shopping, which turned into a lot of cleaning and putting together new furniture. We also did a lot of socializing–there was Indiana Jones, there was Mario Kart, there was cooking out on our new tiny charcoal grill, and there wasn’t much sleeping. I will admit I wasn’t looking forward to starting real life again, but I am glad to be one step closer to another weekend!

1. Rilo Kiley - Smoke Detector
2. St. Vincent - What Me Worry
3. Kate Nash - Foundations
4. Peter Bjorn and John - Let’s Call It Off
5. Emma Pollock - This Rope’s Getting Tighter
6. Goldfrapp - Some People
7. PJ Harvey - Piano
8. Nickel Creek - Scotch and Chocolate
9. The Shins - Gone for Good
10. Patty Griffin - Top of the World

Tonight there will be yet more socializing, as we’re having a friend over for dinner. I am hoping to also get a little cleaning and organizing done in our office (since it has all new awesome furniture!!) and do some writing to boot. I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473