Empty the To-Do List - Do Something Thread May 31

[Silver_Tyger]

So did anyone get anything done during the weekend?

I got a(nother) constructed language started. This one I don’t have to feel bad about never getting ‘finished’ because I’m just using it for names and a tiny bit of vocab. I also mentally connected a bunch of stuff to a story series, which is nice.

[dangermom]

I seem to have done nothing but watch my kids swim. There is really not a lot you can do while watching kids swim, besides swim yourself or intermittently peek at a really light novel. I’m starting to look longingly at my sewing machine.

[dangermom]

Yay, I got some real sewing time in! The blocks for this quilt are almost finished, only I ran out of thread and the other spool is reserved for some buttons first. And I finally put the buttonholes on the fancy dress I made for a friend’s daughter–so almost done.

[Silver_Tyger]

The cross-stitch pin I’m doing is about half-done. I got my site up, although it’s just my old portfolio which is desperately out of date.

[salinqmind]

I’m purging! The house, that is, of: books, magazines, knick-knacks, odd bits of jewelry, pottery, vases, candles, picture frames, travel size shampoos and such, perfume samples, clothing, scarves, silver spoons, coffee mugs, needlepoint kits…in other words, CLUTTER. The books are going to the library, to a bin in the grocery store where they’re collecting for a book sale for a charity. The other stuff is being pored over and sorted out for a flea market the Humane Society is holding next week. I’m going to get out that box of Christmas ornaments, wreaths, pointsettias, and bows and if it ever stops RAINING for a while, will put them out on the deck to air out and get Febreezed. I really don’t have enough for a garage sale. It’s good stuff, just sitting around in closets and boxes, might as well pass it on for a good cause.

[maggenpye]

@salinqmind

I’m purging! The house, that is

Well done. I managed to get rid of two large sacks of old clothes, but I’m still clinging to great swathes of material even while I protest that I’m done with quilting as soon as the two ongoing quilts are finished.(But there’s an interesting pattern I’d like to try, it would only take another five years of piecework…)

The ‘learning to walk again’ project was only half successful. The cast is awkward and without the crutches, the best I can manage is a cartoonish: hobble THUNK! hobble THUNK! hobble THUNK.

I’m stating in this thread, here and now, that I will have the main quilt finished (except for the binding which I can’t get till Monday) this weekend! It’s Saturday morning here, call it 30 hours.

[BlueKangaroo]

I’ve done a bit of purging (but only a bit). The ugly blog is all caught up on, in terms of recipes we’ve cooked so far. Now I just have to work on 1) getting all the cookbooks in and 2) keeping up as we make more recipes.

Which, really, I ought to be doing right now but I don’t have good plans for breakfast. Pancakes in this house take too long.

I feel like the “getting the house orderly” project has totally stalled out. We’re in a new place in a little less than a month, and it feels a bit like pure frustration to be trying to pack and sort all at once, and mostly by myself since my partner’s work is keeping him very long hours and he’ll need to make a trip soon.

All in all, okay but not great.

[dangermom]

I finished the fancy dress and need to take pictures today.

And I tried some new recipes, which believe me is much more impressive (for me) than producing a quilt top.

[Silver_Tyger]

@BlueKangaroo

I feel like the “getting the house orderly” project has totally stalled out. We’re in a new place in a little less than a month, and it feels a bit like pure frustration to be trying to pack and sort all at once, and mostly by myself since my partner’s work is keeping him very long hours and he’ll need to make a trip soon.

If you sort now, there’s less to unpack! But I can understand the frustration. Moving sucks.

A major thing on my list right now is typing up and printing out most of my stories. I’m going up to my grandparents’ Fourth of July and I’d like to be able to actually write there. I’ve also started a mini-wiki for one series of stories. I should go through the stories I’ve written and add to it, but I can do that later.

But the main thing is finding a job. :mad: It just wears me down, applying and applying and getting no response. Ah well.

[BlueKangaroo]

Finding a job is really hard work, and I can understand how wearing it gets. Still, good for you that you’re cranking on it.

For me, getting the house in order is going again, albeit slowly. I had two boxes of paper that just had to be dealt with, and I managed to do 90% of the dealing this weekend. That was exciting.

The blog is still kind of ugly and still puttering along, and we’re still caught up on recipes. Though, the bad news is that this is partially because we’ve been cooking less - lunch today, however, is going to involve a salad recipe. However, putting up cookbooks or photos for the blog is giving us trouble. Partially because there are a few cookbooks we specifically want the other to write up (because we think that person will be more interesting or funnier), and there are a few cookbooks who don’t have cover images on Amazon.

Actually, I’d love the thoughts of some folks here. Right now we’re linking to the book on Amazon in a cover image for recipes we make. There’s at least one cookbook we own that’s been revised since I got it, and the cover image they have is nothing like the one I have. They still sell the one I have, but it’s discontinued and so there’s no image. Does it matter much if the images are wildly different from the cookbook cover I see?

That’s most of my “doing something”. And it’s not been a week, but even so. Hopefully by this time next week, real progress will have been made in one or more big projects.

What sorts of recipes, dangermom? And why are new ones such a challenge? Is it because you don’t like to cook, or because you have a number of fall-backs that have heavy rotation?

[Cat_Whisperer]

Okay, I got some potteries done - I’m in a decorative tile place right now. A leaf tile (which needs a little work) and a butterfly tile.

Some various ornamental tiles.

A couple more.

A carved tile I made a while ago. (Just showing off how well that one turned out. )

My garden.

My current project - digging a path around the side of the house.

At the front of the house.

All the grass that needs to come out at the side of the house.

[Silver_Tyger]

Good for you guys!

I finished typing up one of my stories, as well as made good progress on my serious notes wiki. I really need to flesh the story out. Actually it’s probably a b-story so I need to integrate it in with another one. Or something. I dunno.

But I’ll share a bit.

@from Isha's Doll

Billy saw her first, when he and Avery were checking the place. He didn’t think anything of it. She was just another bum wrapped up in a blanket with an over-stuffed backpack beside her. Later he remembered noticing her baseball cap. No logo and bright red, like it was new. But he had other things to think about, like if the boss’s favorite digs was livable or if and Isha’s other lieutenants were going to have to make long hours fixing it up.

Isha himself saw her next. It was a cold, cold January evening. It was too dry and still for snow, but the cold got in your bones and lived there. He paused as he opened the door. She was sitting on the sidewalk next to it, huddled close, but perfectly still, not even shivering. He hated the cold, wasn’t made for it in the first place and then it had only gotten worse.

“You’ll freeze if you stay here.”

There was no way of telling if she had even heard.

He stepped closer. She paid no attention to him, nor to the traffic visible at the end of the way. He paused, head tilted. Her face.

Her face was as blank as his own mask. He lifted her head with one black-gloved finger. She didn’t resist. She didn’t respond. Her eyes were shuttered as tightly as the Zoo, but something still prodded him. Something iron.

“It’ll be warm inside in a moment. And there’s food.” She didn’t respond and he turned and entered, leaving the door open. In a minute he heard it close.

Let’s not pretend it’s great literature or anything, but there’s worse out there. =^.^=

[Moonchild]

I turned in to my son’s teacher the DVD’s of the kindergarten fashion show. Got it done on time – videotaped it, edited, authored it onto DVD’s, copied 'em and printed the DVD covers. The drop dead date – end of summer school session – is tomorrow and I gave them to her today (I initially told I would have them in a few days, but whatever; let’s slither along before crawl).

I will write more. I should be the poster child (emphasis on child) for this thread. I have a few more items on my to-do list (Santa would say, “that’s a big-ass list” if he saw it).

[dangermom]

STG, is the person dead? 'Cause I’m assuming she is.

@BlueKangaroo

What sorts of recipes, dangermom? And why are new ones such a challenge? Is it because you don’t like to cook, or because you have a number of fall-backs that have heavy rotation?

I don’t mind cooking but it tends to fall to the bottom of the priority list. I get into a cooking mood and try new things, but not very often! And it always takes me a while to get the ingredients for new recipes.

I wrote a resume for the first time in 10 years–a possible job has plopped into my lap like pennies from heaven, only the hours are about as awkward as they could be. I’m conflicted but leaning towards taking it–I got laid off last year and jobs in my field are not very common these days.

I sewed a set of fancy doll underwear (out of scraps) for a birthday present and bought fabric to bind a quilt with! My daughters’ friend just turned 8 and she got an American Girl doll for Christmas. She only has 3 outfits, so I let the girls pick two outfits from my stash of doll clothes and sewed a petticoat and drawers to go with them. Dang, now I want to sew a doll quilt too, which would be over the top.

[Silver_Tyger]

@dangermom

STG, is the person dead? 'Cause I’m assuming she is.

No, she’s a selective mute (a not quite realistic one.)

I’d quote more, but it’s all choppy bits. Like I said, I need to flesh it out a lot.

[BlueKangaroo]

I can completely understand about cooking falling to the bottom of the priorities, dangermom. I really like cooking, and that often happens for me. As I’m sure you can guess, that’s part of the blog. And I thought STG’s woman was dead too, until I read the part about hearing the door close.

[dangermom]

Oh, sorry, I missed that bit. It probably didn’t help that my reading today was the famines in North Korea–so I read one sentence about a person not moving and promptly thought she was dead.

[Silver_Tyger]

Getting more typing done.

From another story, this one written in class, so it’s mostly choppy bits and some of the wording is off. I think an intro is necessary. Tunov Izolyt (family name first) is cursed so he has to sin every day. To ensure he does an imp is bound to his soul. Naturally this is a fantasy story with a pantheon of gods. … I think that’ll cover it. No one’s dead. =^.^=

Izolyt could feel the pressure building, like wind whispering at the door.
“Zukil!”
“What?” The voice spoke up from his shadow as it lay out starkly before him.
“How far am I from Shinkad?”
“How should I know?” The imp was irritated. He didn’t have patience for it.
“Don’t start!”
“Not my fault we’re stuck out here. If you didn’t pretend to be such a saint.”
“How far?!”
It sighed. “Sixteen miles. At least another six hours, considering how slow you’re walking.”
He suppressed a curse.
“So what are you going to do? If you’d taken that wagon you’d be in the clear, but you’re not going to make it to town in time.”
“I don’t know. Is there an oasis nearby?”
“Am I your map now?”
"If necessary.’
“Why does it matter? Going to piss in the spring?”
“No!”
The imp was quiet. It had to feel the desert air stealing his water from him. If he’d had the money for a mount. If his water skin hadn’t broken. If…
"You hear that?’
“What?”
“Water bubbling.”
He didn’t have the strength to run, but he tried to walk faster. The imp had given up lying years ago. And if he perished so did Zukil’s purpose - and his existence.

The oasis, if you could call it that, was over two dunes. It was a well and a stone shelter with a bit of green. He pushed the cover of the well aside and let down the bucket.
"Bless your ears."
"Don't be rude," the imp growled.
Izolyt drank his fill, then collapsed in the shade of the shelter.
"So what are you going to do? Hope -" the imp spat the word "- that someone finds you in time?"
"I don't know. That's not likely." The pressure was high, wind building to a sandstorm; he only had an hour or two until the pain started.
"There isn't much you can do on your own in the wilderness."
"I know."
"Defilement of water, self-harm, blasphemy... that's about it."
He sat, trying to ignore the whisper of the sins. Come out into the storm, they said. Come dance in the chaos.
"What are you going to do, Tunov Izolyt?"
"Be quiet, demon."
"Flip a coin."
"I won't pollute the well."
"Or talk it out. Over-think it like you always do." It sighed. "You don't have the strength to recover from blood loss. Not in the wastes. That leaves blasphemy."
"No!"
"Can you think of a better option?"
He closed his eyes. "Damn this curse! And damn you!"
"Not helping."
"Lords forgive me."
"Yeah yeah, make a choice already."

(left out part because it wasn’t very good)

Izolyt stood up. “I have far to go.” He returned the cover to the well and started walking, following his shadow.

“Lords forgive me. Shikuj forgive me,” he whispered fervently, the sun beating down on him like the judgment of the gods. “I am weak. Forgive me. Give me strength, I pray. Burn the weakness from me.” He was damned. He was damned from birth to receive this curse, to be destroyed by it. “I’m weak. Forgive me Lords. Forgive me Shikuj.”
Zukil was mercifully quiet.

Izolyt stumbled into Shinkad. A guardian stepped over to him and lead him to a shelter.
“Drink deep, traveler, and rest.”
“Thank you.” He nearly collapsed on a bench and a servant brought over wine and saltbread.
He recovered and left coin in donation as he departed.
“So you made it after all,” Zukil sneered from the shadows.
“I’ve sinned for today, so be silent.”

He made his way to the temple complex. Shikuj was not an urban god and had no shrine in Shinkad. Izolyt bought oil and to use the nondenominational altar.
He poured out the oil and watched it drip down to the frame. He bent and wrote his sins in blood-red ink. He bowed, head to the floor, the scroll in his hands.
“Lord Shinkuj. You know me. You know my burden. Give me strength. Protect your servant from temptation. Let this weight travel with me and no further.” He lit the scroll and watched it burn, before dropping it into the flame. “Walk with your servant, Lord, on this journey.”

[BlueKangaroo]

@dangermom

Oh, sorry, I missed that bit. It probably didn’t help that my reading today was the famines in North Korea–so I read one sentence about a person not moving and promptly thought she was dead.

Oh, man. That would definitely influence my reading about a person not moving.

[Silver_Tyger]

It’s Monday. Did anybody get anything done over the weekend?

I made a couple of logos for my website.

Ben-Day Shots for the section with comic commentaries and stuff.

Header for the site It’s going to be a bit bigger than that - the red dotted hexagon gets cut off about half way through and the other side will get cut off right at the end of the hexagon with the dragons.

I may go back and make the blue strokes thicker…