Random Thoughts Archives - Page 10 of 14

Want To Know Why I’ve Been AWOL?

You’d think God would be kinder to me. I mean, s/he’s thrown half a dozen significant earthquakes at me in the past nine months (hell, by comparison even pregnancy’s fun), and we’re being put through thousands of aftershocks, not to mention the loss of job security. Our city’s broken. Isn’t that enough?

I took on a part-time job. Just a little one. Hell, it barely even counts as a job! But it’s enough to let us have takeaways on a Friday night without a dose of the guilts – and that, folks, is a Big Deal for us just now.
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Tea Lovers Be Warned!

I felt so loved – better, understood – when Beloved gave me the ultimate tea-lover’s gift: a fancy glass teapot (you know, with the thingy in the middle for the tea leaves so you’ll never have to catch them between your teeth again) and a selection of very cool, very expensive teas to sample. Perfect! Now I could upgrade to gourmet tea guzzler while I slaved over my hot keyboard.

I quickly learned my caffeine lesson when I tried Vanilla Black Tea. I whipped up a pot, slurped down a first cup, loved it, and went back for seconds. Then thirds. (Well, it was Read More…

Silver Linings?

We’ve just had a swanky new logburner installed to replace the chimney/logburner we lost in the Quake/s. We’re now well and truly into the winter season, and after being without heating for so long it’s an amazing feeling to finally be warm in the evenings again. Hallelujah! And double-Hallelujah, because my hairdresser, who went AWOL to Auckland post-Quake and seemed unlikely to return – she’s back! My hair rejoices!

Yes, there’s much to be thankful for. For example, Master Seven is very happy with the new “hills” in our driveway (caused by liquefaction) because he now has somewhere cool to play with his cars!

Meanwhile, the rejections keep rolling in. “Womens fiction and chick lit are very hard sells at the moment.” Sigh . . .

Remember Me?

Hi! Yep, I’m still here. I’ve been off-line a while – a loooong while – three months, in fact – and yes, I do have the odd excuse (including, on 22nd February, another horrific earthquake, so destructive it pretty much flattened what remained of our already-shaken inner city). Still, I’m sorry I haven’t been more in touch.

So much has happened in such a short time! One summer holiday spent in sunny Auckland. Two competition results for my WIP – third and fifth. Three extra weeks up in Auckland when, post-quake, our house was deemed unsafe until the chimneys were demolished. The incredible generosity and empathy of people all over the country – hell, the world – has been humbling, reducing me to tears so many times I’ve lost count. It’s taken a long time to get my mojo back, but finally I can say I’m writing again.

A Life Less Duckey?

Okay, I admit it. I’m useless. I haven’t posted here for ages. The shame is killing me. No, really, it is. I know some of you need a dose of GirlTalk every now and then, if for no other reason than to remind you that your life is so much more sane than it could be. Because, let’s face it, my life is worse. It’s full of cringe-factor moments, weirder-than-fiction moments, so-stupid-she-doesn’t-deserve-to-live moments. I don’t know how, I don’t know why – it just is.

Which makes me wonder – is this my lot in life? Am I really going to go through life making blooper after laughable blooper, year in year out, until I drop dead with the exhaustion (or Read More…