Category: This & That

What Weekend?

My last two or three weekends have been so busy, it’s almost felt like I haven’t had weekends at all. Know what I mean? Being sick throughout one of those weekends didn’t help—all the work I’d intended to accomplish then was postponed. The good news is I think (hope?) I’m finally caught up.

Last Thursday and Friday I glommed researching universities for Youngest Son for next year. I always get waaaaaaaaayyyy too caught up in research, whether it’s for writing or another purpose. But it had to be done. Then, a lot of bookkeeping (5 months’ worth…I’ve been procrastinating) for myself, plus helping someone else set up books for a new business (not that I’m much help, but I had to be there). By the time Sunday rolled around, I was sooooo ready for pizza with pepperoni, feta cheese and black olives (yum!), hot wings, and hours of TV. Now that I’ve overdosed on Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, The Amazing Race, Dexter, and the finale for So You Think You Can Dance Canada, I’m feeling refreshed! Can’t beat the idiot box for releasing stress.

A girl named Tara-Jean won SYTYCD. I was rooting for her—and also the runner-up, Vincent (say it with a French Canadian accent), a very talented 20-year-old. Also, Saturday night, My Liege and I watched a couple of movies on the DVR. I fell asleep during “his” movie, then both of us enjoyed Renee Zellwegger and Harry Connick Jr. in NEW IN TOWN. Classic romantic comedy. When it was done, My Liege said, “Now I know why you like these kinds of movies. They make you feel good.” Yep. Well stated, My Liege.

How was your weekend? Do you ever feel like you can never accomplish enough on the weekends? Or are you one of that special breed of people who actually uses weekends to relax?

I have great plans to relax next weekend—and not because illness is forcing me to. Nope, I have nothing more stressful on my calendar than handing out Halloween candy and watching fireworks over a glittering lake while I stand on the beach with my husband and a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Fonciful

I’m obsessed with fonts. One of the reasons I could never be a professional web designer is that I waste (um, invest?) hours and hours of time searching for just the right font for a site. I love fonts! Can you imagine how my obsession would reflect on an hourly-basis invoice? I’d have to charge a flat rate for font research.

Of course, I might not be as obsessive about choosing fonts for other people. Choosing for myself, though…it’s a sickness.

I can’t begin to describe how many fonts I browsed for my site re-design (accomplished in May 2008 or thereabouts). I narrowed down to about 20 over a period of 6 hours or so of browsing and testing (not kidding), then narrowed down again from there. I think I remember choosing my Cindy Procter-King name font from a short-short-short list of 3. I wound up buying 3-5 fonts and then kept playing with them until I made my decision.

One of the fonts I didn’t choose for this site, I wound up using on Penny’s site. But my work doesn’t stop there. Because I often like to have a secondary, complementary font (the font on my buttons, for instance). Choosing one font is bad enough. Choosing two = triple the obsession.

I’ve yet to use two of the fonts I purchased when I redesigned this site and built Penny’s. But I don’t mind. Sometimes I go into my Fonts folder and gaze at them longingly, spinning new web designs around them in my mind.

My favorite site for buying fonts is My Fonts (no, they didn’t pay or ask me to say this). The site is easy to navigate, and once you choose a font to test you can type your name or other wording into a window, click, then see what the font might look like on your site. Easy-peasy!

At Fontifier, you can upload a sample of your handwriting and create your own personalized font! I haven’t tried this myself. I have crappy handwriting and know better than to unleash it on the world. It’s the fault of the elementary school I attended. For reasons that are not clear to me, they decided not to teach a few grades of us cursive writing. Instead, we learned “script.” I do believe an exchange teacher from Australia foisted this experiment upon us. “Script” was supposed to look like beautiful calligraphy, but in the hands of 8- and 9-year-olds, it looks like printing with checkmarks on the end (serifs). The result was that, even as a teenager, I didn’t know how to write. I printed. I still mainly print (when I want someone to be able to read what I’m writing). And I’m all over the map. I do two different types of E’s (capital and lower case), depending on my mood. Same with S’s. And F’s (lower case only).

I did have to teach myself to cursive write when I opened a bank account as a teen and they wanted a signature. I remember going with a friend who “signed” her name like straight up and down printing with tick marks at the end of each letter—at the age of 15. Not for me!

I have the worst signature in the world. YOU try signing Cindy Procter-King over and over and over and over and see what it winds up looking like.

I could be a doctor.

I blame my two summers as a meter maid. I learned to sign Cindy Procter without really looking at the pad (I was too busy darting the glares of annoyed drivers).

I blame my children. Eldest Son was such a rambunctious toddler that I didn’t dare take my eyes off him while signing checks in the grocery store or the bank (young mothers don’t realize how easy they have it with debit cards—no signing!). So my cursive handwriting grew worse and worse.

Dare I say I’m the only one who can read it? (Curiously, my critique partners blame me).

If anyone tries the Fontifier, let me know how it turns out.

(Yes, I do believe they began teaching cursive writing at my elementary school again after I left…fat lot of good it did me).

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

I couldn’t resist posting this:

Eldest Son is coming home for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning, and My Liege is taking Friday off work, so you won’t find me around the blog until Tuesday or so. Monday is a holiday, and Sunday is our Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’.

An American on one of my writing lists asked about the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Sorry to disappoint, but the holiday is pretty much the same as it is in the U.S….except it’s celebrated several weeks earlier. Why? I dunno, it’s a holiday, let’s eat!

We’ll be having ham, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts and no doubt another casserole or two. And pumpkin pie for dessert.

Yum. Aren’t you sad you have to wait?

Fever Pitch

I had the strangest fever all weekend. Now I know why I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night.

I woke up Friday feeling fine. So I thought. The dog had to go in to the vet’s for the day, so we didn’t have time for a walk (she wasn’t allowed to eat anything, and she always grabs something off the ground on our walks). Then I had errands to run downtown. Returned home, picked up the dog after some writing, and realized I was feeling a tad warm. I didn’t think anything of it. Nope, I didn’t walk the dog in the afternoon because she had to recover from her teeth-cleaning, not because there was anything wrong with me, you understand. Then the afternoon wore on, and I realized I only had enough energy to lie in front of the TV and vegetate—something I only do during the day when I’m sick. But I wasn’t sick! I was just too lazy to walk the dog (another very rare occurrence that should have clued me in).

Friday night, my Liege and I went out to an impromptu dinner. By this point, I was very emotional (watching Sicko before meeting him made me cry), and I went to bed early again.

Saturday morning, I awoke bright and early. My Liege offered to walk the dog alone, something that rarely happens. I hopped onto the computer, eager to get a ton of business-of-writing stuff accomplished. Then it hit me. I was either having the world’s biggest hot flash or I had a fever. I spent most of the day sleeping. When a friend mentioned that hot flashes usually don’t last 12+ hours, I finally admitted I might be sick.

I spent all of Saturday and Sunday in my pajamas. Sunday was a little better. No long naps (I only sleep during the day if I’m utterly exhausted or ill), but I couldn’t walk the dog again in the morning and I spent all day lying in front of the TV. Between Saturday and Sunday, I managed to scratch two items off my massive biz-of-writing To-Do list. And I considered that an accomplishment.

This was a very weird illness, because my only symptom seemed to be the fever. And tiredness. And thirst. I drank tons of water, rested for eons, and, okay, did the laundry, managed one afternoon walk with the dog, and pretended I was going to make dinner. Instead, I ate cashews and chocolate ice cream and caught up on my movie watching.

movie_goyas-ghostsGoya’s Ghosts: Excellent. Watch it. Natalie Portman did an excellent job. As did Javier Bardem and Stellan Skarsgard (I’m starting to wonder if there’s any role Bardem doesn’t do well). Barely recognized Randy Quaid!

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: I endured about 20 minutes before deleting it from the digital recorder. I enjoy Frances McDermond and Amy Adams, but after Goya’s Ghosts I just…didn’t care.

Last Chance Harvey: Enjoyable enough for a Sunday afternoon. If you like Dustin Hoffman, you’ll like this movie.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: My Liege rented this for me Saturday evening. I enjoyed it, but Matthew McConaughey is starting to wear on me. I know, sacrilege! It seems that all the characters he plays lately are the same—charming slimeballs. I’ve met a charming slimeball or two in my lifetime, and I’m really not a fan of the type. I’d really like to see McConaughey play some meatier roles. On the other hand, I thought Michael Douglas was a hoot as McConaughey’s uncle.

Oh, and Sicko: Enjoyed it, even though it made me cry. This movie about the American medical system made me VERY glad I live in Canada, although now I’m seriously considering moving to France.

Deal With It

funny pictures of cats with captions

My Liege gets a new printer today. His died September 29th, the last day of Mercury Retrograde.

On the plus side, at least it wasn’t my printer. Mine is more expensive and gets a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy tougher work-out than his. My printer escaped Mercury Retrograde! HAHAHAHA! <insert maniacal laughter>.

However, alas, I’m the printer installer in this household. Cross your fingers that all goes well.

It’s Hump Day…All Week

It’s Wednesday already? What happened?

I’m having one of those weeks where I have so much to accomplish that it feels nothing’s getting done when in fact I’m motoring along just fine. Still in the most intensive part of my single title revisions—the first three chapters. I love the revisions, but they really affect the structure of the partial. A lot of work to do.

I’m also very busy planning a major vacation for My Liege and I. I hope to book the plane tickets tomorrow. Meanwhile, his printer went on the fritz last night, one final kick at Mercury Retrograde, I suppose. Tried everything I could think of, but couldn’t get it to work again. Tonight I’m uninstalling and then reinstalling it. If that doesn’t work, he gets a new printer.

How’s your week shaking out?

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