I can't do any better than this:

Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing

by Maria Popova

“Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”

In the winter of 2010, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing published in The New York Times nearly a decade earlier, The Guardian reached out to some of today’s most celebrated authors and asked them to each offer his or her commandments. After Zadie Smith’s 10 rules of writing, here come 8 from the one and only Neil Gaiman:

1. Write
2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3. Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5. Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7. Laugh at your own jokes.
8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

Resting this afternoon, eyes closed but not asleep, my mind was drawn to more than 60 years ago, when days like this - warm, out of season days, dawning clear- would be tantalizingly warm at mid-day.  The seductive cologne of cut grass would draw a child to kick off shoes and socks to wander a bit in the cool grass.  If time and circumstances allowed, one might then plop down, belly first, head on crossed arms, and rest.

The sounds of the world would instantly recede, yielding to near-silent scurryings of the ant and bug world, and the subtle re-arrangements of the grass.  The world grew quieter with the declining angle of the sun. There might be a car horn sounding in a far-away fog, or someone calling children, or children laughing and scuffling as they made their way to the inside, evening world.  People went in for dinner, or started dinner, or were on their way home for dinner.

Eventually the child would wake; the sun would no longer feel warm on her back, her bare legs would be cold.  Someone might call the child, several times, each time the voice becoming a little louder and a little more irritated.  The child would roll onto her back, discovering that the sun had gone from the sky, taking the heat and the day with it.  She would sit up, stuff her socks into the toes of her shoes, and pad through the cold, early-dew kissed grass toward toward the lighted windows of her house.

A Day Late

Yesterday was full of little good things, but before sitting down to write my three favorites, I asked my DH what his were.  He thought quite some time, then said, "Good salad, good dinner, good TV."  Hard to argue with that.  Why?  I think because they made us happy.

TGTs: It's Working!

Woke up this morning to discover that the musical dog trials of the night ended up with  "... all in their places with bright shining faces.  So this is the way - to start a new day!" 

We have three acres, half a dozen pens and enclosures, and three dogs (Kangals) charged with guardian duties.  They are large and gentle beasts, even with the chickens, except that one will kill the others if they come in contact, so she has to be kept separate at all times.  Also, she can't be on night duty because she howls and the neighbor complains.  But she can't be in the house, either, because the older dog is in there during the day so I can give her meds.  Then she can go out later for night duty.  She doesn't howl, but she does want to come in around dawn.  This involves a very complicated system of opening and closing gates, putting on and removing doggie door covers, calling in and rushing out various beasts, rewards with cookies and - of course - flawless communication amongst human caretakers so that we more or less know what is going on.  Last night the two dogs wanted to trade beds, so we tentatively reversed the routine - and it went splendidly!  Why?  Communication!  (And maybe careful gate-closures.)  Ta-da: Thing 1!

Thing 2 was when hubby gallantly agreed to put together some dinner for us as I sat knitting (and, ok, maybe pouting a bit) on the couch watching the evening news.  But I managed not to wine, I mean whine. 
"What's for dinner?"  he inquired, as he cheerfully emerging from a darkened computer room for the first time in hours. 
Me, quietly: "What dinner."  Silence.  "I did breakfast and lunch and I don't want to go in that kitchen any more today," I elaborated.  A brief discussion of how nice it would be to have a salad, and what leftovers were and were not left over ensued, and then he disappeared.  I returned to the knitting and the news. 
Then, suddenly a tinkling as welcome and the laughter of angles rang out at the table behind where I was sitting:  dishes, silverware, the table being set!  Glory, glory - dinner is served!

Thing 3 was born when someone admired a fleece that I had put up for sale, but said she wished she had more money.  I suggested that she make me an offer, and one thing led to another until suddenly we were talking PayPal and discussing various aspects of washing and dyeing and spinning and playing with fiber.  I feel good, she feels good, now THAT's a good thing for sure!

January, a Start of Good Things

So 2013 flew by faster than 2012.  How embarrassing.  Enough said.  People who know me know that I'm still alive, and for those who don't know or care, I am still here anyway.  Moving on.



, http://www.delanceyplace.com/index.php, describes itself as "a brief daily email with an excerpt or quote we view as interesting or noteworthy, offered with commentary to provide context. There is no theme, except that most excerpts will come from a non-fiction work, primarily historical in focus, and will occasionally be controversial."  It is a delightful thing to find in your IN box, and I was especially delighted to see yesterday's selection,  from Flourish by Martin E. P. Seligman.  How can you resist the offer that starts out with, "You will be happier and less depressed one month from now. ..."?

I'm still working on the first suggestion - the gratitude visit - but the second item seemed to beg attention: "Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well."  So I am going to try.

1. Yesterday, I had breakfast with my BFF, then errands, then visiting a friend at home from the hospital, all done pleasantly and efficiently because I allowed enough time and didn't over-schedule.  Yay!  When I dropped off two huge bags of stuff at Goodwill, I even had time to shop a bit ( found "new" pillows for the couch,  baskets for wool, and necklaces for me),  and take a nap.  Why?  Because we had left-over Chinese food for dinner and I don't have to cook.  Yay!

 2. Had a delightful speakerphone conversation with grandchild #7, a charming and precocious 3 year old.  We often chat like this when mom picks her up and they are headed home after teaching and day care.  Fridays are especially fun, because all are in good spirits.  I thought of some good questions to ask: "What are you wearing?" invited a many-minute rundown of every single color on her, from toes to nose.  "What did you do at school today?" resulted in a detailed description of painting her play dough creation, which I thought was going to be a pancake, but apparently had become a dead bear.  "I just decided to change my mind," she explained.  Then gave it some thought and decided that maybe it could be a pancake after all, since it was painted purple, red and black, with some blue.  So it could be a blueberry pancake!  Mom interjected that they had blueberries at home, and could make pancakes for Saturday breakfast.  "Oh, YES!" she shouted jubilantly.  "We haven't had those for quite some time!"  These moments of sweetness happen because my daughter is a wonderful mother, and take the time to bring us together.

3. I did the evening chores on my own, since ML had to work late, and things went quite swimmingly.  Why? Because I started early and moved with deliberate intent.  Loaded two bales of hay into the 'Gator and didn't screw up the winch, fed, watered, etc.  All went well until I was coming out of the chicken pen with four eggs in hand, and gave the steel pipe gate a hefty swing to close it.  The latch missed it's mark, and the gate slammed into my face.  The pipe-to-cheekbone contact was so painful I had to sit down for a bit while tears ran down my face, then stumbled back to the house muttering and swearing.  Only later did I discover that I wasn't wearing my glasses any more.  By the time I got back down there to look, it was getting dark, and it is hard to find your glasses when you aren't wearing your glasses.  OK, for the good ending?  No eggs were broken, my cheekbone was not only intact, but barely bruised, and when ML came home he got his 10-million candle power light and found the glasses rather quickly.

And we had left-over Chinese food for dinner.

2012 Stepping Stones

OK, "I Can't Stand It No More"(thanks, Peter Frampton), although Bluto's cry of "I yam what I yam ! and I've had all I can stand, I can't stands no more!" feels much more appropriate.  

It has been just about a year since I inherited  newsletter and program chair duties from outgoing members of my weaving guild.  Not coincidentally, it has been just about a year since I have written  in my blog, or anywhere else.  Life on the farm has continued on at a rollicking pace - shearing in April and October, sorting, picking,  sending, sometimes selling, carding fleece, and always spinning, knitting and weaving.  But, due to some misplaced sense of duty, the programs and newsletters for my guild have taken precedence over other creative endeavors.

Like trying to cross a stream that is too wide to be jumped in a single leap, I am going to walk across stepping on stones, but I WILL get across!

Some prominent stones:
Last January I started the maze of doctors and referrals which led up to a THP (total hip replacement) in April.  We continued our presence at the Vista Market as long as I was able.

Took a wonderful rug-weaving workshop with Jason Collingwood (Peter's son) in February.


Did a presentation for a local "Art Lovers' Club" in March.  Well received, and great fun to do.  Slide show is ready should there be any calls for an encore!
 
Managed to spend some time with Bay-area kids and grands before April's surgery,

Finished seven shawls and a rug

The rug was done with llama and wool roving and linen warp, on a peg loom.

 

Our little flock of hens lost their rooster after neighbors complained, but Michael is their leader now and he takes care of them very well.  By May they are growing and thriving.

In June we had some surprise goat babies - surprise was that I had gotten rid of the bucks months ago!  However, all are simply lovely so will be keepers.

In July Ivy brought the girls down for a visit, and of course a trip to the beach was mandatory.  They were fascinated with the surfers, who didn't seem to even notice them.

The chickens started laying, and by August we were getting beautiful eggs on a daily basis.
We also joined a local CSA, JR Organics and continue to enjoy our beautiful "surprise box" of fruit and veggies every two weeks.

In September my  amazing new neighbor, artist Carolyn Reynolds, invited me to assist with her three-day show in Sausalito.  What a trip!

Carolyn does huge and beautiful canvasses that begin with layers of gold or silver leaf.  On that background she builds many layers of oil paint, so that the finished work is luminous and ever changing.  Very inspiring!

"Real" SAORI from Japan

Later in the month I was able to attend the International SAORI Conference in Los Angeles.  I truly felt like the grasshopper at the feet of the master; knowledge and inspiration were overwhelming, the weavings stunning. 

Kenzo Jo demonstrates SAORI weaving techniques.

My enabler watches the booth.

The second annual Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta was held again in October, with slightly less participation than last year.  Still, it was a fun and fiber-filled weekend.

 Of course I succumbed to some beautiful handspun, hand-dyed singles from TaraSFibers, and was gifted with some lovely wheel paste from the Yarn Marm.  





Toward the end of the month I was privileged to attend my first-ever SOAR (Spin-Off Autumn Retreat) at Lake Tahoe.  Seizing this as my first and perhaps only opportunity, I signed up for weekend workshops with Michael Cook

The silk guru

Judith MacKenzie (luxury fibers)

Judith with her beautiful bison rug

Stephenie and Jacey Boggs

 Stephenie Gaustad (recreating and restoring textiles), and Deb Menz, (working with color on hackles and carders).  Then I  packed my wheel and sweet-talked my favorite enabler to drive up with me.

The picture to the left is sadly a bit blurry, but is one of my favorites because these two ladies are the past, present and future of spinning, and make it possible for all of us to step into that amazing stream of knowledge, skill and history ... and to help keep it flowing.  Thank you, ladies.  Thank you so much.

Got to visit kids and grands in the Bay area, enjoyed (?) the snow at Tahoe, and visited sister in Oceano on the way back.  So rich an experience!!!!

WeFF (Southern California Handweavers' Guild's Weaving and Fiber Festival) was held the first Sunday in November.  Too bad I was pre-migraine, and forgot the cash box and Square (for credit card processing).  It was a lovely day, but sales were the worst ever.  However, that event marked the end of our "seasonal rush," so now things have settled down to a more steady cadence.

I even had time to go visit Gil and Nancy Riegler at Oasis Camel Dairy to see the beautiful dromedaries and to talk with them about developing a market for their fiber.  I came home with a true love for the gentle beasts, and a bag of fiber with which to experiment.  Fun!!  I took my iphone and a camera, but was so caught up in the event that I forgot to take any pictures. Next time, I promise. 

The very same thing happened when Dr. Elizabeth Barber came to speak to my weaving guild.  I was so in awe, and so happy to have her to lunch after, that I never thought to snap her picture.  Not even when she walked over to pet the llamas, something she had always wanted to do.

December seems to have a decidedly more leisurely pace - so far - except that we are now in the throes of packing for our Skeptics' Amazing Cruise , our first cruise ever - amazing or otherwise. 
More on THAT later -- providing the world doesn't end.  ;>

First Tri

I don't know what happened to November and December.  Oh well.  January has been too much fun to even worry about it.

Sometime during that November/December "fugue state" (does anyone watch Breaking Bad?) I did a lot or reading and research on triloom weaving.  There is a Ravelry group that is very active, and also a Yahoo Triloom Group.  The cover picture for the Ravelry group was the one that finally sent me over the edge.  Eventually, I took a short, one-day workshop in weaving on a triangular loom from Barbara Borgerd Ickler, who has been perfecting this technique for decades.  Unfortunately, her web site is a little out of date, but her workshop was wonderful. Even the show-and-tell part was excellent, and by the time she had shown us all of the beautiful examples of her work, I was sold.  Two days later I drove back and bought a 72" loom.

Unfortunately, the holidays interfered with my enthusiastic plans, so everything had to stay under wraps until all of the feasting and festivities were over.  But during that time, I found a nice easel on Craig's list,  sorted out some yarn, and vowed to set things up as soon as the house was mine once again.  

I decided not to waste my handspun on the first try, so found some mill-spun llama that I had dyed, and added some Noro and a bit of handspun for variation.  Lessons learned here:

1. Llama stretches like the devil.
2. Noro breaks and shreds at the slightest pressure.
3. The handspun was not the same grist, in fact, nothing was the same, so tension was wildly uneven.

Planning took some while, since I had lost the notes taken at Barbara's workshop.  Duh.

But I managed to hunt up enough information on line to get me started.  From there on, things seemed to slowly come back to me.  Lessons from phase two:

1. It seems to take forever to adjust the easel, chair and loom comfortably.  Had to hunt up some chains to use as reins for the easel.
2. A 6' triloom and easel takes up a lot of floor space, and tends to frighten the dogs, while being of endless fascination to the cat.
3. A light is really helpful.
4. Use something to contain your yarn, in this case, a wire waste basket.

 

Before I could bind off and make fringe (and several times along the way) I had to stop and try to take up the slack.

1. It is easier to straighten as you go than to try to clean up stretched and crooked rows at the end.
2. Don't use 100% llama!

 I soon found that outside on a warm day is the best place to work, at least during daylight hours.

Hubby worried that the shawl was too - what was the word - sloppy?  But I rather like the open, gauzy feeling, especially for spring.  I finally got the shawl bound off with something that unintentionally looked like leno lace, but is actually kind of interesting, and celebrated the last of the fringe with a Kir Royale, sporting a rose garni.

Nothing provides confidence like one hard-earned success, so shawl #2 is well underway.  And this time, I am using homegrown pygora/cashmere handspun with bits of color.  All one texture, smooth as a baby's butt, and such a pleasure to work with!  The addition of a beautiful wooden Tunisian crochet hook really makes it hard to leave the loom.  Just one more round, just one more!