tidbits: extra soggy edition

We’ve had a good, constant rain for the last few days, and I’m happy about it. I’m pressing to get a few minor projects wrapped up, and I don’t need the pull of a beautiful day to distract me. Hibernation mode has been good for the past few days.

However, I did head out yesterday for my massage, which was badly needed. After, I wandered over to Borders and B&N and Books-a-Million, since yesterday was the official pub date for The Cat Lover’s Daily Companion, and I’m just dying to see in on a shelf. Call me easily amused. No sign of it yet in Borders, although they did have two copies of the dog version, which I did some editing work on, and I failed to check their stock to see what was coming. B&N didn’t have it on the shelf yet, although the clerk told me there were four copies in the store (I’m guessing in the back room), but their database had it under the very old first title, not the new title. (So, if you’re looking for it at B&N, you might need to ask for The Cat Owner’s Devotional.)

Books-a-Million is the closest of the three to me, but I rarely find what I want there and it has a weird vibe, so I don’t often go there. (And really, what’s with nearly a quarter of the store being taken up with religion books, when most other subjects are given five or six shelves at best?) However, they came through for me this time, and the one copy they ordered was sitting on the bottom shelf of the stunningly small cat section (two shelves), so I guess I should be honored. In trying to be inconspicuous, I managed only two blurry photos; this was the better one.

Overall, it’s been kind of a slow, crappy, unmotivated week. Little annoyances have been getting to me, and more than once I’ve had to bang out some nasty e-mail just to get it out of my head, then delete it. And I feel like I’m starting to come down with something. There have been a few bright spots, though. I finally got my new printer (through some clever maneuvers after one of those major annoyances); we got it set up last night and holy carp that thing spits out the pages quickly. And the printing is really crisp. And the pages come out straight (unlike the last printer, where everything was slightly crooked on the page). I’m working on a couple of really interesting projects right now, mainly in history and theatre. And I was able to pick up some fabulous beads at the wholesale bead show last week, so I’m hoping I’ll have time to dig into those later this afternoon.

tidbits: extra blanket edition

It’s started to get really chilly in the evenings here in Northeast Ohio. I’ve dragged out the extra blankets, and I have to admit that I really enjoy sleeping with the windows open to the chill as long as I have all those weighty blankets on me. It really does make it even more difficult to get out of bed in the morning, though.

I’ve been accepted to the Rocky River Fall Arts Festival, which will be happening two weeks from tomorrow in the Old Detroit Road shopping district. This is a brand new show, and I’m hoping it ends up being a good one for everyone. A number of Cleveland Handmade artists will be there, and there are some really good restaurants within a couple of blocks; check it out if you’re in the area.

Work has been incredibly busy. I had hoped to coast through August, but a long-awaited BIG project finally came in and morphed into a super-rush project. I’ve been nose-to-grindstone for the past two weeks, and will probably be so into next week. Thankfully, we have a very low-key holiday weekend ahead with no major plans, so I’ll be able to make some progress over the weekend and take next weekend as my very own holiday.

Earlier this week I got notice that the Cat Lover’s Daily Companion has had such strong orders that it’s going into a second printing before it’s even out in the stores. That makes me happy. And Kristen and I talked about doing some local signings before the holidays; I’ll post info here if we get something together.

it’s a book!

It’s real! It actually happened!

Wednesday the FedEx man suprised me and brought me the advance copy of my book nearly two months earlier than I was expecting to receive it. I’ve been walking around with a really stupid grin on my face ever since.

I say “my” book, but it was a huge team effort, and I was most definitely the junior author on this one. Kristen and Iris both have loads of book-writing experience; I have loads of book-making experience, but not a lot of writing-for-publication experience. It was a really weird exercise to put on a completely different hat and sit in the writer’s chair, but it was also energizing. I hope to do it again someday.

And I have to say that everyone I’ve dealt with at Quarry has been a joy to work with, and they’re putting out some really beautiful books (I had to go peek at some of the others in the series at the bookstore yesterday).

detente via yogurt

World peace might be possible through Trader Joe’s Vanilla & Cream yogurt. Fiona (L) and Spaz (R) generally don’t get this close unless there is chasing going on. Yet here they are, sharing a spoon (the other photo, of their tongues actually touching, is too blurry). Let’s pass this stuff out in the Middle East.

Then again, the second the yogurt was gone, Fiona took a swipe at Spaz and they both ran off. C’est la vie.