The new year cometh

The decorations are already down.

I've been going through stuff this year... hard stuff, honestly... and I'm eager to move on. So, I've had my Christmas spirit. We're still drinking out of Christmas mugs until after the new year, but I've already taken down the tree. Bring on 2014 and hopefully some progress on some of my issues. (Ok... stopping for a peaceful breath here).

In other news, and in random order, here are a couple of awesome things that have happened recently:

Sunrise this morning before heading to the wetlands to count
shorebirds, water birds, and various other kinds of birds.

We lit a spiral of candles for the solstice and asked our friends
to each add a light representing a wish they have for the new year.

I have Doctor Who salt and pepper shakers now!
It was a particularly Doctor Christmas this year. Love!

I hope you all have resolutions for the new year, even if it's something generic. We should all start the year looking forward to something, I think. I'll be back in a couple of days to document my own resolutions.

Veggies that I grew!

Remember all those weeks ago when I posted a picture of our seedling adventure... weeks, sheesh, who are we kidding? It was MONTHS! Anyhow, looky what I pulled out of my garden this season. I'm so proud!

Yes those carrots are red. They are still orange on the inside, but they're a brilliant red variant called "Dragon". The golden cherry tomatoes are the sweetest things ever, too! And that's just one of the different heirloom tomato varieties we grew. I've been enjoying tasting the literal fruits of our labor this harvest!

In other news, guess who got to go see the premiere of the new Doctor Who series in NYC yesterday? ME! That's who! I'm one lucky girl! And Stephen Moffat did NOT disappoint. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were there, too!! Which is all well and good, except that I really want Matt Smith to be The Doctor and not Matt Smith... oh well.

Now to get started growing my T.A.R.D.I.S.

5 tips for writing from C.S. Lewis

I read an article today wherein a letter from C.S. Lewis to one of his fans was described. They listed the following 5 rules as Lewis recommended them to the young person who had written him for advice regarding her own WIP. I thought the rules were worth sharing with you:

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
4. In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, "Please will you do my job for me."
5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Good advice for any writer to live by. Thanks, C.S. We'll take these rules to heart.

In other news, I did NOT see the fabled Matt Smith and Karen Gillan... although they did arrive on set later that evening... around 10:30 p.m. with 1,200 other fans all clamoring for their attention... Yeah, I left earlier... because it's a long train ride home and because while I LOVE Doctor Who, I'm just not that kind of girl. If they had been there earlier I would have been excited... sigh... how complacent I have become.

Although... if I had been waiting for THE Doctor, not the man who plays him on TV, I would have stayed until he came and happily run away with him in the T.A.R.D.I.S. Ya know? If only...

Photo from Wikipeida