It should get warmer during the week, with lows around 40 and highs in the 50s; we were down to freezing last night. This is, of course, “nothing,” as my friends elsewhere in the country have to deal with snow, ice, and cold temperatures. We won’t freeze for the new year; it would be good weather for lagering, though.
I awoke at first around 5:30 to feed the cats, and then returned to bed, expecting to see Ms. S. around 8 or 8:15, but it was actually about 7:15 when she woke me from my newed slumber. Her boss had returned the day before from India, was awake, and came down early to take over. It appears they recently had someone quit — 2 weeks notice or not, I’m not yet sure –, so Ms. S.’s schedule will probably be altered in the near future. We both think it would be nice if she just got assigned the B-shift all throughout the week, which would provide her a more reasonable and more stable sleep schedule.
We contemplated going out for breakfast, but minds were changed at the last minute. We are, however, treating ourselves on the 31st when we head to Birmingham for brunch. It’s a bit of a tradition for us now … our third such New Year’s Eve.
After Ms. S. headed to bed I read, then I wrote — catching up on a co-written story I’d abandoned for far too long — and then wrote some more with some friends around noon. As our group was thin due to the holidays, I was in charge of the whole affair. Things went well, though I found my own writing uninspiring.
Writing more, better, and so on is a goal for the new year. Ms. S. let me glance at a list the other day and what I found wise was the provisional division into daily, weekly, and monthly goals … one could also have seasonal and annual goals. Do once this year, or by the end of the year, and so on. I’ll have a more concrete list to present to myself tomorrow … I’ll append or edit or perhaps even erase as desired.
And later in the afternoon, post-writing, I returned to reading, this time from Marc Hartzman’s “American Sideshow,” which Ms. S. lent me from her collection after we watched “Humbug” earlier in the week. Once I finish it — I still have about fifty pages to go in the second section before reaching the briefer ‘Modern Age’ — I almost feel we should bookend it with “Freaks.” It’s breezy and not dissimilar from a collection of Wikipedia articles in scope and, occasionally, depth, but while repetitive it still entertains and informs. It’s a nice companion to the topic.
Tonight we may get around to finishing season 2 with “Anasazi,” and then continue season 1 of ‘Dollhouse’ with the 6th episode, which everyone agrees is where it finally shows some Whedon flair.
