Well, dear readers, it is February. Can you believe it? I can because I looked at my handy-dandy calendar and it told me that today is February. So, Enter February. And it is my fervent hope and prayer that February will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
I really must figure out how to get on a different time schedule, because not going to bed until four and getting up past noon is not going to work anymore. So, I will try and train myself back to a more normal pattern of being in bed by one at the latest. In any case, yesterday was the final day of January and it wasn’t too bad as final days of January go. I did get eight-and-a-half hours of sleep, arising at noon-thirty. Once up, I answered e-mails and did some work on the computer. I then went and picked up a package, then decided to try a jernt I hadn’t eaten at before, even though in my former home environment I was within walking distance – the Green Apple China Bistro. Several people have told me it was good and the Yelp reviews are pretty good.
I ordered the orange chicken (extra crispy – naturally) and an order of vegetable egg rolls. They give you a salad, too. The salad was fine, the egg rolls were okay, and though it took me a few minutes to get used to the orange chicken, I ended up enjoying it very much. So, I guess I’ll return and try other stuff. They have fairly inexpensive lunch specials, although I ordered the full portion of orange chicken so that I could take some home for my evening snack. Whilst there I proofed about thirty pages. Then I came right home.
Once home, I proofed another ten pages or so, but I knew there was no way I was going to finish. That will happen today. The good news is that so far I’m enjoying the book and aside from tiny little things and rearranging two chapter breaks, there’s been nothing major to deal with. As I’ve said, this one’s a tiny bit different than the others in this series, in the way the mystery part is structured and I’m happy with that aspect and it’s why this one’s about seventy pages longer than any of the others. After that, I did a few more things on the computer, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I got exactly one minute into a DGA screener entitled Cold War and I turned it off. I found the opening quite annoying and while I’m sure it gets better, it just seemed a little too consciously arty, like an early Polanski film or Wajda film, but not original like they were back in their day. I then put in the DGA screener of BlackkkKlansman. I’ve been avoiding this one, because I was worried there’d be too much violence and too many in jeopardy scenes the likes of which I’ve seen ten times too many. Well, I needn’t have worried. It’s a terrific film, very funny at times, quirky, and while it certainly has a certain sense of dread and suspense occasionally, it never devolves into what you think it will and there’s no real violence at all. Spike Lee’s direction is excellent and he walks a fine tonal balance – yes, one could say it lays it on a bit thick at the end, but then again, it should, given the way this country is devolving. The acting is uniformly excellent from everyone and it’s nice to see Harry Belafonte in his one scene cameo. My only nitpick, in fact, is a silly anachronism that should have been changed – the film takes place in the early 1970s but early on someone hears an answering machine message. While there were early answering machines from the 1950s on, no one really had them, and certainly the people in this film would not have even known of their existence. The general use of answering machines didn’t come in until the early 1980s. Anyway, I enjoyed it and recommend it.
After that, I finished the orange chicken and then relaxed and listened to some music.
Today, I’ll be up by ten-thirty at the latest, then I have a lunch with one of my proofers and she’ll give me her hard copy back with her suggested fixes. Here’s are always typos, punctuation, grammar stuff, and occasionally pointing out something that might not be clear. Chances are I’ve already caught a lot of this stuff in my proofing. After that, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then I’ll come home and finish proofing and begin entering those two sets of changes prior to getting the other proofer’s notes. Then I’ll relax.
Tomorrow, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I might mosey on over to the book fair for a little while – not sure about that at all, but we’ll see. I do have to be back here for a rehearsal for the Robby Awards, which I’m co-hosting on Monday. Then the rest of the afternoon and evening is mine all mine. Sunday I’ll probably just relax and rest up for the Robby Awards. Monday we do that, and then Tuesday I finish choosing the songs for the March Kritzerland and I’ll continue entering fixes. Once that’s all done, then Grant will hopefully dive in and start formatting and designing the book, which shouldn’t really take all that long. We already have the cover, so that’s done. I also have to send it out for a blurb.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the gavotte, for today is the birthday of our very own radio host, Donald Feltham. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own radio host, Donald Feltham. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN RADIO HOST, DONALD FELTHAM!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a lunch meeting, hopefully pick up packages, proof, and begin to enter fixes. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, too many to list. DVD, probably Black Panther, so I can see what all that brouhaha is about. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we say Enter February – and it is my fervent hope and prayer that February will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.