Well, dear readers, before I go any further, may I just say the following: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is Christmas Day, a Day of good cheer, a day to be hale and hearty, a day of comfort and joy and glad tidings, a day of food and family, a day of weight gain, in short, a day to says MERRY CHRISTMAS. Meanwhile, back at the Do, the Do is Done and it was a lovely and more intimate Do than in past years, which was fine by me. We had eleven attendees for the Do, including Karen Staitman (first to arrive), Kay Cole and her ever-lovin’ Michael Lamont, Doug and Dorathy Haverty, Adryan Russ and her ever-lovin’ Dale Cooke, our very own Amy and Mark, and Marshall Harvey. So, with li’l ol’ me that was eleven cheery people. I made less pasta than usual – three pounds rather than four or five – and there was still lots left and there was a LOT of sauce left, too. Eleven people can only eat so much. The spaghetti sauce was proclaimed the best it’s ever been, I actually got the pasta to be Al Dente, who was also a former mob boss, and much tuna pasta salad was consumed, although I really didn’t need to make the second batch at all. But on the other hand, I now have that to eat over the next few days. The Do went from about six to nine-thirty. Several folks brought various and sundried desserts – a chocolate Bundt cake, lemon cookies, mini-brownies, and a banana nut bread for those banana nuts in attendance. I also had Hawaiian rolls and butter, although I overbought on those, too, and have two packages left. After the Do was Done, I cleaned up, although there wasn’t nearly as much to clean up as usual, then I watched the final episode of Adam-12 disc two, so two more discs to go. One episode was all shot in the City of Studio – in back of the Studio Theater and then near Art’s Deli – fun stuff. Then I put the leftover sauce in two big bowls and refrigerated them and then did whatever real dishes were used – the big thing being the pot the sauce was cooked in. So, everything is back to cleanliness and as we all know, cleanliness is next to cleanliness in the scheme of things. And now, whilst writing these here notes, I’m listening to an interesting piece of classical music called the Brick Symphony by Michael Torke, a composer I don’t know at all. It’s actually very tuneful and accessible and I’m enjoying it, and it makes me want to hear other stuff by this composer.
Yesterday was a fine day. I got up at eleven-thirty after six hours of sleep. Once again, I got waylaid by this book I’ve been helping on – my eBook guy got it formatted in the Kindle template and it looked great, but the author asked me to add one more thank you to his one-hundred pages of thank yous – and it screwed up the page layout at the end, but fortunately that was an easy fix. And for some reason some of the boldings in that section were lost so I had to do that again (and I missed two – oh, well). Then I made a new PDF with those fixes, went to Kindle and uploaded the PDF and voila – perfect. Then I sent it to the author, he called, and we did everything together on the phone, because it wasn’t just a question of uploading the PDF, there were other things that had to be clicked on before doing so. He got it uploaded, went through it, clicked “approve” and then “publish.” And so, that’s thankfully done. I’m happy to have helped and I do know he’s thrilled with the way it looks.
Then I had to run out and do a couple of quick errands, came back, and began making the sauce. Since I’d already sliced and diced and chopped and minced, it was all pretty easy and then I put it on simmer, and it simmered for five hours. Whilst it was simmering for five hours, I also simmered for five hours. I had a wonderful telephonic conversation with Muse Margaret, told her the two ideas for the next book and told her to choose and her decision was swift and strong, and so now I’ll make more notes and continue writing a few more pages beyond what I’ve already done. I watched a couple of Adam-12 episodes, I shaved, I showered, I made the pasta and at six sharp Karen Staitman arrived and others arrived soon thereafter. The rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, the Darling Daughter will arrive at noon o’clock, we’ll visit and chat and open presents, we’ll either eat leftovers or go somewhere fun for a quick meal. We’ll do our annual driving around thing, and then she’ll be on her way around four o’clock. Then I can relax and watch some Adam-12 episodes and perhaps a DGA screener or maybe stream the new Matrix movie.
Tomorrow, I can just do a whole lot of nothing other than write on the project with David Wechter and make notes on the new book, which, I must say, has a pretty catchy title. I still have three songs to choose, and I will buckle down, Winsocki and choose the damn things. Then this week is writing and just having as relaxed a week as possible. Since Robert Yacko was a no-show at the Do, we’ll have a meal and exchange our gifts.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, have a nice visit with the Darling Daughter, eat, drive around, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Let’s hear all about your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day goings on. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that the Do is Done and was so lovely, and happy to wish all you dear readers the merriest Christmas.