Spinning around...

I promised you a post and so a post you shall have, but I can't promise what level of quality it will be.  Sad face.  I feel like I'm always giving you excuses, but this time it's genuine!  Hubby and I went to see Kylie Minogue in Manchester last night - fabulous show, but we didn't get home till 1am so I was rather wiped out this morning.  You know how some people are larks (function best in the morning) and some are owls (function best late at night)?  Well I'm pretty sure I'm neither.  I'm whatever bird represents people who function best from late morning through to early evening...and even then only after a very good night's sleep. 

I slept in till...well, let's just say 'quite late'...then finally unearthed myself from bed and got to a stage where I was a) clean, b) dressed and c) fed and watered only to find an email saying an item of mine had sold via Amazon Marketplace.  So I sorted that out, got it packaged up and trooped off to the post office.  Got back and hubby asks for my help with something he's doing on the computer (the other one, not my laptop...NOBODY touches my laptop!).  Can't very well say no, so we spend a bunch of time doing that.  By now it's mid to late afternoon (it was very late when I got up) - I get my USA books out, fire up Google Chrome to carry on with my research and finally get down to it.  I manage about an hour before our stomachs are rumbling because it's dinner time.  Sigh.  I give up - today has been another lost day. 

Don't blame me...blame Kylie for keeping me up late last night! 
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A change of perspective

So it seems that every Wednesday, the sun decides to shine its little heart out just because the window my table faces is east-facing, so gets the sun in the morning.  Every Wednesday I'm blinded and can hardly see the screen (even with the blinds closed), forced to retreat to the sofa with the laptop until the big shiny ball in the sky has moved across the sky to shine on the other side of the house.  Working on the sofa is not conducive to productivity, I've discovered - I think it's the ratio of comfiness, the more comfy you are, the less you want to do.  But I digress...so, today was no exception until, hearing me cursing, hubby comes in and points out the blindingly obvious (no pun intended).  Why don't I just move the table so it's not facing the window?  Well, as my mum always said: Toyah's very clever academically, but has no common sense whatsoever.  And I think this proved her right.  How many months have I been working away here, muttering to myself about the stupid sun?  Seven!  So we rotated the table 90 degrees and moved it away from the window and lo, perfect vision, no sunlight, no shadows.  It can't stay there of course - this is our lounge I'm talking about and it's now right in the middle of the room like a gigantic coffee table, so it'll go back when I've finished working for today, but that moment of realisation was pretty sweet.  Thanks hubby, for being the practical one as always! 

Today has also been a 10k Day, though as usual I have failed to get anywhere near that.  I started out well, doing some free-writing on Project Crunch and knocking out 1000 words in about an hour and a half.  Then - fatally - I checked a forum post that I'd put on a site I visit frequently regarding Project Hitched (asking for ideas/suggestions).  Ah.  Really shouldn't have done that.  There were a load of new posts since I'd last checked and it got me all fired up to go off and do more USA research.  I can't get to 10,000 words doing research!  *slaps own forehead*  But never mind - I did get 1790 words towards Crunch, which brings its total up to just under 5000.  And I have done a lot more trawling for Hitched, so the day wasn't unproductive.  I guess the change in perspective - from looking at the window to looking at the fireplace - made all the difference...
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Today's post is brought to you by the letter...

...A!  I bet you wondered where that title was going to lead?  Today I plunged into the endless ocean that is the internet to begin some proper research for Hitched and where better to start than with 'A' for 'Alabama'.  I like to be methodical so working my way through the fifty states alphabetically really appeals to me, even though it does mean I'll be jumping around the country somewhat erratically (next up is Alaska, for example). 

I've learnt a lot already - for example, I never knew Alabama had a coastline, I thought it was a landlocked state somewhere *waves hand vaguely* in the middle.  We're just not taught US geography in school here, or much history for that matter, so all I know is picked up from TV, things I've read and the places I've been.  Considering I've only been to two places in the US - New York and Florida - that's only the tiniest tip of the iceberg of what's out there to discover.  I'm really quite excited about the whole project now, I've been bitten by the travel bug already and I'm only on my first state!  I have to hope that when the book is done and published (positive thinking here!) I can go on some sort of tour...maybe to take a photo of it with every single state sign?  That would be rather lovely. 

Japan continues to be foremost in my thoughts and I would continue to urge you to donate to one of the charities sending aid to those suffering if you can.  Thank you. 
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Is this how it feels to be famous?

What a strange day it's been.  I was checking the stats for the blog and was amazed to see that one post had suddenly had 70+ views in the last week.  What on earth?!  Digging a little deeper, it appears that since I wrote about Microsoft OneNote a few weeks ago, Bill Gates & Co must have done a trawl for blogs containing 'OneNote' as I am now in a list of links on their main site!  I'm not sure whether to be pleased or slightly worried...but I think I'll go with pleased.  The old phrase 'any publicity is good publicity' has to start somewhere right?  Though I do wonder how many of the people who clicked through to me were annoyed when they found it wasn't a techie blog - apologies to any of you who may still be reading in the hope of finding something more technical... 

I've been out of sorts today.  There is some stuff going on at the moment that's pretty stressful (nothing life-threatening, but I'll be relieved when it's sorted), and today has been quite an important day in relation to it.  Sorry I can't say more, but there are reasons why.  Anyway, because of that I just haven't been able to settle - much less get into a writing frame of mind - so I've been doing research for Hitched instead. 

I like research - I enjoy being methodical and find it relaxing to take things and put them into order ("perhaps you should have tidied the house then" I hear my mum suggesting in my subconscious).  You know how people usually complain about having to do the filing?  I love it!  Putting things in the place they belong is just so satisfying, I'd love to be a professional filer - going round doing all the organising that other people don't want to.  ;oD  Until that job is invented though, I've been trawling the web looking for the official tourism and government websites for each US state, so that I can work through them picking out the information relevant to the book.  But my gosh, it's given me the travel bug...I haven't even explored each site fully yet, but just the pictures on their home pages make me want to visit every single state.  Let's hope the book does well and maybe I can take it on tour! 

Till Sunday then, goodbye.  Enjoy the rest of your week!    
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Beginnings

So I am well aware (and slightly guilt-stricken) that I started this blog in March, and that it is now August, but I am finally in a position to make proper, regular, use of it.  At the beginning of August I changed the work pattern of my full-time day job, so I now work four longer days and have every Wednesday off.  Wednesdays are now my Writing Days!

I've had three Writing Days - the first I spent feeling weird (like I was skiving off the day job) and organising my office and books etc, the second I spent catching up with the archaeology course that I was a bit behind on and the third (yesterday) I spent procrastinating while excitedly waiting for my new laptop to be delivered (it wasn't, as it happened - it came today).  But now my shiny new tech-baby is all set up and I'm ready to go! 

Of all the ideas bubbling around in my head, choosing which one to put my energy into first has proved tricky so far, but I think I've decided.  It's a non-fiction work- a guide for British couples wanting to get married in the USA, and I'm really confident about it.  When I was planning my own wedding (which was in New York) there were no books and very little information available if you weren't willing to scour the Internet.  Fortunately I LOVE scouring the Internet and researching minute details for hours on end, but I know that I might be in the minority there, so I believe there would be a great market for my book.  Of course there's a lot of research to be done before I get to the writing stage but I'm very excited nonetheless! 

I plan to blog the progress of 'Hitched' separately as it develops, which you can find here: Hitched Guide blog  If you follow it, it will be even more of an incentive for me to keep going! 

Thanks for reading!

Toyah

"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them" ~ Walt Disney