Rain Drain

Well, we're kicking off Week 3 of freezing, raining, nasty weather. We had a brief respite over the weekend, with the temperature just barely nudging 60, and now it's back to the low 40's and coats and umbrellas and galoshes.

I'm just hoping I don't get called out to a wreck in this weather, because not only did I forget my galoshes, I forgot to wear a coat with a hood. Clever girl.

When I'm not at work, rainy days compel me to dance around the living room in my pajamas and slippers with a hairbrush microphone, only because I get the world's worst cabin fever. We won't go into that, though.

For the most part, rain and cold bum me out, especially rain and cold that last for weeks on end. They sap every ounce of creativity that I possess, replacing it with a mopey, grumbling, cranky reporter who wants to do all of her interviews over the phone.  Heaven forbid I have to get out and actually do some real REPORTING in this weather. Pshaw, I say.


Needless to say, that lack of creativity and enthusiasm doesn't bode well for my writing. I tend to stare out the window, bemoaning the crappy weather and making excuses to stay indoors where it's warm and dry.

On the flip side, though, I also tend to take too many showers, which are great for spontaneous bursts of creativity. Supposedly, the rush of heat that hits your head causes all the blood vessels in your brain to swell, which kick-starts the thought process. It's totally legit. I read it somewhere. I just can't remember where.

I  also finally got around to buying myself a new laptop, which was supposed to stop me from whining that I can't work on N2N at home. Lapzilla the dinosaur tended to try and set my lap on fire, and a rush of blistering heat to the thighs does NOT kick-start the thought process. (Also totally legit, because I've experienced it.) Unfortunately, Critter (the new laptop) didn't come with Word, so I'm back to trying to work in Wordpad. It's just as well, since when I work on N2N during downtime at work I'm using Notepad, anyway. It was still a little depressing, though.

Another interesting tidbit: the other day I woke up with a fledgeling story idea in my head. This doesn't happen often; usually my dreams involve toothy things chasing me. I've been tossing it around, letting it flap its tiny, featherless pleeb-wings and squawk, and I think it's time to jot it down in my idea notebook.

I keep reminding myself that spring is just around the corner, and with it will come the manic productivity that real, not through-the-windows kinda-hazy sunlight brings. I'm a beast when I get my Vitamin D, I tell you.

Getting dark early + camera set to long exposure + time to kill = Hours of fun