My Annoying Writing Partner, Story Organization, and Separation Anniversary
I have a new writing buddy. My cat. I know it's a bit of a cliche', but it was a reluctant partnership for me.
Back-story: ever since I've had kids, I have not been a particular good cat daddy. Twins take up a LOT of...everything...and I just don't have anything left for the cat. I of course feed it, shelter it, and change its shit box. I buy it toys, etc. Where I lack is love and affection. I just want it to go away and leave me alone. When I do pet it, it's out of pity, not because I want to. I know that sounds cold, but there it is.
Back-back-story: prior to my boys, our cats used to be our babies ("our" being my ex and me). People had baby pictures; we had cat pictures. We used to save cats. At one time we had seven. When the twins were born, we had five. When we moved, there was no way I was going to move two children and five cats, so I found good homes for three (that took a lot of work...I really wanted to find them a good home, and I drove across a state for two of them--so maybe I don't come across as cold anymore). During the separation, my ex and I took one cat each.
So now I just have the one. Begrudgingly. Like I said, I am nice to it out of pity. He gets lonely. He used to have a large cat family and get pets all the time. My boys have actually started to fill the void now that they are getting older (a whopping four years old). They like to pet the cat, which makes me happy. I therefore also have to fake affection and caring for the cat...for my boys. I want them to be loving and respectful of all life, even my annoying cat.
But when the boys are with their mother, I basically want him to stay out of my way. In exchange for food, shelter, and changing the shit box, I expect him to leave me the fuck alone.
The cat does not uphold his end of the bargain. I find him curled up with me when I wake up. And he finds it necessary to sit with me whenever I write. I tried to dissuade him from doing so (see also shove him away). But he always insists on coming back, and I eventually gave in.
I shouldn't have. Now the cat sees it as routine...his right even. When he sees me even begin to sit down to write, he jumps up to his "spot" next to me. I have come to accept it. The effort fighting this development isn't worth it. And he really does just sit there with me unobtrusively. It's really quite endearing.
Note to self: work on becoming less of a grumpy bastard.
Back-story: ever since I've had kids, I have not been a particular good cat daddy. Twins take up a LOT of...everything...and I just don't have anything left for the cat. I of course feed it, shelter it, and change its shit box. I buy it toys, etc. Where I lack is love and affection. I just want it to go away and leave me alone. When I do pet it, it's out of pity, not because I want to. I know that sounds cold, but there it is.
Back-back-story: prior to my boys, our cats used to be our babies ("our" being my ex and me). People had baby pictures; we had cat pictures. We used to save cats. At one time we had seven. When the twins were born, we had five. When we moved, there was no way I was going to move two children and five cats, so I found good homes for three (that took a lot of work...I really wanted to find them a good home, and I drove across a state for two of them--so maybe I don't come across as cold anymore). During the separation, my ex and I took one cat each.
So now I just have the one. Begrudgingly. Like I said, I am nice to it out of pity. He gets lonely. He used to have a large cat family and get pets all the time. My boys have actually started to fill the void now that they are getting older (a whopping four years old). They like to pet the cat, which makes me happy. I therefore also have to fake affection and caring for the cat...for my boys. I want them to be loving and respectful of all life, even my annoying cat.
But when the boys are with their mother, I basically want him to stay out of my way. In exchange for food, shelter, and changing the shit box, I expect him to leave me the fuck alone.
The cat does not uphold his end of the bargain. I find him curled up with me when I wake up. And he finds it necessary to sit with me whenever I write. I tried to dissuade him from doing so (see also shove him away). But he always insists on coming back, and I eventually gave in.
I shouldn't have. Now the cat sees it as routine...his right even. When he sees me even begin to sit down to write, he jumps up to his "spot" next to me. I have come to accept it. The effort fighting this development isn't worth it. And he really does just sit there with me unobtrusively. It's really quite endearing.
Note to self: work on becoming less of a grumpy bastard.
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Continuing with the story organization and consolidation project. I have over 7,000 words of story and notes in Scriptito. I really like how you can move sections around easily. I think I have another 3000 or so of story and notes scattered around, including handwritten stuff.
I am looking forward to having an organization method in place. As I said before, this has been my biggest writing obstacle.
Then I can start digging in hard core.
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I have been feeling a little nostalgic lately, although that is not exactly the right word. Can you be nostalgic for past events that sucked?
A year ago this month, my then wife moved out of our house, and I was making plans to vacate. I already had a deposit down for the townhouse we live in now. My year lease is up at the end of this month. Kinda crazy to consider. I will be glad to move to a month-to-month lease. I like the freedom of being able to move, especially if I get a new job.
I am also looking very seriously into buying a home. I really want one. My ex never did. Values. They matter. If you find it necessary to marry, Make sure you and your partner are one the same page for the really big ones..probably a good deal of the smaller ones too.
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