Cat Girczyc

It’s been a foggy day here. Plus we had some bad weather that brought down one of the gigantic trees on Larch Street.

Creatively still awaiting word from some magazines, and sent out a new story today. I was struck by how much work rewriting is. Typically I do a rewrite when a story comes back unsold. Also, on tv shows I’ve worked on, the scripts have usually been rewritten maybe 10 times. This is beyond the legal drafts and polishes specified in the contracts, these are the showrunner or story editor passes. So, I’ve always been sceptical of the school of thought that says write it once, then revise once and you’re done. Maybe, too it’s about the style of story one is telling. So some stories are not that complicated I guess.

It’s been a sad month really. My father died and although he was 89 and had a full and interesting life, I still mourn him as does my kid. I did the tribute for him and the PowerPoint they used at the funeral. I felt like that was a fitting response.  He had a good funeral, which tells you how old I’m getting. No one young can understand the concept of a ‘good’ funeral.

Here’s one of my favorite photos of Dad, that I’d never seen as a kid.

Garden plot has moved me away from the good NaNoWriMo group at Waves Coffee downtown to a place near garden… Black Sheep Coffee. Nice spot and I’m typing outside now, watching trees across the street and hearing loads of Dunbar Street traffic.

But I saw that I have at least one 2-leafed plant coming up in my 4 beds. It’s progress.

I was reminded that you need to keep working at something to succeed this week, by the garden. You plant and tend for a long time before you harvest. There is a Japanese saying, I’m told that expresses how art is attained:

“Learn, master then transcend.”