Since I can never sleep late on vacation (beds aren't right, rooms get bright at dawn, etc) and there's nothing really to do on the HGL site this morning since Flagship didn't do shit over the weekend, I might as well make a blog post this fine 7am cloudy morning.
San Diego's fine, the parents are fine, and I'm sunburned already. Went for a hike with mom yesterday morning at a place called Daley Ranch (google it if you're curious), and while it was cloudy the cool when we began, the mists soon parted and sunshine came raining down. If I'd been alone on that walk it wouldn't have mattered, since we only went about 4 miles, and I'd have jogged it in short order. Mom walks slower though, and stops to look at flowers, and like all women can not pass a bathroom without having to pee, so we spent longer out there than expected, and it was sunnier than expected, and today I'm pretty crispy. Which is kind of inconvenient, since mom's set me up with a massage later today, and I was hoping they'd spend some time on the neck and shoulders, since I'm always sore there. I'm not so red that it hurts to touch, at least, so with some oil it should be okay.
Even if it weren't I'd probably grimace and bear it, since my neck's been aching for a week. All those 14+ hour days working on the HGL site to get it ready added up, and I started getting weird pains, despite my ergonomic desk set up. My left wrist and hand kept having shooting pains that were only alleviated by dangling my arm from the shoulder and sort of shaking the fingers, and I'd never felt that before in all my years of spending far too much time on the computer. Both of my forearms are really sore and tight too, but I think most of that's coming down from my shoulders, and some nice kneading massage should help.
Other than those bitches, things are going pretty well. The drive down from the Bay wasn't bad; I left around 12:15 and got to LA by 5:30, and that was even after the last 8 miles on the 405 were stop and go. I don't know if it was due to the day being a weekend or what, but damn there were a lot of CHP prowlers in the central valley and down into the LA basin. I must have seen 8 or 10, and ducked over and slowed down to dodge half a dozen I saw coming up in the distance behind me.
It's weird ducking cops on that stretch of I5, since the speedlimits usually 70, but the flow of traffic is 80+. Especially once you get into the grapevine and up the hills to the Tejon pass, and the road widens to 4 lanes. Uphill people are kind of slow, but there's about 15 miles of plateau on top, and then 10 miles of downhill, and no one in anything smaller than an 18-wheeler is doing less than 75 on the way down. The speed limit there is 65, and 80 is about the average, with speedy people doing 90+ in the left lane. At least until they *cough* see the cops coming up at 95, at which point everyone jumps over a lane or two and slows down to the flow of traffic... which is still 15 miles over the speed limit.
Theoretically, the cops could give every single car on that road a ticket, since we're all speeding. In practice they look for reckless drivers, or someone who's really busting along and doesn't see the cop coming in time to slow down, etc. Those are the good cops, at least. The bad ones drive along in the left lane at like 67 in the 65 zone, creating massive bottlenecks behind them as they ruin the flow of traffic. Everyone creeps along behind them, wishing they'd fricking exit or something, and feeling like a herd of wildebeasts watching a lion. "Just single out someone and eat them, so the rest of us can get on with our day, damnit." we think, happily eager to sell each other out if it means we can return to normal crusing speed.
Anyway, I'm in SD for today and then tomorrow, until I leave to drive up to LA Tuesday night. My stepsister is out of town but she's letting me stay at her apartment in LA, and since I need to get at the LACC by like 8am wednesday morning, to get my press pass and be ready to go in when the doors open for a press only viewing from 9-11am, I'm staying overnight in LA. I might have done the same even if I hadn't had a place to stay; that 4:30 wake up to leave by 5 to get to LA by 8 isn't exactly the best way to open a convention. Especially not one when you hope to hang out with people afterwards.
As for the vacation so far... eh. Last night was pretty fun. Met dad's new girlfriend and liked her, and we had a great dinner here with roasted veggies and chicken dad made, and too much wine beforehand. I was feeling pretty mellow after that, and I hear wine is good for sunburns. Or something. I even got to read some; the first reading other than at the computer, or a few minutes of EW in the bathroom I'd done in like two months.
The book isn't very good, but it's just a library book, and it's part of my ongoing, "Read something by every famous fantasy author just to see what they're doing." project. Very young girl chick lit fantasy, with the archetypal Anne Macaffrey, "talented youth with undiscovered gifts runs away from horrible parents and ends up saving the world while making loving friendships" plot, but there's a reason Macaffrey's used that plot in like 10 novels, JK Rowling based her series on it, other authors use it reliably, etc... because it works. Every kid wants to feel special, every kid (sometimes) hates their parents and life and wants to run away to something wonderful and different, and every kid enjoys reading about someone else doing that, since they know it's never going to happen to them.
Lackey's writing is as ham-fisted as an Easter dinner, with bludgeonous character archetypes and constant, unrelenting "telling instead of showing," but even with that the book's not unenjoyable, and it's a very quick read. True, I hit a stretch every 10 or 15 pages where I'm forced to put the book down and look off into the distance while taking a few deep breaths, but those pass and then I can continue reading, while mostly enjoying it. Also, like all mediocre but popular fiction, it's kind of encouraging to me. After all, if this pablum got published and found fans, how can my writing fail to enjoy at some something resembling success?
Speaking of, I can't see me having time to work on my novel any for at least another week, until after I get home and spend a few fevered days writing up all of my E3 HGL experiences, but I'm really itching to get back into it. It's finished, in rough form, but I need to hack at the last chapter a bit since it got unwieldy. That shouldn't take too long though, and then after I give chapter one another going over, Malaya's going to help me start looking to get published. Writer's Market, query letters, etc. I'll be editing the middle of the book while that's going on, but with a first and last chapter I'm pretty okay with, I think we might have some luck. I certainly hope so, at least. And if anyone's uncle knows a guy who works for Random House or Del Rey or something like that, feel free to let me know.
Labels: driving, san diego, vacation, writing
