Friday five
Originally published at spitkitten dot com. You can comment here or there.
1. I had a good writing week last week. Not because I actually got anything done, but because Abyss & Apex grabbed my first post-CW story, “Section III” for their 4th quarter issue. There was a jubilant underwear dance attached to that.
2. Secondly, people have been so freaking generous advertising Brain Harvest’s fundraising drive. We owe a giant debt of gratitude to Tor.com and Io9, among many others, for helping us get the word out.
3. Still looking for honest day labor. Last year, I wrote a post that, at the time, felt completely accurate about the multitude of ways one could cobble together a bad-but-decent living while writing. I’m not sure it still is, or when it will be again. Both Chris and I have had a really hard time finding long term or full time work. I have an informational interview soon, though, with a great local company, so I am hoping that may sometime turn into something.
4. Piggybacking on #4, I’ve decided I need a skill. An actual skill. One that is transferrable, in demand, that sort of thing. So, WA state is still offering worker retraining and I am going to take advantage of it while I can. Starting this summer, I am going to take a weekend program for the quarter so I can get a phlebotomy certificate. I thought long and hard about doing programming instead, or possibly paralegal studies, but decided on entry level healthcare-and I’d much rather poke veins and deal with lab samples than anything else right now (it feels like science!). I’ve been seeing long, sobby posts online from phlebotomists who haven’t been able to find work either, but I’m going to try and do some additional work to make myself extra-hirable-start volunteering at the blood bank asap, get as many certifications from the Red Cross as are appropriate, and whatnot. Maybe between writing, contracts, and phlebotomy, I can, oh, pay some bills-maybe even have some fun (holy crap!).
5. Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, so I am taking him to see Star Trek. I am both very excited to see this, and completely dreading it. The trailers make it seem like a WB show in space. But, dude, it’s Star Trek. At one point, I would say, dude, it’s JJ Abrams…still a giganormous Lost fan, but now, you know, Fringe (*sigh*).
Anyway, I made Chris some presents and got him a small bottle of that man-cologne he loves so well. I may try and do up an ice cream cake, too. I hope he likes it. He deserves like, oh, a hundred treats.
BONUS: A huge yipee for Mary Rosenblum for being nominated for a Sidewise Award (for great works of alternate history), BTW.