I always thought saying the “three r’s” was kind of dumb, since only one of the words actually starts with “r.” But that’s visual me. The sounds work, mostly, for the words. A-rithmetic is what I should be focused on this afternoon, catching up with finances and such. Though I don’t know some days if we can overtake them. Ah, well.
More fun is reading around the blogosphere and other places. People are clever. I haven’t even gotten to the writing blogs I regularly read. The list of those grows daily for me, and I ought to make links to more of them in my sidebar. Putting it on the to-do list…
Then in the writing category, I’m published online again, here at Camroc Press Review. For those of you practicing writing and wanting a lesson in concisity (if ‘rithmetic works, so does this), Camroc’s a great place with a wise editor. You have to make your prose 550 words or less, but believe me, with a lot of looking it over you’ll find much to cut, and often the piece comes out stronger.
This piece is my first in-print story regarding my grandma and Richard Brautigan. I’m hoping, of course, for more. But this one’s fine.
So now, before I move on to Quicken, one random thing relating to the important study of science (but if you’re squeamish regarding reptiles you’d like to go away now). In our side yard I discovered the coolest evidence of our garter snake friends. Side by side, two complete shed skins. I had to bring them inside before some animal stepped on them.
They must have done their sheddy thing together, or at least within hours of one another, because these don’t last long. I never imagined two snakes wriggling out of skins beside each other, but now I have evidence they might.
(To see more detail, click on picture.)
“Hey, Martha,” says one. “I need to take off this outfit. Care to join me?”
“Sure Joe,” Martha replies. “Mine’s tight, too. Just don’t get any ideas.”
“You can trust me, Martha.” His lips curl into a snaky grin.
“Right. Don’t look.”
I’ll work on that story later. Back to numbers and lists for this schoolish, random afternoon.
ugh. I have garter snakes, although for some reason they call them garden snakes up here. But…a snake is a snake is a dead snake in my garage or a live snake in my “neighbors” yard. Glad the thing escaped to freedom.
Very good story, Deanna. :) That rejection sounds so modern, it must be true that publishing moves slower than glaciers.
I remember how similar the rejection was, Jodi, to the ones I was receiving (still am). Guess no one’s invented a better way to say it. Thanks for reading. You can send me garter snakes any time. :o)