Update on LQF

It took an iteration (and Photoshop help from Angel to get the cover resolution right) but I can now submit content and cover art to CreateSpace and have it meet their requirements. In fact I could order a proof copy right now. I don't plan to, however.

Pen in hand, Angel is reading through the prototype volume printed for me by AKS. Alas, she continues to find typos, but not too many. Still, I want LQF to be as good as it can be, so I'm going to wait for her to finish this pass and make the edits. Then I'll resubmit.

In other, related news, I spent much of this rainy day drawing a map of Soapstone Bay. Once it's scanned in, I plan to make it available on my "other website" (you know how to find it). I thought it would be nice to be able to print out a copy of the map and trace the roads where the action takes place in that little, northeastern seaport on another world.

Storms

I like winter storms... in winter. As I type this, the rain is falling steadily & heavily at about a 45 degree angle. Wind and rain at the end of May. Weird.
On and off, but mostly on, for over a week now, we've had rain, rain, rain.
At first I thought it was great because our lettuce is doing well and we haven't had to water, but now Angel and I are beginning to worry that everything will be waterlogged.
Forecast is for rain through Thursday.
I have a chile plant growing in the greenhouse. Of course the plant isn't getting much sun (!) but at least I can control the amount of water it's receiving.
This evening I am on the schedule to teach a "gentle yoga" class at the athletic club. I wonder how many people will come out in the unseasonably wet, windy weather. Given a choice, I'd certainly stay in by the fire!

Update

Not too many posts recently.  Been working on "the novel."  Actually submitted all the materials for review today, so theoretically I could have a prototype within a week.  Exciting.  I figure that if fifty or a hundred of my friends buy a copy and write good reviews on Amazon, well, maybe that'll be enough to generate sales.  We'll see, won't we?

Other news:

1. A few days ago I put a poblano chlie plant start in a pot in our greenhouse. The little guy seems to be doing okay so far. Cool, gray, and rainy today, though.  Made a possibly clever, undersurface watering system for that pot. It'll help me distribute the water evenly and in a controlled (repeatable) manner. So far so good.
2. The overall garden is looking better this year than last. The winter cover crop (nitrogen fixing winter rye) coupled with the compost we cooked up and turned into the soil seem to have improved things. Lots of salad greens up and usable already. Need to add some zucchini starts asap.
3. Lyn planted lots and lots of potato plants. They seem to be thriving. Allegedly, deer won't eat them (poisonous leaves & stems) but she planted them inside the fence anyway.
4. Sold some of my gear. Thanks to those who purchased it! Received my new studio monitors. They are much better than the combo of the crappy old power amp and speakers that I've used for the past decade. I'd like to sell more, but don't know if/when that will happen.
5. Gradually I hope to migrate people over to my website and the blog there.  The website is in a transition phase right now. Once the novel is in place, I'll change the site over to focus completely on my writing and music and will remove the references to my services as a tech writer & consultant (not that those generated any business).

Sunup in SLO Town

More crowded than on my last remembered visit. A bit more Disney-ated as well. Buzzy, even. And of course there's the gyno-lawyer-investor class, their mates, their offspring... their Rolls Royces, their Mercedes...  Still, it was a pleasant visit.

It is always good to visit old friends, always powerful to tread upon the footsteps of our vanished youth.

The Locust Queen's Feast

Thinking about going the self-publishing option. I've been trying to get an agent to look at my book for a couple of months now. It appears that it's not even interesting enough to consider, as most will not even respond to my queries. Pretty weird. It doesn't seem that bad to me.

Angel says I should go ahead with self-publishing. CreateSpace.com offers lots of services. You can spend a lot of money and get a lot of help or you can spend a tiny bit of money and do it all yourself. It's clear that per-volume charges are better with them than with Lulu.com

Some of the the stuff looks do-able. Fun, even. The whole business of doing the layout and providing print-ready PDF myself seems a little daunting, however. I think I can do it, but I'm not even sure what the standards are:

6"x9"? 5.5" x 8.5"? New Times Roman, 12 Pt? Wingbats 11? (I just made that up). And what about margins?

And should I pay someone to do a professional editing job on it? How do I find somebody to do that? Don't even get me started on cover art! My abilities there run somewhere between juvenile and pathetic.

Multilayered Mulching & Drip System

Here is a sketch that shows the way we've layered the mulching system. The drip tube, with its in-line emitters, lies directly on the topsoil. We amended the topsoil earlier in the year. We layered straw (untreated w/ fungicides or any other nasties) above the drip tubes. Then we laid several sheets of newspapers down on the straw and wet it to hold it down. Finally we added a layer of organic compost from the garden store. The compost is heavy and holds everything else in place.

So far I've got about half the garden mulched. Angel has started planting in that half. We had a late (and very strong) storm blast through starting Thursday night. While the layering was perturbed by the high winds, the overall mulching system mostly stayed in place.

To keep down costs, I've piled most of the top layer of mulch in rows above the drip tubes. All you have to do to plant is poke through the newspaper and push the straw aside. I've saved some big pieces of cardboard that we can use to cover the paths between the rows.

This should keep the weeds under control while it helps maintain soil moisture. We'll see how it works.

Data

Here's some energy use data from the 48th parallel.

Note that from Nov '08 until the middle of Feb '09, we had Angel's mom visiting. That meant the guest quarters had to be heated to a comfortable level for an octogenarian. It meant that the big TV out there was running all day and most of the night.

The energy use data for the winter we just finished was noticeably better, but I think this is interesting from the point of view of three adults living here.

Remember that, apart from some site-harvested wood that we burned in the (smallest we could find) wood stove, this represents our total energy use.

It's worth noting that during the July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009 "Fiscal Year", we generated a total of 4719 KWH. This resulted in a production payment of $707.85 from PSE to us.