The first week of the holidays just started - so far, the wee fella has played in a 1500 point game of Warhammer 40K, madame has baked a cake, and we've all painted models and I'm now settling down for a day of work. Tomorrow we're (hopefully) going swimming, depending on the weather (weather looks fine tomorrow!) - but I'm not sure whether it's a good idea- I've never taken them both swimming on my own before. Having said that, it's an outdoor pool, and if I keep them both in the kids pool, I'm sure it'll be ok.
On the Kushka front - I think it's fair to say that she now owns the house. We've found her in bed with us several times, and she's incredibly affectionate, but moreso when she's expecting to be fed ;).
She's very purry though, which is nice - I get lots of kisses and nibbles, though, I really wish I could work out what she spends most of her day yowling at - she 'sings' a lot, even when she doesn't want stroked or played with. I think she's just used to making a nise cause she's lonely.
On the writing front....check out semiskimmedcola ;) It's far more interesting, trust me.
- Mood:
determined
Lorelle, over at Wordpress.com, put up a blogging challenge that I was quite keen to respond to.
I've been blogging, on and off, since 2002. I've STILL got most of my old public archives (that I recently kicked to freinds only) at livejournal. I started blogging because people were using blogs to keep up with freinds - and I got a couple of gigs out of that in quick succession - Scribe And Quill for a start.
In 2002, I was blogging because it was fun. 2003/2004, and I was one of the first people to adopt blogging as a business 'thing' (and I really wish I'd stuck to that for a while and evangelised better, because a lot of what people take as read now are things I was doing back in 2003/2004.
The site itself was ran on b2 evolution - and was called digitalsteward . I ran six blogs there, till I moved to WordPress (and didn't learn MU). I tried to mess around with some of it, but eventually, Digital Steward became my main business site, and is now closed, because my life moved in a different direction. I moved most of my sites to WordPress, and I help others do that
I like blogging - it's something that I actually ENJOY doing. It keeps me writing when I can't write my stories - and though, sometimes it's a distraction FROM my writing, I've got some great pieces over the last few years that come out of my blogging - some of my best stories have appeared in one form or another over the years.
I love writing more though - which is why blogging works so well for me. I just have to harness it and stop going overboard ;)
- Mood:
accomplished
One of the biggest things about blogging in two places is that when the plugin that lets me do so without breaking things is that when WordPress upgrades, sometimes, my plugin breaks.
So, I'm cross posting using a lovely program named 'Zoundry Raven'.
It does mean however, that in the next couple of weeks, the banner won't appear on my blog linking back to Kaiberie.com - I will not always cross post either, so if you don't mind checking in occassionally, I'd really appreciate it.
Today is a writerly day. I've already done two character outlines and some other bits and pieces for my books. I'm also going to be putting up information on my books.
I also (also) started a lens yesterday - you can see it at BooksbyKai. Generally, I'm enjoying pulling back to being a writer again - and not much more. I can dabble in other places, but I am, and always will be a writer, and that suits me just fine.
- Mood: geeky
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I’m at the point at the moment where I’m spending whole days making sure I’m backing up all of the important files on my laptop - which, to be brutally honest, isn’t where I wanted to be each and every friday morning.
Adding to that, I recently discovered that my backups aren’t actually saving to the drive, just saying they are.
I got to thinking about the fact that if I actually did a bit of config, right at the start (which, given how I do setup on my laptop, would probably take me about a day, including installing everything), that things would be easier. If I set up my email and my tracking files, and my writing files, and my programming backups to come to one place, it’ll work out better.
If I also think ahead and set up my camera stuff to save to my secondary drive I’m not going to be moving photos 5gbs at a time. LOL.
I don’t *like* clean installing my laptops, but sometimes it’s neccisary, I guess. I’d love to clean start properly, so that’s the plan.
For the moment, I’m just making lists of the programs I need to install so I’ve got things to download, and clean up lots of things too.
I think the biggest thing about this is that this is my ‘fresh start’. I can finally do what I want - I feel comfortable, and safe and ready for whatever I need to do with my writing to make it all work.
On a similar note - I was asked where my writing blog would be - it’s http://semiskimmedcola.com - it’s still being set up, and ALL of my writing domains will redirect back to there. At the end of the day, I don’t mind whether people read there, here, Livejournal or whatever. I just hope that I can start entertaining people again.
Also, if you’ve got an e-zine, I’m currently sorting out lots of my short stories. From my Uni coruse work to the older writings that need cleaned up, I’m looking to place content - for free - with people. So if you’ve got requests, just holler at me 
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
First up - Kushie is massively improved. Yesterday was awful - she kept blocking up as soon as I cleaned her nose - and eventually, I just left her alone (because to be honest, if it’s caused by stress, I’m probably not helping cleaning her up and stressing her more). I woke up this morning to her playing on the bed beside me, just after Dave left. She’s sneezing about five times less than she was yesterday, and though she’s still a BIT snotty, she’s not as bad as she was.
In more ‘work’ related news, I think I’ve discovered my biggest problem - hte one that stops me from getting as much as I could done. I know I still get LOTS done, but I’m aware that if I actually foccused, I’d get even more still done.
For that reason, I’ve trained myself into making weekly plans and daily plans in the morning when I want to do the work. From tomorrow, I’m going to stick to making weekly plans, but making the ‘daily’ plans the night before. And the plans aren’t going to be quite as broad over the week as I’ve made them, because I can update some sites less frequently, and some need daily work.
As much as it ‘hurts’ I’m also going to get rid of some stuff that I own that I just don’t have the time to work on any more. I’m considering keeping the websites, but letting people run thier own content, and ads on it, giving people the opportunity to leverage the traffic. As long as they cover the domain renewal fee, the site can be thiers. On the other hand, I really want LESS work, so I might not bother. It’s been hard cutting down on everything I do, and pulling it all back to what I can dedicate myself to. I enjoy most of the work that I do, but I know, that to support my family, and more importantly, my dreams and the things that D and the kids want to do, I need to stop pulling away and finding excuses, and actually ‘doing’.
I’ll be writing some articles on it in the next couple of days at my new writer’s site (it’s NOT new domains, just parking up some that are my writer’s sites), because I think it’s something that should be said for writers. Procrastination is a fairly serious ‘problem’ for writers - though, I suspect I have a fairly severe form of it. Ultimately though, it’s gotten to the point where it used to be choice, and now it’s habit. I need to break that habit, and make new ones.
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
Kushie sneezed blood all over my arm this morning. Well, snot that was laced with blood, so we’ve pushed up her vets appointment to 11:15 this morning. Given how much she disliked me after I did this last time I’m not sure how she’ll take to this one, but at least we can say that it appears to be (at least partially anyway) allergies. She improved last time, when we changed her litter - so maybe we need to ask the vet about how to get a differnt sort of litter for her (one that doesn’t turn to dust when she uses it), cause I suspect that’s at least some of it. More of it could be either dust mites, or hayfever, or both. There’s also a possibility she has a chronic URI, which she’s exacerbating somehow. The odd thing was though, she got better, got worse, we changed her litter from catsan to another one, she got better and now we’re back at worse again.
I’m also back to (sort of) writing. I bit the bullet and went for the story that’s been bugging me the most since I came up with it. It’s a Dr Who/Torchwood story, so I’ll just have to see where it goes, and why my brain is insisting that I have to write fanfiction instead of one of my other novels. Though I’d love to sell this to the BBC, I have my doubts about it’s voracity, so instead of believing it’s worth selling, I’m going to believe it’s worth writing. Cause, to be honest, I think that’s one of my sticking points at present. Not that my writing is worth selling, but that I even believe it’s worth taking the time to write it. With everything else that I’m chasing in my life, writing a book or books, whilst looking after my daughter, is proving to be too much for me. But I really want to write, so I will.
*update - Kushie has ‘cat flu’. Or at least, she has the chornic sniffles. So she could have had cat flu at one point and now has it ‘permanently’. We’re blitzing her with weeks of antibiotics, and looking after her the way I have been for the last two weeks (cleaning her eyes and nose twice a day, steaming her at least once a day).
Oh, and check out the comments on the livejournal version of this post. They are hilarious and just the smile I needed when I got back from the vet.
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
Got lots to get done this week - from writing to design to dealing with some of the ‘cat stuff’.
Writing
Got a 10k novella to finish, if I can. I’ve got two days (and have about 3k so far). If I can’t, there’s a deadline that it’ll fit with later.
I’m also writing a new novel - I want to get it out of the way, so I’m going to give the “First draft in 30 days 
I’ve got articles to write for the next week for my sites too - content for my writer’s site, my agent site, my query site….I’ve also got a plugin that’ll let me rotate out the content so it’s always fresh, without having to constantly add to the sites. I think when you’re dealing with sites that have a finite amount of information, that’s important, because people can overlook something, just because it’s not ‘fresh’, especially on blogs. Hopefully I can find a balance of old and new content and allow the sites to thrive.
Design
I’m refounding my writer’s blog (designing a template) and designing my new hosting site too, alongside finishing up the Mamaneedsabookcontract design, so we can move from Blogger to WordPress. Given how pretty it is so far, it’s looking great, and like we’ll be on it within the next week or so. All I need do is finish the coding, get approval, and get us all moved to it - it’s not much, honest
I’m also looking into finishing up my booksbykai site, depending on how much I get done writing wise.
Cat
Kushie is so settled now that she sleeps in with Tommy - or with Lexxie, at the bottom of thier beds, yowls to get us up for brekfast, sits at her bowl at tea time, or the minute she hears us in the kitchen, comes and chases us for food (we’re trying to teach her not to beg, but we suspect she’s always been allowed to, so it’s going to be hard work), and comes out into the garden, once a day with me on a leash and harness (we can’t let her explore on her own cause her vaccinations are six months out of date, much to my annoyance - she’s also not chipped, which we’re wanting to do to make sure she’s safe when she goes out). You can’t tell she hasn’t lived here all her life, in other words. Dave’s laptop gets ‘lovies’ - and she climbs on it when she’s wanting attention, or up behind me on the arm of the chair and headbutts me - that’s if I don’t play with her when she’s climbing up.
We’re still trying to find toys that she likes - the ones she’s got get played with a little, but not a huge amount - she loses interest in about three minutes normally. I think she’s more used to ‘playing’ outside - she was chasing crickets and jumping on fences yesterday.
Have a great week!
I met my other half (whom I'm marrying!!!! eventually) at a pub meet before a convention I was staffing. We made freinds, we chatted - we decided to pair up to go out with freinds - and some other stuff that people that date - do. From there, we started officially dating - and then got bound - got handfasted - and we're now engaged.
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I’m going to be testing posting programs for the next few days - I’m trying to streamline as much of my ‘writing blog posts’ process as possible - given I’ve yet to find one that publishes (nicely) from Word/online wordprocessors (I use Zoho and google docs when I’m working away from my laptop now) I’m stuck testing posting programs.
So far - I’ve used (and kinda liked) blogjet (the only one I’ve paid for, so far), Qumana, and before it went south, one by ‘bingo bango’ - which had this great calendar posting facility.
The one I’m using at present is called ‘Raven’. It’s got some really nice features, but it’s still not got the workflow I’d really like. I might have to code one myself at this rate
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I’m still having fairly severe problems settling into a regular writing routine. I’m allowing people to contact me and request content for ezines ‘etc’ (and I’m submitting to ones I’ve worked with in the past or are on my wishlist) but what I really want to do is start producing a couple of stories every week for a bit.
So…
Is there anything that I’ve mentioned - alluded to - teased people with - talked about, or you’d like to see my take on?
My favorite genres are (in no particular order) sci fi - horror - fantasy - erotica and thriller/crime. My other half has me writing a CSI/cthulu, but is there anything else people want to see me working on?
I will be sharing any and all work that can’t go off to be published on a mailing list (http://groups.google.com/group/dkaiwilso
If there’s nothing that you’ve heard me talk about writing wise, feel free to throw just anything at me
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I’m going to deviate slightly from my usual posts and say something because it needs said.
Recently I saw this brilliant advert on TV by Heinz advertising ‘New York Deli’ style (use of) mayo. If you haven’t already seen it, you might have to head on over to youtube, because Heinz withdrew it.
Because…wait for it….
200 people complained that it was two men kissing.
Now, I want to picture the scene…
Kids wandering into the kitchen and shouting thier mom for a sandwich. Mom hands them over and in a broad new york accent gives them instructions and ‘mom talk’ for the day.
Dad runs in, grabs his lunch and ‘the wife’ (in case anyone missed it, he’s being played by a man, dressed as a new york deli worker) asks him if he’s forgotten something - he goes back and kisses her goodbye.
Most sane and reasonable people, I’ve found, take that advert to be a representation of ‘becoming a new york deli sandwich maker’ - whilst still being ‘ourselves’. Like the mayo makes the difference to the sandwich
200 people complained about the kiss!
We’ll completely ignore the fact that in the time of Shakespeare, that men played ‘women’ in plays, and that no one batted an eyelid. No one screamed abberation then…
I actually thought it was really very clever, and that anyone that can’t take the inferrences needs to consider reading more - gender specific roles being twisted on thier heads aside - and sterotyping, not only the 2.4 kids, the dad and the ‘mom’ (including the stereotyping of the loudmouthed, ‘new york deli owner’) was more important, more annoying, and to be quite frank, would have been grating if they hadn’t done some character substitution.
Advertising that doesn’t make us think - and work - and infer, and enforce brands isn’t worth it, at all. That did make me think ‘new york deli’ just by switching out the stereotyped mom for the stereotyped deli owner. I KNOW it’s unlikely I’m ever going to meet a deli owner like that - but at the same time, I’ve never met a mother that stands in a kitchen ‘ala’ Marge Simpson, making sandwiches, kissing family goodbye and generally being immaculate. It’s almost as unrealistic as the double standard in advertising today.
However, this is something that I also wanted to highlight. BECAUSE of the fuss surrounding the advert - it will be more memorable. In being more memorable, more people are talking about it - and positive or negative buzz is one of those interesting things that tends to increase sales if it’s not directly related to quality or a ’scare’ surrounding the product itself. So no matter what way you look at it, Heinz are getting ‘good’ advertising.
I stick by my opening statement though - two men kissing is not automatically ‘gay’. And I wish society would come to grips with that - we might move on and be more accepting if that were the case.
As an addendum to that - even if two men kissing equals ‘gay’, does it really, honestly matter? Our obessession with what’s right and proper should only be within our own four walls and our envirnonment, as long as the behaviour in question doesn’t hurt anyone else. Religious taste, gender status, music, clothes…everything that falls under the remit of personal choice - should be personal. And if it were, and we were more accepting of that - as a society, I truly believe that there wouldn’t have been ‘200 complaints’ and a really cute, kinda funny advert that had the impact I’d have hoped for in an ad, would still be on the air.
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
She’s been here for just over a week, and already I can’t imagine life without her.
Last night, before I wrnt to sleep she was curled up at the bottom of my bed, purring like a ’small outboard motor’ and 6:20 this morning she woke me up by headbutting and kissing my nose. We worked out, after lots of stroking and more kisses from her that she was hungry. Dave took her downstairs, fed her and came back to bed.
She’s still massively sneezy - but we think some of that is hayfever. Dave’s mom brought me flowers to say thank you for letting her stay and the cat has turned into a bigger ball of sneezing, rattling fur. Still eating and drinking like there’s no tomorrow though (note, we’ve actually got her on a diet, and she eats everything she’s given within her needs), so all I can do is put the orchids outside and clean her up.
Tonight, I’m going to steam her in the shower (again) give her a wipe down with cotton wool pads and clean her nose again. She’ll probably hate me for an hour or so, but I’d rather she was clean and could breathe through her nose than not, so that’s ok.
And though I love fresh cut flowers, I love my cat more - I can live with not having any till we pinpoint her exact triggers.
Most of all though, she’s so sweet. she sits beside me when I write, either in the dining room or on the couch and gently reminds me every so often to take a break. If I ignore the gentle reminder, she jumps all over my keyboard
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I’ve been asked a couple of questions about when we’re visiting and how we’re going to handle the summer holidays ‘etc’ - so here’s the list, including the bits and pieces we’ve got requested but not ‘booked’ in yet.
Kids finish school - 18th July
Keith down - 18th - 21st
Katie visit (meet up?) - ?
Edinburgh visit for a couple of days to drop of the kids - 2nd - around the 4th/5th August
Kids return to school - ? first week of September
I return to University - 22nd? September.
So it’s three weeks until the kids are on holiday/Keith visits - another two weeks from there until we’re up in Edi. The kids are away for two weeks with their dad, then two weeks after they return, they are back at school - and then another three weeks after that (or so) and I’m back at University. It’s quite a nice even split for setting up deadlines and goals whilst still keeping myself busy. A lot of the time that the kids are off over the summer is going to be spent at the outdoor swimming pool, which will be really nice.
Other than that, we’ve got the youngest’s bed to buy, which she’s really excited about - the cat to vaccinate and microchip (which if she understood, she wouldn’t be happy about!).
And though it sounds awful, I’m looking foward to having two weeks when I’m not needing to watch out for the kids and just take two weeks (well, 9 days by the time we get back from Edi) to recharge and have a bit of quality time with my beloved.
So that’s our summer…
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
‘know how I alluded to some good news a couple of weeks ago?
I’m delighted to announce, and scream it far and wide that my darling other half asked me to marry him.
I accepted.
I’m the luckiest woman alive.
No ring to show off yet - he wants to find something perfect - and no date either, because we’re still getting me through University, and all of the other fun stuff that goes on down here, but the important thing is that he asked, I accepted and life is, IMO, perfect.
*YAY!*
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
After three doses of antibiotics, Kushka is on the mend, it seems. She’s still sneezing, but less. I don’t know whether it’s because she does have hayfever, because we’ve moved her from a completely dry diet to half and half - the antibiotics or a mix of the above, but she’s sleeker, her coat looks much better and she’s even playing more. She’s still rattly though, so we’ve got a ways to go yet. It could be that she had a URI AND hayfever. I really don’t know. What I do know is that a sulky cat is a very sad thing to see.
I’ve been cleaning her eyes and nose. I let her paw the cotton wool before and after I wet it then take a clean one and wipe her tear stains and her nose. Today I got the big lump that was completley blocking one of her nostrils. She hissed at me and ran off, and only came back to talk to me when I cut her up some small chunks of cheese (a couple of tiny bits a day). The lump that came out of her nose was bloody, hard, and looked gross to be honest. She’s not bleeding now, from her nose, so I’m guessing it’s when she was sneezing hardest. Hopefully though that’ll let the last of the grossities come out of her nose and give her a chance to breathe properly. Beacuse I’m brushing her (at the moment daily), she’s also shedding far less, which I’m guessing might help with furballs. And her nose is wet again, which I’m assuming is probably the best sign of all.
She’s also become quite the ‘office cat’. My ‘office’ is our dining room (cause the attic is too warm now for me, plus, Kushie is here with me now) and she’s quite at home in our computer chair by the main desktop, or batting my ipod headphones, or pouncing on a ball of paper. It’s very cute. I just wish she’d stop sulking ;).
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
Thefted from LJ
1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
2) What was your dream growing up?
3) What talent do you wish you had?
( Read the rest of this entry » )Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
Kush has a URI of some description. She’s sneezing lots of snot, is slightly overwieght and I’m now covered in cat fur cause she went ballistic and clawed the vet when she was getting her injections. I was really startled to see her doing that - she’s a docile, kind cat that isn’t quite as she was represented (by her previous owner) in many ways. She’s demanding sometimes, but actually, she’s not as ‘bad’ I was I was expecting. The vet took one look at her, asked me a couple of questions and then said, quite sadly, that she looked like her previous owner didn’t quite have the means to look after her. I need to get a brush for her, and clippers for her little nails cause the poor thing is gorgeous, but the least little thing happens and she’s also a state - fur falling out everywhere, her claws are huge. She’s clean and sleek, but I’m thnking she’s giving herself awful hairballs the way she cleans herself.
So she has a course of antibiotics, probably isn’t allergic to anything (other than ’stress’ as the vet thinks that’s what set her off) and doesn’t ‘do’ injections. Which means she’s going to be a nightmare come vaccination/chipping.
I love her to bits already though. I’m covered in claw marks down one hand where she’s playing and clawing us (and we can’t get her nails done yet either - I might go out and get clippers for her and try it myself if she’ll let me), cat fur where she’s shed (badly) and have to put the poor thing on a diet cause she’s the wrong side of 4kgs. She’s not massively overweight, but at the same time, my worry that she’s not eating enough is probably completely unfounded. She’s drinking from her fountain (and pushing her luck in the bathroom) so all I have to do now is steam the poor lamb and see if that helps her any.
Oh, and sneak two pills a day into her wet food for a week…lol.
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
So Kush has been home with us for over 24 hours. About ten minutes after she arrived she started sniffling. We put it down to dust, possibly, or the stuff we used to clean.
She’s still sneezing, and snuffling - refusing to eat treats (cause I think she can’t smell them), her little eyes are streaming. Her nose is dry, but she’s not snotty (till she sneezes). She’s had two ‘mad half hours’ so far - battering from one end of the house to the other, pouncing on her toys, clawing her posts like they’ve REALLY offended her. She’s still eating her food (and we got her to drink from her water fountain this afternoon! that should stop her yowling in the middle of the night for water - she won’t drink anything that isn’t flowing, moving or otherwise constantly changing) - and she’s still begging for treats, so her appetite is fine - she’s just sneezy, rattly, snuffly.
We’re going to the vets with her as soon as I can get an appointment - for her registration checkup - vaccinations (possibly) and needing microchipped. Plus I’ll ask a lot of dumb questions at my vet, clearly, cause she’s just too sweet to risk causing harm to in any way, and I don’t want to do anything wrong - at all. I’m still getting dozens of photos, which rocks. I adore my kitty, and if it weren’t for the fact that it was the weekend and I know the vet isn’t open for anything other than emergencies (she’s battering around like a loon, so I’m fairly sure it’s check worthy, just not ‘emergency’ - or am I wrong?) I’d have her there now.
In other news I’m writing again. Farran just ressurected himself and is demanding I sort out the name of his ship (the Kushka Kura).
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
We got her!
I’m now the proud co-owner of an eight year old Bengal called Kushka. She’s gorgeous, tiny (well, petite), and still settling in - her favorite spot, for the oment, is the top of the stairs, curled up in a kitty ball.
She WAS a queen - there’s lines of kittens (7 litters) out there somewhere from her, before she was spayed, and then the owner before us got her from the breeder. She came over, had a look around the house, brought the cat in, and left us.
So far, we’ve been out - bought treats she doesn’t like (LOL), bought a couple of toys for her, sorted out cat grass which will take a couple of days to grow, I’ve snapped tonnes of pictures and I’ll post them later.
The phrase, though, I believe is WOOOOHOOO!
Update - you can view the pics at http://kaiberie.com/photog until I take them down later this week 
Originally published at kaiberie.com. You can comment here or there.
I know, I know, it’s fairly rare for me to do that.
This is an advanced headsup for those of you that read any of my writing related blogs. In an effort to get off my backside and actually be the writer I keep vaguely threatening myself to be (usually to scare myself insensible), I’m going to be amalgamating EVERY writers blog (short stories, language and my book related one) into one place.
You’ll still be able to access them from the same URL(s) - but they’ll be all together from now on.
Which means tehshiny new design coming my way too.
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