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I submitted my second query letter tonight for my Eloisa book. I'm being realistic that I'm going to get rejected by both agents because I don't think it's quite what either is looking for. But it's a start. I didn't even think I was going to get this far. And now that I've done it once, twice -- I can do it a third time and a fourth. The challenge will be finding agents that are looking for this kind of book. It's a good book. But everyone is looking for something else right now. 

Putting this down here so I don't have the thoughts circulating my head at 2:00 a.m., keeping me up at night. Talking into my phone so I don't need to look at the screen, so there's probably typos.  I felt appreciated and seen today. Too creative directors have gone out of their way to make sure I am included in their meetings and pretty much lead the charge. They seem to value my input and my opinions, and I think I've already made it abundantly clear that I maintain a lot of value beyond just writing. I'm presented as the defacto source for numerous things outside my scope, which makes me look great.  The problem is I don't have enough spoons to go around. I love that I'm getting to work with all these different teams and creative directors, especially, because I'm learning how other people do things and different strategies. But people are demanding forks and spoons and knives and chopsticks... And I only have spoons. And I ran out of spoons in the fi...

It's the end of the year and I'm running on fumes. I haven't gotten sufficient sleep in 2 weeks (the opportunities I had were ruined by Kerri's dumb untrained dog, who, thankfully, is gone tonight), and work's been so busy, I haven't been able to take breaks like I'm used to. I haven't seen the NASA gym since last week Tuesday, and it had been a while before that, too. To add to my plate, Stephen Strosin suddenly reached out again on Monday and asked if we could catch up for 30 minutes to go over the Animation Test script I wrote, as well as the edits to the first episode. Since it was only for 30 minutes, I assumed that meant he had seen everything and it was fine; but that was definitely not the case.  I apparently missed every mark on the Animation Test, and he was incredibly disappointed. I wrote it like an animation test should be, but he wanted a trailer that included a lot of dialogue, singing, interaction, etc. He was already on the fence if tryi...

Started a new migraine medicine 2 nights ago that has curbed the headaches but has also made me constantly tired and unfocused, both physically and mentally. I have a hard time looking at a single object or giving it my attention. Which has made work difficult for obvious reasons. So I called my doctor and left a message with my questions.  For the second time in a month -- and the first time in my career -- I sat in on a live studio recording. Both times it was for a script I wrote, or at least largely doctored. There's an immense sense of pride in this, and what was even more exciting was how excited and eager the voice actor and AV tech were to do it.  For the rocket launch towers in NASA Central we made the thoughtful decision to use a different voice from previous recordings, and we wanted Cullen to be that voice. He works in maintenance (or operations, I can't remember) over at the ASVC, and I first heard his voice earlier this month during the Europa Clipper launch. He ...

I’m going on day four of the flu. I haven’t been this sick in years. Christine, my boss, made me go home mid-day. I wouldn’t have gone in at all, but I don’t regret going because I needed her to see that I’m not faking. This early in the job, I need to reassure her of that. Some of my seeds are already sprouting! I have no idea which ones they are because I didn’t label them, but I suspect it’s the cilantro.  I’m also plugging along, trying to make small movements forward on getting my children’s book published. The query letter has gotten full marks of approval from my mom and Jamie, and I just need to make a few edits to the manuscript itself based on my mom’s notes. Then I have to make a list of agents to send to. It seems intimidating, but I think if I can get into the right headspace it’s doable. Speaking of headspaces, I finally got back into a good one today. I plopped myself down in the conference room this morning at work and immediately got to work. Despite my brain movin...

I was very sick today and stayed home from work (I was going to remote work today, anyway), but during the afternoon I replanted all my herbs (what remained from the packets) and all the seeds I obtained from the farmers market in Bethany Springs, WV during Laura’s birthday trip. The Master Gardener’s tent there was passing out a host of seeds, including two types of peas, cilantro, Swiss chard, arugula, spinach, white beans, pumpkin, and yellow squash. I added some cucumbers to the mix.  I also repotted a few plants, finally giving my purple and green bush a real home and the plant from my bathroom a container that wasn’t broken (I don’t know how it’s been surviving so well since it lost so much soil). I’m hoping replanting my spider plant and rare plant will bring them back to life (I also gave them plant food), but they look pretty far gone. I’m optimistic they can come back, though.  I tried finishing my Invisible Man Halloween stand but abandoned it pretty quickly when se...

  Some photos from when Dad and I stopped in Tennessee on the way down to Florida from Wisconsin in May 2023 Just got off a 2 hour phone call with my Dad. It was one of, if not the best, conversations I think I've ever had with him. I called him because I was really upset with my mom re: how she responded to my telling her I didn't get the WDI job.  There are far too many things to mention, so I'm breaking them down into bullets: The (WDI) Job: Of note: his reaction was a totally perfect, normal reaction. He kept reacting to the crazy feedback the recruiter gave me and asked a lot of questions.  He agreed that the recruiter didn't make any sense and it didn't make any sense. He also agreed that I should reach out to another recruiter and try to connect with them. He said it sounds like something is really off inside the department, maybe with leadership, and this might not have been the right time or opportunity. It might have been a good omen  He also said somethin...

Disney purgatory.            Writing purgatory.                          Job purgatory.  I feel like I've finally climbed to the top of the treehouse. Now I'm standing on the highest deck, looking out above the trees at the horizon, waiting to see if I'm getting a room in the house... or stepping onto the rope elevator back to the ground. It feels so close to one of them. This week is going to take forever.  It's really a 50/50 feeling. Maybe they'll accept me... maybe they won't. I'll have gotten all the way to the very end, and then let go. Let loose back in the cold, hard world of unemployment. The other Disney job, Stacy's old CT one, is still in the air; but Amy's also in the running, and I doubt I can outperform her. Although I do have Stacy's gold-star recommendation behind me, so I'm not going to give up.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that far, though. Hopefu...

The last time I posted was last year in January, sheesh. And I remember that day vividly. I was inside a little cafe off Colonial and Mills, writing on my iPad. I swear that was only a few months ago, not a year.  I keep oscillating between writing in my physical journal or online, and the result is that I write in neither. So although I'd like to write in my tangible journal (and not on this outdated P.O.S.), something is better than nothing.  This is a simple update. Today (on my 18th [week]day of unemployment), I cut the pieces for the stained glass work I'm making in class (I signed up for a 4-week class at The Stained Glass House in off Virginia in Orlando. This was week 2), I went to Epcot with Bryan and Luka during the day (it's the first week of the Festival of the Arts -- or FARTS, as I like to call it), and (almost) finished the 21st chapter of my book. I've been stuck in revision mode for the past few months; but I've been making myself write a few pages ...