This just happened before Christmas and I was the last to be informed. One of my brothers, his girlfriend and their daughter are living in my mom's 200 year old log cabin back on the family farm. So we're dry wood all over right down to the pine paneling. He went up into the loft to light a lamp and part of the match he struck flew off, he looked for it, but was not able to find it. He then proceeds to take a shower afterwards and is interrupted by the girls hollerin and the dogs barking. The loft of the cabin had caught fire as the matchtop had landed on a comforter. So, as one would do when the house is about to burn down, he rushes outside to grab the hose while the others call 911 as soon as they get out. Now this place is a half mile out in the middle of the woods down a muddy road. His daughter with bad RA went running out to the porch , slips, and breaks her foot in the process. So she is esp. traumatized. They managed to put the fire out before the FD got there but by that time the stairs had burned completely up.
Now I put this into the happiness thread because fortunately no one was burned (my first thought), and they are still able to live in the rear and somewhat newer section of the cabin. Now the surprising part of all this is, it was happening so fast he had to run out buck nekkid straight outa the shower into the yard, and put the fire out, nothing on, the WHOLE dang time in the cold.
Ok, I guess when ya have to get out, ya have to get out. I am not so sure though that his teenage daughter, in addition to hobbling around on a broken foot, really needed to see her daddy standing there with a water hose putting the fire out, without a stitch on. Lawd. At least they are more or less ok and not homeless. Coulda been much worse. Anyway, at least they are safe, and hopefully more careful in the future.
I've finally reached the endgame for the ~4th draft of my novel. The re-writing of the story is a whole story unto itself, but the basic deal is that I had to completely overhaul the entire plot, delete several beloved characters and tens of thousands of words of writing, and do countless hours of research in order to accurately portray a three-month-long, 2,000-mile voyage from the rural town of Ponnagyun on the coast of Myanmar to the capital of Tibet, in an alternate timeline of the year 1910.
It's taken 10 months to re-construct the novel from scratch, but it's finally coming together.
@semiticgod I remember how you felt last summer when your lap top quit on ya and the will to write left for a bit. Forward now to this, so I know it's got to feel good. Congratulations.
I've finally reached the endgame for the ~4th draft of my novel. The re-writing of the story is a whole story unto itself, but the basic deal is that I had to completely overhaul the entire plot, delete several beloved characters and tens of thousands of words of writing, and do countless hours of research in order to accurately portray a three-month-long, 2,000-mile voyage from the rural town of Ponnagyun on the coast of Myanmar to the capital of Tibet, in an alternate timeline of the year 1910.
It's taken 10 months to re-construct the novel from scratch, but it's finally coming together.
Woohoo, love me some alternate history. I'm currently reading/re-reading the Ring of Fire series.
I've finally reached the endgame for the ~4th draft of my novel. The re-writing of the story is a whole story unto itself, but the basic deal is that I had to completely overhaul the entire plot, delete several beloved characters and tens of thousands of words of writing, and do countless hours of research in order to accurately portray a three-month-long, 2,000-mile voyage from the rural town of Ponnagyun on the coast of Myanmar to the capital of Tibet, in an alternate timeline of the year 1910.
It's taken 10 months to re-construct the novel from scratch, but it's finally coming together.
Woohoo, love me some alternate history. I'm currently reading/re-reading the Ring of Fire series.
Speaking of reading I'm really looking forward to reading the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm not going to start it until the HBO series finale though. The books are always better and I don't want to spoil anything (at least any more than they already are).
I've finally reached the endgame for the ~4th draft of my novel. The re-writing of the story is a whole story unto itself, but the basic deal is that I had to completely overhaul the entire plot, delete several beloved characters and tens of thousands of words of writing, and do countless hours of research in order to accurately portray a three-month-long, 2,000-mile voyage from the rural town of Ponnagyun on the coast of Myanmar to the capital of Tibet, in an alternate timeline of the year 1910.
It's taken 10 months to re-construct the novel from scratch, but it's finally coming together.
Congratulations! Do your novel have anything to do with Alexandra David-Néel and her books like "My journey to Lhasa"? Because I loved that book and it would be cool to read something similar (even though that one isn't fictional).
This just happened before Christmas and I was the last to be informed. One of my brothers, his girlfriend and their daughter are living in my mom's 200 year old log cabin back on the family farm. So we're dry wood all over right down to the pine paneling. He went up into the loft to light a lamp and part of the match he struck flew off, he looked for it, but was not able to find it. He then proceeds to take a shower afterwards and is interrupted by the girls hollerin and the dogs barking. The loft of the cabin had caught fire as the matchtop had landed on a comforter. So, as one would do when the house is about to burn down, he rushes outside to grab the hose while the others call 911 as soon as they get out. Now this place is a half mile out in the middle of the woods down a muddy road. His daughter with bad RA went running out to the porch , slips, and breaks her foot in the process. So she is esp. traumatized. They managed to put the fire out before the FD got there but by that time the stairs had burned completely up.
Now I put this into the happiness thread because fortunately no one was burned (my first thought), and they are still able to live in the rear and somewhat newer section of the cabin. Now the surprising part of all this is, it was happening so fast he had to run out buck nekkid straight outa the shower into the yard, and put the fire out, nothing on, the WHOLE dang time in the cold.
Ok, I guess when ya have to get out, ya have to get out. I am not so sure though that his teenage daughter, in addition to hobbling around on a broken foot, really needed to see her daddy standing there with a water hose putting the fire out, without a stitch on. Lawd. At least they are more or less ok and not homeless. Coulda been much worse. Anyway, at least they are safe, and hopefully more careful in the future.
That definitely sucks, my sympathies to your family. I've lost damn near everything I own to a house fire, at my family's place when I was younger. I didn't even have a pair of shoes in the middle of winter afterwards. It certainly makes you learn the difference between what you need and what you want. As much as I dislike the red cross for their massive payouts of donations to their executives, they were there for us, then. In retrospect I can laugh about myself standing outside of a window with a garden hose while an inferno is pouring out of the window. The place was technically condemned afterwards, and we weren't even supposed to go back in to try and salvage anything, but of course we did. One cat didn't make it, and some fish cooked in their tank, but 2 cats and all the humans made it out fine.
I was in the basement back then, in the room next to where the fire started. Fire can be weird. Everything above about 3' high that could melt, did. Strange thing was, my computer itself survived, except for the CMOS battery, despite the monitor being slagged. I did lose all the ceramic artwork I had done throughout highschool, though. The only book I kept from the fire was The End of The World News, by Anthony Burgess, just because I was reading it at the time. All my clothes that weren't seared were so smoke damaged they were unusable. All I had was the pair of jeans and T- Shirt I was wearing when it happend. I can also say propane tanks don't actually explode in a fire, the top just blows and they spew fire for a long while.
One of the important lesson I took away, was always have insurance, even if you don't own the place. Renter's insurance is only like $10-20 bucks a month.
It makes me happy we all lived, and for what it's worth, it's an experience I wouldn't take back. It was truly a lesson that possessions are fleeting and replaceable.
On a lighter note, things that make me happy. Reading history and sci-fi, surf and psychobilly music (listening to some Ghastly Ones right now), and the fact that pot is legal in the state that I live in. Oh ya, and bourbon too
@DrHappyAngry Thanks, they seem to be doing ok. Going through some of the things I have myself, I can definitely agree with you that some experiences make us realize what is important and what is not as important. Fire is a strange beast for sure, and my family has certainly battled with it on more than one occasion, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, and sometimes being left in the middle. I'm always glad to hear when people get through it, so thanks especially for sharing. As I can relate to it on both a mental and physical level, that is more true in the last several years than it ever was for me in the past.
@JoenSo: I've actually never heard of David-Neel's book! I just started reading it and right now I'm about halfway through it.
There are actually some interesting similarities. Both David-Neel and my main character, Indra, travel from Yunnan to Lhasa and have to go in disguise. In David-Neel's case, her disguise was to avoid the authorities who would enforce a ban on foreigners traveling to Lhasa, but in Indra's case, she's hiding from both the local authorities and a shadowy group of Japanese spies.
The Japanese want to kidnap her in order to gain access to a time machine, while the Chinese authorities want to execute her because she's possessed by the ghost of a genocidal maniac that Indra has nicknamed "Scarfy."
Wow, those are some very interesting similarities! And what a cool way to describe a novel "Like the journeys of David-Néel, with spies and time machines!"
I like how positive David-Néel is in her writing (to keep with the theme of this thread). Even when she talks about being lost and nearly starving to death in the wilderness she can't contain her excitement over how beautiful the forests of Tibet were.
This Swedish children's book that I've illustrated (didn't write though) is now for sale after a lot of work. I got a box of books from the publishers and it's always a joy to see your drawings finally finished and printed.
This Swedish children's book that I've illustrated (didn't write though) is now for sale after a lot of work. I got a box of books from the publishers and it's always a joy to see your drawings finally finished and printed.
The district where I grew up had a street named after you: the Söderholmstraat. Or maybe it wasn't you, but the Nobelprize winner of the same name .
This Swedish children's book that I've illustrated (didn't write though) is now for sale after a lot of work. I got a box of books from the publishers and it's always a joy to see your drawings finally finished and printed.
The district where I grew up had a street named after you: the Söderholmstraat. Or maybe it wasn't you, but the Nobelprize winner of the same name .
Yesterday, I got accepted into a part-time creative writing programme after months of hesitation to apply. c:
I'm already learning quite a lot in the first course. In a few weeks, the novel writing course starts, which is daunting but also exciting. To see my ork rogue have her first story will be awesome. She's going to help a small dragon find his friend.
I wish I had never stopped writing. Life can be unexpectedly short. I want to see what I can do.
Best of luck in your endeavor. I stopped writing years ago when I got a good job. I keep thinking someday I'll pick it up again, but I never do. It doesn't help that I'm my own worst critic...
Sometimes I like to remember people I've known and have been fond of in the past. Every once in a while, I'll have a long conversation in my head where I'm gushing about how awesome a certain group of people is, and why I love each one of them.
There was a guy named Zack in my last Chinese class (Chinese name Suzhe) who was really fun. He was just a really nice guy. One time before class I made a point of letting him know that I liked him and he was fun to be around, and he was flattered.
One time he sang the Fun Song from Spongebob Squarepants before class, just because. Isn't that awesome?
Consider going back to write some short scenes that sound cool. I read that the only way to get good at a creative thing is to try and fail, slowly improving. The important thing is to try at something you really want to be good, then keep rebuilding it.
Writing shorter stuff is often how I get out of a writer's block. An exercise I like to do is to take some minor character from whatever story I'm stuck on and write a single scene with them that is totally unrelated to the story itself. Just some random moment of their life. It's easier to write when it's short, you develop the minor characters of your story and you get some general writing practice. And you often end up with pretty interesting short stories.
A law review article I wrote on the opioid crisis is getting published in a health law journal! It's my first publication (third try) and I'm super excited!
Comments
One of my brothers, his girlfriend and their daughter are living in my mom's 200 year old log cabin back on the family farm. So we're dry wood all over right down to the pine paneling. He went up into the loft to light a lamp and part of the match he struck flew off, he looked for it, but was not able to find it. He then proceeds to take a shower afterwards and is interrupted by the girls hollerin and the dogs barking. The loft of the cabin had caught fire as the matchtop had landed on a comforter.
So, as one would do when the house is about to burn down, he rushes outside to grab the hose while the others call 911 as soon as they get out. Now this place is a half mile out in the middle of the woods down a muddy road.
His daughter with bad RA went running out to the porch , slips, and breaks her foot in the process. So she is esp. traumatized. They managed to put the fire out before the FD got there but by that time the stairs had burned completely up.
Now I put this into the happiness thread because fortunately no one was burned (my first thought), and they are still able to live in the rear and somewhat newer section of the cabin.
Now the surprising part of all this is, it was happening so fast he had to run out buck nekkid straight outa the shower into the yard, and put the fire out, nothing on, the WHOLE dang time in the cold.
Ok, I guess when ya have to get out, ya have to get out.
I am not so sure though that his teenage daughter, in addition to hobbling around on a broken foot, really needed to see her daddy standing there with a water hose putting the fire out, without a stitch on.
Anyway, at least they are safe, and hopefully more careful in the future.
1. My greatest stat is Wisdom.
and that make me very very happy.
It's taken 10 months to re-construct the novel from scratch, but it's finally coming together.
I was in the basement back then, in the room next to where the fire started. Fire can be weird. Everything above about 3' high that could melt, did. Strange thing was, my computer itself survived, except for the CMOS battery, despite the monitor being slagged. I did lose all the ceramic artwork I had done throughout highschool, though. The only book I kept from the fire was The End of The World News, by Anthony Burgess, just because I was reading it at the time. All my clothes that weren't seared were so smoke damaged they were unusable. All I had was the pair of jeans and T- Shirt I was wearing when it happend. I can also say propane tanks don't actually explode in a fire, the top just blows and they spew fire for a long while.
One of the important lesson I took away, was always have insurance, even if you don't own the place. Renter's insurance is only like $10-20 bucks a month.
It makes me happy we all lived, and for what it's worth, it's an experience I wouldn't take back. It was truly a lesson that possessions are fleeting and replaceable.
On a lighter note, things that make me happy. Reading history and sci-fi, surf and psychobilly music (listening to some Ghastly Ones right now), and the fact that pot is legal in the state that I live in. Oh ya, and bourbon too
There are actually some interesting similarities. Both David-Neel and my main character, Indra, travel from Yunnan to Lhasa and have to go in disguise. In David-Neel's case, her disguise was to avoid the authorities who would enforce a ban on foreigners traveling to Lhasa, but in Indra's case, she's hiding from both the local authorities and a shadowy group of Japanese spies.
The Japanese want to kidnap her in order to gain access to a time machine, while the Chinese authorities want to execute her because she's possessed by the ghost of a genocidal maniac that Indra has nicknamed "Scarfy."
I like how positive David-Néel is in her writing (to keep with the theme of this thread). Even when she talks about being lost and nearly starving to death in the wilderness she can't contain her excitement over how beautiful the forests of Tibet were.
New life goal: walk on the street of my name.
There was a guy named Zack in my last Chinese class (Chinese name Suzhe) who was really fun. He was just a really nice guy. One time before class I made a point of letting him know that I liked him and he was fun to be around, and he was flattered.
One time he sang the Fun Song from Spongebob Squarepants before class, just because. Isn't that awesome?