Party like it’s 1999...

So…another celebrity has passed. It’s been a stellar year for celebrity passings. Because their stars burn so much brighter, we notice them more when they burn out.

And this one hit me so much harder than David Bowie, whom I loved, but really didn’t have as much of a personal connection.

It was 1992 and I remember buying Prince’s Love Symbol album on cd and playing it over and over again. This was so controversial at the time because he changed his name from Prince to an unpronounceable symbol.  I drew that symbol all over everything and had decided that when I got my first tattoo-that was going to be it.  In my young adult eyes, there was just something charismatic and subtly sexual about Prince. He was flamboyant, but not over the top.  He was just so fascinating and I adored his music. I still do.

It’s funny. I just found my old stash of cd’s-most of them still playable. And you’ll never guess what one was on top?

22,895 -or- how I’ve beat my inner editor this Nano (repost)

Last Nanowritmo was a disaster. And it was my first one, so I was loath to start again this year without a battle plan. Last time, my inner editor beat me to a bloody, circling pulp, sending me into a never-ending editing spiral that ended in a word-addled panic attack.

So this year I came up with a plan. The novel I intended to write, I had been mulling over in my head all summer, but hadn’t written any actual words on yet. I knew my characters, knew roughly where it started, who dun it (cozy mystery) and setting. I knew that I needed to muffle that inner editor, but how?

That’s when I did a search for using Scrivener better-because it’s such a powerful writing source for some and I knew I really wasn’t using it well.

This was my plan:  I started a new Scrivener project, using a mystery novel template, then I pretty much followed Jason Hough's 'Scrivener Bootcamp' and following Nanowordsprints very closely. They have been a lifesaver!

This meant always moving forward with my writing. I haven't done more than a few minor word changes since I've started.

Here's what I mean:

(Any running commentary from my editor-is either prefaced by /// or the letters TK which I write as or the case of a new character that I don't want to take the time to flesh out now- 'Officer TK' with a comment added to the side.

Like this:

This literally takes seconds and when I finish the word vomit that is my initial draft, I'll go find all of the 'TK's and fix them.

Is this my best writing? No.

Is this utter crap? Hell no.

But I am so proud of myself for getting almost halfway through my 50,000 word count. I'm not even worried about the ending yet because a typical cozy is 90,000 to 100,000 words anyway-so I'm aiming for progress to middle.

It is me telling myself the story the first time. The polishing and fluffing out will come after.

You can follow my progress, nano and after here and here.

Hedgehog care for those who care

Okay, here goes (with a warning that I can get long winded on animal care. I apologize in advance):

Hedgie ownership is not for everyone. They are nocturnal, prickly (though not painfully so) and gram for gram are the biggest poopers of any animal I’ve ever owned.

**Story-time:skip if you’d like**

That being said-I adored my girls-I ended up with 3-but would have taken more. I started off with one (fairly expensive) girl bought from a breeder out in Buffalo NY and caravan’ed to me here. So I didn’t get to pick her out. She was a big prickleubutt. My second girl was a rescue (which I would suggest). She and her brothers and sisters were rescued from a neglectful home and it took me a while to win her over. My third and favorite girl was technically a birthday present-but only because I was kind of broke. I would have figured out a way to get her anyway. She and her siblings were in a pet store (don’t get me started about buying from pet stores)-at least 5 of them-in a ten gallon fish tank, no hiding places, on pine shavings-no wheel or anything. I felt horrible snagging her and not grabbing her siblings, but I couldn’t buy them.**Adorable pictures of the girls at the end** 

**Okay-Caring for and pampering your new prickly butt friend**

~Please take what I’m saying as my experience-not gospel. Your milage may vary. I’ve put further handy resources at the bottom.~

1) Cage: Hedgies (unlike guinea pigs or rabbits) don’t chew. and for the most part can’t really climb (unlike hamsters) So: Cages can be open topped, made of many things. I made my first cage out of two sterilite totes. Second one out of those mesh cube things that you pop together.

~At LEAST 4′x2′. I wouldn’t say double it for each animal-but how would you feel confined to such a small space for your whole life.

Make it BIG. Most cages they have in the pet store are rubbish for space. Research building hedgehog cages. There are some awesome how to’s out there and they are easy.

*** The bottom of the cube cage I made is a ‘box-type’ liner made from corrugated plastic (coroplast). They are awesome and you can build your own easy. Example here.

 

 

2) In the cage: (see above as well)

~Good size wheels are mandatory. They have a territory of 2-300 meters-and as such they run a lot. They are also poop-runners. So, a pan with some type of litter should be under the wheels. I used short sided aluminum pans filled with pelleted news print type littler (just don’t use cedar or clumping cat litter-gets stuck in their paws.) You should clean daily-as they poop A LOT and are smelly.

Sleeping/eating area: can be covered in cloth type liners. This area tends to not be soiled as much. I despise having them walk and sleep on litter and sewed my own liners. You can also use cut up velux blankets-as long as it doesn’t fray-loose strings amputate toes. Fleece (esp. clearance cuts) is a marvelous thing.

They are hiders by nature, so need a covered place to retreat and or sleep. Hedgie hats (above in ‘Cuse colors) are a quick sew or just give them extra blankies to burrow under. I sewed a fleece sac for hiding/sleeping in. They loved it.

 

 

Things like cat toys (balls and such), Large PVC pipes to hide/play in, stuffed animals, etc are always fun to add. As are the legendary tp tubes. Hedgies love to go ‘tubing’

 

Food: I don’t know how readily available specific hedgie food is now, but Mazuri makes an insectivore diet and apparently there is a complete hedgie diet in a bag. IF you  choose to go the cat food route: they need high protein, low fat. I used to buy things like Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul Lite, Blue Buffalo cat food, or similar. The whole animal protein should be the first on the list.  They like eggs,chicken, most fruits and veggies.

They are insectivores, so crickets, meal worms, silk worms, etc can be fed (in moderation), as can high quality canned cat food on occasion. **my first girl loved her food-and ended up being over 600 grams. If you have more than one hedge-I’d recommend NOT free-feeding so you can monitor food intake.**

Water should always be available. I preferred water bowls to 

Socialization: Contrary to initial thoughts:hedgies aren’t ALWAYS in prickle mode. Most of the time their quills lie flat to their body and they like being petted once they are comfortable with you. I do the scoop from the side: fingers go between front and back legs under belly to scoop up. Let them on laps, chests,shoulders, much like kitties. Patience is the key. Just pick up, pet and hold daily.

*If you have an area wide open and pet safe-you can let them run around the room-or pen off areas. They like to explore. Also: there are hedgie sized hamster type balls you can put them in to run around in-those are fun and safe.

Odds and ends:

*Temps need to be kept above 70℉ as they are African Hedgehogs. They do not hibernate like the European Hedgies. They do enjoy a heating pad under their sleeping area if your room is cooler.

*They can be prone to cancer and other diseases.

**cleanliness is next to godliness** Most of them like baths: tepid water, baby shampoo. They get very dirty (poopy boots)-so baths often may be necessary.  Old toothbrushes help clean dirty quills and feets. Towel dry.

Their nails grow constantly-and need to be cut frequently. I used Bird nail scissors.

I felt better having a pet/hedgie first aid kit made up: here (though I bought one-can’t remember where. AS well as finding a vet who treats hedgies.

Fun/weird hedgie things:

~They do this thing called ‘annointing’. They take spit and groom it into their quills on their back. I think I read somewhere that they did it in the wild after eating something toxic (not to them) as more of a protective mechanism. 

~They make funny noises. Especially when disturbed. They ‘huff’ ‘pop’ and can ‘growl’. When irritated. the puff their quills up and ‘pop’ like little jumps and make a quick ‘pfft’ ‘pfft’ noise. Here and here.

~They can weigh anywhere from 250-550 grams. (I weighed every week-to keep track of health. They drop weight fast when sick and can hide symptoms)

~Common life span is 4-6 years

~baby hedgies are called hoglets or pups and litters are anywhere between 4-9.

~There are some amazingly beautiful colors of hedgies out there. Some rarer than others. My favorites are: choc. snowflake, cinnacot, platinum, pintos. BUT go into it for personality-not necessarily color. You’ll Pay for color.

 

(The Dutchess-also knows as princess prickly pants)

 

(rescued hedgebutt-aka Rosie the grump)

 

(and little tiny Lilly the smol-who sleeps on my chest)

Good research sites:

Here

Here

Examples of places to buy stuff. Here and here.

Nutrition help

There’s a very active hedgehog rescue/care community on Yahoo. They are a wealth of info.

Colors

Okay- advice needed:

I’m in the process of merging my myriad of writing RL blogs into one blog on Blogger. 

MY original blogger blog was made for a teaching course and had writing about teaching, the work for the course, etc....    There’s pretty much no way I’m going to be teaching again (long story) but do I want to dump all that writing and move on?

I’m having the same conundrum IRL with my boxes of files and curriculum and everything that’s gone untouched since I left last February. How do you get rid of almost 7 years of work? Almost 10 years of college work? 

I don’t have the room or the need really for it, but do I need to keep it?

Former Art Teacher: Looking For a New Gig…

Can I just tell you how freaking different searching & applying for jobs is than when I had to do it fifteen years ago?

Yes, I am old (no not really-but by Tumblr standards I am ancient) and I was at my former job in all it’s incarnations for almost 15 years. I certainly don’t feel as old as I should-at least most days. Almost a year later-I wish I could tell you I don’t feel as washed up, used up and broken, defective and a waste as I did last year as February rolled into March….but I sort of do.

I can honestly say that I couldn’t see myself staying in teaching/education until I retired at the ripe old age of ancient (let’s be real-in the current economy would I really be able to afford to retire at 65?)  So what now?

Yah-I’ve been working on a book manuscript.

Yes-I’ve been trying to get back into drawing, creating-but I feel like my art well has gone dry and that breaks my heart like you would not believe. I don’t know if it’s fear of not being able to actually draw anymore, or just apathy-there are so many more talented people here on the internet-hell even my fourteen year old cousin draws better than I do. The writing is just coming a bit easier right now. Not that I feel I’m any good.

I want to try and get into freelance writing of some sort-but I certainly don’t have the confidence-or the publishing experience.

In a way-me having to forcefully rip myself out of that rather distasteful educational scene I was in-was a blessing. At least in the long run.  Now I’m having to take care of my mother. Because of medical issues that started this summer-she is now unable really see or withstand any light brighter than a dim table light and driving (especially in the winter sun) is out of the question. I am chauffeur, cook, maid, etc.  But I’m out of work-so it’s the least I can do, right?

I really need to find a job I can do at home so I can be there for her and not feel like such a schmuck for not contributing.

But what do?