Ten-Finger Exercises

captive and not minding it too much

I'm barricaded into my living room today, surrounded by furniture from the rooms that are being painted. I intended to get in to work this afternoon, but after overhearing one worker talking on his cell phone to someone who sounded like a parole officer, I'm not budging out of earshot. Who else would ask questions that required answers like, "Yes, I finished my treatment program, but I haven't done my anger management yet. Yes, I'm still living in Oregon," etc.

Nick, the lackadaisical crummy painter has been fired and replaced today by Cory, who has spent most of the day taping. Now taping is good, except for the paint it pulled off the doorframe to the linen closet and the plaster it pulled off the ceiling. That was what Nick's taping did. We have yet to see about Cory's.

Cory is the slowest painter I have ever seen. I feel like getting up and grabbing the brush and saying, “Here, let me do it.” I can hear each stroke of the roller, and count to ten between them: one one-thousand, two one-thousand…. (So far, no thunder, but then lightning is fast.)

Maybe he’s deliberately trying to outlast me so he can steal the family silver. (As if anybody wants the family silver these days, not even the family! But that’s another story.)

I’ve been struggling with an interesting plotting method for the Short Story Pizzazz class, taken from this link: http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/16712/260

I haven’t found a good starting place, so I arbitrarily picked my situation here today.

I’m barricaded into my living room while the house is being painted, because the painter might steal the family silver.

I am then supposed to ask myself, “Why is that important?” and supply several answers, then pick the best one. Since I can't think of a good answer, I picked one from Mavis Moog ‘s blog.

It’s important because I forget my appointment to take my neighbor to the hospital.

Why is this important?

Because my neighbor has to take a cab and is hijacked to Northumbria, and she sends me the doctor’s bill for the missed appointment.

Why is this important?

I have to sell the family silver to pay the bill from the doctor.

***
So, I’ve been enjoying my day, venturing in and out the door briefly to pull a few weeds, adding a little to a story and getting it ready for the big time, reading around WDC. Here’s a nugget I picked up on the way that I hope you'll visit. I know you’ll all appreciate it.

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