Comments Are Back!
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Julie Barrett
Monday, April 7, 2025
At last! Comments are back.
I need to manually approve each one, so your patience is appreciated.
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Filed under: Housekeeping
4/7/2025 4:21:36 PM
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An "Old People" Day
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Julie Barrett
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Today we went to do something "old people" do. In other words, we took off for a day trip!
Our destination was Canton, TX for First Monday Trade Days.
First Monday is a giant flea market that takes place the weekend before the first Monday of the month. We hadn't been in years, and thought it might be fun to go out when the crowds were, in theory, thinner. They were today because it rained. It was mostly light rain, so our windbreaker jackets did the job.
After a couple of hours of walking through endless booths of MLM merch finally found the antiques and went through one building that had a lot of new merchandise with some cool antiques scattered inside. The things that interested us were out of our price range, though. We discovered one other covered area with booths and decided that would be our last stop for the day.
Jackpot! The place was full of people sell
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Filed under: Life 4/3/2025 4:49:31 PM
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In Praise of Bunter, Lugg, and Dot
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Julie Barrett
Thursday, April 3, 2025
This morning my Facebook memories reminded me of this entry, in which I recounted a dream about being driven through the Alps by Lord Peter Wimsey. Bunter was in the back seat.
That, in turn, led to a long think about Bunter, Lugg, and Dot, three literary companions who do much to carry their respective author's tales. Also, I'm trying to flesh out a companion in a WIP, so consider this part of my thought process.
Who are they? And why are they so valuable to the story?
Mervyn Bunter is valet to Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, whom he worked with during the Great War. (The books in the series were published in the inter-war era.) Like Jeeves, Bunter always seems to read his employer's mind. He knows when to bring refreshment, when to pack, and often accompanies Wimsey on his cases. Bunter, you see, has a secret weapon: His camera. An accompl
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Filed under: Writing 4/3/2025 10:01:57 AM
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Easing Into A Different Life
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Julie Barrett
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Well, here I am, easing into semi-retirement. The good news is that my creative brain is starting to work again. I spent a chunk of yesterday working on some research for a novel. So when do I start writing? I think I'm getting close. There are still a few things I need to sort out.
My biggest issue was that I didn't like my main character a lot. It's okay to have an unlikeable main character, but she wasn't even unlikeable. She was just "meh." I need to flesh her backstory out a lot more. I also realized she was too young. Adding five years to her age gave me room to expand her backstory and work up some past experiences that helped shape her character.
Second, I still have a bit of "kitchen sink" syndrome going on. What elements in my outline are important to the story? Which ones detract? I need that focus.
I just don't have the brain muscles to write long pieces of fiction. I need to change that. But l
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Filed under: Life 4/2/2025 2:02:24 PM
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Time For A Bit Of Catch-Up
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Julie Barrett
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Oh, good. I just lost an enormous post. Let's see if I can re-create it.
So, we're (mostly) retired now. Paul fully retired in February, and I retired from almost everything except creative work (does one ever retire from that?) at the end of February.
I joked that I wanted to walk out of FenCon and onto a cruise ship. Hey, I came close! I walked out of FenCon on a Monday, and then the following Saturday we boarded a plane to Ft. Lauderdale, spent the night, then embarked on our vacation on Sunday. Pretty good, I'd say!
How was FenCon? Fun as usual, but if you were there you'll know about the challenges we faced this year.
The cruise was great. You can read about it here. We needed the break. I decided not to even think about the number of calories or drinks I was consuming during the week. Of course, I did im
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Filed under: Life 3/25/2025 4:46:08 PM
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About That Small Vacation...
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Julie Barrett
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Hey, it's been a while. I'll work on a catch-up post, but I did mention a small vacation.
How small? Oh, only a seven day cruise to the Western Caribbean. So yes, we did get a good deal on the cruise, and yes, we sprung for the deluxe drink package, along with several excursions.
It was good to get away. If you want to read about it or just see the pictures, go here.
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Filed under: Life
3/25/2025 3:50:34 PM
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The Year-End Wrap Up!
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Julie Barrett
Monday, December 30, 2024
It's been quite the year at the Manor. I wish I could say it was all good, but then life isn't all good all the time.
I guess the biggest news this year is impending retirement! Paul is set to retire in early February, and I've made the decision to semi-retire starting January 1. It's not as though I can stop creating. I am going to shift a few gears, though. I'll still be doing art shows at conventions, and I plan to keep the YouTube channel, but I've shut down subscriptions on Ko-Fi (the tip jar is still open!) and have put my Etsy shop on what may be a permanent vacation.
So, what are we going to do? Well, we have Plans. And they're cunning plans, so you know what happens to those! There will be a small vacation of sorts to celebrate. I like the idea of having an event to mark the new chapter in our lives. Next, some rest. Then the work begins! Work, you say? Well, we're doing half of the retiree downsizing. We plan to keep the house, but
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Filed under: Life 12/30/2024 10:55:55 AM
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Meowy Catmas and Happy Mew Year!
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Julie Barrett
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
The 2024 Catmas Card has arrived! We're marking 25 years of Catmas Cards.
Now get off our lawn. And please, have a safe and happy holiday.
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Filed under: Cats
12/17/2024 4:57:16 PM
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Monday Mumblings Looks Forward to the Holidays
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Julie Barrett
Monday, December 16, 2024
Hey, there's nothing like writing a long journal entry and having it vanish into the ether. Let's try again!
Well, it's a Monday, and that's the best I can say. I kind of did my back in over the weekend. It'll be okay if I can manage to take care of myself. I just overdid it. Friday and Saturday I did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen, including a much needed cleaning cycle on the oven. When I had it all done on Saturday I made a couple of batches of scones. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of wearing a pair of sneakers I'm trying to break in, and my back rebelled - spasms and all!
I did recover enough to go to a gathering at a friend's house on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun and something I kind of needed.
Yesterday we put up the new tree. In the "we're getting old" department, we decided to just get a fake tree this year. We've had real trees every year since we've been married (that's 44 for those counting), b
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Filed under: Life 12/16/2024 12:59:48 PM
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Monday Mumblings Re-Centers
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Julie Barrett
Monday, November 11, 2024
So, yeah. Last week was brutal. The election results on top of the burnout was just too much. As angry as I was, I at least had the presence of mind to realize that I shouldn't be posting something I would regret later. Hence the social media silence.
For now, at least, I need to step back from the constant fighting, the continual feeling that I'm just banging my head against the wall.
Something good did come out of this. I finally have some projects in mind! Some will be related to a workshop/demo I'll be doing at FenCon in February. Others will be just for fun. I've been totally stuck on where to go next, and I suspect that's part of the burnout. I hoped that if I just gave things some time, I'd start getting ideas. And it happened!
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