Sunset on the Santa Catalinas

September 15, 2023 /

A short post this week, just a few pretty pictures of the Santa Catalina Mountains at sunset, a bit of personal and writing news, and (of course) a fresh batch of meme-y silliness. But before we get to all that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it.

Personal and Writing News

The big excitement here at Camp WTF is this: Thursday was Long-Suffering Husband’s and my 32nd anniversary! Yeah, he’s been putting up with me for 32 years (actually 37 years, because we had a long engagement). If you’d like to send him a sympathy card, DM me for our address.

On the writing front, I signed up for the WriteNow Conference put on by the Desert Sleuths chapter of Sisters in Crime. I also signed up for a couple of optional activities: pitching to an agent and getting a developmental edit of the first 30 pages of Delta Dawn. And that, folks, is why I’m keeping this post short: I have to scramble to a) fix up those first 30 pages, and b) revise a pitch I wrote for Vanishing, Inc. a couple of years ago. I’m excited about the developmental edit–better to know about major problems now rather than when I finish the entire revision.

As for the agent pitch, I’m not exaggerating when I say: I’m terrified. I’m comfortable with public speaking. (Seriously, do not hand me a microphone. You’ll never get it back.) I was even a Jeopardy! contestant 20-some years ago (and I was terrified then too). But pitching my first novel to a real, actual literary agent?

I might have to take up drinking.

Pitch day is a week from today. Please keep my blood pressure in your thoughts.

A sunset walk in Oro Valley, Arizona

It’s Sonoran Restaurant Week here in Tucson, which means a bunch of local restaurants have prix fixe menus that are a pretty good deal and offer a chance to try new cuisine. So what did Long-Suffering Husband and I do last weekend?

Went out for pizza, like the classy gourmands we are.

But, hey, the pizza place had a prix fixe menu that involved dessert and was reasonably priced, so… score! The pizza place also happened to be in Oro Valley, a community about a half hour north of us. We finished our bargain pizza and chocolate cake just in time to see the Santa Catalina mountains glowing in the sunset.

Those photos were taken from a shopping center parking lot. The shopping center also includes a short, paved walking trail through a native Sonoran Desert landscape. These next two photos were taken on the walk:

Fishhook barrel cactus flower buds
Interesting bench and metal sculptures

Beauty really is all around us if we take a moment to notice.

The memery

First up: nerd humor (see the memes in last week’s post for more on this theme).

Somewhat nerdy humor:

For my fellow Old Farts:

Keeping the Old Fart theme going:

I don’t do drugs (unless caffeine counts), and I’ve never gotten lost in the desert (despite living in one), but I did get stuck in something like quicksand once. It was the Pacific Northwest’s version of quicksand, a/k/a muddy muck.

Deep muddy muck.

I sank almost to my waist, and Long-Suffering Husband had to pull me out. Pretty sure I left a good portion of my dignity back in that mudhole, and I didn’t have much to spare.

This one makes me laugh every time I see it:

And finally, let’s end with some academic humor:

Read the syllabus, kids. And if you’re a working adult, read the employee handbook, a/k/a the syllabus for your job.

And there it is… the first useful content ever to appear on this blog.

What’s new in your world?

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19 Comments

  • Elizabeth Seckman

    September 15, 2023 at 9:45 am

    Have fun at the conference! You’ll do great pitching. You’re a natural storyteller and you will shine! And by shine, I mean a sober, innate glow…skip the alcohol. LOL

    Beauty is all around us, but we seem to only see it while we’re on vacation.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:36 am

      Thanks! T-minus 2 days, and the nerves are kicking in.

      For the last 15 or so years, I’ve made an effort to look for beauty in my everyday life. It helps with my attitude and helps me appreciate ordinary days.

  • Gary A Wilson

    September 15, 2023 at 9:54 am

    Wow, tonnes of stuff to react to from you today.

    Okay, congrats on your 32 or 37 years. DM me when you hit 40+ like we have. . .
    But no cards for your husband. I think he did pretty good in this engagement.

    I got the chance to meet and pitch my story to a SciFi agent once and it both thrilled me and forced me to realize I was just not ready for prime time yet.
    Congrats on your chance. I wish you well. If you need or want a beta reader for those 30 pages, ping me. I’d love the chance to review your word-weaving and help if I can.

    I think I’ve been to the Oro Valley. Those mountains photos from the parking lot – you were looking south right? Great capture!

    As for the younger set, all our kids were born in the 1990’s and they are so clueless about so many things fundamental to how and why I think as I do. It’s a gap that has no hope of being bridged. . .

    Seriously – if you want a reader – I want to read.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:42 am

      Thanks for the kind words! And sorry for the very late response. My website went down and it took a bit of time to get it back up.

      The mountain photos from Oro Valley were taken looking east from a shopping center just off Oracle Road, so the setting sun was shining on them and making them glow. So pretty.

      Always happy to have beta readers! I should note, though, that the novel opens in the head of a serial killer who targets middle school girls. It’s not super gross or graphic but could be disturbing. If you’re OK with that, drop me an email (janet@ my domain name) and I’ll send them over.

      I had older parents, so I never imagined the gap between my son’s world and mine would be as huge as the gap between my world and theirs, but it absolutely is. I remember asking my mother what she did without TV when she was young–I couldn’t wrap my head around existing without it. My son asked me the same thing when he learned I grew up without computers or the internet. I think that was the first time I really felt old.

  • Marsha

    September 15, 2023 at 11:04 am

    Good luck with your projects, Janet. Your pictures are lovely. I can’t wait to see some of the beautiful sights down there this winter. I love the Old Fart Theme. I think our biggest worries were avoiding nuclear catastrophe by hiding under our desk and covering our heads with our hands for a minute.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:43 am

      Thanks! If you have time when you come down, I’d love to meet up. Either way, you’ll have fun. Tucson is a great city.

      I remember the duck and cover drills! We had a few of those, more focused on earthquakes than nuclear holocaust. I’m surprised we didn’t have more, being in California and all. It does make me wonder what those school desks were made of, that they could withstand a nuclear blast 🙂

  • Joanne

    September 15, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    Oh that last meme really made me laugh as my son just noticed he had zero assignments from his Psychology class this week and had been having super huge complicated ones for the past two weeks… only to finally look at the syllabus & find that each of those lessons he did in just a day or two was supposed to be stretched out between the first 4 weeks! LOL. He’s enjoying his week off now. Those sunset photos are so pretty!

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:45 am

      Hey, that’s better than what my son does–he thinks he has nothing due, then realizes he does–and it’s due in 2 hours. I’ve given up telling him to read the syllabus. Sigh.

  • trent

    September 16, 2023 at 5:42 am

    Great photos of the mountains at sunset. Happy Anniversary. Guess what? The 14th was my anniversary 🙂 26 years for us. I used to be the server whisperer. Any time there were problems, I would take a look and everything would clear instantly. Like the cartoon, I guess my server just liked me to come in and talk.
    Have a great weekend!

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:46 am

      Anniversary twins! Happy anniversary to you and your wife!

      I was the computer whisperer. Every time someone’s computer would malfunction, they’d call me, I’d come stand next to it, and it would start working again. I like to think fear kept the local computers in line 🙂

  • Barbara Ann Mealer

    September 16, 2023 at 4:11 pm

    Great pictures as always. Picked up the flu from the kid I take care of but only missed 2 days of work. The advantage of getting sick on your last day for the week and having 3 days off. Good luck on your pitch, edits and the conference. Other than a week long class with Donald Maass, I’ve been deep in revisions and a fun writing class and a ton of doctor’s appointments dealing with a fall I had back at the end of May. Just learned I need right shoulder surgery for a tear and an impingement. Not looking forward to that.,

  • Kirstin Troyer

    September 19, 2023 at 12:36 pm

    Happy anniversary….got a chuckle at the sympathy card comment. The photos are beautiful I always love the memes you share. I laughed at the syllabus. We just just got a brand new car…our first one ever…the stack of things to read is huge. The sales guy said the thick one is like a college text book. Lol.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 20, 2023 at 6:49 am

      Thanks! I probably should have included something about reading owner’s manuals. Always a good thing to do, but I’m really bad about making time to do it.

      Enjoy the new car!