Argh Ink

This is a Good Book Thursday: Assassin Lit

Jenny — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:25:03 +0000

A big thank you to everybody who insisted that The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Country Gardening was worth reading. I’m just starting the second one now because the first one was so much fun. Thank you!

What else did you read this week?

Good Monday: Progress

Jenny — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:03:55 +0000

So my Good Intentions Monday have all been about work, and I’m making progress, but everything is still a mess in the apartment and in the books. BUT I’m making progress, I’m miles ahead of where I was a month ago, and I’m sure I can get to the end of everything if I just stop expecting myself to be superwoman. There’s no point in making myself guilty and miserable 24/7. So I’m happy with the way things are going. I just wish they’d go faster. (So does Bob.)

What are your good intentions for this week? How did last week go?

Good Sunday: Old Clothes

Jenny — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 22:14:08 +0000

So I have too many clothes.

I think it’s because I buy things and think, “If I wear this, I will be this kind of person.” And then I wear it, and I’m still just me. So I’ve been going through decades of clothes and donating like crazy, and I’m down to the stuff I either love (keeping that) or stuff I’m not sure about. A lot of that is “I paid a bundle for that, I should wear it,” which is ridiculous unless I’m willing to go person to person explaining, “I know I look like an idiot in this, but it cost me a lot of money so I have to wear it.” No.

But getting rid of nine tenths of my wardrobe has given me back a lot of great old clothes I’d been overlooking, old clothes with great memories, old clothes that just look really good on me. It’s reassuring after finding so many of my mistakes–what the hell was I doing with ruffled sleeves?–to find these slightly weird but really great clothes. It’s like therapy: I’m finding the real thing. Maybe even the real me (work in progress).

That’s a good thing.

What good thing happed for you this week?

This Is A Good Book Thursday: Magic

Jenny — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:19:12 +0000

I shoved furniture around until 4AM and then found my big book of magic and the smaller (everything is smaller than the Big Book of Magic) What Magicians Know. I know what I’m reading tonight, assuming I survive another day of rearranging everything.

What did you read this week?

Progress Report

Jenny — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:28:17 +0000

Hey, we’re making progress, moving right along, 95% finished with Arresting Anna, completely finished with Getting Carter (novella) halfway finished with Stealing Nadine. And we have covers for the novels. See? We CAN get it together. Eventually.

Do you think that last painting needs titled more? Is it too much like the tilt in Nadine?

Good Monday: Dinette Happiness

Jenny — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:21:28 +0000

I haven’t put up a Good Monday for two weeks? Why do you put up with me?

Well the good news is, I am slowly getting my act together. I can now find anything in my kitchen without hunting for it. Same with the bathroom. I still have things to hang, but it’s actually all going well. Also, I splurged and spent $69 and got myself that dinette and two chairs. It’s a very small dinette in a very small kitchen but I like it. Good intention this week: rearrange the room that’s my office/studio/living room so it actually works as more than a dumping ground. BIG PLANS. Oh, and did I mention we finished a novella that goes with the current series? We did. Once I find a way to get Anna off my sulking laptop, we’ll be ready to go on Book Two which Bob already has half done. VERY good intentions.

What are your good intentions for this week? How did the ones from two (three?) weeks ago turn out? No pressure.

Good Sunday: A Few Words From Hax

Jenny — Sun, 31 May 2026 08:22:55 +0000

I love Carolyn Hax. I read her every day in The Washington Post. Yesterday, she answered a question that I thought at first was dumb, but turned out to be a great launching pad for Carolyn’s brilliance: “Can you be happy when the world demands you to be sad?”

Carolyn gave her answer in four steps, starting with the obvious: The world doesn’t demand anything of you, it just goes on spinning, never giving you a thought; stop making reality a personal affront. Step 2 is perspective: Yes, the world can be a vile place but it can also be incredibly beautiful (Hax suggested the night sky; I’m thinking of a judge ordering Trump to take his gold name off the Kennedy Center), it’s in how you look at it in the moment. Your life, your choices, there’s good and bad and you need to deal with all of it but how are you going to prioritize what you pay attention to, how does your focus fit what’s best for your life? There are two more parts to her answer, but you should really read the whole answer, it’s fairly short and fairly brilliant and reinforced some decisions I made recently about my own life, so of course I think it’s brilliant.

Carolyn Hax: Can you be happy when the world demands you be sad?

What good thing did you trip across this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday: I Tried, I Did

Jenny — Thu, 28 May 2026 07:45:52 +0000

Krissie sent me the title of a writing book that had been recommended to her by a professional. organization and she asked me what I thought. So I tried to read it, but about twenty pages in, I wanted this guy dead or at least severely injured by good writing books falling on his head. First he dissed Aristotle (“too simple”) and then he started with plot (always start with character) and then he made plot needlessly complicated (trust me, everything there is to be said about plot has been said multiple times; adding a dozen new terms you made up with weird diagrams does not help the situation.) All of which is to say, I did not finish a book this week.

So what did you read?

Dog Days: Things are Getting Better

Jenny — Wed, 27 May 2026 18:17:23 +0000

I was going to write something positive here, but I just looked down to see chocolate all over my white t-shirt, so clearly things are still a work in progress. I had once said I’d come in here every now and then on Wednesdays and post about dogs to cheer everybody up, but Johnny is also depressed because it’s been raining for a week. Usually we go out and he’s gung ho for twenty to thirty minutes until I drag him back inside, but when it’s raining, we go out, he heads for the nearest grass and pees, and then he heads back inside, dragging me behind him. He is not one of those animals who revels in the rain. For one thing, it makes his fur spiky.

So here’s how Johnny feels today (sunshine for the rest of the week, he’ll be fine):

Good Sunday: That New Computer Smell

Jenny — Sun, 24 May 2026 08:14:55 +0000

I’ve been having laptop troubles and Word troubles and then my laptop developed a major glitch and after trying to fix it for two days and not having anything to type on, I bought a new laptop and had it overnighted to me. The relief was overwhelming: I could type again. I type, therefore I am. And since it was new, all the other troubles went away, too, including the Word glitch that was making me insane. I don’t actually know if there’s a New Computer Smell, but it there is, it’s better than roses. Why? Because I can type again!

What good thing do you want to type about today?