The big achievement was that Wizard and I did a huge cleanout of our storage closet upstairs. This extra walk in closet will be a selling feature, so I wanted it to look roomy and organized.
Youngest and his wife came by, and we went over to the house to see the progress of rough plumbing. Maggie had a great time, but she slept after they left I really wish I’d thought to take a picture of her in the back of his Jeep. He had the sun roof open, and she’s sitting there with her big doggie smile and her tongue hanging out. It’s always the best day ever in Maggie’s world.
So books. I started listening to a new-to-me audiobook, and the first four chapters are droning on about how the heroine’s so depressed she hasn’t showered. My patience is wearing thin. I get it, she’s depressed that she caught her husband with another, younger, woman on her kitchen table. But then she mentioned that it was months ago and I’m rolling my eyes. I know there’s a plot building, and I’m trying to be patient. I also think this might be more annoying in audio than it would be in print where I can skim over stuff like that. It’s not as easy in audio, so this one repetitive thing is annoying. In fact I was so irritated as I listened in the car, I snarled out loud, “Take a damn shower and move on.”
It’s also a reminder to myself as an author. We don’t need to hammer a point, especially something like this. In real life, depression can be very dark and debilitating. But in a book, or movie, we don’t need to hear or read it over and over. And it’s lazy writing, relying on a prop to illustrate depression, rather than showing us her state of mind. Most of us can quickly understand that it sucks to be cheated on and betrayed by a significant other. But she’s really relying on not showering, while mind you, the character is spitting out one liners that are supposed to be funny.
So why am I continuing to listen? Because somewhere in this mess, a mystery character showed up. I can’t figure out if the character is a ghost, or what. I’m curious. I’m not liking the heroine much, but this mystery character is interesting.
And the heroine finally took a damn shower
So that was my weekend, how was yours?