Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Todays Menu - King Cake and Squab

Today is my kind of day ... Fat Tuesday. Of course that description fits my physique regardless of the day of the week.

Fat Tuesday is a day of indulgence. The day to eat, drink, and be merry. The last day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of lent.

Trust me, I know a thing or two about indulgence, which explains that physique I mentioned earlier. I'm not really Catholic, but my wife is, so in that spirit, and despite my heathenistic ways, I am giving up something for those long forty days of lent.

Blogging.

Just kidding.

Rum.

Nope.

My carnivorous ways.

What? do you want me to shrivel up and die of starvation.

I am giving up ...

The Booty.

That's right by the end of lent I am going to have my novel in progress, Plundered Booty, finished and out the door in the form of query letters and submissions. In order to do that I'll be posting a bit less often and commenting on your blogs a bit less, but I'll still be around so don't give up on me. I'll still post two or three times a week which is more than I can say for some of you deadbeats on my blog roll.

On a side note I spent a portion of my day yesterday considering the term pigeon-holed. How did that come to mean typecast. It actually sounds kind of obscene and threatening if you ask me. "Hey buddy, don't make me come over there and pigeon hole ya." Why pigeons. Why not turkey-holed? Course Rat-holed means to save something aside. Are there other animal holed sayings I have forgotten about? See how my demented mind works?

I know one of you smart people has to know the origins of the term pigeon-holed, and if not, then you are creative enough to make something good up, so tell me. Where do you think the term originated? Make me laugh hard enough and I might just send you a prize. Course it will take me months to actually fulfill that promise since I'm naturally lazy when it comes to that sort of thing, which is why I've given myself such a stiff deadline to hammer out The Booty.

21 comments:

Shauna Roberts said...

According to the short version of the OED, "pigeonhole," meaning to label mentally, was first used in print in 1870. "Pigeonhole," meaning one of a series of small holes in which domestic pigeons nested, was first used in print in 1622. Pigeonhole," meaning one of a series of open-fronted compartments in a desk or cabinet, was first used in print in 1789. it seems a fairly short step from putting papers into real compartments to putting people into mental compartments.

Congratulations on your bold vision for Mardi Gras and Lent. I was just going to wear my purple, green, and yellow socks today.

Chris Eldin said...

I'll still post two or three times a week which is more than I can say for some of you deadbeats on my blog roll.

LOL!!!
*hoping I'm not one of these deadbeats!*


Good luck with your novel. You will feel SUCH RELIEF when you're finished. And you are right to prioritize. It's what I had to do so I could get back to writing again. It feels good. And the bloggers are still there, don't worry....

:-)

JM said...

Good luck with finishing this novel! I can't wait to read it.

Anonymous said...

Yea! Fat Tuesday.

Travis likes lent. We hit every fish fry in the dioceses.

I am glad Booty will finaly be finished.

What a heathen.

Terrie Farley Moran said...

Travis,

I am thrilled that you have gotten so far along with Plundered Booty.

Now you go for the finish line. We'll still be here when you come back.

The great thing about being a writer is that when you are missing in the blogosphere we all know you are off writing something.

Tons of luck!

Terrie

Charles Gramlich said...

I knew Shauna could find out. If you need some research done she'd be the person to go to.

Finishing "plundered booty" is a noteworthy goal for Lent. Luck.

Shauna said...

I'll still post two or three times a week which is more than I can say for some of you deadbeats on my blog roll.

Ouch. ;-) Some of us (ahem, me) are just B-O-R-I-N-G. And it's so much more entertaining to read this blog.

I'm excited for you to finish Booty! GO TRAVIS! I wanna see this one on the shelves.

Lana Gramlich said...

I can't come up with an origin for the term "pigeon holed," but when I was once asked what I was giving up for Lent, being the smart-@$$ I am, I had to reply, "Roman Catholicism." That was a neat end to the conversation (particularly as I was raised Jewish.)

alex keto said...

Hmmmmm,
What's the rush on the WIP?

Rocketstar said...

Congrats on finishing! Thanks for the reminder that I now have an "excuse" for indulging today!

Anonymous said...

i love your goal and i think you're smart not to pair it up with a decline in rum or food intake. you must keep up your strength! (it's a true story that i am related to the famous captain morgan, by the way!)

Phats said...

Hey Travis
Fat Tuesday is my kind of day too, PHAT TUESDAY baby!

I know people that give up some crazy things for Lent, I actually have friends who blessed meat so they could it when they weren't suppose too haha.

Have a good one

Josephine Damian said...

Travis: I finally finished my first novel because I had a B-day looming - you know the signficant kind that end in zero - and I made it - I just could not face another B-day, especially that one with it not being done. There's nothing more satifying than being done, and having a product to market.

I see lots of folks cutting back on blogging ever since Donald's famous "itch" comment. You are definitely not the only one re-grouping on the priority front.

Looking forward to hearing about your successful agent search!

ssas said...

Good for you. I'm giving up snacks.

And just in time to start drafting again. What will I do without my M&Ms, huh??

Pray for me.

Holly Kennedy said...

*head down, hand up*
Pigeon-holed dead beat checking in with a comment.

I wish you all the best with getting yer booty out the door. I haven't been posting much anywhere these days, but I've got a good excuse. I've been neck-deep in that horrible 'self promotion' mode that comes when you've got a new book coming out. Sorry!

The Anti-Wife said...

I'm giving up giving up things. Does that count? Good luck on your booty, I mean book.

Patti said...

whew, for a minute there i was thinking....

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I gave up sweets for Lent. You have no idea how hard it is for me. It's like if you gave up meat. Actually, giving up meat would have killed me.

Bernita said...

I'm shaking my booty too, Travis, trying to get the book done.

Melissa Amateis said...

I don't think I've ever given up anything for Lent in my life. And fasting? Nope, haven't done that either!

Good luck on getting the novel finished!

Jess said...

Wow on the definition for "pigeon hole". You have a wiki right here on your blog comments.

I wish you great luck in your lent project, though I still hope we get to see some blogging!