Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Two Tuesday

 Weighing In Week 2

I've decided to use Tuesdays here on the blog to hold myself accountable. Each week I'm going to toss out the facts and figures of my goals.

TUESDAY January 4th I weighed 285. Today I weigh 282.

I'm quite shocked that I managed to drop three more pounds this week given the late night Whataburger run on Thursday, the 13 or 14 Shiners I drowned my football loving sorrow in during the Saints loss and the 4, yes 4 Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches I consumed to soak up all that beer.

My goal is to read 75 novels this year. So far I stand at 1 complete, as I did not finish a novel this week. i did however read about 70 pages of Mark Twain short stories and I'm nearly finished with an old Jack London book titled, Smoke Bellew. Here is a short passage from that novel which appealed to my carnivorous sensibilities ...

Kit was divided between two impressions: one, of the caliber of his comrade, which served as a spur to him: the other, likewise a spur, was the knowledge that old Isaac Bellew, and all the other Bellews, had done things like this in their westward march of empire. What they had done, he could do. It was the meat, the strong meat, and he knew, as never before, that it required strong men to eat such meat.

I sent out one short story submission three agent queries this week.

I had a dismal week of writing word count wise as my bull semen story grew by a mere 1,000 words. From 15,200 last Tuesday to 16,212 this week. But I did a ton of editing and tweaking in anticipation of entering Waiting On The River in this years. Amazon contest. here is a snippet of dialogue from those 1,000 words. A little mother/daughter conflict.

"Save the drama, Callie. Talk to me in a few months. Once your father starts in about the way you dress, and the time you spend texting, or on the internet, or when you bring home another shitty report card. Let me know how great he is then."

"I've lived with him before. Until you threw him out."

"I'm not having this discussion again, and I have work to do."

"I'm sure your boss will understand. After all you are marrying him."

Two Line Tuesday is a blog feature started by the fabulous Women of Mystery. Click on over to their site for link to other writers sharing their work.

14 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I always seem to be reading 3 to 5 books at a time so sometimes I go a couple of weeks and none are finished, then I'll finish 3 in one day.

Tana said...

Good luck in your reading endeavor. I read a ton last year with the same goal in mind and had a fun ride. I did find myself skimming through boring books, does that still count? Great excerpts. I still have your entry on my Kindle!

Travis Erwin said...

Charles- I'm the same way and should finish a couple this week.

T Anne - Are you entering again this year? I've done some minor tweaking mostly deeper in the book than that excerpt. It's nearly the same.

Annie said...

Good for you on the weight loss (the spike in high calories verses the lower calories you have been eating is probably what helped you lose the - it's a metabolism jump start).

As to reading, I've been so buried in work and all that I haven't read a thing in months. Maybe it's time to set a goal?

jjdebenedictis said...

Ooh, I like the writing excerpts! Best of luck in the contest, because you, sir, have talent.

Ricky Bush said...

Hey, Travis, you've hit a goldmine---lose weight by heading to Whataburger, drinking beer and watching football. Just think. If you could actually make that work, you'd have a best seller if you published that diet. Heck, it doesn't have to work, most diets don't, just tell people to give it a try.

Old Kitty said...

The dialogue is snappy and very sad too - I can see the underlying tensions between mum and child. Great stuff - GOOD LUCK!!!!!

And good luck too with your other story submission - my you really are on a roll!!! Onwards and upwards for you!!

Take care
x

David Cranmer said...

Fine lines, Travis.

Travis Erwin said...

Annie- I'll take it whatever the reason.

JJ - Many thanks. For both the compliment and for reading my blog as long as you have.

Ricky - I did lapse but that is not to say I didn't cut back most of the week.

kitty - I'm not sure about eh roll, but I'm sure trying to butter my bread.

David - Thanks. very much a work in progress but I'm excited about the story.

Melissa Amateis said...

Doing great, Travis! My weight loss has stalled, but hope to start seeing some results soon.

DrillerAA09 said...

To my sorrow, I have never been an avid reader. I suppose it's a form of ADD, but short stories are about as much as I can handle.

Phats said...

Good luck with your weight loss you can do it :) We don't have a whataburger at least I don't think.

I saw the Saints loss coming since everyone was dogging the seahawks left and right I figured they'd be out to prove something. Oh well at least the Colts lost too

the walking man said...

I think the only thing I can say is for you it is probably heart breaking but better for your weight loss program that the Saints lost.

Dude I clock in at 230 and that is seriously about a weeks worth of food for me.

I liked the snippet of dialog between mother and daughter. sounds to me like a conversation/argument that has gone on in a million houses.

Lana Gramlich said...

I've lost 5 lbs in the past few months after being forced to give up my Coke(a-cola) habit. <:(