The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

There's nothing quite like being all set for a week of writing in a great situation: a beautiful house in a gorgeous location -- and it comes with a cat (isn't Hamilton cute?). But then out of the blue -- because we're speaking about my dependable Powerbook G4 -- a massive crash occurs. We're talking code in black and white on the screen, funny noises, and an absurd look of horror on my face (or so I imagine). It took a while to get the computer to shut off. It took even longer for it to come back on. I tried to do a few things to help it recover, but mostly I crossed my fingers and hoped. On the plus side, I lost a few sentences at most of what I was writing. And yes, backed up to the external HD before I left, backing up regularly to the virtual drive and the jumpdrive is right here, too.
So far this morning, everything seems fine, apart from a persistent whir that I don't think was there before, but at this point I could be imagining it, too. Yet I am smiling (see, I submit photographic proof -- sorry for the poor quality, but I only have the PDA cam with me). Maybe it's because I woke up to mist-shrouded trees (and wow, bed head!), or maybe it's because I'm drinking from a gigantic lemony yellow smiley face mug (though it's tempting to add a Watchmen touch), but most likely it's because I still have days to relax and write (okay, maybe with a pen and paper) and that's good. Before the meltdown, I had written a good deal which had been surprisingly effortless -- well, for me, which means rather than plonking down the odd word every few minutes, I was actually typing along as fast as my fingers could go (admittedly, not very fast). I started writing (on paper) as soon as I got up today and even had some ideas for a story that has languished for months in limbo after a promising opening paragraph.

So, cross your fingers for me. With luck, it will all be fine.