Monday, May 21, 2007

Nightcleaning...

(With apologies to Rebecca for the title *wink*)

Does anyone else do this?

You're in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. You brush your teeth and wash your face, and then decide this might be a good time to trim your toenails or some equally innocuous but necessary grooming task. You do that, and while doing it you realize the showerhead is dripping.

After spending several minutes trying unsuccessfully to tighten the knob enough to stop the drip, you grab a sock from the hamper and drop it in the bottom of the tub to at least muffle the dripping sound so you can fall asleep.

Wait! Is that hair in the drain? You better get that before it creates a clog. So you grab some toilet paper to protect your fingers and reach down to grab at the hair.

But in the process of doing that, you realize there's a lot more hair than it originally seemed. The drain is basically a plate like those old plastic things we used to turn 45 records into 33 1/3, remember those? You'd fit them in the big hole in the middle of the record. Anyway, the drain is that same sort of shape, with several big holes. And there's some hair tangled under the hole.

So you grab a Q-Tip and start digging around, using more toilet paper to yank at the ahir as you pull it up (sorry, I didn't actually intend for this post to be so disgusting) until finally the drain is clean.

And you've wasted half an hour doing something basically useless. All that work garnered you a ball of hair about the size of your own thumbnail, which is not really big (even though I do have long nails.)

Does anyone else get obsessed with dumb stuff like that right before bed? I've been known to venture into eyebrow plucking, teeth bleaching, and cuticle trimming as bed-delaying tactics as well.

Two pieces of news:

As the Lady Wishes, the book the wonderful Anna J. Evans and I cowrote for Ellora's Cave's "Torrid Tarot" series, has a release date! November 16! Which is also known as the Feast of Hecate, which is rather exciting. So I'm quite pleased by that.

And, I'm very pleased to announce that The Black Dragon will be re-released with new material by Cerridwen Press, the mainstream arm of Ellora's Cave. I don't have any news on a release date yet but we're hoping to start edits soon.

And that's basically it. Except for the tragedy that happened in London this morning. The Cutty Sark has been destroyed by a fire. This is seriously awful news, and I really hope the damage isn't so extensive it's unable to at least be rebuilt. (Which won't be the same, it will be a replica, but at least it will be something.) Apparently some sections of the ship were away being repaired. I hope they were large sections. This is just horrible.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, December.

My wife often saves the cleaning until after everyone is in bed -and I usually don't get to bed until about 11:30.

Congrats on the re-release and your last post was good timing as I just finished a book by a struggling author and was wondering what to read next. -V95

Robyn said...

Oh, I hate it when historical icons burn. You'd almost rather have it, if it had to be destroyed, go out in great battle.

I just shouldn't turn the lights on in the bathroom before bed. I notice all the razor stubble in the sink (my hubby's hairy) and after washing that out I notice the toothbrush stand is getting grody so I wipe it off and before you know it I'm cleaning the toilet. Hubby will come up and say, "I thought you were going to bed" and I'll glare at him because it was his stubble that started it all.

Stacia said...

Yep, V95, I do find I like to tidy before bed. I sleep a little better.
Do give Penman a try! I think men probably enjoy the mysteries more than her other stuff. I'd love to see what you think!


Lol Robyn, I know that feeling--and those damn little stubbles--all too well! What gets me is the toothpaste and the toothpaste drool all over the faucet and spigots. How do you make that much of a mess when brushing your teeth, seriously? And then just leave it to dry instead of grabbing a bit of tp and just wiping it off then.

Anonymous said...

I cleverly avoid these kinds of issues by not cleaning until things are so dirty they have to be thrown away.

Heh.

Ok, it's not funny. But whatever. ;)

Bernita said...

That is lovely news about The Black Dragon!

Anonymous said...

Cool about TBD. I'll have to buy a new copy when it comes out which will make the third version! It's practically a must....must have all the versions. Does that make me fany girly? Maybe I need one of those t-shirts.

BernardL said...

I'm happy to hear you found a new home for The Black Dragon. As to the other, multi-tasking grooming, it happens to everyone. If I can't ignore the first impulse, I'm lost, I have to stick with it till it's done. It's like going into a trance. You see something, like beard stubble, :( and the next thing you know it's an hour later. :)

ValVega said...

Mmmm... Nope, I don't like cleaning LOL

Though now living a broad in a dorm with the tiniest room ever, any little mess looks huge so I try to keep stuff as organized as posible. Still, someone else does the cleaning three times a week :D Lets see how I fare when I move on my own next year :/

Stacia said...

Lol, Isabella! I think it's funny. I do use that method as often as I can. Especially with tupperware. I leave it in the fridge so long I can no longer bear the idea of throwing out the contents and washing it, so the whole thing gets chucked. It's the easy way to clean.

Thanks Bernita! Yeah I'm pretty pleased! Maybe there's some hope for that book yet!

Stacia said...

I'll send you a copy, elle. I can't wait to hear what you think, anyway, and I so owe you an email. I'm sorry. I've been working my fingers to the bone, almost literally. Lol I'll send you a t-shirt when I'm actually popular enough to justify it!

Stacia said...

Ah, so it's not just a woman thing, eh Bernard? That never seems to happen to my husband, so I wondered.


Oh, no ivicous trollop, I hate cleaning. I hate doing it. This is why I wonder if my late-night cleaning urges aren't simply a deperate attempt to ignore the necessity of bed, like a child stubbornly refusing to admit they need sleep.
I think that's what it is, too. Cleaning bleh!

Anonymous said...

With my hair, a q-tip will not cut the mustard when it comes to cleaning out the drain. And we've got one of those plugs that covers the drain so I have a special pair of long tweezers just for that job.

Congrats on the release and the re-relase!!

Anna J. Evans said...

I refuse to let myself succumb to these urges (though I have them). I need/crave/lust after sleep too badly to sabotage (sp?) myself at the beginning of the night when I usually get my best sleeping done.

Congrats on BD finding a new home!! I'm so excited to see the new format, cover, edits, and get my print copy of course.

Hugs,

anna j evans

(ps thanks for calling me wonderful again, lol, you don't have to!)

EA Monroe said...

Hi December. Congrats on the two books. Way to go. I'm usually too wiped out for bed-delaying tactics, but I've occasionally pulled out the vacuum cleaner and had a go at the carpet!

Camille Alexa said...

Does anyone else do this?
yes.

Stacia said...

Ooh, Seeley, I want special tweezers!The only reason the Q-tip worked is there actually wasn't a lot of hair. I shed like a mofo so I brush thoroughly before getting in the shower, then when I condition I catch whatever other hair comes off in my fingers. So I actually end up with very little hair in the drain. Which is good because before I started doing the thorough brushing we were always getting clogged.
Lamest. Blog comment. Ever. It's like a cut-rate version Bob Packwood's diary.


I know I don't have to, Anna, I just always do anyway! And I can't wait for you to get a print copy too!

Stacia said...

Thanks ea! Yes, before the kids came along I was a late-night vacuumer as well, but I can't do it anymore. I think that's why so many of my clandestine cleans take place in the bathroom. Nobody hears me there. It's like space.


Lol littlebird! Very concise. Are you back now? I've been having fun with all the pictures but it makes me too homesick. :-/

Anonymous said...

A friend once complained that after a day at the beach, she didn't insist her kids bathe, and she had to change their dirty sheets the next morning. I told her, "That's why you make the beds with the lights out, don't you know." She looked at me like I'd grown another head.

That said, nightcleaning is one obscure mental disorder to which I have occasionally succumbed. I try not to admit it in public. Washing dishes after midnight? Oh, my secret shame!

Stacia said...

Lol on the sheets! I admit to being horribly lax sometimes with the kids' sheets. I try, but the youngest refuses to sleep in her bed at all (on the couch, every night) and the oldest has one of those platform beds, like a top bunk. I'm five feet two. I hate changing the sheets on her bed.

Washing dishes after midnight sounds like the name of a song!

Rebecca said...

I've never been compelled to start cleaning the DRAINS late at night - but I've been known to wipe down the vanity basin, perhaps clean a toilet....

GREAT blog title by the way....

Nightcleaning...deserves a quiet night....

Sam said...

I do that too, December, much to my chagrin!
LOL

Stacia said...

You know, Rebecca, this is all starting to remind me of a bad musical number. "When we're up, late at night, cleaning the toilets, it feels all right..."

Thought you'd like that title. ;-)


It's comforting to know we're not the only loons, isn't it Sam? Teehee

Serena said...

I do that needless, obsessive cleaning thing sometimes. If only I exerted that much effort on things that really need to be done. LOL.

That's such good news on the book front, but a total tragedy about the Cutty Sark.

Erica Ridley said...

I'm safe from nightcleaning because housework makes me break out in hives (odd--that's the same reaction I get to story revision!) but I do use the 30 seconds before bed as a springboard to "check my blog roll real quick" which usually stretches into an hour or two. Internet is my crack. =)

Stacia said...

Lol Serena I know! Laundry can sit for days, but something dumb like cleaning the drain gets done with a single-minded passion.

Yeah, sucks about the Sark--but it looks like it's not as bad as feared--over 50% of the ship had been dismantled and removed. Luckily.


Oh, I know what you mean, Erica!I do that "check my email real quick" thing too, and before I know it I've wandered the blogosphere, posted to messageboards, etc. etc...and my husband is asleep.

tfg said...

I know exactly what you mean. Soemtimes, I just have to Simonize the Prince Albert before bed.

Stacia said...

The mental picture there is...indescribable. Since I believe Simonizing has something to do with washing cars, I'm picturing something to do with water jets and hot wax.

Scary Monster said...

The longer Me blogs, me becomes increasingly amazed at the amount of coincidences between our real life activities. Last sunday me got out of a warm comfortable bed, got dressed and drove eight miles to me workplace to pick up the trash that was left behind after a party the previous day. Me could just as easily done it the next morning, but me just couldn't stop worrying about the lack of tidiness in the workplace.

Crazy, huh? STOMP!

Stacia said...

Lol I'm not quite that crazy, although I have once or twice had to get up out of bed to do some stupid tidying job--empty the washing machine, say, or put away the papers I left out on the floor.

Coincidence indeed!