Welcome! I’m Linda: web mistress, author, motorcyclist, full-time RVer, blogger, freelance writer, history huntress, and petter of cats.
Annwn is my home page, and has been for a very long time. This is its latest incarnation.
I have several different blogs and projects. I’ve always been a fingers-in-pies kind of gal.
This site brings together posts and news from all my various blogs and projects. This will work for you if you’re interested in reading (or skimming) everything I write. If you have something to say or want to read more, just click the title of the entry and you can do so. (I’d love it if you did!)
Conversely, if you’re only interested in some of the topics I write about, just add that individual blog to your feed reader.
03 July 2009 12:13
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
One morning in May I woke up at ridiculous-o-clock and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I went for a walk, and found a cool, sweet world swathed in mist and dew, a world that I hardly ever see. I walked and watched deer and rabbits and returned with a sense of well-being that I’d gladly repeat over and over again if I didn’t have to get up before six. ;)
It?s not over ?til it?s over»
02 July 2009 12:13
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
We’re back from our road trip, which was exactly four weeks long. During the trip we discovered that the transmission still isn’t right, but we also think we know what’s wrong with it. Still, I am not looking forward to wonkiness again.
You see, through April and May we were never on a level plane. We had to carefully distribute soup to make sure it fit in the bowl. Our RV was propped up on blocks to allow Don to crawl underneath (mostly it was Don, but I did bits here and there). It was a royal pain in the patootie.
And it’s not over…’til it’s over. ;)
When a vista point works»
01 July 2009 12:13
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
Back in May, I rode to Arcata and back to visit with the Activated Storytellers (and, it turned out, a couple of other interesting traveling families as well).
It was a gorgeous ride on highway 299, which isn’t quite as twisty west of Weaverville as it is east of there, but still has more than its share of challenge. It was about three hours going and maybe four and a half back, by which time I was tired and thirsty (hot day).
Anyway, partway along is this gorgeous vista point, a big parking lot with views out over the hills. I parked and contemplated the wonderful blues and greens, rolling down towards the ocean. It was a grand place to stop and contemplate the nature of the universe, to glug down some water and generally appreciate having a motorcycle. :)
28 June 2009»
28 June 2009 22:13
Syndicated from Raven's Range
On Saturday we left the Stockton area and found ourselves in Sacramento for the night. The heat has become vicious, hitting 107F/42C today and predicted at the 100-103 degree range for the next week, even up in Trinity. We got done what we needed to at the storage shed and headed merrily back home. It was all very spontaneous and fun. :)
So was meeting Katster. Since I knew she lived along our route I got in touch and she came right over. We had a fun chat and it was lovely to hook up with a friend.
It’s been a week for museums. On Saturday I went through Willows (after an abortive trip to Williams, which two cities I am always mixing up, thus making it the first time ever I went snarfing in the wrong town) and found several new historical markers plus a museum. Ended up chatting to the docent and his friend for an hour at least. Then the same thing earlier today; called in at tiny Tehama for two historical markers, found five, and along with another patron got a guided tour from a truly knowledgeable and friendly docent. I like small museums.
Markeroni once copped criticism from a small-town historian for being all about “the numbers game”–as in, he was insulted that I turned historical marker hunting into a fun activity. ;) At that stage I added museums to the site, and I am pretty sure that anyone who looks for markers ends up visiting more museums, too–and leaves donations.
I hung out with Amber earlier in the week and we mopped up a few more historical markers around Stockton between visits to coffee shops and the like. ;) Aside from that it’s been about hating the heat and working on the computer and generally getting our projects done so that now I can say:
I officially launched Gentile Writing. :)
Tonight we are in Redding, using up a hoarded free-night’s pass at the Redding RV Park, and we have the a/c on full blast. It is the first time we have had camping with hookups in a month, and oh, it is GOOD.
30 days to freelancing part 25: Apply to jobs»
24 June 2009 16:13
Syndicated from Raven's Range
Apply to 10 jobs on various job boards
It’s job application time! I have been looking through ads on Craigslist and a dozen or so job sites with RSS feeds. Today I applied for some. Tomorrow I will apply for some more, and will also be cold-calling/emailing some potential clients who don’t know they need me yet. ;)
And onwards we go…
Reversion. Thanks for nothing, Wordpress.»
22 June 2009 22:50
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
Rolled out new, beautiful, heavily customized theme. After 24 hours couldn’t get into admin panel at all. Followed many, many instructions for such issues. Deactivated all manner of plugins. Manually switched themes. Edited esoteric files. Upgraded to 2.8. Upgraded to 2.8.1 beta. Seem to be halfway working now.
I will not get the last two hours of my life back. I’m rather displeased.
Humph.»
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
Before anyone says, “But that doesn’t look very nice,” well, to say that Wordpress is BROKEN would be understatement of the year. No, it doesn’t look very nice. But at least it runs, for now.
30 days to freelancing part 24: Going live»
Syndicated from Raven's Range
Announce that you are now available for freelance work.
Gentile Writing is open for business. I am looking for clients for whom I can write blog posts, articles, newsletters and other copy. I have particular interests in the non-profit sector, as well as the travel, rv, heritage/history and motorcycle industries.
In return you will get great writing, tailored to your company’s voice and message, and an enthusiastic can-do attitude.
I took the plunge and am on LinkedIn now.
See here for more information.
21 June 2009»
21 June 2009 18:13
Syndicated from Raven's Range
So, just for a change, we are in Lodi. Still. The week has unfolded in a series of projects: Book signing, going to the post office and seeing the clerks’ eyes get a little larger as they lift each 33-pound box, fixing a little electric cart that someone had lying around, and excavating the furthest bowels of the shed enough to extract the rear cylinder head so that once again we can ride two bikes side by side, until something else breaks.
And then, of course, there are the virtual projects. I got Gentile Writing and Raven’s Roads up and running, and now find that having successfully made RR look wonderfully pretty, I can’t log in at all, which is very annoying in that very understated British kind of way. But at least I can get into Gentile Writing. And both of them look pretty. And I am putting out feelers for work.
I like the energy of learning curves, so long as they’re the learning curves I choose and not the ones that are thrust on me. I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and self-educating. I love the energy of new projects. And I am looking forward to doing work that pays me commensurate with my skills.
30 days to freelancing part 23: Portfolio items 2 & 3»
Syndicated from Raven's Range
Start working on portfolio item #3, add item #2 to your portfolio
Today was the day to fine-tune the website and get it ready for primetime. I had a number of samples set aside and have now placed them up there. I consider the first public incarnation of Gentile Writing to be up and ready. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated.
Tomorrow is the day I go live!
The Spatter Cones Trail part 1»
19 June 2009 17:13
Syndicated from Raven's Roads
Opposite the Hat Creek Campground in Lassen National Forest lies a little footpath known as the Spatter Cones Trail. When we got in late last night I’d half-noticed it, but was more interested in getting settled before dark fell. Finding it the next morning while taking pictures of the campground itself was a neat surprise.
Of course, once I saw that the trail was just two short miles, I felt a strong urge to follow it. ;)
The current landscape was formed some 30,000 years ago from violent volcanic activity, and so the first interpretive sign of the two-mile trail explained the forces at work and what spatter cones are: The build-up of lava from when fissures appear in the earth.
A short paved section leads to a token lava tube: The lava, of course, is long gone.
The path winds it way up through pine forest. There are all sorts of critters living in the pine needles. You’re encouraged to stick to the trails. ;)
The way quickly opens out and you enter a landscape of brush and low shrubs. Once out of the trees you’re much more exposed to the heat and you understand why it’s important to bring water along (a hat and sunscreen is a good idea, too).
An interpretive sign makes this seem like a choose-you-own-adventure. If you go right, the trail is less steep but you don’t get to the spectacular stuff until later. If you choose left, you reverse the prior sentence. I decided to go with the less steep option. because I was feeling a bit under the weather.
For a few steps you’re actually walking on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Meet Spatter Tube. It’s a lava tube that drains into a spatter cone. The area starts to be speckled with evidence of volcanic excesses.
Most of the way the path is well-groomed and easy, a hard-packed dirt trail that’s easy to follow. However, the pretty garden-path edging of stones that accompanies the first quarter-mile or so vanishes quickly, and the route becomes simple and narrow.
There’s never any risk of losing the way, though. There are many signs for the stops along the nature trail and arrows where there might possibly be any confusion.
The plant life adapts to the harsh environment (and there is something harsh and unyielding about it…this isn’t a place I would choose for a picnic, anytime soon). It’s wild, beautiful and unfriendly.
This pine tree has scarring from lightning. It also offers a nice landmark to aim at if you’re huffing and puffing up the grade a little, too. ;)
Almost at the top! You start to see fantastic views of Mount Lassen, climbing above the scrubby dips and troughs.
The earth is less deep so only mountain trees like the manzanita can grow. The shrubbery looks like the plant I know as bilberries, but I think it’s actually sagebrush.
Ferns grow inside the mouths of some of the tubes, where it’s a little cooler, and here and there you can see where lava oozed hither and yon.
And then the way opens out ahead for a wonderful vista of the National Park. The trail reaches an apex and it’s time to take a break.
30 days to freelancing part 22: Job boards»
18 June 2009 16:13
Syndicated from Raven's Range
Sign up to job boards relevant to your industry and subscribe to their RSS feeds
I opened 39 tabs and visited 39 tabs and now have 17 feeds in a nice new Bloglines account. Don also set me up an email for writing jobs at Craigslist (it needs expanding to the entire USA). I guess I have a new every-day task. :)
Old Hogan Dam»
Syndicated from Raven's Range
For all the time I’d spent at New Hogan Dam, I never really thought about there being an Old Hogan Dam.
We found it.
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[Historical Markers]
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