Writing and reading words (= life)

Today I managed just shy of 2.5k words. I hope to do the same tomorrow and Wednesday and from the view tonight it looks doable but we all know how well life gets in the way of life.

I just realized something that could potentially be disastrous to the story: I switched up something major by mistake. It's so ingrained into what I've written so far it would take a complete rewriting and a very different set of scenes to make it work the way I had planned. But - I won't edit what I've got and from what I can tell, it shouldn't cause any disasters I can't control. Other than that, I feel the story is going much better than the one last year. I did have a couple of scenes that I really liked last year but it remained stilted until it fizzled out sometime early in December.

I'm trusting the advice that the act of writing itself changes the story. Many novels are not completed because they ended up going somewhere the author hadn't intended, when (apparently) where they are going is much better than what was expected of them.

Colin and I started reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson in the car. It is one of the few books I've read frequently. I've never read it out loud before, but it is making it easy to see why I've never cared for any of his other books. I've pretty much attempted them all, although I have yet to try out "At Home" which I was given a copy of last Christmas. It is becoming clearer and clearer that if it's a book I read before and we read in the car, something about it just doesn't translate well when being read aloud. Most of Colin's books are great for reading out loud in the car though. *sigh*

Anyway, the main reason I bring the book up is because the whole "It wasn't what I expected" reminded me of it. Apparently, most people that start out hiking the AT and then quit soon, say it was because "It wasn't what I expected." You do have to wonder what they *did* expect. Was it not that hiking with everything on their back all day, day after day, mountain after mountain, would result in tiredness, fewer modern conveniences, and some smelliness?

I think I like going back to it again and again because it is not touchy-feely (many hiking memoirs are full of "searching for my self" and suchlike) but it is also not just pure data (the other half all just keep saying "And the next day I walked x miles from point a to point b. It was still raining."). Simply put, the book makes my feet itch for the trail.

A Novel on my Hands

Looks like the first big story idea I started with is turning out to be a novel. So I'm going to stick with it, see where it goes. I feel like I have a more definite plot idea and a good idea for what to end it on, as opposed to the story last year. Still, I'm not forcing myself to write just this one story so if it gets stuck or peters out, I'm moving on. Speaking of which, I've only managed just over 6k, not quite meeting the daily requirement. Now, it's possible I'll eke out some more words before sleep but today wiped me out.

The gang's all here, from my mom and dad, Grandpa, aunt and uncle, and us. And of course the people who live here - Laura, William, Becca and Daver. We spent quite a bit of time at the cafe downtown, slowly typing out some words for the novel. Then we met up with those flying in and had dinner at the Library (there's a restaurant/brewery with that name in the old public library building - very good). Then we saw Laura starring in the Fuddy Meers play, which I thought was fun and pretty good though I'm sure there's some bias on my part.

Now Colin and I are back in the hotel room, lazing around a bit watching real TV until falling into bed. The saddest parts are that there's no snow predicted for the rest of this weekend even though it's gonna be cold enough at night and that there's an NCIS marathon on Sunday - when we're going to be driving south again.

The rest of the Austin story

I've "restarted" the Nano story. I had started with the main character being in their early twenties but then realized everyone was strangers to me. So I backed up a bunch in the timeline and the fingers are flying. It's annoying though, how much I can't stop thinking about the story and writing more only increases this feverish feeling. I'm up to 4629 words and I have no poem for the day. I might think up one before bed but don't count on it.


I haven't yet finished describing the trip to Austin that happened last week. I had a great time - went to the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum on Monday. That night I didn't feel so great so I bought a box of cereal and some milk for dinner and rested in the hotel room. I took it easier on Tuesday but went to the State Library right next to the Capitol building and found a goldmine on Ashley's relatives in their stacks. Wednesday I finally got to visit the two small house museums next to the hotel - one was the house of Susanna Dickinson, messenger of the Alamo, and the other was a house O. Henry had lived in for a couple of years.

Colin's conference was finally over and we met up with Ashley and Philip, staying with them the rest of the week. However, after a late lunch of Vietnamese sandwiches on Thursday I fell miserably ill and spent the rest of the time laid up. It was probably food poisoning with a combination of really bad allergies and fatigue. I made it back home and I'm mostly over it by now but I'm still having trouble eating much and get tired a lot.

And tomorrow we hit the road again! This time it's northward, on to see my sister star in a play. I haven't seen my family since the wedding so it'll be nice to see them and see how William's adjusting to college life. As an added bonus, I get to see Becca! Again! For the fourth time this year! And we'll be spending sometime together working on our novels, of course.

Nano 2011, here we go

Today marks the first day of a new Nanowrimo season. I debated whether or not to do it this year, and then decided to shoot for it. Last year was a success, but mostly in the "I can write 50k words of the same story in a month" way and not much else. I looked back at what I would like to have done differently last year and the biggest one was: write things I would want to read and share afterwards. I didn't want to get rid of the carefree writing style, though - I just wanted to not be stuck with one story. I also had some ideas that were nonfiction. And, most importantly, I wanted to use the momentum to advance the stories without worrying about word counts. So 2011 is the Year of the Rebel. Rawr!

Additionally, I plan to pen (type) poems and post them here. The one for the day is not related to the story I'm working on in anyway except that I was writing the story while the event took place.

1

Neighborhood feral cat

white on black the night after Halloween

slinks out of the shadows

sits profile wise

and laps from the birdbath

a makeshift neon green shallow dish

then continues

to the other side

of the patio

back into the night.

Kind of hopping around and got things to do so I'll try to make this short and sweet.

The roads are getting pretty slippery with the weird 20 degrees but steadily falling snow melting to slick wet stuff on the roads. Glad I got prescriptions and went to the post office before it got to bad and/or real rush hour started. This is the second time this winter - last was when we went downtown Chicago on Saturday for Colin's soccer game and to hang out at Shaheli's but there was a huge load of snow that got dumped on us so it was pretty and fun. Also tried an interesting restaurant called Lokal which served Shaheli and me bottomless mimosas. For lunch.

I've written 5k words since the end of nanowrimo, which makes me both happy and disgruntled. But mostly, I am surprised that it seems I garnered so much boost from the nanowrimo craze. Though I suspect there are three reasons that have greater impact: 1) It's not November anymore. No more buffer (excuse) for not doing other things. 2) So much stuff needs to get done now, because it's not November anymore. You know, real life stuff. 3) I've been trying to force myself to find a stopping point which is making me freeze up because "ACK I have no clue how to 'end' this." So, instead of stressing out trying to basically do nanowrimo and real life and getting ready for Spain all at once, writing has downshifted in my list of priorities. This lets me not freak out whenever I don't write in a day or feel like I should have written more. I'm aiming for a "wimpy" 500 words a day which will get me another 5k or so words before leaving for Spain. If the story ends by then, awesome. If not, something else to do in January when we get back. 500 words is a lot harder to come by now that I'm so far into the story and don't have a clear end in mind, but I refuse to let it collect dust until January. The creative juices must keep flowing.

As for "the rest of life," I've been really tackling things. You might remember me mentioning my on and off interest in productivity and organization tricks and tips. I had been dancing around the idea of reading the Getting Things Done book and I finally checked it out of the library Monday. I'm trying really hard not to become some crazy fan of it. Definitely need to test it out for awhile, but wow I'm actually feeling real relief and control and seeing results already ... I'll be sure to blog more specifically about it later, but you can find a good summary of the GTD ideas here. The best thing to do is read the book, though. I will refrain - for now - from raving and shouting that everyone should do this.

Okay, that was a bit longer than I thought it'd be but it has been a few days. Back to ruling the world now.

Summary of novel so far

A fellow nanowrimo-er that I had met at a meet-up earlier this month sent me a message congratulating me for winning and she asked what my novel was about. After I sent a reply, I decided I would copy it here for others to read. Keep in mind that it's a very rough summary and what the writer thinks a novel is about is always different than what a reader will find in the novel. I have this nagging feeling that it'd be an extremely boring for anyone else, but I'll probably offer it up when I think it's finished for anyone to read it. Anyway, here's my response:

I have to admit I'm a bit of a rebel. I *did* write the same novel all month, but it's turned out to be a lot bigger of a story than I thought it'd be. I'm happy enough to have the kickstart nanowrimo gave me and the fact that I did manage to write 50k by the deadline. I'm still typing away, which is fine by me.

What it's about? Well, it's about a little boy who starts out as a three year old when the novel begins. He's currently seven and a half. I just follow him around, recording his adventures. Although they are not spectacular, his development is interesting enough to me. The backdrop is that he was born in a mining colony on a (currently unnamed) moon in the solar system which means right away he's unusual because most natural births that had occurred off Earth had been unsuccessful. When he was born, such births were simply just discouraged but his mother was unaware of this and had become pregnant before they left Earth. Also unusual is the fact that he has three older siblings. This oddity has only been hinted at so far; the progression of the novel is learning simple things like this as the boy learns them. His colony finished mining that moon and are now living in a large space station.

The overall questions: When will the mining company and/or the authorities learn of his existence and what will happen to him then? What will the rest of his life be like? Right now, he wanders around and becomes friends with other people, including a girl much older than him, a boy his own age, a librarian, and an elderly Jewish couple. He's on the brink of many life changes though. The fun isn't over yet!

I know it's encouraged to write the whole novel - beginning, middle, end - during nanowrimo, but I had no idea what the end was going to be which made it a bit difficult to pace so that I'd be done by the end of the month. I am still not entirely sure what the ending will be, but I suspect I'll have to do a series. Or at least find a satisfying ending point for the first novel, regardless of whether or not I actually write any sequel.

In related news, my wrist is almost always aching these days. It doesn't seem like it's directly connected to how much writing I do, oddly, but I suspect it doesn't help any. My mom is getting a cortisone shot in her thumb soon for a different ache and when I was home it was discussed that sometimes people need to just keep getting another cortisone shot periodically. It has been over seven years. It'd be sooo nice to be able to not have an aching wrist almost all the time, but I'm hesitant on the surgery option.

So along with the continued writing, I plan to make an appointment with a different doctor (don't get me started on why I'm switching doctors, but if you ever move to Round Lake area, contact me before you pick a doctor) and ask if another shot would be wise. (Yes, pretty please, may I have one?) As for the brace, I find that it can be hard to be sure I'm wearing it correctly, such as if the angle the brace is on the wrist and such. A few times wearing it has actually exacerbated the pain (usually I'd just call it a dull ache but sometimes it elevates to worse). Not to mention how much more it cuts down on what I can do.

Okay, done enough writing for the day. Time to crack open a book.

It's been a wild ride

Today is the last day of November. What does that mean? It's the last day of Nanowrimo 2010! That's right, it's coming to an end already. Earlier today I reached the 50k goal. I had to write about 3k per day yesterday and today to get there because, as I suspected, no writing got done during the four day Thanksgiving holiday. Not a word. I tried, too, but only parts of my house are warm and they happen to be the parts everyone congregates to. Plus, it was after a day of shopping with family and I wanted to sit next to Colin and just veg in front of the TV. "My Name is Earl" is surprisingly entertaining, although some parts are more offensive than I care for.

So I've "won" Nanowrimo. Hurray! Except it's really more of a milestone than an end, because I plan to just keep writing my novel. If I never quite find the end of it, I don't think it'd bother me too much. But I need to at least find a place where I can take a deep breath, or some way to make it appropriate to just say "to be continued." Even if it never is continued.

It's been a blast though. Really. I was skeptical that I'd ever be able to actually write that much in one month. But I did it, even with five days of no writing. Any words of advice for future writers? There's no secret tool. Just start writing. Even if you don't think there's much of a story. I was worried about not having enough material for 50,000 words, but I have passed that milestone and the story is still going strong. The boy has aged from 3 years old to 7.5 years old. I'm serious. Okay, I may have more monologues than I care to admit or chunks I wouldn't probably include in a published novel, but I wrote them and they're part of the nanowrimo novel.

You'll probably find that there's not enough "space" to say and do everything you want to do with all the things that pop up and surprise you. A novel is a lot like life, I think. You start out feeling like you've got a plan although you're not completely sure how it's all going to play out, and then you meet new people, you explore new places, you learn new things, you change, and your world constantly is turned upside down. What ends up happening is wildly different from what you'd expected, but it all works out in the end. Sometimes things seem hopelessly chaotic but then suddenly you find things tying in and fitting together neatly almost on their own.

The most practical and tangible piece of advice? Write every day. It's really hard to get back into the flow when you miss a day here or there. Your novel will actually *change* if you leave it alone for awhile. No, the words already on the page won't rearrange themselves magically, but the story in your head is constantly being molded by your own life whether you recognize it or not.

Another piece of advice is to play out scenes. Maybe not physically, but at least in your head. Imagine the surroundings, the moods, the conversation pace, and all the other undercurrents, as you write the scene. Write down the parts that jump out at you or write more about the scenery or physical actions than you think you should when you feel a lull in the conversation or story movement. It almost always helps, either by giving you clues of what happens next or letting your brain take a step back.

Well, I'm more tired than I thought I'd be. Time to chuck the keyboard aside and just laze with a cup of tea until Colin gets home. I'll say it again: It's been a wild ride. And it's not over yet.

100th post! 40k words! SF!

Wow it's been 10 days since I last wrote. I feel like I've got legitimate reasons for not writing, but I still feel bad for not keeping this up to date, especially with the adventures I had in San Francisco a week ago. Other than keeping pretty active, I've also pushed myself to write just my novel whenever I had writing juice and time on my hands.

But it's also the 100th post on this blog! And I've reached 40,000 words on my nanowrimo novel! Woo hoo! I personally think reaching 40 was more exhilarating that reaching the 35 that seems to be the second biggest milestone in the nanowrimo process. But to each their own. Perhaps if I'd been as busy and as able to come up with ways to procrastinate (ooo look! sightseeing! ooo look! a book to read!) this month I'd be a little closer to the norm. Oh well.

I've also come to the realization that this isn't just one novel. It's more like at least two novellas. Case in point: the main character is three years old when the story begins. 40,000 words later, he's only seven. I don't think I'm writing way too slowly (maybe a bit at times to kind of explore ideas in my head), but I've let loose the idea of saying only what needs to be said and going wild with it. I still have only a hazy view of the rest of the story, including how much there is left, but no, the boy does NOT die young. At least, not this young.

I'm kind of in awe of my novel in some ways ... there are so many surprises that have cropped up and the story just goes flying in directions I didn't really expect it to. I wouldn't say the story has flowed painlessly all month, but I'm surprised at how I'm able to keep writing without too much pain. I have only taken one day off, and that was the full day of sightseeing. Looking back, I could see that I could have crammed a few words in when I was at the coffee shop instead of reading Google Reader, but I was multitasking and noveling is not a multitasking ... task.

Okay, short summary of SF:
Arrived Sunday afternoon at hotel on Nob Hill, was starving, got lunch in Chinatown at Happy Chinese Restaurant. Returned overdue Toy Story 3 to Redbox (still haven't watched it) down the hill near Union Square. Saw people ice skating and a tree being put together out of multiple trees. Died walking back up. Had overpriced latte with Illy espresso at hotel cafe, now know that Illy just tastes burnt normally. Wrote a prolific amount of novel in hotel room while Colin partied with other computer geeks in the garden right below. Also emailed Kelsay after realizing she lived in SF's vicinity then made plans to meet up with her and go to Alcatraz Island the next afternoon. Had dinner of Spaghetti Carbonara at a small and good Italian restaurant after half an hour's wait. They like to put tons of parsley in it, perhaps to make up for not enough cream. Fell onto pillow-top bed.

Went partway downhill with Colin to a breakfast place. He left me with the check because he was a bit late for the beginning of the convention. Walked down the rest of the way to Union Square. Tried to get cash with my TCF debit card with no success. Loitered in Yerba Mate before anything there was open. Went to a cafe even further south where I got my internet fix. Made my way over to Embarcadero to get three day muni pass and walked around pier one (for the view, not for any special sites since it's just all businesses). Found out that Kelsay wouldn't be able to make it after all and grabbed a Vietnamese sandwich on my way to the boat to Alcatraz. Was herded onto boat, around island, and off of boat. Still had a good time and enjoyed using the transcript of the audio tour. Took too many pictures. Then met up with Kelsay back on the mainland for a couple of hours of chatting and discovered the amazing food called garlic fries. Then met up with Colin and other developers at the Cheesecake Factory where I had a delicious Pina Colada with dinner. Fell into bed again.

Tuesday: Snuck into the convention breakfast for Danish rolls and coffee. Then struck out for Fisherman's Wharf with no jacket, only a t-shirt, spotted the Rogue bar (I'd recently picked up a random beer glass from a thrift store back home with a Rogue logo on it, no idea that it was a bar in SF). Spent the morning touring the WWII sub Pampanito and the WWII Victory ship next to it, before picking up lunch of clam chowder and fish n' chips to take back to the hotel. Walked most of the way up hill since the streetcar left before I could reach it and the next didn't start up until I was almost to hotel. Then headed back down the hill at a slower pace, stopping in Chinatown to get handmade fortune cookies and waiting quite awhile for the next streetcar going the rest of the way down. Wandered around Ghirardelli Square and in the Boudin sourdough bakery, bought some tee shirts, before finally hobbling to a cafe in North Beach. Wrote words, rested my back. Nabbed a couple of slices of real Italian pizza and splurged a bit on a bottle of wine. Walked back up hill to hotel and vegged while watching Dirty Jobs, drinking lots of wine and falling asleep before Colin got back from his fancy convention dinner.

Wednesday: Broke the rules again and ate breakfast with the convention members. Took a shower after eating, packed up. Computer was accidentally awake on the way to the airport so it was dead when sat down to wait for airplane. Eventually found outlet, wrote up outline of trip then had to board plane. Finished reading 'Pirate Latitudes' by Michael Crichton with Colin. Ended up napping most of the rest of the flight. Got back to wet, cold and dark Milwaukee and drove home.

So I did a lot of walking and doing things by myself. After being in Hyderabad for a month last year, SF felt like a cake walk when it comes to comfort zones. My back killed me but I did start dying less when I had to walk uphill. The weather was insanely perfect the whole time we were there. There were no major mishaps and I enjoyed the trip. Sure, there was plenty more I could have done (such as gone to the Golden Gate Bridge or walked around the biggest municipal park in the world) but I am more than satisfied with what I did do in such a short time frame. And I really like North Beach; it made me nostalgic for Italy.

What else ... oh yes, I reached 40k. And I've had 3 dental appointments since my last post (introductory, cleaning, 2 fillings). And today I tackled the pile of clothes that needed fixing via iron-on patches, including pants with holes in them or peeling decor (yay for more pants I can wear! Also for cut off sleeves of an old ripped long underwear top for fingerless gloves). This weekend Colin had a soccer game (they lost which isn't unusual). We both seem to have some kind of cold which results in coughing and wanting to go to sleep all the time. I picked up a book called "Stuff," found out it wasn't what I expected it to be, but got drawn in anyway and read it as fast as I could. It meant I almost didn't write one day, but then I got up the motivation and wrote anyway.

Today it was really warm (comparatively) and it thunderstormed at least twice. I celebrated by putting on a tanktop (though I never really went outside except to clean out the back seat and wore a sweatshirt anyway). It's supposed to be back to dreary grey cold and windy tomorrow. *sigh* If you happen to have sunshine or cheery/exciting weather where you're at, send some my way?

Spain and Fox Lake Library

This hasn't been the greatest week but I am looking on the bright side. We got our tickets for Europe! After much consideration and many other ideas (plus some hair pulling behavior from bosses), we have roundtrip tickets going to and leaving from Spain with almost three weeks in between. I'm getting pretty excited about it but I'm glad we have over a month before we go.

I was feeling grumpy and not up for going to the write-in Wednesday night. I almost asked Colin to come home so that I could just be with him. But I also knew I wouldn't regret going once I got to the write-in and I needed the boost to keep writing. I had written a grand total of 200 words earlier that day and it felt like real work. And I didn't regret going - the one other person who had been there the week before was happy to see me, even told me she had double checked to make sure I hadn't sent a message saying I wouldn't be there. And two new people showed up! We got two intense writing hours in and  then we succumbed to temptation and talked for half an hour before everyone left. Now I'm currently at 26513 words and I have what looks to be a promising writing day today.

Colin left his wallet on the train last night which caused some stress but it's been easily resolved. He asked the conductor this morning and he said it was at the station at the end of the line and I could go pick it up before noon. "Perfect!" I thought. "Great excuse to try out that cafe there." Wallet retrieved I ventured over to the cafe and it was closed. So was the bistro next to it. And a place called "Whistle Stop Cafe" nearby didn't really look like a writer's haven but more one of those artery clogging breakfast places required in rural areas. So I went to a Dunkin Donuts and got a coffee there before heading to the library. On the way to the library, I noticed a bakery that looked promising, but I already had the coffee. Which I couldn't bring into the library anyway. It's interesting to note the variety in library policies regarding food and drink. At Deerfield, they even supply free coffee (along with lids) which you can then wander about with. I suspect that the building being brand new here at Fox Lake Library has something to do with it. Most places I've been ask that you have covered drinks only so I use that as a default expectation unless there's a sign saying otherwise.

When I came back into the library (after seeing the sign turning around and putting my coffee in the car), I noticed an area wasn't blocked off anymore but wasn't quite open. I was peering around the corner at it when a woman came up to me and said "That's the new section, it's not open yet." I said I noticed but I was just looking from where I was. Then she got all excited and gave me a personal tour. She showed me a room where there would be food and drink machines and pointed out a counter made from recycled glass. She also unlocked some doors and revealed the large lecture/meeting room and said that the seating is made from recycled seat belts. On the way out, I asked what was going to be put in the now-just-dirt area in the back and she explained that they'd be putting a wetland plants back there. I was excited because I had read about such things and thought they sounded great. Definitely worth checking out Fox Lake Library if you have the opportunity.

And now here I am, sitting in the quiet reading room alone, planning to do some noveling before hunger kicks in. Oh, and just as a reminder, I will be leaving for San Fran on Sunday. Along with sitting in quirky cafes and being all writer-y, I'll definitely get some sight seeing in. Despite some renovating going on, Alcatraz is my number one spot. There's some other ideas but I don't think I'll regret whatever does and does not happen while I'm there. Tomorrow, Colin has a company soccer game downtown and I just might join in. We'll see how that goes. Bad balance, two left feet, don't completely know all the rules to soccer, haven't been getting much exercise ... oh yes - we'll see. But then it's lunch with Tom and Keegan! With possibly sitting in a cafe and writing, maybe even with other nanowrimoers!

One short note before I sign off: I keep thinking it's nano-wree-mo but apparently it's nano-wry-mo. I kind of want to make a fuss and say that if we're trying to follow correct phonetics, we should be saying nah (like in national) noh (like in novel, not no) wry muh (as in month). But that's hard to say. Perhaps it's that darn Spanish/Italian in my brain protesting that it should be a long i. Either way, carry on.

How noveling eats brains

Bleargh - record daily word count so far: 3844. Sure, I could go on and try for 5,000 but I think I've had enough. Gonna celebrate the random high word count by taking the rest of the night off. Read Michael Crichton's 'Pirate Latitudes,' make a lazy dinner, and veg in front of some Stargate. That's the plan anyway. Still have to wait for Colin so we can go home.

Still going strong - getting really close to the half way point (cumulative is now 22,337 - 9k over the suggested)! Not sure how I will celebrate the milestone which will almost certainly be reached tomorrow. Part of me feels like a snail riding on the back of a turtle "Ack! Too fast! Slow down!" but the rest of me just wants to go faster and keep finding out what happens next. I was initially worried the story would be used up quickly and I'd run dry of ideas well before the 50k goal, but that's not looking likely. Now I'm starting to wonder just what the ending might be ... I will focus more on concluding it so I have a whole novel by the end of the month. I can't really plan the pace of the rest of the novel since I have no idea what's going to happen and I don't want to skip over stuff since it's the journey that guides the story. I've introduced 14 characters, one who is still unnamed and I highly suspect she will play a much bigger role later on.

Despite my high word count, my brain apparently doesn't think it's getting enough noveling time. I don't actually think about the novel at night, but something has been making it difficult to sleep the past few nights. Colin suspects it's the novel's fault. I honestly don't know but that is the one big change in my life. Perhaps all the thinking I normally do during the day has been crowding into my brain at night. Nothing specific, just random stuff. And I don't feel stressed. Still pretty excited.

Okay, I've had more than enough typing for one day. My wrist is faring quite well, but my right ring finger has a weird sore joint. Hope you all got some of the warm sunshine we had here!

There's a high level of science-y-ness in this entry

I wasn't planning on writing a post today. Those of you who follow my blog might notice I rarely post the day after a post. Oddly, I've seemed to have developed a routine of posting M-W-F and maybe once on the weekend. It was not intentional, but it's a nice surprise. Someone once said regularity is key to the success of a blogger. I'm not trying to garner a huge following or anything, but it always tickles me pink when I hear from other people who have been reading. So thanks, guys! I'm not comment-fixated but I still appreciate your support :)

What triggered me to start this post was an article at newscientist.org (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19665-aircraft-bomb-finds-may-spell-end-for-inflight-wifi.html)
Mostly, the title says it all. First, let me say that I appreciate that there are people who attempt to keep us safe when we're traveling. I really do. Being crammed into an airplane can be stressful enough without the feeling of completely being in other people's hands, most notably the pilots. I don't have a fear of flying. I can't even remember my first flight. My grandpa has a small private airplane that he flies himself. It's really tiny and he's had it for years. It helps him cut down on travel time a LOT because he flies back and forth between the two offices where his business is which are a considerable distance apart. He usually takes a trip back and forth once a week. Yes, he's a busy guy, my grandpa. He also loves flying and when he was in high school he would skip to go hang out at the airport. It makes me uncomfortable admitting that he has his own airplane and stuff but since it was relevant to the topic, I mentioned it. Along with lots of explanations. *shifts nervously in her seat*

Okay, back to the main topic: cellphones and wifi on airplanes. I don't mean to sound ungrateful here, but my common sense tells me that banning passengers from communicating with the outside world while in flight seems kind of stupid. Okay, so you're giving the already obedient passengers even more restrictions and they're even more bored. There's nothing actually stopping someone from using their cellphone, short of the attendants wrestling their cellphones out of their hands. And true, connection will be really pathetic at best, but I know from experience (again, Grandpa's airplane, not a commercial one) that cellphones are wimps when it comes to reattaching every minute or so to yet another cellphone tower. But it's still possible to send text messages.

What about cellphones in luggage left turned on? Or accidentally turned on en route? Or what about satellite phones? Or the phones on airplanes on the back of seats that I've never seen anyone use? Banning cellphones and wifi use from passengers just seems like a pathetic way to "fix" this threat. Instead of being so reactive, why don't we try being proactive? Those who are determined to do bad things on and to airplanes will always find a way. If there's some rules they will break them or look for an alternative. They're clever like that. I really hope no one starts worrying that I've got some devious plans up my sleeve or anything ... I just felt I should comment on the article's content.

On the flip side, what's up with those people who turn on their phones and call almost as soon as they hit the tarmac, if not earlier? No, this is not jealousy here. This is me simply befuddled at how many people just ignore safety. "Oh, we're almost there. Maybe we're already on the tarmac and maybe we're still rolling but we've landed and there's no way we are going to crash. Who cares about the other airplanes? It's so much more important that I call this person and let them know we've arrived, the flight was terrible, and we *still* have to wait before we can get off the plane." Grr. *end rant*

Also on newscientist.org, I ran across a gallery of photos that are intriguing. Most of their photos are fun, but I wanted to share these in particular: http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/messages-from-the-stone-age I love looking at ancient paintings and etchings found in caves. I have very little sophisticated knowledge about those people that lived thousands of years ago (okay, everyone today has very little, but I mean I don't know most of what is known). But I like letting my imagination drift. I mean, tens of thousands of years ago they scribbled this stuff on the walls? And we can see it today? Some of these are 30,000 years old. Compare that with the fact that "history" started only 5,000 years ago with those clay tablets containing cuneiform writing on them. Those "really old" civilizations like Rome and Greece? They didn't appear until around 700 BC.  Only 2700 or so years ago. It just astounds me.

And I am intrigued that the people studying these paintings have determined that they used to use these squiggles, squares, and dots but then stopped doing so. The youngest are only 10,000 years old. So what did these abstract shapes mean to them? Why did they stop using them? I'm thinking it was another Dark Age of sorts but we'll probably never know. I also like to imagine those who are painting merely made these dots and squiggles to warm up and to test how their mixed ink was working. Which would make the idea that we are studying them and trying to find some great marvelous meaning behind them hilarious. But hey, who knows? They could contain the answer to everything. (I kind of doubt it. Especially since clearly, as everyone knows, the answer is 42.)

On a more serious note, the hands are my favorite. They relay so much more human-ness than the pictures of bison and hunters with long pointy sticks to me. "We were here. We were like you. This is our signature. Notice how our hands look so much like your own."

Some of you are probably staring at this long post in astonishment, wondering what the heck I'm doing. Shouldn't I be noveling? Okay, sure, maybe I should. But I've written 11,763 words the past four days. I'm not tired of writing or exactly procrastinating, just welcoming a shift of mindset. I'll most likely get a few more words in before Colin's done with work. Yes, the novel is going well. My characters continue to control more than I'd expected them to and surprise me continuously, I have progressed in the story but not too much and feel like there's plenty of material floating around in my head to carry me through to the goal and/or deadline. The first write-in I somewhat unofficially hosted was last night and although only two other people showed up, it was fun and we've decided to meet every Wednesday night. I'm used to going into Deerfield on Wednesdays but that can easily be changed to Tuesday or Thursday, like today.

Oh, and I had my dental appointment this morning! I know, you're so proud of me. No alarming news, just need a couple small fillings, which is a relief. Alright, I'm off to stop being a nuisance to the baristas.

Feeling quite accomplished

Yesterday was election day - I hope you all voted or ... or else! I am not someone who talks about politics day in and day out but I do feel strongly that we should vote. Why? Because we can, duh. Well, my reasoning is a bit more sophisticated than that but I'm savoring some a new cup of hot tea. The steam tends to carry away my thoughts with it. Blame it on the tea.

I also want to comment on the nature of election information on the web: it sucks. I don't know anything else that is as hard to find good stuff on than the simple who supports what and what they plan to do in office. Individual candidates' campaign websites are almost all the same - they all really suck. Do you support the same things I do or don't you? My eyes glaze over after a few lines of politically snazzy gibberish and I beg for plain English. It's no wonder so many people just vote depending on who has got the right letter next to their name. Bottom line was, the more information I could find on a candidate, the more willing I was to vote for them over the guys who had not bothered to express themselves online. There was at least one exception to that of course where the person was just digging themselves further and further into a hole in their crap. I was also mildly surprised when I ran across someone who simply stated "I am strongly pro-life." Good for you, thanks for letting me know that, I almost want to vote for you because you just *told* me something of use. Granted, not all of the positions will ever actually influence big issues like abortion and same sex marriage and health insurance, but I like having people who share my opinions having some power. I think one of my biggest complaints is that people complain the government doesn't represent the people when they are thinking only of themselves. The people are more than one type and their political opinions vary widely. That's why we've got such a wide variety of people in power! It's definitely not a perfect representation. But having less than half of the population vote makes it hard to get closer to a more realistic representation. And I'm throwing out another thought: Do you think this variety is why it's so hard for the government to get anything done?

I'm still ahead on my nanowrimo word count. 6,387 so far! I'm taking a break until the write-in tonight which is why I'm writing a blog entry. Yeah I know it's still writing. But it's different. It's about ME rather than my characters who have quickly taken over in the novel. Don't worry, I am still having fun. There have been lots of surprises already. I'm feeling quite accomplished too. It doesn't matter that it's only the third, that I've written just over 10% of the goal so far.

This weekend I cleaned up and stacked the papers that I'd gone through in October in one big pile. All the papers from the two years of SLIS. When Colin saw it he was amazed. And I finally felt like I actually got something done. So I took a picture of the stack with a ruler next to it. Over eight inches thick (or high?). Which means it's roughly 2,000 sheets of paper. That's not even all of them but it's about 98% of them if I had to guess. Everything has been accounted for - if it hadn't been marked up, I just made sure I had a digital copy before scanning it. But most of it was scanned, back and front, over the course of one month. Phew! No more carrying those papers around!

And we're off!

Well, it's off on a rocky start. First, I spent so much time just trying to print my manual. I mean, how hard could it be to print a mulipage pamphlet? Very, it turns out .. especially when the printer quit listening to me. Got it all figured out but it only took the whole morning. Also, I'm trying not to feel guilty for not finishing my entire GTD list. I hadn't realized how much the website making would hinge on my digitization project. But I just wanted to start so badly today ... so the compromise is to write as much as possible today and then finish the website tomorrow before continuing writing. My internet now works in spurts and the nanowrimo site is very slow today, so I can't post my first word count.

The bright side? My finger that I cut this weekend and my stubborn wrist are cooperating very nicely. I have enjoyed some jerky and tea. And I've written 1,044 words so far! I plan to hit the library after a quick late lunch to keep going. I'm afraid it's far from gripping. I have managed to write two scenes so things are progressing. A lot of it is making it up as I go, including names and exactly how things work in the colony. So probably way too much explaining, but I'm not laying out everything at once and there's action and dialog ... Who cares if it turns out boring for anyone else  who might read it, right? ;)

I'd post a screenshot and maybe a picture of my supplies but the internet is so flaky I'm going to be surprised if this gets up at all, let alone be able to upload pictures. And how's your November looking?

Quick! Stuff about Halloween before I snooze and Nanowrimo starts!

Okay, I'm really tired because I didn't sleep well last night since I didn't feel all that great. Fine today though, which is bizarre. We finished the pumpkins in time for the hordes of kids who came to our doorstep clamoring for candy. We tried to not eat too much of it ourselves but I've eaten more than I have in probably a month or two. Which is still not really that much ...

Just so you realize, these pumpkins maybe not the best you'll find on the internet but it was the first time we did something other than hacking out a regular grinning jack o lantern with a kitchen knife. I created the designs and made the initial cuts. I also scraped out the guts and seeds while Colin did a lot of cutting and also scraping the second pumpkin's inner wall. We attempted at first to try using a dremel power tool but it didn't quite work (it coats *everything* in the vicinity in pumpkin goo), so we switched to the trusty speedball cutting tools. Also, the first one was the crow on a fence and we didn't realize we should scoop the wall from the inside to make it thinner so that's why it's cut so deep. So, without further ado, our glorious pumpkins:

And tomorrow, Nanowrimo!

The oddity ensues

While Colin was gone, I watched two movies in one night, slept until I couldn't sleep anymore, and ate way too many powdered sugar donut holes. Oh, and locked myself out of the house. With no money or ID or car keys. If I had money, I most likely would have walked to the train station and gone downtown to get Colin's keys. If I had car keys,  I could have simply unlocked the car to use the garage door opener. As it was, we have no hidden spare key (soon this will turn into "had" after this experience - I promise you that). And Colin couldn't be back until the following late afternoon.

Fortunately the sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and after trying to break into my house without busting a window, I sat down and plugged my computer into an external outlet to try to figure out what my options were and to talk to Colin. He was busy and took awhile to respond, and meanwhile I chatted with his mom. I was trying not to panic and get mad but I finally got ahold of Colin. There were many options discussed (should or could or was it worth it to walk to the station and try to have them take my reduced 10 pass? I didn't have any extra money nor do I have the required ID card they neglected to mention I needed to be eligible for in order to get but I still don't know what to do with the remainder of the stupid card). In the end, it just made more sense to go ahead and call a lock smith, even though we both got paranoid reading the lock smith scam stories online. Two and half hours and 85 dollars later, I was back in the house. It didn't really make sense to commence with my plans to spend the afternoon in Gurnee so I relaxed for a bit with a cup of tea before heading to the library. And that's the story of the first time I've locked myself out since graduating from college.

I was very glad to have Colin back yesterday late afternoon even though he was exhausted. I must mention a story about a coworker I have yet to meet. Apparently, they've started a fast friendship, his wife's name is Karen also, and he felt the need to text me while they had had quite a bit to drink. The text read: "I will be very gentle and tender with Colin tonight. It may be the best experience of his life." Colin had mentioned he was straight and married. I knew he was joking and I laughed at it although I only had confirmation from Colin that it was a joke over half an hour later. I simply couldn't think of anything to reply to the message from someone I have yet to meet, so I left it alone. Neither of us are all that great at getting jealous, let alone suspicious. Everyone always laughs whenever Colin tries to put on his jealous boyfriend act. I think we're just really comfortable because we know we love each other so much.

In weather-related news, it continues to be very blustery. I struggled with toting a breakfast-in-bed type tray from a thrift store to my car at least four blocks away and it felt like a sail no matter how I held it. I've been on the look out for one for awhile. It'll be great for toting food into the den or having another desk option. I don't know yet if the external keyboard will fit on it, but if it does even better. I have arranged a nook in the guest bedroom with blankets and pillows and a short table in which this would work very well in. If not, yay for more space to put papers and hot cups of yummy drinks. I also found a a "So you want a revolution?" glass, a tee shirt with Wonder Woman all over it, and a pair of jeans that fit.

Note to self: need to get rid of all those clothes that no longer fit. If I do ever get back to their sizes, shopping for new clothes at thrift stores is better and more fun than lugging too many clothes around when/if moving.

I also found a hat that I have dubbed my "crea cap." Crea is short for creative, and in some not-so-good Spanish it means "think, believe, imagine." (For those that care, "crea" is the subjunctive form of creer for he/she/it. More appropriate would be creo - which would mean I believe without a doubt.) It's red, knitted, soft, and good for indoors and out. I plan to wear it only when I'm actually writing the novel. I've read of a lot of people have something they wear during nanowrimo that becomes another trigger to get into the mindset of writing. I might not wear it all the time, but it helps that I do like it.

So yes, November 1 is now less than a week away. I'm doing really well on the scanning and digitizing project and the pre-novel research. At least I think I am on that last one. I'm going to try to catch up on laundry but it's not imperative. As for the rest of the GTD list - plans have been thrown off kilter this week and things like calling possible dentists to check if they take Colin's insurance and the planning for Europe in December are tough to do when I barely ever see Colin and he's so tired most of the time. Usually, we just want to zone out and simply be together when we are together. Hopefully the rest of the week isn't quite as stupid. The weekend will largely consist of pumpkin carving and handing out candy to the gazillion kids in the area.

Thinking short but not so random thoughts

Colin and I were sick over the weekend with something everyone has been catching at his office. Very low but persistent fever, off and on sore throat and headaches, congestion, fatigue, and Colin did more coughing than I did. Not so much fun. I've had two small lattes (including extra milk added to my already half-drinked cup) today and I haven't had coffee for almost a week. I did have lots of tea and we've got only one bag of Constant Comment left, but I definitely have a buzz right now.

I noticed I say "oh well" a lot here. It generally sums up how I feel quite nicely but I need to stop saying it so often because I'd imagine that repeated phrases irritate people.

Also, it seems I am not done rolling the egg rolls that have no egg in them. I've used up the 50 wrappers and I've still got a good chunk of stuffing. I did a lot of them while watching "Marley and Me" by myself last night while Colin had a business dinner. The movie is sad, sure, but not quite as sad as I thought it would be. There were some cute parts but it seemed a lot more "real lifey" than I'd expected it to be. So it's back to the store to get some more wrappers, probably tomorrow. No library volunteering session tomorrow since the lady who heads it is out of town to a funeral.

Today we finally got to try the Wild Berries pancake place somewhat close to home. The french toast stuffed with cream cheese and topped with strawberries is really good! Colin dreamed of clocks not working and then it turned out his alarm hadn't gone off when I got up 45 minutes after the usual alarm time. For lunch, we went to visit a restaurant we used to go to more when we lived in the area to celebrate Shaheli's birthday. We'd found a mug that seemed to fit her very well: sparkly, contains silly words like "hope your day is filled with love!", has a rainbow and cute sketches of little boys.

Oh, and I wanted to correct what I said earlier: the pringles weren't a dollar a piece. Well, originally they were, but I bought them for 25 cents each. I knew it had been a better deal. I found some different cookie wafers at Garden Fresh Market yesterday. One thing I realize now is that so much of the food is imported and it makes me wonder just how much food mileage there is for most things at that store. Yet on the other hand, many of their fresh foods are more local than most grocery stores. I think at least spice packets for Indian foods would be a fair exception. I know many people who try to be more locavore follow the Marco Polo rule: if it was transported during his time by ships (such as spices), it's okay if it comes from the other side of the world. I always with the out of pocket costs versus ethic (environmental) dilemma. I like a deal but I also like good guilt-free food. I'm mostly gonna be ignoring this during November I think ...

Speaking of November, it's coming up so fast! Eep! I've been feeling nervous about not having enough story stuff but today I was mostly doing some research but also spitting out overall plot fragments that have been floating around in my mind. I feel much better have stuff a bit more written out and better organized although my "outline" is very very bare. Still have a couple overall questions but the characters are much less elusive to me now, so that's helpful. Overall, I've got 5,000 words of research. This includes copy pasted passages and writing tips. Considering that this is one tenth of the word count goal, the goal feels more real and obtainable now. Of course, none of these will actually be in the novel itself as that would be against the rules. But words beget words, it seems.

Pretty much all about food

I'm getting pretty wiped out and I still have 50 egg rolls to wrap and dinner to make. It's been kind of a long day. But I need a physical break.

First, I woke up way too early and my brain was hopping all over the place. I caught it in a net and took it downstairs with blanket and bathrobe and demanded it spit out what it needed to say into my journal so I could get some peace and quiet. Also, Colin and I are both battling a fairly weak bug but I think I might have had a slight temperature. Yay drugs! Even after journaling a bit, I had to grab "Russia: Experiment with a People" which I don't care if I ever actually get through or not. I don't like how things are presented but it's nice to kind of brush up my memory and learn other little tidbits about the Cold War etc. I got through quite a few long pages before the sky started turning light blue and I said, "Okay that's it. We're going back to bed whether you're ready or not." I managed another couple hours of okay sleep before dragging out of bed just in time to take Colin to the train station.

I had to shower, eat, and get a bunch of other stuff done in an hour then I went to the church library for about 2.5 hours. It was fun to have a working typewriter to write up the catalog cards. Yes, actual physical real catalog cards. I never thought about the need to have more than one author card if a book was written by two or more people. Little things like that just boggle my mind.

After lunch, I was running through the recipes I'd picked out and gone shopping for on Tuesday when I realized I had gotten the wrong kind of wrapper thingies. I certainly didn't know there are different types of spring and egg roll wrappers. So there was nothing to do but go back and exchange for the right kind. By the way, I love shopping at Garden Fresh Markets - they have such a wealth of international food stuffs and we get our Indian food ingredients there. The mystery is that they don't have paneer. I've never managed to find paneer in stores here, so if you have any ideas where to look I would love to hear them. For now, we're experimenting with farmer's cheese and slowly getting closer to what we want it to be.

Anyway, it was neat to be there. One of the things I've kept an eye out for is snack food for nanowrimo. I've got lots of pringles that were a dollar a container. There's a couple of real ramen noodle packets to try for lunches and see if I like them. I found some cookies I remember eating and liking from the annual holiday packages we used to get from friends in Japan. Junk food won't be a problem ... we've amassed a lot of it over the years. We just don't eat it. Some might be stale but who cares (I don't). Also, Halloween is coming up. I also plan to get veggies to chop up, stick in the fridge, and munch on whenever. But today I saw a bunch of usually kind of expensive packages of food for a discounted price because they had a best by date of Oct 31. I went all out and am now staring at a stack of five different things (like fancy gorp, dried cranberries, dried pineapples). They were all at least a dollar off their original prices. Pretty cool. Roughly 15 bucks for all these goodies so far.

I'm kind of chatty today. Hope no one minds too much. I was planning on the next post to be "How to change a clump of VOB files into one subtitled M4V file" but I've run into some gnarly bits trying to figure it out myself. More on that later when I've mastered it. After I post pictures and rave about my egg rolls. Which, oddly, don't have any eggs ... the recipe I chose didn't call for any. Oh well. I think I'll leave most of the rolling for tomorrow - draining the stuffing took a lot longer than I thought it would. But we'll have some tonight with another cool recipe I'm trying out - Chow Mein! Gonna go start prepping for that before Colin needs to be picked up.

Wanna learn a secret?

Lately, it seems everyone is going through an angst-y period. Perhaps reading up on the history of the coal industry this morning wasn't the best idea. I didn't quite realize this, but I think I kept at it because it distracted me with other bigger frustrations. But reading about how the planet is dying usually quickly overwhelms me with hopelessness. Looking at cute pictures of puppies and reading optimistic blogs always helps but it hasn't quite done it for me today. So I'm going to focus on something that's really quite exciting to me. And that the fact that it is a sunny warmish day, which means I'll try to take a walk after Shaheli and Colin stop in the cafe for a break.

"Why in the world would you study coal mining history? What does that have to do with anything?" Well, good questions. I doubt I normally would, even though I do find myself frequently looking up random bits of information. But it has relevance, I promise. Until now, it has been a kind of secret. I've only told two people so far - Colin and my best buddy Becca.

I am going to do NaNoWriMo.

There, I said it. Perhaps not that big of a deal. Perhaps the statistics show that loads and loads of people who voice this declaration end up not finishing. Perhaps I don't have such a hot record of sticking with things and getting them done on time. Perhaps I still am a bit afraid that I'll fail or that it's not worth it. Perhaps you don't know what on earth I'm talking about, so I'll pause and give you some help.

NaNoWriMo (not entirely sure how you're supposed to pronounce it) stands for NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth. It was thought up by some guy in 1999 who got together a group of friends and they attempted to write 50,000 word novels each. In one month. Perhaps horrible, poorly written, crappy writing, but writing nonetheless. Because the idea is that writing a novel is a "someday" dream for many people. Yet realistically, most people will never write anything publishable. So what? How are you going to ever write a novel when you're frozen in perfection? Just write it! Who cares?

I might not get to the word count goal by the deadline, but I sure will try and I know it won't be a waste of time. I will gain something in return, even if it's just a better understanding of how writers write their books. A couple days ago I signed up for an account at nanowrimo.org.

I'm withholding from talking much about what I'm going to write. Part of it is because I haven't quite figured out a whole lot of the story and because of that, I don't want much direct influence or people giving me their ideas of what my story should be like. This is my story, and they could go ahead and write their own. I probably won't be able to keep it a mystery the entire time though. And I may never let anyone else ever read it.

But I will give you this: it is definitely sci fi slash futuristic. No, no flying cars and aliens yet. Mostly just about a kid in a future I imagine has a strong possibility of happening 50 or 100 years from now. Of course, being who I am, I can't resist wondering and looking up answers to questions such as "What's it like to live in a mining town?"

Nanowrimo (I'm not doing the correct capitalization - harder to type) is November. So I've got just over a month before it starts. And in reality it won't take over my life; it's probably only 2 hours a day, 3 at most. But it will be a big difference and it will be intense. Strangely enough, because this has become a goal of mine, I've focused and created goals for getting there. I don't want to be swamped with too many other things when November 1st rolls around so October is my "getting things done" month. This includes developing a website to at least the point that it's ready to be made public. Colin has been helping me a lot with this. It also includes finally getting a dentist appointment (eek), finishing digitizing my grad school papers, getting to goal posts in my genealogy project, and planning for the trips to San Francisco and Europe. San Fran will happen during November and Europe in December (Colin's sister is over there for study abroad so we will be spending the holidays there with his family). There's also Thanksgiving which will be spent with my family, so I've got a couple things already narrowing down the amount of time I can spend writing. I also hope to find another volunteer outlet by November and I'm always keeping my eye out for jobs.

I'm excited! This should be an adventure!