Happy St Patrick's Day

I'm heading over to Mom's house for St Patrick's Day Dinner in a few minutes, so this will be a quick post.

Bowling is going well. We're all having a blast. I'm consistantly bowling over 100 and getting better at positioning the ball. Having my own shoes and ball certainly help!

I'm still working on my online class. I'm having a bit of trouble with keeping up, but I'll work on it. It's more for me than for the class anyway.

I've been composting a new story idea. I have names of characters, some plot lines, and setting, and a hook. Time travel and separate time lines. We'll see how it comes out, but I'm excited about the characters, which makes me excited about the work.

I cut off about 4 inches of my hair and had it highlighted by the lovely and talented Ursula. Still getting used to the length, but it looks cute.

Anything else I forgot?

Oh, Happy Birthday TJ and Mendel (I doubt either of you read this; best wishes nonetheless) Also, Happy Birthday (late) to Trae. I did email you on the day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Having a green drink tomorrow night with Glender and TJ.

Random Thoughts

Lately I've been watching a lot of tv shows on DVD. I just finished Bones season 2, which I enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed the story arc between Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro, culminating in a trip to the altar. I also got Kitchen Confidential with Bradley Cooper and Nicholas Brendon. Hilarious. Another mid season cancellation on Fox back in 2005. Currently watching Shark with James Wood. Premise: an excellent defense attorney switches teams and begins working for the LA DA. So far, interesting, good. Next week, I'm starting a deep foray into the Buffyverse, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins coming from Netflix. I think I have a little Hollywood crush on Nicholas Brendon, who plays Xander. Fun, fun.

Plainsong on Tuesday was excellent. The staging was amazing, with all the hydrolics and a huge cast. Stephanie Cozart, who I've loved in everything I've seen her in at the DPCA, portrayed a depressed mother trying to make her way out of the darkness and John Hutton was her estranged husband teaching history at the local high school. A student even gave a 'speech' on the Burr/Hamilton duel. Family and community come together in unique ways in the end. If you get a chance, I'd recommend seeing it.

Friday night I played some pool with TJ at Woody's and at Zoosters. I'm getting much better, hitting the ball I'm aiming at and actually getting some pretty sweet shots. Called the 8 ball wrong and lost, but it was still a gorgeous shot. Had some very tasty ribs at Brothers BBQ after pool and was home by 10pm. Sweet.

I got a chance to catch up with Shaych at the DPL for writing Saturday morning(ish). Got some written on By the Light of the Faerie Moon and got to fall in love with his iPhone. Seriously, shiny.

Taxes are done, sending them in Monday.

Have a great week!

Big Fun Scary Goals for 2008

In general, I think that New Year's Resolutions rarely work for me, even though I've posted something nearly every year.

The NaNoWriMo folks have been doing Big Scary Fun Goals the last couple of years and I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Part of what makes this different (at least for me) is that the goals are quantified and measurable (with the exception of #8). Perhaps this will make a difference.

Here's my list, published on the NaNoWriMo BFS forums as well.

My BFS goals for 2008:

1. Get surgery to correct hearing loss (scheduled in January!)
2. Lose 60 pounds (lost 44 pounds in 2007)
3. Read at least one book a month by the end of the year starting with (in no particular order):
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
• Mockingbird by Charles J Shields
• A Grand Improvisation by Stacy Shiff
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems ed. Roger Housden
• A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry ed. Czeslaw Milosz
• Best American Short Stories 2003 ed. Walter Mosley and Katrina Kenison
• Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Treasury ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg
• Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers ed. Joyce Carol Oates

4. Write every day using Writer’s Book of Days prompts
5. Blog at least weekly
6. Finish & Print By the Light of the Faerie Moon (NaNo 2007)
7. Win NaNoWriMo 2008
8. Figure out what career path I want to take

I think those are big and scary enough, and the reading will certainly be fun. Actually putting together this list was fun all by itself.

Happy New Year to all!

Rally Day

Today I spent most of the day at The Tea Spot in Boulder writing. I wrote 5,568 words, earning my Rally badge and catching entirely up!

On a side note, The Tea Spot is a lovely shop, and I am throughly enjoying my new tea pot and tea leaves. The folks there are very helpful and kind, and will even rebrew green leaves. I'm just about to make myself another pot of tea. Join me?

Labor Day Weekend

I love a three day weekend!

I'm in the midst of setting up my 2007 NaNoWriMo blog. Title and plot indeterminate at this time, but I've got some characters burbling in my head. hehe...

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Stuff

Friday was Kerri's birthday. I took the day off and spent the evening with GirlZoot and Mitch at the Gothic Theatre down on Broadway. We went to the Bowling for Soup concert, and they played all sorts of great stuff. The Gothic has got a great upstairs, with different levels all looking out over the stage. The room has an intimate feel, and I didn't feel crowed, which is a nice change for a rock concert.

Saturday, I went to the library for a bitsy, with all the best intentions to do some writing. I actually spent most of the time chatting with Shaych and GZ, catching up on current events and politics. Valium joined us at the library and we all went by the Apple store at Cherry Creek (shiny new computers and iPods and accessories... oh my). After declining to eat at the food court for quite unreasonable prices, we retired to Hops where we were joined by Shadowowl. Hops changed their glasses - I guess it had been a while since I had been there. Lunch was quite tasty. I decided that after lunch I'd go home. Honestly, I hadn't been feeling well most of the day and I didn't want to drag the rest of the group down. I napped quietly in my green chair with the fan on.

Sunday was quiet. I went out and bought some new nail polish and painted my nails Russian Navy. I love OPI color names. The other two are Vodka & Caviar and An Affair in Red Square. I'm thinking about getting Boris & Natasha. Russian theme...

Good weekend, much needed rest and relaxation. Still, I'm not quite ready for this week at work. I suppose that will get better tomorrow.

Summer's slipping away

I'm waiting in my big green chair for Harry Potter to arrive. I'm just about at the point where I'm going to go out and get a bite to eat, because, of course, when I get back, the package will have arrived. And I'm getting tired of waiting.

I spent most of my free time the last couple of weeks re-reading books 1 thru 6. When I finished Half Blood Prince, I cried, a lot, and moped about most of the next day. Now I'm just wanting to get on with it. Of course, I'm having mixed feelings about the whole thing. Whereas, it is always good to get to the end of the book to know what happens, this is the LAST book. When it's over, it's over. Except for the movies. I'm consoling myself that I'll read the entire series again when Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows each come out on the silver screen.

I know I haven't been terribly communicative this summer (or really this year). I've not had a lot to muse on and felt I haven't had a whole heck of a lot to say. I'm enjoying my summer, spending time with family and friends, reading, thinking about writing, even going to work has been relatively nice.

Last week, I babysat my cousin, Little Miss, and she was just so funny. We gave her a fudgesicle paddle pop and she walked around eating it, saying "It's cold and creamy." She thought it was just wonderful, until it started melting all over her hand and onto the grass. We rescued it with a bowl and a spoon. After the creamy cold treat, we kicked around the soccer balls for a while. She's pretty good for being not quite 3.

Ok, I'm going out for a little while. When I get back, I'm sure I'll have my copy of the Deathly Hallows waiting patiently for me to read it. Won't that be lovely!

Happy Late New Year!

Sixth week in a row with snow... cold enough to keep the snow on the ground and in 7 foot high walls and piles. The weather and conditions are somewhat depressing and bringing out a strong sense of hibernating. I have gotten in a great deal of TV show watching on DVD, 5 seasons of 24, My Name is Earl, Dead Like Me, Boston Legal, House MD.

I did get Duke Incognito out for printing, yay!

Since the beginning of the year, I have said goodbye to two friends who have passed out of this life. One was a great writer, a bard of the highest caliber, a sweet, funny, kind man with a sparkle in his eye and a particular talent making fires which we all enjoyed at Writers Guild during the cooler months. The other was my beloved bird of 25 years, Deeter, who brought song and beauty into my world for nearly three quarters of my life.

I'm working on goals for this year, projects I want to start or finish and activities I want to participate in. One thing I know already is I want to read more this year than last year.

Writing Quote

No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!

-- Finding Forester

Welcome to the Insanity

NaNoWriMo officially started this morning at midnight. I was snug in my bed with a touch of cold that blossomed into a bit of a cough and fever this morning. Auspicious beginning this is not, but I shall perservere! Even if I can no longer spell correctly.

Welcome to November, the month of insanity and mayhem in the writing circles I run in.

I can't remember, do blog posts count as word count?

Best of luck to all my writing buddies, GirlZoot, Ian, Sunrunner, Survivor, DaveToe, Iunones, and everyone else that my foggy brain has let slip.

Let's get writing!

Renovation

Our local ABC is under renovation, so we have to decamp early tonight. Next week is Labor Day, so I got my writing group fix as best I could tonight.

Survivor brought his lovely wife, Mrs. Survivor. We hit it off, and even enjoyed a brief interlude outside in the cool evening air talking before we had to pack up and leave. I'm still mulling some of the things we talked about.

All in all, a good night, even if the group part ended too quickly. See everyone in 2 weeks!

Quiet

I got to our local internet cafe and had a yummy chicken cordon bleu panini sammich with a pickle chaser. I spent most of the evening chatting with Shaych, Girlzoot, and Seraphmoon. Fun times.

Not a lot of non-chat writing, tho.

More Fringe to come tomorrow!

Monday Night

I love my writing group.

Tonight we had possibly the biggest turn out since, well, since ever. When I got there, EDog, Survivor, Apogee and Julie were already there. DJ and Marie showed up just after I got there. Even Eric came back (and I got a hug!). My biggest surprise was seeing Survivor, who I didn't expect until November sometime (yay for surprises!!).

Right now I'm listening to Bowling For Soup's High School Never Ends... this is a total non-sequiter, however, it's hilarious...

Still care about your hair and the car you drive, it doesn't matter if your 16 or 35...
The whole damn world is just as obsessed with who's the best dressed and who's having sex...
Who's got the money, who's got the honeys, who's kinda cute and who's just a mess
And I still don't have the right look, and I still have the same three friends, and I'm pretty much the same as I was back then

Ok, back to the regularly scheduled post... where was I? Oh, loving my writing group... Anyway, it was a bit overwhelming to have everyone there. EDog is always good at superfocusing and ignoring all the distractions (of which I am one at times, I know). He actually wrote with headphones on, but I'm not sure how much got done, what with all the circus in front of him. Apogee was helping everyone out who needed IT support (we gather at an internet cafe with free wireless), Survivor hung out and talked dirty with me (ok, not really dirty, but flirty dirty). DJ and I usually chat quite a lot, both IM and in person, but the group dynamic (and seating arrangements) seemed to change that tonight. He had a lot of great ideas that never panned out (mostly to do with Apogee and something about tongues). Marie was pretty quiet, and couldn't stay long, but it was very nice to see her for the short time she could stay. Julie occupied Apogee in a laptop buying advising type role for a while then chatted happily with Survivor while I tried to unbreak my IM program (with Apogee leaning over me in that 'I'm a tech, don't mind me and give me your mouse' way). To be honest, I think I'm picking that up at work, the gimme your mouse and let me steer... Of course, sometimes it's better to let the user steer, which is why I'll always be a trainer and probably never IT support. (Gimme the damn mouse!)

Mostly, if I could have the hanging out and the getting writing done both, a nice balance, I'd be in heaven.

Thanks everybody for coming out. I had a great night!

Back to Work Tomorrow

After the nice long and relaxing (mostly) weekend I just had, it's hard to get ready to go back to work. Ah well, I have to eat, and the kitties tell me that they have to as well.

Check out my nifty word counter in my side bar. I'll update it every day that I write. This time around I'm not going to post my novel as I'm going, but I'll post any little snippets here that I think are spiffy.

Since I do have to work tomorrow, and I am tired already, I bid you all good night. Sweet dreams.

Happy July!

Today is the first day of July, and the first day of EDog's 100 Days Novel challenge. I'm feeling frisky today (and have been working on plotting it for over a week) so I'm going to start. The goal is to write an 80,000 word novel in 100 days (July 1 to October 8, roughly). I have a rough outline, that I am going to continue to work on in parallel to writing the actual novel. I figure I can get the rest of the plotting work done in a week or so, and I won't be THAT far into the actual story to make the changes I anticipate from the background work I've already done.

On another note, I did not get the job that I had interviewed for a few posts back. Thanks to everyone who gave me moral support. I will keep my eyes out for a new challenge as I go boldly forward in the position I already hold. In this uncertain job market, I am quite pleased to have a good job with benefits, my true desire is to find something that is a challenge to me, as I have been doing a similar job in the last three companies I've worked for. And I wouldn't scoff at a sweeter compensation package, or more growth opportunity, either, mind you. I appreciate everyone's good thoughts and I will keep you up to date if anything else comes along.

Now that I've made a little post, I'm going to set up my word counter and get to work on the novel.

Good Day

I had a list of things to do today, and as I was writing them down I thought that it might be too many things. Sometimes I get carried away and write lists and lists of things I want to accomplish that would take an entire week, and I want them done in a day or a weekend. Not so with this list. except for the cleaning (one specific cleaning thing) I did everything on the list. Huzzah!

Silly, I know, but it made me happy in many ways to get a pen and cross the things I'd finished off my list. Maybe I'll make another one tomorrow.

(And as a post scriptum of sorts, I posted two days in a row...)

Writing

I feel that for too long I've been too busy to write. I'm not talking about the wonderful and crazy time in November, but just every day, every week kind of writing. I don't think I'm ever going to be an every day blogger; I just don't see having that much interesting to say, let alone having the time every day. I have a daily journal that I manage to find the time to write five lines about my days, and most days that's more than enough to write. I know people who do write daily, who make the time every single day for one if not more entries on their blogs. These people inspire me; their dedication and devotion to their writing, no matter the subject, is amazing.

I've recently been told that I should blog more. My jaunts through blogland show that it is possible. I know that a few people consistently read my blog. I find that I want to be entertaining, and I'm not sure if I achieve that. (No, I'm not looking for validation here; I have a fairly good view of my own writing - I just am thinking on the screen here.) I suppose not every day is a circus.

More than the blog, which can be a good source of discipline and feedback, I'm thinking of my other writing, what I write for the various groups I engage in and what I write that inspires me. Weekly, I sit with mostly like-minded writers and lately I tend to use the time as social and kick back time. I should be using it more for the actual process but I think I've needed a place to blow off steam and to have no requirements. Which is probably why I haven't finished any of the assignments given.

I think some blame belongs with my day job (which incidentally I just mistyped day joy) and the extremely hectic and stressful last two months. I got so run down that I got sick (just a little head cold but more than enough to slow me down a lot and make me feel woozy and unproductive). I'm working to get through the next month on a more even keel and just do my hours and leave; no over time, no late nights, no taking work home. I am working personally on letting all the junk the last two or three months go; getting past the anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, and under-appreciation is important for my own mental and emotional, not to mention physical, health. As I work through that junk, I expect I'll become more productive in my professional life as well as more productive in my personal life. Free of all the negativity, I will be able to shake off this seeming cloud over my writing and get down to it.

I want this year to be a very productive year. I expect to have a large body of work, whether it be short stories, exercises, poems, or a novel or two, by December. I want to page back through the files, touch the pages, and generally tap the reservoir of ideas and stories I know I have in me to tell.

NaNoWriMo Finish

I finished my NaNovel (back on Nov 29th) and I'm so glad it's done! I am thinking of getting back to it in a week or so, give it some time to simmer, and start editing. This year I finished the book and the word count which was my goal.

Contgratulations to all other winners including these fine folks I consider my friends and Novelists all:

Girlzoot, Sasha, EDog, Survivor, and DaveToe

Huzzah for a great November!

You want to take a bite...

Ok, my NaNovel this year is about a stripper and I've been chatting with my writing buddy EDog about the whole book. We were talking about how there are no "adult" smilies on the IM service we use, but how you could dress your avatar like a hooker.

Now we were just being silly and it was pretty funny, but after we made our female hookers, we went to the male wardrobe and made some. Here's my favorite, the manwhore with his big smile and wink and his shirt open to the world. He's practically saying, "You want to take a bite..." in some heavy sexy accent of undetermined origin.

Ok, so I'm a little looped out on the lack of food and needing a shower and about 6000 words today, but I am still laughing.

All About Sevens

I learned something out at the Boulder NaNoWriMo Kick Off Dinner at Conor O’Neill’s, Tuesday night. Actually, two things. I just realized I hadn’t posted it.

First of all, I learned a practical and quick way to calculate the tip on a meal. If you take the amount you owe and divide by seven, you come darn close to a 15% tip. So, an easy one, if your meal was 14 dollars, your tip is 2 dollars. The exact 15% tip would be $2.10. So it’s pretty close.

The other thing I learned is about measurements, precisely how to tell the difference between a butt-load, a shit-load, and a fuck-load. Imagine you are at dinner and with your dinner roll you get a pat of butter. One pat of butter is a normal amount. Now, to reach the first unit of measure multiply the normal amount by seven, you have seven pats of butter, and that’s a butt-load. For the next level, you raise that by another level of seven, you have almost 50 pats of butter, and really, that’s a shit-load. And if you had seven times that, you would reach nearly 350 pats of butter, which no one would argue is a fuck-load. So that’s the secret.

And my friends and I always thought a butt-load was six. Hey, we were close!