OK, so this isn’t meant as an endorsement of mac over PC, or the other way around. Just an observation.
I have not seen a PC laptop in the wild in a really long time. Macbooks, macbooks, everywhere….
If you don’t know about NaNoWriMo, you should. Now you’ve been given a link, so you have no excuse. Go ahead and read about it. I’ll wait.
Back? Informed? Good.
I’ve been wanting to write for a while. I’ve started writing before, and always stopped after just a few sessions. I let other things get in the way. I convinced myself that it was no good, or that, if it was good, it was too hard to keep writing that well. I always had some reason to stop, or I always found a way to forget about it.
I’d heard about NaNoWriMo before, but always too late. This year, I stumbled upon it again just in time–about one week before the month started. I decided it was finally time, and I signed up.
So far, it’s going well. I’m 2 days in, and have 5 days worth of writing done, which is good. I think it’ll be pretty important for me to get ahead on the weekends, as I’ll be working full-time during the week, and my pace may slow considerably then.
More importantly–to me, anyway–I’m finally writing. And getting more output than I ever have before. And enjoying myself in the process. And talking about it, and sharing it, and putting myself into it. I’m learning what it feels like to let the characters tell their story, and to do my best to get out of their way in doing it.
Part of me wants to jump in and say it’s all crap. This thing will never get published, and it’s a waste of my time to even do it. I don’t know yet if it’s crap or not, and I don’t know if it will ever get published (or if that’s even something I’d want to do). For now, I put that part aside and just write.
I’m at 8,754 words. Probably more than I’ve written in all my previous aborted attempts combined. I’m 18% of the way to my goal of 50,000. It is achievable. I can succeed. I like that.
Leonard Bernstein (one of my favorite people of all time) said:
To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.
I get it. Yay for deadlines.
I’m going to go to bed now, and see if I can’t dream up my next plot twist.
So, I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year. If you’re not familiar, it’s a whole bunch of people with a common goal of each writing a novel of at least 50,000 words, from start to finish, in the month of November. The important thing, they say, is to get quantity, not quality. You can edit it in December. :-p
So, in doing the math, I realized I’d have to write about 2,000 words every day, in order to make it happen.
Then I realized that I had no idea how long it would take to write 2,000 words. So, I decided to find out. Here’s my 2,227-word short-story, that I wrote in just under 2 hours.
I’m so grateful to have a dishwasher–load two is going in this morning. Yikes.
We used a LOT of damn dishes.
You know the ones, that wake up the next morning and say “How did THAT get there?” This morning I became one of them.
I woke up and started unloading my dishwasher and realized I completely forgot using SO MANY damn dishes.
What? It counts. Shut up.
A friend of mine asked me to dig up some old emails. Looking through them, I found this little gem:
Love is not something that can be earned. It cannot be bought, bribed, blackmailed, coerced, pleaded for, or won. It can only be given, and given freely.
Love cannot die. It does not fade away, and it cannot be killed. It can only cease to be given. And even then, I’m not so sure it’s not there.
Love is never just love of another. True Love is also always Love of self.
Rejection of Love is not rejection of the Lover. Rejection of Love is rejection of self.
Love does not look any one way, or require any one behavior. It is not prohibitive, but unconditional.
Love can only exist between equals. So it’s a good thing that all humans are created equal. Any *perception* of inequality, however, equally distorts the perception of Love.
Love is infinite; it has no boundaries. When given, it is given to All. In this way, it is mysterious, as it infinitely and instantly surpasses the capability of the Lover to Love.
Love is not respect, nor condonance, nor commitment, nor esteem, nor generosity, nor codependency, nor independance. Love does not bind, nor connote, nor imply, nor express. Love just loves.
Love does not heal, but the act of Love sanctifies all wounds.
Love teaches Gratitude, which, in turn, teaches Love.
Love is an inherently Spiritual act, as it is one Spirit recognizing another.
To get Love, begin by saying “Thank you.” This does not cause others to Love you; it causes you to see the Love that is already yours to receive.
Love is an act of will; a siimple choice that changes Absolutely Everything.
Love is not about *doing* anything; it is about claiming what is yours.
You cannot Love tentatively, doubtfully, or half-heartedly; Love is unquestionably assertive. Love only happens when you open your eyes.
Only when every human learns to Love can we truly be Lovers. (i.e. To give up Nirvana until all have attained it is indeed no great sacrifice, as only when all take that vow can Nirvana exist.)
And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love.
It was May the last time I was posting regularly. It’s August now. I’m a terrible blogger. Thanks to Jesse for kicking my ass into doing this again, and for those few of you who do read this blog, sorry.
So a very broad-brushstroke overview of what’s been happening lately in my life:
In April I came to Tennessee to spend a few weeks with my Mom, before heading off to the next destination. It ended up being a few months. In that time, I started developing some good friendships in the area, and I ended up wanting to move to Chattanooga. I was planning on waiting ’til after October to make that decision, after a MTL course out west had come and gone.
The more I thought about moving to Chattanooga, though, the more I wanted to. One day, I got a call saying that the course out west had been moved to Georgia. I took this as a sign and announced to my family that, in August, I’d be moving to Chattanooga.
In June, I went down to Georgia for some different courses, and there I realized that it really wasn’t working for me to be living with my Mom, even if it was temporary, so I got back on the 30th of June, and by the 3rd of July I was settled into my fabulous new apartment in Chattanooga. My driving-around-the-country-wandering-aimlessly days are, for now, over.
The month of July was mostly devoted to moving and settling in, and then preparing for and teaming a course out in California. And that brings us to August. And damn, how time flies.
So now, I’m at a very new place in my life. Everything is new and different to me. I’ve got a new apartment, and new city, a new life, new furniture, new friendships, a new relationship, possibly soon a new job, and who knows what else is around the corner. If you fit into that category of new friends and relationships (you know who you are), thank you–you’re helping make this a very exciting time in my life.
For many people, change is just disorienting. For me it’s that, but also exciting and invigorating. I can’t help but wonder what new and wonderful thing Life is going to bring me next. And it also makes me appreciate the not-so-new; the constants in my life; the friends I know I can count on through it all. For those of you who fit into that category (you know who you are), thank you–you give me the boldness to step out and find those wonderful new things Life is offering.
So, hopefully, I’ll be back soon and post more. If I’m not, I hope I can count on you to kick my ass into writing something. 
Meanwhile, go count your blessings–new and old alike–and I’ll do the same.
OK, I know I’ve been all neglect-y, and haven’t posted in a while, but, seriously, you need to go watch this. Like, now, ’cause it won’t be up for long.
[From Dr. Horrible]
[From xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe]
