Over The Hill...

Yesterday I crossed the halfway point. There is no going back. There will be a novel this year. It might be silly and odd and maybe a little sacrilegious (but not really...I don't dispute or change the character of Christ), but it's SO FUN TO WRITE!

And after I crossed the halfway point, we loaded up in the car, got drugs for various instances of bizarre medical weirdness, and went into the city. Hooray for good friends and great food! And thrift shopping. We decided to put a two dollar limit on ourselves and try to find the ugliest, tackiest, never-going-in-my-house thing we could find. We're going to exchange them at Christmas. So fun!

We ran into an old friend of Robb's from LA...in a porn shop...in Boystown of Chicago...buying lube. How strange. And really, it was more of a novelty shop than a porn shop. But how odd is that?! I swear we could fly to the moon (possibly with Jesus) and run into someone we know.

And then Robb packed. This morning he left for a week to visit his bro in Albuquerque. And my medical weirdness is going away. Thank God for that. Let's never speak of it again.

Today? I'm going to work all day. Boo. But I might have time catch up with y'all later tonight after I get done writing for the day.

Have a great one! Who knows...maybe you'll run into a cute long-lost friend in a porn shop in the gay district of your city.

Out

I Am A Robot...

I just thought I should let you all know that I am a robot. Seriously.

I wrote this morning. And I wrote. And I wrote. And when I thought I was close enough to 25,000 to quit for the day, I wrote just a little bit more, adding three more words to be at an even 23,400 words. And then I did the math.

I wrote 4,200 words this morning. What? I went back and did my math again, sure that I couldn't possibly have written so much in one sitting. I added, I subtracted. I stood agape. What? I seriously wrote 4200 words in one sitting. From 10 until 1. Wow.

Hate me. Loathe me. Despise me.

I love me right now.

Out

Update...

After a somewhat disappointing weekend (word count-wise), I am just over 17,000. If write my arse off today, I can be over 20,000. That would be nice. I dont think I have time for that, but it would be nice.

In other news, I am experiencing some somewhat bizarre medical ickiness that I'd rather not go into detail about...but it's been a week and when I thought it was getting better, it just seemed to revert to day one. I'm really not happy about this and I can't afford to go to a doctor to get it checked out.

Meanwhile, I have a tooth that's arguing with me about what I'm eating. And no money for that.

Luckily, I'm too busy writing this month to go spend money (in theory), so I guess I'm saving...sort of. My last paycheck was so small there really wasn't much to save. Blah.

On a positive note, however, I'm excited to be spending Wednesday in the city with the boy and some friends. I love it that I work at a bank and they all work at libraries or have government jobs. Hooray for days off. Let's just hope I'm up for walking all day...

Out

NaNo(Friday)Mo...

Tomorrow I'll be over 15,000 words. Woot. It's effortless at this point. Okay, not true. Today was hard and my butt hurts from sitting so much.

But I'm almost 4,000 ahead. I could skip this weekend entirely and be fine.

I won't, because I'm a creature of habit, but I could.

Yes. I am bragging. It's the one time a year I get to.

Out

One-Fifth...

I am one fifth of the way done. Ten thousand words. In four days. How crazy is that? It's super uncommon for me to be so far ahead...but here I am.

It would explain my absence.

Jesus and Co. were in a jam and needed my help...space slugs and lobster people and Pharisees...blah. It's all so difficult to surmount...especially when the inferno ivy keeps hunting you.

Yeah...anywho. I'm having fun with this one. It's silly and light. WAY better than last year...last year was SOOOOOOO depressing.

Hooray for NaNoWriMo and my lovely writing group. I can't wait to see them all on Sunday.

In other news...

Out

It Begins...

Here I am, two days in.

On Halloween I went to a party with my writing friends. At midnight it was officially November 1st. We broke out our laptops (or notebook and pencil if you're lame like me and don't have a laptop) and wrote. I managed 809 words. Then we got to gether at noon until 3 for our actual write-in and I managed 1700ish words total. I went home and typed it all up, expanded a bit, etc. It was 3206 words.

At the end of the day today I made it to 5075 words. I'm one tenth of the way there.

You?

Out

National Crazy Month...

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. I am both giddy and terrified. So...you know...nothing special.

For those of you not in-the-know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every year I, along with a hundred thousand other crazy nutbars, write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Want more info? http://www.nanowrimo.org

You'll be glad you did it! I've written three complete novels in three years, and I'm hoping for a fourth.

What kind of novels, you ask?

The first year I wrote a road trip story. DePaul to UCLA loosely along Rt. 66. There was pot smoking, fights, a pregnancy, scorpions vs. cheerleaders, and a man who was not who he said he was...oh, and a house fire.

The second year I wrote a novel of horror and interior decorating. Hauntings, bad smells, a skeptical husband, a cute daughter, and the mystery of that tiny room in the basement...oh, and a house fire.

The third year I wrote a novel about a woman who has an affair with the guy that runs the arcade and her son who is gay and how they both find out what the other is doing. It had Dungeons and Dragons, bigotry, Ms. Pac Man, adultery, laughter, dating, and fake internet personals...oh, and a house fire.

This year will be the first novel that doesn't have a house fire, I think. Although...maybe I'll squeeze one in just for good measure. If I write about the current idea I have, it will be Jesus in space. Trust me. It's a scream!

I look forward to it (and dread it) every year, and this one is no exception. Is anyone with me on that?

Out

Top 5 Tuesday: Jobs Edition...

If you read my blog you know I hate my job.  If you hadn't realized it yet, let me say it explicitly.  I hate my job.  So when lisguitarist suggested I do a Top 5 Tuesday blog about jobs, I jumped at the opportunity!

Are you making sandwiches for ungrateful jerks?  Spending all day dealing with horrible customers?  Answering the phone with your Lee Press-on smile?  Serving food?  This blog's for you!  After careful consideration and much soul searching, I present to everyone my list of The Top 5 Jobs I'd Love To Try.

5)  Professional Blogger



If I could make my money doing exactly what I'm doing every day around here, I'd quit my crappy job in a heartbeat!  Leave banking for blogging?  Sure!  What's to lose?  I'd have no customers, no rules, and no one to answer to except my fans (and those crazy people who seem to hate me for no reason).  I can't see any downside.

4)  Runway Model



The photo says it all.  Who wouldn't want to be that guy?  Personal trainer?  Sure!  Wearing ridiculous clothes?  Why not!  Having my photo taken and plastered all over magazines and the Internet?  It's about time!  I'd get paid to be pretty and walk.  I mean, it's not much for personal worth aside from whatever you'd feel from being beautiful, but you get paid to walk twenty feet and turn around.  I don't even have to smile!  Sounds like the perfect job, honestly.

3)  College Literature Professor



This one is probably the one I'm most serious about.  It's been something I've wanted to do since college lit (more years ago than I care to admit).  There's nothing closer to being a professional student than this.  It would entail more school.  Fine by me!  I would have to talk in front of a group.  I could get used to that, especially if it were something I was passionate about.  And, to top it all off, I'd get to wear a sweet sports jacket to work every day!  Getting paid to read?  To teach others to love and appreciate what you love?  Jackpot!  I might have to look into grad schools...

2)  Backup Dancer



Heck yes.  Only because I'd love to bust out some moves and people point for different reasons than they normally do.  Really, I just wish I could dance, and this is most definitely an extension of that desire.  Bright lights and pumping music would be my new home, my blood, and my heartbeat.  Yes please!

1)  Editor at Hardest Level



Okay, okay.  I'll admit this one is sort of a plug.  But.  This is something that could happen.  I have a phone call today to talk with Eugenia about what an internship with Xanga's very own Hardest Level would entail.  Reading and writing about video games?  Count me in without one ounce of hesitation!  Editing?  Yes, please!  And perhaps even boosting readership and building relationships with more people around the Xangaverse?  That's, like, a dream come true! 

So there you have it: a frightening look into what I'd love to do.  Could I ever be all these things?  Perhaps.  Although I'd have to learn to sleepwalk like a model and blog at the same time...this could prove problematic.  Not to mention the trauma from teh people that would have to see me both disrobe AND dance.  Eek! 

What about your top five?

Until next time, friends!  Remember, submissions for Top 5 Tuesday blogs are always welcome.  Who knows, you could see your own idea on this very spot next week! 

Out

Interview...?

So, remember when I mentioned thatI was featured on Hardest Level for my Top 5 Tuesday post about the top 5 computer games you'd never played?

Well, I get this message the other day after talking to one of the editors over at Hardest Level. It is one of the heads over at Xanga asking if I'd like to be an editor for Hardest Level.

What?!

Am I being punked? Apparently I'm not, because I have a phone call interview sort of thing this afternoon to find out more about what would be expected of me.

It's a non-paying internship, but it's invaluable experience for a guy who would love to be an editor and loves video games. So...we shall see.

And for those of you wondering where Top 5 Tuesday is today, it's running a little late and will be in sometime this afternoon.

Out

Snippets on Tuesday...

I've been writing snippets of poetry, things that aren't quite fully realized but that need to be recorded.

Things like this:

And when she comes to it,
She'll know it's the end.
No bells; no party.
Just a quiet slipping between the sheets.

I've felt the vague urge to write poetry lately, like there is someting pushing its way up from my subconscious like a whale beneath a frozen ocean. And as far as this metaphor goes, I'm sitting on top going, "Whoa...it feels a litle rumbly..." And then not being able to express it any more creatively than that.

I think it's there. I just have to prime the pump. It's been so long.

And they're all about her. All my snippets, about some random girl (perhaps the girl in the green dress--or was it a coat--that sometimes come through my peripheral imagination?). My muse? I don't know. All I do know is that she's gotten on a bus and had all eyes on her for a second. Some, longer. And she walks.

Anywho...labor pains.

Out