15 posts tagged “nanowrimo”
I do not know why I keep neglecting this blog. I have a feeling it might be because I think my life is kind of boring to put up everyday. My every day things I mean. If that makes any sense. I have been writing in a paper journal/planner lately. I will try to write up what has been going on.
Christmas was pretty good. Spent time with my family. Unfortunately there have been 2 deaths that I have had to deal with. First my friend Anthony who I mentioned in my last vox post. Then my great uncle Greg passed away. He was 99 and was ready to go. I did not know him very well but it still hurts. I'm still having a bit of a hard time dealing with the deaths. I think it was/is the time of the year that they happened. Since my grandfather (my mom's dad) and then my dad passed away around the holidays. That happened in Oct 91 and Jan 92. I do not think you ever really get over the deaths in your life. You just learn to push them into the back of your mind to get through the day.
I've been trying to write more. I participated in this years NaNoWriMo and won. That story has been put on the backburner so I can work on my 2007 story. I am trying to finish that one in honor of Anthony. When I have a little bit of a struggle with the 2007 story I work on the 2008 one. I've gotten a bit of help with some of the people I have met through NaNo. We meet up at Barefoot Coffee Roasters off of Stevens Creek on Thursdays. It tends to be the only day I drive my car.
I think I mentioned that I got a car. I have a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria. I have named her Bluebelle. The hubby tends to drive her to work. Mostly because he plans on making his Camaro a 'toy' car by putting in a roll cage and things. As long as I get to drive my car every once in a while it is okay with me :)
Last week I attended MacWorld up at the Moscone Center. I learned a lot and met a new friend. She said that we could go off and 'contest whore' together. Since we met at one of the raffles. I was there to learn things and the raffles were just to pass the time. I think because of the whole 'whatever' attitude about the raffles that I actually won a couple. Since I went to MacWorld over 4 days I walked a LOT. This is very good for me. Yes, I am paying for it in soreness this week but I am soldiering through it. This weekend I also went to the Computer History Museum and saw a demo of the Babbage Engine. Then Sunday we went to the Auto Show. It was cool to see the hubby in the new Corvette and to see the new 2010 Camaro up close.
The next thing to do is set up the Wii so I can get back to using the Fit. I know that it is going to tell me that it has been forever since I have used it last. That is okay. As long as I start using it again it will be fine. I would set it up myself but it has to be wired up a certain way due to how the hubby has the ps3 and dvr set up with the receiver. I'm going to make him set it back up tonight. Until then I will probably go and walk to Red Rock for coffee :)
So, that is my long post. Take care lovelies. Hopefully I didn't bore you to tears. *huggles*
once again i decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. right now is day 7 of 30. at this point everyone should have about 14k in words of 50k. my plot and characters have just decided that i should be writing like a fiend. as of about 2 minutes ago when i uploaded my word count i was at 38,516 words. at this pace the 'progress report' says i will be done in 4 days. my only problem with that is if i *stop* at 50k i know that the story will not be at its end. i also know that i will want to keep going. the other problem i see is my inner editor rearing her ugly head. which isnt so bad because she removes all the bad stuff from the story unless you havent had your novel validated. if you go to nanowrimo.org the validator will not be up until about the 25th. so if she starts cutting and not adding. well then, i'm basically screwed. so now i have to find away to keep the inner editor locked in a closet until after the 25th, continue writing and figure out an end. the only other problem i am having is the actual word count. you see, right now i am using open office to write my story. which isn't a bad program. the problem is that i do not know *how* it is counting my words. when i tell it to do a word count i get: 38516. which is an awesome number, don't get me wrong. but if i open up a shell and start lyx and have it count my words i get: 39891. if i scramble my open office doc and use google docs and have it count my words i get: 39408. so i have no idea what to put into the nano site. i keep just pluggin in the 'open office' number. so once the validator goes live im either going to be stuck with approximately the same word count or it will jump up. i just wish i knew which it was this time. anyways, enough of my rambling on about nanowrimo.
take care lovelies. have a great weekend. *huggles*
I was on a long road trip with my inlaws and just got back about a week and a half ago. My internal clock still seems to be on Mountain time. We went all over so I will just give a short list.
- Mt Talmapais (I got all the way to the top. Woot!)
- Lassen Volcanic
-- Lassen peak (I got about 3/4s of a mile from the top. Would have gotten there but I got elevation sick)
-- Bumpas Hell (I got all the way. Woot!)
- Obsidian Flow
- Glacier National Park
-- Waterton Alberta Canada
- Helena Montana (where we hung out with friends for a few days)
- Yellowstone
- Grand Tetons
- Moab Utah
- Arches National Park
-- I actually hiked all the way to "The Windows" (one day) and "Delicate Arch" (the next) I honestly never thought I would get to "Delicate Arch" Last time we were there I barely made any of it.
- Yosemite
-- Glacier point
-- Sentinel dome
It was a really nice vacation. Hopefully next year we will get to visit Germany. Once we got back it was nice to visit with the inlaws until they left for home. I can say one thing about it though...I really loved getting into my own bed after being away from it for 3 weeks. Now life is kind of back to normal. It is almost November so I am starting to gear up for NaNoWriMo. Last night I went to the local meet and greet. It was a blast and I got to meet Chris Baty who started it. That was fun. I've also decided that this year I am going to be a glutton for punishment and hand-write my 50k words in a notebook with my fountain pens. I think it will really help me fight my "inner editor". We'll see how well it goes.
OH, and I need to get ahold of that company that was holding the contest that I asked you all to vote for me for. They *never* announced the winner and from what I can see that should have been me. If not then oh well. I will keep you posted on the development of that. =)
Anyways, I have flooded friends list with my drabble long enough. Take care lovelies *huggles*
Tomorrow I turn 35. I have been kind of dreading it and embracing it equally. On one hand I'm happy and on the other I feel that I don't have much to show for it. Yes, I know you don't have to have something to show for your life but it would be nice to be able to say that you do. I have accomplished things but to me it is minor. I've written two novels in two years. Yes, they are still in need to many revisions (many many revisions) but they are written. I've finally gotten my weight down. Not to where it needs to be but I am working on it. So yes, there are good things in my life. I have a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally. Yet there are times I look at my life and go "Your life is meaningless". I know it isn't. It is just sometimes you can't get yourself out of that headspace. Okay, enough about that. I need to stop that. Really. Now for the non-gothy-mopey-oh woe is me part of the blog. lol. Back to the good birthday stuff. I get a really nice birthday dinner tomorrow night. Yay. On the 6th I had an appointment with the diabetes educator/nutritionist for a BMI checkup. It isn't where it should be. We talked about a lot of things. I am going to see if I can actually stick to some of the things she recommended. One of the things we talked at length about was my fluid intake. According to the readings she took I was very dehydrated. I've known for a while now that I do not drink enough. At best I was getting 12-16 ounces of fluid a day. That has changed since the appointment. For example, after the hubby bought me a new water bottle (which i will talk about in a minute), yesterday I consumed 42oz of water + one 1/2 liter bottle of arrowhead. It's hard to force myself to drink but I am doing a heck of a lot better. The hubby and I both went to Sport's Authority yesterday and bought the HydraCoach. It is a refillable water bottle that has a tiny onboard computer/calculator thingiemagummieship that keeps track of your consumption. They weren't that expensive ($30/ea) and will help me with my task. Today the hubby and I tried to find me a nice birthday present. I have no idea what the heck I want. His parents basically got me the main gifts I wanted for my birthday. Which is great but doesn't help him decide. I told him that I wouldn't mind some clothing and he basically shot that down because he said we should get that for something other than a present. I agreed. I *was* going to suggest getting a tattoo but I don't have the concept I want completely worked out yet. That will have to wait.
Other than all of that there have been some things going on that neither of us really know how to deal with completely. He has two companies fighting to keep him. It is stressing him out because he doesn't want to disappoint either company. I basically told him that he needs to do what feels right to him. It's great that there are two companies fighting for him. It is just bad that he is so stressed out about it. He has basically made the decision he just needs to commit to it and let the companies know. I just want him happy. I'm sure you all can understand that.
Today we are off to the Linux InstallFest =) Woot. It is usually a lot of fun. The hubby is going to work on my Christmas present while we are there. Oh, I should mention what he is giving me. He is giving me a new Dell e1420 for Christmas. We got it at LinuxWorld. =) We decided that it would be a great present for me. We are going to put Gutsy Gibbon on it tonight. Then we will add all the software that I need. Hopefully we'll be able to get it up and running so I can start revisions on my last NaNo. I ended at 55k words and am now a little over 57k including cutting out a lot of unnecessary scenes.
Well, take care lovelies. I will stop flooding my friends/neighborhood list with my ramblings. *huggles* Have a great weekend. =)
i finished the challenge. i hit 50k words. my story isn't done but i have had what i have so far validated =) woohoo! this is my 2nd year and my 2nd win. last years was full of random challenges. this year i actually had a story and stuck to it without having to resort to adding things that shouldnt have been there. i am still going to continue writing. i can not wait to let Anthony Marinelli and my sister read this thing. Since it is because of them that I had the story in the first place. I hope to have it finished and edited by new years. we'll see =)
The Keepers Machine - 52,732 (and counting)
this year i am a bit ahead. i'm not sure about where i was last year at this time. it is day: 6 and i think the story is going pretty well. i did things a bit different this year. the first thing was that i actually attended my regions 'meet and greet' and then the 'first minute write in'. i really do think it has helped a lot. i also did research before i started this year. last year i started on the first day and just wrote. had somewhat of an idea of what i wanted to do but wasn't sure if it would end up there. this year i have a very very loose plot outline. i also have a lot more characters this year. getting into their backstories is fun. sorry if this is all types of choppy. just wanted to get this out so i can get back to my story. hehe also this year i am not resorting to making this novel smut. last years ended up being a total smut fest. heheh. so that will stay hidden from the light of day until i go back and edit most of it out and put more "story" into it. *giggle*
to all those that are also doing nano, good luck. here is to reaching 50k in 30 days =)
take care lovelies. *hugs* hope you are all doing well
word count before writing anything for the story today: 20336/50k (31%)
i hope you all have a good night tonight =)
i'm going to end up getting dressed up and heading off to a local dennys for a "1st minute write-in" for NaNoWriMo. we celebrated at a party this past saturday. it was fun. but im wearing a different outfit. for the party i had scrubs on that i got at wally-world last minute. we didn't know the party was 'hospital themed' heh. tonight im going in my renfaire gear. that is if i can find a cord for my bodice once i get off my happy ass and walk over to jo-anns. if all else fails i'll grab my eeyore footed jammies and a teddy bear dressed as a pirate. =) im sure i can find a pacifier or something to add to my costume. next year if i can find the right dress i am going to be a witch =)
yes, im 34 going on 35, i can still dress up. hey, dont look at me like that. you can too. there is nothing stopping you. well unless you are a fuddy duddy :P
btw, to all the local people. i hope that the earthquake we had didnt disturb you much and left all of your items where they belong. it shook things but we didn't have anything fall over. did scare me a bit. but im always a big chicken when it comes to earthquakes. i blame the mini-series Sho-Gun. heh
not too much else has been going on. trying to figure out a good anniversary pressie for the hubby for the 13th. it's going to be 3yrs. woot. still need to send xmas lists to my family or as they said, "You won't get anything." sold a few things on craigslist. still trying to sell what is left up there. walking as much as possible. still losing weight. im still caffeine and chocolate free. i could have said, 'and alcohol free too' if i wouldnt have downed a double shot of JD at the party. i do need to learn, 'Do not do a shot if you have not eaten much at all.' It made me a little tipsy. That was ok thought because going and eating the burger took that away.
anyways, im babbling. hope you all are doing well. take care lovelies. =)
I've been sick the last couple of days. The hubby has been sick for over a week. We leave for my mom's sometime tomorrow which means I should be packing and getting things ready but being sick has stopped me from doing so. I don't need to pack much other than presents. *giggle* I'm hoping that it will be a bit warmer down in socal. Highly doubtful but one can hope. Nothing much is going on other than that. Still working on my story. Don't know if I will ever get it done in time for the deadline. If I don't I can still publish a copy for myself from Lulu it will just cost me. I switched to Lyx for working on it. I had to have the hubby set up most of it. I just hope that it will look as nice in print as it does on my laptop screen. *giggle* Still trying to find a gift for the hubby. Other than a brick to the head for not helping :P It's just a small gift to add to the others but it's been killing me. Oh well, I will think of something. Sorry I haven't answered the meme I said I was going to a few days ago, Len. I will get it done in SoCal most likely. Take care lovelies :) *gives lots and lots of hugs and holiday cheer*
i've come to the conclusion that my book from nanowrimo may never get published. why you may ask? because i can't draw a cover to save my life. i've been trying all morning. it looks like something a kindergartener would turn into their teacher. so, i'm thinking of hanging up the towel and using one of lulu's pre-fabricated covers. none of them really fit the book though. *sigh* unfortunately i have no way to go and take pictures of what i would have for the cover. unless someone comes up to me and gives me a free trip to france :P *giggle*
other than that nothing is really going on. the birthday was fun. the hubby's cake was great. he's a great cook and baker. i think i snagged me a good one. *giggle*
take care lovelies *hugs* i'm off to try and draw again.
edit: ok, it is almost 6pm and i still have no cover to my book. i've tried hand drawing it. drawing it with the gimp. hell i even looked up clip-art. nothing, nada, zilch. back to the so called drawing board. hrm, maybe i could just draw a drunk monkey. although that is only a *very* small scene in the book. i could draw that. :P
things have been going well. finished all the xmas shopping except for 1 pressie. *turns and glares at hubby for a moment* (i'd be done if he would just tell me "i want *put something here* for xmas" but nooooo, he just cant tell me.) we are going to visit my family and will be leaving sometime around xmas eve. yay for traffic to socal. :P
in the bad news department... the hubby has been stressed to no end. i can't seem to help. i think i just make things worse sometimes. it's all due to work and things i can't really discuss. i do know one thing though, i put my foot down and refused to go to a company party. i didn't want to end up giving those people a piece of my mind and making it worse for the hubby. but, i didn't refuse early enough so i am missing the local NaNoWriMo TGIO party. which makes me mad but that is ok. the hubby and i will just do something on our own.
so, i will be 34 tomorrow. *ack!* i was finally happy and used to being 33 and now this. :P found out my mom has a present for me that i will be getting at xmas. i will probably end up getting a phone call from my auntie saying 'happy birthday' and stuff. the only bad thing about turning 34? well, the 4. *giggle* i liked being 33. (did i mention i don't really like even numbers to begin with?)
ok, just thought of something to get the hubby. lower control arms for his car. well our car, but still. hrm, i think that if i was to tell him that is what i was thinking of getting he'd say "NO" so i doubt it will happen. why can't he just be jonesing for a book or something simple like that? ugh.
anyone know what to buy a Linux Geek for christmas that he may not already have? how about a guy that likes playing ps2? (a ps3 is just not in the price range right now since the only ones ive seen are over 1k) thanks in advance.
