I did it. Yes, I'm bragging a little.



WHEE! :D :D

For those of you not in the know - and haven't heard me rant about it on my Facebook - I've jumped feet-first into National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short).

I am two days out from the end of the month, and officially I have, at this moment, 42,856 words on paper.

I must hit 50,000 before the end of the month. 30 days, 50k words. (The key is quantity, not quality. Quality comes later, the actual challenge is just GETITOUTNOW, basically.)

When I'm in the groove, I'm able to move at the speed of literacy - the words pour out of me, and my first 10k were easy to burn past. Indeed, the first day I churned out a pleasantly large 5k+ chunk of text, and I know I could have done more if I didn't keep trying to edit things. That's the hardest part of the challenge for me: just to write and get it all out instead of CONSTANTLY self-editing and trimming out things I don't like until I reach the point where I can't stand it any more and I abandon the project.

Now as I near the end of the month, I realize how damn good this has been for me. It's the most I've ever written in such a short period of time (I don't count RP, because I've probably done five MILLION words over all the years, and that's a bit different). The notion that I'm going to have a file on my computer that contains the first draft of a novel from start to finish, crafted by me, is exciting.

But it's been hard as hell, too. Forcing myself to write, to meet deadlines, has helped to push me through some pretty thick writer's block.

Maybe I should start holding my own personal NaNoWriMos and get back on the writing horse again. I'm starting to realize how much I've missed it - RP is fantastic, of course, but just writing...

Maybe one day I'll get published. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

All right. Time to get back on it. I want to hit 50k by Sunday night. Rah!

ps. Also, my visa arrived on Thursday night. My last day at work is the 11th, and I move January 1 or 2 in the new year. SHIT GOT REAL, YO

Approved.

90% waiting, 10% action at the Consulate.

Visa should be coming in 'two weeks', but it could be sooner.

I don't even know what to say anymore except

FINALLY.

So I'm in Montreal.

It looks like Toronto but with more French.

Force Unleashed is a fantastic game. Holy crap. It's hard and I'm missing a lot of holocrons but I'm having FUN with it!

Between that and NaNoWriMo (sitting at 5115 words already today), my month is going to be busy in the leisure sector.

And there's an interview to go to (WOO) and whatnot. Life is finally, finally good.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 @ 8 AM

MONTREAL

INTERVIEW

You know what? I'm angry. But not just angry, no: I am break-shit-with-a-bat-and-swear-violently-and-don't-you-get-in-my-way angry. I am going to break my long silence with a lot of fury.

( I'm being considerate, although I'm in no mood to be. Profanity underneath. )

Your result for The Ultimate Canadian Test...

Very Canadian

You scored 90 Canada speak and 96 Canadianess!

Take The Ultimate Canadian Test at HelloQuizzy

That was an awesome quiz, I must say.

Life keeps going. Nothing new to talk about, I'm afraid. Job is still there, Carl is still not-here, and I'm still not-with-Carl. All we're doing is hurry up and wait.

But fall is coming, and I hope that as the leaves change, so does my situation and I finally get to stop holding the 'Pause' button on my life, and hit 'Play' instead.

Happy Independence Day to all of my American friends!

This time next year, if everything goes right, I'll be watching fireworks on both sides of the border, three days apart.

What a nice thought.

Also, happy birthday, Mom!

Hermes is back! Now there's just the hella slow business of reinstallation...

I'm staring at the reactivated K-1 fiance visa application packet.

I've been here before. There's no elation this time, just the quiet feeling of settling in for another long run through the gauntlet.

Deja vu.

This time I'm better armed with knowledge, however. Perhaps things will go right.

I finally got around to pulling everything off of Athena (old desktop) via USB key and putting it onto Hermes (new laptop). At first, Athena didn't even want to boot up, but I forced her into my bidding and we finally were able to pull everything off it. I have music again!

Also Carl is visiting this weekend. Yee!

Next two weekends are busy: bowling on Saturday for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the Easter weekend I'm going to Toronto to walk in a parade to help advertise work. (Yeah, ha ha brownnoser, I know.)

Passport has been sent off so that the visa process can start all over again. It should be arriving Monday so we can minimize the amount of time we have to wait for it.

I'm in a good spot right now, financially. Still waiting on the performance/merit raises from last year (supposed to be the second pay in April, sez management), but I'm able to handle my bills and loans and have enough left over to eat, still. Which, compared to where I was last year, is definitely a leg up.

I just need to not feel so damn alone all the time, and life would be perfectly peachy.

DEAR INTERNET

When you are afraid of something, you are WARY of it.
When you are tired of something, you are WEARY of it.

FUCKING LEARN THE DIFFERENCE YOU ILLITERATE FUCKS!

IF I SEE YOU MAKE THIS MISTAKE AGAIN I WILL TAKE A COPY OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS SIDEWAYS SO HARD YOU'LL COUGH OUT ALL THE WORDS THAT START WITH 'Q'.

No love,
Me

edit: this has nothing to do with my f-list, just that I've read one too many forum postings with poor spelling today.

Laptop with borrowed free WiFi connection, check.
$4 cafe latte that looks cooler than it tastes, check.
Worldweary look and mussed hair from the wind, check.
Mr. Rogers-like brown pullover, check.
Niche t-shirt with random Chinese characters on it, check.
Shirt is from Firefly = ++ geek points

I'm just killing time before I go to the pub with some workmates. I don't usually sit here and do this, but I can see the appeal.

Laptops are boss.

Booking flights is scary.

Also, I can't help but wonder if I'm going to be one of those people who is told 'lol too fat to fly'.

I know, I know. You'd think I'd be more worried about the plane falling out of the sky than whether or not my ass fits in an American Airlines seat.

Oh well. Almost have this travel thing handled, as soon as the payment on my Visa goes through - then I can book the sumbitch, and then arrange for a Red Car.

ps: I do not want to go back to work. I would sooner stab my eyes out than go back there. However, I have a cat to feed.

LLAMASLUG IS GOING TO EAT YOUR FAMILY

Yep.

29 years on this rock.

This year has to be better than the last.

Thanks for remembering, sweetbabu.

After shower edit: oh my god so many gray hairs where did they all come from D: DO NOT WANT

This had better not be the benchmark for 2009 or I'm going to choke a bitch.

My head isn't as stuffed as it was, but my left ear is now plugged and I'm coughing so hard I have pains under my ribs, and my throat is sore. Let's not even mention my poor achingly raw nose from blowing it so much.

I've spent the past four days on the couch (except Friday when I went to work and I seriously wish I hadn't, I could've used the extra recuperating time) doing nothing but sleeping, watching TV and playing around on Hermes. I don't have the energy or the balance to do more. My apartment is a mess, I have almost no human OR cat food, and I work tomorrow.

I spent the past year mostly dodging the 'holy hell I'm sick' bullet, and now I took a total headshot thanks to disease-factory coworkers.

I AM SO GRUMPY but it may be the fever talking

but dear god i love hermes laptops are amazing ++