Monthly Archives: October 2007

Unknown's avatar

Write A Book

by

Click here for information. I know you won’t, so that link might not even be real…

fives.jpg#17

Five Things I’m Starting to Remember About NaNoWriMo:

  1. People making fun of it
  2. Not sleeping
  3. Being very grouchy
  4. Writing during family time
  5. The anti-climatic ending

finished book

Unknown's avatar

Firsts Over Lasts

by

It seems to me that doing things for the first time is more fun than doing them for the last. I’ve turned in my last library book, made the last trips to my favorite places, gone for the last car ride out to Bellevue. We’ve eaten our last Pike’s Place Chowder. Just like when we left Austin, we had to get it all in, although this time I haven’t gained 25 lbs.
I’m excited about our new firsts, but getting ready to go is bittersweet. I know I really like Seattle, I’m going to miss the new friends I’ve made, and I’m really going to miss my little gym. It all flew by so quickly.

MK and I canceled our Globo Gym memberships, there isn’t one near where we’ll be moving. I’m (sort of) two weeks in to this intense Body For Life routine (that guy is insane, certifiably, I can’t lift my arms) and well, it’s depressing to think the next place we’re at might not even have a gym…

So there’s the pros and cons.

Do you prefer the firsts in life, or the lasts?

lonely
www.oceandharma.com

Unknown's avatar

Life-Changing Stuff

by

This is a great quote that I found recently, from PJ Harvey:

‘The world doesn’t need any more art that’s just alright’, says Polly Harvey. ‘It only needs mind-blowing, inspirational, life-changing stuff’.

kandinsky

That’s motivation to create something amazing no matter what it is.

Unknown's avatar

Early Planning

by

When do you start thinking about the holidays? This weekend, MK and I realized that we need to think. Besides this giant move and drive, I’ve got to write another novel. I’ve got to finish my first novel. I mentioned that I was invited to a birthday celebration. MK mentions the day trading convention that we went to last year. Are we going again? JH calls and announces his wedding, Dec 1st. Can we make it? I’d love to see Key West…Where are we going for Thanksgiving? Where will his family be? I haven’t seen my family back home since last year. We must get some skiing in this winter. Utah? Colorado? ARGH!

Not to mention I miss my friends. All of a sudden, our penciled in little monthly calendar looked messy. How do you sort out all your time?

Unknown's avatar

Martinis And Corn Mazes

by

What do you do with your extra special, last visitor? Why, the best stuff ever, of course. ND got to see all the staples: the library, Shorty’s, the Locks, and the city. But he also got a 7 mile walk through the parks and waterfront. He also got us up the Columbia Tower free. We got to go hunting fish and views, be nearly hit by a train, nearly crash a wedding, and all these fun new things. We had drinks at Tini Bigs and Hula Hula, and saw the Red Bull soapbox races from the comfort of a dry indoor table with MW and some Ohio State fans that let us know UT might’ve won had we been elsewhere (not sorry I missed that).

You might notice the pictures are fantastic, we put ND in charge. We ate well, drank better, and kept moving, the whole weekend. And yes, we literally found and paid money to wander through a giant corn maze. You only live once people.

Here are the pictures!

maze.jpg

Unknown's avatar

Worth Remembering

by

Click here for information. Can’t stop, won’t stop…

fives.jpg#16

Five Things I Always Forget When Packing:

  1. Toothpaste
  2. Q tips
  3. Glasses case
  4. Nintendo DS
  5. Hair clips

couple packing
www.jupiterimages.com
Husband always remembers 1-4, so I’m usually O.K.

Unknown's avatar

One More Time

by

Not that it will, by any means, be the last time, but it’s time for another
official announcement!

Our time in Seattle was amazing. KD, RD, LC, RD2, AC, NN, ND, Mom, Dad, MIL, and DW all came to visit us! We explored the city, took trips to Vancouver, the San Juan islands, the Olympics, Mount Rainier…

Six months is too short. There were so many adventures, and still so much we didn’t have time for. But, this is going to wrap it up for now. We’re moving next week again, this time to San Diego!

MK’s visited, and knows people there. I haven’t and don’t. Somehow, I ended up in charge of the trip. So I need some help. Anyone ever driven the entire CA coast? Have any suggestions? So far I know we’re stopping in Portland, and stopping to drive through one of those cut out Redwood trees! That’s all I’ve got, then it gets tricky. There are just so many options!!

We’re getting all packed up, and OF COURSE – I’m resending an open invitation to everyone I’ve ever met (and haven’t) – to come visit us there! I don’t know how long we’ll be on the road, we are looking at it as a little vacation. Hopefully I can find thestandin for you guys, she’s MIA these days…

road trip
www.roadtripusa.com

Unknown's avatar

Resident Evil: Extinction

by

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I really like zombie movies. You follow the time tested, flawless general plan, you shock and scare, throw in a little gore, and usually people end up laughing and shrieking, good times.

We finally got to see the latest Resident Evil this weekend. Man, the plan is there. The zombies are crazy and it takes hardcore skills to fight ’em. Everyone that you don’t want to get infected does, all the things you know to look out for happen.

res evil legos
www.brickshelf.com

But at the same time, I didn’t jump out of my seat (MW did, though). And the end, well, I heard they weren’t going to make another and I hope they mean that about as much as Indiana Jones. It demands a sequel. I’ll even offer to write it.

If you like the others, of course you’ll see it. But really, at the rate DVDs come out these days, I’d just wait a few months.

Unknown's avatar

If I Knew This Last Year

by

The book totally would have been done by now!! Right…

How To Write A Book

This is Millie Von Kruesenstein, Y.P.R.'s typist.

  1. Do absolutely nothing until you can see the whites of your deadline’s eyes.
  2. If you’ve got cowriters, try to disagree as much as possible. If you’re of the same opinion regarding a section of text, bicker about dinner choices.
  3. Criticize what little progress you’ve achieved and doubt what little talent you possess.
  4. Do not write any new words when there are still old words that have only been rewritten twelve times. No sentence is complete until it’s lost all traces of your original thought.
  5. Complain about the pressure of a looming deadline to everyone you know. This will ameliorate the jealousy and bitterness felt by friends without book deals. It will also put an end to social invitations that may hamper your writing progress, as your former friends will now hate you.
  6. Stop sleeping. Complain about how tired you are too.
  7. Never have a mental breakdown before 11 p.m.
  8. Do not postpone other projects so that you can focus on the current one. It’s better to spread yourself so thin that you produce an evenly distributed amount of complete crap.
  9. If you’ve gotten this far without a single technical foul-up, now’s a good time to download something viral.
  10. Make a schedule for yourself, but do not even remotely follow it. Instead, continually do some mental math that divides your remaining pages by the rapidly dwindling number of hours.
  11. The best writing is that which is compiled from dozens of different documents, including things you’ve e-mailed or text-messaged to yourself. Try to create separate documents on as many different computers as are available. Some things will be irrevocably lost, and hours will be spent cursing. Learn a lesson about orderliness, but do not act upon such knowledge.
  12. Some terribly constructed sentences always make good low-hanging fruit for your cowriters to edit, thus protecting your awful idea from their meddling.
  13. Were you napping? Stop that. It’s 11 o’clock already. Start freaking out, hard.
  14. If you’ve worked hard three days in a row, take a hard-earned day off. And it looks like snow tomorrow, so you might as well take the whole weekend. But a day off from writing is not a day off from complaining!
  15. If you haven’t drastically gained or lost weight, you’re just not writing well.
  16. Assume your sources are reputable. When some accidental research reveals the source that serves as foundation for your work to be as reliable as grandma’s memory, briefly consider the amount of work it will take to correct things at this late hour, then fuck it and move on.
  17. Pick up any book on your bookshelf, skim a few pages, and admit that it’s a terrible book… but better than anything you’ll ever write. Cry.
  18. If one of your cowriters is something of an optimist, steal his hat.
  19. If you’re not panicking, call your agent and request they he or she panics. You’ll have no problem panicking afterward.
  20. Call your mom.
  21. Your time is more valuable than your money. Spend as much cash as you’ve got in your pockets.

via yankeepotroast.org