On Day 4 of six in a row at the PO job. My next paycheck is going to be spectacular. My hands are getting very tired (which is why I haven't been online much or updating here). The f***tards at the facility have turned down my request for days off after Christmas to go see my family; this means I either have to do a 2 - 3 day run all the way out to Indianapolis (7 1/2 hours each way), or not see my sister, brother-in-law or nieces *at all* for the holidays. This sucks, and the check is not enough to make up for such suckage.

One mildly amusing thing from tonight's work: I frequently use the sound effect "blee" as a mood indicator. (Mostly it refers to indifferent-to-mildly-bad mood, but if said in a manic upbeat tone can also sub for "whee!") Today I was keying Dayton mail and found an address in Springfield, OH for "Blee Street."

...most of the time, I probably wouldn't want to live there. ^^;;

Woo-Hoo!

Did it! Managed to get over 50K and get my "novel" verified before I went in to work this afternoon. ^____^ (If I hadn't needed to go in to work today, I might have gotten it to 52 or 53 thousand... was really getting into writing some of the scenes toward the end of the plot.)

Now, after not having much at all ready for the art show that happened this last weekend (d'oht!) I think I need to spend some time creating new pics. Yeah. Sounds like a plan.

Halfway There...

Got my NaNo wordcount over 25,000 today. (Technically, over 26K!) I think this year I'm not so much having the "Week 2 Wall" as I am the "Weekend Wall". Don't have much trouble whomping out enough on the weekdays to keep just a bit ahead of the game; but when the weekend rolls around and the other Mews are home, it's very hard to make myself stick to the writing. I see so little of them during the week, right now. 8 {

But I got through it, and now I get to crash. Good night!

New Toy!

Yes, I should be writing. I *was* writing... then I checked some blogs and found this neato thing:

...yeah, I really do kill too much time online. D'oht.

Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

I'm starting to see a correlation here. In November, while frantically trying to keep up my writing speed, I totally screw up my sleep schedule beyond any semblance of normalcy.

And so far in November, I'm on my second rotten headache of the month. (Of course, the first one was after all the tension and long hours of working the election, so I can't blame it entirely on NaNo. But this one? Yeah.)

On the other hand, I've pretty much caught back up to where I need to be. Up until last Thursday, I'd been managing to average 2000 words a day and was a full day's wordcount ahead; that would have put me over the 50K mark by Thanksgiving, and give me the entire last weekend of November stress-free. Slacked off and fell behind over the weekend, though, and have been writing like a fiend since to dig myself back out of the hole. I'm hoping to build up that comfort buffer again over my days off.

And since one scenic fae is never enough, I'm currently adding a flashback scene to Zeyon's training that includes another. ^___^ woo.

Current NaNo Words: 15,110 and counting.

The Second Annual Insanity Has Begun

So yes, I am once again attempting NaNoWriMo. And starting the sequel to last year's story, Duality. (Yes, I know I didn't finish last year's novel yet. I originally thought of picking up where I'd left off with it, but realized that I'd probably get too bogged down in trivia and details.)

Last year, I tried my best to write in linear fashion - starting at the beginning and going straight through the tale without the kind of skips and jumps that are my usual writing style. And I made it to 50K words, but just barely and only on the very last day. This time, I'm letting scenes show up as they will, and so far I'm staying ahead of the required daily wordcount - in fact, got 2 days' worth done in the first 24 hours. So I probably won't be posting this year's "finished" product right away, since it will require me to go back fill in some blanks.

...election. I cannot even bring up the election right now, my brain is still too raw over the whole thing and I'll only sink into ranting frothing expletives. (Tho' that right there should give you a pretty good idea how I feel about it.) Mneh. Going back to writing now, I prefer my fantasy world thanks.

Current NaNo Words: 5,625 and counting.

Art Attack?

So since my entire month of November may be given over to frantic attempts at writing again, I should get my butt offline and try to get some dang art done today!

Yeah. That's what I'm'a gonna do. Right now. Soon as I sign off here. Yup.

I'm Not "Undecided" - Now GO AWAY.

I am soooo looking forward to November 3. You have no idea. Living in Pennsylvania right now means relentless calls - mostly recorded and auto-dialed - from BOTH political parties, schmoozing for my vote. And I am heartily sick of hearing from *both* sides.

Also: quit calling to tell me to send in an absentee ballot! I work at the polling place on election day, fools, and if I have to be there from 7 AM to 8 PM anyhow, ain't no way I'm messing with an absentee ballot (which one side or the other will probably try to get disallowed somehow anyway). >______<

All I can say is, thank goodness for Caller ID. Between now and when the election's over, I ain't answering ANY call marked "Out of Area" or "Private".

Okay, yeah, so I'm getting a little disillusioned with our 'democratic republic' right now. *sigh* It'll get better when the election's over. ...I hope.

Do Not Pass 'Go', Do Not Collect 0...

Well, I didn't get the job I applied/interviewed for. Not even worthy of a second interview. Received my official 'your background and experience are not as close a match to the job requirements as that of other candidates' letter today. ...Just what I needed on a day that was already in the dumps. >,<

Now I get to report back to my family, who were anxiously awaiting word. Oh joy.

"I wanna know / What you're thinking
There are some things you can't hide..."

...and I'd *love* to know what masochistic impulse led me to waste a couple of morning hours on a Mercedes Lackey book. >,< 'Cause, you know, I'll never get that little slice of my life back again.

D'oht.

Right: time to haul out those decorations now.

"Look there she goes, that girl is so peculiar / I wonder if she's feeling well..."

Yay, we're coming up on my favorite holiday of the year! Yup, even you don't get time off work for it or anything, Hallowe'en is my favorite. I gleefully embrace any tradition that gives people an excuse to dress up in costume! (The sugar-buzz factor is purely incidental. Well, okay - mostly incidental, anyway.)

So with two and a half weeks before the big day, Da Mews have to decide whether we all want to dress up (which I think was a yes, wasn't it? Riss'? G-Cat?), and then whether we work on perfecting existing costumes, or go with something new and different. If it's choice number two, then I need to get to work firing up the old sewing machine! (Choice One would involve more work with accessories and makeup than actual sewing.)

Ah yes, and I must haul the decorations up from the basement and get to work tarting up our yard for the occasion. Hopefully if we make it clear before the holiday weekend itself that we're in the mood for being invaded by little ghosts and goblins, we might get some trick-or-treaters this year. If nothing else - and the weather's decent - I may take a lawn chair out to the curb on the street behind our property, which gets much less car traffic and therefore more kids on the prowl for goodies, and hand out candy there.

"One more thing..."

Okay, anybody familiar with the "Jackie Chan Adventures" cartoon? And Uncle with his "...one more thing!" routine?

That's my mother on the telephone. I called her up this afternoon to see how last weekend's trip to Wisconsin went, and to give her the 'no news yet' report on the job interview. And a phone call that should have taken maybe 20 minutes, just dragged out for 52+. O,O

I love the woman, but - dang, my *ear* hurts now! X D

Lady In Waiting

Waiting to hear whether I get a second interview at CMU or not, waiting to find out just when the heck I'll be getting my car back from the garage. When I took it in they said they *might* be able to get it done by Sept. 30... but obviously it's not done. Must call and nag them tomorrow.

Am still trying to decide whether I'm trying for NaNo again this year; I think a lot of it is going to depend on whether I have a new job by that point, and if so - what the job is. There are also other projects in the works that would end up getting put on hold for the entire month of November if I do, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. *sigh*

But what th'heck, I didn't make up my mind last year until October 29 or so. ^_^;; Who, me? Make decisions at the last moment? Well, yeah. After much dithering and fretting. So I guess I'm waiting on that one, too.