The Thing That Goes Doink

Managed to get a few words done today. And now I have a shiny little widget to show it. XD

Other things accomplished today? Decorating for Christmas.

Anyway, I survived Thanksgiving, survived exactly one store for a sale on socks, of all things, and I survived dinner with my in-laws (again!) tonight.

And now I am ready for bed. G'night.

I ran out to Wally World to find a couple of gifts for the Birthday Party's White Elephant exchange. I managed to find one gift, and when I left, it had started to spit snow. I then ran to Toys-R-Us to find another gift (I had a very specific one in mind that I couldn't find at Wally World), and by the time I finished there, it was snowing harder.

After that I realized that I don't have a set of gloves that I can just leave with my trench coat, so I made one lat quick stop off at Freddy's where I found a lovely pair of Isotoner knit gloves that match my scarf on sale. By the time I left there it was snowing even harder.

And it's still going.

I'm an now drinking hot apple cider and soon I'll start off on NaNoWriMo for the day.

First: NaNoWriMo

I'll probably repost this on my official NaNo LJ, along with some of my thoughts on the project. But I feel that I'm trucking along nicely, and will probably do another 2k today at some point. However, long story short, the story keeps veering off in weird directions, that hopefully, with a little editing, with eventually make sense. Until then, I'll just keep writing as it comes to me.

And now a shiny word count meeter.

23224 / 50000 words. 46% done!

Second: Birthdays

This has been the week of birthdays. On Sunday (the 6th) was my step-dad's birthday. sideshow_ericka was on Monday. Wednesday was cindy_73. Friday was antiquitydreams and my kid sister. Today is my mother-in-law and my cousin's birthday. And I want to say that there are a couple of friends with birthdays still to come in the month of November.

Finally, Life in General:

So my husband has been working a shit ton of overtime. With the vendors being dumb and the general push to try and get major revisions and paperwork submitted, approved and filed before the holiday season, my husband is positively swamped. Yes, we appreciate the extra cash this will give us this holiday season, but my husband is getting so burned out that the best he can do when he gets home is slumping into his chair at his desk and play mindless flash games all evening.

As it stands he has to go in today, and he would go in tomorrow if the servers weren't going to be down for their monthly maintenance. He also put in seven hours yesterday (his day off) because he's so behind. I've tried to take up as much of the housework as possible seeing as my job really only takes a couple of hours each week (though that may change, currently submitting myself to the floating admin pool at the local hospital), but he still insists on helping out. I tried to tell him that I'd do the dishes and clean the kitchen today while he went in to the office, but he still emptied the dishwasher and the proceeded to load the dirty dishes in the sink while I took my shower.

So much for making him take a load off. However when my husband gets bored, he gets fidgety. And when he gets fidgety, he usually cleans something. I really can't stop him, even if I wanted to.

So my original idea for NaNoWriMo was a humorous, semi-autobiographical foray in to what it's like to be a girl in the various sci-fi and video game fandoms. It would be loosely based on the adventures of me and my friends in fandom and basically tossing the notion that all fans of sci-fi, anime and video games are slovenly, overweight white people who live in their mother's basement. Part of this stemmed from a lot of the criticisms against Team Unicorn FTW's "G33K & G4M3R GURL5" - mostly that no true geek looks like the member of Team Unicorn and obviously they aren't "real" geeks nor a real representation of the female geek and gaming community.

Well, it is a valid point that not all female geeks and gamers look like the members of Team Unicorn, but it's also a valid point that most female geek and gamers aren't overweight with skin conditions and no social life. I would say that most of us (myself included) fall into the "average" category. And like it or not, to claim that no true geek and gamer girl can look like anyone from Team Unicorn is insulting for all women in fandom. We come in all shapes and sizes, and for anyone to say otherwise is ignorant.

Anyway, what was supposed to be a light-hearted romp through high school while trying to keep fandoms a secret so as not to be a target of bullying, my novel had taken a decidedly darker turn. We now have, aside from the bullying angle I was already going to use, teen pregnancy, rape, suicide, and mental illness.

Did I mention that my novel was originally a comic effort?

Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now. The story has reached the point where it more or less writing itself down, with me making notes of important names and events as they get mentioned. A lack of continuity is a major pet peeve for me (which makes my love of Haven hilarious, given that continuity isn't exactly one of the series's strong points), and I hate to think that I opened up a monster truck sized plot hole because I can't keep names/dates/major events straight.

(And just a heads up, my current word count is 6,513/50,000, which means I still have roughly 100 more words to write today to reach today's "par" word count, and another 1,700 to reach the roughly 2,000 words I like to reach per day.)

Actually, my apartment isn't freezing. It's 68 degrees, but I'm also wearing two pairs of socks (one pair regular cotton and the other pair fleece), my Doc Martins, Jeans, a long sleeved shirt and a zip up hoodie. I'm actually quite comfortable. This is probably also helped by the fact that I had a pot of water on the stove simmering in an attempt to get some humidity back into the air.

It's still colder than cold outside - but I'm fully planning on spending my day inside, with cocoa or tea, and working on my novel. We shouldn't be getting any more snow dumped on us for a while, but this stuff is going to hang around for a while - followed by freezing rain. Oh joy. (Please note all intended sarcasm.) I volunteered to go help my grandma clean house and whatnot tomorrow, but I don't know if I'll make it over there. For one it might be too cold and my car won't start. Secondly, I have no idea if the roads will be good enough for me to drive on. Yes, I would like to know how it handles in snow but I'm certainly not about to test it in these conditions. And again, I have no idea if my car will even start. So much for getting the battery replaced before the cold hit.

Anyway, back to work on my novel. The finish line is close and I'm gunning to get as much done before Thanksgiving as I can.

And on an unrelated note, happy Festivus.

So this meme is still accepting fandom requests. So far I've done it for tactics, Tales of Symphonia and Harry Potter. But I have many more fandoms (and many more friends!) that I would love to hear from.

Now that the big pimp post is done, I'm plugging away on NaNo. I'm roughly a day and a half to two days ahead, and I don't even think I've hit the half way mark in the book. I'll hopefully do a more coherent post about the status of my book over at penismighter, along with an official word count meter.

In other news I found out that my dad is going to be in state for Christmas, which a bunch of stress and heart ache I don't want or need, but am going to have deal with anyway. So I guess I just have to pull on my big girl panties and deal.

Other things I've been up to include looking into Masters of Library and Information Studies and volunteering with the Kadelec Neurology spring fundraiser at travellyr's request. It's not like I have anything else to do, and this is the kind of stuff I actually enjoy doing. The MLIS should give me more employment options, especially since I can do document control and record keeping wherever my husband ends up working. And if it get a true MLIS, I could even become a school librarian at a later point. Not quite the same as being a teacher, but close enough that I would still have employment satisfaction.

There is a slight problem with looking into MLIS programs.

1) They need to be online, as I don't live in a college town, and the higher education facilities where I live do not offer anything related to MLIS.

2) I'd really prefer not to have to travel, or if I do have to travel, not very far.

3) The cost should be decent, not an arm, a leg, and my first born child or equal to how much my husband makes in a year.

So far, Alabama meets two of those three requirements, but I'd be required to fly to Tuscaloosa at least once during my time in the program. I'd love to visit Alabama, but I don't know if I'd actually have time for that or if I'd just be doing school stuff. Also, not looking forward to getting X-rayed or poked and prodded. I think I'd feel the need to ask the TSA agent out to dinner after, or at least to drinks.

The University of North Texas is another viable option, and while they're about $10K more expensive than Alabama, I wouldn't actually have to go to Denton or Dallas. I could get away with a nine day conference in Utah, which could actually work because 1) I technically don't have to fly to Utah and 2) my husband has family in Utah we could theoretically visit while we're down there. I just don't know if I'm up to staying in a hotel for over a week. .-.

I should also still be looking for a job, but my skill set makes that a bit more difficult than I would like. I can do secretarial work, of course, but around here they're looking for specific skills with certain programs or a certain amount of previous experience or certification or heaven forbid all three. It's frustrating and irritating, especially since WSU has revived its Education program, but only for already certified teachers looking to keep current with state requirements and the like.

Head meet wall.

At any rate I need lunch and I should probably make tea. I woke up all congested this morning with a scratchy throat which means one of two things. I am either trying to adjust to the change of seasons or I'm coming down with a cold. I think after lunch I'll take some Zicam to be safe and then make some honey lemon tea. And then buckle down and write some more, even if I did find all of Slayers and Slayers NEXT online. Legally. And would much rather watch that instead of write. (To be fair, I am ahead in the word counts, it's not like I have to write today but that doesn't change the fact that I would like to.)

Today's BPAL scent is Eden from the Wanderlust collection. The scent is fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood, and on me pretty much all you can smell is the honeyed almond milk. Interesting fact, any scents with honey in them always end up smelling like talcum powder on me. :/ Which is a major bummer because I rather like how Eden smells when I first put it on, but after half an hour the smell switches to baby powder and that's not how I want to smell the whole day.

Anyway, I need to sit down and get working on NaNo since I'm done with all of my cleaning for the day. According to the main site I'm two days ahead, which is all fine and dandy, but I'd really like to keep as much ahead of the curve as I possibly can, because by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I'm usually spending all day doing other stuff and not writing, and so I try to make it so that I only have a few hundred words to crank out instead of nearly 2000. Besides, being ahead of the curve usually means that when I hit rough patches, I can easily get to my daily goal and not worry about scrambling to make it.

Anyway, I need to get to work. Though I'm seriously debating having lunch first.

I headed over to my parents house at 5:30 last night as we were starting at six. That would give me enough time to get my costume on (you try driving in a full crinoline - it ain't happening) and help with the last minute stuff before the first people started arriving.

After moving cars around, we got everything squared away and I took up my post out back, collecting the donations from the visitors as they left. After a while, my sister and I switched places, and I took over candy duty and she collected donations. Several of my friends stopped by, also bringing donations, everyone oohing and ahhing over the decorations. We closed up shop at about nine thirty (which is when everyone cleared out), all in all getting 475 food times for the local food bank. We're running the same hours today, and while we were originally only going to do the food drive yesterday, all media covering this stated that it was Saturday and Sunday. If we get donations today we'll certainly accept them, and we'll see what we get tonight. The 475 we got yesterday was certainly more than we thought we would get, so whatever we get tonight is icing on the cake.

As far as my costume goes, I've got my hair started. I've pulled it into a ponytail, and then divided that into several smaller bits which I've moussed, twisted, and then coiled. My goal is to make a poofy pony that will then be sprayed down with the temporary black hair dye. Once that's all in and dry, I'll wrap the pink ribbon around the ponytail holder and tie it up. I'm hoping to get at least a few pictures - I'll post them so you can see. Though hopefully the best photos will be taken at Sakura-Con next year.

I suppose I should start thinking about dinner, since I technically have to finish hair and make-up before heading over to my parents' house and I need to eat because I refuse to eat nothing but candy tonight. We've got leftovers in the fridge (thank goodness) so it's just a matter of finding what appeals to me.

Most importantly, though, I've finished my party dress, aside from minor fit adjustments and some finishing. I'm relieved, because that means that I can quickly get Lydia sewn tomorrow and still get a good start on NaNo. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to get my dress done in time, but thankfully the minor stuff can be done in an hour a few days before the actual party. That means that tomorrow morning, after Lydia is sewn, I can clear off the dining room table and reclaim my writing space. I don't think I'll do anything special for the NaNo kick off - I'll probably make a pot of tea, maybe get some cookies or biscotti, and just sit and write and see what I get out of day one.

I had forgotten about how much I love Last Exile. When I finished Saiyuki RELOAD I browsed my collection to find something else to put in. I decided that it was high time for Last Exile, though that was mostly fueled by, "The show was done in 16:9. I have a 16:9 TV. The Blu-Ray player automatically up converts anything it plays to look something akin to hi-def. So that means..." *cue wide-eyed fangirl stare* "Dude, it's gonna look AWESOME."

And I was right. Last Exile in standard def is pretty freakin' amazing, but in hi-def (or up converted to high def) it's STUNNING. Breathtakingly beautiful. I plowed through all 26 episodes of the course of a few days, watching two or three DVDs in a day. The thing about Last Exile is either you love it or you hate it. The pace is on the slow side. Rather than hitting you with non-stop action or plot twists, it goes along at a more subtle pace, allowing for character development at a more natural momentum. Personally, I loved that it went a bit slower than traditional action/adventure stories. I loved the the artwork by Range Murata. I loved the music by Dolce Triade (I have both soundtracks on CD - the official US releases - if that's any testament to just how much I love it). I loved the English voice cast. I loved everything about it, so naturally I bought the DVDs.

Now that it's done I feel a little sad, and will have to pick out something else to watch. Maybe I start up Outlaw Star again, and go with something faster paced and bit raunchier.

In other news, I spent most of the afternoon fighting with the zipper, and finally managed to install it ten minutes ago. It's not pretty but it's in, meaning that tomorrow I'll finish the lining, attach the back and possibly hem it. I always save the slip stitching for last, mostly because I find it's relaxing to finish a project by sitting on the couch watching movies while I absentmindedly poke my finger numerous times. (Hopefully that is now a thing of a past because I now own a thimble. It's purple.) My major goal is to get this done before November, I've done sewing and NaNo at the same time, and while it's possible, I really don't like spreading myself thin like that.

Speaking of NaNo, I'm still working on characters. I'm going to try and pound out a few more this evening, just so that I have a completed cast list. Last year I was still working on the cast list as I started writing and I really disliked wasting time I could have spent writing on minor character profiles.

First of all:

Please cut and paste this into your journal if you know someone, or are related to someone, who suffers from stupidity.

People need to understand that stupidity is real, and should be taken seriously. You could be sitting next to a sufferer right now. After years of research and testing there is still no known cure for stupidity. Sympathy and pity does not help; acting on the natural impulse to slap upside the head, or apply the venerable "clue by four," to the person who's suffering from stupidity has been proven ineffective; and ignoring it only fosters it's continued spread. The best we can do as individuals is raise awareness for this affliction of the mind. Unfortunately 93 percent of those reading this won't copy and paste this into their journal because they simply do not know how to copy and paste.

Help spread the word.

Second:

( A NaNo meme swiped from the Other Megan. )

In regards to sewing, I'm going to attach the bodice to the skirt, and then probably start the construction of the back of the dress, so that once the zipper is installed, all I have to do is attack the back and hem. There will probably be some slip stitching involved (because there always is), which I can do while watching a movie (or more Danny Phantom on Netflix).

At any rate, I'm suddenly starving and I think I have some tuna calling my name.