NaNo 2009

My 2009 NaNo Novel has not only a working title, but a .jpg to go with it.  I rule.  This .jpg might give away more than I care to about the plot, though.  I may keep playing with my new free photo editing website and make another one or two before I settle.

It's not YA anymore, by the way.  In case the picture didn't give that away.  I decided in the end that I couldn't handle the idea that I had before; it was just too personal.  There's going to be elements of that idea in this story, but I'm using this as a bit of a stepping stone to get myself ready to write that story next year sometime (maybe NaNo, maybe not).  For now, I just hope that the huge outline that I have thrown together works to help me keep writing, and doesn't hinder me or somehow constrain me.  I'm afraid that I'll feel bound by the outline.  Writing starts tonight at midnight, so we'll see how it goes.  My immediate goal is to get to get as close to 10,000 words as possible by bedtime Sunday night.  Really, if I can get to 5,000 by then, I'll be satisfied, but I'd love to hit 8K or 10K by the close of business on November first.

I made the .jpg smaller, for my message board signatures:

Random thoughts

This post is inspired by Mark Patinkin's articles in the Providence Journal this weekend.  I laughed out loud at both of them.

I hate my lunch today, but we had nothing in the house.  Salad with lettuce and tomatoes only and an english muffin with sugar-free jam, and a few fritos.  Boring.

Untoasted english muffins are just gross, and weren't meant to be eaten that way.  At all.

Does it still count as salad if it's just lettuce and tomatoes in a bowl?

I regret not buying the crumpets I had in my hand at the grocery store last week.

I love Cozy Shack rice pudding, but I very rarely purchase it because then it's more of a treat when I do.

I refuse to buy orange marmalade for my house, because then it takes some of the magic out of going out for diner breakfast.

Is it weird that I made a conscious decision not to bring any Cozy Shack with my paltry lunch today because eating it at work would ruin it?

I've been in a dark, moody and brooding mood for over a week now, and it doesn't appear to be getting much better anytime soon.

My new favorite dark, moody and brooding mood song is Bad Day by Fuel.  Conviently, on the Best of Fuel CD that I own, it's followed immediately by Last Time, which has prooved to be angry enough to help me out of the sad mood inspired by Bad Day.  It works out really well, I think.

I'm beyond excited about the fact that over the weekend, my name was picked in a drawing to win a free copy of this magazine:

I'm bummed that I don't have the equivalent of a "man town" to display it in.  I doubt it would go over well if I displayed it in my bedroom at home.  I guess it's relegated to my office.

I'm thinking of chopping my hair short and coloring it darker than it is.  But I secretly know that I'm too indecisive to do this just yet, and it's going to stay the same color and keep on getting longer for at least a few more months.

On Saturday afternoon, we mowed our lawn.  It took two of us all afternoon to get it all done.  Note to self - do yard work more often than once a month.

Fuel is a great band, by the way.

Sometimes I look back and feel like entire years of my life have disappeared from my memory.  Then I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  I've never come to any conclusion on that point.

When I go to make my lunch for tomorrow, there's still going to be nothing in my house.  Actually, there will be less nothing than there was today, because we're out of lettuce now, too.

There's also nothing there for dinner tonight without some farily extensive cooking.  Guess who won't be home long enough to cook anything for dinner tonight?

A day without protein is like a day without sunshine

I wish I could quit my job and go back to college forever and just keep earning new degrees, but I don't want to be made to pay for any of this, and I never want to put any of the degrees to any practial, job-related use.  Specifically, I would like to start with an MBA with a focus in advertising and marketing, and a masters in meteorology.

I'd also like to do some more "studying" abroad.

Shutter Island just made the short list of the best books I've ever read.  There will be a separate post (with spoilers) about that in the very near future.

I shouldn't promise future posts like that, because I have a history of not following up.

Does it even matter?  Anything, I mean?

I have decided what I'm writing for this year's NaNoWriMo. I just hope I can handle it. It's going to be YA because I'm jumping on that bandwagon.

Green Day has quietly remained a force in the music industry for a really long time now. I'm a bigger and bigger fan the more I think about that.

America's Next Top Model

I love this show.  I'm honestly addicted to it.  But somehow in 13 seasons of watching it - I still understand nothing about fashion or fashion photography.  Honestly, during the judges' critique every week, I can not stop giggling at how the judges describe and discuss the pictures. 

"Honestly, it's a great photo, but had you just sort of slumped forward a bit, but kept this face, it would have been an interesting photo."

If you've ever seen the show, you can guess which judge said this to someone this week.  Imagine it with a british accent.  I mean, c'mon.  What?  I'll never stop giggling at this kind of crap.  This show is one of many guilty pleasures I am addicted to.  Is it bad that almost every show I watch on TV, I consider to be a guilty pleasure?  I watch some ridiculous television shows.  This, 90210, I'm currently watching (on DVR no less) the first episode of the Vampire Diaries, and I'm looking forward to the season premiere of Nip/Tuck.  It's bad, but at least I acknowledge it.

Opposites and Lullabies

An old boyfriend once presented the theory that there are certain defining likes and dislikes that can predetermine the functionability of relationships.  Simply put - people who like olives always end up with people who don't.  The same goes for mint chocolate chip ice cream, for some reason.  I believe this might also be true of onions on salad; that way, the people who don't like them can happily give them to the people who do.  It just works out.  I can't explain the mint chocolate chip ice cream thing, but in my experience, it's completely true.  I think it's also possible to add something about alarm clocks to this list.  Those who need them and those who don't, or those who like them and those who don't.  I, for example will set four alarms when I know I need to wake up for something important.  I might set more of them if my cell phone would allow me to have more than three alarms in addition to my regular alarm clock.  My dear husband is generally able to remember to set the one, but that rarely matters because he normally doesn't hear it going off for 15 minutes anyway.  Conveniently, he married me, and I'm alarm clock-obsessed, so he doesn't usually have to worry about remembering his alarm.  People who are obsessed with alarm clocks end up with people who can't seem to hear them.  Discuss.

I will never be too old for lullabies.  There are a number of great lullaby-type songs in my iPod, and most of them have corresponding videos on You-Tube that I can play on my phone when I'm falling asleep at night.  Lullabies aren't just for kids; it's great to be sung to sleep at any age.  Here's my current favorite:

Rent: The Broadway Tour

I saw this in Boston on July 25, 2009, and it was the best performance of Rent that I've seen aside from the one and only time I saw it on Broadway. That's easily explained by the fact that Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal are reprising their roles as Mark and Roger as played in the original Broadway cast. These lead roles were written for them, at least in part. More so for Anthony than for Adam, but no one can play them as well as these two, for sure. I was completely blown away by this performance.

That said, The show was at the Colonial Theater, which I had never been inside of. we had orchestra seats, right side, on the aisle, about 15 rows back. But holy cats, there's only about 30 rows in the orchestra at the Colonial! That theater is so small, it was amazing. It made the show feel so much more intimate, which I think is a great, great feeling for this show. And the sound! That was my biggest complaint last time there was a tour in Providence, last year, was that the sound was just off, somehow. But the sound was so clear and perfect at the Colonial - I don't know if it was a function of the small size of the theater, or just a better sound team on this tour, but wow. I haven't heard the show sound that good in years. Adam's voice has changed a bit since I saw him on Broadway 13 years ago (yikes, where does the time go!), but not in a bad way, and he is definitely the same Roger. I've never seen anyone put that level of emotion into Roger's character. Anthony Rapp's voice sounded just as crisp and clear as it always has, and the level of emotion and love he has for the show comes through in each and every performance he gives.

I fully expected to cry, and while the tears welled, I managed to hold myself together. The biggest tear-jerker in the show for me, is Collins' I'll Cover You Reprise in Act Two - in fact, just the line "When your heart has expired" in that song, especially as sung by Jesse L. Martin, can bring me to tears, but not this time. I love the actor who played Collins in all other respects, but I didn't feel as though he gave that song the level of emotion it needs. After this performance, Kid and I both agreed that we would lay off the show for a while, because we were feeling as though this amazing performance may have ruined all other tours for us. However, I just learned that this tour has added dates in Providence in November. While I don't think I can justify paying for full price orchestra seats again, I fully intend to wait for $20 student rush at least twice during the week-long run. I bet Kid will be right there with me.