• So happy for all the good things in my life (family, friends, health, future). Going to stuff myself silly and take a nap and knit a bag. #

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• I broke 40k today. Will hit 50k by dec 1 but i don't think the story will be done. :( #nanowrimo #

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• I underestimated how much I wanted to get a replacement cellphone. I finally got one and now can't stop using it. Can't stop, won't stop! #
• I want to read: Martha Graham by Martha Graham - bit.ly/8BZt8Q #
• I want to read: Handmade Nation by Faythe Levine - bit.ly/66XYTw #
• I want to read: Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomet... by Matt Kellogg - bit.ly/4nM2ml #
• I want to read: A Year With Swollen Appendices by Brian Eno - bit.ly/5QMO6O #
• I want to read: Couldn't Keep It to Myself by Wally Lamb - bit.ly/4SRJMD #

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• 36376. About 300 more words to go today. Never mind that most of the ones I've written will eventually end up in the trash. #nanowrimo #

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• Time to get outside. #
• I just had cookies & milk for the first time in my life. It was amazing. #
• Everything else today has sucked the big one, but the cookies & milk are indeed amazing. #

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• Still short a couple thousand but #amwriting. Or about to get back to it, anyway, after a break to study German. And then CIV! AND BEER! #

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• Yes, "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey is the best possible song for this situation. I LOVE this song, apparently. #

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ON WRITING:
I busted ass on Monday night and wrote down 4,000 words. It put me above the required count for the first time since November 2nd.  Of course, I then spent Tuesday night playing Civ and watching artsy movies (and yes, writing a bit).

I started treating writing like a homework assignment.  I was always good at homework.  Of course, now I blog while I avoid the work I need to do. Or I practice sun salutations for the first time in eight years.  Or I have a dance party in my chair to Ciara.  You know. So that's how I'm getting it done. By having a dance party while watching yoga videos and blogging.

Things I've learned:

• It's a good idea for characters to have dislikes as well as preferences. I'd like to say I overlooked that because I am so overwhelmingly optimistic and positive, but then you would laugh.  And I dislike being laughed at (and/or I make people pay to laugh at me). 
• I've matured as a writer a) since the last time I tried NaNo in 2002, b) since I was in creative writing classes and c) since three months ago. My brain is digesting things it knew for years. WTF I am a seriously late bloomer.
  
• I suspect the influence of dance-making.  In performance, the early products don't matter because people see the final...and, unless I start wantonly posting excerpts, no one will see these early, terrible products either. 
• Sometimes thinking about something for a while is enough, and it's okay if it doesn't happen. 
• Dramatic things happen, because I, with the godlike hand of Writer, made them happen. No one can stop me! No one can say, "That's not how literary fiction works!"  Because of dramatic things happening, a bunch of random people with nothing in common have knitted up into one big thing, unlike last time when I caused the apocolypse in week 2 in a fit of despair.
  

Speaking of wanton excerpts, the best typo I've made so far:
Except in this case instead of pythons, there were writing women ... . 

ON FUMES, RUNNING:
This summer/fall, as you all know, has been the Year of Losing Things.  My wallet, my wallet again, my wallet again again, my cell phone, my wallet, my cell phone again, etc. I basically ignored this fact and only replaced the things I couldn't get by without: My check card & credit card.  I've been relying on Paul's cell phone, his bus pass and my passport (for ID). It's lame. It's exhausting.  It's embarrassing to whip out a US passport to buy things. I just about lose it when I realize that I am still too immature/unfocused to call the dang phone company. 

The house is a wreck, the list of things I need to do is longer than the limit on entries so I couldn't type it up if I tried, and ... yeah. Sigh.  I'm sure it'll all work itself out in the end but dang, I am tired of To Do Lists. I can haz vacation? At least I'll have a large amount of terrible writing to show for it in the end. 

Originally posted on sparkling-robots.vox.com

• OK: #havebeer #listeningtophillipglassstation #amwriting #

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• Guys, I'm going to watch As The World Turns during my lunch break. Why? Because my UNCLE is on it. Best. Ever. #
• I want to read: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Noth... by M.T. Anderson - bit.ly/uC8Jv #
• 18242, w/ radical reorganization. It's coalescing, unlike last attempt. Phillip Glass pandora station is perfect for writing. #nanowrimo #
• Paul is singing Lion King songs to prove that he's going to delete his facebook account. #

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• I'm #reading The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - bit.ly/1O2LU1 #

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• I want to read: The Last Novel by David Markson - bit.ly/4iej3S #
• 14032 #nanowrimo #mycharactersaresofuckingboringandannoying #iknowyouwanttoreaditnow #ionlydonanosoihaveanexcusetobitchaboutwritingmoreoften #

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• I want to read: Fires of Eden by Dan Simmons - bit.ly/2TqM6C #

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• Riding to work in a skirt in November? The luxury! #

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• Pandora keeps playing Ravel's Bolero, which I love & Paul hates. Oh right, back to #nanowrimo. #
• 9307. Slow going but it feels better than the headlong rush. I'm only a bit behind. #

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• Mac 'n cheese & diet dr. pepper: breakfast of champion (me). I do have broccoli in the mac, plus an apple & a pomegranate. So delicious. #
• I want to read: Larry's Kidney by Daniel Asa Rose - bit.ly/3Lm5TE #
• I want to read: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - bit.ly/3BXSzo #
• I want to read: The City & The City by China Miéville - bit.ly/3LaZno #
• I want to read: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen - bit.ly/3GB5dx #
• I want to read: Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer - bit.ly/16jRhY #
• for @sethew: bit.ly/2mniBt #
• I have big plans for catching up on NaNo, biking & doing some important things, but I suspect these plans will be dashed by a nap. #
• Resisting the consumerist urge. Going to go home and be productive instead. WHAT A GROWNUP. #
• 7695. But not done for the day, still -2445. Break time--no more screen face. I need to save up my screen time for Bioshock! #nanowrimo #
• Dear Bioshock, I am so excited to press "install". #
• I know I'm a noob but wow, is it hard to make games work on a PC. #

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First thing: If you ever thought to yourself, "Gosh, I have no idea what actually happened with Enron," maybe you should consider seeing a documentary called Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.  I wasn't particularly interested, because it sounds boring and I didn't know a thing about Enron.  I still don't understand what energy trading is, but otherwise I feel pretty solid on the sleazy awfulness that is corporate America, specifically Jeff Skilling and the hundreds of other jerks behind the Enron collapse. There's also a scene with Phillip Glass music and a strip club. It's on Instant Watch if you've got Netflix, and it's better than the trailer:

Second thing:  I saw They Might Be Giants live for the first time this week and it was fucking awesome. Confetti cannons. I think it was so awesome that it was partially responsible for my plunge into total self-pity yesterday, when I felt bad about not being as great as they are, and why don't I write songs instead of novels, and then travel the world singing them to people who are really happy to hear them? And why is everything I do boring and provincial, instead of being about the cow under the sea? The same thing happens to me when I read Neal Stephenson novels. It's terrible.

Third thing: I am addicted to cleaning. I have strong urges to go through my possessions and get rid of juuuuust...a....littttttle....bitttt....more.  It would be great but this is the month to do other things than clean. But my brain just doesn't want to think about other stuff. It wants to get rid of old shoes and shirts and things.  

Originally posted on sparkling-robots.vox.com

• 3920. #nanowrimo #rackedwithdespair #whywouldanyoneeverwrite #ihatemycharactersanditsonlydayfour #ishouldgointopoetry #
• 5253. I have recovered somewhat from my temper tantrum/fit of unending despair earlier. God, cloudy days are hard. #nanowrimo #
• Oh, there is going to be abundant sunshine today! Hooray! #

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• Submitted the shark story a 3rd time instead of NaNo'ing. Maybe after TMBG show? It seemed like a better use of my time. Now, a disco nap. #
• Holy crap, They Might Be Giants are awesome. I want to be them. That's probably a little too creepy, but hey, I'm on the internet. #

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• I want to read: The Bizarro Starter Kit by Carlton Mellick III - bit.ly/1ccrS4 #
• I want to read: The Bizarro Starter Kit by Steve Aylett - bit.ly/3gx5kQ #
• 3452 words tonight. #nanowrimo #fiction #writing #timeforbed #

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