Friday, October 29, 2004

New Blog set up for Nano

For those of you who are interested, I started a new blog for my Nano story. I will also be mirroring it in my portfolio at writing.com, so never fear. Get your fiction addiction fix here! The big dance starts in only three days! October has flown by.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

People get stupider every day

Sheesh. Just divorce your wife if you want to be free from your marriage. Why do people think that killing or attempting to kill your significant other will be easier than divorce? Yeah, as if going to prison or ending up on death row is is easier than divorce.

In other news, which is not necessarily related to the post headline, I love my man, but does this mean he's sold out? Remember to cast your vote on Tuesday, Nov. 2! Your vote DOES count! Other celebrities are campaigning for their chosen candidates as well.

And if you have cat allergies, here's your chance to get an allergen-free kitten. It is a brave new world, isn't it?

If you missed last night's lunar eclipse, you can see it here on cnn.com.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Annoyed

Blogger was having a major malfunction all morning????? WTF.

I guess it's time to get my own domain/host.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Memes

Over there under the blogroll link in the sidebar, I added the link for the Daily Memes list. As I was searching the web to learn exactly what a meme is, I ran across this article in the NYT. According to the article, memes "are infectious ideas or any other things that spread by imitation from person to person."

Blogging is a meme.

Monday, October 25, 2004

My favorite

new tv show since "Angel" passed into the great beyond...

"Lost" is picked up for a full season. I will just die if it is cancelled without any resolution!

More than Enough

I sold six books in the past week on half.com, and I'm so glad I decided to put more up for sale last week. Now, sales will probably die off, but hey, every little bit helps.

I've been reading Dr. Phil's book, "Life Strategies." I know that a lot of people dismiss him as just another pop psychologist, but I like his candor and honesty. I think that is why he has such a following. In the book, he talks about how you are responsible for ALL your choices. You are not a "victim," even if you've been abused or whatever. Yes, you did not choose to be abused, but you choose your reactions to it now. Life is to be managed, not cured, he says. I am only about halfway through it, but so far, it has helped me see how I've chosen to think with certain thought patterns, and how I choose to wallow in self-pity instead of doing something to improve my state of mind.

Well, I admit I knew all that already. I do choose to wallow in self-pity a lot. Sometimes, the feelings have to be let out, or else they circle in my brain like vicious vultures, biding their time. A strange thing happened, though, when I was reading the book. It was like he validated my feelings by saying I chose to feel that way. It was okay to let go of them now. Isn't that stupid?

But also, I am making a real, conscious decision to be more active, rather than passive, in my life. I have spent my whole life being the good girl, the person who doesn't take any risks and does what everyone else does or what is expected of her. I am tired of living that way. Living that way is killing me. Living that way is draining me. I am tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses and live above my means--that is what is truly draining me.

You read this and think, "yeah, everybody knows that," and it's true: I knew subconsciously what patterns of behavior I was following. I ignored the consequences of spending too much or whatever. I preferred that feeling of satisfaction I got when I bought something, even something little. That feeling would overshadow the buyer's remorse I usually got afterward.

I could blame my mom for pushing me along the road of recreational shopping, but I won't. I choose to go shopping instead of finding a satisfying hobby or finding another way to fulfill my time. I justify my spending by saying it doesn't matter because somehow the money situation will work out, and it usually does. I'm just tired of feeling drained because my resources are not where I'd like them to be.

We have more than enough stuff.

Friday, October 22, 2004

I submitted

Yesterday, I submitted my first two articles to writeforcash.com. I'm pretty sure one will be rejected because it was under the word count minimum, but I have high hopes for the second article. When they are published, I will post links.

Wish me luck!

Thursday, October 21, 2004

All my blogs

Why do people maintain so many blogs? I have a few different blogs, but always consider this one my primary blog. I recently resurrected my Xanga blog for freewriting. I started it long ago because I found some writers there who I enjoyed reading, and I could subscribe to their sites. Updates are delivered to my email inbox.

When I first started blogging, there were few blog sites available. Blogger was about the only one (that I could find back in 2001 anyway). Now, there is a proliferation of sites where you can set up your very own free blog. You don't even have to know any HTML. I suppose people gravitate toward the most popular sites, like Livejournal, because a lot of their friends are there.

Some people mirror their blogs, using one site as a primary and then copying what they post to their other site. I have thought of doing that, but it seems redundant. I would rather invest the majority of my time here, at Avalon Landing, instead of splitting my efforts among several sites.

Perhaps I should just invest in my own domain and set up my blog and journal there. Then I wouldn't need so many sites. :)

Books for sale

I just added about 20 more books for sale on half.com. Most paperbacks are 75¢ and hardcovers are $2.50. (A few choice items are a little more expensive.) The link takes you to my shop with a few books listed, and you can click on Books to see more of my offerings.

Most of the books I've read once; some I haven't read at all, but are ones my mom gave to me after she read them. I do not smoke, so all books are smoke-free. A few of the books I got at library sales, so they may be a little time-worn, but nothing major. I always use bookmarks, so the pages are not dog-eared.

As you can see from my listing, I have an eclectic reading taste, with many popular fiction books, as well as more literary and non-mainstream selections. A lot of them are recently published as well. And most of them are way cheaper than if you purchased them new from a bookstore.

So go check them out!

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

I wish

I wish all my online friends had blogs so I could keep up with their lives, since I'm not online as much to chat in real-time.

That is, I wish they had blogs and UPDATED them regularly.

Just a short update

I posted a bunch of journal entries. Most of them are quite long. All of October is new, and the entries for Sept. 13 & 14 are new. A lot of them are depressing.

Read at your own risk.

Monday, October 18, 2004

D&D turns 30

For all you D&D geeks: D&D has been around for 30 years.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Ultimate Yard Sale

If you live in or around NYC and like to shop, check out the yard sale sponsored by Real Simple magazine. The money raised will go to NYC public schools. Read more about it here.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Crap.

I had some wonderful ideas to write about but I think I copied them to my clipboard and forgot to paste them anywhere. Ah well. I think I can reconstruct them.

daily memes list

freewrite blog ring

a prompt from diarist.net: "When was your childhood over? Do you agree with the concept of adolescence, or did you go from being a child to being an adult?"

Interesting prompts from the alchera project.

and this quote from Random Acts of Journaling: "To get where you want to go you can't only do what you like." --Peter Abrahams


Too bad I've been too busy today to write on anything. Updates to come, though!

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Lonely

I was way down in the dumps today.

The silence is deafening.

Not to mention it's rained for three days straight.

They tell you the benefits, but never the risks.

My mom knows people who have had gastric bypasses who end up regaining all the weight back. It is not a magic bullet, the way the news hype would lead you to believe.

My uncle recently went in for a heart checkup, and they told him he needed a triple bypass. The doctor told him how there were new techniques in which they wouldn't have to stop his heart or need a vein from his leg, and how the recovery time would be less. (He went for the checkup on a Tuesday and was in surgery on Thursday!) However, once they got in there and started the operation, they still had to do it the old-fashioned way.

Always the benefits, never the risks.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

It would be so easy, except for the rain.

I subscribe to a daily tarot newsletter, and one of today's messages for my sign was:

"A visionary friend may offer compassion and support today.Your angels will manifest in the birds, the breeze, and the stars in the skies."

That sounds great, except for the fact that it's cloudy outside and sprinkling rain.

I think my mood is just one of those things. Someone else was talking about her strange urge to clean, as well as all the other signs of the impending "monthly visitor." Did I mention that the thought of having nothing to clean out and weed through was making me slightly panicky? I guess I wrote that in my paper journal.

Calgon, take me away...

Friday, October 08, 2004

A Movie

Last night, I watched the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun," based on a book by the same name. It starred Diane Lane as Frances, a middle-aged(?) college professor who, after discovering that her husband is cheating on her, takes a trip to Italy and falls in love with a villa. She decides to buy it and renovates it with the help of an itinerant Polish family. Frances's lesbian pregnant best friend comes to stay because her girlfriend ran out on her.

There is an air of mysticalness with the Virgin Mary ever-present. Frances falls in love with Marcello, but after one night of passion, they never are able to meet up quite the same way. She learns that there is life after a lost love. No matter how deep her pain, she was able to move on.

I liked the movie. I suppose some people would find it rather draggy. I was working on writing at the same time, so maybe that's why I enjoyed it. LOL I loved the scenery, and the renovated villa was gorgeous.

Thirty Reasons for Thirty Days

(taken from the Nano forums)

Thirty Reasons for Thirty Days

Why you [yes, you!] should participate in National Novel Writing Month!

  1. Completing a novel (or for some, even starting a novel) is one more thing to cross off the life goals list.
  2. Camaraderie with people are suffering the same pains at the same time as you are is so wonderful.
  3. Nanowrimo forums! Links to really awesome website, games, etc.
  4. It's another excuse to sit in front of the computer (or notebook) and gulp mass quantities of caffeine.
  5. The realization that, contrary to popular belief, you are not the busiest person in the world, even with Nanowrimo.
  6. If you've never written a paper in one night (or two, or three) before, you eventually will. Nanowrimo is good practice.
  7. If you're still in school, you can procrastinate writing by doing homework. The opposite procrastination technique works equally well. If you're not in school, you can procrastinate in this way by doing something that you should actually be doing, such as laundry or taking out the trash.
  8. Nanowrimo t-shirts to buy so you can declare your insanity to the world.
  9. If you break 50,000 words before 30 November and get it verified, you get a super-cool certificate and winner's icon.
  10. Even if you don't finish, you can still brag by saying, "I'm writing a novel this month. What are you doing?"
  11. Haven't you ever wanted to answer "How are you?" with a number?
  12. Most people [cough...teachers] say, "Write about this topic." With Nanowrimo, any imaginable topic can be your novel, even butt-kicking pirates from Jupiter. [Hey, there's an idea...]
  13. It's a chance to let your inner critic loose for thirty days. Let a typo become a part of your novel. Invent swear words for your characters to use. Watch what comes out when you don't have an inner critic to stop you.
  14. It only truly costs time, sanity, and social life.
  15. How long it takes for cyanide to kill someone? What kind of knives did the Greeks use? Get the answers from fellow Wrimos.
  16. The number one reason that people don't pass 50,000 words is because [surprise!] they don't begin. If you write just one measly word, you're ahead of more than half the Wrimos who signed up in 2003.
  17. Thousands of people around the world--different everything--participate. They share a love of writing...and their ideas with you.
  18. Just because your character is stuck doesn't mean that you have to be. Use a deus ex machina or a snide reference to whatever you want. Kill your main character if you want to. Just get your novel out of that block!
  19. Your participation will mock those authors who take a lot more time writing novels. Those novels are typically much better novels, but it really is possible to write a draft in a month.
  20. Allow others around you to question your sanity [assuming they don't already question it, that is.]
  21. You can become a hermit for thirty days...or at least while you're writing. This excuse will only work for a month at a time, though.
  22. You can threaten someone with, "If you don't [annoying action], I'll write you into my novel and kill you there!"
  23. It helps you to realize the value of sleep.
  24. Writing a novel is an excuse not to go out with friends or to that annoying event that you just can't stand going to.
  25. The adrenaline rush that comes along when you've just written 1500 words in an hour is wonderful. Nanowrimo should be a drug.
  26. Nanowrimo gives you an opportunity to improve your typing or scribbling skills without those boring lessons.
  27. Even though you're procrastinating on something, you're also learning the art of time management.
  28. There's a story in your head that must come to life. If it doesn't, those characters will hate you forever.
  29. It's fun!
  30. It really is possible.Are you convinced yet? Good. Go to http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and sign up today. Actual novel-writing begins 1 November 2004, local time. Good luck!

Ah, yes. Feel free to pass this list around. Just pass around the material in its entirety. And when you do sign up, do let me know so we can cheer each other on and bug each other about word count!

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Darwinism...

Duh! Even artists need a proofreader.

Double duh! Classic Darwinism at its best.


Wednesday, October 06, 2004

More Cleaning

Tonight it was stuff in the basement. I had two boxes of wedding miscellanea that I combined into one box--I found a card scrapbook that I had totally forgotten about, plus a ton of tourist brochures from the honeymoon trip to South Dakota.

There is one great big box of trash, plus several empty boxes that need to be tossed. I gave DD some old toys that I had kept from my childhood. I sorted through two boxes of tapes, culling that down to one box. As for giveaways, I have one large box and one small box of stuff like purses and other items that I wonder why I kept.

It took an hour to go through it all, and then we watched "Lost." (Check out this fansite for a nice gallery of photos from upcoming episodes.) I am hooked on that show! Of course, it helps that I've always liked Matthew Fox, even when he was on "Party of Five." He's outgrown that boyish look and looks like quite the yummy man now. *sigh*

However, I HATE that ABC shows about five minutes of the program, and then intercuts ten minutes of commercials. Gah!

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Finding Time

Since I was still in a cleaning mode last night, I had DD help me with the three boxes of toys that had taken up residence in the computer room.

I sorted, while she put some of the bigger stuff in her bedroom. It took about forty-five minutes. Then I ended up watching tv all night. I seem to be trading one obsession for another, yet again.

Today was her first official day of preschool. After her screening last spring by the school district, they told us the district didn't have a pre-K program. I was annoyed. As much as we pay in taxes, there ought to be a program!

But a state program received its funding two weeks ago, and we got her signed up for it. It's regular preschool, not a Head Start program or anything like that. DH said that as soon as she saw the classroom turtle this morning, she never looked back. LOL He is having a hard time with his little baby going off to school.

What else have I been doing? Trying to find time for all the stuff I want to do. Maybe I should stop cleaning...

Jump on the NaNo bandwagon! If you think you can write 50,000 words in one month, sign up!

Monday, October 04, 2004

Still in a cleaning mode

This weekend, I...

  • cleaned the upstairs bathroom, including mopping the nasty floor
  • cleaned out my closet, finding a pair of brand-new, still -in-the box tennis shoes that I had purchased at a buy-one-get-one-free sale
  • transferred my old journals to a new, larger, box
  • bought a secondhand laptop at a yard sale so that I can write while DH is watching football or other tv, and we can still spend time together
  • did four loads of laundry
  • put away all the clothes
  • did one load of dishes
  • put away all the dishes
  • wrote 2,500 words
  • took DD to a pumpkin patch and bought some flowers and pumpkins
  • took DD to visit her preschool classroom
  • visited the in-laws
  • divided up stationery so I can give half to my mother-in-law
  • tried to post this entry and thank god Blogger didn't eat it!

Friday, October 01, 2004

Nano Forums Now Open!

Nano forums and the new website are up and running. Go check it out! Do you have what it takes to complete 50,000 words in a month?

Recent Movies

This week, I've watched several movies. Our cable company recently let us have like 20 channels of Starz! for three months free, and then $5.95/month thereafter. So we've been gorging on movies. DH has watched "Friday After Next" and "Hulk." I watched "Welcome to the Dollhouse," "Mona Lisa Smile," and "How to Deal."

"Dollhouse" was sad, heartfelt, and entertaining. It ended depressingly, though. I could easily identify with the main character, a middle child who was going through the growing pains of adolescence. Her name escapes me, but she was portrayed by Heather Matarrazzo. I recommend it as an arty kind of film--one that makes you think.

"MLS" starred Julia Roberts as Katherine Watson, an art professor at Wellesley College in the 1950s. As always, Kirsten Dunst shone as Betty, a hoity-toity miss who thought that marriage was her heart's desire. Julia Stiles was wasted as Joan, a girl who gets into Yale Law School, only to decide that she would prefer a family to a career. I say wasted because she had little screen time. Maggie Gyllenhaal (I think) was Gisele, the slut of the group, who was actually the most grounded of all the women. All I have to say is that if that was really how female colleges were run in the 1950s, then I'm glad to be a modern woman of the 80s-90s-00s. You can have marriage and career, and you do have to make some sacrifices. Just don't do one or the other or both because society tells you to.

Mandy Moore portrayed Hallie, the main character in "HtD." It was a typical teen film, very predictable, and Moore was almost too sweet as a girl who doesn't want to fall in love because love hurts. Yes, it can hurt, but the hurt is so worth it. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I didn't care for this film, but someone out there might like it.

Last weekend, DH & I watched "Hidalgo." Awesome scenery. Slow story. Handsome Viggo Mortensen. Handsome horse. Worth watching for the scenery alone.

Have a great weekend!

Nanowrimo is only a month away!

Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, is only one month away. Registration is open and the forums will be open at 3pm Pacific time. If you think you can write 50,000 words in one month, check it out and sign up. This will be my third attempt, and the third time should be the charm.

I discovered Nano in 2002, and signed up, but did not complete my novel. In fact, I barely made 3,000 words. Last year, I attempted it again, but barely made 10,000 words. So this year, I have high hopes for completion. I wrote daily from February to June this year, so I know that I can make the 1,617 daily word count Nano will require.

I will do some brainstorming this month to figure out what I will write about. I also have a personal writing challenge to complete in October, so it will be good practice. And Nano will give me something to blog about. LOL

Wish me luck!