And now it's almost October

Some day I will be a better blogger....

Time sure flies when you're having fun. It's been very busy for me as we are back into a busy period at work and Logician and I are trying to get some other things going at home, but it's been a lot of fun. New friends are also a definite plus!

NaNoWriMo is sneaking closer and closer and I feel less prepared than ever this year. I seriously believe this year will be the year I sit down, open the blank Word Document, and have no idea what comes running out across the page! Something new? Something Old? Who knows?!

It does have me thinking about what the last year of my life has been like. The story I wrote last year was really for therapeutic reasons and will likely never see the light of day in any format close to how it exists now. I don't feel like I need that this year.

In 2008 for my first NaNoWriMo I did a similar thing. I wrote a story using a mass of characters I used to roleplay with in an e-mail game. I took them out of the world they'd lived in a built them a new one to work through a lot of things I was going through at the time. It ended up being a rambling story much in the same vein as others I had written. Then in 2009 came my (baby, pride and joy) Lines of Eternity story that is so much more amazing now than it ever was in 2002 when I first conceived of it.

So since 2008 and 2010 were both therapeutic writings it stands to reason that whatever I do commit to "paper" this year will likely be something that will one day make it to second draft. A somewhat exciting prospect!

Still waiting for November 1st!!

PS Halo: Anniversary is looming closer as well... This will require will power to persevere. The most AWESOME HALO EVER versus THE MOST AWESOME WRITING EVER.... It will be tough, but fun.

It's September?! Wait, What?!

I keep forgetting I have a blog. It's horrible for the six people that read it.

So in the writing world the news is that I am finally HALF WAY! Through edits that is. I am really excited about using Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/) in case I hadn't mentioned that yet. It is awesome and I love that I can go in and write new scenes (to save my poor hand) and know that they won't have to be monitored later like I would have to do in MS Word.

There's whole new angles on my story I didn't see before. I love being a writer! My characters have revealed some new twists and turns and I really feel like the story is much more solid this go round. Maybe I will actually get this mamajama published some day.

Also it's September... Which means there are only 45 more days until NaNoWriMo.... Eek!!!!1!

I have NO CLUE what I am writing about this year. I keep asking all my characters (they hang out in this nifty cafe lounge in my head) but they don't seem very gungho this year. It could be because MC_Etcher is bailing on me this year...Slacker....

But really I think it's because I have the urge to write a new story but the only ideas I come up with are refinements of previous ones. I'm guessing I'll do the same thing I do every year. Open a blank Word Document (or Scrivener depending on my mood) and see where my brain leads me.

I'm sort of excited about continuing to do this challenge every year. It's a way to test my mental... well my sanity. I love the thrill of trying to scribble out the daily word count and keep up with my friends. I missed Camp NaNoWriMo this year, which is an awesome new thing (CampNaNoWriMo.org) where you can do the challenge in July or August. Mostly because I had no idea what to write.

In nonwriting related news I finally sent off the application to go back to school for psychology. Here's hoping the ball gets rolling quickly on that. I applied for next Summer but am hoping I might be able to get in sooner. I'd really like to get cracking on that.

So I'm off for an interesting evening and hopefully a restful weekend so that next week I can get going on the second half of Lines of Eternity: French Charades (by the way so hating the name right now....).

Ciao!

The Editing Continues

We didn't get any hurricane weather, which was some what disappointing. Although I suppose the devastation wouldn't have been worth some rain.

I've been working on my book again (Lines of Eternity) off and on for the last week. Today I finally reached the portion where I have a whole batch of new scenes to write. I've been doing all the editing by hand (and then typing them into the awesomeness that is Scrivener for Windows) but opted to start these new scenes in typed form.

This is why I am starting to really like Scrivener (still in Beta). It allows me the freedom to make a new folder and index cards for the scenes that I need to write. I should really do all my edits this way but it's more fun to see the notebook filling up with new revisions.

I don't know how the second draft will be. There have been quite a few plot shifts and things happening in different ways than they originally did but it's been a lot of fun for me. I am hoping that the gaping plot holes I left in the first draft will be fixed. So far a lot of things that are being added were happening only in my head during the first draft.

It seems like so long ago that this story was first born in it's infant creation, back in 2002. I remember writing just as feverishly as I have been with my edits to get the story down on paper. It was only thirty three hand written pages back then, and I have that many edits this time around. In fact I might be over editing because I haven't left a single scene untouched since the first five pages.

If I ever get this book into a format that people seem to be reading it I will be amazed.

There is one problem coming up! NaNoWriMo!!! It's almost September which means I need to buckle down and start outlining which of the many stories that will become this years insanity stream of consciousness. I am leaning towards a story about a woman named Hitori. I don't know if it will end up being the one that gets written though.

I have so many little ideas, each of them with wonderful merit, some started some not that need attention and love. NaNoWriMo is usually my chance to give them that love. Right now it is between Hitori, Delta Sierra, Fate and Fayth; and trying to write the first book to last years OtherWorlds series finale.

I guess we'll see!

Ha ha ha... Oh right I have one of these....

So I might not be the worst blogger in the world but lately I have been fairly bad! I've been busy, busy, busy so now that things are slowing down again I can try to write more!

I've been working on the second group/batch of edits to my book Lines of Eternity (not sure about that name thing, but later for that!). I managed to get through about a third of the book before the need to type it up took over.

So I downloaded the beta of Scrivener and started typing it from scratch... I have to admit I am still learning to use Scrivener (for Windows) but I am loving it! If the outline made any sense to me right now I would likely love it even more, but as I have never really researched submitting a novel before now I don't really understand all the bells and whistles.

The thing I like the most about it is that I can see how absolutely ridiculous it would be to try to chapterize my book at this point. And yes Chapterize is now a word, because I used it in a sentence.

I am trying to split the scenes and organize them into groups that might later become chapters, but we'll see. Right now I'm just enjoying having my hands back in the writing/editing pot. I initially intended to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo for August and then turn around and do NaNoWriMo in November but August snuck up on on me without my permission and I was completely unprepared.

If they do the writing challenge again next July I will do it. Because I love writing and it helps get these long living, barely started plot bunnies (read: monsters) out of my head!

Off to edit!

Blog Name Change

So just a quick note about the Blog name change.

AdjacentShelf9 was given to me as my random initial XBOX Live name. I didn't really like it but could never think up anything clever to replace it with.

Then one day Logician said - what are you adjacent to?

Quite a profound question in some ways... So I kept it, and likely will always keep it. It has grown on me, so now my blog will be the Adjacent Shelf.

And that, as they say, is that.

Lines of Eternity

I have been dealing with insomnia in some form for the last few weeks. Tonight I find myself scribbling away at edits for my 2009 NaNoWriMo Lines of Eternity: French Charades.


I am proud of myself for not giving up on this book. It has been through so much evolution that I just know it has to be worth at least two readers' time!


Originally in 2002 I wrote the story by hand (I may have mentioned this) and it was 33 pages in length. Already the EDITS for the book are more than that and growing by the minute.


I've chosen to edit by going through a proof copy of the book with highlighters, pencil, and pen. It's tedious, especially because I feel almost every paragraph can us some sort of tweak, but it's fun.


I'm dedicated to this book and all it's Plot Bunnies. Nine years in the making! 

Heh, Howdy

I managed to skip an entire month. Some blogger I am!

Things have been going along okay recently. Trying to find some more massage work to get things rolling (see my EPP blog for an update there). Today is a laid back sort of day.

Making some Onigiri and Teriyaki Steak for lunch, which hopefully will include a visit with Logician! Maybe even with MC_Etcher... We'll see.

I am currently grooving on Last.FM that comes included with my Xbox Live Gold subscription. Although right now it's playing Sarah McLauchlan Angel that sounds remixed..... and...AWESOME! If it's a glitch and it's two songs together well done.... If not I must own this version.... soon...

So enough of it's shiny syndrome...

It is my goal to get back into Bento for the month of May. I am making this goal early so I can take stock of what I need to stock up on, what I have, and what sort of cheap ways there are of making this happen. I miss making my Bento lunches and I need to get on a healthy eat at home plan, if not for health then for the health of a budget.

I have been languishing over the fact there are not any sort of cheap, healthier, fast food opportunities in the world... Business venture perhaps?

Well off to post to EPP and make my Bento Lunch!

Be Well!

*Wave*

Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I've been dealing with the approaching anniversary of becoming a Rape Survivor.

I also have been posting a lot of my thoughts on a protected forum for survivors, AfterSilence.org.

I went back into Therapy this Monday, and it's been a very good thing I think. I will know more once I've had some more regular sessions but we'll see.

The main problem that I have been dealing with this week is the fact that I sort of carried my rape as a banner to ignore any other abuses that happened to me. The therapist I am seeing is wonderful and even in our first screening sessions she was able to help me accept something I was fighting.

She made me take a long hard look at one of the longest relationships of my life and accept a few things I had built up a strong barrier of lies around. It's been tough but I also know I have to accept it and close that door or I won't be able to heal and be stable enough to help others heal.

So I'm on a journey again, another piece of healing myself. And it will begin when I can actually accept the words that define it. It's still hard but every time I write about it I feel closer to accepting it.

AS has been a major help, and I'm so glad I found it.

Light and Love




A Poem (or an attempt at one)

In fire love can be forged
Passion can feel like the sun
And the innocent can burn without notice.

In shadows creep the evils unmentioned,
Supported by lies and denials
Fished up by the mind when least expected.

In Light I will find healing,
Love can become a balance,
And all will be okay again.

Interesting Wandering Wonderings

My mind moves strangely this time of year. New Characters pop by and ask to be written about, old stories stream through my mind and beg for completion... Life itself seems to flow oddly, as if time is not correctly formed.

I never know for sure if my mind is anchored in the now, floating through then, or trying to find the later. All I can say for sure is that it wonders and wanders a lot.

So much has changed in my life, especially in the last ten years. Ten years ago I was in a dark place, a very dark place. I was still learning what being a rape/sexual assault survivor meant. I was not ready to consider forgiving myself, and I sure as hell wasn't ready to forgive anyone else.

It was the beginning of the end (at least for high school) and the world was moving in a more violent direction on the whole.

The whole world was Chaos and I didn't know it yet.

Softball would have been just beginning again, and I would have been excited for another season, my final season. College was on the horizon, life was peeking in on me.

Now ten years later I'm sitting here thinking about the next bit of life that's over the horizon, how the rest of my life is peeking at me. But I'm haunted.

It's hard sometimes to remember to breathe, to put my feet on the floor and say: You are in 2011, there is no danger, there is healing, love, and warmth. It's harder to believe it when I do say it.

I had a break through recently and I'm proud of it. For the first time I was able to keep myself in the present when stimuli tried to force me back to 2000/2001. Having Logician with me was an immense help, but so was breathing.

If there is one thing I learned in my journey this last year breathing is the most important thing I can do. The past has happened, my feet are here and now. My body is here and now. My mind is here and now.

One small victory in a large battle. I savor it with joy.

Early Year Blues

Ah January, how you once filled me with hope of a happy year.

It never fails that the beginning of the year often leads to a moody, closed off, and depressed Branwyn. I try to avoid it, every year. I also seem to fail miserably for the better part of that time. I have resolved to continue on the growth I have been experiencing the last few years.

I will not spend January dreading February. I will not spend the remaining part of February and March dreading May. The events that turned my life upside down are over. They're in the past (distant at this point). They helped to define me as I am today but I must learn to stay in the present.

This is a number one issue for people who suffer trauma. Maintaining their life in the present instead of slipping into the past. Being a nostalgic creature to begin with, this seems to be harder for me sometimes. The more I try to let go of things in the past the more my mind slaps me around with them.

I made a lot of progress on moving forward by allowing my creativity room to explore the emotions with me. Last year I wrote a sort of "goodbye" letter from several of my former RPG characters their respective partners (each representing/played by an ex). This was immensely helpful for me because it set my characters free, thus allowing me the freedom to set those bits of myself free. They're ready for new stories and adventures now!

In November I wrote an interesting story for NaNoWriMo. It was a sort of healing via writing in such a way the story ended up a complete mix of times, references from other unwritten stories, and thoughts. It has helped me begin one of the hardest healing processes that I have faced. And I was able to let myself be open and vulnerable enough to let others read it. Mind you only Logician has read it so far, but the original story I wrote in 2008 he has not read.

Allowing someone who knows the people the characters are based on to read the story was in a way both unnerving and deeply relieving to me. It was then I realized that healing myself through creativity might just be where I need to go.

There is still a lot of processing going on inside this frail body of mine. Things were unlocked during my amazing and intense journey through massage school that I still don't know how to approach. But one step at a time, one moment at a time.

This year will not be a year of dates. It will be a year of now. 2000 and 2001 were a long time ago. 2011 is now.

Editing and Random Thoughts

So editing is not starting off so well this week. I am feeling a bit tired today, likely because it is raining! I also have been getting the itch to write fanfiction again. Fanfiction that will never ever make it into the public. There's nothing popular these days with 90s kid show fanfiction!

Silly brain!

I have also been considering the large amount of clutter in my life. My vehicle is a mess (mostly items that aren't being used anymore, not trash), I have far too many clothes, and far too much stuff! I need to attack the mess but it's overwhelming.

These seems to be a common theme for other areas of my life as well. Such as trying to lose weight. Every time I consider it I start to think about how hard it is to eat healthy. How expensive it is to buy quality food (why is this? It makes no freaking sense to me that GOOD food is expensive) when it's so much cheaper (and sadly for me budget friendly) to buy crap.

So I am going to take some time today to create a daily schedule for myself. I have everything I need to accomplish my decluttering and weight loss goals. I just need to get myself in gear!

Story progression: Origin and Editing (A long post)

My schedule has shifted a bit in this last week and I got to spend the majority of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday editing my NaNoWriMo 2009 story. It's an enjoyable process that I have to admit is helped by seeing the progression of my story.

The story is currently titled: Lines of Eterminty: French Charades it was originally thought up in 2002, and was my NaNoWriMo 52k word story in 2009.

In 2002 I was living in Northern California and on the verge of some life altering events. One night I had a dream about a young woman wearing a noble's dress while wielding a sword. There was a short conversation that was mostly in French and my main female character (MFC), Arien, was born. 

The next three days saw me locked inside my room scribbling furiously as I committed her (then tiny) story to paper. It was one of the most horrible things I have ever written and an example of my writing style in those years. Lots of dialogue with no real back drop. 

Originally my main Male Character (MMC) was based off men I knew in real life. Two of them specifically but they were an awful lot alike. At the time his name was Kai. I knew that the original story wasn't long enough and wasn't the whole story so in 2003 I set out to rewrite it by hand. 

I purchased a lovely hard bound blank journal from the bookstore and set about neatly writing the story in pencil. Thirty three pages in I lost the story. It ran from me as if I had abused it. I put it down and walked away from it, though at the back of my mind Arien was begging me to complete her tale. 

My life changed years passed and in 2006 I moved to a four year university. I picked up the story again and started trying to write it on the computer. Something was wrong, the story would not move beyond the introduction of the MMC. 

Frustrated and sinking into an insane college life I put the story down again. Then I met Mike (MC Etcher). He was talking some sort of nonsense about an insane writing challenge called NaNoWriMo. I'd heard it whispered before when I used to spend countless hours on LiveJournal but had never known anyone insane enough to attempt this in real life.

With Mike and two other people talking NaNoWriMo in my ear I decided to join the challenge and on November 1st, 2008 I opened a blank Word Document and prepared to put Arien's life on paper.

It didn't happen. Instead of her story another flowed, one that was largely for healing. I wrote and wrote and though that story is unfinished, unedited, and lingering in a digital sanctuary it is complete. Arien was not pleased and demanded to know when her story would be completed!

Let me pause a moment to mention to you that if you have never written you do not understand. Stories are not created, they show up in your head and bang on the furniture until you allow them to move through you. They live inside your head waiting for opportune moments to interrupt, such as during exams. So I usually have a cacophony of voices running amok demanding me to write their stories. It's only when one of them rises above the normal din of conversation that I can actually sit and write.

I attempted to put pen to paper (as it were) over the course of 2009 and failed miserably. I knew that NaNoWriMo would be my time to shine. I wrote out information about the characters, reread the three incomplete drafts, and plotted till my eyes were sore. I was sure I would come to the end of this journey.

When I opened my Word document on November 1st, 2009 my story was still wrong. I didn't know it then but would find out when after writing for several hours I reached the introduction of my MMC, aka Kai. As I typed the name Kai on the page it was as if someone had politely knocked on the door.

"Excuse me," He said softly, "That is NOT my name." 

I was stunned and pondered this revelation for nearly an hour. Not his name? His name had always been Kai. For seven...... Then it hit me. My story was stagnated because my MMC was incorrectly cast! Kai was not the man intended for this story. 

"So then what is it?" I asked eagerly, fingers poised over the keys.

"I am Victor." And so he was.

******************************************* (To rest your eyes and give you a stopping point!)

I think I was done two weeks early. The ending was different, characters were related that hadn't even spoken before. There were plot twists and intrigues. This story ACTUALLY had potential. I am still astonished by the fact that I believe that.

Until NaNoWriMo 2009 I wrote stories for myself or for one specific person. Usually fanfiction these stories were for fun. I wanted to write professionally, but it was a dream for other lives.

Then I found out that NaNoWriMo had partnered with CreateSpace and the winners of NaNo 2009 got a free proof copy of their book.

That's right a free, paperback, you design the cover, you write the synopsis, your name across the binding book.

It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I squealed with joy when I opened the cardboard that came in the post. It still makes me warm and fuzzy when I look at it. 

It's real.

And - it sucks.

I know what you're thinking, I just said it had potential and now I'm saying it sucks. And you're right. I am crazy, mad as a hatter but it still sucks.

And I still love it.

So I decided that in 2011 I was going to edit it (my NaNo 2010 story and I are still not talking), but this would mean writing all over my beautiful.... Oh right - through the course of 2010 a few people had read my proof copy, and I had read and reread it several times. It was bent, it was no longer perfect, it was ripe for scribbling all over.

So I cheated. I used my NaNo 2010 CreateSpace code to order a second proof copy of my NaNo 2009. It's in the mail and I should get it in two weeks. 

So I selected three highlighters (yellow, orange, and green), got my favorite pencils, and my favorite pen. Collected together a blank spiral notebook, my laptop, and my proof copy. Then I went nuts.

And that's just two pages. I'm only twenty or so pages in but most of them look like those. Whole scenes begging to be rewritten or moved. Two lines of narration concealed an entire scene of dialogue. Characters who were marginal before actually have names and personalities. 

There's life in this damn thing and I'm going to find it! 

2011 Goals and Hopes

In June I will have been out of high school for ten years. The world is so different now than it was while I was in those halls. My trip out of the "Matrix" began with my rape in 2000 and 2001 was a rough year for me. My brain sort of came apart, I struggled to complete my coursework to graduate on time, I lost all hope of a four year college education, and once I enrolled in community college I watched the world shatter for everyone around me. 

This September will mark the tenth year since the Twin Towers fell. I can recall that day minute by minute. It shattered many lives and I am still in some ways trying to process it and wrap it into my experience. 

I look back on the last decade I have come through and wonder about all the various changes that have happened. We have been at war the entire time, fighting some evil or another. Many people of my own age group have died defending this country and our ideals. 

I got a four year education and promptly discovered that while Archaeology and Languages are passions they are not what I want to do for a living; fought of a young life/quarter life crisis; and ended up at the Florida School of Massage in January of 2010 seeking to find a new me. 

I went through several relationships including the one I thought would always be around and in the end I am better for it. It was a hell of a trip though as anyone who was around for any part of them can tell you. I've learned a lot of lessons in the last ten years, and in the last year I received a boat load of clarity.

Yet I also have extremely muddy water to wade through at the moment. There are still many hills and mountains to climb before I can make my dreams a reality, and this year I've decided to follow Molly along and have goals instead of resolutions.

2011 Goals:

1) Complete 1st (and if possible 2nd) draft of 2009's NaNoWriMo Novel

2) Complete Aromatherapist Certification

3) Submit my application (and if possible enroll) at UF for Post-Bacc work in Psychology

4) Get out of DEBT (minus school loans)

5) Appreciate everything in my life more, especially the people

6) Get weight down to 180, or at least between 180 and 200

7) Get healthier: eating, drink more water, exercise

8) Get in shape enough to be able to run 2-5 miles each day without pain

9) Have enough income to actually take a vacation in 2012

10) Begin saving for the bigger goals Logician and I have for our living arrangements.

That's some of them, there are more and I'm sure I will come up with more as we move ahead. What about you all, do you have any goals for the new year?

Blogalicious

I now have two blogs. This one for all of my random thoughts, Bento, NaNoWriMo and all other crazy things. And Eros, Psyche and Pan for my Massage life.

I just love to write.

NaNoWriMo Almost Over

I won!

And amazingly early again this year. Although my story and I are not speaking right now. We're a little angry with each other. I'm going to let it sleep on the couch for a month while we work through our differences and we'll try again in January.

I am considering trying Script Frenzy in April. I have this intriguing little idea for a screenplay that I started in order to allow my NaNoWriMo story room to grow. Maybe I'll be just crazy enough...

I hope all my fellow WriMo's are sticking with it. There's still time!!!

Looking forward to a lovely day today, hope you all are too.

NaNoWriMo Day 11

My story continues to go well despite the fact I have been taking time to study for the MBlex and working some extra hours.

36k on day 11 is nothing to shake a stick at.

I have to admit I enjoyed my first Write In today. Although it was a bit strange (it's hard to adjust to people listening to tunes loudly while writing and whispering the words) it was also enjoyable. My laptop battery sucks so I did some outlining and processing on how I want to wrap my story up.

After all the last 10k is all about wrapping up.

I seems that I have five or six more chapters to write, along with an epilogue. Then I will have to go back and remove the introduction and make a new one for this book.

Today I learned that I changed tenses in my story and I have to fix that while I'm editing. I fixed some already but not much. It's hard to write in first person!

NaNoWriMo 2010 - Day 8

So I am plugging right a long with my story despite the fact that on 10/31 I had no idea what I was going to write. I am sufficiently caffinated thanks to Logician and getting ready to get to writing for today.

Then it's time to study my arse off for my state boards for Massage Therapy. Woo!

In case you're interested here is the playlist for my novel (at least so far), you'll note it has a lot of strangely mixed tunes. It's a strange story.

Name                                                                                      Artist     

Breaking the Habit                                                              Linkin Park           

Somewhere I Belong                                                           Linkin Park           

By Myself                                                                            Linkin Park           

What I've Done                                                                    Linkin Park           

Easier To Run                                                                       Linkin Park           

Leave Out All The Rest                                                      Linkin Park           

In The End                                                                            Linkin Park           

Shadow Of The Day                                                            Linkin Park

Place For My Head                                                              Linkin Park

Morning After (Julien K. Remix)                                       Chester Bennington           

System                                                                                  Chester Bennington           

Crawl Back In                                                                       Dead By Sunrise                  

Cross My Line [*]                                                               Aaron Waters      

Do You Call My Name                                                        Ra                           

Echo                                                                                       Trapt      

Enjoy the Silence                                                                 Depeche Mode                   

Bring Me To Life                                                                 Evanescence        

Going Under                                                                         Evanescence        

Haunted                                                                                Evanescence        

Broken f/Amy Lee                                                               Seether 

Giving In                                                                               Adema                                                                  

Gravity Of Love                                                                   Enigma  

Harder To Breathe                                                               Maroon 5             

Helena                                                                                   My Chemical Romance                      

Here with Me                                                                       Dido       

Higher Ground                                                                     Red Hot Chilli Peppers                       

I Stand Alone                                                                       Godsmack             

I Still...                                                                                    Backstreet Boys    Max Martin/Rami

Incomplete                                                                            Backstreet Boys   

Siberia                                                                                    Backstreet Boys    Alexander/Max Martin/Rami            

Let Me Go (iTunes Originals Version)                              3 Doors Down                      

Listen to Your Heart (Edmee's Unplugged Vocal Edit)   D.H.T. Featuring Edmée                     

Lonely Ghosts                                                                       O+S                        

Mistress                                                                                 Disturbed

Awaken                                                                                  Disturbed

Red                                                                                         Chevelle                               

Redeemer                                                                              Marilyn Manson  

Return To Innocence                                                          Enigma  

She Will be Loved                                                               Maroon 5                                                             

Slept so Long                                                                       Jay Gordon                           

A Song for XX [Ferry Corsten Chilled mix]                     Ayumi Hamasaki                  

To the Moon & Back                                                          Savage Garden    

The Truth Is                                                                         Kristine Sa                            

Unendlich - Album Mix                                                      Silbermond                          

The Way I Loved You                                                        Taylor Swift                          

                

Random enough for you? I thought so. :)

Go WriMos go!

NaNoWriMo is just around the corner and my mind is now brimming with ideas. My one rule for NaNoWriMo has been: NO FANFICTION!

The problem? That's really want my brain is into right now. :: sigh :: But I think I have two fictional ideas that are competing for top spot.

This trip home to explore the burned wreckage of my house was enlightening in many, many ways. More on that sometime in the near future.

I am alive, the house is not totaled, and life will move forward.

Life or something like it

Tuesday evening my father's house (my childhood home) caught on fire, it is not yet fully known what started it. There are several suspicions but I am not going there until I know.

We lost three of our Jack Russel doggies to smoke inhalation. I haven't seen any pictures or anything, and I'm not going down there until Saturday afternoon.

I decided to look over the tiny article that was in the paper today (the online version) and have to admit some of the comments got me riled up. It reminded me just how horrible it can be to have part of your life in a place where everyone who wants to can see it.

Some people just think they're funny.

Another Update

So yes, time has escaped me again. But this time I come bringing.... BENTO!

That's right I made an adorable little Bento for Logician sometime last week (no I don't remember when oddly enough) and it was probably the cutest Bento I have ever made. I had intended to make Bento for both of us all week but that didn't happen.

I made the Bento with precooked frozen sausages that we bought quite awhile ago on sale. I still have some fish cake in the freezer but I am still quite frightened of it and have not opened it yet. So I had to work without it. I used some fresh bean sprouts that we'd bought, some carrots (we got a 4lb bag of baby carrots for $2.00), and an egg. There is rice underneath the people.

I took the idea from a Bento I remembered seeing on Aibento.net quite some time ago and just changed it slightly for myself. So here's the picture:

The "male" looks a little weird owing to a cut in the sausage but he looks smug to have his lady friend in the bed with him. The carrots are supposed to be a sort of headboard, and the sprouts are the pillow. The sprouts and the people are on top of a thin layer of rice. The eyes and smiles I cut out with a straw (a tip taken from Aibento.net) and their eyes are black sesame seeds. The blanket is an omelet like egg that was covered with Sirachia sauce.

In other news:

Work has been going well, although I am now spending an extraordinarily large amount of money on gas. I have (thanks to Logician) finally paid to take my state boards and should get an e-mail back to schedule the exact date sometime this week.

I am also beginning to follow several paths towards my goal of getting a M.A.(or higher) in Psychology to work towards opening my dream clinic.

More later!

Ciao!