November 2010 | The World According to MEH

Closing the Curtains

Posted on November 23, 2010 by admin • 26 Comments

curtains Hello. In my last entry, in addition to posting the pics of me as Miss Indy Pedant, the foul-mouthed fifties housewife, I teased that I had been mulling something over for the past month or two. I said, “Hey, watch this space for a kinda big announcement. It’s coming. It’s gonna be (kinda) BIG. Really, I mean it.”

Well, it’s time for me to make that announcement. I have known for at least two weeks that this time was at hand–it’s just, I didn’t want to acknowledge it. OK. Deep breath. Announcement first, and then explanation (as opposed to my usual M.O. of explanation first, and then announcement).

–DEEP BREATH–

Oh. Mah. Gah.

Posted on November 15, 2010 by admin • 12 Comments

OH. MAH. GAH! Did I really go out in public looking like that?????

Choolie posted the pics in FB, and holy shit. My hair! It really is an event in and of itself. Looking in the mirror didn’t give me the full scope of what I looked like (really sorry I forgot the pearls, though). I can’t stop staring at the pics. Who is that woman? And what did she do with the real Minna? EEK.

I have to say, I really like the picture of Choolie and me with me pointing my rolling pin (which kept falling apart. It’s really old) at the camera. Her tag line for the night was, “I’m better. Really!” Mine was, “I WILL make pie. Don’t think I won’t!”

OK, my line was funny at the time. When I look at the pictures, I remember how creative everyone was. I was really impressed by how much time and effort people put into their costumes. It really was like being in another world, and I can’t stop looking at myself! I look so strange.

All right. General housekeeping info: I have made it to actual goal of NaNoWriMo: 50,000 words. I made it on Nov. 10, as usual. Even though I was trying not to get caught up in the number, I couldn’t help pushing myself on the 10th. I wrote 8K in that one day, which is pretty good, even for me. Pat, pat, pat. Yes, I’m patting myself on the back. 50,000 in ten days ain’t bad. Of course, for me, it’s not as hard as running a marathon, but still. Even if it’s not hard for me to write the words, it’s still work. I wrote the 8K on the 10th in about five hours.

The Monster Mash (Up)

Posted on November 1, 2010 by admin • 12 Comments

ETA: Go vote tomorrow. Seriously. I don’t care for whom you vote (well, yes I do, but it’s still your choice, damn it)–just vote.

This is a mash-up post of all the things floating in my head. I am kinda tossing them all in one entry because I can.

First of all, I am doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I have done it for the past three years, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it again. Why? Well, the goal of it is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. As y’all know, writing a lot of words is NOT a problem for me. Hell, I average 2,500 words in one blog entry. For the past three NaNoWriMos (and I’ve won all three, despite what their site says, and no, I’m not OCD about it, not at all), I hit the 50,000 words mark around the tenth day of the month. I usually don’t talk about it with other people doing NaNoWriMo because I know how it sounds. NaNoWriMo has been good for me, though, because it encouraged (OK, forced, but that’s just because of my own OCD) me to write every day for a month.

However, as to the main goal of NaNoWriMo, it’s not an accomplishment for me if it’s something I can do easily. That’s why I debated this year as to whether I would do NaNoWriMo again or not. Yes, it’s a good motivator, but if ultimately it doesn’t push me to the next step (publishing), then it’s really basically a masturbatory exercise for me. Now, while I have nothing against masturbation (believe you me), in this case, it’s not particularly productive.

I talked with friends about it. I mused about it. I had decided not to do it this year. It really felt like just a way to be doing something for the sake of doing something. Then, I thought, what if I changed the goal? Just because the stated purpose is to reach a certain word count, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a different goal–as long as I meet the stated one, of course.

So. This year’s personal goal for NaNoWriMo is to have a publishable novel by the end of the month. In the past, I have written novels during the month, only to shove them in a metaphorical drawer and not submit them for publication. I still may at some point, but it’s self-defeating to write them and then just let them sit. I have done that with many works I’ve written, which means I’m only engaging in half the activity of writing–the creative and fun half (the actual writing). Next step is to submit and/or self-publish.

Monthly Archives: November 2010