kageotogi: (deep breaths)
NaNoWriMo is hosting an event called Camp NaNoWriMo, which is pretty much the same 50k/month word challenge except over the course of July and then August. I signed up for it, but haven't really written a word. I was playing with several ideas but the one I really wanted to do -- a collection of short, semi-autobiographical stories (including stories about ice cream trucks, nuns, and guys who take off their pants for no good reason) -- wound up putting me in a bind. I'm really bad at beginning stories, and a collection of shorts is really nothing but beginnings. I decided to put that on hiatus. I also considered writing an old fanfic idea I'd been playing with, but scratched that as well: that's a story that, if I write it, I want to write it well, and rushing it through a month isn't the way to go.

So, finally, I've decided to skip the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge and instead just make myself write every day on a single story or script (I haven't decided which medium would be better for the idea I have in mind; I'm leaning toward script right now, but I hate writing script so I'm questioning that judgment). I'm starting that today; I sketched out an opening scene for the script version and might try writing it in prose to see how it reads later, but so far it's a decent start.

Unrelated things!

I mentioned in my last post that I was heading to Ireland this fall. I'm really looking forward to that. Things I'm not looking forward to? Well, I have to make an appointment with an oral surgeon. I went to the dentist last week and found out that one of my wisdom teeth (because I haven't had them taken out) was starting to press against one of the molars, which is a Bad Thing. So I need to have it removed, and the dentist recommended I get them all removed while I was at it. My mother has already agreed to cart me to and from the surgeon; I just need to make the appointment. (But guys, I haaaaate the dentist.) I'm going to try and schedule that for after Ireland but before the zombie run in October.

I apparently didn't mention the zombie run in my last post. Whoops! Um, long story short? RUN FOR YOUR LIVES is a 5k obstacle course in which the people running also have to avoid zombies. It's more of a speed and wit thing than anything else, and they were looking for both zombie and running volunteers... so I volunteered to participate as a zombie. I'm looking forward to it, but don't want to have my zombie moans be literal moans of "WHY DOES MY MOUTH HURT SO MUCH?". If that makes sense.

If it does come to that, then there might be heavy drinking involved. Just saying.

The other doctor's appointment I have coming up -- the one I actually scheduled, since I've put it off for over a year now -- is with a dermatologist for a skin cancer screening. Skin cancer is a huge risk in my family (my grandfather died of it) and when my mother was screened last year I promised I would do it shortly after. My appointment is the week (or two weeks? I'd have to look) after I get back from Ireland. That won't be so bad but I'm freaking out a little that they might actually find something, which is stupid because I'm relatively good about wearing sunscreen and really, what are the chances? But still, it's something I'm really trying not to think about right now.

Friend A signed up to do speed dating this evening, and because she didn't want to walk around downtown by herself and I (a) am perpetually single and (b) will try pretty much anything once, I signed up with her. I don't expect much of anything to come out of it, but it should at least be interesting, right? Right. If I get any good stories out of it, I will report back. Promise promise!
kageotogi: (writer's life)

NaNoWriMo is aaaaaall done, and with days to spare.

Time to get back to my real stuff now, I guess. Erk. Back to being an uninspired mess. (I maintain that the best thing about NaNoWriMo is that I have no choice but to push through the hard parts. I have a lot of trouble making myself do that when I write for real.)
kageotogi: (warm fuzzies)
I spent all last week in San Diego (half for work, half for fun), and as glad as I am to be back, I kind of miss it. Or, anyway, I miss the life I lived while I was there. I walked every morning and I rented a bike (it's true: you never forget!) and I ate a crap-load of Mexican food (my favorite!) and guys, it was great. But I'm back now, and sloooowly getting back into things.

I think I need to find my old bike and pull it out of storage. There has to be some place in the city where I can bike and not, say, get hit by a car or hassled by a drug lord. I love Baltimore.

And the NaNoWriMo update!

Current word count: 45,080
Tomorrow's word goal: 47,000

I'd like to finish my project by the end of the weekend, and then have Monday and Tuesday to remind myself of my other projects and finish those in the first week of December. Fingers crossed!

Is this post coherent? I suspect it is not.
kageotogi: (office naptime)
My office is either located on the ice planet of Hoth or they forgot to turn on the heat this week. And let me tell you, ladies and gents, that the shivering makes it really, really hard to get work done. Rest assured, however, that I am doing my best nonetheless! That's totally why I'm on LiveJournal instead of, you know, submitting forms to the Library of Congress or checking page proof or, y'know, doing the other million things I need to get done today.

Because yes, I'm blaming it on the cold.

Brrr.

Also, the NaNoWriMo update...

Current word count: ~13,600
Today's word goal: 17,000
kageotogi: (talking to a chimp)
Things I did today instead of writing my NaNoWriMo novel:
  • Slept until eleven-thirty
  • Called my mother -- twice!
  • Ate cake unnecessarily
  • Watched free movies on Comcast On Demand
  • Checked my email several times
  • Painted my nails
  • Took a nap
  • Took another nap
  • Checked (and answered) my work email
  • Watched back-to-back-to-back reruns of The Nanny
Today's word goal: 3,000
Today's final word count: 2,078
Tomorrow's word goal: 5,000
kageotogi: (sexy stars)
So back on September 15, when I still had a mess of prompts left to do, I said I was going to finish one a day, giving me an end date of September 26. How did I do?

Weeeeell...

Okay, so of the twelve prompts I had to write, I finished all but three. And I still intend to get them done. Just... not this weekend, because this weekend is going to be busy-busy. But I'm going to set 10/10 as a goal. October 10. That'll be the day everything is finished and I can finally concentrate on other things.

Like what I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo this year. So far all I know is that it's probably going to involve zombies, if only because I've already written about zombies two Novembers in a row, and they're still in my brain.

But not literally. Because that would be bad. For my brains. And my general well-being.

All done.

Nov. 28th, 2009 11:18 pm
kageotogi: (stellar)
50128 / 50000


I think I deserve a nap.
kageotogi: (fine art [mortenavida])
All right, first things first. NaNoWriMo. How is that going, you ask? It goes like this.

32495 / 50000

So not great, but it's happening. I'm hoping to hit 35k tonight and 40k+ by the end of the weekend, but we'll see. I won't hold me to it if you won't.

I got tagged for a meme, and thus a meme I will do. It's a decent distraction from work, but I'm still holding [livejournal.com profile] skybound2 responsible.

1. If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.
2. Tag eight sexy people.


Questions, questions! )
kageotogi: (smack)
The kittens' vet visit went very well. I absolutely adore their vet; she's professional and very obviously cares about the animals she treats, and the kittens were only a little put out by her prodding at them. Other than Shawn freaking out when the attendants went to draw blood for his FeLV test (Gus was an angel for it, and I had a good laugh over that one) and finding out that the boys are a little tubby (or at least going through a 'fat phase', which I also find funny), everything went well. They need to get a second round of shots next month, but I don't think that'll be an issue. Then, the month after that, we get to the neutering! They're already so excited.

There was also a flute concert. That was about what I expected. For said concert (or, rather, for the reception that followed) I made a cake and a blueberry cobbler-esque thing. The cake is pretty much gone. The cobbler... Well, I neglected to bring a spoon with which to serve the cobbler, and thus only a little was consumed. However, this is no terrible thing; I will have cobbler for a month and very likely hit 50,000 pounds around the same time my novel hits 50,000 words.

It's a good thing.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, things are... going. I'm barely at par for my solo project (I hit 15k last night) and not as far ahead as I'd like to be. I would like to hit 18k tonight but I get the feeling I'll be lucky to get anywhere near 17k. We'll see. And aside from that, I have fic idea. Why does fic idea always come during NaNo, when I don't really have time to write it?

Whaaaaatevs. I'll be cruising by [livejournal.com profile] punctuates's place tonight to drop off some yarn and to perhaps pick up some delicious chili spaghet (which is, if you aren't aware, the Best Meal Ever). Post that, my plans consist of DwtS (Team Donny! Team Kelly! Everyone else can fall on their faces!), trying to knit around the kittens, and working on NaNoWriMo. Big surprise there.

15110 / 50000

How was your weekend?
kageotogi: (toast love)
My NaNoWriMo-solo goal for today is 10,000. Is that going to happen? Probably not -- I'll count myself lucky if I hit 9k. But it's a nice thought.

7380 / 50000


For the collabo project, I think [livejournal.com profile] masteroftrouble and I will be lucky to hit 6k today. Our schedules this week are really not working out for noveling, but we're working on it.

4050 / 50000


I've been craving eggs lately. Well, egg yolks. The runny sort that you dip toast in. I don't know what it is about egg yolks, but they never fail in their quest for deliciousness. At least, not in my book. If I didn't have to use the rest of the milk, I'd totally egg it up tonight. Although this does leave me with no idea what to actually do with the milk. Maybe I'll mix the best of both worlds and make a quiche, although I don't think I actually have anything to put in the quiche.

Ooh, wait, I have spinach. Spinach and onions. And I could pick up some bacon from the store on my way home from flute-quartet tonight, and that'd be that. (Quiche! All the cool kids are doing it.) Although if I'm going to the store anyway, I should just buy cereal and not be an idiot about all this. That's the easiest way to finish up the milk.

Ugh, milk irritates me. I need it to come in smaller cartons.
kageotogi: (vices)
First off. I promised to post a picture of my Halloween-cube as soon as AI sent me the pictures, so here it is.

Second, it's NaNoWriMo time! I finally decided to work on yet another zombie story, and I managed to get to 4,360 words last night before I totally zonked out. Today I'm aiming for 6,000. We'll see how that goes. Also, [livejournal.com profile] masteroftrouble and I decided, somewhat last minute, to start a collaboration. We're still in the planning stages; hopefully we'll get that started soon. How is everyone else's project going?

Third, there is no third. Does anyone mind that? I hope not.

4360 / 50000
kageotogi: (any key)
NaNoWriMo starts in less than a week (!!) and I still don't know for sure what I'm going to write. I'm playing with a few ideas -- one of which involves zombies, but I wrote zombies two years ago so I'm not sure I want to do that again so soon -- and not really making any decisions regarding any of them. I have pretty well-established character profiles in my head for two of the ideas, so I guess those are the forerunners. Perhaps my NaNo plot is a coin flip away...?

The kittens expanded their territory to part of the second floor of my house (the hall and bedroom, but not the office). This is nice, because I woke up to two sleepy kittens curled up next to me -- which was awesome until I moved and Guster noticed and came up to lick the crap out of my face. Still, it's a grievance I can learn to live with. And they were very good, both nights that I allowed them upstairs, so I think it'll become a regular occurrence. Though they still aren't allowed up there during the day, when I'm not home. It's only fair.

I've really got to start knitting again. And baking and cooking and writing and reading and gaming and... Yes. I've got to get back into things. And I very much want to finish at least one of my prompts before NaNo starts. I'm about halfway through two of them, so it really shouldn't be as difficult as it is. I just can't get my brain into the right gear, but I'm working on it.

Me, over and out~

Sneaky.

Oct. 7th, 2009 04:39 pm
kageotogi: (hoh007)
[livejournal.com profile] masteroftrouble! I have not seen you all day, and thus can only assume you are (a) working or (b) dead. If it is the latter, then I am very sad for you. If it is the former, then I am still sad for you but also have a question. ♥ Are we doing a collabo for NaNoWriMo this year (and if we do it, I think we should consider trying it in novel-novel form, and not what we usually do -- just to see if we can. However, I'm completely not opposed to keeping with our normal procedure)? If so, do you have any ideas? Maybe we can discuss that tonight/tomorrow.

Last night marked the third night the kittens had run of the first floor (instead of just the basement), and thus far the experiment has been an overwhelming success. I have a baby gate separating the first floor from the second, and they have only managed to knock it down once thus far (partially my fault; I was late getting downstairs and they got impatient waiting for me). The noise freaked them out and they ran to the basement for cover. They haven't tried it since. My furniture is all still whole, nothing seems broken, and all is well! We still haven't graduated to being out of the basement while I'm at work, but that should change soon enough -- possibly once I get back from Michigan...? We'll see. I'm really not sure how to pace all this, honestly. Small doses seems to work fine. The whole day might be disastrous. Especially if I add the second floor to the mix (I have no plans of doing so in the near future. At least, not yet).

Blaaah. I think it's time to go home.
kageotogi: (lemmings! [rageboxalice])
Hello, October! Welcome back to the year! You are my secondest favoritest month, you know. Yes, I know you know. That's just how you are. Anyway, I would like you a great deal better if you had warned me it was going to be so cold this morning. I mean, WOW. Are you always cold this early in the month, or do I just forget about it every year? I want to say it was at least mid-month when it started to get cold last year. Maybe I'm wrong.

Whatever. Today, I'm cold -- and rather glad I'm escaping to the 'rents' house this weekend, so I don't have to turn on my heat (bwahaha) right away and the kittens won't freeze. (Poor kittens.) I'm also gleefully awaiting sign-in over at NaNoWriMo so I can register for the 2009-season. I'll be doing that tonight, I think. Who else will be registering or re-registering for this year? It'll be a grand ol' time!

I'm going to finish at least one prompt tonight. I've decided this. And if I don't do it, you have permission to ostracize me.

Just saying.

Kittehs.

Sep. 16th, 2009 09:45 am
kageotogi: (strawberry plate [suxing])
I've decided to forfeit the PreNoWriMo project for this month. I mean, it's mid-month, I haven't broken 5,000, and I'm way too distracted by kittens to bother catching up. I feel a little bad about this, as I've never not completed a NaNo project, but I think I'll live. And if I manage in November, it'll be all good. So that's all right.

And did I mention kittens? I mentioned kittens.



See? I did mention kittens.
kageotogi: (going for it [wizzicons])
Today is the first day of September, and that means it's the first day of our NaNoWriMo test run, which I'm personally referring to as "Omfg What Was I Thinking"-Month. That would be OMFGWTF for short, I think. Or maybe I'll just stick with PreNoWriMo. Anyway, whatever. Let the games begin!

Today's Goal:

PreNoWriMo Total:
kageotogi: (Default)
I'm still working on that to-do list (go to-do list!) today, so that's fun. But in the meantime? Yes. [livejournal.com profile] mortenavida posted this up on her journal, and I think it's a fine idea -- especially since I'm so far behind on my writing page counts! This can only help, right?

November is right around the corner, and that means NaNoWriMo is very nearly on its way. However, it's nice to get into that writing groove well before the actual event, so Jay is going to do a test-run in September. I'm joining her. But there's a twist. For the September test-run, all participants have to take one picture (any picture!) off DeviantArt (or iStockPhoto or whatever. She said DeviantArt specifically, but DA and I have unresolved issues) and write their stories around that picture.

I'm in, and I'll be choosing my picture tonight. Does anyone else want to join us? It's like NaNoWriMo: the Prequel.

Edit: I'm so unbelievably pleased with myself today. Do any of you follow You Suck at Craigslist? No? Well, you should. It's awesome. And they just quoted me on a t-shirt. Seriously. It's here (and I made the original comment in this post, if you insist on having context). I half-want to buy myself a coffee mug because of it.

I'm just that easily thrilled.

Edit: The shirts are back up, but they're here now.
kageotogi: (writer's life [kageotogi])
Haha. I kicked your butt, NaNoWriMo! And with the exception of one scene and the fact that the vast majority of the novel is crap, it's actually finished, too, which I haven't managed since... 2004? The one with the psychiatrist. Yes. 2004. Maybe after I've finished working on the Novel From Hell, I'll tackle re-doing this one. I was actually really fond of the plot...

So that's a good feeling. And now I can go to bed and spend all of tomorrow baking and playing video games with no guilt whatsoever. The collaboration is still behind, but that's not quite as important. [livejournal.com profile] mortenavida and I just turned that into a NaNo project to get ourselves off our butts about it, and that's worked pretty well, when our schedules have actually meshed. If we make the word count on that, great. If not, meh. At least there's a very strong foundation there.

Oh, and happy belated Thanksgiving. My family celebrates on Saturday but hey, whatever. Turkey is turkey.
kageotogi: (stellar [kageotogi])
Novel + November = NaNoWriMo

Strawberry Wine + Chocolate Wine = Awesome Wine

NaNoWriMo + Awesome Wine = Laughable


I was hoping the Awesome Wine would help me write my NaNo-novel, but thus far no luck. It's really only succeeded in making me a little more heavy-headed and all the more willing to procrastinate.

None of the people I really want/need to talk to are online (I'm looking at you, [livejournal.com profile] mortenavida. The collabo won't write itself, probably!). Lame, guys. Lame. :P

Why do I own so many wine glasses? This doesn't make sense. I'm totally not benevolent enough to share my booze with that many people. So why?
kageotogi: (no show [snitched])
So I think I'm restarting my novel for NaNoWriMo. While I really like the plot of the one I have currently (and I got up to 3,525 words yesterday, and added an additional few hundred earlier this evening), I'm having difficulty connecting with the characters, which makes the novel very hard to write, which makes the word count move very, very slowly. So on my way home, I started thinking up new story ideas, and I think maybe I stumbled across one that will work. If I can write a few thousand words over the course of this evening, I think I'll go with it.

This is pretty much the same thing I did in 2005, although I actually had a later start with that one (I think). I broke away from some crap story involving cops to Aristeia (also known as the Novel From Hell), which I'm still working on, so I guess that was a good move. Maybe I'll get lucky this time around, too.

Ugh, and here I am wasting valuable writing time. Boo, me. Boo.

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