The End of NaNo 2007

I finished this year's NaNoWriMo at about 1:10 this morning, ending with 8115 words for the day (I hadn't gone to bed, so I still count it as the same day) and a total of 88,705 words completed in 29 days, a new record for me. I did 3,047 more words than I did last year (and hit 86,000 before midnight, so it counts! LOL)

I looked at last year's "I did it" post, and so much of what I said then was true this year, too.

But this year was harder. I didn't love the book and the characters as much--I don't think I ever will. That's okay. It's not a bad thing. But it did make every day more of a struggle, knowing the characters were flat and the world too similar to last year's world (not really, and yet definitely) and some plot devices way stale and overused. It wasn't the book I envisioned when I started, even moreso than usual.

Time was harder to get, too. I did four critiques of various sizes, and I volunteered at my kids' schools A LOT. We had the big dining room project over the holiday (which was early, and that messes things up). Last year I wasn't doing editing and proofreading professionally, either. This year I did 16 paid projects (again, of various sizes, most pretty small, but frontloaded so I fell behind on my book pretty quickly). It meant many more late nights to get the words in.

I felt more isolated in it this year, too. I don't know why. The friends who did it last year also did it this year, but we didn't communicate directly as much, probably because of the new way the buddies were laid out. Maybe part of it, too, was this was my second time. The excitement wasn't the same.

So now I get to clean my house and do some critiquing I'd been putting off, catch up on my filing and declutter my office. I am 4,253 words shy of 300,000 for the year, so I plan to work on a short story in December, but that's it. I'll set a much smaller writing goal for 2008, mainly because my to-do list currently looks like this:

1. Revise Behind the Scenes
2. Revise Hummingbird
3. Revise More Than You Know

That's half a year's work right there, plus (fingers crossed) I hope to have a book in production, which will mean revisions on that, plus marketing and promotional work and AAs. And any plan might be derailed based on which book sells and whether or not there's a second book to write in follow-up.

Anyway. Let me conclude by congratulating every writer who won 2007 NaNo; every writer who tried to win; and every writer who wrote, whether part of NaNo or not. You all rock.

Details to Follow

NaNoWriMo is Kicking My A**

Therefore, my dead brain is offering you these tasty morsels instead of a thoughtful and thought-provoking post:

Some Romance



Some Gravitas



Some Funny



And heck, let's have some more Jensen Ackles in Eyeliner

Oooh, Christmas!

Okay, I have two really cool videos I want to show, and I couldn't decide which one to put first. But I decided if you watch the fun-one-that's-not-about-something-serious first, you probably won't get around to the fun-one-that-IS-about-something-serious. So here we go.

Fun-video-that-IS-about-something-serious:



Fun-video-that's-totally-a-present-of-love:

What a Weekend!

Welcome Back!

Okay, maybe you've been hanging out here, annoyed that you keep checking and I haven't been posting. I apologize. It's been an extremely busy, very productive four days.

There was the holiday, of course, which was lovely, a quiet day spent with family, full of games and laughter.

There was also football. Number Two is really getting into it, saying things like "they gave him a good lane" and calling the number of a penalized player before the referee does. She even turned on college ball on Saturday! The Browns and the Patriots both won, though the tough time the Eagles gave us was nerve-wracking.

There was, erratically, writing progress. A total of 8,876 words, which is not as much as it should be, but when you hear the rest, you'll understand.

There was leaf-raking. Saturday we raked the entire yard and hauled it out front. So you can have an idea of what that means, here are some photos.

Our neighbor's pile of leaves (the one next to the mailbox is from our side yard; the one on the other side of that is the neighbor's):



And here's our main pile:



I swear, I take pictures every year, but I can't find any of previous years. This pile seems longer than usual, but I have no proof.

So anyway, we did that.

We also did most of the dining room remodeling. We cleared out the room on Friday, primed and painted the first coat on Saturday. I didn't take a picture of our creative failure. We did the light blue at the top, the dark blue at the bottom, and blended in the middle. The blending was great, but the transition to the solid colors we just couldn't make work. So we ended up doing two walls dark, two walls light. Which means messy corners, despite meticulous taping. What can I say, we're not that good at this. We did the second coats yesterday. Today we have to do the window and the ceiling of the kitchen and dining rooms, which includes priming the edges because there's wallpaper paste or something that turned brown around the whole ceiling. Add taping the walls to that, and we're talking a LOT of ladder work. My thighs are already screaming from all the squatting.

After the ceiling, or maybe before, as a procrastination tactic, I will replace the old yucky outlets with pretty new ones, add the face plates, and viola! We won't be done.

We're going to go shopping for a new rug today. Once that's in, we can move the furniture back. Eventually we'll replace the light fixture and buy new curtains for the window. THEN we'll be done, and I shall post photos.

Remember how this project was our big household goal for the year? We're going to make it! Yay, us! Almost makes up for missing nearly every single other goal I set for 2007. Phooey.

How was your weekend?

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of my American friends/readers, I hope you have a lovely, warm, toasty, delicious holiday with tons of reasons to be grateful and none of the usual holiday annoyances to cloud the gratitude.

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I raked leaves today. Wasn't going to, because they're wet, and wet leaves are a bitch to move around. We have to haul them uphill to the front yard for collection. And the muscle was, of course, at work. But it's supposed to rain tomorrow, too, and there were a lot of leaves already down, so I dragged the girls outside and we did a little.

We have two maples on the rear property line and a giant maple in the center of the backyard. The rear maples have dumped probably 75% of their leaves, half of those in the neighbor's yard. Our previous rear-facing neighbor used to collect whatever was in his yard, even after he cut down his own maple and the leaves were all from our trees. But we have a new neighbor now, and they seem to be more like us, delaying such things. So we raked their yard.

Never doing that again.

It wasn't the leaves. It was the dog poop. You could barely find a place to step, it covered so much area. I wouldn't judge, honest--I mean, we only clean up our dog stuff periodically. But that's because Dolly goes out twice a day: once in the early morning when I'm still in my nightgown, once at night, when it is now dark. I'm not picking up doggie-do in those conditions. But they walk their dogs on leashes in the backyard. They stand right there while the dogs do their business. I can't fathom why they leave it there.

So anyway, the leaves were mucho heavy, and we only did two loads. We'll probably do the rest of our yard on Saturday, after the first coat of paint is put on.

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One of the other things I did today was start to clear out my spices. McCormick had an ad in a coupon circular that talked about how if your spice has a Baltimore address, or is in a tin, it's at least 15 years old. You can check the codes on their web site, too. Ground spices are supposed to be good for 2-3 years. I know I have spices that predate my marriage, so I probably should replace stuff.

So today I grabbed a pen and started cleaning out my spice cupboard. I took out maybe nine bottles. The first three are things I use a lot--garlic and onion powder and lemon pepper--so of course they were okay. They don't expire until 2009 or 2010, have the dates right on them. But then I pulled out some more. And none of them are McCormick. The bay leaves are, but they didn't have a date or anything, and I realized writing down the codes didn't do any good unless I wrote down the spice, too, and most of my spice bottles are 3/4 full and throwing them away seems way too wasteful.

So I gave up.

Short Week

Today is my kids' last day of school until next Tuesday. So today is my last day of true NaNoWriMo progress. As you can see, I did meet the NaNo goal of 50,000 words. I have about 32,000 to go. Right now, this second, I'm slightly ahead of goal. But six days with the kids home, plus Thanksgiving, plus the husband home for six days, plus painting the dining room, all add up to very little writing time.

So, yes, I should be writing right now, thank you.

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The writers strike will soon be affecting our television watching (the shows that have stopped production aren't shows I'm watching, so far). I'm slowly catching up. My thoughts:

Supernatural
I talk about this every week, so I'll just say I'm very, very sad that we have at least two weeks of reruns.

Scrubs
Not as funny as past seasons, but the only funny show we watch, so we'll keep watching.

Heroes
I looooooove David Anders (Kensei/Adam). Kristen Bell can really act. Milo Ventimiglia really worked out hard over the hiatus. I still don't care for the twins plot, the Nikki plot, or the whiny cheerleader elements (not enough to call it a plot), but the rest is getting much better. They really shouldn't have moved so slowly to introduce the virus plot.

Reaper
So far, no advancement as far as story goes. It's the same basic show every week. But, also so far, that's not a bad thing. The acting is good, the characterization well done, the dialogue and some of the situations very funny. Ray Wise as the devil is some of the best casting evar.

Chuck
After Supernatural, this is my go-to show. I don't like Morgan all that much, and Ellie could use some depth, but I loooove Adam Baldwin, the episode plots are pretty decent, and the cool factor makes it easy to suspend disbelief of some of the stretchier points (like the coincidence of Ellie treating the poisoned guy last week). I do wish they'd do some training so Chuck wouldn't be so stupid sometimes, and had a little ability in a pinch. I also wish they'd pay him, or at least that the subject would come up. I mean, he IS working for the government.

Numb3rs
Still one of my favorites, though a couple of recent episodes have been less well plotted than I'm used to. I liked that Charlie had almost no one show up to his booksigning. That made me feel better. :) We're a couple of episodes behind on this one.

Still haven't tried Private Practice or Bionic Woman, but with repeats and blackouts coming up, I will.

I've also been watching the final season of Gilmore Girls on DVD. I knew this was the bad season, so my expectations weren't high, but I'm disappointed anyway. It makes me think of That Guy, you know, the one who tries to make jokes like everyone else does, but they're off, so they end up sounding mean-spirited and not at all funny? The episode where Kirk drove the car into the diner was a good example. The traffic light and the flash and the crash and Taylor were all spot-on. And then Kirk does the diner thing? There's a hardness to everyone that wasn't there before, like they've all been possessed by demons trying hard to be like the original person but with a core of pain or hatred that leaks out. Everything is forced, with the superb exception of Logan, who has been excellent and consistent and makes me want to be called "Ace." :)

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The holidays are all messed up this year. Everyone seems to be all panicked that Thanksgiving is early and they haven't done Christmas shopping and preparation yet, but in reality, it means there's almost a full week longer than usual in between T-giving and Christmas. So everyone should be more relaxed, right?

I have no idea what we're doing for the holidays. I can't think of what gifts to give anyone except Number One, and I have enough ideas for her to spread around to everyone, so she'll be set. Number Two is so much harder for some reason. And other family? Fuhgeddaboutit. Even worse, I have no idea what to do for my husband. So, of course, I said we're not doing each other this year. I think we'll be doing a lot of gift cards.

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Okay, back to the writing. The writing of the derivative (from my own work), slow (there's no action in this action-adventure), currently stalled (I know where I'm going, not how to get there) NaNo book. Wish me luck.

NaNo and Pencils

I've had a pretty roller-coaster NaNoWriMo so far this year. I'm about 4,000 words from winning, so that's no problem, but for most of the first half of the month I was wayyy behind. Like, 7,000 words at a time behind (my goal, not the 50k goal). I was caught up yesterday, after a 28-page day in my jammies started early with no Internet until lunchtime. Today I did only 1k. Bad me.

The book is different than anything I've done before, in that the romantic leads are married with a huge obstacle to overcome, and there is a dual timeline with flashbacks to how they got to the point where they are. The flashbacks ended up being in non-chronological order, which I like, but their presence has made the adventure plot develop slowly, probably too slowly. But it's a NaNo draft, so that's okay. In theory. We'll see come next spring when I'm revising.

I feel a bit guilty for writing during a writer's strike. Of course, I'm a novelist, and we already get residuals (i.e. royalties for each copy sold, that's our complete pay system). I couldn't write for visual entertainment if I wanted to. So the strike has nothing to do with me. But there's not too much I can do to show my solidarity, living as I do in central Pennsylvania, fairly far from strike zones. I can sign petitions. Blog about it. (How's that for meta? Self-referential linking!) And...

Buy pencils!

I love this idea. A concrete way to demonstrate to the AMPTP that the audience--the only people more important than writers in the popular entertainment equation--are on the writers' side. All it costs you is a buck! Go for it! Heck, go for it even if you side with the AMPTP because you, too, are a greedy bastard who doesn't want to give a penny to anyone else who is responsible for your millions. It may help cut the overall strike time, and then you'll get your 30 Rock back. :)

It's a Friday with No Soccer on Saturday!

Sleeping in FTW! \o/

I don't remember if I said this yet, but Trish Milburn, who was a guest blogger last month, made the second round of the American Title contest at Romantic Times.



Cool! I stole the code from MaryF for that image. I don't think the link works, though, so go here to vote.

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Speaking of MaryF, she sold to Samhain! That's two books in, like, two weeks. Go congratulate her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the news just keeps coming! Misty Simon, Vicky Burkholder, and debut author Vicki Smith have sold an anthology about domesticated shapeshifters to Draumr Publishing. I didn't put this announcement first because they haven't announced it themselves yet, and they might make me take it off the blog if it's too prominent. I can't help myself, though, I'm so happy for and proud of them.

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I have the bestest friend in all the world. For a lot of reasons, of course. I am blessed with many very close friends, and several of them "get" me, but none to the level of completeness that she does.

But today, she's my bestest friend because of this. My birthday present! Does she rock, or what? I'm so excited I'm bouncing with squee.

I'd like to announce some news for her, but I can't yet. Hopefully soon.

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Okay, now to important stuff. Supernatural.

No, wait. Let's get the really important stuff out of the way first.

The WGA strike continues, and there are some fabulous articles out there with explanations and opinions I think everyone should read. My favorites are here and here, and of course, always United Hollywood with constant updates, links to videos (both funny and informative) and other articles and rebuttals for stupidity like the quote about flushing the toilet.

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Okay, now to Supernatural.

It's pretty clear that this is my very favorite show, and as such, I have hated reading/hearing criticism of it. I want everyone to love everything about it because if they don't, they might stop watching and then it would be taken off the air (ratings are dropping every week, people!). I believe I have gotten past that knee-jerk desperation and can tolerate reasonable discussion about both the good and bad aspects of the show now. Just a long as no one attacks the creators, writers, actors, crew, or even The CW, m'kay? Thx.

So. "Fresh Blood." Once again they got creative with an established supernatural element, and I loved it. One of the few fan bloggers I still read said she didn't like that they acted like they had no choice but to kill Lucy, because they know there are options (there was Lenore, of course--I think that was her name). But just because there are some people who can overcome the hunger doesn't mean she would be able to. She's a junkie, and vampirism is a far more overwhelming hunger than simple narcotic addiction. She'd already killed two people and almost two more, including Dean. If there was a halfway house they could send her to, great. But they can't afford the luxury of holing up somewhere and trying to teach someone something they themselves can't understand. Besides the job they do, they have people after them. Lots of them. Minus one.

We thought when Sam cut off Gordon's head he'd have to have cut his hands on that wire, too, and Gordon's blood was spurting all over. I kind of wish they'd addressed it, like had Dean say "thank God you didn't cut yourself" or something like that.

I have two nitpicks. The first is akin to the situation in "Croatoan" where they had nothing to go on, so "oh, let's call Bobby." At the time, it was out of character and simply convenient writing so they had a reason to find out the phones were dead. This time, it was Dean telling Bela where they were. In what UNIVERSE would Dean do that? He hates her! Sure, he'll save her life and take her money, but he wouldn't chat with her, wouldn't give a known mercenary who'd sell them out at the clink of a coin his location when they are wanted by so many people.

The other is a silly one. Sam looked ridiculous feeling around in the dark. It was way too exaggerated and flaily. He's got more control than that, even when he's terrified. Puh-leez.

That said...this ep had so much greatness. The hotel room they were in, clearly one not in use that they were squatting in again. I love that they found a way to not say "as you know, since we broke out of prison and Henrickson is still after us, as well as who knows how many hunters, plus that Jesus-freak guy, so we have to lay really low, go where we can't be tracked." We had them squatting in the house last week, and in this obvious storage unit in a hotel this week. Very cool.

Sam starting out with the same argument about Dean's recklessness and avoidance, which is annoying some people but wasn't annoying me, I don't care if it's the same old argument, that's how people are, that's how life is, and I just love watching them do it. But he took it somewhere new, went ahead and opened himself up, made himself vulnerable. And Dean stepped up. For once, he did what his brother asked, not just what he thought was best or what Sam wanted because he wouldn't listen anymore. It was great, especially with the scene at the end, played perfectly straight without hidden nuance and deflection and stuff. Just "you're right, you're my brother, and I'll be yours again."

*sigh*

Sam's hair is freakin' awesome. Season one it was College!Sam hair, kind of dorky and childish. Season two it was adolescent hair. It was testing itself, seeing what it liked, maybe be longish here and stick out there. Better, but not great. This year, OMG, as Sam has matured, so has his hair. It's awesome. I want to...okay, wait, I gotta stop there. My husband reads this blog occasionally.

Sterling K. Brown has been the best recurring guest star on this show, and I shall miss him mightily. RIP, Gordon.

I'd post some of the great lines from the ep, but I'd mess them up. Maybe after I watch again. Which I definitely will, eventually. I'm saving them for when everything else goes dark due to the strike.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Thursday Thirteen #22

Thirteen of my Pet Peeves

1. Slowness
Slow cars in front of me, slow thinking, slow talking, but especially, slow walkers. I'm a fast walker. Drives my husband insane. I find it physically impossible to walk as slow as he does. I especially hate it like in the mall or on a sidewalk where a group of people stretches out and moves at a snail's pace and you can't get around them. I am tolerant of injured or elderly, and that's pretty much it.

2. Drivers who can't make the turn
If you have to come to a complete stop in the middle of the friggin' road to make a right turn into a parking lot or, worse, another street, I'm likely to plow into you. Well, okay, not, because technically I'd be liable. But I'll yell and make lots of arm-waving gestures to demonstrate my displeasure.

This is a problem, actually, because my 8-year-old is known to growl, "Make the turn!" from the back seat.

3. Arm water
I hate having water run up my arms. I don't wash my face at night because rinsing it means splashing my face with water and then it runs up my forearms (which are upright, so it's technically down my arms, but if I said that you'd have no idea what I was talking about). Sometimes it happens when I'm taking out/putting in my contacts. I hate it.

4. Gender bias
This is a big one. Not bias in the sense of active discrimination, but "women love to shop, men love to roll over and go to sleep after sex" kind of stuff. I know there are some basic biological differences, but even those aren't universal. There are plenty of women who are physically stronger than many men, and plenty of men who are capable of multi-tasking. So I hatehatehate when someone blames an individual's behavior on their gender.

5. Generalizations stated as absolutes
Generalizations, like stereotypes, exist for a reason. I make them occasionally, though I try to avoid it. But a generalization stated as an absolute drives me INSANE.

6. When people bash others to elevate themselves or something connected to them
I see this in the publishing industry a lot. Authors published with micro press verbally shred publishers with bigger, more commercial houses, and talk about how their publishers are better. I adore my publisher, have nothing but positive things to say about them. But they are great because they're great. Not because New York sucks. The same with, say, sports. The New England Patriots are a stellar football team, and they are even if the Indianapolis Colts are also a stellar football team. It's not necessary to insult their coach or blame them for cheating in order to elevate the Pats. (Though they did totally pipe in crowd noise and the officials did a horrible job. :) )

7. Not hearing
It really frustrates me when someone is trying to talk to me and I can't hear them well enough to understand the words. Especially when I have to ask them to repeat it more than one. What's ironic is...

8. Not being heard
...I get equally frustrated when I'm telling someone something and they have to ask me more than once to repeat it.

9. Age apologism
This is probably going to annoy (or, better, amuse) a lot of people, since I'm only 36 (I keep calling myself 37 even though I'm not for another 39 days). It bugs me when people blame forgetfulness or misunderstanding or lack of knowledge on their age. We are all forgetful, and that's because we either have far too many things to remember and deal with, or we are focused in one direction and other things fall by the wayside (or a combination). Not getting a pop culture reference means you haven't seen that movie or paid attention to that celebrity's news--"out of touch" has nothing to do with being "old." And at the bottom of the "acceptable excuses" pile is technology. If my 86-year-old grandfather can send me e-mail, anyone can. The ability to learn new things, and to teach yourself new things, only stalls if you let it.

10. Dishes not being put in the sink right
This is such a silly one, yet it annoys me so much. Okay, I admit, it's very neurotic and anal. But I do dishes every single day, and it's not my favorite thing to do. Of course. So I've asked everyone to put things that go in the bottom of the dishwasher on the left side of the sink, things that go in the top on the right, and silverware in the tray. You're putting your cup in the sink anyway, just shift it an inch to the right. Why is that so frickin' hard?

11. Football announcers jinx
I swear, every time they announce some often obscure but usually cool stat, it immediately gets broken. Like, "Adam Vinatieri has never missed a field goal in this stadium" and he immediately misses. Or, "The Patriots have scored on their first possession for 15 games" and then they go three and out. Can't they say the stat AFTER the attempt? Let us know Tom Brady's interception-to-throw ratio at halftime, not right before he tosses a bomb, please.

12. Crowds
You know by the time you get down this far, usually the writer is scraping the bottom of the brain to think of something in the category. In this case, I couldn't believe I didn't think of my last two right off the bat. I hate crowds. I hate being considerate and stepping aside to let a woman with a stroller squeeze through the six-inch gap between groups of people clogging the thoroughfare, then being forced to wait while 50 other people stream through, ignoring my obvious attempts to go the other way. I hate being patient and waiting my turn and having someone behind me push me aside to get by. This is one of the rare times I get belligerent with people. "What makes you more important than me? Why is it essential that you get down their first? What difference will two more seconds make?" Grrr.

13. Servers who pour off the top of the soda
I may hate this more than anything else on the list. You go to the movie theater or the drive-thru, and order a Coke (usually a Coke, because it takes longer for the Coke fizz to dissipate than the Diet Coke or Sprite). The server doesn't care how much of their (admittedly cheap) product they waste, and they pour off the top, then fill some more, then pour off the top, then fill some more. The problem is, that "pouring off the top" is also pouring all over the side of the cup. Then they expect you to carry that mess and let it drip all over you and your car. It's lazy and inconsiderate. It's okay, though, I make them wipe it off every time. :)

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Buncha Stuff. With Pictures! And Links.

My last post (way long ago--sorry I've been AWOL) was about the WGA strike. I just deleted a really long post with viewpoints and opinions about it, but so much of it was rehashing stuff I've read elsewhere, I decided to just link you to United Hollywood. That's the true behind-the-scenes look. Yes, it's from the WGA perspective, but it addresses a lot of issues from both sides.

And really, the bottom line is that WGA members' average annual income is $5,000, and most of the CEOs of the companies fighting not to pay them are making billions per year. Each. This is an important issue that has an effect not just on the very, very few "rich" writers and the actors who's union contract is up later in the year, but on all the "smaller" sectors of the business, too. Big picture and long term is important, and not just when you get there.

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On a lighter note...

We saw this in the parking lot at Barnes & Noble today:



Imagine the claws on the thing that did that! I think Sam and Dean should come check it out! You know, and protect helpless book-buyers. Like me.

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It looks like the dining room project is really going to happen. Unless I want to keep THIS on my wall:



There was a curl of paper at the edge. Jim tore it. A little. Number One said part of it looked like a nose, so he then felt the need to draw on the wall.

Lovely, inn't it?

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Umm, let's see, I should do a couple more links.

Lauren Dane has some big news. People have big news all around me! Go congratulate her, if you are so inclined. She deserves it, she's been working hard toward this for a long time.

Also, you should go here and order this book. I read it, and it's awesome. And yes, there is a sequel, so the unresolved elements will be resolved, in time. Something to look forward to! :)

Oh, and one final thing...

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The New England Patriots are 9-0, and there is much belief that they will go undefeated for the season, something only done once before, by the 1972 Miami Dolphins (who won 14 regular season games). The coach of that 1972 team, the legendary Don Shula, was asked if the Patriots do it, should there be an asterisk next to them in the record books. He basically said yes.

Look. The Patriots were caught doing something they weren't supposed to do. Something big enough to cause unprecedented punishment. But they're winning now. Does anyone really think they're not under intense scrutiny by the NFL? That they could get away with cheating NOW? Does anyone think Randy Moss is NOT really catching that ball in double coverage, or that Wes Welker is making people miss because of...what, mind control?

Consider this. It is widely discussed how horribly bad the NFL is right now. In fact, I just checked, and out of 32 teams, 20 are .500 or below (meaning they have lost as many or more games than they've won). I don't know how that compares to mid-season in previous years, but it seems pretty bad. And it makes me wonder...

The Patriots aren't winning because they're cheating. And it's unlikely that Indianapolis, Dallas, and Green Bay are, either. It's unlikely that anyone is cheating at all right now.

Which really makes me wonder if that's why so many teams are losing so badly.

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So that's pretty much it for me today. Probably more than enough, some of you would say. ;)

Have You Heard...

Some of you may not be aware of the writers' strike in Hollywood. Here's an awesome explanation of why it's happening and what the writers are asking for. I'm posting it to hopefully pre-empt all the whining we'd be wont to do come January/February when all our favorite shows go off the air.

Updates

NaNo Updates:

Day 1 = 4722 words
Day 2 = 755 words
Day 3 = 3200 words

Day 2 was dismal due to a proofing job and prepping to travel, then traveling, and going to bed early. Today was better due to writing during soccer warmups, a mini-retreat at a friend's house, and after dinner/before Bee Movie, so I am exactly on task now.

Goals Updates:

Writing = 213,716 words for the year. Won't make 350,000. Might make 300,000, or just under.

Exercise = 260 days done, need 40 more, no problem. Must up that next year. :(

Weight = gained two back and they don't want to go away again, but the clerk at my favorite café noticed that I'd lost weight. \o/ Not a single other person has.

Books = 89, doubtful I will even reach 100 this year, never mind my increased goal.

House = uncertain. A little more planning underway, so we'll see.

Supernatural Update:

I loved this week's show as much as all of them, though I think my intense passion has settled down a little. I'm thinking more about...not flaws, necessarily, but things that aren't perfectly right. Like, how does Sam keep winding up alone so he can be available to Ruby and stuff? It's not like Dean goes to get gas during the 30 seconds it takes Sam to pack his duffle. Or his nifty new camie backpack. :)

I also can "see" the writers' work more this season. In the first two seasons, it felt more organic, more natural, and we could gather puzzle pieces and start putting them together but the whole picture was still black, we couldn't see what was coming. This season, what's coming seems all too clear, and I feel like we're being shoved in big chunks in that direction, and that the writing is struggling to serve that purpose rather than serve the moment. If that makes any sense.

Not that there's nothing redeeming about it. I loved how they took old elements--vengeful spirit, not-dead spirit, single-episode mystery--and wove a new tale. They kept tropes of the show (research, "you save the girl, I'll go fight the baddie") without making them routine and yawn-inducing. The yelling in the car was awesome, the confrontation at the end even awesomer, because we know both of them are right but we can't help but side with Sam (of course!).

I was a little disappointed with Sandra McCoy's scene. I blame the direction more than the acting. She seemed nervous and at one point I think she forgot her line, or didn't give her response the punch it was supposed to have. I wondered why they used that take. But it's up to the director to make the guest actor at ease and get from them what the character needs. I also thought she was the most obviously "blind" of all the characters on the show who've had the opaque contacts (YED, reaper, crossroads demon) and was glad it didn't last long.

But WHOA. I admit I was shocked that Sam killed her. Not because I thought he shouldn't--the demon deserved it, with the taunting and the evildoing and all. But he didn't seem to care any more about the woman inhabited by the demon. So is that Sam maybe being not!Sam? Or is it the writers already tired of having to worry about that factor when the boys confront demons? Or, conveniently, both?

Next week: Pirates! Yay! Looks that way, anyway.

These Made Me Cry

This one, because it was so good and we'll never get to see more (idiot suits):





This one, because Yay! Joss! And the premise even sounds cool.

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Yeah, yeah, NaNo started today, blah blah blah. Despite my widely ranging attempts at procrastination this morning, I'm halfway through today's page count goal. Back to it!