All right. So I kind of cheated. When I woke up this morning I told myself I absolutely could not take

a shower until I had reached my 50k. But hovering right around 49,620 words, and 2pm, I couldn’t stand my own stink. So I had a long, hot shower. And had some ideas while in the shower, as I often do. And then I got out, sat down and cranked out the rest of the words. After limping towards the finish line all day (heck, all month really) I finally did it. I paced myself. I wrote when I didn’t feel like writing. I wrote when I was tired and wanted to sleep. Sometimes I fell asleep with my laptop on my lap, and then I’d wake up and begin writing again. Some days it was kinda sorta grueling. Others it was cake. But overall it was good fun and completely worth it. And soon I can go back to being a full-time blog mommy. Oh, and mommy to the little man too, natch. After I fix it all in the re-write.
Bonus: A much easier challenge for next month…the 26 Things International Photographic Scavenger Hunt is back in business for December.
NaNo word count: 50060/50000

Today feels…weird. It’s the day before the end of NaNoWriMo for 2004. And I think I’m going to make it after all. This morning I put in a good stretch, 2 1/2 hours of solid writing at the neighborhood coffee shop, which garnered me another 2000 words…but I kept getting distracted. Halfway through I moved to a different chair, one next to an outlet, but the spot was way too sunny so I was all warm and sleepy. Then three different groups of older folks took over the room, all discussing various surgeries and procedures at great length. And it wasn’t even Senior Citizen’s Day (that’s Wednesday). I kept turning up the volume in iTunes to block their plaintive voices out. Until I found myself focusing more on the music than the words I was trying to write. So here I am, home again, now distracted by other stuff. Getting tangled in the web, naturally. Found a whole host of other local bloggers were at Saturday night’s show, some with great photos, others with extra commentary. And one of them is hosting a lovely Xmas themed playlist (I’ve been listening to the Mogwai song repeatedly). Speaking of Xmas, Zophia is hoping that someone gets her a Max Monkey. And holy flurking snit, Chuck quit his job today.
Now I must back away, and crank out just under 3000 words before midnight tomorrow. Definitely doable.
Bonus: Go for it in fast forward.
Plus: Below, red room photo taken by little man. White room photo taken by me, accidentally.
NaNo word count: 47115/50000

Exhausted. Collapsed into bed just before 3:00am, with the little man rousing me at 7am. Whining to the husband does no good. The man has no sympathy. He made matters worse by telling the little man that mommy is having a pity party today. Naturally the lad pleaded, “I want to come too,” and asked where the balloons were. But still, it was all worth it. The Arcade Fire put on an amazing (and sold out) show last night. And our timing was spot on. My friend and I stopped by Hard Times for a bit beforehand, and got into the 400 Bar while the band was setting up. Just minutes before they began playing I found my peeps, Chuck, Lorika, Spacewaitress and Cheeky Mark, who helped me to weasel my way into a decent spot. True, I missed a good deal of the on stage theatrics (caught a glimpse of R�gine being attacked by a large plastic horse, and witnessed some of the instrument swapping between these talented musicians) but the sound, and surrounding energy, was awesome. Now to catch up on my sleep, and my word count. Just two and a half days until the end of NaNo.

Bonus: A sad story gets a little bit sadder. Hopkin green frog explained.
Extra bonus: I was listening to The Arcade Fire’s song Une Annee Sans Lumiere when I was inspired to set the second half of my novel in Paris, particularly in the Parisian catacombs. In fact, I’ve been listening to Funeral so much while writing said novel that I might recommend my friends do the same while they are reading it. When it’s ready, of course.
Plus: The above photo was taken by a most helpful Mark, who is at least a foot taller than I am. I forced my camera into his hands and asked him to push the big silver button. Thanks, guy :-)
And: I like what Sarah Brown had to say about them: “…sort of like gorgeous sepia-toned undertaker rock, or maybe Neutral Milk Hotel if they rocked harder and had a cute girl and Napoleon Dynamite in the band.”

It finally happened. We woke up to a winter wonderland. The little man was so thrilled he rushed me outside before I’d had time to down my coffee. After a bit of frolicking he proceeded to make a snow angel on the neighbors’ deck, while waiting for them to suit up and join us. At one point he declared, “I love it outside, I’m never going in!” In typically fickle fashion he was back in the house fifteen minutes later, warming himself in front of the blue glow of Pee Wee’s Playhouse (we just borrowed the box set from my Dad, again). Now I’m faced with errands that need to be run and much housework begging to be done, but naturally I want to chuck it all so I can hit my 50k. I’m so close, yet so far. Thankfully the lad is content to watch Pee Wee for now.
NaNo word count: 44033/50000

After yesterday’s gorgefest, I was much less interested in food today. But we had a 9am breakfast date with the darling Delia, before she heads back to Chicago. I don’t think breakfast at a cooperatively owned restaurant would be included in the ban on Buy Nothing Day, right? Anyhow, a few other folks joined us, though none of us were particularly excited by the prospect of eating. It was more about the visiting, and the beverages (coffee, tea, Silk Nog) which was nice. And two days in a row of having fun with adult friends? That happens so rarely for me. I’m planning to make it a triple threat, what with tomorrow night’s Arcade Fire show and all. But I will more than make up for it next week. I have to frantically finish my novel, and I’ve volunteered to accompany the little man’s class on a field trip to the Children’s Museum. Life is about balance, after all.

In related news, I’m a bit nervous about falling behind on my word count again. How could it possibly be this late in the day already? I had a chance to make up for lost time when the little man unexpectedly took an hour and a half long nap. So what did I do instead? Watch the extras on the Blade II DVD, of course. Sure, it was interesting to learn about the Mike Mignola connection, but where is my discipline? Where is my mind? I’d better try to find one of the two, at the very least.

W.A.S.T.E.giving was smaller this year, as several regular participants have moved away, and the hosting house was moved a few blocks over. But fourteen of us still turned out, many of us bringing enough food to feed the rest, the dishes too numerous to describe. It was ridiculous and wonderful. And there were futon mattresses to lounge on throughout the gorging process. Not that the little man would sit still for that. He had a grand time running all over the place, screeching and ordering people around. For some reason his favorite commands were, “drink your juice!” and “get on the turtle!” - the latter referring to an oversized stuffed turtle, which had been sitting quietly in a corner until he got a hold of it. Then when we’d really slowed down on our consumption, it was time to watch an “interactive movie”. The Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure was good fun. Sadly (for us) our hosts will be moving to San Francisco by this time next year, joining the others who have likewise fled. We’ll try not to think of that for now. For the time being, we’ll focus on finishing off the leftovers (and getting my word count back on track).
NaNo word count: 40757/50000

Our house smells like dessert. Last night I made two pumpkin pies, with the little man’s assistance (I let him push the Cuisinart’s ON button). This morning the husband made one chocolate almond midnight cake and two pecan pies. We have an abundance of sweet. I’m not complaining, but I could go for something savory instead. Thankfully Cali is making her amazing homemade Tofurky today (much better than storebought). But the vegan feast, where we will share our sweets, doesn’t begin until 5pm. It’s going to be a long day of waiting. I’ll kill some time by making a double batch of BBQ tofu for the potluck, driving out to the burbs to see my Dad, forging ahead with the novel, and trying to keep the little man out of the pie. Easier said than done.
Update: When I informed the little man that we would be taking our precious desserts elsewhere, to share with friends, he balked. He told me, “Mom, we can’t do that. That would be dangerous.” When I stopped laughing I tried to explain that keeping all the desserts to ourselves would be far more dangerous. Maybe he’ll understand when he’s older.
NaNo word count: 40014/50000

Yesterday was grueling, but I’m back on track now. Turned in last night when I was but twelve words ahead of my word count. Now I just need to stay ahead. With only six and a half more days to go, it should be doable. There’s an excellent Onion A.V. Club interview with the legendary Nick Cave, whose sentiments I can relate to even more now (not on quite the same level, obviously), after this attempt at writing my own novel:

I don’t rely on inspiration. It’s unreliable. I just get up in the morning and I go to work. Inspiration has very little to do with it.

Speaking of writers and writing…Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books are among my all-time favorites, fantasy or otherwise, but I can’t get behind the miniseries, set to air next week on the Sci Fi channel. And it sounds like the author herself has similar reservations. How disappointing.
Bonus: It’s time for episode thirteen of Making Fiends.
Plus: Slippers Lee and Strong Bad are being brought down by similar woes this week.
And extra sucky: Poor Starfire and V-Nick. “It wasn’t the biggest knife in the world but we were staring at the wrong end of it.” At least they weren’t hurt.
NaNo word count: 38353/50000

Today, er yesterday (it’s late) I forced myself to sit down and take pen to paper. I created an outline of my novel, in its current form, and color coded it in crayon. Classy. This did me a world of good, though. It was much easier to see which parts of the story were in trouble, which needed to be fleshed out a bit more, and those that were done and could be left untouched in all their glory. For the sake of continuity I completely moved one bit of exposition, cleaned up a few other sections, and added nearly 3000 words of new writing. All hail the mighty word count! While I’m not completely caught up (about 400-500 words shy of where I should be), another productive day like this and I’ll be back in the saddle again. Now if I could just get some sleep…
Bonus: A hearty thanks to Chuck, for being supportive while making me laugh at myself…something I am not at all averse to.
NaNo word count: 36139/50000

I have finally hit my wall. Yesterday I just wasn’t feeling it, and couldn’t get more than a couple hundred words out. The day was spent in an unfocused haze, feeling overwhelmed because my storyline seems more convoluted than ever. Especially as I began with the most minimal of frameworks and have continued by fleshing out a scene here, a scene there, jumping in an out of the continuum like a time bandit…with a bad memory. Remembering too late that Character A doesn’t even know Character D exists until Chapter 33, but accidentally writing a scene where A mentions D in Chapter 18. Doh! And how am I going to fix everything? If I save all the continuity problems for the edit, will I be too tempted to trash the whole thing? And prospects are bleak for making my word count during this crazy week…with hair cuts to be had (today), an oil change (tomorrow), mountains of dirty dishes to be (de)scaled, the little man’s extra days off from school to contend with (Wednesday/Thursday), preparations to make for the annual Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck/Feast/Extravaganza, compulsory vists with the fam (Thursday), anticipated visits with friends coming back to town (Friday/Saturday), and a must-not miss show Saturday night. I have to keep reminding myself that the end is in sight. In these times of trouble I turn to the good book, the Creator’s No Plot? No Problem! A teeny voice is saying, “do not despair,” but it’s being drowned out by harsh words from my inner editor, and chants of “sink or swim, do or die.” This is the zero hour.