weapons of massdistraction

There is much the husband doesn’t understand about me, especially my many compulsions. We’re not Christian,

but some of our extended family members are. So around this time every year I get caught up in buying too much stuff, mainly for the kids. But it’s just plain fun to shop for toys, online or otherwise. And not to go all MightyGoods on you, but naturally I often get sidetracked on this quest, finding things that I desire. Items like Gama Go’s Yeti Journal and Ninja Kitty icon shirt, these Tokyo Snack Plates, this tongue in cheek chess set,

these adorable side-snap cell phone holders, and just about everything from the Giant Robot store. There goes rethinking the season. Maybe next year.
Bonus: Early this morning the husband called me from work, asking me to look something up online. He started singing “4, 3, 2, 1 Earth below us” and so on. Turns out he and his co-workers were trying to figure out who sang the non-Bowie version of an 80s song called Major Tom (Coming Home). That would be a German guy named Peter Schilling. But where is he now?
Plus: Strut your stuff, Sesame Street style.

We’re long past the point of worrying what the neighbors might think. By now they know our household is comprised of crazy people, fearlessly led by yours truly.

Still, I’d prefer to think no one was awake, or at least looking out the window earlier this morning. Our garbage container is in the driveway, just on the outside of the fence. When I took the trash out I was horrified, but not surprised, when the gate slammed shut behind me, locking me out of my yard…and barring the route to the unlocked back door. It was with little hope that I walked round to the front door, clad in black pajama bottoms, red t-shirt, bright orange and blue striped socks (with platform sandals), and a white apron that reads “Pancakes Not Prisons!” on the front of it. But no one heard me at the door. No one in my house anyhow. A few weeks ago someone stole the batteries out of our doorbell and we haven’t replaced them yet. So rather than freezing to death on my front steps, while so outlandishly dressed, I decided to cut through our neighbor’s yard, hop our shared fence and trudge up the hill to the back door. Naturally the guys didn’t even notice I’d been gone. Unless you count the little man’s question, asking me why his pancakes weren’t ready yet.

Thankfully Mimi Smartyparts gave me a much needed laugh, as she so often does:

Also feeling guilty: For calling my daughter “McFly,” when she was looking for a certain toy and it was right behind her, and I was sitting there saying, “Behind you. Behind you. Turn…no. Behind you,” while she spun in disoriented toddler-esque circles. Finally I got frustrated and blurted, “Hello! McFly! BEHIND YOU,” and there is no way she got the reference but it was still not very nice, and I felt bad.

Today, more chores, errand running and possibly a visit to the ‘burbs. Oh my exciting life. Tomorrow night, out to dinner to celebrate Big Dave’s birthday. I can only imagine the kind of chaos the little man will cause.

Tomorrow the Anti War Committee is having a benefit craft sale/bake sale 11am to 4pm, at Mayday Books (301 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis). The little man and I will already be in the area, as we’re attending the annual NaNoWriMo “Thank God it’s Over” party, except I’m not feeling relieved at all. If anything, I’ve been feeling a bit despondent and unproductive since the end of November. I already miss the make it or break it daily word quota goals, the forced creativity under pressure. That worked for me. And I am not alone (there were 6,000 of us who crossed the 50,000 word finish line). The message boards have come alive with “Life After NaNo” posts (I especially like the “reclaim your life, figure and personal hygiene” thread). So I’ve been ruminating about what got me through the month. The husband is so not on that list. I was waiting for a pat on the back from him, something, anything. Instead you know what he had to say to me about it on December 1st? “Great, now you can wash the dishes.” Which I still haven’t done, sheerly out of spite. So while I did this mostly under my own steam, I have to admit there were a few padding techniques I picked up, and employed, towards the end:

• Use extra long chapter titles;
• Do NOT use contractions;
• Dig through past weblog post titles for inspiration, chapter quotes and titles;
• Add lengthy quotes at the beginning of each chapter (most frequently lyrics from whatever song I was listening to at the time that seemed relevant, or, most sadly from fortune);

There was one extreme measure that I did not have to take. I’d read of others who ran into last minute writer’s block problems, who dumped in entire passages from other books, having their characters quote from long soliloquys just to reach their word count. Thankfully it didn’t come to that for me.
The Good: Overall this exercise gave me more confidence in my abilities. Over the last decade I have started and abandoned more novels than I care to count (Chris Baty calls these “three chapter novels”). So now I know that I can finish what I started. And by being so intimately connected with this novel, by virtue of spending so much time with it day in and day out, it gave me a better sense of structure, the big picture, and pacing. I am going to need to stay away from it for a few more days before I unleash my inner editor, but I do want to start polishing it up when it’s still fresh. Also good…because of NaNo I met, and wrote alongside of, some wonderful folks.
The Bad: All right, not necessarily bad, but there are caveats. I don’t believe my resulting novel is any sort of masterpiece (far from it), or that it’s something I would consider submitting to a publisher (I will be printing off a few copies for a select group of friends to enjoy/mock). This exercise gave me a good idea of how easy it is to let a promising story fall victim to cliche. Oy. And if there was ever any doubt over who I’ve been influenced by, there isn’t now (Joss Whedon, Jonathan Carroll and Michael Chabon come to mind).
The Ugly: I ate more poorly than usual throughout the month of November, cleaned house even less, and maintained tenuous ties with friends, family, and reality. And the little man had more screen time than usual…be it watching DVDs in front of the teevee, or playing games on my desktop while mommy worked away on her laptop. That said, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Bonus: Also happening tomorrow, Dalek will be doing an in-store appearance at the Robot Love store on Lyndale, from 2-4pm.
Extra bonus: This homemade Lord of the Rings board game is quite the masterpiece.
Plus: Just a thought, if holiday shopping is on the horizon for you, consider buying Fair Trade.
Annoyed: Our state has gone from ranking 18th to 4th in the nation in SUVs per licensed driver. Gee, great.
And: Hard to believe it was one year ago today that the husband and I received some very bad news. I’m glad I documented it, though. Re-reading those entries has been cathartic.

Monday night, as I was in the final throes of NaNoWriMo, I took a break to listen to National Public Radio (yes, dear husband, I am a nerd).

First off, I was listening to the end of Marketplace while I was in the kitchen, and the closing music they used was the 9th track on Manitoba’s release, Up in Flames (a favorite of mine). Afterwards I was going to retreat to the computer room, as I often do. But then I heard who the guest was going to be on Fresh Air. It was none other than Paul Reubens. Perfect as the little man has been watching nothing but Pee Wee’s Playhouse as of late. So not only did we listen to it…I taped it, to replay the good bits later, especially when we’re in the car.
Bonus: I am fully prepared to develop a huge crush on Tony Jaa. I was able to watch a copy of Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior last night. Sadly I don’t think it will be showing on the big screen here until some time next year.
Plus: Jonathan’s got the scoop on the upcoming rash of musical movies. I’ve been getting in the mood by watching the BtVS musical episode, Once More With Feeling, over and over again.

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