The one good thing about halloween? Is that it doesn't matter how old you are, it is guaranteed to cheer you up! There is something about the chill in the air, the autumn colours scattered around (ie the nasty brown leaves falling off the neighbours tree), and the very blatant excuse to wear fancy dress and have outrageous make up, that makes this day awesome!
This evening me and a group of my girls are heading into town to our favourite pub, dressed in crazy clothes, with crazy make up and even crazier hair. I is a little excited :)
(Watch this space for photographic evidence...)
So today I have to skidaddle my butt out into the cold, and buy white face paint and some black nail polish, and then pick up a couple of the girls, do some serious back combing and head to another house to meet the others....before celebrating and being merry for the rest of the evening!
Of course, the intense concentration on the festivities that will be happening this evening, means I can postpone thinking about the fact that NaNo starts in.....T minus 10 and a half hours. Good Lord. Moving on.
Last night I drove my excited little self to Camden in Central London, to see my friends band play. I know I may be a little biased but....they are amazing. Seriously. Destined for bigger things, I tell thee. For the love of all things musical, please go have a listen here
All five of the Tiny Spark boys are friends of mine, and they deserve great things to happen for them. So, if you like what you hear...spread the word!!
Happy Halloween you lovely people!
Friday, 31 October 2008
Monday, 27 October 2008
Distractions...
This morning I picked up Chris Baty's (NaNoWriMo) book, No Plot No Problem, hoping that it would be full of a multitude of ideas and genious ways to get the old grey matter working.
(It was a Christmas present last year, but by the time December came I didnt want to think about anything NaNo related until my brain had recovered!)
One thing that Chris recommends is working outside of your home. Take your laptop, being the wonderfully portable device that it is, and get out of your front room. Get away from your telly, get away from the 'siren song of your bed'. It dawned on me that the man has a point.
I am terrible at getting distracted. Don't get me wrong, I have the best of intentions - I'll get up, have a nice bath and get dressed, and take my laptop and note book into the front room. I'll set it up on the table, get myself a cup of tea and some toast and switch on, almost cracking my knuckles in anticipation of all the creative things I have flowing through my mind.
And then I log onto messenger, just to see who's around this morning.
And then I'll check my emails, just to make sure there's nothing important that I've missed.
And then I'll check my facebook. And then switch the telly on to make sure I'm not missing anything good.
So, as is written in the book: "Working in public gives you more...obssessive email checking is curtailed, the mood is lively, and buckets of caffeine are sitting there for the asking."
So, I packed up my laptop, my notebook, a stack of already lovingly scribbled ideas and the all important power lead, and I took myself off in my car in search of somewhere quiet but comfortable, where I could set up station and get down to it. Interruption free.
Unfortunately, by the time I had decided that this would be the path to enlightenment, I had also realised I needed to do some washing. And that the clean laundry needed to be put away. And the washing up really shouldn't be left.
By the time I'd got in the car and driven towards the seafront and the few cafe's that I could think of that might have a good atmosphere, it was late afternoon and I couldn't find a parking space. And then when I found a parking space, I couldn't find a cafe with any space, and ended up in a pub with music that was too loud and staff that kept giving me dirty looks for sitting on my lap top.
I got a grand total of about 100 words down, before heading home with my tail between my legs.
And now, after today is finished (because lets face it, I'm not gonna get anything else done today now I'm back in front of the telly), there are now officially 4 days until NaNo starts. Big Fat Eep.
* By the way - You should all check out Chris Baty's book - it is utter genious. :)
(It was a Christmas present last year, but by the time December came I didnt want to think about anything NaNo related until my brain had recovered!)
One thing that Chris recommends is working outside of your home. Take your laptop, being the wonderfully portable device that it is, and get out of your front room. Get away from your telly, get away from the 'siren song of your bed'. It dawned on me that the man has a point.
I am terrible at getting distracted. Don't get me wrong, I have the best of intentions - I'll get up, have a nice bath and get dressed, and take my laptop and note book into the front room. I'll set it up on the table, get myself a cup of tea and some toast and switch on, almost cracking my knuckles in anticipation of all the creative things I have flowing through my mind.
And then I log onto messenger, just to see who's around this morning.
And then I'll check my emails, just to make sure there's nothing important that I've missed.
And then I'll check my facebook. And then switch the telly on to make sure I'm not missing anything good.
So, as is written in the book: "Working in public gives you more...obssessive email checking is curtailed, the mood is lively, and buckets of caffeine are sitting there for the asking."
So, I packed up my laptop, my notebook, a stack of already lovingly scribbled ideas and the all important power lead, and I took myself off in my car in search of somewhere quiet but comfortable, where I could set up station and get down to it. Interruption free.
Unfortunately, by the time I had decided that this would be the path to enlightenment, I had also realised I needed to do some washing. And that the clean laundry needed to be put away. And the washing up really shouldn't be left.
By the time I'd got in the car and driven towards the seafront and the few cafe's that I could think of that might have a good atmosphere, it was late afternoon and I couldn't find a parking space. And then when I found a parking space, I couldn't find a cafe with any space, and ended up in a pub with music that was too loud and staff that kept giving me dirty looks for sitting on my lap top.
I got a grand total of about 100 words down, before heading home with my tail between my legs.
And now, after today is finished (because lets face it, I'm not gonna get anything else done today now I'm back in front of the telly), there are now officially 4 days until NaNo starts. Big Fat Eep.
* By the way - You should all check out Chris Baty's book - it is utter genious. :)
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Lazy Sunday Afternoon
I guess it has been somewhat of a hectic weekend so far.
Worked my first shift in The Pub on friday night...it was a good evening, a nice little local pub with a good mix of people, relatively cheap drinks and a jukebox with music you would actually choose to listen to. Landlord seemed happy that I was able to count in my head and be nice to the customers, and so I now have the job every friday night. Extra pennies are always good!
And then there is Boyo. The last time we spoke, properly, he told me we couldn't be together and that 'we're not really anywhere, anymore, babe'. There have been a few conversations since, via text and the wonder of facebook, but nothing that would ever make me feel...better. Granted, its not the first time in the last seven years that we have broken up but...this is the most final its ever felt.
So, I spent a week crying, and then after I finish work on friday at The Pub, I somehow end up at Boyo's house, with him and his new housemates, drinking wine and dancing in the kitchen until 6am. And it was fun. We laughed, we drank lots, we snuggled down in bed like we used to and we moaned about our hangovers the next day. We visited his parents for chinese food on saturday, and then watched scary films and crap tv until we fell asleep. This morning we went for breakfast, we bickered like we used to, I dropped him home...and said goodbye.
And now I'm kind of torn between feeling happy - happy that I got to spend a weekend with him and wake up with him and feel normal again - and so desperately gutted that now its over, I've come home and have to start being alone, all over again!!
Also, on a slightly scarier note...there are are only 5 more daytimes until NaNo begins...am vaguely worried that my in depth, detailed plan has not managed to create itself and leave itself where I could see it when I got home from my emotionally draining weekend...uh oh, I think I may have to do this one myself? Eep.
Worked my first shift in The Pub on friday night...it was a good evening, a nice little local pub with a good mix of people, relatively cheap drinks and a jukebox with music you would actually choose to listen to. Landlord seemed happy that I was able to count in my head and be nice to the customers, and so I now have the job every friday night. Extra pennies are always good!
And then there is Boyo. The last time we spoke, properly, he told me we couldn't be together and that 'we're not really anywhere, anymore, babe'. There have been a few conversations since, via text and the wonder of facebook, but nothing that would ever make me feel...better. Granted, its not the first time in the last seven years that we have broken up but...this is the most final its ever felt.
So, I spent a week crying, and then after I finish work on friday at The Pub, I somehow end up at Boyo's house, with him and his new housemates, drinking wine and dancing in the kitchen until 6am. And it was fun. We laughed, we drank lots, we snuggled down in bed like we used to and we moaned about our hangovers the next day. We visited his parents for chinese food on saturday, and then watched scary films and crap tv until we fell asleep. This morning we went for breakfast, we bickered like we used to, I dropped him home...and said goodbye.
And now I'm kind of torn between feeling happy - happy that I got to spend a weekend with him and wake up with him and feel normal again - and so desperately gutted that now its over, I've come home and have to start being alone, all over again!!
Also, on a slightly scarier note...there are are only 5 more daytimes until NaNo begins...am vaguely worried that my in depth, detailed plan has not managed to create itself and leave itself where I could see it when I got home from my emotionally draining weekend...uh oh, I think I may have to do this one myself? Eep.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
NaNoWriMo...Uh Oh...
Eep.
Looking at my little diary/work rota thingy here, it has just dawned on me that NaNo begins in a little over a week. As in, there are only 7 and a half days to go. Like, 174 and a half hours.
Oh dear. I don't even have something that resembles a plot outline yet.
For those of you that have absolutely no clue what I am twittering on about, NaNoWriMo is a yearly competition that starts on the 1st November and ends at midnight on the 30th November. If you're brave (or silly?) enough to enter, you have 30 days to write 50,000 words. It can be daunting stuff! The name of the game is to encourage all of those people who have ever had the put-off-til-another-time pipe dream of writing a novel, to just crack on and give it a whirl. Its fun, its scary, its stressful and its exhilarating...and I cannot wait!
This will be my fourth year, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough. You can check it out here.
So, now that I have counted how many hours there are (or aren't) left to go, I reeeeally need to get down to organising the plot outline...yes indeedy, I am a control freak, and I cannot go to war without my armour!
Now then...where did I put my brain this morning...
Looking at my little diary/work rota thingy here, it has just dawned on me that NaNo begins in a little over a week. As in, there are only 7 and a half days to go. Like, 174 and a half hours.
Oh dear. I don't even have something that resembles a plot outline yet.
For those of you that have absolutely no clue what I am twittering on about, NaNoWriMo is a yearly competition that starts on the 1st November and ends at midnight on the 30th November. If you're brave (or silly?) enough to enter, you have 30 days to write 50,000 words. It can be daunting stuff! The name of the game is to encourage all of those people who have ever had the put-off-til-another-time pipe dream of writing a novel, to just crack on and give it a whirl. Its fun, its scary, its stressful and its exhilarating...and I cannot wait!
This will be my fourth year, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough. You can check it out here.
So, now that I have counted how many hours there are (or aren't) left to go, I reeeeally need to get down to organising the plot outline...yes indeedy, I am a control freak, and I cannot go to war without my armour!
Now then...where did I put my brain this morning...
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