- It’s foggy today. I like it, but it won’t last. The forecast says 91� and I don’t doubt it. Our summer was far too mild for winter to show its face anytime soon, if at all. Simply put, the Inland Empire is screwed.
- I’m really nervous about NaNoWriMo. I decided yesterday that I would most likely participate in the challenge and, wouldn’t you know it, right after that I developed an excruciating migraine. What a clich�. I ended up on the couch by 4:30pm and grumbled+dozed my way through Mikey’s homework, Nico’s exuberance, and dinner. Dinner wasn’t too terrible because I doubled a recipe earlier last week (accidentally, there was no brilliance on my part) and placed the remainder in the freezer for another day. Yesterday was that day. I could never get behind 30-day cooking because the thought of spending all day in the kitchen depressed me. Last night’s savior meal may have made me a convert.
- Today I am making this recipe to utilize some random items I have floating around in my fridge. I made it once when we first got married, and I remembering really liking it. The sage is key.
- I still have a bit of a migraine. You know, that fuzzy, almost painful feeling behind one of your eyes? That’s the one.
- I am most nervous about committing to storyline. (I’m back to jabbering about NaNoWriMo.) This may come as a surprise to some, but I have a bit of a problem with indecision. [hyperbole] Once I make a decision, I’m usually fine. It’s watching me get there that will test the patience of even the most benevolent beings. Luckily, I have a large handful of readers who, for reasons that escape my understanding, like me enough to be my cheerleaders. Brigitte thinks I should take a post and fictionalize it. She likes this one, this one, and this one. Frances has been sending me encouraging emails and pdfs, and is quick to remind me that this is just an exercise. That’s good, because while I know it’s true, I am still freaking myself out. Jenny just says, “Yay!” and “You can do it!” Everyone else has been very encouraging, clearly operating under the misunderstanding that I can do this.
- I know I’m being a bit of a delicate flower over something that is supposed to be fun. It’s because I have to make a decision, and my perfectionist nature makes me want to make “The Right Decision,” no exceptions, even when those decisions don’t really matter, as in this case. I over-think, over-analyze, over-plan, and over-stress until I get started. Just watch, once November rolls around and I actually commit and start working on something, I’ll laugh at this post. (Or delete it.) I did the same thing with the ABC project. You would have thought I was preparing an appellate brief for the amount of time and thought I put into whether I had enough time/inspiration/talent/wherewithal to stay on task. Once I started, I never looked back.
- Speaking of Souvenir Foto, I took the above picture during that month. There were a couple of days where I would just walk around with my camera searching for things. The image ended up not making the cut (it’s not that great of a picture) but I decided to dust it off today and run it through Picnik. If you aren’t using Picnik, you should give it a try. It’s free, so the price is right. This picture I cropped and curved, then applied the seasonal Vampire Scope effect in Amber. I have no idea what any of that means, but I like it. Picnik is to average pictures as Spanx is to c-section bellies.
- My mother in-law had surgery. I’m going to go over and drop off some soup, since it’s her favorite. On my way back, I’ll stop at Mikey’s school and give him a quick puff on his inhaler. Then, it’s off to pick up Nicholas, eat lunch, and mop the floors. Somebody pinch me.
First commenter? Really? Impressive! Anyways, back to you. YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO IT. I know because I am also really bad at making decisions and yet manage to actually purchase a shampoo (after smelling each one) almost every time. Besides, once you’ve decided on a plot you don’t have to stick with it. You can always use the backspace key. Or just cut the story off right then and there (I like to use a dash in these moments), and switch to something you want to talk about instead; it will be very modern.
I had a friend do the ninowrimo.. honestly I can’t remember if she finished it, but I do remember what a great experience it was. Read= it’s all about the process.
just do it… (I came up with that waay before nike)
Oh, but you have landed on the EXACT reason why NaNoWriMo exists!
You absolutely cannot be a perfectionist writer. So forcing yourself to write an impossible amount of words in an impossible amount of time requires that you abandon any perfectionist ideals, which you will need to abandon in order to get ANYTHING done, writing-wise, ever.
Words on the page. Shitty first drafts.
Have you read Bird by Bird? If you haven’t, I simply insist you run out and find it before or during November.
I’m telling myself the same thing because that’s why I haven’t been writing either – I’ve been a perfectionist. But I’m off the fence – I’m doing it this year, and I don’t care if I write the worst 50,000 words of my life, nobody will ever know I wrote them, I can burn my hard drive on Dec 1st if I want.
I OWN Bird by Bird. I’ve read maybe half of it. I need to dust it off before 11/1. Promise.
For NaNoWriMo I don’t think you need “BIrd by Bird” (though I love me some Anne Lamott), you just need “No Plot, No Problem”. I realize I’m pushing this hard, but I think it would help you get past some of the anxiety.
Hope you feel better, too. Migraines really, really suck, especially when they’re just haunting you, waiting for just the right moment to attack.
Girl, you crack me up. You know you want to…
I did it.
Wretched migraines … they’re so wrong. Hope you’re feeling better today.
And good luck on ninowrimo. You’ll do fabulous, as always. I have full confidence. Though I do understand. The mere thought freaks me out. As a matter of fact, when I read the first half of Becky’s comments … “I had a friend do the ninowrimo…” I thought she was going to say “she ended up curled up in fetal position under her desk, sucking her thumb and muttering incoherent sentences … ” or something.
But right. Fun. WOOHOO!
I know you can do it. And you will. With or without the NaNo thing.
I love this post. All “rambly” and chock full of personality. You write well even when you ramble! I have not blogged lately, my blog was depressing even me – it was mostly a vent on how hard it is to work full time and take care of my crabby 80 year old mom who lives about 20 minutes from my home, blah, blah, blah – so I don’t want to bore or depress anyone. But your posts encourage me to just write about the every day things. I’ll think about picking up the dusty blog once again.
P.S. I have a 100 year old original finish buffet in my family room that has tarnished hardware, that I can’t WAIT to try the home made recipe for tarnish remover on. AWEsome!
I too am a cheerleader and you can most certainly do this! And you will rock it just like everything else that you do!
That picture is sublime. I could love spiders if they all looked so pretty.