fine whine

I think writing that novel did something to me. Two days of silence, one before that of very little, and before that, a month (well, three weeks) of concentrated writing, and here I am now, wondering what I should do. Should I write another novel? Finish the website I have been building for far too long? Begin the second phase of said website? Finally break down and learn some Japanese? Finally break down and get some certification to appease my dad?

I'm not especially keen on that last idea, especially since having met a real live network administrator and his wife (she who also manipulates bits and bytes for a living). He confirmed my suspicions that certification's not really as big a deal as some make it. But I am getting ahead of myself. I met the two of them at the Nanowrimo (now that it is over for this year I refuse their capitalization) "thank god it's over" shindig at the local Chinese buffet, where I had presided over an empty booth. Behind me was a booth filled with Nano-ites and beside them another enclave of novelty novelists, so when the next couple arrived I offered them the other half of my booth. If they turned out to be weirdoes I could always move the whole bench away, as nothing had been quite nailed down yet in this bustling and expanding restaurant. But I digress.

The two of them turned out to be quite friendly and interesting, which was a relief. Also relieving was the lack of Christmas season music in the background, as it seems now that Thanksgiving has passed it's open season for the jingling of bells and the decking of halls, and today even I heard "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" in a store. I am sure to mention this more often as the month goes on, so I won't get bogged down in the spirit of the season now. I have bigger fish to fry, as in why two of my coworkers were unfamiliar with the concepts of kitsch and hipsterism. Today I had spouted some completely useless information at an unwitting coworker regarding the nature of the A paper system (you know, A4, A5 and so on) at least as far as I understood it. I've known that they are aware at work that I "know things" but I think I only cultivate an aura of eccentricity to the other cubicle dwellers around me.

Which I'm perfectly okay with. With which I am perfectly okay? Writing that novel did something to me indeed.

Well, I did it. I wrote fifty thousand words in one month, into what is loosely to be considered a novel. It is in some parts a work of fiction, which is enough for my standards of ethics or whatever lets me get away with what I just polished off. Moreover in this last day (really the second to last day as I am only an hour into the real last day), I think I churned out some seven to nine thousand words, in well under as many hours. My typing rate must have been phenomenal, as I had to have been coming up with the words as fast as my fingers could type them. I'm more than happy to have earned my little winner's image, and look forward to next year's ordeal with nothing but enthusiasm (as sometime in the intervening eleven months I will need to add an outline and probably some character sheets to that). Now it's time for me to go to bed.

I am so back on track with the novel. I've got my target rate picked out and I've already exceeded it for today. So enough about that. I needed to open up a new bottle of lens cleaner tonight, and as usual had to struggle with the stupid plastic they put on the top. You know, the stuff that says "Tamper evident"? I think if I were the sort of person to tamper with a bottle of lens cleaner packed in a box, I'd also get rid of anything that claimed to be evidence of any tampering. And what would you do with something like that? Slip red pepper in there? Some virus? Admittedly the eyes are a great place to introduce germs and contagions, but seriously, who does that? It's just like the razorblades in candybars idea: didn't they do a study proving the whole thing to be a hoax? And why do they have to put the same crap on my Cool Whip containers? I think I'd be able to tell if it's been tampered with, thank you.

And while I dwell on the idea of stupid production ideas, I'd like to find out why DVDs that claim to include "deleted scenes" don't include them all. I realize all footage isn't necessary, but in the example of, say, Old school, which features Will Ferrell dangling a fish on its cover (and in scenes I remember from trailers), doesn't include said scene in either the film or its outtakes. Why not? It was likely pretty funny, so why leave it out? Bad bit budget? Come on. And take for example The family man with Nic Cage asking "What am I doing here?" and two large guys in matching uniforms reply, "You're the best damn tire salesman in New Jersey", which too was expurgated from the film but not its promotional campaign. Could we have a little consistency, folks? Please?

Well, I've faltered. I wrote nothing at all for my novel on Saturday, and my parents are visiting Sunday. I didn't even keep up my ideal writing pace for a week. Nothing else important happened in said week either, except maybe for some restructurings at work (leaving me effectively where I've been) and Jessica getting serious job prospects. Like I said, nothing important.

Oh, I did finish reading White noise by Don DeLillo and Gun, with occasional music by Johnathan Lethem. The former was amusing, the latter was utterly brilliant. My novel looks like a worse idea the more this month goes on...

My nanowrimo entry's not so hot. I've only got 1035 words so far, not the 3333 I should have after two days. Doubts surface and distractions abound, but I'm confident I will finish 50,000 words before December 1. I think I can, I think I can, and so on.

One distraction, though, stands out. I've come to realize that my "healthy" meals aren't so much healthy as less unhealthy. My morning bagel alone comprises 350 calories once the grape jelly hits it, and I wash it down with 300 more calories of milk. Assume that I burn 2200 calories in a day, and with effectively two things I'm already a third done for the day. I'll have to look into this some more. What got me going was the Hacker's diet combined with the general influence of all my Atkins-attempting coworkers. I suspect I can combine ideas from both to come up with a way to lose my annoying belly. What would be cooler than to reach the end of the month with 50,000 words of a novel and many pounds off with more to go? I can always hope, at least.

I know for sure that I'll be using less jelly in the mornings.

NaNoWriMo starts this Saturday. Imagine that, me writing a 50,000 word novel in a month. I'm pumped, though I have work I need to finish and I'll need to abstain from that damned Diablo 2. We'll see how it turns out. I have scenes planned out, just not a plot yet.