old school

My nephew is often curious about the old things we don't have. He's also very kind to show me games on his Mom's ipad that he thinks I will like, and will sometimes play them with me. (He also thinks I should ask for an ipad for Christmas so I can play that stupid rock game and word jewels...as if I need anything else to usurp my time).

A year and a half ago I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo...same thing as the official NaNoWriMo, except it's NOT in the month of November, which is an absolutely crazy month for us.  This past week I pulled out my rough draft to start critiquing, and quit on page 67. I do have a post-it note FULL of page numbers that need work, but I was boring myself.  I also found I don't critique myself very well on a laptop. So today, I purchased a ream of paper and two things of black ink (one should be sufficient, but it's cheaper to buy two....that's my Dad's shopping skills coming out in me) so I can print the thing out and start modifying/marking it up to hopefully rewrite sometime this year.

I know it would have made a lot more sense to have simply written it every other line on paper so the first round of editing would have been easier, but I find it so much easier to type and write, and actually prefer typing to writing by hand. And I'll confess, I was a bit horrified this past week when we strolled through the computer section at Best Buy and I saw these super tiny keyboards.  I can't even begin to imagine the cramped hands from attempting to type/write with those.The average size keyboard has the keys spaced out for a reason (it's the natural spacing on the hand) - to be type friendly. Maybe the designers thought all these text-crazy kids would prefer the smaller keyboard, maybe there truly is a conspiracy to make everything even more challenging for disabled people, but whatever the reason, those tiny keyboards are not realistic for the average person over 40.

I'm realizing how much I am old school this week.  So yes, I'll be doing my editing on PAPER. And I'll be much happier doing an agonizing task that way,  I'm sure.

three steps forward...and 20 jumps back

This weekend I updated some of the Quilting Page on this blog so my aunt could see a few of the things I've done. (We've not seen each other in a LONG time.)  I even entered the text for 2014, as I have two quilts that I need to finish/do ASAP. And since I was within a week of finishing one, it made sense to go ahead and enter the text so I could post pictures next week. Right?


So here we are, Monday night, and I have 3/4 of the quilt filled with basting pins, only to realize that the backing isn't straight. So now I have two options: unpin everything (which means undoing about 4 hours worth of work), or leave it the way it is. Actually, I have a third option: flip it over and see how bad it truly looks on the back before making a decision (and then hoping if it's livable looking at that I can straighten all three layers out on the unpinned section). 


I enjoy quilting. But it's these make or break moments, when I'm tired, when I just want to finish, when I know this is the crossroads of correcting a mistake and adding even more time to a long job or finishing the project and living with a mistake forever, that make me want to take up another hobby (or actually clean house)!


And while I was update the page, I kept thinking "I KNOW I did more quilting than this in 2013."  So as I start thinking back through projects, I realized why there's not as much to show: I post the finished project.  A finished quilt top is just one part of a quilt; it's not a completed project. So I have several quilt tops folded/hanging awaiting quilting time (and four other quilt tops from both this and previous years awaiting piecing), but since there not finished projects, they don't make it onto the quilt page.


Hopefully, by the end of this month, you will see a post reading: For today's post, see the Quilt Page.  But unfortunately, today is not that day.

reading

Nothing is cooler than to watch the face of a kid learning to read. Everything is new and exciting and you can see the comprehension covering their face as they finally grasp what a word is. When my nephew learned to read we could not take him anywhere without him sounding something out.

I was reminded me of that a few weeks ago. Some friends were over, and their daughter who is learning to read stopped as they were heading out the door. Her head was tilted up and she had a puzzled look on her face. Her mother could not figure out why on earth she was dwaddling, but I knew. Above the entrance to our living room we have blocks (printed to look like Scrabble letters) that spell out our last names. She was sounding them out, trying to figure out what it spelled. When you think about it, BRYAN is a very strange word for a beginning reader.

We don't play Scrabble that often because it takes so long, but I loved the decor look. What could be better for two word lovers?

Another reason we don't play Scrabble that much is it really brings out our differences. Bobby examines the board, figures out the point value of a word and how he could best improve the score. I tend to go for the biggest word I can make, which means I have to play it wherever it will feet. So while I end the game with the most creativity, he wins. But who's counting, right?

done!

52,000 + words, and 2 days to spare.
It's ugly; it's unfinished; it's definitely a very, very, VERY ROUGH draft, but it's DONE!

Third time must be the charm.
And the saddest part?
I still don't have a title.

break time

There have been SO many posts I've wanted to write this past week but simply haven't had the time. (I'm taking a 10 minute break).

This upcoming week is the last week for Camp NaNoWriMo.
A) I can't believe it. Where has this month gone?
B) I can't believe it. I think I'm actually going to make the 50,000 word deadline for the first time EVER!
C) I can't believe it. I may not be finished with the story when I hit 50,000 words. Who'd a thunk it?

I've really enjoyed/appreciated the ability to do this during the month of August. I've tried November twice, and never come close (7,000 words the first year and 2,500 the 2nd year), so when they opened up the challenge for the summer, I was pumped. August is not a crazy month for us, unlike the winter months, and I was very careful not to plan too much on my calendar.

I thought if I made it this far I would either be excited because I have a work in progress, or I would be devastated because I have a very sorry rough draft. I'm excited because I'm reaching the end, will make the mark, and at this point I honestly don't care (in a good way, not flippantly) whether or not I ever do anything else with the manuscript. I hope to work on it a little in September and October until I feel the storyline is not quite so rough, but after that I plan to stick it in an envelope, put it in a drawer, and leave it for quite some time. Maybe by that point I'll have a fresh and better perspective on the manuscript.

So when I finish the manuscript, or the end of this week, whichever comes first, I hope to share some of the following things:
a reminder of why I don't always like people
wildlife
heart stuff
dog stuff
quilt stuff
refreshing parenting observations
my September challenge

until then, Happy Writing!

with nervous trepidation

The ideas are there, always lulling around in the back of my mind. Some of them go away after a time; others continue to lollygag about and taunt me.
Twice I have signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month - a hysterically crazy idea that you can write the rough draft for an entire novel in one month), but the designated month of November is always one of our craziest months. One year I actually started and got to about 20,000 words (50,000 is the bare minimum limit), but had to decide that my family, home, and sanity were more important than mere ramblings.
But for the first time ever, there is now a Camp NaNoWriMo. It's being held this month, which my husband wisely advised against, and in the month of August, which I crazily just signed up for.
So sometime in the next two months I need to actually choose one of my crazy ideas and create a baseline. That's exciting and intimidating. Every idea has potential and life. But some roughs are rougher than others. I fear creating a rough draft so rough that I nothing within me wants to ever look at it again, much less edit and rewrite it.
I'm not getting any younger, so if I'm ever going to do this, now is the time.
Camp NaNoWriMo, you are on my calendar!