montgomery ward

last 10 days in brief words/phrases (a la douglas coupland circa microserfs):
the house
san francisco
oregon border
mt. shasta
fog
fog
fog
fog
fog
rain
fog
sun
rain
cold cold cold cold cold
but i don't want to take philosophy!
walmart checker breaks plastic hangers
where's waldo?
the jello mold is perfect!
let's play "ship the dirty laundry home"
don't trust the hertz "never lost" gps system
mille bornes
cats = monkeys?
don't get barbara's barn in the picture
dim sum
san carlos
futbol
iHome
Hotel Triton
is that cop after ME?
books on tape make road trips easier
i miss my cats (moxie is stinky)
electric blankets RULE
harry potter and the goblet of fire
it's WINDY!
is it a tree, or an intruder?
who puts up their christmas lights the day after thanksgiving?
if i see one of those ridiculous inflatable snowman again...
3 more weeks till school is over
100% on my sociology paper: wOOt!
ann's home from the hospital: double wOOt!
i bought my first christmas present at the airport: ____!

registration

it's a working vacation for me this thanksgiving season. so far i've written a sociology paper and registered for winter classes. it was a little depressing to learn that, for all the efforts i went through in convincing myself of the usefulness of taking spanish instead of waiting for fall to come 'round and enroll in french or japanese, i can't even get a jumpstart on THAT. all foreign languages meet 5 days a week. something's gonna happen by next fall one way or the other: i have to take 2 years of a foreign language as an english major (humanities dept. requirement).

much to the chagrin of my councelor, i DID enroll in music writing. if my passion for music can't hold me in that class, then i shouldn't be a writer. her advice was to wait until i took "crit 100a", but i'm taking my chances.

let's go bowling.

wide awake?

today was a harsh wake-up call to what the next three years of my life are going to be like. i worked this morning, fled to campus for a counseling appointment, then dashed to my class at the the local j/c. the classes for my major sound decidedly boring my first quarter, but i'm sure it'll be more interesting once i'm actually attending the classes.

truthfully, i'm terrified.

an aside, by the author

momentary bursts of inspiration considered, my writerly ambitions are being sucked into sociology papers at a breakneck pace. i don't anticipate a winning NaNo year, but i'm proud to say i've made considerable progress. november just isn't my month this year. last year i was almost applying to uci; this year i'm meeting with counselors and planning my winter schedule. (pause, phone rings)

i just learned that two coworkers were in a car accident last night & they need me to come in and cover for lunches. they're ok, thankfully, but what an awful thing to go through. what to say? i guess i'd better get a move on.

update: actually, one coworker, dear ann, is in icu at the moment. it sucks.

...or

i could read more of chris baty's "no plot, no problem", become inspired, and pound out a thousand words in less than an hour. i'm at 7300. weak, but i'm still tickin'. go, me!

ah, well...

yo, so, it's almost halfway through the month and i've slipped behind on my nanowrimo goal. rather than drive myself insane, i gently concede that, in this month of thanksgiving vacation and running the home stretch at school and preparing for class registration, my noveling ambitions will most likely fall short. i will continue to write, however, and reaching 6,000 is far more than i've ever spent on a piece at any given time.

in other news, it's late...

WriMo update

humm, well, i've crested 4500 words. paul gave alex a used corolla instead of the hyundai, but that was a decade ago and now she's about to graduate to an audi a4. how hot is that? she's also on the cusp of moving to los angeles because of the promotion she received at work. the fbi haven't called her back. and forget about the part with maria and the dry cleaning--she was a friend, not a maid. i should actually have more than twice the word count, but life is life. i've got a whole month to make up for it?

saw shopgirl last night: abfab. i probably enjoyed it as much because i've been hooked on claire danes since high school (my so called life). steve martin's novella actually transferred into a much better screenplay, but i've got to believe that improvements were made. it's been about two years since i read it. and the score by barrington pheloung was exquisitely brilliant; it complemented the film perfectly, as though the two were betrothed.

i'd like to register a complaint

dear mr. baty,

thusfar i am off track with my november noveling ambitions. i haven't even crested the proposed 6,000-word goal to date and i'm having trouble sleeping because my cat wants to share my pillow. my eyes are dry, and i've yet to experience the "week one rush" described in your book. perhaps it'll pick up next week, when maria brings over the dry cleaning or paul buys alex a hyundai. because, if nothing else, that car has the best mileage warrenty out there. even if it did only cost him $10,000.

some of the characters are bored with me already. i still can't figure out why the fbi were there when alex almost crashed into that guy on the freeway. and why did i decide that the emt didn't need to slip alex his phone number--he was HOT! as far as alex's job, well, it's pretty boring. her coworkers are liars and gossips, and she works in orange county, which has to be as complacent as it gets. she listens to sigur ros, though, so there's got to be something redeeming there. plus she owns an apartment complex in san clemente. i sure wish i knew how old this wise, single lass is!

if you have any words of wisdom, mr. chris baty, or a writing muse you could send to the self-proclaimed "furiousmuse", i would request one post-haste!

obliged,

sara, NaNoWriMo 2005 participant

p.s. my cat is chewing on my elbow! help!

barely distinguishable

audioblogging from the U2 concert...

(i still haven't found what i'm looking for)

(one)

(with or without you)

my favorite part of the concert was at the end when bono brought four girls up from the audience who had a sign letting him know they were a band. instruments were passed out and the staples center was rocked by some awesome talent. that's an experience those girls will remember for the rest of their lives. i'm so glad i got to witness it. bono dubbed the band "exit".