Love Those Anonymous Commenters

Someone decided to let me know, out of the goodness of his or her heart I'm sure, that my previous post might be in violation of a certain company's policy. So I changed the name to protect the filthy rich (a category of which I stand firmly outside). This has been a public service announcement.

*Words Censored* and My Future

Ok, maybe that sounds a bit melodramatic, but I found the perfect little duplex for me and my mom. It's right in the center of everything yet oddly hidden away. And it's on a bridge! It sounds weird, and it is kind of-- it reminds me more of San Francisco than San Diego. Either way, it passed the test: My mom, Todd, and my friend, Mike, are intrigued. Now if we could get inside to see what it looks like on the interior to get the full picture. So far we have just circumnavigated the property and done lots of speculation as to what it might be like. Of course it's abut 95k more than we can afford (remember, this is San Diego) and we can't technically move for a few months. But if you want to help make a dream come true for two sassy redheads, me and my mom, then PLEASE click on my *words censored* and maybe I'll actually make a few $$$. Special thanks to my Blog Explosion pals-- I'll return the favor!

'Tis the Season

for a bad case of pesticide poisoning. Did you know that the average tree from a Christmas tree farm has absorbed 28 pounds of pesticide? Yum! Can you say chemical sensitivity and environmental toxins? And hell, you don't even have to be a tree hugger to do the math: babies, pets, and other living things, when placed in close proximity to an organism that has consumed that much poison, are bound to experience major discomfort, to put it mildly, when in the same room with said organism.

And then there's the issue of "drift," something a friend of mine in Oregon was dealing with when trying to grow organic grapes. She kept trying to get certified by Oregon Tilth but high levels of pesticide residue was showing up during soil testing. They finally realized that it was from the xmas tree farm down that way that was spraying-- something that isn't supposed to happen when there is even the slightest wind-- and the noxious concoction was finding it's way to her vines.

Of course, the toxins do the most harm to those darned migrant workers who insist on taking good American jobs. You know, like working around way too many chemicals day in and day out, six and seven days a week, for 12 hours or more a day. Yep, just so you can have that tree. But the next time you think you may be allergic to xmas trees, or you baby nephew breaks out in a rash, or your dog gets sick just from sleeping under the overly-decorated fire hazard, consider that it may be a case of pesticide poisoning.

Let the Madness Commence!

Buying a home can be a stressful experience. Hell, who am I kidding? It IS a stressful experience. Now, imagine trying to find the perfect abode for your mother and yourself, with extremely limited means, in San Diego where a square foot of real estate sells for about the same price as a ounce of gold. Yep, that's what I'll be doing here real soon.

My mom and I are looking for a duplex or two-on-one and we both have slightly different expectations. Mine, of course, are realistic. This is my 'blog so I can assert that. And actually, my mom was hoping we could find the perfect little matching Spanish cottages with two bedrooms and a great yard for the pets. Sadly it ain't gonna happen. More like two miniature one bedroom shacks with bad vinyl flooring and no roof. Or something like that. We did see a place we both liked-- about 100k more than we could spend, and we both liked the main house. She will most likely get the nicer of the two abodes, whatever we find. And I am looking around my very cute, tiny, perfect little condo and wondering why am I doing this?

So, take pity on me, click my google ads so I can make an extra $4.92 a month or just contribute directly to my Paypal at the link above. Let's see, if 1000 of you contribute $10 each, hmmm, that's $10,000. And if my dog can get some modeling gigs... Ah, never mind.

NaNo Withdrawals

I thought I'd be glad to be done with this whole speed noveling business, but the lack of frenetic writing activity has left a big fat gaping hole in my big boring life. Not that I lack things to do, but the camaraderie and the fervor of writing at a pace beyond what I would have thought possible is sorely missed by me. And what to look forward to? The holiday stupidity? Sorry I am not more chipper, but the season really gets me down.

50,007!

I did it! I made the National Novel Writing Month word count goal of 50k. Of course my story probably sucks (I have not read it) and it is in no way finished, but I got to end with a sex scene and I made the goal with two days to spare.

Gee, now what? I guess life returns to normal, whatever normal is. But hey, I can now add novelist to my head stone, huh? Oh, feel free to send gifts of congratulations and I will accept them graciously ;)

Buy Nothing Day

It's that time of year again. The time of year when people all over the planet add to their personal credit card debt and forestall their retirements by purchasing a bunch of useless crap that no one really needs that will end up in our overburdened landfills or on your tacky neighbor's front lawn for their weekly yard sale. Don't be one of these people, don't wait in line in front of K- Wal- Cheap plastic stuff- mart at 3 am waiting to get $10 off the latest video game console/nose hair clipper/penis enlarger. Just say no to stuff and hello to nothing. Buy nothing, it's a small gesture, but what the hell, do something different this year, will ya?

It's All Down Hill from Here

or so they say. Last night, I cleared the 31k mark with my NaNo novel and I'm starting to run out of ideas. My novel is nonlinear in that I go from present, to the past for back story, to the present again. Now that I'm at 60 single-spaced (someone told me I was crazy for doing single- and not double-spaced) pages I am having a hard time remembering what came before. No, I do not have an outline. I feel like I just met a ton of people with a bunch of different life stories and I am required to remember everything, names included. Hmm, that's exactly what I've done. Next year, I think I'll do this a bit differently...

Half way there!

For those following my speed noveling project, I have crossed the halfway mark both word count-wise and month-wise. At this very moment, I have 26,500 words on the electronic equivalent of paper. On Friday, a nasty cold tried to strike me down but I perservered. Of course I missed a gorgeous weekend and a day and a half at work, but I keep the words flowing from my sinus-achey head. Tonight, I am aiming for another 1,500 words to add to my total. I will be victorious!

NaNoWriMo--Day 12

Day 12 and I'm already at 20,721 words. Pretty darn good considering that I woke up sick yesterday morning and am still suffering today. All I want to do is sleep. I'm. So. Tired. So today I am writing in fits and spurts because I have only enough stamina for 300 words or so at a time. Fortunately I have about a 2000 word lead that I plan on hanging on to, thank you very much.

Other than that, I am heartsick that my beloved city is burning. No, not San Diego, Paris, silly. And we thought only stupid Amerikans rioted in the streets these days (ours are usually sports and beer induced, however). Well, it seems that inequality is a global pandemic (forget the bird flu) and the French are not immune. I remember even back to my first trip to France, sometime in the early eighties, that there was a ton of tension between those of Northern African descent and the native-born. But this new situation is even more ridiculous: the oppressed are native-born! Nationalism rears it's ugly head, again and no country is immune.

Word Count, My Captivating Nemesis

Day 7 of NaNoWriMo. I am churning out words at a respectable rate. At this point, I have 12,388 words committed to paper. Well, to computer hard drive and numerous back-up devices, anyway. Not that I expect my sweet little ibook to go belly up, but if there was an evil Gatesian plot to wave a gigantic magnet over anything Apple looming on the horizon, then the success of such a plot could be the end of my noveling aspirations. Of course I am thinking of changing my middle name to Repetitive Stress Injury, but hey, what NanoWriMo contender isn't?

(A special hello to my pal, Teresa-- I miss you!)

NaNoWriMo Day 1

Well, it seems my novel really wanted to get out into the world. Yesterday, the first day of National Novel Writing Month, I wrote 4,152 words! The daily average to stay on target for the 50,000 word total by the end of the month is 1,667 words. My personal goal was 2,000. Double plus is not too shabby for a newbie to NaNo. I am worried about losing ground, though, as today I may not be able to get much writing in due to work and other commitments. Ah, the life of a struggling novelist :)

Ask Me If I Care...

about Halloween. Or any other lame co-opted Hallmark holiday. No, I don't want to see tarted-up French maid outfits on hyper-sexualized 12 year olds or any other plastic-y costume from Wal or K or whatever Mart. Sorry, I just don't. Whatever happened to imagination and home-made costumes? Do you think this post has too many hyphens?

7 Days Before the Madness Ensues!

I am talking about NaNoWriMo, of course, the National Novel Writing Month project that I am about to begin. I still have no idea what I am going to write about. No plot, no characters-- but wait, there is one character, an acrobat-- no more of a trapeze artist that keeps flitting about in my head. Perhaps she has a story that needs to be told?

That Time Again

Well, now that I am working what amounts to three jobs, what do you think has been creeping around the edges of my psyche? Yes, grad school! Specifically whether I should or shouldn't. I mean, I have an extra 25 hours to spare, don't I? And you, dear reader, have about 30k just hanging about unneeded and unused, right?

I have a feeling that this is one of those things that will just keep niggling at me until I actually do it so I have sent away for a second round of information (in a fit of disgust, I threw the previous batch away) and will assess the possibilities-- even though I know, pretty much, what school I'd want to attend-- not that I'd necessarily get in... Oh yeah, I am supposed to write a novel next month, too. Sure, I have plenty of time :)

Global Pandemic, anyone?

Quick Guide: Bird flu

Scientists fear a global epidemic of deadly flu in humans will strike soon as this tends to happen three or four times a century.

Bird flu is the most likely trigger and one virus that causes it - H5N1 - is giving particular alarm.

Highly contagious and deadly in birds - and spread by them - this virus has also killed dozens of people since re-emerging in SE Asia in 2003.

Experts think it is only a matter of time before the virus changes and develops the ability to spread easily among humans.

This nifty little guide is courtesy of the BBC. Print it, cut it out, and carry it with you as you go about your day of denial and jocularity.

Failure

A fun little thing a friend sent me: Go to Google.com (don't use the Google toolbar), type in failure, and then hit the I'm feeling lucky button. It's the little things in life that make me smile :)

What did I just do?

In an effort to appease this faux-vacation boredom, or just out of sheer stupidity, I signed up to be a part of this year's NaNoWriMo. For those that don't know, I have just made a commitment to write a 50,000 word novel in one month! I can't even comprehend writing 175 pages of somewhat related material-- I mean, I am a poet known for spare and concise use of language (even though my 'blog seems to suggest otherwise) not a teller of long and sustained tales.

The process starts in November with October as my idea incubation month. Of course, I have no idea what to write about and I've never had aspirations to write a novel--I am so NOT a fiction writer! But hell, those are just little details standing in the way of my future creation. At least I know what I'll be doing with my evenings in November.

In any event, check out the link (above) and consider supporting the project in general or this writer in particular. In fact, if anyone clicks on my Paypal link and drops a few ducats in my account in the month of October, I will share the wealth 50-50 with NaNoWriMo.

I'll accept all plot or character suggestions, words of encouragement, or uplifting libations. I hope this is not the beginning of my final unraveling :)

Fundraiser in the Asphalt Wasteland

Today, the nonprofit I work for had a little fundraiser at a local swap meet. First of all, it was too much sun and heat for this fair-skinned redhead, but worse than that was the unending human parade of what seemed to be the dregs of humanity. Now, I am not being particularly vicious, but some of the people that frequent the swap meet are gene pool bottom feeders. My child-free by choice existence may seem like a contradiction when one considers that I work for a children's literacy organization, but as I like to say, "If they're gonna breed 'em, we're gonna read to 'em." Now if I feel the social responsibility in ensuring that future generations grow up to read, why don't their parents? To whit, one scrawny crack-addled looking dude with a t-shirt that proclaimed "Friggin' Idiot" had at least 4 sprogs in tow and one on the way. We were practically giving away new children's books (donation only) and these people just walk by and scoff as the crack-boy says, "We don't support literacy, he he" with more than a shade of Beavis and Butthead in his voice. Now, he thought that was funny, but I saw his kids as a sad statistic.

Alas, I don't think I can go on about the obese, crappily-tattooed men walking around without shirts or the women, also obese with lame tattoos, eating scary fried concoctions and what I think were polish sausages. Of course they all had cell phones attached to their heads. Sheesh, so much for tolerance from my side of the fence.

Where has it gone?

The year, that is. I can't believe it is almost October. I have a vacation next week-- the kind where I don't go anywhere. So forgive me if I am not turning cartwheels about it. I think I need a new vice. Something that won't give me a headache in the morning but will allow me to see the world a little brighter than I do now. Also, something that won't kill off brain cells. These days I struggle to hang on to what I've got. I keep thinking I need to take a lover. Or have another magical breakfast in D.F. (see photo). Maybe that's what I need....