NaNotSoMuch

So, at the beginning of the month I set out to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight on November 30. I'm not alone, and I used NaNoWriMo as an excuse for not blogging at all. (Turns out I really don't rule at all. I have neither a novel nor a bunch of posts.)

But here I am, less than three hours away from my deadline, and I'm officially throwing in the towel. My final word count is just over 22,000, and as you can see I'm blogging, not working on it.

I'm not really really giving up, though. I plan to give myself another month to get to 50,000 before I turn around and start revising it. I'm trying to build up a writing portfolio, which is why I have a blog in the first place. So even though I wasn't able to write 1,667 words a day, I've still written creatively more in the last month than I have in years. This even trumps my thesis, which clocks in at just under 15,000 words, counting the bibliography, and took about a bazillion months to complete (there was more research involved in that one, though).

As far as NaNoWriMo goes, I can't really say that I followed their advice especially well. I never attended a write-in. I only stayed up late once or twice to write, and I only forced myself to write a few times. In other words, I did a pretty good job of churning out 22,000 words while still living the life I like to live. So I think that bodes well for my ability to keep writing in the future, if not my ability to write for a living. (Differently than I already do, that is. I know, nothing is ever good enough.)

The Law of Averages

This one is dedicated to my statistics-loving reader.

So November has rivaled September in terms of blog crapitude. But that's what happens when you kick so much ass in one month, like I did with a bazillion posts in October.

Guess I'll have to shelve those big dreams of blog stardom for a while. Luckily, despite the fact that it really sucked last week, I didn't quit my day job.

Nothing to report/I don't feel like putting together a real (entertaining) post. I'm headed home for Thanksgiving a day early, thanks to my hard-earned comp time. The entire Bolton family is participating in a 5k on Saturday, plus I found free yoga for Thursday, plus Golds Gym is free on Friday, so I'm ready to counteract the turkey effect (not that I eat turkey, but you know what I mean).

I'll actually blame my lameness on all the weight lifting I've been doing lately. It's exhausting. And it's probably going to screw up my 5k. And I need a lot of band aids because I'm so cut.

Everybody's Workin' on the Weekend

Not everybody, I guess, but my co-worker and I sure are. Last night at 5 my boss told us that we would need to submit our annual report to the printer by noon on Monday. Which is one thing if your boss has given you all the material, and you've had time to lay it out, and the designer is ready to start packaging stuff. Sure, then Monday at noon is no problem.

But when you're barely halfway through because your boss keeps making major changes and hasn't even given you all the material to edit, well, then that's bull shit.

Guess which experience I'm having? At 10:30 this morning I had no fewer than 10 emails from my boss about stuff we had to do that day. I spent the next four hours editing and putting together the text for our designer and bugging my boss for the rest of the material.

So we've been working all day, and tomorrow we'll have to finish up (what we have!) and then I have to proofread it--our other editor will never see the annual report before it goes to print!--then who knows? I still don't see how we're going to make that deadline.

In the meantime, I'll be glued to my computer if you need anything.

Why Bother?

I spent much of the last weekend hanging out with Kate, so she's done all the hard work of blogging my life. She calls me out on a few things here: the fact that I spent my Saturday night at a band competition and that I was in the color guard in high school, a fact I've actively hidden for the past 8 years of my life.

Then, we went to see Conor Oberst at the 9:30 Club. Her review is here, but I would like to add that the guy in front of me was laying toxic farts the entire night, which did mildly dampen my enjoyment of the show. Seriously, it was really bad. I almost had to say something.

I'm Here

But busy/sleepy. November is shaping up to be a real banner month for the blog, just like September.

I have some ideas, so I'll post something tomorrow. And bear with me; maybe at the end of this month I'll have a 50,000 word novel AND a bunch of blog posts. Who rules? I rule.

Yes We Did!

You've got enough to read about the great thing America did last night, so I won't add much. My dad asked me this morning if now I understood why some people say this is the greatest country on earth. And while I admit that I've taken the U.S. to task in the past, I've always known and believed that we were better than these last eight years. And for the first time since I've been eligible to vote, I'm happy with the outcome and looking forward to four years.

But, just in case you're looking for some more post-election fun, AAUW put up a neat post about what a bunch of us did yesterday and last night.

AAUW is completely nonpartisan, but of course women's organizations usually shake out on the Democratic side. So we're all pretty excited. My story's in there. Check it out and share yours.

Exit Polls!

Come on, already! Close, Virginia! I can't take it anymore!

Wes and I are trying to make plans to watch the returns in the District. I didn't think I'd be up for anything (I rarely am) but I'm so agitated, I could stay up for days. I was awake at 6 just because I knew I could be voting. (I went at 8:15, took about 45 minutes.)

So Wes is coming to meet me downtown, because my co-worker and I decided that D.C. was definitely the place to be. I want to be in on the celebration/riots, no matter what happens.

The best part of this whole thing though? My "I Voted" sticker. It says "Presidential Election 2008," so I have a souvenir of my participation in possibly the most historic election since the original George W. (That's Washington.)

To borrow a phrase, for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country, proud of the fact that we're open to a broader idea of power, one that goes beyond the traditional white male figurehead. I think it's wonderful to see a government that is more reflective of its electorate. It's been 143 years since people other than white men could vote. It's about damn time we had something to show for it.

Almost Over

So close yet so far. I can't wait for the election to be over, but I look forward to posting any voting highlights tomorrow. I'm a little drained right now--still tired from the marathon plus NaNoWriMo plus election stress.

And while I have a few things I could post about, I'd just like to take a minute to reflect on the death of Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. The death of my grandmother, my father's mother, was one of the saddest, most profound moments of my life. Of course, she died suddenly at the age of 56, but losing someone so important to you is never easy.

So add some sadness on top of my stress, and I'll be back tomorrow with fun.

Go vote!!