A Moleskine Notebook Excerpt from Today
Have woken up to news that Nicholl does not love me. Not even a P.S. this year. Had made terrible mistake of getting hopes up after making BlueCat semi-finals. Am now convinced BlueCat is complete fluke; name was obviously there by mistake.
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Considering chucking writing dream & becoming Domestic Goddess instead. Ignoring current state of house as indicator of potential success.
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Was just asked what activities are therapeutic for me (in lieu of shopping, which tends toward destructive for both finances and morale). Came up blank. Perhaps could be part of problem.
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Have found relaxation solution! Need hot tub. No purpose besides relaxation. Perfect.
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Have realized have no money for hot tub & hot tubs are expensive.
Possible solutions:
1) Sell script.
2) Acquire sugar daddy.
3) Sell soul to devil (probably pays better, money being root of all evil, after all).
4) Find nasty info on celeb/politician & blackmail.
5) Convince parents to buy one instead & mooch unapologetically (hot tub will melt away guilt, surely).
Fear all possible solutions are 1) likely to increase stress, at which point will have to find other means of relaxation in transition period between start of plan and acquisition of hot tub, and 2) unlikely.
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Relaxation is too hard & obviously for the birds.
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Reconsidering notion to become Domestic Goddess as have just dumped potently colored lunch ALL OVER SELF.
(Then scooped off chair & shirt & back onto plate and then into mouth as it was rather delicious.)
Perhaps Domestic Goddnessness is still in the cards, with application of apron and/or bib at all times.
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Have just discovered presence of four black beans and one cherry tomato underneath arse. Make that four smushed black beans and one crushed cherry tomato. Did not eat them.
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Friend: “You are a creature of grace and wonder today.” Too true, I know. Just like every day.
And Now For Something Completely Different
This post is a break from the norm for this blog, but after hearing today that Kansas City is now the sixth-fattest city in the nation combined with the ever-present health epidemic in the United States anyway, I figured if I could help someone by sharing a brief glimpse of my story, no matter how mortifying, it would be worth it. The focus of this blog isn’t changing, but I feel like I’ve got an opportunity here; so I’m taking it.
A little background: I was never a skinny kid, per se, but I started playing soccer at the age of 5 and was involved in competitive sports until I graduated high school. I was a bit overweight in elementary school, but then, adolescent metabolism took over, and while I was never anything close to skinny as a rail, I managed a fit, athletic build throughout high school. I never thought I was thin, but, looking back, I know I was as thin as I should have been.
That all changed when I hit college. I was no longer involved in sports; I was no longer exercising regularly; and I was certainly not eating anything even close to resembling a healthy diet. On top of that, and pardon my vagueness here, I was very, very unhappy and trying very hard to look quite the opposite. All of those things took a huge toll on my physique, and I gained around 100 pounds in about four years. In short, it sucked.
In 2006, I started making changes. I started working out and eating better. With the help of SparkPeople, a social weight loss community, I lost about 40 pounds. Life intervened, and my efforts took a backseat to other issues (once again, pardon my vagueness). I kept working out, but I did it less; and diet became about maintenance rather than weight loss. Twenty or thirty pounds crept back on, though they were thankfully significantly less noticeable thanks to my workout routine.
In 2009, I resolved a lot of those old issues that I’d thought were more important than my own health and well-being (mental, physical, spiritual, etc.). I started putting myself first in a lot of aspects of my life, and I knocked those pounds off again plus a few more. This year, as part of my Year of Awesome initiative, I’ve kicked back into health & fitness high gear. As of May 10, I’m down 34.8 pounds for the year. From my highest weight ever, I’m down 78.6 pounds — a number that is both impressive and embarrassing.
Today I got my new badge photo, and seeing how different I look from my old one warrants the same emotions for me: I’m impressed and embarrassed. Weight loss is a mixed emotional bag, folks. Posting this old photo is a pretty big deal for me, but, as I said, if it can inspire even one person out there to put themselves first and get moving, then it’s worth it. So, here we go.
As mortifying as that first picture is, I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m happy and healthy now, and the best part is, thanks in large part to Jillian Michaels
And the truth is, ANYONE can do it, folks. We don’t know what we’re capable of until we try. And most of the time, we can do WAY more than we originally think is possible. Check out The Biggest Loser. Michael, one of this year’s contestants, was thrilled when he jogged one mile on the treadmill. Bob Harper, co-trainer along with Jillian, told him to keep going. He was skeptical, but he did. He got to 3.1 miles (a 5k!) and was ecstatic. Bob congratulated and told him to keep going again. He was still skeptical, but he kept moving, all the way to the 5 miles Bob demanded. Michael, by the way, weighed somewhere upwards of 350 pounds that episode.
So, if you’ve been wanting to eat better and move more, then get to it. Make that choice, and then make the first step. And then take the next one, and the next and the next and the next. Saying it’s a difficult journey is an understatement, and there are more layers of emotion than you’d probably expect, but I cannot put into words how worth it that journey is. As Tony Horton says in one of his P90X workouts, “We tumble, we fall, but we move!” That’s the key, folks — you keep moving. And that’s with any goal you set, whether it’s weight loss or writing or whatever.
So, that’s a tiny slice of my story. Health and fitness is something near and dear to my heart these days, and what I’ve learned on this journey has transferred into every other aspect of my life, as promised by Jillian at the end of one of her DVD workouts (which are all completely fabulous, as is her book, Master Your Metabolism). I’m happy to talk details of my journey via e-mail (izzi dot ditty at gmail dot com) or facebook if you’re curious or need a little motivation and inspiration to start your own adventure.
2009: My Year in Review
It’s been an interesting year. While it wasn’t as tumultuous as 2008, a.k.a. The Year Everything Broke, it was still a bit of a hassle. Which is rather normal, I suppose, because after a year where everything breaks, you have to have The Year of Putting Things Back Together.
I didn’t meet all my goals, but I’m OK with the ones I didn’t meet.
- Finish the first draft of Fairytale Redux. — This did not happen, and that’s OK.
- Adapt a novel for the screen. — I tried to make this happen and basically failed miserably. I did, however, learn a lot in my attempt, and that certainly counts for something.
- Edit/re-write SoS. — I ended up rewriting about two-thirds of this before setting aside because I just wasn’t making it work like I felt it should.
- Rewrite M. Valentine. — I did indeed complete this, but I’m still not happy with the rewrite. It lost a lot of the screwball humor I loved about the first draft even though it gained in what can probably best be called “hanging together.” I’ll likely revisit this AGAIN in 2010 because I love it, and some day I will break this story, damn it.
- Write a stage play or a comic book script for ScriptFrenzy 2009. — I was fully ready to write a stage musical for Screnzy. I had my beat sheet, my list of songs — everything. And then, the day before, I got hit with a huge feeling of unease and the notion that I should be writing something else. So I did. That script is now sitting in a drawer, perhaps waiting to be revisited next year.
- NaNoWriMo 2009. — I managed my 50k, but the whole thing was like pulling teeth. I started three different novels on the first day, which, to be frank, was dumb and sucked. Instead of worrying about having something to work with at the end of the month, I eventually just used it as catharsis to write whatever I wanted. I still like the premise, but this draft will never see the light of day. That being said, it did help me get my screenwriting mojo back for December, and that’s a pretty wonderful side effect.
- Visit a place I’ve never been before. I vacationed with my family in Tampa and tagged along on my sister’s college visit to Sarasota. Not quite what I’d envisioned, again, since I’ve been to Florida plenty of times, but those two places were technically new, so I’m counting this as done.
- Read another 24 books. — Done!
- Finish a themed short story collection. — This didn’t happen either, but I did write a good number of short stories (thanks in large part to #fridayflash), which was the point of the goal.
- Write another spec screenplay. — Done. I completed the first and second major drafts of TDPU, and I’m working on the third major draft as we speak.
- Film a short. — (I’m counting it as done, even though it’s not quite what I’d envisioned at the end of 2008.)
Despite being hit or miss on meeting those specific goals, I did a number of other things instead:
- I learned the basics of horseback riding.
- I brushed up on my French with an intermediate course.
- I went to the symphony for the first time — specifically The Lord of the Rings Symphony.
- I saw Spring Awakening, Wicked, a radio-style performance of Big River, two high school plays, and one high school performance of Footloose.
- Watched 210+ films
- Wrote 70+ blog posts (here and at Ditty Cooks) and moved to my own domain.
- Attended a BlueCat 10-page Screenwriting Workshop.
- Had a script (MUTE) make the first round of the British Feature Screenwriting Competition, the Quarterfinals of the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition, and the Top 15%/Top 1000 of the Nicholl Fellowship.
- Wrote 10 short stories.
Lessons Learned: Sometimes you just have to let things go. In screenwriting and writing in general, one of the first lessons you have to learn is how to finish a project. In 2008, I got really good at finishing projects. In 2009, I learned when to abandon a project (and when not to). Sometimes something just isn’t working, no matter how hard you’re trying to force it. If you’ve give it all you have, then it’s OK to consider perhaps setting aside and moving on to something new. This, however, should not become a habit. If there’s any doubt in your mind, keep going. Carry on, brave soldier. But don’t slog away at a project that you know isn’t working when you could be spending it on another project that will work. This lesson doesn’t stop at work, though. As hard as we might want to cling to things in life, sometimes it becomes toxic to do so. You can’t always force things, be it a job, a friendship, a relationship. In short, if something isn’t bringing you joy or satisfaction on a regular basis, then redefine the way you look at that thing. Let go of the old expectations and accept the possibility of something new.
All in all, I can’t really complain about 2009. It was really rough at times, but it was also really great at times. I am ready to leave it behind, though. Here are my goals for 2010.
- Read 24 books in 2010.
- Read 24 scripts in 2010.
- Finish TDPU & submit to contests.
- ScriptFrenzy 2010.
- NaNoWriMo 2010.
- Visit a place I’ve never been before (preferably in Europe).
- Write [secret project].
- Film [secret project].
- Write an adaptation.
- Keep up with FridayFlash/short stories.
- Watch 200 movies.
I’ve survived a couple of rocky years now, and I’m ready for something different. I’m hereby declaring 2010 The Year of Awesome. I’m ready for it, and you’re all invited. Hats off to 2009 — it’s been real. Let’s move on to the fantastic.
Merry Happy
I’ve wanted to send out a 100-word Christmas story with my Christmas cards for a few years now. This is the first year I’ve gotten around to writing a story. Alas, I did not get around to actually sending Christmas cards. So, I present it here instead, along with my wishes for a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it and a lovely day regardless.
And to make up for the mush, I’ll also share this riveting piece of cinema, created by my sister and myself as a bit of Christmas entertainment for our family.
Recap: 3 August 2009
I’ve been in a little bit of a funk the past week. You know those gypsy winds in the movie Chocolat? Well, I’ve been feeling them myself. Mostly, it’s just that I’ve been feeling rather stagnant, despite my efforts to keep moving. This isn’t all related to my writing, of course. There are just a lot of areas in my life where I feel like I’m waiting for something to happen. And it’s not like I’m sitting around wishing and hoping and not doing anything else. I’m working — and working pretty hard, too, if I do say so myself. And sometimes I wish I could be happy just being a normal worker bee, but I already know that, at least for now, I can’t. And so I shake my fist at the sky and rail, “Why must I be saddled with this fate?”
And then I watch a movie like THE LIVES OF OTHERS, and I think to myself, “Honestly, what do I really have to complain about? Things could be a lot worse, and sometimes they will be, but that’s no excuse to squander your gifts.” So this week I’ll start Edits Round Two on TDPU while I continue to tweak the outline for LAID. And hey, I might do a little prose to pass the time as well. Keep going. And on that note, let’s look at…
What I Watched
- Orphan (2½ stars): Occasionally I get the desire to go see a silly horror movie, and it turned out my friend Sam also wanted to see this particular horror movie, so we went and watched it together, and we left unenthused but not angry (which is several steps above how I felt after seeing Prom Night.) All in all, it wasn’t that bad as far as this type of movie goes. Really, it was actually pretty solid until the last 10 or 15 minutes. And even that I could have forgiven had it not been for the last line. (Let’s just say, it is probably unwise to use a well-roasted line from another horror movie in any way other than as a joke.) That being said, I thought the twist was interesting, and the actors actually did a very good job with the material they were given. It a little gory in places, and it’s definitely got the creep factor. And (because this is not common sense, judging by our fellow theatre-goers) please do NOT bring kids to this movie. Nightmares and therapy, folks: that’s what you have to look forward to.
- The Adventures of Don Juan (3½ stars): My first Errol Flynn movie, and I was totally charmed. This movie was really funny (mostly intentionally, though sometimes not). Honestly, I’m not sure there’s much to say about this one. It’s a fun, little swashbuckling, Save the Queen sort of movie. And I like those sorts of movies. And this is a pretty decent one. So there you go.
- (500) Days of Summer (5 stars): I loved this movie. Seriously. A lot. Please go see it, especially if you are in your 20s or 30s.
- The Lives of Others (5 stars): This story (which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) is set in the mid-1980s in East Germany, and it follows a writer, his actress girlfriend, and the man tasked with surveilling them for the Secret Police. It’s a beautiful film in which everything — the performances, the themes, the emotional chords — is understated and honest. Ulrich Mühe‘s performance both broke my heart and gave me hope.
What Else
- I’m reading The Witch of Portobello
, and really, really loving it.
- I may have done something sort of crazy and started a cooking blog. I haven’t yet gotten my (mis)adventures from this weekend posted, but that should happen some time this evening. You see, I like to cook, but I seem to rarely do it, so I figured tying it into writing somehow might motivate me a bit more. So there you go.
- It is Monday, and I am wearing a real shirt (not a T-shirt). Be amazed.
- This week’s advice: At least one day this week, even if you feel too tired or not motivated or otherwise disinclined to work on that project you claim to love, work on it anyway. Just for a little while. Just so it still knows you love it.
That is all. Have a wonderful week.
Screenwriting and the Art of Optimism
If you feel like having your hopes dashed and your dreams pooh-poohed, there are plenty of avenues to do that in the world of screenwriting. Upon entering the Wide World of RSS Feeds, a dear friend and fellow aspiring screenwriter lamented at how overwhelming it all was. There’s a wealth of information and opinion out there, and it’s easy to end up with this as the overall message: “You, Fledgling Screenwriter, are supposed to be doing Items A through ZZZ, and even if you’re doing every single one of those things, the odds of making it are positively Lilliputian.”
I’ve now made the first cut of two screenwriting competitions but failed to progress to the next round. The BlueCat Screenwriting Competition announced their semi-finalists last night (the top 1 percent of 3200 entries down from the top 20 percent for quarterfinals), and I was not on their list. Cue Existential Crisis.
I’m feeling better this morning than I was last night, and I’m feeling better now than I was when I got up. By the end of the day, hopefully I’ll be back into Write the Next Thing Mode, which is good since I’m on the verge of finishing up my current work. (Whilst jumping back into writing tonight, though, I may fill that last bit of emptiness in my heart where a semi-finalist placement would have resided with what some may call copious amounts of wine and maybe a bit of carrot cake, too.)
So, the question remains, if you still feel like you have to do this Thing Called Writing despite all the frustration and heartbreak and general down-in-the-dumpness that accompanies it, how do you stop yourself from sinking into a deep pit of melancholy and bitterness? Well, here’s how I do it.
- Surround yourself with positive people who know when to give you realism (whilst giving notes on your shitty-but-with-potential firstish drafts) and when to say, “Screw realism. You’re awesome, and you need to keep going because the world is in need of your brand of awesomeness.”
- Allow yourself to take a sabbatical from the Blogs of Doom. Most of the time, I can pick out the beneficial information from the dour tones, but sometimes it gets to be a little much. And when that happens, it’s OK to step away from it for a bit.
- Read or watch (or even do) something inspiring or escapist or heartwarming. Sometimes life is overwhelming; there’s nothing wrong with hitting your own personal pause button and taking some time to do something purely enjoyable for a few hours.
- Exercise. Honestly. Endorphins and all that. Additionally, I find any sort of kickboxing/taebo/kenpo workout coupled with visualization of naysayers does wonders.
- Get out in the world. Pick up a new hobby. Go somewhere you’ve never been before. Do something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t because you’ve been afraid or alone or didn’t know where to start. Have an experience.
- Keep writing. Finish what you’re writing. Start something new. Take an excursion into a different medium. But keep writing. Keep generating ideas. Be a shark. Keep moving.
Those tactics usually do the trick for me. Perhaps there is an end to my rope, and maybe one day I’ll reach it and give up the ghost. But for the timebeing, it’s not in sight. Onward and upward, as they say.
(“And remember, keep your powder dry.”)
2008: My Year in Review
2008 was a landmark year in my life. It was a year of transition: ends, beginnings, redefinitions, and, most of all, getting back to the core of who I am and what I want out of life. Looking back over my tangible accomplishments, it’s also been a fairly productive year.
- I wrote or rewrote five screenplays totaling 489 pages and 93,500 words.
- I wrote five pieces of short fiction and one free-verse poem, totaling 10,300 words.
- In the last two months of the year, I wrote the first 90,000 words of a novel.
- I wrote some nonfiction essays and brainstormed/planned a number of others.
- I wrote 88 blog posts (make that 89, I guess, including this one).
- I started jogging, kept coaching little kid soccer, and took fencing lessons.
- I participated in and won ScriptFrenzy for the first time and also served as the municipal liaison for the Kansas City area.
- I participated in and won NaNoWriMo for the fourth time.
- I reached my goal of reading 24 books a year for the second year in a row.
- I watched 151 movies and learned a lot about the art of cinema.
Beyond the accomplishments, the year sneaked in a number of valuable lessons as well. Here are my Top 3.
- Appreciate the present, and do not cling to what is not so. I’ve learned to better appreciate the ebb and flow of life. Things come and go, and we cannot control it all. There is beauty in every phase of life, even in the moments of melancholy.
- Do something every day that moves me one step closer to my goals. Even if it’s something minuscule, I try to do at least something. No day should be wasted.
- Most importantly, I made the decision to be authentically and unapologetically me. After many years of trying to fit the mold of what I thought I should be, I realized that what I should be is, simply, me. It has been the most freeing decision of my life to date.
So, with 2008 behind me, I’ve set up some goals for the coming year. I like to call them New Year’s Initiatives rather than resolutions. Eleven worked well for 2008, so I’m going with that for this year, too.
- Finish the first draft of Fairytale Redux.
- Adapt a novel for the screen.
- Edit/re-write SoS.
- Rewrite M. Valentine.
- Write a stage play or a comic book script for ScriptFrenzy 2009.
- NaNoWriMo 2009.
- Visit a place I’ve never been before.
- Read another 24 books.
- Finish a themed short story collection.
- Write another spec screenplay.
- Film a short.
So, cheers to 2008 being over, and here’s to 2009 being the best year yet. Happy New Year, everyone.
NaNoWriMo 2008: Week Two
Well, I’ve survived to the middle of Week Two. Monday was little sketchy as my normally bionic immune system threatened to fail me, but it seems to have repaired itself (as bionic things are prone to do) for the time being. I very rarely get sick, but about once every four to five years, all the bugs I’ve managed to avoid band together and launch a full-scale attack, plunging me into a pit of sickly despair. I’m about due for another pants-kicking, but I’m just hoping my system can wait for the reboot until at least December.
That being said, once I broke through Sunday’s bout of writer’s apathy, the writing began to go fairly well. And by well, I don’t mean I’m writing especially great material here, but the staring contests between myself and the blank page have become relatively short. I’m to the scenes which were the jumping off point for this entire story, so I’ve been riding the wave of joy at being able to write these bits that have been playing around in my brain for about a year now. If all goes well, I might just be able to break 50k by the end of the weekend, which would be a speed record for me. Of course, I’ll still have another 25k to pound out after that landmark, but it’s always nice crossing that 50k hurdle.
I will now break from this NaNoWriMo update to tell you a short parable.
Once upon a time, there was a young woman who lived with her two little dogs in a typical suburban neighborhood house. After spending the evening hours writing at a coffee shop, she came home parked her car in the garage, lugged her computer, her purse, two bags of write-in materials and her coat into the house.
She then poured herself a small glass of red wine and settled onto the couch to unwind by watching House, after which she put the dogs in their kennels and went to sleep. At 11 p.m., this was a bit late for her, since she would have to be up by 5 a.m., but such is life. The caffeine in her system made getting to sleep a bit difficult, but by the time the calendar flipped the page, she’d slipped into a light sleep.
Half an hour later, she was abruptly awoken by the barks of her two chihuahuas downstairs. Vaguely annoyed, she waited for them to stop, figuring they’d heard a noise outside and would quickly quiet down. But instead their barks grew louder and more ferocious. She started to grow concerned. She saw a flash of light through her blinds. Lightning? Was it storming? She peeked through the side of the blinds. She felt the rush of dread accompanied by adrenaline. There were two dark figures in her backyard. One was coming down the deck. They had high-powered flashlights.
The woman scrambled out of bed to her cell phone, which was on the floor a few paces away. Crouched in the middle of the room, she could see lights flashing under the door. Were they in the house? What if they’d seen the light from her phone from underneath the door? She couldn’t hear them in the house, but what if they were and what if they heard her if she called the police? The stream of thoughts jetting through her brain was stopped by a loud rapping on the front door. Shaking, she pulled on a T-shirt over her tank top and walked down the hall, down the stairs and to the front door.
Through the window, she could see a police officer standing on the front stoop. She pulled open the door, stumbling a bit as it stuck and then released.
“Hi,” she said, her voice unsteady.
“Hi, ma’am. Your garage door is open, and we just wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
“Oh…”
“Are you all right?” the officer asked, obviously not realizing the trauma he’d just put the woman through.
“Yeah, I’m OK. Just a little freaked out. My dogs were going nuts and the lights…”
“Oh, sorry about that. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it’s OK. I appreciate it. I didn’t know the garage door was open. Thank you.”
“No problem, ma’am. Sorry to wake you.”
“It’s OK. Thank you.”
The two officers left the stoop and walked to their car. The woman closed the door behind them and then walked, almost zombie-like, and opened the door into her garage. Sure enough, it had been open. She pressed the button and watched it close. “Holy shit,” she muttered to herself, shaking her hands in an effort to get rid of the jitters. She spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, the combination of the adrenaline and remnants of caffeine combining forces to ward off sleep.
The moral of the story: DON’T FORGET TO CLOSE YOUR GARAGE DOOR, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT!
While I was obviously rather traumatized, I was pretty impressed by my two pint-sized dogs who rose to the occasion rather magnificently. Obviously, when you hear “long-haired chihuahua,” you don’t think “guard dog.” But they did a great job of alerting me at least. And, while the officers’ approach might have been a little gung-ho (they circled my house, checked all the doors, including the one on my rickety deck, and were about to try to find out how to phone the owner), I do appreciate their dedication to attempting to keep me safe. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’ll be checking at least twice to make sure my garage door actually get shut from now on. Oi.
Recap: 3 November 2008
As predicted, HSM3, Zack & Miri, and Saw V took the Top 3 spots. Here’s your Top 10.
- High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($15 million)
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($10.7 million)
- Saw V ($10.1 million)
- Changeling ($9.4 million)
- The Haunting of Molly Harvey ($6 million)
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($4.7 million)
- The Secret Life of Bees ($4 million)
- Max Payne ($3.7 million)
- Eagle Eye ($3.4 million)
- Pride and Glory ($3.3 million)
Everything Else
My movie-watching this past week was pretty dismal. The first half of my week was spent in a mad race to finish my script before sending it off to the BFSC. I managed to watch about half of Creepshow on Thursday before I got caught up in Thursday night television.
Friday I met up with a good friend to discuss The Picture of Dorian Gray
Sunday was a pretty crazy day, and thank God for the extra hour of sleep. I got up and pushed to the 10 percent completion mark on the novel, and then I went to coach our last little kids’ soccer game of the season. After that, I went straight to the Sunday write-in at which I ended up being the ONLY attendee. So, here’s my plea: If you ask me to specifically schedule a write-in at a time and place you specifically request, PLEASE show up. I’ve got plenty of NaNo spirit, believe me. But I don’t generally drag all my write-in crap, including a huge poster board declaring the writing goals and progress of my fellow WriMos, if I’m just going to be writing alone.
The upside is that I did manage to break 10,000 words at my solitary write-in. So, I went home and worked out (because an overworked brain sadly does not burn many calories), and then as a reward I settled down with some dinner, some leftover Halloween candy, and a nice big glass of wine to watch Love Actually. Which by the way has officially become my second-favorite Christmas movie after the untouchable The Muppet Christmas Carol.
This morning I’m feeling a little melancholy for the following reasons:
- I miss screenwriting. I’ve fallen in love with the medium over the past year, and I’m bummed that I won’t get back to it until December at the earliest.
- I don’t have a large chunk of hours I can allot to writing today because I’ve got my day job and then freelance editing job this afternoon/evening.
- My spine feels like it’s melting into my back, which is not pleasant. I’ve also been fighting a nasty headache-causing knot in my neck/shoulder for several days.
So, if anyone would like to contribute a little metta, prayers, or back/shoulder rubs to my cause, I’d much appreciate it. I think I just need to get into a groove, and then I’ll probably be OK. And if not, Dec. 1 is only 27 days away!
Seven Facts Meme
I’d managed to escape this meme for quite some time, but it finally caught up with me. Thanks, Danielle.
The idea is to share seven facts about yourself and then to tag five people.
Seven Facts about Elizabeth Ditty
- During parent-teacher conferences in the fifth grade, my teacher told my parents that I was “eccentric” and “dared to be different.” I’ve never lived it down, though I have learned to embrace it.
- One of my favorite movies as a child was The Last Unicorn, which, if you’ve ever seen it, explains a lot about me, I think.
- Between college and my current job, I spent five hellish weeks working in the Tire & Lube Express department at Wal-Mart . I was placed there despite knowing next to nothing about cars. But the upside is I can now help you pick out tires and I can take an educated guess at what kind of oil your car uses.
- I’ve played just about every major sport (major as defined in the States). Soccer, softball and basketball were the biggies, but I’ve also taken tennis lessons, and I participated in swim team for a number of years in my youth (breaststroke and fly were my specialties). I was a tetherball champion in elementary school. I’ve never played on a volleyball team, but I know the basics. I even did a year of cross country in seventh grade. I also took an introductory epée fencing class in August, and I hope to continue fencing after NaNoWriMo. I’ve never really played football, but I think I get a pass on that, being a girl and all.
- A few months ago, I started speaking to my dogs in French. This is mostly an effort to keep my level of French somewhere between elementary and conversational. I think it also makes me a little weird (see No. 1).
- I love to cook and bake. I love trying out new recipes, and I love feeding people. But I hate cleaning, so I rarely partake in this hobby these days.
- I really enjoy having intellectual conversations with people, be it about books, movies, religion/spirituality, politics, philosophy, whatever. I tend to be fairly quiet in group settings, but if you get me one on one or in a very small group, I’m much more talkative. I love to debate for the sake of learning about people and hearing new perspectives, and my goal is often just to get people to think rather than to convince someone that my stance on any given issue is correct.
Phew, that was harder than I expected. Now to unleash it on other unsuspecting bloggers…
Have fun!
