Category Archives: Fun Stuff

Almost camp time again…

15 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Creative Writing, Daily Drivel, Escape From Reality, Fun Stuff, My Writing, NaNoWriMo, Random Tangents, Random Thoughts, Randomness, Writing

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CNW_Participant

 

Yes it’s almost that time again…

I’ll be joining the usual list of suspects as a member of Silver Beaver Cabin for the third session of Camp NaNoWriMo in a row April 1st-30th of this year. Camp is a little more relaxed an affair than regular NaNoWriMo in November of each year. Not only can you set your own word count goal, but you can also choose to work on what inspires you whether it be fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, book covers, or illustrations. Being able to set your own goal, can also make it a good test run for people that want to attempt NaNo, without all the pressure of the 50k goal right from the beginning.

My project for this session of camp seems to be coming out quite differently than normal. I know my setting, and a rather detailed cast of characters, and I have a general idea of who they are and how they relate to one another. What is the issue then? I have no plot. To quote Chris Baty: “No plot, no problem.”

I am what we NaNoers like to call a “Pantser.”

I write entire novels by pulling them out of thin air as I go along. Rarely if ever, is anything I write planned in advance, except brief little snippets of scenes throughout the story I have foreseen ahead of time. The getting from point A to point B stuff is always an interesting feat for me. I’ve been known to skip or gloss over entire sections of novels to keep momentum getting to the next part when I don’t know what to write in between two sections. Loss of momentum, not just perfectionism is what kills many stories before they even see light of day.

That’s the point of NaNo, get it on paper, go back and fix it later…

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes…mistakes are what editing is for. You can’t be afraid of writing something that completely sucks in the beginning. Everyone, even a lot of famous authors are convinced that their first drafts are drivel. (and they usually are)

Get it on paper, save the fear and self loathing for this masochistic thing we like to call editing…that comes in December…or May…or August.

See you all at Camp! Someone better save me some smores!

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Thor’s Second Birthday

25 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Fun Stuff, Taterbug

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Thor just turned 2 years old today, and it seems like it all has gone by way too fast. He has so much energy, and such a big personality. He is sweet and playful, and already quite creative in his own way. Everything is an adventure for him, whether it is running away with daddy’s drumsticks, or reading the same picture book for the tenth time that day. He loves owls and cats, but his favorite thing in the world always has been and still seems to be music. He is my little ray of sunshine.

Ugga-mugga little man, stay this sweet and little just a little while longer, please.

Where does time go?

Just Duckie

20 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by in Evil Wizard, Fun Stuff, My Writing, NaNoWriMo, Taterbug, Writing

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Yesterday we had a little bit of an adventure downtown, taking Thor out shopping, for his birthday presents, which he won’t remember once Thursday rolls around anyway, and to buy him a rubber duckie. Truthfully there was an ulterior motive behind the duckie part, as the giant rubber duckie was in town, and we wanted to take him to see it before it leaves for good tomorrow.

Thor seemed very excited about the duckie, and held it almost all the way down to the park, but eventually we had to rescue it before he accidentally dropped it and put it in a bag under the stroller so it wouldn’t get lost. Yes we are sappy parents when it comes to stuff like this. We bought him a t-shirt, and some stickers to put in his baby book.

I don’t know if Thor will remember anything about that day years from now. I don’t think many people do have many, if any memories at that age. I do hope he will look back on the photos, and his baby book, and know that we did our best to try and give him a fun day, even if it was a little early for his actual birthday.

Things are going a little better here thankfully in some ways, and my stress level has dropped if only a little. There’s been good news and bad news the last couple of weeks. The shutdown ended our chances at getting a mortgage for now, but the good news on that front is, they told us what we need to fix to better our chance when we reapply six months from now.

I’m presently trying to plan my next book for NaNoWriMo in a couple of weeks. Wish me luck I am going to need it.

The Storm

19 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in Fun Stuff, My Writing, NaNoWriMo, Writing

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This post is in response to the daily writing prompt at Today’s Author for September 17th 2013.

Today’s Prompt:

The dark clouds rolled in quickly, casting strange shadows across the landscape.

The sky carried the same eerie amber glow that most often accompanied a storm that promised more bite than bark. Thunder rumbled as the air grew colder, as the coal black clouds crept ever closer, and soon after that glowing sky went from near florescent, to near dark as night, even in what should have been the brightness of early afternoon. These were not ordinary rain clouds, they churned and seemed to boil as they passed over what seemed a low enough altitude for them to almost touch the earth at any moment.

Rarely had I stood underneath such a sky, even in the many years I have been here to weather the frequently stormy summers. My stomach seemed tied in knots as I stood at the window, fretting over starting the drive home, or waiting out the storm in the store where I was, in what could only be described as one nameless strip mall of many that dotted the landscape on that end of town.

A desire to run home, won out and left me bolting for the car as the wind picked up, and the rain began to fall, and dust and stray litter whipped across the parking lot, propelled by the gusts that whipped my hair and my clothes tight against me as I struggled to open the car door and close it behind me.

I turned the radio on and tuned it to a local station, which for that moment carried the annoyingly chipper advertisement for a local grocery chain having a special on ground beef and a certain brand of fabric softener. Traffic had slowed to a crawl halfway home as the rain and wind finally bore down in full force, visibility reduced to only a few car lengths ahead even with the wipers going as fast as they could manage.

The rain was coming down so heavily in fact that the street now looked like a small river a few inches deep, and water bubbled out of the storm drains and manhole covers, the rain falling far too quickly for the town’s antiquated sewer system to handle the sudden deluge. Thankfully my turnoff was leading me uphill, even if it meant going home by a slightly more out of the way route than I normally would have taken to avoid most of the other low lying areas. I could not, however, avoid the one last dip in the road at the end of my street, which proved to be also starting to flood as I crept through the intersection, hoping the car wouldn’t stall before I made it through.

My sigh of relief had been premature as I rounded the curve, only to find the big oak tree in Mrs. Hawkins front yard not merely blocking the street, but thoroughly crushing Mr. Daily’s up until then nice shiny new sports car. I couldn’t turn around and go back, without taking a chance with the flood, and now I couldn’t go forward. I’d debated just sitting in the car until the storm cleared, at that point, but the peal of the air raid siren, jolted me away from that prospect. There was nothing else to do at that point than to pull the car as far off the road as I could safely, and run the half a block still between me and home as fast as I could through the downpour. I’d grab clean dry clothes from the laundry room in the basement once I was in there and safe.

Did I mention I’m just a little afraid of storms?

First annual Crabapple Awards

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in Fun Stuff

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crabappleaward

Some days ya just don’t wanna post…

Some days you feel a little crabby, but even if it’s only to rant, you post anyway..

These are the blogging awards for the rest of us!

Some of us would dearly love to be able to have those picture perfect parenting blogs full of happy smiling well behaved (who the heck do you think you are kidding?) children. I would love to be able to post mouth watering pics of my diet of mac and cheese and cereal, but after the first few bowls it gets kinda boring.

I won’t post a long questionnaire for recipients, but simply this:

1. Repost this pic on your blog

2. Rant a little about procrastination and life getting in the way etc.

3. Nominate 3 people who’s blogs you love, even on their not so sunny days.

My first round of recipients are:

Mommy Training Wheels

MomTimes4

Snoozing On The Sofa

I wish I could nominate everyone, but I’m trying to keep it short, sweet and not a huge ordeal like a lot of other awards to pass along.

I’ve apparently been nominated

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Daily Drivel, Fun Stuff

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Apparently I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award by Gavmomof2 at:

http://littlebitsandpiecesoflife.com

Thank you very much for thinking of me!

liebster-award

This came as a bit of a surprise to me this morning, since I only recently started posting in my blog again after a year long hiatus. I finally feel like I have something worthwhile to write about again now that my son is here, after being lost for words for so long so to speak.

What is a Leibster Award you ask?

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers, and it is nominated by fellow bloggers.

Here are the rules:

– Publicly thank the person that nominated you
– Tell 11 things about yourself
– Answer the 11 questions asked of you, and, in turn, make 11 questions for your own 11 nominees.
– Link to those 11 nominees, and tell them about it at their blogs.

DON’T FORGET to Copy and paste the award button to your blog.  Here’s How:

right-click on the Liebster label from my page

save it to your computer

upload to your blog

Eleven facts about me:

1. My husband says I make good sloppy joes (don’t tell him the sauce comes from a can)

2. The only thing I hate worse than elevators are escalators.

3. I once stopped talking to everyone I knew offline to see how long it would take someone to notice (3 1/2 weeks)

4. My children all have animal based nicknames (Turtle,Frog,Chipmunk and Taterbug)

5. There is a 19 year age gap between my oldest and youngest child.

6. I eat hamburgers in circles instead of eating them straight across. (because all the good stuff is always in the middle)

7. I met my husband in an online chat through a mutual friend, and we only ended up hooking up  in real life because our mutual friend was late to work one night. (After a month of being afraid to talk to one another)

8. I love to write, but no one would ever know it by my typos.

9. I once put myself in the emergency room from eating hot salsa.

10. I think the coolest sound in the world is that of ice scattering after being thrown onto a frozen pond.

11. I frequently spend most of the day in my pajamas unless I have to go somewhere, or company is coming over.

Here are the questions I was asked:

1.  What is your ideal vacation spot?

I would like to visit Europe again, and maybe even live there for a little while. Finland would be my first choice of destination. Wales and Switzerland are both a close second.

2.  Do you have a Vice?  What is it?

Sweets, mostly chocolate anything, though I have to be careful which ones due to allergies.

3.  What is your favorite TV show right now?

We don’t really watch tv around here seeing as we don’t have cable, but we do always purchase all the new seasons of Mythbusters off itunes.

4.  What is your least favorite food?

I absolutely can’t stand beets or pickled eggs

5.  Why did you start blogging? 

I originally started blogging because I was living far away from my hometown and didn’t have much of anyone to talk to at the time. 

6.  Do you have a favorite motto, quote or saying?  Please share…

There are some lyrics from the song “Anybody Listening?” by the band Queensryche I use frequently as my tagline on message forums. “Think for yourself, and feel the walls, become sand beneath your feet.”

7.  You are stranded on an island – what are the 3 things you could not live without?

My family, a way to play music and lots of food.

8.  If money were no object, what would you treat yourself to?

That’s an easy one, I’d buy a house so we would never have to worry about where we are going to live again.

9.  Do you have a pet peeve?

I have several of them. The two I can think of off the top of my head are having to write with blue ink pens, and hearing the sound of people chewing on ice cubes.

10.  List three things on your “bucket list”

Getting to visit Finland, owning my own home someday, and getting a novel published

11.  Are you a coffee or tea drinker?

Tea definitely, I can’t stand plain coffee

And Now to nominate 11 Blogs     :)

http://fraterjulianus.wordpress.com/

http://youmeandlucy.wordpress.com/

http://momtimes4.com/

http://theadventuresofdande.wordpress.com/

http://raisingmenfindingme.com/

http://pittsburghmommyblog.com/

http://thingsmychildrensaid.wordpress.com/

http://kodiakmylittlegrizzly.com/

http://mommytrainingwheels.wordpress.com/

http://thevelveteenmaraca.wordpress.com/

http://ohappydaze.wordpress.com/

And now my questions for you:

1. Who is one person living or dead you would love to meet the most and why?

2. What is one talent you don’t have you have always wished you’d been given?

3. Do you have any phobias?

4. What was your favorite book when you were a kid?

5: Hamburgers, hot dogs or bean burritos?

6: What is your favorite animal and why?

7. You are offered two front row tickets to the concert of your choice, who would you want to see most?

8. You have last minute company coming over for dinner, what would you serve?

9. What’s the strangest thing you have ever bought for your son or daughter?

10: What song would you play loudly out the windows of the car to embarrass your kids when picking them up from school?

11: Which Hollywood celebrity would you most like to see given a one way trip to the planet Mars?