Posts on nanowrimo

I didn't have to work yesterday, which was great for several reasons. First, I'd been working since Sunday, so I was more than ready for a break. Second, I didn't have to come up with a Halloween costume. I'm still recovering from the Halloween I wore blue jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat to work. All day, people of all ages asked me, "Oh, you're a cowgirl! Or are you a cowboy?" Um... let's not make this harder than it needs to be, folks!

Anyway, third: the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so I went down to the beach and sketched for a couple of hours. I do love to draw and wish I did it more often. I wish I played music more, too. Actually, there's a lot of things I wish I did more. But the way I look at it, I've only got time for one obsession right now. And writing has won.

Here's the least embarrassing of my sketches. I'm still learning how to use colored pencils. Seriously, it's harder than it sounds! I've got more experience with acrylics and pastels, where you layer from dark to light. Colored pencils and watercolors, you have to go light to dark. Conclusion: Prismacolors on black paper cannot look anything but awesome.

One last thing before I pedal off to work: no National Novel Writing Month for me this year. After a lot of thought, I decided I need to focus on my newish project so I don't lose all momentum. I'm still in that rocky transition period between projects, where my mind is still half on the last one. I need to concentrate my focus.

But I know quite a few of you are tackling Nano, and I wish you the best of luck! In the words of César Chávez, "Sí, se puede!" Yes, it can be done.

(Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed the similarity between Chávez's slogan and Obama's "Yes, we can"? No wonder the rich bosses are worried!

"Sí, se puede!" was also the motto of the Chicago elementary school I spent the most days subbing, back in my crazy subbing days. What a great motto, huh? They said it every day, right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Made me smile every time.)

October's been a crazy-busy month for me, and it's not even close to over! Will November be different? I'm not sure. I'll be working the usual weekend days at the library. I'll be taking a trip to Michigan for my dad's retirement and my oldest friend's wedding reception. And there's that whole Thanksgiving thing.

And even though after doing National Novel Writing Month in 2006 I resolved never, ever to do it again because of how exhausting and stressful it was, in the past week I've begun to reconsider. "Wouldn't it be a marvelous way," I'm asking myself, "to jump-start this new idea I've got?" The jury is still out, but if I succumb, I'm going to reel the blogging back.

I've also been thinking for a while that I'd like to take a break from reading children's and YA lit in my free time. I'm thinking November would be a good month for that, too. A couple of months ago I bought two of my favorite "adult" books, My Name Is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok, and The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan, with the intention of rereading them. And half a million people have recommended I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. And at some point I wrote down Little, Big, by John Crowley, because I heard about it somewhere. Any other grown-up books I should add to that list?

And getting waaaay ahead of myself, I've started thinking ahead to maybe road tripping through the North Central U.S. next spring. Before we got sidetracked by our trip to England (which was lovely and novel, and I absolutely don't regret it), I had my heart set on driving across North Dakota and visiting Teddy Roosevelt National Park, dipping into eastern Montana and Wyoming, and circling back through South Dakota. Or the other way around, I'm not picky. The Crazy Horse Volksmarch coincides with my birthday, which seems just too perfect to pass up. Hmmm...