All NaNo’s Eve

With Halloween essentially cancelled in NYC and the city still in post-hurricane shock, to say there’s a weird vibe going around would be an understatement.

I can’t complain.  I never lost power.   Or water.  My family and friends are all fine.  (Thank you universe!)

The hurricane was far scarier and more devastating that I imagined.  But for me, essentially it was an exercise in emergency prep, scary windstorms, stress management, three days of crisis management for work managed from my dining room table, exhaustion, one migraine, a bathtub full of water *just in case* (thanks, mom!), connecting with friends to make sure everyone was okay, sock-drawer-sorting, conference calls, round the clock news coverage that makes me never want to watch the news again with two episodes of Scandal and two episodes of Castle scattered in for some much needed escape, flickering lights, a face mask, late night online stress shopping, a ton of coffee, endless glasses of water, some red wine in the middle of the day to take the edge off, and two naps. 

I’m a lucky girl.  That fact is not lost on me.  For the record, I’ve never been so grateful to not live in a hip, downtown neighborhood. 

And the ixnay on the alloweenhay?  Other than it being a convenient excuse to scarf down candy corn I’m not really much for All Hallow’s.  I mean sure I dressed up for the work party, but you know how it is….first year….need to make the good impression with the die-hards….and FINE…I’ll confess….I’ve forever wanted to be flapper. Definitely since Chicago but probably also back to Thoroughly Modern Millie (the Julie Andrews version, though would have loved to see Sutton Foster) and now that I’m old enough (ahem!) to afford a legit costume and not just some bs cheapie weepie thing from Ricky’s I went for it.  In spades.  And it rocked!

Now, those of you who got your Halloween costume at Ricky’s are probably thinking “not for nothing, but what is this snobby bizzo talking about? They have great costumes!”  And you’re right. They do. If you want to be a sexy maid. Or a sexy nurse Or a sexy flapper. Or a sexy firefighter. Or a sexy sack of potatoes.  What can I say?  What their costumes lack in good taste they also lack in fabric. Not much of either.  And sexy usually means trashy which is anything but sexy to me.  If I wanted my ass to hang out of my skirt, I wouldn’t be wearing a skirt.  But that’s just one girl’s opinion. 

Now if I’m the hunt for say some OPI nail polish…salon brand shampoo…hair-color stripper to correct a botched dye-job…double-sided body tape…Razzles?  Yes!  Ricky’s is the go-to shop.  No argument here.  But Halloween costumes…that will be seen pubically….not so much.

So, yes, flapper dreams became reality this year. (And I will wear this costume for the rest of my days because I loved it that much).  And if I could have lived the childhood not-so-secret dream of the song and dance to go with it, that would have made it ahh-may-zing!!  

Now, I really really wanted the hair to go with it.  Who doesn't want a reason to wear a wig and be someone else for a night or two.  But sadly my wig didn’t work as well as the rest of the outfit.  I did still rock a pretty damn cool style (in my humble, not-at-all-biased, opinion), which is not very well represented in this pre-party shot, thanks to a very talented friend at work.  But that was sooooo last week.  Been there.  Done that.  Have the costume.

This week?  Hurricane prep.  Horrid hurricane.  Hurricane recovery.

And like everything else with the j-o-b these days, it seems to derail me from the mission at hand.  Now coincidentally/fatefully enough I got a email from my trusted Writer’s Digest today with the article – 5 THINGS TO STOP DOING (IF YOU REALLYWANT TO FINISH WRITING YOUR NOVEL) – which essentially says to shut up and put up!  So true.  And if you’re like me and you can make excuses for not writing on some days better than you can make your own bed (only when my parents come over and only because if I don’t my dad will be horrified), then take a moment and click the link and read the article.  It’s short and sweet.

Unlike the excuses for not writing which can be lengthy and convoluted and full of excuses.  I know people who blame the rest of the world for everything bad that happens to them.  Who take no ownership.  Who accept ZERO responsibility for their lives, decisions, situations, etc.  I don’t like people like that. I don’t want to be people like that.  But sometimes when I’m not writing I am people like that.  Work is getting in the way.  My hours are too long. I would write more if I didn’t have to deal with my laundry…my TV shows….my errands…my making my bed bills.  If I just had more time I would definitely be writing.  I swear!  And while I could quote the whole WD article, I’ll pull one simple line that shuts down the inner I-blame-the-world-for-what-I’m-not-doing:

You can do Whatever. You.  Want. 

Simple.  To the point.  Epic truth.

So here’s me.  Doing what I want.  Writing this blog.  Psyching myself up for what’s to come tomorrow.  Or at midnight actually.  Blogged about it last time, but with just a few hours to go before National Novel Writing Month starts, I’ve got a bit of that delicious anxiety of anticipation. 

NaNoWriMo.

50,000 words.

1,666 a day.

More if I’m really good!

I know the next thirty days are absolutely going to kick my ass.  1,666 a day might not sound so bad. I’m up to 912 right now.  But anyone who writes knows - words don’t come that easy.  And sometimes they don’t come at all. 

(Like love.  “What?  What?” you say.  Listen to the song.  Mike Peters knows what he’s talking about.)

“It ain’t over til it’s over.” 

So 30 days. 50,000 words.  It all starts now.  It can happen.  

And it could not.

Because there’s a mountain of excuses that can get in my way…some of them legit reasons (full-time job, mainly) and the Thanksgiving holiday, which, I know - 4-day weekend = YEAH!  But presumably family time makes for less alone time, (and I LOVE me some alone time), but we’ll see what happens.  Eyes of the prize and all that jazz. (Jazz hands.  Flapper hands.  And dress.)

So here’s to it.  And from it.  And to it again. Let’s get to it. We might as well do it cause we may never do it again. (Drink, Delta Chapter!)

But like I said. I can do Whatever. I .  Want.

 (And could CZJ be any more amazing in this?)

Less is More. But More is More Too….

So I was reading a blog post the other day about how to write good blog posts.   Yes.  I realize that may sound silly that I'm blogging about reading about how to blog.  And while  some might call it procrastination...and by some I mean (so)ME...I prefer to think of this as working on my craft.  

Any-excuse-for-slacking….it was all about how you should write more frequent, but shorter posts to connect with readers.  To keep giving them constant updates. Frequent posts.  Something to come back for and look forward to count on.  And maybe add some videos.  And pictures. Because presumably our trusted reader has the attention span of a gnat and they want a less-wordy picturey kind of blog like some 3-year old would like.  (Sidebar....isn't that why people go to Pintrest, which bee-tee-dubs I am obsessed with.)

One of the many books that shows up when you Google
"books for 3-year olds".  Not going to lie...love a book
about dust bunnies.  Hysterical!

But back to the average 3-year old...I guess my readers may all be looking for this... (In my defense...I don’t have children or really know what developmental stage they are at by the age of 3, so apologies if I’ve offended any parents who are reading this and are all, “Uh, not for nothing, but my kids are reading Faulker...in French...by the age of three.”  Forgive me.  I raise plants.  By which I mean  have a few and keep them alive.  Barely.

But the less is more/more is more blogging goal is sort of like the experts who advise brief but frequent workouts.  How 20 minutes at the gym or with your workout DVD or anything not resembling lying on the couch is better than nothing.  And ever since the new job with the earlier start time and crosstown commute kicked in, I’ve had to adjust the morning gym time and while I’m slowly getting back on track with frequency, I think it’s time to switch it up and get a little more efficient with my time.  The life on the plateau isn’t a good one.  

So, less is more/more is more is the goal at the gym and it brings me to applying that same goal to right here, right now.  

But the problem is this. I can be a true feast or famine girl.  I can homebody and hibernate like a champ and then go out four nights in a row and barely have a moment to breathe.  I will have weeks where I crank out 14-hour work days. And then weekends where I won’t turn on the work computer.  Weeks where I won’t blog a single damn word and weeks when I write faithfully.  And even if it doesn’t all make it online doesn’t mean it’s not happening. 

Like with the morning gym, the getting out of bed before 5:30….not always an easy feat.  Espeically in the cold and dark winter. But once I’m up, I’m golden.  Most of the time. Same with writing.  Getting my butt in the chair can be a chore.  But sometimes, hopefully, once I get going I keep going.  

Don’t get me wrong…I get the block and will ramble on and on and cheat and start writing song lyrics or quotes just to write something and try to distract my brain into forgetting I’m blocked or writing total crap (kind of like swallowing handfuls of sugar to distract your mind from the hiccups to make them stop!).  Sometime it works and as much I try to be short and sweet, anyone who has been around me after two drinks (and sometimes before any drinks if I’m feeling that certain kismet comfort with you) I will go on and on.  And on.  I can chitter-chat like a champ.  And the blog becomes a ramble and not a quick hit.

That said, in the interest of starting over and rebooting my everything, I’m trying to discipline myself into more frequent and much shorter posts.  (Not working yet.)  But considering I can barely bang out two a month with my current…ahem… “system”…I’m pretty much open to anything.  Because, life is about to get in the way and I’m going to have to get all Sophie’s Choice again about how I spend my time. 

First up, this is going to kick in, in just a few short days:

 50,000 words in 30 days.  Been there. Done that. But can lighting strike twice?  (It’s actually my third charming time, but the first time I will admit I threw in the towel.  Rookie.)

I signed back up today and am committed to doing NaNoWriMo this year. And would highly HIGHLY recommend it to any writer out there who hasn’t given it a go. It’s an incredibly supportive, amazing online environment and a pretty cool thing to be a part of.  I’m up for the challenge. To giving it my all.  To hoping that it kick starts everything in my imagination and my heart and my head and GETS ME GOING.

I’ve been a raging writing slacker.  For the most part, the most I’ve managed is texting and some emails.  And on a few occasions, exercising my inner Papa with some of this:

A.k.a. – Write Honestly.  

Though not necessarily write anything I’d want anyone to see. 

And I’ve written some scattered lines on the back of envelopes and Post-Its.  And talked through ideas in my head about how to change…up the ante…bring the action forward…for The Legacy (you are still in my head and heart and I’m still totally confident there is a story in there that just needs another good flushing out and I just got two new books to help me improve on you…..and not just procrastinate from writing….working on my craft, dammit!!!)

So I’m trying.

But the moments I’m not working (to live) I have lost my desire to live to work on the passion (write).  It feels as pathetic as it probably sounds to abandon the life goal because other things got in the way.  Because there are times when all I want to do is veg and be mindless and watch less-than-challenging stuff on TV and go buy apples and English muffins from the fabulous so-close-to-home-I’m-dying Whole Foods and have super long leisurely breakfasts where I can read the whole paper and spend hours talking on the phone catching up with oldest and bestest friends and taking naps and shopping and doing anything and everything (procrastinating…dammit…that’s totally what I’m doing and I know it.  Own it.) that just lets me be. That lets me breathe easy.  That sometimes lets me be a slug.

I’ll admit it.  Sometimes I don’t want to work hard.  I want to take it easy. I want my day to feel easy. I want to escape. Judge me if you want. Call me lazy.  (or “maybe”).  But, whatever. I’m cool with it.  Surely I can't be the only one?  Tell me I'm not the only one.

So that’s kind of what I’m doing.  Bracing for the drama that may (hope not) unfold with this stupid hurricane and just have a day for me me me about me me me.  And it feels pretty damn great!

Stream from Netflix immediately and then
tune into Season 2 which is in progress.
So. Damn.  Good.

I’ve been catching up on some paperwork (drudge).  Some phone calls.  And some much-needed-on-a-cloudy-Saturday napping in between catching up on TV (critical).  And while I could (and at a later date will) go on about how great Scandal is (just discovered!) and I’m sorry, but how not-so-great Gossip Girl is (Rufus and fake Charlie….COME ON!  Chuck and Blair and happily ever after and end the show. Now.  Done.), I’m going to devote my final thoughts to the ridiculous trend of having TV characters plummet off balconies as a ploy to kill them off….or at least sideline them for a spell.

First up….my thanks to Chelsea Handler who showed a clip from 90210.  You may be surprised to hear that 1- this remake is still on and 2-I’m *not* actually watching it, and it was pretty easy to understand why.  Liam’s crazy girlfriend was blackmailing him into marrying her or some nonsense.  Last I watched he slept with Silver who had some fatal illness or another, but looks like their fairytale didn’t end well.  Moving on, in this particular scene, Liam and Crazy are fighting on the balcony of their posh beach house which makes no sense seeing as how Liam used to be kind of poor or in debt or something, but I’m getting hung up on the details as usu.  

LOL!  So bad.

Now somehow Crazy manages to lose her footing and fall backwards off the balcony.  

Lands flat on her back on the beach below. 

And then get swept away by a wave.  

Not.  Even. Kidding.  

Worst breakup scene ever.  Just when I thought Steve’s crazy-ass girlfriend, Laura, trying to commit suicide on the stage of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, while Brenda stood by crying and begrudgingly saying, “Sure, Laura, you be can play Maggie the Cat too.  Or maybe we can take turns playing her.  You can have the Wednesday matinee.  Just don't hang yourself in front of me because I'm still having issues dealing with Dylan dumping me for Kelly."  We all know no body puts Brenda in a corner.  They just send her to London when she's bad in real life.  Sigh.  Love her.  Mean it.

But back to the point (too late)….Crazy gets washed away by the tide and Liam just stands there watching. Solved his blackmail problem, I guess.  And could probably get back with Silver.  Now there's a lining for you.  

And while I expect this kind of crap from 90210 (the original and Version 2.0) I do not expect such nonsense from an intelligent, well-written, OMG of a show.  But I have to say, when Amanda fell off the giant staircase balcony to the COLD. HARD. MARBLE. FLOOR. at Greyson manor, and had blood hemorrhaging from her head, but still managed to take her earwig out to give to Emily…..then tell her to save the baby….and birth a baby before being put into a medically induced coma and apparently not even break a bone, never mind DIE…..I acutally yelled at my TV like was watching the Yankees blow a 10-game lead in the AL East.    

And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I can suspend disbelief like no body’s business, but COME ON Revenge.  You can do better.

I’m banking on some redemption next week. I’m hoping to no end that Daniel steps up and screws over Ashley and his father and comes out strong and gets back with Emily. But that’s just me looking for the happy ending. 

But more on that later….I've gone on long enough.  But what can I say? I’m pushing 5’10” and am was a total mean girl.  The short and sweet just isn’t me.   

Yet oddly enough, this song totally appeals to me....

Also have red lipstick envy.  

Falling for You

On Saturday night life took a turn for the better. A turn for autumn.  Cold air finally busted through.  The temperature dropped a good twentry degrees.  It kicked humidity’s ass.  And rain aside, the first taste of fall finally fell.

Now if I was a good blogger I would remember if I’ve already spent time going on and on about how much I think that fall is the most wonderful time of year.  But check the date on my last entry and after you run out of fingers and toes to count on for how many days it’s been between then and now, just stop and trust me when I say it’s been way way waaaaaaaaaay too long.  (Which is not to say I’m a *bad* blogger.  Just a really busy one and when I do have free time I’ve either been socializing or being lazy.  Or reading books.  No really.  Check the list on my home page.  Four new additions.  And hey, at least I’m an honest procrastinating slacker.)

So apologies as I may have said it before and I'll say it again...these first couple of months ending in "ber" are kind of amazing.  And kind of my favorites for so many reasons.  And I’ve always thought of fall to be a sort of New Year’s.  Screw January and it's ice and cold.  This is where it's at. 

Maybe it was the back-to-school thing (Best. Shopping. Ever.).  Maybe it was the change of season.  Or maybe, just maybe, it's that my new year starts when, well, my actual new year starts.  (“You say it’s your birthday” – sung in an Anthony Michael Hall/The Geek way.)  Yup, that’s the ticket. Give me a Carvel cake (OMG...would die for some crunchies right now) and we can call it a party.  ("Party")

So here I am.  Fall is in the air.  Birthday is breathing down my neck.  And after weeks upon months of what’s felt at times like a Groundhog Day work life where I’m forever swimming up stream.  What's felt like months with a cough that won’t quit and nights where there’s not enough sleep and too many days of endless, oppressive humidity and it's been a rough summer stretch.  "It's always darkest before the dawn."  

Cue the inspirational track and it’s like I’ve officially turned a corner too:

Time to hit the restart….get it together….climb out of the rut….get the resolutions back on track…..get myself back on track….and the writing on track….and the blogging on track….and turn the a/c off and whip the windows open and just start over.  New year.  New start.

And here we go.....

I’ll spare you the “To Do” list….(I know you don’t really care.)  But what I will impose on you are all the reasons why I’m starting to get that bounce back in my step.  Sure presents under the tree are nice and feeling the sun on your face is a true simple pleasure, but what’s happening outside right now is the best of the best.....

I'm cheating because this picture was actually taken in 2009.

In Belgium.

But I do so love this picture, which I also happen to have prominently placed in my apartment because, quite simply, it reminds me of.... 

  

Why I Heart Fall Most of All:

• The air is crisp. 
• My hair stands half a chance of looking decent.
• And I don’t have to strategically pin it so that the curls don’t have a chance to form between home and work but the bobby pins also don’t leave evil little dent marks everywhere.
• The subway platform isn’t an oven anymore.
• Sweaters. Pulling out the old and having a reason to buy new ones.
• Leaves. 
• Changing colors.  Yellows and oranges and green = the best!
• Layers.
• Fall just has a certain wonderful smell.  Sometimes it makes me want to go for a walk. Sometimes it makes me want to drink a Harpoon Octoberfest outside.
• Jeans on Friday aren't physically oppressive.
• Deciding where to get a drink after work isn’t limited only to places with air-conditioning. 
• And the cool air on the rooftop bars weeds out the weak. 
• Black tights make everything better.
• And the black boots are dusted off and are back in the front of the closet, waiting for their first day out.
• The playoffs.  162 games all for this.
• Cool weather is so much better to sleep in, my dear.
• And being wrapped in a blanket on the couch with the window open ready to take a nap on a weekend afternoon is so cozy.
• I don’t have to explain why I don’t have a tan or feel self conscious about my white white legs.  Someone this summer actually called me translucent.  (Really? Why are people such jerks?  Not necessary.)
• New episodes of my favorite TV shows are back!  The Good Wife = really good (thought the Kalinda and her ex thing is a little weird for my taste).  Revenge = off to a very good Season 2. (I’m rooting for you, Emily and Daniel!). Castle = I’m hopefully optimistic.  (I’ve only seen one ep and like it much better when it’s not all dark and insane. Lighten it up, please!  Find your sense of humor again.)
• I have a shot of finishing our walk of the High Line without sweat inducing sun and humidity. 
• I may be crazy but the city seems a little less crowded right now.
• A/C is off.  Real air is coming through my open windows.
• The Great Pumpkin will be on soon enough.  (Actual Halloween I could do without.  Candy Corn I should do without but won't.)
• It’s not too hot for a Caramel Macchiato or a cup of tea at night.
• Flip flops are retired.  Cozy socks come out.  Pedicure need to happen regardless.  Just saying. 
• My certain velour track pants are perfect for lounging around in.
• Labor Day sales. Columbus Day sales.  Veterans' Day sales.  You get the picture.
• National Novel Writing Month is 22 days away.  (That one actually kind of scares me.)
• And then there's Central Park....also an old pic...but it was so warm out this year the leaves haven't turned yet. So I have this to look forward to:

Love.  Love.  LOVE.

See...most wonderful time of year.

And while this song has absolutely nothing to do with fall (are there *any* songs actually about fall?  Autumn Nights?  Don't think so.) there is something oddly optimistic about it even though it is also devastating heartbreaking.  Kudos Chris Martin. 

Anydigression, this Unplugged episode premiered last week (hence, it counts for fall) and I have to say while the original can bring me to tears, I was surprised that this version did too.  May have been the multiple glasses of wine I was drinking earlier that night, or perhaps the fact that this is just a really really unexpectedly great cover.  My only question....why the hell isn't iTunes selling this yet?

"Lights will guide you home.  And ignite your bones."