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.
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