Birthday Month

Most of you only think of today as March 1st.

Yet, my family knows that today is the first day of Birthday Month. Some people just celebrate on their actual birthday, others may stretch it to an entire week, but I’m not most people.

I love to celebrate, plus I know so many wonderful people with birthdays in March that I declared each day of the month shall be celebrated!

Each day this month I will do something to celebrate life, all the way up until the 31st (which is my birthday).

Today I celebrated the love of a good friend and the sweetness of life by enjoying a delicious vegan cookie that was given to me. I also celebrated my desire to be a writer by starting an article/essay I hope to craft into something worthy of publication.

NaNoWriMo 2009

It’s still about a month away, but November is coming. It’s the time of year when we will start to worry about our Christmas shopping and contemplate how to avoid annoying family members at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. But, a few thousand people (like, about 100,000), will be burning the midnight oil doing something else. The few, the inspired, and the possibly crazy will be registering for NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month.

In a mere 30 days we will attempt to achieve the seemingly impossible, we will write a book. It may not be the next great American novel, but it will be. It will exist. We will have conquered the inner Editor/Judge/Bitch and the terrifying blank screen.

I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo for the last three years, but I’ve never risen to the challenge. This year will be mine! I’ve started preparing, which will hopefully work better than the “winging it” I’ve done in the past.

First, I’m joining a writing group with fellow NaNoWriMo authors. We haven’t hammered out the details, but we’re gonna meet regularly to review each other’s work, give advice and encouragement…and more importantly, accountability.

Second, I’m looking for help. So far, I found that many people who have succeed at this in the past have a NaNoWriMo Survival Kit. Many of their suggestions include their laptop, candy for rewards, cozy socks and some sort of writing guide. Hmmm, what would be in my survival kit?

Of course, my laptop and my journal. Maybe some tea. Oh, and Nutella! And, many reminders from Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, Natalie Goldberg and others who tell us that this writing thing I’m choosing to do is not easy.

My third resource that will hopefully help me achieve this goal of writing 50,000 words in a month, is a new treasure to me called The Snowflake Method. It’s a 10 step guide to writing a novel. Seriously, they can break anything down into a 10- or 12-step guide these days.

Do you have any tips for surviving and thriving during NaNoWriMo?

Another tip I recently received about writing a novel came from some very wise authors at the most recent James River Writers’ event. The novelists each said that their novels start with a question they can’t answer, or a paradox they see in life. Today I spent my morning coming up with the question for my novel. I think they are right! I’m energized and excited for my story. Answering this question has become deeply important to me, and I know it will constantly be in my mind over the next few weeks. Ah, I love it!

Clothes Swap!

It’s time for another clothes swap, ladies!

"My Wife Needs Clothes" by House

Clean out your closets and bring all your unwanted clothes to my house on Saturday for the ultimate swapping event. Trade in that ugly sweater your aunt gave you at Christmas for your friend’s cute pink skirt that you’ve been lusting after!

Clothes, shoes, purses, accessories, and anything else you want to get out of your house (husbands, children and pets are not included in this offer). I might throw in some home decor stuff.

I will have snacks and mimosas. Also, it’s an open invitation to all women who have junk in their trunk…I mean, unwanted clothes in their closets.

When: Saturday 3/21, 11am-2pm

Where: My house (leave comment or email for directions)

Why: Because we love new clothes, even “new-to-me” clothes.

Image by House.

Tags: clothes swap

Why I write

I spent some time reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night and came across a passage that perfectly showcases why I want to devote my energy and time to writing.

The following passage is from one of the literary society members in letter which he said that he had not really touched a book since he was in school, but in the literary society discovered Shakespeare. He realized the power of words, especially a famous quote from Antony & Cleopatra.

“I wish I’d known those words on the day I watched those German troops land, plane-load after plane-load of them – and come off ships down in the harbor! All I could think of was damn them, damn them, over and over. If I could have thought the words, ‘the bright day is done and we are for the dark’, I’d have been consoled somehow and ready to go out and contend with circumstance – instead of my heart sinking to my shoes.”

Yes, I know, that Shakespeare guy was sort of a genius at storytelling and quite the wordsmith. But, I sill have hope that my words may find the right person, at the right time and give them hope.

Tags: the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, Writing

Skirt! Magazine

Pretty picture on cover of Skirt's January Issue

Ladies,

If you haven’t already read Skirt! Magazine, I’d like to recommend that you pick it up, or visit their website to read their collections of essays.

Also, maybe you’d like to play around on their site. Maybe create a profile? Or, spend some time reading the Microskirts – which is just like Twittering. Want more to do on Skirt’s site, then you can read some blogs of local ladies.

Really, there’s a lot you can do on Skirt’s site, enough to distract you and keep you from writing your own damn essay and submitting it to Skirt like you’ve been talking about doing for over a year! So…check it out??

Tags: Writing

My New Year’s List

Lately I have become a goal-setting, list-making fiend thanks to my business/life coaching. Even before I started my coaching, few things would get me as excited as writing lists. I have often written lists knowing full well that I will not accomplish most of the items in this lifetime. There is power and inspiration inside us that can be unleashed when we give ourselves permission to dream, explore possibilities and color outside the lines.

A snapshot of my first moments in 2009.

So, there, that is my excuse for spending some time today dreaming of what I want to do in ’09.

1.  Take down my Christmas decorations.

2.  Give away the clothes that I haven’t worn in the past 2 years. (Don’t forget to sort through unwanted clothes before tossing in Clothes Swap pile – must remove anything that friends will tease me about, like the too-short, baby-pink ruffled skirt that is mentioned nearly every week.)

3.  Paint the stray pieces of free, unwanted furniture I’ve been gathering from friends and trash piles.

4.  Do not take in any more stray cats, or pieces of furniture (unless it’s really cool and I obviously would be a fool to turn it down).

5.  Practice my sewing regularly.

6.  Learn new cuss words to yell while trying to sew.

7.  Find & return the late library book that I haven’t read.

8.  Take yoga regularly so I have an excuse to buy more comfy yoga pants.

9.  Earn a bunch more money than I earned last year. (Finding the library book might prove to be a harder task seeing as how I spent the end of of ’08 on unemployment.)

10.  Write everyday. Even if it’s just a list.

Tags: Daydreaming, lists, new years resolutions

Halloween

Finally, Halloween has come and gone. Finally, the nightmares about unfinished sheep can stop. Finally, I will be able to have conversations without bursting out into uncontrolable “baaing”.

As a thank you for listening to all my complaints about this horrible fabric that made my house look like a crime scene for the horrific murder of Lambchop, I present to you Lil’ Bo Peep and her sheep.

Tags: Family