Short week

Two days of work this week. Isn't that the way it should always be?
Saturday, went with Dono and Dan to Blackhawk. I lost $100 in less than an hour, but came back over the next nine (yes, 9) hours so that I only lost $38 on the day. Not bad for all the bloody marys, jack and cokes and lots of hot chocolate I had.
Sunday, nice lazy day and then we took the boys to see Bolt. Pretty cute movie with actual laughs for adults. Normally I got to a kid's movie for a good nap and I didn't sleep at all. Now there's a ringing endorsement.
NaNo is going well. The editing is taking longer than I thought but I'm just ahead of pace at about 41,000.

Bond-less

I like to consider myself a pop culture person. I like to see the stuff other people are talking about. Am I a Lemming? Fine, I'm a pop culture Lemming, but normally the water's fine and I like hanging out with folks who like the same stuff.
(Yes, I like a lot of stuff that's not "pop" also, so I'm not a total sell-out).
Anyway, I know that not everything that is "pop"ular is my cup of tea (I never got Twin Peaks or X-Files or Wes Anderson movies).
But James Bond is one that I always try to convince myself I like.
I don't know why because I finally came to the realization that I just don't.
It started in the Roger Moore era. I don't remember which one it was but Bond and some chick are talking about some disaster that will befall all of humanity and they, for some dumb-ass reason, needed to know when the low tide was going to be. Bond turns around and hanging on the wall just happens to be a tide schedule. WTF?!?!
And then Tim Dalton and Pierce Brosnan and driving a tank with a statue on it (people were laughing int he theater, but that was just moronic).
Daniel Craig is the latest Bond. His first attempt, while better than most, was just wimpy and boring to me. An unbelieveable love story.
So, I have no idea why I went to see the newest one. I'm sure it has to do with that pop culture thing. But I did.
And, boy, did it SUCK!
The action scenes were filmed so jerkily you can't tell what's going on and the plot, well HOLY CRAP was it a stinker (plot spoiler to follow).
We, the viewing audience, are supposed to believe that a bad guy (part of a really bad group) spent millions of dollars and years of planning to overthrow the government of BOLIVIA. And why? FOR THE FREAKIN' WATER RIGHTS!?!?! Yes, water! Not oil. Not diamonds. Not gold. But FREAKIN' WATER!?!?
I'm done. This is the last Bond for me.

Done?!?

OK, National Novel Writing Month is barely half-way over, but I FINALLY finished the novel I have been working on for the past two years. It was a great ending that tied back into the whole story.
Very happy.
So, I gave myself one day off as a celebration and then I got right back into the novel. Now, I'm editing. Since this book was written over such a long time, I forgot some points about the characters and how they sounded and what was in what room.
Now I'm going through from the beginning, making grammar and style fixes on paper and making notes about the characters, locations and a basic timeline (I have a lot of backstory that I think kinda wraps around itself).
Anyway, my word count for the writing part of NaNo ended at about 25,000. But now I'm just going to tack on the edited word count which was about 4,000 over the weekend. So, now I'm at 29,000 which is slightly above pace.
For those of you who think this is cheating, BITE ME.
I'm too giddy to care.

21K

Hit 21,700 this morning.
Right about at pace. Story is going great. Really loving the excitement of seeing this whole thing coming to a close. I thought it might get boring because I know how it ends now, but I keep tossing in extra little things that make it fun.
Editing this monster is gonna be next. Three years worth of NaNo to get edited down to a manageable form.
But then it'll be million dollar bidding war for the manuscript and the movie rights.
Sounds like a plan, right?

Bye Holliday

It was just over a year ago that Matt Holliday contributed a huge part in the greatest baseball game I have ever seen live (or ever seen period). See my memories here.

Today it was announced the Rox traded Holliday to the A's (my other fav team) for Huston Street and two guys I've never heard of (one is a pitcher with a 6-17 record!?!?!).

It's the end of an era as we say goodbye to Holliday. But it also seems like the end of an era as the Rox seem to be parting with the team that brought the only World Series appearance for us. I haven't given up hope as many other fans have after hearing this news, but I am highly suspect.

On the bright side, when I go to Spring Training in March, I'll get to see Holliday in an A's uni (unless they trade him before then which is a definite possibility).

Biden booed

Apparently VP-elect Joe Biden was booed at the Eagles-Giants game on Sunday.
I thought this was a little strange coming from the home crowd (although they did through snow balls at Santa there once).
Anyway, I saw this comment at the bottom of the story and it made me giggle and have a better understanding of Philly fans ...

Sean: I booed him and i voted for him.
It doesn't have to make sense if it makes us feel better.

7,600

Slightly behind pace but it was election day yesterday so give me a break.
Story is going GREAT, though. I know I'm writing well when I scare myself, make myself laugh out loud or feel real emotion for my characters.
I LOVE this story!

Wow!

I wanted it. I hoped for it.
I have to admit there was a part of me that wasn't sure it would happen.
It did and I got to share the moment with Alex and Andy and we'll never forget it.

Fall and NaNo

How do I know it's Fall in Colorado? Sure ain't the snow!
But I did get to rake the back yard and Alex had fun in the pile ...


This weekend was Andy's first basketball game and he played great. He had four points and probably about seven or eight assists. He's really coming into his own on the court.

Tracy and I went with the Segals to see Vince Gill at the Union Colony Civic Center. Since Christi was more into it than me (there's no way to be less), I let her sit with Tracy up front and Andy and I kicked it in the cheap seats. I'm not a fan, but the music was pretty good, especially as it was an all acoustic set.

Tracy left town Monday (to go to D.C. for a conference ... she's staying at the same hotel as the Dems victory party is in ... how cool is that?!?!). So, I took advantage of my last night with Tracy in the house and I went to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno on Sunday. There are a ton of laugh out loud scenes. I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan, but this was definitely not his best. It really wasn't cohesive. Definitely worth a rental, especially since Smith always rocks the DVDs with great extras.

So, National Novel Writing Month started Saturday, also. I am trying to finish the novel I started two NaNos ago. And on Sunday it all came together. I thought I had written myself into a corner and then the ending came to me. I outlined 17 chapters (they're short!) on how the book will end. I am so jazzed that I can see the end of this one. I thoroughly believe this is my best chance at getting published. After I finish the writing, I plan to do major editing to get it down to a reasonable form and fill some of the holes and then I hope to get it out to agents soon after.

I can't remember a time I have been more excited about writing.

As of this morning, I'm at about 6,000 words (a little behind pace, but my alarm didn't go off today so I missed about 30 minutes of writing time).