i saw the sign. and it opened up my mind. and nearly made me pee my pants.

i'm writing this entry in a chair that's as far away from the desk, and the spider that tried to kill me, as possible.

i'm way behind in my word count for NaNoWriMo. so i set this big lofty goal for myself (3300 words in one day!) and when i finally got to the computer i just couldn't get myself to open the word document and start typing. i was thinking the mental road block was a sign that i shouldn't be writing right now. i should go do the dishes or something until the muse is back and ready to work. but then i thought, 'dishes? i don't wanna do no stinkin' dishes!' because man do they stink.

so i thought to get me in the writing mood i'd just write up a little blog entry and ramble on about what i've been doing for the last couple of days. that got kind of pushed to the side when i found out there's a new Harry Potter Magical Trading Card Game going on. (new cards to find! wheeee!). when i found all the cards i was going to find today i thought i might as well start the blog entry.

and then it happened.

the awful, awful event that nearly stopped my heart.

a spider, at least an inch long, rappelled down its little spider rope NO MORE THAN A COUPLE INCHES FROM MY FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

boy did i freak out like a lunatic. normally i'm okay around spiders. spiders that are a safe distance away. not dropping down right in front of my face! the thing was so close i could have counted the hairs on its legs. no joke. *shudder*

so this massive evil insect dropped down for a little hello, and my first instinct was to swat the little web rope because ew i didn't want to touch the actual spider! then, as i'm making contact with the web rope, i get a flash of the little sticky web sticking to my hand and the spider, who's butt would still be attached to the web rope, landing on me and ew i'd really be touching it then! that's when i screamed like a little girl.

the spider dropped on my nice little blanket i'll never be able to use again because ew what if the spider laid eggs in the little holes! then i jumped up and got as far away as i could in this little apartment o' mine and tried to get my heart beating again.

so i'm taking that as a sign that i shouldn't be sitting here working on my novel. if fucking dive bombing spiders isn't a sign i don't know what is. computer's full of tempting stuff anyways. like games and internet things. so i'm going to go sit on the couch (after its carefully inspected for killer rapelling spiders) and write out my next scene on paper. i'd wanted to avoid that, because this weekend i'm going to be out of town and will have to write a bunch of stuff by hand *weeps for the loss of lap top coolness*. its going to take forever to type all this stuff up. but hopefully, if i get my super duper bonus word count written today, it won't matter later.

well, the update will have to wait for tomorrow. i think i just spotted the spider. i'm putting my heavy duty sneakers on and taking that bastard out.

Tragedies and Epiphanies: A Belated Day 2 Update of the Adventures of Loon in NaNoWriMo Land

i didn't write anything yesterday. nada. zippo. zilchinsky.

i went and voted and was flying high off of that. then i went to the bank and depostited money so i can pay rent. putting money in the bank always blows a friendly breeze up my skirt so i was in a right jolly mood by the time i got home.

even despite the fact that all day i'd been fretting over my NaNoWriMo story. after thinking about it i realized it was too much of an infant, still a little too preemy for me to play with. see, what i need to do with the story is pull some hard core back yard world wrestling federation moves on it, and the story idea just isn't developed enough for that kind of play. so i started doubting everything and got a severe case of writer's block. blah.

and then i turned on the tv and watched some news and some election updates and the thought of bush in charge for another four years was just too damn depressing for me. that and the fact that all those states passed stupid anti-gay marriage laws killed the earlier high i was on and brought back the sucky thoughts of my sucky story. i thought about writing about something else, but nothing of use came to mind.

the funk i was in for the rest of the night was quite funky indeed.

but then the morning came. and i realized that it doesn't matter if the story idea sucks. i just need to roll with it and see where it takes me, whether it be to Awesome Town or Sucksville. i was ready and raring to continue on this story path, but still, in the back of my mind, i was entertaining the thought of changing stories. only marginally entertaining, but still, the thought was there.

so i'm sitting here at my work desk when all of a sudden... WHAMMO! an awesome snippet of an idea popped into my head. yesterday, while in the funk and trying to think of a new novel topic, i was trying to decide what story i had in my to tell. what did i want to write about. what genre, what style, yadda yadda yadda. i wasn't in the mood to talk back to myself so i never got an answer. but this new idea of mine, its so perfect. its a combo of two things i want to write stories about. its just so... so... awesome. :)

so i'm kind of excited about this new story i'm going to be writing. i have no idea what's going to happen, or quite what the world(s) and characters are going to be like, but it doesn't matter. because i'm looking forward to finding all this stuff out! i've already scribbled two pages worth of notes. and i might even be able to use some of what i wrote the other day. woohoo!

i'm a little behind, but its only day three, and i feel a huge writing spurt in my future. hopefully that's not just the rumbly in my tumbly i'm feeling. :)

think i'll go take a coffee break and write a little.

i can't think of a relevant title for this post because i'm hungry & mr. greedy next to me is eating something yummy smelling & i can't think straight

I'm working new hours now. The BossMan wants extended coverage so that some whiney babies at work have less to whine about. So I'm coming in an hour and a half later than usual. And it sucks. I think he might want me to come in at 8, and work until 4:30, but I'm working under the assumption I can work 7:30 to 4, and will continue to do so until he tells me otherwise. Because while traffic is a bitch at 4, it's a mega bitch just a half hour later.

*crosses fingers that boss doesn't tell otherwise*

Sure, the new hours means I get to sleep in more, but I liked waking up early! Sort of. At least the payoff was well worth it.

Leaving work earlier than most people = less traffic and more time to do things before the evening sets in = fabulousness!

When I first started working here, over 4 years ago, I started at 7 am. A couple months later, when I started going to school, I started coming in at 6am. Even after I stopped going to school I still came in at 6am because I liked the hours. So for the last couple years I've been driving to work in the dark. When daylight savings went into effect (or out of effect) each year, I'd be driving to work as the sun rose, so everything was half lighted.

But now with this new schedule I'm driving in to work at 7 am. And with the time change it more like 8am. And holy cow it's so freaking bright outside at 8 in the morning! I knew this, or course, it's just that the scenery I'm used to has suddenly changed and I was a little mesmerized by it.

I can't remember the last time I drove into work when it was so light outside. Well, besides yesterday. It's a weird feeling - a feeling like I'm late for work. The sun is out in full force; I should be at my desk! Locked away inside and staring out at the bright sunny day, not out and about driving!

So the drive to work today (and yesterday) was a little surreal. But I liked it. I like driving when it's nice and sunny out. With a chilly breeze blowing outside. Makes me want to roll the window down and cruise around aimlessly. :)

The Adventures of Loon in NaNoWriMo Land: Day 1

It's the end of Day 1 of NaNoWriMo. At least it is for me. My brain is tired and fuzzy and while sometimes that's prime time for the silly muse to make her appearance and write sublime wackiness, tonight my brain isn't going to be host to anything. Muse or interesting thought or location of lucky underwear. Yes, that's right. I typed lucky underwear. There's a pair of lucky undies hiding somewhere in my apartment that, when I wear them, magical things happen. Lucky magical things. Like I win lotto scratchers. And I avoid major traffic accidents on highways cause by nasty evil Santa Ana winds tipping over trucks that really ruin my morning (which happened this morning... because I was sans lucky undies)

And... well... actually I have no lucky undies. Dammit. Otherwise I'd wear them all the time and do nothing but play lotto scratchers. And I'd be known as that Crazy Lady Who Wears Her Underwear On Her Head and Hangs Out In The Quicky Mart All Day. And yes, you have to wear the undies on your head. That's the only way the magic works. Don't ask me why, I don't make the rules.

I didn't write much today. Only a little over a thousand words. And most of that was at work, written on the backs of miscellaneous paper work I was going to throw away in the Save A Tree Recycle Bin. Since I only came up with the idea for my 'novel' this morning around 10 am or so, I think I got off to a pretty good start.

I was so stressing there for the last couple of days. Couldn't decide what I was going to write about. Kept going back and forth, back and forth between about 4 different ideas. Then today, during a coffee break, I was going over the different ideas in my head, and suddenly my brain took a left turn and drove on to New Idea-ville. The new story idea is sort of a make up of several other ideas I had jotted down in my handy dandy little notebook. They were floating around in my head and took the threat of a mild panic attack on my part to coalesce into something usable. I wasn't close to a panic attack, but I threatened the muse with one if she didn't come through for me anytime soon. And it worked. Go figure.

After that first jolt of 'hey, this idea could work!' I've had other bits of inspiration, writing them down in scribbles at work and then typing them up here at home. And now my brain is shut down for business. The Do Not Disturb sign is hanging on the door and a wake up call has been placed with the front desk.

G'night brain. G'night lame-o NaNoWriMo story. G'night blog. G'night to anyone who reads this when g'night still applies. G'night John Boy. G'night Mighty Muse Midge. Sleep tight.

- Hours spent scribbling ideas down at work: off and on while playing Paper Work Dodgeball
- Hours spent converting scribbles to computer typed words: .75
- Words typed for NaNoWriMo novel: 1158
- Words typed in blog entry that can’t be counted towards novel count darn it!: 549
- Mental status: cloudy with a slight chance of rain