Category Archives: General

A Few Things I Love

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There’s a few things I really love right now, so today’s going to be a little bit of show and tell.

I love Cricklers!  I know the Washington Post has them, but I’m not sure where else you can find them.  The link is over in the link section.  All they are is a crossword puzzle featuring the news.  It’s a good way to catch up on the news, and they also have vocabulary ones, and a few other random ones too.  And for the most part, it’s different puzzles every day, so there’s always something new.  I haven’t played it for a few days though, but today, I’m going to get back on the Crickler bandwagon.

I’ve been playing the sims a lot- for the longest time is the sims 2, but lately I’ve been playing the sims 3.  I usually go back and forth between the two, but I tend to play it a lot, and then leave it alone for a long time because I’m bored with it.  And then I go back to playing it, and so the cycle continues.  The only problem I’ve been having with the sims 3 is the fact that whenever my sims go on vacation, there are major problems when they get back!  It seems like its a problem they’re working on, but they’re not sure if/when it’ll be fixed.  It’s frustrating, because there are some really cool things you can get when you send them on vacation, like new skills and food…so it’s slightly annoying that when they get back from vacation, the stuff the characters get is missing or they come back as a double.  So…I can play it, but sending them on vacation is out of the question.  Despite that, the sims 3 really is fun to play.

And this is totally random, but the mini-bags of popcorn are totally amazing.  I can get my popcorn fix in a much smaller serving!  I don’t have much to add about the mini-bags of popcorn, but it’s one of my favorite things right now, so there you go.

Right now, I also love online dream dictionaries.  I had this horrible dream last night, and I’m kinda interested in what everything means. 

So those are my current favorite things, hopefully I’ll have some more to share soon!

And Now For Your Weekly Update

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I think last week was my best week for writing.  At least in terms of not struggling.  I know I mentioned it in a different post how much I loved doing the average thing.  I’ve been keeping track of how much I’m writing every week, and I wanted to try tailoring my weekly word goal to each project, since I’m struggling with some projects and not others.  It seemed like taking the average for each project would be the best way to do this, and it worked so well, I’m going to keep doing this.  At least for the time being, until I get a a different idea for a weekly goal.  In all honesty, I think the average is a lot closer to what I’m writing every week for each novel, so it’s something that I want to stick with. 

I haven’t really worked on any of my plot bunnies, but I definitely have decided to do a family tree for my newest plot bunny.  I spend a good 20 minutes or so trying to figure out one of those family tree table things, and it made my brain want to explode.  If I write it out (which will probably be a great idea once it’s done), then maybe I can understand how everyone’s related a little better.  Plus, I’m going to have to do a family tree any way, so I might as well get a rough draft together.  Plus, it’ll help me come up with characters, which is always a good thing.  Especially since the idea that I really like is a different funeral each chapter, and each funeral would be told from the POV of a different person.  Even if I don’t go with that idea, it’ll still be useful, since a family tree would be setting up most of the basic groundwork for the novel. 

I can’t remember if I mentioned my idea for next month’s Camp NaNo- I’m going to go with my NCIS fanfiction, since I want to get that novel done before the season starts.  My idea is based off the season finale, and while I don’t have to do it before November, I think I will.  Just because I don’t want my idea to be influenced by anything that pops up next season.  It would also be kind of interesting to see if anything I come up with shows up next season.  It seems like Camp NaNo is going to continue into August, so I might use one of my other plot bunnies in August.  It really depends on what I get done in the next couple months. 

I think I might have decided on which ideas I’m going to do for NaNo: the one about the pact, and the one about a family only seeing each other at funerals.  I have no clue what I want to do for my historical fiction, so that’s going to be shelved until I can actually narrow down my ideas.  Or maybe I just need to pick one idea and go with it, and hope for the best.  I think my main problem is that I don’t want to pick the wrong idea for it.  There’s also the fact that I love the time period and there are so many things I could do with it- I’m pretty much like a kid in a candy store, and I can’t make up my mind.  If I decide to do Camp NaNo in August, then I’ll probably end up doing my secret government agency idea, because that’s the one that I’m not too interested in.  I think for now, I’ll just keep working on everything, and hope that I’ll actually be able to make up my mind!

And, before I go, here’s my weight loss update!  I lost just under a pound, and I actually went to the gym last week!  Granted, it was just once, but once is better than not going at all, so that was a plus. 

I think that’s all for now, so I hope everyone has a great day!

Let’s Talk About…Food!

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I think it’s been a while since I’ve devoted a post to food, so that’s what I’m going to talk about today!

The whole cooking and baking 2 new things each month is going well.  I made lemon bars the other day, and they turned out a lot better than I thought they would.  I made chocolate cupcakes with a buttercream frosting yesterday.  I decided to add some color to the frosting- half have purple frosting, the other half have blue frosting.  I didn’t mix the cupcakes as well as I could have, but they turned out okay. 

I also made a moroccan saute- it has zucchini, corn, chick peas (or garbanzo beans, whatever you want to call them) and couscous.  I haven’t had any, but it smells yummy! 

As for my progress through my cookbooks, I’ve been focusing on my vegetarian times one lately.  I’m not sure why, but right now, I don’t feel like cooking anything from rachael ray.  Plus, my vegetarian cookbook is full of things that I wouldn’t ordinarily eat; one of my reasons for cooking 2 new things each month is try to different things, and what better way to do this than a cookbook full of things I don’t normally eat?

There so many things I want to make, and there’s so little time to make everything!

Podcast and Writing Talk

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I’m still on my podcast kick, and just when I started to get the number of podcasts down to a manageable level, I found some more to listen to!  While I still have a bunch of episodes I need to catch up, I’ve decided to take my time with it.  I’m not going to go back and listen to the episodes of the new podcasts just yet, so I’m going to download each episode as I listen to it.

Joy the Baker has a podcast!  I don’t read her blog too often, but her podcast is hilarious!  It’s still pretty new, but it’s really fun!  I’ve also been listening to Abandon All Hope, About Face Mouth, For Whatever Reason, Meat-Free Radio and Game Night Guys…to name a few.  Actually, I’m listening to 28 different podcasts!  No matter how many times I tell myself that I will NOT go looking for new podcasts, I find myself…looking for more podcasts.

In other news, I think I’m getting close to the end for Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken!  I’m excited, because it’ll be the first time I finished a novel.  And not only that, but it’ll be the first nano I finish!  I have no idea if I’ll go back and edit it.  I might, but I’m still not sure.  If I had to decide today, then I’d definitely edit it.  If I do, I might put it up somewhere, like over at ff.net or something.

I did a lot of writing on Wednesday, which was really nice!  It’s been a while since I’ve spent the whole morning writing, and I miss it!  Remember when I said I’d write whatever the average word count was for each novel?  It’s AWESOME!  I think it a lot closer to what I actually write for each thing, because for the first time in weeks, I’m not constantly checking how close I am to my word goal.  I’m definitely going to be doing this again!

I definitely need to get my butt into gear for camp nano!  I think I might do my ncis fanfiction next month for it, and as for august, I have no idea if i’m doing it yet.  I think it depends on how my plot bunnies work out.

Plot Bunny Update!

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I thought I’d share some of my notes from some of my plot bunnies.

Plot Bunny 1: The Pact; 2 best friends make a pact, and it has far-reaching consequences

  • I’m definitely going with the idea that Poppy is sick, and ends up dying.  Jordan promises not to tell anyone, and then everything goes to hell once she dies.
  • After reading Fairy Tale and Graceling, I came up with the idea that maybe she has a superpower or extreme skill or something, and that’s what kills her.  But I’m still not sure about what kind of power or whatever to give her.  I know I’d have to work out the medical aspect, so I may need to look into that first.
  • My main question is how she figures this out- has she always had it, and it’s making a sudden appearance, or had she always had it and it goes into overdrive?  Maybe it’s been gradually appearing, and she doesn’t know what’s happening until it’s too late.

Plot Bunny 2: Secret Government Agency; Kaylee comes across a mysterious group of men, who are connected to a secret government agency.

  • I was originally thinking of something similar to the adjustment bureau, which was in theaters recently.  But now I’m not sure if I want to go in that direction.  But I’m keeping that as an option for now.
  • I’m leaning towards having her job put her in danger- she accidently finds something out that she wasn’t supposed to, and now these men are following her.
  • As for the men themselves, are they a super-secret part of some agency we know about, or are they an independent agency to keep an eye on everyone?  I need to figure out who these men are, because all I have are some vague possibilities. 

Plot Bunny 3: Funerals; this is my most recent plot bunny- a family only gets together for funerals`

  • At every funeral, they talk about how they need to see each other at events that aren’t funerals- they might organize a family reunion or something, but I haven’t decided on that yet.
  • If I decide to do just a series of funerals, then each one will probably be told from the POV of a different family member. 
  • I definitely need to do a family tree.  It’s going to be a large extended family, with lots of second and third cousins.  I’ll need to keep everyone straight, and if I decide to use different POV’s, then it’ll be a necessity.  I really should do one no matter what.  I must make sure all the names are distinct enough that I won’t confuse anyone.  Which I’m sure will happen once November hits, because what’s NaNo unless you confuse a few characters?

Right now, I’m really excited about PB 3, mostly because it’s bright and shiny, and I love bright and shiny ideas.  But I did get the idea from a family funeral I went to last week…so inspiration really can come from anywhere!

Going To Try Something New

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I was taking a look at my little progress sheet I made for my weekly writing goals, and decided I would try something different this week.  For some of my projects, I end up sticking close to the word goal for the week.  For everything else, I end up writing more than I expected.  So this week, I think I’m going to figure out the average amount I write every week, and have that as my goal.  If that works out, I think I might do that for a while, and tailor my goals.

Writing went pretty well this week, as did my plot bunnies.  I’m sticking to the schedule I had set up in January pretty well, but I’m trying to be flexible with it as well, because stuff happens and I want to be able to change things as needed.  I did come up with another plot bunny, so I’ll end up working that in.  Who knew a funeral could inspire a novel?   

I lost a pound this week!  Definitely unexpected, but I did eat better this week.  I still can’t get myself to the gym…maybe this week, but it’s not something that’s likely.  But at least I’m eating better, so I’m making progress.

I think that about covers it; it looks like I’ll have another productive week!

There May Be Something To This Planning Thing…

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I’m pretty good at not planning for NaNo- I usually don’t do research, but I will admit to doing character profiles that I don’t use once November hits.  But it’s still a good way to get to know my characters, and know how they cope with things and what things they like.  It is nice to refer to it if I need to.

I’ve done quite a bit of work on my plot bunnies, just coming up with some different ideas and possibilities.  I still have no clue what to do for my historical fiction, but then again, I’ve just been reading and haven’t really given it any thought.  But for the other 2 ideas I have, I’ve been doing some serious brainstorming. 

The brainstorming’s been pretty helpful, and I like what I’ve come up with so far.  I still need to come up with something more concrete, but everything should be ready to go by September or October. 

I’m not exactly going to go out and start coming up with an outline, but I at least want a general idea of what’s going on.  But who knows?  I might actually come up with a very basic outline for something one day.  I won’t know what works until I try it.

I did do some research for Turning Point, and had a list of conflicts and questions I had, and it was the only one I didn’t have trouble with last year, so there may be something to the whole research/somewhat planning thing.  I think I’m going to do something similar for my plot bunnies, but I’m going to hold off for the moment.   

The more I use OneNote, the more I like it.  I find it pretty easy to use, and it’s pretty easy to organize it the way I want.  I could even color-code it if I wanted to, and while I don’t, it’s pretty easy to do.    

I’m pretty glad I got my writing done yesterday morning, because I had a busy couple days.  When I got home yesterday, I didn’t really want to do anything except watch tv and maybe take a nap, so I’m glad I did it first thing in the morning. 

Today’s going to be a fun-filled day, so I’m not sure how much I’ll get done.  But I’m sure I’ll do what I can.

I’m Back…

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Yesterday was pretty uneventful.  I decided to have a lord of the rings marathon, which lasted partway through the 2nd one before I had to stop.  Maybe I shouldn’t have picked something that’s an all day event. 

I didn’t make any chocolate frogs…but I decided to make myself some birthday cupcakes!  They were delicious!  And I went to Miguel’s, which is a restaurant about 5 minutes from my house, and had cheese enchilada’s.  They have the best cheese sauce/dip ever!  I’m not joking, I love that dip.  Maybe there’s a copycat recipe I can find on the internet…

I read a little, and did some work on my plot bunnies.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but it was fun.

Could I Make It Through A Day With No Technology?

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Here’s a prompt for today (courtesy of The Daily Post, done by wordpress): Your phone, laptop, tab, ipad and desktop are dead. Will you make it through a normal working day and evening? What would you miss the most?

I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while, as in, I’ve had the email since mid-April.  What with the possibility of the end of the world, I thought I’d finally answer it.  Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve done a writing prompt, so it’s about time.

I have major issues with this question.  What kind of phone are they refering to?  Because I rarely use my cell phone, so I’d be fine if I didn’t use it.  However, because I rarely use it, I only need to charge every 1-2 weeks.  Or do they mean landline?  Why wouldn’t my landline or my cell phone work?  By tab, do they mean a tablet?  Because I don’t have one, nor do I have an i-Pad, so that wouldn’t be a problem.  Why wouldn’t my desktop work?  As for my laptop, there’s no way I could use it.  My battery is now completely dead, so it needs to be plugged in at all times.  I can’t afford a battery, so hopefully I won’t need to rely on battery power anytime soon. 

This question really isn’t worded very well- it definitely needs to be more clear, but I’ll do my best.  It seems like it’s geared toward what we would do if there were no power, so that’s how I’ll answer it.

So what would I do?  Probably read, or attempt to work on my plot bunnies, and do a little outlining.  Maybe edit the 2 novels I actually have printed out.  Try to learn to crochet or knit, since I have a crochet for dummies, and a book about how to knit. 

I don’t work right now, so work wouldn’t be affected, but since I listen to a lot of podcasts, and work on my novels, I’d probably miss my laptop the most. 

Since the question doesn’t mention handheld gaming systems, like the DS, mp3 players, or tv, I’d totally listen to my iPod, watch some tv and play some video games. 

I would definitely be able to get through a day with no technology, although it would probably be really hard, especially the first few hours.  If I absolutely felt the need to write, I’d probably turn to pen and paper.  I hate handwriting actual novels- mostly because part of my first nano was handwritten, since I worked on it while taking the bus everywhere, and then I’d type it up when I got home.  It was a pain, and I never did it again.  So I’d probably outline it, and type it up whenever the power comes back.