A.J. Lauer's Blog, page 19
November 9, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 9
One of my favorite Christmas memories:
"Precious little Dylan with his blond curly hair, a sweater, and a dog collar with bells on it."
"Precious little Dylan with his blond curly hair, a sweater, and a dog collar with bells on it."
November 7, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 7
On keeping diaries during some of the more chaotic times in my childhood:
"Perhaps part of it was my young identification with Anne Frank. I’d always felt a kinship with that remarkable woman and her diary. Not so much now for obvious reasons of survival and the incredible safety of my current situation, but for years she felt like a dear friend. Someone who understood. I wanted to survive the chaos and come out with a similarly well-thought-out optimism and faith in humanity. And I think I have.. I really do."
"Perhaps part of it was my young identification with Anne Frank. I’d always felt a kinship with that remarkable woman and her diary. Not so much now for obvious reasons of survival and the incredible safety of my current situation, but for years she felt like a dear friend. Someone who understood. I wanted to survive the chaos and come out with a similarly well-thought-out optimism and faith in humanity. And I think I have.. I really do."
November 6, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 6
So I got a flu shot yesterday, and it turns out that I am one of those people who really reacts to it. I had the shot at 9am, by 1:30 I had a sore throat and all of a sudden at 4pm I got the chills and the start of a fever. By the time I got home at 4:45 I had full-blown chills and was headed toward the 100 degree fever that stuck with me for the rest of the night. So.. Yeah. I didn't write anything yesterday. I'm thankful that I had a little bit of extra writing done, so I didn't fall a full day behind! Today was slow too but I am already feeling a fair bit better, so hopefully I will catch up soon.
Today's last line, which was talking about a Pickle Party we threw as kids:
"I think I remember that only one or two of our friends actually took us up on the pickle juice, but I know that Tim and I definitely partook."
Today's last line, which was talking about a Pickle Party we threw as kids:
"I think I remember that only one or two of our friends actually took us up on the pickle juice, but I know that Tim and I definitely partook."
November 4, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 4
"And so my life in Miami started off with great emotional difficulty. I was in a strange place where I only knew two people, and had lost a friend and been through a natural disaster within two days."
Passed the 7,000 word line today!
Passed the 7,000 word line today!
November 3, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 3
"Though I didn’t have the language for it at the time, I knew that there systems of privilege and oppression in place and that I wanted to fight against them."
2,000 words today!
2,000 words today!
November 2, 2013
NaNoWriMo Day 2
Last line from today..
"Who walks past a big dog to try to get to their obviously-injured owner? Foolish."
I am totally geeking out about all the little bits of stats the NaNoWriMo site gives you. They tell you your average word count, expected finishing date based on maintaining that average, and how many words per day you need to write to finish. So, since I'm a little bit ahead of the game, it tells me that I only need to write 1,600 words/day rather than the 1,667. If I can write a little extra every day, it will give me endless nerdy joy to see that number continue to go down. Kind-of like paying extra money off a loan every month. So good!
"Who walks past a big dog to try to get to their obviously-injured owner? Foolish."
I am totally geeking out about all the little bits of stats the NaNoWriMo site gives you. They tell you your average word count, expected finishing date based on maintaining that average, and how many words per day you need to write to finish. So, since I'm a little bit ahead of the game, it tells me that I only need to write 1,600 words/day rather than the 1,667. If I can write a little extra every day, it will give me endless nerdy joy to see that number continue to go down. Kind-of like paying extra money off a loan every month. So good!
November 1, 2013
National Novel Writing Month
In an effort to kickstart my writing again, I have decided to participate in this month's National Novel Writing Month. I've wanted to do it for years, but have always looked at the month of November and thought 'You want me to add MORE to November?' ..and then run away screaming.
This November is no different than any other - there are choir concerts, Thanksgiving, and end of semester craziness. But I have been craving a regular writing schedule. Something to drive me to express myself with regularity, so NaNoWriMo seemed like a great way to foster that in myself. We have plans in place to start writing another Pick Your Plot book, and I am also hoping that by participating in NaNoWriMo I can prime my brain to create some quality content for that.
Though I don't anticipate that what I write for this will be suitable for public consumption, I did think it would be fun to share some bits with you all. So at the very least, I hope to post on here my last line of each day. I do not guarantee quality :) But hope you will enjoy the snippets.
My theme is 100 Memories. The memories will be a mix of my real memories and imagined ones, as well as maybe rewriting some memories as to how I wish they'd really ended. This promises to be quite the introspective activity. So here goes, my first 'last line' of #NaNoWriMo 2013:
"Is it by loving others that I will ensure that my eyes sparkle despite being shadowed by a wrinkled face? And is it shadow, or shelter?"
This November is no different than any other - there are choir concerts, Thanksgiving, and end of semester craziness. But I have been craving a regular writing schedule. Something to drive me to express myself with regularity, so NaNoWriMo seemed like a great way to foster that in myself. We have plans in place to start writing another Pick Your Plot book, and I am also hoping that by participating in NaNoWriMo I can prime my brain to create some quality content for that.
Though I don't anticipate that what I write for this will be suitable for public consumption, I did think it would be fun to share some bits with you all. So at the very least, I hope to post on here my last line of each day. I do not guarantee quality :) But hope you will enjoy the snippets.
My theme is 100 Memories. The memories will be a mix of my real memories and imagined ones, as well as maybe rewriting some memories as to how I wish they'd really ended. This promises to be quite the introspective activity. So here goes, my first 'last line' of #NaNoWriMo 2013:
"Is it by loving others that I will ensure that my eyes sparkle despite being shadowed by a wrinkled face? And is it shadow, or shelter?"
October 12, 2013
Six Word Saturday
Cinnamon breakfast puffs are sometimes food.
In a break from our usual gluten free habits, this morning I made these cinnamon-sugar breakfast puffs. They're pretty much just like eating donut holes, and are definitely sometimes food. Super rich and sugary, not something we need in our regular food rotation. But man, they hit the spot today!
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
In a break from our usual gluten free habits, this morning I made these cinnamon-sugar breakfast puffs. They're pretty much just like eating donut holes, and are definitely sometimes food. Super rich and sugary, not something we need in our regular food rotation. But man, they hit the spot today!
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
July 6, 2013
Six Word Saturday!
Busy couple weeks equals slacking blogger.
I hit one of those periods where there was so much going on, much of it stuff I'd normally post, but didn't have the extra energy to say anything here. Only four more weeks of my busy season...
Thankfully my garden creates its own energy - it's going gangbusters! Soon we will have SO MUCH zucchini and loads of tomatoes. Can't wait!
Tomorrow the list gets posted for WRiTE CLUB. I did manage to get a pretty solid submission in, but it sounds like the initial selection has been really tough, so I'm crossing my fingers in hopes of making it into the actual competition. Otherwise it will be great to cheer others on. I've missed my blogging community with all the busy'ness this summer!
I did run my first road race since my foot injury two and a half years ago! One mile, downhill, on the 4th of July. Here's excited me before the race. My ability to run again has certainly felt like freedom, so it seemed appropriate to do a race on the 4th.
What have y'all been up to? (hey that's six words too!)
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
I hit one of those periods where there was so much going on, much of it stuff I'd normally post, but didn't have the extra energy to say anything here. Only four more weeks of my busy season...
Thankfully my garden creates its own energy - it's going gangbusters! Soon we will have SO MUCH zucchini and loads of tomatoes. Can't wait!
Tomorrow the list gets posted for WRiTE CLUB. I did manage to get a pretty solid submission in, but it sounds like the initial selection has been really tough, so I'm crossing my fingers in hopes of making it into the actual competition. Otherwise it will be great to cheer others on. I've missed my blogging community with all the busy'ness this summer!
I did run my first road race since my foot injury two and a half years ago! One mile, downhill, on the 4th of July. Here's excited me before the race. My ability to run again has certainly felt like freedom, so it seemed appropriate to do a race on the 4th.
What have y'all been up to? (hey that's six words too!)
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
June 16, 2013
Oops! Missed 6WS!
Here is my belated Six Word Saturday post! Two sentences, for good measure:
Giant ponderosa pine smelled like butterscotch.Duh, I'm a tree hugging hippie!
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
Giant ponderosa pine smelled like butterscotch.Duh, I'm a tree hugging hippie!
This post is part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop. Stop by showmyface.com to join the fun!
