I am tired, but also victorious

I just won my first NaNoWriMo of 2009.

At 50,655 words it is not particularly lengthy, but--and I hesitate to say this--it is actually... decent work. Like, reasonably well-written. I find this surprising.

"Elevation" by U2 was playing when I hit the 50k mark, and "Beautiful Day" (also by U2) was playing when I finished the novel.

It is now one o'clock in the morning and I got like four hours of sleep last night, so I am very, very tired. I shall celebrate more in the morning.

For now, I'm going to bed.

Chris Baty is the man

The Man, I tell you.

So I was just filling out the NaNoWriMo 2008 survey and it mentioned something about "The NaNoLand Chronicles". I didn't know what they were, so I nipped on down to the Office of Letters and Light to take a look.

For only ten dollars, you can buy a book of nanowrimo fables written by Chris Baty, which are -- and I quote -- "designed to warm the heart, embolden the noveling soul, and radically transform the general public's understanding of muskrats, sprout farmers, and the dangers of tea-oversteeping."

It is difficult to explain how much I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK.

And then, of course, there is "No Plot, No Problem," which is the best book in the world and which I for some reason do not own a copy of. While I was at the OLL, I glanced at the description for NPNP (we nanoers know how to abbreviate!) and I read the following statement:

"All copies autographed by the author."

Let me explain something to you. What I have for Chris Baty is a form of hero-worship. He is, quite simply, The Man. He is hillarious and witty and came up with the NaNoWriMo program, and let's face it, NaNoWriMo is sort of the best thing to have ever happened. Ever.

I must have a book autographed by Chris Baty.

This is a simple statement of fact. The NaNoLand Chronicles costs $10 and NPNP costs $15. I need $25.... I think I have enough money (poor person that I am). Oh, and also they're having a sale on NaNoWriMo t-shirts, $10 for a shirt, so more like $35.

Gah. I do not have money.

On the other hand, this money will be going to the OLL, and I want so badly to support NaNoWriMo! It means so much to me, and I'd love to be able to give back.

Okay, Chris Baty. I give in. I think I'm going to buy them all.

In which things get done

So, in the past few days, I have been extraordinarily productive.

First off, I FINALLY finished knitting the Man Scarf, seen below as modeled by my stuffed monkey, Stanley:

It was long and boring and generally blegh to knit (34 stitches a row! In size eight needles! On a SCARF! I hate knitting scarves with small needles!) but I really like the scarf. And it's so worth it to be able to own a pink "Man Scarf".

I also successfully learned how to crochet (thank you, Marshall) and am now attempting to crochet this adorable little owl. Unfortunately I am having MASSIVE PROBLEMS trying to crochet a circle, and this does not bode well for the project. Currently all I have managed of the pattern is "chain two". However, I shall prevail.

I finished my eighth book for the book challenge! It was Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith, and it took me almost as long to read as it took me to read all of the other seven books combined. It was interesting and well written and all--but although it held my attention while I was reading it, the second I put it down it was hard to pick back up. It was also freakishly long - you wouldn't think so to look at it, but I swear that that book took AGES to read. That being said, it was enjoyable.

(By the way, I am just now starting on book number 9: The Truth by Terry Pratchett. It's the first re-read I've done all year, but I couldn't help it--Terry Pratchett is amazing, and The Truth is my favorite book of his.)

I also just hit the 40,000 word mark in my January nanowrimo yesterday. I haven't written any yet today, but I plan on doing that once I finish this post... It's looking pretty good (suprisingly). I haven't had the urge to start massacaring characters yet, at any rate.

Aaand I also just finished watching the audio commentary of "Ghostbusters" (best - movie - ever), which does not SOUND like an accomplishment, except that I've been trying to finish it for ages and was never able to get around to it. It's a good commentary. Watch it.

Well, I'm off to nano then--I just hit a major turning point in the story, it's fantastic. I still have lots of stuff planned, which is great, because it means I don't have to streeeetch out the ending. In fact, it looks like it's going to be a bit of a squeeze--I'll have to start writing scenes more briefly from here on out.

Ciao!

NOOOOOOOO

The Oscar nominations came out.

CLINT EASTWOOD WAS NOT NOMINATED. WHY WAS CLINT EASTWOOD NOT NOMINATED? CLINT EASTWOOD IS THE FREAKING MAN!!!!

WHY - WAS - CLINT - EASTWOOD - NOT - NOMINATED?

Okay. Sorry. I had to get that off my chest. But seriously - I mean, seriously. In defiance Danielle and I watched "Fistful of Dollars". Ah. I really love Clint Eastwood. Everything he does is like, epic.

Life, and more importantly, SNOW

Holy crap, I am so HAPPY right now!

Reasons that Staci is happy:

• Today it SNOWED. Six inches of snow, which (for somebody living in North Carolina) might as well be a blizzard. I haven't seen this much snow in what seems like forever.
• Because it snowed, school was cancelled today.
• I just found out that school is being cancelled tomorrow, too.
• I have almost 32,000 words in my January nanowrimo, which I'm pretty sure isn't technically on schedule - but now that I don't have school tomorrow, I'll be able to write like crazy.
• And did I mention that my current nanowrimo pwns the world?
• I finished the first seven books for the book challenge and am almost done with numero ocho. Go me!
• Today Danielle and I filmed a movie entitled "The Abominable Snow Dog Strikes - AGAIN!" in which I star as a really, really stupid hiker who almost gets eaten by a villainous snow dog (but escapes to a hiking lodge just in time). This is a very, very awesome movie.
• Speaking of Ceilidh, this is the first time she's ever seen the snow and she freaking LOVES it. There are very few things in the world cuter than puppies seeing snow for the first time.
• I sort of crocheted a square. Almost. I still think I need to get Marshall to show me what I'm doing wrong (because there is no way I am doing this right), but it was better than all of my other attempts.
• I went to Michaels and I bought a huge bag of BUTTONS! For some reason, I really like buttons.
• I started working on the Man Scarf (long story) again, and it's getting pretty long (although Ceilidh did tangle up the skein of yarn, and it took me six hours to untangle it, causing a mental breakdown so big that I missed Owen's (that's Marshall's brother) play and suffered a massive "Staci you are so stupid" guilt trip. However, I am DEFINITELY going this weekend).
• Because there was no school today, I got to stay home and watch the presidential inauguration, which was awesome. And then we made an Obama cake. And it was a really, really good cake.
• IT - IS - SNOWING!

Ah! Happiness!

(However, I did just realize that there are more posts labeled "Nanowrimo" than there are posts labeled "life" on this blog. This is both entertaining and in some, sad way, a little bit pathetic.)

Freedom is fleeting

Things that happened today:

1. It ocurred to me that Ghostbusters is totally my favorite movie. I marathon-watched both.
2. I realized that I watched an entire season of House in two days, and that makes me both awesome and exceedingly pathetic.
3. I finished my second book for the Book Challenge, proving my total nerdom.
4. I hit the 9,000 word mark in my NaNoWriMo.
5. I decided that I really, really do not want to go to school tomorrow.

Seriously. Do not want.

DO NOT WANT!