Today, Friday the 8th, starting at 2:45 pm EST, I am being a rebel. In NaNoWriMo lingo this means, among other things, writing a non-fiction WIP for submission in the month long challenge.
In order to get out a blog post, I realized I’d need to write a proper blog posting during my nano time. I got it into my head that in order to keep pace with my writing, I’d then include it in my daily word count for submission in the month long challenge. In the NaNo world, fiction and non-fiction do not mix. Hence, the rebel aspect to my nanoing this year.
What was I thinking? Am I caffeine deprived or just immune to its effects on this 8th day of writing frantically? Overwhelmed by guilt, I retract my rebel word count plans.
This is my second year of nanoing, but my first year of blogging. I seem to have life’s routine down for the month of NaNo, but not so the rules of blogging.
In the blogger world, it is stressed that the single most important thing for maintaining a ‘following’ apart from delivering quality content, is to stay on a fairly consistent blogging schedule.
So, here I am being a rebel. Well, semi-rebel because I only thought it, but didn’t do it. And I’m finding I’m pretty rotten at it. I’m not convinced this is a quality blog posting, but feel the pressure to post something today as it’s been two weeks since my last posting.
I’ve got to think that God gets a kick out us humans trying to deal with all of the small stuff…and this really is only small stuff. Continue reading
Author: laura bruno lilly (Page 40 of 40)
Call me crazy, but I’m actually enjoying NaNo Prep this year. Having one NaNo win under my belt, I’m feeling kinda cocky, I know. But this year, in addition to doing some household planning and work schedule planning, I’ve done some exciting novel planning, as well as special events planning. What’s that? Special events planning? How does one squeeze in special events during NaNoWriMo where all spare moments are focused on the mammoth task of pounding out 1667 words per day for 30 days?
For one thing, Thanksgiving, the major special event of November, comes at the end of the month and I’ve already determined I’d be done with my 50,000 words by then. So that means I’m essentially doing NaNo based upon a 27 day month which tallies up to 1852 words per day. If I get in at least 2000 words a day, I get two days free and clear for a sick day and a special event.
Knowing all of this ahead of time helps me. And here’s where we get to something that’s been nagging at me since working on this website blog over the summer: I’ve let my inner geek out and she’s begun to take over my mindset!
Notice the emphasis on ‘doing the math’ in my NaNo Prep? Relegating a single day for illness or an unforeseen circumstance and another for a special event? I know better and yet, my inner geek insists that’s the way to NaNo Prep Peace. And, get this, for added security my inner geek got herself html text to put that sidebar widget you now see on my Blog Page.
This ‘live’ word count gizmo is directly connected to the NaNoWriMo site. Not only is it cool looking, but it is a type of motivator for me to show off my word count each time it is entered on the NaNo site. We Wrimos keep track of each other’s daily word counts, but out here in the infinite space of the internet on my website blog that has so many visitors (picture a wry grin on my face) well, it makes me vulnerable and more committed to producing impressive daily word counts!
Oh yes, and what exactly is that special event day going to be used for during the month of NaNo?
A horse show. Continue reading
It’s NaNoWriMo time again, folks.
Last year, the challenge in doing my first NaNo was to just do it. This year, it’s to just do it in a different genre. Yep, it’s only my second time around for this event, but I feel like a seasoned pro.
What exactly is NaNoWriMo? The clever acronym stands for: National Novel Writing Month. This extravaganza takes place in November each year and is a wild journey of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1667 words each day. Every day. Of course, in my case that’s the bare minimum as I try to stockpile words to protect my Thanksgiving Holiday from the ravages of NaNo. Since this year’s Turkey Day lands mercifully on the first of the last three days in November…I can finish by then, no problem! Just in time for the kids to come home for the festivities and enjoy our feast in pure turkeyed-out bliss!
Last year’s approach was purely intuitive. Continue reading
At home: The family that geeks together, stays together
Three members of the Hart Family work at NOAA. Joan and Bobby are currently on ‘lock-out’ while Leslie is on ‘furlough.’
Right now, this very moment, something normal, something comfortable, something so very ‘Family’ is happening: Dad is blowing his horn. After weeks of fooling around with re-organizing his music, the bane of us musicians which can become more procrastination than need, Dad’s got his groove on. He is blowing long tones on the mouth piece, testing out his own custom hand-shaved reeds, adjusting tension on the ligature; just about all the stuff a sax-man needs to get ready to start in on a serious practice session. Ahh, the riffs, the scales, the bits of favorite tunes, with squeaks here and there as attempts are made to blow those flashy odd harmonics, reachable only by a select and sacred few like my dad.
Dad in his new digs
Even with those super sax-man lungs he’s developed over the years, at age 90 Dad’s biggest hurdle at the moment is more with the stamina required to play a full set. And yet, I’d give it a couple weeks at the most for him to break through that temporary barrier.
Dad is my inspiration as a musician. Dealing with skin cancer on the top of his bald head, he loves to recount the story of how he got it in the first place…all my friends had to work days, but I got to lay out on the beach along Lake Michigan and sunbathe since I worked the clubs and joints at night. It’s almost a badge of professionalism for him, though he advises this generation to stay out of the sun.
A private moment
For the six years since Ma passed away, he put his sax down. While he kept up a semi-regular practice routine, his (he)art just wasn’t in it. In this difficult stage of his life, he laced up his dance shoes and began stepping to the music of others. An odd juxtaposition as the pull to play the music was ever nipping at his cha-cha heels.
Just two days moved into this Independent Living apartment and I get to listen to the sounds of my childhood, the background noises of everyday living in our home, the ever present music. Not from some recording or old radio show, but coming from the (he)art of our Family’s home: Dad’s horn.
Today the movers come to begin the transport of Dad’s things to his new Independent Living apartment. I pulled this quote that’s been behind a magnet on the icebox door for quite sometime, judging from its yellowed appearance. For me it is in keeping with the theme of this blog: The Road Ends, but the Journey Continues. Perhaps it’s message will speak to you. Peace, all.
“We are all pilgrims in this life, and as we trek further down the road, we also become philosophers, so as I retire, here are some of my thoughts – God Bless – Gordon R. Darnell, D.D.S.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
Happiness is not a destination – it’s a way of traveling.
Don’t take life too seriously – it’s only temporary.
Life is difficult, Life is not fair, Life is wonderful.
Life is 10% what you make of it, and 90% how you take it.
He who dies with the most expensive toys – still dies.
The world is full of givers and takers – the takers eat better, but the givers sleep better.”
During natural disasters, life gets interrupted; rudely and profoundly interrupted. The current flooding that is occurring along the entire Front Range of Colorado is no exception to this rule.
Except in Dadland.
Experts are beginning to call the flooding here in Colorado the ‘thousand year flood’ and I tend to believe them. While flash flooding tends to be a normal component to living in the West, this one has many elements which are unique. Not the least of which is getting half the total annual moisture in a mere 24-48 hours; then doing a rerun scenario after a 12 hour respite. Western land and soilscape is simply unable to absorb such massive rainfall.
In addition, this flooding is not isolated to any one canyon, or stream, or floodplain. It is occurring in multiple places throughout the entire Front Range simultaneously. It is like having the 1969 Boulder Basin Flood, the Big Thompson Canyon Flood of 1976 and any other epic floods you can recall, occurring all at once, and then some. And of course, once the waters recede, huge boulders, tons of mud and assorted debris will be left behind along with the devastation of individual households, vehicles and lives.
I get it, this is serious business.
And then there’s Dad. Continue reading
I love goofy goats!
This love, nay, obsession of all things ‘goat’ was birthed out of our time between-homes while living on the compound in the desert just outside of Las Cruces, NM. Along with horse rescue, Mama Goat and her then baby billy-kid, Tater tagged along for the ride. Turns out, goats are the best antidote for nervous race horses…and wouldn’t you know, in less than a year of rescuing those goats, we acquired yet another horse rescue; a thoroughbred. But those horse-rescue stories are for another time.
Goats make me smile.
Down the road from our former home in Colorado, there’s a sign that states: “Billy Goat Dairy Farm.” Does anyone besides myself and my hubby see the conflicting nature of that name?! Ahemm…billy-goats don’t make milk…a dairy farm made up of billy-goats is not one conducive to producing much in the way of anything dairy-like! Ah, yes, but passing the herd along the roadside, we see they are enjoying that universal goat-fav game of ‘king of the hill’…and they’re not billy-goats!
Goats are curious. Continue reading
The obvious answer to this is of course, ‘Why not?’ I, however, could think of many reasons ‘why not’ whenever it was suggested to me to begin blogging. The biggest one being: anybody and their uncle can write anything and put it up into the nether-land of cyberspace for all to see regardless of quality.
And then I remembered that was one of the main reasons I’d balked at recording my first cd. As a working musician, I’d done demos and was busy with gigging, teaching and performing. After all, anybody and their uncle can record anything for all to hear regardless of quality; it is all so easy to do these days…
Aha!
So that’s a good reason to disregard this idea of starting up a website blog?
I think not. Continue reading
from-Swimming with Swans: vignettes of our three-year journey between homes
6/2009 ~ 6/2012
July 2010 (North Webster, IN)
“Sometimes, when you possess nothing at all, the only thing you can do is hang on to your dignity. But even simple words can take that away from you if you’re not careful.” *
We are in transition, my husband and I.
As of June 26, 2009, we have been living life on the road.
Having sold our home in Colorado, we stored all non-portable, and “to be used later” items in a storage unit; packed two duffels with clothes, books, Bibles, toothpaste, and meds; filled the car trunk with tools, hydraulic jack, an air mattress, fold-up sports chairs, and mini basket with important papers; and the rest of the car with a greatly reduced number of items needed for our livelihood. For my husband, that included a computer with two screens, tech stuff, a mobile wi-fi device, and business materials; for myself, two guitars, one ukulele and a satchel crammed full of selected musical scores, teaching/marketing/composing materials, and of course my journals. Throw in our two pillows, a small “food/domestic needs” box, CDs, DVDs, camera, coffeepot, water bottles, maps and there you have our home on wheels.
Whatever we continue to take with us, has to be able to fit in our 2003 Toyota Camry, so if we have a non-disposable need other than what we have on hand, we usually do without; not only because of financial considerations, but also because it all has to fit back into the car once we’re on the road again between destinations. Most destinations have been house-sitting/house fixing up assignments and/or visiting and helping out family and friends, with lots of cross-country traveling thrown in for good measure.
Essentially, we are between homes. Continue reading