Guess what I just found!

Ok, so I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I remember being absolutely devastated when I one day found I couldn't log into Webook (an online site where writers can post their work and gain feedback, or just have a place they can store and have easy access to it while away from their home computer). I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was more than a year ago.
The site had just gone down, no warning, nothing, and was still down when I checked frequently throughout NaNo (well, I had loads of ideas on there that I could have used). Since the site was essentially my back-up for some of my poems, and the only home of a lot of my just-for-fun writing (like my poetry, an unfinished fantasy/sci-fi novel which I don't plan for anyone to ever read - I had only reached chapter 17 when the site went down; an idea for a plot, and various other projects I was working on with other writers on the site) a lot of my stuff seemed to just disappear off the face of the planet. I was devastated.

Anyway, the point of that backstory was, while I was surfing Grooveshark trying to find some new music to refresh my novel-writing playlist in time for NaNo, and put together a studying playlist, I randomly thought, for the first time since the crash to have a look to see what had happened to the site. What I found was surprising - not only was the webook blog back up, with new owners, admin, and an explanation for why the site had gone down (the old owners ran out of cash and pulled the plug), but the whole site was back up!

I was wary at first because the blog had mentioned signing up. But chrome automatically put in my username, so I had hope. Adding my password, I scrolled down the page to find all my projects, posts, reviews, friends and groups were ALL THERE!!!

I can't explain how happy I am to have all my old writing back.

I might start uploading last years NaNo a chapter at a time as I continue to sort out the obvious issues and fill in the gaps in the last few chapters (well, I know what happens - its note down in my storyboard, I just never actually wrote it yet. In the fast-paced way of NaNo, if I get stuck, I just skip little bits and come back later, but towards the end, I just didn't come back to fix it.) Otherwise, I'm going to get to putting a back-up of all the stuff that was previously lost into my external hard-drive and maybe a couple of pen-drives.
(wow, my old novel seems really childish, but hey, its fun-writing. Its meant to be fun -don't judge)

Which reminds me, I might make a page here for NaNo this year if I decide to go ahead. I figure if I put my writing up here, I have to be held responsible to actually write, and if I put it on a separate page, its out of the way and doesn't get mixed up with my other writing. Plus, it gives me a back-up without scrivener taking a hissy-fit at me for trying to save in more than one place (since, I'll probably write in scrivener and copy-paste into here, unless I feel like writing on my ipad, where things'll happen the other way around)

For now, I'm off to surf around webook and see whats been going on while I was away. Bye, guys

Bento experiment, last weekend before class starts

In my glass: tropical squash (or diluting juice as we call it in my family)
From my iPod: Last NaNo's Novel-writing playlist (trying to find inspiration for this years plot, in case I turn into a lunatic and decide to do it this year)
From my bookshelf: Nothing
Outside: cloudy
My mood: tired
Today's hairstyle:down most of the day, up in a cinnabun now since I was getting too hot

Evening.

So I've been sitting at my computer typing out that article (and discovering articles are really not my thing) and trying to sort out a plot for November. Sadly, this year, my plot is finding itself to be much more elusive than last year, so much so that I'm still working on finishing all the chapters in last years novel. I guess part of it is that I want all the loose ends tied up, and when you're already writing, the plot bunnies seem to multiply.
Maybe I just need to start writing new stuff again. A lot of my works in progress are losing their momentum, because theres nothing fresh coming into my folio. I used to put poetry up here, but a lot of the stuff that is left is rather dark and dreary stuff I wrote during my not-so-good times. Now that things are better for now, I'd much rather be posting stuff that matches my mood. Happy poetry is unusually difficult to write though.

In terms of the bento box idea I mentioned yesterday, I put together a simple box. I think I have a bit of work to do. I definitely need to work on the rice. Hot, it was nice, but cold, not so much. Its seemed kind of stodgy. I think next time, I'll try a different lettuce. the iceberg tasted kind of bitter for some reason. don't know why, since it was a new one. The butternut-squash-cheese ball was gooooood, though I think it could have been even better with a crunchy shell, maybe a breadcrumb coating, lightly fried. The omelette-squash wrap was good too, but the squash tasted a bit bland. I might try boiling some of my veggies with a stock cube or something. Or maybe puree it and add some spices before wrapping it. Hmm - things to think about. It's going to be a week and a half before I can pick up my first veg bag since I've still to sign up, so I have time to think about things and try them out.
I must admit though, I loved the colour, and as small as it looks when you pack the food, it does fill you up pretty quickly.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2824 words to go!

In my glass: Just ice. And the water its melting into
On my iPod: Drops of Jupiter, by Train; Seasons of Love, from the Musical RENT
From my bookshelf: Anatomy again (Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy Volume 2)
Outside: Dark, wet, cold
My mood: Cheery

28th November, 23.30 hrs, 47176 words written for NaNoWriMo. 2 days, 2824 words, 1 write in, 2 bones, and 1 purple bar to go. (You keeping an eye on my widget in the corner there? When it hits 50,000, I'm officially a winner. Not long to go now :) EEEK!!
Oh, and I'm having a much better week this week. Seems whoever was up there throwing thunderbolts at my life is satisfied now. Everything is fixed, found etc. except for my computer, which is still off at the computer doctor. Hoping to get it back before christmas (Which is Yule for me. Just Christmas for the rest of the family).
I admit, I did procrastinate a bit today. I cooked two different soups, and made a roast ham with mash, veggies and gravy for dinner. SEE! I may be poor, but you can't say I don't live well for what I have.
I have the write-in at the Belmont tomorrow, so hoping to technically finish then, but I need to keep writing something on the 30th so that I can get all my skellington finished in the marathon, and not get any *Stern ML Looks* or get put on the *Wall of Shame* To tell you the truth, I mainly want to win so I can get monies off the Scrivener software. Otherwise, as much as I love writing, the last few days are horribly slowwwwwww..... I want Scrivener for my uni notes next term.
Anyway. Up early tomorrow, so thats me off to bed. Hopefully I'll have passed 50,000 next time you hear from me :) See you all again soon!

Half-way point

In my glass: Freshly squeezed apple juice courtesy of my new juicer
On my iPod: Zeto the Bubbleman (Played by Gizzen Briggs on their CD Out of the Blue)
From my bookshelf: Anatomy (Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy Volume 2, if you must know)
Outside: Dark, cold, slightly drizzly
My mood: Slightly mood-swing-y, but mostly happy

Ok, so maybe half-way was technically yesterday, but between lectures and labs, and NaNo meet-up, and writing out anatomy, I just didn't have the time to update on NaNo.
So hows NaNoWriMo going? Rather well actually. I thought I would be waaaaayyyyy behind by now, but though I slowed down during the "week two wall" which had me just about having a break-down at the weekend (Ok, so maybe I did just have an out and out breakdown. However, it was partially alcohol induced), the extra I wrote during week one, the skeleton marathon, and getting back into the swing of the story now, means I'm back on track.
The quota for the end of day 16 is 26667 (or thereabouts - various sources give you different numbers. I'm going from the fact that the half-way point is 25000, and the quota for today should be 1667 words over that). My current word count, (though I still have a bit of writing left to do) is 27891. YAY!
So how has the month been so far? The answer: HELLISH! To give you an idea, a lot of us in my course are moaning to each other about messed up sleep-patterns and eating junk and having mood swings, and feeling crap, and all the other lovely things that comes with being completely and utterly stressed out. I ask you: WHY did I decide to take on a 50,000 novel in 30 days when I have all this other stuff on??? *Um...I don't know. But I got this far, so I'm bloody well going to finish it*

Well, this week, so far, I've had my usual 19 hours, plus an anatomy assessment (30 mins, an hour before our normal class), plus an hour long mid-term exam for physiology, plus my writing for NaNo in between. Next week is the same, but with an extra 2 hours of lectures, an hour-long tutorial instead of the anatomy assessment, and I've to somehow get to the doctors, a good hours walk away, before class on Thursday morning (which I have to get to - its taken me months to get this slot to see someone, because my GP referred me, but I'm not an extreme case - by which time the problem has likely healed wrong which is why I'm not in pain anymore, but still having troubles with it).
Oh, and my mobile company keeps calling me at stupid times in the afternoon (i.e. when I'm in lectures), in the evening (when I panic at the phone going because I'm waiting on a call from someone important), or at night (when I'm either writing in a different room, sleeping, or in a nightclub and wont hear it). Its always on silent anyway, so its won't go off at inopportune moments. Regardless though, its still a pain in the ass, especially when I feel the vibration going in my pocket (generally where my phone always is). I sent a message to Ofcom, but I doubt anything will be done about it, as per usual. And no. I'm not calling the phone company, because I've tried it before, and nothing happened apart, and it takes way more time than I have spare right now.

For the moment, I'm sitting getting kit cleaned, pressed and ready to go for tomorrow. For the first time in WEEKS, I'm having a lie in. For me, a lie-in constitutes actually getting to stay in bed past 7AM in the morning, and for once, tomorrow, I can do just that. I know, I know, I should be working on my novel instead of sleeping in, but don't worry becaaaaause...
The NaNoWriMo Regional Group are having their half-way party! Which starts at 3pm, so I can get up late, take a lazy shower (rather than a speedy, must-get-dressed-and-out-the door-quick kind of shower), fix the last bits of my kit for the evening, and write a bit on my novel before I go. I'm even planning to take them flapjacks, but we'll see if I remember in the morning. I don't know if I have enough oats left to make them with. Anyhow, I'll be there for a couple of hours before dropping my laptop back at my flat (hopefully with a good days worth of writing in it, even with the 1-hour writing ban for the start of the party), and pick up my (hopefully spotless) kit and take it up to OTC (At which point, I'll probably have scuffed by brogues again and have to work it out when I get there. Then its a case of getting changed, transport to wherever it is we're going, do our stuff, come home, get changed again, dump kit (hung up in a nice suit-carrier of course) and possibly go to town. Meh. The "go to town" part is debatable. Depends on whether I'm over my break-down stage. I'm guessing so, because I'm over the hurdle. We've passed the halfway of NaNo, and my novel, and of the uni term, and therefore my courses, and it's almost christmas holidays. Only four more weeks of lectures and stress to go. *heaves big sigh of relief*

Oh, yeah. About my breakdown. It wasn't really a breakdown. Rather it was stress compounded by  being drunk for the first time in literally two months resulting in a teariness I couldn't explain to my worrying compadres. So, now that it's week over, and I have a morning to myself, I'm feeling much more optimistic about things. For the first time in ages, I don't even have to worry.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Day 2

Its day 2 of NaNo, and I have 6000 words in the bag! Hopefully the extra will help me through the week two wall. Just a quick update on how I'm doing, Y'all. Now, I gotta get back to studies, and writing.