Today’s Fortune Cookie
“Everything will now come your way.”
Um, at first I thought “Great!” because I’m waiting for the new laptop. (Is that like “Waiting for Godot“?) But then I started to worry – what if I need a helmet?
NaNoWRiMo Update
I’m hopelessly behind and have no reasonable expectation of ever catching up by the end of November deadline. I know what the general story is, but when it comes to writing scenes that make any sort of sense, I’m completely stalled. And the stress of being so far behind is really interfering with my actually sitting down and getting any writing done. The idea of this is no longer fun, it’s a chore, and a painful one. I realized yesterday, after I had a big argument with Stephanie about how we scheduled our time this weekend, that this is ridiculous, because this is a stress I can control.
Unlike the other stress that is occurring in my life right now, which includes, but is not limited to:
- The Stress of The House that Would Not Sell
- The Stress of Attending Meetings with Potential Renters Who Do Not Show Up to Appointments 2/3rds of the Time
- The Stress of the Shitty Roofers Who Would Not Show Up To Complete Their Work
- The Stress of Attempting to Merge Two Households Worth of Stuff and Not Knowing What to Get Rid Of
- The Stress of The Weather that Rains Every time I Want to Rake Leaves
- The Stress of the Looming Apocalyptic Chaos That is The Impending Holiday Season (refer to Ghosts of Holidays Past)
- The Stress of Four Cats Who Just Don’t Want to Be Roommates
- The Stress of Not Being Able to Get a Good Night’s Sleep And the Ensuing Problems of Walking Through Every Day Fuzzy Headed and Bleary-Eyed
- The Stress of the Work Projects That Spiral Out of Control
- The Stress of the Cascading Style Sheets That Just Don’t Seem to Work in IE6, No Matter What Hacks I Apply (AKA, I Hate Microsoft, Part 987)
The stress of NaNoWriMo is one I imposed upon myself. So I hereby release myself from the the deadline, in the hope that I’ll actually be able to accomplish the task at some point in time, because at the very least, the story I was planning on writing cracked me up, and I got much further in the task than I was ever able to do before.
Nanowrimo: Day 3
Okay, I really, really have the plot all worked out and I’m very excited by my idea, which I think is fun, entertaining, and a Big Idea, also.
But I have to do some more research, in the form of purchasing the Historic Plan for our neighborhood, at a cost of $5, from the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Society.
Back in a flash to get caught up on the actually writing. And if you been following along with my blog posts over the past several days, you can see hints and drops of my idea scattered among them. Except for the Slush Mug commercial; that’s just silly fun.
Nanowrimo: Day 1
My word count for day 1: 1281 words.
That sucks! I spent most of the day trying to figure out the plot, which I should have had outline in October. It didn’t help that I had my teeth cleaning appointment and the chimney sweeping appointment. Also, the dog barked all day along. Apparently Cthulhu is hiding under our deck again. Pesky elder god.
And today I have a cardiologist’s appointment, and the furnace guy is coming to work on our radiators. Ah, well. I’ll do my best.
National Novel Writing Month 2006
National Novel Writing Month is November 1st, and the sign-up for it begins this Friday October 1st (I managed to skip the entire month of September in my head). One of my friends participated in the past and is going to again this year.
Here’s the scoop:
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
I’m going to throw caution, inhibition, sanity, free-time and probably dignity to the wind and sign up. (Doing the math…. hmmm, hmmm… 1,667 words a day. Eh. I could do that.)
Who’s with me? Anyone?
A nice cake is waiting for you: recent fortune cookies
A nice cake is waiting for you.
I’m being stalked by a cake. That’s just scary.
Your winsome smile will be your sure protection.
Um, can I have a ball bat instead? I’d feel more secure.
You are never bitter, deceptive, or petty.
Oops, I got someone else’s fortune.
A modest man never talks to himself.
What about singing in the shower? Does he do that?
There will be a happy romance for you shortly.
This one really ticked off my girlfriend
You will step on the soil of many countries.
I’d better get started soon, because we’ve all seen my “Where I’ve been” map.
Express yourself, do something creative.
Gosh, I’ll get right on that after I finish designing this website.
You will always have good luck in personals affairs.
Oh, silly fortune cookie. You are so wrong.
You will always be surrounded by true friends.
Okay, you’re not always wrong, fortune cookie.
And upward movement intiated in time can counteract fate.
Damn, this is the second time I got this ominous cookie, and the first was right before I found out about my heart surgery. Leave me alone, cookie! You’re scaring me.
To be a success in business, be daring, be first, be different.
I think I’ll start with “Be awake” and see how that goes.
Many people who have power become a deaf mute.
And then there are the power people who never shut up.
Good fortune awaits you at the end of the day.
Is it a free monkey? I like monkeys.
From your garden of dreams, many things will blossom.
Hopefully not weeds.
The next full moon will bring an enchanting evening.
With a werewolf!!
You are kind-hearted, cheerful, and well-liked.
I wish I knew which day opposite day is in Fortune CookieLand.
Fortune Cookie
“An upward movement initiated in time can counteract fate.”
I got this one last week, and it’s easily the strangest, most mysterious fortune cookie I’ve ever received. This is what a fortune cookie should be; inscrutable.
My Chinese horoscope
Figuring out my Chinese horoscope.
Birthday/time: June 6th, 1968, 7:01 a.m.
Latitude and Longitude where I was born: West Des Moines, IA (US): 41n35, 93w43, Iowa.
Timezone: -6 GMT.
You are Red Sheep, born in the year of Brown Monkey. The first character in DAY represents you. So you are equivalent to Fire.
Lucky element: Water.
Luckiest decades – age 40-50, age 50-60, age 60-70
You have an ambitious nature
You have an ambitious nature and may make a name for yourself.
Executive ability is prominent in your makeup.
You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time.
Drink to your health!
Your luck has been completely changed today.
Put the data you have uncovered to beneficial use.
That’s an interesting if slightly paranoid cookie. I wonder what “data” this is.
People in your background will be more co-operative than usual.
Through greater effort and hard work a precious dream will come true.
And my house will get renovated….
We must always have old memories and young hopes.
in bed.
Your eyes are the windows of your soul – Don’t worry, be happy.
I love a cookie that’s a call back to the 80’s.
The world looks brighter from behind a smile.
They forgot to mention this only works if you’re Pollyanna.
The faith you seek lives within you.
Some cookies are so true you just can’t make fun of them.
You are going to have some new clothes.
See, the perfect fortune cookie. Specific, upbeat, to the point. I immediately went shopping.
You will soon take a very pleasant and successful trip.
That was Vegas, baby!!
Your eyes will be opened to a world full of beauty, charm and adventure.
Again, must have been my trip to Vegas.
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.
But the real question is, does it have a laugh track?
Life always gets harder near the summit.
So are you saying I’m almost over the hill? Because I don’t know if I like that idea
You will succeed to a fortune.
Hey, I like that one.
May life throw you a pleasant curve.
Geez, and what I really wanted was a knuckle ball.
You are open-minded and quick
“You are open-minded and quick to make new friends.”
This is less of a “fortune” cookie, and more of an encouraging “wishful-thinking” type cookie
“In love you could shine as a brilliant star.”
Or, I could be as gooky as a puddle of mud. There’s no telling, really.