Nanowrimo 2009 Supergoal: Four Book Year:


Magic in the Streets, Nanovel One 2009


Greenwood Road, Nanovel Two 2009


Medicine Show, Nanovel Three 2009


Greenwood Gates, Nanovel Four 2009


Greenwood Home, Nanovel Five 2009


I've been slamming on the writing not posting every chapter -- was offline at one chapter end anyway but backed up when I was done. Greenwood Home is starting to roll and work out well. At last I get in a battle with some swords and magic going on in it. Good stuff. The party was uniquely well equipped to turn the tide of battle with the way they entered and what they pulled off, despite being unprepared for battle per se. The right people were up front with enough magic to keep everyone from getting killed while armoring up. It was fun to write. Unicorns can be very badass, up-front was literal.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/17V_0r5nmVA/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=211853

I was at my café at the first hour yesterday, and messaged 3 friends to see if one of them wanted to hang out. They all did, so I saw them in shifts, lol. Mer came first with her cousin and they proofread the Driving in Lebanon dummy with me, helping me with the Arabic titles in particular. As we sat there I recognized an old friend at the next table whom I only see occasionally as he lives in Kuwait – but he's the one who introduced me to Mr. Y. of café Y. the first time so I never have to make an appointment, I know that when he drops by, we will run into each other there. F arrived later and we went through the book again, and as he's a poet with a very good command of the language he had more suggestions to make – and took the dummy home to pore over it overnight and see if he could think of ways to significantly improve it.
At one point a semi-regular stopped by to say he'd liked the article on me last Tuesday in An-Nahar, and though he saw me at the café all the time he had no idea I was so talented. The article is this one and I didn't get to translate yet, it will be laborious. But a friend posted a google translation here which I warn you is downright psychedelic. Just a hint, where it says "rice" (أرزّ), the original word is "cedar" (أرز).
I'm not even mentioning the regular crew, the friend who is exhibiting her photography there at the moment, and the regulars whose names I don't even know but who I'm at conversation stage with by now – and the couple of foreigners who asked me what on earth my Wacom tablet was.
I moved on straight to the other side of town to meet up with R and as the place was crowded and unpleasant (it being Adha, a lot of expats came home for a few days) we went to his place instead where we listened to each other's music libraries for 3 hours, exchanging songs. From there again I went straight to K's place (it was 8:30 by then) for an evening of homemade karaoke, an amazing dance performance from A, and then dancing till late.
So with all this I saw almost all my friends in one day but still managed to complete two small jobs and send them off. But my suitcase is still half unpacked, hehe.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/hSyD1t_YIIg/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=212039

* re- baking the pie solved the problem

* Risha the curious restless one
seemingly uninterested in humans
hides under the skirts of my caftan
i am at computer
husband uses the vacuum
later she is asleep in my lap

* reading new zen book
discover mango pink toenails
playful - very Zen!

* at community brunch
meet couple
share stories

* she - only child -my age
spent summers in same area
but on different sides of the border
she New York
me Connecticut
had similar experiences
both went to "big city" - Danbury
remember the 5 & 10

* he - birder
explorer of back roads
knew the property
so central to my time
all my efforts to preserve

* Snapple green tea - mango
just because

as I got the tree and the "nativity scene" up. (My husband Ron loves when the moose comes out!)

( Herez picshures! (compliments of my crappy cell phone): )

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/lR_5Gf-xzuk/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=211883

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/Ut2YXcj_SdQ/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=211767

here's a shot of hope and brady from last week!!!

http://dailymandala.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-28-2009.html

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There's still some time left... and I can't stop, don't want to. I have a bit over two days left and I'll just go as far as I can with this last one, finish in December at the white-hot pace of a three day novel, just write it and see what happens. Then buckle down to editing.

Nanowrimo 2009 Supergoal: Four Book Year:


Magic in the Streets, Nanovel One 2009


Greenwood Road, Nanovel Two 2009


Medicine Show, Nanovel Three 2009


Greenwood Gates, Nanovel Four 2009


Greenwood Home, Nanovel Five 2009


Chapters are smaller on this one.

Nanowrimo 2009 Supergoal: Four Book Year:


Magic in the Streets, Nanovel One 2009


Greenwood Road, Nanovel Two 2009


Medicine Show, Nanovel Three 2009


Greenwood Gates, Nanovel Four 2009


And it ran long. The end was full of surprises. I also managed to throw away a major advantage the party has since the really old elven lady in the party has just forgotten almost all her skills and possibly how to use a fork thanks to a ritual giving all that power to the realm they're leaving. Yay for setup that snaps in the last chapter! She's young again, but... she's not much more powerful than the kids, she just is one of them now with assorted patchy random bits of memory of things. But she remembered who her boyfriend and her cat are, so she's okay. Talk about recapturing your youth!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/Mrrfi8KhCHM/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=211745

Oh yes indeedy ~ who said LJ discouraged real friends! Thank you blessed_oak. It's Saturday morning & outside all is calm. Small birds sit in the maple, silver~grey clouds move imperceptibly across the sky.

The plan is to work on the short story. Lying in the bath this morning I realised I have the ending; if I get that down, I'll be able to work out how many words are left with which flesh out the rest.

Clever.

Forgive me dear reader, for banging on about how marvellous life is post~upgrade. As if my magic, all my fonts have reappeared in Word. I am reunited with Papyrus & Harrington. I may faint with joy. (Harrington & Papyrus: Attorneys at Law ~ I can do American...) Meanwhile, if anyone knows how to download an extra colour palette into Hotmail plus a nice selection of fonts therein, I may turn out to be your slave forever...

I went to London and back this week, and for a few days bathed in a rather intoxicating mixture of all the arts I don't partake in – music, theater, poetry. Came back with a definite blues soundtrack playing in my mind and fresh new inspirations...

It varies with my budget and what I'm doing, how much of a big deal I'm doing for the holidays. Usually I order from Amazon sometime around this time of year if I didn't do it earlier. Varies. My list is very short anyway.

Didn't turn out as utterly nasty as I thought, but it did have a deep schism in the elven city. A hard chapter to write with a lot of the characters' emotions running high. Very much the kind of conflicts you can't resolve by poking a sword at them unless you want everyone dead on the floor like Hamlet.

Nanowrimo 2009 Supergoal: Four Book Year:


Magic in the Streets, Nanovel One 2009


Greenwood Road, Nanovel Two 2009


Medicine Show, Nanovel Three 2009


Greenwood Gates, Nanovel Four 2009

* two of my three books arrived!!
earlier than amazon's prediction

#1 Wabi Sabi - The Art of Everyday Life -- Diane Durston
little book of quotes that fit the principles of the aesthetic
had this book before but it disappeared

Sample:
"If you truly love nature
you will find beauty everywhere"
Vincent Van Gogh

#2 The Zen of Creativity -- John Daido Loori
know nothing about this book
am eager to sample it

* very windy
things are thrashing about
good for reading

* Thanksgiving was "Chez Nous"
for a change
made pumpkin pie
but we did not do turkey!
did cornish hens
cranberries & oranges in port wine
glazed brussel sprouts & chestnuts
acorn squash
salad

* watching "black Friday" on TV
Run away!!!!
"Christmas Greed"
but with the best intentions

* i dread shopping
but i think doing the internet
too impersonal
i want to see it - chose it - wrap it
i am giving me with the gift

* i should stay away from the TV
"Christmas commercials"
dim my spirit

* i used to like seeing
how the stores were decorated
but here - less decoration
and what is tends to be tacky

* so scrooge has met the grinch
lol
but i shall be merry anyway
i shall have a Zen Winter Holiday!

http://lifeloomslarge.blogspot.com/2009/11/glad-its-friday.html

I feel like I just finished a tough work week - except that it was more of a tough loom week (or two).

You guys gave me great advice about highlighting the beauty of my wild warp. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge and ideas with me! I really, really appreciate it!!

Putting that advice into practice was quite the process!


First, since lots of suggestions had to do with weft choices, I dug through my stash and pulled out anything I thought might help. Or yarns that just seemed fun to try.


Then I had to do a lot of work with Texsolv. The loom had 2 shafts on it, and the remaining Texsolv for the other 10 shafts was either washed but tangled up, or quite dirty.

I sorted and straightened and washed. (Our washing machine broke during this time, so I had to wait to have a working washer.)


I did notice that an apron cloth is pretty cool because you can set things on it.

Plus, these kitchen clips are very useful around a loom. I might have to liberate a few more of them from our kitchen.


I spent some quality time inside my loom adding two more lamms, and connecting everything.


Narrowed down my yarn choices to my top contenders.


Re-threaded and re-sleyed so I'd have a straight draw instead of plain weave.

Plus, moved the left selvedge since that yarn had already abraded enough to break.


Added floating selvedges and an extra strand of warp so that the straight draw would be balanced instead of ending on shaft 3.



Finally, this afternoon, I did my first sampling. No home runs....I made some decisions at the loom that I still need to sit with and mull over.

I think I need to sample a little more too, when I'm more analytical and less tired.

Then I'll make decisions and let you know what I'm thinking - in case you can help me avert disaster!! I will say that both Jim and I have a favorite - it's the same favorite - and it's kind of shocking to me.

I need to mull it over more though. I hope it will all seem clearer in the light of day tomorrow.

I swear, if I hadn't eaten a giant amount yesterday, tonight would be the perfect night to go out for Mexican food and margaritas. It's just been that kind of week.

Hope you're heading into a relaxing weekend too!

This project so far:
Asking for help designing in the reed
Project kickoff
Designing in the reed
Asking for help showing off the warp