Are You a Little Teapot?
by Lynn Daniels on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 5:55 pm
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NaNoWriMo Day 21
LittleDude stayed home from school yesterday with a tummy ache. And since he didn’t go to school, he didn’t go to TKD, either. And since he didn’t go to TKD, I didn’t get my during TKD writing time. I did manage to squeeze a little writing last night — Garry Goat was very distracted by dandelions, so Billy Bullfrog was the one to warn Chester and Rube of Centipig’s evil plan.
Remember the Hokey Pokey thing I posted about yesterday? Chester wasn’t allowed to Hokey Pokey in Rube’s arms any more. Well, after Rube feared Chester had died, Chester is now allowed to Hokey Pokey, be a little teapot, or do whatever else he might wish to do in Rube’s arms. See? I did get a little bit written.
Today I picked my mother up from the airport and she’s in for the holiday. Since she arrived, she’s kept the kids busy and I’ve managed to squeeze in a little writing. That’s a good thing. I’ve discovered that Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora is not a doctor, and Rube the dinosaur’s ankle was purple not because of broken blood vessels but because Rube himself is purple. Whooda thunk?
I’ve also learned of a cool tool through a couple of different sources: somebody (can’t remember who — sorry) tweeted it first, then I saw something about it on the NaNoWriMo forums. It’s Write or Die: Dr. Wicked’s Writing Lab, and I’ve added it under Writers Resources on my Links page.
From the Write or Die page:
Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you’re fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.
Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I often find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing.
If you haven’t played with it yet, give it a try! Last night I used it to write 530 words in 11 minutes. I might have to go back and use the word count feature next time instead of the timer. Gotta up that word count!
Doin’ the Hokey Pokey
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 7:41 am
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NaNoWriMo Day 20
Making progress. Proudly. WOO HOO!
Although LittleDude missed his TKD lesson because of an appointment with his allergy doctor, Master let him take class with MiniMe. With my iPod on, I got 45 minutes of uninterrupted writing time while they kicked and punched and blocked. Not as good as the 1-1/2 hours I normally get on Wednesdays, but certainly better than nothing. It was enough time to introduce Garry Goat and Billy Bullfrog, who have started to warn Chester and Rube about Centipig amassing his pigapede army. And I managed to work in Beverly Hillbillies and Star Wars references, to boot.That reminds me; do goats eat dandelions?
I’m currently in frenzied cleaning mode. It started yesterday and will last until tomorrow morning; my mother is flying tomorrow afternoon for the holiday. I’m not quite sure why I’m cleaning. Check that. I know why I’m cleaning; I just don’t know why I’m frenzied. Regardless of how well I clean, my mother will always re-clean. It’s what she does. One of these days, I’ll learn my lesson and just leave it for her. One of these days.
But not today.
Before signing off, I’ll leave you with this: imagine if you will a small white duck with orange polka dots on his belly and pointy green ears, wearing a blue felt fedora, trying to do the Hokey Pokey while being carried through a forest by a giant purple dinosaur. Got it? Congrats, you’ve just met Chester and Rube.
You put your right foot in
you put your right foot out
you put your right foot in and you shake it all about…
P.S. Happy 14th wedding anniversary to SoundGuy and me!
Evil Plot Revealed
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 1:56 pm
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NaNoWriMo Day Twelve
Didn’t make much progress over the weekend, but I didn’t expect to. The good news is MiniMe’s soccer team finished the season in second place after a lovely end of season party on Saturday. Soccer games and parties don’t leave much time for writing, though, so although I didn’t produce a big ol’ goose egg number of words, my weekend total was pathetic.
More good news, yesterday was a great writing day between LittleDude’s TKD lesson and MiniMe’s soccer practice (she’s playing a tournament this weekend and then we’re done!). I anticipate another good writing day today — LittleDude’s got a doctor appointment so he won’t make it to TKD, but MiniMe will be going to her lesson. And Wednesday’s usually a light day, so chances are LittleDude will get to take the lesson with her. So tonight, Chester and Rube will finally make it to Cranky Canyon on their way to the Land of the Joes. I’m thinking that while in Cranky Canyon, they’ll learn of the evil Centipig’s plot to take over Feckerson Forest.
This story has been fun to write and fun to plot, and MiniMe’s been a tremendous help with it. Bouncing plot ideas off her has been enlightening; she’s got a great mind for fiction.
And now it’s time to prepare for LittleDude’s arrival, after which I’ll whisk him away to the doctor.
Have a great day!
The Saga of Huey, Dewey & Louie
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7:20 am
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NaNoWriMo Day Five
Yesterday was the big shopping trip. Converse for LittleDude. Of course, all the places that had good prices were out of his size. Some had every size but his. How does that happen?I did finally manage to find him a pair. When we looked in on him last night, they were in the bed next to him, resting comfortably on his pillow and tucked snugly under the covers.
My front yard has three trees. Every year– Maybe I shouldn’t put it that way, since we’ve only been in this house a couple years. Rephrasing that to: The past couple years SoundGuy has insisted on waiting until they’ve dropped all their leaves before going out to pick them up. Unfortunately, while every other tree in the neighborhood drops its leaves early, those three trees insist on clinging to theirs until sometime in March. This frustrates SoundGuy to no end.They don’t hold on to all their leaves, they drop just enough to make our yard look like it needs a good raking. They hold on to enough to make you certain that the moment you clear the yard of leaves, those trees will fill it right back up again. And they usually do. This year, I’ve decided to have a little fun with it.
Sometime during the first week of every month, I’m going to take a picture of my front yard and the leaves. I thought it might be a kick to see how those trees (to be known henceforth as Huey, Dewey, & Louie) and my yard progress throughout the season. Especially since SoundGuy has sworn that this year he won’t wait to clear the leaves. We’ll see. And we’ll have pictorial evidence.
I’m still making progress with Chester and Rube, and I’m still having a lot of fun. Unfortunately, yesterday’s shopping trip precluded the TKD lessons, which means I didn’t get my alone writing time. Both kids, however, will absolutely go to TKD today. Word count boost, here I come!I’ve learned that since I’m not worried about my NaNoWriMo project being published, I’m not above a little word padding. Word padding is fun! In my story, Chester is most frequently referred to as Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora, and his new found friend Rube (yes, I did get that scene written yesterday!), until his name was revealed, was referred to as the giant purple not sporgled bloonk.
Trust me, it makes sense in context.
Today’s scenes will have to chronicle the growing relationship between Chester and Rube before they’re thrown into the fire and forced to save Feckerson Forest from the evil Centipig and his army of pigipede minions. We’ll also begin taming Rube and maturing Chester (the duck with the smart blue felt fedora), who’s still often distracted by shiny objects. And ants. And butterflies. And mud puddles…
Mud Bubbles
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 10:08 am
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NaNoWriMo Day Four
Whooda thunk writing could be so much fun? I certainly haven’t reached prolific status, but I’m sure making progress. And I attribute it all to letting myself go.
Wow. 
That just sounded wrong. But you know what I mean, right? Writing a totally different kind of story, in a totally different style, without regard for plot or rules or whether or not it makes sense. My only requirement is that it be fun. And fun it has been. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of writing a scene about a duck blowing bubbles in the mud. What’s more fun than that?
And I’m happy to report that Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora escaped the Red Trees and made it to the Orange Tall Grass without being attacked by sporgled bloonks.
(See what I mean? PAR-TAY!)
In other news, we’re fast approaching the end of soccer season. Three more practices, one more season game, and three more tournament games and I get my Monday nights back! Although I must admit, this season has been great for MiniMe. Playing with the older girls has forced her to step up her game, and she’s accomplished it with flying colors. She even scored a goal and a sweet assist in Sunday’s game.
If I’m reading the stats correctly, her team will finish second in their division. Not too shabby!
The kids are out of school today, so it looks like I’m taking LittleDude shoe shopping. He’s got his little heart set on a pair of Converse, so tomorrow continues the quest. At least I’ll get to spend their TKD lessons playing with Chester. Maybe I’ll finally get to write the scene where he meets Rube, the pompous purple dinosaur.
That Dernded Overlord Strikes Again
by Lynn Daniels on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 9:56 pm
How are you spending your Friday night? Me? SoundGuy and I are sitting here watching the Olympics, and I’m considering transcribing some of my handwritten writing into the computer. If I can actually read it, that is. 
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The Pickle and the Otter
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 11:15 pm
So we left off in the last post at the Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail with Dill Pickle and the aardvark. Across from their enclosure is the cute little opossum. Many people don’t find these creatures cute, but this one just captured our attention. It could be the expression on his (her?) little face with eyes that reminded us of one of our dogs. That and the fact he/she stumbled around the cage as though drunk. MiniMe and I stayed and watched it for a while before SoundGuy and LittleDude joined us and we were ready to move on.
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Eagles and Bobcats and Bears…oh, my!
by Lynn Daniels on Monday, August 11, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Six days a week, I get my kids up in the morning and we all drive to our local high school to walk two miles around the track. It’s been good for me — I’ve dumped five pounds so far. But a couple days last week, we skipped our walk in favor of trips to the zoo.
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WHERE MY DINNER?!
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 10:23 am
Three times a week, I take LittleDude to his Tae Kwon Do lesson. The moment we get home, I cook up a frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu, cut it up and put it into a plastic container, and LittleDude eats that for dinner while MiniMe takes her Tae Kwon Do lesson. 
Week in Review
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 10:05 am
But just the good stuff, I promise.
First, I have actually made headway with NaNoWriMo. Not as much as I’d like, but I did it. However, it does look like I’ll have to put it aside — and that I’ll explain later. At least I know I was capable.
Yesterday was a HUGE anniversary for me. A day known in my household as THE BIG DEAL. And one that makes SoundGuy turn to me every so often and blurt I’m so proud of you. Yesterday at 12:00pm, I was officially a non-smoker for 18 months.
Random Photo
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NaNoWriMo
