NaNoWriMo

I have written my 50,000 words!! And I wave officially won NaNoWriMo 2007!!

IT'S OVER!!

It's been a while...

Dear readers, I promise I'll update more once NaNoWriMo is over, at the end of this week. Currently, everything I'm thinking, feeling, and experiencing is somehow working it's way into chunks of moderately well-written prose (or chunks of really dreadful prose).

I don't know if I'll finish or not, but I'm definitely going to give it a good effort. I broke 20,000 words tonight, and that means I only have to write 30,000 more. In five days. Umm . . . yeah. We'll see how that goes.

Wish me luck!

Highest Possible Praise

I had dinner with my flute students' family last night, while Linny Jane was teaching piano to various members of the household. My nine year-old asked me, "What's your dream?"

"What do you mean?" I responded.

"What do you want to do? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Well," I said, "I would really like to be a professional flutist and be able to teach in colleges."

"That's neat," my student replied. "I want to be a teacher, too. A music teacher. Since I started taking flute and piano lessons, that's what I want to do."

Imitation, they say, is the sincerest form of flattery. I can think of no more awesome honor than to have a student tell me they want to teach music because of what they have learned from me. I am both proud of and humbled by that.

Novelling (and one other thing)

There is a theory that we can accomplish any task--as long as it's not the one that has been set right in front of us. I'm finding that with NaNoWriMo. All of a sudden, with a daily word deadline of 1,667 words, I am discovering that gee, I should really start practicing guitar/flute/singing again. I amaze myself with my ability to pour over Bach sonatas (or guitar fingerings) again in an attempt to avoid working on my novel. Heh.

The real thing I'm running into right now with the novel is that I'm hitting the point where my characters are going to have to start making some decisions and growing, and while I'm writing random scenes (see this post), I really want to get back to writing linearly. I want to write the story I want to read, in the order in which I want to read it. Just got to keep slogging through, I suppose.

In case anyone is wondering, yes, right now NaNo is owning my life, and if I want to finish this year, it's only going to get worse in the coming weeks. ;)

And today is the five-year anniversary of my Grandpa Luther passing away, so requiescat in pace, Grandpa.

Picture

All ye readers, please take note of the new profile picture.

I sometimes think I amuse myself entirely too easily. Heh.

Lyrics

This came across Pandora radio today, and although I must have heard it at least five times before, it hit particularly hard today.

Hummingbird
Kris Delmhorst

Here in the dark, I won’t even make a spark.
You’re the only one who’s never seen
The way I can light up in shades of gold and green.
I’m just a little firefly, I want to shine for you but I’m too shy,
So when you come around I hide my light.
But when you go away I shine for you all night.

Out there in the sun, I’d open up for anyone.
You’re the only one who closes me
Because I want to be the brightest thing you’ve ever seen.
I’m just a little dandelion, I want to blossom but I’m scared of trying,
So I hide my head when you come into the room.
But when you go away I come right into bloom.

And I can’t look down, I’m way too high,
And I can’t look up, into your eyes.

Well I never was afraid to sing out loud, in front of anybody, any crowd.
You, you make me lose my nerve
Feel like something more than I could ever deserve.
I’m just a little hummingbird, I want to sing but I can’t find the words,
So when you come around I just go still
But after you move on, when I know you’re gone,
Then I sing for you the way I always will.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled, non-emo, mature 23 year-old posts.

Strange desires

In the midst of my novelling flurry, I feel strangely compelled to start writing song lyrics.