NaNoWriMo here I come!

Ok. so none of you talked me out of it... so I guess I'm in! Anybody want to buddy me so we can whine and moan about big, blank white pages? I'm registered at www.nanowrimo.org as jedstro ... search for me under authors and hook up with me as a buddy and we can share this crazy experience!

Of course, now that I registered, all of my cool story ideas quickly vaporized from my addled brain, and the only ones left are cliche filled-loser ideas.... or completely autobiographical which is lame-o.

So, in the final hours before it starts, I find myself with a furrowed brow, talking to myself about story ideas.... anybody want to provide some stimulation for my old, addled grey cells?

Please, someone talk me out of this horribly bad idea...

I'm serious, tell me to run away from this idea as fast as I can... because I can't honestly understand why I shouldn't partake in this crazy project: NaNoWriMo.... www.nanowrimo.org

The goal: Write a novel of at least 50,000 words between November 1st and Midnight, November 30th. That's it.... easy peasy, right?

Here's why I think I can and should do it:

1. If you've read more than one of my blog entries, you know that I tend to be, um, um, wordy and not necessarily good at self editing... so the quantity goal of average 1,666 word/day doesn't scare me all that much
2. I've been kicking around a few story ideas for years that I think I'd like to experiment with
3. There's no quality measure - sweet!
4. I dont' seem to have much work to do at work
5. I don't seem to have much stimulation or, purpose in my professional life (see this post)
6. There's absolutely no risk if I fail
7. If I succeed, I get a nifty web badge to stick on my little blog... and a handy dandy certificate!

Please, all you experienced writers out there... tell me of the heart ache and bloody finger tips, tell me how my brain will feel like it's complete mush after the first three hours. Describe the complete and utter panic I'll feel on that first day and the last few hours of the deadline. Tell me that I will neglect my family, this blog and all the other aspects of my life.

Tell me why this is a bad idea... or join with me in this crazy idea.... fellow closet writers and dreamers, you know who you are!

What's on your desktop?

No not the computer desktop... the actual physical horizontal space on which you set the computer.... What do you artifacts do you keep close to your virtual reality? I keep things that remind me of friends, family, victories, and some bittersweet moments of my life. I am a visual person, and while some people may feel unessecary objects bring clutter and chaos to their desk scape... These things keep me grounded and help me remember what is important.

Within my peripheral vision, l'objets that are considered non work essential are (from left to right):

• A framed portait of Rosie the Riveter that my BFF Julia gave me - it says "Jenny Can Do it" - I do look at it every day and it keeps me motivated
• A collage of pictures of former coworkers at various team events. Included are kickball with service ops, pre-bowling lunch with the BEST TEAM EVER, Ferber and I looking like 6th grade playground buds, Happy hour shot of Messrs. Rocket, Gunderson and English drinking beer, and a group shot of the last Women's build day that our company had with Habitat for Humanity.
• A pitcture frame that is filled with many layers of promises written on napkins from former co-workers - Ferber, I still want that free IT release, damn-it - even if you have to work Rocket to death to get it!
• Several pictures of my children at various ages, all the way from fishing up at Grindstone Lake to them in front of the cabin to their current school pictures.
• Tokens from my affections - small gifts from various friends - the majority from my wonderful husband:
• A Devil rubber ducky,
• a white VW Bug,
• A keycard from our stay at the W Foshay tower recently,
• A lovely arty magnifying glass, a gift from my step daughter Samantha
• A stress-ball apple with an I3 on it (this is what I throw at the wall when I get frustrated)
• A promotional puzzle block from a former vendor that unfolds in various ways - great to play with while on interminable conference calls
• A dolphin keychain that squeaks when you push the button,

• Several "i voted" stickers (in case anyone wants to question my patriotism),
• My subliminal Democrat button (you'd have to get really close to know what it is),
• A pin from Pracna on main, which came from an afternoon playing hooky this summer with my husband, drinking Gin and Tonics all afternoon
• More picutres of teams from the past - this one is from the ORIGINAL BEST TEAM EVER at FBS - damn we were young.
• A single photo of Marne flipping me the bird at an all day planning session - that one makes me giggle
• Several coffe receptacles, some for use, some for show
• Tickets to the Hiromi show at the Dakota
• Ticket Stubs from the movie Matrix, when we all took an afternoon off from the office, had a fabulous lunch and went to the movie
• Pictures of the team sock puppet (Lola?) in front of various desitnations on the Curise of a lifetime - La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Port in Santa Margherita, the casino in Monte Carlo.

Clearly a reflection of what's important to me: Family, Friends, Politics, travel and not taking myself too seriously...

What's on your desktop?

On having a purpose...

In all of my 27 working years, it's never been more clear to me as to how my self-worth is determined by my employment. I, like other people, have built this false belief that the more responsibility you have, the more fulfilling the job will be. And in most cases, this has been true. For years, I have been very fortunate and have found myself moving "up" in my current organization with a focus on both making a difference in the community



Honestly, I have had truly menial jobs that were much more fulfilling than the one I have right now. Flipping burgers at Mac's, being a courier (read: mailgirl) at a local bank, even being a playground supervisor over "the best tan of my life" summer.. these all had some element of directly benefiting humanity that I just don't have right now...which is odd, since I'm a corporate do-gooder -wouldn't that be a job that most likely fills the "make the world a better place" need in a career?

So, the obvious conclusion I draw is "power" and "influence" are meaningless without purpose. No duh... I say to my self...no duh.

Last Harvest of 2009 - 24 K Carrot Gold

Ooh those dirty little carrots....

Ok, so remember when I talked all big about weeding my garden, taking a day off, blah blah blah? Well, I haven't touched it since then, aside from taking the last ripe tomatoes and a chili pepper to make a big pot of kick-ass chili.... that was three weeks ago.

We had an early frost here in Minneapolis... about 2 weeks ahead of the average date, so I've been watching all of my flowers loose their cellular structure, species by species. Tomatoes go after the impatiens, but they are the next to go... then the raspberries, zuchinni, cukes and bell peppers. I spent about 30 minutes ripping out all of these soggy, nasty plants today. Then I turned around, and looked at the carrot patch. I've been neglecting it all summer - the happy little fringy tops growing away, even though I never thinned the few rows I seeded in June. I was delighted to see that the tops were still green, which meant that it wasn't too late for harevsting the carrots! Yipppeeee!

I grabbed the pitch fork, and with laser accuracy, dug up the entire patch in three turns. Then comes the most favorite activity of any veggie gardener... discovering the buried treasures that were hidden in seed form a long four months ago. Were there any? Where they long or short? did the non-thinning negatively impact the crop? The picture above confirms that I produced a bumper crop of "Sweet Mini" variety carrots - they turned out exactly as they should have... non thinning and all.... ahhhhh I love being a lazy gardener!

And now a good portion of them are destined for some stew that I assembled during the MN Vikings game. Good thing I got the stew meat cut up before the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game... I might have thrown the knife at the TV!

Time to add the carrots and the shamefully uniform red potatoes that were purchased at the local store.... I love growing potatoes... just not enough return on my investment. I'll figure out the ROI on the carrots.... after I taste them in the stew!

Pretty little things when they are all cleaned up!

The rumours of my death are greatly exagerated...

Well, not real death, but death as a member of the blogger community.... turns out, when you are actually working for a living, taking care of family, politically active, doing good in the community, and obsessed with the local baseball team in their run for the pennant..... there's just not a lot of blog time in the schedule.

I know, I know, anybody that takes the time to read, lurk, comment or snark on my blog should not be a victim of my schedule. Nor, should the wonderful writers whose blogs I frequent be summarily ignored, simply because I don't have time.

Alas, the truth is that I am (like most people) very selfish, and my priorities are as such:

1) My wonderful 15 year old twin boys
2) My charming husband of 10+ years
3) Other extended family members- specifically my 88 year old mother in law who is making the move this weekend from the 30+ year family home to a 700 square foot apartment, and oh, yeah, she's a packrat.
3) Paid employemnt (only because it pays the bills)
4) The Foundation that I just started with a group of highly talented women
5) The DFL and it's candidates and elected officials
6) My dogs
7) My garden (Should move lower as it's snowed and my garden is now defunct for the year)
8) Blogs I vist
9) Housework, to include laundry, dishes, sweeping mounds of doggie hair (See #6), etc.

That's right, you all only trump housework. Sorry.

I'll try to be a better blogger..... tomorrow after I go to work, take Mother in law shopping, come home to do the dishes and throw in a load of laundry.