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NaNoWriMo Update One: The Black Hole

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:22:34 GMT

Per request, I planned to write small updates about how my participation in NaNoWriMo is going.

My first update was a stellar one too - all about my intro to the world of novel writing, how I find the process consuming, thrilling and challenging, how N has been my idea-bouncing-board and my untangler-of-plot-knots, how writing a story reminds me of pottery with words, the molding, kneeding, shaping, thinking...Oh,and how I got to almost 9,000 words by the end of today.

But it's not to be.

Somewhere around 2:47pm today, a virus invaded my computer, and ate my file and my entire novel disappeared into the vast reaches of netherspace.

Gone..the whole thing...just *poof* Gone.

So, yea...that sucks.

But, I'm not giving up. Thankfully most of the story is still fresh in my mind. I'm not certain I can make the deadline, but I intend to try. And thanks to a supportive hubby and loads of Mountain Dew, there is always hope.

I'm off to start again!

EDIT: HE SAVED IT! My Awesome Wonderful Brillant Amazing Husband Found It! He pulled it back from the brink of oblivion! He did something super smart and totally above my head and "restored the file"! I LOVE HIM SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!

Joining In: National Novel Writing Month

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:38:36 GMT

I read somewhere that most avid readers eventually become writers. I'm no exception. I have tried my hand at fiction, although I have yet to complete anything.

Therefore, I have decided to give myself a swift kick in the butt.
I signed up to participate in this years National Novel Writing Month.
The Challenge: Write an entire novel (or 50,000 words) in one month.

I blame JessicaAshley7 and Liv_Monkee entirely for exposing my impressionable mind to such an event. I only hope I can keep up with them. I am a newbie and all.....

If my blogging is sparse (or more so then recently, which has been bad enough) you know why.

Wish me Luck!

My Favorite Kind of Fail

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:21:15 GMT

The Booky Kind! ........but you knew that already

I went to another Library Book Sale. I spent a bit more then the last one, but had some great finds!

The Highlights:

The Avenel Dictionary of Saints by Donald Attwater: Not a week before, I mentioned to myself I should like a reference on the Saints, perhaps with short bios. I was certain one would be expensive, but then I found this for $1!

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer (Newberry): I read this several months ago, borrowed from the library, and absolutely loved the story and the author. I wanted my own copy to read again. This one was only 10 cents!

What So Proudly We Hail: All About Our American Flag, Monuments and Symbols by Maymie R. Krythe: I notice I gravitate towards books on American history. This fits in nicely, and I look forward to reading it.

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Newberry): I bought this because it was 1. a Newberry book and 2. set in Florida. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend.

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley by Ann Rinaldi: I read about Wheatley during my Revolutionary War phase. I was highly pleased to snag this small biography.

Additional Finds:

Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine

Run Away Home by Patricia McKissack,

Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg

Flip-Flop Girl by Katherine Patterson

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman, Karen (Newberry)

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary (Newberry)

When My Names was Keoko by Linda Sue Park Park

Straw into Gold by Gary D. Schmidt

Best-Loved Short Stories of Nineteenth-Century America ed. by Stefan Dziemianowicz

Witches and Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old & New ed. by Marvin Keye

The Many Worlds of Literature by Stuart Hirschberg

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 By Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Racism in America: Opposing Viewpoints by William Dudley

Yearning: Race, Gender and Cultural Politics by bell hooks

Harriet Tubman: Moses of the Underground Railroad By Anne Schraff

O Rugged Land of Gold by Martha Martin

The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century by Catherine Clinton

Age of Excess: The United States from 1887 to 1914 by Ray Ginger

Out of Many: A History of the American People (Brief 3rd Edition) by John Faragher et.al.

Knight of the Seas: The Adventurous Life of John Paul Jones by Valentine Thomson

The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi by Robert Payne

Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People by Michael Yaconelli

Wake Up America! Answering God's Radical Call While Living in the Real World by Tony Campolo

A Time of Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen by Kathryn Lasky (The Dear America Series)

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kathleen Gregory (The Dear America Series)

Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, A Freed Girl by Joyce Hansen (The Dear America Series)

Esprit de l’escalier: “Listen... Opal... you cannot hold onto anything that wants to go. Do you understand what I'm sayin'? You just got to love it while you got it, and that's that.” ~ Because of Winn Dixie

Theading Roughts: This is interesting, although not as engaging as I assumed it would be. The writing is average, and the author relies more on sensational facts about historical figures then good prose. But it’s entertaining, and I’m sure will come in handy during a game of Trivial Pursuit.

Further Conversations Between Me, Myself and I

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:48:32 GMT

You may recalled I once wrote about the conversations between me, myself and I - otherwise known as Lauren the Nerdy Bibliophile (NB), Lauren the Godly Wife (GW), Lauren the Self-Centered Smartass (SCS)

Recently, we had another one I feel is significant:

SCS: We need to stop listening to sermons.

GW: Why?

SCS: Every time we do, you change things and get all “I’m going to follow God” on me. It’s annoying and I don’t like it!

GW: You don’t like it because it means you don’t get what you want.

SCS: Uh, yea. Why is that a problem?

GW: Because what you want is selfish. It’s all about you, with no consideration for anyone else and often goes directly against how God has called us to live.

SCS: See! This is exactly why I hate when we listen to sermons!

GW: It’s a good for us. They remind us to live for others and not our self. We forgot. A lot.

NB: I like sermons that mention books. We should buy more books mentioned in sermons.

GW: No, we’re trying not to buy books, remember?

SCS: Why? Because N said so? He’s so bossy!

GW: He is not. We’re bossy. He’s being wise. We do this to show him we love him

NB: And sometimes, he buys us books to show us he loves us! I love that part.

SCS: Whatever. No more sermons. I hate sermons. Like this last one? Seriously? What was all that crap about “not being petty” and “kindness to your spouse”. What a bunch of baloney. N should be nice to us! We don’t need to be nice to him.

GW: What? No! We always get mad about petty things. We waste so much time being angry over things that don’t matter, over thinking about our self, over stupid petty things! We need to kind and patient and not so me-me-me.

SCS: I like thinking about me. Beside, they’re not stupid things. They are very important!

GW: Right. Like yesterday when you got mad at him because he didn’t put his bowl in the dishwasher and you had to do it for him? That was important? That was worth being rude over?

SCS: He was being lazy! I shouldn’t have to do all the work! I wanted to read! I had to clean instead! It was hard!

NB: I love reading!

GW: What you want is not important enough that you can hurt others to get it! You were mean over a petty thing! Thank Jesus N is a patient man and forgave us. We cannot keep doing this.

SCS: Sure we can

GW: No, we can’t. I won’t let us.

SCS: You’re not always strong enough to stop me.

GW: I don’t need to be. I have God.

SCS: crap.

NB: Oh, snap! You were burned, SCS. I bet she read that in a book. We should buy more books about this subject. I’m sure I can find a good one.

SCS / GW: NO!

Esprit de l’escalier: “Love is patient, Love is kind” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4

Theading Roughts: Finished! Finally. I enjoy many parts of this book. Some were profound, humorous, beautiful, interesting and deep. Other parts were rambling, vague and bit to esoteric for my taste. However, I recommend. He offers keen insights into our relationship with God, and how that affects our relationship to each other.

On Marriage: Cultivate Thankfulness

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:55:57 GMT

Thankfulness is vital to the survival of a marriage. Without thankfulness, the marriage dies.

Thankfulness is the vaccine against the insidious selfishness and pride that invade your marriage and eat away at it like a cancer.

Thankfulness both comes from and creates humility and self-sacrifice. Greed, pride and selfishness are not found in the thankful person.

When you are thankful for the other, you complain less. You may become frustrated with the other person, but your focus is on the good things, not the bad.

When we are thankful, we are motivated to live thankful, thru words and actions. We want the other person to know we are thankful for them.

And when we know the other person is thankful for us, we experience a unique freedom to be ourselves because we are secure in their love for us.

Thankfulness is similar to love: sometimes, it’s a choice, not a feeling.

We don’t have to feel thankful to be thankful. Even if the worst situation, we can give thanks. To quote a friend’s husband, who when asked what he was thankful for during an extremely stressful situation, replied, “Well, I’m thankful my pants aren’t on fire.”

Sincerely saying “Thank you for such-n-such” to a spouse can immediately improve the situation. Don’t wait until you feel it to say it. Live as if you were and soon you will find you are!

This is not limited to married people. Singles must cultivate thankfulness as well. If you cannot be thankful for what God gives you now, it is unlikely you will be grateful once married.

Ways to cultivated Thankfulness:

- Write a Thankful Thought down each day.
- List all the Good Things in your life.
- Avoid complaining.
- Tell the people you love how thankful you are for them.
- Say, “I appreciate you” to one person each day.
- Tell your spouse you are glad you married them.
- Tell your spouse you are glad to be their husband/wife.
- Small things count. Do small things that show your gratitude for your spouse.
- Read all the Bible verses about thankfulness and gratitude.
- Lastly, give thanks each day to God for your life, the good and the bad.

Esprit de l’escalier: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~ G. K. Chesterton

On Marriage: Friendships Change

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:41:04 GMT

When you get married, your friendships change.

This isn’t something I’ve learned, but more discovered, and have yet to figure out how to manage without hurting others.

When your life become intricately woven into someone else’s, it is hard to explain what changes. But things do.

Because we are creatures living in Time, we instinctually prioritize our lives; we give time to what matters most to us. Once married, your spouse suddenly ranks Number One on the list. This is hard to explain to best friends, who swiftly find themselves no longer your first call, the first you spend time with, the first you ask to be there. Suddenly, there is less time for them.

Marriage takes work. Next to our relationship with God, it is the most important relationship we have.

Finding the balance between keeping the friends, and giving the time needed to maintain a marriage is difficult.

This seems hardest on single friends. Married friends respect this because they are in the same place. But single friends often feel the change deepest and sharpest.

How do you say to someone, “I’m sorry, I didn’t invite you because I’m going with my husband and it’s a date and you would be the third wheel” or “I can’t go with you to that event because my wife feels it’s too expensive” or “It’s a couples-only event, and your single, so we didn’t invite you” or “I need to spend time with my wife and I don’t have time for you today”

It is imperative spouses give each other the freedom and time to spend with friends, and friends give each other the freedom and time to spend with their spouse. Our spouse should encourage us to spend time with friends. It’s healthy for the person, and the marriage. But the marriage comes first. When you stand together at a wedding, the officiate asks the congregation if they will support the couple’s marriage. For single friends, part of that is letting go of some aspects of friendship.

But I don’t know how that works. It seems…unfair…to the single friends. But I can’t find away around it.

What do you think?

Esprit de l’escalier: "The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~ Elizabeth Foley

We Interrupt The Lectures on Marriage to Bring You Gratuitous Books Ramblings, With Pictures.

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:26:53 GMT

Tuesday, I arrived home for work to find this sitting on my doorstep.

It was such a beautiful sight, I took a picture to share!

Even more exciting was the books inside!

A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison By Paul Jennings

The Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay ed. by Norma Millay
(recommended by vienna_waits90, who I am forever indebted to for introducing me to Millay)

Hunting Grounds by Patricia Briggs (Alpha and Omega Series, Book II)

Strange Brew ed. by P. N. Elrod
(Contains Stories by Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris)

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots by J. C. Ryle (Author)

Oh, the booky goodness!

On Marriage: How To Fight

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:59:52 GMT

All relationships have friction; fighting in a marriage is normal and even healthy – provided you fight correctly.

A good fight makes you stronger. Bad fighting can tear your relationship apart.

Bad fighting: Is Verbal Jousting. You hammer your point, damaging the other person, refusing to give. You hurt them until they concede, bleeding and humiliated. You may prove you’re stronger, smarter, more “right” but at what cost? The other person pays the price for your hubris and selfishness! Often times, these arguments move quickly away from the issue and become insult-tossing matches. Nothing is accomplished, nothing is gained, nothing is solved.

And remember, concession by the other person doesn’t make you right; it makes you the winner in a game where everyone loses.

Good Fighting: Is Untangling a Knot. When cofronted with an issue, misunderstanding or hurt, both work together to solve the issue.
- They listen,
- The look at it from the other’s viewpoint,
- They use words gently, as tools, not weapons,
- They stay on topic,
- They don’t accuse, but explain,
- They give, sacrifice, compromise, bend, let go,
- They don’t bring up past wrongs,

Phrases like, “I’m sorry I hurt you” and “I was wrong” and “I didn’t realize that’s how you felt” and “I will change my behavior so I don’t hurt you again” and “I am willing to try it your way” are frequent and sincere.

The Point of Arguing: It is not a game: You can’t win or lose. If you think you can, if you think that is the point, then you are lost from the start. Arguing is about solving a problem, working to make low the mountains and smooth the valleys, to strengthen, to bind together, to communicate. It's about becoming more unselfish and less prideful. Iron sharpening iron.

Good Fighting is a chance to affirm your desire to stay together. A good fight brings you closer your spouse because it opens each up to the other’s thoughts and helps to burn out the dross until the pure shines thru.

Esprit de l’escalier: “What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Theading Roughts: I enjoyed this work, even if the end was a bit too dense for my simple mind. As always, I had the urge to read everything he quotes, but considering how many works that was, it may take me a 1,000 years and I have enough to read, as it is. Still, I recommend, particularly to anyone who loves the history of words or precision in language.

On Marriage - A Introduction

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:36:19 GMT

Today, N and I celebrate Three Years of Marriage.

In honor of the day, I wrote three blurbs on Things I Learned About Marriage, to be posted in the next few days.

For now, I wish to say I am grateful beyond measure that God blessed my crooked, sinful life with a man like N. I do not deserve his patience, his forbearance or his love, but that never stops him from giving each unconditionally.

For my sister-in-laws wedding two weeks ago, her “something borrowed” was a ring N’s Dad gave his Mom. Engraved on the inside, it says, “More Today Then Yesterday”. That is true for them, for his sister and her new husband, and it is true for N and I.

N and I at Cat and Stephen’s wedding.

Esprit de l’escalier: “Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." ~ Ruth 1:16-17

Theading Roughts: Oh, the booky goodness! Since I last posted, I have gone book-mad, acquiring nearly 75 new books. There will be much discussion and gratuitous ramblings on these acquisitions.

I'm Off to Herd the Crazies.

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:48:31 GMT

Some things happened or are about to happen at work and home that are making my life absolutely blooming crazy. Nothing bad, per se, just lots and lots of OMGWTFBBQRUNRUNGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and other assorted nonsense.

Therefore, I am taking a mini-break. Not long, and I'm still reading/commenting but until I have brain power for anything other then crisis management, I won't be posting.

When I come back, I will have lots to say about motorcycles and vacations and diets and weddings and friends and parents and employment and reaping-what-one-sows. Oh, and books. Because I always have too much to say about books.