at the time i’m writing this, the name nemo reminds me of this:
rather than this:
but by the time the day/storm is over that association may very well change.
in other weather news, this video is a lot like my reaction a few years ago when i was walking home from work in the middle of the blizzard and thunder cracked through the sky and my heart.
although, come to think of it, my response might have been a more of AAHHHH, THE WORLD IS ENDING as opposed to the sheer wonder that reporter radiates. i also might have used slightly stronger language than him.
if you’re also in the path of this fishy blizzard, may you be warm and cozy this weekend. if you’re not in the path of this storm, may your weekend be productive and fruitful and may you continue to associate nemo with a fish and not bucket loads of snow.
my lacrosse coach from freshman year (of high school) once said, “it takes two weeks to get into proper shape and only three days to get out of it.” after taking a month off from blogging, i’m finding that sentiment ringing in my ears because there are no thoughts in my brain to muffle it.
after a flurry of words in november and a lot of movement but very few words in december, my blogging/writing skills are rusty at best and stunted at worst.
lucky you, dear reader. lucky you.
you get a front row seat as i stretch and stumble, write and wobble, flail and fail, and generally try to remember how to ride this writing bike. it’ll be GOOD TIMES, even if it does look a little like this:
but then again, 2012 was a good year for that look. let’s see what i can do with it in 2013.
p.s. thank you to my nephews A & L for making me sit down and watch that video. it’s important to be hip to the trends, no matter if it is a 7 and 4yo showing me the way.
there has always been this one thing on my life to do list that i hadn’t shared with many people since it’s, well, a loaded topic.
what was that thing?
shooting a gun.
no one in my family hunts or owns a gun (to my knowledge), so i’ve never been around a gun before. i don’t even really like action movies with too much violence, but for some reason, i’ve always wanted to shoot a gun. i mean, something other than that orange remote controlled duck hunt ninetendo game thing.
lo and behold, this thanksgiving, i found myself surrounded by a cop and a doctor, wearing protective eye and ear gear and standing in front of a target. before this moment, i watched a five minute safety video and got a quick rundown of the gun + its parts, and then, it was go time.
so THAT’S what the back of my head looks like
after holding the gun(s) in my hands, i understood why i wanted to try it in the first place.
POWER.
it was scary and nerve wracking and interesting and creepy and unlike anything i had ever experienced and exactly like i had expected though much, much louder.
the recoil was jerky and uncontrollable and confusing because from my time playing (or trying) almost every sport under the sun, the way your arm followed through generally determined the arc/angle/ending point of the ball/puck, and when the gun jerked up after the trigger was pulled, it shocked me the bullet didn’t travel a similar, uneven path and end up 12 meters higher than i aimed for.
not bad for a novice, eh?
having finally (and randomly) checked this off my life’s goals list, i want everyone to follow suit. i know this is usually the time of year we’re all reviewing what we did and planning for the new one, but instead of making resolutions, i recommend getting out there and doing them.
starting now.
but be safe! and follow all the rules! and surround yourself with experts! (i mean, hello, could one be any safer at a gun range than with a cop and a doctor? i don’t think so.)
The storms will come and the winds will rise and the gusts will threaten to pull you from your roots. Let the winds come. Let them rage and know that you will not break in the breeze, you will bend. Bend. Always bend because you are made of more strength than you know, because you are better than the breaking.
sometimes something SO BIG comes along the desire to hide overwhelms your sense of logic.
in this case, the something so big is NaNoWriMo (NAtional NOvel WRiting MOnth) in which a novel is defined as 50K and is started on november 1 and finished on/by november 30.
yup. i signed up to write a novel in a month.
i’m considering a costume so maybe it won’t recognize me.
bubba mac yoda is.baby mac as minnie mouse sans traditional ears.the WA mums channeling dr. seuss
i swear this wasn’t just an excuse to show off my beyond adorable nieces and nephews. though, really, aren’t they the cutest?!? i’m not biased at all. this is the truth.
but back to my point. i’m really scared of this task, of this herculean effort, of this novel, of all these expectations (mine + others’). i’ve already started this one once and wrote 20K before i realized i needed to restart it and that brings me to what i’m doing this november.
this is manuscript #3 for me, which means i should have learned something from manuscripts 1 and 2 and those things learned should be incorporated now, but, umm, i can’t find my notes, a pop quiz today?, THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK, TEACHER.
wow. that’s already a lot more than i tell most people about my writing because i’m (a) too much of a perfectionist where i don’t want people to see the process, just the results, (b) superstitious, (c) private, (d) awkward, (e) uncomfortable talking about myself, (f) private, (g) see aforementioned items x100. i guess i’m hoping if i put this in writing, i’ll be held accountable.
i want to be accountable.
but i’m scared.
i think it’s time to take a cue from my dear (and ridiculously talented) friend adriana.
mrs. cloud at HER harvard book store reading
perhaps i should throw on something bright so (in her case) the people at the reading focus on that instead of her (so she said); or so (in my case) i focus on the outer (getting the words out) instead of the inner (editor)?
maybe i’m grasping at straws here. maybe that analogy sounded better in my head. maybe i’m procrastinating from working on that manuscript (if you look at the date, yes, i’m two days into NaNo) because the blog is safe and the MS is uncharted territory.
okay, okay. i’m leaving. but first, tell me how YOU go about facing your fears.
Abigail Mumford 