Seriously.

In other news, I did 120 crunches today! Woot! Now my abs hurt. :p

And finally, a rare political statement:

Dear People who are ranting about how Gay Marriage destroys the Institution of Marriage,

I got married 8 years ago last month, to a man. I am a woman. Next October, my best friend will be marrying her fiance, who is also female. The impact this will have on my marriage? None. If your marriage to a member of the opposite sex is so fragile that the mere THOUGHT of two people who are the same sex marrying one another destroys it, you have other problems, not the least of which is maybe you shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. (This being in response to the stupid ads on the radio to vote Yes on Prop 1 in Maine, to ban gay marriage, which I am heartily sick of listening to.)

No love,

me

Grumpy Val is Grumpy today. However, there is a cool scene percolating in my head that may be written at lunch. This is cool.

Olympus, Maine

“Where the fuck am I?”

Abby looked from the cheerfully blinking GPS on her dashboard to the dark evergreens crowding around her. The GPS was convinced they were on Route 1 to Bangor. Abby wasn’t so sure, since it had been at least an hour since she’d seen a road sign that said anything other than a speed limit. She’d gone through a few nameless little towns, always following the directions chirped out in a cheerful voice, her heart sinking along with the sun. Now, the last rays of gold were dying somewhere to her left and she could hear, faintly, the sound of the sea. But no signs for Bangor.

( And follow me to the woods... )

He patted my hand where it lay on the white fence between us. "Don't worry, it gets easier the longer you live here. Just don't think too hard about it."

Don't think too hard about it. Easy advice to give, when you weren't the one getting your entire worldview tipped on its ass.

Odin gave my hand a final squeeze and winked at me. "Besides, it gets fun here on the weekends."

"Oh?" I couldn't help the note of sarcasm.

He winked at me again. "Sure. After all, any Saturday night that ends in bar brawl is a good one, and who better to brawl with than gods?"

I shook my head. What had I gotten myself into?

I think I really need a keyboard to write now. How pathetic is that?

I have a ton of ideas rattling around in my brain, and each time I start to work on one, eight more pop up and go, "No, me!" Sadly, none of them are the conclusion to the problem that I'm having with Last Rites (namely, how to get everyone together at the end without having the major villian look like an incompetant moron who should have seen all this coming) - that little voice is hiding right now, waiting for...I dunno. Christmas?

Which is why I'm blogging, because I'm hoping to jar some things loose. I have several ideas for NaNoWriMo, but I'm not wedded to any of them (TPC is on hold while I find a plot that doesn't sound like it came out of a night drinking with Mel Brooks and Stan Lee, and I STILL don't know why Oberon loses his mind in Underhill.) and I can't start writing any of them anyways. Blood is still calling to me (that's the one with the girl who heals herself but is mute, and the cop who doesn't believe in magic and then falls back in time), but again, I have no plot. Hell, I was reduced to trawling through TvTropes earlier today, hoping for inspiration. Alas, everything is stale right now.

I'm contemplating just starting Last Rites with what I have, and see what comes out. I know, shocking. No real outline, just a plot summary that may or may not work and see what shakes out. I'm a little afraid that I'll end up with a mess, but hey, it's better than a blank page, right? The Neo is going to start coming with me to work so I can do SOMETHING while I'm sitting here, waiting for the phone to ring. (Yes, I do love this shift, but I can see it getting mind-numbing if I don't bring in SOMETHING to do after 6:30 pm, when I'm pretty much alone. Not that I'm complaining. I can listen to music, which is a MAJOR win!)

I also am in the "I hate everything I've ever written, and I want to write something DIFFERENT!" mindset that I hit every so often. I think I haven't been reading enough fiction lately - I've been reading all nonfiction. I shall remedy that on Thursday, after paying my library fines, when I shall pick up (hopefully!) The Graveyard Book and Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and who knows. Maybe I'll pick up American Gods too, because I thought I'd read it and I don't remember it. And since I can't afford any new books, I'll need to get my fix from the library for a while.

But going back to the mindset for a bit - the problem is that I LIKE writing what I write. I write dark. I write bloody. I write magic. And it's FUN. Or it is when I can decide what the heck story is coming out.

So in the next few weeks, you may see quite a few different metrics here. Some of them might not ever come back. Some of them might grow into novels. And some might be short stories or novellas. I'm getting back into playing with my writing, and I have no idea what might come of it. I might not make NaNo, because I might be deep into something else.

I SHOULD be deep into Last Rites. I need to get writing on that, which might be part of the problem. This is going to be Nikki and the gang's last book, and I'm a little sad about that. Then again, who knows? Maybe there will be other things down the road...

I'm also thinking of totally redesigning my website as a Wordpress site, so I can update it myself. I love my webmistress, but money is getting tight (and is likely to get tighter in the very, very near future) and I need to be able to do it myself.

And hell, since it's so long, I might as well continue on. You'll probably see a lot of meanderings on this blog in the next few weeks, as I try on some different ideas. Some might vanish if I decide to go with them. Some might die. Who knows.

Right now, I'm pondering a town, on the coast of New England. Probably in Maine, because New Hampshire has such a small coast that I can't hide a town there, but I could on the coast of Maine. And this town has to be hidden - perched on the edge of a bay, a lost bay, a bay with mermaids and selkies and tunnels into the Underworld. A town with magic walking through the town, blowing in the wind, falling with the rain and snow. A town of slightly odd folk, existing just that one degree off from the rest of the world. Hidden from the rest of the world by dark trees and darker knowledge, only one or two roads into it. Not cut off from the modern world, no, not completely, but partially. I don't have any real characters yet, and I don't have any plot, but I do have a town. I just don't know what to do with it yet, but I'll find something.

Sorry for the meanderings. Sad to say, I'm going to be doing a lot of them in the coming weeks. Maybe it's just the season? Dunno. Maybe.

Hmm, magical jack-o-lanterns....

And I've been busy - sorry about the lack of posting. This week, I'm at Mom's, and I had midterms, and so I've been stressed and not posting. I apologize. We'll return to regular posting this weekend, maybe. Definitely by next week.

Today, we're back to the doctor's again at 4 pm, then Mom and I are contemplating a movie. We're thinking Night at the Smithsonian - I can't talk her into Angels & Demons, and she doesn't want to see Star Trek again. Not that either of us have seen Night at the Museum, but so what. :p

I'm going to try and write today - I've got to get VB going again, and I should at least start looking at Last Rites. I'm in kind of a funk, though - I feel like the writing is crappy, and there's no reason to try. Bleah. Oh well, I'll get through it.

Onward and upward, as cbpotts would say!

Work: We learn loans this week! I'm very excited - it looks fascinating. And we had a fire drill. An unintentional one - apparently a transformer blew and made lots of smoke. We stood outside in the cold for twenty minutes. Woohoo. It wasn't even snowing any more! (no, still haven't gotten any pictures, sorry, joncwriter and queenoftheskies.)

Writing: I am truly obsessed with Jack Frost. And pirates. And the Cosmic Web. And space opera. And it seems odd that although I really dislike winter strongly, I adore writing Christmas in New England stories.

And yes, that's all the hints you're going to get about your Christmas present. :)

School: Big project due tomorrow night - eek! It's almost done - I'm writing up my final brief tonight (a memorandum of law). Then I can just print it out tomorrow and pass it in. I'm happy with my work - I think it's a good project. We'll see if I can keep my 4.0. Final next Wednesday - then I'm free for two whole weeks!

Thirteen years ago, for one shining moment, he held the key to the universe in his hands. And then it was gone in a flash of light, along with the knowledge he'd gained, leaving him with only two memories: a silvery infinity symbol, and a pair of clear blue eyes.

This afternoon, he'd looked into that same pair of eyes again, and he'd nearly fallen under the weight of returning memories. Now, he had to decide what to do: return to his abandoned research, or let the past die.

After all, what better way to hide than right out in the open? And they hadn't found him yet, didn't know he knew...but what did he know? And did he dare to find out?

***

No, I don't know what it is either, but I had to write it down.

MRI went well - I should hear early next week. I'm thinking it's going to be bad, though - I could distinctly feel random pieces of my kneecap moving around as the magnets rumbled around me, which I'm sure isn't a good thing. *sigh* Looks like a good possibility that I'll be doing RavenCon on crutches too.

I'm going to hit my gym this week as well and see if I can hit Andrew up with some arm strengtheners while I recover. Legs and abs are out, but I don't want to be doing NOTHING. And I'm going to start tracking my food again on Prevention, and hitting the WW boards again. I am NOT going to let this injury derail my weight loss goals. I refuse.

Going to be looking at some foods I can prepare ahead of time, and going to be doing my bentos for lunch. I bought Cheerios and milk today for breakfasts, and the soda is gone. *yay!* I did buy a 6-pack of Polar Classic Root Beers, but they use cane sugar, not HFCS, so I don't feel as bad about it. It's also only a 6-pack.

We aren't making it to Dartmouth tomorrow - my leg is sore, and I'm going to take the opportunity to cook and rest. Tuesday looks like more crappy weather - sigh. I'm ready for this winter to be over. Either that, or to move.

Speaking of moving, I've been looking at all the cons in the SC/NC/GA area. Yay! I'm going to be able to do a bunch of cons when we move!

I'm also pondering titles for my podcast. I'll be talking about writing (duh) and being a working writer, and the Red Sox (I know, shocking). I've got two possibilities so far: Dark Magic and Dirty Water, or Out in Left Field. Any other suggestions?

I am obsessed with houses on hills, apparently.

1. I think I'm finally getting the hang of getting up at 6 am. Scary.

2. Italian Eggnog flavor shot makes chai a decadent treat. I will have to try the Irish Creme flavor as well.

3. Snow needs to remember that it's a Christmas story. Only three pages in, and I've already got Shanna threatening people. *sigh* Some things never change.

4. Last night was fun. I stopped and got Chinese food on the way home(decided to leave the honey-mustard pork loin for him for today) and argus7hills and I watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town while I worked on sister's Christmas present. Very quiet. Very nice. I like this.

5. I need to go and get a Christmas tree either tonight or tomorrow morning.