Melonade

Since "Something Senseless" was the most fun blog writing of late, I've decided to post a second installment. If you didn't enjoy the first one, you should probably stop reading...now. If you're curious to see if this one will be more enlightening than the last, you'll have to forge ahead.

And so, some more stuff you probably didn't know:

1. I have a guitar, but I never learned how to play it.

2. At a family reunion, I was stung on the nose (more specifically, almost inside my nose) by a yellowjacket. My nose got all sorts of swollen, and I spent the rest of the day reclining in a lawn chair and watching people stare at me.

3. At a junior high slumber party, I attacked a closet door in my sleep. Apparently, everyone else watched while I punched the door until I woke up. They were all very amused.

4. I have a cousin (sixth, I think) who's also named Melissa, is my age, and looks a lot like me. Her mother looked like my 7th grade English teacher. We've never met.

5. I am currently reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I'm kind of surprised that I can't stop reading it.

6. As a child, I loved omelettes but refused to eat scrambled eggs.

7. I am already a published author. In fourth grade, our Gifted and Talented class project was to write and illustrate a book, which we then shipped off to someone who turned them into real, hard-cover, dust-jacket books with our pictures and bios on the back flap.

8. My book was about a dinosaur who doesn't have any friends. The drawings were really, really awful.

9. In fourth grade I wanted to be a vet. When I found out being a vet included dealing with big animals like cows and horses, I changed my mind.

10. I've never had hot coffee.

11. I want to see DMB in concert before I die (hopefully a long, long time before).

12. I think scars are cool.

13. This is the point where I remember this isn't as easy as it seems.

14. I have a hard time saying no to people.

15. I am just beginning to realize how much my parents have done for me.

16. I love crossword puzzles.

17. I don't like biscuits and gravy, which may be evidence that I was switched at birth and/or abducted by aliens at some point. My substitute breakfast on b & g days: a sausage sandwich (two sausage patties and white bread...yum).

18. The first time anyone called me Mel was 7th grade. People have been mistakenly calling me Michelle since fourth grade.

19. I have a weakness for decorating magazines.

20. I do not like the word sop.

21. My handwriting is one of my favorite things about myself.

22. I've only been to 15 states.

23. During my senior year of high school, I fractured my foot when my best friend ran over it with his car.

24. People who are always loud make me very uncomfortable.

My bamboo plant has developed a nasty crustiness around the rim of its container. I've never been an expert at plant care, but this little plant has been doing well for months now. If it dies, my desk will be sad and lifeless again, and I can't have that. I still water my plant as per the instructions on the plastic card. I leave it in just enough light (but not too much, I think). It was doing so well, and now the bright green stalks around the rim have spots of crusty brown bits. Eww. And some of the tips have turned yellow. Maybe its getting too big for the ceramic planter. Maybe the curse has finally reached this plant, and it will have to go the way of my other horticultural attempts.

It's been a busy week. In an attempt to make up for the last few months, I may have gone overboard on the socializing this week. But it was nice to meet a few new people and get to know some others better. At the devo last night, one person greeted me with, "Why are you here? You're supposed to be at home writing that novel!" Well, she may have been right. I'll have to make it up over the weekend.

"You are a bundle of energy, always on the go."

Sure, if "always on the go" means being holed up in a corner booth at the B&N cafe for hours at a time. This was the fortune from my lunch. Of course, I don't believe that any paper shoved inside a crispy cookie can tell me about my future unless that paper is green and has a president on it. Shame on you, fortune cookie, for being neither accurate nor fortunate.

Runner up fortune: "You are admired for your impeccable tastes."

Yeah...I didn't think so, either.


Okay, last chance, cookies. Let's see what #3 holds.

"Your efforts are budding-- results will appear soon."

I'm going to pretend for a moment that I do believe in fortune cookies and that this one applies to the novel. Time for a happy dance.

Enjoy your day.

What to say…

Not much writing or reading going on lately, although I purchased two new books this week. Reading and writing have been replaced by IM chats, Internet wandering, and Muppets.

Season One of The Muppet Show was recently released in all its furry glory, and while I had a little extra cash I invested in four discs of mayhem. Watching a few episodes can relieve an immense amount of stress. I find myself trying to match performers to muppets, and all of the episodes include trivia tidbits for nerds like me who enjoy reading that stuff. And for those of you who think Muppets can’t be appreciated by adults, just try to watch a Swedish Chef or Veterinarian's Hospital sketch without smiling.

I think Rowlf is my favorite. He’s got great timing and he's musical. It doesn't get much better than that.

Enjoy your day.

It's about time for something new around here.

I can't say that I have any big news to report. I could say that, but it would be a lie. I could redirect you to a few more interesting blogs. I've picked up the habit of wandering from blog to blog in search of interesting or amusing thoughts of people I'll never meet. (If you're here for that reason, you may be disappointed.)

While on one such search Friday, I checked up on the NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo sites, which I haven't visited in several weeks. Nothing new on those sites, but I followed the trail of blogs and read some things posted by NaNo participants. One thread had a discussion by one author who always snuck a penguin into his stories.

Why a penguin? I think the first time was just a whim or a dare, and afterward it was a challenge, like the time in a creative writing workshop when we had to include Amelia Earhart and avacadoes in our conversion stories.

I have had a fondness for penguins since I was a kid. I had a book about penguins with full page pictures of parental birds towering over their babies and trekking across the ice. Mary Poppins is one of my favorite Disney flicks ever-- thanks in part to the penguin waiters in the chalk painting who get to dance around with Dick Van Dyke. And the stuffed penguin who sits beside my bed-- a gift from someone who didn't even know how much I liked them-- travels with me on long trips. In fact, I had already snuck my own stuffed penguin into my novel.

I think I'm hitting a rough patch in the editing process. All major editing attempts over the last few days have been moderately unsuccessful. In an attempt to avoid the potholes in the road, I'm issuing a challenge, both to you faithful readers and to myself. Here's your chance to sneak a penguin into the story. I'm accepting any suggestions for random objects to put in the novel. It could be anything from a rottweiler to a coconut, a shrunken head to a lifejacket. (There are no water or tropical scenes in the book thus far.) If you can think of something obscure, leave it in a comment, and I will do my best to put it in the book.



Totally unrelated...

I'm trying to convince myself not to pick up one of those prepaid iTunes cards I keep seeing. I have a feeling that once I start, I will be addicted to downloading random music that I like but would otherwise not purchase. My resolve is slipping quickly.

The sign that I may already have lost all resistance: I've picked out the first song I'm going to download. If you can correctly guess the song, I'll buy you dinner. No kidding.


Enjoy your day.

So enough about me. Let's talk about the book!

I've made a lot of progress in the last month. I still have doubts, of course. I think the story's a good one, but I know in its current state it is not the best it can be. My goal is to complete the second draft before the end of the year. I already see a third draft in my future because there are things I haven't addressed in the second draft (verb tense consistency and the like) that must be tackled before I even think of sending it to a publisher. Then I have to think about query letters and publishers to whom I'll submit them.

I was recently introduced to another writer (and B&N employee) who's already completed one novel. We've made a deal to exchange books and discuss. Since his is finished, I'm reading it right now, and I'll turn mine over to him when I've finished this draft. He's not my target audience at all, but it will be nice to have an opinion from someone who has distance and will be able to tell me honestly what he sees.

My lease on my apartment is up in December, and I'm in search of a bigger place. If things work out, I'll be writing the third draft from a cozy little study surrounded by all of my books.

Enjoy your day...and go read a book.

Just so I can remember, today is the day after one of my ugliest days ever.

A couple of you know what this means. The rest of you won't, and it's not appropriate to spill details here. I finally got around to doing the thing I've been dreading for a few months. I don't know what the outcome is going to be. You could say I'm just being a pansy about the whole thing. I should get over myself and move on and realize that's best for me. Don't think I haven't heard that opinion from at least dozen people over the years...maybe even two dozen.

So why don't I listen to them? Most of them are people I trust; if not, I wouldn't have confided in them in the first place and given oppotunities for opinion-giving. Here are a few thoughts:

1. I'm stubborn. More stubborn than most people know. When it counts, I don't want to give in. I don't give up on people easily. I won't believe that I'm wrong unless I've got serious evidence.

2. I still think there's some good waiting to get out. You can advertise your evil all you want, but if I can see the good, I won't forget that it's there. You may think that's naive or stupid, and you would probably be able to find a few folk who agree.

3. I don't like waste. I don't want to believe that all this time has been wasted. To do so would admit failure (and my stubbornness discourages such admissions).

4. I can be too attached. A little attention goes a long way with me, and enough attention a few years ago has escalated into this relationship today. There were enough positive things outweighing any negative ones. A few years ago I wouldn't have believed that it would turn into this. Now I don't know how to stop it (or if I really want to).

I know I'm rambling and vague. This does not make for interesting blog reading. I still have hope that things can work out for the best, even if the hopeful part of me may be down a few percentage points today.

Ultimately I want to influence. I think that's why we're all here. My methods may not be the screaming in-your-face practices of some, but I think I can influence people just the same. For all I know, this blog might be the way to reach you. And I hope that's a good thing.

Like I said, I don't know what's going to happen with this situation in the next few days. I know that some of you who will read this are praying people, so if you have a moment, slip one in for me. I'd appreciate it.

Enjoy your day.

I have a tendancy to tell people that they get a gold star for doing something great. People are surprisingly disappointed when you say they deserve a gold star but have no stars to give. In an effort to stop making false promises, here is our very first office Gold Star Award:



Our first award goes to my trusty friend and novel specialist, Loraine. Saying that she goes above and beyond the call of friendship doesn't express it, but this dandy little star says it all, don't you think? (She actually received the award a few weeks ago, but we were waiting for the engraver to return it before we made it official.) Loraine has done exactly 1,753 things to earn a GSA, but I'm going to try to make up for my negligence with this one award.

Why this award is great: You can brag to your friends that you are a member of the illustrious Gold Star Hall of Fame, even if they have no idea what that means.

Why this award isn't so great: It probably won't get you any free food. Sorry.

This one's been a long time coming, but most Gold Star Awards will be given for outstanding displays of creative behavior. You can decide what that means for yourself. If you think the awards will be biased toward people who are nice to me...you may not be completely wrong. GSAs aren't just about me, but I'm not above taking bribes.

Enjoy your day.

Good idea: Buying a slab of chocolate-laced cheesecake from the B&N café.

Bad idea: Eating said cheesecake at 1:30 in the morning.

After a night of writing and conversing at BN, I ran into my friend Debby and her husband. (Although he is a very nice person in his own right, we have never known each other well enough to be termed friends, but he also deserves to be mentioned in the story.) They invited me to meet their new kitten, and having both a weakness for kittens and conversation with Debby, I went to their apartment and stayed far longer than I should have for the late hour. When I got home, I found the only reasonably edible thing that didn’t require preparation was the cheesecake, which I purchased Friday night and was by that time just begging to be eaten (not unlike the java chip frap that left me a voicemail earlier enticing me to come drink it). If not for the fact that the cheesecake was the only thing I’d eaten in about 15 hours, I probably would have been fine. There was a little voice warning me not to pull the styrofoam box from the fridge, but I ignored it. When you have to choose between cheesecake and old Fritos, you should always choose the cheesecake.As it turned out, almost immediately after the last bite of chocolate crumb crust left the box, I regretted my choice, and Sunday was a very blah day.

In completely unrelated news, yesterday began the fast food fast. As much as it is within my power, I will refrain from fast food indulgence until mid-September. I see lots of Jamba Juice in my future. Mmmm.

Last week I put in more than 24 hours of playing time on one video game. It didn't seem like much until I saw the timer showing how many hours I sat in front of the screen. It's probably a good thing that I had to return it to Blockbuster yesterday. Can you imagine how much I'd get done on my book if spent 24 hours a week on it? Maybe that will be this week's goal.

After some recent reading and things I should have seen coming, I've decided that I'm tired and don't want to mess with it anymore.

You may not hear from me for a while.

There was a request today for “something senseless” on the ol’ blog. I didn't ask if this meant the lyrics to a song or the dream I had last night or the best place to catch lizards inside the city limits. Since the specific level of senselessness was not defined, I can only try my best to fulfill the request.

For fans of the senseless (or maybe just really random), I present 28 Things You Probably Didn’t Know.

1. As a kid, my favorite cereal was Strawberry Shortcake cereal. (Think pink, strawberry-flavored Cocoa Puffs.) If they still made that stuff, I’d probably eat cereal every day.
2. I’ve been to six European countries. If I ever get the chance, I’m going back to England to see the rest of the British Museum.
3. I’m afraid of knives. It may be a cause of the dream I had where I was stabbed several times.
4. The only thing I remember learning in kindergarten is evaporation.
5. In high school I gave up being a newspaper editor to take physics.
6. During my senior year I was a teacher’s aide for my band directors, and yes, we referred to them as “Band-Aides”.
7. I want to live in a place where I can have a room just for my books.
8. I was the co-vice president of my 1st grade class.
9. I regret losing touch with my high school friends, but I’m afraid of ever seeing them again.
10. Last year I found out that one of my high school friends was working down the street from where I live when I ran into him at lunch.
11. One of my nicknames is “Moo.” My dad started it.
12. I can’t imagine myself as a senior citizen.
13. I won a school-wide poetry contest in 5th grade. I wrote the poem in a few minutes, and my prize was a copy of Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary.
14. I’ve never had wisdom teeth.
15. I don’t like the color red.
16. I sing very loudly when no one’s around. I don’t like singing when other people are in my car.
17. I still love cartoons.
18. I’m already convinced that I’ll have cats instead of kids.
19. Loraine’s blog makes me smile.
20. There are days that I wish I could do college all over again.
21. I can’t draw anything that has a face.
22. I’ve always hated having my picture taken.
23. When I won the camp-wide Bible trivia tournament, I was crowned Bible Queen.
24. Math will never make sense to me.
25. I’m thinking of giving up fast food for 30 days.
26. I’m debating between getting internet access at home or joining a gym.
27. I think two of the funniest words are "moose" and "pants".
28. Every year, I hope that someone will throw a surprise party for my birthday. It has never happened.

As much as I enjoy the amazing things that we can do with technology, there are times when I just wish that it would go away for a while.

My cell phone’s on the blink. A couple of weeks ago I took it in because the battery was draining much more quickly than it used to, but the guys said it passed their tests and should be okay. I didn’t believe them, but I also didn’t want to be one of those people who start yelling at everyone in the phone store because they’re dissatisfied with their service. Then last week I didn’t get any voicemail notifications, and Friday night the screen suddenly went black and the lights inside wouldn’t turn off. On a whim, everything returned to normal, but the on-off pattern continued Saturday and Sunday. When I took it to the store, they just told me that it “failed their test” and because it’s out of warranty, there’s nothing they can do. That’s very helpful. I don’t have a long list of people who call me frequently, but when the chosen few do give me a ring, I generally like to be available to them.

So now I have to decide between paying full price for a phone I don’t really or taking them up on their offer for a $75 rebate, but I’d also have to renew my contract for two more years. The store only had one that was somewhat simple, but it wasn’t that great, and it was $150. Bah. When did phones become so complicated? like I am not a fan of flip phones, I don’t want a camera or the internet or tv on my phone. I want a phone…and that’s it.

Last night I picked up a copy of MacWorld magazine at BN to try to educate myself a little on the goings-on of things. I didn’t understand half of the first article I read. (Note: if you want to make me feel really stupid, just start throwing computer-talk at me. Works every time.)

I wish I knew more about computers. Not the basic stuff, because I can get around just fine, but the fancy tech stuff that lurks just beneath the surface. I wouldn’t want to make a career out of computers, but it would be nice to be a bit more confidant in my own computer knowledge.

In high school some of my best friends were the tech ed kids—the guys who spent their spare time buiding computers and going to tech conferences (They were actually at one in downtown Oklahoma City not too far away from the federal building on the day it was bombed—I’ll never forget that.). Before we had driver’s licenses, we spent many lunch hours in the tech ed room. It just never occurred to me to try to learn anything from them.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this…it was just on my mind this morning.

Is it ironic that I'm blogging about technology woes? You can decide for yourself.

Enjoy your Monday.

Last night I went to Barnes and Noble for a little frappucino, atmosphere, and writing. It was supposed to rain last night (I don’t think it ever got around to where I was), and one of the best places to enjoy a storm is through the huge windows in the BN café. Things were looking good; my favorite coffee maker whipped up a nice java chip frap with extreme carmel sauce (He denied trying to kill me with carmel). *Note* I’m not sure if the technical term here should be “carmel” or “caramel”, so I’m sticking with my first choice even if it’s wrong.

Not only did I get a yummy drink, but I also got an invitation to breakfast. This is unusual because the day before I had almost asked him to have breakfast with me. While we have been known to share lunch, dinner, and sno-cones, we rarely make breakfast plans together. I held back my invitation because his Thursday plans included sleeping late. But I felt like the universe was making up for things when he proposed Friday breakfast. The only catch: meeting at 6:30 a.m. I agreed, and he promised all sorts of horrible things if I didn’t show up.

So, good things so far. My favorite corner table was empty. I settled down with frap, iBook, and notes to write. I had to decline a dinner invitation from aforementioned coffee maker because a) I’d had a massive lunch and planned on making coffee my entire evening meal, and b) I was short on cash. But no matter, I plunged back into the writing and wrote a couple of new pages that I will soon send to my favorite Loraine for her words of wisdom. I went home that night anticipating today.

Five a.m. comes sooner than I would like, but I got ready by six. While getting dressed, I had the nagging feeling that he might try to get out of the meeting. It’s been known to happen before. I searched for my phone in the dark so I wouldn’t wake up my sister, and I finally found it where it had fallen out of my bag.

I really hate when people leave their ringers turned on in BN. I don't like listening to the same annoying ringtone from seven different loud people. I have a policy of always turning off my phone while I'm in the store. When I left, I was so set on getting home and getting to sleep, I forgot to turn my ringer back on. This morning my phone showed five missed calls, all from the same person, but no notification of new voicemail.

So I sat on my bed at 6:05 and debated. He could have called to cancel, but surely he would have left a message when I didn’t answer. Since there was no apparent message, he could have called just to tell stories, or just because he was bored on his way home, or because he wanted to see if he could come over and play football on the Playstation. All of these things happen on a regular basis.

I tried calling him. He didn’t answer. Debate number two: Did he turn his phone on silent to avoid answering, or was he in the shower, or was he just ignoring for no reason? I waited a little while and tried again. Still no answer.

I drove to Jimmy’s Egg. It was all of 6:15. I sat in front of the glass doors and waited. I finished a Sudoku I’d started the night before at BN during a writing break. I watched several old men walk inside. I called again.

For reasons I don’t fully understand or agree with, this has been an extremely horomonally-driven week for me, and so by this morning, I was at the point where being stood up for breakfast by a person who changes his mind more than his socks will almost make me cry. Almost.

By 6:45, I was at my office, Egg McMuffin bag in one hand, laptop bag in the other. I don’t have to be at work until 8, but I decided to make the most of it. I could charge up my laptop battery and do a little work before the phones started ringing.

Something made me turn off my phone and turn it back on. What was the first thing I saw? New voicemail notification. And the nice voicemail voice told me that I had five new messages. Some of them were days old. I don’t know why I haven’t been getting messages this week. The last was the one I was expecting: breakfast cancelled at 9:45 the night before. But it was too late. I was already disappointed.

And if that wasn’t enough, when I started up my office computer, I was confronted by the Blue Screen of Death. Error messages all over the place. I restart as instructed. Same Blue Screen. I wait awhile and then give it one more shot, but that stupid blue screen just pops back up. I’m pretty sure it was laughing at me.The universe had not been kind to me; instead it had made me wake up early and eat cheap breakfast at my desk in front of a blue screen.

It took the tech guy over an hour to get it running again, and even now I have to be careful about what I do. He says it needs more work. I got a new hard drive a week ago, and I’ve had nothing but problems since then.

My would-be breakfast friend doesn’t understand why I was mad about the morning, and there’s really no way I can make him. He’ll just think I’m irrational. He’s probably right, but that’s not really the point. Plans were made and I was looking forward to them. He told me not to have a bad attitude about the rest of the day. It’s the only reasonable thing I heard all morning.

Things are better now. Lunch was very productive. The office is quiet this afternoon. I’ve put in lots of overtime this week, and in a few hours I’ll be back at BN writing. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Enjoy your day.