With just over an hour to go before the month-long novel writing journey begins, I’m excited and enthused. This will likely be my last post for a few days. I’ll certainly be thinking of the thousands of fellow Wrimos as I labor. And I’ll smile knowing that we are all fulfilling a dream.

Believe in your characters. Believe in their environment. Know that when you stare at a blank screen, the screen is staring back, accusing you. Your only requital is to fill that screen with words. Now, write Wrimos! Write!

I Attended a Wrimo kickoff party in Greenville Tuesday evening. Hosted at the cozy Tipsy Teapot, it was a great way to relieve some pre-Nano stress and share strategies and plotlines with other participating writers. Elijah, our Municipal Liason, and well-seasoned novelist and screenplay writer Aubry(sp?) made the handful of hopefuls feel at home. A reporter from the Daily Reflector was there as well. The recurring theme was have fun with the process.

Elijah also offered his choice of text processor for writing. Q10 is a free (as in beer), extremely lightweight fullscreen text editor. The lack of pallets and toolbars make for a scarily empty workspace. That is until you fill it with Nobel winning prose. For kicks, you can also download an audio package that gives your keystrokes that manual typing sound. It runs under Vista, opens and closes lightning fast, and handles Mac, Win, and Unix line endings.

The countdown’s on!

It’s official! The lure of NaNoWriMo has me under its spell. I have my account. I began naming characters and scripting scene cards for my plot outline today. In two days, I will join over 80,000 Wrimos worldwide on the quest to pull a 50,000 word novel out of a hat. The procrastination is nearly over and one keen observation surfaces in the slushy flotsam of my pre-Nano mind:

It’s easier to write about writing than to actually write!

Through the official Nano website, I’ve located some local folk with the same goal. I inspire myself by remembering my favorite quotes from Finding Forrester. My trusty bansuri lays patiently within a frantic grab of my frazzled fingers. Various products from the “ine” food groups are at the ready.

The time draws nigh. More later.

Once again, I’m considering NaNoWriMo. If you don’t know what that is, check the link then come back. If you do know what it is, you realize one considers it much as one contemplates getting married, buying a house, or committing suicide. Oh, the hubris! 50,000 words. Try not to think of all those zeros.

I think there are all kinds of writers. Traditional publication doesn’t define an author in my mind. I’ve found some of the best, most insightful writing online. But I have to believe that in the back of every writer’s mind lurks a novel. After all, the phrase is “Great American Novel”, not Great American Blog Post or Great American Letter to the Editor. So the incentive to complete an actual novel is fairly high.

The Wrimos’ (the nickname for participants) irreverent attitude is another attraction. The quantity over quality ethic strongly prevails. This notion is less troubling than it sounds once you realize that first drafts are not final drafts. The idea is to complete a novel; editing is the expected aftermath of a month of slinging words like hash.

I’m not committed yet, but with time running out, I’ll decide soon. Stay tuned for updates. Meanwhile, for one writer’s take on Nano, visit Mur Lafferty’s blog, I Should Be Writing. Her Special #27, offered as a podcast discusses the pluses and pitfalls of Nano.

Five pairs of dress socks… check.
New reasonably priced leather shoes… check.
Off brand tortilla chips (they taste better)… check.

Damn! No souse. OK, put the liver pudding back.

Cheap sliced summer sausage (beef)… check.
Four spicy Bowl Noodles… check.

Trailer trash white girl in grey sweats (you know you’d hit it!)… check!

One pound of All Natural (yeah, right) granola… check.

Hurry now, must… beat… midnight cash drawer changeout!

Neil Diamond on the in-store radio. Damn right they coming to America… by the fracking busload on a Saturday afternoon. But tonight, it’s all quiet, and it’s not even 3 a.m..

Artificial daylight bathing the parking lot. Impromptu family reunions. The joy of a short walk to the car. A brother bumming a bag for his returns (mustn’t give the wrong impression).

There’s so much wrong with Wal-Mart. Yet, there’s so much right with it too.

Change is inevitable. If you’re really blessed, improvement comes with change. It’s a highly debatable concept when the change being discussed is one’s operating system. No stranger to change, (for better or worse), Microsoft kept the computing world at bay until January 2007, when Bill and Company sprang Vista onto the general public. Eagerly awaiting users had their expectations slightly lowered when Redmond announced Vista, the first major upgrade since XP, would not contain WinFS. However, there were plenty of other changes to keep power users busy. And Vista adoption has occurred at twice the pace of XP’s adoption.

As a cautious observer and happy XP user, I’ve waited until now to take the plunge. By the weekend I hope to be the proud owner of a Vista laptop. In keeping with my belief that knowledge is power, I’ve discovered an excellent resource for understanding and optimizing Vista. Koroush Ghazi’s Tweaking Companion for Windows Vista is offered as a free PDF download, a paid version with illustrations and higher quality text, and a book.

The 248 page tome is not offered solely as a getting started guide, although savvy users will find it meets that goal as well. Instead, this is a thorough appraisal of the entire operating system, from its GUI Aero goodness to its enhanced DRM-infected heart. If you keep that in mind while reading the guide, you’ll stand a better chance of making the switch to Vista a positive change.

Cool, dry air greeted me as I stepped outside yesterday morning. That’s always a good thing in the dirty, and HOT south. After a brief glimpse of how sweet North Carolina Fall can be, a brutish return to summer temperatures held us captive for a couple of weeks. But patience is a virtue, and the upcoming crisp and clean air a welcome reward for waiting out the heat.

Soon, the crickets will settle down for good. All but the most deluded birds will shut up, and I’ll be able to enjoy the rustling of somber pines as they sway in time to the eternal End of Summer waltz. For some, the rustling of leaves crossing the street like harried school children will mark the hot season’s passing. For others, the end of Daylight Savings Time is the proper beginning of fall. The skies go dark so early, like a sleepy giant closing its eyes for a long hibernation.

I love this season and all that it brings. Thanksgiving splurges, excited fair goers, and most importantly, a time to recharge my batteries before next summer’s return.

There’s no denying the effect You Tube has had on the creation and distribution of user generated media. Lonelygirl15, the HD-DVD encryption hack, and Chocolate Rain are three of the more notable instances of You Tube media achieving phenom status. But it’s the wide variety of music that keeps me coming back to the site. I particularly enjoy watching covers of popular songs. Who knew you could find a group of adolescent choirboys interpreting Tears in Heaven?

Lydia is one of the most talented artists I’ve seen to date on You Tube. Hailing from the Netherlands, this sexy-cute bassist/vocalist brings S-O-U-L straight to your earhole. She covers Marcus Miller/David Sanborn and Cameo, but my favorite performance from her is a bass and vocal rendition of Denise William’s Free. Lydia also has a MySpace where she shares her bass playing history and some original music. Steeped in mid 80’s to 90’s funk, her voice reminds me of Tina Marie. And considering the current sewage flooding commercial airwaves, I’m all about the Way Back machine feel.

If you’re into slap bass and sexy soul, drop by and show your love.

Been gone a bit handling family stuff and suffering a temporary internet outage. While I told myself I’d shy away from posting the typical “bloggy” kinds of personal detritus, I absolutely miss the clacky-clack sound of my fingers hitting the keys.

I’ve also kicked a few ideas for posts around in my head. Feels like things may get political in the future. Although with the sorry state of government and lack of palatable choices in the upcoming Presidential election, my thoughts may not be much to look forward to.

Anyway… in an effort to post outside my own head, this caught my attention from the AP wires.

Va. teacher fired for buttocks art sues (Bob Lewis, Associated Press Writer)

I could say much, but absent any information other that what I’ve read in this story, my comments would be superficial. However, one aspect of the article particularly caught my eye. From the ending paragraph, “him” refers to Stephen Murmer, the fired teacher:

…school officials summoned him from his classroom, told him the video created so much discussion among Monacan students that it was disruptive, and suspended him.

Students discuss any number of issues during the day. What to wear the next day, who got drunk last Saturday at the big party, and exactly what one would do given a shot at Stacy’s mom. My Honors English class in high school buzzed with so much chatter that it sounded like the lunchroom. If students couldn’t resist speaking at inappropriate times, that should be dealt with. But trying to control the nature of what kids discuss amongst themselves too closely resembles Ari Fleischer’s idea of citizenship. You remember Ari? Mr. Americans… “need to watch what they say, watch what they do.”

Apparently Mr. Murmer didn’t get the memo. Presuming the facts of the case are as presented, one little county in Virginia may learn a lesson about the Constitution that Ari Fleischer and the current administration would rather all freethinking Americans forget. Namely, that it applies to more people than the handful who are trying to destroy it in the name of Freedom.