Monday, November 12, 2012

NaNoWriMo: A Writer's Reality

*Disclaimer: This post was written in full NaNoWriMo mode, ie. no proofread, no (okay, some) typing corrections, and little thought given to word choice, the object being to get words on paper STAT. Thanks for understanding!*

Okay, I know I said NaNoWriMo was real in my last post, but let me just paint you a little picture of what this month has looked like chez Kiley.

My desk is cluttered with several notecards, some of which have really important information pertaining to my story, some are to do lists, some served as coasters when my actual coasters was misplaced under all the other notecards, and some contain utter drivel. There is also my Moleskin notebook that I bought as a motivational present for ONLY NaNoWriMo notes. That plan is actually working out well.

My two watches both sit crumpled to the left of my laptop, because I always take them off twelve seconds into writing. Have you ever typed on a laptop with a bulky watch on? No good.

I have several blue pens (okay, and one black pen for distinction) and several highlighters, all (hopefully!) tightly capped, for whenever I need my next multi-colored bout of inspiration.

There is a dinner plate with smudges of hummus. There is an empty glass that still smells vaguely of Yuengling. There is an empty coffee cup with a spoon sticking out of it. There is a bowl originally used to ration my chip intake, but it has since become a pomegranate detritus receptacle. There is also a half-eaten pomegranate.

Sidenote: pomegranates are SO not writing friendly fruit, what with the juices and staining and difficult maneuvering for the seeds, but if you like to munch and keep your hands and mouth busy while watching TV, I'd recommend them for that.

A number of earrings and hair clips and ties are sprinkled over the desk, because when I put on my SkullBeats headphones that actually block out noise, the earrings inevitably gouge holes in the sides of my head, and I end up ripping them out of my ears and tossing them aside. Somehow, I forget to do this before putting on my headphones EVERY. TIME. The hairclip graveyard that is collecting has a similar story, except it's because my hair is getting pulled by the headphones.

I can almost see my bed under the discarded and carefully laid out dress clothes. When I get home from work, I immediately pick up my sweats and t-shirt from my bed and get out of my work clothes, because who wants to be in slacks any longer than is absolutely necessary? I take just enough care to make sure they don't get wrinkled, but not quite enough for them to make it all the way to safety in my closet. When I go to bed shortly after this post, I will move the pile to my desk stool, and they'll be moved back again when I get home tomorrow.

Over the past twelve days, I have consumed at least two cups of coffee, more often three, one of which may be a medium from Starbucks. (No, I don't want to think about the money that I'm wasting there, but damn is that pumpkin spice latte to die for.) I have eaten some fruit, but also multiple family-size bags of chips, a box of peanut granola bars, some fruit, and the delicious sandwiches that Bouchon Bakery provides as break food. Yesterday, I opted for the salad, hearing the little voice in my head (and the not so little voice of my ass) calling to me, "Vegetables! Please, for the love of all that is holy, VEGETABLES DAMNIT!"

I was running regularly, 2-3 times a week, but have now run once in twelve days. My stomach is losing what little tautness had been growing, and my ass is making an impression on the cushion beneath it.

I am tired. I am grumpy from being tired. I have a near constant headache, but whether that's from staring at the computer screen for hours on end or because I'm having caffeine withdrawals, I don't quite know. I found out last week that I'll be leaving New York - at least for now, I'll post about it later - and moving back to Cincinnati, so there are boxes littering my floor that need to make it to the post office before this coming Sunday if I'm going to have any chance of staying under the weight limit. I haven't had a day off of work (shortest shift has been 6.0 hours, the longest when I work both jobs has been 12.0) since last Tuesday, and I will work every day until I leave New York on November 19.

But if I said that any of this was making me genuinely unhappy, I'd be lying. In twelve days (excluding yesterday, because my computer crashed and I was going to hand-write, but I took the day off of writing and it was EXACTLY the breather I needed...we'll see if it comes back to haunt me at the end of the month), I've written 21,165 words. I'm almost halfway to my novel, and I'm feeling writing highs that I haven't felt in over a year.

I'm not halfway into the challenge, but already I cannot thank NaNoWriMo enough for the support, the motivation, the kick in the ass that I needed to get writing again. I'm nervous about this next half coming up - moving back home with my family, Thanksgiving, and plenty of distractions - but I'm excited to keep writing, and I want to WIN. (Winning means submitting your novel to the official word count and being declared a 'winner' and receiving a digital high-five.)

The next time I stop writing, somebody come give me a smackdown, kay? It may sound like I'm torturing myself, but I really like what I'm doing right now, and you'd be doing me a favor if you were to give me a wake up call in the future.

Maybe I'll learn my lesson and be my own motivator soon enough, but I'm going to take advantage of all this camaraderie and interweb support and keep plodding along on this month's challenge. I hope you all are well and having a happy writing-November, non-shaving-November, or whatever kind of November you choose!

Here and there,
Kiley

Sunday, November 4, 2012

NaNoWriMo is a Reality

*This post was supposed to go up Wednesday, October 31, but due to lack of interwebs, well, it’s a little late*

Committing to writing scares me. To talk about it is one thing, to post tidbits on a blog is another, but declaring that I'm going to write a novel in thirty days has me scared shitless.

Today is Halloween. Which means November begins tomorrow. Which means NaNoWriMo begins, and I have to physically commit myself to the cause and to my writing. Until now it’s been all talk, but the reality of what I’m about to undertake is just now hitting me.

50,000 in 30 days, averaging about 1,667 words per day. AH! Why did I sign up for this? Where am I going to find the time to fit this in? Is my story good enough? Will my characters be believable? Will I like what I write? Will anyone else? Will I make it?

These questions have all been plaguing me over the past few days that I’ve been stuck inside, thanks to Sandy, and I’ve procrastinated with the best of them. I’ve logged over 25 episodes of House and done minimal work on my outline for NaNoWriMo. Even now, I’m writing about being scared about writing instead of taking action and doing something. That’s the worst part. I know I’m not being productive! As I’ve written these last few sentences, I’ve thought about organizing my desk, writing out a list of goals/motivational notes for myself, going to sleep to get well rested for November, and a dozen other things that would surely increase my productivity, but really would all just help me procrastinate. I’m the worst.

In an effort to stop my procrastination and assuage my fears, I’m going to make this the shortest post ever and hurriedly straighten my room before I do the last bit of outlining and character profiles before taking the plunge tomorrow. I said I was going to write a novel in a month, and I am scared to death that I’m going to fail, fall short, or write crap if I do finish, but I guess those are all risks I’m going to have to take.

Please excuse my limited posts or potential absence over the next month. Hopefully it means that I’m busy writing an awesome novel! I’ll try and share a bit of what I’m writing or other pieces I’ve written in the past if I do post, but follow me on Twitter with that button over there << or search for KileyKatey. I'm sure I'll be word-vomiting there when I'm not word-vomiting my novel.

Thanks for any thoughts, good wishes, or prayers you can send my way, too. Know that they are appreciated!! See you on the other side, 50,000 words down the road!

Here and there (but really, just sitting in front of my computer for thirty days),
Kiley

**At the time of this post, I'm up to 7,235 words! Still, send encouragement, tell me you're sure I'm not writing utter drivel, and please keep bearing with me this month. Also, my story is about gnomes, if you were wondering. I am tweeting a hell of a lot more than usual too, so if you want to keep in touch, follow me there!

Hurricane Sandy: Uptown, over, and out

*This post was supposed to go up Tuesday, October 30, but due to lack of interwebs, well, it’s a little late*

So here on the East Coast, we’ve been dealing with Hurricane Sandy since this past weekend. Storm trackers were on top of things starting last Friday, though my family had already heard reports and were asking me about it even earlier. Thank you to everyone for your love, concern, and offered support over this last week. I am so privileged to have so much love in my life, and I thank you all for it. To those who experienced effects far worse than we did, who have suffered from the damaging winds and surges, my heart goes out to you. You’re in my thoughts and prayers, and I wish you the fastest, safest recovery. For those helping, thank you, God bless, and please take care of yourselves, too.

Being here on the upper side of Manhattan, the effects haven’t been nearly as serious as those seemingly everywhere else on the East Coast. It’s like we had a special umbrella that protected us from everything – power outages, floods, property destruction – and for that I’m so thankful. On the other hand, a girl can only watch so much television over the span of a few short days. I say that tongue in cheek, since many are without power, but here’s a little glimpse into my last four days, preparing for the worst and experiencing the best, and luckily the most boring side, of Hurricane Sandy.

Saturday: My only day off during the week, I had a late start and went running for the first time since I got sick nearly two weeks ago. It’s not that I just now felt well enough to start running again; it’s that I was too lazy all week to get up an hour early and take care of business. I have every intention of getting back in shape starting November 1, so I will capitalize on these last few days of October and be the sloth that I loathe to be until then! After my run, I lazed around the apartment some more and went grocery shopping. Not only was I out of food, but my family in the Midwest was checking in on me and urging me to stock up on non-perishables and water, and I figured better safe than sorry. Afterward, I went to meet a new friend for coffee in this really neat little coffee shop with a library! We sat and talked for a good few hours, and I’m so glad we got together.

Saturday night was meant to be spent Halloween partying, but after plans fell through, I took advantage of the couple of Coors tallboys I’d bought for the occasion and went to work on my writing. I’ve nearly got a full outline for my NaNoWriMo story, but these character profiles are giving me the hardest time, mostly because I don’t feel like writing them. With November only a few days away, I know what I should spend the rest of the day doing! I didn’t pay much attention to weather reports, but my family kept me well informed that a storm of massive proportions was coming my way. The biggest news was the mayor’s warning that the MTA was considering shutting down transit. I didn’t realize it then, but in a city like New York that relies primarily on the subway and buses, this is a huge deal to say the least.

Sunday: I got up on Sunday for work at the bakery, and was surprised to see that the mall was largely dead. Usually we’re on a wait thirty minutes after we open, but we only managed a waiting list for an hour the whole time I was there. I did answer a number of phone calls asking whether or not we were open, and our managers mentioned in our pre-service meeting that if the subway were to shut down, that we would close early. As it was, I was sent home an hour early, at 3:00 instead of 4:00, and we did in fact close early, though I don’t know when. The subway stopped running at 7:00 that evening and buses shortly thereafter.

It wasn’t until then that I realized exactly how serious a storm this was going to be. Once home in my apartment, I went back out to do laundry (figured I was down to just a few pairs of underwear and should probably have enough to at least get me through the six days of stormy weather my iPhone weather report said we would have), where both TVs were showing weather reports. I started getting a lot more messages from family and some friends at this point, asking about my safety and wishing me the best. Between washing and drying cycles, I wandered next door to the same grocery store I’d visited the day before – then with minimal shoppers, shelves still lined with gallons and cases of water – to find ridiculously long lines at every register, most nuts and canned goods nowhere to be found, and a few singular bottles of water left on the selves. Deciding that I had enough from the previous day (but mostly because I was irritated by the long lines and frantic people), I just went back to the laundromat.

At home with clean laundry, I packed a go-bag complete with multiple days worth of clothes, my passport, my Nook, a few family photos, a box of granola bars, and the hundred dollars my mom suggested I withdraw, just in case. Since I’m a list-maker, I wrote out a “fast-grab” list in case we were made to evacuate immediately, which included: toothbrush, phone charger, phone, notebook, and medicine. The emergency hotline for my internship informed me that the office would be closed on Monday, and I was excited to have another day off work. My roommate and I bunkered down and I still got to watch Revenge and 666 Park Avenue between weather reports tracking Sandy’s progress.

Monday: For me, the most dramatic parts of my experience with Hurricane Sandy had passed. If those last few paragraphs didn’t seem overly dramatic, it’s because they simply weren’t. Preparing and wondering what would happen were the worst part of my preparations by far, and I’m thankful for that. I watched the reports of water levels rising at Battery Park, the most southern tip of Manhattan, and massive waves wreaking havoc on New Jersey before the storm even hit. With no coverage in our area and hours until the weather was supposed to get really bad, my roommate and I decided to take a walk by the Hudson to see what was happening for ourselves.

We walked down to the Hudson, which really is walking down. I’m maybe ten blocks from the highest point in Manhattan, and to get to the river I have to walk down my street, down a set of stairs, across a little overpass, down a winding path under the highway, across the street, under another underpass, and down another winding path through some woods. We’re a ways off the river, is my point. The water was very high and we could see where, presumably during high tide, the water had pushed up across the running path. Aside from some small gusts of wind, things were relatively calm, and there were even joggers, bikers, and families with young kids out looking around.

Satisfied with our photos, we worked our way back up to the neighborhood. On the way home, I got a Dunkin Donuts pumpkin latte as well as 25 Munchkins (chocolate and pumpkin!), and a piece of pizza to accompany me while we rode out the storm. At this point, around 1:00, Sandy had reached the status of Hurricane Irene in some places, but the storm was still a solid six hours off the coast, the worst yet to come. I put on my grey baggy high school soccer sweats and snuggled up with the weather report. But I was bored of the weather within an hour, so I muted it, keeping half an eye out for breaking news, and cued up House from my external hard drive.

The rest of my Monday was spent watching 15 episodes – yes, 15 45-minute episodes – and eating way too much. I kept an eye on the charge on my phone, plugging it in when it fell to less than 80%, and tried to resist opening my entire stash of food all at one time. Casualties in my apartment include: two pieces of French toast, SunChips, RiceWorks Sweet Chili crisps, ¼ jar of dry roasted peanuts, one slice of broccoli and tomato pizza, one pumpkin latte, approximately 12 Munchkins, and five water bottles of water (filled from the faucet, not the sealed gallon I bought). My greatest health threats: impending obesity from my binging, and bed sores from excessive lying around all day. You’ll be happy to know, I scraped by with only mild stiffness from my self-imposed lack of movement. I received an email that the bakery would be closed on Tuesday, another day off work for me. I dozed off around 1am to the occasional gust of wind outside my window, though only mild from what I could hear.

Tuesday: I woke up this morning and immediately turned on the news and realized just how lucky I am and how much real damage I avoided here in upper Manhattan. I ventured outside to see the state of our streets, but aside from a number of leaves from the now bare trees, there’s nothing piled up on the sidewalks, no damage here to speak of. Down closer to the George Washington Bridge, all I see are more bare trees. There may be more to see closer down to the water, but there are plenty greater and more important stories all around the area, particularly in New Jersey from what I’m seeing.

For now, public transit is still shut down here and there are a reported 2 million without power. That seems to be the primary concern for the city now, other than rescue efforts of course, and some buses will be running starting this evening. For now, I’ll wait until there’s another update on my office’s emergency hotline to see what my agenda will be for tomorrow, on Halloween. They don’t expect the subway to be back up for another four days or so, and I don’t know how else I would even get to work unless the buses all start running by tomorrow.

I don’t mean to be insensitive by highlighting how un-serious my situation is here in Manhattan, only to show how lucky I am to have such minor, petty concerns. To everyone who has reached out to me, thank you all again! I really do feel all warm and fuzzy, and it’s not just the sweatpants I’ve been wearing for days on end. To those all over the area, I wish you the best and hope your situation more closely resembles mine and not some of the tragic cases they’re continuing to report on the news. To those in the Midwest and further north who are just now experiencing the effects of Hurricane Sandy, be strong, be safe, and God bless. Take care everyone! I’ll be here, hopefully continuing to write and prepare for NaNoWriMo (unless I’m watching more House, which is saddeningly likely). For myself, I hope to God I can manage to eat less and control myself today, because my ass cannot continue to handle the amount of calories I’m ingesting. Stay safe, everyone.

Here and there,
Kiley

My Family is the Best Family

*This post was supposed to go up Thursday, October 25, but due to lack of interwebs, well, it’s a little late. I wanted to include more photos too, but the Starbucks internet only uploads so quickly, and it was more important to me to get these posts up!*

It’s true. I am the most loved child in the best family, ever. Let me tell you what a great weekend I had so that you can see why. Disclaimer: the only thing that could have made this weekend better were if my dear sister could have afforded to miss school and accompanied my parents, uncle, and cousin.

I finished work at the bakery on Friday afternoon and all but bounced out of the building, already riding an emotional my-family-is-coming high. I had time to get back to my apartment and throw a bag together before I met my parents, Uncle Mark, and cousin Melissa at their hotel in the Financial District. We stayed at Club Quarters just outside the original site of the World Trade Centers, where the current memorial site is, and in view of the new towers that are being built. The new towers will be taller than the Empire State Building!

True to form, New York traffic severely delayed my family’s arrival, and then the construction and one ways delayed them longer. Eventually they arrived at the hotel and we had a wonderfully long, huggy mini family reunion in the lobby. Once we unloaded, we headed straight for the subway to get dinner at La Camelia, a Mexican restaurant near my internship. This was the first of many delicious and oversized meals throughout the weekend. We shared a pitcher of margaritas and after fresh made guacamole – big chunks of tomato, diced red onions, spices and other goodness – I had the night’s special: chicken stuffed with a cheese and spice blend over rice. I finished every bite. And that’s saying something since I’ve actually been paying attention to what I eat here!

After dinner, we basically rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and I showed them my office building. It was pretty anticlimactic, I realized. Hey, see that big tall sky scraper, next to that other really tall sky scraper? That one that looks like all the others in the dark? Well, I work there…Good one, Kiley. Anyway, from there, we trekked to Times Square for super touristy photos and a drink at a great bar near the red steps called Tonic.


By the time we got home at midnight, my family was more than ready to fall into bed after a 10+ hour drive and my running them all over hell’s half acre. We all slept very, very well.

The next morning, we woke up nice and early to catch the Staten Island Ferry where we saw…lots of fog. Literally could not see more than fifty meters past the boat. I felt so bad (badly? But that sounds weird, though technically it’s grammatically correct…hmm)! I felt worse again when we reached Staten Island and didn’t have time to run to the Wu Tang Clan landmarks my uncle wanted to see. The band originated there, and there used to be a shop but it closed down a while back, and the only other options as far as landmarks were a few of the projects where some of the band members grew up. We opted out of perusing those. Instead, we caught the ferry right back. The fog had luckily lifted and we could see the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline as we came back across. It felt great watching the city grow bigger as we drew closer, the wind whipping around us, and having my family close by.


Once back in Manhattan, we got right on the subway and headed to my bakery for lunch. OH. MY. GOD. I had planned to omit my places of employment, but I can’t eat food so good and be treated so well and not speak up. Go to Bouchon Bakery Café in Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Third floor. The food is incredible. I’ve been blown away by the sandwiches and/or salads we get for break food (for free, every shift by the way), so I knew our food was really good but WOW. I had our quiche, which changes every day according to what Chef decides. With our roasted cauliflower soup du jour, I was in heaven. I sampled the gnocchi, seared salmon, and hanger steak around the table, and every time I decided which I liked best, I immediately felt I was being unfair to the other dishes. The local grown cab franc we had with the meal was perfectly soft and complemented each dish well. The pumpkin cheesecake we shared for dessert, so rich and creamy and pumpkin-y without being overly any of those things, was to die for. I don’t have any photos of any of this, because it was plated so beautifully and smelled so good, I couldn’t stop from diving straight in. Really, come eat at Bouchon.

We walked a bit of Central Park afterward until we decided we were just too full and would rather sit on the subway and digest. So to my apartment we went for a tour. We regrouped there and fought the urge to nap before walking down to the Hudson and following it back toward downtown. Along the way, we stopped at Tom’s Restaurant – yes! the diner from Seinfeld, although the inside shots were actually filmed in the studio, but still – for a coffee.

With the pick-up we needed, we headed for the Empire State Building with every intention to go up, but at $48 a piece (FORTY-EIGHT DOLLARS WHATTTT??), we passed. Maybe some other time. Instead we shopped, which wasn’t quite as bad of an idea, but still just as hard on my wallet. But now I have a cute new dress and Oxfords to wear to work, so that’s cool.

The family made its trek further downtown again to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and get dinner, though I was honestly still full from gorging myself at lunch. I made my way through another delicious dinner, this time Greek, before we stumbled into a taxi to go home. Apparently, I’d walked everyone around the city so much that everyone was ready for bed by 9pm that night! I consider it a tribute to the time I’ve spent here that my feet were only mildly throbbing after the walking we’d done that day. New York, I’m getting used to you!

I was the first one up in the morning and by the time I was walking out the door for work at the café, everyone else was only just starting to get up. My family had tickets to see the World Trade Center monument and had to check out while I was working, but we met up in Chinatown after work for some cheap shopping and a drink in Little Italy. As expected, we found a number of great deals all throughout Chinatown, and I have a scarf and perfume to show for it.

The whole time we walked around, I was able to catch up what’s going on with my family as I pointed out all the cool things I’ve found here and things I’ve come to notice around the city. I love the way Dad stumbled a little as the subway started and how he thinks it’s a tribute to me that I’ve grown accustomed to simple aspects of city life like that. I love my Uncle’s excitement of being in the start-up place of his favorite bands and artists. I love that Mom continues to interrogate me in the nicest and most concerned way possible because she just wants to understand me and my life. I love how Melissa encouraged me to do what makes me happy and make the most out of life, because that’s what’s really important. On my family’s vacation, they had fun and their excitement and enthusiasm were contagious, their complaints and tiredness carefully hidden. They let me monopolize their break and drag them on a seemingly endless tour around the city, all the time making me feel like the most accomplished and loved person in the world.

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend or better people to spend it with – unless of course the rest of the family had been there too!

Here and there,
Kiley