late november

Late November.  I think of my novel and  how late November occurred more than once.  I liked the idea of snow always being in the offing.  And it snowed a lot in that book.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day.  My mother is in the nursing home, and will be there till the end of January, they say.  She has an infection in the bone where the decubitis ulcer is located (on her sacrum).  She is devastated, thinking she will have to stay there forever.  We tell her that's not so, that she will go home.  She's too vibrant not to.
So, that is hard.  She will be there for Christmas and New Years.  Such a damn long time.

Theresa is making the Thanksgiving feast, but has little room in her apt this year, so me and Evie will get delivered food from her when Melissa is on her way home.  Can't wait.

Me and Ev are now just hanging out on the bed, me writing, her drawing one of her Ladies in Hats.  Bordeaux Red.
There's a clock on 86th Street that plays bells now and then.  I can't make out the tune, though.

Going into my second week off chemo.  I feel a lot better.  It starts up again monday, the 2nd.  This will be right about the time I'll start losing my hair.  Sort of the face of cancer, isn't it?  Nothing much I can do about that.
I have a precious online friend (for some 15+years), who is a knitter, and she's making me a couple of hats.  Can't wait to see them.
Bought myself a couple of bandannas already.  It'll be a whole new thing covering the head like that.

Evie probably thinks I am writing something profound here, as she adds color to the page.  She'll say "Well, it was sorta profound" after hearing it, knowing she's pushing it.  Ha ha.

Wishing you all the happiest Thanksgiving.

upcoming project

I must be crazy. I joined up to participate in this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). (see my personal user badge at the right, which will give you my word count, starting in November.) I don't know what possessed me to do such a thing, and I am daunted at the scope of it. The target is to write (mind you, quantity counts over quality in this case) 50 K words during the month of November, starting (anew, no old stuff) at the stroke of midnight on November 1st. That's something like 1700 words a day! And I am starting at zero these days. Some people are doing enormous pre-nano tasks, like writing a short story every day, just to get in the groove! Hahaha... if I have that much to write, surely I'll save it for my word count when it starts.
I have an old very-unfinished novel that I won't use words for in this new venture... since there is to be no old writing.. but I think my story will come from that one. I'm not sure, I have to see what happens when I start writing this thing from scratch. Sometimes, oft times, writing takes you where you'd least expect.
I'll try to keep my blog updated with my progress, and if I'm really writing that much.

I feel a nervous excitement about this. I think that's good.
Maybe I will spend the next month trying to flesh out a plot and some main characters. A little preplanning can't hurt. What a crazily ambitious venture. I have not known myself to be too ambitious these days, but it is a familiar feeling from days gone by.
This is a project that forces one to kick the critic off one's shoulder, and just muddle through, bringing out garbage and gems alike, as long as you bring it out and get it on the page. There may be many pages of non-cohesive writing; bits and pieces, as I've been known to do. But that will be okay (I have to keep reminding myself). When the muse doesn't move me, sheer perseverance must... maybe the muse will hop on board if given half the chance.