The Shaping of the New Novel

When it rains, it pours when it comes to taking my attention away from this blog. A series of 2 colds making their rounds in the household, while juggling jobs that pay much better than this blog does and NaNoWriMo, this poor blog has been neglected of my attention. I am really trying my best, but sometimes in life things need to give. Unfortunately, my baby (this blog) was the concession. Now that things are slowly settling down, maybe we can get back on track.

Since we’re nearing the end of NaNoWriMo, this post will be dedicated to my hopeful repeat of completing the challenge. As it stands right now, I am just under 25,000 words, which is halfway through the challenge. With a week left to finish, it is honestly looking quite grim that this is going to happen. I have faith that I will be able to pull it out, and really that’s something I need on my side. That and the Kindle that buys me a few hours to get something done. I think I just need to go full force during the next 2 weekends and get a huge chunk out of this sucker. Fortunately, I haven’t found myself in a corner yet, but there’s still a chance that could  happen. But together, with Pandora, I will do this. Failure is not an option.

The novel is “The Science of Suicide”, and it centers around this student who is writing a paper on suicide for her degree. I think it will be an interesting approach on the topic, and I hope that others will too. It will approach some difficult feelings, and it will definitely discuss any beliefs and stigmas about the topic. Most of all, I hope that it strikes something in the readers. I don’t want to give too much away, but I think that it’s an interesting topic. I come up with that because when I told my husband about the topic, he really got into to and asks about it a lot. Normally, he just leaves me to do what I do as I never ask him anything about his work because hearing him talk about it would bore me to death. Love is knowing not to bore your partner.

So back to my novel and my amazing Pandora channel which was made by combining Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Saves the Day, and All-American Rejects. Cross your fingers for me, readers. I’m going in.

The Results are In

I’m mostly happy with the way the election went yesterday. My new voting spot, which was much farther than I think a voting spot should be from their people, was much nicer than I anticipated considering the awful neighborhood it was in. They had free coffee and soup. Because of our impish little love, voting was quite difficult and needed a tag team process. And my husband forgot to take advantage of the free coffee he was so excited about.

It was a good sign that the people seemed to rise against the same old, and voted a different way. I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that the Republicans have taken control of the house, but I knew it was coming if people were smart enough. That sent a sign of “do your damn job or get voted out”, and it was a sting that our politicians need to feel. I called it previously in another post about how the Republicans would gain control of both houses, and it was no one’s fault but the Democrats for sitting around with their thumbs up there butts. It’s a chance that will influence the next election in epic fashion, I predict that. If the Republicans do something good, balance the budget and make true reforms into how things are done, than the presidency will go to a Republican because they had fixed everything that was broken. They have a chance to remedy the past here.

However, I’m not hopeful for that. All over the news they decided this was a sign to repeal Obamacare. Really? That ship is floating just fine, and the world has not collapsed as a result of it existing. That is the least of the problems that needs to be fixed. The absolute least of our problems. Plus unless my math and understanding of the whole process is incorrect, even if they vote to repeal it, the president can still veto it and they don’t have a 2/3rd’s majority to overrule the president. So if I am correct, they will still be doing a whole lot of nothing by making their first priority as repealing Obamacare. Excellent message guys. You were voted in to start getting stuff done and your first order of business is to get absolutely nothing done. This is why people hate politicians.

Go forth, newly Republican Washington and make an actual difference. Prove us wrong that all politicians are crooks that waver to the highest bidder and do nothing but collect our tax payer money and lobbyist hand outs to line their pockets. Reduce wasteful government spending on useless things, stop focusing on social issues that are settling themselves by people’s choice and balance a budget. Fix the broken welfare and other entitlements systems. Focus on that, not impossible tasks that aren’t actually that bad to begin with. Massachusetts complained about Romneycare and adjusted and things are going pretty well for us, and I don’t here too many complaints about Obamacare anymore. Deal with it, and fix Washington.

It’s a Busy Busy Time

I have been trying, really trying to get something up here to let my readers know that I have not forgotten them. Alas, as more jobs come my way via freelancing I must take them. Unfortunately, the busier I get with those jobs, the less energy I have to commit to this. I will definitely aim to do better at this, even if that means only making a 3 sentence post. I do feel that this is an important outlet to discuss topics openly, and would love to keep going with it. But let’s get to some important topics.

Election Day is tomorrow, and I am known for my rants about issues. I stand by every one of them, including if you don’t want to bother reading about issues don’t bother voting. Have I decided my votes? I am about 90% positive where I am going to go with my votes. No, I don’t want to pay 5 extra cents to buy a bottle of water. No, people already voted and said they wanted casinos and re-voting on it really just sends a terrible message that we can just keep voting on the same topics and get the same results each time. What was that about the definition of insanity? Re-voting on already discussed issues is what makes Washington suck at politics, let’s not stoop to their level. We’re better than that. Should the gas tax be automatically increased? Not sure, if what I read is correct the money isn’t even going to repair streets and bridges anyways so that excuse seems flawed to me. We’ll see what I finally decide come tomorrow. Now, I was on the fence about the mandating paid sick time, but I think ultimately I will vote to see it enacted. The fact that it covers helping take care of families and deal with domestic violence are really selling points. Plus coming from an essentially single family income and experiencing what happens when you don’t get paid when you are sick, it’s a really shitty spot to find yourself. It’s easy to judge until you have to walk in those shoes. As for the other important races, like Senate and Governor. Well, I’m also torn. Well, sorta. I’m pretty sure my vote for Governor will end up going to Baker, though Falchuk is a very enticing vote. This will probably be a last-minute call. As for Senator, I’ve decided that Herr will probably end up with my vote. Pro-choice, pro-marriage equality are very important to me. I also pray that he stands by his belief on term limits, because we absolutely need that. In seriousness, I live in Massachusetts and the other spots are mostly just filled with Democrats that are running uncontested anyways.

This die with dignity argument seems like a joke to me. Why? Because it shares my similar stance as abortion does: #noneofmydamnbusiness. I’ve seen family members suffer through dying horrific diseases. If they want to die so our memory of them isn’t someone who is withering away in bed while suffering in unmentionable agony, let them. They are dying. They have earned their “do whatever makes them happy” right. People keep blabbering on about how the government takes away freedoms, blah blah blah. What about their freedom to live happily and on their own terms? Just because they don’t understand something, ie: making a choice about whether or not to have an abortion or who they want to marry, does not mean they get to make the calls. I know if I end up with something terminal and terrible, I would want to end it on my own terms and not wait to be bedridden and suffering a misery while my family was helpless to do anything but watch. It’s their choice. Not ours. This should be legal in more than just 45 states.

Final note on current topics: ever watch that NFL ad for ending sexual assault and domestic violence? Am I though only one that wonders why someone like Ben Roethlisberger is not on it mentioning about horrific rape is? Hey guys, let’s get all our clean cut American heroes up there. It’ll make everyone believe that we actually stand by this cause. Kthxbai.

In closing, NaNoWriMo has started. My novel is 3,000 words in and it is entitled “The Science of Suicide”. It is about a student who is writing her dissertation on the topic of suicide. Her obsession with this topic has lead her down an interesting path, and I can’t wait to complete her journey for you to read. Wish me luck!