This is Why I Don't Make Resolutions

We are almost done with the first month of 2012, and I'm not doing a great job of keeping up with my resolutions.  I'm not exactly shocked by this, but it is a little disconcerting to know that even with the perception of people watching (that would be you, oh faithful readers i.e. my parents and sister), I am still not exactly motivated to keep on truckin'.  I suppose I should cut myself at least a little bit of slack and acknowledge that I was on vacation for at least part of this month, so a few of my resolutions weren't really possible.  I went to the Caribbean, by the way.  It was amazing, though surprisingly cold for the first couple of days.  I was very good and only bought a few souvenirs.  It was a cruise, so I was a little worried about getting seasick, but I ended up doing pretty well--though the boat did have its moments of trying to get me to toss my cookies.   Cruising was especially interesting because of the incident with the ship in Italy.  I've got to say it is certainly an interesting experience when your mother comes into your hotel room the day you're supposed to sail and says: "I've got good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
"Gimme the bad news."
"A ship in Italy ran into a sandbar and there are at least four dead."
Let me just say, I've forgotten what the good news was.  Luckily, our ship didn't encounter much besides some heavy waves, for which I am eternally grateful.

Now that I have been firmly sidetracked, I suppose I'll try to get back to my original point.  As it turns out, I am more than capable of distracting myself (case in point, detouring into a short description of my vacation).  At the moment I am ignoring my novel twice over.  First, I have started a second novel that has absolutely nothing to do with the original.  Second, I am writing this post.  And, I suppose I should add my second distraction - Words With Friends.  Damn you Scrabble knock-off for being so addictive!  No wonder Alec Baldwin got kicked off of that plane.

I choose to place the blame for my third distraction on the addictive quality of board games.  For the second, I fully blame my sister.  She taunted me (taunted I say!!) about being a hypocrite and only writing two blog entries when I promised I would write more.  See, sis, now I have five!  *Sigh*  That's not going to fly with anyone, is it?  Fine!  At least allow me to blame her for planting the idea in my head.  Otherwise I'll have to admit to even more character flaws and, really, a girl can only take so much self-deprecation.

As for my first distraction, I intend to blame my own over-active imagination.  While attending a conference for work, I got bored and began to write the first thing that popped into my head.  I will admit to just one more character flaw and say that I do tend to get bored easily, which is really how I started most of my writing projects.  That same tendency gets me into trouble, however, when I get bored with whatever project I happen to be working on.  So, I have decided that, as I have the next week off, I will get at least ten chapters out of this newest novel idea.  Then I can at least say I got distracted for a good reason.  Who knows, maybe I'll really get into this one and finish it.  Or I've just jinxed myself horribly and won't get beyond my last stopping point.  Either way, I'm sure I'll learn some kind of valuable life lesson.  That kind of maudlin stuff happens all the time...right?

Happy New Years!

I don't usually make New Years resolutions, but I've decided that 2012 will be a year of change for me, so it makes sense to write down some of the changes I want to make.  I would like to say I agonized for the many days I wasn't posting trying to come up with some of the best resolutions ever seen, but that would be lying and, really, what would be the point in that?  I did find it extremely difficult to come up with resolutions, however, because my mind has been filled with other thoughts.  I'm going on a trip soon, and my brain has been buzzing with all of the things I need to take with me and what I would like to do while I'm away.  I won't say when I'm going, mostly because my mother is paranoid (though not without good reason) about letting people know when she's not going to be home.  And yes, before you judge, I am going on this trip with my parents.  I'm one of those rare children who actually enjoys spending time with the people who spawned me.  Anyway, I digress--something with which I have a lot of practice.  On to my resolutions:

1)  To Finish My Novel--
I'm sure this first resolution comes at no shock to anyone; especially if you have actually read my blog before.  I am constantly frustrated with myself for not committing more time to this particular endeavor.  However, I am well aware of the fact that seeking out other activities, such as this blog, keep me from making that commitment.  The real point to this resolution is to finish my novel before 12-21-12.  It's not that I believe the world is actually in danger of ending; it's that I want to be able to say "See, now at least if the world had ended I could face St. Peter with a real accomplishment under my belt."  Sure, it would be nice to finish my novel and experience the same notoriety as J.K. Rowling, but so long as I finish it by next year, I figure I will have achieved something for myself.

2)  To Sell My Photography Online--
While I don't claim to be the next Ansel Adams, I do enjoy taking pictures of nature.  I've been told I'm pretty good, so I'm hoping to capitalize on that.  I've already posted a couple of products on zazzle.com, so I should, hopefully, get a couple of hits.  If not, then I can at least say I tried.  And, to start my shameless promotion, here's the website so you can all go and buy my crap :P  http://www.zazzle.com/moonstruckmotifs

3)  Learn to Cook--
This may not sound like a completely adventurous goal, but I've always regretted ignoring my mom when she asked if I wanted to help her cook meals.  Silly me, I was always more interested in the baked goods.  Now that I'm on my own, however, I find that my mom was correct when she said I would need to know how to cook someday.  Don't get me wrong, I can whip up a mean spaghetti, but past that and microwaving frozen dinners or canned soup, I'm pretty much worthless.  Luckily, I know enough to get by if someone tossed a recipe in front of me, but I wouldn't trust that meal as far as I could throw it.  I just need to learn to manage my time better (and there's a reason that's not a resolution, by the way) so I can cook these meals.

4)  Learn a New Language--
This is actually something I want to do most of the time anyway.  I always thought it would be incredibly cool to know multiple languages.  However, I only know English and some Spanish.  I've actually forgotten most of my Spanish skills because it's been so long since I've taken classes.  That and there isn't much call for speaking Spanish in my daily life.  It has come in handy though, so it makes me want to branch out into more languages.  Here are just a few that I wish to speak someday: Japanese, Mandarin (though I have actually taken a class for this, I've forgotten almost all of it), Russian, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Greek (this is mostly so I can no longer say "It's Greek to me"), Arabic (I'm aware there are several versions of this, I'm thinking whichever course I can find will work for me), and some kind of African dialect (mostly to say I know it).  I'm aware there are a lot of languages in this list, and even more left out.  Really, if it were at all possible, I would love to know every language and dialect and pidgin known to the world.

5)  To Finish the Things I Start--
For the first four resolutions, I gave those quite a bit of thought in the days between Christmas and New Years.  This one, however, occurred to me as I was writing this particular blog.  I actually started writing this about 24 hours ago, but I got distracted by my New Years plans.  The really sad thing about that is the fact that my plans consisted of watching two movies and getting out in time to ring in the new year with my friend, who was working (that lucky, lucky girl).  I then returned home to finish this, only to become distracted by movies at home.  I find that I am more than able to distract myself with the many bells and whistles of life...hence my trouble writing my novel, and now, finishing my blog.  However, this resolution also covers the fact that I have several unfinished projects that have nothing to do with writing lying about my apartment.  Add that to the fact that my living room looks like a tornado went through it and it all equals this fifth resolution.

That's all folks.  Sorry, you'll have to add Porky's stutter in for yourself, I'm not exactly sure how that would translate to the written word.  I admit that I have more resolutions than those five, but those are personal and I don't want this to get creepy ;)  So, now that I've finished, I'm thinking a movie.  Aren't you?  Sigh, fine, I'll work on my novel. 

I wish everyone a happy, prosperous, healthy and fun 2012.  See you at the pearly gates when the world ends in December :P

Merry Christmas!!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas.  Unfortunately, my two friends and my sister had to work tonight, but I have taken great joy rubbing in the fact that I didn't have to.  That may not be in the spirit of the holiday, but it sure brought me some joy.  This is the first time in five years that I've been able to spend any time with my family during the holidays.  I used to work for a movie theater, so those of you who finished your holiday meal and ventured out into the unseasonably warm day to watch a movie may know, this is one of the busiest holidays for the theater business.  My family joined in that tradition today to watch "New Year's Eve."  This was actually the second time I watched it, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as the first.  Even after 5 years as a theater worker, I still haven't grown tired of watching new movies.  I recently watched "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" and really enjoyed the witty dialog and action.  It was also extremely funny (watch out for Holmes' urban camo).

After watching "New Years Eve" for the second time, it made me really think about my own New Years resolutions.  I don't usually make any, mostly because I'm well aware of my own very uninspiring will power.  However, the last few months have marked a lot of changes for me.  I got a new job in October, got new glasses, cut most of my hair off, stopped biting my fingernails and really got serious about entering the dating world.  The new year is definitely going to be a whole new experience if I have anything to say about it :)  I won't put my resolutions down yet, and the really personal ones won't make it into this blog at all.  I will state my resolution to write a resolution blog on New Year's Eve, however.

And now for something completely different.  No, I'm not a Monty Python fan, why do you ask?  I thought it would be a good idea to talk briefly about the reason for which I started this blog.  I haven't progressed any farther on my novel.  I did get to the middle of chapter 8, but I got a bit stuck with where to go from there.  To be fair, I only get so far on this blog before I hit a block, but at least no one expects anything from this...other than me, of course.  As with most things, I expect to become exceedingly rich and famous for every golden word that flows from my fingertips to the screen.  Or something like that.

Well, that's all for now, folks.  Hope you had a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah & a Kickin' Kwanza!

Some thoughts of the day

Yes, I know, my title is incredibly uninspired, but I promise that this blog will positively burst with thoughts.  Sure, many of them may not correlate to one another, but a stray thought can be just as valid as a cohesive string of thoughts.  At the very least, my stray thoughts have been known to amuse and confound friends, family and complete strangers.  I'm absolutely sure they're laughing with me & not at me.

My family celebrated Christmas today.  I'm aware we're jumping the gun by a couple of days, but I promise it was for a good reason.  My sister is being forced to work Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Tragic, I know.  I won't go into who got what, mostly because I'm sure not one person outside of my family gives a rat's patootie.  I find that I have a lot to say, but no clear direction I want to take any of it.  Or, at the very least, no willingness (or perhaps bravery) to put it on my blog.  Therein may lie the problem with my novel :P

I was watching Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today, and thought of something I have actually thought of before: I was totally born in the wrong decade.  I belong to my grandparents' or parents' generation; at least in some aspects.  My view on technology is only half as progressive as that of most people in my generation.  It took me a long time to get comfortable enough with texting that I could use it on a daily basis.  This blog is also the effort of many years getting used to the Internet and all her wily ways.  Maybe, my life would be easier if I could be a companion to Doctor Who.  Yeah, that seems like a logical solution to my problem.  He could take me all throughout time and space, and I would help him in his wacky adventures.  Then, I could see how I do in the past and if its really worth it to stick around for the present based upon what I see in the future.  Then again, the world is going to end in about 363 days, so I suppose the question of my ability with technology is moot.  I suppose I should make that my goal for my novel: get it finished before the world ends.  That way, I can at least say I accomplished one of my life goals when I go.

I think my second post is the perfect opportunity to mention that I have started my collection to be a crazy cat lady.  Her name is Firefly and she is a year old.  She's frigging nuts, but I completely love her.  Don't worry too much though, I promise to keep my Firefly posts at a minimum unless she learns to do something completely amazing, like learn to type for herself.  At that point, forget the novel, because momma's gonna be making some serious TV money of her precious kitty.  Mostly, however, that seems like a remote possibility as she lays on my floor licking her paws, quietly plotting the doom of all mankind.  I mean...thinking about sweet kitty things, like mice and salmon.

There you are, I hope these random thoughts have satisfied you all.  From the two comments I got yesterday--both from family members (don't judge me, my mom says you shouldn't)--and the fact that two other people told me they read yesterday's post, I have gotten double the readership I expected!  I have also written one more post than I thought I would.  As Brenda Song's character would say: "Yay me!"  Okay, I'm sorry, using a Disney quote was uncalled for.  Until next time...whenever that may be...have a happy morrow!

And here I thought I had a novel idea

So sorry for the awful pun there, but it had to be said.  I suppose I'm not off to a great start, but no one ever said a blog had to be entertaining.  In fact, I've been told that many are not.  Apologies go out into the ether about the fact that I have never actually read a blog before, let alone started one.  However, I figured that if I can't finish my novel, I may as well try my hand at blogging.  Truth be told, the title of my blog is spot-on.  I spend so much time on the Internet avoiding my novel, it just makes sense (in an extremely round-about way) to spend my procrastination on something other than Facebook and games.


As for my unforgivably punny title, I feel I should be excused by the fact that many of my awful puns are wholly unintentional.  I swear I began with good intentions.  I told my mom, "You know, I spend so much time on the Internet these days, I should just start a blog.  At least then my writing will be out there somewhere.  And, I'll call it the Procrastinating Writer!"  Needless to say, that didn't happen.  There are not one, but two blogs that already have that name.  They do not inspire a lot of confidence.  One has never been written upon and the other ended after one shining moment in 2008.  It's not like my confidence needed to be shaken at all.  Thanks so much you other anonymous a-holes!  Sorry, I'll calm down.  The thing is, I've started many novels, short stories, plays, etc. and never finished even one of them.  I've done a few short stories for school, but never anything past 10 pages.  That's why I'm so excited to have started on my eighth chapter of my fantasy/sci-fi novel.  It's given me a lot of delusions of grandeur.  Unfortunately, that's my biggest problem.  I'm first and foremost a dreamer.  It's giving any kind of action that would accomplish those dreams where I get stuck.  I'm way too easily distra....ooh, shiny!  Sorry again, where was I?  Oh, yeah, I'm easily distracted; and the Internet is most assuredly not helping. 

But, enough of my woes.  I'll try not to bore anyone to death, but I make absolutely no guarantees.  I do promise to try to write more than one blog, so I won't, at the very least, waste this blog name.  What's the point in doing that for the third time?  Thankfully, I'm off of work for another few days, so I have plenty of time to waste.  I suppose that's all I have for now though.  To all two of you who read this, thanks, and have a great life :D