Newsflash!

November 28, 2008 at 17:21 · Filed under NaNoWriMo

I could show you this:

or this:

or this:

or this:

or this:

or this:

Or I could just jump up and down shouting “I WON! I WON! I WON!!!”

Because I did it.  I actually wrote over 50,000 words all under my own steam.  In under a month. 

Best of all, I’m still going.  I’m taking a break today (although that’s more to do with actually having work to do for once) and then I’ll carry on.  I think I may be heading in he direction of 100k and beyond, which is all quiet exciting for someone who always wished they could write a novel but never really believed they’d be able to go the distance.  50k will remain online, I’ll keep posting as I have more to add (hopefully daily during the weeks still) and as always, I still love to hear what you think – even the criticisms. 

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November 27, 2008 at 10:21 · Filed under Daily Life, NaNoWriMo, Random Mutterings

Today I won’t be giving thanks.  Boo hiss n’all that, I can take it.  Today is just another normal day.  Get up, go to work, force yourself past Starbucks without getting the coffee you so desperately crave because you definitely overdosed yesterday and don’t want to feel like that two days running, get to the office, have breakfast, sit down and blog.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

So I feel like posting, but I have nothing much to say really.  Click away if you’d prefer not to hear my random mumblings. 

Only 3,020 words to go and I’ve won NanNo.  In a perfect world I’d like to pull that one off tonight.  In a slightly more realistic one it’ll be tomorrow, probably the afternoon.  When I look back and think how daunting that 50,000 was it seems amazing that I’ve made it this far.  I guess since I committed I’ve wanted to try and win, but it’s only been in the past week or so that winning has actually seemed possible.  And I can say, that barring the end of the world or other more serious disasters, I will win.  Wow!  That actually feels amazing.

Of course now I’ve managed to run out of things to say, and I’m sure this was all really very pointless.  Maybe I should just get back to writing a wedding scene.

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Sky Full of Butterflies

November 25, 2008 at 09:59 · Filed under NaNoWriMo, Search Engine Stories

          ”I suppose you wish to tell your mother then?”
          ”Please” she said, asking his permission.  She bit her lip, hoping he would say yes.  
          ”In the morning.”
          She hugged him tightly and retreated to her room.  She hadn’t slept for days and was starting to tire.  As she slid under the covers of her bed she imagined her mother’s reaction to her news.  She could only hope that it would not upset her.  Of all people, it was Alia who struggled most with the realities of Reixa’s life.  The rate at which Reixa was growing saddened Alia beyond belief; news of her daughter’s relationship could only make that grief worse. 
          After only a few hours sleep, Reixa woke early, determined to be ready for her mother before she woke.  When she emerged from her room, Larius was still sitting in the same chair as the night before, still reading the same book.  Together they waited, in silence, for Alia to wake and greet them.  
          The moment she saw her united and her daughter, sitting together, waiting, Alia knew something was wrong.  She eased herself into a chair, waiting for one of them to speak.  Reixa looked to her father, waiting for his permission to go ahead.  After a moment he nodded; she knew it was time to speak up.  
          ”Mother?” she said, walking towards Alia, taking her hand as she knelt to her level.  “I’ve met someone.”  Alia nodded, softly, inviting Reixa to continue.  “His name is Faust.  His parents own a tavern in the human sector.”  She waited in Alia’s silence, for something, anything.
          ”Garvey and Merrida?  I know them well.”  Reixa took this to be a good sign.  
          ”He means a lot to me.”  
          “Do you love him?” Alia squeezed her daughter’s hand.
          ”I do” Reixa nodded, surprised at her mother’s easy acceptance.  
          ”And does he love you?”
          ”I think so.”  Reixa paused.  “I honestly think he does.”
          ”Then be happy Little One” she said, using the pet name she have given Reixa in her brief childhood. 
          ”Thank you mama” she smiled lovingly.  
          Silent tears slid down Alia’s cheeks.  The daughter she had loved for such a short time was growing up.  Soon she would no longer be able to call Reixa hers; she would belong to another.  With a soft finger Reixa wiped away her mother’s tears, her lips brushing her cheeks tenderly as she kissed her goodbye.  “I’ll always be here with you mama.  Just around the corner” she reassured.  “I’m still young, there’s time.  I’m not yet ready to leave.”  
          Reixa backed away, unable to watch Alia’s tears for another moment.  The love she felt for her mother, and the love she felt for Faust, both tore at the two sides of her heart, slowly ripping her apart.  Leaving her mother behind that moment, knowing that despite her joy Alia was hurting, Reixa felt her own tears spill.  But, the thought of Faust, waiting for her that evening, the way his face lit up as she came into view, it felt as though her stomach were a sky full of butterflies.  Despite her apparent age she still felt like a small child, and as the two feelings pulled her in different directions she knew she was not ready.  She needed time.
          Unable to shake the slightly numb feeling from her heart, Reixa slowly made her way up to the tower.  For the first time in many weeks she hoped for simple tasks; mundane jobs that she could complete without thinking.  Perhaps if she could just lose herself in the simplicity of her labours she could ignore the pain she felt inside.  
          However, it was not to be, and when she reached the top of the tower she found Nasiya surrounded by musical instruments, enough to comprise an orchestra.  Her task was to make them sing.  Closing her eyes, reaching out to the instruments she found the cello.  Delicately, she bowed out a slow lament.  Carefully adding in instrument by instrument she drew out her tune.  Gradually tears began to roll along the sides of her face, until they streamed, and the song was accompanied by her distraught sobs.  She swayed to the sound of the music, her shoulders heaving with the weight of her sorrows.  Nasiya backed away from the room, unable to see her student so distressed.  Reixa was alone, just her and the music, crying out in her grief.  
          The instruments clattered to the ground as Reixa felt an arm tighten around her pitching shoulders.  “Don’t cry little one” the smooth voice said to her.  “We’ll be alright.”  Reixa sank into her mothers arms, sobbing heavily.  
          ”Oh mama” she wept, “I don’t know what I should do.”
          Alia stoked the tears away from the side of her face.  “Shhh little one.  Let time take it’s course.”  And as Reixa’s tears dried out, Alia knew that it was time to let her go.  Despite her own pain, she could not make her daughter suffer.  It was time to let her butterfly free.

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The Learning Curve

November 24, 2008 at 11:29 · Filed under Daily Life

The boy is four.  He started big school in September.  Every night he gets homework.

Hold up there.  Homework?  For a four year old?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  I was lucky (or should that be unlucky?) if I had much in the way of homework at the age of ten.  At four?  Well, it was all half my class could do not to cry as their mummies left the playground in the morning.  Homework was most definitely not in order.  It wasn’t until I was about six that I started bringing reading books home.  In my day, learning was done in the classroom, not in the home.

Every night the boy brings home a sound sheet.  At first they were single letters, he had to trace and then write the letter himself.  It was the letter they’d learnt that day in school.  Now they’ve gone through all the letters he brings back sheets with two letters combined.  He has to blend the letters to create the words.  The other night it was book, look, took and so on.  Every Tuesday he gets a reading book for the week.  They’re still totally beyond his reading level, and are more for us to read to him.  This bit I like – it means no power rangers or transformers every night at bedtime!  He also gets a word box – about eight words which he has to sound out, blend and practice.  Once he’s got them sorted, we sign a form and a new box comes home.  Then there’s tricky words – every Friday he gets two more sent.  They’re words like the, she and it that can’t be sounded out.  He has to learn them off by heart.  And there’s the math game – another one every Friday to be played over the weekend and returned.

Mornings are chaos in our house – none of us are good with them.  We all get up at 7 and somehow manage to make it through breakfast, showers and getting dressed in time to leave at 8:30.  There is no way we would be able to fit homework into that end of the routine.  Because Y and I both work, TB gets picked up from school by the YMCA and taken to their after-school club.  He gets home somewhere between 6 and 6:30 (usually the latter) and still needs feeding.  I get home around 6:30.  The chaos begins again.  By 7:30 we’re trying to bundle him off to bed and somewhere in the middle of that hour we have to sit down and try and achieve the day’s homework.  With a tired boy who’s had enough and really can’t be bothered. 

Last night, I sat down with the boy to try his math game.  Luckily, he’s very enthusiastic towards them, which at least is half the battle done.  The next is getting the adult to read and understand the instructions.  Last night’s game involved each person laying down a card from a deck, and the boy having to add up the numbers and shout if they made 10.  Naughty me changed the rules and just tried to get him to add the numbers.  It was a struggle.  I fail to see how it’s constructive to push a four year old into adding numbers of that size in his head.  Needless to say, he couldn’t manage it, and we gave up.

Now, forgive me if I’m completely wrong here, but I don’t see that this level of pressure can be a good thing for a kid his age.  It’s certainly not good for me, and I’m only the mother.  I don’t think I’m the one really suffering here.  I wasn’t pushed at the age of four, neither were my sister or my brother.  We can all read, add up, play nice.  I just don’t see the reasoning behind it.  Sure, he’s got to learn – every kid does – but does it have to be at such a rapid pace.  Surely they can go slow now and speed up once they’ve got the basics solidly under their belts.  Surely at this age they can learn in other ways, without reading or writing and adding up numbers in excess of ten?

So I ask you, have I got it wrong?  Is there some vital point that I’m missing here?  What was wrong with the way I was taught that things have to be so different for my son?  What are your thoughts, your experiences?  What really works?

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The Own-Up Challenge

November 17, 2008 at 15:43 · Filed under Daily Life

Over the past few weeks I’ve been carefully watching my statistics.  I’ve not been looking at numbers, or what you’re here for (because honestly, I don’t care to know how “dr. who” pink shoes or chan pie gnon brought you over here).  What I’ve been interested in is where you’re coming from. 

So I figured I’d issue a challenge.  Own up to your location.  I’ve got an idea of some of the owners, but others I’ve no idea who you are.  I’d like to know who you all are, and everything about you – I’m nosy like that – so it’s time to own up.  And as a reward for eschewing your anonymity, if you ask me a question, I might just answer it for you.  Here.  Providing it doesn’t make me blush too much.

Dubayy, AE  Melbourne, Victoria, AU  Perth, Western Australia, AU Scarborough, Western Australia, AU  Sydney, New South Wales, AU Antwerpen, BE Brussels, BE  Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, BE Rio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, BR  Edmonton, AB, CA  Surrey, BC, CA  Vancouver, BC, CA  Burlington, ON, CA London, ON, CA  Toronto, ON, CA Montreal, QC, CA   Bonn, Nordrhein-westfalen, DE Frankfurt Am Main, Hessen, DE Furth, Bayern, DE Kempten (allgau), Bayern, DE Munchen, Bayern, DE Orleans, Loiret, FR  Paris, FR Roma, Lazio, IT P’yongt’aek, Kyonggi-do, KR  Mumbai, Maharashtra, IN Chennai, Tamil Nadu, IN  Luxembourg, Luxembourg, LU  Kuala Lumpur, MY Kuantan, Pahang, MY Singapore, SG

Atherstone, Warwickshire, GB  Belfast, GB Birmingham, GB  Brentford, Greater London, GB  Brighton, Brighton & Hove, GB  Bristol, GB  Bromley, Greater London, GB  Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, GB  Cardiff, GB Chelmsford, Essex, GB Dudley, GB  Ealing, Greater London, GB  Edinburgh, GB Failsworth, Oldham, GB  Fareham, Hampshire, GB Farnborough, Hampshire, GB Gateshead, GB  Gillingham, Medway, GB Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, GB  Hackney, Greater London, GB  Hitchin, Hertfordshire, GB  Ilford, Greater London, GB Kempston, Bedfordshire, GB  Kendal, Cumbria, GB Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London, GB  Lambeth, Greater London, GB  Lincoln, Lincolnshire, GB London, Greater London, GB  Manchester, Manchester, GB  Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, GB Market Harborough, Leicestershire, GB  Newcastle Upon Tyne, GB  Norwich, Norfolk, GB Oxford, Oxfordshire, GB Pentwyn, Cardiff, GB  Peterborough, GB Poole, GB  Reading, GB  Sheffield, GB  South Shields, South Tyneside, GB Southend-on-sea, GB Stockport, GB Stoke-on-trent, GB Swansea, GB  Swindon, GB  Watford, Hertfordshire, GB  West Bromwich, Sandwell, GB  Withington, Gloucestershire, GB

Anchorage, AK, US Lake Havasu City, AZ, US  Show Low, AZ, US  Anaheim, CA, US  Irvine, CA, US Los Angeles, CA, US  Sacramento, CA, US San Diego, CA, US San Francisco, CA, US San Ramon, CA, US  Boulder, CO, US   Centennial, CO, US  Littleton, CO, US   Washington, DC, US Lewes, DE, US  Kissimmee, FL, US  Orlando, FL, US Palm Beach Gardens, FL, US  Tampa, FL, US  Idaho Falls, ID, US  Chicago, IL, US Mount Prospect, IL, US  Springfield, IL, US Lafayette, IN, US Louisville, KS, US Bay City, MI, US Chelsea, MI, US Dearborn, MI, US Hicksville, NY, US  New York, NY, US Middleburg Heights, OH, US Warminster, PA, US  Nashville, TN, US Dallas, TX, US  Houston, TX, US  Plano, TX, US Dale City, VA, US Dulles, VA, US Vienna, VA, US  Seattle, WA, US  Racine, WI, US Bluefield, WV, US Cheyenne, WY, US

p.s. If you can get someone from Forks, Washington to come over for a read, it’d make my day knowing there’s a vampire out there!

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