stacey ewing

The Nanowrimo Event at work was a success! We had 27 people show up to work up some final word count, hang out and dish about writing, and hear the two guest speakers offer encouragement and inspiration. One participant made it to 50,000 words and we all gathered around her computer to cheer as she submitted her novel to Nano for verification. It was great! Everyone stayed caffeinated and sugared up on the donated Starbucks coffee and treats. Seven of us made it to the very bitter end and wrapped things up at 1am. What a fun night and a super-cool bunch of folks! :D

you can see more pictures of the event here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157603364596428/

this test says that INFJs make good librarians… hahaha

We had a really great video conference call/virtual dinner with Aaron and Janelle last night. It was good to catch up with those two frooty little freaks! We wish them safe travelin’ today and a good rest of the week in Wiskahnsin (deemphasis on the sin part ::wink, wink:: heh).

I had a weird sort of horror-movie moment this morning on my way to work. I got in around 6:45am, parked over by the architecture building, and walked across that part of campus over to Library West. It was eerily quiet and empty during my short hike up the hill. Once I got to the Plaza d’Americas, I cut across the grass through a small stand of trees. As I neared the stand, about four or five squirrels raised alarm and all started barking at the same time. When I walked underneath, they simultaneously started shaking the branches and suddenly, millions of acorns rained down upon me!! Ow! Dammit! Ow! Seriously- I’m not making this up- I think they were out to get me. I looked up in time to see one of the squirrels pluck an acorn from his branch and throw it at me- hitting me on the forehead! Spooked, I kept walking and didn’t look back, hearing their chatter slowly fade as I hurried away. I certainly wasn’t going to stick around to see if they were of the flesh-eating sort. *shudder*

I guess it’s probably a sad day when the guys at Harbucks see me pull up in the parking lot in my 1990 VW Fox and have my drink ready before I even make into the store and up to the counter. They are so sweet there. I stopped feeling bad about going to this corporate giant a coupla weeks ago when everyone that works there started calling me by my first name. I feel kinda like Norm from Cheers:

“Staceeeeey! What are you up to?!”

“My ideal weight if I was 6′7″ “ ;D

Good news is that I’m up to 11,869 (words not pounds) so I’m around 23% done. Bad news is that I should really be around 50%…sigh. I almost quit yesterday but changed my mind- I still wanna see how far I can go.

Other good news, I figured out how to embed a soundtrack on the wiki I made for the story Wes, Tim and I are working on. It’s prety cool. Not quite sure how legal it is once I noticed there is an option in the emedded player that asks if you want to “download this song” but maybe it will be okay since our wiki is password protected and only visible to the three of us.

I’m using wetpaint and they seem to like it because the GUI is pretty easy but Wes got bit hard tonight by the lack of an auto-save function when he accidentally navigated away from the page- everything he’d just spent 30 minutes on was wiped when he quickly clicked back. Definitely a check in the “minus” box there.

geesh…. “labor pains” for 48 hours before getting a chance to write again… tonight somehow managed to squeeze out about 1650! Yatta!! ;)

Hey, changing the subject, does anyone else out there wonder why Pushing Daisies hasn’t been cancelled yet? It’s so damn good- Tim and I are waiting for the axe to fall any week now and for PD to join the likes of Firefly, Wonderfalls, and Arrested Development… we really don’t think the networks can handle writing this creative and meaningful… ;)

OMG- I so loved the Avett Brothers concert last night!!! Ken and Rhaina gave us tickets to the show and drove up from South Florida to attend with us. We had such an amazing time! The band was really great!! Someone had described them to me as the Violent Femmes eating Bluegrass and I think that’s pretty close- it was awesome! But oh man, are my legs ever sore this morning from jumping up and down/dancing for two hours last night! haha The crowd had a great vibe too, so although we were packed in like sardines (standing room only) I for once didn’t get claustrophobic- I felt totally safe and comfortable out there. Two thumbs way up!!

Here are some pictures from Ken’s phone that he so kindly took for me:

It was also sooooooooooooooooo goood to see Ken and Rhaina- they both look amazing and happy and wonderful as always! They bring such good energy with them and we always feel so recharged after spending time with them. :D

P.S. I need to email the misplaced misfit- we were eating a post concert meal at the Clock Restaurant and the Cranberries came on the radio and THEN, later, back at the casa, and out of nowhere, Rhaina asked me if I had ever heard the Crash Test Dummies Christmas CD…. WTH? MM- you’d better buy a lotto ticket or somethin’ this week!! This is getting out of hand! haha ;)

Well, I’m at 8350 as of Midnight 11/10. Tim had two gigs tonight so I went to Harbucks after he left around 7pm. I only planned to be there for two hours and was going to leave at 9 but then I got on a roll and lost track of time. Ash & Ashley gave me the heads up at 10:50 that they’d be closing shop in 10 minutes. Where did all the time go? wow. But then I added up the word count and it’s just up to a measley 8350. Nathaniel just started writing today or yesterday and already he’s at 5,000. I’m too scared to look at Sam’s word count- I’m sure she’s at like 50,000 as of yesterday and I know for sure that Christy’s at 29,000. I’m just way too OCD, I’m still catching myself editing as I go. That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spot. light. losin’ my effin’ word count… heh heh. ;) I’m starting to regret not finding out sooner about the National Blogging Contest that the Misplaced Misfit hipped me to yesterday- I might have had better luck with that! haha

Music this eve:
M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts
M83: Before the Dawn Heals Us
M83: World
M83: Run Into Flowers

The upside to this evening was that Starbuck the Frog was hanging out with me at the same window again only it was so chilly out that his/her poor little legs were tucked tight under his/her body, looking kinda like a nesting chicken. I was glad to see that ol’ Starbuck had gained a little weight since the last time I saw him/her a few days ago. Guess the bug catching thing next to the bright window is working out. I would have taken a picture but was too busy writing.

BUT, I wasn’t too busy to take a break later and look at KK+’s newly posted photos tonight. He posted new pictures he shot at a fashion show in China. I really enjoy looking at his art- he’s a fantastic photograhper. This picture (below) was one of my favorites. Doesn’t this dress look like shaved ginger or ribbon candy??? I love how he caught the movement too- that dress just shimmers and flutters around her legs. God, I’m sure it is must be like a $15,000+ If you go to the set, you can click on that image for an even larger size with more detail. Please do- it’s so cool.

Why the mime? I hate mimes. That’s how annoyed I am tonight. I’ve reached MIME THREAT LEVEL ORANGE.

The only exception to the above is ANGRY mimes like Eric Stolz:

Mime: I’ll tell you about love. Love… disappears baby! Every time I’ve been broke, babe has been off like a prom dress.
Girl: Maybe it’s the girls you choose.
Mime: Hey! Maybe I’ve been hurt. Maybe I’ve been dogged!
Steve: Does anybody know where this place is?
Mime: What do I look like, a Thoms Brothers guide?
Steve: You know you really shouldn’t speak.
Mime: Yes! Where do you guys work?
Bailey: I’m a maitre ‘d.
Mime: Wow.
Steve: Department of Transportation.
Bailey: He’s working on the gridlock problem.
Mime: Thank God.
Guy: I build airplanes.
Mime: Woo wooo woo!

Anyway, I digress- the real problem: my wordcount SUCKS tonight!!!!

But hey! MAYBE I’ve been hurt! MAYBE I’ve been dogged! heh.

…maybe tomorrow will be better… :P

Aaaaaaagh! I’m still behind! Tried to go Harbucks where I could really concentrate (too many distractions at home) but I got there too late- all the tables were taken. Bummer. :P So back to the casa I went and tried to grind out some more word count- managed to eek out a few more but not as many as I would’ve liked. The beat goes on… :)

Music for inspiration tonight:
Danger Doom: The Mouse and the Mask
Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots