Which is why I “signed up” for NaNoWriMo
Not to write a new novel, but to do a sprint on Arch/Eternal with the full intention of getting to the end of this bloody draft.
So far, so good. I mean I’m at least eight thousand words behind the word count goal, but my real goal was to get myself to work on it for at least an hour every day, and by that metric, I am 100% CRUSHING IT.
But the other thing is I thought I’d be able to publish some other stuff this month, too, but I can’t, because I’m a worthless POS.
Don’t worry, that’s only how I feel sometimes, like when I’m trying to type up a quick update post and I can’t stop thinking about how much I hate update posts and how many unfinished drafts of much more interesting posts I’ve got lined up and how much I wish I’d had the energy/bandwidth/badassery to publish one of those much more interesting posts in the last two weeks instead of publishing NOTHING.
Anyway.
The point is that I’ve been sick.
Well, no, that’s not the point at all. It’s just one of the things that is true. And not like REALLY sick, just a little bit sick. Like I’ve got this annoying sinus pain and burning scratchiness at the base of my throat that makes me cough and my energy is in the toilet. What kind of toilet? Glad you asked. It’s one of those gas station toilets that’s almost clean enough to use.
Here’s me respecting your time and attention and affinity for lists:
I’ve offered to write a guest post for another publication called
on the 24th of this very month. Don’t get excited. gave me the option of repackaging an existing piece and I TOOK IT, like a true degenerate. My plan is to use this opportunity to get more eyes on my essay about ADD/Polyfocalism, which I plan to shill to the end of time.For the past month or so, establishing a better relationship with technology has been my top priority. On good days, this means less trolling Substack Notes, less YouTube, less doomscrolling, less endless online reading, etc. On less good days, it means the same amount of all that stuff as before, but just feeling worse about it. Overall, some great wins. One of the articles I’m most excited to finish and share is about this, but…who knows when I’ll actually finish and share it. So, in the meantime, I cannot recommend highly enough
’s recent venture into the exact same stuff. Do yourself and your posterity a favor, and go read it.What else? Oh yeah! Cover art, etc, is almost done for the short fiction anthology I’ll be self-publishing. A more substantial update “soon.”
Yesterday,
(fellow fiction writer, actual legend) recorded a conversation between the two of us. If she enjoyed it at least 20% as much as I did, she’ll publish it right away. No pressure, Meg.I’m so tired.
My daughter’s second birthday is next Thursday. Yes, that Thursday, on the holiday I assume it’s offensive to name.
Started watching A Murder at the End of the World.
It’s excellent.
I had no idea it was Brit Marling project until she showed up in one of the scenes. No wonder.
Unrelated: I also went to the theater all by myself to see Dream Scenario with Nic Cage, and that might very well have been the best performance of an actor who is known for his gobsmacking performances. And the film itself is hilarious, horrific, and heartbreaking. Go see it.
I’m in the process of making sourdough bread for the first time using a 90-year-old starter my uncle sent me through the mail.
How’s this going? Are you enjoying it? Should I do it again sometime?
I really really want to publish something real this month (other than this dumb update post) but I think it would be wise not to promise anything because I really do need to stay very serious about this fake NaNoWriMo commitment, and next week I’m traveling with my wife and two kids for Thanksgiving (whoops I named it) and then after that it’s practically December.
“Excuses are for punk ass bitches.”
You’re right, of course. I’m really just trying to explain why I might not—
“Excuses. Are. For. Punk. Ass. Bitches.”
What are you saying.
“…”
OK, ten feels like a good number. We’ve got some updates, we’ve got some good humorous bits, we’ve got some cringey self-deprecation. I think I’m ready to call it a day and beg you not to share this with anyone.
It’s for you. It’s only for you.
1. Take care of you. 2. Take care of your family. 3. We're not going anywhere. 4. I've done nothing with our recording aside from downloading it to my personal computer. Next step will be to edit out my existential whining and leave only your wisdom and the two or three times I said something funny. Should run at a tight 15. 😜
Thank you! Get well! And happy birthday, Vera!!❤️