NaNo Update #1
I realize that it’s only been two days, but the NaNo experience is going well. I’m at 7,251 words. Once I sit down to write, the process is pretty painless. The internet is still my biggest procrastination tool, though, and that is a problem.
I’m realizing, of course, that this story is going to be a lot longer than I had anticipated. My hope is that I’ll keep writing after I reach 50,000. For the first time, I’m confident that I’m going to reach the NaNo goal.
Tomorrow I hope to pass the 10,000 word mark. All of it is total crap, but at least I’m writing again. That feels really really good.
Goals for 2009, Vol. I
On this early chilly morning I’d like to talk about addiction.
I don’t have a lot of vices. I like to engage in some alcohol now and then, but I don’t drink regularly. I smoke cigarettes when I’m drinking, but not any other time. I don’t buy magazines or DVDs, and I’m too poor to have any sort of obsession with buying shoes or handbags.
But when it comes to buying and collecting books? It’s like my crack, y’all.
It started a few years ago with my renewed obsession with Sweet Valley High. When I discovered that I could buy these books in bulk on eBay, it became my best and most reliable time-waster.
The collection grew from just SVH to Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley University. I started collecting the Alice McKinley books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and the Anastasia books by Lois Lowry. Gossip Girl got thrown in there somewhere. The Princess Diaries, too. Then I started collecting the Baby-Sitter’s Club. That in itself is a huge undertaking.
It’s something like three years later, and my collection is ridiculous. None of them are complete, but they just keep growing. In addition to collecting these series, I started scouring the Half Price Books clearance section for other cheap finds.
I bought over 320 books this year, y’all. A few of them came from publishers and were free, and a lot of them came from eBay in bulk, and nearly none of them were more than $1, but still.
That is a shit-ton of books. It’s quite ridiculous, actually.
So here is the first set of goals for 2009, relating to Books:
- I will buy only used books.
- I will participate in at least 3 reading challenges.
- At least 50% of what I read in 2009 will come from the library.
- I will sell off my Baby-Sitter’s Club collection.
- I will keep a list of all the books I buy and read in 2009.
I’m really looking forward to a fresh start when it comes to reading and collecting. The sooner I clear off some shelf space and make a little money, the sooner I can attempt to complete the most important collections.
