I am SO excited! I hold in my hand… *expectant hush* the fruit of a friend’s hard labor. Last November I challenged a friend to write a novel with me for Nanowrimo. He wrote an over 60,000 word novel, but instead of taking the whole 30 days of November, he wrote it in just 15 days!! Yeah, is that amazing or what?! And I’m holding the finished printed hard bound novel in my hands right now! It just came!
And guess what?! My name is mentioned in the “Author’s Note!” *does a little dance!* And I quote: “I was challenged to write a novel in the month of November by a wonderful and encouraging friend, Carmen.” Yeah! That’s me! Wonderful and encouraging – LOL! “I took the challenge, and what was birthed during that first 15 days of the month and this is the novel that follows.”
He’s sent me excerpts here and there along the way that I gobbled up with delight, so I’m really looking forward to taking some time to sit in my spot on the sofa and devour this thing, hook line and sinker. I got the bits before he sent it off to be edited, and the editor took out 9000 words, so I hope it’s still as cool as it was before the editing. I can hardly wait! As a matter of fact, that may become my project for the day if I can tear myself away from the pressing stuff.
Here’s the info:
Book: Broken Time
Author: Anthony Vilgiate
Hard bound, 419 pages
Buy it at Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/content/2350732
I’ll post a review once I’ve had a chance to uh… well… review it. yeah.
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50 Things Every Woman (or man, for that matter) Should Be Able to Do
She should be able to:
Absolute Essentials
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Breath enough to scream and fight back if attacked. Being able to defend herself successfully is better, but if she can’t breathe, she can’t put up any resistance at all. Sometimes even mere verbal resistance is enough to deter an attacker. Everyone should know how to defend herself.
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Perform CPR.
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Say “no” convincingly.
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Drive both a stick shift and an automatic.
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Obtain birth control and use it effectively.
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Think through the possible consequences of her actions, and make decisions based on projected consequences rather than short-duration but instant gratification.
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Balance a checkbook.
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Sew on a button.
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Know her own mind, and be able to spot when she is lying to herself.
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Rent an apartment (having the skills to do so, not necessarily the funds).
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Prepare a 1040 EZ tax form.
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Change a tire.
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Jump start a car.
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Question what she’s told, and see the pros and cons of several points of view on each matter.
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Get a loan and understand the different types of interest.
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Disagree with someone – politely, but not immediately assuming that their opinions count more or less than hers.
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Read a map.
Health & Safety
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Be aware of her surroundings, and be conscious of which situations to avoid and where to step in to de-escalate a situation.
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Clean and bandage a minor injury/see blood without fainting or losing the ability to deal with the situation appropriately.
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Remain rational during a crisis – from surprise visitors to a major natural disaster. Standing still and screaming her head off is not likely to help anyone, and may cause further chaos and danger.
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Swim well enough to save herself if she falls in water.
Responsibility for Oneself
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Cook a nourishing meal.
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Search the web for information.
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Use a word processor.
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Clean house well enough to prevent bug infestations.
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Go to a movie or the theater alone.
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Iron clothing.
Responsibility to Others
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Change a diaper.
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Keep a child, any age, entertained for at least 10 minutes.
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Read to a child and/or work on their homework with them.
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Clean a cat box at least twice a week.
Knowledge is Power
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Think critically when listening to speeches and commercials and when reading literature of any kind to determine the biases and basic assumptions made by the author.
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Name the governor of her state and list at least one or two issues up for debate in government which may affect her life.
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Read a credit report.
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Know the definitions of a deduction, exemption, and tax credit.
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Form her own opinion based on verified facts (no Limbaughisms) and personal experience. If she doesn’t have the facts, she should have an idea of how to obtain them. Hearsay and blind hatred are not the basis for good decisions.
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Speak at least one foreign language well enough to ask for and receive instructions, order and pay for a meal, and make arrangements for travel and accommodation.
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Have the self possession to know when you need help and when you don’t.
Do It Yourself – or know enough so you don’t play the fool
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Tie a square knot.
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Make travel plans and reservations.
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Check oil and radiator fluid levels and fill them, if necessary.
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Change the oil, air filter, hoses, fan belts, headlights, and maybe even brakes of her car.
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Know the basic parts and workings of her car - oil, brakes, radiator, engine, transmission, spark plugs (or lack thereof), filter, headlights, etc. When the mechanic tells her with horror that there’s a lot of dust in her brakes, she should be able to stare at him solidly and inform him that friction brakes form lots of dust as part of their routine operation.
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Understand the terms RAM, ROM, CPU, hard drive, floppy drive, and memory.
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Buy a house (having the skills to do so, not necessarily the funds).
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Do basic household repairs, such as minor fixes to the sink, toilet, change the furnace air filter, etc.
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Paint a room (after filling in any nail holes).
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Use drills, hammers, saws, wrenches, etc. safely and appropriately.
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Start and use a lawn mower.
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Put together a “some assembly required” piece of furniture.
Self-note: Women, do you really need a man if you can do all these things by yourself?
What is your deepest, darkest fear?
Submitted by [Susan].
(I shouldn't answer this, because you already know my answer! :D)
Growing old and die alone and lonely. And poor. Yes, I have friends - but I understand that they have their own lives and can't always be there for me. Yes, I believe that God is always with me - but I also need some human to be with me, hold my hands, and hug me when I needed a hug the most.
I am an only child, my Dad is 83 year-old, I'm not close to any of my relative. I have all reasons to be worried.
Folks,
Just so we're clear that we DO live in a globalised world these days, let me tell you that I've just spent AUD$100 on petrol for my tiny sedan in the past 3.5 days. And we have done no more driving than commute to-from work, plus the odd trip to the shops for groceries.
WTF??? I remember just last year when I could make AUD$50 of fuel last a good 5-6 days.
I can't catch public transport to where I work as it's really industrial. As a two-car family, the Ninja Clan is going to have to seriously review its daily transport arrangements if this is how costs are going to keep trending.
Bloody hell!
Ninja
OK ... he's not mine exactly. He's my mom's, my sister's and my niece's. But he is the sweetest and most loving dog ever, and when you're at my folks' house you can't help but feel that he's adopted you. In fact, there's no way you can NOT pet Bailey. He'll just nudge and poke at you until you do.
He's also the "miracle dog" that my family almost just lost because he ate a sock and got it stuck in his intestinal track. Much surgery and stress later, he's back to normal. So I'm extra glad he's here to have these moments.
Random act of violence # 1:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/05/12/1210444288504.html
Random act of violence # 2:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mothers-day-rape-youth-charged/2008/05/12/1210444299484.html
Folks,
If we all believe that reasoning with these out-of-control youths will stop these random acts of violence, then let me just say that YOU'RE SADLY MISTAKEN!!!
You cannot use reasoning with animals and expect a positive outcome.
Let's face it, these youths have become so damaged that they will be recidivist offenders; and I do hope that they won't graduate to worse crimes as they get older.
Time to get real and stop the rot now. Stop namby-pambying these kids when they're young and lay down clear guidelines on what's expected of them. If they step out of line, don't be coy about hurting their feelings. They need to be told and re-told in no uncertain terms. Mess up and you'll cop it, mate.
Ninja
*not the most polite of thoughts*
If May is National Masturbation month in America, and married guys actually celebrate it, wouldn't that make him a fucking wanker?
*sigh*
My head hurts.
It's 4:45. I should be out of bed by now because I have to leave the house by about 6:45.
So I can start working at 7:30. Ew.
I am tired. I'm hoping to find out today or tomorrow that I'm being taken on as a casual employee so that I can buy some time for the job hunt. I really should send out a resume for this one classified ad looking for pre-press/layout people of all experience levels.
(But, yeah, my resume is retarded.)
It was just posted on the local paper's website yesterday.
Not that I'd get it... but it would probably be a good idea.
I keep sneezing.
Lately I've been thinking and I haven't gotten very far in my thought patterns. I'm kind of fed up.
It's tiring... thinking in circles.
Ok. So I need to find a tissue now and get out of bed and get showered.
I'm so freakin' tired.
