2008: The Novel - Part Two
Jan. 10th, 2009 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seabird78I told y'all I'd eventually get back to my 2008 recap, and now it's time to do it. Behold the first sentence of my first non-meme post of each month (July-December), followed by a synopsis of everything that comes back from that time period.
July 2008: Dear Bad Movie Patrons: I've put up with you and your lot for longer than I care to admit.
So this was the month my promotion took effect, but I found myself still handling all of my old responsibilities, due to an unforeseen delay in the search for my replacement. I tried to remain in good spirits as I finished out my last acknowledgment letter busy season, although it was hard because the new database was still really buggy. Eating ice cream with friends helped make life better, and so did a handful of really great live music experiences (Summerfest, The Tossers at the Irish-American Cultural Center, and Rancid at House of Blues) and a couple screenings of The Dark Knight. And of course, I'll never forget my debut as a "spoken word artist" (that title really cracks me up) at the Forest Park Progressive arts dinner, or my friend Stephanie's debut as a published novelist. Despite the work issues, I think July ranks as one of the best months of 2008.
August 2008: It's been a long time since I've had anything strange happen to me while I was listening to live music.
This month didn't leave me much to report on. I enjoyed a nice escape from the rat race with Mike's dad, who I joined for a stay at his cabin in rural Indiana. It was wonderful to be out in the middle of nowhere, and I got a lot of writing done when I wasn't sitting on the patio staring at the man-made lake. Other than that, all I remember are a couple moments of unpleasant drama - my encounter with a covert flasher, and my sister's argument with her estranged husband right before my nephew's birthday party. That and another plumbing issue that was thankfully resolved with relative ease.
September 2008: So this morning, when I was taking my usual walk from Clark and Lake to my office, a CTA bus caught my eye.
Aside from a trip to the Hideout Block Party, this was a fairly uneventful month. I got to be part of the search committee charged with selecting a candidate for my old job, and started performing tasks related to my new job since my acknowledgment-letter-related work decreased in volume. I was training my replacement by the month's end, and maybe I'm missing something, but I think that's pretty much it.
October 2008: In the last few weeks, I've been reconnecting with my music collection using my iPod shuffle, forcing myself to listen to each random track as it pops up, and not just skipping ahead to stuff that's more familiar as I tend to do.
I was dealing with a lot of stress this month. I finally got to let go of my acknowledgment responsibilities once and for all, so that was good, but I also had to adjust to a new style of writing in order to start drafting stewardship reports, and that took some doing. On top of that, I lost way too much sleep over an unexpected turn of events that brought some unresolved issues to the surface. That said, the month was not without a few bright spots. I got to host a Tamale Hut event featuring John McNally, which was really, really cool, I saw an energy-restoring Against Me! show at the Riviera, and of course, there was also an excursion to the candy factory in Indiana on Halloween, where I made out like a gummy bear bandit.
November 2008: Normally, October is one of my favorite months of the year.
After enduring such a difficult month, I wanted nothing more than catharsis and satisfaction, and I pursued both with a vengeance. Taking a page from the organizers of National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO), I created my own fake NANO challenge, striving to spend as much time as possible advancing the story that had fallen to the wayside in the months prior. I didn't get as much done as I intended, but I wrote a lot more than I would in a normal month, and I considered that a pretty major accomplishment. I also attended a writing conference put on by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) which gave me some helpful ideas about craft, and allowed me to network a teensy bit. When I wasn't busy losing myself in novel-related pursuits, I found all kinds of outlet for fun and entertainment. There was a Romantica show, a wrestling show, a Shakespearian play with a modern twist, a performance by the Safes, the last Tamale Hut gathering of 2008, and of course, the super ultra mega karaoke extravaganza. With all this to reflect on, I think November edges out July as the month of the year.
December 2008: I spoke to my grandparents on my dad's side for the first time in ages last night.
Figures I had to follow such a triumphant month with another difficult one. I came down with acute bronchitis a few days after Thanksgiving, although it didn't go full-blown until I was well into December. It left me couch-bound for the bulk of the month, keeping me from doing much aside from leaving the house for work, and devouring Twilight and a Bret Hart autobiography. I started feeling more like myself as the holidays drew near, and even managed to make it out the Saturday before Christmas for a particularly memorable shindig, but I didn't do much other than that, and I feel like I wasn't fully present during the Holiday Madness World Tour. To keep December from being a total wash, I watched The Wrestler the day after Christmas, and then treated myself to a second screening on New Year's Eve to celebrate my early dismissal from work. I rang out 2008 at home on my couch, where the boy and I indulged in a Six Feet Under marathon until the ball dropped.
And that brings me to the end of my 2008 recap. Hope you enjoyed, although I know this was more for me than anyone else.
July 2008: Dear Bad Movie Patrons: I've put up with you and your lot for longer than I care to admit.
So this was the month my promotion took effect, but I found myself still handling all of my old responsibilities, due to an unforeseen delay in the search for my replacement. I tried to remain in good spirits as I finished out my last acknowledgment letter busy season, although it was hard because the new database was still really buggy. Eating ice cream with friends helped make life better, and so did a handful of really great live music experiences (Summerfest, The Tossers at the Irish-American Cultural Center, and Rancid at House of Blues) and a couple screenings of The Dark Knight. And of course, I'll never forget my debut as a "spoken word artist" (that title really cracks me up) at the Forest Park Progressive arts dinner, or my friend Stephanie's debut as a published novelist. Despite the work issues, I think July ranks as one of the best months of 2008.
August 2008: It's been a long time since I've had anything strange happen to me while I was listening to live music.
This month didn't leave me much to report on. I enjoyed a nice escape from the rat race with Mike's dad, who I joined for a stay at his cabin in rural Indiana. It was wonderful to be out in the middle of nowhere, and I got a lot of writing done when I wasn't sitting on the patio staring at the man-made lake. Other than that, all I remember are a couple moments of unpleasant drama - my encounter with a covert flasher, and my sister's argument with her estranged husband right before my nephew's birthday party. That and another plumbing issue that was thankfully resolved with relative ease.
September 2008: So this morning, when I was taking my usual walk from Clark and Lake to my office, a CTA bus caught my eye.
Aside from a trip to the Hideout Block Party, this was a fairly uneventful month. I got to be part of the search committee charged with selecting a candidate for my old job, and started performing tasks related to my new job since my acknowledgment-letter-related work decreased in volume. I was training my replacement by the month's end, and maybe I'm missing something, but I think that's pretty much it.
October 2008: In the last few weeks, I've been reconnecting with my music collection using my iPod shuffle, forcing myself to listen to each random track as it pops up, and not just skipping ahead to stuff that's more familiar as I tend to do.
I was dealing with a lot of stress this month. I finally got to let go of my acknowledgment responsibilities once and for all, so that was good, but I also had to adjust to a new style of writing in order to start drafting stewardship reports, and that took some doing. On top of that, I lost way too much sleep over an unexpected turn of events that brought some unresolved issues to the surface. That said, the month was not without a few bright spots. I got to host a Tamale Hut event featuring John McNally, which was really, really cool, I saw an energy-restoring Against Me! show at the Riviera, and of course, there was also an excursion to the candy factory in Indiana on Halloween, where I made out like a gummy bear bandit.
November 2008: Normally, October is one of my favorite months of the year.
After enduring such a difficult month, I wanted nothing more than catharsis and satisfaction, and I pursued both with a vengeance. Taking a page from the organizers of National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO), I created my own fake NANO challenge, striving to spend as much time as possible advancing the story that had fallen to the wayside in the months prior. I didn't get as much done as I intended, but I wrote a lot more than I would in a normal month, and I considered that a pretty major accomplishment. I also attended a writing conference put on by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) which gave me some helpful ideas about craft, and allowed me to network a teensy bit. When I wasn't busy losing myself in novel-related pursuits, I found all kinds of outlet for fun and entertainment. There was a Romantica show, a wrestling show, a Shakespearian play with a modern twist, a performance by the Safes, the last Tamale Hut gathering of 2008, and of course, the super ultra mega karaoke extravaganza. With all this to reflect on, I think November edges out July as the month of the year.
December 2008: I spoke to my grandparents on my dad's side for the first time in ages last night.
Figures I had to follow such a triumphant month with another difficult one. I came down with acute bronchitis a few days after Thanksgiving, although it didn't go full-blown until I was well into December. It left me couch-bound for the bulk of the month, keeping me from doing much aside from leaving the house for work, and devouring Twilight and a Bret Hart autobiography. I started feeling more like myself as the holidays drew near, and even managed to make it out the Saturday before Christmas for a particularly memorable shindig, but I didn't do much other than that, and I feel like I wasn't fully present during the Holiday Madness World Tour. To keep December from being a total wash, I watched The Wrestler the day after Christmas, and then treated myself to a second screening on New Year's Eve to celebrate my early dismissal from work. I rang out 2008 at home on my couch, where the boy and I indulged in a Six Feet Under marathon until the ball dropped.
And that brings me to the end of my 2008 recap. Hope you enjoyed, although I know this was more for me than anyone else.
