This past year had so much happen to me that my one salvation was usually music, like always. And this year, I wanted to share the soundtrack of 2008 for me. There were a lot of songs that didn’t make the cut–”Love Lockdown” by Kanye West, “The Look” by Roxette, “Why Georgia?” by John Mayer, “Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Me” by Keith Urban, and even “Still Rainin’” by Jonny Lang–but after chipping down the 30-something songs? I’m happy with the 17 that I have left. Take note: these songs aren’t all written in 2008, these are just the tracks that in 2008 meant something to me in one way or another, and that I found myself walking around singing them and able to own up to singing them (which is why you don’t see Danity Kane’s “Damaged” or Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” on this list, ha!). So, without any further adieu, here’s the tracks and why I chose them:

1. “No More Excuses” by Kill The Alarm - To say that this song got stuck in my head is a no brainer. The opening line of the song would get stuck in my head so many days when I’d wake up, bundle up, and walk out to the bus. Even in Orlando when I was finishing off classes, the track was almost like a mantra for me.

2. “Your Song” by Mayday Parade - After moving from Orlando, Mayday Parade was one of the bands that really stuck with me. The imagery in the song and the way the places are named where I all know them, it’s something special for me. And just as a whole, the build of the song is perfect.
3. “High and Dry” by Radiohead - To say that I “discovered” Radiohead this year would probably be the most accurate. I delved into them and other bands that I should have started listening to long before (e.g., R.E.M., Ryan Adams, and Peter Gabriel), and this track has always been one of my favorites. I’ve always enjoyed the covers that I’ve heard of it, and that same panache is with the original.
4. “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” by Darius Rucker - Hootie went country, and I dug up and enjoyed every single minute of it. The debut single from the former Blowfish frontman is really something special to me. Clever, catchy, and there’s something to it that just sounds right. It’s like they should have been country long before.
5. “Lil’ Firecracker” by Aaron Lee Tasjan - I first saw Aaron opening for Seven Mary Three at the Backbooth and something to his music really got to me. Americana with a touch of rock, like our generation’s answer to Springsteen and Dylan, the music just speaks to me. Especially this single.
6. “Bad Reputation” by Freedy Johnston - Continuing on the February theme, I heard 7M3 cover this one that same first night at the Backbooth and the song just stuck with me. Its one of those songs that I’d almost guarantee we all know, but didn’t know who sang it. It also would get stuck in my head at random times too, to say the least.
7. “Pictures” by Unsung Zeros - After leaving Orlando, Unsung Zeros just kept with me so much more. Not only did I cover this song at my farewell show, but I just found myself returning to their music as a sense of comfort and remembering the “home” that I had just left.
8. “Walking Disaster” by Big 10-4 - Although my favorite track from this other O-Town based group has and will always be a cross between “Dead Man,” “Superpowers,” and “Tangled,” something about the lead off track of their debut that just left me feeling like I wasn’t alone. That, and the first half mile of any jog to this track was a motivation.
9. “Car Crash” by Matt Nathanson - Finally after so many years of my friend Smanky pushing Matt on me, I came around to his music on my own terms. And after December 1st and our car accident, this track was lodged permanently in my head. Of course, I’ll still always love “Little Victories” more, though.
10. “Slide” by Goo Goo Dolls - After making its way back into my setlists, I have to say that I still hold a very special place for this song in my life. There’s something about it that I just love with the flow, and its so fun to play on guitar, even without retuning to “do it right.” But its one of those tracks that I just always need to sing along to.
11. “Away” by Athenaeum - I started coming back to my Ath stuff with the impending release of Mark Kano’s first solo album, but this one stuck with me because of some of the friends I talked to and lost over the course of 2008. Just so much sadness and hope in just this one track, and Mark’s voice is just perfect in describing it.
12. “Last Kiss” by Seven Mary Three - To be honest, 2008 was the year of 7M3. It was the only show I went to all year, it was the album I most wanted, and it’s where I met the most new friends. And their first single from the new album is no exception. Love it. Heck, I listened to it over 70 times this past year, enough said.
13. “Winter” by Joshua Radin - One of my discoveries for the year, there’s something beautiful in the mellow music that Radin writes. I really enjoy the simplicity and the technique. It also helps that its often on Scrubs or on other shows, but the feeling of this song is just perfect.
14. “Oceans” by Mike Garrigan - I also rediscovered some of my love for Mike Garrigan’s music too this past year. And with that, this gem on his The Lessons of Autumn album just stuck with me. Same thing with the hope. I really like hearing hope in lyrics and just the desire.
15. “Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional - Another band that I latched more onto as of the late, the mellowness of the acoustic version of this song is just wonderful. Straight up emotion. I listen to the So Impossible EP at least once a week. The possibilities and the lyrics and writing are brilliant.
16. “Wonderwall” by Ryan Adams - I started listening to more of Adams’ music as the year passed on, but this track stuck with me after hearing it covered by a local Champaign, IL musician. There’s something amazing to this version. Just, amazing.
17. “I Wish The Best For You” by Emerson Hart - While I listened to this album in 2007 and ranked it just as a noteable, it’s grown on me with time. I’m excited at the prospect of a Tonic reunion, but this track just… I can’t describe it. Just listen, that’s all.

All of that said, I do hope you enjoy. These songs really do mean a lot to me and make me think of so many friends in so many different ways, and I’m glad I can share them with you.

So please, download and enjoy!

Each and every day, I think about change and the resolutions that it takes to get there. Sure, I remember that a year ago today I talked about how I don’t believe in the idea of New Year resolutions. You can call what follows just a list of things that I’ve thought about improving on for a while, delivered in no particular order…

1. Getting off the internet: I need to really focus on spending more time actually not sitting behind a computer and out in the world doing things.

2. Writing, and revising: I’d like to honestly write more and have a better filled portfolio. And with that, comes more revision and editing. I’d like to have something to show as a final product.
3. Focus on the strings: I’d like to get back into the theory of the guitar work and actually practice and write more there. By years end, I’d like to have at least four new songs. Easy enough.
4. Back to the books: I’d like to read at least 26 books by the end of the year. That’s a book every other week, and easily doable. Back in 2006, I kept track of this when I only had LiveJournal, and I read just over that goal.
5. New hobbies: I’ve started developing an interest in photography, and I’d like to grow this. I won’t pledge to do Project 365, but I’d like to take out a camera more often and learn shot structure, lighting, staging, etc. I’d like to get some filters for my digital and learn some more.
6. Eating healthier and exercising more: I’d like to jog at least ten miles a week on average, if I do less, fine, but I need to just get out and move around more. I’d like for this goal to grow so that in 2011, I can be in Orlando in January to jog in the Disney Marathon.
7. Financial stability: Over the course of 2009, I’d like to eat out at restaurants less, only use cash for said times, and all in all pay down more of the debt and be more monetarily cautious. I need to learn and apply budgeting better, and will do so starting today.
8. Social growth: I’d like to be able to end 2009 and actually feel like I’m somewhat connected to this town too. Be it friends or volunteer or just city activities, I’d like to be involved.
9. Individual growth: I’ve learned a lot about myself in 2008 and I’d like to continue that growth in 2009. A lot of this is in pieces above, but a lot of it is an introspective journey that I must go at alone, and I’ll be just figuring out with time.
10. Friends: And as 2009 starts, I’d like to be in better touch with and have better communication with friends whom I might have left behind wherever they might be. I can only do so much, but I hope those friends will join me in those efforts back, and that I can also meet new friends here in town.

All of that said, I’m proud to look at the year to come, and excited for the future prospects. I can only move forward and learn from everywhere I’ve been, so I hope that as I do? That I’ll find you along for the ride, dear reader.

Let’s count these days of this next year together and come back here in 365 days time and laugh, smile, cry, and rejoice at the journeys we’ve taken. Thanks for being there with me, and I wish the best for you…

And as I’ve said it so many times before, always keep trying so hard…

So, I’m going to see if I can do this, sum it up in under 2,000 words, and give an entry for anyone who might be visiting for the first time a nice view of who I am and where I am in my life…

January - At this point, I was gearing up for one of my last two semesters at UCF. I had barely started this site, moving over from my old one–TryingSoHard.com. With a full workload of classes, I was solid in my Human Resource Management classes, taking only major related courses. We also had to give away one of our cats to a friend because we just had one too many.

February - The only concerts I went to all year were in February. I attended both shows of the 7M3 day and night driving CD release weekend. Met tons of cool “Band Family” members from the boards there. School seriously consumed my life.

March - Late March is when the wife started hearing back from Law Schools, we thought we had made our pick for FSU then. At the end of that month, we also moved from our “posh” apartment into a sublease and I was ready for my classes to end.

April - Early month I spoke with three different advisors and was signed off: August I would graduate. We also visited FSU to see how we’d like the town. We were set on her going to Law School there. And finally late in the month, we celebrated one year of wedded bliss and visited Savannah and Helen, Georgia.

May - Mid-month, just as my last two classes ever started, we received news of an acceptance that trumped over FSU: UIUC in Champaign, IL accepted the wife for Law School. We mulled it over and decided on it. Wheels were in motion. My political posts started getting good at about this point.

June - One of my last two classes ended, so I shifted full focus to my final class at UCF. I also took Mediation Training at UCF before leaving. School was still consuming my life.

July - My last class ended in early/mid month, and I was able to relax briefly. Just briefly. I also got together some of my best Orlando music friends and I played what I thought would be my last time ever on any sort of musical stage. At the end of the month, we moved out and in with the wife’s parents across town.

August - Talk about a whirlwind: I graduated early in the month, we went back to my parent’s house and spent some time with them before heading back to my in-law’s place. I job hunted online, we moved mid-month from Orlando to Champaign, and we just tried to settle in to our new lives. Everything was new and bright as the wife started school and I looked for a job. Not a week after moving up, I had lined up a job and was scheduled to start work in September.

September - I joined the 8 to 4:30 work force. I also started going out to open mic nights and just trying to really settled down here in town.

October - I’d like to say that there was much more than what September had, but October was filled with more work, regularly donating plasma, and doing open mic nights as often as I could, with one of my most successful outings at an open mic. I also started to do some jogging and started setting goals for continuing with that.

November - I did NaNoWriMo this year, and finished barely in time, happily so. My father-in-law visited mid-month, and I undercooked our turkey in my wife’s and my first Thanksgiving away from our families. I’d include the election, but that was an obvious one. November became a bit of a blitz of memories and thoughts as the month passed.

December - Starting off the month with a small fender bender in the car, the weather was nice. Well, I at least like the cold. Seems like the month was just work and a bit of video games. I also started thinking more about writing and what I could do in 2009 to really change up things…

And that being said, I’ll let this be what it is and tomorrow? I’ll talk more about what will be…

I hope that everyone rings in the new year safe and sound… All the best today, tomorrow, and every year…

So relevant to the holidays, Christmas Day is always Chinese Food Day for the Jews. No joke. Its a ritual or something. And this year, that’s exactly what Sarah and I did.

But last night, I tried something new. There’s a frozen Chinese food that I’ve seen at a few stores, so I finally bought a box and tried it. And boy, I’ve gotta say, its the best frozen Chinese food I’ve ever had. And even cooler? The ingredients are almost all natural, and when you look at the label, you can pronounce almost all of them. The only one I couldn’t pronounce in the Beef and Broccoli was something in the black Bean paste that made up part of the sauce, and from the little I remember from watching Iron Chef, its one of those coagulants.

That being said, I highly recommend my friends who enjoy Chinese food and mostly natural foods to check out:

However, friends, I received this forwarded e-mail from my father-in-law and I just thought I’d share it. Even though its not really from Charles Schultz, I think that today of all days, it makes a very nice read in this season of thankfulness, love, and kindness.

You don’t actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through and you’ll get the point. It is trying to make an awesome point!

Here’s the first quiz:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The facts are, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today …… It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”

So what’s my point? My point is simply this: remember all who are in your life because we all touch everyone else’s lives in phenomenally indescribable ways. These little rings that we leave across the surface of the pond are so amazing in retrospect that we should do our best to radiate that kindness and joyous well-natured spirit each and every day, just so that in time, we can think these latter 6 questions and smile at all of the people who have inspired us to be better along the way.

And that, my friends, is all we could ask for.

Happy Holidays, no matter what you celebrate.

As the winter season gets colder and colder in my first real winter, I keep finding myself making little remarks here and there about what I like about this season or that season or the little things here or there.

Today, work was slow and a lot of folks went home early because of an ice storm we had. And when you say “ice storm” and you’re talking to a Southerner, I can tell you that a Southerner generally thinks that they’re talking about hail or something of that sort. Let me clear that up.

An ice storm is what happens when the weather is cold enough outside and its still raining and its not snow. You see, Florida, when it hits 32 degrees and it precipitates from the sky? You don’t immediately have snow, and not all snow can be used for snowball fights, snowmen, or skiing. There’s no “one type of snow.”

Up here, we see ice almost as much as snow. Matter of fact, I kicked what I thought was a drift on the side of the road the other day and realized that, as it didn’t move, that it was just a block of ice. The snowman some neighbor kids built back around December 1st when we had our first “real snow” of the season? The wind and the weather sheared the outer layer of snow into ice, and it became a pitiful droopy three-foot-tall circular block of ice.

On the sidewalks, however, you’re not as lucky. Some parts of it might be clear from the ice, other parts are a little “chunky” where the ice has been pushed aside and reformed, and other parts might just be a very thin shear.

After slipping and sliding with each and every step that I had for a week or so, and nearly busting ass one or two of those times, I decided that I would take matters into my own hands. A quick google search and sixteen digits later, I ordered two pairs of these. One for me, and one for the wife.

A few years ago, I know that I laughed in the mail order catalogs where they’d have these for the little old ladies so that they wouldn’t slip and fall themselves. Hilarious then because it seemed so ridiculous.

Today, walking the half mile from the bus home in the ice storm, I’m glad that I had these. In the slush that cars would drive through on the road, I had normal walking traction, and where I might have slid every-which-way on the sidewalks? I was walking normally.

To all in the blustery cold, if you have issues with the ice, I’d recommend this investment. Best $20 that I’ve spent in a long time…

A little four year old girl who just wants Christmas cards. That’s it. Even with the story being on MSNBC, a website I trust for my news, I had to check out Snopes, which confirmed it.

So friends, I know I haven’t done a Sunday Share in a while, but this one I ask something simple of you. If you have a few extra holiday cards, or just some plain card sitting around? Please take a few minutes and send it to this little girl:

The holidays are about caring and humanity. This is the least we can do.

Tonight, there was freezing rain. As you can see from that picture there, it froze right on the tree, encapsulating the branches with a thin coat of ice. Its very pretty, something that no matter how I tried, my limited photography skills couldn’t capture. Well, I like this picture, so I can’t say that too much.

Sarah and I were looking out at this tree that’s right outside our window and she started looking at the branches and points at one. I look up and you can see the branch splitting higher up, the weight of all of the ice dragging it down. She comments about how it looks like its going to break.

Not two minutes later, it does. Right to the ground, all down.

The one in that picture? Now about two to three hours later? Its hanging about two to three feet lower itself.

This weather is pretty, the snow? Wonderful to watch fall and accumulate. But other than the ice posing for a picture or two like that one? I could do without that part of it, I think…

Companies, in their never-ending quest to make sure we remember the consumer-oriented side of the season, seem to take their mailing lists that they promised only one message a week at most or two to three times a month and now send out one e-mail a day.

Yup, seriously. Take a look in your junk folder at some of the ones that you might have been deleting. I’ll bet that you’ll notice that they’ve popped up just a little bit more. And its all because there’s some sale, some shipping discount, some reminder of how close Christmas is getting and how you need to have your gift there by Christmas. As if the world will end if you don’t…

I remember when I first ordered from Harry & David, I was told an e-mail every two to three weeks. Now? I deleted two from them this morning, three yesterday, and I’m sure if I scrolled back even farther in my trash folder of my Gmail account, about the same daily. Shoetrader.com? I’ve been getting an e-mail every other day. Daily e-mails also from Amazon.com, and even Campmor, whom I just bought my shoe traction aids (sweetest winter gear EVER) from last Monday, and I specifically remember their radio box on the sign-up page saying only twice a month. Heck, CottonFactory T-Shirts has been e-mailing me twice a week, and I just purchased from them about half a month ago (and got a sweet “Its the Economy, Stupid” Obama shirt to go with my new “Will Rock for Bananas” shirt), and their e-mails were once every other week when I signed up.

I wish there was a way to click in an e-mail “Thanks, but I’ve already done my holiday shopping, therefore I don’t need daily reminders on my gift getting there in time for Christmas.” Or how about even a way to say “You know, I don’t care if my gift gets here by Christmas, the first night of Hanukkah is the 21st and there’s no mail or deliveries on Sunday.”

That would be too easy. But then again, they’d also lose the people who see that last minute “self-gift” that they so badly want.

Needless to say, if this rate keeps up, I might be unsubscribing from all too many lists. Well, I say that, but I know how lazy I am. I’ll just probably keep clicking delete…

And I’m especially proud that she got accepted into grad school too. So she’ll be continuing on with her studies for her masters right out of college, and starting this January!

Congrats, Sis. I’m proud of you. The whole family is…

And I got to thinking about the whole “Subject Line” ordeal. You see, we all look at that subject line, and I know around the office at work? That subject line is how you know what you’re opening, how you find it later, and what sets up your whole message so you know whether you have to look at it immediately or not.

While I was ranting about this to a friend, she decided to be a wise ass and sent me the perfect example of what NOT to do:

from: Drea
to: Adam
date: Nov 2008
subject: Yo
This message is just to say, ‘yo.’ ^_^

As you can see, if you didn’t have gmail, all you’d have seen of the message would have been the “Yo” for the subject line. While not really a “problem” there’s an infinite number of things that could have been in there under the “Yo.” It could have been “Yo, let’s go grab dinner” or “Yo, how are things?” There’s no idea what you’re getting at all.

Now, I’m not saying that we need to have elaborate subject lines, and there’s definitely a way to go overboard, that my friend demonstrated again:

from: Drea
to: Adam
date: Nov 2008
subject: An email containing a greeting and a random statement.
Hello!
Cheese is awesome

I’m definitely not implying that we need to be so formal, but maybe a little more description in the title of a message would be nice as a whole, until you’ve got a thread going back and forth and you have an idea what the message will be about, you know? A preview and a bit of understanding as to what to expect.

Maybe that makes sense, maybe not. Who knows. I’ve always found giving things names and titles to be a bit frustrating…

For those who haven’t heard, David Gregory was named moderator for the MSNBC show Meet the Press.

Now, as folks know, I’m a Chuck Todd fan, a card carrying Chuckolyte. So before I even get into why I wish he was the moderator rather than Gregory, I’ll discuss Gregory a bit.

David Gregory is a rare breed of anchor: mostly independent, showing his opinion ever so slightly with his direction of his remarks, he will take the middle road to get to the answers. Does he ask the tough questions? You bet. Does he provide a senior presence to a show that’s always been bigger than the person running it? Of course. But is he the right guy for the job? I don’t believe so.

Gregory is a strong anchor, I’ll give him that, but he’s not very personable. When I see him on TV, I feel distant. I feel like this is a guy who’s so ingrained in politics that he’s an inside guy. That he’s one of those “Washington-types” that both Obama and McCain tried so hard to not be when they ran their campaigns. We’ve seen so much of Gregory that when he comes across being a bit light-hearted–or tries to–that he still has quite a bit of stiffness to him. I’ve rarely seen him “loosen up.” It’s hard for me to feel connected to him or to feel like he understands outside the beltway what the rest of America is looking for in their politicians…

And isn’t that what Meet the Press needs? Someone who knows what the everyman wants to know and loosens the beltway a bit? To give us the hard news, get in the good questions, and at the same time, make it a show that reminds us that this crazy game of politics is by the people and for the people?

Tom Brokaw has been a good steward of the show in the wake of Russert’s wake. While still a stiff newsman, because many of us have grown up with “Uncle Tom,” he’s a welcoming presence. When Russert’s passing was announced that afternoon, Brokaw was the only man who I could have imagined first announcing it on MSNBC. He’s familiar and friendly, and his time has garnished respect.

There are other individuals on the network whom I feel the same way about. Amidst them I throw in Brian Williams, who I wholeheartedly trust for the news and Andrea Mitchell, who’s been a long time correspondent and hosts her own hour on MSNBC. And these two are folks that while they might be opinionated, their opinions are strongly back-seated to the focus of delivering the news.

Now, some of the better commentary that I’ve seen on this issue is this little gem right here. While an older blog post, Jossip hit the nail on the head.

Back to my personal choice, who it seemed Russert hand picked for the job: Chuck Todd. And at the same time, I realize that he’s not the man for the job. Not right now. I watched the RNC hours he hosted, and while I like his snippets when he comes in as a numbers guy on the many shows on MSNBC and NBC? I realize that he needs a few more years of on-air training to get more comfortable. And I think Russert knew the same thing when he chose Todd. He knew that he was a man who walked in similar shoes and grew up as an “everyman” and was just as warm and friendly and a sports fan as he was. That’s why Todd started getting more on-air time for a while: it was all part of the training and grooming for when Russert would have eventually retired in another 8-12 years.

And at the same time, I wonder how with the 6pm slot between the two airings of Hardball will be filled with Gregory leaving what was once Race for the White House that morphed into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I’d hope maybe for The Chuck Todd Show. Seeing the network just started The Rachel Maddow Show a few months back, anything is possible…

At any rate, I think that David Gregory won’t be the best of fits. I’m not going to use that to determine whether or not I’ll watch the show, I’ll do that based on the guests like I always have. Its why I’ve got the Brokaw-Obama interview from earlier today on behind me on its MSNBC replay as I type this and finish working on our laundry. As I watch the Brokaw-Gregory hand-off in the last few minutes of the program, Gregory said something true: “I’m not Tim.” He’s not, he’s right. I think that he’ll be able to ask the hard questions and get the answers and hold them to the facts, but I don’t think as a whole we’ll get the same persona and feel of that person-to-person conversation that we got from Russert and recently Brokaw.

And maybe again with time the show will grow back into the juggernaut that it used to be under Russert’s stewardship. But until then? I’ll be missing someone rooting for the Bills on Sundays…

If you haven’t seen it already, feel free to add me on Twitter. And if you’re staring at this and saying “Well, I already have LiveJournal/MySpace/Facebook or something else, and I don’t want another website community.” I don’t blame you. I said the same thing myself when I first heard about Twitter back in June or July or so. And then? I decided for it and I’m glad.

You see, its different from all of those. Its like the status updates on Facebook, but without the whole rest of the profile. You can text in updates to them and it’ll text it to whatever friends subscribe to you via text, or show it on their profiles. And its not like its just common folks on there. Nope. You’ve got some celebrities on there too. People like THE_REAL_SHAQ, DashboardChris, DavidJMatthews, kanyewest, and davidgrohl. Some update more often than others, some use applications on iPhones or BlackBerries, others just rarely ever.

Its interesting to see these things and to get the little blurbs. You can choose who on your friends list gets texted to you and who doesn’t. Like, I subscribe to the local news on my Twitter, as well as HeyItsFree and even Countdown, but I don’t have them sent to my phone.

So its a good way to stay in touch with folks, get the latest, and not have to keep saying “Hey, what’s up?” to someone. And for me? Not only is it a feed that integrates with my Facebook as my status messages up there? But it also appears on my blog as widget on the right hand toolbar.

Enjoy, folks… I’ll have something with a bit more heft to it when I’ve got a little more time…

At about 4 AM, I can now effectively say that I earned this: Yup, I got 50,376 according to their count. My word count, though, is interesting…

See, when I started writing the stories, I started an Excel spreadsheet to track my word count. To give you an idea of how it worked, each row would total up for words for the story and each column would total up for words for the day. And I updated the total overall words off of each, just to confirm, seeing it was just a summation formula. When I’d start writing on a story for the day, I’d set up a formula in the day of the row for a story. The first day, it wouldn’t be a formula, but it’d be just the word count as I updated it on the story. But when I’d come back the next day? It would be a simple formula of “=X-Total Word Count From Yesterday.” So if you look at “Tonic and Gin,” the first story I started, on November 2nd, the formula was “=X-1343″ and I’d see my word count grow until it would hit Midnight, and I’d total those two and start it again. At the end of the day, I’d turn the formula into a solid number, just to make sure I didn’t mess anything up.

And that’s how I kept at it for the month. I would start writing some nights at 10 or 11 PM and then stop my word count at midnight for the day, and start an hour and a half or two of writing for the next day. And if I did that? I’d get my word count each day, and when I’d finish, I’d have double the words I needed. And I felt pretty good about those days, I honestly did. But, what I did add for your easy reading, is italics to each day that I didn’t make word count. And you can see what days I started each story and stopped. A nice little way to see how much got done each day…

Finally, now what?

Well, first of all, I neglected spending a lot of time with Sarah, so I’ll be making up a lot of that. And I’ll be playing some more guitar, seeing I spent a lot of time here in front of my computer writing.

But what will I do with Dancing With Your Echo: A Collection of Short Tales on Life and Living, as I’m calling it now?

Well, I believe in a lot of the stories and the ideas in the collection as a whole. I’d like to take some time to develop them a little better and clear up the descriptions and characters without any sort of restrictions. And I believe in the Stephen King method: just leave it for a while. So with that in mind, I’m not going to touch this again till sometime around the middle or end of January. And at that point, well, I’m not going to be the one touching it. I’d like to have a few friends read it and read it critically for plot holes, continuity, order, and just all around general editing. And from there, I’ll spend my time editing, rather than writing for the next few months on somewhat of a normal production schedule.

Will I ever do NaNoWriMo again?

I think I will. I think I’ll take 2009 off from it, though. If I do NaNoWriMo again, I’ll do it only in even years or every few years and use the odd years and other years in-between to edit my work. Because I learned very well long ago that the secret to writing isn’t as much writing but about how you can edit it and clean it up. You can write whatever you want, but its not good till you edit it (Thank you, Professor Wallace).

So thanks friends for the moral support there, and if you’d be interested in helping me at all with the editing process, let me know, and when I’m ready to pick it up in a few months? We’ll talk more about it…

Now? Just time to get out and enjoy the snow that was falling while I wrote my last few hundred…

After all of my slaving in the kitchen on Thursday for our Thanksgiving dinner, I meant to jump in with a few thoughts on the evening. But, in my quest to make NaNoWriMo wordcount for the evening, well, I didn’t get around to it. Thusly, here are those thoughts today:

1) No matter what, no matter how expensive it might be, in 2009 we’re getting a fresh turkey and not a frozen one. I’m not spending half a day or so thawing a damn turkey next year.
2) Sure, I’ll wake up at 6am on Thanksgiving Day in 2009, but when I do that, mark my words, the damn turkey will be stuffed and in the oven at 8 or 9AM and out of the oven for a late lunch at 2PM
3) I don’t care what the turkey temps out at, I am cooking that thing until the breast meat is so dry that I need to make extra gravy packets to make it edible. Next year, I will not undercook the turkey!

And that, my friends, is the summation of my thoughts. I hope that each and every one of you had great Thanksgivings in your own right, and that you could spend it with friends, family, or anyone at all…