Sharrock.net

Ornament Advent Calendar: December 1st

2008-12-01T05:06:10Z

Yes, yes, this means I have a tree up. And it isn't even officially December yet! Quite frankly, the Christmas season can't come fast enough this year. With all the economic turmoil, teenage angst at work, and piles of books I need to read, I need some brandy now.

Aside from the freely flowing booze and bright shiny things around the house, I don't really need to do all the other ~~horrendous chores~~ things that come with the holiday season. I don't want to set foot in a mall. And I've pared down my Christmas card list to only those I've actually spoken to over the past year. I want to relax, spend time with my family and reacquaint myself with my camera, which I plan to do in an advent calendar fashion from now until the 25th. I've set myself the challenge to take a picture of something sparkling with holiday symbolism every day until Christmas. Above is my first, a crackled glass ornament, weighing at least sixteen pounds and buoyed up by the sheer force of my holiday spirit. Seriously, I have to evenly distribute these suckers on all sides of the tree to provide a counterweight so the tree doesn't topple over. Don't know what I was thinking when I bought these.

'Oooooh shiny!' probably.

From The Zoo

2008-11-24T23:08:13Z

Unexcused Absence

2008-11-24T16:03:03Z

All right, I know I've been delinquent in updating, remiss in keeping in touch, but I promise as of December 1st I will be back to a regular posting schedule.

Participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this month has been amazing for many, many reasons. I've finished the first draft of my graphic novel, developed the plot and half of the first draft of the sequel (the full story will take somewhere between six and nine graphic novels), and right smack dab in the middle I came up with an idea for a screenplay that is just begging to be written. Internet, I am hopelessly, thoroughly hooked on writing. Oh! And somewhere in the midst of my frenzied writing/working/parenting schedule I also made it known to my superiors that I will be applying for the teacher internship program that my work offers. Yes, the words 'I would like to teach high school students' came right out of my mouth and hung there for all to see. NaNoWriMo either enabled the deepest recesses of my soul to pour forth freely, unhindered by that pesky internal editor that I had to chop up and put in the basement freezer, or I went completely insane. Probably the latter.

No, in all seriousness, I love the students I work with, I love the philosophy of the school and I haven't met a staff member that I didn't immediately respect and admire for some reason or other. If I'm lucky enough to be accepted into the internship program, I'll be over the moon. However, that is a long way off. Next September. In the meantime I've got three writing projects to complete.

I'm going to give the rough draft and a half of my graphic novel a month's rest. I want to look at them with fresh eyes on January 1st. Then polish, polish, polish, until Comic-Con. As for December, I plan to write the rough draft of my screenplay. I've been attending a read & critique group of screenplay writers for a few months now. The format for writing a graphic novel is very similar to that of a screenplay, so it was a natural fit. My group has been an invaluable source of information, analysis and feedback. Everyone should have read & critique groups. For everything. Difficult day with the children? Thank goodness I have my read & critique parenting group! Traffic particularly nasty? Whew! A good read & critique session with my fellow commuters should put it in perspective!

But I digress. As it so happens, I have this week off work and Kyna has no school. I'm finished my NaNoWriMo writing and plan to spend the last days of November letting ideas percolate for my December screenplay project while I take Kyna to the zoo, cook some delicious food with friends, and pull out the Christmas decorations.

In short, I'm breathing the crisp holiday air with gusto.

Proof And Product

2008-11-12T01:55:43Z

This is my signed NaNoWriMo contract. Dated the first of November.

The update on my progress is as follows: I am finished the first draft of my graphic novel script. Twenty thousand words and 85 pages long. On Thursday I'll begin the sequel. If I actually sell this opus, the finished series will have nine books total, but I'm only going to write two to pitch the concept.

The draft is rough, but all the bones are there. I know that I need to go back in and add some scenes to make the reader care more about certain characters and plot points since things just kept inserting themselves near the end there, and other scenes need to be tightened, but if I didn't have such a head cold I'd be cracking the champagne tonight and celebrating in earnest. Only one hundred and fifteen more pages to boots!

The draft:

What I Learned In School Today

2008-11-08T00:07:25Z

Have I mentioned that I work in a highly uh..., we'll use the word 'progressive', high school environment? Today, as I helped out a chemistry class, the teacher took a brief break to show the students this short YouTube video. It is, after all, Friday.

Now, before I unleash its supreme brilliance upon you, I need to clarify my own position on Star Wars. I am an old school Star Wars fan, and loved the original three. However, after sitting through an hour and a half of Jar-Jar Binks, I decided that our relationship as film and fan had come to an end. That being said, this is possibly the most brilliant musical tribute to a composer I've ever witnessed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a tribute to Star Wars theme composer John Williams:

My Latest Flame

2008-11-06T14:54:48Z

Yes, this is my latest crush. As you may know, I adore tea, and yesterday when I stopped by my grocery store I spotted these beauties. So far I've tried the Fireside Chai (gingery and transporting), and the Ambrosia White Plum (fruity and mellow) and will probably drop the five bucks a pop for these gorgeous tins from here on out. On Christmas everyone is going to get things that can fit in cylindrical old tea tins. Socks!

I Voted.

2008-11-05T01:15:17Z

Hopefully you did too.

We've got cake and champagne and have settled in with friends for a night of intense political speculation. It's like Christmas for adults.

Day Two Of NaNoWriMo

2008-11-03T06:10:09Z

And all is well. I am happy to report that with constant vigilance and supreme dedication to duty, I have completed the necessary one thousand six hundred and sixty seven words BOTH days of this fine month of November. Two days in, and I'm not behind. I couldn't ask for more.

I even signed the contract. It reads:

"THE MONTH-LONG NOVELIST AGREEMENT AND STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING

I hereby pledge my intent to write a 50,000-word novel in one month's time. By invoking an absurd, month-long deadline on such an enormous undertaking, I understand that notions of "craft" "brilliance" and "competency" are to be chucked right out the window, where they will remain, ignored, until they are retrieved for the editing process. I understand that I am a talented person, capable of heroic acts of creativity, and I will give myself enough time over the course of the next month to allow my inner gifts to come to the surface, unmolested by self-doubt, self-criticism, and other acts of self-bullying.

During the month ahead, I realize I will produce clunky dialogue, clichéd characters, and deeply flawed plots. I agree that all of these things will be left in my rough draft, to be corrected and/or excised at a later point. I understand my right to withhold my manuscript from all readers until I deem it completed. I also acknowledge my right as author to substantially inflate both the quality of the rough draft and the rigors of the writing process, should such inflation prove useful in garnering me respect and attention, or freedom from participation in onerous household chores.

I acknowledge that the month-long, 50,000-word deadline I set for myself is absolute and unchangeable, and that any failure to meet the deadline, or any effort on my part to move the deadline once the adventure has begun, will invite well-deserved mockery from friends and family. I also acknowledge that, upon successful completion of the stated noveling objective, I am entitled to a period of gleeful celebration and revelry, the duration and intensity of which may preclude me from participating fully in workplace activities for days, if not weeks, afterward.

Signed: Daisy Sharrock, November 1st, 2008."

I love these people.

The Working Mom's Halloween

2008-10-31T23:43:07Z

We carved a pumpkin
But forgot to decorate
The yard with cobwebs.

We donned our costumes
But forgot to get candy
For trick or treaters.

We asked for tricks and
Treats, but we forgot dinner.
Somehow we all lived.

Serious Notebooks

2008-10-28T00:30:11Z

Nothing is quite so personal as a writers notebook. And being personal, the relationship between a writer and their notebook is appropriately convoluted and emotionally saturated. Some writers buy beautiful notebooks and then remain paralyzed, afraid of actually writing in them, afraid that their words will not do justice to the glory of the pretty graphic prints or fine leather binding. Others will only write in college ruled, plain fronted, spiral bound notebooks. The plain Jane packaging a psychological trick to convince themselves that they aren't violating a Notebook d'Art. Taking a pen to those blank pages will not mar the beauty of the possible. The unlimited potential, the supreme power of blankness.

These are two of my notebooks. One I bring to my read and critique group, mainly to copy down the movies everyone keeps mentioning, and the other contains my ideas for the graphic novel I'm writing. I originally started with basic college notebooks, but soon found that I'm far more inspired by something beautiful or intriguing. Although, I still haven't managed to write in my leather ones. (Leather is just so permanent!)

Happy Anniversary Love

2008-10-23T01:29:49Z

We have been married
Years ago today, and I
Am so glad we did.

Relationship Repair

2008-10-23T00:32:54Z

Exhibit A.

For the past two months Kyna has been subjecting us (me specifically) to a tiny taste of what she will be like as a teenager. And let me tell you, it is horrific. At first I tried to delude myself into thinking it was a late case of the Terrible Twos, but as time wore on and the 'I hate you's' flowed I began to suspect that this was some sort of a primer. A small taste of what I'm in for from this child who inherited all her father's stubbornness, which, by the way, is more concentrated in her because she's smaller overall, a great deal of his intelligence, as well as his driving need to tell everyone exactly what he thinks. From me she got blue eyes.

Needless to say I'm doomed. My options for emotional survival are slim and I'm resorting to some pretty far fetched solutions. Take the above exhibit A for example. This is Kyna's new bed. It was bought off a charming couple on Craig's list and lovingly decorated by Kyna's very self. Prior to this bed, she had a tall Ikea bunk bed that made cuddling up for bedtime stories impossible. It is my belief that having more 'cuddling' time will (maybe) lessen the horrendous foreshadowing of things to come, and maybe we can keep the teenage years from creeping into the childhood years.

Cats are so much easier.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-20T04:21:40Z

Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. In November I will attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. That will be around work, parenting, and the genetic need for a minimum of eight and half hours sleep a night. So far, with my job, I've managed to write about ten pages every two weeks. Under NaNoWriMo rules I will have to produce about five pages a day. That's without dialog. Dialog creates inordinate amounts of white space. Space without any words. Which is bad. NaNoWriMo is all about quantity. Quality is burned in effigy and internal editors are chained to the radiator. All that matters is your word count, your friend's word count, and whether your word count is higher.

If I write one word blogs during November, or all my haikus are missing the last line, that is because these words Do Not Count.

So on this day, sometime before November 2008, I, Daisy, do hereby pledge to write long winded paragraphs, abysmal subplots, crappy dialog and ignore plot structure altogether. In regards to character arc, if my finished work has a consistent protagonist, it will be a miracle. May the one with the highest word count win.

Wish me luck!

Guess Who Became A US Citizen Yesterday?

2008-10-17T02:07:03Z

Ok, firstly, I did not take this photo. Not that I'm criticizing whoever did, I mean, it's not like every picture I take is dead on fabulous, but still, I'm just saying being in focus helps.

Secondly, Congratulations Baby! Chris took his oath of allegiance with twelve hundred other newly minted Americans yesterday morning. Here he is at work today, blending in with the rest of us citizens.

Spectacular Art

2008-10-15T04:26:12Z

This spectacular cat cup was made by Kyna in art class. I can not even begin to tell you how proud I am of this masterpiece. Firstly, it is a cat. She got that from me. Cats rank higher even then plants in my world. Humans come in a distant fourth, somewhere after dogs. Secondly, it is a cup. It is a useful item. As I've mentioned before, I dislike things that sit around without a purpose (other than dust collection), so this little piece of brilliance now has pride of place on my dresser and usefully holds my barrettes.