Posted on Sunday, November 29, 2009 by Melanie
 | Day Twenty-Eight: 50027 / 50000 words. 100% done! |
| Day Twenty-Eight: 50027 / 95000 words. 53% done! |
Fuck me -- I've won Nanowrimo 2009.
Now, of course, this doesn't mean I'm FINISHED, gracious no. It just means that I have 50,000 words in a file. Which is nice and all, don't get me wrong, but there's still about 45,000 more to be added before this book can be declared soup (I'm aiming for 95K as my first draft finishing goal, since I know I'll be adding a fair amount of text during the edits once I finish doing all the necessary research instead of plugging in "XXXXXX -- fill this in later"). Realistically I've reached the part slightly past the halfway point where the poo is about to hit the oscillator, an innocent man has been arrested for the Billings murders, and Poe and Dodgson will have to scramble in order to save a little girl's life.
Nonetheless, I have achieved a new personal best of writing *goes to calculator* 5,693 words in a 24-hour period. Whoo -- I'm surprised my brains aren't leaking out my ears. And now, allow me to do the happy dance and strut, Geekette Style.
Posted in
Nanowrimo
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Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 by Melanie
47550 / 50000 words. 95% done!
Less than 2500 to go, and I win Nanowrimo 2009! Now the question is, considering that I already wrote approximately 3,200 words today already, can I get that amount of wordage chunked out TONIGHT, just for the hell of it? That would be a hella impressive personal best, I must say.
Posted in
Nanowrimo
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Posted on Friday, November 27, 2009 by Melanie
Or as Lyndon put it this afternoon when he ambled into my office, "Ah, the gunfire sound of Mellie frantically pounding away on the keys." So far the body count stands at two, Poe and Dodgson realize they're on the trail of a sadistic serial killer, and another target has already been sighted. I'm hoping I can put in a bit of extra wordage over the long weekend and hit 50K by Sunday -- that won't actually be the end of the novel, of course, but it's the halfway mark and it means I can take the rest of Sunday off and, you know, rest.
Oh, who am I kidding? I'll wind up trimming the bushes so that we can put the Christmas lights up or cleaning the kitchen. Anyway, the current wordcount:
43352 / 50000 words. 87% done!
Posted in
Nanowrimo
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Posted on Friday, November 27, 2009 by Melanie
(38:01 - 47.5 MB)
Welcome to Episode 91 of "Don't Quit Your Day Job: The Podcast!" where Patrick puts bad Victorian slash images in Melanie's head, Melanie channels Greg Brady in a most unusual way, Jerry is down on the farm preparing for Thanksgiving, and Stacy is trying to finish a marathon of VH1 reality shows before the holiday.
We have voicemail!
Tracy
Terminally Single Tim
Indiana Jim
We have email!
Glacia
Divy
Send us email: dqydjpodcast@gmail.com
Send us voicemail: 206-666-4187
Day Twenty-Three: 38342 / 50000 words. 77% done!
WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
A holiday celebration of music and comedy!
CONKLIN'S BARN II
DINNER THEATRE
P.O. Box 310
Goodfield, IL 61742
(309) 965-2545
11/12/09 though 1/3/10
Jeffrey Combs in NEVERMORE
STEVE ALLEN THEATER
at the Center For Inquiry
West 4773 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-4268
Fridays and Saturdays
11/6/09 through 12/19/09
Posted in
episode 91
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Posted on Monday, November 23, 2009 by Melanie
Michael wants to know where he can get this furniture. Since it would clash with the new bedroom set, I'm willing to settle for just the music. The band's name is Valley Lodge, and if you like rock with some sincerely catchy licks I strongly suggest you check out their website and listen to their stuff. I bought the album because I woke up this morning humming "All of My Loving" -- the Muse, mojito-swilling sot that she is, approves.
Posted in
music,
valley lodge
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Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Melanie
(35:04 - 40.17 MB)
Welcome to Episode 90 of "Don't Quit Your Day Job: The Podcast!" where Stacy is once again sidelined to Monday Night Football (but records the opener for us, so go Stacy!), Patrick leads a double life as a dancing hippopotamus, Melanie meets Jeffrey Combs and is still grinning over it, and Jerry is recovering from H1N1. Seriously.
Send us email: dqydjpodcast@gmail.com
Send us voicemail: 206-666-4187
Day Nineteen: 31700 / 50000 words. 63% done!
WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
A holiday celebration of music and comedy!
CONKLIN'S BARN II
DINNER THEATRE
P.O. Box 310
Goodfield, IL 61742
(309) 965-2545
11/12/09 though 1/3/10
Jeffrey Combs in NEVERMORE
STEVE ALLEN THEATER
at the Center For Inquiry
West 4773 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-4268
Fridays and Saturdays
11/6/09 through 12/19/09
Posted in
episode 90
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Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Pat Gaik
Christmas Gets Hometown Spin at Area Theater
There's an honest winsomeness in "We Need a Little Christmas," now playing at Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theatre. Along with the laughs and funny bits, there's a warm intimacy in this, their first-ever holiday revue.
This Conklin troupe of seven veterans knows their audience and they've crafted a show that has a rich variety of music presented in living-room coziness. The sold-out opening night crowd loved it. Some of them even got to participate; three audience members are escorted to the stage for a humorous Christmas trivia contest.
Twenty-one songs are performed and they're a blend of some well-known standards and some lesser-known holiday music. Thanks in part to the responsiveness of the onstage three-person orchestra, music director/pianist Chad Kirvan is able to maintain a brisk pace.
Director Mary Simon steals the show with her hilarious "The Twelve Daze of Christmas."
The husband and wife team of Tamra and Dan Challacombe provide a highlight with their married-sexy "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
Diann Thompson provides another highlight when she sings "Somewhere in My Memory." That's a song from the movie "Home Alone" and she performs it with a Judy Garland sort of vulnerability that's quite effective.
The entire cast performs an up-tempo medley of Christmas carols that gives these great old tunes a fun, fresh sound. Percussionist Zach Wakid adds a special flair here and throughout the show.
The quartet of men (Kirvan, Challacombe, Pat Gaik and Dave Windsor) sing a close-harmony "Auld Lang Syne" and, again, it's a fresh twist on an old standard.
Pat Gaik nails "A Place Called Home," a gorgeous song from Broadway's "A Christmas Carol." It's probably the heart of the show, too. The opening night feeling was that Barn II felt a lot like "a place called home" to kick off the holiday season.
Posted in
There's No Business Like Show Business
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Posted on Sunday, November 15, 2009 by Melanie
And here's your present!
His name is Nico -- just make sure he's back at the Barely Legal All-Boy Review by Monday. Kisses!
Posted in
best...birthday present...ever
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Posted on Friday, November 13, 2009 by Melanie
Lack of sleep + anhydrous caffeine water pill + venti nonfat mocha frap from Starbucks = the fun never ends!
Plus I cracked 20K in my book last night. And I'm having fun making LJ icons and other artwork, since for some reason my subconscious has decided that James McAvoy is its choice for Dodgson:
Posted in
Nanowrimo,
writing
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Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Melanie
You look fabulous for a 24-year-old!
Enjoy unwrapping your present! Oh, and set up your Wish List so that your address is included and we can actually send you stuff!
Posted in
best...birthday present...ever
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Posted on Friday, November 06, 2009 by Melanie
*pinches bridge of nose and sighs*
Yeah, see, I kinda accidentally deleted my track for Ep 90 when I was recording the opener and the song we wrote for it (yes, I sing. Not as beautifully as the Nathan Lane of Mid-Central Illinois DInner Theater, mind you, but I can carry a tune). Normally I copy my track to my desktop as soon as it's recorded, but this time I didn't and I was deleting test files from Audio Hijack Pro's recording bin, and I got a little carried away, there...
So, um, we need to re-record it.
Which we will, just as soon as I can gather together the Usual Suspects. So stay tuned, and, uh, sorry!
Posted in
goofups
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Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 by Melanie
I thought we were going to save this for the show, but since Stacy can't hold her water until then, Saturday night went splendidly. The show was absolutely great, and they even added an encore of "The Conqueror Worm" -- yay! Afterwards, I grabbed the room box from where it had been stored behind the ticket counter and headed backstage, stopping every so often to show it to theater staff who had heard about it and wanted to see it. The general reaction seemed to be, "Holy crap, that's amazing!" which warmed the black and shriveled cockles of my heart.
Stuart Gordon (the director of the play) saw the box and made equally complementary comments, then took me backstage to the dressing room, where Jeffrey was getting his wig and nose taken off. I showed the box to the makeup people while that was being finished, then gave the box to Jeffrey, who was very, very appreciative and said things that are still making me grin like the Joker. And everyone was so incredibly NICE -- Amit the artistic director, Stuart, Jeffrey, the makeup folks, everyone who saw the box, they were all just wonderful and welcoming. I adore them all, and they're in the will.
Oh, and here's the completed room box:
More pictures detailing the construction process are available here, in case anyone's interested.
Posted in
Nevermore
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Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 by Stacy
Melanie achieved the ultimate in her life this weekend when she met *and made brief physical contact* with her idol Jeffrey Combs.
Does she blog about it?
No.
She puts something up about nanopeepeeono....or whatever.
You know, it just goes to show...you can dress her up, but you can't take her out.
Posted in
WTF
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Posted on Sunday, November 01, 2009 by Melanie
Both Jerry and I will be participating, so feel free to follow us on the Nanowrimo website under the user names JJDavis and MMFletcher, respectively.
And for those of you participating in Nanowrimo, remember -- give yourself permission to write crap. You can always edit it later.
Now let's get started!
Posted in
literary questions
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