A Font of Nothing

Welcome to winter! This is the view of the pond outside my work, looking out from the cafeteria. The fluffy snow is actually putting me in the holiday spirit, which is good because Mom and I are going Christmas shopping this weekend, and Thanksgiving is a week from today. The title of this post is from a quote by Andrew Wyeth:

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.

And speaking of stories (nice segue, eh?): I am just a hair over 30,000 words, with ten days left to go in National Novel Writing Month. It hasn’t been easy, writing so much so quickly, but it has been fun. My novel is for young readers (think Harry Potter age). I think that might be the kind of thing I’m meant to write. Hmmm. Well, let’s check back after another 20,000 words!

November is National Novel Writing Month. Here’s the gist: from November 1st to November 30th, you try to write 50,000 words. You are supposed to start something new (i.e., not use anything you’ve worked on previously), and you aren’t allowed to go back and edit. You’re just supposed to plow through. Even though I didn’t know about this until around noon on Thursday (six days into the competition), I decided to do it anyway. Right now, as of 8:46 p.m. on Sunday, I have 12,745 words!

At first I couldn’t even figure out where to start. I didn’t have even a glimmer of an idea. And then it hit me, and I’ve been on a roll ever since. I hope the inspiration lasts until the end of the month!

Now if only I could figure out how to write while I’m training for Houston…

The title of this post is from a quote by Sharon O’Brien:

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.

Happy belated Halloween! It was a busy weekend full of ghoulish delights. On Friday I spent the evening with Linds and Jena at Jena’s new casa, where we ate delish food, handed out candy, and survived a viewing of The Strangers. On Saturday I drove to Syracuse to help Leah prepare for her Halloween bash. And I got to meet the newest addition to her family: Murphy, the bittiest little kitty I’ve seen since Chavo weighed 1.6 pounds! Here she is:

The party was fantastic - way too much food, good wine, and not one but three Sarah Palins (one of which was actually a man). Leah did her best maid from Clue impression, while I went as Gladys, an original creation spawned by silly phone conversations between me and Jamie at work. Lessons learned:

1. Wigs are itchy.
2. Blond is not my color.
3. I’m glad blue eye shadow is not in fashion.
4. Ninety-nine cent hot pink lipstick does not come off easily.

There are a bunch of photos from the weekend here. And here’s a collage of me and Hayner:

One last Halloween quote - until next year! This is a poem by Jack Prelutsky:

It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can’t be seen
On any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls
Grinning goblins fighting duels
Werewolves rising from their tombs
Witches on their magic brooms
In masks and gown we haunt the street
And knock on doors for trick or treat
Tonight we are the king and queen
For oh tonight it’s Halloween!

It was a PY day today: went to the 315 to celebrate Mom’s birthday (which was actually Friday) with the fam. Here’s a picture of Mom and her li’l sis, Tracy. If you look closely, you’ll see that Tra has a tear in her eye - stemming from a conversation about… caramel beets. Of course! Happy birthday, dear mama.

The title of this post is from a quote by Graycie Harmon:

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.

Before coffee time, Mom, Dad, Jennie, and I took a stroll along the leaf-strewn streets of PY. Here’s a picture of the gang heading down East Main Street:

And here’s sunshine through the leaves. It was a gorgeous, windy, sunshine-filled autumn afternoon. Sad to think we won’t have many more before the snow starts flying.

Finally, here’s a shot of the guy who guards the front porch at Mom and Dad’s. I think we should call him No-Neck Jack. Happy Almost Halloween!

Today is Grandma and Grandpa Richmond’s 63rd wedding anniversary. Five children, fourteen grandchildren (including spouses), and one great-grandchild… not bad for a lifetime! Grandma and Grandpa Snyder were married for 67 years. So you can see where I get my wild ideas.

I went to PY yesterday to see Gma and Gpa, and while I was there Mom, Dad, Jennie, and I went to Bellona to get pumpkins. Here’s a picture:

Jennie also treated me to a sneak peek of her Halloween costume, which she made. In case you can’t guess from the photo below, she’s going as… Michael Myers (er, the one from Halloween). Ahhhhhh! I’m never going to sleep again, Jen.

Tonight I went to a dinner party at Doug’s, and snapped a few pictures. You can see them, as well as a few more pumpkin shots, here.

The title of this post is from this quote (by “Anonymous”):

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.

October is the best month of the year. Leaves, pumpkins, grapes, apples, Halloween! I’ve been watching scary movies (as much as I can stand by myself), and enjoying kicking up the leaves when I walk my miles on the canal path. Tonight I took a few autumn-inspired pictures (and used some Photoshop filters on some of them), like the grapes from Scott and Debbie’s vineyard (ha!) above. And here’s a shot of a little pumpkin I bought at the farmer’s market at work today:

Tracy brought me some delicious cider from Wager’s on Sunday - it’s like fall in a cup. Thanks, Tra!

And not that this has anything to do with the season, but here’s a picture of The Bean. As usual, just because.

The title of this post is from a quote by Carol Bishop Hipps:

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.

Here (at long last) is a picture from Gilda’s Gala! I’m on the right (obviously), that’s Iron Beth in the middle, and I don’t know the name of the glamorous gal on the left. The title of this post comes from a quote by, appropriately enough, Gilda Radner:

I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch.

I love that! Something else I love: my new treadmill!

Tom and Tra are coming up tomorrow to help me get it into the apartment. Now I can workout while watching Bob and Jillian kick butt on The Biggest Loser, instead of lying on the couch, feeling guilty. Ha!

Finally, it’s been at least two weeks since I mentioned Prison Break. There ya go: Prison Break.

I know I haven’t seen a lot of the world, but the southern coast of Maine is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I know. I just spent a long weekend in York, and the weather was gorgeous. Blue skies, sunshine, a cold breeze off the ocean. I took a ton of pictures, only about half of which I put online. Really! You can see them here. I also took a little video on Saturday afternoon on Long Sands Beach, which you can see here. It was pretty… different… to take a vacation by myself, and although the shopping was good (love those end-of-season discounts!) and the food delicious, and I logged a lot of miles on the beaches of York and Ogunquit, I was definitely ready to come home. And I’m just as ready to go back again next year!

The picture above is of the view from the lawn at The Cutty Sark on Long Sands Beach, where I stayed. And the title of this post is from a quote by Isak Dinesen:

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.

Watch this. Do it!