NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 23k from 34 pieces entered on-line with approximately 35k (58 pieces) written so far. On the 21st a NaNo writer should be 70% there... or 35,000 words. Time to realize you may not make it this year if less than 20k is written. Some folks though are capable of writing thousands of words in a very short time if the Muse is motivated to do so and life doesn't impinge on the effort. Beware of intruders! And write!!

Susan Boyle will be coming to a store near you when her cd's released November 24th. It has set a pre-order record at Amazon.

Her cover of Wild Horses:



O Pinions about the Gnu's:

I never felt safe during the Bush years. As a minority this is hard to explain to anyone who hasn't been excluded and beat upon. So... current events have made me very nervous. There is a mean streak in the U.S. that has unnerved me. I was hoping it would've been blunted by the last election with the positive messages that were put out there; but the Health debate, the Marriage debate, the "we hate change" attitude of some folks wears me out. I didn't feel this uneasiness when I visited Costa Rica where folks are much happier. Here there is a certain oblivion except for the activists; things are bad, but "not bad enough". I think most people in Missoula are unaware on a personal level (it's an intellectual academia kind of community) that they are not immune to issues causing problems elsewhere. It is a Kingdom of Misfits afterall.

Polls

This was the poll I made yesterday: "Psalm 109:8 T-shirt Controversy Poll"  Hopefully it is balanced enough so that folks on any side of the issue can vote. 9 have already voted with 48 views in less than a day. One thing about polls... people love them. I have two old but active polls with over 5k views each. What makes a good poll? Hitting a nerve helps, as does keeping it silly, simple and cute (like about puppies "Your favorite puppy?" ). My suggestion? Research a few and decide on a style and issue that suits you. Then do another. Sooner or later, you'll hit a sweet spot and you'll be in Poll Heaven.

Thou:

If I were in touch I might know.

Me and Mine:

Was able to force myself to leave my confines late... like 8 p.m. last night and wrote two NaNo sketches at the Break Espresso, "I can still see him burning" and "Ponor".

One cooking note: I took half a can of pumpkin pie mix, added two eggs and then mixed in a package of flan (Royal) with the amount of milk called for. It actually turned out quite good. The flan provides structure and the pumpkin taste was fine, not too strong. So... I made pumpkin flan!

Montana: 39º in Missoula at 10 a.m. and sunny-cloudy. 33º in Bozeman where DA GAME is played at noon Montana Standard time. Flakes forecast.