NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : I hand counted the other 34 pieces and my total is 59,146! I will add the ones written earlier... later. If I can do three parts of about 30k each that would be 90k total and that's doable. Still only 34k from 46 pieces entered on-line. I find entering exhausting. It was actually easier to count by hand. Anyone got a spare secretary?

Another NaNoWriMo winner: ~unicornsong still noveling Congratulations!

Thou:

Haven't a clue! It's sunny outside so I'm out-of-here. But you know I'll be reading later.

Me and Mine:

Ambulance arrived at Senior Center after a lunch of pork roast. Didn't look good. I told Myrt to keep on playing the piano figuring it would distract people.

I'm going to have deal with those geraniums now that I've come up for air... may even do some cleaning.

Spoke with a friend back where I once worked. They've had no s*** and reasonably mild weather. Lake effect is scheduled for 1 a.m. Guess they are going to have some .

Which reminds me that I need to buy my football game ticket for Saturday. It's supposed to be cold. But they truly never know.

Montana: 46º in Missoula at 2 p.m.

61-48...

Sounds like a good basketball score to me!

The Grizz came out flat like they often do. Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State were wide awake on this sunny 38º day. They had a taste for bear meat. Nasty little rabbits. The big eared herbivores had turned carnivorous.

The bears were still hibernating with the score 17-0 ...in the big-toothed rodent's favor. The fans were getting concerned. Now... Grizz fans ... although they expect a win, are used to their furry friends out on the field waking up late and making it interesting. Too interesting. The Grizz had no offense and no defense against the running rabbits. It got ugly. At the half it was 34-14 and the rabbits were having a good time running around the half-asleep teddy bears.

Now it is true that things sometimes turn around after the couch has a little talk with the teddies. Not! The fans were losing hope and when the fans give up their isn't much hope. Attendance was over 19,000 and the energy of the stadium gives the Grizz an amazing home filed advantage. Yep, lose them and you lose. And they were losing. 41-14, then 48-21 going into the 4th quarter.

Then a minor miracle... they scored! And it was 48-27 Ouch. Missing a point after isn't bright when you're down by 21 points. Would this come back to haunt them? Well.. only if they figured out how to score again. And they did. 48-34. A few flags waving their way in the second half didn't hurt. Before now, the Grizz were playing as sloppy as they had at Idaho State and the beginning of their games with Northern Colorado and Montana State. What! Did I miss something? 48-40 as the cannon went off signaling touchdown. This time they didn't miss the p.a.t. 48-41. The team was actually alive and the bears were hungry. There was nothing to eat... ...but jackrabbits. The fans were worked up into a frenzy as there was still time. The defense must've known that too as SDSU could do nothing right. On 4th down and 21 yards to go the Jackrabbits had to punt from their own 15. The Grizz were expecting good field position and the weren't disappointed. It was 1st and 10 Montana at their own 48 yard line. 1st down at the 36 of SDSU, 1st down on the 7, 2nd at the 1. TOUCHDOWN. And the cannon went off for the seventh time. 48-47. Now pesky little point-after-touchdowns may not seem like much but they really needed this one as there wasn't much time left. Goood! 48-48 and with little time on the clock it was looking like overtime. Nailbiting is the main choice of food during OT . But... could the Grizz stop SDSU who decided to abandon the run and air out the ball? Yep. The poor pitiful Jackrabbits were stuffed back into their hole. 4th and 15 from their own 16 yard line. Unlike UM last week they decided to kick and hold on to a tied score and pray for overtime. Marianni caught the ball and returned it to the 41 yard line of SDSU. By now the Grizz and the Grizz fans were believing in miracles. 2nd at the 41. 3rd at the 31. 1st on the 21. Flags! But against SDSU; the rabbits were getting desperate. 1st on the 6 yard line. 2nd on the 4. Touchdown! The crowd went nuts! 55-48 in favor of Montana. Was there still time left for SDSU to come back? Yes...

SDSU started on their own 26, had a 1st on their 43. Had a pass tipped and intercepted and run in for another Grizz touchdown. 61-48! The p.a.t. was blocked. (no one cared )

Must give credit to the Jackrabbits. They didn't give up with very little time left. They had a 1st on their own 40, 1st on the 46, 1st on the 36, 1st on the 20 yard line of Montana. And threw to the endzone...

...
...
...

...where the pass was caught by a Grizz. Game over with 4 seconds left. Final score 61-48. The Montana Grizzlies had scored 40 unanswered points in one of the greatest comebacks in their history.

10 @ 10 sports link: http://www.abcmontana.com/sports/local/78031112.html?video=YHI&t=a

At the end of every game, the team goes to the North-east corner of the endzone to pump their helmets and sing "Up with Montana boys" to the fans (a cappella).

This is a video-link of them singing it at a previous game. #34 is their star runner, Chase Reynolds and #80 is Marianni their kick return specialist and receiver.

http://www.abcmontana.com/sports/blog/75123632.html?video=YHI&t=a

Now... I had trouble with the video above. So... if you don't mind watching a child this may tickle your cute-bone:



Up with Montana boys, ♫ ♫ ♫ down with the foe ♫ ♫ ...

Next week's game: Stephen F. Austin visits Montana. They defeated Eastern Washington 44-33 today in a game with no defense whatsoever (60 1st downs, 1,158 combined yards, 132 passes with 86 caught for 893 yards and 4 interceptions).

Other winners: Villanova, William & Mary (a rout), Appalachian State, Southern Illinois (another rout), Richmond (barely) and New Hampshire in an upset.

So why do teams fear coming to Missoula?

Attendance today:

19k Montana*
12k Appalachian State (NC)
10k McNeese State (LA)
8k Stephen F Austin (TX)
6k William & Mary (MD)
6k Southern Illinois*
6k Richmond (VA)*
4k Villanova (PA)*

(*4 games at these venues next week)

Hmmm... cold, possible snow, far away from their hometown fans and 20 thousand crazy fans wearing maroon and blue jeans, duh. Next game should be better attended and if Richmond wins and Montana wins too it's a rematch on the 12th of last year's championship game that Richmond won. I suspect if that comes true, there will be well over 20k fans in the stands.

So... it was a nice game...

NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 32k from 44 pieces entered on-line with approximately 48-59k (80 pieces) written so far.

The piece I wrote in response to a "Mother Earth" entry by ShellySunshine is now entered on line: "NaNo43 Nov13 1042words (nb24) Song of Knyflok [166.283]" 

An excerpt:

More NaNoWriMo winners: StephB , Voxxylady , Imagine Congratulations! I'm cheering for those of you who are almost there .

Thou:

At least I visited some of you today! Was nice to see an entry by Dareng is....Dareng! . He found out his grandfather doesn't have kidney failure. Which is good news.

Me and Mine:

So... I have a song in my mind. A very typical (for me) 8.7.8.7 8.7.8.3 meter. The prompting line in my mind: "I would row across that river... just for you."

I went across the street to Bernice's to work on entering my sketches. V.e.r.y s.l.o.w. Like an adagio...

As for my silly poll:

ID: 1621663   (Rated: 18+) No Pi on Earth on day after Thanksgiving  What does ˚π˚ mean? This poll is a story and you answer that question. by Kåre Enga en Costa Rica

It's gotten a few bites. maybe it's too long or demands that it should be read. I'm sure the 10 second crowd finds it's length annoying. That and the answers aren't just yes/no/maybe/so-what. So... what makes a good poll? The other recent poll:

ID: 1620097   (Rated: 13+) Psalm 109:8 T-shirt Controversy Poll  Is Psalm 109:8 a call to remove Obama by force or merely a call for the return to sanity. by Kåre Enga en Costa Rica

has over 260 views and 22 answers, so patterns begin to be observed. No matter how good the questionnaire, usually only 5 answers get any response of note (in this case the top 5 accounted for 19 of 22) although everybody's opinion truly is important.

But... Scarlett's Rule of Five does seem to work.

Montana: 37º under Missoula skies at midnight.

57,186
 

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NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 29k from 41 pieces entered on-line with approximately 48-56k (80 pieces) written so far. I made my second goal of writing 80 pieces. Now I need to enter them all. I had difficulty entering just one that has 1,093 words tonight, but maybe tomorrow will be better. I should be over the top now. Still much work to do though.

Thou:

Prosperous Snow has told her family that her mother has Alzheimer's. As primary care-giver, you can imagine she needs our kind thoughts.

Me and Mine:

I cooked Romanian style rice pilaf: lentils, mushrooms...

Then I made "rice custard" by adding raisins and rice to flan.

My mother cooked corned beef for dinner. It was what my sister's family wanted. They live far far away...

I worked diligently on a story poll today. Came up with answers for what this, ˚π˚, may mean in response to wacky Z.˚rz . His Weirdness inspires me.

So I found 9 nutty answers then decided to weave them into an absurd story... I may have succeeded. The poll feeds 750 gps (for the first 20 reviews I figure... then I'll lower it).

Please tell me if it makes you laugh. It's supposed to.

link:

ID: 1621663   (Rated: 18+) No Pi on Earth on day after Thanksgiving  What does ˚π˚ mean? This poll is a story and you answer that question. by Kåre Enga en Costa Rica

The embedded poll (be advised that it has not been embedding correctly though... you may wish to use the link instead):

No Pi on Earth on day after Thanksgiving

˚π˚

So what does ˚π˚ mean? Read this story poll or poll story and decide:



1. 2 headed sheepdog. Mars had been a sheepherder before he was sent off to war. Sometimes he came across a two headed sheep, sometimes a two headed dog. He needed to stop sipping hemlock.



2. Cornice of an Ionic column. After Mars had defeated the Persians, the Incas and the Andaluzians, the sheep thought Mars was OMG, a son of a Sun and the Holy Post. Word got out. So the local folks erected a temple to his magnificence. Raised the roof with decorated columns. This is the only one left, sunk now in dirt.



3. Venus and Mars divided by pi. Back in the sheepherder's hut that Mars used for his trysts, Venus and Mars were very close friends. Couldn't be parted, till Earth (Pi was his nickname) came along and strode straight between them.



4. A rolled arm bench. After realizing Pi was a cad, Venus sat there waiting for Mars. She stewed. She ranted. She raved. (She was somewhat emotional back in the day...) Mars didn't show up. She erupted, boiled off her oceans, steamed while he slowly froze without her warmth.



5. 2 degrees above pi. May as well have been absolute zero. Mars should've known better. He had been drawn to Jupiter, that air-headed punk.



6. Two politicians joined at the ass. Venus was miffed when Mars fled, filed suit for custody of his sheep and his sheepherder's hut, hired a lawyer who spoke out of both sides of his mouth. Friends took sides. The politicians wrote laws. It went to court. Then it had to be appealed. Went in front of old Janus, that $%^& two headed judge. He threw the case out. Get a life he told everyone. Then he propositioned Venus.



7. Doubles ping-pong match. Venus was not amused. She summoned the Valkyries and cried, "Heads will roll!" They moved the venue to Delhi. History shows that the Chinese won, but the Greeks drank too much ouzo and trashed the joint so the Hindus erected the Himalayas and refused to host the Olympics again.



8. Wide-eyed, bucktoothed rabbit. Mars pleaded with Earth to let him sneak back from Jupiter. He was cold. So he moved into Australia, brought a big red stone with him, called it Ayer's rock. He lived there peacefully until Venus unleashed the daughters of Banicula. They're still out back searching for him.



9. Someone tipped over my little red wagon! Back in Vegas, Venus became a vamp. But like big girls who like cheap thrills, she could only afford a 1980 Toyota she named Fred. On Thanksgiving night Mercury... who she thought was her friend... got together with Jupiter who was visiting Earth and the three boys decided to have some fun at Venus' expense. When she came out of the casino her boy-toy was belly up. Pi and his two friends left town as quick as they could. (They were seen at the new Target in a suburb of Saturn.)



Which explains why the day after Thanksgiving, there's no Pi on Earth!



Somewhere in the universe, there is a true explanation of what ˚π˚ is. But this is the story that Mars told us... and he's our bestest of friends.



Peace,



Phobos and Deimos



PS: And may no asteroid hit you... well, you know where.

˚π ˚π ˚π ˚π ˚π ˚π π˚ π˚ π˚ π˚ π˚ π˚

So what does ˚π˚ mean?

    2 headed sheepdog; doesn't know which way to go.
    Cornice of an Ionic column; sunken in dust.
    Venus and Mars divided by pi; don't come between them.
    A rolled arm bench; designed in antiquity.
    2 degrees above pi; far below absolute zero.
    Two politicians joined at the ass; they're both donkeys.
    Doubles ping-pong match; Chinese style with two balls.
    Wide-eyed, bucktoothed rabbit; a daughter of Banicula.
    Someone tipped over my little red wagon! Wah!

Montana: 31º in Missoula, clear skies at midnight.

57,164
 

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NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 28k from 40 pieces entered on-line with approximately 45-53k (76 pieces) written so far.

I wrote to Scottiegazelle (edited to make more sense):

Thou:

If you're not at 40k for NaNo by now, figure on a writing frenzy for the weekend. Even if you don't make 50k, just remember that you are X number of words closer. For the rest, enjoy your Thanksgiving Dinner, unless you're in England or elsewhere... then I suggest you eat all your carrots... good for the eyes.

Me and Mine:

I went to the Sr. Ctr. Wednesday to eat meatloaf... spent my last $5 and then went to the bank and withdrew more. I'm doing well financially, but when a walk to the bank is the highlight of a sunny day, I'm in trouble.

It was almost warm today too.

I will finish off my goal of 80 sketches on Thanksgiving Day. I am well over my personal goal of 30k words. I am probably over 50k as I write. The story lines are not going dry... I put the pen to paper and I'm frequently amazed. It I truly thought writing was this easy...

...but it's not.

I've given up a lot in November to produce what I've got. Not everyone is as fortunate to be unencumbered by responsibilities as I am. I do know this though. I am so looking forward to December 1st.

Montana: 31º in Missoula and starlit at midnight.

57,147
 

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NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 27k from 39 pieces entered on-line with approximately 44-50k (72 pieces) written so far.

Another NaNoWriMo winner: Lorien Congratulations.

Physics Lesson

for Steven

You are young. You are talented. You are beautiful.

God placed time and space between us,
poor insulation against the melt of touching wires,
the electricity felt after all other lights have gone out;
you arc the static of a silk sheathed rod, and
I am attracted to your sparks like a moth.

You are deadly.

And as beautiful as you are talented,

damn, you are young.

© Kåre Enga [166.312] 2009-11-24

Sketching it out:

I was at the U.C. saw Steven and well... it wrote itself. One note: silk can pick up a electrostatic charge when rubbed with a glass rod. Poetically, not sure whether to use "glass rod" or leave it as is.

Thou:

I do promise to be more in touch after NaNo is done. Almost there. Did learn two new words: nasaump and pompion from Anyea

Me and Mine:

Well, no turkey sandwiches at the Senior Center. Leftovers though, including stuffing . It didn't cost as it was a luncheon following a funeral for Michael Pedersen who died at age 48. I spoke briefly with a member of the family, told her it was so nice to see the scrapbook with old pictures and the medals he received while in the Air Force.

Myrt drove me to the university where I bought my ticket for Saturday's game against South Dakota State. $29. The forecast is... cold, maybe a or .

Montana: 36º in Missoula and cloudy at midnight.

NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 25k from 37 pieces entered on-line with approximately 41-48k (69 pieces) written so far. My goal is to reach 80 pieces and potentially 48-56k by Thanksgiving Night (Thursday the 26th for those of you who live elsewhere). That gives me breathing room to enter-edit and do word counts. What I have written doesn't really have an "end". So... I'm sure I'll write more and once I have the sketches sorted out chronologically it will take on some kind of form. At this point, a scrapbook of "letters, interviews, articles, memoirs" comes to mind. Think of Spoon River Anthology about a vegetarian Latter Day Vampire and her friends brought to you by an journalist ex-mo. At this point it's that weird.

What have I learned? What I already knew... that I could do it. Should I do it again? Yes and no. Probably not in November. January or August would be much better for me. I'd bet that the idea of choosing a 4 to 6 week period to only concentrate on writing is sound for most people. But... if November doesn't work, it's best to choose some other time of year and not beat up on yourself.

More NaNoWriMo winners: Stiggles and Crys in Winter Wonderland . Congratulations.

Thou:

Talked to Iowegian Skye . I'm looking forward to her next travel-log when she gets back from visiting family in Colorado. Complete with pictures... of course.

Me and Mine:

5 written. Nothing else accomplished. ***sigh***

Made a steamed pumpkin custard of sorts. I don't have a double boiler so I improvised. I'm not bad at improvisation.

I didn't go to the T-day dinner yesterday at the Senior Center, but they have turkey sandwiches today.

Montana: 32º in Missoula and grey at 11 a.m.

We're having rabbit for dinner this Saturday. Found a recipe that calls for clove studded onions, parsley and thyme. Why do you ask? Well... the answer's below.

NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 25k from 37 pieces entered on-line with approximately 38-44k (64 pieces) written so far. I did 2 sketches on Sunday. IF (and that's a capitalized IF) I can do 4 story/sketches per day. I can get there by Friday, then concentrate on entering and doing a word count.

I wrote in a blog entry by Voxxylady :

I don't work and on a good day I can push up the word count. But then there are those days when I should just take a walk...

Since I am more lyrical and poetic my words flow like music from my pen. Which isn't to say the result is sweet to the ear! But, I did NaNo for me, choosing "vampires" with bad garlic breath and mostly writing "short stories" that are really vignettes. I added "interviews" with my characters and "letters" to them as well. It's beginning to feel a tad like a scrapbook. But... you'll sure know my characters, landscape and daily life and a POV from a maligned "minority" community.

I'm so looking forward to getting back to my poetry. But first... I'll have my 50k word total and eat it too.

Thou:

I use my blog as a major means of communication. There use to be many more bloggers in Blogville that did so too. Since many no longer blog and I only have a few phone numbers it feels at times that my friends are moving away... Reminds me of when I was 12...

Anyhoo... if any of you are into writing romance or wish to be self-published you should read blog entry "Harlequin and RWA and EPICs, Oh My!"  by Voxxylady .

Me and Mine:

Went to a good Second Wind reading at the Palace. Last one for this semester. They start up again January 31st.

Wrote one story at Bernice's and one at the Break Espresso. If I ever get famous, I'll have scratch my name into one of the tables or chairs.

Football:

To answer yesterday's question: Now who is going to the playoffs and who's going to be served for dinner in Missoula on the 28th?

The Jackrabbits of South Dakota State! (2nd in Missouri Valley Conference)

Eastern Washington will play at SF Austin and if they win and the Grizz win; it's a rematch here on the 5th of December.

Richmond was awarded the #4 seed and Montana and Richmond will meet again, barring upsets, in Montana on the 12th. Richmond beat UM last year for the championship.

Montana: 37º in Missoula and grey at noon.

57,096
 

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NaNoWriMo

"Blood of the Garlic" : 23k from 35 pieces entered on-line with approximately 37k (62 pieces) written so far. I was able to add 4 sketches on Saturday.

More NaNoWriMo winners: Asymmetrical , Joy--Happy ♥ Day , In Your Dirtiest Pants . Congratulations.

Thou:

Nice line "It doesn't matter what flotsam and jetsam life vomits on my shores; I'll always have the ocean in my heart." found in a wonderful entry by Acme : "The End of the World" 

Me and Mine:

Watched parts of the MSU-UM game. At one point it was 2-2 (yes! and no... that is not a baseball score). It wasn't very funny not kicking on 4th down at one's own 20... can you spell s.t.u.p.i.d.? At the half Dolly Parton's baseball teams were 9to5. The Grizz of Montana finally won it 33-19.

Now who is going to the playoffs and who's going to be served for dinner in Missoula on the 28th?

Frankly, I'd like them to think out of the box and invite Dayton (co-champions of their league but not going to the Gridiron Classic). . Losses by ranked teams (East Illinois, Holy Cross, U Northern Iowa, Liberty) messed things up just a tad. Montana could easily be facing EIU (not likely, they may be sent to Southern Illinois U... again), HC or UNI (Liberty won't make the field IMHO). I'm hoping Eastern Washington gets in (and probably sent to Richmond). Making Richmond a #4 and Montana #1 would be sweet. It would set up a potential rematch here on December 12th ***shiver-with-excitement***.

Had chili at the Senior center. That and a bag of chips cost me $2. In the evening I made cream of chicken soup with buttercup squash added (with a bit of cheese to top it off).

Montana: 30º in Missoula at 11 a.m.; the hills are white with a thin blanket of snow; the streets are glistening.