cat picture + jennifer :: true things.

Hey there, strangers.

Lots of stuff, lots of stuff. Lots of good stuff. Midnight blogging, too. Hello, friends on the other side of the world who are enjoying this lovely March morning. My cat just fell asleep on my arm after attacking my hands. He does stuff like that. It merits a picture.

Oh, Oliver. If you'd stop being cute, I'd stop taking pictures of you.

Anywho, my friends, in 24 hours I'll be watching

The Hunger Games {!}, 

and probably dying a little bit inside. The question is whether or not it will be the good kind of dying {because there are two kinds, you know}.

It gets me to thinking, do any of you remember this? I had so few readers a year ago when the casting craze began, I'm not sure who knows. I've felt funny about saying anything since then, but it's true.

I grew up going to church with Jennifer Lawrence and her family. Yes, that Jennifer Lawrence. I know. I know. It is amazing. I am so happy for her, and proud beyond words. It is also incredibly weird because, well. You know. I knew her as a little kid, and not as freaking Katniss. The bragging rights pretty much end there, but now you know. In case you didn't before. I just... had to tell you again. I don't even know why. But it's a true thing, and I like for people to know true things about me.

We love you, Jennifer. Louisville girls represent.

new year, new thoughts, and news in general.

Greetings!

Ack, I never know how to start a blog post.
I mean, it comes around eventually, but it tends to take me a while.
Honestly. How does one START a blog post, without constantly alluding to starting a blog post?

Like, hey, it's January. Hello, January. You're looking rather... blustery. I'm glad for that, though. You are January, after all, and not... June.

Oh my gosh, I'm talking to the months.

Moving on.

So, I guess this is my proverbial, hey-it's-a-new-year post, wherein I talk about goals and resolutions and such. There's really no way around it.

{Hm. I could have just started there. Holy pants, I need to blog more. Then maybe I won't get stuck with the start quite so much. Because, you know, I will already be going. Smart.}

I have too many things to say, in general. Shall we continue in list form?

a} My new favorite writerly thing: 750 words! I wasn't going to make any cut and dry resolutions this year, but this is SO fun. Handy how I found it at this time of year, no? It's like a NaNo, but instead of shooting for 50k words in a month, it's just--you know--750 words a day. And if I write {at least} 750 words a day all year, that's almost 300k words written in 2012. If I limit those words to fiction, that's a LOT of raw material. Plus, when you hit 750, you get points and a breakdown of what you wrote, from mood to theme to most-often-used words. How could this not be awesome?

b} Shameless confession that you either already knew or probably saw coming: I watch a lot of anime. I just... had to make that known, again. For some reason.

c} It is high time to find a clearer direction for this blog. I'm thinking, like, planned, weekly posts, and everything. But not across the board. Because that would be very much against my floofy-headed nature. We'll start small, yeah? And, hey, if there's something you want to see more of, please let me know. Like, more pictures of my cats. I could probably swing that.*

*Please don't actually want this, because then I will have to comply, thus becoming
that girl who blogs about her cats and talks to the months.

d} In 2011, I read 50 books. Success! It was going to be a hundred, for, like, a second, and then it was 60, then I trimmed it to 50 in September when I saw how maddening the rest of the year was going to be, and then... I did it! So, kind of a success. And I thought, maybe this year I'll do the backwards of that and start with a laughably attainable goal, like... 17. I will undoubtedly read at least 17 books in 2012. But hopefully more. We'll find out when I get there. So far, I'm still chomping on the first one. Not because I don't love it, because I do, I'm just... worn out from cramming in the last two or three of last year. Ha.

e} Have you all heard of this One Little Word thing? I am intrigued. And thinking very much about a word to shape my year. Well, really, I'm fairly torn between two. I may just have to use both.

GRACE. As in, gracefulness, elegance, dignity. Because I tend to be sour when few others are looking, and it's time to change that.

INTENT. As in, with purpose, determination {but not in a competitive way} and focus. To go along with my sourness, I have a major lazy streak in me. After NaNo, when I realized that I had blanked on how to write with intent, the phrase really glued itself to my brain. As fun as that 30-day spree was, I don't want my whole life to become a blitz of unusable, sub-par days, no matter how many I accrue.

So, GRACEFUL INTENT, INTENTIONAL GRACE, or, just GRACE and INTENT. I think I need both. Is that cheating? Meh. No one's gonna lock me up for it. Yay for Two Little Words!

*end of the list*

Well, that was fun. OH! Some might remember a NaNo myth I once bragged to have unraveled. It wasn't that awesome. I had heard people talking about how they wouldn't be able to read at all that month, but I read a ton, and it helped my writing more than hindered it.

Huh.

Kind of like real life, NaNo.

Kind of like real life.

angst-baking, nano, and youtube {oh my}.

So, I did that whole "sick" thing this past week. Great fun. I did not sleep AT ALL last Friday night, which I'm sure didn't help. I never got tired enough to even try. Bizarre. As you may know, I've had a lot on my mind. You know how stuff is, and how it always comes in threes {or, in my current case, fives}. At four in the morning last Saturday, after I stopped trying to sleep, something happened for the first time since college... or perhaps ever.

I angst-baked.

Flourless peanut butter cookies. Yurm. Want the recipe?

Mine did not look like this.

1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of white sugar
1 egg

Mix it all together, spoon out your dollops, hashtag those puppies with your fork, and bake for 8 minutes. At least, that's what the website said to do. Methinks I should have left mine in for about 10. They ended up tasting like hot dough in cookie shapes. Granted, I have never had a successful solo cooking experience in my life {not counting spaghetti, microwave meals, or frozen pizzas}. So, for me? They were awesome.

Speaking of insanity {weren't we?}, I have decided that I absolutely must participate in NaNoWriMo, regardless of these things:

1. I will be in New York the first weekend of the month, and at camp the third.
2. I have no basis for the story, other than two characters and a vague idea.
3. I will have rehearsals to go to almost every night {oh yeah, I got into a play}.
4. My best friend has a brain tumor.*
5. I have a perfectly good WiP that does not deserve to be abandoned any further.
6. This thing freaking starts in four days.
7. Coffee is expensive.

*Remember the health issue I mentioned a few weeks ago? This is that. I've been not-saying-anything for a while, and it's been eating at me. If you don't want to read about Katie's grade II astrocytoma, I apologize in advance for the inevitability of my posting about it. I know I'll feel A LOT better if I can be open with you all.

On the flipside, here are the reasons *why*:

1. I have confidence that I'll be able to make up for lost words, before and after these trips.
2. I'm sure I have more of a basis than I realize, and I love what I do have.
3. Rehearsals don't start until 7:30.
4. Katie wants me to got for it.
5. My perfectly good WiP has been giving me the evil eye.
6. I'm {mostly) a pantser... why should I worry? I'll wing it, after all.
7. Tea is less expensive, and we have plenty of it.

As stupid as this endeavor sounds, in light of everything else that's going on, I can't help but be excited. Oh, the sweet release of going into another world. I sure could use more of that.

In keeping with the incoherent nature of this post, here's a music video. I've loved this song for years, but never saw the video {the wonderful, delightful video} until this week. I forget about things like YouTube. What a weirdo I am {and thanks, Katie, for finally getting me to watch it}.

Love to all! Tune in next time {or, the next few times} for lists of things I love, an award or two, and a dissertation on why I am OH MY GOSH still awake at this hour.*

*Probably not one to get your hopes up about.

As much as I would love to regale you, gentle readers, with all my thoughts on moving, reading in the car while moving, my first week of owning an iPhone, and the wonder that is a latte with hazelnut, alas... I have three u-haul truckloads of junk to unpack.

So, instead, I thought I'd share with you my current favorite youtube videos.

First of all, I think I want one of these in a couple years:

And if you think that's great (because it is), here's Billy Collins himself reciting "Litany."

I'd be lying if I said the following dumb song hasn't been stuck in my head for three days...
but it is surprisingly conducive to getting things done.

Okay, we're about to spiral into mega little-girl-territory (but it's so worth it!). If you don't want to sit here for 22 minutes to watch an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I understand.
But if you think you can handle it? Oh man. So great.

And... my current very favorite. I posted this a while back, but it won't hurt to post it again.

(sigh.)

Have a lovely Monday, friends! I'll be here. Loving on some boxes. :)