closet optimist

First, Merry Freakin' Christmas everyone!

It's been a strange year. For those of you who know my current situation - complete with the two extra roommates and the nearly three year relationship slowly coming to its inevitable end - I'm sure you understand why I'm a little blue this Christmas.

I've stayed much longer in Las Vegas than I initially planned, but life happens and priorities change. There are things I wanted to be, to do, to have done by this time in my 31 (sigh) years. But....I hate to complain. Especially when I see all the homeless on the streets and the people who can't afford gifts for their children during the holiday season. I have a job, a roof over my head, clothes to wear, and the ability to pay my bills. Thems' the basics. And I'm glad about all that.

I'm also the proud writer of two novels (sorry, its still hard to believe myself).

Most people see me as a realist with pessimistic tendencies. But those people don't really know me. I portray that image to help me deal with the crap in the world. Because if you expect the worst you are pleasantly surprised when you get the opposite! Ta Da! It makes it easier to take all the heartache, grief, and pain that life can dish out.

I guess I think I'm special...in some strange way. As a kid, I didn't mind sleeping near the door or window at a sleepover when my friends were afraid of the boogeyman getting them. Because when that crazy killer would come in ready to murder me, he'd take one look at my young self and fall in love and whisk me away to his castle. (You see he was actually a prince under a nasty spell and I broke it with my aura). And you all wonder why I decided to write romance????? ;-)

I always believed I had something different, something unique. Alas, I grew up and realized the truth, but there is still a hint of that belief that refuses to be squashed by real life. That special something defines me as a closet optimist. Behind everything that goes awry in my life, there is hope. Hope that things will take a turn for the best rather than the worse.

Still, I have a soft spot for the worse. I mean, it builds character, it gives you comedic material, and it makes for a much better story. The writer in me just can't be denied.

So the next time things look shitty, know the book of your life needed some conflict, and in the end its going to fly off the shelves the more drama it entails. I firmly disagree with saving the drama for your mama. Share it with your readers. They'll thank you for it! Just keep your fingers crossed for a happy ending.

Quote of the day: Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. ~Hannah Arendt

the morning after

Beautiful, isn't it? The morning after our big snow day (ok big for us at 8" in the southern parts of Las Vegas) you would think we lived in the mountains or something. The day was altogether eerie with sludge piles of snow in the streets and in peoples' yards and the sun illuminating the mountains and hills surrounding us, showing off their thick shiny new coats of bright white snow.

This is what my house looked like in the morning.....

I know, nothing major, but an unusual sight for me.

My boyfriend covered the West side on his way to work and I took a couple of pics on my way down south into Henderson. Then I snapped a few from Sunset Station's garage out into the valley.

Here is what I came up with. Enjoy!

The Day After the Big Snow in Las Vegas 2008

Quote of the Day: I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top. ~English Professor (Name Unknown), Ohio University

the city of sin has frozen over....

I've finally had a couple days to get over it, but it still is amazing. It snowed in Vegas. And I don't mean some measely little flakes (although that's what it began as). I'm talking blizzard, baby!

Las Vegans don't really take snow too seriously. Because when we hear that it's a possibility we think a few chunks of ice and rain for an hour max and that's it. But no, that's not what we got on Wednesday.

Let me break down my day.

Wednesday morning: Butt cold, but I layered up and wore a nice scarf and gloves.

Wednesday afternoon 1pm: Snow begins to fall. People at work are freaking out. But there really isn't much snow sticking to the ground just yet. I'm not worried.

2pm: The snow continues to fall and starts to get thicker. I hear it's supposed to stop by 4pm when I leave, so I'm still not worried.

3pm: The snow is coming down hard and fast and blanketing the ground. For some reason, I'm still not worried, just amazed. I take this picture outside the employee entrance with my phone.

4pm: The snow has covered most of Sunset Station and it's already dark. I get in my VW bug and realize I have to get gas before I make the 26 mile drive home. Doh!

4:15pm: Upon leaving Sunset Station's garage the streets are covered in snow and slush. I'm driving super slow and head to the gas station across the street. At one point I press the brakes and they lock. Freaking out begins.

4:30pm: I wonder if the snow has made me super sensitive and maybe it was a one time deal and that the brakes are adjusting. I decide to get gas regardless and take it easy.

4:45pm: Find out the gas station's satellite has gone out and it is cash only. After sludging my way to the register it's a Christmas miracle that I have ten dollars on me in this electronic day and age. I snap more pictures for those who don't believe that I am truly trapped in a Thomas Kinkade painting.
4:46pm: Try to leave the parking lot and press the brakes. They lock and I slide. I commence with more freaking out and decide to park at Best Buy and go in to get warm, and possibly buy a DVD. Ya never know.

5pm: Call the boyfriend and act scared and helpless so that he'll come pick me up. It works and I wait, secretly hoping my car might be busted and I won't have to go to work tomorrow.

6pm: Boyfriend arrives and plays around with my car, seeming to have more fun skidding around a snowy parking lot with limited brakes that I would. I don't understand men. He can't figure out what's wrong but says he'll be able to drive it home in the slow lane and I'll follow in his car. I'm worried, but take some pictures to calm me down.
7pm: We arrive home after driving through three sections of greater Las Vegas. Each one has different inclement weather. South-blizzard, West/Downtown-rainstorm, North-snowstorm... My back is in knots, but I'm home and relieved. Our neighborhood looks like we should have horse-drawn sleighs and snowball wars, rather than cars and errant teenagers. I take a couple pics of our front and back yard (which reminds me of some lost land).
That was the bulk of my day. Henderson (where I work) received 8" of snow and the rest received 2". They declared a snow day for schools the following day and I took more pictures in the morning, but here is the Luxor. Who ever thought we'd see the pyramids covered in snow? I know I probably sound like I'm overreacting, especially considering many of my friends live back East and laugh at me for freaking out, but hey, this is Vegas, the last time we got this much snow was in 1974!
I'll post the day after pictures tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm off to recoup. I think the weather made me sick. Ugh.

Quote of the Day: A writer and nothing else: a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right. ~John K. Hutchens, New York Herald Tribune, 10 September 1961

the wrap up

Christmas isn't quite here yet, but on the horizon of a new year I thought I would get a head start on wrapping up 2008.

October - finished the first draft of my FIRST (yes, I said FIRST) novel and did a dance of joy, survived layoffs at the casino I work for, had my boyfriend's ex wife and daughter move in with us, had dinner with an ex-boyfriend who told me I was one of the smartest women he ever went out with (you know it!), spent Halloween preparing for NaNoWriMo.

November - began writing my SECOND novel for NaNoWriMo, continued to write like fiend, went to visit my family in Southern CA for Thanksgiving (got fat), survived more layoffs at the casino I work for, finished my SECOND novel for NaNoWriMo with 8,000 words on the last day.

December - went back to revising my FIRST novel and getting prepared for Christmas.

I won't be going home for Christmas Eve or Day, but we'll be heading to Southern CA the weekend after.

Let me take a minute though to talk about my experience with NaNoWriMo. I didn't think I'd be able to do it. I mean, it took me over three months to write just over 80,000 on the first novel, but then I didn't really give myself a deadline and I knew I would take my sweet time. I've finally decided to call myself a writer and you know what? We procrastinate. It's inevitable. Armed with that information, NaNoWriMo got me to understand that giving yourself an end all deadline would kick that procrastination in the butt, at least for a few days. It also showed that if need be, I can write 8000 words in a day. I don't recommend that and it's not fun by any means, but it's doable. My comfort zone seemed to be 1000 to 2000 a day. But what helped was the support from others in the same boat. Fellow Nanoers, Maura, Shae, and Noreen, helped push me onward. Being able to see what they were doing gave me the necessary shove to get my words up and if any of them were behind, I made sure to let them know they were doing great and to keep it up. I was proud of them all and I was so happy we all could make it there together.

I can now say I have officially written TWO novels in the year of 2008. My biggest accomplishment yet. OK, maybe second to my four year degree in History, but damn close.

I'll save my New Years Resolutions for a later post, but you'll be sure to find more writing on the top of it.

Quote of the Day: To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music the words make. ~Truman Capote, McCall's, November 1967