For my last first day of school, ever (or I am hoping), I decided to document it every couple of hours. I missed a few ~events~ but I guess I did alright. The photo up there is the set I uploaded on Flickr, which you can see by clicking this link: Carina Santos’ Last First Day, 2009.

Today was pretty fun. I met two of my professors, saw a few friends (I didn’t see so many, due to my 3-week hibernation), met up with people regarding design stuff, met up with high school people! Among other things. I also was able to do a little bit of thesis work (which I so desperately need to be doing but am not) and I ate so much crap that my body is like, “What the hell, man?” in whatever accent that so pleases you.

Anyway, my schedule is rough, and all I want to do is both to drink this cup of coffee in front of me, and also to pass out on my bed and sleep. I’ve been wanting a nap since 11:30 this morning.

Also, I’ve said this once, but I’ll say it again: Taylor Swift on Saturday Night Live is the best thing that has happened to my life. I luv this gurl~*~* I am not even joking.¹

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¹ OK, maybe a little hyperbolic. But I love her.

1. School on Monday.
2. I am looking for work. E-mail me if this information is relevant to you: yankee@nothingspaces.com.
3. I should really finish my online portfolio.
4. NaNoWriMo is not going so good.
5. Just because you can be a douche about something, it totally doesn’t mean that you should be. Yes, I am looking at you.

Also, a message for Julian Casablancas: BOO YOU WHORE.

What Ever Happened?

Ending the second day with 2,349 words total. This feels like crap. In my defense, I decided to change my perspective to first person, so there was a few editing shenanigans. But I promise you, I will catch up on Day 3. In other news, I did finish the playlist I was talking about yesterday. And because I am gracious, I have uploaded it to MediaFire, for your pleasure. I will probably take it down in a couple of days. It is a mix of the mood I want my piece to be, what it is about and music for some scenes I had in mind. Also threw in a few nice book-themed songs.

1. “This Charming Man (New York Vocal)” by The Smiths
2. “Made Up Lovesong #43″ by Guillemots
3. “Glue Girls” by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
4. “She Don’t Use Jelly” by The Flaming Lips
5. “Fri/End” by Thurston Moore
6. “Slow Show” by The National
7. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” by Nirvana
8. “Gonna Make You Love Me” by Ryan Adams
9. “Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)” by Bob Dylan
10. “The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco” by the Lucksmiths
11. “Red-Eyed and Blue” by Wilco
12. “To Be Surprised” by Sondre Lerche
13. “Wrapped Up in Books” by Belle & Sebastian
14. “Soco Amaretto Lime” by Brand New
15. “The Book I Write” by Spoon
16. “My Favourite Book” by Stars
17. “Lily (My One and Only)” by Smashing Pumpkins

Enjoy, I hope!

In other news, my parents are coming home from Europe tomorrow. I am way more excited to see them than I thought I would be. Even though all they are bringing us are some magnets.

What do I write, guys? What do I write?!

Good day! This is still technically Day One of NaNoWriMo and I’m wrapping up my story at approximately 2,016 words. Not bad, but it could be better. I’m trying to churn out as much words as I can before reality (and schoolwork) hit me in the face. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered a few road blocks that have been hindering me from typing up a thousand words an hour.

1. The frakking Internet is a really distracting place. I’ve remedied this by utilizing the Mac OS’s feature called “Spaces”. It’s helped a bit.
2. I can’t write dialogue for shiitake. I feel a wave of secondhand embarrassment whenever I re-read something my character is saying, because it feels ridiculous. But I obviously can’t write a young adult novel without dialogue. Just imagine how awful that would be!
3. I am hungry all the time.
4. All the frakking time.
5. Sometimes, the desire to take a nap instead is so overwhelming, I end up just lying down and staring into space, because my brain is on Nap Mode, but I can’t exactly close my eyes, on account of having too much caffeine in my system.

Insanityyy. But I refuse to give up! I just need some actual plot. I’m thinking if I should add an element of fantasy or something because 50,000 words of a fourteen-year-old, with no actual plot just might drive me over the edge. I have added some footnotes to increase my word count. This doesn’t sound like a good plan.

For motivation, these are up on the wall directly in front of my desk.

Too bad I actually work away from the desk. Oh well. Tomorrow, my plan is to make a playlist. It’s a little distracting for me to actually write stuff while something is playing in the background, but I like making mixes for things like this because it helps with setting the mood. Lately, I’ve been listening to The National. This song, in particular, I particularly want to shine through. It’s called “Slow Show” and it is from their album, Boxer.

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The National — “Slow Show”

So, I gave in. I’ve joined the National Novel Writing Month three times, and I have not won once. (Ambition and lazy-assery is a lethal combination. These are two qualities I currently possess.) I’d previously attempted to stretch a story into a novella, reaching up to about 3,000 or so words. Previous attempts only produced scribblings written half-heartedly on Post-its and paper surfaces I could find.

Not to jump the bullet (is that even the correct phrase? I can’t think straight because I am watching Dead Like Me and someone is suddenly talking to me.) but I have a very good feeling that I will go much, much farther (further?) this year. I’m working on a young adult something, I still haven’t worked out the kinks, to be honest.

I wasn’t even thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year, mostly because I forgot about it. But my good friend, Chris (her NaNo profile) reminded me about it. So, I’m throwing all caution to the wind, and just write. I think I probably missed the point the past few times I decided to join NaNoWriMo. Not going to be doing all that editing shiitake until after November 30th.

In case you are wondering, here is my NaNoWriMo profile. Add me as a buddy, if you’d like. I’d like that very much.

I was going to add a word count widget, but life wouldn’t let me, so here are some useful links, instead, in case you are doing NaNoWriMo this year, too. Or if you’re a writer and want some help or inspiration:

• 2009 Pep Talks
• Pep Talks from over the years
• Forums — very helpful for support, and for when you are stuck in a rut
• NaNoWriMo’s Flickr Group — just pretty things to look through, posted by other participants this year

So, that’s it. Good luck to everyone else who’s doing it. Feel free to let me know how you are doing in the comments. :)