Apr
22
Don’t Mind Me…I’m Just Catching Up
Dec
13
The Rumors Of My Death…
It’s been a while since I updated here but wanted to let you all know that I still have a pulse! After almost a month in the new house my office is almost set up. The first thing I had to attack – small wonder – was my typewriter collection. The cases were taking up a good quarter or a third of the floor space. After I put them on shelves and stored the cases in the basement I was able to get going on the rest of it. I’m not done yet, but I’m close. I’m hoping that another a few hours and I’ll be able to put one of those typewriters to work – maybe even respond to a letter or two…anyone else slacking in this area?? (I take solace in the fact that Dan had mentioned he was!)
January is looking to be National Get Off Your Ass Bob And Finish Your Novel Month, or NaGeOfYoAsBoAnFiYoNoMo. The moving is almost done and come the new year I’ll have no excuses. I’ve never been one for resolutions but perhaps this will be a good one to make. And a quick congrats to Mike Speegle for finishing his first novel and launching a spiffy new website ( mikespeegle.com ). I’d have my name as my site but even I can’t spell Skrezyna half the time. It’s a real problem.
Still getting acclimated to the new neighborhood. Different trash day and rules of what you can and cannot put out are killing me. Also killing me is the fact that I seem to be the only person on the block who uses a lid on their trash can. I had to walk around my house at 9 PM picking up errant trash. Not fun. But to live in a gorgeous 110 year old home it’s totally worth it. I’ll be posting pics of it as soon as we get everything finalized so far as placement and whatnot.
And a huge thank you to Tom over at Cambridge – I’ll soon be the owner of a great little Depression-era Underwood portable! Can’t wait to get my grubby fingers on it. But apparently I have to pay for it first. Pffttt. Whatever.
Nov
15
My Long Overdue Blog Post
First of all, it’s good to be back!
It has been a very hectic few weeks over here at the wordrebel house. For starters we’re moving! We just closed on a great house in the historic district in the town next to us. To say we’re excited would be an understatement to be sure – Of course this excitement is tempered with fear and uncertainty. Obviously we know we can afford it and all of that but I for one have never stayed in one place for more than two years at a stretch since I went to college. That was twelve years ago!
My wife and I were trying to get to the bottom of my penchant for the Nomadic lifestyle and the best answer we can come up with is that afraid of commitment. I would not disagree with this but was still quick to point out that I married her, and I was the one who proposed. After thinking of that a but more I realized that while the marriage was an easy decision it was only so easy because I knew there were no other strings to bind me. There is something about the freedom of a one year lease that still seems appealing. It’s a chance for a change of scenery for any reason I may fancy. Last week I signed a mortgage contract that begins January 1, 2012. The last payment is due January 1, 2041. I literally choked when I read that. That’s thirty years! THIRTY!! Of course there’s nothing saying we have to live there forever but still…that’s a long time.
I know that owning a home is an investment that one cannot otherwise obtain. That said I know I’m going to miss calling a landlord when something breaks and never have to worry about the cost. I’m going to miss the carefree spirit I have come to love with regards to the almost disposable nature of rental property. I’m NOT going to miss the fact I was paying someone I didn’t care for and making them wealthier. (Although my loan originator wasn’t too great a guy, but I like the company, so it’s okay.) I’m not going to miss not being able to do anything to the property without the paranoia of voiding my lease and getting evicted.
In short, I’m looking forward to the move and know it’s best for my family, and that’s what really matters.
Now….Nanowrimo…
Due to the house and an unplanned mini-vacation (thank you grandparents-in-law!) I was woefully behind in word count. I’ve been able to pound out roughly 500 extra words a night the last few days to try to get a jump on it but I’m still not there. There’s a write-in tomorrow and I’m hoping that’ll help. It couldn’t hurt at this point! What gets me about being behind is that I’m actually very excited about my plot and I love my characters this year. I haven’t been able to say that for a few Nanos now. I can take comfort in the fact that my characters seem to want to write themselves. My male MC has already gone off on quite a few tangents I didn’t know he was capable of! And my female MC, who was scheduled to pass away on page one somehow stuck around to page nine! Good for her! There’s even a new person altogether that I never planned or thought of. He just sort of popped up…so I’m using him and using him good! And as a side note, of the almost 20k words I’ve written so far, 19k were written on my Classic 12. This isn’t the first year I’ve been in the Typewriter Brigade but it is the first I’ve been able to focus my attention on creating almost exclusively on one of my babies. I feel obliged to thank my very understanding and loving wife for giving me the time and room to work this month – I’m sure we all have someone like her this month that just makes things go smoothly.
We’re moving this weekend so I may fall further behind…unless I stop blogging and get back to novel writing!
At some point I’m going to just go off (in blog form) regarding credit: credit scores, the way credit works, why it’s just a strange and seemingly nonsensical idea, etc. Getting a home loan should come with a free pass to a cardiologist of your choosing. It’s all worth it in the end but the road is much bumpier than it should have to be!
Alright – back to noveling …. Still Wife is calling me!
P.S. I got a great surprise the other day: a friend of my wife’s sent me her copy of Catcher In The Rye . What I thought was going to be a plain paperback copy turned out to be a FIRST BOOK CLUB EDITION!!!! It was a library book but is still in great shape, all things considered. I’m more than stoked and the new addition will join her brother, my other first edition Catcher, in my new office at the new house! (that’s a lot of new!!)
Oct
19
The NaNo Inquisition
(**EDIT – I only now noticed how many typos I have in this post! Sorry – I just type and post!**)
Sep
28
Is This House Our Home?
Almost forgot to add – The house is on Blackhawk Ave. – I’m a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan…it was meant to be!
