It always seems impossible until it’s done. – Nelson Mandela 

This is the almost end of the first week of November.  Like many previous  Novembers, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo.  The organization has been up and running for about twenty years.  There are a million Youtube videos and blogs about NaNoWriMo and what it is.  The down and dirty rules can be found on nanowrimo.org.

I borrowed that image from the site.   I have a personal goal of 10,000 words by next week Friday. Yikes! The overall goal for Nanowrimo is 50,000  words or complete novel by the end of November.  Full disclosure I have never won NaNoWriMo.   The story I am working on is a romance fantasy.  Loosely based on Romeo and Juliet or more to the point, what happens after Romeo and Juliet’s death.   This is not historical fiction because, I plan to infuse magic into this story.  My research involved looking up the Italian renaissance period and several variations of the Romeo and Juliet story.     Yes, folks, the popular Shakespear version is … fanfiction.  I have been developing the story for some time and it has been my NaNoWriMo focus for all the time I have entered.  My number #1 personal rule is that every word in my word count is new words that are for the story. Some might call me a rebel.  Due to circumstances out of my control, I was not able to do a lot of prep work in October.  I feel like I am still pantsing it.  I find it a little unsettling.  However, I am doing it.

One of the most important things about NaNoWriMo is the community.  I was able to participate in my first virtual write-in on YouTube.  I am usually at work when the physical events happen, then I tend to miss the virtual ones by hours.  This time I was able to catch Tamara Woods, by simply subscribing to the NaNoWriMo channel.  I didn’t say much.  No one commented on the fact that I was writing longhand. I didn’t share what I had written.   However, I did write over 300 words in about an hour.  I was happy with my progress.  I have never really timed myself on how much I can write or type in an hour.  This is something I will have to look into.  I am pleased with my write-in experience and look forward to catching another one, on time.

The scene got tweaked once I typed it in a word document because no matter how I look at it the word for coffee-table in the renaissance period story is not coffee-table.  I am not even 100% sure they had coffee tables in the day rooms or salons etc.  This is a research question that will be addressed in editing.  Once I have completed this story, there will be changes during the revision period.   The story is a romance and I will write about that next week and the fantasy part as well.

This entry is about the feels of starting another NaNoWriMo. I am happy and determined to meet the goals I have set out for myself.  I encourage other writers/authors those who participate or not, Go Writer Go!

End.

 

 

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for Extraordinary Destiny.

-C.S. Lewis

I can’t remember when I saw the movie 12 Monkeys starring, Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, and Brad Pitt.   I know it was after its’ time in theatres and it was possible on a VHS or DVD, some time in 1996 or 1997. The movie was released on December 29, 1995, directed by Terry Gilliam and screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples.  The was movie was also based on a French movie called La Jette, released in 1962.

Brief recap from memory what this movie was about.  The world has ended in a horrific manner.   Most of the population is dead due to an outbreak virus believed to be released by the Army of the 12 Monkeys.   The survivors live underground.   James Cole and others like him risk their lives to go above ground to test if the world is safe for people again.    Otherwise, he is a prisoner underground.   I don’t remember if he volunteers or is forced into the time travel experiments,  all I know is that he does it and travels back in time.  His mission is to find out how the virus was released by the 12 Monkeys.   He meets Dr. Kathyn Railly, who diagnosis him and Jeffrey Goines, a mental patient with a really rich father.   He is reported to be the leader of the 12 monkeys.

Cole is transported a few times to the future and back, while he is trying to figure out the mystery of what happened to the world.  He is also being haunted by a dream of seeing a man being killed in an airport.   He falls in love with Dr. Railly and they find out the mystery and attempt to stop it.   However, they fail.  Young James Cole sees his adult-self shot dead in an airport as a terrorist (I am presuming that part).   I can’t remember if James Cole played by Bruce Willis realized what he is seeing.  I know the audience realizes what has happened and if they were like me were totally moved by what happened.

12 Monkeys (1995) made over $160 million.  I was not sure if that was a good or bad outcome for a film.  After a quick lookup,  the movie was number 1 for 2 weeks in January before succumbing to the competition.  It took the world wide gross income to make back the money spent on the budget.    Exec may not have liked that.  However, like other movies that bomb at the box office, it becomes a cult classic for fans.   I am one of them.  Therefore when I heard of the series I had like a squee like joy.

Fast Forward twenty years or so and the Syfy channel debuts 12 Monkeys tv series in January of 2015.   At the time I was really glad about it because the Syfy channel was doing something that included actually science fiction.  I kind of stopped watching it when they introduced wrestling into their line up.   The series was developed by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett.  Based on the Screenplay by Janet Peoples and David Peoples and the 1962 film La Jette.

The show starred Aaron Stanford as James Cole, Amanda Schultz as Cassandra Railly ( a name change there),  Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines ( a name and gender change here), Barbara Sukowa as Dr. Katrina Jones and Kirk Acevedo as Jose Ramse.  There were other people but these were the ones that had an impact on me.   The show ran for 4 seasons, debut in January 2015 and ended in June 2018.

At the time I watched it in 2015, the only actor I really knew was Kirk Acevedo, from his recurring role on Fringe.  Where I believed his character was carelessly killed, R.I.P.  Charlie Francis.

A brief recap of Pilot:   in 2014 after giving a successful in preparing for the next virus outbreak,  Dr. Cassandra Railly, a virologist, walks to her car in the dark and is carjacked by an unstable man.  She was talking to her boyfriend Aaron Mark, played by Noah Bean, he calls the police.   The unstable man is, of course, James Cole,  he shows her through her watch(a timepiece, points for being clever) that time travel is real and he also disappears after telling her where to meet him in a year and to find a man called Leland Frost.

A year passes, Cassandra waits a week to meet up with Cole.  He finally shows up.  She uses some connections to find the man, they are looking for.  They are told that his not Leland Frost but Leland Goines.  Goines is played by Zeljko Ivanek in the tv series and Christopher Plummer in the movies.  Another career change, instead of being the Doctor/scientist who created a deadly virus.  Goines is a CEO of the Markridge group, the group specializes in biomedical engineering.  He is portrayed as an uncaring man for most of his life he is, however, I believed he did care about someone, he just didn’t know how to express it in a positive way.    Cole was told by Scientists in the future to find and kill Leland Frost once that happened the world will be saved.   Cassandra and Cole set out to confront Goines.  Plans don’t go as expected, some interesting things are revealed to the audience, Cole and Cassandra.  about Cole and time.   He kills Leland but nothing changes.   Now that I think about it.  There should have realized nothing was going to happen, Goines had given them and us a huge clue.

The last scene of the episode is of a mental facility called the J.D. Peoples Psychiatric Treatment Center, (Clever). A lawyer says he is here to see Goines, in a room where a person is frantically rubbing charcoal or crayon on a wall.  He informs this person that their father is dead.   It revealed he is talking to a woman and her name is Jennifer Goines, in the movie this was Brad Pitt’s role, Jeffrey.  She is not upset about her father at all and it turns out her work of art is a monkey face similar to the 12 monkey emblem.

For two seasons, I faithfully followed this show and Sleepy Hollow.   I may never be not angry enough to write about that show, R.I.P. missed potential.   Then 12 Monkey did the cliff hanger of season 2 and it broke my sense of belief.  Looking back in the series, there were hints that something like this cliffhanger would happen.  Mostly unnoticed if you didn’t listen to Jennifer Goines, on a crazy rant.  Just like that, I was a disgruntled fan.  Instead of losing my shit and sending death threats, I seethed a little and stopped watching the show, listening to the podcast.  I’m a civilized person, not a fanatic. I believed that with no one else’s story to fill my time, I could focus on my own.  For a time it worked.  Sometime next year I may share the results.

Last week after working the day job for the weekend and the early part of the week.  I felt absolutely drained, it was a 3-part problem, 1-part me, 1-part the job, 1 part biology.  Ennui and listlessness drew me to Hulu.  I binged 12 Monkeys, season 1-3.  I could have continued with season  4 but had to go to work and the wifi at the day job is not ideal.   I was surprised that I enjoyed the series everything was almost fresh, season 3 wasn’t super great but it was not as horrible as I believed it was going to be.  Distance saved me from abusing my TV and remote control.    I still liked the concept of time-travel and how it developed, in their world not only is the universe against you, time can be as well.   All the relationships, the romantic, familial and adversarial.  Some of us only focused on one or the others but they were all in play, some in the front and other acting subtle in the background.  The characters developed well during the course of the series, not always in ways I liked but it was understandable.    I think that time and the fact that I struggle with creating my own stories, allowed me time to give this show a pass instead of epic fail.  I am curious to see how these characters break the cycle and end the series.  Will it be Breaking Bad good or GOT bad?

Overall, three unproductive days brought on over 1300 words in almost one sitting.  I am very happy about that.  As Nanowrimo gets closer, I doubt I will be as prepared as I want to be, but I will be ready to write.  There is probably another essay in those words but I am going to close this here.  Recommendation watch both 12 Monkeys,  they are good and bad in interesting and different ways.

End

I have attempted to write about my trip to Miami Florida, for at least two days.   Each attempt has failed due to other factors,  one there is a problem with my mouse.  So, no well-sized pictures on this entry.  The environment was not conducive to writing.  Too many other things to focus on.   Although sometimes I did get some new words in a story.  It’s still not as effective.   Writers write and even though most of what is produced is not usable they still write.  I tend to get a little fatigued until I get the words I need on paper or document files.    But that is not as important as the trip.

I was a masquerader in the Miami Carnival, jumping with Dingolay Mas and Perfect Mixture Mas.  It was my very first time, however, I have cousins who have been doing it for years.  In fact, my costume was designed by Perfect Mixture Mas, which full disclosure is my cousin.   The whole event is somewhat indescribable.  There are the Jouvert event, October 12th, and the parade October 13th.   If the correct price has been paid for there is food, liquor, and loud music, provided by the band.  Dancing done by all.    Or you can go solo, however some things you won’t be allowed to be a part of. I’m sure there is cultural significance to everything done, but I was never exposed to it.   My family came to these United States, to better their lives.  They worked, went to church, got married had kids, went to church, bought a house worked some more.  The sheer wildness of the carnival was not an option for them.   I remember them taking me to see the parade, I was a kid and was more interested in the offered candy and other treats.  The costumes were nice too.  I never thought about all the work that goes into creating them.   That changes two years ago when I offered my office skills to my cousin.  It has been really worth it, I like helping creative people be creative.  I expect magnificent designs in the future and I plan to talk about them more often.   Describing the luscious, sexy designs for women of all sizes is important.

 

The weather has been great in Hollywood, where we are renting a house.   Palm trees and sun not too far from the beach.   Beach on a workday is the best place to be, mainly because everyone else is at school or work.  Even in retirement-Ville Florida.  This is my last night here.  Tomorrow I will be on a plane going back to NYC.   I heard it has been a lot of rain.  I have issues with USPS, I requested they hold the mail and they didn’t.  They are truly annoying.  Something to deal with once I get back to my real life.

I spent 7 days someplace else and I am quite happy about it.   Next year if I can make the trip again.  I will definitely go see the sunrise on the beach.

Another real-life issue is the NaNoWriMo prep that I have been avoiding.  National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, begins on November 1st, 2019.  Every writing blog, podcast or youtube channel will have mentioned it at least once.   They do a better job than I do.  The basics are to write 50,000 words in 30 days, that means 1,667 or 1,666 words a day.  Many people have participated and some have completed novels that were sold.  Some did not complete and still later completed their novels, that got published.  For better details, look at nanowrimo.org.   I have a story that I only work on during NaNoWriMo, they call people like me a Rebel.  I have never won Nanowrimo.   I haven’t participated every year.  However, since 2017 I’ve been in.  Success looks different for everyone. I will write about this at a later date.

As stated earlier, this is my last night, in Florida.  I am hoping to post this before midnight.  Therefore I am closing here.  I have three points I think.

1. Take vacations when you can.
2. Try something new when the opt
3. Nanowrimo prep should not be avoided.

End

Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live. – Jim Rohn

About five years ago, I took an overall wellness test.  I did poorly and ever since then along with everything else I struggle with my overall well-being. 

For those who will question the test,  I will say this,  it was for a health app, which encourages positive lifestyle change with simple manageable habit suggestions.   I’m sure the test had credentials and they were available for the curious.  I was not one of them.  I didn’t look them up.   I was unsettled by my answers.  The result was anti-climatic.  All I had were negatives views about myself, environment and future.  It has always been a goal to be a practical positive optimist.  My answers to the test revealed that I was failing at being an optimist.

  It was written in another blog that I was tired of just existing.  Now that I think about it, those words were simple pleas of how to enjoy life again.    Life seemed to be working out for other people.   I remember researching all the lifestyle-changing blogs that were out there on the Internet.   It may have still been called the worldwide web.  These people were reaching their goals, sharing their success and giving advice to the masses.  Paying it forward.  I was taking steps forward and 12 steps back, then find myself it what felt like a rut or downward spiral.  A vicious cycle that I can’t accurately say that I’ve escaped.  The only thing I can say is that sometimes I see it and is able to stop it, other times it happens and I don’t work for weeks.   Then I feel guilty about it and promise to do things differently.  Another vicious cycle?   

 

The Merriman Webster dictionary defines wellness as the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.  Full disclosure I have never actively sought out good health.  It is probably a side effect of just existing.  It has been said that it takes 28 days to form a habit.  I really want that perfect triangle in the picture on the left, I don’t necessarily strive for it.  Confessions are good for something.  Now that I have identified the issue, the next step should be to take action.   It would be great if there was a list of achievements or a description of something.  The most I can say is that it is being worked on.  I have no sage advice or suggestion.   Except I persist.  

Once I post this entry on the blog.  I will make an effort to pursue wellness.  I will try to keep the blog updated because accountability is key one of many.

End