Camp NaNoWriMo

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Participating in NaNoWriMo last November was a fantastic experience that helped immensely with my writing, so I’ve decided to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo next month!

Camp NaNoWriMo is very similar to NaNoWriMo in that the idea is to work on your novel, and you still have a month to reach your goal. The major difference is that you don’t have to write 50,000 words. You can set your own word-count goal, which means you can get really ambitious and try to write more, or you can set a smaller goal if you don’t think you’ll be able to hit 50k. I’ve set my goal at 30,000 because I know next month is going to be busy for me and I’m not confident I’ll reach that 50k mark.

Camp NaNoWriMo also, of course, has a camp theme. The idea is to give yourself a little writing retreat from your busy life. I plan to run with the theme and do a lot of writing outside on our lovely screened-in deck, which faces the woods in our backyard.

You can also choose to be placed in a virtual “cabin”, where you’ll be grouped with three or four other writers who are your “cabin mates”. You’re given a message board for your cabin, where you can chat and encourage each other as you’re working toward your goal.

I’m looking forward to getting to know my cabin mates, participating in writing sprints, and enjoying another month of writing-filled goodness! Feel free to follow along with me!

Writing About Video Games

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Just a couple of quick updates:

1. I’ve started a new gaming blog: Ember and Aether. It’s just a fun side project for me to express my love of gaming. Check it out if you’re into video games!

2. In that same vein, I’m also writing professionally for ZAM, a network dedicated to online gaming. I’m pretty excited about it!

That means there will be a lot more video game writing in my life, but I still plan on updating this blog regularly. I think I’ve finally settled on a theme I like, for now. I was planning on switching to a new host and installing WordPress as the CMS instead of being hosted by WordPress.com, but I think I’ll hold off for a couple more months.

Birthday Ramblings

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My birthday was pretty wonderful. The weather even decided to cooperate, bringing in the sun and higher temperatures with a cool breeze. Now I have spring fever, and I’m really just hoping winter stays away for good.

This year my birthday lasted longer than a day, thanks to the people in my life who constantly remind me how lucky I am. It started with the day of, when The Boyfriend took me out to dinner and bought me a lovely dress and a cute Batman t-shirt, equal parts chic and geeky, as shown below:

 

Celebrations continued on the following Saturday with my mom and sister. We had a much needed girls’ day spent walking around an outdoor mall in Knoxville, shopping, enjoying the gorgeous weather, and stopping at a cafe to sip frozen mochas and green tea.

My shopping haul:

Here’s an adorable picture of my sister at the cafe:

 

My sister and I were celebrating joint March birthdays (hers is the 18th), so my parents took us out for a family birthday dinner. We chose Thai food, and after filling our bellies, we went back to my sister’s place for coffee and board games.

And it still isn’t over! My amazing boyfriend also purchased tickets for this art exhibit in Atlanta featuring paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. We’re going on Thursday, and I couldn’t be more excited! We’re actually driving to Atlanta tomorrow to see a basketball game between the Hawks and the Lakers, and then we’re staying in a hotel tomorrow night. On Thursday, we’ll explore downtown Atlanta before touring the exhibit in the evening. It’s going to be a great mini-vacation, and I’m sooo ready for it. I’ll be sure to blog all about it when I get back!

Web Loves: Birthday Edition!

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Today is my birthday! I kind of can’t believe I’m 25. When did I get this old?! Can I go back to playing Ninja Turtles and pretending my treehouse was a spaceship?

Google wished me a happy birthday, which was nice but also kind of creepy:

It’s time for some more linky goodness!

Being Geek Chic is doing 30 Days of Doctor Who this month, starting with this wonderful clip-filled post about the writing in the series. The third clip breaks my heart. Also, I need this Doctor Who iPhone case in my life.

Have you heard this amazing news yet?

Lauren shared a beautiful short piece by Albert Camus along with an equally beautiful print inspired by it.

Vulture is doing a bracket to determine the best sitcom of the past 30 years. I’m kind of disappointed that Parks and Recreation didn’t make the cut, but I understand their reasoning.

Stana Katic has really good taste in music. Just another reason to love her!

Looking for something to read this year? This post from Hypable lists 13 promising YA books coming out in 2013.

My fellow birthday girl Becca Weston wrote a post a while back that perfectly details the reasoning behind why I stopped watching How I Met Your Mother. She’s also doing an epic giveaway of YA books, but you only have until midnight to enter, so hurry!

I think we’re often tempted to only reveal the positive aspects of ourselves on the internet, which is something I’m definitely guilty of. We’re all human, though, and it’s easier to relate to each other when we’re reminded of that. A little known fact about me that I haven’t discussed here is that I’ve suffered from debilitating depression. I’m currently on medication for it, which has helped considerably, but I still have off days every now and then. This anonymous post from Thought Catalog describes perfectly and poetically what depression feels like.

I hope you have a lovely week!

Can’t Live Without — February 2013

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It’s been a while since I did a Can’t Live Without post. I want to try do start doing these monthly again. I love talking about things I love!

1. My Job

Aside from the fact that I literally can’t live without my job or I wouldn’t be able to eat and buy things, I’ve been reminded recently of how lucky I am to work for an organization that actually cares about my well-being and my life outside of work. I also feel extremely proud knowing that the work I do every day, no matter how hard or stressful it gets, is contributing to something bigger and better than me.

Right now at work, we’re participating in a program to keep each other motivated throughout the spring. We each received a list from a co-worker that includes their interests, hobbies, favorite color, etc. The goal is to send them motivational surprises from now until May while spending as little money as possible (the idea is to get creative) and keeping our identity secret. I received my first secret gift yesterday, and it was a goody bag of awesomeness!

Included in the bag were a “high five” birthday card (My birthday is Monday), Pacman band-aids, a grow-your-own-daisy kit, Froot Loops lip balm, and owl stickers!

2. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

If you aren’t watching this web series, you should change that and go watch it now. I watched the first 40 episodes in one sitting, and now I’m catching up on the rest whenever I get a chance. It’s a wonderful and addictive modern take on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. For a show with episodes that only last 3-5 minutes, the pacing and character development are incredible. Once again, people, the future is here, and new media is where it’s at.

3. Dogs

We visited my hometown over the weekend and stayed with a friend who has a dog named Annie. We also brought our dog Jimi with us, of course. This is what they did:

That’s Jimi napping in front of the Tennessee basketball game (which we won after four overtimes!) and Annie sniffing at the pizza we ordered. She might have used her adorableness to get a couple of pieces of crust from us… Ah, to be a dog.

Speaking of dogs, did you know the Westminster Dog Show happened a couple of weeks ago? I didn’t, and I’m sad I missed it! You can see all of the Best of Breed winners by clicking here. Banana Joe, who’s an adorable affenpinscher with the best name ever, won Best in Show.