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taylweaverI did it! 50,000 words - and we are only halfway through the month! At 11:58 pm, I updated my wordcount to 50,005 words, and thus I managed to win in half the time allotted. In previous years, it really did take me most of the month, so this is exciting. Yes, having two Sundays in there that were otherwise unbooked did help, but the point is, I have won. (Now, watch me forget to validate it during the last five days of the month, which is the only time one can make it official...)
My goal for the rest of the month: No, not another 50,000. More like another 25,000 - because that is my estimate on how many more words it will take me to actually finish my novel. Because that is my goal: actually finish the novel by the end of the month. (Because I have learned from past experience that the last few thousand words can take months to write otherwise.)
In other random news, I had a wonderful Shabbat and met many new people. The minyan where I currently daven (this is a public post, so please excuse me for not naming it) had a shabbaton this week (basically, a weekend full of special communal events, for those who don't know the word).
They had Friday night services, and I actually made it on time. Lots of wonderful singing. Then, there were dinners hosted by community members. I went to one of them, and it was a vegan meal, so I learned that my apple crumb cake actually works without eggs. (Hooray!) There was one gluten intolerant guest, so I also tried to make some carmelized apples, and while I am not sure they carmelized, they did taste yummy, at least to me. Plus, more importantly, I met some new people and had a great time.
This morning, after services (which I mostly missed because I woke up with a migraine and stayed in bed until the medication kicked in), there was a communal potluck lunch, and that was fun too. Again, I met one or two people. And I also got to see some people I don't see that often. Then, we did some learning, and dedicated a new Torah (i.e. welcomed it into the shul) with lots of fun singing and dancing.
This evening, I went to a game night at a different synagogue, and while I did not meet anyone new, I did get to witness a Bananagram tournament, and then I got to watch the rabbi of the synagogue go head-to-head with the winner of said tournament - and thoroughly win against her. It was rather impressive.
I also discovered that, when it comes to Trivial Pursuit, Genus IV is my game. I knew way more answers than I usually know - and I was able to do a fairly good job guessing some of the ones I didn't. (In fact, I got two wedges on my first turn with good guessing, so that was pretty cool.) I also was introduced to a brand new game called Consensus. There are 10 nouns on the board, and one adjective. Everyone chooses which noun matches the adjective best, and the people who are in the majority each get a point. So you have to try to think like everyone else.
For those who have read the Twilight series, you will be entertained to know that at one point, the adjective was "gentle" and I chose "Grizzly Bear," mostly to be ironic - and enough people went with it that we actually won, too - but it was even funnier because it made me think of certain Twilight characters. (And yes, there was also a card that said "mountain lion" on it - but no good adjectives turned up for it, either in relation to Twilight or in general). Anyway, fun game.
I feel like I have all these stories and anecdotes that just haven't made it onto the blog. But I can't remember what they are, so you will just have to make do without them.
My goal for the rest of the month: No, not another 50,000. More like another 25,000 - because that is my estimate on how many more words it will take me to actually finish my novel. Because that is my goal: actually finish the novel by the end of the month. (Because I have learned from past experience that the last few thousand words can take months to write otherwise.)
In other random news, I had a wonderful Shabbat and met many new people. The minyan where I currently daven (this is a public post, so please excuse me for not naming it) had a shabbaton this week (basically, a weekend full of special communal events, for those who don't know the word).
They had Friday night services, and I actually made it on time. Lots of wonderful singing. Then, there were dinners hosted by community members. I went to one of them, and it was a vegan meal, so I learned that my apple crumb cake actually works without eggs. (Hooray!) There was one gluten intolerant guest, so I also tried to make some carmelized apples, and while I am not sure they carmelized, they did taste yummy, at least to me. Plus, more importantly, I met some new people and had a great time.
This morning, after services (which I mostly missed because I woke up with a migraine and stayed in bed until the medication kicked in), there was a communal potluck lunch, and that was fun too. Again, I met one or two people. And I also got to see some people I don't see that often. Then, we did some learning, and dedicated a new Torah (i.e. welcomed it into the shul) with lots of fun singing and dancing.
This evening, I went to a game night at a different synagogue, and while I did not meet anyone new, I did get to witness a Bananagram tournament, and then I got to watch the rabbi of the synagogue go head-to-head with the winner of said tournament - and thoroughly win against her. It was rather impressive.
I also discovered that, when it comes to Trivial Pursuit, Genus IV is my game. I knew way more answers than I usually know - and I was able to do a fairly good job guessing some of the ones I didn't. (In fact, I got two wedges on my first turn with good guessing, so that was pretty cool.) I also was introduced to a brand new game called Consensus. There are 10 nouns on the board, and one adjective. Everyone chooses which noun matches the adjective best, and the people who are in the majority each get a point. So you have to try to think like everyone else.
For those who have read the Twilight series, you will be entertained to know that at one point, the adjective was "gentle" and I chose "Grizzly Bear," mostly to be ironic - and enough people went with it that we actually won, too - but it was even funnier because it made me think of certain Twilight characters. (And yes, there was also a card that said "mountain lion" on it - but no good adjectives turned up for it, either in relation to Twilight or in general). Anyway, fun game.
I feel like I have all these stories and anecdotes that just haven't made it onto the blog. But I can't remember what they are, so you will just have to make do without them.
