The Freedom Trail

The wedding went well--but on my mind at the moment is our trip into Boston today. We traveled along part of the Freedom Trail to see sights like Paul Revere's house, the site of the Boston Massacre (though there wasn't much to see, except in a nearby museum), Faneuil Hall and its nearby market, Boston Common, and the Old North Church, among other places. We also visited three different graveyards, where the graves were at least 300-400 years old, buried in the 1600s-1700s. Many of the slate gravestones had been chipped and weathered with age, some sunk into the ground from unstable soil. The people buried in these graveyards ranged from the revolutionaries such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock, to African Americans and a few of their leaders, such as Prince Hall. There was also everyone inbetween--6 month old children, 90 year old men (which was an unheard of age back then), couples buried side by side, various important masons, etc. Many of the graves seemed to be sized by the age and importance of the person; the babies had tiny gravestones, and the older and more important people had larger gravestones. It was amazing to realize that so many of these people had died from diseases that we can cure easily today.

Photos: Above: Custom House Tower from a side street. It was a great day, and if it hadn't for the moderate wind leftover from Hurricane Ike, we would have been sweltering.

Right: Gravestones at the Copp's Hill Burying Ground. As you can see, some of the slate slabs have shifted position or been broken from age and weather.

Of Dogs and Gods

We made it to Manchester, NH yesterday evening. Thankfully we quickly found our bags, and after renting a car, drove out to Newington. It's such a peaceful place here; you can easily lose yourself in a large mug of peppermint tea and a good book. I love getting ideas for good books from my aunt, who we're staying with. She has a huge dog, named Casey, who enjoys chasing wild turkeys and the neighbor's cat when she gets loose. When we got here, they were redoing the fence out front; Casey had bust a hole in the old wood. Her other hobbies are lounging on the couch (when we're not here... she's not supposed to) or eating from her enormous dog dish, which usually contains two whole wet food cans topped with table scraps or cheese--otherwise she won't touch it. As for what I've been up to, this morning, we ate at a great restaurant called The Friendly Toast. Their walls are covered in kitchy (60s) decor; some quite strange, but fun. Their french toast is amazing! After looking around a bit in Portsmouth, we went north into Maine and shopped at the outlet malls there, just over the border. Tonight it's dinner with the extended family, and my half-sister's wedding is set for Saturday!

Photos: Above: The North Church steeple in Portsmouth, NH. It was hit by lightning some time ago, and was recently redone. The brick buildings in this city are very picturesque, and I enjoy their historic beauty; it seems like the perfect example of a New England town.

Left: Casey, with her large Kong and some shoes to judge her size. I honestly think she gets bigger every time I come to see her.

One Hurdle Down... Many More To Go

I've kept going with that 500 word/day (excluding weekends) goal, and I've recently gone over 60,000 words and 200 pages. I'm also fairly close to the end of my storyline, as it is right now anyway. It sounds like a lot until you go to a bookstore and see those thick, juicy epic fantasy novels that are at least 300-400 pages. And I know this story will need a lot of revisions, certainly because of all its inconsistencies. But I'm going to keep plugging along... If I haven't said this before, a common reason why people don't get published is because they give up. So I'm not going to give up. We'll see where it takes me. And by the way, starting this coming Wednesday for about a week, I'm going to the east coast to be at my half-sister's wedding. I think I might try to blog a few times while I'm there, possibly take some pictures. Stay tuned!

Photo: The Eiffel Tower. Need I say more? Of course, this was when they were still battling to see who would host the 2012 summer olympic games, so you can see the colorful sign saying "Paris 2012" over the arch.

A Novel Update

This summer I'm trying to write somewhere between 500 words and 3 pages a day, not including weekends. As of yesterday, I have about 140 pages in my manuscript (I just began chapter 13), and I'm guessing I'm about halfway done, but it's hard to say. I'm glad I'm going to take a "plotting and scheming" class next week--I need a synopsis of my project and I can't bring myself to write one on my own. Of course, it will all be up in the air until the first copy is printed, as I've heard. Other than writing, I've been reading a little and quilting a little, but mostly playing games like Zelda DS, Animal Crossing, and others. No matter how much I don't want to, I will write... And as for blogging, I will try to do one or two per month, now. I think one per week was a little much. :)

Photo: View of the countryside from the cathedral in Assisi, Italy. I went to Portland when school was out and some of the views there reminded me of this picture. I think the fog is my favorite part of this picture! So quiet and mystical...

An Aside About St. Patty's Day

Coincidentally, I was in San Francisco when they were having a Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Interestingly, though, the celebration was on the 15th rather than the 17th. My cousin said the Pope had changed the holiday because it interfered with holy week. Personally, and to show my love for Ireland, I wore my green on the 17th. Nothing against the Pope. This parade was interesting enough, filled with dancers and drummers and even a hurling team. No, it's not what you think; hurling is an Irish sport involving an "axe-shaped stick," like a long-handled paddle, and a small ball they toss between themselves using the stick. The show was complete with a row of police officers on horses decked out in their finest uniforms. I've probably seen better parades than this one, but it was enertaining.

Photo: As we walked around downtown San Francisco, we saw this float, possibly getting ready for the parade. Looking closely, though, I believe it was a tour bus/boat.

A Measly Paragraph

It's strange how inspiration works. I'm not sure I even believe in it. I've heard some of the best writing has been done when the writer forces themselves to write, rather than waiting for the inspiration to come. Now that I've waited nearly two weeks, I think I'm finally ready to continue chapter 9 and keep rolling. I'm not exactly sure what started it, but it might have been a thought as I was commuting to school on the bus the other day. I finally figured out what should happen--at least temporarily--in a paragraph I was stuck on so I could move on past it. Later I realized; it was a paragraph that stumped me. Mind you, it was a hard hurtle to jump, but it made me think that no two paragraphs are ever created equal [eek, what bad cliches]. I just need to keep telling myself, it's okay to write crap. You can always edit it later. Now you have to just write. I wonder if talking to yourself is a required part of being a writer. Actually, I'm sure it is. Excuse me for my rambling.

Photo: Trees at a hike when I went to Sedona, AZ. If you describe the trees as "bony" and the path beyond as "shrouded in darkness," it would be the perfect place for some kind of evil lair. Don't worry! I won't stay in Arizona for long with my pictures. With luck, I'll take some good shots in San Francisco this weekend. Hopefully at least one.

Morning Pages

I've started an exercise mentioned by the book The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, called "morning pages." After you wake up, the first thing you do is write three pages (on paper, but I'm modifying it and doing it on the computer). Spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. don't matter, and if you write "I don't know what to write," for three pages, that's fine. Of course, nobody wants to be that monotonous (at least I don't). You can use it to write angry, fearful, worrying things if you want, and it helps to get them out of your head. It leaves room to be more creative, and she says that anyone can do it and it can help in their lives. She said after writing these pages for a while, a character decided to show up and she began writing about him. Sometimes I feel like it's pointless, but that's my inner critic again. I believe anyone (even you!) can do this, and to me it makes me feel good, like I've accomplished something that day already. Just a thought.

Photo: This is a picture of cave walls found at Tonto National Bridge State Park, AZ. The shapes amaze me! It looks like globs of goo, but they're hard as rock.

Twin Demons

Amazingly, I've nearly made it to chapter 9. I have to fight the twin demons of procrastination and... procrastination... to get here, but when I sit down and make myself stick my flash drive in my computer and open the document, I realize it's really not as hard as I tell myself it is. After I get past my mental critic (it sucks, no publisher will pick it up, your dreams are too big), things just flow. I began, after my last session with my writing tutor, to have a goal of 1500 words a week, and realized that I could write much more, so I upped it to 2000. I surprised myself this weekend, writing all 2000 words within two hours, in one sitting, at a Peet's coffee shop in Seattle. All I have to do is take away the distractions. I enjoyed how there wasn't much music in that Peet's coffee--I concentrated more than I have in most Starbucks. And with my mom across the street at her harp lesson, I was distraction-free. I feel powerful and focused when I'm in that "writing zone," and nothing except my own self-determination can get me there. But a mug of hot tea always helps.

Photo: Part of a statue/sculpture in Sedona, AZ, where I went for my birthday (around turkey day) last year. I'll try to blog more often... hopefully once a week... I know its been a while since my last post. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately.)