Oh yeah.

Won NaNoWriMo again. :D

Same story continued, as I've said before...ugh, don't know how this one turned out. One or two unexpected plot developments, and I discovered I had to hit an inconvenient character with an asteroid (that might not make it through the editing process).

But...the story didn't finish. I'm thinking one more year for that! And then a decade from now, it'll be edited and I'll try to publish, or just amass a lovely collection of rejection letters. :D

When your mouth gets full of fire you might need something to drink...


You know, I don't really like this song. The words are inane. But it's catchy. But no one should sing a recipe. Especially a Swedish vocal group singing about chili. It's just...kinda wrong.


I want chili now.

I've been working for lunch more often than not. Part of this is leftover layoff fears...trying to look really productive (wow, look at her work! Make sure to keep her here!). Part of it is because, as I've started conducting the company Christmas Choir, I take more time than alotted for lunch two days a week (1.5 hours Mondays and Wednesdays. And it takes up some regular work time too...got to alot for that).

But thinking about this, I flashed back to elementary school, where I frequently would work through recess, and high school, where I'd also work through lunch. Why did I do that? In elementary school, I claimed it was because I hated to do homework, so I'd get it done in recess time. In high school, I was shy, and entering the cafeteria where there may or may not have been anyone I knew whom I could sit with was a daunting prospect.

Remembering these things, I couldn't remember the details...when I stayed in for elementary, did any teachers approach me to question why I stayed? Did I get out my work and get right to it, or did I daydream for a bit? Would I eat some of my lunch? I can't remember those small things...my brain has registered them inconsequential and hence not worth remembering. But it's those details which could make me remember vividly what it was like to be that age, to be that way.

I'm slowly reading the Man Who Walked Through Time (sent to me by the one and only Stuart MacLean!), the memoir of one man's trek through the Grand Canyon. In the opening chapter, he details his night routine in excruciating detail...up to and including sock removal and placement. I actually enjoyed it...I got a sense of what it was really like to be sleeping out of doors in the Canyon...what each step would be like, what it would feel like...

So, tl:dr: I wanna get more descriptive in writing so I can remember things, yo.

I know I'm the one who sets up this party and all, but over the past 5 years, I've also always waited till the last minute to plan my own Halloween costume. BAH!

And I need some help. Theme is Villains.

I'm thinking:
A Pink Slip (lol)
Wicked Witch of the West (woo facepaint!)
Bellatrix Lestrange

Ideas? Please? I'm so lost...

I want to write more in this thing. So I'm going to. So there.

What be new...not much really! Had a whirlwind trip to Great Falls with Mom to hear a speaker, did some shopping and got dinged at the border (seriously, can border guards ever lighten up? They never seem to be terribly cheerful...). Thanksgiving was excellent...

( Things I'm grateful for... )
Snow in Calgary in October is kinda distressing. NaNoWriMo is just around the bend, and I'm hoping to win again.

Well, that's enough of that.

I haven't posted in a month, although I check my friends page daily.

What's new with me...well, New York City was amazing...the food, the shows, the shopping...I really want to go back. Mom and I met several very interesting people, a Palestinian-American waiter, an older Tibetan man working at a souvenir shop, and several very friendly New Yorkers. My impression of New Yorkers was a good one: they mind their own business, but if you start to talk with them, they are open, friendly, and helpful.

Ground zero was huge, and a frenzy of activity as a tower and a memorial garden are being erected. Times Square is bustling all through the day and night, truly larger than life and blaring with light and action. Central Park is green and surprising, but I didn't get enough time there...well, must go back!

I also had a week at Ma-me-o, last rest of the summer...with boating, swimming, playing football in the lake, and lots of good eating. Especially the good eating, as I've promised to be on a cleanse for September which involves no bread, potatoes, alcohol, sugar, cheese, fruit...etc...etc...

Mark came up to the lake as well, our first trip together...and it went wonderfully. He withstood the onslaught of family admirably, including clingy kids (several of my younger cousins *cough* Breanne *cough* quite like him. :D).

And now to September, back to work, trying to make up for monies spent in New York, done football and ultimate for the season, about to run a 10k race (tomorrow!), and on the cleanse. I had some serious bread/sugar cravings last week, but things seem to be getting better now, and the problems I wanted it to fix seem to be easing...yay?

I miss peoples! I've planned a few events coming up, hopefully they'll work out great! Halloween this year is Villains. :D

I feel like I haven't seen many of my friends for a while. Usually, I try to plan stuff to get people together...I had those dinners I did last year which got people out, and after-work beers, and videogame nights...but I haven't done much of that at all lately, and I'm missing people.

That's the thing about growing up. I always thought as a kid and through university that life post-university was a barren wasteland of free time, not to mention spending money. After a bit of a quarter-life crisis (anyone reading gone through one of those and care to discuss?),  I realized how many new things there was to try, and that I was free to try so many of them. And there went my time, poof! Not that I'm complaining...I love trying new things, and I've discovered some really fun things to do this way (running, Ultimate, hiking, football, kayaking...).

And now, with a boyfriend, the last vestiges of my free time are (happily) filled. That was time usually reserved for catching up on my favourite tv shows (Lost, FMA) and new movies, and running. Well, I'm back to the running now (I have signed up for my first 10k in September, I hope I can train enough to complete it in under 75 minutes...).

I guess time decreases the older you get...I know so many retired people who are busier than ever. I've just got to get used to it, I guess. And get around to planning more things with friends, it feels like it's been too long since I've seen some people. Soon, I promise!

( Who comments the most on this journal? )

Also: I need to plan a SUGO soon. Seriously.

...about NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org).

I'm going to continue what I started last year...the story's fleshing out bit by bit. Still not sure if it's any good, but I want to see how it ends (haven't a clue right now...alright, maybe a clue, but I wonder how it will work...).

I might still request beta readers in September or so to read through my first few edited chapters. I think I wrote 18 chapters, 10 of which are edited enough to show other people (still doesn't mean they're good, just they have some flow and a smidgeon of internal logic). I hope to get the first chunk edited in the same fashion before this November, so I can take the story where it left off, and see where it goes from there!

Anyone else doing or thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year?

I love geology. I love my job.

Last week, I helped lead a field trip through southern Alberta, through Dinosaur Provincial Park and Drumheller. I love the badlands...so remote, arid, and strange, recording the final days of the Cretaceous period and the last ebbing stand of the dinosaurs. Found a good chunk of bone, too! :D Last year, the chief geologist found a theropod tooth and everyone was very jealous. Also: got to cook my own bison steak at the Alberta Hotel in Patricia. Mmmm...

Weekend, Mark and I hiked Heart Mountain, and I was visciously assaulted by a dead branch. Totally unprovoked! Also: Heart Mountain is straight, straight, straight up, and definitely one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. You just keep going up till you're on top of the mountain. Which is awesome.

Stuff with family and whatnot is up and down...prayers as always requested!

Jenna and Tasha's birthday yesterday! We're all so growed up...it was cool seeing everyone again! I need to plan more stuff to get peeps together. I'll get on it, I promise! More Super Ultra Geek Outs!

And I want to marathon FMA: Brotherhood...maybe tonight if flag football's cancelled.

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
Why?
Because in the final analysis, all of this is between you and God….
It was never between you and them anyway.

- Mother Teresa


My mom sent me this today, I had to share!

Also, I wanted to tell about a conversation I had with my mom last week.

Thursday:
"Kelty, your aunt and I are thinking of going to New York City and Providence. Would you be interested in coming?"
"Hmm, maybe. Let me look at my vacation schedule and get back to you."

Friday
"Kelty, your ticket's booked, August 10th."
"....hunh?"

Yep, going to NYC! :D I AM HYPED. Got tickets to Wicked, going to have a hot dog and french fries, maybe a picnic in Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, Empire State Building......eeeee!

Life is interesting indeed. Funny where it turns and what happens unexpectedly...and yes, I'm waxing poetical on something I'm not going to blog about here.

But in news and stuff...
I bought a bass guitar, and just played my first full song on bass with the rock band. Was fun! Why Pt 2 by Collective Soul...three notes, nice and easy. A friend from uni and the dude who sold it to me, both of whom are my friends on Facebook, got into a discussion about how the bass is the soul of the band and keeps everything together...cool. Mine's orange and black, tiger's eye pattern. Not sure of a name for it yet...

I really want to see Star Trek again...it was minute after minute of awesome. Captain Kirk is my hero. And the space monster was pretty fabulous. I love space monsters.

Revv52 concert this Friday and Saturday! Get your tix now! www.revv52.com to give a listen and all that jazz. I've got two solo clips, a whistle solo, and a monologue which implies that I understand the deep meaning behind I Am the Walrus. Scary.

Life is uber busy, but who's really surprised about that? Flag football, ultimate, Revv52, 5PM choir, rock band, voice lesson...yeah, too much stuff going on. Not enough sleep, but what the hey. Got to seize the moment and enjoy each phase of life as it comes.

Dude, since Facebook made that design change, I haven't wanted to check it as often...now it seems to only give me updates from the people I have the least real contact with. Although my acquaintance from high school who's in theatre in New York is an interesting person, I'm not sure I want to know what she had for breakfast. Now it's either a) do a friends cull on Facebook, retaining only the people I know best, or b) check it less often and update livejournal instead. B is looking good, and requires less overall effort.

I also signed up for Twitter, but I really don't get it. Microblogging...it just feels so OCD to me. I believe that genuinely creative people could do some really cool stuff with it...but that's not me. ;-)

E-mail...I'm still an e-mail queen. Tis the best way to get a hold of me. I've always sucked on the phone, always.

What else can I prattle about? Watched Independence Day on Friday...that movie still rocks. The lines are pure aged cheese: "You really think you can fly that thing?" "You really think you can pull all that bulls#*$ you just said?". Yay Will Smith!

I want to see Star Trek this weekend, Ultimate's going steady, I'm playing flag football too, might take a martial art come summer, I've managed to shrink a bit since February, and I really need coffee now.

Well, thought I'd post about life and stuff.

Work's normalized, but busy...it's the geology convention this week, so a good third of all geologists in Calgary are milling about the convention center swapping horror stories of recession and discussing rocks ad nauseum. Also: finding the most awesome conference swag. More alcohol on the exhibition floor than before...

Life's starting to normalize too...for the last while, I've had something on each night of the week (voice lesson, dodgeball, Revv52, Holy Name choir, and Fridays were free for fun). But now, Tuesday is free to do whatever. Including sleep. I need sleep.

Jenna came downtown with Akash, which was awesome! Dude, that kid is cute...the dimples!!

Also: Made Guinness chocolate cupcakes. Awesome.
Also: Firefly/Serenity is awesome.
Also: still need sleep.
Also: I'm in a rock band, which is pretty awesome.
Also: thank you Calgary, it seems to be spring. And now that I've written that, it'll snow tonight. I'm sure of it!

Springtime is starting to push its way through, green grass resilient to winter's lingering dumps of snow.

So, yeah, that update I promised regarding my rip.
( Israel and the Palestinian Territories )

Well, I really reneged on that promise of blogging while away, didn't I? Let's just say that this entry is a placeholder for an entry on my trip.

In short: it was utterly and totally amazing and everyone should go and I want to go back. Right now. Serious.

So peeps, I'm heading out a week from today to Tel Aviv, then throughout Israel. I will have access to internet, and I plan on blogging throughout my trip. So please check back here for any updates!!

What else is new...I've been hitting the driving range, I competed in Kiwanis (won one red, one gold! :D), got into watching Firefly, started jamming with a rock band, and started seriously longing for summer. I mean, 3 days in March in a row with -30 temperatures is ridiculous! 

Work is going better, things have normalized (in one week...so strange....). 2009 is going to be an interesting year...we'll see if I decide somewhere in August that it's time for 2010 and throw an impromptu new year's party.

I really need to throw that videogame night I've been promising for how long now?

I was reading today's xkcd, which made a fairly valid point...

Wikipedia is the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

O_O