whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Well, the reality has finally sunk in.
I am a senior.
I did my last winter chorus concert last night. I sang the Hallelujah Chorus for the last time in the black uniform dress that we have to wear; next year, if I go, I'll be wearing jeans, probably. If I go next year, I'll be in the audience for the whole concert instead of performing for a few numbers, for the first time... well, ever. I didn't go to any of my school's concerts before I went to my school (I didn't have any reason to), so the first time I went to a Winter Concert at my school was when I was in sixth grade and I had to sing some song with the Middle School Chorus.
Yeah. This is SO WEIRD. CAN'T DEAL. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

grr.

More rantings from the wearied novelist

This may very well be the longest Friday I've had in a very long while. First of all, I was up until one in the morning last night (a new record), then I woke up about half an hour before I had to leave (which is half the time I leave myself), then I was almost fifteen minutes late to school because my parents wouldn't give me a ride (figures, under the circumstances). Then everything just kind of deteriorated for the rest of the morning. It kind of majorly sucked.

And then I got to my free blocks, and all was well. Mostly because I was in the library (as I am now), and I was asked for a book suggestion from a middle school girl who needed something to read. Since she'd read the Protector of the Small Quartet (by Tamora Pierce), I sent her to the Lioness Quartet (also by Tamora Pierce, who is probably the Master of Worldly History Tie-Ins; she has around a zillion books set in the same kingdom, and everyone knows about a lot of other people's stories, so which is kind of ridiculously cool. Also, Tamora Pierce is generally a really good writer).

Also, I was happy in the library because I like being in the library, and I had a full two hours of time in which to do absolutely nothing of consequence (except for government homework).

Anyhow, now I'm in the library again, and I'm STILL feeling tired. I WOULD go to Starbucks, but I have rehearsal today and I cannot get to Starbucks and back in half an hour or less (ditto for taking a nap). Well, closer to twenty minutes. So I'm in the library, with no caffeine, so I am blogging to keep myself awake. I'll probably write more of my novel later, once I log off.

I'm pretty sure the novel's going pretty well. I mean, it's not going BRILLIANTLY, because I'm TIRED and can't spout out two decent words to save my life, but the plot's still moving. I'm beginning the ever-steepening descent into the climax, which is really exciting because it's the climax, and also because it's the farthest I've gotten in any attempt at a literary work that I've ever made (in terms of plot, that is. I'm pretty sure what I have added to last year's NaNoWriMo novel makes that story, not this one, the longest thing I've ever written ever, INCLUDING history essays).

Well... um... yeah. I have nothing more to say to you, because I am tired and I am not in a creatively rambling mood. Were that the case, I would continue.

I am going to go write now (this probably will not go very well, because I now have ten minutes until rehearsal and no flow of creative juices). And do other things. And try to keep myself awake for a while longer. And probably get some food at some point.

Anyway... yeah.

Bye.

News and Stuff

Well, I have one item of good news and I have several items of bad news.

The solitary item of good news is this:
1. I have commenced the even more rapid descent towards the climax! Huzzah!

The several items of bad news are as follows:
1. I'm steadily running out of paper (I'm on page 190 of 200).
2. I have no cash to buy another notebook (they're a dollar from the school library. I don't have a dollar. Lame, I know).
4. I have to keep my grades up, which means that calculus and government take precedent over writing about Shakespeare and world-saving. Which kind of sucks. Shakespeare and world-saving are far more interesting.
5. For some reason, I skipped number three. I don't know how that's relevant, but I figured I'd point it out anyway. So it's noted. Moving on.

Anyhow, that is my news for today.

Surprise Of The Day: Romeo and Demetrius FINALLY kissed (well, actually, that happened yesterday, but the point still stands). Okay, it WAS a brief kiss that Romeo did to get him to get moving, but it still happened. HUZZAH! Of course, this DOES make Romeo like Demetrius a lot more (or at least it makes her more aware of him), which is kind of annoying, but also kind of funny (or at least has the potential to be). But it happened, and it was EXCITING! (and also really short and rather anti-climactic).

Actual Surprises: I didn't expect her to save Demetrius so soon, or that Jourdain would be mortally wounded (he gets better!), or that Emilia was a mage capable of turning herself into a big purple dragon, and who was indirectly involved with the death of Demetrius's parents. Also, I didn't know that Demetrius's parents were closely involved with the king and queen. I KNOW that Othello of Venice is a general, but I didn't think that he was the general of Mercanova as well. Well, turns out he is.

Also, Emilia = Emilia from "Othello" (there are several Emilias in Shakespeare, I've discovered). In this tale, she was formerly married to Iago, but she figured out what he was doing, pointed it out to the right people, and left before Iago could kill her. Now she's back, with the intent of doing Iago some serious harm. I need to figure out the technicality of how she got out of the marriage after she left, but I'll figure that out later.

Sadly, I can't really pursue a lot of that right now. I have an essay to write. And a test to study for. And a book to read (which is actually really good!).

Yeah. Writing (and not being allowed to) is really difficult sometimes.

Oh, well. I have several free blocks tomorrow. I can pursue that then.

Unless I don't finish the essay, which I'm hoping will NOT happen.

Wow...

This is depressing. My novel lag is currently set to 'maximum,' which is really, really annoying, because I'm still not at the climax, and I'm still feeling like a five-year-old waiting for their birthday party about the climax. BOOOOOO!!!!
I'm still working on the novel, but I'm only doing around a page and a half a day; this is about one-sixth of what I was doing during NaNoWriMo. That's really, really depressing, I know. I'm duly ashamed.
But something cool happened today. Okay, it was a bit weird, too, but that's mostly because it was a supermassive disconnect between what was actually happening and what I thought would happen. See, one of my teachers from Camp Shakespeare was teaching the non-AP English students how to understand and perform Shakespeare, and she was waiting outside before lunch for her ride to come. I was going to lunch late after Women's Camerata (because there is never a day when Wom's Cam lets out on time), and I was taking the outside route (as opposed to walking up 70-odd stairs to the cafeteria). And we saw each other and we talked about school and Shakespeare and stuff. It was kind of weird, but kind of awesome too. Mostly because I never expected that I'd see someone I had met over the summer at my school, and she's pretty cool.
Yeah, that's my story. The end.
I've got to go and write and do homework and do other things of a productive nature. Farewell!

Boredom, and other things

Yeah. I'm full-on in Post-NaNo Blues mode. It's kind of depressing. See, normally I'd be writing right now, because I have two free blocks and it's Friday, so I don't really have to do any homework for a while.
But I'm not writing. I left my notebook at home, which leaves me with basically nothing to do. I can't type it up; I can't finish it; I can't work on it at all. All I can do is sit here and blog about how I'm really bored and can't wait to finish my novel. And about how annoying it is that I can't work on the novel right now. And things of that nature.
I can't knit - I have some stuff, that's true, but I already finished the commission due soon, and I can't improve upon it and do the last shindigs until I get home. I NEED SOMETHING TO DO!!! GAH!!!
I miss writing.

December... WHAAAA...?

Wait... December? ALREADY? BUT MY NOVEL'S NOT DONE YET! I BARELY WROTE 300 WORDS YESTERDAY! GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Commence other forms of "post-NaNo confusion" and "post-NaNo blues" and other things that go along with NaNoWriMo being over.
It's actually surprising that I kind of miss it. A lot of the time, I was ambivalent about the plot of my novel. I I still enjoyed it, but maybe the first year's a lot more fun than the second year. Maybe the fun was sucked out of it the second year by AB calculus and over-plotting. Well, next year, wherever I am, I'll hopefully not be taking calculus, and I'll have a lot more free time to write. Probably.
Anyway, whatever my situation is next year, I'll hopefully know what NOT to do.
Actually, I'm going to make a list here and now. (Hey! Blog Title Reference! WIN!)

What To Do To Win NaNoWriMo And Enjoy It:
1. Have a basic set of characters
2. Allow room for adding people in
3. Have a goal for your characters (a plot, basically. Nothing too elaborate, though)
4. Do your research, if you need it.
5. Allow yourself to sleep.
6. If you find yourself freaking out, get some sleep.
7. Find friends to hold you accountable (if any of you have been to my Facebook page, you'll notice I have three friends in this with me)
8. If you want to write by hand, find a Magic Pen, a Magic Notebook, a Magic Place To Write, and a Magic Block of Time in which to write. If you're typing, find a USB/ thumb drive, a Magic Corner in which to write, and a Magic Block of Time to write in.
9. If you're an overachiever, be a consistent overachiever.
10. Allow yourself room for word-count-missing. But not too much room.

What To Avoid During NaNo:
1. Over-plotting
2. Controlling the story
3. Absolutely no goal
4. Let yourself get bogged by research
5. Coffee, if you're like me and it caffeinates your Inner Editor
6. Avoid your Inner Editor, period
7. Not doing homework
8. Thinking you have a dumb idea. (just like there are no stupid questions, there are no stupid ideas, only people who think so. Who needs them?)
9. Avoid pulling all-nighters.
10. Avoid randomly finding time to write. Like, if you're only getting in half an hour in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening, you're going to get a horrid word count. But if you get to your Daily Necessary Destination (class, work, school, etc) early, then you can leave when necessary, do all your Post-Necessary-Destination work right when you get home, and then write your sorry little fingers off. Or wrists, if you're hand-writing.

So those are my lists. I hope you like them. I expect ALL of you to do NaNoWriMo next year. If you're like my dad and don't think you have a novel inside you, write 50,000 words about you protesting to an annoying teenager that you're NOT GOING TO WRITE A NOVEL.

10 Counter-Arguments/ ways to get over the excuse that "I Don't Have A Creative Story To Tell/ I Don't Have A Novel In Me/ etc":

1. if you don't have a creative story to tell, tell an un-creative one.
2. If you don't have a novel in you, that means it's outside of you. Track it down and write it next November. It's hiding because it doesn't like your innards very much, and because your anti-novel-writing is scary to your poor story.
3. If you're worried about quality, swear to yourself that you won't let anyone see it after you're done with the book.
4. If you're strapped for ideas, look for drama (DO NOT CREATE DRAMA) at your workplace. Listen to conversations in the lunchroom and then tie them into your novel.
5. Also on the topic of work: if you don't think you can think up something, write about yourself going to work and writing a paper. Have the paper change the world.
6. If you don't think you have a 50,000 word novel in your guts (or hiding outside your guts), then there are ways to manipulate your wording so you can pad your word count. For example, ban apostrophes from your novel (the punctuation, not the lit device). Instead of saying "don't," say "do not." Instead of saying "KnitterWriterBlogger's List," say "the List that KnitterWriterBlogger wrote." Additionally, you could say "the List that Knitter Writer Blogger wrote," and making "Knitter Writer Blogger" three words instead of one.
7. If you don't think you have a read-able novel, tell yourself you're going to stash it under your bed and never look at it again.
8. If you just plain don't want to write a novel, no matter the topic or the time frame or the number of words it takes, write about how you don't want to write a novel.
9. If you don't think your life is cool enough for a novel, I refer again to the work-place scenario. You can write about something to do with your job. If your job is really complex, go into great depth to explain how the complexities work. If you really need a PhD to understand what you're talking about, then forget the explanations early on and have the plot revolve around how a novice (who doesn't have a PhD) comes into the field, and they figure out something about it, and then the villain reveals something in the Dastardly Plot that completely baffles the hero and leads to the eventual demise of one of them. Who said it had to be a comedy?
10. Write the bloody novel anyway, no matter what you want/ don't want/ think/ don't think/ wish you could/ should be doing. Just have a massive word barf/ word war/ word explosion, and then stash it under your bed and never look at it again. When you're famous for something that's "more important" than writing a novel, your biographers will come poking around your house and find a novel under your bed and add "noveling" to the list of your many merits. HAHAHAHA!

Just don't let yourself think you CAN'T do something, because will mean you can't. And that will really suck. Who wants to be incapable of doing stuff because they doubt themselves?

Day 30: um... what?

Start Page: 178

Current Page: 178

Target Page: No Longer Exists

Pages Written Today: 0 (not even ONE WORD. SADNESS!)

Pages Left To Go: No Longer With A Target...

Location In Story: Belarius is about to learn that everyone is basically screwed unless Oberon and Hippolyta agree to help.

Surprise of the Day: that would require writing...


Yeah. I haven't written today. Very depressing, I know. I kind of hate it. I'm going to have to memorize an Iago monologue or two (okay, it's technically two, because Roderigo says some stuff in between, but I've deleted Roderigo and making it one monologue) before I can do some Writing Of The Novel.

I'm still kind of in shock that it's almost December. Actually, I'm not in shock; that would involve coming to terms with the fact that it's November 30th and I'm not going to be able to write anything at all for at least another hour because I'll be studying Shakespeare's villain's monologue (and my own villain's monologue, technically, too. Sadly, my Iago is not that heartbreakingly good of a liar). I somehow managed to choose the monologue, without realizing it at the time (since I hadn't done a translation of the Shakespearean yet), where Iago specifically likens himself to things of a Supremely Evil Nature in the fact that he's going to BE a being of a Supremely Evil Nature. Not that he isn't already.

The lines are these:

"When devils will the blackest sins put on
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows
As I do now:..."


It means, for all ye Shakespearean Illiterates, that devils commit sins against humans, and when they're going to do their worst sins/ tricks/ what-have-you (the 'blackest sins'), they first pretend like they're doing everybody a favor and being awesome to everyone (the 'heavenly shows'). As such, Iago's going to pretend that he's doing a favor to Othello, but really he's kind of winding up getting Othello's lieutenant disgraced (and maybe killed? I don't remember), getting Roderigo killed, confusing everybody, disgracing Desdemona, and driving Othello to kill his own wife. Also, Iago kills Emilia. What kind of husband kills his own wife? I mean really. Okay, Othello was tricked into doing it by a sociopath who wanted to get into Desdemona's trousers and thought Emilia was cheating on him for no real reason. And, okay, Iago is a sociopath and she DID sell him out at the end, but still. I LIKED Emilia. Emilia's really cool.

To get back at Othello's Iago, I'm bringing back Romeo's Emilia and having her kick Romeo's Iago's butt.

That made no sense out of context. Oh, whatever. I have a monologue to memorize and a novel to write. I'll explain this all later when it actually makes sense to me and to everyone else.

Perhaps when the novel is done. And when I'm done with this monologue.

Day 29: WHY AM I PUTTING IN NEW CHARACTERS NOW?!?!?

Start Page: 172

Current Page: 173

Target Page: I really don't know anymore...

Pages Written Today: 2 (very top of 172; I was starting a new chapter)

Pages Left To Go: um...

Location In Story: going to consult the faeries of Puck's tribe in order to get some help on the epic battle of epically epic epicness. Did I mention it was going to be really epic?

Surprise of the Day: faeries are very proud and more temperamental than I thought they were. Even (especially?) Oberon and Hippolyta. And no, I'm NOT sure if I spelled her name right. But whatever.


Yeah. Romeo's about to meet with Oberon and Hyppolita about maybe possibly getting some extra numbers with which to fight the Tyrant and Iago. I don't know what they're going to say. I haven't written that part yet. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be a fun scene.

See, these faeries aren't the faeries people normally think of - they are really tall (Puck, for example, is 5'10" and he's considered a runt), and they're really proud and powerful and stuff. Though they are usually kind, they don't go out of their way to help humans; they prefer to keep to themselves. They're not violent to the humans, but they're not exceedingly nice to them, either. And if they get asked for help very, very nicely, and they like the person who's doing the asking, and they see something in it for themselves, they'll help the person asking them for aid.

I don't know how well Romeo is going to handle this. I kind of want to find out sooner rather than later, so I'm going to log off soon and go write.

But my main thing is: WHY AM I ADDING NEW CHARACTERS NOW??? This is kind of majorly bugging me. I'm about ten pages from the climax, and I have added new people. Or, faeries, rather.

Within the last two or three days, I've added more characters than I thought would be in it, and I foresee introducing at least two more in addition to Oberon and Hippolyta. Well, actually, Ophelia has already been mentioned. But Emilia will be entirely new. Actually, I've mentioned her as well, but she has never actually made a physical appearance, but Ophelia has.

A lot of people (okay, two) are supposed to be dead, but they're not. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

Noveling is such a confusing business. At least this novel is. I really hope I don't see any other chances to add in any more characters, subplots, and other things that will delay the climax. Because this is getting rather annoying.

But the climax is nigh! HUZZAH! I just have to get there. And then write it. And not introduce anyone else along the way. Because that would be ridiculously frustrating. GAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Okay, I'm going to go and write a novel and stuff now. If I don't die from suspense and waiting and trying not to go insane from not being allowed to write the climax.

See, I can't just skip there already. I have to wait to see what the faeries say about the proposal to help Romeo and Company. See, the entire outcome of the climax may depend on the presence of the faeries and the pirate crew that Puck and Imogen were a part of. And maybe the crew that Jack was a part of as well. I don't really know. But Romeo is dealing with the faeries, and I have to know whether they are in before I go on to writing the climax, because I need to know who's in the fight and the fight's part of the climax. I can't write a scene if I don't know who's in it, so I can't skip ahead. Even though I really, really, desperately want to.

Okay, going to write stuff now.

Goodbye.

Day 28: looming deadlines and the nigh ending

Start Page: 169

Current Page: 170

Target Page: um....

Pages Written Today: 1

Pages Left To Go: um...

Location In Story: basically the same as yesterday.

Surprise of the Day: I don't know yet. Come back later.


Yeah. Very little progress today. It's kind of annoying.

Though I did find out, since I started typing today, that my words-per-page average is a LOT higher than I thought it was (okay, not a LOT, but enough to be pleasantly surprised). I'm now declaring my words-per-page average to be 340 words, not 332, as I previously had decided and had been going with for most of NaNoWriMo. So that's kind of cool, to know that I've been writing more than I thought I would. I didn't see that coming.

Okay, yeah, it DID happen last year as well, and it's not as dramatic a change as last year's was (because last year, my handwriting was bigger on the Word Count Test Day, where I guesstimated my average word count, and I elaborated a LOT when I was typing). Last year, I went from saying I was doing 250 words per page to realizing (with all the elaborations and everything) that I was doing 305 words per page. So that was kind of exciting and stuff. This year, it wasn't as dramatic a change, obviously (8 words versus 55), but it's still a change, and it's kind of cool to know that I did more than I thought I did.

I'm still feeling like an over-achiever, though. Ridiculously like an over-achiever. It's not even funny how much of an over achiever I'm feeling like right now.

Why?

Well, I'm already into one college, I validated my novel (albeit with a Lorem Ipsum generator) on November 25th (the first day you could do it), AND I'm still ahead of the word count because I'm STILL not done. To be quite honest, feeling like an over achiever isn't that great. Actually, it's kind of lousy. It's boring, being good at stuff. I know that sounds really weird, but it's true. I mean, what's less entertaining than being fully capable of doing everything? Where's the fun in THAT? Where's the CHALLENGE? WHERE'S THE ADVENTURE!?!?


Wow. I AM weird.

Okay, going now to write a novel and do calculus and read stuff and stuff. And type. And calculus. And do whatever else I need to do.

Yeah.

Bye.

Day 27: people who are supposed to be dead... aren't

Start Page: 165 (very top)

Current Page: 169

Target Page: 175

Pages Written Today: 5

Pages Left To Go: 6

Location In Story: Imogen is not dead! (Puck's friend, who is a lesbian) She got reincarnated, and Jack Cade (with whom she has to hang out because he's the only way for her to get back to hanging out with Puck) is turning out to be a total butthead who flirts with every single girl he comes across (including Romeo, who had to turn him into a codfish to get him to stop, and Imogen, who has had to explain to him thirteen times so far that she's not attracted to boys and does NOT want to sleep with him, but he still somehow doesn't get it).

Surprise of the Day: Jack Cade is a total butthead. And not a butthead the way Demetrius was, once upon a time, a butthead. Demetrius got over it. Jack shows no signs of doing so. Also, Romeo finally called someone a lily-livered codfish with total intention, and someone finally became a lily-livered codfish. Huzzah!


Yeah. That's where I am. Nothing too dramatic, I know. The only important things that have happened recently are that I introduced another subplot (romantic tension FTW! Even though I really don't need any more subplotting or anything...) and that my purple pen, with which I wrote almost 162 whole pages, died last night. It was very saddening. I've moved on now to my green pen, which is just as cool as my purple pen, though just not as purply.

Is that even a word?

Whatever.

Anyway, my wrist is starting to hurt, and the end is still nigh. I wish it was no longer nigh, or even a little less nigh than it was five pages ago, but that doesn't seem to be happening. That's really, really annoying. If you've ever tried to get through something and the end keeps getting farther and farther away, you might know what it feels like right now.

HURRY UP, CLIMAX!!

I need to write more often, and also do homework. Otherwise, I'll fail at school and finishing a novel before my January college apps are due, which will be very, very, VERY annoying.

Yeah. Going now.

Day 26: write-ins and frustratingness

Start Page: 156

Current Page: 161

Target Page: 170

Pages Written Today: 5

Pages Left To Go: 9

Location In Story: Romeo and Sebastian are going to a pub (called the Orange Curtain, I don't know why) to start a revolution with the help of Jack Cade (props if you get the reference to Richard II or III, I don't remember which), and maybe Emilia, Ophelia, and Imogen (even though Imogen is dead, Emilia is MIA, and Ophelia is missing presumed dead).

Surprise of the day: there is a nice gate keeper and there is a pub in the capital of Mercanova (a city which may not have a name) called the Orange Curtain. I was considering making the curtains blue, but then I didn't.


I'm kind of annoyed right now, though. I'm VERY close to the end of the novel; I can feel the climax waiting to occur. But I can't seem to get there fast enough. There's the whole potential Ophelia sucicide to work out, and the Tyrant (this evil overlord guy) is coming into town as well. Though I can deal with figuring out a come-from-behind victory for the Prophecied and Friends (including Romeo, Demetrius, Puck, Belarius, Hamlet, Sebastian, and Jack Cade, with the additional help of Jourdain the Dragon and possibly the aid of Imogen, Ophelia, and Emilia, and a crew of pirates and a tribe of faeries) against Iago and the Tyrant, I don't know WHEN this revolution is slated to occur. And it's bugging me to no end.

Why?

Think of it this way.

It's nearing the Holiday That You Celebrate. You cannot WAIT for this holiday, and you cannot WAIT to open presents and give presents to people and spread Holday Cheer and all things wonderful and awesome. But first, you have to decide what to do/ give/ make for everybody, and help your dad decorate for the holiday (especially if he tends to get very excited about putting up holiday decorations), and do all your homework,make sure that a million other things are completely over with before you can actually chill in the knowledge that your Winter Holiday is Nigh and all that stress can go die.

Well, think about adding in several extra people that you feel obligated to give gifts to even though you didn't think you were going to have to give gifts to them, and learning that your dad bought about a zillion extra lights for you to put up this year, and that you want to deal with all those gifts you're behind on, except you can't because your dad is EXPECTING you to deal with the lights.
Well, the lights are my additional supblots, which keep showing up unannounced; the gifts are the extra characters, who are awesome but may not really need to actually be there; the Winter Holiday is the climax of the novel, which I'm TOTALLY excited to write if it actually decided to be assertive and come NOW. Everything is sure to explode in a big bomb of awesome once I actually get there - the subplots will resolve and twinkle all nicely and prettily and well and stuff, the new and old characters will get their dues as they do whatever it is they do best, and the Tyrant and Iago will get their totally necessary punches in the face in an awesomely well-written battle scene that will hopefully wind up as an epic battle of epicness that gets no justice except in a well-thought-out and brilliantly choreographed film sequence.


That's what I HOPE will happen, anyway.

Whether it actually occurs is another matter entirely, and is best left to the plot to get itself figured out.


Anyway, in other news, I had a write-in with a friend today. Though I am way ahead, she is way behind, and did succeed in adding around 2,000 words to her novel in the three and a half hours we were writing (HUZZAH!). I added about six pages to my novel, which was awesome as well. HUZZAH! My plot hasn't advanced much, but it's advanced, which is EXCITING!

I'm going off to go write and stuff now.

Huzzah!

Day 25: Wins, winds, and writing

Start Page: 151

Current Page: 151 (no, I haven't written at all)

Target Page: 160-ish?

Location In Story: Romeo is messing with Iago. Still. I haven't budged since last I posted.

Surprise of the Day: see "location In Story".


Yeah. I haven't written today, though I DO plan on it. I can't NOT write today.

But I'm not getting to that now. Why? I'm still too pumped. I just got my first college acceptance letter (okay, I opened it an hour ago), and it was EXCITING! I got in to my 1.5 choice of the ones I'm likely to get into (I'm not likely to get into William and Mary, but if I do, that will be awesome), and it's close to top, but it depends on whether I get into my #1 of the ones I'm likely to get into. Either way, the letter resulted in a scream and a very bad happy dance.

Unfortunately (almost ironically), I am now in too good a mood to write anything depressing, and it is too nice a day outside to write anything depressing and dark and motivated, and that is the bit I have to write: quite a few pages of something not-exactly-fun. I'm kind of annoyed, but then I remember that I actually got into college! WOOHOO!!!! If I don't get in anywhere else, I will be EXTREMELY happy to go to this school. I will be quite willing to go to this school even if I DO get in other places. At least I got in somewhere I liked! That's a WAY plus!

Okay, I'm off. I need to go drop off some library books and write some annoying stuff of an annoying, depressing, not-exactly-happy nature. I may or may not post later.

If I don't, I will post tomorrow.

Farewell.

Oh, yeah. Also, I validated my novel using Lorem Ipsum today. It was exciting. I got a winner's certificate and a video of all the OLL (office of Letters and Light, which runs NaNoWriMo) cheering and stuff. The cool publishing stuff (yes, free publishing services are part of what you get for winning) doesn't come for another ten days - it's a certain code that you can put into the website of the publishing thing and get free services for six months or something.

Though my novel is currently incomplete, I validated anyway.

Yes, today is a good day.

A very good day.

And I am going to go write and stuff now.

Farewell.