I fell asleep last night much, much earlier than I usually do (like I did last week when the electricity was running out and I chose to turn everything off in hopes of retaining enough power to use my laptop the next day). That meant I woke up way earlier than I usually do too, so when I came out of my room to take a shower, my nephew (10) said, "Whoa. What are you doing up?"
I've gone to the library enough times that the librarians on the second floor recognize me, and they know what I'm there for (I realize that may sound sexual, but it wasn't meant that way). I like it when I go someplace and they remember who I am. Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.
I remember Elmer over at Tommy's Burger when I was in college always knew what I was going to order and would say "Combo Dos sin cebolla" whenever he'd see me. I loved that. In fact, I'm going to make it a point to go to Tommy's Burger this week, even if it's way too cold to sit out on their tables, just for old times' sake.
Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In November: 1572
Push-ups Today: 94
Push-ups In November: 546
I hit the library earlier than usual, and nearly had the full two hours to write (not that I used it wisely . . . the Problem With Wikipedia arose and I followed a daisy chain of subjects for an unhealthy chunk of my would-be writing time. If only I retained all of the knowledge I glean from reading these otherwise meaningless Wikis*). I am still working on my Will Choner story, and took the opportunity to rewrite the bit I had lost, then going on to reintroduce Will's Uncle Armin, who was the catalyst for everything that happened in the first story, but was absent from the second one.
Uncle Armin is the Me character, the one that I saw a bit of myself in. Oh, sure, Will is going to be awkward with girls and filled with unrealized longing, but Armin is an unmarried adult who either keeps having bad luck, or brings bad situations upon himself. I haven't really developed him much, but I did intend for him to resent Beth Vance because of her money and her grandfather (who was not a particularly good man, despite his millions of dollars and concern for his daughter's child), and then was surprised when Beth hugs him and views him as part of her extended family.
The point of this story is supposed to be that Beth is able to discover the piece of herself that was missing and find joy through helping others find lost objects, and Will lives for that sort of thing anyway. So perhaps Armin can rediscover a modicum of self-respect in helping the teenagers out, and turn his own life around (though I have no idea at this point how that will happen).
Writing can feel good sometimes.
So, despite the librarian shattering the silence of the second floor every few minutes with the startling intercom sound, warning everyone that they have to wear a mask and that the library will be closing in ___ minutes, I got quite a bit of work done--the most this week, at least. And when they started flashing the lights and telling us to get the f**k out (which, I'll admit, could've been phrased more delicately--I think it was a substitute librarian), I quickly saved my work, emailed it to myself, and logged off before the system did it for me.
Fool me once..., after all.
Words Today: 1911
Words In November: 13,210
I got some work done, did my run, turned on "30 Rock," and then bam! I was asleep on the couch again. You know what I'm there for, baby.
*Part of it was related to the story. I had one of the characters reference a mine collapse in Pennsylvania, where Will Choner had wanted to port and try to rescue the miners, but was forbidden by his uncle. So I went to a list of mining towns in that state, to randomly pick a town where it happened, and then I started reading about actual mining disasters, and ultimately got to the entry on Centralia, PA, where a coal mine fire began in 1962 and is still burning today, the entire city except for seven remaining residents having abandoned their homes over the years, and it becoming an all-but-ghost town.
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