So, Becky‘s going to do NaNoWriMo. The basic premise of National Novel Writing Month is that each person who signs up at the site has the month of November to write a 50,000 word novel, start to finish. It works out to about 7 pages of double-spaced, mono-spaced font text per day.

Becky’s got the nuts and the ability to pull it off, so I wish her the best. I just hope I get to read it when she’s finished.

I seriously considered doing it as well, but eventually came to the conclusion that this time would be better spent actually finishing the handful of short stories I have in my backlog. I might even take the opportunity to write a couple of new stories.

Also, I’m not the type of writer who does well with these daily deadlines. Oh, sure, I try to write for at least two hours every day, but sometimes I like having that time to play around with other projects, or to do some editing, but I generally stick to my schedule. I have my own sort of interior NaNoWriMo, where I punish myself mercilessly if I go a whole day without writing anything.

So, wish Becky luck, ya’ll!

Even though she probably won’t need it.

I told ya’ll I’d give you an excerpt from my story, and here it is!

“I love you,” he said, looking down at her one bloodshot

brown eye and the other cloudy, oozing eye.

“I love you too,” she replied, though it came out as a long,

drawn-out moan about brains.

Through all the crap that those 9 Pennsylvania miners have been subjected to, from having their hard work and courage degraded by the media’s slapping the “miracle” label on it (and thus attributing their success to divine intervention and not to where it deserves, with their intelligence, training and bravery), to now being the winners in some kind of Warholesque Game Show of Unfortunate Fame (they’re getting shitloads of free stuff, like NASCAR tickets and Steelers visits). One of them had this to say:

Celebrities ask to be celebrities,” said Ron Hileman, known on the mining crew by his nickname of Hounddog. “We never asked. We just got throwed into it. I really don’t know what they want. … They call us heroes. I just did what I had to do to stay alive.”

Damn right. I think that says it best.

I usually much more prefer to make fun of California, but this time I have to applaud them for being ahead of the game.

You see, a bunch of kids decided to stir things up a bit in their school by establishing a Satanist club. The Satanic religion isn’t necessarily about worshipping the devil; it is far more about the celebration of free will in the face of stodgy authoritarianism.

But instead of having the administration come down on them like a lightning bolt, just about everyone supports these kids for excercising their first amendment rights. I’m talkin’ the principal, the head of the PTA, and even some local Christian clergy.

Alas, however, there are still some numbnut Christians protesting it, but what the hell won’t Christians protest these days?

Read all about it here.