My Blog Has a Personality All Its Own

So Kate and then Archy did this cool blog personality test. You'll never catch me doing one of those things in real life. I always apply to two or three of the choices and sit there puzzling over which one I should choose. I'm trying to analyze which answer would make me more blue or more red or more north or whatever. I'm a mystery, what can I say?

Anyway, this was painless to do for the blog. All I had to do was type in the name of my blog. Phew. I can do that. Go here to try it yourself. Totally painless. Promise.

So here's what my Mindless Musings turned out to be. Awe-some.

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

They enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I wish I knew what the letters at the top meant. They seem to be different for everyone. And Archy said something about them in her post and I was clueless. And too lazy to do any research. I think I may have mentioned my aversion to research before.

But my blog is so me. I do avoid confrontation, I do like to help people in concrete ways, and I never plan ahead when writing. Other parts of my life I do, but never in writing. And since this blog is mostly about the writing, it fits perfectly.

On a side note, I put in my blog on wordpress...and got the same result. Le sigh. I'm stuck in a rut in my writing. I put in my crafting blog...same result. Man, I am sooo consistent. Yeah, lets go with that.

And my brain activity...no jokes, people. My brain does have activity sometimes.

This shows what parts of the brain that are dominant during the blogarific writing process.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So today is the last day to wrap up the things I'm thankful for. In case you missed it, I ran out of things yesterday. So I put out a lame post asking you what you were thankful for.

I was trying to stay away from the sappy stuff, but here goes. It is Thanksgiving Day after all. I am most thankful for my family. Here are my kiddos on Halloween. You'd think that a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old wouldn't fight so much. You'd be wrong.

But I love 'em anyway. And if you can tell what my daughter is, you should get a prize. I have no prizes, but that would be awesome if I did.

I am thankful for my health. I believe I gave a rather detailed and disgusting post about a recent sickness here. I'm glad I don't exist like that every day.

I am thankful to be alive. I try to have a nature moment every single day. Something that reminds me that I'm not alone in this world, that there are things worth living for, and that it's acutally wonderful to be alive. There is so much despair in our world, that it's easy to lose sight of the joy of living. I hope I never lose that.

Being Thankful Day 7

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm out of things to be thankful for. I couldn't even keep it up for seven days. In my defense, I did post a list of ten things I was thankful for here. But still. I should have more than sixteen things. Some of them weren't even that good. Sheesh. What is wrong with me? Maybe I have some major brain blockage.

Maybe you should tell me what to be thankful for...then I can blog about that tomorrow. So...anyone got anything good I'm missing out on?

If not, I can make another list...

A couple writerly buddies have made some lists I've enjoyed reading. Check out Abi's top ten here and Cole's double list here.

Being Thankful Day 6

Okay, today's Thankful post is a little blogarific. Or maybe it'll blind you with it's awesomeness (Quick! Name that movie!), I'm not really sure.

But...

I'm thankful for words.

I like making up new and deliciouso words. The other day I was at my critique group and we were discussing proper comma usage. *snort* Like I use commas properly. I said something like, "I don't know, young adults don't commatize very well." They all laughed at "commatize." I thought it was a totally normal word. And it is--for me.

Other words I like: anything with "-age" at the end. This works for almost anything. "I need some major stewage time." Or "Man, I have writer's blockage." You get the idea. Or do youage?

Snarfalicious. Though I would never pretend to have made this word up. It's all Carrie. But I love it. In fact, you could put "-alicious" on anything and make a word I would love. I think I used "barfalicious" a few days ago. Yup, I did. Here.

You can never go wrong with "dude." Like, "Dude, throw me some of that action." My husband just said that as I sat down with a glass of peach punch. Translation? "I would like some peach punch too, my dearest skinny wife." Yeah, that's what I heard in my head. He got his peach punch.

I use "uber" a lot too. "That was uber-awesome." I tell my students how uberly cool they are all the time. The sixth graders get most of my jokes. Sometimes. The younger kids look at me like I'm speaking Japanese. Hey...maybe I am.

Wonky. I love saying it. I've yet to write it in a story, but I feel very world-travelerish when I say it. Like I've been to England or something, which I haven't. And it goes really well with weird. Like, "If your computer is doing something weird and wonky, just raise your hand and I'll come help you." I say this eight times a day. That's not a joke.

Which brings me to "ish." I say this at our house for anything. "I want some of that ish," I said when my husband got out the sundried turkey. Yum. Or you can add it to the end of any word just for fun. "It was sort of coldish today."

Other words that make me laugh just by seeing, reading, or saying them: shrub, snout, shrew. Hmm...those are all s-words. Here's some more: moose, caboose, and obtuse. Okay, I just made up those last ones cuz they rhyme. But I really do like moose. That is a funny word.

So I love words. I love making up new words. I love working with ones I know. I like reading words other people have woven together into the fine tapestry of stories. Okay, that was a little deep. But I think I should get some bonus points for using the word "tapestry" in my blog post. I mean, come on, dude. That's an uber-deliciouso, snarftastic, hyperized, freakish, wordalicious word.

Being Thankful Day 5

Today, we're tackling the big one. This might be as political as you'll ever hear, er, read me.

I am thankful for freedom.

I'm working on a story right now where the people don't have much freedom. They have someone else telling them what to do all the time. How to think. Who to love, who to marry, where to live. Everything. I really think that is some major suckage.

So I'm glad I live in a country where I have freedom to make my own choices. Which color of car I'd like to drive. What to wear to work. How many kids to have. That I can vote for my government officials. All that jazz. Normally, I'm not a very sentimental person about this kind of stuff, but for some reason, I think it's important right now. We each are free to choose what we believe. What we'll say. What we'll do. And the decisions we make are important. To us, our families, our children, our country. I'm glad I have the freedom of speech, of religion, of driving too fast if I want to. Sure, there are consequences of that ($82 at the courthouse for my last infraction), but it was my choice.

There's nothing like being free. Of feeling free.

We should all be grateful for that.

Being Thankful Day 4

Being thankful for little things is easier than the big ones. I'm a huge list person. I like making lists after I've done all the things on them. No, I am not kidding. That way, I can see the things I've done and feel accomplished.

And David Letterman has a list every single night on his show, so they must be uber-popular.
So today, I've got a list of the top 10 little things I'm thankful for.

1. The price of gas now that it's below $2.00/gallon. 'Nuff said.

2. The wonderment a three-year-old lives their life with. Everything is exciting and fun. I want to be three again.

3. Computers. Do I really need to elaborate?

4. Air conditioning. I've lived with it, I've lived without it. There is nothing like being cool in the summer. Nothing.

5. San Diego. This is the place in my head where I can always smile. I absolutely love San Diego. Seaworld. The beach. The shopping. The food. The weather. Just everything.

6. Dubble Bubble. I adore bubble gum. I chew it all day, every day. Maybe that's why all the teeth on the right side of my mouth have suddenly developed an insane aversion to cold. It makes eating the Dreyer's lemonade bars a real pain. Literally. But have I given up the dubble bubble? Not on your life. Crave it. Need it. Love it. Chew it. Thankful for it. And nobody can blow a bubble like me. At least that's what the third graders tell me. Here's da proof.


Yes, that's all me. Three pieces of dubble bubble baby. I'm da queen of blowing bubbles.

7. Reality TV. Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, The Amazing Race, and So You Think You Can Dance are my faves. Their reality becomes my escape.

8. Seasons. This may seem sorta weird, but I love living in a place where there are four distinct seasons. I love fall with the colorful leaves and cool evenings. I don't like the snow so much, but it makes me appreciate spring that much more. Of course, summer is my favorite. I mean, come on. This needs no explainage either.

9. A newish car. I had to drive my husband's 1994 piece-o-crap last week to get it inspected. Dude...I have no words for what that thing was. It certainly wasn't a car. It had a radio, three pedals, and a steering wheel, but that thing was no car. So I am thankful for my car, a 2005, that actually resembles a motorized vehicle.

10. Friends. My real life pals who make work bearable to my online writerly friends who help me out of tight spots in my writing. Everyone offers encouragement and support, for which I am eternally grateful.

Whew. That wasn't too painful. At least for me.

Being Thankful Day 3

I'm just gonna launch right into it:

I am thankful for my husband.

This past weekend, he did something really amazing. See, we've been having some problems with our milk. I don't know why, maybe the cow gods are trying to tell me that I snarf too much of the stuff, who knows? All I know, is I bought three gallons of milk a couple of Mondays ago and by Wednesday, they were all off. Like rotten. I dumped them and bought three more. On Wednesday. So I made the infamous Oreo pie for my SIL's birthday and had some leftover Oreos. What goes with Oreos? You guessed it: milk. (In fact, it's the best partnership of food on the planet, even better than peanut butter and jelly. Wait. Are Oreo's considered food? In my world, yes. In fact, in my world, that's all you'd have to eat to stay alive. Oh, and bacon. Definitely bacon. Wow, this is a long tangent.)

Anyhoo, so I poured myself a big ole glass of milk and got some Oreos. The. Milk. Was. Bad.

I. Was. Mad.

It was Sunday night. So I bought said milk on Wednesday and it's bad four days later? That didn't seem right. So the hubby, who has the nose of a bloodhound, has been saying that the fridge stinks for a couple of days. I think it's his way of saying I need to be a better housekeeper, but after twelve years of matrimony, I'm pretty good at ignoring him when he says something smells.

But now that the milk is bad--again--I start rooting through the fridge for the culprit. I am convinced there is something in my fridge that is responsible for the spoilage of my white gold. Seriously. Hey, I'm no biologist. I don't get bacteria. I do get that my milk was bad. And I had the perfect food combo...and I couldn't enjoy it.

So I determined that this old nasty tupperware of sauerkraut was the reason our milk was going bad in only a few days. Lame, in hindsight. But I can barely see in foresight, so I have to analyze my past choices in order to have 20/20 vision.

I take out the offender and pour it down the disposal. I gag. I hate sauerkraut. We only have it for the hubby. It was dees-gust-ing. So of course the disposal gets plugged up. Of course. So I'm plunging. Nothing. Running the disposal. Nothing. I don't have one of those ultra-mother disposal's that you can put the top of pineapple down, but I like to pretend that I do. Not a good idea.

So my husband gets under the sink and undoes the s-bend and all this sick sauerkraut water, along with 4 bendy straws and all twelve eggshells I used on the chocolate pie, chugs into the bucket. Gross. He cleaned it all out, took out the barfalicious water and my sink was fixed.

See why I'm so thankful for him?

Now, did this solve my milk problem? I have no idea. I bought some milk the next day at a different store and it was fine. But by then, the Oreos were gone. Life lesson in all this? The perfect food combination only comes around every once in a while. You better hope your milk isn't bad when it happens.

Being Thankful Day 2

Yesterday I posted on the thrills and chills of teaching and how grateful I am for that. Today I've got...

I am thankful for music.

When I was in junior high, our English teacher assigned us to choose one thing we couldn't live without for one day and write a paper on why. The three choices were television, cars, or music. I, being a huge TV junkie even back then, chose television. I never liked English and turned out some lame-o essay on why TV was so important no one could live for a day without it. *snort*

But now, I would have to change that to music. Since I drive in the car a lot, music is important to me. It can set the mood for almost anything. It can make me feel better or make me feel worse. There are so many uplifting lyrics and melodies that I don't think I could make it a day without music. Just imagine Indiana Jones without the theme music. When he puts his hat on at the end and you hear those familiar notes...there's nothing like music. Or consider Star Wars when Anakin is going to the dark side and you hear those bass notes signaling the birth of Darth Vader. I have chills just typing it.

Movies, TV, the radio, it's all meaningless without music. (Don't get me started on talk radio. Just don't.) I also find inspiration for writing and life through music. I really don't think I could go a day without listening to music.

I listen to music the same way I read books. Over and over and over again. Then I'll find a new favorite (right now the playlist has seven songs that repeat and repeat and repeat...) and replace one of my old faves. At this moment, Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" is being pushed out by Jesse McCartney's "Beautiful Soul." Sorry Leona. The playlist can only be 30 minutes. Why? I don't know, it's just something I do.

My all-time favorite song? I know you're dying inside to know. "Superman (It's Not Easy)" by Five For Fighting. Awe-some.

So I am thankful I can hear and have music to help me through my day.

Being Thankful

My sister-in-law Lisa recently started a blog. She told me about one of her friends who was doing a Thankful post every day during November. I decided I wanted to do that, but that I would only do it during the week leading up to Thanksgiving. It will really be eight posts because I'm going to start today and post on Thanksgiving as well.

So without further ado...

I am thankful for my job.

Okay, so I may not fight off the KGB or use a whip to propel myself out of exploding trucks, but just like Indiana Jones, I am a part-time teacher. Never underestimate what I might be doing when I'm not teaching...

But seriously, I love my job. It is the best job on the planet for a mom to have. In an economy that is seeing epic fail, my job is secure. Sure, I may not get paid much, but I get to work with kids and sleep in during June and July.

So what are you thankful for this holiday season?

On the Blog Chain - Inspirational Thoughs

Um, what?

Yeah, that's how I'm starting this one. Michelle McClean is to blame for this latest round of carnage chainage. For this chain, Kate posted before me and Terri is coming up tomorrow.

Here's what Michelle has cursed me with: Share a favorite poem, quote, joke, anecdote, or anything of the sort that deals with writing, writers, the publishing industry, or the other strange and unusual tidbits that belong to our little world.

She got me at "deals with writing, writers, the publishing industry, or the other strange and unusual tidbits that belong to our little world."

Ugh.

I have no writerly quotes, inspirational or otherwise. I have some quotes that I love but they don't pertain to writing. They more inspire me to be the best gosh-darn person I can be. So that's not gonna work.

So I googled. When in doubt, nothing beats google, except maybe ask.com. They're pretty good too. But then I went through this:

Frantic Self: Gotta find somethin' good, gotta find somethin' good...

Practical Self: This is so dumb. If I don't have something I live by, what's the point? It's just gonna be garbage I spew out to be in the chain...oooh! That looks good...

Frantic Self: Can't drop out this round, this is a great topic. I love Michelle, even if her boxes have eyes...

Practical Self: I am wasting so much time on google. I could be on Rally, QT, writing, reading blogs, cooking dinner, or watching Survivor. Hmm...click on that one...noooo! Look away, look away!

Frantic Self: *deep breath* Okay, just find one thing. One thing will be good enough...

Practical Self: I hate being at the beginning of the chain, I really need more time for stewage. Just think, Frantic Self, we'll have to pick the topic soon...

Frantic Self, even more frantic: You're not helping! *grumble* Pick the topic, sheesh Practical...just...need...one...thing...

Practical Self: ...

So I've got nuthin'. I'm just going to share my one favorite quote. I adore most of what Teddy Roosevelt said; he was such an inspirational person. This quote could apply to writing if you squint at the screen just right and really stretch the bounds of your imagination. Isn't that what writers do? Or maybe that's just me...the squinting and stretching part.

"When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it."

---Theodore Roosevelt

I had this quote on the wall of my classroom for eight years. I think it's a good mantra for anyone in any walk of life. And that's all I have for this topic.

My First Blog Award!

I'm all a twitter. Seriously. The uber-fantastic Kate over at the lovers, the dreamers and me just gave me the "I Love Your Blog" award! Holy brown cows! I've never won anything! Well...unless you count those 50 Jazz tickets (I took 20 of my third graders and their parents.) Oh and the Agriculture Teacher of the Year (no laughing). Or maybe the cool stuff I won during Jess's HOLLOW-een contest...

But this is HUGE! Huger than all of that. I mean, who would have thunk that someone actually reads my Mindless Musings? But here it is, and it's no lie.





Like Kate, I have so many people to thank. Well, not really. My husband thinks blogging is the biggest waste of time on the planet. I endure endless hours of teasing from him and his brother. At least my sister-in-law supports my blogging. And all of you...

So here's the deal. I now get to pass the "I *heart* your blog" award along to five worthy recipients. There are so many to choose from...

1. My sister Jess's cooking blog, No Measurements. She's a big blogger and has been blogging every single day in November here (careful, not for the faint of heart, body, or mind ). This cooking blog is just another way for her to spend time blogging. Love ya, sis!

2. Jennifer Wilks' Confessions of a Lifelong Bookworm deserves a nod. She's awesome and always has something insightful to say about life, love, writing, whatevah. Love it, read it, blog it, award it. (Plus, she tagged me, something I was dying inside for, so...yeah. Thanks Jen!)

3. The Martin Family blog maintained by the queen herself, Megan. Even after that post on bleeding red, I'm still gonna give them this award. I may have to retract later, but...for now they deserve it.

4. Fellow blog chainer, Leah Clifford over at Ghostwriting the WIP. Her wonderfully entertaining posts about writing, life, politics (well, only that one time ), and anything else you can imagine provide a ray of sunshine in my day. She's the only one who's ever made me spurt Sprite out my nose while reading a blog entry. Seriously. She's that good.

5. And last, but certainly not least, is Authoress over at Miss Snark's First Victim. She is beyond awesome with her Secret Agent Contests, her ebook about Demystifying Agents, and everything in between. Go check it out if you haven't.

Thus ends the blog award post.

Halfway Through NaNo = Halfway Crazy

Okay, so it's November 15. I should be at 25,000 words in NaNo. I have no idea if I'm that close. See, I've been writing in a notebook for this book. I have about 30 pages of untyped writing, so I don't know if I'm at 25 K or not. I've logged in on NaNo at 15,357 and I think my 30 pages will get me above the halfway mark. As soon as I type it up...

Writing in a notebook is a new tactic I'm trying to see if my first drafts can be a little less scattered thus requiring a little less editing and revising down the road. Will it work? I have no idea. But I have noticed a couple of benefits already.

1) I've been liberated from the computer. I don't feel the obsessive need to be on the Internet every second of every day. I don't have to check my writing forums every thirty seconds. I don't have to post a comment on every thread. The computer battery is thanking me.

2) I write slower than I type, obviously. My brain is racing, but my mind (are those two things the same? Hmm...I think not) is contemplating the best word choice, a stronger verb than "ran," and a whole slew of other things. I'm *hoping* this will make my first draft better.

3) When I go to type up what I've written, I edit a little bit as I go. I'm hoping this reduce the amount of OCD-ing later. Who am I kidding? I'm still gonna obsess over every single word on the page. Especially when a request comes in. Oh well. I'm enjoying the whole writing by hand thing, so it's worth it just for that.

4) I may be halfway crazy for participating in NaNo and writing by hand and then typing. I think I should be able to log twice as many words. I mean, I'm writing it twice, right? Can I get a Woot! Woot! (woot! woot!)

Either way, it's the halfway mark for NaNo. And I am definitely more than halfway crazy trying to get caught up.

My One Twilight Post

Who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll post more stuff about Twilight. I get Entertainment Weekly and they have some cool stuff in there about the actors. I'm more fascinated with the actual movie making than seeing the movie.

My writerly friend Abi, had a quiz up on her blog. So I went and took it. I was *praying* I'd be Edward. Do I know myself or what? I am so Edward.



You can take the quiz here. I'm gonna google for some good-looking pics of Robert Pattinson. I have several, but a girl can never have too many.

And that one above ain't bad.

Angsting Over the Blog Chain

It's time for the wild ride that is the blog chain. Strap yourselves in people, this one's gonna be rough. Archetype started this topic. Abi posted just before me, and Terri's post will be up mañana.

So here's the question of the chain: Some people argue that creative people need “angst” to produce good work. Do you? What emotions drive you as a writer?

I'm gonna break this up a little. Here's the first part again. Some people argue that creative people need "angst" to produce good work. Do you?

I don' think it's so much what I feel when I'm writing as much as it's what I experience when I'm not. The angst I feel about writing comes when I'm not writing. I've written something and now I'm stuck. What comes next? How do I get Jared back to Montana? What will Vi do now that Jag has said those three little words? Can she say them back? How can Hunter defeat his enemies? Oh, and how's he gonna get out of that bank alive?

That's my angst. When I'm writing, I'm fine. It's when I paint myself into a corner that I'm angsty.


Or when I have two scenes that need to connect somehow and I just can't quite figure it out. This requires much thinkage. And in my world, thinkage = angst. My angst-thought areas are: the shower (maybe TMI? Tighten your seat belt...), driving in the car, and as I'm waiting to fall asleep. That's when I have time to devote to "angsting" about my writing.

But I never angst during the actual writing.

So on to part two: What emotions drive you as a writer?

I need to be able to place myself directly in a situation. I think some people can do this better than others. I have been known to bite every fingernail I own while reading a book or watching movies. Things are just so real to me.

When I was younger, an episode of "The Facts of Life" scared me to death. I can still see it in my mind. (I looked for it on youtube, but even I do not have unlimited time. Have you seen how many episodes of TFOL there are? Sheesh.) Ever since then, I absolutely cannot sleep without being able to see the door. Or without any coverings, no matter how hot it is. This is completely illogical of course, since I'm practically blind and can't see at night anyway. But I can imagine the situation and place myself directly in it. I could write it if I needed to.

I refuse to watch movies like The Ring, news programs that talk about serial killers, or anything else remotely scary. After watching a 20/20 program on the BTK killer, I made my eight-year-old son check the closets if the doors had mysteriously closed. Seriously. I think everything I see or read could happen to me. And that's scary.

When we moved into our house several years ago, one of the first things I did was plan where I would hide if someone tried to break in. (In my defense, we were one of the first families to move into our development and there were construction crews everywhere. And no one nearby for help.) I have this way overactive imagination that conjures up the worst thing that could happen and then I decide what I would do in that situation.

I once watched a TV show like CSI or some crime show like that. This murderer guy was hiding out in the ceilings of his victims. Then he would call them on the phone and say things to them that portrayed that he could see them. It freaked me out. I refused to sleep in rooms where anyone would be able to crawl into the ceiling to murder me. Luckily, at the time, we lived in an apartment building on the bottom floor. When we went out of town, I insisted we sleep in the basement. No, I'm not kidding.

This kind of fear--the ability to place myself in any situation--is what I think helps me write. I experience it right along with my characters as I put them in horrible situations. I'm able to make up ways for them to get out of their scary situations, because yanno, I've done that in my real life.

Some of my favorite books are the Harry Potter's. But I absolutely hate number 5, The Order of the Phoenix. Don't get me wrong, I've read it several times and watch the movie quite a bit too. The reason I don't like it? It's filled from page one to whatever with injustice. It just makes me so mad. I use injustice to inspire anger in my writing as well. I think everyone feels like they've been wronged at some point in their life, and they can identify to an injustice and the anger that comes from it.

So I use terror, injustice and blind rage to drive my writing. Freak, I might need to schedule a therapy session for my angst issues. I toldja to hold on tight.

Don't forget, Terri is up tomorrow.

Finding the Silver Lining

I think I need a new body. One that can't feel pain. I've been inflicted with yet another sinus infection. The doctor thinks that it's the same one I had in September and it never went away. So he put me on a really strong antibiotic. When I say really strong, I mean like uber-strong knocks-you-out antibiotic. At first I thought it wasn't that bad. Even though the pharmacist said not to take it with calcium (yes, I obeyed) that it might make me dizzy, to avoid sunlight, and that I might have some less-than-desired side effects. I took it Friday and felt like I was on top of the world.

Saturday...not so much. I was dizzy and I had some, um, bathroom issues. Saturday night, I woke up with severe stomach cramps and I couldn't get off the couch all day Sunday. So on top of the horrible pounding where my brain is trying to squish my eyes out of their sockets, the post-nasal drip of mucus, and any amount of blinding light, I was now dealing with the whole stomach flu thing.

I couldn't believe one person could live through so much. Seriously. Yet I am still alive. I ate and managed to keep it down. And...then I got heartburn. Come on, body! What else can happen? Why won't you just cooperate? I mean, it was a frozen pizza, not Chinese food. Argh. And ouch.

And today it's back to the brain cancer trying to pound it's way through my skull. Sigh. At least I got a lot of writing done yesterday (3277 words for NaNo). See how I always find the silver lining in every situation? The sparkly, shiny lining behind the heartburn, intestinal problems, mucus, headaches, insomnia, and infections. They're always there. Thank goodness for that.

And We're Off!

So it's November 1. That date has never been significant to me before. But this year, I signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I think I'm insane. I have set a goal to write 50,000 words by November 30. Pure insanity. But it's the good kind. Is there a good kind? Yes, I think there is.