Seaward

I've been working on the NaNo novel and am only about 2000 words behind. I took four days off at some point and it really set me back. I like writing it, even though the writing isn't all that great. I think I can see why some authors start adding in characters and have the action come from their point of view, like omnipresence. It gets boring to write from the same character. Or maybe my character is just boring.

I took this picture at the coast, and it's actually looking out onto a bay. The area where this was near was a touristy street. It always seems like the tourist areas are the worst. They all seem to have candy shops, leather shops, jem and polished rocks, or something like that, and t-shirt shops. The only people are usually older retirees. I don't know why people want to go to tourist places when they travel somewhere. You don't see the actual place you're going, but instead a themepark type version of the place, which is more like being at the mall. Everything is filtered and turned into products.

The Characters

I am currently working on this fingerless glove, which is almost done. I had to change the pattern, because the designer only put one size on it, and that turned out to be gigantic. It's done with sock yarn, which is tedious, because it takes so long. But I like the colors.

My NaNo novel is still several days behind, and I'll have to write five pages a day for the rest of the time to catch up. I figured out a subplot, which took up some time. Otherwise the conclusion would have come too fast, and the character would be wrapping up the ending for half of the novel. One thing is that it's difficult to tell if the characters have different personalities. Sometimes it seems like they all have the same characteristics, unless I push them to become almost stereotypes. I've heard that you should show the character's personality through their reactions or thoughts, instead of just telling the reader. That is definately more difficult, because you have to construct the situation, then think of how that type of person would react. I think that to write good characters, you have to know a lot about psychology, and different personalities. It would be hard to write for a character really different from yourself. At this point, I'm not even trying any of the more subtle points of characters and psychology. I'm just trying to write anything so I can get up to 50, 000 words by Nov. 30.

The Novel and the Ocean

I recently went to the coast for a day, and went to a marina. I went to the ocean too, except I couldn't stay there long. It's so harsh, because it's always windy and cold, even during the summer. The Pacific Ocean, at least where I am doesn't make you want to swim in it, or even go near it. I imagined going out on a boat in the ocean, and it doesn't seem fun at all. I've also been to Florida and swam in that ocean and it's strange how different it is. The Florida ocean is warm and calm, and you can see through to the bottom. I didn't really want to go near the Oregon ocean, because it seems so much more dangerous.
I've also been working on the NaNo novel, which is difficult. I'm about 5000 words behind, so I have to write ten pages in the next two days. My story doesn't seem interesting enough, so I think over these next ten pages, I have to introduce a subplot. I want to keep the focus on the main character, though. I generally don't like it when there are a bunch of different characters and you get all their perspectives, so the reader knows things the characters don't. It seems more interesting to get the perspective of one character, because they don't know everything, and the events are skewed towards what they think. I think if you write a sweeping epic, it works to have a global view of lots of different characters, but not in a short novel. I've read books where the author will suddenly introduce a new character, and you're forced to read about them for a while, when I care more about the original character. That's something I don't really want to do in my novel.

Thirty Day Novel

I saw the web page for writing a novel in thirty days and thought it was interesting. I've wanted to see if I could write for a while now, since I've read a lot of books, I thought it would be easier to write a book. Also, I like to see what other people are writing at the same time. It's harder than I thought, since it's difficult to write natural sounding dialogue. The timing of the action has to be right, and it hard to know when to move the action along or go into more detail. I think I have the problem of making the male characters sound too much like women. It's hard to know how to make them sound like men, without making them completely macho and stereotypical. So far though, the plot is turning out different than I thought it would, which is good. The story is about a woman who goes back to her hometown to confront her father and deal with her past, but meets someone unexpected on the trip there. That's what it is so far. I'm not sure where to take the story next, and according to the thirty day schedule, I have to write about 40 pages by the end of this week.

Fat Activists

America's Waistline - The politics of fat. By Laura Kipnis
I disagree with fat activists who say they are perfectly normal, and there isn't an obesity epidemic. According to some of them, that is just their body type. I think that it is true that most people aren't naturally thin, with a thin frame. But there's a difference between someone who has a larger frame and is stocky and someone who weighs over 300 pounds. I think the fat activists could say that is their natural body type, if there aren't all the problems with diet and exercise. I really doubt that there were extremely obese people a few hundred years ago, or during a time when everyone didn't drive everywhere and eat fast food all the time. They seem more of a causuality in a time of an overabundance of fast food and extreme marketing of a fattening lifestyle. Most of the fat people I've met may have a different body type, but they also don't exercise at all and eat fast food all the time. The fat activists claim that it's perfectly healthy to be obese, but if you can barely walk up a flight of stairs, how can that be healthy?
On the over hand, I do think that how they live their life is their business. It is really presumptuous to tell someone else how to care for their own body. If people want to smoke and eat fast food every day, they should be allowed to. But they shouldn't claim that they can't help it when they become unhealthy, or say they have a different body type, and it's out of their control. I guess that's what bothers me about fat activists, is that they act like they can't do anything about their obesity. But unless you have a thyroid disorder, you must have eaten a lot of junk food or been totally inactive, in order to gain 100 or 200 pounds. It's like having an addiction and claiming it's completely out of your control, and that it's your natural state of being. It's giving up in difficult circumstances. I guess they can do that, but I don't like that the fat activists are trying to say that obesity is totally normal and healthy. It's like saying that your addiction completely controls you, and you give in and don't even try to improve yourself.

Lapsed Drawing Skills

I have been trying to draw in my sketchbook every day. I realized that it had been months since I had been doing that regularly. Although, in reality, I never spent time drawing every day. I tend to think that it isn't worth the time spent on a sketchbook drawing, since it's not a finished product that will last. But that puts too much pressure on each finished piece, since I have learn the skills while I'm doing the finished product. A lot of my work doesn't come out right because I didn't spend the time to plan it. I want to be able to draw better, so I can paint better. I think that no matter what the idea is, you have to have some decent drawing skills to carry it out.
Also, now that the time has changed, I'm not looking forward to the 4:30 sunsets. That's too short of a day.

River Art

I saw this when I was riding my bike and it seemed interesting. It reminded me of the artist who uses natural surroundings to create art, Andy Goldsworthy. I wonder how many people did this, and when. I like seeing random stuff like this, that shows someone is doing something different. Most people, including myself, just go from one place to another, seeming to be on a strict schedule. This shows that someone stopped to look around and change their environment, and create something unexpected.

Exercising Routinely

A couple days ago, I rejoined the gym. I had still been working out, but not as often. I want to get a lot more fit aerobically. That seems to be my biggest weakness. I see people running who look almost comfortable, and they're barely out of breath. Every time I run, it's extremely difficult, and I feel like I'm gasping for air. But maybe those people had been excercising all through high school and beyond. After childhood, I became a lot more inactive, until a couple years ago. I know that must make a difference, if a person has been excercising solidly for ten or more years straight. Anyway, going to the gym just makes it easier to get into a routine.
I've also been working on a vest, but I miscalculated the guage, so it turned out ten inches too big. I still seem to have a lot of problems with calculating the guage and having the sweater fit normally. I wonder if anyone knits something and it turns out perfectly the first time. Every item I knit that I want to wear, I have to redo two or three times. It's frustrating enough that it makes me want to stop knitting for awhile. I think for now, I'll just work on a scarf, so there's no guage problem.

The ESA Act

There is a revision to the Endangered Species Act that's trying to weaken it, and it already passed the House. It is supposed to give property owners more rights, more than the animals. It creates loopholes so politicians can decide what is considered enough scientific evidence to save a species. It would end up being none, because developers can make more money that way. I hope it's not passed in the Senate, but I think it will. I don't have any hope for this administration doing much for the environment. Some people seem to only want a barren field, with animals or plants in the way, so they can develop or mine, or do whatever. They won't be satisfied until every piece of land is totally developed, and there are no animals to get in the way, except domesticated ones. Then every corner of the world is totally controlled and basically polluted, since development always weakens and pollutes the land.

Financial Advice from Rich People

I found a financial blog that was irritating. It reminds me of most of the financial advice I hear, which is geared towards the same income level. In some ways, it makes sense, because you have enough money to actually buy a house, yacht, save for retirement, or whatever, and manage your money. Low income people just have to scrape by, basically balancing the budget month to month. There isn't anything for future investments, or ways to trim the budget. So much of the financial advice seems to include, going out to dinner one less time a week and not buying as many $3.00 lattes, since everyone spends hundreds on a month on those things.
Anyway, the people who wrote this blog probably have good tips for people at their income level, but it still was annoying. I don't know how these people, who all seem to make about $50,000 a year, have any problem saving money. It's ridiculous that they even have a column about saving money. Something is seriously wrong when you make that much money and still don't have enough. One person said they spent $1000 a month just on going out. I don't understand even spending that much. Are they flying to Italy every month? Are they paying for hundreds of people's dinner? I don't get it. That's what my whole family lived on when I was growing up. People who raise a whole family on minimum wage should be the ones writing about how to save money, not some upper class people. It makes me mad because some of these people are my age, yet they make more than anyone in my family ever did or will. It just goes to show that there is a definate class system, since they probably grew up in that economic zone, and spending that much money is natural. I really believe that makes a difference, since I literally didn't know of anyone making that kind of money when I was growing up, and it seemed about as attainable as becoming a famous Hollywood actor. To these women, it's as if they think everyone makes that kind of money, since a lot of their tips seem to correspond to that belief. The whole thing makes me angry. They seriously should have poor people write a column about saving money.

Republicans Conserving?

President Calls for Less Driving to Conserve Gas - New York Times

I can't believe that Bush is telling people to conserve. He is waiting until the last minute, since people should have been conserving for the last thirty years. Since oil is finite, wouldn't it make sense to conserve the whole time? But in the conservative and economists minds, the supply amount doesn't matter, it's only the prices that tell people whether they should conserve. Maybe if so many people hadn't bought SUVs, then we'd have more in reserves. But Bush isn't trying to start more public transportation or conservation programs to drastically cut back on people's use. He is basically just suggesting cutting back. I just wish this attitude was a given in our government, because I know that in a little while, they'll be selling SUVs and not mentioning conservation at all. But maybe not, since hybrids and solar energy panels are becoming more popular.

'The Lovely Bones' & Heaven

I just finished the book 'The Lovely Bones'. At first, I wasn't interested in reading it because it sounded too depressing. A girl is killed and watches her family deal with her death, from heaven. It actually was better than I thought, because the story focused more on how the people around her dealt with her death. It could have turned into a detective story or a manhunt for the killer. But, within the story, her killer doesn't even matter, since it won't bring back the girl to punish him. It's more how her family fractures and then has to come together again, without her. The thing I didn't like was the concept of heaven. It works for the story, because we get some idea of what the girl is like, and can look into different character's thoughts.
But I have a problem with the general idea of heaven as a place where you keep your identity, and your family eventually joins you, with their own identities. Everything you want is available, and you spend eternity as yourself. It makes life seem pointless. If you get to spent eternity as yourself, with everyone you know, then what is the point of life? After you get to know some people you can be in heaven with, why keep living? Everything's better there and eventually everyone you know will join you. Also, if you are yourself for eternity, what would you do? If everything is instantly available, it makes desire pointless. If we were exactly the same in heaven, we would be driven insane, since we have eternity to spend doing nothing. The novelty of having anything would wear off after a while.
I really don't see how people trully believe in the idea of heaven as an actual place you spend as a normal conscious human. It makes more sense as a place where you merge and have no consciousness, and it's nothing like life. That makes life the most important thing, since there is nothing like it. I guess it's a lot more scary to think like that, and I can see why people would prefer to think of heaven as a place that's not much different from earth. I can't convince myself to believe that, so I just try not to think about it.