Too Much Caffeine Equals Stomachache

Owww. You can tell Nano's here. Between the caffeine and leftover Halloween candy, I feel like crap. I've had three cups of coffee already this morning, and I've written almost 3,000 words. The manic hamster in my head is working well; but I can't say the same for the rest of my (in)sane self.

Goals? That's been a bit of a hit or miss. Let's take a look.

Planning is going well. And since we entered the madness of Nano four days ago, I've written 39 pages. Since I only planned on 80 pages this round, I'm feeling pretty good about that. So I'm on track for a win in that category.

Giving up pizza and fried chicken? I haven't had any pizza. I can't say the same about fried chicken, but I can say that I've cut down. In fact, there's still chicken in the fridge. And if my roommate doesn't eat it by dinner, it's going in the garbage. (Oops...hang on a moment. I've got to take out hamburger to make chili with tonight. Brb.) Okay, I'm back.

Exercise? We don't even want to discuss that. But I have plans to get there as soon as my coffee stomachache goes away. Since I've written over 2,000 words today so far, I figure I can allow myself that break.

Prepared food? I've gotten LOTS better with that. I'm still resisting going into certain aisles in the grocery store, even though Near East has some outstanding grain mixes. One of these days I'll get around to figuring them out so I can do them at home.

On a different front, last Saturday my roommate took his blood pressure at our local grocery store. It was 238/137. To say that's not good is an extreme understatement. Immediately the Mountain Dew was gone, and he cut back on cigarettes from 20 per day to 8 per day. He's steadily decreasing until he's quitting. I got the idea from how George Carlin finally quit cocaine. He just weaned himself off it gradually. I figured that would work for cigarettes too. The good news is that he's sleeping better and his constant headache is gone. Yeah, I cut out the salt for the most part, too.

We'll see how that one goes.

Have a great day everyone!

Goal Revision Already!

As it stands, I have a middle that's as confused as a huge bowlful of pasta. I can't begin to write scenes until I see even a somewhat clear direction in which to go.

So...

This is going to be a planning period for me for the next little while. I'll still be using Story Engineering and The Writer's Journey to find my way. I'll do my reporting on what I've been able to figure out and where I am in the process. When (or if) I can start writing scenes during Round 2, I'll revise my goals again to add it.

I'm adding a health goal too. Everyone feel free to nag me about them - I need it! Here it is:

In deference to Johnny Depp's new role as the wonderfully gothic Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows," I've decided to stay on the dreadmill (yes, you read that right) for the length of two episodes of the original series per day. Netflix has four seasons on their live streaming section.

And now, I'm off to teach math. Have a wonderful, productive day everyone!