i got a great suggestion from my sister jane today for my kablpomo post today.
for kablamo (that’s how i read it in my head) you should write about the differences between nano and kablamo. what you like, don’t like, what you miss about nano that you can’t find in kablamo, etc.
kaBLAMo!
nanowrimo and kablpomo are two different beasts for me, and each has its own place.
1. kablpomo can be short and sweet or long and heavy.
2. kablpomo can change topics every day
3. kablpomo can be pictures, lists, youtube embeds, etc. it doesn’t necessarily NEED to be words. it’s all about the blog post, and blog posts
what does nanowrimo have that kablpomo doesn’t?
1. i don’t NEED to write nano every day. if i miss a day of kablpomo, big ol’ FAIL on my part. sure, i can get behind on nano, but it’s all about the final word count at the end of the month.
2. accomplishing nano is HUGE. to push out 50,000 words in a month is HUGE. the feeling of finishing nano vs. kabl is about 500x more of a high.
3. there’s something about finishing a story that used to be in my head. look what i pulled out of my head and put into words.
since nate has the week off to accommodate our previous closing date, we decided to head up to ikea this morning to get some things for the new house. above all, i wanted to get a magnetic knife holder, which is the greatest thing ever invented. tack a magnet to your kitchen wall and stick your knives on it. no more knife block hogging counter space. what a concept!
so, since we were already in the vicinity, we decided to go to head over to the MOA to get some bad food court chinese food. and…pick up a lindt advent calendar!
while we were waiting in line with said calendar, nate’s wasabi chocolate bar, and my two truffles, the lady next to me said, “ooh! looks like someone’s getting a fun present!”
to which i said, “yeah! me! it’s mine!”
she laughed.
because my house life is a shambles right now, with boxes lining the walls and conquering the porch every day as i try to kick off my shoes, kablpomo seems a little hopeless to me. nanowrimo seems light years away, although i will attempt to do some writing on my devil’s syrup book this month, and i haven’t cracked a book in at least week.
at this point, because everything’s all over the place, it’s easier to come home from work, throw my stuff in the corner (because, really, does it make a difference since everything’s a mess anyway?), pet a cat, and plop on the couch to spend an hour deciding what to watch on netflix.
then spend an hour surfing reddit.
then spend an hour creeping people on facebook and twitter.
then spend an hour finding the best price on an obscure movie i watched 28 years ago.
then time to go to bed, and if i bring my phone, spend another hour on reddit.
what did i accomplish? well, i got my money’s worth of bandwidth from charter.
when did my brain make a switch from thinking reading and writing was fabulous to boring? why will i put down a book to pick up my phone to look at inane stuff that, ultimately, i don’t really care about? image by Audrey Westcott – http://www.studlife.com/author/audreywestcott/
way back in the year 2000, the american psychological association was already studying the effects of internet addiction. this was back when modems, chat rooms, and waiting until after you got home from work to check your personal emails were still a thing. if they were studying it THEN, when every person didn’t have a personal internet machine in his or her pocket, i can only image the effects now.
looking at some more recent coverage, there are some places that actually have internet withdrawal programs.
Bradford Regional Medical Center, has become the first in the U.S. to treat severe Internet addiction through a 10-day inpatient program. Patients admitted to the voluntary behavorial health treatment center must first undergo a “digital detox” that prohibits Internet use for at least 72 hours, followed by therapy sessions and educational seminars to “help them get their Internet compulsion under control.” “Like any other addiction, we look at whether it has jeopardized their career, whether they lie about their usage, or whether it inteferes with relationships,” Young explained. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) was first coined as a joke by Dr. Ivan Goldberg in 1995.
well har har, dr. ivan. who’s laughing now? not me, that’s for sure. the internet hasn’t jeopardized my career (quite the opposite!), i don’t lie about my usage, and the only relationship MY usage has interfered with is my self relationship (nate’s usage is another story 😉 ).
like all addictive substances, go through withdrawal and then stay away from it. willpower! willpower! but how on earth does a person stay away from the internet this day in age, especially when my job relies on it? it certainly doesn’t help that i’ve probably got a brain that tends toward addiction.
until that day comes, i’ll use that useless, addiction-crazy willpower of mine and attempt to corral my personal usage – attempt being the keyword. i’m not giving up the internet, but i can try to put it in its place. i win, internet. i win.
no question bill. BLOG.
it’s that time of year again! KABLPOMO will commence in four – count ’em – FOUR days. (for the uninitiated, KAte’s BLog POsting MOnth is me attempting to blog every day for the month of november, to coincide with nanowrimo.)
i’m not gonna lie – the first week or so may be inundated with pictures of my new house and unpacking process, after which i might be able to settle down into pure KABLPOMO-ness. what to expect from this year’s KABLPOMO?
more pinter-tests, real-life experiments on things i find on pinterest. more pictures, especially of the new house, my cats, and food i make. hopefully some meaningful content such as reminisces, social commentary, and updates on devil’s syrup.
at the same time, due to nanowrimo, i will be trying to work more on my DS book, so there might be some excerpts from that and more insights. plus, i may just hit a milestone weight, at which time i will be sending out a big blog post. now. on to some more business. my long-time readers may have realized that next year marks my 10th year of blogging. as such, i am going to attempt to do KABLPOYE next year to mark the anniversary. yes, i will attempt to blog EVERY SINGLE DAY in 2014. this will require some prep work in december, and there will probably be a lot of days where it will be photos only, but ultimately this will be a good thing. i will also be moving katerrific.com to plain old katerrific.com so it’s easier for you to find.
so, come for KABLPOMO, and stay (or come back) for KABLPOYE 2014. your voyeuristic creeper side will be completely satisfied.
so it begins…the season where i am always cold. i’m assuming my new house will have the plumbing hooked up correctly and i will be able to have a hot bath without having to run up the water heater temp.
speaking of my new house, i’m really hoping the government opens in the next couple days so nate and i can get our home loan. that’d be awesome. supposedly there’s supposed to be a passage of something today yet, but i’m not holding my breath. i don’t know what we’ll do if the shutdown holds out into november.
and speaking of november (don’t you love my segues?), KABLPOMO is fast approaching. get ready!
kablpomo was a success this year! congratulations to me! there was one day in CO where the timestamp didn’t match due to time zones, but that was easily fixed (and i don’t feel bad about it).
so enter the yearly question: is it possible and/or fill a void to maintain a daily blogging regime? oh readers, what do you think? i could continue on with my pinterest experiments, especially once we’re moved (ONE WEEK). christmas cookies are upcoming, and i can always use an excuse to take photos. plus, i will have my desk back soon, which will make for much easier access to computer and internet.
what’s the buzz about this (if any)?
growing up in austin was a completely wonderful experience (or my perspective of it was). we lived in the country, and austin had a lot amenities for your average 8-year-old. after we moved when i was 14, and i adapted to a larger class size (MUCH larger), then went to college and adapted to a larger city to live in, going back to austin for various reasons always resulted in my taking a second look at my hometown and thinking, “oh my god. what a dumpy little town.”
so, when i accepted my new job and also accepted having to live in austin for the next 5 months, i avoided going into town, and when i did, i got in and got out, mostly in the walmarts and targets. i did more shopping in rochester than in austin.
but when i do drive through austin, and i have more in the past two weeks since nate’s been in town and i’m here on the weekends, i find that i know where i’m going without thinking. and rather than dumpy, the atmosphere makes me more sad and reminiscent than anything else.
today i went around town and took pictures. i’m sure there are about 500 people in this town who looked at this crazy girl taking pictures and wondering why on earth anyone would want to document this town. but i’ve been wanting to for a while. so i did, and here are the results.
thansgivings of my youth have made me expect enough snow on the ground to go snowmobiling with my cousin bill, enough snow to get stuck in the drifts in the pasture.
last year, there was barely any snow all winter long, and it was warm enough in january to go without a coat. minnesota’s in a drought, and i can’t imagine anyone denying some sort of climate change.
and while i hate being cold, i do live in minnesota where i expect the cold and don’t deny the cold. i don’t get surprised at -3, and in fact brag about it. i don’t like the cold and bundle up against it, but goshdarnit, i’m hardy?
so where’s my snow? where’s my average december temperature? it’s got to be lower than the 50 degrees that are supposed to make an appearance this saturday. i want my cold temps! i like snow on christmas, the white draping over lights-strewn pine trees, the ground changing from a drab november brown to a crisp december white, so where is it?
i’m hoping that by the time i pull out my christmas decorations and hopefully find the room for a tree, there will be something white on the ground, or at least in the long-term forecast.
here’s hoping.
oooh, picture gallery!
a quick run down:
day 1: arrival at 11 p.m. play cards against humanity
day 2:: thanksgiving. go to copper mountain. stop at grocery store. cook food. eat. eat. eat. buy some black friday stuff. eat some more.
day 3: jane liz and i go to frisco and breckinridge.
day 4: jane and cha leave early 🙁 liz, doug, nate and i are out by 10, go to denver and walk downtown. saw some 99%ers in front of the fed. napped. flew home.
