Where Does the Time Go?

Hello? Anyone out there?

(crickets chirping)

Oops. I really had no intentions of being gone that long. (And yes, I know I say that every time I go on hiatus, but it's true.) Things have been non-stop crazy in my life for the past few weeks. And yet, not a whole lot has happened.

Work kicked into high gear and is just now starting to let up. With school starting and every teacher in the known universe trying to book a visit to the Zoo, my phone rang nonstop for nearly a month. We had a "sneak preview" special event for the educators at the end of August, and as soon as we finished up with that, we started planning for the next special event: Wildlife Discovery Days. Things were more than hectic for a while. My supervisor and I worked through lunch, stayed late, and left the Zoo loaded down with still more work to do at home.

The hard work paid off; the whole week went well, despite the fact that it rained on the last two days, and almost all of the schools cancelled on Friday. But on a positive note, most of the schools have rescheduled their visits. I spent most of my week working as a host for the Cat Ambassador Program. I have a special place in my heart for this program - when I worked here previously, the program was raising a new cheetah, and I have many fond memories of Kenya wandering through the office and falling asleep in the chair in my office. I spent most of the week of Wildlife Discovery Days shaking my head in disbelief that I actually get paid to do this. (Come to think of it, I do that a lot.)

(And as I was typing this, two of the trainers from the Cat Ambassador Program just walked past my office with Sahara and Alexa. This is not a normal job.)

When I wasn't working, I spent much of my time hanging out with Zappagirl. She's been going through a rough time lately, and I know firsthand that it's easier to manage with a friendly shoulder to lean on. And since she went above and beyond the call of duty last year when I was insane, being there for her is the least that I can do. Sometimes I'm frustrated that I can't do more for her.

Since Roger Mexico's visit in August fell through (and I had holiday time to burn before the end of the year). I had proposed a visit to see him on an extended weekend in October, hoping that we could go see Legendary Pink Dots in New York together. Alas, that plan fell through - he had to work all weekend, so I changed my flight plans to the following weekend. (Musashi, if you're reading this, I won't be at the show. Have a good time for all of us, though!) For a brief moment, we thought we were going to be able to see Underworld in New York, but that also conflicted with his work schedule. Oh well. At least I'll get to see the Beckett show he did the sound design for. Theater? Watching a show he worked on? Sounds good to me! (And I still have the Underworld DVD on loan from Netflix, so I'll bring that along with me.)

It looks like we will be visiting New York on Saturday, although we haven't made any concrete plans beyond getting coffee and visiting a book store he thinks I might like. Not that it matters. My visit is less about the plans and more about the company I'll be keeping. If I spent the entire weekend doing nothing but hanging out at his apartment watching TV, listening to him work on music, and playing with the cats, I'd still be happy.

I'm still debating whether I want to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I'm still feeling guilty that I have yet to complete last year's attempt, although I did finally hit the 50,000 word mark. (Unfortunately, I'm only two-thirds of the way through the story.) Part of me doesn't want the stress and the hassle, and part of me is savoring the idea of trying to write a crappy novel in a month. (I'm a masochist like that.) I've been toying with ideas in my head for a few weeks now. In most probability I'll end up giving it another shot. I'm also toying with the idea of posting it so everyone can read how crappy it is. (Why, yes, I'm insane. Why do you ask?) But this time I won't try to write the Great American Novel with deep underlying themes and multiple styles and fonts and points of view. It will be complete unadulterated fluff, something that I can babble about incessantly for page upon page without a worry as to how it will fit in with the framing story.

Oh, who am I kidding? If I write a novel this year, it'll be just as weird and complex as the last one. But this time I'll be smart enough not to write semi-autobiographically and drag myself back through some of the darkest moments of my life. That was my downfall last time, because writing about being depressed made me depressed, and my main character has been stuck in her own personal hell for the last 9 months. Someday I'll get her out, I swear.

But before I start planning on writing a novel in a month, I need to get my butt in gear and start posting here on a more regular basis. I never said consistency was one of my strong points, but I am constantly striving to improve....