My yearly reflection for 2012 was semi-popular, so I thought I’d
try something new for 2013: an end-of-the-month reflection for each month.
2013 started off with more of a whimper than a bang. Things
haven’t been especially exciting, but that’s okay. I haven’t been looking for a
lot of excitement.
I had decided, as the new year rolled in, to buckle down on
my writing. I had a hard time writing in December, due to the fact that I spent
a lot of extra hours at work. So the plan for January was to start getting up
early every morning to give myself extra time in the day. Therefore, I won’t have any
excuses to slack off on writing (i.e. errands to run, etc.). Unfortunately, it
took me until the end of the month to get off my slacker butt and implement
this plan, but it’s in full swing now.
Once I got started, I found that it’s working quite well. I
haven’t had any trouble getting up early. My goal was to write at least 500
words per day. So far, I’ve been exceeding that, hitting more like 1,000 –
2,000 words per day, split between two different novels. I’m feeling
encouraged, and my mood has been a lot better.
I guess one of the big national news items this month has
been the flu that’s been going around. Seems like everyone’s had it, even lots
of folks who got the flu shot. It’s been a much bigger epidemic than either
bird flu or swine flu were, that’s for sure. Sadly, the husband and I were not
immune (the husband still claims that he never had the flu, that he came down
with cedar fever from the weekend we were in Austin, but due to his illness’s
persistent duration, I’m skeptical of the claim). I stayed on the couch for 4
days, missing 2 days of work, but steadily improved after that. I’m feeling
much better now.
All in all, it wasn’t so bad. I’ve had worse flus.
The other big national news item this month seems to be gun
control. I’m not going to express my views on gun control here, because
I don’t want my blog to be a platform for those kinds of discussions. What I do
want to express is my disappointment in people on both sides of the debate. People
seem to just lose their damn minds over this issue. There are a lot of words
being said, but, in my opinion, few genuine, reasonable solutions have been put
forth.
I feel like there’s never any actual debate anymore. When
two opposing sides meet, all they do is try to see who can out-shout the other.
It’s tiresome.
4 comments:
Jan, I love to read your updates and movie reviews! Wishing you the best in your writing. I agree-there's too much squabbling and few solutions to the problems of today. The ones with reasonable solutions aren't willing to take part in politics, I'm guessing.
Have you seem District 19? That's an interesting film I'd love to hear you review.
Helen
Hi Jan. I'm a fan of the monthly review! It's good to check in monthly about whatever, I think. I'm glad to read that you've been writing every day. My "writing every day" goal is on hold right now because I'm taking a class and it is taking up a lot of the formerly writing time. I do best when I can write first thing, like you, but right now I only have time for one "first thing" and currently, exercise wins the contest.
I agree with you about the gun debate. It's more boring to argue about than the pro/anti choice question because not only do people seem to be solidly in their corners, but also somewhat crazy in their viewpoints. It's like both sides (well, one side more than the other in my opinion, but they both do it) can only think in black or white and this is an issue with many shades of grey.
I've been thinking a lot about language acquisition because that's partially what my class is about. It seems that the way I was taught (and forgot) a second language is not the most effective way to learn. So I'm contemplating learning another language in a different, more effective, way. But I'm just contemplating. Until I develop a meth habit or become a sparkly vampire there isn't enough time in the day.
Thanks for the update.
Helen, thanks for your comment! It's gratifying to know there are folks out there reading & enjoying what I have to say.
I looked up the film you referenced and am not finding a "District 19." I see a "District 9" and a "District 13." The latter is actually currently in my Netflix queue. If that's the one you meant, I'd be happy to watch it next for review. Anyway, just let me know! Both of them sound interesting. :)
P, thanks for your comment!
I definitely find that varying my routine disrupts practically any chance I have at getting my writing done, so I'm not surprised that taking a class right now is making it difficult for you to write. At least it's being interrupted for something meaningful, though. It's not like you're surfing the Internet instead of writing.
In the original version of this, blog post, I talked about shades of grey vs. black-and-white, but I decided that I got a little preachy and rewrote it. Anyway, we're on the same wavelength!
If you were to learn another language, which one do you think you'd try for?
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