Tag: NaNoWriMo

Always out and about

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I’ve not had a lot of time for running over the last couple of weeks, but for the last few days, I’ve certainly been getting my daily step goal met! I doubled it between yesterday’s parkrun and dancing to Adam Ant last night, and tonight Geth and I were back at the Sage Gateshead to see Shakespear’s Sister – a slightly more sedate gig but still a very enjoyable one! I also managed to fit in a vintage fair trip today, which was fairly successful.

I had originally planned to go to Manchester tomorrow to see a talk at the Central Library, but given that I’ve had zero time for NaNoWriMo the last few days, it’s sadly looking unlikely. I think I’ll be having a quiet day with my project (and my text adventure updates) instead!

Judy's Vintage Fair hand stamp
Not an OOTD: it’s a bit faded now, but I do like the hand stamp you get at Judy’s Vintage Fairs.

Today’s earworm playlist:

The Midnight – Shadows In The City
Adam & The Ants – Antmusic
Kygo and Whitney Houston – Higher Love
The Knack – My Sharona
Shakespear’s Sister – Stay

The freeze is here!

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It was so cold this morning that it was a real struggle to get out of bed and go to parkrun! I’ve got one eye on that 100th parkrun celebration in a few weeks’ time, though, so I shivered my way to the Jesmond Dene start line. It was slightly busier than usual because both Leazes and Newcastle were cancelled due to the ice, but the tree cover meant that most of the course was unaffected by the cold, so it was a nice relaxed run. I didn’t take my hoodie off though.

I spent the afternoon catching up with various things, including my NaNoWriMo project and my text adventure game updates, and then headed out for the third of the many gigs I’ve got booked during November! It was Adam Ant tonight, and it was a great show. I’ll post a review later this week once I’ve caught up with my backlog!

More weekend catching up tomorrow.

Window reflection
Not an OOTD: that moment when you try to take a picture of the Bridges of the Tyne all lit up from the Metro…and succeed only in photographing the grimy reflection of the train window.

Today’s earworm playlist:

The Midnight – Los Angeles
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care
Adam Ant – Puss In Boots
Colonel Abrams – Trapped

Ever onwards

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I felt a little bereft this morning when I finally had to put my Hallowe’en decorations away (Bonfire Night and its associated endless background bangs and flashes now being over)…but as ever, it’s a very busy time of year. I’m nearly a week into NaNoWriMo (I have no idea where that time has gone), and Geth and I have lots on over the next couple of weeks, so it’ll be December and the run-up to Christmas before we know it. Today is the first day of the year that I allow myself to think about Christmas, so we’ll be sitting down this evening and starting to make plans.

I’ve not had much time for NaNo-ing today – there’s been a bit of day job work, and I’ve still got a lot of admin to catch up with from last week. I really enjoyed ukulele class this evening though, and am now catching up with a few Strictly episodes.

Ukulele notation
Not an OOTD: we learnt another new song in ukulele class tonight! Really enjoying this term.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Squeeze – Up The Junction
Duran Duran – Hungry Like The Wolf
Jackson Browne – Rosie

Time to turn my brain off

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I’m so busy at the moment that I don’t take as much time as I should to relax in the evenings (I’m always finishing off projects or writing a bit more or getting some admin or housework done here and there). It’s not good for my brain and it would be nice to spend some time in other people’s worlds as well as creating my own. As such, I’m planning to spend a few hours videogaming and reading tonight in an attempt to chill out a bit, as the next few days are going to be a bit hectic (all fun things but a lot of them).

I’ve had another good, productive day working on my NaNo – I’m really enjoying doing the story, especially as I’m also working on turning it into another text adventure game. Tomorrow I’ll be doing a bit more, but mainly catching up with house things and practising my ukulele before class (as I’ve not had much time for that recently).

Book and 3DS
Not an OOTD: a good book that I’ve really been enjoying, and my 3DS, which badly needs checking to see how many contacts it’s made recently!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – The Smugglers’ Cave
A-ha – Take On Me
Duran Duran – Liberty

Back to the other worlds

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Monday again, and I’m back into the middle of one of my writing projects, this time for NaNoWriMo. I’m redrafting an old project from sixteen years ago, which is an interesting experience! My writing style and experience has changed so much since I was eighteen, and there’s a lot of things that need reworking. I also want to use a side story from the novel for a game project, so I’m working on that as well while I’ve still got a bit of momentum from making my Hallowe’en game!

Looking forward to another full day working on it tomorrow.

Drawing maps
Not an OOTD: I’ve also been playing the last of the other entries in the game jam, which tonight involved drawing a lot of maps!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Regard – Ride It
Gina G – Ooh Aah (Just A Little Bit)
Eurythmics – Who’s That Girl?
Duran Duran – Secret Oktober
A-ha – Hunting High And Low

Back after a quick trip

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Geth and I got back to Newcastle today after spending the night in Leeds for an A-ha gig. The gig was one of my favourites of 2019 and I’ll be posting a review later this week once I’ve caught up with some other review posts!

Have had a fairly relaxed afternoon catching up with all the things I didn’t do last week when I was busy finishing off my text adventure game.

Looking forward to a good few days of working on my NaNoWriMo project before the next gig!

Hallowe'en tealight decoration
Not an OOTD: it’s still Hallowe’en in my house until after Bonfire Night!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Dead Or Alive – Something In My House
Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me
Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes
Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine
Michael Land – Monkey Island Main Theme
A-ha – Hunting High And Low

Better late than never

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It was another late night last night, but I finally got my Hallowe’en text adventure game finished and submitted! You can play and rate it here. I’ve really enjoyed making this game over the last month – it’s a Hallowe’en story that’s heavily inspired by my childhood Hallowe’ens in Scotland. (Look out for a game designer appearance – it’s set in 1987, and so my two-year-old self shows up in the story!)

I also had a good loss at Slimming World this morning – only one and a half pounds away from getting back into my target range now – although I imagine that was partly due to being too busy to eat over the last few days!

A busy weekend coming up (especially as I started the annual NaNoWriMo push today). Glad I’ll be able to have a couple of quieter days at the start of the week!

Pumpkin lantern
Not an OOTD: finally got to light my lantern today (a whole day after Hallowe’en actually happened!). Hoping that the pumpkin will stay unsquishy for a few days so I can keep it going till Bonfire Night.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Squeeze – Cool For Cats
Tina Turner – The Best
Tones & I – Dance Monkey
Sarah Brightman & Steve Harley – The Phantom Of The Opera

Some time to breathe (raggedly) and a non-OOTD catchup!

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Back to a normal(ish) Thursday today.  I made it to Slimming World, even if I was half-dozing through group, and then my Pilates class got cancelled ’cause my instructor is also ill, so I’ve been able to have a nice quiet afternoon – and finally had the chance to read through my entire 120,000-word NaNo novel.  Looking forward to getting stuck into the editing over the next couple of months!

I’ve got a totally quiet weekend coming up, so hopefully I’ll finally have the chance to get over my cold properly.

I did want to get caught up with my OOTDs for the last few days, but honestly, I’ve just been wearing my ’80s jumper collection with jeans and leggings because I feel so rotten and need comforting jumpers on, and have been taking ill-looking selfies that nobody needs to see.  OOTD pictures to return when I start feeling better!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Queen – We Are The Champions
Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
Ozzy Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne – Changes
Duran Duran – The Chauffeur
Dean Lewis – Be Alright

Flying Saturday post

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Busily attending Electric Dreams.  Feel strange not having to write my NaNo novel today!

Today’s earworm playlist:

The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)
The Beatles – Do You Want To Know A Secret?
Take That – Babe
Duran Duran – Violence Of Summer
ABC – The Look Of Love
Little Mix and Stormzy – Power

And a bonus track that Geth was humming earlier:

Sheena Easton – Morning Train (Nine To Five)

Flying Friday post

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Off to the first night of a music festival this evening.  Will have lots to say tomorrow!

I do want to say that I finished my awesome overachiever 120,000-word NaNo today.  Very happy with that.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
Robbie Williams – Dream A Little Dream
Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder – Together In Electric Dreams
Kate Bush – Them Heavy People
Sia – Santa’s Coming For Us
Duran Duran – Winter Marches On
Pet Shop Boys – Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)