Friday, November 02, 2007

What's the Word?

I'm planning on moving within the year, by the end of next summer likely. To a new part of L.A., at least. Perhaps out of state. X is on board. She's sick of the area, sick of her job. Some of you might be surprised by that, but I'm not. It's her nature. Restless. Always looking for the next thing. Says she wants to be somewhere closer to nature. Maybe she and the Douchebag can hurl themselves into the Grand Canyon.

He might be a wrench in the plans. X opined that her "relationship" might be an impediment, to which I said, "If you ask him to go, he'll go." She got this gleam in her eye, sure and mischevious, like someone who has no doubt who's in control, and nodded yes, yes he would. That simple gesture verified for me what the allure is there for her. I always figured she had complete control over him, like she never had with me. That he bends to her every whim, unlike me. Total devotion, illustrated further in a pumpkin they had carved in front of their apartment that said "I (heart) X." It's like they're 12 years old and he has a terminal case of puppy love, which kind of makes sense considering he's dumb and ugly. He's hit the relationship lottery. For now.

Anyways...moving. The problem is my lease runs out in February and if form holds, my swank desert complex will offer me new lease terms of varying lengths with commensurate rent hikes, bigger ones for fewer months, smaller ones for longer. They have a house edge bigger than the casino, even when the market is struggling, as evidenced by the flyer I got in the mail yesterday listing the costs of moving vs. the costs of renewing the lease. And the offers of free rent plastered everywhere.

I can't move in February. Not in the middle of AJ's school year. I could re-up for a month-to-month at exhorbitant rates until school's out and then go. Or I could play some hardball. Try to get a lease extension with my current rate, promising more revenue instead of another empty space. It might actually fly and would make the planning a whole lot easier. Failing that, AJ and I will take to peeing on the carpet.

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NaNo going well so far. I've stormed out of the gate to the tune of 3500+ words. I've gotten the internal editor drunk on cheap wine, so he's either silent or babbling incoherently, the latter of which meshes quite well with my writing mood. I've got the plot laid out, the characters outlined and some themes to hit. Just gotta line 'em all up. Eventually. On this first pass, I'm simply trying to get it down.

I'm definitely taking a week off from the BBTwo. Perhaps longer. Need a break from the game and comes at a good time where I can fill with writing, which is the idea of NaNo. Discipline. Do it every day. I'm down, though I'm not going to be writing the novel every day. I've got two other things percolating, as well. Bubbling even hotter than the novel and I want to keep those fires burning, too. Yes, one of them is a "Write Your Way In to the TOC" entry. Is there a word limit on that? Seriously. I'm looking at 2K already. Plus I have to post. All in all, should be a wordy November.

Anybody else on board other than Garthski and McFalstaff? Drop a note. We're all in this together.

3 Comments:

At 2:28 PM, Blogger iamhoff said...

I thought X worked for the property management company that handles your complex. Can't she hook you up for old times' sake or something? GL man, and GL with NaNo.

 
At 7:57 PM, Blogger Alana Noel Voth said...

I'd rather stub my toe ten times in a row than do NaNo. You rock though, seriously.

 
At 6:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm taking my first shot at the nanomowreeeeeeeeee. I had to drop poker too in order to keep the pace (which I'm not anyway....). I'm counting on some weekend surges.
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On dealing with lease renewals - make sure you don't waste your time with underlings in the rental office. I'm not sure what it is like in LA, but here in Boston if you aren't dealing with the top dog it is impossible to get them to think outside the guidelines they've been given ("but you have to do xxxx because it says so"). I had three people refuse an offer I made that was mutually beneficial for the rental complex and ourselves before I talked to the top manager and convinced her.

 

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