I have to apologize

to myself, for making an iPod mix that contained Britney Spears' 'Overprotected', and then taking a route into work that made that the last song I heard. It will now be stuck in my head all freaking day.

It fits the novel, and I've decided one of the reasons I'm so far behind (only 27k!) is because I don't have a soundtrack. Every novel needs a soundtrack.

The problem is that the soundtrack I've created contains both 'Overprotected' and Linday Lohan's 'Confessions of a Broken Heart,' which makes me think that perhaps the novel is a bit overwrought and shallow.

Does including Click 5's 'Pop Princess' redeem me in any way? Yeah. Didn't think so.

not about subways at all

i just uploaded my first excerpt to NaNoWriMo, and the 'author pages' link from my profile formats the excerpt like REAL BOOK. EEEEE!!!!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/userbook.php?uid=61256

okay, to make this about journeys in philly, i wrote a few pages while sitting in rittenhouse square this afternoon, because it is a lovely day and ani had something to say. then i came home and wrote a 2k scene set in the place where i had lunch.

writing to change the world

today on my walk into work (see, i always try to tie these posts to journey-ing through the city, even if the transit strike has made the 'subway' part moot. ::kicks septa::), i listened to the Nanowrimo Radio podcast (which i finally got to download after three days of trying. of course, if you go to iTunes and type in 'nanowrimo', you get the darn podcast, just begging to be downloaded. its been a bad week.)

anyhow (i'm in a parenthetical mood today, evidently), the theme of this week's podcast is 'infinite possibilities,' and they did a few pieces on NaNo in the classroom. The woman talking about teaching NaNo to 7th graders totally made me cry. these kids went from thinking this was the most insane project in the world to becoming writers. they learned about dialogue, plotting and how to use commas. they learned how to read and look at the craft, more than just words on the page. they become novelists.

kick ass.

;->

15th and vine

how do i rat out the cop on the north corner of 15th and vine? the cops on the south side worked together to get traffic moving and allow us pedestrians to cross. the guy on the north corner just stands there and watches. seriously. i need to tell on this guy.

i discovered today that the iPod makes the commute much more tolerable. i hadn't been using it for fear of insane commuters mowing me down, but i'd much rather listen to ... well, anything, than deal with the constant honking.

i passed by love park on my walk in and evidently there is free internet access there. it might be worth it to bring the laptop just to see.

cops

due to the transportation strike, today the powers that be decided that cops need to be directing traffic. this would be okay if the cops were trained to be consistent. on my way in, the first cop i saw could have cared less. the second one very nicely made sure i was able to cross the street without getting killed.

at vine, which is a horrible intersection on a good day, the cops basically tried to get pedestrians killed. hey! i'm doing the RIGHT THING here! we should all be walking! take regional rail into one of the major stations and then walk, people!

oh, the septa strike is fun.