The month-long holidays for November are: Banana Pudding Lovers Month, National Memoir Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Not many. Banana pudding is heavenly! I've already written a memoir. I can't imagine writing one in a month. Same with NaNoWriMo. I've heard some people try for it. It's quite an undertaking. None of my novels were done within a month. The fastest for me was roughly 4 months while working on 2 at the same time. (So, about 2 months each?) I would have had to write for several hours every day, without blocks. I sometimes get writer's blocks, and I can't imagine doing it for that long every day without getting them. So, I admire people who can finish any type of novel in just a month. Novel-length is rather long, too. I think I remember that the minimum is usually around 60,000 words.
My birthday's tomorrow, and I celebrated a little this past weekend. Went to a nice Thai place for dinner on Friday. Red Lobster Thursday night. Although, that might not have been directly to celebrate my b-day. With what I can order, there's good food there, too. Went to Starbucks on Sunday and got their new chocolate swirl brioche and a vanilla creme frappuccino. The brioche seemed similar to a rugelach or babka. I hadn't had the drink in a very long time. The creme versions are nice, since they don't have coffee. (I'm not fond of coffee.) Plus, creamy vanilla is a great flavor. I consider frappuccinos as decadent. Like, having ice cream or a milkshake. I don't have them all the time. Probably with that and the brioche, that snack was packed with sugar. As long as I don't do that all the time, it's all good.
On Saturday, I got a mani/pedi. It had been 5 years, and I had only about 2 before that. So, they're rare for me. Some people might consider it a 'girly' thing. I don't. To me, I get to be pampered, have pretty nails, and cool nail colors. I think people of any gender could enjoy that. My feet and hands still feel so soft...For my fingernails, I got a gold/bronze (depending on what angle you look at them) polish with lots of glitter. The polish for my toenails is an electric blue. It reminds me of a color I used to have. Nobody else's going to really see my toes, but it's still a nice thing for myself.
I would like to go to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday, too. It'll most likely be during this weekend. They have such a variety of food. I also haven't actually had their cheesecake in a very long time. The few times we've gone, I usually don't get any dessert. I remember their cheesecake is amazing! I think trying their cheesecake for the first time was what made me fall in love with cheesecake in general. I used to hate and avoid it. Weird for a cheese lover, but there was something about the ones I tried previously that turned me off of it. Another possible restaurant would be the Oak Table for brunch. Their apple pancakes are really over the top. The only problem with both places is the wait times.
Other places I want to go to: a local marine science center (haven't been there since the remodel and the giant octopus statue that was put up), a little shopping at the mall, a local naval undersea museum, maybe a movie at a theater, and a play based on Agatha Christie's Appointment with Death. I don't need to go to all of them (they're mainly just ideas), but they sound like they'd be a nice way to celebrate it.
I managed to get my walks in for today and yesterday. I've been trying to go for one of my 2-mile walks a day for a while. I thought after dinner would be the perfect time. It only worked out a couple of times. I've moved it to just before my afternoon snack this week. So far, it seems be a much better time. Plus, after dinner, during this time of year, would have meant walking in the dark. While I have 2 different flashlights, it doesn't seem as safe and I don't get to see as many things. This new time is nice, since I most likely won't bump into kids on their way home from school. Sometimes the high schoolers mistake me for one of them. I apparently look much younger than I am. There aren't that many people out in general at that time, as well. Hopefully, I can keep this up and eventually add another daily walk in. If I do, it'll probably be a morning one.
Studied Italian both today and yesterday. I took a mini break from it this past weekend. (Might do that again this coming weekend.) I also managed to get to drawing more of Shadow both days. I'm still figuring out a better design for his head, but I should be moving on to the rest of his body soon. Although, the hair might take me a while to get it just right...We'll see. I think he's already looking better than the last time I drew his head.
Played my clarinet for both days. I seemed to not be as flexible with my fingers as I should be. It slowed me down. Kind of frustrating when your hands won't go fast enough or they freeze for a 1/2 second. I know it'll get better if I keep it up. I probably shouldn't have gone for a walk right afterwards today...It made me feel really winded. Walks help with controlled breathing, so it's beneficial for woodwind players that way.
I've been editing Alliance, too. I decided to not rush through an entire chapter each time. I noticed in the amount of time I give myself, I get through roughly 1/2 a chapter each time anyways. That's not bad. I'm finding a ton more errors. I think I know why it's so 'off'. I had the dialog written out similar to how a screenplay would be. I remember taking a film class where we learned how to write them. I liked it. I used that at the beginning of Alliance at first, because the story is very character/dialog centered. It made it easier. Not only for writing it, but it had a flow and probably easier on readers. I switched the dialog to a regular novel format at some point. It made it choppier, and I don't think I was really paying attention to it. I might switch it back to the screenplay format. It's also artistic license, where I can tweak it however I want. It might shorten it even more.
Youtube:
One Piece:
This is most of the story up until they meet again after being separated for 2 years:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Servamp:
Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angel of Slaughter):
Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:
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