Interesting multiple birth

Thought that this was interesting enough to share:

Woman with 2 wombs has 'twins'

The NaNo Plan

(i.e. The plan for how I'm going to write a 50,000 word novel in November)

Less than 5 hours until National Novel Writing Month begins! So, this year I haven't spent a heck of a lot of time getting much planned, so I guess I'll mostly be winging it! I have about a half dozen characters that I've thought of, and I don't think any of them have names yet. I've got a basic plot idea, but nothing significant planned, no secondary plot lines or anything like that. What I do have is a plan of action:

• I've borrowed a laptop computer so that the internet will be less of a temptation (oh those evil NaNo fora!) and so that I can take my novel away with me (to school for breaks, to Regina, etc.).
• I plan to write for 30 minutes when I come home from school, then write later in the night after I've gotten some school work done (I'm thinking of starting around 10 or 11 p.m.).
• I have a daily word count goal. Instead of going with the standard 1667 words per day, I've looked at how busy I am and set goals accordingly.

So, I'm thinking this looks fairly under control... Aaaaaaagghhhhhhh! Or whatever....

Here are my wordcount goals:

• Week 1: Nov. 1-3: 500 words, Nov. 4,7: 1000 words, Nov. 5,6,: 2000 words Total: 7500 words
• Week 2: Nov. 8-11: 1000 words, Nov. 10: 1500 words, Nov. 12-14: 3000 words Total: 21,000 words
• Week 3: Nov. 15-18: 1000 words, Nov. 19-21: 2000 words Total: 32,000 words
• Week 4+: Nov. 22-30: 2000 words Total: 50,000 words

Or if that makes no sense to you, this is where I'd like my wordcount to be at the end of each day:

Nov. 1 500 Nov. 2 1000 Nov. 3 1500 Nov. 4 2500
Nov. 5 4500 Nov. 6 6500 Nov. 7 7500 Nov. 8 8500
Nov. 9 9500 Nov. 10 11000 Nov. 11 12000 Nov. 12 15000
Nov. 13 18000 Nov. 14 21000 Nov. 15 23000 Nov. 16 24000
Nov. 17 25000 Nov. 18 26000 Nov. 19 28000 Nov. 20 30000
Nov. 21 32000 Nov. 22 34000 Nov. 23 36000 Nov. 24 38000
Nov. 25 40000 Nov. 26 42000 Nov. 27 44000 Nov. 28 46000
Nov. 29 48000 Nov. 30 50000!

Early on the wordcount goals are pretty low, so I should be able to meet my goals without too much hardship. This will allow me to feel good about how the writing is going, and motivate me to continue pushing on. November 11 is a day I've only set to write 1000 words, but I have absolutely no commitments that day and should be able to get much more written. I've also set myself a couple of rewards this year:

• If I reach 25000 words before Nov. 19 (when I am likely going to Regina for a dance event), I will allow myself to buy a nice dance object when I am down there. Something like music, jewelry, a sword, a drum. I made $60 dancing last weekend, and I've set that money aside for the trip.
• If I reach 50000 words I will buy myself the Earthworm Jim cartoon series. Yay!

I was hoping to come up with more rewards along the way, but this is as far as I got. Oh well, two rewards is better than none! I'll just have to reward myself with fun!

The Highwayman

By Alfred Noyes

Part One
                               I
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding-
               Riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

                               II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
               His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

                               III
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
               Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

                               IV
And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
               The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-

                               V
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
               Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

                               VI
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
               (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

Part Two
                               I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-
               Marching-marching-
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

                               II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
               And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.

                               III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
               She heard the dead man say-
Look for me by moonlight;
               Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

                               IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like
years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
               Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

                               V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
               Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.

                               VI
     Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs
ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did
not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
               Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up strait and still!

                               VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
               Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.

                               VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
               The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

                               IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
               Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.

       *       *       *       *       *       *

                               X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
               Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

                               XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
               Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. 

Saying

This should explain a little about some scientists:

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

Smarter than a monkey

Your Final Quiz Score: 37 right out of a possible 60
The Monkey's Final Score: 15 right out of 60

You asserted your intellectual superiority brilliantly! The monkey is now left contemplating his own inferiority. Where others have failed to claim the mantel of unequivocal dominance over lesser species, you have truly succeeded! Congratulations on besting the ape and reaffirming the capabilities of the human mind. You have done mankind proud.

You scored in the 88th percentile.
(88% of quiz takers scored worse than you)

Geography Your score: 11 Monkey's score: 4 -- Quite a sufficient job.	History Your score: 10 Monkey's score: 5 -- Not too bad.
Science/Technology Your score: 6 Monkey's score: 2 -- Well done.	Random Trivia Your score: 10 Monkey's score: 4 -- A handy defeat of the monkey.

Link: Take the Trivia Challenge

How I will die...

You scored as Disappear. Your death will be by disappearing, probably a camping trip gone wrong or an evening hike you never returned from. Always remember that one guy who was hiking alone and got in a rock slide. He could have died, but he cut his own hand off to save himself. Don't end up like him (or worse, dead). Suicide 80% Bomb 80% Disappear 80% Gunshot 67% Disease 60% Natural Causes 60% Poison 53% Eaten 33% Cut Throat 27% Stabbed 27% Suffocated 27% Drowning 20% Accident 13% How Will You Die?? created with QuizFarm.com

This is a pretty bleak result! Disappearance, suicide, and bomb all tied! Not that any of the answers would lead to something good like me living forever. At least I don't need to worry about dying in an accident...

My Cyborg name

I rather like this one!

My Monster Name

How weird are you...

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

Aagh! Where am I?

Hi! I've been stupidly reading NaNoWriMo forums again... and not accomplishing a lot. I had a major midterm on the 6th, and I feel really good about it. Studying for it went well; a real improvement over last year. Last year I would study and get more and more down about not knowing anything. This year I feel like I learn more and more when I study, and gain confidence too. Yay! I'm coming back! Over all I know I'm feeling happier a lot more frequently than I have in a long time. I'm still having some confidence issues and some down days, but I find I'm not feeling crappy and wishing I felt happy so much.

I'm still hoping to do NaNoWriMo this year, but I don't think I'll do the idea I mentioned before. I have more of a chick lit idea now, with a woman who falls for a married man (who never tells her he's married) then gets a nasty trouncing for it when she is confronted by an acquaintance about it. Her life falls apart, but in the end you know it will get better. I've decided that if that it takes me less than 50,000 words to write that, then I'll warp my characters into the plots I had planned out for the last few years but never got to use (i.e. my main characters get abducted onto the Spaceship Love Machine (2003), later escaping back to earth but finding they're 1000 years in the past in Iceland (2002)). I plan to start my novel with one of the '50 Last Dates' from last years NaNo novel plans.

I've planned out how much I think I can write in a day, gauging by what things I've got going on in November. I'll be starting out slow, then coming in with higher word counts at the end of the month. I'm also trying to start preparing now for some big things in the first week of November (midterm, presentation) so that I'm not wasting lots of energy on them instead of my novel.

seems i've been tagged...

Another Tag from Lynette... Go to your 23rd post....find the 5th sentence.....report it here.


For me that would be this post:

Thursday, June 09, 2005

y.e.t.a.n.o.t.h.e.r.e.b.a.y.l.i.n.k.
I've been looking for percussion instruments on eBay lately. Maybe if you bought it you could make your money back by charging people money not to hit them with it! Newfoundland Ugly Stick

As you can see, this post is not even 5 sentences long. However, if you believe that a period always ends a sentence, then I guess my 5th sentence could be "n."

How very profound.

P.S. This is my 65th post.