Caterwauling

Fucknut Bush didn’t get an eviction notice. God damn it.

You are going to see me get more involved in my political party during the next four years.

Hillary Clinton in 2008!!!

I can’t even think about going to sleep. I have been glued to the TV since I got home around 8:30 p.m. I had wanted to work on my novel or maybe, I dunno, find paying work, but I can’t. There is just a snowball’s chance in hell that Kerry may take Ohio (although the Bushies seem to doubt it). I don’t know — I just can’t take another fucked-up presidential election selection like the last one … clearly, my vote didn’t count in my state, did it now?

And WTF is Wonkette doing on NBC? Representing the political coverage by bloggers? I’m going to refrain from comment or I’ll have the Secret Service at my doorstep. *sigh*

Well, my state (Old Dominion) has failed me. Still hoping for the homeland (Pennsylvania) to pull through. Although, as one of my friends noted, Pa. has two cities (Pittsburgh and Philadelphia) and the state of Alabama in-between. *sigh*

I was listening to 106.7 FM on the way home tonight. Some chick with ten million kids called in and said she’s moving to Canada if Kerry wins, because she thinks he looks like Frankenstein and she thinks George Bush is morally superior. I say anybody who is against abortion and lets moonbats like her procreate incessantly needs to be drowned in the Potomac River. Just sayin’. 🙂

I’ve said little about my political stances because, well, it was a decision I came to on my own and didn’t feel like debating. But among the reasons for supporting Kerry was the fact that A) Theresa Heinz Kerry (and her late husband John) are/were very good to the Pittsburgh community, and B) I used to work at Heinz. LOL. Those were not the sole or even the biggest reasons for my vote, but I used to work in the philanthropy field — five years in Pittsburgh, actually. I applied for and received many Heinz dollars for charitable programs I had developed and/or for which I was merely seeking funds. I met their foundation officers and really respected them. I liked how they really tried to make the community a better place and built bona-fide relationships with the organizations they supported.

In any event, I’ve digressed a bit. But I’m really, truly trying to be hopeful for Kerry to be our next president. I don’t want to imagine what will happen if yet another presidential “selection” occurs — I suspect there will be mutiny!

After the madness of finding a parking spot (20 minutes! Ugh!) and standing in a line that went out the door, down the hill and into Arlington, I finally got to cast my vote. Yay! Below are scenes from my neighborhood in honor of the day.

Kittens for Kerry! (aka my Bad Kitty who got out yesterday)

Seen along my drive today …

Gratuitous boob shot — so you can see my “I Voted” sticker, sillies! 😉

As long as it’s for JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT.

I’m sick of having Shrub as a neighbor. 😉

Come on, if the Red Sox can break their losing streak, then the country can break the four-year slump that it’s been in!!!

Not a registered or active voter? Screw it. Show up at your polling place and request a provisional ballot. As Jon Stewart is calling the “Daily Show” coverage today, it’s a “Prelude to a Recount” anyway — your vote will count eventually!!!

And wouldn’t it be ridiculously AWESOME if Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi played at the inaugural ball?

On iTunes: Bon Jovi, “Rockin’ in the Free World”

Although I’m not going to blog my novel, I will be providing updates throughout the month on my attempt at writing 50,000 words by Nov. 30.

Dave has made some excellent progress, as has Pratt, who is keeping up the Blog of Pratt as well as the Novel of Pratt. If anyone else out there is going through this crazy form of masochism, let me know and I will give you a shout-out because it’s important to remember that we are in this together!!!

As for me, I’ve written a bunch of words. That’s the idea — to write in a stream of consciousness. We need to crank out at least 50,000 words, and we worry about editing later. And this obliterates a number of excuses for me — I always start writing a poem or a story, only to hit a wall (often with my head!) because I don’t know what to write next and therefore stop writing. But now, I’m going to just jump on the muse’s magic carpet and ride out the dark and stormy night without regard for the bumps.

Now, as an editor (among other things now!), I am re-reading and changing things as I see fit. But it’s not a hard edit. It’s more like a “But that made sense when I had a cocktail in my hand at 1 a.m. last night!” realization. Then again, you’ve got to surrender to the fantasy world to get the creativity out, and if a bloody mary loosens the typing fingers, well, it’s a business expense for when the novel gets published. 😉

I am writing what I hope will be the first book in a six-part series. My main character is Stephanie; she is 16 years old in the early 1990s in Pittsburgh. Although, I have to admit, it’s hard to refrain from making pop culture references, so I may just set it in the here and now. I’d wanted her to age right along with me (i.e., she’d also be 30 when I get to the part of the story that happens in 2004).

Her life is, of course, out there, to say the least. I’ve managed to make the first ridiculous situation perfectly justifiable, but I’m about to start venturing into ground that I don’t know much about. And I will probably just write what is in my head and eventualy go back and fill in the holes that I will inevitably leave. But the bottom line is that Stephanie is a “real” girl (and looks like one — this is a character with whom a lot of women may identify) with an extraordinary set of obstacles.

Oh, screw it. Here is an excerpt that I posted. Read it and weep. 😉

That’s about all I want to say right now. I’ve been making notes on this character since I was 14, and I have a box in my closet full of notebooks on this series — the box is labeled “bondage materials” because I figured nobody would open it and mess around with what was inside when they saw THAT written on it! LOL.

Anyway, I hope to post more updates! To all my fellow NaNoWriMo-ers out there, we all rock and we will finish the task and we will get book deals — each and every one of us!!!

On iTunes: Jewel, “This Way”

That’s how fast I drove today from Fairfax City to my abode when my apartment management called to inform me that my younger cat Kadi was loose.

My next-door neighbor was kind enough to call the rental office for them to page me. I was out visiting my furry niece Chi and my furry nephew Jupiter while their parents are on vacation (I pick them up at the airport tomorrow, actually). I had just stopped at Fair Oaks Mall to waste some time when the call came through. And no kidding, I hopped onto the highways at the speed of sound and made it home in record time. I mean, hell, it took me more than a half hour to get there this morning!

So, alas, I came home to see Kadi dangling from the balcony railing as I approached. I yelled at her to go inside, and she did. I closed the balcony doors (it was almost 80 degrees today and has been for the past few days) and went to thank the neighbor who called. Another neighbor said, “Oh, that’s your cat? She looked so sweet but she meowed a lot at us, like she didn’t want us to come near her.” Yes, now the whole apartment complex has met the Short Bus of the cat world. *sigh*

Kadi is in her cage right now — I had to go out and buy a screen repair kit (because I just had the apartment management replace the screen three months ago), so we know what I’ll be doing in a few minutes. (Aside to Tiff, I’m feeling very handy tonight! LOL)

On iTunes: Melissa Ferrick, “Drive”