17,288
That’s my word count on my novel, which I started writing on Nov. 1. Only 32,712 to go by Nov. 30. *sigh* It’s all good, though. I’ll make it, and if I don’t, I will still come close. It’s been going well today, but like I told Chris last night, the only good thing about my own struggles is that I can make my characters suffer, and that makes for entertaining prose!
And because I would be kicked out of the blogging community (well, not really) if I didn’t report on it, Scott Peterson was just found guilty of first-degree murder. It’s either life in prison or lethal injection. Of course, it’s California. He’ll be cellmates with Chucky Manson and getting more financial support than the average community of homeless people. Hurrah. Not.
Did he really do it? Don’t know. All signs pointed to it. But maybe Americans (and particularly these jurors) were seeking vengeance from being duped over the O.J. Simpson trial that captivated us nearly a decade ago.
It has been said and examined that the Peterson trial got so much attention because this was an attractive young couple in the prime of their lives; meanwhile, spouses are being abused every day with nary a word breathed in the media about it. (Who outside of Metro D.C. heard about Laura Rogers, who shot her husband for impregnanting her teen daughter?) But, whatever. Americans love their tragic love stories, don’t they? (Says the girl whose novel-in-progress is about one!)
What the Peterson debacle did bring, though, was controversial legislation — the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act” — that may or may not have hurt the women’s rights movement. In this trial, yes, I think it could be fair to say that a fetus at that gestational stage could, in fact, be counted as a murder victim. But I fear that this act is ultimately going to be used to chip away at “Roe v. Wade” even further.
In any event, we will remember Laci Peterson’s smiling face in haunting photographs, and we will envision the man that little Connor never had the opportunity to grow to become. We will say “good riddance” to Scott Peterson and his crazy hair colors and we will guffaw when he appeals the verdict. And our hearts will break all over again when another story of such emotional significance has us shaking our heads at the bizarreness and horror of it all.
On iTunes: Ani DiFranco, “School Night”
November 12th, 2004 at 8:49 PM
You’re doing the Na No Wri Mo (or whatever the hell it is) correct? I would have gotten into that if I’d known about it in time. I have a hell of a tale in my head. And it’s not all fiction, either..
I’m surprised that you aren’t convinced Scott Peterson did it. I don’t think it could have happened any other way and it’s been confirmed that he is indeed a sociopath and severely narcissistic. He had cheated on Laci before, too, which just tells me he had no love or respect of any kind for his wife.
I hope he gets executed, although I’ll probably be collecting Social Security before that comes to pass, the appeals process being as slooooooow as it is.
November 12th, 2004 at 9:08 PM
I really do think the jerkoff did it; I’m actually pretty damn shocked that he was convicted, though. And for the fact that he was found guilty, I guess I just had that voice in my head like, “Whoa, really? They actually convicted him? What am I missing?” LOL.
Social Security: You mean he’ll still be alive when we’re SUPPOSED to be collecting Social Security, right? 😉
November 14th, 2004 at 4:35 PM
Yeah, what y’all said. I’m sure there will be plenty of appealing going on. I heard some disagreeable jurors suddenly found themselves dismissed towards the end there. Since the UVVA is law, I’m not surprised he was also convicted on that, but I think the UVVA is a ridiculous piece of legislation in the first place.