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Andy Chilton
Entries for archive: 2006-11
Found 14 entries.
I'm Starting x365 on my Birthday
This writing thing is beginning to get bigger in my life.
So here's the deal:
- I've always written a diary when I've been travelling
- at one stage over a few years, I wrote down all of my dreams (six in one night once)
- I wrote a personal diary for a year and a half a few years ago
- I've had an idea for a film screenplay for a long time
- and for a couple of sit-coms
- this blog started back in August
- I've just done NaNoWriMo
My life is taking a turn I never expected. Looking at it, I've always written things down, but it seems the writing thing is getting bigger and bigger. I would never have guessed.
Although I probably won't specialise in anything; fiction or fact, novels, screenplays or blogs, other random things I want to write about, I'll probably end up just doing whatever makes me happy at that time. Maybe it is just the act of writing rather than the subject matter.
Anyway, to continue my newly found hobby there are a few things floating on the horizon - three to be exact:
The first one is that I'll be doing \[p]{x365.org|http://x365.org/} from my birthday onwards later this year.
The second isn't secret but a few of us here in Wellington are possibly going to put a little something together - to be announced in due course.
The third is a secret and I will let it out of the bag when it is complete :-)
Labels: nanowrimo, writing, x365
Inserted: 2006-11-28 23:39 (5 years, 2 months ago)
Winning NaNoWriMo is One of the Best Things Ever
After chatting with Travis and Penny, I truely believe that this is one of my best ever achievements.
A lot of people in this world have a list. A list of the 100 things they must do before they die. And in a lot of cases, that list has things like:
- run a marathon
- do a parachute jump
- climb a mountain
- write a novel
Out of that list above, I've done two of them - the first and last. Granted, I walked the final quarter of the Auckland marathon (the wind was against me, see!) but I still did it.
And you know what, doing \[p]{NaNoWriMo|http://www.nanowrimo.org/} and fulfilling the fourth item on that list is about 50,000 times better than running a marathon. At least in my eyes!
So well done to the various people I know around Welly who have also finished it; it's been a great journey, an adventure, funny, hard, crazy, silly, tiring, awesome, completely bizarre and utterly enjoyable - I can't wait 'til next year.
Here are \[p]{Travis|http://cottreau.blogspot.com/2006/11/nanowrimo-2006.html}'s and \[p]{Penny|http://she.geek.nz/archives/331-holy-shit,-I-finished-nanowrimo.html}'s entries about finishing.
So thanks to Travis for pushing me and Penny for pulling me along these last 50,000 words! Phew. I need some sleep.
P.S. I don't have a list of 100 things to do before I die, but if I did, NaNoWriMo would be one of them.
Labels: nanowrimo, penny, travis
Inserted: 2006-11-28 00:14 (5 years, 2 months ago)
Things to do Before NaNoWriMo
I've been taking it easy the past few days though I have also been doing other stuff.
Basically it goes something like this. I was behind, I caught up, now I think I can make it. I'm currently on 44,999 so 5,001 words in the next five days should be easy enough! I have only started writing at about 10:30pm these last couple of days, but hopefully I'll finish by tomorrow night.
Instead of writing, I have been getting back into doing a bit on my site. Some things I've done in the past two days include:
- sending static content gzipped using mod_gzip (css and js)
- putting MochiKit into kapiti.geek.nz in preparation for funky things :-)
- changing the admin interface so I can delete comment spam more easily
...plus some other bits and pieces.
Also, after chatting with the Wellington Write-In people today, there has been some talk of doing one in June as well as, or maybe instead of, November. For a start it's winter then whereas at the moment, it stays light far too long to be stuck inside all day. Other than that, we had a really good laugh for two hours (hi to everyone that was there).
I guess we'll see how it goes though I'd love to get involved in it again and maybe even do some webstuff for it.
P.S. webstuff is a technical term and if you don't know what it means, you never will!
Labels: nanowrimo, mochikit, mod-gzip
Inserted: 2006-11-26 19:33 (5 years, 2 months ago)
NaNoWriMo Back on Track
After pulling out all of the stops these past 9 days, I'm now back on track to completion.
The best part about it is that my novel is getting more and more exciting every day I write some. It's been gaining momentum for the past week now and I'm still about 3 days (of writing) away from the climax!
I feel it's just flying off my fingers at the moment, so at least that means I should be able to continue and make the 50,000, especially since the amount I have to write has now come down to below 1,600 per day.
Finally, to all those keeping track of my progress, or any other Wrimo's progress, I challenge you to do it next year. I have already said that this will be one of my most favourite personal achievements so why not give it a go. I know I'm not finished yet, but either way it's been really good and just keeps getting better.
I went along the weekly Wellington Write-In at the library yesterday and one of the other Wrimo's mentioned a few novels which happened to be around 50,000 words. I didn't realise this but when you think of the likes of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which you have held in your hand at one time or another, well this will equate to that - if only in volume :-)
When I print it out at the end of the month, I think my smile will be broader than my face!
Labels: nanowrimo, challenge, personal-achievement
Inserted: 2006-11-20 23:21 (5 years, 2 months ago)
Earthquake #0003
At 2006-11-18 03:38.
I'm not sure if I actually woke up when it happened or if I was awake anyway, but this one certainly felt like a big one. I looked at my alarm clock and I remember it showing 03:37, so it must be slightly slow (used to be fine until the power cut last week).
Looking at the Geonet report, it says it was a 5.5 magnitude about 40km south-west of Kapiti which is a pretty big one really and way closer than the previous two I have reported here.
\[p]{Geonet Link|http://www.geonet.org.nz/x2654849g_l.html}
Labels: earthquake
Inserted: 2006-11-18 11:08 (5 years, 2 months ago)
Almost Half Way to Finishing My Novel
"The Bright Side of Casey Hill" is almost half way.
On my progress report, it says that I did 2316 words yesterday and so far today (we're only 2hr 17mins into it) I've done 1746. Technically though, it was all done on yesterday's date since I haven't been to sleep yet - that's 4062 in total!
But,.. if I think about it in a different way, it means I got higher than what my projected average was yesterday (by 196 words over 2120) and I'm already within 358 words of today's projected average of 2104.
That's really cool,
I figure I can write 358 words in around 20 minutes, so depending on when I get up - and I think I deserve a lie in - I then have the whole of Saturday to start knocking my projected average down :-)
Basically what that means is, since there are 13 days left, everytime I write 13 words my projected average comes down by one. I'm updating my figure regularly now because it is very exciting to see that figure come down...
...but it's even more exciting that we're heading towards the end of the third week and it's looking very good to finish on target.
P.S. \[p]{Penny|http://she.geek.nz/} passed 25,000 today, so congratulations Penny.
P.P.S. Travis passed another milestone at 35,000 today too, well done to you too.
Labels: nanowrimo, penny, travis, casey-hill
Inserted: 2006-11-18 02:33 (5 years, 2 months ago)
NaNoWriMo Obsession Takes Over Me
It seems that I can't think about anything else at the moment.
Take tonight for instance. I was meant to go out from work with a mate for a few drinks. But really, the whole day, I just wanted to come home and write!
I had a good day on Sunday, on Monday I found it hard since I was tired (just did 1,000 words), but tonight I was rearing to go.
And go I did. Again, I've had a good one and managing over 3,000 words has really pushed me back to believing I can actually do this - my expected average of the rest of the days is now under 2,000 at 1,934.
The best thing is though, my novel is getting exciting (hey, this is all from my point of view, so back off).
As I said at the start of the month, I am way out of my comfort zone here, I can't write, my English isn't great anyway but I don't care. I just want to finish this.
For the statisticians amongst you, I'm currently on 19,045 words, which means that I have hit over 101,000 characters on this here keyboard :-)
Labels: obsession, nanowrimo, comfort-zone
Inserted: 2006-11-14 23:22 (5 years, 2 months ago)
A Belter of a Day Writing for NaNoWriMo
I have managed a really good 4100 words today.
The competition between me and Penny is getting better and I think it's good since we are definately spurring each other on at the moment. It's always good to have someone running at near enough the same speed.
When this morning came around, I was on 10842 and am now on 14946, so I've have a belter of a day writing. The funniest thing is, on my \[p]{Progress Report|http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/ProgressReport/135623.html}, it has put today's 4104 figure in bold since it considers it an 'outlier' :-)
In their own words, this is a truly exceptional day so I will take that as a compliment as well as taking it with a pinch of salt.
Basically what this means though, is that I'm in a much much better position to actually get to the target before the end of the month. I think I might actually need more than 50,000 words to finish the novel but if I can say I've done the first 50,000 in November then I'll be able to proudly show off my certificate.
Inserted: 2006-11-12 23:12 (5 years, 2 months ago)
Small Makeover for kapiti.geek.nz
So after thinking about it for a while, I did it.
Here's a list of changes I've made:
- the menu system on the left is a bit easier and less cluttered
- the titles of each page are now the names of the page instead of a rubbish static one
- added which section you're currently in to the section bar above.
- added a links section to the blog to other people around Wellington (thanks Don, good idea)
Finally, I've also added a new 'content' section to the site which now serves up the index, about and credits pages. This way (moreso for the index page), I can change it regularly without having to do code changes and a new deploy.
In all this, I've certainly used a fair few nice Mason techniques including attributes and methods.
And just to get you off my back, I know I should have been writing tonight for NaNoWriMo, but I just felt like a night off!
Labels: mason, nanowrimo, kapiti-geek-nz
Inserted: 2006-11-11 01:37 (5 years, 3 months ago)
I Missed the Transit of Mercury
So not only did I forget ("I was busy!") but I didn't have the right stuff anyway.
Ah well, only another 10 years to wait for the next one.
D'oH!
:-(
Inserted: 2006-11-10 00:07 (5 years, 3 months ago)
WordWar on NaNoWriMo
Just so you know how I'm doing compared to the other people I know doing NaNoWriMo.
Of course, this isn't a War of Words, it just for friendly comparison. Anyway, who cares if someone has more or less, it's about getting the 50,000 by the end of the month.
Cool!
Inserted: 2006-11-09 12:38 (5 years, 3 months ago)
Second of Fourteen Transits of Mercury this Century
For what will be a great spectacle, Mercury is passing right in front of the sun for the 2nd time (of 14) this century!
Having never seen a transit of anything before (Mercury and Venus being the only two we can see from earth), I'm really wanting to buy myself a telescope and solar filter to take a look.
New Zealand is in the \[p]{privileged position|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6121822.stm} of being able to see the entire thing from Contact I though to Contact IV (\[p]{a good explanation of contacts|http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/transit06.html}).
If my timezone calculations aren't completely off, it should be occuring between 08:12 and 13:10 tomorrow, Thursday 9th November.
Now go out and have a look (but not without a proper filter). You won't be able to see if with your naked eye, but a small telescope should be big enough (again, DO NOT look at it without a proper solar filter)!
After having seen the \[p]{1999 solar eclipse|http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE1999/TSE1999.html} from a location giving totality , I find anything to do with the sun to be pretty amazing. At that time, I was working at \[p]{ESOC|http://www.esa.int/spacecraftops/index.html} on \[p]{XMM-Newton|http://www.esa.int/spacecraftops/ESOC-Article-fullArticle_item_selected-6_12_00_par-33_1069167510361.html} so that made it extra special. BTW: we did our LEOP procedures from the \[p]{control room|http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/esoc/virtualtour/content_full.html}.
But still, my favourite things about the sun is the images that \[p]{SOHO|http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/} has been taking.
Labels: xmm, mercury, solar-eclipse, esoc, space
Inserted: 2006-11-08 13:53 (5 years, 3 months ago)
5578 Words and Going Strong
It's Friday, it's 1am, I'm tired and I'm wearing sunglasses.
Okay, I'm not wearing sunglasses, but the rest of it is true. I'm now on 5578 which means I'm 578 words ahead of schedule. This could be a good thing because this month is shaping out to be extraordinarily busy,
Here's to show my support of \[p]{NaNoWriMo|http://www.nanowrimo.org/}:
I'm going to try and wake up tomorrow morning with more writing in me, since from about lunch time, I'm out the whole day until late.
Inserted: 2006-11-04 01:04 (5 years, 3 months ago)
NaNoWriMo Gets Interesting
I'm off to a good start, but there is so much more I need to do
On Tuesday evening when I was in bed, I couldn't get to sleep because I was thinking of NaNoWriMo. When I turned over, I saw that the clock was 11:57. Three minutes later it turned 12:00 and I started to get excited again.
Lieing there, I swear I could hear the faint tapping on keyboards all around New Zealand seeing as we're one of the first to start!
So Wednesday was the big day. I didn't really think about it much in the daytime, but on the train home, I finally plooted out most of the novel. In the evening I filled it all in before I started the actual writing which came much later.
By the end of Wednesday though, I had managed 1769 words which I was quite pleased with.
Thursday I was busy with other things but managed another thousand between 10:50pm and midnight, which I thought was good going. I'm currently on 2745.
So far, so good, though I have to do at least two hours tonight and lots more over the weekend.
BTW: Many thanks to wc -w novel for helping me out with the counting :-) I mean, it was crap in school having to count all your words for an essay wasn't it?
Labels: nanowrimo
Inserted: 2006-11-03 21:21 (5 years, 3 months ago)