the september update: second edition

When September ends, can you officially say summer is over?  I think so, though this last weekend was kinda humid and in the 80's which sure as shit felt like summer to me.  Is it all about the weather?  Seems to be, but apparently September's all about birthdays too, because there were so many of them throughout the month that I missed more than a couple entirely.  And if I missed your birthday, I apologize tremendously.  To quote Eddie Izzard, "I was dead at the time!"

I also can't spell "apologize" without spelling it with two p's first.  Thank god my only rule with the blog applies to not deleting any thoughts I write.  I can always correct the spelling, otherwise you'd know how dumb I really am.

Speaking of editing things, how about a lesson for y'all?  Anytime I go back to work on a book, I take with me a red pen.  Very rarely have I run out of ink when it was time to edit a book, but I think it's happened maybe twice on two separate projects in the last 14 years where I had to start a second pen.

With my second novel in its current state, I am on my fourth red pen.  I also still have 140 pages left to edit.

At the top of the left page, near the right hand corner, you see a small arrow.  On the right page, you see a bigger arrow.  Those aim for the opposite sides of their pages, where you will see the amount of work added to the scenes, respectively.

Wanna know the best notes I could ever leave for myself?  The fun little ones you see to the left of that red dialogue that says "expand."  How elusive sounding!  Expand!  And y'know what?  Nothing makes me want to go back in time and bitch-slap myself more than seeing that word!

Expand!

Expand!

EXPAND!

None of this is to say the book is bad, because it is quite the opposite.  There is just a lot of material that needs to be added to not only tie it more directly to Episode I, but to also expand on the new characters and direct you (the reader) toward the ultimate goal.  It's just a lot of work, and really it has taken up all of my free time in the month of September.  Every day off, every evening off, I am working on this.  I cannot wait to finish the edit so I can type it up and really sink my teeth into the continuation of Banning's journey.  A lot of my determination stems from people asking for the second book that have read the first, and that is plenty enough fire under my ass to get me going.

Other than the book there were of course other things that came about on the docket.  I was able to spend a good amount of time with all of my friends, including but not limited to rekindling my relationship with an old best, @kconn.  Coming back to an old friend that was there for so much feels a lot like coming home after a long time away.  I can't really explain why but I think the majority of you will understand what I mean.  Or not and who cares.

The only truly big event was Octoberfest, which by all intents and purposes is what ushers out summer and lets fall come high kicking through the door like Nicki Kidman at the Moulin Rouge.

I started my day at 9am downtown this past Saturday, meeting up with @markstyleme and Mr. Kloehn to begin the 2014 festivities.  I never was a big fan of Oktoberfest, and for some reason the allure of it has only captured me the last three years.  Before 2012, I'd probably been four times and never stayed for more than an hour.

One of those years I had diarrhea.

::shrugs::

2012 was the best year to start participating because it was so damn warm that day.  I was still working on the "26 Golden Things" video project and had a fantastic time filming throughout the day and drinking with my friends.  Last year it was warm but super windy to the point where it wasn't really that fun, and you kept wanting to put on a hoodie but didn't want to commit to carrying one around.  And then you have this year, without any wind and a temperature at roughly 80.  Decent.

The Mark's and I bummed up and down the avenue a couple times before grabbing some food and then each enjoying an Old Fashioned at this fantastic new bar downtown called Ambassador.  @caitcd met us there and then when the boys left us to move into their brand new house (new to them, that is), she and I began wandering up and down the avenue until running into @joleneelizabeth and continuing with her.  I started drinking a newer hard cider called Johnny Appleseed (beer gives me the worst chest pain ever within minutes of taking a sip, anyone have any ideas why?) that went down super easy.

We ate more.  We drank more.  I met up with Miss T eventually and then we split off, doing our own thing.  Eating.  Drinking.  And of course listening to music of which there was an absolute TON (and most of it was pretty excellent) this year.  The day wrapped for me around 5:30 when I decided to pack up my heels and go home.

They ran out of my drink anyway around 4:30. Pfffft.

I went back to my apartment and cleaned up a little bit in lieu of my love @jillybean coming up from Chicago to spend the night.  After quick hugs and exclamations of weight loss (she has) and long hair (mine is) we set off to meet with Miss T, Mr. J and a couple friends for dinner at Katsuya.  Does anyone else ever consistently strike out with hibachi dinner by getting the new guy?  It's not even the white guy syndrome either, because last time we went we had a white guy making dinner for us and we nicknamed him "White Lightning" because he was fuckin' amazing.

So after a somewhat lackluster dinner and enough bad jokes from whitey to fill a book, we headed out to see @kconn at his bar because he was working.  There were a lot of drinks, there was a lot of singing, and sometime between 9am when my day started and 1am when my day ended, I lost my voice.  But the memories of the 2014 Octoberfest will endure and for that I will of course remain eternally grateful.

Even if @jillybean spent the night on the floor of my bathroom puking.  And the morning as well.

Sorry girl, you had that coming.  Zing!

So what else happened in September?  I spent an evening killing hundreds of spiders with my trusty bucket of Orkin Home Defense and a battery powered sprayer.  I sold my old furniture, got a fantastic new sofa, and won Catch the Spirit (employee of the month) for my store AND district for the second time during my tenure at Pottery Barn.  I was catfished by a bitchy 17 year old, ate amazing southern food at the Cozzy Corner (and subsequently devoured my first hush puppy), and started listening to Christmas music.  I thought I dislocated my jaw eating ice-cream, wrote the second wedding speech I'll ever give, and of course burned the hell out of my forehead at Octoberfest for wearing my hair back in a knot all day.

Stay tuned for the next two blogs, one's about Halloween costumes and the other is of course the "Fourth Iteration" of this blog in which you find yourself, Musings of a Self-Proclaimed Author.  Coincidentally, it will also be my 100th blog.  Toodles gang!

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