Happy 2008

Since this is the first blog post of the new year for me (I'm always late, but at work, the students come back at the end of January, so that's when my resolutions always kick in), I want to thank the wonderful friends I've made this year. You've kept me company in boredom and despair and utter silliness. It's great to feel that I'm not in this alone, and that other people struggle with the same demons I'm fighting. Thanks for reading, for being around, for being great. I'm rooting for all of us.

In other news, I've finally lost that ten pounds Jed and I set out to lose in July, a fact that reminds me that slow progress is still progress. I wish it were more, but I'll take it. Also, I think that makes me the winner, unless Jed already lost ten pounds (I keep typing L's for pounds). So I get the big giant prize, right?

I wrote today, too. I set a timer and worked for a solid hour on my very first Gotham story, from last January. I'm surprised that the writing itself is weaker than I thought (yes, I am very arrogant; I think I write well and need to find something to say). The useful insight is that distance is very helpful. This story will go out sometime soon. I'm hoping to put a newer one in my Gotham booth, but I may not have time, with having to move and go to AWP in the beginning of February.

Oustanding post at Zen Habits on actually getting some writing done. We all know these things, but the post is still very helpful. (ps: if you comment, do you like links in new windows?)

As an accountability thing, I'm going to post a note on how much I wrote each day. Don't worry, I'm not going to keep talking about weight loss, but I would like to plug my new electronic scale. Not only does it give your weight to the tenth of a pound, it also provides body fat, bone mass, an IM talk client and photos from space. My bone mass is 5.7. I have no idea what that means.

Also, I've been working on a more serious post about women and rape and one of my favorite novels, Margaret Atwood's the Handmaid's Tale. I want to write some blog posts of essay quality, and I hope you guys will give me feedback.