Victory is at Hand! (A.K.A. I won Camp NaNoWriMo)

I did it. I’m done. I just finished the very first draft of my very first novel. I wrote fifty thousand words in the month of July and completed Camp NaNoWriMo.



I have close my manuscript and I am not going to open it again until I go back to school in two weeks.
It is so weird to not have something to do. I don’t have a daily word count to reach. I have no looming goal. I am done. I finished my first draft with about 50,300 words and I am going to let it sit. However, when I pick it back up I am definitely going to add more before I finally start to edit.

I still am not used to the insane lack of things to do in the evening. I can get on my tumblr and reblog whatever I want and not have to worry about not hitting my word count for the day. It is very freeing, but also scary. What will I do now?

Thankfully, I am planning a web show in the near future that still has no script. I have things to do, but I have no major deadlines to reach. I should probably set them.

Love,
Alora

P.S. I actually won last Sunday on the 28th, but stay tuned I have two NaNo-related videos coming tonight.

Camp NaNoWriMo: Why Hello Week Two. Why Don't You Punch Me in the Face?

          So, if you haven't seen my most recent videos, which are now available in the handy video bar above, then you may not know that I am doing Camp NaNoWriMo this glorious month of July. Camp NaNoWriMo is an extension of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Camp NaNoWriMo is, unlike NaNoWriMo, not in November. Instead it is in April and July. Also you can choose to work on something besides a novel or revise, or continue previous work. With this addition users can also make their own word counts besides the usual 50,000 words. The people who take these options are called NaNoRebels. I am just doing the traditional fifty thousand words this July which is a lot of words so I am very busy.
          Every day I go to work and write on the drive there and sometimes on the drive home. I usually spend about 9 to 10 hours at work, so as soon as I get home, I sit down and write. This is my schedule for the day, so as you can see I do not have much free time to do things like blog and make great videos. I am still uploading a quick vlog every Tuesday, just to stay in the habit of vlogging. If I stop again, it may take years for me to start back up, again. So the next few July videos aren't going to be that great, but I will be editing more once August starts. However, I will not be editing that much until school starts again. I will still be working for the first half of August, and still busy. The only reason, you all got the Wizard Duel is because it was already mostly edited, and I finished it up in the car on the way to work one morning.
          I am going on a road trip on the first week of August, so I do not know what my video that week will be, but on the 17th I am going back to school and the land of free time. Next semester I will be busier than I was last semester, but I will still have more time to edit than I do now.
         Next semester I will also be filming a web show, that I am producing. It is as yet, nameless and scriptless, but if everything goes according to plan episodes will start rolling out in January. I will try to release a few trailers beforehand just so you all can get excited, but until then just imagine a X-men on a much lower budget and with mostly girls. I am excited for it, and I hope that you all will like it.
         So, if you have read this far, I love you, but I have to say good bye. I am very far behind on my word count, thousands of words, so I really need to nail it down. If you want a bad explanation of my plot, click on the first video in the bar above. This is my most recent video, to watch it on YouTube click here. The video will open up in a white box, that you can close at any time, by clicking "I'm done watching this." I hope you enjoy the upgrades. Also, clicking the Camp NaNoWriMo banner on the side takes you to my novel page that has a synopsis and excerpt.

Have a wonderful week guys,

Love,

Alora

What You can Buy With $2000

Hey, I haven't blogged on in a while so I have a lot to catch you guys up on.

First:
My job is going great. I got my first paycheck a week ago. My first whole month at PatientFocus is inclosed in the two thousand dollars. I am so happy. I can do so much! I know that I can't really do that much, but think of how much stuff I can buy.

40 pairs of nice shoes.
200 yards of fabric. (Joann's)
33 swim suits.(Land's End)
500 gallons of gas. ($4.00)
29 tanks of gas (17 gal.)
100 t-shirts (Think Geek)
1 acre of pasture (US average (http://dft.ba/-landdata))
18 bitcoin (http://dft.ba/-bitcoin)

That's a lot of stuff. (Each is how many of that object you can buy with $2,000)
I am going to have the ability to buy so much stuff at the end of the summer. I am thinking about getting a car. I have to learn how to drive first. I am quite terrified of driving and only have a few hours logged.

I have learned so much at PatientFocus. I am excited at all of the new possibilities. There are so many opportunities for developers and techie people, and look I am becoming one. Slowly but surely I am joining the tech community. It is awesome! I am going to do fun things with the Tumblr API later.

Until the next time:

Love,

Alora

P.S. These are my two most recent videos. Enjoy.

Apologies, Weddings, and Videos

Hey guys. I have been very busy with my new job. I started last Tuesday and then this weekend I spent three days without internet and in Atlanta for a wedding. I posted a new video a week ago and I will be posting a new one tonight as well.
Last Week's video:

This week's video:
(not up yet, sorry)

My cousin got married on Saturday, so I got to see a bunch of family and friends. Many of which I haven't seen in years, especially since before I went off to school. I learned that a bunch of my family. Way more than I thought reads my blog. Hi guys!

I am kind of taking a break from working right now, but I wanted to give you all my thoughts on weddings. My dad has promised to either pay for my wedding or pay the down payment on my first house. When he first told me this many, many years ago it seemed like a no brainer. Why would I want a big fancy single day, when I could get a house and many years? The economics of the choice is simple, but emotionally a wedding just seems awesome. There is a ton of stress in the planning and beforehand, but on the day of it just looks like fun. I won't have to decide between these two for many years, but every wedding makes me think. Do I want a house or a wedding? I have argued each side a countless number of times and I will most definitely decide and redecide before the actually decision is made.

That is what is going on with me right now. I am super busy working 12 days and busy, busy weekends. This is Alora getting back on schedule and signing off.

Love,
Alora

The Skunk Adventure

I am going to begin this adventure by asking you all to imagine skunk smell. All of you have probably smelt it in passing a one time or another. So think of that smell and then forget it. That is far away skunk smell. Up close skunk is so much worse it does not compare. It smells like burning rubber, onions, and gas and chemicals. It burns your nose and your eyes. Every theory you have about it is wrong. It is so much worsethan that. If you hav smelled a skunk up close before or even been sprayed I am sorry. I'm so so sorry. We can hide together. Nothing can keep out the smell. We went to the store to gt cleaning supplies and the car smelled like skunk from our clothes. It is so completely disgusting.

So now that you are maybe imagining the correct smell I will tell you the story.  So Hops really wants to touch a skunk, so she sends Zinny in to touch it while standing a safe distance away. Zinny gets sprayed and Hops is safe. The both ran into the house before we found out what had happened. Zinny went to every single floor before we found out it was her and sent her outside. We all hid in our rooms and Mom and Dad did research on skunk smell. The grossness permeated the whole house no matter how much we tried to hide from it. We reached the Publix approximately ten minutes before it closed. We manage to get all of the stuff and mom is currently washing Zinny with peroxide, hand soap, something else. I really hope we don't have to go find somewhere that sells tomato juice at eleven pm.

Try not to get sprayed by a skunk.

Love,
Alora

100th Post! *Band (that you should be in) Plays Fanfare*

(I only technically have 95 published posts, but I have five drafts that will one day be posts, so they count.)

          Yesterday, I had band practice. As most of you know, I play the alto saxophone in my school's band. The school year is technically over, but the entire band, corps of cadets and senior class has to stay until Saturday or Sunday. Graduation is technically on Sunday, but on Saturday we have commissioning and the VWIL change of command parade. In commissioning, from what I understand, the graduating seniors that have been commissioned to the Army, Marine Corps, etc. are recognized. I am not entirely sure if this is true. Feel free to correct me and I will correct myself on Saturday if need be. Change of command speaks for itself.
          In band practice on Wednesday we had fourteen people show up. The full band is slightly larger than that, but not by much. We should be bigger on a campus of 1,000 people. The fact that our numbers are so small is very sad. I love band with all of my heart and I wish that more people participated in it. I started playing when I was in third grade and I have loved band ever since. I know that all of the music nerds who read this are wondering about my views on choir and orchestra. I love choir too. I have never been in orchestra, but from what I have heard it is just as awesome as band and choir. I am mainly pushing band right now, but any music group that you love works too. I say band because it is my favorite, but you can substitute orchestra or choir if you want.
          Band is awesome. First of all, band equals music. You and your friends spend hours making and perfecting music. At the end of a song, right after the conductor cuts you off, if you are lucky, and you listen close, you can here an echo of the last note you just played. The cymbals still ringing and the epic song dying as you listen. It is a fantastic feeling. Second reason band is awesome: social opportunities. I have made wonderful friends in the musical world. Band pushes people together and makes them cooperate. Band is like free friend land. A group of people spend a lot of time together and just from familiarity become great friends. Third reason, satisfaction. I get a lot of satisfaction from band; there is a lot to be gotten. I have been playing for almost six years and the satisfaction at the end of every performance has not decreased. The satisfaction that comes from the applause of your audience is unparalleled. You just sit there as the echo of the song dies and the audience claps and cheers. It is one of the best feelings ever.
          I could go on for hours and hours with pros of band, but I want to address your inevitable cons. The point of this post is to convince you to give band, or chorus, or orchestra a try. I have been trying to convince people to join band for years, so I am very familiar with the excuses people give for not trying band/orchestra/chorus. They say that they do not have enough time, or they will be no good. They can't read music. They can't sing. They don't know how to play an instrument. In response to this I say:

SO?

It does not matter whether you can or can't sing. If you know how to read music. Whether or not you can play an instrument. The learning curve has to start somewhere. You are no good? That is because you haven't tried. Practice more. Give it your all. Band is not my "way of life" per se, but I still love it. I still try to push it on other people. Band is a great way to meet new people, learn new things, relieve stress, and be happy.

          Band is something that I plan on doing my whole life. It is a wonderful hobby. I encourage every single one of you reading this post to go try something. You don't necessarily have to do band, but try something new. I hope you join me in the band, but sometimes you honestly just don't want to. I understand if you do not like music, but please try something else. Join a dance team, a fencing club, a gamer's guild. Try something new. It does not matter whether you are good or not. Do it for the fun and satisfaction that doing it brings. That is why I am in band. I love it. 

Find something that you love.

Love,

Alora

P.S. Sorry I didn't post this yesterday. Tumblr and season finales ate my face.

P.P.S (I am such a child. :P) Also, I edited this one, so any mistakes are on me.

Happy Mother's Day and Roller Coasters

Happy Mother's Day to all moms. I went to Kings Dominion in Dosewell, VA yesterday as part of a school trip and I made this video for you guys. It will not embed, but you can watch it here.

This blog is going to be short today because I am not feeling so hot. I rode a bunch of rides yesterday and I vlogged about it so once I am feeling better I will put that up. I am doing an end of the year video on Tuesday so look forward to that and I should be all caught up on stuff by Wednesday.

Ride on.

Love,
Alora