Mad Mondays: December 8th is TOASTMAS!

Ted the Postman is still hiding on the blog. First one to find him gets a virtual popsicle!

All right, readers, it's December 8th today. I have no idea what particular significance that has for the blog, but I feel like it should, so I shall declare DECEMBER 8TH an official Blogger Holiday called "Toastmas."

On Toastmas, the rules are: 

1. Eat a piece of toast at some point. This can be wheat toast, white toast, whatever you want it to be.

2. Write the word "Toast" at some point, using any media at your disposal. Get creative. Put it on your refrigerator or hang it on your wall.

3. Work the word "toast" into conversation as many times as possible, in completely innocuous ways. If someone notices them, tell them about Toastmas.

Now, following these 3 instructions, go forth and spread the spirit of TOASTMAS!

-JW (I'm not crazy, I'm just mad)

Weird Wednesdays: 5 Facts About Star Wars

So the new Star Wars trailer was released, and I figured it would be a good time to post 5 facts about the Star Wars films. Enjoy.


1. Yoda was originally going to be played by a monkey with a cane and a mask.

2. While filming lightsaber scenes, Ewan McGregor kept actually making the sounds of the lightsaber with his mouth, and they had to remove it during editing.

3. In an early version of Star Wars, R2-D2 was supposed to speak English and act like a jerk.

4. "I have a bad feeling about this" is a line of dialogue in every Star Wars film.

5. The disco version of the Star Wars theme was a No. 1 hit for two weeks in 1977.

Tuesday Tidings: New Content

Yo, readers! Thanks for reading today. Just a few quick announcements:

1. New posts on Saturdays. Since I don't always have a short story ready to roll out every Saturday, I want to fill that day of the week up with other content. What content, you might ask? Reviews (of books, movies, TV shows, trailers, ancient scrolls, types of pasta, etc).

2. Weird Wednesdays will be facts about anything I have been interested in over the past week or so, but I'm still open to suggestions, just comment on any one of my posts with a suggestion for blog content and I may include it.

3. Thursdays will now be Give Tribute to Your Galactic Overlords Day. Money is always appreciated, sure, but don't forget to bring basic toiletries, canned food, feminine products, coats, and magazines to offer up in homage to our Great and Majestic Alien Protectors. They also said they always appreciate a good pair of socks, so I recommend you bring some of those too. Also, be prepared for a surprise rehearsal of the Ritual of Human Sacrifice. I've been hearing rumors that Q'zalakathar'uluu is running low on souls of firstborn sons, and we're a bit rusty on our procession into the Cathedral of Death.

Thanks for reading,
-JW

P.S. Don't forget to look for Ted the Postman! He's hidden on the blog.

Mad Mondays: The Blog Awakens

Welcome, readers.
So the new Star Wars trailer looks awesome, just gotta throw that out there. But anyway, I'm not going to talk about it, there's not much about it that I want to say, except that I'm super pumped for the movie.

Anyway, this Mad Monday is kind of special because it's the first Mad Monday after NaNoWriMo, and also conveniently coincides with the first week of Advent. Just as the church year (for some of us; depends what church calendar you're following) begins at the end of November, my blog sorta does the same thing. NaNoWriMo is like the end of the blog year. So, I want to start this year off strong, with regular content, cute plushies, giant bananas of death, glow-in-the-dark blankets, and cheese.

Thank you for reading!

-JW

P.S. Everybody remember the postman (christened Ted by Hyperlinkzer)? Well, guess what, he's coming back. Weekly challenge will be for you guys to find him on my blog. I'll hide him somewhere new every Mad Monday. Winner might get a reward of some kind, I'm not sure what yet. Anyway, I've hidden him somewhere on the website for this week! Search the blog, ye readers. Find Ted and comment with his location.

I WON NANOWRIMO!!!!

At 50,000 words (according to my word processor) and 50,004 words (according to the NaNoWriMo word count validator), I crossed the finish line, on November 28th, 2014. My last sentence was "Sir, you're under arrest."
Since NaNoWriMo is over, the schedule will return to a more normal cadence on this blog. Anyone who hasn't yet won: good luck to you this November! Anyone who has won: congratulations! We did it!

All right, well, that was it. Now time to upload the Winner's banner at the top of my blog.

-JW

Weird Wednesdays: 5 Facts About National Novel Writing Month

All right, well, you readers of my blog know by now that I am participating in NaNoWriMo, and it's Weird Wednesday, so I thought, "Why not combine Weird Wednesday with NaNoWriMo?" So, without further ado, here are five facts about NaNoWriMo.

A NaNoWriMo Pep Talk & My Thoughts on Mockingjay

I'm penning this a few minutes before midnight Monday on the beginning of the fourth and last week of November. I'm here to talk about National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo.

I'm only about 800 words behind as of Sunday, and I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. Just keep pounding out words, and you'll make it, if you haven't already. And coffee does help (me, at least). I chug at 8 o'clock and start typing on the nights I'm behind. It also helps to have a really good song on loop. For me that's the Hanging Tree song from Mockingjay Part One.

Yes, I watched it; I'll give my spoiler-free review in just a paragraph or two. Right now I'm talking about NaNoWriMo. I'm here to tell you that Week Four is like the climax of your novel. It's when you sprint for all you're worth, staying up all night to bang out those words on your poor, overused keyboard, using your momentum to churn out words like a boss.

Whether you're at 0k, 20k, or 40k, you can still make it this week. Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing. Cling to writing. This month, you are your novel. You must complete yourself by getting the dang thing over with. Revision can wait; homework can wait (if it really really has to; I don't advise skimping on it though); TV can wait; laundry can wait. Just write until you're up to your eyes in the piled filth of your messy room. Write until your brain cramps and starts having fits of delirium. Write until your eyes bleed and then keep writing (don't actually do this; if your eyes start bleeding seek medical assistance immediately). 

Writing isn't an act of leisure. It's an act of bravery, of hard work. It's your job this month. You're stuck with your novel until you reach 50K. Then you're done. No one even cares if you revise it or you just move on to the next project or you just decide never to write a book again. You did it, this once, and that's what matters.
Sprint to the finish line with me, folks. Win NaNoWriMo.

-JW

Now my short, spoiler-free review of Mockingjay Part One.

It was the best movie in the series, people. Okay? It was freaking great. Not much action, but it was even better because of that. It dealt with PTSD, war crimes, morality, propaganda, lots of great issues, and still packed it into an entertaining, enrapturing film. It was great. Really heavy on the darkness though. Just warning you. And having read the books, I can promise you it only gets darker in Part 2. Mwahahaha.