: Rebounding
---To everyone who has tried to cheer me up in recent days and weeks, whether it be through this journal or over IM or on the telephone or wherever, thank you. Your words and the effort behind them mean a lot, and they actually helped a good deal. The battle with my own self-esteem appears to be a daily one, and though there are days where I win, there are still far too many where I lose, and it's nice to know there are those around me who love me and care about what I'm going through. Even if I sometimes feel like I don't deserve it.
---I realize the official NaNoWriMo is in November -- and that I'm still not finished my first draft of my first novel, even though I met the 50,000-word goal -- I'm tempted to try it again, on my own this time. I'm reading a book titled No Plot? No Problem! a Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days written by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty, and it has me excited to try the process all over again ... this time with a novel not based on the Buffyverse.
---Everyone knows how much I love the TV show Bones, and now I've become hooked on the novels written by Kathy Reichs that were the inspiration behind the show. I've finished her most recent novel, Devil Bones, and I just started what many consider her best work, Bones to Ashes. She's a really good writer, and I like the first-person perspective she uses -- that, and I'm always in the mood for more Temperance Brennan. I can actually hear the TV Brennan talking when I read these novels, and even though I've yet to see any sign of an FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, I still recommend Reich's books to anyone looking for a good read.
---First the Tampa Bay Rays go to the World Series, now the Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. What's next? Robby Gordon wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year? If that happens, I'm switching over to Formula 1.
---Less than a month until the Daytona 500. Gawd, I can't wait.
---Yes, I'm still a bit of a redneck. I didn't outgrow all of it. :P
---Grandma update: She's doing well, despite fainting this morning (though we think that was just low blood pressure or low blood sugar). She's had five chemo treatments so far, and she'll have an MRI on Tuesday to check the size of the tumor in her arm. They'll give her one more treatment on the 26th before deciding how to proceed next -- if the tumor's gone after the next treatment, she might not need the final two treatments. No word yet on radiation after the chemo's done. She's doing fine, though, and she appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers -- as do I.
---Got a bit of perspective the other day while working on a feature story for the Hampton University athletics website. Jericka Jenkins, a freshman on the school's women's basketball team, is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 14. That means she spent most of high school enduring chemotherapy and trying to find the energy to keep playing basketball. She's been cancer-free for a year and a half now and she's an incredible ball player -- but her strength is even more impressive, and it gives me a nice dose of perspective when it comes to my problems.
---To everyone who has tried to cheer me up in recent days and weeks, whether it be through this journal or over IM or on the telephone or wherever, thank you. Your words and the effort behind them mean a lot, and they actually helped a good deal. The battle with my own self-esteem appears to be a daily one, and though there are days where I win, there are still far too many where I lose, and it's nice to know there are those around me who love me and care about what I'm going through. Even if I sometimes feel like I don't deserve it.
---I realize the official NaNoWriMo is in November -- and that I'm still not finished my first draft of my first novel, even though I met the 50,000-word goal -- I'm tempted to try it again, on my own this time. I'm reading a book titled No Plot? No Problem! a Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days written by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty, and it has me excited to try the process all over again ... this time with a novel not based on the Buffyverse.
---Everyone knows how much I love the TV show Bones, and now I've become hooked on the novels written by Kathy Reichs that were the inspiration behind the show. I've finished her most recent novel, Devil Bones, and I just started what many consider her best work, Bones to Ashes. She's a really good writer, and I like the first-person perspective she uses -- that, and I'm always in the mood for more Temperance Brennan. I can actually hear the TV Brennan talking when I read these novels, and even though I've yet to see any sign of an FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, I still recommend Reich's books to anyone looking for a good read.
---First the Tampa Bay Rays go to the World Series, now the Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. What's next? Robby Gordon wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year? If that happens, I'm switching over to Formula 1.
---Less than a month until the Daytona 500. Gawd, I can't wait.
---Yes, I'm still a bit of a redneck. I didn't outgrow all of it. :P
---Grandma update: She's doing well, despite fainting this morning (though we think that was just low blood pressure or low blood sugar). She's had five chemo treatments so far, and she'll have an MRI on Tuesday to check the size of the tumor in her arm. They'll give her one more treatment on the 26th before deciding how to proceed next -- if the tumor's gone after the next treatment, she might not need the final two treatments. No word yet on radiation after the chemo's done. She's doing fine, though, and she appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers -- as do I.
---Got a bit of perspective the other day while working on a feature story for the Hampton University athletics website. Jericka Jenkins, a freshman on the school's women's basketball team, is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 14. That means she spent most of high school enduring chemotherapy and trying to find the energy to keep playing basketball. She's been cancer-free for a year and a half now and she's an incredible ball player -- but her strength is even more impressive, and it gives me a nice dose of perspective when it comes to my problems.