November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and I've found the impetus to do some hardcore writing. That meant I commit to creating a 50,000 word novel by the end of November--that's approximately 1,670 words per day--from absolutely nothing but the random firing of my synapses. Now, barely half-way at day 12 (20,040 words), I am still stuck at 4,000. The month's not over, but I do hope optimism-fueled writing works just as well as an inspired one.
Also, my sister is giving birth this month to Lucas, which is such a wonderful, amazing thing. I plan to visit and perform my uncle related duties in December. What those duties are, I have yet to know. Most of the uncles in my life are people I meet in family reunions that ask me if I have a girlfriend yet; I could start with that.
But surprise, surprise. A friend of mine just invited me to Malaysia for the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert. They're based in the US, but had a stint in Australia and picked Malaysia as a stop-over on the way back home. Seeing that the odds of having a ticket to Chicago, a US travel visa, and a holiday long-enough to accomodate the journey and the concert date was, by several leaps and bounds, less likely than me scrounging up money for a day-trip in Malaysia. I considered pulling the trigger.
Which made me feel stupid. If I can manage to book a trip to Malaysia, then I can manage a trip to visit my wonderful, amazing nephew in Singapore, too--so, I did.
I am quite aware this trip will burn me out, I also, with a welcome heart, understand that this trip will be the most rewarding. In that short weekend, family and nostalgia will come in mighty heapfuls, and I believe I have grown enough to know and appreciate with natural sincerity the value of both.
There's also church choir revving up for the 9 Carols event in December. So we're singing and practicing carols after Sunday mass every week, and I've learned to appreciate the time spent with people I've only gotten to know in such a short period, but who now seem to have opened their arms and welcomed me with sweet, sonorous music. Those Sunday's are quite magical, and much cherished.
And at work, they've asked me to be the booth dude at the company's job fair jaunt. There'll be graduating students at Odaiba for 2 days, and I'll be taking a shift of telling everyone how wonderful it is to work in our company. To this end, I've learned how to say "Let's build a bright future," "Let's build an amazing relationship," and, my favorite, "Let's work together, and have fun together," all in hopefully non-offending Japanese, or at least not creepy-uber-friendly-gaijin-might-be-looking-for-a-date Japanese. These are just college kids after all.
I've been making some progress in gym, too. Slow, but steadily getting meatier as the days go by. I've upped my egg intake-four hardboiled eggs from two--and soon I won't feel as embarassed when surrounded by naked grandpa's with clearly-defined abs and bulging muscles.
Then there's also the Autumn outing that we're planning. With just the 3 of us--Murakami-san, our HR lady, Em, ever helpful and attentive, and I--we managed to plan a trip for 50 people for Autumn. We'll be going to Chiba to see the fall leaves in the valley, pick fruits from the trees, and watch the night descend on a village festooned with a thousand shimmering lights.
There's also some undercover details and goings-on's that won't do me well to discuss here, but, suffice to say, fills my stomach with butterflies and will come to a close soon. There are exciting days ahead, definitely.
All that and day-to-day work, dorm lead duties, nihonggo studies, and the constant battle against mediocrity, I think I'm managing pretty well so far. But alas, there's still more work to be done.
So with a flourish, I finish tying my shoes, leave the hunt for four-leaf clovers behind, and step onto the road ahead. If you think about it, roads are lucky, too, if your feet, your determination, your willing heart can take you far enough.
Photo credit: super-rats
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