I have just arrived in Italy, my mind is whirling and I cannot process everything at once. This is amazing, I am so excited.
I will have a better update for you when my brain isn’t a pile of goo.
It’s been a while!
Howdy!
So much has changed for me in the past few months, I can barely decide where to begin. Actually, how about I catch you up with the present. On Monday, Memorial Day, I am leaving for a month long trip to Italy. I’ve joined the WWOOF program and cannot wait to get on the farm with my sleeves rolled up. I am also spending a few days with my family over there, I am excited to see them.
I finished my proofreading position in early May. At first I was scared because I didn’t know what I was going to do after that, but then I decided to follow my heart. And my heart was grasping for Italy.
When I went to Italy five years ago for the first time, my soul was awakened. I see Italy as hallowed ground for me. All my past is rooted in there. It was important for me to go and to walk where my ancestors have. It was very special to me.
Now upon my return I am looking to establish a connection with the earth, the very ground that has sustained this life. My journey feels some parts spiritual as it does fulfilling my wanderlust bug.
I will be learning all about biodynamic farming and reaffirming my belief that our food needs to be organic, pure. My health depends on this as much my mind. I’m excited for the manual labor.
I will have internet connection in Italy so I will be updating. For the next month this will be my travel blog. Stay tuned!
Poetry
Being stuck indoors with our lousy winter weather has let me get back into reading poetry. I have revisited a few of my personal favorites ‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’ by Mary Elizabeth Frye and an anonymous, untitled poem I found online a few years ago:
I gave the hero of this story trust
issues. So that when his castle fell he
wouldn’t worry about the damsel still
calling from the ramparts, where I hold court
in the dust. For this is my battlefield
where the headstones will read like love letters
and the weeds will serve as the royal seal.
I gave the hero of this story hope
a magic bean and two old china cups.
But the china, brittle, the bean rotten
as these once fertile lands lie waterlogged.
You can’t grow your crops here, boy, go home.
I’ll drown this hero before he can stand
the sight of the muddy bank. A hero’s death.
I gave the hero of this story bread
water, and melody. To help him sleep
soundly and noiselessly, still. Arms, pillows
sway to the metronome of the city
beating such a heroic retreat. Stand
with fingers touching, childlike and brave.
Until the next wave comes and holds. It breaks.
–
Found here.
I’ve also been reading a bunch of T.S Eliot and Jonathan Reed. Good stuff. Poetry speaks to the soul. And my soul has been doing a lot of searching recently.
I’m looking for more poetry, and may pick up a few compilation books once the weather allows me to venture further than the driveway.
Good Times
We’re approaching the tail end of January. And when things come to an end we become very reflective. Sometimes, without realizing it.
I have to start out with saying how proud I am of myself. A vain statement, but for the struggle I’ve endured the past year, these last two months have really brightened my life. I am happy and on my way to the success I have always strived for. I’ve been working hard but I enjoy it. I celebrated my recent accomplishments by buying my dream laptop. My old laptop died right after Hurricane Sandy (or Tropical Storm). I used my sisters laptop up until now. It feels great to have my own personal machine to get things done.
I’m finally reaching a point in my life where everything is coming together. I can plan for big things now and that is already a nice sentiment to look forward to.
Here is hoping everyone finds the success they have worked hard for and searched for. It can be a long or short road, bumpy or smooth. The important part is to just keep going.
I won NaNo!
All November I had been blathering on about NaNoWriMo, so if you’re reading this you’re likely to know the gist of it as well.
I validated my novel around 6 p.m. local time on November 30, 2013. NaNo was one of the most thrilling, stressful, and fulfilling ventures I have ever undertaken.
Some further obstacles I faced while writing to reach the 50,000 minimum were going away for a week in November to Phoenix. It was a whole week of not writing, not thinking about the story, and alas, when I came back home just a few days shy of Thanksgiving I had no motivation to write/ ideas to propel my story. I was at about 35k for the word amount around Thanksgiving, and there was such a crunch to reach the deadline. It was exhilarating.
Since it has been almost a month since the end of NaNo, I have been quite busy. I started a new job and have been training and trying to balance everything else in my life with it, so I haven’t spent any time writing or editing. I hope to give myself some extra time and come January pick it up again. I would love to start trying to get a book deal or self-publish in the spring time.
This past month has also been exhausting for the major fan in me. My beloved Doctor Who series had their 50th Anniversary special last month, and last night, on Christmas, I saw my Eleventh doctor depart from the show to welcome in the new Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. I will not get too into it but Matt Smith is my favorite Doctor, so it was very hard for me to watch him go. The sadness in his eyes as he said his last lines were incredibly tough and I definitely spent my Christmas night sobbing into my pillow and squeezing my cat. I will miss you incredibly so, Matt Smith.
Also, the new Sherlock season starts next month and we were graced with a mini episode. It definitely has me excited. I’m talking about the Sherlock series on the BBC. Gosh, I’m such an anglophile.
In addition I saw the movie Frozen last month and thought it was truly magical. I love the direction Disney went with it. The music was a glorious mix of classic Disney tunes and Broadway ballads.
I also went to an advanced screening of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug a few weeks ago. It was PHENOMENAL. Yes, the book purist will definitely have problems with it, but I love the story Peter Jackson has added to the classic book. I do not believe he tainted it.
So there we go, a big write-up right before the New Year.
I hope everyone has been having a lovely holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and will have a joyous, prosperous, and most importantly healthy New Year!!
So far, so good!
Well it looks like my first NaNoWriMo is going swimmingly. I just reached 35k. Remember the goal to reach by November 30th is 50k.
I charged through today writing six thousand words. Tomorrow (technically today but it is only a little after midnight) is a busy day for me. So I won’t have much time to write.
Sunday I might actually be leaving for Arizona to visit my brother, his gf, and their pets! I hope my travel plans work out! My brother moved out of there about six years ago for college and he’s anchored down there. I’ve never been there.
That’s why I blitzed out 6k today! I need to be ahead of writing. I may print out the last few pages of my story and bring a notebook to add on a bit, but I don’t know if I can fit it in my carry-on.
Perhaps I’ll get a little more down tomorrow night before I leave on Sunday morning. If you do not hear from me all week it is because I am enjoying the beautiful 80 degree Phoenix weather. Oh yeah, be jealous! It will be nice to revel in the warmth while in New York we are teetering on 40/50 degree days, and very chilly nights!
Still excited….
I’m still excited over NaNoWriMo, so I decided I just need to share my Facebook photo/cover photo. This is on my personal account. If you’d like to follow me, please follow on my professional public page, Laura T. Cerrone.
Look how glorious this is! I have a crown! And the infamous British wartime motivational saying fine-tuned to feed the needs of a NaNoWriMo-er (that is getting to be a doozy typing out constantly, haha).
And now, back to the story!!
Happy NaNo!
Good afternoon!
It is November 1st! And that means the start of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo!
This year is the first year I’m participating, and lo and behold I’ve just written my first sentence! A breeze. Thousands more to go I’m afraid.
NaNoWriMo has participants write every day, from Nov. 1- Nov. 30 and complete 50,000 words. A novel!
So I am not going to drabble on, since my goal is to hit about 2,000 words today and I’ve got… 27.
So I’ll bid you adieu!
The Journalism Toolbox
A funny yet cynical journalist page I follow on Facebook posted this highly useful resource list. I know about a bunch of the ones on the list but would like to share with you the completed list of media resources. I think tomorrow I will spend most of the gleaning all the good I can from these pages. This will inevitably turn into a multi-day thing, so I will be updating constantly with my new finds and my thoughts.
Here’s the page and if you have any others that are not listed there, please comment below!
http://journalismdegree.org/new-media/
P.S: I am also participating in NaNoWriMo this year! If you’d like to be friends there, contact me!
Research- What’s in a name?
I’m looking to interview people with the same name as any notable public figure. If you or someone you know shares a name with a celebrity, criminal, fictional character, or any other famous name, please do not hesitate to contact me.
My email is lauratcerrone@gmail.com.
Please help me find these people.