My Attention Is Likely To Be Elsewhere For A While

As of tomorrow, I will be publishing a series of posts called Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key on my reading blog, RAB-PIA. This will be based on my then participation of Bookcrossing's read-a-thon. The final post will be made next Friday or whenever I fulfill the read-a-thon goal of 24 hours of reading, whichever comes first. I will also make sure to let you know when the newer parts are posted.

Nano Wrimo Is Less Than A Week Away

In six days, I'll be taking part in Nano Wrimo, which I've mentioned in previous posts.

I've decided that I will go with the Miss Scissors idea after all. Even though as a writer, I will need to be accountable for my choices in character, plot, etc., it won't always be my dad or anyone else in my family that I will be accountable to. Lord willing (with apologies with those of you whose religious views differ from mine), the day will come where it is understood that, as an adult, I'll need to make more of my own choices in life, however unacceptable they may be to my family (or anyone else in my life for that matter).

I'm excited for Nano Wrimo to begin. In the meantime though, I've got job applications to turn in, my Bookcrossing read-a-thon to begin on Friday, and more to keep me busy until November begins.

A Bit Of Writing-Related Anxiety

A week from this coming Monday, I'm going to be involved in National Novel Writing Month. I think I have an idea of what I want to do, but I'm nervous about it.

The idea I had in mind was Miss Scissors, which would more or less parody the Saw movie series.  Like Jigsaw, Miss Scissors would kidnap or trap people, call them out on something, and test their will to live via a series of "games". Instead of Billy the Puppet, there'd be Molly the Doll. Instead of cutting pieces out of people's skin, Miss Scissors would have cardboard cutouts of her victims, and if a victim should not survive a test, she would cut a piece out of the cutout to symbolize the missing "survivial instinct." (Her backstory has yet to be fully determined.) Hopefully, her methods won't be as gory as those of Jigsaw.

The problem is that I know my dad and possibly my grandma will want to see it after they hear about it. However, I'm worried I won't be able to make the idea Grandma-friendly. (Sometimes my characters cuss and do other things that would go against her beliefs.) Maybe I could for instance, have any cursing that ensues changed, but I'd  have to make disclaimers on the overall story.

If I can't come up with anything else before November, I might just go with that and deal with the consequences later.

Who Spends $500 On A Pair Of Socks?

I've heard of shoes that were super-expensive but socks that are the same way if not even more expensive?

This evening, I saw an article that featured really expensive socks and tights. One such pair is a crocheted pair that runs for $500. Other socks and tights featured include leather socks with zippers (which run for $219 and look somewhat like little boots), lace knit tights that run for $625, zigzag tights that run for $220, and cashmere socks that run for $200. The most expensive pair in the bunch was a pair of check tights at $990.  There's an entire slideshow between the title and the article.

I'm used to the big bulk of my clothing coming from Wal-Mart, Target, possibly somewhere secondhand or even from my sister's closet if there's something of hers that is in good shape but no longer fits her. I might shop at the likes of JC Penney as last resort or if there's an especially good sale going.  Being a product of a middle-class upbringing, I can't really fathom spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of socks of all things.

If I really wanted a pair of crocheted socks, I could either learn to crochet so that I can make them myself, or I could ask someone in my family who does know how to crochet (I know my sister and my grandma on my mom's side of the family can) to make them. But $500 is too much for me, and at best they'd be slipper socks (or "pajama socks" as I like to think of them as I wear those kind almost exclusively with pajamas), if I'm lucky enough for that to work. (They don't look like they'd do me any favors against cold tile or wood flooring in the winter. The leather ones that were featured looked promising though.)

What about you? How much would you be willing to spend on a pair of socks or tights? And if you have seen the ones featured in the aritcle that I linked, is there a pair that you'd wear?

A Cardigan With Horses On It

Back in the spring, there were a lot of clothes at the thrift store where I volunteer, there were a lot of winter clothes up for elimination. One of my then colleagues had kept it aside for me in case I had wanted it. I hadn't had much of a chance to really go through it until recently. I tried on sweaters to make sure they fit. Whatever was to big was put in a bag which I plan on donating the next chance I get.

One of the things that is staying is a gray cardigan sweater with horses on it. (The last piece of clothing that I remember owning that had horses on it was a t-shirt, and that was in middle school.) I hadn't seen anything like it before. I think I'm going to wear that tomorrow with blue jeans and a light blue turtleneck when I go to do my volunteer work tomorrow and see if anyone says anything.

I don't generally follow fashion, unless it's something that appeals to me personally. (Buying jeans that look like they had the you-know-what beaten out of them doesn't appeal to me.) However, sometimes, I like to mix it up a bit clothing wise.

What'll I Write About In November?

Two weeks from tomorrow, I will be involved in National Novel Writing Month or Nano Wrimo for short. It's a challenge to write a 50,000+ word "novel" over the course of the month. During this month, quality is no object, so one is not supposed to do any editing until the month is up. (That is what the months after it are for.)  Thus, one could have a lot of scene gaps, cliches, etc. going on.

I took part in that challenge for the first time last year and exceeded the 50,000 mark. Back then, I wasn't sure about what the plot details would be, but I did have a tentative title called A Course of Canine Events centering on dogs and their owners. I even used characters I hadn't even planned on using. I'm in the process of editing, but it has been a slow process.

I plan on doing the challenge again, but I have no clue what I will write about this time. It could just be that I do something picturesque that has loosely related events. Then again, maybe something will come up at the last minute in a dream.

At least I have two weeks to think it over.

Sleeping In Socks...Or Not

When I was a lot younger, I'd have on socks when sleeping as often as I could get away with it. (And if I didn't like being barefoot when asleep, I really didn't like it while awake unless I was swimming or bathing. There were a couple of times when I've performed household tasks and/or spent whole days with nothing on my feet whatsoever against my better wishes.) However, there were times when I was compelled to sleep in bare feet (the order almost always coming from my sister) with the reason being that my feet needed to "air".

For reasons too embarrassing to talk about here, I cut back on wearing socks to bed when I was 15 or 16. But even so, I'd be sure to have on socks or other footwear if I was going to be up and about.

These days, I still don't like being barefoot around the house, especially when engaged in something serious, such as housework. For those situations, depending on whatever else I'm wearing and/or the weather, I'll wear either ballet flat slippers or a pair of blue flip-flops that, because of a certain detail at the V-strap, I only wear them at home.  (I used to dress all the way to "real" shoes every day regardless of whether or not I was going somewhere that day. I've cut down on that since earlier this year, but that's another story for another time.) At night I may or may not have on socks, depending on how cold my feet are at the time. If I do put on socks they are normally your average "slipper socks" which I'd just as soon refer to as "pajama socks" since I mostly wear them with pajamas.  However, more often than not, if I have on socks in bed, I eventually end up kicking them off, and I'll wake up with them somewhere under the covers. I don't exactly know why except maybe my feet only so much time to warm up. But when/if I do get up to get a glass of water in the middle of the night or I grab a cup of coffee before getting dressed, I'll have on socks or slippers, especially in the winter as we have mostly hard floors and that can be cold to bare feet. Plus, I can barely bring myself to associate being barefoot with typical "up and about" moments for some reason.

What about you? Do you ever sleep with socks on? Why/why not? If so, have you had any situation where you kick them off in the middle of the night? When you do get up to do something while still in your pajamas, do you feel the need to have something on your feet? If so, why?

Should I Change My Weight Limit Goal?

Not too long ago, I set my self a weight limit (not to be confused with weight loss) goal of 145 lbs or less. Lately, my weight would fall within the general vicinity of upper 130's to lower 140's, going up and down by degrees. In the past, I have proven myself to go lower than even that.

I'm wondering if I should change my limit from 145 to 140. According to the site, http://www.am-i-fat.com/body_mass_index.html, 145 is considered overweight for my height. So is 140 but to a lesser extent. Maybe that is what I'll do. Depending on how that works out for me, I might change the limit to 135. (This one is considered marginal.)

Could I Be Getting OCD About My Weight Even Though I'm Not Really Trying To Lose Any?

I've been checking my weight bascially every day, and often more than once a day. It's often within the general vicinity of upper 130's to low 140's. At various times, I'd plug in my height and weight on http://www.am-i-fat.com/. According to the calculations, my BMI is estimated to be 24, which is considered marginal, and the comments I got from that site are that I needed to watch my diet and get more exercise.

I didn't use to take part in the weekly weigh-ins on the Bookcrossing forums, but I've started to as of a few weeks ago. I was welcomed in even though, unlike the other participants, I wasn't trying to lose weight per se, just keep it under 145 lbs.

I've been a bit on the heavy side for as long as I can remember but not necessarily obese (that I can recall). As a teenager, I've weighed as much as 155 lbs. The lowest I've ever weighed as an adult was 125 (much of which was attributed to a lot of walks I had been taking; my first year of college, I went from a size 14 in the fall to a size 10 by spring). When I got my BMI tested in a fitness class I took in college as a freshmen via the skinfold caliper method, I was considered to be in the "average" category.  Despite weight I've lost over different times of my life, I'm a bit thick in the thighs (part of why I don't like wearing shorts that much) and the stomach (which sticks out a little, but it's not too bad).

I'm not on any kind of diet at this point. I usually eat lightly in the day, but it's mainly because of time constraints. I do a lot of my commutes on foot as I don't drive. Also, the nature of my volunteer work has me moving about (or at least on my feet) almost all day. My weight will go up or down a pound (or a fraction thereof) in any given day. I just now stepped away from my laptop to check my weight. It has gone up half a pound since this morning.

Maybe it's the easy access to a scale. Maybe it has been all of those episodes of Money Hungry on VH1. Maybe it's symbolic of some other issue in my life. Whatever it is, I seem to have an obsession with my weight to the point where I feel constant urges to check it.