News In The World of Juggling.

Now that NaNoWriMo is over for me, I am pleased to offer an important juggling update!

Last Tuesday my co-founder and I did a juggling performance at a local Elementary School, the first ever performance of the Sag Harbor Circus Society, and my first ever juggling performance. My partner and I ran through our 11 minute routine for several hours collectively in preparation, and I even made us club t-shirts for us to wear to the event:

The morning of, I was a ball of nervous excitement. What if I dropped my acrylic contact ball? What If I couldn't keep my four ball fountain going? What if my partner, Miles, hit a kid with his yoyo? (I'm kidding, this is the one thing I would never worry about. I'd be more likely to hit a kid with one and I don't even yoyo.) 

This turned out to be misplaced nerves, because the second the music started, and we began our routine, everything went as planned. Sure, we dropped the ball (literally) on a few minor tricks, but we nailed the hard stuff, and our contact juggling had a classroom of five and six year olds silent in rapt attention. We even managed to have the whole routine, and post-routine question and answer session, (and stampede of children grabbing our equipment,) videotaped. It will be on our Club's Facebook page soon, hopefully.

In other news, another member of the circus society, a poi spinner, and our coworker, has found a room above a local church that the church is looking to rent out cheaply for community use and she is in the process of approaching the woman in charge about using the room, and said she would do so on behalf of our circus club as well! It looks as though the Sag Harbor Circus Society will outlast the chill of winter after all. 

The NaNo Result

I am sorry for having neglected my blog yet again, but it seems that I was over ambitious with my attempts at writing my novel, plus blogging daily. I always set my standards for myself very high, and this was a good exercise in seeing what I was capable of. As it turns out, I am incapable of maintaining both simultaneously.

The good news is, however, that I am just after finishing my novel!!! I finished with a whopping 50,132 words. Unfortunately, I was gravely misinformed about my novel being posted on the website, or anywhere at all. This means that in order for me to share it I have one of two options: post it here in chapters, or segments, or find some other online host and link it to my blog. More news on that to follow.

After losing my outline, I suffered aimlessly for a few days, until eventually, I ended up changing my novel entirely. It transformed into a celebration of the absurd, puns and all, called "The Makeshift Zoo" which starts with our main protagonist, Jack, being informed that his tiny flat must now house one dozen penguins that his boss has assigned to him. This sets the stage for his "Zoo" which then morphs into a zoo of a different kind, in which he becomes entangled in a variety of bizarre and absurd situations, ranging from meeting a man who stacks books by balancing them on their spines, to inter-dimensional travel.

The format of this novel is a great deal different from what I originally set out for it to be. It is more of a "Conan The Barabrian"-esq collection of stories, tied together only by the characters, and because I made them so. Yes, this is technically a NaNo loophole, but hear me out: my original novel had a theme, a plot, a rising and falling set of actions, etc. However, that is extremely hard to recreate without an outline. I was worried that in the flying burst of creative energy that powered "The Makeshift Zoo" that it would fall short, uncompleted at the end. I am generally a short story and essay writer, one who is making a go of blogging. So writing a zany story in which each chapter is its own complete, start-to-finish adventure, was a much more sustainable project for me to do quickly. Yes, I know, I should be branching out and attempting to work on longer pieces than just stories, and I am toying with the idea of writing another, real novel, but for the sake of being able to tell myself "Wow, you did it, 50,000 words in a month," I needed to focus on something I could reasonably accomplish. And, I am quite fond of the final project.

As it is utterly unedited, I may go back and take the best parts of it out and turn them into short stories. Or perhaps I will keep the work a collective whole. Either way, go me! My account was lovingly dubbed "racoon222" for inane reasons, and here is a picture of my winning word count.

Why yes, my author image is my circus club's logo. 

NaNoWriMo Day Three: We Interrupt This Daily Blog for an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

I will take a pause from my normal writing blog in order to discuss another piece of news: I became fully road legal today!

Now I can write anywhere I want. I could even take my passport and drive to Canada right now if I so desired. And if my parents get worried, I'll just text them while I'm driving there.

"Look ma, no hands!"

KIDDING.

But in all seriousness, I did pass today, and it was overwhelmingly easy. The thing about driving tests that makes them hard is that you hear rumors: like surly instructors who try and trick you into taking your hands off the wheel by asking you to turn on the radio, or that they pay people to run out in front of your car to test your reflexes, or that there's a fail quota that all instructors must meet. In reality, I had a pleasantly-tempered blonde woman who told me to pull away from the curb, make a few turns (overwhelmingly left turns), stop at a few stop signs (and one light), parallel park behind one car, and make a three point turn to go back. The whole ordeal took place in under 30 mph and in under ten minutes. The up side, I got an almost perfect score (minus five points for a wide right turn,) and, I was even COMPLEMENTED on my driving by the so-called, "abrasive" instructor. The down side is that the conditions were nothing like real driving, and I still have a lot of practice to do before I can take any road trips to Canada.

Anyway, I will be celebrating my minor victory with some food, some juggling, and some intensive novel writing.

NaNoWriMo Day Three: A Big Idea

As someone who writes primarily short stories of 1-3 pages, writing a 50,000 word piece is especially challenging. One of the most difficult components is choosing an idea that can last for 150 pages without becoming worn out or redundant. And what has more lasting potential than a disturbing, taboo family with domestic issues, seen through the eyes of a young child? Believe it or not, this idea didn't come to me right away, there were other ones that were unfortunately deferred first. Here's a list of a few of my potential novels that didn't quite make the cut. 

"How to Drown in Your Own Nihilism: A Step-By-Step Guide."

This was my potential self-help book. Thrown out by not being even remotely helpful.

"Kate's Bad Idea Book"

100 things I probably would do/have done, but you shouldn't do. There was a lot of potential with this one, I'm just not sure I'd want it published under my name. 

"Misanthropy For Fun and Profit"

This one is a bit of a personal narrative. Discarded because the whole "profit" section would be baseless lies. Nothing I do ever turns a profit. In fact, I usually just blow money doing whatever it is that I do;

"Galvanizing Friendships or, A Modern Frankenstein"

This was just an excellently self-indulgent title, I have no idea what this would've been about.

"Fuck Yeah, Sprinkles!"

A delightfully inappropriate story about today's youth. Too much pressure to be funny. 

There you have it. Writing a book is hard, you have to pore over your list of best good story ideas, throw all of them out, then choose something equally terrible to put all of your effort into. I would elaborate, but my driving test is tomorrow, so I will take my leave in favor of sleep. 

NaNoWriMo Day Two: An Unexpected Dilemma

I know I'm posting this a day late, and I apologize.

When one goes to start a novel they usually don't just dive in, eyes closed and limbs flailing, Usually there's a well-planned idea and an outline of the general structure of the novel. Generally the author knows what devices they will use to convey their piece's meaning, and what the meaning is, for that matter. I had all of this carefully written out in late July. I recently discovered, however, that my precious outline has bitten the proverbial dust, meaning it no longer exists. Perhaps it was accidentally deleted, or never saved properly to begin with. Either way, I'm writing blind.

NaNoWriMo Day Two: An Unexpected Dilemma

I know I'm posting this a day late, and I apologize.

When one goes to start a novel they usually don't just dive in, eyes closed and limbs flailing, Usually there's a well-planned idea and an outline of the general structure of the novel. Generally the author knows what devices they will use to convey their piece's meaning, and what the meaning is, for that matter. I had all of this carefully written out in late July. I recently discovered, however, that my precious outline has bitten the proverbial dust, meaning it no longer exists. Perhaps it was accidentally deleted, or never saved properly to begin with. Either way, I'm writing blind.

NaNoWriMo: Day one

I have endeavored upon two marathon experiments: entering NaNoWriMo, and blogging about my progress daily. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the bizarre acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an online program in which people from all over the world attempt to write 50,000 words (about 150 pages) between November 1-30th. So in other words, you have a month to write a novel. If you manage to win, your novel will be posted on their website, and other fun prizes will be awarded. You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you wrote an entire novel under clutch Dostoevsky-style time constraint. (Come on, you think these people only do it for the prizes?) And if you don't finish, it is reflected on your profile and everybody will know. There's no such thing as cheating, either, because they have a program you have to run your complete piece through to ensure that it is a novel and not random jumbled letters for 150 pages.

This is the perfect assignment for a gap year student such as myself to undertake, because not only do I have the resources in terms of time, but I don't have to support myself financially yet. So if I sit inside and don't leave my house for weeks because I'm writing, I'm still going to be fed, and my home won't be repossessed due to unpaid bills. Come to think of it, what full-time students, or full-time adults have the time to sit down and write a whole novel? People at liberal arts schools who pick the majors with the least requirements? Bored, stay-at-home moms?

Speaking of bored moms, there's quite the broad array of novel genre categories available to choose from. Such categories include everything from erotic fiction, to horror (basically the same thing in every 80's slasher film), to stories for children/young adults. My novel is entitled "Monsters" and is in the suspense/thriller category, which almost ensures that it will be completely terrible. I signed up this morning,  I'm a day behind, and I've only submitted 450 words so far. The online progress tracker estimated that if I keep going at this rate, I should finish sometime around June 11, 2014... I suppose the next logical step from here would be to visit the website's "pep talk" page...

The Juggling Chronicles: Don’t Drop the Crystal Ball

I fell passionately in love in early July. It was one of those remarkable experiences that nobody ever sees coming, and my life has been permanently different ever since. It was on a hot Manhattan summer day at lunch time that I wandered into Bryant Park and first encountered them: there was a group of people juggling clubs, rings, and even up to 7 beanbags at once! I had been informed by my mother that there were juggling lessons given there at lunch time, but I had expected a few people standing in a circle juggling three beanbags, not the complex and beautiful patterns that were being performed only feet from me. Then, from out of the crowd, one of them asked me,

“Can you juggle?”

I said no.

“Want to learn?”

 And so it began: The 15 minute lesson, the repeated dropping of beanbags, and, finally, the massive excitement upon catching all three for the first time. From that first day, I knew immediately that I loved it. I was obsessed. I bought a set of pathetically bad quality beanbag and practiced tirelessly for hours. I worked on the regular three ball cascade until I could do it with my eyes closed. I practiced simple tricks, watched YouTube video after YouTube video, and bought myself some proper beanbags. I was driven to advance, constantly in awe of my fellow juggling club members, all with years of practice and amazing skills. By summer’s end I had moved onto four balls, bought a set of clubs, spending lots of time (and money) in the prominent New York juggling store: Dubé Juggling. 

Juggling, though a popular party trick, is not a typical passion. So imagine my surprise when I discovered one of my friends who I worked with at a tiny Hamptons health food market, was just as enthused with it as I was. He introduced me to contact juggling, the peculiar art of mime and balance (most often associated with David Bowie and the Fushigi ball) where one makes a dense acrylic ball appear to float through isolations, dramatic hand motions, and mystifying body rolls. I loved it a much as I did traditional juggling. Mine and my friend’s interest in circusy skill arts evolved in tandem, which was the driving inspiration behind starting a local circus club together. This new club was the perfect place to introduce our love of juggling, and other skill arts, to the people of the Hamptons. We taught small children to juggle, and encouraged our friends and coworkers to join us. It wasn't long after that we purchased unicycles. With one of our club members being part of a fire spinning troop, and another who hoola hoops, I wonder how long it is before we take that up too.

This brings me to the dark side of my passion for juggling: the addiction. I forever have to carry a massive, spacious messenger bag to accommodate the juggling equipment I constantly carry with me: my four beanbags and a 100 mm diameter acrylic ball. I constantly pick up all round objects (especially fruit) and try to juggle them, or contact juggle them, I perform contact juggling isolations on any cup or glass I’m holding, and it’s a good thing almost all my friends are away at college anyway, because I have essentially no life apart from that which involves juggling due to the hours I spend practicing new tricks and honing my juggling skills. I have also taken to spending whole weekends devoted to my fledgling circus club, and have reinvented the term “travelling circus” as I am often seen with a black bag full of juggling equipment, with my unicycle in tow. I also tend to spend my Friday nights like this:

Addiction aside, juggling is one of the most important things I have spent my year off on thus far. It has been a pursuit of passion, a learning experience, and amazingly fun as well.

The First Leg: Blogging from 37,000 feet.

I’m just after boarding a plane home from Ireland, and along with my luggage and carry-ons, I have brought home with me a new resolve to travel this year. This is not the end of a holiday, but merely marks a separation: the first leg of my travel abroad. I dream of exploring Japan, and Europe, and have loftily set my goal at doing both. But why not? I have EU citizenship and an excess of free time.