Categories
Denver Life

Plummeting Temperatures

2014-01-07 07.06.26-1The weather has changed drastically this week in Denver (if you haven’t already noticed). On Monday, the day started off around the 50s-60s range; by the end of the day, we had plummeted to about 10 degrees. Today, the temperatures have hovered around 0 degrees with snow on the ground and icy conditions at night.

I am probably one of the few who actually enjoy this cooler weather: I get a mix of emotions when it comes to the seasons and the weather. In the wintertime, I get a little sad from S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but then I also get really happy from the snow and the cooler temperatures. I was born in January, so I am naturally a winter person.

Today I had to go downtown for my Leads Group 7 meeting and I was so excited bundling up to go outside. I think the idea of bundling up to stay warm just generally excites me: getting to choose which sweater to wear, which jacket, which hat, how to wear everything, et. al. Maybe it’s just the fact that I get to play with my clothing choices a bit more that allows for me to enjoy wintertime.

Snow before Christmas is always a bit whimsical anyway: it evokes those images of hot cocoa, a warm fireplace, and carolers around town. One thing I am thankful for though: I am not driving in this weather (I don’t have a car of my own). Driving in snow is one of my bigger fears; kudos to those who are competent with winter driving!

The temperatures are supposed to stay cold through this weekend, and then it’s back up to a balmy 40 degrees for “normal” late autumn/early winter temperatures. I’ll take it; I’ve been ready for this weather the past several months.

Categories
Slice of Life

Lately.

Been playing around with photography a bit as well.
Been playing around with photography a bit as well.

I’ve been taking things a bit easily lately. NaNoWriMo has been going along fine, although I have hit a wall with my writing and finding the story deteriorating badly. Well, maybe I will get to 50,000 words, or maybe I will just scrap this and go back to revising Novel 1.

Been catching up on some online workshops I had fallen behind on due to my focus on the GMAT the past couple of months; also have been working on reorganizing this blog. Over the years, I’d used the blog categories as tags, more or less, so I have been working on streamlining the categories so they’re more relevant. I just had a chuckle reading through my Hot Dog Days archives: ah, those days of 2008 working at that hot dog stand.

Still unsure what to do next with plans for the next couple of years: school? Huh? My entrepreneurial spirit has been biting at me to get going with finally setting up Hashtag Hustler and get things rolling.

Looking forward to the holidays for some great food and wonderful family time. I miss my family.

Categories
Life Decisions

Life’s Many Paths

One thing's for sure: the sun rises every day.
One thing’s for sure: the sun rises every day.

Well, I took the GMAT yesterday for the fourth time, and again, my score was less than stellar. I find that the more I study, the lower my score becomes. Granted, my first three attempts were 4-5 years ago, but still–you’d think that with all the time I put in this past month for studying that I would eke out better this time around. No, not so!

I cried after I left the testing center, feeling angry and lost: is this going to stand in my way forever? Am I even meant to go back and complete my MBA degree? What am I to do? I have been staying quiet on social media and talking with friends and family about my emotions. Do I take the GMAT again or should I think hard on what to do next if not graduate business school?

I feel like God has been trying to tell me something with each unsuccessful attempt at the GMAT: I mean, what AM I on this Earth for? What is my purpose in life, especially since I am a survivor of a near-fatal car accident? After that accident, I thought the reason I survived was to go on and get my degree after all; but since 2012, I am not so sure of that trajectory anymore.

Since it’s been less than 24 hours since the end of my test, I don’t have the answer to my questions above just yet. Been taking things easy and chatting with friends about what to do next; asking myself, well, WHY do I want that MBA degree so badly? Do I want it for the right reasons? What am I searching for with this quest? Is it what I really should be focusing on?

Well, let time unwind the story from this point forward; for the time being, I will continue to do my freelance work and also focus on writing my ninth novel for NaNoWriMo. That sounds like the best plan in the meantime.

 

Categories
Denver Life

A Small World After All

I love them, but sometimes I need space away from them!
I love them, but sometimes I need space away from them!

Sometimes I find myself spending too much time at home doing work and otherwise putzing around. Yes, it’s home; that’s where I want to be. But when it comes to me and getting work done, my home has become a bit of a challenge with my two cats running around all day. So, today I decided to venture out to a coworking space in town that I used to be a member of.

Lots has changed around here and I thought I would only know a couple people here; turns out though that I know more people here now than I did back then though! Denver can oftentimes feel like a really small place with how I run into people from different parts of my life here in one place. I love the feeling of coincidences, unexpectedly seeing people I haven’t seen in ages.

As for my being productive for getting out of the house: got all my work done and the last bit of GMAT studying completed. Not a bad decision for the benefits I received today!

Categories
NaNoWriMo

My Official NaNoWriMo 2014 Announcement

Official NaNoWriMo participant. Click the banner to add me!
Official participant. Click the banner to add me!

I’d been sitting on the fence about participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Last year was the first time I sat out voluntarily since I began my NaNo-ing in 2007. I sat out last year because I was struggling with money and didn’t feel that writing a novel would be a wise decision with my time. In many ways, I felt FOMO (the fear of missing out), as I watched my friends tweet out their word counts excitedly and rejoiced over crossing the 50K line.

I didn’t want to miss out again this year, but I also felt trepidation over what to write. The last time I won NaNoWriMo, crossed the 50k word count, was in 2010: I won that year mainly because I had my local group of NaNo friends who were rooting me on and planning out write-ins around San Francisco. We did word sprints together via Twitter and really kept each other motivated.

Since I was new to Denver in 2011 when I participated, I didn’t know many people here. I went to the kick-off party and felt out of place. Even though I established a small write-in on campus at the University of Denver (I was a student there at the time), I didn’t cross the finish line. In 2012, I overhyped myself that October and, when midnight November 1st came, I sat down at my laptop and drew a big blank. I walked away from NaNoWriMo that year without even starting my writing.

Anyway, despite these past several years of inaction/not winning/etc., I am jumping in again this year. I already had a few friends reach out, encouraging me to try again; yesterday, my long-time best friend (been friends for 25+ years now!) texted me and said she wanted to finally jump into the NaNo craziness this year. So, she is my reason to give this crazy marathon a chance again.

I yet to have a novel idea to start off the month of November, but I have a feeling I will be ok. After all, when I first participated in NaNo in 2007, I started writing with no idea how that novel would be like; to this day, it is my proudest work and the one novel I am focusing on getting published first.

Hope to see you participating in NaNo as well. If you need a writing buddy, you can find me on the website as heriko.