...and at once I knew I was not magnificent.

Just a quick drive-by shooting-ahem-blogging today. As you undoubtedly know, it is the first day of NaNoWriMo so this means my already unstable mental state is about to become further unloosed.

This year I have no outline just two characters and an idea. And maybe I named my main character Zelda after a certain figure in literary history because I am just so lame and pretentious. Or maybe she's named after Aunt Zelda from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.

All marathons of The West Wing shall be put on hold. All binge-drinking will also be outlawed during this month (and hopefully from all months). Attempts at a regular diet will be deserted. All that will be left of me at the end of the month shall be coffee, cigarettes, and words.

Oh, and the novel is tentatively titled Magnificent, partly from the Bon Iver lyric quoted in the title of this post. It is also loosely based on the classical and Renaissance ideal of Magnificence and magnificentia. Or at least my interpretation of it - art to elevate the soul to the sublime.

My goal this year is 40,000 words. Keep in mind that I have to write 4,000 words of academic essays every week (around 15-16,000 in total for the month). I actually have only written a paragraph for NaNoWriMo today because I am writing 2,000 words on Measure for Measure and tomorrow I will be writing 2,000 words on art and patronage in Renaissance Italy.

In order to get any writing done, however, I need music. And so, without further ado (mainly because I have to get back to my essay), here is a selection of my music for the month*.


Writing Until You Die: A Playlist

1. Holocene - Bon Iver

2. Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix

3. Choking on the Concrete - Greg Holden

4. Who Knows, Who Cares - Local Natives

5. A Field of Birds - The Tallest Man on Earth

6. Things Will Never Be the Same Again - jj

7. Please Concrete - Wye Oak

8. Berlin - Solander

9. All Around We Go - Twin Sister

10. NY State of Mind - Nas

11. Osaka Loop Line - Discovery

12. This Charming Man - The Smiths

13. The Great Procrastinator - Ivan Campo

14. When My Time Comes - Dawes

15. Ambivalence Avenue - Bibio

16. Stranger - Katie Costello

17. Fool - Cat Power

18. For You - Sharon von Etten

19. Pink Moon - Nick Drake

20. The Trapeze Swinger - Iron & Wine

*My real November playlist is 165 songs and growing; I just throw it on shuffle & repeat every time I open my laptop.