Nanowrimo is really an alien language.

My grumpy bad day that ended with a smile. That’s what I almost titled this post.

I love spy movies. I saw the trailer for Hanna last year and couldn’t wait for it to come to Red Box. Guess what? It has! My hub shared that crucial info with me last Thursday.

I said, “Did you get it?” In my mind I’m thinking it’s Thursday, we’ll watch it on Friday, what’s 2 bucks?

He said, “No.”

Immediate despair hit me because I knew it would probably be gone on Friday. Well, Friday came and it poured all day! He arrived home with a movie. In my head, I had it all planned – home made pizza on a whole wheat crust and Hanna. Because miracles happen.

I asked with crossed fingers. “What movie did you get?”

He didn’t answer, which wasn’t a good sign at all! My son exclaimed, “It’s PAUL. It’s a funny alien movie.” And he went on to explain the movie to me. (I have no idea how or where he absorbs this kind of info.) I thought it sounded totally dumb.

Grumpily, I said, “Fine. I’ll probably go read after the first ten minutes.” Because it really was my hub’s fault for not getting Hanna on Thursday.

While the movie opened, I explained to my long suffering and patient husband that my grumpiness wasn’t because we couldn’t watch Hanna. It was because I’d spent September and most of October not getting much done with my writing. I’d written 30k and scratched the first draft. I’d outlined 4 different novels and had only recently found the right idea to pursue. That felt like a lot of wasted time. And I needed a good escape!

I watched PAUL. It was dumb with some funny parts. Overall, not too bad. Hey, I watched it.

With the credits rolling, out of nowhere, I said, “I’m going to do Nanowrimo this year.” (Mainly because I desperately need to feel productive.)

After watching an alien movie, my hub looked at me like I was an alien. We both cracked up.

“You’ve never heard of it?” I gasped. He hadn’t. So I explained it.

And realizing how funny Nanowrimo sounds after watching an alien movie ended my day with a smile.

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43 Responses to Nanowrimo is really an alien language.

  1. Jessica Bell October 19, 2011 at 10:34 am #

    LOLOL. I reacted like that the first time I ever came across the term too :o)

  2. Sarah October 19, 2011 at 10:51 am #

    Funny how one thought leads to another! Good luck with NaNo. Also–I was totally excited to see Hanna too, but found the plot to be rather astoundingly linear. There was something missing for me there. I’d really be interested in hearing YOUR thoughts about it!

  3. Miranda Hardy October 19, 2011 at 10:54 am #

    Glad you are joining the ranks. I bet your husband got a kick out of that, too.

    • Laura October 19, 2011 at 11:34 am #

      Oh no! Don’t tell me Hanna wasn’t good. Well, I’ll still watch it and even if something is missing, which there might be, I bet I’ll still enjoy it. HOpefully, it’ll happen this weekend.

      Problem is, with Thanksgiving and a long Veteran’s Day weekend, November is a really bad month for me! We’ll see how it works. No pressure.

  4. christine danek October 19, 2011 at 11:51 am #

    Ha! It is a mouthful. Cute! I want to see Hanna too.

  5. Stina Lindenblatt October 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm #

    Despite Sarah’s comment, I think I’ll have to check out Hanna at some point.

    I’m not doing NaNo because we’re going away for almost a week during November, and I’m not finished planning my next project yet. Edits to my wip sidetracked me from doing that.

    Have fun with it, Laura. I’ll be cheering you on. 😀

  6. Ava Jae October 19, 2011 at 12:46 pm #

    I haven’t watched Hanna yet–thanks for reminding me!

    As for NaNoWriMo…yes, it does sound rather funny. It’s one of those terms that’s really easy to say without thinking about the non-writers who will look at you funny because to them it doesn’t mean anything. I make a point of saying National Novel Writing Month when I talk about it to non-writers, but sometimes I slip up… 😀

  7. Ava Jae October 19, 2011 at 12:46 pm #

    Oh wait! I forgot to say it–good luck with NaNo this year! ^_^

  8. Charissa Weaks October 19, 2011 at 12:55 pm #

    LOL…I’m not brave enough to try Nanowrimo. I think I would utterly spaz out. And I couldn’t wait for Hanna either!!! I ordered it on DirectTV a few weeks ago. I won’t spoil it, but we should chat about it. It’ll make you say, “Hmmmm…”

  9. anne gallagher October 19, 2011 at 12:59 pm #

    NaNoWriMo. I always thought it sounded like some kind of foreign animal. Like a mash-up rhinocerous.

    Best of luck with that undertaking. I tried it twice and just couldn’t get ‘er done.

  10. shelley moore thomas October 19, 2011 at 12:59 pm #

    Thinking of doing a NaNoFiMo and finishing up a book.

    Of course, I don’t have the next idea lined up, yet…so I am hesitant to rush to the finish on this one. (I always like to have the next one just itching to get written.)

    Good luck!

    Shelley

  11. Ansha Kotyk October 19, 2011 at 1:27 pm #

    November is a bad month for everyone, I still don’t get why Nano is in November. 🙂 But hey, good luck! Being in the Nano group is fun. I never finished but it wasn’t from lack of trying. I think you’ll do great. 🙂

  12. Susan Sipal October 19, 2011 at 1:29 pm #

    I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I know I’ll do it in some shape, even if it’s revising an old manuscript, but not sure yet about starting one totally from scratch.

    Good luck to yours, Laura!

  13. Alicia Gregoire October 19, 2011 at 1:38 pm #

    My non-writer friends always stumble over the word NaNoWriMo. Welcome to the insanity.

    • Laura October 19, 2011 at 2:07 pm #

      If I get even 30K into the novel I’ll be fine! I don’t care if I win. If it wasn’t November and if I had 5 full weeks with the kids in school, I most likely could do it. But with the holidays. Not sure about that. I just need to make progress! Personal deadlines, I say! I’ve got another novel I need to write after christmas!

  14. Margo Berendsen October 19, 2011 at 2:11 pm #

    It always makes me think of that ancient show, Mork and Mindy, didn’t he say something like NaNu NaNu?

    Redbox disappointments can just about ruin my day too! I keep meaning to try the Netflix streaming thing to remove reliance on Redbox.

  15. Marisa October 19, 2011 at 2:39 pm #

    Hahahaha, it does sound perfectly alien. This will be my 5th Nano and people always give me weird looks when I say what I’m participating in… and the they give me even weirder looks when I explain it to them 😀 haha!

    Glad you’re participating!

  16. Matthew MacNish October 19, 2011 at 2:47 pm #

    I would far prefer Hanna to Paul too, but I’m pretty flexible with movies. I don’t do NaNo, and I always say that, but maybe some year I will have to.

    I’ll be cheering you from the sidelines, though.

  17. Lisa Green October 19, 2011 at 3:23 pm #

    Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Not the alien movie, I’m going to do Nano. 😀

  18. Patti October 19, 2011 at 4:06 pm #

    I totally want to watch Hanna and have purposely stayed away from any reviews. Seriously considering Nano as well, but it will all depend on my progress the next couple of weeks.

  19. Rachna Chhabria October 19, 2011 at 4:17 pm #

    Good luck with Nano. Maybe I will join the NaNo warriors this year.

  20. Susan Kaye Quinn October 19, 2011 at 4:28 pm #

    “I’m going to do Nanowrimo this year.”
    LOL!!! It is the most weird word! I call it NaNo, because I just can’t hang with those last two syllables. 🙂

    AND you must be sending out brain waves, because I just decided yesterday that I’m doing the same thing. 🙂

  21. Sherrie Petersen October 19, 2011 at 5:33 pm #

    Oh, Laura — my husband STILL looks at me like I’m an alien when I mention NaNoWriMo and I’ve told him about it MANY times!!!

  22. Karen Strong October 19, 2011 at 5:42 pm #

    Ha, men.

    Wow, you’re going to NaNo this year? Good luck! You’ll have to share with us your username so we can support you. 🙂

  23. Carolyn Abiad October 19, 2011 at 5:51 pm #

    I’m going to try NaNo this year too. In fact, I really should get cracking on that outline, but I’m banking blog posts today instead. You know, so I won’t get distracted in November. That should count for something. Yes?

  24. Christina Lee October 19, 2011 at 6:15 pm #

    LOL!!! I think like November is the worst month to hold such a thing (okay really, December would be worse), but kidlet has five days off in Nov. and weekends suck for writing (for me) and I guess what I’m saying is that I never end up doing it! But hey, YOU GO GIRL!

  25. Stacy October 19, 2011 at 7:55 pm #

    I don’t think NaNo is my style, but good for you for jumping into it. You’ll do great, I’m sure. Good luck!

  26. Peggy Eddleman October 19, 2011 at 9:42 pm #

    Hahaha! That’s hilarious! It’s amazing how much not being productive in writing can affect our moods for everything else. NaNoWriMo sounds like a perfect fix! I’ve really wanted to do it, but alas. I’ll be deep into revisions. Maybe I’ll have to have my own personal NaNoWriMo in January.

  27. Lydia K October 19, 2011 at 11:46 pm #

    Yeah, the first time I said that to my hubs he was like, “Bless you.” LOL!

  28. Draven Ames October 20, 2011 at 12:58 am #

    Most people have never heard of it, that I’ve encountered anyway. Paul was an okay movie. I hope you get to see the movie you want soon.

    ~Draven

  29. Leslie Rose October 20, 2011 at 1:04 am #

    I was talking about NaNo to a fellow teacher who is going to try it for the first time this year and my students thought I was talking about my dog named NaNo.

  30. Lynda R Young October 20, 2011 at 6:46 am #

    ha, your sept & oct sounds a lot like mine 😉
    I’ll be joining NaNo too

  31. Sophia Chang October 20, 2011 at 8:58 am #

    Doesn’t it remind you of Mork and Mindy? That’s what I hear.

  32. Karen Lange October 20, 2011 at 12:47 pm #

    Ending your day with a smile – that’s a good thing. 🙂

  33. Sarah P October 20, 2011 at 1:46 pm #

    You NEED to watch Hanna! Such a cool movie. It’s more…cinematic than I thought it would be. Very interesting.

    I am THINKING about doing NANO, but am afraid I won’t be able to commit because of all the projects I have going on. I still need to think about it. I will be rooting everyone on who is participating!

  34. Marcia October 20, 2011 at 2:46 pm #

    Just heard a speaker refer to nanowrimo in her talk, and someone raised her hand to ask, “What was that word you said?”

    Good luck with it! I’ve never tried it and am not sure I want to. Trying to write that fast paralyzes me, and November isn’t the best month for it IMO. Maybe March…?

  35. Traci Kenworth October 20, 2011 at 2:46 pm #

    I know my kids look at me the same way. Lol. But off I go, to win or lose. Hopefully the former. Good luck to you!!

  36. PW Creighton October 20, 2011 at 6:44 pm #

    Hey, don’t knock the geeks. If you know what comic con is than that movie really captures it for you. You never know what you’ll like. Heh, good for you and speaking alien languages is what we do best. Nanowrimo.. na noo na noo

    • Laura October 21, 2011 at 12:34 am #

      I thought it was pretty cool that I could actually explain to my husband what comic con is!

  37. Lynn Kelley October 20, 2011 at 7:49 pm #

    Haha! I love it! NaNoWriMo sure does sound like alien gibberish to someone who doesn’t know what it stands for, like me not all long ago. I’m giving it a shot for the first time this year, too. Best of luck to all of us accomplishing our NaNoWriMo goals this year!

  38. TL Conway October 20, 2011 at 8:37 pm #

    Ha! Margo B and Sophia both said the same thing I wanted to say–NaNoWriMo *always* makes me think of Mork and Mindy. So now I just call it “nano” and keep talking. My friends have thankfully learned to translate that as “that month-long writing thing.”

  39. Leigh Moore October 21, 2011 at 1:48 am #

    aww! And I didn’t even know Hanna was a spy movie! I thought it was an alien movie. And I haven’t even hard of Paul!!! Good grief… 😀 Good luck w/NaNo~ <3

  40. Elle Strauss October 21, 2011 at 2:20 am #

    Wishing you the best nanowrimo experience, Laura!

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