Juggling, Answered Questions, Sexy Hands

I'm sitting in Theatre right now, a good ten minutes before class is supposed to start. There are about fifteen other early people scattered around the room, most of them on computers or zoning out. It's pretty normal. Oh yeah-- except for the blaring 90s punk music and the kid standing in the front of the room, juggling. He's clearly performing, but nobody is watching him. Not a soul seems to notice that there is music playing. And that a boy is juggling. Did somebody ask him to do party tricks before I got here? Are they also wondering what the hell is going on, but are just too nice to stare at him? I'm staring at him. I don't see how you could experience this and not be dumbfounded. He is juggling!

Anyway, it's much later now, and I'm writing this in the dark while Love Actually plays in the background for the third time this week. I sat down with the intention of writing at least 2,000 words on my NaNoWriMo novel, and have instead carried on a very long, very funny conversation with one Mr. John Green. He likes my novel's concept and says I'm a good writer. Teeheeheehee. Oh, and Michal just came over, so she's across the room, also writing, in the dark. Other than that, very little has been going on around these parts, so I've decided to use tonight's blog to address some comments from yesterday's entry.

Partyweetow writes: "I don't know how this could be, what with your burrito count always on the rise, but in that picture, it looks like you lost weight."

Well, for one, I am actually losing some weight, but it has nothing to do with my eating habits and everything to do with the fact that NaNoWriMo creates a kind of stress that can only be released through running. Also, it's not like I go out and eat three other square meals a day and THEN add a burrito on top.

Kelly writes: "I said you were one of my favorite authors/someone who inspires me to write in my NaNoWriMo profile. I mean it :)."

I am both incredibly flattered and incredibly worried for you. I've never published a book! You should be inspired by talented, accomplished people!

Tom writes: "Regarding the uncomfortable pinkness [of your new layout], it's the same as how I feel checking out Maureen Johnson books from the library. Or when I attempted to read Sloppy Firsts on an airplane, and my brother kept glancing at it, so I was trying to hide it, and he was like, 'You're really embarrassed of that Gossip Girl book, aren't you?'"

Yours was the most convincing argument I heard against my trial pink blog layout, because even I am embarrassed to be seen reading books with teenybopper chick lit covers. It's a shame when good novels are encased by pictures of teenage girls with their heads chopped off. I would never willingly wish the same fate for my blog.

Tenley Nadine writes: "Are any bloggers really professionals? I guess it depends on your definition of a professional."

If you make money doing something, you're a professional. Many people write formal blogs about their complicated areas of expertise, for which they get paid, so they are professionals. My area of expertise may be my own uninspired sense of humor, but so long as I receive even a slither of revenue from it, I figure I can call myself a professional if it makes my term paper sound more impressive.

Eff writes: "What's up with the shortness and Ihavenothingtowrite-ness in the latest posts? And I'm not digging the layout."

Well, I'm currently competing to write a novel in thirty days, so by the time I finish my homework and thousands of words of creative prose, I don't have a whole lot left in me. And as far as the layout is concerned, I cut down the girliness a smidgen, so hopefully you'll be over your lack of digging by the time you read this post.

Gina writes: "I love yours and Kristina's blogs, so it is very confusing to me that you both have friends named PJ. In my head, this is one person who does a lot of commuting. Just so you know."

Yeah, that's a bit of a problem. Maybe I should start calling mine "PJ the Boy." Also, you share a first name with my NaNoWriMo novel's protagonist. Trippy.

PamB writes: "You should make that wagon wheel in the background into a coffee table like in When Harry Met Sally."

I understood your movie reference way before I could find the wagon wheel in that picture. It was my uncle's house, and he lives far away, so I'm not terribly familiar with its decorations. But the next time I visit, I assure you, I'll ask him to make it into a coffee table and then yell about it.

Seurat2 writes: "I have decided to bet on Kristina winning the Chipotle war. Don't hate me."

I do not hate you, because I've enjoyed your comments in the past, but I can't lie and say Kristina and I didn't have a heated conversation about this comment. While the two of us have some kind of inexplicable need for constant competition, the recorded consumption of my favorite food was never intended to turn into a battle. First of all, my body type is significantly more suited to storing food than hers is, and second of all, I am positive that she doesn't love Chipotle as much as I do, because she doesn't discuss it half as frequently. I had not planned on gaining twenty pounds this month, but if that's what it takes to stake my permanent claim, I am willing to sacrifice myself for the cause.

Sexy: I've probably told you about this weird fascination of mine, but I am extremely attracted to hands. Particularly seeing big, masculine hands do gentle things, like untangle knots. Perhaps it's because men are unaware that girls are checking out their hands, so they can't put on a show about them, or primp them in some annoying, unattractive way. Hands are just natural and unpretentious.

Unsexy: The 10K Crisis, as I like to call it, when you get to the first NaNoWriMo milestone and suddenly want to throw your laptop out a window, pull out your hair, and cry. Michal's already deleted half of her work in frustration and has had to start over. I've been staring at the blinking cursor in the middle of page 34 for hours.

Chipotle burritos this year: 35

Bagel Street visits this school year: 4

Subscribers: 21,529

Bye, guys! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. <3