D: Dara!!

That's my name, don't wear it out.

Seriously, do not.


I'm not kidding.


My mom was about 9 years old watching the Mike Douglas Show and his musical guest was Neil Sedaka.  Let me pause a moment to point out that I'm talking about this Mike Douglas...

Clearly not Catherine Zeta-Jones' better half.

Point of reference for you: Tiger Woods was on his show as a child prodigy in golf and shot a few puts with James Stewart and Bob Hope.  The more you know.  Moving on.

For whatever reason, Neil Sedaka has his daughter appear on the show, and her name was Dara.  Mom fell in love with the name, and 8 years later when I popped out of her, Dara is what I got.

See also nicknames by "friends" of mine: Dara the Explorer, Daria (didn't mind that as I loved the cartoon), and Dar-Dar Binks..... I hate you, George Lucas.

C: Chicago!

I mentioned yesterday that I'm from Chicago.

Northside, represent.  Go Cubs!  Da Bears!  Jordan!  Corrupt politicians! 9.5% sales tax!  Strong winds/more corrupt politicians!  FEAST ON ITS GLORY!

Also, light pollution.  LOOK A STAR!  Wait, no, airplane.

I lived there for the first 30 years of my life.  I still consider it home even if only 3 of my friends and family still live there.

Why did I leave?  Most of my friends and family weren't even living there anymore.  Also, it's expensive.  Also, Adam doesn't live there.  He lives in small-town Michigan, which is where I live now.  And let me tell you.... I'm still trying to adjust, even after a year and a half.

See also, Beer post.

B: Beer

Note: I am sacrificing my Insecure Writer's Support Group post this month for the Blogging From A to Z Challenge.  Yes, I could have easily have incorporated both.  Truth is I kinda forgot when I created this post originally and added this note the night before.  I'll be back on IWSG in May.

I've mentioned a few.... several dozen times my affinity of beer.  I'm by no means a beer snob; I have just as much appreciation for el cheapo "light" beers as I do Pacifico, Smithwick's, and the holiest of holies, Guinness.

This exact sign is in my kitchen.  For reals.

To a degree, beer has been around me my entire life.  And not by me ingesting it (good lord, I'm not that bad).  Growing up in an Irish-Polish family in Chicago, between being drunk, we had our stupid moments as well.  Sometimes together.  Watching the Bears on TV, 4th of July barbecues, Christmas morning (yes, morning), it was always there.  "Oh my god that's a terrible thing!  Being a child around drunks!"

No, it was never anything like that.  Drinking responsibility did occur in my family, even if there were a few bumps in the road; my mother had 2 DUIs before I was 13 years old, my grandfather hit his rock bottom and has now been sober for over 15 years, I goofed in college and had to sit out a week of marching band which was ABSOLUTELY TRAUMATIZING!  WE PLAYED BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY THAT GAME!

..... I share that with you as I enjoy a Stella Artois.  Shush, you.

A: AAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Sadly, I do not plan on talking about the most awesome cartoon from my childhood (after Rainbow Brite and She-Ra).

The scream of despair/delight is related to the fact that I have joined the 2014 Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  So it's more like, "AHHHH! Why did I join this?!"

Seems it's the hip thing to do.

And.

Create a better habit of blogging.  And staying on top of the blogs I follow.  And even comment on those blogs.  I really am a huge stalker when it comes to my online presence.  Kinda creepy, actually.  I'm that person you're friends with on Facebook who never says anything and you bump into me in person and I ask how that random thing that happened to you went and you're like, "Woah..... she knows me."

Here's Krumm to fill the void I left by leading you on earlier:

IWSG - March 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the sexy creation of Alex J Cavanaugh.   Its glorious purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  Visit the website and/or join the Facebook Group.



11 days until St. Patrick's Day.  Just wanted to point that out.  Moving on.

I do feel like I've turned my blog into it's own Insecure Writer's mini-Blog.  Those seem to have been my posts as of late.  Bleh.

Adam has been great, as always, trying to get my procrastinating and paranoid ass in gear and get back to writing, even completing, my ugly-first-draft of my WIP.  Goal for March was to do an hour of writing every day.

Ask me how many hours I've put in since the first.  Go ahead, ask me.

Nothing.

Maybe one or two days I literally did not have any time whatsoever to cram in an hour of writing.  The rest of the past 120 hours of this month I've struggled.

The moment I start to think about writing, I panic.  Not sweaty palms and nail biting panic, anxiety panic.  I do that a lot (in case you haven't caught that yet from reading my posts here).

Do I finish my WIP where I left off?  Wait, I don't know what happens next, I never planned that far.  Okay, so plan from here forward.  But hang on, I've been going back thinking about the plot so far and there's some holes I need to fix.  This one other way sounds better.  Damnit, I have to move forward in the story so I can show that so-and-so isn't really dead.  Shit, Adam just mentioned about this comic that has a 2-sentence length similar plot to my WIP.  Someone's done it.  Simpsons did it!  Fuck it, I'll just start over.  But wait I've got 91 pages typed.  Ugh, I'll have to undo so much.

You people wonder why I drink!!

......11 days until St. Patrick's Day......

Things I know for sure: simmer down with the emails

While I could make an endless list, including anything you all chime in with, here's my realization today of what is not working.

Writer's Digest emails.

Holy shit.

Why did I sign-up for these emails?  A free e-book.  That I haven't even read yet.  Hell, I don't remember the name of it.  Actually, I don't think it's even a book, more of a list of one-hundred-something resources for aspiring writers.

What have I gotten?  Not what I was hoping for.  What was I hoping for?

.... okay, you got me there.  But I can sure as hell tell you it wasn't 3 to 5 emails per day.

A large portion of the emails is an ad for a class available to register for.  While the class sounds great, and I'm sure I would learn a lot, I don't have $99 just laying around for a class that I'm not very confident I'd have the time to dedicate to it.  Yes, some are cheaper, but the lowest I've seen is about $60 which is still beyond my budget.

If there's one thing I have learned in my I-want-to-be-a-writer-for-real endeavors, it's that I can find just as many informative free "guides" and the like as there are ones meant to pull money from my strapped pocket.

A few more of the emails, also aligned with things requiring cash better spent on more urgent matters, is about that Barefoot Writer/AWAI group.  Just $49 for a year's membership?  AWESOME!  Oh wait, the Google Gods worked to my advantage on that one.  I'm not going to go into details here (as proponents of AWAI are very diligent as far as saying how great they are), but Google it yourself.*

The rest of the emails have SO MUCH information in them that my eyes begin to roll behind my head and I switch over to The Sims because telling someone they should build a garden gnome is easier than figuring out what the hell is useful in that email.

My routine and brain are both extremely comfy to the method I follow currently: blogs.  Sure, if a great blog I'm following shares another article, of course I'll check it out.  I like being spoken to like a person, which most blogs rock at.  If I wanted things barked at me like an algebra textbook I wouldn't have dropped out of college.

In other news, I've joined up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge this April.

I know.  Dara.  The one who can't stick with a regular blogging schedule.

I like the idea of having a theme, but as I'll be a challenge virgin, I'm gonna stick with the safe route and just use the theme of the alphabet.  I know.  Totally original.

Any of you participating in the challenge this year?

* Really, any comments that show up here from any AWAI member I'm gonna go ahead and remove.  That is not the main topic of my post today, nor do I want it to be.  Calm the hell down.

IWSG February.... whoops!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the sexy creation of Alex J Cavanaugh.   Its glorious purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  Visit the website and/or join the Facebook Group.


Welcome!  Failure!

That's how I've been feeling since I last posted.

What have I been reading?  What have I been writing?  How are those pretend "resolutions" going that I've wanted to add into my life?  I'll let The Dude tell you.

I am struggling and I am struggling bad.  Not.  A.  Thing.  I COMPLETELY forgot today was IWSG until I finally got around to getting caught up on a week's worth of blogs I supposedly follow.  And just getting around to reading those has taken a week.  I try to sit down and pump out something of a blog post only to abandon my efforts after 2 hours.  Which I am nearly at right now.

Most of my posts as of late have been me being whiny, depressed, and annoyed with myself.  I don't know how to get started anymore.  I set goals for myself, I don't do them.  I take Adam's advice and write or post or something when I feel like it.  I never feel like it.  I try to pop into a community for support but I still then come off whiny and people get that damn-that-girl's-a-mess-let's-leave-her-be attitude towards me.

How can I get back on the wagon?  Because I've run out of ideas.