Well, it's the last day of Movember, and as you can see the mo is in full effect and looking pretty full. We're heading to the Mo Gala tonight and tomorrow I will very happilly shave it off and return to my Mo-less existence.
Thanks to Katie, Mum, Ben, Mike, Chris, Adrian, Matt, Nat, Keri and Craig for donating- together you contributed $488 for men's health. Big claps to you!
Speaking of victories:
I win! I have now completed the first draft of my third novel. Please read it! Just a disclaimer for those that do/have read it: I know it's a bit odd. It was really more of an experiment for me than anything else. I just found that in my previous nano entires I was extremely plot-heavy, and didn't take much time to really describe environments, or people or thoughts. My favourite literary discovery of last year was Ian McEwan, who I've been very inspired by, and I wanted to, well, not mimic him exactly, but certainly be more like him where I could. So I thought it might be an interesting experiment to write a book that wasn't about people doing things, but rather about trying to evoke the feeling of being somewhere, or try capture small moments completely.
Unlike The Trusted Professions, which I always intended to be the first and last draft and never be changed, warts and all, I will take some time with this one to edit and improve it. I think it really went off the rails in Chapter 18, I originally wanted Cammie to actually fall for Anthony, but when it came to it I just found I didn't have it in my to convincingly write that- and I found, as I wroet it, that there was something pleasingly cyclical about the idea that, wheras he seemed to want to change her life by dying, she might sacrifice her life to save his. That's a sort of love, I suppose. I also originally wanted to be vague about when exactly Alison visited Cammie- before or after the spider incident. I thought it might be fun to play with the idea that Cammie was testing his honesty with the spiders, but that you could read it both ways, if you wanted to. However again, when it came to it, I couldn't make that idea work right away so went with the easy option. As it is, the timeline seems screwy. So there's a lot to work on and improve, so any suggestions would be welcome- don't worry, I won't be offended! I am my greatest critic.
Thanks to all.
Not much new Mo news to report. All is proceeding according to plan. Some people have asked if I am going to keep the Mo past Movember 30th. My answer is this Venn diagram:
I had to zoom in on this photo because my eyes were all wonky, but you can see that it is now, a mere twenty days in, I have a full on, badass mo! Call on the Police! I have also raised $488 in donations so far, so thanks to everyone who has donated. Please buy my book when it comes out.
My mo in the shadow of a far superior mo, a mo that can only be described (by its owner) as 'luscious': Mr. Nick.
This is me in wifebeater mode, says Aiden.
The Mo has finally arrived! The grass bit thin but it's getting there. Still haven't decided on a style but you will notice that I have left a little soul patch (my little tribute to
Now this is technically a violation of Movember rules, as they state that you have to be clean-shaven apart from your mo. However I wasn't allowed a razor on my flight to/from NZ so I've had to just let it grow. Tomorrow morning it all comes off apart from the mo (and maybe some chops), and the real mo-tivation will begin.
As you can see, not much difference between days 1 and 2. In fact, I usually only shave every second day as it's such a pain and no-one can much tell the difference. Day 3 is a different story.
A. The Chevron: A thick and wide mustache, usually worn long to cover the top border of the upper lip.
B. The Horseshoe: A full moustache with vertical extensions grown on the corners of the lips and down the sides of the mouth to the jawline, resembling an upside-down horseshoe. The whiskers grown along the sides of the mouth in the horseshoe are sometimes referred to as "pipes." Not to be confused with the "fu manchu" which is grown long from the upper lip only-- the sides remain shaven in the fu manchu.
C. The Hitler: A thick mustache, shaved to be about an inch wide in the center.
D. The Walrus: A large, bushy, droopy mustache that hangs down over the lips, often entirely covering the mouth.
As it is written in the rules of Movember, one must start Movember with a freshly shaven face- how else can we tell how much mo you can grow in one month? So this is me, freshly shaved on a Thursday morning. Not exactly awake yet. It's already grown back some. I'm off to NZ tomorrow so I may not be able to post daily updates, but I'll put them up as and when I can, for full mo progress updates. 