So a Jew Walks Into a (Hindu) Temple...

Thanksgiving was lovely.

Here's proof.

But that's not the point of this post.

Today, my sister had to go to this Hindu temple near us for a class assignment and asked if I'd like to come. I didn't have anything else to do aside from NaNoWriMo, so I figured why not?

I am so glad we went!

First of all, it is absolutely breathtaking.

Here's proof.

We took off our shoes before entering the temple, as everyone is required to do.

We saw this sign right before entering. I loved it.

We entered here. You can see Liza looking all touristy in the background if you look closely.

We were only there for a little under 30 minutes, but I felt that we learned so much. I didn't take any photos once we were inside because I didn't think it would be appropriate and wasn't sure if pictures were permitted. What we saw were 4 small, I guess the best word to describe them would be huts, each with a statue of a specific deity inside. All of the temple's deities are listed here. I don't remember which one had which diety, but everyone prayed to them. It was very interesting to watch.

In the center of the courtyard was a room and in the back, 2 men that were giving the gods' blessing. Liza and I were ushered in to receive it, which basically involved a large cup that was quickly placed on our heads and then removed. The men then offered us some fruit that people had brought with them, but we said no thanks. We already felt like outsiders, but these people didn't encourage that at all. In fact, they were so welcoming that Liza and I couldn't believe we'd never been to this mecca of a place before.

We're going back. It was a really eye-opening experience that I felt the need to share with all of you.

That is all.

Hey Hey, Sugar Doll

I am such a big fan of these 4 day weekends.

I was thinking what a great idea it would be to have one of these once a month. You know, to recuperate and check in with ourselves. Who's with me?

Before I say anything else, I want to first thank West Sac Honey for the Sugar Doll Blog Award. This one's way cute.


This blog award condition is to write 10 interesting tidbits about yourself, and pass the award on to 103 fellow Sugar Doll bloggers. Because 10's just too many before noon.

Okay, onto the facts.

1. I watch and love The Vampire Diaries. My logic: True Blood's gone for (what feels like) forever and this show just swooped on in and satisfied my need for a vampire show. So that was that. I didn't expect to like it, but I do.
2. I don't know what the hell Google Wave is. Hopefully by the end of today, I will. Tweet tweet.
3. I just got published! It's nothing huge, but it's something.
4. I can't wait to get married, if only to be able to take that gun thing and tag everything I want to put on my gift registry.
   
5. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
6. I'm not at all sure what I want to do with my life. I knew when I was 18, I thought I knew when I was 20, then I had no idea when I hit 21. Apparently, I work backwards that way.
7. I desperately want to eventually live in a little town where everybody knows your name. Ignore the Cheers reference.
8. Like every other girl in the world, I've developed a major crush on Taylor Lautner. Yes, I know he's 17 and no, I can't say that I care.
9. Sometimes, I prefer my blogger friends over my IRL ones. Whoops.
10. I leave for Israel in T minus 19 days!

Okay ladies, tell me random things!

• Fidgeting Gidget (because I know you love these things)
• poptart (because anything and everything you say makes me smile, Adele)
• Oh, Sam (because I'm dying to see how you deal with this, ha!)
  

Now that that's taken care of, a little update...if you will.

As of last night this morning at 12:05 am, I hit the 40,000 word mark for NaNoWriMo. I seriously didn't think I'd make it. I mean, the entire point of this month-long exercise is to prove to yourself that you are capable of doing something so ambitious. There is no penalty. But as I've come to learn while taking part in NaNoWriMo, you create your own penalty by pushing yourself that much further. You feel that if you can do this - if you can bring yourself to write a 50,000 word novel in a mere 30 days - that you are capable of doing anything. And in a way, I think that's true. If it weren't for this organization, I would never have even dreamed of taking something like this on.

There were times that I thought, you know what Ali? Don't put all this pressure on yourself. You're doing something big. If you don't finish it, it's not the end of the world. And that's 150% true. In fact, I think it's fabulous to make a dent in your writing and not make it to the end. Because at least you have something to work with. But I've come to the realization that for me personally - after getting to 40,000 words - I've just got to finish this damn thing. So after all that rambling, this is where I'm at.

I've been asked what my novel is about, and I know I told you I'd share some of it with you. I still plan on doing that. But as far as getting in depth about it, I'm still deciding. Because I went into this with absolutely no idea what I was going to write about. And then when I dove in headfirst, what I started writing about was very personal and special to me. And I'm not sure I'm ready to share that yet. It's definitely going to take time, but I hope that with that time, I'll be able to open up some more. So bare with me! Or is it bear? I never know. And I call myself a writer...

Anyway, I am very much looking forward to midnight on November 30th because then I will have a lot more time to devote to blogging before I'm off to Israel on December 17th. Unfortunately, I won't be able to bring my laptop because with all the traveling we'll be doing, it would just be another thing to lug around. But I am going to try and plan some guest posts so that this blog doesn't get too dusty.

Wow, longer post that I had anticipated! I'll be back soon.

In the meantime, how were your Thanksgivings?

A Cliche Little Thankful List

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Because let's face it, we all love to do 'em. :)

• My incredibly close family and friends who put up with me (and who I put up with!) and love and adore me no matter what.
• Cinnamon rolls and coffee on Thanksgiving morning (and the morning after New Year's) while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's a family tradition.
• Work. I may not have a consistent job, but I am managing to find work and I am extremely thankful that this has been the case. I do not take it for granted.
• Living in a pretty constantly sunny state. Sure, I miss now sometimes but then I look outside and I think yeah...this is nice.
• Birthright. Countdown to Israel (and hopefully my dear friend's wedding): 21 days!
• Molly and Emma, aka the best dogs in the world.
• Health. Health, health, health. If this list were in order, this would be numero uno.
• Glee, The Vampire Diaries (shh), Grey's Anatomy, FlashForward and True Blood. Oh, and Gilmore Girls on DVD.
• A roof over my head and food on the table.
• NaNoWriMo. It's forcing me to actually do what I've wanted to do since I was little: write a novel. No matter how good or bad it turns out to be, I'm doing it. And that's what matters to me.
• And last but not least, all of you. If I had known that by blogging I would "meet" so many incredible people that make me happier on a daily basis, well, I would've started this little blog a long time ago.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Yes/No

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Yes, I've been on a bit of a blogger break.

Yes, I have missed reading all of your blogs.

No, I didn't have any motivation to blog after sitting at a computer for 9 hours a day, then going home and adding to my word count for NaNoWriMo.

Yes, I think I'm back in the blogosphere.

Yes, I am beyond ecstatic about it.
No, I am not even going to attempt to go back and catch up on nearly a thousand posts' worth of your lives.

No, that doesn't mean I don't care just as much as I used to. In fact, I think I care more. I just need to be realistic about all of this.

Yes, I have a plan. Update my blog/play catch-up on yours during my lunch break at work. NaNoWriMo it up at night.

And how are all of you?

FYI...

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I am alive and missing all of you.

Just a very brief update...

Working and NaNoWriMo has taken up a lot more time than I had anticipated, and I haven't been on your blogs in what feels like forever (but is really only about 2 weeks)! I'll be back up and running as soon as I a) have time and b) am not as overwhelmed by my Google Reader. Oy!

In the meantime, stick around please!

Love always,
Me

Happy (belated) Halloween!

From your angry and innocent punked out private school girls, respectively.

NaNoWriMo: Day 1

So, I'm not exactly sure how bad of a hangover I have right now since I'm writing this at 4:39 pm on Sunday and haven't even put my costume on yet. Sigh, the joys of scheduled posts...

Speaking of costumes, here's what I will have worn (ha, will have...I'm having way too much fun with the future at the moment), all from Forever 21:

Picture the necklace in black and the skirt in green and that's it. My friend came up with the idea for Liza and I to go as punked out private school girls, so that's what we did. That, plus pigtails and black eyes. Done and done. What did you guys go as? Do tell!

Okay, enough Halloween talk. I titled this post NaNoWriMo: Day 1, and that's exactly what it's going to be about, damnit!

As this is being read, I pray to multiple Gods (sarcasm people, I'm Jewish) that I am writing away voraciously on my laptop, having absolutely no writer's block of any shape or form and am pounding out those first 1,667 words faster than I can say...NaNoWriMo?

Yeah, right.

Yesterday (Saturday, which is actually today...man, these scheduled posts are quite confusing), I went to Barnes and Noble and got 4 of these babies to jot down my ideas, thoughts, whatever really.

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I figure I can keep one in my bag at all times when inspiration hits...or doesn't. Either way, they're my security blanket for the next month.

I know what my novel is going to be about. I know, I can't believe it either. I'm keeping it to myself until I actually write something of substance on the topic. Then, as promised, I'll let it out of its cage.

So metaphorical. Anyway.

I had no idea how insane NaNoWriMo really is. According to their Twitter, there are currently 107,522 authors signed up to write a novel in 30 days. And the number can only go up. Unless it goes down, I guess.

Aside from enjoying the hell out of a scheduled post, I suppose I am writing this to just say hi, I'm here (except I'm really not, mwahaha) and that I'll be reading your blogs...just not as often as I have.