One of the items on my goals list (er, over-achiever list) is to participate in NaNoWriMo. But it doesn’t say when. It’s just on there as: “participate in write a novel month” (because when I wrote it, I couldn’t remember the official name).

So, should it say, “participate in write a novel month someday” or should it say “participate in write a novel month this year“?

The problem is that November is two days away. But if you’re reading this blog, you must be smart and so you already know that November is only two days away. Two days! And all this time I have been stressing about what to dress up as for Halloween.

Seriously, that is the more pressing question. Obviously. I mean, my boyfriend is going to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are. So where does that leave me? As a monster? Or the sexy-secretary standby? No thanks.

Anyway, we are getting off topic.

I asked my friend Robin if she would do NaNoWriMo with me. Apparently she has a kid and a husband and a house and some other stuff that she thinks will keep her from being able to participate. To be fair I should tell you that to “win,” you have to submit 50,000 words within the 30-day time frame. But Robin did tell me today that she is going to take the next two days to think about it and make a decision. So we’ll see.

I also asked my sister if she would do NaNoWriMo with me. She said totally.

Leo from Zen Habits (also a zillion other blogs) is doing it. Last year 119,301 people did it and probably even more people will be doing it this year. But if 119,301 people jumped off a bridge would I jump too? (OK, Mom. Sheesh.)

So what do you think, should I do NaNoWriMo? If you haven’t heard of it, click the damn link and tell me if you think I should do it. (I.e. leave a comment already!)

Do you know that movies are different from films? There’s a distinction that I discovered recently while having a conversation with my boyfriend:

Him: You’re a hard audience to choose movies for.
Me: That’s because movies aren’t the same to me as they are to you.
Him: How so?
Me: You watch movies that require thought and analysis, while I watch movies so that I can unplug and to turn my brain OFF.
Him: That’s true, I don’t have a lot of light film in my house.
Me: No, you don’t have a lot of movies in your house.

After that, we agreed to use the words to distinguish what type of feature-length DVD we want to watch.

See, movies have been little more to me than mere entertainment. And I’m talking a low form of entertainment. Blasphemy, you say? Maybe. But you have to understand that I was raised in a household that highly regulated boob-tube and movie viewing. Example: I was a sophomore in high school when “Friends” debuted. I wasn’t allowed to watch it. That year I walked to school every morning with my friend Nichole, who lived down the street from me. Every Friday morning (because the show was on Thursday nights) Nichole gave me the play-by-play of the episode from the night before. That’s how I learned all about the Rachel hair cut and her romantic drama with Ross.

You also have to understand that I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to the kind of experiences I want in life. I much prefer real-life/real-time/real-world, active experiences over passive experiences. I would rather host a dinner with friends and engage in good conversation. Or go wine tasting. Or play scrabble. When I want to learn or be challenged in my thinking, I much prefer to do that actively and interactively. So I read. Or take a class. Or teach. Or go to the Crocker. Or ask purposeful questions. I don’t watch a movie.

But since distinguishing between movies and films, I can now say that if I want to learn or be challenged in my thinking, from time to time I will watch a film. Especially when I watch it with someone who appreciates film as much as my boyfriend does. Even better if it’s with friends, followed by stimulating conversation. Which is why I’m so excited about CinemaSpeak, a new event hosted by The Urban Hive and moderated by, ahem, my boyfriend.

Guess what? It’s film followed by conversation, and it’s happening this Friday.

Most of the time I whine (usually just in my head) about how I NEVER have ANYthing to blog about. Or, my other favorite, how I NEVER have TIME to blog. (Of course we all know that the truth is I never MAKE time to blog. But that’s besides the point.)

Today on my to-do list I wrote: Blog post. That means I am supposed to write a blog post. Shocker. So I sat here (here being my usual spot at The Urban Hive) for a good 15 minutes trying to think of something to blog about.

I read some Penelope Trunk. Her most recent post is titled “How to deal with doubt: Take a leap.” Which made me remember this post I started and never finished about being a risk-taker. I actually had to do a search for the file because I couldn’t find it right away. It was buried in the most appropriate place: a folder titled “monologues.” Imagine that. It’s a good post. Maybe I’ll finish it next week.

Reading that post made me think about FreelanceCamp Sacramento a few weekends ago and how I was sharing in one of the sessions about the challenge of selling abstract ideas. Like coworking and FreelanceCamp. And that made me think about how cool it was that my new friends Iris and Jeremy trekked all the way up to Sacramento from Santa Cruz and their uber-cool coworking space NextSpace JUST FOR FREELANCECAMP! (p.s. Sacramento, NextSpace is a community of 150 people who want to connect, catalyze and actively be the future of the economy in Santa Cruz. Where are you, Sacramentans?? C’mon people!)

Then it hit me. Sometimes — actually a lot of times — I forget to blog about important stuff. Like FreelanceCamp. Like how if you didn’t make, it you missed out. Big Time. Right, everyone who attended? (Read: pathetic plea for comments.) Like how bummed I was just a few weeks before the event that no one had signed up and my good friend Robin helped me look for the positives and also suggested that maybe my depressive tendencies are nutrition based, not circumstantial. Like how my new-found friend Jenny came through at the buzzer with the winning point when she designed an ad that was sponsored (donated) by Sacramento News & Review. (I still owe you a bottle of wine, Jenny. I haven’t forgotten!) Like how Jenn Kistler from SN&R came to FreelanceCamp and will be writing an article about The Urban Hive that should run next week. Like how even though only 20 out of 30 registered people showed up, they were the raddest, coolest 20 people who could have showed up; they were awesome contributors, way into participation (which is absolutely essential for an event like this) and left asking when the next FreelanceCamp Sacramento will be.

Some other important stuff may have happened recently. Like my new MacBook (with help from my good pal Ryan). Like hurting the face part of my head and getting stitches. Like Hot Bag O Doughnuts at Bistro 33.