Eeeeep.

So I'm trying to arrange the notes for a new novel (gathered over the past several months) into a coherent whole, and a timeline. This is kindof difficult for me, because instead of the ten or fifteen pages I usually have (maybe 50, for a series), you know what I have?

91 pages.

To make matters worse, I'm finding more notes to add to it, and looking over my bookshelf to see if I missed any reference materials.

If you happen to hear cursing and the slamming of a door coming from the vicinity of Kansas, it's just my sanity leaving for good this time. ;-)

(no subject)

Made a bit of a command decision a little over a week ago.

I stopped paying so much attention to politics. Before, I would read through a ton of news and opinion sites, and get myself worked up over something that, realistically, I knew I was never going to change. There are a few issues that I keep up to date on, and a couple of journals I still read, but it doesn't take up such a large chunk of my day.

There are some topics I'll still be writing essays on when the mood strikes, but the frenzy that's been going on with me since the last election . . . it seems to have faded away. I'm glad.

I also stopped watching the news. I keep track of things by talking to friends and family, and by looking through the Yahoo news bar and certain charity websites, but as for the constant barrage of "Tonight, we'll tell you how something previously thought to be safe will kill you! Update on that at 11:00. Right now, let's go to Minnesota, where this woman's husband and five children just died in a fire. Let's interview her. How do you feeeel?"

Yeah, that's out of our house. Gavin de Becker calls it "Nothing Educational or Worth Seeing" and talks about how immersing ourselves in tragedies we can't change and that will statistically probably never affect us can be really damaging to the nerves and make people more fearful unnecessarily. ((I'd look up a good quote from him on all that, but I'm heading over to my parents' house in about five minutes. Maybe later.)) Anyway, years after first reading his books (go pick up The Gift of Fear, now. I'll wait ;-)) I'm finally taking the advice to heart.

In short, I've got my own corner of the world to take care of, and I can't take care of it if I'm always running around fretting about the people I'm not in a position to help. I hope this doesn't come out sounding selfish or coldhearted; I honestly don't mean it to be if so. This decision is still new to me and I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to explain it.

Anyway, I feel a lot better; I think this was definitely a healthy thing to do. :-)