I am starting off 2012 in difficult fashion. Starting early tomorrow morning, and continuing for a week, I will have ZERO internet access. Nada. Nothing. At all.

So, a friend and I are taking that as a challenge. We'll both be spending the week with zero internet access. At the end of it, we're gonna come back and see who has produced more writing. We're just gonna go by raw word count. It's not about pretty or perfect word - it's just about getting words down on the page. Research and second-guessing will have to happen later.

If you're brave enough to join, by all means, hop in. I'll check back in about a week with my word count. See ya then!

Leodegraunce, who accepted a flash piece from me a few months ago, has contacted me (and its other contributing authors) and requested up to nine more stories for it's upcoming anthology. Which means nine more chances to get published and paid!

It was awesome to get that e-mail, but I'll admit I'm nervous about living up to their expectations. The first story they accepted was one of those pieces that just sort of happens. I'm not a big advocate of inspiration out of nothing, but every once in awhile the subconscious takes over and produces something pretty cool. I can't count on that happening nine more times, so I'm just going to have to consciously live up to their expectations.

However, for the moment I am absolutely buried up to my neck (okay, probably over my head) in freelance work, so I probably won't be around much until... January.

Have a good month if you don't hear from me again soon, friends.

I'm not so great with schedules. Or with sticking to just one thing. I've always had more than one hobby - way more - and I've always managed to juggle them all. And I think that's a-okay.

I know that writing has fallen into the background for me lately, but I'm not upset about that. I have more than one hobby, and I love them all, and I try to indulge them all.

For me, it's like a rotation. This week I'm really into writing. Next week, fencing. The week after that, video games.

And that's fine. In fact, I think it's good. Having more than one hobby keeps all of them fresh. By not stressing over easing up on writing, I'm keeping it as something I really do love and enjoy and will definitely come back to.

I think having more than one hobby is great, and not just for writers. Becoming fixated on writing turns it into a chore. If it's truly a hobby then it is not just habitual - but also fun.

So, writing, don't worry. I'll be back, sugar.

What about you? Does an "open" hobby relationship work for you?

I know what I wanted to write today, but because of work I didn't have time to. So I'm swapping Wednesday's serious post with Thursday's less serious post.

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This article grabbed my attention today. It's about the Occupy Wall Street library.

Quick summary if you don't know: The OWS protest in NYC got "evicted" at about 2 a.m. Tuesday. Everything was tossed in dumpsters, including their library.

I saw the library pre-eviction. It was impressive. They did a great job protecting the books from the elements, and there were quite a few to choose from. So I was pretty upset when I heard that all those books got tossed into a dumpster with other rubbish and only some were (much) later recovered.

I know opinions are divided on OWS. But this isn't really about the politics. It's about the books, at least for me.

What do you guys think? Some people were calling the disposal of the books censorship, but that might be strong wording.

I'll count it!

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This is the story of how humanity became immortal.

It began with masturbation.

I'm gonna get back on track this week. I'm really gonna do it...

I'm going to get back on track this week. I even know what I want to write about for Wednesday.

I thought all day on Wednesday about what to write for my "writing" post and just couldn't come up with anything. To be honest, writing hasn't been on my mind as much lately. Which has actually allowed me to sort of sit back and smile at my little stories. I have a bunch of annoying life things to do today, but hopefully there will also be time for writing. I feel like I'm in a good, calm mood for it.

Have a good weekend all. :)

She didn't remember how the bruise on her arm had happened. Or the split lip. She had no idea why her knuckles were sore. But when she looked at the sign for McGinny's Bar and Pub, her stomach turned.

Lacey kept walking. If she'd chosen to wipe the place from her conscious memory then there must have been a damn good reason. But even though the memory wipe had been able to destroy whatever violence she'd experienced, some instinct lingered, some feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that told her to stay away from that bar, and the man behind the counter in particular.