Friday, December 3, 2010

#reverb10

I bet you I know something you don't know.

Well, I didn't know it either until yesterday but I like feeling important so play along with me, eh?

So yesterday I was sitting on the couch, watching a spot of TV with the lovely @mplstravelkitty and she asked me if I'd heard about Reverb 10. I was like, what?

Actually, it's #reverb10

And what in the name of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is #reverb10? 

My synopsis: it's a big, writerish, end of the year blog thing.

This says it much better:


Go ahead. Check it out. I'll wait.

Kind of nifty, I think. Don't you? Although, I have to admit, it is kind of touchy-feely for what goes on around here. We Scribblerati are all about gritty fantasy, bad-ass angels, zombie apocalypse mayhem, redemption seeking bear-girls, sassy time travel, and the occasional rainbow farting unicorn. That's just who we are. I'm not sure that will really fit in with the majority of the #reverb10 crowd, but what the hell. Cyberspace is a big place. Certainly there is room for a Midwestern geek in along with all those mainstream bloggers, right?

So here goes.  And I'm behind, so don't expect a treatise on each one of these.

December 1 - One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2010 word: Progress

Yeah, I know, it ain't the snazziest but it is accurate. In 2010, give or take a month or two, I have completely rewritten To Kill the Goddess and I'm closer than I ever have been to being finished. On top of that, this has been my second year of doing yoga on a regular basis. Yoga has rebuilt my body and has given me a focus I previously lacked. I am strong in body and mind and I feel like I can do anything.

2011 word: Launch

I'm going to finish To Kill the Goddess.

I'm going to launch and who knows where it will take me.

December 2 - Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

I go to my frakking day job. I'm working on it.

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

There's so many places I could go with this one. On the plus side: sitting on the beach in Aruba with the lovely @mplstravelkitty. On the minus side: getting canned. And, of course, countless moments in between.

But I'm going to take this one: Success!




That's the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football team and a whole bunch of fans storming the field with Floyd of Rosedale in hand. Those of you who don't follow college football, much less the Gophers, will find it difficult to appreciate what a moment like this is like. Sure, we can all understand the excitement that comes with winning a game, but this one was special. The Gophers have had a number of horrible seasons in a row and this year they have had some absolutely dreadful losses. I'm a season ticket holder and I haven't seen them win a home game since sometime in early / mid fall of 2009.

So this moment?

My throat is raw; hoarse from screaming and yelling. My head is buzzing from the realization that we actually won a game - and from a nip or two (or ten) of Jameson. My hands are wet and cold, fumbling at my phone and trying to get the camera to snap a picture. My ears are ringing with the shouts of those around me: startled cheers, hoarse shouts, and my dad, a disgruntled Iowa fan grumbling, “Come on! Let's get the hell out of here!”

Success!


PS. there's likely to be an avalanche of these coming from me so prepare yourself!

PPS. Any of you Scribblerati want to join me? Hop on!

8 comments:

mark said...

I am but a poor scribbler, but I enjoyed the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks outta your lack of a treatise.

And watching Mizzou stick it to Oklahoma (where the wind comes blowin' outta Stoops mouth) was just as joyous for me.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Reverb! I only made it to one football game this season, but it was against Minnesota. I enjoyed watching my Michigan State Spartans beat the Golden Gophers!

Shawn Enderlin said...

@Mark: yes - GOOOOOD game!

@fierflye: Haha! Yah, Sparty had some game this year. :-)

Thanks for comin round!

Jon said...

Nice find, Shawn, I'm going to try it out at my blog too. I feel like I need to work on the discipline again, so maybe this will help.

Jon said...

...Or maybe not... After half an hour, I couldn't get the sign up sheet to open properly, so fuck it.

Shawn Enderlin said...

LOL - well, if anyone else wants to give it a try you can always jump in and do it here. We could always keep her post separate by doing the "Shawn's Version" thing we did for the posts about our favorite books.

Shawn Enderlin said...

uh, that's keep OUR posts separate.

grumble grumble voice translation grumble grumble

Jon said...

I'll try again monday, frustration knocked me out of the blogging mood... I'm going to do some editing and then start a new story about blowing stuff up, maybe.