Twins Of Tomorrow Today

A way for us to keep track of each other (and ourselves) on our quest to overcome procrastination and make our plans for tomorrow happen sooner than eventually

[tomorrowtwins]

Phase Two: Preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo: 13 Days And Counting!

Okay so I still don’t know what you wanna do for your part of Phase Two, or if you want to take a break and settle into being a biologist, but I need to keep going. I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo next month, which is a more relaxed version of NaNoWriMo, and for it you can sort of build a bio for your novel, which I never do for NaNo because HARD, but I’ve signed up for a cabin (digital support group for April’s camp) and I want them to know what I’m doing, thus: Synopsis.

It’s hard. It’s really really hard. I don’t know how people do this, it’s that hard. I immediately reached out to our dear friend K.Crabb via gchat to see if she could help [highlights reel version]: 

me:  so I’m doing my Camp Nano novel info page, and it wants a synopsis and my only thought is “….Uh.”

me:  basically heeeelp me braiinstooorm thiiiis

K.Crabb:  So a synopsis, huh?

Hmmm

me:I knooow

it’s hard, I hate synopses

K.Crabb:  Well something like “When James’ Dire’s parents die, his life is changed forever. Except his life wasn’t so normal to begin with”

me:  “Rick Johnson’s life was normal until” is the YA version of “IN A WORLD…” so I dont’ want to start that way

K.Crabb:  Obviously that’s not the whole thing

I’m just throwing things

me:  throwing things is why I brought this up

we’re going to throw a BUNCH of things at the wall and see what sticks

K.Crabb:  I don’t know if you want to focus on James or Rick

I was focusing on James, you were focusing on Rick, haha

me:  usually I focus on Rick because he’s my first POV

K.Crabb:  Haha you could possibly start off with “James Dire is ruining Rick Johnson’s life”

me:  what if I did something like “As it turns out, funerals can mean worse things than the death of someone close. For Rick Johnson, funerals mean the death of two people, neither of —- OOO I LIKE THAT

K.Crabb:  Oh, haha, I thought it fit with your voice in the novel

And he learns early they were spies, right?

How about something like “You’d think something like living with your newly orphaned cousin who had  parents for spies might make life a little more interesting, but no, it just downright sucks.”

me:  James Dire is ruining Rick Johnson’s life. It’s bad enough when James moves in with Rick’s family when James is suddenly (help me here, I hate suddenly) orphaned, but now it might turn out that whoever killed James’ parents isn’t done with the Dire family. As old secrets are unburied (that’s a word right) and new grudges take hold, Rick and James will have to learn to work together to….something

K.Crabb:  You could say uncovered

me:  yeah but uncovered doesn’t relate to funerals as nicely

K.Crabb:  That’s true

and so it went for a long time.

Then, even once we got something we liked, it just kept going:

me:  Sixteen-year-old Rick Johnson doesn’t want a lot of things out of life. He wants his tech to be fast, his friends to be happy, and his homework to be easy. He also wants to know if his cousin, James Dire, who moved into the Johnson house after his parents died under mysterious—and bloody—circumstances, is going to murder them all in their sleep.

James, fourteen and alone in a house of strangers, has a much simpler goal: To finish the mission that killed his parents, no matter what it takes.

K.Crabb:  I think that works wonderfully!

me:  hurray!

” He wants his tech to be fast, his friends to be happy, and his homework to be easy. ” or ” He wants fast tech, happy friends, and easy homework. ” ?

K.Crabb:  The second one

Sometimes to be verbs are necessary, but if you can avoid them, that works

me:  k

I’m concerned about the use of “want”

it happens in every sentence

good or lazy?

K.Crabb:  I think using that same word in the way you are creates parallel structure

me:  ok, I’ll go with that then

oh, what if I just switched around the age placement?

Rick Johnson doesn’t want a lot of things out of life. Like a lot of sixteen-year-olds, he wants fast tech, happy friends, and easy homework.

then I don’t have a string of sentences starting “he”

K.Crabb:  That works!

me:  \o/

  Without further fuss, here’s what we ended up thinking was good enough:

Rick Johnson doesn’t want a lot of things out of life. Like many sixteen-year-olds, he wants fast tech, happy friends, and easy homework. He also wants to know if his cousin, James Dire, who moved into the Johnson house after his parents died under mysterious (and bloody) circumstances, is going to murder them all in their sleep.

James, fourteen and alone in a house of strangers, has a much simpler goal: To finish the mission that killed his parents, no matter what it takes.

In conclusion: I HATE SYNOPSES.

Just so you know.

-Twin A, Writing Librarian

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Is Pretty Pleased with Current Events

Three months ago I graduated with my  Bachelor's Degree in biology and began applying to jobs in my field.

One week ago, for the very first time since graduating, I had an interview with a company.

Today I worked my first ever shift as an Environmental Scientist (mostly it was paperwork, but still). 

I am pretty darn pleased with that timeline, let me tell you. I know there are still things to worry about (like how the position is technically temporary, or how I only spent half of today in the sun and got burned) but I'm going to do my very best and, worst comes worst, I have some great new experience to add to my resume.

I really couldn't have done this without the motivation of TOTT, which is why I hope we can figure out a new goal set. As you know I'll be traveling a lot in my new position, but I don't see why I can't blog from a lonely hotel room when I'm off and away.

So let's email over the next few days and figure out what our new goals are, both for life and this blog, ok? I'm looking forward to the next step!

DFTBA

-Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Motions For A Reassessment

First and most importantly: AAAAAHHHHHHH OMG HOLY SHIT YOU GOT THE JOB YOU GOT THE JOB YOU'RE TOTALLY AN ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGIST STARTING MONDAY, HOLY SHIIIIIIIT, DID I EVER TELL YOU YOU'RE MY HEEEEEEROOOOOOOO.

But you know what this means? It means you don't have to apply for jobs anymore! Or work on your resume! Or anything like that! So: I think we need to discuss and reassess our plan here. 

Also, I think I didn't explain myself very well re:my goals when we got started, which is where your disappointment/frustration with my recent posts comes from. That's something we need to reassess too.

So, to start from the end: Why am I doing this? What was in my head when we began? What did I mean when I said "2014 will have less suck/more awesome than 2013"? What was my vision of an end goal? I don't think my answers to those questions are the same thing as what yours would be.

I want to write. That's my number one goal, primary mission, DIRECTIVE, as Eve would say. I have to figure out how to write just on my own, without asking other people for motivation. I want to find a place or time or setup that helps me get my writing groove going. I need to develop a way to work even when there are distractions. I summed all that up in "Write a page a day!", which, looking back, was extremely short-sighted.

I want to read too, but that's not as important. Getting out and doing stuff is fun too, but I kind of already do that! My library peeps and I have arranged to do Level 13 Fancy Tea once a month, and I meet with my writing group once a week (usually), and I spend a lot of time outside walking all over the world because I lack a car, and also sometimes we just spontaneously, so forced outings aren't really a big deal. I actually get out a strangely large portion of my time!

Mainly, though, and above everything, I have to learn to write, every day, a large chunk of dedicated writing. I have to figure that out. So maybe what I should do after the reassessment is start something where I think of different writing times/places/circumstances, try those things for a week, and do my posts reporting on how it's working. Meanwhile I'll also do the reading and stuff, and keep you updated on my outings/adventures, when they happen, if you want?

Anyway, those are my librarian thoughts. And yours, Mrs. Environmental Biologist?

DFTBA,

Twin A

PS I've been watching Pixar movies for hours, WHY WOULD I DO THIS TO MYSELF?

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Wants to be On the Same Page

Howdy-ho, and welcome to the end of the posting week (for me, anyway). I’ve been struggling a bit with meeting my goals, but I’ve got a great support group that’s been poking me along, so I’m gonna make it through this week (if it kills me)!

I think it’s important that we keep working on making sure we’re both looking at this project in the same way, and because of that I’m going to continue on the topic from the last few posts, mainly: corner cutting. I want to mention that I never said our posts were supposed to be “entertaining,” I said they needed to relate to the project. I know that sometimes life isn’t entertaining, and so I’d never expect you to portray it in that light.

I completely understand how having your significant other living on a different schedule than you is anything BUT entertaining. In fact, it’s the worse. I know it’s the worst because I’ve been in retail (in fact, working for the same shitty company as your boyfriend) for almost six years. I know what it’s like to never see your guy, to be tired from trying to make time together, to be exhausted from working a close one night and then opening the next day. Believe me, if there’s anyone out there who can understand your pain it’s me.

Here’s what I don’t understand, and don’t agree with: that just putting words on a page is enough to qualify as a post. Our manifesto states that the purpose of the TOTT project is to “combat chronic procrastination” and to “ensure the year 2014 has a noticeably lower suck level than the year 2013.” I’m really excited to be working on a better me; to be putting my goals ahead of being comfortable (Or well rested. This week has sucked, lol). I think our project has already helped me time manage a TON better, and has also helped me get closer to friends and family who have rallied to help me meet my goals.

I’m so grateful that we started doing this. But I really think we need to be on the same page, because to me missing a post and taking a Negative Reinforcement is a lot less painful then putting less than my whole effort into a post. That’s why I suggested the addendum: to ensure we’re both aware of what a “minimum post” should be. I know we didn’t have it outlined initially, but the vlogbrothers didn’t instate the four minute rule right off the bat either. Sometimes you need to redefine something to be sure everyone’s on the same page.

On a related but slightly different note, I was reading through the manifesto (getting my thoughts together) when I realized we’ve been missing one of our stated shared goals! We’re supposed to be doing an outside recreational activity once a week and sharing pics about it! I think it would be a lot of fun to each have a Photo Day, like the cooking I did with Erica, where we chronicle what we did to achieve this goal. What do you think?

And now, my updates:

Reading: Have you received your new Book Club book? (For that matter, did you ever finish TFIOS?) I’m interested to hear your update concerning reading! In the meantime, I've been spending my evenings with a fluff book I got on sale. Sometimes losing yourself in a silly romance is a lot of fun!

Exercise: I went for an hour yesterday and Tracy and I were going to go tonight, but I ended up getting caught in a project (having two jobs is fulfilling but hard on the free time). I have an hour planned tomorrow and I’ll be finishing up on Saturday.

Job applications: Back to the old grind. I applied to a random scientist position tonight, and Tracy and I are making plans to revamp my resume and get a cover letter together so I can apply to places that need one.

That’s all for this week (excepting the Book Club), but I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow!

DFTBA.

-Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Posts Early-ish

So it's not, like, midnight, and I didn't forget until Boyfriend reminded me this time, although he DID sort of scare the shit out of me when I was napping and then when I was panicking wondered aloud "Isn't it your turn to post today?" and of course I said "No it's Liz's" and he said "No I'm pretty sure it's you."

And he's right. It is.

Was that slightly more entertaining?

Also I reject the notion that these HAVE to be entertaining, because we didn't agree on that in the first place, and sometimes just schlepping over here and writing anything at all is a victory. I do agree that I should try harder to not just post "I'm here. I wrote. There are books. Peace out."

(The trouble is Nick's boss is an asshole, so Nick is doing ONLY closing shifts, so he gets in late, which keeps me up late, but I'm still getting up at 6am, and by the time I get home I'm so pooped that I feel successful just writing a page of really and truly awful dialog about literally nothing that I know will only have about two lines of usable stuff, so after all that figuring out something epic to post on Tumblr doesn't rank super high in my priorities. This will all change when he gets a better job/schedule, and as a result my posts/chapters will probably be more entertaining.)

Meanwhile I'm in that place where the part I want to write is after the part I'm struggling through. One or two more days I should be forced to be done with it though, ahahaha.

Everything else is pretty much status quo. Let me know when you hear back from the jeorb people!

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Has a Long Week (And It Ain't Over Yet)

Man, I’m about half-way through a loooong week and I’m pretty bushed. Because of that (and my sad lack of updates) this won’t be a very long post, but I was determined to get it out!

Before I jump into my stuff, though, I want to talk about YOUR last post. While I’m super happy you remembered to throw something up, I’m not sure a post just saying, “Yay I remembered!” is true to the essence of our Twins of Tomorrow project. There really wasn’t anything about your progress or your day, except for how you had a nap. Therefore, I’d like to present an addendum to our rules: Posts have to be meaningful (i.e. have something to do with TOTT) in order to count; a lame post is the same as a missed one (One of our four followers (can you guess which) threatened to quit following us unless I brought it up to you. She said she wasn’t going to continue to be our fan if we weren’t going to continue to be awesome. Lol, I adore her.) What do you think?

Now, on to my updates!

Reading: I think you said you weren’t getting our new Book Cub book till today, so I’ve been rereading some of the books I have laying around the house. Let me know in your next post if we can start!

Exercise: Slacking this week, but it’s on the slate for tomorrow.

Cooking: Yeah, same as above…I’m working on it!

Job Applications: As you know I had an interview today. Therefore, I spent my hour YESTERDAY preparing and an hour TODAY actually…y’know…being interviewed. Back to flinging my resume all over the internet starting tomorrow!

This has been a rough week so far (I think for the both of us!) and my 5 am wake up slated for tomorrow isn’t making me feel cheerful about the back half of it. But I shall persevere!

TFTBA!

-Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Twin A Nearly (But Doesn't Quite) Forgets Monday

Ha, I totally made it! I kind of had a late afternoon nap and nearly forgot to post, but then The Best Boyfriend asked, in passing, "Did you write today?"

"Yes. Well, wrote and plotted. Huzzah."

"Whose day is it to post?"

"...SHIT."

So here I am!

We've agreed to do Ready Player One for book club, which I'll pick up tomorrow.

I hope you used your Jobs Hour to prep for your interview tomorrow. Keep me posted!!

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Is Behind The Curve

Okay I'll admit that I wasn't able to one-sitting it like you. I drank a crazy amount of wine before binge-reading the first, say...half? Something like that? But then I hit that part where Hazel's remembering nearly dying and her mom sobbing, "I won't be a mom anymore", and I had to put the book down.

Too many feels.

But I'm reading right now (your post interrupted me), and I'll report back in as soon as I finish, whenever that is.

I, as you know, do not possess the Q&A section. Lay some of those Qs on me,  I wanna see if I noted them!

DFTBA,

Twin A

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Reports on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

So this is it: the first REAL Book Club post. As you know, I was really nervous and anxious to real TFiOS, mostly because I knew it was going to be sad and also because I was still worried, deep down, I wouldn’t be a TRUE Nerdfighter if I didn’t like the way John Green writes.

I had nothing to worry about.

Because of my anxiety I put off starting the book until Thursday evening. I knew today was coming, though, and that I’d have to report SOMETHING, so I finally bit the bullet and began reading. I finished that same night.

I have so much I want to say, so many things I want to discuss with you about the characters and the deeper meanings found in TFiOS, although I have to admit the only reason I’m aware of those meanings is because of the Q+A at the back of the collector’s edition I ended up buying. I’m not an analyzer, Twin A, and I think it’s because I get too involved with the plot and characters. When I read a book it’s more like I’m watching a movie: I see everything playing out in front of me. I love being able to get lost like that, but it also means I often don’t catch symbolism of foreshadowing, like when-

But there’s where we hit the problem. I can’t TELL YOU the things I loved here because I might accidentally reveal a spoiler. And that’s the one thing John Green asked of all his readers: Don’t spoil it. So I won’t. Instead I’ll just say how much I loved all the characters, and how happy I am to have found the wonderful John Green and his amazing story telling. There was a lot of sorrow, but it was so real and mixed with so many other wonderful emotions that I don't regret a single tear. 

Moving on! The next book, as we’ve agreed, will be The Magicians by Lev Grossman. You have your copy already, now I just need to get mine. By next Saturday I’ll have something to report!

DFTBA!

Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Completes the First Negative Reinforcement (Spoiler: It Wasn't All That Negative)

Hello, and welcome to Cooking with Erica, a Negative Reinforcement in which Twin B gets taught a thing or two about cooking by her kind and long suffering friend.In this evening's episode we'll be making chicken picccata (fancy sounding, right?).

Step One: Head to your local grocery store to gather all the things you'll need (In my case: chicken breasts, lemon juice, paprica, olive oil, butter, capers, and artichokes. I will admit I had eggs, flour, and milk, but some of those are perishables and I think we both agree if I'd gotten extra it would have just been a waste).

Step Two: Ingredients assemble! 

Step Three: Drinking! (This step is critical.)

Step Four: HULK SMASH! The chicken breasts are too thick, and will take entirely too long to cook. Therefore you'll need to bash them flat. Erica suggested a mallet, but since we couldn't find Tom's we had to make do (we used a can, but using a pop-top can is probably a bad idea of explody proportions). Also, it turns out there's a "grain" to chicken, so if you need to smash it flat make sure you go along with it (this will help to avoid explosions of the chicken kind. Nobody likes explosions while cooking.). You're shooting for about half an inch thick.

Step Five Part One: Time to get your pan and/or pot ready! We had noodles with our chicken, so we went ahead and put the water on (If the water comes to a boil and you're not ready to noodle it up you can turn it down. I'm not lying when I say this extremely simple bit of advice has NEVER OCCURRED TO ME, which is why noodles stress me out. They're never ready in time! Either too soon or too late...But not anymore, noodles! Not anymore.) 

Step Five Part Two: The frying pan! It has to be hot, so now's a good time to get it ready. Erica suggested we use a mix of olive oil and butter because the olive oil has a higher smoke point (meaning it can get hotter before it starts to smoke) and the butter will give a nice color. (There were several times throughout the process where Erica made suggestions based on looks. I was super impressed). We kept the temperature floating around med high and adjusted up and down as needed.

Step Six: Time to go ahead and prepare your assembly line: first a place for the raw chicken, next a paper plate with an egg and some milk (Erica said the milk helps the egg go farther) and then another plate with  flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. 

Step Seven: GO FOR IT! (Erica suggests using one hand to dip the chicken in the egg and use the other in the flour part, but honestly I kept forgetting and using both. Oh well.) Be sure to flop the chicken AWAY from you as it goes in the pan, that way it won't splatter towards you.

Step Eight: As each piece finished we popped them in a 300 degree oven, both to keep them warm and to ensure they were cooked all the way through. 

Step Nine: The sauce! First, Erica said this part was supposed to be a "reduction," but since I only have shitty Teflon pans we did the best we could. Basically: pour a can of chicken broth (or stock) into the pan that the chicken was fried in. Then, while it's simmering and you're stirring a bunch sprinkle a handful of flour in (constantly stirring) to thicken it. Next we squeezed in a bunch of lemon juice (I mean a buuuunch. But make it a little less lemony than you'd like, remembering the sauce is going to reduce as it cooks) and tossed in a bunch more butter and some salt and pepper. Then stirstirstir to get the flour lumps out. Let it simmer a while until it comes to the right consistency. Now you can add your drained capers and artichokes, mostly to make sure they're nice and warm.

Side note: While the sauce is thickening you can put your noodles in your boiling water (add more water if a bunch has boiled off). Erica told me that the best way to tell if a noodle is finished cooking is to toss it at the wall; if it sticks, it's done. That very well may be, but I just followed the instructions on the box.

Step Ten: Plate it and enjoy! 

I super loved this chicken  and best of all I'm relatively confident I could repeat the process. I learned a lot of important things, like pasta doesn't tell me when it's ready, I tell pasta when it's ready. Also, don't stab your chicken whist cooking it, because then all the juices will get out (and nobody wants that).

Anywho, I feel negatively reinforced (not really) and I promise not to forget to search for jobs again! All the thanks in the world go to long suffering friend Erica, who is awesome sauce <3

DFTBA!

-Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Wishes Today Had Been Friday

I don't even KNOW, I just woke up this morning wishing really really hard that it was Friday. And it wasn't WOE IS UNTO ME.

Anyway I spent all my government-mandated breaks today in my Dire Learning Curves file tweaking/editing and outlining. It was considerably more than an hour, which I added to when I got home. We agreed that counts, right? I think I wrote that in the Manifesto.

Speaking of, we need to print out and keep copies of the Manifesto around, because we skip details like whoa. For instance, I was supposed to GIVE YOU a recipe to do, and you were supposed to get the groceries on the way home from work, because that's what I would have to do, and we wanted it to suck equally (even though it would suck more for me because I would have to walk the whole way). Your Erica idea is excellent though, just take lots of pictures/turn it into a tutorial for the post after you do it. We'll learn how to insert pictures TOGETHER.

Still working on TFiOS. Still loving it! I have a Nerdfighter book club meeting on Saturday that isn't related to TFiOS, except in that all things Nerdfighter seem to eventually relate to TFiOS. I'll tell you about it later!

You should go to Nerdfighter gatherings. They are our PEOPLE.

I'm gonna go read a bit more before bed. DFTBA!

-Twin A

PS There's a new Sci Show mug at DFTBA.com. Do want!

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Never Really Has Anything to Say on Wednesdays

I want to begin by addressing the moment of doubt you expressed yesterday. I think sitting back and wondering if you’re writing for the right reasons is a great idea. But trying to match the reason you write to the reason anyone else writes is a terrible idea, especially since one of the reason books are so awesome is because there are so many different stories being told in so many different ways.

The way you tell stories is amazing and, most importantly, it’s YOU telling the story. And that’s what matters the most.

And that’s all I’m gonna say about that! Moving on to my week, which has thus far been pretty great. I’ve already hit my three hour exercise goal (with two more planned), and, most importantly:

I am 15 videos away from having watched every single vlogbrothers video (made so far). I’M SO EXCITED! After this, I plan on working through all the Crash Course and SciShow ones. Hooha! NERDFIGHTER!

Anywho, not much to say on Wednesdays (have you noticed that?) So here, have some updates:

Reading: As we discussed yesterday (on the phone) I’m not quite where you are, but I intend to catch up! (I’M STILL PRETTY NERVOUS, I GET JITTERY EVERY TIME I PICK TFiOS UP.)

Exercise: Who has two thumbs and went on a six mile walk today? THIS TWIN! That took about two hours (walking is haaard) so with my Monday gym excursion I’m already at my goal! And I’m going at least one more time; my friend, this week is coming up roses.

Cooking: I’m planning on making dinner at home tomorrow and at Erica’s on Friday (the Hat Trick!). Friday’s update should be more entertaining on this front.

Job Applications: Since my google-fu is TERRIBLE I’ve had to come up with a new way of tracking down jobs. THEREFORE! I have put a BOUNTY ON MY NEW JOB’S HEAD. What I mean is I’ve alerted all my friends and family who have even remotely good google-fu (you included) that if they send me a job, and I end up getting that job, I’M GOING TO TAKE THEM OUT TO AN EXTRAVAGANT DINNER. Anything they want. Anywhere they want (In driving distance. If you want I can get you a gift card or something. Maybe wait till we’re next reunited.). So you’re time is coming, new job. It’s coming.

And that’s all I’ve got so far! Looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow!

DFTBA-

Twin B

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Starts To Be Quietly Concerned About TFiOS

...OH NO, JOHN GREEN. I've only (FINALLY) finished the first chapter, and I already like Hazel Grace so much, and this book is dedicated to Nerdfighter Esther, Twin B, DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT MEANS, and just knowing her story and that the book is for her makes me tear up every time I think about it, combine that with TFiOS and I AM ALREADY A MESS.

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO.

One of the downfalls of really loving the way John Green writes and also what he writes about and furthermore the way he writes about it is I am never going to be able to write a book like this, Twin B. I've tried to figure out what deep message I might whisper to the souls of all readers. All I end up with is profound brain things inside of my head, as the wise King Julian might say, which is not, you will agree, the same thing. I like James and Rick and Mark and Lydia, and I love working on The Dire Funeral, even when it's hard, and I think it's a fun story. But there isn't any resonance.

Isn't there supposed to be resonance?

Excuse me while I go rewrite EVERYTHING I WROTE TODAY.

...I'm a shaaaaaaaam.

DFTBA,

Twin A

PS I hope you're feeling better!

PPS I also hope they upload a 2012 playlist on Vlogbrothers soon because your way of catching up on that last year sounds like a really painful hack. The nearly-programmer in me doesn't weep so much as cringe in the corner hoping your solution won't notice me if I stay really really still.

PPPS I dunno, it's a manageable size for a book. I feel like I could knock it out in an afternoon, which I probably will, once I get into the thick of it. Maybe two weeks? Two Saturdays of TFiOS posts, then a new J-Scribble book? (I had to tuck The Signature under the dust jacket so I'd stop squealing every time I saw it. Lucky find though, wasn't it??) 

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Cannot Lift Her Fat Torso (And Other Weekend Stories)

Weeeeeell that weekend was terrible. At first I was looking forward to it (Yay the official start of the Book Club!) but then, as you know, I got sick.

And then I got more sick.

Guh, I hate colds. Tom was super awesome and kept giving me yummy food since that was the only way he knew to make me feel better (Yay brownies and Girl Scout cookies!). I spent almost the entire time I was sick lying in bed, and I was miserable and my nose really hurt despite having spent the extra money to get Kleenex tissues with lotion. You let me down, tissues. You let me down. Anyhow, there I was, stuck in bed (miserable) when it occurred to me: I don’t want watch a bunch of DVDs and movies that I’ve seen a bunch of times.

I wanna watch vlogbrothers.

During my Weekend of Horror I was able to get all the way through the end of 2011. For just a minute I was super excited because I thought I was so close to catching up but then I realized: This is 2013. I have an entire other year (there’s something wrong with the sentence, but I can’t figure out what...) left. On the one hand: Yay! More vlogbrothers! On the other: I thought I was soooo cloooose. I’ll catch up some day!

In other weekend news Azul’s shed went really well and I’ll be giving him a cricket in a few days. Tyki Mikk is also doing well, but we expect that (he’s a boss).

Anywho, I just sneezed which reminded me that I want to get to bed early, so here’s my updates:

Reading: As I’m reading this lovely book (I HAVEN’T GOTTEN VERY FAR, DON’T JUDGE I’VE BEEN SICK) I got to pondering your question and I don’t know what the time frame should be…how many chapters is acceptable for a week?

Exercise: I’ve already gotten an hour in, so I’m off to a great start! Speaking of exercise, Erica and I were doing the circuit at the gym and there’s this one machine where you lay back and the bottom part doesn’t move but the top part (with your torso on it) has these little handles by your head so when you do a crunch you’re also kind of pulling up your torso (and also weights, which is no fun) and I was kind of slap-sticky while exercising today so when it was my time I flopped down, grabbed the bars, tried to do a crunch, and flopped back proclaiming, “I can’t lift my fat torso.” Which Erica and I laughed about for several minutes. Then she demanded I make it today’s title, and so: BLAM. Now that comment’s a blog post.

Cooking: One meal down, and the Hat Trick is planned for Friday so that leaves only one I need to squeeze in there. Hooray planning ahead!

Job Applications: Still absolutely torturous. I’m working on it.

And that’s all the capitals there are! I look forward to your updates <3

DFTBA!

-Twin B

PS. I'm up to May 4, 2012. I can do it!

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin A Makes Up Some Answers

Yay Azul! Good job!!

I'm keeping your post open in another tab so I can:

1. I'm excited too! I read An Abundance of Katherines (I suspect that spelling was chosen because of Hank Green's wife Katherine, who is amazing. I love it when she pops up in videos!) and I liked it a lot! He's a very, very clever writer, and you know how much I appreciate that. You will too!

2. Don't be nervous! You actually DON'T have to like John Green's books/writing style to be a Nerdfighter. I know because John Green told me so (in a video posted to the entire internet. Although I'm part of the internet so I think I absolutely count.) (2a. Yes combust is a word. If you're ever not sure, open a new window and type define:[the word], and it enter, it'll pull up a definition/correct you. It's not Tumblr that doesn't like it, it's the Google Chrome browser's spellchecker. No one's perfect (even our new Google overlords.)!)

3. Yeah everybody has cancer, it's heart-wrenching, be ready. At one point they visit a Holocaust thing. K.Crabb actually went to her room to read the last bit, and fellow librarian Barbara sent K.Crabb an ALL CAPS TEXT because she ended up reading the end on the metro. Just sort of make your peace with the crying. We'll have very interesting blog posts that day, ahahaha. I hear it's really hopeful though!

I'm ready to get started too! Tomorrow night then? What's our time frame for Twin Book Club?

DFTBA,

Twin A

PS Went and saw Warm Bodies today. Best romance/zombie movie ever! ...The only one, really. But also best in the individual categories of romance and zombie. Go see it!!

PPS Fellow NaNo novelist Jessica wants to do a kind of...half-NaNo next month with a goal of 25k. I'm absolutely in, I need people judging me to survive. Even the one page/day goal we established for Twins Of Tomorrow Today isn't giving me enough of a push, so I'm going to work it out with her. And then there's also a Camp NaNoWriMo in April, which I also might do. PEER PRESSURE FTW.

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Twin B Is Excited, But Also Possibly On Her Deathbed

So, ok, it's not that I regret the Flogging Molly Concert. Because I totally don't. But Josh, Tracy, and I ALL GOT SICK FROM IT. Colds suck worst than post nasal drip, but you know what sucks worse than colds?

WHEN THEY MIGRATE TO YOUR CHEST. Ugh, I'm gonna die.

Anywho, for my first official Twin Book Club blog I'd like to describe my emotions:

1. Excitement (Yay John Green!)

2. Nerves (I love John Green so much just for being a vlogbrother, what if his writing style doesn't do it for me?? Will I stop being a Nerdfighter? WILL I SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST?? (Is "combust" a word? Tumblr doesn't think so...))

3. Apprehension (From what I understand, at least one of the main characters has cancer. I'm not fond of crying, but I can feel it on the horizon, especially since I'm working my way through the 2010 vlogbrother videos and for me Esther just died. THE FEELINGS, MAN, I HAVE THEM.)

So I'm excited and a lot of other things, and I'm ready to get this thing going! (Probably not tonight, since the whole reason I'm writing this so early is because I'm going to go pass out for the rest of the day now).

Can't wait to hear from you, and DFTBA.

-Twin B

PS. Azul the green bottle blue tarantula molted today! Molting looks a lot like death, since they flip over on their backs and stay pretty still through most of it. So I walked into the room to check on him and my first reaction was, "Shit! He died! He's living in a tarantula palace, how did I kill him?! I knew I should have put a heating pad on there!" Then I realized he was molting and thought, "Hooray! ...Wait, wasn't there a cricket in there somewhere? Oh, man, now I can't find it, what if it kills him while he's soft and squishy?" 

So I've been obsessively checking on him, looking for the cricket. He has completely kicked off his old self and is now resting, still in the upside-down position. Go, little dude, go! Since I'm sure you're as fascinated as I am I'll keep you posted.

PPS. Why does sneezing hurt so badly when you're sick? I'm seriously, do you know?

[tomorrowtwins]

In Which Fridays Are HARD

Especially the ones before holiday weekends. I feel like if I don't do this now, I won't do it at all, so! Here I am!

I basically got home, grabbed my chromebook, and curled up in the armchair Niles gave me, pecking out a sentence at a time. Most of those sentences make me go "...meeeehhhhh", so I'll have to go rewire the whole section later (when I'm no so MEEEEHHH (I think probably Monday, since Nick'll be at work and I won't (we'll see (I like parenthetical statements too!)))). 

Your Hat Trick IS: Cooking!! Tell me what you do! (This result was not skewed in any way, especially not by lots of that particular one being thrown in because I want to learn cooking vicariously through you. Not even a little bit.)

Okay my eyes are burning, I'm going to schlep over to my book and read for a bit.

FRIDAYS ARE JUST REALLY HARD OKAY.

DFTBA,

Twin A

PS I hope John and Sarah go with Alice. It's one of my favorite names!