Hello everyone! As you might have read, Rob (Gallifreyan) has stepped down as ML. Rob has been either the ML or co-ML all the years I've done Nano and will be a very tough act to follow, but I've let the Powers That Be know that I'm happy to take over as best I can.
Truthfully, I am feeling some serious excitement about not only doing Nano for the 5th year, but being able to offer whatever help, guidance, advice, cheer leading, cat herding, encouragement etc. I can in my new role. We've got at least 20 folks for whom this is their first year jumping off the cliff and about 10 or so who have done so 3 or more years. So, there's a lot of sage wisdom around to be taken advantage of. And newbies? You've got a wonderful month ahead of you! And you guys in the SF region are LUCKY! Why? Because although there were almost 120,000 participants worldwide last year, WE get Chris Baty at both the Night of Writing Dangerously and our TGIO party. If you've never met Chris, or had a chance to hear him speak, you have no idea what's in store for you. But you will . . .
Onto the business at hand. Since I'm stepping into the ML late, there was no time to formally organize a Kick Off party. HOWEVER, Nanos never let things like lack of preparation get in the way! We can't afford to. (I started last year's Nano without a story, a plot, or any characters and still finished 24 hours early;-) SO. How many people would like to have a Kick Off or Gentle Shove get together? Kind of a Meet n' Greet before official write-ins start. There might be free coffee involved;-)
Here are the possibilities:
Friday morning
Friday after 6 pm
Saturday morning
Saturday afternoon
Saturday evening
Here are the two locations I have in mind:
Cafe La Flore (Clement Street, cross street is 12th Avenue) - for those SFSU students, the 28 bus stops at Park Presidio and Geary or you can also get off at California; Clement is between the two)
or
Martha and Bros (California Street, cross street is Divisadero) - reachable by the #1, #24 and close to the #22, #43, #3, #38 etc.)
What do you think?
And please let me know if you have any questions about anything from here on in. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out who would.
----------
With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
42,356 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 20 19
Just want to say- thanks so much for stepping in and stepping up, WithAnticipation!
That's fantastic!
Can you say something more about the TGIO party?
The Night of Living Dangerously, one has to pay to attend right? But is the TGIO party free?
Anyway- thanks again for stepping in; as a first-timer, I'm really excited to be joining such a fun and lively community...
Marcus a.k.a. Dog Scribe
42,356 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 20 20
Just want to say- thanks so much for stepping in and stepping up, WithAnticipation!
That's fantastic!
Can you say something more about the TGIO party?
The Night of Living Dangerously, one has to pay to attend right? But is the TGIO party free?
Anyway- thanks again for stepping in; as a first-timer, I'm really excited to be joining such a fun and lively community...
Marcus a.k.a. Dog Scribe
42,356 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 20 20
Just want to say- thanks so much for stepping in and stepping up, WithAnticipation!
That's fantastic!
Can you say something more about the TGIO party?
The Night of Living Dangerously, one has to pay to attend right? But is the TGIO party free?
Anyway- thanks again for stepping in; as a first-timer, I'm really excited to be joining such a fun and lively community...
Marcus a.k.a. Dog Scribe
42,356 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 20 23
Ugh- sorry for triple-posting- can't figure out how to scrub the duplicates...
40,345 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 20 34
Congrats! Thanks for taking up the banner!
7,205 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 21 21
Congrats on becoming the ML, WithAnticipation! It's a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we'll all have a wondrously terrifying roller coaster of a month together.
As for meet'n'greets, Friday morning is personally out and the evenings aren't great, but doable in a pinch for me...I'll cast my vote for Saturday afternoon, though, and Cafe La Flore.
33,139 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 21 39
Okay, so how to "scrub" the triple post is one of those things that falls under the, uh, I'll have to ask someone else, category. :-) But the TGIO party. Yes! Otherwise known as Thank God It's Over! It takes place in December, natch, after we've all (and this year it includes YOU ALL) collapsed from wearing our little fingers to the bone at the end of November. The last couple of years it has taken place at the Root Gallery in the Mission. Anyone who is in the vicinity, no matter what their Region, can attend. There is stuff to munch, beverages to imbibe, and to me, the most wonderful amazing part is that all around the gallery, on clothespins, are clipped two pages of Nano novels. ALL down one wall and up the next. Hundreds and hundreds of pages created by Nano folks during the month. The sense of accomplishment, individually and as a community, is simply amazing!
----------There's a room at the back where those who want to, can read a page or two from their Nano novel. It's an opportunity to make public what you've spent 30 days sweating over. And every person in the room knows what you've been through. You will never find a more supportive or empathic audience.
And yes, the TGIO party is free (except for donations, I think, for the alcohol)
With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
33,139 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 21 41
Thanks wutho! I look forward to meeting you:-)
----------With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
33,139 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 21 45
Hey villanelle! Hopefully I can help with the "terrifying" part of things. Although . . . since you AREN'T a newbie, "terrifying" may work for you:-) And since I'm at Cafe La Flore pretty much on a daily basis, I'm sure I will meet you in person and I will look forward to it!
----------With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
38,415 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 23 32
Hey, WithAnticipation, thanks for excepting the mantle of ML this year, I am excited to meet you and all of the other regional NaNos who show up. I am a first-timer myself. Since I am an SFSU student, I think that the Cafe La Flore sounds like the most convenient location of the two you suggested. I'm not free tomorrow morning, since I have class, but I am free tomorrow night and probably Saturday up until around 6-7ish. So keep us posted on the details, and we'll go from there, neh?
Cheers!
----------"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding."
-Khalil Gibran
38,232 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 00 02
Dear With Anticipation,
Hello and welcome to the Directorship!
I'd love to start off with a kickoff event. Being a newbie, I'd probably benefit from a good drop kick. But I will be out of town from Friday evening until Saturday evening. A good compromise for me would be Nov. 1 @ 12:01 AM at the 24/7 Starbucks. Otherwise (or maybe in addition to) I'd be up for lunchtime-ish at Martha & Bros. on Sunday.
Thanks WA for taking the helm!
----------lavender blue
38,232 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 00 04
P.S. Cage La Flore would be fine too. Does the kick-off necessarily need to be before we start writing? Would Sunday work?
----------lavender blue
38,609 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 07 14
Hooray..it's almost here! Thanks for taking over WA and thanks everyone for initiating so many write-ins... unfortunately Friday and Saturday are out for me but I'll be at Martha Bros. on Sunday!
Looking forward to it!
molly (teamread)
33,139 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 09 24
Hey lavender blue! Well, the kick-off is a chance for everyone to meet each other (without laptops and earplugs;-) before the uphill battle begins. No pressure, just hanging out.
----------With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
33,139 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 09 26
I look forward to meeting you on Sunday then, Molly:-)
----------With Anticipation
2005 "Two Truths and a Lie" literary fiction
2006 "Slipping the Tracks" literary fiction (Winner)
2007 "The Dream of Safety" literary fiction (Winner)
2008 "Insufficiency" literary fiction (Winner)
13,460 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 09 43
Yeah, we have a new ML! The ML is dead; long live the ML!
Some of us were discussing doing a 12:01 kickoff at the 24/7 Starbucks in Laurel Heights on another thread. Isn't there a calendar feature somewhere around here that will allow us to put up these options?
----------jeff
7,116 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 21 26
Thanks, Lisa, for taking over... and Jeff, I'm not dead, just voluntarily dethroned. :) I may try to show up for an event or two in SF if my work permits, but if I do break down and write this year it'll be in the south bay again.
Wishing you all thousands of extra unexpected words...
Rob
----------Rob/Gallifreyan * Sunnyvale/San Francisco, California
Bay Area Writers Retreat coordinator
ML Emeritus for San Francisco and Peninsula Regions
Keeper Emeritus of the South Bay Bars of Power
15,154 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 30
Thanks for stepping up as ML! I was out of town for the pre-NaNo meet ups, but hopefully I can meet some other local Wrimers soon...
...there are writing marathons scheduled Sat. Nov 14th and 21st at Jumpin' Java [via Shut Up and Write!] and I know there are some NaNos involved in that!
Cheers!
60,804 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 18 33
Is this where we say thanks, and offer our appreciation for out ML?
>looking in all directions<
Well, I hope so. Thank you for taking on the job!
Birrell Walsh
Sunset District, SF.