120 days to go

The first new entry of a new blog is always the toughest. It's like it should be monumental, defining, something I'll look back on in 20 years, and think, this was who I was 20 years ago. Of course, in 20 years, we probably won't use computers in the same way, and we'll remember Blogger in the same way as we remember the Commodore 64 (which, growing up, I did not have because it was for games - PURELY FOR GAMES! - according to my parents, and that was very, very wrong). Instead, we had the Apple IIc (with the green screen, which was way cooler than the orange screen). I'm sure my parents knew what they were doing. After all, they are the same parents who wisely chose VHS over Beta.

Besides, I graduated from university, and maybe if we'd had the Commodore 64 instead of the Apple IIc, I really would've just played games, never learning how to type an essay. Or type at all. And since I spend most of my day typing, where would I be? I wouldn't be a writer, or an editor, (nor would I be able to send as my emails as I can squeeze into my day between actual work). And maybe my first novel wouldn't be coming out in 120 days. So, when my book does come out, I can owe it, in part, to the Apple IIc and my parents' purchasing prowess.

The point is that I did learn to type, and as a long, roundabout result, my first novel, Stuck in Downward Dog is coming out in 120 days.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DAYS.

Until this year, it seemed very far away. But now that it's 2007, it's coming out THIS YEAR. Still, 120 days seems very far away. It IS very far away. In fact, there are things that seem long, but which, in comparison, are still substantially shorter than 120 days. Here is my first top 10 list.

10 things that seem long but are much shorter than 120 days:

1. Christmas: 12 days, according to the song. It's not long in a bad way, but it does seem long, especially if you've got that many days of work.

2. Advent: 25 days, according to my chocolate Barbie calendar.

3. Lent: 40 days. Of no chocolate. (But I've never succeeded).

4. 40 days and 40 nights. The amount of time Josh Hartnett had to go without sex (I think. I didn't see the movie, because it seemed like I'd be wasting more than two hours of my life doing so, but I could be wrong).

5. Hanukkah: 8 days (I think). I'm not Jewish, but I figured if I was including Christianity, I might as well include Judaism, too.

6. February: 28 days yet it seems to go on forever, highlighted only by Valentine's Day, though when you're single it can be depressing, and when you're first dating, it can be even more stressful as you try to guess what is or isn't too or not romantic enough, and wish you were, instead, single.

7. 15 days of vacation. This is the amount I get at my job (which is, in fact, quite generous, but still...). If I were to take all 15 days off in a row, I'm sure it would seem like I was gone from work for an eternity. Unfortunatly, I don't think my boss will let me do this.

8. 30 days. The time it takes to make (or break) a habit. It may work but it's the 30 longest days of your life.

9. 120 days of winter. I'm guestimating, but if you figure winter lasts December through March, it's about 120 days. But it seems like forever, especially when your nose hairs freeze.

10. 365 days. Okay so 365 days is shorter than 120 days, but in the case of Brotherhood 2.0, it's not even long enough and we're just one day in. Author John Green and his brother Hank have created a video blog -- 365 days of textless communication -- and it's so good, and so addictive, and sure to be a habit in 30 days.

So anyway, the countdown is on. And since this is my first book, I'm going to document all the little things that happen in the 120 days leading up to the release of my book. So I can remember it all in 20 years, Blogger, Commodore 64, Apple IIc or not.