Watch this episode in Quicktime at this here link.

I did mention that this was an old routine, yes? You didn’t think I’d throw it away in such a cavalier manner, did you? Of course not. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Last night I had a dream where I found myself having to seize control of a high-speed Winnebago as it barreled down curvy highways. I ended up skidding violently into a guardrail on some complex interchange outside of Chicago. When I woke up, my back was killing me. Somehow, my dream gave me whiplash. This is a first for me, and possibly for the world.

In any case, you are likely reading this sometime after the American Turkey Holiday. When I decided to switch to a Thursday update schedule, I sort of forgot that it meant updating on Thanksgiving. Not that I mind; Thanksgiving has never been an “important” holiday to me. And true: this particular one sees me working at the movie theater for all of the prime bird-eating hours, so it’s not much of a holiday at all, really.

Still, I do feel a little weird posting a new video on a holiday when the video has absolutely nothing to do with said holiday. Not as weird as the creators of the detective show LIFE must have felt when their brilliant episode about a murder in a shopping mall on Black Friday aired a week and a half before Thanksgiving. But weird nonetheless.

I note that Xmas also falls on a Thursday this year. And, if I do my math right, episode 320, the season finale, is scheduled to appear on that very Thursday. Which means… well, which means I need to start writing new fake holiday music. And, perhaps, contemplate the possibility of gearing the episode so that it serves as an entry point for the show. Because, after all, the movie theater does have a digital projector. And there is a long-standing tradition, now sadly dormant, of having short programs before the main feature. Hmm…

But to the giving of thanks. I… I have to say, I’m thankful to the people who smile. Especially those who smile at me, or because of something I did or said. But overall, smiling people make the world a bit better. So thanks to them.

And thanks to any and all who are reading these words. It’s hackneyed, I know, but you are the reason I keep doing this. It’s not like I make any money from this ridiculous experiment. Thank you for your patience and kind words. My life is resoundingly better because of you.

What else should I be thankful for? It’s hard to say, as my back meds have just worn off and I’m feeling a bit cranky. Remind me of anything important in the comments, would you? And save me some leftover turkey. I want sammiches.

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Watch this episode in QuickTime.

Two weeks without a computer. That’s exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of when I built two extra weeks into the season schedule. Of course, I expected the time to be used for sickness or sudden travel, but being without a computer works, too. Or doesn’t. QED.

I haven’t talked about NaNoWriMo in a while (this is where I’d link to some posts on the old Forum discussing various NaNo issues; that is, had I not entirely borked the Forum while setting up this current website). It’s interesting to note that the year I started doing these videos was the same year I quit NaNo, probably for good. Before that, I had participated successfully for three years. What I found in year four was that I had learned everything I needed to know from NaNo — I had taught myself how to self-impose deadlines for personal projects, how to reach certain difficult goals in an unreasonable amount of time, and how to be creative despite feeling not at all in the mood to be creative.

Which is to say, the Jigsaw Video Thing is a direct descendant of my time with National Novel Writing Month. Strange but true. To be sure, I got halfway through my fourth NaNo and realized I just didn’t want to write anymore… partly because I already had what I thought was a pretty good first draft of a novel (from a previous NaNo), and felt that if I were going to spend a bunch of time working on a novel, I should probably spend the time on that as opposed to writing something new. And partly… NaNo was taking time away from the things I was actually working on. I discovered that, because of the way NaNo had made me think about fitting in creative time into a busy schedule, I was essentially doing weird versions of NaNoWriMo all year round. I didn’t really need it anymore, because I had absorbed it.

So no, this isn’t an autobiographical entry; I don’t know that I even know a single person still participating this year (feel free to correct this misapprehension in the comments). But I do still have utmost respect for the experience, and am happy to give Baty and the rest another plug, such as it is.

Plus it was a nice segue into next week’s episode, which I also filmed today. It will be posted on Thanksgiving, but it has nothing to do with turkey. Or Turkey. But more words on 316 when 316 is realized.

And because I like to show off, this is one of those episodes I’ll remind you that I did the whole thing with only two hands. Wire is your friend.

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