I’ve been doing this since 2006, and it hasn’t become old yet at all. But each year has to be different. Each year has its own special character, and each year’s NaNo is the same. And this year has been about getting back to the basics of why I do this.

It’s not the write-ins, though they’re a great way to meet fun people. It’s not the forums, though they’re amazing, and it’s a comfort to know I’ve got friends on the NaNo boards that will give me a pat or a push as necessary. It’s not the wordcount widgets, or the t-shirts, or the glowsicks, or the coffee, though they make it supremely possible.

No, it’s about one thing at the core:

The story.

And this year has been a celebration of me and the story, our relationship. All the rest is confetti and glitter and icing: lovely, but extra.

I could miss the “event” feeling of the past couple of NaNos this year, or I could celebrate what’s actually in front of me. This year, I’ve poured my love into a story, protected my focus like a candle flame in a storm, and built an intimacy with my words that the previous two years have lacked.

And that’s as much a celebration of what NaNoWriMo is about, as all the bells-and-whistles years.

I wish I could be down in Florida to hug them both, but I’m up here in DC instead. I hope that, when she reads this, my mom feels hugged from afar. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings for you, mom! I love you very much!

Mom, you should click here next!

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

-Wired

Obama on Steve Jobs: “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

-BBC

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

-Buzzfeed

There’s something so majestic about hurricanes, though. Their size (graspable only with radar and space shots), their unstoppable strength, their ominous and inexorable creep, all form the impression of a living creature. No wonder we give them names.

The fast-moving bands of deep gray clouds have been rushing over Odenton all morning, and now the rain has begun. It’s a certain kind of rain that folks who have been through tropical weather can recognize–a heavy, spitting, erratic kind of rain, blown-about and chaotic. We’ve finished zip-tying and securing the back deck furniture, and are finishing all the chores that require electricity or water. Now there’s just the waiting. Just us and the storm.

Aside from the obvious wrath of God, D.C. is beautiful and amazing.

My mother called me and asked how I was. Ignorant of the political situation, my first thought was to wonder how she knew that I’d had to leave school. Then I learned.

While she told me about the terrible destruction, my eyes rested on two printouts stuck into my bedroom mirror. One was a plane schedule to New York City. The other was a brochure about the World Trade Center. My uncle and I had been planning to stay there in the beginning of November that year, while he gave a conference. And behind my eyes, explosions.

Ten years.

I was never for the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. I was protesting before they were even begun. And I’d be the first to admit that I hold George W. Bush responsible for allowing 9-11 to happen. It served a political purpose—as had been discussed by his associates, prior to the attack. It happened on his watch, and he is to blame.

And yet. I am glad of the news today.

I’m glad we now have a president with the right priorities. Serve justice, no matter how long it takes…then turn aside and move forward.