kathrynhoughton.com

You can't see very well, but there really is a stud in there. And it's pretty.

I got my ears pierced when I was about seven. I was so scared of the piercing gun that my parents had to bribe me to actually do it—I got a set of earrings, three Boxcar Children books, and a camera. But when I hit puberty, I started having allergic reactions to the earrings, even to the fancy hypoallergenic ones, and I haven’t worn them regularly since. At one point I even went a few years without wearing them. Then, maybe my senior year of undergrad, I tried again, on and off. The holes were still there, but it was always a bit painful to get the earrings in. Finally, about eight months ago, I couldn’t get them in anymore and realized I would have to get them redone.

I had planned on waiting until I was back in MI so that I could go to Splash of Color, but I was in a bit of a bad mood on Friday and used it as a treat instead. You can’t see really well in the picture, but I’ve got studs with light blue sapphires—my birth stone. Now I just have to deal with six weeks of being stabbed in the neck while I sleep.

It’s 5:00 and I’m finally feeling well enough to start my day. I went to bed last night feeling fine but woke up three hours before my alarm was supposed to go off with a massive headache, my second in two days. I’ve been feeling lazy these past two days, having spent over half of it in bed, and sometimes I think the worst part about my headaches is how useless they can make me feel: I can’t drive and I frequently have trouble even standing. And for some reason, when I get one, I’m more likely to get another (hence the two in two days).

But the good news is that these two headaches were my first in over sixteen days (I think it was eighteen days but I’m only sure of those sixteen days). It might not sound like much, but I’m used to getting about three of these headaches each week. Getting down to one in over two weeks is a huge improvement.

Anyway, I know health entries are boring, but this is another Day Zero goal, so I wanted to write something. If I’m feeling up to it I’ll try adding something more interesting later.

Today I was able to cross another goal off my Day Zero list—specifically, the goal about having an opinion on a poem in a Willow Springs meeting.

I consider poetry to be my weakest of the three genres we publish at Willow Springs, and though I’d been going to the meetings for a year, I had yet to have an unasked for opinion. Until today the extent of my contribution had been to raise (or not raise) my hand when voting on who liked a poem, or once trying to articulate something that sounded like an original thought after being asked what I thought. I’m not an authority on poetry and so I’ve always been afraid of saying something completely off the mark.

Today, however, I spoke up not once, but twice! First, to talk about how I thought we needed contrast between two adjacent images in a poem and second, to talk about how I’d had a very strong negative reaction to a second poem. (I don’t want to go into more detail here since these are submissions to the magazine.)

In other, less exciting news, Mid-American Review rejected my short story, so I think it’s now time for me to start submitting to magazines that are a tier lower in prestige. I expected this to happen (this is the second story I’ve ever submitted, after all), but it still makes me a bit depressed. What’s also interesting though is that none of the other journals that rejected this piece really bothered me that much until now. No idea why this was the one that incited that change.

I’ve never had more blog visitors than I did on March 1, the day I started my Day Zero Project. It’s inspiring to know how many people were interested in what I’ve decided to do with the next few years.

Technically I’m already a bit behind, since I need to be completing one goal every ten days, but I’m not concerned. Not only do I have something like 988 days left, I’ve also made some progress toward some of the bigger goals (such as blog posts [2] and massages [2]). I’ve also started filling a box in my room with items I want to give away (or get rid of). I haven’t counted how many things I have in there, but there are some books, some shirts, two sweaters, a pair of sweatpants, and some hats/gloves/scarves. I’m also preparing my old computer to be donated, along with an old router and modem.

I also submitted a piece of fiction to a new journal today. It’s a piece that’s been rejected twice already, but that’s just the way things go. And actually, now that I look at my list, that does cross something off, because I had “Resubmit something that’s been rejected.” Awesome!

I know that sounds like sort of a cop-out goal, but rejection is something that I’ve struggled with over the years. Namely, I have this crazy large fear of failure that often means I won’t try anything that I’m not positive I will be successful at. So to continue to send something out even after failing is a big deal for me. The piece is out at two journals right now and I have a long list of other places to try if I get more rejections (which I probably will because I’ve decided to start at the most prestigious places and work my way down).

I also am submitting a piece to a contest this week. As part of my nonfiction portfolio we have to send a piece to either a contest or as a general submission, and I decided, for the first time ever, to try a contest. Now nonfiction isn’t really my thing—if anything, the workshop showed me that I have a much stronger natural affinity/ability for fiction than I do for nonfiction. I have some theories on why this might be (one of which involves an unencouraging professor), but I’m really okay with being stronger in one area. Besides, I enjoy fiction more. This one, however, I won’t be crossing off the list, since what I really intended when I wrote item 12 was “submit to a fiction contest,” since I feel that will be a much better gauge of my skill level.

One of my goals is to see meerkats. I love meerkats.

Well, I’ve been brainstorming my list of 101 goals since this past summer, ever sine I saw my fellow Michigan State PW alumna Kristen start hers. There’s something about making goals (and then getting to cross them off) that I just love. And this is a great way to look at the things I want to do in the next few years—I’ve got some fun stuff and some more responsible stuff both.

Some general notes: I tried to keep my list very specific, sticking with things that could be easily quantified. I also tried to keep it realistic (some people on the site want to travel to about fifty different places and learn fifty new skills). I’m sure I won’t meet every goal (that’s a goal completed every ten days!), but I expect I will have a lot of fun trying. Take a look at my list, and check back in as I blog my way through the 101 items.

If anyone else is doing day zero, I’d love to see your list.