how to mildly amuse with statistics
I didn't post to my LiveJournal at all in July. If you need a reason, you can take your pick from several possible (and sometimes contradictory) excuses:
A. Too busy working on my novel.
B. Didn't have anything to say other than that I'd been busy working on my novel.
C. Had too much to say and couldn't face the rapidly accumulating backlog of potential content.
D. Time that might otherwise have been allocated to writing LJ posts was spent looking at intriguing Wikipedia articles and categories.
E. Time that might otherwise have been allocated to writing LJ posts was spent looking at porn.
Excuses aside, I'm posting now, and using a time-honored journalistic (hell, just plain writerly) tradition of ripping off someone else's good idea to get my message across. Without further ado, I present:
Lisa's Index for July 2006
(with a respectful nod to the Harper's Index)
Current word count of novel-in-progress The Overworld: 150,097
Estimated fraction of finished story represented by current length: 2/3
Approximate number of book-format printed pages required for projected size of complete first draft: 900
Ideal maximum manuscript length for a first-time novelist seeking representation and publication of a mainstream novel: 110,000 words (440 pages) [1]
Projected high temperature for Santa Clara, California on August 1, in degrees Fahrenheit: 80
Number of July days with observed high of 90F or over: 12 [2]
Number of conversations in July in which I or another participant complained about the heat: countless
Number of interactions with people in any location who talked about the weather and didn't mention heat: 1
Where that person had been: Australia
Number of bike rides taken in July: 1
Cobwebs on bike when removed from garage: 1
Number of rollerblading outings: 1
Number of days excessive temperature used as excuse for not engaging in active outdoor pursuits: a lot
Temperature on days aforementioned active outdoor pursuits were undertaken: excessive
Months taken to watch complete 7-season series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD: 6
Consecutive days taken to watch all 22 episodes of season 7: 5
Greatest number of 42-minute Buffy episodes viewed in a single day: 6
Number of times love professed for Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon: embarrassingly many
Percentage of this year's knitting done while watching Buffy: large
Number of knitting projects completed in July: 6
Number of trips to San Jose airport taken in recent 10-day period: 5
Number of flights taken: 0
Years since last haircut: 7
Length of hair at longest point, in inches: 29
Length of me, in inches: 63.5
Sources:
[1] The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit by Elizabeth Lyon
[2] The Weather Channel
A. Too busy working on my novel.
B. Didn't have anything to say other than that I'd been busy working on my novel.
C. Had too much to say and couldn't face the rapidly accumulating backlog of potential content.
D. Time that might otherwise have been allocated to writing LJ posts was spent looking at intriguing Wikipedia articles and categories.
E. Time that might otherwise have been allocated to writing LJ posts was spent looking at porn.
Excuses aside, I'm posting now, and using a time-honored journalistic (hell, just plain writerly) tradition of ripping off someone else's good idea to get my message across. Without further ado, I present:
Lisa's Index for July 2006
(with a respectful nod to the Harper's Index)
Current word count of novel-in-progress The Overworld: 150,097
Estimated fraction of finished story represented by current length: 2/3
Approximate number of book-format printed pages required for projected size of complete first draft: 900
Ideal maximum manuscript length for a first-time novelist seeking representation and publication of a mainstream novel: 110,000 words (440 pages) [1]
Projected high temperature for Santa Clara, California on August 1, in degrees Fahrenheit: 80
Number of July days with observed high of 90F or over: 12 [2]
Number of conversations in July in which I or another participant complained about the heat: countless
Number of interactions with people in any location who talked about the weather and didn't mention heat: 1
Where that person had been: Australia
Number of bike rides taken in July: 1
Cobwebs on bike when removed from garage: 1
Number of rollerblading outings: 1
Number of days excessive temperature used as excuse for not engaging in active outdoor pursuits: a lot
Temperature on days aforementioned active outdoor pursuits were undertaken: excessive
Months taken to watch complete 7-season series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD: 6
Consecutive days taken to watch all 22 episodes of season 7: 5
Greatest number of 42-minute Buffy episodes viewed in a single day: 6
Number of times love professed for Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon: embarrassingly many
Percentage of this year's knitting done while watching Buffy: large
Number of knitting projects completed in July: 6
Number of trips to San Jose airport taken in recent 10-day period: 5
Number of flights taken: 0
Years since last haircut: 7
Length of hair at longest point, in inches: 29
Length of me, in inches: 63.5
Sources:
[1] The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit by Elizabeth Lyon
[2] The Weather Channel