Tonight I climb into ye olde trusty chariot (aka Greyhound) and head to Ohio for a quick trip to see the family. It’s been…months, really. I’m hoping some quality time will do my spirit some good. One can always use a little rejuvenation I suppose. My niece Maddie is growing up so fast…I wonder if she remembers me. I hope so. Expect pictures (and lots of them) upon my return.

Tomorrow is November 1st, which means NaNoWriMo begins, hooray! Hooray and GULP. Commence cartoonish collar pulling and embellished nervous swallowing here. The goal of NaNoWriMo: to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of November(or a 50,000 word beginning of a novel). Obtaining this goal means writing something like, oh, 1,666 words per day. Something like that. Editing? Not the point here. The point is to write and write every day. Something interesting about NaNoWriMo this year: CreateSpace, a self-publishing company, is now offering anyone who completes the mission a single, free paperback copy of their manuscripts, with the option to use the proof to sell through Amazon. Sweet, yes?

NaNoWriMo has been going on for quite some time—since 1999 (and let me just say wow—it’s weird to express a sentiment such as “quite some time” in reference to the year 1999, but there you have it). In 1999, there were 21 participants. In 2007, an estimated 101,767 people threw words down. This is my first time having a go at it and I’m quite excited.

I like that the project starts on a day that I will be out of town, away from the laptop. Removed from the normal day to day environment. I’m going to have to start by hand, and knowing me, I will write the first sentence at the Columbus greyhound station while they refuel the bus. Somewhere around 3:30am.

My brain has decided to gather all ideas into one big wine jug and today I’m taking big swigs of it. Nothing stands out yet, but nothing has to. We shall see how that road begins tomorrow. I’m thinking about posting excerpts of the project as it develops. We’ll see about that too. Of course, if anyone would like to me to share it with them, please let me know. Maybe I can do a weekly update. Hmm.

US hands back province to Iraqis

Iraqi forces have taken over security control of the central Shia province of Wasit from the US military, making it the 13th of the country’s 18 provinces to be returned to Baghdad.

“We received today the security responsibility of Wasit province,” Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security adviser, said on Wednesday at a transfer ceremony in the provincial capital of Kut, 160km southeast of Baghdad.

He said Wasit had achieved a level of efficiency and ability in civil and security matters.

The transfer of Wasit comes within a week of the return of nearby Babil province to the Iraqis.

With the transfer of Wasit, US forces will now withdraw to their bases and only participate in security operations at the request of the provincial governor.

‘Zero attacks’

Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the number two commander of American forces in Iraq, said Wasit was once a route for “enemies to move weapons … to attack Iraqi and coalition forces.”

Till seven months back, Wasit saw 16-18 attacks each week. Now the province frequently has reached zero attacks largely due to high level of co-operation between all security units,” he said.

Rubaie said that Baghdad would take control of the northern provinces of Kirkuk and the Salaheddin “within weeks”.

Apart from Kirkuk and Salaheddin, the other three provinces that remain under US military control are Baghdad, Nineveh and Diyala.

Nineveh and Diyala are known al-Qaeda strongholds where security forces have launched a series of military operations targeting anti-government fighters.

Wasit has a 200km border with Iran and the US military has regularly accused Iranian groups of smuggling in weapons into Iraq for attacks against its troops.

The Wasit handover came as Washington examined changes demanded by Baghdad to a draft agreement covering the long-term presence of US troops in Iraq.

The Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) would allow US forces to stay in Iraq after their UN mandate ends in December.

Failure to seal the pact or renew the UN mandate would mean US operations would have to be halted.

The draft agreement calls for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 and includes a concession allowing US troops who breach Iraqi laws while off duty and off their bases to face trial.

(more…)

Joe just mentioned that his parents saw me on tv. Comcast On Demand is finally airing the show they filmed about the BBT–they came in with their cameras while I was bartending/waitressing, so there’s footage of me serving. That’s hilarious!

Ah yes, it’s cold cold cold this evening. It’s hard to leave the warmth of my bed and blankets right now.

I must mention this first(even though I do not have pictures):  Chirgilchin Tuvan Throat Singers. Joel and I went to the show last Saturday and I wish I could find the words to describe it–simply amazing. Amazing! It’s one thing to hear a recording of throat singing, or to observe it in a documentary…but oh to see it in person. The sound is otherworldly and enormous. Every hair on my arm at attention, a burst of goose bumps from the base of my spine to my neck. My goodness. Plus it was extra amazing to be sitting next to Joel the entire time. His time in Mongolia meant so much, and I loved being a part of his return to that.

Other things:

Black Sheep Puppet Festival - Bucket Brigade performance

We found a rainbow outside of our window at work, from the 31st floor. It started to fade as soon as I raised my camera, but you can still kind of see it. This rainbow existed for maybe three minutes.

And last but not least, my thrift store mega score:

one head. Which will most definitely come in handy for my Halloween costume Thursday night.

pardon my lack of proper updates lately…needless to say, life is wonderful and full of new things and keeping me busy. Part of me feels obligated to take a moment and write it all down, but another part of me wants to just be present and enjoy it. In any event, I’ll try to catch you up soon.

Sooo on the 17th of October, I participated in the 24 hour puppet project, which was part of the Black Sheep Puppet Festival this year. As promised here are some pictures of the process. Coming soon…the documentary!(which i hear is being professionally put together as I type this) I’ll post more media as it is available. So much fun.

my pics of the process

other media:

rapid footage of everyone working:

more later…

anyone else participating in National Novel Writing Month?

My brain, the stingy beast. Insisting on running things. Thank something for the background in waitressing—in the center of a condensation slicked tray stands teetering a heart. Submerged spout causing overflow, how large bodies of water are prone to form waves when pushed. Our cilia after loud shows, an evidence curved to reveal how we were moved.

 If I could gift you the soft sound of miso soup settling, the equal decibels of long term argument brewing(stands two across rooms, fractions). The brain, a bratty child with a bad habit of tugging for attention. No matter: when the arrow finds something to pierce, it turns into a pen.

Iraq has secured the right to prosecute US soldiers and civilians for crimes committed outside their bases and when off duty, in the latest draft of a security pact that will set the terms of their deployment beyond this year.
The draft stipulates that the United States will have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over its soldiers and civilians if they commit a crime inside their facilities or when on missions, according to a copy obtained by AFP.

But the arrangement gives Iraqi courts the right to prosecute US soldiers and civilians if they commit “grave and premeditated felonies outside their facilities and when not on missions”.

The decision is seen as a hard-won concession for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has taken a tough stand on protecting his country’s sovereignty in the pact.

The agreement will provide the legal basis for a US troop presence in Iraq after the present UN mandate expires on December 31. A failure to agree on the terms would force Baghdad and Washington to find another legal framework.

If the agreement is signed by the two sides and approved by the Iraqi parliament, it will become effective from January 1 and last for three years, during which a phased withdrawal of US forces is outlined.

US combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi towns and villages by June 2009 and pull out of Iraq completely by December 2011, the document says.

“By this time the Iraqi forces will take over all the security responsibility in the country. After June 2009, US forces will stay in the bases outside the villages and cities,” the document says.

The two sides have also agreed that all military operations in Iraq will be carried out with the approval of Baghdad under the supervision of a Joint Military Operation Coordination Committee (JMOCC) to be formed under the pact.

“All these operations must be executed with full respect to the Iraqi constitution and Iraqi laws,” the draft says.

The agreement also restricts US military powers by permitting troops to detain Iraqis only through an Iraqi order.

“In case they detain, the detainee must be handed over to Iraqi authorities within 24 hours,” the document stipulates.

It also stipulates that any US personnel detained by Iraqis must be handed over immediately to the American authorities.

Iraq will also be in control of its air space once the agreement comes into effect.

Iraq will also have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over US private security contractors.

Iraqi officials had told AFP earlier that this right was conceded to Baghdad without much opposition following the killings of 17 Iraqis in broad daylight by guards from the Blackwater security firm in September 2007.