contentDarkside was back after a while when I called. Problem turned out to be bad RAM. RAM replaced, laptop runs fine; yay. I made squee about winning NaNo; he expressed that I was a bloody fool for waiting until November to get started, as there was no one saying I couldn't start before then. I explained the rule. He expressed that it was a rather silly rule, as this would mean that one would have to actually spend crazy-serious time writing, especially to get words they were happy with and not just words.
Our writing styles are rather different, he and I. I've gotten to the point where I can first-draft things fairly cold and without the internal editor doing too much to get in the way. I consider it an honor and a privilege that he's offered as much commentary about his own writing style as he did in that conversation. We giggled on the topic of me keeping first drafts over the years: he told me I should definitely keep this first draft as a reminder of my writing evolution once I get more passes through it; I mentioned that I needn't bother, as I have first drafts from when I was fourteen. (No offense intended to the youthful writers who read me, but after twelve years have passed between when you wrote something and when you read it later, you're going to have about the same reaction to bits of your writing. There will be things about it that are very very good, and there will be things that will make you wonder if you can bribe who-ever is operating the trapdoor-in-floor switch to make either it or you disappear. Unless you are howling with laughter, which you might be.)
There was a nice discussion about what I plan to do with whichever draft I do wind up going over, and
hcolleen's plans for hitting me with the 2007 Writer's Market should I not have things ready. This digressed into a size comparison of things that one would not like to be hit with. The SQL reference I have on the shelf was followed by an unabridged dictionary, which was followed by the OED (all volumes, concurrent and consecutive), and it degenerated into (more) silliness when he mentioned a multi-volume encyclopedia set and I countered with Wikipedia. O, the papercuts. He's to be sleeping this weekend, not Death Note. Alas.
I explained that I had been told off to design the invitations for the party. He made wry commentary about the things I might have made them say. " 'Come to the Dark Side of Christmas', with Vader wearing a Santa hat?" was the suggestion. Next time, if there is a next time, I may have a little more fun with doing the Silly Version as well as the Serious Version. This time, I did do a sketched-out version in Silly before I re-worded it for Serious.
His parents have his mom's office Christmas party tonight.
