Thus Spoke Zarathustra

I name this entry thusly, not because I'm reading Nietzsche or have any idea what this particular work of his is about, but because these were the first words on my mind when I was startled awake this morning by a grating sound outside my window.

Before going to bed last night, I had accomplished a milestone 45,676 words on my book--officially only 5000 words from the finish line. (However, I've just introduced the wolf in sheep's clothing to my protagonist, and I'd say I've got another several tens of thousands of words to go before I'm really done...) I nodded off to sleep wondering, "I'm 10,000 words ahead of schedule...I wonder what kind of little treat God's got for me as a little reward..." (Again, not a theologically sound argument, but maybe a step up from my waking thoughts of Thus Spoke Zarathustra...)

So when I woke up to Nietzsche and the scraping sound outside my window at 6 a.m., I knew. This was my reward!

I went to the window and looked out, and this is what my extra 10,000 words looked like:

(except it was 6 a.m., so it was still dark)

I was happy for my little treat, but perhaps in return for my bad theology, I couldn't fall back asleep. Instead I tossed and turned with Thus Spoke Zarathustra repeatedly running though my head with the occassional Also sprach Zarathustra (the original, untranslated title) jumping in. When I finally dragged myself out of bed two hours later, I was tired, confused (Nietzsche has that effect on people), and ready to share the first snowfall of the year with my lovely audience.