Though filled with both triumph and heartbreak, 2009 is a year I’ll personally be glad to forget. But I’ll still raise a toast tonight in it’s honor, celebrating all the tremendous progress our community has made, while mindful of the painful setbacks we’ve suffered. And as I look forward to 2010, it will be with a renewed sense of optimism, hopeful that we will continue to make progress, that fewer rights will be denied, and less lives lost.

In that spirit we wish everyone a safe and prosperous New Year, full of joy and hope and a better future for us all.

Assisted by the vocal stylings of George Michael and the Muppets, Inside, Looking Out would like to extend everyone a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

George Michael’s “December Song”

The Muppets “Ringing of the Bells”

Now it’s off to see Nine, Avatar or Up in the Air!

We here at Inside, Looking Out would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! While it has been a difficult year for many, myself included, the new year is finally around the bend, hopefully bringing better and brighter times for us all.

It will be light posting over the holiday weekend, so I’ll leave you in good “Muppet” hands. The internet sensation guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Posting will be a little light this month as I’ll be participating in this year’s National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Every November tens of thousands of would-be novelists from across the world hunker down in front of their computers, their typewriters, their notebooks and napkins, and write a 50 thousand word opus. And the prize? The novel you’ve always dreamed of writing.

Sure it sounds a little crazy, maybe a lot crazy. To reach that 50 thousand word goal by the end of the month means churning out nearly 2000 words a day, which sounds pretty scary the more I think about it. But I’m going to give it a go, in the hopes of recapturing the literary voice of my youth, as corny as that sounds.

I’ll still be covering the major events that happen over the course of the month however, starting with the votes in Maine and Washington state later this week, so I won’t be abandoning the site entirely.

So your patience and encouragement during this period is most welcome. Feel free to comment here from time to time, as I may even blog about my progress, or lack-there-of.

Also if you’d like to sponsor my efforts please visit my Night of Writing Dangerously page. Thanks!