I'm Not Giving In, I'm Stretching Out

I took down my "NaNoWriMo" icon today. I've decided not to make a try for it this year.
The party I went to on Friday was also a big bust. I got on the wrong bus, arrived 15 minutes late and ended up sitting with people I was not comfortable with. The whole point was to just talk and hang out at a Boston Pizza, but there were adults there, too, and by adults I mean old people who brought their hyperactive screaming children. Not fun. I ordered the Stromboli sandwich with fries, chatted cordially with a young man in a Robin Hood Men in Tights outfit, and had a brief, friendly debate with a teen who identified herself as a pagan who possessed the animal spirit of a "Fairy-Cat-Dragon". She was very nice to be sure, and as a Catholic I am completely ignorant of pagan beliefs, but weren't animal spirits supposed to be, er, actual animals?

However, I didn't want to stay too long, and ended up having my mother drive me home (I had neglected to consider that the cab companies might be busy on the Friday night proceeding Halloween). I was disappointed in the whole affair - I had gone to this party instead of to the Mixed Chorus' Halloween Dance, an option that my mother evidently preferred. I wanted to get in touch with other writers, to form a network of contacts, but nearly everyone at that party seemed to be amateurs who wrote in there spare time and had no desire to be published at all.
My mother said, "Why do you feel to need to participate in NaNoWriMo? I mean, isn't this just to prove that you can write a novel, and work up your writing skills? You've already written a novel" - The Shining Empress, which I feel I have to continually nag my mother to read - "and you will be published eventually." I considered her words very carefully, and found that I agreed with her. NaNoWriMo seems to be for the hobbyists, but I'm heading for the Big Leagues, I'm in for the long haul. Besides, I have three papers due this month, not to mention finals to study for, books to review, and Christmas presents to buy. In truth, those are supposed to come first.

I might want to give the whole "50 000 words in 30 days" thing another shot when I'm out of University, but for now, I think I should focus on my getting my writing published and out there. My writing has already helped me be considered for a CBC Sketch-Comedy show that is continually being delayed due to a lack of funding and the CBC worker's strike, so maybe I should just stick to that - writing for the Gateway, the Green Man Review, and sending out my stories.