Vita Brevis

I did two things today that I really enjoy. One, I grew some really nice crystals. Spontaneously, even. They were white and pretty and needlelike. They grew too fast, so they're all pretty small, but still, they're crystals and their drying on a pump overnight so I can bust in in the morning and use them.
Second, I did a hydrogenation and I didn't blow myself up. Hydrogenations require a metal of somekind, typically, and they also have a solid backing. In this case, it's activated charcoal, or carbon. The problem is, it has to be wetted down with solvent, and this step is usually tricky in that the metal can spark (as metals do when smacked together), which isn't good when dealing with flammable solvent. It's even worse when you add hydrogen to the mix, as hydrogen is plenty flammable, itself. However, I made it through the three steps without blowing myself up or catching myself on fire. And that always makes me happy.
To celebrate, I came home and promptly fell asleep. Two hours later, I awoke, watched some American Chopper, then got back to work. I extended two chapters a few pages and got over the magical 30,000 word mark. We're almost halfway to novel status. That's the goal for the end of the week, to make 40,000. My other goal is to finish at least one chapter, hopefully two. I did start another two chapters over the weekend. Being able to compartmentalize the story as such is a good thing when writing, because it gives you a step toward the end product. Soon enough, all of the main characters will be in the mix, and then we can start with the final development, wrapping the plot up, and hurrying toward the end.
With that in mind, here's the updates:
Word count: 31339
Page count: 104