Go Outside

This is probably the last chance I'll get to blog.  There's too much going on these days for me to have much to say.

Let this suffice:  my world is rapidly changing, for better or for worse.

As a side note, Letchworth Park continues to be an exceedingly beautiful place.  If you're in New York State, visit it.  It's worth your time.

Godspeed.

Good Luck Charlie

I'm graduating in six days.  It's kind of intense.  I'm excited.

I really don't know what to talk about for this blog.  Like really, really don't.

I'm watching Good Luck Charlie.  I like it a lot.  Why?  It's funny, it's family, and the girl who plays Charlie is deadly cute.  Seriously.  If you watch any of the weird shows on Disney channel, watch Good Luck Charlie.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say.  There's a thing I like, and a thing I'm thinking about.

-shrugs-

Fantasy and My Process

Late this morning I finished (the first draft of) the novel I've been working on for Writer's Workshop.  In case you've missed a few blogs, I've been kinda pumped about it.

Part of what that means is I suddenly have a lot more time on my hands.  Time enough, maybe, to talk about what the novel is just a little bit.

It evolved out of an idea I had to bring together elements from the Iliad and Arthurian legend.  Somewhere along the line Germanic folklore came in and kind of took over.  I can't give too much away, but I will give you the basic premise:

A village in a recently annexed nation has virtually all of its women stolen away in one night.  The townspeople are bereft, but only a handful band together to seek out and rescue them.  These are the main characters of the story, which follows them on their endeavors to bring their women home.  Their adversaries, however, are not who they expect.

That's the general idea, but it gets built upon pretty heavily.  It's not a particularly long book, especially for being fantasy, but there's a lot that goes on.

I tend to write organically, building on what I've already established to create subtleties and a natural progression towards the end of a story.  Part of the struggle I run into is that I can go on and on before I get to an ending I feel is right for a story, but for the most part I think it helps me avoid endings that seem contrived.

It's too early for me to tell how this story has turned out.  A few people will read it and give me their feedback, which will help, but I won't really have a feeling I can trust about it until a few months from now when I read it over with fresh eyes.

Why am I talking about all this?  I think, mostly, because the process of writing excites me like very little else does.  I am passionate about telling stories in this way, and I want to share that passion with others.  If you could really care less about writing, I apologize for what might seem like a waste of time.

If you're a writer or an avid reader of fantasy and you want to "beta test" the story I just finished writing, get a hold of me and we'll see what we can arrange.  I can feel that my writing style has changed recently, and I'm curious as to how because I can't see it clearly for myself.

Right, that's enough time spent rambling about the esoteric.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Ciao.

Phineas, Ferb, and Avatar

I'm in the same state as yesterday, only with one exam down and more desperate need to finish my manuscript.  You know what's a good show?  Phineas and Ferb.  I mean, its cartoony goodness doesn't hold a candle to Avatar, whether we're talking the Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.  Not if we're talking theatrical releases.  Merf.

Phineas and Ferb is extremely formulaic.  The same basic story is told in every episode.  But that allows them to make a new song or a new twist that makes for great entertainment.  It sort of proves a concept that you don't have to reinvent the wheel to do something good.  I wouldn't call the cartoon art.  But I think the same applies to that, too.

It's not just people who reinvent the English language who do great work in it.

Those are my thoughts for the day.  Yes, it's another one of those days where I don't talk about much.

-shrugs-

The Oncoming Storm

So there's gonna be a thunderstorm.  I was gonna save this blog for later, after I'd done a good bit of writing, but I might lose my chance if I wait too long.  So here it is:

As of today I know it's over.  The big projects I was worried about are finished.  There's only one thing left to do, and that's writer's workshop.  The part that I love.  I have a story to finish, and I don't know that I'll sleep till it's done.

I keep using language like that, even though I still have two exam periods left.  Honestly it doesn't really matter to me.  What matters is this story, and I want it done.  My vision's tunneling.

I'm a writer.  It's what I am, deeper down than a lot of the things I could say I am.  If I was terrible at it, and could never write anything that meant anything for anyone other than myself, I think I would still write, and profusely.

It's been written into me, so to speak.

What's on my mind is also what's on the mind of most of my friends.  We're graduating in a little over a week.  The thought is enough to drive me bonkers.  I'm terribly excited.  I'm paralyzed with fear.  Job?  The end of general education?  The full weight of responsibility?  Student loans?  Apartment-hunting?  There's an awful lot to worry about.

Which reminds me of the scripture, which tells us not to worry about what we are going to eat or wear or how we will be sheltered, because God is with us.  I guess the best I can do is to trust him.  Not that I'm gonna bury my talent.  I know how stupid that would be.

I really don't want to spend any more time than I already have on writing that isn't related to Fairies and the torment of the sons of Naris, so I'll leave this post where it is.

It's been a ride, guys, and it's only just started.

P.S.:  If you can spot the Doctor Who reference, you win.  Not, like, a prize or anything.  You just win, because Doctor Who.  Yes.

Bread-making and a New Month

Today, Rachael stood on Shakespeare and the Lord of the Rings to make some homemade bread for us, some of which was then converted into delicious grilled cheese sandwiches/paninis.  That's the big event of the day.

In other news, I finished that paper I needed to write, and now I'm just a take-home, a couple of one page essays, and two finals away from finishing school for good (ish).  Except, you know, finishing the story for Writer's Workshop and printing out my portfolio.  Oh good, there's still a lot more for me to do before I'm done.

I apologize for the lack of real content in my blogging as of late.  There hasn't been a whole lot for me to talk about and I haven't had much time to do so with all the work I've needed to be doing.

As it stands, I plan to keep blogging daily through the month of May as I did through April, if I'm able.  Maybe I'll devise a different punishment for myself, just in case videos of face-punches start getting old.  Any of my readers have feedback on what I might do instead?  Go ahead and post a comment.  I'm open for suggestions.

For now, though, I'm off to work.

Shrug out.

Hamlet

There are no more classes.  There is only the work to be done.  Time to be spent.  Papers to be written.  Friends to miss already.  Foods to eat.

Hamlet to watch.

I guess I've never mentioned David Tennant.  He's super awesome.  He's a good actor, and so is Patrick Stewart.  And together, they are the respective protagonist and antagonist of a production of Hamlet.  It is a glorious thing.

He also happens to have played the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who, which is also a thing.  And by a thing, I mean a thing that you should watch, because it's good.

This morning I played the last of the Guild Wars 2 beta up to three in the morning.  It was excellent.  There were terrible giant fiery moa birds.  We died a lot.

That's about it for today.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Manic Monday Morning

Last day of GW2 beta.  It goes till 3:00 in the morning for me.  MUST PLAY.

MUST WRITE PAPER.

MUST DO ALL THE THINGS.

Church this morning was good.  That was a thing.

Um....?  Finals week starts Wednesday, and I have till then to get it all done.  Life is good.  The Legend of Korra is a good show.  You should definitely be watching it.  But only after you've watched Avatar:  The Last Airbender.  Because that show is pretty much the best thing.  Do those things.  That's my contribution for the night.

I really don't have much else to say.  Sorry to be lame.

-shrug-

A To-Do List and GUILD WARS 2

So here's what I have left for this semester:


English Grammar:  One eight to ten page research paper, and one take-home final exam due Wednesday morning.

Pres. Speaking:  Two short papers analyzing speeches due Thursday morning.  Exam 8:00am.

New Media:  Exam 4:00pm Monday, May 7.


Writer workshop:  Finished manuscript and a portfolio of my finest writing due during Finals Week.

It's the final stretch.  And yes, this is what's on my mind today.  This, and

GUILD WARS 2 BETA EVENT.  A little less than two hours from now, the floodgates will open, and I will... be in a meeting with some peers about my writing.  Then!  I can come home and log in. Maybe.  If my wife isn't buried in it on my computer.

At any rate, I am ridiculously excited about this.  Maybe I'll take some pictures or something.  Yes, I am blogging now so that I don't have to do it while I could be playing Guild Wars 2.

Sounding a Note

So I presented this video in my New Media and Society class this morning, and now I'm sharing it with everyone else.  I might do another blog today, or I might not.  We'll see.  I do have a lot of work to do preparing for my speech later today, and then working on some of the other projects I need to get done before the semester's over.

To watch the video, either follow the link above or watch it below:

Enjoy!

No Time for Blogs

I've spent all day trying to work on this speech, and it's still nowhere near acceptable.  Honestly I think I'll be okay so long as I don't somehow fail the speech, but I'm just not feeling this.  It's awful.

Yes, that is the dichotomy I am currently in.  It's gonna be okay.  This is awful.  Life is good.  I'm a honey badger.  Eat some pound cake.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Nope.  No stress here.

Madness aside, I'm excited because the Guild Wars 2 client is on my computer and the beta event's coming up.  And school is winding down, and I think (maybe?) I'm gonna survive this.  Most of my effort is going into maintaining a productive mindset.

As such, that's all I have to say today, and I'll ramble about some other stuff tomorrow, probably after I've lost it in front of my Presentational Speaking class.

Shruggety shrug mcshruggers.  Bye.

BIRTHDAY FEVER

So it's my birthday.  I was born twenty-two years ago today.  This is probably the first birthday I will spend not anticipating some sort of party, or some other shenanigans.  I feel like being a mature adult and just kind of going on with my life.

There's a sullen pit in there, somewhere, that wants nicely wrapped presents.  Maybe an iPhone or something stupid like that?  Video games.  The point being there's some part of me that wants stuff because that's what I got every birthday for a lotta years.

I don't particularly like that part of me, though I have come to terms with the fact that giving and receiving gifts is one of the languages that speak to me.  So I guess I'm actually spending quite a bit of this nonplussed at myself.

I'm also spending it reading Homestuck because HOLY CRAP HOW AM I NOT CAUGHT UP YET.

I am about to commence with feverish writing time for Workshop, then feverish bored/anxious time while I listen to speeches, and then feverish dishes-doing, and then feverish meatloaf eating, and then feverish I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO WHERE IS MY LIFE.  The latter will likely take place in my office, and I will probably be doing it late into the night.

So I guess, maybe, I have birthday fever?

I miss home.  I miss my college friends already.  Life is a weird thing.  I'm not even very unhappy.  Just a jumble of annoyance and excitement and contentment and discontentment all rolled into the semblance of a guy who needs to shave.

I'm gonna go write now.

-shrug-

I WROTE THIS IN PAGES BECAUSE THE INTERNET IS DUMB

I’m writing this blog on my word processor because the internet is being SO MANY BUTTS RIGHT NOW.  I mentioned a while back that I’m a bit, well, stuck on Homestuck.  This thing has only been going for—what—three years?  It’s huge.  A huge, labyrinthine timey wimey mindsplosion of amazing things.  Did I mention convoluted?  Because it is that.  To the point of hella.  Which is not an adjective a writer should use when speaking in his own voice.

Don’t judge me.  I have a degree.

Or I will in, like, two weeks.  I wrote eeks at first.  Did you know all you really need for a bachelor’s degree in writing is to frighten a couple mice?

On more serious topics, I punched myself in the face again today.  The unpleasantry was my own fault, and I hope it gave you a great deal of happiness.  Or, once again, whatever perverse name you have for what you feel when you watch a guy hit himself.

-shrug-

No wait!  I’m not done with the blog yet!  I did more than Homestuck and face punching today!  I also worked on those things I need to get done to accomplish that elusive goal I have set, without which my life is pretty much over.  There will be worse things to see than face-punching if I’m not BA by the end of May.

The Shallows is an interesting book, and I’m glad I was forced to read it for a class—for what that’s worth.  As a result of a speech I’m writing for my other class, incidentally, I fully intend to drastically increase my deep reading (or reading of physical books, or whatever you want to call the old way of doing things) so as to balance that part of my brain with the internet part that’s been getting stuffed full for the last four years.

Also, this week I should be downloading the client for Guild Wars 2, which has a Beta Weekend Event this weekend.  Wow that was redundant.  At any rate, I hereby bind myself by bloggery forespeech that I will not play the game until I’ve got my reading, a good amount of research, and one of those pesky papers out of the way.  It’s an undertaking, but with a juicy, delicious prize like GW2 waiting for me, I shall not want for motivation.  

It doesn’t hurt that if I don’t play the game, my wonderful wife certainly will, and enjoy it immensely.  I can enjoy it vicariously through her if necessary.

I think my rambling is finished for the day.  

-shrugs off-

Cats and Immortality

My wife wants a Maine Coon if we ever get a cat.  And I have to admit that such a cat would be pretty spectacular.  The only problem with getting a cat is that I have hopes to spend stupidly high amounts of time with my cousin, who is pretty allergic to cats.  I don't really like the hairless types much, either.

I also have this thing where I love animals but I don't really care for having pets.  My family had pets when I was younger, but they all died/disappeared/were re-homed by the time I was fifteen, and I've never really wanted one again since.  I got a bit attached to the ones we had, and knowing the stories of all their endings saddens me a lot.  I also go to know how much work goes into having a pet, and I don't really want to put that much effort into something that, ultimately, is categorically incapable of loving me back.

You see, I don't believe animals have souls.  Not that I don't believe heaven will be bereft of animals.  I believe there will be all sorts of creatures in the place I'll be after the end of time, but I just don't think my dogs Buddy or Midnight will be among them.  They aren't people.  There's nothing immutable about them.  Nothing to preserve.

Actually, I feel rather strongly on this issue.  Maybe it was that one girlfriend I had who believed the opposite that fashioned this rather vehement streak in me.  Maybe it's my pain at the loss of my pets.  Maybe it was my upbringing (I will be the first to say that my parents were always loving to their animals and never spoke with bitterness about their status as not-people).  But there, that's a thing about me that you may not have heard about.  You probably haven't heard it because it's never come up, or because I keep to myself because there are those out there who would string me up by my small intestine if they heard me say that animals other than humans don't have souls.  I really rather wouldn't have that conversation.

I mentioned earlier that I love animals.  And I do.  Because while rocks and blue skies and lakes are pretty enough, those things can't touch the heart-swelling (or panic-inducing) beauty of living things, be they trees or German Shepherds or giant squid.  Earth is full of these wonderful creatures who should be respected and protected.  Just not at the cost of human life.

That's where I draw the line.  Never, when a human's life is weighed against the life of any other creature, should the other creature's life take preference.  Not unless that creature is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be a sentient being with an immortal soul.  For me, that is one definition of the sanctity of human life.  It's also my big beef with utilitarianism.

The idea that the few be sacrificed for the many never really sat well with me.  Yeah, there's Christ.  I have feelings about that, too.  Not heretical feelings.  Just "Sometimes I wish there was a better way" feelings.

Now, though, I think I'm getting into deeper territory than this blog was intended for.  If you're interested, hit me up about truth and right and God's plan some time.  Preferably not during Finals week.  Once I have my writing degree would be nice.

Right this instant I'm going to eat some bacon and watch Star Trek:  Voyager with my wife.

Shrug out.

Positive Reinforcement

So this weekend's an open beta weekend for Diablo III.  That's cool.  I'm gonna try it for a little bit.  Then I'm gonna be done and go do more productive things.  I'll let you know how it goes, I guess.

I got some positive feedback on my manuscript, which is super cool and makes me happy.  I have to be humble about it, though, because that's the right thing to do.  Honestly, it's just encouraging when I go for a certain thing in my writing and people have the response I'm aiming for.  Makes me feel like writing is actually a thing I can do.

Last night I did more productive things with the helpful, loving prodding of my wife, and I hope to do more of the same, as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post.  At some point I'll give you a video of something, and you'll get to watch it and have thoughts (and maybe feelings).

After my presentation, I might even post my video project up here.  We'll see how that goes.  For now, I'm gonna go.  Peace out.  Chill off.

Le Shrug

Don't Hurt Me

I realize that yesterday's utilitarian blog ended up being the blog for the day. Maybe later I'll make a face-punch video to make up for that. Tonight, I'm just gonna blog about how I need to write a speech and memorize it for a week from now, and I still have no idea what I'm going to talk about.

I'm thinking maybe music copyright or something. I really don't know.

Meanwhile, I have a growing addiction to that one horrendously complex "webcomic" I mentioned a couple days ago. So complicated. So weird. So addicting.

And once again, all I really wanna do is drop everything and write. Gee golly goodness, maybe I'll just pull some all-nighters or something.

That's all I have to say. Seriously, I've got work to do. Sorry.

-shrug-

In Which the Protagonist(?) Muses About Stuff

Wow, there's pretty much nothing on my mind today that I want to blog about.

[Mind-wandering starts here]. I've done some work on a video project for one of my classes which involves writing a piece of music. And I miss it. I started writing music with Garageband on my Macbook almost from the first day I got the machine, and it's consistently been one of my favorite uses. Granted, it's all pretty much canned instruments, but I enjoy it a lot. I even put together a cover track for a parody with some college friends.

I also miss writing a lot. I have this tendency to stay up till 5:00am writing when I'm on a roll, and that's not really something I can do when I have stuff to get up for every morning. I also have a bad habit of both overestimating the time I have to get things done and underestimating my ability to accomplish necessary things in that time frame.

What's useful about doing this daily blogging thing is that it forces me to sit down every day and do some writing, even if it's not particularly good writing. I do have to say that the idea for this came both from relatively faceless internet sources (read: articles by writers) and from my friend Evan, who now co-writes a blog over at Culture War Reporters. In the last few years he's started up a few blogging projects, including one that involved a specific time period during which he obliged himself to blog about something every day. Sound familiar?

That's about all. As a parting note, if you've never heard of Tobuscus or doubt his inhuman levels of awesome, watch this video. And if you've never heard of Minecraft or don't like that, you're a lost cause, and most everything I say on this blog is probably boring or annoying to you.

Shrugging off.

Graduation and Sharp Things

A month from now I'm graduating from Houghton College. Which will be awesome, because I'll be done with school. It's also terrifying, for reasons I've already discussed a few times on this blog. So there's that.

You know what else I thought about today? What happens on the microscopic level when you cut something? Actually, the whole idea of sharp things and cutting stuff just sort of weirded me out for a bit today. Is it the hard molecular bonds driving a wedge into and through a malleable substance, dividing the bonds?

I mean, when I cut my finger, at what level has my skin been cut? The cellular level? If bigger than that, does that mean some cells in the line are cut in two? I'm almost positive my confusion is through sheer ignorance. It's not like I'm suddenly a schism skeptic or anything. It's just weird.

Anyway, I think that's all for today. My internet's been a bit rough and I want to get something posted before it forces another face-punch video.

Crunch Time

Four large school projects.

Three major personal projects.

Two volunteer projects for friends.

A job search.

A grad school search.

Two Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

Moving across three states—again.

The last month of college.

Bring it.

Meander For All You're Worth

There's a lot of things I could talk about today. The mediocrity of Torchlight, the joys of hanging out with friends. Dagorhir. How my old youth pastor—the pastor who performed my wedding ceremony—spent the end of 2011 and part of 2012 trying to get his back sorted out.

I'm home now, and spending time with family, which makes it awkward for me to avoid the face-punch punishment I established for myself a few days ago.

I recently decided I want to apply for grad schools, but I'm too late to make it in for this fall. So I'll be waiting a year regardless. There's much of my future that I'm unsure of, and it's kinda distressing. There's also taxes to sort out, and many other things I'm not gonna bother mentioning in this blog.

I'd rather talk about fun things than all my uncertainties.

So yeah, Dagorhir is super fun. But I never really stopped creating and acting out stories outside (read: LARP), so I guess that influences my preferences. I don't like sports much, but inasmuch as Dag is a sport, it's my favorite one. I wish I had the money to make more swords, and go to events. Maybe I'll be able to after graduating college.

Do you know what else might be fun? Teaching a freshman writing class. I like the idea of being a really tough teacher, especially for the ingrates who want to float by on rivers of beer.

I'm pretty scattered and, as I said earlier, I'm at home spending time with loved ones, so I think that's about all I have to say for the day. I won't mention that I also wasted my free/alone time earlier today.