Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tragedy

So my computer is pretty much toast. At least, the battery connector dealie is. I'd been able to balance it just so on my lap/bed/bean bag chair and let it charge itself back up. But that hasn't worked in several days. This is made all the more difficult by the fact that I have 2 classes that are primarily online. Once I'm un-lazy and un-tired enough, I'll see if the tech people at school can fix it. Hopefully for zero dollars...

Until then, I'll be doing all my homework at computer labs on campus and bemoaning the fact that American progress is more concerned with "newer" than "better."

And also until then, I will most likely not be making any blog posts. Except maybe when I'm home for Easter.

This is why I hate technology so much. It never seems to work when you need it to.

Some Things from My Flash Drive that Make Me Feel Better about this Terrible Ordeal:



Friday, March 23, 2012

Working on Inspiration

So you know how I finished that short story in February and haven't talked about [or worked on] my book since?

I'm writing again!!!!!!!

This calls for celebratory picture spewage. Don't worry, I'll get to the point in just a minute.

Jokes from my sister. Her birthday was yesterday.

Maleficent movie is moving forwards. SO EXCITED!

More jokes. Combining two of my favorite things (three if you count the color).

Sand art. I love watching these.

I need to watch these in order.
There's a certain kind of headspace I expect to be in for truly inspired writing to happen. It's like I can't write anything until I get this I-must-write-words-pouring-out-of-my-head feeling.

The problem is, it's hard to get to that particular ... event?

Sometimes, really fantastic books inspire me. Even just really fantastic paragraphs or sentences. Those bits of craft that blow my mind. Watching beautiful sand art with haunting melodies. There's a few movies, ones that I watch over and over and over again, that have moments that just pull at my heartstrings. That's the only way to describe it, really.

But yesterday morning, all I needed was a little procrastination on the 8 page paper I had to finish that afternoon.

Basically, I got so sick of school that writing on More Blessed was bumped up from the bottom of my I-don't-have-the-time-or-energy-to-do-this list. Which is probably not the nicest way to think about this book, but it's pretty honest.

I think another part of it is staying away from the Internet. I've been trying to leave my computer unconnected to be more productive on all of the BIG THINGS that were due this week [also to save money on electricity by turning of the blinking lights of the modem/wireless router dealies]. Today, with no internship to go to and all day to run errands, I've wasted the past 4ish hours bumming around online.

So. I know I won't become a speed-writer overnight. I know that my biggest dream in the world is not to become a writer. It's pretty far down on the list, but it's the one that's most...accomplish-able right now. [I have been making up so many words today.] I hope, really hope, that I can finish this book by June just for my own sense of pride so that I can print it for free on campus.

If I could write a thousand words a day, that wouldn't be a big deal at all.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Last Spring Break

My week in pictures, because pictures are worth a thousand words and take less time to put together. Okay, so it still takes time to find them, but I don't have to worry about being coherent this way.

I got a new phone! One that I don't have to charge every single day!

It looks like this.
I watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy!
So many Hot British Men! So much confusion!
I spent too much time playing old computer games!

I don't even remember when we got this.
I read some awesome books!
You should read this one.

YOU SHOULD MUST READ THIS FABULOUS PIECE OF AWESOMENESS!!!
This little anthology was also quite good.

I got a hair cut! But I don't have a picture and I already put on pajamas so I'm not taking one now.

I procrastinated on every bit of homework I needed to do!

I made a cake!

The top layer didn't want to stay together so I had to force it with gobs of icing.
And celebrated my hermanita's 18th birthday!

I wish I never had to go back to school. Or write outlines and essays and do research. Or think about getting a job. Although I must admit, the job part is exciting; it's the getting one part that I don't want to do. Such is life.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Happy International Women's Day

This isn't a very widely celebrated holiday in the States. I guess we have Mother's Day to half make up for that. But I always try to remember it since it's kind of important for 1917 Russian Revolution #1. Just a smidge.
Save the women from their second class status!
And that would explain why it's virtually nonexistent here. That's also why I think of the date being February 28th instead of March 8th, since most of the research I did [for my Extended Essay, thankfully long, long ago] used the Julian calendar and not the Gregorian calendar. Of course, I didn't remember it a week ago either, but I didn't have lovely Google to remind me.

Or just give them flowers. Same thing, right?
It's too bad that our enduring Red Scares make a vocal segment of our country freak out about anything with a Communist/Socialist/leftish history. We could use a holiday that celebrates and remind us of women's rights, especially with all the ridiculous political hoopla going on right now.

I have more to say on this, but it'll have to wait for another, not-so-sleepy time.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Memory Or Anticipation

So the question: why do you need to buy books and read them over and over again? After all, what's there to anticipate? You already know how the book ends. Except...

Things I Remembered about The Hobbit from Reading It 10 Years Ago
  • Bilbo Baggins
  • Gandalf
  • Dwarves
  • Dragons and guarded treasure
  • Trolls
  • Out of the frying pan and into the fire
  • Ponies being eaten
I had to reread it to prepare for the movie finally coming out.
Things I Realized I Should Have Remembered While Rereading
  • Unexpected dinner party at Bilbo's
  • Hanging out with Elrond
  • Gollum and the Ring
  • Goblins/orcs and Wargs and almost being eaten
  • The eagles saving the day, twice
  • Beorn, the bear guy
  • The sketchy forest, including giant spiders and almost being eaten
  • Wood-elves being rather silly
  • Floating in barrels
  • The secret door
  • Bilbo riddling with the dragon and almost being burnt and eaten
  • The giant battle at the end 
  • Other things that I already can't remember happening
This makes me want it to be December, for once.

Even with a good memory, there's a lot you forget about books you haven't read in a while. There's a ton you forget about books you haven't read in a long while. But you'll always remember whether you liked a book or not, and sometimes you need to know ahead of time that a book is going to make you smile.

I mean, look at this.
And also, the publishing industry kind of needs your money.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Best Sport in the World

In the spirit of finishing long-delayed posts, I bring you an update on the unarguably most amazing sport ever invented.

[If you haven't been paying attention to previous ramblings, I'm talking about figure skating.]

Way back in December, some exciting things happened. Mostly at Russian Nationals. That let to a month of me freaking out before the European Championships.

More freaking out occurred when I realized how beautifully Russia was doing.
The only problem with being concerned with European competitions is they aren't broadcast in the U.S. It's a tragic, tragic fate for poor American me. I have to content myself with relentlessly checking the live score updates. Pluschenko was a beast in qualifying, which reassured me. I missed the first half of the short program, but was rewarded for my diligence with this lovely gem.

My skaters, in FIRST, SECOND, FOURTH and FIFTH.
Now, this weekend happened to be the same weekend I was visiting family. So when I could tear myself apart from my newborn and toddler cousins, I got on the Internet to check scores. At one point, I decided to see if my aunt and uncle's TV had a channel that was showing the competition [they have some fancy Italian channels so it was a possibility]. That's when I discovered that the U.S. Nationals were going on at the same time. So I got to watch a bit of the ladies and ice dancers, even though I don't particularly follow any American skaters.
Although this beautiful man might be un-retiring which makes me endlessly happy.
The minute I got back from my lovely trip, I was checking final scores. And then freaking out.

My three absolute favorites, on the podium together
Russian skaters also went 1-2-3 in Pairs and 2-3 in Ice Dance.

ALL THE RUSSIANS!
The ladies didn't do as well. Relatively: a 15 year old who was only 7th at Nationals placed 4th and the two I've been watching were 6th and 7th. But the amazing Elene Gedevanishvili from Georgia took the bronze, so I am completely okay with that.

Alas, the only podium with no Russians.
I really don't know how this post didn't get written sooner. Gushing about figure skating is in my Top-10-Favorite-Things-To-Do list, along with list making and reading magical books and watching figure skating.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

I'm Still Here

I have several long-delayed posts sitting in my drafts folder, but haven't cared enough recently to write them.

I've been meaning to write this post for ages, and haven't found the time.

[Part of this I can blame on my Lenten resolution to spend less time on the Internet, but before that...I don't know. I was busy reading or watching TV or doing homework or sleeping, I guess.]

I'm hoping this month I'll remember to update, but I can't promise that'll happen. I can promise those posts will be, overall, shorter and filled more with pictures than insightful writing. Which I'm perfectly okay with, because pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

I'm hoping that I'll get more writing done. I'm having fun writing scenes from any and all of my story ideas as they occur to me. One of those was actually for More Blessed [although it was a rewrite of a scene and I still don't like it] but the rest are from a couple of other stories. Other worlds, actually, which means I have also spent a lot of time playing with maps and ancestry trees. Anything to cheat on the dreaded, upcoming middle of the novel.

I'm also hoping to finish tons of homework and get tons of sleep and read tons of books and spend tons of time hanging out with friends. Why not dream big, you know?

Totally unnecessary picture to congratulate anyone who got my obscure pop culture reference.
I don't know what function this post serves, other than to assure everyone that I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I'm just...rearranging my priorities, figuring out what I actually want to do with my life when I graduate, trying to find my sister a totally awesome birthday present...right now, my brain's not really into blogging and I haven't wanted to force the issue. This month, maybe, I'll get that fixed :)