Tag Archives: writing

Writer seeks good reading

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Today was a good day, more or less, and the less parts will be left out for the sake of not ruining a perfectly good post. Ahem.

I met an old high school friend for lunch, as he happened to be in the area for work (which I assume means his company also employs yetis as there are an abundance of those living in these here mountains). We had relatively tasty food and caught up, talking about nothing and everything just as people who haven’t seen each other for greatly extended periods of time often will. It was an enjoyable time that, in hindsight, seems to have gone by too quickly. I’m immensely fond of visitors as well as lunch outings, even if they contribute to my financial stress more than they alleviate it. Instead of heading home immediately after lunch I stopped by Barnes & Noble. I had nothing in mind in terms of purchases, but I hadn’t wandered around a bookstore in far longer than I care to admit and so it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before I ran into the problem I often run into at Barnes & Noble, or any other bookstore for that matter. I had an idea of the kind of book I’d like to buy, if I were to end up buying something, but I couldn’t quite put a name or specific author to it. The end result involved a fair bit of wandering around the store without aim or idea of where I should be looking. I eventually left without buying anything, which is just as well as I shouldn’t be buying too much for myself. I’ve been given the dreaded pre-birthday warning, and god help me if I choose to ignore that.

Part of the problem is this: as a writer, I have stories I’d like to read, and I know I’d like to read them, but some of them are stories I just haven’t written yet. Looking for some sort of comparable tale only works so well, especially when I can’t think of an author or title or genre even. It’s a big part of what drives me to continue writing. So I can one day hope such a story sits among the shelves of a bookstore, waiting to meet the expectations of a story-hungry reader.

A headache’s worth of determination

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Someone seems to have sneaked into my home and put a bunch of large rocks, heavy objects, and generally painful things somewhere in my skull tonight. Or, you know, I just have a particularly nasty headache. It arrived, gift-wrapped neatly, right after work.

However, I had a Screen Robot article I have been putting off and butting heads with for…longer than I care to admit. A nap was inevitable, followed by some ibuprofen, and then I sat down and tackled as much of the post as I could. Dinner, accompanied by an episode of Hannibal followed, and then I finally slayed the mighty dragon of my own laziness and excuses!

However, that headache is still rampaging about and so I think this will have to do for the night. Make it a great week, folks.

Sleepy, sleepy Sunday

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The fog plaguing my brain seems to be dissipating. Finally. Bonus: I have four days off this week as well, thanks to spending some vacation time.

There are several better posts brewing in my brain right now, and most of them are fragments of ideas regarding (surprise) villains. I’d like to say that’s a little something different, but it’s mostly just fluffy silliness while I try to refocus my brain on other writing. Like the half-finished, half-rewritten Screen Robot post I’m doing a positively horrible job on finishing. There are only so many cheap shots one can make at the expense of crossover events (I’m looking at you, Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe you colossal piece of shit).

However, it’s about time for a late-ish dinner and at least one episode of Hannibal season 2 (there will also be posts about Hannibal, if only because I have limited patience for how oblivious the FBI characters seem to be to Hannibal HARVESTING AND EATING PEOPLE’S ORGANS).

A breakfast of champions

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Not to be mistaken for Breakfast of Champions, which I haven’t read in years and now suddenly find myself wanting to find and reread. Not even sort of the point of this post. And now a pause for the appropriate number of gasps incited by today’s post happening before 10pm or later. Only the appropriate number, however; I’ll have no excessive or exaggerated signs of shock on my posts, thank you very much.

This is a food post, entirely and apologetically. I’ve been trying to cook more lately instead of opting to go out for dinner, which is just as well since it’s less expensive to throw together ingredients in the hopes it will transform into something mostly edible (I’m working at about a 75% success rate here, so I’m going to say I’ve been doing something right). I really enjoy cooking, if only because it gives me a chance to revert to the days I spent dreaming of being a mad scientist. There are, quite sadly, far fewer robots involved in cooking meals, but I’ll think of a way to change that up sooner or later. Continue reading →

Running into a wall (until the damn thing breaks)

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I’ve been in a bit of a writing funk this past week or so. Blame it on me not feeling quite 100% or perhaps on the sleep deprivation, but I’ve not really felt like doing much writing. This would be less of a problem if I didn’t have two things I need to finish within a reasonable amount of time (read as about a week ago, probably).

Naturally, I sit down at my desktop, I open Microsoft Word, and then I sit here and stare at the blank document as I become increasingly frustrated with not being able to string words together effectively. Given that I’m working on a post for Screen Robot and a guest post for Onezumi, I want these pieces to be perfect. My current mindset says give up, and there were a couple times today when I considered contacting the respective folks necessary and apologetically bowing out. Obviously bad decision-making on my part resulted in taking on more than I can handle writing-wise, right?

Except I don’t. I can’t, in fact. Just because I can’t force myself into a motivated state doesn’t mean I won’t damn well try as hard as I can until I want to smash my computer (the good news there being I wouldn’t smash this computer because it is a magnificent beast of a machine, courtesy of Jason’s hard work and computer wizardry).

A rather unwelcome guest has arrived, in the form of sleepiness, and so it’s time I turn my attention where it needs to be. If I finish one of my drafts for the night I’ll be pretty content. Two would be better, but the sleepies weighing my eyelids down seem to disagree with the possibility of that happening.

Taking a sick day

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I seem to be dealing with some variation of the dreaded man-cold. My brain has been replaced by a dense fog, and so I found myself frustrated with not accomplishing either of the writing tasks I planned to complete today. Just means I need to snack on some Dayquil, get some rest, and try again tomorrow.

Instead of pictures featuring me looking pitiful, however, here’s one of Marceline and Meowiarty.

A case of reality versus expectations

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Today was meant to be a big day for revising, writing, and so on. However, that didn’t account for a much-needed Walmart run (which included a stop for dinner, naturally). I’m also fairly sure all of this not-resting-my-sprained-ankle business has finally caught up with me.

On the plus side, I’m not too disappointed with my perceived failures. Largely because tomorrow is a new day. There will be plenty of time before Patch 6.0.2 is live and the servers are up.

I may even treat myself to a Doctor Who marathon while I write, rewrite, and rest my damn leg. And unpack a bit, which kind of goes against everything else I just said.

Playing catch-up

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Yesterday was filled with adventure and happiness in the company of some very exceptional people I have the good fortune of knowing as well as equally exceptional people I met for the first time. It was, and likely will always be, the first and only wedding I’ve ever attended in a cave. It was entirely worth the sleep deprivation I experienced as I stumbled through the day. Not going to get too sentimental here; I promise.

This past week has been an interesting one of returning to things I’d neglected and catching up with them. I’m a little embarrassed to admit none of those things were particularly productive in nature, save for the car-related ones.

Bravely Default
A 3DS game made by the same minds that have fueled years of Final Fantasy, Bravely Default is an interesting reworking of the standard JRPG. The new tricks to the battle system, allowing players to bank extra actions for future turns with Default and spending extra actions at a cost with Brave, make for a fun new approach to something as old as the first consoles. I started playing again on a whim and immediately felt pulled back into the fun. I’ve already managed to kill a couple bosses, although I may have used some cheap tactics. No guides, though.

Hannibal
I watched the first episodes of Hannibal as they aired, eager to see how this would play into the overall grander plot set by the movies. Admittedly, I wasn’t entirely in love with the excessive gore (or the way everyone seems oblivious to THE PARTICULARLY CREEPY PERSON WHO MAKES JOKES ALLUDING TO CANNIBALISM). For some reason or another, I fell behind on watching the episodes as they aired and eventually gave up. At some point or another, I bought season one on DVD. Probably well into season two. Brianne and I watched a couple episodes, but it fell by the wayside again…until this last week, when we burned through the nine episodes we had left. I appreciate the cleverness to this show, especially with how the writers built up the inter-character relationships. However, it feels almost cartoonishly silly how no one seems to suspect Hannibal as the Chesapeake Ripper. That aside: the casting for Dr. Chilton was flawless.

I’m approaching this week still not having counted my posts, still missing my wireless mouse for my desktop, and eagerly anticipating the upcoming patch to World of Warcraft. At some point I have to take a mini-vacation, as these boxes haven’t bothered unpacking themselves.

And so here’s to a pleasant, easy-going week for all.

An oddly responsible day off

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My days off of work are pretty sacred to me, in that I generally try to relax at least a little bit. Today wasn’t an exception to that rule of sorts.

Marceline the Adventure Bean, our third cat, had a vet appointment for her final vaccinations, and I had a very pressing need to find out why the Hell the Maintenance Required light was on in my car (spoilers: it wasn’t because it missed my bright, beautiful smile). I also had come to the realization that there’s not a whole lot by way of food in the new place, which was something I decided needed correcting. I wanted to get a haircut, but that didn’t quite manage to happen. We’ll get back to that.

My errands followed one another quite neatly, with the vet appointment going smoothly, the cleaning out of my car going well, and then the oil change & battery check-up for my car going poorly. Womp womp. Turns out the issues I’d noticed lately were because my poor ol’ Toyota’s battery needed replacing, but the folks at the Plank Road Jiffy Lube are the absolute best. Problem solved nice and quickly. Thanks to stopping there, I saw a recipe on TV for two ingredient chicken (skin-on chicken breasts; add garlic and herb brie or Borsin, then bake…For those interested, Google two ingredient chicken), and so dinner plans were set.

If this post sounds oddly responsible, that’s because it is. I wanted to get some writing done today, but that didn’t quite happen (it will be happening tomorrow instead, as I have self-imposed deadlines to meet). There’s a problem there, however, because I had plenty of creative thoughts rattling around that were left to wait. They seem to have conspired with my love of cooking. Something made me think of scotch bonnets, which are a type of very hot pepper similar to habaneros. They’re commonly, or so Google says, used for Caribbean jerk recipes and have a sweeter taste than their similarly-spicy pepper cousins. I suddenly found myself, a couple hours ago, wanting to use them to make something. I couldn’t figure out what.

My current idea? I happened upon a recipe for caramel sauce with cayenne pepper in it, and decided trying it with scotch bonnets could be plausible. I’ll have to post the results once this food experimentation invariably happens.

How do you other creative types seem to handle the untapped creative ideas in situations like this?

I’d say more, but I work very early tomorrow. Pretty sure this hundred days is almost up, but I need to verify that to be sure.