Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Four

*Gurgle*


Brains... must feed...


*Low moan*

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I want to add a side note to this blog post which, yes, is supposed to be short and stupid. You'll see why tomorrow. (I've been having way too much fun at school chasing humans around for me not to act like a silly zombie.) Lately, the boyfriend and I have been re-watching the old Star Wars movies. You know, the original three, the only ones that are worth watching. We finally got to the last one and a little conversation between Vader and the Emperor caught my eye. Now, I have watched these movies over and over again but it took a late night viewing to come up with this. I'll write it down first, see if you can catch it, and then I'll mention what I saw. This little conversation takes place just after Leah, Han, and Luke have met the Ewocks on Endor.

Vader: My son with with them.
Emperor: Are you sure?
Vader: I have felt him.
Emperor: Strange I have not. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader.
Vader: They are clear, my master.
Emperor: You must go to the Centrilian Moon and wait for him.
Vader: He will come to me.
Emperor: Yes. I have forseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing. He will come to you and you will bring him before me.

Find it? No?

Rewind a second. Vader kind of leads this conversation and the Emperor catches on later, making Vader's words his own. Vader is confident that he will see Luke under Luke's own terms and, at first, the Emperor questions this. He even critisizes Vader, wondering if his "feelings on the matter are clear." Then, later in the conversation, the Emperor basically repeats what Vader said, telling him "I have forseen it." My question is this: How could the Emperor have forseen this when he even tells Vader "Strange that I have not" in regards to feeling Luke's presence?

It's just so funny how little things like re-watching a beloved film could catch such mistakes. I wonder what George Lucus thinks of his masterpiece after all these years. I still love this movie, anyway.

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Three

I must write quickly before the poison takes hold of me. I fear these are my last few moments of sanity.

Yes, that's right, I have been bitten. It was a long hard battle and I'll will tell all to you in due time.

As I got on the bus this morning, still human, I met five other male humans, well armed, who offered to get me to my class safely. I took this offer and off to class we went, without seeing a single zombie along the way. However, once in class, one of my dear friends became ill and my professor asked me to take her to the Health Center, the one place I didn't want to go (after previous experiences with that retched place) but I said I would go, anyway. Armed with socks, I walked her over to the Health Center, once again without meeting a single zombie. What is going on? I thought to myself. They should be out by now! After seeing her safe within the confines of the sick ward, I headed back towards the library in search of zombies. I knew they were out. There were at least 55 of them. It had been reported last night!

That's when I got the text message from Jo. He had been bitten and was going through the painful transformation. I shed a single tear and then closed my cell phone. All I could do was let him go to his doom.

I was right about the zombies being out. One was there, walking across a bridge I was also crossing to get to the library. She turned, ready, but was not fast enough. I pegged her with a sock before she could even get near. Inside the library, I ran into a human friend, one that needed to get to a building that had been rumored to be infested with zombies. I offered my services and we traveled without disturbance. I was dumb-founded by this time. I had hardly seen any zombies all day. Very few guarded the library, which was normally very guarded. I headed home to get ready for my second class, pondering this thought.

I suppose I let my ego get the best of me. That must have been why this happened. After class, a fellow human and I debated on waiting until 6:30 (when the zombies had to stand down) to go to a human meeting that was supposed to take place in the library at 6:45. We peeked out of the building and, though we couldn't see any zombies, I immediately got a bad feeling about the situation. I wanted to wait until 6:30 to come out of hiding but she offered that we move now, while the zombies were gone. We were sure, too, that they had all given up until we came upon the library cooridor.

We didn't even make it to the front door.

Three zombies jumped out of hiding and sprinted after the two of us. I bolted for the neared building I could see, which happened to be the second closest building. I realized, as my friend was bitten behind me and let out a shriek, that I had led us in the wrong direction. I heard fast steps beside me and turned to hit the original zombie, who immediately backed down. I kept running. Moments before I reached the door of the building, I turned to hit the zombie behind me and, as the sock left my hand, he grabbed me. I let out a disappointed wail and stooped to catch my breath as the pain of the new transformation began to flow through my veins. Moments later, the original zombie appeared, welcoming me into the horde and complementing me on my quickness of step. "We could use people like you!" he told me as he clapped me on the shoulder.

And now I am home. In these last moments, I apologize to all of you for my weakness of judgment. I was trained to be strong and I wasn't strong. I was trained to be wise and I wasn't wise. I am sorry to let you all down. I just hope that... in this new transformation...

I can find...

forgiveness...

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Two

I knew today would be much different than yesterday.

First of all, I had more stuff to carry with me today. If I had only had to go to the library and study for my evening midterm, I would have just carried on small bag. But I had my yoga mat with me, as well as a set of clothes for yoga. Which put extra weight on, extra weight that I would have to carry if I broke into a sprint away from a determined zombie.

Second of all, the finally tally for zombies last night was 22. That means that the original zombie tagged enough zombies, who tagged other zombies, to reach the count of 22. Who knew what the count would get to be today? If all of those zombies tagged at least one person, the count would reach 44. Or worse. What if they each tagged two people? The count would be 66. And I’m determined not to be one of those 66. Or 88. Or 110.

I have been taking the bus to school instead of riding my bicycle because rumors have it that last year there was a zombie outbreak and a human got chased down by three zombies while riding his bicycle to school. And there’s no way you can ride your bike and pelt zombies with socks all at the same time. So, as I stepped off the bus, I looked around cautiously, alternating between looking in front of me and then behind me every other second, and darted to my yoga class. I got there safely, without a single zombie spotting.

Afterwords, however, it was a different story. On my way out of the building, I ran into another member of the resistance, a girl around my age looking very rattled. I asked her if she had seen any zombies and she immediately told my how she had bumped into her friend in a building who had been turned into a zombie and how, even though it was only the second day, they were growing in number. I thanked her, promising to be cautious, and set on my way. I had planned to head straight to the library to study for a midterm, avoiding any narrow paths where zombies might be hiding in wait of an unaware human. However, there was a slight kink to my plan. I needed a scantron for my exam and the only place that I knew to get one was the student store. I mapped the path out in my head before starting out, using the same method as before of alternating between looking in front of me and then behind me.

I had almost made it there. As I crossed an open grassy area, students absolutely everywhere, I could see the student store in front of me. I debated breaking into a sprint but I decided that it would make me much less aware of my surroundings, as I would have to sprint and look ahead. As I rotated my gaze to behind me, I suddenly saw it: a male zombie, dark-haired, about my height with an orange bandanna, racing towards me. For a moment, I froze, and then, feeling the weight of the sock of my hand, I whipped around, aimed the sock at him, and threw it. He jumped past me, the sock missing him by an inch, and as he turned to try again, I recovered my sock and threw it. I thought it missed him until a disappointed look crossed his face and I knew I had hit my target. “Fifteen minutes!” I yelled and then hustled to the student store, breathing hard by the time I was inside. I was only there for five minutes, so I knew he couldn’t follow me for another ten. That was enough time to get to the library, I told myself.

The trip to the library was a little less eventful but only slightly. A zombie in a green bandanna stood against a pillar, texting, glancing around him. I froze, watching him closely, and then I moved slowly, quietly. I can only suppose he didn’t see me, although I was ready, sock in hand. As soon as I was close enough, I made a bolt for the door of the library and retreated safely inside for a couple hours of studying.

A few hours into the library session, I ran into a bunch of humans who were watching zombies in front of the library from a window. We bickered for a while about whether or not they could get me to my 6:30 before 6:30 (since the zombies have to stand down on campus after dark) and we finally were able to work out a route to my class before it became too dark. We also worked out a major zombie massacre on Thursday afternoon (if we all were still humans by then).

Jo is still a human. We’re keeping each other safe.


Final tally:

Megan – 1

Zombies - 0

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part One

The epidemic has begun.

I've seen several of my fellow humans but no one can seem to tell me who the original zombie is. All we can do is walk softly and become paranoid people. My fellow classmates - those not knowing or caring about the epidemic - stare at me strangely. I'm sure the orange bandanna around my arm looks slightly strange but it's the only method the fellow members of the resistance and myself can tell who is who.

We hear the zombie are growing smarter.

The infection begins at the forehead, the sin growing grayish and ragged. We're not entirely sure how it began; rumors are that a freshman chemistry student went rogue and ingested a tampered formula. We do know that once touched, the infection spreads like wildfire. Those who have started getting the infection decided to move their bandanna from their arms to their foreheads to hide the beginnings of the infection. It tricked us at first but, once one of those monsters with the bandannas on their heads attacked a member of the resistance, we grew smart, too. Anyone wearing a head bandanna is immediately pelted with ammo... er... socks. Or hidden from.

But I am not the hiding type.

I have not seen a zombie today but, then again, it is only the first day of the epidemic. Jo, on the other hand, was caught in an elevator with a human who had very recently been turned into a zombie. As soon as he could find me, we immediately snuck out of the building before that one zombie retrieved her zombie friends and killed us in a zombie fashion. I would have stayed and fought for the resistance but we're not quite sure how many zombies there are on campus at the moment. Once we see more zombies, we can take different precautions.

I am determined to survive the week.

Me, brandishing my sock and orange bandanna.

Jo with his yellow bandanna, determined to fight for the resistance.

The Dripping Darkness

You think things are good. You're reaching towards the light and your fingertips just barely brush it. Fascinated by the illumination on your fingers, you just stare, blissfully happy. And then the world goes black and you are in darkness again. In the emptiness again. All there is left to do is weep.

I didn't get the job, as some of you might have guessed. I didn't even get a second interview. And then it all fell back again upon working "at the hardware store." I don't want to work at the hardware store. This is not in offense to my previous coworkers or my former boss. Sure, I loved it there and I miss all of them. However, it's time for me to move on. But, at every turn, all I hear is, "Why don't you go work at the hardware store?" or "why don't you go home for the summer and go back to work at the hardware store?" And I feel as if I'm losing my balance, falling backwards as I struggle to keep upright.

I am told that there is more than embracing the darkness. I am told that I should search for the light, because it is there, somewhere. But when all is darkness, all I can do is adjust my eyes and go on. Maybe the light will find me someday. Either way, I cannot keep from weeping.

Not an English Major: You Do the Math

I must be writing a lot about writing my novel on my Facebook, lately, because a very dear friend of mine asked an interesting question today. I’m not sure if I have ever completely covered this subject on this blog but I suppose I’ll cover it now. The question my friend asked was, “If you like writing so much, why aren’t you still an English major?”

I could give a very simple response to this and, then, I could give a very long-winded one. I think I’ll do both. We’ll start with the simple one. I’m not an English major the same way Michael Crichton was not an English major (RIP to an amazing writer). I realize that Stephen King taught English for a while (and one of the women in my NaNoWriMo group teaches an English language class) but it is not a necessity.

Now for the long one: I used to be an English major. All through high school, English was my favorite class. I did better than many of my peers, baffled many of my friends, and it was the one subject that I could proudly beat my ex-boyfriend at without trying (he was better than I at basically everything else). I’ve been writing since the 3rd grade so, naturally, English was what I thought I was going to get into as a major. I actually tried all the different areas of English in my senior year high school: I was a copy editor for the school newspaper, I was taking an AP English Literature class, I took a creative writing class from the local junior college during the fall, and I followed a professor at the junior college for my senior project (of what job we would like to get into). I decided early on that I didn’t want to teach, not because I couldn’t but because I would get bored with the repetition. When I started applying for 4-year universities, I applied as a creative writing major but, thankfully, due to circumstances, I didn’t go to any of those universities and attended the junior college instead. I ended up graduating with my AA in English Literature and actually applied for my current university in the Editing Literature major.

So, why then, you ask, did I suddenly switch my major? Why did I turn from something that I loved doing so very much?

The truth is this: I hated it. Sure, without my emotions involved, my resume is pretty clear: ENGLISH MAJOR. But, as soon as I got into college (and when I was taking those AP English exams), I despised every essay. It was really clear that I was done with the major when I was forced to read Crime and Punishment in Spring of 2009; forcing myself to sit down every day with the novel, a pen, and little pieces of paper to shove into the spine as I made notes about the plot, theme, ect; forcing myself to dissect every little paragraph, sentence, or word that I came across with; forcing myself to write about Dunya’s transformation as a result of Raskolnikov. For some, that might be heaven. For me, it was taking a wet towel and twisting it very slowly, until every last drop had disappeared. Those drops? The joy of writing. The joy of reading. I am not an English major because it took away the joy of sitting down and reading a good book.

I remember that professor telling my class at the end of the semester, “I bet none of you will never be able to sit down with a book ever again and read it without seeing the themes, noting the syntax, and finding chronotopes.” I didn’t reply to him but, by this time, I thought to myself, “Whatever happened to reading for fun? Just to get the joy out of the riveting experience of the plotline? Why should I have to dissect everything? Sure, it’s fascinating to learn the mother, Addie, only has one chapter (after her death) in As I Lay Dying, but why am I responsible for finding out why?”

And that’s why I’m not an English major.

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still get the joy out of writing. I’m actually beginning to get the joy back after taking most of the summer off of writing. The negative effects of being a literature major are wearing away, which is awesome because I’m beginning to remember how much joy I took from writing in high school, before the whole English major thing started.

And, currently, I recommend On Writing by Stephen King. This book is freakin’ fantastic.

It Just Takes Faith

The boyfriend showed me this last night. I though it would show it to you since I find it pretty funny. It's in those "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" style commercials.

Writing on the Edge

I just realized that the whole theory to life is, "Ask and you'll find out if you'll recieve."

It's actually, "Wait and see if the opportunity presents itself."

I met with my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) group today to discuss semantics. We worked out two days every week to meet and where we were going to meet. Our ML (Municipal Liaison) had lots of great ideas of where to meet or contests we could have and I can already tell that I am going to like these ladies a lot. I'm a little sad that we don't have any males in our group right now; I'm hoping that putting up posters around school and an article in the newspaper might do the trick but I'll find out this week whether or not the university is ok with me doing all of that. We're all really excited to start and I actually forgot that it was the middle of October, not November. *claps hand to forehead* Silly me!

What I just discovered, however, was that I actually get to go to the one event that I was SURE that I wouldn't be able to attend this year. The NaNoWriMo Night of Writing Dangerously on November 22 in San Fransisco costs about $200, which I don't have and which is supposed to be sponsored, something I doubt I'll have happen. Anyway, if you get the $200 to go, for $300, you can bring a guest. One of the women in my group has really bad night vision and wanted to know if someone wanted to pay the guest price (of $100) and go in on driving her down to San Fransisco so that she could go. I totally jumped at that opportunity. I'm positive I can scrounge up $100 (compared to $200) somewhere to have an amazing 6 hour novel-writing experience, complete with a buffet dinner, a chance to get a professional author's photo, and conversation with TONS of other writers.

So there you have it. My month (which has been awesome due to HvZ, Writer's Conference, and NaNoWriMo) has gotten even better. I cant wait for November to start.

So Over Jobbing

It's not what you think.

I didn't give up. I didn't look at it and say, "It's never going to happen." I just realized that, in order to get a job here, you need to have a flawless resume, an open schedule, connections, and a ridiculous amount of time and effort to keep looking. None of which I have. I didn't come to this conclusion just by watching the job market or by searching. It was when a friend of mine, who has been looking for a job for over a year, finally found one that gets her late night shifts and a ball of frustration. It was when someone I'm very close to got a job almost just-like-that because he had a certain job over the summer, which he got due to a certain job during the school year.

You have to have connections.

As it is, I've begun to fill up my schedule and plan for my schedule for next semester. And, as it currently stands, I don't have time to get a job anyway. My time is taken up by school, the newspaper, the HPA, and (more importantly) I need to keep up with working on my novel. In California, if you want to get into grad school, you need to not only have straight A's in every class, you need to have extra curriculars that make you look good, and none of this spells "job" in it. And it's sad because I sometimes feel useless being jobless, especially when I take out to loan to guarantee myself that, if I need to have a little extra money to buy food, it's there. Especially when, back home, I had a stable job for 5 years and never worried about money. Now I worry about it all the time.

That said, last night I had the most important interview of... well... my life so far. It was to work during summer orientation next year, which is probably the best job any student can get at this school. It makes between $2500 and $3000 just in the months of June and July, which would hopefully cover me for August. This job would definitely open doors for other jobs on campus next school year and it would give me a reason to stay here during the summer in my beautiful apartment when it's quiet and all the other students have left. I would love this job. I've been looking forward to signing up for it since the summer because I know I would love this job.

I've had many people ask me about the interview and I still can't tell you how the interview went. I simply don't know. It was a lot of team building experience, working with other people by stuffing folders, doing introductions, drawing shapes, and answering questions. I tried to stand out, I tried to make myself unique, but there were so many other people who were doing well, it's hard to know. All I know is that I tried my best and, if given the second one-on-one interview, I would fight for this job. A friend of mine who is on the judging panel told me last night that he thought I did well but... it's hard to trust friends, you know? They want you to think well of them, to think that they voted for you. I'll find out next week if I'm only thanked for attending or asked to come to the second interview.

If there's no second interview... I'm terrified to go through the whole job process again next May like I did this May. Applying early, being told that they're not doing summer hiring til after the school year ends, applying after the school year, being told that they've already done their summer hiring...

All we can do is wait.

HvZ Craze!

With all this talk about zombies lately, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Well, I'm not really surprised. More stoked outta my skin than anything else.

The week before Halloween, my university is holding a game of Humans vs. Zombies that a LOT of students (and even some teachers) can and will get involved in. Everyone will start out as humans and wear bandannas around their arms and one person will begin as the original zombie, wearing the bandanna around his/her head. The original zombie has to go around campus tagging people and turning them into zombies (they'll shift the armbands to their foreheads), who will then go around tagging more people. They can only attack those involved in the game, of course, and the object of the game is to stay alive. If there is at least one human alive at the end of the game, the humans win. If not... well... Zombieland! Sounds epic? I haven't even told you the best part yet. In order for humans to avoid zombies...

THEY CAN PELT SOCKS AT THEM!!!!

That's right. That's the only way I have to defend myself. And it is EPIC.

The whole thing was started at Goucher College a few years back and, if you watch the documentary at http://humansvszombies.org/, it became a big deal. At Goucher, humans can use nerf guns and socks to stun zombies for 15 minute intervals. They all formed teams and it just brought a lot of people together. I'll be interested to see how big this will get at my university. I'm planning on bringing an extra bag just for socks. I hope I can last the week!

Deadening Experience

I recently got a new Ipod, a beautiful burnt orange Nano that I think is just the cutest thing in the world.

I do miss my large, 30 gb, video playing Ipod, even after getting the new one. Poor 30gb... after 5 long years, it has been put to rest and recycled for parts just so I could get a discount on a new one. A moment of silence for the old Ipod...

Anyway, as I was driving home from the Writer's Conference the Sunday before last, I had my first encounter with an audio book. I've always been hesitant to try these, mainly because I'm a writer and I truly believe that books are meant to be read, not listened to. One good example is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. That book is ridiculously long but I sure as heck read the entire thing. (They're also making a television series out of it but more on books and their television shows in another post.) But, I decided to brave it because the drive home is 7 hours long (on a bad day, 6 on a good one) and it's hard for a person to stay awake and alert for that long of a trip. So what do you think I read?

That's right.

I actually own this in paper. I bought it a while ago, but I never seem to get to it. So, enter the audio book and a 6 hour drive, and half of the book read now (or listen to). Here is my assessment:

It's a funny idea. I mean, all who think of Elizabeth Bennett know that she is a tough cookie (as is Mr. Darcy) and it's humorous to think that she could be the main defender of the Bennett family. For the first few chapters, I was hooked and laughing in my car as the poor Bennett girls had to fight off zombies as they wandered into town or discovered that the cook of the Bingley household had been attacked by a zombie during a very large party. However, after a while, it got old. It got old fast. As someone who has read Pride and Prejudice and appreciates the beauty of Jane Austin's work, I found myself wanting to hear more of the story and less of the zombies. I missed many of the interactions between the characters that left me charmed and coming back for more. Also, when the author decided to turn Charlotte (Elizabeth's best friend) into a zombie and described the slow process that it took for her to get into that state, I was done with the book. I didn't care that Elizabeth could stand on one finger or defeat three ninjas at once. The author had thought Charlotte to be such a disposable character that it would be fine to turn her into a zombie! I didn't finish the audio book and, I can already tell you, I'm not going to finish my hard copy either. What I want to do is give that book away. I don't ever want to see it again.

Those of you who have read Pride and Prejudice or other works by Jane Austin... do you agree with me? Beauty shouldn't be toyed with. Apparently, they're making Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters or that might just be a youtube video that they have advertising what it would be like but I really think the author has ruined something beautiful. Shame on Seth Grahame-Smith. You don't get a single star in my book. Nor does Ben H. Winters for doing this:

Disgusting.

I'm There for the Entertainment

I'm really supposed to be working on my journal article review but I thought I would take a quick sidestep for a moment or two to describe to you all a point of interest, annoyance, and humor that has been growing in my life over the past few months.

"What could it possibly be?" you ask.

Facebook advertisements.

I've been on Facebook for about... oh... 4 1/2 years. Never did I pay any attention to those advertisements that hang out on the right-hand corner of my screen until recently. I'm not sure if that was because in high school (and junior college) I was more of a popular person and concentrated more on what people had written on my page and less on what was on the edges. However, I can tell you with honest that, lately, I look forward to logging onto my Facebook account JUST to see if I can find an advertisement that will trump yesterday's winner. Now, I realize that they tailor these advertisements to fit each person's Facebook page (because they want you to click on them) so I'm assuming that the reason why I would find something like this so particularly funny is because these advertisers think they know me... yet they really don't. So, will all this in mind, let's look at today's top advertisements:


Be An Egg Donor Angel: Financially, emotionally rewarding

I've already talked this one over with my mother. She thinks that getting through college by donating my eggs would NOT be the way to go. "Wouldn't it frighten you to know that you have a kid running around out there?" she asked me. "Naw..." I replied. "It's the good of the cause!"


Chatterberries - Your Wedding and Bridal Network as Original as You: Online bridal network and planning resource guide like none other. Latest in wedding news, fashion, and more.

Wait... when did I say I was engaged? (By the way, stuff like this will start showing up on your page the moment you change your status from "single" to "in a relationship.") What's great about this was that I was able to show it to the boyfriend and say, "See? Even Facebook says that we should get married!" It's a real mood killer, my friends.


Dawn Price Baby: Strollers, gifts, gear, carriers, toys, and more. 

Wait... now, I'm supposedly pregnant? How did that happen?


Learn from Jesus: Text "Amen" 2 "Jesus"

Jesus has a cell phone? SWEET! I'll text "Amen" to that!


Libreria Legado: Una repuesta a la necisidad de difundir la produccion intelectual centroamericana al mundo.

I took 3 years of Spanish, none of which I remember. The last time I took a Spanish test was... spring of 2006?




And today's winner?

Track Your Boyfriend: Wonder where your boyfriend is? Suspect that he's cheating on you? Click here and track his location!

Because women deserve the right to be unnecessarily paranoid!!

Dipping My Toes In

So....I've decided to try it.

I mean... I'm almost 21. Most authors have sent their short stories or poetry out to be looked at and possibly published by now, right?

The idea occurred to me last night as the boyfriend and I were just about the leave Barnes & Noble. I had gone over to the magazines and, just as I was about to bend down to look at Writer's Digest and The Writer, I saw it. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

And then it hit me. Publishing. I've never tried to publish any of my stories. I mean, sure, two of my science fiction/fantasy short stories are being published in the boyfriend's astronomy book in December but that's not the audience that I want my stories read by. It's only kind of bragging rights for me. Because, when you know the two people who are publishing the book, it's not hard to stick your stories in and it's hard for me to want to go around and be like, "Oh. I'm getting published. Check me out."

I really would like my stories to be read by the audience that is meant to read them. The people who obsess in science fiction and fantasy, just as I do. So, I've gone to the magazine's website, I've looked at their info, I've chosen the story, I've put it into the right format (using Scrivener, which I mentioned in my last blog and which I find AMAZING now that it has helped me so much), and all I really need to do is write a cover letter. Then, I will send it away and cross my fingers. I'm not expecting anything except for a rejection letter (actually, I'll be very surprised if they do publish it), but at least it means I will have taken my first steps towards getting my stuff looked at and getting my name out there. One rejection letter after trying to publish is better than nothing after never trying.

So, ready or not...

New Projects!

I just found out on Wednesday that the National Novel Writing Month is in November.

Isn't that just EXCITING?

I've always wanted to try and I decided that, why not only try it, but just be one of the winners this year? That would entail writing 50,000 words in 30 days. And it really wouldn't be that hard; I would just have to make sure that I write every single day and don't lazy. It would be a really good way to knock out the second draft of my novel in 30 days. Especially because I reaaaally need to do that. Really. It's time.

Now, I know what you're thinking. 50,000 words! But, if you break that down by thirty days, it becomes 1,667 words a day or approx 3 pages, single-spaced. See? Not really that hard. On some days, I'll probably end up doing more. And the cool thing about NaNoWriMo this year is that there is a new program that they are testing called Scrivener, which basically helps you write your novel by setting it up so you can access everything easily. I have another program like it called Story Mill but, as I test Scrivener out, I really like it a lot. The trial for it for those attending NaNoWriMo this year is longer than 30 days since the makers really want writers to buy it. It lasts from the beginning of October until the 7th of December. If you're attending, you get a 20% discount on the product if you actually buy it after December 7th and, if you win, they'll give you a 50% discount.

I'm so excited. The majority of my school projects are early this semester and NaNoWriMo stops before finals so I can take the time to study for that as well.

Yay!

If ANYONE (seriously, anyone) is thinking of doing NaNoWriMo next month, please let me know. I would be so blessed to have a fellow writer undertaking this with me. The web address is http://www.nanowrimo.org/ . At this exact moment, the site is down but it should be back up again soon and you can sign up! It's totally free and, like I said, you win if you write 50,000 words or more. That's it. And lots of people win every year.

Also, there's a Write-a-Thon that they are having in San Fransisco on the 22nd of November and you have a raise a certain amount of money to attend (will be available once the site comes back up) but this is just general information for all of you. I'm positive that I wont be able to attend that.

Until November... chapter outlines, here I come!!

Party Time!

October. The month of entertainment.

I can already tell that this month is going to be crazy. What with basically two state-wide furlough days next Thursday and the Monday after Halloween weekend. I mean, seriously, lets give these people more of a reason to drink. If there's no school Thursday, they'll drink Wednesday-Sunday. No school Monday? Thursday-Monday. And here, where it's practically a crime not to party until you forget who you are and where you live, especially on a weekend such as Halloween, you would think that the state would want to limit that. One of my friends told me last weekend that when he started here as a freshman, Halloween fell on a Wednesday. So what do you think the students did? If you guessed that they partied Wednesday night or waited until Thursday/Friday, I'm sorry. You voted wrong. They partied the weekend before and the weekend after. As if school wasn't exhausting enough. I bet they hardly went to class that week.

I found out tat the newspaper today that the university's administrators have been trying to appeal to the state, to convince them that we don't really need to cut out 2,000 students next fall, maybe only 1,000. I think they're also trying to reason about the furlough days but I know their reasoning isn't just about saving teachers and teaching students. It's about the drinking. The more furlough days, making the weekend longer, the more likely we'll find people burning couches in the middle of the street or doing other things that are equally as stupid. And I don't think that they know that I know that they know. Do you?

But back to entertainment. I am really curious to go and see one of the Rocky Horror Picture Show performances that go on every Thursday-Saturday in October. I'm curious but scared to death. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a virgin to the movie and I've seen it 3-4 times and I know that the people you are with while watching it determines how good your experience will be. However, I am a show virgin. Every year it happens in my hometown and I really want to go see it but I am scared to death. They would mark my forehead with a large V and stick me in the front row, where I would be susceptible to all sorts of harassment.

But I think I might just brave it this year.

After all, it couldn't be that bad.

Right?

Career Crisis

The boyfriend noted something this morning that I thought was worth mentioning, "I've noticed that many people who go to college overshoot their ability levels and end up trying for a job that they'll never do."

I totally agreed with him, especially in the health field. Sure, it sucks to be disappointed when all you've ever wanted to do was be a nurse but if you need a GPA of 4.0 and you're only at 2.5, it's going to be a little difficult to get there. It's not bad to change your mind if you know that the goal that you're shooting for is a little bit too high. I'm living proof of this, since I changed my major from literature to health and everyone (even my ex boyfriend) was shocked and called me out on it. But I knew what I wanted and what I could handle and I wanted to write but I couldn't handle literature. I still feel that being a literature major takes a lot of the fun out of reading. Sure, you want to know things about the theme of the story and about the characters but analyzing every little bitty thing? Not for me.

If I could, I would write full time. If I knew that I couldn't fail. This reminds me of something Christian said at the conference, "Writing is a full time job. When you do it, you do it every day and you get paid for doing it. Hopefully, anyway." But you cant just write and expect to get somewhere. Many classic novelists had jobs while they were writing, such as being an editor or a scientist or some laborious day job where the only time they had to come home and write was at night. So, of course, I might end up like them. Working the day job until the night job takes off with something special.

As Christian said, there's no way of knowing whether you're going to get published. You just have to keep trying. "Someone will eventually like your work," he promised. "But you have to keep searching for that person." Then, when a girl said, "I'm 18. What are my chances of getting published?" he laughed and replied, "More likely than mine! Americans told me I was too European for them at first and had to publish outside of America, in Europe, before anyone took interest."

So, I know I might have the GPA for it but I'm not trying to be a doctor. I may have the smarts but I'm not shooting to be a physicist. Why? My hand is stretching in a different direction, one that is less likely to happen but one that I want so badly to take hold of. I'll keep with my day job and push at my night job. Because I know something that many my age don't: if you have a back up plan, no matter what, you are sure to succeed. You will always have something to fall back on. And, of course, that is where Health comes into the picture.

Just Sharing

I had to do this picture on Adobe Photoshop last week for one of my classes and I was proud of myself for making it look somewhat decent. It is for this reason that I will share it with you:

Back to Living in Ink

I am very sad that the conference is over.

I have a few regrets. I regret that they didn't have any classes on fantasy writing. I regret that I was not awake enough this morning to appreciate the Dialogue seminar (even though it was just ok, anyway). I regret that the keynote speaker, Christian Moerk, didn't have another talk. These, of course, are things that I couldn't have changed, even if I wanted to.

However, I appreciate sooooo much after this conference. I appreciate the Point of View versus Point of Narration class because it made me think and end up asking another author for advice on the subject that a professional editor was giving my group. I appreciate the time during the lunch hour that I got to speak with Christian, to get to know him a little better. I appreciate my Complex Characters seminar because I can work on creating my characters in the close 3rd person, something which I'm struggling with.

I want to give you all tons of stories from the conference but it will just have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I am tired and I need to get to bed asap to start the long, 7-hour trek home. (I"m happy about this, however, because I bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to listen to on audiobook on the way home so I can get a good laugh for 7 hours.) I hope you all can wait until then. I promise to relate many stories of Christian and the seminars and the people that were there. There is so much to tell.

But for now, goodnight.

And a special thanks to my grandparents, who made this whole thing happen.

Day 1

The first day (or night, as it was last evening) of the Central Coast Writer's Conference was AMAZING!!!

To start off with, I got to see a ton of people that I knew. My best friend's cousin, a friend from church, a former instructor and a very good writer friends. Also, the key note speaker was AMAZING! His name is Christian Moerk and he is from Denmark. His new book, Darling Jim, is pretty popular now, so if you look him up, I'm sure that you'll find it. He was witty and sarcastic, all that you could want in a good author. He called people out on dumb questions and answered the good ones in good humor. Most of all, he gave good pointers and he was very firm about the fact that you need to write every day. I felt that he was the best speaker I've seen in the 3 years that I've been to this conference.

Then, my good writer friend and I skipped off to the lecture of the night. The one we had signed up for was about story structure and, I am happy to say, I am going about outlining my novel the right way. According to the author who was instructing us, there are seven steps to outlining a basic story, seven steps that all stories have:

1. The weakness and the need. The weakness can be based off of the need, such as character lashing out due to their unawareness of their need.
2. Desire. This needs to be deeply connected with the need of the character in some way. The character knows of his or her desire but not of his or her need.
3. Opponent. This cannot be the character; normally it is some tangible force that the character is struggling against.
4. Plan. This involves how the character is going to go about defeating the opponent and achieving his or her desire.
5. Battle. This is the big finale, and can be resolved with an actual action or just words.
6. Self Revelation. This normally takes place during the battle when the character finally realizes his or her need.
7. New Equilibrium. This is the ending, how the character ends up. It could be anything from happy, sad, not getting the need, getting the need, dead, getting what they want but not being happy, not getting what they want but being happy... the list goes on and on. Every book needs this.

So, what was cool about this was that I was able to outline this in all three of my main characters. Since my novel is told in three perspectives, all three characters have to have their own need, weakness, desire, opponent, plan, battle, self revelation, and new equilibrium. I know what all of those are now!!!

This is turning out to be a VERY benificial conference. I'm glad I came.

Well, off to get coffee and get ready!

Status

Tomorrow is the Writer's Conference. Woooopppppeeeeeee!!

Can you tell I'm excited?

After a looooooong 7 hour drive, I am home at my mom's house. And I am exhausted.

Yet, I am still going dancing in 15 minutes.

This is gonna be a wiiiiild weekend! Haha!