Look At All The Lonely People

To understand the title, you have to know that I've been listening to 'Eleanor Rigby' a lot recently. Not sure why, it's just a legitimately awesome jam.

So my life, like everyone else's, has been a complete train wreck lately. And I'm not even into the difficult part of the year, where I'll be juggling a classroom field teaching experience along with my other 5 classes. And being secretary of Education Association. And being a member of English Club. And socially interacting with my peers. 

Just thinking about it makes me want to crawl under a rock and not come out until May, when I'm road-tripping to California with my besties. 

CALIFORNIA DREAMING BABY

 What else about my life should you know about? We just got done watching 27 Dresses. Also, I'm going to see Comedy of Errors tomorrow at the Guthrie Theater. It's the first time I've been there in all my 19 and a half years of life. And I've lived in Minnesota for 19 of those years.

That's probably pathetic. As an English major, I'm pretty sure I should worship at any and all altars of Bill Shakespeare. But I'm too lazy. You all know that about me now.

Also, I have to apply to one of my majors next next week. I'm scared, but mostly because I have to bother a lot of people. Actually, it's just one professor, who is already really busy. Which makes me feel much worse.

Actually, I'm applying to stay on track to get my license -- I'm technically an English major, who is going to get her 5-12 license for Communication / Language Arts. Or something like that.

I haven't been doing a whole lot of writing -- the exception is on Wednesday I got an idea while I was showering (too much information, right?) and didn't have anywhere to write it down. So, I wrote it down on my whiteboard calendar. It looks pretty awesome, and I'm loathe to wipe it off so I can use it as a calendar. I'll post a picture when I take one (laaaaaaazy).

But, I wanted to share the bit that I wrote, since I'm excited to write a real novella out of it:

“All good things come to those who wait.”

“Patience is a virtue.”

Society says that these are the maxims we should live by, in order to be a good citizen and get along with the rest of the world.

That’s all well and good, but I’m sure impatience is something of a virtue, too. Someone in society has to seize the day and go after what they want.

Where would our society be if everyone took turns and shared and was kind? I’m sure some bleeding hearts would remind me that the world would definitely be a better place and everyone would love each other and work together in peace and harmony. Riiiiiiiiiight. Every dystopian novel from the dawn of time to the present would not-so-politely disagree with that statement. Peace and harmony are not in the human DNA.

And really, we wouldn’t be the economic giant we are today; I can guarantee you that much.

I don’t wait for good things – I go out into the world and take them with my own hands. That’s what distinguishes me from anyone else on this miserable planet: I’m an Agent, not a Target.

“Carpe diem, bitches.”

So that's it for now -- if I get more I'll be sure so share.

I hope everyone else has a great weekend -- I know I am!!!! 

It's Been One Week

Lordy, we've been back at it for less than a week (a week tomorrow, technically) and life has already gotten so BUSY. It's absolutely astounding.

It feels like it's been a month, at least.

The depressing part is that I've been so swept up in my duties and getting my feet back under me, that I haven't really had a chance to write anything. I did scribble out about a page of a random story (which I'll introduce next) during my first class today, but it doesn't make much sense, and I didn't have much fun writing it.

I have, however, been having fun ranting about how my life has been thrown completely off track of what I thought it was going to be.

But I feel tacky talking about it on my blog, so just know that I'm on a roller-coaster and dealing with it. Life is good!

And so is Sherlock Holmes. I like that my roommate thinks I'm Sherlock -- it amuses me greatly. It's so very good. 

OH MY LORDY, ABS.

It's kind of super flattering to be compared to that wonderful man. Not that I'm married to him -- that's not for me, but for someone else. Someone else who should forgive me for putting a half-naked picture of him on my blog.

I swear, it was in the name of science. Or something like that.

Humm. I like when real life gives me opportunities to write things, particularly when I have writer's block the size of Delaware. Real life drama is not so good as a Muse, particularly when it's all real people who are your friends and might read the writing someday, and also because it involves some transcribing of personalities so it's not so real and in-my-face.

It's supposed to be in the reader's face, not mine.

Some real life events just beg to be written about, however. Like being scorned by a guy who didn't even know you liked him in the first place. Well, not really scorned -- just passed over.

I keep writing 'love' on the side of my hand, to remind myself that just because I've lost one doesn't mean I need to stop believing in it. It helps.

Hah, see? Look at me go. Delaware, my foot -- angry emotions are good block-breakers.

Until later, adieu.

DRAMA.

Gah. The drama llama strikes again. And not even the fun kind!!!

Ridiculous.

I wish it was this type of drama. Because that's the fun kind. But this is the 'everyone is angry and feelings are hurt and it's hard to figure out how to fix it' kind of drama.

Asldkfjhasdpfiouadpfiuadsofhasdfkjasfkahsdf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even write right now.

Brrrrrrr.

It's cold outside. I don't approve of it, which means I've been staying inside a lot. And daydreaming of Ely, MN, of all places.

This was a ridiculously good day: White Iron Lake, 4th of July weekend, summer 2010

Actually, I should take that back. I've been staying inside and pining for the most part: except for that one time where I decided to go snowshoeing with my roommate, out in the -40 degree winter wonderland. That was fun. That experience will probably contribute to a scene in 'Immortals'.

Did you see that sweet segue coming?

So it's come to my attention that I have a lot of characters left to introduce. Fortunately, they get to be introduced in the same order as the last group. Mostly because they're like the evil side to the characters I introduced last time. 

That should be prefaced with another explanation, methinks. 

There used to be this one, all-powerful deity who had three aspects: the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer (if you're thinking Hinduism you're on the right track). All the conflict in this story stems from the fact that one day, this deity separated into the three aspects. And since then, they've been fighting tooth claw and nail for supremacy over everything. But it's not a violent battle: it's one of those sneaky battles they fight with pawns and stealth and such. 

Enter the conflict in this story: there's a big anniversary of how long they've been fighting (let's say 10,000 years across various cosmos) and if they win a big battle now, they get to be king / queen of everything, everywhere. FOREVER.

That's where my sets of characters come in! The Creator (crazy old guy), the Preserver (middle-aged nice lady), and the Destroyer (bloodthirsty younger guy) have made seven 'children' to use as pawns, but they all had to be really similar. They've been around for a long time, so they know each other pretty well -- at least, the Creator and the Destroyer's kids know each other really well. The Preserver is way sneakier than her brothers, and she tends to stay our of their really intense fights -- which means she's been away from the Milky Way, since the boys have been brawling over Earth for some time. But, when it comes time for the smack-down that happens in this story, she brings in her pawns and lets them loose in a world that actually is suited to the kinds of powers they have. Preserver, 1, stupid brothers, 0. 

I've already introduced the Creator's kids, one of whom is the narrator Tara. But the batch I'll be introducing today is the Destroyer's kids, their 'evil' cousins. 

Christain's cousin is named Nicodemus, and he's equally hot but annoying. Exhibit A:

Thanks for being gorgeous, just like your cousin. Mmmmmm.

Next is Domenyque's cousin, Vrimson.

See, because she has fire!!! It makes sense, I swear!!! So the Destroyer and Creator have different tastes. And, like I've said before, I'm real lazy. Meh.

Kim's cousin, Isobel:

But she's cute, you might be thinking! She doesn't look like she could harm anyone!
Hah. Yeah right.

Tyrone's cousin, Kaseko:

 HE'S SO COOL. GAH. He's the crazy badass to Tyrone's understated awesomeosity.

Yes I make words up all the time. It's a problem.

Derek's cousin, Nero (one of my favorite names of all time):

 UMNUMNUMNUMNUMNUMNUM. NUM.

Liam's cousin, Chysander:

He's pretty now that he's old enough for me to admire without feeling pervy!!! Success!!!

And now, Tara's cousin, Reinhart. It's weird, because all the cousins so far have been the same sex, but there's a reason, I promise. I just don't feel like telling you about it yet.

Anywho, here he is:

 Ooh, what a beautiful man to be such an enigma.

So those are the Destroyer's kids. A few of them have some secrets to hide, but those will be revealed in due time. Or something like that.

I suppose it's time for a dream segment, to introduce the first cousin you meet in the story: Nicodemus, referred to mostly as Nico.

            I feel cold, cold to the point where I can't remember what warmth feels like. A pair of crystal blue eyes follows my every move, particularly the convulsive shivers that wrack my body from head to toe. Flecks of ice and snow pummel my bare skin and thoroughly increase the discomfort I'm already feeling.

            "What exactly do you want?" I demand.

            "Answers. Though I’m already beginning to doubt that you have them," Nicodemus drawls, leaning on an icy sword stuck fast into the cold ground. "Has the Creator been dropping any hints? The Destroyer certainly has been, but they’re maddeningly vague…"  

            "No he hasn't. What the hell are you even talking about? Why are you talking to me about this? Don’t you remember that Christain is the one who always has the answers?” Nico rolls his eyes, tapping a foot impatiently.

            "You’re mentioning him trying to push my buttons. It’s not working. You know very well that we can't stand each other. You’re the cousin I tolerate the most, which you also know very well.” He shoots me a knowing look. “Are you sure you haven’t heard of anything going on?” 

            I can’t help it; I squirm a little. “I haven’t heard anything from the Creator per se, but… I’ve had that weird feeling lately, where it feels like something is about to happen for us. What do you know, Nico??”

            The world buckles and shivers around me. Nico just smiles and says, "I hope you can figure it out." Before I can reply, everything disappears amongst a field of solid icy blue, and I'm suddenly home again.

In the next installment, I should remember to introduce the Preserver's kids: they're a lot of fun because they're so little and adorable and kind of stupid. In a cute, endearing way.

Thanks for reading again, I'll be with you again soon (I hope)! 

A Very Merry Unbirthday!! To you? No, to me!!

So I'm 19.5 years old today... 

Not sure why this merits a post, but it does. 

Hmmmmmmm............ Hi :3

Oh, maybe I should introduce the plot line of 'Immortals' and put a snippet in here!! Aha!!

So that last post had all the characters. Or at least the main characters. And the plot is... Complex. Essentially, there are seven immortals who have been around forever, and have lived through all of history, but now (for no explicable reason) they have to train in their... I don't really know what to call them, I always refer to them as 'children'... let's say their replacements. So they have to go to the heart of all worlds, and pick their destiny -- whether they're going to be good or evil. Essentially.

Note: the thing I hate most about my writing is trying to summarize my stories. It's the WORST. Mostly because I have really weird stories, and the way I try to describe them makes me sound like I have mental health issues. I'm trying to get better at it: another thing for you all to bear with me about.

OKAY NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY! Herm... here's a segment from the beginning of the story, where Tara takes a moment to explain what is actually going on in this story. She does it a little better than I do *only writers are allowed to say things like that*

I know what you're thinking: Wow, immortal? Isn't that where you don't die? Yeah, pretty much. Side effects may include: 1) being stuck with the same six siblings and seven cousins for forever and beyond, 2) a distinct lack of 'normal' relationships, as you may call them, because everyone else has that annoying habit of dying, and 3) my least favorite problem. Normally, my powers are quite literally limitless. I think it, blam, there it is. Except in this pathetic galaxy. Here, I have three measly 'talents'. List includes: immunity to death (that really shouldn't count, but it also includes death by injury, accident, or disease), persuasive powers or Charm (the only highlight to being stuck on Earth), and the longest memory ever. Yeah. Not much of a bonus list. Not very useful for getting shit done, either. So what's a girl to do? Step out of the box. Once I manage to leave this world, my powers hit maximum and I am a GOD. But I’m starting to get ahead of myself. Let me back up and provide a quick history lesson.

            When my family and I were Created, we were untried, and relatively innocent. To begin with, we thought we were a force of good, destined to save every world we encountered with amazing heroics. We learned pretty damn fast that heroics get other innocents killed, and hardly ever do you any good when you're trying to get out of a tight corner. We learned a lot on our feet, becoming more jaded and wild through the years. We finally got so sick of being used as tools, we decided to take matters into our own hands and stir up some trouble of our own (those are pretty famous incidents).

            You, naïve darling, may wonder why we stay here if we're so sick of it. Believe me, if we could leave and never come back, we'd be gone. But we need Earth. The Creator, our father of sorts, decided to play a little joke of sorts and made us a part of the Milky Way galaxy. Every 365.25 days, or one Earth year, we are required to return to this universe. I'm really not sure what happens if we don't, but I remember one year Christain and Tyrone tried to stay away, and got dragged back through several dimensions. They still haven't told me what it was like, and I don't have the nerve to ask either of them. The thing is, it's pretty hard to leave this place once you show up. As if popping back into this universe wasn't hard enough to begin with, doors to other universes have the nasty habit of shutting upon depositing us here. So, there's not much else for it except to quell political uprisings, pick up after natural disasters, and fixing up other tart human problems... and believe me, recent years have given us more than enough in all those departments. Much easier said than done, to be completely honest. But I have been getting the feeling that, lately, something's going to be going down. Nico's visit and Derek's refusal to say exactly what our conference is supposed to be about makes me even surer that life has finished being quiet again.

So that was that. If you'd like to, commenting with constructive criticism is appreciated... Otherwise just stay tuned for more stuffs and such!

He's easily my favorite character, and he's wishing me a very merry un/half-birthday :3

Introducing...

So I figure it's about time to introduce my first story I'll be blathering about on this blog thingy. It's one I've posted on Facebook a few times (aren't I a classy individual?) and have been working on since... I'm gonna ballpark it around 6th grade, but 6th or 7th is definitely when the original cast of this story started hanging out.

The story itself has done a complete 180: it used to be a lot like the book series 'Everworld' by K.A. Applegate (same lady who wrote the highly amusing 'Animorphs' series), mostly because I was really jealous of her awesome plot lines. But, then I grew up some, realized that plagiarism is not a professional thing to do, and tried for some originality. The finer points have changed, but the synopsis, and the characters, have remained the same.

Well, that's kind of a lie. The personalities of each major character has changed as I've grown more mature / older / whatever you want to call it... But their names and the essential ideas behind them have stayed pretty much the same.

So, before I start posting snippets / word counts of this particular story on here, I figure it's important to introduce the basic plot and share a little about the characters.Hopefully that makes some amount of sense...

The story has been called 'Immortals' since I started writing it -- it's because all my characters are immortal. It's super clever and I've been rather upset with myself that I can't think of anything more original or longer or more descriptive... It's just been stuck that way for the past 8 or 9 years. 

HOLY CRAP IT'S BEEN 8 OR 9 YEARS. Excuse me, I have to go hyperventilate in a corner.

Okay I've calmed down. It's just hard for me to believe that I've been writing this thing for almost a decade (off and on) and haven't gotten further than 5/7 of the way through. I have commitment issues, evidently. Like no one knew that >.<

The main character is named Tara, and acts a lot like I do. It may be kind of conceited, but it's just how I've been writing my main characters lately: from my perspective as Sam. Except for the fact that she's immortal and way ballsier than I would ever be in real life. My lovely Raychill made me a picture of Tara based on the exceedingly vague description I gave her, and she did a smashing job. Exhibit A:

 

WONDERFUL. That's Tara. Hopefully that helps you visualize who she is.

Next on my list is Christain. He's... he's a bastard but he's MY bastard. And I love him. Mmmmmmmmmm. Picture:

I use this actor for a lot of my really annoying but gorgeous characters, because he has lots of wonderful pictures on the interwebs and, let's face it, is DROOL-WORTHY. Mmmmmmmm.

Okay. Enough staring. Next is Domenyque. I love her. It was super hard to find a picture of her, though. Which is sad. But here's as close as I got:

I'm still a little disappointed with the picture, because I'm sure there's a better one out there, but... For lack of a better option... She's still really pretty, but not as gritty and in-your-face as I imagine the character to be. Meh. What can I say, I'm lazy.

Next character: Kim. Aaaaaahahahaha. Kim. I love writing her, because she's so ridiculously ditzy and removed from the rest of the 'grown-ups'. And let's be real, I hate writing serious characters. It's boring. Picture!!

She looks like she's laughing too. Aah, I can't not smile when I look at this picture. Yay!

Moving on. Tyrone is a character who doesn't get much love until his chapter, and then again at the (eventual) end of the story. But, deep deep down, he's probably my favorite character because he's so damn dependable. But -- it's also really really fun to write testosterone-charged, flashy and annoying characters! My Muse is a little shallow :(

Oh, right, picture of Tyrone:

He's a boss. No big deal. Don't mess with him. He's super powerful and such! Rawr!

Haa, I'm really really tired right now. So this is getting interesting. Especially because... *drumroll*... 

DEREK!!! My favorite character besides Tara. At the beginning of the story, he's the perfect gentleman. Actually, he's my definition of the unattainably perfect man... until later... No I don't give my own spoiler alerts!! Sheesh!

Picture of his royal gorgeousness:

SMOLDER. SMOLDER. SMOLDER. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Mmm.

Hokay, only a few main characters left! Next: Liam, the sweetest boy ever!!! He's a puppy dog, plain and simple. And I enjoy him. Mostly because he's like Kim: ridiculously sweet and airy, and adorable. Picture:

Except in this picture, he is very confused. But still. Maybe he's supposed to look confused... *Lazy Sam*...

WOO! You have now been showed pictures of what I imagine my main cast of characters to look like! Go you!! You're probably super confused as to who these people are, and what they're doing here, and why I'm posting random pictures of them... What I'm hoping to do is start posting my favorite scenes up here, and to possibly get some feedback from anyone who is still reading this??? That's the plan, anyway.

That took forever. Sheesh. Thanks, everyone still reading this, I appreciate it. Hopefully I won't disappoint!!!

Get This Party Started!

Well hey there interweb world.

Nice to make your acquaintance. I'm Sam -- English for Secondary Education major here at the College of St. Scholastica in bonny Duluth, MN. I love reading and writing, and it's my aspiration in life to be a Creative Writing teacher. Or any sort of English teacher, really.

I resonate with Isaac Asimov's quote about writing: "I write for the same reason I breathe -- if I didn't, I would die." I would love to get published and share my work with the world someday, but it's a 'someday' kind of thing. I don't really have time or initiative or ability to really pursue this dream right now -- being a student is my current occupation. I try to write every day, though, or my inner creativity starts getting really cranky.

I'm guessing that I'll be posting a lot of my writing on this blog, now that I have one. I'm hoping you all (whoever is reading this) can keep me honest about my creative writing, and about my daily goals of writing. I'm guessing this upcoming semester of school is going to be crazy busy, but at the same time I know there's a lot of time in my day that gets spent on pointless things like Facebook creeping. I should be spending that time writing.

I guess I just re-made my yearly New Year's Resolution: write, bitch, write.

So here goes nothing!