30,342 words

The first draft of Blues was completed at 4:01 AM today.

I'm so proud of myself that it hurts.

Besides the self-congratulatory jazz, it is long from over: the overall completion. There is research to be done and drafts to do over.

This was difficult, not without its challenges, but it was truly rewarding. I felt like I did something worthwhile with my time. There will be definitely more epic win stories like this in the future, more finishing drafts and the like.

As for future plans, they remain unknown. For now, I will take a two-day sabbatical. I will be back on the 2nd.

Until then, good night...

You knw you've been playing too much "Sims 3" when...

...don't get excited, y'all. It's only one item:

-You notice the title of one of the books Sims can purchase and wonder of its origins.

The first time I played the game and had my Sim go to the bookstore, I noticed one of the books was a romance called Special Snowflake. I couldn't help but think "Twilight"? After all, people claim Bella Swan is a special snowflake (which is effing true, but that's besides the point).

It wouldn't be surprising if it was a spoof, but it is a stretch.

~

So far, my writer Sim (named Louise) has written several things, mostly after Talking Heads songs and albums, and the music genre they represent. Why? 'Cause I'm a dork. *dork face*

Article- "Born Under Punches"
Non-Fiction- Why Art Punk Matters
Fiction- Remain in Light
Comedy- Burning Down the House

Upcoming ones:
Article- "The Heat Goes On" (clearly a sequel to the hit "Born Under Punches")
Sci-Fi- I Zimbra
Drama- Man with A Gun (it's a Jerry Harrison song, though. And a kick-ass one.)
??- Houses In Motion (last time I played her, she was writing something with that title)

She is planning to marry this guy, who also wants to be a writer, and I plan for his works to be named after Fleetwood Mac songs and albums. Why? Well, you know why.

Side note: It is a common practice to name your books after songs. May I present

Exhibit A:

Less Than Zero (Elvis Costello FTMFW)

The Shining (John Lennon lyric, but it still counts!)

~~

I took yesterday off, mostly because I was too busy playing Sims 3. Go fig. It's going well, down to the final 2,000+ words. Now, I have to get to work. Tomorrow, I have a shift at the bookstore.

That's it for now. So, good night...

Sad day for the entertainment world...

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

Y'all will be missed, by loved ones and fans alike.

Stories here and here.

*Happy flail* Part Two: The Revenge

Apparently, there is buzz that Verizon Wireless might get their hands on the iPhone. That would effing rule. For a while, I've been obsessed with having one. For one, there is the feature to make ANY OF YOUR ITUNES SONGS a ringtone. Also, they're pretty cool in general. I had customers let me handle their iPhones to look up the email coupons and the Amazon pages of books they're searching for. So, I've grown fond of the little buggers.

The big plus is, if all this does come to pass, I don't have to sign onto AT&T (nothing against them, but I'm very happy with Verizon). Plus, word is that the iPhone might be cheaper and not as harder, better, faster, stronger like the original, but still a little beast to be reckoned with.

~~

*realizes something*
*stops flailing*

Why am I waiting until midnight to work on my novel?! AAAUGH!

*Happy flail*

Editors' new album is coming September 21st, no doubt the UK release date. Which makes that next day the American release date? Guessing on the latter, but regardless...

do the Kermit. *happy flail*

~~

23,000+ words for Blues. 7,000 more to go, maybe even 2,000 more, who knows?

It's getting harder to find more to talk about and make it even more incoherent, but what can I do? It's the first draft, I just need to get what I can down.

Nothing else to say, so bye for now...

No, Hollywood. *hits them with newspaper* No.

No movie in existence has angered me... until this came along.

The trailer is horrifying, and not in the way you would think. It is ridiculous and disgusting that they're profiting off of something that is pretty serious business.

Lemme just say this: this s*** ain't funny, y'all. Don't go around and make movies about this stuff. I bet you that people will spaz out after this film's out. People will be going to my bookstore and buying all those 2012 books that are just gathering dust right now. It'll be the Y2K thing all over again. There's being cautious, and then there's blind paranoia. Guess what I think it would be?

Side note: I honestly do not think anything world-ending will happen on 12/21/2012. There has been proof that this date isn't the end of the world. Yet, I do think something will happen. Dunno what, but I'm not totally cynical about this date.

Well, I need sleep. Good night...

P.S.: Blues is 20,000+ words in. Whoo!

What I've been up to these days...

I got busy with work, so that is the main reason I haven't been updating.

So far, Blues is 18,000+ words. I'm impressed with that number. I had to skip last night, I was called in to replace someone at work and I wasn't home 'til after 11. I also was trying to finish The Informers by Ellis, which I had started that early afternoon.

To be honest, Informers didn't do anything for me. I was just half-hoping most of these characters would either get over themselves or jump off a cliff. Yet I am eager to begin Less Than Zero in a few days. Let's see how that will go... Side note: I liked American Psycho better than this. That says a lot.

The other day, I also began and finished Sputnik Sweetheart by Murakami. I loved it, but didn't understand the ending for the life of me. Also, some of the similes were not as clever as I expected from him. But it's definitely another mini-masterpiece. Right now, I'm tearing through after the quake, which is honestly a tad better than The Elephant Vanishes.

Alright, enough Wikipedia citations. XD

There is really nothing else to update on. I will keep posting about my work, especially when I reach the end. I also have plans to continue with another project once Blues reaches its first draft and I set it aside to ferment for future editing (about a month or so later).

*falls back into state between laziness and alertness*

I'm not dead...

I took the weekend off (no work, not writing). I also bought The Sims 3. Oh, man. Non-stop marathon.

*Checks calendar*

The weekend's almost over?!

Well, it's like the good ol' days again.

Edit: Yea, Facebook's not working! :P

2,214 words...

Ho s***, never again. That was too much.

1,000 words, kathnxbye.

But yea. Officially caught up. Now I celebrate... by reading.

/update

A little discussion...

I have a REAL problem with the first line in this article.

"Decaying corpse of genre fiction"? Whoa, someone needs to get off their f***ing high horse.

I don't have the beef with Mr. Chabon. In fact, according to his Wikipedia article, he deserves a freaking high-five. Along with Margaret Atwood, too.

~

Anyway, this reminded me of what I'm trying to do with my writing. I think literary fiction has its place, but I can't stand most of it. At the same time, let's not kid ourselves fellow writers, genre fiction needs a kick in the pants. And apparently, such a phenomenon is already occurring. Well, thank God that I wasn't the only one who thought this. I felt alone in my feelings on this, especially in fiction workshops. And most classes, for that matter.

I once wrote a paper on how Toni Morrison's Beloved was a horror novel (a book that ended up winning a Pulitzer Prize, mind that y'all). Some of my classmates thought I had freaking insulted the book. Though I know the paper could've been better written, I knew that it was far from an insult. It was basically me asking everyone "can literature have genre fiction elements?" And the answer is: YES, YES IT CAN.

/rant

Alright, well, lemme see where I am at right now on Blues... I'm about 903 words away from today's goal. Because of exhaustion following the Coldplay concert, I was unable to write last night. So, not too bad. It's hard to force words out, I want my stuff to be quality. But, it's a first draft. It would be a miracle unto God if the first draft is flawless. So, I have to write what I feel will work in the piece and then edit like hell when it comes to that time.

Until next time...

2,316 words

for today's session. I'm only <500 words behind now.

I

Effing

Rule.


That is all.

Damn it.

Thanks to The Secret History for name-checking (well, lyric-checking) this song, I can't get it out of my head.

Thank you, Ms. Tartt. I may like Brian Eno now. :P

Seriously, History gets awesome life points for referencing him.

~

For the record: "King's Lead Hat" = Talking Heads.

~

I'm a day (1,000 words) behind on Blues, trying to get to the goal for today (though it's now the day after, but whatever). I passed out around 8 PM, tired from work and getting only four hours of sleep last night. I'm playing catch-up here. I'm thinking, if I do not have to go to work tomorrow, I might try to get in an extra 500 words to close the gap.

Otherwise, it's going well. I got to know a little more about the main character and her pen-pal. They're pretty fun characters. It'll suck when I finish this work for good, but I'm certainly enjoying my time writing their story.

/fades out, like an awesome song with a synth riff...

Edit: This is why working at a bookstore can be awesome. We play music out loud, and this album was one of them. I finally bought it, and it's a nice one.

Commence to squee...

There is a title to the upcoming Editors album:

In This Light and On This Evening.

No track list, but the release date is September.

Caps usage in three, two, one...

HELLS YEAH!!!

Now all Editors need to do is tour here in the US, especially the Southern area... *obvious eyebrow wiggling*

~

I'm a day behind on Blues, due to getting up at ungodly hours in the morning to go help shelve at work yesterday. I may try to do 2,000 words today, but I'm not betting on it.

Now, back to work...

Edit: I also made an iTunes playlist for Blues. I did that before You-Know-Who made it hip.

More explanation on my novel project...

Before I begin, I would like to clarify that this isn't a long-running project or that "long-going one" that I yammer on about every so often. In fact, this idea was conceived in March of this year, somewhat inspired by Haruki Murakami's After Dark and the film Suicide Club.

I have plans for this thing to be a short novel (about >50,000 words or so).

The story is about a young Japanese-American woman who goes to Tokyo to visit a pen-pal of hers. All her life, she grew up knowing little to nothing about her cultural heritage. Yet, she is surrounded by people who know about it (two of them being what we call "weeaboos"). So, the trip is part self-discovery. It's also about how liking a culture just for the novelty (i.e. the "how cute!" factor), to me at least, seems insulting. I don't have issues with weeaboos in general, just the ones who possess the aforementioned factor.

And the whole story takes place here.

The story is somewhat personal. I'm part German, Irish, and Cherokee; yet, I know very little about my cultural heritages. I also have a pen-pal I would love to meet one day. It just so happens that, being inspired by the Murakami novel and the film, the whole thing is set in Tokyo and it involves a Japanese-American main character.

I also blame constant viewings of this guy's vlog. Nah, I joke. He's awesome. It's great, do watch it.

To reduce confusion for those who follow my blog, I'll refer to this particular work by part of its title: Blues.

~

So far, I'm 4,000+ words into it. Yeah... I got a while to go. Plus, I don't know the main character well enough yet. I may have to work out a profile on her. Atop that, I had to buy a few tour books on Tokyo, since the likelihood of me going in the near future are slim to nothing. The Internet is a nice source, but I trust books slightly more. XD

Until next time...

Yet another update list... yea!

-Alright, it's E3 time. There better be an update on Alan Wake. I've been waiting three years for it and it was the main reason I bought an Xbox 360. I want a release date! *raegs*

-Oh, man. I may just have to buy The Sims 3. I can't bypass it. *finds the price* Good God! D:

-*facepalms* It's even worse than I thought. I always pictured Silent Hill being cold, but Winter Wonderland? No, just no.

-*almost facepalms, but instead rubs sore forehead* Oh, God. Help us all. It's out. And here comes the merchandise... in about two months.

-Donald Miller's new book will be out in September. *thumbs up*

-Working on a novel project! I will actually post some information about it, which will be a milestone here. I never talk about my writing in fear of someone lifting my idea, but I think I could prove I had the idea first, if it got to that.

-Still reading The Secret History, but I can't help but feel that reading this may actually hurt me. I don't know how or why. It's quite immersible. And you know how it's the predecessor to the book from hell? Well, History is miles better than that.