What? You want a title for this?

With the aid of Crystal Journey Candles (thanks to Motivation and Abundance) and nearly-endless glasses of water, I have been busy doing some writing. Well, transcribing.

It counts, shut up.

I've been diligently keeping a pocket Moleskine for over six months, and now a Rhodia notebook, to keep notes for my novel projects. And now, the Rhodia houses about 3K of a short story that I started on last week. Once combined with what I wrote on the computer, I got to about 6K. A few more details and I have a decent first draft.

Sadly, that is the only success story in this so far. The rest of the time I am screaming internally for getting myself into this mess. For now on, once I finish a notebook, I immediately fish for the good stuff and then set it aside.

So if y'all excuse me, I have more fishing to do.

*turns to see stack of Moleskines about five high*

Awww... dammit.

The Best of 2014: The Everything Edition

I know I said I will not do these anymore, and I still stand by that. However, I feel like I should go ahead and talk about the 2014 media experiences I loved. And thus, this will be the last one I’ll ever do on here. The end of an era! And thank Heavens, I was getting tired of this s***.

~~

VIDEO GAMES

Let's kick this off by giving a shout-out to one of the best games I've ever played, bar none, last year. While it wasn't a 2014 release, I want to give it a ton of love: The Cat Lady. It's a point-and-click adventure game that is nothing that you think it is. When I bought it during the Steam sale back in December last year, I was raring for a fun adventure with a cat-loving lady. But whoa, when I started the game up, I was in a complete shock. I finished it in less than two days, it was that engrossing. Not only did this game have a very intense and excellent story, but a solid cast of wonderful characters. It is also *one of the best representations of depression and suicide and how it affects a human being. I wanted to high-five the entire crew for doing such a touchy topic the justice it rightfully deserves. Not once is it romanticized, it's brought to earth and also very metaphorical.

(*I attempted to play Depression Quest long ago and felt it was inadequate in presenting the experience of having depression. However, what happened to the game's creator was pretty awful.)

~~

MOVIES

Okay, y'all know I rarely watch movies. But when I do, I gorge myself in film until I can barely move from my recliner. The only major release I saw last year of note was The LEGO Movie. No, no "awesome" jokes. It was a genuinely good movie that, next to Pacific Rim, is one I look forward to its sequel.

Other films of note:
A Band Called Death (y'all, this was awesome! Too bad they never got big, stupid record industry...)
Blood & Black Lace (I went on a giallo binge late last year and this was my favorite of the bunch)
Tiny: A Story About Living Small (watch to see one of my favorite people talk about her house!)
Jodorowsky’s Dune (oh, if only it was made! *shakes fist to sky*)

~~

TV SHOWS

The only one that matters in 2014: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. End of story. Next topic.

~~

BOOKS

Alrighty, we'll split by two lists: one for 2014 releases and the other is for older books.

Top 11 Books of 2014:

1. Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay
2. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo
3. Nochita by Dia Felix
4. Green Girl by Kate Zambreno
5. The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte
6. Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than
7. Shoplifter by Michael Cho
8. The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir by Dee Williams
9. Promise Land by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
10. MFA vs. NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction edited by Chad Harbach
11. Writing Wild by Tina Welling


Top 10 Books Not from 2014:

1. Thunder and Lightning by Natalie Goldberg
2. The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig
3. Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh
4. Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron
5. You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap) by Tammy Strobel
6. Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
7. The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
8. Twilight of the Elites by Christopher Hayes
9. Women Food and God by Geneen Roth
10. Amsterdam by Russell Shorto

~~

MUSIC

To make this easier, here are my Top 12 Albums I Absolutely Loved and Want You to Buy:

1. (Tie) In Cold Blood by White Sea and Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
2. Taiga by Zola Jesus
3. Run River North by Run River North
4. Too True by Dum Dum Girls
5. Last War by Haley Bonar
6. The Future’s Void by EMA
7. St. Vincent by St. Vincent (hell yeah, get that Grammy, girlfriend!)
8. LP1 by FKA twigs
9. Nabuma Rubberband by Little Dragon
10. Comet, Come to Me by Meshell Ndegeocello
11. Cry is for the Flies by Le Butcherettes
12. Stay Gold by First Aid Kit

~~

So there ya go, two months late, but here it is. And that's the end of these kinda lists from this point out. It's been not fun, so that's why this is the last one. Now, onto other things I rather do instead!

Is This Really the First 2015 Post on Here? Good Lord.

It's been a long time since I last wrote on here. No end-of-the-year lists or anything else. To be honest, I was considering putting the blog on a hiatus or even shutting it down for good. The funny thing is, I am still considering that. I'm not sure what I am doing on here anymore. Now that my time is being, understandably, taken up by my job and whatever else I can squeeze into my free time, I have to make a lot of changes to what I do on a daily basis. I spend less time checking email and other fun websites, I don't even shop that much anymore. I honestly don't have the time.

And now, here comes the big question: should the blog be the next cut? It takes less than a couple of hours a week to write a few entries, schedule them, and be done. But what is it all for? I know I have a scant audience (though, whatever audience I have, I do appreciate you all very much). But is my heart still into it? The answer: honestly, I am not so sure. It's hard for me to gauge right now.

I feel like I'm not putting out any interesting content, more repeating myself about not writing things and wasting time doing things I don't need to be doing. That can get boring after a while. So, I have to give all this a long think. Do I want to continue Musings of a Frustrated Lady Writer? And if I do, should I specialize my content? And if I don't want to continue the blog, do I leave it up as an artifact or delete it? Should I continue business as usual and write whatever I damn well please since this blog is really for me at the end of the day?

And also, let's be real here: if I decide to keep the blog, it's time to call it for the end-of-the-year lists. I may not make one up for 2014 since it's already near the end of February and releasing something now seems pointless. I honestly never enjoyed doing these because I'm not that good at keeping up with current releases and because I am saving up for something REALLY BIG later this year, sadly my book and music purchases have to take the back seat.

And I do mean it: no more end-of-the-year lists regardless of what decision I make. If I find an awesome current release, I'll share it as soon as I experience it.

This is the beauty of writing, my friends: you write what's in your heart and mind. Once you do that, you look it all over and the answer becomes clear.

...

Yeah, I think this blog ain't ready to be retired.

I Swear to Dead, I'm Not God!

Sweet holy everything up in Heaven, I was gone for a long time! Over a month. Wow, well, that's what happens when you have a full-time job, kids.

But tons of things happened! Lemme get through them the best I can with my good friend, the Bullet List!

• I got a new laptop! It's an HP Envy and it arrived exactly one week ago. I love it! It's lighter and more powerful than my last one.
• I found out that I need to get better at getting people to actually pay over the phone. Otherwise, my scorecard will remain in the sad place it's at right now.
• I turned 28 and it feels awesome. I love being older, it seems I mature better like a fine wine.
• I got published again! This time, on a Tumblr literary magazine. A flash fiction piece that finally had a home!
• Thanks to Susannah Conway's workbook, I found my word for the year: BECOMING.
• I saw The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 with my mom and my sister. It was a good film!
• After obsessively listening to this New Pornographers song to and from work to get me pumped up, I have officially declared it my Song of 2015. Thank you, "Level Up" by Vienna Teng. You have supported me wonderfully this year.
• I had a very low-key Christmas, but I look forward to rocking it out for New Year's Eve!
• My hometown finally got a Torchy's Tacos and I am in love. The Trailer Park taco is my favorite!

I'm sorry that I haven't written so much these days, here or in my projects. It's been an adjustment to get used to this new job! One of my many plans is to post at least twice a week on here starting next year.

Hope your holidays were wonderful. And if not, here is to a forthcoming year full of new beginnings and continuing adventures!

~~

This post is sponsored by Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down". So, here is me taking back the jokes I made about my Dad's music taste*.



*But if I start posting any music by the Moody Blues, please send help.

A HUGE UPDATE OMG o_O

So, my hawk-eyed readers, I'm sure you're looking around the blog and see something different... something off. Where are the references to her being a bookstore employee? you wonder as you munch on your snack of choice, yours eyes scanning the screen. Well, my friends, so much has happened since I last wrote on here and one big thing is...

I PUT IN MY TWO WEEKS' NOTICE AT BARNES & NOBLE.

If you haven't seen Hot Fuzz,
please remedy that.

I did have plans to stay until the New Year and help with one last Christmas rush, but life had other ideas. First off, Chase really started to take over my working days and I really wanted the days off to recuperate. And honestly, one of the ways to recuperate does not include working a retail job during the Christmas shopping season. Second, the time I spent there once a week wasn't enough to justify the pay I received. Finally, when my eighth anniversary passed by quietly (it was on the 15th, by the way), I realized it was time for me to go.

Basically my reaction when I looked
at the calendar on November 15th...

Of course there are people there who are saddened by my leaving. I'm sad to go too, I have made so many good friends there, those who I intend to stay in touch with for the rest of my life (ideally). I do plan on visiting, but not as often to be honest. I'm ready to move on and do other things.

2014 is slowly winding down to a close. This has truly been a crazy year full of successes, failures, excitement, boredom, adventure, oddball events, and potpourri that is just life in general. I have learned so much this year and I intend on sharing most of that on here when it's close to the end the year.

Sorry to say that NaNoWriMo was a bust this year. And you know what? That's okay! I had sucky timing and this also taught me that I need to put my priorities in order next time around. And boy, do I intend to!

For those wondering about my mom, well first... thanks for asking! She is doing wonderful, recovering just beautifully from her procedure. She already feels a major difference in her hip, so that's a great sign!

~~

That's it for now. I may start posting more once I figure out a good schedule to stick to! Until then, if your days are cold, may your nights be warm. May the cider be fresh and the turkey smoked and juicy. May... okay, you get the idea.

One Month Later...

Wow, has it been almost a month since I last posted on here? Yeah, it sure has.

The classroom training is now over and we are beginning the last three weeks of the overall training with being on the phones and watched like hawks. After that, eight more weeks of some program that's like training but not (what?) and that's it. I'll be done. In January 2015, I'll be sorted into a team and hopefully be a contributing member of that group.

I thought I wouldn't like working at a call center, but it's really not that bad. Even when listening into calls, I've only heard a scant few irate ones. The rest of the time: either no answer or mostly people who sound dejected but are willing to do something. But I'm not unloading any of my armor at all. This could be the calm before the storm. 

I love my new co-workers/classmates. We've been in the classroom, studying and role-playing and listening to other Specialists do their own calls for four weeks (all of October pretty much) and when our training manager asked us yesterday if we were ready for the phones, we were all:

yeah, I love the Game Grumps. Shut up.

We are ready to rumble with the big dogs!

I'm so excited and antsy to get on the phones and take everything I've learned and do something with it. I hate learning something and then not applying it to anything. One of the main reasons I love trivia games: the only good reason to learn random-ass things*.

*first-world eidetic memory problems
~~

Of course I am doing NaNoWriMo this year. Mostly, I'm going to work on previous projects, invoking the good ol' Zokutou clause this time. Funnily enough, I came up with an original idea only a few days before starting, but I'm sticking with my original plan. Maybe I'll save the new idea for Camp NaNoWriMo or next year's NaNo. We'll see.

~~

Very likely, I am not going to post all that much about my NaNo projects unless I either make the goals, change them, or cancel them. Same goes with general posting. I'm still trying to get a handle on my time between shifts and what little free time I actually have to get everything I want to get done, well, done.

Until I figure that out, expect not much to go on here. And when you see an increase of posts, you can be sure that, yeah, I did finally figure it out.

Yeah, and Texas goes Democrat this year. *pfft*

Okay, I'm sure most of y'all saw this coming...

But since I do start training at the new job in a scant three days, it is probably obvious that my time on the Internet, let alone other things, will be limited. So yes, that means that I'll be posting on here even less than before. I'll let y'all take this time to just shrug and go "okay, tell me something that I don't know".

Okay, with that out of the way, I will try to post on here at least once a month, but even then who knows what could happen? I'm trying to do a lot of things, beside getting started with this job. I'm also going to create a schedule where I can still get the things I need to get done (writing, chores, exercise, etc.) and still have time to do fun things.

Until I know for sure, consider this a brief pause for Musings.

Take care, faithful reader(s) and I shall see you in the forthcoming future!

~

This post was brought to you by "Holding On For Life" by Brokens Bells (I'll be seeing them this weekend! What a way to begin the new job with a concert!) and this wonderful gif. that sums up my feelings for the future: