Darn stories...

No one ever wants to pull the trigger on something they've spent months of their life on. At least, no one I know. Still, this morning when I fired up the 'ol word processor and read read the last thing I had written, I was struck by the fact that what I was creating was in no way what I wanted to create with this story. It had spun out of control. There are a number of reasons.

1.) Trying to constrain myself to a month in the writing of the initial draft
2.) Inattention across a number of phases in the creation of the story
3.) This was already my 2nd attempt at creating the characters, and while they were closer to what I had hoped, they were

The story has a disease. I feel no attachment to the characters - I can leave them right where they are right now and not feel bad about it because, in my eyes, they earned it for being selfish assholes. You hear me, ASSHOLES? Hehe.

It just needs a rewrite. Oh, I know I should power through, just finish the story and go back and fix huge wads of text after I have. Oh, and I probably will do that. I just don't relish the idea because I'm not as dedicated to the story idea as I was. Oh my, oh my, what a mess. That's why I feel free to go and work on whatever I want whenever I want. It's not like I owe these stories to anyone...

except myself...

(ooooooooooooooooooooo)

Also, ordered some new ink. This, of course, is related to my experiment with writing something by hand for the first draft. I'd say I'm rather enjoying it, despite my addiction to technology. And, I've had a shocking yet obvious realization: The ink goes faster when you're writing more. My fountain pen has been mostly used for writing notes and the occasional idea into my notebooks, so it was a little shock to change cartridges so quickly. I have a local source for the ink made by Lamy, but... still, rather than just relying on the manufacturer of my Pen's ink forever, decided to experiment with a few bottled inks and a refillable cartridge. Thus I ordered Noodler's Bulletproof Black and Marine Green inks. Also got some "Turquoise" Pelikan cartridges for the Missus. I guess it's OK, though not a color I'd want to live with for pages and pages. Too light.

If anyone is ever looking for good pens and good inks, Pendemonium definitely carries all of that stuff and has decent prices. We'll have to see how quickly it arrives after they've shipped it, but thus far I've been impressed with them, to the level that I'm already planning a second order.

Hey, look at that!

I got a new pen.

"WELL HEY, THATS FABULOUS!"

Yes. It is.

"So, like, what is it... a bic?"

No. Um.

"Scripto? Pilot Dr. Grip?"

No and no...

"Then... uh..."

Listen, never mind, alright.

"What, are you too good for disposable pens?"

No, that's not it... I just like nice pens.

"A Dr. Grip is nice!"

No it's not. I bought one and the first time I refilled it the refill exploded. That was shocking considering it's just a stick that you put inside the case with no moving parts. Also, the grip pad yellows after about two weeks.

"They look nice."

Yes, true. So it seems a Dr. Grip is mainly nice when you don't use it.

"Now you're being a jerk."

Sorry. Want to hear about my pen?

"Fine."

Thanks. It's a Lamy Tipo roller ball.

"What is that, French?"

German.

"What's so great about it?"

Well... thick, smooth lines, dependable quality refills which are widely available, lifetime guarantee, $7.50 flat charge to refurb the pen should it become defective, etc.

"Sounds expensive."

Some are. This one was $10.

"Huh. For one pen."

Think of it as a 'writing partner.'

"Thanks, I'd rather not."

They make nice gifts.

"Don't get me one, OK?"

If you say so.

Handwritten.

I was thinking about writing the next thing I write with a pen and paper. This is a massively inefficient habit I have struggled to break over my life (hence the obsession with nifty organizational word processors like Scrivener). When I was younger, the stuff I would write was neat for a twerp (ah to be 17 and grammatically correct) but I just wouldn't ever put it down to word processor. The pages would permanently occupy a three-ring binder in their sloppy entirety. One of my teachers (art teacher, though he had much more faith in my written work than paintings... and he was right, as it turns out) always asked why I never bothered to type things up. Since my handwriting was so bad, he would never read it unless I typed it up. So, anyway, the point is that this is, perhaps, a backwards step for me but I want to give it a try. Something about the pacing of handwriting that could maybe allow thoughts to form more fully in the space of a sentence.

I have decent notebooks, I have a nice pen (I'm a big fan of Lamy fountain pens)... it's probably worth a shot. So many writers I respect do things in this method, after all. And, there's a possibly unintended benefit: In the transcription process, taking the sloppily written hash from pad to screen I tend to do a little self editing to correct the flow and pace and terminology. In that way, the first draft that lives in a computer tends to be a bit more polished, which is nice.

Some strategies to make the handwriting thing work out:
- Must must MUST break things into planned chapter spacing, ie determining what will happen within the space of a chapter and restricting myself to those topics (otherwise it could get out of hand and out of control).
- Must keep things well organized
- Must do my best to spell and write not-sloppy... because sometimes even I can't decipher my "chicken scratch."

Article on JPG Magazine site.

I wrote an article to submit to the JPG Magazine site. Not sure if it'll make it to publication in the actual magazine, but if you want to read it anyway, here's a link:

http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/585

On our recent holiday, Lesley shot most of the pictures with a few "Toy" cameras. In the process of doing so we saw a number of advantages to using them and thought it'd be a good topic for an article of this nature. I've been picking away at between other projects. Anyway, it's there to be read. Enjoy. Also, if you're a jpgmagazine.com member, you can vote on it (I'm not sure if positive votes means its more likely to make it to print, but right on). Thanks if you are/do.

In other news, every time someone has asked me how my leg is I've been answering "still broken." Is that mean? I hope not, I think it's kind of funny.

Challenges! Rar!

It has been a most challenging few weeks for me. After our trip overseas, the film festival the next week and a busy work and school schedule, amidst an especially busy week of training, I had my leg broken for me. I would say, had the circumstances been different that I "broke my leg," but the way it happened I feel the only accurate description is that it was broken for me. How? Sloppy, clumsy tackle against me on the football (soccer) pitch. Am I bitter? Trying hard not to be. Positive vibes help so much in the process. Am I in pain? Yep, especially when I get into a negative mood, which has been a little more frequently as the days restricted as to what I can do drag on. I've given up on TV, finished the book I was reading, so all that is left is internet multiplayer Mah Jong or Chess and simply doing my best to get some writing projects looked at and touched up.

Between the meds, pain and stationary limitations, I've been pretty out of sorts but I have managed to plunk a new draft of an article together (one more draft tomorrow morning and it should be in it's final phase), get a sizable chunk of a chapter in my book written, and feel pretty confident about where other projects were headed. The chapter was especially important because I've been in a pretty big stall with that story for quite some time now, so much so that I took some time off to work on other things (the short I finished a bit ago). How I got through the sticky part was with a liberal smearing of weird. That's the best way to defuse any tough plot point in anything, let the strangeness of your own mind guide you through the perhaps unlikely yet compellingly strange plot devices you dream/imagine between dozing/waking. Thanks subconscious! I own ya' another one.

moments of horror!!!

You know that moment of horror when you see your cup of drinking water tipping haphazardly toward that favorite piece of electronic gadgetry? Exhilarating, but only when the momentary toppling is averted. In this case, it was. Regardless, though, it reminded me that soon I will be having to replace my aging laptop. Ol' Beleraphon (yes, I still name my computers after Greek and Roman mythological figures, shameful). We've had some times, this laptop and me. It's travelled with me to multiple countries, across this land, has been a partner in creating oh so many wonderful things. It's small, relatively light and usually up for whatever. What else could I ask for in a laptop? Well, I mean, it is a little slow these days. Slow as in when I type, the words lag behind my actual typing. This does not work.

So, as mentioned, the time is approaching when I will head on down to the ol' Apple store and pick up a new machine. I think I'm leaning pretty heavily toward the Black Macbook. It should do the trick, and it's not terribly expensive.

It's an exciting time at the moment. I just returned from a trip overseas (it was jolly), it's the week of the local film festival, it's educator savings week at the bookstore and the days have been decently pleasant, if not dry and pollen filled. Trip photos, interesting films, books and decent, non scorching weather - a few of my favorite things.

Lately I've been reading books that were clearly intended for children. Part of me feels silly doing so, but the writing (in these particular books) is very concise without being drab, and is free of excessive adverbs, something I've been struggling with lately (overuse). After I finish this particular book (OK, let me just admit what it is, the 2nd Artemis Fowl book, Eoin Colfer, you're great) I should probably dig into the stockpile of books I've picked up and haven't had time to really dig into. Lets see, now, there's the interlinear translation of Canterbury Tales which I've picked at (I suppose that's what I'm destined to keep doing with that), a book written by one of my English teachers from years back, a book written by my cousin, "Through A Glass Darkly,' by Karleen Koen, "The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cornwell (saw ads for his newest book "The Northern Lords" all over the train stations in the UK, decided to give the series a shot), and, like 20 books in my eReader which I've been putting off reading. Ehh, that's a stack. It's a good thing I enjoy reading, I suppose.

Next nagging writing habit to work on: Needless Contractions, Capitalization and Commas.

The Triumph of Burning Blue and the Toner Catridge Failure Spree

(subject has nothing to do with this post, though it is striking... mm, yes).

I have been wondering for the past few days about how many drafts one should realy write of a short story.

"As many as need to be written!" says the voice from the back of the gallery. Well, to you voice, I say "Thanks for the non-answer, ass," and then I hurl an eraser, because the place I'm imagining myself posing such a question is quickly becoming an old style classroom with chalkboards and everything. And, that eraser finds its target, thank you very much!

Anyway, I'm on draft three of my current little thing, holding the draft in my hands, and considering, still, making more changes. Small ones, this time, narrow changes vs. the wide ones I've made from each other draft up until this point. I'm just wondering, though... are four drafts needed on a 15 page short, or did I just really have to do a serious routing on this one, scoring out the crap that must've been so deep in the first draft.

It is different with short stories, though. Where as I can zip through the entirety of this story in a few minutes, doing this on one of my longer works has to be done on a chapter by chapter basis. The short presents immediate issues, the longer format story may have fundamental, deep seated issues, but they may not become clear until much later in the story. Sometimes, there, you lose a sense of voice from previous chapters when you narrow your focus so much, but it's the only practical way I've found to self edit. Even this thing, as short as it is, is shoehorned into four small sections in my word processor (ah, the scriv).

Ok, it's getting late... I'd better re-read this draft one more time, fix stuff and print one more copy of this thing, then go sleep. I'd like this sucker to be in the mail by monday morning... which I hope isn't an unreasonable goal.

Well, this is fairly interesting...

http://books.google.com/

Hmmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Yes, alright. I suppose that means the eBook era is officially "on".

Personally, I'm currently:

Reading a book by Sharon Kay Penman (which is deceptively long and sweeping)
Bouncing between OCD Edits on a short vs. picking at a novel, starting a new novel, etc.

Here's an excerpt:

"Damnit... there was something I was going to tell you."

These words are sledgehammers

Every time I edit anything, I feel like I'm slapping it around... which is fine, because most of the time I edit my own stuff, and most of the time it needs a good slapping-around.

As I'm looking over this short story, taking stock of the "edits" I've been scrawling all over a quickly formatted print out, I'm noticing there are more notes than actual story. I'm left wondering, while I look at this, if I was actually thinking about what I was writing while crafting this particular piece... ?

That's probably what they tell you to do in creative writing classes (though, I wouldn't know, I've never taken one, though I fully intend to one of these semesters)... get a shell first, and go in and poke around with the fine bits afterward. I suppose that makes sense.

So, recently I finally decided on a brand of mechanical pencils to utilize. This may sound like a bizarre sort of thing to make a decision on, but believe me, it's important. I used to just buy whatever was on sale, inexpensive, or convenient... but the last few batches I've purchased have had various problems. For instance, one set had massively gummy erasers that lasted only a few uses, and were made of such a weak plastic that if you actually erased something with a bit of emotion behind it (as I'm prone to do), the chassis would physically shatter. That will not do! Another brand was a bit more expensive, but had replaceable parts, like the two pencils in the pack came with extra erasers, extra lead, all packaged nicely in a little portable carrier. Unfortunately, these pencils are prone to jamming, and the slightest jarring of the pencils (for instance, carrying them in a backpack, holding them, thinking about them fondly) causes the lead to shatter into no less than 27,000 pieces. When you advance the lead, then, it dribbles out in micro shards which are completely useless for writing.

What did I go with? Papermate Sharpwriter #2, the sort with a twist-action lead advancer. The major malfunction these have is that their clip for attaching tends to snap after two uses, but since a pencil clipped tends to be a pencil lost, I've chosen to ignore this design flaw... in every other aspect, these seem to be superior. A fine product, paper<3<3mate!

Also, my music listening habits continue to lean toward very wussy electronic music... ah the joys of learning to appreciate little intricacies.

Twas brillig and the slivy toves? Nah.

I would love for someone to explain to me my recent fascination with tracing the roots of English words, looking for forceful language and attempting to read Old English, learn its rules and mechanics. It's effective, this language of which I speak... guttural, at times, filled with threatening undertones, hints of earthen power and wholeness. It does not dance like Latin, it is blunt like a Saxon club. It's a comfort language in the way that mac 'n cheese is a comfort food. It's alien to the modern English speaker when written, yet when spoken we hear words we understand, ideas that form, a pattern that emerges. It has been an interesting experiences, learning the basics.

I suppose I've just explained it to myself. Ah musings.

So, Scrivener 1.0, the writing software I've been beta-testing/using the free version of, has been released. I purchased it, and have been loving it. The note-carding and organizational system is still fully exciting and useful, and as I learn of some of the features in this newest version I titter with joy.

I've been plodding through a short story in preparation for some things I've got in the writing cache, ready to roll out. This short is pretty good, I think. I'm not usually very good at making cohesive short stories, usually at just taking snapshots of what could be a larger story and reducing it to one scene... normally, I imagine anyone reading a short I put together would feel like this world was fully formed when they arrived into it, and perhaps they've arrived just in the middle of a conversation. I guess it's not so bad. I could just attribute it to my own "style," but I'm terribly concerned that it might just be attributed to an inability to write shorts.

I've just realized, it's February already... heavens. We've had a busy year already, what with art exhibitions for the misses, school and work for myself, preparing for our journey in a month and a half. I think waiting for this trip has made the first month of this year zip by a little quickly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about it. I hate to think of myself as a nerdy culture-hungry vacation worshiper, and I'm not, I don't think... but I have the taste for travel right now (well, sort of, I hate driving distances, and flying is no treat for me, for that matter).

On Finishing?

Finishing anything you're working on is a bittersweet experience... on one hand you experience the relief of having it down, excitement of holding it, on paper, in your hand, still warm from the laser printer. But, then, there's the realization that it is, in fact, over, and the self criticism kicks in and the realization that it's much different in execution than you imagined it in conceptualization.

Of course, this is all part of the process... and it doesn't need to be soul crushing, as an experience.

I'm thinking about it because I finished a screenplay that I'd been working on for a while (just last night). I went through the range of emotions. It was... emotional.

I need to put it away for a while because I'm rather angry at it right now for being done. I'm sure I'll get over it, of course... eventually.

It takes...

It takes a certain amount of wonderful insanity to daily sit before the computer and play with the often wacky paper dolls of fantastic nonsense. This is fiction writing as I see it.

Bookstore, Shall we ever decline?

The modern Bookstore. Ah yes. I'm partial, of course, to Borders, though I won't say I haven't found things I've enjoyed at B&N or even the wretched other store locally (I shall not name it).

I think I enjoy these stores so much because I can still remember times of waiting for things to come back from loan at the library, and ordering books from the local "book store" in our rural town(s). Ah, the book store.

It was an old, old two story house with a vague sense of "Victorian" swoop and a big comfy wrap-around porch. It sat across the street from a fire station and a big corroded barn. Both stories were book filled, and the books you purchased were a sort of function of what they had in stock. I trusted them to stock good stuff, and really never questioned if a book would be good or not.

I was first exposed to science fiction there.

The modern book store, well... to think I can walk in with a book in mind, and the chances are, it's there, waiting for me. The books I buy are calculated, now. I hear something about them, and nab them up.

No more the random. Well, at least, not until yesterday. My wife and I were at Borders and she was buying a present for her mom and a book for herself, and I was confronted with the fact that, "Hey, these books here are 'buy two get one free.' I was the one! I got to pick a book and it would be free!" I didn't really know any of the books on the table (all except "Eats, shoots and leaves," yet I can't bring myself to read a book about grammar and punctuation). I settled on a book called "Through a Glass Darkly" by Karleen Koen.

I've never read it, never heard of the author. It's a thick tome, and I'll read it, I'm sure. I think if you ask the advice of any writer on "how to write," first they will say, "read." Oxford's notes on admission into their English program state that the applicant shall have read widely and voraciously.

In that way, I should mention I was also given a Sony Reader as an early Christmas present. Surprising? Not at all, but exactly what I wanted. I've been piling books on it as well, random smatterings of bookitude from Austen to Asimov. Still not out of the A's. Lots of things to read, though. Interesting thing I've been forced to consider in my time with the Reader: Will this whole advent of techo-reading (if you prefer a less sci-fi term, "ebookin'") finally catch on, after the 5th effort by major manufacturers? Might there come a day when a weekly trip to the book store no longer be practical or commonplace for avid readers? From the moment, with the limitations of online bookstores, it doesn't seem terribly likely, but on the other hand, probably every book is made digital before it is printed on paper, these days... something to consider.

Anyway, there is a point in all of this... this is a great season for reading!

YOU FAIL

Oof, I will admit it, I completely sacrificed finishing my novel within the bounds of Nanowrimo for school work. I couldn't handle both. I am weak. WEAK!!!!

I don't actually feel guilty. I've proven to myself that I can do the whole "novel in a month" scenario... now, lets see if I can write a good novel in... say, 4 months.

I spent about 10 minutes this evening reading through an old book of poetry from about 7 years ago.

Yikes.

Of course, everyone looks back on their old writings and cringes. It would derail the process of improving if you didn't, I suspect.

It's not that I think everyone should throw out their old work, or deny it... far from it. It's always fun and a little silly to go back and re-read. Still, no point buying a house and living there, in the past... let's see, I think it was Patricia McKillip (Ok, I admit, I know it was her, I'm typing the quote out the book right now to make sure I get it right) that said of her "Riddle Master" series, "It is, and will always be, closest to my childhood's heart, the heart of whoever that young woman was who wrote those novels." It isn't her favorite work, and she could not write it again now, just out of pure... change. Growth? Experience? Change of opinion? Another reason?

I'm going to go write now.

The rare crossing of nerd and... well, actually, nerd of another variety.

This evening, as I read through my copy of "The Oxford Essential Writers Reference" (I was re-reading the wonderful list of common cliches in there, and also the chapter on manuscript submission), I was struck with a memory.

Granted, not one from very long before I found myself there, in the comfey chair in the library, reading one of the best ways to spend $6.99... rather, one from a few hours earlier.

Today, I met this for the first time in person. I was impressed, sincerely. The eInk technology is really cool and, though at first I was a little disheartened by the price, the realization of what the technology actually offers is pretty impressive. I must admit I thought back to the "reading devices" seen in a number of science fiction movies and TV shows. This technology is very similar to that.

Now, if only we could get that whole "hover car" thing down, and get working on that whole "light speed travel" nonsense, as well.

Honestly, though, I was thinking to myself, "What would Strunk and White say about this?"

For those that are unfamiliar, William Strunk Jr. (Ohioan, stodgy linguist) and later, E.B. White (Charlotte's Web), one of Strunk's students, rendered unto us one of the most stunting and bland works of English instruction, "Elements of Style".

What would they say, these gentlemen so enamored with their own grasp of English mechanics, to the possibility that anyone with the ability to crud out a PDF could, in fact, be widely read.

"Hmm... balderdash!", I imagine.

MM, sore throat.

Amidst Nano-noveling, school composition writing and various other things, I am sick. It is really hard to focus on writing while you're not feeling well, especially when it's varied types of writing.

Still, I've been doing my best to space it and shift gears as that is probably the best way to keep my momentum.

Now, I'm pretty typical when it comes to being sick... I crave soup. I went to the store and bought "cup noodles" and "Ritz" crackers. I don't know why I crave these things, but I'm sure it stems from some collection of experiences of days long ago.

Today I noticed a marvelous fact about instant noodle cups. They are "instant lunch". Mind you, they are not "instant soup" or "instant snack" or instant anything but lunch.

So, it seems that one cannot go wrong with treating a 50c cup-based soup as a meal, for it is, in fact, both instant and lunch.

This news should shake society to it's very foundation.

My sodium runneth over.

wri-mo

Today begins Nanowrimo, the National Novel Writing Month (also known as November to calendar traditionalists).

The goal is to write 50,000 words in a month. I've written 0, but it's day 1. I'll probably spend this evening putting too many words down for a story I've been looking forward to focusing on.

What is the point of doing this all in one month when there are so many other things one should probably be focusing on in a month like November? Well, personally, I write much better when I have something else I'm supposed to be doing. Really, though, I think it's because people love to talk about writing but without some sort of organized structure, frequently they will not actually put the words down on paper. They'll have an idea but it will only ever be an idea. If this is what it takes to convert that idea into something worth the time, then bring it on!

I think it also helps people learn how to self-manage a timetable for your writings so they don't drag out over years. It helps in turning off the internal editor when writing (that thing that makes you delete and re-write sentences instead of plunging forward to finish crafting the story). All in all, Nanowrimo is a great thing because it has helped countless people achieve even an small ammout of success at writing, even if that success was just learning that you don't like doing it.

Good luck to anyone doing it.

Beyond Paper

So, in line with my obsession with Nerd-Nerdy-Nerdinson the III gadgetry of the nerdy variety, I want to share my list of gadgets that are neato for writers.

Novel Writing:
Scrivener, a complete Story Crafting Tool (vs. just a word processor) allowing for all of the elements of a novel to be stored together including notes, ideas, pictures/sketches, outlines and notecards. Nifty tool for getting a story done!

Screenplay Writing:
Final Draft. Yeah, everyone knows final draft for screenwriting, I know, but it's worth noting because it has massively powerful features. Notecards view that is separated from the screenplay in that you can go in and make cards first and then write the scenes. Also, Collabowriter aka their chat system which allows for transfer and editing to be done on the fly online. Pretty cool.

Online Writing:
Google Docs (formerly Writely.com). Google's purchase of Writely was a pretty good idea as the site is pretty brilliant. Online Word processor that, aside from being fully featured, allows you to export to .doc, .rtf, .pdf and open office format. It also lets you email a "document" in, taking the body of the email as the document and subject as the filename. I use it constantly, especially for quick notes (the sort I used to email to myself).

Of course, there are also all sorts of gadgets that let you write electronically, anything from trusty old laptops (see: cheesy heart icon superimposed over my mac), writing only devices like the Alphasmart Neo, Portable PC-type devices like the Pepper Pad, portable fold-up bluetooth PDA keyboards and even phone/note devices like the T-Mobile Sidekick and Sony Mylo.

Do any of them actually replace the solid pen and nice notebook? Probably not. Do they increase productivity or creativity or story quality due to their nifty organizational functionality? Maybe... but people have managed to write without them for a long time. I figure, why pick one method. Use everything.

Thought Experiment

"Prediction is the business of prophets, clairvoyants and futurologists. It is not the business of novelists. A novelist's business is lying." - Ursula K. Le Guin (from the introduction to "The Left Hand of Darkness")

Manufactured Truth: Where does it come from, what is it, and why is it so desirable?

I think a lot about what it is that makes people sit and read, sit and play games or sit and watch. There is something meaningful that happens in the process of entertainment, and I think I agree with the authors of "Rules of Play" when they say it's interaction with others, real or imagined. With games it's easy to disassemble - you input, you receive a response.

With movies and books and things... it's a little harder. What is it that people receive from the experience of riding along with the experience in a manufactured reality? Memories, I think. Memories of these places you've never been, but through the emotions described and subsequently experienced in these locations they become so real and so tangible that it's like a photograph you can go back to and look at.

Readers remember a time when they read a book that completely absorbed them to the point where the words on the page became a liquid mess of symbols representing ideas representing images which are absorbed by the sponge of your mind.

Of course, simplifying the experience to such a mechanical level is as betraying to the core of the enjoyment as is completely dissipating it's meaning into a cloud of existential idealism... (wow that sentence sucks)

Reading is enjoyable because you like the stories. Writing is enjoyable because the stories spark in your mind and exploring them is frequently more fun than reading them, at a deeper level of commitment.

Strange, they are, the things you do when you're not writing.

Let me back up a bit. I write. I "enjoy" writing, which is to say that if no one pays me to write or even acknowledges my writing, I'll continue to do so. As it turns out, no one currently does either, so it stands to reason that I'm not full of whatever it is exaggerators are full of. I assume it's 30% crap and 60% sawdust with the remaining 10% being a sweet cotton/poly blend and unidentifiable "materials". Sort of like a pillow. "Enjoying" writing, I think, says nothing about state in which you perform the task - bitter, frustrated, snippy, aggravated, malicious and unapproachable are all reasonable ways to describe folks who enjoy writing at certain times throughout the process. It is, as they say, all good.

I'm also a student... English, currently. This, of course, provides me with endless hours of things to do. Frequently those things are... reading and writing.

I like making lists, but not of things to do, things to get. I'm a gadget fanatic. I usually write about my gadgets, both ones I want and one's I've acquired.

I enjoy movies, and also writing about them and writing them. I enjoy photographing digitally, video and stills.

I like music, making it, listening to it and writing about it.

Why do I say they're funny, those things you do when you're not writing? I can't really think of anything I don't eventually write about.

I'll try to limit it to the interesting items here.

And that, as they say, is a quick bio.

Stay tuned for sporadic, random and nonsensical postings.