Sometimes, especially when I haven't written in a long time, I like to reflect back on my other posts. Some feel like just filler, others really mean something to me. Here's a post from last year, reflecting on what I had or hadn't accomplished in life. Since then not much has changed as far as accomplishments go. I've had some losses in the last year but I've also gained. Right now I feel like I'm breaking even.
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned once or twice that my senior year of high school I took advance composition. As a writer, aspiring to be published, one would assume that I loved this class above all others and put every bit of effort into it. That would be not so accurate.I did love the class, but it was a lot of work and at the time I thought I had better things to do with my last hour of the school day. I failed the class, but I didn't need it to graduate so oh well. Not really. I failed a few classes in high school, for instance algebra, physics, geometry, all mostly for a lack of attendance. I thought living was more import than learning and when it comes to those classes, for the most part, I have no regrets. Failing advance comp was the only time I really felt bad about failing. The teacher was an odd guy, not your usual teacher, but a great teacher. He wanted to make sure we could write a solid essay before we took off for college, he wanted to make sure we read good literature that wasn't the main stream stuff we we're use to and he pushed us to be creative. I think I've mentioned a play that I wrote for his class.Anyway, he actually wanted us to learn something. Even though I failed, I still learned a lot. I even keep the journal that we had to write in every week filled with the positive comments that he wrote about my work, about my writing. And I kick myself for not finishing that class.What brought all of this to mind was when he walked into the shoe store today and even though I should have taken it as the chance to apologize for giving up, and told him that I regretted not finishing and that he was still a really good teacher that taught me something regardless of my grade. That's not what I did though, I hid. I hid because I didn't want him to see me selling shoes. It's been nearly seven years since I graduated and I had nothing to say but I sell shoes. And I couldn't face it.I felt like a huge let down to everyone, including myself. And I know I'm the one to blame for what my life is. I need to work harder so if there's ever a next time I will have something worth saying.
Showing posts with label previous posts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label previous posts. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, February 15, 2008
Holy Sonnet Batman!
In recent post I've mentioned a few different things. One was looking back on some of my old post that had substance and weren't just filler material I posted to let people know I was still alive. Actually that I might have mentioned quite a while ago. I don't really recall. Anyway, the other was poetry. When I combine these two things I came up with one thought. Sonnets.
Over two years ago, I sat in the last day of writing class, forced to write a sonnet. At the time this was really annoying because I was on a bad kick about my dislike of poetry after having just been forced to write poetry in many different forms, including prose poems. For the record, I still can only guess the difference between a prose poem and a short short. I really think it has to do with sharing thoughts (prose poem) and telling a story (short short). Of course, this is only a guess and really I feel the whole thing is very debatable. Jenni, if you're out there please feel free to enlighten me.
Sorry for the digression. Now back to our regularly scheduled program, which is my brilliant sonnet and the idea that followed, which wasn't all that brilliant and I have yet to follow through on.
I wrote a sonnet about Batman. To me, it seemed really genius. It wasn't something many people would write a sonnet about. I felt my use of BAM! and POW! were an awesome idea and a great tribute to the old comics and t.v. show.
It was definitely one of my favorite things I ever wrote. I loved it so much I vowed to write 154, or however many Shakespeare sonnets there are, comic book character sonnets. I started with a bang, one a week, even buying a rhyming dictionary but I fell off the wagon after a mere 4 and a half started sonnet.
It was difficult to find cool things about each character or quirky things like onomatopoeias and then make them rhyme and fit. I started to wonder if I should have just left it at the awesomeness of Batman. I still think about it. Maybe one day I'll have inspiration to finish. Until then it's in my incomplete stack.
And for anyone who hasn't read the first of my few sonnets and is mildly curious about it, just click here for the original post.
*Why did I not use the title of this post for the original post. And yes a Robin sonnet with Holy something or other in it would be a quote that would equal the quirkiness of the onomatopoeias.*
**Also why does spell check keep telling me that onomatopoeias is wrong and that it should have an apostrophe after the 's'? Am I missing something in my grammar or is spell check just nuts as usual? **
Over two years ago, I sat in the last day of writing class, forced to write a sonnet. At the time this was really annoying because I was on a bad kick about my dislike of poetry after having just been forced to write poetry in many different forms, including prose poems. For the record, I still can only guess the difference between a prose poem and a short short. I really think it has to do with sharing thoughts (prose poem) and telling a story (short short). Of course, this is only a guess and really I feel the whole thing is very debatable. Jenni, if you're out there please feel free to enlighten me.
Sorry for the digression. Now back to our regularly scheduled program, which is my brilliant sonnet and the idea that followed, which wasn't all that brilliant and I have yet to follow through on.
I wrote a sonnet about Batman. To me, it seemed really genius. It wasn't something many people would write a sonnet about. I felt my use of BAM! and POW! were an awesome idea and a great tribute to the old comics and t.v. show.
It was definitely one of my favorite things I ever wrote. I loved it so much I vowed to write 154, or however many Shakespeare sonnets there are, comic book character sonnets. I started with a bang, one a week, even buying a rhyming dictionary but I fell off the wagon after a mere 4 and a half started sonnet.
It was difficult to find cool things about each character or quirky things like onomatopoeias and then make them rhyme and fit. I started to wonder if I should have just left it at the awesomeness of Batman. I still think about it. Maybe one day I'll have inspiration to finish. Until then it's in my incomplete stack.
And for anyone who hasn't read the first of my few sonnets and is mildly curious about it, just click here for the original post.
*Why did I not use the title of this post for the original post. And yes a Robin sonnet with Holy something or other in it would be a quote that would equal the quirkiness of the onomatopoeias.*
**Also why does spell check keep telling me that onomatopoeias is wrong and that it should have an apostrophe after the 's'? Am I missing something in my grammar or is spell check just nuts as usual? **
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Reflection
Blogging to me is a little sad. Sometimes I get depressed about putting a lot of thought and work into something that someone, if anyone, will read and then soon forget about. It's not like a novel or short story that people may reflect back on one day when they find it sitting on their shelf. I think the only person that would go back and look through my old blog post would be me. And of course, the people searching for the Stewie to Bryan "how's that novel comin'?" Family Guy quote.
Then I realized that I sit around struggling to come up with stuff to write here, especially during NaBloPoMo, and I end up posting crap that is completely pointless and often whiny.
That's when it occurred to me that I could repost or at least link to some old post and maybe someone would flashback and take a look at something that meant more to me than when I write "I got nothing done, because I had no time."
I'm going to try to do that more often so for today here is a post that I wrote almost a year ago. It reflects on where I was then.
Feel free to skip over if you've already read it. Or read it to see that I occasionally write something thoughtful (at least to me) in case you came to this blog looking for something more than me complaining.
Then I realized that I sit around struggling to come up with stuff to write here, especially during NaBloPoMo, and I end up posting crap that is completely pointless and often whiny.
That's when it occurred to me that I could repost or at least link to some old post and maybe someone would flashback and take a look at something that meant more to me than when I write "I got nothing done, because I had no time."
I'm going to try to do that more often so for today here is a post that I wrote almost a year ago. It reflects on where I was then.
Feel free to skip over if you've already read it. Or read it to see that I occasionally write something thoughtful (at least to me) in case you came to this blog looking for something more than me complaining.
Monday, August 20, 2007
A quick update on the chaos that has consumed my week
Okay well this week has been insane. The short version goes that my parents won't talk to me because of a biscuit, I yelled at my boss calling him some pretty not nice things, I missed my best friends wedding reception and I've got about two minutes of sleep since I've been in the hospital with a family member. And did I mention when I finally got home and got a second to write about all this, I'm going to guess that I didn't catch the computer virus on time because my computer got incredibly hot, smelled like it was burning and stopped working. I am now functioning on the old laptop with the missing keys that has been mentioned in previous post that I don't dare look up at this time.
Anyway, amongst all this madness, mostly the hospital part, I have found the occasional few minutes to write. I didn't really have all my novel gear so I haven't been working on any of those. For some reason I felt inspired to write a Christmas story. Maybe I'll have it done in time to submit for the holiday issues of a few literary magazines.
One good thing it's been high in the 70's and raining all week. I'm sorry for those who don't care for it but I'm totally loving it.
And since I'm not sure when my next substantial post will come around, I suggest everyone stop by and read this blog .I really like the current post and the rest of the blog is great as well.
Anyway, amongst all this madness, mostly the hospital part, I have found the occasional few minutes to write. I didn't really have all my novel gear so I haven't been working on any of those. For some reason I felt inspired to write a Christmas story. Maybe I'll have it done in time to submit for the holiday issues of a few literary magazines.
One good thing it's been high in the 70's and raining all week. I'm sorry for those who don't care for it but I'm totally loving it.
And since I'm not sure when my next substantial post will come around, I suggest everyone stop by and read this blog .I really like the current post and the rest of the blog is great as well.
Friday, June 22, 2007
More stuff about music and writing
In my last post I talked about songs that inspired characters or story ideas. So I thought it would be cool for Friday Five to give five examples. It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm even having such a hard time remembering these things that I've busted out the idea cards. My giant stack of index cards that each list a story idea that I've had.
Hotel California by the Eagles- I know this is really a story itself but there are so many unanswered questions. Like why this guy is out wondering around? Who are the people in the hotel and why are they there? So my story came to me when I started imagining the answers. It didn't really turn out all that similar except for the crazy hotel part.
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak- To be honest I wasn't really familiar with this song until Jenni and another co-worker were talking about it. And if you would have heard what the co-worker said about it you would have wanted to know exactly what was so "great" about it.
It didn't inspire a new story but it inspired parts for a story I was already working on. Why would someone not want to fall in love? Why would making someone fall in love with you be a wicked game? More questions that needed answers.
Deny by Default-Most people probably have no idea what this song is. It was a hit the year after I graduated and they played it like every hour on the hour so it really got drilled into my head. It's really only the first lines that inspired me. "Today I woke up and you were gone.The whole day wondering what I did wrong." For some reason that made my mind drift to what would happen if that someone had been so devastated that the person was gone in the morning that they committed suicide. Then later you find out the person had only went to get breakfast. Kind of like a Romeo & Juliet of one night stands.
Dragula by Rob Zombie- Really it's just about any Rob Zombie song that gave me this idea. They remind me of people that I knew in high school that thought it would be cool to be zombies, vampires, witches or undead and evil in anyway. The song(s) made me start to wonder what those people would have done if they were faced with real vampires and witches and what the undead would think of people pretending to be them.
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper- When I was about 4 I was obsessed with Cyndi Lauper. And I remember her saying in this song "If you're lost, you can look and you will find me..." During this phase of my life I was with my parents at Sears and I got lost in the clothes racks. When I found my way out my parents were no where around. I didn't know what to do but all I could remember was what Cyndi Lauper had said in her song. So I ran through the store in extreme excitement realizing that I was lost and if I looked I would find Cyndi Lauper and I could go home with her. I was so mad when my parents found me I thought they had totally ruined my chances to meet Cyndi Lauper. I thought it would be interesting and kind of experimental to write it from the little kids point of view, how they don't realize that songs and movies aren't real.
Or it could make a children's story. Like the Wizard of Oz where you go off looking for something better but find out what you wanted all along was in your own back yard. Of course, mine would have a different kind of ending because I have no idea why Dorothy ever wanted to leave Oz.
There are five examples of how I come up with my story ideas. I haven't actually made a complete story out of any of these. They're just ideas in different stages.
I would have went and found the links to all these songs but my computer keeps randomly shutting stuff down. I think it needs a break. Plus, I'm a slacker.
Besides I started Friday Five as an easy, effortless way to update my blog more often. How simple? A quick list and I'm done. Yet, this post has taken me over a half an hour to write. No wonder I never get anything done.
Just watched: The Virgin Suicides
Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hotel California by the Eagles- I know this is really a story itself but there are so many unanswered questions. Like why this guy is out wondering around? Who are the people in the hotel and why are they there? So my story came to me when I started imagining the answers. It didn't really turn out all that similar except for the crazy hotel part.
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak- To be honest I wasn't really familiar with this song until Jenni and another co-worker were talking about it. And if you would have heard what the co-worker said about it you would have wanted to know exactly what was so "great" about it.
It didn't inspire a new story but it inspired parts for a story I was already working on. Why would someone not want to fall in love? Why would making someone fall in love with you be a wicked game? More questions that needed answers.
Deny by Default-Most people probably have no idea what this song is. It was a hit the year after I graduated and they played it like every hour on the hour so it really got drilled into my head. It's really only the first lines that inspired me. "Today I woke up and you were gone.The whole day wondering what I did wrong." For some reason that made my mind drift to what would happen if that someone had been so devastated that the person was gone in the morning that they committed suicide. Then later you find out the person had only went to get breakfast. Kind of like a Romeo & Juliet of one night stands.
Dragula by Rob Zombie- Really it's just about any Rob Zombie song that gave me this idea. They remind me of people that I knew in high school that thought it would be cool to be zombies, vampires, witches or undead and evil in anyway. The song(s) made me start to wonder what those people would have done if they were faced with real vampires and witches and what the undead would think of people pretending to be them.
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper- When I was about 4 I was obsessed with Cyndi Lauper. And I remember her saying in this song "If you're lost, you can look and you will find me..." During this phase of my life I was with my parents at Sears and I got lost in the clothes racks. When I found my way out my parents were no where around. I didn't know what to do but all I could remember was what Cyndi Lauper had said in her song. So I ran through the store in extreme excitement realizing that I was lost and if I looked I would find Cyndi Lauper and I could go home with her. I was so mad when my parents found me I thought they had totally ruined my chances to meet Cyndi Lauper. I thought it would be interesting and kind of experimental to write it from the little kids point of view, how they don't realize that songs and movies aren't real.
Or it could make a children's story. Like the Wizard of Oz where you go off looking for something better but find out what you wanted all along was in your own back yard. Of course, mine would have a different kind of ending because I have no idea why Dorothy ever wanted to leave Oz.
There are five examples of how I come up with my story ideas. I haven't actually made a complete story out of any of these. They're just ideas in different stages.
I would have went and found the links to all these songs but my computer keeps randomly shutting stuff down. I think it needs a break. Plus, I'm a slacker.
Besides I started Friday Five as an easy, effortless way to update my blog more often. How simple? A quick list and I'm done. Yet, this post has taken me over a half an hour to write. No wonder I never get anything done.
Just watched: The Virgin Suicides
Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Complain and you shall receive
For some reason a letter I posted on this blog that I had written to Wizard magazine (that never got published) was linked on When Fangirls Attack. My site meter showed I got over 100 visits yesterday. I don't think many of them stuck around since my blog isn't mostly about comic books but if you can't get your letter published in Wizard, having over 100 people stop by your blog to read it is pretty kick ass.
I have tomorrow off. I don't usually have Wednesdays off but my boss is about to come back from vacation to find out that we had a negative Saturday (it's suppose to be our busiest day), the plumbing is broke and that the only assistant manager he has left to run nights and weekends is done at the end of the month. So I'm going to let someone else deal with that anger. I'm taking a vacation day.
The whole point to that little story is that, hopefully, I'll get a lot of work done tomorrow and I'll post something more substantial and by that I mean longer.
Currently reading: Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Song playing on the radio: "Funky Cold Medina"- Tone Loc
I have tomorrow off. I don't usually have Wednesdays off but my boss is about to come back from vacation to find out that we had a negative Saturday (it's suppose to be our busiest day), the plumbing is broke and that the only assistant manager he has left to run nights and weekends is done at the end of the month. So I'm going to let someone else deal with that anger. I'm taking a vacation day.
The whole point to that little story is that, hopefully, I'll get a lot of work done tomorrow and I'll post something more substantial and by that I mean longer.
Currently reading: Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Song playing on the radio: "Funky Cold Medina"- Tone Loc
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)