Neil Gaiman at the University of Calgary

Neil Gaiman stream Monday night for people that did not get tickets to the event at the U of C. They will be streaming here:http://ucalgary.ca/cdwp/gaiman at 7pm MST. 

Fiction II

The reading was tonight and it went a lot better than I thought it would. I am so proud of my Fiction II class (and the other classes that read). Everyone performed phenomenal and the excerpts chosen were fantastic. I loved to hear from all the wonderful writers who I'm sure will be big names in the future.

As for those chapbooks....they turned out beautiful. We made only nine to start. Oops. More are coming, but the binder could only coil nine in the short time we gave them. I commend their efforts, but I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for at least 25. I will be going back tomorrow to deal with the rest of the books. A lesson in time management this was...meaning do not leave chapbook printing to the DAY before the reading date. Though, truthfully, the printing is the least time-consuming of the process.

So, manuscript writing. I'm going to go for it. I need to come up with a brand new idea for a novel, that isn't genre-centred and that I could theoretically complete within an 8 month period. I think I can do it. Especially with only 3 courses per term next year. In the meantime, I'm going to Hawaii. Jobs, editing and other aspects of life can wait until I'm back (more or less). I'm too happy about this evening to be down about lost opportunities and further work for the summer. I'm just glad I got to spend the evening in good company. VACATION TIME.

Oh yeah...I still have some critiques and a few edits to finish up...

VACATION SOON.

Productivi---wait...

I think I had something important to say, but I've long forgotten it.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/websites_stop

I probably fall under category five...though it's not quite accurate. I think you have to be somewhat popular (or under the impression that you're popular) for that to work. This blog isn't intended to inflate my ego though...it's suppose to keep me on track and record PROGRESS. I'd put stars and fireworks and magical rainbows and unicorns around "PROGRESS", but I ran out.

SO LET'S INFLATE MY EGO

April 27th, I will be participating in a reading with my classmates and other students from the creative writing department. I am advertising here because I'm delusional, but also in the hopes that I can fill another few seats. The event starts at 5pm in the John Dutton Theatre at the Public Library Downtown. So come and join us to listen to the work of people infinitely more talented than myself. That or you're welcome to come heckle me. I'll be the awkward one...probably wearing a brown fedora.

Also, this is where research for one of my papers has led me:

http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2007/03/top_15_unintent.html

Number 12 demonstrates why I hate the Fantastic Four comics/why I find them creepy. I also have Venture Bros to thank for this.

http://www.movie-moron.com/?p=888

These sites have nothing to do with my topic. I can't even remember what I was searching for.

I also have some research to do for the upcoming election. I'm irritated that we're voting AGAIN, so I'm going to figure out what all their platforms are, why I hate each party and other relevant information to deduce who I will vote for. I think I might even post this on my other blog as a rant...because that's all I do on my other blog.

Also, Art Spiegelman is in town this week. Yay.

Reading in Rain

I look at my next week and look at nothing but constant work. Won't have much time for WMRR writing, but at least I'll be busy.

Going to be writing for Fiction II all this week. I still don't know what my first story will be, but I also have to write a "writer's manifesto" for next Tuesday. I don't know what that really means yet. Maybe I'll be able to add it to EGAWT when I'm done (I'll cross my fingers).

This may seem a little random, but I love taking transit. I of course don't like the random schedules, creepy passengers, waiting in cold winters and the filth and smells, but I do love the time it gives me to relax, read, listen to music and think. I was waiting for a bus in the rain for 40 minutes today because it was a Sunday and buses only come once and hour, and I enjoyed three chapters of the book "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello di Cintio. It's a book about wrestling and poetry in Iran and it's one of the best reads I've had in awhile. I would highly recommend it. It wasn't just a good book, however. I found a certain peace hiding from the rain under the metal and glass of the bus shelter. I stood, book in hand, music playing and watching the sky slowly turn to darker shades of blue, and eventually black. Blanketed by clouds the rain fell into small grooves made by heavy buses. The little puddles looked like ink or oil, reflecting the blue-black sky. I even if I turned off my music, the world seemed silent. Only one other person was at the stop, and the constant drone of a bus engine was like white noise in the back-ground (which is "like silence, but not empty" as Mark Haddon puts it in his book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (another book I recommend). I don't know if it's a direct quote since I can't find the book at the moment in the mess that is my room. I don't take enough time to enjoy the beauty of the world (especially when it has been constantly raining ALL SUMMER...seriously, it was shitty). I don't know what it was exactly, but despite my exhaustion, anger, dissociation and confusion that's plaguing me right now, I cherished this moment.

PLAGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Also, I have no idea what sort of state I'll be in this week. As I said before, I won't have much time for WMRR, which saddens me. I don't do well with loss, and a lot of loss is coming my way. That and...I'm not sure...anger and stress makes it hard. I'm getting more reclusive. I don't know. Regardless I need to try at least.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZwwHIxHINI

STUPID GOD DAMNED AUTOFILL IN THE STUPID GOD DAMNED LABELS BOX AAAAAAAAAA