Things like this annoy me. They annoy me for a few reasons, all very simple:
1. These jokes are old
2. These jokes are too often told
3. Yeah, Owl City sounds like the Postal Service, but
4. The Postal Service ripped off Depeche Mode as far as sound goes and
5. A guy from 3Oh!3 should be the last one on this earth to harp about originality. Pul-leaze.
There's nothing new under the sun. People need to get over that and shut up, unless they can come up with something totally original, which--aside from being impossible--wouldn't come from either of the guys from 3Oh!3.
19 February 2010
03 February 2010
The Clock
Groundhog's Day was wonderful, even if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we're due for six more weeks of winter. There's always a bright side, which in this case being that there's only six more weeks and not seven or nine or something (because seven and nine are sequential numbers).
So, this is another one of those just before I've got to leave for class posts.
I still have yet to continue writing a thing for the rewrite. That will change today; I'm on a schedule. I'm going to write like nobody's biz. I'm going to go to class, take notes, and write when the teachers lose my interest. I'm going to try to find any unforeseen holes in my plot.
Speaking of plot, I've come realized that there's really only one element that I seriously pay attention to. Sure, I make sure that it has conflict, and sure I make sure that it's sound, but I really pay some major attention to The Clock.
I remember when I went to the young writer's conference last year and there was this guy who talked about how he helped write films and teleplays and he talked about all the elements of plot, in particular the clock though he did talk at length about the other elements and the plot arc and such.
Now, the reason I pay so much attention to it is because it's the only thing that really makes anything else matter. I'm not spouting off advice here (because I'm kinda under-qualified), but rather rambling to myself in a rather public manner that isn't the supermarket.
You have the goal, you have the obstacles. The obstacles make the goal matter by making it hard to achieve. A time limit makes something matter more because if goal x isn't met by time y then it ceases to matter all together. The only thing I could think of that didn't have a time limit actually does.
The only thing I could think of was The Odyssey. Odysseus wants to get home to his family and is tossed and turned by all these events and he takes forever to get home. However, that has the time constraint element, because if he took too long he'd be too old, his wife would be remarried, or the family or him would die before they could be reunited.
So I've really been focusing on the clock lately and not just in this novel but in short stories. I think maybe one of the things I need to work on is other ways to implement time constraints.
Also, happy Black History Month. Now, I've got to eat, make tea, and leave. Did I have homework? I don't think I did it. Gee...
So, this is another one of those just before I've got to leave for class posts.
I still have yet to continue writing a thing for the rewrite. That will change today; I'm on a schedule. I'm going to write like nobody's biz. I'm going to go to class, take notes, and write when the teachers lose my interest. I'm going to try to find any unforeseen holes in my plot.
Speaking of plot, I've come realized that there's really only one element that I seriously pay attention to. Sure, I make sure that it has conflict, and sure I make sure that it's sound, but I really pay some major attention to The Clock.
I remember when I went to the young writer's conference last year and there was this guy who talked about how he helped write films and teleplays and he talked about all the elements of plot, in particular the clock though he did talk at length about the other elements and the plot arc and such.
Now, the reason I pay so much attention to it is because it's the only thing that really makes anything else matter. I'm not spouting off advice here (because I'm kinda under-qualified), but rather rambling to myself in a rather public manner that isn't the supermarket.
You have the goal, you have the obstacles. The obstacles make the goal matter by making it hard to achieve. A time limit makes something matter more because if goal x isn't met by time y then it ceases to matter all together. The only thing I could think of that didn't have a time limit actually does.
The only thing I could think of was The Odyssey. Odysseus wants to get home to his family and is tossed and turned by all these events and he takes forever to get home. However, that has the time constraint element, because if he took too long he'd be too old, his wife would be remarried, or the family or him would die before they could be reunited.
So I've really been focusing on the clock lately and not just in this novel but in short stories. I think maybe one of the things I need to work on is other ways to implement time constraints.
Also, happy Black History Month. Now, I've got to eat, make tea, and leave. Did I have homework? I don't think I did it. Gee...
31 January 2010
Grammys Baby!
The only parts I've watched have been the very beginning with Lady Gaga and Elton John and then the performance of "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. Had the first thing not been happening I would not have watched at all. As a general rule I don't watch award shows. I'm actually pretty ignorant of them. I didn't even know the AMAs existed until Adam Lambert brought them to my attention.
But enough about that.
The rewrite is...I suppose I could say that it is going mediocre, but only because of the past few days. I haven't written a thing. Mainly because, typically speaking, no one write very well when they're dead asleep, which is what I've been for the better part of the last seventy-two hours.
I haven't any idea why I decided to turn into sleeping beauty, but I did. I feel kind of sick. And I'm still very tired. Then there's school tomorrow and I have a group project that I have to work on. Group work is the very bane of my existence, not to sound dramatic or anything. Mainly because there's collaboration and then there's research.
I'm supposed to research 1/3 of the paper and write 1/3 of it as well. I'm trying hard not to sound like a diva and say, "I don't co-write" but regardless of what I say there will still be undertones of that. I've co-written before, but not only was that fiction it was with someone whose writing no only complemented mine but blended well. Plus, I knew them.
But I'm going to do some research before I fall asleep again and I'll probably be up and writing again by Tuesday at the very latest. I've gotten to that weird point of rewriting where you know everything that's supposed to happen, but you want to make it happen in a different way so half the time I'm mumbling to myself about technical things like weather patterns and dates. It makes me look super sane. Seriously, I appear to be the perfect picture of mental health.
Pretty soon I'm going to need to find some betas though. I should probably start looking...
But enough about that.
The rewrite is...I suppose I could say that it is going mediocre, but only because of the past few days. I haven't written a thing. Mainly because, typically speaking, no one write very well when they're dead asleep, which is what I've been for the better part of the last seventy-two hours.
I haven't any idea why I decided to turn into sleeping beauty, but I did. I feel kind of sick. And I'm still very tired. Then there's school tomorrow and I have a group project that I have to work on. Group work is the very bane of my existence, not to sound dramatic or anything. Mainly because there's collaboration and then there's research.
I'm supposed to research 1/3 of the paper and write 1/3 of it as well. I'm trying hard not to sound like a diva and say, "I don't co-write" but regardless of what I say there will still be undertones of that. I've co-written before, but not only was that fiction it was with someone whose writing no only complemented mine but blended well. Plus, I knew them.
But I'm going to do some research before I fall asleep again and I'll probably be up and writing again by Tuesday at the very latest. I've gotten to that weird point of rewriting where you know everything that's supposed to happen, but you want to make it happen in a different way so half the time I'm mumbling to myself about technical things like weather patterns and dates. It makes me look super sane. Seriously, I appear to be the perfect picture of mental health.
Pretty soon I'm going to need to find some betas though. I should probably start looking...
27 January 2010
This Is Going To Be
Short, and very much so. I have to leave in less than ten minutes for that dread creature known only as Class. Class and I have been in a battle as of late, with my trying to vanquish it and it still appearing every week without fail. I mean, sometimes it doesn't show up after we've fought for maybe two months straight, but it's back after a few weeks of recuperation.
Anyway. It it the very early morning hours for me. I did not sleep last night. I have a test today and am eating my cereal as I type. I know that the moment I get home I won't feel like writing this and/or I'll be passed out asleep.
Speaking of sleep, I've only got seven or so minutes and I need to make tea. I have to have caffeine. That stuff can steep in the car, right?
Not the point.
Bottom line: The rewrite is going well. I cranked out over 3k today so far. I'd say it's maybe one third done.
Anyway. It it the very early morning hours for me. I did not sleep last night. I have a test today and am eating my cereal as I type. I know that the moment I get home I won't feel like writing this and/or I'll be passed out asleep.
Speaking of sleep, I've only got seven or so minutes and I need to make tea. I have to have caffeine. That stuff can steep in the car, right?
Not the point.
Bottom line: The rewrite is going well. I cranked out over 3k today so far. I'd say it's maybe one third done.
21 January 2010
Rewrite
Rewrite
I'm doing a major rewrite. The funny thing that I find is that now, when I have way more time on my hands, I've been writing less. It's kind of terrible. Back when I was fourteen, I wrote a book that was 133k words long. It was pretty decent, but the point is that I wrote a lot.
I remember writing eleven pages a day and regardless of word count that's huge compared to what I'm doing these days. I have all the time in the world for writing, but I use it on other things, like movies, practicing, video games, and making references/movie quotes of Tim Burton movies on twitter. Damn those Final Fantasy games, damn them straight to hell.
-Ahem- Back to the point. I need to get back into the swing of things. It's been so long since I've written anything substantial. That's what I'm going to do, not in February, not in March, but when I wake up and am not threatening to fall asleep at the screen.
So, it's time for a rewrite, and rather than doing it the old way where I'd just go through and edit, I'm scrapping the whole story and starting with a blank page. It'll be...fun.
I'm doing a major rewrite. The funny thing that I find is that now, when I have way more time on my hands, I've been writing less. It's kind of terrible. Back when I was fourteen, I wrote a book that was 133k words long. It was pretty decent, but the point is that I wrote a lot.
I remember writing eleven pages a day and regardless of word count that's huge compared to what I'm doing these days. I have all the time in the world for writing, but I use it on other things, like movies, practicing, video games, and making references/movie quotes of Tim Burton movies on twitter. Damn those Final Fantasy games, damn them straight to hell.
-Ahem- Back to the point. I need to get back into the swing of things. It's been so long since I've written anything substantial. That's what I'm going to do, not in February, not in March, but when I wake up and am not threatening to fall asleep at the screen.
So, it's time for a rewrite, and rather than doing it the old way where I'd just go through and edit, I'm scrapping the whole story and starting with a blank page. It'll be...fun.
17 January 2010
Week In Review
Week In Review
Right now I'm getting over a sort of sickness. I'll just leave it at that it kind of sucks to be hungry when all you can handle is ginger ale. It sucks really bad.
Anyway, I'm going to recount the high and low points of the last week and half. That does make the title of this post a little misleading, but in my concept of time, it's been a week, so bear with me.
[Side note: basically none of this has to do with writing.]
So, in pluses and minuses, I shall recount the previous week or so:
+Books-A-Million was having a pretty awesome sale, and it was literally one dollar for three whole book carts, a lot of which were hardcover. I was so unbelievably happy that it bordered on ridiculous. I only went there for a magazine and came back with a miniature library.
-Stevie left the 5AGs, which I kind of saw coming, but still didn't want to happen.
+American Idol is back! Bad singers and all.
+Books-A-Million was also having a DVD sale.
+I got new video games, including one I lost in the move for GameBoy SP.
+I got a calendar for 2010.
+I got a case.
+Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are getting hitched!
-I'm sick.
On the up and up, because that last minus is really kind of bumming me out at the moment, I don't have class tomorrow. So this week or so was a good week. Oh, and I totally forgot that Taboo has a season premiere, so that's definitely another plus. I'm going to go get some more ginger ale.
Right now I'm getting over a sort of sickness. I'll just leave it at that it kind of sucks to be hungry when all you can handle is ginger ale. It sucks really bad.
Anyway, I'm going to recount the high and low points of the last week and half. That does make the title of this post a little misleading, but in my concept of time, it's been a week, so bear with me.
[Side note: basically none of this has to do with writing.]
So, in pluses and minuses, I shall recount the previous week or so:
+Books-A-Million was having a pretty awesome sale, and it was literally one dollar for three whole book carts, a lot of which were hardcover. I was so unbelievably happy that it bordered on ridiculous. I only went there for a magazine and came back with a miniature library.
-Stevie left the 5AGs, which I kind of saw coming, but still didn't want to happen.
+American Idol is back! Bad singers and all.
+Books-A-Million was also having a DVD sale.
+I got new video games, including one I lost in the move for GameBoy SP.
+I got a calendar for 2010.
+I got a case.
+Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are getting hitched!
-I'm sick.
On the up and up, because that last minus is really kind of bumming me out at the moment, I don't have class tomorrow. So this week or so was a good week. Oh, and I totally forgot that Taboo has a season premiere, so that's definitely another plus. I'm going to go get some more ginger ale.
12 January 2010
The Quest
The Quest
So, it's Tuesday and in a few hours it'll be Wednesday. The holidays are officially over, school has started again, and the premiere of American Idol was tonight.
As of late I've developed the unfortunate habit of slacking off, mainly by watching Cartoon Network and playing all the "new" video games I've bought recently ["new" because they're used and were first released in the early 2000s]. So, I say, no more!
So I started this thing last year where I'm going to write a certain amount of fiction [or memoir, you know, whatevs] by the end of the year. In other words, a writer's New Year's resolution. Now, I'm not going to put that number here to save myself the humiliation should I fail miserably, but it will prove to be challenging.
I haven't exactly been meeting my daily goals, but whatever, you know. I'm sure I'll catch up when I have a boring weekend and haven't the urge to fritter away time on things such as video games. Or at least I hope so.
Anyway, about the title. Yeah, I was watching Teen Titans and that was the title of the episode. It's the one where Robin goes in search of the "true master" for some extensive martial arts training. He has to climb this huge mountain in order for him to be taught so he ends up asking if there is an easier way up. So, the master ends up saying, "There is an easy way and a right way."
You can draw the parallels between that situation and novel writing if you want, but I won't [at least not here]. Mainly because the cheese factor of this post has already climbed uncomfortably high. So, I'll end it here.
So, it's Tuesday and in a few hours it'll be Wednesday. The holidays are officially over, school has started again, and the premiere of American Idol was tonight.
As of late I've developed the unfortunate habit of slacking off, mainly by watching Cartoon Network and playing all the "new" video games I've bought recently ["new" because they're used and were first released in the early 2000s]. So, I say, no more!
So I started this thing last year where I'm going to write a certain amount of fiction [or memoir, you know, whatevs] by the end of the year. In other words, a writer's New Year's resolution. Now, I'm not going to put that number here to save myself the humiliation should I fail miserably, but it will prove to be challenging.
I haven't exactly been meeting my daily goals, but whatever, you know. I'm sure I'll catch up when I have a boring weekend and haven't the urge to fritter away time on things such as video games. Or at least I hope so.
Anyway, about the title. Yeah, I was watching Teen Titans and that was the title of the episode. It's the one where Robin goes in search of the "true master" for some extensive martial arts training. He has to climb this huge mountain in order for him to be taught so he ends up asking if there is an easier way up. So, the master ends up saying, "There is an easy way and a right way."
You can draw the parallels between that situation and novel writing if you want, but I won't [at least not here]. Mainly because the cheese factor of this post has already climbed uncomfortably high. So, I'll end it here.
20 December 2009
Last Friday Night
Last Friday Night
I ended up working almost until closing, so I didn't get home until it was after midnight. Then I ate, watched some television, and passed out only to come to sometime in the mid morning on Saturday to realize that I had work again.
I realize that I am very much the wimp. Anything dubbed "work" that does not involve me and Mendel or Charlie for hours tires me so easily that it becomes unimaginable in my mind. So, thank you to those workers who go through the daily grind, because when this seasonal stint ends I'm not sure if I can go back even if I'm asked.
Also, I am sure that I haven't mentioned either Charlie or Mendel on here before. Charlie is my guitar, Mendel is one of my laptops [Kelly is the older, nearly dead, one], and in case you're into very lame science jokes, Gregor [my phone] is the counterpart to Mendel. For me, naming things helps me remember where they are and with the exception of Kelly they are always named after a scientist, discoverer, philosopher (ask me about my flash drives), or some character/writer.
So, speaking of unpaid work that involves Mendel, I've started writing something new, if only to distract myself so I don't over edit the other projects that are finished for now. So for now that shall become my main focus. Well, not right now, because right now the hunger is really getting to me and I must eat. But after that and some sleep it shall become my main focus.
Also, first day of winter is tomorrow. Oh autumn, I barely knew ye! And then there's Christmas. And then New Year's Eve and Day. Goodness. Well, Happy Holidays. I'll be back with regular posts and essays mid January.
I ended up working almost until closing, so I didn't get home until it was after midnight. Then I ate, watched some television, and passed out only to come to sometime in the mid morning on Saturday to realize that I had work again.
I realize that I am very much the wimp. Anything dubbed "work" that does not involve me and Mendel or Charlie for hours tires me so easily that it becomes unimaginable in my mind. So, thank you to those workers who go through the daily grind, because when this seasonal stint ends I'm not sure if I can go back even if I'm asked.
Also, I am sure that I haven't mentioned either Charlie or Mendel on here before. Charlie is my guitar, Mendel is one of my laptops [Kelly is the older, nearly dead, one], and in case you're into very lame science jokes, Gregor [my phone] is the counterpart to Mendel. For me, naming things helps me remember where they are and with the exception of Kelly they are always named after a scientist, discoverer, philosopher (ask me about my flash drives), or some character/writer.
So, speaking of unpaid work that involves Mendel, I've started writing something new, if only to distract myself so I don't over edit the other projects that are finished for now. So for now that shall become my main focus. Well, not right now, because right now the hunger is really getting to me and I must eat. But after that and some sleep it shall become my main focus.
Also, first day of winter is tomorrow. Oh autumn, I barely knew ye! And then there's Christmas. And then New Year's Eve and Day. Goodness. Well, Happy Holidays. I'll be back with regular posts and essays mid January.
03 December 2009
Waiting
Oh New York, you disappoint me so.
In other news...Well, this isn't actually news so much as me talking about waiting as I said I would in Tuesday's post.
Now, I know a fair bit about the publishing business, but all in the theoretical sense. I'm unpublished as far as fiction is concerned. Once a poem of mine was submitted to be included in a student anthology in high school, but the teacher had missed the deadline. Aside from that, every work of mine that has ever reached the eyes of others has been either in newsprint or on the internet, the former being the more legitimate of the two.
I've been in the newspaper a number of times, always in the Local section of course. There was one time just over a year ago that a short column of mine was published in a county wide newspaper. Mainly though it was through the school paper that I got any real writing discipline.
Journalism II was fast paced and there was always a sense of urgency whenever the deadline was looming. I know how to plan ahead to meet any deadline now so I'm not scrambling at the last moment, and I basically learned all of that from Journalism II. Sure, I would set deadlines for myself before, but when I didn't meet them there were no consequences. If I didn't meet my deadline there then my story didn't run and I probably wouldn't be able to write another assignment similar as I would have labeled myself as unreliable.
True, sometimes the paper itself didn't meet it's deadline, but I did my best to make sure that I was never a contributor to that.
There was however a certain time that it wasn't so fast paced and all hustle and bustle. That time was known as the time in between issues. It could be viewed as both the best and the worst time. It was the best because you got to catch up and relax. The tension wasn't on. It was that much needed breath before another plunge into that ocean known as Deadline. It was the worst because after a while it got boring. Waiting became the enemy. All you wanted to do is just write something for the new issue. When that break became a painfully stagnant period no amount of gossip or casual conversation could take my mind off of what was next.
Not knowing the exact when of things drives me nuts.
So, naturally, I want to get involved in publishing.
Publishing is full of waiting. So far I'm on the unpublished side, as previously stated. I'm also on the unagented side, which is a little bit worse, but either way, it happens. I know you're supposed to query agents and then wait for their replies. And then if one offers representation you're supposed to wait and think it over, so as not to make any rash decisions. Once you accept an offer you're supposed to wait until they find an editor for it and then you have to wait because you're doing more revisions. Once it's the best it can be you have to wait to have it sold. Once that happens you have to wait for it to be actually published. Of course other non waiting things like publicity and marketing happen in there, but waiting is a major factor.
So far I've waited a lot. Not nearly as much as some, but still a significant amount of time. Waiting blows. I have my query up to the standards that I think is accurately representative of my writing capabilities and the story's plot. I have the story in as close a place to the final incarnation as I could get to on my own. Now it's the holidays almost, which is the quite possibly the worst time to query. So, I'm waiting until half way into the first month of the New Year until I send it out.
For now I am content to say that the book is finished. I just have to wait to do anything with it.
Oh New York, you disappoint me so.
In other news...Well, this isn't actually news so much as me talking about waiting as I said I would in Tuesday's post.
Now, I know a fair bit about the publishing business, but all in the theoretical sense. I'm unpublished as far as fiction is concerned. Once a poem of mine was submitted to be included in a student anthology in high school, but the teacher had missed the deadline. Aside from that, every work of mine that has ever reached the eyes of others has been either in newsprint or on the internet, the former being the more legitimate of the two.
I've been in the newspaper a number of times, always in the Local section of course. There was one time just over a year ago that a short column of mine was published in a county wide newspaper. Mainly though it was through the school paper that I got any real writing discipline.
Journalism II was fast paced and there was always a sense of urgency whenever the deadline was looming. I know how to plan ahead to meet any deadline now so I'm not scrambling at the last moment, and I basically learned all of that from Journalism II. Sure, I would set deadlines for myself before, but when I didn't meet them there were no consequences. If I didn't meet my deadline there then my story didn't run and I probably wouldn't be able to write another assignment similar as I would have labeled myself as unreliable.
True, sometimes the paper itself didn't meet it's deadline, but I did my best to make sure that I was never a contributor to that.
There was however a certain time that it wasn't so fast paced and all hustle and bustle. That time was known as the time in between issues. It could be viewed as both the best and the worst time. It was the best because you got to catch up and relax. The tension wasn't on. It was that much needed breath before another plunge into that ocean known as Deadline. It was the worst because after a while it got boring. Waiting became the enemy. All you wanted to do is just write something for the new issue. When that break became a painfully stagnant period no amount of gossip or casual conversation could take my mind off of what was next.
Not knowing the exact when of things drives me nuts.
So, naturally, I want to get involved in publishing.
Publishing is full of waiting. So far I'm on the unpublished side, as previously stated. I'm also on the unagented side, which is a little bit worse, but either way, it happens. I know you're supposed to query agents and then wait for their replies. And then if one offers representation you're supposed to wait and think it over, so as not to make any rash decisions. Once you accept an offer you're supposed to wait until they find an editor for it and then you have to wait because you're doing more revisions. Once it's the best it can be you have to wait to have it sold. Once that happens you have to wait for it to be actually published. Of course other non waiting things like publicity and marketing happen in there, but waiting is a major factor.
So far I've waited a lot. Not nearly as much as some, but still a significant amount of time. Waiting blows. I have my query up to the standards that I think is accurately representative of my writing capabilities and the story's plot. I have the story in as close a place to the final incarnation as I could get to on my own. Now it's the holidays almost, which is the quite possibly the worst time to query. So, I'm waiting until half way into the first month of the New Year until I send it out.
For now I am content to say that the book is finished. I just have to wait to do anything with it.
01 December 2009
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Weblog
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Weblog
Long story short: too much work, not enough sleep, and a fender bender as a result of the other driver.
I have to work tomorrow too, almost right after school.
Anyway, it is raining now and it is supposed to keep on for the next few days. The good news is that I get to wear my wet weather gear.
The only bad news I can see is that I didn't have time to read all of my library books and they go back tomorrow. I've already renewed them, and since they're from the school I can't keep them over break. Also, since I'm wide awake now and still have some things to take care of I probably will be running strictly on caffeine and that wonderful beast known as car sleep.
Another thing, I kind of forgot that it was the holiday season and December first, meaning Unofficial NaNoQuery Day. I almost lost my mind and sent out the query for my non NaNo manuscript. I've finished all the revisions on it that I've wanted to and it's to the point that I can't do anything else to it without input from an outside source. I haven't found a critique group and everyone I've asked to look at it has agreed to, but hasn't looked at it. It's annoying. I'm kind of leary of posting any of it online for online critique groups, and that won't change. So that only leaves me with that one step. And I need to wait to send it out until at least the new year.
I hate waiting, but I'll write more on that on Thursday.
Long story short: too much work, not enough sleep, and a fender bender as a result of the other driver.
I have to work tomorrow too, almost right after school.
Anyway, it is raining now and it is supposed to keep on for the next few days. The good news is that I get to wear my wet weather gear.
The only bad news I can see is that I didn't have time to read all of my library books and they go back tomorrow. I've already renewed them, and since they're from the school I can't keep them over break. Also, since I'm wide awake now and still have some things to take care of I probably will be running strictly on caffeine and that wonderful beast known as car sleep.
Another thing, I kind of forgot that it was the holiday season and December first, meaning Unofficial NaNoQuery Day. I almost lost my mind and sent out the query for my non NaNo manuscript. I've finished all the revisions on it that I've wanted to and it's to the point that I can't do anything else to it without input from an outside source. I haven't found a critique group and everyone I've asked to look at it has agreed to, but hasn't looked at it. It's annoying. I'm kind of leary of posting any of it online for online critique groups, and that won't change. So that only leaves me with that one step. And I need to wait to send it out until at least the new year.
I hate waiting, but I'll write more on that on Thursday.
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