New Design

I finally decided to try to do something with the layout. So, instead of being all white, and instead of having a mainly black and white banner (which I did have at one point), I've got this blue background for posts, that yellow image background for the page, and that blue and yellow banner which I made myself. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of proud about it.

The thing about blogger is that the whole coding isn't what I'm used to. I used to be really proficient in HTML, particularly CSS and style sheets. I haven't really done stuff like for real since I was a freshman in high school, but I saved most of the codes. And, well, that's not exactly how blogger does things, so it's was kind of a pain figuring everything out. I know it looks kind of crummy and I could've just used a template instead of doing it myself, but whatever. PRIDE, man.

Speaking of pride, Independence Day is tomorrow and seeing as it's a federal holiday, that means I won't have class on Monday. One small victory. On the news this morning they were warning about the dangers of small fireworks. They talked about three year olds getting third degree burns from sparklers and grown men getting their eyes shot out by bottle rockets.

The news didn't say much after that, on any channels. Aside from some coverage about the oil spill, it doesn't seem like very much is going on. I kind of wish that I liked sports so I could at least watch the world cup, but I actually really hate soccer. The score is always like 2-1. And currently the news is "reporting" on viral internet videos. Wow.

I hate summer. It's too hot and nothing's on but Sister, Sister reruns on the Gospel Music Channel, which means that they block out words like butt, bra, darn, dang, heck, oh my god, and the like (but they still show on captions). This turns statements like, "Get the heck out of here," sound like, "Get the --ck out of here." And I'm pretty sure that you can figure out how my brain translates that sentence.

I know that they tout themselves as a "family channel", but if Sister, Sister is so raunchy for them that they have to have frequent blank spaces, then why even show it? I mean, I can understand the darns, dangs, and hecks--even though I think that's extreme, I can get that--but butt and bra? That just seems silly since everyone has a butt (except in extreme cases) and a good portion of the adult population wears a bra.

But still, I love this show and this is the only channel that shows it. Plus, it's summer and nothing else is on. Unless I want to listen to the anchors on the news try to figure out what fractal geometry is all about.

Dates

I know I'm a little late on this, but September 14th? September 14th? I have to wait until mid September in order to get Glee: Volume 2, Road To Regionals!? It is a travesty.

The only consolation is that ABC Family is showing Boy Meets World in the morning and Fox is supposedly showing re-runs all summer. I have yet to catch one of these alleged re-runs, but that is mainly a result of my failing and poor schedules.

But, yeah. I finally decided to look it up on Amazon and I'm half tempted to pre-order it and half tempted to wait until more people pre-order it because I think that'll make the price go down.

Anyway.

Summer has officially started which means that the temperatures are rising. The heat index is just baffling. Why is the world allowed to get this hot? It's unbearable and I stay inside most of the time. So now, in addition to autumn, Glee is a reason for summer to just end right now.

Meanwhile, maybe that oil spill will be taken care of by summer's end. On the news right now they're talking about the effect this is having on the Vietnamese-American community in the gulf, which is apparently a mainly fishing/shrimping/etc employed community. Also, the ticker says that Senator Byrd died. He was ninety-two. The ticker says that the cause of death is not yet know. I say that, hello, he was ninety-two. The average US life expectancy is seventy-six.

But yeah, back to that oil spill thing.

Setting aside that it was ridiculous that it even happened, there's all these families that no longer have any work because of it. And, you know, this probably isn't helping the unemployment rate any, but it does shine some light on human nature over all.

Most everybody gets angry when things like that happen, which they rightfully should, but then the interesting thing is what they choose to do afterward. Some people get really hopeless and give up, but then other people still have a peppy, hopeful attitude in spite of it all. Such attitudes are not only inspiring, but necessary.

And they're not just necessary in particularly trying times, but at all times. The peppy part can go, but the hopeful part must stay. Because, really, if no one has any hope in anything then they aren't getting anywhere.

Anyway, that's the end of me and the sappy stuff. I've got another episode of Boy Meets World to watch ["Everybody Loves Stuart" for anyone whose interested] along with breakfast and a long day of writing ahead of me if I don't fall asleep first.

Customer Service

Yesterday I bought a CD and brought it home and didn't open it until today (there is no reason why, other than I was very sleepy).

Today, I opened it. It had a lyric sheet, but it was otherwise empty.

The CD was not in there. I was kind of shocked/angered. I have never bought an album before and the disk just not be there.

Luckily, customer service exist. I thought there might be some sort of problem with exchanging it, because, you know, it simply wasn't there, but it was surprisingly easy.

Now, sleep is calling...even though it's only a quarter past five.

Pre-Ordering

So, I pre-ordered this one album [which is out in stores today] and it should get here in the next three to four days. Well, at least according to the e-mail I got. Initially, I was told it would get here in mid June.

Every time I pre-order something, it gets here after I could have already bought it in a physical store. Every time I wonder if it's worth it. Yet, every time I find myself doing it again. I used to tell myself I could stop anytime I wanted, but I'm starting to wonder if that's entirely true.

Also, found some old records in the garage. I knew that some were still there, but I knew most of them got thrown out when I moved. The bad news is that the soundtrack to Oklahoma! was broken in one place. Other casualties include "Green Eyes" by Jimmy Dorsey and "Garibaldi's Hymn" by Enrico Caruso.

The survivors include American Summer by The Beach Boys (which is also in packaging wrap), an album called Sisyphus by a band called Cold Blood, the soundtrack to Godspell, and the soundtrack to Hair.

I haven't gone through them all and still lack a record player, but I am hoping to soon rectify both of those problems.

Because, really, what good is summer without any music?

Also, unrelated [well, kind of]: Glee is having their finale tonight. I am both excited and sullen. At first I was all, "YAY! It's the finale!" then I was like, "Aw, that means it's over for the season. Boo!" But, it will be back, so there is hope.

Yesterday & Today

Yesterday I was going to write, but I spent all day reading things on the internet, like random facts and such. Also, I perused random tumblrs and spent a good amount of time listening to music.

I also voted.

And it rained today. It was hot and the air was thick and my back hurts more than it has in a while.

But at the same time, I'm really happy. Even though I have some serious cleaning to do, even though I have some serious organizing to do, even though I have school tomorrow, and many more even thoughs.

My nails are clean and I'm freezing cold. It's always like this at night. It's time for me to go to bed, but it seems the closer it gets to sleep that more awake I become and my head just buzzes with ideas. Thank you music, no sarcasm there, I promise. Tomorrow [read: later today] should be promising.

I've got brand new yellow towels and an excuse to get a new bath rug. Hello Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

Death

Gary Coleman died yesterday and he was forty-two. I think it was a brain hemorrhage or something, but don't quote me on that [this is me being too lazy to use Google]. Then today Dennis Hopper died and he was seventy-four and it was because of cancer. If it's true or not, it seems like there have been a lot of people I know of dying this year, and last year now that I think of it.

Oh, I finished editing that rewrite I did, and that was pretty cool. I was super happy about it, but now the original high has worn off and I'm onto trying to work out something else, as far as plot and setting are concerned.

Also, I'm kind of getting into summer mode. Mainly, all that means is lounging around because it's too hot to do anything else. Ah, summer. The heat, the humidity, the long break from school--oh wait, scratch that last one. I'm going to school year round now. I did get my schedule for next quarter though, and I've class only two days a week, so that's kind of a win in my opinion.

Back to...well, not work, but something like it.

It's Alive!

I spent pretty much the whole day shopping and riding in the car. The first part of the day I was listening to like a podcast that was two and half hours long and then I went out. I bought a really cool outfit, light yellow and stormy sky blue is the color scheme. I really like it, because since they're on opposites of the color wheel they complement each other.

I bought "Glee: The Power Of Madonna" by the Glee cast and "What Is Love?" by Never Shout Never. Love them both. I was going to buy "Congratulations" by MGMT, but that'll have to wait for another day. Still, I can't get "Flash Delirium" out of my head.

Time to attempt some sleep. I've got class in a few hours. And a test I think. I really need to get on that and stop being blindsided by music and television and writing. And reading. I've been doing loads of that lately too.

Ill

I have been so sick lately that it's ridiculous.

I hope it clears up before summer, because at the rate it's going it isn't looking like it.

Originality

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.

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...