Ha Ha! I kept my word. It's Monday and I have a post. It's a relatively short post, but I have one because I'm trying, and isn't that what really matters?
So, I was out on my walk when I came up with an idea that will help me keep up with some kind of schedule. Back when my brother was on a naval vessel in the middle of the ocean, I used to collect things and interesting tidbits that he might find humorous or informative in a word document. When he called home, I could tell him all about it or I would just print everything out and send it to wherever he was stationed. One of my walks reminded me of this and I decided I could do that for my posts. I always think of things to write during the week, but never remember come whatever day it is I decide to post, in this case every Monday. So I figure, why not write in a doc every day and then edit and post every Monday afternoon. Seems like a plan. Let’s see if it works. Well, it already hasn’t because I didn’t write down anything from that day or the day after and I had a very interesting dream that I think would’ve been a good read that I didn’t write about either. All of that information wasted, lost to the abyss that is my mind. It’s okay, though. Lesson learned. I can keep track of my thoughts later. In the interest of saying something helpful, I'll say that you shouldn't forget to look after yourself. Take care of your body, watch what you eat, exercise, and drink plenty of water. I say this because I had to visit the dentist today and I was afraid that I wasn't controlling my sugar levels again and that I was going to have to lose another tooth. I've already lost four. It's not enough to brush and floss when your own saliva is eating away at your enamel. I didn't lose that tooth, though. Turns out that whatever is wrong with that tooth needs a cap not a filling. It was sort of like a wake up call in that I've been slacking in my nutritional and physical needs. It's kind of difficult, you know. The body needs a rest day so the muscles can do their thing, but the trouble with a rest day is that it's even harder to get moving when the rest period is over. I think I write the same way, like when I get an idea in my head, I'll keep going until I'm done with that thought and then I'll take a rest day and won't write again until I force me to do it. Something like that. Just take care of yourself. You want all your teeth for as long as you can keep them. Inspire, motivate, believe. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Two in a row?! What's gotten into me? I know, weird. It's fine, though. I just wanted to share a bit of information. One is that I want to try and make Monday my regular blog day. Yes, I tried that before and it didn't work, but if I've learned anything in life it's that proceeding even after failure is how you progress and become better. Failure is the best teacher in the world. So I'm going to try again. Probably won't keep up with it this time either, but you know what, I'll still try it again.
Next, I wanted to announce that I'm one of the featured artists of the Luster Lexicon Writer Spectacle. Why didn't I lead with that, you ask? Heck if I know. You should go check it out here. I'll warn you that this is going to be an unusually long post. I wanted to do half of it last week and then the rest of it this week, but, I mean, you see how that went, it didn't. It's kind of amazing how one little weekend can wear a person out. I don't see how some people do all the things they do over a weekend and go work on Monday morning like it was nothing. But for the people like me who sit around most of the time and maybe clean up a room or mow the lawn, an action packed weekend is extremely tiring. So now you're asking what did I do that got me so tired last weekend. I went to see Jacksepticeye in Albuquerque. Now you're probably asking how one little trip up the road wore me out as much as it did. With my mom, it's never one little trip up the road, granted I'm the one who wanted to go and since I knew my brother's kids would also like to go, Ma was all set to help make it happen. I needed to drive us 5 hours to the kids, then 3 hours to Albuquerque, and then do it all again in reverse when it was over. I should’ve written as I went, but that’s not advisable when you’re driving, especially around sharp turns in the mountains. Now I can't just start the story in Albuquerque, I had to go get my brother's kids first. They live about 300 miles away, and being late August, they're back in school. So the trip had to go quickly. We had to have them back Sunday night so they could be up and bragging to their friends Monday morning. Ma and I drove 5 hours to get them Friday afternoon because she just had to watch Days of Our Lives first. Friday was pretty uneventful. It was just the first 5 hour drive. Nothing eventful happened on the way to the kids so I’ll just start after we took them. Ky always likes to sit up front, I’m guessing because he’s so freaking tall and needs the leg room. Surprisingly enough, that little Hyundai has a lot of space, like I can sit in the back seat and have plenty of room if Ma is driving. On the way to Albuquerque, the car says that it needs an oil change. Well, tough.
Since the last time I've been to the Nuclear Museum, they went and got themselves a time travelling delorean with a flux capacitor. They even have a vest so people can take goofy pics. In case you didn't know, Back to the Future is my all time favorite trilogy. Yes, I love all three. Some people just like the first one and hate the third one for whatever reason, I love them all. Loads of fun to be had for all. From the museum we went to Dion’s for dinner. The people at Dion’s took forever. I should’ve gotten a salad or shared Kyra’s pizza or just gotten a slice all my own, but I wanted enough pizza to eat later in case I got hungry and to take home to put in the freezer, so me, Ky, and Kyra all got our own. She’s so small, I have no idea why she wanted to even try eating four slices. I know she was trying to keep up with Ky, but her brother had a bottomless stomach. On the way to the show, I had to stop by a CVS or Walgreens to get them both something for their stomachs. The pizza gave Ky heartburn and Kyra ended up eating too much. Now, I've mentioned to many a person that Albuquerque has a large amount of Walgreens and CVS stores, one on almost every corner (the other corners have either a bank or a McDonald's except for that one area that has a McDonald's across the street from a bank that's across the street from a Walgreens), but when I was looking for one to get in and out of quickly on my route to get to the Jacksepticeye show, I didn’t see a one. Well, exactly one. Did you know that Kyra has never had Pepto before? She finds it as equally disgusting as I do. Warning: Run on sentences and long paragraphs ahead. I made it down to Central via any other street possible. I hate driving down Central and it’s even worse with the ART addition (Albuquerque Rapid Transit). No one in Albuquerque knows how to drive as it is, now they’ve added more confusion with a bus lane that goes down the center of the road that drivers aren’t allowed to use. Like, can I touch it if I’m turning left? I know I can’t use it as a bus lane, but can I cross over it? How would I turn if a bus is even coming? I don’t get how the damn thing works. No one does. So to avoid more confusion, although I ignore that street most of the time anyway, I went down adjacent streets. Good thing, too. Central was cut off at 3rd and I needed to go to 6th, but it didn’t matter because there’s no parking at the El Rey Theatre. There are a few parking lots in the area, but I kept trying to find close parking for Ma. I should’ve just listened to myself from the start and dropped Ma and the kids off at the theatre and then took the car to the parking garage on 2nd and Gold. That’s like a five block walk or something like that. But I didn’t listen at first, I kept driving around looking. Since I was desperate to get into the line, I eventually said screw it, stopped traffic near the theatre, and kicked everyone out. No one honked which surprised me. I guess we were all in the same boat. I drove off for the garage and when I went in, all of the spots up to at least level 8 were taken. I saw that some of the exit side was open as I was driving up, so I turned off that way to come back down a few levels. I ended up parking on level 4 right by the elevator, but the elevator is way too slow when you’re in a hurry to wait in a line, so I took the stairs. I could’ve come down a few more levels, but I’ve parked close in Wal-mart before and refuse to do that ever again. It’s nearly impossible to get out unless someone wants your spot. That’s the way it was in that garage when the event was over. No one under level 3 could back out because everyone was fighting to get out of the garage. So I race off to the theatre desperate to see my favorite boy do his show. I wanted to see Jack every bit as much as the kids. Ky called me twice while I was on my trek he was so desperate. I’ll get there when I get there. Ma says some guy came around asking what everyone was in line for. She swears that guy was Jack in disguise because he looked and sounded kind of like him, but she wasn’t sure and no one else seemed to be paying attention to him. If I had kicked them out and then parked like I wanted to when we first got there, I would’ve been able to see the guy and tell her if he was Jack or not, but I didn’t because I didn’t listen to myself. There were tiers of pricing for the show. The $110 price was VIP and covered a Q&A session with Jack. Those sold out in seconds. I got the 3rd tier price that would sit us near the stage, but the annoying thing is that they did general seating. After the VIPs were seated and the Q&A was done, everyone else was let inside regardless of the price they paid for a ticket. So the person who paid $49 for a level 4 ticket could sit in the same chair as a person who paid $79 for a level 2 ticket. Those are examples. I honestly don’t remember the exact prices, but you get the point. If you got there early enough, you could sit as close as you wanted. We sat pretty close, but the seats were like card table seats placed side by side. We have more room in the car than we did in that theatre. Whatever, we’re all fans and therefore family. Everyone in Jack’s community is really nice because he wants them to be. It’s weird how kind they are. Well, to be fair, everyone in Albuquerque is generally nice anyway. The room was super hot, probably because it was packed with hot people on a warmish, humid night. The kids wanted some swag and I wanted water so we climbed over the people in the aisle seats to get stuff. The swag line didn’t take that long and the bar with the water was empty. I jumped out of line to get everyone some water and then back in with the kids to get stuff. Now, I had every intention of telling that woman to give me three shirts and everything else the kids wanted, but those kids distracted that idea from my head. They kept saying they didn’t need shirts, well, Kyra kept saying that because she’s a good kid and doesn’t want to spend all of Ma’s money. I told them to get what they wanted, it was okay. I know they were told $25, but I know Ma would let them go over. I got a keychain and a shirt, Kyra got a plush, Ky got a keychain and a pin which averaged out to $25 each but it wasn’t because the shirt itself was $25. I wish I had told them three shirts, but I kept forgetting. I also didn’t get a chance to check the size, because kids kept distracting me and the idea kept leaving my head. I wanted an XL but got a L. It’s okay, though, because the large fits just fine. Ky kept saying he wanted a shirt after the fact. If I didn’t have to crawl all over everyone in the row to do it, I would’ve gone right back up there to get one for him and one for Kyra, but Ma said we’d do it after. The show was hilarious. Since he’s a YouTuber, he started it with a video and then said that he’d come out from behind his screen if we came out from behind ours. He did some poses so we could take pictures, but after that, he requested that we were present. No filming, no more photos, just us and him. He told us a few stories from his childhood that were funny and called some people up on stage to play games. You know, if I listened to myself and parked in that garage right away instead of the 30 minutes of driving around, we would’ve been closer, perhaps on the end of an aisle instead of sardine packed in the middle. Doesn’t matter. I took some pictures of him being an idiot. They’re kind of bad because of the distance and the dark because I didn’t turn my flash back on, but I think they came out pretty good considering. The one’s ma took look worse so I’ve clearly got the better camera. The games he had people play were set up to be inspiring. The kid who played the Pokémon game had to defeat monsters with names like laziness, depression, you know, things that would stop you from action like thinking you can’t do it. The other game was from Shadow of the Colossus. You’re supposed to go around the open world and defeat giant monsters. The guy who did that defeated the monster and when Jack asked him if he felt accomplished, he said “not quite” and called his girlfriend up on stage. The crowd exploded as he took a knee and asked her to marry him. It was so loud in there. Congrats to Jeff and Ashley! He told some more stories designed to make you feel good and like you can accomplish anything after that. He started his channel because he was lonely and liked to play games in some cabin in the woods. Now he’s got over 16 million fans who adore him. He loves to tell people that they can accomplish their dreams if they’re willing to put in the work and be yourself. Good times all around! The show ended so I was ready to go get some shirts, but it was like swimming upstream. I should’ve climbed over the people heading to the aisle again, but Ma was super hot and wanted out, so I led the way. I had a gift for Jack, I wanted to give him a copy of my book with the story of how he inspired me. He looked at his camera with those big, blue eyes, told his viewers “it’s never too late to accomplish your dreams” and “I believe in you.” From there, I started looking for book contests and places to submit short stories. That’s when I found the contest I entered. Jack is the reason my book exists in published form at this point in time because I had given up on myself. Cheesy, sure, but that’s what happened. So I wanted him to have a copy. I didn’t get a chance to look for where people were allowed to leave gifts, so we trekked back to the car. I almost wanted to get the car and come back for Ma, but what a damn hassle. She could walk five damn blocks. She complained the entire time. I was feeling sad because I didn’t give Jack his present. The kids were happy because they got to see the show, but Ky wanted a shirt that I didn’t go back for and I wasn’t giving him mine. Normally, I probably would have, but for some reason I was holding on to my swag tooth and nail. You’d have to kill me to take my shirt from me. I didn’t mind going back for another one, but he wasn’t getting mine. We made it back to the garage. Ma and the kids got on the elevator. That elevator is stupid small so I went up the stairs. Maybe 4 x 6? Stupid small. Kyra wanted to come with me, but Ma made her stay in the elevator. Kyra wanted to come with me a lot. She did get mad at me for not liking pickles, though. She’s all “I thought we were the same, but we’re not.” It was funny. I love that kid. Anyway, I walked up the steps in almost the amount of time it took the elevator. They were at the car when I got to the top. I heard Ma when I was walking up saying she didn’t know where the car was. Ky was all “it’s right here. She said it was near the elevator.” I love that kid too. He’s a bit hyper from time to time and messes with absolutely everything, but I did too at that age. I swear he’s going to be 7 feet. I got out of my spot and let a few others back out because why not. We’re all in this together. I was glad I parked in that garage then because we’d probably still be fighting to get away from the theatre. There was another event in the same area too. They blocked off 3rd to 7th for whatever that event was. It was like a block party, well, a 5 block party. It was all day, though. A lady in line at Jack’s show said she was over there since 2 p.m. before standing in line around 6:15 p.m. That’s around when I kicked everyone out. I wanted to be there super early, which worked out for seating as I already said. Well, what I meant by liking that garage is that we were back at the hotel across town in 18 minutes instead of 18 hours of traffic fighting. Sunday: time to take the kids back to Las Cruces. We had lunch at Tucano’s because I love that place. Sunday brunch at Tucano’s is expensive as hell. They have breakfast items as well as some favorites. I especially found it funny that this Brazilian style restaurant had some tamales that day. A Brazilian experience and some tamales. Made me laugh. I didn’t eat nearly as much as I usually do. I really hate that I couldn’t fit more lobster bisque in my belly. Next time I go, that’s all I’m getting. Two bowls of bisque, some cheese bread, and a bunch of meat. Then it was time to go shopping. I wanted to go to Ross because it’s the only place I’ve seen this lavender soap I like. I found out that I can get some Yardley London brand soap at Wal-Mart, but I got used to getting this giant lavender bar every time I end up in Albuquerque so I went. I also found a giant jug of honey lavender body wash this time. Ma tossed some shirts and her wallet at me then she and Ky walked over to Wal-Mart where Chris was grocery shopping. Kyra kept me company in the line then carried all the bags to the car. I offered to let her slowly coast the car across the parking lot, but she declined because it's technically illegal. She told me that Steph let her play one of those racing games once and Kyra kept using both feet pressing both peddles. I reiterated what she said Steph told her, one foot at a time. We went into Wal-Mart and had to find everyone. I sent her to find Ky while I went to the bathroom. He was actually next to Ma for a change. He’s usually in electronics. Don’t worry, he ended up there. He got a game. Ma got a shirt too. We took Chris home and the kids took up all his groceries while he said his goodbyes to Ma. He hugged those sweet children and then me and we were off. Halfway to Las Cruces, the car message center decided to say that it needed maintenance NOW. Like, are you yelling at me, car? Excuse you. I didn’t stop at all on the way back because I didn’t need to, so ma and Kyra were desperate for a bathroom by the time I stopped just outside Las Cruces city limits. I wanted to stop anyway because the last time I got gas was when we were about to leave Las Cruces for Albuquerque, but we didn’t stop at a gas station I wanted gas from. Ky got snacks, I got a cute little dragon clip and snacks, and Kyra got snacks. It’s like we weren’t mere minutes from their house. I wish Ma or Kyra had told me they needed to stop. I’m fine with it. I’m usually the one that needs to do all the stopping, but I didn’t drink nearly enough water all weekend and it was starting to show. We drop off the kids and stay and chat for a bit before hitting the road. Yes, I drove back home after that. I wasn’t tired and there was a full moon that night, or so I thought. The full moon decided it wanted to stay behind some storm clouds all night. That’s okay, the lights on Ma’s car are really good. I can see the entire road and there were more than two lanes so my eyes could handle it. Ma also picked up some of those special ops night vision glasses at one of our many stops at Wal-Mart. Funny side note, if we stop at a gas station while using the GPS, the car practically throws a fit redirecting, but if we stop at a Wal-Mart while using the GPS, the car barely bats an eyelash. I’m waiting on the car to just start notifying us when a Wal-Mart is nearby and ask if we want to go. “I have detected a Wal-Mart within ten miles. Would you like to go there?” All except that Wal-Mart in Roswell. Not sure what was up with that. I took the relief road and told the car to find Wal-Mart because “find Wal-Mart” and “go home” seem to be the only commands the damn thing recognizes. Sometimes it’ll recognize “call mom, home” but not always. Everything was going fine at first and I think I saw a small grey fox or maybe a baby coyote, I don’t know. The tail was fluffy so I’m more inclined to think fox. The ears were gigantic for its face. We got directions all the way to a stop light. I really only needed the street to turn on, but that’s cool. At the stop light, the GPS wanted me to make a left and then a U-turn. I was like, “why? It’s right there. I missed the truck turn but it’s right there.” I was even pointing like the GPS could see me pointing to the right. Why would I make a left turn and then a U-turn when I can just turn right? So I did. The GPS had a fit. It told me to make a legal U-turn and then make another legal U-turn. Why would I do that? I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and it tried to make me go back out via the truck entrance that I missed and then go back to that light so I can turn left and make a U-turn. Why would I do that? That was the first time that GPS lost its mind in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I rely on that car a lot, probably too much, but all those extra sensors really come in handy in the dark when I can’t see all that great but I actually can see fine because the lights are amazing and I had the night vision glasses. If the moon was out, I would’ve seen just as well as if it were daytime, but like I said, it was hiding behind storm clouds that had some awesome lightning all around me the entire way. What kind of storm just follows a person down the highway but never rains on them? Just drops some rain when I’m inside of a Wal-Mart or two and runs away. Anyway, the car was set to tell me when I left the lane, constantly monitored the blind spots, kept the speed since I set the cruise which also meant that if it detected something in front of me that it would stop itself. The only thing I had to do was steer and I wished it could do that. When I told it to go home, I wanted it to just do everything. We made it home all safe and sound around 12:30 a.m., and then the moon came out. I was so tired and dehydrated on Monday. My fingers looked pruney. I drank a gallon of water and didn’t do much of anything, just some cleaning here and there, taking care of some trash, and paying bills. Tuesday was when I took on all the heavier stuff like mowing the lawn. Hell that’s almost a story with how much I always fight with the grass when it gets too tall. I didn’t cut it the week before so it was due to be cut, and I should’ve done that before we even left, but I just did it then. The mower is self propelled, but only when it feels like it. It’s usually fine in the front yard because the grass isn’t as thick, but it’s getting thicker. Tried to choke the mower a few times. I should’ve gotten the bag so it’s not such a chore for the mower, but then I’d have to stop the mower, walk to the back, get the bag, walk to the front, put the bag on, and then restart the mower, and who has time for that? I just pushed through and then had to sweep up a few piles of grass that I could pick up with my hands. Just the big piles. I left the other clippings to blow themselves back onto the lawn because all the trash in the entire neighborhood ends up on my lawn. Why am I going to go through all that trouble when it’s just going to find a few friends and have a lawn party? I don’t know what animals are bringing the beer, maybe it’s the birds, could be the cats, I doubt it’s the dogs, but they need to learn to clean up after themselves. Everything ends up on my lawn. At least the neighbors stopped their kids from rolling around in it and using my truck as a jungle gym. The backyard was a different story all together. I had to have the bag for that. I didn’t empty it when it was full, though. But it’s an enclosed backyard, I don’t care where large piles of grass clippings fall. I just want it down so I can walk around barefoot in it. So there’s my long story. Started exercising again, but where’s the benefit in that if I keep eating pastry and candy and Taco Bell? Oh, so I may not have had the courage to give Jack my gift in person, but I asked the Universe for some sort of second chance and almost instantly came up with the idea to mail it to his last U.S. venue. They said they’d give it to him if it arrived before Saturday since Monday is a holiday, and according to UPS, it’s there. So here’s hoping that woman didn’t lie to me and he gets it. At least I know I gave it my best shot. It would’ve been a better shot if I just did it at the damn show, but whatever, I needed to learn something, probably. Maybe the lesson had something to do with bravery or intuition or something. Oh, the oil has been changed so it stopped yelling about it and I even took it through the car wash.
During the book signing event, a man came up and talked to me. He was really nice and insanely familiar. He's a photographer with a business in Taos, Eric (with a C). He gave me lots of advice to help me along the way, but more importantly, his kindness and excitement over me, a nobody author, really gave me the feeling that I can do this, that I'm more than capable, and how I should have things like a Square or other company card reader to take payments and have some sort of business card (for me, that would be on a bookmark). Despite everything else he may have said to me, it was the way he made me feel that was most important. I smile just thinking about it. We should all be so nice to others in their endeavors.
What I meant by the title of finding my bravery is that I was afraid of everything before the book was published. I was unsure of what I should be doing for it, and if I did know, I was afraid to carry it out. It was a strange sort of thing to see the book and suddenly feel a strong sense of ownership and compassion. I wanted to do all of the things that I was too afraid to do like call bookstores and find small businesses willing to find space for a book spinner. I still didn't do it, but I'm brave enough to try... almost. I'll get around to it. Encourage beauty in the world, don't squash it. If you have advice for them, give it. If you don't have advice, at the very least tell them what you think in the kindest way possible. It really means a lot for an artist to know the things that they're target audience likes and ways to improve their works. Inspire, motivate, believe. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
I'm not exactly sure when that fear set in (perhaps when the things I started sharing were from my own mind instead of things I liked from someone else's), but a person can't just go around ignoring the need to get something done. If there's a dream you have in your heart, you can't be afraid to try. I was, I still am, but that's not going to stop me.
I heard one of those motivational speakers talking on GMA one morning, DeVon Franklin. He said that we need to get comfortable at being uncomfortable. I wish I took notes or something to share other points, but that was the thing I remembered most. When you're comfortable in a space, you don't advance, you stop trying to improve yourself or do anything toward those goals that you have set in your heart to achieve. You stop caring. Sure, being uncomfortable is... well, uncomfortable, but it keeps you moving. The fear keeps you feeling alive, and maybe those projects that you finish while wanting to feel safe again will make you feel worthwhile, like you've accomplished something important. Work with your anxiety, don't let them work you. At least, that's what I got out of his speech. So, I suppose I can finish this up. I wish I had some good, worthwhile advice to give, and maybe I just did. I never feel like I do. Maybe just knowing that someone else experiences some form of anxiety can be of help, I don't know. My chatty house guest is mumbling to herself and it's breaking my concentration so I'll end as I always do. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I know what you're thinking. "Where have you been?" you wonder, or not. I don't know your wondering habits. As I've said before, I'm consistently inconsistent. I'm not even that consistent on my social media feeds which, I hear, is kind of counterproductive to building my audience. Consistent. That's a funny looking word, consistent. Anyway, so I've got a book signing coming up in August for my upcoming book, "A Warrior's Path." So, you know, yippee! It's strange how all of this rarely seems real. Some days it does and I get all nervous, and other days it seems like a dream and I wish it were real... except, it is real. And then I get all nervous again. So what am I up to besides this? Mostly writing. Okay, mostly staring at an empty word document while the little bar that tells where the words are about to go sits there and flashes impatiently at me. "Um... so are you going to write something?" it asks. "Just gonna stare at me all day or are we going to accomplish something?" And then I click over to my endless source of distraction known as YouTube and forget all about what I was supposed to be doing. Speaking of which, I considered starting a channel. It would be a vlog about what's on my mind. I may talk about my experiences in all this, maybe read a story, maybe show some art projects, was thinking about a puppet soap opera. It's all just thinking at this point. Yes, yes, I've got to start somewhere. First drafts are meant to be total garbage, why would a first ever YouTube video be any different? I'll look into what I have and how I'll accomplish this. And you thought these blogs were a strange stream of consciousness from my weird brain hole. Just wait til you hear the unscripted words fly out of my mouth. When people say that, do you picture actual words flying out of their mouths? Such a strange turn of phrase, just like turn of phrase. Anyway, that's sort of an update on what's going on with me. Writing, entering contests, trying to figure out this marketing thing, ignoring my social media, and thinking. Fortune favors the brave, as they say. Who is this "they" people are always talking about? I should just dive in and see what comes of it. Oh, I almost forgot. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Look how well I keep up with my blog. Have you grabbed your free e-book yet? Just click on the free e-book button and grab one from Instafreebie.com. In any event, I’ve been sitting around making wishes for the fairies to carry out. Did you know that doesn’t work to get things done? But it did help give me some inspiration and ideas for things to write. Of course, having an extremely talkative guest in the house isn’t helping to streamline any sort of creative process. The great thing about being a writer is that you can write about anyone and anything. You can create a character based on that one really annoying, constantly distracting, aggravation in your life, and then just kill them off. Sure your search history of how to hide bodies or ways to kill people and not get caught might send up some red flags, but you’re a writer. Weird search histories go with the title, especially if you write murder mysteries… which I don’t, but if I did, those books would be my reasons if someone showed up at my door wondering why I was trying to poison someone. For my talkative nuisance, I find poetic justice in taping her mouth shut or just having her vocal chords mysteriously disappear. Anyway, I like to take walks every day, usually in the morning. What does this have to do with anything, you ask? Well, sometimes ideas pop in my head as I walk and look at the décor of my neighbors, like this picture I took of some rock formation. I can use this image to write about a mountain with a city hidden inside some of the flatter areas. Maybe a river where the rocks are. I should've got down a little lower for this shot. This is actually how I came up with the way a village in my fantasy novel, “A Warrior’s Path: Rise of a Legend,” looked. (Preorder Now) I wish I could find the picture to show. I’ve been looking through all my files, but it might be on the hard drive of an older laptop I have that decided it didn’t want to start up anymore. In any event, I saw this fountain in a Chinese restaurant and thought it looked really cool. It had houses at different levels and gaps were joined by bridges. The bottom only had one large building and then a few blocked off areas that looked like they could hold crops of some kind. In the base of the fountain were some pretty large koi. I remember looking at that fountain and thinking it would be a good place to train future warriors. People who lived there would need to have pretty impressive stamina to thrive in a place like that. And so I wrote all my ideas down and it became one of the first villages in my fantasy world. If that restaurant still existed, I’d drive back just to take another picture. I’ve taken other pictures that have influenced my world like this one I took in the Albuquerque Zoo. I pretend that a boat was about the size of my hand, and suddenly the rock formations take on a grand nature. I’ve taken pictures of water moving through melting ice and do a similar thing. Water moving down the street takes on a whole new life if you imagine a boat about an inch long were trying to maneuver it without crashing into the ice. Sounds like an exciting adventure to write about. Too bad I haven’t done that one yet. I’ll get around to it. I’ve always take pictures at mini-golf courses. They always seem to have interesting water hazards like at Bob-O’s in El Paso. Would I use a 10 inch doll as my reference for how big the waterfall would be or a smaller doll? I suppose it depends on how grand I want it to seem. All the businesses put something in the water to keep it clean. At Hinkle Family Fun Center in Albuquerque, their cleaner sometimes turns the water blue. I can either factor that into the story, or ignore it altogether. In some places, it looks like it has white stripes in it. Perhaps I can use that as a way to determine how the currents will flow… if I knew anything about sailing currents, but that’s what Google is for. While out on a walk I found a boot. Some people may wonder how that boot got there and if its owner will ever come back for it. Some people may take notice and not care or even give it a second thought. I wondered where its partner was and if it will ever get back to him or her. Is this boot lonely without the other? Did they have a fight? Does it regret the things it said to its other and vice versa? If it did want to get back, how would a lone boot accomplish such a task? Have I gone completely mad to wonder such things? Of course, but life’s more fun that way. Or maybe Disney has ruined me with cartoon shorts about houses, cars, and hats. I love those Silly Symphonies! Artist drawings work to create worlds too. They pour such and devotion into their work creating people and places it sort of seems like cheating to copy them in print. But hey, maybe they also created that drawing from someone else’s work. Artists inspiring artists, so to speak. Who knows. As long as it isn’t like a verbatim sort of line for line copy, and maybe if you thank them for inspiring you and mention the piece that did it, then it won’t be so bad. I don’t know the legalities of it. All I know is that pictures are a great way to inspire something new to spark in your brain no matter if you’ve visited the place and take them yourself or if you just found one online or in a museum that spoke volumes to you.
Well, yappy guest has started talking again and it’s throwing off my train of thought. Probably for the best. This one turned out sort of long. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you want more random streams of consciousness sent directly to your inbox, consider signing up for the newsletter. There are so many things I want to do and learn, but there doesn’t seem time enough to do any of them. I figured that if I focused my energy and made a genuine effort that I could accomplish them all, but it would require some sort of schedule.
I wrote out all the things I wanted to do in a list, things like exercise, writing time, and piano practice. Then I started putting things out in a schedule. It was then I discovered that I could do everything in the course of one day if I stayed up until 2 a.m. and woke up no later than 6:30 a.m. That’s plenty of sleep, right? So instead of trying to do everything at once, I had to make a new schedule that alternates all those things. Some days I’ll work on certain projects and other days I’ll work on relearning how to play a few instruments. I suppose it’s silly to want to cram so many things into one day, but you only have one life. The problem is that when I have too much to do, I end up not doing any of it, so the whole idea of that schedule was counterproductive and I’m back to doing things the old way of squeezing in the things I want to do in whatever amount of time I have. Despite my own experience, scheduling really comes in handy. Life really gets in the way but you can get so much done if spend a little time mapping out your day and seeing where something you want to do can fit. If it’s really important, you’ll make time for it. Never give up on your dreams. Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you want more random streams of consciousness sent directly to your inbox, consider signing up for the newsletter. HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! I had a blast of a weekend celebrating my friend’s birthday. We went to the Chinese Cultural Center in Albuquerque to see the Chinese New Year presentation. It’s always such a joy to watch. At one point, one of the guys started waving a flag around and the wind kicked up. It was pretty cool since the wind hadn’t been that high all day and it stopped after he was done with his part in the show. I especially love watching the dragon fly. Then we went out to play some mini golf at Hinkle Family Fun Center. It was such a beautiful day. I got the highest score which means I won, right? I love the water hazards around the area. Whatever it is they’re using in to keep the water sanitary creates interesting effects that give me ideas for story locations. That was a lot of images. It's gonna make this next bit seem empty, but it's a bit of a rant.
So, we couldn’t end the day without an awesome dinner. We headed out to Tucanos Brazilian Restaurant. We expected a wait, especially since our friend who lives in Albuquerque didn’t make a reservation like he said he would and we went just before 6pm. We waited the hour we were told. Then one hour turned into two. The only people they were seating were couples. Even groups of four with reservations were seated after couples who just walked in off the street. Table after table was filled with couples. A large group of ten walked out and then they called five more couples. Somewhere in the second hour they started to sit groups of something other than two. They still favored the couples, but they finally started seating the families of say four or more. A group of five here, a group of eleven there, a few more couples and groups of four, but nothing for a group of three. Somewhere near the end of the second hour going into the third, I finally got up to inquire about our table. I don’t want to be that evil person I used to be anymore, and I’ve been doing very well for about three years now. This situation threatened to throw all of that out the window. I tried my absolute best to be nice. I told them that I was starting to get dizzy but the hostess just brushed me off saying that they were behind and there were a few tables ahead of us. All I could think was that if there were only two of us instead of three that we would’ve eaten and been on our way already. I was angry that we had to wait so long. I was angry because their stamp is only good for two hours in the parking garage. I was angry that we stayed. And I wanted to strangle that hostess with my bare hands. At least I would get food in jail. It wouldn't be good food, or enough food, but it would almost be edible, and if I got sick they would just let me die because it's cheaper than treating me. I can go off on another entire rant on privatized prisons, but I won't do that now. So why did I stay? I kept thinking that the next time would be the one, that we would be called to eat any second now because of how long we’d been there. I held out on hope that it was our turn next. By the start of the third hour, I was too shaky and dizzy to drive anywhere anyway. I may have crashed the car. Needless to say, I decided that would be the last time I ate at one of our favorite restaurants. Somewhere in the middle of the third hour after the lobby looked to be damn near empty of people, we were finally called up and seated at a severely wobbly table. I think one couple claimed someone else’s table for four saying the other two people were late because they had two perfectly good chairs next to them when we finally got in. I didn’t wait for the waiter to get my drink order. I told my friends to get me a Pepsi whenever the waiter deigned to show himself and I rushed through the salad bar faster than I’ve ever been through a salad bar. When I got back to the table, my friends were gone. I started eating almost before I sat down. Two bites in and there was a Pepsi in front of me followed by one of my two friends coming to sit down. Finally able to eat, I’m pretty sure I ate it entirely too fast. I went through my salad, ate almost all the meat brought to the table moments after it hit my plate, and seriously considered drinking the lobster bisque straight out of the bowl. The spoon just slowed me down. During our crazy feeding frenzy, the manager stopped by the table and apologized. I didn’t acknowledge him. I was far too angry and far to hungry to care that he existed. He left and a few moments later came back around to tell us he would comp the table. After he left, it registered in my brain what he said. We sort of looked at each other. The entire table? I thought maybe a discount at the least, one free meal at best, but the entire table for free?! What sort of crazy lunacy was this? He just wanted us to tip our waiter. Feed me good food and I'll be your best friend. Feed me really good food for free and I'll love you forever. All was forgiven. I’ll probably eat there again, just not on a holiday weekend for dinner without a reservation. The whole ordeal got me thinking about stuff in life. Is it worth the wait? Sometimes you have to wait for stuff to happen. You have to work hard and then wait for the results. In everything you do, in everything you hope for, is it worth the wait? When I finally started eating that good food, lobster bisque is my favorite, it was almost worth the wait. The fact that eating so fast upset my stomach to the point that I was ready to throw it all up sort of took that love for the place down a few pegs. I suppose two hours is worth the wait, but three is definitely not unless I ate something before I went to the restaurant, and who does that? Are the things you’re after worth the work that you’re putting into it or are you only after instant gratification? In hindsight, I sort of wish we added some dessert to our non-existent tab, but we ate too much sugar that day already and after finally getting some food in my belly it seemed like taking advantage of a strange situation. I suppose there are people out there who would have gladly piled stuff onto that bill, but none of us are those kinds of people. It just feels wrong somehow. Anyway, Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you want more random streams of consciousness sent directly to your inbox, consider signing up for the newsletter. As I’ve said in the past, I like to give my characters a serious interrogation so I can get to know them better. Sometimes a little note page is fine in order to get a feel for how they would react in certain situations. But there are times when I need to really give them a grilling, especially if they’re the cryptic type who always likes to answer questions with more questions or the cool type who doesn’t always like to show who they really are. My standard list of questions is a little over 100 questions, but with follow ups questions that come to mind while in the midst of the interrogation, it can easily escalate to 200. Talk about being thorough with a fictional person. Knowing as much as I can about these characters really gives me some insight into how and why they do the things they do and helps me to (hopefully) create a more realistic personality. There are times when I answer the questions in their voice. In those times, I have to make a little side note to answer the question because the character himself refuses to tell me. One time I asked a character how old he was. His answer was “old enough to be wise but not so wise as to be a fool.” Or when I asked him about his favorite season and he told me that “Seasons change. Each one is different than the one before. How can one pick a favorite if they are never the same?” That character is extremely cryptic, but he’s cryptic because he’s very private. He learned early in life that not everyone can be trusted. He doesn’t always reveal to me what those lessons were, but even with his cryptic nature, I still know more than anyone else ever will and that’s really the point of the interrogation. As much as I’d love to share his entire interrogation (his answers are some of my favorites), he’s not in anything completed yet. Instead, I’ll share information about another of my favorites who exists in the same world from the upcoming novel A Warrior’s Path: Rise of a Legend. It’s just a few of the questions that I have standard along with a few follow ups, but I really find them to be helpful and sort of wish I did this with all of my characters. I suppose I can learn from this and just do it more often going forward. What is your name?
Hadrien Anai Odin Lefaite Is that your full name? It is the name I will give you and only name I claim What color are your eyes? How trivial, brown What color is your hair? brown What holidays do you celebrate? Celebrations are overrated Do you need corrective eyewear? My vision is just fine Do you walk with a limp or a cane? Do you see a cane? What is your favorite season? Autumn. It’s when Arnolis saved me That’s the first time you’ve been open with me. Arnolis means a lot to you. Who is he? My father Biological? What does that matter, nosy girl? He is my father. Tell me about your biological father? What’s there to tell? He was an abusive, overbearing man incapable of love for anyone with magic. And your mother? (moment of silence) She was… the most wonderful woman I’ve ever known Do you have any siblings? Not anymore. I couldn’t control my magic and he was lost, presumed dead. That’s very sad. Arnolis helped me control my powers so I wouldn’t kill anyone else. Ever cried over a girl before? Back to trivial matters, are we? At this point in time, no. Do you like to read? If it’s required of me Do you have any tattoos or piercing? A permanent disfigurement? Not one of my choosing. But you do have a disfigurement? Only the one my biological father gave me when he cut into my chest What is your favorite flower? You have a strange line of questioning. Are you tired of hearing of my pain? Very well. Daisies. Who would you like to see right now? My mother and brother How old are you? Older than I was when Arnolis rescued me Ever been in love? Not at this point, but plenty of women love me Where are you from? Not here Are you hiding from something/someone? I would think that question answers itself after hearing about my biological father What do you always carry with you? A blue stone What do you have handy at your bedside? My sword What make you unique? I have a very powerful magic It’s easy to see how much information I can get from my characters even with questions they refuse to answer. I already know Hadrien’s full name even though he doesn’t always tell people what it is. I also know why he refuses to claim his full name, a clue revealed in his feelings towards his biological father. Other questions are things that I ask about favorites, fears, military service, stuff like that. The questions don’t always transfer to every time period, but sometimes it’s fun to ask them anyway just to see what kind of response I get. I can post my entire list if it’s helpful to anyone. Let me know. And because I seem to be ending all of my blog posts this way… Let’s all work together to make a better world. We can be each other’s cheerleader. We all rise together. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you want more random streams of consciousness sent directly to your inbox, consider signing up for the newsletter. |
AuthorYA Fantasy author and amateur photographer living in New Mexico. A reflection of herself, her characters are timid at first but tend to stand up and push through when times get tough. Archives
April 2020
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