Random Ramblings: Da-Doo

Shivering: I rather would have cold weather than I would having it unbearably hot. But then I would like to live in a place that has a decent furnace. Our place gets soooo cold. It is nice in the summer because it stays pretty cool most of the time. We finally turned on our heater the other day after trying to go through days without it on.

Watching Part 1: Speaking of shivering. I watched the 2nd episode of the Walking Dead. I cannot recommend this show enough if you like your TV a bit spooky.

Writing: You are going to see this every Random Rambling I do. The Nanowrimo competition starts this Tuesday and I am looking forward to cranking out the first couple thousand words. Reaching 50,000 words really is not that bad when you average out how many words you should do a day. You need to do 1,667 words a day, I like to do more on an average because I like to take Sundays off from writing. Seriously, if you can blog for 365 days in a row, this is a walk in the park!

Meeting: I am meeting with my writer's group here in a couple of hours. Unfortunately I cannot stay to long but I look forward to getting some motivation going.

Watching Part II: Last night Kristy and I went and saw a production of "Little Shop of Horrors" put on by Utah State University. Now I love the movie a lot and I absolutely love the music. But I have not seen the original Broadway musical. This production was set in this small and tight theatre and it was a blast. We sat only a few rows from the stage and I was amazed at how detailed this small production was. The sets and costumes were absolutely perfect and the plant was surprisingly detailed and animated. It actually felt like it was its own person. I know an actor was in the plant giving its motion but the plant felt like it had its own emotion. I won't spoil the ending here if you have not seen the musical and have only seen the movie. It is a lot darker than the movie but a whole lot more entertaining. I would love to see this again.



Singing: Last Sunday I joined the Logan Community Choir with a friend of mine. He asked if I like to sing Christmas songs (which I love to do) and said that this choir is a lot of fun. We sat in the tenor section and I was overwhelmed. Luckily we were sitting by a guy that knew the music. I am really looking forward to tomorrow's session when we are introduced to a couple of new songs that we will perform. Last Sunday we started to learn "Still, Still, Still", "The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy" and the main chorus from the Messiah. Tomorrow we learn some sort of song heavily influenced by gospel music and he expects us to dance and really go to town. Should be a lot of fun.

The Plot Bunny

Today I met with some other Nanowrimo writers at the local Hastings.

I like to meet new people but I do find myself incredibly shy at times. And I honestly don't want to share my stories, I guess I am paranoid in my old age. We have a nice little group of writers and I am looking forward to hearing their experiences with writing. Hopefully it will motivate me when I get behind or when I am at a loss for words.

One of the members of the group gave me a real cute homemade Plot Bunny. A Plot Bunny is the term some groups of writers give to the little ideas that start off big stories. Basically, a Plot Bunny gives you a small idea and it reproduces... ...like a bunny. These little creatures will not rest until you write what they are telling (begging) you to write. Even if has nothing to do with your story, or it goes in a direction you don't think it should go, this bunny will eat at you until you do. Some just come right up and tell you what to write, some just carefully weave its way into your novel.

I just need a name for my Plot Bunny. Any ideas?

Random Ramblings: *Insert Title Here*

Blogging: It seems that I just don't have enough to blog about anymore. These Random Ramblings blogs cover most of the stuff that happens to my family and I. I want to blog more, I just don't know what else to say aside from the column and my NFL-inspired blogs. I might have to resort to mission stories or comic book stuff.

Listening: For some reason the Phantom of the Opera has been calling my name. That was the first major musical I saw and from the moment I heard the music, I loved it. It also takes me back to my college days with my friend Lared where we would crank this out in the car and sing. And I usually would do Christine's part and surprisingly I could hit a lot of her notes. Now I didn't say that I sounded good but at least I could hit them!

Surveying: I know I have been pimping this out a lot lately but it really works. Since June, I have made a little over in $200 worth of Amazon gift codes. I just recently placed an order for the Queen Boxset #3, which I paid NOTHING for. It comes out in a few weeks and I am giddy with anticipation.

Singing: Speaking of singing and music, I was invited to join a community choir. They are setting up a Christmas program and they even have a baritone section! I am thrilled to be invited and I hope it is a lot of fun. It should be since we are singing Christmas music. But I hope it continues past the Christmas season.

Eating: One of the tastiest coconut-cream donuts EVER! Just thought you would all like to know.

Reading: I am plowing through my collection of spooky/horror comics and I am almost halfway through my Hellboy collection. By Yoda, I love these books. I highly recommend this set of books. The art has a spooky atmosphere and the writing is top-notch. What I really love about these books are the various folk stories from all over the world which he investigates. The strange other-worldly fairy tales and legends really make for some spooky and funny moments. If you liked the movie, you will love the books. Seriously, check them out! They are available not just in comic book form, you can also pick them up in bound tradepaperback editions and I am sure you can find them at your local library.

The Wolves of St. August, The Corpse and the Iron Shoes, the Conqueror Worm and Darkness Falls are some of my favorite Hellboy tales.

Plotting: I am getting really eager to start writing for the NaNoWriMo competition. This will be the third year in a row for me and I cannot recommend it enough. Seriously, if you have any desire to do some writing, you should check this out and try it. It is extremely rewarding. You know who I am talking to! I am meeting up with a couple of local writers this Saturday to chat and plot our novels. Should be fun!

Cheering: Logan and his football team got their first win last night in a blowout. Logan had to block against this huge kid and did really well. They definitely played like a team last night and it was fun to watch. Logan definitely like defense and he is pretty good at snatching flags. We only have two more games.

Logan and his small team. We are missing three kids. One quit, one is a bit flaky and one broke his arm.

An action shot. Not sure who that is. So let's pretend it is Logan.

Watching: I watched one of the saddest things yesterday. I watched an ESPN E:60 special on professional wrestler Scott Hall. He was always one of my favorites and it was extremely sad to see him in such condition. Have you seen the movie The Wrestler? This guy is living it. So sad, I really wish I could do something.

Watching Part II: The season premiere of the Walking Dead. Holy crap, the first thirty minutes was fantastic. I must have bitten off all my nails! I know (mostly) what is going to happen since I read the comics but seeing it in full color (the comic is in black and white) and hearing the sounds really make a huge difference in how scary it is. I am surprised at the amount of gore is allowed for this TV show but I cannot see it any other way. I look forward to the rest of the season.

The Write Stuff: NaNoWriMo 2010

HUZZAH!

I have completed my third NaNoWriMo competition. This year I only had the ending figured out (which I have not written yet) and nothing else. I barely had a cast of characters so I thought I would have my work cut out for me. So I just started to write.

And I successfully completed my 50,000 word journey and I still have not completed my story. I am right at the end, at the very exciting conclusion! Who will die? Who will live? Who will have redemption? Who will lose his toe? Just seeing if you are paying attention. No one loses their toe...  ...or do they?

I am a little embarrassed that I wrote about vampires. It seems like those little bloodsuckers are everywhere. And I am not a fan of the sparkly lovey-dovey vampires either. My vampires are creatures, they are like animals. They are completely opposite of the sparkly vampires. I got this idea a long time ago. I was going to join this writing contest so I was brainstorming an idea for a horror comic. Unfortunately I totally got the contest wrong. I was writing an ending for a comic that they were publishing instead of creating a new story. So I retooled it into what it is today. It is set in the old west and involves two brothers that see things completely different. An unfortunate incident occurred and split the two of them apart, now they are reunited and face an even greater danger.

I was surprised that these characters took a life of their own. I am also surprised that there were events that I did not see coming until I was actually writing them. This is the part I absolutely love about writing. When things go off on their own direction, when something comes that is not planned, when small characters become important and "write" themselves back into the novel. I just love that!

I am already looking forward to ScriptFrenzy this April. I am not sure what to do for that, I was thinking of continuing my Alpha Flight comic book but I may try a stab at something else. A long, long time ago I had a fun idea for a Seinfeld episode and I have always wanted to write some sort of musical. We'll have to see come April.

Anyone *ahem* Jeremy *cough*  that has a desire to write and has always wanted to give it a shot, I cannot recommend doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. It is very rewarding and you will not regret it.