Well, I'm doing it, finally. I have just signed up for the National Novel Writing Month 2014!

I've been wanting to write several novels for a long time, they have been bouncing around in my head forever but without anything ever coming of them. My sister suggested that I sign up for the NaNoWriMo in order to get some push along the way. So, I decided to go for it!

Seeing as I am on vacation for about half of the month of November, I should be able to get a good amount of writing done - on a whim, I wrote 2000 words yesterday, so we will see how this goes! Hopefully with having a deadline, I will be pushed to actually finish this one. :)

The goal is 50,000 words, four times the length of my senior research paper... here goes!

Ranting, Vagina Monologues, and Distractions

I'm taking a break from my studying, been at it on and off all day and I can't seem to stay focused, which is odd seeing as it's an awesome book I'm reading for my Celtic Civilization class. "After the Ice" by Steven Mithen; if you want to read a very engaging historical/archaeological book that deals with human history from 20,000-5,000 b.c.e. it's a definite must read. I just can't seem to concentrate on much of anything right now - I'll probably just finish it later on tonight.

I'm going to be going out on a limb here pretty soon, I'm already halfway up the hypothetical tree trunk... the girl I sit next to in one of my classes convinced me to audition for a part in the "Vagina Monologues," and after much consideration and hemming and hawing, I decided that it was worth a shot. Mind you, I've never done anything like this before, so it was a little bit intimidating to go up onstage and have people judging your performance. But, apparently I did quite well... I got a part! I'm reading part of a 3 person monologue, and in all honesty it's pretty depressing, but I'm still looking forward to being able to have a stage performance under my belt - just so I would have done it. :) So yeah, rehearsals start this Sunday evening and then we perform at the end of February... so we'll see how this goes. Wish me luck, or a "break a leg" (but not literally please), or whichever is preferred.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to get everything together to apply for grad schools... and I have no freakin' clue as to where I'm going to apply, and also the idea of the GRE is more than a little daunting to say the least. I was talking with one of my friends earlier today, and she's on the same time schedule as me as far as school goes, and she is going to have to take the GRE over the summer (she said by August for her), so honestly, it's most likely going to be exactly the same thing for me... and I'm not liking the idea at all. I also need to decide which grad schools I'm going to apply for - that will have to be done this upcoming fall if I want to get in for next year. I think I'm going to talk with my advisor sometime within the next couple weeks or so to get recommendations for history grad schools... and we shall see...

Andrei

Well, I ended up not liking my previous posting of the prologue of "Andrei," so I rewrote it... probably the first of many rewrites... so... here goes....

Dark clouds rolled in from the east, looming over the small village like an omen of ill portent. The village was silent, seeming a ghost town. But that was usual for the small Romanian village around the time of a full moon, and the superstitious villagers locked themselves into their houses and didn’t venture outside until the sun’s first rays broke the horizon.

A single candle flickered alone in a window, the only sign of life to be seen in a veritable ghost town. No one seemed to notice, or perhaps they didn’t care, that the candle had been burning through the night and shone like a beacon into the darkened streets.

A lone figure sat at a desk, bathed in the flickering light with only the scratching of his quill pen for company. Andrei Kardos sat bending over a parchment, writing as though he could lose his demons in the parchment and thus be free of their torturous whispers. This had become a nightly ritual for Andrei. Over the past few weeks he had shut himself into this rented room and spent his nights writing. There were lines etched onto his strikingly handsome face, and his brow furrowed deeply as he wrote. Lightning flashed through the sky, setting Andrei’s features into sharp relief, and illuminating an odd flame burning in the depths of his eyes. Like the lightning, it lasted only momentarily before Andrei’s attention returned to his parchment. At times, words flowed from his pen as water, but at other times it was as if they were wrenched from the depths of his soul. Utterly disregarding the raging storm outside Andrei wrote…

I have roamed this earth for an eternity. I’ve watched civilizations rise and fall. Throughout the ages I’ve been admired and hunted, revered and accursed. Endless stories have been written of me, some painting me as romantic, a tragic hero, but most have named me monster. In truth, I am neither, and both…

I am Andrei Kardos… I am Vampire…

latest artistic project

I decided to try something new for Christmas presents this year - and seeing as so many of us have started playing WoW this past year, I decided to utilize that and an artistic whim to make some low-cost presents. So far I only have Josh and Janet's completed, I'm almost done with Frank's, and then I'm going to make one of my own. Eventually I think it would be cool to have the entire guild - well, the really active members anyways.

"Toriyama" - Janet's blood elf hunter

"Atsumokthar" - Josh's orc warrior

...randomness of thoughts...

Well, it seems forever since I've written on here, indeed, I just checked the log of my last post and it was almost a year ago... time flies I suppose.

I'm waiting on Josh to get out of his class, my semester doesn't actually start up until next week, and so I'm going to CF with him until I head back to my dorm. I love Stetson, it's an insane class workload, but its challenging and I love it.

I've been thinking about starting a videoblog/journal type thing using my webcam. I think it would be cool, don't know that I'd post it all online or anything, but it'd be an interestingly new way to rant about everything - really cool I think.

I like school but I can't wait until I'm done with it and can get on with my life - I want to have a steady job so I don't have to pinch pennies all the time, and can't wait to have my own place that I can do with as I please - and have CRITTERS!!!! lol.

Well, I think I'm going to watch some NetFlix or something - Josh gets out of class in about an hour or so today... Have a good day to anyone who actually reads this.

Phantom of the Opera

Josh and I went to see Phantom of the Opera a couple weeks ago. It was AMAZING!!!!

I have never seen anything brought to life that well on stage... it was unbelievable! As soon as it was over, both of us were ready to go right back in and see it again.

As soon as the Overture started, it filled the entire theatre, I could feel it swelling the air, and as music often does, it made me cry. The music was indescribably beautiful.

The movie is wonderful, the soundtrack phenomenal, but nothing, and I mean nothing can compare to hearing the Overture with a live orchestra.

And the singing... *sigh*... oh the singing... imagine a combination of a magical stage, and amazing operatic voices... Christine was amazing... the Phantom was realistically creepy, and Raul... Raul's voice was phenomenal... deep and rich... it was awesome. :)

Needless to say... as Josh and I saw it on February 13th, it was the best Valentine's Day date EVER! :)

If I ever get another opportunity to go see Phantom again, I am soooo going to see it... even if I have to save up for a year to do so. :)

*happy*

So happy :)
This is one of the pics on the Ocala StarBanner's website from the article they did on the SCA. The photographer came out to the meeting and fighter practice and she wanted a picture of me and Josh. It was rather odd because she wanted a romantic picture... how romantic can you get on demand of some photographer you don't know? I mean, honestly.
So yeah, we look a bit like deer caught in headlights, but I like it anyways. :)
*so happy*
:)