NaBloPoMo 19: Presents and Giving Thanks

Prompt: Do you like to buy presents ahead of time, or right when you need to give them?

Eh. I'm the type who sucks at secrets, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. If I've gotten someone a really good present, I'm not good at hiding it for long. So even if I may have intended to save the present for a while, I usually give it to the person early. Womp.

Also, this was a foolish prompt, so let's talk about Thanksgiving:

I've always taken the holiday for granted, but despite its less than familial origin, Thanksgiving is about family. And food, and abusing our bank accounts and digestive systems and football. But mostly family. My family is flawed and quirky, but they're mine, and I miss them. I also miss my second family (you know, those people I call friends. Love you guys), and so being gone for this Thanksgiving wasn't the easiest thing. Working on Thanksgiving was pure torture. Eating squid soup on Thanksgiving was the end of the world.

I do love Korea, but November 24 was the catalyst for premature homesickness. Time goes fast here, and I'm learning a lot. Every day is a surprise, and it's usually a good one. But one thing I've learned here is how much I've taken for granted. Not only in terms of cultural differences (though I could write a post on American showers, or why kimchi really doesn't need to be eaten every meal including breakfast). I guess I've always harbored a secret hatred for familiarity. Anything that I knew well enough, like the route to school, or the inside of my freshman dorm, was the focus of my scorn. Now I'm nostalgic to walk through the arch on the way to class, or trudge up the hill to my old high school. I'm worried this is a sign I'm getting old, or maybe I'm just old enough to have accrued enough memories to truly understand what nostalgia means.

Anyways, my bad mood was conquered today, not through booze, but through food. Much healthier, right? A group of foreigners put together a Thanksgiving potluck. After a few weeks of rice, soup, kimchi, and ramen, my senses went into overdrive at the sight and smell of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey, pie, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, and broccoli casserole. My stomach tried to quit before my taste buds were sated, but I conquered the food. Guys, be proud. So Thanksgiving happened, finally. Even if it wasn't a lazy Thursday afternoon with the people I love driving me up the wall, it happened. Enough.

Wait. Did I mention the amazing company? There was amazing company. I found a lot of people who love Love Actually, and I even found a few Doctor Who fans! WIN.

So Happy Belated Thanksgiving, and may your Black Friday endeavors not end in bruises, broken bones, or credit card debt.

NaBloPoMo 18: Isolation

Prompt: Do you enjoy being alone? Would you rather be alone or with people?

Easy. People. Any day. I'm a Leo, an only child, an extrovert, a Gryffindor. Long story short, I crave attention the way a vampire craves blood.

But I think I set high standards for my friends. No, I'm not that pretentious ass who claims to meet those standards, but I do set them. I love people, and I love meeting people, but I'm so judgmental. It also takes quite some time for me to feel comfortable around someone. Months, years even. That doesn't mean I won't ham it up within moments of meeting someone (because I have, do, and will continue to act like an idiot in public). It just means that given the choice between a large group of strangers, and two or three friends, I'll choose the friends. Any day of the week.

Speaking of, I know a lot of my friends are probably reading this back home in the states (or wherever you are), so here's a message for you:

And this:

But mostly, this:

Much love.

NaBloPoMo 17: Life-changing Music

Prompt: Write about a piece of music that changed your life forever. 

I can think of two artists, in general, that made a huge impact on my life. But let me say (as if I haven't said it enough) that music changes my life on a daily basis. Er, what I mean to say is that music is a consistent source of positivity. I wake up to it. I fall asleep to it. I write to it. I write it, read it, study it. Of course, I don't love it enough to play guitar four hours a day, but I do love it enough to listen to it for at least four hours a day. And I don't just mean on the radio, or in the stores downtown. I mean purposeful, headphones or at-home listening.

Ok. Back to answering the prompt.

1) Once starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

These two artists are made of pure genius. Glen is from Ireland, and Marketa is from the Czech Republic, I believe. Glen is in another band, but (correct me if I'm wrong, world) when the two started collaborating/dating, they were asked to star in their friend's movie. It was no big deal. Shot on a camcorder. No one was a professional actor. Won an Emmy.

Changed my life. I went to see it with a friend the summer after I finished high school. It was showing in the theatre downtown reserved for indie movies, and everything about the movie blew me away. It wasn't melodramatic, but it made me cry. The two main characters were never even named. I remember the exact moment I fell in love with the movie. Right here:



This song is amazing, but it's even better watching it within the context of the movie. The scene never fails to give me shivers. My friend and I left the theater and immediately headed to the nearest store to purchase the soundtrack, which was co-written and performed by Glen and Marketa. Then we spent the night talking about life and listening to the CD on repeat.

Some of my best memories are belting it out to this song in harmony with my platonic other half as we road trip. Good times. I started getting into alternative music as a result of this movie, and I can say it's one of the best decisions I ever made. Iron and Wine, Fine Frenzy, Ingrid Michaelson, etc. Oh, they're all amazing.

2) Julia Nunes, YouTube sensation

I stumbled on her after watching a clip of her guest appearance on College Humor. It was funny, and they sang Chumbawumba, so I obviously had to watch. Then I listened to some of her covers. I thought she was ok. Then I heard this song:



Oh my god, I can't even explain how wonderful this song is. It connected to what I was writing at the time, which was creepy in the best way possible. But more than that, it felt right. Everything from the lyrics to the melody to the rhythm amazing. Her voice is so unique and lovely. The song above is my favorite by her, and in a tie with Ingrid Michaelson's "The Chain" and Ghost's "Welcome Home" for my favorite song ever. I love how deceptively cheerful it is.

Anyways, Julia also led me into a shift in my music preferences. I started listening to Amanda Palmer, Anais Mitchell, and other people, especially YouTube artists. I also learned the song on guitar. It's my absolute favorite song to sing, even though I know I'll never do it as well as her. Her unabashed singing helped me to gain confidence in my own voice, and I also felt enabled to write original music after listening to her beautiful lyrics.

Anyways, yeah. Julia Nunes and Once. Check 'em out.

NaBloPoMo 16: Luck

Prompt: What is the luckiest thing that ever happened to you?

I feel like I have to be careful answering this question, because I might seem self-deprecating if I say something like "getting into NU." Of course I feel like I deserved that admission letter, but I still feel lucky as hell.

Luckiest thing that ever happened to me?

Hmmmm.

In the recent past, I was lucky to get an invitation to go to a middle school concert. Hear me out. See, I was visiting my dad in Texas, and his coworker, who is insanely awesome, invited me to her son's concert. I shrugged and said sure, and we left. Afterwards, she introduced me to her coworker, who was an English professor. This coworker asked me what my post-college plans were, and I mentioned the teaching abroad idea that I'd just discovered the day before. Turns out one of her students was already here in Korea on her third year. She hooked us up over facebook, and that's all she wrote.

So, I'm here in Korea because I got invited to a middle school band concert.

Lucky as hell.

Drinking in Korea

It seems that NaBloPoMo, NaNoWriMo, and No Shave November are not the only things going on this month. 30 Days of Indie Travel is happening too. The prompt for today struck me as appropriate, considering my recent adventures, so here goes:

Just as the cuisine of a place reveals clues about its culture and history, so does its signature local drink. What’s the best drink you had on the road, and did the drink have any connection to the place where you drank it or the people you drank with?

I've been in the midst of a marathon I never intended to do, and it just finished last night. My tolerance, as most of my friends know, is low. Like, super low. If I drink on Friday, I usually won't drink on Saturday. Once a week is enough for me, so right now I feel like hell. Why? 

Korea.

The culture is such that drinking during dinner is normal, so when I go out with large groups of people, we automatically order a few bottles of soju. Soju, for those of you who don't know, is a kind of rice vodka. It is extremely cheap, as in, a dollar a bottle. The bottles are about the size of a twenty ounce bottle of soda from the states, and the liquor is a little less potent than vodka, but still. Still, that's cheap as hell. 

Let's recap the insanity, shall we?

On Wednesday of last week, I went out with two of my three fellow teachers, and we got quite inebriated. It wasn't intentional, but it happened. I'm not proud of it. After the bar, we stumbled upon some guitar teachers jamming out drunkenly in the park, and they let me play a song. I'm quite proud that I managed to not drop the guitar, but for some reason, they were impressed. We scheduled a sober-ish jam session on Sunday night.

On Thursday, I ventured out to a Billiard Bar for pool night to meet some new people, and ended up drinking a few beers and a Long Island Ice Tea. Friday night was Karaoke, so you can bet the majority of the group had at least one shot of soju. 

Saturday I planned to stay in, but was coaxed out of isolation by my coteacher, who wanted to show the other foreign teacher and I a traditional Korean pub. It was divine, by the way. We drank a sort of creamy beer, which actually tasted like ambrosia. For appetizers we had some sort of sea food fried batter pancake thing, which was crispy and yummy. Also we had a soup with sliced beef and vegetables. It was mildly spicy, and equally delicious. The company was great, too. 

I'd like to point out that I did not get hammered each night. But putting any alcohol in my system triggers the guilt complex, and makes me sluggish as hell in the mornings.

Sunday was the jam session, which paired with traditional Korean BBQ, ended up being the opposite of sober. But it was still fun, and I got to play my favorite song, which ended up earning a dollar in change! The other foreign teacher and I mostly attempted to sing along to their awesome guitar skillz, but my lyrical knowledge of non-angry-female singers is almost nonexistent. 

Tonight I had to stay in. I can't keep up with all of the adventure, and I know if I don't slow down soon, I'll drop. At least I have a solid supply of Excedrin.

NaBloPoMo 15: Passion Project?

Prompt: Are you pursuing a passion project?

Answer: Yes.

New topic: Teaching

I'm starting to settle into my schedule as a teacher, even though I've yet to receive my alien card or get a foreign bank account. Planning is becoming MUCH easier, which is great considering how much I stressed out over it initially. I get along well with most of my students, and I think they understand that I mean business. Unfortunately, today I had to yell at one of my younger students, and I hated it. He later told the co-teacher that another student wasn't acting mature enough in class (he said "baby" for the record), but I can't help but feel that his excuse wasn't good enough. I was really upset by his complete lack of respect and awareness in class, especially considering how respectful my worst students are.

I do love teaching, despite that rant. My job has its pros and cons, but at the end of the day I've got a pretty sweet deal. I'll feel better once I have my first paycheck, though. Right now I feel like I'm on a glorified vacation (though I'm sure some haters would agree with that title). Once I have a steady income, then I know I'll have that grown up, independent feeling.

Also I'm craving Chipotle.

NaBloPoMo 14: Happiness

Prompt: What has been the happiest moment of your life thus far?

I'm really starting to hate these prompts, for the record.

When I read the third Harry Potter book and I realized there was a spell that required you to use a strong, happy memory, I thought very hard about this. My mind drew a blank. Ever since then, I've been on the lookout for happy moments, and I've taken the liberty of posting them below:

1) When I got accepted into my dream school.
2) The morning I finished the rough draft of my first book.
3) The day I performed at state for solo ensemble.
4) My first time reading each Harry Potter book.
5) Road tripping to Wisconsin with two of my best friends.
6) Graduating from my dream school, and seeing Stephen Colbert speak at my graduation. Also singing I'm Yours with my friend while we lined up before graduation.
7) Hearing certain music for the first time (I know, this sounds super ambiguous, but the feeling I get listening to certain songs for the first time is inexplicably wonderful.)

I can't narrow it down, and I'm missing some, I'm sure. But these memories are the best I can think of right now, and trust me, they're pretty great.

Whatever. I answered the dumbass prompt.

NaBloPoMo 13: Crush

Oh. My. God.

I do not want to do this post. I don't. But I promised to do every prompt this month, so Kira's gonna put on some big girl pants and suck it up.

Prompt: Make a list of everyone you've had a crush on in your life, then choose one and describe him or her in great detail.

Erm, let's not push our luck, prompt. I'm not making a list on this blog, because this shit's on the internet, and I don't want anyone hunting me down. But I just made one in my head. It's not overly short, but not too long (that's what she said). Let's pick a guy. And....

I'm still too paranoid to even say his name here, so let's just call him...

OH LOOK A COOL SONG:



Cool, right?

Ok, I just don't have the cojones to talk about anyone I had (have?) a crush on. Sorry. Arg.

NaBloPoMo 12: Adulthood

Prompt: When is the moment you leave childhood and enter adulthood?

Gratuitous quote: And that is the story of how Tristan became a boy. But this is not the story of how Tristan became a boy. This is the story of how Tristan became a man, a different task altogether.

Neil Gaiman wrote that better, and the actor who played Magneto (whose name I shamefully don't remember) said it better. Still, the fact remains that becoming an adult is tough business.

But I don't necessarily buy into "becoming an adult." The word adult fills my mind with horrific notions of a life without laughter, a life burdened with too many responsibilities, of sweating every day to fit into a mold you may or may not buy into. You know the mold I'm talking about. 2.5 kids, steady job in a *gulp* cubicle, husband or wife that you mildly like, expensive house and car to show off to your neighbors. A poofy poodle skirt and dinner on the table at six.

Anyways, that all gives me the heeby-jeebies, so let's listen to a song:



Man, I love that song.

Oh. Adults? What?

I guess I'm still trying to figure out if I ever want to be an adult. Shrug.

NaBloPoMo 11: Favorite Place

Prompt: Describe a favorite place.

I could use this post to talk more about Korea, but I won't.

Maybe it's the late hour, but I'm having trouble describe my favorite place. Ah. Got it. I'll try a snippet of narrative:

I wake up early. Too early. It's cold, but part of my brain refuses to believe it, since it's impossible. The sky outside is dark, and for just a few minutes, there is silence. Then I start to hear birds chirp as the coquis fall asleep for the day, and my roommate begins to toss and turn in her bed. Once I'm ready, I go downstairs where there is anything but silence. People laugh and joke as the old caretaker walks in and out with more papaya, pineapple, and eggs. An old, off-white cat hobbles in, and I can tell she's seen better days. Still, her bright blue eyes are wary as she waits patiently for a scrap of food to fall to the floor. The scent of coffee and baking pastries permeates the air, and even though I'm nocturnal, for once I am in love with the morning.

Alright, I've written better, but for some reason, Hawaii is just the best. I realize that it's a complete tourist trap, but I probably had the most fun on that trip. We hiked three miles to a green sand beach, walked through botanical gardens, and ate the best breakfasts I've had in my life. I loved most everything about Hawaii, and I hope to go back there someday.

NaBloPoMo 10: Facing Fears

It seems I've fallen off the map once again, and for that I apologize. But life in Korea is a constant adventure, and, well, you can just call me Frodo.

It's appropriate, though, that on the two week marker I'm writing a blog based on facing your fears, as I've been facing quite a few of mine lately. The question asks, "Have you faced fears and overcome them?"

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer:

One thing I've noticed in Korea is how much they covet youth. Men will dye their hair so no one can tell they've gone grey. Women will wear mountains of make up to look younger. Yes, I know this trend exists in America, and probably everywhere else on earth. However, it feels more prevalent here. Maybe it's just the culture shock talking, but nonetheless, I made a conclusion about youth that seemed really deep. The more I think about it though, the more obvious it seems.

Youth is not coveted because of wrinkle free skin or thick, luscious locks. On the surface, yeah, youth is all about the sexy looks. But underneath it all, I think youth is held on a pedestal due to the endless possibilities. Anything can happen. You can change your entire identity, go anywhere, do anything if you only put your mind to it. There are so many choices to be made and adventures to have. There's a world of information to learn, and for the young, there is a whole life to learn it.

I think half the reason people end up so old and bitter is because they don't take risks. To me, taking risks means facing your fears, head on. Now that I'm done with the scheduled part of life (high school, college), I'm more terrified than I've ever been. So in that cop-out respect, you could say I'm facing my worst fears by just living day by day.

But I digress. I have faced fears by taking a lot of risks. Applying to Northwestern, auditioning for choirs, joining comedy forum and performing on stage, all of that put me in a sorry state, but it was completely worth it.

The biggest risk I took was choosing to live alone, on the other side of the world. Far from my friends and family, and nearly everything else familiar. But that was only the beginning. Each day here I face my fears. Not in the melodramatic, ohmylifeisterrible kind of way. Just the knowledge that I could easily fail in a lot of new ways.

Stephen Colbert gave an amazing speech at Commencement a few years back. After a solid few minutes of jokes, he mentioned that in improv classes, you learned to say yes to everything. Otherwise, the scene won't move forward. The same goes for life, he said. Say yes to everything. And sometimes you'll fall flat on your face, but most of the time you'll discover new, amazing things about the world and yourself (he obviously said it better).

So that's what I'm trying to do here. Say yes, seize opportunities, take risks, and get messy! Magic School Bus, anyone? No?

Sigh.

Anyways, I try to face my fears about the language barrier, getting lost, making a fool of myself, etc.

My conclusions thus far support Colbert's advice. The more I say yes, the more people I meet, the more I learn, and the more I enjoy life.

I guess this post was a bit disjointed, so let's go back to the short answer. Have I faced fears lately?

Hell yes. But I'd rather travel to Mordor than stay in the Shire all my life.

NaBloPoMo 9: Make a Wish

A few days back was 11:11 on 11/11/11, and the world went nuts. I'm one of those suckers who loves making wishes on 11:11, not only because I think that if there's even the slightest chance it could work, why not try it? I also believe that if you spend two minutes a day concentrating on what you want, what you really want, and focusing on it and how wonderful it would be if those things were to happen, well then those two minutes weren't really wasted.

Granted, if you just wish to win the lottery all the time, you probably won't get much out of it.

But focusing on dreams and goals is always a good thing, and keeping them in the forefront of your mind helps keep you motivated and always aware of your true desires.

Once I realized I wanted to go to Korea, I wished for that. Sometimes I wish for other people, depending on how they're doing. Sometimes I whisper my 11:11 wish as fast as I can, to cram as much in as possible. Mostly I wish to get published, to write full time and live a long, fulfilling life as a traveller. A lot of the time I also wish to find that soulmate type who will love me and who I love back.

Typical wishes, I think. The desire to find someone to love, something to do, and aspirations to reach is part of the human condition, I think. So is the hope, even if it's silly, that wishing on a star, or a certain time of day, will help us fulfill our dreams.

NaBloPoMo 8: Passion

What is your passion, be it secret or otherwise?

Well if it's a secret, I'm not going to tell you know, am I?

Luckily, my passions aren't really a secret.

I love writing. I love forming words in ways they have or haven't been put together before, to form ideas and stories and people.

I love discovering new worlds and characters through reading.

I love singing songs and plucking clumsily at my guitar to create sounds that may or may not be passable.

I love laughing so hard that my stomach hurts, and making people laugh.

I love traveling to different places and learning about different people and how they live their lives.

I love learning new things about literature, people, history, philosophy, science, and so many other subjects. I never want to stop learning.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop after one more: I think, even only after a week, I may love teaching.

NaBloPoMo 7: Childhood Home

When was the first time you realized your childhood home was not like other homes?

I realized this fairly early, because for the first seven years of my life I lived in a house/barbershop. The barbershop was in the front, and if you walked through the main office, there would be a living room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen. The set up was untraditional, but very fun. I had great hair during that time, too. Awkwardly, the building was also a bar. It went like this: bottom floor/basement, bar. Top floor, barbershop and house. My mother's boyfriend at the time owned the entire complex, and did a combination of bar tending and haircutting. Never at the same time though.

NaBloPoMo 6: Trauma

Has anything traumatic ever happened to you? Describe the scenes surrounding the event.

Wow. How inclined am I to not answer this? Sigh. Alright, here goes. When I finally gathered up the cojones to start my first book, Animus, my computer was stolen when I was about a quarter of the way through. I was devastated and cried, not because I'd lost an expensive piece of technology, but because I'd lost over fifty pages of writing. I rewrote it all, though, and replaced my dell with a mac. So even though it was traumatic, I ended up stronger, a better writer, and the owner of a much more sophisticated computer.

NaBloPoMo 5: Healthy Balance

How do you balance family time, relationship time, and your work life?

I don't. I really don't. Sometimes I get very absorbed in what I'm writing and I forget to come up for air. I hope that when I'm in a relationship, he'll understand, or have things to do while I work. If he has ambitions and hobbies of his own, it'll work.

My friends are awesome, and sometimes we multitask bonding time with work time by having writing dates. That way we're supporting each other as well as our writing. It all works out in the end.

NaBloPoMo 4: Pen vs Computer

Sorry for the long absence. Turns out life in Korea takes some major adjustments. But more on that later. Right now I'm churning out some belated NaBloPoMo posts. Prompt number four asks:

When you are writing, do you prefer to use a pen or a computer?

Computer, hands down. It's faster and easier to get to multiple writing projects. I type way faster than I write, and as a leftie, my handwriting has never been anything more than chicken scratch.

Also my computer can serenade me as I write. Double whammy.

NaBloPoMo 3: Writing and Music

I'm drained. I'm done. No, it's not this posting every day thing. It's packing. I'll be whining considerably until it's over (tomorrow night or Friday in the wee hours of the morning), so I'll make this post as quick and painless as possible.

Today's prompt is all about music. Do you write with music? What have you listened to lately?

This subject is very near and dear to my heart because I started out as a music major in college. I've written music related to my characters (though not as conspicuously book-ish as wizard wrock), and I sing and play guitar. I'm addicted to music like a lot of women are addicted to chocolate. Trust me, guys. That's saying something.

So yes, I write with music. I had a playlist for chapter 13-15 of Animus when I was writing it, because it was exponentially darker and emotional than the rest of the book. I had so much hard rock and depressing music, it's unbelievable. Not that I don't normally love hard rock. It was just a bit of an overdose.

My favorite artists are probably Ingrid Michaelson, Julia Nunes, Florence and the Machine, and Linkin Park. Mind you, I also love Regina Spektor, Glen Hansard, Incubus, Owl City, Death Cab for Cutie, and Amanda Palmer. I just know the aforementioned bands much better. If they have a new CD, I'm committed to it, just because I'm usually sure I'll like it.

Anyways, I'm starting to rant. Here's a music video of one of my newer loves, Laura Marling. I can't stop listening to this, so I hope you enjoy it:



My favorite line is, "I want to be held by those arms." This song begs a short story. I swear it does.

Also, my fourth post will probably late, and from Asia. Apologies ahead of time. Wish me luck.

NaBloPoMo 2: Last Meal

As most of my faithful readers know, I'm heading to South Korea for a year. This means I'm quite prepared to answer today's prompt: If you knew whatever you ate would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?

No, I'm not equating this move to death. It's going to rock. But I know I'm going to miss my American food favorites, so in the past few months I've been making sure to hit up the food I love most so I don't get too depressed when I can't find it in Korea.

But, as I wrote yesterday, I can never narrow it down. So let's do top three meals:

1) Chocolate Oreo Shake, dipped Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers, and blue cheese fries. Don't knock it till you try it.

2) Mofongo, fried pork, and a Malta India. Last summer (2010), I spent a month eating this, and I never once got sick of it. It's plantains smashed up with garlic and pig skin. It's a little crispy, a little savory, and a teensy bit sweet. The fried pork is super crispy, but sooo good. Malta India tastes like a mix between a coke and a beer. It took me a while to warm up to it, but then I got addicted. Definitely an acquired taste, but worth the effort of acquiring.

3) This is tough. I think fajitas could trump pizza, especially if there's guac and they're well made. But the deliciousness of a deep dish pesto pizza from Edwardos must not be underrated. We'll call it a tie.

Alright. I'm off to pack, which is turning out to be an impossible task. I think I'd rather eat black olives and pickles (two of my least favorite foods). Arg.

NaBloPoMo 1: Favorite Thing About Writing

I'm doing NaBloPoMo, or as us normal people call it, "National Blog Posting Month." It's supposed to be in lieu of NaNoWriMo, which would be a ludicrous project for me to undertake as I'm moving my entire life across the globe this month. Yes, I know I'm a day late. I'm still posting 30 times. Now, they may be late, or more than one per day, but I'm claiming immunity to any scorn with the excuse of new teacher, culture shock, and life relocation. So you can forgive me ahead of time.

 Prompt #1: What is your favorite thing about writing?

When people ask me what my favorite movie is, I list off five. I'm not good at isolating my absolute favorite, but I'll go ahead and narrow it down to three.

1) The people. The writing world is full of unexpected friends. I've met so many wonderful people through writing groups at school, book festivals, random encounters, and classes about writing. Even on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, there is support and words of kindness to be found. Writing love <3

2) The "Aha!" moments. They're amazing and they creep up on you without warning. Sometimes they're about a character, dialogue, or a plot hole easily fixed. The biggest moment I had was in Texas, during winter break of my senior year in college. I stayed up all night to write a short story, something I'd never done outside of class. To this day I'm most proud of that story, and that night I realized that I not only enjoyed writing more than anything, but that I was proud of the final products.

3) The every day toil. Inch by inch, word by word, page by page. It's amazing to create something out of nothing, to coax my mind to imagine the next scene, and the next. There's nothing like it.

Alright. Post one, over.