udanaX
Ever since NaNoWriMo ended, I've been feeling drained of my desire to write. I'm finding it tough to come up with anything to even put in this online journal. It's not because nothing has happened but because the mere act of sitting at a keyboard and tapping it out seems uncharacteristically cumbersome and unpleasant for a reason I can't explain. If I want to be a published writer one day, I'll probably have to get used to this kind of thing. Then again, published writers don't have regular full-time jobs like I have at Scholastic. I don't know that for a fact, of course. There may very well be some writers out there who work full-time somewhere because they acknowledge that the life of a writer isn't very glamorous or busting at the seams with money... unless you are J. K. Rowling, James Patterson, of Stephanie Meyer. Wow... Stephanie Meyer... Why am I afraid of publishing my stuff again? Oh, but NaNoWriMo ended successfully. I surpassed 50,000 words with more than twelve hours to spare. It was a good thing, too, because I had a party later that very night November 30.
It was a housewarming party of sorts. Truthfully, Opi was the main reason why there was even a party to begin with. He was visiting us from Maryland on the account of him spending Thanksgiving with his family up in Kenilworth. He knew that he would be headed back to Elicott City on Sunday the 1st of December but wanted to party before he headed back. So, I used this opportunity to host my very first party. It's funny that I was so apprehensive about sending invitations on facebook. In my usual uneasy style, I panicked and procrastinated while irrational thoughts raced through my head. What if nobody can come? Who do I invite? What if they all have a terrible time? What if they don't get along? What if they laugh at my apartment? What if nobody even replies to my invitation? And before I knew it, it was November 23, a week before the party was supposed to be. So, I hunkered down and invited a dozen or so friends. The turnout wasn't so bad. Aside from Opi, we had Sean, Dana and her boyfriend/fiancé Dan, and Heather. Sending their regrets were Sarah, Ian, Angela, Victor and my brother Shaun who really wanted to come but was detained by his new girlfriend Kate because they are already having problems that need sorting out. I guess the phrase "bros before hoes" doesn't apply, even in the literal sense, in this case. And anyone else who was invited either clicked the 'maybe' button on the facebook invitation or replied not at all. A big surprise came later when Heather's brother Bryan showed up! I thought he wasn't coming, but it turns out Heather drove him to my place and he purposely waited outside for a few minutes before he knocked on the door. So seeing him was a big plus. We had three Bryans in the same room drinking. And it turned out that all of my paranoid thoughts were, of course, pointless. Everyone had a good time. Nobody laughed at my apartment. Nobody started fighting. It was just a party. There was beer pong, card games, and we even got to try out that Kickstarter-funded game "Something Different" that I told you about sometime in the past. It was fun! The always-rules kept refreshing the game and ensuring that nothing was boring. It is, however, a game that ought to be played towards the beginning of the night as a warm-up before the night starts proper because it does involve its players to be thinking about the three (sometimes four!) rules that are in effect. Starting a game of it while the people are already drunk is like trying to start a game of Bang! with a bunch of drunk people. That is to say that the rules just wouldn't survive the abbreviated attention span of an inebriated bunch of people.
Anyway, this is the first entry in December, so I owe you this month's astronomy image. It's called the North American Nebula. And if you click this link here, you'll see why. Focus on the red portion behind the vibrant green and yellow clouds. and you'll notice the portion of red on the right side of the image looks a lot like the eastern coastline of North America/. In particular, you might notice a portion of it that quite strongly resembles Florida towards the bottom. Now that I've put the idea in your head, follow the outline up and across the top, and you can fool yourself into seeing the northern islands of Canada, then California on the brighter left portion of it, and finally maybe you can make out Mexico at the bottom or maybe not. It's all very weird and amorphous.
And I guess I'll provide a Drawception game that I've played since last entry. I must admit, though, that I am not feeling very creative in that game, either. It's like I've attained a whole new level of apathy since moving into this place on my own. What do I do besides work, sleep, eat, and drink? I haven't visited that park yet, and it's just down the street and around the corner and then down that street, Sure, the weather is cold, but that shouldn't make a difference. I used to train in this kind of weather. Hell, I used to compete in this kind of weather wearing far less clothing than even a jeans and t-shirt. What was I saying? Oh yes, please enjoy this Drawception game I'm about to show you. It sucks. I started the round off by drawing the first panel but forget to click the checkbox that would restrict this game to include veteran players only. (Statistically, games that only have veterans are better, funnier, etc.) But, for what it's worth, I present to you "Darth Vader and sheep getting hunted by police."
As you can see, I am the only panelist who used more than seven colors in any kind of meaningful way. I don't think the new guys understand that a panelist gets TEN WHOLE MINUTES to draw. There is simply no excuse for panels like numbers 15, 11, and 3. But whatever. Maybe I should get back into drawing on paper. That was fun. Remember that? I actually worked hard on that one project, and it turned out mostly somewhat decent. I've got plenty of unused paper from my college art class just waiting to be used for whatever projects I can imagine. And I've got those sets of colored pencils and color sticks that I have barely touched. I think it might be time to reawaken my muse. Screw youtube, Drawception, and other Internet time sucks for awhile. I think I'll get back into art!
Anyway, I think that does it. I think it will be another long while before I post here again- perhaps after Christmas. I will try to keep my regular Sunday schedule, though. And before I go, how about a question? Are there any smells that instantly bring you back to an earlier moment in your life? For example, maybe smelling chocolate chip cookies reminds you of your grandmother's house when you and she would bake them together? Or perhaps the smell of wood burning takes you back to the time you and your friends spent that unforgettable weekend camping? For me, the smell of old musty books takes me back to simpler times of first and second grade when the world was so bright and untainted by the fierce reality governed by money and laws. That dusty and filmy aroma unique only to aged books. Many of the books in our school library fit that description. Plus, our text books seemed to have that smell pre-programmed into them, hahaha. So it's musty books for me that have the strongest connection to memory. What about you?
I need to just get UP when my alarm goes off.-
Bryan