Writing, Baby Cats, and Wow
So lately I've been browsing Fanfiction.net's 'How To Train Your Dragon' section. I've found a very small handful of good fics, though the vast majority seem to be elaborate Mary Sue stories, or just plain lack quality. The good stories have given me some good ideas, and the bad stories.. well.. they're great for making me realize that my writing doesn't suck nearly as badly as I sometimes think it does. *grins*
I also had the chance to unpack and set up the library and the study during my vacation, and in the process found all of my old writing books. I took the time to flip through a few of them and again realized that my writing has gotten much better since then. This is amusing because I had always held my past work on some towering pedestal that I simply couldn't attain ever again. That is simply not the case. Quite frankly, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was, which also did wonders for my confidence.
Last night I took pencil to paper and wrote as I used to, lying on my bed in dead silence, old thesaurus within arms reach.. and it was fantastic.
Writing via computer has its benefits, don't get me wrong. Editing is far easier, for one.
But there's something to be said for good old-fashioned writing. Maybe I'll keep this up for a while, just to see how it goes.
In other news, Baby Cat stopped by again last night. First he came to the front porch and sat down right in front of the glass door while Mandarin and Sierra hissed and lashed their tails at him. Justin slipped outside to see if he could catch the kitten, but of course he dashed off a moment later. Me, being paranoid about Houdini's last vanishing act, stuck Mandarin down in the basement and closed the door to keep him secure, then I went to the back door to find the kitten there. I looked down at him and saw he's polydactyl! I'd never seen a cat with the condition before, but there was no mistaking it. I crouched down and talked to him through the glass, and he didn't immediately run, so I tried to slip outside.. and he took off. I don't think we're ever going to get close to this cat. We hung around outside for a while longer to see if he'd come back, but he didn't. He looks healthy, so he might be someone's pet, but he didn't have any obvious identification on him.
And in other other news, World of Warcraft is going to be undergoing a huge overhaul with the expansion being released later this year. One player put together a very neat video highlighting some of the areas of the game, and how beautiful they are despite the occasional complaints that the game's graphics aren't as bleeding-edge as other games out there. Here's the link to the video if anyone is interested. World of Warcraft - Graphics Bad? Not So Much.
I also had the chance to unpack and set up the library and the study during my vacation, and in the process found all of my old writing books. I took the time to flip through a few of them and again realized that my writing has gotten much better since then. This is amusing because I had always held my past work on some towering pedestal that I simply couldn't attain ever again. That is simply not the case. Quite frankly, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was, which also did wonders for my confidence.
Last night I took pencil to paper and wrote as I used to, lying on my bed in dead silence, old thesaurus within arms reach.. and it was fantastic.
Writing via computer has its benefits, don't get me wrong. Editing is far easier, for one.
But there's something to be said for good old-fashioned writing. Maybe I'll keep this up for a while, just to see how it goes.
In other news, Baby Cat stopped by again last night. First he came to the front porch and sat down right in front of the glass door while Mandarin and Sierra hissed and lashed their tails at him. Justin slipped outside to see if he could catch the kitten, but of course he dashed off a moment later. Me, being paranoid about Houdini's last vanishing act, stuck Mandarin down in the basement and closed the door to keep him secure, then I went to the back door to find the kitten there. I looked down at him and saw he's polydactyl! I'd never seen a cat with the condition before, but there was no mistaking it. I crouched down and talked to him through the glass, and he didn't immediately run, so I tried to slip outside.. and he took off. I don't think we're ever going to get close to this cat. We hung around outside for a while longer to see if he'd come back, but he didn't. He looks healthy, so he might be someone's pet, but he didn't have any obvious identification on him.
And in other other news, World of Warcraft is going to be undergoing a huge overhaul with the expansion being released later this year. One player put together a very neat video highlighting some of the areas of the game, and how beautiful they are despite the occasional complaints that the game's graphics aren't as bleeding-edge as other games out there. Here's the link to the video if anyone is interested. World of Warcraft - Graphics Bad? Not So Much.