reading and writing and reading and writing .

Over this semester thus far, I've done more reading and writing simultaneously than I've ever done. That is, of course, excepting those ridiculous summer reading book competitions when I was reading children's books and could read a children's fiction book in a day... Regardless, I'm in the middle of reading three different books, writing one with ideas for three or four more, blogging daily (or rather, more accurately, blogging as close to daily as I can) and I have several more books waiting to get started that a friend has given me. So much reading! More and more though, I'm beginning to love it. Imagine a life where all you did was read and write?

a short poem .

Two paths crossed, one like another

but would it work between each other

time is what will tell you best

makes heart true, endure the rest

doors opened, doors closed

opportunities arose

let we all forget that we

had become one entity

remember now for all or naught

the lessons learned, the things we taught

for one or two the same is true

believe in yourself, believe it's true

like it or not, the clock will tick

while even those nasty nicknames stick

to fight and despair; don't waste your air

go down the road, it's better there

novelist .

Today I officially started the first of what I hope to be several books. After reading through material my employer gave me on self-publishing and whatnot, I've been truly inspired. It's been my intention to start writing something full length for a long time, and though I don't have anything really cemented down, I'm starting. And starting is probably the hardest part. My goal is to work on it for an hour a day -- whether that happens or not, I'm excited to have broken ground. I got ideas for several other things too, which I intend to publish in due time. I'm beginning to realize that I really do love writing, and that I want to at least pursue that on the side of my academic pursuits. I don't know where it will take me or how far, but sometimes you just need to put the logical part of your mind aside and go for a dream. And so, I will ride the rainbow across the sky as far as it will take me.

architecture .

I was excited today to see a quote by Gilbert Chesterton, which reads as follows: "All architecture is great architecture after sunset; perhaps architecture is really a nocturnal art, like the art of fireworks." It's an interesting way to think about it, and naturally, given that architecture was the second word, immediately piqued my interested. At first thought, I began to think of the renderings that are done with night views for review boards. Personally, I don't think they're always the most effective...

Music Monday #50

This week's song is Monday by Napela, remixed by the Glitch Mob.

random search .

I opened Blogspot tonight not having a clue of what to write about. Nothing hit me today, and so I took to Youtube to randomly click through some videos and see if anything inspired me. It's quite rare that I don't have something to write about, what with the quotes I receive daily, daily devotionals, and other little tidbits that get emailed to me or thrown my way. I found this video, a trailer by Red Bull for a video called the Art of Flight, featuring Travis Rice.

learning, doing, teaching .

There is a funny quote from a movie called 'School of Rock' that says "Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym!" I never realized that this was actually a more common saying than I originally assumed. A recent quote from Oscar Wilde said, "Everybody who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching." It's interesting to think that maybe some people just can't get themselves to pick up certain things -- so they turn to teaching others things that they already know.

employed .

I have never had a job while at school before, and heck, I've never really even looked. I don't like searching for jobs, and I'm not one to pester people into giving me a job. I don't want to get hired because they are appeasing my annoyance, but rather because they want me to work for them, and they value me as a person, both in employment and life in general. That being said, I wanted to look for a job this semester, because, let's be real; after getting back from Spain AND buying a car, my funds were running a little low.

project reach-out .

So I've been mulling this over in my head for awhile, and I've decided I really want to make it happen. Sometime within the next few years, I want to get to know some new people. I don't follow too many people on here, and not many people follow me either... but I want to actually meet this people. I seem to remember a movie coming out, maybe it was called "The Social Network," and it was about meeting the people that you were friends on Facebook with? I could be wrong; that could be a different movie. Regardless -- real people are out there. It'd be awesome to meet the real people and not just the digital ones. I want to hear their stories, and get to know people. Just to chat and see how they got started blogging, what else they do with their lives -- we all have this common denominator. It just makes me wonder what else goes on beneath the surface.

busy, busy!

So yeah, I've got lots of things on my plate for right now. Where does the list begin? I'm excited for life and all that it brings, but often it feels like there's just no time for anything (that goes for blogging too, and I know I'm occasionally behind on writing these!) Time management skills are really gonna have to kick in for this semester -- here's the list just off the top of my head of what I need to do...

writers .

Being a writer isn't what it used to be. Think way back when there were no computers. People are scrawling notes on napkins, in notebooks, trying to remember their plots and characters in their heads. The status of 'writer' was an elite one, where people really had to work to get their stuff to even be accepted by an editor. Times have certainly changed, eh?

Music Monday #49

This week's song is Cascade by Hyper.

strengths .

So for this leadership retreat that happened this past weekend, we took an online survey that determined what our largest strengths were. My top 5 ended up being Deliberative, Achiever, Competition, Intellection, and Strategic. I found it interesting to see these, because I seem to be such an athletically driven person. I really enjoy pushing myself athletically and am extremely competitive as well. Perhaps, in some situations, I end up being too competitive.

video responses .

There's been a video going around called "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus." Originally I think it was finding its way around Facebook, and since I don't have one, I hadn't originally seen it. However, someone posted it to one of my friends' Tumblrs and so I ended up being in the digital loop that is normally constrained to Facebook. When I first watched it, I pretty much agreed. But what sort of person would I be if I just took one person's opinion and accepted it without looking at the others? I started to look at the video responses. And what I found began to add a whole new separate part to this story.

active listeners .

I've only been blogging for a short amount of time (one year or so) but I've already noticed there is a big difference in those who read blogs. There are, in my eyes, several types of people...

never live the same day twice .

It's advice I think that we should all follow. Never, ever, ever live the same day twice. If we do, what's the point? To go back and start repeating things we've done already? This might be an odd analogy, but think of an amusement park. You start off, and there are a ton of rides. At first, it's sick, there are SO many things to go on. But then you get to know the park, and you realize you've been on most of the rides. It doesn't peak your interest like it did before. And then you're waiting in lines for hours on end for things you've already done, already experienced. Eventually, there's no longer an more incentive to even go to the park at all anymore.

orlaquote .

I love following Orla Gartland on Twitter. She tweets some of the coolest and most interesting things. Hate on twitter all you want, but it's fun. Well I can't really remember if she legit tweeted this or it was on something else, maybe her bio or something? But she had this quote, "as painters paint on canvas, musicians paint on silence." I'll give a moment for that to sink in.

kanye's revolution .

So maybe a week or so ago, Kanye West went through this 86-tweet novel on twitter about starting something new, something real, a bit of a creative compilation of the efforts of many people. I am lucky enough to follow him on twitter, and was pretty inspired. At one point, he invited those who wanted to get involved to send him an email. Well, by this point, I was sold -- and so I did. I wrote my best most compelling email to get myself involved. I think it would truly be an incredible opportunity.

Music Monday #48

This week's song is Marry Me by Train.

life .

It's hard sometimes.

Sometimes the best option is just to pray.

move in .

It's amazing to think that winter break is already done and finished, and this Wednesday, I'll be starting classes. Wow, has the time flown! Driving all the way down to Clemson was a chore. I took my car and my parents took their truck to help bring some of my stuff. I realized also that I have a lot of clothes... probably too many. Perhaps I should really go through and try to pass some of that stuff along to some people less fortunate. I'll have to go through it at some point.

men have changed .

I read an article a few days ago that talked about how men need to cheat. Okay, first off, this really caught my eye, because I have always believed in monogamous relationships, and that being monogamous with a partner is the best way that things will work. Even the hint that cheating is becoming socially okay is extremely disheartening. Miss Vicki Larson of the Huffington Post reports that monogamy is not only failing men, but that it is also a socially compelled sexual incarceration that can lead to a life of anger and contempt. These studies were conducted by Dr. Eric Anderson and the following beliefs are his, and not Miss Larson's.

ugh .

So of course the one day that I have a billion things to write about I am cut short by time. Tomorrow I'm driving back down to school (you know, 800 miles, 14 hours or so including meals and stops for gas, no big deal) and I think for the first time it has sort of snuck up on me real quick without me knowing. Granted, I was dragged out today to run errands that ran entirely way too late... thus hindering me beginning the packing process. Luckily, I'm at the point where all I need to do is put my clothes in suitcases and then start loading up. I know that it's going to take longer than I want it to though. The plan is to leave at 11am. Well given that it's 1230am already.. yeahhh not going to happen. On top of all that, I'm worried about having money to pay for things. Basic things, like rent and gas and food. I'm praying that I can find a job (another thing on my to-do list; applications and searching and such -- which I told myself I would do over break and neglected to do at all). Life is just life sometimes, you know? I just gotta keep telling myself, "Come on now... no more fantasy life in Barcelona, time to get back to the real world..." and then do it. Prayers would certainly be appreciated...

tough losses .

I'm currently typing this as the Discover Orange Bowl is going on. To say it's miserable is an understatement. I can't even imagine how the team is feeling right now -- deflated, kicking themselves, angry, just wanting the game to be over, just wanting the ass pounding that we're getting to be over. We're losing 63 to 20. I've never witnessed such a terrible game. WVU is breaking all kind of records, whether they are point records, or whatever else. There is no chance of winning, it's all for pride now, or for the sake of making sure you're still on the field when the clock runs out. Somewhere along the line, we lost our focus. But that's clear in hindsight. So we're in this hole, everyone's deflated, at the lowest point they can be at, and you think, where could we possible go from here?

Music Monday #47

Completely forgot yesterday was Music Monday... and thus it will be Music Tuesday this week. Huzzah.

Therefore! This week's song is The Light by Sara Bareilles. All I can say is, this is the best song ever. Enjoy.

resolutions .

I follow a blog called Nico's Nonsense, and she writes some really good stuff, one of which today was about resolutions. So since that's fresh in my mind, that's what I'd like to talk about today. I sort of breezed by New Years on this blog without much recognition, mainly because it's not that big a holiday in my life. To me, it's sort of just another year, but I suppose it's always nice to sort of have an excuse to celebrate.

the return of quotables .

First of all, I want to extend a Happy New Year to all who read this. I hope that your celebrations were all as perfect as I'm sure you wanted them to be, and that maybe you were able to snag yourself a New Year's kiss. So to kick off 2012, I'm going to start with a quote that I read today by Hans Christian Andersen: "Where words fail, music speaks."