Take a deep breath, now . . .

A brief word:

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year - a YEAR - since I've started this blog, and with so little to show for it. But I won't fret over it. It's purpose is to give me a space to jot down my thoughts when the mood suits me, so in that respect "The Drafty Corner" has been a success. It'd be great if I could make a habit out of writing on it like a journal, but I won't make any more promises. They break too easily. Like Coca Cola glasses. Actually, my Coca Cola glasses are quite durable, but never mind that.

You know another thing that's hard to believe? It's nearly exam time. The holidays are fast approaching, as is Winter Break, the end of the semester, and the deadlines for grad school applications. Good. Grief. XP

I guess my stress has built up to such a point that I NEED to write something - anything - to unwind. How ironic, seeing as how half the stress I'm going through is rooted in all the OTHER things I have to write this semester. Ah well. It's all in the intent, I suppose. I can feel the tension in my very fingertips as I type, but it's probably cathartic. Seriously, though, I need to relax right now. I just finished my 3-5 shift at the writing center, only to go back from 7 to 10 with three fully-booked hours of conferences. And apparently my first one is with a guy who tends to show up late and has a habit of hugging his paper to his chest and stealing pens from the tutor's hand in order to take notes. Control issues, anyone? I really don't want to deal with that tonight. I'd rather not have anyone, but unless he just doesn't show up (which could happen), I'll just have to suck it up. Almost every other tutor is booked for the night - like I said, it's that time of year. The flow probably won't die down until late into finals week when papers get turned in and people start heading home as soon as they print the last period or circle the last multiple-choice answer on their exams and make like bats in hell out of this place. I won't head home until Saturday, which is kind of a pain, but at the same time it gives me a full day to sleep in, pack and basically rejoice at having suffered through my second-to-last semester of undergrad. Whoopie.

I can understand why most people prefer to defer going to grad school once they get their Bachelor's. They've been at it for, supposedly, eight years of higher education now (Is high school considered higher education? Maybe not.), so they're ready to get out and get into the real world. I'm not so crazy about it, though. I mean, yes, you learn how to live and work among real people at real jobs in order to earn real money, but there's something about the education experience of academic that shouldn't be brushed off too hastily. As much of a pain as it is to go to classes, complete assignments and answer to the almost tyrannical authority of professors and administrators . . . well, for one, is it really that different from the real world? The major difference is that school is a more controlled environment, thus a bit safer. I don't know - maybe I'm failing to face my own anxieties about becoming an indepedent adult. I don't have a place to call my own. I've only once lived in a flat rather than my parents' home or campus housing, and my parents were the ones providing my rent. I have yet to really be taken out of my comfort zone.

*Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh . . .*

On the upside, I'm looking forward to an academic experience away from my current residence, and after four years no less (excluding, of course, my most interesting sojourn in London). Four out of the five schools I'm applying to are either in NYC or Boston, and the other is in a city in Virginia. So it'll be a bit different from what I know and regard as 'familiar'. I hardly call that a bad thing.

Enough of this mature dialogue, though. I need something pointless and mindless to do. I wish Sherlock were on now. I don't think "Masterpiece Mystery!" is rerunning the episodes any time soon. That's so stupid! The station in my area aired each episode only once, while at home they were on a few times. It's baloney! Utter malarkey! My only comfort is that I've asked for the complete season this Christmas - only $25 - with interviews and commentary by the writers and actors. I feel a fangirlish squee rising inside of me just thinking about it.

Maybe I can watch the unaired pilot on youtube while I wait for 7 o'clock to come. I have a group project that I could be doing research for, but I'll wait to do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is NOT going to be fun.

I doubt anyone is following this blog to know about my fanfic updates, but what the hell, I'll mention them anyway. I haven't updated in a while, partly because of school and partly because of my recently-born obsession with Sherlock. I have a fanfic in mind that I want to write soon before I lose interest, but I'm having a hell of a time figuring out how to start it. The rest of it I have a pretty good idea of, but I need a solid beginning to gain reader interest. Why must beginnings always be the hardest?

Someday I will get back to my other fics for Trinity Blood and Les Miserables. Well, I particularly want to update or even continue Homo Homini Lupus since I am now working on my series The Erebus Chronicles for both Senior Seminar and Senior Project. As for Blood Wars . . . argh, I REALLY don't want to drop it. I'll get back into the mood for it. At some point.

Well, I think this post is long enough, don't you? Even when considering how long a gap I've had to cover since the last one. I'll only add that I'm going to see a movie this weekend. Don't know which, but I swear I'll do it. Or I'll go crazy. Oh, and Amazon lied about the release of the next Trinity Blood novel. Again. What a shock.



"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." - Mark Twain

In Which Lethargy Can Be Fatal . . .

A brief word:

Being a once-upon-a-time LotR buff, I became engaged in a discussion the other night with a fellow flatmate on characters from the movies and books. During our tete-a-tete, she expressed to me her deep irritation regarding the films' interpretation of Faramir, her favorite character. His portrayal as a power-hungry warrior like almost every other male human in the story is (and I agree) very OOC. She summed up his character in these words (as if he were saying them):

"Hmm, power. That sounds like somthing that would get in the way . . . of reading."

So epic.


To my dismay but not enormous surprise, the weekend as thus far left me unmotivated to do anything related to school or to personal projects. The school bit, right now, takes a bit more priority only because the workload is going to quickly increase as the semester progresses. I would like to have a handle on it now and find free time later. I don't think this is going to actually happen, though. I'll at least try to catch up on my reading today. Sleeping in, as nice as it is, doesn't help one get things done.

It seems that our group is trying to plan a birthday surprise for one of our own. Hopefully we can go to this sushi place at the local mall since it's not even two blocks away. We'll see, though.

I'm still very, very, very annoyed at our internet. We're still on the temp plan that won't even let us watch vids on youtube. Grah! We HAVE to get this resolved soon.

Now, projects, projects, projects . . . despite my recent decision to post my main story on ff.net, I'm once again reconsidering. Mostly because if I do decide to publish it, ff.net may not be the best place to give it exposure. So I might - might - start posting here. Again, we'll see. I keep rewriting the beginning and it still doesn't want to cooperate. It either throws the reader into the story too quickly and without enough creative exposition, or the exposition is too lengthy and predictable. I've also been fiddling with possible prologues. I think I might have hit on one that will work the best, but I still have to actually put it into words. I hate it when I start narrating in my head and it sounds really good, but then I can't write down what I'm thinking right away, and then when I do eventually do write it, it never sounds as good. Then again, I tend to get ideas that sound good when I first think them, and then on belated reflection they sound really strange or idiotic. Ah, the creative process. What a turbulent journey (i.e. pain in the ass).

Just another dreary day in London. It's after 3pm and it looks like it's 10 in the morning. Oh joy.

Oh, but I did visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum the other day. It's amazing how many antiques the owners had to collect and bring together to create such a Victorian ambience. And the wax figures made me jump.



"Watson, that is a very loose translation!" - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Red-Headed League"