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Ink is the strongest drug, the deepest ocean, the longest journey and the strangest love.. |
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I am a writer... A teen writer... Teen as in highschooler... Highschooler as in insanely-busy-geek-with-no-social-life-outside-of-school-and-abnormal-circle-of-friends-who-are-all-at-school-anyway-and-don't-really-count... *smacks forehead* I don't know whatever possessed me to start doing this, but you know the old quote: "Ink is the strongest drug, the deepest ocean, the longest journey and the longest love..." Okay, so that isn't an old quote. I made it up. But hey, I'm a writer! Rated "T" because I get a little heated when I rant angrily... Not scorching, but more than lukewarm... |
| Yeah, actually I am... That's the reason I've been home since Saturday, but haven't bothered to do anything productive since then... Because, you know, a blog is one of the first priorities of life... You all thought I was gone forever, no? Yeah, anyway, I spent all of today doing absolutely nothing. My little sister and I watched “Pride and Prejudice” (the old A&E version, which is something like 5 or 6 hours long but totally worth it, since it manages to cover everything in the book without having to leave anything out like they would if it was just 2 hours) so that lasted for quite a long time. Then we watched Veggie Tales, which I still like watching even though I’m supposed to be too old to watch it. She’s five and she watches it because it’s funny in a kid way. But I watch it and there is so much more that I can appreciate in “adult humor” which is called as such not because it is inappropriate, but because it’s over the kids’ heads. As an example, the one we were watching had all of the veggies getting stranded on an island, ala “Gilligan’s Island,” complete with the bumbling white hat guy, the skipper, the millionaire and his wife… There was supposed to be a “movie star and that other girl.” “Yeah, but they cancelled.” (This was under the pretense of a tour boat service.) Now, my little sister has never seen Gilligan’s Island, and if she had, she probably still wouldn’t make the connection between the Skipper and Gilligan, and Bob and Larry. But I, even though Gilligan’s Island was before my generation, have actually seen the show and laughed my head off when I realized for the first time that it was a parody. (I watched it first when I was little, so I totally missed it, and then there was a several year gap in which I didn’t see it again. Then I watched it afresh and when “ooooooh right…”) Anyway, I have to go now… As I sit here, writing about doing nothing and Veggie Tales, I made a great connection: “We are the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything/We just stay home and lie around/And if you ask us to do anything, we’ll just tell you/We don’t do anything…” Give a shout out if the Pirates are your heroes! “I am that HERO!” (Okay, so that’s LarryBoy. Hm… Maybe this is unhealthy… But you know what? Who cares!?!?! *maniacal laughter*) I need more sleep... ~SilverGryphon |
| Yeah... I went to my cousin's wedding and he and his wife are so cute! *squee* Anyway, I got back Saturday night, but yesterday I was so tired and today I am so tired that I'm going to just leave this note to let everyone know I'm alive... And now I am going back to bed... But before that, I just wanted to say that I watched "True Grit" (a John Wayne film for those people who live in caves and haven't heard of the Duke) and liked it. The first time I didn't like it, but this time I did. The girl is annoying as heck and I wanted her to die of that snakebite, but Rooster just wouldn't let that happen. In fact, the only reason that I could tolerate the girl was the relationship between Rooster and Mattie. While I wanted her to get eaten by raptors the entire time, watching John Wayne as a one eyed, weatherbeated marshal fall for that little girl was just so touching. Granted he doesn't fall IN love with her, just learns to love her. His "baby sister" reference, while cynical in the beginning, becomes a genuine endearment. I sat there and just about fell in love myself with that grizzled old pot-bellied drunkard. But I wanted the girl to die... Her part was annoying in and of itself and was supposed to be as such, but she played it so intensely and weirdly that it just ended up unnatural. But anyway, this was a bit longer than the short post I had intended... Sorry folks, but now I am off to bed... ~SilverGry... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz |
| You know, sometimes it is nice to have a quota. Or a goal. Or whatever... Last year I started to take the 100 fic challenge, where they give you 100 single word prompts (actually I think two have two words, but whatever) and you have to write a story/draw a comic/write a poem about each of those, so that you end up with 100 pieces of writing. Anyway, they can be anything you want: seperate stories that have nothing to do with one another; all chapters of one huge story; all about the same characters, possibly in different reincarnations; all in the same world, but about different people; whatever... Personally, I opted to write all of mine in the same world. I had a dream once, where I had been kidnapped and my captor and I were trying to get into a city in the middle of the desert. The city was locked against intruders, but he knew a secret way in. We got shot at, lots of running, etc., but somehow that threw the idea of genetic experimenting into my head. Now the running "threat" in my stories, even though they range over a period of about 200 years, all not so far away in the future, where genetic experiments have produced a human with enough animal DNA to be faster, stronger and otherwise superior to other humans. These superhumans are referred to as "Mutts" because of their mixed genes. They are used as soldiers in the military. But then, one of them goes AWOL and brutally murders his handler. Suddenly the scientists realize how animalistic these things really are and how little they can do to control them. But by now, the Mutts have been integrated into so many aspects of life that to call them all back is nearly impossible. Squads of human soldiers are sent out to find them, and the labs are destroyed. The Mutts escape and some begin their own hidden communities, hiding out in the middle of nowhere. But there are so few of them and they are smart enough to worry about inbreeding, so they begin to kidnap a few humans here and there to freshen their stock. The Mutt is the dominant gene, so it takes a few generations for it to be watered down noticably, but even after that, they remain superior to regular humans. Plus there is actual pure blood around and there is enough intermingling that it remains pretty strong. (kind of a stretch, I suppose, but I'm going for the small suspension of belief) Anyway, so my 100 fics are set in this world, told from the viewpoints of Mutts and humans alike. I haven't actually written any of them, since I just rediscovered my notes, but I have outlined over 70 of them. I wasn't going to start writing until I'm finished outlining all of my outlines, because of the same old same old thing of me not wanting to write until I am outlined, because otherwise I will never finish my outlines. Yup, so that's my side project. I finished chapter 22 the other day, but now I am stuck in the middle of 23 and frustrated as heck... OOH! and I just read "Mortal Engines" by Philip Reeve. That is an inspirational book if I ever read one. With moving cities, a rebellious group and a hideous love interest, it's all good. I loved it and recommend it.I've been reading a lot this summer and some more of my recommended gems are: "Abarat" by Clive Barker (if you haven't read this, you should, though as a warning, if you don't like the Alice in Wonderland type feel, you won't like this too much. It's a mishmosh of crazy characters in a world that hardly makes sense. But I loved it.) "Ender's Game" by Scott Orson Card (this is a heavy book in terms of moral growth and so one, but I was greatly inspired.) "Dr. Frankin's Island" (can't think of the author's name) (the genetic transformations in this book were a bit of a stretch, considering I don't think this sort of thing can take only six months. For crying out loud, the girl loses all her teeth about two months through, then grows them back by the end... the genetics were hardly believeable, though when you a reading them, you panic along with the characters. But the human aspects, of panic, claustrophobia, fear, hurt and so on are very well protrayed. I liked it just for that, if the rest of it wasn't so much the believeable...) "Singing the Dogstar Blues" by Alice Goodman (this was really good. I especially loved the alien, how foreign he was and dependant on the other characters for support.) I'm also rereading the Maximum Ride books by James Patterson. They're kind of fast paced and some of it defies belief a bit, but they're a fun book to read when you are down. And last but not least are the Jurassic Park novels by Michael Crichton. You've all seen the movies, now go read the books! They're a bit better in terms of explaining some of the science, and they killed some of the characters that should have been killed in the movies if you ask me. Not to mention the kids are not quite as annoying. (I wanted them to get eaten so badly in the movie) JP was done pretty well as a movie, but JP II was not done nearly as well. They changed the story all around and put the two kid characters into one that was also annoying and whom I also wanted to get eaten, but life is tough, yes? Yeah, those are the ones that stand out from the crowd. The rest are not so good. And while these aren't the best literature, I suppose, that has ever been written, I like them... So there... Anyhoo, gotta run now. I'm going to my cousin's wedding on Saturday, so don't expect anything from me Friday or Saturday, though I might just surprise you... ~SilverGryphon Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and do taste well with ketchup. Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and do taste well with ketchup. Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and do taste well with ketchup. |
| Wow, an update the very next day... I must be sick or something... During the last school year, I started a comic as sort of a doodle to do in those more boring classes. I used an idea that I was originally going to turn into a novel and edited it a bit for the comic. It's very strange telling a story with pictures when I'm used to telling them with words. I can't add narration, so everything has to be explained in the visuals. Really testing my expressive human faces, which are my weak point in my artistic ability. Currently they sort of look like dead anime characters... Hmmm... But its fun, considering. The story I picked is something that requires visuals, which is why I chose it. Its the story of a girl who goes into a coma after a car accident. In the coma, she is neither alive nor dead, so she is taken to the in-between by a deer named Hades. There she has to choose between Life and Death, two persons at a fork in the road. But the thing is, she doesn't know which is which. Just as she is about to choose, however, she is stopped by one known as the Youngling, who is also in the in-between, but has cheated his choosing and has remained in the in-between for far longer than his time. He wants the girl to help him find Life, as there are things he needs to do in Life before he can die. So yeah, I'm still doing work on it, so consider this version of the comic the first draft. I'm sort of winging the dialogue as I draw the pictures, which, as I understand, isn't so much the good idea. I should probably write the script first, but somehow working it out the hard way is soothing. I'll probably regret it later, but give me time... So yeah, anyway... Found the most awesome web-comic last week: "Spiky-Haired Dragon, Worthless Knight." It's great. It has just the right mix of humor and dark moments. It's be going on for 3 years and there are probably a few more years to come. It actually tells a serious story, despite what the title may lead you to assume. Great stuff, I highly recommend it: http://shd-wk.com . Anyway, not much else to say... I never read comic books as a kid, (younger kid, anyway) so you could consider me inexperienced. I recently discovered manga, which gives me a headache to read, considering it goes backwards, but the visuals if nothing else are stunning. One manga series that I do recommend is Miyazaki's "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind." It's really good, but gets a bit dark at times. The ending (not the very ending, but how we get to the ending) is a little confusing, considering it invovles beating this threat that we didn't hear about until like the sixth volume, but I liked it otherwise... Anyhoo, must leave now. Farewell my adoring fans... *crickets chirp* Yes, yes, thank you, thank you. *crickets chirp louder* They just love me... ~SilverGryphon http://www.fictionpress.com/~gryphonfledglingofsilverwings |
| Probably not... I'm back again and going to try to make a commitment... No promises to the rest of you though... Lotsa stuff's been going on. School's out, though I go back on the 20th of August. Outrageously early if you ask me, but they don't obviously. However, I'm happy to be going back. In fact, I wanted to go back just a week after school ended. Though I am liking the extra sleep that summer affords me, I just can't deal with the futility of living at this point... School actually makes me feel useful... My book is coming along fairly well. Already on chapter 21. Whoot! Editing is going to be living Hell, but you know what? I don't care at this point. I have a beta who I greatly appreciate, but who has not contacted me in about two months. That is a little frustrating. Granted, I shouldn't speak, since I have abandoned a beta-ee before, but that was because they were a total jerk and seemed more interested in bombing all of my comments than actually listening to me. Okay, so I made a stupid critique that doesn't even apply... No need to bite my head off and question my intelligence level. If you were so concerned about that, you should just ask me to leave. I was too nice to say anything, but when they didn't reply back after a few e-mails I said "fine, no skin off my nose" and left. Their problem... Anyway, I don't know why my beta hasn't contacted me, but if they left, fine. It's not like I was paying them for anything and it was purely volunteer work. I don't have a problem with it, honest, but it's frustrating not being told. I know editing is going to be a pain because as I wrote one chapter, I looked back on preceeding chapters and saw many inconsistencies, including, but not limited to: a mute girl speaking the first time you see her; a secondary character changing from the strong and confident type to a miserable, nervous brown-noser the minute I actually gave him a name; and (this is my favorite, but I've already fixed it so it doesn't apply really) a forty year old character having a twelve year old sister and their mother pregnant with another child. And that's not including any grammatical mistakes, the fact that my settings are pretty much nonexistent or that I have hardly done a lick of research. Makes you really not want to read my book, eh? I know... I'm writing it... But I'm actually pretty optomistic about it. Life's not all that bad... Anyway, updates on what I was actually talking about in my last post: Play went really well. We had a second performance, this time for a competition, and while we didn't win overall, we did win a few recognitions: Best Male Physicality (Mark was a knock out as an old man. Seriously, he blew me away.) Best Costumes, and David and I jointly won Most Romantic Moment. Granted, we were pretty much the only romantic moment, but it was neat. You know, it's interesting how ASAP can mean a few months... ~GryphonFledglingOfSilverWings |
| March 15, 2007 ~ Thursday Grrr... This always happens. A few months into starting a diary or journal (or blog) I start to get really inconsistent. Also, I haven't written anything in my own stories for a while, having been busy with school and beta-ing for itse on FP. Busy, busy bee... And this weekend is my play, so I'm unlikely to get anything productive done this weekend either. (practice after school Friday, dress rehearsal Saturday and then performance on Sunday!) Yeah, well, anyway, I plan to mend my ways as soon as possible after this weekend. Bear with me anyone who may actually be reading this faithfully... *crickets chirp* Now don't all raise your hands at once. You might knock eachother over. *crickets chirp louder* Yes, well, farewell my adoring fans... ~GryphonFledglingOfSilverWings http://www.fictionpress.com/~gryphonfledglingofsilverwings |
| March 12, 2007 ~ Monday Performance for my play is in a week! AGH!!! Other than that, not much to say... ~SilverGryphon |
| March 9, 2007 ~ Friday Yes, busy as a bee am I... Open house tomorrow at my school and I got to be there for to make my school look good... And then, I have practice for my drama production and then next weekend, I have dress rehearsal and then performance. *squeee* Anyhoo, that's all for now. OOH! Updated my novel on Fictionpres.com. Check it out if you want! ~SilverGryphon http://www.fictionpress.com/~gryphonfledglingofsilverwings |
| March 3, 2007 ~ Saturday Wouldn't you know it? I get sick on the weekend. Yes, I believe that I am coming down with the lovely influenza, so back away from your computer screen slowly without breathing... Anyhoo, watched Howl's Moving Castle last night for the first time and loved it. I didn't know that it was based off of a novel by Dianna Wynne Jones, but there are a lot of things I don't know about her. She is an excellent author and I have read some of her stuff and loved it. And Hayao Miyazaki... just wow. It's interesting, I'm not so much of a manga/anime follower (both in the comic books and the art style) but I greatly enjoy watching well-done anime movies and t.v. shows. Something about the art style in the film tells so much story to me. I really can't explain it. Anyway, yeah, loved Howl's Moving Castle. I didn't realize that it was Christian Bale who does Howl in the English version (yes, I watched the dub... I don't speak Japanese) and I was wondering why his voice sounded so much like Batman... HAHA! Not Bruce Wayne understand: he uses a different voice when he is Batman... *sigh* Hate Wayne, love the Bat... Yeah, I'm leaving now... ~GryphonFledglingOfSilverWings |
| February 28, 2007 ~ Wednesday Home sick today, on probably the worst day to be sick... Test for science is today, as well as notes for history class, which tend to come in a huge amount... Grr... and I'm missing it all and shall have to make it up... *sigh* Yeah, anyway, nothing more to say except that I finished chapter 11 a few days ago, but never bothered to post. Sorry... ~SilverGryphon http://www.fictionpress.com/~gryphonfledglingofsilverwings |
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I'll visit often! Good luck on your journey.
I daresay the reviews here on Writing.com are not nearly so shallow as on Fictionpress.