Month: August 2004

One Week Down

so the first week of classes is out of the way now. it’s pretty cool, though…I think I’m really going to enjoy this semester. I’m taking the intermediate narrative class, where I’ll be doing more work on short stories (which, of course, will ultimately be posted on this website). I’m also taking the advanced expository writing class, which seems to be focusing on personal essays/memoir-type writing. if you’ve seen any of my more personal stuff, you’ll know that this is just the sort of nonfiction that gets me going (and perhaps I’ll be able to brush up my skills, so as not to be too long-winded or rambling). I’m also taking an english class in which we’ll be reading short stories, so I don’t anticipate having any qualms about doing the work for that one. and finally, I’m taking latin…which looks like it’ll be plenty of fun, as far as foreign languages go. I really enjoy foreign languages, but the work involved usually deters me…latin won’t likely be so labor-intensive…but we’ll see, I’m sure. I guess my final parting note is this: beware of the extremes. if your social/political views are extremist on either side of the fence, chances are you’re not taking into account all of the perspectives on things. give it some thought, and some open-mindedness. wow…I could write horoscopes! or even better, the fortunes in fortune cookies! be sure to look for my work next time you finish an order of the general’s chicken!

I’m Back!!

the trip to South Carolina was a great time…really relaxing. usually I figure that with a long trip and stuff to do and that sort of thing, vacations usually end up being more stressful than real life, but this wasn’t quite like that. I’m sure attitude has something to do with it, and I went down there thinking that I didn’t really give a damn what happened. so it was all fun, and I got to see some good friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and hang out doing nothing, drinking lots of caffeine. I’m usually very strongly anti-energy drinks, because they just seem like watered-down sugary replacements for coffee, but I tried this stuff called Bawls, and it was actually decent. it was like a version of seven-up that actually tastes good, with a bunch of caffeine and guarana. they also make a version of bawls that is completely sugar-free, so I could dig that. anyway…I was thinking about it today, and I don’t really make much, if any, mention of music on this website…so today I’ve been listening to Wilco’s new album, “A Ghost Is Born,” which is really rockin. anyone who knows me knows that I’m a hopelessly hopeless Modest Mouse fan, and I’ve been listening to their new album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News for the last few weeks, and I like it a lot, too. there are a lot of times when I’ll sit down to write and play all of the other Modest Mouse CDs on random, (Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks, The Moon and Antarctica, The Lonesome Crowded West, and This Is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About), and I really get into just about every song in the playlist. so when I heard the new CD for the first time, I was a little skeptical, as it has a different sort of sound…not to mention the fact that they’re actually getting playtime on the radio, which can be a bad sign for a band…but I must say that I’m still quite impressed with their work. props.

Road Trip

I’m getting on the road for South Carolina first thing tomorrow morning…we’re going to count it as my summer getaway, seeing as how I haven’t done a damned thing this summer, aside from perhaps visiting the quad cities once or twice. I’m going with jscrilla.com and my insurance agent, so I’ll both be angling for better rates and trying to nag scrilla into posting more stuff on doublemuse. and when I get back: two days until fall semester begins! the jury’s still out on how I feel about that…but as I might’ve said before, at least it’ll prompt me to finish some more stories. have a good weekend, everyone!

Time

so…haven’t really been getting a lot accomplished of late. I discovered “spider solitaire” on my computer, and it’s been eating away at my free time the way an elephant eats a peanut. I have completed a revision of “This Is a Short Flight for Someone With Everything to Think About,” but it may require further revision because I’ve added so much new material. I hope to have a final draft posted by the twenty-fourth of this month. I’ve also given a bunch of other little things that I’ve written to scrilla to post on doublemuse, so when those are posted, I’ll add the links here on javajunkee. school starts back on the twenty-fifth…but the good news is, I’ll be taking another narrative-writing class, so I’ll be forced to finish some new pieces. keep checking back!