Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a good couple of days, whether or not your celebrating Christmas :D

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a real post.

A third.

Hi guys,

It's been half a month since I last posted, and things are busy. And only getting busier.

But, I had my last exam on Wednesday, and got some results for essays and my major project.

I can't write essays. This doesn't surprise me, but I also know it's because I lack passion for them that I can't write them.

I can write fiction though. I got a Distintion for my Major Project. You remember the one I mentioned ages ago, that's a kind of prequel to my WiP? Maybe not. But I got a Distinction! It makes me feel good.

My daily word goal - it's increased from 300 words a day to 1000, because every time I sat down to write, that's about what came out. Of course, some days I write less, but it's not too much of an effort to make up the lack again.
And because of this, I'm a third of the way through the first draft! I'm very excited about where the plot is taking me, and when I stopped today, I left it at a place where the reader gets the first hint of a major revelation.
I can't wait to sit down to my writing tomorrow.

Another thing about being busy, is that as well as not updating here, I haven't been around to any of my favourite blogs. I miss you guys! But, I've got the whole month of January off, so there'll be lots of writing, posting here, and reading of other blogs.

I'll be back soon with a Christmas post. Until then, take care guys.

Done!

Hey there!

I submitted my last essay today. And had my Spanish oral exam too. I am done with my Bachelor degree (except for the Spanish written, but that'll be cool with the help of a study group :)!

Does this mean I can read as much of whatever I want now? Does this mean I can do as much salsa dancing as I can? Does this mean I can finally concentrate on my WiP???

No.

If this was a vlog, this is the part where I hunch forward and pout at the camera. Because guess what?

I'm moving. And I don't even know when. Due to some things (which I won't go into right now), my house is being put on the market this week. My housemate and her boyfriend have started getting the house cleaned and packed away. Now that I'm done with assignments, it's my turn to do as much as is left. The house could be turned over as soon as next week, or as late as the end of December.

No dancing (hopefully some though). No reading (except during breaks at work, or on the bus).

I will try and do at least 300 words a day though. There are no other (English) words taking up my brain so I think I can manage that. 300 always leads to more anyway. It's just a small amount so that I don't feel guilty about not writing more.

It's a great idea I got from Anne Lamott's writing book Bird by Bird. If you're ever feeling down about your writing or life (what writer doesn't feel this occasionally?), read it for some inspiration.

:D

Mooncow

Hey guys. I had a massive brain fart today.

Whenever I looked at the clock, I was seeing an hour earlier. Or I figured that my calculations in catching the early bus would give me the extra time I needed to get some chores done before work. I dunno.

I got called ten minutes after my shift was supposed to start and in that second I realised my mistake. And I completely flipped out. When I got to work my boss was saying:
 "Calm down, it's okay. She was worried about you."

I had a private lesson first up. I like to think that I'm a professional swim instructor. I always get to work early, try to involve the parents, and treat my students, the parents and my co-workers with respect.
Clearly the mother of my first student today thinks so too, at least partly.
 "I just hope she's okay," she said to my boss when I didn't turn up.

It's flattering to think that something must have happened for me not to be there. It's also touching when the parents show concern. I get a similar feeling when they express trust and/or gratitude.

Nothing happened to me. I just turned into a space cadet for the day.

This has made me realise something today. I am getting pretty stressed. I think I need to take a break from the Internet for a while and focus on my studies. It may take a week or more. I will be back though, because having increased my followers over the past few weeks *waves* has made me confident in my posting, and it's a great motivation to post.

So, keep well. Hasta luego.

Tonsillitis

That is the verdict from yesterday. I've been given a script for antibiotics to take every six hours, and bought myself some painkillers.

Today, swallowing is still painful, but getting better as the day goes on. I may even be able to go to work tomorrow.

The doctor reminded me that tonsillitis is bacterial and so not contagious. This means that it is just a coincidence that my sister had it when I last visited her. It must be stress. She's just finished her last year of high school, and I'm about to finish my last year of uni. You know how it is.

This is Halloween!

And it's also the last day of NaBloWriMo. How did those of you participating fare? I know I've been pretty lax, but at least I posted a couple of posts a week. I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for that.
Now, don't worry, just because I've got to the end of this challenging meme, doesn't mean I'm going to slack off for a few months. The opposite in fact. If NaBloWriMo has shown me one thing, it's that a post doesn't have to be deep and meaningful every single time. Sometimes people appreciate the fluff too :)

 I went to a Halloween party last night - you might recall my previous posts with parts of my costume. I won't be posting pictures today - uni work, cleaning, friends etc getting in the way - but if I can get my act together I will post pictures in a couple of days.

 A thought: I might start another blog where I can post little bits of fiction and poetry, that is separate to this one. This won't come to fruition for another month or so, after my assessments and exams are over for the year. What do you think?


Happy Halloween!

10 Days

'Till Halloween! And until NaBloWriMo is over. But Halloween!

I bought the second piece for my costume yesterday. I didn't even mean to, but I saw this mask:

And it is perfect for the image I have in my head. The whole outfit came into my head because I wanted to create something around this top, which I love and have only worn once:

From Bardot

I'm not going to tell you exactly what I have planned, but as I get each piece (and progressively destroy each piece for effect), I'll post pictures here. And at the end you'll get to see the whole shebang.

Here is the first piece I got: 

From Tree of Life

How glamorously creepy, hey? I just realised, posting the picture now, that it's not actually a spider cause it only has six legs. It'll still have the right effect though.

Happy

Before writing this post, I had this thought: the reason Art is and always has been around, is because humans need to know that they're not alone. Whatever the situation, there is a piece of music, literature, film, theatre, poetry, visual art, dance and more to fit it.

I've been listening to Happy by Natasha Bedingfield a bit lately (I downloaded the album after seeing Easy A). And it seems to be eerily parallel to my life at the moment. Let's take a look at the opening lines:

Landlord's knocking at my door/cussing me out: my housemates and I were given a Notice to Remedy yesterday after failing a house inspection. If we fail the next inspection, we'll be given a Notice to Vacate.

Got laid off my job the night before: I still have a job, but might not for long if I end up homeless...

Can't figure how/ I'm gonna fix tomorrow when/ yesterday's still a mess: Late uni assignments, housework, social life, work... you get the picture, the usual student stresses.

I wish that I could step away and breath/ this world's tryin to swallow me/ clear away the clouds inside my head: This is just generally how I've been feeling for the past few... months I guess, on and off.

Now for some happy thoughts:

1) Writing - I finished the first draft of my Creative Project manuscript. I've started editing now... it's exiting.

2) I have many incredible friends who are awesome in their own right, as well as being supportive when I need them to be.

3) My family - always there for me. I love them and I'll always know that they love me.

4) I'm good at my job, and it's fun.

5) Spring! Sun! These things never fail to make me smile. I've been waiting all winter for them.

6) I'm starting to get into the mundane, everyday stuff that makes me happy, so I'll stop this post here.

7) Check out the song, it's good for lifting your spirits.

Getting Ready

For the end of year assessments and Sydney Salsa Congress '10!

Just quick for now because I've already procrastinated enough today.

But I just got home from a private class with my instructors. I'm in a choreography for the aforementioned congress, and consider myself the least experienced dancer. So I went and booked a private so I could brush up on my fundamentals. Within the hour I could feel myself dancing better and my instructors could see it. I'm happy about that.

Now what I need to do is Practice! Or I'll forget it all by next Sunday, our first rehearsal learning the choreography. So exciting! We're working with some of the best Salsa dancers in the world here!

So on another note, I'm supposed to be reading The Reader Bernhard Schlink for Lit. Studies.

Unfortunately so far I'm not connecting with it. I want to know more about the character of Hanna, rather than view her from the protagonist's POV, as if I were watching her in a movie with the sound off. The reader is told facts about her but there's little characterisation.

And the pace is quite slow.

But, I'll keep persevering (if only to have something to say in the tut) and let you know what I think when I'm done.