Welcome to August

I thought you deserved an August update. So here it is. I wish it and it comes true.

1. Riff

Yes, I finally finished draft 2! I'm getting it edited by members of the general public including peers and people who actually know what they're doing. I currently have 19 people on the list of readers. If you would like to be added to the list and give me feedback by mid-Dec., drop me a line at no1getzs0da@yahoo.com. For more information, check out my writing blog at:
http://j-leigh-nelson.livejournal.com/

2. Online Portfolio

For my summer course, I now have a super-duper online portfolio, which gives samples of my writing to prospective employers. It's password protected, so I'm afraid you can't view it without my permission. I was going to post a screencap for you, but Blogger.com is having "internal errors." I tell ya, blogging websites are frequent let-downs. Haven't had any trouble with Live Journal yet, though. Sorry Blogger.com. It's not MY fault you can't upload pictures.

3. Drawings

Well, I was going to upload some drawings for you too, but. You know the rest. I will tell you that I busted out the paints and made a circus scene. I'm not very good with paint, but it amused me for about an hour. I did make some good digital art for Riff that you can now view on my website. www.simple-assault.com

4. Website

Speaking of my website, did you notice the tinypic pictures? I think it's great that there are services like tinypic to provide free image hosting. On the other hand, I may have gotten carried away. The pictures, especially on the film page, make it look very cluttered. What do you think?

5. Purchases

I bought some things that are fun a while ago. I got both seasons of Life on Mars on DVD and the first season of Ashes to Ashes. I now have a used universal DVD player, so I am able to play these things on my TV here in America. I also got the Time Machine Tour (Darren Hayes) DVD, which oddly is very zoomed in on my television set, but works on larger screens. I also bought some books. The only one I've read so far is Mr. Emerson's Wife, which is quite good, especially being a genre I'd never read if Thoreau wasn't in it. I started looking at the Discworld Graphic Novel, which is massive. I also have From Where You Dream, The Pilo Family Circus, and The Secret History of Moscow, all of which I plan to read soon. But I've got more important things to read for now, including stuff for writers group and Bob's novel, which I have been reading on the bus to and from work. Oh and I bought Jonathan Rundman's Sound Theology CD too because a lot of the songs in the samples on Amazon sounded too good to pass up.

6. Audio Book

I recorded a sample chapter of Riff with my webcam as an audio book. It pretty much failed. While the image quality is decent, sometimes it echoes. I don't mean reverberation. I mean ECHO Echo echo echo. But it was fun to do all the different accents.

Some news

1. Bleak House commercial. Check it out and buy the book this month at bleakhousebooks.com. ps. I made this commercial at my internship. You can tell because it's my house.




2. Livejournal. There have been some updates on my writing blog here.

3. Drawing. Life on Mars. Drew it by hand. Colored and added bkgd in Photoshop. (Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt and John Simm as Sam Tyler.)

Post Density

I know I just wrote a day or two ago, but I've got more to say.

WRITING

Learn about Riff Chapter 3
Learn about Riff Chapter 4



SAD DAY

My grandma, Joan, passed away early this morning in the hospital. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Additionally, if you know of anyone who wants a new cat, let me know.
serenityyrd@yahoo.com



THE KOOKS

I just ordered tickets to see The Kooks at the Barrymore in Madison on October 9th. That's pretty sweet considering I forgot to order them half an hour ago and there were still seats available. I know I don't have class that night or the next morning, but I hope there's not a CAB event that I have to attend that night. Can't find my calendar, but things are constantly being updated anyway. The Kooks are pretty awesome. Thanks to Katie who introduced me to their music.



READING

I know I rant a lot about TV, but seriously, I don't sit in front of the TV all day. I've been doing a lot of reading too. After tomorrow, I will be exactly half way through the entire Holy Bible. That's pretty exciting, right? 20 minutes a day for 300 days and you too can read the Bible in a year. I've been reading books by my creative writing professors, Cashion and Treu. Haven't finished either yet, but I'm working on it. It's good to have stuff to read while I'm on the bus to and from my internship.

Charleston and rant

Writing and stuff

Check out my other blog to get updates on my writing. I've downloaded a fun new program and found this weird site that reads your novel aloud to you.

http://j-leigh-nelson.livejournal.com/3066.html


Website

Check out my website at simple-assault.com because I've added some pictures using TinyPic.com. More to come! I've also updated the links and about me page. And now there is an official page for masks rather than a link to off-site albums.


Charleston

South Carolina was great. Here's a couple pictures (really, there are HUNDREDS). There were dolphins and a beached shark and lots of seagulls and pelicans. Ghosts in the haunted jail. Salt in the ocean. Tornadoes in the sky. Alcohol in the slushies at Wet Willies. Faeries in the Angel Oak tree. Sunset in the cruise. Awesomeness in the flat. Cat in the bag. Spice in the chicken. Hats in the market place. Rubber ducks on the runway. Eerie halls under Moultrie. Cannons on the battery. Shells on the beach. Fish under my feet. Sunburn on my foot. Foot in the ocean!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112622&l=ba6fc&id=73405296


Life on Mars Rant

Life on Mars is a BBC show from a couple years ago. It's my favorite at the moment. It's innovative. Actors that can act, directors who know what they're doing, and original writers. And now America wants to remake it. If America wants it so badly, they should release it on region 1 DVD, not give it to ABC to mess with. I just saw the new trailer and they've make it QUIRKY. PLUCKY. The directors act like all they know about 70s policing is the Ben Stiller Owen Wilson version of Starsky and Hutch. The music makes it look like a comedy. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they weren't making it the EXACT same plot. But shot for shot, line for line, it's the same. Except they've Hollywoodized it, so the action is more intense and the quick comebacks are cliche. I don't know how O'Mara will be as Sam, but I remember the original directors saying how fortunate they were to get John Simm b/c few actors can handle a complex character like Sam Tyler. And Gene Hunt needs ATTITUDE, not just violence. And as nice as it is to see someone from Big Wolf on Campus back on TV, she's way to sassy to be Annie. I hate to say it, but I think they've MODERNIZED the 70's.

The old show



The new show



Funny rant -- very true



Mixing the two shows

Movie trailers and more

Hello one and all. It's father's day in ten minutes. So happy father's day to all you fathers. And for all you non-fathers, have you gotten something for your father?

FILM
So, I've uploaded my movie trailers to my website:
http://www.simple-assault.com/film.htm
So check them out. I realized that I didn't have a movie trailer for Sans Design yesterday, so I made one. I'm embaressed to tell you how long it took me. All right, it was three hours. That can't be right! But I think it is one of the best, if not THE best, trailer I've ever made, so watch it.

WRITING
Check out the writing blog to learn what's been happening
RIFF CH 1
RIFF CH 2
Books

VACATION
I'm going to Charleston in less than a week. You'll be lucky to hear from me on here before then. Unless I'm really productive. Maybe on the writing blog. I have the next 3 days off of work, and I plan to read writers group stuff and write more Riff. I hope I don't get riffed out this summer. Anyway, South Carolina, here I come!

WATCHING TV
So Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes aren't on Veoh anymore. I was only on episode 5!!! Does anyone know where I can buy Life on Mars on DVD in the States? I know it's PAL region 2 but I don't care. And Amazon.uk is weird because it charges a bunch for conversion rates and crap. Can't amazon be amazon the world over? Actually, Amazon is a little evil because it's killing the bookstores and preventing people from browsing which prevents anything not on Oprah's bookclub from being discovered. But it's good for the things you can't get anywhere else. Except Life on Mars, which it doesn't even have because it's British. How rude. And Ashes isn't even on DVD yet. Ehhh.

WATCHING MOVIES
The Happening. Go see it. I don't care if you don't like M. Night. This is a movie to see in theatres. Unless you're under 16. It's got Night's humor and his scariness and the whole idea is really cool...and a little too realistic to be comfortable with. And hey, it's John Leguizamo and Zooey Deschanel. Alan Ruck had a cameo too. Don't tell your friends what's "happening." It's a secret.

Summer Goals

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH WRITING?
Well, lots! Check here for updates: http://j-leigh-nelson.livejournal.com/1802.html

GOALS FOR THE SUMMER
1. Read Bible 20 minutes per day in order to finish whole Bible in 1 year
2. Internship at Bleak House Books (in charge of Evan's book tour)
3. Edit Riff (that's a doozy)
4. research grant to get $$$ for editor
5. prayer journal
6. idea journal
7. scrapbook the rest of last semester
8. scrapbook spring break 2007
9. Read QBQ before mid July
10. Read other books on my list
11. Go to Charleston
12. Pack for Charleston (not in that order)
13. writers group
14. Read/critique Bob's book (finished ch. 2 today!)
15. edit and submit White Elephant to places
16. summer class: portfolio
17. finish watching Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes

MOVIE REVIEWS
We have NetFlix now, so we're getting a lot of movies. I've seen some in theatres too.
Martian Child wasn't bad, a lot like K-Pax. Amanda Peet wanted to kiss John Cusack in Identity but didn't get to. In this movie, it was the most awkward kiss ever.
The Good Night was strange -- surprising ending. I mean, I get it. The pivotal line is Danny DeVito saying the neverending dream is the ideal, but I don't know if that was put strong enough. But hey, Simon Pegg was in it, yeah?
Slipstream was WEIRD. It was cool, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense. It was the first thing Anthony Hopkins ever wrote, and you could kinda tell, but the characters were developed, the acting was good, and the artsiness was super. I just didn't follow the story very well, but I think that was the point.
The Orphanage was pretty cool. It kind of reminded me of The Others for some reason. Maybe it's because it's a ghost story about a concerned mother in a creepy house.
Iron Man was good while it wasn't being the cliche super hero movie. It was really unique until the fight scene in the street which echoed Fantastic Four.
Indiana Jones. Huh. Worst first scene to a movie ever. The big secret of the Aztecs is really disrespectful to the Aztecs not to mention the disrespect of making Russians evil. It had it's good moments. It was funny when it wasn't being cheesey.
Cloverfield...why is it called Cloverfield? Anyway, it was scary, made me very nervous, so good job. In the last scene, you can totally see something falling from the sky. Very realistic both in acting, writing (beyond the obvious), and camera work. There were a couple things that were wrong like the camera's ability to focus in blinking lights and lack of smudge after blood splatter, but we'll let it slide.

TELEVISION REVIEWS
A while ago, I dubbed Torchwood as my new favorite show because season two blew my socks off, but now I think Life On Mars is my favorite. I've only seen 9 of 18 episodes so far, but they're fantastic. The last episode I saw, one about football, was so funny (two scenes: chicken and drunk). And I've seen two episodes of its spin off, Ashes to Ashes. I'm not sure that woman can carry a show like John Simm can, but the "supporting cast" basically steals all of her scenes. Philip Glenister can hold his own.

Room makeover 2008

WisCon

WisCon is a feminist sci-fi/fantasy writing conference held in Madison, WI every year. This year was my first time there. There are 1,000 people allowed in for four days of panels, readings, free food, workshops, bookstores, auctions, and more.

At WisCon, I had my first chapter of Riff critiqued by four other writers including Theodora Goss. See this entry to learn what they said.

The only person I knew going in to WisCon was Juliette, but when I left, I knew a few more people, splendid people. It's great to hang out with other writers and talk shop. And because of them, I joined Live Journal. No offence Blogger.com, but the comments button doesn't always work and there isn't such a sense of community that I need from other writers. This blog will still be updated with random creative things that I do as usual, but if you want a play-by-play insight to what's going on with my writing, then check out Live Journal for details.

These are the panels I attended at WisCon:

Grammer and Punctuation

Using Classic Myths in Modern Fantasy

Defining God

How I Did Everything Wrong and Got Published Anyway

Urban Fantasy

Terry Pratchett

Torchwood

Martha Jones

Magic Book Machine (publishing)

Publishing: Meritocracy or Social Construct?

5% of the people who attended WisCon came down with the stomache flu. I was fortunate not to be one of them. I hope everyone got home okay.

This is a scene from Riff that I made last night.

Exam time updates

I realize that I've been neglecting you when it comes to story time. Sure, I've swabbed your eyes with pretty colors as I've posted drawings and videos, but it's been a long while since I've given you any prose, for which I apologize. I'm in school--sometimes by the end of the day, I'm so sick of writing papers that I forget about the fun writing, the writing that people outside of the academic circles will--hopefully--want to read.

So hello, you!

Let's talk about me for a while. Then you can have your turn (please note the comment option at the bottom and that you must have a screenname in one of several sites or blog pages, but you can always email me at no1getzs0da@yahoo.com).

I've been doing everything in my power to distract myself from studying for my econ exam tomorrow. (Do you really want to know why an English major is taking microeconomics? Well I could rant and rave, but I'll save it for another day). The sandman has even added to my distraction as I just woke up from a "study session." Other things to distract me are the Charleston drawing below, DeviantArt memes (something I've just discovered, and I've only done two: Discworld and Dr. Who), and YouTube channels. Yes, I've actually subscribed to more than just channels of bands I like. I actually have two subscriptions to people who regularily sit in front of a camera and talk at you. It's wonderful! It's the wave of the future, man. Or something. (If you're curious, I subscribe to Llewtube (Robert Llewellyn) and Vlog Brothers (John and Hank Green).

So enough about how I've been spending my time, right? That's not why you're reading this, you've got plenty of things to do and don't need my recommendations and in fact have your own YouTube subscriptions to worry about thank you very much. Well then! Let's get to the point.

Writing conferences
The second writing conference that I will attend in the history of my entire life is in a week and a half. I have submitted my first chapter (of Riff) to WisCon where three other novelists will evaluate it along with a pro, Theodora Gloss, who I met at the Minneapolis Fantasy Matters conference. I'm pretty psyched to get some feedback. I still have yet to read the entries of the other three people in my group. I have been printing them off on campus because it's free. Teehee.

TANGENT: Speaking of the Minneapolis conference where I met Neil Gaiman...Neil Gaiman just came out with a new book called The Dangerous Alphabet, and it's "about two kids and their pet ibex." Now it just so happens that the ibex is my all time favorite animal. Coincedence? Probably. Great minds think alike. Ha! Blasphemy!

Grant writing
Next year, I'm applying for a grant so that I can afford to hire an editor for Riff. So, I've been doing some reasearch, getting some quotes. Prices vary a lot, actually. If anyone knows any thorough but cheap editors, let me know. The grant is at maximum $1,250.

Summer internship
I think I'll be working at Bleak House Books in Madison this summer. It's unpaid, but it's pretty much exactly what I want to be doing, so I can't complain. I haven't gone in yet or anything, but I'm pretty confident it will work out. Excited!

Other summer things
My main goal is to get Riff edited to the point where I'm ready to pass it on to an editor next spring (the grant money doesn't come in until December). There a bunch of work to be done, a lot of rewriting, restructuring, etc.

I'm also going to Charleston, as you can probably tell by my previous post. I'm meeting up with my flatmates from London who I haven't seen in a WHOLE YEAR! So excited!

I'm taking a summer portfolio class, which allows people who want to hire me to see some of the work I've done. Yes, that means that there will be some of my writing available to read on the internet. Are you excited now?

Writing classes
I've written some great stuff for school this year. I took a creative writing course where I wrote some poems and stories. I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to poetry. I like poetry. In fact, I can suggest some good poems:

Theodor Roethke (Dolor, etc.)
Jane Hirshfield (The Envoy, Tree)
Yuhuda Amichai (I passed by a house where I lived once)
Bob Hicok (Other Lives and Dimensions and Finally a Love Poem)

But when it comes to actual writing them...eh. Here are some poems I wrote for creative writing class:

Leaving London

My flatmates say they left their hearts in London.
I lost my heart
in Heathrow baggage check.


No one claims the dirty dishes left in the sink
clogged with caramelized onion slices
evolved into minnows swimming in milk,
expired April twenty-second,
drained from a good-bye gift of mac and cheese,
last box of three.

We leave that for the future tenants of flat forty-eight.

I unpeel a layer of flesh from my chest
and pack my pulsing heart in the suitcase
beside the Venetian mask and headphones.

We didn’t just leave the flat
or the city
but the whole island
that day.
a journey like this:
Broken-wheeled bag.
Overstuffed tube.
Heathrow Station closed.
Rain.
Jam-packed bus.
Tear-stained t-shirts,
last flatmate of three.

Now boarding seats forty through twenty.

Chicago is upside-down,
sunlight winking at me from the roofs of parked cars
like the ground is the sky and the cars are stars.
A baby screams all the way home
like the wheels scream as they touch American loam.
First Mid-Western accent I hear in months:
“Be careful when opening the overhead bins,
because as you know, shit happens.”

My bags, more reluctant than me,
do no make the journey.
now my headphones play only
Billie Piper, The Fratellis, Kate Nash
to appease the pulsing contents of my bags.

When I hear they’ve cut my scene from the film

I creep through the dark to the projection room
where I find film sheets bending like waves,
all frames locking motion like somebody’d frozen the ocean,
curled like a nest, each scene a twig or list
of old groceries, a moment in a life—
but my twig is missing.

The gyre of tape mad-bird-screeches
as I tear off another wing
to adhesify my scene,
the one left so carelessly on the rug.

I explode the nest as strip tastes blade:
Snip! Slice! Split
screen, super imposed, juxtaposed
two characters that aren’t really together
but are now reely together, spliced forever
between rolls of holes and whole roles
like my twig in the nest.

Before the projector hugs the spool,
the director will bow
to me for mending his oversight
but when the doorknob jiggles
like somebody rattling chains,
they shatter my makeshift lock,
stuff fists into mine like a badass handshake
gone wrong

and a cop turned gardener weeds out film roots
from my upturned mitt,
crinkling minutes of characters’ lives,
stripping off tape like defeathering a dove.

They cuff my wrists behind my back and
as they drag me out the door, I watch my scene
detach from continuity and flutter
to the cutting room floor.


[Unfinished/untitled]

If I leave you
In the sun
Will your skin curl
Like paper?
Can I turn the pages
Of your flesh
To find a new chapter?

If I hold you
Under water
Will you rust?

If I saw you
In half
Could I count your rings
To find your age?


However, I did write some good stories. Well, one good story. It's called White Elephant. I was a tad nervous about how the class would recieve it, but it got a really great response. The students (and the professor) gave some good suggestions, but for the most part, people really liked it. It's kind of 50's sci-fi-esque. Someone mentioned that it reminded them of Twilight Zone. Another person said they'd forward it to their family. I will need some time away from it for a while in order to ever do a substantial second draft, but I did fine-tune the current draft to turn in at the end of the semester (aka today).

In my prose class, I wrote a character portrait about my grandpa. Weird experience, let me say. I dislike feature writing and non-fiction, but this was quite fun. There was a lot of research that went into it, which then came together like a puzzle. According to my grade, there are still some weak elements, but personally, I was electrified by the finished product. ZZT.

I also wrote some reviews. Again, not a fan of feature writing, but I picked some topics that interested me. You can actually check them out at the class's blog: http://nelson313.blogspot.com/
It includes the awesome Kate Nash concert that I went to. Check out some of my photos here.


I'd love to stay and chat, but I must be off to take my econ exam now. And yes, you may have noticed that an entire 24 hours have passed between now and the beginning of this blog.

Charleston

A little preview for the summer to come.

Drawn with pencil, scanned, photoshop colors with layers and paintbrush, paper texture background, couple o' hours of not studying.