Happy (belated) birthday qkellie!!!! In honor of you and what I'm sure has been your awesome weekend, I'll watch a couple of episodes of HIMYM tonight (I totally have seasons 1-4 on my computer) =D

...dary!
(high five)

Just realized that this week's free Discovery Download on iTunes is of a Malian musician: Vieux Farka Touré. It's a pretty good example of the types of music you'll hear in Mali. Since it's free and only available through Monday (since they have different free music options starting every Tuesday), I highly recommend that you download said song.

Unrelated. I've been meaning to thank twilightboy for some time. A little while back, he sent me a box-o-popcorn. And it was amazing. so, thanks a bunch twilightboy!!!

Well, let's see. I speak English; mais, je parle français aussi; et he estudiado español durante mucho tiempo; bamanakan doni doni; 我发言的仅有中文. Actually, I had to cheat on the Chinese, I don't remember many of the characters (but I do still remember some basic spoken Chinese). I studied Ancient Greek for two years in college, but honestly remember so little of that now that I feel as if it shouldn't be mentioned at all. Through martial arts, I've also learned random things in Korean and Japanese.

So.. including my native English, I speak 3 languages fairly well, have a basic conversational level of Bambara and could at least initiate a conversation in Chinese.

I started another script this morning. Figured, it's Script Frenzy, and you're supposed to be working on a script all month, why not write a second (or at least try) since I've already technically completed the challenge.

This time, I'm doing something much different. Sci-Fi. Think Blade Runner meets Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick, except with a female lead.

Wow... mine was really bad. 13 January 2004. Of course, I'd been blogging a few years before that on my personal website, but that was my first lj post. It was a mixture of song lyrics (by nin and placebo) followed up with what I referred to as a "sporadic poem of the moment," which was where I'd randomly decide to write a poem (thus, the title).

I really have changed a lot in those 5 years. I think in some good ways and possibly some less than good ways. I'd like to think that I'm less pretentious now--less likely to self-aggrandize (he says as he talks about how he's "better" now).

I'm also less random now. That could be good or bad, I suppose. But these days, I have to plan things out more. Thus, I'd write a lot more poetry then, whereas now, I hardly ever write poetry. If I think of myself in terms of story elements, I'd say that I was character driven 5 years ago, and today I'm definitely more plot driven.

Thanks, LJ. I probably wouldn't have thought about that evolution had you not posed this question.

So, that's that. I spent much of yesterday and a few hours this morning reading and re-reading (then reading again) the manuscript and making small changes here and there. Overall, I'm fairly happy with it, I think.

For those who didn't get a chance to offer feedback before I submitted, I'm definitely still interested in what you have to say!

I won't hear anything back about the competition until sometime in August...

(and no, I'm not talking about mine).


So, my script seems to be in pretty good shape right now. I've spent the last day or two making lots of minor changes (some of which, I owe to my good friend and former boss, Lonnie). If anyone else has comments/feedback (or wants to have comments/feedback but hasn't asked me for the script yet), I'm planning on submitting the script tomorrow (Tuesday, 14 April 2009), so you have today to get that back to me. Reading time is VERY short, so it wouldn't be an issue if you still wanted to read it.

Now then, onto the subject of this email. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one of my friends who decided to participate in Script Frenzy this year, so if you've never checked out their site, you should know that ScriptFrenzy.org has on their homepage a "plot machine." The plot machine is divided into three sections to give you a plot if you're suffering (set up, person/thing, action). You can click "go" as often as you like to change the plot it gives you.

When I went there today, the following plot was listed in the plot machine: Unable to find true love, an assassin who kills with CDs receives dating advice from the afterlife. That "plot" gave me stitches. Instantly, I could see this assassin receiving dating advice from those s/he's killed (perhaps with each ghost using songs from the CD used to kill him/her as inspiration for their advice).

Done.

Finished the 1st draft of the screenplay tonight. Total page count - 104 pgs (in the properly formatted pdf format, 127 according to celtx). The new name: Finding Reason.

If anyone wants to read it, I have it saved in PDF and TXT format, and would probably only take an afternoon to read (if that). I *think* I'm happy with it, but I'll need to go over it at some point. I'm worried slightly about my main female character--whether or not I made her strong enough. That, I think, was the biggest challenge of writing more of a romantic comedy.

Today, I surpassed the 100 page mark on my screenplay for Script Frenzy. It's only the 9th of April. I still have 21 days left this month. Granted, the story itself isn't done yet, but I suspect it will be soon. After that, I'm requesting eyes. Scripts are much easier to review than full blown novels--because there's so much less to them. If anyone is willing to take a read and offer feedback, I'd certainly be appreciative.

First thing's first. I write screenplays very, very quickly. A talent I discovered when I actually had to write a screenplay for a company that was ready to start shooting ASAP. To be honest, it's not that difficult. Even a 120 page screenplay is pretty quick in terms of writing when formatting is taken into consideration.

With that in mind, let's look at the scope of Script Frenzy (or, for that matter, of scripts in general). 100 pages in a month for your screenplay. Of course, you can go over that amount, but again, the scope of a normal movie usually doesn't exceed 2 hours, and the industry standard is 1 page of script per minute--making a 2-hour movie equivalent to 120 pages.

I'm currently 50 pages into my screenplay. That's halfway through the challenge of Script Frenzy (in 4 days time, no less). The original plot of my story was heavily based on my own Peace Corps experience. The working title was (and still is--for the moment) "Hôtel Bamako." It's a situational comedy. I hope.

Now, with all of that said, at page 50, my character has still not yet left America. Truth be told, I doubt he will have left by page 100.

I found it important to set up the story in America first, but now, I can't quite get the character to leave. The scope of the story that I wanted to tell has changed and grown beyond the original parameters. That's called scope creep. It's a term used most frequently in project management. And it typically boils down to this. Scope creep is bad.

I could, very easily revise everything and get back on track for the story that I had wanted to tell (which is, in fact, a story that I want to tell), but I think I'm going to go with the bad and let this play out. My suspicion is that this particular character will never make it to Bamako. His life's probably going to change, and that's okay--if that happens. What I won't do, however, is let this turn into a 200+ page story. If by page 100, my characters are still in DC, then I think I know how I'll end it. It'll be a different story than I originally wanted to tell, but then, it already is--if I'm being honest (you can't be nearly an hour into a story and not have reached the point where the majority of the action was going to take place for the movie).

Unrelated, I just recently began watching the show Castle. It's a new show starring Nathan Fillion. He plays the role of an author named Richard Castle who's working along side the NYPD solving murders as he performs research for his next novel (or series of novels as it more turns out to be). I'm only 2 episodes deep right now and there are currently 4 (I think). Further research has shown that the show is on ABC Monday nights at 10pm. I don't know if it's getting the numbers to be considered successful or not, but I do know that I find the show fascinating (especially as a writer).

But it doesn't have to happen again.

So...

I've been with the not-so-good at updating recently, have I? Craziness. I know.

And there's been a lot to say recently, too. Much of it, you can find out by going to my Peace Corps blog, and reading my most recent entry or two there if you haven't already.

At least a couple of the highlights include the following: both of my roommates have ETed, which means that I have this ginormous house to myself. That's kinda odd, but I don't mind. I'm fully teaching now--including freshmen (which means I have to actually use French more regularly, too). I still do things like go climbing and camping.

And, most recently (sorry to those of you who've read this a couple of times already), I scored a 164 on my latest LSAT practice exam. The score range on the LSAT is 120-180. 164 puts me easily in range of many of the top 25 law schools in the country. I'm pretty excited. But, again, these are still practice exam scores. There's only one score that'll count. Speaking of... my plan was to take the June LSAT in Ghana, but that's starting to look less likely--as I can't apply for the fee waiver until they put the fee waiver for the 2008 tax year online (I asked, they said it was probably going to be around April 25), and I can't register for the LSAT until I have the fee waiver (unless I wanted to PAY for the LSAT, and that's right out).

In more news of insanity, I've decided to participate in Script Frenzy this year. Actually, I just decided today. Actually, that's a lie. I just *registered* today. I already knew I was going to. I just started writing on it an hour or two ago though. Currently, I'm on page 7 of the script. For those who don't know, Script Frenzy is also done by those crazy people who bring us NaNoWriMo. This one is in April, obviously, but it's also much, much simpler. It's only a 100 page script for the month, and, for whatever reason, I'm pretty fast at writing scripts (really, they're pretty easy--especially if you use Celtx, a free script formatting program that I've used for a couple of years now. It can even be used for comic books and other script formats, too. I highly recommend it. This script, is tentatively called "Hôtel Bamako," and is VERY loosely based on my Peace Corps experience here in Bamako. If I were to compare it to something, I'd have to use L'Auberge Espagnole, but with more of the flare of a show like Scrubs or The Office.

Act I doesn't even take place in Bamako. It's all about our main character trying to go through the hurdles of getting into Peace Corps. I'm pretty excited about this script. And, as I've mentioned, I write screenplays pretty quickly, so this isn't even a time consuming venture for me.

In other news, OMG the BSG finale was frakking awesome! Totally gonna have to watch that again.

So, the last two episodes of BSG were amazing as always (just got caught up tonight with the last two), but I'm left with a puzzle that I can't quite resolve... there are only 2 episodes left in the series. How the hell are they supposed resolve the story that they've got right now in two frakking episodes?!?! I'm super excited to see what happens, and I know I won't be disappointed, but still, that's a lot to take care of in such a limited amount of space.

In far less important matters (well, depending on who you ask, I suppose), I'm once again able to teach classes (there was a small strike by the students starting last Wednesday afternoon). I'm also the only Peace Corps Volunteer now working at the university. Yes, my teammate, Tiffany, ETed. I really can't blame her though. She can be quite productive in the US, and she has a fiancé back home--which had to be considerably difficult for her here. So I wish her the best. My other roommate, Jeffrey, is also about to ET. His job was supposed to be IT related--specifically working on websites and the like, but it's something that's really a couple of years away here in Mali--so again, I can understand why he's leaving. No hard feelings. That does mean, however, that I'll have this huge villa all to myself until Peace Corps gives me roommates. It'll be weird being here alone after having two roommates for as long as I've had them.

In case you're all wondering, no, I'm not planning on ETing. I still absolutely believe that I'm doing good work here in Mali. Some days are frustrating, yes. The strikes make life difficult at times, true. But any and all classes I'm able to have are so incredibly rewarding for both me and my students that I couldn't possibly consider leaving.

In other non-related news, I had an amazing weekend. First, there was volleyball, then, camping in Siby (which meant there was also rock climbing in Siby the next morning), then a hash in Kati. All in all, it equated to a very battered and exhausted Alec (my knees are mush). But the weekend was still quite amazing none-the-less.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Don't you guys have better things to do than read my random updates? =P

The BBC estimates most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.*


Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Tally your total at the bottom.

( ... )

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(cross posted on facebook)

Okay, so.. I did the 16 random things a couple of weeks ago, but since no less than 10,000 people have tagged me in the 25 random things, I guess I'll do it... but I'm not tagging anyone (I'm also promising to not misspell "random" this time in the title).

01) I'm a writer. I've written 5 novels (none have yet to be published).
02) 2 of those novels have been written SINCE being in Peace Corps.
03) Speaking of, I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in Mali--West Africa.
04) I honestly believe that people, in general, mean well--some are just more misguided than others.
05) I like coffee more than you can possibly imagine.
06) Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy being single--it frees me up to be more of a writer.
07) I'm easily distracted.
08) But it's nearly impossible for me to forget things. Sometimes, I really wish I could.
09) Outside of my younger brother's b-day, I pretty much totally despise the month of Feb.
10) I'm somewhat OCD. For example, I just had to go back and add a "0" before the single digit numbers above this one so they would all look even.
11) I love order, but I think I force myself to often live without it (like my bedroom, for example).
12) I want to eventually climb Mount Everest.
13) After years of trying to pretend like I wasn't a sci-fi geek, it's recently come to my attention that I really, truly am (and it's made me wonder why I haven't written more sci-fi/fantasy fiction).
14) I can forgive anyone of anything (but again, I'll never forget). This is another reason why it's good that I remain single =D
15) My mind wanders AT LEAST as much as JD's from Scrubs (I'm constantly creating absurd, highly unbelievable stories and scenarios in my mind).
16) As backward as it seems, I think the prospect of success frightens me more than the possibility of failure. In other words, I don't actively look for agents because I'm afraid I might actually find one (rejection doesn't bother me).
17) I'm something of a control freak.
18) Martial Arts is extremely important to me--and probably explains multiple personality quirks of mine.
19) The Karate Kid inspired me to start martial arts (and my cousin, who'd won a month of free lessons transferred said lessons to me because he wasn't interested).
20) I have moved an amazingly high number of times in my life (and have lived in 7 different states and 3 different countries).
21) Probably partially because of that, I no longer develop strong attachments to people.
22) I am, however, extremely empathetic (possibly too much so, actually).
23) I may very well be the most optimistic person you'll ever meet.
24) But I'm also extremely self critical (both, in terms of appearance and ability)
25) I am extremely stubborn.
26) I enjoy all forms of art. Before deciding I wanted to be a writer, I was a pretty good painter and penciler, and I used to be a graphic designer, too. I also used to be an actor (even had some paying gigs). I've never been a good singer though.
27) I'm highly competitive. I don't like to lose. Ever.
28) When I set my mind to something, I don't give up. Ever. This is probably because of #27, but also because my father was very good at teaching the lesson that you should never leave things unfinished.
29) I almost always root for the underdog.
30) I waited until a couple of months before the final Harry Potter book to be released before I actually began to read the series--It's now one of my favorite series of books of all time (this behavior isn't new, either--it's common for me to refuse to watch or read something simply because "everyone else" is doing it. Eventually, however, curiosity gets the better of me and I have to see what all the fuss is about).

I am as much of an optimist as one can possibly be. Seriously. I feel that it could be TEOTWAWKI, and I'd still find a way to maintain hope/see a positive outcome. It's just my nature. I assume the best--of people, of situations. Not because I know people always make the right choices, but because I know that we're all capable of making the right choices. The world is capable of being and becoming a better, greater place. It's that capability that inspires me to no end.

Tonight, I watched one of the best episodes of Battlestar Galactica that I've yet to see. This week's episode was truly great. I won't give away any spoilers. Just know that all the way to the end, I never actually knew how it was all going to go. It may, however, have a slight effect on The Two Apollos scripts.

I officially finished my 4th week of classes. It's really difficult for me to believe that it's been 4 weeks. I honestly can't wrap my head around how quickly these first 4 weeks of classes have gone. So far, there have been no new strikes, and I can only hope that trend will continue.

All the walking, however, has been detrimental to my health. I've developed a cough that seems to be getting worse on a daily basis. That's because pollution is high and the weather is very dry (heh, so you could say it's "high and dry"). I don't think that I can really impress upon you exactly how high the pollution is here. Just know that it's bad.

Cold season, also, appears to finally be at an end. Twice this week the temperature rose above 100. And at least three days next week it's projected to be 99. The low for the week was today, as the high only reached a cool 92. From here, it will continue to get hotter--until April (the peak of hot season).

I need to admit here that I have a problem. An addiction. And it's seriously out of control. I can't seem to go a day anymore without wanting needing popcorn. That's right. Popcorn. It's a nasty addiction that's so entirely consumed me at this point. Eventually, I'll have to do something about that, but for now, I continue to eat. Actually, I just finished a bowl of popcorn while I was watching BSG. When I make it, I melt butter, add a lot of salt and toss on some parmesan for good measure. It's pretty much amazing.

I also began creating a new set of playlists in iTunes this weekend. It's a bunch of playlists that I'm cumulatively calling "Eras." Basically, each playlist will reflect an era, or period, of my life--only using music that I would have listened to during that time.

Mefloquine is affecting my memory. Mefloquine is the malaria prophylaxis that I take every single Sunday. When I say it's affecting my memory, I really mean just that. But specifically, I recognize that I'm having difficulties distinguishing dreams from real events. I don't mean on small scale, either. Some of these dream memories, I've believed to be true for weeks before finally seeing a contradiction that made me realize it was a dream. The fact is, the drug has made my dreams so very vivid that I truly cannot distinguish the dream from memory. It's actually kind of scary. And usually, the dreams are all subtle things that could (and do), in fact, happen in a given day here. They're not outlandish, "oh, this is clearly a dream," dreams. I have those, too. Just not as often.

Be warned that, while I haven't given away BSG spoilers in this post, I'm more than willing to do so within the comments.

In the words of the great, Malcolm Reynolds: Hell, I'm a fan of all seven.

Yes. Absolutely. I don't see a problem in going out to dinner (at a sit-down restaurant) by oneself. I've done it many times, and will quite likely continue to do so in the future. My thought is, if I'm wanting to eat at a particular place, why wouldn't I be able to go alone? Of course, this is somewhat more rare for me in Peace Corps--seeing that I don't really have the money to frequent sit-down restaurants. No, I usually just make something myself, buy street food, or some other sort of "take out."

Happy Birthday twilightboy! Hope it's a good one!

This one is, honestly, far too difficult to answer. There are way too many fictional robot characters that I like. I guess out of current pop culture references (that don't include things that are either no longer "on air" or not yet "on air"), my favorite would most likely be Saul Tigh (The XO on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica). Apparently, I like eye patches.