1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Studied for/took the LSAT, applied to law schools, wrote 2 screenplays in a single month, went to America--as a VACATION instead of returning there from a previous vacation, went to an OSU football game... There were quite a few firsts, actually.

2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I can think of.

3. Did anyone close to you die?
The brother of one of my BFFs died in a cave diving accident. I didn't know him well (he was a much older, older brother), but that's the closest death this year.

4. What countries did you visit?
America =D

5. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A publishing contract. Hot water. Air conditioning. Easy access to good foods (like Mexican food, for example. And anything with cheese).

6. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory?
Can't really think of a date that'll be etched upon my memory.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I had a couple. Getting into some good law schools, writing 2 screenplays in a month.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Not sure. In general, I think the biggest failure would be to not even try to accomplish something. I'm pretty content with the year and what I've at least tried to do.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing out of the ordinary for where I am.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Rock climbing shoes!

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I'm generally surrounded by a bunch of people whose behavior merits celebration.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I'm sure that if I tried really heard, I could think of something for this, but really, I don't dwell on such things.

13. Where did most of your money go?
To my U.S. vacation (plane ticket--and then everything in America is SO, SO, SO EXPENSIVE!!!).

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Law school acceptances.

15. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Hm... I really don't think the year could be intrinsically tied to a single song.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
A little of each. Christmas was harder this year than it was last year, but I've had a lot going for me, too.

17. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Climbing--it's crazy fun!

18. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Not sure.

19. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas Eve was spent at an ex-pat's house where there was hot mulled wine and so much food! Christmas day was spent with fellow volunteers at my house. I made biscuits & gravy, eggs, and bacon (the pre-cooked stuff--sent from home) for everyone that morning. Then, we made chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans/carrots, peanut butter fudge, and key lime pie for dinner!

20. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Nope.

21. How many one-night stands in this last year?
0

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I really got hooked on True Blood this year. It's pretty sweet!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate.

24. What was the best book you read?
Brave New World.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Eliza the Arrow.

26. What did you want and get?
A decent score on my LSAT =D

27. What did you want and not get?
Okay, honestly, I didn't ask for presents this year. It'd be kinda silly to send presents to me here.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Not sure... I really enjoyed HP6. Inglourious Basterds was also quite enjoyable, and I'm actually willing to admit that the Star Trek flick was more entertaining than I thought it'd be.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I stayed mostly low key for my birthday. A few friends took me out to a satisfying lunch, then I had dinner with another friend. I turned 31.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
An acceptance at Columbia (could still happen!!)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Whatever.

32. What/who kept you sane?
Lots of little projects, and studying.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Probably Neal Patrick Harris. He's pretty much awesome.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The advantage of where I am is that I can really avoid a lot of political issues at the moment!

35. Who did you miss?
Friends and family.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
A bunch of the new stage of volunteers.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Never settle for less.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
Follow through
Make your dreams come true
Don't give up the fight
You will be alright
'Cause there's no one like you in the universe

Don't be afraid
What your mind conceives
You should make a stand
Stand up for what you believe
And tonight
We can truly say
Together we're invincible

"It," in this particular sense, means the novel. Darn those tricky, ambiguous pronouns.

Officially, I reached my word count of 50K on Saturday, which was pretty sweet. It took until yesterday, however, for me to write an ending to the story--putting me at 52,261 words in total. I'm getting quite efficient at this whole "novel in a month" thing. Of course, there's a STRONG probability that I won't even attempt it next year (call me crazy, but I kinda think focusing on doing well in law school--especially as a 1L--trumps writing a novel in a month). Of course, I suppose I could just write it in a month before starting law school... that's a possibility that will require some pondering.

Speaking of law, I may or may not have mentioned on here that I received my 1st acceptance at the beginning of last week! Catholic University in D.C. with $14,000/year in scholarships (as long as I remain in the top 25% of my class)! That news helped make my Thanksgiving even more awesome! Catholic is ranked 94th in the nation and is considered a Tier 2 school.

Then, on Friday, I received my 2nd acceptance! American University--also in D.C.--mailed a package to my parents! It was a pretty big package, but the 'rents scanned the important documents/info and emailed it to me. American doesn't offer scholarships to people until the spring. The news of American definitely made Tabaski/Eid al-Adha/Seliba (depending on where you are) a fun fête as well! American is ranked 45th in the nation, considered to have the 6th best international law program (the #1 is Columbia--which, btw, is also where I submitted a binding early decision app), and is considered a tier 1 school.

That makes my current record 2-0-0 (wins/acceptances-losses/denials-waitlisteds/draws)

So, in all, I have to say that the last month (and, specifically, last week) was really good to me. I'm hoping that December is even better (I should be receiving the bulk of my decisions this month--most importantly, I'll be hearing from Columbia this month).

As far as the holidays went, I did indeed go to the Ambassador's for turkey day (and ate some gloriously amazing turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more--to be topped off at the end with pumpkin pie and homemade whipped cream). For Tabaski, I went to my counterpart's house with another Education volunteer and we ate so much mutton, it was crazy (but oh, so delicious!). Then, we had a hash to run on Sunday (this time it was roughly 6K), where the amazing food after the run was lasagna! What a week for food (and news)!

Okay, that's all I've got. You've been great. Thanks for listening. =D

Had the strangest dream last night. Of course, I usually do. As I've mentioned in the past, taking mefloquine causes weird and crazy vivid dreams (even though, technically, I've not taken my mefloquine yet this week).

Anywho, I lived in a world/society/place where problems were solved via a fight (think Thunderdome, but not to the death). Anyway, I was chosen to fight because, apparently, someone decided I was too aggressive toward women--which I was totally like, "how can that be?? I've been single for like 3 years?!? And I'm totally a non-aggressive person!" And, oddly enough, to learn my lesson, I had to fight a woman. So, before the fight, I learn that this lady doesn't even know how to punch properly (she's got the spirit--just not the technique), so I spend some time showing her how to properly make a fist and throw a punch.

So, the fight happens, and, of course, I refuse to actually hit her. In fact, anytime she throws a solid punch, I drop my guard and let her hit me. My face really becomes a bloody mess. Eventually, an official type comes in to stop it just as she's throwing another punch (unfortunate for him, because she lays him out completely).

So, the fight ends, and the girl asks me out--which really kinda confuses me. I have to politely explain that, while she seems awesome--especially since she was willing to not hold back, I simply don't date, hookup or do any kind of relationship thingy at all anymore; that I like the simplicity of my single life. She's insistent on it though, but I'm just like "trust me, it's not in either of our best interests." Then, my friend Karen shows up, and I learn that Karen was the one who demanded I fight--and her ulterior motive was to actually get me to go on a date with this girl (the fighter girl--who's apparently bad at relationships, too). Then, I wake up.

Very strange dream.

Season 9 of Smallville is the absolute best season so far. Seriously, if you haven't been keeping up with it, shame on you.

I watched episode 9 ("Pandora") today, and made this totally cool userpic, too. Why yes, this is somehow magically helping me reach my NaNoWriMo word count goal. No, I won't explain that logic.

Speaking of, the writing is still coming along quite nicely. Due to a serious and crippling migraine, I wasn't able to write at all yesterday (I was out of my bed for less than 12 hours), and I've only written about 800 words today, but I'm still pretty darn close to my word count needs--so it's no big (this is because I was super cool and over a day ahead going into yesterday. Obviously, not-so-much today).

Tonight, I reached 32,874 words. I can taste victory (though, not yet eating said victory because...I haven't yet reached 50,000. But yes, victory is nigh!). Anyway, lots of developments in this prequel so far (and a couple of HUGE twists that will make Anna be like "woah" <--just like Keanu Reeves, except cooler).

I've noticed something about my own writing style while writing this novel. A realization, if you will. I tend to write at the middle of a story and then eventually realize that there's more that needs to be said before. In this case, we'll call the middle The Fringe and Rebirth is closer to the beginning. In previous writings (The Sun's Surrender, for example), I wrote the last half of the story thinking it was the whole only to discover that it was incomplete and needed to go back and tell more of before while I was editing. I think I understand why I write in such a way. Because I then know the endgame. I know where I want the story to go, so I can more easily set up how I want to get it to that point (that, at least, is what I'm sticking with as to why I seem to have this writing trend).

In terms of story, it's playing out much like I expected it to. The first half (give or take) was a bit slower in pace--playing much more like a detective story. the second half, there's been a lot more intrigue (not that there's not intrigue in detective stories!!) and action. Certain things that were a given (in terms of Anna) during The Fringe are realized here.

For sure, the story's gonna need a lot of work once the rough draft is done, but overall, I think it'll be good (plus, I hear that when you have two or a series of books about a character, they tend to be easier to sell to a publisher--though I obviously don't know this from practice).

In other, completely unrelated, news, I'm loving this season of How I Met Your Mother. Kinda sad about how things eventually played out between Robin and Barney (even if it was inevitable)--but I'm still hopeful for the future there.

Also TV related. I'm enjoying the reimagined V; this week's episode was quite grand. Castle, I'm pretty sure is my favorite TV show on the air right now. Smallville has become absolutely awesome. And I now have (but have yet to find time to watch) the latest Doctor Who special: The Waters of Mars. I'm still in need of catching up with Supernatural--that will happen, but it may take a couple of weeks, so please, no spoilers.

I'm nearly a whole day ahead in my writing. This, of course, isn't likely to be sustained, but it's my current status. Tonight, I reached 21,556 words (when the goal was 20,000). I was way behind that when the day began (and I was an entire day behind as of yesterday), so it feels good to be on the other end for a while.

In general, my novel's coming along quite well. I have a pretty good vision as to where I want it to go, and how I plan to get it there--which is always a good thing.

In other news, I've received confirmation from all 14 law schools that I've applied to. No decisions as of yet, but I will say that Columbia has given me the absolute best letter for a file completion. Even though I absolutely know that Columbia is out of my league, I remain strangely optimistic (I think it's the letters they sent me before I applied).

Overall, things are good. My writing is going exceptionally well, my social life is active, and I'm mostly happy in general.

There have been a few slightly more negative things to keep everything in balance, but there's really no need to mention those things at this time. What you should really take away from this post is that things are going well, I'm optimistic (as if I could ever be otherwise), and I'm being exceptionally successful in my current endeavors (hopefully, that continues!!!!).

I will go ahead and add that I'm currently bearded! That's right, I have a beard (not a thick, burly beard, mind you--but a beard none-the-less). I started growing it for the Columbus Crew (who let me WAY down, btw), but I've decided to keep it at least through the rest of NaNoWriMo. After that, I'll have to make the decision of beard, no beard or chop it down to a goatee--like I used to always wear. More likely than not, I'll create a poll to decide the fate of said facial hair, so keep your eyes peeled!

Ciao!

Poll Time!
So, the visitors have arrived. They've shared their message for peace. They only want water, because it's obviously going to be a long trip home for them--it's a simple enough request. In exchange, they'll not only offer treatment for diseases we can't cure, but they'll open universal health care clinics around the globe. It's a message of change and "yes we can." This is clearly inspiring in an age where violence and hatred run thick. So, the question!

Poll #1481322 The V Questions
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

What would you do?

This poll is open to everyone, so feel free to share!

I've officially applied to 13 law schools so far. That's right. 13. I've got another that I'll hopefully be sending off today, but overall, I think I'd like to not send out too many more before I start hearing back from some (especially if I get into a couple of the schools that are at the top of my list). So after today's, I think I'll hold off for at least a little while.

¡NaNoWriMo! As of last night, I was 7,043 words, which puts me on pace. I'd like to get ahead of pace, however, as I'm likely to miss a few days once it gets near Thanksgiving (I'll be traveling at least a little bit). Given that I wrote over 3,000 words yesterday to put me on pace, I think I should be able to get ahead. Hopefully a bit today, too (haven't started working on it yet today).

The story seems to be going well so far. As mentioned, it's a prequel to The_Fringe--focusing on Anna while she's still working in the city. The first part has strong detective story elements (a far cry from The_Fringe!), but it'll be gaining in action, adventure and intrigue as it develops. I also think I'm going to keep it PG-13 (I know, I know. Sex sells, but I'm convinced so does maintaining a broad readership spectrum). Even more than the previous, this one is seriously focusing on cyberpunk.

In completely unrelated news, it looks like I'll actually get to watch the V premier tonight, which I'm hopeful will be much with the awesome.

By "it" I, of course, mean NaNoWriMo. I've decided to write the 2nd Fringe novel, which is actually a prequel. Tentative title: Rebirth.

For those of you who have Macs, Scrivener is offering a special trial edition of their amazing software for NaNoWriMo. I highly recommend it; it's pretty much the most amazing writing program ever. Also, if you "win" NaNoWriMo, you can buy Scrivener for 50% off (which makes it less than $20).

313 words done, 49,687 to go!

...that I fly back to the U.S.! Of course, it's only a vacation, and not a permanent trip back, but still, I'm way excited. The real question will be what to eat first. So many choices. So many decisions.

With that said, Africa's decided to give me a going away present. I've had severe diarrhea since yesterday :( So I'm taking Cipro for it, because Doctor Dawn thinks it's probably just bacterial (they won't know until next week, but I won't exactly be around next week, will I?). This is the first time that I've taken Cipro since being here. Normally, I try at all costs to avoid it, but since I'm going to be on a flight for 5+ hours, then another for 9+ hours, I'd rather be healthier sooner rather than later.

Strange, as fast as the last year and two months has gone by, these last couple of days have really dragged their feet (I wonder why?).

Anywho, hit me up if you wanna hang out while I'm back (but keep in mind that I'll be pretty scarce the first week--as I'm still going to be in LSAT mode)!

Happy (belated) birthday, sarnah! Hopefully, it's been a great weekend birthday!

It's been just a little while since my last post.. Just a wee bit.

Anyway, I've been busy like woah with classes (to make up for lost time, the university of Bamako decided not to give a break between the 1st and 2nd semesters) by teaching 6 days/week. That ends next week. Well, "it ends," then we have exams and I grade nearly a thousand papers (that's not an exaggeration).

Then, I'll be back in Ameriki for a spell! That's uber exciting. Okay, momentary tangent. I had a dream last night that I went to America and came back (which is the plan), but after getting back, I realized that I didn't have any food that was bad for me that I can only have in America. That, my friends, is not allowed to happen. I will most certainly eat some tasty not necessarily good for me food (along with a lot of really healthy foods, too. Like strawberries. I love strawberries, but it's been well over a year since I've last enjoyed that amazing fruit).

As I think all of you know, I'm returning to the US under the pretense of taking the LSAT. While I'm most certainly taking said LSAT, I'm also quite admittedly ready for a vacation, and America pretty much sounds like heaven right now (never thought I'd say that in my lifetime). So expect people to make time for me, because after the LSAT, I'll have time. Which means you should have time, too.

But LSAT.

I've been studying quite obsessively for this sucker (currently, my scores average in the mid 160s--which is somewhere between the 85th and 90th percentile--and I'm planning on getting said average higher). But what happens when the test is done? Where do I decide to go to law school? This is where you, my wonderful friends come into play in what I'm going to call "Alec's Cake or Death Inquisitionary Poll on Where He Should Go."

Poll #1433344
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

Where should I try to go to law school?

In other news, heat rash is the suckiest sucky thing that ever sucked.

And we're all out of cake.

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.