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.

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).