Everything, All At Once

It is so difficult to keep up with this blog when so much is happening. I don't even know where to begin.

I think that the universe is testing me again. Or maybe it is just making up for the months that I spent sitting on my couch, staring at my computer screen. In other words, January through March. Either way, the past month has been...exciting isn't really the word...more eventful than anything. I haven't written anything in weeks.

Honestly, it is all too much to process, or write about even, so I'm not going to.

Instead, I am going to talk about my new favorite comic book: Chew.

This is my favorite page. 

It is a story about a beat cop who gets psychic readings from whatever he eats, which makes him an excellent (albeit odd) detective. Now, I have only read the first volume, but I am already in love with it. I have every intension of spending whatever little money I have on volumes 2-4.  Luckily, they are only ten bucks a piece.

I found it at Meltdown Comics last week when my younger brother and his lovely girlfriend were visiting. It was the first time that I drove around Los Angeles without guidance and I am very proud to report that I did not get lost. Not even once.

It is always amusing to have my little brother around.

Update on my computer: it finally works! 

I had to reinstall the operating system. Then the wireless adapter refused to work (it worked on my old crappy computer). So I had to hardwire it to the router; meaning my computer gets to live next to the kitchen table. I could run an ethernet cord all the way through my apartment, but then I would be holed up in my room for days on end playing video games.

Speaking of StarCraft 2; can I just tell you how glorious it is to go from the lowest graphics setting to ultra?

 I was literally squealing with joy. 

Lessons I Learned From Script Frenzy

The outside world is so much more alluring. 

1. Writing a script is NOTHING like writing a novel.
Sure, it seems like it would be easier because it is mostly dialogue and action; or the fact that each page only is about a minute of film. It isn't. I struggled from day one, realizing that not much was happening in my script, other than some talking and a lot of walking from room to room. Sounds exciting, right? The ridiculous part is that when I was writing a novel in November, I would write pages and pages of just dialogue and actions. Why couldn't I do that now?!

2. I need to read more scripts.
Before April, I read a handful of screenplays, mostly of movies I love; Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, and others. During April, I would go back to reference them, to see how mine compared. It was terrible. Why was it so difficult? Then I realized that I had been reading novels my whole life (well since teenage years anyway) and screenplays are new to me. I need to read hundreds to really understand them. So next year, I will be better versed in the art of screenplays.

3. Travel during month-long writing challenges is a BAD idea.
This is the second writing challenge I have participated in. Both times I went out of town for the last week of the challenge. Both times I sorta just...stopped writing a few days before it was over. I know. I talked it up so much about how I was going to be focused and super serious. I should have known that going to Texas for the last five days of April would mean that my script would not reach it's one hundredth page, but I kept telling myself that I could do it, or would do it rather.

4. I love writing gory zombie stories.
My story for Script Frenzy was about a girl who causes the zombie apocalypse with poisoned cupcakes. I think part of the reason I struggled with it for so long was because I didn't get to the zombies until the end. Once I started writing about vegans turning into insatiable flesh eating monsters that devoured beloved household pets, the words poured out of me. If only I hadn't been too busy almost getting eaten by a zebra (seriously) or wandering around Austin waiting for the largest urban bat colony in North America to wake up.

No one should be this close to a zebra. 

I made it to page 75, which isn't too bad for my first try. Next year I will know what to be prepared for. Even though I didn't finish my screenplay, I had an amazing time in Texas (it surprised me too) and look at the cool stuff I got!

 

Please don't burst my bubble and tell me I can get this stuff anywhere. 

Damn You, Technology Gods!

The Technology Gods hate me. Every chance they get, they spite me just for fun. I can't even go near a printer without it malfunctioning and computers...well, we have a mutual hatred. It all started a couple years ago when my faithful desktop was eaten alive by a malicious internet virus. Now, I had never gotten a virus before, but living with boys really tests the limits of your free anti-virus software. It might have been the entire discographies and movies downloaded once they realized the wonders of Bit Torrent, but most likely it was porn. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised.

When I moved to Los Angeles, with the help of my resourceful brother, I traded both my desktop and laptop for better models. The newer laptop was great, except the fact that the disk drive stopped working after a couple weeks. Oh, and that it doesn't have a battery so it has to be plugged in all times. The desktop ran, but didn't have a graphics card; which is needed to play any games. Games like StarCraft 2. I managed to install it on my laptop, which only barely meets the system requirements; meaning I can only run it on the lowest settings and it still freezes. I almost cried when I saw how the game runs on my little brother's computer. It was so beautiful.

A friend of mine is letting me "babysit" his desktop while he is away. I suspect the real reason for this is so I can hone my StarCraft skills and stop causing us to lose all the time when we play co-op. So I lugged it through two airports, across three state lines and almost blew out my shoulder in the process. Not to mention the odd stares from everyone wondering why I was carrying around a computer half my size in a harness. Once home, I was so excited to set it up. Finally, a fully functional computer! Surely the Technology Gods would favor me for the amount of suffering I had endured. With a song in my heart and stars in my eyes, I started it up.

-DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER-

God dammit.