A serious problem…

49 Notebooks…. PIctures to come soon!

 

Sleeping Where You Fall

Here’s a snippet from a story that I am currently working on…

Its a thick and slow process, one that surprisingly requires a lot of concentration prior to the weightless surreal sensation that soon follows. Its a medley of choirs singing in perfect harmony, green cool morning grass beneath bare feet, a first kiss. This is not a drug you can obtain, not a mental state of mind one can simply slip in and out of. This is a way of life only known to one subspecies of the human race, Hedonistics.

The pleasure we experience is triggered by a compound of the drug ecstasy which stopped killing braincells of heavy users and instead infused itself with their DNA through evolution. As a result, the condition became very concentrated and is a “disease” very few can ever have. Society still tends to shun those with this condition because it throws the integrity of a person’s family heritage into question. A small price to pay for the twenty-four hour built in morphine drip we have access to. Can one become addicted to pleasure if pleasure is built into your method of natural bodily function? That is an ongoing debate that has walked the line between deeming us as victims or mental masturbaters through the way we can instantly heighten endorphins and the pleasure sensors to achieve maximum, genuine feel good. We like to call the process “sleeping where you fall.”

It’s as if life has been suspended; as if you are walking in the sky while gravity sucks everyone else down to its level. The world views us as letting reality pass us by in the most irresponsible way with our eyes closed to its pain. They believe we are the fallen. But in all actuality, in sleeping where you fall, you experience a single moment–that whizzes by unnoticed for most–to its fullest, frozen potential. We honestly don’t expect you or anyone else to understand, and there is no way for you to experience what we can achieve without the aid of some pretty strong drugs. I suppose that’s our blessing in disguise, we are the worst possible case of addicts without any visible–or yet known–detrimental side effects.

I know many, are envious of our way of life. Take me for example, a twenty-seven year old taking the classic 2003 definition of a hedonist to an entirely different level all because of Darwin’s theory, survival of the fittest. Now I don’t know how this is equipping me to rise above weaker individuals or if I’m any stronger for it, but I know that I can skip out on the downcast expressions and endless suffering that the human race has slipped into in these dark days due to the stupidity of our forefathers.

The beginning of the end started with the 2000 Presidential election–President Shrub or Hedge, some type of leafy flora–and no matter who came after him and tried to rectify the situation, there was nothing that could be done. Along with our own subspecies, it has been proven many times over that mass stupidity was a common characteristic that was evolved through time too. So much for Darwin’s theory. Despite the lack of non-man-made greenery, other than what can be found in the billion dollar parks that the rich can afford, and the zoos that house the last known species that survived the damn-near worldwide atomic bomb, the dark days–as we ever bubbly Hedonistics like to call them–aren’t so bad. Although perhaps we would if we weren’t Hedonistics…anyways, the history books display a world far different from the one I’m walking on now. I’m pretty sure portable breathing chambers weren’t required for you and your dog to go take a walk.

 

Longhand vs. Computer

I’ve always been interested in seeing which authors still write their drafts in longhand even though technology has provided today’s writers with many ways to record their ideas. It is comforting to know that Neil Gaiman and Stephen King write in longhand. Here are some interesting links to articles/blogs that are dedicated to the lost art of pen and paper.

Longhand Authors

Longhand vs. Typewritten

 

Quote of the Day…Plus Reflection!

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.
Ray Bradbury

In the post before this one I talked about how I am a deadbeat writer. The above quote underlines that fact. So I picked up the notebook that wails in the night and pricks me with guilt every time I walk past it, and I started to read the words printed there. It really isn’t that bad. I enjoyed, for the most part, what I wrote. I don’t want to be doomed by only writing a few things, so quantity here I come.

 

My Fortune Cookie Told Me…

“Magnanimity will bring you universal respect.”

magnanimous |magˈnanəməs|
adjective
very generous or forgiving, esp. toward a rival or someone less powerful than oneself.

 

Making Time to Write

I have pretty good time management skills. I can juggle being a full time senior about to graduate (with a full course load), with working 30 hours a week, with still finding time to see my friends and watch a movie every now and then. What I can’t seem to manage to do, is making time to write.

Writers write. I haven’t been a very good writer lately. In fact, I’ve been a piss poor writer because I haven’t written a lick since the beginning of this semester which started in January. I am ashamed. I am no good. I need to start writing. I pass by the notebook I’ve begun writing my latest novel (believe me I have a boneyard of “attempted novels”) and I hear it crying faintly. To be honest, looking at the thing makes me feel guilty. So I am asking for help and guidance from all of you. How do you make time for writing?

 

All Hail Alfred Hitchcock

One of my favorite directors of all time…heed his wise advice!

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. -
Alfred Hitchcock

Short, sweet, and to the point.

 

Quote of the Day

There was something extremely poetic (in the classic vein of Lovecraft) had to post it.

At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night. – H.P. Lovecraft

 

Movies about Writers

I have a deep-seated love for classic movies. Anything staring Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, or Humphrey Bogart is a must see. The only thing I love more than classic movies, are movies about writers or the joys/sorrows/frustrations of writing. So, today I will share my top three favorites.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

This movie is a gem and I was shocked (after watching it) to learn that it didn’t do so well in the box office. I love this movie because it draws attention to the fact that in an author’s mind, the characters he or she writes are real. I can’t tell you how many times while writing, the characters leap from the page and take over the show, whether I want them to or not because they truly have a mind and soul of their own. So if you want some laughs (a Will Ferrell movie is not complete without a few belly laughs in a film) and touching moments, complete with a stressed out chain-smoking writer under deadline, this is a must-see.

Finding Neverland (2004)

I cry every time I watch this movie because of the magic and beauty I experience from the beginning to the end of the film. This movie is focused around Depp’s character J.M. Barrie, the man who authored the book Peter Pan. If you want to be transported to a different world, this is a perfect movie for it. This movie is an awesome representation of the disconnect that occurs when a writer is truly immersed in his or her own world.

We all have experienced it. When the office or living room, cafeteria or coffee shop we are writing in disappears and the world we are writing down so fervently rises to the forefront, looming larger than life and reality. Writers have to go to their world, and draw upon the details that appear in the mind’s eye in order to effectively transport future readers of a publication to the same place. This movie captures that magic, that moment of “telepathy” as Stephen King puts it in his book On Writing (an excellent read by the way).

The movie also encourages the act of writing itself, no matter how old or young, or experienced one is. There is something special about putting words to paper, and this film gives a wonderful representation of that.

This is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time, even if it didn’t have a single thing to do with writing.

Whisper of the Heart

Studio Ghibli produces excellent animation movies, each with an inspiring message to leave viewers with. I was so stoked to find out that there was a movie that focused around love and writing. Shizuku is the heroine of the story. She is an avid reader and eventually her heart leads her to try writing. The film follows her as she comes to the realization that she wants to write a book, the research, the writing, the hard work she puts into it, and the result of her efforts. Shizuku’s dreams become your own, and everyone will find themselves cheering for her by the end of the movie.

Although the writing is merely a sub-plot (I exaggerate a little) it remains a large part of Shizuku’s story. This movie captures the hopes and dreams, the wonder and imagination that pulls a writer to write, displays the amount of effort and dedication that is required to really put pen to paper,  and will warm the heart of anyone who watches it writer or not (unless you have a heart of steel).

If you check out these movies, I doubt you will be disappointed. For those who have seen them, please feel free to comment upon what they have inspired in you!

 

Ok this is ridiculous.

Correction: I now have 48 notebooks. It twas given to me as a gift.