Onward To 2011

I feel as though I should be typing up my goals for the upcoming year - I don't like using the term "resolutions" - sooo... here we go~

1. I need to draw more. I'm not going to set a specific number, as life is unpredictable and I can't make any guarantees, BUT I would like to draw more than I did in 2010.

2. I want to work on my cosplay, a lot. Granted this is something I'm already doing, but I definitely plan on continuing.

3. I want to NOT fail out of community college. It's sad that I have to make this a goal, but I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to school.

4. I want to attempt to find a job that I wouldn't hate with a burning passion. I don't think such a job exists, but it would still be nice to move out within the next couple years.

5. I want to keep blogging on a regular basis, it keeps my writing skills sharp. It's also a lot of fun.

There are soooo many other things I want to accomplish, but I don't like setting more goals than I'm capable of completing. Plus, five is a good number, I think.

On a side note, it would seem my goals get more and more realistic each year. I'm not sure if this is because I'm growing wiser, or just lowering my expectations of myself.

Ah well, onward to 2011~!

I'm Soooo Talented

I'm a lazy blogger who skipped out on writing two nights in a row. YAY!

So, today is "a talent of yours." That's a hard one. I have several things I'm OKAY at, writing, drawing, acting, etc. but nothing that really stands out from the rest. Then there are the really odd talents like my knack for researching things online or coding HTML.

I think that's part of why I have issues choosing what I want to do with my life - there isn't that ONE thing I'm really good at. But I digress...

Um... a talent... a talent... a talent...

I give up.

He's Everything You Want in a Girl

Fanfiction, oh fanfiction. Once upon a time, writing fanfiction was my hobby. http://www.fanfiction.net/ was my homepage, and within three years, I'd written over 70 different stories. It wasn't just an obsession, it was my life. I still get the occasional message from my old readers, asking if I'll ever return.

Looking back, a lot of my writing was pretty shameful, but there are the few that I still enjoy to this day. One of my most successful was an alternate universe Fullmetal Alchemist humor/romance called He's Everything You Want in a Girl. I admit the plot was far fetched, and the humor rather lame, but I was only 15 at the time, and I'm still fairly proud.

The other story that sticks out in my mind is of the same nature, an alternate universe, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc. While still plenty humorous, Summer Of Memories was a bit more serious. It was one of my longest stories, over 15,000 words, which, to my 15 year old self, was rather impressive.

I'm fairly certain the prompt was referring to a fanfiction not written by myself, but in my time I've probably written just as much, if not more, as I've read.

Progress?

So, we're about half-way through the summer - technically halfway between June 9th and August 30th would be the around 19th or so, but whatever - and I decided to check up on my To Do list for the summer. (Thought I'd forgotten, huh? Well, I did, but I just remembered again.) For a recap, here's what was on the list:

- Figure out why I'm going to college.

- Learn at least 3 more songs on guitar.

- Clean my room.

- Do well in my summer classes.

- Go on an adventure.

- Post at least 15 drawings.

- Finish at least one video game.

- Write at least one story/fanfiction.

- Do a random favor for a friend. This was actually REALLY easy.

- Watch at least 5 movies.

- Read at least 5 books.

- Continue to blog regularly.

I'm not quite half through the list, but that's alright. I've at least done some of it. As far as drawing goes, I'm about 1/3 of the way finished with that goal. With the video game, I've started plenty, I just... you know... have to finish one of them. The story I actually completely forgot about. I'm thinking of doing a Fullmetal Alchemist post-manga, EdXWinry oneshot. Possibly.

"Do well in my summer classes" is a bit more difficult to gauge until final grades are out. (That's still two or three weeks from now.) I haven't been practicing guitar much, as I am a lazy bum. Same goes for the room cleaning.

Then there's the one goal. The big, fat, ambiguous one. Yeah, figuring out why I'm in college. I don't know if I'll ever reach that one. I guess it's becoming clearer why I'm here, but it'd be nice to have a real reason - something beyond the fact that I don't want a job yet.

Oh well, either way, I'm getting somewhere. Maybe I should do these to do list things every season? I mean, obviously it's more effective than "I SHOULD DRAW MORE" or "SOME DAY I WANNA FINISH THIS GAME." Just saying.

Something I *do* absolutely HAVE to do is get back on a somewhat diurnal schedule. Especially if I plan on taking traditional - meaning NOT online - classes this Fall.

Four Years

Four years.

Hard to believe how quickly the past four years have passed. In fact, I'm not really sure if I do believe it.

Four years ago I was a ninth grader, just about to drop out of private school for good. I hated just about everything at that point in time, and was about to enter the worst summer of my life, followed by the worst school year of my life.

Yeah.

Fast forward to today. I stepped out of my car and thought "Wow, this is the first time in four years I've been this happy with my life." Then I tripped and fell face first on to concrete. But you know what? I didn't care. I laughed.

Which is good. I think.

I think last Memorial day weekend, exactly one year ago, was the turning point. It's when I started on my whole turning-negatives-into-a-positive kick. Since, I've written songs about everything. And I do mean everything. A little over 50 have been finished since then.

Looking over it, this post is kind of just random reflection. But it's proof that it is possible to move on. Which I am proudly doing.

The Game Of Life

Why am I in college? Seriously. Don't give me that "to gain more career opportunities" crap either. That's why people go to college. But why am I here? My parents gave me the college or move out ultimatum, but in the end, I could've gone out and gotten a job.

It's like when you're playing Life, the board game. At the beginning, you can either get a career or go to college, and I've forgotten why I chose this path. I think I'm going to add that to my list of what I want to do this summer, figure out why I put myself through this misery of higher education.

Actually, I'll make a list right now:

- Figure out why I'm going to college.

- Learn at least 3 more songs on guitar.

- Clean my room.

- Do well in my summer classes.

- Go on an adventure.

- Post at least 15 drawings.

- Finish at least one video game.

- Write at least one story/fanfiction.

- Do a random favor for a friend. This was actually REALLY easy.

- Watch at least 5 movies.

- Read at least 5 books.

- Continue to blog regularly.

Wow... that's a really long list.