What I've been up to.

I may not have blogged much recently, but that doesn't mean I've been getting nothing does (which it used to mean). Things have actually been relatively decent lately, despite the shitstorm on the horizon. Though, for the first time, I feel like I may actually be prepared for it. 

As I'm sure most of the people who read this blog already know, I was doing GISHWHES this past week. GISHWHES, or "Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen," was a blast. Basically, we just spent the week doing nice, and weird, things for people. It was a bunch of fun, and here are some of my favorite pics of some things we did:

 

Yeah, it was definitely a weird week. 

The other reason I've been so busy, is that I've been writing. Yes, really. Other than this blog. I saw a post on NerdBastards.com's Facebook page, which said they were looking for writers, so I figured "what the hell?" and sent in a sample. They loved it. So, the rest is history, and here I am; the newest writer for NerdBastards.com. While its definitely a milestone to get appreciation ($, let's be honest here) and a huge audience (one of my first articles was at 1300 views), I'm not stopping here. If everything goes right, this will help me get one step closer to writing for a living, which is great, because it's always been my dream to be paid to not work. 

Hopefully, this is a pleasant update for any of you that are actually reading this blog, and even if no one is, it feels good to write about something positive happening in my life for once. 

Have a good day!

bc

Dianne... The Black Lodge sucks

First, let me apologize for my absence from the blog; while I could go on making up excuses for why I've bailed when I explicitly said I wouldn't, I've decided to just start doing what I've come here to do, and that is to write about shit that most people probably don't even care about, and wait to see how many people read it, only to be disappointed by that low, low number. So, here we go. 

I've been in a heavy "Twin Peaks mood" lately, and while I'm tempted to watch the series for a 3rd time, the show carries something of a bitter sweet memory for me. Meeting Coop and the residents of Twin Peaks is something I wouldn't want to go through life without having done, and I recommend everyone watches the show at least once, but I cannot get over how it ended. Do you have to put a spoiler alert for a show that ended over 20 years ago?

*************SPOILER ALERT**************

I know, I know. People will try to act like they "understand" the reasoning behind the ending of the series, and that it's "better that way" with Cooper's uncertain fate, but those people can fuck off. Sure, a lot of stories got tied up by the end of the series, but what the hell happens to Cooper!? Then, that prick David Lynch makes a prequel/sequel movie, but does it clear up the ending at all? Nope. More ambiguity concerning Cooper's demise/triumph. That doesn't sit well with me. Well, Laura Palmer (her father killed her (I said spoilers)) said that Agent Dale Cooper would be stuck in The Black Lodge for "25 years," which should be coming up right around now. What a better time to start gearing up for a TV return to that wonderful little town that we (me and 4 other people) all love?

Well, about 6 months back, there were actually rumors that this would be the case. I was all set to throw on a fresh pot of coffee and book my room at the Great Northern, but I've just read that there will indeed be no proper ending to this story. In a day and age when we have about 6 different "Real Housewife" shows, Netflix exclusive series are booming, and shows that borrow directly from Twin Peaks are thriving, it makes no sense to me that there will be no third and final season. I guess I just don't get the entertainment business. 

It just doesn't seem fair; that's not regarding me (okay, it is; I'm selfish and I want my damn ending), it's for all of those people out there who have never experienced this wonderful show at all and probably never will, and for them, I feel truly sorry. They will never see Bobby Briggs go from a rebellious kid, to a young man who gains his fathers respect, or Ben Horne lose his mind and pretend his in the Civil War, or James and his terrible, terrible singing, or Audrey actually find love, or Norma turning into a silent drapes-superhero. Or Big Ed, Andy and Lucy, The Man From Another Place? Has anyone ever played a better cross-dresser than David Duchovny? How about that old guy who keeps giving Coop a thumbs-up? I nearly pissed myself. 

Well, that's all from me for tonight; it looks like I'm gonna watch some Twin Peaks after all... right after I get this damn fish out of the percolator. 

what's been keeping me from getting any work done

So, I've been distracted by various forms of media as of late, and since I've decided to be more consistently productive, I figured I'd make those distractions tonight's topic. 

First, since the world of mixed martial arts is so fast changing, I'd like to get that out of the way; how the hell have I not talked about the "punch heard 'round the world" as some martial arts reporters are calling it. Chris Weidman, who, I will admit, I said hadn't beaten nearly enough contenders on his way to the title, beat the champ, Anderson Silva. Looking back 2 Saturdays ago, it still doesn't seem believable. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I can't help but think that Silva severely underestimated his opponent that night. Fortunately, a rematch has officially been set; December 28th, if I'm not mistaken. Even if Silva regains, I can't help but feel like such an unnecessary blemish was put on such an immaculate record. Also, I've since found this show, The Tommy Toe Hold Show, on YouTube, and I highly recommend it to anyone who follows MMA, especially if you're looking for a laugh.

I know it's been a good while since the game was released, but I've been playing Resident Evil 6 lately, and I'd like to rant about that for a bit. As everyone already knows for themselves, the game overall is extremely underwhelming. At times, it's a chore to play, but that's what's so upsetting to me about the game, because it isn't all that bad at its core. There are a few solid improvements made in the gameplay areas over its predecessors, and the story isn't all that terrible, but then you have these idiotic chase scenes, awful, wacky camera angles, and a terrible weapon control system. I'm not so hot on the "Skills" either. After playing through a bit, I find myself yearning for the days of being able to control and customize my own load out, upgrading and carrying whichever guns I felt like. Would that have been such a crazy thing to carry over? I've been able to overlook the glaring lack of alternate costumes, something that made replaying the game just a bit more fun, and something that seems like it could have been done, even with the damage progression throughout the game (see Tomb Raider). While most people are quick to discount the game in its entirety, I find myself more disappointed by those few missteps and wishing for what could have been. 

Onto something more positive; I was watching The Avengers this weekend, for the third or fourth time, and I find myself loving it just as much as the first time. It's undoubtedly a masterpiece, and it really is perfect in every single way; every line, every reference, every move, every scene. While I wasn't too familiar with Whedon's work before seeing The Avengers, it's safe to say I deeply admire his work now. After seeing Iron Man 3, I made the statement that I thought it might have actually been better than The Avengers, but now, I'm not so sure. IM3 is without a doubt a great film, easily the best of the year, but it's hard to top perfection. 

We've covered games, movies, sports (well, sport, since I only really care about one), so I guess it's onto television. 666 Park Avenue is a show that, despite having its flaws (not all too exciting from the start), I feel was wrongly canceled. Here, a show with such potential, something any Twin Peaks fans out there should definitely check out, has oddly suffered a similar fate. Am I that much in the minority of viewers that a show like that can't thrive? Are we really outnumbered by the folks that watch some of that garbage that spews through the tube and into their living rooms? Anyway, getting a bit off topic there. The season finale aired last night, and I can't help but feel that we were robbed out of a much better, proper ending, as the show was rewritten to give more closure to viewers. While I was doing a bit of reading up, I read that apparently, a deal with Hulu or Netflix to continue the series was proposed, but fell through, further pushing a proper ending out of our reach. What's a guy gotta do to get John Locke back on TV?

Also (music), the new Panic! At The Disco song sucks ass. 

BC

inconsistent

So, I've come to the realization that I've been growing more and more lazy with this blog, which is the exact opposite effect I wanted it to have. Instead of getting my ideas out, I've been keeping them in my head, hiding them from ever seeing the light of my computer screen. There are a lot of projects and ideas that I have in my head, but it seems like I just don't have enough time/energy/enthusiasm to tackle them all.

A few of scripts (one for a game, one for a movie, one for a short film), a bi-weekly (or is it bi-monthly? Does anyone know which means every two weeks?) story posted to relyonhorror.com, a novel I've been working on for a while but just haven't gotten around to finishing. Then there are other things going ideas going around in my head; reading more from House of Leaves (which is awesome, by the way), writing that survival horror comparison/review article about Tomb Raider, submitting that children's book entry for that contest. Then, not to mention the fact that I need to be filling out job applications, so I can find a way to start bringing in some real money again. All of that, and the only thing I've really managed to do in these past few weeks is take a nap. 

Sure, I can make the excuse that Steph is home for the summer and I'm spending as much time with her as I can, which is true, but there's something more to it. Part of me is afraid to start diving into these ideas, overwhelmed at the thought of the amount of work it's going to take to make them come to life, let alone the thought of any of them failing. So, I hide my anxiety in these excuses, but I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of being inconsistent. Maybe updating this blog will be the first step. 

BC

venting frustration

I'm sure there's lots of times in life where people feel under appreciated. I've felt it before, but I'm not sure it's ever been to the degree that I feel it right now. I've taken time away from my other projects to volunteer for a site, wanting to make it better and help them succeed. For the third time now, I come across a conversation on our group page that's basically so obvious that they are complaining about me, that they might as well have tagged me in it. 

Here's the truth; instead of getting my own name out there, I figured my time would be better off spent correcting the vast amount of grammar and spelling mistakes that make the site come off as amateurish. Where =/= were, even if you spell it that way 6 times in one article. 

The fact of the matter is, they complain about not being able to get their stuff out to more people, but I'd be embarrassed to have someone read that. I'd be fucking embarrassed to put my name on that work and call it my own. There is no way in hell a few of them even give it a second read, and how can you have pride in your work when you're basically just regurgitating some information, not even able to be bothered to look over it before serving it up to your readers? So, my efforts to help make them look better, like professionals, is met with ungrateful whining about "some people" (obviously, me) not pulling their weight. I spend more time wading through the shit swamp that is their writing in one day than they spend writing articles all week... or at least, I'd hope so, considering how poorly written some of them are. 

On top of that, my new article goes up, and unlike every single other article that gets shared (some even get shared twice...) on our Facebook page, mine, and only mine, gets skipped completely. Not on Twitter, not on Facebook. It reminds me of that promo that CM Punk cut when his contract was expiring and he was giving his reason for leaving, which was, surprise surprise, BEING UNDER-APPRECIATED. He's not on the commercial, he's not on the opener, he's not on the program, he's not on your stupid 7/11 cups. I'm not on your Facebook or Twitter, even though I bust my ass as much as, or more than, anyone else. As I've mentioned before, instead of being selfish and getting my own name out there, I'm editing; when I post something, I'd like it to be given to the same audience that everyone else gets the privilege to have.

Anyway, it's too early to be this angry/frustrated/disappointed, so I will leave this now. Thanks for letting me vent, and hopefully, I won't have to deal with this same issue again, for one reason or another. 

BC

first mobile post

So, as the title indicates, this is my first post from my mobile device using the Blogger app. It's been over a week since my last post, and I must attribute that to spending all of my free time reading House of Leaves. 

It's truly an amazing book so far; Mark Danielewski has a brilliant mind. It's such a fascinating read, not to mention the ending of the fifth chapter is one of the very few times that I've gotten the chills from reading. The build up to that chapter was so well planned and led to such a perfect ending. At points, it had me wondering "okay, what the hell doesn't any of this matter?" only to make me eat my words at the end, when I realized it was all worth it. From that point on, I fully put my trust in this story. 

Unfortunately, I can't say that fully putting my trust in a story hasn't backfired on me before; the TV show, Dexter, for instance. While I will argue that the first few seasons were some of the best television you can find, these last three have been rather lackluster, and it kind of seems like the trend will continue with this eighth and final season. The twist at the end of the episode was compelling, sure, but for most of the episode, I was bored. Nothing felt new, and everything felt like a heavily diluted version of what it once was. I want to like this season, and this show deserves to go out with a bang, but I'm not entirely sure if I can put my trust in it again, and the premiere did little to ease my suspicions. 

I came across an interesting revelation today; as some people may know, I've been looking for a new job for some time, and I'm looking for something to do with writing. As fewer people know, my ultimate goal is to one day be able to make a living on writing video games. So, for shits and gigs, I went on indeed.com and searched for something along the lines of "video game writing." I was pretty shocked when I saw a listing for TellTale games (the makers of the 2012 Game of the Year, The Walking Dead), looking for storyline writers. I was absolutely stunned when I realized that a degree wasn't required. Instead, 2 samples of my writing, in script form, were required. That's it. But I don't have any scripts. I've never thought about writing anything in a script format. Sure, there was also the fact that the job was in California, but that's a minor detail to achieve one's dream. For once, I feel like I don't have time and the lack of money holding me back from reaching this. Just two damn scripts. Well, I guess you all know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks. 

BC

someone my mother would be proud of

Writing a children’s book is a lot tougher than I thought it would be.  My dad received this email from some magazine about children’s books, and apparently they are holding a writing contest for those interested in writing a story about exploration for Kindergarten level readers. With a $500 first prize, I figured it would be worth a shot, but I didn’t realize how much that limited the usable vocabulary! Since I obviously haven’t read anything of that nature in a while, this is turning out to be much more of a challenge than I’d thought. And with a 150 word limit, it’s kind of hard to fit any story in that many words. This isn’t going to be some sort of walk in the park like I was expecting; my work is cut out for me (This paragraph was 137 words, for the record (not including these add-on parentheses (but over 150 words if you include them))).

I read the book “Love You Forever” again for some inspiration in writing this children’s book, and while it didn’t really give me exactly what I was looking for, it’s still one of my favorite books. It’s a story that you understand more and more as you grow up and gain perspective on life. While the story is somewhat simple, the emotions it can still somehow provoke aren’t. It makes me realize that, as cliché as the stages in the story are; they are eerily relatable. I guess that's what makes them cliché, right? Because they are true? The scary part, for me, is the end, probably because I haven’t lived that part yet, but also because the end of the book also signifies the end of a life cycle, which is pretty god damn deep for a children’s book, if you ask me. If anyone out there has a son, you should read this story to them so that they can realize how important their mother is, and just how vital it is that they someday become a father that their mothers would be proud of.

In a complete change of mood and topic, the De-Pixilated series on GameTrailers.com is an awesome series; the Super Smash Bros. video in particular is very well done. The writer and director, Ben Moody, does an awesome job of setting up the characters in a way that feels new and realistic, while paying homage to the game in a special way. The Streets of Rage video was also a lot of fun to watch; from the funky music, to the plate of chicken hidden under a trash can. I definitely recommend these to anyone who is a fan of video games, really. They have videos based on a wide spectrum of games, so I’m sure they have something for everyone.

Speaking of video games, I wanted to touch on the subject of my fiction story on relyonhorror.com, The Fall of Leon S. Kennedy; I will be posting the next section in roughly 12 days. Things have been sort of crazy on the site, what with E3 dropping a load of news on the gaming world, so we didn’t want the fiction stories (check out the Arklay Horror series as well) to get buried under everything that was coming in. I’m pretty excited about where this next chapter leads, as it shows us just how trapped Leon really is; he’s realizing that every little detail of his survival has already been mapped out, like a script. He really has no choice but to follow it, or die.

                Well, I have get back to writing this story, so I’m going to keep this blog short tonight. I just wanted to get some of these thoughts out of my head and onto the blog. I’m going to leave the link to that story, if anyone is interested in checking it out. Also, I’d love to hear some feedback!

BC

did you not get attention as a kid?

Random thoughts to begin the week:

The movie Super is sort of like Dark Knight-esque version of Deadpool. The Real Housewives of Orange County= 13 year old brats that never grew up. Why the hell is there going to be a Grown Ups 2?

The more I watched Super, the more I found myself comparing Rainn Wilson’s character, The Crimson Bolt, to Deadpool. Maybe it’s because I’m sick and tired of waiting for a full film adaptation of the character, but I think the comparisons are interesting nonetheless. Both, mentally unstable and increasingly violent characters, it didn’t hurt that their suits were pretty similar. In fact, I think I’d even go as far as to say that I’d be interested in seeing Mr. Wilson take the title role in a Deadpool film, if they ever get around to making it. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it, so long as you can get past the violence and intense gore toward the end of the film. It’s surely not what I expected from “Dwight Schrute,” but I was in no way disappointed with it, and it’s definitely worth checking out.

Tonight, I decided to be a good boyfriend, and I’m attempting to sit through this show that she likes so much; The Real Housewives of Orange County. About 4.5 seconds in, I began to regret this sacrifice. And boy was this ever a bad, bad choice. How is this on TV? I don’t understand how I could live in a world where shows like Twin Peaks and Arrested Development were canceled, but shows like this thrive. How stupid are the people of the world? These “women” are basically just teenagers that were never forced to mature. Like, seriously, 40+ year old women saying “BFF,” WITHOUT SARCASM. I’m embarrassed for empty headed bimbos that don’t realize how ignorant and stupid they look on television, and I’m embarrassed for the people that eat this trash up. At least it gave me something to complain/write about. UPDATE: One of the idiots on this show just said, in regards to a fellow moron, “What, did you not get attention as a kid?” Kettle, meet pot.

Seriously, how can Adam Sandler afford to keep putting out these crappy movies? Does he really still bring enough people in because of his name recognition? I just don’t get the entertainment business, I guess.

BC

because there's a lot of beauty in ordinary things

Besides being a quote from a television show that I really enjoy, the name of this post describes my view on life and art, being especially true concerning my experiences with both of these topics lately. Also, I was able to use it in an actual conversation yesterday, so I’m pretty psyched about that as well.

As I’ve mentioned in an previous post, my birthday was earlier this week, and one of the gifts that I received was a book that I’ve wanted to read for a while now; House of Leaves. After reading it a bit, I have to admit that it’s sort of a challenge to follow all of the different points of view that are in the book, as well as all of the footnotes that require you to jump ahead. This led me to the thought, who the hell could come up with something so complex? As you could imagine, it was here that I used the title quote to comfort myself for not being one of those people.

Now that I think about it, it reminds me of a conversation that I had with one of my professors, who I consider a friend and a mentor, when we met up on campus one day to catch up. The conversation actually began about a different show, which I was infatuated with at the time (the second season of Being Human was phenomenal), but it grew much deeper as the conversation went on.

As a writer, my professor told me, learning to "become more human" is the best thing that I can do. I was kind of dumbfounded when he related it back to the show, saying that “the more someone can learn about human behavior and improve their ability to imitate it, the more realistic one's writing can be.” For some reason, I'd never really made this connection, but I realized that it was indeed true. "Being human" is useful in a number of situations in creative writing, from what a character would say it to someone, or how they would react to a situation, but also in having an appreciation for what we consider to be ordinary and usually overlook. What was deeper than this though, was what he related the show to next.

He went on to say that, not only did this apply to writing, but that "we can make this world a better place if we all learned how to be a little more human." This is the reason this conversation has always stuck with me, and I'm pretty sure that it always will. While I think it did improve my ability to write characters with different voices, I like to think this helped me become a better person as well, making a conscience effort to not overlook the things that most people take for granted. There’s nothing wrong with simple and ordinary.

BC

some place to put your shit

So, this past weekend was a weird one. I’ve kind of had a lot on my mind, and no time to get it out onto the blog. Steph and I went to the drive-in this past Friday night to see Man of Steel and Fast & Furious 6. After watching the Fast & Furious movie, which I did as a favor to Steph, I can honestly say that I feel a bit better about my future in writing. This movie was AWFUL.

I’ve never watched any of them before, and I’m so glad that I didn’t. The action scenes defied all logic; The Rock’s and Vin Diesel’s characters literally did a Doomsday Device, which is a professional wrestling move, and a fairly unrealistic one at that. The story was awfully predictable; I’d never even seen the previous movies and knew exactly what was going to happen before seeing the movie. The comedy was immature and just plain bad; in fairness, I don’t think forehead jokes are funny for even an immature audience. The best scene was the very last one, because I could finally leave.

Surprisingly, Man of Steel felt a bit off to me as well, despite the fact that I really wanted to like it. The story was a bit jarring, as it jumped around so much in the beginning that neither of the timelines had enough time to develop. The part that I was really looking forward to was Clark Kent learning to deal with his powers and accepting what his role really was and where he came from. This transition lasted all of a minute. He went from not knowing anything about who he really was, to totally okay with being Kal-El, an alien from Krypton and the Earth’s only hope. There was no struggle with responsibility, no question his gift/curse, nothing. He’s just running around telling people “It’s not an ‘S’!” Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention to this development, so I will surely watch it again, but I doubt I missed something that I was really looking forward to seeing.

Superman is a difficult film adaptation, as many people have pointed out, mostly because of his seeming invincibility and basically being the opposite of Batman. While I love the Dark Knight films, which I think I’ve mentioned on here a few times already, a major difference that should very well be highlighted between the two is that Bruce Wayne chose to don the cape and cowl; Clark Kent had this responsibility thrust upon him. While we like to picture our superheroes as noble enough to stand up for our planet at the drop of a hat, that’s quite a responsibility to put on someone who was raised the same as any other kid, whether they happen to have super powers or not.

As some may know, tomorrow is my birthday, and unlike my childhood years, I haven’t been feeling all too excited about it. Instead, I think what sums it up best is a quote from Garden State that’s been sticking with me for a while, and has grown more and more true as each birthday comes to pass.

“You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore… all of the sudden, even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone… or maybe, it’s like this rite of passage. You will never have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, for your kids, for the family you start. It’s like a cycle or something. Maybe that’s all family really is: a group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”

This fits how I’ve been feeling lately perfectly. I’m sort of at an in-between stage; not a kid anymore, yet, not on my own. I feel stuck, like it’s impossible to find that feeling again. I just hope that Large is right, and that soon enough, I’ll find my own place to call home again.

BC

let down

Although today was relatively uneventful, I still think I have some “blog worthy” thoughts to get out there. It’s been an interesting week; E3 2013, the Man of Steel movie is in theaters tomorrow, there’s a UFC event this weekend, and it’s my last week of being the only one in my group of friends that hasn’t turned 21 years old. Oh, and I started this blog this week, so there’s that. I had high expectations going into this week, as I’ve been looking forward to these things for a long while, but I can’t help but feel somewhat let down.

I have some great memories involving E3; I’ve never had the pleasure of going myself, but I can’t help but reminisce about those early-summer mornings I spent in my mother’s living room, watching G4’s coverage of the event in my boxers. It’s like Christmas morning for gamers, but it’s a whole week long of Christmas mornings. Or, at least that’s how I remember it.

This year’s E3 felt like it fell a bit short for me. Maybe it was because I couldn’t find good coverage (apparently G4 doesn’t cover gaming anymore?), but there seemed to be only a few conferences, most of which happened before the event actually started. This was a bit odd for me, and maybe it’s because I’m not as clear on how the event works as I thought, but I was looking forward to this huge week full of surprises, and that didn’t happen.

Unsurprisingly, the most exciting parts were the Batman: Arkham Origins game-play footage and the news about Pokémon X & Y (if you don’t like Pokémon, you weren’t a 90’s kid, and we aren’t friends). I was also psyched to see Psycho Break, as I’m a big fan of Shinji Mikami’s, but the game-play video didn’t really show much. If there’s anyone that can bring back the Survival Horror genre, it’s him.

While I knew the main focus of the event would be on the two new next generation consoles announced, I remain underwhelmed by both. Nothing really makes me feel the need to buy them, and I probably won’t until next holiday season, at the earliest. All games that were announced that I’m interested in will still be available for the PS3, but I’m sure that both Microsoft and Sony will sweeten the deal next year by adding some bigger games to the mix. I had to update this because I somehow forgot to leave it out, but if I do get one of the next generation consoles, it will without a doubt be the PlayStation 4. I've been screwed enough times by the Xbox 360, that Microsoft will never have my business again. I'm a Sony guy, through and through.

This weekend is going to be a tad different than the usual weekend’s on which a UFC PPV fight is scheduled. While the card wasn’t very appealing to begin with, it’s really fallen apart leading up to fight night, with both the Bantamweight title fight (who I honestly couldn’t tell you was fighting in to begin with) and the Shogun-Lil’ Nog rematch both being pulled from the event, leaving us with the not-so-exciting match up of Hendo vs. Evans. Here’s hoping the next event is more compelling to waste $50 on.

I’ve been waiting for it for a while, and the reviews seem to be pretty decent, so I’m going to see Man of Steel this weekend at Becky’s Drive-in. I have to say, I was a little disappointed (is this post developing a pattern?) to read that this latest attempt at rebooting the Superman franchise won’t be set up in the same universe as The Dark Knight trilogy. Maybe I’m naïve, but it feels like a missed opportunity to link up with one of the most successful comic book-film adaptations of all time, all while WB is inevitably building up to the alleged Justice League movie.

I know Christian Bale has said that he’d be open to donning the cape and cowl again, if Nolan was directing. So, why not have Nolan direct the Justice League film? If I were WB, I’d be taking a look at what Marvel’s doing and taking notes; link EVERYTHING. Arrow, Dark Knight, Man of Steel; link them all. What fan doesn’t want to hear about Superman trying to find Bruce Wayne, who’s left behind the superhero life, to stop Doomsday from destroying Earth on an episode of Arrow?

Last but not least, this is my last Thursday night being 20 years old. After Tuesday, I’ll be a REAL adult. Yip-di-do. To continue the theme of this post, I’m going to go ahead and guess that being 21 years old isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t want to keep all of this negativity going, because that’s never helped anyone, so I’m going to say this: It doesn’t matter what day it is, or what you’re celebrating, or even how you’re celebrating it; as long as you make the most of that time and make sure it’s with friends that you love, you won’t be let down.

a good day to make something new

Well, today turned out to be more productive than I'd thought it would be. I've been in a bit of a creative slump as of late (one of the reasons I'm writing this blog), but today brought with it a welcomed change of pace. I sat down on a bench by the pond in my backyard, and started brainstorming in an empty journal, jotting down whatever ideas popped into my head. I started with a simple idea, and ran with it until I found myself, 2 hours and 5 scribble-covered notebook pages later, enjoying what I was doing! I'm not sure if it was the change in environment, energy, or just because an idea clicked, but I made a lot of progress compared to what I've done lately.

I'll be honest; coming up with material for this blog was a bit of a chore. Nothing really seemed too appealing, and I'd seemingly lost all motivation. I managed to come up with a few fun posts (to be shared at a later date), but that was over the course of a month or so. I was planning on posting one of my favorites, titled "Being Human," later tonight, but I'll be pushing that off until a little later this week now that I've found something else to write about!

As some people know, I've been writing a story based on a dream that I had a few years ago, appropriately (and plainly (and temporarily)) titled The Dream, but it's been on hold for the past few months while I wrote The Fall of Leon S. Kennedy on relyonhorror.com. Well, I made a bunch of progress with Dream today, mapping out the next several scenes in the story, and I'm happy to say that it's really find its direction again. I had a great time revisiting my characters, it's been a while. Josh's mind is crazier than ever, and I can't wait to actually get to write these scenes. I don't want to give too much away yet, and no one really knows what I'm talking about anyway, so I'm just going to stop myself there.

However, that wasn't the only thing filling up my notebook, as I had originally set out with the objective of outlining a short film. After talking about with a friend about writing, he gave me the idea that a short video or series might be a fun challenge, and after some thought, I think I may have come up with a pretty neat idea. The short film is going to be its own story, despite being based on a minor scene from Dream, which was inspired heavily by what I've been noticing about my family life lately. The film will expand on that, and kind of explore what happens once a family falls apart, or "dies," so to speak.

So, I'm not sure if I've rediscovered my motivation just yet, but I'm feeling pretty damn good about how today went. Tomorrow, I'll be back to give my thoughts on this year's E3, or Electronic Entertainment Expo for those of you who aren't video game nerds. Now, I'm off to do some editing on relyonhorror.com, and if I have the chance, start typing up those scenes of The Dream!

BC

my first blog post

So, this is my first blog post. I've been thinking about doing one of these for a while, and I finally decided to write one. I've constantly got these odd thoughts popping up in my head and, for better or worse, I'm going to unleash them in this blog. I plan on covering a variety of my interests; everything from personal relationships to writing, from video games to MMA. Oh, and Trailer Park Boys, because this show is hilarious and I just so happen to be watching it at the moment.

For those who don't know me very well, I'm an aspiring writer. I've been a writer for the survival horror video game news site, Rely on Horror, for the past year now. I'm in the process of writing a sort of fan fiction for the site, as well as handling the editing duties on the site. In addition to writing for the site, I've been working on 2 or 3 other stories in my personal time. Unfortunately, I've been lacking the drive to create anything lately, which is one of the reasons for me writing this blog.

I hope to follow this first post with a more interesting story, and you can think of this as more of an introduction to who I am and what this blog will be. I hope that people will be able to relate to these stories and thoughts, and that through that, I'll rediscover, and help others rediscover as well, the desire to create something wonderful.

BC