Coffee Challenge Ended + Talking About Personal Writing

So, my 37-day No-Coffee Challenge ended. I was successful in not drinking any caffeinated beverages (knowingly, at least) for 37 days. This is the first sip of coffee, which I took this morning:

TOPIC CHANGE: personal writing

Awhile back, my good friend and I were discussing how our lives got to the places we’re at, and he mentioned that he had been writing something every day, sort of like a journal.

I’m the kind of person who writes about my own life. I have f o u r blogs here on Blogger, and this one, A Poet's Revolver, is a monthly blog about the happenings in my life. But those are the public blogs under my name; I also keep two others. One is a secret blog that is public but anonymous, the other is a blog that I keep in a Word file on my computer. The secret blog is a place to publicly express my frustrations about dating, and the Word file is a private one that I go into detail with specifics that I will never want anyone to ever see (like a private diary). These last two blogs are infrequent to the point that I only write in them when I need to feel better (writing is my outlet) or something big is happening in my life.

Throughout my grade and high school life, I used to write in physical notebooks,all of which I’ve kept and am still keeping in my box-o-memories. Gosh, I remember how this started. A girl named Christine started keeping a notebook and listing random goofy things, like rejected Snow White-dwarf names. Stinky. Wasteful. Fuzzy. Most of the names were not PG, if I remember correctly, so I won't list them here, but you get the idea. I still keep physical notebooks, but they're all dedicated to making art and sketching out ideas for my books.

from Camp, after a day of mud-sliding, I'm the redhead in the back

I remember very specifically buying a notebook and writing in it while I worked for the Boy Scouts at Camp Joy. I wrote a page for every single day during the two months I worked there, and I've even outlined a potential book I could turn it into someday. I worked at the camp in 2007, and this was a weird time in my life. I had left high school in 2005, and so during 2007 I was in my college-days, feeling lonely and wondering what I was supposed to do with my life. Camp was so random and I didn't know anyone that it became a real period of growth and crazed adventure for me.

When the Internet grew, 

a photo I took from last month on an orange morning

I began keeping public blogs on some of the old blog-building websites. Most of those I have since deleted because they are embarrassing. When Facebook became a thing, I started writing notes (also now deleted). Haha, that was my political/religious angst phase, where I was exploring all of the different philosophical ways there were to be. Those were fun because I had some crazy conversations with random people.

I quit talking politics and religion once I decided to fully commit myself to becoming an author, though, mainly because I wanted to have a public face that would be welcoming to anyone. So, instead, I created an education blog, along with my book and nerd culture blog. I’ve since deleted the ed blog and replaced it with this life and another blog about creatures from my book. So, that’s where I am today.

But a few months ago, I got a calendar from my work, and it was about the size of one of my old notebooks, so I began writing every day in the day-slot. I write things I do, or random observations, or things my friends have said, or weird dreams, or… anything, really. It’s cool to see EVERYTHING I’ve done for the past few months in big blocks of text.

Now, when I ask myself if October was a worthwhile month, I can look back and say:

giant ketchup bottle

I went to a science fiction convention.

I put up awesome decorations (see them here!).

I started seriously lifting weights and eating healthy.

I was a monster in a haunted trail. (I vlogged this)

I survived being in the middle of a tornado.

I went to a pumpkin patch.

I went hunting for Cakeway to the West cakes at the Giant Ketchup Bottle and Cahokia Mounds.

I went to The Darkness haunted attraction.

I hung out with random, awesome friends.

My goldfish died.

Had lunch with a friend at a local coffee shop.

Had a dinner with family that I haven’t seen in 3 years.

Went to a wicked Halloween party and met a bunch of new people.

 

(the above video is a vlogged account of the aforementioned haunted trail)

So, yes, I had a good month. My life’s time was well spent.

taken from Cahokia Mounds

I like knowing that for a fact. October was a fantastic month filled with doing stuff. This month, November, is already 11 days through. Weird, huh? It hasn’t been all that eventful, but that was meant to be the plan. November is a month I’ve dedicated to working on my book. I really want to get it finished.

I did have an awesome time at my sister’s birthday dinner the other day. We went to Shogun's, where they cook Japanese food right before you on a giant stove in the center of your table. They shot drink into my cousin’s mouth and my sister had to dance with a dragon. It was fun.

I suppose that's all I have to say for today. This has been a bit of a disjointed blog post, for sure, but I write all this for myself more than anyone. I thank you for reading, though. It's nice to think that someone out there is listening.

Leave a comment and tell me something cool from your life! Also, you can follow me on Twitter @Oxyborb

Self-Improvement

Last month I talked about the meaning that buying clothing has had for me. Overcoming the challenges of the last few years of my life has be very difficult, to say the least. But the change has been about focusing on myself for once. Thinking clearly about the things I want, not what other people want or what other people want for me.

took this pic accidentally, lol

Like a camera coming into focus, I'm starting to see myself. When I moved out to Seattle, I didn't do it for me. I loved Seattle when I got there, but moving out had been like a train crashing into the station. It was all so fast, unplanned. I felt like the man was checking tickets and told me I was on the wrong train. The forces were propelling me away from my goal, making me a pillar for others to step on.

So, buying clothing was for me. About 90% of my clothing was bought in the last year. I've tossed so much out, it's crazy. I've been working on my looks as a part of my self-improvement momentum. I have never been an incredibly attractive guy. In some ways, I feel like that was the downfall of my efforts to start a rock band, but I digress. Lately, I've been buying tighter-fitting clothing. I have been using a new teeth-whitening gel (and it's really working! my teeth have really improved!). I've been doing yoga and working out every day for the last few months. I've made beginning efforts to eat healthier again (beginning, but there's way more to go on that). I want to bring my weight down, for health and dating reasons. 

I think the next big step for me is immersing myself into the social world again. I was sort of going through a recluse-socialite-recluse-socialite phase for the past few months, just depending on whether or not any of my friends were in town. Now, I'm feeling like my reclusive period is almost over. I need to get involved in something. Something nerdy, hopefully. I might go join the STL Writer's Guild or something.

Well, that's as update as I've got for this month. The other big thing for me is the fact that I bought an amazing camera, which I blogged about here.

Thanks for reading, caring, etc. I love you, whoever you are. Don't be a stranger. I could use more random conversations in my life, so feel free to message me.

I bought a camera and I'm geeking out

Title says it all, really.

I blew my money on something I've always wanted: a nice camera. This is it:

I feel like a nice camera is a tool that every author (and author wannabe!) should have. Learning to speak publicly is something that contradicts the mentality of many writers. I mean, when we write, we get to edit. Backspace. Delete. Reword. Writers can be thoughtful and take their time putting their words together.

But public speaking is different; you can't take back the things you say in the immediate. You can't take back tone of voice and other nonverbal cues. Writers love to sit in their little offices and nooks and place one word after another in the comfort of their home computers. Public speakers have to be on target at all times. They must be clear, not jumble their words. They need the right tone and look good--that's another thing.

I've been working on making myself look better. There are so many things that owning a camera will teach me. An author must be able to go out into the public and speak to people professionally, with warmth, caring, vibrant virtues. I want to learn how to speak better so I can better promote myself and enjoy the community of book lovers that exist out there.


So that brings me to my new HD camcorder. I want to make videos that will teach me, not how to write, but how to be a good friend to anyone that may someday read my work. If you look at authors like Maggie Stiefvater, Lisa McMann, or Heather Brewer you can see how much their personal warmth and direct interaction with their readership drives them as writers. It's cool. I want to be more like them, I guess.

I've always loved being behind the scenes, but I want my novel to be in the spotlight (which means I'll have to thrust myself there, too).

My first video with my new camera: