Writing, Writing, and... well, yeah.

Well. I have finally managed to get to the last item on my post I posted several months back about "not having time" to write at the moment. Well, I suppose I proved myself correct, to a certain extent. However, as the last bullet point on that list was "Writing Buddy," stating that I don't have time to write seems rather counter-intuitive.

That's me, counter-intuitive. I could blame it on the fact that I'm a woman, but it probably has more to do with the fact that I'm me. I guess it might be genetic, but it might just be something unique to my personhood. Or not. Anyway, on to what I was supposed to discuss, and that being my writing buddy. Or 'writing partner'. Though I prefer the term 'buddy.'

My awesome writing buddy and I have started writing some fiction together. I say 'some' not because we also write nonfiction, but because we both write our own fictional works in addition to this fictional work that we have begun writing together. However, I have noticed that having a writing buddy is extremely helpful for keeping a regular schedule for writing. In the past few months, we have written something around 12,000 words. Yes, 12,000. That's with a full-time school schedule, and also general busyness on both our parts. Needless to say, I don't get this much writing done on my other fiction. Which is something I have been lamenting lately.

She and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing together, and I also spent some time picking the brain of a close friend of mine for insight into how the male mind thinks. Not because I think that men and women are from different planets, but because I know that there are ways that men and women look at things that may not be as obvious to a member of the opposite gender. So that has been tons of fun.

On the downside, my fanfiction writing has taken the heaviest hit, I have not written a single chapter in any of my fics for months. Additionally, some of my stories are also suffering. I have, however, worked on editing one of my particularly favorite stories. And I am re-writing for the fourth time a story centered around a character that I first invented when I was 14 years old.  So kudos to me for sticking with my character. The classes I have been taking in school have all helped me develop these stories, and I am particularly fond of this character that I invented 5 years ago. The classes that have helped me the most with his story:

• International Relations
• I took this Political Science course last quarter, and it helped me develop a lot of the cultural systems and interactions between the planets, as well as setting me on a vague course for how and why the interplanetary war in this tale takes place. The story is about a young man who is a member of the ruling class of his society, and learns about how his planet and its culture is contrasted with other cultures of surrounding planets. There is a deep and somewhat painful history between their people and some of the other people groups. There are also some deep-seated prejudices towards different peoples, and it is interesting to see how different perspectives can affect how countries will interact. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" work was particularly interesting in this regard.
• Communication and Difference
• This is a class I am taking this quarter, and it explores the impact of Power and Privilege on people, and how denial and systems are set up in cultures in such a way that people often cannot even see their own privilege. It is an extremely eye-opening class, and it got me to thinking about the insecurities and stereotyping that is rampant in our society, and how that would carry over into cultures that are obsessed with genetic engineering and the physical representations of pure genetics. There is also the differing cultures of what is considered normal in which culture, and the differences in patriarchal societies, matriarchal societies, and perhaps societies with social structures that we don't have any comprehension of. It is interesting to develop cultures that dismiss some cultures as 'crude' simply because of how their culture has developed (ie: "You mean your people don't genetically engineer your children to have the best chances in life? How...interesting.").

And I guess that is all I want to talk about right now. I should really be studying for my Japanese test. Bah. How has Japanese helped my writing? Not really very well. It hasn't done much. My intro to linguistics course, on the other hand, has done wonders for helping me decide what I'm going to do to develop a distinct language for my "aliens." I'll probably recycle it for my fantasy stories, and then fans who read both my stories can have fun realizing that both languages work in the same way and use identical vocabulary. I think it might be kind of fun. Of course, if the Editor wants me to change it, I guess I won't have much of a choice...

In the meantime, I'll keep editing my story about genetically engineered orphans. Which actually has nothing to do with the above story, aside from the fact that they are both written by yours truly. Ha!

And now, to study...

Week of Man "Date" and House Elections

Mwaha! Just when you thought I was never going to update this poor dear, the nagging finally wore me down! Ha! Yeah. I'm just great at updating this thing... NOT. Alack and alas.

Anyway, now that I've said nothing of import, I'll get to the interesting stuff that you probably have been waiting forever to hear about (well, forever being approximately one month): My week of man "date". And also officer elections.

First things first: What is this  "date" and why is it in quotes?

Well, 'Week of Man' is an insane event that the UCU men's house puts on every year to determine who the "manliest man" is. Which basically boils down to guys doing a bunch of crazy stunts, not showering, and throwing up a lot. Yeah. I was very impressed... not.

Be that as it may, one of the things the guys can do during this 'week of man' to prove their manliness is ask girls on dates. Fortunately, no guy is callous enough to ask out a girl who's already dating someone... however, they have no qualms about asking every other girl in the house to go on a date with them... even if they ask multiple girls at once.

Well, I had two guys ask me out. I was probably difficult to locate for most of the week as I tend to hide out in my room like a hermit and cackle at anime, do homework, stalk Japanese celebrities (>.<), or write. Anyway, one guy was a dork and asked me on a date by standing on the table in the middle of lunch. He asked the other girl at the table as well. There were about six other people there, and the whole thing was awkward. He still hasn't actually taken me on that date, though he assured me and a few other girls that he'll get to it. But since he asked out like 12 girls, well... haha, his wallet can only take so much abuse.

The other guy that 'asked me out' is in the creative writing major, and wrote a story with him and myself as the characters. He sent it to me via facebook, and that's pretty much how we discussed everything up until the date. The story ended with his character inviting mine to go out for coffee or something. Not wanting to read into the story, I told him it was pretty funny. He told me there was a purpose behind writing it. I asked if he was trying to use nonverbal communication in the story to express attitudes and thoughts. Or if he was working on description. He said it was more like a moral, something to be learned at the end. I told him I was sorry but I didn't have a clue... to which he responded: "Week of man date? :D"

To which I replied that I would love to go for coffee or something and that I am a total moron. We had a good chuckle about that one. I felt really stupid. Anyway, we went and got some bubble tea together and chatted about writing, and also the upcoming officer elections, and how school was going, and just life in general. Long story short, we talked for about 3 hours.  'twas tons of fun.

And that was the week of man "date". The other one has yet to occur, but I hinted that I wanted sushi, so maybe I'll have him take me to the new donburi place on the ave and try their salmon donburi instead. I hope it's yummy!

Well, after week of man, the women's house held officer elections. For people who don't know (ie, everyone except me or a house member), there are five officer positions at UCU:

President - does tours, works with intra- and inter-house relationships, works with the alumni board, etc.
Vice President - spiritual leader of the house, works with bible studies, leads worship nights, plans outreaches, etc.
Secretary - takes notes at meetings, etc.
Treasurer - collects dues, etc.
Social Chair - plans events, etc.
House Manager - makes sure the house is running, chore manager, buys cleaning supplies, works with the cook to keep things running, etc.

So, at our house we have combined the roles of secretary and treasurer into one person. And we have two social chairs so they can brainstorm together. Anyway, I decided to run for the position of Vice President. And I won. And thus far, it's been murder. It's a huge learning curve and I feel totally inadequate. I have no clue what I was thinking trying to lead anyone in anything.

Haha, all that to say I'm convinced I'm going to die trying to lead the other people in this house, especially since I struggle to have a regular quiet-time. It's really frustrating to be encouraging people to do stuff like read their bibles and feel like a total hypocrite. It's something I would appreciate prayer for. I can find time to do practically anything except read my bible, and I KNOW it's because my spirit and my flesh are in conflict, which just makes it all the more frustrating. However, the guy's house vice president and I have regular meetings. In fact, I'll be meeting with him again tonight to talk about possible outreaches, etc.

It's nice to have someone else to talk to, and everyone is really supportive, but it's frankly terrifying to have this position, a lot scarier than I thought it would be. I just don't want to lead people in the wrong direction or make a dumb choice.

Well, now I have homework, but I think I'll update my bloggy blog of doom tomorrow. My 'bloggy blog' is how I've affectionately termed this blog, and it's kind of stuck. Not only I, but also one of my friends now refers to it as my 'bloggy blog' as well. Hehe. It makes me happy. Try saying it: "Bloggy blog."

Doesn't it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? D'awwww, yeah, I know.

And with that, I shall bid you adieu!

Until next month, or tomorrow, whenever I end up updating...

...peh.