Nothing Ever Really Happens

So it's been over a month since my last blog post. I'm sorry about that. Nothing blog-worthy has happened since August 20th. School started. I like most of my classes, have two awesome teachers, and am irked that the library is never open during my study hall. I've made attempts to write a few short stories, but nothing has gotten very far. I've contemplated NaNoWriMo, gone to golf practice. Finished every day with homework, then gone to sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Boring, I know.

Even this blog post isn't about anything particularly interesting - it's actually about the fact that nothing interesting has happened recently, and how much that effects this blog. Because writing posts about what's going on in my life is so dependent on me, well, having a life, I've been thinking about some features I can add to make my blog posts more regular and get more people interested in them. (I'm painfully aware of the fact that I only have four followers - each one of you is awesome for finding my random ramblings worth reading!)

So anyway, here are some of the things I'm thinking of adding as semi-regular blog posts. If you're one of my four awesome followers, let me know if there are any you'd be interested in or if you have any other suggestions!

-Book Reviews

-Music Reviews/Discussions

-Writing Advice

-Writing updates and story excerpts during NaNoWriMo or other major projects

Hopefully with these and a few other ideas that are floating around in my brain, things will start to pick up around here.

~blackandwhitedreamer

On Short Stories

I've managed to solve my writing conundrum mentioned in the previous post. Looking through the short story ideas I've jotted down, I've come to the conclusion that when you take into account the business of my schedule because of the upcoming start of the school year, I probably have plenty of plots to keep me occupied until November. I've started making notes on one of my ideas and plan to start the story in the next few days.

Although I'm not against trying new things in writing, I have to admit that I'm a little apprehensive about spending so much time only writing short stories. Recently, I've come to appreciate them a lot more; I used to hate writing them and never really sought them out to read. Still, my writing is usually on one of two extremes - either a novel-length project, or an extremely short, mostly descriptive piece, less than 1000 words. Writing something in between, something that has a full plot but can still fit into around 5000 words, is hard.

I think it's mostly because I almost never have a full plot planned out before I start a novel. Even when I have a basic idea, most of it falls into place as I'm writing - after the first 5-10 thousand words, I start to make connections and brainstorm ideas that will add to the plotline of the book. You can't exactly do that with a short story - or rather, you can, but you have to make those connections after the first few hundred words.

It's probably good to challenge myself - I'll never be able to improve my skill with short stories if I don't write them. Between now and November, I'll probably be able to write around five or six stories, and it'll be interesting to see how they turn out. If anyone's interested, I'd be willing to post excerpts here on the blog or links to my inkpop.com account if I decide to upload any of the stories.

Wish me luck!

~blackandwhitedreamer

The End! ...Now what?

An important event took place yesterday. Not only did one of the awesomest movies ever come out, but I finished the second draft of my novel, Battle for the Throne. It's the first book in a traditional/epic fantasy trilogy entitled Battles of the Elements, and I've been working on it for about two and a half years.

The second draft was actually harder to write than the first, because there was so much that needed changed, while still keeping the basic plot and certain scenes the same. Still, I enjoyed it - I had some great ideas and brainstorms that really tie together the next two books, and my characters feel much more realistic. While it still needs some work before it's ready to go out to publishers (minor things, like moving a few scenes around and editing spelling, grammar, and consistency) I've definitely made progress.

However, having finished such a massive project does leave me with the question - what am I going to write now? Today's a grayish, rainy day, so I planned to stay inside and write, only to realize that I'm not in the middle of a novel, or even a short story. In fact, I don't have anything planned for writing until NaNoWriMo in November.

I've been running through my options. Sadly, I didn't get the second draft finished in time to do the August edition of Camp NaNoWriMo - even if I could make up for the six days of writing I've missed, I don't have a plot idea that's developed enough to use, and with school, sports, and extracurriculars all starting this month, I just don't have time. I don't know if I have enough time between now and November to revise my NaNo novel from 2009 - I thought I would, but revising always takes longer than I expect it to. I have a few short story ideas, but nothing that's going to keep me busy for three months. I can use this week's prompt from Sunday Scribblings to keep me busy until tomorrow, but after that...I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do.

Off to puzzle over this writing dilemma,

~blackandwhitedreamer

Back to School Commercials

August 3rd. For me and all the other students in my area, this means that there's only 25 days left until school starts again. The reminders of the end of summer vacation are every where - the pencils and backpacks on display at the stores, the fall clothing catalogs that have been arriving in the mail, and on television, where back-to-school commercials have been airing since mid-July.

I have to say, the new Target commercials are pretty awesome, and a few others have been funny or just advertising something really cool. However, none of them have been able to measure up to this:

...Which may be the best back to school commercial, EVER. Make sure you watch it all the way to the end - that's the best part.

I've never seen this commercial on TV, only on Youtube, so I'm not sure how old it is or when it first came out, but it still has to be one of the awesomest things I've ever seen.

Off to complete my back-to-school shopping list,

~blackandwhitedreamer

Album Review: Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits on the Run

As you might know, Vanessa Carlton's new album Rabbits on the Run was released yesterday, July 26, after a VERY long wait. I've listened to all the songs a few times, and now I'm here to give you my official review.

Overall Album Review

At least in my opinion, the new album has some significant differences from the previous ones. The piano instrumentals are still there and beautiful, but they're not on every song, and the entire thing is quieter and more subdued. It seems like Vanessa's been experimenting with some new sounds and instruments, and overall I'm pleased with the result. I did miss some elements of her old sound and didn't think her voice was as strong in some places, but I think the album has the same fundamental Vanessa Carlton sound, and a few of the songs are some of her best yet.

Individual Song Reviews

1. "Carousel"

This was the first single released from the album - it came out back in May - and I absolutely love it. It might be my favorite song on the entire album. The piano is amazing and blends nicely with the other instruments without being overwhelmed. This was the first time I'd heard the children's choir that Vanessa featured on some of her songs, and I think it worked well here. I love the lyrics, too.

2. "I Don't Want to Be a Bride"

I've been listening to a live version of this song on YouTube for awhile, and it's something I feel like I can relate to - sometimes, the idea of a white-picket-fence life really doesn't appeal to me. I was anxious to hear the album version to see how it differed, and I have mixed feelings. I like the additional instruments and don't mind the minor changes to the lyrics - they still create a beautiful image. I also especially love the new sounds (instruments and background vocals) after the second chorus. However, one thing I was really disappointed in was the children's choir on the ending. As far as the lyrics go, it's my favorite part of the song, and while the children's choir sounds nice, it sort of drowns out everything else and I thought Vanessa's voice was much stronger on it's own, at least to deliver these last few lines.

3. "London"

This is a very delicate and pretty song, and I like it a lot - it's probably my second or third favorite from this album. Though the piano isn't prominent at first, there's a beautiful instrumental towards the ends, and I love the violins that come right before it. The lyrics, too, are beautiful, and very metaphoric - I love the thought of a "knife-throwing kind of love".

4. "Fairweather Friends"

I thought this one sounded a bit more like her previous albums - it was more intense than some of the other songs. The piano might be my favorite piano-from-a-Vanessa-Carlton-song ever, and it's definitely going on my list of songs I want to learn to play. The lyrics are very strong and poignant, but still show a vulnerable side. I love the idea of "magical thinking" - she explained it in a show as being the idea that you can only deal with so much reality at a time. I also love the first verse - "some other girl in your spellcasting plans for a life" - and the piano/violin instrumental in the middle is to die for. (Those are two of my favorite instruments, and I love hearing them together.)

5. "Hear The Bells"

It's a quiet and subdued song, with haunting lyrics. I don't have a very strong opinion about it; while I don't dislike it, I'm not sure if I love it. The music is very soft, like the rest of the song, so it doesn't stand out much, but it's nice towards the end. I did like the bridge, but was unsure about the verses.

6. "Dear California"

This one is VERY different from her usual sound. I wasn't thrilled about the first verse, where she mentioned being "out on the roof sneaking a cigarette" because - well, smoking seems utterly pointless to me, but it also didn't seem to fit with my usual expectation of fantasy piano-pop - but we already knew this album was different, so I guess that's just my personal opinion. Otherwise, the song is very free-spirited, which I liked - though it didn't sound like Nolita Fairytale, I could see how she might have the same mentality while writing both. There was another great metaphor in this song - "like a paper cut to the heart".

7. "Tall Tales for Spring"

I'm going to start by saying that I don't like the first verse. By including "God rests His head Sunday afternoon" "The wicked in me is surely wicked in you" and "I pray to a ghost that we'd never met", I'm sort of confused about what the meaning of this song is and whether it's something I'm comfortable with. I did like the second verse, which included a Stephen Hawking reference and the phrase "Our minds hold the chaos that started everything." "Madness of the heart" in the chorus is another great phrase. While I'm unsure about the electric guitar mixed in with the piano instrumentals, I did think the song ended strongly, switching from "Madness of the heart" to "Madness in the stars." There was a very chaotic fantasy feel to the whole thing.

8. "Get Good"

I liked this song much more than I expected I would. It fits more into the pop/folk genre, which I find interesting - in a good way. I liked the descriptions and the first verse about "have you lost your constellation eyes?" The meaning is really sweet and encouraging, and though I did miss the piano, I'm okay with the guitar that replaced it.

9. "The Marching Line"

This might top "Carousel" as my favorite song from this album. The song reminds me of the aftermath of a storm on the ocean - especially the lyrics about "ships on gray seas." The the last verse and the instrumental is absolutely gorgeous; the piano chords are wonderful throughout and build up nicely towards the end. I was unsure about the ending, thinking it might have been better to end it before the line about "fortune tellers", but it's beginning to grow on me.

10. "In The End"

This song was very dark; the lyrics were unclear and hard to understand. While the music starts of nice, I though the overall song was a bit of a letdown, and didn't think it was a strong ending to the album. "The Marching Line" would have done better as the last song, I think.

So while it wasn't what I was expected, I am happy with this album.

Off to download some more songs,

~blackandwhitedreamer

The Nook: Part 2

I've continued researching the Nook (Barnes&Noble's eReader). I've read a few reviews, and they all seem to be positive - despite a few features that people don't like, the device itself sounds like it works well.

Also, after reading the information on the Nook that's available at the Barnes&Noble website, I've managed to scratch one of my "cons" off the list in my previous blog post: the fact that with a Nook, I wouldn't be able to organize my shelves. You CAN organize your electronic books in absolutely any way you want, at least on the nook color.

Now I have to find information on the other things that concern me, and decide whether I want a nook or a nook color if I do buy one. The nook color functions more like a tablet - one review described it as a good middle ground between tablets like the iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab and basic eReaders like the Kindle. The problem is that although I would prefer the screen to be in color, I don't really NEED a tablet - it would be more portable than my laptop, true, but we've already established that I dislike touch screens, and I don't mind carrying my laptop around. Plus, the color screen is LCD, meaning there's more potential for glare - and the nook color is somewhere around $250.

So I'm still debating whether the bigger, color screen, and the features that the nook has that my laptop and the original nook don't, are worth the extra $100 - or whether an eReader is worth $150 at all.

Hoping to get to a Barnes & Noble soon to test out both the nook and nook color in person,

~blackandwhitedreamer

Grilled Zucchinni-Cheese Sandwich

In the middle of this steamy, scorching Wednesday afternoon, I found myself confronted with a difficult dilemma: food. Even if it was approaching 90 degrees, I could only survive for so long on ice cream and fruit. I needed something more filling and substantial - preferably something that wouldn't take a lot of effort and wouldn't require lighting the oven.

I was looking through our Food Network magazine last night, so I had a few ideas floating around in my brain. The first one that came to mind was 'dressed-up grilled cheese sandwich.' I didn't have all the ingredients that were in the magazine recipe, but I thought I could manage some cheese and tomatoes. I went downstairs, sliced the cheese, and began assembling the sandwich.

Then I went over to the fridge and realized we didn't have any tomatoes. I started looking for something else to add, and my eyes landed on the plate of grilled zucchini left over from last night's dinner.

Thus, the grilled zucchini-cheese sandwich was born.

It was surprisingly good. I layered the zucchini (sliced into round pieces, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled) and cheese on two pieces of bread, seasoned it with a little oregano from our garden and stuck the whole thing in the toaster oven - I didn't want the clean-up that using a pan on the stove involved. (I used Monterey Jack cheese and Italian bread, because that was what we had, but I'm sure anything you would want to use would taste good.)

Anyone else have any recipes that have been created completely by accident but turned out to deliciously? What about dishes for keeping cool on a hot summer day?

With no end in sight to this heat wave....

~blackandwhitedreamer