Morning all! Just remember to shoot with any questions you feel like asking me this week. :-)
Also, I've won another award! Unfortunately I won't be able to pass it on just yet. (I have a major project due in the near future.) I will, however, do so as soon as I can.
OK... On to the post. :-)
Today I'll answer a few more me-related questions.
Nancy asked:
Do you have a major in school or are you just getting some required classes done?
And The Golden Eagle Asked:
When did you really start to write and consider yourself a writer?
What do you enjoy most about fencing?
What do you think is a defining characteristic about yourself?
Do you enjoy meeting new people?
Thanks so much for asking these questions, guys.
Do I have a major?
Technically I'm majoring in Investment Management, although I'm currently more concerned with finishing the subjects and getting the credits. I realized last year already that I would never enjoy working as an Investment Manager.
The hours are much too long, given that I won't be able to see the job as the passion of my life. Plus I've heard about too many Investment Managers that got stroked at or just before the age of forty due to the endless stress of trying to predict the Stock Markets, when any good stock market's motions are essentially chaotic.
When did you really start to write and consider yourself a writer?
Well... I can't really remember exactly when I started. See, my Grandmother is a published writer and has been in the business for almost forty years. So I've seen writing as a possible thing for me to do since I became aware of what she does for a living.
I think I was nine when I wrote my first poem. I wanted to finish an anthology at that time (nothing wrong with my ambition, eh?), but got distracted by dolls and playing with my cousin. For some reason, I didn't do well with writing essays for school.
Still, when I was about eleven, it occurred to me to ask my Gran how to write. I got my first distinction for an essay and never looked back. In fact, I started to complain to my Gran that the word limits given for the essays were much too short. I'd done this quite a few day, until my Gran suggested that I should maybe write a book.
I blew the idea off, but in December 2001, about two weeks before my thirteenth birthday, my first character walked into my head and wouldn't go away. So I started a novel about her instead. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I let it go. But by then I considered myself a writer and I was waiting for my next inspiration to strike.
What do I really enjoy about Fencing?
Oh many things. Number one would be the history associated with it. Fencing goes back to young nobles training for duels. Contrary to common belief, people didn't actually use fencing to duel - fencing was MUCH too regulated. Yes, there are rules to duels, but the fighting was allowed to be quite dirty - especially if the
duels were to the death. Anyway, sparring with rapiers and sabres were considered martial arts.
Fencing, on the other hand, was considered one of the Arts along with music, dancing and (I think) sculpture.
Even in modern times, fencing is steeped in old traditions. For example, if you lose without honor and throw a tantrum, you can be banned from the rest of the competition. Same goes for failing to salute your opponent, or saluting your opponent with your mask on. When we finish fencing, we shake hands with our opponents, but always with the non-weapon hand. It goes back to duelling (in this case to first blood), when shaking the free hand with your own was considered a sign of goodwill. Of course, it also freed up the weapons hand to slaughter the beast if he tries to hurt you.
The other thing I love about fencing (it came a close second) is the fact that my adrenaline starts pumping the moment the mask covers my face. I get to change who I am from a cultured normal(ish) person to a cultured but lethal person. Just like in my writing, I get into a zone. It doesn't happen often, but the zone is where I can hit the opponent the moment s/he makes a move that opens up a target - purely on reflex.
Needless to say, fencing is a great stress and anger relief. There is something incredibly calming about hitting something (or someone) while only doing it with a percentage of the force you could have used. (You can get red cards for brutality if you injure your opponent).
There are many things I love about fencing, but I'll move to the next question before I start waxing lyrical about it.
What is the defining characteristic of myself?
Oooh... this is a tricky one. I have many characteristics that take turns as needed to define who I am in a given situation.
Currently, though, the characteristic that takes up a large part of who I am is the fact that I'm permanently in a state of motion. If I'm not, I am incredibly frustrated with where I am and what I'm doing.
I always want to learn more and do something new and different. I can only settle in a given place for a few years. Stellenbosch is a wonderful place, but half way through last, my wanderlust came back to stay. It might or might not have triggered my I-DON'T-WANT-TO-DO-THIS!!! phase. After all, there's nothing that reminds one that you're doing the wrong thing as realizing that you're in the wrong place.
But you can imagine how I'm feeling eighteen months later. I'm fighting really hard not to count down the days to the end of my studies. That's also a big reason I want the job at Qatar. I want so badly to go somewhere new.
Do I enjoy meeting new people?
Oh yes I love it. Can't really explain why, though. I guess it's because I'm largely an extrovert. I can talk to people about almost anything, and I love hearing their thoughts and feelings about things.
I do, however, have very high defenses. So although I meet a lot of people that I will easily go out with, or enjoy meals with etc. and who remember me enough to greet me when we bump into each other, I have precisely four close friends. I basically stack people I know/meet into a hierarchy e.g. Close friends, Friends, Friendly Acquaintances and Acquaintances. So I'm friendly with everyone, but I'm friends with just a few. I just think that it's a lot better to maintain a few close friendships that are worth it rather than to waste time on shallow ties.
That's it from me today, but those were my last questions, so please feel free to add some more. They can literally be about anything. Have a great day all!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
South Africa
Morning all!
So sorry that I didn't post yesterday, but my PC decided that I should not be able to blog at all on Sundays. Sigh.
Anyway, Jen, you are more than welcome to ask some fun questions.
I decided to rather use the questions as blog topics, but I need a few more (even silly ones) for me to blog about them all week.
Since Nevets's and Colene's questions fell into the same theme, I decided to answer both of them today.
Nevets asked:
1) Best and worst thing about living in South Africa?
2) Is there anything distinctly South African about what you write? If so, what?
Colene asked:
1) I work for a South African family and they're always telling me about how bad traffic is there, is driving always such a pain?
2) Is it scary (because it sounds scary there.)
A word of advice: For those of you that would rather not see the bad side, rather stop on question number three. I didn't pull punches on number four. I know that this isn't particularly celebratory of me, but the question was asked and I would insult the memory of thousands if I shied away from it.
I knew from the moment that I read these questions that there are no short answers to them. What few people understand about South Africa (henceforth referred to as RSA) is that we are actually a very complicated nation. Reason number one for this is our history. Reason number two is the fact that we are a nation consisting of at least eleven nations - and all of us don't really get along with each other. Reason number three is that RSA itself is quite big and varied - so much so that even people from within the same nations but from different regions don't really understand each other. I think one can compare it to the difference between Northern Italians and Southern Italians or, say... the Union vs the Confederacy before the Civil War.
In fact, in the 1800's, thousands of Afrikaner farmers and their families moved into the at that time untamed North to escape their British colonists. They established two separate countries. This community actually functioned quite well - except for the fact that they basically intruded onto the Native people's (e.g. the Xhosa, Sotho's and Zulu's) land. (I'd say that the move at that time was at a smaller scale similar to the migration West in the U.S.). Point is that neither the settlers nor the natives were happy with each other's presence on what each considered to be their land. And these feelings were left to escalate for more or less a century until we were saddled with the mother of all Snafu's. Namely: Apartheid.
I'm not really going to go into all of it, since I believe that we have moved well and truly past that and since certain segments believe that as a White person, I am supposed to apologize for something that happened at a time that I was a) NOT BORN or b) too young to have anything to do with it - with every reference to this chapter in our history, so I'd much rather just glance past it, if it's all the same to everyone.
Still. I think you guys have enough of an idea as to our background to understand why we as a nation are where we are. I could go on and on about this, but I might get round to ranting, and you might get bored. SO I'll just rather move on to the questions.
The best and worst thing about living in South Africa?
Well, there are many great things about living here. One of the best would be our geography. Our climate tends to be gorgeous. Most of the year, the sun shines. Although it does snow, the blizzards tend to be limited to be limited to mountain tops. We rarely get earthquakes, and when we do, the tend to be mild. I don't think we've ever been hit by a cyclone - although I think there has been two sizable tornado's (I think they were F-3) and one smallish tsunami. When the Boxing Day tsunami hit, I think that seven people died, because our tides were higher than usual. So overall we're pretty safe from Mother Nature's extreme moods. We get in the Cape areas is a wind that literally blows you off your feet - but that only happens every five or so years - and floods, since it rains a lot in the winter and the towns tend to be built in valleys.
Another geography related plus is the Stunning scenery. Most of you will know about the beauty of Table Mountain. In my opinion, that is probably only the fifth most beautiful place in the Western Cape only. And there are a wide variety of climates. We have cold oceans and warm oceans. We have tropics and deserts.We have pretty much every single climate in between. So I could spend years travelling through South Africa and I'll still be surprised.
The worst thing in South Africa will be covered in the second part of Colene's question.
Is there anything distinctly South African about what you write?
I used to think not, since I write mainly fantasy and romances. Although, I'd like to one day write a novel set in a) the Great Trek which I mentioned above or b) the Boer War. But I'm not so sure that it will find a widely appreciative market.
Still, I realized that certain things that come from my experiences living in South Africa make their way into my writing. For example, I'm pretty good at describing fear for reasons described below. I don't know if that counts though, since I'm sure you can get similar experiences elsewhere.
Is traffic really that bad?
Well... that depends on where you are. If you're in the countryside, then no. But even as I say that, I have to qualify that it also depends on which province you're in. For example in the Free State - where I was born - your number one concern would be dodging the numerous and deep potholes and ruts made by the millions of trucks that drive through. This is in part due to the fact that infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate and that the cross country trains either don't run or aren't reliable. Why? Because people steal the copper wire in order to illegally connect to the power grid. I kid you not. Or... they sell the wire as scrap since they have no other way to make money.
Traffic is a lot worse in the cities, since for as far as I noticed, they only started with a reliable and safe public transport system in the 2000s. Of course, most workers must travel into the cities from the suburbs and so we tend to get lovely snarl ups at about seven in the morning to about nine and from five in the evening until everyone manages to get home.
Is it scary?
Once again, that depends on where you live. Things are pretty tame in the Western Cape countryside, but there are certain places in Cape Town that you don't go to after a certain time. Gang violence is rampant in the poor sections of our cities, same as everywhere else. But in the Western Cape, you're pretty safe for as long as you are not stupid. For example, going into some of the informal settlements at twelve at night is... well... pretty brain dead.
Things are a lot worse in the other parts though. Johannesburg and Pretoria are infamous throughout the world for the rampant crime.
But then there is something going on in the Free State and other rural areas that is kept very hush hush. I guess some of you are aware of the crisis in Zimbabwe in 2000 where hundreds of farmers were killed. So I guess that you will have an idea as to the scope of the situation when I say that murders of that nature has been taking place since the late seventies early eighties. Sure, a lot of those early casualties could be considered casualties of war. But they have grown in intensity in the nineties and has gone on unhindered. And then the government made a law to limit the amount of fire-arms in South Africa. Great idea in theory. Not the best of ideas when the people with traceable firearms and therefore the only people getting sent to jail and getting slapped with huge fines, are those that had been en regle before the laws were made. So the murderous psychopaths get pretty much free run. Especially since the Commando - the rural civilian guard armed and trained by the army - has been forced to disband. Couple this with the fact that we already don't have enough cops and that most civilians don't trust those that are there...
We have a freaking problem. But it's much easier to consider instituting a media tribunal to limit what the press may or may not write about. You know man, hide the problem. Heaven forbid that we should fix it. Think I'm lying? Try researching how many farmers and /or their family members have been killed in South Africa. Any number above a thousand in total is buried deeply. No one knows how many people have been killed. But if it has actually been five hundred per year for the past twenty years, it wouldn't shock me at all. There isn't a farmer or farmer's family that doesn't know a farmer and/or his family that has been murdered. I know about ten families touched in some way by farm attacks. I know of children orphaned because they were lucky enough to hide under their beds when they heard their parents scream...
Maybe it's because I grew up in the Free State farmer's community, but I consider it to border on State Sanctioned Genocide. To many of our boys being killed while trespassing on farms? Let's take away the farmer's defences. If some have to audacity to keep legal firearms, let's put those that kill trespassers away for life. Let's conveniently forget that said trespassers were armed and had trespassed with intention to do harm.
Let's allow our boys to attack and maim that old white bastard (Incidentally I was eight when I heard him screaming and begging for mercy. There were two attackers. One tortured the septuagenarian while the other kept the two way radio's button in so that every one on the circuit could hear it. My parents taught me to shoot that weekend.) Let them stitch his eyes closed and pour boiling water over him. After all. He's part of the Old Guard.
Let fear and hatred and bitterness permeate the communities that supply us with food. If they clear out from the land they've been working for generations, we can give them to the families of those very people that killed the farmer and/or his families.
We can do everything we want.
As long as we don't let the tourists know...
F*cking scary. Isn't it?
So sorry that I didn't post yesterday, but my PC decided that I should not be able to blog at all on Sundays. Sigh.
Anyway, Jen, you are more than welcome to ask some fun questions.
I decided to rather use the questions as blog topics, but I need a few more (even silly ones) for me to blog about them all week.
Since Nevets's and Colene's questions fell into the same theme, I decided to answer both of them today.
Nevets asked:
1) Best and worst thing about living in South Africa?
2) Is there anything distinctly South African about what you write? If so, what?
Colene asked:
1) I work for a South African family and they're always telling me about how bad traffic is there, is driving always such a pain?
2) Is it scary (because it sounds scary there.)
A word of advice: For those of you that would rather not see the bad side, rather stop on question number three. I didn't pull punches on number four. I know that this isn't particularly celebratory of me, but the question was asked and I would insult the memory of thousands if I shied away from it.
I knew from the moment that I read these questions that there are no short answers to them. What few people understand about South Africa (henceforth referred to as RSA) is that we are actually a very complicated nation. Reason number one for this is our history. Reason number two is the fact that we are a nation consisting of at least eleven nations - and all of us don't really get along with each other. Reason number three is that RSA itself is quite big and varied - so much so that even people from within the same nations but from different regions don't really understand each other. I think one can compare it to the difference between Northern Italians and Southern Italians or, say... the Union vs the Confederacy before the Civil War.
In fact, in the 1800's, thousands of Afrikaner farmers and their families moved into the at that time untamed North to escape their British colonists. They established two separate countries. This community actually functioned quite well - except for the fact that they basically intruded onto the Native people's (e.g. the Xhosa, Sotho's and Zulu's) land. (I'd say that the move at that time was at a smaller scale similar to the migration West in the U.S.). Point is that neither the settlers nor the natives were happy with each other's presence on what each considered to be their land. And these feelings were left to escalate for more or less a century until we were saddled with the mother of all Snafu's. Namely: Apartheid.
I'm not really going to go into all of it, since I believe that we have moved well and truly past that and since certain segments believe that as a White person, I am supposed to apologize for something that happened at a time that I was a) NOT BORN or b) too young to have anything to do with it - with every reference to this chapter in our history, so I'd much rather just glance past it, if it's all the same to everyone.
Still. I think you guys have enough of an idea as to our background to understand why we as a nation are where we are. I could go on and on about this, but I might get round to ranting, and you might get bored. SO I'll just rather move on to the questions.
The best and worst thing about living in South Africa?
Well, there are many great things about living here. One of the best would be our geography. Our climate tends to be gorgeous. Most of the year, the sun shines. Although it does snow, the blizzards tend to be limited to be limited to mountain tops. We rarely get earthquakes, and when we do, the tend to be mild. I don't think we've ever been hit by a cyclone - although I think there has been two sizable tornado's (I think they were F-3) and one smallish tsunami. When the Boxing Day tsunami hit, I think that seven people died, because our tides were higher than usual. So overall we're pretty safe from Mother Nature's extreme moods. We get in the Cape areas is a wind that literally blows you off your feet - but that only happens every five or so years - and floods, since it rains a lot in the winter and the towns tend to be built in valleys.
Another geography related plus is the Stunning scenery. Most of you will know about the beauty of Table Mountain. In my opinion, that is probably only the fifth most beautiful place in the Western Cape only. And there are a wide variety of climates. We have cold oceans and warm oceans. We have tropics and deserts.We have pretty much every single climate in between. So I could spend years travelling through South Africa and I'll still be surprised.
The worst thing in South Africa will be covered in the second part of Colene's question.
Is there anything distinctly South African about what you write?
I used to think not, since I write mainly fantasy and romances. Although, I'd like to one day write a novel set in a) the Great Trek which I mentioned above or b) the Boer War. But I'm not so sure that it will find a widely appreciative market.
Still, I realized that certain things that come from my experiences living in South Africa make their way into my writing. For example, I'm pretty good at describing fear for reasons described below. I don't know if that counts though, since I'm sure you can get similar experiences elsewhere.
Is traffic really that bad?
Well... that depends on where you are. If you're in the countryside, then no. But even as I say that, I have to qualify that it also depends on which province you're in. For example in the Free State - where I was born - your number one concern would be dodging the numerous and deep potholes and ruts made by the millions of trucks that drive through. This is in part due to the fact that infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate and that the cross country trains either don't run or aren't reliable. Why? Because people steal the copper wire in order to illegally connect to the power grid. I kid you not. Or... they sell the wire as scrap since they have no other way to make money.
Traffic is a lot worse in the cities, since for as far as I noticed, they only started with a reliable and safe public transport system in the 2000s. Of course, most workers must travel into the cities from the suburbs and so we tend to get lovely snarl ups at about seven in the morning to about nine and from five in the evening until everyone manages to get home.
Is it scary?
Once again, that depends on where you live. Things are pretty tame in the Western Cape countryside, but there are certain places in Cape Town that you don't go to after a certain time. Gang violence is rampant in the poor sections of our cities, same as everywhere else. But in the Western Cape, you're pretty safe for as long as you are not stupid. For example, going into some of the informal settlements at twelve at night is... well... pretty brain dead.
Things are a lot worse in the other parts though. Johannesburg and Pretoria are infamous throughout the world for the rampant crime.
But then there is something going on in the Free State and other rural areas that is kept very hush hush. I guess some of you are aware of the crisis in Zimbabwe in 2000 where hundreds of farmers were killed. So I guess that you will have an idea as to the scope of the situation when I say that murders of that nature has been taking place since the late seventies early eighties. Sure, a lot of those early casualties could be considered casualties of war. But they have grown in intensity in the nineties and has gone on unhindered. And then the government made a law to limit the amount of fire-arms in South Africa. Great idea in theory. Not the best of ideas when the people with traceable firearms and therefore the only people getting sent to jail and getting slapped with huge fines, are those that had been en regle before the laws were made. So the murderous psychopaths get pretty much free run. Especially since the Commando - the rural civilian guard armed and trained by the army - has been forced to disband. Couple this with the fact that we already don't have enough cops and that most civilians don't trust those that are there...
We have a freaking problem. But it's much easier to consider instituting a media tribunal to limit what the press may or may not write about. You know man, hide the problem. Heaven forbid that we should fix it. Think I'm lying? Try researching how many farmers and /or their family members have been killed in South Africa. Any number above a thousand in total is buried deeply. No one knows how many people have been killed. But if it has actually been five hundred per year for the past twenty years, it wouldn't shock me at all. There isn't a farmer or farmer's family that doesn't know a farmer and/or his family that has been murdered. I know about ten families touched in some way by farm attacks. I know of children orphaned because they were lucky enough to hide under their beds when they heard their parents scream...
Maybe it's because I grew up in the Free State farmer's community, but I consider it to border on State Sanctioned Genocide. To many of our boys being killed while trespassing on farms? Let's take away the farmer's defences. If some have to audacity to keep legal firearms, let's put those that kill trespassers away for life. Let's conveniently forget that said trespassers were armed and had trespassed with intention to do harm.
Let's allow our boys to attack and maim that old white bastard (Incidentally I was eight when I heard him screaming and begging for mercy. There were two attackers. One tortured the septuagenarian while the other kept the two way radio's button in so that every one on the circuit could hear it. My parents taught me to shoot that weekend.) Let them stitch his eyes closed and pour boiling water over him. After all. He's part of the Old Guard.
Let fear and hatred and bitterness permeate the communities that supply us with food. If they clear out from the land they've been working for generations, we can give them to the families of those very people that killed the farmer and/or his families.
We can do everything we want.
As long as we don't let the tourists know...
F*cking scary. Isn't it?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Today was one of those days.
Hey all. Just a reminder that I still need some questions and blog topics for next week's celebrations!
Sorry that I posted so late, but today, a day that I wanted to write four thousand words, I wrote nothing except for my CV and application forms.
So many things fell in the way, but at least I did a lot of other things I wanted to do. For example I got to do some decent exercise. I got my fully updated and well-written (if I say so myself) CV done. I also filled out applications at Etihat and Emirates Airways for in case Qatar Airways don't work out.
At least I did manage to finish my character interviews. The scary thing is that something came up in the interviews that is going to complicate things. A lot.
At least it is going to make for some interesting writing. Now I just have to get round to writing. Which is why this is quite a short post. I reeeally want to get to write tonight.
So I bid you good night.
Maybe tomorrow I'll let you know how my writing went.
Sorry that I posted so late, but today, a day that I wanted to write four thousand words, I wrote nothing except for my CV and application forms.
So many things fell in the way, but at least I did a lot of other things I wanted to do. For example I got to do some decent exercise. I got my fully updated and well-written (if I say so myself) CV done. I also filled out applications at Etihat and Emirates Airways for in case Qatar Airways don't work out.
At least I did manage to finish my character interviews. The scary thing is that something came up in the interviews that is going to complicate things. A lot.
At least it is going to make for some interesting writing. Now I just have to get round to writing. Which is why this is quite a short post. I reeeally want to get to write tonight.
So I bid you good night.
Maybe tomorrow I'll let you know how my writing went.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Good to be back.
Morning all1. Just a reminder that I need you guys to hit me with blog topics and/or questions by Sunday. You can just leave them in the comments section.
Then I want to apologize for the fact that I haven't passed on my award yet. I will get to it ASAP.
Oh and I just want to remind you guys to check out the News page. I have linked to some awesome competitions.
That done, I can move on to my new post.
Yesterday I got an e-mail from Qatar Airways inviting me to take part in their recruitment campaign in Cape Town. Needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled. It was exactly what I needed to bounce back after the test.
Now, some people might think my excitement strange. After all, Cabin Crew member is pretty much a waitress. Yes... BUT they work up in the air, get to see the world and get quite well paid in Rand (our local currency) terms - tax free, I might add. There is also the fact that I can finally escape the boredom of my course and get to have a bit more of an adventure. I have considered the less than ideal things, for example, flying frequently, working long hours, moving to Qatar etc., but the fact remains that this is an opportunity I would hate to miss. So everyone please just cross fingers and toes that I'll get the job.
The only thing that gets me a bit down is that I have no idea how working for them will affect my writing. On the other hand, I can't really forgo a real adventure for those only happening in my mind.
On the topic of writing, I decided to get my butt into a chair this weekend and write. I actually have two writing jobs. One will be my project, which by a twist of fate and the fortuitous fact that our group leader's surname falls in the last half of the alphabet now only needs to be handed in on Thursday. The other will be my novel. I'm going to take some time today to finish my character interviews. Tomorrow I want to do an experiment.
I want to see exactly how long it takes me to write four thousand words. Knowing this will be pretty vital to my chances at succeeding at NaNoWriMo. As some of you know, I have to write around three thousand words a day in the second half of November if I am to have any hope of hitting the fifty thousand mark by the end. I need to know how long it will take to write that amount so that I can see if there is any hope of juggling NaNo with my exams. If I can write 750 words a day before my exams are done, I make NaNo a lot easier when I can write more. But I have to know. So I also want to see how much I can write in an hour.
There is also the fact that (if at all) I will be writing my Economics on 19 November now. So the noose on my NaNo hopes is tightening even more. But as always, my exams will come first.
What about you? Any big things falling in the way of your NaNo? How are you preparing for it? What else is going on in your life?
Then I want to apologize for the fact that I haven't passed on my award yet. I will get to it ASAP.
Oh and I just want to remind you guys to check out the News page. I have linked to some awesome competitions.
That done, I can move on to my new post.
Yesterday I got an e-mail from Qatar Airways inviting me to take part in their recruitment campaign in Cape Town. Needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled. It was exactly what I needed to bounce back after the test.
Now, some people might think my excitement strange. After all, Cabin Crew member is pretty much a waitress. Yes... BUT they work up in the air, get to see the world and get quite well paid in Rand (our local currency) terms - tax free, I might add. There is also the fact that I can finally escape the boredom of my course and get to have a bit more of an adventure. I have considered the less than ideal things, for example, flying frequently, working long hours, moving to Qatar etc., but the fact remains that this is an opportunity I would hate to miss. So everyone please just cross fingers and toes that I'll get the job.
The only thing that gets me a bit down is that I have no idea how working for them will affect my writing. On the other hand, I can't really forgo a real adventure for those only happening in my mind.
On the topic of writing, I decided to get my butt into a chair this weekend and write. I actually have two writing jobs. One will be my project, which by a twist of fate and the fortuitous fact that our group leader's surname falls in the last half of the alphabet now only needs to be handed in on Thursday. The other will be my novel. I'm going to take some time today to finish my character interviews. Tomorrow I want to do an experiment.
I want to see exactly how long it takes me to write four thousand words. Knowing this will be pretty vital to my chances at succeeding at NaNoWriMo. As some of you know, I have to write around three thousand words a day in the second half of November if I am to have any hope of hitting the fifty thousand mark by the end. I need to know how long it will take to write that amount so that I can see if there is any hope of juggling NaNo with my exams. If I can write 750 words a day before my exams are done, I make NaNo a lot easier when I can write more. But I have to know. So I also want to see how much I can write in an hour.
There is also the fact that (if at all) I will be writing my Economics on 19 November now. So the noose on my NaNo hopes is tightening even more. But as always, my exams will come first.
What about you? Any big things falling in the way of your NaNo? How are you preparing for it? What else is going on in your life?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
We made it!
Morning all!
I got a bit of a beating from my economics yesterday (which is why I was absent) and am not quite up to capacity at the moment, so today will be admin related. Sorry for this, I promise that I'll be back on previous form by tomorrow...
I nearly screamed when I opened my account today.
We made it!
Thank every single one of you so much for following and bringing this blog to life. Every single one of you is beyond awesome!
So... As of next week we will be celebrating. But how the week will work depends all on the response from you guys.
I am going to need as many questions as you guys want to ask. They can be easy or hard. My challenge will be to answer them as honestly as possible. But (and I know that people of such great taste needn't even read this request) please keep it clean.
Then, I need Ms. L.T. Elliot to please let me know if it's OK for me to use her name in a composition - since she is my lucky 100th follower. Incidentally, for those of you that don't know, her blog, Dreams of Quill and Ink is stunning, so please head over there and check it out.
Finally, I would like some post topics please. Yes, you the follower get to tell me what I have to write about. I would just love to see what comes out of this exercise, so please please hit me with them.
I can't wait to see what happens next week.
Then... By some interesting twist of fate, I won this award at just the right time...
Thanks so much Quinn!
The rules of the awards are as follows:
Thank the person that gave me the award. (Done :-P)
List ten things that I love... Oooh let me see. In no particular order.
1) Chocolate
2) Chocolate mousse
3) Chocolate cake
4) Chocolate flavored milk.
5) Chocolate cookies. Any type will do.
6) Hot chocolate.
7) Hot chocolate that cooled down.
8) Chocolate flavored ice-cream.
9) Fererro Rocher and Lindt chocolates - which are in a league all of their own.
10) Melted chocolate.
Done.
And finally, I have to pass the award on to up to six people. At this point, I will have to leave you in suspense, for the same reason as all the other awards (my PC chooses to freeze solid). I will have the list up on the My Awards Page later today, though. So keep an eye out. :-)
Lastly, I just want to draw your attention to the News Page above. I promise there won't be too much creepy and depressing stuff (a la Albino hunting and poaching) on there. It's just a short list of things that happened or are happening that I struggle to fit into the blog posts, or that come to my attention after I've posted. So I'll be plugging blog fests, events and other blogs there. I'll drop in the random personal news item in, but I'm trying not to make it too much about me. It's basically intended to be a quick info list that links to other pages.
You are welcome to submit items for the News. Just send the news (preferably a short summery) and links to mishagericke(at)gmail(dot)com, with News in the tag line.
That's all folks. Be back tomorrow. :-)
I got a bit of a beating from my economics yesterday (which is why I was absent) and am not quite up to capacity at the moment, so today will be admin related. Sorry for this, I promise that I'll be back on previous form by tomorrow...
I nearly screamed when I opened my account today.
We made it!
Thank every single one of you so much for following and bringing this blog to life. Every single one of you is beyond awesome!
So... As of next week we will be celebrating. But how the week will work depends all on the response from you guys.
I am going to need as many questions as you guys want to ask. They can be easy or hard. My challenge will be to answer them as honestly as possible. But (and I know that people of such great taste needn't even read this request) please keep it clean.
Then, I need Ms. L.T. Elliot to please let me know if it's OK for me to use her name in a composition - since she is my lucky 100th follower. Incidentally, for those of you that don't know, her blog, Dreams of Quill and Ink is stunning, so please head over there and check it out.
Finally, I would like some post topics please. Yes, you the follower get to tell me what I have to write about. I would just love to see what comes out of this exercise, so please please hit me with them.
I can't wait to see what happens next week.
Then... By some interesting twist of fate, I won this award at just the right time...
Thanks so much Quinn!
The rules of the awards are as follows:
Thank the person that gave me the award. (Done :-P)
List ten things that I love... Oooh let me see. In no particular order.
1) Chocolate
2) Chocolate mousse
3) Chocolate cake
4) Chocolate flavored milk.
5) Chocolate cookies. Any type will do.
6) Hot chocolate.
7) Hot chocolate that cooled down.
8) Chocolate flavored ice-cream.
9) Fererro Rocher and Lindt chocolates - which are in a league all of their own.
10) Melted chocolate.
Done.
And finally, I have to pass the award on to up to six people. At this point, I will have to leave you in suspense, for the same reason as all the other awards (my PC chooses to freeze solid). I will have the list up on the My Awards Page later today, though. So keep an eye out. :-)
Lastly, I just want to draw your attention to the News Page above. I promise there won't be too much creepy and depressing stuff (a la Albino hunting and poaching) on there. It's just a short list of things that happened or are happening that I struggle to fit into the blog posts, or that come to my attention after I've posted. So I'll be plugging blog fests, events and other blogs there. I'll drop in the random personal news item in, but I'm trying not to make it too much about me. It's basically intended to be a quick info list that links to other pages.
You are welcome to submit items for the News. Just send the news (preferably a short summery) and links to mishagericke(at)gmail(dot)com, with News in the tag line.
That's all folks. Be back tomorrow. :-)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Oh the humanity!
Morning all,
Just want to say welcome to all the new followers. Just two more and we hit 100!
When we do (depending on when this happens), we're going to do things a little differently from the usual.
Firstly, you can ask me any questions and I'll try my best to answer them honestly. But please keep it clean. It feels silly to write this, since if you joined this blog, you must have impeccable taste. ;-P
Then I will hold a draw where the winner can pick the topic for a blog post.
And... I will use the 100th follower's name as a character in a short story or poem or some other form of creative writing.
If you have any other suggestions for what else we can do to celebrate, please leave me a comment. :-)
On to the post... (I'm going to try to keep it calm and civilized, but be warned that my fuse has been lit... and that it isn't exactly long.)
Today I'm feeling a little upset with humanity.
Actually, forget a little. I'm pretty ticked off with humanity.
The sad thing is that this has not been triggered by the fact that some South African Veterinarians have been largely responsible for the spate of rhino poaching. Or the fact that in certain African countries, Albino humans are forced to live in hiding because they are hunted for body parts. (I kid you not.)
These things always make me wonder about this topic, but they weren't what raised my ire.
I am upset, because I was forced to join a group, otherwise I can't hand in the group project. Incedentally, if I ever meet the person that instated group projects in the afterlife, he's going to suffer and eternity. After all... I'm creative. And I'm going to have a LOT of time...
Anyway... Said group took my details and said they would contact me a few days later. I didn't take theirs because of the fact that a) I had no cell phone b) by some evil twist of fate I had nothing to write on/with c) He was going to contact me so I could just reply.
It is now a month later, and due date is next week. Think I'm going to be contacted? Doubtful highly doubtful. Very likely they bumped into a buddy that needed a group and decided to shift me out.
This does not upset me as much as the fact that they didn't bother to let me know.
When I raged about this to my room mate last night, she commented that I should have prepared for this, since it's much easier to replace one person than an entire group. But I think she misses the point.
That bastard (and I apologize to all other bastards for the insult) could still have taken me into account enough to let me know. I would have done it. I can't see why other people are incapable of a little bit of common courtesy.
If you think I'm over-reacting, think again. Last year I failed a subject because half the group decided to leave an entire term before hand-in of a massive project and kindly informed us of this only a week before the due date.
Then there are other things like people thinking that ethics can ever replace morality.
That it's very clever to not have promises written on paper because then they can back out of it.
That it's OK to be disrespectful to other people as long as they are beneath their station.
And on... And on... And on...
At what stage did humanity lose its sense of honor? When did our word lose its worth? Why can someone do anything they like as long as they are not the one being disadvantaged? When did people become such hypocrites?
Just want to say welcome to all the new followers. Just two more and we hit 100!
When we do (depending on when this happens), we're going to do things a little differently from the usual.
Firstly, you can ask me any questions and I'll try my best to answer them honestly. But please keep it clean. It feels silly to write this, since if you joined this blog, you must have impeccable taste. ;-P
Then I will hold a draw where the winner can pick the topic for a blog post.
And... I will use the 100th follower's name as a character in a short story or poem or some other form of creative writing.
If you have any other suggestions for what else we can do to celebrate, please leave me a comment. :-)
On to the post... (I'm going to try to keep it calm and civilized, but be warned that my fuse has been lit... and that it isn't exactly long.)
Today I'm feeling a little upset with humanity.
Actually, forget a little. I'm pretty ticked off with humanity.
The sad thing is that this has not been triggered by the fact that some South African Veterinarians have been largely responsible for the spate of rhino poaching. Or the fact that in certain African countries, Albino humans are forced to live in hiding because they are hunted for body parts. (I kid you not.)
These things always make me wonder about this topic, but they weren't what raised my ire.
I am upset, because I was forced to join a group, otherwise I can't hand in the group project. Incedentally, if I ever meet the person that instated group projects in the afterlife, he's going to suffer and eternity. After all... I'm creative. And I'm going to have a LOT of time...
Anyway... Said group took my details and said they would contact me a few days later. I didn't take theirs because of the fact that a) I had no cell phone b) by some evil twist of fate I had nothing to write on/with c) He was going to contact me so I could just reply.
It is now a month later, and due date is next week. Think I'm going to be contacted? Doubtful highly doubtful. Very likely they bumped into a buddy that needed a group and decided to shift me out.
This does not upset me as much as the fact that they didn't bother to let me know.
When I raged about this to my room mate last night, she commented that I should have prepared for this, since it's much easier to replace one person than an entire group. But I think she misses the point.
That bastard (and I apologize to all other bastards for the insult) could still have taken me into account enough to let me know. I would have done it. I can't see why other people are incapable of a little bit of common courtesy.
If you think I'm over-reacting, think again. Last year I failed a subject because half the group decided to leave an entire term before hand-in of a massive project and kindly informed us of this only a week before the due date.
Then there are other things like people thinking that ethics can ever replace morality.
That it's very clever to not have promises written on paper because then they can back out of it.
That it's OK to be disrespectful to other people as long as they are beneath their station.
And on... And on... And on...
At what stage did humanity lose its sense of honor? When did our word lose its worth? Why can someone do anything they like as long as they are not the one being disadvantaged? When did people become such hypocrites?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Weathering Storms
In my life, storms are usually of my own creation.
I tend to put a lot onto my plate, and then leave everything so late that all hell breaks loose while the deadline looms ever closer.
Sad thing is that I don't know how else to function. As I explained yesterday, my performance is a lot lower is I have less or no pressure. I can't understand it.
But instead of trying to solve this (which would be useless to try as it would require a personality change) I rather find ways in which to ride out the storm. The most important ways to do this is as follows:
1) I order things according to urgency and importance. So if something isn't important, and it stands in the way of me doing something that is, I'll wave to the deadline as it passes me by. If I look up from whatever it is that I'm doing at that stage. That's why I haven't been writing recently. And why I will not be setting goals for my writing in NaNoWriMo. My degree is now my primary - and I can almost say soul - concern. Anything that takes too much time, gets postponed until further notice. As sad as it makes me, blogging is included here as well. I might not have time to blog while my huge Economics test approaches. So I have to apologize once again for the fact that I won't be able to read as many of your blogs as I would like.
2) I say no. This one is quite close to the above, but it's a little different. This has to to with killing a distraction before it is born. When riding out storms, you can't take your eyes off the deadline in question. So no side-lines. But knowing when to say no is difficult for two reasons. Sometimes what looks like extra work is actually a new opportunity. In those cases it's usually a good idea to say yes. Then there are very clever people that word a request as an obligation. So very very smart. But not if they do it to a person they know is capable of doing the same. I received a list from sports admin about a list of documents they need me to deliver on the day of my test, so... as annoyed as I was by this, I opened the attachment and got even more annoyed. Eighty percent of the list was for things that involve next year. So I sent back a very civil letter apologizing profusely for the fact that I have a life and that I have to pay attention to my studies... and that this nonsense is NO LONGER MY RESPONSIBILITY. And I will only hand in the things on my list that carries over from my tenure as Chairperson. Not a page more. And then I will hand it in late too, due to rule number one above.
Maybe this makes me a harsh, selfish, mean... etc. person. But if I can't prioritize, the storms will catch up with me. And that dear friends, is a much greater concern to me than what others might think when I refuse to dance to their tunes.
How do you deal with storms in your life?
I tend to put a lot onto my plate, and then leave everything so late that all hell breaks loose while the deadline looms ever closer.
Sad thing is that I don't know how else to function. As I explained yesterday, my performance is a lot lower is I have less or no pressure. I can't understand it.
But instead of trying to solve this (which would be useless to try as it would require a personality change) I rather find ways in which to ride out the storm. The most important ways to do this is as follows:
1) I order things according to urgency and importance. So if something isn't important, and it stands in the way of me doing something that is, I'll wave to the deadline as it passes me by. If I look up from whatever it is that I'm doing at that stage. That's why I haven't been writing recently. And why I will not be setting goals for my writing in NaNoWriMo. My degree is now my primary - and I can almost say soul - concern. Anything that takes too much time, gets postponed until further notice. As sad as it makes me, blogging is included here as well. I might not have time to blog while my huge Economics test approaches. So I have to apologize once again for the fact that I won't be able to read as many of your blogs as I would like.
2) I say no. This one is quite close to the above, but it's a little different. This has to to with killing a distraction before it is born. When riding out storms, you can't take your eyes off the deadline in question. So no side-lines. But knowing when to say no is difficult for two reasons. Sometimes what looks like extra work is actually a new opportunity. In those cases it's usually a good idea to say yes. Then there are very clever people that word a request as an obligation. So very very smart. But not if they do it to a person they know is capable of doing the same. I received a list from sports admin about a list of documents they need me to deliver on the day of my test, so... as annoyed as I was by this, I opened the attachment and got even more annoyed. Eighty percent of the list was for things that involve next year. So I sent back a very civil letter apologizing profusely for the fact that I have a life and that I have to pay attention to my studies... and that this nonsense is NO LONGER MY RESPONSIBILITY. And I will only hand in the things on my list that carries over from my tenure as Chairperson. Not a page more. And then I will hand it in late too, due to rule number one above.
Maybe this makes me a harsh, selfish, mean... etc. person. But if I can't prioritize, the storms will catch up with me. And that dear friends, is a much greater concern to me than what others might think when I refuse to dance to their tunes.
How do you deal with storms in your life?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
I joined NaNo.
Oooooh boy.
Yesterday I went in search of my exam schedule and found that I am writing two subjects in October, and two in November. And those two are on the tenth and the thirteenth. Which means that I theoretically have time for NaNo.
So... I went to the sight and signed up. Since then, I have debated my own sanity. See. I seriously might have a big screw loose. One of the great weaknesses of who I am is the following: if I'm not pressured, I don't perform. Which means that at least on some level, part of me is always trying to balance on the edge of a knife with her eyes closed.
It's rather strange really. I know that I am greatly increasing the odds of things going badly, but I always feel pulled to living on that edge.
But, over the years, I have learnt tricks that make dealing with pressure a little better. Such as cataloging what needs to be done and doing things in order of urgency and importance.
Which is why I thought NaNo might not be a bad idea. My writing usually fails me when I don't have classes and tests to worry about and I thought that NaNo might just be the kick I need to get into the habit. After all. I want to finish my first draft of Doorways in December. It's in a genre in which 100k words are the norm. If I can get into the habit of writing a few thousand words every day, I will be able to finish it. (I decided to pick up the story from where I stopped and finish as many words of Doorways as possible.)
BUT. I have a much bigger priority to finish my degree this year. Financially and emotionally, I can't afford another year of doing something that kills my soul little bits at a time. So. I WILL pass all of my subjects. I WILL get my degree. Anything that gets in the way of this will be sidelined until I'm finished.
This includes NaNo. I really want to reach 50k, but I am not betting my degree on it. So I will start on November 1. I will write whatever bits I can whenever I can between studying. I will devote the first Saturday to writing as much as I can. Hopefully I'll hit enough words to stay on track. The Saturday after that, I will be writing my last exam. I'll rest on Sunday, and start NaNo'ing in earnest on the fifteenth.
This is where my performance capacity comes in. I'll have to catch up big time if I want to win. I need to at least write about 3300 words per day. I say at least, because I'm actually aiming for 4k. Insane? Maybe. This is by far not even close to the limit of what I can write on a given day. But every day for two weeks?
Watch this space and find out...
Who else is NaNo'ing this year? Any alternative strategies for me to follow? Anyone else think I'm certifiable? I'd love to hear from you.
Yesterday I went in search of my exam schedule and found that I am writing two subjects in October, and two in November. And those two are on the tenth and the thirteenth. Which means that I theoretically have time for NaNo.
So... I went to the sight and signed up. Since then, I have debated my own sanity. See. I seriously might have a big screw loose. One of the great weaknesses of who I am is the following: if I'm not pressured, I don't perform. Which means that at least on some level, part of me is always trying to balance on the edge of a knife with her eyes closed.
It's rather strange really. I know that I am greatly increasing the odds of things going badly, but I always feel pulled to living on that edge.
But, over the years, I have learnt tricks that make dealing with pressure a little better. Such as cataloging what needs to be done and doing things in order of urgency and importance.
Which is why I thought NaNo might not be a bad idea. My writing usually fails me when I don't have classes and tests to worry about and I thought that NaNo might just be the kick I need to get into the habit. After all. I want to finish my first draft of Doorways in December. It's in a genre in which 100k words are the norm. If I can get into the habit of writing a few thousand words every day, I will be able to finish it. (I decided to pick up the story from where I stopped and finish as many words of Doorways as possible.)
BUT. I have a much bigger priority to finish my degree this year. Financially and emotionally, I can't afford another year of doing something that kills my soul little bits at a time. So. I WILL pass all of my subjects. I WILL get my degree. Anything that gets in the way of this will be sidelined until I'm finished.
This includes NaNo. I really want to reach 50k, but I am not betting my degree on it. So I will start on November 1. I will write whatever bits I can whenever I can between studying. I will devote the first Saturday to writing as much as I can. Hopefully I'll hit enough words to stay on track. The Saturday after that, I will be writing my last exam. I'll rest on Sunday, and start NaNo'ing in earnest on the fifteenth.
This is where my performance capacity comes in. I'll have to catch up big time if I want to win. I need to at least write about 3300 words per day. I say at least, because I'm actually aiming for 4k. Insane? Maybe. This is by far not even close to the limit of what I can write on a given day. But every day for two weeks?
Watch this space and find out...
Who else is NaNo'ing this year? Any alternative strategies for me to follow? Anyone else think I'm certifiable? I'd love to hear from you.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
On my beautiful Saturday off
Before I start, I just want to say that I'll get the awards page up later today.
Oh and, any suggestions for the blog's 100 followers celebrations are more than welcome. Just leave a comment or e-mail me at: mishagericke(at)gmail(dot)com.
Right. On to the post. :-)
Today I decided to give myself a day off. Yes, I have a MASSIVE economics test on Wednesday, but after two straight days of tests, I think I deserve a bit of a break. (I know that some of you that are at University are subjected to entire weeks of the stuff, but hey. I worked my almost scrawny little butt off these past two days. So humour me. ;-) )
I woke up at nine. I boiled two eggs for breakfast. I had devotionals. I ate. I got a call from the new fencing Chairperson that he wants my advice. So I'm meeting him at three. It's almost eleven now and I haven't even touched a book or my writing.
Time really does fly.
Still, I have four hours between now and seeing the Chairperson, so after I checked out some blogs, I might just get to finish my character interviews. Finally. And then, since it is an absolutely wonderful day to be outside, I plan to take me and Doorways to the Botanical Gardens for a few hours of fresh air.
After the past week, I really feel like I'm getting cabin fever. I have to get out. Hmm... In fact. I might go to the Botanical Gardens even sooner. I don't know. I'm not really much of a planner. I pants through my life as much as I do through my books. I used to plot, but you can read some of my earlier posts to see how that turned out. I'm not linking to said posts for a purpose. They are a tad morose and depressing, and because my day is so happy and open, I'm not going to put that kind of damper on anyone else's day. The posts are, however, a must for those of you who wish for a bit more insight into who I am and why.
Anyway. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to write today. I want to write Doorways, but it feels as if Madame Muse isn't feeling it. But you know what? It's weekend. I'll let her play and see what happens. Maybe something great. I will let you know.
Then... This might sound strange, but NaNoWriMo is screaming at me to sign up. But I know that my exams are in that time. So I've been wondering. Any of you NaNo veterans? What is it really like to take part? Will you seriously suggest I give it a skip this year? Or do you think I'll be OK if I joined in?
What are your plans for today?
Oh and, any suggestions for the blog's 100 followers celebrations are more than welcome. Just leave a comment or e-mail me at: mishagericke(at)gmail(dot)com.
Right. On to the post. :-)
Today I decided to give myself a day off. Yes, I have a MASSIVE economics test on Wednesday, but after two straight days of tests, I think I deserve a bit of a break. (I know that some of you that are at University are subjected to entire weeks of the stuff, but hey. I worked my almost scrawny little butt off these past two days. So humour me. ;-) )
I woke up at nine. I boiled two eggs for breakfast. I had devotionals. I ate. I got a call from the new fencing Chairperson that he wants my advice. So I'm meeting him at three. It's almost eleven now and I haven't even touched a book or my writing.
Time really does fly.
Still, I have four hours between now and seeing the Chairperson, so after I checked out some blogs, I might just get to finish my character interviews. Finally. And then, since it is an absolutely wonderful day to be outside, I plan to take me and Doorways to the Botanical Gardens for a few hours of fresh air.
After the past week, I really feel like I'm getting cabin fever. I have to get out. Hmm... In fact. I might go to the Botanical Gardens even sooner. I don't know. I'm not really much of a planner. I pants through my life as much as I do through my books. I used to plot, but you can read some of my earlier posts to see how that turned out. I'm not linking to said posts for a purpose. They are a tad morose and depressing, and because my day is so happy and open, I'm not going to put that kind of damper on anyone else's day. The posts are, however, a must for those of you who wish for a bit more insight into who I am and why.
Anyway. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to write today. I want to write Doorways, but it feels as if Madame Muse isn't feeling it. But you know what? It's weekend. I'll let her play and see what happens. Maybe something great. I will let you know.
Then... This might sound strange, but NaNoWriMo is screaming at me to sign up. But I know that my exams are in that time. So I've been wondering. Any of you NaNo veterans? What is it really like to take part? Will you seriously suggest I give it a skip this year? Or do you think I'll be OK if I joined in?
What are your plans for today?
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