"I do NOT have puppet cancer!" - Angel (From the TV show)
Showing posts with label Busy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Busy. Show all posts

Friday, November 19, 2010

Dangerous Writing and Reading

16,110 words. 19 days. I haven't been keeping up with my word count as I should have. I've been slowly grinding my writing wheels at a leisurely pace. From where I stand now I can see the icy winter shores of December right on the horizon. Now more than ever, I have to furiously spin the wheels of my imagination. The literary tapestry I'm weaving is not even close to finished, but I have to hurry. Time is slowly running out.

I attempted NaNoWriMo last year, it was a failure. In fact, it failed so epically that it had to be called an Epic Failé. The accented e is reserved for the most epic of failures in my circle of friends. Now, yes I failed to write a novel last year, this is my motivation for writing at the moment. I have to finish. I need to prove I can do this. That and on my show two Tuesdays ago on Abstract Discourse I said if I didn't finish that I would be punished live on air, but not in THAT way. I mean there's a window, and polite company, god you guys! Sick bastards.

Moving on, this Sunday I'm going to have the perfect writing environment at the Office of Letters and Light's Night of Writing Dangerously.

For those of you who are barely familiar with NaNoWriMo, the Night of Writing Dangerously it's a writing event held in the Julia Morgan ballroom in San Francisco. six straight hours of writing. With raffles and snacks, and tons of writers I can talk to. Or ignore, my choice. If all goes well, my word count will get a maximum 9,000 word boost. If not, I'll still probably have a decent word count boost, plus I'll have met some new people, some of whom, I can hopefully brainwash into joining my Furthest Edge project. A small side note, no news to announce as far as thats concerned except that I've only got two episodes left for this year, weird. So writing, I hope to be doing a lot of it this weekend to catch up.

School is being a pain in my ass, right when I get involved in writing a novel and commit to it, the classes pile it on. I can't answer how many tests I'm taking in the next week and a half. Or the amount of assignments due. I wish I could put all that aside and get to it when I get to it. My grades aren't taking this novel too well. Well only two classes, but they're important ones. My growing apathy isn't helping either. Once upon a time I was eager to go to school, then somewhere along the way I lost that. I could blame the teachers, but for the most part that's not it. I think it's the reality of it all. As time ticks ever so slowly, I'm constantly told that this is important for my future. That it's all riding on how I do this year. I want to write. That's all, I just want to write until I collapse. I feel good when I write, It's more satisfying than turning in a research paper. Or getting a math problem right. I know I should care about that, and to an extent I do, it's just that things are different now, I'm different. I don't have the enthusiasm, Writing is the crack I'm addicted to and I can't get enough. When I'm writing or I'm talking on the radio, it's a rush. I feel such freedom. It's my way to unwind. It relaxes me. It stresses me out at times, frequently actually. Yet, I feel so calm when I just talk with my co-host every week. As much as I love all this though, much to certain people's shock, I don't want to do that for a living.

I once posted a facebook status that went, "I love it too much to want to do it professionally."

At the time I felt that there was too much pressure around jobs and I didn't want my favorite pastime turn into a weekly stress inducing time suck.

Anyways, that's my lament for this post. I have been reading again, last week I talked about books with my co-host Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian and I was motivated to finish off some of the books on my shelf. The Girl in the Arena was one of those books. if you listened to that show, then you know I did not think highly of the book. I soon realized that this was because I stopped right before the story picked up. It is not a magnificent book but it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. I will be making that clear next Tuesday in my next book review.

I've also been popping back into some of my favorite books, Vintage: A Ghost Story and The Twilight Gods. both paranormal LGBT books, both really close to my heart as a reader. Despite the fantastical situations in the books, I often related to the emotions and confusion and angst that comes from being a teenager. Both were stand alone books, both felt too short, by the end I had fallen in love with the characters and just wanted them to keep going.

So I guess, if any of this spoke to you in any way, comment below. or contact me via all the methods at the end of this post. I also want to pose a question to you readers, what books are your favorites and why. Do you occasionally go back and stroll down memory lane with the characters?

Next week expect me to blog a little about the Night of Writing Dangerously.

Contact me in the following ways:
Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my shows: FEshow@kpdo.org or AbstractDiscourse@gmail.com
Follow me: @Anglemeister 

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Chronicler's Return

Hello all, once again I'm not following my blogging schedule, and I haven't been reading things off my list. I know, I know, I'm a very bad Angel.

Now I've already scolded myself so I don't need to do it again publicly. Unless you're into that sort of thing. I'll try to ignore the sexual innuendo and say that I do have things to say regarding...well everything!

Going in chronological order, I'm going to start an October Novelette tomorrow, I intended to start it as soon as October started but I was busy with having nonstop lunch meetings at school for various things I'm involved in. What things you ask? Well I'm glad you asked!

I had a class meeting last Tuesday to talk about our Halloween Carnival and planning the school dance. It's rather sad that the decisions are now being made by a 3rd of the class, at the beginning of the year we made it quite clear that if you aren't going to help raise money for the class then don't bother coming to the meetings. Now there's less chaos coming from those that don't want to be there, unfortunately we had a mandatory class meeting during the first 30 minutes of our 3rd class. I didn't miss the chaos of the old meetings.

Wednesday I was at the Game Day at our school which was put on by the Youth Advisory Council (YAC for short) which I am a part of, we are essentially a drug and alcohol prevention program with a side of peer mentoring. Game Days are fun a lot of the time but It's rather lonely since the afternoons are so bright and sunny now and no one wants to be inside. It isn't actually a meeting but when you're told you HAVE to be there it can feel a lot like one. Thursday I did have an actual YAC meeting and we just did mentoring retrospective and came up with some ideas on how to improve on our mentoring. No big deal.

Friday (yes on a Friday) I had a meeting regarding Youth and Government. I love this program a lot and last year was a total blast to be a part of. We are still covering the basics which is understandable but by this time I was starting to get fed up, although next week we get to talk about sweatshirts (WOOT!)

I'm sure you can see why I would be aggravated to have a meeting during lunch? I know I could quit some of these but there are some decent perks.

1) I get to go on the senior trip provided that my academics are in good standing.

2) I get to get out of classes so I can mentor the lower grades

3) I get to go to Paso Robles and Sacramento.

I do miss hanging out with my friends and being an obstacle in the hall (yes singular) especially since the group's leader, Cap'n Sassy San Pedro Felipe is only at school on Fridays so I don't get to catch up with the Cap'n except in Biology which is after lunch but I must be ever so quiet in order to catch up.

*SIGH*

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARY(ISH) SCHEDULED BLOG POST

I believe I was talking about my Novelette? Ah right, well I have a character I'm preparing for NaNoWriMo named Zyon Cairn. Zyon has the power of Psychometry, meaning he can divine the history of an object or person associated with the object by touching said object. It's a neat little power that will have some hopefully neat consequences as well. How does this relate to the Novelette I'm writing? Well, I decided that I wanted to write something that tied in to my NaNoWriMo novel, So I'm writing a story about a set of characters told by Zyon, his Psychometry allows him to logically have most of the memories of the characters which he acquired from an undetermined object that will be relevant to the story. Zyon feels like the right narrator for this story, plus it allows me to really get to know him before November comes around. I'm hoping to have a lot of fun with the story, once I figure out what the plot is.

While I'm on the subject of writing, I have to have a scary story ready to turn in by Monday and I still don't know what to write, I may just throw together a fantasy story with subliminal gay undertones. That's always fun.

Last Friday I turned in my English assignment in which I had to write a Public Service Announcement, I decided to do one for NaNo. I want to get it back on Monday so I can record it and through it online! I'm proud of this little PSA, it doesn't seem like anything special but I had fun writing it!

I seem to be finding the perfect segues today because I have a friend who wrote a PSA regarding the several suicides of teen gay males. I won't go into a whole rant on this because I am slightly pressed for time but I did bring it up because on October 20th which happens to be my birthday, there is a number of people who will be wearing purple in memory of the teens who committed suicide, I know what I will be wishing for on my birthday. I just wanted to inform those of you who were not aware.

Segueing to lighter matters, I'm still going to the Shakira concert in Oakland on the 22nd. Really excited for this! On October 26th Geist by Philippa Ballantine comes out, Pip is a podcast author, therefore I am excited about the release of her book. I am also excited because I read the first chapter of her new book on the book's website, BooksOfTheOrder.com and I definitely want to buy the book. Not only am I going to buy a copy, but I hope to win another copy and if I can buy a third copy so that I have one for me, a loaner copy, and a copy to give to a friend.

In November I hope to do some more writing themed posts, and/or link to my daily novel progress, again really excited.

I'm not sure if this is in November or December, but I will be in Paso Robles for a weekend in one of those months for the Youth and Govt. meeting. I don't have to go but I would like to see everyone I met there again, If it's in November it will through off my daily word count, so that's not so exciting.

In December I will be finished with the Cybrosis novel on my radio show Furthest Edge, which you can become a fan of over on the facebook gadget to the right. I will either go on a winter hiatus or do guest interviews. What do you think? I'm going to make a poll for this blog and on facebook. Expect that widget up soon.

This is all I'm up to, I am still reading other things off my Kindle app but I hope to finish my book list by the end of the year or early next year. I feel bad for not being further ahead. By the way, I've recently been copying all the stories my friends have sent me and turning them into e-books so I can read them in bed with the lights off, the only time I actually can slow down enough to enjoy a good story.

You know, I didn't think this post would be as long as it turned out to be... I guess I have more stuff going on in my life than I claim.

I do have a number of other things I want to discuss, but there shall be other posts for that. For now, know that your Chronicler has returned and he will continue to be the scatter-minded rambly writer blogger you have come to...appreciate?

Ooh! I just remembered this, I'm considering turning my NaNoWriMo Novel into a podcast! I plan to bring it up on the forums but I wanted to immortalize it here first, but I want to bring in any willing participants, I need voice actors and I would like to not have to kidnap them in order to have them. I do would like to podcast other NaNo-er's novels afterwards but I will just have to see if people are interested. My novelette may become the first installment of the new Furthest Edge, coming 2011 and possibly other local writers will contribute and if things work out even some NaNo-er's works.


I think that's absolutely all I have to say.

As always, my contact info:

Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my shows: FEshow@kpdo.org or AbstractDiscourse@gmail.com
Follow me: @Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister

- Warm regards, your Chronicler

Friday, September 17, 2010

The First Time

They say the bathtub is a great place to think, I can't remember who said it, But I believe Einstein did this and that's got to count for something, right? Maybe he said it? I don't know.

I haven't even started and I'm already off track. This is a bit ridiculous? Let me try this another way.

So it's been almost five months since I've started doing shows on the radio (KPDO 89.3 FM) and I still fondly remember my first time (feel free to chuckle at the innuendo, there's going to be quite a few I'm afraid)

I have also caught myself narrating and describing the things I see or remember. It started today with me watching the shower head spraying down water at the drain and imagining the individual drops of water floating up and swirling around in the sky like leaves on the wind.

anyhow, as I stepped into the shower and I reminisced about the first time, I began to mentally describe it all, the emotions I felt sitting behind the mic and hearing my voice replayed on air.

This story is the result of that.

Day One 

I was alone, the beast ready to chew me up and spit me out. I wasn't ready, not by a long shot. The beast could tell. It glared at me with it's 12 orange eyes of malice, it primed it's 3 arms, ready to take my every breath. Tens of Dozens of multicolored thorns threatened to prick tens of dozens of holes in my hands. I'd spent the last month training for this moment. This was it.

I closed the door of the chamber, If I was going to do this I would need to do it right. taking a deep breath I equipped myself with the necessary gear to challenge such a beast. Mustering all my strength I lowered the first switch, bringing up another at the same time.

It's first arm was level with my mouth, I recited the first phrase I was taught, This was it, I was actually doing it.

My words stumbled off my lips like boulders off a cliff side. My hands shook as my soul bared out before the beast, my hands twitched, fear yielding to mere anxiety. I plugged in, changing the switches once more.

The beast roared, but the voice was not it's own. No, the beast spoke with the voice of another. The voice I chose for it. I smiled with satisfaction, the beast was less frightening, now that I was winning.

I stepped back, momentarily disarming myself, A faint voice echoed throughout the chamber, my voice. My grin now spanned from one ear to another. It spoke with my voice. The beast spoke with my voice, all could hear it. The knots of my stomach unwound completely. Anxiety was replaced by confidence, donning my gear once more and prepared to return to the airwaves.
Time seemed non-existent, before I knew it my time in the arena was up. I bid the spectators farewell, and freed the beast, letting it hear it's own voice once more. I disarmed, The beast was mine. I knew then, I would return, wanting to improve. To see how I could better challenge the beast- no the machine. That's all it was now. Just a machine, and I had bested it. Not bad for the first day on the job.

END

So what did you think? This is the first draft I wrote just after stepping out of the shower but I want to have people tell me what they thought so I can make necessary changes and submit it to the school newsletter, The P-Town Post.
P.S. listen in to my show Furthest Edge on Monday from 5-6pm Pacific Time. This week I'm playing another episode of Cybrosis! Also tune in to my new show with Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian of http://coastsidewriterforhire.blogspot.com Abstract Discourse, we talk about all sorts of speculative fiction, last week we discussed William Gibson and Neuromancer. This week we talk about Writing, more specifically writing speculative fiction! Tune in Tuesdays from 4-5 pacific. you can also listen to Shannon's show South Coast Salon Sundays from 4-5 pacific. if you don't live in Pescadero listen live at http://kpdo.org/listenlive.php

Contact Me:

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Planning Ahead

If I'm not mistaken, this is my third week of school. The days and weeks just run together already, not good....

So since you could say I'm finally "Settled" into my classes for the semester I should let you know what I'm taking if you have not been informed, and what I was originally supposed to take.
ORIGINAL SCHEDULE
1st Period: Environmental Field Studies
2nd Period: Algebra 2
3rd Period: Physical Eduction
4th: Period: Honor's English 10/11

NEW *IMPROVED* SCHEDULE

1st Period: Spanish 2
2nd Period: Algebra 2
3rd Period: Biology
4th: Period: Honor's English 10/11

Now I should explain the changes to my schedule and why they changed. starting with EFS to Spanish. You see in order to graduate I need 2-3 years of foreign language, now you see I already speak spanish but It's the only foreign language course they offer so I'm stuck needing it to graduate. EFS however is an elective course, thank god because it certainly did not interest me AT ALL. No offense Mr. Vail but I would rather take required courses before EFS.

Also changed was PE to Biology. Both are courses I had previously taken, I did less than satisfactory in Bio and considering I aim to graduate and 2-3 courses of Lab sciences are required I want to retake it. Another requirement is to take 2 years of PE, why? I have no fucking clue. I have other courses that should be taken and some electives I'd like to try on so PE is really such a space taker! Also I really don't like PE, if you hadn't noticed.

I am unfortunately faced with the dilemma of finding an out of school class to take that would count as PE next year since I can't take it next semester and I have some IMPORTANT classes next year that I really NEED to take.

Enough about that though and allow me to get to the fun stuff.

First of all, I made a couple of estimates and realized that in december of this year, I am not going to have any content for my show Furthest Edge. In January I'll be dishing out shiny brand new content that I'm currently outlining and getting ready to start working on. I've deduced that I have two options: One, take that month off and not do a single show. Two, do a series of 2 or 3 consecutive interviews.

Each brings it's own issues and benefits.
1) this means I get time off to focus on 2011 stuff, meaning recording and editing and adding music...etc. This also means people may get out of the habit of tuning in (NOTE: I'm not sure about that one actually)

2) I can possibly get P.C. haring on the show so he can talk about his Podnovel Cybrosis that I'm playing as well as get more people into the studio and get used to doing interviews. The downside? I don't get that break to prepare and produce my new episodes for January which are really important to me at the moment. Also, I have the stress of getting interviews set up on top of school,Christmas lists, and a new project I'll mention in a bit.

I'm going to be making a poll and posting it wherever I can so I can properly decide what to do.

I've also recently been asked to co-host a brand new radio show that we have yet to officially name that talks about geeky topics, it's quite a bit like the SafeHaven podcast I participate in however I am working on some things to differentiate the two besides keeping one on terrestrial radio and the other on the net.

Finally, it's September and for some reason I decided to start thinking about my 2010 Halloween costume or costumes if all works out. You see, I have garments from previous costumes that I am hoping to utilize in making my halloween costume and being able to change it slightly so I can wear the variant costumes to the radio station since we have a new webcam that watches the studio. That's right, big brother is watching the studio....

Anyway,  I currently have:
  •  A midnight blue cloak
  • A pentagram amulet
  • A dragon head cane
  • A plastic spartan sword (I think)
  • A mask (in serious need of repairs...I'm working on it)
  • Gloves
  • A broken umbrella (not part of any previous costume but could be useful
So my goal is to make 5 costumes out of those materials, I'll keep you posted.

In closing, I'm going to be doing more radio station work in the coming months, school is going to be sucking up time and best of all I've found a time during school where I can write and update this blog (FTW!!!)

With that in mind I have a couple more things I have not mentioned so I'll save them for tomorrow and the rest of this week.

Good Bye for Now! --> Anglemeister

You can contact me in the following ways:

Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my show: FEshow@kpdo.org
Follow me: http://twitter.com/Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister

Friday, August 20, 2010

School and Death

It's been a couple days since I came back from the camping trip I was on last Monday-Tuesday and I just have a few updates for this week.

First and least important (or most for some people) I start school next Tuesday. August 24 I return to the seemingly endless cycle of "learning" I'm honestly anxious about coming back. I don't remember where I left off as far as my grades are concerned. I still don't know how I did on my STAR Test (Standardized Testing And Results) which is something I should know by now. School always makes me stress, the only class I'm looking forward to is History, somehow it's the one class that I'm even slightly interested in. It also happens to be where I do my best writing!

Once Tuesday comes around everything will be topsy-turvey and annoyingly busy. I will be continuing my radio show on a weekly basis and every other week I'll still attempt to be a part of the SafeHaven Podcast however doing so will be much more difficult with homework and such. Sadly my reading will also slow down because of this but I will figure something out to still finish my list by the end of the year. Unfortunately school won't be the only thing hindering what I love doing, my obligations to raising money for my Youth & Government trips will suck up some time, and my lunch time where I can do more reading will also be hindered by my Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and Peer Mentor meetings. I generally feel that this year is gonna be a pain in my ass, especially because this is the year that College becomes a much more tangible concept, and I have to take the SATs and I am going to strive to get my driver's license. It's times like this I appreciate the good ol' days. I sorely miss being able to just goof off and not have any responsibilities. I miss not being relied upon for things, It's all too much too fast in my opinion. I don't like it. I don't want to grow up, but I know that I can't go back to being a kid.

None of us can. All we can do is to make the best of where we are and attempt or succeed in steering ourselves to our own destinations. We all are going to just have to suck it up and live.

Then of course Die.

I know it's a grim subject that few of us allow ourselves to think about but you can't think about the future without at some point dwelling on the fact that you are going to die.

I don't often dwell on the subject, it leaves me feeling empty and scared to think someday I'm going to keel over and just stop. I don't know if anything happens to my consciousness afterwards, that is of course what scares me the most. Not knowing, I don't want to just cease to be unfortunately that may be exactly what happens. Or perhaps I'll burn in hell for some sin or another. However if that's the case I'm not burning among strangers. Maybe I'll get into some kind of heaven or perhaps there is no heaven or hell just one place where all souls go after passing away. No one knows for sure, but death is very real. Just as real as growing up. Just like how I don't want to grow up, I don't want to die. I would crawl into a hole if I knew it would keep me alive forever.

Rather that's what I "wish" I would do. I know doing something like that is no better than dying so I may as well get out there and LIVE. Don't get me wrong I'm scared to death of Death, but I have come to realize I can't do anything about death. It sucks but that's life I guess.

anyway I hope you enjoyed my rant on growing up and my half-assed thoughts on Death. I'll probably elaborate on my past week in general from a blurb about my camping to the book that came in while I was gone that I am absolutely adoring!

You can contact me in the following ways:

Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my show: FEshow@kpdo.org
Follow me: http://twitter.com/Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Explanations of the Mud

If you have been a regular visitor of Anglemeister Chronicles or if you know me personally then you may have noticed that quite a lot of my blog entries of the past 3 years have disappeared. What happened is, I took them down.

I was once of the mind that once they were published, I should leave them up there, it showed how much I matured as a blogger and as a person in general. However now that my blog has begun to attract a bit more attention I realize that keeping posts of me sharing a link or a single picture are pointless. I jotted down the titles and dates they were published before deleting them. As for the remaining posts, I cleaned up all the early posts, making them slightly more articulate, even joining several entries into a single umbrella post. Honestly I was appalled by just how bad most of these posts were and more than a little embarrassed that I once thought I should leave them up. this resulted in a blog whose post count went back down to 37 posts, which is quite a ways of the 54 posts I once had but It won't be long before I make up for it. I may have to change the title of what once was my 50th blog post but it does give me time to gain more readers and actually do something special for the 50th.

As for everything else in my life, it's not doing so bad, I'm going on a camping trip tomorrow, so that's going to be good fun! The price I pay for this trip is sadly, one day off the air. I quite enjoy doing my radio shows, even if I don't speak much. However, It is only one show and I'll be back to it the next week. Also I've made some progress on my reading list.

In case you don't remember:
1) A Dirty Job
2) The Science of Fear
3) Neuromancer
4) Nightwatch
5) The Maze Runner
6) The Twilight Gods

I started "A Dirty Job" I like the humor but I haven't decided if I like the book itself. Still haven't touched The Science of Fear but if memory serves it wasn't bad, I just have trouble getting used to nonfiction. Neuromancer hasn't come in yet and I may just download it for the Kindle App. Nightwatch hasn't even been cracked open yet. The Maze Runner, has just started sucking me in to the story, I'm currently on chapter 5. If you've kept up with my tweets, you'll know I've been frustrated by the fact that it still hasn't arrived, I already checked the mail today but I'm about to go once again to double check, and yes I know it's Sunday but I want the book already! Beyond this book list, I did order another book for my iKindle which is what I am calling my iPod Touch when I'm using the Kindle App. I have decided. The book is called Cat in the Cradle which has me on chapter 12 after my 2nd day reading it, I'm going to set it down today to continue with the list above but know that Cat in the Cradle is part of my list now. That's 28 now I think.

I don't know when I'm going to record my next podcast, today would be a good day but I don't know what to say just yet. I may talk about my 2010 Book Challenge. As for writing I as usual am stuck in the mud, I've gotten a rope though and am trying to pull myself out. No worries!

That's all I've got for now but keep an eye on Anglemeister Chronicles and don't forget to hit the lovely Follow Button in the sidebar!

You can contact me in the following ways:

Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my show: FEshow@kpdo.org
Follow me: http://twitter.com/Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Books

Get comfy folks this is gonna be a big one.

Comfy yet? yes? Ok good, so I recently stumbled upon a new blog http://dreaminginbooks.blogspot.com/ while I was looking into whether or not to order "The Twilight Gods" off of Amazon (Side Note: I have ordered it I even sprang for the expedited shipping so I'm expecting it sometime this week) One recent blog post featured a picture showing all the books on his reading list or soon to be at the moment. I realized since I have quite a few books I still have not finished off yet, why not assemble them in a pile and write about what books I plan to read soon, what may come later, and which books I doubt I'll ever EVER open again. I originally thought I'd be able to count it on just two hands, when I gathered ALL the books I never finished or began I came up with 27 titles. Yes, that's right 27 books I haven't finished. Which books are these you ask? take a deep breath and scroll down

In no particular order

01) Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko
02) Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
03) Betrayals by Lili St. Crow (book two, and apparently there's a 3rd out there...shit.)
04) The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (yup I know it's for young readers but it's a light and refreshing read)
05) The Awakening by Kelly Armstrong (book two and I need to get the 3rd)
06) Candor by Pam Bachorz
07) Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
08) Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
09) Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
10) Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews (book two)
11) Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews (yes this is a series, I now need to get book 4)
12) Everworld (1-3) by K.A. Applegate
13) Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (there may be a sequel)
14) Gone by Michael Grant (there are two more books, just as thick...dammit)
15) Queste by Angie Sage (book 4, I need to get book 6)
16) The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones
17) Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
18) The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (Zombies! I think)
19) Doctor Who: Night of the Humans by David Llewellyn
20) The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner (GASP Non-fiction!)
21) Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (Book two of a series I believe)
22) Doctor Who: Taking of Chelsea 426 by David Llewellyn
23) A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
24) The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Kindle Edition)
25) Dark Worlds: Project 31 by Zack Daggy (Kindle Edition)
26) Neuromancer by William Gibson
27) The Twilight Gods by Hayden Thorne (waiting on it to show up in my mailbox but it counts)

so yes 27 books on my unfinished list, this is slightly overwhelming but it can't always be helped. It may not seem like it but I am quite busy sometimes, especially with the radio station soaking up all my free time. It's fun but it does leave me feeling a bit drained, sometimes regrettably too drained to jump into a book and its world. This list is several years in the making though across several years of busy-ness and occasional laziness. Some of these books were titles I started reading but got bored and put down in the middle of the chapter, others were put down when I picked up brand new shiny books out of a bookstore, and then there are the books that I did pick up brand new out of a book store and haven't gotten a chance to read because I just don't have time.

I definitely want to finish some of these books, a lot of them have really good plot arcs I want to see resolved, or answers I'd like to find out. especially before a sequel comes out and I add another book to my list. I want to finally be able to say I finished these books and be able to walk into a bookstore without worrying if I'll have time to read it (it will obviously be a concern but having less books to finish at home can only help)
In order to do this, I have decided to schedule my reading out so I can finish all these books before 2011. I am going to read and finish one book a week, with another being read lightly on the side. These books are going to be separated by urgency, meaning if they are borrowed or really interesting they will be pushed up the list, also where I left off will greatly affect the order in which I will read them. With the exception of Bone Crossed and Everworld I am really looking forward to reading all these books. One thing of note is, I learned that Bone Crossed is a sequel in a series called the Mercy Thompson Novels, me being incredibly OCD when it comes to books I am not picking it up until I pick up the first book, especially since I felt completely lost when I opened the book and started reading, as for Everworld it just felt...meh.

A Dirty Job and Nightwatch are a very high priority since they were borrowed from my friend Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian, who happens to be a writer for hire, she has her own blog called, http://coastsidewriterforhire.blogspot.com/

also, I am currently reading Mazer Runner and Project 31 on my Kindle for iPhone app and Twilight Gods should be coming in soon. I almost forgot that I am reading Neuromancer and The Science of Fear as part of a summer reading assignment so my personal reading assignment for August is as follows:

1) A Dirty Job
2) The Science of Fear
3) Neuromancer
4) Nightwatch
5) Maze Runner
6) Twilight Gods

I'll keep you posted on my progress as well as podcast what I thought about all these books. let the Anglemeister Chronicles Summer/Fall Reading Challenge begin! Let me know what you're reading or writing! Later this week I'll be blogging about some of the different series I'm reading, My favorite Book(s), and just for fun next week, an entry just about (non-sparkly) Vampires!

You can contact me in the following ways:

Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my show: FEshow@kpdo.org
Follow me: http://twitter.com/Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister

Monday, August 2, 2010

An Asshole

So once more someone has managed to spoil my generally good mood by being an asshole and pissing me off, who is this person you ask? None other than your's truly.

Now before people start saying, "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You have to have good self esteem...blah, blah, blah." I just want to say I'm don't have a low self esteem (most of the time) and I'm not being hard on myself, I'm acknowledging my annoying behavior today and realizing how much I'm pissed off that I acted that way.

Why am I an asshole? I took on too many things at once and allowed them all to go craptastic on my part. these three things being, My Radio show, my participation in the SafeHaven Podcast, and catching up with a close friend.

Now I don't think I've properly pimped out the fact that I now am part of the SafeHaven crew. I have joined in to add to the geekery over at http://southernscifisociety.libsyn.com/ but more on that below.

So back to what I was saying, I ended up doing all of those things simultaneously, managing my radio show which was having issues of it's own what with me being stuck with fucking audacity to edit down my show. another side frustration was how long it took to break up since it was a whole 41 minutes as opposed to the average 30 minutes.

Anyway, I also was participating in SafeHaven, my frustration here was that I wasn't really contributing, I joined the crew hoping to add something to it, but I still have yet to move past the occasional humorous quip. I feel that I was just...there. I feel I should actively participate or just get gone. I'm not saying I don't want to be part of the crew, If any of the crew is reading this, know I want to be there, but I don't want to just sit there. Hopefully when we do the "Vampire Smackdown" episode as I like to call it I'll be much more active.

Also suffering due to my stupid idea to multi-task, was my show. I probably had the absolute WORST show ever tonight. first off I was not really minding the show as much as I was listening in on SafeHaven. On top of that I was running the latest Cybrosis off my Laptop, and for some reason It played but didn't register on the VU meters (if you don't know what any of this is, skip ahead to next frustration. At the moment I can't explain it with out getting irrationally pissed off at having to explain it) So I had no real idea if the audio was coming in at the right level. Additionally, because of my focus on SafeHaven I was hasty and sloppy in preforming my Radio Host duties of reading our Underwriting and PSA's (I refer you to the previous parenthesis) I made tons of rookie mistakes this time such as leaving my mic when I went and played an audio track, also not double checking I had the three tracks in the appropriate order and then having to skip over one leaving moments of unprofessional dead air and fumbling as well as confusion for the poor listener.

now as for the conversation, I ended up also talking to a friend who I haven't been in steady communication with as of late. I may have blown a chance to get to keep in touch with her as much as I like, because me being an asshole I ended up mostly ignoring her as she kept trying to message me via Facebook Chat. Now I was keeping track of a couple pressing matters and probably shouldn't have started the conversation in the first place knowing I was busy, but I figured I could keep track of everything. Unfortunately not. I ended up ignoring her for at least 15 minutes before she said she had to go. She said she had to get off the computer but a part of me just knew that It was mostly because of my rude asshole behavior. Just because I'm doing a radio station doesn't mean I can get away with ignoring my friends in that way, then just go I'm sorry and everything go back to normal. It was just rude of me to do.

You can try and tell me that everyone has off days and that I'm not an asshole, but I think I was an asshole. I mean all the events that pissed me off except for the technical difficulties were my fault and could have been avoided if I had been more responsible or had said, "Look, I can't juggle all of this I have to focus on what is most pressing"

On a new Tangent, I have recently had more stress in my life due to the fact that I have been taking on lots of projects and their responsibilities, I've already mentioned the Radio show and the Podcast but I haven't mentioned I am still taking on the role of writer and am supposed to be cranking out scripts for Furthest Edge in September, on top of that I should be studying for summer school.

Tomorrow is my last day of summer school where I find out if I pass the integrated science course I bombed last year. After tomorrow I get to enjoy a full three weeks before school starts up again. Yay, a whole three weeks were I can enjoy the sun and get out and see my friends - wait a second, I forgot I spend every hour of daylight at the radio station! Yup I haven't put myself in a situation to truly savor the summer and it's practically over already, another reason for me to be pissed off at myself.
On top of those things I still haven't completed a summer assignment I received for English because for the second consecutive year, I lost the fucking packet. way to fucking go Angel. Did I mention I piss myself off? Or that I have to pick up a retainer to replace the one I fucking lost when I recorded my last Anglemeister Chronicles Podcast?

So yea I'm really annoyed with myself right now. I'll probably take a nap and get over it tomorrow but I had to at least vent my feelings however erratic they may be. I'm sorry that this entry was both Erratic and Depressing (again, more reason to be pissed). I'll try to do better next time, hopefully I will have improved and be less of an asshole.

Time for my now trademark plugging of my social networks

you can contact me in the following ways:
Email me: anglemeister.lpz@gmail.com
Email my show: FEshow@kpdo.org
Follow me: http://twitter.com/Anglemeister
Ask me questions: http://Formspring.me/Anglemeister 

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Chance Encounter Part One


Alright, First things first, I chickened out posting the story I originally intended to. To be honest, I wasn't sure If it would be a wise decision to post this on a blog of mine that seems to be attracting more attention all of a sudden. I do still intend to post a Short Story for my 48th post, so below you will still get to read one of my stories. One that I wouldn't mind people finding accidentally on my laptop. Now, someday I may work up the courage to post this original story on this blog, I'm not sure. Without further ado, I present to you part 1 of a short story I'm working on:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was just strolling through the park when I saw her. Sitting alone on a bench not too far from where I stood, her features were more elegant than I had last seen her. She had the slim, lightly curved figure of a Greek Goddess, complimented by her tight jeans, ebony long-sleeved shirt, and dark brown boots. Her face was pale, no makeup, she didn't need any. Radiant orange her draped her face and barely reached past her shoulder blades. Her eyes glowed a vibrant emerald that could stop anyone in mid-conversation.

I don't how It happened or why, but I walked up to her.

"Emma?" I asked automatically

Emma looked up her piercing emerald eyes looking right at me, no through me. Trying to piece together where she recognized me from. her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"You probably don't remember me but we knew each other a long time ago, my name's Jayden Penn."

A fond smile graced her toothsome lips.

"Jayden! I can't believe I didn't recognize you!" Emma exclaimed, trapping me in her friendly embrace. "How have you been?"

"Good, not too boring, not that exciting." I replied. "What about you, last I heard you moved out of state with your folks?"

"Just visiting, I came to stay with my Aunt for a couple weeks. I came to the park to take a trip down memory lane. Looks like it worked."

I smiled, "Listen, I'm free all afternoon. Care to join me for a cup of coffee?"

She grinned, allowing me to see her perfect pearl teeth. "I'd love too"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

END OF PART 1

feels like a cop out doesn't it. I technically didn't write a complete story. well all my works cultivate over several days therefore you'll receive this story in short increments

So goodnight everybody! See ya on Post # 49! - Angel


Monday, March 22, 2010

Happy New Year! WAIT! It's March already? FRAK!

Well yea, I forgot a New Year's Post...It's been so long I don't really feel any guilt...
In the meantime I've been setting some events in motion I'd like to share with you my dear Internet.

First, I have a new Audio Drama in the pipe called The Underneath Podcast you can view the blog Here. little note, all the plans for the Productive Idiocy Podcast have been assimilated with the Underneath Podcast, again go to the blog to find out more

Also, I'm going to be volunteering to renovate the new studio for the local Radio station which is getting an extreme makeover: radio edition. more on that in a couple weeks.

EDIT: This was proven to be false
lastly this is my 49th post. that means only one thing. my next post is the 50th. THE Semi-Centennial! I have a fun little Idea for whats going to be my 50th, just be patient internet, all will be revealed.

That's all for the 49th til next time... Anglemeister

Friday, October 31, 2008

Sorry I'm So Busy!



Posted with LifeCast

I've had a ton of shit going on so please enjoy a picture of the crazy hat man above I'll post something tomorrow I hope.