Friday, December 11th, 2009

The saying is true - time does fly when you're having fun - and it is even more true in my case because I am talking about my one year wedding anniversary. It has been a year filled with lots of wifely perks, and oodles of fun and laughter between my husband and I. We are more in love today than we have ever been and look forward to a lifetime of frolic, fun & downright excitement.

I wonder if it's because we have been together ten years before we got married? Though we have a whole lot in common almost as if we are images of one another.

In the meantime, year two of wedded bliss has begun and we have every intention of seeing it through. Love is truly a wondrous thing especially if you work hard at keeping it alive and well.

Namaste


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End of first semester

Since December 2nd, I have been enjoying my time off from 6 mths of constant grad school classes where I write at least a story, screenplay or some form of analysis on a daily basis.

Surprisingly the most grueling part of the semester came at the end when I had to not only re-do one assignment 4 times, but had to turn in 2 seperate portfolios of stories & screenplays etc, with each portfolio being no more than 25 pgs long and must include a 10-pg story or screenplay that I've been working on since the semester began. Plus it all had to be submitted to the professor by December 1st! Of course with the natural order of things being what they are, I was in full on panic mode and never rested until I completed both projects.

But my hard work was not for nought because I received both reports back and did very well in both classes. To say that I am elated is beyond what I can fully explain without sounding long winded but I am utterly pleased with my results.

Now I have started to read all the books I had to put aside during the semester and I have once again re-connected with my love of the written word. I know that this will help me in the upcoming semester and it's enjoyable to boot. Other than that & some research and much needed r & r, I look forward to my one year wedding anniversary this friday December 11th and the long awaited Christmas holidays. The first week of January is when the grind begins again. Though I look forward to the new semester and all it brings, I also dread it for all the new road blocks it will present. But hey, nothing worthwhile is ever gotten easily.

Namaste


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Difficulties of being Healthy

For some time now my weight have been fluctuating and not in a good way since each time I visit the doctor, she seems to write more prescriptions for me. Of course the only pills I will take are the blood pressure & water pills.

I know she means well but I hate pills. The only reason I take these is because they help keep my heart from racing all over the place and also keep the related headaches at bay. I have also added vitamins to my daily regime but I have been slacking on taking those as well.

When the doctor said I coul get off the pills once and for all I perked up, I wanted to hear this and then she dropped the shell. I have to lose minimum 50lbs before she will even consider lowering the pill dosage and when I have reached my goal weight of 135lbs then she will take me off the pills via the step down system. Well that doesn't sound so hard right? All I have to do is follow her eating advice which is to use the size of my fist as my food borometer, cut back severly on the amount of fruits I consume to 3 servings daily, limit my liquid intake to at least 8-10 glasses daily and of course incorporate workouts as well and in time my body should acclimate itself to the new implemented rules and comply. But the problem is I now weigh (by doc's scale) 207lbs. Which means I have to lose 72lbs total. I know that just mean I have to get off my ass and go back to doing what I was before I lapsed and cause my own downfall but eating healthy is expensive! Yeah, yeah I know it's either I just do it or risk the consequences and who know how viscious that may get. Drat! I wish there was an easier way to accomplish this.

Namaste

First semester close

Well my first semester of grad school is finally coming to a close soon but not without it's own brand of pressure. Not only do I have to do stories and screenplays, but I also have to make sure that everything is done to the utmost best of my abilities so that I can keep up my current 4.0 gpa. It has been a frustrating, time consuming, life overtaking, exhilarating ride that for the most part I enjoyed since there were a few times I wanted to just up and quit but since I've always loved writing and wanted to learn all that I can about the subject, well quitting wasn't ever a real option. So far I have surprised myself quite a lot with the types of stories and analysis I've turned out and I can't wait to start the second semester that begins in January 2010. The second semester will give me the opportunity to specialize my writing more and guide me to novel status; I am looking forward to this new semester. Well, gotta get some sleep, see you later.

True Blood

I got hooked on the HBO series True Blood from the very beginning and let me just say WOW!! This series is getting better and better. The series creator Alan Ball is a master. He has really transformed Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. I enjoy following all the characters but my favourites are Lafayette and Jessica. Of course the love affair between Sookie and Bill is wonderful but I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop since in tv land, romances do not last. I keep hearing the rumblings that Sookie and Eric is supposed to hook up and though I am not thrilled about that, I am willing to watch and see what happens. I love the writing for this series, it just draws me in and it really works.

Finally, I have started my graduate studies and I am happy to say that this program is right up my alley. It is a low residency program which means that I have to go on campus twice a year. I do look forward to meeting up with my fellow classmates and conferencing with my teachers one to one. The atmosphere at the residency is electric, inspirational and lends itself to loads of story ideas.

January 2010 is my next residency, but for now, I am entrenched deep in my Foundation courses. It is a lot of work but I am loving every minute of it. The work is challenging, frustrating and enthralling all at the same time. All the instructors are people who are working in the field; they are published authors and screenwriters whose screenplays have been purchased, optioned or made into a movies.

I am glad to have found this program but I am more thrilled to have been accepted into the program. So far my grades are fantastic so I am working as hard as I can to keep them that way. Anyway, I am off to finish up some assignments.

Namaste

Foundations Classes

Foundation class will officially start tomorrow and I am a bundle of nerves. I am excited, nervous, scared all at the same time and definately keep holding myself back from running in the other direction. Last night we watched PUSH (reminds me of JUMPER) and it got my creative juices flowing so much so that I had no choice but to sit and write a paragraph of what was in my head. I do like what I have written and hope to expand on it as much as possible but some serious think time is in order to get this one off the ground properly.Oh I foresee this one being a whole lot of fun.

Back to Foundation classes. My two classes are Fiction and Screenwriting and between both classes, there are seven (7) books that I will be using. You read it right, I said seven (7). Yesterday, because I was so eager and on pins and needles, I nosed around webct and found the Fiction class syllabus and schedule was available early and printed it all. When it was finished printing, eighty-seven (87) pages of syllabus smiled menacingly back at me while I stared at it in horror, with wide bulging eyes and my mouth wide open. I still can't believe it, eighty-seven (87) pages, whew! Panic began to set in but I tried to tell myself that I will get a head start on Saturday by reading and completing at least the first two assignments.

The Screenwriting syllabus and schedule won't be available until Sunday but I will check webct all day just in case my teachers decide to post it early. I figure if I keep ahead of the classes, then I shouldn't run into too much trouble and I will dedicate my weekends to completing all the work I never got to fully complete during the week and to move ahead to the next chapter. I will do my best to stick to this schedule hoping that life doesn't get too much in the way.

All in all, I am very eager to begin my classes. I pray that my brain computes everything being taught and that I am able to write awesome stories that will lead to a series of novels and even a screenplay for a movie or television show. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers.

Namaste

Wilkes University Residency

I spent ten glorious days in residency at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA kicking off my Master's Degree in Creative Writing. It was wonderful being surrounded by so many writers and aspiring writers. I knew for sure that I was in the right place and wanted to be no where else. Except for missing my beloved husband and dogs, I was inspired and found my writing mojo. My home sickness was culled by the fact that I was able to call my husband any time of day or night.

I got to meet so many wonderful people and I was even able to open the door just a bit and let my inner social butterfly out to play each day. What was more refreshing was the fact that the color of your skin wasn't even an issue, all that mattered was that everyone was there for a single purpose - to write, to become published authors, and navigate the master's degree waters as best as they could. The schedule consisted on 9am-9pm days so much so that after about day two all my days felt the same and actually ran into each other. It was information overload in a good way. Plus the fact that there was so much walking that had to be done and I totally enjoyed it. I even lost weight because of all the walking, nice! It was ten blissful days of walking, meeting new people, getting immersed into the writing life and being totally exhausted each night to the point where I didn't have any pain or had to take any muscle relaxers or headache relief medication. Now how to replicate that once I am home will be the challenge, but I sure am going to try.

I will be going back in January for residency part 2 and I am so eager. My 2 foundation classes, FIction & Screenwriting will begin online in about one week and I will be working on these for the next six months. In the meantime, I am trying to prepare myself by doing research and trying to come up with an amazing plot that I can turn into an equally amazing story. Engage writing muse, engage!

Namaste