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Greetings all! I know I haven't updated in a LONG time. Which, I doubt anyone is particularly interested in my life anyway, so no loss I guess.

COLLEGE:

School is well on its way to being DONE! I have this semester and then one more before I can graduate! Yipee! This semester I have Intro to Fiction Writing with Dr. Boon, What Is Literature with Dr. Graf, British Literature I with Dr. Russo, British Fiction from 1900-1945 with Dr. Kane (blegh), and German 3 which is online.

Fiction Writing is pretty good. My first short story for that class was 22 pages long...and they told me to cut the first 10 pages. *facedesk* It's not surprising, since I am a novel writer and writing short and focuses is really hard for me. I hope to get my story back tonight to see how I did with my revisions! Some of my classmates find him a little...vague and demanding on the revisions. Since I always take revisions with a grain of salt, it doesn't really bother me. I was rather sarcastic when he asked for the goal of literary writing. I said that it was, "To have lots of pretty language and no plot." (No, I do not care for "literary" fiction since so much has been shoved down my throat. Let me read it and decide on my own, damnit!) My next story for that class will be due soon, so we'll see how that goes.

Brit Lit 1 is awesome because it's with Russo, and since I've had her for three semesters now, I've gotten very comfortable and outspoken in her class. We also have a very small class, so that makes things fun too. So far we've read Beowulf (awesome, I remember translating it from Old English last fall and the translator has such a wonderful command of English OMG), The Shepard's Play (eh, mildly amusing, but not a big deal), Hamlet (the more I read Shakespeare, the better I understand him), Paradise Lost (OMG AMAZING I LOVE SATAN!), School for Scandal (highly funny, I want to play Lady Tezeal if we put this on as a play), and now we are working on Moll Flanders (ok, but I hate the over-use of capitalization, too much like German).

What Is Literature? is a fairly low-level course and therefore doesn't require a whole lot of effort. We've read poems, a play, and are working on short stories. I have my "english corner" (a group of girls who are english majors like me and we've had a lot of classes together) so that's fun. We tend to lead the discussions. the only downside is that there are a lot of freshmen who either don't do much or are very...stupid. Ok, not stupid, but ignorant and so damn young. It makes me feel old (but smart) watching them. My teacher, Dr. Graf, is a professor I've never had before, but she's pretty easy-going and he's an Occult Studies Major. I didn't even know they had a field like that. So she knows a lot about magic and secret societies, which is neat, but she doesn't read much fantasy, which I find odd. Still, easy class, sometimes even enjoyable. Class discussions can be fun too.

British Fiction from 1900-1945 I don't like mostly because of the teacher. Dr. Kane is a nice man, but he's like the bad kind of absent-minded professor who talks and talks and never let's you really say anything. He'll ask a question and talk for 10 minutes before he calls on you and by then he's answered his own question. And he basically goes over the entire section you were supposed to read the night before IN CLASS. I got away with not finishing one of the books and just taking good notes. So far we have read The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (wonderful imagery, but the story could have been told in 6 pages), Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (I HATE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS and thus never finished the book), The Virgin and the Gispy by D.H. Lawrence (ok, but I didn't care about the protagonist who always seemed in a daze), A Passage to India by E.M. Forester (again, didn't care much for anyone although the story was mildly interesting), and soon we'll be starting Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (yay, a good book at last).

German 3...let's not go there. I'm amazingly behind again and hope to scrape by with a C like in German 2. I just want to pass. It's my last foreign language class and my last online class. Thank goodness....

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OTHER (fairly) RECENT EVENTS

The Dragonforce/Sonata Arctica Concert that =birdewilliams and I attended was amazing! We went to Rams Head Live for the concert in our best Goth Rock outfits (we forwent the wigs though). It was a new experience for me and very loud. But it was still AWESOME!!!! The opening band of Taking Dawn, which I didn't care for them that much. Too much cussing. Sonata Arctica was excellent! Every song they played, expect one, I recognized! And they even played my favorite song "Full Moon!" [link] I almost [link] .

Otakon 2009 was a huge success, I think. It was a lot of fun, although Daniel says that we are NOT going to be hosting people at our place. Too much stress (which I agree, that was difficult, even though everyone was very well-behaved.) There will eventually be Youtube videos up, but I'm not sure when that will happen. Suffice to say, it was great and I fully plan on commuting down again for Otakon 2010.

The Ocean City trip was a while ago, but a whole lot of fun! We are so doing that again, Birde, and we should try to get Lauren to come with us! Imagine how much fun THAT will be! *hug*


And I think that's about it for now. Thanks for your patience and attention!


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DEVIANTS IN NEED:

These troubled financial times put a great deal of strain on everyone, but artists tend to suffer the most. If there is any way you can help, even if it's just spreading the word, please do. These Deviants need your help!


*miraibaby [link]


=holyfox6894 [link]



=RTyson [link]


Thank all of you so much!


** If you know of any other deviants in need, drop me a note and I will add them. Help a friend, help a stranger, spread the word!



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ATTENTION!

For those of you who offer prints of your work through Deviantart, you should check out this editorial: [link]


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SUPPORT FLEDGLING AUTHORS!

Young Vampire - Book 1: Lamia of Akkad
Young Vampire - Book 2: Dorian Kokkodis by =birdewilliams

The Amulet of Vichalace
The Vampire's Daughter by ~ZoeStead

Colorblind by ~booklover323

The Shelverman Chronicles by ~David-Grant

Mistatem Pangeshi
Travelers
Bay Moon by ~Larran-Deenelle-Kin

Stars in Solindell by Sara Tierney [link]




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