Started Work on a Short Story

Can't post it yet, but I can at least guarantee I have the 300 words down.

Also: I've been fibbing a little with posting time, and anybody who watches this blog will know it sooner or later. I do post before daybreak of the next day, but not before the clock strikes midnight. To me, that still falls within the boundaries of my resolution... but it's going to come back and bite me on the ass if I don't rectify it soon. Starting..maybe...tomorrow...?

Times Are A`Changing

Winter only really settled into Denver a few days ago, which I guess isn't too far off since the season only really officially began on December 21st.

Some will argue that it has already snowed once more than a month ago, and they'd be right - technically. For me, however, one of the defining factors of snow is that it sticks around. It has presence. It dances down from the sky in tickling wisps, a fractal flight pattern whimsical enough to make catching a flake on your tongue a genuine triumph. It billows to the ground in heavy flakes, testing botanical and manufactured architecture alike. However it falls, it stays, and the landscape is transformed into a roughly sculpted porcelain facsimile of itself.

I was disappointed that this Christmas was not a white one, but delighted nonetheless to receive SOME snow. Even the accompanying subzero temperatures were a welcome shift. Anybody who has stepped outside and choked on the cold, eyes watering, throat constricted, knows what I mean. The blurry foliage of spring and summer is long gone, and even the frayed edges of fall have been stripped away to a razor sharpness that hides nothing. You cut to the core of things and see what will survive.

I am not without love for the other seasons, but I've always thought pining for either the inevitable or impossible is a waste of time. I'll treat each season with reverence when their taste is strongest and colors most severe. But for now, we rest in winter.

This winter earns special note for a few reasons. First, it marks the rough one year anniversary of my first foray into video game design. I've been involved to varying degrees on several projects now whittled down to two, both of which show more promise as the days go on. Still, like everything else in winter, we'll have to see what is left to bloom and flourish when the ice recedes. It's going to be an exciting spring.

Second, all signs indicate that this will be my last winter spent in the company of a few of my oldest and closest friends. Warmer weather and sandier beaches (or any beaches at all, really) have long conspired to take them from my beloved Centennial State, so I cannot say it is a surprise. I can say, at least, that it is a shock. Words and plans can only prepare you so much. It is only the doing of a thing that affords understanding.

Still, just as the seasons change, certain cycles remain the same. Old friends go, but they meet again, richer for the time spent apart in the stories they'll tell and the new awareness of where they stand. It's the best friends that drag you around the world with them, one way or another.

So - to snow and sun, to comings and goings, and to winter kicking everybody's ass. I have a feeling 2011 is gonna be one sweet ride.

2011: Git `Er Dun

This will, to date, be the third or so blog I've attempted.

The first very was LiveJournal, which I begrudgingly joined more because of friends than any overwhelming desire to advertise and elaborate the finer details of my life. The ostensible reason for my reluctance was I felt vain treating my life's minutia to full-blown internet treatment, but the real reason was probably the deadly duo of embarrassment and laziness. Whatever the cause, though, the result was a poorly maintained blog with posts exploding with quasi-philosophical rambling and excessive navel-gazing... which, now that I mention it, means it was well-suited to LiveJournal. Slammed, LiveJournal. SLAMMED.

...If only you were still relevant.

The next was probably my first Blogger affair, Gaijinx, a name I thought was super clever but which was actually once mistaken as "Gaijin-X" by a close friend of mine (I hate you forever, Jeff). For those not in the know, it's a combination of "gaijin" - which means "foreigner" in Japanese - and hijinks. Gaijin hijinks. Gaijinx. If this kind of ridiculous wordplay is your thing, then you better get a tarp, because smashing words together like Gallagher rocking a watermelon is something you can expect a lot of here. (Man, Gallagher and LiveJournal in almost the same breath? It's like my first post was taken out of an unearthed time capsule.)

After that, I contributed to The Daily Yoji. This blog is different from most, however, in that it is purely educational in design. I don't know if I ever did a post that didn't require some kind of research, which is every bit as exhausting as it sounds. Still, like all good things, the increase in effort yielded an increase in satisfaction, and it always felt good hitting "Publish" on something I'd fine-tuned over an hour or so.

The first blog was on a whim. The second, to keep track of fun/crazy things I did in Japan and update stateside family and friends. The third, to learn. This blog...?

I've always wanted to become a better writer. I've managed to trick people for long enough to get a BA in English and a few published articles, but it's ever been as a dabbler. My work comes in short bursts, writing binges that leave me exhausted, inarticulate and drained. Surprising? Probably not.

Today I conveniently finished the second book I've read on the topic of writing, and among the many threads they share, "you must write every day" resonates most. As well it should, really. It's an often expressed and rarely practiced notion that to be great at anything, it must be done daily. And not "when you have the time," daily. Not "ah but I was so tired from work," daily, or even "but I'm on vacation right now!" daily. Every day, daily. 365, daily. Serious business, daily.

And what better time to start than the new year?

So! That's what I'll be doing in this blog, mostly. What will I write? Whatever I can. Every week, I want to get out at least 2-3 sessions of fiction and free-form the rest based on what's going on. I'm shooting for at least 300 words every day, which - if I'm feeling ambitious - I might up the ante on later. Will I always post what I write? No. I know that goes against the idea of making a blog to keep me honest, but if ever I endeavor to write a longer piece of fiction, it's unrealistic to think I'll jam it all into one long megapost in a single sitting. It's more likely I'll keep it aside, fine tuning it, until it's ready to show. Until then, I'll at least try to post an update every day, to show some sign of life. Better than nothing, right?

Well - I think that does it. Thanks for your early patronage, and may this year be filled with at least 109,500 words. Why? You do the math.