Momentous Occasions are Momentous

I bring tidings of great joy, and I come bearing gifts! No, it's not Christmas all over again (although there's still snow on the ground in Banff), it's the return of my blog!

Well, sort of.

I won't promise on making regular posts again, but so much has happened in the last little while that an appearance became necessary. We're gonna do this in numbered format to make things more interesting and easy to follow, savvy?

1. I've been accepted to McGill University's Urban Planning programme for 2013! I'll be moving to Montreal at the end of August, where I'll be living for about two years. After that I want to head back to British Columbia, but two years ago I would have laughed at you had you told me I'd be living in Banff in the near future, so we'll see what happens.

2. I actually finished something accomplished a predetermined goal on Protagonize! Over the last few days I've posted both a new chapter and the epilogue to the rough draft of my story Red King Chronicles. It is by no means a finished story, though, hence I amended my above statement to say I reached a goal. Close to the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to do a complete rewrite of the story: new intro, new back story for Jason, new sequence of events, new a lot of things. However, I told myself that I wouldn't start the editing process until after I brought the current draft full circle to the prologue. I have now done that and am looking for critique. So, have at 'er!

3. After a year and a half of collection dust, there's finally a new chapter in Elsie! I had to reread the entire story myself before continuing on, but my the fires of my inspiration have been stoked. I drafted a chapter outline for the latest chapter and the following chapter, possibly two following chapters. I've got the conflict sorted out, so now I just need to figure out how to resolve said conflict and eventually bring the story to a close. I'm being optimistic about this one, for once.

4. Caramel Tim Tams were in stock at the grocery store so I'm doing Caramel Tim Tam Slams! Be excited for me.

5. I still feel that lists should contain multiples of five, so...

And that's all!

photo by me

Guest Post on Protagonize

Hey all, my third "guest" post for Protagonize has just been published, though with three posts I guess I'm more of an irregular contributor than a guest. ANYWAYS. It's on commenting, critiques, and fluffy kittens. Seriously. You'll probably have to read it now.

You can find the post here, on the Ptag Blog.

photo by jonathanb1989

Music Monday: Wordless

So I've been ever so slowly rewriting the first few chapters of Red King Chronicles over on Protagonize, a process that is taking a lot longer than I first imagined. So far, the edits have been rather minor in terms of the actual events, but have required complete rewrites of large portions of chapters. It's been fun, to say the least.

You might have guessed that I'm one of those people who require background music when writing. Well, that music does a lot to shape the tone of what I'm writing, so the playlist is very important. For this rewrite, and throughout the writing of RKC and a few other stories (cough Oracle cough, I've been listening to ambient music, but not only instrumentals. Delerium is a longtime favourite, and a lot of the vocalists they feature use sounds to convey tone and emotion rather than words. I've also recently discovered a budding artist by the name of David Maxim Micic. It's his music I want to feature today.

As with last week, I'm showcasing multiple songs. Below you should find the complete Bilo EP from the artist's Soundcloud, legally streaming. He's also got a few legal downloads floating around out there, but I haven't tracked them down. Of the four songs (or movements?) on this album, "IV" is definitely my most favourite. Take a listen and you'll soon see why!

Urban Inspiration

Impressive buildings, huh? These are some of the architectural forms that inspire my descriptions in The Red King Chronicles on Protagonize. I think I'm doing a fairly decent job describing the setting, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right? So I'm taking this opportunity to bump up my word count by at least 5000. Rad!

Anyway, if you're interested in delving deeper into the buildings above, here's some info for you.

The first one show the Almaty Twin Towers in Kazakhstan, a Norman Foster design. As far as I know, this project is still in the proposal stage.

The second photo might be familiar to those of you who participated in the first Seasonal Prose Competition. A different angle of the same mega-structure was used as part of the logo for the SPC10, which can be found here. It's called Crystal Island, and is another Normal Foster creation. Located in Moscow, it will be the largest building in the world if constructed.

Third up is the Gazprom Tower in St. Petersburg, a project that has the go-ahead but is being met with huge resistance. Why? As the tallest building in Europe, it would dwarf the current skyline icon of St Petersburg: the St. Peter and Paul Basilica. The controversy continues with a UNESCO decision to strip the heritage site designation of the city if the tower is built. You have to admit it's gorgeous, though.

The fourth photo depicts a site particularly close to my heart: Reflections at Keppel Bay, a new neighbourhood in Singapore. I could actually see the Daniel Libeskind designed towers from my 19th storey bedroom window in Singapore, and along with the Marina Bay Sands Resort Casino were one of the first iconic buildings I saw after landing at 5am. The shapes are surreal, and the rise from a forest is something I really wish to capture in my writing.

Fifthly, another Russian-based Norman Foster design, Russia Tower was to be one of the tallest buildings in the world. Construction started in 2007, was halted in 2009, and has since been officially cancelled. Several smaller buildings are now planned for the development site, with a project completion date of 2015.

So there you go, a couple images to help you visualize what Auburg looks like. I'm currently working on chapter six, which will explore more of the city, so keep an eye out for that if you've been following the story! On that note, I better get back to my draft. Cheers!

all photos from InHabitat.com

Caffeine Creativity

It's that time of year again, where I hunker down and work tirelessly on term papers and research projects. Except that this year I only have one research project on the go, so the only hunkering down I gotta do is the sort that forces me to be productive.

Luckily, I have found the source of many creative juices: Blenz!

Yes, it's a coffee shop. It's my new locale of productivity, as it is impossible for me to get anything done while at home. Why? Because when I'm at home I procrastinate, most often through the internet and cleaning. At Blenz, the free WiFi requires a new password every hour or so from the barista people, and even though I am friends with a barista person there it is enough of a hassle for me to not both with WiFi. I also cannot clean while I'm there, although I am sure my aforementioned barista friend would love me to. Not happening, sorry.

So I get stuff done. I read through articles and take notes while sipping on a maple latte macchiato. And when I feel I've done enough work, I figure out plans for Protagonize. That's right, Declan's coffee shop habits are totally based on my own. We even sit in the same spot. His coffee preference was identical to mine at the time of writing, but I have since embraced my love of dairy products in coffee. Future personal assistants take note.

Those of you who follow my writing on Protagonize, I should have a chapter in RKC up sometime this evening, and by the end of the week I want to have one other chapter posted in something else. I totally know what it is, and I have a chapter premise, but I don't know what else will happen in it. That's for me to figure out and you to find out later, 'cause mystery chapter is a surprise! I'm not gonna tell you what story it will be for, but it will be posted in one of my existing stories without a doubt. Be intrigued!

photo by mag3737

on (My) Writing

I'm sitting here in a coffee shop, on a stool looking out the window. Not the same window that Declan looks out, or even the same city he looks at (that would be my hometown of Victoria, beeteedubs). But it's an identical set-up, really: laptop on the counter in front of me, bag on the stool to my right, big cup of coffee on my left. The only difference? I'm drinking a caramel macchiato, not a black double.

Oh, and I'm not writing. Technically speaking. Yes, I'm writing this blog post. I don't really count that. I mean writing writing. Like, Elsie or Red King or Oracle. I'm not doing that kind of writing.

It isn't that surprising, though. If you're a fellow Protagonizer, you probably know already that I like to start things. My profile says I've posted 38 stories. I can think of three off the top of my head that are finished: Crown'd, Errands, and Human no Longer. That's a terrible track record. But it's my style.

Now, I don't want to say that I'm never going to finish any of those stories you might have liked. Somehow I managed to wrap up Errands in seven months or so, whereas I've been coming back to Elsie for over three years now. By comparison, then, Red King is just a little baby! There's still plenty of time for me to write chapters in it, right? Right.

Write?

Right. I should get on that. And as a closing question, have you got any writing tips? Not, like, "make yourself a better writer" tips, but "progress at a pace you're satisfied with but still actually progressing" type tips. Or whatever, I'll take what I can get, hahah.

photo by ....Tim

on Name Changes

An online era has come to a quiet close. It's probably a little too dramatic to say that, but it has a ring of truth.

Last night I switched over my Protagonize author account from JackRubashevskiy to Jackerbie. I'd been on the site three years with the former name, and had build up a reputation with that name. Laying it aside was difficult. So difficult, in fact, that I chose to keep it as my listed name.

Why the change, then? The main (and only?) reason was to solidify my online presence more. Almost every social account I currently use has the Jackerbie moniker attached in some way, in both the username and vanity URL. The change makes sense with that reasoning.

That, and people had a hard time remembering how to spell Rubashevskiy. Heck, I have a hard time remembering how to spell Rubashevskiy sometimes.

There shouldn't be any sort of outcry against the change, but you never know. No-one has said anything yet. That's a good thing. I said it was a quiet close to the era of JackRubberchicken. Shhhhh.

the WPC11 & Christmas

It's Christmas Eve, and to pass the time I've been working on drafting up the challenges for the Winter Prose Competition 2011 on Protagonize. I've got all five challenges thought out now, and I can't wait until February to see the finished results! But first, Christmas.

To be honest, it never really feels like Christmas anymore, now that I live in the Okanagan most of the time. I mean, it feels like Christmas in the Okanagan, where there's snow on the ground and I have no choice but to wear a scarf, mittens, and jacket everyday, but here on the island? Not so much. It probably doesn't help that I'm listening to Röyksopp instead of the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.

Still, I'm excited for tomorrow. I might actually be more excited to see the reactions of the 'rents and the sister to their presents than to my own, actually. Weird. Apparently I've matured since I was twelve. That said, I'm stoked on the massive Tim's Card on the way. Seriously people, I asked for nothing but a gift card to Tim Hortons to satiate my massive desire for hocho and baked goods. It's a very expensive need.

And yes, that's a mitten on top of my tree. I sewed it myself, therefore it doesn't work too well as a regular mitten, but is redeemable as a tree mitten. That's also a ceramic chicken near the bottom. I also have a sheep somewhere. It's a quirky tree, okay?

photos and post-production by me.

a Picture Challenge: 5 - a Favourite Memory

Funny, this photo seems a tad familiar. Oh, I know why! It's because it was my Ptag avatar for a while. And it's the URL icon thing for my blog. And it's the background image for my blog button (which you should post places. Hint hint). 

But it's also a photo from one of the best days of my life to day. A bittersweet day in hindsight, but a day on which I experienced my first "perfect moment." I wrote about it on Ptag somewhere, I'll try to search down the link sometime.

Anyways, the gist of it is that I was celebrating my best friend's (at the time) 17th birthday, a surprise party which I had a big part in organizing. It was the afterparty that gets the credit for being "that moment," though. We trekked off a path in Brentwood Bay to a small stone beach, lit up a fire, and just hung out until 1 or 2am. It was before the days that drinking was necessary for fun. We talked, laughed, sang, and all the rest for a good five hours. I miss that simple innocence.

Might I ask, have you ever had one of those perfect moments?

Author's Note:

Looks like I've written a few things based on or inspired by this moment over at Ptag...

the Strait

Moments Pass us By

photo by me.

Happy Belated, Elsie!

I just had a realization: I started my story Lily Christianson on Ptag two years ago Sunday. Whoa. Just, whoa. One, it does not seem like two years ago. Two, I also realized that I have sorely neglected it. Poor Declan needs to finish his novel! Elsie needs to have her conflict sorted out! New girl needs a name! (Which she has, beeteedubs, in my notes. It just hasn't been revealed yet.)

So, why am I writing this? 'Cause I'm drafting the 16th chapter right now. Yah. I've probably jinxed the whole writing process now that I've made public my intentions, but whatever. All the more pressure, right? Right.

Who knows, maybe I'll convert this blog into a journal of my time with Elsie. Hmmm...

Fifteen Key Authors, expanded

Today I was tagged in one of those chain notes on Facebook. It wasn't about a girl with no nose or skin who might come kill me tomorrow night, or the plight of a legless, goatless boy in the mountains of Peru. No, it was a simple question: who are the 15 authors who have most influenced you?

Since I did an influence map a few days ago, I figured I might as well answer this question and post the results here. So, here goes, in no particular order.

Tad Williams. He writes really big books. Like, 700 pages apiece big. But ever since I read War of the Flowers for the first time (of five), I've been hooked on his writing.

Sergei Lukyanenko. Technically, I guess I haven't read any of his work. Rather, I had the joy of waiting around for his translators to make his original Russian novels available in English. He's my anti-Twilight.

C.S. Lewis. I grew up in a white, Christian family in the West. Need I say more?

Madeleine l'Engle. I started reading her work before I even had a clue what a mitochondria was, and loved her fiction even then. Now, I appreciate it so much more.

Ursula K. le Guin. She's a crazy lady, but in a good way. Most of the time. It isn't too often that I can apply gender theory so well to popular fiction.

R.A. Salvatore. Drizzt was one of my idols, no lie. And I'm pretty sure my Forgotten Realms books were passed around half of the male class population in grade 12.

Greg Keyes. I've only ever read a couple of his books, all for the Star Wars franchise. Really, it isn't him who is impacting, but the quotes in his novels. Foremost: "Everything I tell you is a lie. Every question I ask you is a trick. You will find no truth in me." Sound familiar?

J.R.R. Tolkien. Again, I grew up in a white Christian household in the West. 'Nuff said.

Dr. Seuss. There was a time when I could recite some of his entire works by rote. I also studied one of his books in first year English. Rad, eh?

John C. Wright. I only just discovered his novels last summer, on account of the awesome cover art, and luckily the writing was as good as the art. His work with Greek mythology makes me squee like a schoolgirl.

Homer. Where would I be without the Odyssey? Seriously.

Banana Yoshimoto. I think she might have the same vague obsession with windows as I do. With her work, you're never quite sure if you're getting fiction or not.

Lewis Carroll. Every day I look at an excerpt of his, regarding the ability to believe impossible things. Apparently the Queen can believe six impossible things before breakfast, and that impressive.

Murakami Ryu. I've only read one of his novels, but I'll be on the lookout for more fersuure. His imagery will stick with me for a long, long time, twisted as it is.

H.P. Lovecraft. Gotta love me some Cthulhu!

So, that's my list. Care to share an author or two of your own? Think of it as a sort of book swap, minus the books. Savvy?

Minor Philosophy

If you had the choice between living for only six more months, but knowing those six months would be the happiest of your existence, or living a long but ultimately unsatisfying life, which would you choose? Why?

That was a question posed by my friend Ana Cristina to me via my Formspring account. My answer was less than satisfactory:

Six more months. It comes down to a personal philosophy I have, one that would take an entire blog post to explain. Huh, maybe I should get on that sometime.

Well, sometime has now arrived I believe, so I'll make an effort to explain that piece of personal philosophy here.

I once read an analogy about the pain-pleasure binary, long before I was studying these sorts of relationships at university. In fact, I think I might have read this particular analogy before I was in high school, even. It is as follows:

"Two men are standing on level ground, each with a large pile of bricks. Both are challenged to build a high tower with their pile. The first man immediately starts to stack his bricks, overlapping in such a way that the structure is sound. The second man instead takes a shovel and begins to dig a hole. Laughing, the first man taunts him.

"'We have the same number of bricks, fool! By starting your tower lower than mine it will be impossible to build one higher.'

"The second man smiles, but doesn't reply. Once he is happy with the depth of his hole, he begins to stack his bricks, emulating the pattern of the first man. The first man continues to taunt him.

"After some time, the second man's tower has achieved the same height as that of the first man. When the first man goes to start the next layer of his tower, it starts to wobble and sway. He braces it with his hands, but realizes that if he continues to build upwards the structure will fall.

"Seeing this, the second man smiles once more. Supported by a firm foundation, he continues to add layers of brick to his tower, winning the challenge."

The bricks represent the men's happiness, the ground their experience of pain or unhappiness. Even if the two men's towers had been equal in height, the second man would have used more of his bricks in constructing his.

Don't get it? Try to remember a time you were at your most sad state, at your lowest, if you will. One of my friends lost her best friend last year, and I wasn't sure what to do. Remember, I'm a green - I don't do well with emotional matters. So I wrote a short note reminding this friend that she had a whole family of supporters here at the university. I slipped the note under her door when she was in class with a teabag. She still maintains that that was one of the most thoughtful and caring things that anyone has ever done for her.

A note and a teabag.

Because she was at such a low point, coming back up to level ground was an enormous jump in her happiness.

Is this starting to make sense?

Now, back to the question at hand: would I rather take 6 months of bliss or a lifetime of mediocrity. There's a second part to my happiness philosophy that is integral to the answer I gave. Again, this will probably be most accessible if I frame it as a serious of questions to you.

Think about the best day or week you have ever had. What made that time so amazing? Likely, it was because something little went just right, and things kept going up from there. That's the key: things kept going up. The most recent experience you have becomes your base for comparison. Taking a very green approach to this, to continue being happy you need to have a more positive experience. Anything less will cause you to be unhappy, and experiences at the same "level" will likely not elicit any emotional response.

Look back at the example of my friend: had she been at level ground or in a state of happiness at the time, my gesture would have meant very little to her. Yes, she might have been thankful for my thoughfulness, but it would not have impacted her emotionally in the same way.

Savvy?

I think this post is becoming much too long. Feel free to fill up the comments section with questions, critiques, or your own personal philosophies.

tower photo by me

Haiku, a True Story

Where there's smoke, fire;
a little bird told me so.
Damn! My toast is burnt.


Inspired by actual events and Marc's Daily Writing Blog.