To Sum it Up

This will be the last of my blogs for my Digital Story Telling class, but I realize now that blogging will be playing a big role in my future.

Why?

I'll give you three good reasons.

1.) Blogging is easy. I can't think of an easier way to keep a digital log of my progress as a writer and artist. Both BlogSpot and Wordpress are excellent sites with a number of intuitive tools for digitalizing creativity, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

2.) Blogging is fun. It's one thing to post a blurb on Facebook or Twitter, but blogging is something else. Something..."other." It is at once personal and public, and the creativity and flexibility it grants the user is presently unmatched (IMHO) by any other player on the Social Network scene. 

3.) Blogging is fast. It takes no time at all to blog a story, personal experience, or project. In the time it takes me to boil a pot of oatmeal, I can share my morning's novel progression with friends, family, and anyone else who might care!

It was a joy and a privilege to work with you all in this class. I admire each of your strengths as story tellers, and I wish you all nothing but the best in your future endeavors. You will be hearing more from me...I believe that with certainty. I am more certain of my life goals now than I have ever been. My first order of business will be to digitalize my children's book. Then, I will get a website up and running on Wordpress. A good friend of mine has promised to give me a crash course in Photoshop, and I will apply the skills he teaches me to getting a weekly comic strip up and running. All this in addition to finishing my novel will ensure that my hands are always full...better full than empty!

Thanks for a great semester, Professor Schutze. Have a great holiday.

Heavy, Heavy Stuff...

For the last month or so I have been feeling heavy. Not overweight. Just...heavy. I never wanted to make a blog to whine and complain on. In fact, when I wrote my first blog, I was filled with enthusiasm and optimism. Now, I must admit...I'm a little bummed.

I took too many courses this semester, and I am constantly feeling weighed down by the heavy course load. This is my own fault for choosing so many classes. I do realize that. BUT, that realization doesn't do much to relieve my stress, or to lighten the weight of the boulder that is presently crushing my sternum and rib-cage.

I have been writing a lot...but not the stuff I need to be writing. My novel is progressing at a snail's pace. My children's books are on hold. I have been writing lots of essays, though. I've also been editing some work for my wife and a friend. I love writing. I love playing with words, rearranging them, finding different ways to say the same thing. I love the whole thing, and I know that it's my life's calling, it's just that...I need to focus. I need to take some time once this semester has finished, collect myself, and reevaluate my goals as a writer. I have a target for my novel (which I would rather not divulge...had a bad experience doing that last time :) ) I have a very cool classmate who offered to help me bring my children's book into a digital realm, and I'm a working student with a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a beautiful wife by my side.

Well...when you put it that way, I guess things are pretty great!

I'm feeling lighter already.



P.S. Here's a link to the Voice Thread Project I did last semester, when I err...didn't exactly "pass" the class (cough...sniffle...) It's stupid, it's obnoxious, it's annoying, and I hope you enjoy it :)

http://voicethread.com/share/1984825/