March 2021 – My Vaccination Experience

Goodness gracious me, is it time to talk about March already?

Okay, heads up, this is going to be a short one. Most of the notable things which occurred in March were not fun to think about, let alone write about. I’m not talking about anything which specifically happened to me, but we’re talking hate crimes, misinformation circulating online, the general state of the world, that sort of thing. But what I will do is talk about something good which happened to me in March – I got my first dose of the Covid vaccination!

If your reaction was “wait, already?”, then yeah, mine was too. I’m very lucky to have this already, and I hope nobody reads this as me gloating or anything horrid like that. My doctors simply called me up, asked if I wanted it, and I said yes, of course I do. Maybe they had spares for my area, or maybe my asthma played a part, but either way, I got my jab and I’m going to talk about it! Because these monthly blog posts also function as memoirs of a sort and I’d be remiss to skip over something as important as this. Plus, I think it’s healthy to de-mystify the experience for anyone worried about theirs.

Now, if I were writing a novel and this was something happening to a fictional character, I’d be tempted to load this part of the story up with emotional catharsis and exposition and metaphors, but the truth of the matter was that it was very easy, and very simple, at least in my experience. I turned up at the hospital an hour early, as I was paranoid about getting lost, spent around ten minutes finding the specific building, and entered – they let me in despite my timing. They asked me to sanitise my hands, confirm my name and address and other fun things, and then sent me down a maze of corridors and stairwells signposted by arrows and the occasional staff member pointing me along like Superman’s dad to Lois Lane in Man of Steel. If you think that’s a weird metaphor, it’s probably because I re-watched it a few days ago and it’s on my brain.

Anyway, towards the end of this seemingly endless maze was a gymnasium, converted of course into a vaccination facility. From the door was a line that led to the left, full of people of all ages standing 2 metres apart, fully masked and mostly unreadable in expression. Most of the hall was partially hidden from view with a temporary wall, though when inside I could see the edges were lined with doctors at tables ready to ask a series of questions: Are you allergic to, have you recently been, do you have a history of, etc etc. After that fun Q&A it was time to join a separate queue heading towards one of the three tables at the end, where a very friendly doctor was there to give me my Pfizer shot. She said it was lovely to meet me, asked me which arm I’m getting the jab in, “small scratch”, accepted my thanks and sent me on my way.

I’ll admit that I felt slightly odd walking out afterwards, but I think that was more to do with the emotional weight of the moment, knowing that the vaccine was finally in me. My arm hurt for a couple of minutes but then died down to a dull ache which was less painful than your average flu shot. They sat us in the hospital cafeteria for 15 minutes post-jab to make sure we didn’t have a reaction, and that was a surreal experience; the entire room was taken up by chairs, two metres apart but back-to-back, with perfect strangers sat in relative silence looking at their phones or at the ceiling while the time passed by. We were free to leave whenever, of course, but I’d rather have the security of knowing I wasn’t about to topple over on my walk home. I spent most of that time texting my dad, making zombie jokes, because that’s the kind of family we are.

As for side-effects, well, I left work ten minutes early that night because I could feel myself weakening and coming over slightly hot, but when I got home I slept for ten solid hours and woke up just fine, with no side-effects since. But it affects everyone differently! And then, a few days ago, I got a letter telling me about my second jab appointment in May, meaning I’ll be able to consider myself fully vaccinated two weeks later on my birthday. Hooray! I still won’t be able to do anything for it because, as far as I know, vaccinated folks can still pass it on, but it’s a nice footnote all the same.

Of course, if anyone has any questions about the vaccination, feel free to ask them, I’ll be happy to answer.

Other things I did this month include getting a new phone (the Pixel 4a), experimenting with vlogging again, re-watching the DC Extended Universe movies, realising I might be excited for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic after all, and saying farewell to my boss at work by visiting her island in Animal Crossing. That’s my fourth boss in four years, by the way. An interesting pattern!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next month.

My Creative Resurgence

Ever since graduating from university, I’ve found myself less motivated to create – whether it be fictional stories, nonfictional blog posts, or other means of creativity I’ve often enjoyed such as making videos on Youtube. I could never quite put my finger on what killed my motivation, and I’m still not entirely too sure what happened now, but in the last few months I’ve been stoking the fires of my creativity once more, and while I’ve not exactly been writing short stories or plotting a novel, I have been busy nonetheless.

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World of Warcraft Character Backstories

Inspired after reading through all three volumes of World of Warcraft: Chronicle, a book series documenting the lore of the popular MMO’s expansive world, I took a look at my own growing roster of characters within the game and decided to document their own stories. For some of them, these are stories that I’ve had in my mind from the second I created them; for others, I had to consider them as an individual within the world for the very first time. I set myself some rules: I wouldn’t interfere with the game’s pre-existing characters or plots, and I wouldn’t make any of my characters out to be more important than any other “adventurer” within the game’s lore. These were the stories of characters who had been influenced by the world, rather than influencing it themselves.

Both volumes can be found on my gaming blog, and I’m not far from completing my third, with a fourth to come after that. Alternatively, you can just follow the links below:

Volume 1: The Night Elf Brothers

Volume 2: Sisters of Light and Shadow

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Livestreaming

Surprise! I have an entire online persona that you’ve possibly never heard of.

When I created this blog, I did so with the knowledge that I’d be linking it to my Facebook and sharing my writing processes. I was using my name in the title of the blog. Therefore, I sought to remove it – as I did my Facebook – from the rest of my online profiles, although when I made my gaming blog you could probably follow the links from here to there. I essentially tried to segment my personality into two halves: Kristian, the aspiring author with an arts degree who’s contemplative of life, and Kritigri, a gaming enthusiast who uploads his gameplay with comedic commentary. In recent times, however, I’ve learned that without both halves to balance the other out, the first becomes pretentious whilst the second is somewhat hollow.

My livestreaming, then, is a fairly new project that I’ve very recently doubled down on. I’ve decided that I need to choose a game to be my main streaming subject, and as you could probably tell from earlier in this blog post, World of Warcraft is a game that I know almost as well as my own life. I do stream other games occassionally, too, but I’ve recently begun a WoW livestream playthrough which I’ve called “Story Mode”, in which I level a character from scratch and pay attention to the stories of each zone, discussing the lore as I go.

I still don’t have a streaming schedule that’s set in stone, but I try to stream at least once a week (typically more so), and if you’re interested you can follow my channel and recieve notifications when I go live. If you miss a stream, the project below has you covered. I have a decent microphone (but no webcam) and try to stream for no less than an hour each time, and have Twitch chat on my phone so I can monitor any messages I get.

Here is my Livestreaming channel.

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Youtube Videos

I’ve been making videos on Youtube for about a decade now, with various gaps of disinterest along the way. At my peak, I reached a whopping 600 subscribers. It’s safe to say that I do it for fun.

My channel consists of three parts: It’s one part Twitch VODS (archives of my livestreams), one part gaming videos and one part vlogs.

As far as gameplay capture goes, I run a series called The Daily Rogue, in which I play a roguelike (that is, a game genre where you typically have one life to delve as far into a dungeon as you can) until I die, and I can’t start over for the rest of the day – hence, ‘Daily’. In these videos I normally ramble about whatever is on my mind at the time. I’ve also started a series called The Weekly Deathmatch, which is weekly in the more traditional sense of coming out once a week, every week. In these videos, I record the commentary after I’ve recorded the video, so that I can actually focus on not dying every 5 seconds and losing my train of thought. These videos are also a backdrop for various ramblings, though these ramblings are typically more focused on a particular subject that I’ve decided on before the video begins.

My Bitesize Vlogs are short (5-10 mins), edited videos that document a day or particular outing in my life. This is obviously more of a personality-based genre of content, and is focused on my interactions with life as opposed to videogames, so this may be of interest to you if the rest is not. These vlogs began when I got my Google Pixel 2, and realised that I couldn’t waste such a good camera by not using it. I’ve also experimented with vlogs in my teens, so you’ll find I’m not entirely inexperienced with making them.

Here’s my Youtube channel

The Daily Rogue Playlist

The Weekly Deathmatch Playlist

Bitesize Vlogs Playlist

Miscellaneous Edited Videos

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Gameplay DVR Archive

Within the last few years, the ability to capture the last X seconds of gameplay in video form became possible, and I love it. I retrofitted my original Youtube channel (the one that hit 600 subs) as an archive for my gameplay clips, and I upload them in bulk. I schedule them to go public three days a week – Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, though I currently have an extra one releasing on Mondays. This channel mostly exists as an archive for my own amusement, but one day I decided to organise the channel a bit and make playlists for each game. I also curated a ‘Best Of’ playlist, so you can get the gist of what to expect if you wish to subscribe to the channel.

Currently I have videos scheduled up to September, so if I die suddenly in a horrific walking accident, you’ll be hearing from me posthumously for a few months to come. Isn’t that a lovely thought?

My Public Archive Channel

Browse by Game

Best Of Playlist

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And That’s That

Please bear in mind that I’m juggling all this between two jobs and leisure time™, so a few things are bound to drop or change over the coming months. I just felt like writing this blog post to update everyone on what I’ve been up to!

I’ll get around to writing that book eventually.

One day.

Oh god.

Help me.

The Flight to Wilder Lands

When I half-promised a Tuesday blog post last week, I’d forgotten to factor in that I was going to be off the grid at the time, so that’s why we’re here on a suspiciously un-Tuesday time of the week. I have a decent excuse this time, though – I went on a Writer’s Retreat to Boscastle, with some others on my old uni course!

I had to take the first half of my bus journey alone, which became the cause of much anxiety on the week leading up to my departure. I managed to not get lost or murdered, though, which was fine. Liberating, even. To think that I might have cancelled the trip on this fear alone is, retrospectively, absurd, but too much time in your comfort zone can result in the mundane appearing so.

After journeying through the Cornish wilderness, I arrived at the hostel which I’ve been to twice before, and was immediately at home with the heated floors, the five comfy sofas that face each other, the beds with their overly thick blankets and the absence of phone signal. On my first trip there four years ago, there wasn’t even any WiFi, and I’ve continued to keep up the liberating feeling of being off the grid by simply stowing my phone and other devices away.

This annual fleeing to the countryside is actually organised by my University for my Creative Writing course, and, luckily for me, graduates are invited too. I initially planned on going there simply to meet and catch up with two of my old friends from the year above, but whilst in Boscastle I had the pleasurable experience of meeting and befriending those still on the course, and the thirteen of us spent much of our time just talking to each other. I thought my days of meeting like-minded Creative Writing students through the university were over, but I was treated to one last helping of friendship for which I am very thankful.

Whilst this has been one of my favourite trips to Boscastle, it’s also been one of my least productive. I wrote a grand total of two sentences, one of which I deleted. What I instead spent most of my time doing was a mixture of either chatting, reading (the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the mixed bag that was The Cursed Child), walking and playing Mario Kart 7 with others. And to be honest, I don’t really regret my lack of productivity due to this.

One thing this trip has opened my eyes to is how long it’s been since I’ve met new people. I’m incredibly grateful for those I already have in my life, but as somebody who is not a social person, it’s easy to forget how much one can learn about oneself and grow in self-review from simply meeting someone new. As somebody who doesn’t drink nor live close to their friends or the city centre, it’s easy to fall into a routine where I see the same faces all the time. Coming home from Boscastle has emphasised the negative sides of my current life somewhat intensely. Life is about staying up for 30 hours so you could talk through the night, not remaining comfortably stagnant at home.

A Year in Titles

At the beginning of the year, I was struck by an odd idea – what if I gave each day a title, as if it were a chapter in a book? This would open the way of an autobiographical project to last me throughout the year, pushing me creatively and ending up with something interesting to look back on. I don’t even recall what most of these titles are about. They could be describing events, emotions, be comedic or be references to my gaming habits. But you’ll discover this yourself. So, without further ado:

JANUARY

01.01.16 Day 1: Quarrel Between Friends

02.01.16 Day 2: Word Play

03.01.16 Day 3: Island Life

04.01.16 Day 4: Thief

05.01.16 Day 5: Unlikely Encounters

06.01.16 Day 6: Tudor Sandwich

07.01.16 Day 7: The Infuriating Redundancy of Battery-Powered Lamps

08.01.16 Day 8: Hail Sithis!

09.01.16 Day 9: The Architect of Distraction

10.01.16 Day 10: Advanced Prose Friction

11.01.16 Day 11: Poemology

12.01.16 Day 12: Rise of Parody

13.01.16 Day 13: U Dissin’ Me

14.01.16 Day 14: Retreating from Writers

15.01.16 Day 15: Watch

16.01.16 Day 16: Vampire Heresy

17.01.16 Day 17: Basement Dweller

18.01.16 Day 18: Astral Planes

19.01.16 Day 19: Fleeting Pizza

20.01.16 Day 20: Rainbow Flock

21.01.16 Day 21: Coldplay Bullets

22.01.16 Day 22: Politics in the Face of Humanity

23.01.16 Day 23: Dinosaur Head

24.01.16 Day 24: Rabbit Sandwich

25.01.16 Day 25: Marjon Movie Module Magic

26.01.16 Day 26: Tauren the World

27.01.16 Day 27: A Victory

28.01.16 Day 28: Categorisation

29.01.16 Day 29: The Final Stretch

30.01.16 Day 30: Rare Appearance of the Iridescent Zebra

31.01.16 Day 31: Parting Shot

FEBRUARY

01.02.16 Day 32: Scripted Event

02.02.16 Day 33: Nimble Fingers, Nimble Feet

03.02.16 Day 34: Hot and Cold

04.02.16 Day 35: Brick by Brick

05.02.16 Day 36: The Rhymey Novel

06.02.16 Day 37: Atomic Piss

07.02.16 Day 38: Sunny Days (I Named This One Whilst Half Asleep)

08.02.16 Day 39: Fifty Six

09.02.16 Day 40: Cargo Bros

10.02.16 Day 41: Hotseat Bros

11.02.16 Day 42: Watch Your Language

12.02.16 Day 43: Hidden Chess

13.02.16 Day 44: Sniperscythe

14.02.16 Day 45: Bloodshed

15.02.16 Day 46: Green Hood

16.02.16 Day 47: Crab Without Anemone

17.02.16 Day 48: Fangs

18.02.16 Day 49: The Native Farm Parcel

19.02.16 Day 50: Old Habits

20.02.16 Day 51: Dragon Harvest

21.02.16 Day 52: Worlds New and Old Alike

22.02.16 Day 53: Sleepless

23.02.16 Day 54: Dental Cat

24.02.16 Day 55: Imaginary Theatre

25.02.16 Day 56: The Anti-Apocalypse Archive

26.02.16 Day 57: Celestial Revelations

27.02.16 Day 58: Gotta Catch ‘Em All

28.02.16 Day 59: The Three Pillars

29.02.16 Day 60: Off-Step

MARCH

01.03.16 Day 61: Farmstead

02.03.16 Day 62: Living Ghosts

03.03.16 Day 63: Pen and Paper

04.03.16 Day 64: Nothing Here Was Built to Last

05.03.16 Day 65: World Warper

06.03.16 Day 66: Camera-Aided Telekinesis

07.03.16 Day 67: Moving On Up

08.03.16 Day 68: Mellow Slaughter

09.03.16 Day 69: Decadent Tales

10.03.16 Day 70: Between Storms

11.03.16 Day 71: Dave the Technician

12.03.16 Day 72: Masta the Pasta

13.03.16 Day 73: Convention Adventure

14.03.16 Day 74: A Song I’ve Heard Before

15.03.16 Day 75: Not Colin Firth

16.03.16 Day 76: Invasion of the Giant Hyper-Intelligent Bird-People

17.03.16 Day 77: To The Library!

18.03.16 Day 78: Walking Through the Plague

19.03.16 Day 79: Ill at Ease

20.03.16 Day 80: New York Ninjas

21.03.16 Day 81: Tome

22.03.16 Day 82: Small Talk

23.03.16 Day 83: Fictional Moons

24.03.16 Day 84: First Out The Gate

25.03.16 Day 85: Eggcelsior

26.03.16 Day 86: Leggo Supeggheroes

27.03.16 Day 87: Irreggularities

28.03.16 Day 88: Last Leggs

29.03.16 Day 89: Easter Tuesday

30.03.16 Day 90: A Galaxy Away

31.03.16 Day 91: Presumed Dead

APRIL

01.04.16 Day 92: Foolishness

02.04.16 Day 93: Super Excitable

03.04.16 Day 94: He Who Wields the Mighty Hammer

04.04.16 Day 95: Delicat

05.04.16 Day 96: Braindead

06.04.16 Day 97: Shooting Off

07.04.16 Day 98: Screw Loose

08.04.16 Day 99: Paper Dude

09.04.16 Day 100: Round Table

10.04.16 Day 101: I Don’t Choose You

11.04.16 Day 102: Mounting Tempo

12.04.16 Day 103: A Feasible Existence

13.04.16 Day 104: The Company of Friends

14.04.16 Day 105: Keep Rollin’

15.04.16 Day 106: Hired, Tired and Wired

16.04.16 Day 107: On the Cards

17.04.16 Day 108: Progression

18.04.16 Day 109: Near and Far Horizons

19.04.16 Day 110: Ergodynomics

20.04.16 Day 111: Slam Dunk’d

21.04.16 Day 112: Critical Criticisms

22.04.16 Day 113: Overestimating an Underachiever

23.04.16 Day 114: Hard Homes

24.04.16 Day 115: Taking Flight

25.04.16 Day 116: Release

26.04.16 Day 117: Blogurt

27.04.16 Day 118: Strategizers

28.04.16 Day 119: Penultimate Pub Lunch

29.04.16 Day 120: Class Dismissed

30.04.16 Day 121: Slow Chaos

MAY

01.05.16 Day 122: Making Room

02.05.16 Day 123: Off the Script

03.05.16 Day 124: What Uncles are For

04.05.16 Day 125: The Great Goblin Massacre

05.05.16 Day 126: He Shoots

06.05.16 Day 127: Treasure Hunters

07.05.16 Day 128: Solutions

08.05.16 Day 129: The Ultimate Pen

09.05.16 Day 130: 100 Extra Fiber Bran Flakes

10.05.16 Day 131: Crux

11.05.16 Day 132: The Long Journey’s End

12.05.16 Day 133: De-Hermitisation

13.05.16 Day 134: Civil War

14.05.16 Day 135: Ring-A-Ding Ding

15.05.16 Day 136: Middle-Man MVP

16.05.16 Day 137: The Jaffa-Coloured Cake Fiend

17.05.16 Day 138: Meaty Chunks

18.05.16 Day 139: Losses and Gains

19.05.16 Day 140: Supersonic Soccar Saves

20.05.16 Day 141: IRC Sick

21.05.16 Day 142: The Best

22.05.16 Day 143: Gotta Go Quick

23.05.16 Day 144: The Greatest Doorman the World Will Ever Know

24.05.16 Day 145: My New Favourite Kristian

25.05.16 Day 146: Hopeless

26.05.16 Day 147: Escapism

27.05.16 Day 148: Hidden Present

28.05.16 Day 149: Once Bitten

29.05.16 Day 150: Stuffed

30.05.16 Day 151: Zero

31.05.16 Day 152: Gone in a Flash

JUNE

01.06.16 Day 153: Nerd Up

02.06.16 Day 154: Half a Life

03.06.16 Day 155: All in a Year’s Work

04.06.16 Day 156: The Escape of Team Dynamite

05.06.16 Day 157: The Dungeon Delving Duo

06.06.16 Day 158: Killed Off

07.06.16 Day 159: Orcs and Humans

08.06.16 Day 160: Excess Capitalism

09.06.16 Day 161: Loved

10.06.16 Day 162: The Spoils

11.06.16 Day 163: Whale of a Time

12.06.16 Day 164: The Other Side of the Glass

13.06.16 Day 165: Marketing and Magic

14.06.16 Day 166: Orchestral Score

15.06.16 Day 167: At the Gates

16.06.16 Day 168: Total Maturity

17.06.16 Day 169: Assigned Roles

18.06.16 Day 170: Space Cruise

19.06.16 Day 171: Mon Pear

20.06.16 Day 172: Vampires and Werewolves and Ghosts, Oh My

21.06.16 Day 173: The Cardboard Spyglass

22.06.16 Day 174: The Wrong Opinions

23.06.16 Day 175: I Worry for Tomorrow

24.06.16 Day 176: I Pray for Yesterday

25.06.16 Day 177: Sibling Soccar

26.06.16 Day 178: Here Be Dragons

27.06.16 Day 179: Happy Families

28.06.16 Day 180: Off the Grid

29.06.16 Day 181: Our Masters

30.06.16 Day 182: The Adorable Psychopath

JULY

01.07.16 Day 183: Stranded

02.07.16 Day 184: Out Back

03.07.16 Day 185: Dead Ends

04.07.16 Day 186: Temporary Solutions

05.07.16 Day 187: The Final Day of Exile

06.07.16 Day 188: Much the Same as Always

07.07.16 Day 189: Selective Allocation of Resources

08.07.16 Day 190: Sestra

09.07.16 Day 191: Post-Show

10.07.16 Day 192: Captain’s Log

11.07.16 Day 193: Death in Comedy

12.07.16 Day 194: Just Like Old Times

13.07.16 Day 195: Darth Theresa

14.07.16 Day 196: Roaming Far and Wide

15.07.16 Day 197: My Very Own Pokemon Adventure

16.07.16 Day 198: Almost Human

17.07.16 Day 199: Curse of the Glowing Yellow Orb

18.07.16 Day 200: Enflamed

19.07.16 Day 201: Losing Solidity

20.07.16 Day 202: The Plunge

21.07.16 Day 203: Paignton the Town Red

22.07.16 Day 204: Digging What’s To Come

23.07.16 Day 205: The Supporting Role

24.07.16 Day 206: I Choose You

25.07.16 Day 207: Close, But No Cigar

26.07.16 Day 208: Patience is a Virtue

27.07.16 Day 209: Retro Novice

28.07.16 Day 210: DCAU

29.07.16 Day 211: Prolepsis

30.07.16 Day 212: Maximum Power

31.07.16 Day 213: Picmikki

AUGUST

01.08.16 Day 214: Resolving Displays

02.08.16 Day 215: Triple Output

03.08.16 Day 216: Target Elimination

04.08.16 Day 217: Sol’s Seeking

05.08.16 Day 218: Becoming Another

06.08.16 Day 219: Inducing Nerves

07.08.16 Day 220: Unbound

08.08.16 Day 221: A Worldly Embrace

09.08.16 Day 222: Getting to Grips

10.08.16 Day 223: Birth of an Avenger

11.08.16 Day 224: Of Two Worlds

12.08.16 Day 225: The Endless Invasion

13.08.16 Day 226: Murder Time, Fun Time!

14.08.16 Day 227: Count Your Chickens

15.08.16 Day 228: Mundane Monday

16.08.16 Day 229: Misconstruesday

17.08.16 Day 230: Spendsday (Or: The Kindness of Guildies)

18.08.16 Day 231: Spurnsday (Or: Day of the Week Puns were a Bad Idea)

19.08.16 Day 232: Fri Not (Or: Seriously What Was I Thinking)

20.08.16 Day 233: Sat On My Arse Day (That was Predictable)

21.08.16 Day 234: The Sun ain’t out this Sunday (I Regret Everything)

22.08.16 Day 235: New Shift

23.08.16 Day 236: Ancient Technology

24.08.16 Day 237: Chilling in the Deep End

25.08.16 Day 238: Turbo Monk

26.08.16 Day 239: Round Two

27.08.16 Day 240: Painting the Town Blue

28.08.16 Day 241: All Is Not Well

29.08.16 Day 242: Fall of the Warlords

30.08.16 Day 243: Rise of the Legion

31.08.16 Day 244: Reanimation

SEPTEMBER

01.09.16 Day 245: When the Bell Tolls

02.09.16 Day 246: A Christmas Come Early

03.09.16 Day 247: King Kablooey

04.09.16 Day 248: Earning Access

05.09.16 Day 249: Make Believe

06.09.16 Day 250: Endlessly

07.09.16 Day 251: Unfamiliar Interface

08.09.16 Day 252: Preparations

09.09.16 Day 253: Under the Sea

10.09.16 Day 254: Lost to Time

11.09.16 Day 255: Birthdeque

12.09.16 Day 256: A Reputation to Build

13.09.16 Day 257: Hitting Every Branch

14.09.16 Day 258: Bricking It

15.09.16 Day 259: Double Lunch

16.09.16 Day 260: In the Winds

17.09.16 Day 261: Of Elves and Customers

18.09.16 Day 262: A Lengthy Prelude

19.09.16 Day 263: Hall of Vampires

20.09.16 Day 264: Hobbitual

21.09.16 Day 265: Bearing Into It

22.09.16 Day 266: Solitary Refinement

23.09.16 Day 267: Best Laid Plans

24.09.16 Day 268: Power

25.09.16 Day 269: Relenting to Temptation

26.09.16 Day 270: Rise and Shine

27.09.16 Day 271: Mudflingers

28.09.16 Day 272: Wizards on a Spaceship

29.09.16 Day 273: Mystery of the Unclaimed Gift

30.09.16 Day 274: Against a Brick Wall

OCTOBER

01.10.16 Day 275: Ill-Afforded Luxuries

02.10.16 Day 276: Under the Roof

03.10.16 Day 277: Bulletproof

04.10.16 Day 278: Button It

05.10.16 Day 279: Not So Bad

06.10.16 Day 280: Jab

07.10.16 Day 281: 100% Accurate Transcript

08.10.16 Day 282: Swearing is Caring

09.10.16 Day 283: Organised Chaos

10.10.16 Day 284: In Other Worlds

11.10.16 Day 285: Bubble

12.10.16 Day 286: Knowledge Unwanted

13.10.16 Day 287: The Long Decision

14.10.16 Day 288: The Grand Nothing

15.10.16 Day 289: The Void In-Between

16.10.16 Day 290: Rhyme Without Reason

17.10.16 Day 291: Nest of Sharks

18.10.16 Day 292: The Gaping Mellow

19.10.16 Day 293: Vigilante in a Fire Truck

20.10.16 Day 294: Unexpected Brilliance

21.10.16 Day 295: Subject to Approval

22.10.16 Day 296: Deadly Hijinks

23.10.16 Day 297: Sneak Thief

24.10.16 Day 298: Leave Her Alone

25.10.16 Day 299: Miscommunication

26.10.16 Day 300: Dusk of the Final Era

27.10.16 Day 301: Graduation Day

28.10.16 Day 302: Remastered

29.10.16 Day 303: Cunning Stunts

30.10.16 Day 304: Adorable Terror

31.10.16 Day 305: Bending Minds

NOVEMBER

01.11.16 Day 306: Faltering Forwards

02.11.16 Day 307: Sea of Leaves

03.11.16 Day 308: Awaiting Anything

04.11.16 Day 309: Best Mates

05.11.16 Day 310: Today’s Youth

06.11.16 Day 311: Hidden Potential

07.11.16 Day 312: Doubling Up

08.11.16 Day 313: The World Waits with Baited Breath

09.11.16 Day 314: Doomsday

10.11.16 Day 315: Fallout

11.11.16 Day 316: Naming Games

12.11.16 Day 317: Royal Dirt

13.11.16 Day 318: Elite Squad

14.11.16 Day 319: Blood

15.11.16 Day 320: Those Who Came Before Us

16.11.16 Day 321: Extreme NASCAR

17.11.16 Day 322: A Stroke of Luck

18.11.16 Day 323: Calamities

19.11.16 Day 324: The Detection Detective

20.11.16 Day 325: God of the Insignificant

21.11.16 Day 326: The Golden Day of Gaming History

22.11.16 Day 327: Static

23.11.16 Day 328: A Pleasant Visit

24.11.16 Day 329: Fledgling Legends

25.11.16 Day 330: Full Dive

26.11.16 Day 331: Bane of the Newforged Craftsman

27.11.16 Day 332: Gentle Push

28.11.16 Day 333: Respite’s End

29.11.16 Day 334: A Knave in Every Throne

30.11.16 Day 335: The Onset

DECEMBER

01.12.16 Day 336: The Plague

02.12.16 Day 337: The Ghoul

03.12.16 Day 338: The Exodus

04.12.16 Day 339: Stagnant Suspense

05.12.16 Day 340: Remembrance

06.12.16 Day 341: Fragmented

07.12.16 Day 342: Well Placed Luck

08.12.16 Day 343: Celebrations

09.12.16 Day 344: Half

10.12.16 Day 345: Into Dust

11.12.16 Day 346: The Cause

12.12.16 Day 347: Busy Is Best

13.12.16 Day 348: Coming Up Short

14.12.16 Day 349: Flight of the Rebellion

15.12.16 Day 350: New Life Festival

16.12.16 Day 351: Fighting Fate

17.12.16 Day 352: An Imbecile’s Indecision

18.12.16 Day 353: Tea For Two

19.12.16 Day 354: Lava Plume

20.12.16 Day 355: Fluffy the Destroyer

21.12.16 Day 356: The Starving Artist

22.12.16 Day 357: Catalogue

23.12.16 Day 358: Safe Travels

24.12.16 Day 359: Dancing In My Chair

25.12.16 Day 360: Festive Chaos Fun

26.12.16 Day 361: Leftovers

27.12.16 Day 362: Becalmed

28.12.16 Day 363: Accursed Curse Claimers

29.12.16 Day 364: Thdunk

30.12.16 Day 365: The Unfaltering March

31.12.16 Day 366: Consolidation

Well, did you make it this far? If you did, I’d love to know what you thought, and if I should continue in 2017. If so, I hope to see you back here next year!

Eavesdropping

So the other day, my Creative Writing lecturer told us she wanted all of us to eavesdrop on a conversation in order to get a better understanding of dialogue… and, frankly, just because it’s interesting. That’s right, the secret’s out, writers are listening to what you say on the bus and probably not using any of it, because here’s what I’ve learned:

You’re all incredibly boring.

Okay, that’s a little rude. You’re not. In fact, in the context of talking on a bus, I probably am as much as anyone else. But sometimes I feel like I hear the same speech patterns over and over. Somewhere towards the back of the bus, Roxie is asking, “Is he with you? Is he with you? No no, don’t tell him I’m here, pretend I’m your mum. Yeah, very good. Hey, has he said anything about me? …no you see that’s what I thought but, but not being funny right, that what he said about Janine is bang out of order… yeah, no, I get that. Yeah. No, I do. Look, can you tell him I’m with Harry right now? Yeah. Well no obviously, but… yeah, exactly.” And I’m not making fun of that type of person, because everyone’s entitled to their own way of life. But I hear that exact conversation with different names on different buses. It’s amusing but mostly predictable.

So here I am, still looking out for some interesting tidbit of eavesdropping which I can present to class next week. It’s surprisingly difficult to find anything really juicy and interesting out there. I mean, I heard a heartwarming exchange between an old man and a young woman on a bus (surprise surprise) the other day, for she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. I might use that, if I’ve got nothing else. I just can’t find anything. Maybe I need to be more of a gossip.

I thought I’d pick up something interesting when I went to Devcon this weekend. (Think Comic Con, only much more local and much, much smaller. Big turnout though.) However, I spent most of my attention span on my friends and the possible buying opportunities in front of us. (In the end, I only bought a tiny little Bulbasaur figure. I was frugal!) One amusing moment was heard when we were waiting in line; there were two children behind us arguing as to whether the bounty hunter patrolling the line was Boba Fett or Jango Fett. In actuality he was neither; he was either custom painted or a character from the extended universe, which I know almost nothing about. But it as fun to hear them arguing all the same.

Whilst it’s not quite the same thing, I feel obliged to pick up the topic of people-watching now. I’m an avid person-watcher. People are fascinating. Sometimes they’ll amble along to a window, frown at it, walk away, and then change their minds, awkwardly doing a 180 and hoping that nobody has noticed their sacrilegious indecision. I see people waiting for their friends, pretending to text on their phone because it is quite obviously a social law that one may not wait around for someone without being seen to still be busy talking to somebody else. (I, too, am guilty of doing this.) People-watching at places of transit is especially interesting! Reading the expressions of somebody who is about to get on a train can be fun, so long as they don’t look your way and eye-contact is established. Then it’s the most terrible thing in the world… people-watching is not without danger.

But what’s most amusing about people-watching is that, despite the fact that you’re probably the only person observing them, people are entirely concerned about how everyone in the vicinity is judging them, and thus act accordingly.

Boscastle

I’ve always lived in the city, so my visit to Boscastle was a nice change.

I’m not stranger to quaint villages such as this one; some of my relatives live in the middle of nowhere, and my sister got married in a pleasant little village called Stedham. This is, however, my first time staying at a village without family. I’m on a Writer’s Retreat with some friends at university, so I’m not exactly on my own, but having to pay attention to getting my own food and certain other necessities within this one village is a new experience.

There are certain signifiers I keep pointing out that remind me I’m in Cornwall. For instance, it seems that the only general store in Boscastle is a small Spar corner shop, and one of its main advertising points is the possession of an ATM that doesn’t charge you when you withdraw money. I’ve not seen another cash machine so far. Other signifiers include the sheer friendliness of everyone we encounter, everyone’s familiarity with each other, the word “Cornwall” being proudly plastered on most shop signs and the uneven ratio of the amount of tourists to the amount of locals wondering around. (Tourists win that one.)

One of the intentional features of this Writer’s Retreat is the lack of Wi-Fi and less-than-abundant phone signal. I mentioned in a previous blog post that being away from Wi-Fi for too long incites a strange loneliness in me, but that hasn’t been the case during my stay here. Or, so far, at least; I’ve only been here for a day. I’ll be posting this when I return. I think it’s the communal atmosphere of the hostel that prevents the Wi-Fi withdrawal. It’s relaxing and calm, but talkative and fun all at once. I’ve read a lot of the fifth Song of Ice and Fire book already, but there’s been Mario Kart 7 tournaments, a walk along the coast and just general nitter-natter. It’s cosy and comfortable and I wish it didn’t have to end.

We went on a walk at one point, out to the cliffs. The only place in the whole of Boscastle that had halfway decent phone signal was on the cliffs, so that was one reason we went there. Mostly, though, it was to brave the fresh air and hope that the sun doesn’t take vengeance on me for shunning it. It was nice. The waves crashing up against the rocks below reminded me of cream running down a portion of chocolate gateau. This may seem like a random observation to make, but chocolate gateau reminds me of when I was younger, when I took trips up to my nans’.

At one point, a third year read out a piece of writing for their dissertation. This was when I noticed that I still have a lot of work to do as a writer. Many people say that they have the problem wherein they abuse the show-don’t-tell rule by telling the reader too much. I’m entirely the opposite; I overestimate people’s imaginations and write my stories as if they were scripts instead. I think this has come from lack of practice, but quite often a character will pop up out of nowhere with no description but plenty of dialogue. I’ve found a frighteningly large number of times in which I hardly establish setting at all. This third year student, however, had perfected the balance between showing and telling and reminded me where I was going wrong.

I’m back home, now. I never quite finished this blog post, and reading back over it makes me want to go back to Boscastle. I feel like I’m living in a bit of a rut at the moment, and Boscastle was a brilliant way of getting out of that. But here I am again.

I miss the youth hostel. It had heated flooring.