Video diary, day fifty six.

I'm sorry for not posting. Blame the French.

But the good news is that I only have one more exam before my month long break officially begins! It's just 30 minutes of Art History that's standing in the way of me and some glorious nap and American Horror Story time. And writing, of course. I've got notebooks to fill up before I get more.

Speaking of writing, I've done some excellent work in that department. I've completed the second draft of The Decoder, worked a lot on The Rogue General. And, equally as exciting, my good friend Tyler started to read The Decoder, and he said that it's really good so far. Now, Tyler loves a lot of things, but I honestly think he isn't just saying that. I screamed and cried tears of happiness anyway. No big deal.

Tomorrow Vivian and I will have our editing party. Which means hours of snacking and writing fuuuuuun. There will, of course, be pictures.

Listen!
Primavera - Ludovico Einaudi
I Wouldn't Mind - He Is We
Guns and Horses - Ellie Goulding
Jasey Rae (acoustic) - All Time Low
Misguided Ghosts - Paramore

I'd like to point out that these sorts of pictures only happen to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z033qOyNyqg

Video diary, day fifty three.

I talked about it a bit in the video, but today was just a very, very strange day. I met some interesting people and  had a lot of really great conversations. And they came at a wonderful time, because I always need references for realistic dialect.

After completing my essay at the beautiful time of five o'clock this morning, I fell asleep for six hours and then proceeding to wallow in tiredness until Marley insisted I go out. After I got back I wrote about three good pages, scrapping a lot of the crap from the first draft. The key is pizza with pineapple. That is what gets the creative and productive juices flowing.

Listen!
Kids - MGMT
The Call -Regina Spektor
Only the Beginning of the Adventure - Narnia Soundtrack 

Check us out. Sophomore year, that's what's up.

Video diary, day fifty two.

Today has both been awesome and kind of weird. I woke up really late and then loaded up on caffeine and I read a lot but I feel like my writing just isn't very good today. I'm super happy but at the same time everything is depressing me? I don't know, something weird is going on with my brain. Maybe it's because my sleep patterns are eternally screwed. Thanks, college.

I have a paper to write, but after I'm done with that (it's only four to five pages), I'll be trying to work a little bit more. If I don't fall asleep. Honestly, I watched the video of me and Matt and Kelsey dancing like twelve times and started crying so I'm a little too fragile to write emotional stuff at the moment, and that's where I am in the book.

I have this really weird hate of silence. I absolutely hate it.
Hearts Out to Dry - Dia Frampton
Kids (MGMT cover) - Jack's Mannequin
Hello, Cold World (Paramore cover) - Sam Yung
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
Helena Beat - Foster the People

Believe it or not, I'm actually sort of running out of bad pictures of myself. I've gone back to Facebook albums from sophomore year to make sure that I have enough to hold the blog over until there's another time I'm around a camera. This picture is from senior year, but omg sophomore year... they were dark times, Harry.

Video diary, day fifty one.

So, last night the internet was down. Campus wide. And even though I had this video all ready for upload at 10 p.m., for once, I couldn't do it. I was beyond frustrated, but I did get a lot of quality writing done. So far, I've added five pages and around 4,000 words. What's that smell? I think it's success.

I'm pretty pleased with how the ~new draft is coming together, although editing part two is causing a bit of a headache. I never counted on actually having to cut stuff out. It feels like I'm tearing the limbs off of my newborn child and replacing them with mechanical arms. That's so weird. I think I've been watching a little too much American Horror Story.

If you don't watch American Horror Story, I highly recommend that you start. It's not really scary, it's more messed up and confusing than anything else. Like I'm just now starting to understand what's going on. But I'm sure they'll pull something out of nowhere to give me more emotional stress. As though I didn't have enough anxiety over fictional characters already.

On a completely unrelated note, Dia Frampton just released her solo album and it is absolutely fantastic. That girl has been my hero since I was like twelve, and I am just too proud of her. Get it, girl.

I feel like I should make a list of people who I classify as one of my heroes. But that is just such a long list. I'll save it for an important speech that will be filmed, I think.

I would also like to let all of you know that Matt, Kelsey and I were asked to join a boy band. I'm the really good dancer in the middle, in case you couldn't tell.

Quality sounds:
Isabella - Dia Frampton
Sink - Brand New
Identify - The Maine
Cough Syrup - Young the Giant
Princess of China - Coldplay

Who said that college would make me mature...?

Non-video diary, day fifty.

So today was one of those days where I literally rolled out of bed and somehow dragged myself to class (or in today's case, an oral exam for French, which I really, really hope I did well on), and I just couldn't bring myself to make a video of my terrible looking, broken out face. I apologize, and I will make a super excellent video tomorrow.

On the upside, I got an incredibly grand amount of work done today! Not only did I sort out what needs to happen in The Decoder to make it quality, but I actually wrote a good bit of it. I'm close to halfway filling up a really lovely notebook that Vivian got me last Christmas, and I think I will accomplish that tomorrow. The second draft isn't so much a makeover (because I picked over everything so much before writing the final chapter) but an addition. I've realized how much I left out of The Decoder, especially as I've been writing the second book. Which I've put under the working title, The Rogue General, though that is most likely going to change. Anyway, as I've been writing that, I've realized that I've left massive details out of The Decoder, and The Rogue General is going to make no sense without that. 

Honestly, I'm just glad I realized that now rather than when the book is about to go to print.

I can happily say that with the addition of just one bit (not even a full chapter, which is what I'm about to do!), the draft is now 117 pages and 74,648 words! This is very exciting! And it's only going to get better from this point forward.

The sensitive writer problems are starting to show up. I don't want to go to a party tomorrow because I'd rather be writing and watching American Horror Story. I need to just quit college life and live in a cave or something.

Listen to these songs or the Giants will rise and destroy Olympus:

In the Mourning - Paramore

When I'm At Home - The Maine

Don't Kick the Chair - Dia Frampton

Set Yourself on Fire - Stars

Fire (Aim Your Arrows High) - VersaEmerge

Enjoy these cute picture of Kelsey, some of my sisters, and my cute self.

Inspirational Playlist

I'm doing this because I can and because I need it.

1. Go the Distance - Roger Bart
2. Smarter - Eisley
3. Status Quo - Joey Richter
4. What If - Meg & Dia
5. Weightless - All Time Low
6. Fly - Nicki Minaj
7. More Than This - Vanessa Carlton
8. Defying Gravity - Idina Menzel
9. Hold Onto What You Believe - Mumford & Sons
10. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
11. Admit It! - Say Anything
12. Only If For a Night - Florence + the Machine
13. Marching On - One Republic
14. Stay Awake (Dreams Only Last For a Night) - All Time Low
15. Ablaze - Armchair Cynics
16. No Way - Starkid

Video diary, day forty nine.

Despite my severe lack of sleep and the unfortunate resemblance to a pile of poop, today was actually quite a success. I owned several letters in English (I'm that annoying girl who loves to edit other people's work), took a nap, didn't pass out in art and then completed another successful nap immediately following that. I ate food, which is one of my favorite things to do, then went to Target with some lovely people, had some quality chats with the glorious people of the third floor and now I'm doing laundry.

The best part about today, though, was the wonderful realization I had. I realized exactly what The Decoder is missing, and exactly how I can fix it. I'm so excited! Of course, I'm quite embarrassed that I didn't realize it all sooner, but I'm learning as I go along, so come on.

Classes wrap up on Wednesday, and Thursday is a designated "study day", which actually means that I will be writing, eating and sleeping like a total boss. Get ready, because things are gonna get crazy.

Listen!
Monument - Carina Round
My Baby's Better Than Yours - Meg & Dia
I've Got A Dark Alley and a Bad Idea that Says You Should Shut Your Mouth - Fall Out Boy
The Con - Tegan and Sara
Lullabies - All Time Low

We're model material, wouldn't you say so?

Video diary, day forty eight.

This is the most disconnected my thoughts have been in awhile. I drank a lot of coffee and I honestly don't know what's wrong with me tonight. I've been doing a lot of talking to myself and reading about Scooby Doo. I rolled a pomegranate across my keyboard and managed to turn of my touch pad. I'm talented like that.

Early today I received an email letting me know that one agent isn't the one for me. Although I was initially a little bit sad, it's totally okay because there are hundreds of other agents and one of them will be exactly the total boss that's right for me. So I will not give up. NEVER SURRENDER!

Last night was Delta Gamma formal and it was rather awesome. As I said there would be, a goldmine of cute pics came out of the event. I don't know what it is about wearing a dress and heels that brings out the super model in me. (the last one is super awkward on purpose... I sent it to my mom and told her it was the only one we had time for. She caught my bluff.)

Video diary, day forty six.

Busy Friday was busy, but it went very well. I didn't sleep through English (which was a very real possibility due to the coffee consumption of last night), I spoke my mind and used nice words, we accomplished nice things during the Harry Potter Club council meeting and I think that my interview went really well. I hope that I get the counselor job so I can influence my kids. That's the real goal: brainwashing.

Now, in my English class today, a piece of work was read aloud to us by a fellow student. I'm not easily angered and I'm not incredibly confrontational (ask Kelsey. The last thing I'd ever be sorted as would be Gryffindor), but her work upset me to a point at which I had to tell her that it was absolutely horrible. I have a problem with people who are cocky, have a bad attitude towards work and/or authority, who think they're the most hilarious person to walk the Earth, despise their parents and let everyone know it, and a whole slew of other things. I've never met a person who embodies all of those things until this year, and I hope that I never come in contact with such a personality again. Anyway, she read aloud to the class about how she is an amazing writer, didn't need the course, and made it fun by injecting her personality and personal knowledge into the essays. She went onto state that she didn't care about the course, going so far as to address the letter to "Those Who May Judge Me" and signing off as "Careless College Freshman". The cherry on top was the mispronunciation of epitome, and thus I volunteered my critique for the first time all year.

Wow, that ended up getting much longer than I thought it would. I just have a lot of feelings about writing, I guess.

Anyway, because of my busy day, I haven't done much book writing, except for reviewing the bits I wrote yesterday. Surprisingly, I still like them, and they flow well with the rest of what I had on that part. I'm full of surprises lately.

Songs!
The Immigrant Song - Karen O.
I Miss You - Incubus
Heavy Rope - Lights
Forever in Love - Brighten
In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars

I'm oblivious to assassination attempts.

Video diary, day forty five.

Today I actually forced myself to pay attention in French, because our exam is coming up very soon and I refuse to get a B without a kicking and screaming fight. This led to me only writing a little bit, but it was very, very good and very important. Like I mentioned in the video, I was simply rewriting a scene that I've written a thousand times, but I think I finally got it right. Hallelujah!

I was out shopping with Demi today, and found three Percy Jackson books for a grand total of just six dollars. Needless to say, I was about to cry and I made sure everyone knew about it as soon as possible.

This upcoming weekend is super busy but I'm going to find some time to write even if it means I have to multitask, which I probably will have to. Luckily for my "Cute Blogging" folder, formal events always yield a great deal of awkward pictures of me, so I'll have plenty of new material. And I'm going with Tyler, so the pictures are definitely going to be, ah, interesting.

I want all of you to know how I'm doing my hair for formal on Saturday. This is absolutely essential knowledge:
http://www.keikolynn.com/2011/07/hair-tutorial-braided-do.html

I sort of really wish that I didn't have to wait until Wednesday for the new episode of American Horror Story. It's physically painful. I hate being strung along by a TV show like this. Curse you, Ryan Murphy!!

Listen to these quality songs:
Do You - Carina Round
Us - Regina Spektor
Therapy - All Time Low
Smarter - Eisley
The Writer - Ellie Goulding

Demi says that sometimes I look like a Rage Comic.