Graduation

Today, I graduated from college. Well, kinda. I still need seven credits, so this summer I'll be taking Mass Media & Human Behavior and first semester French. But since UW doesn't have a commencement ceremony in August, I walked at the spring ceremony. As a result, I really don't feel like I'm done or that I've accomplished anything.

I had this same problem four years ago. My high school graduation ceremony also felt empty and meaningless. I only realized the reason months later. The summer after high school, I still saw all my friends, lived with my parents, and did all the same things I did throughout high school. As a result, that summer felt just like every other summer. It wasn't until I moved into my dorm room at the end of August that I really "finished" high school.

And the same is true now. I'm going to hang out with my college friends all summer (and high school friends when I go home). The lease for my current apartment doesn't end until August. The majority of my time (for the first two months, at least) will be split between classes, StudyBlue, and games of Ultimate frisbee. If I was graduating, my diploma would be mailed to me twelve weeks later anyway. So even though I walked across the stage today, I am still a college student at heart.

Funny link for the week: We all know newspapers are seeing hard times right now. Well, newspaper comics are suffering a torturous death, and this blogger can tell you why. Even if you disagree with his assessment, his creative insults makes this a hilarious read.

Romarian Chronicles I

Excerpt from "Origins" by the elven scribe Ylathian, 3743 New Yamir Count. Currently in the Aethis Library of Silver Bay.

In the beginning, there were only the savages, who prayed to the pagan Eldreth. The world was in chaos, as there was no civilization, no justice, no knowledge. Frailith saw this and was displeased, so she asked Teis the Joyous, Lothar the Rich, Maphai the Quarrelous, Aethis the Wise, Döllno the Just, and Cailith the Dark to help her bring the gift of society to the mortal races. And the Seven, in their altruism, gave agriculture to the humans, elves, gnomes, and dwarves.

The humans built their kingdoms of the plains, the elves grew their principalities in the forests, the gnomes settled in the hills, and the dwarves dug their great mountain smithies. The humans and elves discovered magic, and civilization prospered. But Yamir, the human empire grew too large. And men became arrogant, and reached too far. They angered the Glaithans, who crossed the Belt Sea, and besieged Romaria. For five bloody years, Romaria burned. Civilization collapsed, science was lost, and knowledge of the millenia before the War of Terrors was forgotten forever.

But the Seven took mercy, and helped the Romarians drive the invaders from our lands. So the humans, the elves, the dwarves, and gnomes, and the half-orcs rebuilt their cities and reclaimed their culture. Here follows a complete history of Romaria, begining with the crowning of King Revon the First or New Yamir, in the first year of the New Yamir Count...

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Romarian Chronicles is a project for me to practice serialized storytelling and inventing a mythology. Feedback is always welcome.

Multi-Sensory Perception

As writers, our job is to convey a message through words. If we're telling a story, we have the challenge of managing a plot while utilizing as many of the five senses as possible. If we're providing information, we condense hours, days, or a lifetime of research and knowledge into a 400-word article, 3-paragraph blog entry, or a 5-page paper. If we're introducing a new idea, we take something that barely makes sense in our heads and lay it out in a way others might understand.

Spoken word artists have an easier job. They can use voices, body language, the space around them, and even the audience to share sensory information. Not that spoken word is easier. Even if you are comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, it takes considerable skill to keep that crowd entertained. And you have to avoid the rookie mistake giving your audience too much credit. Just because the audience can see and hear you doesn't mean you can skip sensory information.

Speaking of creative writing, I want to try something new. One of my dreams is to write comic books. To practice serialized storytelling, I'm going to start a new project. Once a month, I'm going to tell a story from a fictional mythology. I'll probably start on this next week.

Funny link for the week: This week's link is awesome rather than funny, but still needs to be shared. Two of my interests are the Blade movies and salsa dancing. This video combines both of them.