One: I've submitted to Clarion. It's done. I can honestly say that I've done my best; if I don't get in I'll be disappointed, but at least I'll know I did everything I could.
Two: the money finally arrived, and it's A LOT more than I expected. Either the allowance has dramatically increased, or it's a mistake. No prizes for guessing which I'd rather it be. If it's the former, the extra money is going to go towards paying for Clarion (if I get in) and repaying my brother.
Fingers crossed.
As much as I don't feel like a college student, my fridge says otherwise:
Chocolates; a gift from god knows when
Alcohol, in many different varieties; left over from housewarming last September
Pasta sticks; haven't been touched in ages
Orange juice, orange juice from concentrate, Mug root beer, milk; just about the only things I buy regularly
Kelloggs Frosted Flakes; just about the only other thing I buy regularly
Jam and peanut butter and butter (but without bread, sigh); some have been here since before I moved in
and pretzels; which is taking me forever to finish.
Notice the lack of vegetables, meat, or, you know, any kind of actual food?
(You have to take the title literally, and ignore its traditional usage.)
I haven't updated much because nothing very exciting has happened.
I'm done with the two stories I'll be submitting to Clarion; except for minor changes here and there - mainly because I never stop obsessing - I don't expect to do much more with them. I'm really just waiting for my copy of Storyteller to arrive; it's a textbook of sorts about what happens at Clarion, so I figure I should read that before submitting my application.
I'm also working on another story now for the Advanced Fiction class; coincidentally enough, the latest edition of Out had a small blurb about the magazine's inaugural short fiction issue, to be published in June, and it's accepting short fiction and excerpts from novels in progress, so I will probably submit to that as well. The 'coincidental' part is that the piece I'm working features two gay men, so it fits into the competition's criteria perfectly.
More on this piece: oddly enough, I started writing it thinking it's a short piece, especially since I was writing it primarily for class, which has a limit of 14 pages. I don't like writing excerpts, mainly because I think it's hard to critique part of a novel, but I do think this one has the potential to be a novelette, novella, or even novel. It's nearing two thousand words already, and I'm only at the beginning. My plan is to not think about it, and just finish this part of the story. Hopefully it'll be self-contained enough that it'll bypass all my hang-ups about excerpts, both for class and for the competition.
Other than writing, which basically is taking over my life now, there's not much else going on. My classes, on the whole, have been much better than those in previous semesters: Science Fiction is great, I like the script I'm writing for Screenwriting, and even The History of Science in Society is interesting (although it must be said that this is mostly the professor's doing. The only thing is his name is Appuhn, which cracks me up thinking about "The Simpsons" every. single. time.).
Oh, oh. I almost forgot. I bought a copy of "Secret of Mana" today. I got a friend an FC Twin recently; it's a machine that's basically an amalgamation of the NES and SNES; and I've been going on and on about "SoM", but today I finally found a copy cheap enough to buy. Good memories. The store I went to had "Breath of Fire", "Lufia" (and "Lufia II"), and all the other old standbys as well, which made me very nostalgic.
Now all that needs to happen is that THE GODDAMN MONEY FROM SPH NEEDS TO ARRIVE. I really don't know what's going on back there.
Heartbreaking more than a decade ago; still heartbreaking more than a decade later.
It starts with a sinking feeling that slowly hardens into conviction. And then you look at the mass of words, and wonder what you were thinking. As your heart breaks a little, you put the manuscript aside, and you grieve and fume for a little while before you start anew.