22 Thursday Nov 2012
Posted in Photography
Tags
arts, christmas, city, clock, courthouse, lights, people, photo, Photograhy, photograph, photographer, photos, picture, pictures, wreath
This gallery contains 8 photos.
So, I went downtown with some friends of mine and we watched the traditional lighting of the wreath! It’s …
20 Tuesday Nov 2012
Posted in Musing
Tags
advice, advise, dedication, literature, message, messages, rainy day, typewriter, words, Writing
If I were the one giving advice, I would be telling new writers to keep going, no matter what. However, I would pause and think that that sort of thinking would then seem petty when shined in the real light of life. Because no one ever really stops doing anything, unless they are dead. So, I would tell them to keep reaching higher; that is what will make the difference.
I would tell them to take their pen, typewriter, computer, or if they’re into chiseling their messages into rocks, to write, and keep writing until they are comfortable with how their words sound or until they are sure that they have properly trained them.
Because words are not something to simply be captured and locked away for a rainy day. They are living and breathing creatures that need to be nurtured into submission. They never really do exactly what you want, but they do enough for you that they resemble something of what you are after. I would tell the writer to not think of their pen as a whipping stick, nor even a leash, but more of a stroking hand. Give the words their time, and they respond more quickly to whatever it is you want. They obey, to an extent, and try to please the writer’s will as quickly as possible.
All it takes is that time, that love, and dedication. Not every word that a writer will put down will be beautiful. But there must be a starting place. One moment where the writer is able to look back on, and see how far that they have come. And if they stick with it, keep training their words into messages, then they will see those results.
Words are not mere markings, they are a part of the writer’s soul, and a soul is not something that can be tethered down.
Words are alive
18 Sunday Nov 2012
Posted in update
Jennay over at http://adayinthelifeofjennay.wordpress.com nominated me for the Very Inspirational Blog Award!
Thank you so much Jennay for the award! It’s my first, and I am ablaze with a smile on my lips! It is flattering that someone would find my blog inspirational enough to think of me in that way! So, again, thank you!
Below are the rules for the Very Inspiring Blog Award so please follow carefully:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.
SEVEN THINGS ABOUT ME
1. I love reading and writing, as many of you already know.
2. I someday wish to visit Ireland! It’s the place of my heritage, and I’ve heard that it is quite beautiful!
3. I like walking through the woods away from people and cities. There is something therapeutic about the action, and I am always amazed by the beauty that nature holds!
4. Longboarding is another hobby of mine!
5. I dislike cats. Alaskan Malamutes are my weakness.
6. I’m a heavy tea drinker.
7. I wish to be a father some day!
AND! Thank you to everyone else who reads my blog! You all are incredible! YOU are my audience, and I am yours. What a wonderful mutual relationship we have here!
Here are my 15 nominations!
2. http://tanhuimin.wordpress.com
3. http://stephenkellycreative.wordpress.com
4. http://nightshadehunter.wordpress.com
5. http://ashaseth.wordpress.com/
6. http://everedwater.wordpress.com
9. http://thoughtsofalunatic.com
10. http://petra365.wordpress.com
11. http://randomizer144.wordpress.com
12. http://shimmeringgrains.com
14. http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com
15. http://inkandpapyrusblog.wordpress.com
I’ll get around to notifying you all! 🙂 Have a great night!
16 Friday Nov 2012
Tags
and, career courses, college, community, literature, oddities, other, school, such, work, Writing
As the semester is approaching its final weeks, I have been rethinking the way that I am approaching my future. Money is getting tight, and while I am thoroughly enjoying my classes, there are some things that I want to do, as far as my future career goes, that I have not been able to engage in recently.
So, what I am thinking of doing is this: I will continue going to school part time, and then work my job at the bookstore full time (or at least as close to that as I can). That way, I can be saving money back, finishing school, as well as having more time for my writing. As it is, I have had little time to partake in what I enjoy doing, and that has been bothering me to no end, often making my stomach churn when I think of it at night. I am accustomed to being able to have some time to write, and while I do write for this blog, there can be a span of weeks before I can actually sit down and write something for the sake of practice. I want to be able to write for myself daily, but that hasn’t been happening.
By splitting my attention between the bookstore and my schoolwork, I think that I will get the best of both worlds. My parents think that it’s a wonderful idea, and funnily enough, it was my Father who brought it up to me, as if reading my mind. I have always known that it won’t be school that will teach me to write, instead, I have to be the one who sits down and does the deed in order to get good at it. So, again, I think that it will be the smarter course. At least for my situation.
I will be starting chapter 3 soon, friends. Have a wonderful day!
16 Friday Nov 2012
Tags
bench, blue, cabin, challenge, flowers, grass, little cabin, nature, park, photo, photograph, picture, pretty, sky, walking through the park, weekly, weekly photo challenge
A little cabin that I stumbled across while walking through the park! No one lives there, sadly.
Posted by shudderingwords | Filed under Photography
12 Monday Nov 2012
Posted in Writing
Tags
book, chapter 2 part 2, interesting, nano, NaNoWriMo, photographer, story, stuff
This be mine.
(Here is the last part of chapter 2. Again, I apologize for the errors that you may find. Thus is the nature of drafts. Enjoy.)
Shattered
Wrath did not bother undressing, nor washing himself. There was no clean water, and his clothes might as well have been a part of him. He needed new ones that did not have holes or smell so ghastly. Maybe on the morrow he could find some more. The thought of going out now even flashed across his mind, but he decided against it and instead sat down on the bed, crossing his knees and folding his hands, as if in prayer. He lifted his chin, as if he were about to speak, but he did not and instead stared straight ahead. He did not close his eyes, nor slow his breathing, but stared at a peeling wall. He turned inward and closed out the world around him, giving himself a refuge to hide inside to heal his mind.
He did not move a muscle, nor bat an eye. It served as an escape from the world, a place where he could collect himself, and figure out what it was he wanted to do. He now remembered that sleep brought horrific nightmares. So, instead of sleeping, he substituted it by doing nothing, shutting himself down, and becoming distant in his thoughts.
I feel so lost. Wrath said mentally. It was a thought that continued to come to him over time. He tried to keep that kind of thinking away, and instead focus on his family; happy thoughts. But the thought of being lost kept returning, begging for his attention with a calloused palm. It bothered him, and he wanted it to leave, but return it would. Maybe, he thought, if he were to think it through, it would go away.
“Who says that you are?” A voice says, “You could be making it all up. The world is not a friendly place, so who is to say that this isn’t normal?”
“It is normal.” Wrath said to himself.
“Now it is?” The voice asked Chidingly, almost as if it had been expecting a different answer.
Wrath shuddered mentally. If the world was always this cold, then what was the point of going on? He knew that he wanted an escape. Some kind of release.
“Give me death.” Wrath whispered, barely letting the air past his lips.
“I can not grant it. I am merely a voice, one that you yourself created.” It said, “Death will have to come to you by your own hand.”
“I can not, though. I will become what crawls through the streets and the sewers, licking blood off the walls of old homes. Never still, always hungry, killing because it can not die itself. I do not want that kind of fate.”
“Would it not be easier to live?” The voice became deathly quiet, “Who says that those creatures out there aren’t happy?”
Happy? What was happy? Some long forgotten memories tugged at his mind, bringing into focus his family, his friends…even his duty to the city. They passed back into whatever dark recess they had come from, taking any old feeling of warmth with them.
“They are not happy.” Wrath felt himself saying, “Even in death they scream in pain. Watching me with hateful eyes. I hear no laughter from their severed throats, no mirth shining in dim eyes. There is nothing from them. They envy my life, and I envy their death. They are not happy, I do not want that fate.”
“But you don’t know for sure, do you?”
“No, I suppose that I don’t.” He sighed, “But I have seen, and I am afraid. Give me real death, and I will embrace it warmly. Darkness; unconsciousness is what I want.” Wrath’s voice broke slightly, “I haven’t seen real darkness in so long.”
The voice that was speaking to him went silent and Wrath reflected on what he had been given.
After a time, the voice came back saying, “Do you want to see it? Do you wish to see Death?”
“Gods yes!” Wrath was able to pull himself out of his “slumber” and instead of hearing a hollow voice in his head, now saw a man standing in front of him, arms crossed. Dark hair billowed down over black eyes and black skin. The man was like a shadow, yet he stood there in flesh, a single piece of red cloth covering his chest, back and thighs.
Wrath jumped up and reached for a sword that was no longer there, falling backwards over the bed in his surprise, causing it to groan horribly, as if it were about to break.
The man waited for Wrath to collect himself both physically and mentally. When he did, Wrath stood in a stooped position on top of the bed, arms held up as if he were about to grapple with the man. He stood tensely, waiting for the man in front of him to do something.
The man smiled when he saw that Wrath had finished flailing in surprise, “Hello. You seem quite blind when you gaze off at that wall.”
Wrath did not say anything. What was there to say? This man had entered his home without his permission. And while he was ‘sleeping’ to boot!
The man continued smiling, as if deeply entertained by Wrath and what he seemed to think of as antics.
“I suppose that you will want to know who I am and what I can offer.” The man turned and walked to the opposite side of the room and seated himself in a chair. “Don’t worry. I can’t harm you. See?” To prove his point, he grabbed at a broken cup on an end table. The cup, unsurprisingly, left it’s place, tightly in the grip of the man sitting before him. However, when Wrath looked closely, he saw that there were two cups now. One in the man’s hand, and the other sitting on the end table exactly where the cup in the man’s hand had left its place.
“How did you do that?” Wrath demanded feeling a little frightened by what he was seeing and if he was completely honest with himself, of the man as well.
“Exactly what you imagine me to.” The man smiled, setting the cup back to where it had been, merging the two cups together.
Wrath did not know what to say. He stared at the cups dumbfounded and completely baffled to how such a feat was possible. His mouth opened and closed, and he tried to get the words to come out, but finding that they were no longer there. The man held Wrath’s face in his gaze, watching with apparent amusement at the reaction that he was getting. Wrath noticed that there was even a slight smirk!
Finally, the man seemed to take pity on Wrath and said, “This world is not everything that you would imagine. For instance, this cup!” He gestured at the mostly complete cup beside him, palm upward. His black eyes bored into Wrath’s own. “I picked it up, yes?”
Wrath nodded dumbly.
“And what did it do?”
Wrath struggled to force words out, still trying to figure out exactly what it had been that he had seen! The words came out haltingly, “You…duplicated them!”
The man actually laughed this time, rich and charming. Wrath felt a sensation rush through him, and when the man stopped, the feeling passed.
“No.” The man was still smiling and chuckling, “Not duplicating. In fact, I didn’t pick it up at all! You only expected me to, so that’s what you saw. Except, you also saw the reality and realized that it conflicted with what you thought you were seeing.”
“But…I saw you pick it up!” Wrath flushed indignantly and he felt his face getting warm, “I know what I saw!” The absurdity of it all came to Wrath and he no longer felt afraid, but instead, angry. How dare this man tell him that he did not know what his own eyes told him! This trespasser was playing tricks, trying, no doubt, to rob him of his wealth! What of the children? Where was his wife? This thief was merely a distraction!
Wrath did not wait for the man to say anything else and shouted at him, “Out! How dare you walk into my home without my permission! How did you get past the guard?” The man sat firmly in his chair, again with that little self-satisfied smile on his face, as if watching a monkey in some circus! How dare he?
The anger flooded Wrath and he felt a new well of energy open up inside of him. He jumped down off of the bed and grabbed his sword, wishing the rid himself of the intruder and his infuriating smile. He would save his family, and the world would be rid of yet another necromancer! Never to bother another soul!
But when Wrath looked to where the man had been sitting, he was stunned to find that there was no longer anyone sitting there. The chair remained as it had been all along, as if no one had sat there at all. A thick layer of dust remained undisturbed on the padded seat.
What is happening? Wrath wondered. He twirled around, glancing this way and that, trying to see if he could find the man, but was met by an empty room. The room was hushed, and an open breeze rolled through the window, making the silken blinds wave in the wind. All Wrath could hear was his breathing come out in anxious spurts. Where is he?
10 Saturday Nov 2012
Tags
angel, dead death, gravestone, graveyard, photo, photographer, photography, picture, renewal, weekly photo challenge
Angel mourning the dead. Death, often reminding us of a new beginning. A renewal.
Posted by shudderingwords | Filed under Photography
10 Saturday Nov 2012
Posted in Writing
Tags
and adventure, book, chapter 2, darkness, happiness, NaNoWriMo, progress, story, update, Writing
Credit goes to Freies Geistesleben. His website is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freiesgeistesleben/2249632265/in/photostream
Well, I finally finished the second chapter in Shattered! I was able to squeeze the last few words out between classes and the many papers that English classes require you to pump out. I am going to apologize for any grammatical errors, as I did minimal editing. This is only the second draft, and is actually written from scratch, so bear with me! I’m going to break it up into two parts so that it’s not too much to read all at once. I know how hard it is to stick through a long post on the internet, so I’ll keep them short and sweet. Enjoy! :)
Shattered
Day came, throwing new shadows on the city. The sky stayed a murky gray, covering the otherwise cheerful face of the sun with a stubborn curtain. That, though, was nothing new. Ever since the city had fallen into what Wrath could only call hell, there had been no real sunlight to speak of, only the dark dream-light of a deep winter.
From Wrath’s standpoint in the balcony of the central tower in the palace, he could view the expanse of the city. His eyes flicked from ruined square to ruined square, keeping an eye out for once-men. He had no need for sleep, so he kept watch during the day. The daylight was far more dangerous than the night. Why? Things were awake during the day, and they were things that a man did well to leave alone. The city lay still and the bodies of old victims from both the war and Wrath lay scattered in the street, rotting. The small homes and markets were in ruin. Remnants from old battles and assaults on the people that had once lived there. To the north, Wrath’s right, a monstrous mountain rose into the sky with everything above the mid-section hidden behind a layer of clouds. Wrath recalled that the truly wealthy men of the city had lived further up the mountain in palaces like kings during the Elder Days. There was no longer a path leading up there, but it had been a very prestigious place to live in, had you had the coin to live there of course.
A scream, if it could be called that, echoed through the streets, most likely from the throat of a once-man. What it was fighting, Wrath could not tell. There were no other sounds but that of the creature having its insides spilled. Wrath was beyond cringing at such sounds. For whatever reason, the things that hunted the once-men did not like entering buildings, so he had heard plenty of these slaughters in his time whilst living in this hellish city. Most once-men seemed to go into hiding like Wrath during the day, yet there were a few stupid ones that would chance the occasional trip out of doors, often finding that their decision would, in fact, be their last.
So far, Wrath’s little home here in the palace was safe. No unwelcome creatures had wandered in as of yet and he was happy to keep it that way. The reason for his watchfulness during the day. Some days he would stand until night time came, to pick his sword back up and head out into the streets to shorten the population count of these monsters. Others, he would sit in his room quietly, dreaming of older memories, hiding from the world. He was safe here, but this had not been his first sanctuary. In fact, he had been through dozens before coming to this one. He did not know how long he had been here, but he did know that it was far longer than he had been with past locations. There was something about it that made creatures and unwelcome spirits from passing through its doors.
“Aron.”
Wrath turned to face his wife. She was dressed in the same white gown that he had seen her in earlier. He momentarily forgot about the killings outside and smiled, his arms outstretched, ready to embrace her. Rachel did not return the gesture, but instead continued with her face blank, “Where are the children?”
Wrath looked at her as if in confusion, but then snapped out of it, smiling all the wider.
“They are right here, love.” He said, moving one arm to his left to indicate the children standing there. Four in all, two boys and two girls. Rachel, who was named after her mother, Bethany, Theo, and Tyron. They all stood next to him, oldest to youngest, their beautiful faces were glowing with smiles at the sight of their mother. They rushed to her and embraced her around the waist shouting in unison, “You’re back mother!”
“Did you enjoy the ball?” Tyron asked, his blue eyes gleaming.
“Were all the ladies as beautiful as you said?” Rachel said at the same time. She seemed to have trouble keeping her hair out of her eyes as usual, constantly brushing it aside.
“How pretty you look, mother!” Bethany laughed.
Theo merely laughed and tugged at the hem of his mother’s dress, jumping up and down excitedly.
Wrath watched them all embrace each other, none of them paying him the slightest attention. He did not mind, though. They were happy, he could see it in their faces and their eyes. He laughed along with them, heartily.
Rachel looked back up at Wrath, smiling. “I’m glad to see that they are safe, darling. Did you have any troubles watching them?”
Wrath shook his head, no.
She clapped once, hands over her head, “Good! How about we get you all ready for dinner? Though not a drip of the healthy stuff tonight! How does a full course of desserts sound?”
All the children cheered at this news, jumping up and down with the folds of their mother’s dress in their small hands. Their faces were pure excitement, smiles dominating their features.
Rachel turned and led the children out of the bedroom toward the dining room in the palace, leaving Wrath alone, smiling.
He was left alone, chuckling to himself, happy to see the children laughing. They did not often, not with him and Rachel being so busy all the time. It was a hard life, but it had established a living. A good one at that, too.
The laughter of the children echoed from the hall like birds in a tree. So young. Being their father, he decided that he should share the course of deserts that the children were looking forward to so eagerly. After all, this was such a rare evening where both mother and father were home.
However, he never left his place. He felt his body tense, he stood straighter and focused his attention on a person standing in front of him. Randyl, was his name, and a dear friend.
Gold hair fell in thick curls over a broad forehead and blue eyes blinked furiously, something that he did when irritated. A thick beard made his face seem more fierce than comely, even though the spirit behind the eyes was nothing short of compassionate. Now, however, compassion was not something that he was feeling. His broad shoulders were lifting and his thick arms were flailing around in front of Wrath, making it known that he was not happy.
“We can’t keep doing this, Wrath! The wall is taking far too long to complete and the council is getting restless. They need this finished. The population of the city is getting too large for the city to sustain! They need some place to move!” He complained, straining to keep his voice level and composed, “ We are suppose to finish in six months. At the rate that we are going, we won’t finish for another three years!”
“It will hold, and we will finish on time.” Wrath said, “ Have I failed this job yet? I may be hardheaded, but that does not mean that I won’t finish what I need to do. Trust me.”
“I already do trust you.” Randyl said, though without calming, “But tell me this: Where are you going to get the rest of the funds? You said that investing in a stronger stone would help, but our funds are running dry. What do you plan to do about the growing population?”
“Maybe the city would like to donate. If they are so desperate to get out of each other’s squares, then maybe they would like to help. The population will even out like it always does. Babies are born, the elderly die. Maybe we can expand on the volunteer military that we have. That will exterminate a few more mouths.”
“Everyone pays enough already. We just need to finish! Not to mention the soldiers are tired of fighting the monsters in the forest. We lose plenty of men already, we don’t need our volunteers to die as well. You sound cold!”
“They will hold.” Wrath sighed. “Please, let me have my evening. We shall get it figured out. What can be the harm of a few young, overly eager fellows getting snuffed? Maybe it will make people respect what we do more. As I said, we shall get this figured out.”
“For our sakes, I hope that you do. There is nothing I despise more than a man who can not handle his own work.” Randyl’s hands curled, almost as if he was going to say something further, but instead he turned and left, taking the tension in the room with him.
Wrath relaxed when the man left. The last thing that he wanted to deal with was another issue with that damn wall. If there was something that he resented about his father, it was the position of authority that he had left behind. There was always something needing to be done yesterday. It was enough to make him turn gray at thirty.
But right now, he wanted sleep. He was sure that he had been about to do something before Randyl had interrupted. Wrath shook his head, and pressed a palm to his forehead gingerly. He was so tired. So, very tired. He wished that he could sleep forever, never to waken. That was impossible, however. Something told him that it was so, though he wasn’t sure what it was. For now, he would have to make do with the temporary sleep that came so much easier these days. After all, it was an escape.
06 Tuesday Nov 2012
Posted in NaNoWriMo
Tags
article notes, happening, much, NaNoWriMo, negligence, nice view, not, plight, tags, wrath, Writing
I’m trying, friends! I really am! School seems to have its own agenda about what I’m going to be doing this week, and is thus postponing my novel until later on, however. I have two papers coming up, a speech, and an astronomy test! There seems to be no end this week, and my characters have been lamenting my negligence!
Soon! I’ll soon post Chapter two, and you will be able to enjoy Wrath’s plight just a little longer until the next chapter without as much of a wait!
Tea, article, notes, and pulled hair!!
At least I have a nice view as I work!
04 Sunday Nov 2012
Posted in NaNoWriMo
These past two days, I have done nothing with my writing. I have had far too much homework and work to do, making any sort of travels within my book impossible! I still have some time left today, so I think that I will be using that bit of time towards something productive, but right now, time is tight.
In the meantime, I did learn some interesting things about humans theologically. Bishop Sheen is an amazing man and I recommend listening to some of his videos on YouTube. He holds a ton of wisdom.
Everyone have a wonderful Sunday.
And don’t forget your purpose.
shudderingwords 