Dreams of the Quill

Yeah, so there haven’t been writing updates in almost a month(?) now. I’m not really too interested in letting DotQ sit around idly for months like I did last school year, so I think I’ll use this here blog section to… well, blog.

So I’ll start off with what I’m up to.

I’ve been playing a lot of Fire Emblem the last couple days. Most likely too much. But that’s alright, because I’m getting everything I need done done. I got my Unit 1 essay turned in in AP US History today, and think I did alright on the test. I’m not failing the EBCC, having kept their site updated and working for two weeks now, and am overall in good moods.

I haven’t written much outside of school in the last two weeks. I’ve posted a bit on the forums, but only one of those posts can really be considered writing. I’ve got about a page down for Chapter Seven of the Hunter Chronicles. As for art, I’ve been sketching here and there during idle time in various classes. Nothing much to show (nothing at all aside from what I’ve already put on the site) but hey, practice is practice.

Classes are so far okay. My Publishing for the World Wide Web class is a weird mix of way below my level and new stuff, but the pacing is such that I end up spending most of my time sitting around twiddling my thumbs (or playing Nanaca Crash). I gotta e-mail Mr. Striemer about that some time, ask him if I can’t enroll in the super-secret “non-existent” Advanced Web Projects class. I want to learn AJAX, SQL, and more PHP so that I can write awesome web programs!

Chemistry is fun so far, in a sort of banging my head way. Our teacher’s utterly incompetent and stupid to boot. As an insightful classmate of mine so eloquently put it, “she’s a dodo.” Math is pathetically easy, which is to be expected of the sudden drop into non-Honors after a very, very rigorous Algebra 2 class last year. French is doable, and should be much better this year than last- my teacher is nowhere close to as lame as last year’s.

Now we’re getting to the good stuff.

AP US History and AP Language and Composition. Two tough, tough classes. Armloads of content, lecture, and textbook reading in the former, armloads of in-class essays in the latter. If you guys get lucky, I might post some of my work for the classes. So that you can all laugh at how crappy my writing is. Check the homework/RL board some time, and essays might be there.

But things are looking way up! I’m actually procrastinating a minimal amount, for myself, and feel good about the way I’m approaching things in general. I’m working efficiently and well, and I go to bed satisfied with what I’ve done over the course of the day. I didn’t have this kind of security last year, or the year before. And this leads us right into the cause for a lot of my feeling bad…

…anime! I’ve watched about 7 or 8 episodes in the last week, all in the company of my brothers. Some light-hearted comedy and some mecha. Good stuff- and not too much of it. The reduction in anime consumption is a Really Good Thing.

So here’re some of the things you might be interested in checking out:
EBCC - teh awesomest chess club evar!
My first 100% original PHP program (no C+P of pre-existing code). I wrote it today in History on a piece of binder paper after I finished my test, came home, tweaked it a bit, and then implemented it. It’s nothing spectacular, but I’m proud.
The one show I’ll bother watching this season. Because sad girls in snow are the best, right, Gallagher-sensei?

And I leave you with an image to contemplate, if you will.

HC still delayed thanks to work, school, and such. Here’re some sketches to appease the masses.

Kaze - Walkin’ Along
Julien - Fastening
Gem - Lord the Fourth
Naruto

Oh, and with the completion of the East Bay Chess website yesterday, I’ve gone into business.

http://michaelpruess.com - you guys, my loyal beloved friends and readers, can examine this draft of a site for me. Thanks!

So, my school started. It’s kinda rough, what with two APs. One’s taught by your stereotypical history teacher, the other by some downright insane madman whose claim to fame is cussing a lot and being loud. He makes us take notes on how we’re stupid and he’s always right.

HC… I haven’t really gotten started on Chapter Seven yet, for a variety of reasons. For one, I’ve been preoccupied with school. Then there’s anime, Wesnoth, walking with J, and a host of other things that are eating into my time. I got a couple paragraphs written just now, but the basic idea is that I won’t have a chapter written to release tomorrow.

Oh, and as the school year progresses, I’ll be getting involved in a number of tasks. Among these are designing websites for my older brother D’s various companies and interning for a couple graphic designers who live right near me. I’ll be cutting anime down to one episode per week (hopefully) and will also (hopefully) stop playing Wesnoth, but even then, I might not have much time to work on my writing.

Or maybe I will! Predictions are hard to make. Especially about the future.

And here’s the catboy I drew.

Some of you might have noticed, but my internet has been acting up in the past few days. I am here to proudly say that it is working, and that I am back online. Hopefully for good. Don’t ask me if Flak and I will be working on our comic, or if we’ll be doing anything, because I’m quite busy with school now.

That’s enough rambling for now, it’s just good to be back.

(For the impatient, the link is at the top of the post. See it?)
HC: Book One, Crystals of Mana - Chapter Six

Well, I managed to grab wireless from right outside a small motel in South Lake Tahoe (not the one I’m staying at…) and figured that I might as well post the next chapter, since I’d written it on schedule and everything. There’s not much more to say. I’ll have some photos of Tahoe up by some time Tuesday at the latest, and I’ll be caught up goings-on at this site (and others?) by evening tomorrow.

Enjoy!