So I'm posting. Not really sure why, seeing as it's 4 in the morning and I don't have anything to post about, but I sort of feel like posting and I know I won't if I leave it til after however many hours of sleep. Some random stuff: classes start for me the day after tomorrow. I mean today. Monday, they start Monday. I want to take about a million classes but I waited til last week (note: the week before classes start) to sign up for them so most of them are filled up already. I still managed to get into classes that I'm pretty happy about right now. Hopefully I'll feel the same after I actually start. I'm psuedo-freaking out, because I haven't gotten my textbooks yet and I'm not sure I'll be able to find all my classes and because I feel like I should be freaking out cause it's the first day of school or something, but then again... it's just the first day of school. It doesn't matter *that* much, does it? Maybe I want it to.

For a while, a year or two ago, I wrote stuff on my arms. Words and song lyrics and things I wanted to remember. I rewrote over them whenever they threatened to wash off, and kept things there for weeks or months, figuring I'd let stuff wash off as soon as I felt I didn't need it anymore. There's nothing on my arm right now. I wish there were, because I feel like my head's been empty this summer, like there's nothing worth keeping. Honestly, that's a lie. I can find some words that would be worth keeping (ex: fantasy, hurricane, tumblr, potato skins). But I miss the writing covering my arms. (Arm? Mostly just my left, cause I'm right handed.)

While I'm babbling about totally random stuff, I went to San Antonio two weeks ago and already I miss it again. I really really want to go to Fuddrucker's and I don't even know why it's four in the morning but I want a strawberry milkshake. I want to learn to drive so I can go there myself, but at the same time I don't want to actually drive cause it seems scary, and like a responsiblity I don't actually need.

It's kinda the same with writing - I want to write a book but agh, it's so hard and scary and why do I even bother? I guess I know the answer, I just really like the stories... but it's a shame that they don't come easily.

I've heard reports of livejournal messing up a bit lately. And ever since I started with it, I've heard from everybody that other blogging platforms are better. But for some reason, I still love livejournal the most. I don't really know why. Most of the time I don't even post on it.

I really want a strawberry milkshake.

Because I haven't posted lately, I know I haven't mentioned this. I made a tumblr. It's nice and shiny and if you like it, you can follow me. Or you can just admire the pretty red background and then move on. I don't really care.

I have no end to this post.

Gorgeous. I can't wait for this to come out.

For a book called Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I'm rather excited for this one, even though I usually reserve my excitement for sequels and new books by authors I've already read.

You can find the contest right here: http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/2011/06/shatter-me-arc-contest-20.html

And if you're interested, this is the book trailer:

So, I may be dumping a couple of contests on you in the next couple posts. But OH well, you can deal. Not to mention you can enter yourself for a chance to win all sorts of shiny prizes.

First of all, this:


I am very much looking forward to this book, and this trailer... amused me, to say the least. Natalie C Parker made it and is subsequently running a contest with about 7 ARCs and a copy of Blood Magic to give away, in three different prize packs. You can find the contest here: http://nataliesee.livejournal.com/173729.html

"All of the blood, none of the vampires." <--AMAZING TAGLINE

Just saying.

So.

Long time no see, huh?

Yeah, well, I just got out of my Intro to Psych class, which is normally just boring, but TODAY we got to see a video of rat sex, which is just... awkward, to be honest. And a little gross. Okay, the video wasn't solely about rat sex, it was about motivation. But apparently, sex is a BIG motivator. The rest of the video was about love and achievement and I dunno, I kinda tuned out after rat sex. I got out my phone (defying my teacher's strict rule of no technology, admittedly) and was going to post then, except my phone's internet is too slow.

So, here I am, coming to you from my Blackberry while waiting to be picked up. Yes, I am posting twice in one day. But there's nothing better to do right now! Well, not strictly true. I have a stack of five YA books next to me. I could be reading. But I knew you all would much rather hear my rambling thoughts instead.

So speaking of YA books, I have a bad habit of owning a ton of books and then not reading them. I always tell myself I will, though. Eventually. Just yesterday, I finished Delirium by Lauren Oliver. When I had to choose what to read next, I picked out this stack of five books I have now. I know I can't actually read them all at once, but there's something about picking what to read next that makes me feel like maybe I could. So this is my (immediate) stack of to-be-reads:

The Floating Islands, by Rachel Neumeier (I'm 127 pages in.)
Sean Griswold's Head, by Lindsey Leavitt (21 pages.)
Nothing, by Janne Teller
Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A. S. King
Audrey, Wait! By Robin Benway

Also, Beastly by Alex Flinn should be in my stack, but I forgot it at home.

Why do I insist on torturing myself with Creative Writing classes? This semester's course is, luckily, devoid of the non-fiction writing I was complaining about in an earlier post, but for the first half of the semester, we're stuck on poetry. Now poetry, poetry I don't mind so much. Although when studied in class I find poetry to be something tolerable and only occasionally beautiful, I am a dork when it comes to the poetry in song lyrics. Though I may not be particularly knowledgeable on the subject, I still manage to go on and on and on and on about various repetitions and pronoun switches and such. But when it comes to class, when forced to write it, poetry is not something I'm particularly fond of. I'm a writer, it's true, but I tend to think in prose more than poetry. It's just not the format I generally consider things in. And my patience runs too thin when trying to consider imagery. It's one of my flaws. I either think up a brilliant line in some burst of insight or I don't think it up at all. I've never struggled toward something like that. When I think about it, it's possible I've never had to struggle towards knowledge in any area. I've never really had to study for something. Maybe because of this, I don't know how. If there's anyone out there, is it possible to teach me to love poetry? That would be nice.

On another subject, you know how livejournal allows you to set the privacy level when posting? You can show it to everyone, to just the people you have listed as friends, or you can set it so that only you can see it. I'm not sure I'll ever use the last option; call me paranoid, but if I don't want people to see it, I'm not putting it on the internet, no matter how private livejournal tells me it is. The option to only let friends see something, though, sounds like it would be useful -- except, a lot of things I couldn't say to everyone is stuff that I can't say to people I know, specifically. If only there were some way to have a reverse friends option, so that only complete strangers who don't matter in the least could see posts like that. It's not practical in the least, really, since every stranger has the potential to matter, and it's just too difficult to work out securely. I was just thinking...

Hmm. Is there anything else going on in my life right now that you should know about? Oh, right. I started writing. A book. Like, my actual book. Mmhmm. Pretty cool, huh? It would be much cooler if I could get more than two words out, wouldn't it?

Sometimes it seems as if there are two ways to use words. Some words simply describe the world around them, struggling to capture every detail in perfect accord with actuality. Others somehow manage to actually create the world they describe. Rather than recount captive details, they inspire the picture, somehow enabling you to create a perfectly formed image in your head. I've found myself struggling toward this effect multiple times, especially when writing anything that requires emotion, like romance or action scenes. A fight scene just doesn't sound right bogged down with lots of technical details; you really can't describe each and every move without losing the momentum you've worked hard to build. Likewise, there's usually a lot more behind the meaning of a kiss then the position of the tongue. I want to be able to do that, to say just a few words and create the exact idea I wanted to convey. It's the difference between the sun and its reflection, and I want to shine.

If any of you are familiar with Tessa Gratton's livejournal, you've probably heard about this book she has coming out on May 24th called Blood Magic. And if you're at all familiar with the Merry Sisters of Fate, you'll know that Tessa Gratton, along with Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff (whose books I both adore, by the way) post short fiction stories once a week. Now, put these two things together, and you might be interested to know there's currently a contest being run by the Merry Sisters of Fate, the prize being a shiny new ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of Blood Magic.

Oh, I want it so badly.

If you're interested in entering the contest, you should go here, and if you wanna check out some of the stories they've written, I would suggest staring with one of my recent favorites, Maggie Stiefvater's story Between the Drops. And, of course, check out Blood Magic when it's released at the end of spring.

When you read books, it always seems like the people who find what I'm going to arbitrarily name "True Love" are basically amazing people on their own, and the only person who can truly appreciate that (with the exception of love triangles) is their one True Love. If we take that for granted, I'm probably never going to find True Love, am I? I mean, I don't feel amazing. When it comes down to it, I'm probably pretty average, like everybody else. But I wonder if it's possible, that this "True Love" might be one person who MAKES you amazing, like around them, you're more than the average person you are around everyone else. Somehow, they would give you the ability to be more than average. I wonder...

A list, to be updated when required, of the muses that I refer to at the bottom of the occasional post. If you're wondering why I'm doing this, see this post. Not that that clarifies things. Let's just say I did it out of boredom.

Also, hopefully you know better by now than to click on the linked name at the bottom of the posts. It's just gonna take you to a location search for whatever name I put. If anyone knows how to turn that off, please tell me.

(Note: Not all of these are characters.)

Alex– Muse of Musicians
Angel – Muse of Revenge
Brent – Muse of Smartness
Caleb – Muse of Fixing Brokenness
Claire – Muse of Inspiration
Imhotep – Muse of Invisibility and Obscure Names
Leanne – Muse of Practicality and Getting Stuff Done
Mirror – Muse of Envy, Vanity, and Selfishness
Shannon – Muse of Randomness
Shard – Muse of Apathy
Stefan – Muse of Happiness and Irony
Travis – Muse of Thieves and Chivalry