Summertime advetures!!

So it's almost summer time, which means it's about that time for me to make a whole bunch of weekend plans in the hopes that at least half of them will happen.  Sadly, I don't always make realistic plans, so whatever.  As long as some happen, I'm happy.

What are these plans, you ask??  Well, let me just tell you all about them.

May 2-4 is the first upcoming long weekend, and I just can't decide what to do.  There are so many options!!  My sister and I talked about camping, but she may go with other friends instead.  Matt and I talked about maybe going to Ottawa, 'cause I really want to go for the tulip festival, but I'm not sure how doable this is.  There is also the Bamboozle festival in New Jersey (Saturday's show is Foo Fighter, Blink 182, All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World, and Anti-Flag!!!).  NJ may not be the nicest place (as learned on the last Bamboozle road trip), but the festival is pretty good.  To be honest, I'd really like to do the road trip/concert option, but it all depends on if Gaby gets off her ass and gets her goddamn passport!!

Then comes Canada Day.  It's a long weekend this year again, and I really like the idea of going to Ottawa for this one (which is why I'm not super sad if I miss the tulip festival).  I figure Matt's been there before, he can show me around.  I'm sure there's one or two places he liked.  I don't know if Matt can take the time away from work, but if he can, I'd really like to go.

For the August long weekend I really want to go camping at the Bruce Peninsula National Park, which is just south of Tobermory, ON.  It's incredibly beautiful there.  And since renting a cottage might be crazy considering we'll be going to El Salvador (and stopping in Dallas for a football game, eww), it might be a little better to go camping.  Camping is much cheaper and you can still enjoy the gorgeousness that's up there.  Also, I love camping.

I have other things I'd like to do, although those are way less likely to happen since I don't have a timeline or plan for them.  I'd like to do a weekend in Boston, or maybe in Chicago.  And more camping.  I looooooove camping.

I also plan to go skydiving.  Yes, I would like to jump out of a perfectly good, well-functioning airplane.  And as terrified of heights as I am, I know I'm gonna freaking love it!!  Also, zip lining.  I wanna go to Scenic Caves Nature Adventure in Collingwood and do their Eco Adventure Tour, which includes a suspension bridge, treetop walk, zip line, and cave tour. Doesn't that sound freaking awesome???  Thankfully that doesn't need a whole weekend, so it's perfectly doable.

I'm sure as the summer gets closer, I'll come up with more plans.  Let's just hope I can do most of them!!!

My happy fiction writing hobby.

I used to hate writing fiction. Short story, outlines, characters - I hated all of it. There was absolutely nothing about it that I found appealing.  It was one of the reasons I hated English class in high school.

But then when I was doing my Media Foundations certificate at Humber, we had to take a class on writing. We couldn't get out of it. Most of the assignments weren't too crazy: book reviews, essays, news stories.  And finally, there was the dreaded assignment: a short story.

Of course, I hated this assignment.  Hated it.  But I sat down to write it.  And apparently I just couldn't stop - I wrote 1200 words over the limit. So after cutting and cutting and more editing, I handed it in.

When I got it back, I was not only surprised buy the 95% I got on it, but by the teacher's suggestion that I submit it to some contest and write more.

Really??  Me??  Write fiction??  Well, what an interesting idea.

Since then, I've been writing stories.  For the longest time I wrote short stories; they were maybe 1500 words or so each.  But then I decided I should write something longer.  And I've been working on some for a while now.

The problem isn't coming up with the idea - I have tons of those.  It's not even creating characters - I can do those pretty easily too.  The problem is that I get bored and start a new one.  The problem is that my attention span isn't long enough to finish one story.  Currently I'm working on (as in writing the story, not just planning) a few: In The Midst Of Lies, which is a crime thriller; a fan fiction story; a story that Wikipedia tells me is considered 'high fantasy'; and random short stories.

I have tons of characters in my head, and they all want to come out and tell me their story.  I just can't find the right mix of things - setting, plot, and characters - to make the story work properly.

I also try to plan out the story too much, I think, and I end up changing what I started with. It also happens often that I start writing and the story changes as I go and it ruins the carefully researched outline. Sometimes, though, I start writing with no idea of who the characters are, what the story is, or even what the next sentence will be!!  These are often pretty good, either for short stories or to build on. 

I do love the planning part: creating characters, coming up with plots and twists and secrets, creating worlds.  I love it.  I could plan book after book after book and never write anything.  Really, I have a shit-ton of characters amd creatures and plot ideas and locations and research.

Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE research??  I wish I could find a job as a researcher.  I'd love to research all day, every day.  That would be freaking incredible.  If someone knows of a research job, please let me know.  It'd make me so happy!!

Anyways, so I think I've got a story right now that might work out.  At least, it's looking pretty interesting.  Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it and actually write it all.  The story I see in my head is kinda awesome.

Writing fiction has become an escape for me.  when life gets to stressful or crazy or sad, I write a better world or an awesome adventure. I don't think I write with the idea of submitting my book anywhere, I just like to write.  Then again, if I finish, and I think I've written the best damn story there ever was, well, then I may just have to look around.  Maybe one day you'll see my name while walking through Chapters!! Wouldn't that be awesome??

That would be the best thing to ever happen in the history of all things that ever happened.

Time for a bedroom update??

So for a while now I've been wanting to redo my bedroom.  I want it to look nice, like it belongs to an adult and not a design-challenged teenager.

The problem is that I want to move as soon as I can afford it.  End of summer, maybe September.  The gives me enough time to find a job and get past the probation period.  That way, I won't have the problem where I'm unemployed but have to pay rent and bills and shit.

But is it worth doing things to my room if I'm planning to move out within the next six months??  Probably not, right??

I may, however, do some changes that I can take with me. There's a few things I can think of to do that would make the room look better for now, and I think I can do them cheaply.  And since I can take them with me, I can incorporate them into whatever awesomeness I decide on later.

I really want to make a new headboard for my bed.  It's a fairly cheap Ikea bed, so it does a good job as far as beds go, but it's not super pretty.  The headboard that it has right now is basically untreated wood (see picture).  What I want to do is make a pretty fabric headboard and attach it to the wooden one the bed already has.  I've found a few different styles, and I think the one I'm gonna go for is either some sort of pattern print or maybe a plain one, but with some sort of button/tack decorations.  I haven't decided yet.  Maybe I should go look at some fabric, then decide?? 

I also found a site that shows me how to make a duvet cover out of any blanket I find, which is awesome!!  A lot of the duvet covers I like are way outside my current budget, and those I can afford aren't anything I like.   So the idea of finding a nice, warm, preferably fuzzy blanket and making it into a cover for my duvet makes me happy.  Of course I'll also have to make matching pillows.  Or maybe not matching.  I'm not big on matchy colours, as most of you know.  Not because I'm making a statement or 'cause it's my style, but because I don't care and/or I fail at anything design/style related.  Maybe I'll make fairly plain pillowcases that have words on them!!  Maybe from a book, maybe something funny, maybe just words I like!!  Ooooh, I like that plan.  Yes, that's what I'll do then.

I also want to change my necklace holder, since mine broke when I moved.  I found this awesome idea, which is basically just a towel holder.  You then use shower curtain holders to hold each necklace.  I think it's pretty freaking genius!!  That reminds me: I should actually start actually wearing my jewelry.

To be honest, I have a bunch of other small things I want to do.  Most of them I found on Pinterest, but a few I've been wanting to do for a while.

I'd like to do something with my dresser. Paint it, maybe??  It's not real wood, I don't think, so I'm not sure how that would end up.  But I guess we'll see, right??  The mirror that's attached to it is also kinda boring, but I have no idea how to dress that one up.  I'll keep looking and see what I can find. 

I'd really like to do a stencil on the wall, but I guess that can wait until I move.  I'd also like to make better curtains, or at least get a new curtain rod, but that may also just have to wait.

The picture on the right is something I'd definitely like to put on my wall. It's a picture made out of string. I'm thinking hearts or stars work.  I guess the colour would be whatever I decide to make my colour for the room (I'm still undecided between fuchsia, teal, and purple).

I might also teach myself (through Google, of course!!) how to make a few throw pillows and cushiony things for the bed.   I think I might need to invest in a sewing machine.  Anyone know where I can get one cheap??

I'm open to ideas, if anyone has anything they think I should do.  I just want it to look nicer.

And I'm also thinking of getting rid of all my movies.  Well, putting them away, not getting rid of them.  That'd be crazy!!!  Just putting some, maybe half, away and bringing up some books.  Or maybe just keeping one shelf of movies up here.  I can always bring them back out when I have a living room to put them in.  So maybe bringing up some books.  Or maybe just some (gasp!!) empty space.

I just hope I'll actually get around to doing all these things.  I think we all know how awesome I am at planning and preparing for things, and just how awesome I am at not finishing.  But I'll try.  I really do think that having a nice, comfy, homey space would make me feel happier and more relaxed, even if it is only for now.  Although I guess that means I'd also have to keep it clean...