Sorry I haven't been around much. A lot of people at work have either quit or been fired, which means that we're desperately short staffed this week, which in turn means that I'm working almost forty hours this week and I'm totally exhausted. That means I don't have as much time for surfing the internet as I used to. I've also been working hard keeping up with my real work, trying to make up for the fact that there was no episode of Dreamfall last week. Unfortunately I was so sick and tired (literally) after camping that trying to do anything creative was completely out of the question. But, I finished draft 2 of Episode 3 on Monday night, so I'll be posting the finished product it a little later on today. I had hoped to get two episodes out this week to make up for the delay last week, and I still might manage it, but I'm not going to make any promises. Today is my last day off and I've got a killer nine and a half hour shift this Saturday, so unless it gets done sometime in the next two and a half days, it's probably not going to get done at all. At least, not until next week. You wouldn't think that writing a weekly web series would be so hard, but of course appearances are deceiving. It also probably doesn't help that I'm a completely neurotic perfectionist when it comes to my work. =P

For those of you that don't know already, I'm taking a bit of a break from The Dead Robots' Society. I consider it a summer hiatus, to help me recharge my creative batteries and really focus on my writing. So far it's working, too. I won't be completely absent, of course. I've got plans for at least one or two special episodes, and you can still find me on the forums any time. I also plan to be present at Dragon*Con for at least a day this year, so I can meet my fellow co-hosts and properly heckle Justin when he's hosting his podcasting writers panel. XD

It amazes me how quickly the months are passing. It seems like only yesterday the air was chilly, everybody was drinking hot drinks and I was shopping for winter clothes. Now summer is here in full force, the air conditioning is running, and my 20th birthday is just around the corner. My life is virtually unrecognizable compared to where it was this time last year, and June also marks the four year anniversary of my family's move to Tennessee. Again, none of that seems like it was that long ago. Funny how time works, isn't it? Or maybe it's just the human perception of time that's funny. Who knows. (Doctor Who pun not intended.)

Well, that episode of Dreamfall isn't going to edit itself and I've probably blathered on about my life for long enough. If you're reading this, I hope things are going OK for you like they are for me. :)

OK. You know that super-secret project I've had going for awhile now? The one that occasionally gets me off my lazy arse and actually makes me write something? Well, this is me unveiling said project. You wanted me to put up work for critiquing? Here you go. I'm hoping it's the start of a weekly series, just a little something I post on the website on Wednesdays or Thursdays, something people can read quickly then comment on, a way for me to get more feedback on my writing style and keep my skills sharp. And, of course, I hope it's enjoyable to read. :) I've never done anything like this before in my entire life, but I...actually feel pretty confident about it, which comes as a surprise. I figured I'd be really nervous. It's been in the works for over a month now so I guess it's kind of a relief to finally get it out there. Plus this is going to help keep me honest, because of course I'll have so many loyal fans prodding me on and nagging me to get the new episode out there. How could I procrastinate with such a heavy responsibility? ;)

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Without further ado, I present to you Dreamfall.

Have fun. (I did.)

p.s. If all the pink is annoying, keep in mind I'll be revamping my website soon. I just really wanted to get this thing out before my mind exploded and, as such, didn't have time to de-fluff the place.

Look for weekly updates via The Dead Robots' Society homepage.

Episode #27 of DRS has been successfully recorded and by recorded I mean we now have even more material for that bloopers reel we're eventually going to do. :) In all seriousness, though, it was a good show, despite any bullshitting that may have occurred beforehand...

As for me, I'm dreading this week. I'm working 37 hours and a good majority of those are probably going to be on the express lane from hell. Today was an absolutely glorious day off, but that doesn't change the fact that I now have to go to bed and try and sleep with the knowledge that I'm going to be up at 7am tomorrow bleary-eyed and cranky just so I can go stand around in an empty grocery store on sore knees and twiddle my thumbs for eight hours. Yeah. Maybe I can convince them to let me go outside and push carts or something, so I'll be too exhausted to care that I'm wasting valuable hours of my young life doing absolutely nothing amazing. XP

Anyway. I've still go laundry to fold and it's cold down here. Good night, world.

As usual, DRS inspired me to write. I've begun revisions on my Top Secret short story which will be seeing the light of the day soon-ish. My plan is to polish it up a bit then post it on our restricted critique forum, which is viewable only to a select few Dead Robots listeners. I'm going to get some feedback on it and then maybe, just maybe, I'll be putting it into a collection Justin's going to be putting together in the next few months of short stories written by the Dead Robots. I'd like for it to be available. I'd like people to read it and send me money for it. Finally, I think I'm ready to handle that. When I first wrote it, the story was very personal and very...startling? I guess that's a good way to put it. I wasn't expecting to come up with the story I ended up writing. Very unusual for me, since I generally believe that everything in life needs a plan before it'll work right. I certainly wasn't ready to share it, though I think I'm past that now. Good to know that the fear does eventually wear off. I'm sure I'll get all nervous again when the time comes to actually make it public, but for now I think I'm going to make publishing it a solid goal.

I've been working on coming up with a lot of goals recently. Things at my job have definitely reached a plateau. I'm bored, put simply. My friends are still wonderful, but interaction continues to be limited by my superiors, and it's just not enough anymore to keep me interested in what I'm doing. So I've started thinking about what I can do to change that boredom. I'm also pursuing several new hobbies, using the money I earn during the week to fund projects I'm hoping will help increase my happiness and give my creativity several new outlets. Writing is good, but sometimes I need to do something creative that doesn't involve the written word. There's also a possibility I might be able to sell some of my creations later on, though that's not a concrete goal at the moment. I'll post further updates as things develop, since I'm sure you're all WILDLY interested in the minutiae of my daily life. ^_~

Anyway. I should probably get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a full day and I'll even be getting up early. Huzzah. XP Ah well. Two of my favorite people will be there tomorrow so at least it won't be a total wash! Good night, world.

Wow. I just spent the last hour and fifteen minutes actually writing. I suppose it might be a little strange to be inspired by one's own podcast, but tonight it's true. After we finished recording I realized that I've been making too many lame excuses and that it's past time to get back to what really matters in my life. Sure, I might have my doubts, but after re-reading a few things that I've already written and receiving some praise from my lovely co-hosts, I've realized that I was being too hard on myself yet again. Somehow I got so wrapped up in being ABSOLUTELY PERFECT ALL THE TIME OH MY GOD NO MISTAKES EVAR I forgot to notice that what I was doing was just fine. So I decided that I wasn't going to make anymore excuses. I'm not sure if this is something I'll be able to do consistently, but I'll try. I'm also not going to deny the fact that I also spent a good portion of my time sneaking a quick peek at my Last.fm profile or Twitter account, but nobody's perfect, right? =D (Least of all me)

New goal: Monday through Friday, write something every day. The more, the better, but even if it's just a paragraph that's OK. Do NOT veg out in front of the TV for hours whining about your lack of energy. Weekends are excluded from this because my work load is much heavier on the weekends, though I might have time to write something before I go into work.

I also can't wait until the weather starts staying warm consistently, so I can start running/walking on my days off, both as a way to de-stress and continue to build muscle. MANDA SMASH! RAWR! *ahem* Or something like that.

To--*cough* I mean, um, on this 24-hour span of time which I've loosely dubbed "Wednesday", I, uh, did stuff. Yes. I am proud of the stuff I did, though it is hardly blog worthy. Mostly dishes. Loooots of dishes. Some laundry. Some cooking. I have discovered that I have a great love of currants, and have made some truly delicious currant/apple/macadamia nut muffins that I am trying not to snarf down at an unhealthy rate. I also cooked myself some greens for the first time in forever. Turnip greens actually aren't that bad--not nearly as bitter as I expected--though I liked them a lot better once I put them over some yummy basmati rice. So far I haven't been particularly successful in lessening the number of grains I'm consuming, but I have at least upped the numbers of veggies considerably. In fact I feel like pretty much all I ever eat are green things, rice products, spelt toast, and apples. That said, I can think of worse ways to live.

And to--*cough* I mean, um, this 24-hour span of time known generally as "Wednesday" I also WROTE SOMETHING. I know, try not to faint. It wasn't a very big something, but it was the beginning of another short story. (That makes three that I've started now...) I'm not sure if it's going anywhere but it felt good to write it all the same. And it was a pretty good chunk of text, too, if I do say so myself. (Which of course I would be, since I generally am not anybody but myself) I'm hoping I have enough energy and willpower to get into the habit of writing every night I come home after work, with the exception of weekends, naturally, since they are exhausting and I get home very late. (Speaking of which-- one of my favorite baggers is absent tomorrow and I'll only get to see the other one for an hour and 45 minutes! Tragedy! Woe! Sadness! etc. [insert flailing here]) Hopefully I can actually start to make some progress and start FINISHING some things I start and maybe, JUST MAYBE, I can actually make some money off these things. Like, wow. What a concept. *eyeroll* Not to mention it's kind of hard to podcast every week about writing when you're not actually doing any writing. Small but important caveat right there.

OK. It's really cold down here and I hear the call of some of that aforementioned toast. Oh, did I mention I also listened to some more Japanese lessons today? After putting them off for almost a year now? Yup! I did very good today. =D I even tried to listen to a new Italian podcast, but for some reason my brain rejected it utterly. Another day, perhaps. I'll stick with Japanese for now, since I seem to be well suited to it, and try and get my multi-lingual bagger to keep teaching me German. So far I've gotten...um...I think I remember how to say "half", "yes", "thank you", and "good afternoon" and I think I'm pronouncing "good evening" right but I need to double check. Not the world's fastest language course certainly but it's definitely fun. =D I'll have to get him to pick up the pace though since he is abandoning me this spring for YET MORE TRAVEL. CURSE YOU, BOY. (Just kidding. =D)

Ja ne!

Episode #21 of the Dead Robots' Society is now available! This one isn't to be missed, people. Our streak of kickass interviews continues when we talk with the almighty Tee Morris, a conversation that was so awesome it couldn't be contained in just one episode. It also inspired me to consider getting a Twitter account...I haven't actually done it yet, but I'm definitely thinking about it...pretty much the only thing stopping me at this point is knowing just how badly addicted I'm going to get to it. So far being sick has given me a good excuse to put it off, but now that I'm starting to feel better, we'll see if I cave this week or not. :)

In other news, the entire world decided to go grocery shopping on Sunday. Still not sure what happened. No snow or bad weather predictions. No major sporting events or holidays. No community gatherings or really any other good reason why every single person in the entire freaking STATE chose to pillage our bread and milk aisles yesterday. Seriously, it looked like a bomb went off in there. Whatever is going on, I'm glad I have today off to recover. I badly needed the break and I can't tell you how nice it is to just stay home and do absolutely nothing, especially after spending hour after hour in a lane backed up with a plethora of really ticked off people. (For some reason almost every single customer was in a terrible mood Sunday. Go figure.) Yesterday did have it's moments, though. All my friends were there, as was my favorite Grumpy Customer. He's not really grumpy anymore but he's always a hoot to talk with anyway. :) My two favorite baggers were there too, which was awesome, and of course the Starbucks employees always make my breaks more interesting. I swear I'm not stopping until every single employee in that store has tried their tea shakers at least once. It is my evil plan. Insert evil laughter here.

Well, it's cold down here and I'm out of things to talk about. I probably won't be blogging much since they've got me working 37 hours this week and I'll be too tired/busy catching up with all the stuff my cold put off. I WILL get that voice work finished if it's the last thing I do. Ja ne.

Today I got word that one of my friends at work has quit. She was another cashier that I actually hadn't mentioned here, which I should have before now because she's a very sweet lady who was kind of my mom at work. :) We gossiped frequently and I'll definitely miss her, but at the same time I know that she wasn't very happy working at my grocery store of choice, so her leaving is probably a good thing. I hope she finds good fortune wherever she ends up. The store will definitely be a little less enjoyable without her there, something which I wish my higher ups would bother to recognize. To them it's probably just the absence of another body. All they'll see is the time they lost and the hole they'll need to fill now, which is a shame. I just hope that the same thing doesn't happen with any of my other work friends. I don't think I could handle that, honestly. They're what makes my job bearable and losing them would probably result in me quitting. Goodness knows little else about my job is any fun. =P Tomorrow is going to be interesting since I'm working 10:30am-2:30pm, which means I'll be hanging out in the store for a good two and a half hours while I wait for my mom to get off work and go home. (I figured sitting around doing nothing at Starbucks was just as good as sitting around in her office doing nothing) At the very least, it'll give me a chance to catch up on my reading. =D I have a certain short story I need to catch up on, especially since I'll be doing some voice work in an audio drama very soon...stay tuned to The Dead Robots Society for details. ^_~

Anyway. Podcasting went well tonight. I hosted for the first time in ages and Graham got to be there! *squee* He'll be joining us more often from now on too, which is even better. We've got some cool interviews lined up and the episode in which I actually get to talk to a writer from Heroes just went up, Episode 19, an interview with the awesomely cool Jesse Alexander. It was unbelievably neat talking to him and I hope we're able to have him on the show again. Did I mention that I got to talk to a writer from Heroes?! Uber-squee! ^_^

Yesterday was a really fun day. My mom and I went clothes shopping and I spent almost $200 buying clothes. What's impressive is that everything I purchased was on sale so I got a lot of stuff for my money, and with all the weight I've lost I needed to find my sizes again. My wardrobe is all big and happy again. =D I also got to spend a whole six hours with my Favorite Weekday Bagger (who probably needs a new codename since he's there as much on the weekends as he is on the weekdays) since he had an eight hour shift that overlapped with mine, and to make the day even better, we also got our breaks together. We had a lot of fun, caused a little trouble, and generally had a good day. I also got to be at the register right next to Starbucks! Mwahaha. I really need to start reigning in my shyness, though. I always kick myself afterwards anyway, so I need to just bite the bullet and be a little more outgoing. (You'd laugh if you met me IRL, since most people describe me as outgoing, but strangely enough the better I get to know people the more awkward I feel when I see them for the first time, especially if any large amount of time has elapsed since we last spoke. It's annoying, and probably makes my friends think I hate them.)

All in all, today was a fantastic day, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this week. I've got an extra day off and a lot of writing, chores, and recording to do. Right now, though, I need to go pack some goodies for lunch tomorrow (I made pizza today! Yum) and put away clothes. Night everybody.

P.S. "Details" is the best album ever. ♥

Well, after several weeks of hard work, I have collected roughly $800 and opened a checking account. I feel all grown up now. :) Things are going OK at work, but they've been doing some really strange things with everybody's schedules recently that have the employees very upset. I'm lucky that I don't need this job, otherwise I'd be joining them. They go on and on about being short staffed all the time, but now that the big Thanksgiving rush is pretty much over, they're cutting back on our hours...until Christmas rolls around. I'll bet you anything the week before Christmas, everybody will be working an obscene number of hours again. They actually had me working ten days straight with no days off the week before and of Thanksgiving. Of course they didn't see it that way, since their system works from Sunday to Saturday, but that's what happened in reality. Unfortunately reality doesn't seem to carry much weight in that place...I dunno. I can honestly say I've learned a lot from this job. Not all of the lessons I've learned have put humanity in a very positive light, either. But I do have the advantage of not needing this job, and for now it remains a mostly fun drain on my time that I'm willing to put up with in exchange for money. There are people at work that I like a lot, many of whom I will get to see tomorrow, (there are always more teenagers working on Saturdays and Sundays than weekdays, for obvious reasons. The result is that I get to spend more time with people closer to my age on the weekends, which is very fun) and it's a lot of fun to have enough money to spend over two hours on your computer shopping on eBay, Amazon, and ThinkGeek. =D So yeah. Being a cashier is OK, but it'd be a lot better if my bosses would just take a few chill pills and start thinking with their brains as opposed to their computers and their egos. I am also getting a little tired of being treated like a dumb animal, but that's a rant for another blog post.

As for everything else in my life...well. I'm catching up slowly but surely, but I can't say I'm doing a particularly stellar job. NaNo has eluded me completely this year and I'm still no closer to finishing String Shift or any of my other novels. Sigh. The podcast is still going well, though the holiday season and job stresses are taking tolls on all of us. B vitamins are helping a lot, both by keeping me healthy and alert. Fatigue is my major enemy these days. Unfortunately even if I don't go into work until 1pm, I still have to get up at 7am so mom can drive me to her work since we carpool and my job is about 30 minutes away from my house. So I end up twiddling my thumbs at her work for several hours while I wait for my shift time to start. Because it's not like I'd have anything else to do with my time, after all. Sigh. Everything else is all right. I finally got my hands on a copy of Tomb Raider: Legend, which was a whole lotta fun and I feel like I've reconnected with an old friend after having purged the wrongness that was Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. I was a little disappointed in the shortness and repetitiveness of Legend, but it's most definitely a step in the right direction and I can't wait to get my hands on Anniversary. It pains me that Legend actually came out almost a year and a half ago and I just now got to play it. Ugh. That is one nice thing about having a job-- money. Oh yes, the money and I get along very well. I just wish I was making more. (Being paid less because this is my first job sucks. A lot.)

So yeah. Things are pretty good. Not having to worry about Christmas is awesome. In fact, the only thing I have to worry about this December is my mom's birthday. =D Yay mom!

Well, I'd love to say that lots and lots of absolutely fascinating things have been happening to me lately, but...the sad truth is, they haven't. I've been spending a lot of time reading, (I swear, the local library is like a candy store for me. No, better-- there aren't any squalling brats in it) playing Neverwinter Nights, doing stuff around the house, watching far too many DVDs from Netflix and occasionally working. Lately I've been writing a small, completely random short story that has absolutely no purpose in life other than to amuse me. It has no plot, no direction, no plan, and I'm OK with that. It will probably never be viewed by anyone but me and is definitely not meant for publishing. It makes a nice way to distract myself while I work out some of the issues I'm having with my other manuscripts, and also keep my head in the game instead of letting my skills dull while I'm busy going on fetch quests, curing plagues and saving the world yet again. :) Really the only interesting thing that's happened lately is that Episode 5 of The Dead Robots Society is now available, and should be listened to immediately. =D

Back to work. Or maybe it's time for lunch. I forget which.