Wasted Continuum

While I was cleaning today, I found some writings I did for a poetry class I took when I attended the U of M. It was fun reading through them. This is one of them. It’s not particularly good, but it really brings back memories when I wrote it. In it I describe exactly what I was experiencing that night. The title, 4:53 AM is the time when I finished writing the last word of it.

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Michael Crichton passed away Tuesday at the age of 66 after battling cancer. I got the news about it Wednesday morning over twitter. At first, I was bummed out because Crichton is my favorite author. However, as the day went on, I started remember what his writing meant to me. Michael Crichton is the author that made me want to read for fun. The first book I read of his was Jurassic Park. I just remember how much I loved his writing style because not only was his narrative engaging, but his books were very science-heavy with charts and graphs. Being the geek that I am, I loved that. He always did a ton of research for his books. Whether or not his science-fiction were feasible in real life was irrelevant because Crichton was able to convince you that it was. After Jurassic Park, I read as many of his books as I can. I even read his non-fiction books like Five Patients and Travels. I loved them all.

I remember, throughout highschool, I’d be reading during class when I didn’t feel the need to pay attention. During the summers when I worked at my parents’ restaurant, I would read his novels before we opened. I can’t count how many times his books have kept me company at my huge family dinners at various restaurants. I would sneak in a few pages in the intervals between the serving of each dish. Some time during my highschool years, I picked up Sphere. It’s a story about a science crew sent down to the depths of the ocean to explore what they think may be an alien structure. It’s a psychological thriller that keeps to guessing until the end. It is, to this day, my favorite novel by Michael Crichton. I have read it at least three times now.

It’s just weird to think of all those hours I’ve spent in the worlds that he built. I didn’t think it would end so soon. Supposedly, there is one more book that was going to be released at the end of this year and may still be released early next year. I really hope that is true. It would be great to have one more journey with him. Either way, I am happy that I have read so many of his stories. I will miss him.

Today, I met Mignon Fogarty, one of my favorite podcasters. She is more commonly known as Grammar Girl in which she does a podcasts that gives a grammar tip in a fun and informative manner in every episode. I was introduced to her work on Absolute Science, her podcast about science. Being complete nerd when it comes to science, I quickly digested all the past episodes. Sadly, at the time that I started listening to Absolute Science was also when the show was nearing its end. Because I loved that podcast so much I wanted to give Grammar Girl a try too. Not surprisingly, I was hooked on it rather quickly.

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My trial version of MarsEdit 2 is about to expire. MarsEdit is a blog publishing application from the people at Red Sweater Software. I’ve been using it to write for Wasted Continuum. After using it almost several times daily, I have decided to purchase it. It has already saved me from losing my work at least twice during this 30 day trial period. MarsEdit has definitely improved my workflow. With it’s tight integration to my Flickr account and simple template creation for my often used tags, it’s almost a no-brainer. MarsEdit is definitely one of those applications where you don’t know what you needed until you use it. There are so many little shortcuts and features that makes writing for a blog simple again. MarsEdit works seamlessly with WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Drupal, Vox, and more. If you have been looking for a way to organize and streamline your blogging workflow, you should must give MarsEdit a chance. MarsEdit 2 is available for OS X 10.4 or 10.5 for $29.95. You can try a 30 day demo here.

Red Sweater Software
MarsEdit

I’ve been really putting off my writing this year. It was even one of my new year resolutions to write more. Well, now that I have my MacBook Pro and a fresh install of JDarkRoom, I have an incredible writing environment. In fact, right now, I’m sitting in one of my favorite coffeehouses with my laptop blogging away with a cup of dirty chai by my side. I’ve got iTunes pumping out some background music. I’ve been here for a good half an hour and I still have enough batteries to last another three hours or so before I have to plug in. I’m loving how portable my Mac is compared to my 17″ Sager. All I need now is to save up some moneys and buy the Crumpler bag for my new laptop. I love Crumpler. I have one for my Rebel XT. I have nothing but good things to say about Crumpler.

To get back to my original point. I’ve been rereading my novel over and I’m ready to dive back into it. I have missed my characters and can’t wait to finish their stories. I know my original goal was to finish it for NaNoWriMo, but I knew going in that I could actually do that. I did have another to actually finish before next November. I am going to try and complete it well before that though. My goal is to finish this novel, still untitled, in a month or two and then go through the editing process. After that, I think I’m going to publish it through LuLu and get a hard copy of it for myself.

It’s now 12:00am, November 1, here in Minnesota. Time to start on my novel. I have a few ideas that I’m going to put down. If you haven’t signed up for NaNoWriMo yet, go now.