So I finally got Photoshop CS3, and I love it. It doesn't seem that different from CS2, but I do like it a lot.

So busy lately that it's not even funny! When I'm not rehearsing or somewhere playing gigs, there's school stuff etc. But I did eventually get around to being a little devious.

I think if you're a writer, a certain amount of masochism is definitely part of the mix (among many other things.)

Because right now, after months of plotting and twisting and backwards-justifying of strange events, I have reached what feels like a dead end in my Work-in-Progress, and still I can't stop thinking about it. Which can really drive aynone nuts.

You go through the whole "Is it any good, though?" and "But, isn't the whole story so far, you know, crap...basically?" and then you listen to the chorus of reassuring voices you have tucked away somewhere in a dark corner of your mind for just such an occasion, but there remains, of course, that last bit of niggling doubt and self-consciousness. Which can be quite detrimental to the production of creative juices in the old cerebral juice factory.

So it is one of those circles, isn't it? Not just any kind of old circle, but a damn vicious one.

Well, I should have noticed things were going downhill when I went down to an average of maybe 500 words per day (as opposed to about 3000 - 4000 on average). But instead, I blamed it on slacker-ism. What a completely stupid conclusion! Of course, keeping at it requires some discipline, but once you're that far into the story, it becomes more like an urge, not a chore, to write and write and write.

So I'm stuck, lacking feedback, back to insecure and kind of clueless. And the bad thing is...I guess that's a quite normal state for a writer.

What to do, then? Come Saturday, I will be the proud owner of two brand-spanking-new books on writing I ordered from amazon. And a six-pack of beer. And then we'll see. If anyone happening to read this has any suggestions other than alcohol and tenacity, do tell me, okay? : )

What a nice Saturday. I got up early and went shopping with my mother, finding nice curtains, some cushions for my couch and a new kitchen floor - all sort of in my budget.

Now I can delve into another hour or two of reading - The Dark Tower III (The Waste Lands). Yay! I got halfway through the book only last evening, so it's quite frightening to think that parts III and IV will probably not last till next weekend. I'm already dreading the day I read the last word on the last page in the last book. Then I'll be facing some kind of terrible void that nothing can fill. Nothing can ever recreate that magnificent feeling of reading it all for the first time. Knowing me, it will not have been the last time, but it still sucks.

...YES, I'm that much of a freak when it comes to books.

Then again I'm invited to a big party tonight, so fortunately I can reassure myself - in a pair of black leather high-heels - that I'm not too nerdy to be cool. *g*

PS: Day 8 of not smoking! I'm sooo good, they should almost make a movie about me.

So I was in Prague to celebrate the beginning of 2008, or the end of 2007, or perhaps both.

It was a nice trip, and I have to say that although I have been to cities that fascinated me more with their _atmosphere_, Prague has a unique charm of a kind that I haven't encountered before. The architecture is definitely a sight to behold. Riding a packed sardine train through the Czech countryside and tiny, decayed villages does not prepare you for the beauty of most of Prague's buildings. Gracefully curved balconies, golden ornaments and majestic double doors, gargoyle-like things and statues, pillars and intricate patterns painted on the outside walls...I wish I had had the skill, equipment and time to document all of this photographically the way it most definitely deserves it. Even plain, rectangular blocks of buildings the purpose of which was unclear to me emanated a kind of awe-inspiring gothic presence at night that I find hard to describe.

Super street musicians on Charles Bridge! [link]
Had me glued to the spot, these two fellas.

The public transport is very practical and easy to understand (once you figure out where you need to go and manage to remember those absolutely hard-to-pronounce place names), but you don't really need it that much as it is quite simple (and worth the time!) to move through the city on foot.

Good food, too (There was even a Scandinavian place called Reykjavik that offered traditional Christmas food from the North, but I didn't get to check that one out! ). Not many bars or pubs that played any really cool music, though. Also, while beer and cigarettes are to be had for a cheap price, everything else is really quite pricy for what one might expect to find in the CR.

New Year's Eve...pardon my French, ladies, but TOTAL FUCKING MAYHEM in some places. I believe Wenceslav Square (not certain 'bout spelling, too lazy to google) was actually rather 'calm' compared to some other places, as there was also a cordoned-off official concert type of thing in the middle of the general brouhaha. People shooting fireworks up at balconies and Big Shit exploding left, right and centre. Quite fun, really. Not so much ooohing and aaahing at carefully orchestrated explosions in the sky, and more of the "Look out! There's another one of those loud things about to go off!!" kind of thing.

So yes, I will shut my trap now and stop rambling.

TL;DR: Go see Prague and bring a few days' time and some good shoes. It's worth it.

Prospero año nuevo, beeyotches.

Aaaargh! Reality has me in its evil clutches and I can't escape!
So long since I have actually done anything worthwhile on a computer. Only sifting through ads online, writing emails, crap.

Skipping school every once in a while, paying bills, drinking, Frankfurt, concerts, band with a big question mark, a rash, exams, sleepless, sleeping too much, trying to quit smoking, Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" (how awesome), movies, loathing christmas, chardonnay, frustration, accidents, empty fridge, longing.

Yes, that's my November. And that's how hard it is to speak coherently! What have I become...? ^^