animal magic

and so. i saw some real dragons last weekend. not real dragons as in reading my mind and breathing fire type beasties, but actual real live komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world. along with some of the ugliest, scariest, freakiest monster monkeys in the world ever. and, not only were they monstrous, they were also evil. but very much fun to look at and go ooherr over.

anyway, the taught element of the course is over now. how 2 years has flown. i continued to get good feedback from my workshops this term, including the chapter of my fantasy novel i submitted. i have no idea if i passed my essay as the tutor has never given those back. i guess i should email him and find out. speaking of which, i have another to complete by the 11th of next month, along with a 1500 word publicity pack for the novel i shall be submitting. i also have about 22 workshop pieces to make comment on for the rest of class, plus a 7500 word project to complete over the summer. this is all regardless of the fact i have to actually finish and submit my novel within the year. life may have to take a backseat for a while.

i didn’t enjoy last term at all. i felt overwhelmed most of the time and felt i learnt very little, certainly nothing much on top of the mounds of stuff i learnt last year. in a way i’m glad it’s over. now i can just get on with my own practical stuff and concentrate on completing everything that needs completing. and, after all the 2ing and froing, i’ve decided on a video project for my transmission piece. video a 5 minute ‘scene’ of a group of people in some activity, transcribe it word for word, move for move, then analyse the transition from that to how it would actually be written in story form. i think it’s a fun idea and am looking forward to working on it. the best part will be videoing lots of stupid stuff to find something worthy of use. and the fact i’m using video means i don’t have to sit and write a zillion word essay. i just submit the vid instead. in the words of shirley – easy.

i watched this really distressing programme on the telly last night. i thought it would be fun trash, because we all know how much i lurve the trash, but i ended up switching it off and going to bed thinking ‘but there for the grace of…’. it was called SKINT, about people who have no option but to use porn shops to get quick cash. thoroughly depressing and i shan’t (is that an actual word?) be watching it again. i like my trash upbeat.

and if you can believe it, i’m currently listening to ‘the osmonds’. the first (but not the greatest) boy band of all time. because we all know who the greatest are and, if we don’t, we should be flogged in public*. it’s smashing listening. anything to escape that new fangled dance music that everyone’s listening to these days. like this – techno – nonsense.

right, off to pack my bags for blackpool.

* if you have no idea who i’m talking about, get out in the street, pants down, and have the birch ready for the next passer-by to do with as they please.

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simple things

i just re-read through my blog from this time last year. what a mindfuck. i guess it’s like keeping a journal and going back years to see how you were thinking at the time. i can remember all the things i was talking about as though they were yesterday. i can even recall where i was sat and what i was doing at the time i was typing it. and yet, in myself, i feel like a different person. it’s like reading about someone you know, but not intimately – like documenting your spiritual and physical growth. i was so excited about the course back then, just submitting my first few workshops. it does seem slightly surreal compared to the couple of paragraphs i’ve just written below. and yet just the little things, like talking about manchester in the spring, feeling happy because the sun is shining for the first time, and feeling slightly invigorated because my melatonin is being stimulated, is exactly how i’m feeling at the moment. it’s a very bizarre experience. i guess it shows that whatever experiences challenge us, whatever emotions affect us, whoever crosses our path and influences us, our constants remain the same. weird.

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pet hates

we all have them. some more than most. a list:

1. people you have a really interesting/long/important/just plain good conversation with, yet the next time you see them they blank you. wankers.

2. twats on tv. i.e., vernon kay.

3. people who you know by proxy but tell you to chill out anyway ’cause they have secondhand information about your life, even though they know jack-shit really.

4. don’t even get me started.

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by definition

addicted: to occupy oneself with or involve oneself in something habitually or compulsively

annoyed: troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances

annoying: to cause slight irritation to another by troublesome acts

confused: being unable to think with clarity or act with understanding and intelligence

displaced: to be moved or shifted from the usual place or position

excited: to be in an aroused state; a mad whirl of pleasure

happy: enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure or good fortune; satisfied; enjoying well-being and contentment

infatuated: possessed by an unreasoning passion or attraction

insecure: not sure or certain; doubtful; lacking stability; troubled

nuts: seeds borne within a fruit having a hard shell, as in the peanut, almond, or walnut; crazy; insane; extremely enthusiastic

procrastination: to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness; to postpone or delay needlessly

paranoid: relating to, characteristic of, or affected with paranoia

saturated: unable to hold or contain more; full; had enough

weirdo: a person regarded as being very strange or eccentric

zebedee: in the new testament, a fisherman whose sons james and john became disciples of jesus

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write me

if you’ve followed or read any of this site at all, then you’ll know (without explanation) that it was created as part of a project for my masters course. at the time, way back in september 2003, it didn’t really have any meaning. it was just a fun way to keep in touch with friends and spout off about things that became annoying in my life. but, looking back, it has been a catalogue of my experiences whilst on the course and, now, it becomes the catalyst for my final project as the deadline of 20 september approaches.

having gone through countless makeovers, this (i hope) is the final edition of creativemission.net. it will forever be a historical account of my budding writer’s life and hopefully continue as my career in writing develops.

but, for now, here is the new site. over the next month or so i will be updating on how the project is going and also, on occasion, writing shite for those who don’t care about the project. if you would like to give feedback on any area of the site – content, style, ideas, etc. – then please email me. everything can be used in the final project submission and will help justify it’s conception. if it’s only a comment to say why you are reading this, it’s enough.

am i even bothered? i am…

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bothered?

it’s not like i still don’t have a month to DO everything, for goodness sakes… i’m now on holiday for 2 weeks and despite having engagements with a really posh wedding, having to make toads fit in holes, visit ligers and rhinopottamuses at longleat AND counsel primates with personality problems at monkey world, my time is my own. so, 4 weeks minus 2 days until i have to hand the project in. the hard part is done, i have the website, but the researchy, writey bit still hasn’t got underway. it will, i’m just not quite sure when yet…