I'm Alive, I Swear.

Okay, so first off I know I've been absent from blogging for almost two weeks...life has been beyond hectic lately with senior seminar. My book is due a week from tomorrow and I've been going to town on it lately, spending my spring break at the lab instead of the beach (it killed me a little bit each day). In the end, I'm glad I spent the time on this project though - I can't imagine getting it done in time and putting an honest effort into it and actually having a spring break at the same time. It wouldn't have been possible.

I'm happy to say that my partner Tara Keady and I are done 9 out of 14 chapters of it and we've formatted over half of it for publishing though! It's been a long process, but as any MJD major can tell you, it's worth it. A week from tomorrow, I'll officially be a published author! It's such a weird feeling, but also the best thing ever at the same time.

I designed the back cover photo today of Tara and I and I love how it came out!

I wanted it to match the cover picture with the rainbow, and look at those intense faces!

Seriously, I think I'm getting too into this, but I can't believe it's almost done at the same time. A project I've been working on for nearly eight months finally coming to fruition.

But of course it's not over once the actual book is done - then it's presentation time! Presentations to our class, presentations to the two MJD senior seminar classes combined, and public presentations! I get to dress all spiffy and talk about the LGBTQ community - what could be better?

For real though, I'm hoping that this book will allow me to further myself in a future career someday, lord knows what I actually want to end up committing to for the rest of my life as a career though. If anything, I'm glad I focused on the LGBTQ community because not only is it a community that I'm a part of, but the fight that the LGBTQ community has been putting up for what feels like forever for equality is one that I had to take a stance on and support. I hope this book can show all who read it that there are still some massive changes that need to happen around the world in order for the LGBTQ community to ever reach true equality, and it's going to take every last one of us to get it there.

Recent Happenings.

Spring break is just around the corner! I've been hard at work chugging away at my book project for my MJD senior seminar, my partner Tara and I are already three chapters in! It's unreal to see something that I've thought about so distantly for so long finally coming to life. For as much work as it's been, I know the final product in hand will be worth it.

Aside from this project, I've been keeping pretty busy of course. In my Global Communication and Culture class, I got assigned my country to make a website on - Myanmar. For those of you who may not know, Myanmar is right near Thailand and under China in southern Asia. I don't know much of anything about Myanmar, so I think it'll be awesome to learn more about it through making this website - I even get to talk to locals for it! How cool is that?

But it hasn't been all school work of course - this past weekend I had drill for the Air National Guard, and I was promoted to Senior Airman! It was awesome to finally see all my hard work over the last two and a half years finally paying off in a promotion, and I feel totally ready to take on more responsibility.

Senior Airman stripes on my sleeve now! Unreal.

I also found some time for fun too - last Thursday, Higher Ground hosted ODESZA! I feel in love with ODESZA last semester when a friend showed them to me, so naturally I knew I had to go see them live. ODESZA is an electronic band that's been on the scene for a couple of years now, and their songs are sort of trance sounding, often times featuring a female singer with a beautiful voice. Their songs range from slower more chill sounds to upbeat dance anthems, and I loved having that variety at the concert because you could see how the crowd moved with the sound.

Crappy photo I know, but ODESZA!

At one point I was right in the middle of the crowd about five rows back from the stage, and although it was hard to move, it was totally worth it. There's something about just letting music take you over and setting yourself free that is unbelievably amazing.

If you're curious about ODESZA, you should check them out! You can find their music on Spotify or read about them here!

I will be doing the brunt of my writing for the book over spring break, so expect an update about that within the next week or so as well. Can't wait to share it with you guys, enjoy the break!

Fiction Writing Happens.

Hey everyone! Happy first day of March - it's so weird that it's March already. I'm kind of excited, kind of scared, kind of want to curl up into a ball and disappear. But on the bright side, I think we're finally out of the tremendously cold part of winter and ready to see some warmer days here in the arctic tundra that is Vermont!

Since my life hasn't been terribly exciting lately, I wanted to use this blog post to share some of my fiction writing with you guys! I'm only going to share the first page or so because some of it gets a little explicit, but also because I want to get you all as excited about this class as I am!

Enjoy, it's called "Search and Destroy."

November 28, 2014.

He knows her from work. Chelsea. She has long brown hair that dips down her back in a perfect U-shape when she wears it down, but she usually has it up in a bun or a ponytail. Blue eyes slanted down slightly with teeth that are just a little yellow and a little crowded. Her forehead is peppered with a few pimples. Her hips hug her jeans. Her breasts perk up in everything from t-shirts to blouses.

He has known Chelsea for a couple of years now, joining her for the occasional lunch date or catching up about classes – they both attend Florida State University. She is bright with a little too much cynicism. Not a bad girl, but not a great one either.

Chelsea

→ Are you going out later?

                                                                                Probably. What about you?←

→ I was hoping to.

Wanna meet up somewhere?

                                                                                    Sure. Frat house raging?←

→ You know it.

                                                                             Cool, I'll be there around 11.←

He tucks the phone into his jeans and eyes his wrist – 10:17 p.m. The drunken screams of college kids tear through the cracks in his bedroom window like the bitter cold in winter, ringing in the back of his ears. The night has already begun for them. He decides what he's wearing isn't suitable for a frat party, subbing out dull black jeans and a blue t-shirt for a pair of beige khakis and a crimson button-up.

 He takes a few shots of vodka with his roommates. The bitter taste wafts into his nostrils with a sharp sting, burning his esophagus. He doesn't know what to do with his hands. He runs them through his hair and rests them on his thighs, where they stay planted like trees for uncomfortable periods of time. His face struggles in gashes of red to break free from the unbearable alcoholic heat.

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with it yet and of course there's more to it, but if you're interested just let me know and I can share it with you! I've found that I love writing over the years and this class has helped me to develop my creative writing skills more and focus on aspects of writing I never used to think about as much such as small details and what tense/perspective a story is being told from.

Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments as well, I'd love to get feedback!