Ah. There's nothing like having a tidy nest. Picking up after myself was supposed to be a priority this summer, but I actually ended up making more of a mess by forgetting to dust and dragging my reference books for my thesis all over the house - and leaving them in stacks all over the floor. Of course, there's nothing like watching an episode of Hoarders to send a shiver a guilt down your spine. Arming myself with a steely resolve and an open windows media player, I tackled every single part of my room in an effort of a huge clean out. The secret recesses of my closet (where the racks and shelves are designed so badly that I can't reach all the way into the back molars of the space, hehe), the drawers packed with wrinkly clothing, and my ever-shifting bookcases. On the last day of cleaning, I sneezed so much from the dust that I had to carry a tissue at all times.
Of course, my room really isn't that messy. It just got sorely neglected during my strict writing schedule this summer.
A friend of mine suggested that I blog about some of the items I rediscovered during my clean out (like video games, paper-bag puppets, and IKEA plushies), so I'll try to make some smaller posts this month and do that. In the meantime, I thought I'd give you an update on what's been going on lately.
Thesis
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| Narwhals, swing jazz, lighthouses - oh my! |
IT IS DONE! I finished my first draft on July 31st, fulfilling my goal of being done with it before August. I just barely made that goal, but I'm glad it worked out that way. School starts up again at the end of August, and I've got orientation and planning to do before I head back (the logical reason behind my thesis goal).
After reading through my draft again for typos, I'm going to print it and have it ready for my director to read. I'm looking forward to working with her on the future revisions.
Tumblr
Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm really excited to say this: I have a fan club on tumblr!
*excited scream*
I discovered fans-of-kimberly completely by accident while tending to my personal blog. When I scrolled through my main feed, I saw a familiar sight: a grouping of the covers I've used for my Figment stories. It took me a minute to realize that they were, in fact, the very same covers... and the post originated from fans-of-kimberly. WHUT. That's SO COOL.
I don't know who started the tumblr club or how many people are following it, but I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I felt like crying when I saw it - so so amazing.
Future Projects
As I promised in my last post, I'm working on the final chapters on Diamond's story, "Becoming a Butler." However, I have been delightfully distracted by a book that's been giving me some ideas: a nonfiction book called A Butler's Life: Scenes from the Other Side of the Silver Salver by Kimberly Allen and Christopher Allen (the butler in question). While Allen is certainly a modern day butler, the story of how he stumbled into the profession is humorous, insightful, and wondrous to read about. I'm usually speedy when it comes to reading, but nonfiction books, for whatever reason, slow me down. So when I finish this beauty... yep. You can expect "Becoming a Butler" to be complete.
I had hoped to get a break after finishing my thesis draft, but classically, a lot of other projects have made their presences known.
In the next few weeks, I'll be working on a few overdue short stories; one of them is expanding my short story "Lookout" (that had appeared briefly on Figment). A brand new lit mag, founded by one of my MFA fellows, Alan, is called Tripod Cat. The neat thing about this mag is that all the stories are published as audio files. If you've got some free time, have listen of Issue 1's poetry and prose - they're so good! After "Lookout" is polished and ready to roll, I'll be recording it - hopefully overcoming my dislike of hearing my recorded voice. I'll do my best, haha.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for the comment on my blog! =D
Second, video games! Kinda curious which you played.
Third, whenever I think of Narwhals, I think of Leelu, Fry's Narwhal on Futurama. lol. They are pretty cool animals. Anyway, most importantly on that point: congrats again on finishing the thesis!
Fourth, congrats on the tumblr fan group. You have a Figment fan group too of course! You're on your way toward becoming a "real" (well, published and then most likely highly acclaimed) writer!
Fifth, I can't wait for your new projects, it'll be fun.
And finally: good luck on your Defy the Dark contest entry, it seriously was amazing.
Be well!
-the lurking smirking Ben
PS: I really truly hope that that creative writing class makes me a stranger writer. I'm always angsting that my writing isn't quirky and weird enough! lol.
You're welcome!
DeleteHaha, I mostly have Nintendo DS games because I haven't had the time, nor the money, to keep up with the new consoles like the Wii or PS3 (though I hope to buy them after graduating). I used to be quite addicted to my Gamecube and PS2... those were the good days ;_; I'm just that kind of person who can't handle school and video games at the same time - they both take so much time, but video games won't earn me a degree (bwahaha. Sad, but true).
Ah, I haven't seen that episode of Futurama, but I'm sure it's adorable / funny. Thanks! It's SO NICE to know that I've got it all written. Gads.
Thanks thanks! Woah, the tubmlr group is crazy amazing. I'm still all glittery-eyed over it.
Yes - the class will help you improve and learn and all that good stuff. You're going to have a great time!
OH MY GOSH, THERE'S A TUMBLR DEDICATED TO YOU?!? *follows*
ReplyDeleteAnd yaaay for finishing your thesis! Also, I'm so chuffed for a story about Diamond. :O :D
I did a rudimentary cleaning of my room the other day. I need to do a deeper clean, especially since a lot of the stuff I want to get rid of is just sitting in the middle of my floor now. :P I heartily sympathize with your dust allergy, gah.
I kind of commented on the contents of your past backward. I usually put my remarks in order of how you did. OH WELL. I know you won't care. ;)
Pahaha. Change "past" to "post" and we're good. Past almost works, contextually speaking, yet makes it a tiny bit... weird. XD
DeleteWOAH!!!!! I KNOW! Thanks for following my mysterious group :D
DeleteYay! Believe me, I've been daydreaming a lot about Diamond recently. It doesn't help that I went shopping at a department store and saw a mannequin dressed very Diamond-like. Gah. I would have hugged it if the employees weren't lurking around, haha.
Haha, it sounds like we're talking about teeth cleaning. There are so many parallels. That's good that it's all on the floor - once it's out, you'll find a place for it (aka, garbage, hopefully, right?). If I can't see everything right in front of me, then it won't get cleaned up. So I've always found that that helps.
I attempted to start cleaning my room yesterday...but kind of gave up halfway. I didn't have the will for it. I wanted to, like you, excavate my closet (and tackle the mountain of wrinkly clothes in the ironing basket so I actually have clothes to wear once the new semester starts) but I realized that it was all too daunting a task to face while also punching my thesis in the gut. So maybe later.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm totally curious about your video games!
When will you defend your thesis, Kim? Well, it’s good to plan ahead of time. That way, you can avoid mistake that sometimes eat a lot of time that can be use to add information to your thesis. It would also help you avoid deadlines as you can finish your work ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to know that you were able to finish your thesis and you can now work and focus on your other interests. Maybe you can also consider sharing your experiences during the writing process so others can have thesis topic ideas where many are pressured about it.
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