Friday, July 30, 2010

The "Write or Die" Writers' Resource

Lately, I've found that I can't muster up enough motivation/inspiration to write anything, be it a blog post, poem, short story, essay, ransom note, whatever... The point is, I don't see a point. I always over-edit while I'm writing, and have a habit of talking my self out of writing altogether. A wonderful creative writing teacher/friend told me that when writer's block occurs, just write. "Don't think," she says, "just write." Still, that never seemed to penetrate into my writing habits. My dear readers, I believe I have found a resource that will help with writer's block and procrastination.
Write or Die is one of the most ingenious sites I've ever "stumbled upon," although it seems like an idea so obvious that I wonder why I didn't think of it first. Ohh, yeah.. because I was too busy editing my writing or checking Facebook (I think Mark Zuckerburg is the Hitler of social networking that takes out his competition by promoting procrastination. No one can defeat him when they are milking their cows on Farmville or deleting 46 "What Kind of Kiss Are You?" notifications sent by that chick from high school. But I digress..).
The site in a nutshell: Write or Die allows you to set a minimum time goal,  minimum word goal, consequences mode, and a grace period mode. Once you begin your writing session, you must write non-stop until the time is up, and you must meet your word goal. You may pause in your writing for a certain amount of time depending on your grace period setting, and if you don't complete your writing goal in the time allotted, you suffer a consequence (the severity is dependent upon your consequences setting). Because that probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, you should mosey on over to Write or Die and check it out for yourself.

I have yet to try it out, but I plan to sometime in the next few minutes. If you try it too, post your goal, time, consequences, grace period, and how well you did!

Peace, Love, & Hugs,

DB

PS. I'm still working on cleaning up this site. I want to add some pages to take away some of the clutter from the main page. If you have any other suggestions on how to improve stuff around here, lemme know.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Blog News

Hey guys,

I've been working (and having lots of fun) testing out some new blogger plugins/hacks. I'm trying to clean things up a bit around here because the OCD in me hates the clutter of all of the widgets and badges. I'll also be relabeling my posts into broader categories so that as I aquire more posts, they will be easier to locate based on topic. If you have any suggestions, concerns, questions, or Sonic slushies, I am open to all. If you wanna pair the slushies with any of the others, I'd be much obliged.

Peace, Love, & Hugs,

DB

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Blah Therapy

This past week I've made so many discoveries about myself. While I won't go into extensive detail, I will say that I am thoroughly blessed and humbled by God. 1) I have just landed a job as a receptionist on campus thanks to a recommendation from a wonderful friend. 2) I have the most fantastic boyfriend a girl could ask for. It's true what they say: "You always find something great when your not looking for it." ...or something along those lines? Maybe they don't say that at all and I just made that up? Maybe I should write greeting cards, yes? No. Okay. Continuing..
I found this new site (I'm kind of a time-wasting-site-hoarder, can you tell?) and I must say, it is quite clever. Blah Therapy is designed to provide people with an outlet to vent their frustrations to complete strangers or to help someone else out with their problems. I decided to give it a try, and it yeilded interesting results. So, I signed in as a "listener" and the first "venter" I ever talked to was some Bieber-esque punk trying to pull my leg..

[commentary in purple]

Stranger hey
You Hey there, how goes it?
Stranger bad
You Tell me what's going on
Stranger im going to kill myself [at this point I was thinking, "Either he's a complete moron for warning a stranger that he's gonna kill himself, or he's bored and wants to see how elaborate he can make his story to pull me in." I decided to push his buttons..]
You Can you talk to me about what led you to that desicion?
Stranger my girlfriend is pregnant
Stranger but the baby isnt mine.. its her ex's
You Ohh. How do you feel about your girlfriend?
You Do you love her?
Stranger yes but im going to kill myself so it dosnt matter
You So you don't care what's going to happen to her or the baby? If you love her you will forgive her and help her through this. not take the 'easy' way out.
Stranger nope. i hate her now
You even though the situation sucks right now, there is a reason it is happening to you and not someone else. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and life isn't going to throw you more than you can catch at one time. If you overcome this, you can overcome anything. everything else will seem easier after dealing with this
Stranger f**** the world
You [I layed it on thick. Insert unfortunate event that directly affected me but is too personal to share on the web] and honestly, i thought that was the worst thing that could happen my family. the thought of [::cough::] scared me and I didn't want to live. I've been suicidal many times before [no need to alert the institution. I've would never take my own life]. but there's nothing that can happen to you that you can't handle. I swear on my life
Stranger dude.. i was kidding but im sorry man..
You i know. lol. the guilt trip worked
Stranger f*** man. your good
You i know :]
You i should get a freakin' award or something
Stranger ill present it to you man. haha i fel like an a** now :o
[I told him that it was a pretty dumba** thing to do, but that I wasn't mad. He then proceeded with some small talk like what I was doing, what I want to major in, and...]
Stranger :) hey do you play any sports?
You not really. used to play soccer, but i hated being on the team. loved playing tho. sadly I havent really been keeping up with the world cup. shame on me. u?
Stranger awwh man, haha i was gonna ask you for your name and number :D
[Woahh there, Seabiscuit. CALM DOWN. Needless to say, I said, "I don't thinkk sooo" and changed the subject. But he swung it right back around..]
Stranger yeahh. so can i know your name/?ill tell you mine
You even if i told you, how would you know i wasn't giving you a false name?
You i've always like the name Olivia
You and Aleeah

Your partner has disconnected.

--->Win.

I talked to a girl on there today who actually needed help sorting some stuff out, and I'd say it went pretty well. I won't post it because it wasn't nearly as amusing as the first conversation, but it was nice knowing that I helped some chick clear her mind just by reading her dilema and giving her some feedback. Woo.

Need a little mood booster? I'm going to wager that at least one of these graphs make you laugh...or crack a smile at the very least.

In case you've never heard of them, let me introduce you to "blackout poems." You can find them scattered around the web in various places, but one in particular caught my eye. I want to try one of these one day, for sure. More examples and information can be found here.

Dude! You've got to see this artist paint with bbq ribs. It's absolutely one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a long time. Also, check out some of his other stuff, like cheese puff-ed Conan O'Brien and lipstick-ed Angelina Jolie.


Well, I think I've spread enough url love for one post. Goodnight & God bless.


DB

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Dear Saturday

Dear Saturday,

I have been a loyal patron for eighteen years now and generally have little to know complaints. However, it seems to me that your services have become ineffective, to be quite honest. You promise relaxation, sleeping in until lunch, and going out with friends, but lately I have found myself unable to stay asleep, unable to go out and enjoy myself, and unable to forget about the week. Frankly, my nerves are shot, and my head feels as though a someone took a sledge hammer to it. Please, please, reestablish my faith in you and your corporation. See to it that I recieve the peace and quite that you have vowed in your mission statement.

Thank you for your time.

Dani