The One So-Named Felicity Gibbongobbin, NOT Hummingbird Saltalamacchia.

And the 3rd season of the October Writing Challenge has begun! It's 12:01 a.m. PST and we already can't wait to see the first entry! Good luck everyone, and the sub-theme for the Halloween entry this year is:


YAY! Film noir! It's a little more difficult than last years, but I think you're all up to the challenge! =) 

Go ahead and check out the FAQ and Sample Entry if you need to, and get posting! Also, per your instructions, we have established a tumblr page and a facebook group! (We mods have been working hard!) And let's all give ippodditya round of applause for our fantastic new icon and banner!

FAQ
Sample Entry
October Writing Challenge Tumblr
October Writing Challenge Facebook Page

Well, it's time to get back into the swing of posting to LiveJournal, now that the 3rd season of the octoberwriting challenge is coming up on October 1st!

I guess that a lot of things really have happened to me, to keep me busy. I've been to Comic-Con, taken a vacation to Portland and Seattle, worked, edited my novel, and generally rushed around trying to afford everything! This coming semester, my last as an undergrad, also is going to prove chaotic, I'm sure. I'll be working two part-time jobs as I write me thesis, complete a full class load, attend senior events, make decisions on grad school, dedicate time to NaNoWriMo, and organize my fraternity chapter at Mills. (I am a girl, and yes, I am in a fraternity.)

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. That's what's going to get me through everything on 5% sleep. Just bear with me. We can do it. *motivated*

Ah lawdy lawdy...

It's been a really long time since I posted anything here. I know. I know. But September is slowly approaching, so I'm trying to gear back up before OWC. Which, in case you don't know, is the October Writing Challenge. Which I run. I created. I mod. =D

This summer... I've worked. Had my car break down on the freeway. Gone to Comic-Con. And now I'm still working, and I'm preparing for a trip to Portland and Seattle! I don't have a ton of money, so it comes down to a ton of planning and saving and scraping. But, I know these are probably once in a lifetime opportunities, so I know that I have to take them.

This is definitely not been a summer VACATION.

I suppose that I should... I don't know... actually post to my livejournal? Especially if I expect to keep not only this blog alive, but my writing challenge as well.

So... since last November I've...  
... finished my novel.
... gotten a date.
... travelled a little bit.
... had some fun.
... and started my senior thesis.

It's actually quite a bit more stressful than it sounds, I promise.

Here is just a post about some of my inspirations and notes for the story, War of Morals, as well as the playlist.

PLAYLIST: 

"Have You Ever Seen Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Victory Does Not Make Us Conquerors" by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones soundtrack)
"Child of Midnight" by Jim Croce (seriously, I must have listened to this 40 times or more)
"Fall: Ghosts - Falling" by Clint Mansell
"Death is the Road to Awe" by Clint Mansell
"Corrupt" by Depeche Mode
"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars
"Summer: Ghosts" by Clint Mansell
"Blue Veins" by the Raconteurs

Notes:
 - Jim is supposed to be the typical 1950s American greaser. He represents that subculture of dissonance within American culture, as well as the hot rod culture.
- Jim says that Louisiana State Penitentiary is "the worst prison in America." And a magazine really did call it this in 1953. If anyplace could change anyone, it was LSP, or Angola.
- Jim says that he "didn't cut my heels or nothing." He is referring to the Heel String Gang of the 1950s, who cut their Achilles tendons to show their membership.
- I thought that Jim's cigarettes were a nice little allegory for how he was feeling. When he was certain of his actions and what he had to do, he smoked them without a thought. But when he felt regret and penitence, he only picked them up, and threw them away.

On October 6^th, I was able to go on a tour of San Quentin State Prison, which is located in San Quentin California. It’s actually only about half an hour to 45 minutes away from where I live, but even then, I never really thought about a maximum security prison being so close by. The tour was actually an incredibly overwhelming and enlightening experience that I want to take time to process and think about. I didn’t expect it, but I came out different than I went in.
 
San Quentin is the oldest prison in California, and actually houses one of the oldest public work projects in the state – the dungeon. The prison was built in 1851 by prison inmates who were housed, at the time, on a nearby shipped named, “The Waban.” Opened in 1852, it is still in full operation, and is California’s only death row for male inmates (also the largest death row population in the country). It also houses the state’s only gas chamber, which took the place of primary execution method from 1937 to 1996, after which it was replaced by lethal injection. Since 1893, 422 inmates have been executed at the facility.
 
Also unique, San Quentin has at least 70 different rehabilitative projects and classes on the facility, which is rare in all other prisons. They are prison and volunteer run, including the Prison University Project, which is the only one of it’s kind, and the California Reentry Program. They also have the only inmate run newspaper in the state.

( Click for the rest of the tour.Collapse )

I writing another entry late at night. Oh when will I ever learn? Mostly though, this will be me bitching, so I think that I'll be okay. 

School! Junior year was the worst in high school and I can already tell that it will be the worst in college too. A month and a half in, and I've already had one bout of stress induced muscle spasms in my neck!!! Now that can't be normal.

And the worst part of it is, I think it's my french class that's doing this. I love the French language, I love being able to speak it, and to nominally understand literature. But my professor is asking us to read way too much in between classes. Even people who are majoring in French think so, and I'm only minoring. So I'm screwed. This is our third book of the year already, and lucky me, this book is designed to confuse readers. Great. Thatnks Maryse Conde! You're ever so generous.

On the other hand, I'm killing it in my American history and European history classes. And I've subscribed to a new History magazine that's just starting up this year. Guess that's why I'm a History major. Gee.

Also - going on a field trip thursday with my Criminal Justice and Corrections class. Guess where we're going. SAN QUENTIN. 0_o I'm going to California's highest security prison, for a tour. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. Scared. Really scared.

Too much reading, too many essays, too many classes. *sigh* I just want to write, damnit! I just want to screw it all and write for my novels, non-stop. Become a hermit and do nothing but write and watch Horrible Histories and Criminal Minds and America's Next Top Model. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh, and I have a Tumblr now. Follow me! =D http://latemarch.tumblr.com/

This video, has made my day. I'm serious. Not even frakkin' migraines can take me down. My German history prof played this video at the start of class today, as we looked at Luther on Tuesday. The Reformation Polka people. SERIOUSLY.

I feel like being the owner and moderator of the October Writing Challenge octoberwriting is my second job. Except unlike my other job, I really love doing this! I look forward to seeing the progress of this thing that I've created, to connecting people across continents, and states, and space and time. I know it sounds really corny, but it's true!

I love this job! <3

(Icon is the way I feel at most of the other jobs I've had.)

I have been a LiveJournal posting fool recently, mostly due to my community, which I am now going to PIMP: the October Writing Challenge! Check it: octoberwriting! You know you wanna sign-up. You know you do.

Also, what kind of crackhead, animated LSD-trip is She-Ra, Princess of Power? Seriously. I'm watching it right now on qubo. Firstly, what kind of name is She-Ra? Secondly, the unicorn? Really? Thirdly, what is that thing with the multi-colored ears? It's like a cross between a Dr. Seuss character, an owl, and a koala. Who thinks of that??!!

At least with Thundercats, you can scream at the top of your lungs, " THUNDERCATS HOOOOOOO!" You cannot do that with She-Ra, Princess of Power.

I also may or may not be posting this entry to avoid writing my French essay. In French. That's right people - skillz. Although obviously not with spelling.

I'm rather put out right now because the racoons who like to loudly procreate directly below my dorm winow are back again. They bothered me all last spring, and I thought that at least they'd have the curtesy to wait till this spring to start being irritating. The jury is still out for sure, but mostly I dislike knowing that they're lurking beneath. RACCOON-JAWS! Some of them take little pieces of stone, and scrape them against the wall, like wannabe Hannibal Lecters, so yeah, that also tends to be creepy.

And yay! Falicia is coming to see me this weekend! Best friends for the win! I may or may not be mentally deranged for this, but I have this strange desire to lock up my best friends so that I have continuous access to them. 0_o Good thing I am fresh out of underground dungeons.

Also busy gearing up for: NaNoWriMo, midterms, this weekend, the Fall Festival, government essay, a healthy dose of Nutella.