From the Storm (and after)

Powers out, and the internet with it(i'm writing this with the precious little battery i have left inmy iPod.)so I don't know when this'll go up... But, power will probably be back on when it does...

So, if you've read much of this blog, then you probably already know about my atypical feelings towards storms. After a powerful storm, like this one which tore down trees (mostly leaving them strewn across streets) and leaving us without power, I get to thinking about things (Dangerous, I know.), about why I feel the way I do...

Even when I'm out being a wild maniac, or when I'm helping neighbors clear away wreckage from the streets during a calm, I still feel warm. Safe. Protected. Perhaps this is because I've never suffered injury, or perhaps it's because no one I know personally has been hurt, or perhaps it's because i'm young and foolish; but I think it's more than all those, true though they may be.

Storms, in all their fury and power, remind me of God's power, remind me that He is looking out for me, even when I don't realize. It makes me think about how truly blessed I really am. And it gives me energy.

Sometimes though, I stop, I remember others who may or may not be suffering in the storm, who might be in danger, who are out of my reach. For a moment, I forget God, so lost to worry and helplessness am I.

And that is a terrible place to be. Every sound of thunder, every clash between ground and sky, becomes something to fear--not for myself (never for myself), but for others, even and especially for those I don't know as well as I should. Every siren crying in the distance becomes a lucid nightmare, and I feel guilty about the joy of moments before. When that happened, it is hard to trust. Control goes out the window.

Yet even then, God did not abandon me. Somehow I became able to think rationally again, to pray. And after a moment's prayer I gained the strength to once more leave my fears and worries in his hands. And that is a good place to be, one I never want to leave.

Wherever you are, and whoever you are, I pray that you stay safe against whatever chaos or uncertainty you might be facing; and I pray that you, too, might know the comfort and joy that I'm feeling now.

Go mbeannaí Dia duit,

M. S.

Update: Yes, it's roughly ten o'clock the night after the storm, and power is back. Yippee skippee! Alleluia! And everyone who still has no power, hold in there. I'm praying for you, and the women and men of the power company are surely working their hardest.

P.S. Please excuse all the tense shifting and clunky prose. It's not my best work, but I don't think I'm going to edit this post. Just cause. Also, I'm very thankful I live in a neighborhood where people go out and help each other the same night the storm came through. I talked to people I don't think I've ever talked to before, it was very cool. So I'm very thankful. I'm just thankful for everything right now.

Whooppee! skibberoo! Life is good! (Darkness really is only for light to shine in.)

And now I'm just drawling on. Sorry. Goodnight all. :)  ... ... ... (I just used an emoticon? Ah, must be the caffeine kicking in... Caffeine, another thing I'm thankful for...

Seriously, goodnight. I mean it this time. I think. Night night!

Mickel out.

12/12/12

December 12... NaNoWriMo, Thanksgiving, the beginning of Advent, and dozens of other significant happenings all happened without a single peep on this blog. I have been absent longer, and to a greater degree, than I had intended. But that is the way of things: the longer I go without doing something, the harder it is to get back into it.

But back into it I will get, and in time for Christmas, too. :) Yes, I use emoticons. Occasionally. So what? I'm just rambling here because I don't actually have a subject.

Anyway, 12/12/12. Cool…

While I was gone, I realized that I haven't been doing much wondering or wandering, at least,  not on my blog. So I'll try to get back to doing those things.

I've also realized that I could very easily go on doing nothing but music post. In fact, I  could probably do three posts a week. But not on this blog, no. I will start a second blog dedicated to music—which I will link to just as soon as I actually get around to creating it.

What else… Middle sister's back in town! (and now, because I never told you she was gone—or, even, that she exists(if my memory serves me correctly)—you are really confused (and that last sentence was a mess)) She was down in Arkansas helping out our grandmother, but now she is back. This is especially cool because she is my main writing buddy/proof reader.

Anyway. I'm rambling. I should probably stop before I reveal any classified secrets. ;) Yes, I haven't slept very much recently.

So goodnight and farewell (for the time being).

Go mbeannaí Dia duit,
M. S.

My Return

First, I'd just like to say that, like in the Monty Python, "I am not yet dead."

Yes, I know I've been away from this blog for ages, but there were many reasons for that. Reasons which, if I were to put them all down, would likely bore you to death. As I wouldn't want to be charged with homicide, accidental or otherwise, I'm going to skip that portion of my return party.

Suffice to say: I thought about just letting this blog thing fall to the wayside permanently, but have since decided to attempt resuscitation—if it be possible.

Now then, we can move on to subjects of import—or lack of import, depending on how you look at it. (passes out appropriate paper-and-ink party hats and bacon)

Story Crafting (Or: This is the part where I bore you with what I've been up too.)

Recently, I haven't been writing much—at least as far as word counts are concerned. A pithy thousand words a week I now consider a triumph. And yet, with my current WiP—Work in Progress, for all you non-writers that might stumble across this blog—I feel like that is enough. This is because I've changed my approach.

Once upon a time, I wrote what I thought was cool without paying much mind to the craft; now, though, I've begun to explore forms, to find my own limits and push them in a pursuit of mastery. (I hope that last doesn't make me sound like a maniacal villain)

Which brings us back to my current WIP. It is very unlike my vanilla projects of the past, which were past tense and third person limited (sometimes first person, I'm not that much of an extremely limited newb), written with the intention to market. I have shunned that form (temporarily) to explore present tense with two viewpoints—one of which is first, the other third.

This form is proving to be challenging but exciting. It is so unlike anything else I've ever attempted; there is something almost fay about it. I'm exploring the ways in which two viewpoints can foreshadow and feed off of each other, experimenting with dropping the tension in one as it rises in the other, and playing around with language. (When to use cliches, and when not to. Descriptions. Creating phrases unique to the world—that sort of thing. I'm not Tolkien; I don't invent languages.)

This all sounds sickeningly literature like, now that I think about it; and I certainly wouldn't have even dreamed of doing something like this eight months ago. But it's a good exercise, and extremely fun. And gritty post-apocalyptic-noir-sci-fi to boot. So i'll take it as proof that I'm growing as a writer.

What about you, doing anything different? Ever get that urge to experiment, but don't? If you haven't yet, I strongly suggest you give it a try. Let your imagination run free. Because doing different things is refreshing sometimes.

Go mbeannaí Dia duit,
M. S.