So one year ago I was at home with a headache at 9:25 P.M., and at the time the rest of my family was just getting into Facebook. With what I had heard many times earlier about the privacy scares that year I was a bit undecisive into following suit, which prompted me to find an alternate medium in which I could talk (almost) freely to get things off my chest, with the thought that someone out there, in the big wide internet, was listening.
Since that night I feel like a few things have been achieved. I graduated from high school, got my first properly-paid job, reflected on the past decade, entered University, revealed my fanboy status, instructed what not to do at University (twice), and many many more.
And people listened. Having a half-dozen subscribers was reassuring, although that was short lived when it dropped down to 4 about a few weeks later. And as a little known fact, in the last month the blog has recieved traffic from not just New Zealand, but also from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea... although I don't know if they were just Google searching for the pictures.
Now that I'm officially into the second year of circulation (and with a wider audience, cheers Facebook), I'd like to try and expand this out into the less-than-100%-me relm of space. So feel free to get in touch somehow if you have a good video or website I haven't seen yet, because it's harder than you think to find one of each every week that I think people would find interesting or quirky.
And hey, if you're reading this in Facebook or some other place... the feed is a little late when detecting new posts; sometimes it may even be days before they show up... so feel free to bookmark the actual blogsite that the posts get posted to, and while you're there you should be able to subscribe (if say, you wanted the posts on an RSS feed) using a link on the right (as of current).
And people still haven't figured out that code I set out a whole 9 months ago...
Super Bonus Section
Triangle Triangle Triangle X Square...
On the 26th of July, I started writing out a draft for a post called, "Throwing in The Towel", which was never released. In it, I discussed where I thought the blog was going (downhill, apparently), and also gave a rather critical opinion on my thoughts on Social Networking at the time. I thought I'd copy and paste it here to share, and remember, I didn't get Facebook until 2½ weeks later. Amazing how much most of my opinion on this has changed in almost two months.
My Thoughts On... Social Media Sites
Fads. Remember Bebo and MySpace? No? Oh, you're forgiven. It's so amusing yet sickening at the same time to people washed away in something they forget about within years. Can't we ever have something and stick?
Ok sure, I'm a little out of line saying that; people switch jobs and life decisions all the time.
But I just think that with all the time people spend on Facebook playing MafiaVille... or FarmWars... or whatever they are... couldn't they actually go out somewhere and meet their friends in person? Sure, it's good for keeping in touch with relatives from overseas, and with Skype and all sorts of virtual communication methods it's becoming increasingly more vague how much is considered human interaction nowadays. But what happened to family reunions and the like?
It just seems that with all this social media we might be spening more time at a screen than with friends and family. Think about it - can you really communicate love or friendship through an emoticon?
So what's this novel business all about, then?
Hmm, perhaps you thought this when I brought it up earlier this month. Yes, for a while now I've been drafting up a little long, chapter-inclusive story of mine... and after a few hiccups with Google Document sharing I now bring you the as of currently-completed Chapter 1. Bonus points if you can guess who the inspiraion was for this chapter's character... hint to follow.
Chapter 1 - Amelia's Story
When first meeting Amelia, you couldn’t help but wonder how she had managed to land herself into a prestigious boarding school in London
Amelia’s perky, smiling attitude had another side, though. As many boys found out the hard way, trying to take advantage of Amelia’s helping personality resulted in being hit harder that a giant hammer slamming you from behind a few times. Amelia was a red belt at the local karate dojo, after all.
This side of Amelia was seldom seen, and most of the time the public of Rochester Park in her trademark red dress, shoes and headband, eating vanilla cupcakes with strawberry icing.
Although consistently surrounded by her friends, both male and female, Amelia longed for a boyfriend. It seemed that whenever Amelia met someone new, their mannerisms didn’t quite connect, and Amelia came-out empty handed.
It was a rainy February morning, and Amelia was staring out her bedroom’s window to the foggy setting of East London in the distance. Her best friend, Christine, knocked on the door and let herself in. A little younger than Amelia, Christine offered good company in dismal times; her naturally high yet mellow voice could comfort anyone.
“Good morning. Anything planned for today?”
“No, it’s a rainy day, a Saturday, and you know Isabella doesn’t come back from Montreal until Mid-March.”
“Oh. Right. Well,” Christine said, nestling herself next to Amelia by the windowsill, “We get the mail delivered here today. Why don’t we go downstairs and see if you have any?”
“Alright then,” said Amelia, perking up. “Let me just go find my key…”
“No, no, it’ll be just a few minutes. Just shut the door. We won’t be long.”
Exiting room 93, Christine and Amelia walked down the long main hallway to the staircase, and descended two floors to the mail room at the school’s main entrance.
On arrival, Amelia and Christine were welcomed by two lines of students, male and female, queuing up at the desk to receive their mail for the week.
Taking a place behind at least a dozen other girls, a boy from the opposite line started pushing his way up the line, creating a ruckus. Looking over, Amelia noticed it was Ivan Kintor, and Eastern European student who had become increasingly annoying ever since his arrival several months ago. In fact, Ivan had tried winning over Amelia’s heart in order to con her out of a £100,000 inheritance from her great aunt. He failed miserably, got caught out by her friends Christine, Isabella and Bilgan, and for the next two weeks had a black eye to prove it.
Amelia shot a scowl at Ivan, who froze in shock long enough to lose his place in line. Trying to reoccupy his spot, Amelia’s English teacher Mrs Parchett, came by and sent Ivan back to his room for being a nuisance. Amelia turned back to Christine.
“This is pointless. I’ve been here for at least 10 minutes. Someone could have gone into my room by now.”
“Ssh. Do you actually want someone to?”
“Besides, when was the last time I actually received a letter?”
“Last week!” Christine answered excitedly.
“Don’t you remember? That wasn't addressed to me, it was for Ashleigh Parkell, and they gave it to me by accident.”
“Oh.”
“Next please!” was the voice heard behind Amelia.
“Oh! Er, uh… Roseliah, R-O-S-E-L-I-A-H.” Amelia stammered.
“Just a moment.” Said the lady behind the desk, and started tapping some keys on the computer in front of her.
A faint ding could just be heard over the constant chatting in the queues behind Amelia, signalling a match in the database.
“One letter this week, Miss Roseliah. I’ll just go and collect it.” Said the lady, disappearing behind a curtain behind the desk. After a few minutes the lady returned holding a parchment envelope, and handed it to Amelia over the desk.
“Here you go, it looks quite official. Next please.”
Quickly mentioning to Christine that she would meet her back upstairs, Amelia rushed back upstairs to the girl’s dormitories, clutching the envelope like it was worth its weight in gold. She only stopped to see what looked like Ivan walking down one of the side corridors, much to the surprise of Amelia.
She shrugged. He’ll get told off by the teachers for being in the girl’s quarters, anyway.
She carried on, freezing for a second time in front of her bedroom door.
It was slightly ajar.
(The chapter continues... but I need to conserve space for more stuff in a minute, so you can continue here)
Hint: It's not Yu-Gi-Oh related, but you could still believe in the heart of the cards...
Day 14 Comics Status Report
People have asked me two questions relating to this subject... actually that's a lie, I imagine people are pondering these two questions: "Why 'Day 14'?", and "Can you put all of the comics in one place?".
Here are the two answers:
Firstly, Day 14 came about becuase it was a dull moment on the fourteenth day at university when I was doodling people sitting on the letters on news paper headlines, when I accidentally drew someone's eye differently to the way I would do so normally. The strange thing was, it seemed ok, and from then I tried drawing a full person (later named Akio), and surprisingly it turned out better than the things I drew before. So in short, I gained more confidence in drawing on the fourteenth day of university, and haven't forgotten since. That, and my birthday is on the fourteenth, too.
Secondly, yes, I now have them in a Facebook album. You can find all 10 current issues here.
Awards?!
Just something to make me keep this blog going... I have a small collection from the last year, so let's hope I can add to it in the next 365 days! The next tiers are:
- 20 comics
- 10 subscribers
- 100 posts
- 2 years
- 10 uploaded videos
And I can only acheive them with audience support, so help me out here!
Coming Soon
My 100th post, and with it a special 'live' version of "My Thoughts On...". Catch it in a few weeks time.
Coming Soon
My 100th post, and with it a special 'live' version of "My Thoughts On...". Catch it in a few weeks time.
So That's It...
For now. Enjoy this week's video pick!
From the duo that brought you T-Shirt War and its sequel, comes a music video done backwards about... pillows?
Plus on a related subject, the website Sleep Better, well... the purpose of the site is pretty self-explanatory. Plus if you want to see the making of the video, it's on there too.
And lastly, Steve, if you're reading this, you're about to lose something in 3...2...1...
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