Quick short update. You know how it is.

As I write this short blog post I am listening to David Crowder Band through one ear because my headphones decided to stop working on the left side just now, tonight. I'm rather upset by this actually because it means I now have no possible way to descreetly listen to things on my laptop through more than one ear.

I'm thinking that I might just have to go ahead and buy an iPod shuffle (which comes with earbuds) because my iPod battery has been on the decline for the past two years as well. I can't really listen to it unless it's plugged into the wall. I got it for my 17th birthday. Hey, I don't like to just frivolously upgrade my technology okay? There are people starving in the world.

I'm kind-of-sort-of on track with NaNoWriMo in that there are periods of surprisingly efficient writing punctuating my general mood of artistic dispair. Still, I have a sense that Things Are Getting Better, and for that I am very thankful.

Everyone at work has apparently been saying that I look better with black hair than I did with my normal-coloured hair. My friend Alex told me at work today. She's got my back. That's good and bad, I suppose, because I was worried I would look silly with black hair and everyone would just be polite about it and not tell me. Well apparently they genuinely like it, but now they like it more than the actual hair my body is capable of producing, which leaves me with this uncomfortable feeling of inadequacy.

Please everyone leave comments suggesting what I should ask to get engraved into my iPod when I order it tomorrow. If nobody actually suggests something usable then I will just put an emoticon on the back, like: <(^^,)>

I feel bad spending $100 when I obviously need to be spending it on plane tickets and travel insurance for next year, but I freaking need headphones and a portable music player that actually works.

Not spell checking this. Feel free to laugh at my silly errors.

Recommendation: Matilda by Roald Dahl. This was one of my very favourite books growing up. This little girl bought it today while I was working in kid's. "They say books are better than the movies" she said to me, very earnestly. "Yes," I said, "I often feel that way too." Matilda the movie was OKAY but good grief why would you move a story so CLEARLY set in England to America? Usually I don't get all thingy about movie adaptations but that movie would have been better set in the UK. Just saying. Anyway, Matilda made me want to be smarter so that one day I would be able to make objects float around the room. It was the first book I ever read that actually convinced me that education was cool.

NaNoWriMo - The Problem With Hayley

Well I'm two days in to my NaNoWriMo journey and it's all going okay. I'm not exactly on track for winning exactly, but I am writing every day which is something that doesn't usually happen. I'm still trying to figure out what this character does exactly, what his problem is that he has to overcome. I've written about half of what I'm supposed to, but considering I had an essay due today that I'd only done half of yesterday I think I've done pretty damn well.

There is, however, one problem.

Hayley Hoover.

Currently Hayley is on over 8000 words and I am green with jealousy. How can a person write that much in just one day? I even got a 10 hour head start on her because of my time zone and I'm already exactly 6500 words behind her. Can somebody just sneak into her dorm and take her out for me? Nobody will know it was you, her dorm is haunted.

BUT SURELY ROHAN YOU ARE OVERREACTING you say. Well no! No I am not! Why? For on her blog she airily declares:

I really like it [my story] so far. It's awesome that I didn't plan AT ALL, and wouldn't even allow my mind to wonder into the territory of plot before last night, and yet I've organically met this really fleshed-out character and I can already see where the story will probably go. I love writing, guys.

Quite frankly it has become clear to me that she is not actually human, but some sort of genetically engineered cybernetic writing machine. Sure I could be using this time and these words to try and catch up to her, but I thought as a public service this was very important information. You have to know the danger we are all in. If she wins NaNoWriMo this year she could become so powerful as to write us all out of existence.

Ha. Well, only a total loon would tie his self-worth to beating the person who has currently got the highest word-count out of everyone in his buddy list. But I, Rohan of the YouTubes, am that loon.

So now you know. Just so long as I keep within spitting distance of Hayley's word-count I'm going to be happy. Right now I'm not happy. Please excuse me this is going to take a little while.

Recommendation: Reading? Who has time for READING?! I'm a writer now!

Tightassery

So the response to my thing was generally pretty positive both here, on DailyBooth and Tumblr. But, like, who's really going to say "I can't believe you dyed your hair black! It looks so silly!" to my face?

Oh wait. My mother. My mother said that to my face.

Still, I'm sure that's to be expected right? She's my mum and generally she prefers me to stay au naturale. Just wait until I get a tattoo OH WAIT SHE WILL NEVER FIND OUT - I AM A NINJA.

Currently I am sitting on a half-completed assignment due the day after tomorrow at 5pm. Tomorrow I will be working all frigging day and yet here I am, blogging away because I love you. This bodes well for NaNoWriMo which starts tomorrow because, even though I'll have yet another 2000 word essay and a screenplay due, I'll use my novel as a procrastinating technique. My blog, however, may suffer.

This year I. Must. Win.

All winners get 50% off Scrivener which brings the cost down to about US$20. I desperately want this program but I want to pay as little as possible because I am half-Scottish and therefore I want my money's worth. Interestingly this is also the reason why I chose permanent dye over temporary dye for my hair. Yes, some people genuinely practice this brand of tightassery; I didn't believe it either until I realised I was one of them.

Today I went to work dressed as Harry Potter because it was Halloween. I mean, never mind that I've never celebrated Halloween before in my entire life, THERE WAS DRESSING UP TO DO. Thus, I came to work with black hair, round glasses and wearing an academic robe. I was voted best-dressed by the staff and I had more than one customer tell me that I was totally awesome - in those words. And good heavens! The girls! I don't know if you know this, but if you want nerd girls to flirt with you then all you've got to do is pretend to be Harry. Why I've never thought of this before is beyond me.

Now if only I could get such a reaction when I am playing myself.

Do not fret. I know in the picture I do not have the lighting-bolt scar but rest assured I got that sorted out once I got to work where there were girls with makeup pencils. I swear they forget to draw it on half the time in the movies anyway. Someone should look into that.

If you have decided to undertake the madness that is NaNoWriMo then please add me as a writing buddy. Oh come on! It will be such fun! I have only the faintest of ideas for a plot AND YET I WILL PERSEVERE! MY TIGHTASSERY DEMANDS IT.


Recommendation: Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - not because it is actually good, but because, like Twilight, it is outstandingly lolsome! In fact, if the two chapters I read on my lunch break today are anything to go by, it is EXACTLY LIKE Twilight in EVERY SINGLE WAY! Even down to the little things! The monster and the moody-yet-ultimately-useless girl meet in biology class, for example. And the monster is at first standoffish but is set to develop an abusive-yet-for-some-reason-desirable relationship with the aforesaid girl. In fact, the product description on Amazon is a dead ringer for Twilight if you change just a few names here and there. Oh! But it's not like Twilight at all! The monster isn't a vampire, it's a HALF-DEMON HALF-HUMAN! A Nephilim! Isn't that catchy?

U GUIZE

U GUIZE I DID A THING

Procrastinating

It is 11:22pm and I haven't actually written anything for the assignment I said I would write stuff for yesterday. I have it right here and I have all my materials. I even wrote a paragraph last week. Now I just have to finish it off! Just another 1750 words to go!

Ahem, so I sat down to write it and I was like I MUST DO A QUICK BLOG OR I'LL FORGET THESE THOUGHTS THAT JUST SUDDENLY SRUNG INTO MY HEAD SUDDENLY JUST NOW.

Basically I want to say two things and then I'm going to write a solid 500 words about the celebrification of Myf Warhurst. Okay.

Thing one:
Today I finally beat out the particulars of what I'll be doing next year. I'll definitely be going overseas to Peru for six months or so. This is happening. The particulars are decided. All the particulars besides when I come back, but I'll do that tomorrow after I do my sums. Anyway, I'm going again and I'm stopping off in New Zealand for a month in February. That is how it will go down.

I was talking to Mum about it and also talking about my more far-flung future. She asked me what my ideal job would be. I thought I was going to say working in television on the ABC but I searched myself and found that I actually want to use the online skills I have learned in the past few years to help charitable organisations better connect with their donors à la The Uncultured Project. I don't see myself out in the field the whole time, but I want to enable other people to go as well.

Um, there's also this thing that I won't actually publish online because it's a little early, but when I told Mum she was actually visibly impressed and said "that's exciting!" That doesn't happen very often. Usually she'll play devil's advocate to make sure I'm not getting ahead of myself. The first time I told her I was going to Peru she actually laughed. I don't want to give you the impression that my mother is not supportive of me, because that's far from the truth. It's just that her way of looking out for me seems to be by asking How are you actually going to DO that? Are you SURE that's really what you want?

So yeah. Pumped.

Thing two:
I made a video of me singing. I know. It must be the end of the world or something. Those horsemen are not far off. I don't actually sound GREAT in this, but it's actually better than I thought it would be. Plus I'm pretty sure that the things that weren't good can be fixed. Like, I can see where I haven't done a good job but I'm pretty confident that I could do a good job next time. Result: increased confidence. Thanks YouTube! (And Paige, who is wonderful and brought my idea into reality.)

Okay. So now that's done I can do this assignment. The mantra for this one is that it's my... SECOND TO LAST EVER SECOND TO LAST EVER SECOND TO LAST EVER.

I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER

I'm not spell-checking this, sorry.

Recommendation: These Penguin classics in gorgeous cloth-bound hardcover. Like, it's not just one book, and I may have talked about these before elsewhere but JUST LOOK AT THEM. Sometimes when I'm at work and nobody is watching I'll go up to the display table we have and just touch them. Because they are so lovely.