All Her Little Pets (10/21)

I may or may not be watching It Might Get Loud in my spare time.

And if I am, it's probably absolutely awesome.

I posted a poem a minute ago, so here's some information pertaining to it. The title is from the David Bowie song "Changes" wherein he sings, "And these children that you spit on as they try to change their world are immune to your consultation - they're quite aware of what they're going through." Many will recognize it as part of the introduction to The Breakfast Club. I wrote it earlier this year, somewhere around spring, and submitted it to my school's literary club, but I've tweaked it a lot since it was published.

The reason I feel a lot more comfortable with updating with my poetry is because I'm not a real poet. I'm much better and more confident with prose. Also, you have to have a complete disregard for rhythm while writing prose which suits me just fine. I do still write poetry frequently, but it's mostly for my own benefit. 

While I'm here, I might as well gush about how Shannon and I have found a theater that's doing Rocky Horror this month. For those who don't know, there are few things I enjoy more in life than attending a live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture show, and I might even be able to go see one tonight if the stars align right. 

Also, today I managed to use the sentence “hace treinta minutas que ecuché la música de Led Zeppelin,” in my Spanish class which I would call an achievement. If I'm going to participate, I might as well be obnoxious about it.

Again, thank you to all my visitors thus far. Thank you to my family, friends, and followers (which makes me sound like the leader of a cult and will never sound any different thanks to Kelsey Climer) and I hope you find time to check back regularly. I do intend for updates to become a daily event.

I think I'll end today with a clip from one of my favorite shows at the moment, the British comedy panel show Mock the Week. WARNING: contains strong language that was not censored by BBC2 because Europe is funny that way. 

"These Children"

(Photograph by Nikki McGuire)

It's all okay

It's all undone

Look at home with

Fresh, wet eyes and

Breathe and find time

Passing from the

Victorians

Who clutched at your skirts

Dance with the moon

Feel the world

Touch its tilt

But you are its turn

The spin

The earth under our tired feet, 

But still we walk 

And still we trust in you 

To carry us through sunshine 

Into darkest night
Through sunshine
Into darkest night

Because you move us

In your turn

Where You Do Belong (10/20)

It was really hard finding lyrics from the song I have stuck in my head that were appropriate enough to use for a post title. Oh, you Rolling Stones, you.

So, last night I finished a short story that's been gnawing at my skull for the past four months or so. It's about twelve pages as is, but it's still very rough. Right now it's going through the first preliminary rounds of revisions, and then will be sent out to whatever magazine I can find that'll accept it. I already have a list made up, but it probably won't be ready for another month. I'm really excited for this story, so I hope I can do well with it.

Also, once I get this short story out of the way, I can start on an idea for a book that smacked me in the face two days ago.

There are guys in the courtyard who always always always greet each other by yelling "yo yo yo," sometimes at three o'clock in the morning and I can't help but think that a special circle of hell is being made up especially for them.

Since I still have not actually posted any of my work, I plan on digging up some of my poetry for tomorrow's update if I have the time. Shannon and I are supposed to be seeing a Pearl Jam tribute band somewhere on Chimes, so details are a bit fuzzy right now.

At this point in time I have started advertising this blog for both my followers on Tumblr and friends and family on Facebook, so I'll say hello to you now and thank you very much for visiting. I hope you choose to keep coming back.

The quote of the day comes from the song where I derived my blog's header.

Paupers and kings, princes and thieves, singers of songs, righters of wrongs, be what you believe. Saddle your horse, shoulder your load, burst at the seams, be what you dream, and then take to the road. 

- Frank Turner, "Journey of the Magi"

Frank Turner is a force to be reckoned with. Do go look him up when you get the chance.

Seashell Eyes (10/20)

Riddle me this: why did I bother to put a date in the title? 


This blog is a very hapless rip-off of a dear friend's writing blog, but I went ahead and made it so we could match and be cute that way. This friend can be found at thenikkimcguiremovement.com


You can already see how much I've cheated off of her idea by comparing our URLs. I might as well have just called mine the Vivian Beltran movement.


And that's another thing: my URL seems quite odd, obscure, or trying too hard. There is an explanation, however. Upon recent research (AKA Google), I discovered that my surname roughly translated to "bright/famous raven" which sounds pretty wicked. Don't even lie to yourself - you wish your surname was hot like mine.


All the aforementioned trivial matters aside, I do want to take this blog seriously. After all, I am quite serious about my career as an author.


What I'll be updating this blog with is still up in the air, but I think it's safe to say you may find some poetry, analytical reflections on mundane experiences, and progress reports on major projects. However, chances are I will not be posting any actual major prose works on this blog. It's incredibly easy to plagiarize other people's work when the Internet is at your disposal, but when I do begin to have my pieces published I will be offering the names of whatever publishing resource has taken on the ordeal of working with me.


Also, I'm really into classic rock, so I might be posting songs or lyrics or maybe even pictures every now and again.


My profile photo is a silhouette that doesn't show my face; I must mean business.


I end with a quote by a man who, in my opinion, should not have been played by Timothy Spall in The King's Speech.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. 

- Winston Churchill