... That's really all I can say. Just wow.

I just uploaded my latest batch of photos a few minutes ago, and the response has been amazing. I think I've gotten more favorites, watches, and collections in the last few minutes alone than I have in all my time previously on dA. Thank you so much, you guys. It really does mean a lot to know that people like my work.

This latest series of photos was taken on Carmel Beach, using nothing more than my iPhone. I had some time to kill, and the sky was too beautiful not to take pictures. It had been storming earlier in the day, but the skies had recently begun to clear, which caused this spectacular interplay between the sun and the clouds. The clouds would be really thick, but then they'd part slightly, allowing the sun to just slip through, and I swear, it was one of the most magical things I have ever seen. I love where I live, and I love all of you. <3

As you may - or may not - know, I am an avid participator in National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo for short - each November. This year is going to be no exception, but there will be one noticable difference - I get to apply to college this year. And the UC system application is due in November. This I can manage, by finishing it in October and just submitting it when I can, but I'm applying Early Admission to Stanford, and that Application is due November 1st, which means it HAS to get done in October. And October is usually my NaNoPlanning month. So, this year, I've moved it up to September. I want to have my plot and characters firmly in place by October, to make it one less thing I have to worry about.

And I thought I had my plot. Really, I did. I wanted to re-work Fairytale, my novel of last November. I loved my characters and plot, but the setting wasn't working for me. And being the steampunk-loving girl I am, I wanted to rewrite Cheshire & Co. into an AU Steampunk world, where I could have fun dabbling in neo-Victoriana while writing. Lovely idea, no? But then, it kind of fell apart. The more I look at it, the less likely it seems to want to work. When I try to write Steampunk, I always want to write it in the sky, with skypirates and airships and everything that makes me love steampunk so. But Fairytale doesn't work so well in the sky. It worked best amongst the slums of the city I had created; it worked best with crime lords and the desperate poor. And I hated the city I built for last November, but it suited the story so well.

So I'm on the verge of tearing that story to shreds and starting over, when I write Come What May. And I know it's not that good of a story, but it got me wondering. There's so much angst in there, so much of the characters that you don't see. There's a history there, I know it. And before I know it, I've come up with a backstory for the characters. I know how they got to where they are - why they're sitting in a small room waiting for death. So I've got a plot. But the characters for this one - they're flat. And if I went with this story, it'd be set in a dystopian cyberpunk future reality. And as much as I love my dystopian fantasies, I don't think I could live with this one for a month. Especially not in November. Especially not if Barack Obama wins. It's a depressing future I'd be creating, and I can be cynical as hell when the occasion arises, but at heart I'm essentially an optimist. I don't want to create a world where non-Christians, gays, and dissenters are in hiding, exiled to protect themselves from an overbearing government. And that's the world I'd be creating. [Not to mention, I'm not such a fan of straight-up cyberpunk. Which this so is.] And the characters that would be my protagonists - they're going to offend everyone, including myself, if I write them the way they'd need to be written. And I don't want to do that either.

So the dilemma I am facing is this: which shall I do? Should I go with the plot-driven dystopia, or rip Fairytale apart and cobble it back together in an anachronistic universe? Do I go with the slick silicone of cyberpunk or the gorgeously outdated gears of steampunk? I can't deciiiiiiiide.

And I'm also trying to decide whather or not to dye my hair, which has its own set of very unique and equally annoying options.

\

So I got back from the Sierras the other day. Vair vair fun, let me tell you. It was grey and stormy pretty much the entire time, but that didn't stop the trip from being awesome. I went skiing and tubing a lot, and ate way too much food. I also discovered that my dad is simply terrifying when it comes to ping-pong. He hit the ball so hard that I was literally hiding under the table. Needless to say, I lost.
It started snowing buckets on Thursday, so we left day earlier than planned, so as not to get trapped in the snow. But before we left, I got to take a ride on an actual dog sled, which was simply aces. Apparently all the dogs have run the Iditarod before. Don't let Tonya near me, I'll never get away XD.

So now I'm home, trying to work on my 3 big projects which are all due on block day for some bizarre reason. A lot of it involves writing, which may well go up here sooner or later. And it's storming.

Swiped this off Gaia about two weeks ago, I forget who from. It was in a forum, so I filled it out, and did nothing with it. But it was too good to pass up, so here we go.

Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
Click random article again; that is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

My band's name: RAAM [heavy metal, much?]
My album: Per Olof Sundman [YES. WIN. So much win.]

Tracks:
1) Richtenberg [Hmmm...could work.]
2) 21st Century Conservative Democrats [Great name. Truly. That could make the best rock/alternative song.]
3) Transparant Things [Another good name, this one is actually an album XD]
4) Lesser Housefly [Slightly smaller than the normal housefly]
5) Crnomelj [WTF is it with me and European things? Thats three times...]
6) Wildflowers of the Canadian Rocky Mountains [Band name, prolly]
7) Convergence for Alternance and Change [ANother good rock name]
8) William Johnstone Ritchie [Supreme Canadian Court justice. My homage to our nothern neighbors. Must include moose sounds.. And french.]
9) Cable knot [Hmmm....]
10) Von Roll [Sounds vaguely vampiric. Shall be emo.]
11) Southern Region [Our country Song]
12) Flattnitz Pass [Its another European place. Oy.]
13) Rajeev Routray [Garbled screaming!]
14) Korean Ocean Shipping Agency [ Yes.]
15) Spanish treasure fleet [Sex, love, adventure, and rip-off of the pirates theme in one huge song!]

I love my band. Seems to be a heavy-metal/rock/alternative politically concoius band with a thing for obscure European places. Who wants to join?!