Barely a writer

I already knew in high school that I was bleeding words onto pages. I had been doing it since I was eight. But when I read "Worlds of Wonder" by David Gerrold, I started to see the art of craft. I've read plenty of "how to write" kinds of books since, but none stuck with me as much. One of the biggest lessons that stuck with me was a single page titled "The First Million Words." Those million words, Gerrold puts it, are all practice. No matter what happens to the words after you write them, they're practice. I loved that perspective. 

I'm barely a writer because I haven't got a word footprint to prove otherwise. I just haven't had enough practice doing what I'm doing. I certainly don't think that there is anything magical about any arbitrary number. Its more about awareness of the material, just as a carpenter becomes intimate with dead trees. It wasn't the number, its the eye for craft. I want to get better because I love the material so much I want to do it honors. As I said, I've been bleeding words onto pages for a long time.

I do recognize that there will never be an end to practicing. There is no finish line because there is no way to complete art. Art is our collective soul speak, to the best of our abilities. From the first cave paintings to the most post of modern, we are all trying to connect through our passions. Our perspectives are lenses bending the light of the world into wonderful rainbows of color. 


I hope to share with you many words, but the number won't matter as much as your enjoyment. Although this is a learning curve for me, I want it to be the most entertaining curve it can be. After all, without a reader the words are quite useless. Let me know when I succeed in entertaining, let me know when I fail at any step. I appreciate your time and your mind, I don't intend to waste either.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Potential meets opportunity

Hello cosmic fam,

I know that I am still very new to writing books, but I'm a fan of outlines. Outlines allow me to see the overall structure of the story before I start working the details. It might just be that I'm a visual learner and I generally like to see the big picture.

In any case, I have already begun writing the sequel to Hunting Artemis, but this week marks the first time I have really seen the whole shape of the story fill out. Obviously, much of it is still in a fluid state, but the outline I have now (4th? 5th?) seems to fit snugly. I'm energized by it.

As I might have mentioned elsewhere, I've wanted to make books in one form or another since I was eight. I'm still learning how I go about making any book, let alone a series, but I'm delighted to have the opportunity to write for you all. I'm excited to see how this story evolves.

I want to honor both my inspiration and my readers by what I make. I want the story to live in your head separate from the page. When I fail at this, I will learn. If I succeed in this, I has happy face. Let me know either way so I can learn what I need to and smile when I hope to.

As the shape of my sequel takes form in my mind's eye, so too the first sights of the general structure of the rest of the series. The idea of Hunting Artemis struck me like a bolt of lightning while I was trying to write the group of short stories that would later become my short anthology Cherished Convictions. I wrote Isisa's story as it poured out of my head more or less, and I knew the big picture but never saw it take form in an outline until now. Now that I am beginning to see the lay lines of the landscape and I'm excited to share it and learn from the journey.

I can only hope that the story weaved is interesting and entertaining to those of you who would honor me by reading it. To those who have read my work, and to those reading this here blog, thanks! I appreciate your support and patronage. Have a terrific day!

Sequel Writing

I have begun penning my first sequel (to "Hunting Artemis") and I'm bouncing off the walls excited about it. Sequels tend to be my favorite kind of stories (I know many people hate movie sequels but I find them fun even if the plots don't match the potential) because the characters have been framed up and the action can really hit the glass right at the jump.

While I have been outlining I have been horrified by the news and current events, and I am using those feels to pour onto the page. When I created Isisa and her idealist revolution I knew it would be a perfect cast into which I could pour such frustrations but I had no idea it would be in such a horrible climate. 

So many things have changed in the world around me since I first thought of Pollux Max, but few of those changes have caused the basic plot to be altered. Essentially I have only discovered new details to paint with.

As I have been on this journey I have focused largely on learning as much as I can through this process. All I ever wanted to do (since being 8 years old) was write stories and share them with the world. Now I am doing that, and I am trying to hone my skills and develop my creative process so that I can honor my readers through my work.

I'm well aware that "Hunting Artemis" (link to read it) ended in far too cliff hanger fashion, and I want to give those of you who read it a truly remarkable tour de force in the upcoming sequel. I am planning on finishing Isisa's saga back to back so I can take a wide angle view in my writing.

Your thoughts and feedback during this process is invaluable to me, so any messages you can send me about any of my writing will be appreciated and beneficial as I grow. I consider each reader to be more precious than gold. I am honored and my goal is to be a good use of your time.

Looking to the future, I hope to look back on the sequels I am writing and learn from them. The sequels and series I write in the future should benefit from every lesson. In the meantime, I hope that I can entertain you and give you a good story to remember, so that when you look back you will say that you were glad you found this site and this author. I only hope that I have honored you and that you will come back and see how I've grown.

Thanks! Have a great day!

Rimworld Storytelling

Games have always fascinated me, but the ones that hook me are the ones that tell a complex and evolving storyline. Any game can be fun to play, but my favorite games are those that are fun to share and tell stories about. 

My Manasaloka Base

Staples of that kind of genre are megalithic games like Minecraft, which cast a long shadow filled with new stories daily (YouTube can attest this fact). Rogue like games such as FTL and Dwarf Fortress offer truly nail-biting moments where you feel invested in the outcome. Big sandbox games like Mount and Blade: Warbands, Elder Scrolls & Fallout let players tell their own unique story by the order and manner they tackle the various obstacles. 

Rimworld is another such experience. My recent game was an ode to the triple goddesses of Hinduism: Sarasvati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I deliberately chose three women to be my initial colonists and named them Saras, Laksh and Parva and set out to build them a spaceship to "send them back to the stars."

My first wanderer to join the colony named Hamsa, a noble. Worthless in cleaning hauling and manual labor (so often needed toward the beginning of a colony) I set him to work on being my primary researcher. 

Later, a wanderer named Raven joined the colony and I was so glad to find her more useful. She was immensely helpful until I discovered her setting fire to the main resource stockpile. It was only then that I checked her personality chart and discovered that she was a pyromaniac.

Such people are rarely (according to the internet) invited to join colonies and I soon learned why. Even though she had brand new clothes on her back, a spacious room of her own and plenty of food in her belly she still found it perfectly necessary to set fires everywhere she went. 

Hamsa had a heart attack and died (maybe due to all pyromania under the mountain) but I buried him in a sarcophagi and discovered that "art" depicting his life was carved into the side of it. This little detail impressed me greatly. After he was buried the other colonists would periodically pay him their respects. 

Raven soon had a sarcophagi of her own, and though she had been in the colony for a short time, Parva and Saras had both developed friendships with her and were glad to see her honored and remembered. These little touches help mold a richer story told through the game characters that I rarely see in games.

Parva got injured in a raid or something and was in critical condition with a major infection when I got the first crytosleep pods constructed so I decided that rather than lose one of my starting goddesses it would be best to just put her to sleep to wait for the ride off-world.

I did finish building that space ship and the three goddesses are waiting (what could take forever) for the random event that brings the AI persona onto the field to send them back to the stars. I saved the file to return to later (maybe messing with the storyteller AI to help increase the chances of the AI drop) but I consider the save a success because it lent me a good story to tell about one of my first games of Rimworld.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day!

Alien Buttons and Fractals

One of my friends loves the original Alien movie, and while he was showing me the new Alien: Isolation game we decided to re-watch the 1979 classic sci-fi. What a time capsule, that film!

One of the things that stood out to me was the self destruct panel's keyboard toward the end of the film. I asked my buddy to pause it so I could read what it said and I was blown away by what I saw.

 

My last blog post (link) discussed my new-found appreciation for Manasa Devi and my decision to proudly release "Scaling Oath Mountain" -link on the day of Nag Puja, and what I had not planned on was watching Alien will my buddy and seeing the words "yoni" "pranic" "shakti" "lingha" "padme" and "hum" which all relate quite clearly to Tantric Shivaism that I have been learning about. 

The "lingha" symbol pointing upward is an obvious reference to the Linga of Shiva. The "yoni" symbol pointing downward is in reference to the Yoni of Shakti. Together the two symbols form the altar associated with Shiva from time immemorial. Pranic lift is a reference to the prana energy so spoken of in Tantra and Kundalini texts. The number 777 might be a reference to the seven chakras.

What's more is I discovered that the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" is widely known in Buddhism and a favorite for those searching for the divine mother's compassion and is said to encompass the entirety of the Buddha's teaching. What's more is that these connections were brought to me on the day of Naga Puja itself, while watching a sci-fi where the alien is referred to (albeit in the offshoot Alien vs Predator) as the "serpent or snake." 

 

Fractals abound.

If you are interested in learning more I found a great expose on this keyboard here:
https://typesetinthefuture.com/2014/12/01/alien/

"Scaling Oath Mountain" release

To my cosmic fam,

I have recently come to appreciate the deep mystical wisdom imbedded in the Vedas and the Hindu cosmology at large. I started my studies with the two snake divinities Kadru and Vasuki. It was with their inspiration that I wrote the world dragons in my story "Scaling Oath Mountain."

Read or download it for free here:
www.rabbitrevolutions.com/som

Since then I have learned a good deal more (with only a thimble-full of understanding) and I recently discovered a wonderful Devi by the name of Manasa. The daughter of Shiva, noted to have helped him with the deadly poison he drank to save the world.

Manas is often translated as intellect or mind or soul. Snakes are esoteric symbols of kundalini and pranic energies. The snake's distinctive hiss is used as a metaphor for your breath. As an aspect of Mahadevi, Manasa is the goddess of tantra and control over the mind and breath.

Naga Puja is the annual festival to honor the world's snakes so I can think of no better time for me to release "Scaling Oath Mountain" to the world than this auspicious time.

The geography of Rodauce is based upon the land of my grandmother, the beautiful and diverse landscape of Ecuador. When I visited Ecuador I was awestruck by the variety of truly breathtaking landscapes. Off the coast is a dozen or so islands lifted from the Greek archipelago.

The rivalry between my two principle cities is inspired and based upon the fierce vendetta between Athens and Sparta. I hope the map provided is helpful. The war is told through the eyes of four characters as they try to find their place amongst the madness.

I offer this humble story to you and the world in the name of Shakti-Manasa-Mahadevi and a happy Naga Puja. I hope you all enjoy it. Please feel free to give feedback as I am always learning about my craft.

I love you all.

Cherished Convictions Launch

To my cosmical family,

 

A few of you may notice that the first two stories are already (in a previous version) available on my website. My original intent was to write a short story and post it on the site once per month. In the end, I was four short stories in when lightning struck my heart. The idea for my first novella “Hunting Artemis” caught fire in my head and I couldn’t do anything but get it out.

So I broke my new years resolution (to write more short stories) in order to pursue the story of Isisa. I put them aside knowing that I would return. I added “Oversight” after my sister brought the show “Dexter” into my life. I added the Appendix because I wanted to give some canon background to Pollux Max. Now I’m sharing the collection while working on the sequel to “Hunting Artemis.”

I welcome feedback as always, I am still an apprentice author and I can use every bit while I sharpen the tool between the ears. I appreciate each and every person who read the first book, and thanks to anyone who will read “Cherished Convictions.” I hope to grow and do this whole thing better as time rolls.

For those of you interested in meta: I consider the universe the “Intrepidverse” and so far these stories are part of the “Indigo” Epoch. More on that at some later time. Be Awesome!

Link: http://www.rabbitrevolutions.com/intrepid/cc.php

Yours,

Derek

Persistence Together

The regular reader of this blog will know that I don't post to it very often. That shall have to change. I haven't figured out what routine works best for me, but be advised that I mean to get more after it.

Persistence is the word of the day.

Lets have a human moment right now. Me and you. You and I. Us. Lets shed all the superficials, the nets of time and space, the lies of nation and race. We are one. Whatever brought you here, and whatever brought me here, I'm flippin excited for it.

I'm honored to have your attention, and so I will not waste it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said that all wealth comes from common wealth. We are all in this together. Not just in the way that we all share the same world. Not just that we share the same cosmic heritage. Not just in the way that everything we know and love was forged in a star.

We are all in this together spiritually.

We are all walking our own path. Not toward some end or goal, but simply God living through us. Mirdad warned against saying "I am God" but instead asked us to realize that "God is I". We are here to enjoy each others company and flourish in a bountiful universe.

But instead we fight. First we fall by fighting ourselves. We don't accept responsibility for our own lives. We fight ourselves by dividing up what we consider Me.

Then we feel we must prove that my Me is the best. So we fight one another. But in so fighting we only bring immeasurable suffering to ourselves. 

We lash out because we forgot the truth. The truth that we are ALL ONE. Once you realize this simple fact, everything becomes clear. You stop fighting yourself because you are exactly where you should be. You invest the energy you wasted on fighting yourself in building something for your higher self.

You stop fighting others, seeing your eye in their eye, your heart in theirs. How can you fling an insult or curse if you know it will only strike you? No, instead you will flood the world with compassion and peace.

Love and Understanding. Those are the words of tomorrow. I love you all. Together we are going to change the world.

A new year, a new novel

Last year I started the year thinking I would be writing short stories all year and end it with an anthology I could publish, but now a year later I have my first novel instead.

Being the big picture sort of guy that I am, I am glad I allowed myself to be flexible and switch from the short stories to the novel. Having it behind me now I can honestly say that I think I made the right choice.

And it still feels surreal, as though a dream became reality and I can't tell if I am going to wake up. My soul is in some small part flying around on the internet.

But I'm not done. I want to create more.

I have already begun work on the second novel of my life. I am still in the world buiding stage, because this book will be the foundation for a new universe and I am head over heels excited to share it already.

The landscape and geography are based on my grandmother's home country of Ecuador. The politics and technology of the world will be based on those in use during the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens.

I have always adored Greek history, and I have wanted for a long time to learn more about Ecuador. I need to pour out some of my souls emotions and explore a part of my own mind. I hope that what I create is entertaining and enlightening.

At very least, I will have expressed another fractal of my heart.

You only have today.
So don't let it go to waste.

P.S.
If you haven't otherwise been exposed to it, here is the link to download my novel. For free. Or read it from the webpage. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. :)

Www.rabbitrevolutions.com/intrepid

Three Reasons to Read HUNTING ARTEMIS

1. It's a fun ride.

It was a ton of fun to write, and from the initial reports, it's fun to read. Give it a try.

If I disppoint, tell me why. I wont take offense. I will learn.

Then come back sometime and try something else I write. I will only get better. :-)

2. You believe the world can get better.

We just need to reorient our perspectives. We need to cooperate with one another.

This is human evolution happening.

Everyday. People are waking up. Things are changing. Its dark out, yes, but the Sun is rising again. I see it out there. Hearts and minds.

Changing. Growing. Loving. Embracing.

Oneness.

My book is about that, I promise.

My novel is a love letter and a break up text to humanity, all wrapped up in an retweeted tweet and a facebook thumbs up. Of course that last part is up to you.

I wrote this book by myself, I am publishing it on my website by myself. The reason why is because I want to share. So if you like what you read, I would like it if you shared.

3. Honestly I just hate marketing.

I'm not interested in clicks, ads, sales or trends. I don't want to make obnoxious posts or spam links to my site. I just want people to read my book and tell their friends about it. I want you to be my marketing.

You believe in cooperation and a better tomorrow. Me too. Lets talk about it more. Lets get people thinking about it more.

Let's share the things that make us think differently. Let's repost and retweet things that encourage us to believe in ourselves.

And most of all, encourage everyone to

Be Awesome.

I did, and I wrote a book.

What are you gonna do?
I'd love for you to share it with me. :-)

If you haven't started it yet, its over here:
http://www.rabbitrevolutions.com/intrepid/

Touchdown for my Heart

I am screaming. In my head.

Completely freaking the Hell out. I did it. I wrote my first novel. Its a thing. Its on the web this very instant and that excites the living heck out of me.

I'm not joyful for the attention, though, I'm just incredibly blown away by my own achievement. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to write a book. And now there is a book floating out in the web that I wrote.

That's flippin awesome. Do I think it will be read? Sure! But the real reason I am so excited is because it just feels good to have it out. Like catharsis, this book feels like a weight has been lifted.

Almost like football.

First down. You wrote a chapter. Nice pass.
First down. You edited the chapter. Nice run, there.

Now where is the next first down marker?

I'm already working on this years novel and I'm pretty excited to explore that world, but right now I am just so glad that I have something to hang my hat on. Something to remind me what effort and persistence is capable of.

A symbol.

For my heart. How it weeps, how it thinks, how it hopes. But a symbol nevertheless.

What that symbol means to the reader is entirely their concern. What it meant to me was a sense of personal freedom.

A belief in myself, and a symbol for progress. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." A symbol of triumph, of ingenuity and hard work.

So if I'm on that football field I just want to celebrate with my team for a second, because I just scored a touchdown. I wrote a novel.

And in a few minutes my mind will be traveling to the next place I want to share. Because one touchdown is never enough.

:)

Attainable Goals

One of the big lessons I learned in the last year has been to set up attainable goals for myself. I began the year hoping to write a short story per month, and I am proud to say that I succeeded there.

Sure, the short stories happened to form up a novel, but my goal was still met. I got four short stories and thirteen chapters for my novel. Next year I want to have similar success.

Goals only are beneficial while they motivate you to stay on track. When goals - especially unrealistic ones - go unmet it can tear down your momentum. Goals that are met serve to uplift and add energy to your trajectory.

This is the first year in my life that I have had the opportunity and the time to truly attempt my dream of writing a novel. And now that I have the first draft finished, all I want to do is share it.

I hope you guys enjoy my first work. It came together better than i could have imagined, and I can't wait to explore the universe more in the coming years.

Responsible Passion

I wish that art was a process as regular as lunchtime.

Even if you have no idea what the cafeteria is serving, at least you know that its serving something. Not so with the work involving art. I have been trying for the last year or so to get myself into habits and rhythms that would facilitate my artistic expression in more robust and efficient ways. Somethings have worked. Others have not.

During this whole period of learning (which is ongoing mind you) I have learned some important lessons. One of the most important concepts that I have come across has been the subject of responsibility. It isn't enough that I want to write. I have to make time and effort to write.

Time is something that I have to sell to a corporation for the right to live with a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Effort is something that I waste on every manner of entertainment. But at the end of the day, I am finding time to carve out of every day to at least think about my novel. I feel responsible for my work, the deadline (that I created) has been on my mind since I first created it.

My first novel by the end of the year. I started this year thinking about writing a short story per month, and now I am closing the year with a novel. It seems like that was eons ago. The plot for the novel popped into my head while I was writing the first two short stories of the year and I think that the strength of the main character is what drew me so head over heels into the project.

I am now writing the final chapters of that novel, and I have discovered so much about myself and my passion in this last year that I can't help but be amazed at how it all unfolded. I discovered that what had drawn me to my main character is exactly what has drawn me to writing in the first place: I want to make this world a better place in some small way.

My passion comes with the responsibility to carry out my goals.

It isn't enough anymore to say that I have a great idea for a novel in my head. After this year, I will have written my very first novel. Of my life. My whole life, writing novels was the only thing I had ever had my heart set on.

For the opportunity in life and in mind to do my life's work, I thank the Gods Above and Below.

For the opportunity to share my passion, my art and my thoughts, I thank the internet, and you.

May the tweeting commence

I'm a terrible website manager.

Sure I can create one. But managing it? That's really not my thing. Its been almost a year since I made a video, plenty of months since I wrote anything here, etc.

But I get it. This is just for me anyway.

Its practice. This whole thing. Life.

So long as we are learning thats what matters. I just feel like as a society we aren't learning good things. We are learning to lie, cheat, steal, murder and disrespect one another, in new ways in new seasons every single primetime.

We should be learning about love, compassion, Truth and Law. These things free people. Which means there is little reason to think most people would even want them. Freedom is tough. You have to be responsible.

But that goes back to learning, doesn't it? Are we learning to be more responsible? I hope so. I suspect so. There are many paradigm shifts occuring at this very moment.

They always are.

That's deep, dude. Put that in your blog. People will probably tweet you and you'll be on CNN or something.

Ok, brodude. I just did. May the tweeting commence.

You don't even really know how to tweet. You just say things into it and sometimes sound comes out.

I'm sorry for arguing with myself, but I don't really plan or edit these things. I just delete the sentences that I don't like every once in a while.

But mostly, I'm trying not worry about it.

The only thing on my mind is my novel.

Which, I will have you know (yes you, Google bot!).that I am on the verge of completing my first draft of said novel.

Friggin. Awesome.

I know, I remember saying something about doing a short story every month and I actually was meeting that goal (4) when this idea hit me. I have written 12 chapters in 8 months so that's pretty good for me.

It will be the first novel I will have ever completed.

I hope people like it, I really do, but honestly I am just so damned overjoyed to have the fracting thing off my mind and onto pages.

Its freedom. Which brings me back to that point I trailed off from. Freedom means responsibility. My freedom makes me responsible for tweeting this nonsense into the intersphere and getting back to work on my first novel.

I doing the only thing I've ever wanted to do, which is write.

I love life, I hope you do too.

Have an awesome day.

=:)

The King of Wands, Proudly.

So this Tarot thing is remarkably interesting to me.

I have always loved symbols. Symbols for everything, for anything. I remember the old Northwest Orient pins and I used to think it was interesting how symbols took on lives of their own. People are attached to a great number of symbols.

Anyway, I have been trying to learn and understand Tarot for the better part of a year now, and I have to say, I still find it fascinating in its depth and richness. Say what you will about it being random or the fact that each card has so many meanings they can mean anything.

You're looking at it the wrong way. Like I was, before.

It is supposed to be random, and it is supposed to mean anything. Tarot is like a psychological assessment of your own life: the ideas and concepts - the symbols - that pop out at us are the ideas and concepts that were already in our minds. It is in one part a self-fulling prophesy, and in another part a Rorschach test (I spelling that correct on the FIRST try!) but that doesn't negate the fact that people are drawn to symbols and ideas that are already in their head.

So Tarot is like a magnifying glass, it is a tool, a calculator, not of the Universe, but of your perspective of the Universe.

In any case, tonight, I thought I would pull out the deck that I bought when I was actively trying to learn Tarot concepts. It was mangled (open window + rain, last summer, bummer) and chaotic, but I put it into a stack and cut it, telling myself I would read the first three cards.

The first was the Eight of Swords. I searched on http://www.learntarot.com/ and found it to be a fitting description of how I have felt in my life recently.

The second was the Queen of Cups, once again searched and found it to be in agreement with my wants hopes and dreams.

The third was Judgement, which after reading what it means, I find it to be fitting and inspiring. It helped order my outlook a little. I understand a little bit more about my own life through this tiny little window. Fleeting knowledge, at best, but knowledge, nonetheless.

At this point, I decided to throw another, just for the kicks, right? It's late as hell.

King of Wands. At this point, I am blown away half way through reading the damn site.

I open up a new tab and start a blog, which I haven't done in ages, and which I need to do more. I write this (as you read it now) until I get to the King of Wands. Then I go and finish reading.

That's me. Or ME. This is what I aspire to be, what I feel burning inside me. Then I get to the end, and I read this:

Bold

is intrepid
is willing to take chances when the stakes are high
confronts opposition directly
dares to stand and be different
is unconcerned with what others think
has the courage of his or her convictions

Source: Learntarot.com

Most of you don't know this, but my name is Derek. My father named me while looking in a book of names, reading their meanings. He came across Derek (early in the alphabet, because let's be honest, whose got the time to get to the end?) and said that he read "Bold, Intrepid, the Ruler of People," and recognized victory. He said "that's my son." I am so named.

I record that as I remember it, and so having read that on this occasion is a mindbending effect.

And that's the worth of Tarot: information. There is always information about yourself and your perspective to be gained by learning more. It doesn't really matter what system of information or knowledge you are using, consume it up and pass it on.

Information is everything. Share what you have, and always be on the look out for what information the universe is sending you, in whatever form it may be. Make thy information greater.

Derek, Proudly. Added after seeing this: Cancer Feb 22 2013 Are you ready for a hopeful glimpse into the future, Moonchild? Brace yourself, because it's going to be an eye-opening ride. Events of the next few days will give you some very promising insight into the years ahead. You may have come to expect that a certain dream would never come true, and that you would struggle in one or more areas of your life forever. But some very mystical clues will show you that you have quite a bit to look forward to, and oh-so-much to be happy about. -- Copyright © DailyHoroscope. Download it now — http://bit.ly/DHmobile

Awesome Sauce Goes Viral.

The good kind of viral, though.

Ok. I'm not viral. Not yet. But its only a matter of time really. It's what the internet does with cool shit. And I am fairly cool shit, so I am sure we will be ontop very soon. And by we I mean me.

The problem you have is that you always try to find a problem. You try to find something to make a law about or pass judgement because of. But Me? I'm not like you. I am compassionate more than you. I know what the truth is more than you. I have the market cornered on awesome.

Why would that be a bad thing? What do you mean I sound like a jerk? You're the jerk! Calling names like that, you pansy. Why don't you just tell me what you are so bothered by!

So now I can't believe in myself? Is that what America has come to?

Oh. So its the fact that I am belittling others and sitting on my high horse thumping my favorite philosophy. Well. To Hell with you! I am me. I can't change that.

What do you mean its a choice? I can't well and good start pretending I am not going viral. That would be absurd! I am certainly going viral right this instant.

Why does it not say I am going viral?

Well. It's definitely the media. They try to avoid talking about me and they always mention the bad things that I do. They're out to get me. No. Wait. They're out to get you! So we should team up against them!

What do you mean they don't give a flying swiss about me or my videos?! How dare you treat me that way! I demand to be heard and I demand that my rights be served. You hurt my feelings.

What do you mean that's what I was doing to? You started it!

What do you mean I started it? I did not!

Oh so what you're just gonna go walk away and not say anything to me then? Yes you do have things to say.

You hurt because of me?

I...

...no... You're right. Hurting other people is wrong. Can we just get along? Can we just be awesome together?

Awesome.


------- Maybe we could all just get along instead of trying to be number 1 all the time?

That'd be awesome.

-------

Found this to be cool today too:
Cancer Oct 20 2012 There are certain people who have not made their dreams come true or haven't met their financial goals, and some of them will look down on those who have. They are jealous and resentful, and they probably want to know why those "others" have made it when they have not. And that's probably a big part of the reason. When we resent those who have what we want, we create a dark space in our hearts. But when we admire those who have done what we want to do, and we study them to see how to do it, we are that much ahead of the game. You are not washed up. You have an excellent chance of attaining what you desire if you kept the right mindset. -- Copyright © DailyHoroscope. Download it now — http://bit.ly/DHmobile

The spark that set the blaze

This will be the first blog that I write entirely from my phone. I don't like the idea much because my thumbs are definitely the clumsy cousins.

I wonder if that has to do with my PC gamer background. Give me a trigger on a joystick or the smooth curves of a mouse and I can play whatever game you want. Damn that sounds like I'm coming onto you. Which I'm not. Unless I am. There's really no set way I have to let you know. It's one of my things.

Anyway. When the console generation came on the scene I was still completely lost in games like command & conquer, homeworld, the Jedi knight games, civilization, unreal tournament and of course a healthy dose "Mixed up Mother Goose" still echoing inside my skull.

So by the time I was jumping into Halo combat evolved I had no idea how to use my thumb to do all the work. I had always had a full keyboard. Everything had it's own button.
And that makes it hard for me to type. Or at least I think it does. Now that I am actually doing it though it seems pretty easy. Sweet deal.

Which brings me to my main point (I know, that was a shitty and unnecessary lead in, and I am sure many of you didn't make it this far, but that's cool too.) My main point being: I need to start already!
I have spent all this freaking time building the site and trying to figure out what my plan is and here I am standing on the edge of the abyss.

I'm being a wuss. Trying to plan too much. I need to jump and just start already. Like posting a blog from my phone.

You can't do it better without doing it the first time.

That seems like an awesome place to end this one.

Were I to have an audience I would ask these things: How many of you suffer from the same cold feet with projects of passion? Do you blog from a phone or a computer and why?  Why in the hell did you sit here and read this?
....
For those interested, here is todays horoscope for my crabbed rabbit self.
Cancer Oct 8 2012 Someone may be telling you that a certain important goal of yours is far too lofty. This person can come up with a list of perhaps dozens of reasons why a plan or a dream won't work out for you. Because the source of criticism may be a smart and reliable person, and because this person only wants the best for you, you may find yourself taking him or her too seriously. You are the only one who can dictate your own fate. If you believe that a big dream of yours is possible, Moonchild, then it is absolutely possible. Think positive, and tune out anyone who doesn't believe. -- Copyright © DailyHoroscope. Download it now — http://bit.ly/DHmobile

Not Looking Back In Regret

Remember what I said about putting one foot in front of the other?

Well its also important not to look back in regret. Because lets face the facts: we are all human, and we aren't going to make it look good all the time. So because of a combination between my day job and some issues in coding the website, I have fallen alarmingly off my proposed plan or schedule.

But that's ok. Because life happens sometimes. No need to beat yourself up over it. Look back in order to realize your mistakes and change yourself to be better able for the future, but don't look back in regret. You don't have time for regret.

Every moment where you are spending your life on regret is a moment you are losing and will only regret in the future. Stop the cycle today and do not let yourself regret the past. Only actualize the future. Figure out what is best for you and be awesome.

For me, this means not beating myself up over not making cartoons on time or writing my new story and posting it. But Life Happens, and it will be ok.

Just keep taking steps forward, no matter how many times you were pushed back, and you will always get somewhere. Humans are capable of learning so much and the universe is always trying to give so much that we can always make some progress. Something is better than nothing, right?

But you say that's just positive thinking

And if you are a product of what you think, then think more get more.

If we all just stopped regretting what we could/should/would have done and just started thinking about what we can/shall/will do we would be half way toward our goals and proud of the time we spent on it.

I am saying this not because it is easy for me, or because I have the answer to this problem of letting go of regret, I am merely sharing with you a revelation, and hoping that you can benefit from it too.

Peace be with you, Cosmical Rabbit.

One foot in front of the other

I must admit that I have never been a blogger before. Nor the OpenJournal sort of person from yesteryear. I am doing this to track my progress, to give a public record of my journey because I think there is something very fundamentally important to what I am doing: you can too.

Yeah, you. You're the reason this is existing right now, because otherwise I would be throwing up sewage into the internet for the sake of my own amusement. Which, I will admit, is another reason to do something like this. But that's just the thing right there:

We should all be doing something that we love.

My website is a headache. Coding CSS and PHP is like playing with a rubix cube that you break every ten minutes. It's not easy, and it can be infuriating at times. But I love doing it. It's Logic. It's problem solving. It's language. It's expression. I love making this for people to check out and it would be cool if someone were to click a button and give me some digital cultural credit to work with.

So the reason I am typing this Moon Blog is really I just want to include you in what I am doing. But moreso, I want to empower you to do something for you. Stop waiting for your life to take you to where you want to go. Just start now. You may have to start small, you might have to start without knowing what it is that you want to accomplish. You might have to start without being ready. But starting is half the battle.

Look at me (ok. You can stop now.). I have only a basic idea of what I want to be doing and how I want to do it: I want to entertain. I want to share in the joy of the whole world. I want to be awesome and encourage other people to be awesome too.

I don't have any answers to questions of tomorrow, but I can say this: I am creating again. I am working on my writing and I am building something in this digital space before me, and that fills me with pride and with joy as I feel my mind growing. I want you to grow too. I want you to find what makes you happy and find a way to make it part of your life.

This is me, Cosmical Rabbit, trying to make my passions a part of mine.

The Plan

So I don't exactly know when I was planning on starting this little regiment I have put myself to, but here it goes.  Oh! Hello there. You stumbled in while I was in the middle of a thought. I suppose I should provide some sort of introduction to all this so that you don't feel too confused.

I have a plan: go. Every day of the week I will try to accomplish a goal.

Blog Monday.
Cartoon Tuesday.
Story Wednesday.
7vid Thursday.
Poem Friday.
Weekends off, because I am only human.

So. As I was saying before you came in, I don't know if I am ready. I don't know if I am ready to start this all off. I work a lot. Like. A lot. More than is probably reasonable. So my spare time is precious, and I have been so focused on getting the website running I haven't had much time for anything else.

What if I can't do this now? Why am I doing this now?

Wait just a damn minute. I'm Awesome. And what better time than now? Why do we all wait so long to do the things we want? Why do we try to focus on some "perfect time" to start a new way of living or a new endeavor? Why can't we just start by doing what we think is awesome and living that right away?

Do we really need time to get ready to be awesome? The only way for us to know our limits is to test them. The only way we can grow is if we put our plans into action. Plans are merely educated guesses, built from knowledge of the content and predictions of the outcomes. We are learning and planning all day long, but few of our plans seem to stick.

They don't stick because we don't stick to them. I am out to stick to this one.

That said, the plan (aforementioned)* is subject to change and I will not try to say that I will complete each day's goal religiously without any interruption, because lets face it: life tends to be a jealous little b!tch when it comes to a good plan, so I will say this instead: I will always be working to be as on track as possible in this plan.

So. Today's in the bag. Now I better start thinking of a good cartoon idea. Thanks for reading, have an awesome week.


* Truth time: I just wanted to use that word somehow.



Cancer Aug 20 2012 If, two hundred years ago, someone had said that we'd one day fly to the moon - most people would have thought that person to be crazy. Yet today we have the capability to rocket to the moon. There is something you aspire to, Moonchild. It is a very big dream. You want it to come true, but you're hampered by thoughts - thoughts of your own and comments made by others - that it just isn't possible. You may think you don't have the resources, or that you're too old, or that you're too young, or any of a hundred other excuses. But you can have what you want. You aren't crazy - you're a visionary for your own future. -- Copyright © DailyHoroscope. Download it now — http://bit.ly/DHmobile