Three Things For The Weekend

Hello again guys and gals!  Every Friday I'm gonna bring you three things to check out for the weekend.  It'll be books, movies, videos, music, etc.  Whatever strikes my fancy and I think you'll enjoy as well.

First, I want to thank Alison for showing me this awesome YouTube video.  Lovey-Dovey is a video by t-ara (or T-ARA on some websites), a South Korean music group.  It's a bit long, being a little over 20 minutes, but regardless of if you know the language or not, it's a beautiful video telling a compelling tale.  I felt daunted the first time I watched it, feeling that 20 minutes was far too long, but before I knew it, it was over.  The music is constantly shifting genres and it's just interesting and I highly recommend at least one viewing!

Second, whether your interests lie in writing, mythology, psychology or sociology, I highly recommend this book called "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Schmidt.  The link goes to the Amazon.com website where they have it for FAR cheaper than I paid for it.  It goes over the common archetypes of characters found throughout mythology and older tales that survive in modern literature and entertainment.  It definitely goes along with Joseph Campbell's study of mythology and how all characters and people are some sort of archetype. (I'll get on that subject on another post, but he was an amazing and insightful scholar you all should check out).  This was a book I scoured when I first purchased and through the years found it a solid reference when I wanted to get an idea on how a character should flesh out and feel more real.

Finally, I wanted to share some of my favorite music with all of you.  I'm sure most of you have heard of Death Cab for Cutie, and if you haven't you are truly missing out!  Their latest album "Codes and Keys" is another excellent album, their seventh studio album delivers just like all of the previous ones.  The link leads to Amazon.com to purchase the actual CD (because to me they are worth the extra bucks to support), but you can also check out your iTunes for not only this album but everything else they've done as well.  The lyrics are very poetic and fit the music expertly.  This album seems more piano heavy than the ones previous, or maybe their lacking other instruments that seemed to stand out previously (I do not pretend to know music, nor do I have the fancy lingo down to make it sound like I know what I'm talking about).  Either way, I've found that no matter where I was driving, whether to work, going home, going to get groceries, whatever, the songs seemed to go with whatever I was doing and the music felt "right," for lack of a more musically inclined response.

So those are my three for you all.  As I stated previously, I will be doing this every Friday.  Definitely check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section!  Godspeed and have a great weekend!!

Welcome!

Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog!  It's still the process of adjustment and changes, but I wanted to share a few of my ideas for where this blog should go.

First, I plan to use this space as a way to document my writing exercises.  Like everything else in life, writing only gets better with practice!  I will be doing a weekly exercise, and if I'm feeling particularly inspired, maybe two or three.  I will scour the internet for interesting exercises and will post them here so you can join in on the exercises as well!

I also want to share links to useful information for writers.  Whether trying to publish, having troubling picking the right words for your work, or just general guidelines to let yourself go and not be too critical about yourself.  It isn't too far off that most people expect every piece of work to be a New York Times Bestseller, but all authors will tell you it takes a lot of patience, time and practice to reach that level.   As a writer, I always berated myself for my work not being of such a high caliber and would promptly rip out or delete anything I had written.  Only recently have I (with a lot of effort) begun to set aside my ego and just write because it is an activity I thoroughly enjoy.

Finally, I hope to recommend some stellar novels and other media to all of you!  I do not claim my tastes are the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe a few of the things I do enjoy will catch your eye and open you to a new world.  I'm a bibliophile through and through, and I am always looking for new books to read.  Please don't hesitate to recommend a book, game, movie or YouTube video that you think I may enjoy.  I'm also a gamer to an extent (when time permits) and am a huge fan of RPGs and tactical games.  However, I'm always open to a new experience and am willing to try some new stuff!

Thanks again for stopping by and check in later tonight for my first writing exercise!!!