Sweeping, cleaning, and other strange behaviours.

I spend a lot of time near my computer. Not because I'm a geek (though some might argue that I am), but because everything I need is also near my computer. Except the fridge and the shower... and my bed.

Well, anyway, almost everything I need is near my computer. This includes but is not limited to blank CDs and blank DVDs, fake plants (we're trying to emulate a tamed jungle look in this here basement―it's damn awesome), many, many movie cases (with DVDs), game CDs, my earphones, my computer tower and flatscreen, an old stack of playing cards, baby pictures of myself (I don't know why they're there; I think I'll give them back to Mom).

I also have my session schedule, many Post-Its with notes like, 'Answer your mail, you stupid hermit!' and 'DO YOUR HOMEWORK! STOP PROCRASTINATING!' that I make a point of ignoring, books, magazines, CD labels, cards, a cheap, very, very cheap drawing tablet that I can hardly use it's so cheap, college papers, a belt (?!), EBGames' release schedule for 2006 (I think I'll put that one to the recycling bin), old school projects that I got a good grade in and don't want to throw away, my final high school year photo album, and many, many papers that stack and slip all over the place.

I was kind of surprised when my mother said, "CM, will you PLEASE clean up your desk? It's a real mess."

I didn't really see the mess. I know that hell by heart, and it suits me. My mind works in strange ways. To be honest, cleaning it up would mess me up even more.

Except, you don't disobey my mother when she gets into one of her cleaning rages. So I sat at my desk and started cleaning it up.

I was rather surprised to find stuff like college applications (whoops, no longer needed--Recycling bin, here I come!), a publicity homework draft on which Kitty had written, "CM, it's Kitty. I beg you to come back down to Earth!" And to which I'd replied, "Houston, we're in deep crap... the space toilets exploded!" beside which I drew one of my colourful drawings displaying a spaceship colliding with Earth, accompanied by a screaming onomatopea, which I ultimately decided to keep.

I also found more back-up CDs, pencils, a nail file, an elastic, a bobby pin, two 10$ Cineplex gift cards (w00t!), and the Apology of Socrates and Criton by Plato. I hurried to put that one out of sight, because all I managed to think about was a shameless voiceover, and that is never good.

I'd forgotten, though, that on my desk, I often gather a couple of things that happen to be of crucial importance.

Like hand-written pages for the stories I write.

And not just any written pages, but the first pages. I am of course talking about the first pages of what later become Only in Hyrule, and I thought, this is too good to pass up, so scanned the very first page, and here it is.

(You can view it full-size by clicking on it.)

This is the first page I ever wrote, which later became chapter two. I wrote it on the plane from France next to my unattractive neighbour, whom I kept wishing would turn into a gorgeous hunk (he never did, by the way).

At first, I didn't think the story would lead anywhere. It was just the way I had of passing time. The flight was, after all, eight hours long.

And then I couldn't get the idea out of my head. I think by now I'm pretty glad it stuck with me.

You might notice some differences between this version and the final version, but essentially, this is the messy way I work. Also, verb tenses don't always correlate from paragraph to paragraph. I do think I fixed this later on, but it stems from the fact that I would look up, have a drink, and so on, so whenever I came back to continue writing, I'd change verb tenses.

I'm not ashamed to say that this is my handwriting. It's a bit quirky, innit? Not exactly the girliest, but then again, if I hadn't been struck by inspiration (it forces me to write at the speed of sound, in case I lose my idea, so basically everything winds up looking awful), maybe I'd have taken the time to write out in bubbly lettering.

If I knew how to write in bubbly lettering, that is.

Maybe you noticed I don't use liquid paper. There are three reasons for that. First off, I didn't have any; then, it takes too much time to correct every single mistake; and finally, I'm a lefty, so whenever I'd try to write over it, my hand'd brush against the wet correction and get smudged with white chemicals. Gross, and very annoying. So I deal with my scribblings instead.

In other news, I've been, whenever I'm not working my butt off for school, writing more stuff. I'm quite inconsistent and I've been jumping from job to job. So I'm partially working on a TP four-years-after sequel, which I am doing merely to get rid of my TP ideas and study the new characters. It should be interesting, and once it's done I'll be free to return to my usual scribbling.

Oops, now I have to stop procrastinating and get to work for real.

At least my desk is clean again.

Love,
CM