Graduation

It was my brother's last day of high school today. His graduation ceremony was this afternoon.

All our life, my brother and I went to the same schools. For a full seven (eight in his case) years, we went to that particular private school. We basically grew up there, learned how to write properly, met friends we have no intention of losing, shaped dreams, laughed, cried, and grew. We were sheltered there, welcome and, to a certain extent, loved. The teachers were qualified, willing to help, ready to mentor us then, as time passed, become our friends and confidantes.

In a way, going to CCI (no point trying to trace it, kids―you won't find it) was like being part of a large family who looked out for its members in various ways. That, at least, is the impression I retained from it. It's not for nothing that PB, Slim, Josie, Kitty, Eva, Alex, Guy, Scarlet, Prophet and most of my current friends also come from there. It's hard to consider new people when you're so accustomed to the quality of the friends you made during those years.

And that's what defined CCI for me; quality. The very quality of the people there ensured that I was never let down. In comparison, so much else pales. I'm not saying this out of a false sense of elitism. My standards were always high, before I ever got in, but CCI reassured me in knowing that I was not alone to want success.

When I say success, I don't define it by how much money or notoriety one earns. I measure success in how much of ourselves we're willing to put into a task, how much of our capacities we're willing to use. Success is within range of everyone, but since leaving the security and shelter of CCI, going to college, I've come to realise how rare it really is. So few people are willing to put themselves fully on the line, so few people care about their own future, so few people can honestly say they did all that they could in their life.

Over the past year, in going to college, I slowly grew accustomed to the world's disarmingly low self-worth, in spite of my struggle to maintain a standard for myself, but in the back of my mind, I longed for that world of quality and hope I'd left behind, a full year ago.

Which is why returning to CCI for my brother's graduation ceremony was a touching moment, one that made me actually tear up. The halls I travelled for many long years still smelled the same, like ceramic and dust and paint and cotton, and the educators and administrators still looked the same, still smiled the same, still recognized me. Every one of them, from the principal to the coordinators to all my teachers recognized me and greeted me like an old friend, asking questions about my life in college.

I saw two old classmates, had long conversations on the way CCI was now being administrated, and just couldn't stop smiling and joking and longing for a time I'll never have again.

My brother, predictably, looked great in his robe and mortar, as did all his friends and his girlfriend (she won a prize for her excellence in French). The ceremony was sweet and friendly, polite and touching. I have to admit I couldn't help but cry a little when one of their honour students came on stage to pronounce the student's speech. It awoke memories and feelings I hadn't felt in a whole year.

I hadn't realised I missed it so much.

It's hard to film, I found out, when you're both laughing and crying. At the same time. But then, when a whole promotion is called to answer to the question "SEC FIVES, WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?" and they respond with a resounding "AH-OOMPH, AH-OOMPH!" and you can see them tearing up at the idea of never having the insider's joke again, you kind of remember how YOUR promotion also had insides, how it used to sing those damn songs your Spanish teacher would play in her class to educate you in Latino music, and as stupid as it was, you tear up too.

I got most of my old teachers (at least, those I managed to get a hold of) to promise me a guided tour of the building extensions (the school keeps adding more and more to its premises). They all spontaneously invited me and my promotion (they know I'm still in touch with them) to drop by and say hello in the upcoming years. I promised to do just that.

The rest of the evening was spent in a restaurant with the family of his girlfriend. She and my brother are sickeningly perfect for one another, which is great, in that awkward-for-the-big-sister sort of way.

God, I'm just so proud of my brother. I remember the day we first attented CCI, dressed up in our uniforms, him short and baby-faced, and me so prim and proper. Now he's a tall, extra-skinny, handsome guy with a loud mouth and I'm his sister, dressed in what we used to call 'civilian clothing', sitting in the audience, holding a camera up and trying not to cry at the memories.

I'm just so proud of him and his whole promotion. I'm sure if they join us out in the bigger world, maybe the number of successes will go up.

Even if just a little.

Love,
CM

No way, José!

Oh my God I totally got a Wii! All my cousins met up and my uncle finally bought me one from the outskirts of the city, where fights for Wiis don't break out as much anymore!

It's awesome and it shines and my cousin Dave showed me how to play Wii Boxing in Wii Sports.

My aunt and my Mom were actually interested by it!

All is right with the world.

Love,
CM

Fighting Gravity Map and news

I thought, considering the amount of background work I'm putting into making Fighting Gravity a plausible story, I ought to share a little bit of it.

I mean, I exposed my technical designs to my father, to see if the engines I have in mind are plausible. I've never written techno stuff, and his input as a physics genius, engineer and electronic/electric master was invaluable. While I'm into arts and literature and cinema (in other words, almost useless in mathematics and physics), they compensated by making it understandable for li'l ole me; we found common ground in using well-known cinematographic and literary examples of physics applied in a science-fiction context. He and my brother are both well-versed in the domain, and they gave me some advice on how to make the impossible plausible.

I won't tell you what it was, though, because that would just ruin the magic of word-weaving (which happens to be my domain and not theirs).

As fortune would have it, my father is a program wiz and he gave me the disk to SketchUp 5, which is a 3-D modeling program. It's used to design 3D renditions of buildings or objects to put them in instruction manuals or give people a three-dimensional idea of what something looks like. It's easy to use, and fortunately there is a mode that can help one build topographical maps.

Bottom line... fun.

Before I get to that, though, here's a flat map of the world in Fighting Gravity, with all eight countries and the major cities. Some cities may not be visited during the story, and some may appear that aren't on the map at the moment, but overall, that's the layout.

By the way, you can see all the following images in full by Right-clicking and selecting "Save Picture As...", or the equivalent in your browser. Resizing the images would make them lose quality.


Of course, I have a special secret map with what cities are part of which alliance, and which also indicates the area of influence of each great political force, but it's a little to early for you to see it. ;)

As you can see on the bottom left, a meter is giving an indication of distance/time. On my flat screen, each increment is approximately a centimeter long, and each centimeter distance on the map represents a one hour flight. That ought to give you a sense of scale.

Sure, it's not easy to visualise relief on a flat map, so here's a more topographical rendition of the Hylian Alliance, as it were.



You can see it in many angles too.


Awesome, isn't it? I've grown quite fond of the program, and I'm working on a 3-D rendition of the machines Link and company will be using, but not full-time. What takes priority is the actual story, right?

Anyway, I thought you might want to see for yourself. :)

Love,
CM

Yeeeeeaaaaaaay!

So as I previously said, Privateer was nominated for the UFO Awards. I thought I'd show you the shiny confirmation that it is not all an elaborate scheme. ^^

Anyway, thank you very much to those who nominated, seconded, and would have voted for me (if there had been a competition). I'm extremely flattered and grateful, and you made me giddy. THAT'S RIGHT. GIDDY.

Lotsa love,

CM

Everything you didn't know about Link

Of course, after spending a whole day at my uncle's place, talking with my cousins about videogames (there are two things that run in the family: childhood chubbiness that melts at 13 years of age, and a passion for videogames), I of course had to return and start a new game of Twilight Princess.

You can't exactly blame me.

Anyway, I've noticed that you can learn a lot about a person in looking at where they live. This also holds true for our favourite Hero of Time/Winds/just about anything else Link is a Hero of.

I mean, in Ocarina of Time, he had that little picture carving of a stick figure fighting some sort of monster at the base of his treehouse. In the Wind Waker, Grandma had pictographs of him and Aryll lying around their home.

In TP, the joy reaches its summum. Here are the few things I've noticed in inspecting Link's bachelor home:

1. He doesn't own a bed. Really.
2. He owns a writing desk, with pencils. And lots of books.
3. He eats corn on the cob.
4. He dries his laundry by letting it hang on a cord inside his house.
5. There are dishes in the sink.
6. There is a quite large mirror in the basement.
7. All the stuff he needs to tend to Epona, including a spare saddle, rests just by the door.
8. He has pictures of Epona on his walls, one of Fado, one of the children, of an Ordon goat, but none of Ilia or Colin.
9. He has the coolest skylights ever.

What can we conclude from all this?

1. Link really doesn't sleep after all. He's an insomniac.
2. Link is either an artist or a writer. Either way, he's won a Joy Pendant from me.
3. I hope he has floss too, somewhere in the chaos of his house.
4. Can't say I'd let my laundry hang outside either, what with the children playing nearby and all.
5. He could do the dishes, once he's applied a fresh coat of anti-rust paint to his sink.
6. Now we know he knows he looks good.
7. He could probably build a stable for the poor thing, and then keep it all over there.
8. This guy has an odd sense of priorities, which is somewhat alarming.
9. I want skylights like his. With the leaves and all. And hopefully Furry the Friendly Squirrel to go with it.

;p

Love,
CM