Once Upon a Blog: Chessmate

Prompt from here: http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/23wc73/wp_the_backstory_of_chess/

(r/WritingPrompts is a great place for some typical and not so typical story ideas if anyone is looking for some.  It is updated all the time and loads of writers are uploading, responding, and commenting all the time, so you can get some nice feedback if comment on popular posts.)

The Backstory of Chess

Abigail tapped the head of the black bishop against the top of the table at a nerve-wrecking pace, and Vince began to wince at every hollow, wooden tap.  He spun the white rook around in his fingers as he narrowed his vision so he could only see the chessboard in front of him.  Only the board.  Not the slowly ticking clock across from him.  Not the worried flicker of Abigail's eye.  And especially not the tiny chess piece that was being repeatedly slammed on the lacquered surface of the table.  He tried to focus on his own pieces on the board instead.  His pawns were mostly useless.  Both his bishop and his knight were, at this point, hopelessly trapped.  Vince had his queen tucked neatly and safely over on the corner of the board where a set of pawns were standing guard in front of it.  The tapping of the bishop bit through Vince's focus once more.

"Abby," said Vince, "Do you have to keep doing that?  You are going to snap that thing in half eventually."

Abigail rolled her eyes.  "I'm just anxious to move, Vince.  You take five minutes to make a decision and we only have until the end of the class period to play."  She dropped the bishop back onto the table and it rolled off to the side of the board.  Watching it roll, Vince was reminded of the move Abigail had made to take the piece from him.  It was a risk on her part and a sacrifice on his.

"Well, you are just going to have to be a little more patience," he replied, "This isn't speed chess and I'm not a grandmaster."

Abigail slumped back in her chair and her eyes stared vaguely in the direction of Vince and the board.

"Has anyone ever told you the backstory of chess?" she asked.

The question struck Vince as odd, especially since he was trying to decide on a move to make.  However, he had lashed out a little bit at Abigail earl[er and, after all, he was losing.  Anything to make her take her mind off the game in front of them.

"No," he said, sighing a little, "No one has."

Abigail straightened a little in her chair.  "Really?  It's kind of interesting."

"Are talking about the origins of chess?  Like the guy who invented it?"

"No, no.  That's dull history lecture stuff.  I'm talking about the story that inspired the guy that invented chess."

Vince reached forward suddenly, picked up a pawn, and moved it a space forward.  Abigail took a moment to analyze his move, her eye darting methodically around the board.  Quickly, as if the prospect of telling her story suddenly animated her every move, Abigail moved her bishop to block the path of Vince's knight which the movement of the pawn had opened up.

Vince furrowed his brow.  Abigail was a smart and patience player, so her quick decision and her sudden silence were particular unnerving.  He reached his hand for his knight, but, after a moment's thought, brought it slowly back to his lap.

"So, what's your story, Abby?" he asked.

Abigail perked up.  "Well, as you might guess, it started out with a king and a queen."

"No kidding," said Vince, picking up his rook and moving it to the right.

"Well, you see," said Abigail, "The king and the queen had a problem.  Their army was not strong enough or large enough to fend of the armies of their enemies.  So they went to a local bishop for help."  She moved her own bishop on the board and slowly slid one of Vince's pawns off of the board.

"Did someone tell you this story or are you making it up as you go along?" asked Vince, moving another pawn to block the approaching bishop.

Abigail shrugged.  "Does it really matter?"

"I guess not."

Abigail paused for a moment to look at the board as it stood.  "The bishop heard the king and queen's request and prayed about it for a day.  The king and queen realized that enemy forces had mobilized during the night and rushed back to the bishop for his advice.  What the bishop told them shock them both."

Vince looked up from the chess board for the first time in a while and saw a certain glow had replaced the boredom in Abigail's eyes.  "What did the bishop say?"

"The bishop said for the king to bring his queen to the frontline of the next battle and she shall win the war for you."  Abigail moved her queen straight from its position of the edge of the board to a square a few spaces away.  After her move, she leaned back once more in her chair and, as she did, Vince leaned forward towards the board.

"I think that's checkmate, Vince."

Tapping the white, wooden piece with a flick of his index finger, Vince watched his king fall off the edge of the board and land near to where his fallen pawn and the tapping bishop lay on their sides.

"I think that's enough chess for today," he said.

Musings of a Fanboy: Kenzie Wanted Me to Title This Blog "Yo Yo Let It Go" or "Afro-zen"

Hey everyone!

Here's something odd that I found out today.  Ever since I saw Disney's Frozen over winter break, there was something that nagged at me about the film.  Not its similarities to Disney's Tangled, not its harshly feminist tone, and not its award-winning music either.  Just something.

Well today, inspired by a Reddit post that talked about how Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of the movie, I decided to take a look at the story that inspired Frozen: a Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen called the Snow Queen.  My journey, which brought me to a hopefully accurate Wikipedia page, garnered some unexpected results.

The story of the Snow Queen revolves around two childhood friends named Gerda and Kai (picture a young Anna and Kristoff I guess) who are destined to fall in love.  However, Kai is struck by a piece of an enchanted troll mirror (that's part of an earlier part of the story which really has nothing to do with the rest of the plot besides the mirror shard. Roll with it for now and I'll come back to it later) and his heart grows hard towards everyone, including Gerda.  Kai is subsequently captured by the Snow Queen (picture an older much more frigid Elsa) who is not repulsed by Kai's frozen heart.  Taking him to her castle of ice, the Snow Queen forces Kai to solve a puzzle box made of pieces of ice from which solving the puzzle will gain him his freedom.  Meanwhile, Gerda has not lost hope of finding her one true love and has begun to search high and low for Kai.  Her journey takes her to a silent river to which she gives her red shoes, a sorceress of summer who keeps Gerda trapped in her garden, and a majestic reindeer which gives her transportation to the Snow Queen's castle.  Gerda, with the power of her love and innocent heart, is able to remove the shard of the troll's mirror from Kai with a kiss and together they solve the ice puzzle, gaining Kai his freedom.  They return home to find that they have both aged to adulthood and now can live happily ever after.

Yeah so, you can clearly see some of the elements that went into making Frozen here in the story.  It was interesting to see how the writers of Frozen clearly spun these elements into different directions.  The trolls, the personification of evil in the original story, become the wise and sage givers of advice and Kristoff's surrogate family.  Gerda/Anna are both desperately try to find true love and discover a power within them that ends the major conflicts of the story.  The Snow Queen herself is changed from an icy sorceress to a misguided and disillusioned princess who believes her own magical powers to be too dangerous.  Both stories involve the themes of love conquering all, the dangers of magic, and the power of innocent triumphing over greed and hatred.

So, what was so interesting about my discovery, besides the parallels between the fairy tale and the movie?  Well, I discovered what had been bothering me about the film ever since I saw it.  From somewhere in the recesses of my memory, I somehow recalled that I had seen a fairly crappy adaptation of The Snow Queen many, many years ago on some VHS from some odd relative's house.  At the time, I thought it was some lame rip-off of the Chronicles of Narnia (although, now that I think about it, that was probably the other way around in reality) but several elements of Frozen jumped out at me that triggered the memory.  For me, that was an interesting discovery as my memories of a lot of my childhood are anything but clear.

So, what if Elsa was the villainous Snow Queen instead of the sheltered princess?  Honestly, it is not too hard to see how that would work.  After nearly killing her sister in a freak accident, Elsa could've easily been pushed much further in reclusion by her parents' and her own fears, causing her backlash against the community to have been much more dramatic and devastating.  Anna's mission to save her sister could've ended up with Kristoff taking the ice blast to the chest for her and Anna's lover  for him is what could've saved the day. Alternatively, and fortunately, the directors of the film decide to take the much more creative and irregular route that we all know and have coming out of our eyeballs.

Anyways, I'm not the biggest fan of Frozen.  It's a beautifully animated film that does have some killer songs (and some clunkers).  However, as far as the writing goes, the movie take too many convenient short cuts and is too obvious with its intended message.  We get it.  Love at first sight is stupid and all men are inbred, greedy, or stupid.  Girls rule, sisters rule, magic is awesome.  Let's sing Let It Go!  However, the fact that the writers and directors are taking a step away from convention is a huge weight off my chest because, as you know, where Disney goes, everyone follows.

So, I know this blog started from less than interesting origins but thanks for sticking around and reading everyone!

Nostalgia Goggles: Defining the Generation Gap

Hey everyone.  It's late and it's been kind of a long day, so consider my lack of enthusiasm for writing this blog noted.  That being said, here we go... (takes swig of Vanilla Coke)

Organization makes us human.  We love throwing things into categories, dividers, and boundaries.  Honestly, it is a truly identifying trait of mankind as a whole.  We categorize and organize everything.  Our computer files, our CD cases, our pens, our shoes, our phone contacts, everything.  We even do it subconsciously.  I am, right now, thinking about the cereal rack we have in the kitchen at my house.  I'm picturing the cereal boxes that I shuffle through at hours so early in the morning that I could possible do anything but subconsciously.  There are cereals that I don't eat (Chex), the cereals I do eat (Honey Bunches of Oats), the cereals I eat when the cereals I do eat are gone (Rice Krispies), and even cereals I eat when those cereals are gone (my brother's Raisin Bran).  I have never consciously thought about categorizing my breakfast cereals but, tell a brand of cereal and I can easily place it one of those four categories.

But, it doesn't end there.  We, as human, love, LOVE to categorize each other.  Oh Lordy, do we love to categorize other humans.  We have friends, good friends, best friends, spouses, fiancees, significant others, co-workers, bosses, associates, students, teachers, bullies, kids, children, preteens, twentysomethings, middle aged men, cougars, Facebook friends, followers on Twitter, user on Reddit, Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, liberals, American, British, Mexican, Canadian, French, Spanish, German, old, young, weak, strong, you, me, us, them, and the list goes on and on and on and on.  We have subcategories within subcategories all to describe a single person.

Say, for example, you see someone you know walking up towards you and you say, "Hi Joe!"  That's what your conscious mind does, but here's that your unconscious mind does: "Oh, that's Joe.  He is a good friend of mine.  I should say hi.  I hope he doesn't ask me to borrow my notes from class today because I didn't take any.  I wonder if I will see him at Bible study this Thursday.  He looks hungry.  Maybe we should go eat lunch together.  I hope we don't run into any of his lacrosse friends.  They eat the weirdest things.  We could go to Amigos because I know Joe likes Mexican food.  I should ask if he can afford some fast food.  Oh wait, he owes me twenty bucks as it is."  All of these thoughts can happen in the blink of an eye, but, in that brief time it took to think of all of that, you have categorizes Joe subconsciously into numerous categories: friend, good friend, classmate, needy classmate, fellow Bible study member, eating companion, lacrosse player, fan of Mexican food, and debtor to state a few.

Now, none of this is bad really.  In fact, the categorization of people is completely necessary for day to day operations.  We come into to contact with thousands of people over our lifetime and our brains would surely overload with we had to remember the personal data of every single person we know in order to know how to act appropriately around them.  Instead, we make shortcuts.  Oh, Amy is my boss, so I better not talk about the late night I had with my girlfriend around her.  Oh, Carl is a good friend of mine but he is much younger than I.  I shouldn't convince him to come to this rated R movie with me.  This all seems fairly obvious and simple when put practically, but that is simply because we do it all the time.  So much so that, by our adult life, we can interact with a myriad of different kinds of people with professionalism and grace.  Some people call it maturity.

So what does all of this have to do with what I'm talking about in this Nostalgia Goggles blog?  Well, I've thought about how we categorize and organize the people we know and one mode of categorization has jumped out at me as bizarre: generations.  We have defined the people that populate the Earth by generation for many, many years.  There is the Lost Generation, the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, the Millennials, Generation Z, the Beat Generation, the Stolen Generation, the MTV generation, and the list goes on and on and on and on.  These generation are generally used to refer to the group of people born with a certain time period and, more often than not, used by marketers and pop psychologists to pigeonhole an entire age bracket of diverse people under one unifying definition of likes, dislike, preferences, tendencies, and likelihood.  You may note the dismissing tone in the way I'm writing and that is mostly because, to me, the ideas of "generation" are fairly loose and generalized.

Take me for example.  I, by the year I was born, am considered to be a Millennial by the people who define such things.  I am supposedly "civic-minded," meaning I strive towards a better, more harmonious community around me.  I am also increasingly liberal and will most likely be more supportive of gay marriage rights and the legalization of marijuana.  For those of you that know me particularly personally or are in fact Millennials themselves, you can see how the definition of a generation can miss its mark.  This not to say that all the parts of the definition are false though.  However, each person in a generation comes with an unique set of personal experiences that exist outside of the fact of which year they were born.  I, being raised in Nebraska and living in a middle class community, have lots of individual traits and values that make me who I am.  Multiply that by the thousands and thousands of people that were born between the early 1980's and the early 2000's, people from all corners of the western world and from all socioeconomic levels, and you get millions upon million of factors that make up the so-called Millennial Generation.  How can one even think one can generalize an entire group of people like that with any kind of justified accuracy?

This is not even mentioning another aspect of society that is blowing this whole "generations" thing completely out of the water: the mother-freakin' Internet with a capital I.  For most people, the concept of a generation gap works kinda like the Grand Canyon.  The ever-flowing river of time eats slowly away at the walls of the generational canyon, causing a deeper and wider divide each and every year.  In my opinion, however, the generation gap in much more dynamic.  It is as if some parts of the Time River flows through the Grand Generation Canyon have some how been affected by some sort of time reversal beam that undoes the erosion and brings the edges of the canyon closer, instead of further away.  That "time reversal" is the internet we all know and to which we are extremely addicted.  The internet is an unique tool that has only been available for the more recent "generations" to use and adapt to.  The internet provides a glimpse into the world these past "generations" have been living.  The kids of the modern generation now have the movies, books, television shows, music, and all things cultural that are associated with their parents generations.  In fact, it has become fashionable and cool to be connected to previous generations.  It is much cooler to like Led Zeppelin and it is to like U2 and it is much more fashionable to wear bomber jackets than jean ones.  Instead of moving forward and away from the past, the members of the new generations are embracing the past with open arms and the lines of the generation gap are beginning to blur.

Of course, there are many things about people my own age that separate us from our parents, and I am in no way saying we are becoming more like them.  In fact, by most scholars' opinions, the current "generation" is spouting out some of the most independent people in US history.  However, I think that is clear that the so-called generation cap is not as cut and dry as experts will make it out to be.  I for one think that the similarities between generations are just as important, if not more important, that the differences between them.  The embracing of these similarities and difference is what should define a generation and not the similarities and differences themselves.  If that makes any sense.

Well, that ended up being much longer than I intended, so kudos to all y'all that made it through with me.  It is technically Wednesday now, so I guess this blog is technically late.  But, hey, I'm pretty satisfied by the way it turned out.  I hope this all makes as much sense on paper as it does in my head.  Either way, thanks for reading everyone!  I'm too tired to edit right now so excuse any major errors.  Thanks!

Rain Dance in Traffic: Spinning Now

Hey everyone!

For this first music blog post, I'd thought I'd just give you guys a little peek into what I'm listening to while writing and surfing the internet absentmindedly.  So here are the five artists that are blaring through my laptop speakers right now.

Hamell on Trial

Hamell on Trial falls into a category of music, called anti-folk, that I have very little prior experience listening to.  In reality, I don't think the genre has an exact definition, but, judging by Hamell on Trial's new album, the music seems to run against what can be considered folk.  The instrumentation is simple but played with furious energy and, like jazz music, lends itself to lots of improvisation.  The lead singer, Ed Hamell, fills his lyrics with political commentary and intensely personal touches which, combined with his passionate guitar playing, make for very excitingly genuine tunes.
Listen to: Artist in America, The Happiest Man in the World, Richard's Got a Job

OK Go

Due to an early obsession with YouTube and some carefully choreographic movements on treadmills, OK Go is a band that has been on my radar for several years now.  I bought their album Oh No around that same time and, around five year after the fact, I still come back to their music time after time.  Their songs, especially the ones on Oh No, are infectiously catchy and the quality is so tow-down fantastic you can't help but imagine the work the band puts into each and every song.  I recently listened to their newest album and, while it lacked the infectious energy I had expected, the well-crafted instrumentation and lyric work are by no means diminished by time.
Listen to: Invincible, Do What You Want, No Sign of Life, This Too Shall Pass

The Fratellis

I used to spend a lot of time in my younger days searching through the bowels of iTunes to feed my deep desire for new music to listen to.  Along the way, I'm guessing around the time one of their songs were featured in an iPod ad, I found the Fratellis.  A three-piece rock band composed of three guys from Glasgow, The Fratellis are a curious bunch as each of the members legally changed their last names to Fratelli when the band formed.  Two members even changed their first names as well.  Their music is stupidly catchy and Fratellis are constantly experimenting with their sound, both in and out of the recording studio.  One of the members even joined a thrash metal band during a time when the Fratellis were disbanded.
Listen to: Henrietta, Flathead, Chelsea Dagger, Baby Fratelli, My Friend John, A Heady Tale, Tell Me a Lie

So Many Ways

A more recent discovery for me, So Many Ways is a pop-punk band that serves up loud and passionate music with ripping guitar and guttural gang vocals.  This is exactly the type of stuff that I eat up like freakin' Skittles.  Handfuls at a time, people.  Handfuls.  I haven't had a lot of time with these guys to say much else than I dig their stuff.  Their most recent offering has taken them down a more hardcore path, something that put me off a little bit, but their first EP still brings the jams that get my head a-bobbing.
Listen to: I've Made a Huge Mistake, 37 Chambers, Dirtfoot

NEEDTOBREATHE

A solid member of my all-time favorite bands list, NEEDTOBREATHE have had me hooked since I first heard the resounding chorus of Washed By the Water.  While their latest album didn't feel quite as complete as previous offerings, these South Carolina guys bring some of the most consistently awesome music to the table album after album.  Their style straddles the lines between Southern rock, pop, and singer-songwriter and their diversity is one of their most admirable qualities.  That and having immense hearts after God make NEEDTOBREATHE a must listen-to band and must-see live act.
Listen to: Spare the Time, Restless, Washed by the Water, The Heat,The Outsiders, The Girl Named Tennessee, Something Beautiful, Let Us Love, Oohs and Aahs, Keep Your Eyes Open, Devil's Been Talkin', State I'm in, Feet Don't Fail Me Now, Brother

Thanks for reading everyone!  I hope some of these artists will touch your fancy.

Branches and Roots: Zombie Jesus

Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!

Or as my co-workers call it, Zombie Jesus Day!  Also, this Sunday is the day of my first Branches and Roots blog post and, to be completely honest, this is the post I am the most nervous about putting out onto the internet for the world to see.  You see, when I begin to talk about myself in a setting like this, I tend to try to sound affluent and intelligent.  As a writer, there is tendency to write about yourself in your best writing as if you are writing a memoir.  We wants our words, especially the ones about ourselves, to appear to be worth read.  But, as is the case with many memoirs, attempts to sound well-read and worthwhile are only successful in coming off as disingenuous and pretentious.  See some of my earlier blog for examples.

Simple hint for young writers: don't try to sound smart when writing.  Your writing will sound smart or it will not.  You, for the most part, do not control that and forcing the matter will turn off a reader quicker than almost anything.  Write they way that satisfies you, not the imaginary audience that wants you to sound witty, clever, or smart.

That all being said, my Branches and Roots blog posts are going to be me writing about myself, and, no matter how they turn out, I'm going to try to get the most out of them that I can.  Sorry to any loyal readers out there, but these blogs are for my own sake more than they are for yours.  I do hope, however, that you enjoy reading them as much as I do writing them.

I'm tempted to write something about Easter Sunday today since it is certainly appropriate, but I'm hesitant for a couple reasons.  With particularly "Christian" days such as Easter and Christmas, I've always had this expectation that some sort of revelation or life-changing experience would occur, as if God marked down those days especially in his date book to be particularly talkative and revealing.  Waking up in the morning or walking out of church on those days, I would force a sense of "this is the first day of the rest of my mentality" and begin to plan how I would begin to turn my life around.  My thoughts end up in the self-important and pretentious camp, and I start to track from what really matters about Easter and Christmas.  So, let me get some things straight before I continue: We all know why Easter is important and I'm guessing most of you reading this blog have heard everything I could possibly say about the manner by a pastor or priest this morning, probably in a better fashion than anything I could put to words on a blog.

So, what am I writing about this Easter Sunday?

Well, today, my pastor talked about the image of God and what the miracle of Easter reveals to us about our images of God.  He brought up Acts 17:29 which reads, "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone- an image made by man's design and skill."  In the passage, the writer of Acts is referring to the city of Athens and their many gods and their excess of spirituality.  Their image of God was cast in the gold, silver, and stone of which the passage talks.  While we in the modern age do not build gods out of precious medals, my pastor was lead by the spirit to point out that the verse bring a much more important message to the modern Christian.

We are the offspring of God.  He created us in his image and not the other way around.  With this in mind, how can we, as the creations of God, even dare to use our own imaginations to create an image of God?  Even one that just remains in our head.  How can we disrespect everything our complex and wonderful Father is by containing it within the limited space of the human imagination?  Everything I equate with God (Father, Savior, Sheppard, etc.) is merely images my simple brain uses to try to contain the enormity that is the idea of a holy God.  The next verse of Acts says that God views are attempts at creating an image of him as acts of ignorance and stupidity.

As a writer and an overall imaginative and emotional person, this revelation hit me hard.  The main way I associate and communicate with God is through my image of him.  How am I supposed to know what to expect from something I can't even wrap my head around?  It dawned on me today that is exact how the nature of God works.  By creating an image of God for ourselves to relate to, we are asserting control over who God is, and there is nothing that God has ever done or said that would make us think that we have any control over who he is.  I am who I am because of who God is, not the other way around.  All those years of Easter in the past where I thought Christian holidays were important to God was just another example of my weak attempts to reflect my own image onto God.  God, as evidenced through the Bible and not through my preconceived ideas of who he is, is ready and willing to intercede in our lives every single day we are alive and breathing.  Easter is a great day to remember what Jesus did on the cross for us but I think that is no more important than every other day of the year since, just like every other day, God is with us.

Thanks for reading everyone.  I know that writing my thoughts down in this blog help me a ton in working out my thoughts on matters that are beyond what my mind can really grasp.  I guess most Branches and Roots posts are going to drone on like this one does, but, either way, I hope you have a fantastic day in the presence of God.

Happy Zombie Jesus Day!

Top Ten: Episodes of Doctor Who

Hey everyone!  Welcome to the inaugural post of my blog-a-day thingy.  I swear as this thing goes on it will become more affluent and seem less like it was just thrown together at odd moments during the day.

So Saturday means a Top Ten list and, to start off with something easy, I decided to dedicate this list to my favorite television show, Doctor Who.  There are a lot of things to talk about when it comes to the sci-fi show and almost every topic one can broach will end up making someone mad.  The Doctor Who fan base is just too passionate and opinionated to take someone else's opinion at their word without throwing in their two cents.  Everyone has a favorite Doctor, a favorite companion, a favorite season, and a favorite episode and, by God, if you don't agree then you aren't a true fan of the show.  Hopefully my list doesn't come off in this manner.  I put a lot of thought and consideration into any list I make so don't think anything you are about to read is anything but my honest to God opinion.  There is a lot to appreciate about Doctor Who and its characters, themes, and story arcs.  I'm sure we can agree on something.  If you haven't watched the show before, I will be sure to note which episodes on my list are good introduction for the Whoniverse.

Ok so, ground rules: I'm only including episodes from the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who.  I just haven't seen enough Classic Who to include anything on my Top Ten List.  Also, I'm considering two-parters as one episode to make more room on the list for other deserving episodes that would otherwise be left off.

Also, SPOILER ALERT.  I'm sorry, but it's the only way I can do some episodes justice.

10. The Angels Take Manhattan

• Dark and moody
• Has the flavor of an old-school, private eye novel
• Breathes new scary into the Weeping Angels, especially with the baby ones
• Brings Amy and Rory's story to a delicate close after a long, drawn out ending
• Matt Smith knocks the ending out of the park

9. The Girl in the Fireplace

• Knock out performances by David Tennant and Sophia Myles
• Parallels to the story of Amy Pond, the Girl Who Waited
• Great atmosphere and thrilling story
• Makes a bizarre story idea into a genuine Doctor Who classic
• Self-containment makes it great for new viewers

8. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

• Complex but absolutely satisfying ending to the season
• Mysterious and compelling narrative that never lets the audience go
• The Doctor's Stonehenge Speech
• Guest appearances by the entire Doctor Who baddies list
• Rory the Centurion (need I say more?)

7. The Doctor's Wife

• A master class in Doctor Who writing by Neil Gaiman
• Finally a humanized personification of the TARDIS
• A delicious mixture of new ideas and fanservice
• Amy and Rory's psychological battle against House
• Unforgetable conversations between the Doctor and the TARDIS

6. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

• Introduction of Captain Jack Harkness
• Expertly balanced comedy, romance, and horror
• Great performances all around, especially Christopher Eccleston
• Iconic and memorable writing by Steven Moffat
• The absolutely joyful ending

5. The Day of the Doctor

• Not the 50th anniversary episode we wanted, but the one we deserved
• Matt Smith, David Tennant, and John Hurt have infectious chemistry
• A twist that changed Doctor Who as we knew it
• Billie Piper proving that she deserved to come back even if she wasn't playing Rose
• Tom Baker's nose and Peter Capaldi's eyes

4. Blink

• Most iconic and well-known Doctor Who episode for a reason
• Proves the merit of Doctor-lite episodes
• Coins and perfectly demonstrates "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey"
• Introduced the best New Who monster in the Weeping Angels
• Gold standard for the quality of Doctor Who writing

3. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

• The first, last, and best River Song episode
• Intense and marvelously written, even if a little confusing at first watch
• Vashta Nerada are perfect Doctor Who monsters
• An emotional roller coaster ride that doesn't let up until the last moment
• The Doctor opens the TARDIS door with a snap

2. Vincent and the Doctor

• The only Doctor Who episode yet that has made me cry
• Stunning acting from nearly everyone in the episode
• Beautiful cinematography and fantastic writing
• A great episode for those looking to get into the show
• "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things.  The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant."

1. The Eleventh Hour

• A fabulous and charming introduction to the Eleventh Doctor
• Instant chemistry and dynamics between Matt Smith and Karen Gillian
• Hectic and quirky fun at every turn
• Proves that Matt Smith is the rightful successor to the Doctor Who throne
• "I'm the Doctor. So basically, run." Chills

Blogs For Days!

So hey people that sometimes read things I write!

I think it is fairly obvious at this point that I haven't put a lot of effort into updating this blog very often over these last few months.  Or ever.  Let's go with ever.  To the people that care, sorry about that.  However, my laziness and lack of dedication is about to change, I hope, for the better.

Some of the best advice in the world for writers is a simple three-word adage: don't stop writing.  Fairly obvious I'll admit, but anyone who has tried to write anything ever (so everyone I guess) will agree that it is never simple to "just keep writing."  Just because I'm a writing enthusiast doesn't make that fact any less true.  So, here is my attempt to keep myself writing everyday.

THE PLAN: 

Everyday, I'll say that again... EVERYDAY I'm going to update my blog with short little whatevers of me talking about whatever.  This way, I feel good about writing lots and posting to my blog and stuff!  Two birds with one digital stone!  But, hey, let me be more specific.

THE SCHEDULE:

Sunday

Branches and Roots: I will be the first one to say that my life has been nothing that I expected it to be.  But that is mostly due to the fact that I had very few expectations to begin with.  So, every Sunday I'm going to take the chance to look ahead to my future and look behind to my past with a critical eye.  Expect a lot of introspective and spiritual rambling on my part.

Monday

Rain Dance in Traffic: The title of this section is named after one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, The Wonder Years.  Every Monday, I'm going to be writing about some aspect of music may that be a specific song, artists, genre, or current news or controversy.  I really like writing about music (I have been told by multiple professors to pursue such a career) and, while I can be particularly biased, I will do my best to make my opinions interesting at the very least.

Tuesday

Nostalgia Goggles: Time changes things.  That much is obvious.  The way each and every generation looks at facets of pop culture is no different.  On Tuesday, I will be attempting to unpack how the past affects the ways we look at the present through a variety of pop culture topics.

Wednesday

Musings of a Fanboy:  I am a fan of a lot of things and sometimes I just need a place to say how much of a fan I am of whatever I'm currently obsessed with.  Every Wednesday, my blog will be that place.  My obsessions come and go like the tide so expect the topics to range drastically.

Thursday

Once Upon a Blog...: Creative writing has always my passion and my strong suit so I would be remiss if I didn't make room for some short story writing on my blog.  On Thursday, I will be writing a short snippet of a story based of an interesting prompt that I find on the internet.

Friday

Screen Time: Television and movies are huge facets of culture today and, in a world where how cool you are is equivalent to how many obscure TV shows you have seen, I'd thought I'd throw in my two cents on what is worth watching.  Every Friday, I will dissect some aspect of a TV show or movie and spew out my thoughts on the matter.

Saturday

Top Ten: For a fairly disorganised fellow, I love lists.  I also love having favorite things.  So, every Saturday, I will be combining the two and making a Top Ten list.  The subjects will vary but expect me to be ranking a lot of things from television, movies, comics, and video games.  Because that's just how I roll.

So, mark your calendars y'all.  Because today is the day that I either begin a project that I will be proud of for years to come or the day that I bite off more than I can chew.  I hope you are excited to see which it is.  I know I sure am.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Conner