Is it the secret of the universe or just chance.

December 15th 2018

Creating artistic work calls for keeping yourself engaged with life in my opinion. It’s what separates writers from crazed  

Given the choice of companionship, I prefer a dog. An experiment on this theory lead me to such companion but I will get on with that part a bit later. For now, Let’s jump to a few weeks back. Recently, I had two jobs in the restaurant industry and a third on the political side.

I was working a part-time job at a local pizzeria and had just made it to work as I’ve done many times before. That day was a bit different because the workers gathered outside before the workday.

A dog had found it’ s way onto the property. A mixed-gray Pitbull sat next to the dumpster right around Halloween and became comfy with one of the servers. She said he seemed trained and neutered meaning that he had an owner but as I live in Hapeville and work in College Park.(Literally a mile away) I failed to have seen any signs of a missing dog afterword.  I offer to take the dog in as I have recently been deprived of roommates as of lately. The girl refused my offer and said she wanted it, which only seemed fair since she was the on to approach it first.

Fast Forward to two days ago. I have arrived at my job which at this point had cut my hours and practically forced me to find a second job, and was asked a weird question.

“When is your birthday?”

I answered confused but honest.

“How would you like a late birthday present?”

I answered again, honest, still a little confused. She responds that she can no longer keep the dog due to her neighbors in her apartments telling the leasing office of her secret pet.

I said yes, then after a crazy turn of events following this, I get fired from the job.

 The moment after this, I was torn, as I have thought of getting a dog for months and have only bought it online. For me to have a dog without having to pay is one thing. But to gain it on the day I lost my job was strange as if now that you got what you want, there’s no need for this place.

P.S. I’m not concerned about the job loss. The small hours I got there weren’t worth it.

Connection to character

October 9th 2018 DRIP

As I said before, working on this new story has brought up some interesting questions about my character, What premise I'm using, and recently what supporting character can come out of the two.  Love Interest, Mentor, Reflection, and the other supporting characters have made question my story seems weird to me.

The more I write this story out about my main character, I feel like I'm diving more and more into myself and I'm going to honest, I'm not liking what I'm discovering. The love interest in my life isn't anyone who falls into the definition.  The definition is the person who inspires your character to finish his outer journey.  No this isn't a blog about being lonely, Its one about asking myself questions on my journey. Does it mean that I am lacking human connection? Does it mean that I don't want human connection or consider it overrated? As I look at my extended family and their family's on social media, I can only look at them in their apparent happiness yet I do not envy them.

Do we actually need supporting people in our lives to reach goals we set for ourselves, or are we simply finding reasons to connect such as dreams and adventure-ish journeys to bring them along on or use as a reason to go on them?

Beginning a fresh story.

In the Master's Program, I'm given an opportunity to create something new. I plan on taking full advantage of it. My newest project "Codename: Vamps" is one on revenge and cruelty. From a creative standpoint, the term cruelty particularly appeals to a broader scope and argument I have had with a former roommate. "What would you consider the worst case of cruelty when it came to slavery?" Obviously, that's a leap but I'll do my best.

Slavery has existed since the bronze age and even as far back as stories included in the holy book referring to it as slavery.6800 B.C. and since then, it is still used today. His argument, Black Slaves in the early days of America was worst. Mine, No way.

I am black and I understand that pain and unspeakable level of hell brought down upon my ancestors but there are other things throughout history that have not only exceed it but downright outlast it on a grander scale. Never the less there I was. Dealing with this debate turned scabble, turned debate, turned to agree to disagree.

My story, however, goes for the former point made about the slaves since because I was taught that throughout my early education and it being my history, I thought, this will get them mad.

A vampire story that takes place on American in the south pre Civil War.  A Huckleberry Finn meets Dracula if you will. I dare to. If you want to see the characters check out my pintrest page.

Birthday, Other days, and suddenly on my own.

Birthday, Other days, and suddenly on my own.

October 7th, 2018

In the modern day society of millennials, people are swayed to the notion of sharing living quarters with each other. This, of course, has a huge impact on the people as a whole but we carry on with our wits to do better. My birthday has passed and for it, I did karaoke at a bar not too far from my home with good longtime friends, and one certain friend that was new. He rode a motorcycle home drunk for two hours after we were done. insanity people. After of course, everyone left and went home.  The was another I really wanted to .be there be he couldn't make it.

Lately, I have been looking for something in other arts and artist for inspiration. a moment of the true aspiring tale of people who came together to be a better part of themselves. I don't know if I believe in that anymore as I am once again plagued by loneliness as if my imagination will keep me talking through the wee hours as I awake trying to create something special and all inspiring to the human experience.

I am rooming alone now. It just me. So how would I actually be able to write about human stories if I have no human around to imagine them with? It's a question I present to you readers. If you're out the reading these words? What do you think?

GOING FOR MY MASTER'S!

August 20,2018

Yes, It's official, I have rejoined the ranks of student and return to college for a Masters Degree. As far as my decision on which school to attend, well, I had thought of Germany or Norway at first merely because of the extremely low cost if not free. But as far as the distances.....New York was pretty far for a southern guy like me so I think I'm going to stick with the"baby steps" and work my way up to the rest of the world. 

I'm back at Full Sail University, I have a new laptop, and a new loan.(That last one was suppose to be funny but I think we can all agree that it's not.) 12 months.

After reviewing the online course catalog, I feel that courses like The Art of Visual Storytelling and Advanced Art of Visual Storytelling courses will give me a chance to utilize imagery on my road to mastery on the entertainment media forefront and provide me with an edge that will pull audiences in with the first thing they see. After that, courses like Character and Development will strengthen those visual tools with characters enriched with backstory and a setting full of exposition for me to explore. I find this often to be my issue when it comes to storytelling.

      Next, after I sort out where character placement in the overall story is, Script Analysis and Criticism will provide a sense of knowledge when reading and examining scripts thus making my own scripts a subject of constant revision and re-examination. Since I have an interest in possibly starting my career as a script reader, I will need a strong understanding on how to observe messages hidden in themes through different scripts I may read.

     Gradually, I’ll approach Writing for Games and Multimedia Adaption for a better understanding about digital immersive storytelling, mainly I want to focus on the fantasy and science fiction which these courses offer as key genres in the Creative writing industry.

      On my mastery path, however, I feel that the Episodic and Serial Writing course will benefit me because of my desire to break into television.  The course will educate me on creating plots and character stories over a television season or comic book arc. I will also work on a spec script that I plan on possibly shopping around to showrunners after I graduate. After completing that project for that month, it will be time to begin working on my portfolio in the Creative Writing Portfolio course as it is a major part of my thesis project for the overall program. I will be provided much needed feedback after I develop a solid concept for my script to pitch.

      I will continue on to Writing for Film and Animation where I’ll write a short screenplay which has always been an exciting aspect for me because it offers a chance to have a finished product by the end of the course to officially shop around to local indie film makers to produce and shot.

The Creative Writing Portfolio second course will cause me to reevaluate everything I’ve learned and created so far throughout my journey of mastery while The Business of Creative Writing course will prepare me for the industry when it comes to marketing and publishing along with all other legal aspects.

The 16 Hour Ride.

On the bus, there were families I got to know.  Not the names because I
felt that seeing them on the way back home was not likely to happen.
 A woman traveling with her grandchildren, a young man and
a small girl who sat directly next to here at all times.
She was caring  and sweet, often laughing at
remarks I made of the drivers sudden stops and reckless driving
through the tri state area.
Her grandson who sat across from her,
handled her cell phone and visits to the
gas station during
10 minutes stops.

I slept as best I could on the two seats
I had for the duration of the trip.
Passing through Washington, North Carolina,
Delaware I saw places that caused pollution to
the earth true enough.
The industrial age of car manufacturers
is fearless in the face of global warming.
The moment is never fun to watch but I kept my eyes
on the smoke filling the sky like erupt
volcanoes in Hawaii. It was interesting.
A place where we as people let cars fill lots in the Fords
main recall of the year.

The woman who sat with her grandchildren
called ahead to a leaseholder who’s recent tenet died
and left this world in apparent debt.
The tenet was the woman’s son.
She was traveling to settle his account and move out his belongings.
Though how she planned on getting
said belongings back to Georgia was a complete mystery to me.

This is how I hope things wouldn’t turn out if I moved up to NYC.
 My mother traveling to collect my belongs.

We stopped several times, at gas stations at least every hour and a half.
It was interesting to notice that we hardly lost anytime doing
this but it didn’t seem to matter.

Arrival in New York

May 2018

            On the adventure to rediscover my dream, I was on the bus riding into Manhattan on the affable "china bus" for 15.5 hours for the price of $30(Not kidding). It was in the early afternoon meaning it was the peak of rush hour. The traffic coming into the city was heavy but unlike Atlanta, the car count was more extreme.  A close friend met me in Chinatown because of his concern about my arrival in an unfamiliar area. My first reaction stepping off the bus staring down at the trash bags along the sidewalk was frank.

            "It looks awful."

            Laughing, He responded, "Welcome to New York." as he embraced me. Before, I waited to see him on different conditions.  The plan was for me to move there after he set a foundation but in the middle of his attempt to make the big move, he fell to the harsh reality of New York.

            "You should have come sooner. I had everything set up months ago."

            Without going into to details, I'll say that my friend interactions with the city finding employment, holding down a place to stay and finding a suitable partner simply didn't hold up in the long run. He looked at me and said that the people who   live he isn't caring like they are at home. We began the walk to the infamous subway that has captured my eye on every film set in New York. I held my brother's army bag full of my belongings close to me as I remembered horror stories of thief.

            The trains made me nervous to say the least. Metro cards were available at the machines next to the entrance and the fare for a one-way trip was 2.75, 0.25 cents more than Marta. The transit system itself was heavy on passengers constantly milling and moving.  People walked along the platform as if it was theirs and theirs alone. My friends, who was accustom to this, made it loud and clear that New Yorkers were self obsessed assholes.

            "They just walk like they're the best shit on the planet. I'm not afraid to tell them to they face!"

            Sometimes, I think that this city had a real negative affect on people who moved here. Before, my friend was nice. Now, he was on a warpath. Anyone in his way was mere shadow he stepped on the concrete payment that was hard and rough like he had become.

            We walked through the rest of China town. I observed what I came to know later as the Kim Lau memorial, which had a statue of a Chinese official, and honoring the Asian American that served the United States. Southern as I was, I'd never even seen a statue of a Chinese's person except on National Geographic's channel. Chinatown itself was busy. People walking pass each other in haste.

            My friend picked up my oversized army bag and on we went to the subway. The air smelled of fish as if I was in a famer's market and the corners were filled with independent vendors selling goods. I notice that every restaurant we pass had an underground access point to the basement. My friend remembered that I was from Georgia and the confusion was written on my face.

           

            He explained simply that ever restaurant in New York was the same. People used it to exit for smoke breaks and to let cool air in when the heat from cooking got overwhelming.

            An interesting concept for a city over populated as it was.

            Upon the entrance to the subway, I was met with the same machine system of transit that had been outdated in Atlanta for at least ten years. Instead of the plastic reusable cards, which are mandatory if you want to ride Atlanta transit, we were to use laminated card to swipe. I struggled getting through the entrance as my swipe was either too slow, too fast, or just plain wrong. 

            On the train, I nearly had a heart attack from the constant sudden jerk and pull of the train. Before I simply imagine flicker lights but once aboard, I felt uneasy. Not only because the motion of the train was unpredictable but also the unsettling way the passenger were unconcern with it. They rode the train focusing on other things. Phones, books and conversation.

            We went through twenty stops before getting off at the Broadway connector in Brooklyn. There I saw a different side of New York. A more dirty, less concerned part that could only be further described as, "A ghetto." So many black people were standing, commuting, and vining to their streets. This is were I began counting the "Crown" restaurants passed on the way to my Air BNB.