So we are now into week two of NaNo and does the slowness of the site bug the crap out of anyone else or is that just me? And what’s with the ‘disabled author search’?

Yeah yeah they exist on donations etc but hell, it’s frustrating!!! Someone give them some money please!  I never want to hear anyone complain about the speed on my site EVER AGAIN or I will have to point them to the nano site where you can literally watch paint dry, while cooking and later eating dinner, and still the page hasnt loaded!

So anyway, since we have no way of finding authors, friends etc unless we are lucky enough to spot a post on a forum (with 2000 other people online at the same time!!!) or be lucky enough to be present when they ‘enable’ the author search function. Here’s what I propose.

The Empire of the Cat writing group has a thread over there in the Writing groups/clubs section, so mosey on over there and post something and then we can find you! And if we can find you, well you know we can add you as a buddy, and the more the merrier right?

Here’s the link to our general chat and pep talk thread. So if you read this message, then get over there and say hi. Don’t make me come looking for you, cos that site makes me cranky enough as it is! LOL

Meanwhile back at the writing course…

So I’m doing a 2nd year writing course at Uni at the moment and guess what! Here was me wondering what else to do next year (along with either 20th C Fiction or 19th C Fiction) and bam! new writing course announcement for 3rd year students!!!

New creative writing course for October 2008
Advanced Creative Writing  <— ‘advanced’ no less!

This 60 point Level 3 course will be introduced in October 2008. Advanced Creative Writing will develop students’ writing ability by widening their generic range. The course will work extensively on the forms introduced at level 2 - fiction, poetry and life writing - and supplement these with dramatic writing, showing students how to write for 3 media: stage, radio and film. By widening the range of possible outlets, students will use this richer repertoire and greater variety of approaches to develop their individual writing style and voice. The course will offer guidance on professional layouts and editorial methods, and will be a natural progression after Creative Writing.
A full course description will be available from the Courses and Qualifications website from the end of January 2008 and registration will open on 15th March 2008. <— special note for your diary, Ides of March and the Cat Mistress’s birthday!

Maybe I won’t have to read Heart of Darkness after all!

Oh yeah and about nano and tracking you all down - poke poke poke

The new semester starts at the end of this month and *I* am still trying to decide what to register for!!!  Registration date was last Friday but I got some extra time, but I really have to make my mind up this week, otherwise it will end up like last year and I will start late and be behind the 8 ball all year

My main problem is trying to decide whether I can fit in two courses (and have the time to do them) or just go with the one course I planned to do in the first place.  The thing is, see, that I hate that it all takes so long and I would like it to be finished quicker, so then I think I will double the workload and make that happen.  Sounds good and I’ve done it before but then it does but a lot more pressure on you than is necessary, and I have enough of that already lol.

I am definitely doing the Creative Writing part of the degree this semester, that’s a given, but I would also like to do 19th Century Fiction at the same time, just because I really like it and it is a required course in both the diploma and the degree, so two birds with one stone.  Somehow I feel I could do both as one is me writing a whole bunch, and one is me reading a whole bunch.  How hard could it be, right?

Well…….. I am required to read, I think, 12 set novels plus course books etc, and let’s remember these are not light, airy fairy, brain candy books.  These are books to be studied and dissected and written about, so that will slow things down a little.  Ok some of them I own and have read before, but some I haven’t and some not for a few years.

The writing course, well, requires me to write :p *surprise* and guess what, I haven’t exactly been doing a lot of that lately either, so now having to do it to order may be a little hard.  Also I do need to keep a writing journal and actually write in it (as opposed to having one now and not writing in it!) as well as building a portfolio of my work.  See how easy it all sounds :)  Ok it does sound easy to someone who likes writing and does write, but like I said, I havent been doing much of that lately, and if that continues, then I will fail the course!  Or maybe both courses if I am overwhelmed by it all.

Quelle dilemma

Found on  journal I have no defence lolBold all of the following TV shows which you’ve ever seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime.
- Italicize a show if you’re positive you’ve seen every episode of it.
- If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order). [added with a *] Read the rest of this entry

Isn’t it funny how quickly time passes when you’re enjoying yourself, or more accurately not really enjoying yourself but working, studying, and ok, maybe a little bit of fun squeezed in.

My last post here was, wait for it, 15 weeks ago lol.  Yes I even looked at it twice.  I don’t really have an excuse, unless busy counts as one and maybe general meh feelings.

So I logged on, vamped up my journal and am posting after a 15 week gap.  I’d like to say its been full of action-packed adventures but it really hasn’t.  Just all the usual stuff that people do.

That’s all for now, short and sweet, and I’m off to watch Heroes!  Hmmm maybe that’s what I’ve been doing for all this time.