something I realised before Christmas
I stopped collecting things some time ago
Theres a certain evel of involvement in actually collecting which is easy to forget in an electronic world where I could spend a few days and 'collect' every book, audio play, Episode, Movie, Comic, and song that I ever wanted for free
But thats not collecting
Just now a friend (on facebook and I think I've ended up drinking with a few times in the Tap ages ago) who has great taste in music put an Alanis Morissette track on FB and I do the usual 'oh when was the last time I listened to her' and then thought about the fact that I watched Live Aid from my bedroom at my grans all the way through live, I grew up in the 80's at time when the greatest music in the world was written and performed
but everyone thinks that the music they listened to when they grew up was the greatest music ever
and the songs were more often than not about protesting something
against politicians, about gay rights, about famine in africa about seemingly dozens of great causes that I was sorta into at the time but only because my friends were but now realise were and still are massively important.
so back to the point - I have over the years 'collected' massive amounts of stuff but never sat there and thought 'I wonder if Alanis Morrisette is still making music?'
I just load up my MP3 and go off to work or a game or the pub and never ask about the stuff I'm listening to
It's empty - it's false - it's not me, not any more
Hang on a second........
I just deleted 214GB of 'collected' music
and ordered Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morrisette at her greatest) from an ebay trader with over 280,000 deals under their belt with a 98% positve feedback for the grand sum of
£1.52 on CD
I want to be the person I used to like and respect someone who laughed a lot more than I do these days the person who didn't second guess everything he did the person who had a damn sight more self respect than I find I have
no more blame games - I am responsible for my life and I am answerable to me and the people whose opinions of me matters
this is a start
I'm going to start reading 5E this weekend and and then I'm going to write a campaign based in the Forgotten Realms
After that campaign I will know the system enough and refresh my fantasy reffing brain enough so I can write my own world
In March I am going to register for an Arts and Humanities level 1 course with the OU
after I pass that I will be able to do a level 2 creative writing course
haven't thought about things further than that yet
and I will properly collect the things I am deleting in one format or another and I will be true to myself
oh and I need to learn about cloud storage and if itunes is any good
Night all
Having read your short story I think that a creative writing course is a great idea. You could be Julian K Rowling (it was funnier in my head).
ReplyDeleteIf something in your life is making you unhappy, whatever it is, find a way to solve it. Sometimes the solution is hard to find and harder to make happen, but in the end could be worth the effort, and the rewards, to health and happiness makes everything else look brighter.
On the subject of cloud storage. I knew someone who stored masses of stuff, including personal information in a cloud (on a cloud?), and the site had a server crash. Everything gone. Better maybe to get a portable hard drive and store your most important 'stuff' on there.
thank you whoever you are :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem whatsoever.
ReplyDeletein fact I've got 2 campaigns I'm supposed to be working on and I want to keep going with the writing thing but it's going to be tricky doing everything - so when I get my head around this DND 5e idea I've had I'd like to start writing stories set in the camapaign so I don't the few marbles I have left :)
ReplyDeleteWell, you have plenty of time, and don't have to do everything at once. I haven't had any experience of 5e but I would imagine a new system makes campaign writing a challenge. Utilizing the setting, creating NPCs, combat etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that you have so much in your life that you need to prioritize. It's also a good idea to write stories based around your campaigns, so that you can focus on one overall concept. I hope you post some more stories here.
I will and thanks for the comment :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem. Sometimes it helps to have another person, stranger or friend, as a second perspective.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much negativity on the internet, it's nice to read something positive for a change. You have a healthy view about personal change, which I find refreshing.