Literary Road to Glory: 2013

Mesnard’s “Glory Road” progress:

Lat year I had delusions of ambition.  Not only did I make a whole slew of writing goals, but I wanted to formulate a system where I could fail and still succeed: so I wouldn’t fall into the trappings of a majority who make resolutions for a new year.  Thus, I adopted this Road to Glory point system and progress meter…heavily stolen inspired by the PSP game NCAA Football 2010.

My version entailed a month-by-month roadmap: with secondary goals to help bolster any months which I faltered; or rather, my endeavors proved too ambitious.  To top it off, I made a more long-term (and secretive) goal which I gave myself a decade to accomplish.

What’s my secret agenda?  That’s still a pinky swear with Palpatine shrouded with secrecy.  Life would be boring without secrets, don’t you think?

Though my output was abysmal a few months (and then some), writing in December rather than enjoying Nanowrimo burnout was what finally helped me amass enough points to pull off a Road 2012 victory.

Since things seemed to go so well, I decided to definitely do it all over again for 2013.  Raising the stakes higher, I even altered my long-range goal (which is the second progress bar at the top of this post) to drive myself a tad harder.

What’s in store for me this year?  Hit the jump to get the month-by-month breakdown.

2012 in review: Oh, Mesnard via WordPress

I received the following writeup from WordPress about my blog in 2012.  Following the link it provides even gives you a firework show.

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Literary Road to Glory: 2012 Recap

The dorm room is packed and cleaned; which brings my foray into literary ambition to a close…at least for this year.  I didn’t plan to give up after a single year of making resolutions.  The big question is how I fared.

Before I cap things off, here’s a look at the cryptic “score sheet” I scrawled out to help become my roadmap. [click to enlarge]

How cryptic was it?  I tried to decode it on at least three occasions.  The sheet of notebook paper made a lot of sense at the time, but I made alterations as the months rolled by…a bit because the unexpected cropped up, but mostly to make things more challenging for myself.

After the jump is my 2012 progress report.

Rate me Highly (or Lowly) Now!

My latest blog feature is a rating system for posts and pages.

Why now?  I wanted to “branch out” a while.  Writing is still the main focus here; and the “Road to Glory” feature is now a fixture; but an experimental expansion has been in the works.

As Jules Winnfield might ask, “Example.”

Many know I spend time on my heavily-modified PSP.  I thought a while about a monthly visual gaming feature.  I often play in cycles, and most titles fall outside the realm of popularity: especially since many games are imports or via emulation; which could keep things unique around here.

Going in another direction is a sports recap.  I played in various Yahoo Fantasy leagues more than a few years now, and this NFL season I started my own small league; emphasizing on luck and fun rather than aggression or hyper-competitiveness.  Yahoo added automated weekly recaps (which I found highly amusing) of head-to-head team match-ups; which I want to retroactively post.

[Note:  If any of you have a Yahoo account and want to get in on future action, let me know.  I still have a college bowl "pick 'em" league with open slots too at this moment.]

Incorporating other interests can showcase my other facets without perpetuating blogging tropes relying on personal dramatics or day-to-day struggles to keep things interesting.  My goal is to keep this place entertaining above all else.

Other past ideas were things like older album reviews or canceled television shows; but working on novels, scripts, or short stories seem a better way to spend my allocated writing time for now.

Many renovations got made to the blog this year, but I want much more: even if things seem at a standstill for now.

What else for the future?  I wanted more than just a sidebar and the About heading at the top, such as a contact or feedback area; offering an easier way for people to get in touch or ask questions.  One long-in-the-making addition has been a supporter section to thank followers; or paying time and mind to this blog.  A timeline or achievements section has personal appeal, but hinges more on my free time.

Some of the above will likely be incorporated into my 2013 resolutions.  On that note, a Road to Glory tab would be a great addition to help keep me accountable; since those monthly goals play part in a decade-long plan.

Hopefully the ratings addition proves a great way to see where to occupy my time when not writing; or even what to procrastinate with.

As always, comments (and now ratings) are welcome.

Classy in August

Since I’m going for another round of Camp Nanowrimo, I decided to let it ride – staying a sponsored camper.  It means maybe I’ll be able to rasie another dollar or two for OLL; the non profit organization that puts on the Nano writing events (and more).  To learn more, click here or the image below.

You don’t have to donate if you click.  You can learn more about the Office of Letters and Light, post on the shout box, or even send me an anonymous mail.

Bombed Out on Getting “Kiss”ed

To put it out there, I missed the long list for 50 First Kisses.  I thought it was a good stab, but that’s what love’s all about…know what I mean?  The pic above is my own stab at levity – since I’m never as suave and short-worded as the man who deemed who was fit enough to be with those amongst the clouds.

Maybe I’ll post it – maybe I won’t.  Maybe it really deserved to not make it.  The peeps-who-be may not have thought mine really embodied love.  I felt it was: at least parts of love.  But love ain’t perfect; as I hear it said.

If any of you know contact me, maybe I’ll give a peep.  We shall see.  Felt worse than when my YT-1300 ship (named Milkrunner) got blasted when I didn’t time my jump through deep space well enough.  [Hoofah to those PvPing imperial gunboats.]

[Just in case you wondered, sabacc is a game similar to Blackjack - to briefly put it - made famous in the Star Wars galaxy; mostly for the fact Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian.]

Lots Happening in my Head (positively)

Weirdness – via jessiisthehizz

The image represents the heading a tad.  Some literary flatlining has been going on. Not in the blocked writing fashion, but more as a recovery effort.  I suppose the blog has become collateral damage as a result…just as my failure to update my writing sites.

In the last thirty days (in no particular order) I was:

• Completing Camp Nano with thirty minutes to spare; breaking my single day writing record.
• Finishing two short film scripts and a “micro-short” story (all contest entries) – while doing Camp Nano.
• Learning of Script Frenzy formally ending, and assisting in an organizational effort to rescue it in some form.
• Creating a new group on Figment to help an overlooked demographic.
• Committing to Camp Nano’s August session; taking a super-rebellious stance.
• Possibly bricked (then unbricked) my PSP again; consuming a few days.
• Joining a new writing site with the hopes of centralizing my stuff and offering perks to those who like my literary endeavors.
• Spending a weekend out of town.  Won’t get into the details; but  random pictures for posting.

Quite a logjam of information!  I’ll write about it all, but it will happen more out of sequence than a Quentin Tarantino flick.  The winners will be those who subscribe to the blog: since they get notified of my posts…no matter what I set the date as.  All the rest will have to keep clicking and checking for anything above which caught interest.  I’ll link as I go, meaning I’ll keep this post at the top until late July, but some things may get lost in the shuffle.

I’m not trying to force anyone to subscribe, but there are perks: especially once I give the layout another renovation.  Hopefully the posts will all be up before camp starts again, but who knows.  I still plan on adding to the “cabin blog” we started before the June session.  Call it moonlighting…but I did make a couple posts very similar here as I had there.

More could be mentioned, but I’ll save it for one of the secretive posts.  Keep checking back; unless you’re a notified subscriber – since you’ll know the minute something is posted; no matter how heavy on the chronitons an entry happens to be.

Main Character Spotted:

Main Character Spotted

Seen leaving…

Destination: Unknown

Of course to quote Anthony Kiedis, “Now that is a lie.”  If I let everyone know where she was, someone might want to go out and catch her…and then I’ll never be able to finish the book on my own recognizance.

For fun, I’ll test out the idea of letting you know where she’s been: also to prove I finally got to the “inciting incident” and its consequence, so to speak.  You can also check out the scene at that locale [while it lasts] by scrolling down or “hit[ting] the jump” as I like to say.

Spoilers ahead – be warned!

If you DON’T want to be spoiled, you have two options (both which are FREE by the way):

1)  Wait until (at least) July for me to start posting chapters on Figment.

2)  Check it out from the beginning on Authonomy.

If you enjoy anything you see or read, don’t forget that I am still trying to StayClassy – but I’m not the “hard sell” type.

Enough warnings!  Look on if ye dare…

Hailing from Camp Nanowrimo!

(Click postcard or here for the bigger, more legible version.)

Hello friend,

I am writing from Camp NaNoWriMo, a virtual writing retreat where aspiring novelists from around the world gather to crank out a 50,000-word novel in one month.That’s right! I committed to writing 50,000 words in the month of June; towards an already-started novel.

Besides positive comments and encouragement on my blog, there are other ways you can be dedicated to the cause without writing a single word.

Just like sponsoring a marathoner, people can donate on my behalf as I write towards my goal of 50,000 words. I can even receive a nifty prize for my fundraising efforts on behalf of The Office of Letters and Light; the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that hosts Camp NaNoWriMo. These donations help provide free writing resources for even more kids, teens, and adults around the world!

My sponsorship page can be found here:
http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=199618

There are also inspirational items in the online Camp Store that would raise my morale to an all-time high. The Camp NaNoWriMo Care Package is the best example; chock-full of campy encouragement.  The Campfire Mug is quite nice as well.

(Contact me for actual address if you are so bold and philanthropic, and I’ll do something special on my blog – open to suggestion.)

I really am in it for the writing and not the benefits, but I won’t complain if sponsored or rewarded in the process. If the novel has a moderate success, I’ll have to return the favor somehow.

Thanks for reading my postcard. I’m grateful for any support while I continue my novel in Camp Nano; whether a word of encouragement, monetary backing for OLL, or even receiving a gift from someone especially kind. [The same goes for anyone leaving comments, giving "like"s, or following my blog.]

Wish me luck: in finishing my novel AND staying out of poison ivy,
-Matt Mesnard

[ If you would like to learn more or correspond with this camper,  please write back by clicking  this link. Be sure to leave contact information in your message so the camper can reply. ]

Help me StayClassy on behalf of Office of Letters & Light

As most know, I’m soon going to see a similar banner soon – as I head out to camp.  Not only will I be this…

But I will also be this…

What does it mean?

“StayClassy is a fast-growing San Diego-based startup that develops an online fundraising product used by thousands of Nonprofit organizations around the world.”

Office of Letters and Light host most of the writing events I talk about on here.  Now OLL is aligned with StayClassy for secure fundraising.  Since I want to do something to help, I have a StayClassy account now; which benefits OLL.

if you didn’t click on any of the links yet, here’s my profile:  http://Mesnard.stayclassy.org

Even if you don’t want to donate, I say check the page out now or in June.  Maybe i get points for site hits?  No idea.

Thanks for reading all of this, and hopefully it can hold anticipation until the start of June.

Happy (I)B-Day, Star Wars!

“The R2 canyon scene with the Jawas is supposed to be dusk. There was some debate about this since earlier home videos had the scene in bright day, as it was filmed. In 1993, it was re-timed to be dim and sunset-tinted, which was then greatly embellished in the Special Edition. It was reported that the earlier video versions were mis-timed. While the 1993 telecine might seem to exaggerate the sunset hue a bit, the scene in 1977 is definitely as dark as it is in current versions. There is a tiny green shift in the I.B. print, indicating it is actually slightly warmer.”

Licensed to 3: Yauch Concluded

(click image for full size)

part 1, part 2

When I was a kid and the Beastie Boys first got play for their music video, I had a hard time figuring out what the word Ill was, but I did know what a Roman Numeral three looked like. So I often wondered if these Brooklyn guys really had two other records out there and people were just saying Ill because they didn’t know. What could I say? I was a goofy kid.

Before I go on, Ch-Check THIS out. Neal Brennan (now know as awesome in my book) knows the pain we’re feeling. Co-creator of Chapelle’s Show, he unleashed an appearance of the Bea-stie-Boys LIVE outdoors in 2004 – never seen until now. Already erased by Viacom at least once, it’s back! I’ll make a dupe of this just to make sure it’ll be harder to kill than a certain Holiday Special. Hurry and watch the clip below – and get more blown away since I won’t say what song it is. [I’d say to watch out for language, but even work should let you blast this. You’re mourning, yo!]

This post was intended as a conglomerate of links and images. Since I came across some great articles and stories which I mostly hid in the other two posts, I figured why not make this subject a trilogy and make it a hodgepodge of links and images amongst additional material. To tease a taste, here’s someone’s tribute to MCA/Nathan Wind – delivering pizza dressed as Cochese.

New York officially mourns the death of Adam Yauch.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s the document for proof, or watch the video below.

New short story: Brownstone, the Woman, and Soda Cans

In between all the writing I keep piling up for myself [finishing my screenplay from April's Script Frenzy; MCA thoughts and musings; finishing my Nanowrimo novel from November], I came across an appealing Figment Daily Theme – so I wrote another short story.

The site (though skewed towards a younger audience) has ways to stimulate writing and creativity with things like contests and exercises.  Click the above image or here to see the story, but keep reading to learn more about the writing instructions [which I'm still open to suggestion when it comes to the title].