Actual new project, major awards, and Sherlock.

After a small semi-depressive slump (not really) after finishing my April novella, I've figured out what I'm going to write. It's hopefully a novel, but I won't complain if it's actually a novella. I'm so far calling it The Smallest Weird Number (which is a reference to a band called Boards of Canada; I'm probably one of the few people who have heard of them, and I promise I'm not trying to be a hipster). I'm not going to give a lot of details about it, but it involves a "functional paranoiac" psychiatrist who makes up "conspiracies" to make life interesting, his loony, math-obsessed friend who has a completely crackpot theory of "weird numbers", and a scenario they envision for fun that turns out to be true.

In other news, I had a wonderful night last night, and while I try not to talk about my personal life on this blog (because that's not as interesting as what I actually write, or so I think), this is actually a good thing to write about because it's writing related. As some people may know, I'm graduating this year from OCHSA (which is an art school with a very fantastic writing department - no, they are not paying me to say this). There was an awards ceremony for the writers last night. I read a graduation speech that I wrote (everyone read things, so it's not as though I was special for reading it) It was filmed, so I may end up uploading it to YouTube and posting a link. It was about how, in kindergarten, I brought in a song my great-grandfather wrote about a man who grinds up dogs and cats to make sausages, and how the joyful solidarity of the classroom as we sang it is similar to how I felt at OCHSA.

However, that wasn't the best thing that happened. The best thing that happened was the award I got. Yes, I got a major award. (And if you know A Christmas Story, you'll get the reference.) It was the Director's Award, which is the highest award one could receive. Mr. Blaylock (the fantastic director of the creative writing conservatory) gave it to three students, one of whom was obviously me. I went up making that shrugging "huh?" gesture, because I honestly didn't understand what I did to merit such an award. Everyone found this very amusing.

I later asked Mr. Blaylock what the award was for. I'll paraphrase it by saying he loved my improvement, he thought I was amazingly talented, and I embody the heart and soul of what the creative writing conservatory is all about. That was definitely one of the crowning moments of heartwarming of my life so far. I will receive the actual award in the near future (because they hadn't made them; it will feature a drawing of an animal in the corner done by Mr. Powers, which is hooray-worthy). I will frame it and be proud of my major award. Which is neither a bowling alley nor a leg lamp.

Also, I experienced actual happiness at the ceremony, which was interesting. I don't feel very strongly anymore, but it was actual strong happiness. Mostly it was because of my friend Luce, who went to the ceremony with me. She read something excellent, and during the intermission, I "led her around by the shock" (she had a blanket over her shoulders, and we had previously turned it into a Sherlock reference - "Of course I'm in shock! I have a blanket, don't I?") and dragged her around to show her to everyone I know. My family was there, you see, and when my family is around and I have a friend to introduce them to, I always feel quite proud of that friend and decide to "introduce" them to everyone, despite the fact that everyone probably already knows them. We then decided that I am Sherlock, my little sister is Watson, Luce is Moriarty (self-proclaimed), and one of my aunts is Mrs. Hudson.

I feel vaguely bad for that last paragraph. I really didn't want to turn this blog into a tangent about my personal life, and I'm really hesitant to bring up fandom on this blog. I almost feel as though it will alienate people. On the other hand, it may endear people. I'm not certain.

However, I'm quite pleased that I have a real writing project, and since I am hosting a writing retreat in Idyllwild this weekend (I will post about that later), be sure I will actually get things done.