22.31

Happy Saturday the 13th! That poor little sociopath missed his killing-spree-day by one. Poor guy.

Next Friday the 13th will be September 2013. He gets to wait a little while...

I did make it to class Wednesday and it turns out that sickness went around over the weekend. Most people have colds and some have the flu. I kept telling everyone I had influenza because flu is too mainstream (influenza does sound cooler). Out of our workshop group of six, four of us were sick. Three years ago when I took creative writing I had the loudest group in the class. We also were easily sidetracked, finished our work faster than anyone else, and laughed a hell of a lot more. I don't believe we are the loudest this year, but everything else was the same. If anything, this group is smarter.

It's practically a monsoon outside. So much rain with a side of winds. Good for plants, bad for lungs.

Everyone in my group was asking me to bring my portfolio because they like my writings. For the past decade or so, my portfolio has lived in a variety of binders, notebooks, and stacks of papers. Suffice to say, I didn't really have a portfolio. Last night I decided to go through and clean it up and put it all in one place. It's huge but organized. It of course is still missing some things, so I'm still adding to it for now, but it's almost complete. My portfolio goes back to the sixth grade. It literally is my life's work.

My brother pointed out, "Isn't it sad that you life can be boiled down to a stack of papers?" Thanks little bro! I would hope that a writer's life would be boiled down to some pretty awesome stacks of paper, since you know, writers write on paper. (Ooh, the sun is just starting to peak through. Can it hold its ground?) So no it isn't sad, and yes my writing life can be boiled down to a rather large stack of paper. My photography life can be boiled down to a rather large collection of photos, my music life can be boiled down to stacks upon stacks of sheet music and instruments (most of which collect dust), etc. My life can be boiled down to...to...well I don't think it's near the stage of boiling down yet. Maybe melting down...never mind.

I think it's silly to say one's life can be boiled down to X. Life is complicated and every individual has their own complications to add to life's complications (that wasn't complicated at all). (sun just disappeared) I don't know how to explain what I want to say or even where to start. I just know I disagree with my brother fully and completely. If he were right his life could be boiled down to computer code. Personally, I think his life is worth more than that and contains more than that. There is more to him than code, though no one is willing to admit it to his face.

Until next time this is the Amazon Artiste signing off.