Mightier than the sword...

I can't write by hand; keyboard or nothing. It's not that I'm against handwriting my stories--it's that I can't get my thoughts down fast enough with a pen.

So, the keyboard is mighter than the sword.
...Sorta.

The Real Root

They say money is the root of all evil.

I beg to differ.

It is our reliance on money that is the root of most evil.

My mom once said that no matter how much money a person makes, they seem to quickly adapt and spend accordingly. In most cases this means just barely making ends meet. We live just within our means. The billionaires buy mansions and pay heavy taxes. The middle-class own large houses and have just one kid (if any), but have to maintain two mortgages to pull through. The rest of us buy $500 cars and still can't afford outrageous gas prices (not to mention car maintanence).

Reliance? Yes. Very much so.

Of course, this is only a generalization. There are exceptions (thankfully), but you get the idea.

D-R-A-M-A

I work in a deli. Certainly not my first pick of the crop, understandably. Still after two months I finally know what I'm doing there, so it's isn't as horribly torturous as it first promised to be. There is one problem though. The entire service deli crew/staff/whatever-you-call-them is made up of women. Yikes. You can see how this might pose a problem?

D-R-A-M-A
G-O-S-S-I-P
B-A-C-K B-I-T-I-N-G
M-I-S-U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G-S
And then some.

Some days, it just isn't pretty. I try and avoid the main conflict. Thus far I've succeeded. I don't care about gossip, I don't let things 'ruffle my feathers,' and I always doublecheck things to make sure I don't misunderstand. I just hope that lasts.

Today, the employee who has worked in the deli longer than anyone else (11 years!) threatened to quit because she and the assistant manager had a small spat over labels. I doubt it was just labels. It seems to go waaaay back--this was just an excuse to finally vent their frustrations on each other.

I thought I was through with drama when I graduated. It seems, however, some people never really leave high school behind them. Ah well. I don't really mind; if anything I find it humorous (in a sadistic sense, probably). I'll just take this situation, learn from it, and try to avoid one of my own conflicts in the future.

It's decided...

I like Mel better than Misa. Mostly. So it's back to that, for now.

"Can't she make up her mind?!"

No... 'Fraid not. ^^

Random Musings

"The whole world wants to be paid for its knowledge, but what if I said I would pay you for my knowledge? ... You're right. That would be crazy."

"I'd change my mind, but I've lost the other one."

"I'm a part-time thinker and the hours suck."

"I am an open book! You just can't read my language."

"I don't suffer from creative insomnia, I enjoy every minute of it!
—Wait.
...Okay, yeah. I suffer."

"I want you to know here and now: I am a huge liar. Nearly everything I say is a lie. (Though the fact I almost always lie could be a lie, and you'd never know. Especially since liars always lie, which means they lie about lying, but because it's a lie that doesn't really work, and you get all jumbled up trying to figure out exactly what I'm talking about and why. Not to mention why you are even attempting to understand the mind of a lying liar who doesn't not lie about lying or not.)" ==Jason "Key" Sterling

---
All quotes from above (minus the last) are sayings I've contrived in random moments of random thought. I'll add more later, me thinks...

A day in the life of Jason "Key" Sterling...

---
I was the type of high schooler who always fell asleep in class. My days wore away while I napped; at my desk, at the lunch table, on the bus (when I actually rode it) and under the old oak in my backyard (though not when it was snowing outside).

I desperately wanted those days back. The days when I could sleep.

The weariness I had collected over the last two weeks seemed to have caught up with me, since I did not wake up as the servant scrubbed me clean, toweled me dry, dressed me, and hauled me back to the good doctor's bed.

It wasn't until my hand flared with pain that my eyes snapped open and I gasped loudly. A few blinks of my eyes and the doctor came into focus, her mouth twisted in a sardonic smile.

“Sleep well?” she asked as she pulled more of the bandage (which had managed to stick very firmly to my wounds) away from my hand.

“Yeah, while it lasted,” I snapped even as I winced. “Where's Crenen?”

“There,” she said, pointing to a chair by the fire.

I squinted and just made out the sleeping form of my captor.


---
An excerpt from my novel PARADISE?
I was reading it, and thought I'd share.
Thanks for reading.

Minutes to Midnight

Purchased Linkin Park's newest album today. It was something of a disappointment, but a few of the songs were well worth the investment. Still, in most ways it doesn't shine so brightly as its predecessors. Ah well. Maybe it will grow on me.

Count to Ten

I have a temper. It's not explosive (very often) but it's dangerous anyway. Strange things annoy me; something someone says in passing might stick with me for days until I vent it somehow. It's not often that I get mad, but when I do it's VERY bad. I don't like when that happens. I fume for days, ranting to whoever might listen. The worst part is that usually what angers me is nothing important.

I'm getting better. I keep telling myself that it's not really important. Which is true. And it's finally starting to sink in. I've lost my temper less and less. Ya know, counting to ten really does help, if you let it. It's actually pride that causes a raging torrent of emotions to pour down on unexpecting victims.

I feel very foolish after I lose my temper. So why keep doing it? It's only embarrassing. Nothing gets better for it. So, someway, I will stop. Anger. Frustration. Those things are ugly, and I don't like feeling ugly.

Mel vs Misa

I've always shortened my name to Mel. A part of me liked it, but it just didn't seem quite right. The other day my mom mentioned Misa (Mee-sa). Its soft, fluid, cute sound appealed very strongly to the part inside of me that was less fond of Mel. So, I've switched from Mel to Misa, for now. We will have to see how long that lasts.

A Cycle

As I come near to finishing another novel, I feel bittersweet emotions raging inside of me. At times I feel an overpowering desire to finish! To finally complete what I have set out to accomplish. And other times I feel hesitant, because I don't want to say goodbye to these new friends of mine. Of course, finishing the novel isn't the end; I still must edit and rewrite, delete and add. But, the discovery of new people, the making of new worlds... Soon another adventure in another realm will have ended. It will be time for tearful farewells with these characters I have grown to love like children.

But with this coming end, starts a new beginning.