A Taste for Magic (draft) Chapter 1

   So, over the life of this blog I've shared many ideas of stories about alien life, adventuring heroines, and other ideas. While I do love all those stories, most of them have  become difficult to continue, at least for now. Some of them I've become burnt out on, others were difficult to write, or difficult to progress. I'm sure I'll come back to most of these shelved ideas, but now I'd like to share my current interest.
It's set in another Earth, where magic has always existed, but magic users are rare, and tend to cloister themselves away from the Common Man, which pleases both groups. Their are magical being like spirits and monsters, but they tend to live in areas where manna, a term for magical energy, is abundant. Wizards also tend to locate themselves on rich veins of energy, because spells cannot be cast without manna. If two wizards are battling, each spell they cast drains their surroundings and themselves of manna, until one of them faints of exhaustion. In this world, casting magic is a highly structured process, and spells can only be cast with the correct words, hand movements, and physical ingredients. Schools for teaching the art of magic are also highly structured, and strict. The school does not care what spells a young wizard wants to learn, or what kind of wizard they want to be. The school is training you to be a wizard as they define it, and know certified spells they approve of. So having a uncommon magical talent is not something treasured, but shunned because it gets in the way of standardized spell-casting.
   But enough of my summaries, here is the first chapter!


      Levi panted as he stoked the flames burning inside the stove's huge iron belly. The massive stove was meant to provide heat to the entire kitchen, but today it was only Levi using his Uncle's canteen. The other cooks and staff had been given the day off, and the restaurant closed so Levi could complete his test in private and without distraction.
   It wasn't a cold winter, and it never was this south of the New Continent's western coast, but the large copper pot still needed the extra heat. Levi stared at the pot with a look of intense concentration, as if a burning gaze could make the water boil faster. The noodles would need be added soon, he thought, and then mixed with the perche' sauce...
   The sauce! Levi yelped and rushed to another pot on an opposite counter-top.  The thick red sauce was frothing pink foam, and popping with heat. Levi slammed a lid on top of the bubbling perche', but not before being splattered with sauce, freckling his white jacket with bright red spots. Levi turned off the stove's heat, and moved the pan onto a cooler surface. Levi let the mixture calm a bit before he produced a long wooden spoon that was intricately engraved with kelp and small sea creatures, and sampled the cooled sauce. "It needed more pepper," he murmured to himself
   Levi searched for the pepper shaker hidden somewhere in the kitchen, but his personal pepper-shaker of carved redwood and stylized with designs of strange forest spirits was not in it's usual spot next to a rather plain, and obviously unused glass salt shaker. As Levi patrolled the cream-colored marble counter-tops for the pepper-shaker, he became alerted to the the soft coughing sound of the boiling pot of water. The water was ready for the noodles. Levi had spent weeks gathering the ingredients for this meal, and had spent another two days preparing and cooking the meal. Although most of the ingredients could have been bought in any shop, Levi appreciated the value of fresh-ingredients enough to venture out or grow them for himself. He milked the cow himself (which was given a special diet for higher quality milk), picked the carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes from his personal garden, and had made the noodles from scratch, from starting by collecting the wheat, and finally rolling the noodles into fat, flat strings. But collecting the necessary parts of his meal were not all as easy as going into a garden; Levi also had to travel to find some of the rarer ingredients, such as the orange frogstool. The orange frogstool was a mushroom only found in deeper parts of the forest, so it wasn't a very common part of any meal, even among Uncle's master-cook friends. The forests are rife with danger, but Levi had wanted the mushrooms enough to risk the wrath of whatever beast or spirit that might try to stop him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
   The young chef had traveled into the forest with another apprentice, Stanick, a boy with a farmers frame and sensibilities who was just getting started, and Porluck Patterns, a retired soldier and assistant-cook that worked for Uncle Kor. They knew monsters and strange beings haunted the forest, and were surprised, and slightly amused to find what protected the grove where the orange frogstools grew. In the center of the grove, a huge mushroom grew from the thick compost of the forest floor, and atop the ancient fungus there lay a brown toad-like chimera. It was frog shaped, but two vestigial wings of dirty amber feathers hung from the beast's back, and a sharp beak poked out from the monster's cleft lip. As the group of nervous travelers dismounted their horses, the frog monster opened it's massive, crusty eyes and sat up. It gave a warning that was part croak, part hawk screech, and made a slapping noise from a stubby beaver tail that protruded awkwardly from it's warted bottom.
   Porluck gave a grunt of disgust, and pulled a long, single edged sword from his saddle.
   "Get the mushrooms, boys! I'll deal with this abomination." Porluck said, as if he was a knight about to face a dragon.
Stanick ran to a patch of fresh frogstools. "It's just an animal protecting it's home!"
    Porluck only grunted, and reached for a large buckler, which may have been painted once, but now the design was long faded. The chimera hopped down from it's pulpy perch, and stretched before advancing towards Porluck.
    Levi and Stanick began to focus their attention on the mushrooms, carefully scrutinizing each one for optimal size, shape and color. The sound of combat echoed through the forest as the two boys studied the mushrooms they picked. On the ride to the forest, Levi described the optimal color, shape, and size of the mushrooms, but every so often Levi would pick a mushroom out of Stanick's pile, and replant it if it didn't meet Levi' standards. This  was met with an acidic look from Stanick. When they had enough mushrooms, they put them into soft pouches, which were placed in containers to prevent the frogstools from getting bruised or squished. The two boys mounted their horses and waited for the battle to finish.
   Porluck was getting a good fight from the frog monster, and deep talon scratches left a permanent memory on the shield's worn wood. But the chimera leapt and slapped Porluck's hand with it's flat, leathery tail. Levi and Stanick looked in horror as Porluck slowly retreated towards his horse. Stanick's horror was the idea of losing their chaperon, but Levi's was from seeing the small pistol Porluck was pulling out from behind his back, which had been tucked snugly into his pants. Guns fired lead bullets, which were bane to any magical creature. If Porluck shot the chimera, it would die a painful death, and probably bring unwanted attention to the travelers. Levi hopped down from his piebald mare, and threw one of the canisters of mushrooms at Porluck's hand as he was about to fire. The shot missed, and the sound and smell of the gun firing caused the monster to give out another croakish screech. The creature backed up, but was now giving Porluck a hateful look.
   "Levanarch, You idiot!" Porluck shouted, calling Levi by his full name. Stannick smirked, but Levi was busy pointing at the trees above.
   "Look." Levi replied, and Porluck saw that the canopy was teeming with strange creatures and spirits. Most wore aggressive looks on their faces, itching to attack the intrusive humans should their guardian die.
   Porluck began to stutter, but Levi was busy with his arm buried in the thick soil. Stanick and Porluck gave Levi a confused look that Levi received often.
   "Aha!" Levi said as he pulled his earth-stained arm out of the ground. In his hand he clutched a wriggling nightcrawler that could have been a snake. Levi approached the chimera, whose attention was now focused on the worm that was coiling and uncoiling itself around Levi's arm.
   "I'll give you this worm, King Frog, and then we'll leave. No harm done, we'll just leave." Levi said. The creatures of the forest want respect, his Uncle had told Levi. The beasts and spirits are powerful and strange, Levi had been told, and even the simplest ones can be bargained with.
   The giant frog looked past Levi, at Porluck, who was trying to reload his weapon before Levi got himself killed, and then looked at Levi with the curious gaze only a bird could give. But then the chimera opened it's maw, and a tongue lashed out, snatching the slimy worm out of Levi's outstretched hand. The creature turned, and landed on his mushroom throne in a single leap as it's tiny wing flapping uselessly in the air.
   "You can stop, it would be better if we just left." Levi said to Porluck, and Levi went to retrieve the canister he had thrown. Porluck stopped loading his gun, and placed it inside his saddle-bag.
    Stanick and Porluck shared another look, and then followed Levi out of the chimera's grove.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
   It was almost sunset, and Levi thought deeply about his future. He would continue to work for Uncle, and when he was talented enough, he would open his own place. This had been his future for as long as he has been an apprentice. But Levi still worried; Was being a cook what he really wanted to do? Levi had spent so much time training as a cook, what else could he be? He had been his Uncle's apprentice since he was five (the year his triplet sisters were born) and now that he was 15, he didn't have the education or money to do anything else. At least he could travel for ingredients when he finished his apprenticeship. If he finishes.
   If this meal impressed his Uncle Kor enough, Levi's apprenticeship would end, and Levi would begin his way on becoming a master chef. Levi had spent years developing the recipe for the perche' sauce and noodles, and if it failed to impress his Uncle, he would have to develop another recipe from scratch.
    Levi lifted the pot of water and noodles and poured in into a large silver strainer in the sink. The noodles steamed in the cold air, and Levi gave them a splash of oil so they wouldn't dry out. Levi poured the noodle into a pan, and then dashed the noodles with a mix of shredded herbs. He produced a pair of large, red lacquered chopsticks from his cook's jacket, and lifted a portion of noodles onto an ornate plate decorated with blue clouds in a white sky.
   A thick cotton cord hung nearby from the ceiling, and Levi pulled it. Somewhere, a bronze bell rang, which signaled the completion of the meal. Levi quickly ladled a splash of perche' sauce onto the still steaming noodles.  Sadif, Uncle's personal assistant and waiter, came into the galley while Levi stood next the the meal. Sadif wore clothing traditional of the nomads of his home country: blue, baggy pants and a loose shirt that Levi always thought looked like pajamas.
   Sadif gave Levi a looked that conveyed, "Is it done?" Sadif rarely spoke, and it had taken Levi months to figure out what Sadif's looks meant.
   "Yes, the meal is complete, and ready to be served." Levi handed Sadif the plate, and the waiter turned and walked to the door. When Sadif  disappeared behind the hanging curtains that lead to an outside dining area, Levi let out a sigh and slid his hands into the front pockets of his coat. His hand felt a carved, intricate wooden shape. It was his personal pepper-shaker.
   The pepper!
   The perche' still needed pepper!
   Levi ran outside, to find his Uncle sitting at the iron table. The meal lay in front of Kor as he slowly mixed his tea. The young apprentice walked briskly to the table, and sat across from his Uncle.
Levi put the stout pepper shaker down in front of his uncle.
  "It's always good to add the pepper last." his Uncle said, and gave the perche' a dash of pepper.
   He took a taste of the red pasta and waited before he began to chew. Levi looked at the sun, which was finally beginning to set. One time, Levi had been told it was rude to watch people eat, but he no longer remembered who said it, or when. After a short time, Kor was finished with the preche' and noodles.
   The wind tossed the uncle's and nephew's unruly hair, and stung their eyes as they stared at the setting sun.
   If felt like forever to Levi. He was so unsure of what to expect. Levi knew it was the best meal he had ever made, but his uncle had a reputation for be unpredictable. But finally, Kor gave his nephew a quick look and smiled.
   "You pass."
   Levi slid down his chair and sighed.
   "Levenarch, you should not be so stressed, do you know why you passed?"
   "..." Levi wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to say that he found and grew the best ingredients, he prepared them correctly, and made a dish he was sure would impress his uncle. But...that's not why he had passed his uncle's test. "I don't know, Uncle. Please tell me."
   "You passed my test because you knew you would pass with this meal. The test was to show me your confidence in your culinary skills, and prove to me you have a talent no one else could notice. But that's not to say you would have passed with any meal. Your abilities are quite beyond you."
   He took a sip of his tea.
   "When I took you as my apprentice, it wasn't only because you're parents needed the help, but it was also because I had a suspicion. "
   "Uncle Kor, What do you mean? I thought you took me as an apprentice to ease my parent's burden; there was no way they could support the triplets and myself as artisans. What other reason could you have for taking me as your apprentice?" Levi asked with a worried look on his face.
   "Well, when you were very young, I gave you a culinary test that you passed. And even though passing the test isn't proof enough; the only way to be sure you have to go through years of training."
   "..." Levi was waiting for his Uncle to finish. Kor was prone tale-telling and speeches, and Levi had always had an uncommon patience for his youth.
"Only after thorough training, could it be determined if I was right. Only now, after completing your final dish as an apprentice, am I sure that you have the Taste."
   "..." Levi gave his uncle a  distressed look he had learned from Sadif.
   "It means you have a magical gift, Levenarch, it means you're a wizard."

also, here is some art
this one I drew at the request of Kayla Noyce, but I got carried away.

This one is sort of a sequel to Twin

And this one was a doodle on the side of my physics notes, which I decided to draw fully.
it likes to crush skulls in it's hands.

Oriana

I finally wrote this story out! I intended it to be slightly longer, with bit more history added to flavor the world, but this is what I ended up with. Please enjoy! And leave a comment, yeah?

   "While the after-church party was as festive and forced as every mandated after-church party, something made today even more uncomfortable than all the other after-church parties they've been attending everyday for the past 15 years. Something in the back of their minds had subtly upset the group, and while this was a celebration, it was celebrating nothing. Most of their adult lives were spent in the massive, mechanical cathedrals, and the lunch parties that followed the hours-long service. Most of the adults were drinking too much, excusing themselves because it was Oriana's first time singing in the Church choir.
   As the crowd of adults mingled against their will, a girl in a blue dress and black shoes stood outside the wall of people, and smelled the rose she had found at the edge of the patio. In the grass past the patio she had found the rose nestled in a crib of broken glass, alongside a few more heavily damaged flowers. Someone must have dropped a vase, she thought. She was careful to avoid the glass when retrieving the discarded rose: an unnecessary precaution. 

   At the sound of familiar buzzing, she looked up, and through the thin, striped tarp she could see two Surveyors flying overhead, their frames a suggestion of aircraft and insect. Sleek, jet-like frames flanked by rapidly vibrating wings, Surveyors are robots that patrol the massive suburbs surrounding the Machine Cities.
   One of the drones notice the girl, and it slowed down to observe her. The mild AI of the drone didn't have enough curiosity or interest to continue observing the girl, and continued surveillance behind it's partner. Leave the important thinking to the Machine.
   Oriana was used to the attention. Robots are always staring at her, often emitting audible puzzled sounding clicks. Even her parents and relatives and family friends will sometimes stare at the girl with strange looks on their faces.
   A few of her parents friends were discussing today's sermon given by Pastor Anthony Mk-1201 regarding the compassion of the Machine for Man. pastor Anthony Mk-1201 was a popular robot in the community, who was often invited to parties and dinners of families who attend his daily service.
   "I really liked how the Pastor emphasized the importance of the Treaty of New York in 2821. Sometimes the religious types don't focus on important dates," said Tom, who liked to read history.
   "But it's not when or what happened in the past that's important," began Allen, who liked to paint, "It's how it affects us now, we- Hank, what are you looking at?"
   Hank, who liked to drink, had a flushed faced that held a bitter grin as he said, "Do you think it can even smell that rose?"
   Tom and Allen stared at Hank, shocked and scared of his behavior. It was dangerous talk.
   "It looks like a girl, sure,  talks like a girl, too. But is it anything more than a doll? A mechanical puppet!" Hanks eyes were bloodshot and wet-looking.
   "Hey! That's a terrible thing to say! Of course Oriana isn't a robot, she's flesh and blood!" yelled Allen.
The crowd had grown silent, and everyone was listening. The girl's parents were absent fetching jackets as the day had begun to turn cold. The girl was lost in her own thoughts, ignorant of the crowd staring at her and the drunk man.
   "She's still synthetic! She was made by the Machine! She's as soulless as a toaster!" slurred Hank, as he gestured towards the City.
   Tom, despite being a quiet and caring person, felt like hitting Hank until he bled. Unfortunately, violence was outlawed under penalty of death.
   "Well you better get used to it! Because we all knew that after Bert and Silvia were given Oriana, we'd be soon to follow! Soon there will be Synths everywhere!" Tom said, but even though he mentioned this as a positive outcome, everyone around knew that the gifts of synthetic, artificially created children was the reason they felt so uncomfortable. 

   Everyone at the party knew that The Machine was providing children to families instead of having the parents give birth to natural children, they all knew that The Machine, who had defeated the human race thirty years ago and forced man to be waited on by robots, and live stress-free and creative lives was making man adopt hybrid children to raise as their own.
A horrifying idea to some.
But no one could deny that on Oriana's first day of choir, she certainly looked beautiful."

Twin

A Silent-Hill type monster, but the setting is more radioactive. Like a town still suffering from nuclear fallout, along with the whole "pocket-dimension created by a little girl who is a powerful psychic" thing. So Twin would be one of the monstrous residents of the town, and likely a boss monster. Twin would be the guardian of a important part of the hospital, probably the pediatrics, which leads to where the protagonist wants to go. It would be the boss of the area Twin is a monstrous pair of conjoined twins, which attacks intruders with it's massive stumps. The Stumps were originally covered in random digits and tumors, so it chewed the deformed fingers and growths off so it could move more properly. Twin tends to walk using its forearms and rear legs, letting its forelegs dangle. It can also rear back on its all of its legs to make slam attacks with its arms. But Twin is very top heavy, and can be easily unbalanced when rearing on its back legs. AKA that's his weak spot. 
In other news, I had my first student chef shift today, which was veggie prep, which consists of cutting and washing veggies, putting them in bags and putting them in a fridge. It's pretty chill, but the shift starts at 8. Ah. After the shift was over, I was sitting in my dorm room, about to watch a movie or something. Then I got a knock on my door, I opened it up and there is a blond girl. She asked me if I wanted to play ultimate frisbee. At first I was like "uuuuuuuhhhh....Where is it?" she told me where it was. After a quick calculation of pros and cons, I said yeah. I told her to let me get dressed first, and then went downstairs when I finished. I see a circle of people and join them, with some quick introduction. The blond girl and a black guy are the team leaders, and they pick teams. I'm on the blond girls team, along with some other people. Of course the black guy picked the two black girls, but fortunately, they were not that great. But soon into the game, we were down 0-3. Fortunately, we began to develop our groove, and quickly we caught up, and eventually won 10-8. We were the total underdogs too. So then I take a shower and do laundry and get dinner. Now i'm watching MST3K, which is an awesome show.

I'm With Crow

Work was okay today, but with a lame end.

I saw a new friend at work today. She's nice.

Before work I managed to crank this out,

I may do a Tom Servo one, I was thinking Jon Stewart, perhaps the America (The Book) cover, with the eagle.

Still not sure.

New Direction

I've decided that the only way for me to regularly update my blog was to make it a less personal; I don' really want to share everything with everyone, so I'm turning this blog into an 

ART BLOG.

Yes, Instead of infrequent updates that attempt to catch the reader up to date of my day-to-day life. I will post drawings more frequently, with little else sides a short summary or idea behind the drawing.

So I'll share some of my drawings with you. All are done in Photoshop Elements, using an intuos 3 tablet.

If you want to know what I've been up to, I went back to college at UCSB, and now I'm at a dorm again, it's ok.

Just a silly idea.

A monster I drew soon before I left for UCSB

It says "You Could say I'm like Aquaman, except I kill people that make fun of me."
He's called The Nautilus 

It's  Danbo, you should look it up.

I always enjoy comments

Spring Break Update

ARRRGH.
I was typing a blog and firefox crashed.
so I'll summarize the unimportant stuff
I did ok in classes, but I procrastinated too much with reading sci-fi and watching internet television. Also, partying. But I've learned to moderate. Also, work sucks, but the money helps a lot. So I applied for a student chef position to make a little bit more money. It's easier to make friends now, too. Next year I'm moving to another dorm(Manzanita Village) that is closer to school, but has less amenities than FT.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
what I would like to talk about now is my new personal art-project, named Gyre, which is a uncommon word for a spinning or rotating mass, mostly associated with storms or hurricanes. Named after seeing the massive storm encompassing the Eastern Hemisphere as colonists neared the planet.
   The project includes: the history of an alien planet colonized by humans; the lives of the people who live there now; the strange flora and fauna of the planet; and the interactions between man and the lifeforms of the Planet.

   I know it is strange to say you don't know everything about your creation, but it's true in my case. I want to make my world unique without be ridiculous. I want to emulate various artists in my efforts without resorting to mimicry. The challenge is to identify the successes of the evolution of terrestrial organisms, and to theorize how organisms would develop without those advantages, or if such thing seems impossible, how such adaptations would (or could) evolve differently.
While I do not know a lot about my planet, I can share some of my more interesting ideas right now:
-animals that give birth to stunted, midget clones that serve as bodyguards, lookouts, fodder, and nannies. The clones would be born asexually from both the "male" and "female" (the truth being that their would be no gender between the two, but would compete with each other for the right to be the male) and would be sterile and loyal to their parent. The clones would serve as a herd for the parent.
-dimorphism between the young and adult members of a species which includes predatory young that occasionally feed on the adults of their species.
-males that mate by injecting/shooting females with sharp, projectile sperm-packets. inspired by male squids
-females that grow an extra layer of skin to house their young. Inspired by the Pipa Pipa
-A large brackish sea that has a sub-surface mud-lake with strange (well, stranger) burrowing/aquatic organisms. Think of it as a super-estuary.
-organisms rely on echolocation and smell more than sight. I'm currently at a crossroad: have no eyesight at all, or have it be a reduced and less important organ? I had an idea of lamprey-headed dimorphodon, which would fly in packs, ambush large animals, and bite chunks out of the animal before leaving the crippled animal. I think this would lead to an adaptation of light-(or in this case, shadow) sensitive skin or symbiotic plant (which would be justified by already being present) in order to detect the flying terrors before it is too late.
-colonial jellyfish that collect sand and nutrients of symbiotic plants that ride on top of them, creating actual floating islands. Some would be massive, supporting whole ecosystems on their backs. I am unsure what would happen in case of a storm, so I am doubting the presence of animals that are not adapted to swim or fly away in case of danger.
-the planet itself is not comfortable or suitable for normal humans, the gravity is a little off (unsure if more or less, just different) the atmosphere is more rich in oxygen and carbon dioxide, the air more humid, and the temperature higher. Humanity is sufficiently enough to artificially adapt humanity to this alien world. But the chemistry of the life is different enough so that it is impossible to live permanently off of native Gyre life, so humans have brought farm-animals and food-plants to provide a healthy diet.
-humans look pretty much the same, and can still breed with a normal human if one would be present. Some of the internal organs have been strengthened, especially the heart and lungs. Depending on my final decision on gravity, humans may be taller or stockier than Terran humans.
- also, I think I'll include some theropods (bipeds like t-rex and stuff) because their cool. But if gravity is higher, then it would be more unsafe to be bipedal (you fall harder). But whatever.
- most land organisms have six limbs (hexapods) or are tetrapods with adapted limbs. example of adapted limbs: a predator have adapted fore-limbs to serve as an additional jaw structure or fangs. another: adapted hind-limbs to serve as rear defense or a signaling device.
-(this one is not as fully thought out) animals that squirt an irritating substance out of gaping nostrils, and small birds that drink out of their noses like hummingbirds.
-carnivorous plants, including fanged mats of algae and bird-crushing trees.
-an apparent alien life-form that monitors the planet, and has taken an interest to humans: it would look like a gray, well-muscled ungulate that has a flat head full of different shaped eyes and other organs. There would be no obvious feeding organ. It is ludicrously fast and impossible to catch. If cornered, it has a weapon. . .
-lots of worms and worm-like animals. Also inclusion of a lot of symbiotic worms, which may include horn worms that serve as the teeth and intestines for some organisms.
-animals that have evolved to be like plants; that is, immobile and stunted "animal" using a light-absorbing organ. Nearly all of it internal organs, including brain, would be utterly reduced or absent.
now, for some pictures

 I haven't sketched all my ideas yet, but I'll share them as they develop.
Please, please, tell me what you think about my project and my ideas. I really need input for this challenge.
   I'll try to update more frequently, but I said that last time, too.

Better

   Yes! new blog post in several months! I'm so sorry that I didn't update sooner, but time flies am I right? I did very well first quarter, 3.64 GPA. and I didn't really study that much or do good drafts for the papers. That isn't working this quarter. I'm probably not doing so well right now, grade-wise. but I can catch up by finals if I do all the reading.
   Work is tiring. Minimum wage and 15 hours a week isn't that bad for this quarter, but man. it wears a guy out. For now I'm going to work not so much, because I have a 15 unit minimum for this and next quarter, but next year, I'm gonna take less classes and probably work more. Because I need money.
   I'm worried that I won't have a place to live next year. I haven't looked or applied to anything, so I'm basically relying on the kindness of a friend who finds a place, which is shitty of me, but whatever. If I don't have enough money, family will back me up, but I'd rather do it myself. UGH I'm in such a shitty place right now. Classes are kinda crazy, but also I have to do financial aid too. And Spring break is a crappy two weeks! UC's should have 3 weeks in between every quarter. Whatever.
   Anyway. I love the iPod I got for Xmas, I listen to it all the time. I like some more obscure stuff (not so much heavier music) but with only 800-ish songs, my music list is kinda light.
Besides reading and internet, I have a far more nerdier mode of procrastination: writing and drawing maps for a Dungeons & Dragons campaigns for friends and family back home to play. It's fun. It is like writing lite. I get to be creative without having to worry about audience.I get to combine my love of world- and creature-building into a entertaining game.
   So I want to update more often, book reviews, etc. I love you all.
especially you. you know who you are.