Cylon's Novel in Progress

Preface:

So at the beginning of January 2012 when I was still a super volunteer for a bunch of political organizations as a result of unemployment, I began to write down a list of characters and ideas floating around my head. What came of the characters and ideas was the idea of a feminist sci-fi novel where women were no longer needed to create life. As a result, they are expendable figures used as soldiers in a losing battle with the aliens from space. 

The story is still very rough at the point and I am still developing the characters. Hopefully in the month I have off, I will have time to better flesh out my characters. What I am giving you today is something I wrote in the time between my two campaigns. It is super rough. What you need to know to understand the piece is that Anonta is the main character who is drafted into the army. Setting is the battlefield and being chastised after the battle. Sorry if this is rough, but I wanted to contribute something creative and feedback on how to expand. 

Story:

The ground smelled of sulfur, lead and cotton. John Flannery, an Irishman, began his cotton plantation in 1840 even though an Irish man in the South was an already unwelcome site. He had six slaves in the field, two in the house, one his bed and four in the ground.  The farm did not disintegrate till 1890, when he was too feeble to keep the sharecroppers at bay. He was the last body put into the ground.

            Anonta awoke facing John Flannery’s skull, wondering how long ago the bomb had surfaced his body. Worst of all, how long had she been knocked out? Her helmet had disappeared.

            “Why did you give up Ma’am?” Officer

            “Knocked out by the bomb and woke up by a skull.” Anonta

            Officer slapped her. He stood. Shook her.

            “Don’t you understand that we are in a WAR? Some may say you are expendable, but we will make you an efficient weapon of war. Slacker.”

            Anonta snapped her nose back into place. Blood flowed down her mud-covered chest, but all she could think was the skull of John Flannery. Why did they play war games in a cemetery?

           

            Her dorm mate played Wagner.

POW Senior Editor Cerasi Helps Men Out With Their Nerdy Online Dating Profiles

We've never set up a hierarchy, but I'm pretty sure I'm the Senior Editor, Allya is the Word Master General, Ada is the Sexy Commander of Sentences and Hyperlinks, and Cylon is the Ultra Super Mega Editor in Charge of Special (And Non Special) Projects. Fight it out amongst yourselves.

Anyway, I spent some time today on a very special website called Geek 2 Geek that hooks up lonely nerds with other lonely nerds because, well, I'm a lonely nerd. Did you know that even if you don't have an account on Geek 2 Geek you can look at the profiles of men in your area and age range just by entering your zipcode? LIKE A TOTAL CREEPER! Well, you do now.

Whether or not I use this service to do anything other than creep remains to be seen (thinking about it), but I certainly saw enough profiles to know that nerdy men aren't always good at painting themselves in a positive light.

Fear not, gentle nerds. A POW-certified editor is here to help find and fix the problems with your online profile for the betterment of all nerd kind. I present to you, the Do's and Don'ts of Nerdy Online Dating.

Do's

1. Pick a Nice Photo- I cannot stress this enough. I know that I have an unfair advantage in this area since my mother, who is fantastic photographer, has been surreptitiously taking photos of me and my siblings my entire life like some kind of family paparazzi. Still, try to get a nice, not blurry shot of your face. I know that some of you only have a webcam to work with, but is your webcam set on "Getting Executed"? Please, smile. It will make a world of difference. Also, please don't throw up gang signs or strike ironic poses. It makes you look like a tool.
Pro Tip: I'm more likely to click on a nice photo of someone who's goofy looking but smiling than someone who's attractive but cocking one eyebrow . . . or just has a photo of their abs. Period. No face involved. I'm serious. That happened.
2. Have a Photo At All- Seriously, man. I know it's hard to put yourself out there, but when I see no photo I start considering the possibility that you're a serial killer.
3. Fill Out Everything You Can- This doesn't mean I want you to attach a copy of your unpublished manuscript (I know you have one, don't pretend), but some of you didn't even fill about the description box at the bottom. It's nice to know you're super into Team Fortress 2 and Halo, but I don't know what you're like unless you say something about yourself. Anything. At all.
4. Have a Name That Makes You Sounds Not Stupid/Slightly Mature- Okay, this one I have a little more sympathy for because I have no idea what I would name myself. Cute Gamer Girl? Sexy, Sexy Girl Who Plays Video Games? If You're Nice We Might Do It? It's hard, I get it, but please try to be as sincere and non-sarcastic as possible. We're all trying to feel each other out here. Help a girl out.
5. Pay Attention to Grammar- Please. For the love of god. Use periods, commas, and capitalization all at the same time. They're brothers. They were made to be together.

Don'ts

1. Say That You're a Nice Guy- Actually, if you have the urge you should just go ahead and do that because you're someone I'd like to stay away from. People that call themselves "nice guys" are NOT nice guys. If you need to say it, I'm not buying it. I'm sorry that you got your heart crapped on by some girl, but the fact that you open with how nice you are and how everyone mistreats you makes me feel like you're on the offensive already. Which brings us to our next point. Don't-
2. Attack the Person Reading Your Profile- Stop telling me to be "fucking real." I'm real enough. You're trying to attract people, not make them feel like they got cornered by a friend of a friend at a bar. How does that old saying go? "You attract more flies with honey than by telling them they suck." That's it. I'm pretty sure.
Pro Tip 1: One person committed a double whammy by saying he was a nice guy and that I should be nice in return and not "like [his] ex-girl friend." Whoa there buddy. I'm not the one who broke up with you at your five-year-old cousin's birthday in the middle of an Arby's. Why don't you give me the benefit of the doubt?
Pro Tip 2: People that don't have a nice picture should be extra careful to follow this rule. One guy (who wasn't super cute, but was acceptable looking enough) had an unflattering picture of himself not smiling . . . and then said he didn't want stupid, shallow girls who only cared about looks. Erg. Unappealing barely begins to cover it.
3. Have Another Person in Your Profile Pic- Someone posted a picture of two guys hugging. Which one is you? Also, if there's a girl in your picture, who's that bitch and why is she zoning in on my man! (Sorry, that was a case of my issues coming out and had nothing to do with you. Proceed.)

That concludes Cerasi's tips for making a presentable online profile. Above all, you gotta be you, man. I mean, you with a nice picture and spell-checked prose, but you none the less.

This might seem like I'm being cruel to the poor souls of online dating (that I could very well be joining soon), but I'm really trying to help. A few of them seemed like really nice, nerdy guys who were just being honest and putting themselves out there hoping to find a little love. Nothing is more attractive than that.

Nice, nerdy guys. In my area. That I could meet if I e-mail them. Hmmm. I might have to do a little more than creep. We shall see.

May 8th

Whenever I think of this month I think of three things:

1.     Skipping my birthday

2.     Moving away from home after a year to work on another campaign

3.     May 8^th

Cerasi, who is delectable, came to spend the day with me at my office. We got a gift certificate from my coworker to a nearby restaurant, so we went there for dinner. During the dinner we inhaled a piece of chocolate cake, but also we chatted about life. Cerasi brought up the great point that I was not over May 8^th and how hard I worked to not see things go my way.

It’s weird to think that nearly 3 days ago a bunch of bigots decided to put hate into the constitution for they are afraid. Afraid of people like me who want the 1188 benefits that federal marriage brings. Instead I was told in my home state that I do not belong there anymore.

That all my hard work was in vain.

Yes,

I united the activist community of my hometown.

Yes,

My office became a central location for regional political activities.

Yes,

I saw the potential in my hometown to embrace me like I never thought it could.

Does that resolve the crushing sense that I am unwelcome in my home state?

No.

61% of people in my state do not believe I should have 1188 rights at any time.

100% of my opposition voted to put discrimination into the constitution and held a fake wedding ceremony to mock me. They also said that people can live the way they want to, just not have equal right.

13% of my state says that my livelihood should be a felony.

Currently, I am not even considering moving back to my home state.

Would I move to a state with a similar amendment?

Absolutely.

But why not my home state?

Is it because we once had a segregationist, homophobic, anti-woman Senator who has left his stain and protégées in our congress? Is it because of hurricanes? Is it because of 11% unemployment? Is it because enough is enough and I just want to be somewhere where I feel accepted and have pride?

Or, is it because I had faith that things can change?

I just realized that most of this piece so far has been a series of questions. I honestly do not know the answers.

Some days I still cry about it. Concurrent thoughts of use, value, societal burden all converge together into this mass of futility. Going to another state was my only therapy after May 8^th.

From May 8^th until May 13^th I packed up, giving myself no time to dwell.

The 9^th I cried, of course, between bags of goodwill donations.

The 10^th was the interview and confirmation of my new employment.

The 11^th became Avengers and trash bags overflowing the dumpster.

The 12^th involved skyping D while packing the car.

The 13^th was my last day living with my parents a year after graduation.

BUT…

May 8^th

14 hours of phones, canvassing, training, food ordering, holding back the tears, frequently calling parents, friends and family and waiting.

That morning I woke up with a bubble in my stomach. Not the kind that hurt or make you feel sick. The kind you get when something bad is happening. Usually this bubble sprouts during mortem moments. We could do nothing more than bring our people to the polls.

Polls closed at 7:30PM.

We had the results by 9PM.

Nearby there was a party planned for my office and one of our congressional allies who helped us with volunteering.

Home by 10 PM shocked by my lack of control.

May 9^th

My mother lost a few of her close friends because of the way they voted.

We celebrated my birthday by my family getting into a huge argument.

I told my parents that I was leaving the house Monday whether I had a job or not.

May 13^th

I slept with my dog for the last time, knowing that I would never live in that house again.

BUT…

There was one May 8^th I liked.

There was a boy in school who had a May 8^th birthday. His birthday was the day after mine so my birthday that year was on a Friday while his was on a Saturday. That Saturday I went to his birthday at a miniature golf course. It was kind of weird golf course next to a major road near the mall. The water was bleach blue and the green dinosaur on the course had paint chipping off. Mini golf was fun but nothing to rave about.

Of course the best part of any kids birthday party at a childrens’ attraction is the icing-laden cake and skim milk. This was nearly twenty years ago and now they serve pink lemonade or soda with the cake. I know because I went there last year as a gag birthday and did not like it at all.

As we were playing video games, hyped up on the icing and energy I needed to burn, I found out I did not like playing the games everyone else liked. Everyone was playing in the ball pit or whack a mole. My only desire was to not mess up my dress so instead I played the bowling game that I was great at cheating at and the Grease pinball machine. ABT liked the same games I did.

ABT was a kid in my class, who also did not want to mess up her party dress and was also told by her mother that the ball pit was disgusting. (Thank you hypochondriac mother) I did not know it at the time, but I had something of a crush on her. I did not know what this was because even though I was in the single digits, it was already hammered into my head that a crush was between a boy and a girl. Since no boys interested me, in this framework I had no crushes.

Everything ABT did was fun to me. She was the one who taught my how to cheat at the bowling game. We walked around holding hands, which the mothers thought were cute, except ABT’s mom who took her away from the party immediately after our third consideration of entering the ball pit. ABT kissed me on the cheek a year later, which caused ABT to switch classes.

Maybe I should keep one May 8^th memory more than another.

Maybe I should remember holding hands and cheating at bowling.

Maybe I should remember that I united a community that even my campaign did not think was salvageable.

Maybe now is a good time to let it all out and forget May 8^th altogether.

That’s impossible.

May 8^th will always be on the calendar.

It will always be the day after my birthday.

It will always be the day I held ABT’s hand for the first time.

It will always be the day that I learned sometimes hard work is not rewarded.

But May 8^th

Also taught me what kind of person I was under pressure.

It taught me that I am the kind of person who can unite a community

It taught me that I am the kind of person that exceeds expectations.

May 8^th is who I am.

May 8^th changed my life.

Now I know who I am.

I am worth something.

Nobody can take that away.

Pic(k)s

A witticism of the week:

I rock up to Walmart after working out.  

And I'm embarrassed about how much of a hot mess I look like.  

Then I realize I'm at Walmart. 

For a classier mood:

People are the pixels.

For more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/t0ph3r/portraits-using-people-as-pixels-5bwv

I wanna know where the canvas is.  What the hell are they standing on?  How did he get that lighting?

It's a Slytherin Pokeball.  Wut!  

http://my.deviantart.com/messages/#/d503qqd

I am in love with this artist: 

http://alicexz.deviantart.com/

The roar of our stars

(included for Ada)

The Mermaid

(especially for Cylon)

The Lights

(for Cerasi's pretty face)

I will have an actual post soon reviewing two books, but Cylon requested more pictures.  These are some of the best I've seen all week.

Bye bye

I'm leaving home tomorrow and I do not know when I will come back or if I will.

A year ago, gasp, we graduated and separated. We went back home, some much longer than others, and tried to discover ourselves. My time of discovery was delayed because I had an internship. Crushing unemployment, the thought that I am in college and living with my parents hit me in August instead of May.

Tomorrow I am leaving for another job and everything can fit into the trunk. Last May when I moved back my car was overflowing with 'stuff,' media and books that were fun albeit mostly impractical. Now everything can fit in my truck.

For four months I worked 80 hours a week with about 4-5 days off in total during that time. I still did work during that off time, worked below minimum wage and lost an election. The world watched the election we lost and I changed history in my little field office, teaching people on scripts for the campaign. A year ago I never thought that I would be in politics, let alone training people. I wanted to be involved in media, move to Austin, smoke up and live on little money.

In August 2011, I wanted to move away with no money and no plan.
In May 2012, I am moving away with plenty of money, a job waiting and a plan.

My goal for the year: find work, feel fulfilled, build on my strengths and stop being so nervous. Go after everything, never turn down an opportunity.

Q: What did I learn on the job?
A: I am really good at building relationships and organization.

Yes I live in a pig sty but my organizational method at work was admired. I know where to put things in places that makes sense. I know what people need when they are volunteering from me from a glass of water to learning their life story.

Tomorrow I am driving to Cincinatti. Tuesday I am arriving in Wisconsin. Goodbye home state, goodbye backwards ideals, goodbye the two dogs who slept with me every morning.

Cerasi, see you there.

Allya and Ada, we better meet soon.

Journalism FTW

I got a freelancing job.

Some of you know part of this story already. I ran into this woman at my coffee house of choice who said that she sees me there all the time. When we were going out to our cars, she asked me what I did that made me a coffee shop dweller. I told her that I was a journalist and writer and she handed me a business card. She turned out to be the publisher of this magazine about weddings/marriage/relationships.

She CC'd me in an e-mail to the editor (who actually hires the writers, she's the publisher) and I e-mailed him a bunch of clips and a resume. He called me the next day and we met yesterday where he offered me a job. Well, really, he first asked if I wanted to be a staff writer, but I didn't want to jump into a commitment with this magazine that I didn't know about less than a week ago. I said that I would try writing a couple of articles for them and see how it went. He was a really nice, really funny guy.

My article is due in eight days. When he said that, I almost wanted to do a spit take. Eight days! That's ridiculous. It's not, of course. I have to remember my days at the Hellish-Place-of-Employment-Of-Which-We-Do-Not-Speak where I could go from not knowing about an issue to writing about it in a matter of hours. I always get nervous when I start with a new place. It's like a suddenly wonder if I actually do have the ability to do this, even though I've been writing and meeting deadlines the better part of my adult life now (with papers in college and all, throw me a bone).

As for being a staff writer, who knows. We'll see. I've got the summer to think about it.

I'm getting paid $60 for this article. I talked to my editor about the average rate of payment and I can't remember if that's good or not. I think it's pretty decent. I mean, it is the first article I've written as a freelance writer. The important thing is, I'm getting paid. PAID FOR WRITING. (Again, Hellish-Place-of-Employment-Of-Which-We-Do-Not-Speak did pay me like $150 a month for the two months I worked in the summer, but if I calculate the hours I worked and the mental anguish it really barely counts as payment at all.)

The moral of this story? Every single moment of coffee shop dwelling I've done over the past five years or so has been completely VALIDATED. What's that universe? You want to spend more time at coffee shops? Read you loud and clear. No need to tell me twice.

On Track

Hello Lovelies,

As you all know by now, at least you should - I did tell you, I have a new job.  In fact a new new job.  No longer the temp job I did have.  (And neglected to post about.  Sorry.  But it really wasn't that exciting.)  I am a Project and Youth Coordinator for a non-profit affiliated with a local school district.  

This means I get to do marketing, writing, brochure-designing, website-updating, social media-posting, and kid-corraling.  Okay, not really the last one, but kind of, I'm going to be organizing middle and high schoolers, which should be entertaining.  For someone.  

And there are a few caveats to this job.  It's not full-time.  It has no benefits.  It will be over in 5 months.  But that's not the whole story- it could turn into a full-time, benefitted thing after these 5 months.  So we'll have to see about that.  

But maybe, just maybe, 

this will be the one that sticks.

I finished my first week.  And I like what I'm doing.  Imagine that, I'm doing something I don't hate AND I'm getting paid for it. 

 

Ah, that's how the working world is supposed to work.  Much better.

It's been a rough year... not just for me, I know, but for all of us.  These times have kicked us in the ass when we are just starting out, trying to figure out our lives.  

I'm relieved to say that I'm finally in a place where I think things in my life are getting on track.  Not anywhere near perfect mind you.  I'm still sponging off my parents for a bed and food, I'm still searching for some more friends I connect with that aren't hundreds to thousands of miles away, I don't have a very stable career future, and my jewelry business is iffy at best right now.  I'm not sure where I'll be this time next year.  But I know if I have a year similar in theme at all to the one I've just had, I know it's only going to get better.  

Hopefully.

Awesome Internet Writers

I spend a lot of time not doing work on the internet (and how) and a lot of it is just dicking around.  However, there are some things that I routinely read on the internet which are really well written. While I've already shared some of these with you guys, I feel the need to introduce to all of these awesome internet writers. These aren't just guilty pleasures that I go to for cyber entertainment, but people that I think are really, talented.

I encourage you to post responses with your favorite internet talent below! Until then, enjoy my top six.


1. The Key of Awesome/Barely Political- The Key of Awesome does something that a MILLION other YouTube channels do (they make parody videos of popular songs), but what sets them apart is they do it really well. While sometimes the concept might fall flat and feel a little sophomoric, at their best they highlight the underlying problems with songs and inherent character flaws of the ones singing them. Currently, my favorite is their parody of "Rain Over Me" which mocks fun of Pitbull and Marc Anthony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r79J4TgglGM

2. The Comics Curmudgeon- Josh Fruhlinger states the blog's mission as, "I read the comics so you don't have to." Simply put, he mocks the comics poking fun at their art, plot, and sometimes incomprehensible punchline. Fruhlinger is a former editor (or current, I never can tell what he does for a living) and the creativity and intelligence behind his criticism makes what could be a petty blog a lot of fun. He also expresses unironic delight in the madness of the soap opera strips- like Apartment 3G and Mary Worth- that I thought I would never read. I linked you guys to the Beetle Bailey archive because I love it when Fruhlinger talks about the homoerotic/violent undertones of the realtionship between Beetle and Sarge.

http://joshreads.com/?cat=26&paged=5

3. Ann Powers (NPR writer)- Okay, this one doesn't really count because she writes for a legitimate news organization, but I love her music criticism so I thought I'd share. Something I especially appreciate about Powers is her willingness to talk about pop music seriously, which isn't always the case for music publications. This article is about her top ten music picks for 2011 and, even though I don't agree with a lot of the choices (not a fan of J. Lo's "On the Floor"), her writing style is so amazing it doesn't even matter. She also introduced me to Dev (who sings the hook of Ada's favorite song "Like a G6") so I love her. (Don't kill me, Ada!)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/12/19/143799960/the-top-10-top-40-of-2011

4.John Cheese (Cracked writer)- I've talked about Cracked before, but I wanted to mention this writer in particular because he's indicative of a bigger change I've seen in the website since I started reading in college. It's always been kind a sophomoric comedy website that uses words like "boob" and "boner", but in the past couple of years it's started tackling more serious topics. John Cheese is funny, but he writes very blunt articles about his abusive father, intimacy issues with women, and his struggle with alcohol. I've linked to an article he wrote when he was one year sober because it's the first one that really turned me on to him. It just goes to show you that just because people come to a publication for jokes about poop doesn't mean they're not willing to hear about more serious topics.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18824_5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-quitting-drinking.html

5. Fashion SWAT (somethingawful.com feature)- I've long considered somethingawful to be like cracked, only meaner, but I still I love the somewhat defunct feature "Fashion SWAT." Basically, it makes fun of fashion styles from obscure places. It's riotously funny, though some of it is very much NSFW (the one I linked you to is fine). The humor can be pretty mean-spirited sometimes, but this article where they make fun of kid's science fair projects is honestly one of the funniest things I've ever read.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/fashion-swat/science-fair-swat.php

6. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries- To be honest with you, I pretty much wrote this whole thing just so I could share this. It's a fictional video blog that tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from a first person, modern-day perspective. Lizzie Bennet is a grad student who talks about how her mom is obsessed with making sure her daughters join the WPF 2.5 club (the white picket fence, 2.5 children club). She is assisted by her friend, Charlotte Lu, and is occasionally joined by her sisters Jane and Lydia. One of my favorite vloggers, John Green, is the co-creator/writer/producer of this feature. Whether or not you like Pride and Prejudice, I would strongly suggest watching this. I don't know how long it's going to continue, but it's a brilliant idea with great execution.

http://bit.ly/IxSzJ0