Ch-ch-changes

So this particular post is two fold. First I will get the business out of the way: Some various changes in my blog structure. I have decided after some deliberation, that I did not like limiting my creativity to just 100 words for each post on my now-defunct blog. Instead I wanted to be able to have a broader sense of creative writing. I may still do some 100-words posts, if my creative tank is empty. I really just want to write everything that comes into my head, whether that be part of a larger story arc, or a short story of maybe a few pages. This creative writing hierarchy would be more purposeful in a sort of wiki-style environment, which is why I started a new "pbwiki". You can take a look at the archive of my unfinished old story The Last Day. That was made on a time constraint as part of NaNoWriMo. I plan on fleshing this story out more and maybe even making it book-scale. For now, since I cannot access the pbwiki, I will consolidate all my writings into one wiki here: http://12side.pbworks.com/. For now nothing is there, but maybe I'll upload all of my writings on there tonight if I have time.

As another point of business, If you have not already done so, check out "Unsolicited Therapy," my new podcast. I'll be uploading the second episode tonight or tomorrow, so look forward to that! So far I have more listeners that I expected, so thank you all for your support. Let's see if I can keep some people around! haha.

Now for just things about me. I've been going to NYC a few times this month, and I must admit it is not as scary and daunting as I thought it would be. I've been having plenty of fun doing group activities, going to events, and hanging out with some old friends. At $25 round trip from Milford Station, I can't go wrong. I've dominated the Metro-North train, the underground subway system (intense!), and the taxi services. I think I'll stick to taxi at night and subway during the day.

My latest trip to NYC brought me to the Coffee and Tea Festival. I learned that I do enjoy Turkish coffee, although it is unfiltered so you don't want to drink to the bottom. I also learned you can make tea out of just about anything, including flowers. I have a sample flower bulb that apparently you are supposed to put in a pitcher of water. The flower then grows under water and brews the tea in the pitcher! I haven't tried it myself (or even read the pamplet) so I'll let you all know how that turns out.

As far as my personal life is concerned, I have been enjoying meeting up with old friends and colleages, including professors and coworkers from back at University of Hartford. I still have more people I need to see (Math department, for example) so I will be back soon. I've also been getting more into Alpha Phi Omega. I'm sort of on staff as a presenter although I don't have an official title or anything yet. When they need someone, they will have me at their disposal. I have also been meeting new people and hanging out with people I never really connected with back in the day. I've sort of just been hanging out more and getting out as much as possible. I have a lot of ambition and it is just about budgeting my time and my finances to keep me busy and active and having fun. A rewarding challenge.

So for now I must get back to work. Hopefully I can play some catch up tonight after work (I was called in unexpectedly for 4 hours on Sunday, took a sizable chunk out of my plans, but oh well, work is more important). Thanks to everyone for all their love and support!

Icy Plunge for the Cure

Before I talk about my experience, I just wanted to thank everyone who sponsored me. We raised $270 for Breast Cancer research in just a single day! We have some audio and video of the event that I will be posting (Some on my podcast). But, for now I will tell you my experiences briefly as I warm up and prepare for a shower.

There were hundreds of people just running in, there may have been nearly a thousand spectators, although it was hard to judge. One people of note was woman wearing an orange dress. I got a picture with her that I will post when I get it. We talked for a bit and she liked that I brought a waterproof mic with me. She was going to run in heels but decided it was too dangerous. Another person that I though was clever despite lack of tact was a guy with the words "Save Second Base" painted on his back.

So everyone gathered on the beach. Most of the girls were in bathing suits, shorts and T-shirts, while others were just in bathing suits. Some of the guys had on shirts but most just their trunks, and I was among them. I managed to get beside the woman in the orange dress and we talked for bit. I was just getting ready f-

"BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTT" The horn blared and chaos ensued. The first brave souls plunged into the water and half of them stopped suddenly. I climbed in but was afraid to jump on chance of hitting someone. Waist deep my lower body lost all feeling and I could barely walk. Then I saw a space and I dove right in, head first, mic and all. I'm still not sure how much I picked up. I was expecting to be cursing but after the horn blew I was in a total zen moment and I was totally silent. I crawled out of the water and stumbled onto the beach and ran toward my clothing, specifically my bathrobe. While drying off I noticed I could feel nothing in my legs. My core was pretty warm at this point, almost pleasant. My arms were cold but they were not in as long as my legs.

Now I'm sitting here typing this out for you while it is still fresh on my mind. Wherever the trunk was on me, I am still very cold, since I didn't take them off right away. My legs are tingly but the feeling is coming back. I have a minor headache but I'm sure that will go away. Overall it was a great experience. I've never been more awake. I will definitely do it again. I may even do it "Just because" if I can get some people into it. All I can say is we did good, and I'm glad I was part of something so great.

Reorganization

So I've decided to reorganize the way I have my blogs set up. This blog here I'm going to use as a weekly update on any projects I'm working on, including my podcast and my "100 words a day" blog. So now I have a central hub for my various accounts and any creative writing I do. Look forward to some updates on my "The Last Day" story. Look forward to more DeviantArt updates. And look forward to my new podcast "Unsolicited Therapy"

Speaking of my podcast, I'm going to use the blog for that podcast (links below) for any of my inspirational posts and then talk about them on the podcast itself, maybe even read them aloud in full. I guess we shall see. So I'm going to post in this blog once a week on the weekends, my "100 words a day" blog every day I remember to (about every other day) and post in my podcast blog whenever I have a new episode or something to talk about.

Hopefully this way these blogs will actually be useful and/or interesting! So here are the links to my other two blogs, although links will be posted periodically anyways.

100 words a day blog
A semi-daily updated blog filled with blips of exactly one hundred words

Unsolicited Therapy
Blog for my podcast where we discuss all the intricacies of life, but we don't take ourselves too seriously