Smitten: [link]
Fear: [link]
I’m Me Again and it’s All Because of You: [link]

First up…my new demo reel is online! Finally, I can share the last few week’s (and June’s) work with people. Also, after watching that [link], check out my new portfolio site here.

Also…in other newses….I’ve got a few new poems up at DA (my profile’s linked to from the portfolio site, but I wanted to give ‘em a shout-out on here too). They’re posted below with links to the DA pages.

It’s You

I keep sitting and thinking,
getting lost in daydreams of you.
My heart skips and jumps, clinking,
feels fragile as glass, sticky like glue.

It shudders with fear, closed and cold,
shedding its own tears of self-imposed
solitude, emptiness, will I be alone when I’m old?
But you send me smiles through wires like electric hoses.

I’m showered, bathing in your love,
I’m warm and safe cuddling your heart,
your smiles mystify what I’m afraid of
and glorify Cupid’s fateful dart.

I’m shivering in the grey city tonight,
but your giggle comes across the airwaves,
makes the fire in my heart re-ignite,
and I revel in a chance to see your face.

Link: http://runeshai.deviantart.com/art/Reminders-141881842

Life

I’m filling my head with punk-rock tunes,
ingesting the lyrics like revolution fumes,
talking about progress, changes, unity,
while I’m caught in everyday reality.

Stuck in my thoughts, lost in my head,
one of these days I’m gonna end up dead,
ghost heart and soul, a tired old ghoul,
drenched in depression, a sober old fool.

My life is my choice, as the days come along,
I better start living soon, and stop writing stupid songs.
I keep getting lost in my mind, floating into space,
maybe I’ve got what’s wrong with the human race.

Life won’t wait, they sang,
It’s your choice, songs rang,
but I can’t stop worrying,
I can’t fight off the fear.

Without you I’m lost in myself, aimless,
without them I’m lost in the world, gameless,
I’m tired of fighting, hoping and pretending,
this feels like a trick question that’s never-ending.

So I’ll retreat to my songs of meaningful days,
waste time away in the sun’s faded rays,
I’ll wish upon stars that I figure myself out,
and avoid life until my time trickles out.

Life is like a quest, but without a grail,
a goal I once had, I feel I failed,
but the days keep moving, the sun rises and sets,
so I guess I’ll do the same, and give it my best.

Link: http://runeshai.deviantart.com/art/Life-142037871

I’ve been playing a lot more with rhyming recently in my writing. Mostly inspired by a good friend’s writing, who’s super-talented at applicable rhyming in poetry (as opposed to non-applicable rhyming, which is what I’m good at :P), and read me a new piece recently. I’ve always admired good writing that rhymes, because for me, it takes much more thought and effort to get not only the thoughts into the right words, but to arrange those words lyrically and have them match a pattern, that can be pretty tough. So it’s nice when I get a rhyming piece out there that I still like a day or two after writing it (I almost always allow a ‘cooling period’ after which I re-read my stuff, then decide if it’s worth showing to anybody). Of course, sometimes I’ll throw a rhyme in to fit the mood if not necessarily the feeling I’m trying to convey, to move the piece along and get me into a new rhyme that might afford a better opportunity to express whatever it is I’m trying to express.

Anyway….rambling…I’m content with the pieces above, they’re linked, and my new demo reel’s online (yay!) so check all that out and let me know what you think (of any of it) :P.

*moviegasps*

RROOAARRR!!!!! I’LL KEEL YOU WITH MY POERTY POWERS!! YESS!!!!!

*nomoremoviegasps*

…no? Garrhrhrhrhrumblerumble…fine….then just listen for a sec…

Okie…..ignoring the above, here’s two new(ish) pieces. I say ‘ish’ because only one’s new (written this morning), the other I wrote about a month or more ago but forgot I had and never put it online. Which is odd, because I do like it. So, here goes…

Punk-O-Pocalypse

War paint on my face
stand up, join my race,
fists raised, voices loud,
make our parents proud!

Patches, pins, leather straps,
platform boots, all that’s crap,
hair spiked, eyes right,
come join the fight!

Lookin’ up to the dawn of a new day,
working toward building us all a new way,
climbing up from the age-old trenches,
throw our coats on the corporate fences!

Criticize, it’s more than lies,
keep your faith, love and hate,
compromise, but be wise,
don’t give in, we can win,
stand your ground,
keep your crown,
leave the dust in the past,
make the bright future last,
raise your fists,
bind your wrists,
show the love we’re dreaming of,
make things right and join the fight!

Lookin’ up to the dawn of a new day,
working toward building us all a new way,
massing armies to rival the Pope’s,
who’d have thought? The audacity of hope!

…and for the next, older piece…it’s a bit of a love song with some serious pop-candy-goof orientation. Good fun :D.

It’s You

Why do I hear your voice
when you’re not around?
Why do I see your face
when you’re not to be found?

I’d cast aside my dreams
for you;
I’d kill to make your own
come true.

Passion, love.
Passion, love.
It’s you that I’m dreaming of,
it’s you that I’m dreaming of.

I miss you,
cuz you’re far away,
I miss you,
why couldn’t you stay
after last time?
We had a good time.
But you had to go back to school,
and that was really not cool,
cuz now you’re my little beacon,
and we only really talk on the weekends,
and even that’s not dependable.

Trust me, love.
Trust you, love.
It’s you that I’m dreaming of,
it’s you that I’m dreaming of.

Direction, I got some;
Interest, I got some;
Dreamin’, I got tons;
come on, come on, with me!

But I’d cast my dreams aside
for you;
I’d kill to make your own
come true.
I’d give everything
just to hear your voice
whisper in my ear
‘I love you, I love you too!’

Passion, trusting, dreamin’,
love…
It’s you that I’m dreaming of,
it’s you that I’m dreaming of!

Yup, so them’s the two new poems I’ve got fer ye fer now…I’ll be sure to let ye know iffen’ there be more anytime soon. Got some newsy things in the works right now, but I’ll post when there’s something to show, not yet. Lotsa life stuff goin’ on…probably include some of that then too. Best wishes, thanks for readin’, hope you’re havin’ fun :P.

Also, these are both obviously viewable at my DA gallery page.

Rebuilding…commence!

It’s raining.
Surprise, surprise.
I’m acutely unaware
        of a hand to hold,
        another body’s warmth.
Everything I see
        reminds me of her:
        the flower I wish I’d given,
        the grass I want to pad her happy footsteps,
        the forest bench and ocean air I wish I could share
                with her.
But somehow I’m reminded of you.
Yonder bench is overgrown,
        bright pink flowers wrapping their coils
                ’round its faded seat,
        perhaps reminders of its happy memories,
                a guarded relic,
                preserved,
                protected,
        and here I sit enclosed
                trees protect and hide me while I watch,
                        a solemn predator
                        after lonely prey.
Life goes on:
        tiny flies scurry in the breeze,
        grasses wave and dance,
        leaves whisper their endless tunes.
Still… I’m reminded somehow of you.
But I don’t miss you…
        I miss what I gave you…
        wish I could give it again…
        or just have it…
        or see it…
Oh, rebuilding…commence!
It’s raining.
I must walk home.
Maybe I’ll be cleansed.

also viewable @ DA.

The sky is exploding with fire;
a cascade of shimmering stars,
a colored flame-fall of dying light,
glowing brightest – like mars,
and giving up the fight.

Faeries rush to save them,
bolstering the forces,
but the neon cascade falls,
lighting up the watching faces,
bringing joy to all.

The thunderclaps roll overhead,
boom-clap-boom-clap-boom,
echoing like the sea,
and I sit alone in my room,
the fireworks, my laptop and me.

:D That was fun! Ian MacMillan was right, rhyming is fun, it does help you to think. I think I’ll aim for more rhyming poetry in the future, it makes you think and synthesize your thoughts and get into the concept and feeling of your subject. Freeform has a place, definitely, but this experiment has proven helpful in bolstering my interest in rhyme.

Now then, I’ve been getting out a lot more recently, I’ve taken to daily walks down to the waterside, picking different sitting-and-watching-spots each time I go to the park by my house. It’s about 6 blocks away, down the hill and across the streets, and I go when the sun is almost setting, to soak in the last few rays and feel the breeze on my cheeks, to breathe the fresher air and remind myself that there are other people living and moving around me, no matter how I shut myself up in my apartment room.

On these walks, I bring a book – Dune, for you curious types, and I’m almost done with it…a review should follow, but that simple mention is not a promise – and a notebook for recording ideas and thoughts, describing the sun and the mountains, the waves that lap the rock-cement seawall, or for remembering the old couple who wander down the path at sunset. I’ve begun writing much more, much like I used to, endeavoring to rediscover that spark I had before, the endless flow of ideas and thoughts that formed themselves into words, phrases, the lyrics of my mind that came pouring out like fresh, cold milk, coating and soothing and solidifying into a sweet cream… letting me understand their substance and intent.

And even now, inspired by a podcast series from the Open University (hurrah! for open learning initiatives) on creative writing, I’ve decided to link said podcast and some new writing of my own.

Podcast

Since I’ve already mentioned it, I’ll get it out of the way. The podcast is entitled Creative Writing, a description of its accompanying course can be found here, and a description from iTunes of the podcast is provided below.

The tracks on this album offer an invaluable insight into a wide range of techniques and practices surrounding Creative Writing. Writers as diverse as Alan Ayckbourn, Ian MacMillan and Tanika Gupta talk openly about their approaches and attitudes to all aspects of writing from original concept to final drafts and productions. Writing for stage, print, television and radio is discussed in engaging and articulate detail.

News/Writing

I’ve been taking walks and writing of late, and sometimes, if a day or two after writing it, I still like a piece, I’ll add it to my DeviantArt account. But since that blog isn’t linked to anything, I figured I’d let people know through here. The first poem is called Cold & Battled, and can be read here. The second is shorter, more fantastical, and needs a bit of help, but can be read in the meantime here. There’s another short piece in my ‘scraps’ section there, so look for that as well if you’re interested.

Hmm…WoW’s not working on my Mac still, and none of the other games I’ve got are really worth getting into right now, so I’m left to…news…started running every day (well, every day it’s possible given my random schedule and Vancouver’s crazy weather patterns). That’s doing me some good for sure. That plus a bit of exercise in the morning and biking or walking for travel, I’m feeling good about it. It’s interesting because now, if I don’t get do physical activities during the day, I feel like I’m wasted – not tired, but like I wasted my body for a day, didn’t get the use out of it I should have. I love the feeling of being tired, exhausted, but knowing you worked hard and honest for a while, doesn’t matter what it was – running or moving, building stuff or working on a film set – it’s the wholly muscularly tired feeling you get at the end of the day. When I can gulp down a beer and not taste the bitterness, just feel the cold soothing and bubbling its way down my throat, that’s awesome. That’s the best.

Also…finished Y: The Last Man #4. Good book. 3 was the best so far, but it’s a fun series. Still on my list for sure. Also, I finished Walking Dead #3, great series, really cool character writing. You could replace zombie apocalypse with anything else with similar catastrophic consequences and the story would be the same. It’s human and emotional. Good stuff.

Gonna start looking for The Stuff of Legend, a darker Toy Story-like series about toys saving a young boy from the Boogeyman. I read the first chapter I got from FCBD and liked it much. Added to the list, heh. The Overman sounds cool too, really cool art in there, so I’m gonna check that out; gonna look into Brit, Battlepope and The Astounding Wolf-Man, all by Robert Kirkman, writer or Walking Dead. I like his stuff so far, and I’ve developed a liking for hardass, bitter ’80s British characters, and Brit sounds like it’ll do the trick.

And, of course, I’ve started Hellblazer #2, and I welcome John Constantine’s return to my consciousness. We tried watching the movie the other night and I couldn’t take it. I’d seen it before reading the books, but now I just can’t relate the two. Parts of the movie I remember and think are cool, but as an entity entirely separate from anything Hellblazer or John Constantine. It’s like they stripped it of its bitter, cynical, sarcastic, political, intelligent core and left whatever fluff was left in the movie. And believe me, there ain’t much fluff in this series.

Lastly – I guess – I started trying to writ again tonight. I’m picking up an old web comic idea where I left off with a friend about two years ago or so. We’d gotten two episodes written, but never got the art farther than a few concepts and then I moved and we dropped it for practical reasons. But I’ve been really missing writing lately, feeling something missing without it – kinda like those days without exercise I was talking about – and so it felt good to at least warm up a little bit, open the mind to the concept of writing more in the near future. I don’t know where I’m going with it or what I’m doing with it, for now it’s just an idea I like and want to give it a shot for a while, so I am.

Well, the roommates seems to have left. Thank god I’m not as tired as I was earlier, so it’ll take a while to get to bed now, and then I’ll be laying here and get hungry all of a sudden, and then I’ll eat and then it’ll be like 1:30am, and then I’ll watch whatever movie we’ve got in the player, and then I’ll drift to sleep. Late. Again. And wake up to the alarm at 8:30 reminding me of exercise and wish I could just stay on top of the schedule in the first place. Right. Well. That’s quite the update. Glad you read it? Good. Now go do something productive for me.

It seems every chapter there’s a new turn thrown at the reader, something new that maybe you sort of saw coming, but it still throws into sharp relief what a predicament Yorick is really in, and it just constantly builds the tension until, near the end, I was literally asking the book “What the fuck is going to happen now!?” It was a tense, fully stimulating experience that I’d recommend to anyone and everyone into reading fiction in general, just to take a day and read through this thing, ‘cuz it rocked this series into one of my top slots for future comic-buying trips.

Rating: 9.5/10

I’ve yet to read the next DMZ, but I’m currently in the middle of Y: The Last Man, book 3, and it’s pretty sweet. Lots of high-tension, sort of a pulling-in-different-directions of the male’s storyline. Cool effect, and the art and narrative go together quite well.

To check out more of my reading interests, see my GoodReads profile.