A Return to Normalcy

I say things are normal when you have as much good things going on as bad. When life is great and terrible. Balance.

I think I'm going to have to give up on finishing the thesis completely this semester. I'll get damn close, but I don't think I'm going to finish it off. There's a little matter of drafts of a paper. Drafts, that's what will decide when I can be done. I'm still on the cusp of finishing the research. When that's done, I'll do some quick numbers crunching and then type, type, type.

Through all this, I keep listening to music. The main thing I've been listening to is the third Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soundtrack. On it, there's a song called "Christmas in the Silent Forest." It's weird, crazy, and about halfway capable of setting a mood or a creative visual. Then, on the same CD, there's another album by a singer named Eri Nobuchika; this album includes a song called "Forest of Dreams." It's good for half a mood and a setting too. Between the two, there's the start of a story, or at least a visual to drive a story.

I think I work best when I have a visual to drive the story forward. There's a goal for me, as well as the characters when that happens.