A Day in the Life of this Writer

Hello, everyone! This is your writer speaking, or rather typing. :) A while ago, I published a blog post called 30 Random Things about This Writer, in which I shared some fun and interesting facts about me and my daily life that I thought you, my readers, might enjoy. I'm hoping that you had fun discovering some things about me - things you might not have guessed, little quirks I have that you might find silly or endearing. Who knows?  Maybe, some of you were able to see me as the real person I am behind the computer screen. Regardless of how much you like that post or how much you got out of it, it was really fun for me to write and, after I posted it I decided that I would write more blog posts like it - little stories from my life that I can share, things about me that some people might enjoy learning. I'm hoping to show my readers that there is a person behind all these typed words; I would like my readers to get to know me better.

A day in the life of this writer....is never normal or regular. That isn't to say that I am some wildly exciting person who spends her days doing things she's never done before, looking for adventure behind every corner. Rather, my days are supposed to be normal, following a routine of some sort. But without fail, something happens every day and any well-thought-out routine or schedule gets changed at the last minute or completely thrown out the window. I guess you could call this life happening, but it's always unexpected and throws a wrench into any and all plans I make for any one day. This makes it a little hard to write about a regular day in my life, but we'll try anyway.

On a "regular" day in my life I wake up sometime around 8:30 in the morning. I am technically supposed to be awake and out of bed well before then and I have dozens of alarms that tell me I should be getting up earlier, but I never listen to them. The bed is just too comfortable and I'm just not a morning person. After waking up and denying that I actually have to get out of bed to be a functional human, I drag myself to my closet and try to pick something to wear for the day. I consider myself low maintenance so my typical outfit is anything comfortable that doesn't require three hours and a tool box to put on; by that I mean a pair of jeans, a t-shirt or tank-top, and one of my many comfy sweaters (in other words, a writer's uniform). I pull all of that on and head to the bathroom, where I tame my bed head and try to wake myself up just a bit more before I slump downstairs for breakfast and a good morning hug from my mom (always the best part of the day).

I am still is high school, so the first half of my day is filled up with school work and extracurricular activities. Lately, my school has consisted of a lot of cram work and catch-up projects in preparation for graduation next year. I would really love to be well done with all my school work by the end of December so I can focus on other things before I go off to college. That's the goal and it is achievable; it just means a lot of stress and extra busyness. On a regular school day, I end up working for about three hours straight on assorted assignments, one of which is usually a blogging session; at least once a week I try to take time during school to work on my next post. Sometimes I'm too stressed with school to come up with anything good, but I try all the same.

After school, I grab a quick lunch and for about half an hour, give or take a few minutes, I have free time. While my schedule varies depending on what day of the week it is, my afternoons are almost always packed with activities and assorted craziness. I don't mind being busy and at times I even enjoy jumping from one thing to the next; I've been doing afternoon activities for so long that they have just become a regular part of my schedule. During a normal week, my afternoons consist of one of the following things at any given time: work, piano lessons, choir, teaching ESL, working out with my sister, and hanging out with a friend or two. While I would love to explain each of these activities more, they are all too extensive to fit in one post nicely. Perhaps each of these will get its own blog post someday.

No matter what an afternoon was dominated by and no matter what the rest of the day held in store for me, and even if I like the occasional crazy schedule, by the time the sun goes down and I stumble back into my house from wherever I was, I am more than ready to end the day. It can be statisfying to know that I got everything I possibly could out of a day because that makes winding down that much better. I finish everyday with several hours of peace and quiet that I set aside for myself. I use this time to relax and indulge in hobbies, and every once in a while I pull out my computer and write another blog post for the people who will take the time to read it. After that, I pack up any paraphernalia that is laying around my room and, with one final recount of the day, I turn off the light and drift off the sleep. As I fall sleep, in the back of my mind I consider how tomorrow will the much the same as today. It may hold its own separate set of challenges and stresses, but deep down I know that if I survived today, I can survive tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my life; it's a simple but happy one that is constantly enriched by the people that I interact with. My life would not be what it is without my family, whom I love very much, and by the people who read this blog. The fact that you chose to read this is very encouraging to me and I hope you will continue to do so in the future. I don't know where my life will go next - I have no idea what is over the horizon - but I intend to bring you all along for the ride regardless of what happens.


Photo Credit: weheartit.com

Giant Days - A Book Review

I picked it up spur of the moment as I was walking out of my local library. It was on a shelf full of recommended books and, after reading a short blurb about it, I decided to pick up Giant Days. Historically, I have been an avid comic book reader; I have a few copies of my favorite series and when I was younger comics were all I read. I wasn't really into the Marvel or DC comic books about superheroes; instead, I read indie and Christian life comics. I was a fan of the comic versions of Ted Dekker's Circle and Lost Books series and owned a few copies in the Serenity series. All that is to say, I liked comic books.

As I got older, though, I started reading bigger books and more chapter books. While I still enjoyed rereading the occasional comic book, I much preferred the imagination stimulus of non-comic books. But I've never stopped enjoying comic books when the right one surfaces; they're a fun read and give me a real appreciation for the artist's work and talent. Giant Days, written by John Allison and illustrated by Max Sarin, is the story of three college students in England and their daily battles with adulthood. It's a wonderful story and enjoyable to read.

Susan, Daisy, and Esther come from three completely different worlds and all have their own distinct personalities. Susan is a responsible, smoking, med student from Northhampton. Daisy is a sweet, formerly homeschooled bundle of joy and encouragement, and Esther is a rich, ghostly pale Goth girl who would rather spend her time partying than studying. While these three girls are completely different, they somehow end up best friends. Maybe it started because they shared a hall at university but eventually they can't see making it through the end of the term without each other. They all came to college with different goals and different expectations, but once they experience college life, their goals change to simply making it to the end of the semester without going completely crazy. Along for the ride are the girls' hallmates, McGraw and Ed - Susan's ex boyfriend and a adorkable nerd who has a crush on Esther - respectively College is a whole other world all on its own and these five need to help each other survive it.

I really did enjoy this comic series, I've only read the first five volumes but based on their quality, I can say that each continuing issue is a great read. Written in short sections, each book continues the previous one and they all flow together very well. All the characters are incredibly unique and really grow on you as the story progresses; everyone seems very organic and real. I guess you could say that this whole series is a walking college stereotype and all the characters add to that. Since this is a contemporary comic and because of the way our world is today, there are a few interesting themes in Giant Days. One of the characters struggles with the LGBTQ view and is unsure if she is part of it, a few characters have relations with each other (but only the morning after is included in the comic frames), and there are a few times when characters get drunk or high on drugs (but the books don't condone that). It all comes down to what you're comfortable reading about and how that will affect your worldview, so please use good judgment if you give this comic a try. Aside from that, though, Giant Days is a fun comic series that honestly portrays life at college and all the new things that a person can experience there. Well written and beautifully drawn, this comic is worth a read.

Photo Credit: Thirdeyecomics.com