I simply cannot believe this.

I've missed the deadline AGAIN. I feel terrible now. I said that I would never miss one again, and here I am in this situation. I mean, I've been very busy, but that's no excuse. Wow. Punish away, then, Adam.

♥

Haikus for Reese

I missed the deadline
(obviously), of which I
am very ashamed.

Yes, I am aware
that these haikus aren’t proper
ones, but I don’t care

frankly. You did not
specify a minimum
amount of verses,

so I shall use my
judgement, and stop when I can’t
construct any more.

There is no way I
am going to write ‘how I
feel’ about affairs.

I think perhaps if
I were to write about no-
thing, and merely use

nonsense to enforce
the pattern of the poem,
that would be better.

I hicwite paituc
a sexy mxeal ayoubl.
Zpy hih nou ho lpic?

Cpawn i cloj lpic boz?
I ho lpibt i dellux pah.
Kaxe zeww lo nou aww.

Which I hope well is not enrolled there

It delights me profoundly to greet you once more, from the comfort of this lovely blog. How are you? No, really. Comment and let me know.

As you very probably already know, Reader, I missed my last deadline in astounding style, and am therefore being punished by Reese. After this post will be one made entirely of haikus, the Devil’s personal choice of poetry.

I am so delighted, unimaginably elated, to say that this morning Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America, as I’m sure you are very much aware. To see him elected live was a tremendous honour and joy for me. Even though I am not a part of that great nation, I feel intrinsically connected to it, and I hope that we will all see a positive change in the coming months and years.

This is what msnbc.com looked like when Obama won, by the way, Reese:



I could not stop smiling for hours afterward.

My recent holiday to Stratford-upon-Avon was incredibly enjoyable, also. I saw ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, both of which were RSC productions, and therefore astonishing. ‘Dream’ was magnificent: probably the greatest performance I have ever seen. The lighting and costumes were unthinkably beautiful. ‘Labour’ was a joy to see, too. David Tennant’s energy never faltered, which is incredible, for he did a lot of jumping around and running, as well as most of the talking.

It was an odd experience returning to Stratford in so different a season. Last time I went, it was the hottest week of the year. This time, it snowed. Last time, crowds filled almost every inch of every street (perhaps a slight exaggeration), taking delighted photographs of their delighted selves before Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s cottage, the Shakespeare Library, a café, a bus stop, a road bollard, pointing to perfectly ordinary things like phone masts and smiling at the thought that Shakespeare too looked upon that same phone mast. This time, there was less of that, but still enough to make my stomach crawl inside its cavity, and still more than enough to keep that wonderful human statue of the Bard in business.

Oh, and I met Patrick Stewart. Lovely man.

I recently purchased an old Corona 4 typewriter, for a very good price. It looks beautiful, pulchritudinous, in fact, but that’s as far as it goes. As typewriter repair services are scarce in the country, let alone a single forgotten little county like Cornwall, I have had to abandon my No. 4 and purchase another one, which happens to be a No. 3 Corona (which is far more charming, actually). Perhaps then I will actually get on with some decent writing. Who knows? (Not me, that’s for certain. Perhaps President Obama knows. And whyever not? He’s made of awesome.)

We seem to have passed something with the event of Obama’s election. It’s as though for so long we’ve been approaching the summit of a hill, and now we are over it. Everything and everyone seems to be in utter relief, and I can genuinely say that I have never seen humanity in such a wonderful state as now. We have hope now, and it’s going to be so great to witness the fulfilment of that hope.

QUESTION 9:

What are your five favourite YouTube channels? Haikus are welcome.

(I shall leave the haikus for a later time, if you don’t mind.)

1. jimmy0010. One of the best comedians on YouTube, I think.




2. frezned. Again, one of the best comedians on the site, but he is also in possession of one of the keenest minds on YouTube, too.



3. vlogbrothers. Obviously I was going to choose them. They are the kings of the nerdfighters, and idols to all.





4. cutewithchris. He’s an incredible performer, and I enjoy every single one of his videos.



5. missxrojas (my computer would rather spell that ‘miss Rojas’). Not only a very intelligent, passionate and beautiful girl, but a lovely human being.



QUESTION 10:

What is the earliest memory that you have?

My one is not particularly pleasant, and has actually had quite a large impact on my perception of the school environment (as well as many other horrid things). It is from the very first school I went to, Springfield, when I was four years old. I remember that we ate our packed lunches in our classroom, for some reason (I don’t know if that’s conventional practice or not), and when I had my lunch (sandwiches), I never ate the crusts of the bread. Instead, I would of course put them back into my lunch box. For some reason, my teacher took a dislike to this, and asked me to finish my lunch. When I refused (amiably, of course), she threatened to make me sit at the back of the class and do mathematics, which would obviously result in immense humiliation. I ate the crusts, and avoided developing a profound distaste for and fear of mathematics. That privilege went to schools in general.

Well, enough about me and my deeply unsettling childhood experiences. Onward to haikus, and I look forward to reading your reply.

With perceptible and incessant veneration and affection,

Your friend,

Adam.

P.S. I shall be going back to Stratford in January to see ‘Romeo and Juliet’, by the way, which should be spectacular. My sister is startlingly excited about it.

Updates and a Rather Kind Punishment

Hello, readers.

Frankly, it has been much too long.

First, updates are in order.

I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I'm already ridiculously busy as it is, but I've decided to take on the challenge. The plot is still a bit fuzzy and requires much sorting out, but I will be sure to share portions of it as I write. Moving on...

A certain event has occurred, as many of you probably already know, between the time that that the last blog was posted and now. Wait for it. Waaait for iiit...

I MET JOHN GREEN.

*celebratory explosions of happy dancing and eating of peeps*

I didn't truly come to terms with the fact that I was meeting John until about two days beforehand. The whole experience had seemed so distant for so long that I had become numb to the news, but I properly spazzed when I started to gather my books together for him to sign (Yes, I created my bookstack days in advance). The entire day preceding the evening signing, I was in a trance. My focus was purely on getting through the day, playing my Powderpuff game (We won 27-0), and meeting John.

I arrived at Books & Books promptly at six o' clock, took a seat in the front row and waited. I was deep in conversation with some Nerdfighters who had driven 2 hours from Jupiter, Florida to see him when John nonchalantly waltzed into the room with his Powerbook in tow. I didn't realize it was him at first, for he was wearing the same colour green as a group of the employees. But, once I did knock myself out of the initial state of shock, I took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. At that point, this was the only one worth keeping.

From there, he tested the internet in the back room, returned, set up his computer for the BlogTV broadcast, and began.

I did take video of most of the night, but I shall not embed them all here. I will, however, link you to the YouTube playlist I created for the footage of the event.

Following a reading of Paper Towns and a Q&A session, we lined up to get our books signed. Naturally, I fought through the crowd and worked my way up to almost the front of the fangirl/fanboy blob that had formed at the 2 foot by 2 foot table that had been set up for John. On said table stood John's laptop in all its shiny, Apple glory. I took it upon myself to start speaking to the lovely people in the main room on BlogTV and made some shoutouts (UnityOfEffect, ChristianTheHeretic, and of course, you, Adam). My dear friend, Victoria, then joined me in entertaining our virtual guests. One highlight of the whole experience was Rosi recognising me! It was a minor detail, but I was a little flattered. :] I had to say goodbye to the main room eventually and take my place, book bag in hand, in front of John.

I started out with placing only two books on the table.

Little did he know that I had four others in my bag. I didn't want to frighten him, you know? We made small talk (mostly about my taking over BlogTV for a bit, him thanking me for buying all these books, him scratching out Emily Lockhart's and Maureen's name when signing Dramarama and Let it Snow). I took this picture of us hastily before I had to leave.

On my way out, I saw the sign publicising the event to the public. I asked the store manager if I could have it, and she, rather quizzically, allowed me to take it home and cherish it forever. Well, I don't think she said it that, but that's how it sounded to me. I rode home in the car accompanied by all my spoils.

That's all that is going to be said about that, Adam. I don't want to upset you any further. Really, I don't. It's the raging fangirl in me that's blogged about the experience, I swear.

This blog is coming to an end. I believe I'm going to be having curry in a moment or so, so I shall bid you farewell, readers.

DFTBA,
♥,

Reese

P.S. PUNISHMENT INFORMATION: Adam, I'm going to be very kind. Too kind, actually. You were moving house, and that's very stressful. I cannot possibly punish you cruelly. For your punishment, I'd like you to reply to my last blog as you would normally, but you must write another blog written entirely in haikus. It can be about whatever you please and can contain images, but everything must be written in the short, lovely, and Japanese form of poetry, the haiku. Not too bad, is it? I desperately hope it won't be of much inconvenience or result in too much suffering.