"There's nothing I don't cherish."

I’m making progress on a new story idea. I’m pondering the use of a specific structure, and researching the story that will match it. It’s fun. I’m taking the approach of saturating my mind with lots of data, and letting it make the necessary story and character leaps and connections in its own time.

Yesterday, a pair of headphones I ordered turned up. They’re serious gaming headphones, with microphone and inline volume control, which are comfortable with fantastic sound quality. These will be very useful for both online communication and shutting out the world with music while I hack away at stories during Clarion.

I watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children yesterday, and I was impressed. It helped that my expectations were low because I thought that its movie predecessor, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, was a pretty, but mediocre film. FF VII on the other hand is packed with jaw-dropping action.

Pretty boys with spiky hair and impossibly-sized swords battle super-humans who’ve been altered by Alien genes, and they fight in mid-air, on motorbikes, and in a completely unrealistic fashion, but it’s great fun. The story, which is generally the weak spot in Anime, was decent, if a bit incomprehensible to start. There’s a big information dump at the beginning of the film to explain the back story, but the story dynamics are relatively easy to follow after that. This ranks as one of the best video game adaptations I’ve watched thus far. It’s a must-see for Anime fans, and the CGI is downright amazing in places.

Tomorrow I check into the house, and meet some of my fellow classmates. In the evening I’ll be attending the Locus Awards cocktail reception.

Blogging will be intermittent for the next six weeks. I’ve no idea how much time I’ll have to spare (very little, I reckon), and “proper” writing will take top priority. I hope to post some observations, and perhaps use this space to consider any insights gleaned on the writing process. I’ll see how it pans out.