Posts Tagged ‘Ohio State University’

Some Good News, Some Bad News

Posted: April 11, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Reflections, Review, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Good News: Somehow I managed to get several articles written for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, all of which will come out in the coming weeks leading up to my study abroad trip. The next one comes out tomorrow, if I remember correctly.

Bad News: As the end of the semester comes closer, I’ve got a number of exams and papers to prepare for, including a 25-30 page paper for a research seminar! Oy vey! So as much as I’d like to focus on making progress in Laura Horn before I go abroad, I doubt that with my workload I’ll make it to Chapter 35, which would be a nice stopping-point before I go on my trip.

Good News: A short story I wrote for a class assignment got an A+ from the teacher, who “cried at the end of the story” and wanted me to publish it, along with some suggestions on ways to edit it. I plan to submit it somewhere this weekend, as well as submit a couple other short stories to other magazines.

Bad News: Another short story I wrote got rejected from a magazine this morning. I’ll try submitting it somewhere else, but I worry. Some of the criticism the editor gave me made me wonder if this short story is as good as I thought it was.

Good News: Reborn City got another five star review. This, along with a sale I plan to hold next month and the possibility of making it to the next round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award make me hopeful.

Bad News: I won’t know about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award until Monday most likely, and I don’t want to go into more detail about the review or the sale until I have that info. Plus, RC‘s my first novel and I’m up against 399 other books in my category, all vying for 100 spots at most. I hope the excerpt I gave them is good enough!

Good News: I’ve found a camcorder that is within my budget that I can get after I get back from my trip. Creating book trailers and maybe starting a YouTube show or improving my YouTube channel might get easier with one of those camcorders.

Bad News: My local theater isn’t playing a movie I really want to see, a horror film with Karen Gillan of Doctor Who fame. Well, that’s not as bad as it could be. I might know a certain woman (my mother) who’ll want to go see it with me, even if we have to drag her fiancee with us to do it. Forget I mentioned it.

When you get right down to it, a self-published novelist’s life is never easy, especially when you also happen to be a student with a part-time job and a lot of homework. Sometimes, like when I get criticism from magazine editors, I feel a little down. But there’s always opportunity for improvement. There are people who enjoy what I write and let me know when they get the chance to do so.

When I first started writing this blog nearly three years ago, I was just some freshman with one publishing credit to my name, a novel in need of some serious editing, and no idea how I was going to build a following or get my novel onto the printed page. Nearly three years later, I have a few more publishing credits, I’ve got two books out, a third on its way, and two more in various stages of writing/editing. I write articles occasionally for another website to help other self-published authors out, and I’ve made some friends who’ve been invaluable assets in helping me get this far.

So is my life as a writer ideal? I don’t know a single writer who can say that their lives are ideal. Even the biggest names in the industry are wracked by the usual anxieties, wondering if their work is up to scratch or if people will think their manuscript is sh*t or if they’ll ever live up to their childhood idols or if they’ll sell any copies.

I think for where I am at this point in my career, I’m at a pretty good stage. Would I like things to be better? I don’t know a single writer who wouldn’t want that. But I’m a lot better off than I could be, and I have plenty of space to improve, and the resources and friends to allow me to do that.

So as the weekend creeps nearer, I’m going to work to improve, to write and to publish and be the best I can be.

Good News: The future is open, and my Tarot tells me fortune is headed my way. I’m heading to meet it.

Fishing For Life

Posted: March 30, 2014 in Living and Life, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6

I have a friend who sometimes will go off the Internet for twenty-four hours and will just search the area around her for fun, excitement, stimulating conversation, something new and enjoyable. She calls it “Fishing for Life”, which I think is an appropriate title for what she does. As a college student, I can’t exactly go offline for a full day (what if I miss something important for classes?), but I admire the concept of disconnecting for a little while and going out into the world to enjoy it. And I did a bit of that this weekend.

Yesterday I was at my apartment, and I was going stir-crazy. I’d been cooped in because I had to work on an assignment, and then when I’d tried writing, I’d found myself unable to do it. I just had no motivation to write, I was just too restless. So I basically went on Facebook looking to see if anyone wanted to hang out. A friend of mine was going to a birthday party of a mutual acquaintance of ours, so I decided to buy a gift card and tag along. I ended up having a wonderful evening: over drinks (my lawyers swear non-alcoholic because obviously I’m not old enough to drink) I talked to and met some wonderful people. The birthday boy danced around the house, for some reason wearing a giant lizard suit and officer’s coat (hey it’s his birthday, he should go wild if he wants) and giving hugs to everyone who came. There were two girls who were from a small town about an hour from Columbus, and their high school used to bring in Chinese teachers straight from China just to teach the language. And I met a lovely young woman who shared a love with me for the TV show Hannibal and said she would check out The Following when I told her she looked like one of the characters. It was a wonderful couple of hours, and by the time I got home I was refreshed and relaxed and able to write again.

And then today I went to meditation class. That’s sort of a weekly ritual for me, going downtown on the buses to drop and pick up books at the library and then head up a couple floors to meditate, but today it took on an extra special meaning, as I realized that meeting my meditation group was also a way of fishing for life. And in our small study room, with soft music playing and our minds collectively aimed at clearing ourselves of thoughts and impurities and awakening ourselves, I felt a peace I hadn’t felt in so, so long. Even five or ten minutes after we’d finished meditating, my scalp was still tingling where my seventh chakra was supposed to be. And during the meditation, I had a couple of ideas for stories, one of which reminded me of an Anne Rice or a Dean Koontz story mixed with a manga I read a few years back.

I have to say, I rather enjoyed going out and fishing for life. And when I do it, I feel so much better and things come more easily to me. I guess as much as I like to sit in and work on the next great American Horror novel (or what I hope will be that), I need a certain amount of interaction with other people and in other places in order to write with any sort of competence or joy.

So the next time I feel antsy and can’t write, I’ll see what’s going on in or around campus. I could find a great idea for a story while I’m out and about, and while I’m at it I could find something even greater.

Do you ever go fishing for life? What happened when you did?

Ohm: An Honorable Mention

Posted: March 27, 2014 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
2

Today I received an interesting e-mail from one of the professors in the English department. Some of you may remember Ohm, the short story I wrote about a cult leader who makes up his own brand of meditation and yoga to get money and power. I submitted it to the Jacobson Short Story Award at OSU, hoping that it might do well in the contest and maybe win me a little bit of money for rent purposes.

Today I got the results. While Ohm did not get the first or second prizes, it did get an honorable mention, which is definitely worth celebrating. The person who reviewed Ohm, a novelist and a professor from the University of Colorado, Boulder, said it deserved the honorable mention “for its confident use of language”. Reading that gave me a boost to my own confidence.

I’m glad Ohm got some good recognition, even if it didn’t win the award. I’ll see about getting it in a print magazine, and if that route is unsuccessful, maybe I’ll publish it on WattPad. I won’t know until I try, so I’ll be optimistic and see what opportunities are available.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a big night of writing ahead of me. I hope to have more good news and more posts to write as time goes by. Wish me luck.

I Now Have A Thesis Advisor

Posted: March 25, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
2

As if one piece of great news wasn’t enough for today, I got some more: I finally have a thesis advisor! His name is Professor Martinez, and he’s a professor in the Creative Writing department at Ohio State. I emailed him about 16, 17 days ago (I was emailing just about everyone with a “Professor” title at that point) and got an email back two weeks ago, asking to take a look at some of my material. Today he emailed back and said yes.

I’m very happy about finally finding an advisor. I seriously wanted to do a novel for a thesis for all the benefits it could do for me as well as for the challenge it presented. Unfortunately OSU’s staff tends to be more literary fiction-oriented than genre fiction-oriented. That, and a lot of the teachers I asked were either too busy or uncomfortable with genre fiction or novel writing to work with me. I’m really glad I was able to finally find someone willing to work with me.

Also, it looks like I’ll be working with another student. In the email, Professor Martinez mentioned that I was going to be working with someone named “Paul” and that we’ll be critiquing each other’s work. I have no idea who Paul is or what his work will be like, but I like the idea of working with not one, but two people giving me feedback and helping me shape this novel I want to work on into something great.

Well, that’s all for now. If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know. Wish me luck. I’m going to try and get a grant for the thesis even though the deadline is past to apply (you need a thesis advisor to apply for grants, and I got mine after the deadline). Good night, Followers of Fear.

Coming Out

Posted: March 25, 2014 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
8

This year in Ohio, same-sex marriage is on the ballot. As someone who supports LGBT rights, I’m throwing my support in for anyone who wants to marry someone regardless of their sex. It’s only just right.

But besides that, there’s something else I want to share with you all. I’m bisexual. I’ve been bisexual for nearly 21 years (though I’ve only just recently realized it) and I’ll be bisexual for the rest of my life. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

For those of you who aren’t very well-versed in bisexuality (or in the LGBT community at all, for that matter), this only means that I am attracted to men as well as women. I don’t really have a preference or a set type. All I care about is that I’m happy with the person I’m with and if they’re happy with me. I’m not confused or unsure of which one I really like, as some–even members of the LGBT community–might think. I also am not confused, living a horrid lifestyle, or have the Devil whispering in my ear (I think he’d rather whisper in the ears of Assad or Putin than in mine). It’s a biological trait based on a combination of several genes, and there could be a good argument that it runs in my family.

Also, I’m not oversexed or always looking at guys and girls in a sexual way. If I’m oversexed it’s because I’m a healthy young man in college, and we’re all oversexed to some degree. Also, don’t flatter yourself. I don’t look at every person hoping and praying for a hook-up, including you. I’m not even sure what my type is, so don’t assume you’re it. And I’m also not looking to molest kids or brainwash kids. The monsters who molest kids are only looking for power over victims or because they can’t rise to the occasion (so to speak) with adults, so they target kids. And you can’t brainwash kids to be LGBT: like I said before, it’s genetic. If you’re kid is LGBT, it’s because they were that way at conception. And the more you try to prove me wrong or pray away the gay or whatever, the more you’ll find I’m right.

And the LGBT community is not a cabal or a bunch of bullies. If there’s a cabal, gay marriage would already be legal in every nation on earth and anti-gay rhetoric would result in prison sentences. Also, calling us bullies is saying that a small minority, maybe 10-20% of the population at the most, is more powerful than the heterosexual majority and is able to beat up straight people on the streets. I really don’t think that’s the reality. Do you?

I also don’t let my sexuality define me. I’m not that kid from Glee who everybody identifies as “the gay guy” or “the gay guy with the really high voice”. I identify more with the fact that I’m a horror writer or that I’m Jewish than I do with my sexuality. So if you start calling me “the bisexual horror writer”, I’ll counter that with “I’m a writer that just happens to be attracted to both men and women.” And most people wouldn’t realize my sexuality if they looked at me. They might realize I’m eccentric or not your ordinary college student. But my sexuality? I’d need to reveal it or be detected by an actual gaydar for people to realize it.

How did this post become a testimony for the fallacies with most anti-gay arguments and how people should treat me? I’m not sure, but I want to say that I’m happy to let people know finally about who I am and not have to keep it to myself like a disgusting burp. It’s just who I am, like my being a writer or Jewish or that I can make a conversation amusing and strange with just one sentence. Just one part of being me.

And if you don’t like what I am, if you believe differently about my sexuality, then that’s your choice. Just don’t leave hateful comments or try to tell me I can be cured or that I’m going to Hell. I don’t even believe in Hell! Judaism has no set definition of the afterlife. We’re more likely to be plagued by acid reflux than by an afterlife of fire and brimstone for our transgressions, and I’m already on antacids. But if you want to try to change me or make me feel bad for being who I am, then I don’t think we should associate too much, online or offline.

Finally, I would like to close this post with a big, hearty thank you for all of you who’ve supported me and continue to support me. The love I’ve received and the acceptance of who I am is overwhelming, and I’m happy to be surrounded by so many understanding and loving people. It’s great to be who I am and not punished for it. So I bid you adieu till next time, my Followers of Fear (which might be later today, who knows?). And let me say to all those who are suffering from bigotry, it gets better. Don’t despair, because there are so many people like you and we all love you regardless of who you’re attracted to. All you have to do is reach out, and we’ll be there for you.

In the meantime, please enjoy this awesome video: Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It repeats a lot of what I’ve been saying here, and it is an anthem of love, truth, and hope for so many people out there. Please watch it with me. Thank you.

Getting Reacquainted With Laura Horn

Posted: March 20, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

I just finished going over what I have so far of Laura Horn. I honestly thought it wouldn’t take this long to get through less than twenty chapters, but at least I got it done sooner rather than later. Now I can start working on original material.

For those of you who are not very familiar with my WIP yet, Laura Horn is the story of a girl who inadvertently becomes the one person who can save the United States from forces within its own government. However Laura is a damaged soul, a girl with a traumatic past that often paralyzes her in the face of danger. So in order to save her country’s future, she has to confront her painful past. I came up with the idea for the story by wondering if I could write a genre story where a character with a seriously damaged past could grow in spirit throughout the story and become a hero at the same time. The rest of the story came from that.

I started LH last July but had to put it on hold in October because of an increasing amount of homework and because I was working on Video Rage, the sequel to Reborn City, at the same time. It was just too much to cope with, so I had to cut back (which may have actually added to my stress levels, but that’s a story for another time). When the semester ended in early December, I focused on getting Video Rage done first. Then when I finished that back in January, I worked on several short stories and articles, and finally during spring break I began looking through Laura Horn again.

My first impression going through the first twenty chapters was this: I remembered writing much better prose than what I encountered going through those chapters. Then again, this is a first draft so it’s supposed to suck a little. Anyway, while reading through the early chapters I found myself doing a lot of editing work so that the story would flow better and so that I could continue without obsessing over this or that mistake or inconsistency. At the same time, that extended my rereading of the early chapters so that I ended up needing a few more days to get through the first twenty chapters.

Well, I’m here at this juncture in the writing process now, the point where I can contribute some new original chapters to the manuscript. Better late than never. And now I’m going to reread the outline for the book, and then I’m going to see about starting on the next chapter before I get ready for bed tonight. With any luck, I’ll be able to get a few new chapters of LH done before I leave for my study abroad trip in May (trust me, I won’t be doing a lot of writing or blogging during that time).

Well, wish me luck, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to get back to work now. Have a good night and a great weekend.

Snake: Three Months Away

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
2
Yes, this is the novel's cover layout. What do you think of it?

Yes, this is the novel’s cover layout. What do you think of it?

Hard to believe with the new year already in March (how did that happen?) and so much else going on in my crazy life, but it’s already three months away from when my next novel Snake is released on June 10th. And as I’ve said in previous posts, that’ll be two years to the day I started working on Snake, which is both symbolic and more proof that time just seems to fly by.

For those of you who haven’t become familiar with Snake yet, it is a thriller novel I wrote back in 2012 and which, with the help of author Angela Misri, I edited throughout 2013 and January of 2014. It is the story of a young man who becomes a serial killer in order to save his girlfriend from a powerful organized crime family. It’s definitely one of my darker stories, at times even scaring me. I also think it’s one of my best stories, and I hope people like it and the characters as much as I do. Oh, and there are no actual snakes in the book. I’ve had people tell me they won’t read it just based on that title. I’ve heard you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (especially when it has a naked lady on it) but that’s ridiculous.

If you’d like to read an excerpt of Snake, you can click here to read the first chapter. And if you look below this paragraph, you’ll find the book trailer for Snake, which I created through iMovie after school one day. It’s very dark and gritty, which I think reflects the novel very well.


I’ll bring up Snake again when we get a little closer to the release date. I’m looking forward to it. Are you?

Spring Semester 2014: Half-Time Report

Posted: February 26, 2014 in Living and Life
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

O-H!

It’s Week 8 of the semester, which means it’s time for me to check in and let you all know how I’m doing this semester at Ohio State. And I’m very happy to say, I’m doing extremely well. My classes are all going well, I’m on track for my study abroad trip, I may have a thesis advisor for next year, and work is going very well. Things are great!

First, starting with classes. As I said at the beginning of the semester, I’m taking five courses, four of which are related to my study-abroad trip. Those four courses are a course in American history centering around the period between 1921-1963, a class to learn some basic French, a seminar specializing in World War II-related topics, and a class on French-American relations through the years. I’ve been getting good grades in all of those classes, though the French language class has a lot of words I sometimes have trouble remembering (go figure, and I’m still better at German), and the research seminar requires a lot of reading. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but I need five primary sources and at least five secondary sources for my final paper, which is to be about the Nazi obsession on the occult. I have three secondary and one primary so far. Oy vey.

As for the fifth class, I’m taking a class on Deaf Literature. I thought that would be the class that would be difficult for me (there’s always at least one), but it’s been a delight. The teacher is someone I’ve had before (though she was a TA then), and she even bought a copy of The Quiet Game, definitely a plus. I also got the chance to write a short story for class, which I blogged about in a previous post, and I’ve been really enjoying the material. Heck, I’m learning so much more about Deaf culture than I thought possible. It’s pretty mind-blowing.

As for the study abroad trip, it’s coming along great. I’ve received the itinerary, and this weekend (if I have the chance) I’ll stop by my cellular company’s local store to see whether if it’s better to bring my phone abroad or get a prepaid. It’ll probably be the latter, from the advice I’ve been hearing. Now if only I can win some scholarships, I’ll be in heaven.

For the thesis, I’ve got a novel I want to write, one that’s pure horror and that’s got some great potential. I just need someone to advise me. I’ve got two teachers who may be able to help me. One of them is a teacher I’ve taken a class with before who may be willing to be my advisor, provided he can find the time in his schedule. The other is a teacher whose class I might be taking in the fall (provided she likes the pieces I sent her). She seemed open to working with me, so hopefully she’ll be willing to work with me.

And finally, for work I got my first raise. It’s not much, about twenty-five cents more per hour, but it’ll help a little with expenses. And I hope in the future I’ll be able to get some more raises in the future.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be doing another semester update after I get my final grades back. And now if you’ll need me, I’ll be working on a short story. Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

The Story Must Come Before The Theme

Posted: February 18, 2014 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

This evening I went to a very interesting meeting of Ohio State’s Science Fiction Club (a whole other blog post to discuss what we talked about), and I got inspired for a few stories and articles. As I walked home from the meeting, I had another idea for an article, which you’re reading now.

As I walking home from Campbell Hall, enjoying the slightly warmer-than-usual weather and listening to heavy metal on my iPod (the mood music I usually listen to when I’m thinking or brainstorming), I was musing on the sorts of stories I tend to write, which ones were good and which ones were terrible, and what differentiated them. I realized something then: one thing that separated some of my good stories from my bad stories is which comes first, the plot or the theme.

Let me explain what I mean: when I first came up with the concept for Reborn City, it started as a simple gangster story with a science fiction twist. I had no idea of what the story would be like beyond that. I wanted it to be more adventure than explanation of scientific theory, I wanted excitement and sci-fi wackiness and life-or-death fights and maybe some sex (which got cut out after the first draft because it just didn’t fit the plot of the story). All the themes that ended up being woven into the story–the struggles and problems of gang life, Islamaphobia and racism, drug abuse, etc.–were woven in at a much later stage, though they became part of the story well before I started actually writing it.

On the other hand, there have been some short stories–which I don’t want to name–where I write them with the specific intention that they represent a theme or an idea. One early sci-fi story from high school about two technicians on a spaceship was meant to reflect on the loneliness of space travel and of isolation. Another was meant to be a ridicule of patriarchal values in society. And there are a few more I could mention, but let me just summarize by saying they were all conceived with a theme first that subjugated the story to the theme.

Apparently for me that latter approach doesn’t really work. The words feel all wrong and forced when I write like that and I find it difficult to make the story move forward.  And I realized as I walking home, past the library and towards the north end of campus, that my best stories are written when I focus more on the plot rather than any significant meaning behind the story. If the story itself is compelling, then the rest will follow, including any very deep themes.

I’m going to have to keep this in mind when I write stories in the future. And if I do end up writing a story where plot is subjugated to theme, at least it’ll be a good learning experience for me on what stories I shouldn’t write and how to avoid writing those sort of stories. I’m sure that there are plenty of authors who can write those stories and do it well (for some reason I’m thinking Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and plenty of other authors I’ve been assigned to read in my high school and college careers), but apparently I’m not one of them.

But in the end is that not surprising? People who love genre fiction, especially the sort of fiction I write, don’t necessarily read a story because they’re looking for a story that exposes the mindset of a battered woman or because they want an allegorical tale of small towns haunted by ghosts representing the ills of ignorance and a narrow-minded worldview. No, they want a story that scares them, and if the themes in the story make you think as well facilitate the whole scaring part of the story, then great. And since this is what I do when I read a story–to look for a good time, not for a deep meaning–it makes sense that my best fiction comes from focusing on the story rather than on what the story means.

Do you ever have problems with this? What are your thoughts on the subject?

BuckeyeThon 2014: We Are The Cure

Posted: February 16, 2014 in Living and Life, Social Activism
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
6

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, last night was BuckeyeThon, a twelve hour dance marathon that aims to raise money for cancer research, specifically research that benefits children. I went last night, full of energy, hope and excitement. I came away with my back in a bit of pain and so ready for an 8-hour nap (which I took). But it’s one of the best experiences going to BuckeyeThon. You get to dance your ass off, you meet some of the kids you’ve raised money and danced for, and you get to participate in the biggest fundraising dance marathon of its kind in the country! There’s nothing like the high of knowing that.

And I’m serious about the biggest marathon of its kind in the country. BuckeyeThon 2014 is estimated to have drawn upwards of 3600 participants this year, each fundraising at least a hundred dollars and many going well beyond that (I aimed for two-thousand but didn’t make it). It’s pretty amazing.

I can’t go into everything that happened last night, but I’ll give some of the highlights and a few photos too, plus a video. First let me tell you that the people who go to BuckeyeThon are divided into color-themed teams. I was on the Blue Team this year, and I dressed the part.

Allons-y!

Allons-y!

Some of you are thinking, What is he dressed up as? Others are thinking, Is he holding a sonic screwdriver? And one or two of you are thinking Go Michigan! I’m going to ignore the people thinking the last one and explain: I went last night as the Blue Doctor (please somebody be thinking, Blue Doctor? WHO is that?) Besides showing how overly obsessed with Doctor Who I am, I think the Doctor would totally get into something like this, which is why I went as him…if he were me and on the Blue Team. But hey, I was wearing a blue bowtie and had a sonic screwdriver and I was TARDIS blue the whole night. It kind of worked.

South Six 5. Don't let the Bieber hair full you, they're much better than him.

South Six 5. Don’t let the Bieber hair full you, they’re much better than him.

And we had a wild night. There was a whole lot of dancing, there was a rave DJ at one point, a dance instructor who sent women and some men into frenzies with his dancing which we were supposed to imitate, a concert with local band South Six 5 (check out photo) and a morale dance, which is like a huge flash mob we learn the steps to throughout the night.

And at around 8 in the morning, we broke with a singing of the school song Carmen Ohio before going home to sleep and let the second shift have their party (did I mention that there are two shifts to this thing? Half the dancers take one 12-hour shift overnight, the other half have a 12-hour shift over the course of Saturday). After I got home and showered, I slept till about five in the afternoon, got up, and ate, did some homework, cleaned my room (it needed it), and then went back to the Union where all this takes place.

There we heard stories from the families of the kids we were helping to cure, as well as some of the people who helped organize and set up BuckeyeThon, as well as other dance marathons from around the country. And we heard a story from a man who helps set up dance marathons across the country. He told us about a kid he knew who had survived cancer and had been in and around these dance marathons for a good chunk of his life. The kid said something like this: “When I was growing up, I heard we were in the generation that would find the cure for cancer. It’s not true: we are the cure for cancer.” Hearing that was pretty spectacular, and it’s kind of true. Even if we’re not doctors or nurses or chemists coming up with new drugs and treatments or monitoring these kids heart rates, we have been instrumental in creating the means to cure cancer. It’s really amazing.

This photo is actually from the start of Buckeyethon, but whatever. You get the point.

This photo is actually from the start of Buckeyethon, but whatever. You get the point.

And then, in the packed Union (see that photo to the right), we learned how much we made. Slowly, the number was revealed on big sheets of cardboard: $767, 227.78. That’s nearly $150,000 m0re than last year’s amount! And I was so happy to have been part of that, even if my donations weren’t as high as some others (one girl raised $15,000 on her own. What is her secret?).

And now that I’ve said all that, I’d like to thank everyone who donated to me to support BuckeyeThon and the kids we helped. I was really a great experience and I was so happy to have so many people supporting me and to be with so many amazing people last night. I hope I can count on you all next year, when I do it again for the last time around. Hopefully I won’t cry too much when it happens.

Oh, lastly I want to show you the morale dance. Looks like someone posted a video of it this morning. Actually it’s the morale dance competition, when the various teams send two representatives to compete in doing the entire morale dance in front of the entire room. I got to represent the blue team, which was quite fun. You don’t see much of me in the video (mostly my arm) but you get to see the first-place and third-place teams do it, and it’s pretty fun to watch. Check it out.

That’s all for now. I’ll post more photos on my Facebook page and Twitter feed tomorrow. Until then, goodnight Followers of Fear.

Older Entries
Newer Entries