So, I'm 5 weeks into my expedition, and I'm slowly starting to fall apart. Hopefully I'll be better next week.. being without access and incommunicado is proving to be stressful. Mostly because it's so hard to really dump my thoughts and, as such, they've kind of been piling up. Financially, this week is my last great hump. I will owe $350 in rent later this week, and that will pretty much devour my paycheck. Luckily, the rest of my bills are paid up until at least mid-April, so the paycheck after that will grant me some breathing room to lift myself out of the small bits of debt I've built up. Were I a religious man, I would be praying that McGraw-Hill will allow me to return. That is a stable job, that pays reasonably, and would let me erase the rest of my small debt. It's almost frightening at how painful less than $1,000 in debt can really be. As it is, it's my cross to bear and I like to imagine I've done so at least somewhat reasonably. I've been writing, a fair bit. I've got pretty solid ideas for each continent, as well as some major points of history for the world. One of my largest stumbling blocks has been myself. I'm hesitant to really write much about the world without having a strong map of it in my hands, and I've decided to use Fractal Mapper to do so. As it is, I don't have that program nor will I for at least another month. I've been slogging through it, though, putting together strong general concepts about each continent as well as basic religions and whatnot.
On a somewhat brighter side of life, I should be getting my new cellphone and a Buspass within 3 or 4 business days. The Pugetpass, as they call it, is for $1.50/trip, cost $54 and lasts until April 30th. So that will eliminate the rest of my commuting costs. In lieu of my writing, I purchased a smaller-than-normal-but-larger-than-my-moleskine notebook to keep at home. It holds the body of my significant writing, with my moleskine possessing most of my notes, as it travels everywhere with me. Also, dear friends, know that I already have two and a half stories brewing in my mind. Jared' s been proving invaluable in this whole process, as he's been helping flesh out ideas and seed whole new ones. I'll even be stealing a handful of his characters! Hah! I suspect James will also prove useful, once I return.
Alas, time is short here and I must return home. Much love, and no worries!
Contemplations of a Tainted Mind