I Missed You!

Hello friends! It's been ages, I know. Life has been a little crazy: school, work, possibly moving to a new state, and a new crush. All my spare time has been thrown towards a short story I'd like to turn in for my creative writing class. But I'm hoping this week will slow down a bit and I'll be able to re-enter the world of blogging. I've been lurking lately, but I have a lot to catch up on. After I turn in a paper today that'll be my first priority.

So, here's what's been going on in the world of Sarah:

Sir Eliot: Yesterday I had a one on one conference with Sir Eliot and, surprise! I did not want to lay face down in frost bitten grass and curse the moment I decided to pursue writing. He was actually fairly encouraging and genuinely happy to hear I was a creative writing major. I told myself I didn't need his approval to feel validated, but I'll be honest, it felt pretty damn good.

Music: I went to a Hanson concert last week. And OHMUGAWSH. It was amazing. Yes, I'm talking about these guys. They are actually really talented musicians these days. Here's one of their more recent songs:

Also, I'm digging Sherwood's new album, QU. It took me a while, but now I can't stop listening to it. I suggest you do the same.

A New Plan: Recently I read a post on Elise's blog about her new, fabulous plan for 2010. It got me thinking. This whole "live in the moment" experiment I've been trying lately is simply boring. I know, I know, all the yogis and Dali Lamas say that the present is a gift and that we should bask in it. But making plans for the future is just too much fun.

So Elise's blog got me thinking I need a new plan. But that's about as far as I got as life decided to stand in the limelight for a while. And then it was Halloween. What a waste of my time. I spent months sewing this dress that didn't come out like I wanted, my friends were being weird, the parties we went to were lame. I climbed into my bed around 3, completely sober, thinking that I am not living a good story. That's my new experiment, the way I'm going to make my "present" worth something. But more on that on day, I'm still working out the kinks.

The Monday after Halloween weekend, my boss looked at me very seriously and said they were thinking about moving to Austin, and would I come along. I think she was hoping I would be the voice of reason and say no and then list all the logical reasons why they shouldn't move either. But I didn't. I mean part of me wanted to, but that part was very quiet and new better than to speak up. The reckless part of me, that usually gets me into the most fun/trouble said "Yes!"

That was my inciting incident. Technically an inciting incident is this:

"The inciting incident is a plot element and arrives near the beginning of the drama. It can be long or short and connects the situation that the characters find themselves at the beginning or before the play begins to the end of the play. It begins the action and also sets up the main question (Motivating Question) that the audience wants the play to answer. The focus, therefore, is both on the character and audience suspense."

If I am going to live my life like a well loved novel, this is my chance to get it started. It's the start of my drama, a young girl moving to a new state where she hardly knows anyone, pursuing her dream and not knowing where it will take her. I'll be one step closer to finding the answer to that "motivating question." Why am I on this Earth and what am I supposed to be doing?

Austin is an amazing art town with creative types running around everywhere. Seems like I'll fit in well. If any of you lovely readers are from Austin, have any tips? I hear the college campus there has a turtle pond. I'm hoping this turns out to be as awesome as it sounds.

It's not for sure yet, but I feel like it's a very VERY good possibility. But told tell anybody. It's totally top secret for now ;)

A New Leading Man (maybe): And because every good story has a bit of conflict in it (ok, a LOT of conflict), my first hurdle has appeared. There is this boy, let's call him Mr. Nice Guy. He's a friend of a friend and we met a few years ago when we were both in the music program. Back then I was a little out of control when it came to the opposite sex. I mean, I'm still a little nutty, but it's nothing compared to then. Somehow I acquired his number and would invite him to random outings. He worked at the Starbucks by my house and I would go in when I knew he was working. He saw through it all, of course. Disastrous is really the only word for it all. So I'm trying to be the polar opposite of that. So far I haven't stalked him at all so I'm already improving from last time.

I hadn't seen him in at least a year and a half and had pretty much forgotten about him. A few weeks ago, though, I ran into him at a friend's birthday party. He looked completely different. I mean, he was attractive back then, total hipster and definitely what I was into back in the day. But now he's shaved the scraggily beard and cut off the fashionable mullet. Definitely what I'm into these days. The one resounding thing I've heard about him from mutual friends is what an incredibly nice guy he is. I've even asked my most cynical friends who don't like ANYBODY what they think of him. Yep, even they think he's amazing.

We hung out a bit last night with a group of friends. My chest cavity hurts now. I so do not want to have a crush on this guy. Because I don't crush, I obsess. And I told myself that after Mr. Long Distance I would take a leave of absence from the dating world to recuperate.

And let's just say for all intensive purposes something did conjure up between us. I may be in a different state as soon as August. Bad timing, universe. Terrible timing.

{image from here and here}