I went to a new library yesterday in order to pick up a copy of "No Plot? No Problem!" by Chris Baty, so I'll be prepared for the madness to come in November. If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's the book that Michael S. picked up which convinced him to try to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. I'm only on page 26, but it's already improved my attitude in regards to writing and to the November NaNoWriMo project. I'm even more excited about it now than I was before.

Sorry, I'm having trouble concentrating on this. The guy behind me is playing a Justin Timberlake song on his computer really loudly. It's not because he likes it; it's because it's incredibly cheesy. Or maybe he likes it *because* it's cheesy. I'm not really sure. Oddly enough, this flows seamlessly with the state of my head this morning.

One of the other books I picked up at the library - because I lose all self-control when I get into a library, and these local crack-dealers let you check out something like up to 100 items at a time (I kid you not) - is "jPod" by Douglas Coupland. I picked it up under the justification that it would put me into the right frame of mind to work on my Critical Studies project (more on that in a second). I also remembered liking the last Coupland book I read, "Microserfs," and I thought that the quirky postmodern writing style that Coupland uses might stimulate my writing-creativity. Apparently, I need all the help I can get in that area, since I can't come up with a more descriptive English word that means "writing-creativity."

Anyway, "jPod" is basically like "The Office" on a cold-medicine buzz. In that kind of uneasy good way, how you know you probably shouldn't be enjoying your buzz because it's probably the result of an overdose and thus the doorway to harder stuff, but it still feels kind of good anyway because you're all relaxed and mellow and laughing. If you've never read Coupland before, his style is a little difficult for me to describe to you (at least at the moment), but it's one of those things that you either really like or really hate. It's saturated in pop-culture references and characters that seem randomly-generated from a series of tables but nonetheless sound a little like people you might know. "jPod" is much funnier than "Microserfs," though, which makes me glad - "Microserfs" was a bit depressing. "jPod" probably will end up being so - if you've seen "The Office," you probably have some idea of what I mean - but I'm only on page 104, so it's only occasionally poignant, and even then those moments are quickly followed by a punchline. It's also a good read for me right now because it deals with some of the same issues I've been thinking of: diversions, the effect of technology and pop culture and mind-dulling affluence on human discourse, aspirations, and motivation.

My teacher just used the word "smoothment." He was trying to say "smooth movement," but he's at the end of a trying animation project, he's tired, and he says he wants to be drunk. So he blended the words together. We all think it's fantastic, and plan to use it in the future.

Edit: I almost forgot - my Critical Studies project. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure whether I've already mentioned it on the blog or not. If I did, well, you're going to hear about it again. I'm exploring two ideas: 1) that science fiction is, as one author claimed, "the People's fiction," because it deals with issues of significance to all people, being the business of exploring and suggesting ethics based on the logical extension of our current societal and technological trends; and 2) the idea of comic books being "disposable" entertainment. Thus, I'm creating a sci-fi minicomic that I'm going to hand out to random people on the bus, while asking them their opinions on comics in general. Anyway, the sci-fi story I'm working on is a story I've been calling "Ad Creep" - a term used to describe the slow but steady encroachment of advertising into venues not related to what's being sold; for example, newspaper and car commercials mixed in with trailers at the movie theater. The setting of the story takes that phenomenon to its extreme end, infiltrating every aspect of people's lives. The story is still in its adolescence on paper, but it's essentially about how two people, longing for romantic companionship, miss each other completely because they're so distracted by advertising. The more I think about it, the more it morphs into entertainment-based technology in general rather than just advertising (though in the ideal Madison Avenue Singularity Point, I imagine they would be seamlessly blended). Anyway, the point is that people miss out on something meaningful because they're so busy being entertained.

I hope it's good. It'll be short, I can tell you that much.