cas42

...by saying "Do your worst!!!" That's just asking for trouble. Really. You'd think I know better by now...

Since my last journal post I have had my workload at work increase two fold, I had had to hospitalize my mother several times for believing that there were people living with in her walls. (Which believe me has given me about a dozen incredibly evilly creepy story ideas) My mother had to then come to live with me for a few weeks, while we searched and waited for an opening at a long term care facility...

And right now I am sleeping on the floor at my mother in law's because were are in the process of trying to sell our our house and move to a school district where the teachers don't flip out at the students when they point out their mistakes in the math homework... and the real estate agent has convinced us that in order to seel we need to hae the whole interior remodeled. (sigh)

One day my life will be calm again... until then I apologize for all the tags, contests, stories, birthdays and whatnot I am letting slip by...

Still writing KCC though... I guess that counts for something... There's a new chapter up...

As always, thanks for reading!

-C

So... my mundane oppressive adulthood and all of the responsibilities that entails...

You thought you could best me eh?
Crush my creativity with legions of middle managers?
Drag me down into a never ending quagmire of meetings with financial people who can't spare a penny for research, but can easily scrape up a million or two for imported Italian marble floors?
Eat up hours of my free time trying to inform CEOs of random Biotech companies that shouting does not magically make the science happen faster.

You thought you could make me give up on my hobby... Deny my art... didn't you?

Didn't you!?!

Heh-heh
Ha ha ha ha...
AHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

It took me eight long months... I had to write it in every spare moment I had... Page by page... sentence by sentence... But I kept at it... I persevered!!!!

So do your worst... Do you hear me adulthood? Do your worst... You cannot make me quit. I will keep going until I finish this story... or they pry the keyboard from my cold, dead hands!!!!

(Ahem)

So... I finally got the next chapter of KCC up... (cough cough...)

Um... how's everyone else dong? Good I hope?

I'll uh... just get back to writing now... um... Yeah...

As always, thanks for reading.

-Cas

So...

Every Monday in school, my daughters get a list of words they are supposed to learn to spell, and learn the meanings of. Then, on Friday they have to take a spelling test and hand in a short paragraph that uses at least five of the words for the week...

So I just got back last weeks writing assignment and I felt the sudden urge to share... You'll see why...

Just to make things clear, The writing assignment is in normal text, Spelling words are underlined, Teacher's comments are in italics, and my daughter's return comments are in bold face.

Ready? Here it goes:

*******

I think boys are tiresome. They are the lamest people on earth. Girls on the other hand are graceful, elegant, and tranquil. Not all girls are like that though. Some are tough and better than boys. The best part about girls is that we don't have cooties. Also boys are disgusting. Girls rule boys drool!

You might have a different opinion some day

NAA

*******

So... (ahem) How 'bout that Naruto chapter 699 and 700?

We get a fourth war that ends (finally) We get a final (yet suspiciously sudden) vision that Sasuke is on the side of the angels once more...

And then we jump into the future where everyone has grown up, gotten old, gotten surprisingly chubby (Anko? Is that really you?!?) partnered up (Does anyone know who the cat lady with Kiba is?) or managed to reproduce in some way, shape, or form. (With Lee, I'm suspecting it might be fission... Seriously, can't we get a hint at who his kid's mother is?)

Don't think I don't see what you're doing here Kishimoto-sensei, You're not the only one who can use the literary technique of jumping some inordinate amount of time into the future and then telling how everyone got there by judicious use of flashbacks... I have to admit I am more intersted in seeing 'The Last' now...

But I gotta say... I've kinda got mixed feelings about the Naruto ending.

Lets be honest, in the last... Oh, hundred chapters or so, there have been quite a few that were... thin on plot and heavy on the eye candy. It's almost as if Michael Bay took over the writing. So all things considered, It seemed to wrap up satisfactorily (if a little too quickly...)

But at the same time.. It's been eight years since I started reading / watching Naruto... And I am sad to see it go.

Anyway...

Ignoring all my nostalgia, there's a question I wanted to ask you guys:

I've heard some rumors that the Naruto Story is going to continue into a part three... a Next Generation if you will. And well, I'm a little apprehensive about that because I've spent God only knows how many man hours writing an obscenely long Naruto Next Gen fanfic... and now the Author himself of Naruto is going to do the same thing... only his is... well... by definition, cannon...

So here's the question: Is it worth continuing Konoha Children's Crusade?

Three years ago when I started KCC, I thought Naruto would never end, and that even if it did, I had a great shot at it being set far enough into the future that I'd be able to play around with stuff. Now it seems like I'm going to be butting heads with 'cannon' more than I already am...

Does that matter? Does that make the story less appealing? Is Naruto 'done' anyway?




Should I just quit wasting my time whining and write the next chapter already?




I've given it some small thought... and I've narrowed down my choices to three options:

1) Continue writing KCC as if nothing happened. Blinders On! Full speed ahead!

2) Bail on KCC. Publish all my note and outlines so those who read it and want to know how everything comes out can spoil themselves silly... and move on to new works. I still want to work on 'Behind Every Hero' and I have ideas for other stuff...

3) Give KCC the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' treatment... And no, I do not mean fill it with explicit bondage scenes. Change the names, change the settings, change the world, and just keep on going...

Yeah... I don't know what to do. Part of the problem is that there is a giant sucking sound where my free time used to be. Work has gone insane, the lab needs money, I'm working late and in meetings to beg for funding all the time. I don't have the time to write everything I want to... So I just want to ask you guys outright... (Because let's face it, you are my audience) Is finishing KCC worth my time and energy now that Naruto has moved on?

I'd be really interested in hearing your opinion. But, regardless of whether you answer or not, thanks for reading this long winded ramble.

-Cas

PS- On a completely unrelated note: If you are interested in commissioning some art, buying jewelry, or just helping out a good cause, you should head on over to 's dA homepage. She's holding an impromptu fundraiser so she can cover the veterinary bills for her adorable french bulldog. is a jeweler by trade and she is auctioning off some rather nice, personal pieces of hers. Also several of her friends have offered sketches and pictures to anyone who donates... Go check it out!

So... Yeah... I got tagged... again... and it has been a while since I've written anything in the old journal so I figured... Eh... why not. Nothing like barring the soul in an embarrassingly public way.

You may all blame for the horrors you are about to read...

Rules

1. You must include the rules in your journal.
2. List five random things about yourself.
3. Answer questions the tagger asked you.
4. Choose five people to tag in your journal and ask them five questions.

Five Random Facts about me:

1: When I was nineteen years old I spent the entire summer shlepping around the wilds of Alaska marking bald eagle nesting sites for Alaska's Dept. of Fish and Game... Best summer I ever had in my life

2:The worst thing I have ever eaten was an authentic French Andouille sausage... To this day I firmly believe that these things should be banned under the Geneva convention.

3:I adhere to the Stanislavsky theory of writing... That is, I'm usually incorporating my own life experience into my characters to help me identify with them better. (For example, that opening moment in Three little Kittens where Mizako and Ay are 'playing house' was one of them... One summer during college, my then girlfriend was house sitting for one of her professors. It was our first experience 'living together' with a member of the opposite sex. It was an awkward but very educational experience... and yes there was a humorous interruption of a very intimate moment When one of the professor's neighbors stopped by to ask if my girlfriend would be interested in watching her horse while she went on vacation. We neglected to lock the front door and the neighbor just wandered right in. Like Mizako, my girlfriend did indeed throw a blanket over my head and pretended that no one could possibly detect that I also happened to be in the bedroom.)

4:The three people who made it on to my 'Celebrity Freebie list' (That list of famous people you are 'allowed' to have a one night stand with once you get married) are Summer Glau, Tatiana Maslany, and pre-nose job Scarlett Johanssen (Why Scarlett? WHY?!? You had such an air of authentic beauty about you... now you just look generically hot! Smoking hot, I will grant you, but still...)

5:The first cartoon character I ever had the hots for was Velma from Scooby Doo. (And this was the old school Velma mind you...) The first anime character I ever had the hots for was probably Lisa Hayes from the old Robotech series. (I'm dating myself here... I know)

's questions:

1/ What do you think is more likely to happen, zombie apocalypse or alien invasion?
Zombie apocalypse. I don't see how an alien invasion could be feasible without FTL travel... and once you have FTL travel, there's bound to be tons of easier ways to get what you want without attacking earth. On the other hand... If those hypothetical aliens think a lot like humans... we're doomed. There won't be an invasion. They'll just give us Alien syphilis and Alien smallpox laden blankets... and that will be the end of us.

2/ What is your fave food?
Burritos. I love Mexican food. The only thing stopping me from eating it all the time is the fact that my wife and kids and probably even my dog would leave me.

3/ Stranded on a desert island: name one object (no bigger than fist sized), one person, and one book you take with you.
Ah... Now you see, my answer very much depends on what sort of desert island we're talking about here... Are we talking Bear Grylls style "eating raw fish, drinking your own urine, and weaving shelters out of palm fronds" type of desert island, or are we talking a "Jungle paradise / Blue lagoon" style desert island where you lounge about eating lush fruit, diving into clear pools fed by sparkling waterfalls, drinking coconut milk and (ahem) 'frolicking' with the person of your choice?

So on island type A: a Swiss Army knife (the swisschamp one), Bear Grylls, and the SAS survival guide

on Island B: A bottle of sandalwood massage oil, Summer Glau, and a copy of "The Dummy's Guide to picking up Celebrities you find yourself trapped on a desert island with."

4/ Are you the kind of person who would shave his/her head on a spur of the moment/ bet thing?
Spur of the moment? No. No no no no no. I sunburn on a cloudy day. Being bald is just asking for trouble. For a bet? Maybe... What do I get if I win?

5/ would you rather speak all te langages of the world or play of any kind of musical instrument to perfection?
Languages. Music is great and all, but it doesn't tell you where the local bathroom is.

My Questions:

Aaron Sorkin said: Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.

Some might argue I'm twice the thief because most of what I write is fanfiction

Anyway, as I'm writing, I find it helps for me to read something in the same vein as what I'm writing, just to get the mood set in my head... ie if I want witty social commentary, I'll read Terry Pratchett. A big battle coming up? I pull out Bernard Crornwell. If I'm killing off a major character? George R R Martin... get the idea?

So here's what I would like. the names of Five books (all different authors if you can, please) that totally blew your mind... books that gave you that Keanu Reeves "Whoa." face

Bonus points if they are books that "everybody" doesn't know about... Try to stay away from the blockbusters... ie no Game of Thrones, no Hunger Games Trilogy (sorry ) I want to read the lesser known stuff that inspires people out there. I need some suggestions.

People I'm tagging:

I hate this part... as usual I am completely unmotivated to tag people. I am the place where tags go to die it seems... If you feel like being tagged, then by all means... walk into my outstretched hand and be tagged.

-Cas