Page 3 of 24

ROW80: The Power Of The Force

Happy Sunday, friends! As you can see, I’m all about the power of the Force this weekend. My friends and I are going to see the Star Wars exhibit at the San Jose Tech Museum in a couple of weeks, so I’m fixing a few holes in my nerd cred and finally watching the original 3 films. Not sure why it took so long for me to get around to doing this, but I’m glad it’s finally happening!

This week I had the chance to hit up the California Academy of Sciences‘ weekly 21+up event, “Nightlife,” for the first time in a couple of months. Nightlife is the only event in the San Francisco Bay Area with music, creatures, cocktails, and science–definitely my idea of the perfect night out. As always, the creatures were out in full force, with butterflies flitting about the rainforest…

…tropical fish floating about in their tank…

…a brightly colored lizard, who left his perch to peer a bit more closely at me…

…a sleepy frog…

…and some very industrious leafcutter ants.

IMG 6234 from Lena Corazon on Vimeo.

I’m feeling a bit like those ants right now: running to and fro, sometimes in the wrong direction, with a giant leaf that’s several times larger than my body weight on my shoulder. I’d like to think that I’m getting things done (honestly, just checking in feels like a huge accomplishment, so I am going to congratulate myself and tell myself that it is), but some days the things I finish hardly seem proportional to the things left languishing on my to-do list.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? I just purchased a handy weekly planner in the hopes that having something tangible will make it easier to schedule the few free hours that I have each day. It’ll arrive eventually; in the meantime, I’m trying to check in with myself every couple of days, if not daily.

Progress, hey-o!

Dissertation:

Dissertation Chapter: I’m iiiinching my way along with this chapter. I printed the current draft (9 pages long, lots of gibberish), and I’ve got some notes on how to refine the outline. I also bought a copy of sociologist Patricia Wittberg’s book FROM PIETY TO PROFESSIONALISM–AND BACK?: TRANSFORMATIONS OF ORGANIZED RELIGIOUS VIRTUOSITY. While it’s a study of current Catholic women religious (unlike my historical study), she utilizes the sociology of organizations and institutional logics, the perspective I’m attempting to apply to my project. I read sixty pages this week; the goal for next week is to read another three chapters.
Dissertation Data: I haven’t gotten around to looking at all the data I’ve collected, but I’ll be in the archive next weekend doing a bit more collecting. To prepare, this week I’ll be reading up on the overall history of the religious order, the Sisters of the Holy Family. Cool story: they were the only religious order to be founded in the US, west of the Mississippi River.

Creative Writing:

Writing: Nothing new in terms of fiction or poetry. I’m halfway through Chapter 14 of TELL ME NO LIES, and I’ve been trying to fix the outline. I’m merging multiple drafts into one, and I still can’t decide what I want to keep and what needs to be discarded. This week, I’d like to have a chapter outline complete.
Reading: I finished ALL THE PATHS OF SHADOW by Frank Tuttle, and ohhhhh. Can we talk about a book that just left me devastated when I was done? Not because of some horribly sad ending, but because it was lovely, and wonderful, and it made me feel. The novel is fantasy with steampunk touches, and gave me lots to think about in terms of the fantasy/steampunk hybrid novel I worked on for NaNoWriMo 2012. This week I’ll read CHASING THE STAR GARDEN by Melanie Karsak.

So that’s me this week! Be sure to wave a friendly hello to all the other ROWers participating this week.

As a fun aside, and in keeping with the Star Wars theme, I leave you with the greatest comedy sketch of all time: Eddie Izzard’s “Death Star Canteen” sketch from his stand-up show, Circle (2000). Some brilliant person with way too much time on their hands rendered the entire thing in Lego, and it is glorious. Warnings for strong language (multiple f-bombs, etc.). Oh, and don’t eat or drink anything while watching. 😛

ROW80: Back In The Saddle

March 2, 2014 / Lena Corazon / 11 Comments

It’s been a long, long, long time since I’ve written a blog post–about 3.5 months, to be exact. The last year has been a wild, wacky, weird, intense one, without much room or space for writing, blogging, or doing anything beyond the day-to-day. But now that I’ve stopped having nightmares about the day job, and given that I’m finally in the process of creating some routine in my life, I feel like it’s finally time to get back in the saddle.

So here I am! I’ve missed the ROW80 community while I’ve been away, and I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to.

Yesterday I headed to San Francisco’s Old Mint, where all the gold was stored in the days before Fort Knox. The occasion: the Fourth Annual SF History Expo. Talk about a history lover’s paradise! There were dozens of organizations represented, like the California Historical Society (based in SF, with archives that are free and open to the public), the GLBT Historical Society, and tons of neighborhood-based historical orgs, which were some of my favorites.

San Francisco Old Mint (Photo credit: www78)

I signed up for way too many email lists, found a ton of events that I’m dying to attend in the next few months (the best: a sea chantey sing-along event held aboard a historical ship), and gained a ton of momentum to continue work on my dissertation and my steampunk novel. After all, they’re both based on San Francisco history. Maybe one day I’ll have a booth of my own at one of these events. 😀

With that, here are my goals for the rest of Round 1:

Dissertation:

Complete one chapter of my dissertation by the end of Round 1.
Create a working inventory of data sources.
Hammer out a coding scheme for data sources.

Creative Writing:

Write five new chapters of TELL ME NO LIES.
Write five poems.
Read four novels.

And that’s it. Short, sweet, and hopefully attainable. I’m aiming to check in for ROW80 once a week, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll start writing non-ROW80 posts as well.

So yay! With that, I’m off to check in with the rest of this week’s ROW80 participants.

ROW80: All About Baby Steps

November 10, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 7 Comments

Happy Sunday, folks! It’s evening here in San Francisco, and I am feeling very thankful that I have tomorrow off. I’ve been a little out of sorts the last few weeks, in that odd, uncomfortable, disjointed period that accompanies all transitions. Creating the space to have daily “me” time has been difficult, but I’m taking baby steps to get there! I’ve promised myself that I’m not going to leave the house at all tomorrow, which should give me a chance to work and rest.

I declared my intentions to participate in NaNoWriMo on Wednesday, but I’m not attacking my WIP with nearly the same sort of vigor as I have in years past. The act of writing after being silent for so many weeks is a decidedly strange feeling. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching words form and drop onto the page, and it’s a little crazy to see tiny ideas growing, connecting, deepening, expanding. It almost makes me feel like I am a beginner all over again, but a beginner in the best of ways: able to appreciate the magical alchemy of the creative process, to feel inspired (and, to a certain extent, humbled) by the story being woven out of thin air.

My writing ambitions received a bit of a boost this week with a shipment in the mail from The Goulet Pen Company, an awesome company that sells fountain pens, inks, paper, and tons of other supplies.

My first shipment from Goulet Pens.

I received an Ahab Flex Nib pen by Noodler’s Ink, along with five ink samples as part of their monthly “Inkdrop” subscription. I’ve just filled the pen with my favorite peacock blue ink, and whee! I am going to have fun working through the next set of scenes for THE GILDED CAGE.

Practicing my autograph with my new Ahab flex pen by Noodler’s, filled with Pilot Iroshizuku’s “Ku-Jaku” ink.

With that, here’s how I’ve progressed over the last few days:

DISSERTATION:
I only worked one day this week (Tuesday), but I made a teeny bit of progress on the very-overdue-proposal. More to come tonight, and lots more tomorrow.

CREATIVE WRITING:
Writing happened on two days this week, for the grand total of 2 hours, which technically satisfies my goal. I’d like to transition to writing as close to every day as possible, though, but baby steps, etc. Because I’ve done some writing by hand, I’m not quite sure what my total word count is, but it’s probably somewhere around 2,500. Again: baby steps.

EXERCISE:
My mom and I went for a walk + a bit of jogging twice this week, so yay! This week I’d like to add in a 3rd day of working out on my glider, but we’ll see…

-oOo-

With that, I hope everyone has a wonderful week! So far mine is shaping up to be a quiet one, with Monday’s holiday, though I will be putting in a few extra hours at work to tackle a big project. But as we move closer to Thanksgiving, I have to say that I am so very, very grateful for this community. Be sure to swing by and give a word of encouragement or two to the other ROWers who are checking in this week!

ROW80: Hey, Ho, NaNoWriMo!

November 6, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 11 Comments

It’s been a wild and wacky few months in my life, with the shifts and changes that come along with transition periods. I’m still struggling to find a sense of balance, or at least a routine that can anchor me and give me a sense of stability. Even after two-and-a-half months at the day job, I find that I have little energy for exercise, blogging, research, or creative writing. Establishing the foundation of a routine is my goal for this final round of ROW80 for 2013.

Before I get to my ROW80 plan, a confession: One of the reasons why I’ve been so drained of time and energy is because I’ve been cramming random adventures and excursions into my day. In the last week, I saw both Stroke 9 (one of my favorite late-90s rock bands) and Sarah Brightman in concert, and kinda-sorta met Veronica Roth, author of the DIVERGENT series, when she was in San Francisco on her book tour for ALLEGIANT. Oh, and I dressed up like a pirate, took a ride in 1953 Corvette, and started thinking about ideas for this year’s NaNoWriMo novel. Whee!

Photo highlights:

The author herself, striking a pose.

Sarah Brightman illuminated in a blaze of light, and her adoring fans.

More on all these shenanigans to come, but in the meantime, here’s what I’d like to accomplish by the end of Round 3:

Round 3 Goals:

DISSERTATION:

Work on the dissertation (that includes reading, note-taking, data analysis, and writing) at least 2 nights each week, and on Sundays.

CREATIVE WRITING:

15-30 minutes of fun writing, 3-4 nights each week.

EXERCISE:

At least 20 minutes of physical activity, 2-3 times each week.

Compared to some of the goals I’ve had in the past, these look super simple… but given that I’ve failed on accomplishing any of these things in the last couple of months, I think it’ll be a challenge.

For fun, here’s the opening to my NaNoWriMo project, currently known as THE GILDED CAGE. It’s some sort of near-future dystopic… thing… and I’m going to be pantsing the hell out of it for the rest of the month.

It was a fiery sun that beat down on Greta’s back, or so it seemed. After a lifetime in the smog-dimmed skies of the cities, the unimpeded light of the north was more than she could handle. Here, in the only corner of the world not destroyed by machinery and war, the sun released its full wrath, all molten gold and demanding.

Where is it all going? I have NO idea, and that’s half the fun. 😀

Be sure to wave a hearty hello to the rest of the ROW80 bunch this week!

Playing “I Spy” From the Sky

August 19, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 4 Comments

I’ll admit it: I don’t really like flying all that much. Take-offs make my palms sweaty; turbulence, even the gentle sort, causes me to reach for a rosary and say a few Hail Marys. But when I started dating a guy who’s getting his private pilot’s license, I realized I was going to have to set those fears aside and, y’know, learn to like it.

Boy, am I glad that I did. Otherwise, I would’ve missed out on this absolutely awesome aerial scavenger hunt that ended at (wait for it) an old WWII flight training camp in the middle-of-nowhere California.

Yup. Epic.

The Challenge.

The event, called an “Air Rally,” was sponsored by the flight school that my boyfriend attends. There were 9 groups participating, and each one group received a list of clues, similar to the one pictured below: “Locate the bridge at the indicated coordinates. Determine which of the following images most closely resembles the bridge design.” From there, we followed yet another clue to get to the next destination, and so on, and so forth.

One of the biggest challenges of an air rally is navigation. Because we didn’t know exactly where we were going before we took off, routes had to be created while we were in the air, drawing on the clues that we were given. Crazy, right?

Thankfully, the plane was piloted by a couple of very talented guys (my boyfriend and his best friend, who owns the plane), so I wasn’t *too* worried about my safety. 😀

The talented pilots. (Photo Credit: Lena Corazon)

Still… I was pretty glad when we reached our destination. And boy, what an awesome place it was!

The Destination.

The final destination was a big secret, so we were all pretty shocked when we found ourselves landing on a dusty field in Firebaugh, CA, located in Fresno County. Our location? Eagle Field, a decommissioned Army Air Force base that operated during World War II. There, 5000 pilots were trained between 1942-1944 to serve in all theaters of war.

Photo Credit: Lena Corazon

Eagle Field went up for private auction in the 1980s, and was purchased by a man who is pretty passionate about keeping history alive. As a result, there’s an impressive collection of vintage aircraft, cars, tanks, and trucks. My favorites? The trucks left over from when Steven Spielberg used the location to film scenes from INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL.

Photo Credit: Lena Corazon

Eagle Field also plays host to a number of interesting events, including drag races and a yearly 1940s themed dance, which is held in the old plane hangar. The dance sounds like an amazing experience: everyone dresses up in vintage outfits and dances the night away while a big band plays old ’40s hits. It’s definitely on my list of things to do next year.

In addition to the air field and car collection, there’s also a museum with a ton of memorabilia from the war, including old uniforms, posters, photographs, and maps. The photo gallery below showcases a few of the highlights.

For more information on the history of Eagle Field, along with more pictures, check out the official website.

ROW80: Have You Ever Heard an Alpaca Whine?

August 18, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 6 Comments

Happy Sunday, folks! I’ve successfully completed my first week of work as the front counter assistant at my local Boys and Girls Club, and now I’m ready for a little silliness. What could be better than a visit with some awesomely fuzzy animals at the petting zoo?

There were chickens, rabbits, sheep, goats, and (my favorites) a pig, tortoise, and alpaca. I may have been more excited than all of the kids who were gathered there. 😛

Oliver, the cutest pig ever. (Photo Credit: Lena Corazon)

This baby goat was head-butting Oliver, the precious pig. (Photo Credit: Lena Corazon)

Baby, the alpaca who wouldn’t stop whining. (Photo Credit: Lena Corazon)

The alpaca pictured above had the strangest tendency to whine incessantly. It was such an uncanny noise that I had to take some video footage.

Isn’t it the cutest thing ever?

This week’s progress:

Day Job: I was a little stressed out about starting work this week, so I gave myself the week off from all dissertation-related activities. Starting tomorrow, though, I’ll be tackling the edits to my academic journal article, which are due on Friday.

Writing: I also decided to take a little time off here, as well. #teamsprinty is adding an evening writing sprint (7 pm Pacific/10 pm Eastern), so I’m going to be taking advantage of that in the week to come. My goal is to edit the next 2 chapters of TMNL, to get back on track.

Social Media: I used my mornings before work this week to work on blog posts (I know–even I’m shocked). I’ve got one queued up for tomorrow about the aerial scavenger hunt I took to an old WWII training camp, and an awesome video clip for Friday. I’ve also discovered the wonders of the WordPress app for iPhone, which makes commenting on blogs way easier.

So that’s about all for me right now! I’m looking forward to inching back into the world of blogging, digging into my research again, and making some progress with edits.

How’s the week going for everyone else? Don’t forget to say wave your pompoms for the rest of the ROW80 community!

August 16, 2013

Okay, folks. It’s Friday, and I think we’re all probably in need of some end-of-the-week funnies. Christina Blanco’s rendition of ’80s classic, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” totally delivers.

There have been some great covers of this song in the past, notably the “Literal Video Version” from Funny or Die (seriously, if you haven’t seen this yet, you are missing out). Here, impressionist and comedian Christina Blanco performs the song in the style of 19 different divas: Adele, Cher, Judy Garland, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, Edith Piaf, Bette Midler, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Gwen Stefani, Zooey Deschanel, Britney Spears, Shakira, Alanis Morissette, Norah Jones, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, and Barbra Streisand.

Talk about crazy talent!

(via Shakesville)

ROW80: The Changes Keep A-Comin’

August 14, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 13 Comments

I gotta say, folks: every time I think I’ve got my life under control, something new crops up and I’m left scrambling, trying to readjust and attain some semblance of balance.

Change, I think, has been the theme of the last few months. Practically all of it has been good–a new relationship, new friends, tons of awesome adventures (some of which will hopefully be immortalized in a glorious series of blog posts), and now, a new job. I’m grateful for all of these new opportunities; there’s so much room for growth and development. But whew… A girl’s gotta have time to breathe, y’know?

Needless to say, there hasn’t been much writing of any sort happening since I checked in a few weeks back, but I’m starting to think of this period as my summer hiatus. I’ve lived, I’ve explored, and I’ve gotten to do things that I’ve never done before.

California, 3000 feet in the air.

Aerial scavenger hunt from a single-engine plane? Check. 1920s Downton Abbey-themed party at a historic California mansion? Check. Four-wheeling through windy dirt trails with 3 people crammed into a 2 person tractor? Check. Jazz concerts, experiments with moonshine, experiments with sangria, the worst wedding ever, countless trips to the Academy of Sciences…? Check, to all of the above.

Living, as so many of my astute writing friends have pointed out, is one of the keys to becoming a good author. Living–and reading, and watching movies, and taking time to absorb the world in which we live–is what allows us to create fictional worlds with all the vibrancy of the real thing, to construct living and breathing characters that our readers will come to love (or love to hate).

As August marches on and Autumn (slowly–soooo slowly, please, I’m not done with summer) approaches, I’ll hopefully get to a point where I find a rhythm and routine for my days. My new job runs from 12-6 pm, which means that my mornings can be for research and writing, and my evenings can be for happy hours and time with friends and family.

So cross your fingers for me, folks! I’d like to be able to have tons more progress and such to report in the weeks to come. After all, I’ve got deadlines to meet (revisions for my very first academic journal article on August 23rd, and my revised dissertation proposal by mid-September), which means I need to start hustling, and soon.

How’s the summer going for everyone else? Are you making progress, or have things slowed down?

Swing on by and wave hello to the rest of our ROWers checking in for today!

ROW80: Rollin’ Along

July 21, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 6 Comments

Happy Sunday, folks! Time is really flying; I’m not quite sure how we’re in the second half of July, but here we are. My week has been busy with a mix of really fun stuff and some work. The fun stuff included a jazz concert on Sunday, and the world’s most epic 1920s theme party, both held at the Filoli estate about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Filoli is basically California’s answer to Pemberley, and whoa, I definitely felt like Elizabeth Bennet as I wandered around the property. I’ve got a whole post planned about Filoli, but here are a couple of photos, just as a preview.

The front of Filoli house. If it looks familiar, that’s because it served as the Carrington mansion in the television show, Dynasty.

One of the smaller buildings nestled in Filoli’s extensive gardens.

Gorgeous, huh?

If things look a little different around here, it’s not your imagination. I’m experimenting with different designs and themes at the moment, so if you’ve got any feedback, I’d love to hear it.

Anyway, onto this week’s progress!

DAY JOB:
Okay, I haven’t been very successful here at all. I’ve done a little brainstorming about how I want to expand my dissertation proposal, but very little (and by little I mean “none”) actual writing has been done.

To do this week: Buckle down and finish editing the proposal.

WRITING:
I’m way behind on my Camp NaNo goals, to the point where I’m actually starting to think that completing my goal of 15k on SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST is going to be an optional. The story is an exciting one, but TELL ME NO LIES has managed to snag my attention.

I’ve edited 2 chapters for TMNL, and outlined the next 10 chapters, taking me about half-way into Act 2. I’ve drafted most of these scenes, so all I’ve got to do is expand, clean up, and edit. I’m actually really darn excited to dig into these scenes, because the novel is finally taking shape. Whoo-hoo!

To do this week: Edit at least 2 more chapters; maybe write a little something for SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST.

BLOGGING:
This week I managed to add a “real” post, a silly commercial starring Hugh Jackman for Lipton Iced Tea. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here. As I mentioned above, I’m also working on an overhaul of my blog, starting with a new theme. And as far as blog-hopping goes, I got a chance to visit 10 ROWers this week. Yay!

To do this week: Writing my post about Filoli House, and visiting some non-ROW blogs.

How’s everyone else doing? Any fun summer adventures afoot? Don’t forget to check in with everyone who is ROWing along this round!

Could This Be Hugh Jackman’s Biggest Fan?

July 15, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 8 Comments

No, no, I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about “The Fan,” this phenomenal commercial that Hugh did for Lipton Iced Tea earlier this year. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen in a while, and totally making my life.

For behind the scenes goodies from the commercial, check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptERcg8bRxw&sns=emtarget=_blank

Lena Corazon

Flights of Fancy

Page 3 of 24

ROW80: The Power Of The Force

Progress, hey-o!

Dissertation:

Creative Writing:

ROW80: Back In The Saddle

Dissertation:

Creative Writing:

ROW80: All About Baby Steps

ROW80: Hey, Ho, NaNoWriMo!

Round 3 Goals:

Playing “I Spy” From the Sky

The Challenge.

The Destination.

ROW80: The Changes Keep A-Comin’

ROW80: Rollin’ Along

Could This Be Hugh Jackman’s Biggest Fan?

Lena Corazon

Personal Links

Follow me on Twitter

Follow Lena Corazon