dreamer's disease.

Yikes, I have been a lousy blogger. Things have actually been busy for the first time in a while, and apparently I let myself get swept right up along with all of it. No complaints here though, the eventfulness has been nice. Wish I could say the same for the weather, though. Today is another gray day; I will do my best to power through, holding steadfast to thoughts of warm winds and sunshine.

It's a quiet Wednesday morning here, and I am giving myself permission to have a slow start. I have my creature comforts: my calendar of to-do's, my Venti Iced Green Tea and my keyboard - the current translator of my mind. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to have so many things written down so far this week, and so many of them scratched out! Productivity puts me in a good mood, it's a shame how often I procrastinate. I have my newest iTunes Genius playlist (a new guilty pleasure, I have so much music, that I have greatly appreciated one click of the mouse to achieve a full, original list of tracks.) iTunes software is getting better, slowly, although it still bothers me that they list all artists by the first letter of their names instead of recognized a first and last name and sorting alphabetically by that. Does this bother anyone else? Like, I have "The Honorary Title" which is listed under H, but then I have "Holly Brook" which is listed under H instead of B. That has always irritated me, and being the obsessive person that I am, I was tempted to go through my entire library (which is a hefty 6,500+) and rename all artists "last name, first name." Don't worry, I didn't. But I wanted to.

Thanks to my brother, (the most avid reader I know - it's impressive) I have recently gotten hooked on a trilogy of books by Cassandra Clare called "The Mortal Instruments." Written in limited omniscient perspective (she explores the thoughts of several characters, but always one at at time, and the majority from the main character's, Clary, perspective.) It's about these half-human, half-angel people, called Shadowhunters, and their constant battle protecting the "Mundane" world from all demons who wish it harm. Clary starts the series off as a "Mundy" or a normal human, however quickly finds herself overly involved in the world of the Shadowhunters, a surprise and concern of everyone in her immediate surroundings. My best description of the series would be that it is entirely enthralling. The end of the first book, honestly, was greatly disappointing, but the second bounces back, and the final novel was released yesterday. I haven't cracked the spine yet, but I am dying for a solid few hours of free time to do so. My reason for loving it? Protagonist Jace, with his brutal honesty and biting wit. He's a real asshole, and it's hilarious.

Other news? I have been moving forward in exciting and positive directions of my job search, which is, of all things, a huge relief. The hardest part of looking for work is when things are quiet. I also just finished downloading and upgrading my Pro Tools software to Pro Tools LE 8, and if I can judge the newest version by it's interface, I'm going to give it a thumbs up! Alas, software that looks nice doesn't always work as nicely, so I will have to wait to give it a full review after usage. I guess I'm just happy that the upgrade installation went off without any issues; I always hold my breath when updating Pro Tools - feels sort of like a game of Russian Roulette. Except maybe not as dramatic. But if Pro Tools crashed my computer, that would feel like getting shot.

Last week's question, as seen above, was interesting. My first reaction upon reading was "Redbull" as a funny, yet truthful answer. However, I forced myself to do a little more soul searching before answering, and I am quite satisfied with what I came up with. These questions are truly therapeutic, giving me specific things to think about, always promoting self-reflection. And after facing up to some less pleasant thoughts, this week's question is a nice refresher:

"What are you grateful for right now?"

My answers will come with the card, whenever that spark of creativity decides to show up. I'm not planning on rushing it, so we shall see. Here's what will keep me going through this week. And like my Grandpa says to me every time we speak: Keep laughing, keep smiling, and never, ever give up.

Album of the week: "Chase This Light" by Jimmy Eat World

Song of the week: "Giving it Up for You" by Holly Brook

Quote of the week: "and yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company nowadays." (A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.)