QOTD: What’s a current goal you have?
We all keep track of time in different ways.
Some count New Years.
Some count birthdays.
I count first days of school.
Every Fall since I started pre-school, that seemed to be the day that really ended my previous year and started the next one.
So with my first week of my fourth year of undergrad having been completed on Friday (August 25, 2023), I think now is a good time for a check-in on my “2023 New Year’s Resolutions“.
College Classes – Got straight ‘A’s this Spring. Now I want straight ‘A’s this Fall as well.
Tutoring Job – I worked well over an average of 10 Hours/Week in the Spring. April was especially hectic. In the best way possible. Hoping for the same this semester. I counted calculated my predicted average for this semester. It’s about 17.
Magazine Internship – I’m not exactly sure how many pieces I worked on as a writer, a fact-checker, or a researcher. But it was a good amount. And it was a lot of exploring my city and meeting new people and interviewing them. I loved the experience. Here are two works of notability that I wrote that got published by Lake Erie Living Magazine:
- “Feeling Home Away From Home” — Memoir-Article
- “Hands-On History: Blast into the past at the Hagen History Center”
Campus Paper – I ended up writing one Letter to the Editor and six Articles. Nice… You can find all of them at this link: https://linktr.ee/samhic8behrendbeacon. LE1 and A4-A9 are the pieces I wrote in Spring 2023. This Fall, I will definitely be publishing at least six articles
Swimming – Okay, so I ended up going swimming like three or four times in the Spring. And I didn’t at all this summer. But just as much as these NY’s R check-ins are meant to be a space where I can exercise my bragging rights, it is also a space in which I can admit where I fell short on my original goals and re-evaluate. Rather than being fixated on going swimming at least once a week, which I realized is unrealistic for several reasons, I’ve decided that I want to go at least five times a month this Fall. When specifically during a month is irrelevant. And let’s see if this works out. Then I can figure out whether or not I want to continue with the same plan for Spring 2024.
Yoga – This is working out pretty well. In the summer, I think I was on the yoga mat half the time I was watching TV.
Running – This did not work out. I got on the treadmill exactly zero times but considering the amount of places I walked and the amount of errands I helped my family with, I think it makes up for the lack of treadmill-running. Now that I’m back on campus though and there’s a new fitness center on campus with a bunch of treadmills, I think I’ll try to make it a five times a month thing like swimming this Fall.
HitaRocks – This one will definitely work out. So far, I’ve already released two completed songs: “Naa Anuragam” & “Jaana“. I’ve released the a work-in-progress video for “A Love That Feels Right” under the name “A Love That Feels Right: Friendship (a capella version)“. The instrumentals are currently under progress. I plan on releasing a finished version of the song by the end of September to keep up with the 1 Song / 3 Months rate. Then before New Year’s 2024– Wait, actually, before the end of my Fall 2023 semester, I want to release my 4th song. So, before December 16th-ish. What will that song be…? That’s something else to think about. I published a poem called “My Hemingway Moment” in my collection 21 Days that I originally envisioned as a song. So, I think I’ll release that in conjunction with– Actually, we’ll round back to what it’s in conjunction with.
Painting – Well, I definitely superseded that goal. you can take a look at the paintings that I’ve already finished and are in-progress on my Arts-tagram: @SamhiC8LovesArt.
Clothes Making & Other Fabric Art – I created the promised dress for Spring 2023. I call it “Bollyood Bride“. As for the summer, I instead made some curtains instead of an outfit. Because why not? I call ’em “Plain & Elegant“. I have materials for the piece I’m making this Fall. Well, actually, there are two pieces. One of them is not what I thought it would be. But it’s gonna be epic.
MML – In terms of the posts, I obviously went away from my original plans. But, oh, well… It’s what I’m inspired to do, right? As for my monthly view count goal, I fell short of 350 on a few months, but I definitely made up for it in July when I made it to– See for yourself by clicking here. If you’re wondering why it says “We beat the July View Count Goal by 23!” it’s because the monthly goal went up for July. You can track how by going through my Writer-gram @SamhiC8LovesToWrite.
Whitestone Veil Series & When You Saved Me – I thought I announced the release of the paperback version on MML. But maybe I didn’t. Here’s the Insta post about it.
As previously mentioned, the Paperback is $15 via Amazon.com. Via Amazon.in, it’s ₹1510.
As for the sequel, it took me forever, but I actually managed to write three chapters of the sequel. And I figured out my overall plot. Took me forever, but I figured it out. So, tentatively, expect the release of WV2 in Summer 2024.
21 Days – Back in September 2022, when I participated in the competition with BookLeaf Publishing, it was with an understanding that at max, it would take them about three months to publish my book, 21 Days. Furthermore, I was under the impression that it would be available via several places as per the contract: “The book will be distributed in paperback on Amazon, and in eBook on BookLeaf Publishing Bookstore and Smashwords’ partner stores.” Not only did I not receive any notification from BookLeaf once my book went up as an eBook on their site but it still hasn’t been published as a Paperback on Amazon as promised. And I haven’t heard a word from my contact there so… But every curse is a blessing in disguise. Every fallback is an opportunity. I plan on releasing an updated version of “21 Days” with a new cover and self-made illustrations. Because how awesome would that be? I’ll be making the updated version of the book available as both a paperback and an eBook. And it is in conjunction with this that I will be releasing “My Hemingway Moment” as a song.
Another Poetry Collection – I have one in progress. More on that some other time. As for trying Lulu.com, I should do that. I really should. And I want to stick my self-assigned mandate of one poetry collection per year.
Other Writing Projects – As per usual, I have a bazillion ideas. I am getting a little more organized. Just a little. I need some semblance of disorganization as well. There has to be a balance.
One new project I can definitely promise is a collection of short stories following my fictional characters Rupa Rajput and Harban Kaur. I wrote a short story called “One Night in New York” which won an award through my university in the Spring. You can see that Instagram announcement here. Well, I decided to use “One Night in New York” as a starting point for a short story collection. In tandem with the short stories, I will also be releasing a collection of songs that go with them. I also plan on writing a collection of personal essays in which I comment on key ethical questions posed in the stories. However, the collection of essays is not definite. I might end up writing my ideas into the intro of the short story collection instead. We’ll see.
Rupa & Harban’s story will be functioning as my B.F.A./Schreyer’s thesis so it will definitely be finished before the end of my Spring 2024 semester. My hope is that it will be ready for publication in Summer 2024. I plan to publish it before I start grad school that Summer/Fall.
Another project which I had been contemplating for a long time and finally figured out the perfect plot for is a novel revolving around the fictional Amar Raaje, Anjali Ahuja, and… Well, I’m not sure what my third character’s name will be. But yeah, this is definitely a future project of mine.
One more work-in-progress project is actually going to be my first screenplay. I’m taking a Coursera screenwriting class and this one crime fiction idea I had for a novel initially, I decided to use it for this class because why not? I’m hoping to also have this ready for publication by Summer 2024. And no, as far as I can tell, I will not be making a movie out of it. At least not now. But who knows? Maybe one day. One day when I can afford actors like Anil Kapoor and Chitrangada Singh— or their lookalikes —who I envision playing the main characters in this particular story, then I will get my screenplay turned into a movie.
What Else?
Slightly random, but I want to do another charcoal portrait of Jagapathi before the year is up. My obsession might as well manifest as more art.
Before I leave, song of the day:
As Sia says, I won’t ever give up on my dreams and I hope none of you do either.
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