About my dad

     Apparently people like my serious posts a lot better than my less so ones. I do have some serious stuff that I want to talk about, I just don't want to yet. I actually have dates in mind for a few specific posts! It's as surprising to me as it is to you, trust me! So for today's post I will discuss... Um. Where I want to go as a filmmaker? No... did that a couple posts ago.
     My dad is running for provincial office this election. The NDP approached him, and asked him to run in his home riding. Mom and I, plus a few others, convinced that he would actually be a good candidate, and eventually he agreed to run. I honestly believe he is a great choice. His priorities are in the right spot: he wants more spending done on the people of the province, and not on outsourcing our resources. The current administration has done some good for our province, I'll freely admit that, but lately they've been hurting the people by focusing on making money off our resources. Instead of spending money on the population, they have been spending money on out of country (not just out of province) contractors to take our resources. Jobs that could've been done by Saskatchewan companies, sure it may be less money at the start, but it would've been better for our economy in the long run.
       I'm off topic.
       I am so proud of my dad for doing this. He has his heart in the right place, and the people in his riding know that. They know him. He's been working as a school counsellor in the area for 10 years, and has been living there for almost twenty. He is always going out of his way to help people and this is just another way that he is doing so.
      I am so proud of him.
      I love ya Dad.

You can find his social media at:
twitter.com/danny_hiscock
facebook.com/dannyhiscocksaskndp

Edgar the Turtle

     I think it's short story time. So here is a children's fairy tale I wrote about a turtle named Edgar. Enjoy.

In a small village by the forest there lived a turtle. Now, this was no ordinary turtle, you see his shell was made of the leaves of the forest and of the flowers of the meadow. And his eyes! He had the most wondrous eyes, you see! If you looked close enough you could see the waves of the nearby lake. Edgar was a caring turtle, always playing with the village children and warning the townsmen about storms brewing on the lake.  

Everyone loved Edgar, he was even elected mayor of the small village. He ushered in a time of prosperity and peace for the region, which sounds ridiculous since Edgar was a turtle. Obviously the village was quite distraught when they woke up one spring afternoon to find him missing. They searched everywhere! They looked high and low! And while high and down. They checked his frequent stops and even his in-laws. And when they grew extremely desperate they asked his wife, Esmeralda. She hadn’t seen him in three days, nothing out of the ordinary.  

They tried to organize search parties, but without Edgar’s guidance they ended up having a lovely picnic while occasionally calling out his name. In between courses of course. This went on for three days until the picnic food began to run low. Unfortunately they were forced to begin eating their feasting foods. That night they tried to set up the great silk party pavilions, but without Edgar, they didn’t know how to. So they turned it into a giant blanket! By morning, the silk was ruined. Fat and grease stains covered every inch of the thing.  

It had been four days since Edgar disappeared, and the townspeople were growing concerned. Concerned enough to actually focus on their search and look outside of the village. They still didn’t know how to divide into smaller groups so they walked out into the forest in a large mob, trampling the meadow, and breaking the saplings.  

They walked under the branches and over the fallen trees, they tried calling out to him, but they ended up having a singing contest and a mushroom eating contest. After that last one the trees began to change colour and move about. The townspeople fled the forest screaming, only to run right into the lake. Half of them survived the three foot deep waters. The survivors were treated as heroes when they returned to the village in defeat.  

Edgar returned a week later from his annual vacation to the everglades to find the village half burnt to the ground and the people running around unclothed because they had forgotten how to wash their clothes. Now you might think that Edgar was surprised by what he had found, and to the average person this would be. But Edgar was turtle, not easily surprised. Add to the fact that he came back to this every year. You see Edgar was the mayor of a town populated by what the politically correct call slow people. Slow enough to elect a turtle to be mayor and then to annually burn the town down. You see, everything falls apart when your mayor turtle is the smartest person in town.

Getting back on track

     I am making a concentrated effort to get back on track with my filming. I think I'm getting back into the swing of things.. I'm remembering to film, and I am actually getting a fair amount of footage on a daily basis. That said, I am still not comfortable with filming in stores, or other such public places. It just feels a little awkward. It would probably not feel so weird in larger centres, but I'm not in them. So for now, I will just awkwardly film random bits and pieces of things!
     I'm really enjoying being able to film things other than just driving again. It's nice to have time to do that, and to be able to edit. I actually missed editing on a regular basis! Which apparently is a common thing for vloggers. I want to grow as a filmmaker, and being able to film and edit on a daily basis will help me to grow my skills. I want to start experimenting with my filming, and maybe try some different things with my editing. I really want to set up some multi camera shots, but I keep forgetting my tripod at home, and that kind of limits my options for that.
      This got a little technical. I wasn't planning that. Although, I rarely plan my blogs... So I guess that's to be expected? Hmm. Anywho.
      I'm glad so many of you enjoyed yesterday's post! I really enjoyed writing it, and sharing that news with all of you! It feels really good to say all of that, and I am super glad that I can share it with all of you. The fact that these posts are being read all over the world (literally) is staggering! I always wanted to be read by people from all over, and I am. It's incredible. Simply incredible. Man, I'm thanking you guys a lot lately! Good thing I insult you so much in my vlogs to make up for it!
     Love you all! (seriously, I do. It's amazing that you all put time aside to read these and watch my videos, and I appreciate it so much!)

I'M A PROFESSIONAL WRITER AND I USE CAPS LOCK

Okay. Okay. Okay. I've calmed down sufficiently to actually type this. I have phenomenal news. Soon after I published my last blog, my editor got back to me. She loved my article. She loved it so much that instead of being online only, she has decided to print it as well! And I was supposed to be in an unpaid testing period, to see how will I fit in with the magazine and my editor. That's been scrapped. I'm getting paid for my article, and I've been added to their writing staff!
     I am now a professional writer. In every sense of the word. Getting paid to write has been my dream since elementary school, and now that dream is a reality! I have literally had one of my dreams come true. It's mind blowing. I could barely process it! I still can barely process it and it's almost been a week. I am a professional writer. After all the rejection letters, all the times I got knocked down and pushed aside, it's finally happening.
      I... I am so overwhelmed with emotions. I don't really know how to describe the amounts of sheer joy I felt, and still feel, when I read that email. I felt like I was floating. Like I was invincible. After all the hits I've taken over the past few years, I felt like I could do anything after reading that email. I read interviews from fellow writers talking about how long and hard they worked to get to where they are today, and I never thought that I would actually be able to call them my peers. If it was so hard for these people, who make up the pantheon of authors, how could I ever hope to be published? How could I ever even be on the lowest rung of that ladder to authordom. Yet here I am.
       I know a lot of negative people are out there who would belittle this accomplishment, who would tell me that it's just a magazine out of Winnipeg for the queer community. And ya know what? I'm sorry for those people. I'm sorry that they are so sad with their lives that they feel the need to belittle and degrade the accomplishments of others just to feel alright with themselves. And I know this feels a little off being added here, but I feel like I should just cover all the bases. So if you're reading this, and you feel like saying anything negative, just know that I feel sorry for you, and that I'm not going to care. Also, you can go--nope. I'm going to be nice.
      Thank you, to all of you who have believed in me, and have supported me along this crazy journey. To my parents who read and edited all the short stories I wrote in elementary and junior high, to the English teachers who have encouraged my writing since day one, to my friends who have put up with tuning them out because I had an idea and needed to get it down, to my sister Kat for always supporting me, and to everyone else, thank you. I wouldn't be celebrating this accomplishment without you. Thank you, and I love you.
       I'm expecting all of you to read it. And everything else I write.
      Also to subscribe to my channel: Zakitude Vlogs.  

I did it

     I sent my article in today. I feel... good. I think. I feel good about it. I've been focusing on it in all of my spare time lately, so I haven't had time to post here. I hope it was worth it. I think it was. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I  may have tweaked the conclusion a little more, but overall I feel good about it.
     I was so nervous about it this morning. I printed it off and went over it again and made a few last minute edits. My hands were shaking a little as I went to pick it up from the printer, and I just sat and stared at it for a while. The dreaded red pen, sitting menacingly beside the crisp white paper. My mind was racing, my pulse pounding. What if it was absolute shit? What if I used all the wrong pronouns? What if I messed up on everyone's names? What if, this is the big one, I found out I was a fraud? What if I was a terrible writer? Finally, I slowly picked up the pen and went to work.
    I only made a few changes. Took some phrases out, changed some sentence structure. Nothing earth shattering. I was alright. I saved it under a new name, and I sent it off.
    And now I'm just waiting to hear back, and that is a whole other story. 

Not waking up at 6

    Apparently no one liked my post yesterday. That's just super rude guys. I shared some important stuff! But, whatever. Be like that. I'll just copy and paste it into this post. See how y'all like that. I'M KIDDING! DON'T LEAVE! This will be all new stuff! Promise!
     I haven't been filming much lately, mostly because all I do during the week is drive and work, but once I get a place in the city I will be filming and posting on a more regular basis! Promise! I know you all are really missing my daily vlogs, and my general musings on life therein. I'm also considering streaming on twitch once a week once I'm in the city and have time to play video games (I am so sorry Lara, we'll [redacted] soon!) again. Just another way to expand my brand! Which was a resolution of mine, if you can remember all the way back to that post! I'm also looking at designing some shirts and stuff to sell for my vlog as well. I'm going to have so much more open time once I'm living here. I'll even be able to work on my memoir again! And work on my other writing!
     I'm hoping to have a place starting next week. That's the goal. The dream if you will.
    Honestly, I am so looking forward to not driving nearly 3 hours everyday. That's the biggest thing. And not waking up at 6 am everyday. I could sleep in until 7. And still have tons of time to get ready. That's the dream. Waking up at 7 instead of 6, that has become my dream. Well. Alright. I think I'm okay with that. 

Progress for progress sake

    I started working on the body of my article today. I've got it planned out, and quotes chosen, and now it's time to get to work! I'm starting with two less interviews than I planned, and one less than I would like, but my deadline is coming up, and I need to get it done. It's been awhile since I've worked with a word count, it's going to take some extreme editing to keep it around my mark and not wildly over. Contrary to these blog posts, I can be relatively long winded... You're all surprised, I'm sure. Shocked even.
    I showed a friend of mine what I have so far, and she's hooked and excited to read the rest of it! And because of my ego, I'm not going to let anyone else read it in case they tell me it sucks. Other than my editor, because she has to read it before it's published... Maybe I can work out a system where I'm the writer and the editor, and the publishers okay with it. Alas, such a system does not exist and probably should never actually be a thing.
      As I'm working on this article there are a ton of conflicting feelings going through me. I've never been this stressed about something I've written, and I've never been this excited about something that I'm writing! One of my biggest dreams could come true because of this article! And that is so exciting! And one of my biggest dreams could crash and burn because of this article, and that is so stressful.
    I know I have the support of a lot of people, and not just those closest to me! I know the people whom I have interviewed are backing me up to. They want their stories told, they think that it can help people, and they are trusting me to get it out there. It's an incredible feeling.