Time To Get Schooled on Science

It's 1 AM.

I quietly unlock the front door, and softly lower my boogie bag to the ground. Before I even take another step, her voice whipcracks across the room.

“Where have you been? You were supposed to be home hours ago!” Her tone is set to Obnoxious Roommate.

“I know, I know. What can I say? It was an awesome vacay. Christmas in July, we called it. My crew is the model of efficiency when it comes to partying.”

“We've got work to do!”

“I know...”

“Scenarios have changed!”

“...I know...”

“My character arc has shifted! You have chapters to rewrite!”

“...I know, Johnny...”

“So get to work!”

I ignore her demands. “I'll grab a bath, a good night's sleep, and I'll deal with you in the morning. Now....SHUT UP!”

I've been battling with my protagonist, Johnny Saucedo, ever since. In a good way, productive way. I've been able to articulate more clearly the whys without getting too expository, keeping the action heavy hitting, keeping the narration concise, up to The Main Event. And now we're at the point where I have to introduce my theory. How a superspecies can come to us, manipulate us, but we remain unaware of them, thus assuming we're alone in the Universe. Gotta approach this delicately, like baking a souffle. Gently fold in metaphysics, blend in quantum mechanics, and issue just the right amount of social philosophy, before setting it all in the oven to cook. Then, once it's nice and fluffy and rested, slam it into the reader's face!

It's time to go back to school, a la Rodney Dangerfield. Fitting, seeing that Fall 2013 semester is about to kick off. As is college football. There's a small window of opportunity for me to study concepts and collect relevant data before I get waaaay too distracted from Thursday to Sunday, every week, for the entire season. I know. Johnny's gonna give me hell.

Thanks to my writing partner, I'm re-reading A Brief History of Time and soon after that, going to start on Quantum Mechanics. I completed a significant amount of philosophical studies in 2012, so I just have to re-visit my scribbles. Oh, this is gonna be quite the scientific project for the next few months.

And, because I'm a zealot, The Summer Reading Challenge is still on. Diamonds Are Forever was a better movie than the book, and if you remember the movie, then you know that ain't sayin' much! So on to From Russia With Love. Summer officially ends September 22 and I have nine more novels to complete. Like I said. Zealot.

Welp, good that I got the vacation in, because we're navigating the Firefly towards the precarious unknown where Johnny lives. What wonderful adventures await!