Camp NaNoWriMo 2020, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Writing

Hey peeps.
With all of this time to reflect on our situation, there's also been a lot of time to figure out what activities to keep our spirits up as much as possible. I've been doing several and I've detailed them in some of my livestreams - the obvious Netflix catchup, language learning (I'm picking up my Japanese again), music (in my case, singing and piano), and reading. There has been one creative endeavor I have been wanting to go back to for a while - creative writing. It's something I've had a complex relationship with for years (this blog and my previous one being no exception to this) and it's only now during this period that I've been able to begin to heal it.
This year's Camp NaNo has been my most successful writing campaign to date, not only in consistency but also in word count. My confidence in my creativity has gone up and I've also found a happy medium on my writing productivity. That moment when I crossed the 10,000 word mark was a magical space because that feeling of flow hadn't been in my world for so long.

 

Up until that point, the writing process I loved and felt passionate about was almost akin to pulling teeth. I couldn't produce anything outside of academia or journaling for a long time even with the ideas still coming to my brain. I'm not sure if this manuscript will see the light of day but the possibility of finishing the challenge gets me excited to go to my laptop everyday and get something down.
I'm still figuring out what finally managed to help me get through the gates. I'm still learning how to get better at my craft. But I'm glad that I'm feeling unconditional happiness again. I may write more posts here on the winding journey to this point.
For now, the biggest message I want to give to you is this - if you've been an creative rut, whether a short lived one or a lengthy one like I have, please know that there is a way through. Don't judge yourself harshly by what others produce no matter how tempting it is or that you could've started sooner. Relax and see where your words take you no matter how flawed or unclear things feel right now. Most importantly, remind yourself of the things you do enjoy in your craft and create more moments like that.
Take care of yourselves everybody. Find something you've always wanted to do and find a way to do it. Most importantly, may your heart be your guiding key.
<3 DJ MK

#LVup - How I'm Taking My Nerdiness to the Next Level

Hello my fellow Magicians! Or in this case, my fellow Clerics and half-elves.
I'm an otaku and I'm really proud of being one. Thanks to this part of my living, I've been able to make good friends, enjoy interesting content, have fun adventures, and to do many things I wouldn't have dared (broadcasting and blogging to name a couple). This year, I've been thirsty to take my nerdom a step further. I admit though - I didn't think D&D was going to be the next deep dive.

New blog segment coming up - LevelUp

Hello fellow magicians,
I love to find ways to expand my nerdom further and I decided to make a segment devoted to just that. Thus, I'm starting a new chapter called Level Up. My new article will be coming up soon, documenting the first journey I'll take. To give you all a hint, it involves a heavy amount of imagination and a set of dice.

Take a look at this baby and keep a lookout for it on future posts! They'll be archived later on in one of my pages I've recently installed. (one of my recent attempts to make the blog user-friendly - more detail on that later.) If you have any suggestions about my next frontier, send me a tweet or a comment with #LVup!

[Load,Strategy graphics by Freepik from Flaticon are licensed under CC BY 3.0. Made with Logo Maker]

Stay awesome! :)
<3 DJ MK

"Training" Wednesday - Fixing My Computer

今日はみんなさん。お元気ですか？久しぶりですね？
In case you're wondering about the musical radio silence from last week's FM episode up until today, it's because I had to fix my laptop. Yes, self-repair is a growing trend and I'm embracing it.  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. While I still have no clue what I'm going to do after the FM stint's up, computer magic may be in the works for this young magician. This isn't my very first foray into building computers. My first build was a desktop with my 6th grade computer science teacher. (It's been 10 years since I've done that and I heard it still works like new. :) ) So I thought my laptop fix would not be too difficult since the principles were similar albeit smaller.

I was right but boy was I wrong on a few major levels.

Pre-order - KH 2.5 HD ReMiX

I was originally going to wait to start shopping on Cyber Monday but then I realized that I wanted to pre-order Kingdom Hearts 2.5 for my PS3. Although I already have all 2 PS2 games (and I prefer their versions music wise), my PS3 doesn't support them so it's mainly for reliving the nostalgia, playing the games I didn't have (358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep) and getting my cousin into them since she's been seeing the vids on YouTube a lot.

The first game was a greatest hit collect I got for Christmas. But the second game will always be special because it was my very first pre-order. I saved up the little cash I had and then my dad went to pick it up while I was at school. It's significant for me because I worked hard for something I wanted and it was the first time my dad overly supported my gaming interest because he also got me the strategy guide.

Kingdom Hearts will always be a significant mantle on my gaming wall because it taught me to cherish a lot and be wild with my ideas because you never know if they'll actually work out spectacularly. Sora wasn't even supposed to be the protagonist but now he's one of the most memorable gaming characters of all time and he made Mickey show much more of a badass side.

I'm super excited for picking it up after class Tuesday. If I decide to do a YouTube video, I'll post it up here on my channel DJ MK Off the Air!

Thanks for staying tuned and hope everybody had a great holiday!

<3 TM

PS - You're not insane my fellow Magicians and Keyblade Masters. I didn't have an episode yesterday due to Black Friday. A girl's got to recharge her powers somehow! In my case, Cyber Monday's where it's at.

Rest assured I will be back this week with a nod to Kingdom Hearts this Friday followed by a special interview during Finals Week! (It's our very first one too - don't miss it!)