So I signed up with Textbroker, a ghostwriting freelance site, and have had two articles accepted. I tested into being a Level 4 writer, which means "excellent." I just need to quit being lazy and set up my Paypal and fill out the tax form for employment so I can get paid.

I should start doing researching and outlining for For The Greater Good.

I'm also starting to wonder which of my books will be published first. I was not planning on The Ties That Bind to turn into a trilogy spanning across three generations and I definitely wasn't planning on it becoming as popular as it did on USM. So far it's looking like A Path to Another World might be published first, if I stick to it and I'm able to follow what I'm planning.

I think my astronomy class will be pretty easy. I'm also going to Oregon next week and will be getting away for a few days, which is good because I need other scenery than fields and tractors.

Freelance Writing?

Lately, I've been thinking about getting into freelance writing. I figure that it would be a good way to:

1. Get my foot in the door of the writing and publishing world.

2. Improve my writing.

3. Make some extra money.

I'll have to look more into it, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Should I go for it?

Summer Jobs and What Not

I haven't been able to find a summer job yet. There's one I might get. I might tutor seven-year-old twin boys in their reading and writing. However, another person who had called just before I went to their house and said she had worked with the boys during the school year. She's also the niece of one of the twins' teachers.

I probably won't get the job, but the father of the boys told me that at his work place they are always hiring. It's a service for developmentally delayed adults and the jobs I will apply for next week would be to help watch/take care of the adults. If I got this job, it would be helpful in helping decide if I want to be a speech therapist.

I have the opportunity to job shadow a speech therapist on the 24th and 27th. On the 24th, I will watch her work with adults; the 27th will be me watching children. At least no one can blame me for not thinking of my future.

Summer school starts in two weeks. I'll be taking astronomy to finish my science requirements.

That's it for now.

Goals For My Twenties

Here is a list of things I want to accomplish during my twenties.

1. Finish school.

2. Travel to another country.

3. Publish a book.

4. Start a successful career.

5. Meet someone famous.

6. Meet my Internet friends. (I'm already doing that in June.)

7. Move out of my home.

Things that might get done.

1. Have children. I want 1-3 children.

2. Get married. I would prefer this to happen towards the end of my twenties.

3. Anything else important that may happen.

What are your goals?

Time, Death, and Atheism

I am now twenty years, one day, twelve hours, and thirty-two minutes old, and it doesn't seem like it.

I find that the older I become, the faster time goes. As a child, I thought a day lasted forever. Now as a young adult, it goes by faster than I want.

Now that I have recently become an atheist, I have become more aware of time because this is the only life I have and I don't want to waste it.

A second passes and it's gone forever. Another day, month, year passes and they're gone forever. It's hard for me to understand.

Infinity is a difficult concept for me to grasp. I did not exist for 13.7 billion years, and I will not exist after my death. That is the hardest part for me to accept as an atheist.

I suppose it wouldn't be too bad being nothing after I die. My body will decompose and become part of the earth. After our sun and planet is destroyed, my atoms may become part of another star or another planet or another sentient lifeform. I will be immortal through physical reincarnation.

I'm only here on this planet for a short time. I want to make the best of things. I hope I will make a difference, however small, on this world.

The Mark

This is a poem based from my story "The Ties That Bind." If you're not familiar with the story, I hope you enjoy it anyway.

I bear the mark in my wrist.
I can't buy or sell without it.
Without it, I don't exist.

The numbers 666 are not marked on me;
though some people would say I do.
They would say I am part demon.

I hear others' thoughts,
make things fly,
see into their souls.

I bear the mark of being
different,
special,
a freak,
gifted,
whatever label you want to give me.

I mark myself as
homo sapiens,
human,
a person,
an individual,
just another human being.

I bear the mark of being me.

You bear the mark of accepting that.

What To Say

Now that I have the astronomical number of three followers, I should update more often.

What to say?

I don't know.

I'll be in my twenties in three weeks and two days.

I can't wait for this semester to be over.

I hope I get the classes I want for summer and fall.

I need to find a summer job.