The Adventures of Nidgin Idberry of Frockleton

You may recall I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that an adventure story setting I was working on. Having given up on any hope of developing my artistic skills, I have decided to publish the story in the form of blog entries. It can be found at idberry.blogspot.com.

While it's unusual to leave comments turned on for a publication of this sort, I did so because I am interested in hearing feedback from anyone interested in reading it. I know it's not extraordinary writing - I have done plenty of publication-quality writing, and I find it to be really stressful. This I'm doing for fun, with more focus on keeping the story moving than on describing everything perfectly. And maybe I'll develop my writing style along the way.

My eventual goal is to get enough interest in it that I can find someone to help me turn it into a web comic and/or graphic novel. For now, we'll see if there's any market for web-based storylines that don't include pretty pictures.

(I also considered using legos and a digital camera.)

Warning: Minor spoilers from episodes 1-3 to follow. Scroll past the next paragraph if you're a stickler for surprises.

The story centers around Nidgin Idberry, a scrawny 15-year-old blacksmith's apprentice who is launched into an adventure across the realm of Jedya when the shop, which is also his home, collapses into a cavern beneath his hometown of Frockleton. The other main character I've introduced is Eryn Stahr, a mysterious girl who possesses some degree of magic ability and is apparently, for some reason, an enemy of the king.

End spoilers.

It is a fantasy-fiction adventure in that it is a medieval setting with magic, but I'm trying to tell it more as a fairy tale (albeit one that involves some degree of violence and is not recommended for small children). Maybe think The 10th Kingdom.

So far I've written four episodes, three of which have been published. The fourth will appear on the site Saturday at 10:40 AM (I forget which time zone).

Here's another link.

Sometimes you want to go...

I think the anti-personal American business culture has affected us physiologically; namely when it comes to our memories. I am always cheerfully impressed when I drag my bag of laundry over to the lavadaría and the guy working there (the lavador?) writes "Nicolas" on my claim slip without even having to ask. I only stop by once every two, sometimes three weeks, so it's not as if I'd really expect him to know me by name. But he deals with me enough that I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

The shock came Monday when I stuffed my bag full of ridiculously dirty clothes (pants in particular I try to get a lot of use out of) and trekked the two blocks to the place, only to find that my usual guy wasn't there. It was another guy, who I vaguely recognized but hadn't seen in at least three months. And true enough, he didn't just fill out the claim slip without asking. He said, "Nicolas, ¿sí?" Maybe I'm amazed by the way you remember my name all the time.

I like to think I'm becoming better at remembering names, too. For example, "the hot dog guy," who Seb and I long ago named "Joey," is actually named Alejandro. But since I don't actually like the other two Alejandros I know here in Xalapa (my host brother in Cuernavaca isn't bad), I'll stick with Joey.

Soon I won't have any classes

A couple of months ago, I went through the painstaking process of scheduling for next year. I know you all have to go through that, but I claim that mine was doubly tough since I was also designing my own major and writing up paragraphs justifying each class that I was requiring myself to take. But, with the help of the amazing Tim McElwee and Lila D. Hammer, I managed to come up with a gleaming new schedule.

Last week I was alerted that POSC 385, Seminar on Anarchism, has been cancelled. I do not appreciate this, since it's one of the aforementioned classes that is a requirement in the declaration of major I just revamped. Frustration.

Today, I am informed that SOC 328, Social Movements, was also cancelled. This isn't one I wrote into my major - it's one that's required for all Peace Studies majors, regardless of emphasis. I'm already taking one class tutorial, which, by the way, probably costs at least an arm, if not also a leg, so I'm pretty much screwed here.