The wonderful wanderings of Thought.

[imood mood at time of entry: thoughtful]

I find that my mind drifts as I click away the blocks of Destruct-O-Match to earn more NP. More NP to save up and to spend with abandon. More NP to help me inch my way closer to becoming a Neopian Millionaire, or least someone who can afford a paintbrush without worrying about the purchase. It’s the Pirate Paint Brush I have been fixated upon since I first joined the site. I promised it to myself, one of these days. You know. It’s always one of these days. A small smile never fails to come to my lips at the thought of all of my “some days” and the prizes I am forever seeking.

So, as my thoughts are allowed a soft rein to flow as they will, I find myself pondering people and situations I hadn’t thought about in days or even weeks. I get busy or turn my attention to more important things, but the nearly mindless action allows for a sift. Those forgotten thoughts and emotions usually tend to choose that moment to renew themselves.

At first, it was distracting, but I quickly learned to balance the well-timed clicks with the spires of anger or hurt or loneliness that shoot up at the recollections. I look forward to the mental drift now. In fact, I find myself going off to play Destruct-O-Match when I need to think the most.

There are no strained voices or murky realities directly ahead of me. It’s just the rhythmic clicking of my mouse, the lulling wash of thought and emotion, and myself. Of course, the environment in which I end up playing the game contributes to the depth I slip into my drowsy meanderings, but that is the case with all things in life.

Still, I just found this amusing and a bit comfortable. I wanted to paste my notice of it here for to me see later on when I come back to read through my entries.

The experience is not dissimilar to the one I experience when I go see my favorite exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum here – the African gold exhibit. It features the different manners in which gold is/was used, and even a life-sized dummy of an African king.

The exhibit eventually gives way to an involved Asian jewelry/decorative creations exhibit divided by room and spotlighted country.

I’ll need to transfer the hand-written description of the near-comatose state the first room puts in to one of my online journals, one of these days. Always one of these days.

I did manage to get a tiny bity of work done today. I beta’d Belle’s story, and got it back to her. Technically, I started yesterday, but I bought it on home this morning. I still have to wrap the very last part of her Time and Again story, and I’m done.

I do feel a bit sad when I think about my betaing. It’s a though I don’t want to let go of those last three chapters for fear that I won’t be needed any longer. I can’t come online whenever I choose to anymore, (Well, not wholly, at least.) and it feels like my usefulness is slipping away without me having a say about it. I love betaing Belle’s fics. It makes me extraordinarily happy to know that I get the first chance to read Belle’s fantastic fics and point out anything I feel she should work on.

When I beta, I don’t just give the stories a bland once over, unless the author rushes me. Then, the full betaing experience is not achieved. Sure, the story might be looked at, but it doesn’t get the chance to sit for a day or two before I go back at it. I find that I tend to catch errors in my own work and others if I go back over it once or twice a day or so later.

It just helps to allow myself to forget the current strand I was working on, because then I am not so wrapped up that I miss things unintentionally. It also gives me the chance to insert my blue comments, which can be anything from me reacting to something a character has said to me letting an author know they have done especially well in an area. I feel that my joint encouragement and corrections are most effective in helping a fellow author see what they need to adjust. I know that it works for me, so why not others as well?

Besides, I do like to take my time in general. I do not beta often for many people, so I want my work to be done as thoroughly as possible. The authors I beta for are trusting me with their work, and will alter their creation based on my suggestions.

Goodness, I hadn’t meant to go on about two different topics, but it just happened. I had been meaning to write a “What betaing means to me.” piece for a while now. I probably started one at some point, but lost it to the first Flash Drive. Oh as well, right?

I hope that everyone is doing well.

Danielle