Where the hell have you been? · 11:29pm Apr 24th, 2012
Doing this:
I want to extend a great thanks to all the fans of Daylight Burning who have waited so patiently to read the final chapter(s). It's been about a month since Chapter 8 launched, and I want to assure everypony that I have NOT lost interest in the story, nor the ponies, nor you. I have my Master's Exam on Thursday, and I've spent the past month or so working 12 hours a day to absorb everything there is to know about:
1. Changing patterns of trade and civilization on the Indian Ocean from 800AD to the present, from the perspective of the Portuguese, Indians, Chinese, Dutch, French, and British.
2. The Atlantic basin economy from the Maritime Revolution (1400's) to the present, from the perspective of the Northern and Southern European powers, Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
3. The plantation complex (sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, alcohol) and its effects on various societies in comparison/contrast to opium, silver, silk, porcelain, and spices. Also, how this fits-into/changed/was-changed-by the period of Industrial Revolution, and the Democratic Revolution of the 1800's.
4. The complete historiography of world history from 1960 to the present, including famous authors, various trends, opinions, and paradigm shifts in research and writing. This one will be the hardest...
I could go on, but you get the picture... Take a note: the way a career is formed is to find something you kind of like to do and do it to such an extreme that you never want to do it ever again!
Daylight Burning is my uber-goal this summer, and as I've already got the entire thing outlined, it shouldn't be much longer before I can finally put the last nail in the Nightmare's coffin. After that, I've got a string of one-shots planned, including a romance entitled Moon Dragon and a comedy-adventure called The Secrets of the Sun.
Stay tuned, my literate bronies. Answers are coming, and I haven't forgotten about you, the agent, Cinnamon Oatmeal, Shield Banner, or Chyornyj Slon!
Have a great day, and work hard!
Take all the time you need, man, and good luck on the Master's Exam.
*reads all the things you've been reading*
*realizes that the only thing I've read in the past month has been Pony fiction*
Take your time, dude! Best of luck to ya!
I was beginning to think that something unfortunate had befallen you.
It seems my suspicions were correct.
Good luck with your exam though.
Dude take your time your Masters is more important than the story, and good luck on it
Study? Sheesh. Just watch Pirates of the Caribbean and ace that test. And rum, rum helps.
And bribery. With rum.
84946
That made me laugh!
Don't worry yourself! We will appreciate whatever you post, whenever you post.
Now go love and tolerate the buck out of those exams
84946 I have been sitting here with Philip Curtin's "The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex" humming the theme song to that damn movie for three days now.
84967 84842 84826 84823 84819 You guys are the best! Thank you so much for your words of encouragement!
84981
And now you can have this one stuck in your head instead.
Good luck on the test. I just dropped my major for a new one, I got sick of mine.
While I search for the thing I want to do for a career, I'll always remember what my Psych prof. taught me. "If you can enjoy what you do for the intrinsic value and not for the extrinsic value, you will be content.", with a cool french accent. Good luck!
Ahhhh... working for a Master's Degree.
I totally know how you feel dude!
Hope things work out great!
85376 Thanks mate, I didn't realize you were doing the MA thing too. What's your focus and how far along are you? And for that matter, what's your alma mater? I'm at California State University Sacramento, myself, since I'm not Asian enough to be at UC Davis.
(I'm only half-Asian on my mother's side)
85377
I hope I'll graduate with an M.S. in Economics (focusing mostly on microeconomics and statistical modeling of economic trends) by the end of August.
Career-wise... dunno. I'm pretty much myopically focused on academics. Haven't job searched.
I'd love to keep doing the kind of stuff that I did as an R.A. for the Department, studying how local development effects the environment. It would be great to work for the Dallas Fed or for a local think tank affiliate. I'm more on the free market side, so maybe for the American Enterprise Institute of the National Center for Policy Analysis.
I... I dunno. I feel really sheepish about sharing what city I live in and what college I go to (call it paranoia). But we're friends... tell you what. I'll give a hint. Don Henley went here.
85389 What a funny coincidence that we're finishing our Masters at the same time.
85400
Sure is!
You know you were one of the first ones to comment, like chapter by chapter on both Nightmare Date and A Nightly Romance, and that meant a lot to me. I really poured myself into those stories-- so surprised and shocked that they both ended up featured even though then I had no confidence and little experience on the site here. I hope I've developed since then, thanks to reader input. So thanks for that.