Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?

I am Djoyce, and I'm probably mad.

[djoyceinwonderland]

Time Management

I suck at it! 

I honestly don’t know what to do. in the beginning of 2017, I promised to reboot all these things I sort of left behind, included but not limited to booktube, writing here, and writing a book blog as well.  

And I haven’t. I have no idea of what to do:  I have tried to keep a journal, a diary I found out I couldn’t. I tried keeping alarms in my phone calendar, but I simply ignored them. 

Besides work and the boyfriend, there isn’t really anything else I really spend a lot of time on. I mean watching Netflix doesn’t really count, to be fair I have been knitting a lot, I actually finished a project! (Yaaay!). But I don't want my crafts to mess with my reading/talking about books/journaling. 

BECAUSE I WANT TO DO IT ALL OK?  Ok.

So I am here to ask you for help? maybe just rant a bit. But I just wanted to put this out there. 

I am shit at time management.

Advice?

[djoyceinwonderland]

asdfghjkl

[djoyceinwonderland]

HEADLINES!

As you may have seen on my previous 2 posts here, I have written about how I want to write more - creatively - not just some life descriptive stuff. 

So I am doing last year’s  @monthlywritingchallenge February challenge, in which I must pick headlines. So I bought a newspaper - which has never happened before - Once I arrived home I went through all the headlines. AND THEY ARE ALL

SO 

LITERAL 

But I mustn’t quit, neither will I. tomorrow I will buy a new newspaper and find a headline that intrigues me and inspires me. 

wish me luck! 

Djoyce

[monthlywritingchallenge]

February Challenge

Hi everyone, and welcome to February! 

The February challenge, like last year for those of you who remember, is based on headlines. There’s so much writing gold hidden inside small news stories in local or tabloid news that can give you amazing inspiration for your writing. The challenge this month is to find those stories! Open a tabloid newspaper (or an online newspaper) and write the story behind a headline that catches your eye. Don’t read the actual news story until you’ve finished! I’ll be posting ones that I see in my local news all month. 

Send in your stories by the 28th of February to be considered for the favourites! In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or headlines you want to share, my askbox is always open. Happy writing :)x

[djoyceinwonderland]

SoI found this writing challenge. It’s from last year, but still quite interesting, and I like the idea of picking headlines as a form of inspiration for my writings.

[djoyceinwonderland]

On Challenging oneself

I have decided to do more during the year of 2017, but have failed miserably, starting with the keeping of this journal, ending with the @books-cupcakes Book Photo Challenge I have told myself I would do in January (I lasted 25 days of January - with some latergrams @ahatterandahare instagram ).

But that must change

So I have decided to change from a book photo challenge to an impromptu writing challenge. I may even accompany these words with pretty pictures. We’ll see. 

I therefore pledge February to be a writing month for me. 

The challenge I will follow will be posted shortly (as soon as I find a good one)

[djoyceinwonderland]

Bad Poetry

It’s easy to rhyme love with dove and hope with rope.

So if gone is all the love 

And lost is all the hope

I shall get the rope

and strangle the dove

 - Djoyce

[djoyceinwonderland]

2017 Resolutions

REBOOT.

Be More Cultured: 

Read 35 Books;

Listen to more podcasts;

Watch more Booktube;

Read more news.

Be More Creative:

Reboot Booktube - persist;

Keep a journal;

Write blog posts;

Instagram.

Be More Intelligent:

Khan Academy course;

Coursera course;

Crash Course.

Be More Healthy:

Start and finish full insanity program;

Quit Smoking;

Drink water.

[djoyceinwonderland]

Note to self.

Here is to a new year: 

Full of possibilities, challenges and adventures. 

To rebooting: 

Creating a new you, the you that is different from last year’s. 

To embracing the unknown:  

Diving head fist may not be a bad idea.

To making resolutions:

May you achieve your goals and wishes. 

To dreaming even bigger:

Reach for the stars, you may even get to the moon

To fighting for what you want: 

For your rights and dreams, please never give up

Here is to 2017, may it be a kind happy year, 

May it begin with new things and end with a new me. 

May I love and laugh and respect my peers. 

May I learn and listen and overcome my fears. 

May it be the year I start with champaign and end with a cup of tea.

[djoyceinwonderland]

An open letter to 2016

Dear 2016,

I am happy you are ending, you have been cruel, you have been rough.

With your sharp edges I’ve been bruised. You have been merciless, with no regards for how we feel or what we think.

Death has been your main theme. I have seen things during your time I didn’t imagine humans were capable of. Not any more, not after all the things we did in the past.

But I guess History has a tendency of repeating itself. I know we would rather live in the illusion that as humans we have evolved, not only technology and as a species. But we have this odd tendency to keep on repeating the same bad behaviours. We like to imagine we have learned from past mistakes. But we didn’t. And we keep this circle of repeating ourselves, hating one another and using our laws to spread hate.

I guess you have showed me many things, you have taught me to hold on to my life, as I am nothing but a millisecond in the story of the universe. Maybe you came along to teach me that time is fleeing.  I must grasp what I have, right here right now. Enjoy it fully and spend my short time surrounded with good people and good things.

In a way, I feel like I did exactly that. I feel like I have loved intensely while you were her, that I have had fun and made sure to enjoy every second of you.

So, 2016, thank you, for the lessons you have taught me, for the bruises you have given me, and for the laughs you let me have. on't take it the wrong way, but I can't wait to see you leave.

Enjoy retirement. You deserve it.

Best Wishes,

Djoyce

[djoyceinwonderland]

Writer’s block

writing has become hard,it doesn’t flow anymore, and I’m afraid it’ll go away. sort of like spider-man on spider-man 2. I’m afraid I have repressed it for too long, that now I can’t even improve, that Ihave become the worst. no. I am not looking for your pity nor do I want anyone to tell me it’s temporary and that eventually it’ll come back. I am here to write a journal entry on how hard it has been to write lately. 

This has nothing to do with you, all to do with me. feel free to read my thoughts, this is why I post them online, for your amusement. 

I believe my madness isn’t a madness after all, that I just want it to be so I can be more interesting. to myself. some call it eccentricity, I am not. Eccentric. nor Mad. I am just ordinary, not a writer, just another sheep in the flock. I’m afraid to be that. 

This is, after all tumblr, so, when I talk about my madness I do not mean any sort of mental ilness.

As I was saying, I’m afraid I’m just another pawn, not a queen, that I can only move one direction, that I am the first one to die, that I am disposable, that I am 23 and still haven’t done the great thing I wanted to have done by now. That whenever I sit down to write, even something as small as a journal entry my mind tells me I’m incapable I’m worthless and that no one will ever be interested in my words. I’m afraid my story is not worth telling. 

And I hate that, and everyday I tell myself it’s not like that, that I have a good story, that it always seems uninteresting right before it gets interesting, that’s why great stories are great, they aren’t great from the beginning, they need to be worked on, and done and redone and Edited, and proof-read and there is a process I haven’t figured out yet, there is a thing, that makes people focus for enough time to write a story, to not forget what they thought about while they were brushing their teeth and in the shower. But the little devil in my shoulder keeps telling me that it isn’t quite like that. that Great storytellers are born that way, and if they don’t practice they will lose their gift of telling great beautiful stories. ThatI’ve missed my opportunity. it’s gone. completely. My madness is gone. 

Completely. 

It just is.  I can’t write anymore.

often I think I should do it only because it’s my art. But I started caring about what you think and that’s what fucked everything up, me. thinking. about. you. reading. the. words. I. write. 

[djoyceinwonderland]

I think the worst part of the human experience is when you feel abandoned, when you finally get to trust someone with yourself, and they throw you on the ground and you scatter like a porcelain doll. And then you're all alone, they leave you to pick up the pieces, to put yourself back together, and it's usually just too much, and it takes too long, and it's so painful. I think the worst part of the human experience is to feel abandoned.

[djoyceinwonderland]

I need a full time job. But I have very little qualifications for anything. Fml

[sociallyadjustedhermit]

Are you sexy beasts looking for a GISHWHES team? We’re having a MEMBER HUNT!

As our name colorfully suggests, we’re a bunch of nerds, and we’re looking for people to join our cause! We already participated last year (albeit under another name), so we have some experience. Currently, team Illuminerdy has members from:

- Portugal (Lisbon)

- England (Manchester)

If you’re in any of these zones, amazing! If you’re not, worry not, we want people from all over the world as well!

We’re looking for people who are determined, productive, easy to reach and, most importantly, willing to make a fool of themselves for fun. We sure are!

If you do desire to join us, message me, sociallyadjustedhermit, mylifehasbeentakenoverbygayhalp or therandomnesslover and we’ll add you to the team and to our facebook group, where we discuss things more in depth. 

LEZ DO DIS!

HAPPY GISHWHES!!

[djoyceinwonderland]

Made of stars

[djoyceinwonderland]

I'm so scared of getting a broken heart. Again

[djoyceinwonderland]

In which I can't really have books in the summer cause every liquid I keep in my bag doesn't believe in confining. Even a pen broke on my bag this week.

[indie-and-the-phones]

Nico Vega

Speaking of Egyptian, let’s just take a moment to appreciate one of its constituents.

I’m talking about Aja Volkman and her rock band Nico Vega.

There’s one word that comes to my mind every time I hear their music - damn. Damn her voice is amazing, damn the guitarists and drummer are so talented, damn me for not knowing about them sooner.

I’ve had their first album Nico Vega on repeat for days now; usually I quickly get tired of hearing the same music for too long, but their style is so diverse that every replay feels new (much like her husband’s new album Smoke + Mirrors). 

I’m going to leave you with some of my favourite songs to try and spike your curiosity to check them out

(plus a home recording showing you how talented this woman really is)

-T