Impending Motivation

With the recent cuts in hours most everyone in the retail world have been experiencing, it's led me to wonder what my next week (with practically zero hours) has in store for my side-projects.
I mean, sure - I can hang out with friends and catch up on old times. However, at the same time I think I can get something jump-started...



Current Music:
Joe Hisaishi - "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky"
Laputa: Castle in the Sky Original Soundtrack

The orchestrated piece played during the opening credits of Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
It's one of my favorite Miyazaki films, and... well, if you know me, you know two things are central for me to look at: the story, and the music.
Obviously, the music delivered - otherwise I wouldn't have the soundtrack.


Frank Klepacki - "Hell March 3"
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Original Soundtrack

Anyone who's ever played any old school Command & Conquer game knows Frank Klepacki.
Back when the franchise was owned by Westwood Studios, Klepacki was the sole music guy responsible for every game's soundtrack, and he delivered.
But since EA took control of the franchise... eh. I like the music still, but it's just not the same.
Anyway, back to "Hell March 3."
This track takes the epic invasion-esque, guitar-pumped feel of "Hell March 2" and darkens the sound of it in a fashion that musically tells the Russians "Look what you just unleashed, you dolt."
If you didn't play any of the Command & Conquer: Red Alert games, I'll explain:
The original Red Alert explored the notion of time travel and alternate history. Albert Einstein creates a time machine and uses it to go back and kill Adolf Hitler. While this prevents the creation of Nazi Germany, it also allows the Soviet Union to become a powerhouse that isn't stalled by the Germans and lets them take over the whole of mainland Europe.
Red Alert 2 continues the story with an initially-successful Soviet invasion of the United States mainland and an Allied counteroffensive that ends up at the heart of Moscow.
At the start of Red Alert 3, the Soviets are revealed to possess their own time machine, which is used to go back and eliminate Einstein. This changes the alternate history so that Russia is once again able to conquer Europe. However, with the elimination of Einstein comes the elimination of technology derived from his research (i.e.: nukes), which means the Allies never drop atomic weapons on Japan... which lets the island nation (now called the "Empire of the Rising Sun") to become a rivaling powerhouse of its own and launch an invasion campaign on Russia.
Hence the "Look what you just unleashed, you dolt" sound. And the sound of awesome.


Gustav Mahler - "Quartet for Strings and Piano in A Minor"

(Oh, yes, I did just say I was listening to classical music. Awesome stuff, BTW.)
Quite a melancholic-sounding piece, but maybe that's why I was drawn to it.
While it possessed that depression-inducing feeling I recognize it for, it also carries with it an ambient, almost meditative sound.
I can draw some concentration power from this... so maybe I'll have this on the playlist as I type this out.
The fact that it has two of my favorite instruments (piano and violin) is a nice touch, as well.
OH. And to those of you who are wondering why I listen to classical music... or wondering if you'd ever listen to this... those questions will be answered somewhere down the road.
But if you've watched Shutter Island, you've heard this classical piece already - the scene where Marshal Teddy Daniels meets Doctor Jeremiah Naehring and first reflects on Daniels' experience at Dachau (that story involving the SS commandant's botched suicide) has this playing.





I wonder what the next six days after tonight will bring me.
The last time I had such an extended length of time off work, it was voluntary and in the form of my 21st birthday-slash-vacation.
During that time, I didn't really do much. I just relaxed, relaxed, slept, relaxed, had some alcohol (hey, it was my 21st), relaxed, and... well, that about wraps it up.

Now, while that sounds just wonderful in terms of getting away from work, it also means that I don't remember what I did when it comes to my side-projects.
Which probably translates into "I did jack squat for those things."
Project-wise, it was a stagnant vacation.

Ew. I hate stagnancy.

So I figured, hey - I'll try to work on something*. Been a while since I have, anyway, right?
Six days... enough time for me to make one major impact on something...

* = "Wait," you ask. "Didn't you say you were going to work on something of yours earlier this month?" Yes, I did. I probably spent a good five hours tops on stuff between then and now. Shame, huh?

...but what to work on?
I could work on sorting my music archives and getting myself to 10,000 songs (yes, I have enough music to do just that).
I could revise and work on one of my fan fiction stories (Unincorporated seems like my first choice for this one).
I could look up my old work for Shock Squad BETA and see if I can improve the characters any more than I already have (characters make the story, IMO).
I could find my old screenplay for that Screenwriting class I took and keep adding on to it (last I saw, I was roughly at 40 pages).
OR I could start something totally new - break out an idea, choose a medium to present it in, and add something different to my list of unfinished stuff.

The possibilities are quite endless, but unfortunately, six days... aren't.

Well, I'll probably come up with something while I'm at work. We'll see what tonight has in store for me...