It's A Monthsary!

In the light of my weekly dalliance with blog for the past month, it has come to my attention that I’ve raised a couple of eyebrows and furrowed a handful of foreheads. I don’t think I’ll go as far as say that there is now a “following” to my writing, since it’s more along the pastures of the geez-wonder-what-my-crazy-and-delusional-friend-Yani-is-up-to-these-days kind of check-ups. Nonetheless, I absolutely commend my friends in treating them as close substitutes to the customary hugs, kisses, thumbs-ups, pats on the rump, and flipped birdies of support while they’re all off slaving away in their summer classes. But there have been, ahem, concerns as well—all duly noted. My friend Ray has a problem with my blog site’s name, yanihahahalivestotellatale, being too long which is kind of a strange problem considering that he’s a ComSci major and he’s probably steno graphed lengthier, more abstract Morse codes from aliens in outer space. And my other friend, Kat C., complains that she doesn’t really like the installment trick I’ve been pulling for the past two weeks since it reminds her of the Starwars trilogy(I’d like to think it’s at least the three good ones she’s referring to that came out before 1999) and that they somehow rob the satisfaction the reader gets in concise, point-on-point, muck-free writing. Even my closest allies think it’s bordering on the superfluous that I talk about my trade-book-hawking skills like I won the Bookworm of the World award, and dropping A(uthor)-bombs like it was Hiroshima and Nagasaki all over again. And they are all probably right in the eyes of an all-knowing divinity in the far reaches of the firmament. I appreciate my friends and family’s honesty in opinion and I love them for serving up the good alongside the mediocre, alongside the bad. The fact that they would even bother to read, then, comment on my work when they could have a more productive use of their time, shows that they do feel strongly about what I’m doing and believe that I can do better. But at the same glaring light, I’m always keen on taking criticisms as tabs for the things I should be wary about and should learn from and for those I shouldn’t and should still learn from. The last thing I want to come out of this other creative outlet of mine is the need to constantly and perfunctorily compromise my natural responses, and ultimately compromise myself, to be favored in other people’s eyes. So yes, I’m keeping the blog site’s name because I like it and reflects the nature of my writing(Ray, you’re right—if parables were good enough for Jesus, it’s probably good enough for me) and I’m continuing the “unimpeachable truths” because it’s a great opportunity to somehow (re)introduce myself to everyone(albeit it’s hacked value). Oh and but of course, I gasta keep the braggadocios beast in check. Check!

Song of the Month: “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes (And still obsessing. This song is probably the best song I’ve heard in the longest time, and that’s saying a lot. It’s haunting, pure, and maddeningly gorgeous. Packs a lot of a punch for a song under 3 minutes. Long live Fleet Foxes and every other artist who swims in the sea of reverb and/or enjoys crushing snow underfoot!)