It was another late night / early morning for Snowdrop. Here he was busy away at nothing, relaxing and going about his life. He was on break and having just finished all the work assigned to him. Constantly in flux of having plenty of tests to prepare for, projects to complete, hobbies to maintain, with a plethora of media and entertainment to consume.

The time was currently 11:00pm at night, and while it might be late for some, the night was quite young for Snowdrop. Snowdrop was quite familiar with all times of the day, with his least favorite time  being from 5:00-8:00AM. He was definitely not an early morning person. As a late night owl, he spent much of his youth and the last few years burning the midnight oil and enjoying the occasional 3, 4:00AM peace.

He did things passionately and his curiosity and interest in various subjects took him all over the place, from music composition, to painting or playing sports. He'd done a lot of things in the short time he'd been on earth, a good what? 16?  18? 20 years worth probably.

Now to many of Snowdrop's age, they thought themselves old. Many of Snowdrop's age envied those younger than them. How those younger than them enjoyed the freedom from responsibility and burden of life. These youths who lived life with such joie de vie. They got to enjoy their childhoods with a carefree and blissful ignorance. With such light responsibilities the world was open to them, for them to explore, play, and enjoy themselves. Many of those they considered the younger generation could be found playing video games, hanging out with friends, engaging in mischievous acts and dealing with their own pile of school work and assignments. In short, enjoying their childhood and youth.

Many of those younger than Snowdrop were able to be contented with thing he and many of his peers considered mundane or perhaps even beneath them.  While a child that might enjoy splashing in puddles, he found himself worried at the thought of getting himself wet and having to change. The simple cartoons and plots that children had never been exposed to, have all been experienced by Snowdrop and those of his age.

However, being in close contact with his grandparents, he paid less attention to aging and the worries of getting older. He was more comfortable with the thought of becoming older, wiser, and more experienced. However, he was by no means more mature. In fact his penchant for answers and curiosity was quite child-like, and so he often acted impulsively, whilst still using the logic faculties of experience possessed by a person of his age. (AN: Oxymoronic and confusing sentence?)

Snowdrop traded his free time and youth for personal research and hobbies. While his peers were busy socializing, perhaps discussing politics, gossip or daily events, Snowdrop pursued his interests. Snowdrop didn't always take the conventional path, he liked to explore and take risks. Additionally, the fact that he didn't always know what he was passionate or interested in, he constantly pushed himself to try new things. He took classes that he had an interest in, tried new sports that he was curious of, and attempted to strengthen skills he lacked proficiency in.

This lead to Snowdrop's personality of always taking a passive social approach. He liked to listen, formulate his own opinions and thoughts, and get lost in the sea of his imagination and curiosity. With a strong appetite for reading he had plenty of thoughts and ideas to inspire him. Like many readers, he became a philosopher, a lover of knowledge and a lover of not just good stories, but good ideas as well. *1

This also lead to obtaining an active mind in which he observed the world. He was a flaneur, always watching and learning from others,  and a scientist wondering how things worked, testing, and assuming. *2

He had a wide array of interests, dabbling in many, but mastering quite few. So he lived his life like this, indulging himself in his hobbies and learning much from the world, but leaving little in return. With all this accumulation of experience and knowledge it all came to a head. These circumstances birthed an idea in Snowdrop's head. An idea that would change the course of lives for him and his friends. It wasn't a particularly grand or noble idea, in fact it was quite mundane, but that one idea lead them down a path to create things they never thought possible. *3

Author's Notes...

References, questions, rants, and things to consider:
think of this as author self reflection / author's thoughts and inspiration

*1:

I once thought the idea that a good book and a good story are the same, however nowadays the medium of books are changing, and so is the evolution of a good story, but I always feel that people enjoy and can read good stories, stories that interest them, and not necessarily good books.

i.e would people rather read the French constitution and Plato's Dialogues, or would they rather enjoy a good tv show or animation, such as BBC's Sherlock and Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving castle?

The French constitution may have masterfully written by the brightest French philosophers and politician of the time, but more people seem to seen films such as Sherlock than have read the French Constitution.

A good story can draw the entertain and engage many  and the mediums in which we enjoy stories are constantly evolving. Media and entertainment such as music, poetry, sport, art are but a few. In music, one can appreciate the sounds that are pleasing to the ear or energized by the mood of the tune whilst enjoying the story giving by the lyrics and music video. In sports the adrenaline of a charged crowd, the tension of a close match, may be enhanced by the narrative of the obstacles faced by a particular player or team. In art it may be appreciating the colors the painter has carefully composed while being enhanced with the knowledge of the history and meaning of the artwork. 

(sorry that got a bit long, next time I'll try to pose a question instead of asking)

*2 the flaneur idea / term is from an TS Elliot's poem The Love song of Alfred J Prufrock I believe, plenty of good short stories, poets and writers out there. Hemingway's clean well-lighted place, Honore Balezac, Miguel Cervantes, Don Quioxte and the picture of Dorian Gray I believe. (reminiscing again) couple other ones like Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson. Then you've got Russian philosophy like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and more, sigh... more rambling. There's science fiction and the nebula awards, and I'll just stop here. I'm an author trying to fight off forgetfulness and I seem to be losing.

*2 I'm reminded of Sophistry (night is long walk on girl - hilarious), fascinating in it's own right, of Cicero an amazing statesman and politician, and I'm glad I was able to reference the origin / meaning of philosophy. Minerva is all the more interesting a name because of philosophy as well.

*3 plenty of famous quotes, Einstein's fish in a tree, inspiration and Edison, I dunno I'm reminded of the imitation game ("-no one can imagine"). 

and these are some of the research and references that hold me back when I write....man that was harder than I expected.