There are those moments when you just want to say something, but knowing that it would be socially unacceptable or get you into a lot of trouble you don't. So instead you play out the scenario in your head. I do this all the time. Especially as the semester is drawing to a close and I have more research papers to write than I have time and my rage and frustration is just below the surface instead of miles deep in my soul like it usually is. Which has lead to some hilarious and interesting inner conversations.
For example I was at the library and needed a microfilm (please tell me you know what that is) and if you don't know what that is, it's kind of like a film with copies of journal articles and historic documents on them. Anywho, I asked one of the lovely library workers for help locating this microfilm because without his help I would not be able to find it without getting frustrated and giving up. And all he gave me was this death glare and a grudging "sure". So my rage and frustration boiled up. I wanted to say "I guess I could find it on my own, but I may 'accidentally' leave microfilms in random places, out of order. You wouldn't want that, now would you?" And then I would walk off and do exactly as I said.
Of course that's not how it went, he lead me straight to the microfilm I needed, I looked at it, did my research (man that makes it sound so easy) and then went on my merry way to work on my paper. But wouldn't it have been great if I had done what I imagined?
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
An Imagined Dinner Party
Sometimes I have the most random ideas. Especially when I'm trying to procrastinate. Today's idea: Who would I invite to a dinner party if I could invite anyone, living or dead? I think I could throw quite the dinner party this way.
First I would invite Kurt Vonnegut. Why? Because. Because he won a Purple Heart for getting frost bite. Because he gave his own works letter grades. Because he was an awesome writer. Because he was crazy. And I like crazy. If you ever get the chance you should watch an interview with him he says the greatest things. Or just take your chances and find some quotes by him (and assume that they are actually his). I am almost certain that this man was a genius, which probably says a lot about me, but what can I say, I'm crazy.
Second and third, the duo of C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien. Yes, I lumped them together because I feel like they'd come together they were friends in life anyway. Mainly because these two really shaped my view on reading and the fantasy genre. In a world where sparkly vampires and poorly written young adult novels rain supreme these fine gentlemen left behind great novels that are timeless and classic. Everyone knows their names.
Fourth, I would invite John Green. Yes, I may have a personal vendetta against young adult literature today, but Mr.Green gives me some hope. Also, I may or may not follow his vlog with his brother Hank religiously. This man is awesome and inspiring so of course his presence would be greatly appreciated at my imaginary dinner party.
Fifth, now that I think about it Hank Green should come as well. And though I feel bad that it was sort of an after thought my original intent was to cram as many authors into my dinner party as possible so I don't feel so bad anymore. I feel like that just watching one of Hank's videos would be sufficient to explain why he would be a worthy dinner party guest. (This is the point where you open another tab for Youtube and watch a Hank Green video, it's okay, I'll wait right here.)
Sixth, would most definitely be Mark Twain. Another favorite author of mine. I love The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is one of my favorite novels. Even Twain's non-fiction is good, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Life on the Mississippi.Twain just seems like the type of person that I'd want to chat with.
And six sounds like a lovely number to stop at, nice and even. With little finger sandwiches and fancy schmancy drinks in great supply, let the party begin!
First I would invite Kurt Vonnegut. Why? Because. Because he won a Purple Heart for getting frost bite. Because he gave his own works letter grades. Because he was an awesome writer. Because he was crazy. And I like crazy. If you ever get the chance you should watch an interview with him he says the greatest things. Or just take your chances and find some quotes by him (and assume that they are actually his). I am almost certain that this man was a genius, which probably says a lot about me, but what can I say, I'm crazy.
Second and third, the duo of C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien. Yes, I lumped them together because I feel like they'd come together they were friends in life anyway. Mainly because these two really shaped my view on reading and the fantasy genre. In a world where sparkly vampires and poorly written young adult novels rain supreme these fine gentlemen left behind great novels that are timeless and classic. Everyone knows their names.
Fourth, I would invite John Green. Yes, I may have a personal vendetta against young adult literature today, but Mr.Green gives me some hope. Also, I may or may not follow his vlog with his brother Hank religiously. This man is awesome and inspiring so of course his presence would be greatly appreciated at my imaginary dinner party.
Fifth, now that I think about it Hank Green should come as well. And though I feel bad that it was sort of an after thought my original intent was to cram as many authors into my dinner party as possible so I don't feel so bad anymore. I feel like that just watching one of Hank's videos would be sufficient to explain why he would be a worthy dinner party guest. (This is the point where you open another tab for Youtube and watch a Hank Green video, it's okay, I'll wait right here.)
Sixth, would most definitely be Mark Twain. Another favorite author of mine. I love The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is one of my favorite novels. Even Twain's non-fiction is good, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Life on the Mississippi.Twain just seems like the type of person that I'd want to chat with.
And six sounds like a lovely number to stop at, nice and even. With little finger sandwiches and fancy schmancy drinks in great supply, let the party begin!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
It's November...
Man, I totally forgot about this blog...oops. Anywho, it is the month of November which means one thing, NO SHAVE NOVEMBER! Just kidding, it's NaNoWriMo. What is that you ask? Well NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and is the thirty one days in November when crazy peopl, such as myself, write 1,667 words a day in order to reach the goal of 50,000 words by the end of the month. Now, this is no magnum opus by any means, it's pretty much slapping ideas on the page until you reach 50,000 words at the end of the month. Though they are cohesive ideas their is always the chance of plot holes and continuity errors. But the accomplishment of writing so much gives hope to being able to write on a normal basis outside of November since you supposedly wrote around 2,000 words a day which is quite an accomplishment.
To become a better writer you need to write and write and write some more and of course reading doesn't hurt either! It's hard and there will be days when you think to yourself, I can't, and you just stare at the screen or the blank journal page with nothing. And do you stop there. Nope. Even if it is the most ridiculous thing that comes to your mind, write about it. It's good for you, build character!
So to combat some of that writer's block there are always writing prompts! For example:
1. Describe a single object in great detail so that anyone can picture every detail of it without having ever seen it.
2. Magazines have tons of random pictures so pick one and give it a back story, who, what, when where, why, and how.
3. Rewrite a fairy tale so that it doesn't end how it was supposed to, no more happily ever after! Mwahahaha!
4. Create the perfect evil villain.
5. Describe the new fairytale hero.
6. Start your story with "And that's how I died"
There are many websites out there that have pretty awesome prompts as well, just use the always handy Google and the world of writing prompts will open up!
May the odds be ever in your favor!
To become a better writer you need to write and write and write some more and of course reading doesn't hurt either! It's hard and there will be days when you think to yourself, I can't, and you just stare at the screen or the blank journal page with nothing. And do you stop there. Nope. Even if it is the most ridiculous thing that comes to your mind, write about it. It's good for you, build character!
So to combat some of that writer's block there are always writing prompts! For example:
1. Describe a single object in great detail so that anyone can picture every detail of it without having ever seen it.
2. Magazines have tons of random pictures so pick one and give it a back story, who, what, when where, why, and how.
3. Rewrite a fairy tale so that it doesn't end how it was supposed to, no more happily ever after! Mwahahaha!
4. Create the perfect evil villain.
5. Describe the new fairytale hero.
6. Start your story with "And that's how I died"
There are many websites out there that have pretty awesome prompts as well, just use the always handy Google and the world of writing prompts will open up!
May the odds be ever in your favor!
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