Ally and I are back
on campus, and we're better than ever, baby! Both ready to fill our minds and
hearts to the brim with wisdom, we face a shiny new semester full of fresh
starts, new experiences, and friends of both the old and new varieties.
Furthermore, on January 22nd, we celebrated our 4th Friendaversary! (Yes; We
are one of those lucky pairs who know our friendaversary.)
WE'RE FOUR!!!
Our updated and
improved room looks pretty spiffy too. I have plenty of quotes on my wall,
along with photographs and writing inspiration-worthy art and a list of my
writing goals for the semester. Jane Austen's silhouette (captioned with her
official title, Queen of Snark) is positioned so that she is visible through
our open door. (As you know, love is an open door, and we have that in full
supply.) Speaking of Frozen, our Elsa-themed confidence wall is just opposite.
Want a look?
The Queen of Snark (our patroness)
Let It Go = the motto for the semester
This ought to keep me busy!
I look forward to
another semester spent cultivating my mind and growing as a person. I am so
blessed to go to a school with such holistic approach to the liberal arts. I
have learned plenty of practical skills, sure, but I have grown so much as a
person, thanks to my education. Plus, this place is practically overflowing
with cool people! Did I mention Emily and I now have Peter Pan friendship
necklaces? I have an acorn, and she has a thimble. The clasps are like clocks!
Isn't it perfectly Pan of her? I think my necklace is just ducky (and not just
because it was almost the gift that I got her!).
I'll be posting
whenever I can with my busy academic schedule and limited wi-fi access, but I
hope to keep everyone in the know on anything and everything literary, as well
as respond to any and all blog comments. So stay tuned, folks: I have a good
feeling that this is going to be a brilliant year for story-telling.
I may be a legal adult, but I love a good time bedtime story. Yet sometimes, reading a story for myself just won't cut it. There are some nights where all I want is for someone to sit on the end of my bed and read me a chapter or two of The Silver Chair, because I'm a hipster and even if everyone else hates it, it is probably my favorite Narnia book. Yet this never happens. Why? Because my sister is a BUM and doesn't love me, that's why! She says she has to "get some sleep" because she has "school tomorrow". Can't a girl get a bedtime story over here? There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes!
- The Fourth Doctor
May I also add that Tom Baker not only played the fourth Doctor, but Puddleglum, my favorite character from Narnia. My favorite character who also happens to be in The Silver Chair and gives the greatest speech of all time. I mean, I'm not condoning the BBC version of Narnia (it's wretched and will give you nightmares), but the epic is strong with this one.
Anyways, bedtime stories are important. A brief conversation with Emily has confirmed this. Reading to your children at night is priceless. It has developmental benefits, sure, but there is something so utterly magical about being read to as a child. It sets off a creative spark that is kindled throughout childhood and shows its greatest fruits in adulthood. Better yet is when someone weaves together a one-of-a-kind, one-night-only story made out of thin air!
Irony of ironies, it was my turn to tell my sister a bedtime story last night. The poor gal just got braces, and they have hardly been kind to her. Last night, her upper lip was all swollen and she was positively miserable. My dad and I shuffled her off to bed, and while we were laying in the dark, I asked in a small voice, "Do you want a bedtime story?" She gave the affirmative, and thus I began. Once upon, in a land far away, there was a prince...
It was brilliant, if I do say so myself. ("Oh, the cleverness of me!") I threw together this whole story about a selfish prince who was always scowling and had been lured into this tower by a dragon and now had his foot in his own chocolate birthday cake, and I was just getting to the big reveal about how the dragon was actually a cursed princess when my sister fell asleep. I was on the brink of completing the greatest bedtime story ever told, which was full of fantastic one-liners, and she fell asleep. I guess that was the point, but COME ON. I deserved an award for that one, or at least a bit of praise at the end. Tsk, tsk. Sisters. So ungrateful!
Now, I am going to go spoil myself with a few passages of Peter Pan. That unique combination of delightfully happy and unfathomably sad stuff ought to make my day a little more interesting, don't you think?
Ha! The stars are such spazzes!
Side note: Do you realize how many corny quotes from Peter Pan there are in Google Images? Most of them aren't even actually from the book. Clearly, no one realizes how truly depressing, dark, and twisted this novel is. *sigh* No one appreciates literature, not really... (False: Plenty of people do, it's just that sometimes people's sentimental preconceived notions of Peter Pan sadden me.) Operation Spread the Word About Words needs to start NOW.
Sometimes I feel really stupid. Did you know that? Well, now you do. Considering I'm friends and family with a bunch of uber talented super geniuses, it shouldn't be that much of a shock. There are musicians, artists, mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, and fellow writers who can write my socks off with their eyes closed and their hands tied. I feel like the John Watson to everyone else's Sherlock.
I'll just stand over here and react to your brilliance. Don't mind me!
However, just as John presents his own talents, abilities, and smarts, I daresay I make my own contribution. There is this theory that there are nine types of intelligence, which I only know a little about because instead of taking psychology in high school, I took Honors World Cultures and AP US Government. Point is, I dabble in most of the types, but there is no doubt that I am heavy on the linguistic intelligence. I confirmed this by taking a quiz on About.com (and before you judge me, just know that I couldn't find the one the school psychology kids used). According to the results, I'm good at the following:
Good at explaining things to others
Able to use humor when telling stories
Strong abilitiy to listen and remember spoken information
Understands both the literal and figurative meaning of words
Able to use language in many different ways, such as to entertain, to persuade and to inform
Strong grammar skills
I mean, that's pretty much a complete list of my greatest strengths. (Humor is debatable. I try, but I'm not saying I succeed.)
So instead of sitting around and feeling stupid because I can't remember the dates of virtually any historical event or because I can't do ballet or something, I should really just cherish the gifts God did give me.
In case you thought this post was just me fishing for compliments, I have a proposition to make. I propose we writers take into account the different types of intelligence when devising characters. You have people who are "musical smart" and kids who are "number smart" and others who are "people smart". For example, Sherlock Holmes is not people smart. There was that one time and that other time and that other time which would totally happen to me and wow all of these have to do with Molly. Gosh, I love Molly.
(He's not really a sociopath. Do your research.)
However, Sherlock is the master of deductive reasoning. He also is violinist who dabbles in dance (yes, DANCE), and may be not as deficient in the people skills area as it seems. He's intelligent, but a certain type(s) of intelligent. Write characters with different types of intelligence and you'll have much more variety and interest. Or maybe you have characters whose similar types of intelligence clash or create competition, or maybe just work together in a two-heads-are-better-than-one situation. Just remember that every character has something to offer, and so does every person.
Look around. Isn't it colorful? I am currently working on improving the layout of the blog and making it more functional. I'll be rolling out some more minor changes which will hopefully make this blog easier to navigate.
-2-
Heather Dixon loves me.
Me, and Marlene. Below is a screenshot to prove it. If you haven't read Heather Dixon's positively enchanting novel Entwined or clicked "follow" for her hysterical blog Story-Monster, I would highly recommend it. She can make me laugh (or swoon) even on the darkest and dreariest of days.
Fangirl captions added for your entertainment.
-3-
Downton is back, ladies n' gents.
While other viewers are trying to keep calm and carry on after Season 3, I am still suffering from post-Season 2 depression. Face it: Best season of Downton Abbey ever. I have professed my love for William and Branson and Downton Abbey before, so I will leave the gushing to my past self. I am looking forward to Season 4 viewing sessions with my family until I return to school. My sisters, mother, and I all make tea and watch it together, and my father inevitably asks for the details the next day. (He's secretly a fan. I just know it.) So far it's more of the same, but the promise of new characters should shake things up relatively soon.
-4-
On top of Jimmy, there are jimmies!
There's Downton Abbey Jimmy, and then there are jimmies. As of tomorrow, I'll have both! I'm planning to bake some sprinkle-covered cookies over the course of the week, and for some reason the irony of back-to-back Jimmy-ness tickles my funny bone.
Durdurdur I'm Jimmy durdurdur.
-5-
My sister loves Earl Grey. I repeat: SHE LOVES EARL GREY.
I watched my youngest sister acquire a taste for tea over the past few years, but we had sort of parted ways. She experimented with vanilla chai concoctions while I perfected the art of a perfectly steeped, stirred, and sweetened cup of E.G. She saw me having my "usual" this evening and asked for a sip. She brought the mug to her lips, took a tiny sip, looked me in the eye, smiled, and said, "That was delicious." I promptly made her her own cup and watched her skip off into boiled leaf juice bliss. I'm so proud, guys!!!
The tea was Iroh approved.
On the writing front... All this time off has given me some time to write, which has been glorious. Still in my fairy-tale phase. I may or may not have promised some of my friends at school some finished stories, so I have my work cut out for me. I only have two weeks before I have to head back! My sentiments on the subject look a little like this:
Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but I'm pretty happy right where I am. So there you have it: 5 things you ought to know. Until next time!
I just told my mother that I had writerly duties to attend to. "Writerly duties?" she responded. "Is that a club or something?" "No, Mom," I said, then launched an explanation of all the writer-ish things I have on my plate. The articles, the blog posts, the essays... I am a busy woman!
Equipped with a cup of Earl Grey in my Anne Shirley mug (courtesy of my dear friend Abby), I take to my laptop, eager to get some words on the page/screen. I was totally psyched to write yesterday --- Ally and I were supposed to have a writing retreat in a ski lodge --- but a snowstorm interfered. I'm looking at you, Elsa.
She does what she wants.
Instead of having an at home writing retreat, my cold decided to knock out any and all motivation so that all I could bring myself to do was watch The Legend of Korra and Sherlock. All. Day. Long. I wouldn't call it an unproductive day, though. I did character analysis on the cast of Korra and found out that Molly Hooper and I both do the same giggle thing. Also, the first episode of Season 3 of Sherlock is brilliant. #feels
An example of le giggle.
Now I am back on track, thanks to cough drops and a hot shower. (And Sherlock hair ruffling.) Before I return to the world of More Serious Writerly Duties, I thought I would tell you a little bit about my recent trip to Barnes & Noble and show you some cool stuff.
First up, this blanket. I had to snap a picture because it was so darn awesome, would totally match my future house decor, and I recognized all the quotes.
Isn't it practically perfect in every way!?
I can't find a link for the product online, but I can personally assure you that this blanket was for realsies. If they have one at your local B&N and you have $40 just begging to be spent, purchase it in my stead. I entreat you.
I also read some Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, which I thoroughly I enjoyed. I have a few of his fairy tales upstairs (the more popular ones) which my sister bought but never read (!?), so I might try and read some today. Reading from the H.C.A. collection stirred my memory and made me realize that after years of doubting its existence and dubbing it a figure of my imagination, the Hans Christian Andersen movie DOES exist, and it has Danny Kaye. My mind was blown.
See! It's real!
I spent the rest of the trip sitting on the floor, reading The Art of Frozen, a $40 book that I desperately want but don't have the means to buy. I love reading the story behind the story, and the Norwegian influence on the movie is so fascinating, I found myself wishing I could have been a part of the production. I've spent weeks drooling over Frozen concept art now. Is that weird?
You can purchase the book here. I think I'll wait for someone to sell a used copy!
I didn't buy anything on our B&N trip, but it was really fun. It was also quite rewarding: My sister bought her own copy of Macbeth! No new books for me until I can read all the ones I bought this summer. It's a new year, and time for some new stories. I can hardly wait!!!
Tenzin and I are both pretty excited about new books and Macbeth.
Now, back to those writerly duties. Later, gators.
* Confirmed: Writerly is, in fact, a word. I give you solid proof.
