Back & Better

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.

Concerning "Writerly Duties"

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.

In Which There is Flirtation

Things can get a little weird in Ally and I's dorm room when it's as late in the evening as it is late in the semester. Our room becomes a passing stop for equally overtired comrades, who are given the rare opportunity to witness Ally and I in our most fragile mental state. Take, for example, our practice night for Flirting Friday.

After respective cases of tummy troubles and burnout, Ally and I resigned ourselves to a night in last Sunday. A double feature of Singin' in the Rain and Return to Me was in order. We topped off the afternoon/evening with giant fuzzy blankets and room service (a.k.a. a pair of nice friends who kindly brought us dinner around five or so). The night went on, and slowly our minds unraveled. We were exhausted in every sense of the word. Between exams and the comings and goings of daily life, I think I speak for both of us when I say that I was completely and totally DONE. Honestly, Thanksgiving break should have started that weekend for me -- I don't think anything received my full attention the rest of that week. On a crazy scale of one to Norman Bates, we were about a seven. It was in this mentally unstable state that somehow, someone proposed the idea of Flirting Friday.

According to tradition, Friday is "Fluff-off Friday" for Ally and I. No housecleaning ("house" being our tiny dorm room). No laundry. No chores. Just well-deserved relaxation after a week well done. Trading it in for Flirting Friday didn't sound very appealing, but I humored Ally, as well as a friend who was keeping us company in our room.

I, Honest Abe, told 'em like it is: "But I can't flirt to save my life."

So Ally decided to show me how it was done.

Her version of flirting, or at least the version that was presented to me on that exceptional evening, was discussion of Shakespeare punctuated frequently by the word "like". (Even when she's it down, Ally still comes across as smart.) Then it was my turn. There was lots of hair twirling… Yup, that was pretty much it. I quit a few lines in. It was BAD.

So we laughed it all off and abandoned the idea of Flirting Friday. At least, I did… until the memory came rushing back during a Black Friday interaction that revolutionized my self-image*.

* That was definitely hyperbole, just to clarify. Exaggeration hand raised all the way up, peeps.

I don't know where my sisters and I got the bright idea to drive to the theater that is attached to a mall on Black Friday when there is a perfectly good theater half the distance from our house in the opposite direction, but that's what we did. I think my sis wanted to get some shopping in, and naturally she was the only one who had luck in the half hour we spent running like mad around the store. ANYWAYS. We walk in to the theater with just enough time to snag tickets and seats before the previews start. I pay for all of us -- 3 PM showing of Catching Fire for four -- and we head towards the ticket-ripper-guy. He was pretty tall, had some seriously curly, relatively long hair, and I couldn't peg an age on him. (Had to be at least eighteen.) As he ripped our tickets and pointed us towards Theater 1, he cracked a joke about not getting lost. It was pretty funny, sure. I mean, Theater 1 was in plain sight from where we were standing. Everyone gives that polite laugh that is genuine but not quite genuine because it wasn't *that* funny. Last girl standing, I hand him my ticket, and he looks at me and says something about "following my friends" or something like that. And it hit me like lightning. His tone, the look he was giving me… It wasn't a normal social interaction.

THIS GUY WAS FLIRTING WITH ME.

Instead of panicking or making some derptastic noise, I felt a surge of power. The perfect witty comeback materialized right in the forefront of my mind. I knew precisely what smile to give him. I could have even batted my eyelashes for good measure. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BLACK FLIRTING FRIDAY, PEOPLE.

But I didn't. I wasn't interested. I think I laughed politely again and booked it to the bathroom. Yet even though it was an isolated incident and I didn't follow through with it and it wasn't even that big a deal, for about two seconds I possessed the power of flirtation. It was empowering. But honestly, I'm pretty happy being my incapable-of-flirting self. Can you imagine if I had the power of flirtation in addition to all of my other numerous gifts, namely my knack for humility? A girl can only be so many things before it starts becoming unfair. You know, before people start to hate you... I think I'll leave the flirting to the professionals.

Please don't kill me. O_O

PS - Catching Fire was pretty good. DUDE, KATNISS' SWEATER THING. It's like a cocoon, but for PEOPLE. 

The Peanut Butter Analogy

I think I need a writer's retreat. Even after a week of fall break, the words are just... Well, the only analogy I can think of is the feeling peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth. The stories are there, but they're almost as sticky as Ally's super-duper-borderline-crazy organic peanut butter. They're stuck to the roof of my... brain? See what I mean! I'm so desperate, I'm comparing things to peanut butter. I need a drink. By drink, I mean tea. Or coffee. Hot chocolate is also acceptable. Oh my heavens I haven't a pumpkin-flavored beverage yet. This is a major problem. Someone, anyone, please! I need a good dose of pumpkin before autumn gives way to the winter blues!!!

GOOD GRIEF, LOOK AT THAT. WHAT IS THAT? THE NECTAR OF THE GODS!?

Back on track. I don't see a real, honest-to-goodness writing retreat anywhere in my near future, but I do see a whole month dedicated to novel writing. Ladies n' gentlemen, it is that time again. That time of the year when my crazy levels are at least three standard deviations away from average and my friends and family start to seriously reconsider my presence in their lives. It's almost NaNoWriMo!

*ze super cool image from ze NaNoWriMo webzite*

This year is a really awful year to attempt writing a novel in thirty days. I know for a fact that I am going to be super stressed about school and whatnot. But I also know that I would kick myself if I didn't at least sign up and write on the first day! Who knows what will come of next month. I think I can convince a few other sorry suckers to try their hands at (at least) a few days of frenzied writing spurts with me. The tentative plan is to reboot my NaNo novel from last year, which was not at all what I intended it to be but still showed a lot of promise. I figure if I start fresh, I can redo the whole premise but maintain the integrity of the characters and the overall feel of the story-world. Cool stuff, huh?

Now that you all know my plans, I can get back to my Astronomy homework. Maybe I'll even get a NaNo-planning session in... A girl can dream!

Anne-ish Tendencies

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

Isn't this beautiful? http://kasia1989.deviantart.com/art/Friendship-Anne-From-Green-Gables-337566594

It is October, which has to be my favorite month. It's a delightful combination of brisk fall air, pumpkin-flavored desserts, cozy sweaters, boots, and steaming hot beverages. Autumn is also my most productive writing season. With rainy days and nostalgia practically humming in the air, there is no shortage of inspiration during the fall months. Endless scope for the imagination! Therefore, this is about that time of year when my Anne-ish tendencies really start to show.

Anne-ish tendency: (n) an inclination towards the literary, the imaginative, and the occasionally stubborn nature of a certain Anne Shirley; see "Anne of Green Gables"

Isn't this cover cute!?

After a long and stressful week full of schoolwork and studying, last night I desperately needed to indulge my inner Anne. My friend Emily from There is a Bend (she's kind of sort of adorable so you should really check out her blog) invited Ally and I to her room for coffee and tea. (I never thought I would find myself drinking caffeinated beverages at 9:30 PM, but somehow college makes caffeine seem like a good idea at any time of the day.) Long story short, we all ended up breaking out our old writings. And oh, did my Anne-inclined heart ache! After days upon days of bumbling through college and not feeling quite myself, I could feel my familiar Anne-ish tendencies welling up in my chest. It was wonderful. Sitting in the depths of despair while being a pseudo-adult can be really exhausting. Sometimes, you need a healthy does of Anne-ness to make life bearable.

“That's the worst of growing up, and I'm beginning to realize it. The things you wanted so much when you were a child don't seem half so wonderful to you when you get them.” 

How I felt getting dropped off at school.

Though I have yet to discover our local Lake of Shining Waters, this school has great potential as my own personal Avonlea. The gym rents out canoes, for heaven's sake. It's like they want me to act out The Lady of Shalot in the Shenandoah River!

* ~ * ~ *

In looking up all of these quotes for this blog post, I have realized that I desperately need to reread Anne of Green Gables. Also, I need Gilbert's stupid face.

Stahp it. You're too cute. And stupid. But mainly cute.

In which Monica enters college.

So. College.

Yeah.

Um...

I have literally no idea what I'm doing.

You?

YES, ME. Being a freshman is hard. I have no idea what to expect. Things are awkward half the time because practically everyone is a stranger. It's this bizarre mix of exciting, terrible, stressful, and fun, all at the same time. Fortunately for me, I have Ally from Charlie and Me as a roommate, which means that we don't fight over house rules or boys or muffins.

We also back each other up during awkward or difficult moments.

Furthermore, it means we watched The Importance of Being Earnest. So let me tell you earnestly a thing or two about my first week of college. May you learn from my experience, dear reader.

1. Getting a cold without Mom's TLC is miserable, so come prepared.

*achoo*

I got a sore throat on the second or third day being away from home. It was miserable, and I was panicking, because I've had some pretty nasty cases of strep throat in the past and I know for a fact it's not fun. Fortunately, I came to school fully stocked with Vitamic C drops, honey, Advil, and all the other things a sicky Vicky might need. I don't know what I would have done without them.

2. Keep your expectations realistic.

You're not going to walk on campus and be the coolest thing anybody has ever seen. You're also probably not going to meet your future spouse on the first day (emphasis on the "probably"). So if you're hoping for this:

Expect to be momentarily impressed before getting distracted by one of the other zillion things going on.

And if you thought you had just signed up for four years of fun and games, well... Keep in mind, you're going to be studying a lot of German grammar.

You'll look perfectly plain in the process, but you ARE supposed to be getting an education.

3. Always make time for writing, even it requires a make-believe excuse.

Writing is therapy. I can say this with every fiber of my being after orientation week. Whether I was typing up a blog post, jotting down thoughts in my random journal, working on a fairytale, utilizing my prayer journal, or throwing together a passage for a potential novel, I felt so much more relaxed during and after writing. It keeps your head screwed on straight and lets you take out all of your stress on the page. Do whatever it takes to make writing a daily exercise.

Any other college newbies who are putting their pens to paper?

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

If you really must know, I had the pleasure of seeing Ally, Marlene, and Athena from Charlie and Me over the weekend. As you can imagine, much silliness ensued. There may or may not have been light saber fights involved.

Anywho, Ally gave me a lovely idea! She told me she had gotten up early, made herself a cup of tea, and given herself some time to write. I decided to do the same. I gathered up my favorite Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati mug, the ingredients for a perfect cup of Earl Grey, as well as Ally's graduation gift to me. (This is my cue to gush about how AWESOME my present is.)

Ally got me some "unblockers", or "inspiration dice for writers and storytellers" by Palimpsestic. According to the tag, "these dice feature words and phrases torn directly from a used and abused 1962 copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen". Let me just tell you, these things are so cool. They're covered with all sorts of great, story-worthy words ("influence", "horrid man", "young ladies", "conjecture", "evening", etc.)! I tried rolling them all at once, then tried a single roll. I got the word "listen", and next thing I knew I was jotting down character and story ideas at light speed! If you want your own pair, go to http://palimpsestic.etsy.com. (No worries -- I didn't peek, Ally!)

Also, I found a webpage that said this at the top while searching for some background info for my writing.

• Is there a novel in every person?
• Are there stories that have never been told because they seemed unimportant?
• What is the value of the lives of people who will never be famous or have their biographies written?

 BIG QUESTIONS. Questions that maybe I'll answer some day.

So! Moral of the story: Writing in the morning is great, and it's even better with tea.

"Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses..."

My mug. <3

Welcome, Summer

Ladies n' gents, I just graduated on Friday. *cue the fanfare* So much has happened that would be of interest to you readers out there. For example, I won the Great Expectations Award at valediction. My English teacher gave the most amazing speech, wherein I was compared to Austen heroines and presented with so much Pride & Prejudice merchandise I nearly imploded with joy. There was another Darcy encounter (see here and here). It will probably be the last. (Maybe there will be other Austen hero encounters in the future?) We had to sit next to each other for extended periods of time, and I attempted conversation, and... Well, it went something like this conversation, minus the sexual tension. It was just full of AWKWARD.

I also failed epically at defending Matt Smiths' portrayal of the Doctor within the same time frame. Eleven, I am sorry... so sorry.

The night after my graduation, I had this moment with my mom:

 

Since then, I've been alright. Lots of partying, eating, dancing, running around, swimming, being generally crazy. Summer is lovely, and I had forgotten just how wonderful it is. I've been going on my daily walks and making plenty of fun plans, and I'm even leaving for the beach tomorrow! Doesn't that sound like fun!? 

The beach is going to mean lots of writing time, as well as reading time, which I am looking forward to. I have no project to speak of. I intend to join my friend Ally over at Charlie and Me with her plans to having a Write Cleanse experience. Other than that, I'm winging it!

Please pardon my online absence; I've been veryvery busy and I had a lot to do, and I didn't have a minute to explain it all to you. I hope to have plenty of fresh, summery stories to share with you when I get back from vacation! Until then, enjoy the start of this magical season. Read at every chance you get. (In case you're wondering, I'm enjoying a borrowed copy of Percy Wynn: Or Making a Boy of Him.) My first summer recommendation for you all would have to be In the Kingdom of the Fairies: A Memoir of a Magical Summer and a Remarkable Friendship (find it here). My mother read it to my sisters and I when we were young and we devoured it.

I'll let you know when I'm back from vacation. There is a possibility of going to a used book/coffee/tea shop, so wish me luck!!!