Do You Know Where Your Scissors Are?

Because this guys does! 😉

Scissor holster, alright.. 😉

And that is all I have for you right now.  Working on a short fiction scene for Lukasik.  Not happy with it. 😦

I’m Knitting a Sweater…

I sat through my first creative writing class today.  I’m a little bummed out that Scott Blackwood — head of the creative writing dept at Roosevelt– pushed the class off onto another professor.  I was really looking forward to working with him.  But I now have Gail Lukasik, who has written a couple mystery novels.  She’s scary in a scary, old, angry lady way…  I’m not sold that she’s superior to Blackwood in the least.  But she’s actually published something, so she has one up on me ;)…

Anywho, she had us do a quick 10 minute free write today with the following prompt: Writing is like…

Without any hesitation, I jumped into a page long description of how writing is like knitting a sweater.  Soooo, for your amusement, here is my free write sans edits.  😉
_____________________________________________________

Writing is like knitting a sweater.  You start with a great idea, a theme, a color, a pattern, a prompt.  You prepare yourself for what you’re about to do.  You plan what goes where or sometimes you feel experimental and you just jump in.
When you knit a sweater, the first thing you do is cast on a certain number of stitches.  Similarly, in writing the first thing you do is write that first sentence.  You continue on, knitting stitch by stitch, writing word by word.  Sometimes you get a little creative and sometimes you just want to keep it simple.  The flaws and intricacies are what keep things interesting.
Eventually, your sweater project gets boring and you’re anxious to move onto something new and fresh.  Do you finish and hurry through the anticlimactic middle, abandon your sweater halfway through– frogging the whole thing, or do you persevere and take your time – training yourself to keep going and crafting each stitch?  If you do keep on, you’ll end with something beautiful, exactly what you wanted.  Yea, writing is kind of like that.
______________________________________________________

At this point, I ran out of ink in my pen, naturally. 😉  I suppose I should be able to find a connection between two of my favorite hobbies. 🙂

In other news, anything green needs to officially DIE for the season.  I can’t see, I can’t breathe, and I itch.  I HATE POLLEN!!!  I’ve been taking a ton of benadryl, but it is completely worth it. yuck.

So THAT’S Why I Majored in English….

I had my first English class of the semester tonight and I feel completely relieved. 🙂

When last semester ended, I was seriously questioning why I had majored in English.  I was burned out, and fed up with school.  So I opted to take a philosophy class over the summer and opted to use up 2 gen ed classes on non English credits this fall semester.  I had those two classes yesterday and I was completely ready to just drop out of school by the end of them.

My sociology class is dealing with urban issues and social constructs, while my political science class is an introduction to international relations.  I thought they would both be useful for whenever Jeremy and I move abroad.
But….
They. Are. So. Dry.
I assumed it was me and I was still feeling like I was feeling at the end of spring semester.  Until I got to my Modern American Literature class tonight.  I had to drive out to Schaumburg — a 45 minute drive on a good day– so I was already in a bad mood about it.  But once class began and we started to discuss the wonderful world of literature, I was reminded why I chose this major: I Love Books.  Its not even just the reading of them (although that obviously plays a big part).  Its the way they fit into history, the way they are history.  Its the feel of a book in your hand.  Its the act of interpreting what an author could mean.  Its debating the pros and cons of certain authors.  The act of immersing yourself into a story the way you might immerse yourself into a pool of water (or a bathtub 😉 ).  The act of understanding characters and letting them become a part of you briefly.   The reasons I love what I do are endless and ongoing.  As books will always continue to be written and the way you can interpret them are limitless,  my eduction is also limitless.

Does this have any practicality in the real world you might ask?  I’m still working on that one… 😉

Tomorrow: Creative Writing.  Delicious.

Alsoooooooo, I started my first sweater today.  NO FROGGING THIS ONE!  I used my Eco Wool that I bought during the Chicago Yarn Crawl with Christine.   I think its going to be super comfy.  Or rather, I hope its going to be super comfy. 😉

Technology?

I have fabulous news!! My beautiful, new iPhone 4 has arrived and I love it!

When I got my first iPhone a year or so ago, I wasn’t so sure about it.  It had so many capabilities (some awesome, some completely unnecessary) and was a little intimidating.  Soon enough, however, I grew to love and even (*gasp*) be slightly dependent on it for directions, entertainment, and communication.  It was probably a slight blessing when it got stolen by one of Chicago’s infamous miscreant youths on the train earlier this summer (and thereby proved the CPD really is useless…).
How is that a blessing, you might ask?  It showed me that life goes on just fine sans technology… or something… 😉

This has only been compounded since I offered my computer a glass of white zinfandel  last weekend.  It didn’t care for it, unfortunately, and is still drunk and passed out on my dining room table.. Light weight… 😉  Life goes on, right?

So what have I been doing with myself lately without my phone and without my computer?
Welllllll….. I dug out my old CD player and some old CDs (Nsync is making a come back, you’ll see 😉 )
I’ve been unpacking, cleaning, reading, knitting, writing… and I’m loving it!

Its obviously the summer of socks.. =)

You know what else I’m loving?  The WordPress Blog app! 😉

18? Please….

Today’s Topic:  The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

You knew this was coming.  It was only a matter of time before I formed my hard, concrete ideas…

I read all four books just after the first movie came out in 2008.  Didn’t really want to, thought the whole idea was kind of stupid. Vampires?  Please.
But, any book series that influences an entire generation to read and discuss literature couldn’t be all bad, right?  So I picked them up just as I was coming down with a nasty case of mono and threatened to infect my roommates if they disturbed me.  And of course, like the rest of the female population, I was hooked on sparkling vampires, ripped werewolves, and a klutzy girl who is so average that she could have been me.  Surprise…
As time progresses however, my opinions on the series have begun to morph.  I appreciate and admire Stephanie Meyers’ talent for creating such a remarkable world, and even greater talent for being able to get it all down on paper.  They are very well written.  BUT…

After seeing Eclipse, I can’t get the idea that these characters are just kids out of my mind.  She’s completely promoting the idea that an 18-year-old girl knows exactly what she wants out of life.  Few people in life really know what they want when they’re so young.  When I was 18 and 19, I thought I had my life completely figured out.  I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Thank God for my parents who fought my headstrong ways until I settled down a little bit.

Now, I’m in my 20’s and I fully except the fact that I have no idea where my life is going to go or what I want to do with it.  I have a minor outline of what I want, but I know that I’ll change, people will change, opportunities I never expected will arise, I’ll make choices I never thought I’d be able to make.  That’s the way it should be.  We have our entire lives to make concrete decisions, to think we know everything.  Our 20’s and 30’s are years to explore and open our minds to all the possibilities life will give us.  Its likely you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for if you just give yourself permission to live, to experience, to re-experience.. You know.

I know, my positivism is exhausting and you’re thinking, Jess, shut up!!
😉
Sooo, I’ll leave you with that.

Books and Words.

When I write anything, I always write it by hand first — taking the time to craft my letters, words, and sentences, and to see the piece take form.  I love the feel of writing and forming letters.  I love the way no one’s handwriting is exactly the same — its like personal art.  I love the way an entire page of writing looks (bonus if its written in fuscia fine tipped markers like mine often are 😉 ).  I love not having a program tell me I misspelled something (as I often do).  Sometimes the way I spell it is far superiour to Webster’s Dictionary… 😛  (In actuality, I just don’t want to be bothered with correcting myself until I’m finished).  My journals are full of line slashed words, boxes, arrows and far too many smiley faces.  I love the act of writing. 🙂  This is probably why I’m so fascinated with other languages, especially languages like Chinese that use entirely different characters than me.

Beijing 2010 - Only the Chinese could write a sign so elegantly.. 😉

And then there’s my love of books.  I use the word “love” lightly here as its really closer to an obsession.  I buy far too many books.  Constantly.  I buy more books than I possibly have time to read (and I read a lot).  Why?  Because they’re beautiful.  My dream office is a tall, open room with double doors.  Directly across from the double doors is a HUGE window.  Sometimes its floor to ceiling, and sometimes it just spans the width of the room.  My big desk sits with its back to the window, facing the double doors and a small, but obscenely comfortable, sitting area.  Lining the remaining walls (I never said the room was square ;-)) are floor to ceiling bookshelves.  They are, obviously, full of books. My desk will most likely have books piled on it, as will the coffee table.  A goldfish tank will be built into one of the walls’ bookshelves (Have I mentioned I love goldfish too?).  The style of furniture and the color schemes are ever changing, but I will always decorate with my books.  They’re as unique as people, as unique as handwriting.  They are also art.

This past spring, I came across a brilliant idea to combine my love of handwriting and books.  An idea that was so simple I should have thought of it long ago:  Recycled Vintage Book Journals.  🙂  Old books that have been (*gasp*) torn apart and made into spiral notebooks.  They’re beautiful and creative.  The first one I bought made me laugh, but alas its pages are unlined and it still hasn’t been used. 😦  Since then though, I’ve been sifting through Etsy looking for the best ones.  I’ve never heard of most of the books I’ve seen, which makes coming up with a story that fits the title all the more interesting.
I will, very shortly, be in dire need of another journal.  I’ve found a seller who makes them exactly the way I want them to be: spiral bound, with LOTS of lined pages.  Simplicity.  She’s got quite a few that I want.  Some of the titles in her stock that I’m dying for include: One Hundred Lessons in Spelling, Assignment in Danger,  Personality Plus, Magnificent Obsession (I think that’s my favorite so far ;-)), Reuel Makes a Decision, Tales for Males, German for Beginners, The New History of America, and Sky Castle.

Hard decision, right?  I’ll keep you updated. 😉

Oh and no bath product today.  Although I did try the lavender scent from that Bath Dough last night.  Also fabulous.