Sunday, August 7, 2011

Tidbits: August Edition

Picture / Photo Find





Something I Did

School is starting soon. I have two weeks left, but that doesn't mean they will be full of freedom. Orientation will block out a few days of each of those weeks; I'll meet new instructors and learn about changes and perhaps see my name somewhere in the new textbook. Doesn't it seem weird for school to start in August? Does anyone out there start later? (And I guess I'm talking about high school and college).

I shouldn't complain though. The weather doesn't change in Florida between the two months. September is just as hot as August. The new school year is close enough for me to close my treasure drawer and put away summer toys. Time to get back to work.

This summer has been exciting, and sometimes boring, and I am looking forward to getting back in the office again. There's a lot of pressure involved in summer vacation. You're required to have fun, goof off, and be unproductive. If you're not any of these things, you get pitying looks that are kind of funny to see. The secret truth of summer vacation is that it's a beautiful illusion; we're all working on something, whether it's paying the bills or taking another step towards our dreams. Although my pile of unplayed video games is getting dusty, I'm still proud of how I spent my time.

Off to school - to the papers, the freezing classrooms, and mandatory fire drills!


A Quote from a Book I Love

So it seems that one of my unconscious goals in life is to collect all of Francesca Lia Block's books. She is, by far, one of my favorite writers. The local library has been so amazing; they carry a lot of her books already, so I've been reading many of her books that I hadn't been able to get a hold of before. However, there are still a lot of them I have yet to read. So I ordered a few of those and happily awaited their arrival in my mailbox.

One of them is the tiny poetry book called Fairy Tales in Electri-City. My first instinct, as a fan of prose, is to latch onto her novels and devour their vibrant imagery and myth. So sometimes it feels like a treat to read nothing but her poetry, and this collection is no exception. Here's a small bit of one of my favorite poems named after the collection title:

once upon a time a man came west to a city
with a lake that glittered silver at sunset
from the scales of the mermaids under the surface
and a park named echo
where the nymphs in the trees
whispered back your words

there was a flock of angels who walked on the pier
beneath the ferris wheel
and a tinkling carousel
ghosts rode in the night

the man fathered a child and called her electra
and when she grew up she found
not only mermaids nymphs and angels
but witches and warlocks too
who would eat your heart like a christmas ham
if you let them


Song I Can't Stop Repeating

"Elf Song" by Priscilla Ahn.

I'm new to Priscilla Ahn, having somehow missed a lot of her music when her first album came out. However, I think I've fallen in love with a lot of her newer songs, including every single on of them on her When You Grow Up album. This song in particular is awfully lovely because it's a story that many people, I believe, can relate to.

Once,
When the moon was full
She sat on her stool
And said hello old friend
Could you grant me a wish
And take me away to some place that's different?

So the moon
Sang a tune

And it went like this...


A Writer Thing

86, 643. Oh. my. gosh. This is my word count on Birdcage Girl right now. It's so surreal. You know, I started writing and posting the chapters on Figment.com only a few months ago. It's strange to think that December will come again - the birthday of my longest novel manuscript to date! I'm kind of stunned by it all, but insanely proud. Now that I'm close to the end, I can't help but marvel at how it feels. Sometimes I feel happy, but, for the most part, my head hurts.

My brain is sucking up all the energy I have in order to make this story complete. I'm almost haunted by it, thinking of nothing else in my idle time during the day. The ending, the ending, the ending. It'll happen soon. And if my heart is racing just thinking about writing it, then I hope that my readers feel the same way when they read it. August is a special month this year because, by the end of it, I plan to hold a finished manuscript in my hands. Warm, like a baby (so I'll have to stand at the printer and scoop it up right away, haha). I'm ready for the inevitable paper cuts. But for now, I have to keep trucking along until the words stop and I find myself at the end of this particular, peculiar, journey.


Video I Watched Too Many Times



Zune commercials! If not anything else, I really feel as if they have a wide array of fantastic commercials (I'll probably end up posting more of them at some point, haha).


Food I'm Craving

Tuna melts *_*

This time, I have nothing insightful to say about it. Only... I had lived on a steady diet of tuna melts when I spent my month in England. There were always fairly-priced and tasted so melty on a cold day outside. I remember when a friend and I sat on a bench with our chins buried in our coats. I had rubbed my hands all over the paper wrapping to gather the warmth.

Photos from We Heart It

4 comments:

  1. These tidbits posts are always a pleasure to read. You always have great book recommendations and I end up listening to whatever your song of the month is on repeatedly ("Engine Driver" is still my most-played, even after having bought about 50 more songs since then.)

    This particular one also comes at a strangely coincidental time for me-- I had my first tuna melt last week, and am coming up on the end of my (second) manuscript.

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  2. i am so amazed & astounded at your productivity! bg is one of my favourite books, and i love love love being able to follow along with you as you write :). i'm ridiculously glad that you're sharing it on figment.

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  3. I have a friend who goes to college in Chicago and I could be remembering this wrong, but I think her school starts in September. Either that or really late August. I'm not sure exactly.
    But yeah, I've always thought of September as the month school should start. Strange, really; being homeschooled we always started school earlier than everyone else.



    I only know a couple of Priscilla Ahn songs and they're pretty great. I should listen to more of her...


    You go, girl! Finish that story!!! As much as I hate my time disappearing down a vortex of obsession, there's nothing like being gripped by a story till you can think of nothing else.
    Best wishes with its completion. :)

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  4. Love the photos! Especially the one from "Pretty in Pink", I love all of those 80s movies, I kind of wish I was a teenager in the John Hughes movies...

    My University starts on September 6th so I still have a solid month of Summer left. But Im with you, Im pretty excited for life to begin once more but Im doing some travelling and embracing my last honeyed days to the fullest. Be sure to open up your drawer of treasures every now and again to remind yourself of the sweet things once life swallows you again.

    Francesca Lia Block looks amazing! I just added a ton of her books to my wishlist on Amazon :p

    That song is lovely, so sweet <3

    Congratulations on your book dear dove! I have no formal writing experience and working on my novel now is just so very daunting and I have no clue if Im going about it right, but when and if I finally finish it Im sure it will be rewarding and strange all at once. Im sure yours is amazing!

    xx and hugs

    Jhordyn

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