So, as predicted, I have not yet written anything, but as previously mentioned, I decided that the cleaning process and resting in general was more important. The good news is that the cleaning is almost done. I just have a few loads of laundry to do and put away and I'll be set. Everything is FINALLY unpacked. (Only took me 7 months!) I have slept more than any human should, but mostly because I have somehow re-acquired the cold of doom and I need/want it to go away by the weekend... GRRR. Then again, it could be allergies with the spring weather kicking in and increased time spent around the cats. (Yes, I am allergic to cats... :oD)
I will be happy to hopefully have some time tomorrow to start writing, maybe get an outline going on my corkboard. Yeah!
On another note, for anyone who's participating in my small group/blog group/whatever you want to call it, I posted a short short story and a new exercise for anyone who's up for the challenge.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Cleaning or Writing?
I am on vacation this week. I had intended to spend my vacation writing, and getting a little bit of cleaning done. But right now, I'm feeling like the cleaning is the more important aspect of my week. I need to make my space into something functional that I can keep up so that I will enjoy being here and therefore be able to write here. But later, I may take a break from cleaning and go to Starbucks or something to write. And at some point during all of this, I have to take some time to go running at the Marina and check on Russ & Becca's cats and make some phone calls. (Russ is my bro.) So I guess what I'm doing right now is creating a virtual to-do list. I'd really like to be able to write 50 pages again this vacation, but I'm feeling like taking care of myself and my environment is more important right now. We'll see what happens with that. :)
Sunday, March 19, 2006
The Great Amos Adventure
Hi all!
I just wanted to make a quick post to shoot out a prayer request. This week, Becky is in Catalina Island teaching an intensive Bible study on the book of Amos. There are 7 students from UNR in her group as well as 8 students from Cal Poly. It is a larger group than last year when Becky taught the same study and obviously the group from Cal Poly will all be new faces to her. The study started this afternoon and will continue until next Saturday. Please pray that the students in her group would be open to learning about injustice and what they can do about it and that they would not return unchanged. Pray that God will speak through Becky and will give these students a heart for fighting injustice.
Thanks!
I just wanted to make a quick post to shoot out a prayer request. This week, Becky is in Catalina Island teaching an intensive Bible study on the book of Amos. There are 7 students from UNR in her group as well as 8 students from Cal Poly. It is a larger group than last year when Becky taught the same study and obviously the group from Cal Poly will all be new faces to her. The study started this afternoon and will continue until next Saturday. Please pray that the students in her group would be open to learning about injustice and what they can do about it and that they would not return unchanged. Pray that God will speak through Becky and will give these students a heart for fighting injustice.
Thanks!
Friday, March 10, 2006
Disbanding and Regrouping
Howdy, ya'll!
Yes, I said ya'll! Got a problem with it... I'm feeling a bit giddy as I prepare for day one of the weekend. This week has been a bit trying and I'm ready to move on to a new one. I'm also ready to move on to the new and hopefully improved format of my small group. For those of you who don't know, my small group basically disbanded on Wednesday night. I'll spare you the details, but for a couple of hours I felt really down about it and felt like a failure, despite the fact that I KNOW otherwise. I would only have been a failure if I had not listened to God's prompting and given this a try. At any rate, I was kind of bummed, and I moped for a bit, then went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, I felt renewed, excited about the new direction that I think God is taking this group. I checked my e-mail and found responses to my e-mails regarding the situation and was actually joyous to think that this new thing might work out even better than the old.
So here it is: My small group, as it was previously known, no longer exists. However, my small group is now being conducted in a blog format so that anyone who wants to participate can do so on their own schedule. This means that all of you who wanted to participate, but couldn't make it to a Wednesday night meeting, you can now participate in your own time, when it's convenient for you. So, if you'd like to participate, even sporadically, send me an e-mail at spkn4_4ever@hotmail.com, and I will add you to the members' list for the Cross & Quill blog so that you can post there also. (You have to be a member to post or comment there.)
Okay, so now that I'm done shamelessly plugging the new format of my small group, I think that I'll call it a night!
Yes, I said ya'll! Got a problem with it... I'm feeling a bit giddy as I prepare for day one of the weekend. This week has been a bit trying and I'm ready to move on to a new one. I'm also ready to move on to the new and hopefully improved format of my small group. For those of you who don't know, my small group basically disbanded on Wednesday night. I'll spare you the details, but for a couple of hours I felt really down about it and felt like a failure, despite the fact that I KNOW otherwise. I would only have been a failure if I had not listened to God's prompting and given this a try. At any rate, I was kind of bummed, and I moped for a bit, then went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, I felt renewed, excited about the new direction that I think God is taking this group. I checked my e-mail and found responses to my e-mails regarding the situation and was actually joyous to think that this new thing might work out even better than the old.
So here it is: My small group, as it was previously known, no longer exists. However, my small group is now being conducted in a blog format so that anyone who wants to participate can do so on their own schedule. This means that all of you who wanted to participate, but couldn't make it to a Wednesday night meeting, you can now participate in your own time, when it's convenient for you. So, if you'd like to participate, even sporadically, send me an e-mail at spkn4_4ever@hotmail.com, and I will add you to the members' list for the Cross & Quill blog so that you can post there also. (You have to be a member to post or comment there.)
Okay, so now that I'm done shamelessly plugging the new format of my small group, I think that I'll call it a night!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The Dress of Doom
WARNING: Extremely girly post follows!!!
Today began the hunt for the elusive bridesmaids dresses. For those of you who don't know, my brother (age 23) is getting married in October to his "high school sweetheart" as the cliche goes. They've been together since November of 2000, so it's pretty much an "it's about time" sort of thing. At any rate, I am co-maid of honor for this wedding, and thus will be very busy before too terribly long. So today was the day for the dresses. This is the part that I've been dreading the most because I was afraid that I wouldn't find anything that looked good, but I'd have to pay a ton of money anyway. This is how the adventure began--me feeling queasy at the thought of having to try on dresses that probably wouldn't fit with my super-skinny co-maid of honor.
Once we started, though, it turned out not to be so bad. We tried on tea-length dresses, and long dresses. We had to make my brother, who's 6'3", carry the long dresses, because all of us women are 5'3" or less and we were pretty much tripping over them as we tried to carry them. As we were trying on dresses, I found that I was not the only one who had issues with how the dresses looked. Jenna (the co-MOH), didn't like most dresses because she felt she didn't have enough to fill them. I, on the other hand, have been abundantly blessed in that area. So the funniest part of the whole thing was realizing that I require a dress that is THREE sizes larger on the top than it is on the bottom. HA!!! So, I'll have to order the larger size and then it will have some HARD CORE alterations done... Oh yeah and because it's a long dress, they have to cut off the bottom HALF of the skirt because I'm so short. But, I really am pleased with how it looked on, so no more queasy feeling for me... Yeah! Anyway, the picture above is the dress that I'll be getting. It looks really plain from the front, but it has some beading/embroidery on the back that is fun, and what's more important is that it looks REALLY good on!!!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Freshmanitis/Poetry Lesson #2
So, it took me a while to post my Freshman-itis assignment because I wanted to make it a sestina, thereby making it poetry lesson #2. Before I post the poem, let me explain the guidelines of a sestina and perhaps you'll see what makes it so difficult. I do not claim to be posting a GOOD sestina, but more like a RAW sestina.
A sestina consists of six stanzas of six lines and concludes with a three line stanza. In the six stanzas, the end words are repeated in a pre-determined order. In the tercet (the three line stanza) all six words are used, two in each line... If the six end words were labeled ABCDEF, the six stanzas would go like this:
1. ABCDEF
2. FAEBDC
3. CFDABE
4. ECBFAD
5. DEACFB
6. BDFECA
and the tercet would go like this:
line one: BE, line two: DC, line three: FA
Born in a Petri Dish
It hasn't been the best day
but it certainly hasn't been the worst--
I have yet to find my messy blonde head
shoved into the toilet. Far better than most
days. I could have a good birthday still--
Even if Spud and Mitzi did forget.
In fact I half expected everyone to forget
that the undesirable child is fourteen today.
While I sit at lunch waiting, perfectly still,
I imagine the ways this day could be worse
and not even come close to being the most
devastating birthday. Because in my head
that honor belongs to the day my little head
pushed its way into the world, quickly forgetting
the warmth I'd known inside and finding the most
chilling cold outside. That very first day
my gray-blue eyes couldn't see the worst
name ever given formulating in my still
exhausted mother's mind. And to this day I'm still
cursed with an unfortunate name and a head
filled to the limit with only the worst
memories imaginable. I will never forget
what it felt like when I arrived on the first day
of public school when it seemed like almost
everyone was laughing and rolling eyes at the most
hideous of all imaginable names-Nebula Amoeba Kowstill.
It should be obvious by now that on the day
this world first saw my precious baby head,
my parents were scientists who refused to forget
for a single day, to leave their work at work. Even worse
the brought their work home in the worst
way, creating a daughter in a dish. Perhaps their most
controversial experiment to day. She won't ever forget
how she came into existence, but she still
has to go on living, reminded constantly in her head
that she was born as only an experiment, knowing each day
could be just a little bit worse. But she goes on because she's still
here, trying to make the most possible headway
in a life best forgotten for another day.
A sestina consists of six stanzas of six lines and concludes with a three line stanza. In the six stanzas, the end words are repeated in a pre-determined order. In the tercet (the three line stanza) all six words are used, two in each line... If the six end words were labeled ABCDEF, the six stanzas would go like this:
1. ABCDEF
2. FAEBDC
3. CFDABE
4. ECBFAD
5. DEACFB
6. BDFECA
and the tercet would go like this:
line one: BE, line two: DC, line three: FA
Born in a Petri Dish
It hasn't been the best day
but it certainly hasn't been the worst--
I have yet to find my messy blonde head
shoved into the toilet. Far better than most
days. I could have a good birthday still--
Even if Spud and Mitzi did forget.
In fact I half expected everyone to forget
that the undesirable child is fourteen today.
While I sit at lunch waiting, perfectly still,
I imagine the ways this day could be worse
and not even come close to being the most
devastating birthday. Because in my head
that honor belongs to the day my little head
pushed its way into the world, quickly forgetting
the warmth I'd known inside and finding the most
chilling cold outside. That very first day
my gray-blue eyes couldn't see the worst
name ever given formulating in my still
exhausted mother's mind. And to this day I'm still
cursed with an unfortunate name and a head
filled to the limit with only the worst
memories imaginable. I will never forget
what it felt like when I arrived on the first day
of public school when it seemed like almost
everyone was laughing and rolling eyes at the most
hideous of all imaginable names-Nebula Amoeba Kowstill.
It should be obvious by now that on the day
this world first saw my precious baby head,
my parents were scientists who refused to forget
for a single day, to leave their work at work. Even worse
the brought their work home in the worst
way, creating a daughter in a dish. Perhaps their most
controversial experiment to day. She won't ever forget
how she came into existence, but she still
has to go on living, reminded constantly in her head
that she was born as only an experiment, knowing each day
could be just a little bit worse. But she goes on because she's still
here, trying to make the most possible headway
in a life best forgotten for another day.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Small Group Writing Assignment #4
Critic's Corner
Incorporate the answers to the following questions about your inner critic into a short story or a poem:
What does your inner critic smell like?
What does your inner critic look like?
What does your inner critic sound like?
What does your inner critic frown like?
What does your inner critic walk like?
What are some of your inner critic's favorite words?
What do you say or do to make your inner critic quiet down or go away?
So, for all of you who are writing-phobic, this is something that you can still do, because these are questions that we can all serious consider outside the arena of creative writing... Can't wait to hear from ya'll.
Incorporate the answers to the following questions about your inner critic into a short story or a poem:
What does your inner critic smell like?
What does your inner critic look like?
What does your inner critic sound like?
What does your inner critic frown like?
What does your inner critic walk like?
What are some of your inner critic's favorite words?
What do you say or do to make your inner critic quiet down or go away?
So, for all of you who are writing-phobic, this is something that you can still do, because these are questions that we can all serious consider outside the arena of creative writing... Can't wait to hear from ya'll.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Two posts as one
Finding My Endurance:
So this whole running thing is starting to get a little bit better. I started out the first week and I didn't even make it halfway. I started out too fast because I wanted to keep up. It was that competetive streak getting the best of me. The second week I cried and wanted to give up because I still couldn't make it the whole way. I almost started to believe that the whole thing was a mistake and that I should just give up. I almost gave in to the lie. And the third week, everything fell into place--I made it the whole way, even if I was slower than everyone else. I did it, which is what is important. This week, week four, was better still. I made it the whole way AND I caught up at the end.
The point of this post is not to go tooting my own horn (because obviously 2.5 miles is not terribly impressive for most), but instead to give an analogy. This isn't just about running, but about our lives in general. When God directs us to something new, no matter what it is, we usually expect things to instantly be perfect. We think that because this is what GOD TOLD US TO DO that it should be easy, or at least comfortable from the beginning. That's not how it is. We all hear all the time that there will be suffering, and we say that we're ready. But how do we really react when suffering comes. I think I usually give up and go retreat into a corner. I say that I can't handle it and I put myself into auto pilot. But just like with running, we can't give up when things get hard. We can't fall into the trap of believing that because it isn't easy or comfortable that we must have been wrong. We have to press on, with endurance. We have to keep going, even when it's the last thing in the world we want to do. If we always give up when things get difficult, we will never find the joy that God has for us on the other side.
#2 Jumping on the Bandwagon
Please fill out my Johari and Nohari squares so that I might be able to find the areas where I need work:
Johari: fill it out view it
Nohari: fill it out view it
And that is all for today... I may not be able to RUN a marathon, but I'm certainly capable of making marathon blog posts! :)
So this whole running thing is starting to get a little bit better. I started out the first week and I didn't even make it halfway. I started out too fast because I wanted to keep up. It was that competetive streak getting the best of me. The second week I cried and wanted to give up because I still couldn't make it the whole way. I almost started to believe that the whole thing was a mistake and that I should just give up. I almost gave in to the lie. And the third week, everything fell into place--I made it the whole way, even if I was slower than everyone else. I did it, which is what is important. This week, week four, was better still. I made it the whole way AND I caught up at the end.
The point of this post is not to go tooting my own horn (because obviously 2.5 miles is not terribly impressive for most), but instead to give an analogy. This isn't just about running, but about our lives in general. When God directs us to something new, no matter what it is, we usually expect things to instantly be perfect. We think that because this is what GOD TOLD US TO DO that it should be easy, or at least comfortable from the beginning. That's not how it is. We all hear all the time that there will be suffering, and we say that we're ready. But how do we really react when suffering comes. I think I usually give up and go retreat into a corner. I say that I can't handle it and I put myself into auto pilot. But just like with running, we can't give up when things get hard. We can't fall into the trap of believing that because it isn't easy or comfortable that we must have been wrong. We have to press on, with endurance. We have to keep going, even when it's the last thing in the world we want to do. If we always give up when things get difficult, we will never find the joy that God has for us on the other side.
#2 Jumping on the Bandwagon
Please fill out my Johari and Nohari squares so that I might be able to find the areas where I need work:
Johari: fill it out view it
Nohari: fill it out view it
And that is all for today... I may not be able to RUN a marathon, but I'm certainly capable of making marathon blog posts! :)
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Small Group Writing Assignment #3
So, as is becoming the usual pattern, anyone who wants to do this, PLEASE do!
Plucky- as a result of your selection of the number 46, here is the assignment:
FRESHMAN-ITIS
You're a high school freshman. Write from this low-man-on-the-totem-pole perspective. Be a teenager!
Use these initials for a name: N.A.K.
Incorporate the following details:
nickname, eye color, hair color, nicknames of best friends, how they treat you, how you treat them, favorite food, thoughts on sports.
Start with the line: It hasn't been the best day, but it certainly hasn't been the worst...
Alright! So have at it. Can't wait to see what we end up with...
Plucky- as a result of your selection of the number 46, here is the assignment:
FRESHMAN-ITIS
You're a high school freshman. Write from this low-man-on-the-totem-pole perspective. Be a teenager!
Use these initials for a name: N.A.K.
Incorporate the following details:
nickname, eye color, hair color, nicknames of best friends, how they treat you, how you treat them, favorite food, thoughts on sports.
Start with the line: It hasn't been the best day, but it certainly hasn't been the worst...
Alright! So have at it. Can't wait to see what we end up with...
Neon Pink Mood
When I am in a neon pink mood
I strap on my favorite high heels
and dance all night, finally stumbling home
sometime between dawn and dew.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I call up the girls for a night in--
we eat chocolate covered strawberries
and sip champagne from coffee mugs.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I turn on some country and I sing
and I two-step my way around the clothes
that litter my bedroom floor.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I do only the things that bring joy
and leave the sadness and tears
for a mood that is more like mauve
I strap on my favorite high heels
and dance all night, finally stumbling home
sometime between dawn and dew.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I call up the girls for a night in--
we eat chocolate covered strawberries
and sip champagne from coffee mugs.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I turn on some country and I sing
and I two-step my way around the clothes
that litter my bedroom floor.
When I am in a neon pink mood
I do only the things that bring joy
and leave the sadness and tears
for a mood that is more like mauve
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