Complimentary Baptism

I should start a list entitled "Nice Things Dr. Minnick has Said to Me."

Apparently I would make a phenomenal editor for my ability to both see bigger pictures and the things on the microscopic level. I've been reading over a story of his the last few weeks and I kinda really love it. The second half is still rather rough, but the first half is really wonderful. He kinda has this Winesburg, Ohio thing going on - it's a book of place and atmosphere and Minnick is really good at atmosphere. He has some really beautiful lines scattered all throughout the entire thing.

Anyway, I called him about this latest chapter and ended up getting baptized with compliments for being so helpful to him while doing my own thing and writing radio scripts and postcards and I'm just really pleased with myself at the moment because he's so sweet <3

In return, he's been helping me pick my way though this Fiction II assignment of mine. I need to submit something that's a minimum of eight pages on Monday, and length isn't something I do. I was trying to turn Escape Velocity into something longer, but that's just not going to fly. Anything I add to it is just going to be padding. Instead I'm going to see if I can't expand Feelings with no names instead - there's more substance to that one that I think I could make longer - it's just a matter of finding a way to tie them together into a larger picture.

And that's my life of late. Writing and reading a lot of stuff.

A Real Writer

"I know real writers and I know people that write for a living; they aren't the same thing."

In the hierarchy of amazing compliments gifted to me, being called a real writer is right up there with the time a librarian told me I had very brave taste in books.

Minnick just gets it. He knows what I'm trying to do with my writing and why I do it. He understands about giving your work away and I don't have to explain it. It's just so refreshing to talk to someone like that. I've been reading over a story of his the past few days, which is how I ended up in a two hour conversation with him in the computer lab. Things were kinda all over the place, but there are a few moments I want to keep.

One was him noting that I seemed happier. I didn't really notice, but, now that it's been pointed out, I am happier. A lot of it has been reflected in my postcards; several of them have been far more cheerful than my usual fare. And I know it's because I have someone IRL to go back and forth with the way we have been.

Two was being told that these cards of mine are something special. I already knew he felt that way, but it's nice to actually hear it.

Three was the line I started with up there - hearing that he thought I was a "real" writer, a person that writes for myself and because I want to, not someone that writes to be famous. I don't think I could write for a living. I don't want to write because I have to eat.

Now he has me listening to Springsteen's Born to Run and I'm going to send him a rock opera of my own in return XP I'm not sure how we got on to that topic, but whatever. It's been a good night.

Some Autumn and Lawrence Stuff

Just some scraps and pieces I've had lying around in my files for a while.

______

She felt an arm descend around her shoulders and jumped, whipping her head around to face the intruder. She blinked to see it was only Professor Bradley.

“Wh – “

“Bit late for a stroll isn’t it, dear?” he squeezed her shoulder gently, flicking his eyes somewhere behind her head. So he had noticed.

“Feel like a coffee?”

“Um, I don’t drink coffee actually…” She mentally palmed her forehead. It wasn’t about the coffee. He covered her tracks.

“Tea, then. Come on, I know a place nearby.”

He led her away briskly, and she let him tug her around a corner and out of sight. The man was still back there, but she felt safe enough without his eyes boring into her back to let out a sigh. Professor Bradley’s arm was still resting on her shoulders.

 ______

Somebody, I don't recall who now, requested a sort of "Bradley rescues Autumn" scene. I'll write an actual short with it sometime, but this has been sitting for a while now.

______

"You can't swim?"

"I can swim;" Bradley held up a finger. "It just makes me nervous. Nearly drowning will do that to you."

 ______

 Lawrence nearly drowned as a child. He never really got over the fear completely, but it's a distant enough memory that it doesn't bother him very often.

 ______

 "Here," he presented the bloom to her. "These grow all along the border of my fence at home. They're rather tall, so I have to cut them down every year." He smiled. "I thought you might like a few for your collection."

______

The first vaguely romantic thing Lawrence ever did for Autumn was give her a larkspur flower. It's meaning is "beautiful spirit." Autumn keeps books of pressed flowers.

Obligated

I've apparently been tagged by Qui est in literis.

The Rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Since I don't know 15 bloggers, everyone who sees this has to do it until 15 people have done it. There.

Seven things though?

1. Stuff on my wall; a 2x3 whiteboard, a corkboard with photographs on it, a sticky note Mario, a hanging organizer stuffed with papers, a magnetic platypus, several fedoras, a Pikachu backpack, a Knite poster, my scarf collection, a bunch of necklaces. I use many wall hooks because my room is little.

2. I used to play violin. I was never very good. The only reason I played at all was because my Mom wouldn't let me play cello. Her excuse was that cellos were expensive. How this matters when the school provided instruments, I don't know. I stopped altogether two years later.

3. Lately, I've been using Netflix to get to sleep. Phineas and Ferb. For some reason, having something familiar playing that I can ignore makes it easier to sleep. I really do adore this show though, sleep aid qualities aside.

4. This is my last semester in college, barring a few summer credits. Most people are excited to get out of school; I don't know how to do anything else but be a student. The usual job-related Catch-22 has kept me from finding anything in the real world. And I'm going to miss my mentor.

5. I don't do diets, but ever since I put an exercise bike in my room to help me watch TV, I've lost 20 pounds. Without it, I end up playing on my laptop instead of watching my shows. The bike keeps me physically occupied while letting my mind go elsewhere. Space issues aside, it's a perfect solution.

6. I love Chinese food. The first thing I do with my paycheck is hit the Chinese place.

7. I spent fat too long trying to think up interesting things for this list and I'm pretty sure I failed >.>

Collage

My first big assignment, though not due until the end of the year, is to make a collage. Or, a Cornell Box. I've actually seen them before, I just never knew they had a proper name. Do go explore that link; it's interesting stuff.

A Cornell Box is a sort of 3D collage. The class it's for is Pattern Recognition, so it makes sense to do something like this for a class that deals with organizing matter in new ways. I'm still not entirely sure what the assignment actually is, if we choose a theme or what, but I think things will become clearer as the semester goes on.

He showed us a few he had made himself, which did help. One was made out of an old jewelry box; he had hung some bells where the necklaces would have been, and pulled out the box drawers to make shelves for some small trinkets. I'm one of those people that has lots of small knick-knacks like that lying around, so I know I have the potential to make an interesting piece.

The basic gist is that the human mind will see patterns where there are none - all you have to do is put random objects together and people will start trying to connect them. That's just how our brain works. This class promises to be interesting if nothing else.

Lack of Books

The lack of Independent Study in my life this week is really bumming me out. Luckily, getting Monday off helps the week go by a little faster.

Haven't gotten my books yet, but I'm hoping to take care of that tomorrow or Thursday. Maybe Friday. As my only homework right now consists pretty much solely of reading, it's making life a bit difficult. My other assignment is to work on a radio script. I was supposed to try out one of the African-American authors for Black History Month, but I couldn't find any books by either of them in my library. And Minnick was pushing me to read some William Maxwell, and I did manage to find him in my library, so I went with that one.

I don't know how he finds those little biographical stories that he does. I've been researching Maxwell for two days and haven't found any kind of lead I can latch on to. And I'm only three chapters into the book, so I can't really talk about that at all yet either. I'm not sure what to make of this project yet :/

The First Week

I put off writing a new entry until I'd had at least a taste of all my classes. It would have had it sooner if not for the snow day on the first freaking week of classes. Tuesday was cancelled before my first class even started. So, first impressions then?

Advanced World Literature actually should have been called Post-colonial Literature because that's all it is. Not sure why it was named the way it was. I have it three days a week at noon. Thus far, I'm pretty underwhelmed. It sounds like it's going to be one of those "Europeans were like soooo mean to their colonies and stuff" types of classes. Filtered through literature.

Don't get me wrong, colonialism wasn't exactly a proud moment of human history, but that message gets lost or at least watered down when you hear it over and over. It's the same reason I've never been able to get into African-American literature; the Civil Rights movement and evils of racism was shoved in my face every year for so long that it lost any potency or ability to move me. I never needed anyone to go through the baby steps of why it was wrong and infantilizing a subject that complicated completely turned me off of it.

Anyway, getting back on tangent, I'm not really looking forward to this class. Next;

Fiction II. I have to write an 8 page short story. Not looking forward to that, but I've got a few months. The professor is hit-and-miss with me - sometimes I like her, sometimes I wonder why she's teaching. We'll see how this one goes.

American Literature II. Or Romanticism. I've heard good things about this professor (namely, he's funny and his classes are easy), so that's a plus. On the other hand, the book list doesn't seem all that riveting. Same thing for American Dream, which is with the same professor, and will be focused on a single theme instead of a genre or time period. I've never had a class like that, so it might be neat.

Pattern Recognition intrigues me. I'm still not quite sure what the class is about quite yet. Obviously it has to do with patterns, but I'm not really sure how to explain it. The interested can find the syllabus here if so inclined.

And of course I'm going to love my Independent Study. I thought I was just going to be helping Minnick refine his radio scripts, but it turns out that I'll be writing a few of them as well. At the same time, I'll keep working on my postcards and try to get 2-3 done every week. Right now, he has me researching some authors and I'd like to get at least one draft done by this weekend. We'll need as much time to edit as we can get.