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A third journal of personal musings |
 My life always continues to change and it only stands to reason that with each change, there should be a journal dedicated to it. |
Prompt: "Why insult someone when you can say something nice in a very sarcastic tone?" Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey Write about insults and/or Maggie Smith. Also, if you wish, how would you show a sarcastic tone of a character in a story? Maggie Smith was an awesome actress. I loved her in the Sister Act movies, Downton Abbey. The Secret Garden, and Hook. I never watched the Harry Potter movies, though I know she was great in those. I also loved her on The Graham Norton show. I'd love to watch some of her older work from when she was younger. I loved her personality and her humor. She seemed like such a real person, which when it comes to Hollywood and the like, how hard that is to come by. I think it's why I enjoyed her performances so much. Her sarcasm and how it could sometimes just underline things she did or said, was wonderful. I loved Ian McKellen's impression of her on Graham Norton, which made the story he told that much better. I loved her dry sense of humor and that realness of hers. It's refreshing, especially now where (and maybe (probably) it's just me being an old person) it just feels rare for actors to feel like real human beings who've had real experiences and emotions. Granted, it doesn't help that originality feels dead and those directing anything doesn't have a sense of what real people even are. So everything feels alien and weird. So, here's to Maggie Smith! |
Prompt: Do you ever write stories just using dialogue? Write about this in your Blog entry today. I've thought of doing this, but it feels like it goes against some kind of rule in my head? I don't know why. Sometimes when I'm writing in general if there's "too" much dialogue, I feel like I have to break it up with some description or movement or...something. I think it's definitely something about myself where I feel like things have to be a certain way whether or not there is a rule. Maybe it's because of the types of books I read at the time? Of course now, I see stuff like that and do it as a challenge, see if it's something I like or feel comfortable doing. I find myself one of those people, even though I'm of a creative nature, that I will sometimes keep myself in a box. I love people who step outside of that box. Like the book "A House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. I love that someone can just imagine it and write it into existence. People can be amazing and I love that. I love that kind of creativity. I know it's just something simple like writing something that is entirely dialogue, but someone who apparently falls into the traditional mold a lot of the time, it's awesome. It definitely inspires me though to try that out and see what I can come up with. |
Prompt: Sunsets and Sunrise “Why did dusk and fir-scent and the afterglow of autumnal sunsets make people say absurd things?” L.M. Montgomery Describe a sunset or sunrise that took your breath away. What emotions did it stir in you? I was very lucky to have grown up just a few miles off of Lake Ontario when I lived in New York. I got spoiled with both sunrises and sunsets. Sunsets I've seen most and if you would like to see some examples, just Google: "Oswego, NY sunsets" and you'll get to see some. A lot of local photographers love to take photos of them so there are a lot to peruse through. Which makes me happy since I've moved to Indiana 11 (already somehow!) years ago. I went to college at SUNY Oswego, which was 20 minutes from where I lived, and I remember that it was constantly mentioned that Oswego had the best sunsets in the country. I never really thought about it until I was older and especially after I've moved and I've gotten to experience them since experiencing the ones here. They really are so pretty and just...a moment. They're never the same and you can't help but stop doing what you're doing and just watch. Having lived in central Indiana for the last 11 years, I miss being so close to Lake Ontario. There's a type of peace that it brings and it's definitely emphasized when there's a sunrise or sunset. It's a type of peace that is internal. I miss that a lot. Definitely something I took for granted, even though I appreciated having it so close by. |
Prompt: Do you like Reality TV Shows like Survivor? Write about this in your Blog entry today. Goodness, no. None of them ever appealed to me. It's not like I'm above cheesy things, but I need some kind of intelligent structure going on. I still can't believe that the dating ones are still happening. Those ones are the WORST. I guess because they're so predictable and the non-good petty gross behavior (nothing like grown ass women acting like desperate children fighting over a man they don't even like and the winner will divorce in like a month after the wedding or even when it's reversed and it's a woman the men are vying for and it's just like 12 year old boy behavior) isn't even interesting. It just reminds me of girls in high school crying over some idiot boy they were "dating" for a day. Granted, I hated that crap even when I was in high school, but at least being a teenage girl it's justifiable. If there was some kind of humor or like a "straight man" in one of those shows, maybe? I just can't. The others...? Eh. They just aren't interesting to me. Mathew liked Survivor for awhile and I tried to watch it when he did. That show I can understand why it's still on. There's some characters that are interesting and the whole premise can be interesting, but learning about how much of the behavior and drama is forced and how absolutely fake the whole thing is, including sometimes who wins or loses, who stays or goes, just really turned me off. If it's all going to just be written, then I'd rather just watch a movie. Big Brother I never got, though the weird drama I guess I can understand why that thing is still going, but I just never connected with that kind of stuff. It's funny because I usually hate talking about my opinions on reality TV because it makes me feel like I'm really pompous about TV and I'm not.  It's just not my cup of tea. It's not my type of garbage. I have wished they'd do something interesting with it, but it's always the same rehashed topics and themes. I am really surprised though that new shows still pop up and that reality TV is still something that continues to exist. I had always figured it would've died off, just because it really is just kind of the same thing. But here we are, nearly or maybe have (I can't remember if it was pre or post 2000 when they started) met the 25 year mark of reality television. I guess at this point it will be interesting to see how long Big Brother and Survivor go on for and whether or not they'll last longer than the genre does (will there be a resurgence in popularity for those shows?). |
Prompt: "Opportunity is fleeting and judgment is difficult." Let this quote from Deborah Harkness inspire your entry I would like to start by saying that I rather enjoyed A Discovery of Witches and the rest of the trilogy. I had forgotten where this was at first, until I looked it up. To give context, the two main characters have gone back in time (16th century London to be exact). The FMC buys a silver gilded rat trap and it has an inscription engraved into it, the full Hippocrates aphorism: "Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.", but in latin. She makes a comment about the object being sentimental, considering what it was made for. The MMC replies back: "Sentimental? From the viewpoint of the rat, it sounds quite realistic: opportunity is fleeting, experiment dangerous, and judgement difficult." It is definitely a nice play with words! It does really highlight the meaning of the original quote in a short and quick manner. We are often given a lot of opportunities, some good, some bad, some in-between. Sometimes we take them and sometimes we don't. For me, those opportunities which we don't have much time to make a choice often make me nervous. I'm not a very spontaneous person by nature, so it is very hard for me to quickly pull the trigger on things like that, especially if it isn't obvious at first what type of opportunity it is. Or, especially if it an opportunity that can affect my life in a major way. This summer my fiance and I bought our first house! The housing market has been insane, if you've even had to sniff it in the last 4 years. It's calming down slightly in our area, but we were still really nervous. Buying a house is a big thing! We were nervous, as we're first time home buyers, of being out bid. $50,000 saved seems like a lot of money, but when $30,000 of it is the downpayment, we had to have 2 rooms painted (and decided to paint a couple others), plus buy a lot of new furniture, the remaining $20,000 didn't last very long. So, yes, we were nervous. Plus, how do you know if the house is the one? And if you do love the house, what happens if there are other bids and you aren't chosen? Fortunately, everything went incredibly smooth (we ended up putting in a bid on day 2 of the house being on the market (we ended up seeing it on the first day it was on the market). We just felt like we were home when we walked around the house. It had the comfort of new windows, new HVAC, new hot water heater, new carpet, all of the bathrooms and the kitchen had been updated. It was a wonderful feeling! Definitely a fleeting opportunity that was worth the "treacherous experience". |
Prompt: "Fine Mess" Oliver Hardy often said to Stan Laurel in several Laurel and Hardy films, "This is another fine mess you've gotten us into." What is your definition of a fine mess and what kind of images does the word mess bring into your mind? Fine mess always felt like "helluva mess" to me. A nice hint of sarcasm. Especially in movies where it always felt like this "fine mess" was what the adventure of the movie was based on. Now it begins. I feel like it works in real life too. Fine always kind of implied "now this is a real specimen of a mess", "a good example of a mess" instead of a regular mess that you had to deal one. One that meant there wouldn't really be an easy solution or quick clean up of said mess. I've seen people be called a fine mess too, implying that it's going to be a lot of work to clean them up (hair and clothes, make-up if necessary). Something I often call myself (aside from a swamp witch). Along with being a hot mess (probably my favorite tbh).  In general, I always felt like it was a lighthearted way of describing something..or someone, can be some work without being mean or rude about it and make the person or persons not feel as bad. Or, like me, using it for themselves. I like that using a fine mess (or hot mess) has a nice flexible connotation as well, meaning maybe a metaphorical connotation instead of a literal one. One of my favorite things about the English language (and the pity I have for those trying to learn our language) is how flexible it can be. |
Prompt: Dreams What do you think about dreams in general? And if you wish to elaborate, what recurring themes or symbols appear in your dreams? Are there any patterns you can identify? I've always kind of wished I had dreams like what a lot of people say they have. I've never had any stereotypical dreams and mostly, with the exception of some that I can count on one hand, don't really have any "meaning". At least to me they don't. Most of the time it just feels like I'm part of some movie. Sometimes I'm not me as the "main character". Sometimes I am. The few that have some kind of "meaning" are where I'm trying to go to a class, sometimes it's high school, sometimes it's college. I can't find my class. I think I know where I'm going and suddenly I'm lost as if I've never been in the building before. I did have a dream along that same vein (a couple of times if I remember right) where it was like a house I was staying at? I'm pretty sure there was some other narrative, but I don't remember now. I also had one as a child where my mom, my older sister, and myself were leaving. Walked into the garage to get into the car, my mom and older sister got there first and then took off before I could get a chance to get in. I remember standing in the open garage as I watched my mom's car head down the drive way. I've had dreams with my mom and my dad, sometimes together, most often apart and those I've always just liked to believe that they've come to say hi to me (as they've both passed and have been gone now for 11 years). It's funny as those often feel the most realistic to me. I remember the first dream I had of my mom, in which when I asked her if she had come back, she said no. That she was only here for a short time and wanted to see me. It was like "a day together", because when I went to sleep in the dream and woke up, she was gone. I do dream vividly, with color and voices. Most of the time I remember them, but sometimes they've gone by the wayside once I've woken up. I remember one of my earliest dreams from when I had to have been 5-7 years old. I left my house and had gone wondering in the yard (we had a pretty decent yard/property when I was a kid. Total of 12 acres, but some of it was woods. I had gone towards the woods, seeing a giant iguana. Me, being ever the animal lover, headed towards it. Unfortunately, it was a cursed, evil iguana, because it shot its tongue out at me and the only way I can describe this next part is that myself, including my vision, had the texture of a golf ball, where it's those rounded indents. It was shortly after this happened and I realized my new vision/texture, that I woke up. I remember it feeling so lifelike to me as a kid and later that day going out to where it had happened in my dream and feeling such a connection to that dream still. It was funny that it was an iguana as we never had one as a pet and I lived in Central NY at the time. Definitely not a place where they would be wild. I must have seen one in a movie or a TV show and it got snagged into a dream. I did have a reoccurring dream where a faceless (never saw the face that I can remember) man would chase me, a la Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, and I would run and find a place to hide, in a very not good hiding place where in real life I would have been found, but he'd walk past me. I haven't had these dream since I became an adult living on my own and when I'd have it, it would be in a place I had lived previously, so never at the current place I lived. I always kind of wondered what the meaning of that was, but they happened far enough apart that I never ended up dwelling on it until much later into my adult life. I've always found the thought of meaning behind dreams to be interesting, but since most of my dreams always just felt like my brain entertaining me during my sleep, I never looked into it for myself.  |
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