Character Study: Writing 101, Day 6

Today’s Prompt: Who’s the most interesting person (or people) you’ve met this year?
Today’s twist: Turn your post into a character study.

As I sit here writing, I can hear a loud truck engine idling across the street.  I do not need to look out my window to see what is going on.  I know who is responsible for disturbing the peace.  Bigalow.

The first time I saw Bigalow, he was outside his apartment with his two unleashed dogs.  The first dog was a Golden Retriever, friendly and carefree; the second was a velvet grey Pitbull.  a young couple came walking down the street, and Bigalow immediately rushed to grab the Pitbull's collar.  He looked up, his forehead creased in worry, and watched the couple walk past before allowing the dog to roam free again.  He stayed alert and close to his dog from then on.  After the dogs had finished outside, he brought them back to the apartment.  He never removed his dogs' waste.

Bigalow walked back and forth between the apartment and his vehicle, ignoring the piles of dog poop that littered the surrounding grass.  His pompous swagger and puffed-up chest attempted to hide his short stature.  He climbed up into his old, white Jeep, started up the engine and drove away.  Two minutes later, he drove back onto our street.

He pulled up to the curb, revved his engine for a while, then reversed, stopped, and revved the engine again.  This process was repeated for over twenty minutes until I wasn't sure if he was looking for attention or he just couldn't handle parallel parking.  Based on how his friends park, I am guessing the latter.  

Today, I saw Bigalow packing a trailer.  I think he is moving out and I hope that loud truck outside is getting ready to drive him away into the sunset.

Reflection on Day 6:  This prompt had me stumped, and I avoided it for a long time.  Now that I have written, I still feel stumped by this prompt and I don't think that I did it justice.  Maybe I will try again another time.

2015 What I'm Reading #6

Time for Round 2

This round, my goal is to start a daily writing practice.  I am starting by completing Blogging University's Writing 101 through The Daily Post.  I will be posting on my blog daily using the prompt and twist provided.  I will also be continuing to work on my reading goal of 30 books this year.

Here is a glimpse at my e-library bookshelf:

Ugh!  Not much progress has been made.  I am still reading Wicked.  It is slow-going and I am not sure what I think of it :(  I thought I was going to love this book, but now....meh.  Maybe it gets better?

Top 10 Inspiring Quotes from Books

I am linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for Top 10 Tuesday.

Every time I read a book that I enjoy, I start a journal page of quotes I like.  Sometimes, I love the language used, sometimes the message, sometimes both.  I often post my journal pages on this blog, like here.  For this Top 10, or 9, I went back through my reading journal pages and chose my favorites.  

1.  "There was something comforting  about spending the day with women whose only magical powers were forgetting their own names."  Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Another one of those books that I did not read until after I saw the movie.  

2.  "It is only the old who can look around them and marvel, for it is we who know how alike the world really is, how all of its problems and wonders have already been recognized and recorded."  The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

Interesting book.  If you haven't read it, I recommend it, although some parts may be difficult to read.

3.  "Our brains are like giant, muscular vines, and they can wrap themselves around almost any skill we ask them to consider." The Doodle Revolution by Sunni Brown

I love thinking of my brain as a giant vine.

4.  "To repair a man's soul and deepest heart- to reverse an irreversible trade- that might be far, far more than Matty could possibly undertake."  The Messenger by Lois Lowry

Great book, a companion to The Giver.

5.  "The others have whittled an image of me with the distorting knives of rumor until I am a different piece of scrimshaw to each of them."  Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Yet another book that I did not read until after I saw the movie, and I love, love, love this quote.

6.  "A certain feeling comes from throwing your good life away, and it is one part rapture."  Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

OMG. I. Love. Barbara. Kingsolver.

7.  "Teaching is a profession of hope.  It requires, on top of everything else, a leap of faith.  A willingness to believe that something that does not currently exist might one day come to life."  Building a Better Teacher by Elizabeth Green

I don't know what to say about this one.

8.  "Promise me you won't stay here," Gillian said.  "You'll get all crumpled up like a piece of paper.  You'll ruin your life."  Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Yes, it's another book that I did not read until after I had seen the movie.  In fact I watched the movie many times before even realizing that it started as a book :)

9.  "Life... The important parts you blocked out altogether, but the random, slanted moments haunted you, replaying over and over in your mind."  Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 

True.  So true.

What are some books or quotes that inspire you?

Be Brief: Writing 101, Day 5

Today’s Prompt: You stumble upon a random letter on the path.You read it. It affects you deeply, and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed. Write a story about this encounter.
Today’s twist: Approach this post in as few words as possible.

That morning I walked out to the backyard to check on the ripening strawberries and I found a large floral tote bag slouching amongst the sunflowers.  Curious, I approached the bag and peered inside.  It was almost full with papers spilling onto the dirt and grass.  I glanced to the alley on my right, then to the street on my left.  I saw no one, but anyone could have deposited the bag in my open, fenceless backyard and taken off.  I hoisted the bag onto my shoulder and brought it inside.

On the dining room floor, I started unpacking the bag.  Most of the papers turned out to be photographs, although there were some letters and even bills.  As I emptied the bag, I found jewelry, trinkets.  Why would someone leave all this in my backyard?

My mind raced.  Was someone trying to leave an old life behind by burying the bag and its memories in my backyard?  Or was the bag dumped in my backyard by thieves?  What if someone had been kidnapped, and her memories had been flung into my yard from the getaway car?

The bills and the letters were addressed to the same person, so I immediately stated a search.  The phone book yielded no results.  A quick search of the news and papers proved no kidnapping had occurred.  I called the police.  They had no news but took note of my finding.  I began to calm down.

Nothing in the bag was really valuable.  The bills were old.  The jewelry and the trinkets were worthless.  The photos could all depict bad memories, the kind a person might like to forget when moving to a new city.  The innocence of it all overtook me.

I packed everything back into the bag and put it in my hall closet.  I continued to search for the owner of the bag for many years without any luck.  I like to think that she is far away, living a happier life, unencumbered by her past.

Writing Update 4/12/15

Time for Round 2

This round, my goal is to start a daily writing practice.  I am starting by completing Blogging University's Writing 101 through The Daily Post.  I will be posting on my blog daily using the prompt and twist provided.  I will also be continuing to work on my reading goal of 30 books this year.

This round of ROW80 has just begun, so I don't want to sound too optimistic, but I am meeting my goals so far.  I have been writing every day, thanks to Blogging University's Writing 101.  I have even been sharing my writing on my blog which is something new for me.   

My reading has been going well too.  The number of books I was reading had slowed way down, but all of a sudden, I am reading again and dealing with my usual problem of having too many books checked out at once.  I'm loving it!

Here's hoping that I continue to make progress on my goals as the round continues.

Stuck in my Head: Music Lost (Writing 101, Day 4)

Today’s Prompt: Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.
Today’s twist: Make today’s post the first in a three-post series.

Today I have decided to take the twist a little bit further.  Instead of making this a three-post series, I am making this a weekly serial post on my blog.  I enjoyed the Day 3 Prompt so much that I have decided to post about music on a weekly basis.  Today I am posting about music that I have lost over the years.  

"Gepetto" by Belly

I remember when my cousin gave me a dubbed copy of his Belly tape.  It was a transparent cassette with yellow stickers.  I listened to that cassette all the time.  I loved it.  I knew the words to every single song.  Belly were an instant favorite.  But somewhere along the way, I lost that cassette tape.  I haven't heard Belly in a very long time but this song brings back memories of listening to music with my cousin in his kitchen.  I remember one time he even tried to teach me how to dance to different types of music.  

"Fisherman's Blues" by The Waterboys

The last time I heard The Waterboys was at Irish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I remember how surprised I was that they would be performing.  I was even more surprised when I saw how many people showed up to listen to them and when I realized how many people were familiar with their music.  I, personally, had almost forgotten about The Waterboys at that point in my life but I quickly found that all the lyrics to all the songs were still floating around in my brain.  This song was always one of my favorites.

"Happy Hour"  by The Housemartins

Another lost cassette tape.  I have moved around a lot and my huge collection of tapes got smaller and smaller with each big move.  This song was on a double cassette from the Now That's What I Call Music series from the 80s.  I had never been a big fan of The Housemartins but I always liked how upbeat this song is.  It's also a good reminder to stay away from drinks with the boss or, oftentimes, coworkers.  And how adorably dorky are these guys??

Do you have songs that you loved but that you never hear anymore?

The Importance of Music: Writing 101, Day 3

Today’s Prompt: Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?

Today’s twist: You’ll commit to a writing practice.

"Cure for Pain"  by Morphine

During my senior year of high school and freshman year of college, I spent a lot of time at a local coffee shop named Lava Java.  That is where I was first introduced to Morphine (the band, not the drug) and the song "Cure for Pain".  The song still takes me back to that place and time.  Lava Java was my version of the bar in Cheers.  I met a lot of interesting people there, including my husband.  The coffee shop had bar seating, which made it easy to go there alone and to meet new people.  There were couches and comfy chairs.  The art was always interesting, and one show in particular drew outrage from the local church.  They especially hated the life-size photograph of a nude woman doing a headstand that hung right by the front window.  One of the co-owners was always grumpy and even instituted Mandatory Tip Night.  In fact, his grumpiness helped me to meet my future husband when the owner kicked a group of us out of the cafe because we were laughing too hard.  I read my first poem publicly in Lava Java.  I later went to see Morphine live.  A.May.Zing.  Unfortunately the lead singer died, so the band no longer exits.

"Desesperada" por Marta Sánchez

This song takes me back to my student exchange to Chile.  I made some amazing friends there, and this song was the bees knees.  I seem to remember my friends and I making a video of ourselves singing this song together, but I have never been able to view that videotape and now I no longer even know where it is.  Well, it might be better if proof of that incident were lost forever anyway.  I learned all the lyrics to that song, even though I spoke very little Spanish.  By the end of my six months in Chile, I was pretty much fluent in Spanish and I cried and cried when my parents made me come home.  Oh how I wanted to stay.  Now I am a Spanish teacher and I listen to music in Spanish on a daily basis at work.  Who knew one little song could lead to a career?

"Missing You" by Christy Moore

Christy Moore.  Anytime I hear him, he takes me back to my childhood and my birth country, Ireland.  My mom made Irish soda bread for Christy Moore once.  He performed a concert in my village and he had very specific backstage request, one of which was homemade brown bread.  So cool.  "Missing You" is an especially powerful song for me because it's all about emigration, and my family is still dealing with emigration.  My cousins live in many different countries:  Canada, U.S.A., England, Germany, Australia.  I have friends and family all around the world because jobs are scarce in Ireland.  This is one of the few songs that can make me cry.

Reflection on Day 3:  This was a really easy post to write.  I thought I would have a hard time thinking of important songs, but they just came to me.  Fun prompt.