Rules of the Game

This blog is like my journal. And like my journal, I am probably not going to write much in it when I'm in a bad mood, or at least I won't write about the bad mood. So if you ever think that I'm not writing frequently, or that I'm writing really short, pointless messages, it's probably because...that's right, you guessed it: I'm in a bad mood. Just letting you know.

Beautiful Life

Two things to write about tonight:

1. Yesterday as I was driving around south of campus, I saw a guy getting out of his car with a huge bouquet of flowers. He walked up the sidewalk to a house. That's all that happened that I saw.

2. Tonight as I was driving home from a party Cousin Rachel invited me to, I saw lightening and heard thunder, and my immediate thought was that I should go hop the fence into the cemetery just down the street and sit somewhere in there to watch the display. This may seem odd, but I've been thinking about visiting that cemetery ever since I found out I was going to be living this close to it, which has been since early July. I think it will be a quiet place to contemplate life if I ever follow through with that urge. Which I will not do tonight...I know my mother would probably be horrified...not at the sitting in the cemetery part, but the jumping the fence part.

These two experiences are part of what I'd like to consider the realm of possibility. My wonderful cousin Geneil told me once (in her own words of course) that what she missed from single life, now that she's absolutely blissfully married, is the feeling that when you wake up in the morning there is a cloud of possibility that hangs over you, making anything possible. And ever since she said that to me, I've realized that it's true. I could go jump the fence to the cemetery. I have the possibility of getting flowers in the future (daisies please). And there are an infinite number of possibilities in my life to look forward to and choose from. Beautiful life!

Two Good Things

Tonight I went back to my friend Chelsea's house. I attended a writing club she invited me to, Two Good Things. The two good things are writing and dessert. And boy were they good! The way it works is that someone brings a dessert, and it's the motivation for the writing (I mean, maybe some people are motivated to write just for itself, but the dessert doesn't hurt!). Another person comes with a prompt to give the others, and we take a chunk of time - however long we want - to respond to the prompt. Then we share what we wrote while we eat. Our prompt tonight was a question from a book about creative writing: What things do you like in good novels? What things do you not like in novels? Discuss. Here is my response:

Things I like in a novel:
*suspenseful chapter endings
*good dialogue
*symbolic description
*fun quotes
*realistic love
*thwarted love
*loyal characters
*self-sacrifice
*sad endings
*happy endings
*(subtle) humor

Things I don't like in a novel:
*cheesy jokes
*gratuitous sex scenes
*endless sentences
*assuming that the reader knows too much about something
*unrealistic goals/plot advancement
*no plot
*illogical jumps

As you can see, these lists are no work of art, but I think that it might help me as I prepare to write more for our club. I plan on posting my work on this blog each week, so we'll see how/if I improve. And while I'm sure I won't be producing anything like Henry Van Dyke's The Three Best Things, I will definitely get Two Good Things on Thursdays!

The Soda Bath

Some friends of mine bought 700 liters of orange soda and a few blocks of vanilla ice cream, and made the largest orange cream soda you've ever seen...in their hot tub...and then we sat in it...and drank and ate it.

Here are me and the guys enjoying the tub. It was actually pretty cold, especially once the ice cream got thrown in. And yes, I was the only girl who got in.

Look at those orange arms and legs! *Note* We were all required to have showered within 1/2 hour before getting into the hot tub, and you KNOW I showered within 1/2 hour of getting out! I was afraid the orange wouldn't go away, but it came right off with hot water and soap.

Chillaxing by the tub. Most everyone had gotten out and rinsed off, but there was a late comer that you can see here.

See the devastation caused by the revelry...Those guys were seriously out of control, dunking their heads in it and smearing ice cream all over each other.

I was trying to capture the orange. I actually look a little tan, rather than orange, if you don't look too close...maybe a great new tanning method!


All I have to say is - WAHOO was that fun!

The Adventure of the Vacant Lot and Other Tales

Tonight I went to a birthday party. It was for my old roommate, Chelsea. She turned 26 today, on the 26th, her golden birthday. And because she lives so close to my new place, I thought I would walk to her house. It only took me 15 minutes to walk it, and I really enjoyed the stroll. Chelsea lives in kind of a funny spot. Utah uses a grid system, but there are occasional glitches (like Chelsea's street) where the street doesn't go through, and you have to know to go around a different way in order to get to where you are going. I knew the trick, and walked around the correct way, approaching her house from the east. I came to the vacant lot that borders her house, and just as I was about to walk across it, I heard a little rustle in the grass as some unseen animal made a quick exit. I wondered what it was, and that thought kept me thinking about the things to be aware of around me as I walked home again. I noticed things that made the walk very pleasant. I realized, I like the neighborhood that I live in/near. I was surrounded by the vibrant colors of well-watered flowers, the beat of a drumset from a basement, the sight of a big man riding a small scooter, the sound of children playing with a hose, the noise of children getting yelled at for playing with a hose, the buzz of a lawnmower, and the cool heat of the late afternoon sun. The summer days are starting to cool off a little, and the summer nights are no longer diluted by the residual heat of the sun. I like life!