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 Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:58 pm
018
Irony
"I just don't get it, Dr. Jones," Alex said, his voice rising in frustration at the end of the sentence.
"Take a deep breath," the professor said calmly. "You can get it. You're a smart kid. You've just hit a roadblock with this."
Alex obediently sucked air into his lungs and slowly exhaled it back out, as the professor said. After a few moments, he looked up to meet the eyes of the professor, who took that as a cue to try to explain the concept once again.
Fast forward a few days.
Alex was laying on the twin bed in his dorm room, his arm around (in his opinion) the prettiest girl in the world. The scene in the movie changed, and on the screen, the lead actor crouched behind a couch as his love interest conversed with her other lover.
Suddenly, things just snapped into place in his mind.
"That's it!" he said.
"What's what?" Amy asked him, shifting so she could look up at him. "You're going to listen in next time I converse with my secret lover? I'll have to start checking behind furniture when he visits to make sure you're not hiding."
"No, silly," Alex said, laughing lightly. "I just finally got that English stuff I was having so much trouble with. That's dramatic irony right there," he told her, gesturing at the screen.
Amy laughed and then gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Well, I'm certainly glad that our relationship is intellectually and academically fulfilling for you," she said, then snuggled back against his shoulder to resume watching the movie.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 8:22 pm
Day 019
Lust
Some people say it's a sin. Some people say it's a normal part of human sexuality. Me, well, I'm somewhere in between.
You may ask who I am to make such a call, and I say that I'm me. I'll make the D that's right for me, and you make the one that's right for you.
But oh, no, we couldn't do that. We need everyone to live by our own rules. Letting people live their own lives is just way too dangerous. Too much freedom is dangerous, or so it seems.
So I keep my mouth shut as much as I can. Whatever I think of the people who I see walk by... Well, you'd never know it, talking to me or looking at me.
Everything I feel remains hidden behind my eyes.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 6:52 pm
Day 020
Identity Crisis
It was organic chemistry that did this to me. Or maybe cell biology.
I knew from the time when I was eight years old that I wanted to be a doctor. I had it all planned out. Small college for my undergrad, get accepted to med school, meet another med student and get married after we both earn our M.D.s...
And now, it's all crumbling. All of that is going downhill. I don't know what I want to do with my life now.
Now I'm considering other fields, other careers, and I don't know who I am or what I want. I had this all so perfectly planned out, but life just isn't following my plan.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:03 pm
020
Being Replaced
Frances promised not to forget me. We left for college at the end of that summer, after four years of memories together.
You called me once in a while the first few weeks and sent me a letter. But by late September, you had practically stopped contacting me.
I saw you once over fall break and winter, then not again for six months. I saw you again over summer vacation, and it was like seeing a stranger. I didn't know who you were anymore.
You had found someone new at school. She was filling my spot, and from the looks of it, you didn't even remember the times we had.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 7:29 pm
022
Jealousy
(Wow, has it really been 3 weeks? That just seems so crazy. I'm almost surprised that I've made it this far. biggrin )
Paul shook Alex's hand, giving his best friend a "bro-hug" where they patted each other on the back while bumping chests, and accepted the hand-labelled copy of Alex's first demo CD. After they parted ways, Paul placed the CD into the tray on his laptop and loaded the sixteen-tracks of music, then pressed play.
As the sound of a piano and the smooth tenor voice filled his ears, Paul felt a sudden emptiness. His best friend, Alex, was the most talented musician that he had ever met, and Paul couldn't even imagine writing sixteen songs worth recording and making a demo out of them. Paul dabbled a bit in guitar and violin, but he wasn't what he would call majorly talented. He could hold his own in an ensemble if he had to, but he was nothing that anyone would really be impressed with.
It was the way he was with many things. He was an average guitar- and violinist, an average writer, and average athlete, and an average student. He was average in everything.
Everyone else had one thing that they were exceptional at, but all that Paul had was being average. He had no strengths, nor any weaknesses. He would always just be average, and left behind his friends as they excelled in their various interests.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 2:11 pm
I've read through all your posts, and I have to say I really like the way you write! You've done a really good job of capturing the voice of young adults, and it's almost like I can feel the characters (and yourself) stretching out, growing up.
Keep up the good work!
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 5:10 pm
PinnyDragon I've read through all your posts, and I have to say I really like the way you write! You've done a really good job of capturing the voice of young adults, and it's almost like I can feel the characters (and yourself) stretching out, growing up. Keep up the good work! Thanks! For a lot of these pieces, I've just been doing short blurbs and trying to take voice and opinion from people other than myself, using very different opinions and such, but I've been sticking pretty close to a young adult voice for most of these. And then there are some that I just cheat and use my own voice for. ><
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 8:34 pm
023
Insanity
I think there are multiple types of insanity. There's the type of insanity that you think of when someone says insane. The person talking to themselves in public or the person who is acting differently.
And then there's the other view of insanity. There's the insanity that is going to school for years and years, just to learn things that you could have learned on-the-job. There's the insanity of working 40+ hours a week just to make ends meet. There's the insanity of marrying someone you don't love to make appearances.
Looking back on this life I've lived, the friends I've made and lost in 60 years, I'd say that there are way more insane people out there than I once thought. For years, I was one of them, but eventually, I realized that that type of life couldn't sustain me.
I let go of all everything in my 40s. Quit my job, left everyone and everything I knew behind, and rode off toward the horizon. I never looked back. I roamed for years and years, and they all called me crazy.
But I think that I was the sanest person I'd ever met. I had figured out how to truly live.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 4:35 pm
024
Snow Day
Students,
Their eyes cast upon the sky
They beg to a God they don’t know
That He, in His wisdom
Just please let it snow.
They beg and they plead
Promise that if they get their wish
To never drink again
To study hard for the next exam.
Small, light grey clouds
Don’t promise too much
But miracles have happened
And they are desperate,
So why not hope?
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 1:42 pm
025
Sculpture
The sculpture stands proud on a table in my living room, as a constant conversation starter and/or stopper. I'm often asked what it means, or what significance it has, and I usually am left without words to explain it.
I bought it several years back, at a college art exhibition. Every year, one of the local universities holds an exhibition for the art majors. It is held in the on-campus coffee shop, which is converted to a gallery for the week. I make a habit of attending, just to support the students in their endeavors and occasionally purchase a piece.
Most of the pieces that I purchase are small sketches or paintings that I give as gifts to cousins, nieces, nephews... Little pieces of art that they can hang in the entryway or on that blank stretch of wall in the new apartment. However, this one was different. The pieces I usually bought were of landscapes, or a figure-sketch, or something identifiable.
This sculpture was none of those. It's ultimately just a grey shape, full of odd angles and curves. It has no theme or topic that I (or any of my guests) can ever identify, but it's strangely beautiful. The complexities, the intertwining of the lines, it's unusual, but I think we can all see something in it.
Maybe we're just searching for meaning in something that has none, or maybe this sculpture was a cathartic act for the art student, and never meant for anyone else to find meaning in. But either way, I think it's beautiful, so it remains in my living room.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 5:09 pm
026
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
People joke about OCD so often. I've done it myself, even though I've seen the disease firsthand and watched people battle with it.
The jokes don't help, though. OCD can be a terrible curse to deal with.
Watching someone struggle with a demon inside of himself as he is forced to do the same thing over and over, not believing that it is done correctly is horrible.
Knowing that nothing you say will help, that no matter how many times you assure them that the door is locked, it won't give them peace of mind... It's difficult. You feel so helpless to do anything, because there's nothing you can do, but being there for the person.
I love him, I truly do, even though he has to deal with so much. And even though it hurts and it's hard to watch, I will stand with him to the end. As long as he wants me by his side, I will be there to support him through his disease.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 2:45 pm
Quick Update:
My life has once again taken a turn for the crazier, so I've kind of neglected my 365 day challenge. I'll probably restart at some point, but for now, I'm on hiatus until I get things in order.
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Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:09 am
And my hiatus is over! I was gone for longer than I expected, but here I am, ready to try this again.
Will update with Day 1 (take two) later today. : )
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Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:02 am
001
New Beginnings
Some new beginnings, everyone celebrates. New years, new births, new jobs, new homes.
But some new beginnings are more mediocre in the minds of most people. A new task at work, buying a new pan for the kitchen or tool for the garage, learning to perform a new skill, or just meeting that cute girl from English class for coffee.
Each of these could, in its own way, be a new beginning. Maybe they aren’t the huge milestones that everyone wants to hear about. But maybe, just maybe, they’re the milestones that we should celebrate. For, if we celebrate the everyday, would the everyday become magical?
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Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:42 pm
002
Cause/Effect
Sometimes, there is a clear cause and effect with emotions. Sometimes, you're sad because someone did something to hurt you or because you lost someone close to you. Other times, you're happy because of an unexpected gift or seeing someone you love. And still other times, you feel something and don't know why.
Maybe it's a mix of causes here. Maybe you're feeling so upset, because you aren't sure of what the next step in your life is, and you're lonely, and your hormones are running a bit out of control, and you have had too much free time lately. Maybe this combination of causes is making you feel the way you do.
Or maybe there isn't a cause. Maybe there is no reason whatsoever for you to feel so forlorn. It's a sunny day, you've seen your closest friends and family, and you had your favorite food for dinner. Maybe there's nothing to be upset about, and yet your brain is mis-firing neurons and you feel like there's no hope.
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