Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Triple-Zero

I have to admit that it is not as big an accomplishment as I'd like it to be. But it's still enough to make me pause in my typing to stare at the lower left corner of my Word document and squeal like a small pig: I've written 10,000 words. In a month. Granted, for any other writer, this is merely as small as taking a trip to the grocery store, and this triple-zero number has just become part of life. 

I still continue to squeal. And alert my parents and my friends, and half of the strangers I see on the street. Sixteen pages of an actually started novel, in which I go in chronological order. This is the real monumental act of intelligence. I used to jump from scene to scene, attempting without much success to create an actual novel. 


But here I am in the middle of the night, typing an inner monologue when I stop and feel like I should be throwing confetti in celebration. Sure, I have more to go, more to say, and a lot to edit, but for right now, I'm afraid to add anymore - that 10,000 just looks so pretty. 


I hope when I'm older, or in the coming months, when I make it to 20,000 and 30,000 or even something like 60,000 that I never get tired of it. Taylor Swift said that one of her biggest fears was not being able to get excited by the little things, which I suppose we have in common. No matter how many words, they'll always be a story. 


But 10,000 still makes me smile.
 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Shoes

If you see me on the street, or the grocery store, or anywhere else where I would appear as a stranger, you definitely would not think me athletic. Honestly, any decently-sized boy at my school could probably snap a limb with ease if they really wanted to. I'm pretty content with being a wimp, with feeling like I'm going to die upon running for more than three seconds, and with having the nearest by-stander open my Vitamin Waters for me. Until I put these little things on:
My mother bought them for me a year or so ago for a gym class I had to take in middle school (in which I whined about 102% of the time). They sit in my line of shoes, staring at me. I put them on the other night, which brought a peculiar feeling. People run and climb and jump in shoes like this. People that wear shoes like these appear in Nike commercials and are always sweating. I wonder what I would be like if I were a Gatorade-chugging, Nike-loving, pony-tail-donning, speedy athlete. I've never really been on a sports team, even though just about every one of my friends is. And yet, what if I had? Would I have more friends or be healthier or something drastic? Or would I just have something to do with my weekends? 


I suppose you'd be more likely to see me in these. It's impossible to run in them, which is no problem for me. I guess the running shoes just show me how different people are. People can be fancy, or rude, or happy, or tall, or small, or odd, or loud. And they wear all different types of shoes. 


Maybe that's why I feel like the running shoes shouldn't belong to me. Because I hate Gatorade, pony-tails, sweat, and exercise. Perhaps I should give them to someone who could use them. Or keep them for when I feel like pretending to be someone else. 


I think my other shoes may have grown afraid of them.



Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Photographs and Answers

I recently got these questions from the wonderful blog of talk2thetrees and decided to show some of my recent photographs in the process. And so:


- If I were a season, I would be summer
- If I were a month, I would be August
- If I were a day of the week, I would be Saturday
- If I were a time of day, I would be late afternoon
- If I were a planet, I would be Earth
- If I were a tree, I would be an oak 
- If I were a land animal, I would be an owl
- If I were a sea animal, I would be a silver fish
- If I were a bird, I would be a sparrow



- If I were a piece of furniture, I would be a kitchen table
- If I were a liquid, I would be water
- If I were a stone, I would be rose quartz
- If I were a tool, I would be a black pen
- If I were a kind of weather, I would be a light rain
- If I were a musical instrument, I would be a guitar
- If I were a color, I would be pale yellow
- If I were a facial expression, I would be the look of wonder
- If I were an emotion, I would be awe



 - If I were a sound, I would be soft music
- If I were an element, I would be water
- If I were a flavor, I would be strawberry
- If I were a scent, I would be lavender
- If I were an object, I would be a book
- If I were a body part, I would be feet
- If I were a song, I would be A Lack of Color by Death Cab for Cutie
- If I were a pair of shoes, I would be ballet flats
- If I were transportation, I would be a car with all the windows open

 - If I were a fairy tale, I would be Cinderella
- If I were a holiday, I would be Easter
- If I were a superhero, I would be Superman
- If I were a shape, I would be a circle
- If I were a state, I would be New Hampshire
- If I were a cartoon, I would be Alice from Alice in Wonderland
- If I were a car, I would be a yellow old-fashioned Volks Wagon van
- If I were a food, I would be pasta
- If I were a place, I would be Rye Beach
[I saw this picture, and immediately took it before any teachers saw. I was very proud of myself.]




- If I were an accessory, I would be a hat
- If I were an insect, I would be a firefly
- If I were a  plant, I would be a tree
- If I were a flower, I would be a white rose
- If I were a fruit, I would be a strawberry
- If I were a direction, I would be forward
- If I were another person, I would definitely be me 

P.S. Happy February!