Show, don't tell.

There's nothing more soothing than clutching my arms around soft tan fur when the lights go out and everything around me creaks and moans, as if there are spirits haunting the hallowed halls. I can hug it, and with its two arms and two legs, its almost as if it hugs me back. It is a security blanket and a best friend, something a girl should never live without. When my eyes adjust to the light I know that no matter what happens I can always look down and find a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring up at me. Sometimes, even though I know that they're just half -spheres of glass, I swear I can see sympathetic emotion in the eyes. With a smile plastered on its face, it never waivers in its positive attitude. Yes, no matter how loud the floorboards creak or how loud the plumbing buckles, it will always stay calm and still, the surest form of security and comfort.

Short Story Blog

In class we read a short story about a blind man who "taught" an able-bodied man how to see. I really liked this story. I thought the message was very powerful and the way it was written was perfect. I'm usually not a fan of short stories, because I think they're too short to be able to hold a good enough message. However, this story was worthy of spending the day on to read.

We also read the story about the black woman who was returning to her African roots while the rest of her family stayed in their normal lifestyle. I didn't really like this story as much because the actions of  "Wangero" really made me angry. I understand that she was going back to her roots but she was being mean to her family because of it and it wasn't respectful or a good attitude either. This story definitely didn't have a good enough message for me to enjoy it, at least one that was able to shine through Wangero's annoying actions.

Inauguration

I did not get to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama today because I was in the bathroom with a four year old who dragged me out of the gym twice today for no other real reason than that she didn't want to watch the inauguration anymore.

The little parts of it that I did see were relatively unimportant to the event as a whole. However, I think today was a very important day in the history of our country. We broke racial barriers and made great bounds and leaps for people of all races, not just African-Americans. It will be a day that the country will remember for all time.

A Bad Secret...

A bad secret, when locked away deep inside one's soul, can eat away at you until you crack. 

When I was younger, my best friend confided in me a "deep dark secret," at least as deep and dark as a secret can get when you're a kid, and swore me to secrecy. While, admittedly, in hindsight, the secret wasn't so deep and dark or so horrible to keep, it ate away at me. However, I was a noble friend so I wasn't about to "let the cat out of the bag" and give away her secret, so I didn't tell anyone.

I kept her secret for a long time, even until we weren't best friends anymore, and I still keep it today. In truth, the guilt doesn't eat at me anymore, considering it is a secret that is stale with age and no longer relevant, plus the fact that now, at sixteen, the secret doesn't seem so horrible anymore. For a while, especially the first couple of weeks and months after she told me, I felt racked with guilt about not "telling on her." In fact, whenever my mother asked me what was going on in my life, I feared it was because she knew about the secret that I was keeping and, consequently, I started avoiding these mother-daughter chats. I became paranoid about it to a certain extent. While it may have been an overreaction at the time, guilt can do that to a person without a doubt.

New Year's Resolution

The year 2009 means a fresh start, which means new resolutions to follow through on. This year, I've decided to actually make a resolution, unlike past years where I've just passed it up, knowing that the odds of my following through on it are slim to none. For the year of 2009 I am determined to finish the things I've started.

While this is a general resolution, this resolution mainly applies to my writing. For over a month now I have started numerous stories, probably upwards of ten, but have not gotten past page ten on hardly any of them. It's frustrating to have all of these ideas bouncing around in my head without being able to put them down on paper somewhere. For this reason, I want to finish what I start before moving onto another story, because I know that if I leave one task, I'll never go back to it. This is why I want to follow through on this resolution.

Saying I'm going to do something and actually doing it are two completely different things; this I know. Therefore, this year, I have a very simple plan of action for accomplishing my goal. I will simply just not let myself move onto something new. In essence, I will force myself to follow through, rather than just accepting that giving up once in a while is okay. For me, it will just not be okay. If I start to cook something, I will not leave the kitchen until I'm finished; I won't just put it in the fridge and tell myself I'll finish it tomorrow. If I start to write something, I will not start writing another story until I have at least stuck it out for a while and decided that I do not like it and that is why I'm quitting, rather than just because I want to move onto something else. If I start a project, I will continue working on it in regular intervals, rather than just give up for a few weeks and come back to it at the last minute.

New year's resolutions can be considered silly and a bad idea, and I have thought this in the past. However, I know that I will follow through on this one, one way or another, no matter how hard it is, thus making it a good idea to have promised it to myself in the first place. So, here is to 2009 with new beginnings and a clean slate. Here's to promises that will not go left undone.

Winter Poem

Hoar Frost

Branches were dipped in frosting this morn

and the sun cast a fairyland spell;

Each fragile twig looked feathered and white

and beckoned a heart to  swell.

A winter treasure - a sight to behold -

while silence augmented the scene;

I wanted to talk through an open gate

to find the artist, supreme

No gate could I see, the artist unseen,

awe captured my soul;

The canvas would change, as nature intended,

but I'd witnessed her morning's goal.

-- by Joan Adams Burchell

Good Authors

"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers." - Logan Pearsall Smith

I agree with what Logan Pearsall Smith is saying, but only to a degree. I took this quote as that he loves all of the underlying themes and hidden meanings behind a text more than he loves the actual blatant spoken story line. All of those hidden secrets lying beneath the surface of the text are intriguing and wonderful to ponder, but at some point it gets more annoying than interesting. At this point, I prefer just the plain text to the obscure themes and symbols found in a novel. However, before this point, I love feeling the gratification of deciphering the "codes" beneath the words in a story.

A good author is able to convey those things that are "between the lines" while still having them be mysterious. It is essential.