Short to make it in by deadline ^^

Title: As Was Custom
Words: 1000, as is custom!
Rating: PG-13/R mini-violence?

So it's a piece based off a painting by John William Waterhouse. I chose Flora and the Zephyrs. I immediately had an idea and attempted to convey it, though perhaps not as well as in my Just For Fun entry previously.

Without more time-wasting



( As Was Custom )

Okay, so, parody time. This time I shall parody in satire of sorts. Kinda. In a sense. Anyway, I'll explain the subject here in a moment but first, a writing challenge! (which means, yes, I'm posting a small piece of writing.)

Every once in awhile I like to visit brigits_flame and participate in their epic and awesome writing challenges. Typically they begin during the first week of a month and vote on those who can continue to week 2 and so on. Kinda like Survivor for writing! Sometimes, though, these little contests pop up as an aside - but a wonderful aside they can be. For this aside, the challenge is simple. So simple, that I'll provide this smexy link. And break it down:

* Pick a piece of art by John William Waterhouse.
* Write exactly 1000 words, using that piece as inspiration.

Too.Easy.

I was busy deciding what to write and my eyes passed this awesome painting called The Lady of Shalott [on boat].

Now, sometimes there are coincidences such as this, where earlier this week I was with a buddy listening to the song "On A Boat." I decided to write a parody as a 'for fun' entry. And having finished said writing, I'm now posting it.

If you haven't heard the song, don't listen to it, yet. Try to read the piece as a serious work first, then I'll link you at the end of this post. Feel free to reread after watching the video.

Remember that parody is not always meant to be funny. Sometimes a little "Easter egg" works, too.

Oh, yeah. Feel free to critique this piece harshly. Even if it's meant to be somewhat light, it's still a serious piece of writing. It felt weird writing this, as I was quite out of my element. Any help is appreciated for my actual entry to come. :)

( The Lady of Shalott - On a motherfuckin BOAT )

Well, getting into week two was pretty crazy. I tied for the last spot on the first poll, then on the second poll. Thanks to everyone who finally voted me into week 2!! As an odd sense of gratitude, I'm going to share something I've never shared with anyone outside the experience itself. I wish it could be better presented but I wrote the whole thing in an hour and a half. Many thanks to brigits_flame for this week's prompt, for without it, I would have had to suffer a 15 mile march with nothing to think about except how much further I had to go and how heavy the bag was and how much the vest hurt my shoulders. :)

Title: Skittles & M&Ms (Basic Training #1)
Prompt: Hustler
Community: brigits_flame
Length: 1320
Author's Notes: I've taken a teensy bit of leeway with the prompt but the actual experience fits quite well. Blue refers to the bag color.

( Blue Skittles & M&Ms )

Finally getting back to brigits_flame after over a year! WELL THANK YOU BASIC TRAINING! Now I'm back to participate in the December contest. The prompt for week 1 was "Cue" and as I read some relative terms, I was instantly reminded of this video by Natalie Merchant. Great song, great video, great inspiration. Hopefully great enough writing to get me to week 2 :)

Title: The Masquerade
Prompt: Cue
Community: brigits_flame
Length: 1243
Author's Notes: Have I been blind? Have I been lost inside myself and my own mind?


( The Masquerade )

Challenge Name: Cultures @ writers_ball
Title: First Flight
Rating: G
Word Count (optional): 1868ish
Author's Notes (optional): I've decided to hit the fantasy world for this one. I had to double check the rules & I think this particular piece is fairly presented. ;) (Note #2--This may seem familiar to some of you hehe)

Moonlight peered through the tall oaks of the forest as two figures – scant more than three feet – stood in a small snow-covered clearing near a mound of earth they’d just exited. ( 2 teh faeries! )

During the early 1990's, California experienced some of the craziest and harshest weather I can recall in the state during my lifetime. For three years straight there was flooding in Northern Cali as well as flash floods and mudslides in Southern Cali. For the record, SoCal gets this semi-regularly, but NorCal not so much. As I recall, this was when the el niño discussions really made the news. During one of those years, in a nice little house in a small town called Orangevale, a brother and sister had been left with their father for a weekend as their grandparents --the people who raised them-- were on a cruise to Alaska in celebration of their wedding anniversary.

The power was out for nearly a week and the torrents of rain never ceased. It fell and fell and some fell inside due to rusted turn-handle windows. I recently joined brigits_flame and the first week of October has the following prompt: the story must begin with 'There it goes.'

Here is a completely fictitious account of how it went that week:

( The Darkest Night )

Stoled from pwned_kisa

* Put your music player on random.
* Post the first line from the first 32 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
* Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
* Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly.
* Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
* Skip instrumentals, foreign languag. Ce songs, songs where the title is the first line.

(MOST of my music did not make this list because it's on my incapacitated desktop *sadface* so I'm using my iPod instead of my laptop. Comments are screened so everyone can guess any of them!)

1. how did you do it, how did you make me fall for you so badly
2. baby baby won't you give me a chance. i know you're watching and i just can't dance
3. I made a list, wrote down from A to Z all the ways I thought that you could best use me
4. [ed note: *laugh*] california knows how to party. In the city. LA.
5. they laugh, because they see i live, for more than me they point their fingers
6. if it's been just one of those days for you like it's been just one of those days for me
7. I wanted, to be like you, i wanted everything.
8. I'm like Thomas doubting, fingers, routing the stars
9. Everybody needs somebody to rely on, to rely on
10. [ed note: *dances*] confidence is a must, cockiness is a plus, edginess is a rush
11. Seems like just yesterday, you were a part of me
12. Thursday's crush is a Friday night rush and a Monday morning cry
13. Contemplating every day wondering if I'm wasting, all of my time
14. every time you walk away, there's so many things I like to say
15. it's only been a week, the rush of being home rapid fading
16. Too small to come in. Exploding with a sunshock...
17. I just want to thank you, for finding me. And how could I forget you, and all you've done for me?
18. don't you know that when you touch me baby that it's torture
19. Will you take what we have? A sacrifice unto You
20. Love is blind, as far as the eye can see.
21. This farm has been misunderstood. Yeah the dreams we build are payin' for kingdoms
22. Mom and Dad I'm fine how are you? I've joined a small circus, that much is true
23. I open my heart embracing your change on you I fix my gaze
24. On my own, on the wind, a moment ends and one begins
25. Just on kiss on my lips was all it took to seal the future
26. You keep sayin' you've got something for me
27. [ed note: get this i LOVE you] she's in it know she go across the glob, breakin hearts in each city every where that she goes
28. read about this guy once, he seemed to own the earth
29. I know there's something in the wake of your smile, I get a notion from the look in your eyes
30. I'm just a girl with the ability to drive a man crazy
31. Mystery's walkin on my head again, in a pattern figure eight.
32. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin left.

Challenge 1-Wicked: Miss Emma's Diamond - 3rd Place
Challenge 2-Out of Bounds: The Cargo
Challenge 3-Taxi: Angel Love
Challenge 4-Personal Ad: LF Mom and Dad
Challenge 5-Lunatic: The Suicide Note
Challenge 11-Picky Picky: Let's Dance - 2nd Place
Challenge 12-1000 Words: The Picture
Challenge 13-Redux: The Cards - 2nd Place
Challenge 14-Fact vs. Fiction: Water
Challenge 16-Fire!: Apple Tree
Challenge 18-Not As They Seem: Judge Not
Challenge 24-5 Elements: Marilea vs. the Volcano

Well, I know I haven't really updated school much since semester started. I just got back my first essay from my English Lit 321 class. I'd written about Sui Sin Far's story "Mrs. Spring Fragrance" and how it shows the interaction of American vs. Chinese cultures. I am happy to say I got a 97%! This is the highest initial grade I have recieved for any class at any time that I can recall...ever. The next highest came one year ago when I recieved a 95% on my essay on William Faulkner's Barn Burning, in which I set out to prove Abner Snopes was a heroic character.

I also just turned in my reader review of Robert Frost. My professor sort of laughed when she realized what I'd handed her: a poem. I wrote it in about 10 minutes this morning. With this in mind, I asked permission to attempt to write my entire second essay in poem. I am going to have to spend a lot of time on it, as it will need to actually be an introspective look at one of the works we have read for class. The reader review was merely a playful attempt to see whether or not it was even possible.

My professor has seen both essays I've mentioned in this post. She said "you've got essays down," when I asked for consideration. The problem that she sees, the one I see as well, is how to write an in depth essay as a poem. This will be tricky, but I really want to stretch my writing muscles on this.

I have to see what I can do.

( Frost reader review )