The Fictional Day

Today’s prompt: “If you could hang out with a celebrity for a day, who would that celebrity be? Why did you choose to hang out with him/her? What would you do or where would you spend that day?”

First of all, I’d like to point out that if I had a chance to hang out with any famous person for a day, I’d do everything I could to get out of it! I’m way too shy to want to do that kind of stuff.

That being said…

The choice for who’d I hang out with is obvious. There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation when I read this prompt. I’d hang out with Elijah Wood.

It may be weird, and a sign of my extreme isolation from the real world, but I consider famous people that I like to read interviews with and follow a bit on what new movies their working on, to be my friends. And Elijah Wood’s been one of those friends since I was thirteen and watched The Lord of the Rings. 

Why would I choose to hang out with Elijah Wood? I’ve probably read a bit too many of his interviews, but I feel like we’ve got a lot of similar interests. We’re both geeks, love video games and music and good food, and we both play around with photography. So this is what a day hanging out with him could look like;

We’d roam the streets of New York City, taking street photography and checking out curious little shops and places. At lunch we’d find a little eatery that’s got some of the best food around. Then we’d play video games all evening long at his place while listening to music.

This pretty much sounds like a day that I’d spend with my older brother, minus the New York City part. And I also think it’s kind of creepy to talk about famous people like this, they’re normal people just like us; but this is what the prompt wanted. 

Always and Forever: Elijah Wood

Smallville

Today's prompt: "Post a review about a book, lipstick or anything you like! Rate it in a scale of 1 to 5."

Now, I’m not much of a reviewer; I never like to point out the bad in things. But I do like to talk about stories… a lot. So for this blogging challenge, I will talk about Smallville, the most recent TV show that I’m watching marathons of. 

Overview of the story plot; the show is about the teenage to young adult years of Superman. How he became who he is. Each season is one year of his life, starting with his freshman year of high school. I’m on season seven right now, so all the characters are grown up and out of school (and collage as well.)

I would give this TV show a… 3.5 and here’s why.

I love this show, but five seems too perfect, that’s a number reserved only for stuff like Lost and The Lord of the Rings. 

Also, I would’ve given it a four; the characters are entertaining, there’s a good balance of light humor and dark conflict, and it’s got something about it that makes you want to watch just one more episode. But…

I’m getting sick of how they portray romantic relationships in the show. Personally, I feel as if a happy ending would be with no one getting the girl or guy. The writers of Smallville have a warped sense of relationships, and the objectionable content has gotten worse as the main characters have gotten older. The worst season was probably season four, it gets better after that.

Some things I really love about this show are the themes of how good conquers all, and that it’s never too late for anyone to turn to the good side. Another thing I enjoy in this TV series is the humor (when it’s clean!) Also, the girls are tough. Lana and Lois can take care of themselves and barely ever need Superman to come to their rescue, and Chloe is a genius. 

The only thing that’s missing is a purely terrifying bad guy that Superman can’t defeat in one episode. I keep on hoping for a bad guy that I can hate… but any truly evil ones are defeated quickly, and the others I’ve gotten to know too well and wouldn’t even call them bad guys anymore. Call me crazy, but Lex isn’t the bad guy in my mind, and his father has changed, so I can’t even hate him like I used to. I think Smallville, as well as Lost and Once Upon a Time, is teaching me that there’s good in just about everybody, and that even bad guys can change. But also, that there’s a darkness in everybody - even Superman - that can grow depending on the choices you make.

ComicBookMovie.com

Mary Poppins' Bag

Today's prompt: "Show us what's in your bag!"

My Purse is a treasure trove of items that I've collected on my adventures. It's unpredictable what I'll pull out when I clean it every couple months or so. Here's what's in it this time;

1. Top 10 Tips for Turkey & 2 pumpkin pie recipes
2. Ear phones
3. "Fear the Red Pen!" Kleenexes & plain folded Kleenex
4. 2 butterscotch and a strawberry & cream candy
5. Bike lock keys
6. Check holder filled with tracks, Kool-Aid for water bottles, and paint chips
7. Utility knife
8. Old library card
9. Handmade paper wallet
10. Unopened pack of Trident Layers gum
11. Sparkle Flair promotion pin-back button
12. Transaction Register with handmade cover
13. Checks with handmade cover
14. Sunglasses
15. Small mirror
16. Pen found in the puddle of a parking lot
17. Metal disc found in parking lot (most likely from an earring)
18. Comforting Thoughts poem booklet
19. World Explorer's Journal
20. Note taking notebook
21. Writing notebook
22. Coin purse
23. 3 zip-lock bags that used to hold snacks 

Imagination

Today's prompt: "Write about something you believe in."

I believe in imagination; the ability to transform any normal day into a magical adventure.

The road stretches out ahead and the sun is setting right in front of us. A grain elevator looms up; black silhouetted. Something strange is on top; upon closer examination I see that it’s a monster that eating a large rat; right there on the top of the grain elevator! Or maybe it’s a giant rat eating a human… eww.

The fall wind blows at me hard. My hair and my light jacket are whipped back and I stand and boldly face the mighty winds head on. Rise to my tip toes; spread my arms out wide and for an instant I am an eagle, looking down the endless canyon cliff. Then I run, laugh with the wind. Leaping, a gust of wind swirls around me and lifts me to the clouds. I fly. Just like that day when I was only a baby and the autumn leaves danced golden all around me and the strong wind lifted me from the ground for a few, unforgettable seconds.

It’s been a hard day; my brain is used up and my eyes hurt. Stretching out on my bed, I cover my eyes with my arm. There is only blackness; stillness and the beating of my heart. Inside my mind, I go through all the stored up settings to explore. A jungle? Narrow alleyways in Paris? A low rumbling of water beckons me to the place where a crystal clear waterfall cascades down into white mist. I stand atop it, gazing down. Taking a deep breath of shimmering air, I jump. The water falls fast and clear and I fall along with it. Then, illogically, I am on the river bank of the bottom. No startling, wet landing. Bare feet mingle with cool, vivid green grass and the waterfall has been reduced to a running brook. I walk to it, run my fingers through its icy waters. Besides the running, joyful sound of the water, all else is silent.

Imagination is a part of who I am; a daydreamer.

gcaffe

The Scents of Life

Today's prompt: "Name at least 3 scents that trigger a good or bad memory."

Artificial Looking Store Bought Brownies: The overly sweet smell that screams artificial everything; my stomach withdraws in protest and a hyper overdrive of sugariness knots in my chest. Childhood, a baseball game in the Metrodome; a stomach ache leads to sickness. I always blamed those brownies.

Wikipedia

The Air after a Rainstorm: The dampness fills my lungs; moist black earth and vivid greens. Watery freshness; a clean start. A peaceful breeze fills my soul and the problems of this world tumble off my back.

 

Layout Sparks

A Strawberry Shortcake Candle: A gentle sweetness, the freshness of strawberries, and the baked flavor of a crumble. The candle sits with its silver lid removed; the wicks stand three in a triangle, unburned. A smile emerges and a memory; visiting my older sister, helping paint her whole house and the strawberry shortcake dessert Mom made for us after a day of hard work. 

Becky Luigart-Stayner

Squid, Anyone?

Today's prompt: "Time for Throwback Thursday(or Saturday)! Raid your archives and re-post something you want us to read!"

 

I attended a Hawaiian gathering, with good Hawaiian food and music. It was a fun new experience, especially one thing in particular. That was trying squid for the first time. I came to the meal telling myself I would at least try one new thing, even if it looked and smelled gross. So the time came to go through the buffet line and I stuck to the familiar stuff, potato salad, chips. I wasn't that hungry. I came to the end and decided to take the most disgusting looking food in the assortment. I had heard someone ahead of me say it was calamari, I thought it sounded and looked strange and different so I put a few pieces onto my plate before I could change my mind. Back at the table I took my time coming to it, not that I was afraid of trying it, but I wanted a good taste in my mouth first, so I nibbled on chips. I think everyone at my table was thinking I wouldn't try it, and my mom finally asked if I was going to. I said yes and without thinking took a piece and put it in my mouth. The first couple of bites I had to force myself to chew. Up down, up down. I tried to think of anything but the texture, I have always disliked stuff with a rubbery, squishy texture, and that squid was every texture that I can think of that I dislike. But the taste was actually quite good. I tried to tell myself it tasted a lot like cheese, one of my favorite flavors. I laughed to see the faces of everyone around me. I reassured everyone that it was good and that I kind of liked it, but I had to add that the aftertaste wasn't that pleasant, like a bunch of dead fish. I told myself that I'm going to finish all five or six pieces, and I did. But each piece was harder to swallow than the last. Not because of the taste, I'm not lying when I say I liked it, but the rubbery texture made me want to gag. Indeed, I thought I couldn't finish the last piece without throwing up. That experience reminded me of something Emile from Ratatouille said, "If you muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kinds of food possibilities open up!"

The Dream This Mortal Dares to Dream

Today's prompt: " What are your goals and dreams for the future?"

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allan Poe

I have dreamed dreams uncountable; and as far as the future goes, my dreams for it have changed as often as a chameleon changes his skin. But through the years, I’ve sifted through them all as I’ve gotten to know myself better, all my dreams for the future have become condensed into one thing I know I must follow.

My earliest dream that I can remember was way back when I was little. My big sister and I dreamed it up together; and to my young mind it was simply a fact that it would happen. She was going to buy a horse ranch; and I’d go and live up there with her and we’d ride horses together. She wasn’t sure if she’d get married or not, but she said even if she did, I could still come and stay with her. But way back then there was no question in my mind; I’d never marry.

The next dream that I dreamed was again of animals. Steve Irwin became my best friend. I watched his shows every evening, both the one where he chases deadly creatures in the wilderness and the one about the behind the scenes work at his zoo. I wasn’t very clear on exactly what I wanted to do, but all I knew was that I’d like to work at a zoo, best case scenario, the Australian Zoo. Animals were what I wanted to spend my future with; I knew I’d never marry.

Goals faded for quite a while and I drifted without a real dream after that. I figured I would sell a bit of my artwork, enough to live on at least. Then I got caught up with the Food Network and knew I wanted to cook. But I also knew that I didn’t want to have a real cooking job; and I most certainly didn’t want to go to any cooking school. My mom always told everyone how I wanted to be a chef, but that dream wasn’t ever very serious, I only enjoyed cooking. I just wanted to get through life by doing what I wanted to do and having fun and I knew I wouldn’t ever marry.

Then it finally all clicked. I had hated writing. It was so boring and I always strived to get by with writing the least amount of words in the most boring way. Also, I was horrible at spelling (and still am!) But one wet afternoon changed all that. For composition I had a creative writing assignment, and my mom had to force me to do it like always. I don’t even remember exactly what it was, but I remember sitting outside. It had just finished raining and everything felt like a rainforest. I was sitting on our wet wooden picnic table and listening to the crickets. It was so melancholy and inspiring. A notebook was with me and I suddenly had words to write.

“If you go outside after a rain storm you might hear the crickets making their music. And the birds putting in a chirp or two. And the splish splash of the water dripping off the leaves on to the ground. It is wonderful to be outside after a rain storm there are so many sights and sounds here outside.”

That’s what I wrote, with the millions of spelling errors corrected. It’s not too amazing, but it blew my mom away. Compared to my other work, this was a masterpiece. It felt satisfying when she said in a surprised voice that it was really good; ever since then I’ve wanted to be a writer.

But my dream shape-shifting didn’t end there. My brother (the one that’s only five years older than me) decided he was going to write a book; and so, me being a little sister who liked to do whatever he did, I wanted to too. The Lost Treasure was the name of it, about a man who sets out to find a lost treasure, runs into a ghostly lady, talking cats and whatever other random things I threw in there to keep the story moving. It actually was inspired by something I wrote on a rush of inspiration in Colorado, and when I read to it my brothers and little sister, they loved it.

“And there before me was a lady with her back turned towards me. Her hair was as white as snow and she wore a gown made of shadows. Then she turned to me and to my horror I saw that she had no face! Just a black hole. Then she said ‘go back! Go back while you still can.’ And then she vanished and then I knew that she was the lady of sorrow.”

But that story never got finished, and sadly was lost when our old computer crashed. I wanted to write novels, and I began many of them without ever getting past the first chapter. Eventually I got so frustrated with all my unfinished stories that I began to question whether I could ever write a whole book. All I knew was that I loved writing and would never get married.

Then I turned thirteen, and with all the new movies my mom allowed me to watch, I fell in love with film. Through the next few years my dream finally got to where it is now; I want to work in the movie business. Ideally, I’d like to write the screenplays for movies, and possibly be a director too. But even if I have to just be a janitor on a set, I’ll still be happy. My love of creative writing has still stayed alive though, except instead of wanting to write bestselling novels, I’m more interested in writing a powerful short story. And yes, it might sound crazy to you humans, but I still know that I’ll never marry. That’s one plan for the future that’s never changed.

But when it comes down to it, making it in the movie world isn’t even my dream now. My only dream now is to do whatever God’s will for my life is. Whether that be fame, or staying out here in the country of Minnesota with my parents, working a “normal” job. I’m open to whatever adventure God has in store for me.

And that thing about not getting married, I believe it’s stayed the same throughout my whole life because it’s something that God’s calling me to. I realized that this might be more than just my stubbornness when I opened up a book at my sister’s house, Wait for Me: Rediscovering the Joy of Purity in Romance by Rebecca St. James. In the beginning of a chapter she wrote that most of us are born with a natural dream; for girls it’s to be rescued by a knight in shining armor, and for boys, it’s to be that knight. When I read this, I paused and thought “but I don’t have that dream… if anything, I want to be the knight in shining armor too.” And then I read the next sentence. She said that if you don’t have that dream, it could be that God is calling you to a life of singleness. Reading that sentence made me the happiest person in the world. (Why was I looking at this if I wasn't interested in any of that stuff? As much as I hate it, I’m going to have to add romance to my stories eventually)

My true dream is to live my life wholly for God, like a missionary would do in a foreign country, because this world is not my home.