Going Through My Scrapbook

Today's prompt: "Dig out a childhood photo and share something you remember happening during that time the photo was taken."

I’ve decided to talk about one of my birthday parties that I remember pretty clearly, even though my scrapbook says that I was only five. Back when I was little, I loved dressing up. I can remember an even further back memory, of another birthday, where I got this little red, yellow, and blue suit case full of dress up clothes and that night I put on a fashion show for my family. The white dress that I’m wearing in these pictures was one of my favorites from this collection (as well as a purple ballerina outfit mixed with a silver hero’s cape.) It always was some type of frosty fairy’s dress in my mind, with its sparkles and white plastic snowflakes around the collar. It still amazes me that I loved wearing skirts and dresses so much back then, because I can barely stand to wear those things now; my favorite article of clothing nowadays is jeans.

This was one of the most memorable birthday parties I have had, mainly because as far as I can remember it was one of the last larger ones that I invited friends over for (or rather, my parents did!) As I got older, I began to like smaller parties that involved less fuss. All of my friends came, 3 or 4, not counting my brother. When I look at the pictures, I recognize all the different gifts that I got, but the only one I clearly remember actually opening was a little notebook covered in red silk with golden Chinese dragons and patterns embroidered on it; along with a matching pen with a red fluffy feather on the end. It’s interesting that that’s what I remember the most, from a five year old’s perspective, over all the other toys I got.

So that’s some of my memories from childhood. Sometimes, I feel as if putting these types of things into words doesn’t do the memories justice. They are a mixture of colors, feelings, and factual as well as some fictional details, as well as what I’ll call “The Good Ol’ Days” syndrome, where everything is gilded golden with time. My greatest desire would be to transfer them from the storehouses of my memory onto film, unaltered from the way I see them in my mind. Words can’t always do that; but I have found that it’s an interesting challenge to always be trying to make the words bend to my visions as closely as possible.

These pictures were scanned from my scrapbook, that's why there's borders and balloons all around them.

If I had a...

Today's prompt: "Complete the sentence: If I had a _________, I would __________"

If I had a punching bag, I would use it every day; every time math refuses to work out, when I get impatient with the endless pages still left to read, every time an assignment demands that I work late into the night. I’d hang it in the garage and turn up the Skillet music loud as I pound out my frustrations. Like Lana in Smallville, I’d become as skilled as an agent from Mission Impossible because I’m tired of being the one that needs to be rescued. My dad wouldn’t have to warn me against walking out alone at night, or worry about me being kidnapped while riding my bike because he would know that no one could ever possibly hurt me. All because I would have a punching bag hanging up in the garage, and I would use it every day. (Guess who had a hard day with school and is listening to Skillet’s new album while writing this?)

*Disclaimer; for those of you who might be worried about me after reading this: I'm fine. If it doesn't come through the writing clearly enough, I wrote this with a tone of sardonic humor.

Sentence

My Unimpressive Blogging Story

 Oops! I missed a couple of days, but I suppose it will happen; especially when one is traveling for the weekend as I have been. Another reason why I've procrastinated is because today's prompt isn't bringing too many ideas to me; but I'll give it a try!

Today's prompt: "Share your experience during your first few weeks/months in blogging"

 The reason this isn't inspiring me is because there isn't much to tell. I just got the idea to make my own blog to post my writing onto. There's actually only a very little amount of my writings that I feel are worthy of being published for "real;" the rest are fragments of stories or prompt writings (much like this) and even though they are short, I still wanted to share them somewhere. So I created my first blog to be able to do just that. I didn't really plan ahead, or research, or anything like that; I just went onto Blogger and created a simple blog template. I wasn't (and still am) not the best of bloggers in the way of networking and doing a lot of that stuff to get views and followers. I simply write; and post what I write for whoever might be interested in reading it. That's my story. That's my blogging experience.

Belle Communications

The Awaited Letter

Today's prompt: "Share a high school memory that you will never forget."

Since I’m still in high school, it’s hard to say what memories will be remembered forever (hopefully all of them, I don’t like the idea of forgetting things!) And although there are several moments that I will unfortunately never forget, mostly involving sports, I can think of one morning that I hope to remember forever because it was the day that I could call myself a “real” writer. I know this didn't happen in a school environment, but since I'm homeschooled, my whole life is school!

The morning is fresh and brand new, and Dad comes in with the mail. I’m in the kitchen when he hands me a letter; it’s from that magazine I had submitted my short story to. This was my first time of trying to get my work published in a real print magazine. It had already been six months, and as I marked them off on my calendar, and the time reached closer to the maximum they had given for waiting time, I tried my best to brace myself for the rejection. Now, I’m an optimist… most of the time, but I also believe that you’ve got to face the truth, just optimistically. So the last few weeks, when I would remember that it could be coming any day now, I would tell myself and my family “I can’t wait to get my rejection letter!” So here I am, in our kitchen, surrounded by white; white floors, white ceiling, white cabinet doors; with the window open letting in a breeze from outside, and I look at the thick envelope in my hands. I don’t open it right away, I wait, gathering courage and trying to keep the butterflies in my stomach from fluttering. Dad stands at our white electric stove top and goes through the rest of the mail. Mom’s sitting at the dining room table, waiting as well. Finally I open it, but ever so carefully, and despite my efforts, the butterflies still dance. One can’t help but hope, can’t they? My manuscript is inside, along with a brief letter. They thank me for my submission. Then I see the words “we regret...” You know instantly with those words that it’s a rejection letter. For a moment everything inside of me stops; my heart, my butterflies, my breathing. My spirit, it flutters to the ground like a dead leaf once the wind has stopped blowing. Mom asks me what it says, I smile weak “They didn’t publish it, I knew they wouldn’t.” I had been preparing myself for this, I knew it was coming. Then in another instant excitement surges through my body and wells up in my chest; I smile wide, giddy, and dance around the room in my stocking feet. My words laugh with happiness “I’ve got my first rejection letter! I’ve got my first rejection letter; now I’m a real writer!” Mom and Dad just look at me and smile; they already know that I’m crazy.

And so I was able to write that day;

Failed/rejected work: 1

Accepted/noticed work: 0

Times I’ve given up: 0

And I’ll keep on going, even if it’s 100 to none.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” - Victor Hugo

Today's prompt: "Get a certain or favorite lyric/s from your favorite song, and tell us how it inspires or describes you"

Wow, there are so many song lyrics I could choose from; it's hard to pick just one! My oldest brother got me into music when I was little and now I have a very diverse taste in music. There is virtually no genre of music that doesn't have at least a few songs in it that I like. While Stand in the Rain by Superchick, and Those Nights by Skillet are on the top of my list right now for what best describes me; I have to go with Owl City's new song, Silhouette, because it's "my" song, and since every line of it is relevant to me, I'll just add the whole song onto here.

I'm tired of waking up in tears
'Cause I can't put to bed these phobias and fears
I'm new to this grief I can't explain
But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain

The fire I began is burning me alive
But I know better than to leave and let it die

I'm a silhouette asking every now and then
"Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?"
I'm a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own
But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone
So I watch the summer stars to lead me home

I'm sick of the past I can't erase
A jumble of footprints and hasty steps I can't retrace
The mountain of things I still regret
Is a vile reminder that I would rather just forget (no matter where I go)

The fire I began is burning me alive
But I know better than to leave and let it die

I'm a silhouette asking every now and then (now and then)
"Is it over yet? Will I ever smile again?"
I'm a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own
But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone
So I watch the summer stars to lead me home

'Cause I walk alone
No matter where I go
'Cause I walk alone
No matter where I go
'Cause I walk alone
No matter where I go

I'm a silhouette asking every now and then (now and then)
"Is it over yet? Will I ever love again?"
I'm a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own
But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone
So I watch the summer stars to lead me home

I watch the summer stars to lead me home.

The instant I heard this song, I fell in love with it. So much of Adam Young's music is relevant to my own life and I think one reason for that is that we're both introverts, believe it or not! Okay, maybe I spend a little too much time on the internet reading interviews with my favorite people; but hey, it's what I like to do! Adam Young actually has a blog as well, which you can find here; although I'm not sure how often he updates it. His writings are just as entertaining and inspiring as his music. It's also the first place I found out what being an introvert is all about and that I might actually be one... so he's kind of had a bigger impact in my life than just good music. His story, and what he stands for is so inspiring, and I hope to do something like what he's done, only with movies.

A Blogging Challenge

I’ve come across this interesting challenge that I’ve decided I’m going to do. It’s a 31 day blogging challenge, where I’ve got to write a blog post inspired by a prompt each day. I know I haven’t been putting much on here lately, so I think this will be a fun way to get me writing again. I actually came across this on my older sister’s blog and thought that it was a good idea. (Check out her blog; She Turned Her Dreams Into Plans sometime, she’s a way more organized and better blogger than I am!)

Since I’ve only just discovered this, and it’s already Oct. 8^th, I’ll just start from day one and keep working my way down, even if it goes into November a bit.

Today’s prompt: “Share at least five reasons why you blog”

I blog to…

     1.  Share my work and ideas with others. With my homeschooled, introverted life, I don’t share much with people outside of my family (or even in it!) so blogging is a way for me to put some of my ideas and views out there. As an artist and writer, it can get frustrating and sometimes seem pointless to write or draw something and then put it away in a notebook with no one to show. My blog is a way to show people what goes on in this mentally insane brain of mine.

    2.  Improve my writing skills. The more I write, the better I become; and blogging is another way for me to get more writing done.

     3.  Just for the challenge of it. I like to do things just to prove that I can. And blogging is another one of those things. It’s a fun puzzle to figure out sometimes; and I get to have a little corner of the internet to call my own. Plus, it’s really fun to mess around with the design and technical stuff that comes along with owning a blog.

     4.  Have a gallery for my work. With my blog, I can keep my best writings and drawings online and in order. It’s a lot easier to convince oneself that you’re a real artist or writer if you’ve got a “gallery” online to show off your work. Maybe it sounds a little prideful, but it’s nice to have a place online to see that my work is “published.”

     5.  Become famous! Yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen…