I have this great big secret that I steer conversations around to avoid explaining to people. Wanna know what it is? Of course, you do! Ok, here it is: I write on paper. With a pen.
Man, does it feel great to get that off my chest!
You might think that’s a silly thing to try and keep a secret, but I promise you that every couple months I find another article listing writers that don’t write on their computers, listing and explaining their actions like they’re circus freaks from the past. Look at them, scribbling with their antiques! How odd, how strange! Those artsy types you know, always having to be just a little bit different now, don’t they?
It’s terribly inconvenient, to tell you the truth. I spent a long time struggling to just get myself started with a paragraph or two on paper and then switching to the computer… but I eventually noticed that what I’d written on paper was noticeably better writing than what I’d tapped out on the keyboard. I find it much easier to get connected to my story if I’m cramping up my hand gripping a pen and scribbling out words I have a hard time reading, later. Honestly, my handwriting gets pretty atrocious.
So, there it is. My odd little secret. Add me to the list of oddballs on your next blog post, will you? Put me right next to that strange man who still uses paper maps, he looks like a nice fellow.
The new little bar on the side of Spotify that shows what y’all are listening to in real time is a little creepy. It inspired me to make a playlist of all my favorite pop punk songs from about 1998-2003. JUDGE ME, INTERNET.
I titled it “Punk Rock Princess’ after the ultimate pop punk song by Something Corporate, but now that I’ve gotten about four hours of my teenage years on this playlist, I’m thinking I maybe should have titled it “I Was An Angrier Fifteen Year Old Than You Were”. And this was just my pop punk music, which is generally lighter, I have a feeling I shouldn’t put together some of my other favorites.
It’s funny how songs can take you back to a time and a place. When I was in high school I lived in a small town and it took an hour to drive over a mountain pass to get to the nearest Wal-Mart. Listening to these songs, I remember sitting in the car during that drive, sitting on the computer scouring the Internet for more of them, or laying on my bed staring at my ceiling, and listening to all these songs. Unlike most of the music from that time, I haven’t listened to most of these since. I’m a fairly different person now, which is probably a good thing, and my music has evolved along the way, but it’s nice to look at these songs and have a clear reminder of who I was.
I remember taking a greyhound bus with a girl who told me that she was happy that as much as the world changes, she can always count on the new New Found Glory album to have that same New Found Glory sound. I always listen to their new albums now, just to check.
Anyhow, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite NFG songs, then. “Hit or Miss”. For an unknown reason, I’m never able to stop myself from shouting out my favorite line in this song, “Remember the time we wrote our names up on the wall? Remember the time we realized Thriller was our favorite song?”
What were your favorite songs when you were fifteen?
While it’s been rare for me to live somewhere that it snows so it’s not a big deal that we don’t have white holidays here in Tucson, Arizona, however it is odd to have it be 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit, put on my sunglasses, and turn the fan on in the afternoon and be trying to remember that it’s almost Christmas. I had a hard time getting into the spirit this year because it still feels like summer to me. Since I’ve only rarely lived in the snow, though, I’m not sure what usually gets me into the mood.
Somehow, in the middle of spending lots of quality time with the husband and snuggling up reading books, it happened. I’m not even sure how, but my somewhat unstable holiday mania kicked in, and I got in the mood to start putting on the necessary movies. I know a lot of people don’t like them, but I love all the cheesy holiday movies I can get, like Look Who’s Talking Now (the one with the dogs!) and Home Alone, Muppets Christmas Carol, and for the first time ever I plan on watching the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and Scrooged.
I’m glad I finally got my Christmas Hat on, it would be weird to never have gotten into the zone. Desert sun or not, I’ve gotta get the Christmas Cheer together! It made me wonder, though, what usually helps you get your holiday eyes set? Is it the snow (if you live somewhere with snow) or all the mania at the malls or? How do you get into the holiday spirit?
I love a good list! On that note, these are positive things I’ve been doing lately.
+ Cooked a TON of new recipes! I’ve taken a lot of omni recipes, particularly Rachel Ray ones lately, and been changing the things I don’t like and making them vegan. I have made a series of amazing meals. Every time we sit down to dinner for the past two weeks or so it seems we’re eating some new and exciting meal! I’m getting really good at stepping out of my comfort zone with food.
+ And, while I have your attention, these garlicky fries will become your new addiction as soon as you make them, I promise.
+ I’ve been writing a bunch of short stories and flash fiction, and the ideas never seem to end! It’s always good to be writing. Well, it can be hard, and I can want to pull my hair out for hours on end… but it’s always better than NOT writing. How bizarre is that?
+ Listened to The New Pornographers song Moves on repeat, for hours. This is not a very uncommon thing for me to do—I usually have a “song of the moment” that I play until anyone around me can’t take it any more.
+ I’ve been enjoying a nice semi-nightly ritual of hot chocolate, blackberries, and reading.
+ Had a birthday! I went to see The Muppets (which was just as great as everyone keeps saying!) and The Husband made me lots of delicious food, including homemade hash browns (which, in case you’ve never made them yourself, take forever!) that were amazing.
+ I’ve been wearing my fancy new knee high Sock It To Me socks that a best friend sent for my birthday! I always appreciate socks.
+ Have been getting better at time management throughout my day, and working on not beating myself up so much-which is always a good thing!
What have you been doing, lately?
I’ve recently been reading a lot of things that I meant to read a long time ago and never seemed to get around to. Luckily, they were all things I really enjoyed!
The Guild by Felicia Day Jim Rugg and Dan Jackson – I was so impressed with this. It really kept the feel of the series, both in terms of the voices of the characters and the flow of the show. And the artwork was really gorgeous-I kept pausing and staring at it. If you don’t know, this was a prequel to the series, telling the story of Cyd getting into the game. You also get a look at what the other characters were up to before they became a guild. I can’t wait to check out the one shots they’ve done for the characters. This is safe to read if you’ve seen the show or not, but I’m sure it’s more fun if you’re familiar with the show.
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – Yes, I read all three of these in under a week. I know there are a lot of “I told you sos!” owed to me out there on this one, I don’t know why I put off reading it for so long, but I’m so glad that I’ve read it now. I’m obsessed.
Each book in this series had such a different feel to it. The books get compared to Harry Potter and Twilight (even though those two series are very different themselves) and The Hunger Games is again, very different. This series is about war and the effects war has on children. It takes place in the future, which helps it also make a lot of comments on society today. It’s fast paced, exciting, interesting, and really sucked me in quickly.
Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth #2) by Terry Goodkind – I stopped halfway through this book back in January, and I just came back to it. Little did I know what I had stopped before that I was just a few minutes of reading away from where this book got good! There was still a LOT of rambling and I kept wanting to pull out a red pen and fix the writing in this book. Despite the repetive speeches, the second half of this book got really exciting and I’m looking forward to diving into the third one. Where hopefully there will be a lot more Gratch! Also, I feel obligated to tell you that Richard does not look anything in my mind like he does on this book cover.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray – I had no idea what this book was about when I started reading, which was for the best. It made it an even stranger read, if that’s possible. This book is not going to be for everyone, simply because it is such a strange ride, but I really loved it for that exact reason. Somehow, it manages to put you in these most ridiculous situations, which you’d think would make for fluffly light reading, but then it all has all this depth and things to think about mixed in. It’s a hard one to recommend to people because I’d hate to spoil it for you, but I will say it’s a journey about learning to live.
What have you read lately?
Follow Faith On….