Prompt 5: Choose a poem you like. Take the last line of that poem and use it as the first line in your own poem.
Poem: Vignette from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor
Bouncing upon the breeze, fighting to be free.
Until then I am a red balloon, bright against the sky
The color of happy, but I don't know why
Until then I am a red balloon, an easy target to be seen
A marker, a symbol, the place to be
Until then I am a red balloon, pretending to get away
But actually content and wishing I could stay
Because then, I will be a red balloon, homeless
With nowhere to go but up, until I reach the sun.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Cinderella Who?
Prompt 4: Rewrite the ending of Cinderella as if the glass slipper fit one of the stepsisters instead of Cinderella. Forget Happily Ever After. What really happened?
Once upon a time, there was a sweet little family yada yada yada. The mother died and then the father remarried a witch with two daughters. When he died, they forced Cinderella to be their servant. Years later, they all made it to the ball of the year with heavy cosmetics and a fairy godmother. At midnight, the slipper was left behind and the Prince starstruck. On his search throughout the kingdom, he came upon the Tremaine mansion. Cinderella was locked in the cellar and the sister lined up for the Prince to view. With Cinderella unable to try on the slipper, the Prince allowed the sisters to try it on. Anastasia's feet were too large. When the Prince tried the slipper on Drizella, it was a perfect fit. The Prince was shocked by the outcome, for Drizella was not the beauty he remembered from the ball. But he had to keep his promise. This was not going to be the happy ever after he was looking forward to.
The wedding was six months later and lasted for 3 days of celebration. Cinderella spent the whole wedding locked in her cellar only hear about it from the mice and birds who had become her friends. Cinderella's fairy godmother tried to convince Cinderella to let her do something, like whiz her away before they say "I do" so Prince Charming will realize his mistake and marry his true love. But Cinderella wouldn't leave her room. It was too late she said. He had made his choice.
blah blah blah this prompt sucks.
Once upon a time, there was a sweet little family yada yada yada. The mother died and then the father remarried a witch with two daughters. When he died, they forced Cinderella to be their servant. Years later, they all made it to the ball of the year with heavy cosmetics and a fairy godmother. At midnight, the slipper was left behind and the Prince starstruck. On his search throughout the kingdom, he came upon the Tremaine mansion. Cinderella was locked in the cellar and the sister lined up for the Prince to view. With Cinderella unable to try on the slipper, the Prince allowed the sisters to try it on. Anastasia's feet were too large. When the Prince tried the slipper on Drizella, it was a perfect fit. The Prince was shocked by the outcome, for Drizella was not the beauty he remembered from the ball. But he had to keep his promise. This was not going to be the happy ever after he was looking forward to.
The wedding was six months later and lasted for 3 days of celebration. Cinderella spent the whole wedding locked in her cellar only hear about it from the mice and birds who had become her friends. Cinderella's fairy godmother tried to convince Cinderella to let her do something, like whiz her away before they say "I do" so Prince Charming will realize his mistake and marry his true love. But Cinderella wouldn't leave her room. It was too late she said. He had made his choice.
blah blah blah this prompt sucks.
Monday, November 21, 2011
dictionary.mee
Prompt 3: Dust off the dictionary on your shelf and randomly pick out 10 words. Don't look at the meanings but write them on a separate paper. Write creative meanings for each word. What do you think they should mean? What do they make you think of?
Since I don't own a dictionary except my good ol' dictionary.com online, I'm going to pull out the next best thing: The Norton Shakespeare. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting Shakespearean slang at random in there.
apish - (adj.) refers to the "ape-like" features of a human or object. Mr. Hyde had an apish quality, scrambling with a shuffled walk, his hairy arms swinging with the motion of his stride.
suborn - (n.) a person born beneath the required status of royalty. Aladdin was a suborn; he could never dream of marrying someone so high born as Jasmine.
lackey - (v.) without. Me lackey food. Me hungry.
Welkin - (n.) a little person from the town of Welk. The Welkin could not reach the book that sat on the top of a five foot shelf.
gramercy - (n.) poor grammar. Dr. Smith thought there was a correlation in children who were abused and their use of gramercy.
sonties - (n.) soggy panties. "Ring your sonties out young lady. No need to overreact about this."
hearsed - (v.) to hearse: to be killed, placed in a coffin, and shipped to the funeral home. "Boy, I'm gonna down right hearse you if you don't shut that trap!"
underprop - (n.) a prop that is used underneath an actor to give them height. Billy was small for his age and he had to use an underprop so he would appear taller than the supporting actress in the school play.
cog - (n.) a mechanical gear. The would not keep time because it was missing a cog.
embar - (n.) a granola bar enriched with vitamins and other assorted ingredients of nutrients like spinach, kale, carrots, protein, etc. Embar: the new and tasty One-a-Day replacement.
Since I don't own a dictionary except my good ol' dictionary.com online, I'm going to pull out the next best thing: The Norton Shakespeare. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting Shakespearean slang at random in there.
apish - (adj.) refers to the "ape-like" features of a human or object. Mr. Hyde had an apish quality, scrambling with a shuffled walk, his hairy arms swinging with the motion of his stride.
suborn - (n.) a person born beneath the required status of royalty. Aladdin was a suborn; he could never dream of marrying someone so high born as Jasmine.
lackey - (v.) without. Me lackey food. Me hungry.
Welkin - (n.) a little person from the town of Welk. The Welkin could not reach the book that sat on the top of a five foot shelf.
gramercy - (n.) poor grammar. Dr. Smith thought there was a correlation in children who were abused and their use of gramercy.
sonties - (n.) soggy panties. "Ring your sonties out young lady. No need to overreact about this."
hearsed - (v.) to hearse: to be killed, placed in a coffin, and shipped to the funeral home. "Boy, I'm gonna down right hearse you if you don't shut that trap!"
underprop - (n.) a prop that is used underneath an actor to give them height. Billy was small for his age and he had to use an underprop so he would appear taller than the supporting actress in the school play.
cog - (n.) a mechanical gear. The would not keep time because it was missing a cog.
embar - (n.) a granola bar enriched with vitamins and other assorted ingredients of nutrients like spinach, kale, carrots, protein, etc. Embar: the new and tasty One-a-Day replacement.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Wish It Was 1998
Prompt 2: Take out your photo album and pick picture #14. Look at it for 2-3 minutes and then write for 10 minutes everything that photo made me feel.
I remember the day was perfect. A little bit hot and humid, but with a cool breeze from the small summer rain shower. My friend Taylor wanted to try out her new roller blades and with pride I told her I could teach her since I have roller bladed since I was little with my family. I was also hesitant. I always hesitate before committing to anything active. Ugh, I already showered today, do I really want to get all sweaty? It was a beautiful day today, true, but my socializing energy is zeroing out and I need some personal time with my book. Will it be fun? I don't feel like smiling. Or being active. I promised her I would, look excited about this.
I dug out my roller blades from the storage closet, checked and double checked for spiders, then found my knee socks. Ok, hardest step is just getting ready for the physical activity. "Taylor, ankle socks are going to be bad." "Nah, I'll be fine." I wish she would listen to me. I'm supposed to be the teacher.
I decide to take her around the houses near my apartment to stay away from the dirt path that led to the smooth lovely Bear Creek Path. I didn't want her to ruin her bearings with mud. "That looks like a big hill April." "No it will be fine. Well, maybe we should use this hill to go up because the other hill will be better going down. Or the least scary of the two."
We went up the hill, practically walking with our toes pointed outwards at a ridiculous angle. I already felt like an idiot. Gosh I wish it was the 90s again so we weren't the only people with roller blades on. Those kids are staring at us as if they have never seen such a stupid activity. "Hey kid, this was cool way back when." I want to read my book.
We made it to the top of the hill where I tried to teach her how to stop and turn. We approached the second hill to get back home. We picked up speed, my heart pumped with fear. I found some grass to stop in just a small ways down. When I looked back up, Taylor's face was white. "You're right, we should turn around Taylor." She gave me a weak smile.
On the way down the hill we climbed up, we were laughing hysterically trying to slow our speed by running into trash cans and mail boxes. Those kids were laughing at us now. "Stupid kids. We're cool." I feel like an idiot but it feels nice to have the wind in your hair and not a care in the world, except crashing. An old lady walking her dog gave us the same what-the-heck-are-you-doing look. "C'mon lady, this is from your generation." I feel like an idiot. Should have told Taylor to wait until another day when there were no more people in this town.
This picture is an amazing piece of my memory with Taylor. Though my pride continued to sap some of the fun from the activity, Taylor's bravery, her humor with the whole situation, her not caring what people thought, and me pretending like I didn't care was well worth the time away from my book.
If you can't avoid being ridiculous, just embrace it.
I remember the day was perfect. A little bit hot and humid, but with a cool breeze from the small summer rain shower. My friend Taylor wanted to try out her new roller blades and with pride I told her I could teach her since I have roller bladed since I was little with my family. I was also hesitant. I always hesitate before committing to anything active. Ugh, I already showered today, do I really want to get all sweaty? It was a beautiful day today, true, but my socializing energy is zeroing out and I need some personal time with my book. Will it be fun? I don't feel like smiling. Or being active. I promised her I would, look excited about this.
I dug out my roller blades from the storage closet, checked and double checked for spiders, then found my knee socks. Ok, hardest step is just getting ready for the physical activity. "Taylor, ankle socks are going to be bad." "Nah, I'll be fine." I wish she would listen to me. I'm supposed to be the teacher.
I decide to take her around the houses near my apartment to stay away from the dirt path that led to the smooth lovely Bear Creek Path. I didn't want her to ruin her bearings with mud. "That looks like a big hill April." "No it will be fine. Well, maybe we should use this hill to go up because the other hill will be better going down. Or the least scary of the two."
We went up the hill, practically walking with our toes pointed outwards at a ridiculous angle. I already felt like an idiot. Gosh I wish it was the 90s again so we weren't the only people with roller blades on. Those kids are staring at us as if they have never seen such a stupid activity. "Hey kid, this was cool way back when." I want to read my book.
We made it to the top of the hill where I tried to teach her how to stop and turn. We approached the second hill to get back home. We picked up speed, my heart pumped with fear. I found some grass to stop in just a small ways down. When I looked back up, Taylor's face was white. "You're right, we should turn around Taylor." She gave me a weak smile.
On the way down the hill we climbed up, we were laughing hysterically trying to slow our speed by running into trash cans and mail boxes. Those kids were laughing at us now. "Stupid kids. We're cool." I feel like an idiot but it feels nice to have the wind in your hair and not a care in the world, except crashing. An old lady walking her dog gave us the same what-the-heck-are-you-doing look. "C'mon lady, this is from your generation." I feel like an idiot. Should have told Taylor to wait until another day when there were no more people in this town.
This picture is an amazing piece of my memory with Taylor. Though my pride continued to sap some of the fun from the activity, Taylor's bravery, her humor with the whole situation, her not caring what people thought, and me pretending like I didn't care was well worth the time away from my book.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The Couch
Prompt 1: Look at an item in your room for a few seconds. Then try to recall everything about it with your eyes closed. Then write a description about it.
My couch lives up to the stereotype of most couches. You walk in from a long day at work and it beckons you with its soft rounded pillows. It reminds you of the past memories of good books where the hero got the girl, and when your husband surprised you with scented candles and a romantic dinner in front of Firefly. You sigh and set your things down, put on your favorite sweats, grab a blanket and prepare to sit for the next few hours. You wiggle your bottom further into the cushion, grab a pillow to hug and place the TV remote within reaching distance. After an hour whizzes by, the couch begins to eat you. It's overstuffed headrest takes command of your rested and limp body forcing your head and shoulders over your concave chest. To readjust, you then lie down resting your head on the arm of the couch. Oh, the smell of owners past and last night's Cajun chicken dinner. With a growl of disgust, you find a pillow to stuff under your head, the angle is too sharp though and a tight pain begins gnawing on your muscles. You get up and push the slipping cushions back into the couch and decide to lean to the other side of the couch trying to find a more comfortable position for your back. Oh, the overbearing headrest again. Within the hour, your head finds the armrest again and you sink into the back of the couch, its pillows surrounding you with dreams of clouds and that Cajun chicken.
My couch, like all the other couches, is the most comfortable and tempting location of my wee apartment, yet the most uncomfortable and the problem of most of my back pains. My couch is green.
My couch lives up to the stereotype of most couches. You walk in from a long day at work and it beckons you with its soft rounded pillows. It reminds you of the past memories of good books where the hero got the girl, and when your husband surprised you with scented candles and a romantic dinner in front of Firefly. You sigh and set your things down, put on your favorite sweats, grab a blanket and prepare to sit for the next few hours. You wiggle your bottom further into the cushion, grab a pillow to hug and place the TV remote within reaching distance. After an hour whizzes by, the couch begins to eat you. It's overstuffed headrest takes command of your rested and limp body forcing your head and shoulders over your concave chest. To readjust, you then lie down resting your head on the arm of the couch. Oh, the smell of owners past and last night's Cajun chicken dinner. With a growl of disgust, you find a pillow to stuff under your head, the angle is too sharp though and a tight pain begins gnawing on your muscles. You get up and push the slipping cushions back into the couch and decide to lean to the other side of the couch trying to find a more comfortable position for your back. Oh, the overbearing headrest again. Within the hour, your head finds the armrest again and you sink into the back of the couch, its pillows surrounding you with dreams of clouds and that Cajun chicken.
My couch, like all the other couches, is the most comfortable and tempting location of my wee apartment, yet the most uncomfortable and the problem of most of my back pains. My couch is green.
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