I was just leaving a comment on Nikki's blog and I reached the point where I have to sign in to post it ... and a random thought occurred to me because I noticed what the instructions say for the first time: "Choose an identity"

How fun is that? Every time I post a comment on someone else's blog I get to choose who I'm going to be. There should be more things in life where we just get to "choose an identity". maybe I'll be more creative next time I comment; try out a few different identities. Y'all might just get some interesting comments in the future ... Muahahaha!

20 Questions (well, make that a dozen)

Mary tagged me with this meme.



1. What I was doing 10 years ago: Let's see, ten years ago I was nine. That means I was in third grade--that's the grade that I struggled enough with that I ended up being home schooled for half the year. *Tries to remember all of what into that decision* I remember that they tried giving me more "challenging" spelling lists to make school interesting. It didn't work.



2. Five years ago: My first year as an abnormally young high school student had just begun. I was a sophomore at PG High. Go Vikings! (I actually went to all the assemblies that year.)



3. One year ago: I was a sophomore at the University of Utah, getting geared up for what would be my most stressful month of school thus far.



4. Yesterday: I slept in through the first hour of church and spent the second hour getting dressed and hurrying downhill on the ten minute walk to the institute building. I didn't get to bed before 2am Friday or Saturday and once I was in bed, I didn't get much sleep ... I made it to Relief Society, though! And I did my visiting teaching, even though my companion didn't show up. I also read some of Asher Lev and composed a piano piece.



5. 5 snacks I enjoy: Nutella on toast (mmm, Nutella), milk chocolate Lindor truffles, hot chocolate stirred with a peppermint stick, freshly baked cookies (particularly ones with chocolate chips), and monterey jack cheese melted on saltines.



6. 5 things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million: (Mary's answer: Buy a house, hire a maid, travel (see #7), buy a grand piano, and give some to family.) My answer: Buy a house, travel, buy a grand piano, give some to family, and get a masters from Oxford (yes, the college in England).



7. 5 locations I would like to run away to: The United Kingdom, Israel, Florence, Denmark, Sweden.



8. 5 bad habits I have: procrastinating, worrying too much, giving up too easily, sleeping in through my alarms, and worrying too much.


9. 5 things I like doing: Reading books, watching movies, playing games with friends and/or family, participating intelligently in discussions, and writing.



10: 5 TV shows I like: Heroes, Burn Notice, Psych, M*A*S*H, and Firefly.



11. 5 things I hate doing: becoming unstuck when I've hit a hard point in my novel, writing a paper when I feel uninspired, taking tests, saying "no, I just can't do that", pretending, getting out of bed when I'm sick, going to the doctor (any kind).



12. 5 biggest joys of the moment: reading truly great literature, writing something wonderful, getting a good grad (particularly when it's unexpected), unexpected good news, talking with friends, family time.

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

Have you ever read a book and thought, "this must end well. Sure, it is tragic and sad and slightly depressing right now, but by the end everything will have worked out"? I have, and then been disappointed in my hopes. Perhaps I should have been tipped off by the New York Times Book Review that graced the cover. "A novel of finely articulated tragic power. . . Little short of a work of genius." Perhaps I should have remembered the less-than-joyous endings of the other two books I have read by this author. Yet, I couldn't help but hope for some happiness in the life of a character that I had come to love. Could I? Still, I must admit that the book would be less perfect, less complete, had it ended happily. Sometimes there cannot be a "happily ever after." If you ever need to be reminded of the power words can have--the power of a well-written book--just read My Name is Asher Lev. Read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Read Hamlet. Read and know that even in tragedy there is beauty. "The world is not pretty," said Asher Lev. "No," I agree, "but it is beautiful."

90,000 words and counting

I've finally finished another ten thousand words of Tetiana. Now I *think* that I just have 30,000 words to go. At about 10,000 per month maybe I'll be finished by 2008! That would be really exciting. ^_^ And it gives me added reason to make sure that I actually finish the planned plot line in that many words. Sometimes 120,000 seems like quite a lot, but at other times it doesn't seem like enough. There's still so much for Tetiana to do! Part three won't begin for a few more pages ... hmm... the more I think about it, the more I think that Tetiana might have to be a bit longer than originally planned. If part one was 60,000 words and part two will be around 35,000 words ... and part three will have to be at least as long as part two ... Ok, with the epilogue Tetiana might be more like 140,000 words. Wow. Still, I'm over halfway there!

End of 100 words/100 days Writing Challenge

I'm looking back on the past hundred days and I'm really glad I took this challenge. Even on the days that I didn't quite make it (yes, I missed a few in there somewhere), I was still thinking about my writing every day. I made a lot of progress on Tetiana and now I don't want to stop! I'm going to continue to write something every day, whether it be a poem, a chapter or an essay for school. Speaking of poems, I'm now on a sonnet kick. I've written five in the past week--and I want to write at least one more, preferably with a non-seasonal theme.

Oh, and tomorrow I'm planning on going to a gallery stroll (depending on whether or not I can talk anyone into going with me, and how much homework I've finished by then). One of the great things about living so close to downtown SLC is the great art/theatre/literature available. At least once every month, there is a gallery stroll. I've never really been to one and I've always wanted to, so I'm going. If anyone's interested (or just wonders what the heck a gallery stroll is), here's the information:

Guitarist and musician extraordinaire Gentry Densley will be performing live music for our September Joint Artist Gallery Stroll Gala Reception with dozens of artists from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Show runs from September 14th-29th and features dozens of artists who have shown work in our gallery over the last ten years, including: Leia Bell, Bob Bissland, Trent Call, Sri Whipple, Marc Buehner, Julie Hickson, Trent Harris, Scott Carrier, Eli Powell, Dana Costello, Neil Passey, Frank McEntire, Patrick Eddington, Trent Alvey, Jenkyn Powell, Susan Makov, Edward Bateman, Jann Haworth, Carel Peter Brest Van Kempen, Liberty Blake, plus Marcee and Ric Blackerby, and Mark and Leslie Knudsen with many others.
Full Press Release

I'm not doing quite so well on Tetiana as I'd hoped to (for a variety of reasons), but I am making progress! Actually, I decided to make a progress meter to feel even better about the progress I've made.

Tetiana
87373 / 120000 (72.81%)

I look like I'm so close! I am so close! I can't wait to share my story with you. It needs to be read, at least by the people who have always supported me in my oddness.

Recommended Reading:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Brabdury
I'm still in shock after finding out that so many people haven't read this book!

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
A great work of adolescent literature any age could enjoy.

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
I still haven't figure out why the author sounds so familiar, but this book is wonderful! Particularly if you like fairy tales the way I do (not that this is really a fairy tale retelling).

Remember Banned Books Week is coming up! Get excited! Read a banned book! You'd be surprised how many there are out there. A bit of trivia: Did you know that most of the books on the ALA Most Challenged Books list are adolescent literature?

I can't believe it's September! My, the months sneak up on me. I just had to post and say "yay! I finished two of the three papers I have due this week! woo-hoo!" I'm rewarding myself by working on Tetiana. Rewarding writing with writing: does that make me at all odd? ;)