Oddly (un)familiar

So, as of June 19, 1:35 PM I have officially been on Summer Vacation. I never thought I'd ever have one again, but after 8 years here I am. I don't have to go to bed early Sunday through Wednesday or get up early Monday through Thursday. I don't have to, but for the most part I still am.

Even more than the sleep schedule however, I've been affected by not having any homework to do. I can't tell you how many times I started to freak out at work on Sunday, only to come to the realization that there were no reading assignments or papers to write for Monday. I am incredibly hard to convince to get started on homework. Trust me when I say it's infuriating when you either can't or won't listen to yourself or do what needs to be done. Hell, even doing what you want to do!

I should have more motivation come next school year though. I got my financial aid award letter last week. I'm getting $7,640 to go to school next year. Well, $4,640 is a more accurate amount. It still costs around $1,000 per quarter, and that gets taken out of the $2,564 I get per quarter, so I get a check for the remainder, which is roughly $1,564. That money is mine to do with whatever I need to. Pretty freakin' sweet if you ask me.

Yet with the sleep schedule gone, the temporary lack of scholastic responsibilities, forcing myself to write a paper the night before it's due over, and getting paid to go to school, I've been affected in an unexpected way.

I'm happy.

It's odd. I guess content would be a more accurate description of how I'm feeling, but happiness is something of a novelty to me, so I'll take it.

I'm going to do all sorts of Kelly stuff on my break that I miss doing: playing video games, writing stories, lyrics and even poetry, watching long stretches of anime and what I believe will be the highlight of my summer; visiting KaTrina.

I'll be flying for the first time ever, going to an amusement park, and traveling farther from home than I've ever been. It's going to be very exciting, and fun, and most importantly it'll be new.

As if all this wasn't enough, I got my grades for the Spring Quarter. Remember how I said that 4.0 in English Composition I wasn't going to be my last? Yeah, I totally called it.

English Composition II: 4.0
American Literature WWI to the Present: 4.0
American History: Civil War to the Present: 3.7

I'm surprised at both History and English though. I thought for sure I'd get a 3.7 for English and a 4.0 for History. Mainly because I had a hell of a time writing my two main assignments for English and I wasn't too pleased with the results. I had no such problem in History though, and I did really well on my mid-term. I can only assume I didn't do as well on the final as I thought.

American Literature was never a question for me though. I knew that there was no way I could get anything less than a 3.8, and I was fully expecting a 4.0. So, to get 4.0's in both English courses I've taken, and in American Literature has certainly helped to confirm what I've believed for so long:

Writing is my calling.

This is where I shamelessly plug the other blog I've got going on where I plan to put up samples of my work for open critique or just reading if you're bored. Seriously, go and read it and leave comments. It would help me to get off my creative butt and work! Believe me, as hard as it was to get myself to do my homework, it's even harder to get myself to write the stories I want to tell.

I'm well aware of how ludicrously counterintuitive that is.

It's going to be an awesome summer vacation regardless, either in spite of or because of how different it is from the others.

Private screening of 'UP' for dying girl

This is one of the most sadly beautiful things I have read about in my life. The article makes me love the movie even more than I already did, and it made me all misty eyed. Give the article a read but be prepared to be emotionally dismantled. In a good way.

You can read the article here

Habits and Hyperbole

When I first saw the word 'Hyperbole', I read it as any sixth grader would: hy-per-bowl.

"Is that like the super bowl but better?"

"Is that like the super fast cousin of the common mole? Like he digs really super fast?"

"Wait... what does it even mean?"

It wasn't until a few years later that I came across it again and learned what it actually meant, and yes, how to say it properly. Hy-per-buh-lee for those that doubt my pronunciation skills :P

However, even though I know how to properly pronounce the word, and really like what it means (I myself hyperbolize all the time), whenever I see it written I always say or think it the same way I did when I was 11. It's like those intervening years from when I first saw it to when I first truly understood it have cemented the incorrect pronunciation in my subconscious.

I have to work actively against it.

'Hy-per-bow-'
'NO! It's hy-per-buh-lee.'
'Oh, right.'

Now, this is only when I read it. My brain has managed to work around that bit of faulty wiring when I need to use the word in conversation, thank goodness. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever break this trivial habit of mine. I'm sure most people have something similar. A habit or something like it from childhood that still manifests itself from time to time.

Not so much writers block

As it is writer's barricade with armed guards on rotating shifts.

I honestly cannot think of anything to write on here and it's really starting to bug me for a few reasons. Most are trivial, but some have merit to them.

Like desperately wanting to catch up to KaTrina in post count while she's experiencing (or so it seems) the same lack of posting. Though her last post was to plug my other new blog Stranger and Fiction where I plan on posting some of my shorter works to get peoples input so I can submit them to be published.

Kinda funny that I plan on writing so much yet I can't seem to bring myself to make a post on here. It'd be awful kind if some of you could pop over and give me your opinions on the story. I'd really like honest critiques though.

Another reason I haven't been posting on here is because school has been ramping up with the end of the quarter only a couple weeks away. I've absolutely loved going to school this quarter. American Literature is easily my favorite class in regards to what I'm learning and how much I'm expanding myself.

Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings truly are classics that deserve every bit of respect they get and have, but reading stories by authors like Ernest Hemingway, John Updike and Flannery O'Connor are satisfying on so many more levels. It's really pushed me to take my own writing to a deeper level instead of trying to write what I think will be popular.

I hope when I end up with a static character, it will be because that's their purpose in the story. I want to make people dig into the story to see what lies underneath and gain something more than just entertainment. I still want my stories to be fantastical and entertaining, but I want the substance to easily outweigh the style.

That's why it's a good thing that I have this blog (and my poor, forgotten, malnourished MySpace blog) to just come and write whatever comes to mind. Because I love writing.

I've experienced something of a confirmation by going to college. The word potential was always tossed around when I was in public schools. Like it was some kind of security blanket I refused to acknowledge, yet it was pinned to the waist of my pants, one end dragging along the ground. I knew it was there, but flat out refused to use it.

I'm stubborn like that :)

Well, now I'm using the damn thing and despite the one end being slightly ragged, it's still as useful as it's always been.

I'm always the one that's talking in both my American Literature and English Composition II classes. Even when it's supposed to be a class discussion in English 102, I'm the one leading the class in the discussion. I've always got my hand up in Lit, desperate to discuss what I'd read the night before.

I started writing this about a half hour ago and I wish I had another, but I've got to go to class. I'm really happy that I managed to find the weak spot in my writers barricade with armed guards on rotating shifts and finally posted something of substance on here. I'm wondering how many comments I'll get though.

This deserves at least three :)