Goodbye, Blogust

Today is the last day of Blogust, which was hosted by Beyond Elsewhere and The Chum Buckett. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person still participating in this challenge, but that's okay. It taught me a lot. For one, no matter how many posts you schedule in advance, they start to run out all too quickly. Also, when I'm in the middle of a work in progress, as I am right now, I think there will have to be a moratorium on blog posts. One would think there'd be enough hours in a day to work on a manuscript and write short blog posts, but apparently not.

One good result of Blogust was that the topics we were given really gave me a lot to think about and helped me focus on what I want and appreciate what I have right now. Although I have several other blogs, I haven't blogged about my personal life in years--I take care to only mention it superficially, if at all, on my other sites. Honestly, opening up about my life here was uncomfortable and a little nerve-wracking; but now that the month's over, I think I realized some important things due to those posts.

I'm not sure I've really settled on a "voice" for this blog yet, which was the goal I originally had for Blogust, but the event has given the blog a great start. So thank you, Blogust!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Bad Pinterest Ideas

Source: howsweeteritis.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

This is one of those craft projects one runs across on Pinterest. It's supposed to be an alternative to carving pumpkins for Halloween--just stretch a stocking over your pumpkins instead!

First of all, how lazy do you have to be not to carve pumpkins for Halloween? I don't carve pumpkins for Halloween, admittedly, but that's because I hate Halloween. I try to deny it even exists. Hallo-what? But even if you were that lazy, and didn't hate Halloween, why not just put out uncarved pumpkins? Or draw a face on the pumpkin with a magic marker? It would still look better than this, which reminds me of that leg lamp from A Christmas Story. I can just imagine some tiny trick-or-treator (-treater?) seeing that on someone's front porch and going, "Mommy, why did that lady put a stocking on top of her pumpkin?" Why indeed, little kid.

This post is part of Blogust, a meme where we post every day in August. For more information, topics, or to sign up, visit Beyond Elsewhere.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Interview

Today I decided to interview my brother! A little background: my brother--let's call him Apollo Drake--and I are 13 years apart. He is still a teenager and this will be the first year he can vote. He lives in his bedroom and likes to play video games and watches The Office on a loop. I thought it would fun to annoy interview him, as he is usually quite laconic (where on earth could he have gotten that from?).

Question 1: What is your favorite animal?

Apollo: Dogs, I guess.

Ellis: What kind of dog?

Apollo: I don't know, a schnauzer.

Ellis: Why schnauzers?

Apollo: Because we own one.

Question 2: Do you think female gamers are bullied because they're girls?

Apollo: I don't think they're bullied, I think they're sexually harassed.

Ellis: Hm. Why do you think they're harassed?

Apollo: Because they're a minority.

Ellis: How do the girls react to this?

Apollo: Usually they just ignore it.

Question 3: If you could go anywhere for 24 hours, where would you go?

Apollo: Mmmmm, Venice.

Ellis: Venice! Why Venice?

Apollo: So I could ride on a gondola.

Ellis: What are you going to do for the other 22 hours?

Apollo: Just walk around I guess.

Question 4: Have you ever experienced deja-vu?

Apollo: Yes. I don't really remember any details.

Question 5: What's your favorite movie?

Apollo: The Breakfast Club

Ellis: Who's your favorite character?

Apollo: The criminal guy.

Question 6: Do you think time travel is possible?

Apollo: I think it's possible to go backward in time, but not forward.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Flash Fiction Challenge

A fun project today for Blogust: take a look at this picture, write a short story about it, and I will post your responses in September! You can leave your stories in the comments or, if you'd rather, e-mail them to me.

Most importantly, have fun. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Fun fact: a literary description (i.e., poem or short story) of a work of art is called ekphrasis.

This post is part of Blogust, a meme where we post every day in August. For more information, topics, or to sign up, visit Beyond Elsewhere.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Climb Every Mountain

Yes, I'm scared to follow my dreams. Who isn't? Nothing's worse than a dream that dies in its pursuit, lying crushed on the ground like a bird that flew straight into a window.

Just because I'm scared to follow them, though, doesn't mean I don't. I think the opportunities to do the things you've always wanted to do come along--maybe not in the time frame and way that you want or imagine they will, but eventually they do. A professor of mine once told me, "If you really want to go to Europe, you'll get the chance," and he was right. In such cases it would be foolish not to go for it.

However, sometimes you (meaning I) get impatient and want to FORCE things to happen. This never works out and tends to make you and everyone around you miserable.

So while I am scared to follow my dreams, I think I'm more frightened that I'll lose faith they'll come true and stop dreaming.


This post is part of Blogust, a meme where we post every day in August. For more information, topics, or to sign up, visit Beyond Elsewhere.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Twitterati

I have accounts on several social media sites, but the only one I use with any regularity is Twitter. One of the people I follow--or "tweeps," as they're called, or "twitterati" when I'm feeling punchy--once referred to Twitter a giant cocktail party, and I think that's a very apt description. Like any social group, you tend to gravitate towards people with similar interests, and sometimes you're more closely tied to another than you might think.

Twitter isn't for everyone, I'm ready to admit--it tends to attract people who like words and writing. There are tons of authors, journalists, and bloggers on twitter. You wouldn't think you could get a lot said in 180 characters, but you actually can. And if you can't, trying to fit what you have to say into that space is a fun challenge.

I really like Twitter because it's simple. You can tweet anything you want within the character limit, follow anyone you want, unfollow anyone, and drop in or out of the conversation at any time.

I also love following events on Twitter, like award shows or breaking news. You really do get the news before anyone else on Twitter, and you experience it with everyone else.

Twitter is a dream method of communication, in my opinion. And that's why I'm on there so much!


This post is part of Blogust, a meme where we post every day in August. For more information, topics, or to sign up, visit Beyond Elsewhere.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Fate and Destiny

The three Nornir, or Fates. Found in Fredrik Sander's 1893 edition of the Poetic Edda.

A man's character is his fate.
-Heraclitus

Do you believe in fate? I definitely do. We all have things happen to us that are beyond our control--the circumstances of our births being the most obvious. But our reactions to those events, that is our destiny.

The thing is, people are going to react a certain way based on their personalities. That's just a fact. Yes, you can achieve a certain kind of self-awareness, but if you do, do you think you can escape fate? If you've read even one Greek tragedy you know the answer to that question.

Fate and questions of free will and destiny provide a rich fodder for stories. Although we can make our own choices, once those choices are made, we can't go back from them; and who knows but that there wasn't really any other choice for us to make? No matter who we are or what we decide, it all leads us to the same fate.

This post is part of Blogust, a meme where we post every day in August. For more information, topics, or to sign up, visit Beyond Elsewhere.

Powered by ScribeFire.