All We Know

The earth pulses with life. Everyday people wake up, go to school or work, come home, go to bed, repeat...and yet we go on. Why? Is it because we hope that someday something will change, get better? Some misguided knowledge of adventure?

Everyday our eyes open like they never have before. The pupils dilate at the new light, light which is fresh and has not yet shone. As though each day were new. But can we really live that way? Can we really live as if we were a new person after each dawn?

Somehow our hearts keep beating, our lungs pulse in and out, in and out, sucking in the air to keep us alive. Our thoughts keep flowing, changing. But we ourselves are not the change, are we? Can we be changlings?

People; their eyes meet, flicker away, never to be seen or known again. Hands clasp in friendship, ghosts of ourselves who smile at the other reflections that breathe but do not live. The misty vapors of ourselves when we do not show our hearts.

So much is gained and lost everyday...and still never ceasing. We go on.

Someday I will understand everything.

Libba Bray

My favorite author is Libba Bray. Not just because of her books (which are...well, words cannot describe their awesomeness), but because of her. Her personality. Her writing itself. Her willingness to share her experiences. It started when I read her books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. As is usual for me when I read something really good, I did a little author research. First I saw her generic, for-the-public biography, 21 Things About Me, which has a twenty-one random facts about her, like she has a glass eye and she hates doughnuts. None of that I-grew-up-here-I-married-this-person-and-now-we-live-here nonsense. Just twenty-one very juicy, hilarious facts. More people should write their bios like that.

More research led me to her blog. Most authors blog about tour dates and release dates and stuff like that. Not Libba Bray. Libba Bray writes about whatever the hell is on her mind. Sometimes she writes about seemingly trivial, everyday kind of stuff, like her favorite movies. Sometimes about important, controversial issues, like tolerance. Sometimes about her past. Whatever she writes about, she is 100% authentic and honest and human, and every time she writes, I think she puts a little of herself in her writing. 

Libba Bray could write about earthworms and make it hilarious, poignant, and inspiring, all at once. She's so good, I can tell you what her personality type is even though I've never met her (enfp).

http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/

If At First You Don't Succeed...?

I am a bad girl. A very, very bad girl. I should not have been away from my blog for this long. I should have stayed here and continued writing everyday.

This is the year of applications. Scholarship applications, college applications, financial aid applications, university applications, various other sorts of applications, etc. Every single kind of application - or very nearly every single kind - includes some kind of personal statement and/or written essay. I am so unprepared for this. This morning, while trying to think of coping strategies that don't involve procrastination, I told myself I should just start writing daily essays on everything that interests me, and by the time I have to turn in essays, I'd have many to choose from. And then I remembered, that's the main principle of a blog: writing essay-type vignettes everyday on interesting things. Perhaps if I'd stuck with the blog and given myself these months of writing practice, I wouldn't feel so lost now.

*deep, deep sigh*

Okay. Gotta pull myself together. Time to whip myself into shape. Here we go.

Punkster Barbs

I seem to have this thing for black chokers. I don't know why, but they just look so... shmexy. Especially with short hair. Maybe 'cuz they're just so punky. Anyway. I found this one whilst browsing etsy. It looks so rebellious.

Later

If my camera was working, I would be showing you pictures of my new tatted mask. Remember, a while ago, I tried tatting a mask from a pattern by Totusmel, but it didn't come out like I hoped? So I decided to try making a different one without a pattern. Well, I made one using and manipulating a simple rings-and-chains pattern and it came out really well. Well enough that I entered it in the county fair on a whim. It won me a blue ribbon and five dollars. On Monday I got it back from the fair, and I immediately wanted to take pictures and blog about it, but my camera's out of batteries and I can't find new ones. So hopefully I will be able to do this...later.

Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness

Sesquipedalian loquaciousness entices me.

Translation: I like big-wordy explanations. I'm kind of a word nerd, sometimes. Back when I entered the public for the first time (freshmen year...*shudder*), I had to learn to simplify what I said, otherwise people would look at me oddly and say, "Oooookay...uh-huh. Yeah, what?" Now I'm much better at communicating, but it took a while.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand: sesquipedalian loquaciousness. I have spontaneously decided to blog every once in a while about a new vocabulary word. Today, I have two words. Why? Because I discovered them together, here. "Sesquipedalian" and "Loquacious". From dictionary.com:

Sesquipedalian: [ses-kwi-pi-dey-lee-uhn, -deyl-yuhn]
–adjective
1. given to using long words.
2. (of a word) containing many syllables.
–noun
3. a sesquipedalian word
 
Loquacious: [loh-kwey-shuhs]
–adjective
1. talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative; chattering; babbling; garrulous: a loquacious dinner guest.
2. characterized by excessive talk; wordy: easily the most loquacious play of the season.

Bella Lili giveaway

Bella Lili is an artist who makes beautiful gothic-, victorian-, and steampunk-inspired jewelry. She has an etsy shop and a blog and she does a giveaway every month. This month she's giving away this Glam Rock Bracelet. Isn't it lovely? You can enter the giveaway on her blog, here. Other pieces she's made are available at her etsy shop, here.

Personally, I have my eye on the Blue Regenade necklace. I love the shape of the crystal, the blue tint, and the way the chain drapes around the neck twice. I'd love to buy it, but I'm seventeen and (at the moment) poor. I don't start work for another week, but when I have enough money, it's mine, so hands off! :)