because I’m not feeling very good right now and laughter helps.

watch?v=yO-vDA73MNs

Enjoy!  (This one is Justin’s favorite).

So here I am…

I thought it might be good to have a blog whose sole focus was creative writing (and some of the brilliant material I’m currently digesting, thanks to Full-Time-Studentdom).  Also seemed like a good idea to separate stuff I’m currently working on from the journal-ly stuff I have going on over at WEW.  I didn’t like these two very different focuses (focii?) all smashed together.  Ever since I began studying creative writing in earnest, I felt I needed to consistently be a “writer” over there when sometimes all I wanted to do was tell a funny story, reflect a little, or update people on what’s happening with Justin and I here in The Ham. 

(The thought instantly occurs to me: I may be no more a writer over here, but at least my efforts will be in that general direction.  I know I’m a fledgling.  It’s okay with me).

So look for some old stuff, some new stuff.  As always, the whole of it is unfinished stuff.

All part of the fun.

new blog

Hello, strangers!

Sorry for the absence.  School has been amazing this quarter (with one class’ exception, but that’s okay, they can’t all be winners) — and has been keeping me a little busy of late.  Justin and I are doing really well and are enjoying our course in Creative Nonfiction together.  I am being stretched, realizing I have lots to learn, growing excited about writing in new ways… all good things.  That, and I’m reading some kick-ass authors.

I am, however, ready for Spring Break.  We are in week 8 of 10 weeks, and a much-needed break is coming rather quickly.  We’re hoping to make a trip down to California and play in the sun for a few days, and are in the process of figuring out how to make that happen.

Anyway, the point of this whole post is to let you know I have another blog going whose focus will be solely on writing projects and new authors I’m being exposed to.  I think one of the reasons I slowed down over here is that I put a lot of pressure on myself to write more polished stuff, now that I’m studying how to do it. 

Frankly, that’s not what this blog was intended to be.  I want to be able to tell funny stories, update dear friends on what’s happening, and ramble on about what’s going on in my little brain without it needing to serve any larger purpose than that.

It may be that this new blog won’t come any closer to being what I think of as actual writing, but at least I’ll be making that attempt.    If you’re interested, feel free to check it out.  I’d welcome feedback from anyone willing to give it.

Trying to Learn to Use Words

Here’s the poem which inspired the title.  It flattens me every time I read it (thanks Michael).

From T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets

Trying to learn to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it.  And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion.  And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope
To emulate–but there is no competition–
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
That seem unpropitious.  But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
For us, there is only the trying.  The rest is not our business.

–T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, East Coker, V. 

***Small side note: although this excerpt was introduced to me last quarter, I finally found Four Quartets at Henderson’s today — a slim black hardcover version printed in 1943.  It is AWESOME.

search and rescue

So… I had my last actual final exam today.  I have a few papers to finish before tomorrow, but I’m one step closer to being done.

I barely slept last night — I think it had something to do with too much Diet Coke, too late, and a little anxiety about the exam, which I hadn’t prepared for as much as I’d have liked to, because — well, I didn’t really feel like it.  During the five minutes I slept, I also had one of those crazy dreams where the universe conspires against you to prevent you from making it to the exam on time, or at all. 

Two hours of hand-cramps later, I think I did alright.  Which is nice.

But before I take a quick nap and resume paper writing, I wanted to keep my string of daily posts going… so I thought I’d enlighten you with a few of the ways that people have stumbled upon the glory that is Wide Eyed Wonder.  Hooray for strange search terms.

Today:

prayer fairness 

stacey sucks [Author's note: this is AWESOME.  They search for a term, and get a glistening example of it.  The internet is brilliant.]

In the last 7 days:

homer simpson birthday

homer simpson “Speed 2″ and “the bus that couldn’t slow down”  [The post this search took them to is full of Homer Simpson awesome-ness, and I'll insist on sharing it, since there are apparently so many fans out there:

"Bart, with $10,000, we’d be millionaires!  We could buy all kinds of useful things, like… love!"

"I’m not normally a religious man, but if you’re up there, save me, Superman!"

"Oh, everything’s too damned expensive these days. This bible cost 15 bucks! And talk about a preachy book! Everybody’s a sinner! Except this guy."

"I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode. I think it was called, "The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down."

"It [YVAN EHT NIOJ] doesn’t mean anything!  It’s like ‘ramalamadingdong’ or ‘give peace a chance!’”

You’re welcome, by the way.]

 wordings for reception after one year of marriage

what a man wants in a wife

super lucky elephant jasmine rice [Yes, this exact term exists on my site.  We buy Super Lucky Elephant Jasmine Rice in bulk at Costco, and I have sung its praises more than once.]

random watering nose [Uh...]

how many chicken breasts equals one cup of chicken 

“you bwoke it”

God is my witness, I will never go hungry again

stories about fairness of God 

what summer conceals

Homer Simpson’s birthday

homer simpson happy birthday to you

happy birthday Homer simpson comments [Author's note: wtf?  Why all these happy birthday homer simpson searches? according to my extensive research, Homer Simpson's birthday is in May.  May 10, 1955, to be exact.  He's a Taurus.  Like me and Justin.  Impressive.]

If you have a moment and want to enlighten me in return, let me know how & when you first found my little corner of the World Wide Web.  (I’m actually a little curious to know who’s actually still peeking in and reading this thing, despite my best efforts to slaughter readership with non-posting this past year).

Last few papers.  An essay on the meaning of life.  Ready, go.

just when you thought…

…you were such a terrible and inconsistent blogger that no one dared visit your site anymore for fear of seeing the same old headline there at the top from six months ago…

…it turns out you’re wrong. 

To all the far-away kindreds that called, emailed, commented, etc.:

You blessed my heart.  DEEPLY.  I forgot what a vehicle for encouragement, both giving it and receiving it, these puppies can be.

Justin and I are headed down to help my parents down in B-ton for the next few days as they move out of the house I grew up in… (sigh).  So if I haven’t written back/called back yet, I will try to get caught back up with folks as soon as we get back home to B-ham.

Thanks for making me feel so loved.  You kids are ridiculous.

pics are up!

Wedding pics are posted to your left — enjoy!  Post to come soon.

–sl

photos

So, we finally found time to get our engagement photos done before we are no longer engaged (we are 42 days out!)…

I’ve posted them in the album to the left.  (There you go, Jessy).

Enjoy! 

no perfect people allowed…

I haven’t forgotten this discussion… it’s just been a busy week.

My lovely co-worker, Tracie, and myself have joined a gym five minutes from work.  Due to the convenience of location and the inconvenience of peer pressure… I’ve just been at the gym seven times more often than I usually show up in a week.  Since Monday!

We are training for this, coming up March 12 in Seattle:

THEME: Run, jog, walk… or crawl.  Those crazy Irish.

I feel great, but the 5:30 am wakeup time has taken a bit of getting used to (e.g. I hit the sack around 9 pm if possible… leaving little time for spending online).

Saturday morning around 10.  See ya then.    Enjoy your Friday.  Me, I’m enjoying my marble mocha machiatto. 

Chocolate and coffee.  Best idea ever.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Truly there is much to be thankful for.

I wish you, your family and friends a memorable time of laughter and love today.

For all the many ways you guys have touched my life, big ways and small, thank you.

Be well and blessed today.

stace

I’m not dead yet… I feel happy…

When I received a call from a friend last night, a little concerned because I hadn’t posted in about a week, I figured maybe it was time for an update.

Fear not: I have not been kidnapped by aliens or killed by the mafia. 

I’ve just been very very busy, and am fighting my second cold in two months.  Life should return to a normal (translation: only semi-crazy schedule) in a week or two. 

Hope everyone had a good easter, and hope to be posting semi-regularly soon.

Much love, stace