What happened to Monday?

Wow, this week flew by! I missed my Monday and Wednesday posts! I have not been productive with my blog this week, but I have been a busy bee with some other projects I’ve been wanting to accomplish for awhile and next week I start my very first full time job! (Besides school).  So I thought I’d post some pictures of my accomplishments this week.

I was able to complete my small set of curtains for my kitchen window. I am very thankful for the help of my grandma! (who did most of the work)

Here is me pinning the hems.

Here is the finished product!

 

I also made some delicious foods this week. I have been wanting (forever) to make applesauce with my best friend. They pick apples at an orchard and make several bushels of applesauce every year and I finally got to be a part of it!

 I mixed golden delicious and johnathan apples…

So it is pink! I used approximately half a bushel of apples.

I also made some super easy and delicious refrigerator pickles!

I made two jars originally, then I made these four the next day. After I tried them I had to make more- plus I bought a huge bunch of fresh dill and a lot of salad cucumbers for cheap. Here is a link to the recipe I followed:

http://www.flowerpatchfarmgirl.com/2013/08/refrigerator-pickles.html

Do you know what is really frustrating sometimes? When you eat something amazing and the person who made it will absolutely never ever give you their recipe because it’s a secret and they want to remain famous for it. I don’t think I could ever do that. If you have an amazing recipe, please share it. Food is so important! Needless to say, I am very thankful I was able to cross a few wishes off of my crafting wish list, especially before I lose a lot of my free time. Of course, that doesn’t mean I am going to quit crafting and writing and cooking! Never!

All of these pictures are from my Instagram account. You can follow me at emoncelle09.

Have a great weekend!

Not Writing

It’s Friday! Which means I will be talking about other creative outlets besides writing! (mostly). I recently graduated with a B.S in Fashion Merchandising which means- I am not a designer and I’m not moving to New York. Luckily, I have a grandma who loves to sew and although I am not a designer (nor want to be)  it would be nice if I could become an adequate sewer. I am starting a small project next week. I will be making a curtain for my tiny kitchen window. So, basically I will be sewing a square… I know it’ll be more complicated than that (especially for me). I have taken several beginning sewing classes and it is just one thing I can’t solidify in my mind (especially the route the thread should take through the machine??).

Here is the fabric I picked out.

I will update the completed project later. Hopefully next week?

One of the other great things about hanging out with my grandma- other than hanging out with my grandma is this-

Please tell me you watch classic, cheeky game shows (even if it’s by yourself and not with an older relative ;))

Question: Do you expect or assume creative writing people to dabble in other art forms such as sewing, painting, singing, etc? Just curious.

I sort of do ( “sort of” is my  way of not committing  to a definite answer)

Don’t forget that you cannot use your creativity up. The more you use the more it is replenished. I think it is important to try different things. You don’t have to be good at them, but I think it helps to get out of your writing mind because it can be lonely and frustrating in there.

Also, I just realized that I started my blog a year ago! It doesn’t seem like it, because I haven’t been as dedicated to it as I originally planned. I have kept up with my posts this week so I must say I am proud of that 🙂

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Sometimes it’s “Who!”

Oh no, not this topic. No

no

no

Its time to talk about grammar. And because of this I thought I’d do a very ironic and irritating thing like hide bits of bad grammar throughout my post (Although, you may argue that my other posts are like that unintentionally) But just humor me.

Why can grammar be such a frustrating expletive? Why is it important?

Lettuce start off with what grammar is with its stuffy textbook definition-

gram·mar

ˈɡramər/

noun

1. the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.

Okay, there are a lot of big words their basically saying that we need a system of communication that we can all understand. If we didnt have rules to govern our way of expressing ourselves we would be frustrated and confused and do things like eat grandma instead of eat with grandma.

 (okay, there were a lot of photo examples of this but I had to use this one. how funny is her smug look?)

I am all for proper grammer and I am quick to punish people with my glaring thoughts and evil eyes when i catch them in the heinous act of misusing there/their/they’re, but when it comes to my own work, I tend to be a bit more lazy and, “whatever man” about it. I would characterize myself as a grammar hitler because i get my grammar nazis to do all the work for me…

When is grammar not so important? Well, of course if you are progressive and modern you don’t capitalize or use periods and you use bad grammar as a statement. Also, proper grammar etiquette changes when you move through different environments. Do you talk much different at a gala than you do at your family reunion?

what if we become grammarchists? We are smart. We can basically get an understanding of what someone is saying even if they’re comma splices pimple up a sentence.

Personally, there is a sense of security and freedom with our grammar rules. And since I am a quiet individual- it is important that I can be well understood in my writing. I also want my writing to be respected- a few grammar mistakes won’t ruin you, but a chronic lapse shows immaturity in the writing world.

There are a few places that I believe you can lose your grammar robotics- casual conversations with friends and family, portraying a character in their unique dialogue, and certain poems (For example if you make non-grammar rules in a poem keep those rules for that entire poem-so I guess technically your non-grammar rule became a grammar rule.)

Sometimes the rules aren’t so bad-it is the people who enforce them. Let me just leave this gem here 🙂

 

Oh, God help me. To many funny grammar pictures.

Creepy

The IT Crowd is hilarious. Go watch it now.

This is the best one baha.

 

Ink Slinger

Okay, I borrowed the title from an artist I just discovered.

P.S I love you.

Mostly, my blog posts have been aimless and I write one only when a topic pops up in my head. I want to be more intentional with my posts and set aside certain days of the week to post something.

I have added a Word of the Week to my sidebar-because that was my favorite thing in school and words are great and you will never know them all. Also, (mostly for my benefit and practice) I will attempt to use the word of the week in a sentence 🙂

I made a new page where I will keep an updated list of what I am reading ^^ go look! It will be quick.

My other plans are to write a post every Monday,Wednesday, Friday.

Mondays will focus on encouragement for writing/writing prompts/helpful writing tools.

Wednesdays will focus on news/my feelings and opinions on stuff (such as the word “stuff”)/book reviews/authorcreativeperson spotlights

Fridays will focus on other creativeness such as art, cooking, crafting, music etc.

So it is Monday and here is some writing encouragement

I need to see this chart everyday of my life.

 

Short

The short story. As in the really short story. A couple sentences story. “Was that actually a story” story? I’ve seen more examples of them lately most likely due to the fact that they are short and easy to read and the Internet (naturally). Are they worthwhile as their own category/genre of literature? Are they a cop-out or merely a brainstorming exercise for longer stories?

Here is a link to some two lined horror stories. I am not a fan of Halloween, but I love good horror. (GOOD) horror.
Number 8 is my favorite.

9 Of The Most Terrifying Two Sentence Horror Stories Ever Told

I challenge you to write a few two lined stories. Convey your message with a few words. It will be harder than you think to do it effectively.

Let’s stick with the horror theme- “Wake up, wake up Dolly!” The young girl traced the crack on Dolly’s porcelain skull as it whimpered.

I couldn’t think of anything but dolls. Dolls can be seriously creepy.

Here is an old school example of this practice using only 6 words! I read this story in one of my English textbooks and it stuck with me.This is another great characteristic of these types of stories- they can leave a lasting impression in a matter of seconds.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

Uh oh, I discovered polls. I like polls-since I ask so many questions.