Writing A Title For It

[Brasil]

[center]"A Title For It...Oh my God! I don't even know where to start for that, lol!"[/center]


I Agendad out of Journalism today. ?Agendad?? Is that even a word? Well, I guess it is now. But yeah. So I Agendad out of Journalism and went down to the Chorus Room. It?s too hot outside today. Come to think of it, it?s hot in school, too. Does it make sense for the Admins to run the AC in winter and the heaters in the Spring? Maybe they don?t know it?s happening? I don?t know.

It?d make for a good investigative article. Do you think that there?s some sort of WaterGate going on? Maybe the school Admins?no, just Dr. Zank, are covering up some diabolical energy conspiracy that allows them to trick the system and actually make money when they use the heating and AC. But Zank doesn?t really have that kind of ingenuity or strategic inclination for such a plan. Guess I just chalk this one up to Cinnaminson.

Yeah. It?s hot outside. The kind of heat that just makes your clothing stick to you. The high humidity and you?re sweating, and your hands feel kind of clammy. It?s the icky weather. It?s days like today and weather like this that makes me even more appreciate of being a Band Geek. See, Band Geeks have an escape on sweltering days like this. We can go down to the Chorus Room or Band Room and be comfortable in sixty degree rooms. Plus, we have couches down there.

Try to find a room like that in the rest of the school that students are allowed into. Hah. I think not. It?s good to be in Music. And I?m going down to the Chorus Room.

I wonder who?s there today. It?s usually the same crew the entire week during 4th period. Scott?s probably there. Matt pretty much lives there. Do I feel like taking a quick side quest to the cafeteria? Ah, why not. Maybe I?ll find some fellow Band Geeks and convince them to join me.

I?m amazed at how anal the cafeteria aides are sometimes. I mean, honestly, what danger is there in our school? Is someone going to start a food fight? Maybe start a riot because of Frisbee material burgers? I don?t know. But, they?re there and you have to convince them to let you pass.

They?re really like the Bridgekeeper from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. ?Answer me these questions three, ere the other side, you seek.? They do ask you three questions, too. ?Why are you out of class? What do you want in the cafeteria? How long will you be??

Now they?re grilling me. I could swear I saw a light somewhere around here. They?re not using it on me, but on the bad students, they whip it out?shine it right on them. Police interrogations, you know. Can?t be too careful these days, what with the murderers and rapists, thugs, gun-runners, druggies, sociopaths, loons?that only names my entire Senior class. Well, not totally, but you get the idea. I don?t think any of us are murderers; one might be, but I still need to check his basement. We?ve definitely got our fair share of thugs and thug-lites, though. It?s hilarious to watch. Think they realize how goofy they look? I don?t.

The cafeteria is a weird place. Really loud. Really busy. Chaotic, really. I can only stand to be in here for a few minutes at a time. The only times that I?m able to stay here for extended lengths is after school, during Drama rehearsals. Drama is fun. Really fun. I?m one of the big ones there. Oh, no, I?m not big there because I?m a great singer?I actually suck at singing. I?m big there because I?m a force to be reckoned with. I?m loud. I?m bold. I?m brash. I speak my mind. It works beautifully.

In two years, I?ll be legendary. It?s three years later now, but that?s beside the point. This story takes place a few years ago, in my Senior year of high school. Okay, I?m lying. I wasn?t in Journalism my Senior year. I took Journalism in Junior Year. Does that matter, though? It?s a story. I?m taking Creative Liberties. Cut me some slack or I?ll cut this story short right now.

But getting back to the Cafeteria. Drama comes later. Not too much later, but later. So, the Cafeteria is nuts. You have to be fricking Spiderman to get through here. That?d be sweet if I could climb walls. I would never have to worry about the halls being crowded. I could travel on the ceiling. Cool. Though, the Admins and Cafeteria Aides would get on my case. They would probably tell me that?s dangerous. ?It threatens the overall safety of the school.? Here I was looking forward to doing some nifty Marvel superhero action and stunts.

Actually, later this year, my friend, Mike Imperiale, will climb the outside of the auditorium. It?s like a thirty foot high wall. And he?s going to climb it without harnesses and grips. Mike?s a crazy fool. Not crazy in a bad way. Crazy in a good way. The way?the enjoyment you find at seeing your friend leap three feet vertically, grab hold of a thin wooden door with his bare fingertips, and proceed to do twenty pull-ups.

Fun times. The Cafeteria is bad for hyper people. I can barely pay attention to one person in there, let alone keep track of four when we do a Cafeteria snack run. Poptarts. Cherry Poptarts. They?re stocked in the vending machine. Sweet. Peach Snapple is a staple of junk food here at Cinnaminson. You cannot go to a soda vendor and not get a Snapple. Another great thing about the vending machines, apart from junk food and Skittles: instant gratification. I?ll have nothing to do with those lines to get the school food. I don?t like eating Frisbees and building bridges out of TaterTots. Okay, well, I like building bridges out of TaterTots. That?s fun stuff, especially when the ketchup is an excellent adhesive material. It rivals glue. Maybe I should suggest that to Mrs. Yochim or Mrs. Rossi. They?re always trying to save some money for the Art Department. I?ll make a mental note. Okay, got to get out of here now. What?s my best escape plan? Did I have an escape plan? Do you remember? Okay, Alex, don?t panic. Retrace your steps.

Passed those three tables there?yeah, because I remember hearing Liz McGough laughing. She?ll get funniest laugh in our Who?s Who at the end of this year. I think she will. Maybe worst driver? No. That was Beth Pierce. Too many Beths in my class. Man, there are really a lot of people in here. Even though I?m an Atheist, I wish I was Moses right now. I?d do a total parting of the Red Sea type thing. It?d be cool. ?Behold my power! Behold the power of Cinnaminsonia!? And whoosh! I?d have a path. It would be glorious.

Eventually I?ll snake my way through this mass of twisted humanity, but I?ll have you know right now, I won?t be going to the Chorus Room just yet. I?m going to have a sudden urge to go to the Gym to the left, down the hall.

[Guest EikoTheWolf]

Didn't Really understand it at all my friend. You should call it....um?
Skittles! I love it don't you? Well, Its just a suggetion, Your a good writer.

[Sara]

[size=1]*laughs* That was really fun to read. I love it. Kinda sporadic (that seems to be my word of the week...)

Anyhow, yeah. Really enjoyable. Our music room is always ten degrees cooler than the rest of the school. I used to keep an extra sweatshirt in my band locker, heh..[/size]

[Patronus]

[size=1][color=blue]I love it. It should be called 'Agendad', heh. I really like how you put your personal thoughts into it and not just describe what's going on.

Our band room is always cold. We always snuck in there during rehearsal. ha.[/color][/size]

[Ben]

>.< I know that there is a word for this styl of writing, if it is indeed the style that I'm thinking of. I remember my English teacher saying something about a form of narrative where the author just writes from one thought into the next.

Putting my frustration aside....Nice story, heh. I liked it. :D

[Brasil]

Eiko, no, that's the actual title, lol. The entire piece is an illustration of stream of consciousness writing (Ben, you were right on the money ;)), and the title reflects the streaming of ideas. It fits with the rest of the piece, because the title came as I was talking to Charles about the writing of the work as I was writing it, lol.

Another description of this piece is something called "metafiction." Metafiction is fiction that is knowledgeable about itself...a story that knows it's a story.

[Mimmsicle]

[COLOR=firebrick]If you take what you just wrote and make the conscious streaming 10 times worse, you have my brain ~_^

It was a really good read.
Even though the thoughts and actions took a hard left/right/up and down, you never shook the reader out of the flow.
It was indeed streaming smoothly[i] *nods approvingly*[/i]

The only thing I would like to object to.... is the fact that I want more >____>

- Mimmi[/COLOR]

[Arcadia]

[size=1]I really enjoyed this. I think I've just got a thing for this form of writing, but whatever, it's still very cool. All the random thoughts about Moses and Monty Python are very entertaining. And the Drama thing. Brings back memories. ^_~ As always, very well done.[/size]

[Ben]

Heh, I [I]rock.[/I] :p

What made you decide to try something like this, PT? And how did you decide at what thought to start?

[Brasil]

Ben, funny you should ask.

Apart from first lines to stories coming to you at the [i]weirdest[/i] times--a classmate of mine had a first line come to him in the shower last semester, and I have had ideas while I'm on the can, I had kept a journal back in high school.

It was just something to write down how I was feeling...usually depression, lol. I happened to find it, buried in my archived files. Pretty messy stuff; lots of teen angst, but this one passage really...sparked my interest.

[quote]Feb. 24 -- It?s February twenty-fourth. I?m feeling better, but not great. I?m thinking back to when I asked those girls to the prom. I guess it was too sudden, too forward. What right did I have? I mean, I didn?t know them that well. Well, actually, I knew one pretty well, I think. But, still, I know what I shouldn?t do. Ask girls to the prom. It?s fourth period. I?m sitting in the Choral Room. I agendad out of Journalism. Is that even a word? Agendad? Like the past tense of agenda. I?m in English. I?m feeling better than this morning. I can?t wait until this weekend, though. My mom and dad are going away for the entire weekend for their anniversary. My Aunt Carol is coming over to watch my brother and me. Aunt Carol is great. She?s a little kid at heart, so she?s really lenient. I?m allowed to play video games as much as I want, we get all sorts of junk food, I can stay up as late as I want, it?s great. I want to get a cereal with marshmallows in it. Like Lucky Charms? or the new Fruit Loops?. Hey, I may be sixteen, but I?m still a little kid at heart. Just like my Aunt Carol. I have Drama next. [/quote]

It occurred to me. The entire journal was a stream of consciousness piece. I would never show it to people for obvious reasons. They would have me put away, lol. But I looked at "I agendad out of Journalism" and my fiction workshop professor started talking in the back of my head. I could hear her voice, "Alex, that's a perfect opening line. I agendad out of Journalism. It's wonderful."

So, I took the voice's suggestion, lol, and the story just...poured. And because I've long since removed the teen angst from my conversational style of writing (When I use it. Now I use a much more formal, essayist style.), I can write a journal-type story without worry of it sounding melodramatic, over-the-top, angsty, etc.

I had read a short story earlier this Fall..."Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story" by Russell Banks. One could argue that it's an exercise in stream of consciousness writing. But when writing stream of consciousness, I've found that you still have to pay [i]very[/i] close attention to structure. Stream of consciousness has the potential to go way, way off-track...it can go places where it should never go. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but there's a definite line which a writer should not cross, I think.

You want to keep the stream of consciousness, but never let your editing mind shutdown. I've written a few pieces where I just let myself go, writing whatever, and a substantial portion of it just never made any sense at all, which I feel is a negative. A story has to make sense, lol; meaning, it can't have random interjections...we can't skip to an entirely new scene without a connection to the current, we can't warp into tomorrow without a logical and relevant today.

Basically, even when writing stream of consciousness, you still have to have a point. You just can't spew whatever and think because it is wild and mad and going every which way that it's a good piece because of it.

Even the best stream of consciousness has a close attention to structure and point. "Sarah Cole" is a perfect example. It may sound totall chaotic, but there is a definite rhythm of the piece...a definite flow...a definite structure. It's not all just slopped together. It doesn't feel like somebody just took a pen and scribbled down a story.

Um...yeah, lol. This post became longer than I intended.

But yeah, thanks for all the reviews, hopefully more will come in. ^_^

I try to educate people about writing techniques. It's the teacher in me, I suppose. I'm really pleased to see Dagger posting about literature. Way to go, Dagger.

[AzureWolf]

Books I like are written in this style. It makes them easier to read and understand because it's similar to how we think (or I think). Also, it makes it much easier to relate to the narrator.

btw, is that supposed to be you who is the narrator? And is this story based on events in your life?

I'm writing this stuff after reading it, of course. :shifty:

[Arcadia]

[size=1]You're going to make a really, really terrific teacher. Obviously you've got a lot of passion and interest in literature and writing and it's definitely going to rub off on people.

As quite a few others have said, stream of consciousness is one of my favorite styles of writing. It's so laid-back and easy to read.. almost like the author is goading you to read. Heh, that's one opinion, anyway. ^_~

Definitely looking forward to seeing more.[/size]

[Shinmaru]

I'll have you know that the story was thoroughly entertaining, heh. It seems like you're just going off on crazy tangents, but when you read the whole thing through, the story just snaps into place. I thought that was rather cool.

Of course, my favorite parts were where you talked about how you wished you had the powers of Spider-Man and Moses lol. I can definitely relate to those sentiments, heh; I could spend all day ranting about how I wish I could part the Red Sea of Students on the way to Art History lol.

Overall, I think the story is fantastic. The whole thing is just bursting with a certain frantic energy, yet it isn't totally chaotic. Makes the whole thing rather fun to read and reflect upon ^_^

[Baron Samedi]

lol. Most amusing, indeed, it is a very good read.

[quote]I don?t think any of us are murderers; one might be, but I still need to check his basement.[/quote]

There is such an abundance of humour bursting out... it is just like seeing someones brain, and reading all their thoughts. All those odd little quirks or thoughts that pass through your mind... they're all outlined in here. Such is the... skill, in this piece, that I could easily put myself into this story. Very clever, very funny. Very good. All the little things you think about as you do the most mundane things... they're outpoured here. Wonderful.

I loved it Alex.

[Brasil]

This is a good hallway. It?s long, too?perfect for extended length band hockey. What?s band hockey? Good question. I don?t think too many of us are totally sure. We know band hockey involves throwing stuff down the hall. Usually that stuff is tennis balls. About tennis balls, funny anecdotal reference.

During TVP, TV Production to the layperson, there was a film festival that our teacher required us to enter. The rules of the contest weren?t anything terribly hard, but we still pulled our hair out. The objective was to write, film, and edit a 45 minute short film in less than 2 weeks. Yeah, sounds simple, haha. It wasn?t. Considering what our entry was, it turned out pretty well. Sons Of Python. Yeah, we didn?t rip-off Monty Python. Seriously, we didn?t! Fun stuff, though. Really great times. I need to get a copy of Sons Of Python from Scott. I?ve got editing equipment now on my computer and can upload all that TVP footage and burn it onto a DVD. I?ve long since wanted to do a proper introduction to Sons Of Python, in true Star Wars Geek nature. I?ve got the font and everything, and can get the zoom, trail, and everything. It?s gonna be sweet when I get that footage. I?ve got the scrolling introduction all typed up?somewhere. I?ll find it later.

Tennis balls, right? Yeah. One ?scene? during Sons Of Python was written solely by Scott. Scott is more than a fan of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes. You and I both see where that goes. Attack Of The Killer Tennis Balls, with the theme sung by Scott. He loves getting that bass going. And we just threw a slew of tennis balls around a few hallways. Chris was our bitch during that shoot. I hit him in the face with one of my balls. Geoff and Tom were aiming for his crotch and hit him a few times, too. It was hilarious. The opening to the scene had Chris almost falling down a stairwell and almost hitting the camera, as I recall. ?Watch out! IT?S THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER TENNIS BALLS!!!? Then here come tennis balls bouncing down the stairs. The next few shots were pretty random. The band hallway is great for throwing stuff, especially bouncy items. Come to think of it?the band hallway is very photogenic in general. Some really great pictures were taken. In June, Bethany, Scott and I will collect a mass amount of pictures for the traditional ?end of the year music montage? video, started by Ryan Sharpe two years ago. Heh, the TVP class was introduced two years ago. Coincidence? Not bloody likely.

There was a lot of insane footage in Sons Of Python. Scott also has an obsession with Godzilla movies and couldn?t resist cutting up the Godzilla shitstorm with Matthew Broderick. We have nothing against Matthew Broderick, of course. I mean, we worship Ferris Bueller. Seriously. We do. We did back in high school and if anyone mentions Bueller now, we still go nuts. Ferris Bueller?s Day Off is a great movie. What?s that quote from Austin Powers? ?Women wanted him and men wanted to be him.? Austin Powers? charm and pseudo-suave nature cannot compare to Ferris Bueller?s confidence and just overall coolness. Ferris is the epitome of cool. That?s the bottom line. You can?t argue with his philosophy, either. ?Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.? Every angst-ridden, paranoid, angry high schooler needs to watch Ferris Bueller?s Day Off. I?m going to make it a part of my semester curriculum when I start teaching.

Uh-oh. Yochim is screaming again. Her classroom is a few feet away. I say ?again? for a reason. She likes to yell. I guess she likes to yell. I don?t know. She yells a lot. I wonder if she?s yelling at Andrew Pancoast-Kerns again. Man, that kid was a tool. I don?t use that term often, but yeah. Andrew was a total tool. He was this tiny little freshman who stood at about three feet tall. He was as tall as a Hobbit, but possessed none of the flair, originality, or?cool factor. He had this really dumb look plastered on his face, the kind of look that belonged to drunks and potheads. Yeah, he was totally gone. And Yochim hated his ass, hahaha.

Funny story about Yochim?s Art Classes. I was in Art Major?I guess?II in my Senior Year. Yeah, because I had Art Major I with Mrs. Rossi my Freshman year. Wow, it?s been that long. I had a period to fill in my Fall semester of Senior year and Yochim?s Art Major II fit perfectly. Of course, the thing about Art Classes at Cinnaminson was there was no distinction?no separate class for Art Major I, II, and III. This meant I was lumped in with n00bish Freshman who could draw nothing more than?Goth punk death scenes. Really moronic and stupid stuff, if you ask me.

Sure, I had a comic book hand, but I turned out some pretty cool stuff, and varied stuff, too. Some were watercolor portraits, others were just random sketches of my classmates. Actually, I was bored during Pre-Calc/Trig one day, so I whipped out my sketchbook and started drawing my classmates. The first one was of Mary Ennis up at the board as she wrote the answer to a problem. The drawing turned out pretty well. Then, of course, the other people saw that I was drawing and requested I draw them. I was pretty popular with my artwork. I was good at it and could draw some fun stuff?Resident Simpson was a famous piece I created. You?d be surprised just how well Mr. Burns becomes Tyrant, hahaha.

[Baron Samedi]

Excellent. I love it. There is such a raw innocence to this kind of work. It is excellent. I love the flow, the continuous, tumultuous current of thoughts and consciousness which is an everyday part of our life. This is so simple, yet so deep. Marvellous work.

I love the blatant emotions exposed in this. It is just like having a peephole into your brain.

[Shinmaru]

Haha, very well done again, PoisonTongue.

I especially love all the stuff about Attack of the Killer Tennis Balls...as cheesy as Killer Tomatoes is, I love the movie and, let's face it, people getting hit in the crotch with tennis balls is just pure humor at its finest.

Resident Simpson sounds cool to me, too...it could actually make me enjoy Resident Evil for once lol. I can kinda, sorta imagine Mr. Burns as Tyrant but only with that weird hairdo he had as a vampire o_O

You have a real talent for stream of consciousness, heh. You can really imagine all this happening at once...I just read and let my magination take care of the rest. I like it when stories give me the freedom to do such things.

[Arcadia]

[size=1]This is so easy to relate to, lol. I think that's what I like best about it. Especially the last bit about sketching people. Man, during theatre rehearsals and backstage in the dressing rooms, that's all we ever did (contrary to popular belief ^_~). Somebody would just whip out the sketchbook and a bit of charcoal and all of a sudden there was this huge line and lots of quiet but insistent voices going, "Me next! Me next! Me, me, draw me!!"

Heh, good times. As always, looking forward to the next few minutes and snatches of [in]sanity. :p[/size]

[Charles]

This reminds me of the thought process Charlie Kaufman went through in [b]Adaptation[/b]. Which, was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

This is one of the more difficult pieces there is to pull off because it's random and nonsensical. But, I think you did it exceptionally well. It was a fun read and it didn't hurt my head too much.

My only problem with it was that it seemed a bit too conversational. If there were no "you?s" and the narrator was speaking to themselves, I think I'd like it just a touch better.

Nevertheless, this is still very wonderful work Alex! ^^;;

[Mitch]

[size=1] It reads much like a journal which someone might write in, only on a lot less hazy level.

Some parts of it were quirky and funny. The part about Attack of the Killer Tennis Balls, the part about you wishing you were Moses and could part all the people in your way, your drawing of classmates. It all comes together in a way that it doesn't. It has a point but doesn't.

This has always been one of the ways of writing I've enjoyed the most. By it, one can take something mundane, and if they use it in the right way, with their own quirkness spiced in here and there, maybe something else unexpected, it can all become something that's very enjoyable to read.

It made you think but not on some hard level, which is good, and what you should go with a lighthearted, purely random piece. I mean, the piece itself doesn't really have any set and cemented main point--it has no main character, no main plot--it's just what it is. If it came to the point where it had some very concrete things that made you think, and that you went on some other tangent on all about, it would detract a lot from the piece.

The piece is meant to be straight forward, and move forward in a way that is seamless, undistrupted. And you did that well--you didn't have any heavily transitioned points, and that works the best.

I'm not sure if the use of "you" detracted from it too much for me. I think that, had Alex used "I," this piece would sound a lot different, more forceful. "I went over to the lunch line. All the kids were standing around, all moving. I didn't want to go in there at all...blah blah blah." It just doesn't sound as conversational. I think that Alex was going for this to sound conversational, only in a way that wasn't deterring the reader. I mean, using I like that, it just sounds like, "Going from here to here, then here, then I think this, then I thought this, then I saw this, then she looked like this to me, then I liked her." So I think his use of "you" didn't detract from it too much, for me at least. I'm not saying the use of I would have been bad...but the piece just wouldn't be what it is had he done that. I mean, what's there to use other than you for the way he wrote it? "One thinks that one is." Or maybe "we." Maybe some other choices. I still think he made the right choices in diction.

I think one thing that made it so quick and seamless was the shortness of most sentences. Since I recently have been reading [i]Of Mice and Men[/i] I've found that, obviously, using a lot of short sentences will give the piece a faster flow, and more fun reading value in some cases. But just as Alex said, you need to be careful. Always edit things, read over it as you go. Don't get lost on some tangent that you shouldn't be going to. Stay focused on the piece, from keeping it going, always going to something new and fresh in a surprising but unforced way. Don't make sentences too short to where you clip it off, and flow is lost. Don't get lost in the heat of writing, making some really long sentences, or even a few, that don't add up to the shorter ones you've written.

So yeah. Although, a few times, I found the flow was wrecked by maybe a too long sentence here or there, it's nothing to complain about. These two pieces work well. They're fun to read. They're a view into Alex's brain. They aren't bogged down by much, and do what's set out to do well.

Now Alex, just add the description of Dr. Zank! Or maybe not heh. I still think that's funny, anyway.

I think you've inspired me to do a piece like this in my own way, Alex. Expect something eventually, as I get some things to use for it.

You know you did a good job, heh. Just as Charles said, it's very wonderful work.[/size]

[Deedlit]

[color=009966]And suddenly I have another favorite form of writing....

I love it, PT! ^^ This is the first stream of consciousness that I can recall reading (or if I did read one in the past it didn't sound anything like what you have written).

As for the "you" part of the story, I actually like it. Whenever I write in my diary or talk to myself, it feels like I am talking to someone other than myself, so in a way it fits. If the "you"s weren't in there it might seem awkward or impersonal.

Heh. I love the little two-bits that you added here and there, like the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Moses, and Spider Man. One subject jumps randomly to the next, but it all has some relevance to the previous topic, and the story follows the same lines as one's thoughts. [/color]

[Brasil]

Hmmm?should I pop my head into Yochim?s classroom? Ah, why not. I?ll look in the window first, see who?s there. It?s fourth period so Matt Krause is probably in there somewhere. Hm. Don?t see him. He?s probably off in the backroom somewhere. Maybe working on a painting where it?s nice and sunny and he can escape the fluorescent prison of the main room, haha. Hey, there?s Joanna Rinehart. Joanna?s cool. Fun personality and a nice body. She smokes cigarettes, but I?m not about to let an addiction dictate my opinion. Addiction?dictate?cool. Because addictions dictate actions normally. I never realized the common root word there.

That?s one of Scott?s faults, actually. One chink in the armor and he?s gone, never to consider the option again. It doesn?t make sense. Joanna?s chink isn?t even a big chink. She smokes. Big deal. If I refused to get to know people who smoke, I would have never hung out with my Dad as much as I did.

There?s Christina Paciolla. If I didn?t know any better, I?d say she lives in the art rooms. I think she?s into Photography. Joanna is, too. They?re PhotoFreaks. Fun times. Christina is another really cool and really cute girl. My Mom always wanted Christina and I to go on a date together. Mom never expressed that back during my high school years. Guess cause I was self-conscious in the whole dating scene. But that?s high school, so no worries. Haha, I?ve been talking to Aussies too much lately.

But yeah, I wouldn?t mind going out with Christina now. It?d be fun.

See, that?s the weird part. I can?t get a date at Rutgers, but I know I could show the woman what she?s been missing. Not pompous or pretentious or anything, either. I?m serious. I rock. Is it egomania? Nah. It?s confidence and knowledge of my abilities.

And I?m not bothered by singlehood, either. I just enjoy it. It?s nothing to be worried about. It?s a singular aspect of human existence?dating, I mean. Why by hyperfocused on one thing? Hyperfocusing is dangerous stuff. It?s just shy of obsession.

Diversify. That?s the key. Don?t be afraid to do something different. Get out and meet people. Stop and talk to someone that you would normally pass by in the hallway. Like Ferris says, ?Stop and look around once in a while.? Heh, Joanna sees me and waves hi. I wave back. Ah, let?s go in for a second. Yochim?s door is a bit loud. Most of the art room doors are clunky. Now, who was Yochim yelling at? Wow, it wasn?t Andrew. Looks like a n00bish freshman, though. Haha, it?s good to be a Senior. Wow. I?ll be starting my Senior year at Rutgers this fall. I feel old. Yeah, it?s a clichéd phrase, but it?s absolutely true: ?It was like yesterday.?

It was like yesterday that I just started Frosh year. Now I?m a Senior?Junior, actually, but a Senior soon.

There?s Mrs. Yochim. I wonder what?s bugging her today. Oh. That?s way. Yeesh. How many times do you have to tell people that watercolors and dry pastels don?t mix well? Half the page is mud. You use a little bit of water with watercolor. Just because the word is half-water and half-color doesn?t mean that?s the ratio you use. These kids should check out my stuff. I?m not the best artist around, but I?m certainly a competent artist. I use material sparingly?not even sparingly. I use material wisely. I don?t glob paint on the page, nor do I glob words into a story. There?s a point where there?s too much, and I see too many people doing that. They overload whatever they?re doing with every color they can think of, every metaphor that comes to mind. What are they thinking here? I mean, I can?t even tell what this is supposed to be. It looks like a landscape, but it looks nothing like Senior Court out there, and nothing in the room looks like this. Uh-oh. Yochim?s gonna get on their ass about this. One of Mrs. Yochim?s pet peeves is when someone doesn?t look at what they?re sketching, drawing, painting, whatever. The art teachers here heavily emphasis that you see what you?re drawing. Sure, some of us may have photographic memories like Yours Truly, but even then, I wasn?t excused from common sense.

Do I feel like hanging here? Nah. Yochim is fun, and Joanna and Christina are cute, but I am embroiled in a quest of epic proportions. Now, to make my exit, I shall strike a most dramatic pose, exclaiming heroically, ?Tidings of joy to all, good health to men, may The Force be with you, and thank you, goodnight!? Of course Yochim glances up from thoroughly trouncing the n00b to send me a look, and I smile.

?Be good,? she says.

?You know me,? I reply.

?Good show.?

And now, I shall attend the student store.



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I've been meaning to update this for a while now, but the time has escaped me until now.