Writing and Raindrops

Yes, writing and raindrops. It describes my last two weeks of life here in TN. You (who don't really know me at all) might think I would be sick of writing, but its not true. I love to write! Now, I need to say that this "writing" is creative writing, not essay writing. I do enjoy a good research essay because I am a nerd and love to learn. However, synthesis essays where your professor gives you the thesis and says "prove my thesis true/correct"...now come on, those are annoying.

Creative writing! My short story (yes, the allusive "short story" that many of you all have heard about). It is not "Elegant" (for those of you who have read that post in the past); its called (drum roll please!) "Ice Cream Monday". Yeah! My professor gave me the title and I said "I'll take it!" At first, it was awful. Simply awful. I had no idea what to do about it. Lucky for me, my story (like everyone's in the class) was distributed to all my classmates. They read it, wrote reviews, gave me feedback, and really helped me out a lot. I decided to completely change my male character and change the narration from limited third person POV to omniscient third person POV. I like it much better now. Needless to say, I spent 12 hours on the first draft and I'm working on the second draft and am about 4 hours into it. The first draft was 15 pages long, however, I feel like the second draft will be closer to 20-22 pages long. Hey, I had a lot to revise!

The "raindrops" part of this post is the least interesting...it simply has been raining quite a bit here in E. TN. Yesterday, while I was walking to the caf, I noticed some moss growing on a stone wall. I thought it was fake. Then I remembered that moss is real and does grow in real places such as TN...simply not in CA...and certainly not along any old stone wall! I took in the image of the vibrant green juxtaposed with the steely grey of the stone wall and returned to that image several times throughout the day. It was beautiful, really. I am not sure what to do with that image, but I would like to at least sneak over and take a picture of the moss and that way I can remember what it looks like for forever (and then I possibly could have moss in sunny SoCal).

On memories/images getting stuck in your head:
Is there a certain image that has fingerprinted itself onto your memory and you will never get rid of it? I have one. Its quite pleasant actually and I like to think about it. I once dated this boy who wore this cologne that drove me crazy; it was phenomenal. This memory involves this particular cologne. It was about a year ago and I was freezing in my dorm room (...we didnt have heat...our room was about 42 degrees all winter long. Burrr!). This particular young man had just gotten off work and came over to see me for just a quick minute before heading home for the day. I don't really remember much more other than the fact that I was wearing several layers of clothing and a bright red pea-coat. Every time I remember this image, this pea-coat stands out staunchly in my mind. The image is simply that he gave me this awesome hug, we talked for a minute, and then he left. The idea here is  that the image in my mind that has stuck is the red pea-coat and his cologne. Its strange what your brain will pick out in a moment of everyday life.

(this is a picture of me in my red pea-coat) 

To give you some more images, we did this little "exercise" in my creative writing class today that involved sitting and thinking of the best simile for the word/concept "white" and "black". We carried on in silence for about 3 minutes and I think everyone was amused with what their clever brains had come up with.
A few of my favourites that my classmates came up with were: "white as a nun's stomach", "white as memory" (...not one hundred percent sure what this means, but its one of those things that goes without explanation...abstract) and mine was "white as newly budding Magnolias".

Here are a few I came up with for black:
"As black as..."
A Nigerian's braids
A mourner's wail
A piano's "c" sharp
Misery
The bottom of the sea
A Dalmatian's spots
Fresh acrylic paint
A thief's motives
A sinner's soul
A button
A zipper
A black man's pupil
two-day-old coffee grounds
lake sludge
A tuxedo (or bow tie...I couldn't decide which one worked better in my mind...I like both, actually.)

So, if you are ever in need of similes for black or white, feel free to snag one of these. The hardest part of this assignment is that you first have to conjure up an image in your mind's eye before you can create a simile. Close your eyes and try it. (If someone can create an effective simile for cologne, I'll love you forever.)

Cheers!