Roughin' It, Reading Readily, and R-Twork

One of the pleasures of a close relationship, romantic or otherwise, is that you get to open yourself up to a whole new set of experiences that you wouldn't necessarily seek out on your own. Friends and family have left their mark by introducing me to some great artists or works of art (I learned a whole lot about Alfred Hitchcock when I tagged along for Chrissie's classes at USC), fun activities (I was introduced to wine tasting by my good friend Tiffany), and interesting places (I first encountered Barnsdall Art Park when I accompanied my sister to a play there).

So, it is no surprise that I have picked up a few new hobbies from Andy. Most obviously, I have been camping regularly over the past three months, visiting sites all around the Los Angeles area.

Until this year, I had not gone camping since I was a student at Marlborough and the school took us on field trips to Catalina, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Marin, and Yosemite. I didn't get the "camping bug" at that point, possibly because, in my high school days, I was more averse to the outdoors, less willing to put up with the unexpected, and a bit more easily winded by outdoor activities. Plus, camping with ninety other students and a handful of chaperones is a fundamentally different experience from going in a small group, where a person is more likely to set her own pace and follow her own agenda.

2012 is a Year of Change

After a bit of a journaling hiatus, I figured that I would jump back in and return to writing about my life.

2012 is already shaping up to be a memorable year, in ways that are both exciting and challenging. Though it is unclear where I will be by December, it'll be fairly different than where I was this January, which is not true of many, or most, years.

Cookies Aplenty

I hosted my third annual cookie party on December 3. The past two years, I made Snickerdoodles, but this year, I upped the ante with two new and very different recipes: Chocolate Mint and Anise Sesame. The recipes were fun to make, and turned out well. Still, I am always surprised by how much butter and sugar goes into these things.

I found both of these recipes using the Epicurious iPhone App, which I find to be an invaluable tool when I want to try and make something to eat.

Writing Workshop Assignment #6: At Arms’ Length

For this week's assignment, our teacher had the class members fill out two pieces of paper: one with a job title, and one with a slightly unusual activity. Everyone put their pieces of paper in two separate piles, and drew a job and activity from the pile. The assignment was to craft a story in which the protagonist holds the job described, and the story ends with the activity described.

The cards I drew:

• Deli Clerk
• Massages a lover's back (actually, the card originally read "pops pimples off a lover's back," but I took some liberties)

One of the benefits of writing for a class is that it inspires you to write outside your comfort zone, or at least to write stories that you wouldn't write if left to your own devices. I don't know that I'd put this story together on my own, but I had fun working on it.

I sometimes feel slightly self-conscious if I'm writing about a romantic couple. It feels almost like writing science fiction for an audience of space aliens; even if the story makes sense to my eyes, I worry that it is ridiculous in a way that I can't perceive. But, I suppose that's true of anybody writing a story that is a bit outside of their own experience, and most good writers find ways of understanding outside perspectives and experiences in an authentic way.

Writing Workshop Assignment #5: For the Road

This week's assignment:

Please read The Sock. Then, choosing your own object, write your own story, using that object to explain and/or reflect on the feelings your narrator has for someone else. In The Sock, Lydia Davis looks at the sock and is reminded of many things about her former husband.....using her example, write your own. If that doesn't make sense, send me an email and I can explain further.

Whatever your object of choice, let us see, taste, smell, hear, feel what the narrator feels as he or she reflects. See how much characterization you can fit in, too, using the techniques of action, speech, image, and thought... You'll probably note that The Sock is not heavy on plot. That's the way it is with almost all of Davis' stories. She's not at all a conventional writer.

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Like many people, I sometimes reflect on my dependence on cars, and I know that I feel deprived when I cannot drive for some reason (because I'm carpooling or the car is being fixed) and resistant at times when I shouldn't be driving (because the car needs to be fixed or because I am tired). Given that even a temporary loss of driving ability can be difficult, I thought it would be interesting to meditate on feelings that might arise when one permanently losing his or her ability to drive.

By the time I started driving, I was able to rely on Internet printouts (now, of course, I can map things out using my phone), so I never used a Thomas Guide (I recall getting a smaller road atlas as a gift, though). Still, I do recall my mom using one extensively during junior high and high school, especially when I would tag around for my sister's auditions, which took place all around town.

A side note: In the original version of the story, the car was originally a Civic. I changed it per the suggestion of some of my classmates.

Writing Workshop Assignment #4: The Jackson Valley Maniac

This week's assignment:

You have two choices. Write either a story about growing up, like Mona Simpson did (we also read Reunion, which has this same subject), using two characters who are thrown together by some sort of circumstance. Two characters ONLY (although you can have an "extra" like the waiter or the car wash kid as in Simpson's story). Or use the following prompt to write a story:

Two characters are stuck on an elevator. One is seriously irritating. The other is normal. Write a story or a scene (decide which) in which we are shown how the one character irritates the other. 

For either of these, try to give us the details that matter. Use concrete details--the ones that appeal to our senses (see, touch, hear, taste, smell). Characterize your characters by their actions, by the way they look, by the things they say. Show, don't tell. Although "show, don't tell" isn't always appropriate, try to think about it while writing.

I went with the first assignment. I've been thinking of my own tendency to get "stuck in my head" sometimes, and I thought that might provide a good basis for a "coming of age" story. As an added bonus, I was able to put together something that was Halloween-appropriate.

Writing Workshop Assignment #3: Jared and Phoebe

This week's assignment:
Using the characters below (or come up with your own character - we are looking for cliché characters that we will make unique through characterization), write a scene individualizing your character through particular details that will make us sympathize and/or identify with him or her. Do this for two characters.

• An absent-minded professor
• A lazy laborer
• An aging film star
• A domineering wife
• Her timid husband
• A tyrannical boss
• A staggering drunk

To make the assignment more fun, I tried to create characters that fit the descriptions but were a few steps removed from the obvious archetypes (e.g. Norma Desmond or Albert Einstein).