Your Short Story

I hate it when I get a magnificent idea for a topic for this blog while I'm sitting in class and neglect to write it down. I suppose I could write it in the margin of my notes, but at the moment the idea comes to mind I always think that I absolutely need to find a way to sneak my little notebook out of my purse and write the idea in there. My thought journal organizes my thoughts, but man, I really need to learn to write things down wherever there is available space just for the sake of keeping it with me.

That said, welcome to my new topic. That is, what I was learning in my fascinating Writing of Fiction class at the time I thought of (and subsequently forgot) a topic for this blog. Short stories, and the necessity for conflict.

I'm not talking about a page long, I'm talking twenty-six words long. Twenty-six being the maximum number of words we were allowed to write for our story during class yesterday. Does this seem impossible? Well, if you're a writer, you're already thinking up multiple different sentences that tell a story. If not, well, let me explain.

Ernest Hemingway wrote this one: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

See the story? This one sentence all on its own brings the reader to ask so many questions. Most questions trying to answer "why were the baby shoes never worn?" Yes, the questions go unanswered, but there is still conflict, still tension. That is what it takes to make a story.

The child ran out into the street while chasing a ball. His mother looked up and let out a scream.

The dog chewed up my only pair of work shoes for my new job.

He leaned in a little closer and Sara could feel her breath catch, but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

There was so much traffic on the way home that the ice cream melted all over the trunk of the rental car.

These short lines tell a story. There is no climax, no resolution, yet there is story. The Post Secret website (www.postsecret.com) is filled with these short strings of words that tell stories on post cards sent anonymously. As a society, we have become people who think of our life situations in the form of short story.

Status update: My car battery died last night when I closed for work. Fml.

Anyone with any form of social networking, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc have become accustomed to these little stories. Everyone has become an author, sometimes only of their own stories. We're all writers, even if the traditional conventions of "being a writer" aren't present.

I find the interconnected relationships of our minds simply fascinating. We are so many, yet we are bound to one another by experience, tendency, and desire.

Grown-up Raspberry Lemonade

If you know me well, you know I love making up on-the-spot recipes with whatever I have laying around. I love it with the intensity of one thousand burning suns.

Okay, maybe not that much. But who doesn't enjoy the feeling of creating? Making new things, broadening horizons, expanding the palette?

Well, this one doesn't exactly "expand the palette", but it did have me beaming. It also turned my husband into a drink-stealing ninja.

Grown-up Raspberry Lemonade

Hubs really wanted pop yesterday (Minnesotans say, "pop"), so we went and got some 25 cent drink at Rainbow. Oh, cheap but close-to-the-real-thing sodas, how I equally love and loath your existence! 

Being not much of a pop drinker, I was grateful for his buying me one, but also had to figure out what to do with it to make it, well, something I actually wanted to consume. This, this lovely, delicious, sweet, mouth-watering treat of a drink, was the result.

Surely this will be in heaven. Minus the cheapie soda.

Friends, I tell you. If you're an enjoyer of the occasional alcoholic beverage, you must try this drink. Especially if you like lemonades! You owe yourself this favor. And this lemonade... it's all grown up.

And the recipe is:

Grown-up Raspberry Lemonade

1 can of carbonated lemon-lime drink (sprite, 7-up, Sierra Mist, what have you)

1/2 packet Crystal Light raspberry lemonade

1/2 tbsp rum

Combine and stir.

Add a slice of lemon and you've got yourself your own little party for one!

I'll be honest, here. I didn't use the whole can of pop. The whole contents wouldn't fit in the glass, and I just couldn't leave one sip in there all by its lonesome. It probably wouldn't make a difference to add the rest, though.

Happy weekend! Please drink responsibly.

Real Conversations I've had with My Husband 8/11/12

 Ok, friends, I know you love these, so here you go. It's hard to keep track of our ridiculous conversations word-for-word, but when I get the chance I put them down as quickly as I can so I don't forget them. So here are more "Real Conversations I've had with My Husband". I hope you have a good laugh -- we sure did.

Mr. "Wonderful' wasn't listening while I was talking one night, so when he tried to reiterate what I had said he got it totally wrong, and realized he was caught. He made a face, so I laughed and asked him, "Why are you so weird?" as I crawled into his chair to cuddle with him while picking on him.

"Because I'm weird," was his reply.

"You're weird because you're weird?" I asked.

"Yup!" he yelled and hugged me closer, nuzzling the side of my face.

I made some happy gurgle-type noises, and he said, "Oh good, happy gibberish!" and snuggled me again.

I know I just don't say this enough, but this is what I live with, people! We really do have fun.

I'm not the only one fluent in gibberish, though. Another day, after watching a favorite television show, I turned to him, snuggled up close, and gave him a loving smile. It was a pretty sappy moment, and he started dramatically exclaiming, "Oh, Bre. Oh, Bre. Oh, Bre, oh Bre!" and then he made a noise that was sort of like, "RoaaAaaaugh!"

I looked at him, laughing, and asked, "What?!" to which his reply was, "Gremlin."

Then he said, "For my next impression: pterodactyl." And putting his hand in his mouth, made a noise close to "Roararargh!" Which made us both laugh.

"And for my next," he said, trying not to laugh, "Jaguar velociraptor! Aaaaar *gag*" And we laughed even harder.

And lastly, he ended with one more noise, which sounded very much like all the others, "aaaaaauraugh!" When I asked him what that one was, he added very simply, "Baby." We laughed our hardest after this one in particular.

When this was all done, I opened up the computer, and he knew without asking that all this ridiculousness was going on my blog, so he left the room in a huff. But in a kind of humorous huff. He's not mad, though maybe a tad embarrassed. As he should be.

He is so goofy and I love him for it. So much.

Nothing In Particular

As I await this month's date night to begin, I am anxious, bored, and in quite a good mood. I have spent a lot of time on Facebook and Pinterest today, and I have run out of lazy things to entertain me. Being as this is more work than updating my status and stalking people's interests, and less work than writing a novel, here I am.

And here is a short list of random things I have on my mind right now:

-My husband is listening to the blues, and I like it.
-I am wearing a mini-skirt with nowhere special to go. No, this is not something I wear in public. It's a leftover from high school and I pulled it out tonight for entertainment purposes only. Hey, if the mini-skirt fits...
-Date night starts in 12 minutes!
-We have $20 worth of retro candy and fine chocolates waiting to be delved into on the counter.
-My hair has gotten SUPER long! It's pretty much past time for a hair cut, and I still don't want to go get a trim.
-My female half of the E.L.'s just called me =) I can't wait to see them both tomorrow!
-I have to try not to spend any money while at the Mall of America tomorrow =S
-That little face looks more like it has a mustache than being frazzled.
-I need to redo my nails, which is unfortunate, because I really like the gray nails with yellow tips that I'm rocking right now.
-I have to get up early every weekday this summer to help teach summer school. That's okay, though, because I'll be getting paid!!
-Someday, I should take some pictures of things and upload them for my posts.
-Someday, when I have pictures on my posts, I should put a few of them on Pinterest. Because I have good ideas that should be shared. At least sometimes. Right?

Okay, I am now exhausting myself with peppiness. No worries, though, soon I will have enough sugar in my system to put me in a diabetic coma. Gee I sure hope I don't end up with cavities and diabetes after tonight!