Blog Announcement

THIS MAY BE MY FINAL POST HERE AT SISTERSGRIMM-CLARE.

I have made the decision to switch this blog over to a Tumblr.

Why? 

1. Tumblr has a larger user-base, and I admit that I would like more people to be able to read my blog. 

2. A lot of my close friends use Tumblr and it would make it easier for me to keep in touch with them. 

3. Tumblr is much easier to use. It's three times faster for me to log in and out of, and has a lot of useful features that Blogger can't facilitate.

I'm sad to say that it won't look the same or run the same way as this blog, just because of the dramatically different dynamics of Tumblr and Blogger. 

But I will still be posting the same content, if not more content then I do now (see #3). And, yes, this will include more of my pictures from Rome. This new Tumblr is not going to be like the one I deleted because it was sucking too much of my life away. No, sir. 

I will keep this blog to use as an archive, and while I'm happy to be switching to format that works better for me, I'll miss this. We've been together since 2010. Blogging has become very important to me, and keeps me motivated to write and create new things to share with people. 

I hope that you'll keep checking in at my new blog: PutYouInABook.

Love and God bless - Let's make 2014 our best year yet! 

- Clare

Christmas 2013 - The Reason for My Hope

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On December 14th, I celebrated my 19th birthday. It was an amazing day, especially because I was able to spend it with my boyfriend and his family. 

But I received a special blessing on my birthday this year while I was at Mass that night. I was praying, reflecting on Advent, how we are waiting, not only to celebrate Christ's birth, but also anticipating Him coming again. 

And I suddenly realized: "This is why we have any hope in this world."

If Jesus had not come, and if He does not return, we are helpless. We have no hope for a future. We are only living for ourselves in the moment - nothing matters without the redemption that comes from Jesus, our Emmanuel. 

I had great peace in reflecting on the fact that God sent His only son to be needy and poor - to be an infant - to redeem us in our fallen humanity. 

I don't know if I'll have any more updates until after I am back from Rome in January, so I hope that you are filled with the Spirit of Christmas, and the joy of the Christ Child, today, and all throughout the new year. 

See you in 2014 - and, rejoice, for unto us is born a Savior! 

"Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope."

1 Peter 3: 15

Photo Edits 11/27/13

Click to view larger. All editing done at PicMonkey.com

"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

-Ernest Hemingway

Photo taken by my lovely sister Terese.

Houghton Falls, Washburn, WI. Photo taken by my grandmother.

Orvietto, Italy. Photo taken by Dawn V. 

Oh she could've been mine

but we ran out of summertime.

Out of Summertime - Scotty McCreary

The perfect words

never crossed my mind

'cause there was nothing in there

but you

Signal Fire - Snow Patrol

Photo taken by my sister Meg

when you were naive

you were so invincible

Soldier - Goo Goo Dolls

your skin

oh yeah

your skin and bones

turn in 

to something beautiful

Yellow - Coldplay

Photo taken by Terese

among my frivolous thoughts

i believe 

there are beautiful things

seen by the astronauts

Angels - Owl City

Photo taken by Meg

IDEAS

I found a quote from Neil Gaiman yesterday:

I like Neil Gaiman's answer, but even more so, I like the question. Where do you get ideas? 

That's a rather good question.

I've talked to a lot of people who are impressed by the fact that I like to write, and they say something along the lines of: "I want to write a book, but I don't have any good ideas,"

The truth may be that I am not exactly a helpful person, because I always say that EVERYONE has ideas, some people just don't know how to get them out of their heads. 

I've always had ideas. I remember when I couldn't read, and I ignored words because they meant nothing to me, I would sit in a very small corner between the fridge and the cupboard in my family's kitchen with the biggest picture book we had. I would sit and I would quietly say what I thought the characters in the pictures were saying - complete with different voices for each character. I was making up stories. I was full of ideas. 

That's never gone away; it's gotten stronger. I get ideas from many places. These are the one's off the top of my head...

1. In the shower (I don't know why, but showers are amazing for ideas).

2. Folding laundry (again...don't know why...).

3. Washing dishes (SERIOUSLY. I love washing dishes when I'm in a creative rut.).

4. Song lyrics (Who else has written an entire novel based off one song?).

5. Quotes.

6. Pictures.

7. Listening to people talk about their lives.* 

8. Books.

9. Long walks outside.

10. Single words.

11. Scenes from movies.

12. Memories.

13. * Heck, PEOPLE in general. 

Every new flower is a story. Every new song is an adventure. Ideas are everywhere. There is no limit to imagination. An idea can come from absolutely anything. I got a story idea from sea monkeys once. I have yet to write that book, but the idea seriously came from sea monkeys. 

I love ideas. They blossom from cracks in sidewalks. I once stood on a very small manhole cover labeled WATER and said, "This looks like it could be a time machine,"

See? An idea.

I have this terrible desire to make myself a T-shirt that says "I'LL PUT YOU IN A BOOK SOMEDAY" because every new person is a new idea, who could eventually wind up in another idea, and become a story. 

It's very true, what Mr. Gaiman says. Ideas do sometimes just come together like magic in an author's mind. But there's more to it than that. 

Ideas are everywhere. You just have to notice them. 

Pain and Greatness

This past Monday night, I couldn't sleep. Aside from having drank a large cup of espresso (don't do it), something had happened that was just making me feel so anxious and worried, and I had spent the whole evening trying to cover up that painful feeling of uncertainty. 

It wasn't even a big or important thing that happened. It was just that someone had not said something I expected them to, and it made me wonder if I'd done something wrong. But my heart is very sensitive, and that one little thing brought on all the things that had been bothering me for the past few weeks. 

When it rains, it pours. 

So I was lying in bed, trying to think of creative ways to numb the ache in my heart. And that was when God invited me not to run from my suffering, but to 'enter into it'. 

This is something I've been trying to wrap my head around ever since I wrote a very long, in depth paper on redemptive suffering. I started really wondering about pain, and how our pain can lead to healing. 

But, when we ARE in pain, the world tells us that the answer is to numb the pain, cover the pain up, make the pain GO AWAY. I believe that no one sets out to suffer. Sometimes people use physical pain to escape the deeper emotional and spiritual pain, but no one WANTS to suffer. That's why we have Tylenol and Advil, right? 

In contrast to what the world tells us, God tells us that we must not run from pain. We must truly experience pain by entering into it. We need to go into it and FEEL it, and see where its coming from. 

Pain, like fear, never goes away until you treat the cause of it. 

So I entered in. I let myself ask, "Why is this bothering me? Why would it be so painful if this thing I'm afraid of happened? Why am I trying to cover it up? And what about all these other things?"

I let myself cry, and I admitted to God, "I need You. I don't know how to make this go away. I don't know how to feel better. I don't know how to fix all these wounds and broken parts in me,"

I don't like pain. Especially emotional and spiritual pain. I avoid pain in ALL its ugly forms wherever I can. Most of all, I avoid things that scare me, because fear is more painful than anything else. 

The world tells me that's exactly what I should do. I should never just let pain happen. I should try and avoid it, and when it comes, I should cover it up right away. 

But, from now on, I am going to make every effort not to run from pain. Monday night was rough. I didn't want to enter into the labrinth of painful fears and wounds in my heart. It hurt, and I wanted to run away from it. 

However, after I'd just sat with the pain for a little while, I saw that it was OKAY to suffer. In fact, it was good to suffer in that particular moment. By not running away from it, by facing it, I was able to accept it. That acceptance made it much easier to bear, and I had a sense that everything would be alright. 

I remembered that pain goes away. If we face it, it has an end. 

Suffering is hard. It's painful. It's difficult to reconcile with what we believe about God's love for us. It's embarrassing to be vulnerable in our pain to others. It's uncomfortable. 

But Christ Himself suffered in the worst way in all of human history, so I will not run away from suffering anymore. I will unite my suffering with His. 

Because we were made for greatness, not comfort. 

Halloween 2013

On Halloween this year, I had to work all day. My boss told me I could dress up, so I was trying to figure out a good costume. I was originally going to be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, but I had no sparkly red shoes. Without the shoes, that costume wasn't going to fly.

My second choice was Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, but it turns out dresses as ugly as that are REALLY hard to find.

So, at the very last minute, I raided my closet and came up with this.

edited with PicMonkey

 TA - DA! 

I was Eliza Doolittle! 

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And, as it turned out, I was the only one who dressed up, but it was still a lot of fun. The only bad part was the shoes I decided to wear were killing me two hours into my eight hour shift. 

And, yes, I chose to dress up as Eliza with the full knowledge that absolutely NO ONE was going to know who I was. But I was actually wrong; one woman knew immediately who I was. That was pretty cool. But among the other guesses I got:

2 people guessed I was Annie.

3 people thought I was Mary Poppins.

1 guy I work with thought I was someone from Fiddler on the Roof.

1 person guessed 'random homeless person'. Thanks.

And 1 person thought I was a hobo.

I find it interesting that the majority of the guesses were characters from a musical. That made me very happy. I was unmistakably from a musical, the only question was which musical.

For those of you (and by this, Steve, yes, I am talking about you) who don't know who Eliza Doolittle is or where she is from, here's my personal favorite song from the musical My Fair Lady, Wouldn't it Be Loverly.

Eliza is one of my top musical heroines for three reasons: 

1. She was played by Audrey Hepburn for the 1964 movie, and by Julie Andrews in the original Broadway production. 

That reason could stand on it's own. I mean, really. Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews. Enough said. But I do have two more reasons...

2. Eliza isn't a perfect character by any means. She's weird. She can be downright irritating. But she has a strength inside her that makes me love her. She's willing to work for what she wants, and she knows she has dignity and worth, even if she's just a 'poor flower girl'. When she's been 'made into a lady' by Professor Henry Higgins, she says something so profound.

She sums up the truth, that she may very well have been better off selling flowers in the streets:

"I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. 

Now you've made a lady of me, I'm not fit to sell anything else," 

This realization helps her choose that she, herself, and the dignity she possesses, are more useful and important to her than being a lady, or being accepted by high society.

3. She loves Henry Higgins even though he's obnoxious, rude, and abrasive. She brings out the best in Higgins. I love that. I love that she doesn't care whether or not being in love is perfect and rosy for her. She just loves. *

My mom told me I should talk in a cockney accent all day, but I didn't think I could pull it off. Maybe another year. When I'm not at work all day.

Well, Happy Halloween 2013!

*I'm not 100% certain that she doesn't end up with Freddy and not Higgins. I found a synopsis of the movie with a note at the end suggesting that in the original play by George Bernard Shaw, she married Freddy. But in the movie, she pretty much dumps him. Either way, it doesn't negate my point. Eliza is capable of loving even the most unlovable of people. 

"Totus Tuus Sum, Maria"

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This past Sunday, I made a total consecration to Jesus through Mary. Who wouldn't want to be Mary's best friend, once you get to know her?

This was very important to me, because Marian Consecration is said to be the "fastest, easiest, and surest" way of becoming a saint. I talked about how much I desire to be a saint in my post The Biggest Dream back in July of 2012. 

Becoming a saint is never easy, but, hopefully, Mary can make it easier for me. 

"Totus Tuus Sum, Maria"

I am totally yours, Mary, Mother of our Redeemer. 

Virgin of God, gracious Virgin, Mother of the Savior of the world. 

I belong to you entirely. 

All that I possess is yours. 

I take you into everything that is mine. 

Lend me your heart, O Mary. 

Amen.

Favorite Color - PERFORMANCE POST

Molly K. (Sophie) kissing Aidan D. (Thomas)

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Holy smokes. I just got back yesterday from what has now taken the honored spot of 'most amazing thing that's happened to me' in my life.

I got to attend both performances, Friday and Saturday, of the One Act Play Festival at the Words Players theater in Rochester, Minnesota.

RECAP:
As those who read my blog know, I wrote a short play called Favorite Color about a girl who tries to teach a blind boy about color through senses other than sight. It was so much fun, and I loved the story. Despite some rather crushing criticism, I couldn't be convinced that it wasn't beautiful, and I submitted it to Words Players, hoping they would choose it for the One Act Plays.

Not long after submitting Favorite Color, I learned that Words Players might be closing. I was upset at the thought of the theater closing down, and not actually because that would mean my play would never have a chance of being seen on a stage.

No - I was upset because, for me, it was a truly devastating thought that an organization as special and unique as Northland Words might be disappearing from the world. Fortunately, through donations, support, and prayers, the theater was able to stay open and the One Act Play festival would go on.

I learned that my play had been selected while I was at work on September 9th, 2013.

This past Friday, my Dad drove me to Rochester for the opening night of the One Act Plays...of my play.

I got to meet the most incredible people as soon as I walked into the theater. One of my fellow playwrights, a man named John Byrne, greeted me and immediately asked me about my play. It's cool and unusual for me to meet someone and have them just understand this weird thing that I did: write words for actors to repeat and walk around to.

Everyone was happy to see me - surprisingly so. I really did not expect so many people - directors, actors, audience members, staff - to approach me and tell me how happy they were that I came. I knew or recognized quite a few people from previous times that I'd been there, and for some reason I always feel at home when I walk into that place.

I was also surprised by the enthusiastic response of my family and friends who were there. My grandparents, my godfather, and my boyfriend's mom, grandma, and younger siblings came. The second night, my mom and all but 3 of my siblings came. It was so awesome to be able to share it with them.

My play was the second one performed both nights, and I cannot even express how perfect the cast was. A friend of mine, Abby, played the mother (or, in the case of the second performance, sister) character, which I couldn't have been happier about. I've known her as long as I've known Words Players, and it really was a blessing for her to be a part of it. Sophie Rood, my feisty female protagonist, was played by a wonderful young lady named Molly. Molly is seriously like Sophie come to life - she was absolutely, spot-on perfect. Thomas White was played by Aidan, and he made the character so believable. It was almost like watching a real conversation between two people.

And the strangest thing was, I had never before been able to imagine my play actually being performed. I had never been part of theater in any big way before, so it seemed to me that Favorite Color could never smoothly transition from words on a page to a performance. But it did. It was beautiful.

I don't want to sound pompous, but, of all seven plays, mine was my favorite. I enjoyed mine the most. Not just because I wrote it, but because the actors just ran with it and made it so completely delightful. I enjoyed seeing the play I had written really come to life.

I got to meet the cast of my play, and the young lady who directed it. It was like meeting long-lost friends. I immediately loved all of them, because they were part of something I had made. The second performance had a few changes, because after the first night, we talked about some of the ideas they'd had - they thought about changing Abby's character from the mother to the sister, so that she could be texting while she was supposed to be leading Thomas safely through the park. I told them I would love to see that, so on Saturday night, they did it.

Abby, Aidan, Valerie, Molly, and I.

There is so much more. So much. This was the greatest experience and biggest blessing of my life. I can't fit it all in one blog post; the things that were said and all the emotions I felt. And it really wasn't even that big of a deal; I wrote an 8 minute play, three kids performed it twice, and I just so happened to be there. 

But, when I had been told that my play was terrible, and I was sitting in front of my laptop, trying to weigh the criticism I'd received and trying to decide whether or not to scrap the whole thing, there was something that I asked God for very specifically. I asked that it would not get accepted by Words Players unless it would bring Him glory and honor. I said, "This is not mine, this is Yours. I give it to You." And if there was one thing that this play was, to me, and to so many people, it was a blessing. I have never felt so blessed by an experience before, and I know that is because my prayer was answered. My play brought God glory and honor in some small way, and that makes it a big deal. At least to me.

Sometime last year, I wrote these words on the top of a page in my writing notebook:

It may not change the world, 

but it changes you.

I wasn't even sure what I meant by this, until now. My play, and the experience of having it chosen and performed, may not have changed the world. But it has changed me. It has rekindled a fire in me that I was letting die out. It has shown me the power of completing something, and being brave enough to send it out into the world, and see what comes back.

If you would like to see my play, you can! The second performance was captured on tape and posted online. 

Favorite Color, Saturday night performance.

Also, if you would like to watch the Talk Back discussion I took part in after the performance, it is here. 

I hope you enjoy it - let me know! 

The question people have been asking me since Friday night is this: will I keep writing plays?

Absolutely. I may never stop. I never thought of having plays performed as a form of publication, but now I think it may be the best form. When a book gets published, everyone reads the same words. When a play is performed, every performance is unique. Little things are always new and better. I know of at least one woman who might die of joy if I wrote a play for the homeschool group my siblings are in, so that might be a good place to start. 

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Abby and I, grinning because we're playwrights and we know it.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this in any way at all. 

Thank you Dad for being my biggest fan. Thank you Dad, Mom, and Anna for your editing and critiquing. Thank you Amy for being excited for me and with me. Thank you Steve for believing in me. Thank you Words Players for choosing my play. Thank you Valerie for directing it. Thank you Molly for being the best Sophie I could ask for. Thank you Aidan for being a perfect Thomas. Thank you Abby for being willing to take the role of mother/sister when someone else dropped out, and for being such a good friend. Thank you to Tim and Juliet for coming when I never imagined you would. Thank you Terri, Sandy, Maggie and Joe, for coming even though I'm just your son/grandson/brother's girlfriend. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for coming and telling me my play was the best, even if it wasn't true. Thank you Catherine for coming all the way from West Saint Paul just for my play. Thank you Mom for coming all the way from home. Thank you Meg, for coming even though it was crazy inconvenient. Thank you Joe, Terese, and Ella for being so patient while I chatted till way past your bedtime. Thank you Daved Driscoll for being so generous with your time and opening up many doors for me to pray about. Thank you to everyone who went out of their way to tell me they loved it. Thank you to everyone whose name I may have forgotten, because I have not forgotten you. 

And thank you, for all your prayers and support. It means so much. 

Photo Edits 9/22/13

~ click to see larger ~

I'm boarding up the windows

locking up my heart

it's like every time the wind blows

I feel it tearing us apart

Hurricane - Bridgit Mendler

stop thinking about

the easy way out

there's no need to

go and blow the candle out

Lullaby - Nickelback

I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naive

Superman - Five for Fighting

All photos taken by myself or my younger sister (thank you for putting up with me, Meg!)

Edited using PicMonkey

Neglecting the Gift

* I know my last post was really deep, too, but these things needed to be said. 

Maybe I'll make a post about my boyfriend tomorrow to lighten things up.

You never know.

So I'm sitting on my bed, reading the daily readings. I start with the First Reading, because, obviously, that's the order things go in. I flip to 1 Timothy 4, and read verses 12-16.

Right there in the middle. Underlined with the dark black pen.

Do not neglect the gift you have. 

This line is very convicting for me. Unlike Timothy, my gifts weren't conferred on me through 'prophetic word' or by 'the imposition of hands' (at least, not that I know of...). My gifts are the garden variety, I suppose. I write, I draw, I paint, I take pictures, I sew, I knit, I -

- no, wait.

I talk about doing those things. 

I've had several very long, very irritatingly true conversations with my boyfriend about the fact that I never finish things that I write, and that's pretty much because I just...don't write.

I talk about a lot of things, but I mostly do the following things, which are neither constructive, nor do they make me truly happy:

1. Go on the internet/computer (a lot).

2. Eat.

3. Complain.

I know I'm far from being the only young adult/teenager who suffers from this horrible condition of procrastination and mediocrity, while at the same time dying to be amazing and productive. 

But, as Spider Man always says no matter how many times they retell his tragic story through animation and live-action movies: "With great power comes great responsibility."

 #secondfavoritechildhoodsuperhero

Translation: Spider Man's power was his 'gift'. 

So, too, with OUR great gifts, come great responsibilities. 

And its not exactly very responsible to neglect something only you have the ability to do, right? 

I ask you - what if Spider Man had sat around all the time watching movies instead of crawling up walls and fighting crime? 

Confession time:

I neglect my gifts. 

I shamelessly let them sit around, gathering dust in my closet and under my bed, because creating things and practicing things and DOING things - well, that takes work. And my natural, sinful inclination towards laziness and selfishness makes me want to avoid the work of exercising my gifts and just sit around doing nothing instead. 

I know better than anyone that doing nothing makes me unhappy. It makes me sick. It makes me feel genuinely repulsed towards myself. Because I was not made to do nothing; I was given a specific and very unique set of gifts that will enable me to do, quite literally, EVERYTHING I was put on this earth TO do. 

#mindblown

And I have first-hand evidence of how freaking AWESOME doing things can be.

I get to see a play that I WROTE being PERFORMED next month! I'm going to have to sit in the audience with a sock shoved in my mouth or something because if no one else laughs, I'll feel like an idiot. But this immense, beautiful blessing has only been given to me by God because I put in the work and effort to USE MY GIFT and write a short play. 

I am going to go back to Italy after only two years! Because I'm working my butt of to make enough money to go, and because I want to experience more of it. 

When we neglect our gifts, we are harming ourselves more than anything else. We'll never be truly happy. But at the same time, we are robbing the world of something only we can do/be. When we write our gifts off as hobbies (GUILTY), we are eliminating the possibility of ever letting the world see the glory of God in what He can do through us. 

My prayer in the midst of all these reflections is that I would stop neglecting my gifts. I pray that I would see how precious my time and talents are, and how quickly they will be gone if I neglect them. I spent the last two days downright sad and being very mean to myself, because, doing nothing, I was left feeling repulsed with myself. 

And that's not to say that we are only good if we are productive. That would suck. But it IS to say that because we are capable of letting God do great things through us, we should. 

It is the only responsible thing to do with these gifts we are empowered with - to use them, and to use them for the greater good, which only God can define. 

In the spirit of doing/creating things - I made this last night. I haven't had time with my suddenly very busy work schedule to make anything actually impressive, but I did have time to do some photo-editing with some song lyrics I really like. 

I am flawed

but I am cleaning up so well

I am seeing in me now

the things you swore

you saw yourself

Vindicated - Dashboard Confessional

Edited with my good friend PicMonkey.

(click to see larger)

God bless your weekend; use your gifts!

Beneath Your Beautiful - Labrinth feat. Emeli Sandé

This is my current favorite song. I have four versions of it pinned to my Music board on Pinterest. I know all the words. I have read very deep meaning into it that might not have been intended by the song's author.

Sometimes,  I don't feel good enough for myself, so I don't believe I'm good enough for someone else. So I put on masks, and build walls. I hide my imperfections behind my 'beautiful'...until I find someone who insists that they see beneath it.

= 

This song.

You tell all the boys "No"
Makes you feel good, yeah.
I know you're out of my league
But that won't scare me away, oh, no

You've carried on so long,
You couldn't stop if you tried it.
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it,
But I'm gonna try.

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?
Would you let me see beneath your perfect?
Take it off now, girl, take it off now, girl
I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?

You let all the girls go
Makes you feel good, don't it?
Behind your Broadway show
I heard a boy say, "Please, don't hurt me"

You've carried on so long,
You couldn't stop if you tried it.
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it,
But I'm gonna try.

(Chorus)

I'm gonna climb on top your ivory tower
I'll hold your hand and then we'll jump right out
We'll be falling, falling but that's OK
'Cause I'll be right here
I just wanna know...

(Chorus)

!!SHORT PLAY UPDATE!!

I was at work today when I was told I had a phone call. I almost never get calls at work, so I was curious. It was my mother. She apologized for bothering me while I was working (Mom, you should know I am NEVER going to be annoyed at you for breaking up the monotony of my shifts, I promise!), but an e-mail had just come in from Words Players. 

My play, Favorite Color, has been selected for the One Act Play Festival, October 11th and 12th at 7pm. Out of many plays submitted from all over the United States, mine is one of SEVEN that was chosen.

If you think I'm freaking out, you are absolutely right.

I have never had anything I've written published before, and this totally counts as publication in my book. REAL LIVE PEOPLE are going to perform my play in front of a REAL LIVE AUDIENCE.

source

I'm just so happy and honestly very SHOCKED that my play was chosen. I received some very negative feedback about it, but I made the choice to preserve it the way it was and trust that the beauty I saw in it would be evident to other people. 

Above all, I am so grateful to God for this immense blessing and honor, and I only hope that everyone who sees my play will be blessed by it. 

What a great way to start the week, right?

External Processing

Flannery O'Connor must have processed everything externally, too. 

Happy Wednesday!

Bring Me the Night

There isn't an excuse for this level of blog neglect. There just isn't. And unfortunately, the heat index in my area is over 100 degrees, so I'm not exactly full of energy and ideas for amazing blog posts. So I'll stick with something easy and entertaining: song post! 

Two weeks ago, I found this song on Youtube due to the fact that I frequently look at Kurt Hugo Schneider's page because he produces some fantastic music. I love Kina Grannis' voice, so I was delighted to see she is featured in Sam Tsui's newest single, Bring Me the Night. Aside from the fact that it is a beautiful song, it is very relevant to my life. When the person you love most is 1,000 miles away, this kind of thing can be very relatable. 

Measuring days in the spaces between our goodbyes
Learning to wait through the endless parade
Of our same old see-you-next-time's
But when I close my eyes, the miles melt away
Like you're here in my arms at the end of the day

So bring me the night, send out the stars
Cause when I'm dreaming we don't seem so far
Darken the sky, and light up the moon
So that somehow you'll be here with me soon
Bring me the night
Bring me the night
That brings me to you
You

Long-Overdue Updates

Shame on me: 2 whole weeks since I last posted!

I feel terrible for neglecting this blog the way I have. I was sitting here, trying to think of something worthwhile to post about, and I realized there are a couple things I should do some recap on.

So...

1. NaNoWriMo! I am so pumped for this year. I have officially decided that, since I have already done/won three years in a row, I am going to aim for between 70k and 80k as a personal goal. Crazy, I know, but I'm excited. Flower and Thorn has a lot of potential to be an excellent story. I have, as of right now, found 'models' for my three main characters, and finally named a very important character. Unfortunately, I realized that I have a character who I was planning on naming Todd and a character who MUST be named Tom. I have to decide whether or not I can handle having a Todd and a Tom in the same story. These kinds of things are trivial, though; what's important is that I have asked God for the grace to have this story give glory to Him.

2.  My short play! As some of you may recall, it was titled 'Favorite Color' and was about a girl trying to describe color to a blind boy. I finished it and was extremely proud of it, and sent it off to Words Players in Rochester, MN. However, the Northland Words Community Theater has been in some financial struggles for years now, and they were finally seriously considering closing the theater down entirely. This, obviously, meant my play might never even receive consideration. However, the theater has received quite a bit of financial support and enthusiastic aid to keep its doors open, and they have decided to continue, even if at a smaller scale. As of right now, the short plays festival (which my play would be part of if they chose it) has been postponed. I haven't heard anything from the theater, but I'm keeping my hopes up. I love Words Players, and it would be an honor to have them perform my play.

Thanks for coming back to my blog - I will post more updates more often now, I promise!

Hope you enjoy this new week.

God Bless.

Early Birdie

As miraculous as it may seem, I had never heard this Owl City song before this evening.

-

I'd ask but we don't know
How far these interstates go
Or how deep the city routes go down
In chilly subdepth railways
The weathered concrete stairways
Provide me with the means of getting home
If I ever leave.



_

NaNoWriMo 2013!

source

I know what you're thinking:

"Great gravy, its only July! November is over three months away! And besides, you've won NaNoWriMo THREE TIMES already! What business do you have doing it a FOURTH year!?"

I answer you:

1. Its never too early to start trying to make this NaNo better than the last NaNo.

2. Winning doesn't mean I was proud of my completed project.

3. I love NaNoWriMo. I will do it every year that I possibly can for the rest of my life.


I even have an idea I'm already tossing around. My working title for it is Flower and Thorn. It's based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale Thumbelina, but it would be a modern retelling and from the perspective of Thumbelina's 'mother'. There are some odd ideas I have for this one, and my biggest concern is that it would suffer the fate of both NaNo #1 and NaNo #2: TURN INTO A SOAP OPERA. It has a lot of potential for drama, and with so much energy and emotion going into NaNoWroMo already, I tend to let a dramatic story go out of control.

Unfortunately, I also have two other ideas.

One, Crossfire, is about a battlefield nurse who loses everything and everyone she loves when she shows mercy on the enemy king. This was actually the story I intended to write last year for NaNoWriMo 2012, but I got the idea for Leprechaun Holiday and wanted to pursue that one instead. I have this story almost completely plotted out, I just don't know how it'll end, but it would definitely be the smartest story to choose for NaNo.

The other, which has no title yet, and is not exactly developed at all, would be set in the Viking era. My main character would be a mysterious young man with dark secrets. I'm really excited about several scenes in the book that I would write, especially one involving sirens (you know, those mystical monsters who lure ships to their doom?). But it would take a lot of research, and I don't think I have it fully-formed in my head yet. It's just bits and pieces right now. So that one will probably have to wait.


As anyone who reads my blog already knows, and, as I already said, I love NaNoWriMo. It is so much fun, and it really turns writing into a priority, which, unfortunately, it isn't always.

So, I would like to strongly encourage anyone whose ever even vaguely considered writing a book, to participate in NaNoWriMo 2013. You can even set your own goal! 50,000 can be too  many words for some stories, anyway. It is a lot of fun, a great challenge, and very satisfying.

I've had a lot of friends (and silblings) bail on me in previous NaNoWriMo's, so I'm also looking for a few writing buddies.

I can't wait for November!

Cookies for Clare

Today I went to work for the first time in a week. 

I was scheduled 10-4, which was rather inconvenient for everyone (meaning myself and my parents) because, if I only worked later, my dad could pick me up and my mom wouldn't have to make an extra trip to town.

Well, without any effort or gumption on my part, I managed to pick up 3 extra hours and stay until 7! Go me! I was fine with that because it meant I got three breaks instead of one, which is always nice, especially when you aren't feeling 100%, anyway.

Apparently this was a much bigger deal to my parents than a realized, because when my dad heard I had managed to pick up hours, he told my mom to make me cookies.

And she did.

They are amazing.

Don't quote me, but I BELIEVE they are oatmeal chocolate chip. There appears to be coconut in them, too. Whatever is in them, they're just really, really good.

I think this is the first time anyone has made cookies for me personally.

Its a wonderful feeling. 

The cookies are also a perfect way to celebrate the fact that it is my feast day! Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, who I chose as my confirmation saint!

I hope your week has gotten off to as great a start as mine.