This Week's Observations.

Whether they are due to my somewhat hectic writing schedule, or the excitement of spring break, or the absurdness of my life at the moment, or a combination of all, my thoughts have become slightly fragmented lately. In order to clear my head, I am going to list the present ideas, thoughts, and observations that are plaguing my mind at the moment, in no particular order.



1. I detest not having socks on. I think this might have begun last summer, when my sister stepped on a hobo spider with bare feet.
2. Revising my short story was not as painful as I had anticipated, and I feel that the story is much stronger for it. I sent it out today to Glimmer Train Press, who is based in Portland and actively seeking new writers. I'll be sending out a poetry packet on Monday.
3. It is entertaining to read the comments on Amazon.com about a book like Twilight, compared to Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," which has become my latest obsession.
4. I am falling more in love with writing each and every day, and am apparently incapable of shutting off the narrator in my head.
5. The movie "Watchmen" made me uncomfortable. It was more glowing blue naked man parts, sex, and graphic violence than I ever needed to see. I was horrified when my sister told me that my mom read the review on Plugged In Online. The plot itself was good, though.
6. Evan asked me the other day why my heart beat was sporadically speeding up and then going back to its regular pace. The times when it sped up were the times when I was thinking about my next short story for my advanced fiction class next term. Apparently, writing incites a physical reaction from me.
7. I love the way my hair feels after it's just been washed and dried.
8. I've been getting an average of three hours of sleep per night over the past week or so, and I feel fantastic.
9. There is more truth in literary fiction than in research essays.
10. There is not a single human culture on record that does not have some form of music. That is astounding and beautiful in its implications.
11. Hitler was a vegetarian and loved animals. That fact makes me uncomfortable, because it makes him human.
12. I have fallen in love with Post Secret, not because I simply enjoy knowing people's secrets, but because I think it shows a cultural shift toward community.
13. The gorgeous weather today made me giddy.
14. I am going to the beach tomorrow, and I honestly cannot describe how excited I am. The ocean stirs feelings in me that no other place I have been to has done. The pure, raw power of the ocean is an awe-inspiring and renewing sight.
15. This term has been the greatest school term in the entirety of my school career, and I am sad to see it come to an end. Being constantly surrounded by other writers, and being challenged by and challenging them has been incredible and amazingly beneficial to my own writing and way of thinking.