A Blog of Lists, 2012 Edition

Well, 2012 is over as of Tuesday.  I am very happy about this.  It has been perhaps one of the hardest years I remember, not just for myself, but for many across the board.

But there has been a lot of accomplishments this year. :) Thus, the series of lists I now present to you.

Things I Learned in 2012:

~How to bake killer chocolate chip cookies

~How to open my own online store

~How to knit a sweater

~How to knit socks from the toe up

~How to hold a baby properly

~How to design my own projects, such as sweaters and hats

~How to write knitting patterns

~How to play with color

~That the world won't end when an ancient calendar runs out

~That I hate being bossed around in the work place

~That I dislike getting up before 5 am

~That babysitting is a joy

~That gluten free cooking is easier than you think

~That anniversaries are to be enjoyed cause it can be a struggle to get there sometimes

~That a lot of good things require work

~That I can handle a lot more than I originally gave myself credit for

~That family is one of the most solid things you will ever have (I already knew this, but 2012 solidified it even further)

~That comparing yourself to others only leads to frustration

~That God is kind

~That I love Mario Brothers for some reason

~That spinning is just as addictive as I feared

~That I am capable


I won't go into all the books I read in 2012 because the list is monumental.  However, here are a few I really enjoyed from the year and would recommend:

~Thinner by Stephen King

~Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

~The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzan Collins

~A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron

~The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

~The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block

~Love Wins by Rob Bell

~Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee


From a movie point of view, it was a pretty good year too.  Here are some I really enjoyed that I saw for the first time this year:

~Repo: the Genetic Opera

~How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

~The Princess and the Frog

~Tangled

~Lincoln

~The Men Who Stare at Goats

~The Dark Knight Rises

~Men in Black 3

~The Hunger Games

~Alien

~The Fifth Element

And of course, all the stuff I managed to knit.  It's not as big as you would think, but I hit a lot of my goals here:

~Fall colored merino socks (for me)

~Windowpane bag

~Green, violet, and pink wool hat

~Barfly sweater in blue (my first sweater!)

~Purple socks (for Trevor)

~Heart hat (my first design!)

~A single purple glove, no mate

~Purple handwarmers (for Michelle)

~Pink and orange varigated socks (for Katie)

~Cherry Cordial Cardi in green (for me)

~Yellow washcloth

~Red shawl (for my neighbor)

~Rainbow socks (for Katie, currently to be reworked)

~Handspun chunky cowl (with yarn spun by Kristine!!!)

~Keep It Casual Cowl

~Absinthe sweater in purple (for Katie, shoulders to be reworked)

~Green striped socks (toe up)

~Pink cameo socks

~Forget-Me-Knot sweater in violet (my first sweater design!!!)

~Two charity hats

~Three ruffle scarves

~A Link hat from Legend of Zelda (for Trevor, my make it up as I go pattern)

~A prayer shawl in light blue (for mom)

~Mr. Dad Cardigan (for dad, my own design!!!!)



So it's been a pretty good year from a productivity stand.  My wishes for the new year are that it brings more lessons, more love, and more knitting.

Blessings to you and yours, dear readers.  I'll see you in 2013.

~Meaghan

Let the Weekend Roll.

My week is over.  Thank goodness.

Today was such a long day, I don't even feel like I can get into it properly.  It wasn't bad, it wasn't fantastic; it was just long.

I have just submitted a poem to the school publication.  They have a few extra spots and I've been told that they need fiction and non-fiction more than they need poems, but I'm really happy and proud with how this particular poem turned out, so I sent it anyway.  We shall see what happens.

Currently I have a headache bordering a migraine.  I know, I know.  Get off the computer and do something about it.  Well, the Alieve doesn't want to go down and I'm afraid to sleep because I want to sleep tonight.  I blame this headache on weather change.  We're supposed to be getting snow this weekend.  It's not supposed to last long, though, so I'm ok with it.

There are so many good movies coming out in the next few weeks!  I keep seeing movie trailers that really appeal to me.  Now, I know that you have to be careful with movie trailers - they can be deceiving.  But these look genuinely good.  You know how the movies seem to alternate every year, with one year being really good (2009) and the next being kind of a crap shoot (2010)? 

I think this is going to be a good year for movies.  The top of my list, thus far?

~ Beastly

 Beauty and the Beast is by far one of my favorite movies (Disney may have some crappy stuff out there now, but I will always love them for Beauty and the Beast) as well as fairy tales.  The heroine kicks ass, the issue of true beauty is tackled, and in the end, it all works out.  This movie, based on the trailers, looks like it's going to be a great rendition of it.  It is very high on my list.

~ Sucker Punch

 Because, really, who doesn't love a good action movie with cool effects?  I love the principle behind it: a girl gets sent to an asylum and must fight her way out with a band of other locked - up girls while creating their own fantasy land that makes Dungeons and Dragons look like child's play.  (It's not, btw.  I wanted to play a few years ago and got blown away by the number of books and rules involved...)  Plus, it's directed by Zac Snyder (I hope I spelled that right), the guy who did all sorts of awesome movies.  I love what he did with Watchmen and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.  I have high hopes for this one.

~ Red Riding Hood

 This one I don't really want to see, but my sister is very into.  She loves the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  To be fair, this one does look like it's going to have an interesting take on the traditional story.  I will probably end up waiting until it comes to DVD or the dollar theater.

On top of those, which all come out this week and next week, we have the final Harry Potter movie coming out in July.  The first part (it came out in November) was actually really well done.  I was afraid it was going to be like movie four through six - complete and total crap that went against the books so much that my senses could not handle it.  I was pleasantly wrong.  I can not wait for it to come out. 

I think that about sums stuff up for today.  Phew.

Until we meet again, dear readers.

~Meaghan

Hey Hey!

I got most of my homework done.  It instantly puts me in a good mood, know what I mean?  All I have left to do is read a bunch of stories for Creative Writing.  I'll do that here in a bit; it shouldn't take me too long.

Today has not been that bad of a day.  I went to the one library and got the movie "the Jacket" to watch again. (It really is a brilliant movie.  Seriously.  I love it.  It's my new favorite.)  I did my homework, ate mushroom pizza for lunch, had part of a Coke with no heartburn (although I think I've been unconditioned because it didn't taste as good as I remembered..), and cleaned a little in the bedroom. 

And then I got an email from the other library.  I had requested that they get this particular movie in (it's called "Love the Hard Way" - people on Rotten Tomatoes hated it, but Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up; I think it looks really good...) and today I got the email telling me that they got it in on loan from another library.  I'm so excited!  Especially since the weekend is nearly here and I'm going to have time to watch it between homework and family.  And it saves me money - I was thinking I was going to have to rent it from Blockbuster or something, and that's not ok with me.

Now if I love it, that's another thing.  I've already decided I want to invest in a copy of "the Jacket".  This may be one of those things too.  But if it's a dud, I didn't waste any of my money.

Don't you love the way I think?

Yeah, I do too.

Anyway.

So I've decided I'm a short story writer.  At least, I am for this semester.  I love short stories.  I love that they are compact and meaningful.  I like that they don't take forever to write like a novel.  It works for me.  I have so many ideas, and this way I can actually get them written.

Portfolio, guys.  I'm going to have more than one when I'm done with school.  I'm so thrilled I can't express it properly.

Also, not too shabby here.  So far I've updated every day since the new year started.  I plan to keep it up, even if it's just a blurb about something stupid.

I can't really think of anything else to write.  I need to go print out some stuff and start reading for Creative Writing.  I'll be back again tomorrow, though.  I promise.

Until the next time,

~Meaghan

It's Morning...

and my neighbor's dog still hasn't touched her dog food.

She was a lot more energetic going outside today.  That was a good thing.  But when we got back inside, she had no interest in food whatsoever.  I gave her a tiny bit of this thing my neighbor calls a "twistie"; that was all she really wanted to eat yesterday, too.

I did get her to eat part of a biscuit last night, which was good.

So I think she's going to be ok.  I really think she's going to be ok.  I'm going to go back and check on her in a few hours - take her outside, try to get her to eat something, let her sleep. 

Make sure she hasn't died.

I don't know what my deal with death is.  I really don't.  No one really close to me has died; I've not had a near death experience or anything.  It's just that death seems to always be one of the things that my thought process seems to always come back to. 

Maybe it's because I realize how mortal I am.  Maybe it's because I realize how short life can be.  Maybe it's because I'm twenty and that's what I'm supposed to be thinking about in some weird, twisted way.  Maybe it's because of where I've been in my life.

Who knows?  I've got nothing.  But it gives me writing material.  And it gives me a way to be morbidly different from my peers, I guess.

Last night, I had the strangest dream.  I dreamed it was Friday.  I was going to go on a trip with my English class to San Diego to do journal studies.  My understanding was that my plane wasn't scheduled to leave until the next day, Saturday.  Instead, it left Friday night.  I didn't get on it.  I had to contact my English professor.  She was very nice about the whole thing; she told me that I was going to have to get on and fly to San Diego the next day by myself.  I had a feeling of forboding about the plane ride and told her.  She told me to do whatever I felt was right; I couldn't go anyway because I was dog-sitting.  It was a good thing.  The plane ended up crashing. 

Then I was like Jack in the movie 'the Jacket'.  They locked me in a body drawer; it was frightening and tight and I couldn't breathe. I was trying to figure out how to time travel like he did so that when I died, I wouldn't be in the box for eternity.  It was hard and I was scared out of my mind.  No one wants to be stuck in a box or drawer for the rest of time.

When I woke up, I was thinking about the movie and it's ending.  It was a good movie and I liked it a lot.  I plan on seeing it again.  But the ending was rather ambiguous.  Jack hits his head and tells them to put him in the jacket so he can go see the future to see if the girl, Jackie, is any better off.  It ends with them in 2007 in her car, much like at the beginning of the movie, only she's a lot better off and her mom's still around and whatnot.  She asks him if he's ok, he says he is now, and the sun comes up.

The end.

Well, so what happened?  When he died - because he died in 1993 on New Year's Day - and was in the jacket, did he get to stay in that future of 2007?  Or did he just vanish from it as soon as he found out that she turned out ok?  Basically, did he stay dead or did he stay in the future? 

Because I liked the character of Jack Starks and because I liked the movie and because I'm a hopeless sucker, I'm choosing to think that he got to stay in 2007 and live a happy life with Jackie.  After all, it's a bit sci-fi anyway, so it's totally possible.  I hate the idea of him dying and vanishing altogether.  It bums me out greatly.

Oh, and just so everyone knows, I failed at my seven movies in seven days thing.  Life has this funny way of catching up when you least expect it.  Before you know it, the movies are due back at the library.  It's crazy how time flies.

Time for a different tangent.

So, I'm trying to decide what angle of writing I want to take for this semester.  I can't remember if I told you guys about this last night or not, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm repeating myself here.  My professor for Creative Writing II has told us that we're supposed to decide what kind of writing we want to do and to focus on it throughout the semester.  I have two different things I want to do: writing memoires/essays, or writing short stories.

It's a toss up.  Part of me doesn't feel like I have enough things in my life to write about, but that's not true.  I can do creative non-fiction and not run out of material.  But short stories are so appealing to me; they're condensed and compact, filled with things both written and implied.  I don't know.  I just don't know.

The beauty of it all is that I only have to choose for this class.  In the working world, it's all interchangable and jumbled together.  For this class I need to pick one so I can work on a portfolio.

I'm leaning towards short stories.  Maybe I can combine short stories and non-fiction.  We shall see.

And that is today's blog post.  Thanks for listening.

~Meaghan

I Was Thinking...

...once again about monetizing this blog.  (Hang with me, guys and gals - read it through to the end.)  I check the stats about once a week - I'm getting enough hits to make it worth my while, which is something that I never expected to happen.  I could make easy money just by writing whatever I feel like.  As an unemployed college student living at home, that actually sounds rather appealing.

But then I realized that it would be selling out.

I refuse to sell out.

By making it so that I make money off this blog, I am letting marketers control what I do.  I am telling you, the readers, that I do not value you enough to keep the ads away.  And while the blog may still be mine, I can assure you that it's only a few steps away from giving up my creative license.

I refuse to do that.

It's the same concept with the story I'm writing.  I'm at nearly 3000 words, which is a personal best for me, and I'm still trying to figure out the characters.  I like the flaws I'm seeing with them.  I like the way the story line is moving.  I want to try to get it published by the end of the summer.  But if an editor tries to get me to change the fundamental characteristics of each person, forget it.

I don't want to lose the integrity of what I'm doing.

I feel a good example of selling out is Stephanie Meyer.  Now, before everyone starts slamming me or getting defensive, I have nothing against Ms. Meyer.  In fact, I own all four books - in hardback - of her Twilight Saga.  I was 17 when I first read 'Twilight' and I fell in love with it.  My tastes have changed tremendously since then (reading 'Salem's Lot' did a lot for me in that respect), but I still remember the feeling of loving her books.

I was fairly excited when the first movie came out, too.  What appealed to me was that she, the author, was going to be taking a fairly active role in the production of the movie.  To me, that meant that she was going to keep it true to her characters and to her story.

I was so wrong.

The movie killed the Twilight Saga for me.  I was horrified.  They cut some of my favorite - and what I felt to be crucial - scenes.  They had poor dialogue.  The film had major stars for all the roles, and they didn't even really act that well.  And it felt all wrong; everything about it did not feel like the "Twilight" I read as a teenager.

(I have been told the rest are much better done, but I haven't seen them.  Shortly after seeing the movie, I moved on to other things.)

My goal in life is to be a professional writer.  I have already given thought to it, probably more thought than I should.  And I've come up with several principle rules I intend to never break.

1. I will never write something just because I can make money off of it.  In other words, I intend to write the stories that I have always written, exploring the characters the way that they want.  I have no intention of writing something just because there's a market for that particular genre or story.  It's not fair to me or to the characters.

2. I will never give up my creative license or power.  If I do in fact become a best selling author down the road and someone decides to make a film adapation of my book, then I want it to be right.  I want to be part of every step along the way.  I want the characters to have justice done for them.  Truthfully, if we ever get to this point, I want a film producer like Wes Anderson or Peter Jackson to do it.  Not someone like who did the first 'Twilight' movie.

3. I will not produce anything that I would not read myself.  If I don't like how it's turned out and I'm not entirely thrilled with it, then I plan on making it better before I publish it. 

So, in other words, I'm going to be broke for the rest of my life because I'm not going to conform.  Oh well.  At least I'll be happy, right?

Anyway.

In other news, I watched film numer 2 of 7 yesterday with my family.  It was "Fantastic Mr. Fox".  It was fantastic.  It truly was.  I laughed at the humor throughout and the stop motion film style was fascinating to me.  Wes Anderson directed it (the guy who did the "Darjeeling Limited"; gotta say, that one grew on me between blog posts - but that's a story for a different time...) and it was based on the book by Ronald Dahl. 

I need to read the book.  Ronald Dahl wrote "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" as well as "James and the Giant Peach", both of which I've read and loved.  He's a brilliant author for young people.  He really is.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" had a great cast, too.  George Clooney, who I respect as an actor, was Mr. Fox and was brilliant.  Brilliant I say.  Meryl Streep was his wife, Jason Schwartzman (I remembered his name this time!) was his son, Ash.  I mean, it was great.  The voice acting (which I've heard is actually harder than live acting) was spot on.  My sister and I got such a kick from the movie.  We were still quoting it today, which is awesome.

Go watch it.  It is a great family movie.  Seriously.  There is plenty of humor for everyone in it as well as a meaningful story plot.

I feel like there was something else I was going to blog about, but I can't remember.  Huh.  School starts on Tuesday.  I'm nervous as all get out.  I'm taking more classes this semester than I've taken before and I'm a little intimidated by the potential work load.  But hey, I can handle it.  I know I can.

Also, I typed this whole blog post with wet finger nails.  I get bonus points for that.  Just so you know.

Until we meet again, dear readers,

~Meaghan

Heart Burn and Nerves and Sleep Deprevation...

...Oh My!
Hello again, dear readers.  Yet another blog update.  Aren't you proud of me for not keeping you in the lurch for long, gapping periods of time like I did last year?

(No, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to.  It's perfectly ok.  I promise.)

Anyway.

So I have to be honest for a moment (but really, when am I ever not?): I am exhausted.  I think I got a total of like five hours of sleep last night. 

And before you ask, no, I wasn't writing my awesome story.  I wish I had been. 

Instead, it was my heart burn kicking into over drive.

You see, dear readers, I am the kind of person who takes a lot of stress onto themselves.  I've heard it called the "oldest child syndrom", but really, I just want to take care of everyone.  I want to support my parents and protect my sister and be there when friends need me.  Plus, I have a tendency to stress needlessly about things I really don't have any control over, like final grades in school.  School, as much as I love it, is a huge point of stress for me.  I get nervous before class, especially when a new semester is about to start and I'm not sure I'll know anyone. 

I range from introverted to extroverted, and both come out when I'm at school.  It can be a blessing and a curse, let me tell ya.

I realize that a lot of what I worry about is senseless, and that it's out of my hands most of the time, but I still get anxious.  Granted, I'm getting better about it, but it appears that the damage has already been done.

I get heart burn now on a regular basis; so far, I've had it almost every day for nearly five weeks.  Sometimes it's really mild and I'm able to just drink some water to get it to leave.  Other days, it's much worse and nothing works - not water, not dairy, not Tums.  I've tried vinegar water; I've tried sleeping elevated and on my left side.  It's really bad.  I am actually getting to a point where I can't drink Coke because it causes it to flair up.

It woke me up this morning at about 2 am thinking I was dying.  I was unable to go back to sleep until close to 5 am, only to get up again about 8 am to do laundry. Not okay with me.  Not okay at all.

I'm actually going to start researching tea for this very problem.  I want to see if there is anything I can drink to ail my problems, such as the heart burn and the trouble sleeping; I like tea, so it shouldn't be a hardship.  So far I know that peppermint is good for the stomach.  I just need to know if there are any others that could help.  Then I need to test them.  I promise to report back with any important findings.

(I'm also calling the doctor on Monday.  I kept pushing it off because I hate going to the doctor.  But I don't think I can push it off any longer; my mom and sister both think I've developed an ulcer.  I really hope they're wrong.  I'll keep you guys posted.  And please, don't worry, ok?  I think I may just have acid reflux or something...)

So anyway, I'm kind of tired today.  It leaves me prone to things, like thinking too much about my story.  I can't write if I think too hard about it.  That's not the way I function.  Blah.

On a happy note, I am at over 1300 words now on this new story project.  That's pretty good.  I really want to see it through to the end.  I hardly ever finish any stories; I write them in spurts and leave them to rot.  Or ripen, depending on how you want to look at it.  This one is different; I feel potential.  I feel like it is going to be a good story, and that it will also make a good movie script.

Not to be overly ambitious or anything, but it never hurts to aim high.  I'd rather aim high and fail than not aim at all.

But we shall see.  My goal is to have it done by the end of the summer.  I think I can pull it off.  I really do.

On an entirely different note, I have seven movies to watch before Friday.  That's when they are due to their respective libraries.  I finished one yesterday.  It's called "the Jacket" and was fantastic.  I wasn't really sure I was going to like it, but I loved it.  It's about a war vetern from the gulf war who gets put into this center for delusional criminals for a crime he didn't commit but can't remember.  Through the experimental treatment they perform on him (they basically bind him in a straight jacket, load him with drugs, and then put him in a body drawer - I know, I cringed too...) he discovers he can time travel from the now (it's nearly 1993 at the beginning of the movie) to the future (2007). 

It was amazingly well done.  The script was fantastic;  I am a fan of books and scripts with well written plots and rounded, developed characters who you can watch grow.  The one thing that I thought was going to turn me off of it was the fact that Keira Knightley is in it.  Nothing against her, but the only other thing I had seen her in was "Pirates of the Carribean", and I felt she kind of fell short there. 

Here was a different story.  I felt her acting was spot on and I could really sympathize with her character even though I had mixed feelings about her.  Adrien Brody was also in it as the main character, Jack, as was Kris Kristofferson. (I love pronouncing his name; it almost jingles...)

 I did feel extrememly uncomfortable the first time Jack got shoved in the body drawer, but I'm pretty sure that was what they wanted.  All in all, it was the kind of movie that I could not stop watching and that I would totally watch again.

Which means I have six more movies to watch before Friday.  I want to try to get through all of them before Tuesday, just because I have school on Tuesday.  And no, I probably will not be doing movie reviews of any more of them unless they are over-the-top amazing.

Did this blog make sense?  I'm so tired I don't even remember what we started with.

Time to go look up tea.

~Meaghan

It Smells like Apples in Here...

..because I found my apple candle.

So today, dear readers, I decided it was time to clean.  I have like five or six boxes that I have yet to go through from when we moved to Colorado over five years ago.  I never wanted to deal with them or see what was inside them.

As far as I was concerned, I could burn them and be totally happy.

But then I got motivated today. 

I brought my violin into the bedroom and organized my music.  Then I decided to organize some boxes while I was at it.  The result?  I found a ton of candles, cleaned off my desk, recovered my incense sticks that I've had for forever, and made a comfier home for my instrument.

And now it smells like apples cause I'm burning my newly found apple candle.  It's a Wal-Mart candle (the front says 'MainStays' which is a Wal-Mart brand) called Warm Apple Pie.

It reminds me how much I love apple candles.  And really, just candles in general.

Mmmm.  I wish you could smell it.

I played my violin today for the first time in over five months.  I will never stop playing again.  As I played, I felt as if my soul were leaving through the notes.  I felt like I was truly breathing for the first time in years.  Even now, I feel great.

I will never be a professional, but I love it.  I forgot how much I love it, how much I need it.  It totally renewed me.

At this point, I feel I must offer you guys an apology for the abrupt blog last night.  I was doing fine until I wasn't, and at that point I was exhausted.  I swear, as soon as I left you guys I went to bed. 

Well, after I placed some movies on hold at the library.

But that's not the point.  The point is that I'm sorry for leaving you hanging.  I will do better in the future.  I promise it.

I'm really excited about the movies I put on hold.  All of them have Adrien Brody in them; he's my current favorite actor.  I had never heard about him until I saw "Predators" last summer (great movie, btw, I highly recommend it) and learned that he was in it. 

I watched "the Pianist" this weekend and it made me love him more as an actor.  The movie was brilliant.  It's about the Holocaust and is based on a real man's fight to survive in the face of opposition.  Another movie I completely recommend.  It was beautifully done.

So I put the new King Kong on hold, a movie called "the Singing Detective" which has a great cast including Robert Downy, Jr. and Katie Holmes and is about a novelist who writes detective novels, a war movie called "the Thin Red Line" which is about WWII from the American Army perspective, a film called "Hollywoodland" which is about the murder/ death of George Reeves, and a comdey with Owen Wilson called "the Darjeeling Limited" which is just going to be good. 

BTW, you should go watch the trailers for all of these or go see them.  They look great.

And that's my day thus far.  Oh, and I broke one of my mom's new mugs she bought before Christmas.  I felt bad about it, but she kind of laughed it off.  So I guess it's ok.

Until the next time, dear readers.

~Meaghan