Friday, January 25, 2013

Words that Live in My Dorm Room

This one is for the class I'm most excited about this semester - Creative Writing.  Yay!
So anyways, the assignment here is from a prompt out of our textbook.  your were supposed to find ten things (written things) that were in your room and write a memory that's associated with it. 
 
“Riders on the Storm” The Doors

            I remember, last summer, being desperately heartbroken, and trying to find my center again.  I discovered the Doors that summer.  I wrote a poem by the light of a candle, and painted the paper with red wine, and burned a corner off of it.  That was weird.

            “Writers on the storm” I said, in a midnight poem. 

Bottle of Lotion, given to me by my mother for my birthday

            I always thought there was pomegranate in it—until just now when I am actually looking at it.  It’s called Persimmon Plum (there are no plums either).  The smell, of imaginary pomegranate, makes me think of the myth of Persephone.  I prefer to think of her story as one of love rather than rape.  I’ve painted pictures, watercolors, of the happy couple.

I still don’t know what a Persimmon is.

NuStevia (extract of the stevia plant, sweetener)

            This reminds me of eating granola with yogurt and raspberries for breakfast with my mother—day after day, the granola with a cup of coffee.  I taught my friend over this Winter Break to eat this, this lumpy old people food. 

            She loved it.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

            The first time I read it, I don’t remember how old I was.  I think I borrowed the book from our local library…maybe.  It was big, perhaps because I was so small at the time.  Its cover was black and had that crinkled plastic put over it.  The only thing I remembered from it was something about shooting the dragon where he didn’t have a scale, and something about goblins and ponies.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

            I watched the silent movie version of this.  Illegally, I think, on Youtube sometime last year.  The first silent movies I did watch were horror pieces, famous ones.  I remember printing out Jekyll’s letter at the end of the book, tearing it up into pieces, and then painting and drawing on top of the pieces.  It was an art piece, done around Halloween, featuring a faceless head being broken open like an eggshell by livid green hands.  These hands were hatching.

Lady GaGa’s "Bad Romance"

            I was in 10th grade when I discovered how much I liked this song.  Chem class, not AP Chem, Regents Chem—for the dumb kids—it was me and my flamboyant friend.  No one was sure whether or not he was gay, I don’t even he knew at that time.  We listened to GaGa on his iPhone when we did classwork.  It was a good class.  The room was painted a strange pastel green, and I liked the teacher.  He was always nice and explained things well.  He was the tennis coach. 

            I listened to this song so many times that I got sick of it.

Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

            I bought this in the Commons.  It’s an easy read, and I want to copy his voice.  Reminds me of when I was completely obsessed with Johnny Depp.  That’s how I was first exposed to this story.  I watched as much of the movie as Youtube would let me.  All these drugs, they didn’t seem too bad, with the exception of the character Gonzo.  But Gonzo was just crazy.  How was it possible that Johnny still looked good when he’d had half his hair shaved off?

How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark     

            Reminds me of where I bought it, Dublin, Ireland.  I love that country, something about all that green and all the history just enchanted me.  I remember our tour guide talking about their economic woes, which were apparently caused by them building too many houses, so now they are selling for dirt cheap—my parents would never buy me a house in Ireland.  Is it even possible to buy a house in a country you don’t live in?

Susan Kay’s Phantom

            Taught me the art of writing a whole novel just to talk about how awesome a character is, in addition to being a very wonderful read.  Now it’s all crinkled because I loaned it to my friend, and she must have spilled something on it. 

            The night I got it back from her, I was sleeping over at her house, and there was the most ridiculous snowstorm going on outside.  There must have been at least a foot of snow on the ground.  From my calves to my toes, I was soaking wet and numb.  But it was worth it.

Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

            I found this on sale at Barnes&Noble, which was really exciting—I think I was there with my dad.

            Also reminds me of the time I bought something similar (though more expensive with less material) for my then-boyfriend.  He probably likes it better now than he did when I got it for him.  It was a Christmas present…I think.  I remember I went a little bit crazy that Christmas and spent way more than I should have buying him things.

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