Maybe you're a newbie,
or perhaps a travel nut,
but if nervousness or turbulence
wreaks havoc on your gut
and you feel so ill (despite those pills)
you think you're going to yak -
I'll be waiting right here for you,
nestled safe in the seat back.
Day 62: Our first day in New Orleans we visited the children's museum, and I bought some colored chalk in the gift shop. Even with the rain, there were tons of people in the French Quarter, so when we finally found a parking spot nearby, I decided to celebrate by decorating it a bit. (Seriously, New Orleans drivers are INSANE. They like to stop in the middle of the street for no reason whatsoever!)
"New Orleans":
Sun, moon, and star:
Day 63: On our second day in NOLA, we ventured over to City Park where we, among other things, scared seagulls, disappointed ducks (they didn't seem to like Trader Joe's yogurt candy and would have much preferred bread), lounged with lions (of the stone variety), and ended up at the playground. Near the playground was this awesome tree:
I got it into my head to try to climb it, which was kind of insane since I was wearing my Skechers Shape-ups, which are curved on the bottom and not really ideal for gaining traction on tree bark. But after several slightly-embarrassing failures, I made it to the top and took this victory picture:
So, while we all took many pictures on the trip, I'm counting this particular one as my good madness for the day. Because I earned it? Well, mostly because Rebekah told me to. :)
Day 64: A while back I had this random idea for a story about a woman about to sell her deceased father's lake house who must go and make sure things are in order before the sale goes through. She's staying there the weekend to fix things up and make sure everything's set, and it's not until night has fallen that first evening that she realizes she's not alone. It's a horror story, but not in the way you might think, and I don't want to give away any more because I might use it for 13 Days of Halloween this year. But even though I had the idea a while ago, I never actually wrote it. I just jotted it down to save for another time. For some reason, on our drive home from NOLA something brought the memory back. So on our second night in Niceville, I'm afraid I kept the light on way too long (sorry Melissa!) and stayed up writing the beginning of it.
I went old school, writing by hand on a legal pad since I hadn't brought my laptop. This is cool, because you get to see the story unfold in your handwriting. I guess you feel attached to it a little more? If that makes sense... maybe it doesn't. But anyway, the downside is that there's no backspace, and you can't cut and paste blocks of text to change the order, etc. So as you can see there are many scribbles, arrows, and stars to try to indicate what text should be deleted, inserted, or moved:
Day 65: Switching gears back to the house-between-worlds story, I had an idea about one aspect of the story that could involve a symbol. Rather than choosing a pre-existing symbol, I thought it would be cool to invent my own. Still, I wanted it to bring to mind certain meanings or be associated with certain things: protection from danger, life, an Ash tree (don't ask), perhaps a journey. So I looked up other symbols that meant these things from a variety of backgrounds (mostly from Norse, Celtic, and Native American traditions) and jotted them down and spent a good deal of time trying to invent my own. Melissa helped a bit too, and both of us came to the conclusion that it's much harder than it sounds. So while I didn't settle on one particular symbol I liked (and I may or may not abandon the initial idea completely and go in a different direction), I'm counting it as my good madness for the day. Here are two sheets' worth of brainstorming:
Day 66: More on the lake house story. The day before I had taken a walk through Rebekah's neighborhood. While it's mostly newer houses with paved driveways and the like, there's a section of it, kind of tucked away around a bend, that's almost like a trailer park. In one of the yards, I noticed a fallen tree had been moved to the back of one gravel drive as a barrier to keep from driving too far forward into the yard, almost like those concrete dividers at the head of some parking spaces.
This gave me an idea, so my writing that night included the following lines:
She laughed out loud, and the laugh became a wild and hysterical thing, as embarrassment and relief bubbled to the surface. She rolled her windows down and turned the radio on and laughed and laughed and laughed. Which is why she didn't notice the log blocking the driveway until she was already upon it. And by then it was too late.
Day 67: So by today, I was back home again and launched into the ordinary daily routine. Which meant I got home from work and realized, "Wait a second... I haven't created anything today!"
Fortunately, the weather and the night were inspiring. The rain had been pretty steady throughout the day and continued on into the night. So I wrote this poem:
It was raining
You were outside
Spattered, muddy
but in awe
Night had fallen,
dark come early
settled heavy
like a shawl
It was silent
But not really
Night and rain
each have their noise
You were dancing
But not really,
More like stomping
in your joy
You couldn’t see the stars shine overhead
They reflected off the thousand million raindrops instead
You couldn’t see the moon up in the sky
But it was shining in your eyes
There is madness
in the moment
Fierce and freezing
but amazing
If you want it
you must grab it
Or the chance just
will not last.
There are reasons
to stay in
all dry and warm
and safe and sane,
but there is something
in the darkness,
as it crashes from the skies.
There is something
in the rain
and in the night
and in your eyes…
Oh, I rarely see the stars shine overhead
I’m too busy with my eyes closed fast asleep in my bed.
And I tend to miss the moon up in the sky
I’m distracted with the regular routines of my life
But I think next time the night comes, rain or shine,
I may peek my head out anyway and give it a try.
And the next time that I think of you as mine,
I’ll remember how untameable, how wild and alive you were
Wet and muddy with the moon’s glow in your eyes.
Day 68: I took that poem and put a melody to it, making it a song. Only after recording that did I realize that the melody for the verses sounds a bit like part of the Cake Bake Betty song "Eleanor," and that the melody for the chorus sounds a bit like the silly not-really-a-song-but-kind-of "Eocarcharia" I posted on here earlier. So apparently the song is somewhat recycled, but I'm still counting it as my good madness for today.
Day 69: I worked a bit on a children's story/fairy tale idea I've had for a little while about a monkey. It's not finished yet, but to prove I worked on it here's a blurred screencap:
Day 70: Today I drew a picture of the monkey character I wrote about in that story. It's a simple pen and ink drawing, and looks a bit more like a bear than a monkey, but here's the general idea:
Day 71: At the library I made a bookmark of suggestions of adult fiction books that teens might enjoy:
Day 72: I took the song I made from the poem on days 67 and 68 and put together this video:
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