Creative Writing 2

Just a quick note to say that my creative writing project has been very fun and therapeutic so far, but I find that what I write is very, deeply personal and not appropriate for sharing. I'm sure I will eventually get to the lighter, more amusing stuff and that I will be happy to share!

Creative Writing

My all-time favorite paper I wrote in college was a multi-genre one. It was a research paper (on influence, intertextuality, and literary periodization), but instead of writing it normally, we had to write in it different genres, like poems, journal entries, ads, conversations, etc. For this particular paper we had to write in at least five different genres to get our point across and they all had to flow into each other and make a coherent point. I got so excited about writing the paper this way that I kind of forgot to do the research for it. It wasn’t my best paper grade-wise (B+ ...my pride makes me include that), but it was my best creative one and the absolute most fun to write!

Yesterday I read an article on a girl who wanted more joy in her life so she decided to sew something new every day for a year. I’ve decided to do something similar. Creative writing brings me all kinds of joy...but it has to be short or I lose interest. Which is perfect for what I want to do: write one short piece of creativity a day for the next 30 days. (I’m too commitment-phobic to do a whole year.) So I’ll take the long list of possible genres from that multi-genre paper and chose whatever genre strikes my interest that day and write about whatever. Not only will it bring me a bit of joy, it will give me something to fill this blog with. (I won’t post everything I write up here, cause some of it’s a little too personal, but I'll put some of it up.)

Here is a small portion of that multi-genre paper:

Once upon a time,

In England far away,

Romantic women looked around,

And saw they had much to say.

The men had been the authors

For far too long it seemed;

It was time for women to write as well,

As Mary Wollstonecraft had deemed.

So pen to paper they put,

And wrote what they wanted to write,

But often they had to hide the strength

Of a female character - her might...

An Author’s Private Thoughts: 1780s

Here I sit, writing another story. It’s the same dilemma as always: do I give my female character the strength and personality I want her to have, and not get published, or do I give her the characteristics that society expects women to have, and in so doing get published and make money. Not much use in writing a story that no-one else will see. And the household funds are getting alarmingly low....Well, I guess that solves it...

“Adeline faints, again.”

Religion and Politics!

"The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong" by Bill McKibben.

I've wanted to share the above article with others for a while, and it finally dawned on me that I could probably find it on the internet and provide a link to it...just like that. (I love the internet!) This was an article I read while helping my cousin in her English class. (And by helping I mean writing all her papers for her...shh, don't tell!) I loved it and used it extensively in two of her papers. In case you don't care to read the whole thing (it is kind of long) here is the gist of it:

"America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior."

I've felt for a long time that Christians tend to give Christ a bad name. (We are far too judgmental!) But, as McKibben says, if we could get back to the most basic principle of the Gospel, that would change: Love thy neighbor as thyself. I will admit that is an incredibly hard thing for me to learn personally, and I believe it will take me my whole life to even come slightly close to figuring out how to do it. But I also know it's the only thing we can do to truly be Christian.

Politically speaking, that means doing things like taking care of the poor, feeding the hungry, giving everyone access to healthcare, and other things that my Republican upbringing didn't teach me. But I've also found an interest in politics I've never had before. I guess I've finally found something I believe in!

Home Sweet Home

In late October, after stating on facebook how much I loved deicing, my good friend Ray called me up to see if I wanted my old job back at Integrated Deicing Services in Colorado Springs. I said yes, and three weeks later I was waving goodbye to Utah and saying “hello again” to Colorado. Ahh, back in the real promised land! :)

It is now May, and deicing is pretty much over (though we did spray 13 planes on May 2!) and so I am now working at Frontier Airlines out on the ramp. And I still love it!!! There are many times I think I should get a real job, but so far I just can’t bring myself to trade the outdoors and freedom for a desk. The airlines are in my blood, as is Colorado and the COS airport. So basically what I’m saying is...I’m home!

Yay for Frost!

Ah, the fun of deicing. I don't know exactly why I get so rapturous over it, but I love to deice airplanes! I did two of them this morning and loved every second of it. I love wearing the harness, climbing into the bucket, lifting it up to wing height and I even love the jerking and swaying that comes every time the truck makes the smallest movement. I like watching the orange glycol melt the frost, using just enough to cover the patches but not enough to drip off the wing. I love driving back behind the plane and being blasted by the APU exhaust--it's a burst of warmth in the middle of a very cold job. I love how wide the A300 wing is, just as much as I love how easy the 757 wing is to deice because it's so narrow. And I love that it is such an unusual job, with a slight element of danger. Why would I ever want to work at a desk!?!

Menly Men

I have a sister who is married to a "sensitive" guy. Think World of Warcraft, geeky, picked on in high school, skinny and prone to depression. Apparently, she was pretty offended when she found out I thought him less than manly. I, and others, have told her it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, she's the one who is married to him so she is the one who should love him. If others aren't attracted to him or don't find him manly, all the more safe and secure for her. She's still mad though and has decided that my definition of manly must be "someone who will beat me."

To set the record straight: manly to me means strong. Strong emotionally so as not to be needy or to require walking around on eggshells. Strong mentally so they can keep up with conversations, games, subtle sarcasm, cultural references, etc. Strong physically cause that's just a turn on. And strong socially so as not to embarrass me or themselves in public. I don't mean they need to be overly social, just able to read others and know what is and is not appropriate to the situation. Overall though, I want a man who is confident. That is the manliest trait of all!

Integrated Airport/English Services

I love my job. I work on an airport ramp, moving cargo. I have a BA in English and graduated Summa cum Laude, and would rather do grunt work on airplanes than actually use my degree. What is wrong with me!?!

Right now I work for Integrated Airline Services as the contract company for UPS. We work 2 big planes and about 11 small planes. Our big planes are A300s and occasionally a 757, and our small ones are Beech 99s and Metro something-or-others. I love every part of the job: marshaling, moving cans, stacking the cargo boxes in the planes, etc. I love working outside, love the physical aspect, and even love the environment of inappropriate comments and bad behavior from my fellow rampers. (At least the cool ones. The dorks I could do without.)

I worked for 5 1/2 years on the America West/US Airways ramp in Colorado Springs, and quit that job in order to go back to school. After getting my BA I moved to Utah, looking for a writing job. A year later, I'm happily back at the airport. (It's so much more appealing than working at a desk all day long.) I kick myself fairly often for quiting Am West! If I could do it again, I would have done more to stay part-time there while going through school. I love having my degree, but I also love the airport. My new challenge is to find a job that will integrate both.