As you are aware, I have not walked the streets of Blogville in quite some time. I
have an idea (what I think to be a great idea) for a short story (maybe something
longer) but I just can NOT seem to get the words to travel the route from brain to fingers to keyboard. In an attempt to remedy this I researched writing exercises, which, thanks to ADD, brought about lots of other topics to research and a few epiphanies. All those to be shared in a later post. The task at hand is to engorge my long dormant literary muscles with fresh creative blood.
The exercised was described as follows....
"Write a scene that involves two people in a car on their way to a family Christmas party."
So, here it goes..... hope I warmed up enough first, cramps are a bitch.....
I will post the scene when I am able to wrap it up.
be kind,
me
Sunday, September 2, 2007
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2 comments:
hmm, interesting exercise. I'm thinking if they're siblings, the conversation goes like this:
"you're stupid"
"shut up! Gah!"
"no, YOU shut up"
well, you get the point. Then again, maybe that just says more about MY family than anything else.
“I’m sorry.”
“The deal was, when we go to a party being thrown by one of my friends, we get there on time. When we go to a party being thrown by one of your friends, we can get there whenever you want.”
“We are on time.”
“If the invitation says that the party starts at 7, then on time is 7.”
“No. If the invitation says that the party starts at 7, then 7 is early. On time would be somewhere between 7:30 and 8.”
“Then, why are you apologizing?”
“Because the deal was that when we go to a party being thrown by one of your friends, we get there at the time that the invitation says it starts. My argument is simply that getting there at the time that the invitation says it starts is not on time. It is early. And, if it is important enough to you that we get to your friends’ parties early, even though we are always the first ones there and have to sit there like idiots for half an hour waiting for other guests to arrive, I want to be there for you. Tonight I wasn’t. Tonight, we will be arriving at the party a full fifteen minutes later than it was supposed to start. And, I apologize that, tonight, we will only be sitting there like idiots for fifteen minutes waiting for other guests to arrive.”
Ironically, Mike and Melissa were nearly perfectly compatible. Both were Atheists. Both had similar ideas on how to parent a child (although, neither of them had, nor wanted children). Both leaned heavily to the left, politically. They were extremely efficient as individuals; and as a team, they brought it to another level. They could put together a meal for 30 people in less than two hours. It took them 45 minutes to go through the Louvre. You could sell seats to watch them paint a house together. They also complemented each other well. He cooked and did the dishes. She did the laundry, vacuumed, and mopped. When they traveled, she did all the research and told him exactly where they were going. He looked at the maps to figure out how to get there.
But, when it came to their relationship, there was very little agreement. Skirmishes like this were common. And, while he really did try to get ready sooner, and truly was sorry they were arriving fifteen minutes after she wanted to be there, he couldn’t help but resent that she was angry because they were arriving at a Christmas party fifteen minutes after it was scheduled to start.
Furthermore, at this point, he was no longer in the mood for a party. And, he already knew this would lead to another fight. When Mike was in the mood for an occasion (which was most of the time), he was the life of the party. But, when he wasn’t, he was quite the opposite. He was never unpleasant – just quiet, providing good conversation, but only when spoken to directly. For most people, it might not even be apparent, but, for Mike, the disparity was too great to go unnoticed. Mike didn’t mind. He was very comfortable with himself and, in addition to the fact that he had no desire to exert the energy that it took to be on when he wasn’t, he also believed it to be somewhat dishonest. This was another of their disagreements. For Melissa, presentation was everything. When she was tired, or unhappy, she sucked it up and pumped up the adrenaline. And, since, Mike was a reflection on her, she expected the same from him.
More to come
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