March 28, 2012

The Apocalypse is a Snoopers Dream

COME ONE, COME ALL!

EXPLORE YOUR NEIGHBOR'S BASEMENT,

YOUR WORST ENEMY'S CLOSET,

AND YOUR BOSS'S DESK DRAWERS!

THIS IS THE WORLD AFTER THE ENDING--SNOOPERS WELCOME.

For everyone who loves to rummage through other's cluttered closets, musty basements, and dusty attics, the post-apocalyptic world would be (could be and maybe should be) a dream come true. A true fantasy land. Not the non-reality-only-in-our-twisted-imaginations-Narnia kind of fantasy. This is more of the yes-please-dashingly-roguish-Scottish-warrior-chief-ravage-away or the sure-you-can-give-me-a-gazillion-dollars-for-no-reason variety of fantasy. Something any decent snooper would love if only it weren't for part where pretty much everyone else dies.

Dani, survivor of The Ending, loves gossip. She doesn't love to gossip, she just cherishes the knowing that comes with listening and snooping. Secretly, she believes that her absent father is a spy and therefore had no choice but to abandon her pregnant mother before she was born.

But anyway, Dani's currently exploring a fancy-pants hotel in post-plague Portland and, yowza, there's a lot to explore. But here's the catch: without knowing the people, all of this snooping is way less exciting. Who cares if the occupant of room 314 had an adult-sized furry doggy suite in his closet or if the hotel manager kept a stash of artificial fangs in his desk? They are strangers and, most likely, dead strangers at that.

However, the lure of the forbidden, the draw of the places that hide other's most guarded secrets cannot be dismissed. If you found yourself sheltering in abandoned houses, could you resist the urge to peek in the closets? Have a little look-see in the basement?

Where would you be most excited to snoop?

March 23, 2012

Chicago Manual of Style Online is My God

Period.

Sure, we'd all loooooove to think our writing was amazing and perfect and special and totally unrequiring of changes.  This includes made-up words.

But we'd be wrong.

Chicago Manual of Style Online--I love you! You make my life harder and easier at the same time. You bring out the best in me. You complete me. Or, at least you try. High five!

March 20, 2012

What's in a name?

We, Lindsey and Lindsey (Fairleigh and Pogue) are faced with an interesting conundrum. We're a "we," as in not simply an "I" or a "me." We are, in our dual nature, as that is the way of things when divided into two people, forced to consider the great and powerful question of dual authorship: Do we use a pen name? In the form of good ol' Shakespeare (Bill or Will or something like that)...

What's in a name? that which we call a Lindsey
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Lindseys would, were they not Lindsey call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which they owe
Without that title. Lindseys, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
-Adapted from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," mostly


Brushing aside the awkward question of who is this "myself" of whom we are taking all, clearly Will is pushing for the pen name. We Lindseys (Fairleigh and Pogue) are not so sure. We like being Lindseys. The good bard could easily be mistaken, as he so frequently was with the spelling of (ahem) his own name. We've at least got that part down (it's with an "ey," thank you very much!). What are a pair of Lindseys to do? Shall we embrace our Lindseyness? Or, shall we embrace singularity and don a new name, perhaps as "Rose" or "Romeo"? Ah, "to be, or not to be..."

No, but seriously, what are we supposed to do?!?

Pen Name Ideas Update:
The Lindseys
Lindsey & Lindsey
L. Lindsey
L.L. Lindsey

A little bit of Inspiration.....

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars
makes me dream.” ~ Vincent van Gogh

Things that inspire me.....

Nature
Dreams
Reading
Freewriting
History
Traveling
People's personal stories
News
Art
Music
Movies
Reading old journal entries

March 17, 2012

Creativity is like sex....

"You fumble your way through, you get lost in it, you fall in love. Both are passionate, rhythmic, pleasurable, and flowing. Both can bear fruit. And both can rack your soul with vulnerability, bliss, fear and awkwardness" -

Katie Tallo from Write to Done

This is so true! Writing is something that makes people (me more specifically) feel more open and susceptible to ridicule than most things we do in our daily lives. It's something that's intimate and important to us because it's part of who we are, what we pour ourselves into as we create it. We don't want to be judged based on our performance but want people to look deeper and see what it means to us...

EMBRACE IT! Free yourself to express everything you desire and see where it leads you. Just like sex, you don't know what you like until your try it!