Random Thursday

Does anyone else remember college schedule planning when the letter "R" meant Thursday, because Tuesday had already selfishly taken up the T? I do, and what better "R" activity than an random picture. We take a lot of them, and I know they don't all end up here. So, without further ado, Random Thursday!

Chapter 2 (A short one)

Chapter 2

Jonathan said “I thought that back here we could observe together.” She thought she heard him say that they would observe the “females” together, but that must have been whatever was in the cup talking. She sat next to him, elated, just to be with him, and wondered if he would kiss her first, or if she’d had enough liquid courage to make the first move herself. She had a hard time staying upright, the boat had hit some rough seas. She let herself lean just a little bit on Jonathan, and he didn’t push her away. As they sat, a pack of wild dogs, also know as Brianne and her two best friends strolled by. This time, Jonathan made no effort to hide it when he looked them up and down.

Bel was a little offended. Get me drunk and bring me back her just to ogle other girls? No, I must have been wrong, she thought. He was just watching the sunset, or intrigued by something he heard them say. She was still trying to work it out when Adelaide (that was her name!) walked past on the arm of one of the football players. Jonathan turned to Bel and said “I’d give my left arm for a piece of that action, how about you?”

Bel barely recognized the voice coming out of her own mouth as it said “What?”

“I mean, she’s got a great butt, and you can’t argue with what’s going on up front either. Man what I’d give to lay my hand on one of those. Maybe she’s going through an experimental phase, who knows, you might have a better chance than I do.”

Bel didn’t know what else to say. Apparently thinking completely independently at this point, her mouth said, “I thought we came back here to hook up”

Now it was Jonathan’s turn to look shocked. “What?”

“I’ve had a crush on your for weeks”

“I thought you were gay! Oh Bel, I’m sorry! If I’d paid any attention…”

But Bel didn’t hear the end of the sentence, she was on her feet already, headed anywhere but there.

Once again, please share share share. I want as much feedback as possible.

Fishing!

Jason and I went fishing at Eagle Creek this weekend. The day started off with a bang, as I was able to try the tube. Yes, the tube. Here is a picture of that of which we speak.

Yes, this is the tube. You get in it and fish. I got all suited up, in the hip waders that are like a wetsuit and too long for my legs, the life jacket, and the flippers, and headed out.

It was pretty fun! Though, I really really didn’t need the life jacket, because I could have stood up in the middle of the lake. It was very strange to have the waders on, and feel like I should have been getting wet, but I wasn’t. I kicked around for a while and then let Jason go.

He didn’t catch anything there, but said he knew a good spot. We walked a ways until we got to this kind floating dock thing. Except it wasn’t really floating much. It was beached. Jason hopped on, and I tried, but I’m a clumsy girl, and I didn’t make it. It’s beached right? So how are they keeping it there? The answer is a big coated steel cable. The problem with this answer is that I found a loop of this cable unexpectedly with my leg. So it kept one leg on shore while the other tried to get to the dock. OWCH. I skinned my knee, bruised my thigh (I don’t know how I did that) and the cable left a really exciting line halfway around my right calf. OWCH. Did I say that before? OWCH. I hadn’t skinned my knee since I was 12. I made a recovery though, and since we were at the fishing spot, we went ahead. Had I mentioned that I haven’t gotten a fish out of the water since about the last time I skinned my knee? An aside

(Once, when my grandfather and I were fishing from shore at their house, a little boy of about 5 or six was also fishing down a ways from us. We saw him drop his pole and come running toward us screaming. Both of us thought that he had hooked himself and was hurt. He ran toward us, crying, and when he got there we were checking him out. We asked him where it hurt but could see no mark on him. He looked up and with giant tears streaming down his face, said “I saw a bug!”.)

Back now. So, we got to it. We were using bee moths, which are really just mealworms. I use the word “we” loosely. Jason did all of the actual worm touching. I chummed the water by shaking a few out. I dunno, it seemed like a good idea, and maybe it worked. I caught my first fish! At least the first one as an adult! It was a green Sunfish. We started pulling them in one right after another. I caught 4 sunfish, like 5 or 6 bluegill, and two catfish.

None of them were very big, about the size of my hand, but it was fun! The bluegill were so pretty, and even the catfish were neat to look at. The last fish we caught of the day swallowed the hook. It was a little bluegill. He got it waaaay far down his throat and Jason was having a hard time getting it out. I put him back in the water for a little break, and we got him out again. When Jason finally got it, we put him in the water and he floated. Jason immediately grabbed him again, and ran him back and forth in the water. It was a close call and it took a few tries, but the fish zipped out of his hand and swam away! I kept looking, afraid we’d see him pop back to the surface, but he never did! Jason saved his life! Yay Jason! I married this guy for a reason, okay more reasons than his fish saving abilities. So, we had a pretty good day, even if I did limp away.

Hope

More of it here:

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.

Lin Yutang

Please, please, please keep reading and commenting on my first chapter. I want to hear it!

You didn't ask for it!

But here it is anyway. It's my not-so secret anymore project. You probably know, I'm a young adult librarian. I like young adult books. I'm giving it kind of a half a**ed go. Please, be brutal. Tell me what I should change do. There's only one think I'm super attached to, and it's the character's name. Tell me what I should change, or tell me it's plain bad, and to start over. Email a link you your friends, LET ME KNOW what you think:

I don’t know why they even invited me, thought Bel as the boat sped though the water. She looked around at her classmates laughing, drinking, flirting as normal. She never considered them her friends and until this weekend, she thought the feeling had been mutual. This past Tuesday Brianne had come up to her between classes and invited her to the party of the year. Thrown aboard her parents’ yacht, everyone important was going to be there. At least that’s what they said.

Isobel (Bel for short) had never put much stock in popularity. She was pretty content being on her own most of the time. She was busy with her art and preparing her portfolio for college applications next fall. But when she heard that Jonathan was going to be at the party, she swallowed the invitation, hook line, and sinker. There he was, leaning against a railing, and talking with Allison, or was it Abigail? Bel couldn’t remember. Whoever she was, she was standing way too close to Jonathan. And, Bel could help noticing, her butt looked great in her bikini, and she sure wasn’t afraid to wave it around either. She wished she had that kind of body, then maybe she would have that kind of confidence. She took a deep breath, tugged on her t-shirt coverup and went for it.

Bel strolled over and leaned on the railing next to Jonathan.

“This sure is a great party, isn’t it guys” she said.

Allison, or Abigail or whoever, looked at her and asked

“How would you know, this it the only one I’ve ever seen you at”

“Give her a break” said Jonathan, “She’s got other things on her mind.”

“How’s your portfolio coming along?”

“I’ve got a few pieces that I feel are ready, but there’s still something missing, you know? I don’t feel like it’s a complete set yet."

“Really? I’ve seen your pieces in the studio, and I think they’re great, I mean, I sure as hell can’t put something like that together.”

Abison, Alligail, what was her name anyway, snapped open her phone, and without a single word to either of them, started waslking away, texting, her fingers flashing quickly across the keys. Bel couldn’t help but notice that Jonathan took a not so quick look at her butt as she walked away. Jonathan turned to face Bel, who tought she might pass out and fall into the ocean right then and there. That is if he kept looking at her with those ice blue eyes.

“Why ARE you here?” Jonathan asked “I didn’t think this kind of stuff was really your thing. I mean, it’s cool, you’re here, but why the sudden need to socialize?”

Bel and Jonathan had know each other since kindergarten, making their way though the grades in tandem. They had never really been close, but this last year, in art class, they had started to talk, and found they had a lot in common. Like Bel, Jonathan didn’t really fit in to a single group at school, but unlike Bel, Jonathan seemed to be able to be a part of all groups simultaneously. Bel had always been content with a few close friends over the years. Amy and Piper were great, but like her, not the kind of people who got invited to parties on yachts. Jonathan, however had friends everywhere at school. Until this year, she had only seen him as Mr Popularity. He actually had a lot more going for him. He played in a garage band on weekends, and loved to read classic Sci-Fi novels.

Bel smiled and said “It seemed like a good idea at the time. I wanted to see how the other half lived”

“Oh really? So, have you made any staggering observations about the social habits of this so called “other half””?

“A few, like for instance, there is a direct correlation between the amount of clothing worn by the females and the and the size of the drinks in their hands.”

“Hey, that’s of benefit to us all, know what I mean? Let’s go put one of those drinks in your hand, and you can observe from the inside”

Bel’s heat skipped sixteen beats. Did that mean he wanted her to take off her clothes? Could he possibly want to see what she had under her enormous purple t-shirt? She had chosen the purple one because she wanted to be girly, but not part of the sea of pink she was convinced would be present on the boat. Plus, the t-shirt nicely covered up her thunder thighs. Bel wasn’t the skinniest girl in her class, by far, and she felt better wearing the shirt around all of those pink perfect cheerleaders.

Jonathan led Bel down a flight of stairs to a room with a bar. There was a fantastic view of the sun setting from the wall of windows that enclosed the back of the room. Jonathan handed Bel a drink and said “Cheers” . Bel lifted the cup to her lips and took a big gulp. After all, she wasn’t driving, she was on a boat! They wouldn’t make it back to shore for at least another 6 hours, and that was plenty of time to sober up from one lousy drink. Right? She polished off the vile stuff (it tasted like a cross between cough syrup and gasoline) and before she could protest, Jonathan had refilled her cup and was leading her back out on deck.

Bel felt like she was flying! Here she was hanging out with the hottest guy in the universe, at the party of the century. She was having the time of her life. Her knees were weak. Okay, she thought, some of that is the alcohol talking, what exactly is in these things? No matter, she and her new love were going to find some place quiet. Or so she thought. They emerged back on the main deck where most of the people were hanging out. In the red light of the sunset, Jonathan sat down on a bench and patted the seat next to him. Careful not to spill her drink, Bel plopped down beside him.

They sat there for a while not saying anything. Bel hoped that the sun was catching her mahogany hair in the right way. She’d spent hours that afternoon making sure that it was smooth and shiny, and just right for the party. She hoped that the mascara she’d dabbed on was highlighting her deep brown eyes. She hoped her lip gloss was still shiny and inviting. Finally Jonathan looked at her.

I love these feet

They belong to my wonderful husband. They are all flippery, not because he is some terrible mutated freak, but because he is out fishing in his float tube! It's the most complicated thing you've ever called a tube. It is shaped like the bow of a boat, all pointy and has a million pockets for his tackle. I may get to try it out this weekend.

The Bachman Books

I just finished reading a collection of books that Stephen King wrote under the name "Richard Bachman". I found them all to be depressing, and not exciting like I have found other books of his to be. For me, Stephen King doesn't match up to Dean Koontz for a just plain good book. That's not to say that I don't enjoy his writing, because I do, I read "Duma Key" a few weeks ago and it was great!

The three books included in this compilation were:

The Long Walk
Roadwork
The Running Man

My favorite of the three was The Long Walk. It dealt with an alternate reality (I think it was intended to be the future when it was written, as was The Running Man) in which contestants competed in a contest that was no more than "let's see how long you can walk without stopping" except if you slow down or stop, you get shot. I think if the stories had been in a different order, I wouldn't have read the rest. All of these boys are walking, knowing that they will all die, except for one, whoever wins, and they talk and get to know each other etc. They drop off one by one. It was grisly, but not so much that I put down the book. I felt there were quite a few loose ends that were never tied up, but not so much that It made me angry.

Next up was Roadwork, a story that showed me how we have learned nothing. It took place during the gas/energy crisis of the 1970's. But, that was only the setting. The protagonist was a man whose house was scheduled for demolition in order to build a highway. Bypasses have to be built, that's how it is. It drove him insane. It was pretty good too, but made me angry about the gas stuff. Which, by the way, if oil is at $96, why are the stations here in Indiana still charging over $4 a gallon. I think it's gouging. But since it's everybody, I don't know what to do.

Last was The Running Man. In this future, a large part of the population has been relegated to ghettoes, and life is bad. The only way out seems to be to risk your life in the reality show like games that air on the free vee. So, the protagonist goes down, registers himself and find himself in the biggest and most dangerous game, one where he runs for his life, and is paid for every hour he survives. This one got to me the worst, because it seems too much like real life sometimes. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class disappears. All anyone ever does is watch television shows in which people risk their lives for less reward than you'd expect. Thinking about it gets me back down in the dumps. HEy, people out there! Tell me it's not that bad!!

Indycar Season Finale

This blog begins with an entirely random picture. Yeah. A tenderloin. Random yum.

Life? It’s okay. I’m not going to get in to my recent struggles with worry. I’ll just say that this is something I’m continuing to work on, but it isn’t easy.

Catching up! Let’s see, we went to the Indycar season ending race in Chicago. I was especially upset because of the news about, as Jason calls him, Dario Speedwagon. Dario is fine, he’s not a bad guy (I don’t think), but I was mad last year when he won the championship, and immediately defected to nascar. Then, after a season of complete fail there, he decides to come back. That’s fine; it’s the change reaction it caused that is the problem. Dario wants to come back. Ganassi wants him. Bump --> Dan Wheldon. A good, race winning driver, kinda strange in appearance after his fiancée made him fix his teeth and grow out his hair. He looked better before. So Dan, who has been good for his team, is now hanging out there without a ride. Here comes the pain. Panther. Panther picks him up. Bump --> VITOR. Vitor who has been nothing but classy and never has anything bad to say about Panther, whom he’s suffered slow pit stops with for years. Vitor has taken Panther’s second tier equipment, and consistently put it into the top bracket. Vitor was a big story this year, because he’s never won a race. However, he’s been involved in 3 of the five closest finishes in Indycar history, as the driver who didn’t win by less than a second. In case you haven’t read any of my racing posts, I’ll let you know, Vitor is my favorite driver. I picked him after we met him at a downforce party because he’s a nice guy, and cute in the way that you want to go give him a hug. Or at least I do. So, all of this coming back from napcar (we call it that because it’s good to sleep to) junk leaves my guy dangling. The general consensus is that he’ll find a new, better team (it had better be better), but I’m angry about it all. Back to Chicago.

You know it’s a good race when you cry twice. Okay not really. Vitor had something break, and wrecked in what seems to be his last race with panther. I was sad to see it end that way. But, then Jason (reluctantly) called my attention to what was written on the wall in front of panther’s pits. Bingo, cry number two.

You REALLY know it’s a good race when you crush your husband’s hand. The championship was on the line. It was down to Dixon and Helio. Helio would have to win it and see Dixon finish worse than 9^th to get that championship. Dixon wasn’t having any of that. Various leaders at various times ran three wide all the way around the track. I think even the announcers were scared. They sold me the whole seat, but I only used the edge (I know, terrible). At the finish, we couldn’t tell who’d won. It was the closest finish in Indycar history. Wow. Helio pulled off the win, but with Dixon on his tail, he didn’t get the championship. I guess dancing with the stars will have to be enough for the moment, but he’ll be back on it next year.

We ate at Red Robin on the way home. It was no great shakes! I was shocked. Five guys has way better burgers and way better prices. MMMMMMMMM. I’ll do more catching up soon!