Vital Vocab 21

Hey, guys.  So, I rotate between phases where I think a lot about Isaac in my free time, and phases where I think a lot about Anthony in my free time.  I'm currently in an Anthony phase, so this might not be very good.  

I apologize for whatever may follow.

In other news, if anyone wants to listen to the full "Coraline" soundtrack....

And does anybody know why The Shins sound so aggressively British?  I mean, they're from Albuquerque.... (update: apparently, the lead singer lived in England for five years.  so that's a thing.)

Prompt: --

Vocab: peruse, plausible, paradigm, palatable, penchant

Commonly Confused Words: where/wear/were

Grammar Focus: parallel structure

Isaac Bade-

     "Hey, are you okay?"  Ava glanced over at me.  I swallowed and nodded, forcing myself to relax.  God, I hated driving.  The rest of the world, however, seemed to have a penchant for driving everywhere.  Not that I didn't appreciate the ride, and Ava's driving was more than palatable; it was just everyone else that scared me.  I knew it just wasn't plausible that I could go my life without being in a car crash.  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed we were barreling down the road.  I imagined twisting, turning, tumbling, the crunch of metal, the squealing of breaks.  I sighed, feeling sick.  Why couldn't I just be normal about these things?

     And suddenly, we were in my driveway.  I blinked and looked around.  

     "Did I get it?" Ava asked, suddenly excited.  "I got the right house, didn't I?"  I grinned and nodded. "Yes!  Well damn, that really kills the paradigm.  I usually forget where everything is.  Hell, I can hardly find the same shoes to wear in the mornings."  She got out and we unloaded my bike.  "You'd think I spent my free time perusing street maps or something....Anyways...."  She smiled at me and hopped back in her car, and I walked my bike to the garage.  

     "See you on Monday, Isaac.  You owe me a prize!"  She pointed at me purposefully through the open window, and with that she was gone, disappeared in the rain.

Vital Vocab 20 | Vital Vocab 22

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Vital Vocab 20 (updated)

In light of Valentine's Day, I've been thinking of doing something I've kind of always wanted to do, and that is to write an old-school love letter.

Courtesy of: favim.com

Unfortunately, Valentine's Day was today, so it's gonna be a little late.  But so anyways, I didn't actually know how to write a love letter, so I looked it up!

Classy.  Freaking classy.  This man could give Anthony a run for his money.  (read it here, I insist.)

But so anyways, I hope that helps someone out.

Valentine's aside, please excuse this week's post.  I'll try harder next time.

Also, at the end of the year, I think I'll try and organize these into something bearable for you (and for me, too).

Prompt: --

Vocab: oblique, oblivious, ominous, orthodox, ostracize

Commonly Confused Words: quite/quiet/quit

Grammar Focus: parallel structure (in any form)

Isaac Bade-

     Apparently one of the volunteers had recently quit, so it took a little extra time, but before long, Ava was finished, and we were loading my bike into the back of her mom's orthodox Subaru, using the trunk door as an umbrella until we hopped in the car ourselves.  We sat quietly for a minute, watching rain pound on the windshield, before Ava started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.  

     "Now," she said, "I haven't been to your house since like the sixth grade.  Prize if I get it on the first try?"  I laughed a little, nodding.  She turned on the radio, smiling.  "Yesssss...."

     It had rained a lot lately; the road was slippery and ominously unabsorbent.  ((why isn't that a word?  that should definitely be a word.))  As we were turning into the neighborhood, a car going the other way swerved slightly, then suddenly, quite unpredictably out of its lane, taking an oblique path directly for us.  I gasped and Ava slammed on the breaks, and the car managed to right itself barely, sloppily, before driving away.  We both watched through the mirror as the car drifted back and forth, back and forth, as it drove away.  

     "Oh my god," Ava said, "I think they were drunk!  And if not, what a completely oblivious driver.  People like that should be ostracized...."  I was gripping the door handle, staring through the mirror.  Faintly, I put two fingers to my jaw, feeling for my pulse.

Vital Vocab 19 | Vital Vocab 21

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Vital Vocab 19

You guys you guys!  I hit 1,000 pageviews!  I mean, they're probably mostly mine, and my friends' blogs hit that mark ages ago, but I did it!  I did it!  :D

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog.  Yes, even you, vampirestat.  Thank you for helping me to reach this milestone with your robot-y, blogspot-loving vampirism.

So anyways.  It's storytime!

I really don't know what to do with this kid, and I am so sorry.  I need to prewrite some stuff, because I do have ideas, but it's so much easier to just fudge a short post every week.  Argh.

Prompt: -- ((why do I still put this up, anyways?))

Vocab: nebulous, nondescript, nuance, negligent, nurture

Commonly Confused Words: than/then

Grammar Focus: use parallel structure to format a list of adjectives

Isaac Bade-

     I was about to leave again when I looked out one of the library's windows to see that giant, grey, nebulous clouds ((is that cheating?)) had drifted over the city and were quickly beginning to drip, drizzle, then pour, claiming it as theirs.  I sighed.  Why did it have to rain so much more now than it did the rest of the year?  The girls left through the library's front doors, and then I could see them bolt across the parking lot to a small, nondescript shelter by the bus stop.  

     "Hey," Ava said, and I looked up.  "Wait around for like half an hour, and I can give you a ride home, 'kay?  'Cause biking is kind of a horrible idea right now."  I blinked and nodded, slightly surprised that she knew I biked here.  "Beautiful.  Okay, I've just gotta finish some stuff, first.  Like making up for all the negligent volunteers here.  I mean, how hard is it..."  She went back to work, talking to herself about, like, nurturing the library and whatnot.  I opened my notebook and started drawing again, dealing with the nuances of various pen strokes.

Vital Vocab 18 | Vital Vocab 20

Vital Vocab Dictionary