Vital Vocab 28 - Hiatus Cont. (Updated!)

Vocab: truncate, ubiquitous, vacillate, utilitarian, undulate

Commonly Confused Words: course/coarse

Grammar Focus: parallel structure and semicolon

Hi, all.  

I think my weekly Isaac Bade posts have been truncated not only by my hiatus, but by the end of the school year.  This is the third-to-last Vital Vocab of the year, I've been told, and so Isaac is gonna have to stay the course and sit with that broken arm for a bit longer.  Now, I was sort of vacillating about where I really wanted this story to go, but beneath the coarse, utilitarian fluff posts and regrettable, ubiquitous stress, I still really like him.  Isaac is a cutie; among other things, he's smart, and artsy, and quiet, and I just really appreciate him as a character, so I think I'll keep him to revisit later.  And also write down all the other stuff I know about his story, that I never actually incorporated here.  Because, even if I didn't have a perfect storyline, it did undulate with little story arcs, so that's something to work with.

Until next time!

-Allie

UPDATE: I actually will be sending you guys a full Isaac Bade story!  I chose him as one of the protagonists for the epistolary story I'm working on for Creative Writing, so you guys'll get to read it before the school year is out!  So I guess you could say...

(courtesy of: tumblr)

UPDATE 2 (which is slightly less important contextually, but still worthy of note): Ava's Demon is back from its hiatus!  Which makes me particularly happy because it'd been on hiatus for a little over a month.  Which was unfortunate.

Vital Vocab 27 | Vital Vocab 29

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 27 - The Hiatus Continues (Update)

Vocab: tacit, tangent, tenable, tantamount, trenchant

Commonly Confused Words: bear/bare

Grammar Focus: parallel structure and semicolon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA!

I love the internet.
(courtesy of: Amazing Creatures blog)

That said, hi all.

First thing's first, not seeing a need to be tacit, I'll just say, I've never been particularly trenchant about how I get my homework done.  Which is how I managed to miss Vital Vocab 26.  Sorry about that; I was doing a research paper I'd gotten behind on and Vital Vocab got lost in the bare flurry of end-of-unit procrastination. So that was fun.

And now, in this Vital Vocab, the hiatus continues.  Were this still just due to my own failure to outline, I would have written some little tangent of a something (even if it wasn't Isaac-related) to keep you all entertained.  But unfortunately - and I may have said this before (or something tantamount to it) - during or directly after bearing the stress of a something-or-other (usually school), I fall into this small pit of total writerly emptiness.  So I tried to write through it, but after a few hours of sitting and staring and writing and deleting, it became tenable that this is the most I can give you on my midnight deadline.

So.  Sorry for the lack of post.  Until later, my dears!

-Allie

Vital Vocab 25 | Vital Vocab 28

(Vital Vocab 26 does not exist.)

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 25 (kinda)

Vocab: speculate (v), salient (a), scathing (a), scrupulous (a), seminal (a)

Commonly Confused Words: woman/women

Grammar Focus: parallel structure and semicolon

Hi, all.  

     You don't really have to read this post.  Unless of course you're Mr. Parker, in which case...well...I'm sorry you have to read this post.

     I've had a fair bit of writer's block lately, which recently doubled with an unfortunate little cold.  So between the salient, scathing little voice in my head telling me I'll be judged for my writing and the exhausting struggle to breathe through my nose, I find it better just to get this Vital Vocab out of the way, without dragging out poor Isaac's day any farther this week.  I probably will next week, but after that comes Spring Break, which means plane rides and car trips, and ample time to, ah...well, to rethink my less-than-scrupulous life decisions.  (Or really just to speculate about Isaac's future, but you know what I mean.)

     And hey, maybe I'll read something for once, something seminal to my later writings.  Or maybe somehow the fresh air of a week in Chicago will help me learn how to write a female protagonist.  Seriously, I can't write women.  Can't do it.  I don't know why, but they always end up too...something, then they un-develop.  Oh well.  I'll write a woman someday!  (Is it just me, or does saying "woman" sound really weird?  I hardly ever use that word.)

     Anyways, time to write other things.  Sorry I couldn't manage a good upload this week; it just wasn't working out.  Time for me to go, so I can write a little, draw a little, read a little, think a little....

Bye!

-Allie

Vital Vocab 24 | Vital Vocab 27

(Vital Vocab 26 does not exist.)

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 24

Okay, so I keep talking to people about, like, "oh yeah, and on my blog I was all like..." and then they're like, "oh hey, I read that!" and I find that very interesting because I can't for the life of me find out why.  Like, seriously guys, I'm three quarters of the way through the school year and I haven't managed to slump my way out of the exposition yet.

So.  I'm gonna work on that.

Also, you guys should comment.  I asked a while ago for you kids to point it out if you ever noticed this one thing, or even if you were just reading these thingies, and not even my teacher's said a word.  (Another reason it surprises me when people tell me they read my blog.)

But so anyways, thank you guys for reading, regardless of your elusive motives.  Thank you very muchly.

Vocab: reciprocate, rescind, remedial, relish, ruse

Commonly Confused Words: coarse/course

Grammar Focus: parallel structure

Isaac Bade-

     Despite the unrelenting wind and rain trickling down the back of my neck, the course up the tree was smooth.  It wasn't until I reached the rooftop that I began to regret my decision.  The roof was slick with rain, set a steep angle that I could not relish.  I hesitated, and considered climbing down, but the window was right there.  I sighed and leaned slowly, carefully, cautiously out towards the ledge, gritting my teeth.  

     Snap!

     The law demanding the tree support me had clearly been rescinded.  I tried to jump across as the branch broke, but only managed to grate my hands over the coarse shingles.  My stomach lurched as the ground rushed up beneath me, and with a sickening crack, I was flat on the ground, pain searing through my right arm.  I gaped, closing my eyes as I tried to draw breath back into my lungs.  Near me, I heard the back door open with a gasp.  

     Dammit.

     For a long moment, she didn't say anything.  Then, in a rush, "I'm gonna find you a house key."

     I sighed and swallowed, still catching my breath.  It would have been easier just to stage a ruse.  Slowly, I tried to get up, but immediately cried out as I put pressure on my arm.  I managed to sit up without it, and looked down.  Broken.  It was definitely broken.  My forearm was stubby, and was it just me, or was it slightly bent?  I cringed, and Aunt Gaile reciprocated it with a grimace.  That would clearly need some remedial something.  

Vital Vocab 23 | Vital Vocab 25

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 23

Prompt?  What prompt?

Vocab: rapport, rebuke, refute, quaint, quixotic

Commonly Confused Words: bare/bear

Grammar Focus: parallel structure

Isaac Bade-

     I eventually got tired of waiting and made my way to the muddy backyard, as carefully as possible (though easily refuted, I had a notion that tromping through my aunt's garden could damage our rapport).  Once there, I crossed the back patio and tried the door (locked, of course).  I didn't bother with our quaint kitchen window, but instead grabbed hold of the bare lower limbs of the oak tree, hoping it wasn't too quixotic to hope it would still bear my weight.  I hadn't tried this in ages, and could only assume the tree wouldn't drop me in some harsh rebuke.  Up, over, up, over....I didn't think I heard any cracking branches.  I considered that a good sign.

Vital Vocab 22 | Vital Vocab 24

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 22

Hello, dears.  I'm tired.  Do not expect anything too extraordinary.

((oh gosh wow, I forgot to post it last night.  I'm sorry.))

Prompt: --

Vocab: pretense, procure, prosaic, pragmatic, prudence

Commonly Confused Words: aloud/allowed

Grammar Focus: parallel structure

Isaac Bade-

     Unfortunately, Aunt Gaile had remembered to lock the front door again.  I sighed aloud as I tried the knob.  I couldn't fathom why she thought this was necessary; it had never struck me to be particularly pragmatic (and again I wished one of us could have had the prudence to procure a house key).  I glanced over at the garage door's keypad, but instead of trying the code, I just sat again on the front steps in the rain.  The keypad hadn't worked in months; no matter how much I tried it, I would not be allowed in.

     I leaned against the front door and absently covered the edges of bits of paper from my backpack in prosaic scribbles.  Scri-scritch, scri-scritch, scri-scritch....  My mind wandered back to the library, all the girls with their chittery laughs and fake smiles.  Social pretense was such bull.

Vital Vocab 21 | Vital Vocab 23

Vital Vocab Dictionary

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

Vital Vocab Dictionary

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

Vital Vocab Dictionary

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

Vital Vocab 18

First thing's first, I need to give a shout-out to my friend Sara, for being a hipster.  (ahaha she's gonna hate me pretty soon....)

Okay so hi!  I changed the end of last week's Vital Vocab because I really couldn't figure out what to do with Mrs. Hewett.  I got the idea back in November and then it kind of died, so...I dunno.  I'll bring her back later.
I'm kind of falling asleep as I write this, so...just know that I did my best, okay guys?

Also, I'll probably do what I did last week and post an update with a picture for this on Friday.

Prompt: --
Vocab: metamorphosis, malevolent, myriad, maxim, malleable
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a colon to introduce a list

Isaac Bade-
     "I'm not crazy," Ava said, moving various book stacks.  "I swear, she was here like ten minutes ago.  She told me to keep an eye out for you.  Buuuuut, now she's nowhere to be seen.  So that's interesting.  Anyways...."  
     She went to check out the line of girls' books before they started to get too malevolent.  A few of them turned books in, which she accepted, moving seamlessly through the motions except for when she had to tall one girl she owed fines, at which point the girl stopped and struggled to find money in her myriad and oversized purse.  I watched idly, not having much else to do.
     I wondered vaguely what it would be like if this library went through a complete metamorphosis one day and suddenly, there were people everywhere.  The idea reminded me of school functions when I was a kid, things like parent-teacher conferences, where they'd put up inspirational quotes and various maxims on the wall just for the parents to see: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, or, shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.  I'd see them so often that they became completely devoid of meaning.  I remembered hallways being cluttered in the corners with tables showing off kids' art projects of various types, some papier maché, some paintings, some just jumbles of over-malleable wire.  Every Monday morning now, I kind of wished I could go back to that.

Vital Vocab 17 | Vital Vocab 19

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 17

Hi, all.
This has quickly become mainly just a Vital Vocab blog.  I still love Anthony and will probably post about him (among other things), but I recently kinda just fell in love with Isaac as well, so that kid may take priority for a bit.
One more thing.  Do not try and relate this Eliza to the Eliza of months ago.  Her character's preet-ty dynamic at this point.
Gosh, I really shouldn't be posting this scene yet.

Prompt: --
Vocab: jubilant, lucid, latent, kudos, laconic
Commonly Confused Words: accept/except
Grammar Focus: use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses

Isaac Bade-
     I leaned against the counter, looking through the various bookmarks and flyers that sat in stacks around the library's ancient computer.  Behind me, the girls - who I'd determined were mostly Freshmen (hence my not knowing them) - gradually started to chatter again, being many things, but not laconic.  One of them mumbled something and the others all squeaked, suddenly jubilant, exchanging kudos.  I smiled to myself; it was quite lucid that were the library not empty, Ava never would have accepted them in.
     Empty, right.  That is, except...
     Someone came and stood next to me.  I looked up.  She was tall - taller than me, maybe - and had wavy auburn hair, shoulder-length.  She held a stack of tiny chapter books, The Spiderwick Chronicles.
     "Do you work here?" she asked, I guess because I was still flipping through the papers.  I just smiled and shook my head.
     "Oh hey, Eliza!" one of the girls behind me hissed, looking over at us.  "Eliza, c'mere."  She looked up but waved them off, holding up her books for them to see.
     "I wonder if they know they're in a library."  She - Eliza - laughed quietly.  "Usually they'll quiet down, but they're not even trying today."
     "Eliza."
     "Shush!  Okay anyways, I actually wanted to ask you something.  I mean, I think I've seen you before, like, around town, so I was just wondering, like.  Like.  What's your name?"  
     I looked up and smiled at her.
     "Eliza, hey!"
     I opened my mouth, then closed it, rubbing my neck apologetically.
     "What is it?" she asked.  
     "Elizaaaaaa."
     "What?  Is there, like, something behind me?"  She turned in a circle, then looked back at me, confused.  I laughed a little, quietly, and looked over my shoulder as she stood on her toes and craned her neck.  Clearly, her friends now thought she had some latent quality for reading lips.
     "Seriously, wh-what is it?"  She looked back at me and I looked down at the counter, rubbing my nose and still laughing slightly.  Finally one of her friends, a girl I'd seen before but never really interacted with, came and pulled her a few feet away to whisper something in her ear.  
     She stood up straighter, and slowly turned to look at me.  "Oh..." she murmured.
     I turned around, hearing the door to the back room open again.  Ava stepped out and shrugged at me.  I gave Eliza one last smile before heading over to her.

UPDATE: I'm recently getting back on Tumblr!  I might not get into it immediately, but considering how addicting it can be, I'm sure I will soon.  For anyone who's curious, you can find me here.  I'm thinking of posting any art I do on there, particularly if it has to do with one of my stories or characters.

UPDATE 2: I was going to draw Isaac, but then I started reading this beautiful webcomic called Ava's Demon and those characters are just so fabulous and Isaac is just so constantly modified in my head that my brain kind of meddled them together.  (Unfortunately, it does this a lot.)  Which is why I can't draw people.  Sorry guys, I'll try again later.  But so I did draw you something.  Here.  :3

Vital Vocab 16 | Vital Vocab 18

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 16

(UPDATE: I forgot to wish you kids a Happy Holidays!)

UPDATE: on a completely unrelated note, Bicycle came out with some "Eco
Edition" cards, which I think look really cool, and Anthony might use them.

Yeah, it really doesn't help me get more readers when I don't post for over three weeks.  I had Vital Vocab 15 due back on December 16th, but I was so preoccupied with getting other assignments in before Christmas Break that I completely forgot about it.  I'm sorry, guys.  I have to continue with my story tonight for a grade, so I'll have to leave Fifteen behind, maybe saving the words for some odd upload later.

Anyways, I like this one much better than my last few uploads.   I hope you all do, too.

Prompt: --
Vocab: insinuate, instigate, interject, inundate, irreverence
Commonly Confused Words: passed/past
Grammar Focus: use parallel structure to format a list of adverbs

Isaac Bade-
     A little while and some-odd pages later, a group of teenaged girls came giggling in and inundated a nearby aisle, looking for some movie.  A volunteer came out and tried to quiet them down, but they passed her by with complete irreverence.  I waited a few minutes for them to go, but as the girls began to get sidetracked by various other movies and the high school's latest gossip, I decided they might be a while.  I slipped my things back into my bag and headed towards the check-out desk; I'd been here long enough anyway.
     "Hey, Isaac."  I looked up and smiled.  The check-out person ((is there an official job title for those people?)) today was Ava, a short blonde whom I knew from school.  "Looking for Alaska, huh?  Lucky timing; you usually have to put John Green on hol--"
     "Hey can I check this out?" a girl interjected, nearly shoving me aside to reach the counter.  Ava stared at her coldly, harshly, silently, insinuating all that was awful with just a look.
     "Aah...right...."  She slunk away past some bookshelves to whisper - finally, whisper - to her friends, looking back reproachfully at us.
     "Honestly, I should kick them out," Ava said, scanning my book and card.  "They're certainly instigating it.  Anyways, here you are."  She printed out a receipt with the due date and I stuck it in as a bookmark.  "But ah, can you wait a minute?  I think Mrs. Hewett wanted to talk to you about something."  Mrs. Hewett was the head librarian...person.  I nodded, and Ava ran off, disappearing into a back room.

Vital Vocab 14 | Vital Vocab 17

(Vital Vocab 15 does not exist.)

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 14

Hello, my lovelies.
I made the heading more specific.
My only other note is that I am done making promises I can't keep.  The length will be how the length will be and I will post it when I post it.  I can't see the future, but I imagine I might have ulcers in it, and I really don't need my poor uploading habits to add to that stress.  Sorry, guys.

Prompt: --
Vocab: hierarchy (n), hypothetical (adj), immerse (v), harangue (n), haughty (adj)
Commonly Confused Words: are/hour/our
Grammar Focus: use a semicolon to separate items in a long list

Isaac Bade-
     I looked around and briefly got out of my chair to grab a book off the shelf; I'd been here for far over an hour and I needed something to immerse myself in.  ((A John Green book?  Why not!  Looking for Alaska?  Let's do it.))  Looking for Alaska.  The book was black with hypothetical cigarette smoke on the cover.  On the back cover flap, a brief bio of the author said that John Green had written other books: The Fault in Our Stars; Will Grayson, Will Grayson; An Abundance of Katherines; and Paper Towns.  He had also won several awards and, interestingly enough, had his own youtube channel.  Despite his apparent fame, he didn't seem too haughty.  I had a feeling he'd been kind of a nerd on the high school social hierarchy.
     The book started with a harangue of acknowledgements.  There are a lot of people who go into a book.  The novel itself was divided into two sections: before and after.  Our pages, they are many, I thought, and started reading.

Vital Vocab 13 | Vital Vocab 16

(Vital Vocab 15 does not exist.)

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 13

(EDIT: oh my god, I submitted the assignment, but I forgot to post it!  I'm so sorry!  D: )

Um.  I'm a liar and a poor role model, so, um, speed-post!  (like last week.)
If you see this post, please yell at me in the comments for breaking my rolly-scrolly promise.  Thank you!

Prompt: --
Vocab: garish (adj), genial (adj), grandiose (adj), grievous (adj), guile (n)
Grammar Focus: whose/who's; use parallel structure to list phrases

Isaac Bade-
     After a while, my mind started drifting and I began to scan the titles around me.  Mostly for colors, garish greens, genial pinks, grievous blues with elegant, grandiose scripts implying gallantry and guile and...various other G-specific character traits.
     As a kid, I used to pretend I was one of those characters.  Mom's across the street?  Congratulations, you're in Gryffindor!  And quite suddenly friends with Harry Potter, whose magic is not as good as your own.  Who's to say you don't understand the movies yet?  ((A/N: this was actually me as a kid.))
     I missed being able to turn into other people so easily, that childhood kind of magic.  Maybe that's what I was looking for in the kid's section....

Vital Vocab 12 | Vital Vocab 14

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 12

You may or may not have noticed by now, but my story has no plot.  (*coughcough* yet *cough*)

I wrote this too close to deadline.  Something will actually happen in the next one, I promise.  (Also, I'll promise a post that requires scrolling.  Those are better, honestly.)

Prompt: --
Vocab: fallacy (n), fabricate (v), forum (n), fastidious (adj), frivolous (adj)
Grammar Focus: use parallel structure to organize a list of verbs, who's/whose

Isaac Bade-
     And there I was, once doodling, now fabricating.  The page was quickly covered in rough, seemingly frivolous outlines.  I didn't really know what I was drawing, but...it was something.  I guess.
     I'd never been very fastidious when I drew.  Usually it was in pen, and when I made a mistake, I just hatched and scribbled and drew over it.  I'd only ever been to one art show, and in their forum, all the art had been...well...perfect.  And for some reason...it felt flimsy.  Like there was some sort of hidden fallacy, concealed in its perceived flawlessness.  Whose are these? I'd wondered.  And who's buying?  The pieces didn't seem...real.

Vital Vocab 11 | Vital Vocab 13

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 11

Hello all.

Should I switch back to Eliza soon?  A day in the life of Isaac is not all that inspiring yet.

Honestly, Eliza is sort of daunting to me.  I feel like, since I have a better hold on Isaac's character, his posts are better.  But I'll have to deal with that girl at some point, no?

Prompt: --
Vocab: epitome (n), eloquent (adj), emulate (v), eclectic (adj), etymology (n)
Grammar Focus: loose/lose; use a dash to connect two independent adjectives

Eliza Ben
Isaac Bade- [is more fun and less thought, and let's face it, I am on a deadline here.]
     After breakfast, I paid my aunt a kiss on the cheek ((A/N: is that a thing people do?  people do that...right?)), grabbed my backpack (with notebook), took one glance at my aunt's car, then grabbed my bike.
     I was not exactly the epitome of a good driver.
     Clearly it had rained the night before, as the rainwater tried to emulate a small river in the gutter, bringing with it an eclectic mass of sticks, leaves, and mud.  I biked slowly, watching it flow, looking for cars out of the corner of my eye.  Eventually I reached the edge of the neighborhood, and from there I biked aimlessly until I reached the town library.  I locked my bike loosely on the rack outside (wouldn't want to lose it), and in moments I was wandering through the shelves, just scanning titles.
     Pretty soon, I found myself in the kid's section, looking at one book in particular that was colorfully alliterative.  The elephant eloquently explains etymology to the emu.  The illustration featured a ton of other stuff starting with E; Easter eggs, eagles, a man we could assume was an earl (who happened to have exceptionally large ears and eyes), earthworms, et cetera.  After a minute I put the book back, finding myself wishing I could be a little kid again.
     I went and settled into a cushy chair in the young-adult section and started to doodle in my notebook, fully intending to waste the day away.

Vital Vocab 10 | Vital Vocab 12

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Vital Vocab 10

Hullo.

Prompt: --
Vocab: deft (adj), discretion (n), dynamic (adj), discern (v), dubious (adj)
Grammar Focus: lose/loose; use a hyphen to connect two dependent adjectives

Isaac Bade-
     Hallway, stairs, banister, kitchen.  I smiled a good-morning at Aunt Gaile.  
     "Quite the bedhead, dear."  
     She was cooking pancakes, and a plate full of bacon sat on the countertop next to her.  There was too much food for only two people, but that didn't matter.  What we didn't eat would go into the fridge.  This was what we did every Saturday.  (Note that it was Aunt Gaile's idea, and was done with complete discretion.  I think she thought it would be good to have one thing that wasn't so dynamic at that point.  Regardless, I appreciated it more than she could know.)
     I stepped around her, snatching a piece of bacon as she deftly flipped a pancake.  Opening the fridge, I took some milk and poured it out into a small soup bowl, then stepped around to the back door.  
     "You know Isaac," she said, "keep feeding that cat and it'll keep coming back."  I smirked; we both knew that that was absolutely the point.  
     Sure enough, as soon as I set the milk on the back step, an old black cat slunk out from under the porch, took one seemingly dubious sniff at the dish, then began lapping it up.  It was easy to discern that this was one cliché neither of us wanted to lose.  I sat on the rickety boards of the porch, against the back wall of the house, and looked out at my forest-y backyard.  When the cat finished, it came and curled up next to me, loose fur coming off in the breeze as it began its winter coat.  It pressed itself against my leg and I scratched it behind the ears.  The cat immediately started purring.  I grinned.  Wuss-Puss.
     Wuss-Puss was the nickname I gave the cat a few years ago, just before the Disaster.  I'd just seen the movie "Coraline" (which was beautiful, by the way) and couldn't resist making the reference.  
     After a few minutes, I collected the bowl and left Wuss-Puss outside.  (He sat and meowed at the door, clearly smelling the bacon.)  
     "Sixteen-year-old cat, sixteen-year-old kid," Aunt Gaile said.  "You two are a perfect match."

Vital Vocab 9 | Vital Vocab 11

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 9 - I Owe You A Post

Hi all.

     It's probably safe to assume that my posting dates will get messed up at the end of each quarter.  Every post the past couple weeks has been late, and a couple didn't even make it up.  My reasoning for the most part was due dates; since I didn't have a Vital Vocab post due last week (we just had the Q1 vocab test), I wouldn't have to post one, and I wasn't otherwise obligated to post because I'd just posted a seven page short story for you guys.  However, it doesn't take an extra week to read seven pages, so in retrospect, I think my logic was a little bit flawed.  Sorry 'bout that.  
     Fortunately, I took my short interlude to consider things I've been meaning to explore with Isaac, and I think my mind really needed the rest (I realize I only write Vital Vocabs once every Monday, but after a few weeks of writer's block, it starts to seem much more frequent than that).  So, let's hope something good has come of this.  Here we go!

P.S: sorry if my writing style's slightly altered.  I've been dedicating all my free time today to finishing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Charlie doesn't sound just like Isaac....

Prompt: --
Vocab (underlined): disclose (v), derivative (adj), dearth (n), defer (v), denounce (v)
Grammar Focus: use a colon to introduce a list; its/it's

Isaac Bade-
     I woke up to the sun shining in my eyes.  Bleh.  Rolling over to face the wall, my first instinct was to go back to sleep (I often tried to defer waking up fully).  Sleep sounded nice.  Sleep and its repose.  But then my mind began swimming in what I'd dreamed of.  
     No.  Sleep was clearly not an option.
     I sighed and rolled back over, picking up my phone from the bedside table to check the time.  The small, digital clock disclosed that it was only 7:35 on a Saturday morning.  I closed my eyes for a minute, slightly irritated.  Then, I sat up.  
     What did I have to do today?  Something?  Anything?  Everything?  Math homework?
     Ahh, maybe later.
     I looked out the window, watching oak leaves brush the panes.  My bedroom really had the classic sneaking out setup: rooftop, oak tree, backyard.  Clearly, it was derivative of old family movies.  It had occurred to me several times in the past that it's good there was no dearth of hugs when Aunt Gaile first came to stay with me, or I'd probably have left through this window and never come back.  But then, she'd been close with my family even before, and in the months after, when slowly everyone began to denounce me, she was one of the few who never did.  
     I rubbed the back of my neck.  Anyway.... I sighed and straightened my t-shirt, smelling breakfast downstairs.

Vital Vocab 8 | Vital Vocab 10

Vital Vocab Dictionary

Vital Vocab 8

Hello!

Sorry for the late upload, guys.  This wasn't actually due until tonight this week (for whatever reason), which I totally took advantage of because last night I had to finish The Book Thief for English and study for a map test for geography, which took a while.  But so, happy Tuesday, and my upload will be better (and more punctual) next week.  I promise.

Prompt: --
Vocab (underlined): cursory, cogent, chronological, cerebral, complacent
Grammar Focus: its/it's, colon

Isaac Bade-
     When I got up to my room, I did a cursory think-through of my to do list and collapsed into bed, fully clothed.  It was Friday, and whatever homework still needed doing could be done over the weekend.  As complacent as I knew I could be with that, I turned out the light and faced the wall.
     When I fall asleep, it usually happens over the course of several minutes, like any other person.  But sometimes, it happens so quickly that it startles me.  Whenever I get sucked into a dream like this, there's always something else slightly off: instead of a regular dream, it's always a slightly warped memory.  These dreams, if more emotionally-driven than cerebrally, always seem to have events come and go in chronological order.  It doesn't take an expert to know that my brain's a bit messed up, but often when I wake, it's so cogent that I wonder if its stories were true.

Vital Vocab 7 | Vital Vocab 9

Vital Vocab Dictionary