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.

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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."

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How Toys Become Real

"...once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Hi, guys!  Lately this has been pretty much just a writing blog, but according to my tagline, I'm obliged to post multimedia stuff, too.  So, something I do other than writing and art is reading aloud.  It's fun, 'cause to me it's kinda like singing, but less tone-deaf.  For this post, I read The Velveteen Rabbit.



There aren't many readings I feel comfortable posting due to copyright stuff, but since The Velveteen Rabbit's copyright ran out ages ago, it's public domain.  (By the way, I recently made a Wix site about copyright in Comp Tech, so if ya want, you can find it here.)  If you'd like an online copy of The Velveteen Rabbit, I found one here.

That said, here is a video of me reading!  Enjoy!  (Er, enjoy if you have time; it's 25 minutes long.  The story doesn't even start for three.)

And since Blogger won't let me post videos directly (or I would have posted this ages ago), you can find the youtube video here.

One last thing: though I may sound British, I feel I should point out that I'm not actually British.  I read this in an accent because, well, the story just seemed to call for it.  That's all.

Until next post!
-Allie

--
"The Velveteen Rabbit." The Velveteen Rabbit. Ed. John M. Ockerbloom and Mary M. Ockerbloom. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html>.

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.

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My Abridged Short Story (late post, augh!)

Hello, my friends.  As you may have noticed, I have a general routine of weekly Monday posts with Vital Vocab, and then an assignment post every other Friday.  But now...a weekend post?  What's this?

Yeah, I didn't do my assignment post last night.  I knew I was supposed to, but I was really sick yesterday and just sort of...went to sleep.  Now normally, district policy would say that because I was sick, I have an extra day to turn it in, but I technically had a week to do this.  So that's fun.  Anyway, even though I won't actually get any credit, I feel sort of obligated to Rousseaux itself to post, even if it's a bit late.  So here it is.

Remember that one guy I write, Anthony?  Well when I was first creating him, I gave him kind of a jam-packed backstory (I mean seriously, it probably shouldn't be so complex).  A couple weeks ago in H. English, we had a short story assignment and I thought that would be a pretty good opportunity to write it out.  However, I do call this an abridged account, because I was on a bit of a deadline and had to cut a few details out of the end (like how Anthony ran away and stuff).  Also, because ah, I'm silly, and still couldn't cut it down enough, it's like seven pages.  (Maybe eight?)  This is why, instead of copy/pasting it into my post like a normal person, I'm gonna be an Allie and link you to Google Drive.  Here!

Another thing I left out was a description of Anthony.  Here's a picture I stole from a puzzle game on Gaia Online (and edited slightly for colors, back when I had a vague idea of how Photoshop works).

Don't ask me about the onions.  I have no idea.

-Allie

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.

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Vital Vocab 7

It's hard to bring yourself to write a vital vocab when your mind is swimming with ideas for a short story (ahh, something else for class, which I'll post later).  It's especially hard when your blog is named after that short story's main character.  But this is an assignment too, and I rather like Isaac so...let's get to it.

Prompt: --
Vocab (underlined): concise, construe, cumulative, coalesce, caustic (adj.)
Grammar Focus: to/too/two, properly use a colon

Isaac Bade-
     That night at dinner, I picked at my food while Aunt Gaile went on about this, that and the other thing, mostly news pieces she'd found vaguely interesting and stories she'd already told.  She was many things, but she wasn't concise.
     "Anyway," she said for perhaps the two-millionth time, "it all just seemed sort of silly to me."  She fell silent for a moment and watched as I quietly prodded my peas.  "Too many?" she asked.  I shook my head and we were quiet.
     "Oh Isaac," she murmured, and I glanced up.  "What I wouldn't give..."  I rubbed my neck uncomfortably, avoiding her eyes.  Give to what? I wondered.  To see my notebook?  To bring them back?  God, if you could just finish your sentences for once...  I cut myself short, before my thoughts got too caustic.  I couldn't afford to be mad at my aunt Gaile.  Besides, she didn't deserve it; the woman wouldn't hurt a fly.
     I spread out my peas, then had them coalesce in the center of my plate, forming a cumulative pile.  Status: stereotypical ten-year-old.  Finally, I started to scoop up and eat them; Aunt Gaile clearly wasn't in the cheeriest mood, and though I hated to leave her, I had to escape the room before she started talking about how she worried about me.  To her, it probably would be construed as fleeing, but there wasn't much I could do about that, really.  When I had to go, I had to go.  ((01/08/14 EDIT: Oh god, I only just realized what a mistake that sentence was.  I am so sorry.))
     She folded her hands in front of her and watched as I gathered my dishes to deposit them in the kitchen sink.
     "Goodnight, Isaac."
     I nodded.

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The Beginnings of a Beautiful Art Portfolio

Hey, guys.  I know I've been posting a lot of vital vocab lately (it actually makes up the vast majority of this blog), and it occurred to me that this isn't just a vital vocab blog.  It's a reading, writing, and art blog.  So why not make an art portfolio, eh?  Now, on Tumblr I'm SeptemberNinth92, and I was going to do this there, but in reality, I don't really go on Tumblr.  (Sorry guys, I know I should.)  So I decided I'll do it on here.  An put a photo gallery on the bottom of the home page, if I can.  Yup.

Unfortunately, none of the pieces here are very recent.  I'll add more pieces later under the label/tag "my art."  (Old pieces and new ones.)

One last thing: sorry for the horrible photo quality.  If I had a pro scanner, or even just a handheld camera available, I would use that instead of my sucky MacBook's cam.  (Sorry, Roy. - Yes, its name is Roy.)  In the future, I'll try to find a better way to upload pictures.  But so anyway.

Medium: Sharpie

An umbrella.  (I like umbrellas.)

Medium: Sharpie

A "Spiraling Square" we did in Op and Pop art last year.

Medium: Mechanical Pencil

I constantly, constantly draw eyes.  Usually just in black pen, but also in other colors when I have them.  This is in mechanical pencil, and also blue mechanical pencil (don't ask me where it came from).  And I usually draw just the right eye, but this time I went ahead to draw the other one and a nose.  Farthest I've ever gotten on those faces, I think.

Medium: Ballpoint Pen

Unfortunately, this isn't signed or dated, probably because you can see I never quite finished it.  I can tell you however, judging my the spiral that it was in, that it's probably from sometime last year.  And I bet I have a photo reference of the shoe on my old phone.

Medium: Number 2 Pencil

This one actually has nothing to do with my small obsession of drawing eyes.  It's an idea from a book I was/am kinda writing.  You can't tell, but it's dated 2/6/12, and the title is "Window," basing on the concept that the eyes are the window to the soul.  (Wow, my signature was tall back then.)

Thanks for reading (and looking)!

-Allie

Vital Vocab 6

Prompt: --
Vocab (underlined): compelling, criteria, coherent, concede, contradict
Grammar Focus: to/too/two, properly use a colon

Eliza Benjamin-
     A few days later, I caught myself staring out the window again.  This was a habit of mine, and I mean, no big deal, right?  Just staring, no harm there.  The problem was, I didn't always realize I was doing it, and often enough, it happened just when I had something else to do.  Like, my mom would call me to dinner, and I'd be just about to go when I noticed something interesting out the window.  Next thing I knew, two or fifteen or twenty minutes had passed, I had no idea where they'd gone to, and my meal was cold.  And I couldn't even remember any coherent thoughts I'd had while zoned out.  They were all little fragments of things that seemed to contradict each other, then later concede.  It was confusing, like a dream that got fainter and fainter the longer you stayed awake.
     So, when I caught myself this time, I wanted to know what was so compelling to my subconscious to make everything in my head just stop like that.  I looked out my bedroom window to see what was there.  Criteria for my bedroom view:

1. a long-ish, slightly windy driveway
2. a thin, too-gravelly street
3. a lot of old trees
4. a tall kid with white-blond hair, looking out the neighbor's window (optional)

     I looked at the kid, wondering who he was.  I'd seen him a couple other times, but never really.  He wasn't in any of my classes at school.  I didn't know why I cared really, I just...wanted to know his name.  Just a name.

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