Last Sunday, a kitty tried to break in to the shelter where I volunteer. She was weak, full of fleas and ticks, and starving. I guess the other cats on the catio told her it was a great place to be, because she scratched and scratched until a volunteer found her and let her in.
Marcella was worn out from her vet visit and car trip back, and looks like she's taking a little cat nap. ;) Her cozy bed is on the other side of the partial left-hand wall.
After a visit to the vet for an exam, fluids, antibiotics, and flea medication, Marcella is looking so much better already. Some of her beautiful orange fur had to be shaved, for all the mats in it, but she has such a sweet face that you'd melt in a minute if you saw her in person. I was asked to pick her up from her vet visit since it was my night to work. I know once she starts to feel better, she is going to find her new family pretty quickly. Can you tell I adore her?
More Creative Writing Class Notes
During writing class last week, our first exercise was to write a piece in which two characters pretend to get along, but secretly despise one another. I'm sure many people in class drew from some real-life experiences, and names were changed to protect themselves! This generated a discussion of interior, exterior, or omniscient viewpoints. In the interior view, you see what the person is thinking, usually the protagonist. With an exterior view, you can't see what people are thinking. You only see what the narrator sees people doing. An omniscient view is all-knowing -- you know everything multiple characters think and do.
We also did a fun, if complicated exercise. First, we were asked to make up three non-related diary entries on three different sheets of paper that were spread on the floor. Second, we had to choose a character, and write on a piece of paper their name, age, and gender. Then we passed the page to the person on the left. We wrote down the next character's marital status, and some detail about that, and passed the paper again. Three more times we added a detail and passed the paper: their biggest achievement, a big disappointment, and a remarkable physical feature.
With the final character paper in our hands, we picked up three diary entries and chose one that would fit with the character on our paper. We had to then write a short story around "what happened that day" in the character's life to generate that diary entry.
My character was a seven-year-old girl who was a pianist. Two of the diary entries were definitely adult in nature, one about traveling and one about a weekend party in Las Vegas, so I chose the one that described someone wearing a sequined dress. I wrote a story about the girl attending a piano recital and watching another young girl in a too-adult dress finish her piece. It was challenging to write from the perspective of a young child since I'm not familiar with dialogue for that age group.
A Personality Meme
My friend Dorothy tagged me for a blog award/meme in which I must reveal seven of my personality traits. Please click here to see her blog for more details -- I won't tag anyone, but consider yourself tagged if you would like to play along!
1. I am a perfectionist, much harder on myself than other people. Whether it's knitting, writing, cycling, having company, decorating my home or how I dress, I want everything to be perfect, and wear myself out worrying about details. We will not discuss hair or cooking, for both of which I need remedial classes.
2. Stubborn. Tell me I can't do something, and I'll usually want to do it all the more. This trait means I fight with knitting projects perhaps much longer than I should. But it's a good trait when I'm trying to learn something new or achieve a goal.
3. I am super sensitive, feel things intensely, and can pick up on other people's moods even if I'm not sure what is happening with them. I worry if they are happy or having a good time if I am with them. I cry easily at movies or while reading books. I'm also sensitive to weather. The forecast determines how my day will go -- sunshine and warmth make a huge difference!
4. I cannot stand injustice or unfairness. When people "get away with murder," it eats away at me for days. I'm not advocating eye-for-an-eye justice, but if you abuse a child or an animal, or steal from people, or treat your loved ones or co-workers like garbage, there is a price that should be paid.
5. Curious. I'm interested in learning most everything, except maybe mathematical and engineering concepts, or how cars/bikes work. I enjoy learning about other people's passions.
6. I'm a night person, more creative and productive after 5pm.
7. Contrarian tendencies. If everyone else is reading/knitting/watching or wearing it, then I can usually be counted on to avoid it. I don't know why...but I've been like that since I was a little kid. Harry Potter, Twilight, sock knitting, Facebook, empire waist tops...please don't be offended if you love any of those things. They are popular for a reason, but for whatever other reason, they just don't appeal to me.
What are seven of your personality traits?
P.S. Since this post is already too long, I'll save my review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance for next time.
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