New banner. Nabari No Ou.

Can't take my brother's insensitivity anymore. I just need him to give me some space before I lose control and deck him. He's being a real asshole today.

If it weren't so cold I'd take a walk.

I wish dad would just let that brat sleep later so I wouldn't have to put up with him as long.

If I lock him out he threatens to rip my decorations off my door or cut the strings on my Garfield clothes hamper.

No peace. No space.

Why won't he just leave me alone?

Give me a [insert series] character and I will give you my:

+ OTP for them.
+ Runner-up pairing.
+ Honorable mention(s).
+ Crack pairing(s).
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't.

Series:xxxHOLIC, Tsubasa, Death Note, Bleach, Code Geass, Kingdom Hearts, Nabari No Ou, Fruits Basket, Juvenile Orion, Spiral, DGrayman, Yugioh.

For your enjoyment, I present to you my Spiral sims!

( Ph33r Our Missing Rib Bones! )

My friend e-mailed this to me this morning. It's very touching. Where this particular story is true or false doesn't matter. This kind of thing REALLY does happen sometimes.

( Put A Little Love In Your Heart )

Movies I wanna see:
The Blind Side
The Vampire's Assistant
The Princess And The Frog

Movies I've seen recently:
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince
Ice Age 3
Up
Deathnote:L, Change the world
Four Christmases


I'd like to discuss the movies I've seen and ask opinions of the ones I wanna see.

If you had me alone, locked up in your house for twenty-four hours and I had to do whatever you wanted me to, what would you have me do?

All comments will be permanently screened because it's a secret. Then, repost this in your lj. You might be surprised with the responses you get.

Wow, my journal entries are kind of boring. I want to try and find a way to liven them up a bit. I've just never been good at keeping journals or diaries, unless they're of the dream kind. I'm gonna try something later. And by later, I probably mean in a few weeks. I get distracted very easily; combine that with my procrastination and I never get anything done.

Soooo...

Here to talk about my Christmas/Christmas Eve. Will cut for length.

( Hazzah! )

1. Post your birthmonth.
2. Cross out anything that isn't true of you.
3. Bold 5-10 things that you think really represent you. EVERYTHING THAT APPLIES
4. Post the rest of the list of months under a cut.

MAY:
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.


( Months )

This song is so sweet. It really is. But in the begining it makes me cry.

( Christmas Carol )

I'll report on the days events some time later. I'm beat.

Mom's headed home. Once she gets here we're headed out. *Flail* EXCITEMENT!

In other news, you don't realize just how BIG anime hair is until you try one of their hairsyles. lol I braided my hair like Hiyono from Spiral.



lol Her hair is so thick. That's seriously unrealistic, no matter how cute. :D

Anyway, I wonder what mom's going to think of this. ^.^; Hahaha.

Tales of Symphonia 2 : Dawn of the New World / Knights of Ratatosk
is
BYOOOTY-FULL.
Just finally got it as a Xmas present, been playing about half an hour in between the aperitif and dinner, and I'm gleeful. I have no idea what the fuck's up but it's all beautiful and great and holy shit, I recognized the very first room Emil woke up in. Love love love what they did with Luin. ♥♥♥
I'm also very pleasantly surprised by Emil. Not at all what I expected from the small bits of artworks, screens and videos I've seen (though I tried not to watch too much). Drop dead cute, though a bit disturbing, as some kind of mix of Colette and Mithos. I'd been expecting an angry, overly self-assured, annoyingly obnoxious brat, and I get a pathetic kicked puppy instead. This all looks very, very promising. ♥

What the heck am I doing up this last knowing I'm going to be running all over tomorow? Am I nuts? urghhhh...

I need to get to bed and stop being an idiot.

'Night folks!

The only one I watch EVERY Christmas is "Nightmare Before Christmas". ^.^ And of course I love it. It's my favorite movie EVER. lol

Though this year I FINALY got to see "It's A Wonderful Life" for the first time. (Have I been living under a rock? Probaly.) And I'd like to see it again next year. ^__^

EDIT:I forgot to mention Rudolf and Frosty and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. :D I always watch them too. *Dork*

Some years I also watch some of the others. I'm very fond of Annabelle's Wish. And I'll Be Home For Christmas.

And I usualy only catch the last half of A Christmas Carol. XD

There's a lot...

Mobile Phone. lol

Because,

1)I hate phones.

2)My cellphone has no service.

3)I only use it to tell time. (Because watches ALWAYS die when I wear them and I'm picky about what I'll wear on my wrists anyway.)

Easy one to answer. XDD

D'awww... Thankyou, Rose-Chan~! ♥ I'm so happy.

*Cracks up*

"Rockin' The Beer Gut", huh? XD

Look Here If You Wanna Know

I want to turn this into an icon.



And maybe put the words "Love Remembers" on it somewhere. But I know I'm no good with making icons with text on them. :( Could I request that if one of you could do this for me? I'll do something in return if you want. I just want to have this as an icon.

Anyone wanna do this for me?

Mean to say....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ALL YOU HAPPY PEOPLE!!!!

Just cuz I probaly won't be back on until after teh holidays and such.

NOW I can go pass out.

Still feeling crappy. And I have a few new things to wrap. And all I wanna do is crawl into bed. Meh.

Head's pounding but I've got the screen brightness on the lowest setting so it's not screwing with my head right now.

And THERE ARE STINKBUGS EVERYWHERE! Urgh... I just caught the fourth one that I've seen just in this past hour! >.>;; What the heck???

I'm trying to recall what exactly I said to Smith-Chan this morning in chat. X.x I only have a vague recollection. I was sort of half-asleep and feeling light-headed and I just hope I didn't say anything stupid or rude. I know how I can get when I'm sick, sleepy and on cough medicine. *Facepalm*

So if I said anything that might have come accross as mean or if I was in any way incoherent, I'm sorry. (Because honestly, I can't recall...)

I guess I'd better get things done. probaly won't speak to any of you again until after Christmas.

Mushy-San, I'm going to work on that papaHizumi thing I keep saying I'll write. I had a really good idea earlier. I'm just trying to remember it... (I phail so hard... So very, very hard.) And then I'll work on the Eyes Purse fic. If i don't pass out first.

talk to ya'll later.

'Night.

It's Really Hard To Say When Eyes Is Joking...

Skunky plays Eyes wonderfully~! ♥ It's so hard to figure out if he's being serious or not. ^.~;

RP will inspire much fic.... (Mushy wants me to write a oneshot with Hiyono correcting Hizumi about whether she stole Eyes' purse or beat up the guy who stole Eyes' purse. XD)

URGH! We have like, what, three more days until Christmas?

I'm totaly sick. Blahhh...

Knew it would happen.

Must get well by Thursday or it's gonna be H-E-Double Hockey Sticks for meeeee. *Headdesk*

But the snowslide called to me so sweetly until I scaled it failureninja-style and rolled down it. XDDD

Odd I know, but after only 1 week of winter break I am already ready to be back in school...and there is two more weeks left. I am so ready to get my own place. I think by 19 you should be allowed to say that without your family looking at you like you've lost your mind. It's mainly rules, and the fact that there are so many dumb ones...

1) My mom hates cell phones. Not entirely (she has one) but she feels that they should only be used in case of emergency and that people shouldn't carry them around in their pockets and check them so much. This is a problem because I will admit that I am addicted to my iPhone. Even though I am the one paying the $100+ bill every month with my OWN MONEY, she feels that she can hide my phone to keep me from using it and only give it back at nights because I use it as an alarm. Also if someone calls, she will tell me not to answer it and will get mad if I do. What gives her the right to do that?!

2) My grandma lately feels the need to criticise everything I purchase. Not just video games, but food. I'm sorry if I buy lunch on my work breaks to keep myself from collapsing from hunger. It's not like I can pack my lunch since our work fridge broke and I can't keep food from spoiling. And it's also not like I'm buying lobster. I'm spending $5 on Subway or Chick fil A or China House. NOT A BIG DEAL SINCE IT'S MY MONEY!!

3) My grandpa (who is okay with pretty much anything I do and supplies me with pocket money quite frequently) recently announced that if I "keep going out in public dressed weird" I am going to embarrass the family. He is referring to the way I dress when I go to cons and when I go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show showings. So at this point I don't care if it embarasses the family because it won't. Yes, I am a cosplayer; that it what you do at cons. And yes, I am involved in the city "Punk/Goth/Emo" scene; that means that on Rocky nights I will dress up. It's not like I'm joining a strip club or flashing my panties to passing cars, and on normal days you will find me in a simple T-shirt and jeans; once and awhile I'm going to have my fun.

Sorry for the long rant, but as a LEGAL ADULT who is IN COLLEGE and has a STEADY JOB I am tired of having to deal with this crap everyday I am in my house. Not to mention that my mom and my grandma still give me a bedtime >< My mom keeps telling me that I need to re-convert to Christianity and that I should tell my boss that I can no longer work on Sundays. Having not been to church in 6 years, having no intention of returning, and happening to enjoy working Sunday shifts (I have worked the 12-630 shift for the last 3 years straight), I told her "fat chance" because as much as she gripes that is one thing she can't control -_______-

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last Monday I donated bone marrow to krystalfaerie in a life-saving procedure (300 points). Last week porticulis and I donated clothes to the needy (11 points). Last Thursday I broke bishie_hotline's X-Box (-12 points). In June I got in line at the supermarket at the same time as someone else and I didn't yield (-8 points). Last Friday I ruled Iran as a kind and benevolent dictator (700 points). Overall, I've been nice (991 points). For Christmas I deserve a new dolly! Sincerely, x_mog

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

.........

Hmmmmmmmm...

SNOW! WE HAVE NINETEEN INCHES!

.....

AS SOON AS THE SNOWPLOW LEAVES I AM GOING OUT!

SNOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

...
Currently watching a very, very weird movie about weird people in a weird house weirding out everybody that comes knocking at their door (a phonebook person and Jeovah witnesses so far). With a guy that looks like a completely stoned Mello in drag - and that is a very sexy, short, black silk nightdress and short high-heeled boots.
With a beard.
And a gun.
And hairy legs.
And disturbingly sexy. yes i know mello in drag is always sexy but the whole movie is disturbing
Called "Last Days" but it's been over 10 minutes and the title still hasn't appeared.
Very weird. I'm trying not to watch it but Mello in drag is distracting.

Got back home somewhere around 2 am this morning.
Slept until noon.
Went ot buy books/mangas/a present for my best friend's 18th birthday because I failed at writing her a huge illustrated story as I wanted to, baked her a DELICIOUS cake if I may say so, just came back from her surprise party.
Dead tired btu happy to be home. ♥

Anthologies (or at least collections) seem possible lately. Weird. (I can never remember writing so much short stuff before.)

This one's actually entirely original. I write poetry on occasion--for the challenge, as well as a way to kep my english-muscles in training. My specialty's the sonnet. It's not the only thing I write poetry-wise, but my freeverse is crap, just like most people's. It's usually pretty trippy crap, too, on unusual subjects. (compared to my sonnets, which are on some pretty odd subjects themselves.) So what actually sounds good, and I'm comfortable with as a medium, is the sonnet.

Maybe someday, the villanelle or the pantoum or the ballad will be my bitch, too, but for now It's just the sonnet. (Thank Heaven for small favors...)

Lately I've been breaking my informal oath and writing sappy ones, too. Before I used to just reserve the thing for wierd topics outside of love. Now I'm just being a moron. (A melodramatic, prosey moron, though...)

This is a dump of MOST of the sonnets I've written and thought passed muster. Some are left out until I get them into either a better form, or I'm less embarassed by them...which...implies I want them in a better form, come to think of it. (They'll have dates afterwards--aren't I so helpful?) The dates are for the initial completion of the poem--it's pretty rare I don't write a sonnet in one sitting when I do it, but usually they go through two or three revisions. Sometimes they even go through sub-types where I save the major reforms. So some sonnets will have the date of completion, then primary edit dates besides.

One in particular is left out because it'll identify me immediately to anyone in that particular class. Even the title was fairly memorable. That first sonnet's not left out because of poorness of quality. It's left out because it is what it is. (It's about Lucifer, incidentally.)

I've also left notes for what STYLE of sonnet the things are. There are several differnt rhyme schemes for Sonnets, after all, and not all of mine are the same variety.

Small disclaimer: If you steal my sonnets, and I catch you, I'll have to close off my journal, at the least. So if you're a person I don't know and are desperate to have an assignment for your english class, please give me a poke? (Or if you're a person I know, too.) I'd love nothing more than to help you. I want to be an English Teacher so badly it borders on psychosis.
Think: free tutoring on pentameter domination tactics.
Ooh.
Seriously though, I don't have patience for cheating. It's one of the few things I don't have a scrap of patience for. Take an 'F' if you need to, but keep your honor.
...My A's were in English, usually. And...Biology, Advanced art, and...well...Weight Lifting. I usually hated small homework assignments, and liked big projects on my own, so I graduated with something like a 2.3 GPA. (Everyone's usually shocked.)
But I still had an 102% A+ in my Junior Honors English class.
So if you have a deadline coming up, come and ask me, and I'll puzzle it through along with you.
My grammar's not the greatest, but I can write at least.
Also, my email is: sweet_jumpin_jillybeans@yahoo.com if you prefer privacy. I usually check it a couple of times a week.

------------------------------------------------------------------


Summaries:


I-- Taphos (3-1-08)
Rhyme Scheme: ?
HA! You won't believe it, but THIS was written in an RPJ. Yes, yes, yes. (I know--you're going "Whaaat?") See, when I RolePlayed Yami Bakura of the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, he was obsessive over becoming modern and culturally astute, and generally proving himself better than everyone else so he could sneer about it. One of the really weird ways he showed it was by writing a sonnet-epitaph for Yugi's Grandfather, Solomon Motou. (In the official storyline, he lives, but over time he died in said RP) Strangely, Baka-kun up there had a bit of respect for Yugi--he seemed to think the reason he was there was because Yugi botched something up. (Because the end of Yu-Gi-Oh technically means a post-canon RP shouldn't have any of the "Yami" characters in it...) So he edged carefully around Yugi while detesting Atem ("Yami Yugi") in true Lawful-Evil fashion.
So, oddly enough, this was written by "Bakura".
By which I mean, I wrote it because I'm weird. (And I wrote it from his POV of what was noble to do. Which is clearly what anyone should do when they get carried away writing in the POV of a soul-fusion of a five-thousand-year-old bedouin-king-tombrobber-turned-evil-god-thing-with-a-snake-for-a-penis. Clearly. The sonnet is most obviously the perfect medium for having an borderline-nuts anime character address another dead anime character... *funny look* It's all so clear now...)
The rhyme scheme mystifies me even now. It seems to be a modified Petrarchan-Shakespearean, but I'm not sure, myself. It's three quatrains of ABBA, CDDC, EFFE, with a couplet GG. No rhyme scheme I've ever heard of. (I say it's modified Shakespearean because it only needs two pairs of rhyme each. Still...it's weird I didn't realize this before. I probably thought I was doing a Petrarchan withotu remembering exactly what a Petrarchan entailed.)
"Taphos" is the greek word referring to either a funeral ceremony, or a tomb. It's the root of the English word "Epitaph", which in turn is either the engrving on a tomb, or a short speech commemorating a dead person.


II-- On the Fruitless Fount Immortal (8-5-08)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
This was dedicated to a goth-muffin friend of mine. I don't think I've ever actually bestowed it on her, though. (Chances are she doesn't pay attention to my creative journal long enough to even know I'm doing it now. *sigh* She doesn't pay much attention to me outside of RP, I guess...^^;; She's got a fairly busy life.) On the off chance I did give it to her, it would have been one of the old versions. This poem's really come into its own over time. It's had three major edts and overhauls--more than any of my other poems, I'd imagine. It's a bizzare little piece. Lately I've been thinking it actually might make a good original story--a vampire story of sorts, but with my definite irony thrown in.
In short, A vampire falls for a river nymph, only to try to drink blood from her and be ironically trapped in the river by the running water forever. (Vampires supposedly are made powerless by running water. Plus there's the idea of a more ancient "magical entity" overwhelming something with the urge to drink. I think it's just too much of Skunky's Dark Humor in one place to be passed up...)
The sonnet's subtitle should explain a little better what's going on. It'll take me forever if I try to explain why every symbol and every irony just seemed to fall into perfect place.
It has a bunch of weird literary puns, too. *sigh* Which...might make it better than some of my others for that alone. (Or worse, because it's my crack-pot humor at work.)
And really: what better present to give a goth? Though I suppose she's not a goth anymore... Mm, teenagers are so fickle... I tend to dedicate things to friends of mine if I think they would have liked them. It's part of the reason why my subjects get so random half the time.


III-- On Secondhand Experiences (9-4-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
Well...this was the third and most informal part of a three sonnet blast I wrote in the span of about two hours while I was busy being an emo little puddle of piss, whining about how the miraculous being I've set my eyes on as some sort of ideal of humanity hadn't show up for ages, and how much I missed him. (Luckily, all of you missed that. That ended up being one of those entries I wrote up, then didn't post because I felt better the next day and didn't feel the need to subject the world to my whining just then. ^^;;)
For those of you who don't know about my pining after a wheelchair-bound, smoking, tattooed darling a year younger than me, who draws like an angel, sparks creativity off like a lightning-rod, and otherwise serves as muse to this sad waste of skin, uh...consider yourselves informed. That's pretty much it. I've been infatuate for six years over the same guy, and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it except mutter about it. (Because despite the way I talk, I don't know the first thing about revealing one's feelings to men, and when I'm around said glorious individual, all I do is act roughly the same way I usually do, if not a little less coherent.)
These aforementioned three sonnets actually made up the first occasions I used the sonnet for it's mundane "romantic" purposes.
They were the mark where I broke my unwritten rule of keeping personal romance out of the sonnet. But, in my defense, by that time I hadn't seen him for more than two months and was more than a little nuts off it.
I usually see him as my carcinogenic little "air freshener." I feel better when I'm around him. That's just the way it is. I owe him the fact I can even speak to people at all, to be honest. I learned how to love people from him, that's it in simplicity. If it weren't for him, I'd still be stuck inside my own skull. So I owe him, even if I didn't like him so much.
That's pretty much what this poem's about--his air-freshener-ness.
Somehow, though I'm not a smoker, the smell makes me nostalgic now, because I think "him", and comforts me a little.
For someone without a sense of romance, I guess I'm a pretty sentimental sop, sometimes...


IV-- On the Wondering on His Craft and Making (9-4-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Terza Rima
The second part of the three-sonnet spree above. It's almost stuntedly formal and kind of dumb in hindsight, with its epic Genesis metaphor... (A pretty exalted metaphor for watching a guy roll up a character for a tabletop RPG, if you ask me... o_o;;) The reason I put it up was the form. This is the first terza rima sonnet I've ever written. Terza rima is a fairly obscure sonnet form--the italian form actually favored by Dante. (It goes in little triads in this general rhyme form: ABA BCB CDC DAD EE)
I still feel all dopey for talking about the lump of meat in the left side of my chest in all exalted terms.
(Uh...It does its job, I guess, my heart--generally doesn't cause much trouble and all...It's a slimy little thing.)
But it can't be helped.
It took me almost two weeks even after writing sonnets to text message him and figure out what was going on with him...
...I'm an idiot. *snorts*
(Seriously, anyone have a spine for sale?)
I expect this one to get rediculed by anyone aside from the most misty-eyed romantics...
Also: The puns, the puns. Do I ever not make senseless literary puns and double entendres? Do I ever?


V-- On the Building of a Dynasty (11-3-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
Ah, finally the fun stuff!
This was a poem specially written for a dear friend, and a phenomenal writer. She had a prompt for a very special little college relating to how one thought the perfect sandwich should be constructed, and the answer either had to be a flowchart, or a form of poetry, and she picked the sonnet without having studied meter. Actually, I shouldn't say that. She's Indian, and English is the only language which seems to use a stressed-unstressed poetic meter. Most other languages use pure syllables. She's STILL the fastest learner I've ever seen for iambs... So! In my paltry attempts to instruct her in one of the few things she didn't know (and still grasped admirably fast...) I wrote this sonnet as an example on my view of the best sandwich.
...Clearly, the best sandwich is one you can use to sharpen your sword when you're out with the horde.
Grilled cheese.
Oh yes.
(I still think her sonnet was better, though. Anyone who uses the line "beef and ham are lily pads of meat" or...it was something like that anyway...they deserve to be elevated to semi-divine status in my book, anyway. Automatically.)
Also, this particular dear is one of the people who follows my tradition of having a "V for Vendetta" party every fifth of November.
She gets "V" for a reason. Just for the record. (Never mind that I'm going chronologically...)


VI-- the Invention of the Wheel (11-21-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
Oh THIS. Uh...it's another addition onto my soppiness.
I'm not one of those people who thinks "rims" are an instant chick-magnet, for the record. I've just...had a thing about wheelchairs since I was about eight--long before I could get any weird kinks or sexual things. I just...really like them for whatever reason. I was infatuated with the idea of having one for the longest time. My first OC ever was wheelchair bound, as it turns out. (And a rediculous Mary-Sue, for the record.) If you'd asked me who my favorite character was, I would have screamed "Hari Seldon!" (Wheelchair-bound psychohistorian, and driving plot-force behind Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series...) And I seemed to want to put a golf-cart engine in a wheelchair for some odd reason. (The idea of zooming around in a twenty MPH wheelchair sounded incredible. My slighty more logical mind these days acknowledges that yes, that WOULD be incredible--for steering alone if nothing else.)
All things considered, though, it's no real wonder if I have "odd tastes" twelve years later.
...I've never seemed to see the appeal in those gleaming "storybook princes", though. (It probably comes with growing up as the sort of blond girl people love to stick up towers. It certainly means I have an irrational loathing and paranoia over Disney-Affiliations...)
I can't seem to leave conventions alone when I write something like this. I seem to like telling conventions of rugged manliness to kiss my chariot.


VII-- The Viking to His Kitten (11-23-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
This one is undying proof that I am a special kind of moron.
I actually challenged HIM to give me "jaunty verse" to write. His prompt was simply "A Viking who's lost his Kitten."
I then endured incalcuable wrath for putting in the word "damn" from the other idiot I was later crowing triumphantly over this endeavor with.
HE showed up scant days later, though... Kittens do it every time
Indirectly, this sonnet has done wonders for my morale. (Despite, or perhaps because it's rediculous.)
What am I saying? The whole endeavour's rediculous--I can write a sonnet like this, but I can't ask a person out.
That's the face of "FAIL" right there...
...But funny fail, anyway.
Basic plot of the sonnet is thus: Viking's off doing cheerful pillaging, raping, and looting, with his trusty kitten stowed in the front of his loincloth like a mascot. (And a biting codpiece, at that.) He runs into a bear, being none too bright, and somehow doesn't notice that he's running around free of loincloth after the fact until some hours later, and so he scribbles out a message into the beach for the kitten (like it can actually read) beseeching its safe return or lack of return.
He IS a Viking after all.
(Between you and me, kitten is picked up by some soppy woman somewhere, and probably lives in front of a nice warm hearth for the rest of his life, and never so much as goes near a longboat ever again.)
This was another sonnet I had a lot of fun with, obviously.
It also suffers from my sense of humor.


VIII-- On a Rediculous Gesture (11-29-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Petrarchan
Every morale boost has a low. Obviously this was me calling myself an idiot in a Petrarchan fashion. I wrote an entry about it, actually because I suddenly had a lot on my plate.
This sonnet is probably a bit closer to my "informal" voice, too. (That is, how I normally sound.) It even gets all unhappily sarcastic in places.
It's also subtitled the Invention of the Wheel, II because it follows the downside of loving on Chariots, too much.
...Don't pine after men who are ancient superweapons, kids.
"The Invention of the Wheel" might be ongoing as a sonnet theme. Wheels are pretty universal symbolically, so I can probably supercharge the theme with all sorts of ulterior meanings--and what else does one do in poetry, anyway?
I was also glooming myself up by listening to spoken poetry, and some twit or other was reading Dylan Thomas to me, hence the line in the front. (Unfortunately, most of my stuff reads like his "a Visit to America" essay, so I don't think I can really keep up gloom for long without heartily self-mocking. It's rediculous.)
The petrarchan rhyme model follows perfectly, (ABBAABBA CDECDE) except I've perhaps put the volta in a different place (That's the "turn" of the poem's theme--it's an essential part of the sonnet.) so I have seven lines and seven lines on either side rather than the normal eight and six. There was some deep, burning existential reason for that in my soppy female feelings at the time, and I don't remember it, because I often don't remember my soppy, feminine feelings of the time.
Italian sonnet models like terza rima and the Petrarchan are supposed to be more difficult. I was almost unpleasantly surprised to find it was only just a little bit trickier. Not as much as I'd hoped, even. I still felt lousy enough to finish writing a rather long entry, after all.
Which I didn't post, because Mushy-sama came in and let me vent. Thank you, Mushy-sama~
(The idea that it was easier than I'd expected gives me some hope for the eventual villainelle, though. Finding four pairs of rhyming words is a little trickier than finding just two...)


IX-- Dirge of the Loose Cannon (12-1-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Petrarchan
Wrote this after aforementioned profuse whining to Mushy on subjects related to the sonnet before this. I think he meant it as a fic prompt rather than a sonnet prompt, but I did ask for sonnet prompts, and he gave me this and another, so I wrote him a sonnet. It's a Spiral sonnet, too, at that--meaning it features the POV of the Character Kanone or variably "Kanon" Hilbert, from the manga Spiral: the Bonds of Reasoning. (If you like a series where genius children duke it out with guns, logic, piano, and plot-important kitty ears, this is a series for you. I don't recommend the Anime--though there is one--it doesn't do justice to the books after a certain point.)
Mm. Sonnets. With more kittens.
...Why do all the men I know seem to have a thing about kittens? (Argue all you like, Mushy-sama, but it looks pretty bad on your end, no matter what you say about Kanone's character. XD)
The prompt was technically something like "Write how Kanone rescues a bunch of kittens and brings them home, and Evangeline Hilbert gets mad at him."
It didn't turn out exactly according to prompt. It turned into a Petrarchan sonnet where Kanone rescues kittens because it's one of the good things his murderous self can do. Kanone's so very cheerful for a perfect assassin with no blind spots who's doomed to lose his mind if he doesn't watch it. (There wasn't room for his mother in the fourteen lines.)
This brings me up to two sonnets I've written in the guise of anime characters.
Well done, Mushy-sama.
(All those who are jealous, can give me prompts of their own like real men.)
"Loose Cannon" is just another pun. Those familiar with the slang know a Loose Cannon is an unpredictable, wild, and often dangerous person. Azalee pointed out that Kanone's name in german, literally is "Cannon". And a Dirge is a mourning song.
Still, writing angsty killer anime characters is an improvement on being a sop.


X--Easyvac
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
Another fun prompt from a dear individual. His exact words were, "How about a man who spends his whole life vacuuming a beach?". For that reason, it doesn't really have the most pithy of titles. I'm still waiting for him to give me a better name for it.
What this sonnet does have is a plethora of weird poetic references, and more than a generous helping of weirdness.
It makes at least two definite references--One to Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" with the bit about a walrus strolling down the beach with a carpenter, obviously. And another murkier one to T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". Less obviously, that's the bit about old men and peaches-- "Do I dare to eat a peach?"; plus the mersong. "I have heard the mermaids singing"...and...being Eliot, he was actually making a reference to John Donne's "Song" with the line "Teach me to hear mermaids singing..."
Aaaaand, "Life's a beach" is obviously a play on "Life's a Bitch" if you look at it right.
The "dumb diver" is Jacques Cousteau. (Bless his soul. I took and was good at Marine Biology.)
So...
It's symbolism laden, but what does a guy with a menial labor job care about symbolism, singing mermaids, or the fantastic? The tone of jaded cynicism and sarcasm comes over pretty well overall, not to mention the meaninglessness of the task. Plus, I myself have need of a higher paying job so I can feed my college habit. Insert subliminal griping.
Notably, I live in an area laden with beaches. My house is a mile at best from the water--a fact I've never seen reason to take enthusiastic advantage of. I've never quite seen what poets, or vacationers see in the idea of a beach. If they all used the same beach for their little musings and wistfulnesses, I'd imagine it would get highly crowded and sufficiently less picturesque. Nobody needs to see a Walrus in a thong, thank you, but there are plenty in the Miami area.
On the other hand, I DO seem fairly fond of freshwater bodies.


XI-- On The Frightened Disciple (One of Many) (12-14-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Shakespearean
Ah. The Autobigraphical sonnet. (Also known as "a case in point for being a sop.")
For those who don't know: I'm religious. It seems particularly ironic in that light that I have no qualms about writing slash fiction, or things with sex. It embarasses me, but no moreso than most other things. Yes. Well. The thing is, not everything one writes is what they approve in a nice society and all... I'd be a real villain if everything I wrote happened to be things I thought were 'good'.
And yet I have no consideration of ever censoring the behaviors of my friends, either. Whatever they are, be it bipolar, or bisexual, or broken in any way, shape, or form. They're my friends. Which...is another odd point. (Somehow one just simply CAN'T be a good christian unless one applies to the stereotype of being a close-minded stupid bigot. Naturally, naturally. *eye roll*)
Hah. Here's the thing--if I waited for everyone to be "good people" before hanging around them and trying to help, commiserate, or enjoy their other features, I'd have a really shitty "ministry." (And half of you are probably more preoccupied with the fact I used the word "shitty", and the other half are cringing at the word "ministry". Both are loaded terms.) And anyway, what's worse? Sodomy? Or being an Apostatic Hypocrite, hm?
Christians aren't typically any better about having less nasty urges than your average person. We just have a reason to hold them back, and try to do better where other people don't see a problem in the first place. (It's not like denying it makes things any better, I find, though it makes you feel a little better, maybe.)
For the record, I AM an Apostatic Hypocrite. But then again, isn't everyone?
Well...Double Apostatic Hypocrite in this case. I've done a full 360 with my faith in my lifetime. (I probably haven't gotten into it much with people because religion is sort of an "impolite" topic to bring up most of the time, but Witchcraft definitely ranks up there insofar as labelled sins go, in short. Much less, leaving Christianity FOR Witchcraft and lying consistantly about it through the act of still attending a church, etc.)
One doesn't need to be spotless before they go on their knees--There's no polishing the insides with human hands after all.
It isn't a matter of thinking God is "loving" and "looks past it", because that's just another excuse--it's more a matter of wanting more than anything to do better even if you can't do it on your own steam, and even if it means giving up what you want.
But...that doesn't make sense to a lot of people. ^^ ("Who would willingly choose that?!" XD)
To be honest, I wasn't sure I should have included this one, but in the end I did because it's not really "offensive"--it's simply mine as much as the love-sonnets are for roughly the same reasons.


XII--The Voyeur Courts an Inspiration (12-15-09)
Rhyme Scheme: Chiastic
Important Note: There's actually no such thing as a Chiastic Sonnet for all I know. It's...my invention, actually. This is me, starting to play with my medium.
So...what is a chiastic sonnet?
Well...Since it has exactly fourteen lines, the sonnet can divide evenly in a number of ways without ruining its trademarks. I've gone into it a little, above. The rhyme schemes, and such are all different ways of dividing up, and through the ages, the sonnet's often been tailored a little, which is why it's sometimes so hard to find a decent teaching example for some of the models.
So, I thought 'Wouldn't it be interesting to turn the volta into the couplet and put it right at the end of the octet?' (Effectively turning the poem into two mirrored sestets, surrounding a couplet.) In theory, with fourteen lines, instead of eight-and-six, the sonnet could divide into seven lines on each side: ABCDEFG GFEDCBA with a couplet wrapped around the volta. And for another twist and a challenge, the couplet could be cleaved symmetrically by the change in subject, making the first and second "argument" equal groups of seven lines.
After the volta, instead of mounting into the stinging epithet of the final two lines, like Shakespeare would, this structure would wind down and relax and come to a gentler conclusion on the other side, more like Hebrew Poetry. Though Hebrew Poetry's mostly repetition, it follows chiastic structure--anyone studying Shakespeare will remember Frietag's Pyramid Though in my case, I disgracefully don't remember how it's spelled with steps going up around a central act? Chiastic structure is like that--symmetrical, with buildup and winding down afterwards.
It's very English to build up and up and up, and then suddenly stop at the very end, and wrap everything up. It's also very much like most arguments to come heavily on the first point in English. I think there's a beauty to symmetry which is worth exploring, though. So...I'm exploring.
As for this poem itself, I wish it turned out less erotic, but it can't be helped. There was a lot of erotic subtlety around the idea of courting a muse in antiquity insofar as greek muses would have children with mortas they really liked. (Naturally, since I'm female, the muse should be male. For all my attempts at understanding, I still can't seem to put myself into a position where I could imagine loving a woman. It's just...not at all interesting to me. Somehow because I'm pretty strange looking, though, lesbians seem drawn to me, thinking I'm one myself. Urk.) There's a lot of erotic idea in some of the references, too. Bathsheba and all...
It's likely channeling Neil Gaiman's "Calliope" from the Sandman series, too, but in a less brutal way.
I think this one turned out as more of a "there's a story in my head" than an "I'm pining, I'm pining, and I just have to speak about the rigors of loooove" It shares more with the Sonnet on the Fruitless Fount Immortal there.
I hope to write more Chiastic Sonnets in the future.


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Poems:


( I )

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( II )

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( III )

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( IV )

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( V )

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( VI )

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( VII )

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( VIII )

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( IX )

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( X )

I picked up reading "Nabari No Ou".

I found it in a strange way. lol I was actualy using pics of both Yoite and Miharu for Cole. lol I saw the artist's name and the manga title on the bottom of one of the pics and looked it up. It looked interesting and I was tempted into reading. (Though now I'm amused by the fact that I ended up using two charactors from the same series without know it.)

Anyway, the summary and stuff was kinda making me think "It's gonna be a bit like Naruto..." but it wasn't. It's BETTER. In MY opinion at least. I also like the charactors a lot more. I never could grow any real "attachment" to the Naruto charactors. But already I'm totaly adoring most of the main cast.

Anyway, I wanted to share these little things here.

( He's Such A Little Demon )

Now I wanna check out the anime when I finish the manga. ^.^; (Even though I promised to look at Saiyuki and Haruhi Suzumire.... oops. hehehe...)

I'm sorry that I'm off reading manga when I should be answering comments at the RP. *Hangs head in shame* But I needed a bit of a breather before my muses decide to behead me. X.x