Friendly reminder: the Make It Up Monday contest is up at 5pm today! Enter your submissions HERE!
Also, if you have any questions for me to be answered in an upcoming post, go HERE!
And now for the exercise...
Describe your living room from the point of view of your neighbor. What does he/she notice? Feel? Think?
1,2,3, GO!
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| This couch is nicer-looking than mine. Poor thing, it's been through the ringer... |
Mary walked into the living room and was slightly startled by the stacks of boxes against the right wall.
"Oh, sorry about that," Stefanie said casually. "My roommate's moving out at the end of the week, and she needed a place to put all of her boxes."
Sitting down on the tattered, beige couch, Mary made herself comfortable. The couch sat surprisingly low on the couch, but upon sitting she felt completely engulfed in comfort.
"Man, this thing is going to eat me alive," she said, chuckling. "I'm not even sure I'll be able to get up."
"Probably not," Stefanie said as she walked into the kitchen. "Want something to drink? I've got orange juice, coke, and water."
"No, that's ok. But thanks."
END
My brain is like fudge right now. Seriously. I didn't get home from work until 1:30am, and I wanted to finish this exercise before I went to bed because there's no way I was waking up early to do it.
At any rate, that's the exercise. I hope you enjoyed it! hehe
What did you come up with?
My first day of school was uneventful, but I do have some ishy news. I showed up for my French class with the intention of pretending that I was dumber than I actually am... but apparently I'm really bad at that. My teacher pulled me aside after class and asked me why I was taking the class. I explained my situation (i.e. Belmont's making me take a French class, it fit in my schedule, etc), and she said that I was going to get incredibly bored in Beginning French and that my background in languages (I speak French, am conversational with German and Italian, and know bits and pieces of Russian) made my presence a bit ridiculous in the in-class participation. We decided that my time would be best spent in the Intermediate class... Part of me is kind of bummed that my super easy course idea is out the window, but I'm excited to work on my French a little bit. It's mainly going to be vocabulary memorization this semester, I think.
Well, it's late (early?), and I am dog tired. I hope you have all had (or will have) an absolutely wonderful day!!
Peace.
Stef.
What did you come up with?
My first day of school was uneventful, but I do have some ishy news. I showed up for my French class with the intention of pretending that I was dumber than I actually am... but apparently I'm really bad at that. My teacher pulled me aside after class and asked me why I was taking the class. I explained my situation (i.e. Belmont's making me take a French class, it fit in my schedule, etc), and she said that I was going to get incredibly bored in Beginning French and that my background in languages (I speak French, am conversational with German and Italian, and know bits and pieces of Russian) made my presence a bit ridiculous in the in-class participation. We decided that my time would be best spent in the Intermediate class... Part of me is kind of bummed that my super easy course idea is out the window, but I'm excited to work on my French a little bit. It's mainly going to be vocabulary memorization this semester, I think.
Well, it's late (early?), and I am dog tired. I hope you have all had (or will have) an absolutely wonderful day!!
Peace.
Stef.
Comments
bt it appears that she is not too much careful of her sorroundings. this can be observed from the sofa set as is unmanaged
Tucked away, in the corner next to the window was a guitar, snugly in its case. "Whose guitar is that?" she asks. "It's mine," says Candice as she gestures for Allie to sit down, "I haven't been able to play it much since school started up again, but I like having it close by." --END--
Not the best effort on my part, but a very good exercise. I liked what you came up with. :)
http://candicesstories.blogspot.com/
As Giuliana entered the room, she saw 2 Chihuahuas, 1 Pitbull, 1 sheperd mix and 3 cats sprawled all over the couch, the chair and the floor. Having some knowledge about dogs and cats herself, Giuliana rushed in to place herself between the pitbull and the cats, hitting the long coffee table with her knee, and ending up on the couch:" How do you even move in such a small room with all these animals!!!", she yelled. Then she continued:" How can you have a pitbull with all these cats and small dogs. Aren't you scared the dog will hurt them?"
But before Alex could answer, one of the cats got up and started purring as he was butting heads with the Pitbull, who was 'cleaning' one of the Chihuahua's ears.
I enjoyed today's exercise; it's cool to make yourself think of something everyday from a new perspective.
"Anywhere."
Christine smiled stiffly, secretly trying to recall the number for the fumigation service. She excused herself soon afterwards.
-----
Alright, it's not quite that bad.
Charles traipsed into the house, scuffing his kid-sized sneakers on the door mat almost as an afterthought. He took a step onto the blah carpet in the living room and stopped in his tracks.
“Dude, you've got a drum set in your living room!”
“Uh, yeah, it's for my church's worship team. I'm supposed to be learning how to play them.”
“Awesome.”
Rachael shrugged and followed Charles as he headed to the drum set, picked up the sticks, and helped himself to a few random beats on the set. He grinned at Rachael and put the sticks back before his attention was drawn to the huge stacks of DVDs piled up behind the drum set on (and spilling off of) a bookcase.
“You have a lot of movies.”
“Yeah, they're almost all my husband's. He bought a lot of movies when he was in college.”
Charles perused the titles, leaning over the very blah-colored but very comfortable feeling bucket chair. He glanced at the walls – more blah, what was with these people? - and then across the room at the rows and rows of books. He didn't comment, just raised his eyebrows a little. Television, computer parts in the corner, blue chair that was the same as the couch. It was an alright living room, as far as living rooms went. Charles was mostly interested in the drum set and the DVDs. He wondered if he'd be able to borrow some of them. The really gory ones, in particular – or maybe he could just watch them here. His parents probably wouldn't be too keen on him bringing them home anyway.
Walking into Valentina's apartment was like walking into serenity. It was decorated in deep reds, mustard yellows and mahogany. She had a red couch with throw pillows strewn about the floor. I don't think there was one "empty" space where there was not a candle lit. She loves candles! And there were books, lots of books, neatly placed in the bookshelf. The apartment smelled of apple cider, the remants of the candles no doubt! "Hi, thanks for coming by!Make yourself at home" she said to me. "Thanks, I already have." said I as I headed for the couch.
-Eh, ok, it was lame but I had to try! I'll try harder next time!
I enter the room, hear her smiling (it's in her voice), she’s somewhere in the kitchen, she offers me tea or coffee, doesn’t matter, I refuse.
The room is small. Walls are painted… peachy? Is that a correct name? Probably not.
There’s too much furniture in here. There are cabinets and they force the wall behind them to disappear. Not a pretty view. I hate cabinets.
There are computer and a TV on the opposite wall. Computer is placed on a thing that reminds of a dinner table but it’s way uglier than that. And it’s definitely not a desk. There are some things on this table but I don’t want to look at them. I prefer to look on the TV. A disappointing, big, even giant maybe?, not a lovely plasma. It stands on… eh… I don’t know, cupboard’s skeleton, maybe. A decoder under it, a decoder and some funny box which name always. And a lot of cables. Why aren’t they hidden? Mine are always invisible.
I look at her couch. It doesn’t fit the rest of a room, it’s some kind of beige, a bleached beige, some strips, some patterns, their color’s between red and brown, how to call it? How to call it? There’s a table placed in front of it. I like that table, it looks like it makes a full set with the cabins.
No, it’s definitely too much furnitures in here.
She comes into the room, she has a glass full of something, some juice probably.
‘So why are you here?’, she asks and smiles to me.
I look around.
‘Why am I here?’
I wished I could project my vision, I wished I could transplant my design into her head. Aside from the uplight cornicing, at odds in a domestic context and perhaps more suited to a boutique hotel, there was nothing else tangible to reveal the dream. But in my head I see the dream, the living room represents the last hurdle in the renovation that had become so personal.
I can see the paint colour, the wall paper, the Victorian cast fireplace. Even the massive canvas of the American hot air balloon ride that captures fellow ballooners rising from the mist over the everglades, downlit by the picture light. I have harboured that image for years, knowing it will have its' place in my home, I wish she could see it right now. I wish she could feel the wonder I feel when I see that canvas but until the mundane task of preparation and decoration are complete, I cannot furnish the room and justify the beauty of my personal collections.
The inherited mirror I have treasured in my mind as the piece de resistance to the bare wall above the vintage mantel remains hidden under layers of contrastingly contemporary bubble wrap. The floorboards remain bear, the windows undressed and the fireplace opening characterless.
But if only she could see inside my head she would truly appreciate the comforting and homely appearance of the living room I have nurtured in my dreams for the past year. The ornaments I have mentally placed upon the items of furniture I have in storage from the last living room. Furniture snatched from the house that was complete to be held for the new house that encompasses my interior indulgences, symbolic of my desire to build a home from scratch.
The bursting toolbox, the step ladders and the timber offcuts litter the living space, they are a permanent reminder of the work that has gone before. The living room is the last room where my personality will become personified. I see charm in the bare plaster and the wiring awaiting the buzz of ambient light fittings. She sees a work in progress, I see a culmination of work. But one day, in a moment of need, she will come to my living room to offload all that plagues her mind. She will feel immediately relaxed to be in my living room, treading soft carpet underfoot, eyes drawn to the open fire blazing in the grate. She will finally appreciate the heart and soul I have invested in my home, my haven."
She looks around and sees pictures of what could be family in many manifestations. The rooms fit together nicely in a country/sea shore type feel. As Kym leaves to get soda's Lisa decides to take a peek into the entertainment center drawers and cabinets and to her amazement is greeted by hundreds, no thousands of cd's. This woman must be a music buff. She's not at all impressed with the technology in the room. No high-def tv, no surround sound. No huge computer system. But that music???
When Kym returns with their soda's they sit and talk and the conversation soon turns to music and what kind does Lisa like. Kym shares her love of music and they spend the next hours lost in the world of Rock and Jazz and every kind of music you can imagine.
As Lisa walks back down the stairs she decides that you don't have to be high-tech to be a great music fan with a huge music library. She likes the relaxed atmosphere of Kym's place and thinks she'd like to go back soon.
“Um – do you want to buy any of this stuff….it’s for student council” Sarah said as she quickly scanned the living room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sandy haired, blue eyed high school student.
“Sure, let me have a look,” Sally answered, making small talk that did not interest Sarah….at all. She noticed the furniture – corners chewed by the dog, and the couch was in pretty bad shape. It looked pretty stained. “That’s disgusting, “ Sarah thought to herself, mentally noting how much nicer her own house was. Then she remembered that Philip worked in a cheesesteak place - those must be HIS grease stains! Suddenly they weren’t gross at all….they were….magical. Little signatures of the boy next door. She glanced at the walls, looking for his picture. What she saw was bare walls. Not a picture, or painting – nothing. “What’s wrong with these people?” she wondered. EVERYONE had stuff on their walls, didn’t they? And speaking of things that didn’t seem quite right, the new hardwood floors didn’t go the whole way to the wall. And there weren’t any of those thingies…..what do you call them? Oh yeah – baseboards. That was kind of weird. But what in the world was that pile of stuff in the corner? And oh my gosh – look at those big tufts of the dog’s hair floating around! It was like those tumbleweeds you saw in ghost towns on the old movies her dad watched.
“You can pay me when I bring the order over,” she said, trying to peer around Sally to see if maybe, just maybe, Philip would appear from somewhere else in the house. Her eyes were drawn again to the boxes in the corner. “Are you getting ready for a yard sale or something?” Sarah asked.
“No – that’s a bunch of stuff we brought home from closing out my mom’s house. She doesn’t have use for it any more in her assisted living place.” Sarah nodded as though she understood. The only thing she really understood from this little trip across the yard was that Philip was apparently not here and she had put on her best outfit and applied the makeup to her 14 year old face to try and appear just a little older all for nothing. “Tell your mom I said hi,” Sally said as she handed her the order form.
“Huh? Oh right. Well, thanks.” Sarah headed out the door and down the sidewalk. At least she had been in his living room. And had seen his socks sticking out of the sofa cushions. And Coke cans lying on the floor on their sides. At least she thought they must be his. Oh well, she told herself…at least I got an order to turn in. Whatever.
Elisa put down her back pack and struggled with her rubber boots as the dog discovered she was there and greeted her with wiggles and wags and puppy kisses. Elisa liked Aunty Steph’s dog’s, they were little, just like her! Today she was extra excited because she knew Aunty had a new baby kitty!
Sitting on the smooth brown couch, Elisa swing her legs, nibbling on a chip, and giggles as the kitty chases the dogs around. She can see the horses out the window, she wonders if she will be able to go and ride one with Aunty Steph later, Elisa likes the black and white one best, and he likes her too. But right now she looks around at the interesting things in the room. There are some glass toys that are really pretty, Sister had gotten her fingers smacked for touching them, Elisa didn’t want to get her finger’s smacked. There is a picture on the wall of Aunty and Uncle, they look fancy, and Aunty was wearing Elisa’s favourite color, pink. The toy box is in the corner, it’s hard to open, Elisa still needs help, it is full of really good toys. On a shelf, way up above Elisa’s head, there are things she doesn’t recognize, they look old and heavy, Anne Teek’s, she doesn’t know who Anne is.
There is a cartoon on the TV. The TV is in a different spot then it used to be, Elise and Sister used to be able to push the buttons. Now it is above the noisy fire place where she can’t reach it. Daddy says Uncle won the TV, and that he always gets stuff for cheap or free, she doesn’t know what that means, Elise likes the TV, it was way bigger then the one at home.
Elise likes Aunty Steph’s house, there is a squeaky pink chair that spins in circles, and a picture of a tiger on the wall. And the couch has a foot rest when you pull the handle. Aunty and Uncle don’t have Wii, or a fish tank, but that’s ok, the dogs like to chase a ball, and do tricks for treats. She looks over her shoulder at Aunty and sneaks the dogs another piece of chip.