I'm a natural eavesdropper. I have always listened in on conversations because people are so dadgum hilarious, and I am so dadgum nosy. So, when I received the assignment to eavesdrop for a dialogue exercise, I was excited!
Enjoy!!
Typical Guynes
It's a typical Wednesday in Guynes Lobby. Four guys and a girl are sitting on the couches waiting for chapel time to roll around. They converse about the pumpkin latte from the grill tasting more like a caramel macchiato, then Arnie comments that Maxey looks just like Justin Timberlake.
"We were lookin' back at music, man," he admits. "We wanted to listen to N'Sync."
Mikey, sitting in an arm-chair, starts singing, "Bye, bye, bye--"
Kelsie, his girlfriend sitting in the chair next to his, slowly turns her head toward him. "Are you singing N'Sync?"
"No." He smirks then asks, "Is that the puppet one?"
She smiles as she shakes her head. "No, that's 'No Strings Attached.'"
He nods, remembering, and then sings again, this time to a different tune. "I'm bringin' sexy back."
Kelsie's smile broadens while she shakes her head disapprovingly.
Mikey continues to sing and hum as the boys talk about roommate situations. Mike, sitting in a chair next to Kelsie, says, "I had the wardrobe conversation with him this morning."
Mikey stares at him in disbelief. "Really?"
"Yeah," Mike says. "He asked once, and I guess he thought that meant every time." He paused. "But I told him he could only wear my clothes twice a week."
On the couch across from the three chairs, Maxey and Arnie continue to discuss N'Sync. "I was thinkin' for Open Mic Night you could be Justin Timberlake," Arnie says. "And Willie looks like this dude from Backstreet Boys." He grabs his iPad and turns on the music video for "I Want It That Way."
As the music video plays, Arnie is full of comments. "This was before they banned trench coats," he says, and Maxey laughs approvingly. "We need to get someone to play that guy," he comments, pointing at the screen.
"We could probably get Nate," Maxey offers.
They continue watching and pointing at the guy who looks like Willie until Arnie could no longer hold in his excitement. "Look!" he exclaims, "That's Willie! That's freakin' Willie!"
Arnie's excitement catches the attention of Mike who asks, "Is that Backstreet Boys or N'Sync?"
Mikey shrugs. "I dunno, I was never into that stuff."
"That's Willie, guys!" Arnie exclaims and turns the screen to face the rest of the group.
Mike catches the excitement and, raising his voice, says, "Put that junk on Facebook! Tweet that stuff!" He begins to bob his head to the beat, and he and Mikey sing along with the end.
"I want it that way..."
I used to get grounded from reading.
I was always the kid with her nose in a book when she wasn't playing outside with her four siblings. But, man, when I started a book, I didn't put it down until I finished the entire thing.
When I was 8-9-10, I read the entire series of The Babysitter's Club. One day, while reading, my dad came into the living room, grabbed my book, and told me I had to go outside and play. I was grounded from reading until he said so. Of course, it was a playful moment, but he really did ground me from that book for a while, and since it was one in a series, I couldn't just go grab the next one off of the shelf. That's blasphemy.
When I was 11-12-13, I read The School Story and Frindle by Andrew Clements and became a middle schooler determined to do something incredible--like write my own book and get it published or make up a new word. Haha.
I also became hooked on Lurlene McDaniel with her stories of cheesy (clean) romance between two teenagers. When I say "hooked," I don't mean I read a couple of her books; I mean, I took all of her books from the library and read until I needed more books by her. Mrs. Enos, the librarian, and I became great friends because of my constant visits to the library. She would often recommend books to me (like Life of Pi), and I would always start them, but my niche was romance.
When she discovered that, she introduced me to Jodi Picoult--more specifically, The Pact. Ohmyword, it was the best thing I'd ever read. It had romance; it had drama; it had action; most importantly, it had an intense family dynamic. I come from a family of seven and and extended family of too many to count on my fingers and toes, on both sides, so family is my life. It defines me in a way that I could never really understand. I think God knows that in order to get me out of my comfort zone, He'd have to completely take me from my family. And I would be devastated beyond words.
Anyway, Jodi Picoult quickly became my best friend. Lame? I don't care. Her characters were more real to me than the people sitting around me. I even almost asked for prayer for one of them in my Sunday School class. Lame? No. Good writing.
Jodi Picoult is still my favorite author as well as my inspiration.
I still read quite a bit, from cereal boxes and milk cartons to lengthy novels, but my leisurely reading is at a minimum right now. I started Jodi Picoult's latest novel over the summer, and my marker is still in the book because I can't read her without escaping from reality. Bubble bath, tea, cell phone off. Walking around like a zombie. That's how I read Jodi Picoult and Jane Austen and Francine Rivers.
Maybe I'm a rebel because I don't enjoy the classics as much as everyone else. I am very much a girl who wants to be romanced, so I read romance.
And I write it. My goal is to one day meet Jodi Picoult and pick her brain or just sit with her. I want to write in a way that captivates readers' attention like she captivated mine.
We'll see.
I'm very good at ranting. I've been known to get on my "soapbox" or my "high horse" and rant-rant-rant until I'm blue in the face. Sometimes, literally.
However, I don't always like to rant. Sometimes I wish I had the personality of someone who sat in the back of the room and didn't say anything. But that's not me. And it would be so unlike me to sit and listen to everyone else. My reputation precedes me: I'm a ranter.
And this week--full of rants.
Now, telling them all to you would not be fun because then I would have to work up all of my emotion. However, I have one that I will tell, mostly because I'm most frustrated about it.
Wednesday, I went to get my hair cut. I have never really had a bad haircut, but this lady apparently didn't hear me when I said, "No, don't taper," and "Please don't cut the length. I don't want a trim; I just want layers." When I walked out of the salon (which will remain nameless), I should've fallen on my knees asking the Lord for forgiveness. No, I didn't cuss the lady out (out loud, anyway), but I did treat her like trash.
Did I feel justified? Heeeeeck yes. I mean, I live with my hair every day. It's my livelihood. It's my pride. It's what describes my personality, and right now, I'm done being the college kid. I'm ready to be a WO-man.
Not with that haircut I wasn't.
Long, sobby story short, the lady cut off two inches. Now, this may not seem to be a big deal to you, but two inches=4 months of vitamin E and rubbing my scalp to get it to grow. With that in mind, maybe you understand why I sobbed and almost lost my relationship with the Lord.
Now, this was a mild rant, because I had time to think it through. If only I thought through my rants before I ranted about them, maybe I wouldn't rant so much. Maybe I could become the kid in the back of the room with no input.
Nah.
Last Friday, on my drive to Byers, I started thinking about memoir topics. I thought about several small events that have made major impacts on my life, and I figured writing at least one of them down would be difficult.
Wednesday, I sat down at my computer and started typing out all of my ideas for my memoir. As I started developing these stories, I realized something:
I don't like writing about myself.
Now, I have this blog, and the main topic of my writing is myself, but I sure don't like getting personal with the happenings in my life. As I sat down again on Friday, I could not crank things out of my head. I kept considering who would read it and how they would react, and I began to worry and search my head--and heart--for different events.
All of my events involved someone else, not necessarily in a bad way, but the way I would write my memoir could possibly hurt someone's feelings.
I gonna have a tough time writing this memoir by Wednesday, and I know I'm gonna have to pull on my heartstrings, which means I'll cry some. But, I it will be good. I think it could be refreshing.
You should try writing about an experience/event in your life--consider how much it's affected the rest of your life. See what you'll find.
I still procrastinate.
I thought my summer would be full of organized time of reading and writing, and I thought I would blog at least once a week and work on my book every other day. I thought I would learn how to cook and play piano and visit my family on occasion. I thought I would apply to several different companies or colleges in order to find my perfect fit. I thought I'd know what I would be doing come December when I walk across the stage.
I thought wrong.
However, my summer was so much more than I could have ever dreamed. I worked in a town of 500 people, in a church of 85 people. And I loved it.
I read one book. I wrote half of a poem. I never blogged, and I didn't even open my book document. I did learn how to cook, and Aaron was my taste-tester--don't worry, he's still alive. I practiced piano very little, but I transposed I don't know how many songs. I visited my immediate family several times, but I only visited my grandparents once. Still kicking myself for that one. I didn't apply to one company or college, but I will be applying to Brown Books and UNT soon--famous last words of the procrastinator. ;)
Beyond all that English-nerd-stuff, I met and developed relationships with some of the greatest teenagers on the face of the Earth. Exaggeration? Not a chance. These guys and gals know how to go after God in a way that I am just understanding at 21 years old. And they love each other. Revolution youth group has the most intense family feel of any youth group I've every seen. They are absolutely amazing, and I look forward to continuing to be a part of them.
This summer, I didn't find out what I'd be doing come December, but I did find peace about what I want to be doing. I want to be serving the church. I don't care if I'm in a bathroom installing a vent or on stage leading worship. I don't care if I'm praying with adults in the altars or if I'm editing videos. I don't care if I'm taking attendance or greeting people at the door. I want to do. I want to help. I want to serve. This English stuff is just the nerdy fun side of me. Oh, I looooooooove reading and writing, and I will read and write until my eyes go blind and my fingers stop moving--and then I'll get audio books and a microphone attached to my computer. Haha. But, my purpose is much more than reading. My passion is much more than writing.
And I've barely tapped in to what God has for me...how exciting!!
