What's Going On?

The bandwagon passed by my house this weekend. I was sitting on the front porch on my swing contemplating the merits of various Gothic heroines when I heard the squeaky wheels of my future and felt compelled to jump, jump, jump on that wagon known as "Blogging Mania!"

I'm just going to jump right in here. I wrote the following on a blog from MySpace, I suppose you could say this was my inspiration and that the preceding sentences are not particularly accurate (Oh no! She's an unreliable narrator! Heaven weeps!).

I've been taking a creative writing class which has been very effective at opening my eyes to all the stupid things I write believing that I'm clever and original. Usually, I'm not. EXCEPT when I make up figurative similes (which is encouraging). The class is a cocktail of disappointment, fear, and takings steps of faith (which is a cliche that I have slapped duly myself for). I don't know if I'm getting any better. Practice would help me improve more than I currently am, but that is a matter of having time to do such things and my time is very limited these days.

I say as I write a non-scholastic blog....

Anyway, to get off my guilty conscience and back on topic I think it would be an interesting experiment to write down how many cliches I use during a given time period. I think this would be most effective if I had someone to help me by following me around all day with a notepad, ready to catch the unoriginal and dull sentences that fall from my mouth. Any volunteers? I'll pay you in cheesecake, and if that doesn't appeal to your delicate tastebuds I can make you some cookies or something. In the name of good writing I entreat you to seriously consider my plea!

I think all of you who read this live miles away. Still.....cookies..... yeah?

I am happy to report that this is the first quarter (kind of equivalent to a semester for those of you who go to school elsewhere) that I've been inundated with reading to the point that I can rarely do anything else without feeling an acute sense of fear that I'm going to get behind in any one of my classes. So far this fear has been pushed back by obsessive reading and my only consolation is that the books and excerpts I do have to read are actually interesting and enjoyable (Gothic fiction and 18th century literature anyone? Just say "Yes, please" to The Monk and The Tatler). I'm really thrilled that I have so much reading because it makes the English major seem worthwhile. Gone are the days of basic composition classes and skim-the-surface survey classes (another cliche...but nice alliteration...), say hello to a novel a week and giant poems written by the always witty Alexander Pope. I love this and I always feel a little disappointed in my peers when they tell me that they didn't do the reading for a given day's class. Why not? Why not further your knowledge of this world and it's intricate past? You make me sad.

10 points and a hug for whoever got that reference. :D

Anyway, while I've been sitting here writing away at my MySpace blog, I've been thinking that I should get a real blog. It will take up its residence among the mountains and valleys of Blogland and maybe will have a group of devoted friends that will come and visit for tea once in a while (once in a while is a cliche too isn't it. Poop.). I think my goal will be to become a better writer in all kinds of different mediums.

I think I'll do it. Stay tuned for more information if you're interested. (Is stay tuned for more a cliche? Hrmmmmm....)

You've stayed tuned, and here we are in Blogland. Take that one exit on the left past the birch grove and come by for tea sometime.