Metaphors, Boba, and Painted Rocks

Waking up every morning is becoming more and more challenging, the beds in our dorms are surprisingly comfortable and with a day packed with bustling activities and excitement, I can't help but long for an extra half an hour in bed. However, once I've gotten up, dressed, and washed my face the sensation subsides and I am ready to seize the day.

At breakfast yesterday, I was horribly traumatized by watching the chefs cook the scrambled eggs. I saw a  5 gallon  plastic bag filled with egg mixture be poured right on the grill. I've made plenty of scrambled eggs in my 17 years of life to know what a natural and healthy egg mixture looks like and that egg mixture was definitely not purely eggs, the color was far too bright, and the consistence far to smooth.  I should've seen this coming, I was warned of college dining food and am disappointed in myself for reacting so strongly. However, I have taken this opportunity to grow in knowledge, as I will soon be attending college and will be well aware of the cafeteria deception.

 My breakfast, no blasphemous scrambled eggs in sight. 

In class yesterday we focused on using descriptive language to enhance our novels, in particular the use of metaphors. Instead of having a laundry list of adjectives to describe a character or a setting, we learned that a metaphor can do the job even better. The fun thing about a metaphor is it's ability to succinctly paint a picture while allowing the reader to call upon their own conventions and experiences to interpret the language. Preview of my novel (watch for metaphors): The water laps against my sides, pushing me further and further out into the sea. I can hear the people laughing and talking. I can see the people, radiant and alive, making sandcastles and enjoying fruit. But I can never reach the shore. I’m the sun longing to be on the earth. I’m the grass longing to be with the stars. I’m the fish longing to walk on two legs. 

Today, in class we spent a few hours reading Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, a parody of the literary canon, Pride and Prejudice, adapted so that the characters are living during the zombie apocalypse. The premise of the novel is the interactions between different individuals and families in pursuit of love interests, alongside is the whole zombie slaying part. We looked at the complexity of the novel: not one character is solely good or evil and the novel isn't one genre, but encompasses many. To add more complexities to our novels, we need to think less concretely, so that our stories are not simply a romance or a mystery, but instead can be a variation of both, with differing character dynamics. 

Enjoying reading time

Yesterday was our first "soft night", where we had the opportunity after dinner to go off campus and explore a bit. We do have a few boundaries, but otherwise we can dine or shop whereever we please. Our group had decided to eat dinner early in the cafeteria, so instead we got a sugary snack to satiate our sweettooths. We decided to try Boba, a milk tea with tapioca balls, to see if it'll live up to our California standards. We Californians were disappointed in Nashville, the milk tea was strangely frothy and the tapioca balls were tense and chewy. Never again.

Tonight was our second soft night, we decided to stay on campus and enjoy some of the activities that VSA offered. To our delight, they had Sundays and Strokes, two hours of eating ice cream sundaes and painting. The painting was therapeutic, the ice cream was delicious (they had chocolate, so I was pleased), and even better we watched The Office at the same time. The night was filled with laughter at the TV show's jokes, sugar, and relaxation. I don't call myself an artist, but given some paint I surely can muster up some creativity and produce something interesting. 

My incomplete painted rocks.

We ended the night with our proctor meeting, where we huddled in Grace's dorm room and talked about how our days have been. Every night we go around in a circle and say our "Happies and Crappies". Today, my happy was being able to hang out with my friends while painting some rocks, my crappy was pretty moderate today - I'm just tired.

Our proctor group, pre-meeting (Abbey's watching me).