Author's Note: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is coming up! For those of you that don't know what National Novel Writing Month is, check our www.nanowrimo.org.

Anywho, it's coming up and unlike last year, I'm actually doing some prep for it. Plot outline, character junk, that type of stuff. Figure it might help this year go better than last year. We'll see what happens with school, though.

I've gotta go finish a blog for gov now. I would've posted it earlier, but I was at the Twins game. RIP baseball at the Dome.

Remind me to post something here,
Keegan <3

Author's Note: HUH.

I have not posted any writing here in a while. Then again, I've never gotten any feedback here. So that would probably explain why. But I should start using this again for writing. Maybe I just need to link this to more places and advertise it like I do my dA and Flickr. Yeah? I just think... I think writing was replaced by photography as the thing I want to do for the rest of my life. Not that I still don't want to write. If I could ever publish a book, that'd be friggin' AMAZING. Oh, and I'm doing NaNoWriMo and being the editor for my school newspaper. And my dream job IS owning a photography studio and writing on the side.

EITHER WAY... I guess I'm just saying writing hasn't been in the front of my mind lately. When I'm in college, though? It will be because I plan on being an English major and maybe minoring in art or something? If I could do that? Or maybe a double major? HMMM.

I have a sketchbook assignment I need to finish,
Keegan <3

Playgrounds and Chocolate Malts by Keegan And Laura

Characters (in order of appearance)
Airhead Mom: Rupert's mother, clueless trophy wife
Lucy's Mom: Lucy's mother, a gossip
Michael's Mom: Michael's mother, also a gossip
Rupert: Age 5, spoiled and a but slow
Michael: Age 5, trouble maker, typical boy
Lucy: Age 5, has an attitude

Scene I:
It is a noisy playground in the middle of the summer. The playground has slides, swings, and a jungle gym. Park benches are on the sides for the parents to sit and watch. Children run around playing. They chase each other and yell and laugh, but the scene is focused on three mothers talking on a bench.

Airhead Mom: Oh, Rupert can finally go to the bathroom all by himself! I'm so proud of him!

Lucy's Mom: (rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath) Took him long enough.

Airhead Mom: (cluelessly) Hmm? What was that?

Lucy's Mom: ("sweetly") Oh, nothing. I just think it's sooo exciting!

Airhead Mom: I know! I'm so happy! We're going to back a cake and everything! I even bought him a new toy truck!

Lucy's Mom and Michael's Mom stifle laughter while Airhead Mom is talking.

Michael's Mom: How wonderful!

End Scene.

Scene II:
The scene is focused on the playground. A girl and two boys are playing by the swings. One of the boys is showing off a bright red fire truck.

Rupert: (bragging) My mommy got me a brand new fire truck! (holds up the fire truck, showing it off)

Michael: (jealously) Why'd you get a fire truck?

Rupert: (slowly) Because... (defiantly) Because I wanted one!

Lucy: (hands on her hips, with attitude) I don't believe you.

Rupert: (getting mad) It's the troof!

Rupert pushes Lucy. She is surprised and blinks back tears as she falls backwards. Michael then steps in to defend Lucy.

Michael: (yelling) My daddy says you're not supposed to push girls!

Michael then pushes Rupert, making him fall and drop his fire truck. Airhead Mom sees him fall and runs over, worried.

Airhead Mom: What happened? Are you okay?

Rupert: (sniffling) I'm—

Airhead Mom: (interrupting) Will ice cream make it better?

Rupert: (pouting and nods) Okay...

Rupert and Airhead Mom walk away, with Rupert clutching his fire truck.

Lucy: (batting her eyelashes) Thank you for saving me, Michael.

Michael: (matter-of-factly) Well, you're not supposed to push girls. My daddy said so.

Lucy: Wanna play house? I could be the mommy and you could be the daddy!

Michael: (hesitantly) But... But you have cooties! And cooties are gross!

Lucy: (in a pathetic voice) No I don't! (Lucy runs towards her mother)

End scene.

Scene III:
Back on the benches, Lucy's Mom and Michael's Mom are gossiping.

Lucy's Mom: Oh my God! If she keeps giving Rupert food to avoid possible tantrums, he' going to be one fat child!

Michael's Mom: And he's already getting to be a little tubby.

Lucy's Mom: I know! Can't you just imagine what he'll be like in—

Lucy runs up and starts tugging on her mom's shirt, interrupting her.

Lucy: Mommy! Mommy! Michael said I have cooties! I don't want cooties! I don't want them! (now on the verge of tears)

Michael's Mom: (slightly angry) Michael said what?

Lucy: He said I have cooties!

Lucy's Mom: (sympathetic/comforting) Aww... Honey, you don't have cooties.

Lucy: (almost crying, her lower lip trembling) But... Michael said I did! He said I have cooties and that they're gross!

Lucy's Mom: (still comforting) Lucy, cooties are just something little boys make up to make girls cry. They aren't real.

Lucy: (hopeful) So... I don't have cooties?

Lucy's Mom: (smiling) Of course not!

Lucy: (also smiling, now happy again) I'm gonna go tell Michael!

Lucy runs off towards the playground.

Michael's Mom: (apologetic) I'm so sorry Michael was teasing your daughter. (thinking out loud) I wonder if I should punish him for that...

Lucy's Mom: Oh, no. I think it should be fine now.

End scene.

Scene IV:
Back on the playground, Lucy runs up to Michael.

Lucy: (defiant/ angry, pointing at Michael) You liar! (she crosses her arms) I do not have cooties! My mommy said so!

Michael: (taunting) Well... You're mommy is lying! Girl's have cooties!

Lucy: No I don't! My mommy said that boys just make that up to make girls cry!

Michael: (losing confidence) Well...

Michael looks around and sees Lucy's hair ribbon. He grabs it and runs off into the jungle gym.

Lucy: (surprised) Hey! Give that back!

Lucy chases after Michael. As she chases him, his shoelaces come untied. He trips and falls on the jungle gym.

Lucy: (seeing Michael fall) Michael!

Michael starts crying when he realizes his knee is bleeding. Lucy's Mom and Michael's Mom heard Lucy yelling and they look over to see what's happening. There are 10 seconds of chaos as they try to get over to the kids. The kids continue freaking out over the blood.

Michael's Mom: (frantically) Oh my God! Michael! Are you okay?

Michael: (crying) Mommy, my knee!

Lucy's Mom: (worried) Lucy, what happened?

Lucy: (scared) He stole my hair ribbon and so I chased him and then he tripped and fell.

Michael continues crying.

Michael's Mom: (remembering) Lucy, there's a first aid kit in my bag by the bench. Can you go get it for me?

Lucy: (nodding and biting her lower lip) Uh-huh. (she runs towards the benches)

Lucy's Mom: (trying to come up with a way to make them feel better) Well... It could have been worse. At least he didn't fall on pavement.

Lucy runs back with the first aid kit. Michael's Mom starts bandaging up Michael's knee.

Lucy: Is he gonna die? He might be mean sometimes, but I don't want him to die...

Michael's Mom: No, Lucy. It's just a scrape on his knee. He'll be okay.

Michael starts calming down a little bit, but winces as his mother finishes bandaging up his knee.

Michael's Mom: There. All better.

Michael: (sniffling) It still hurts.

Michael's Mom: It takes a little while to feel better.

Michael: (perking up) Mommy, can we have ice cream? Rupert got ice cream when he fell. And I got hurt worse than him. He didn't even bleed!

Lucy: (begging her mom) Can we get ice cream, too, Mommy? Please?

The mothers sigh and look at each other.

Michael's Mom: (giving in) Well, I guess we could do that.

Lucy's Mom: (getting an idea) Wait! I have a better idea! Instead of ice cream cones, let's go the malt shop and get chocolate malts!

Michael and Lucy: Yay!

They gather their things and walk away from the playground.

End scene.

Scene V:
Lucy's Mom, Michael's Mom, Lucy, and Michael walk into the malt shop. As they enter, a bell above the door rings. The inside of the malt shop looks like a retro soda fountain, complete with stools at a counter, red leather booths, and a black and white checkered floor. They go up to the counter, order chocolate malts, and go sit down at a booth. A waitress brings over their malts and they all drink them happily.

Lucy: This is fun! We should do it again tomorrow!

Michael: Then I think you should be the one to get hurt.

The mothers laugh.

End scene.

End play.

Author's Note
This was the final for creative writing. We had to write a play. We could write it with a partner if we wanted, so I wrote it with Laura. The things that are in red are things we had to include in the play. Basically, Laura and I were trying to figure out a setting/plot and we figured there are park benches by a playground and there would be chaos there. And then we thought, "Hey! A kid could fall and they could get malts afterwards to feel better!" Or something like that.

So yeah.

I have a few other assignments from creative writing that I think I'll post,
Keegan <3

Stupidity CRITIQUE PLZ

“Hello. My name is Elizabeth, but I go by Eli. And I... I am apparently addicted to stupidity.”

“Hi, Eli,” the group of tired looking individuals answer back in the most monotone voice.

If there were such a thing as Stupidity Anonymous, I would absolutely for sure be in it and that's how my first meeting would go. Or so I imagine.

Right now? I'm hiding. In the forest/woods/whatever that is basically my backyard. See, my town is on the edge of this forest. It's a fairly decent sized town. Big paper industry. I mean, obviously. But as I was saying, I am hiding in the woods.

That probably sounds really odd. Why would a 17-year-old girl be hiding in the woods behind her house? Although I suppose if I were playing hide-and-seek, it would make sense. But I'm not. So it probably makes no sense to you.
Basically, I have a tendency to do stupid things. Hence Stupidity Anonymous. Anywho, these woods have this strange calming effect on me and there's this random clearing that I know about that acts as my safe place.

I know, I know. You don't even have to say it. I am an odd duck.

Quack.

But the stupid things I do? Oh, you know. I have a tendency to speak without thinking, do things without thinking, stuff like that. For a straight-A honors student, I don't think a lot. And my most recent lapse of not thinking? I kissed the guy I've secretly been in love with for about a year. And he has a girlfriend.

* * *

We were at a party. Just some random person's house that was all, “Omg you shud commme!” I showed up with Cassie, my best friend since forever. Our favorite thing about parties is making fun of the drunk people. We don't actually drink, but it's really funny to watch the stupid people that do. Although at this party, the booze wasn't out yet. Or else it hadn't been brought yet. That didn't stop a handful of people from getting their pre-party drink on, though.

One of those pre -party drunks stumbled into me as I made my way through the front hall of the house with Cassie.
“You wanna get a drink?” he slurred out, holding up a fake ID.

Cassie and I looked at it and tried not to laugh. “Are you 20-years-old?” I asked.

He got a confused look and Cassie had to turn away to keep the laughter in.

“The year is wrong,” I told him. “According to the year on this, you're not 21. You're only 20.”

It took him a second, attempting to do the math in his drunken head before it dawned on him. He gave an “aw, crap!” as he grabbed the ID back and stumble-ran to one of his friends.

Cassie and I let out the laughter we were holding in.

“Oh my god!” she laughed. “You could totally see him crossing his eyes from trying to do the math. Drunk people are the best!”

“Was it really the wrong year?” a voice asked.

I turned around. Sam. Oh, Sam, of my year long affections that are secret to everyone but Cass. Why must you look so cute in the dim party lights?

“Yeah,” I told him, still laughing a little. “You'd think if you were going to all the trouble of getting a fake ID, you'd at least want to get the year right.”

“Yeah.”

There was an awkward silence as I noticed his long time girlfriend wasn't hanging on his shoulder. Which was odd because she's always hanging on his shoulder and fawning all over him and preening and... Yeah. I'm not too fond of Kaylee.

“So where’s Kaylee?”

He shrugged. “She’s around here somewhere, I guess.”

“Oh. Okay.” Awkward silence again. For talking about his girlfriend, he sure seemed nonchalant.

“Um, anyways, I think we’re gonna go to the kitchen and find something to drink,” I said, turning towards where Cassie was standing. “...Erm. Actually, I’m gonna go to the kitchen and try to find Cassie. Because she was here just a minute ago and now she’s not.”

“I’ll go with,” Sam offered. “I could use something to drink, too.”

“If you mean alcohol, I’ll kill you.”

“I mean Coke.”

“Okay, then. Good. Yeah. To the kitchen.” If it turns out the dim lights can’t hide my face of “oh God why is this so much more awkward than usual,” I don’t know what can.

I think the lack of Kaylee was throwing me off. In the whole time they’ve been dating, I’ve never talked to Sam at a party without Kaylee by his side. Sure, I’ve talked to him in school without her there, but that’s school. A party is completely different.

Luckily, I spotted Cassie by the fridge.

As I practically pushed her into the hallway, she immediately asked, “What’s going on?”

“Oh my God, I don’t know!” I cried. “It’s me, it’s Sam, it’s oh my God I don’t even know.”

“Eli, calm down,” Cassie said, reassuringly. She’s good at stuff like that. “What’s the deal with Sam?”

“I don’t know! Usually I can talk to him so easily! That’s half the reason I like him! But tonight it’s the most awkward, silence-filled conversation ever and I don’t know what’s going on! Augh!”

“I think... I think you’re just over-thinking everything.”

“Ugh. Probably. Either way, help me avoid him so I don’t do something awkward or stupid. Because you know that’s bound to happen.”

And so began my attempt to avoid Sam. AHEM. Fail.

* * *

To make a long, stupidity-filled story short, I couldn’t avoid him. He managed to corner me by the stairs. Luckily, he started talking about the bad music playing. Music is my safe topic in the sense that I always have something to say about it. I love arguing about music.

And then... I don’t even know what happened. We were arguing about whether or not rap was real music and... He kissed me. Or I kissed him. Oh my God, I don’t even know. All I know is that he kissed me and I looked up and saw Kaylee staring. And then Sam saw her and promptly muttered, “crap.”

And so I left Cassie at the party and drove home. As fast as I could without getting a ticket. Because I kissed the guy I’m secretly in love with. And he has a girlfriend.

And all of that leads to me hiding in the woods in the fetal position.

* * *

“Hey.”

I looked up. “How the heck did you find me here?”

Sam shrugged. “For someone who, according to you, hates all people, your sister is really easy to bribe.”

Melinda. My 15-year-old, stick of a sister is the only person who knows about my safe place besides me.

“Augh... I’m going to kill Mel when I get home,” I muttered, clenching my fists.

“Or not.”

“Huh?”

“How could I tell you Kaylee’s not my girlfriend anymore if Melinda didn’t tell me where you were?”

I looked at him, dumbfounded. “Wait. You broke up with Kaylee? When?”

“Uhh... Yesterday,” he said, sheepishly.

“So I’m a rebound?” I groaned.

“No! Not at all! Eli, let me explain.”

“Fine. Explain. But I’ll have you know I am officially angry with you now,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Ahem. Kaylee and I officially broke up yesterday. But for the past month, we’ve both realized that kissing each other is now like kissing a sibling. It’s just weird and we don’t love each other that way anymore. We’re better off friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. And so we finally made it official yesterday. But it’s felt unofficial for awhile.”

“But what about Kaylee? At the party?”

“She was just a little bit surprised. I got a chance to talk to her and she’s totally fine with it. Oh, and I gave Cassie a ride home. ‘Cause you left her, and all.”

“Aw, crap. Thanks for that.” I stared at the ground. “So what happens now?”

“What do you want to happen?” he asked.

I looked up at him, trying to sort my thoughts. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I like you. I’ve liked you for awhile. But with you just breaking up with Kaylee, this is weird. I don’t care if you’ve felt broken up for awhile. It’s weird. Give me a month to adjust, and I am totally your girlfriend.”

He smiled at me. “I think I can do that.”

And so here’s to waiting for the month to hurry on faster. And here’s to hoping I do nothing stupid in the next month. Like kissing the guy I like.

Author's Note
Another thing written for creative writing. We had to write on three seperate slips of paper a setting, a character, and one line of dialouge. And then we had to put them into piles and draw.

So these are the things I drew:
Character - Melinda, 15 years old, doen't like to talk to people, tall, brown hair and eyes.
Setting - a forest becauseit's quiet and calm and nature is all around (or however that person phrased it)
Dialouge - "Are you 20 years old?"

So yeah. This is the version I turned in and hopefully it's not too crappy. The rough draft was way worse, though. I actually managed to get this to be fairly decent, although it's still not my favorite thing I've written.

I have a poem I need to post,
Keegan <3

Canoeing CRITIQUE PLZ

We dip our paddles into the clear water and glide smoothly across the lake. Sunshine on our heads, the scene is not as serene as it may seem.

Inside the canoe, we are giggles and laughter and saying stupid things. My cousins and I make fun of each other and talk endlessly on about nothing, about everything.

We are an expert set of canoers. Mostly. Allie is in the back, steering our ship. She's the oldest, and the only one that can actually steer well. Cori sits on her carpet square in the middle, sometimes resting her arms on the bar going across the canoe, sometimes not. There is no middle seat, so she's on the floor of the canoe. She often gets stuck there being the youngest of us. I don't think she minds, though. At least, not all the time. I get to be in the front. I get a view no one else gets, but I often turn 'round because of the conversation.

Allie and I splash Cori as we paddle. It's on accident. Sort of. Sometimes it's on purpose. She splashes back, but we yell as she slightly leans to one side. "Crack on the crack!" so we don't tip over.

We keep a lookout for the loons. It's not called Loon Lake for nothing. We've seen the loons many a time and have even followed them around the lake in our canoe.

I love our canoe. It may be old and full of spider webs when no one uses it and it has a tiny hole somewhere, but it works.

Tommy sees us from the dock and yells something about dinner being soon. We yell back and start paddling back to the cabin.

Author's Note
I haven't posted anything in awhile that's actual finished writing, but with my creative writing class, expect stuff more regularily. This is a vignette I had to write about something that happened in my life. I wrote it about canoeing with my cousins, if you couldn't figure that out. Haha. Yep...

Much love and more to come,
Keegan <3

Author's Note: I need to update this.

I have a poem that I could post, but it's written in a notebook somewhere. But basically, I'm just updating to say that I haven't forgotten this and I'll try to update soon.

Much love and all that fun stuff,
Keegan <3

Spring Magic

Spring Magic
Originally uploaded by ViolentKiwi3511

Uhhh... I tried posting this before, but it didn't work out quite like I planned, so... Let's trying this instead?

If I come up with a poem for this like I originally wanted to, I'll delete this filler stuff and post it.

Keegan <3

Author's Note: Ludo's Broken Bride EP

So I listened to it today, right? Amazing. Ludo's awesome. Although I'm sure you're wondering how this relates to writing, right? Well, if you know anything about the Broken Bride EP, you know that it's a 28 minute rock opera. And I must say... It's inspired me and now I want to write my own rock opera. I've actually asked my friend Elizabeth if she would wanna write it with me. Just because I know she actually listens to rock operas more than me. And then I mentioned wanting to write a rock opera to Emiyl and she said she wanted to help. Or something like that. So if Elizabeth answers me back, maybe it could be a three-part collab?

Now for a subject matter... If you're reading this, ideas?
Keegan <3

12 Years

1.
A sea of puppies to choose from.
We chose you,
Your fur was soft
And I was four and wanted to call you "Fluffy."
We decided on "Jett,"
Because of the way you raced around the yard.
Mom came home from work,
Completely surprised.
Getting you had been a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Purebred black lab, 4 months old, free.
2.
You had an affinity for brightly colored socks.
You would steal them from my floor
And a few days later,
They would be out in the yard.
I had many mismatched socks.
Once, a neighbor boy left his socks in the sandbox.
You got them, and, well,
Mom found them a few days later
After nature had done its duty.
She washed them and gave them back,
Leaving out the part where
Our dog ate them.
3.
You are the reason
All of our trashcans are under the sinks.
To the very end, you loved Kleenex.
My dad called them "pre-wipes,"
Eliciting groans from all of us.
4.
You weren't supposed to eat people food,
But we spoiled you.
You would come running if someone had cheese
And I always gave you a scoop of vanilla
If I was having ice cream.
You even managed to get a few hamburgers
From when I would leave them on the table
And walk away.
And once, my cousins and brothers and I
Built a fort at the cabin by raising the hammock
And throwing a blanket over it.
We ate Froot Loops and fed you half the box.
You threw up rainbows on the deck.
My dad hosed it off as we apologized to you.
I guess we shared too much.
4.
We used to be able to feed you Cheerios
From our fingers.
Around the campfire at the cabin,
My mom tried doing the with the neighbor dog
And a marshmallow.
Guess who was more gentle?
6.
You loved Daddy best,
No doubt about it.
If we wrestled him when we were little
Or we climbed on him too much,
Or hugged him too long,
You would bark, wanting attention.
You always slept on his side of the bed
And when he went on business trips,
Mom said she would always hear you
Patrolling the house throughout the night.
7.
You were a water dog,
And a protector.
If we swam at the cabin,
You swam.
If I screamed of laughter,
You would jump into the lake
To save me, thinking I was in trouble.
You always had to watch over us,
Especially the littlest ones.
And we couldn't go on the speedboat without you.
Whoever drove,
You would sit at their feet.
Or else you would go to the front
And let the wind blow back your ears.
I bet you wished summer was all year long.
8.
You hated thunderstorms.
Our big, black dog,
Afraid of thunder.
We would find you in the basement,
Between the couch and the coffee table,
Hiding.
9.
You were in the middle of everything,
If we watched a movie downstairs,
You were with us.
If we were all in the kitchen,
You were there.
If company was over,
You would be the first to greet them.
You would stand in the middle of conversations,
Waiting to be pet.
You were such a people dog.
And people loved you.
10.
I was never able to give you walks.
Always, always, always,
You were too big.
We were always the same size.
We grew up together,
Got big together.
Even when you were little,
You were big to me.
Once, I tried giving you a walk.
I was fourteen or fifteen,
And it was just to the corner and back.
You pulled too much for me to be successful.
I guess that's what happens
When we're the exact same size.
11.
You wagged your tail all the time.
It was dangerous.
How many times had we gotten whacked in the shins
And almost knocked over?
Although I suppose it's good,
Because it means you were happy all the time.
12.
You got cancer around Christmas,
The same time as Dad.
Only Dad's cancer could be removed.
Yours was too tangled with everything.
You slept more
And tired easily
And that bottomless stomach
Seemed to grow a bottom.
And you had a cyst on your tail that bled.
How many times had we cleaned up
What looked like a murder scene
Because you had wagged your tail while it bled?
How many times had we had to coax you still
While we bandaged you up?
And how many times did it kill me
To stop you from trying to lick my face
Because the cancer made your breath smell like rot?
We didn't take pictures those last months
Because we didn't want to remember you like that.
But I remember.
And I remember sitting on the floor with you
Petting you and holding you and crying
As the doctor ended your life.
Spencer came home from college that weekend,
But he didn't come with then.
We didn't force him.
We all dealt with it differently.
And that weekend ended,
Along with your like,
As we lost what had added so much.


http://violentkiwi3511.deviantart.com/gallery/#Jett

Author's Note
No critique, please. This is pretty personal and I don't plan on really changing anything.

A year ago yesterday, we put our dog down. We had him 12 years and I still miss him. I love you, pupper dog. You'll always be the best dog, no matter what.

Keegan <3

Now on dA: http://violentkiwi3511.deviantart.com/art/12-Years-114821857

Author's Note: Poem about Jett

Super long poem coming. I wrote it last night when I should have been falling alseep. It's memories and such about my dog. It was a year ago today that we had to put him down.

I miss you, pupper dog. I miss you, still.

Anyways, I might have to break the poem up. I wrote it in twelve parts, one for each year we had him (from when I was four to sixteen). And did I mention it's long? Twelve years, twelve memories, although there are so many more.

Keegan <3

In the mean time, feel free to critique my stuff. Anything with a CRITIQUE PLZ in the title, for sure. Although the other stuff, too. I just probably won't change it unless it's a glaring problem. Anywho, it's most definitely helpful. As long as you're kind about it and aren't like, "You suck, stop writing." That's not helpful, trust me. So yeah.