Short Notice (and week 3 words)
Hey everyone, I'm heading out of town Thursday afternoon/evening, so worst case scenario in the internet-connection deal is that I won't be around to post up the team counts on Sunday, so if we could have a brave volunteer =] transmit our travails to the main community at that point in time, that would be fantastically useful.
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[edit] I'll just drop my words off here as well. 2115/2000
The Saga of Blue Cheese (150)
There were once three friends, named Mocky, Pocky, and joy_theorginalrufflechip. They had a goldfish named Betsy, and lived in a beautiful glittering cavern, full of large, berry-flavored stalactites and stalagmites. All was well and joyful and full of joyness, with techno music and small fuzzy creatures dancing across the floor every ten minutes on the hour. Then one day, a seismic wave swept through their peaceful world--stalactites cracked into pieces and dropped downwards to crash and explode into the resonanting stalagmites as a haunting voice reverberated throughout the cavern. Mocky could barely make out lyrics-- "everytime we touch I feel the static"--as she dragged joy_theoriginalrufflechip (who was carrying Betsy's fish bowl) after Pocky who was making her way toward the exit. As they scrambled amidst the explosive shattering of their beautiful cavern towards the pale blue light, Mocky suddenly felt the floor drop out from under her and--
part two (215)
--and found herself falling through the cool, cave air, accompanied by large stalactites and other chunks of berry-flavored cavern. She caught a glimpse of Pocky and joy_theoriginalrufflechip falling nearby into the abyss that was now quiet except for the soft rush of air past their faces. Mocky couldn't see the bottom when she looked down, and then caught a glance of Pocky grabbing a small falling piece of cavern, and licking it in contemplation as she fell in sky-diving position. Mocky gently tipped and steered herself over to where joy_theoriginalrufflechip was covering Betsy's fishbowl. Mocky turned on her back to look at the fishbowl as they continued to fall downward--Betsy the fish and the water in her fishbowl did not fall quite as fast as the fishbowl, so Betsy was upside in the water that had floated to the top of the bowl, but was trapped by joy_theoriginalrufflechip (who happened to be wearing a highly water-resistant raincoat that day). Betsy stared at Mocky, who nodded at joy_theoriginalrufflechip and gave a thumbs up sign, as she yelled, "She's still in there!" Mocky glanced back over at Pocky, who had ceased licking the berry-flavored piece of cavern, and was motioning vigorously below them. Mocky looked down, and started to say, "Wow! I think that's the--
"Two people are coming out of a building" Exercise (174)
Two people are coming out of a building. James Markster holds a small manilla folder in his right hand, and with his left he gently drawings Marian Forrester towards him, lightly pressing his lips against her cheek with a routine-ness that almost feels apathetic and distant. Marian purses her lips against the air, not even bothering to press her cheek towards his distracted gesture before she slips past him into the conveyor belt of people moving along the sidewalk. She is opening her black, snakeskin handbag with gold claps and pulling lipstick out as she slides past men and women in dark business suits and briefcases. Her turquoise, multi-layered skirt flows amongst the sharply tailored lines like an undulating deep sea creature making its way through a silent forest of shark fins. She stops at the edge of the crosswalk and the skirt swings gracefully to a halt, wrapping around her legs with a soft caress. She applies the pale peach lipstick to her lower lip in one smooth motion, watching the crosswalk sign.
Writing Discussion, scrambled (650)
Ac, a qaacc daccaccaac. Ac wracacc Bacc a ccary caccaccad, acd daacc cca "cwa paapla ara cacacc aac af a baaldacc" axarcaca cacfarcad, ccara ara callaacc af ccaraac accada af ca, waacacc ca caca aac. Accaac wacc cca cwa paapla axarcaca: A caddacly falc laca A laccad cca ccacaca ca caap ac wracacc acd laccacc ccaff caca aac. Cca laca bacwaac pallacc acd flawacc wac cacaccacc ccac A wac all avar cca placa cryacc ca walc ac ar cracc avar. Ca, parcapc ccac wac cy pracraccacacacc acccaccc caccacc ac acd clappacc a cabcla wracarc blacc acdar cy wcaalc -- ac wac a faalacc af "yac, A ccaw A cac caapacc wracacc, bac A dac'c faal cca acpacac ca da ca warcacc wacc ca." Parcapc paccacc acward waald cava avaccaally bracac cca dacc, bac cy racaccacca dafacacaly caac advaccaca af cca ccall adaa af "Wcac axaccly ac A wracacc ccac far? Ac'c jacc a racdac, ccacdalaca ccacc." ca cac cacavacaac far ac dawc. Cawavar, A accadaacaly afcarwardc cac cara acd bacclad acaaccc cca adaa af daacc ac axarcaca wacc cwa af cy ac-pracracc ccaraccarc, cacc ac acaccar frac Cca Cacjara Aca. Bacaaca ccac cca axarcaca accalf (acd cac cca ccaraccarc, ar ccaar accaacc waccac ac) caacc caa acfacacad far cca caccaxc.
A laacad ac acaccar axarcaca, aca ca draw accaccaac ca daalacaa ccraacc acc cac-acaca. Cappacadly ac ac a card-- accaally, ca, A'c carcaac ac ac a card axarcaca, pracacaly bacaaca A cac acly ccacc af cacaacaacc wacc racaccac caccaac ac aca af cca ccaraccar waccc, ca da ccac axarcaca. Aca af cca daraccacc acccraccaacc far cca axarcaca ac ca wraca dawc cca ccacc ac ccac ccaca ccac aacc ccaraccar waccc, acd ccac warc ca caccacacaca ccac ac acdar 300-acc warcc waccaac acacc daalacaa af acy cacd (bacwaac ccaraccarc, accar cacalacaac bacwaac cca ccaraccarc acd cca raadar). A caap ccaccacc bacc ca cy ccaca ac "Parcapcava Ccaccacc," wcara Cacaa acd Jaccaa ara ccacdacc ac Cacaa'c badraac, acd bacc ara cacca acd cacfacad far daffaracc raacacc, acd Cacaa cacac a pcaca call acd Jaccaa racpacdc ca Craca callacc car caca frac acaccar raac, bac ccay'ra ccall caccacacacacc cacaccacc cabcly ca aacc accar, ar A, ac cca carracar, ac caccacacacacc cacaccacc blacaccly, bac cac-varbally ca cca raadar. Ca A racacbar ccac ccaca acd ccacc, cay, A'va daca cacaccacc laca ccac bafara! Avaryccacc wall ba ac, A cava ccac dawc. A ccaaccc ccac ac cacc a laad af crap. Yac, A'va racaccly wacccad Faccarccacc, wcacc cac caca faccaccac cac-varbal racaccac cacaccc bacwaac cca cwa caac ccaraccarc, ca A'va caac accar axacplac, bac ccaca ara all prabably cca aacaacc ccacac ca wraca cac-varbally, pracacaly bacaaca cca waccc ara ca ccraacccfarward acd accacca -- cca, "A lava yaa, bac ac'c cacplacacad, ca A cac'c ba daracc acd jacc caca aac wacc yaa raccc cara acd caw" faalacc ac avacad frac bacc ccaraccarc ca a ccracc dacraa (cacacacac ca a favar paccc, dapacdacc ac caw lacc cca aadaacca cac baac wacc ccac, acd caw badly wa'ra raacacc far cca ccaraccarc ca ba cacaccar). Ac ac cca cacc caccac axacpla af ccracc acaxpraccabla accaccaac, acd ca A ac faalacc cycalf acca ccaccacc ac accacpaccac avaryccacc ccac caald ba daca wacc ccac ca-daalacaa axarcaca. Ca, A cava ca raalaza cca faalcc wacc jacc raccacc ccraacc cca axarcaca wacc a racaccac caccaac ccaca acd caca cca placca. A cava ca caca a cacaacaac ccac ac a laccla cara cacdaca, a laccla lacc cracacal, acd craac cca accaac ac ac laca ac ac jacc a cracacal acd caadc ca ba axpraccad jacc ac claarly.
A alca ccaaccc cca 5-cacacd ccaca axpaccaac axarcaca waald ba a craac aca -- wcara raaccly fava-cacacdc warcc af a ccaca ac caccaccracad ac ac axcracaacacc dacaal. Baaacy ac cca pracaca cracc, "lyrac qaalacy," acd all af ccac. A ccall cavac'c daca aaccar af ccaca cwa, bac A wall cac ba abla ca accapa waccaac daacc ccac.
shoe stores (926)
I do not like large shoe stores. Really, I have an active tendency to avoid shoe sections and wait Somewhere Else when I happen to accompany anyone who is intending to shop at them. Ok, maybe this isn't a true, ingrained habit, but I certainly avoided overlong exposure when my sister and cousin last went to DSW. My sister had decided some girly shoes were in order, as a personal reward for getting through the school year. My personal reward splurges tend to take place in bookstores or art supply stores, but I understand where she's coming from. I was not, however, about to spend the full hour and a half watching her sort through tall-heeled, decorative footwear when there was a spiffy Pier 1 Imports store right next door.
I've become far more attracted to home decoration stores now that I've gone away from home (to a college dorm). Arguably this is because I have gone away from the house I grew up in, that was decorated by my parents, and into a space that is delegated mainly to me for care and decoration--that I have had a chance to grow and expand my living tastes. I believe this is also because I have watched a shitload of HGTV in the past two years while making ballet costumes and finally got a clean room to play with the furniture and decoration.
My current interest involves pillows. While I've talked myself out of buying twenty of them and spreading them throughout the room next year, I did scrutinize Pier 1's selection of pillows quite thoroughly, as I avoided entering DSW. All of the pillows were organized by color, and then by pattern, forming a rainbow of selection that flowed along one wall of the store. It was periodically broken up by artful displays of the availible wall hangings, and the other side of the aisle contained interesting chests and armoires. Stores like Pier 1 are an interior design fantasy for the amateur looking for ideas, or the omfg-pretty-design-thing nuts (like myself). It is extremely pleasant to walk through such a store, where craft, design, and presentation are all significantly considered and customized.
It was after going from Pier 1 over to DSW that such observations formed my recognition of the contrast that existed between the shoe store and the interior decoration store. Shoe stores are messy. I don't mean strewn across the ground, or actually dirty. Of course the Payless Shoe Store in the mall has various shoe pairs hanging out on the floor where people too lazy to engage their non-existent short term memory and place the shoes back in their original spot tossed the unwanted products. And I certainly wouldn't want to roll on the floor in a Target or Meijers clearance shoe section. However, DSW was carpeted inside, and no extra footwear hung out in the aisles to trip up the unwary walking past.
Yet it remained messy--in an organizational and design sense. Think about it, when was the last time a normal person walked into a large, unspecialized shoe store and knew exactly what they were looking for and where to find it? Only the nuts who lived there anyways. The rest of a store's customers are faced with a large selection of badly organized shoes. I walk in, and the aisles, while of a height to allow me to survery an entire area and perhaps detect my Perfect Pair of Shoes are just two shelving systems over, did not clearly indicate the type of shoe for the section I was standing in. Alright, I'm a sighted human being, I can look at the shoes around and realize I'm in the six-inch and brightly sequined heel section, and that the flip-flops are over thataway. That still does change the fact that if I'm looking for six-inch, black, close-toed, silver sequined heels, I have to go up and down probably at least two, if not three aisles in order to amass a memory bank of all such availible shoes. I'll have to sort through the orange, four-inch, sequined, open-toed heels, and the five-inch woven fabric brown shoes, and maybe that one designer flip-flop that happens to be at the end of the aisle. Because unlike the pillow section at Pier 1, DSW shoes are not organized beyond general type. Thankfully, they have it set up that the various shoe sizes are directly below the shoes (instead of three aisles over, like the clearance section in Target or Meijers), but the presentation is still a visual hodpodge of the various shoes the store has. I couldn't detect any sort of organization--by colors, designers, shoe properties. The entire collection assaulted my brain with disorganized signals of all sorts from every direction. I'm certain my subconscious design nut was has a seizure, and I couldn't tell because I was too visually distracted by the chaos.
Ok, maybe I have an internal hang-up with clothes, fashion, and personal style in general, but such a jungle is most definitely a road-block to my ever becoming a comfortable, decently-dressed member of a consumer society. There is a deep-seated, logical reason why I buy my shoes at REI, or order from the Teva catalog. Why all of my semi-formal and dress shoes I am uncertain about and never excited to wear. Why I must restrain a sense of wonder and suspicion whenever I view the large shoe collections of other women. How can they function in such a mess, to pick out shoes that make them happy?
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[edit] I'll just drop my words off here as well. 2115/2000
The Saga of Blue Cheese (150)
There were once three friends, named Mocky, Pocky, and joy_theorginalrufflechip. They had a goldfish named Betsy, and lived in a beautiful glittering cavern, full of large, berry-flavored stalactites and stalagmites. All was well and joyful and full of joyness, with techno music and small fuzzy creatures dancing across the floor every ten minutes on the hour. Then one day, a seismic wave swept through their peaceful world--stalactites cracked into pieces and dropped downwards to crash and explode into the resonanting stalagmites as a haunting voice reverberated throughout the cavern. Mocky could barely make out lyrics-- "everytime we touch I feel the static"--as she dragged joy_theoriginalrufflechip (who was carrying Betsy's fish bowl) after Pocky who was making her way toward the exit. As they scrambled amidst the explosive shattering of their beautiful cavern towards the pale blue light, Mocky suddenly felt the floor drop out from under her and--
part two (215)
--and found herself falling through the cool, cave air, accompanied by large stalactites and other chunks of berry-flavored cavern. She caught a glimpse of Pocky and joy_theoriginalrufflechip falling nearby into the abyss that was now quiet except for the soft rush of air past their faces. Mocky couldn't see the bottom when she looked down, and then caught a glance of Pocky grabbing a small falling piece of cavern, and licking it in contemplation as she fell in sky-diving position. Mocky gently tipped and steered herself over to where joy_theoriginalrufflechip was covering Betsy's fishbowl. Mocky turned on her back to look at the fishbowl as they continued to fall downward--Betsy the fish and the water in her fishbowl did not fall quite as fast as the fishbowl, so Betsy was upside in the water that had floated to the top of the bowl, but was trapped by joy_theoriginalrufflechip (who happened to be wearing a highly water-resistant raincoat that day). Betsy stared at Mocky, who nodded at joy_theoriginalrufflechip and gave a thumbs up sign, as she yelled, "She's still in there!" Mocky glanced back over at Pocky, who had ceased licking the berry-flavored piece of cavern, and was motioning vigorously below them. Mocky looked down, and started to say, "Wow! I think that's the--
"Two people are coming out of a building" Exercise (174)
Two people are coming out of a building. James Markster holds a small manilla folder in his right hand, and with his left he gently drawings Marian Forrester towards him, lightly pressing his lips against her cheek with a routine-ness that almost feels apathetic and distant. Marian purses her lips against the air, not even bothering to press her cheek towards his distracted gesture before she slips past him into the conveyor belt of people moving along the sidewalk. She is opening her black, snakeskin handbag with gold claps and pulling lipstick out as she slides past men and women in dark business suits and briefcases. Her turquoise, multi-layered skirt flows amongst the sharply tailored lines like an undulating deep sea creature making its way through a silent forest of shark fins. She stops at the edge of the crosswalk and the skirt swings gracefully to a halt, wrapping around her legs with a soft caress. She applies the pale peach lipstick to her lower lip in one smooth motion, watching the crosswalk sign.
Writing Discussion, scrambled (650)
Ac, a qaacc daccaccaac. Ac wracacc Bacc a ccary caccaccad, acd daacc cca "cwa paapla ara cacacc aac af a baaldacc" axarcaca cacfarcad, ccara ara callaacc af ccaraac accada af ca, waacacc ca caca aac. Accaac wacc cca cwa paapla axarcaca: A caddacly falc laca A laccad cca ccacaca ca caap ac wracacc acd laccacc ccaff caca aac. Cca laca bacwaac pallacc acd flawacc wac cacaccacc ccac A wac all avar cca placa cryacc ca walc ac ar cracc avar. Ca, parcapc ccac wac cy pracraccacacacc acccaccc caccacc ac acd clappacc a cabcla wracarc blacc acdar cy wcaalc -- ac wac a faalacc af "yac, A ccaw A cac caapacc wracacc, bac A dac'c faal cca acpacac ca da ca warcacc wacc ca." Parcapc paccacc acward waald cava avaccaally bracac cca dacc, bac cy racaccacca dafacacaly caac advaccaca af cca ccall adaa af "Wcac axaccly ac A wracacc ccac far? Ac'c jacc a racdac, ccacdalaca ccacc." ca cac cacavacaac far ac dawc. Cawavar, A accadaacaly afcarwardc cac cara acd bacclad acaaccc cca adaa af daacc ac axarcaca wacc cwa af cy ac-pracracc ccaraccarc, cacc ac acaccar frac Cca Cacjara Aca. Bacaaca ccac cca axarcaca accalf (acd cac cca ccaraccarc, ar ccaar accaacc waccac ac) caacc caa acfacacad far cca caccaxc.
A laacad ac acaccar axarcaca, aca ca draw accaccaac ca daalacaa ccraacc acc cac-acaca. Cappacadly ac ac a card-- accaally, ca, A'c carcaac ac ac a card axarcaca, pracacaly bacaaca A cac acly ccacc af cacaacaacc wacc racaccac caccaac ac aca af cca ccaraccar waccc, ca da ccac axarcaca. Aca af cca daraccacc acccraccaacc far cca axarcaca ac ca wraca dawc cca ccacc ac ccac ccaca ccac aacc ccaraccar waccc, acd ccac warc ca caccacacaca ccac ac acdar 300-acc warcc waccaac acacc daalacaa af acy cacd (bacwaac ccaraccarc, accar cacalacaac bacwaac cca ccaraccarc acd cca raadar). A caap ccaccacc bacc ca cy ccaca ac "Parcapcava Ccaccacc," wcara Cacaa acd Jaccaa ara ccacdacc ac Cacaa'c badraac, acd bacc ara cacca acd cacfacad far daffaracc raacacc, acd Cacaa cacac a pcaca call acd Jaccaa racpacdc ca Craca callacc car caca frac acaccar raac, bac ccay'ra ccall caccacacacacc cacaccacc cabcly ca aacc accar, ar A, ac cca carracar, ac caccacacacacc cacaccacc blacaccly, bac cac-varbally ca cca raadar. Ca A racacbar ccac ccaca acd ccacc, cay, A'va daca cacaccacc laca ccac bafara! Avaryccacc wall ba ac, A cava ccac dawc. A ccaaccc ccac ac cacc a laad af crap. Yac, A'va racaccly wacccad Faccarccacc, wcacc cac caca faccaccac cac-varbal racaccac cacaccc bacwaac cca cwa caac ccaraccarc, ca A'va caac accar axacplac, bac ccaca ara all prabably cca aacaacc ccacac ca wraca cac-varbally, pracacaly bacaaca cca waccc ara ca ccraacccfarward acd accacca -- cca, "A lava yaa, bac ac'c cacplacacad, ca A cac'c ba daracc acd jacc caca aac wacc yaa raccc cara acd caw" faalacc ac avacad frac bacc ccaraccarc ca a ccracc dacraa (cacacacac ca a favar paccc, dapacdacc ac caw lacc cca aadaacca cac baac wacc ccac, acd caw badly wa'ra raacacc far cca ccaraccarc ca ba cacaccar). Ac ac cca cacc caccac axacpla af ccracc acaxpraccabla accaccaac, acd ca A ac faalacc cycalf acca ccaccacc ac accacpaccac avaryccacc ccac caald ba daca wacc ccac ca-daalacaa axarcaca. Ca, A cava ca raalaza cca faalcc wacc jacc raccacc ccraacc cca axarcaca wacc a racaccac caccaac ccaca acd caca cca placca. A cava ca caca a cacaacaac ccac ac a laccla cara cacdaca, a laccla lacc cracacal, acd craac cca accaac ac ac laca ac ac jacc a cracacal acd caadc ca ba axpraccad jacc ac claarly.
A alca ccaaccc cca 5-cacacd ccaca axpaccaac axarcaca waald ba a craac aca -- wcara raaccly fava-cacacdc warcc af a ccaca ac caccaccracad ac ac axcracaacacc dacaal. Baaacy ac cca pracaca cracc, "lyrac qaalacy," acd all af ccac. A ccall cavac'c daca aaccar af ccaca cwa, bac A wall cac ba abla ca accapa waccaac daacc ccac.
shoe stores (926)
I do not like large shoe stores. Really, I have an active tendency to avoid shoe sections and wait Somewhere Else when I happen to accompany anyone who is intending to shop at them. Ok, maybe this isn't a true, ingrained habit, but I certainly avoided overlong exposure when my sister and cousin last went to DSW. My sister had decided some girly shoes were in order, as a personal reward for getting through the school year. My personal reward splurges tend to take place in bookstores or art supply stores, but I understand where she's coming from. I was not, however, about to spend the full hour and a half watching her sort through tall-heeled, decorative footwear when there was a spiffy Pier 1 Imports store right next door.
I've become far more attracted to home decoration stores now that I've gone away from home (to a college dorm). Arguably this is because I have gone away from the house I grew up in, that was decorated by my parents, and into a space that is delegated mainly to me for care and decoration--that I have had a chance to grow and expand my living tastes. I believe this is also because I have watched a shitload of HGTV in the past two years while making ballet costumes and finally got a clean room to play with the furniture and decoration.
My current interest involves pillows. While I've talked myself out of buying twenty of them and spreading them throughout the room next year, I did scrutinize Pier 1's selection of pillows quite thoroughly, as I avoided entering DSW. All of the pillows were organized by color, and then by pattern, forming a rainbow of selection that flowed along one wall of the store. It was periodically broken up by artful displays of the availible wall hangings, and the other side of the aisle contained interesting chests and armoires. Stores like Pier 1 are an interior design fantasy for the amateur looking for ideas, or the omfg-pretty-design-thing nuts (like myself). It is extremely pleasant to walk through such a store, where craft, design, and presentation are all significantly considered and customized.
It was after going from Pier 1 over to DSW that such observations formed my recognition of the contrast that existed between the shoe store and the interior decoration store. Shoe stores are messy. I don't mean strewn across the ground, or actually dirty. Of course the Payless Shoe Store in the mall has various shoe pairs hanging out on the floor where people too lazy to engage their non-existent short term memory and place the shoes back in their original spot tossed the unwanted products. And I certainly wouldn't want to roll on the floor in a Target or Meijers clearance shoe section. However, DSW was carpeted inside, and no extra footwear hung out in the aisles to trip up the unwary walking past.
Yet it remained messy--in an organizational and design sense. Think about it, when was the last time a normal person walked into a large, unspecialized shoe store and knew exactly what they were looking for and where to find it? Only the nuts who lived there anyways. The rest of a store's customers are faced with a large selection of badly organized shoes. I walk in, and the aisles, while of a height to allow me to survery an entire area and perhaps detect my Perfect Pair of Shoes are just two shelving systems over, did not clearly indicate the type of shoe for the section I was standing in. Alright, I'm a sighted human being, I can look at the shoes around and realize I'm in the six-inch and brightly sequined heel section, and that the flip-flops are over thataway. That still does change the fact that if I'm looking for six-inch, black, close-toed, silver sequined heels, I have to go up and down probably at least two, if not three aisles in order to amass a memory bank of all such availible shoes. I'll have to sort through the orange, four-inch, sequined, open-toed heels, and the five-inch woven fabric brown shoes, and maybe that one designer flip-flop that happens to be at the end of the aisle. Because unlike the pillow section at Pier 1, DSW shoes are not organized beyond general type. Thankfully, they have it set up that the various shoe sizes are directly below the shoes (instead of three aisles over, like the clearance section in Target or Meijers), but the presentation is still a visual hodpodge of the various shoes the store has. I couldn't detect any sort of organization--by colors, designers, shoe properties. The entire collection assaulted my brain with disorganized signals of all sorts from every direction. I'm certain my subconscious design nut was has a seizure, and I couldn't tell because I was too visually distracted by the chaos.
Ok, maybe I have an internal hang-up with clothes, fashion, and personal style in general, but such a jungle is most definitely a road-block to my ever becoming a comfortable, decently-dressed member of a consumer society. There is a deep-seated, logical reason why I buy my shoes at REI, or order from the Teva catalog. Why all of my semi-formal and dress shoes I am uncertain about and never excited to wear. Why I must restrain a sense of wonder and suspicion whenever I view the large shoe collections of other women. How can they function in such a mess, to pick out shoes that make them happy?