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All posts for the month September, 2012

A bit of this, a bit of that

Published September 20, 2012 by Malia

So, I’m a bit of a loss for what to write about tonight.  Therefore, I’m going to share a small smidgen of a snippet of something I’ve been working on off and on for the last several years.

Story Snippet

               The light of the moon streamed through minute breaks in the forest canopy.  A cool breeze gently rustled the leaves, and far off in the distance an owl could be heard.  The summer night was calm.

Hidden in the depths of the  hollowed shell of a tree, she watched carefully.  Searching the shadows.  Such frightening secrets the shadows hid, but she didn’t fear them.  No, she knew what she feared, and it didn’t creep amongst the shadows.

She narrowed her eyes.  Something was moving along attempting to stay in the shadows, but not completely succeeding.  It was moving towards her.   She only had moments to decide on her move.  Taking a silent breath, she darted forward into the shadows, dagger drawn.

The element of surprise was on her side.  She pinned the intruder against a tree, her blade pressed not-so-gently against his throat.  “Just try to scream.   It’ll be your last.”  She whispered coldly.  His eyes were wide with fear.  She could feel his body shaking.  “Don’t expect me to fall for that,” she taunted, “I know who you are.  I know your tricks.”

The intruder stopped trembling, and he gave her a malicious grin, “Then you know who I serve, and you know how she’ll respond when I tell her I was accosted in the forest.  She’ll be most interested to know of the goings-on here.   All of the goings-on.”

She pushed the dagger so hard, she saw a small trickle of blood.  He gasped in shock, and the fear that crept back into his eyes was real.  She spoke quietly, making sure he heard every word.  Though she doubted he would go looking for more trouble, still she silently followed him to the edge of the forest.  Then she turned back and began the return to safety.

(c) 2012 M.L.

Weight Loss Monday~Week 3 Pt. 2

Published September 18, 2012 by Malia

I was running really late last night, and didn’t manage to write a complete post.  I mentioned that it wasn’t the greatest week in terms of exercise, but I was surprised when I weighed myself today.


I was talking with my mom this weekend and she mentioned that she got a kick out of my mugshots.  Immediately, my brain kicked into  panic mode trying to figure out what she meant.  Turns out, she was referring to the pictures I’ve been uploading every week.  One to the front, and one to the side.  That got me to thinking about the fact that she wasn’t far off the mark, calling them “mugshots.”   When you’re severely overweight, the weight really is a prison.  You can’t wear the things you want to wear (although, thanks to stores like Torrid, there’s much more tasteful clothing than there used to be).  You can’t always go places, because you don’t fit in the car for the carpool.  You avoid being in photographs, because it’s just another reminder of how fat you are.  You tend to avoid active sports, because you’re so self-conscious about how much your body is going to jiggle.  You may even avoid hanging out with friends who are slender because they seem to constantly bring up the fact that they need to lose weight.  Believe me there’s a big difference between 5 or 10 pounds and 105 or 110 pounds.  I know it’s probably terrible of me, but sometimes I think it would be good if everyone in the world started out life massively overweight, just so there’d be more equality and understanding of how hard this really is.

Okay, I’m done venting, and I’m back on track with eating right and working out!

 

 

Weight Loss Monday~Week 3 Pt. 1

Published September 17, 2012 by Malia

Okay, so there’s a fuller post full coming, but it’ll not be up until a little while later (probably early tomorrow afternoon).  I just wanted to make sure I got some sort of post up.  This last week was a good week, but a lousy week when it came to exercise and weight loss.  I don’t know what I weigh at the moment, but I definitely feel that this was a week that I gained.  I definitely feel I lost some ground, but I’m not giving up.  Sure, I had a rotten week, but that doesn’t mean that this next week will be.

Happiness is…

Published September 16, 2012 by Malia

-Making a new friend.

-Watching a really good movie that I haven’t seen in a while and being reminded why I liked it so much.

-For the first time in my life I don’t feel wishy-washy about whether or not I’m in the right degree program.

-Getting a philly at late night.

-Being able to avoid political ads.

-Living on a schedule.

-Not having to be dependent on anyone else for my own happiness.

-Having teachers that actually want me to think for myself and not just vomit back to them what they think.

-Having friends to be homesick with.

-Reading fun things for class.

Random Saturday Musings

Published September 15, 2012 by Malia

-Skittles commercials are getting really creepy.

-I’m trying to figure out if something not nice was drawn on my whiteboard.

-I will be so glad when sorority recruitment is over with.

-It’s less than 2 weeks until the new season of Big Bang Theory, Castle, & Bones!

-I got an 88% on my first Spanish test!

-Pistachios are truly the best nut, followed closely by cashews and hazelnuts.

-I’m proud of myself for tying Doctor Who into one of my reading log entries for Beowulf.

-This afternoon I really missed my friends at home.

-I’ve managed to put up a blog post every day since I started this blog in August.  This is a big deal for me because I’m not good at sticking to goals.

-I really want to see Trouble With The Curve. 

-I hate when it gets dark and I think it’s really late and then I realize that there’s still several hours until it gets late.

-I realize that I’m sounding kind of negative tonight.  I don’t mean to, and tomorrow I’ll be back to my normally semi-cheerful self.

Friday Night Questions

Published September 14, 2012 by Malia

-Why do they show professional wrestling on SyFy?

-I know I’ve asked this before, but why is Close Encounters of the Third Kind so difficult to sit through?  Follow up…Am I the only one who sits and yells, “It’s Devil’s Tower, you moron!” every the main character starts going on and on about, “What does it mean?”

-Why does time seem to go faster as you get older?

-Anybody else want Runza?

-Aren’t lazy weekends the greatest thing ever?

-Did you know that in Spanish the word “Bantha” is still “Bantha.”

-Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

-What’s the best superpower to have?

 

Books and Such

Published September 13, 2012 by Malia

The days are starting to get cooler.  It’s inevitable, of course.  North Dakota is land of much cold.  Apparently, we were spared from having a super cold last winter; there was really only one day I remember it being completely unbearable.  Much as I dread the cold, after such a hot summer I’m treasuring the chill the in the air.

I’ve mentioned before that I really love my job, and today was no exception.  Things were a little slow this afternoon, but that was okay because I got to do shelf reading.  Basically, I have a row of books that I get to go through book by book and make sure they’re all in order.  I realize that this probably doesn’t sound terribly fun, but I find it to be a soothing activity.  (Yes, I’m just that weird!)  Working in the library, I frequently find myself feeling very small (and not just because I’m so short I have to have a stool to reach some of the books).  It’s a marvel to me to be surrounded by the words written by so many people.  Thousands and thousands of people who all wrote something that will outlast them.  Today I encountered something written hundreds of years ago.  The author is long gone, but they wrote is still needed by someone now.  How amazingly epic is that?

Speaking of books, here’s something delightful I found on Pinterest:

A Big Adventure

Published September 12, 2012 by Malia

Okay, if you’re like me, a trip to the DMV is hardly my idea of a good time.  Which is why I was kind of dreading going and getting my ND license.  The last time I went to the DMV, I spent over an hour waiting in line just to start the process of renewing, and then another half hour waiting to pay.  Granted, this was in Omaha, which has a couple hundred thousand more people than any town in North Dakota does.  Still, even when I went to the DMV in small town western Nebraska, it was not a pleasant experience.  That’s why today was such a pleasant change.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to go alone.  A very good friend needed to go there as well, so it was already less scary.  Turns out, there was no reason to be scared.  The DMV employees were really nice and pleasant to work with.  The process went so smoothly, I found myself wondering if I was in the right place.  Even the license is pretty.  Apart from my picture, that is.  Somehow I ended up with my pigtails out of the picture, so I’m just this big round head.  Plus, my eyes are half shut, so I look stoned.  However, I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s pleased with their license photo, so I’m not gonna let it bother me.

In other news, I’m being reminded just how much of a literal reader I am.  This Brit Lit class I’m taking isn’t my first lit class.  In fact, I’ve taken several lit classes, even though I wasn’t an english major then.  Granted, the last lit class I took was about eight years ago, but even then, I took everything literally.  A book is a book, a door is a door, a sword is a sword…you get the idea.  I guess I’m just going to have to work harder to see what the author may or may not have meant, but my teacher believes they meant.  If anyone has any advice I’d appreciate it, otherwise I’m just going to start assuming that everything in books is symbolic for something phallic.

Whosday

Published September 11, 2012 by Malia

I know it’s not really that important, but sometimes I’m really happy that my parents introduced me to Doctor Who long before it was something that was so well known.  However, I’m happy that it’s more well known now.  People are less likely to look at me like I’ve lost my mind when I mention Whovian things.  Also, Adipose!