Thursday, August 5, 2010

1 gold flake, 3 Things Thursday, & 1 Hot Dog

Last week, I promised gold nuggets.

But since today is Three Things Thursday (hosted by Amie at i AM alive), today's gold nugget will be more like a gold flake; a teaser, if you will. I promise I'll share more about all the fabulous things I learned at Chautauqua really, really soon. But in the mean-time, let this little kernel of glittery goldness sparkle in your palm for a while:

(This came from writer/editor Patricia Lee Gauch during a general session on Tuesday, July 20.)

"Transcending [in writing] is rising through a mischief of words and hitting your mark."

Isn't that glorious? There's oodles more where that came from. Stay tuned, Dear Reader, because we'll have more golden writerly goodness coming your way before you can say California Prospector. For now, though, let's join Amie in celebrating Three Things Thursday. Today's theme is: three things about your childhood that make you who you are. (If you'd like to participate, go visit Amie's blog and jump in!)

Here are my three things:

1. My imaginary friend was a red squirrel called Chippy. He ran alongside the car everywhere my family went, and entertained me in math class when I was too frustrated with my numerical ineptitude to pay attention anymore. To this day--despite knowing that they are overpopulated, diseased vermin--I have a soft-spot for squirrels.

2. My favorite thing to do in the back-yard was to wander around through our evergreen trees and pick the small, frosty-blue berries so I could combine them with mud, leaves, and crape-myrtle buds in an old bowl to make a magical stew. This gave way to a penchant for weird Celtic mythology.

3. I once led my neighbor friends to the doorstep of an old house that I thought was abandoned, planning to introduce an exciting new place to play. As I reached for the doorknob, the door swung open to reveal a livid old woman I would later swear was a witch, who screeched after us about calling the police even as we sprinted for our lives back down the street. Now, when I walk Ophelia, I hate tiptoeing into people's lawns to pick up after her because I'm afraid they'll come running out, bellowing threats.

That's my three! And speaking of Ophelia, my roommate's friend Adri (who is a fab photographer) took this photo of my little spotty-dotty the other night. Ophie's usually not very photogenic, but I like this one.

9 comments:

  1. I'd have to really think about my 3, but that's a great question. I can say that I had an imaginary friend named "bird" it was wouldn't you know, a bird that sat on my shoulder and talked to me. I was quite attached to him.

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  2. Three. That's hard. One for sure is the Free to Be You and Me album, which I played over and over. I now own it on CD, and am certain that most everything you need to know in life is on it. Bratty girls will be eaten by tigers. See the world before you get married. Boys can have dolls. Don't dress your cat in an apron. Sometimes people who are trying to be helpful aren't. Bake gooey cakes with your best friend. Good advice all around.

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  3. Yay! Thanks for jumping in. And Ophelia is sooooo cute.

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  5. Oh Hanna

    Ophelia looks great in this picture. I mean, she actually looks like she might be sweet.

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  6. Melissa: I have a bear named Bear. Isn't it funny how children--who are so incredibly creative--can come up with such unoriginal names? Love the talking animal thing, though.

    Michelle: Heck, that's all you need to know in life, boiled down to few concise sentences. Well-chosen, indeed.

    Thanks, Amie! She's weird-looking, but I think she's a dear.

    Ash: I hear the sarcasm behind those words. And I caught the hidden meaning, too. I can't wait until you get a dog, and it turns out to be even more insane than Ophie.

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  7. Oh Hanna she's not weird-loking - she's beautiful! Love her spottiness.

    And I love red squirrels - here in the UK the grey squirrels have all but driven them out, and you never see them with their cute little ear tufts...

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  8. Ah, thanks, AlphaChick! I think she's beautiful, but then, I'm her 'mother', so I'm biased.

    I'm glad you share my red-squirrel sentiments. They pretty much run rampant here in Oklahoma, but I still think they're cute. And occasionally I still fantasize about having one who talks and sits on my shoulder, and runs beside the car... :)

    I think a grey squirrel would be a nice change of scenery, every once and again, though!

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