Fifteen Minutes of Scrawl

A dear friend texted me a prompt idea: "Put together a course syllabus from your collection of books, and what’s the theme and why read them together"--I thought it was a great idea, so I wrote "A syllabus based on some books on my shelf: Vampiric Literature (HOLL 101)" and now I'm doing it again (as before, formatting on this blog is a tad limited, but I did my best)!  OOPS! ALL TRUE (HOLL 102) Instructor Name and Preferred Title : Holly Smith (just call her Holly or she'll feel super old) Affiliated Department/Program/Organization : Independent scholar Degrees held : BA'14 History, minor in Statistics, Swarthmore College, MA'19 Writing, National University of Ireland, Galway (now Galway University) Course Description HOLL 102 examines the true gruesome events behind famous pieces of fiction. Through this examination, students should learn to que stion how the world around us either directly or indirectly affects our creative works and expression. ...

While there is a lot I enjoy about fall, HOW IS IT ALREADY SEPTEMBER 2ND?! Settling into my new condo Enjoying the crisp air while sipping a warm drink on my little patio In general, not sweating so much Perhaps purchasing some fall décor to put on said patio A new set of vibrant colors A quick trip to Madison, WI with a friend Celebrating the completion of my first year at my current job Attending Printers Row Lit Fest Watching a new season of Survivor  with friends Brainstorming a Halloween costume Planning a Halloween celebration Writing Halloween cards (should I make little poems etc. again?) Buying books at Hyde Park's annual used book sale Touring places at Open House Chicago Eating delicious Thanksgiving food (Prompt by me) Photo by Fred Russo on Unsplash

Time for some big feelings.  I am surprised that there is more of the Kara and Guillermo scene tbh Lol Thais does not have good balance I'm honestly surprised that Sumit's parents agreed to this therapy session Welp, looks like Jenny was right about Sumit bailing on the therapy While Sarper doesn't have to complain about Shekinah in his stand up, I do think she'd also be mad if he talked about his pre-Shekinah life I swear Sarper is just repeating some of his standup routine (which I did see him perform) I am sorry that Shekinah was cheated on (it sounds ROUGH), but I would ask Shekinah to consider that perhaps Sarper was never monogamous before because he does take commitment seriously and knew he wasn't ready yet Hell yeah, falconry Gosh Rebecca must be really attracted to Zied cause that was not a sexy growl I mean...what did you expect the falcons to eat? These poor falcon professionals having to listen to Rebecca be passive aggressive about Zied hanging out wit...

So, a malaphor is when you blend idioms or cliches into a new phrase (e.g. "It's not rocket surgery"). I was recently reminded of how silly and fun malaphors can be, so I figured I'd try my hand at making some! Here goes (these are in no particular order): Don't cry over low-hanging fruit Kill two birds with an unturned stone Throw caution to the bull in a china shop Saved by the can of worms Sharp as a doorknob We'll cross that bridge when the heart grows fonder Time flies when life gives you lemons Time will tell what's the best medicine All's well that ends in love and war Every cloud has a lemonade lining Icing on the wolf in sheep's clothing The shoe fits on the tip of my tongue Keep the diamond in the rough at bay Makes my melting pot boil Running with the wolves got my goat (Prompt by me) ""It's not like it's rocket surgery."" by Nathan Proudlove . Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic .

Time to wrap things up? Exactly, Mallorie, that's their job (I genuinely love that she's chill about this) Hell yeah, Rasit, Mallorie's dad IS a dick Mido is SO scary Deby, when did Caden give approval? I feel like he gave a reluctant acknowledgement  What is Mido spraying on himself? I hope not cologne cause he will be FRAGRANT Of course Mido gets an ENTRANCE I love that the officiant asked everyone to give Deby and Mido a standing ovation when the few people there were already standing I think Edward seems sweet with Marissa's kids Marissa, I cannot believe you didn't do your research on what sponsoring his visa meant OMG Maxwell's shirt has a photo of Ashia on it and she's eating Ashia, how are Rod's actions confusing at this point? He has bene consistent in his views on Maxwell and this marriage I genuinely do not understand how Thomas and Paula didn't break up after the dinner we last saw I love that they moved forward with the haunted wedding v...

If you don't know (like I didn't not too long ago), Miss USA includes a (non-scored) state costume contest. Often, these costumes are loud, bold, and even wacky. A quick note that the image I used for this post is from a different pageant, but I thought it gave similar vibes. Finally, I have to link out to images of the costumes because those ain't free! With all of that out of the way, here are my 15 favorite state costumes from Miss USA 2026 in state alphabetical order. Miss Alabama, Samantha Havenstrite (clearly a white floral inspiration) Miss Alaska, Holly Huber (a fisherman/crabber inspiration) Miss Connecticut, Jaeden Hamelly (a navy inspiration) Miss Delaware, Julia Hatoum (a chemical engineer--her career--inspiration) Miss Florida, Aileen Cerchiara (a clear flamingo inspiration) Miss Idaho, Katie Tetreault (a salmon in the stream inspiration) Miss Illinois, Vivica Lewandowski (I believe this is a state mineral--which is fluorite--inspiration...