Fifteen Minutes of Scrawl

Trix was walking down the path to potions class, her broom over her shoulder and her small pumpkin purse dangling off of it. It was a gorgeous fall day with soft light and crispy leaves strewn about. The air whistled past her ears and blew her hair in a way that made her feel powerful and magical, which, of course, she was. She was the top witch in her school and one of the top in the country, or so her scores showed. She would have a promising career in any magical field she chose. Once the potions building was in sight, Trix heard some whimpering. She looked about and spied some movement in the nearby cemetery. Today was an optional study hall class anyways, so Trix figured she could be late if she felt like it, so she diverted her path to go through the cemetery. After walking past the rickety gates, she could still hear the whimpering so she followed it. It led her to a mausoleum she had never noticed before. It was rather dramatic now that Trix took it in. It looked to be made of ...

It had been a successful thrift store run. I was working on furnishing my new apartment--it was my first one that I was living in solo and I was quite proud of it. I got furniture from a few thrift stores that I loaded into my dad's truck that he'd loaned me and was now arranging it around my living room in a bit of a huff. I had also snagged a few things for myself--well I suppose the furniture was also for myself, but I meant unnecessary things for myself. I had gotten a silk scarf that was a lovely greenish-blue, a warm red sweater, and a lovely brooch with a face on it. The brooch was clearly missing some pieces of it, but it still looked beautiful (and had been on sale) because of the serene blue face in the middle of it. I had put it on immediately upon getting home because I knew it would get lost as I shuffled everything around otherwise. I looked around the room, trying to decide if I liked this configuration of the furniture better than the last three I'd tried an...

Hey vampy bitches, it's time for another post by yours truly! Today I'm going to cover some fashion, interior design, and nutrition tips as well as some (after)life hacks. Now these are just some thoughts I had today and I'll be sure to keep sharing more as time goes on. But I just want everyone to be living their best afterlife so please share your own tips with me and they may make it into my weekly newsletter. Fashion Red is always in season, but try for some of the newer shades like ox blood. Just because red has been done before doesn't mean you can't make it brand new again. High collars are over. There is no need to hide your neck in shame anymore! Show off your bite with pride and all the body positivity you can muster. No capes! Nothing says "I'm out of date" instead of "I'm out on a date" more than a cape. So ditch the capes and get a nice coat or shawl (click through my story to see my favorites of the season!). Interior Design...

The full moon shone bright in the sky though it looked tinged with yellow--an autumn moon. It lit my way down the cobblestone road that should've been repaved ages ago. But some in my town demanded we preserve this rickety and uneven bit of history despite how hard it was to drive and walk upon. There was little other light around besides the moon save the faint flow from jack-o'-lanterns strewn about the street in a festive manner. The trees I passed were bare and black, their dark tendrils curling into the sky as though taking a long stretch before winter. A crisp wind blew through the air, chilling my nose and turning it pink. It was a perfect Halloween night. Perfect, at least, for my purposes. I continued my walk to the cemetery, brushing gossamer webs out of my face, but letting the spiders dance upon my fingertips for a moment before letting them return to their weaving. I was in no particular rush, I had plenty of time (or so I thought). I stopped to brush my fingers al...

Time to still talk about a sister wife. Whitney's get together sounds fun I kinda can't believe how hard Duy is going on this Jennie is right that Duy should get some help "Better late than ugly" Seth doesn't wear a wedding ring Seth sucks Wow I hope Heather is as great a boss as she seems Is the theme of this party Nike? Angie wants on this show so bad "We're going to fluff our auras" Connnie and Whitney have the same hair Wow that escalated quickly And now time for a fight spinoff! The tubing looks lamer than I imagined it "Listen, it's my dream to be ravaged by Sasquatch" Whitney's face was hilarious Are you crying, Lisa? Oh poor Jennie Oh poor Jen Next time Heather plans a getaway Next time Lisa plans a private party Next time we get the scoop on Mary and Robert Senior I hope we get to hear the word cult Next time looks good Can't wait! (Prompt by me) The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City  Bravo Promotional image source

Time for Kenny and Armando to have a serious talk. Lol Raul totally kicked Corey out Corey, you lied after swearing on your dead dad...idk if you can save that How is Corey affording this place? If Corey was inviting other girls there, then wouldn't there only be one bed? Counseling is Evelin's idea? Alina...why are you giving Steven another chance? Steven is so weird Yes, Alina, you should've gotten on the plane Why is the surgery taking so long, Ari? (Oh, the doctors were busy) Biniyam...you shouldn't turn off your phone when you know your son is away for surgery Sumit just abandons Jenny to his mother who hates her Jenny should learn some Hindi Oh Jenny Kenny misses his kids so much Steven, I think it's a warning sign that you're so relieved that Alina's mom is gone Steven, of course you didn't think you'd have to follow through Use WhatsApp, Steven Poor Jenny This is such a public place for couples' counseling, Evelin and Corey (I guess it...

Honestly, it would be writing.  Even though I sometimes struggle to write (I mean hey, how's my cozy mystery going, huh?), I do love it. I'm working on writing more (which I hope you can tell). I try to write every day or at least the average of every day because some of the best advice I got in grad school was to write in a way that you can do it every day. This means sometimes I do listicles or just reactions to reality TV shows, but it all uses some of my writing brain. If there was a reliable way to monetize this blog, I would do it (though it gets so few hits I doubt that I could and the content is so variable that I have trouble imagining an audience for it beyond people I know). I suppose in this fantasy world then there could be way to monetize this blog and I'd just do that. I do love that I've kept this blog up and I have such a wealth of posts to dig into and maybe build on. I want to try and work on creating some more posts that I can turn into publishable t...

My immediate response to this question was my weight. Now I'm sure the question meant to get at something more like my fear of confrontation (which, hey, could be worked on too), but this was just my gut reaction so I'm going with it. No matter what I tell other people, I hate the way I look and I think that myself being fat is a huge problem. Some of that is purely aesthetic reasons. I don't think I look good and I think that means others think the same. This bleeds into my (attempted) dating life as it affects my confidence and also, to be perfeclty frank, my options (though maybe I wouldn't want to date someone who would judge so harshly on looks anyways (but at the same time I want the person I date to find me beautiful)). I also see my weight as a failure on my part. I gained weight mostly because of stress and depression in my life. Food is a comfort for me and I turned to it pretty heavily as my life got more and more stressful. You can read more about that in a ...

Exact prompt:What did you learn about money from your family? Save til it hurts Interest rates make all the difference Borrow as little as possible Think seriously about buying real estate How to do taxes Remember to spend money on the important things Remember that spending money on mental health is the same as spending money on any other kind of health Ask for help when you need it Charles Schwab is a great bank Watch out for ATM fees (or don't if you have Schwab because they reimburse those) Pay attention to how cards work abroad Monitor for fraud carefully Keep track of monthly spending Invest Don't talk about money too much (Prompt provided by Amelia Sacco) "Money" by jonesrpan

To be honest, I don't remember much about my first experience dealing with death. I think the first time I really dealt with it would have been when my grandfather Mischa died. I was about two at the time I think. I don't have many memories of my grandfather and those I do have mostly come from photos and videos so perhaps they're false memories. I imagine though that I had questions. Where was grandpa? How long would he be gone? What does death mean? I know my grandmother and my mother must have been very sad. I know that his death was very difficult and, at times, surreal for them. I know we had a memorial service and not a funeral (or at least that's what my memory says right now, but I could be wrong). I imagine there would've been a slideshow of some sort or at least photos around the room given how much photos mean to my family. I know that, years later, I made an ofrenda for my grandpa for an assignment. I included one of his pipes that I think still smelled ...

Corn fields were a common sight in Harbach. They swayed and rippled in the crisp breeze. They provided more than just income for families--though they did that in spades. Some farms made corn mazes each fall for the local kids--or kids at heart--to enjoy. Young people would go and get lost in them when they wanted to just stare at the stars. And all manner of ghost and alien stories emanated from them with some locals swearing they were real--but no one in the town's memory had ever been haunted or abducted as the stories always seemed to feature a long deceased friend of a friend or distant cousin. Harbach wasn't too large a community, but it wasn't too small either. It had two rival high schools that were always trying to one up each other in whatever sport was in season. The rivalry was mostly good hearted though, with some senior pranks sprinkled in to add a bit of flavor to it. Most people knew each other, but there were always some people that you could've sworn y...

The circus came to town for a week once a year. The people of the small town were never quite sure where else the circus went as their town was far away from any other. But no matter where it came from or where it went after, it always came once a year for a magical week. And, finally, thatweek was here. The warm, buttery smell of popcorn wafts through the air. The guests are thankful for this as it is a welcome distraction from the grassy smell of animals. Soon popcorn morphs to the sugary sweet smell of cotton candy, making many a mouth water. These were the smells and tastes of the local circus. The sounds could be overwhelming. There are gleeful children squealing, various announcers voices booming, animals moving about, and music blaring. While it could be cacophonous to those who didn't already enjoy the circus, it was a wonderful chorus to those who did. The various parts blend together to declare that, indeed, the circus has arrived and it is marvelous. The seats are nothin...

I have another session coming up Friday! I don't think my party reads my blog. If you do--STOP IT! I'm going to copy and paste a lot of my last posts so I can build on it. New character is also at the Temple of Apollo They were responding to the job posting too Talk to new player about her character's backstory. Whether they were warned or not depends on where they were from (check notes) Needs reason why they responded to this job posting Needs a reason why they're in Limisteer (needs to know where they're from) Needs to have a reason to be journeying to the queen's court (it's okay if they're hesitant about it) Needs to find joining the group appealing (could just be safety in numbers) In general, should have a backstory Journey to the capital Giant snake attack Beasts so they can't be charmed or reasoned with They're hungry so they want to eat the players Strix (in  Ekphrastic Beasts ) attack (1 blonde, 1 redhead) They want to destroy all huma...

Reunion time! Are we going to only talk about Tom and Erika? (I mean, makes sense) So Tom is in a care facility? Erika comes off as very well prepared Tom has a flip phone? Andy is suspicious I mean SOMEONE can afford a $35,000 dress You are boring Andy God I'd forgotten about Carlton Man there are a lot of age gaps Harry is a grade A husband Kathy remains a gem Next time Crystal talks about working at an escourt agency Next time we tease Kathy Next time we talk about the leather pants Next time we talk about what Erika knew (Prompt by me) The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills  Bravo Promotional image source

"So when you get down there be sure to respect all wildlife and the local culture." I giggled at the idea of respecting the culture of fish. Yes, I got that he meant not to disturb anything while scuba diving--probably good advice--but the thought of fish gathering around to have erudite conversations tickled me. "And what's so funny, lass?" The grizzled captain turned towards me and I suddenly felt very small. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were making a joke about the fish having like a deep cultural life--" "That would be ridiculous." "Uh, yes--I know--that's why I laughed?" I was trying to sound light but was growing increasingly nervous under his gaze. "I don't mean the fish, lass." He was gravely serious. Oh. OH. He must have meant like don't do things that would be dispectful to the local culture. Gods, I'm sure an idiot. "Oh, sorry, you meant like don't do anything that would disrespect where we...

So I used to write crosswords for my college's newspaper. I would spend hours on them and then I barely got paid so I only did it for one semester (I did, however, continue to be a photographer for the newspaper). However, it might be nice to reflect on making them. There was something very intellectually stimulating about creating the crosswords. I would try and get themes into the puzzles to make it more fun for myself. The only theme I can remember right now though is science fiction. I also tried to make all of the clues be on theme instead of just some major ones like I see most crosswords do. I eventually deviated from themes because it made it too hard to make the crosswords. So how did I go about making them after I had a theme (or had decided that there wouldn't be one)? I would think of the big clues that I wanted and start from there. I would spend hours researching random strings of letters to see if I could make something out of them or adjusting things if not. Now...

Succeeding in this will gain support of the town. I know it is not what you dreamed of, but you must think on it. Think of what it could do for the town. Everyone would adore you for it and you could bring some much needed attention to our humble community. I urge you to read my full letter before you begin to pen a response. Seducing the duke is a viable option. True he is not handsome, nor is known for his wits, but he is known to be kind. There are no rumors of him gallavanting about with other women and he is certainly rich enough to look after you. I believe he has already even expressed some interest in you from what I hear. Did he not ask you to dance twice at the latest ball? Surely there is not much you need to do to hold his interest if you have already sparked it. I am not surprised by his spark of interest, by the by. A person would have to be truly without sense to miss your charms. Your lustrous auburn hair with its thick curls, your calm ocean blue eyes, and your hourgla...

It's true what they say about spirits in bottles--they grant wishes, but only at a price. They lure you in with their depths and flavors and shiny outside so that you don't see the poison lying within. Not everyone finds these bottles, yet they are more common than legends say. How do I know, you ask? Well, my father found one. One fateful day, my father picked up a beautiful spirit-filled bottle. He did not notice the noxious fumes under the beautiful bouquet. It whispered promises of confidence, pride, and success and so he drank, and drank, and drank. He did not stop at one bottle though. The spirit in the bottle urged him to seek out more, promising more granted wishes. Yet each time it was the spirit's turn to hold up its end of the bargain, it deftly convinced my father that payment was not due yet. When that failed it gave the ghost of a granted wish, rusted dreams covered in gossamer. Confidence and pride flowed as long as the bottle did. Success seemed a sure thing...

I have another session coming up Friday! I don't think my party reads my blog. If you do--STOP IT! I'm going to copy and paste a lot of my last posts so I can build on it. Ways to introduce new character She's also at the job board She's at Cloak and Stagger having a pint She would have to be convinced to join the party if she's reluctant to go to the capital (up to her) She's at Cloak and Stagger to help defend the goblins Could be a passionate local She's at Cloak and Stagger to help find the goblins She would have to be convinced to join the party's side She's on the road to the capital on her own She's on the road to the capital with an escourt Could decide to ditch her escourt Could have come to the capital with an escourt and slipped them She's at the court as someone else summoned Journey to the capital Giant snake attack Wait til new player has joined so she can see how combat works Beasts so they can't be charmed or reasoned with...

Babies and sex talk time. Wow Lisa and Whitney actually seem to be getting along Mary...maybe you don't want to be married Poor Jennie A counselor is good advice Don't give snake rings, Jen Snowflakes are so cheap looking That sex talk was pretty funny Wow this is a set up, Lisa The editing is amazing Jen's husband is great at covering for his son If you would change the whole person, Mary, maybe you don't want to be married to him Duy, the world is plenty full of people You can adopt an older child, y'all Is the sister wife suggestion serious? IT IS SERIOUS? Next time Heather throws a party Next time we're still talking about a sister wife Next time the girls have fun Next time Mary and Lisa argue Can't wait! (Prompt by me) The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City  Bravo Promotional image source

Hopefully time to dump Steven! Jenny has a friend? Oop Ellie is bringing up the cheating Victor moved in with this person? Why isn't Ari wearing a mask on the first plane? Kenny, Armando, and Hannah are adorable This is a tough conversation for Kenny and Armando Wow Steven is pushing his religion on the mom of the girl he cheated on...bold Steven is wild Alina and her mom are great...dump him Jenny and her furniture Jenny wants acknowledgment of what she's given up, Sumit (granted she did not say that well) Poor, Kenny Does that sign say "To the Life Boats"? Wait so Ari did apply for the K-1 visa? "With that thing"??? Corey...just give up This is an awkward shopping trip for Ellie and Victor Kenny needs to be honest here Rabbit fortune-telling Wow this got awkward fast Wow this place is messy Next time Evelin agrees to couple's therapy Next time Ari gets mad at Biniyam Next time Jenny is told she's useless but with a smile Next time Alina reveals the...