Fifteen Minutes of Scrawl

Yes this is early, but I am very much looking forward to this celebration, so I figured I'd start planning early!  Carromancy Make s'mores Costume contest Cookie decorating Spooky photo booth Scariest villain bracket Halloween-themed Monikers Mummy (un)wrapping contest Identify the object in the box game Match the 1 star review to the horror/spooky/spoopy movie Give everyone a set of spooky/spoopy tasks to accomplish (first done wins) Guess how many candies are in the pumpkin and then win the candy if you're closest Everyone is given a ghost that they must find (e.g. they each get half of a drawing of a ghost) Hide "potions" for people to find--some have blessings (e.g. you get to pick the next song), but some of curses (e.g. you must now speak only with one syllable words) Trick-or-treat grab bag where everyone brings one ~$5 item when they arrive and grabs a random one out of the bag when they leave (Prompt by me) Photo by Quilia on Unsplash

Time to wrap things up (I hope I'm right this time)? Aw, Rasit, I'm sorry you miss your mom so much I am glad that Mallorie's mom likes Rasit I'm sorry that Catie has such rough body dismorphia Uhh what do Catie's friends mean that she's "loopy" and "losing it a bit"? Saying Catie does both fight and flight is accurate, but I think she also fawns Mido, Debby is literally our wife Debby, Mido genuinely means he doesn't want more kisses Mido, you have just repeated that you're a professional tour guide...not actor MIDO! YOUR CONFESSIONALS WILL BE ON CAMERA! DEBBY WILL SEE YOU SAID IT WAS "SO-SO" I do believe many folks who work in entertainment do curate their social media, but most will post their spouse at some point and/or have a private account for real friends Mido, there is no way you aren't on the hotel's Wi-Fi I'm genuinely surprised that he did put the photo up I'm unclear if this other Kleinfeld emplo...

So, in my previous post "Snippets, forty-three" I challenged myself to come up with 15 creative getting to know you questions, so here goes! If you could have any animal as a pet (with the guarantee you could care for them and they would behave), what animal would you pick? If you could change one big decision in your life, how would you? If you could wake up tomorrow and have mastered one dish to make, what would it be? If you could change your appearance with a snap of your fingers, how would you? If you could have one phrase your pet could understand, what would it be? You now have a book contract--what genre is it for? You now have the ability to greatly reduce one of your fears--which one do you pick? You now have the budget to make one more season of any show--what show is it? You now have to change careers, but will keep your same salary--which new career do you pick? You now have a flag for your home--what would the design be? How would you like to be remembered? How...

Here are some short pieces based on things that have happened in my life recently.  Getting to Know You When I picked this as a title for a section of this post, I immediately thought of the song from a musical ( The King and I ?), but that's not what I meant to talk about. Sometimes I worry that I'm immensely boring and/or bad at conversations. I guess I feel this way in part because I find games where you ask your friends random, but still kind of deep questions super helpful. Why is this though? Can I not come up with questions on my own? Am I so uncreative that I can't think of fun ones? Also, how is there still so much to learn about people I've known for decades? The answer to that last one is of course there is! We all contain multitudes that evolve over time (sometimes in sync with each other, but sometimes not), so it's not a reflection of how close I am with my friends (though my anxiety will tell me this is the case). This section has given me an idea for...

A friend and I are taking a quick trip to Madison, WI today and just leaving tomorrow, but here are some things I think could be fun to do! Purchase lots of books at  The Book Deal Play a record on our Airbnb's turntable Shop at  Dane County Farmers' Market Explore  Olbrich Botanical Gardens Peruse the  Commercial Ave Bazaar Check out the  Taste of Madison Hang out on our Airbnb's patio Have an Airbnb dance party Dine at a quirky restaurant Eat by one or more lakes Sip a unique cocktail Enjoy a board game Drink a fun latte Take silly pics Have fun! (Prompt by me) Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash

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