Meaghan’s Blog

Today, it rains. Icy snow keeps falling off the roof onto the sun porch roof (better known as the playroom), which can be quite loud but not very alarming. We still haven't gotten the piece we need for the pellet stove, but it isn't nearly so chilly inside as it was a few days ago.

For the past week or so, I haven't written a thing in my story, and the cause is likely to be that I was unsure of what to do next, if I wanted to carry out a turn in the plot, or if I just wanted to wait a bit for what I was planning. I still haven't written anything today; I've been reading Jane Austen novels in the past few days. I finished Sense and Sensibility this morning, which I had only one chapter left, and I'm a short way through Persuasion now. I hope to read Emma soon, but from what I had read of it my mind would wander if I didn't concentrate on it enough. With some of Sense and Sensibility that happened, but not often, and for a good part of Persuasion I didn't take most of it in. The next time I read it, I'll probably take in more information than the first.

I also haven't been doing anything with those imaginary creatures, or with paintings, and even with reading the dictionary and taking the trouble to write down any word that may be of use to me and its meaning, which is often tiresome and needs concentration, patience, and motivation. I do like to learn new words, but it's so slow to go through it page-by-page. I'll get to it eventually. New words I have recently learned? (or would 'learnt' be correct? Is it even a word?)

Verbose, wordy, minded, mindful, wiseacre, dole, dote, office, witted, recrudescence, prevaricate, clandestine, irresolute, disquiet, seldom (got to love that one!), condign, revel, foible, laudable, discourse, dissuade, dishearten, disconsolate, disconnected, disenchant, deter, obstinate, unbeknown, asperity, disregard, disservice, disquiet, concur, adulate, abtruse, incessant, steadfast . . . there are many more scribbled in my notebooks, some  . . .  most of which I never wrote the meaning, so unless I've looked it up several times or the meaning is obvious, I don't know what some of those mean but they're of some use to me. I didn't write what they mean because that would take a long, long time. However, some of my favorites are: condign - well-deserved; verbose - using many or too many words, wordy means the same; wiseacre - insolent and something else; clandestine - done in secrecy for deception and one other thing; disservice - harm; seldom - rarely or only on occasion. I think abtruse means 'hard to understand'. Oh, and let's not forget 'redundant'. That's a good word.

The stove . . . is . . . broken! It's sort of chilly in the house, but outside it's minus seventeen degrees, and Dad said at seven o'clock it was minus thirty-three - ouch.

In other news, I now have more of my story on this computer and I'm going to post it next after I give it some corrections with the wording. Now I have to think up a password . . . something said in the last chapter . . . aha! Here's a clue: what did Luke order at the cafe? This one is easy!

Let me know if there's any gaping holes in the story, or if there's something I didn't explain . . .

But then I looked at the calendar and corrected myself. Dad has been sick since last Wednesday, which is a shame, but at least he gets to spend some more time with us and relaxing.

Sadly, I have nothing as I promised, but I'll be asking Sarah frequently to go transfer story stuff (even though the USB Drive is on the computer desk in front of her, but she's absent at the moment) and hopefully, with enough pestering, she'll comply and we can all read another chapter. Not that I pester.

So on Sunday, I believe, I finished one of my notebooks - Emma thought I finished the story, but no - and started on a new one. My writing had become a lot smaller, so now one page I write makes maybe two in a book, which is very good. I think maybe it was because I started using a different pen, because it's easier to write smaller with it. In fact, it has almost run out since I got it on my birthday. Nifty.

Yesterday we planned on going to the library, but we wondered why it seemed oddly vacant when we got there. I had the odd suspicion it may very well be closed on Mondays, so when I got out of the car I looked at the sign for the library hours. Mondays: closed. Then, immediately notifying my mother, I gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder. Sarah did also. Later, Emma exclaimed: 'I didn't want to go to the library, anyway.' Emma has been sick today, too; I'm hoping I catch nothing. It only seems to be an upset stomach, but I really don't like getting sick the way I do.

Would I be ruining the surprise by typing up a part of the story I'm working on today? Oh well. It may be confusing, but tell me what you think.

So, Vanessa and Katie are over for dinner at someone's house. It goes like this:

'My dear Vanessa!' Mrs. Jenkins cried, 'It has been too long, dearest; I have missed your infinite beauty for some time now.  Of course, Alex is of no help to me, so plain she is,' she said, glancing at her daughter as if she could not hear, 'but no matter, you are here now. Where is that charming Luke of yours? My, he is most handsome, if only my eldest son was even half so handsome as Luke; I quite wish my children were more pleasing to the eye, but, that is what I was given . . . ' Alex blushed deeply at her mother's insolence, but said nothing to help ease it. Katie had escaped Mrs. Jenkinses (?) notice; or perhaps she was boldly ignoring Katie's presence. Vanessa thanked Mrs. Jenkins for her kind words and for graciously inviting them both over for dinner. Mrs. Jenkins looked puzzled for a moment, and when she rested her eyes on Katie comprehension dawned.

'My dear, I apologize, I was so caught with Vanessa that I quite forgot you were there! Your beauty is nothing to hers, of course, but let us not dwell on that particular. However, you are more handsome than-'

'Mother,' Alex loudly interrupted, 'I believe our guests arrived with their stomachs empty. Shall we eat now?'

I haven't gone past that yet, but Mrs. Jenkins is supposed to be a little obsessed with how handsome everyone is and often insolent. This made me giggle, at least.

 . . . feels like any ordinary day. To me, anyway. In fact, I quite forgot it was 2008. Best wishes to everybody for the new year.

You have no idea how many times I've forgotten to mention something related to the months in my story. You see, one day in November (possibly October) I was flipping through a dictionary in search of a word, when one caught my eye in particular. I flipped back to the page in horror. No! One of the months I thought I had created on my own was actually . . . a grassland? As it turns out, Lea means just that: a grassland. It can be pronounced two ways, like lay or lee. Personally, I don't mind sticking with it; plenty of things, months included, are named after something or share a word that means something completely different. I'm just fine with having a grassland as a month.

Other story news is I now have another two chapters waiting on a flashdrive to be put on the computer, refined a little, then posted on here! Yay! I still have much to write and I haven't been reading the dictionary as of late, but I'm trying to make an effort. I'm reading Pride & Prejudice yet again, because I read another book and it messed me up quite a bit - I could feel my vocabulary shrinking away as I read through it. I only continued on reading it because I don't like leaving a book part-way through, no matter how dumb or detestful it is - not that I'm saying the book was dumb or detestful, but I did not much enjoy it.

The other night  - Sunday, I believe - we (our family) watched Persuasion on TV. I thought it was . . . interesting. Let's leave it at that. I bought my father the book for Christmas but I haven't read it yet. Last night I watched the Pride & Prejudice movie - not the made-for-TV one, though we own that one too - and I noticed how they messed up the talking in it a great deal of the time, using too many contractions or whatever people call them; we watched Sense & Sensibility, which I bought Dad I think last Christmas . . . anyway, I thought it was good but very long, and Dad also got the book this Christmas from Sarah, so now I think I'll read it when I finish the book I'm reading. Then, since Sarah said she wanted to watch something with guns in it, we watched Ultraviolet. I didn't think it made much sense and it was sort of one fight scene after another. Ah well.