The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
-Confucius
Alexandria got accepted to an MFA program!
(Updated 11 hours, 19 minutes ago)
Posted By Alexandria on April 28, 2011
I fail as a blogger.
here’s some interesting….or, well, kind of, I suppose, interesting stuff.
touch fingers!
that’s a picture of our video chat at 3 am last night…..it’s like our fingers are touching, but really we were just pointing into nothingness. ah, the power of illusion. or something.
hmm, something else interesting? how about a video?
lol retarded fox.
wow. officially the worst blog post of all time.
Posted By Alexandria on March 5, 2011
Hello
-So, recently, I and a friend of mine decided to start doing creative writing exercises, since neither of us are currently in a creative writing class. They’re good projects, helpful exercises and generally just a good way to get non-reproductive creative juices flowing. ha.
-Additionally, as I have learned that accountability and transparency are generally good for me, I’ve decided to put my projects up here….well, we’ve only done one. BUT as we do more I’ll put them up. I don’t know how often they will be, or if maybe the project will just fizzle and die, but here’s one anyway.
-So I want feedback. I know you’re not english teachers….but I want feedback: good AND BAD…..please if you have any.
NOTE: I KNOW that it’s overwritten. I know that……but that was kind of the point. It was sort of a “how many literary devices can I fit into a single sentence” type of thing….
-enjoy
WRITING PROMPT: Even a Palace Can Be a Prison
These walls are lavish, rich, and safe. They echo of a single thought: home. The word is muffled and whether or not it is merely a faded memory of a time long past, no one really knows. Food, perfumes, and history linger, promising a good time, a wonderful time, a familiar time. But none of the many wonders that lurk in This, the most warm of warm places, is as enticing nor as luring as That.
That awaits outside the windows. That presses its mocking face against the glass. That is a world entire separate, whose modern rooftops and alleyways create lines that parallel the silhouette of royalty, but whose streets are paved with the gold of change and not gilded in thin crusts of gold.
To walk the streets unguarded is to breathe the tumbling winds that sing of Freedom! And never before has an air smelled so sweet, yet looked so foul: a luxury that even the meekest of children will enjoy.
Melodies of elaborate harps and pianos ring throughout these cavernous halls, reeking of routine and yearning for an audience, but the only company they may receive are the spirits of those whose hearts have already been stifled by the beautiful tapestries that depict their own liberty. They are but images, trapped forever.
Thus, the darkness closes in. It takes the form of outside market noises, the bartered conversations of unknown people, and a meal cooked in another’s kitchen. Slowly the heat rises and the refining pressure grows. Amidst the coal a diamond is formed and soon it longs to stretch its wings and test its daring. But the manners of cushioned falls have their own agendas. Only collaboratively can jewels become jewelry. There is no key to the door and a young soul trapped will be an old soul trapped.
However, even a tethered tiger will growl. A baby in a womb will kick. The caged bird will sing. And for those who, out of love, proudly watch the flowers bloom, there is no greater freedom. But the freedom of others may be the prison gate that traps the organic work of muses and mystics, though neither would exist without the other. The most rare of gems is still a gem. But what is a gem without a witness to be moved by it’s beauty?
Posted By Alexandria on January 28, 2011
check out what I did!
Ok go on the right hand side, in the sidebar, and click on the “marmot story” link. just do it. go. now.
see? isn’t that cool? yay 
much better. and now you can leave comments on each chapter individually, but still have them all there, together, nice and handy, with a groovy chapters menu at the top. how nice!
Posted By Alexandria on January 24, 2011
Well……I’m done……
that’s so weird. I feel weird. now what? lol
OK I looked it up, and I wrote the first chapter of this story on April 25th, 2007. So I guess it hasn’t been as long as I thought….it’s been 3 years and 9 months…ish.
seriously though….it feels weird. weird but satisfying. I like how this chapter turned out. I mean, I would go and edit a lot of things in the whole story, but I like how the whole story turned out 
and I actually finished something! something without a deadline! that’s new….
….and of those suggested titles, I actually liked “Who Ate the Cookies?”
so from now on, the OFFICIAL title is “Who Ate the Cookies?”
OK. enjoy, read slowly, make it last, it’s the last one! EVER!
…deep breath…
and here we go….
Chapter 19: We’ll All Eat Cookies!
Several Days Later
The sky overhead was a brilliantly deep shade of blue, and there was a steady hum of hidden insects singing songs for fun. Distant chimes of laughter could be heard riding upon the gentle breeze as it blew through the grasses of the compound, and whether they were the faded echoes of a happier day, or merely the wishful thoughts of the somber, gathered crowd, no one knew for sure.
Deedee looked around with tears in her eyes at the small crowd of people who had gathered for Bam’s quiet funeral. There were the rest of the compound workers: the bakers, the farmers, the people she lived with, worked with, loved, and who had become like family to her. Here Bam’s ever-sunny presence would be most missed, and most remembered. She watched them mill around the place where the simple coffin had just been laid to rest, their eyes cast downwards in grief, and could just picture him there, home, standing tall among them, smiling happily, and laughing absurdly. And how could he be gone, when all the world was still there, waiting for him to make it brighter?
She watched her coworkers part slightly as Mimi, wonderful Mimi who had loved and raised Marrakesh as if he were her own, made her way back to the graveside to lay a small white daisy and a freshly baked cookie there on the fresh mound of earth.
And then Marrakesh was there, comforting his aunt. She watched as her son, who was the light and love of her life, her reason for continuing to live, steer Mimi away from the grave and back over to where Grandfather and Grandmother Marmot stood together, arm in arm.
Marrakesh and Mimi had gone together back to the Marmot’s house in the Woods to confess their story after the fiasco at the Tasty Tastables Bakery, only to find the two old marmots together once more, eating in the cozy and light-filled breakfast nook.
“Well, of course, we knew all along!” Grandfather Marmot had explained. “We knew that you were just using me for my good looks, and Grandmother Marmot has already forgiven me…”
“Yes,” Grandmother Marmot had responded in turn, gazing fondly at the old codger. “Arnold’s weakness has always been vanity, but I used my time away to have some fun of my own,” she said with a quick wink at Mimi.
The four of them stood now, some distance from the rest of the group, speaking quietly and gazing around, unused to the open skies away from the shelter of the Wood’s eaves.
Deedee continued to watch them all, until eventually her eyes fell upon Jack: Mr. Woods, who had been sent by Aldridge and who had tried so hard for so long to find Marrakesh, had instead found her in the end. But rather than using his discoveries to seize power like Aldridge, he had tried to protect them all, and in doing so had earned a new power.
Aldridge Chippymunk had never officially fired Jack woods on record, and with him and his two guards gone, Jack had taken over control of the Tasty Tastables Corporation and all of its assets, and had agreed to co-run the business with Marrakesh.
Deedee’s eyes sparkled as she watched him and remembered the words he had spoken to them all when Bam had died.
“It takes nothing to fight for your own freedom when you’re backed into a corner with no escape and you have no other choice,” he had said. “But, it takes true bravery and love to rush into a fight to save others from harm with no regards for yourself, and that is exactly what Bam did for us. He was there helping to save me when I was a prisoner, there to save me when I was fired and didn’t know what to do with myself, and there to save us all when it really mattered most. In a way, he saved the whole Wood from facing a fate that they didn’t even know was coming!
Now that Tasty Tastables has passed into our control, we can do away with the whole business of the red sprinkles and get back to our roots! Let the remote control devices be broken! Throw away the sprinkles and we’ll dismantle all of those machines in the processing plant and set the minds of the people free!
I’ll have no more talk of control, no more talk of power! And from now on, we will do what I know Bam would have wanted us to do: we’ll eat cookies! WE’LL ALL EAT COOKIES! And we’ll send cookies to all four corners of the Woods, and when we taste the sweet and crumbly goodness in our mouths, we’ll remember Bam and know that he’s still bringing a little fun to us all!”
Deedee smiled at the memory, and Jack turned in the same moment, as he knew that she’d been watching him. Then he walked towards her.
“Ms. Marmotman,” he said as he extended his arm in her direction, smiling sadly.
“Mr. Woods,” she replied, tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow.
They stood for a moment, arms linked and surveyed the people around them, and though she was mightily grieved and mourning the terrible loss of her friend, she couldn’t help but feel an incredible and pronounced fondness for all those whom she saw standing there with her. And even though she understood that they would all be parting soon, she seemed to know, as if for the first time in her life, that she was home.
Posted By Alexandria on January 21, 2011
OK, well I had rather hoped to finish both 18 and 19 today (or yesterday, technically)…but alas, I suck. so here’s 18, and I’ll get 19 out soon. I’m really hoping it’ll be today, the 21st…..and then I’ll be done!!!!!! Also, I want to find a real name for this story. The Marmot Story isn’t a title. Think about it….let me know what you think. alright. go. read. enjoy.
Chapter 18: Some Sort of Evil Trickery!
A hush spread through the gathered crowd when the force-a-majiggy fell to the ground. All movement ceased except for the frantic swings of Jack and Marrakesh as they continued to fend off attackers before realizing, a moment later, that the assault had stopped and that something was happening. The moment’s silence was broken slowly by soft shuffles in the room as people looked around curiously.
With the force-a-majiggy broken, understanding, along with their memories, came crashing into the minds of the southerners like waves. Looks of outrage emerged on face after face and the Tasty Tastables store room rang with echoes of angry muttering.
“We’ve been used!” They cried.
“We’ve been had!”
“What’s going on?” Asked one rather small marmot right in the middle of the group. “I mean, how were they doing that?”
“Some sort of evil trickery!” Responded a neighboring chipmunk.
“Where are those rats?!” Asked a weasel standing at the far end of the room, opposite the door. “I’ll kill them!”
“Well, they’re not rats, actually…” Came a response from somewhere behind him. “I think the two guards were squirrels…”
On the steps, Jack was the first to understand that the immediate danger had subsided. He couldn’t see Mr. Chippymunk, but he knew something must have happened to him, and with Ivan and Matthew knocked out on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, he thought he may be able to turn the situation to his advantage. He listened to the enraged southerners’ rants for a moment and astutely foresaw the situation getting out of hand.
“Everybody listen up!” He yelled as loudly as he could manage. Mimi, Deedee and Marrakesh, who were not as quick as Jack and hadn’t quite figured out what he was up to, looked around stunned as the eyes of the mob all turned simultaneously in their direction to see who had shouted.
“What happened to Mr. Chippymunk?” Continued Jack once he had everyone’s attention. “We need to find him and get that remote control!”
Eyes roved, heads swiveled and a renewed muttering commenced after he had spoken.
“He’s back here!” Shouted someone standing near the door to the front room. The speaker’s body was hidden by the horde of bodies, but his voice sounded high as he continued speaking. “He’s unconscious, and the machine is broke, but I don’t think this other…”
However, his words were cut off prematurely by another voice, this one coming from the center of the room.
“Would someone PLEASE tell me what’s going on here?”
“Alright, alright!” Responded Jack. “You’ve all been brainwashed!”
At once cries of fury errupted from all around and Jack’s voice was lost in the deluge of sound. He huffed irritatedly waiting for them to calm down again, and in the intervening moments, Marrakesh leaned in close and spoke so that only Jack could hear.
“Well, actually they weren’t brainwashed. Mind control isn’t exactly the same as…”
But he was quelled with a rather sassly look from Jack who, a second later, inhaled and then resumed his speech.
“Yes, as I was saying, Aldridge Chippymunk has been controlling your minds using that machinre! You’ve all been fed small transmitters that work with the evil devices that he created. The transmitters were in all of the cookies that you’ve been eating from this bakery!”
“Ooooh….” Interrupted the voice of a rather scrawny marmot situated on the right side of the room. “So THAT’S why our little Suzie wasn’t affected when he started pointing that thing around in the store. She never ate the cookies. She has a gluten intolerance!”
“Aah! Clever, clever…” Responded a plump vole to his left.
“PLEASE!” Resumed Jack, imploring the crowd with his hands extended and an edge of desperation in his voice. “Please listen! We need to figure out what to do with Mr. Chippymunk.” But again he was interrupted.
“He’s right! This Mr. Chippymunk needs to made an example of!” Yelled another southerner hidden in the mob. The statement was met with both cries of agreement, and with shouted suggestions.
“Hang him!” Someone yelled.
“Lock him up for life!” Contributed someone else.
“No! He needs a fair trial by an impartial judge!” Cried yet another person.
The noise level in the room had grown so much that neither Jack, nor Marrakesh, nor either of the twins could make themselves heard no matter how loudly they shouted. Order was a lost cause and all they coul do was wait and watch as the unconscious bodies of Aldridge Chippymunk, Ivan, and Matthew were lifted up and carried away by the throng, floating like limp body surfers, and swept away through the back door, into the lot outside, and out of their lives forever.
The process took several minutes in whole since there was such a large number of bodies all jostling each other in an attempt to exit the bakery through the back door, which was only large enough for one person to go through at a time. Eventually, however, the room began to become less and less packed, and the noise level grew more and more dim, until a sudden and gut-wrenching mix between a gasp and howl tore across the room making them all jump.
Through the gaps in the thinning crowd, Deedee had glimpsed the still form of Bam laying in the back of the room. Her hand jumped and grabbed ahold of her sister’s, and she dragged the confused Mimi behind her as she ran, shoving the people in her way aside in her panic.
Halting as they approached him, the two marmots gazed down in horrified bewilderment. Bam had been laid out on his back, presumeably by the very people who had hauled Aldridge Chippymunk away mere minutes before. His hands, which were clasped together across his chest, held the broken force-a-majiggy as though it were a bouquet of flowers and he rested on a pool of red sprinkles like a cloud.
Deedee fought as her sister held her back. She wanted to run to Bam, to shake him and wake him up. But her resolve waivered when she felt the hands of her son on her shoulders as he and Jack rushed to join the twins, and they knew there was nothing more they could do.
