Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Eve Smiles

Merry Christmas, everyone! I just wanted to share a lovely moment of Christmas spirit that happened yesterday and made me smile.

One of my part-time jobs is at a fast food restaurant that is slightly nicer than some you may encounter. My younger brother, Asher, is also employed there, and we were both working yesterday, Christmas Eve, for the lunch shift.

We were partway through the rush when the phone rang and I answered as usual with my customary, “Thank you for calling…, this is Avital, may I help you?”

The lady on the other end of the line starts off with, “I was just in there…” and my first reaction was of the oh-no-not-another-one-why-do-I-always-get-the-mad-ones variety. However, she continued with, “…and I just wanted to say thank you to Asher for being so pleasant. He really made my day!”

I was so surprised I could barely respond with a “Thank you so much, I’ll be sure to let him know!” As soon as we had a pause, I told the whole crew (all three of them besides myself) what she had said. The immediate response from the females was “Awwwwwww!” My brother, of course, had a reaction more along the lines of “That's so awesome!”

So thanks to one woman who went out of her way to say thank you to someone for making her day, she made my day, and my brother’s day, and our other two co-workers’ days as well. Remember that when you’re making decisions in life you can greatly affect others, so do try to be kind.


Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

A Beautiful Beginning

Browsing another old notebook (I’ve been cleaning my room) and found another written doodle I wanted to share. Enjoy!


Dated Saturday, May 20, 2006-in Toronto, Canada, on a homeschool group high school class trip, in the morning while on the roof of the building we were staying in

The day is beautiful; the air cool, crisp, and clean. Last night’s rains have washed the flaws and imperfections from the streets and the skies. The sun shines down through the clouds and the delicate blue of the morning to touch my face, my hands, my feet.

It is a good day to be alive, a wonderful day, an utterly amazing day.

The city awakes; taxis pick up their first passengers, friends and lovers take an early morning stroll along the sidewalks and through the parks. Inside those still sleeping begin to awake; there is a Frisbee waiting for an eager hand and a quick toss; a shop sits silently with doors locked, awaiting the key that will reveal the wonders inside to the rest of the world.

It is just another day like all the rest, but deep inside the quiet minds of a lucky few lies the unconscious expectancy of a new day, a new experience, a new thought, a new dream.

Today is a day for living, for being a part of the heartbeat of the city, for knowing the blessing of opportunity and living up to the great potential of this glorious day.

Today is a new day; remember that and keep it with you always.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

To Be Attractive... Or Not

I was flipping through an old notebook and found an interesting little written doodle about attractiveness, and I thought I’d share. So here it is.


Dated Friday, July 25, 2008

I wonder why one person considers another person attractive. That’s a strange thing to think on. There are some people, like famous actors, that a lot of people find attractive. But not everyone will. I doubt that there’s any one single person in the world that every other person in the world is going to find attractive.

Beauty is such an ephemeral concept. The perception of beauty and what is considered handsome, attractive, or good-looking varies from culture to culture and society to society. The global information network allows for communication and transfer of ideas across seas and continents. Many stars are globally famous, and it is to be assumed that a large number of people around the world consider those stars handsome, beautiful, attractive, good-looking, etc.

There are also cultures in various countries whose ideal of appearance would be thought to be strange, if not downright unpleasant. It’s such an interesting phenomenon.

I also wonder what makes people attractive to me. My best friend and I have different taste in guys, but not entirely opposite. You could gather together, say, 100 guys, and I guarantee that there will be a group of them that my friend finds attractive and I don’t, a group of them that I think are attractive and she doesn’t, and then there will be some that we both find attractive.


That sounds about right to me. Glad I agree with my past self!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Aunt-hood Changes a Person

I am an aunt.

It feels as though my world has changed instantly. The past nine months did nothing to prepare me for this new reality. Eat, sleep, work, and think about my nephew.

It’s not my sister’s life that has changed. Oh, no. It’s mine. I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t been cleaning much and my writing has fallen off (Yes, I’m blaming it on my baby nephew. So his fault).

All my sister has to deal with is whining, crying, lots of messes, being kept up to all hours, and that’s just from my brother-in-law. The baby adds dirty diapers and a complete life change. Obviously my problems are bigger and more important than hers.

Or not.



(PS: I love my nephew so much! And I’m very thankful for him. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I Am Not a Gamer-Thoughts on My First Gen Con

I am not a gamer.

Yes, I spent 80 bucks on a four-day pass for Gen Con Indy (the best four days in gaming!) this year (2012-the 45th anniversary). Yes, I was at the Indiana Convention Center all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last weekend for said gaming convention (my first time!). That’s beside the point.

I didn’t go to Gen Con because I’m a gamer. I went to Gen Con because I’m a writer.

It turns out that there’s an entire writer’s track going on the whole time, with classes and workshops on various aspects of the art and craft of writing. I obviously did not know this, or I would have attended sooner. Having writing seminars at a gaming convention makes so much sense to me!

I went to Gen Con for writing, so obviously I attended no more than three writing sessions per day. I wouldn’t have been able to fully absorb all the information given had I attended more. And using the time outside of sessions to actually write would have been too taxing, so the only actual writing I did during the convention was taking notes (and drawing up one RPG {Role Playing Game} character sheet). Anything more would have been futile (I hope you can sense the humor in my logic here, or I’m going to looking like a terrible writer)!

I am not a gamer, so obviously I didn’t spend hours walking around the exhibit hall, browsing the vendors, eyeing unfamiliar games, and drooling over gorgeous costumes pieces that were for sale. I didn’t get coaxed into LARP-ing (Live Action Role Play) for the first time, and I certainly didn’t wear a costume while participating in said LARP. I didn’t spend two hours cracking up while listening to Mikey Mason (http://comedyrockstar.blogspot.com/) sing some ridiculously funny songs about gaming. I didn’t lose my table-top RPG gaming virginity at an uproariously hilarious and fun sci-fi QAGS (Quick A** Game System) RPG that several of my friends (including some that run a gaming podcast! http://www.theestablishedfacts.com/) threw together on Saturday night. And I most certainly did not buy my first set of dice (they weren’t a very pretty blue, either)!

Oh, wait… I did all those things. Maybe I’m a gamer after all!


Monday, July 9, 2012

For the Unborn Child

I cried when I heard that a former co-worker of mine lost her baby.

I was standing in the back at work when another co-worker told me they found out a little over a week ago that the baby had no heartbeat. Tears came to my eyes and I had to press a hand to my mouth to keep from sobbing out loud.

I went to the mother’s wedding a few years ago and rejoiced with her on the news of their pregnancy. An invitation to her baby shower came in the mail about two weeks ago. She is a friend, though not a close one, and I mourn for her loss.

I am not a mother, but my older sister and brother-in-law have a baby boy on the way, our parents’ first grandchild. I love my nephew so much, even though I’ve never met him and all the pictures I’ve seen have been a bit murky (that tends to happen with ultrasounds). He is a part of our family already, and I can’t even imagine the pain that would come with losing him—to me, to my parents, but most of all to my sister and her husband.

My sister’s pregnancy is what brought my former co-worker’s loss home for me. Yes, I would have been sad for the mother even if my nephew wasn’t on the way. But the life growing inside my sister is so precious, to all of our family, that hearing of another growing life ended before it barely began makes my heart ache. I want to embrace that mother, cry with her, and let her know that somebody else feels a tiny part of the pain she is going through.

I realize that I can’t truly understand the pain of a mother who has lost her child until I am standing in that place myself. But after this glimpse into the heartache of losing a baby, I hope and pray that I will never find myself standing in that place, yearning for a child who will never return.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

iPod Inspiration: The Beat

I was lacking the push to write and decided to inspire myself. I put my iPod on shuffle and forced myself to listen to whatever song played, on repeat, while I wrote a 100-word mini short story. This is my first one.

Inspired by:
'The Beat' by Basshunter ( http://youtu.be/FsDyYaqnc7Q )

The worm ran through his brain, devouring everything it found. Night filled the space left behind, lit by pulsing and flashes of light. Control was relinquished to the man in the booth, worshipped by clothed and half naked bodies for his prowess in auricular synthesis.

Personal inclination to maintain inaction slipping out the hole left by the worm, his limbs acquired consciousness without permission.

His body followed, mirroring the neighboring opposite. Hair flew past his face, and he followed it to the alluring origin.

“Dance with me!” Her yell was intimate against his ear among the pounding noise.

He succumbed.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Do I Ever Lacrosse Your Mind?

I went to my first lacrosse game last month. A friend of mine is on his high school varsity team, so despite having no experience with or knowledge about the sport, I went to see him play.

This was my reaction moments into the game: It's a bunch of boys running around a field hitting each other with sticks. ... No wonder they like it!

This was followed by much confusion as to how in the world the game is actually played. I understood that the goal of the game is to get a goal, but some of the things that went on while the players were trying to get a goal were confusing to a lacrosse newbie like myself.

Take the face-off thing that happens at the beginning of quarters, after goals, and maybe at some other (not) random times. These two guys are crouched down all intense, ready to fight over the ball, with some other players stationed at various distances away. The whistle blows, they start grappling for ball control, and the other players dash in. One team gets the ball, and suddenly one of the guys that was hell-bent on getting to that face-off turns around and runs off the field. Just runs right off the field!

Tell me how that makes sense (and I don't want to hear sensible things about how lacrosse has specialized positions, and some players are better at offense or defense, and one player runs off the field so another can take his place. That's beside the point).

I also couldn't see any rhyme or reason as to which team got the ball after it went out of bounds. And why were players from both teams running after it holding out their sticks? More confusion.

My friend's team won that game, which was cool, but I decided I needed a little help before I went to another. So I went to my ever-helpful local library and checked out "Lacrosse for Dummies (2nd Edition)."

It was quite informative. I was excited to learn the official name for the stick thing that the players use to throw, catch, and carry the ball. It's called (wait for it) a stick. And when the players run after the ball holding their sticks out as it goes out of bound? That's because sometimes, the team closest to the ball when it goes out gains possession of it when play resumes.

I went to another one of my friend's games this month. Even though they didn't do so well, I was able to understand the gameplay a little more thanks to the "Dummies" book.

Maybe if he plays next year I'll actually read more than just the first four chapters.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Post-Hunger Games

The following is my immediate visceral reaction to the Hunger Games trilogy after having read all three books in nine hours over three days, three hours per book, one book per day.
They wrecked me. The Hunger Games wrecked me.
I’ve either been crying or on the verge of it ever since I finished them an hour ago. I can’t handle it. I feel exhausted. I’m not sure what to do to get it out of my head. The story engulfed me, consumed me. I am unable to deal with the intensity of the emotions that were contained in that story, those books.
I must send others down the same path, let them be consumed as I was. Maybe then I’ll be able to find what’s left of me, what didn’t get destroyed or devoured by the voracity of the story that is The Hunger Games. But if I never find myself again, if the words have wrought some change in me, is that so bad?
All I can do now is sleep.
I read the trilogy for the first time in February 2012, before The Hunger Games movie was released in theaters.