Co-Challenge: 4 of 10

I was always late. I swaggered up to her that morning, sweaty from the rush, and acted as if I'd done nothing wrong.

For some reason, that simple act of tardiness proved to be the last straw. She simply walked away. She never contacted me again and, except for one drunken phone call, I never contacted her.

I ordered scrambled eggs, sausage, and orange juice. I hate orange juice.

Quirky Character Challenge

Make up a synopsis of a very strange character. List strange mannerisms and idiosyncrasies and guess what that character would do in certain situations. Then write a few short stories with that character. Boom.

Co-Challenge: 3 of 10

Maybe it was the keys jabbing into my thighs, or the suffocating feeling of all-too-familiar depression, but that night I had a what could only be euphemistically expressed as a nightmare. I was running. Always running. Sometimes people chased me, sometimes I chased them. I was a wild beast without instincts.

Then I saw her.

Questioning the Doppel

For the record, Yahoo! Mail sucks.

I've been an insomniac lately. Tonight, after reading an article about a horribly disfigured woman, I decided I would not be able to go to bed early (3 AM instead of 4 or 5) so I stayed up. I decided to indulge in a guilty pleasure of mine - surveys. Ever since high school, I have loved them. I truly do like to discern whether I am indeed a nighttime person or a daytime person. (After years of study, I am a "as long as I have enough sleep" person.)

So, I searched my old Yahoo! account for a survey I wrote up and sent to my friends in high school. Unfortunately, I could not find mine. Otherwise, I would post the 1999 version and the present results from the quiz. Now, I only have the present answers.

1.)Name: Cecile Marie Garcia
2.)Name you wish people would call you: CeCe
3.)Name you hate that people call you anyway: Chay Chay.
4.)Bananas or Pickles? It depends. On Rice Krispies, for instance?
5.)You're on your deathbed but you're hungry and tonight you've got the premonition that you're going to die. What are you going to eat? Cheesecake with strawberries. Or my mom's shrimp pasta. And an eggroll. I hate last meals.
6.)How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? I'm imagining the woodchuck is pretty lazy so only the amount he or she needs.
7.)How many animals did Moses take on his boat? None.
8.)You have the oppurtunity to hear what other people think about you. (remember that people's thoughts are usually more emotional than what they say) I'm curious so I probably would and then I'd regret it later.
9.)Favorite instrumental piece of music: The Amelie soundtrack or the "Throne Room/Finale" and "Han Solo and the Princess" from the Star Wars trilogy.
10.)Favorite Beatle and why: Paul. He's the cutest. Sad reason to like him best. He also seems the sweetest.
11.)Favorite Harrison Ford and why: Han Solo. Hands down.
12.)Favorite Cece and why: Hilarious question in high school, huh? Now, it's up for people to argue over. A question for the centuries.
13.)Would you rather sleep with a teddy bear, doll, pillow or toy truck? No comma after pillow, huh? I guess I was a newspaper girl back then. I would go with pillow.
14.)Boxers or briefs? Commando? I'm usually digging on the boxers/boxer-briefs. Nothing else really.
15.)1000 dollars. What do you do? Pay rent. Eat food.
16.)It's the year 2009. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you dating? Big questions for something that was 10 years away. Now that it's less than a year away... I'm living in LA and I pray I have a full time job. I have no clue who I am dating if I am dating someone.
17.)It's December 31, 1999. Where are you? What are you doing? I don't remember what I did.
18.)It's January 1, 2000. Where are you now? What are you doing? I have no clue what I did.
19.)Sweet, good friend of yours and hot, popular person both ask you out. Who are you going to say yes to? Typical high school question. Whichever one I actually want to date.
20.)Okay I'll stick to 20 questions. Last one AND MOST
IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO here it
is~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Who
is your favorite Star Wars character? Han Solo, followed closely by Leia.


Interesting? Entertaining? I thought so.

Thanks for sticking with that. I'm sure my love of Harrison Ford back then came through clearly in this delightful survey. It was hilarious looking at some of my friends answers from back then. For instance, my ex-boyfriend's answer to "1000 dollars. What do you do?" was "Buy an apartment in D.C." That would be amazing. I'm sure Jim would love to buy an apartment for that much anywhere. Real estate is such a great investment.

Co-Challenge: 2 of 10

I went home again, a lonely man. The laughter of the party mocked me, as if each person there knew I would be alone that night.

I used to dream of her. I used to dream for myself, my future. Yet, here I am again, falling asleep before I even empty my pockets.

Human Tetris

I found this ad today on Craig's List. Human Tetris, a game where your team tries to fit itself into different-sized holes, appears to be coming to the States. They're casting, so if you have the group they desire and you find the concept of this simple, ridiculous game appealing, then send in your application.

They included this video in the ad, which is hilarious.

Permanent Challenge - Stranger Capture

The challenge is this - meet someone completely new and take their picture. Write a little bit about that person and your experience.



This is Pebbles. She's in her sixth year of living on the road. When I met Pebbles, she was with her two temporary travel buddies Abby and Gurge.

I asked how he got the name Gurge and Pebbles recalled a two day period where they drank all the liquor they could and Gurge kept throwing up. "I already had too many friends named 'Puke' so I called him 'Gurge.'" She told me the crude-by-normal-standards names of some of her other friends, but the only one I seem to be able to remember is "Piss." I did not ask how Piss got his nickname.

Pebbles had a letter tattooed on each of her knuckles that could be seen when she made a fist. Her hands were weathered with burn marks - later confirmed to be some of the roughness to be expected on the road (including fairly frequent fights). One hand spelled L-A-Z-Y and she was debating whether to add S-C-U-M underneath it or "pirate" spelled (the Greek letter Pi)-R-A-T.

At the end of our visit (watching their dogs play and dig holes near a parking deck) I offered to let them spend the next few nights in a school building that I had access to. Their alternative was to squat in an abandoned building.

CC: So you want to go see the classroom building where you can probably sleep?
Pebbles: Sounds sketchy.

Co-Challenge: 1 of 10

It wasn't until I saw that happy couple that I realized how unhappy I really was. I didn't know them, but I had a strange sense of familiarity around them. Maybe it was that look she had - did I recognize that look? Or his - had I been entranced by someone like that before?

Book and Street Art

Book.

Artists from across the world sent each other a book and responded to each other's drawings with a drawing of their own.

Perhaps an idea for a future challenge or just inspiration for this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, some awesome street installations by a guy named Mark Jenkins.

Official Co-Challenge

We create a 10 picture story together. I will take the first picture (unless you actively want to) and will begin a story with a few sentences explaining the picture. Then we alternate pictures/captions until we have a resolution. Extra pictures may happen... maybe a denouement?

Challenge begins...

NOW!

Yahoo Crossword

I'm a fan of Yahoo's Crossword. The format is lovely, not obnoxious like the Universal Crossword found on so many sites. It's easy to navigate and it's a generally fun crossword to do. However, I cannot see the crossword when it uploads on my Mac. It's aggravating. I have played this crossword in multiple browsers on other Macs, yet for some reason, mine has decided to hate the Yahoo Crossword.

Boo on that. Any suggestions, per usual, would be helpful.