Compulsions and obsessions

[dreaminghope]

"I'm behind again. I can't keep up," it is Melinda, the woman at the far end of the table. She just doesn't get it, and is completely unwilling to be quiet or cheerful about it.

"You aren't really that far behind," the teacher says. She goes over and helps the woman with the next step.

"OK, now we are going to glue the pages together, insert the cutting mat, and cut out your window," the teacher addresses the other three of us as we finish the previous step.

"What! What was that?" Melinda looks up from also finishing the previous step, "I'm behind! What's the next step?"

"Don't worry; you aren't behind. Just finish what you are doing, and I'll come explain what happens next," our teacher is infinitely patient.

"I'll never get it! I'm so far behind."

I want to yell: "Do you want to be behind? Just shut up and listen!" Instead, I quietly rip and glue.

"I don't understand! I'm behind!" Melinda starts again, "What do I do next?"

---

"Can you just close the blade on that knife?" our teacher requests of one of the crafters, "I can't stand to see those exposed blades just hanging around. Someone could cut themselves."

"I always use a hairdryer for this step and not a heat gun. Heat guns are faster, but they are just so easy to burn yourself on," she comments later.

"If you're disposing of knife blades, make sure you wrap them in cardboard and packing tape. Otherwise, if they get through the garbage bag, they could cut someone."

"I never use hot glue guns. Too easy to burn yourself. White glue is slower, but it's safer."

"Make sure you always use a ruler with a cork back. If it doesn't have one, it'll slip and you could cut yourself."

---

"You are a beast, Jesus! Fuck you, Jesus, you are a beast!" the man behind me on the bus tries to muffle his exclamations behind his hands.

The woman in front of me looks alarmed. She turns in her seat and tries to whisper something to me, but she is interrupted: "Shit! Fuck! Shut up Jesus, you are a beast!" She spins back forward, looking scared.

The man gets off the bus a couple of stops later. Once on the sidewalk, he removes his hands from his mouth and screams: "Fuck you! Shut up! Fuck you, Jesus, shut up!" He is still yelling at the top of his lungs as the bus pulls away.

---

I get home and walk into a kitchen much cleaner then the one I left. The previous day's dishes are done and put away. Jamey’s rinsing a cutting board from the dinner Russ is making.

"Did you do the dishes?" I ask Russ.

"Ah, Jamey, um, beat me to them."

"I just couldn't help myself," she says cheerily.

Finally, a compulsion in my favour!

Comments

[fluffyblanket.livejournal.com]

You should try your hand at writing short stories.

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

My poor neglected first novel, written NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/)-style in January, is sitting in a brief case, waiting for a long-overdue edit.

Meanwhile, my second novel is in the planning stages. I think I'm going to write it for the 3-Day Novel Contest (http://www.3daynovel.com/).

Thank you for the encouragement!

[rythos42.livejournal.com]

You're mad.

I editted about 30 pages of my novel before I errr...stopped. By which I mean it's been about 3 months since I last did any editting. Not that I've stopped...what they say about the deadline...so true. :)

I have been writing a lot of really short stories for my Warcraft forums. I'm currently in the middle of a small series involving myself, Cindy and our online friend whom she is visiting. We each write a chapter in turn.

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

At least you've done some editing - I've read my novel once, then got a couple of chapters in on putting it on cue cards. And it has been sitting that way since March.

Deadlines are great.

As to the 3-Day Novel Contest: I am mad. See, I have this idea that needs to be made into a novel, but I don't think it's big enough for NaNoWriMo 2006, so I'm going to try to for this contest. With no word minimum, I should be OK. I need to actually do my outline and send in my registration still, though.

[rythos42.livejournal.com]

We can trade off. I haven't read my novel yet except for those 30 pages :P.

Can you pester me when NaNoWriMo comes around? In my less lucid moments I'd like to participate. :)

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

NaNoWriMo is now 3 months and 1 week away.

I plan to re-activate write_a_novel when NaNoWriMo comes around. You know you'll get sucked in.

[rythos42.livejournal.com]

I'm counting on your desire to spread your misery around to remind me about the event :P.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Holy shit! I think you may have been in the same class as somebody else on my flist (not someone you know). She just posted a locked entry complaining about a horrible person in a craft class who was saying those exact words.

Wow, talk about a small world.

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

There was only two other people and the teacher in the class, and the other two women seemed really nice, though it was hard to get to know them with Melinda (not her real name) there.

Would you mind pointing the person from your flist to this post? I'd love to get to know other book-altering people on LJ, and the communities are all pretty dead.

Vancouver sometimes seems like a small town and not a big city at all.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Would you mind pointing the person from your flist to this post? I'd love to get to know other book-altering people on LJ, and the communities are all pretty dead.

Already did so, about two minutes after I posted my reply to you. Don't know if she'll come out of the woodwork, though, as some people aren't very comfortable mixing online and offline life. But I'm sure you already know that, since you asked me to give her a link to your entry, rather than giving you a link to hers.

And yes, very small town. I have friends I met through Buffy fandom who live just a few blocks away, where I hadn't even realized they lived in Canada. And I once posted about a concert at which my former music teacher was a soloist, only to discover that someone on my flist was said music teacher's niece. I was REALLY glad I hadn't said anything bad about her!

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

I definitely understand if some people want to keep things separate; I mix-and-match my online and offline life freely, but I know some people prefer not to. Thanks for passing the link on for me, though!

I was REALLY glad I hadn't said anything bad about her!

The few times I've made negative references to people, I've changed their name and been vague about their details, just in case.

[storm-in-az.livejournal.com]

That stuff on the bus ? Holy crap. People are crazy.
As for the class, I fear I would be Melinda. I don't really 'get' things like that. I think I'm missing that gene. Only, I wouldn't be insisting that the teacher help me keep up. I'd just do my best and then never go back again.

[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

I suspect the man on the bus had Tourette's or something similar. He was obviously trying to control it but couldn't. It was hard to be around, but I mostly felt bad for him.

I'd just do my best and then never go back again.

My problem was with her attitude: she couldn't just quietly try her best, or get the teacher's attention between instructions - she had to keep announcing that she didn't understand, interrupting the teacher while she was talking, and she disrupting the class to ask a question that the teacher had just answered and that was also answered in writing on the page right in front of her.

The teacher had all the instructions written out, with copies for each of us, gave all the instructions verbally, then gave us time to try things, ready to help us if we needed it. Every learning type was accomodated, but only if you were willing to try.

Not everyone is artsy or crafty, and that's cool. And workshops don't suit everyone either. But that's no excuse to bring everyone else down.

[awehla.livejournal.com]

Very entertaining. Is all that stuff that happened in your day? You made it sound so interesting!

Lisa
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[dreamhope.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. That was my day, alright. I was starting to think that everyone but me had gone a little mad, perhaps from the heat.

[awehla.livejournal.com]

Yeh the heat seems to effect us Brits too in strange ways. It's different to the heat that was in Toronto when we were there last month - more humid.

Lisa
x