I mailed off my writing samples to the local weekly today.  It would be nice to have a regular writing gig, but as I mentioned yesterday, I’m not a journalist.  Not that I can’t be, I just haven’t focused my attention on that kind of writing in a long time.  I’m versatile, though.  See Kris.  See Kris write.  See Kris write intelligent, witty, journalistic-style articles.

I will be writing tonight-- non-journalistic, but still witty (and hopefully intelligent) writing-- after popcorn and a movie.

Posted by Kristina in Musings at 08:04 PM Permalink

We were hanging at the Tree house tonight and the subject of death came up.  Or, rather, the ways in which we have imagined we might die.  Like how a fisherman might instinctively know he will drown someday or a person who drives a particular road regularly will be able to imagine their death on that road.  That sort of thing. 

I don’t have a strong feeling about how I might die, but I’ve always known I will not die in a car accident.  I have had a recurring dream since childhood of being pushed off a cliff (and had never even seen a cliff until four years ago in Rhode Island) and I have recently developed a mild fear of being so far out on the ocean that land isn’t visible, so either of those could be the possible end of me (or perhaps I’ll be pushed from a cliff into the ocean, hmm?), but I just know I won’t die in a car accident.  I guess that doesn’t really do much for me in terms of prolonging my life, but it’s a comforting thought when driving on Virginia highways.

Posted by Kristina in Musings at 12:04 AM Permalink

I realized a few things while putting together some writing samples for the local weekly paper that’s looking for freelancers:

-- Regardless of genre, my writing is often humorous and/or sarcastic and/or liberal.

--My writing most often is about writing, reading, sex or relationships.

-- Despite my English Literature background, I will probably never be a true literary writer.

-- Despite my journalistic pursuits in high school and my early college days, I have very few journalistic writing credits.

-- I’d make a damn good columnist.  Or at least an entertaining one.

Posted by Kristina in Writing at 03:16 PM Permalink

Every few months, I get the urge to just take off and go.  Run away from home, leave everything behind and live in a fantasy world of my own making where someone else cleans my room and every meal is either from a restaurant or delivered by room service.  Where every person I meet is a stranger, everything I see is fresh and new and no one expects anything at all from me except that I pay my tab when I move on.  Ahhh... that’s freedom.  Or maybe it’s just the best vacation ever. 

Of course, my compulsion to run away often corresponds to stress and angst in my very real life.  Sometimes, all I need is a couple days away to feel like everything is right with my world.  And sometimes, I just want the vacation to last forever.  There are most definitely two sides of me-- the side who likes the feeling of “home” and being settled and the side who once aspired to be a photo-journalist traveling the globe.  I no longer have the desire to go to all the world’s hot spots, but I still get the urge to take off.  Jae attributes it to my independent nature and dysfunctional childhood.  He may be right on both counts.

It is an interesting dichotomy, the desire for permanence and a sense of belonging, and the irresistible urge to run away and reinvent myself.  History, memories, roots… or a clean slate with infinite possibilities.  They both have their appeal.

Posted by Kristina in Life at 12:54 AM Permalink

I’m whining a lot today, I know.  The good news is I’m off from the library for the next six days.  I won’t be back again until next Thursday.  That’s almost a full week of fun and frivolity and writing and coffee. 

I think I can safely predict, however, that I will be whining again next Thursday.

Posted by Kristina in Musings at 07:23 PM Permalink