Writing Exercise #11

Thank God it's Friday. I'm so sleepy....zzzzzzz. 😴

It was a busy week, between procrastinated doctors appointments and wrapping things up at work post-session. Last night was a lot of fun, though. A friend discovered that a mutual friend had never seen any of the Star Wars movies, so we are watching them with her. After watching Empire Strikes Back, we sat around and just chatted for a bit. I think everyone was pretty loopy, 'cause the conversation was ridiculous and amazing. At one point I laughed so hard I could barely breathe ("I have no idea if the kale was properly massaged!" 😂). 

This week's writing exercise was inspired by true events. I'll share the story below so I don't spoil anything. 

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WRITING EXERCISE

Go to a busy, public place where you can observe other people. Choose one person and invent a few details about them. What’s their name? Why are they there? How do they feel? Now write a one-page description of them. Find one detail that will make them distinct for a reader. Show their thoughts, but try to blend it in with the world around them. Don’t be afraid to make their inner world completely different from their appearance or surroundings.

Writing Exercise 11

“This is a cute top. I like the pink...ooh, it comes in orange. So do the matching pants! But Bethanie always wears orange. What if she already owns it? We could end up wearing it at the same time! OhmygoshthatwouldbefunnyANDsuperdumb!” 

A steady stream of not-quite-inner monologue escaped Harmonneigh’s lips, drifting through the air to no one in particular. Flitting from one clothing rack to another like a brightly colored butterfly in a botanical garden, Harmonneigh Jones’ attention was constantly engaged with this new pile of sweaters or that shiny jewelry. She was able to easily slip on tops over her hot pink tank, turning this way and that before the mirror, her stackable bracelets clinking together as she moved. She was trying to decide which looked more similar to the tee that one celebrity was wearing on Instagram. You know, what’s-her-name. The model/yoga ambassador chick. Yeah, that one. 

Harmonneigh’s flip flops clacked on the floor as she traipsed toward the back of the store where the jeans were housed. She grabbed a stonewashed bootcut pair, holding them up against her so-short-the-pockets-were-peeking-out-below-the-hemline shorts. She moved her hips to see how her legs would look as she walked, then made a face and threw them back on the table, opting for a darker pair of skinny jeans. These she likewise held up, deemed worthy and added to the growing pile draped over her left arm. 

After acquiring an item or two from the sale section, she wandered over to the fitting rooms. The skinny jeans fit to her satisfaction, as did a white tank, the orange top and pant set, a floral crop top and neon green pocket tee. After one last pass through the jewelry section, she headed to the register. The cute boy who’d gotten her a fitting room was there, giving her the opportunity to chat with him about her choices as he rang each up.

“What do you think of this tank? I just bought one at PacSun, but I think I like this one better because it’s ribbed and not like, just smooth fabric. It gives it like, dimension.”

The clerk smiled politely, said he liked this one better and placed it in the bag. Given his resemblance to a famous singer, she’d decided his name was Shawn. 

“How about this belt from Forever21?” she asked, pulling it out of the bag and laying it on the counter. “It’s so shiny. I don’t know. I’m worried I won’t wear it, but all my friends have one like it. Here, look…” She grabbed her phone and clicked on her Instagram app. “See? And this one. But I don’t know. It makes me feel like I’m twelve or something.” 

“Are all your friends twelve?” Shawn asked, sounding serious and confused at the same time. 

“Nooooo,” she giggled. “I just think it makes me look twelve. But it’s trendy, so I guess whatever.”  

Shawn nodded and added the neon green monstrosity t-shirt to the bag. The jeans, crop top and orange outfit quickly followed. 

“That comes to…$180.95. Are you a rewards member?” 

Harmonneigh said yes and gave him her number. She repeated it a second time, in case he wanted to write it down for personal use. Mildly disappointed when he didn’t, she shrugged slightly to herself and tapped her credit card against the machine. She felt a gratifying sense of affirmation when “approved” flashed on the screen. 

She added these latest acquisitions to the others she was toting around with her and headed for the front of the store. When she reached it, she looked out and audibly wondered to herself, “So...where to now?” 

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So, I saw this chick at Express. I stopped in to return a couple things I'd ordered online and she was at the counter talking at (not with) the kid checking her out. I ran with my impression of her to create a picture, but that conversation literally happened while I was standing there (only it was longer!). I couldn't help but eavesdrop and at first I thought they were friends, that she'd just stopped in to chat with him...but as the conversation continued, I became convinced she was a complete stranger to the poor clerk. When she asked him about the belt, he was non-committal and the gal who was helping with my returns said she thought it was hideous. 😆 

For her name, I was going to go with a version of Bailey, but it didn't quite capture what I was looking for. Then I thought of Harmony and looked up "alternative spellings." I chose Harmonneigh because it reminded me of the stupidest way I've ever seen Katie spelled in real life - Keighty. So. Frickin'. Dumb. I also appreciated the irony of Harmony being spelled in an inharmonious way. 😁 Mom suggested making her last name "Joenz" to go with the craziness of her first name, but I figure one of the reasons her parents would give her such a ridiculous first name is because their last is so normal/boring. She "needs" something to differentiate her from all the other Jones out there. 

What are some "alternative spellings" you've seen for your name? 

~ Katie Q. 🐧

Bonus mini movie reviews: 

This week I watched The Rental (2020), starring Alison Brie and Dan Stevens, which was the directorial debut of Brie's husband, Dave Franco. Similar to (though more violent than) The Gift, this movie leaned more thriller than horror. While it wasn't bad, I also didn't love it. Parts were a bit heavy handed and I think it would have benefited from more set up/getting to know the characters, since I didn't have much of an emotional attachment to them, which lessened my concern when things started to happen. That being said, they did a good job limiting the graphic moments, which made them more poignant, and saved the couple of jump scares for when they actually mattered. The wrap up (post credit?) scenes were really well done...and might keep me from ever staying at an Air B&B. 😬 

Another movie I watched was Hippopotamus (2018). Here's the description - "Ruby is trapped in a basement, her legs don't work, and she can't remember who she is or how she got there. Her kidnapper gives her pain killers and tells her she will remain captive until she falls in love with him." Sounds super dumb (and it kinda was), but a couple things stood out in the trailer that made it seem like there was more to it than the barf-worthy tagline.* And to be fair, it almost did. Their biggest mistake was the "till she falls in love with him" part. It would have been way more suspenseful if you had no idea why this dude had her locked in a basement. **SPOILER WARNING** Since it's not worth your time to watch, here's the short version - Ruby (Ingvild Deila) and Tom (Stuart Mortimer) where engaged childhood sweethearts. One night Tom arrives at Ruby's apartment to find her roommate had attacked and assaulted her, leading Tom to accidentally kill him. The rest of the movie basically stems from Tom's selfish love - instead of taking Ruby to the hospital (she's unconscious from head trauma resulting from the attack), where he'd have to explain about the dead roommate, he takes her back to his place. When she regains consciousness and doesn't recognize him, he kidnaps her and runs away to a remote island in the north of England, does extensive research on retrograde amnesia (from an abandoned, dilapidated farmhouse...what?) and creates scenarios geared toward restoring Ruby's memory. Again...he's not seeking actual medical attention for the brain damaged woman he purports to love. When they finally reveal the backstory, it's an attempt to justify all Tom's efforts in trying to "find" his fiancé again, but all I kept thinking was "Great...you love her. Now stop being an a**hole and take her to a hospital!!!!!" 

The other big problem I had was more technical in nature - the sound was too...pristine. Especially when Tom talked, he sounded like he was reading his lines in a sound booth and then they sync'd it with the footage. There also weren't enough ambient sounds...they kept the soundtrack to a minimum (which is fine, though I think they could have used at least a little more) and, with how little was in the room, shouldn't there have been an echo? Lastly, Tom kept blowing his nose during the first half of the movie, like he had a perpetual cold. It was prevalent enough that you felt like it had to be a thing, but they never really addressed it. 

I'm a big fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so I decided to give Netflix's Project Power a try. This was worth watching, if you like action movies with a superpower bent. I had a couple issues with it, including the main characters selling or taking the power-inducing drugs (also a "but physics?!" moment near the end), but otherwise it was an interesting story that couldn't help but make you wonder a.) what your superpower would be and 2.) if you'd be willing to try it, even though it had negative ramifications, including potentially killing you the first time you take it. My decision making generally takes the long term into account, so I like to think it would be a hard pass from me. 

* I also wanted to know why the hell it was called Hippopotamus, lol. Ruby makes a mistake when talking about memory loss and the hippocampus, calling it the hippopotamus instead. Oi vey.