My Own Town

I think that if I were to build my own town I would call it Kattywhompas. I'm not sure where it would be (yet), but it will be considered a proactive town that has much to offer. The town will be predestined as far as the number of residents (roughly 50,000), the types of businesses (no chains), and the districts. Now, the districts will fall into the directions of the compass.

The districts will be as follows:

Yuppie-ville (AKA North of Downtown): In this part of town there are the middle to upper class citizens. The average family will have 2.3 children, 2 pets, be dual income, and bike on the weekends. Of course some of the daddies drink and some of the mamma's cheat, but that's to be expected. The streets will have names like Volvo Lane, Saab Street, Farfenugin (sp) Parkway, White Collar Drive & Closet Eater Street. All of the schools will be with in walking distance, parks on every other block, the majority of the museums geared towards children will be in this part of town.

Meanwhile Village (AKA East of Downtown): This is often be referred to just as The Village. Most of your homosexuals will live in this part of town. Gays and lesbians living in harmony. Some of the better live theatre is found here along with some of those businesses that put black film up over their windows. The best athletic clubs will be here as well as the HQ for conservation. All of the public areas are well cared for by the dykes and beautifully decorated by the 'Mo's. The streets will have names like Rainbow Drive, Lipstick Lane, Man on Man Parkway, Work-Out Avenue, Bull Dyke Street and the feature will be Pink Triangle (where the central park for this neighborhood is located).

Southside (AKA The Hood): This is where the not so prominent people in society will reside. Most hood areas seem to be located on the south side, so it just seems like the logical place. The best part of this side of town are their greasy spoon diners and the drive in theatre. For the most part the residents are decent, but you have a few bad eggs, so to speak. The university is located downtown so there are quite a few college students that live in this part of town. The bars are mostly dives and you can find a fight any night of the week at the demolition derby. Some of the best hospitals are in this part of town. The streets have names like Cars On Block, Wifebeater Street, Drunk by Noon Drive, Good For Nothing Lane, Uncle Daddy Parkway, Kissin' Cousins Avenue, Welfare Street & Knocked Up Drive.

Uppity-ville (AKA The Westside): Most of your more successful residents of Kattywhompas will live here. The lawns are manicured and landscaped, the cars consist of Bentley's, Mercedes and Lexus. Parents are often absent from their children's lives which result in loud parties all weekend and puke on the sidewalks. The kids all have trust funds and don't understand the importance of a dollar. The streets have names like The Man Road, Trust Fund Drive, Affair Lane, Hilfiger Street, Trophy Wife Parkway & Implant Road.

Downtown: The best place to be in my opinion, is the cultural center of town. The building all sport lofts and keen architecture. The main road, Katty Mall, is for pedestrians only. All of the best shopping, restaurants and culture the town has to offer. A mixture of all different types of people live Downtown, truly a melting pot. There are abundant parks and walk ways and bike trails. There is a skyway for inclement weather, street vendors galore pushing their fresh produce and deliciously unhealthy (yet oddly satisfying) fare.

It's really an ideal place to live. Once I win the lottery (and one with a big jackpot too) it could all happen. You never know.

Writer's Block

On Tuesday last week Joy and I went to a writers deal-e-o at the new Barnes & Noble on Hwy 6 and 529. It went alright. I felt more confident and at ease because Joy was there. The leader, whose name I cannot remember, had us work on two exercises. The first each of us picked a word and we had to use those words in the stories we wrote in 15 minutes time. The second exercise required someone to pick and emotion and we were to write on that for 15 minutes. The story as the result from the first exercise will be included at the bottom of this post. The selected words bolded. Please challenge yourself to do the same exercise.

The most interesting part of the evening was the only gentleman that was amongst our ranks. A retired Navy Vet, also a POW, a veterinarian and a local author. He was funny, thoughtful and comfortable among a group of women. He company was appreciated by all. The group meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month if anyone else is interested.

On with the Story--

As I sat in the car driving home from work the clouds opened up. It's amazing how quickly that can happen in Texas, one minute the sun is shining the next it's stormy. I looked at the other drivers around me. They all had frantic looks on their faces, anxious to get home.

Blue Beamer (I call him that because it's what he drove) was one of those drivers that kept their eyes straight ahead. His hands gripped the steering wheel at 10 and 2. I pictured him as the type of guy who was all business until I saw the feathered object hanging from his rear view mirror. Probably placed there by his wife or girlfriend to add some personality to the interior of the car.

The traffic inched forward and I noticed a young girl in the car on my other side. She was in her early twenties. She had the radio so loud I could almost hear it over the pitter patter of raindrops falling on my car. In certain parts of the song she was singing along to, she would shake her head as if she was crazy.

Traffic started to move again. I had my eyes on the car ahead of me, keeping a safe distance yet staying close enough so no one would feel the need to cut me off. The plates on the van ahead of me read MDR MAN. I wonder what that meant. I kept returning to Murder Man as the solution. I decided that isn't the type of person I really wanted to follow. I put on my turn signal to change lanes. I could see a neon sign up ahead indicating a restaurant. I check my blind spot one more time before moving over. As I got closer I was greeted with a welcoming sign that read, Martha's Cafe.

That's as far as I was able to get in 15 minutes. I think I might have to elaborate more. See where the story takes me and the characters go. As I write, I'll try to put it on here if I feel it's worthy. Tee Hee!

Anyway, I'm on a great quest. I want to be a writer.

Updated and Stylish

Scholarships-Grants

Trying to find scholarships and grants is a pain in the ass. Now, I haven't even been accepted to grad school, but if I am (which I better be, or heads will roll) I need to pay for it. Since the parent unlimited scholarship fund has contributed far more than I ever imagined possible, I need other resources. Preferably in the form of free money. So I found myself at the library, reading books on how to fund grad school. Now, I was a good student in college, and some people will tell you it's because I was in the easiest major that Stout offered, but I want to believe it was because I was smart enough to do well without ever studying and drinking 5 nights a week. Now, I'm not bragging, but a 3.2 is not that bad, but damn some of the qualifiers for scholarships and grants want you to have a 3.5 or higher. What the hell?

They offer scholarships based on all types of criteria including: sexual preference, hobbies (quilting being the oddest), parent status (single parent), parents work history (military service or tobacco farming), commuter student, non-traditional (that's me), first generation college student and so on and so forth. Well, I've decided that if I am ever wealthy enough I am going to create my own scholarship for someone like me. The criteria will be as follows: Over 6' tall, only child, single and childless, parents must live at least 3 states away from the school you go to, and the kicker, must have big feet. Part of that scholarship will go to buying new shoes. It's important.

Anyway, I've decided that I need to be more focused on this getting into grad school thing. Sometimes I get a crazy idea in my head and I don't follow through. I have poor follow through skills. FOCUS!!! I've got that written in my calendar so I don't forget. There are other things I have to do like, take the GRE. Write an essay. Get my recommendation letters together. Yikes, so much!