The View from My Window on a Thursday Night

A few weeks ago, while I was still in school, I wrote a short piece as a writing exercise. I thought I'd share that for a blog post. :)

College campuses are stereotypically portrayed as social hubs, the genesis of wild, Greek parties and drunken excursions and like quite a few stereotypes, this has a basis in fact. But let me present to you a slightly different view of a college campus at night.

Its about 10:30 p.m. and the sun has been set for a few hours now. It is most definitely nighttime, the witching hour is right around the corner. The street lights illuminate the sidewalks just enough to find your way around campus with an almost eerie, orange glow which casts a strange tint on one's skin when they walk beneath it.

There are three dorm buildings directly outside my window and there are lights on in every building and quite a few rooms. For a party night there seem to be a lot of people staying in. Of course, finals are next week. I see a group of people gather on the porch of one of the dorm buildings and light up their cigarettes in unison. The smoke rises from their heads in curling streams. They kind of look like a hamlet of houses with smoking chimneys from cozy, little fires built within. I wish they wouldn't turn to nicotine for stress relief but its better than drugs and alcohol so everyone lets them be.

Night is the only time you can ever really see how lonely some people are. I see lone figures trudging along the sidewalks, shoulders bent, feet dragging. They look like they are carrying the weight of the world and I can't help but think, 'I know exactly how you feel.'

A car with the bass on its stereo turned up all the way just drove by. I can feel the beat in the base of my stomach. Its a very unsettling feeling and I wonder how they can stand it when it bothers me all the way up on the eighth floor? I assume they're doing it to impress someone but really they're just announcing how obnoxious they are. I mean, at that decibel, is it even music anymore?

Other than that, its a pretty quiet night. The stars twinkle sedately in the sky, the creek has settled into a comfortable rhythm after the run off from all the rain we've had. Its nights like these that bring out the philosopher in me. I can't wait for the sun to rise tomorrow.

Current thoughts about this: My college has announced their plans to ban smoking from their campus starting in July. I seriously doubt that's going to go over well. I mean, a LOT of students smoke. And with the work the professors load us down with can certainly drive one's stress level through the roof. I expect protests and such, or at least many murmured dissenting opinions. As for myself, if they would only ban smoking on the sidewalks to and from class I would be happy. Its hard for me to walk and breathe smoke in from the person's cigarette in front of me and I'm usually wheezing from it when I get to class.Another thought, not really related to college; I wish the American version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone hadn't changed it to Sorcerer. I love the Philosopher aspect of the creation of the stone. Sorcerer, to me, translates to wizard and the book's full of them. Just saying.

Unwritten

I've been struggling with inspiration lately. As far as poetry goes, I'm fine, but anything above the length of a status update has had me stumped. I know I'm not the only one to experience this seeming drought of the imagination, there are hosts of YouTube videos and blog posts concerning just this, but it can seem like you're all alone when its happening. I can't help but question everything, my eating habits, my level of exercise, how much TV I watch, how many people I've talked to that day, ridiculous things. Finally, after not updating for a few weeks, I knew I had to post something, so why not talk about writer's block?

I've found I experience it more when I am the least productive. When I had my work study in my college's English department, I wrote all the time. I have a notebook filled with at least seven novel ideas and a couple short stories. I would think of a brilliant idea in class and scribble in the margins of my notes. And while cleaning or doing homework, words would just come to me like water from a faucet. There was no limit. Since school has gone out and I don't have a job, I've been busy taking care of my grandmother, visiting my grandfather in the hospital, and keeping up with the summer reruns. And I find I have a lot of spare time in the afternoons and nights...of which I take no advantage of. I have a notebook I carry around in case inspiration sparks but nada. I've been working on some poetry and I have come up with a couple more novel ideas, but what's an idea without follow through? Just scribbled words on a piece of college ruled paper. Easily disposed of.

I have two fanfictions I need to complete, a short story I would love to have done before my creative writing course in the fall (squeal!!!), and a novel I would love to have halfway finished before school starts. Luckily, http://www.nanowrimo.org/ is hosting a summer session of its notorious 30 day novel writing event, complete with message boards, encouraging e-mails, and a social network of like-minded individuals, all at my fingertips. I'm hoping to use this time to a.) jumpstart my summer writing and b.) finish this novel idea I've had percolating for a couple of years now. I've completed two novels using this method and a half a novel which I may go back to some day, so I know its effective, if a little stressful.

Other than that, my summer is looking pretty empty. What are your summer plans? Leave a reply in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!