So Gem and I...

So, this happened:  "The Great Gatsby" themed spring formal with Gem, whom I've decided to give a Blogger label. So yeah. It's getting serious.

He looks weird in this picture.

Or maybe I'm just trying to find things that were wrong about that night, because really, it throws a good cynic for a loop when an evening turns out perfectly.

{Although cynicism aside, I totally do look bow-legged.}

He picked me up in a full white tuxedo, complete with a top hat and cane. Despite his efforts to warn me of his extravagance, I was still taken by surprise.

Once in the car, he asked if I was hungry yet.

"Here's the thing," I said. "I have a tendency to not get hungry, so we should probably not wait for that to happen."

"Well," he countered. "Remember how I don't get hungry when I'm nervous? Yeah. So me neither."

"Sooo...why don't we just...not waste money on food neither of us is going to eat?"

"OH!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I have an idea. I am not going to tell you what it is. Can you handle a surprise?"

I said I could.

We talked nonstop til he pulled into a Walmart parking lot. He looked at me. "We're going on a quest to find lemon-poppy seed muffins."

This guy. I'm pretty into his style.

Don't forget, we were dressed to the freakin' nines in 1920s get-up. He offered me his arm and we strutted through Walmart, counting the compliments we received. {Four total.}

We ate our muffins in the car and talked and talked and talked. So much talking. I found out that he's a morning person; handles cold better than hot; and used to be a government nerd.

As the time approached to actually go to the dance, I confessed that I had never been to one of Campbell's dances and I was afraid it might be lame.

"No!" he said. "We'll make it fun! But no seriously, if it sucks, I brought my laptop so we can just leave and watch Doctor Who."

My mouth fell open. "I was just getting ready to tell you that if it's lame we can go back to the dorm and watch Netflix."

Great minds, I suppose.

The dance did not, in fact, suck. The decorations were perfectly Gatsby-esque and the music was mostly good and I saw a lot of people I knew. And Gem. Gem was awesome.

One of the first things he told me upon arrival:  "I don't want you leaving this dance wishing we'd danced more."

It was like fireworks in my heart XD Words and dancing are my love languages.

I was pleased to find out that he is a confident, fun dancer, one of those people who can do any move without it seeming embarrassing or forced. Once, he went into the middle of a dancing circle and did that Russian move, where you squat and pop your legs out XD Even though he did it well, it was hilarious and everyone cheered.

Then slow dancing happened. I don't like slow dancing. It feels stilted and awkward and it's basically a nightmare for someone who hates eye contact. Gem's and my slow dance wasn't the worst ever, but it was far from comfortable to me. We talked some, about fire fairies and eye colors and probably something else, but I was too busy trying not to breathe muffin breath on him to focus.

When the dance was over, he looked me square in the eyes and said, "Guess what? I'm not gonna ask."

And he kissed me.

He completely surprised me, and then I surprised myself by not minding. Actually, it really broke a barrier between us and we both seemed more at ease for the rest of the dance. His style once again reminded me that it's possible to be fun and sexy without being raunchy. Sometimes I forget that.

When we got back to Campbell, a lot more talking happened, which I loved. The more I get to know him the more I can be myself. I was afraid the opposite might be true, but it just isn't.

I changed into sweatpants and we watched two episodes of Doctor Who in the back of the Kia, under a sleeping bag Gem had in his trunk. I felt really safe and comfortable and happy. I didn't realize how much I'd missed that feeling.

"I watch so much Netflix," I confessed at one point. "Since giving up Facebook for Lent, Netflix is my procrastination tool of choice."

"Jeez, Stephanie," Gem said. "Get a life. You need a boyfriend or something."

"Yeah?" I said. "Do you need a girlfriend?"

"I think so."

"Huh. Maybe we can help each other."

So yeah, I guess it's official :) It is a weird situation for me.

See, I'm Gem's first everything. I was his fist date, his first kiss, and now his first girlfriend. I'm used to being the inexperienced one with all the firsts, having a guy lead--and lead very well. PC did me wrong in a lot of ways, but I will say that looking back, he was a good teacher of sorts. His style never made me feel awkward about my inexperience. As creepy as it might sound, I hope I can do as well with Gem, leading in the subtlest and most reassuring of ways.

When we said goodbye, Gem went for a cheek kiss but faked me out and got a real on. He makes me laugh.

Since the night of the dance, several things have unfolded, and all in the best ways possible. I'm increasingly glad--though ever-wary--to be dating him. For the first times ever this week, I've been, like, missing him, wanting to see him. If I go home before Easter, it'll be because of him.

Guys, I am luckier than I deserve.

Thanks for putting up with an uncharacteristically sappy post XD

 ~Stephanie

Poetry and Party Poopers

No one knows who wrote "Beowulf." But because of "Beowulf," we know a lot about ancient culture, particularly about some of the first literary heroes and villains.

For instance, the villain--the monster named Grendel--hates music. He first attacks the kingdom because he hears singing and it annoys him. He hates the sound; he hates the celebration; he hates the fellowship.

Grendel lives far away from people. {I guess he just has phenomenal hearing.} We later find out that he shares a home with his mother, but it's just the two of them. He hates company.

From the way Grendel is villainized {I choose to believe that's a word}, we modern-day readers can gather that in "Beowulf's" day, silence and solitude were frowned upon. If you didn't like poetry and parties, you were evil.

But then you have the hero, Beowulf, himself. Beowulf doesn't LIVE in solitude, but does insist on going to battle alone. How come the hero can get away with the very actions that make the villain what he is?

I don't know.

I also can't decide if I think today's values have changed or not.

Certainly, today's heroes must be team players or they're labeled "arrogant." If modern heroes demand to work alone, 9 times out of 10 they end up suffering some kind of "humbling" experience that teaches them to value others. This is because today’s issues are increasingly of global rather than regional importance, causing heroes to model teamwork as a subtle lesson for society.

What about poetry and parties? Personally, I support the idea that hating poetry makes you a villain XD But parties?

I think today's society is at least a little more accepting of introverts. We don't rip their arms off or anything. However, there's still the whole wallflower/party pooper stigma, and being "popular" is a timelessly desirable trait.

I dunno. In thirteen hundred years, a lot of things can change. But some things don't change a lot.

~Stephanie

10 Reasons to Like Green

Green has always been my favorite color, with a brief two-year deviation to blue when I was 11-13.

When my sign language teacher asked me why my favorite color was green, I answered with one word:  "Alive."

To me, green is the color of life and energy. It's the color of Go lights and sour apple flavor. It's a strong color. It's neither a "girl" color nor a "boy" color. Most of its shades are pleasant.

But in case you need more convincing, here are 10 reasons to like green {or at least find it a very intriguing color}.

1. Employees in green rooms have fewer stomachaches.
2. In North America, green signifies a rise in stock market prices.
3. According to Examiner.com, driving dark green car means you have a solid, trustworthy personality. A bright green one means you're stylist and mischievous.
4. Green was the color of wedding dresses in the 15th century.
5. Green is often {though not always} a lucky color. Think shamrocks.
6. Green M&Ms allegedly make you horny.
7. Green is a primary color. It is all its own, not made from anything else. {*edit* Totally not a primary color. Say it with me, guys: "Yellow and blue make green!" I'm going to blame 2am exhaustion for this one.}
8. There are more shades of green than any other color.
9. It's the easiest color to look at, and can actually improve vision.
10. "Suicides dropped by 34% when London’s Blackfriar Bridge was painted green." {Factsite.com}

So there you have it. What's your favorite color? Can you back it up? XD

~Stephanie

P.S. Also, here's the link to my new "Public" blog, Reason in the Rhyme. To get it up and running, most of the first posts will just be repeats of ones that have been here, on Peripeteia.

The Casual Vacancy

Title: The Casual Vacancy
Author: J. K. Rowling.
Stars: 3.5
Less-Than-500-Word Review in Short:  Rowing flexes her muscles of character development and profanity in this nitty-gritty social class commentary
Back-of-the-Book:  
"When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?"

I Say:  I was super excited to read this book, because, hey, it's Rowling. I've been missing her ever since Harry Potter ended and I was really interested to see how she would write a "grown-up" book.

My initial reaction was contempt. Rowling's writing was the author equivalent of a rebellious preacher's kid. It was like after being trapped for so long in clean, virtuous YA fiction, she vomited profanity and gratuitous sexual comments just because she could. All of her characters were different arrangements of selfishness and overactive libidos, caught up in small town drama. I felt this way for about 85% of the book.

But...the writing itself is kind of fantastic, and the story is expertly crafted. Each character is so complex and authentic {right, Fats?} that you feel as if they MUST exist. Rowling writes them until they climb out of the pages and walk around.

I've heard a lot of complaints that none of the characters are likeable, but all of these comments came from people who didn't finish the book. Enough said about that. The characters are so real that you must treat them like real people:  don't judge them til you know them.

As we know from "Harry Potter," Rowling is a master of setting story gears to turn neatly in place. She ties her loose ends together, and you can watch in relaxed delight as the story lines weave seamlessly in and out of each other.

The book IS pretty much one long social commentary, so if you're not into that, this book is not for you. I found it interesting though, and I like to speculate on what Rowling is really saying. What IS the moral of this multi-faceted story? I have some theories, and I like them.

I Liked
- character development
- tight plot

I Didn't Like
- gratuitous profanity
- very slow-moving

Audience
R-rated. Probably the most profanity I've ever read in a book, along with relatively graphic drug use and sex (including rape)

~Stephanie

So that was short-lived.

Still in the running to be copy-editor of The Campbell Times.

But Peripeteia being Private? The idea just annoyed me way too much. The whole reason I STARTED this blog was so that I wouldn't have to hide. I'm not hiding.

I am plenty qualified to write and edit things, and nothing I post here suggests otherwise.

This is me, and I'm not apologizing.

Sorry for being spastic.

Love.

~Me, dammit

Ugh.

In light of the fact that I'm trying to become copy-editor of my college newspaper...Peripeteia is going Private. Maybe it's temporary. Maybe it's not. But email me if you want to be able to see this blog:

thereasonintherhyme@gmail.com

I realize that this post is supremely useless, because I'm making this blog private directly after hitting "Publish," so anyone who is unaware of this shift won't even see this announcement. But oh well.

So I guess if you're reading this...thanks for caring enough to pursue admittance XD

~Stephanie

Baby Name Perfection

Some of you may know that I used to be obsessed with baby names.

Some of you may know that secretly, I still am.

Naming characters is often the hardest part of a story for me, and yet I CANNOT ever be satisfied with a stand-in name so that I can keep writing. {This problem has derailed more than a few stories.} The past couple of years, I haven't been writing nearly as many stories though, and when I do, I often leave the characters intentionally unnamed. Adds mystery. Saves time.

As far as real-life goes, I've kept a running list of potential baby names since I was about seven years old. However, for some unknown reason, I've stopped doing that lately. Until a few days ago, I had zero realistic girl name possibilities, and only a handful of old standby boys' names {Joshua, Caleb, Daniel, Matthew}.

But then my brain randomly clicked into High Gear Analytical English Major and I settled on two perfect girls' names. Not only do I love the names, but they double-handedly satisfy fifteen separate salutes to friends, family, and fiction. And they're not even ridiculous. {The names, I mean. The explanations are, naturally.}

And here they are.

Shut up. What do YOU do in your spare time?

~Stephanie