character list

Name: Sophie Sage Kane
Nickname: sunshine
Handwriting: neat, and bubbly
Sex: female
Astrological sign: scorpio
Age: 23
Talents: finding great deals, photography, singing
Looks: average height, dark hair and eyes, olive skin tone
Friends: many, but few very close friends
Education: high school diploma, two years of college
Relatives: very few, and not very close with those who aren't immediate family
Vocation: photographer, navy reserve
Enemies: only those who choose to hate her, or try to harm her or her family
Status/money: middle class/ average income
As seen by others: sunny, and hard-working
relationship: single, and always looking
As seen by self: lazy, unworthy of anything more than she has
family/ethnicity: mom in her third marriage, estranged father and step father. three step sisters
Scars: shaving scars on her legs, scar in her eyebrow from childhood
Places: born in california, moved multiple times during adolescence
Tattoos, piercings: piercings on both ears, belly-button ring
Possessions: many books, two cameras, a car, closet filled with clothes, shoes and accessories.
Salary: enough to get by, plus shopping and sushi trips
Recreation/hobbies: photography, shopping, writing
Obsessions: sushi, cleaning, scrapbooking, the navy
Beliefs: believes in a higher being, but not in religions
Politics: very conservative
Sexual history: lost her virginity to an ex-boyfriend in a school parking lot. has had multiple partners since
Ambitions: to get married, travel
Religion: none
Superstitions: not at all
Fears: spiders, or just bugs in general. being alone
Attitudes: very optimistic, but can be a huge bitch
Character flaws: doesn't dream very big
Character strengths: very loyal
Pets: two sheltie puppies.
Taste in books/music: enjoys chick novels and memoirs. listens to pop and hip hop, as well as eighties and rock.

Guts and Glory- 11/25/08

I don’t want to wake up. I like sleeping, because then I don’t have to hold back tears all the time, and I don’t have to think about being alone. The other night, I got a taste of having nowhere to go when I need someone, and how much is really hurts.
She left for Basic Training today. I should be happy for this huge decision she made, but I cannot force myself to feel something I obviously do not feel. I know that deep down, if she suddenly changed her mind and didn’t go, I would be disappointed in her. It would be something I would do, and I know she isn’t that type of person.
I was watching her walk back to her room last night, knowing that next time I see her cute little bob, and smiling face, she would be a different person. She might act like the same Tonzie, and smile like the same Tonzie, and like the same things as my Tonzie, but I know she won’t be the same Tonzie. I don’t believe you can go through something like Boot Camp and come back the same. That is the whole point of Basic Training- to break your individual down and build it back up the way the Navy wants it.
I know plenty of people go to Boot Camp all the time, but I guess people just forget the people who love and miss their friends and family who are away…

Terrible Date: Jonathan and Evil Kristi

Our first date was in three hours and I was very nervous. We had met online through the Yahoo personals, and she seemed like an all right woman. She had approached me, and I though she looked pretty in the picture she had posted. I decided to turn on the television to see what documentaries were on. I was lucky; a documentary on JFK was on the History International Channel. It passed my time until I realized I was going to be late if I didn’t leave now. I quickly run out to my car, running the details of the date through my head. We were meeting at the KoKo Café for drinks, then going to a movie. We couldn’t decide on one, so we are going to figure that out when we got to the theater. I was almost to the exit for KoKo Café when I realized a bit too late that I was passing a cop going twenty over the speed limit. At this point, I realized this wasn’t going to be a good night. The cop gave me the expected ticket, and I pulled into the café parking lot twenty minutes later than we had agreed to meet. I tripped getting out of my car, and walked into the café cautiously, like a bucket of water was waiting to tip over me when I walked in the door. I looked around and immediately recognized her. She looked just like her picture. But there was another person at the table. I walk up to the table, a bit confused. She looks up when I reach the table, and smiles.
“You must be Jonathan,” she guesses silkily.
“Yes. And that makes you Kristi?” I try to be as suave as she sounded.
“Yes it does. This is my friend Tonya. She wanted to meet you too,” Kristi tells me, while waving a hand at the dark eyed beauty sitting next to her. I immediately felt this was going to be an interesting night. I adjust my collar, hopefully not too obviously, and sat down across from Kristi. She smiles at me, and turns to continue her previous conversation with her friend Tonya. She didn’t say anything about bringing a friend. If this was going to be a double date, I have three roommates I could have brought. A waiter approaches with three margaritas. Don’t get me wrong, I love to drink, and I do regularly, but margaritas? I don’t get to order my own drink? I would much rather have a Budweiser! I try to start a conversation with Kristi, since that was the point of making a date with her, but I am quickly cut off by Tonya’s hysterical laughter. I probably gave her a strange look, but she was interrupting my date! Well, as much of a date as this could be. The waiter finally comes back with our dinner, which I wasn’t here to order, and sets it in front of each of us. I clear my throat and look down at my plate. Lobster? I hate seafood! I look at Kristi, hoping to catch her eye to ask her why I couldn’t look at the menu and maybe order something I liked. But once again, she is deep in a giggly conversation with Tonya. Both of them were digging into their lobsters like the lobster eating lovers they probably are. At this point, I am very upset and frustrated. This isn’t so much of a date as it is me, a complete stranger, sitting in on a date between two friends. I try to clear my throat to catch Kristi’s attention, but all the response I got from her was a dirty look from herself and Tonya. I sat on my hands, hoping it would keep them from reaching across the table to slap the both of them to get at least one of their attentions. Sitting on my hands didn’t keep my voice under control, because I suddenly decided to make myself noticeable.
“I don’t LIKE lobster,” I yelled across the table. Both Tonya and Kristi looked up surprised. Their faces darkened suddenly, and Kristi opens her mouth to say something. She apparently changed her mind, because she threw down her napkin, pushed back her chair, and stood up.
“You are so rude. Maybe you should write THAT on your profile,” she spat at me, and with a narrowing of her eyes, she and Tonya were gone.
And that is how I got stuck with a very expensive bill, and a bad migraine. I paid for the dinner and drinks I didn’t eat or drink, and I calmly walked out to my car, where I found a huge scratch across the door.
This was the best date ever.

Harper Bazaar's Lists

Number of Months I have worked as a Receptionist: 7
Number of Years I have been terrified of talking on the phone: 7
Percentage of times a day I wish I could ignore the ringing phone: 100%

Average number of hours of sleep I get a night: 8
Hours a day I wish I could take a nap: 13

How many cans of soda I drink in a month: 3
How many cans of soda I drink completely in one sitting in a month: 0

Number of days a week I think about going to the gym: 7
Number of days I actually go to the gym: 1

How much I spend a week (on average): $250
Amount I wish I hadn't: $200

Number of boyfriends I have had (including current): 9
Number of boyfriends I actually enjoyed dating: 2 (including current)
Number of times I intend on marrying: 1

Colleges I've been to: 2
Majors I've considered: 7
Majors I've declared: 1
Major I have currently: none

How many hours I read for pleasure in one week: 2
How many hours I want to read for pleasure: 10

Menu of Things that Frustrate Me

Week Four Journal One
Menu: What Frustrates Me?

Drivers who don’t use their blinker.
Drivers who go way to slow, or way to fast.
Bad drivers in general.
When there is a big wrinkle in the middle of my shirt,
When I’m reading a book and I know how the character could avoid their problem, and they don’t.
People who look like they are listening to me, but really aren’t.
Bad eating and drinking habits.
Men with longer fingernails that I have.
JUNK
Cords placed randomly in the middle of the floor for everyone to trip over
Bad drama


*I'm in a rather good mood, so I'm having a harder time thinking of frustrating things!*

I don't know why I remember...

I don't know why I remember a dream I had when I was 6 or 7 years old. I also remember telling it to my dad the morning after. The dream was as normal as a strange dream could get, and was set on Captain Hook's ship. My dad was Peter Pan, or at least that is who I assumed he was. I was wearing a nightgown and was barefoot- I must have been Wendy. The ship was under war because we had all the toilet paper in Never Never Land. Why we had all the toilet paper, I wasn't sure, but there were rolls of it every where. My dad eventually saved the day, and the toilet paper was evenly distributed through out Never Never Land. I woke up after that dream and went to tell my dad all about it while I was eating breakfast. I had strawberry Toaster Strudels (I called them square waffles at the time) and he was reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee. I don't know why I still remember that, but I do.

Sniping the Snipe

I was five when my older brother first suggested Snipe hunting to me. I wasn't quite sure what a Snipe was, but since he included the word "hunting", I was very intrigued. My brother, Mike, was 8 years older than me, and therefore had cooler friends than I did. Or at least that is what he told me. He also apparently knew a lot more about life than I did. I agreed to a little Snipe hunting with my older brother, because I'd never tried it. He planned it for late that Friday night. Well, not too late since my bed time was at 9, and his was at 10.
Friday night finally came, and Mike and I dressed in dark clothing, at Mike's request. He grabbed two flashlights and a paper grocery bag, then handed me the bag and the second flashlight as we headed out the backdoor. The sunset had left the sky a great deep purple, and a chill in the air smelled lightly of evergreen. My brother led me back to the large grouping of trees, where he told me what we were to do.
"So, yea. This is Snipe hunting. Since you have the bag, you're gonna be the one catching the thing. We'll wander around the woods, making the Snipe mating call, and if there are any Snipes around, they will hear us and jump into your bag. Got it?" Mike explained to me. I nodded my head solemnly. I was so excited, but I was also slightly confused.
"What does a Snipe mating call sound like exactly?" I inquired.
"Um. It's a high-pitched giggle," My older and wiser brother instructed me. I thought it was kind of goofy, but I didn't think anything of it. He gave me a little push to let me know I was to go first. I took a step in, then another, and another. Soon I was half way into the woods, not knowing how I got there.
"Don't forget the mating call!"
I started giggling, the high-pitched part wasn't that difficult since I was five years old. I felt so cool to be Snipe hunting with my brother, and in the woods at night! Without a parent! We tramped around those woods giggling with not a sound, sight, or even a smell of a Snipe. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I kept the bag open in front of me just in case one decided to jump in there anyways.
Just then a large creature jumped out at me. I screamed and dropped the bag and flashlight. Not having any idea where I was going, I ran back towards where I thought the house was, I convinced myself a Snipe had just tried to attack me. As I viewed our backyard from a break in the trees just a head of me, the large creature came up from behind and tackled me. I just knew this was the end, until I heard Mike laughing. I struggle to get up, and I turn around to see Mike's best friend, Rob, lying with a huge grin on his face where I had just been tackled. Frustrated and scared, I ran back into our house where I told mom exactly what had happened. She must have known Snipe hunting was a difficult sport, because she had chocolate milk and brownies waiting for me. She was aghast that I had almost been attacked by a large Snipe, and graciously tried to suppress a giggle when I told her that it had really been Rob.
Maybe, now that I'm older and wiser, I will take some one out Snipe hunting. And maybe this time we'll actually catch one...

First Liners

Weekly In-Class Challenge #2
1. Description of a Person:
His too-short pants and too-long hair made his nose seem just that much bigger somehow.
2. With Several Characters but no dialogue:
Marty, Klein, and Davie looked as though the Three Stooges would look in a third grade class.
3. With a child narrator:
Momma said no boys in the house, but for some reason she and a strange man always slept in the same bed with the door closed at night.
4. With a generalization:
Squirrels suck the joy out of a garden without any effort at all.

A stormy night beneath the stairs

It was an unfortunate time to have a storm. It was expected to come, since it had been so cold that morning and so humid that evening. My little sister’s seventh birthday party was a hit, and the family had enjoyed filling ourselves with Italian food that night. Although the spaghetti I had enjoyed came back up on the kitchen floor, I went to bed satisfied. My room was a so-called mess, a mess to my mom’s standards. And it was the light behind my mother’s head that woke me up at a quarter to eleven that night of May 30^th. What she said wasn’t memorable, but it was shocking enough for me to scramble out of my warm bed and follow my mom down the stairs. It wasn’t until my family was trapped in the crowded space underneath the stairs that I heard the wind. The moldy smell of the damp space just made us all the more nervous. It was crammed with boxes and random stuff, just thrown in randomly throughout the years. My two sisters sat on either side of me, each of us clutching a pillow and a blanket. My mom was by my dad, who was at the closet door, clutching the collar of our scared Sam who wouldn’t fit in our already cramped space. I knew it was bad if my dad was under the stairs with us. It was so dark, as the power had gone out completely. The only light that gave us any idea of our surroundings was from the lightening show going on outside. Since my family was in such a hurry to get to safety, we did not think to close the door to the basement behind us. We all wondered what was happening outside, but we didn’t dare to speak. It didn’t cross my mind to be scared for my life, because I was more worried about my beloved dog’s safety outside the door of our hideaway. Eventually the howling and pounding rain let up, and we emerged from out beneath the steps. We stretched out and headed outside to inspect the damage. We saw our neighbors doing the same, some with looks of relief, others who looked like they knew there was a lot to fix up in the next few weeks. We eventually headed back into our home and settled back into some sort of sleep, as restless as it was. We knew we had been lucky, and we were glad we still had each other. But none of us will ever forget the night beneath the stairs.

101 Words- Not Dalmatians

It was going to be a difficult day. Not just because Cole had fallen asleep with his underwear on backwards, nor because he awoke with a busted toenail, but because he could tell something very bad was going to happen to him today. He figured it was going to happen after the normal terribleness had subsided, usually right after lunch. But today he didn’t even need to wait until after lunch it seemed; the bad news came to him as his mom burst into his room.

“Lady just died,” she sobbed at the door jab.

And there his bad day began...

First Week Writing Challange: First Sentences

First Week Challenge #1:

“In the end of our first day at Camp Crescendo, the girls in my Brownie troop had decided to kick the asses of each and every girl in Brownie troop 909.” It was not because they were nerds, it was because they had tried to show us who was boss. And we weren’t okay with their decision on who the bosses should be. Troop 909 had moved into the bunkhouse across from ours, and they spend the first day standing at our door telling us where to put our uniforms, and how to make our beds, and how we weren’t allowed to have our secret stash of Oreo’s hidden in our trunks. How did they find out about our Oreos?! Even our counselor was fed up with them. No matter how many times she tried to shoo them away, they would come back five minutes later with an additional member of their snotty little troop. It wasn’t until the dinner bell rang when we finally had some alone time from the constant snootiness of our neighboring troop. We sat down across the dining hall from them, and started plotting on how to get back at each and every one of them.

“I say we put shaving cream in their beds,” suggested Pam.

“Oh yea? Where are we going to get shaving cream if none of us are old enough to shave yet?” retorted Lisa. Lisa did have a point. We all stared down at the shiny hair sticking off of our legs, and decided to keep brainstorming.

“What about planting paraphernalia in their bunkhouse and getting them busted?” suggested Mary Jo, our inner city gal.

“What is ‘par-ee-fin-al-ee-ah’?” asked Pam. We all looked at Mary Jo in agreement. This group of ten year olds is almost as naive as one can get.

“Oh never mind. It’s not like we have any anyways. It was just a thought,” replied Mary Jo.

“How about we beat them up?” I suggested with a shrug.

“Yea! And we do it one at a time!” Lisa exclaimed.

“And only one girl a night! We’ll trick ‘em into a dark quiet place and do it there!” Mary Jo said.

“Wow,” says Pam, “I wish I could be as smart as Kari. I think she should be in charge of this.” The other girls nodded in agreement, all staring at me expectantly. With a nervous knot growing in my stomach, I slowly nod my head in agreement to our nasty little plan.

And that is how we decided to beat up the girls of Brownie troop 909 before we had even been at Camp Crescendo an entire day.