This awful pun did set me off;
I no longer could think in prose.
Though normally I would stop and scoff,
My mind wouldn’t leave that phrase alone.

So now I put it here on my blog
And hope this brings me relief.
I’m sinking in a wordplay bog
But maybe now I’ll get free.

What words? Girlfriend and boyfriend.

Why?

Taking girlfriend as an example, since I’m a guy, here’s my reasoning for not using these words.

The world today uses the world girlfriend flippantly. It’s often preceded by the word new. That is, girlfriend usually implies a new installment in a long chain.

Yuck.

So if I call someone my girlfriend, I’m using a word that refers to a shallow relationship based on nothing but the feelings of a moment.

Double yuck.

If I seriously love somebody, I don’t want to use such a word to describe her. She would be special to me beyond the use of that common and flippant word. In fact, come to think of it, I don’t want to describe any female in my life in that way! (See above expressions of disgust.)

But this brings up a question. If/when I have such a relationship with someone, I will eventually bump into a situation where I will have to refer to her as… What? I don’t want to use that word. What do I call her?

Good question. I have no solid idea here yet. But I just consulted my thesaurus and discovered the word beloved.

I think that’s a beautiful word for this. It encompasses my hopes, dreams, and designs concerning this hypothetical person. Everything is laid out right there in a single word.

And it’s a great way to spread the idea, too! Imagine a scene like this:

“Grandma, I’d like you to meet so-and-so, my beloved.”

Grandma’s eyes bug out. “You mean your girlfriend?”

I shake my head, smiling. My beloved smiles too; she’s heard this a few times before.

“No, I don’t like that word.” And I explain.

Now that would be cool. Would everybody get it? No! But those who do understand would realize where I’m coming from, and hopefully think about how they use the word.

Perhaps I’m just seeing the world through rose-colored glasses here and speaking in my ignorance. But you can’t blame me for thinking ahead. I’ll change my methods later upon practice, if I someday get the chance.

Now, I know somebody’s going to want to know what word I think should be used in one of those disgusting, shallow relationships as mentioned above. It’s pretty simple… How about none?

I really like just plain friend. And if you stick with that definition and the relationship implied in it, you avoid a whole heap of trouble into the bargain, in my book.

And with that, I shall leave you with my best wishes. Happy I’m-So-Glad-I’m-Not-in-a-Frivolous-and-Meaningless-Relationship Day!

Waiting, sighing, pleading
for the
pretty
rain
to
fall.

I dream that rain is falling
as it did in days gone by.
But I look out of the window
and see it isn’t here just yet.

Thinking, dreaming, wishing,
that the
pretty
rain
would
fall.

When comes the rain, it falls upon
my outstretched arms and smiling face
as I stand out in the downpour
and relish every lovely drop.

Dancing, walking, spinning
in the
pretty
rain
that
falls.

Stay awhile. Please.

Melt the snow. Make it warm.

Run a temperature if you like. I’ll keep you company until you feel better.

Just don’t leave. That would be sad.

If I were to write a summary of 2011, well, we’d be here a long time. Both because of the length of the post and because I would be hard pressed to put much of 2011 into words. Things happened that I can’t even coherently talk about to myself.

Regardless, it’s been one eye-opening, busy, fun, scary, exciting, wild ride. And we’re just getting started.

Here comes another year with all its challenges and opportunities. Check your chute, ’cause we’re going in.

Well. Month of the Novel is a comedy web series based on NaNoWriMo. The show chronicles the adventures of a writer and her characters as she attempts to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It was designed to give NaNoWriMo participants a hilarious five-minute break from writing each week in November.

Here’s the first episode.

And here’s the fourth episode, which is my personal favorite.

The series is now available on DVD on the official site, by the way. With a bonus episode written by yours truly. (Yeah, Jordan, that’ll scare ‘em away!)

(Here’s what she looks like.)

I craned my neck to see you soaring, or laid on my back in the tickly grass and dreamed as you changed shape before my eyes.

You filled my mind with whimsical thoughts and flights of fancy as you effortlessly hung high in midair, leaving me breathless.

So.

Why did you have to shatter into so many tiny pieces and drift down here for me to step on?

Why couldn’t you stay where you were so majestic to look at?

And why did you have to be so cold when you got here?

Sigh.

My dreams are torn apart when I realize you’re not what I let myself believe you were.

But I’ll keep believing it anyway…

Something changed recently and now I look forward to the rain. Seeing it on the forecast brightens my week. And I’m disappointed if a chance of showers doesn’t hold true.

But why?

Well, it’s pretty simple. Though I’m certain that she didn’t set out to do it, a friend of mine quietly taught me to appreciate God’s creation, merely by expressing her enjoyment of it. Because of her example, I reexamined my attitude.

I realized that God created the rainy days just as much as He created the sunny days. And both exist so we can take pleasure in praising Him for His creation.

So I decided I’d try to revel in the rainfall. Long story short, I’m now a crazy rain lover. I love feeling the rain soaking me, I love watching it come down, and I can’t resist jumping in puddles. Where I used to sigh heavily and say something like, “It’s raining,” I now exclaim, “Ooh! Look at the pretty rain!”

After all, why shouldn’t we delight in God’s creation? No matter if that delight leaves us drenched.