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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Writing Prompt: 12/24/09

Happy Holidays, everyone! January classes with the amazing teacher, Aaron Henne, are now almost completely full:
Even though Xmas is over, Writing Pad gift certificates are always available in any amount, for specific classes, or as an open ended gift (to be applied to the class of your/your friend's/loved one's choice).

Email marilyn@writingpad.com for more info. or call 323-333-2954.
Writing Prompt: Make a list of 3 traditions that you have for the holidays. Add a sensory detail to one of them (smell, taste, touch, sound, sight). Write about that tradition for 10 minutes.

My tradition is to go to the movies and eat Chinese food on Christmas Day. I don't get many presents, but it's so relaxing! Plus I love the buttery smell of popcorn of movie theaters.

Comment on this blog! Write about a holiday tradition. It can be a sentence or a mini story. I will respond with what I like and remember and you will be entered in the December contest for a free class!

5 comments:

Writing Pad said...

Kristina!

I love this piece. The new tradition of going to Dockweiler Beach is great. I also love the gingerbrid cookies and the candelit service.

Very nice specificity!

Marilyn

Eden said...

Fruitcake is like crack to me. I appear to be the only one who feels that way. So much the better. I spend Christmas and the lugubrious days that follow packing in the re-gifted cake friends and family have been good enough to shovel my way. And you know what? It works. It forms a solid mass inside and fills up that feeling-sized hole that Christmas always seems to open up. On the other hand, I could stay thinner with crack.

Anonymous said...

Don't talk to me about fruitcake! Have you ever tried the English version? It comes with a layer of marzipan and a half inch of hard white icing, You can pretend that it's snow and place your tiny plastic santa, elves, sleigh and reindeer on top for a real, old-time Christmas experience. This is a great help in Southern California where I have found myself rushing into the house going, "Brr, it must be 56 degrees out there, let's start a fire," in order to simulate something magical. Six ounces of rum and brandy added to a Starbuck's eggnog can also help.

Writing Pad said...

Well well well! I love these stories! Thanks Eden and Anonymous.

Eden--I love the comparison of fruitcake to crack. I love the solid mass inside and that the narrator would be thinner with crack.

Anonymous--I love the ingredients (Marzipan, hard white icing). I also loved the rum and brandy.

Yum yum yum. Thanks for commenting!

Marilyn

Benny Blanch said...

Annually, since 2006, a group of myself and best friends have collaborated together to form a friend/family reunion meets music festival to form the rightfully titled: Walshstock. This event has transformed from it's humble beginnings as a graduation party pig roast into a beloved get together of hedonism, debauchery, and good old-fashion "catching up". In the middle of nowhere Vermont, where the trees outnumber anything a gazillon to one, the smells of pure arboreal life permeates your nostrils and sounds of crackling wood burning in a blazing bonfire as friends chatter and guitar rifts are wailed, reverberate in the hills of VT. These sensations of wilderness and freedom is definitely something I take for granted as I now spend my days in the smog filled haven known as LA, where the cars seem to outnumber the people with the same ratio.

This tradition has turned into THE thing to do of the summer and our love of the event has reached hundreds of people. Everyone gets out of the grind for a night to sleep in tents underneath the stars. We have local bands come and play (for free) and it's a very communal event where everyone shares everything. It's nice to see humanity interact in this giving way and personally brings hope to me that we can escape this greedy selfish way of life that so many fall trap to. Creating a tradition like this has become such a reward because I take pride and pleasure in hosting such a phenomenal event where people reconnect to celebrate life and fun. It makes me appreciate all of the amazing friends that I hold close to my heart and I hope that everyone can find some sort of tradition that recreates that feeling.