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Quotable Cafe
It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky… a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe.
—
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Participants
This is the Participants Page for the 2008 November/December Project: Jewels. It will be updated until the Project closes..
Option One: Pick Three
Fewer and fewer Americans possess objects that have a patina, old furniture, grandparents’ pots and pans, the used things, warm with generations of human touch, essential to a human landscape. Instead, we have our paper phantoms, transistorized landscapes. A featherweight portable museum.
~Susan Sontag
- Cat Views, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
- What Letters Are Made Of, by A~Lotus
- Brittle Yesterdays, by Gemma
- Jeweled Letter, by Niebla
- Time Tested, by Becca
- Pieces of the Landscape of My Youth, by sister AE
Option Two: Can You Picture That?
- My Three Girls, by Bobbi
- Dancing Through Time, by sister AE
- Something Old, by Melissa A. Bartell
Option Three: Poetry
Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all.
~Mark Twain
- Heirloom Damonds, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
- Like Second-Hand Diamonds, by Gemma
- Second Hand, by sister AE
- Got Holiday Spirit?, by Linda
- Frozen Foods and Filly Friends, by Linda
- Different Kinds of Blood Diamonds, by Richard
Option Four: Fiction
All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.
~Federico Fellini
- Autobiographical Art, by Snack
- Broken Promise, by Medhini
- The Pearl Bracelet, by Rob Kistner/li>
Option Five: Timed Writing
I don’t want to own anything until I know I’ve found the place where me and things belong together. I’m not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it’s like…. It’s like Tiffany’s…. Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it’s tacky to wear diamonds before you’re
forty…
~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
(spoken by the character Holly Golightly)
- My Grandmother’s Pearls, by Melissa A. Bartell
- This Place, by James Steerforth
Option Six: Seven Things
Some men’s memory is like a box where a man should mingle his jewels with his old shoes.
~George Savile
- Memory Box, by Bobbi
- Box of Me, by Melissa A. Bartell
- Stranger, by Rob Kistner
Don’t forget to comment here with your name, the title of your piece, the selected option number, and the direct link to it. Also, please note: since the database was destroyed and I’ve had to reconstruct, you’ve ALL become first-time posters again, so your comments will be queued for approval.
Also? There’s still time to submit to this Project. Follow this link for the actual prompts.
HAPPY WRITING
Welcome to the November/December Project at Cafe Writing!
On Friday, November 7th, I accidentally blew away the entire database, and then a server glitch at my host rendered it impossible to recover it. Thanks to Google’s cached pages, I’ve reconstructed most of the Project and Participants pages, but in the interest of time and sanity, have not gone back and re-linked all the old submissions - anything earlier than July/August won’t have links, just a list of titles and participants. I apologize for this.
As a result of the db debacle, we have a new design, and a few new features. One of them is the “Quotable Cafe” widget in the right side of the menu. I’ll be inputting the quotations used in each project, and they’ll show up there on a random basis. It’s both an interesting piece of history (to see what’s been used) and may help find inspiration later.
Also new: Beginning with this month, I’m inviting all of you to participate in a new way, by submitting your own photos to be used in the “Can You Picture That” option. Our own Janet is this month’s contributor.
The Holiday Project will begin on the 7th of December, and run just past the beginning of the New Year. Last year our holiday theme was “Tradition and Ritual,” this year, I’m thinking it will be “Family & Community.” The January Project theme is “Fresh!”
This Project will run through December 6th, and the theme is Jewels. It’s inspired by a gift I received from my mother before I went to my writing workshop in San Francisco: my grandmother’s pearls. You are free to interpret the theme more metaphorically, but I like the notion of hand-me-down jewelry and art and antique pieces that have history and meaning.
Option One: Pick Three
Fewer and fewer Americans possess objects that have a patina, old furniture, grandparents’ pots and pans, the used things, warm with generations of human touch, essential to a human landscape. Instead, we have our paper phantoms, transistorized landscapes. A featherweight portable museum.
~Susan Sontag
Pick at least three of the following words, and build a piece of writing around them. The form is up to us: poem, scene, flash-fic, essay, or general blog entry.
essential, furniture, landscape, museum, paper, patina, possess, touch, warm
Option Two: Can You Picture That?
Use the following photo to inspire a piece of writing in any form (poetry, prose, whatever).
(Please remember to copy the image to your own server, and include photo credit when it is known.)
Option Three: Poetry
Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all.
~Mark Twain
Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about second-hand diamonds.
Option Four: Fiction
All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.
~Federico Fellini
Using the above quotation as your inspiration, write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving pearls.
Option Five: Timed Writing
I don’t want to own anything until I know I’ve found the place where me and things belong together. I’m not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it’s like…. It’s like Tiffany’s…. Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it’s tacky to wear diamonds before you’re forty…
~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
(spoken by the character Holly Golightly)
Take eleven minutes (use all eleven, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of the place where me [you] and things belong together.
This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format - fiction, essay, verse - is welcome.
Option Six: Seven Things
Some men’s memory is like a box where a man should mingle his jewels with his old shoes.
~George Savile
In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.
Give me seven things that would be (or are) in your memory box. In this case, the box can be literal, and hold jewelry, or other special trinkets and treasures, or metaphoric. You’re not required to explain the items in your list, but it’s more fun for readers if you do.
Don’t forget to comment here with your name, the title of your piece, the selected option number, and the direct link to it. Also, please note: since the database was destroyed and I’ve had to reconstruct, you’ve ALL become first-time posters again, so your comments will be queued for approval.
HAPPY WRITING
Option One: Can You Picture That?
Photo Credit: Jef Poskanzer
- House, Perhaps Abandoned, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
- Lost, by Rob Kistner
Option Two: Poetry
Witch and ghost make merry on this last of dear October’s days.
~ Author Unknown
- Bloody Sue (Reprise), by Rob Kistner
- Reaper Groom, by Rob Kistner
- Of Witches and Ghosts, by Bobbi
Rules? (In Which Jeremy Ignores Them, to Good Effect), by Jeremy
Option Three: Fiction
“There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.”
~ George Carlin
- Feral Love, by J.C. Montgomery
- Family Dinner, by Lissa
- #22, by Wine Dark Sea
- The Howling Moon, by Bobbi
- Judgement of the Moon, by sister AE
Option Four: Timed Writing
Halloween wraps fear in innocence,
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat…
~ Nicholas Gordon
- Rosy Encounter, by Medhini
Option Five: Seven Things
“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.”
~ Arthur Conan Doyle
- Fear of the Dark, by A~Lotus
- Seven Things That Scare Me, by Bobbi
- Seven Fears, by Medhini
- Seven Scary Things, by Janet
Option Six: Pick Three
A house is never silent in darkness
to those who listen intently;
there is a whispering in distant chambers,
an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window,
the latch rises.Ghosts were created when the first man
woke in the night.
~ J. M. Barrie
Project words: awoke, chamber, distant, ghost, house, listen, still, whisper, window
- Haunting, by Snack
- White Chamber, by Niebla
- Day of the Dead, in La Paz, by Susana
- Whispers, by Janet
- Haunting, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
- Ghostly Moans, by Bobbi
- White Cats, by Richard Wells
- Scented, by Melissa A. Bartell
Folks…
During some maintenance of my account earlier tonight, the mysql database for this site was irretrievably lost.
I have some of the templates, and I /think/ I have the Halloween prompt page, but all your links have been lost.
Please comment on this post with your links ONLY for the Halloween Post, and accept my apologies. We’ll be starting with new prompts later this weekend; I hope you’ll stick with me.
