Neener's Travel Blog

Another non-fiction writing course composition. This project was a revision of the manifesto we did a while back. ( http://shaneenstravels.blogspot.ca/2016/01/new-year-new-adventures.html ) This is based on a true story - one of the greatest nights I've spent with some of my best friends. The night we chased the storm. The Greatest Adventure Story The night was enticing and full of potential. A storm raged outside, a call to the heart of an adventurer.  However, the young band of heroes curled up safe and dry in their lair, where the sounds of the wind and rain could not reach them.  The adventurers were taking a night off of their usual daring deeds, choosing instead to idly watch the night pass them by.             The hero of a great adventure story must be more interested in experiencing life than they are in merely passing the time.  Excitement comes far more easily and frequently to the active adventurer...

One of our recent assignments was to write a short composition about dogs, so of course I had to write about one of the most important woofers in my life.  So, Kado, here's to you, you little sassypants. *photo credit to Travis T.  And also Kado, for being such a darn cute model.                 I lie down, but I am still wide awake.  I keep my eyes locked on the door and my head tilted, listening for any sound.  They’ve been gone for, I don’t know, at least twelve days if I had to take a guess.  I’ve been trapped here since they left, and I’m nearly out of food and water.  There’s no end in sight, and I’m beginning to lose hope.                 To pass the time I think back on the good ol’ days.  It seems like just yesterday we were passing the ball around, going for walks, cuddling on the couch, eating together, laughing t...

(Another marvel written for school.)                 The scratching of the pen contrasts with the smoothness of the ink gliding over the page.  The strokes, both dramatic and detailed, slowly grow fainter as the end of the line is reached.  The pen is dipped into the inkwell, renewing its supply for the next line.                 In their original context of the Victorian Era, being wielded by a dapper gentleman in a tailored suit to write letters of great import in a grand and tastefully decorated study, dip pens seem elegant and dignified.  Their continued use in this modern age, though, seems old fashioned and perhaps even a bit pretentious.  To me, however, dip pens represent so much more what a writing instrument is meant to be than a fountain pen or (the horror!) a ballpoint pen.  A writing instrument is the extension of the write...

(Just a fun little writing project from my class to keep you warm on this wintry day.) Winter can be a tough time for everyone.  Days are shorter and often darker, bringing about seasonal doldrums.  The annual battle against the elements is a struggle felt by everyone, whether working out in the blizzards, driving on the icy roads, or hauling a toboggan up the slippery hill.  When the frosty grasp of winter works its way past toques and scarves and settles into the bones, the cold can seem impossible to escape.   But fear not!  There is yet a beacon of light and warmth in the vast wintry plains, a small comfort, bringing hope to even the most frozen of winter sufferers.  It is hot chocolate!  That glorious miracle of a delicious hot beverage, come to restore feeling to the extremities and joy to the heart.   In the beginning days of hot chocolate, Mayans and Aztecs believed the drink to have medicinal properties, probably du...

My last writing assignment of last semester was to write a manifesto.  The topic could be as broad or specific as we wanted - topics chosen by my classmates ranged from general advice on how to live a good life to enjoying rain to internet trolling...quite the range of characters we have in that little class. Honestly, this assignment was giving me a lot of issues, and I still am not happy with the way it turned out.  There's maybe two lines in this whole composition that I'm mildly proud of.  However, the message behind it, I am entirely supportive of (obviously, or I wouldn't have made it into a manifesto).  So, here it is, my manifesto for adventure. Manifesto for Adventure                 Nowadays, people are focussed on all the wrong things: money, status, acquiring material possessions.  People are surviving and thriving, but no one is really LIVING .  As residents of t...

The last  assignment  in my writing course was a memoir/narrative.  I honestly had such a difficult time choosing an event in my life to write about.  There was so much to choose from, but at the same time I couldn't think of anything worth putting into a story that people would want to read.  So I picked the most recent, emotionally charged event in my life.  In September I went to Edmonton Expo with a few of my very best friends. And this is the tale of what happened (cut down to approximately 800 words...it started out at 1300, and that still didn't include all the details...).  (Shout out to Alex for his pro editing skills - you da bomb diggity.) Meeting Clara                 This was it - I was going down.  My body was swaying and my vision was going dark.  It had gotten to be too much and I was seriously going to pass out.      ...

This year I'm taking a course called WRITE 298: Creative Non-Fiction Writing.  It's my favourite course this semester because I essentially get to write blog posts for school and so all the assignments are FUN.  Yes, I am describing school work as fun.  That's how great it is. So, throughout the year (it's a full year course, wonderfully enough), I'll be sharing some of my writings.  Here's our first assignment: a description of place.  Despite the short time my DTS outreach group spent in Kolkata, that city still stands out vividly in my mind - perhaps more vividly than other place I've been.  So, even though I haven't been there in a year and a half, and have hardly any pictures to look back on, it was easy to remember and write about. The Fabric of India The first glimpses of the city are overwhelming, and I’d almost be glad for the barrier of the taxi window between me and this new place, if it wasn’t for the stuffiness of the incense-choked ...

I am getting exhausted. I've gotten tired and worn out several times on this trip. Exhausted in every way - physically, spiritually, emotionally. And every time I think this is it, that I can't go on anymore, God leads me back to Psalm 23. It seemed cliche, until I realized that, despite being one of those overused/not fully understood verses, it is still God's word. He can use it to speak to me and encourage me. And there is so much solid truth and encouragement in these six verses. I wrote my own version of the Psalm (using NIV) today during my quiet time, when God led me to this passage yet again. My 23rd Psalm The Lord is my shepherd. I am a part of his flock and I am valuable to him. He watches over me and sees everything that is going on around me. He provides shelter and food and water and everything that I need. He protects me from dangerous terrain and from predators lying in wait to attack me. With him I lack nothing. When I am with him, there is nothing th...

She peeled her face off the concrete alleyway, bits of gravel embedded into her cheek.  She blinked her gritty eyes and squinted into the pale light of early morning, trying to bring the world into focus.  Beginning to sit up, a wave of nausea roiled in her stomach, making her collapse back onto her face.  A headache like an ax cleaving through her skull pounded in her temples.  Taking a slow, deep breath, she pushed herself up to her knees; the alleyway whirled around her from the effects of the previous nights orgy.  Come to think of it, she had no clue how she had ended up out here.  But that wasn't a first. Then, all of a sudden, it was coming and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  She leaned over and puked her guts out, retching until there was nothing left.  She didn't notice that her backpack was beside her until she had quite sufficiently covered it in vomit.  Perfect.  It probably wasn't disgusting enough already; it ...