Hey kids,
Come on by and enter my super awesome writing contest on Facebook. The winner gets to call them selves "award winning writer" and the losers get to have fun. It's simple and dumb. Check out my stories in 100 post for what I did for my last contest.

This contest: Personification!


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169181446207


It's time for a new contest boys and girls, and with October here we at Team John Saccenti think the theme is obvious. A horror story in four rhyming couplets written in the style of T.S. Eliot, but translated in to Spanish, and then back into English. Allusions to Don Quixote must be implied, but not obvious.

Never mind. Too artsy.

OK. Personification. Make something come alive. Describe the hell out of it. Anthropomorphize until your little heart's content. We don't care what it is, but make that beer, or chair, or house, or ax, or knife (wait, it is October so make it scary if you want to) come alive with awesomeness.
The usual 100 word or less rule applies, so make it tight.

Winner gets bragging rights onthe Internets and a line on their resume if they want (just call me for a reference!)

This is a very cool idea.

[quote="JohnnyJIt's time for a new contest boys and girls, and with October here we at Team John Saccenti think the theme is obvious. A horror story in four rhyming couplets written in the style of T.S. Eliot, but translated in to Spanish, and then back into English. Allusions to Don Quixote must be implied, but not obvious.quote]

Didn't even try the T.S. Eliot part, but here goes the rest. A horror story, in four rhyming couplets, with implied allusion to Don Quixote:

A Visit with Montesinos

I was trying to explore a cave
When the rope’s anchor suddenly gave

A tumble, screaming, through the dark;
A meeting with a gory, carnivorous Snark

Rescued by a gallant knight,
Spent a week in underground castle bright

Pulled from cave after less than a day
All just a dream—or so they all say.

Translated into Spanish:

Una Visita con Montesinos

Ensayando a explorar una caverna
Cuando subito se agoto mi ancla

Una caida, gritando, a la sombra
Un encuentro con una Snark sangrienta y carnivera

Salvando por valiente caballero
Paso una semana en radiante castillo subterraneo

Saco a la caverna despues de poco tiempo
Sueno mero fue—tanto dicen todo el mundo

Translated back into English (gaining a bit of formality along the way)

A Visit With Montesinos

I was essaying to explore a cave
When suddenly away my anchor gave

A fall, shouting, into the gloom
An encounter with a Snark, bloody omen of doom

Saved by a valiant knight
Spent a week in subterranean castle of light

Tugged from the cavern after but little time
They say twas all merely a dream of mine

That smoke you see is coming from my now short circuited brain.

This is IMWAN--you've got to be very careful what you ask for, even in jest.

I hereby make you an "Award Winning Writer."

Use your new title to make your friends and family envious of your skill. But act humble. Always act humble.

Actually I'm nervous about letting my mom see this. She's bound to find mistakes in the Spanish.

But thanks for the nice words anyway!

Daphne, you get serious kudos for that one.

Funny how writing challenges can get your juices flowing. I had a college teacher who would give you a random-sounding phrase and challenge you to write a story incorporating it. Or write a poem that incorporated a previously unfamiliar word you had just found in the dictionary. I'll have to show this to him.

Wow.

That was neat.

You guys should come over and write something. I have one whole entry so far! I'm still working on my masterpiece. But be warned, when I unlease it,the Internet will quake, dictionarys will tremble and English teachers will blush.

Don Quijote poem

As a big fan of the erstwhile Alonso Quijano, your poem made me