Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Chapter: Doris is Coming

Packer fills the pages of the book with so many metaphors, similes, and vivid story telling techniques that it makes the reader feel like they are actually in the story. She starts off the chapter describing that the "speeding Buicks and Fords on Montgomery Road sounded like an ocean". As a reader, I'm actually able to hear the roaring of those cars in my head. Later in the chapter, where Doris and her family walk to Stutz's, Packer describes a chill that goes through Doris, "as if she didn't have a coat on at all". I can feel that chill!

She uses a variety of ways to describe the characters in the chapter. Instead of generically listing what Reverend Sykes looks like, she instead says, "Girls who spend most of the service wondering whether Reverend Sykes conked his hair or if it was naturally wavy" and "He could look thirty or forty or fifty, depending on how he smiled and for whom".

Packer incorporates quotes that really help develop the story, especially the passion in the church scene. As the reader, I feel like I'm actually at the church, listening to the sermon by the Reverend and sitting next to people "on their feet" in the pews shouting, "Preach it, Brother!".

After reading the chapter, I feel like I know Doris. Packer enables me to feel like I go to school, church, and Stutz's with Doris, and that I personally know Livia. 

My favorite line in the whole chapter came at the end. "The sky had just turned her favorite shade of barely lit blue, the kind that came to windows when you couldn't get back to sleep but couldn't quite pry yourself awake."

Word of the Week #7

Word:
brusque

Original Context:
Critics have questioned Bolton's brusque style and whether he could be an effective public servant who could help bring reform to the U.N. (breitbart.com)

Definition:
Rudely abrupt, unfriendly.

New Context:
He could not believe how brusque the girl was after he asked her out on a date.

Mystery Character

Answering to a name not given to her at birth, she is most desired for the preferred hair color of blonde. Her voluptuous figure earned her a cover on Playboy in 1953, the first issue to be exact. She was a Hollywood starlet, who when not working, was said to wear nothing but a bathrobe. She screamed sex appeal which she not only shared with millions of fans,  but the 3 men who were married to her throughout the years., Among those were a hall of fame baseball player, and an iconic author. She is considered one of the greatest movie stars of all time yet her time was cut tragically short. The last time her lisp, breathless voice was publicly and widely heard was a serenade at Madison Square Garden, however, most women prefer her take that diamonds are girl's best friend.

Word of the Week #4

Ausforming

Original Context: Ausformed parts have superior mechanical properties

Definition: Steel formed into desired shapes within controlled ranges of temperature and time 

New Sentence: The structure was not sound due to the lack of ausformation in it's foundation.

Word of the Week #3

Dissent

Original Context: Not every case has a dissent. It is your job to figure out whether there is one or not.

Definition (for the context): A justice's refusal to concur with the opinion of a majority, as a on a higher court.

New Sentence: After reviewing the intimate details of the case, I did not find a dissent for the ultimate ruling of Nicholson v. McClatchy (1986)

Word of the Week #2

Malapropism

Old Context: In the course of conversation, a friend used the word malapropism. He said, "My mom told me that I continually demonstrate malapropism. 

Definition of Malapropism: an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously , esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound

New Context: Malapropism from an English teacher is disappointing. 

Telling Details

A little girl lost with her platinum hair extensions parted neatly down the middle, woven intricately and tight. Oversized silver rings on every finger, not one of value, but they match the the heavy cuff clasped around her left wrist. An unbecoming bra dripping gunmetal sequins with matching bottoms. They reflect the light and flicker illuminatingly.  Black fishnet stockings that form miniature diamonds run down her leg and are tucked into knee-high velour stiletto boots. Body is untoned but freshly bronzed. Sculpted abs have strategically been painted on, darker shadows in all the right places, at all the right angles.

She moves her weathered hands down her hips and creeps lethargically across the embellished stage. Bleeding awkwardness. Trying so hard. Trying so hard to revert back to a time when she loved herself.  A lackluster effort because, as everyone can see, she is nothing short of petrified. Amber eyes that are beautifully pained. Outlined in black in an effort to camouflage the hollowness where focus and drive used to penetrate through.