Author Archives: Wendy Lu

About Wendy Lu

My name is Wendy Lu. I love to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things. My notebook includes bits and pieces of poetry, random dialogue from overheard conversations and the occasional light bulb idea.

Friday, 05 February, 2010
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The Truth About Happiness

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” –Fredrick Keonig, German inventor of high-speed printing press

There is a woman that I know very well. She grew up in Wisconsin and now resides in the same town I do in North Carolina. Although she never went to college, she studied to become a realtor and also attended nursing school. She lives with nobody but her one cat and one dog, both whom she loves very dearly. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and taking care of her chestnut/apple trees, gladiolas, and the other beautiful plants that are so dearly tended over in her backyard. My friend absolutely loves food, especially ice cream. She is a playwright, nurse, and founder of the Recovery Room Players Christian acting group. She is the most religious person I have ever met.

On Wednesday, the doctor told her that she has a brain tumor. A few days beforehand, she discovered a lump on her temple and immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor. After taking X-ray after X-ray and scan after scan (“Every organ in my body has been searched!” she exclaimed), it was confirmed that my friend has a brain tumor. The doctor will remove the tumor by surgery within just a few weeks and study it for any malignancy. When she told me all of this yesterday, she had a genuine smile on her face.
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Thursday, 04 February, 2010
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In the Spirit of NaNoWriMo

Every year, the National Novel Writing Month takes place in November. For those of you who have never heard of this contest before, let me introduce you to the basics:

  • write a novel or part of a novel of 50,000 words
  • write these 50,000 words within the course of 31 days
  • Quantity v.s. Quality = QUANTITY WINS!

Sounds pretty crazy, I know. And impossible. But guess what? After 3 years of attempting to reach this crazy, impossible goal, I finally won NaNoWriMo during November 2008. Literally minutes before the deadline. I am living proof that writing a novel of 50,000 words in one month is, in fact, possible.

And I’m not the only one. There are several people (see http://www.nanowrimo.org/) who have successfully written novels by surviving through this contest and have gone even farther to publishing their NaNo novels and becoming real authors.
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Wednesday, 03 February, 2010
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The Joys of Writing

I actually wrote this list on Sunday, July 5, 2009 when I was bored and wanted to write something mainly for the sake of writing. I hope you find this inspirational, especially if you are a blogger with blogger’s block. ;]

Why Write?
#1: You can express yourself freely in whatever way you choose. No matter if you write a dramatic play, a tragic storyline of two lovers, a journal entry about your day, or a poem simply about Twinkies, every word that flows out from your mind is a part of you in some way. Expression, in every way, is powerful.
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Tuesday, 02 February, 2010
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Crystal City

Having lived in North Carolina for the past ten years, it came to my attention quite early in the decade that NC simply does not receive a lot of snow during the wintertime. Almost every year, I have had to go through much disappointment from looking out the window and realizing that I will be having a snowless holiday season. Approximately three out of the ten years that I have lived here have I seen snow on the Southern grounds of North Carolina.

This is my eleventh year living in North Carolina. On Friday night, I looked outside and my eyes widened with disbelief. Everywhere, little specks of “white fluffy stuff” (quoted from a friend named Kyler) were flurrying madly all around. Indeed, the weatherman had done us justice, which is saying a lot considering the fact that he’d broken his promise of snow a few weeks ago. Only a couple hours later, my entire lawn was invisible underneath a soft bed of snow. Car windshields were covered, as were the roofs of houses, mailboxes, and driveways.
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Monday, 01 February, 2010
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The Red Angel

Last year, my friend Joseph and I failed an attempt at making a Rock band. Although that attempt completely went down the drain, it got my creative juices flowing and I began to imagine what it would be like to have my own real Rock band.

I pondered over the band name the most. What title would sound mysterious, meaningful, and “must-have” in a music lover’s collection all at the same time? I thought of quite a few good, solid names but none of them really meant anything to me. There was no symbolism.

I’m not sure how I came up with The Red Angel. As I recall, my first thoughts wandered towards Evanescence (even though that band is actually Metal, not Rock), and then their song Call Me When You’re Sober. I fantasized being the lead singer Amy Lee and having male guitarists surrounding me. Embarrassing, I know. Then somehow the idea of an Angel came to my mind; what if I had wings? And, somehow in my mind, one moment I was wearing Amy Lee’s gorgeous red-wine gown from CMWYS. Then next moment, the gown had started melting into blood instead. The idea of A Red Angel was born.
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Sunday, 31 January, 2010
1

Are You There, Audience? It’s Me, The Red Angel.

Hi everybody. My mind tends to wander around a lot. I often burst out into peals of laughter during random moments and I end up getting odd looks. Comfort foods include macaroni and cheese, Smartfood popcorn (White Cheddar), and potatoes. I’m a journalist.

I am a daughter, a sister, a lover, and a best friend.

My greatest fear is death. While the entire world is turning, I frantically wish for it to be turning the opposite direction. Having come too close with death’s embracing arms quite a few times, I have come to truly understand how valuable life is. Just imagining what it is like to truly be dead–no ability to move or even think–makes my face go white and my entire body shiver.

But I’m not really here to talk to you about the despondent characteristics of death. Quite the contrary, actually. I do have a purpose in creating this blog, though it is as hard to explain as it is for me to, say, bake lasagna. Now, I’m not exactly a good cook, so by my standards that’s pretty hard. Even I’m sort of unsure as to what my goals are…I suppose I’d like to share my knowledge and thoughts with the world through the experiences that I have had. My lifelong goal, in fact, is to use my writing to make the world a better place where people accept each other’s differences. Carpe diem. Live life to the fullest. Love. That’s the theme of this blog.

I’m thinking that this blog just may be a big step towards that ambition.

I thoroughly enjoy comments and other feedback. Follow me, if you wish. I take criticism pretty well and do my best to learn from my mistakes. This is not my first blog, but it is my first publicly-displayed blog. I am pretty excited about sharing my thoughts with you. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy blogging. =]

Oh yeah, and let me introduce myself. Hello there, you can call me The Red Angel.
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