Summer Writing Ideas

HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A FANTASTIC SUMMER! We’re about halfway through the summer already (say whaaat!) and if that summertime boredom has already sunk in, or if you are just feeling very inspired or you are looking for some writing ideas... check out some of the summer writing ideas brought to you by the Tapestry/Manuscript Staff:

- Write a story using only one syllable words
- Write about the mundane from a new perspective
- Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites and write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.
- Create a short story that is 26 sentences long, each sentence beginning with the next letter of the alphabet.
- Describe the room of one of the following: a high school student about to drop out; a cashier who has just won the lottery; a faded movie star who still thinks she's famous; a paranoid person, etc .... or use these as perspectives to write from
Create a writing challenge for yourself... write a haiku every morning (like our guest speaker Amanda does), write a poem or vignette a day, etc.

- This website has 346 “creative” writing prompts... can’t say that we reviewed them all, but maybe you will find something that sounds interesting.

...and when all else fails, try writing about your dreams.

AND, if you are looking for some competition or are hoping to get a chance to see your work published, this site: http://www.newpages.com/npguides/young_authors_guide.htm, has some great opportunities.

Have a great summer! Relax and enjoy it while it lasts!

Get To Know Your Staff: Emily Quinn

1. Name: Emily Quinn
2. Favorite Thing About Tapestry: I love the open mic sessions.
3. Spirit Animal: Cat.
4. Coffee vs. Tea: Hot chocolate.
5. Favorite Summer Jams: Florence & The Machine, Coldplay, The Beatles.
6. Last Concert I Went To: Rooney at Shadyside's 'Untucked'. I think that counts?
7. Favorite Book: It's a tie between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Book Thief, The Hunger Games, I Capture the Castle, and The Fault In Our Stars.
8. Favorite Writer: J.K. Rowling is kind of a given for me, so I'm not really sure. I like John Green and Chuck Palahniuk. 
9. Favorite Restaurant: I don't have a favorite restaurant in particular, but I really like old-timey diners.
10. If I Were To Have A Superpower: Stealing other people's superpowers. Or talking to animals.
11. Favorite SNL Cast Member: Currently Taran Killam or Seth Meyers.
12. Favorite TV Show: Tie between American Horror Story and Game of Thrones. Doctor Who is also a competitor. 
13. Favorite Movie: V for Vendetta, Inception, The Fall, The Avengers, The Breakfast Club.
14. If I Could Be One Fictional Character: Almost 100% Hermione Granger.
15. Hidden Talent/Little Known Fact: It's not exactly hidden, but I'm a fair whistler.
16. Favorite Disney Song: Part of Your World.

GET TO KNOW YOUR STAFF: Alyssa Edition

1. Nombre? Alyssa

2. Role in Tapestry: Head of Marketing

3. My favorite thing about Tapestry is... Discovering the talent that hides deep within FCAHS

4. Spirit animal: flamingo

5. Coffee vs. tea and why... Neither! I've burned my tongue too many times and now I have a fear of all hot beverages.

6. Favorite summer jams.. Too many to list. I'll start with Santigold, Foster the People, and of course Dave Matthews Band.

7. Last concert I went to: Passion Pit .. Aka Passion Arm Pit

8. Favorite book: Confessions of a Shopaholic. Just kidding...

9. Favorite fruit: PEARS

10. Favorite vegetable: broccoli

11. Favorite restaurant: probably Aladdin's in Squirrel Hill

12. If I were to have a superpower it would be... Telepathy or the ability to fly

13. Most frequently misspelled words?  Being and foreign

14. Favorite Beyonce song: Single Ladies

15. Favorite SNL cast member: Amy Poehler, but I have to admit that I don't often watch.

16. Favorite 90's tv show: Drake and Josh

17. Finish the proverb... As you'd like
   A(n)___Apple___ a day keeps the __doctor___ away.
   A(n)___quarter__ saved is a(n) ___twenty five cents__ earned.
   Early to __bed____, early to __rise___ makes a(n)__monkey__ healthy, wealthy, and wise.

18. What is the most important part of a submarine sandwich? The bread

19. Creative Medium of Choice: pencil

20.  Hidden talent/ little known facts: I can recite the alphabet backwards

Senior Staff 2012-2013/ Manuscript

From the desk of Mrs. Green:

Next year I will be launching a new satellite club to Tapestry: introducing Manuscript!! (Naming rights go to Margaret Saunders '12). Manuscript will be a peer writing tutorial group located in room 176. Students will be encouraged to get writing tutoring from AP level Juniors and Seniors every day during QRT. I look forward to a great year with this change.

Next year's senior staff will consist of the following students:

Seniors
Cara Costanzo- Submissions
Alyssa Gurklis- Marketing
Jadie Hanley- Art Liaison
Yingge Li- Communications and Treasurer
Sam Schanwald- Editor-in-Chief
Eddie Schwartz- Grammarian and Head Manuscript Tutor
Jennifer Stewart- Secretary

Seniors New to QRT (roles subject to change)_
Sarah Bradley- Manuscript Tutor
Kelly Capone- Social Coordinator/ Manuscript Tutor
Matt Mendelson- Photoshop Layout Assistant
Emily Quinn- Manuscript Tutor
Bennett Graves- Manuscript Tutor

Juniors (roles subject to change)
Emily Katz- Social Coordinator/ Manuscript Tutor
McKenna Trimble- Head Layout Designer/ Manuscript Tutor
Adlai Nelson- Apprentice/ Manuscript Tutor
Juliet Millard- Apprentice/ Manuscript Tutor
Marisa Acevedo- Apprentice
Lauren Mangis- Apprentice

Sophomores - Apprentices
Jaagrit Randhawa
Faith Kim
Megan Markovitz
Emily Fabiszewski

Applications for Senior Staff 2012-2013

If you would like to apply to be a Senior Staff member for next year, please pick up a form from the door of room 176. Forms are available as of today!

Consider the questions below:

A commitment to Senior Staff involves being in the Tapestry QRT for regular duties according to your assigned job. In addition, you are asked to commit 1-2 QRTs per week, a minimum of one day during Spring Break, time after or before school, and class time for guest speakers and field trips. Please be sure you are able to commit the time before applying.

Why do you want to be a member of Tapestry Senior Staff?

What skills could you contribute to Senior Staff?

List any experience you have had that has helped you to prepare to be a member of the Tapestry Senior Staff:

What sets you apart from other potential Tapestry Staff members?

Why do you think Tapestry is important to the school and community?

Are you a current member of Tapestry? Have you attended any Tapestry Events?  What have you done this year to familiarize yourself with the magazine? Have you explored our Blog (thetapestryblog.blogspot.com)?

What extra-curricular activities are you involved with? What kind of commitment do these activities require? How would you manage your time?

Do you have any experience with the following. Rate yourself 1 (lowest)-10 (highest) for proficiency with the following:

            InDesign _______

            Photoshop _______

            Excel/ Numbers for finances _______

            Excel/ Numbers for Data Merging _______

            GMail contacts/ Google Docs _______

            Blogging _______

Please get the signature of two teachers as references:

____________________________       ______________________________

A final acceptance letter

Congratulations to the writers and artists featured in the Tapestry 2012 issue! If you would like to see who is being featured in our book this year, stop by QRT 176 to check the list posted on the door.

The Tapestry staff would like to thank all who submitted their work this year. This year's issue is packed with talent, and we couldn't have put it together without the help of our club members and our editing staff. We hope to see you enjoying the book for the first time at our publication party in a few weeks!

Making the 2012 Magazine-- an inside look!

Last weekend, we, the Tapestry senior staff, dedicated a whole day to putting together the 2012 Tapestry magazine.  But this was no ordinary meeting.  As we entered Mrs. Green's room on the last day of Spring Break, we saw the room set up in a whole new way.  The desks were all pushed back to the outskirts of the room, and spread out all across the floor was what will become, with our hard work and dedication, the 2012 Tapestry magazine!  At first, the floor was simply a collage of poems and pictures on white printer paper, in no particular order.  But these poems and pictures are not just poems and pictures; they are the best pieces of literature and artwork that the students of Fox Chapel have to offer.

We spent the beginning of the meeting walking in between rows of these pieces.  We got a closer look at each poem and the picture it was paired with.  After some silent thinking and group discussions, we figured out the best combinations of picture and poem.  This process ensured that each pair was compatible in theme, mood, and topic, and this is important because each of these pairs will make up a full page spread in the magazine.

After finding a picture to fit with every poem, and vice versa, we set about forming the order of the pairs, while taking alot of factors into consideration.  We had to make sure that the color themes of each pair matched with those before and after it, that the strongest pieces were spread evenly throughout, that there were not too many long poems or too many short poems in a row, and that there were not too many sad poems or happy poems back to back.  Forming the order of pages was the bulk of the meeting and also the most challenging, but after a good amount of discussing and sliding pairs of one picture and one poem (or maybe even 2 pictures!) around the floor, we had found the perfect order of pairs for the magazine.

Having accomplished one of the biggest parts of putting together the magazine, we got to enjoy a delicious lunch of Chinese take-out!

Getting back business, we voted on the pictures for the front and back covers of the magazine.  We chose a format for the table of contents and the labeling of each piece.  And lastly, in closing of our meeting, we voted on the format of the senior staff page, as the last page in the magazine is dedicated to the senior staff every year.

Not many people know the work that goes into making the Tapestry magazine, but now you know what goes on behind the scenes in the making of it.  And with that you'll see how every color and every page in the book has a reason, vote, and/or discussion behind it. 

So, are you ready for the 2012 Tapestry magazine?!