I LIVVVVVVVVVE!!!!!!

I cannot tell you how many times I've used that for a subject in emails these last few days. I kept trying to stay at least a little bit connected with the world over the holidays, but apparently that is not allowed. I'm still having problems not getting over 30 emails in my inbox every time I log in (ok, I know that for some of you, that is nothing. But for me, that's a whole stinking lot.) But I think I'm back this time, for real. I promise :P

Any ways, Christmas was a jolly old time. My parents spoiled us a ton this year, and I still haven't gotten to play around with all the different presents. Yeah, it was great fun. I think my favorite gifts so far would have to be the socks. From various people, I have received 6 pairs of awesome socks. With most of them to the knee, which just makes them cooler. I love them all, but my most favorite socks would be the green and white striped, thigh high, amazing sauce, ones. ^_^ *pure glee*

I promise that they go up to my thigh. I was just to lazy to change into a skirt for the photo opp.
Ignore my fat calves ^^;

Another of my awesome gifts would be a brand new, 4g, Flash Drive. W00t, w00t!
Because, when your old one looks like this...
A new one is a cause of great rejoicing.
It is very nice, and I love it.
See? It even opens up all coolly. But more importantly, it is not covered in duct tape, holding on to my key chain by a paper clip, and only 1g. ^_^

Some of you may have noticed that I only did 9 days of Christmas. Yeah.....about that. I got behind ok! I had approx. 20 gifts to make in two days (which I did btw.)
So yeah, sorry 'bout that. These unfortunate people shall be first in line for next year's program. ^^;

Speaking of gifts, now that Christmas is over, and therefore most people have opened their gifts, I shall start uploading pictures of all the things I made this year.
Also on this note, I may need a little favor. Some of you may have received your gifts without me getting a picture of them first (*cough cough* Sam and Daniel over at S.A.D. videos http://sadvideos.blogspot.com/) so I may either tackle you with camera in hand the next time I see you, or you could send me a pic with you showing of your awesome (ok, that is yet to be decided) gifts.

PS-My Christmas break did go lots better after that one day. LOADS! :D

Oh the joys of Christmas break!

So today, as you may have imagined, was the first day of Christmas break. Oh was it an adventure.

To start everything off, I slept through my alarm (I really, really need to figure out what curse makes that thing not work when it's important!) I awoke to my mother shouting up the stairs for me to wake up already. Yay for 10 minutes to get ready.
In addition, the head cold I have been fighting for the past few days won. With 9 hours of sleep, I felt exhausted. I was stuffy and my throat was starting to get all scratched up. Ugh.
Then, I discovered about twelve nashty zits that no make up in the world would hide. Last day of the semester. Perfect timing.
AND I had a hair day that made me want to shave it off.
So I was late to class. Joy.
The climax? Oh just some computer malfunction or something caused a bunch of work I had done on my multimedia project to be lost. And then the class room next to us started vacuuming, which somehow caused the fuse to blow. Sit on floor playing cards while waiting for new fuse. (ok, that part wasn't so bad) I then spent about half an hour trying to recover my work. Nothing. So I had to redo it all. Unfortunately, I didn't finish before the bell. Not by a long shot. This makes for some extra work next semester. *head desk*
On top of all this, when I got home and sat at the computer to relax a bit, my mother kindly informed me that I wouldn't be using the computer until I "cleaned up my life." I quote. Not only was that a bit insulting, but also translated to "you shall be cleaning and babysitting your sick brother while I go Christmas shopping." I mean, it's for my presents, so I can't complain too much, but it still wasn't the best time I've ever had.

grrrrrrrr.

Also, I think I might be insane. Less than a week to Christmas, one gift done >_<
Oh the hard core fail that is my face. What am I nuts!? The answer my friends, uh, and I guess every one else too, is muffins. ^_^

What? I likes muffins....

And the moral of the story? I reeeeeeaaaaaallllllly hope the rest of break goes loads better. If not, I think I will be forced to bake muffins, and throw them at people who are lame. Something about my plan is giving me the feeling that it will not end well. Please go better!

On a scale of 1 to lol

How much fail, on a scale from 1 to lol, would getting a piece of tissue stuck in one's eye for like a minute, all the while trying not to scream 'it burns', when one was trying to blow one's nose, rate?

The best answer wins. And, uh, the winner gets a prize. Not sure what. Anything from a virtual cookie, to me writing and performing a song. (disclaimer: I choose. Just because you win does not mean you can make me do something)

Yeah, no kidding, this really happened to me. And my eye still hurts. >_<

-----

In other news, food from Peru is reallllllllly weird. There is a Peruvian restaurant nearish my house, and my family went to eat there the other night. Just as an example, there was a dish with steak, eggs, and fried banana. And a dish with sliced hotdogs on frenchfries and salad. Yeah, it was strange. And let me tell you, their soda thing made out of purple corn is down right wrong. It being purple, your brain assumes it's grape. Then when you drink it, you are assaulted by cinnamon, with a bubble gum after taste. And it's sickeningly sweet. Ugh. Not going there again....

-----

Christmas is upon us. It is slightly frightening. I have so much to do to get ready. I was thinking about this, trying not to freak out at the presents alone, when I realized some of my Christmas decorations were still up from last year. Feel free to mock my laziness now. Hey! At least it saves me some time. And I might actually finish the presents, now that decorating is checked off the list.

-----
Hey hey! So I finally got a comic that I drew scanned well enough for da blog. Unfortunately, it's a sad picture. I don't know why I decided to draw Sarah (that particular character's name) all depressed, but a picture of her face like that popped into my head and so I drew it. (She is usually the happy-go-lucky oblivious to life's problems character)
Also, it's in black and white, seeing as the only thing I could use to color it would be paint, and there is no way I'm even going to attempt that one.
Another thing, if any of you are wondering (aka, everyone 'cept me, Anne, and Renee) she has a magical pet Mario star that follows her, and occasionally transforms into other amazing things.
And you'll also notice that she has no feet. That would be because A) I stink (ahhh, no pun intended) at drawing feet and B) that is also the edge of the page, because I didn't think I'd draw her whole body, so when I did decide that, there wasn't enough room.

Alrighty, I think that's all that's on the mind currently. Peace out! Rock on! etc.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

*drum roll* Natalie*! Yay!

Natalie is another of my sisters! (NOTE: in case anyone is confused, it goes Natalie, Renee, Anne, then me)

She is amazing! She has a very funny sense of humor, and it is great fun to talk to her on the phone. On the phone? Yes, sadly, she lives more than a few states away. *sad face* But, we still manage to have a fun time together, despite the distance. She and I talk about anything from the adventures of owning cats, to how my epic fantasy novel is going. Or the amusing difference in weather. Or whatever strikes our fancy. ^_^ She's a good mentor and great for life advice when I need it. Thanks a bunch!

Merry Christmas!

New to the 12 Days of Christmas? Read the post under that name to read all about it! Thanks peeps!

*once again, the name is changed.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas.....AND On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

Another double! I hate getting behind...

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today we have Tarrah*!

She is another NaNoer I know, and she is really good at writing as well. She and I are pretty similar in a lot of ways. She and I both get pretty crazy. It's nice to shoot her a message when there is drama this side of the world. Thanks for making me laugh!


On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Annnnnnnnddddddddd there's Buckle*! Woo!

He is an amazing older brother. He gives me a very good example and something good to shoot for. And even thought he's FOURTEEN years older than me (ahhh, all of a sudden that sounds like I'm calling him old, which I'm not. I'll get back to this) he still talks to me about the things I'm doing, and school or whatnot.
Ok, I'm back to it. What I meant by bringing up the age gap was that he gives it a little extra effort to be my friend. And when I say that he's 14 years older, that just makes me feel young. Like, really young. Because he's not old, which makes me young. He certainly doesn't look old, seeing as he isn't. It seems like he just got out of collage yesterday. He has an amazing wife, and three adorable kids (aunthood ^_^)
uh, yeah, I'm going to stop before I shove my foot any farther down my throat. The message we should all take away from this is that he is amazing, and I love him a lot.
And I think I might have to edit that ramble above this text. On second thought, I think I'll do that when I'm more awake. If I do it now, I think I'd just make it worse. Merry Christmas Buckle!

On another note, you may have noticed that I'm a little brain dead. I actually didn't say much about the peoples today. I love you guys! I promise I do love you just as much as all the people before your turn.
Then why are you doing this today, you ask. Well, because Christmas is nearing, and I want to get the pressents started, so that means you need to tell me, but to do that, I need to do this. So think of this as a poke to tell me what you want, and I'll actually do the shout out for you tomorrow, or whenever I'm mentally up to it. (That sounded really lazy and pathetic. meh, it is me we're talking about.)


Annnnnnnnnnnddddd I think that's all for now. Merry Christmas!

Oh I lied. One more thing. For those of you who are new/the people who forgot, read the post titled 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' or something like that to figure out what this is all about.

Now I thinks that's it. Another Merry Christmas!

*Tarrah is the name she uses on the interwebs, so I didn't change that. And Buckle is a nickname that my brother got a long while ago, so I guess that works, right?

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Annnnnnnnnndddd today we have..... Nathan*!

He is almost the most hilarious, and hard working person I know. (I can't decide who is the most :P) He is almost always happy, and usually hyper. I mean, everyone has their down days, but his outlook on life is pretty chipper. And he has a talent for cheering people up. He's the kind of person who if you're around him for too long, you'll laugh so hard you'll suffocate yourself for lack of being able to breath. Wait, suffocate, and lack of being able to breath. Redundant much? Anyway...
Thanks for being a good friend :D

Alrighty, so far you're the only person I've actually thought of a gift for, so you aren't required to pick one (see http://dorksideoftheforce.blogspot.com/2009/12/twelve-days-of-christmas.html), but you can if you want :)

*name changed.

A Fuzzy Attack, Dragon Kitties, and British Chocolate

TADA!!!!!! The completed NaNo scarf (see http://dorksideoftheforce.blogspot.com/2009/11/mad-ramblings-of-pied-out-dork.html) and a hat made using this (http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20081219)
AHHHHH! The amazing fuzziness! I love these things and wear them all around the house. And, I have ninja timing. It is now about 3 degrees out. *shiver*
Any way, the coolest part? I might just have enough to make some fingerless gloves! Oh the awesome! Unfortunately, this is my last project for me for a while. Christmas is nearing.

And then I mostly had fun with taking pictures :P


Dragon kitties... Ahhhhh the joys of babysitting. My mom picked up my niece and nephew and brought them home for us to watch. Haha, my nephew gets just as hyper as I do. So through a strange train of events, we've decided that we live in a castle, and all castles have to have a dragon right? So the youngins went in search of a dragon. All they found were cats. Not to be discouraged, our cats are now know as Dragon kitties. Yeah, that was random. Not really sure why I brought it up. Oh well, deal with it.

Ahhhhh the glories of British chocolate. Recently my dad went to London, and along with a few coins, he brought back some chocolate. You can see it pictured here. Well, the wrapper.
So, I tried it. I thought, 'Well, England and America are pretty similar. It's not like Finland or something. The chocolate can't be all that different either.'
So of course it was. I kid you not, that chocolate was like heaven. It was so very creamy, and had just the right hint of that dark chocolate zing. I was planning on stretching it out. Wow. I couldn't help it, I ate it all in just under a minute (not that I was timing myself.)
When I finished the last bite, I desperately searched the cupboards, hoping that he had brought more than one. But alas, it was not so.
My question is, how do the British make chocolate soooooo much better than us Americans? How? We are very similar in many ways, but why do they pass us in chocolate? I just don't understand it. And now, more than ever, I want to take a trip to England, if only to get a life time supply of that heavenly stuff.
The worst part? It's nigh on impossible for me to appreciate even the best American chocolate. What ho! Is this some sort of plot to win my loyalties over? I will resist your schemes to the bitter end!

For all of you who might have been wondering, I really do love England, and I'm not being some sort of racist. Just a joke. DON'T SPEAR ME! AHH! I SWEAR! I WAS KIDDING!!!!!
Oh, and as a slightly unrelated note, does any one here know how to make links in a post? Because just copy and pasting it isn't very, uh, high class per say.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Five golden rings,
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Anddddd....today we have, *can of amazing* Renee*!

She's just cool. She taught me how to persevere, even when others are questioning your goal, and even when you get discouraged and question your sanity. And she's just funny. Like, honestly hilarious. And she doesn't even try some days. She's got one of the hardest work ethics I've ever seen, which is cool and inspiring and all that.
This is hard. I'm trying to come up with something new for each person, but the problem is my friends are a lot alike, and awesome in very similar ways. This doesn't diminish their awesome, but it makes for a hard blog post :P
She gets all crazy with me, and my other sister Anne*. We just have blast when they both come from college for a visit. The best part? She's sevenish years older than me. She takes the time to hang out with her little sister, who's younger by a lot. ^_^

Pick yourself a gift! That was really bad grammar right there, but meh.

And as a general poke, only 2 out of 5 people have picked something. In all fairness, the fifth person was today, but that leaves two others. I love you, but consider yourself officially bugged about this. Christmas is nearing....
Sorry, I just have the creepy feeling that I'm going to be swamped this season trying to fit all the things I want to make in.

*name changed.

On the Third Day of Christmas.....AND On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Three French hens, two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

So, seeing as I'm sorta behind in all of this, you get two today! Lucky you!

The first one is....... Stephen*! He's a ninja. And he's convinced everyone that he's superman, but that's another story :P
He's basically awesome (I think I use that word too much. It's losing it's epicness.) He is a very good friend, has nearly killed me with laughter on quite a few occasions XD, and has also saved my bacon regarding a certain school project ^_^. And he has very good values. Not many people have, or when they do stick to, values these days. And that is a very apreciated by me. So keep rocking, and for the record, ninjas rule *high fives*

Go choose your gift ^_^

On the forth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree...

So, on the fourth day, we have Anne* of amazingness. She, wow. Out of all the people I know, she is the one that has influenced me for good the most. If anyone's wondering, she is also my older sister, so Samantha*, I loves you like a sister, but my real/blood sister gets that title (of most influence for good.) She taught me the difference between true happiness and self fufillment, and a plastered-on smile and popularity. Thank you for that. She also started my education in the beauties of sarcasm at an early age, so that my snarky sense of humor would be fully developed when I needed it most. Thanks for being my friend when I had no others. And you're still my friend, just thank you for being the first. Love you muchly!

Annnnndddd, now it's wish list time! Go choose a gift/see the very first 12 Days of Christmas post.

Haha, and I just realized that the 12th day will have a very long into :P

*names have been changed.

*grouchy face*

So, today I got to wait in a parking lot for foreeeeevvvvver. After she picked me up from school, my mom had a movie she wanted to rent. So we drove over to holly wood video. She took about half an hour in the store/rental place. In case any one didn't notice, it's realllllllly cold. Especially around here. It's like 10 degrees most of the time. So it got pretty cold in that car. And, to make it all that much better, when she got back out, the car wouldn't start. Just great. So we waited around for my dad to come and pick us up. On the plus side, we were also right next to a Little Caesar's pizza place. A cheese pizza later, we were still bored. And cold, did I mention that?
We were also right next to a book store. Nothing. There were three books that looked ok, but i wasn't about to pay 20 or so bucks for them. Gah!
It was a most boring and cold afternoon.
The mood seems to be going around :(

On the Second Day of Christmas...

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.

Sooooo, some of you may have noticed i'm not being very regular about this.... Yeah, not a good idea. But that will all change, it will change now!
Yay, renewed effortness! Woo!

Ok, so on the second day *reaches into the hat of awesome* (yeah, ok, it's a can :P)
*drumroll* we have Catana! Yes!

So Catana* is a very awesome person. Her blog was maybe the first place I heard of NaNoWriMo. I don't remember *shame*
She is a very inspiring person. She hit 69,500 words on her NaNoWriMo novel, waaaaaayyyy over the goal. She was the one who motivated me enough to actually pull this off, with a loving kick in the pants when i needed it. She and I write in very different genres and don't always agree on all the aspects of writing, but she gave me advice my loving friends and family couldn't, because she is a writer. Thank you for understanding the pains of NaNo, and being a writing mentor, who actually talked one on one with me. Much love ^_^


*This is her internet name, so no need for changing ;)

Nerd-Level 8

So, I think I leveled up on my Nerd Score.

In one of my classes at school, we were making little clay figures with sculpy. (Don't ask, i don't really know why. I think it had something to do with the culture we were studying *shrug*)
After much deliberation, and with the help of a friend, i settled on making nerd smurfs. (If you don't know what a smurf is, look it up on Google, now) so with out further ado, Ben and Janice-
Aren't they amazing?! Ok, so Janice doesn't look like a nerd much. I put big glasses on her as well, but they made it look like she had a uni-brow, so off they came. But she's amazing any way. Okay, now that everyone is officially weirded out, moving on.

This is my cat, Fluffy (don't make fun of his name, he a had a different one, but the nickname fluffy stuck. I promise I didn't mean to name him something that clichéd.) Isn't he a cutie? And you'll also notice that he's in our roaster. This Thanksgiving we cooked our turkey in a slow roaster thing, instead of in the oven. The aroma that that thing gave off was amazing. And it drove our cats nuts. They were so sure that they could get to that turkey. They were jumping up on the counters all day.
And of course, we never let them have any turkey. I think he must have been basking in the glory of finally getting to that pot. I also think that little half glare thing he has going on is because he blames me for moving the turkey, now that he's finally gotten to it. Either that, or he's plotting to take over the world, and therefore gain unlimited access to Thanksgiving turkeys. You know what? I bet it's both. Man, my pets are devious. And with an added element of revenge for him, I will laugh very hard if we find cat hairs in our turkey next year, despite the washing the pot got.

You know, I talked about leveling up, but I don't actually have any idea what the levels are for nerds. The shame. So, I could be higher, or lower than that. Can some one tell me? It's actually starting to annoy me, a lot. Darn it all, does my sad lack of knowledge take me down a level? *sigh*

And in other news, I think I need more sleep. Either that or less. I'm not in a happy place. It's between hyper and exhausted, which is just strange. Hmmmmm. I believe this calls for a cookie. *munch munch*

What are you looking at? Oh, you want a cookie to? Too bad! I likes the cookies, and I shall eats them all. *nom nom nom*

On the First Day of Christmas...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, A partridge in a pear tree.

Todays shout out goes to a very awesome and ninja person named Samantha*
She is one of my best friends (most people fall into that category :P),but she is also more than that. She and i have been friends for about threeish years now, and i can't imagine my life without her. She and i get very hyper, and generally have a ball together. She sings in a professional choir, but still says she isn't that good, which is a lie. She is an AMAZING singer, and she's a very nice and sarcastic person. Okay, i don't think those two things really belong in a sentence together.... Any way, she's kind at heart, but has a cool sense of humor that some might find a little harsh. I love it, and everyone who objects is not cool. So there.
Okay, now that I've gotten off subject just a tad, back to her awesomeness. she is the person who taught me to be who i am, and to not care what people think about me. Okay, so I'm still working on that just a little, but imagine me without her! Eep. She taught me to get my sass on so to speak.
Alright, i think much to her relief, I'm done embarrassing her now. I could go on, but those are the biggest things she done for me, and i don't really want to write an entire novel full of her awesome, which i could :D But i think that would be a bit excessive.

So, now you can choose your gift thingy. Let me know, and I'll get right on it. Love ya, in that best friend way ;)

The Twelve Days of Christmas continue, join the fun!

*Name is changed

The Twelve Days of Christmas

yeah, ok. i know i said that i would be doing this on dec. 1-12, but life had other plans.
but hey, i'm doing it now, and it shall be awesome non the less.
so..... i suppose i should start off with why i'm doing this. in some aspects of life, i'm a shy person. shocking i know :P sometimes i think that people can read my thoughts and know how awesome i think they are. in reality, not everyone is psychic, so i sometimes come off as a slightly snobby person. i really do love you people! i just don't express it enough. in light of the holiday season, i thought this expression of appreciation was long over due. and what better time to do it than when a catchy phrase is already made up?!

to start out with, there are 12 days of this awesomeness. and about 19 people that first popped into my head when i thought of doing this, with other people i haven't thought of yet on the way i'm sure (and i will most likely be all embarrassed that i didn't think of those people sooner when i do.) to solve this problem (no, i sadly don't have time to make it the 24 days of christmas) i've decided to cut up all the names (uh, meaning they all get a tiny piece of paper) and put them in a hat or something. then everyday i'll draw out of the hat. if you don't get a day this year, it doesn't mean i don't love you! and i'll most definitely do you next year!

for the lucky winners (or unfortunate if you consider me probably embarrassing you a trial) i shall write you a letter telling you how awesome you are. then i will do a shout out on this blog of how awesome you are (note: as a general policy, i will not be using real names), because once just isn't enough! then i shall give you your choice of gifts.

you know that one person (or persons) in your life that you love to pieces, but don't know what to get them for christmas? you want to put some thought into it, but you don't want it to be the gift where they get that 'oh, that's nice. hmmm' look on their face. hopefully this will eliminate that. i have a decent variety of hobbies, and you will be able to choose which one you want a gift from.
so, say you want me to crochet you something? and you'd like a scarf. you tell me that, and then i'll put my creativity into the project, choosing patterns and what not. so that way i'm actually thinking about it, but i won't give a flop either. everyone's happy.

the hobbies i can think of off the top of my head are:
sewing
crochet
writing (this would mean a short story for you. and i can cast you as any character you want if you want to be in it)
i draw comics
guitar and piano
i do sculpey clay, but i make no promises in my proficiency
basically anything you think is in my skill field.

and if you can't decide, you have until november 2010 next year to 'redeem this coupon.' if you choose to wait, i will get you a different gift for christmas, but it might be something lame ;P

in exchange for all this awesomeness? just think about sharing the love (can't you just imagine me saying that in a hippy voice?) tell someone how much you appreciate them.

tomorrow's another day...

so after a much needed rant, talking to some encouraging friends, and a good night's sleep (which i really haven't gotten since sometime in october) i feel much, much better. i actually feel kinda embarrassed at the intense emoness of that last post, but if it helped me get in a much better mood, then i'm ok with it.

yesterday was for realizing my mistake. i think the weight of that mistake (i spent at least three hours a day, for thirty days on that "novel") was what made me so angry at myself, mostly for not seeing it sooner.

today is for fixing it. i'm taking a break from writing, making a few christmas gifts, cleaning for once, and generally making a fresh start. then in a while i'll have another go.

and today, i can honestly say i'm pretty pleased with my NaNo experience. sure, i wish i'd seen this earlier and saved myself a few hours of wasted time, but i learned a very important lesson. one that i don't know if i would be able to learn as well any where else. i don't think this would be a good one to learn for say, a school project, or what have you. so i'm glad i did NaNo. and next year, i'll do it right.

and in other good news, i went so far off my intended story line, i think i can rewrite without any problems what so ever. in january though.

wow, i'm actually kinda tempted to edit that last post. it's really emo, and really not like me. but i think i'll keep it, just as a reminder for my future mistakes that it can get really hard, but it gets much better.

in other news.....
i have nine followers! and i've only had this blog for about two months. this fact makes me insanely happy, and i'd like to thank everyone! and thanks for listening to my random emoness ^_^ you guys rock!

a revelation, an ugly cow, and an empty victory

so, moments ago, i finished NaNoWriMo. it was definitely not what i expected. for one thing, i hate my novel. like, really really hate it. and here's why. flashback!!!!

once upon a time, (aka last fall) i hadn't sewn a stitch in my life. and then i got this really, really insane idea. i thought, 'hey, my sister is a very good seamstress. she can teach me.'
yeah, we're getting to the crazy part soon.
then, i thought, 'hey, halloween is coming up in like a month. why don't i make a costume?'
still not thinking i'm crazy? just wait.
then, then i thought, 'i don't care how hard it is, i'm going to make an epic victorian style one. in under a month'
yeah, it gets better.
oh boy, the real kicker. at the last second, meaning a week before, i decided i was going to make one for my best friend to. yeah, i'm insane.

but the thing is, i did. sure, by the skin of my teeth. but i finished. and they were pretty dang awesome too. i'm famous for almost never backing out of a crazy whim/dare like that. and then i epicly fail at a realistic goal of say, exercising more. i've always been proud of my ability to stick with things like that. sure, not so much of the fail part, but i've taken pride in never backing out on a whim. (/flashback)

but not this time......

you see, i signed up for NaNoWriMo. i don't remember where i first heard of it, but it sounded pretty cool. so i thought 'hey, why not? what's the worse that could happen?' oh boy! it was on a whim, totally not planned, with less than two weeks to get a story idea, and an outline before it started. ugh

for the first week, everything was going great. sure, i switched the timing around about a bagillion times, but hey, you know what they say. that's what december's for.

then the second week, things started getting a little whacked out. i started hitting walls i didn't know how to demolish. i didn't know precisely where to go next in my story, so i started rambling. then, i started taking dares. i started writing about random subjects just to get my word count in. things i knew i would just cut out later. this worked ok, i guess.

but it got worse and worse from that day on. i was just putting random scenes in. describing things in huge detail, just to boost the words. week three, i knew i was just running it into the ground. but that stupid inner determination of mine just wouldn't let go. of course, i couldn't quite see that then.
by week three, nano had completely slipped from my 'want to do' list, to my 'should do' list.
week four it slipped to 'have to do'

i killed my NaNo story, and the joy of writing (for the time being, don't worry i'll still write.) just because of the pride i took in not quitting.


where's the cow come in you say? well, i was talking to a friend of mine, and i often use the term 'what's his cow?' or 'i'm having a cow with this'
cow meaning problem.
so i had a major cow with my nano. my friend and i decided it must be a very ugly cow. and i named it NaNo 09, which has a certain ring to it.

ok, so that was supposed to be the funny part....fail!!!!


and the empty victory? i was so blinded by that stupid pride, that i missed the real victory, of writing a good story, even if it was a lot less than 50k. next year baby....
and also, i learned a lot from NaNo, even though i epicly failed the intended purpose of it. so, here's to unexpected lessons.


PS-sorry for the incredibly emo post. this is NOT a trend i will continue, i just really needed to get that off my chest. wow, this is really not like me..... thanks for listening any way :)

a win, a fail, a win, and tassels! also boots.

win: went to craft store to look for yarn that would go with my NaNo scarf. as i searched the shelves, my sister, being the ninja that she is, found the exact yarn! i mean, my mom bought that yarn at least ten years ago! what are the odds that they'd carry it? man, talk about luck.

fail: got home. i was very excited to start work so i rushed to get my crochet hook. i tried futilely for about five minutes to get the knot on the scarf undone, but to no avail. so i got the scissors out and cut just two little stitches out. you know, just to undo it. it was then that i realized that the reason i couldn't get it to come undone was because i was at the bottom >_< i had just ruinated the scarf.

win: after a good ten minutes of freaking out (it took forever, ok!) i decided to try to re-weave it. so, crocheting backwards if that makes any sense. and, i did it! i figured it out, and now no one would be able to tell you anything was wrong. phew!

tassels: somewhere in the time of me freaking out, my sister suggested that i just add tassels to the bottom so no one would see it. i didn't have to use this tactic, but i have decided to add tassels. because they're cool.

oh, and after the trip to the fabric/craft store, we went to get shoes. because my sister and i were in need of some new ones. the verdict, i have really weird feet/body. and fat calves.
shoes don't like me. i have wide feet, and really really high arches. despite this, i did find shoes that fit. the funny part, so did my sister. no, i mean we found the same shoe. we're matching.
then came the boots *glare of doom* i've been searching for boots for a while now, but they all don't fit once i try to pull it up over the giant gelatinous blob that is my calf X(. but, today, i found a pair that fit *trumpet* the funny part? so did my sister. yep, you guessed it. we're matching again *face palm*
i think the shoe manufacturers are in on a conspiracy. the whole fashion world is. they are trying to make me feel inadequate, so that i might not realize the full potential of my ninja powers. ha! i defy them all! my ninjaness shall be know....*sticks tongue out*

annnnnnnnnnnd this is why i should really start getting more sleep.

PS-before i forget to mention it, The Bookshelf Muse is having a pretty sweet contest right now. you should go look *points at links in side bar* -->
that site is really helpful for description, and has helped me get my stupid, contrary characters in line a little bit. for now....

a mini post, and a half decent funny story

so, i have a funny story to tell. ok, well not that funny. it might just give you a slight chuckle.
on thanksgiving, when all the cousins were over, we were playing a game called Curses! heard of it? no? well it's a game where you give people these curse cards (well, you do other stuff too, but this is the important part.) these curse cards are pretty funny. like, one is that whenever someone touches you, you shout 'You're always after me lucky charms!' in a irish accent. funny things like that.
well, i got some pretty amusing curse cards.
1)every time someone claps their hands, you must howl like a wolf.
2)when anyone makes an animal sound, shout a random lunch meat.
3)every time someone says the name of a food, give them a round of applause.
>_< it was an amazing, once in a blue moon coincidence of awesome. an unbreakable circle of curses. i was forced to break one, which contributed to me losing the game. but hey, who's going to continuously do that, for like half an hour or so? sheesh. that would sooooo not be fun.

PS-and i'd like to add, that i am very grateful to my followers! you guys are amazing! :D thanks for listening!

the mad ramblings of a pied-out dork

today was a most excellent thanksgiving.

i slept in deliciously late (which was offset by how late i stayed up to get my word count in >_<)

i ambled down the stairs and watched the Macey's thanksgiving day parade. which was interesting for two reasons. one, it was so boring i almost fell asleep. and two, i also felt an interesting sense of excitement, for watching the parade is the way thanksgiving has always started at my house, and it felt like the day was about to snow ball into an amazing adventure of some sorts. where is the interesting part you say? the fact that it bored me to sleep and got me all excited for the day at the same time. the exact same time. simultaneously. it was an odd sensation, let me tell ya. it made me think about how important family traditions really are. they are the things that tie us together in important ways.

after that, the day did indeed snow ball. there was a turkey to be basted, things to be dusted, tables to be set (yes, our family is big enough to take more than one ginormous dinning room table), etc. the day flew by with all the craziness of preparing. the turkey filled the air with intoxicating scents that tickled your taste buds. the pies were set out, tempting any one who walked by them to take just one taste. the preparation it self was a blast.

then all the crazy in-laws showed up. phew! boy did it get crazy, but that to was a blast (though i will admit that i was relieved when they left and there was a delicious quiet.) that was interesting (two pieces of wisdom in one post? what is the world coming to?) for out of all the cousins, i'm not what you would call popular. i mean, just read my hobby list. i'm a nerd of sorts. a proud nerd, but a nerd non the less. they are on the, well, cheer leading, football side of things. so i usually kind of find an out of the way spot at family gatherings and watch. this time, we all just played together. we told jokes from our favorite comedians, played card games and such. it was very fun, and it made me think about people, and personalities and the like. it's interesting that even the most incompatible people can find at least something they have in common, and have a blast with each other. i came out of this with a greater resolve to not 'brand' people on first contact/sight, and to try harder to find that thing we have in common with the people i already see.

then we ate. it was good. my cousin makes a mean chocolate pie. nom.

after everybody left (meaning the extended family, including all the cousins) i sat in the family room with all my family (close family, mom, dad, and siblings) we all just sat and talked. a lot of my siblings were trying to figure out some computer problem with my dad, and the rest of us put our feet up. don't get me wrong, i'm very interested in computers, but i was too tired to comprehend what was said. so i peacefully crocheted.

and announcing *trumpet sounding* the NaNo scarf.
the NaNo scarf is a very fuzzy, very warm scarf i starting crocheting in the late october/early november. i found that when my characters were giving me fits, or the plot took a nose dive, crocheting would give me something repetitive to do with my hands, somehow helping free my mind up. it helped me relax, and i would just mull ideas over until some inspiration hit me, and i'd be typing again. i don't know how it works, but i'm not complaining. so that is how it got it's name.

ok, so after all the extended family left (yay tangent there....) i sat crocheting my NaNo scarf. and i ran out of yarn/cry. it isn't nearly long enough to actually be called a scarf. so i guess i'll rename it the NaNo half-scarf until i can figure out some magical way to make it longer. it was a good project for NaNo, but i'm sad that i can't wear it. it is long enough to make one of those weird, scarf thingies that just barely go around your neck, and often connect with buttons. those are fine, but they annoy me. so i guess it's back to the drawing board.
the fail that is the scarf:



i would like to end this post with something awesome. so here is a list of things that i am grateful for today.

pie. maybe something more spiritually deep or what not should go on the top of the list, but seriously? can you imagine thanksgiving without pie? *shudders*

family. sure they're a pain in the rear a lot of the time, but they make up for it in their sheer awesome moments. they support you, they have fun with you. and in your turn, you are a pain in the rear for them, and support them, and have fun. it's just a good set up.

friends. they are much like family, but with less pain in the rear, and fewer eye rolls. but then again, they aren't required to stick by you like family is. i'm not sure if this improves their standing or not..... i guess it says something that they stick by you voluntarily. any way, i love all my friends in all their craziness.

being crazy. i love being crazy. you just have so much fun! the whole world is your play ground. and much like on real play grounds, we old people play on them, do childish things, and generally look silly. but it's fun. and i'd rather have fun and look silly, than look cool and be a stuffed up old 'mature' (aka boring) person.

uh.... more pie. yeah. that's good stuff. cookie dough icecream's pretty good too. yumminess.

warm fuzzy feelings. you know those days where it's a saturday or something, so you don't have school. there's snow falling, you have a warm sweater on. you get some hot chocolate and a good book, preferably by a crackling fire. yeah, that's the feeling i'm talking about. the holiday season makes me think of all those days, and that feeling of, mmm, warm. or when you talk to that one friend/family member that you haven't gotten the chance to talk to in a while, that you've missed a lot. ^_^

well, that's it. well no, that's not it. i am grateful for a lot of things. those are just the most important ones that pop into my head on thanksgiving (cept the icecream. not really sure where that came from.)

well, it's kind of late. and i should finish up my word count for the day.

PS-for the record, i consider anytime before you go to bed (even if it's technically after 12 midnight) to be the night of the day before. that really didn't make any sense. uhh....
wake up on thursday=thursday
bedtime at 1:00=still thursday
so this is thursday. not friday, even if the little date thingy says it is. blerg.(note: to any of you who are not familiar with my vocabulary, blerg is a guttural sound that is meant to express frustration.)
PPS-as a sneak peek into the future blog posts, i am going to do something i like to call the 12 days of christmas. i haven't worked out all the ideas and stuff, but i'm going to be doing something cool on everyday dec. 1-12
i think it may involve making my gifts for christmas, and thanking people and other awesome things. it shall be awesome.
PPPS-if i do happen to make gifts, than you'll have to wait till after christmas to hear about them, because people i'd make them for read this blog. talk about spoiler.

we interupt this NaNo broadcast......

O_O i got to see john schmitt (or however you spell his last name :P) on saturday! woohoo!
i can't believe it! i was about ten feet away or so!
Pictures:


Him doing his famous upside down playing:


the only sad part is i had to leave before it ended, or i might of gotten some of his other funny poses :)

anyhoo.....
in other exciting news, my camera is not actually dead, yet. i think it's on it's last leg. but, i did manage to get some pictures of my halloween costume in all its awesomeness ^_^
these are some mediocre shots of the skirt. i'll add the full body shots after i edit out my face (paint my good friend....) isn't it just so awesome!? sorry, not trying to brag too much. then again it did take me like five hours on the skirt alone :P
yes, i'm insane

WORD! i'm caught up ^_^

sooooo, yesterday (at an hour too late to blog about) i finally broke through the red bar of doom! wewt! i am so excited! i was worried that i'd be a day behind until the very last minute, and then have to work my butt off to get across the 50k line before 12:00 midnight on the 30th. *happy dance* in other news, i took another dare. i shall be working a tea party into the novel, at the moment where they are being chased by their enemies XD. i has a silly.
i really should write humor.....
any way. in other news, i am getting random boosts to my self confidence lately. don't know why, but hey, i'll take it. *shrug*
life is good for dork vader. aside from school. i'm more behind than i'd like to be. eek.
anyhoo! seriously, life is good, i'm hyper, and plotting evil plots.you should join me! it's fun. and i'll give you cookies* for visiting my virtual evil lair (the real one is too secret to share it's location here)

so yeah, life is being good to me :D

*cookie may or may not actually exist

bring your party hats

so yesterday i crossed 25k, half through NaNo. i can't believe it, seriously. i can't believe i've written that much, nor can i believe that i've stuck with NaNo for two weeks! two weeks of pure insanity. i'm officially impressed with myself. *happy dance* it's party time!
in other news, today i painted my nails purple, which is something i never do. paint my nails that is. i have nothing against the color purple. this is what happens when you're with your cousin and you're bored....

ahh, that new blog smell

so, as you might of noticed, i got a new template/back ground/what ever you wanna call it. isn't it so shiny? i got it from this wonderful site called pYzam (lol, i think of it as pie-zam! :P) http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates
the stars category alone has 40 different choices. it's pretty epic. want a new look? check it out!
in other news, NaNo is half over, and i'm only about a day's-worth in word count behind (still, i've been trying to catch up for five days *sad face*) i can't believe that i've held with it. i've written 22,068 words right of this second. that's probably triple what i've ever written before. sheesh. that's a lot of words.
the story itself goes ok. i changed some of the timing, so the first half of my NaNo is kinda screwy, but hey, that's what december's for, right?
i'm also having a hard time with the description. it seems dreadfully flat, and i tend not to add much, because i feel it's flat *rolls eyes at one's self*
what makes a scene come alive? what makes you feel like you're right there living it? or even get a picture in your mind of what it looks like, because i can't even manage that too well.

Bunnies, Squirrels, and Mutiny

so i've been keeping up with the word count pretty well, i'm only about 200 word behind, and i plan on fixing that tomorrow (ya weekends!)
the problem i'm having is my story and characters are being dreadfully flat. Revekkeh did this, then she did that etc. it's frustrating beyond belief. so yesterday, it was about 9 pm, and i had only gotten 100 words in for the day. i grumbled and decided to take a dare. to work a squirrel into the current scene, and make it more than 'a brown squirrel ran across the path.' so i wrote a rather amusing scene with a squirrel named geoffry. it got the book moving again, but the problem is that geoffry is a plot bunny in disguise. he is trying desperately to get me to add him in as a permanent character. gar!
and if that wasn't bad enough, he's trying to organize a mutiny. my story is fantasy/epic feel to it. he's trying to make it a comedy! what is this! AGGG! stupid geoffry....
beware the squirrels....

writing from day one

Echoes of Magic


Chapter 1

Revekkeh waited breathlessly with a hundred other students of the academy. The spacious room was lined with old wooden benches that wound around and around in a spiral, so that every student could see over the heads of the ones sitting in front of them. The room was dimly lit with candles on stands around the walls. The smoke slowly drifted up to the ceiling, making the room look slightly colorless. On the floor was a small dais with an ornate table. On top was a chest made out of wood so darkened with age it was almost black. It was covered in strange symbols that no one could read. Revvekek felt a shiver go up her spine. She had worked for five years just to be able to sit in this room. Would she be among the lucky to see inside the box? She looked around, observing the other students around her. Some were fidgety. Some were wide eyed. Some looked ready to pass out. All were nervous.

The giant double doors opened up, startling most everyone. The elders of the academy filed in, with their robes trailing behind them. Revekkeh held her breath as they formed a circle on the dais. The Duke of Renshone, head master, unrolled a scroll and began to read the list of names of those who would get to see the contents of the chest. His voice was rough and gravely, but it had a kind of musical ring to it. Every name sounding in Revekkeh's ears like a death sentence. Only twenty students were on that list, and only two or three were every chosen. As every name was read, the student would jump up with zeal, and rush down to the dais.

“Robyn Onuk.”

“Patrik Simon”

“Isaias Payne”

“Geoffry Hall”

“Merlin Rowland

“Edmund Rayek” Revekkeh shivered. The house of Rayek was known for being cold hearted and very proud. True to this reputation, Edmund stood up calmly and walked down the isle with perfect disdain for everyone he passed. Revekkeh glared, although she knew he could not see her. Edmund and her were on opposite sides of the social scale, and it was no secret she disliked him. She shook her head and focused on counting names..

“Johnathan Hampton”

“Jarrod Ayers”

“Christopher Shaw”

“Samuel Richards” A smile split her face. She searched for her friend in the crowd, and found him just in time to see Peter poke a dazed Sam in the ribs. She stifled a laugh and watched him take his turn in rushing down to the floor.

“Darius Tristan.” Revekkeh bit her lip, concerned. That was the fifteenth name.

“Thomas Fowler”

“Rosalyn Acosta”

“Revekkeh Ceriss” Her jaw dropped open and she starred, believing it to be a dream, yet hoping desperately it wasn't. She got up and rushed down the stairs and then took her place among the circle surrounding the dais. After a few more names were read. Then it was time to start the test.

Each student took a turn going up to the chest and trying to open it. If it didn't open, they took their seat. after five students went dejectedly back to their seats, the elders nodded at her. she could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she slowly walked forward. she climbed the steps slowly and deliberately. she had waited and wanted this for so long. Revekkeh gently put her hand on the table and let it slide as she walked forward. 'what if i don't make it? i'd have to do the training all over to get another chance. the country needs solders, they can't afford for everyone to go back and try again.' she thought to herself. she took a breath to steady her nerves and laid her hands on the chest. she started, with drawing her touch. it had, almost stung. but not physically, something else. she glanced back at the elders. her arms teacher raised his eye brow at her. she shook her head and tried again. it felt normal now. for all her attempts at calming herself, at this moment she closed her eyes and gave the lid a sudden tug. it opened quite easily. she heard gasps from the elders and the students who were close enough to see. she slowly opened her eyes. the chest was empty. the dragon egg was gone. revekkeh teetered as if she were going to fall. sam rushed on to the dais and caught her arm, though he felt no calmer. the Duke rushed forward, followed by the others. they all started whispering and discussing all at once. Edmund glared at her, as if it had been her fault. she stood up straight, and glared back. Samuel let go of her arm, knowing that if nothing else would steady her nerves, it would to avoid looking weak in front of Edmund. after a few minutes of confusion, the Duke turned to the students in the audience and said

"may i have everyone's attention! there is a slight problem. the egg is missing. there will be much further investigation, and the Choosing will be rescheduled. Revekkeh looked at him in bewilderment. he made it sound like an every day announcement about the new horses or some such. as the student body began to file out, he turned back to the elders.

"It has to be the Nennimars. No one in Aridon would dream of it." he said

"How would they have gotten past the guards? you yourself inspected the box when it arrived. it was the same, as all ways?" the arms teacher, Sir Theodore, questioned skeptically.

"i don't know. the guards who handled it and transported it were the elite guards, and sworn under oath to report anything in the slightest degree that seemed out of the ordinary." the Duke responded.

"then maybe it happened after it arrived."

"how could the Nennimars possibly get to it then?"

"they could have someone on the inside," Revekkeh said quite a bit louder than she intended. they all stopped and stared at her. she turned quite red.

"one of the studdents?" the riding instructor asked incredulously

"it could be the answer, however unlikely. we will investigate more. don't shoot ideas down because they come from one of your students, George." after that they scooted away, and talked low enough that the students who still surrounded the dais could not hear. Edmund looked at her with conceited pity.

"do you really think the elders would listen to you? even if you were the one to discover the egg was gone? if anything, i would be more suspicious. what better way to throw off suspicion than to be the one to shout the alarm?" Revekkeh responded without any false civility,

"Edmund, you would suspect a cow of taking it if that is what the rest of your level of 'civilized' acquaintances would look on as in the slightest bit likely. you're opinion is based on previous prejudices, and therefore is useless." Edmund turned purple with rage

"how dare you say something like that?" then, regaining some composer he said, as if to dare her to action.

"then again, what more could be suspected of a commoner?" unfortunately for edmund, Revekkeh had seen this tactic too many times before. she smiled sweetly and replied in a stickily sarcastic voice as she walked away

"you are TOO kind, my dearest edmund. i must be going, though i can hardly bare to be out of your company." Edmund fumed as she walked away.


"He makes me so mad! how can he think himself that above other people? i just don't get it! how can one human being be so conceited?" Revekkeh ranted to Sam. sam just smiled good natured and said,

"i don't know revekkeh, any more than the last time you got in a tizzy about it." Revekkeh rolled her eyes.

"sorry, you know it bugs me."

"you bet i know. how could i forget" Revekkeh glared and threw a roll at him.

"ahh, sorry! i take it back. no, no more!" after she thoroughly pelted him with rolls and other things from her lunch, she said,

"what do you thing happened to the egg? it sound like it just disappeared." sam thought for a little and then replied,

"I don't know, it does seem rather impossible. but do you really think someone from the school could've done it?"

"if you can think of another possibility, i'll listen. but you heard the elders just as well as i did. there seems to be no holes in the security. they egg farriers are the most trusted, cunning scouts we have." samuel sighed and said,

"i don't know Revekkeh, i really don't. and if i were you, i would leave it to the elders. they know what they're doing. i have to go. Sir Theodore wants me to get some extra fencing in."

"fine, i'll see you later." after sam left, Revekkeh sat deep in thought. after she could think of nothing else on how the egg could've disappeared, her mind wandered back to the chest itself. how could it have stung her? it seemed utterly impossible. yet, she knew that what she had felt was real. she shook her head, and went off to do some fencing of her own.


"Revekkeh! stop!" Revekkeh stopped, startled. Sam lay on his back desperately trying to fend her off as she swung quickly and powerfully. she shook her head.

"sorry, i was distracted" she replied embarrassed.

"you have a gift for the blade my friend. no matter how i practise, Sir Theodore always shakes his head and mutters something about why couldn't i be more like you," Sam replied, laughing. Revekkeh smiled and was about to change the subject when Sir Theodore walked toward them.

"Hey, i'm glad to see you practicing Samuel. maybe you can pick up some things from Revekkeh." she and Sam looked at each other with amused expressions.

"Anyway, you two are to report to the Duke's office. we think there might be a clue to the egg's disappearance." Sam and Revekkeh looked at each other with wide eyes and rushed off to the Duke.

so there it is. and if any of you were wondering about the country's names mentioned right after the egg was discovered to be missing, let me just say that i love random name generators.

NaNo begins...1714

NaNo started today. wow, it's going to be a heck of a ride. i'm so excited! as the title would make you think, i wrote 1714 words today. only about 48,000 more to go. *jazz hands*
write or die is amazing! beginnings are hard for me, so i used it to get off the ground today. http://writeordie.drwicked.com/ check it out. it is really useful, and not just for NaNo. it would be amazing for homework etc.
i also now have a working title. Echoes of Magic. it's not the most creatively original thing ever, but i like it.
and thanks to a friend of mine i have a name for my main character. her name is Revekkeh.
and today was awesome. in the beginning, i was trying to edit as i went. i got just about no where. then i realized what i was doing (that's where write or die came in.) and then i realized i was worrying about whether or not this was publishable (i think i just made a word, wewt) after i got past that, i realized just how much fun it was to just...write. for no reason other than to have fun and to tell a story. no homework, no deadline (meaning a deadline that the story would have to be finished/sound good/edited by. i'm still going for 50,00 words by the end of nov.) it was very liberating. i rediscovered how much i love writing.
you should try it. try to just write, with or without an outline. don't care if it's publishable. the 11th draft of a story could stink, and still make it to the best sellers list someday. just let your creativity go absolutely insane. if you enjoy it as much as i do, then NaNo may be for you. just try it as an experiment. don't compare your story to any one else's. do it for fun. if you do anything else with this (i.e. see, i have no talent) then i'll have to hunt you down and hit over the head, because that is NOT why i said this. jeez, don't look for exuses to be down on yourself. that is lame. and i don't like things that are lame. *smack*
and above all, tell me about it! if i inspire, i so deserve to give you a pat on the back for being awesome and trying it. (NOTE: i'm not saying i need to read whatever you write, because it's not like my story is going to see human eyes for another three drafts. that is, unless you want to, which i would not mind in the least.)
go be awesome!

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

i love snow, for about one month of the year. i seriously think it should be outlawed to have snow before halloween. >_< *cries* the truly horrible part of it is i can't wear a coat with my costume, i've got wings. i think i'm going to be the ice fairy.....
oh and another thing, thanks to one of my followers who knows me on another site, i figured out that with the current settings mac users couldn't post comments. i have fixed this, so you should all be able to comment if you so wish.
much love people!

PS

see more Epic Fails

it's dead as a door nail

well, this week has been very crazy. i finally decided on what i wanted to be for halloween. unfortunately this left me a week to make a rather complicated fairy costume, plus the costume that my sister decided on, an elf (meaning cool fantasy, not santa-ish.) also NaNo starts on sunday. plus homework=a very busy week.
so understandably i haven't gotten to posting pictures of past projects. but, in the course of things, i learned that my camera has died :'( i think it's the battery, but the battery is one of those weird ones that you have to order from the store. *sigh* so it's probably going to be somewhere around december when i can actually take pictures to post. *crosses fingers* sorry about that people.
until then i'll just have to tell you all about the NaNo process. and maybe whine about my camera.... :'( i especially wanted to post about my costume. it is going to be so epic i can't even tell you! i'm making the wings and everything. *sigh*
i sit here so very tired, but i don't want to go to sleep. i feel like i should be accomplishing something useful. maybe it's just because i've been running very hard this week. i'm not used to being able to just sit down and do nothing. maybe it'd be a lot better for us if we got used to being able to relax a little. running all the time can't be good for us. perhaps that is one of the biggest flaws of today's culture. we're always rushing around. is all this technology really helping? or does it just distract?
well, i leave you with that random bit of 'wisdom.' g'night! and remind me not to blog after 11. i usually wake up in the morning with a hundred spelling mistakes etc.

NaNo approaches

as Nov. 1 gets closer, i'm getting more scared. to put it bluntly, my inner editor is trying so very hard to escape the little box i've locked him in. my characters are all mary-sues, the plot has no point, i can't write worth anything etc etc. how do i get him to shut up?
another thing, though this is good news, i've figured out that writing the required 1667 words a day isn't actually as hard as it seems. i did a little experiment. i just sat down and wrote about literally the first thing that popped into my head "hmmm, a girl standing on a street corner in Manhatten, with her dog, in the winter. because of a fortune cookie. waiting for someone. aaannnndddd...that someone is in the military" *rolls eyes* anyway.....i just wrote, no idea what was going to happen. what do you think? is my inner editor lying to me about the quality of my writing? or is he right? if so, tell me what's wrong, so i can fix it before november!

it was a cold afternoon. Jane pulled her coat tighter and sniffed her nose. her golden retriever pulled on the leash, urging her to go forward. but Jane wasn't ready to leave just yet. she wasn't superstitions by nature, but for some reason she put stock in the mass-produced fortune that she had got at the Chinese restaurant the night before. as the sun set the temperature dropped, but still she waited. her dog, Maisey made a whining noise. she flipped her straight, brown hair out of her face as the wind kicked up. with a sigh, she turned away from the street corner and headed back to her Manhattan apartment. she couldn't believe herself. she had gone and caught cold because of a stupid fortune cookie. 'you will meet the person you are missing where you last said goodbye' pah! who would believe such rubbish? she sighed again. something inside of her had begun to hope, but no. she knew john had died in iraq, but why was she still expecting to see him everywhere she went? she picked up the pace, partially to keep warm, and partially to burn off the anger she felt toward herself at that moment. maisey picked up the pace too, until Jane was flying down the street behind a half frozen dog racing to get to the warm apartment and dinner she knew awaited her.
the thing Jane did not know, was that an army veteran had just stepped on to the corner that she had left. but he wasn't john.

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Jane blew her nose hard into a tissue. her cat jasmine was intertwining herself around her legs. Jane was home late, and this disrupted jasmine's usual routine, and she was not happy about it. Jane got her pets dinner, and sat on her old green couch to have her own. out of habit, she reached for the tv remote, but stopped as she realized she didn't want to watch.
"Am i crazy or something? what makes me think that he's suddenly going to come back, huh?" Maisey looked at her with what seemed to be an amused expression.
"yeah, i'm crazy. even my dog thinks so. aren't you guys supposed to be extremely loving?" Maisey just licked her lips and went back to eating her kibble. Jin pressed her mouth into a thin line. she knew she had to get over this. it had been a year. if for nothing else, she knew that john would not like to have her still wrapped up in the past. if she couldn't do it for herself, she'd do it for him.
she got up and stretched, and headed for her computer. she had a deadline to make, and her characters were getting impatient. as her antagonist started threatening to kidnap her cat if she didn't start writing his story soon, she said,
"i'm coming! i'm coming! give me a minute to put this in the sink!" this was probably precisely why she could never get a boyfriend. she was a freelance fiction writer, and her characters frequently talked to her. what was the real problem was that she talked back. no one but john ever understood that. not even her father, who was a author as well.
Jane shook her head as she sat down at the computer in her bedroom. she needed to write about her characters, and their problems and thoughts. she needed to keep herself out of this. but try as she might, she couldn't. she kept thinking about that corner, that deserted corner, save a silly woman and her freezing dog. and this time, no matter how her characters complained, she wouldn't even try to take her mind off it.

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the next day, Jane walked into her friends cafe. she glanced down at her watch. Nancy should be on break soon. meanwhile, she sat at a table and pulled her laptop out. she set it up and wrote about whatever came to mind. half an hour later, Nancy came and sat facing her.
"Hey, what's up?" Jane started. she groaned as she realized she had written absolutely nothing in twenty minutes. Jane replied, frustrated,
"i don't know nancy. i just can't seem to get anything out anymore. i'll have these stories running around in my head, but when i sit down to write, nothing. it's like i've lost my voice." Nancy looked puzzled.
"i'm not sure i know what you mean," she replied as gently as she could.
"i'm stuck. i can't write anything worth keeping, i talk to you and my pets, and i'm still expecting john to come home any day. you know the fortunes we got?"
"oh no, do honestly believe those? you know that they're just made up my some guy who still living in his parent's basement, right? please don't tell me you went to that corner."
"i did nancy. i went there. it's not like i honestly expected john to show up. i don't know what i was waiting for. some sort of sign, i guess. did it ever bother you that he just disappeared? poof! with out a clue what happened?" a waitress came over and handed them some hot chocolate. after they sipped for a minute, nancy replied.
"Jane, those kind of things happen some times. it's part of the risk of serving in the military. you knew it, and john knew it. and he went any way. he knew it was the right thing to do. honey, you've got to accept that he's gone. you can't live your life in the past. you've got to let go so you can have peace. it's affecting your whole life. you're becoming a social recluse. you can't write, which has always come to you easily. you haven't been on a date since the letter came."
"i'm trying nancy, nothing's working. just when i think i've let go, i get a stupid fortune, and i go freeze my butt off, waiting for who knows what."
"Jane, you're not really trying. you're still in that apartment. you've got pictures everywhere. he gave you that coat for your last birthday. et cetera! you don't want to let go. you've got to! it's taking over your life."
"nancy, honestly tell me, why would you let go of something so wonderful?" to this, nancy sighed and said,
"i gotta go, my breaks over." even though she knew perfectly well that she still had half an hour.

ATTACK OF THE PLOT BUNNIES!!!!

they've arrived. the dreaded plot bunnies. i thought i had a hard time getting my plot figured out before now, but boy was i in for a surprise.
for those of you who don't happen to know what a plot bunny is, let me explain. plot bunny is the name NaNoers have given to the annoying bits of random plot ideas that try to either hijack your plot, until it's a mess of unconnected subplots that don't have much to do with each other, or try to get you to write about a completely different story, distracting from your NaNo as nov. 1st draws ever closer. and as their name would have you think, once there are just a few, they start to breed, and a plot bunny army invades your mind. then the subplots aren't only a mass of confusion, but they become strange mutants that have combined themselves in insane ways. these guys can show up even before october, but for most people, they start making appearances around the second week of october and stay till NaNoWriMo is done. then for some they scatter, leaving you with absolutely no ideas for other novels now that you have the time to think about them. those pesky little buggers......
that being said, what do you think is essential in a story? what ties it all together? help! if you don't, i'll be overun with these guys, and my characters will be lost in a strange and confused world, with no point or actual plot.
oh, and i need a title. i'm drawing a major blank on this one, so any ideas will have a good shot at winning.

further insanity

when i started my insanity, i had no idea what to write my novel about. now, a little under a week later, i have a pretty good idea of what to this novel is going to be about. it's strange how things work out. i had a lot of help with plot ideas etc from the NaNo forums, but it was mostly my rather random mind.
my novel is fantasy (no surprise coming from me :P) it is about a girl who is a die hard perfectionist and an over the top tom-boy, who has to go with two fellow school mates (one her best friend, and the other her bitter rival), seeing as they're at war and are therefore a bit short handed, to retrieve a dragon egg from the enemy soldiers. as they race across the country, the rivalry gets ever stronger, the solders ever closer, and the stakes ever higher. in a twist of events, the main character (still unnamed, AGGG!) comes in contact with the egg. after all she's been through to get to this point, she begins to wonder, is she truly rescuing it? or enslaving? she must make the choice, and face the consequences.
they're are still an abundance of plot holes that need fixing, so feel free to make some suggestions. who knows, it might end up in a best-seller some day.

i swear my brain went through the microwave!

urg. so i got a head cold, which has contributed to the fact that nothing has been put up. *gurgle* it unfortunately gives me really big headaches. but i felt the need to post something, so you get to hear about me feeling like a zombie :D i'm sure that's what you wanted to do today.

Oh the insanity....

i am officially insane. if it wasn't official before this point, it is now. i have signed up for something called NaNoWriMo. that stands for National Novel Writing Month. (link if you'd like to look at their site http://www.nanowrimo.org/ )
the point is to write a novel in one month. the requirement is 50,000 words, which is roughly six pages a day, give or take some. yeah, i'm crazy. it takes place in november, so i'll be a little dead during that month. i'm working on the outline, so hopefully i'll be up to this. though i might not post so much about crafty/other stuff, i'll be sure to give you guys updates. and maybe, just maybe, this thing won't eat me, and all my creativity to boot. wish me luck!

Brrrrr, it's cold outside!

haha, it's raining right now. i'm getting all snuffly and my hands are freezing. i don't know how i'm going to survive when the snow gets here :P

well, on to why i really started this post :)
these are pictures of projects i just happened to have on my computer, all ready to load up. lucky you! i'm feeling slightly out of it, so i wasn't going to go take any pictures today. unfortunatly, they're all sideways, and my computer is being a pain, and won't let me turn them. maybe i'll fix that later....

they're pretty self explanatory... the first one is a simple t-shirt recon. i added the bands of white to make it kind of hoodieish looking. i tried to make the neck line a simple swoop neck, but it wasn't working. it was sticking straight out. so i make it a cool looking boxy/cornered neckline, which i actually like better than my original plan
this next one is a shirt i made to go with a skirt that is very similar. i'll put pics of that up later this week hopefully. it is made out of nice and stretchy t-shirt material, and is and overall fun shirt to wear. the looks i get wearing it down the street are just plain entertaining XP
this one here was a shirt i got from one of my guy friends. it was getting holes in it all along the seams. i couldn't fix it for him to wear (making new seams would make it too small for him), so i made it for me. this is a very comfy shirt!

this one was just plain fun to make. all the chaos stitching was a blast! i basically went crazy with it, and it magically turned out :P go figure.
XD don't you just love my mad editing skills? as said earlier, i'm feeling out of it, so i was too lazy to go take a picture of it without my face in it. that left only good ol' paint.
anyhoo. this is a skirt that i made out of the coolest clock print ever! there are clocks, cogs etc. all over it. i might even use it in my halloween costume this year (so excited! halloween is my favorite holliday. it's socially acceptable to play dress up out of doors. not that that hinders me for the rest of the year, but doing it with everyone is a blast.)

this one i think is my favorite of the batch. it's a plushy of the mario death mushroom! woohoo! i made it out of an old bath towelish thingy and some white t-shirt fabric. my amazing sister painted the eyes with fabric paint. *claps*
speeking of her, *waves* you're awesome! just thought i'd remind you again.