That longer post I promised!

Another lengthy semester begins and the weather has been flip-flopping since I returned to the university. When I first came up, it had started to warm up, but not a nice run around in shorts and t-shirts warm up weather. More like gloomy overcast raining then misting weather. In case you don't know what the weather is like when I say "misting", it means that it's not raining but the fog is so heavy with water that you are walking through a giant mister all day. It's not wet enough for an umbrella by any means, but perhaps a hood to keep your head a bit drier as the water will accumulate steadily. The weather is changing to cold again, however, which means I get to sport my new jacket that I received at Christmas. It's so warm, yet light, and is roomy enough to slip a vest under for extra warmth. And, bonus, it's purple!

But enough about the weather. On to other things, such as the character contest I had going for awhile. I decided to hold off on that until I fill you in better on the character opportunities available. I realized I sort of jumped the gun on that because I have not presented much information about the characters that I have! A wide range of possibilities were available, and I realize that that is my own fault. Too much too soon. I will bring it back at some point, however.

Also, I'm considering removing the art page since it is easier to post my art to deviantArt. The only problem is that only members can comment on the art. So, some feedback is in order for that decision... But I'll probably post some pics right to the blog once I figure out how to make my own watermarks...

Oh! And something else I want to try (try being the key word) to do is do a weekly comic of some sort for the blog, likely containing the not-so-familiar characters of Samantha (who does resemble me greatly), Flowerfluff the magic pony (and who is masculine), Maplesap, and some others. A bit of background on these fellows: Samantha is based off preteen me and a story that I actually started back then, warped and changed as it may be. Flowerfluff was originally a girl, but so was everyone else in that version. I understood girls best, so I wrote about girls. Until one day I remembered that there were males in the world as well. Maplesap is still girl and is Flowerfluff's mate. More character history will come as they appear and as I actually start this all... Anyhow, I am going to try to post these on... Sundays or Saturdays. Some weeks it may only be a short strip, others a page or even two. It all depends on school.

School... I'm supposed to be doing Physics homework right now. And preparing for various other schooly things...

Toodles!
-ATB

I'm Still Here!

This will probably be brief, but yes I'm still here. I just sort of forgot about my blog and all.
To make up for my absence, here is a video that I meant to post last year of my fish:

I think I might remove the section with my art since I have a deviantArt.... maybe. Not sure.
That's all for now, I guess. I hope to write something better soon.

IN MEMORIAM

This post is dedicated solely to my dearest Annabelle who passed away Monday morning, April 23rd. She passed on peacefully, simply falling to sleep and leaving this world. She was a good thirteen years old, so I understand that she was old, and I understand the she was slowing down and that it was her time, but I will miss her.

Annabelle has been my only dog. I raised her from an adorable roadside puppy to the incredible loyal companion that she became. She followed me all over the property, across the fields, down the trail, to the neighbors houses... she always wanted to be by my side to guard me. She was simply amazing.

One of the last times I went home, I went over and spent about an hour at my aunt's (she lives on the road and we live in the middle of nowhere in the woods of Mississippi) and Annabelle sat at the top of my aunt's driveway, waiting for me to come back. I couldn't be mad at her. She just wanted to be with me to protect me. She did this all the time. She would even go to the blueberry farm next door in the summer, because she knew I went there every day to work, when the weather got bad if no one was home. She wanted me for comfort.

I could go on to tell you every story I remember with her, the good and the not-so-good, and share all the precious memories that I will forever hold dear. She was so precious to me and knowing I don't have a dog to go home to is depressing. And I don't want another until I can find a place that allows me to keep dogs. The apartment I have has a strict No Pet policy.

It's late. I need to sleep. But I had to say something about Annabelle to honor her memory.

And when I go home I will plant a lily on her grave, just as I did for Weetamoo (my first cat).

Annabelle

1999 - 2012

Rest in Peace. You will be missed.

St. Francis, take good care of her. I entrust her to you.

What I learned for A Dollar (Plus Tax)

This just really goes to show the things you can learn from if you just look. I would have never thought of this, but the other day I learned something interesting from a cheap pair of dollar flip-flops I had bought at a dollar store for a walk on the beach.

Since it has been warm and nice outside, I've been wearing the flip-flops an awful lot and, as all flip-flops do, they have slowly started to mold to my feet. That's normal, grant it, but I picked them up off the floor and just felt the difference in them, so I examined them further.

I learned that I walk heavier on my left heel and more evenly with my right foot. While this makes plenty sense to me (because I have turf toe which is just a step down from breaking your toe), I really hadn't realized it. Now, every now and then, I feel the way I walk. I've noticed that with my left foot that I roll my foot in. So when I first step, instead of leaning into my big toe, I move more towards the middle and then slightly roll onto my big toe. Even so, the flip-flops show that I still do not put a lot of weight onto the balls of my feet when walking.

Makes me wonder what else I haven't noticed...

A reply to Mr. Landy

I decided to post a reply to Mr. Derek Landy's Blog (Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress which anyone and everyone should read along with his books if you haven't or aren't already) just because... well, because I could. Do I really need any other reason? This is my blog of randomness and now my randomness is being directed toward Mr. Landy.

Sad to say, no, Mr. Landy. I do not know the feeling of triumph after overcoming a first draft to a novel namely because I have *ahem*... I have yet to finish a draft. And that's because every time I get far into my draft, I go back and start to revise it then and there. Because I keep adding new elements. It's a very long and dedicated process.

Indeed, I instead have the feeling of constant improvement to make my novel the way I want to see it in the end as I go along in all it's glorious (or inglorious) wordiness. My main novel has taken me... oh... I'm not sure on how many years old the original is considering it was on another computer and I would delete the old versions, but it's been through seven or so revisions. For the better, I assure you. My writing style and story telling abilities have improved much over the years and through the revisions. At least, I hope so.

However, I feel I am possibly on the final version of my revising madness in this novel. Finally! It has been through so much and now I feel that it is nearing it's completeness! ... but then I have to try to publish it. And I hear that can be a tad expensive, which is bad news for a broke college kid in their first year. And I have seven years more ahead of me to become a veterinarian... *sigh*.

Ah, Mr. Landy. What I would give to be an accomplished writer like you.

But I can dream and persevere until I reach that epic moment when I can pick it off the shelf, all my work and dreams bound under a hardcover, and know that others can enjoy my journey and dreams as well. Until that day... I will dream and no one and nothing can stop me.

Change

A list of things I have done because list are fun:

1. Most obviously, I have a new header. It's me, Annabelle, and Jabba the Alligator Snapper.
2. I changed the background to a lovely pattern I found on deviantArt. (credit and link at bottom).
3. I changed the color scheme and font.
4. This is boring.
5. You probably want something more fun than this.
6. I should get to homework. Augh! OWL! (Online Web Learning, or whatever).
7. There's a new page. Check 'er out!
8. drum roll...
9. I have an awesome clock! Yes! The time down to AM and PM is correct on it and it looks rather nice!
10. Oh and an extra note: for anyone interested in the 'Something FUN!' Contest and it won't let you post an entry, just post it here.

This is a short post brought to you by boredom. Now to do some OWL and then go get some yummy raw dead fish draped over chunks of sticky rice with seaweed and other things. I mean... sushi. Yummy... delicious... I should stop now.

TTFN! (Ta-ta for now!)

New Eyes

A recent event on my university campus has really gotten me to thinking about the world today and things such as the media. I realize there are bad people out in the world. I hear about them on the news, read about them in the papers, watch them portrayed in movies, and other sources of media. I watch NCIS occasionally where the main characters investigate the deaths of marines, often murdered in brutal ways.

But this event has me looking at all this in a new way. Saturday night, a student was shot on campus. He was rushed to the ER, but they were unable to save him. I did not know him personally, but it hurts and scares me all the same. I can only imagine what his family and friends must be going through and my heart goes out to them. Nothing like this has ever happened on our campus, so it is a tragedy for us all.

Never has the violence been so close to me. I have always viewed it from far away through the eyes of others in the various forms of media. It's different now. I feel like the media has almost dulled the seriousness and pain of such tragic events; in particular movies and television shows. We are constantly surrounded by death and pain through the lens of a camera. We flippantly play video games where we gun down our enemies, or like Grand Theft Auto and other such games, we become the villains and take on the "good guys". I was watching Captain America with Llama and his roommate and, despite the fact the Hydra were bad, I caught myself thinking one time when the Americans blew up a Hydra tank, "But there were people in there". How often do we sit back and think about the other side? How often do we consider the extras in a movie that are just there to die? How often does the movie focus only on the hero saving the world and not the mass destruction itself? We see the hero(es) fighting the evil force and maybe taking it down, but how often do we see the tragic recovery of the city? Like the second Jurassic Park. The T-Rex wreaks chaos havoc in the city it was transported to and we see it shipped off once they catch it. We see the victory, but not the bitter ruins of the city and lives it left behind.

I may be taking this a little too seriously with movies and television shows, but right now I can't help it. Media has given me the mental images of people who are shot and I keep seeing this poor student bleeding and dying in a residence hall. They tried to save him at the hospital, but could not. He died. I just need to express my humanity to others; that I consider people to be people no matter how bad they are or what side they are on. When a person is killed, it is another human life stolen. Sometimes it just doesn't feel like the world wants to look at us all as people. It feels like we separate ourselves by where you live, what you believe, and what has divided us in the past.

This tragedy has me looking at the world through new eyes.

"Don't give up! I believe in you all.
A person's a person, no matter how small!
And you very small persons will not have to die
If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!"
-Dr. Seuss

Away... Away...

I've been somewhat away from the internet lately but have not forgotten my blog. And to make up for my absence (which I rather doubt anyone was honestly worried) I will attempt to make a long entertaining post. If it isn't, you can boo me later in the comments.

Spring has sprung at my house and my sister's goats have near doubled their numbers. We now have eleven bouncing babies, six of which are male. If you have never cuddled a baby goat before you are missing out. They are soft and made to fit in you arms. I was fortunate enough to spend a whole week with them over Spring Break and enjoy their antics.

This is Jamie and her triplets. Only two have names so far, I think. Copper and Skulduggery, the boys. There's a story behind Dug's name, but I'll get to that later.

This is Holly, one of the cutest by far just for her coloration. Finally a little doe with striking colors!

And this is Bill (left) and Conan. Conan is the biggest of all the kids, thus the name 'Conan'.

Above I said there was a story behind the name of 'Skulduggery' for one. While I would like to say he was named after the amazing skeleton detective from Derek Landy's novels (of which only three have been released in America *cough cough*), I can say that the idea did. Anyways, proceeding with the tale:

The babies were only about four or so days old and were still remaining to a great extent in the main pen near our house while their mothers took to the field to graze. Sometimes a baby would follow their mom out, but they would always come home with her to the safety of the pen. The moms all came up to feed their babies when I heard one mother repeatedly "maaa"ing. I hadn't done a head count yet that day so I walked over and started. I only got to ten babies. I was missing one. I checked every nook and cranny of the entire pen from top to bottom because the babies are very good at hiding themselves and randomly appearing. My search was in vain.

About here is where the panic starts to set in. This is a very small four day old baby and any number of predators can pick it off, even hawks. Yes. The larger hawks can snatch up little baby goats. And something likes to take a goose every now and then as well, a fox or bobcat we presume. So my mom and I take off into the cow field as fast as we can, me with a posse of dogs. The first thing one of our dogs does is sprint all the way across the field to the barn and look at me as if waiting for me to catch up. This little lab rat, Yogi, is known for his tracking skills among our dogs, so his interest in this pursuit worries me. Luckily, he was only going to go chase down whatever wanders in the neighbor's yard at night, so the baby was not in distress wherever it was.

Five minutes or so of searching later and a million little "Please St. Anthony and St. Francis let me find this baby safe" prayers later, I find him nestled against a bush. Sleeping. And just as if he was a child, I picked him up and could only feel relief. I held him over my head triumphantly, much like a Tuskan Raider holding his gun over his head, so my mom could see that he was found. I brought him back to his nanny goat, who was just as relieved as me, and dubbed him Skulduggery for worrying us all. The end.

On a side note, I have not really been working on my books too much. Please remain calm. I have you guys to remind me, right? ...right? *ahem* Anyway, I'm hoping to get a move on it again soon, even though I am currently reviewing and critiquing my dear sister's work. And I'm at a bit of a standstill in mine. Hopefully summer will supply ample writing time and I will get oodles and oodles done... and then work on publishing... If and when I get closer I'll start to give you snippets. But I think I will start to post stuff about my Random Idea on deviantART where it can have its own nice little folder.

And also check out my 'Something FUN!' page. No one has posted anything yet. (sadness)

Epicness

It's five o'clock. That means our bell tower is chiming out the fight song campus wide. That means I am happy to be in my dorm where I can barely hear it through the window. I don't know... I think it sounds like a creepy music box tune. It sounds fine when the band plays it, but something about the music box effect the bell tower has on it... *shudders* That's just another of my quirky things I guess.

Anyway, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. I saw it Friday Saturday with Llama. I'm not a huge fan of the second trilogy (that's I through III for those who didn't know), but it was Star Wars in 3D. I didn't get to see any Star Wars in theaters, and now I can see all of them! In 3D! And I got these:

Yeah... And Darth Maul is on them. That is because they regret not letting one of their coolest characters live through at least two movies instead of killing him off. Like they do in lots of movies nowadays. How that irks me! They kill off my favorite people all the time and in the first movie! Ugh.

But yes. Star Wars in 3D was truly epic. Even if it was freezing outside and my teeth were chattering and I was hissing through my chattering teeth it was worth it.

Haha! And then there were the two girls in front of us who wanted to see the Lady in Black with Daniel Radcliff, that Harry Potter guy. But it wasn't going to play for another hour and a half. So they laughed about it, glanced over the movies, and then decided on Beauty and the Beast. Which had last played three hours ago. More giggling, glancing over movies, and giggling, debating, giggling... finally "Two for Star Wars" in an attitude like "haha! Star Wars? Really?" At least they didn't laugh through the movie.

In other news, an update on Mordecai and Bartimeus:

Look how big Bartimeus got! His little head is falling off (sadness!) but the rest of him is very green and happy looking. Mordecai has two cute little traps that I have attempted to trigger, but it is hard to tickle them right when he is in a pickle jar.

And for those who want to know about my stories/books/novels, I haven't really worked on them in awhile. I have taken a bit of a break. But I do have a contest. If you look at my pages at the one titled "Something FUN!", then you will find the rules. Have fun! :)

Fun with Chauncey

Before I leap into this exciting tale of my immaturity, I need to go back and explain some things.

• One: I am very unique and prone to do very random things with my friends. I stress the word random.
• Two: Did I mention that I am in fencing now? Oh what fun it is! It's as close to sword-fighting as I can get and I eagerly leaped at the opportunity to join the fencing club. It's challenging, as is any other sport at first, but I have been told that I'm catching on rather quick. And one of the instructors likes my aggression. :)
• Three: It had rained some, but not much. This is somewhat irrelevant, but plays a minor role in the outcomes. I take that back, it has a lot to do with what happened last night.

 Llama and I were returning from another vigorous fencing practice and it had stopped raining. As we walked down the sidewalk I spied a worm on the pavement and thought it dead. I picked it up and it moved. I was excited as this five inch or so pink earthworm slowly writhed in my hands while Llama took these:

Yes, excitement for this long lovely creature! You can even see his slimy gift shimmering on my palm and fingers. What a beaut! I released the worm, which we dubbed Chauncey, back into the wild wet world and we continued back to the dorms with Chauncey's gift on my hands.

I rubbed my hands along a rail to try to remove some of the sticky residue, which didn't help, and decided to attack Llama with my wet smelly hands. Worms have a very bitter earthy smell, for those who don't know. And we both knew. He dodged, but I repeatedly tried. I got it on his hands and wrist and finally, when he least expected it, in the face. Well, forehead more or less, with my sticky smelly hands.

He grabbed my wrist and forced my hand in my face and I put my other hand in his hair. We were both getting our hands wet with the rain water and hitting each other in the face. I could feel it on my face and between my fingers. That sticky slimy worm residue all over the both of us. We both agreed it wasn't clean fun, but fun nonetheless despite the gross factor, which I don't find that horribly gross. But I'm a little oddball. :)

Fun was had by both! Lots and lots! I was informed after that I smelled and had to take a shower, since I also was smelly from fencing...

A Short Drop and Sudden Stop

Tuesday. I start the day off with Statistics (not too bad, yet, but not the best) and then it's Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals. Oh yes. The day begins there!

Today, a cloudy 62 degrees with chances of rain, I decided to walk to the Vet building instead of taking the shuttle bus which I miss all the time anyway and worry about being late. No biggie. The walk is fantastic, even if people are looking out their cars at me like "Is she crazy?", "She is so gonna get hit...", and the people who couldn't think didn't if their ears where being blasted away. It's a good fifteen minute walk and along the way I rescue this bike that has been sitting under a tree for quite some time. Poor little bully bike. I walk it up, people staring at me still, and go to class.

When I got out of class, the bike was right where I left it, so I adjusted the seat to my level and took off. I hadn't ridden a bike in ages and my water shoes said, "Ummm... I don't think so. Nuh-uh. Not gonna help." I didn't have the best footing and my feet slipped around a lot, needless to say. I stayed off the road and parking lots at the Vet Center so as not to annoy the drivers (and, I'll admit, sort of avoid them), but would hop back on to the road whenever possible. Soggy ground and rusty chains do not go well together.

I was on the road and a car was coming up, so I decided to bounce back into the grass. But this lip had appeared along the road out of nowhere, the tire hit it, so the bike stayed on the road, but I didn't.

I fell and I didn't roll. It was a short little skid and a stop. Hurt a bit, but not too much. I looked up to see if anyone was around and saw my ridiculous stunt. Nope. I could breathe a sigh of relief despite the mud skids on my chest and legs. It looks like a cat tried to claw out my heart or something with claws of dirt.

I managed to get back to the parking lots behind my dorm without a problem, and went to check something on my phone. I looked in the little side-pockets of the backpack. No phone. I figure I should text Llama or someone to help me look for it, but I don't have a phone to do that with.

Luckily I found my roommate in my room and together we embarked on a journey back to the Vet Center. My phone was right where I had left it: on the side of the road where I had fallen. Naturally.

As if that wasn't enough (an edit):

Yep, as if one adventure was not enough, I had another, albeit more painful. Very much more painful.

That's right. Excruciatingly painful. Here's what happened:

It had started to rain finally after threatening to all day and I thought "I should go collect rainwater for my beautiful carnivorous plants, especially since Bartimeus, the pitcher plant, has decided to grow. Rainwater will be good for them!

I went over to my closet to grab my purple crocs, thinking it wasn't all that cold outside. As I was leaning over, it hit me. Pain. The worst kind of pain. I reeled away quickly, grasping my face with both hands, my left eye rolling as far back as it could while the lid squeezed shut. It felt like it must have been gauged clean out of my skull. Neither eye would open because the left hurts so bad, so I lay back on my roommate's bean bag and just stay there, both hands clasped over my face. It hurted like the dickens.

My kind kind roommate decided it would be best to go to the infirmary and lead me out like a seeing eye guide, because it hurts so much that I still cannot open either eye. Out the room, into the elevator, down some stairs, out the door, across the street. We were almost there when I could open my eyes. Good thing too, because the infirmary had closed.

It still hurts some, two days later, but I'm going have it checked out. It's blurry and rather dizzying at the moment. Hopefully that doesn't mean it's damaged horribly. Hopefully it's just a bruise or "just a flesh wound" that will fade away into memory and my 20/20 vision will be restored.

Wish me luck.

Last Update for this post. Promise. Anyway:

Good news is there is no visible scratches on my cornea. That's good.

Bad news, rather, not so good news is that they don't know why my vision is blurred in that eye. If it persists I am to return to them. 

I'm BACK!!!

First off: Flame Phoenix, many many apologies as I was your secret blogland Santa. I got home from college and haven’t been on my computer at all since. No lie. I’m going to draw your character and, if you really want, I will send you the original to you. Even if you’re in Ireland. I can understand if you decline the offer.

Did everyone else have a great Christmas (Winter, Holiday, Hanukah, whatever) break? I did! Home for a month! Yes! And in… three days I head back up to college to continue my studies. But I had loads of fun at home! I received two wonderful carnivorous plants from my best friend “The Llama”, Pumas to play racquet ball from my dad (yay! Bring it on, Llama!), and Bazilio Charles the betta fish from… sort of myself.

Mordecai Jawz (Venus Flytrap) and Bartimeus Charm (Pitcher Plant). Mordecai has more growing to do, so you can't really see him. He's a stump behind Bartimeus. Thank you, Llama.

His majesty, Bazilio Charles, my crowntail betta

Sir Lughaidh (LOO-ee) Moxmox, my sister's yellow half-moon betta

I’ll continue my story soon-ish, whenever I have time, so hang in there whoever read it. It will continue and it will get weirder! It’s not what you think at all! I hope… Hopefully I have someone on their toes. As for all my books that I’m working on (since I am an Author to be), I’ve gotten minutely farther but hit a wall called nature and home. They took up all my time for a month. A happy, carefree month of dogs, cats, cows, and family! It also gave me time to discuss with my sister, ThiefQueen, other possibilities and details on our upcoming mega series that will blow the world out of the water with complexity! Honestly, if you are in the US, I will announce when the first book gets published and please buy it!

On that note of publishing, if anyone has tips, please put it in the comments. We’re dying for information about publishing and want to know about copyrights and whatnot. So if anyone can help two poor college girls wanting to share their ideas, comment. You (hopefully) will not regret it. I doubt you would, unless you are not a fan of fantasy fiction at all.

That’s all for now. Back to the dishwasher before mummy gets home, and then to packing for school, and cleaning my room… and the house…

Oh! And I'm going to change the blog's look with some more original art, so hang in there! It will be epic!

For the Love of Peanut Butter!

So, I know this is coming late, but Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! It was a relief to be away from school and the fact that there was no internet available to me was even better! Mostly... There was some chemistry homework I could have done had I been able, but hey, I couldn't!

But last Sunday, November 20th, I witnessed something truly... interesting, stressful, frightening, hilarious... a whole slew of emotions.

It was about 8 or so in the morning and I had just gotten dressed for mass. I passed by the glass door to the back porch and saw at least six of our cats lounging around, sitting on the workbench awaiting food, or staring at me through the door. Now, just beyond the back porch slab of concrete is a little terrace for my mom's garden and just because the hill was just so steep there. At the edge almost on top of the railroad ties that make the walls of the terrace was my cat, Rascal. He's the prettiest little fluffy white with patches of tabby ever and thoroughly lives up to his name. As I looked at him, I realized he was playing with a jar, so I stuck my head out the door and called him (because my cats come when I call!). He turned to me very shakily with an empty jar stuck on his head! I ran up to him to examine the situation. He stared at me through foggy plastic with huge eyes that screamed: "HELP!"

This is sort of what he looked like, except this cat didn't make it:

Poor cat! No one saved him :'- (

My brothers' friend was sitting calmly at our bar waiting for my dad and I to drop him off at his grandparents so I walked in and asked him if he was busy, because I needed help. I was doing my best not to panic, but when you're holding a damp panting ball of cat that may or may not be suffocating, it's somewhat hard not to be tense. My dad came over and accessed the situation, and when it was obvious that the jar was not going to come off easily we all stepped outside to begin the operation.

The first thing my dad did was pull out a power drill and change to a large bit. He put it up to the bottom of the jar and began while I restrained Rascal, who was freaking out. The drill poppped through and the cat jerked back just as suddenly. Instead of immediately being grateful that the cat could breathe, my first remark was "Dad! Did you hit his face? Did you hit his face?!" while peering through the foggy plastic desperately. My dad was shouting "I don't know!" and on the point of cussing when I assured him that he hadn't hurt the cat, much to my relief. (The cat sure acted like he had!)

The next thing he did was take out the hacksaw. As if the cat wasn't freaked out enough! Dad started to saw off the bottom of the jar and the cat started squirming like a maniac. I was doing my best to restrain him, but his paw slipped out and scratched my dad's hand. My dad was angry until I told him that the cat's head was halfway out of the jar. We pulled it off and Rascal was free and ran off to clean himself.

All that, just because Rascal was trying to lick the remnants of peanut butter from the bottom of the jar. I hope he learned his lesson. Thank goodness it was just plastic and it came off real easy though.

(Sorry for no pics. I was too busy keeping the cat from suffocating.)

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Yes. There's a light at the end of the tunnel and I have had to focus on it all week long. And it's only Wednesday, nearly Thursday. This week has been a particularly challenging one and I think that it is because of that expectation, like a child waiting for Christmas. Except my Christmas that I'm currently waiting for is coming this Friday. I'm going home for a week for Thanksgiving. Good ole Turkey Day to the rescue.

Since last Friday, I have had little sleep at all, so I know I'm stretching it writing this, but I need to somewhat vent. Friday night was great, to say the least. I went to a concert featuring two bands: Jake Owen, who was okay, but I personally did not really care for him, and the Avett (ay-vette) Brothers, who were A-W-E-S-O-M-E. I loved them. I hated the freezing weather however. It literally took me fifteen minutes or so to thaw out. I'm not very cold tolerant at all, but the brothers were so worth it. I have a new favorite band... not that I really had one before now. I mean, I like Joe Hisaishi's work and Hans Zimmer, but they're composers. Not bands. Anyway, I got back at midnight or past. It was late. I got some sleep, but the next day was just a homework day.

Sunday morning I got up and went to church with my friend, ate lunch/breakfast, then went to work. I did not get to sleep until midnight or so again. But here's where the hardships start. Because I only got maybe six hours of sleep that night, and I need at least eight or so. That's just me.

Let me just say, that today was horrible because first off, I had a test that I wasn't really prepared for, but prepared enough to where I didn't fail, I got back and immediately started to work on a paper due that day; just the finishing touches on the paper that is. After those classes, I returned and had to go pick up something for a friend, drove back, and helped her with baking for a showcase we had to do, then went to eat supper, promptly followed by an hour and a half of boring chemistry.

I get back to my dorm, puckered out and cold, and sit down to start on what other than more homework, only to discover that my computer would not work. I flipped out. I was bone tired and now I couldn't finish my homework that was due in three hours. I wanted to cry; I wanted to pound my computer to bits, but I closed it, set it aside, and forced myself to breathe. Thank you, God, for friends, because a girl on my hall lent me her laptop to use instead.

Needless to say, I am better now and about to get some rest finally. Here's looking at ten hours of sleep and a trigonometry test tomorrow, and quiz, and just two other classes. Friday I'm completely free and riding home with a friend to see my favorite cousin in the world.

I have proudly survived another grueling week of college. Can't wait for finals. :P

On a lighter note, here's what I drew out of sheer boredom!

 

Mr. Landy, this is what happens when I play with your minions on your blog.

Sadly, the ink wore off. Time draw something new I guess then!

For Thief Queen; I really miss you!

 Every

 Time

 I

 See

 ANYTHING

YELLOW

I

Immediately

 Think

Of

 YOU!

There is no exception...

The continuation...

I told you it would be continued, not that I think many if any have viewed it. I know you have, Thief Queen. Gosh! My fingers are freezing in here! Why did I choose to sit here?


Mr. Landy, I hope you're reading this. I'm doing this more for you than for me. I have my own stories to write.

Also, I changed it a wee bit, so I started off a little before where I left off, because of the extra dialogue that helps it flow better.

Here you guys go. Please enjoy:

“What? You don’t think it could be real, Mr. ‘Imaginative’,” Stephanie laughed as she stood up and stretched.

“Frankly, no,” Skulduggery replied curtly as he stood up and straightened out his shirt some. He clicked his fingers together as he stretched them out, as if they were sore from being curled under his chin so long.

“You’re one to talk! If we were basing our opinions on what is real, you shouldn’t be here at all.”

Skulduggery paused in his finger exercises, still looking at his fingers. He curled them in ant out one final time before countering  in a very matter of fact tone, “Valkyrie, you honestly think that David Bowie is going to come through your window and whisk you away into a labyrinth full of goblins?” He placed his hands on his hips and leaned down to her level, eye-to-eye socket.

Stephanie leaned forward and looked back hard at him. “Stranger things have come through it,” she replied.

Skulduggery drew himself back up to his full height and looked away, putting his hand on his face as he sighed. “You never struck me as one to entertain such fantasies…”

“Not even with Uncle Gordon?” she quipped. At this Skulduggery had to pause. Again Stephanie found herself what he was looking at actually, so she kept the smug look of triumph and arched an eyebrow. “Skulduggery?” she prompted, looking between his fingers. He was looking at her, she was sure of it.

“I see your point,” he admitted reluctantly, but with a tone that refused to admit defeat. The house nearly shook with the chime of an old clock. Both looked up. Eleven o’clock.

“Is it really that late already?” Stephanie said more to herself.

“Indeed,” Skulduggery replied heedless. “I must be off then. Important things to do, people to see, villains to conquer, and all that jazz.” He started to pull on his coat.

“Without me?”

“Your leg is still mending. I don’t think you’re quite ready yet. Give it time.” He pat her on the head as he flung his scarf around his neck with his other hand. “Good night.” And with that said, he put on his hat and silently exited the room.

“Night,” Stephanie replied, but she doubted he had even heard her. She heard the front door close, just loud enough to be heard with its creaky hinges. She also heard Skulduggery mutter at how his nearly completely silent exit had been ruined by the door. Stephanie smirked and curled up on the couch again, the heaviness of sleep hitting her in the face like a fist and then oozing through her blood throughout her body. It was inevitable, unavoidable. She picked up the remote and started to rewind the cassette and the whole story started to play backwards on the screen in a blur of motion. In a blur of motion.

Something moved and she gasped sharply, her whole body jerking suddenly awake. The screen of the television was dark.

“I must have dozed off,” she muttered sleepily. She sat up and looked at the cassette player, but all the lights were off on it. It was off. She couldn’t remember turning it off, but, then again, she didn’t remember falling asleep either.

The sound came again from the other side of the room; a sort of shuffling, scattering sound.

“What the-” she started, but stopped herself and finished with an exasperated, “Is there seriously mice in here?”

A snicker. She blinked rapidly. Now there was skittering under the couch, on the bookshelf and various other places. And it was dark. “What the hell!” she shouted and snapped her fingers. Nothing happened. She snapped them again, desperately. “Come on!” she hissed. The skittering sounds were escalating. It sounded like a mouse invasion, not a mouse problem. “Come on!” she shouted at her fingers as she snapped them harder and harder. The couch moved slightly. She jumped up, standing on it. Now something was beating at her window.

“What the hell!” she screamed again. Finally a flame caught in her hand and flared, illuminating the entire room. The skittering abruptly ceased, but the tapping on the window continued. She breathed in deeply, trying to stop herself from hyperventilating. Sweat was already rolling down her face.

The snicker came from by the door. It didn’t sound like anyone she knew. “Skulduggery?” she called. Nothing.

“Tanith?” Nothing again. It had to be them, playing a joke on her. Hadn’t Skulduggery randomly dropped by to visit anyhow? It snickered again and skittered around some more. She hopped off the couch and advanced. She could see a shadow in the doorway.

“…Dad?”

Suddenly the window burst behind her. She leapt through the doorway, her flame extinguishing itself in the process. The moon was her only light now. She slid up against the door frame, hardly realizing that whatever was there before was gone now. All she was concerned about now was what had come through the window. She could hear it moving inside, the gentle roll of… boots? She peeked around the corner slowly so as not to reveal herself in case it had failed to notice her before.

“I know you’re behind there,” came an oddly familiar voice. One she had trouble believing she was actually hearing. She was frozen to the spot. Her body refused to move.

“Come on now,” it taunted.

She forced herself around the corner of the frame, just enough to confirm her doubts. Her eyes fell on the moonlit room, and the man standing in the middle of it, his back to her.

“David Bowie?” she whispered in disbelief.

He turned around slowly, the crystal ball easily moving between his hands. He maneuvered it in his right hand, turned his left, and then there were two, one in each hand. He tilted his head down and narrowed his eyes.

“You remind me of the babe,” he said smoothly lifting his chin, both the balls still moving and changing hands. He smiled at her and held one out.

"What babe?" she asked dumbfounded. The snickers erupted from around her, but as soon as she looked around it all ceased again. What is going on?

"The babe with the power."

"What-" but now she stopped herself. "What is going on?" The laughing seemed to seep from every nook and cranny, every dark corner in the room. Goblins. She thought. The little Brian Froud goblins. "Shut up!" she shouted. The laughing stopped again.


To be continued...

And So It Begins...

For anyone who may happen to come over from Mr. Landy's blog and happened to read what I said in the oodles of comments he gets, I thought up a rather devious little tale. Oh, how it is devious! And I hope Mr. Landy gets to read it. For all his Ameriminions who may read this and only got to book three, such as myself, this story takes place after book one. It is set in the "simpler" days.

But before I begin, I want to ad an extra congratulations for the thirteen winners of Mr. Landy's generous contest. I know how amazingly excited all of you are and, while I am slightly disappointed myself, I am also very happy for all of you. A sincere congrats from an author wanna-be.

And I will be posting this to a page each time I update it so that it is all together in one easy to read spot.

And  for the few or none who may have been anticipating this, though I am nervous to be posting it in such a vulnerable spot, but I will trust you. Please don't let me down. I am trusting you an awful lot. Don't break my heart, because I am doing this for you.

But first allow me to finish my trigonometry homework, which I am starting now. 9:09pm.

...

DONE! Whew! Wasn't that hard tonight. 9:48. Didn't take all that long either, so now I can give you that story!... After I actually type it. I can hear the emptiness of one anticipation and countless ones who know not of this. Needless, I continue:

It was late, but Stephanie had persisted with her parents about spending another night in her uncle’s house. She loved the ancient feel and all the old things, but tonight she wasn’t exploring, because the urge had been strong, an urge that swelled to the point of bursting. She had to do it.

The screen flashed in front of her eyes and the light cast eerie shadows and illuminations in the room, giving the perfect mood to the room. Such somber expectation, a dull emptiness in the house carrying the tones of the movie into its crevices. She was absorbed, not so much as she was in her uncle’s novels, but in the nostalgia of a childhood favorite. Lightning cracked on the television screen, and Stephanie thought of how the room held the darkness, but the outside did not hold the magic. There wasn’t even a moon tonight. But these thoughts did not stay long as her attention returned to the screen as the windows flew open, the white curtains fluttering in the dramatic wind as a barn owl entered the room.

“And what, pray tell, are you watching?” Stephanie tried not to jump, but couldn’t help it.

“Labyrinth,” she replied grudgingly, attempting to ignore that Skulduggery had caught her off guard. It wasn’t often he did, but she knew that he enjoyed it when he did. He didn’t sit down, just propped his skull on his wrist as his elbows dug into the back of the couch.

“Gracious, is that really who I think it is.”

“David Bowie? Yes,” Stephanie said.

“And what the hell is he supposed to be in that garish garb?” Skulduggery leaned forward to where he was in the corner of Stephanie’s sight. She wondered if he was looking at her or the screen. Without an actual face, it was always rather hard to read his expressions or even know where he was looking. Like now for instance. Something in the back of her mind started to play with the question of how he even perceived the world, but she pushed it back and reminded herself to enjoy her movie, not question magic.

“The Goblin King.”

“He doesn’t look like a goblin. More like a vampire or something. Anything but a goblin,” he scoffed.

Stephanie sighed. She was missing her movie. “He’s not a goblin, he is the king of the goblins. He rules the goblins and runs the labyrinth.”

“Ah.” He hunched in silence for awhile and watched the movie Stephanie imagined. The scene changed and the placid blue lighting changed to the browns of the labyrinth. And the blues had complemented Skulduggery’s skull so well. Now it was more of a peachy tone.

“You know there is a Scooby-Doo movie called ‘The Goblin King’, where the Goblin King is in fact a Goblin voiced by Tim Curry.”

Stephanie looked at him. He didn’t look back, she figured.  Just watched her movie. “’Scooby-Doo’?” she asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s an American child’s cartoon about this big dog and his friends that solve mysteries. Except in the movie, the Goblin King was real. The movies are like that. It was pretty cheesy most of the time. A real waste of time, I’d say.”

“Why would you watch something like ‘Scooby-Doo’ in the first place?” Stephanie asked sarcastically. He didn’t reply. “Skulduggery?” Still no reply. Typical Skulduggery style. She stared at him awhile longer before giving up and returning to her movie. Sara was already talking to the little… whatever, Hoggle, whining about him killing the fairies. She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back into the couch.

And silence reigned for the rest of the film as Sara fought her way through the Labyrinth. They were at the climax, with Sara running up and down those weird stairs that went all the wrong ways, her baby brother always just out of reach, and David Bowie singing and walking upside down on the stairs, and every other which-way. It was a little awkward with Skulduggery propped on the couch the whole time rather than sitting down. It just bothered Stephanie, like someone reading over her shoulder. She figured he must be enjoying it if he hadn’t left yet, but it was hard to tell from that expressionless skull. The hollow sockets would light up whenever the screen was bright, etching out the dramatic lines of the bone. She almost wished she was an artist for a moment, just to capture that. Capture the way the sleeves of his shirt fell down his arms for lack of anything to hold on to, the cuffs almost resting on his elbows. The shadows that fell across him, the shadows he casts; it was all very interesting.

“Why are you staring at me?” he asked.

“To see how long it takes for you to stare back,” she lied.

“I’m watching your movie. Why aren’t you?”

“Because I couldn’t tell if you were or not. For all I know you are sleeping.”

Suddenly the room went very dark. The credits were rolling up the screen, casting hardly any light at all. She turned on the lamp beside her. The room was flooded with light again. Now he was facing her.

“Interesting movie. Not the usual Muppet stuff, but I like it. Very imaginative.”

“What? You don’t think it could be real, Mr. ‘Imaginative’,” Stephanie laughed as she stood up and stretched. Skulduggery stood up as well.

“Valkyrie, you honestly think that David Bowie is going to come through your window and whisk you away into a labyrinth full of goblins?” he asked, placing his hands on his hips. He leaned down to her level, eye-to-eye socket.

Stephanie leaned forward and looked back hard at him. “Stranger things have come through it,” she replied.

To be continued...

Note: For complete version, go to "A Night for Stephanie". And this has been slightly modified on said page.

First Post EVER!

My first post! Yeah! This blog is mostly about nothing in particular, though that may change at some point. Mostly, I want to just have a place for ranting and having fun. I may even post short stories.

Otherwise, I have nothing to say at the moment other than that I have only been awake for five hours and have only eaten a pickle. It was a yummy pickle! And I just finished my glass of juice. The bottom of the mug is still sort of pinkish... Why did the happiness end so soon?

It will certainly be interesting, this new media. It will probably be- Drat! Out of tissues! No, not my internal tissues, the papery kind. For blowing noses. Now I have to get up and get another box. (sigh)