Here are the answers to my recent riddles post.
Riddle 1: I have a face but no mouth and my day starts with an energy drop. I don't speak, but I communicate effectively. I can go anywhere.
Cell phone
Riddle 2: I'm very small and see everything from my vantage point. You see from somewhere very close to me. You won't find me everywhere, though my home can be found on everyone. I like young people.
Eyebrow piercing
Riddle 3: I carry a lot and get very hot. Hold me close to your chest.
Bra
Riddle 4: Colors everywhere, see some living art.
Tattoo
Riddle 5: First coming from animals, I pierced darkness before Alva.
Candles, which were originally made from animal fat.
Riddle 6: Take a trip with me; you won't have to go anywhere. Just open your eyes and pick me up.
A book
How many did you get right? If you didn't comment on my original blog, how many might you have gotten right?
Life hands you challenges. We all face them in our own way. My way? A pen full of ink and sheer grit.
18 August 2010
12 August 2010
You've never what now? A reader recommends...
In the past, so many people have spoken a phrase that baffles me. I've heard this from people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of education. Well, maybe not all ages, but widely varied age groups. The phrase? "I've never read an entire book in my life." I've heard this phrase from college students - English majors, even! When I was a senior in high school, I took an English course at the freshman college level. Our final paper in the class was a book report on a novel. A student in class, astoundingly, raised their hand and asked the teacher "does this mean we have to read a book?" My jaw dropped. For all those people and anyone who might need to add to their own personal reading list, here's some easy, but entertaining reads I would recommend to anyone.
Michael Ende's The Neverending Story - The movie is nothing compared to the book, not that they two can ever really compare. This book was a favorite from around elementary school age. I'm not sure exactly when I first fell in love with it, but I've always had so much fun in that world. Fantastica (Fantasia based on movie dialogue) is a wonderfully rich fantasy world with so many unexplored adventures. Hence, the title of the work.
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling turned a generation on to reading. The series is masterfully written with clues scattered throughout for the reader to find. I'm currently working through the series for the second time myself and loving every minute of re-discovery. The characters, major and supporting roles, are well written and rounded out with any changed in motivation explained clearly.
Tuesdays With Morrie - A short, simple story that has a greater effect than some might guess. The fact that the story is true gives it even more meaning and depth.
The Wayside School series - Nice, nonsensical, short books about a sideways tilting school that has no thirteenth story and only one classroom per floor. Classic, always.
Chronicles of Narnia - Yes, there's imagery and symbolism. Yes, the author was a strong Christian. Yes, Aslan represents Jesus. Move on and just enjoy the story.
Walking Across Egypt - Short, sweet, to the point, and a very well characterized story.
The Year the Horses Came - The most controversial item on this list, this fictional novel deals with the idea of white men first arriving from present-day Russia to slowly take over the lands of the Goddess-worshiping natives. There are scenes of strong sexuality, but it's a logical part of the narrative storyline and not the focus of the book.
Harriet the Spy - A classic. Very accurate portrayal of a pre-teen mind and of the social interplay in middle school.
Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story - The story is told in the cleanest way possible with interesting moments of interplay between one time-period and another.
The Phantom Tollbooth - So much to enjoy in this book. The wordplay is wonderful. Shows some of the dangers of taking things too literally.
Artemis Fowl series - Has its far-fetched moments, but who can't love reading about a young criminal mastermind continually plotting against the Lower Elements (faeries)? The series has decent continuity and the author is careful to explain each oddity in sufficient detail.
I could go on and on, but with people who don't read, what would be the point?
Michael Ende's The Neverending Story - The movie is nothing compared to the book, not that they two can ever really compare. This book was a favorite from around elementary school age. I'm not sure exactly when I first fell in love with it, but I've always had so much fun in that world. Fantastica (Fantasia based on movie dialogue) is a wonderfully rich fantasy world with so many unexplored adventures. Hence, the title of the work.
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling turned a generation on to reading. The series is masterfully written with clues scattered throughout for the reader to find. I'm currently working through the series for the second time myself and loving every minute of re-discovery. The characters, major and supporting roles, are well written and rounded out with any changed in motivation explained clearly.
Tuesdays With Morrie - A short, simple story that has a greater effect than some might guess. The fact that the story is true gives it even more meaning and depth.
The Wayside School series - Nice, nonsensical, short books about a sideways tilting school that has no thirteenth story and only one classroom per floor. Classic, always.
Chronicles of Narnia - Yes, there's imagery and symbolism. Yes, the author was a strong Christian. Yes, Aslan represents Jesus. Move on and just enjoy the story.
Walking Across Egypt - Short, sweet, to the point, and a very well characterized story.
The Year the Horses Came - The most controversial item on this list, this fictional novel deals with the idea of white men first arriving from present-day Russia to slowly take over the lands of the Goddess-worshiping natives. There are scenes of strong sexuality, but it's a logical part of the narrative storyline and not the focus of the book.
Harriet the Spy - A classic. Very accurate portrayal of a pre-teen mind and of the social interplay in middle school.
Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story - The story is told in the cleanest way possible with interesting moments of interplay between one time-period and another.
The Phantom Tollbooth - So much to enjoy in this book. The wordplay is wonderful. Shows some of the dangers of taking things too literally.
Artemis Fowl series - Has its far-fetched moments, but who can't love reading about a young criminal mastermind continually plotting against the Lower Elements (faeries)? The series has decent continuity and the author is careful to explain each oddity in sufficient detail.
I could go on and on, but with people who don't read, what would be the point?
10 August 2010
Things I Miss From Childhood
Image via Wikipedia
08 August 2010
I'm Quitting My Day Job
Yes, I'm quitting my day job. I'm re-focusing on what I want to do, moving back to my passion, the thing that makes me happiest. I'll focus on school and my various responsibilities as I need to, but it's time to pay attention to me. I want to make myself happy and be satisfied in my own life.A lot of my motivation, it's true, likely stems from the fact that I'm twenty-three years old and at a stage in my life when I can, to a point, do what I want without serious repercussions so long as I maintain balance. Thankfully, I'm both logical enough to realize this and good at balance when I need to be.
What am I focusing on? Well, if you ask that question, you don't know me or are a new reader to my blog. (Realistically, these add up to about the same thing.) I believe Gloria Steinem said it best. "Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel like I should be doing something else." When I'm writing, I love what I'm doing. These days, the creative ideas have flowed easier than before and I intend to take advantage of that flow before the demands of academia dry up my oasis wellspring.
"Reading usually precedes writing and the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading. Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer." ~Susan Sontag
What am I focusing on? Well, if you ask that question, you don't know me or are a new reader to my blog. (Realistically, these add up to about the same thing.) I believe Gloria Steinem said it best. "Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel like I should be doing something else." When I'm writing, I love what I'm doing. These days, the creative ideas have flowed easier than before and I intend to take advantage of that flow before the demands of academia dry up my oasis wellspring.
"Reading usually precedes writing and the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading. Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer." ~Susan Sontag
07 August 2010
Reading & Dancing
"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." -Voltaire
This may be one of the simplest and one of the most profound quotes I've come across in a while. Interesting may be a slightly better word than profound, but it's my blog. :-P This quote reads like one of life's basic truths, a bite-sized snack of a good saying that, once digested, makes you realize there was more meat to it than you thought. I wonder how much harm might be prevented by dancing and reading?
Reading certainly teaches us of the evils of human nature, things to avoid, ways others have failed. Dancing lets us cut loose, burn energy, and have fun. With energy burned and fun had, tempers drop. How much harm could be avoided with reading and dancing?
Irony: I found this quote in a book I've owned for years. Apparently, I've never really read it before.
This may be one of the simplest and one of the most profound quotes I've come across in a while. Interesting may be a slightly better word than profound, but it's my blog. :-P This quote reads like one of life's basic truths, a bite-sized snack of a good saying that, once digested, makes you realize there was more meat to it than you thought. I wonder how much harm might be prevented by dancing and reading?
Reading certainly teaches us of the evils of human nature, things to avoid, ways others have failed. Dancing lets us cut loose, burn energy, and have fun. With energy burned and fun had, tempers drop. How much harm could be avoided with reading and dancing?
Irony: I found this quote in a book I've owned for years. Apparently, I've never really read it before.
04 August 2010
Fables can come true
There was a traveler going on a journey, climbing a steep hill. It took him several hours to reach the summit; once there, he found a small snake, who slithered up to him. "Hello fellow traveler," the snake greeted with a smile. "I've just slithered up this hill and am far too tired to make it to the other side. Would you please carry me down? I'd be eternally grateful." The traveler, feeling this fair, offered his hand for the snake to slither onto to be carried. Once they reached the bottom of the hill, the snake slithered off the traveler's hand. Turning, he then bit the traveler on the ankle and dashed off into the tall grass. "How could you do that? Why did you bite me when I helped you," the traveler demanded. The snake's slim head poked out of the grass. "You knew the risks when you picked me up, friend. You knew I was a snake. Still, you chose to help me. The risk was yours," he replied before slithering off, flicking his tail as his poison moved through the traveler's system.
I first read this poorly paraphrased fable in a Bible. It teaches the lesson of thinking through your actions, of being careful who you offer help to. It's a lesson I feel my parents and I need to learn. We've helped people, out of the goodness of our hearts and because it's the decent thing to do. I'm sick and tired of getting bitten by the people we help, getting pulled into problems we shouldn't be involved with. Too many people seem so focused on themselves, not realizing that the world doesn't revolve around the spot where they stand, not realizing that we're trying to live our own lives around them. They don't know or don't care if we go out of our way to help - provided we're still helping. Then, we might as well blend into the woodwork for all the good we do in trying to help others from an outsider's perspective. Friends burn us or don't realize that what they do does come back to us and it's all completely stupid. What ever happened to paying it forward? Or laying in the bed you've made? Why is it everybody's looking for a handout these days? Work to better yourself by yourself!
I first read this poorly paraphrased fable in a Bible. It teaches the lesson of thinking through your actions, of being careful who you offer help to. It's a lesson I feel my parents and I need to learn. We've helped people, out of the goodness of our hearts and because it's the decent thing to do. I'm sick and tired of getting bitten by the people we help, getting pulled into problems we shouldn't be involved with. Too many people seem so focused on themselves, not realizing that the world doesn't revolve around the spot where they stand, not realizing that we're trying to live our own lives around them. They don't know or don't care if we go out of our way to help - provided we're still helping. Then, we might as well blend into the woodwork for all the good we do in trying to help others from an outsider's perspective. Friends burn us or don't realize that what they do does come back to us and it's all completely stupid. What ever happened to paying it forward? Or laying in the bed you've made? Why is it everybody's looking for a handout these days? Work to better yourself by yourself!
03 August 2010
Riddle Me This
Unable to come up with a really good blog idea, I decided to type up some riddles. Feel free to take a guess at what I'm describing here.
Riddle 1: I have a face but no mouth and my day starts with an energy drop. I don't speak, but I communicate effectively. I can go anywhere.
Riddle 2: I'm very small and see everything from my vantage point. You see from somewhere very close to me. You won't find me everywhere, though my home can be found on everyone. I like young people.
Riddle 3: I carry a lot and get very hot. Hold me close to your chest.
Riddle 4: Colors everywhere, see some living art.
Riddle 5: First coming from animals, I pierced darkness before Alva.
Riddle 6: Take a trip with me; you won't have to go anywhere. Just open your eyes and pick me up.
Riddle 1: I have a face but no mouth and my day starts with an energy drop. I don't speak, but I communicate effectively. I can go anywhere.
Riddle 2: I'm very small and see everything from my vantage point. You see from somewhere very close to me. You won't find me everywhere, though my home can be found on everyone. I like young people.
Riddle 3: I carry a lot and get very hot. Hold me close to your chest.
Riddle 4: Colors everywhere, see some living art.
Riddle 5: First coming from animals, I pierced darkness before Alva.
Riddle 6: Take a trip with me; you won't have to go anywhere. Just open your eyes and pick me up.
28 July 2010
Books, books, books!
Well, I've met my personal goal. Yesterday and today, I worked on getting every book I own out of storage and sorting through them. Anything I've read a million and one times was put aside to be passed on for someone else to enjoy. Anything I know I won't read, but was holding on to for sheer sentimental reasons was also passed on. Counting the boxes that fell apart on me, I brought fifteen standard-size cardboard boxes into the house. One box went straight to the trash - the bugs had done too much damage, eating into the pages of the books. After that, the organizing started.
There was a lot of stacking, moving around, re-stacking, etc. last night. I flitted around the dining room table, sometimes like a butterfly searching for a specific stack or leafing through each stack. Other times, I was a woman on a mission. I knew exactly where whichever book was and knew it had been put in the wrong pile. Add in our new cat, Diana, who proved herself a feline Wishbone when she curled up and fell asleep on my books, knocking piles as she got comfortable, and it made for a very interesting night.
Today, I got all the books put away. Two boxes worth of books went into a plastic storage bin - something bugs can't get into - to be returned to storage. Five boxes were packed up to be passed on to whomever wants them. The topics vary wildly. Books about Lenin sat next to a collection of religious texts - everything from the Book of Mormon to the Bahagavad-Gita - and all that sat beside books from my childhood that are in need of new homes. Now, I'm sitting in my mildly rearranged bedroom with my bookshelves crammed full of the works I decided I wanted to keep and have accessible. If I did my math right, excluding the 6-7 dictionaries/encyclopedias sitting in a basket together, I currently have around 280 books in my bedroom. All this just so I could find my Harry Potter series - which was fully recovered, completely unharmed, and is currently sitting with my favorite Stephen King book of all time, It, on the fourth shelf of my small bookshelf.
Hm... I think I have some reading to do. :)
There was a lot of stacking, moving around, re-stacking, etc. last night. I flitted around the dining room table, sometimes like a butterfly searching for a specific stack or leafing through each stack. Other times, I was a woman on a mission. I knew exactly where whichever book was and knew it had been put in the wrong pile. Add in our new cat, Diana, who proved herself a feline Wishbone when she curled up and fell asleep on my books, knocking piles as she got comfortable, and it made for a very interesting night.
Today, I got all the books put away. Two boxes worth of books went into a plastic storage bin - something bugs can't get into - to be returned to storage. Five boxes were packed up to be passed on to whomever wants them. The topics vary wildly. Books about Lenin sat next to a collection of religious texts - everything from the Book of Mormon to the Bahagavad-Gita - and all that sat beside books from my childhood that are in need of new homes. Now, I'm sitting in my mildly rearranged bedroom with my bookshelves crammed full of the works I decided I wanted to keep and have accessible. If I did my math right, excluding the 6-7 dictionaries/encyclopedias sitting in a basket together, I currently have around 280 books in my bedroom. All this just so I could find my Harry Potter series - which was fully recovered, completely unharmed, and is currently sitting with my favorite Stephen King book of all time, It, on the fourth shelf of my small bookshelf.
Hm... I think I have some reading to do. :)
25 July 2010
I must not tell lies
I've always loved writing and reading both. Lately, I've found myself hungering for a favorite fandom of the past. Rather than my recent obsession of Twilight, I've been wanting to delve into the Wizarding World. Yes, I've been missing the world of Harry Potter. In my opinion, it's better written than Twilight and has more "staying power." The seven books were truly the story of a generation. They hold themes that last forever: friendship, bravery, love, loyalty, and many more.
I started re-reading the books last semester and made it to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. However, those books belonged to my room-mate. Now that I'm home, I'll have to dig my own books out of storage. Haven't done it yet because storage is...well, pretty full and mostly books. I've been re-watching the movies - the ones I can find, anyway. Order of the Phoenix seems to have vanished, which is really irritating to me. Of course, my DVDs are getting a little worn out. They've developed scratches and the like, which makes movie watching difficult. I did some research this week and learned that James Potter's birthday is two days before mine. :)
Research has also told me how much I missed in the books, how much I forgot. I didn't remember the back story of the Ravenclaw diadem as detailed in Deathly Hallows. I lost so many details of Severus Snape's story-line - though I did remember the ending and most of the important facts. Yeah, I forgot a lot of little stuff and I genuinely want to get back into that world. Just need to make time to go dig through my boxes and locate my books.
I started re-reading the books last semester and made it to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. However, those books belonged to my room-mate. Now that I'm home, I'll have to dig my own books out of storage. Haven't done it yet because storage is...well, pretty full and mostly books. I've been re-watching the movies - the ones I can find, anyway. Order of the Phoenix seems to have vanished, which is really irritating to me. Of course, my DVDs are getting a little worn out. They've developed scratches and the like, which makes movie watching difficult. I did some research this week and learned that James Potter's birthday is two days before mine. :)
Research has also told me how much I missed in the books, how much I forgot. I didn't remember the back story of the Ravenclaw diadem as detailed in Deathly Hallows. I lost so many details of Severus Snape's story-line - though I did remember the ending and most of the important facts. Yeah, I forgot a lot of little stuff and I genuinely want to get back into that world. Just need to make time to go dig through my boxes and locate my books.
21 July 2010
Electronic Mishaps
Yeah, I'm doing a great job of blogging, I know. I've had my six year old niece and two year old nephew visiting this week as well as my three year old sister coming over for babysitting. This only reminds me that I am not ready to have kids. On top of this exhausting job of helping to keep track of kiddos and trying not to depend too much on the electronic babysitter for them, I've also spent most of the summer without my own power cord for my computer.
The problem started very simply: one power cord went out and the new one was shorter than my first. Because it was shorter, I pulled it too far, which caused some of the wires to be exposed. Well, that's easily fixed. That's one reason electrical tape was made, right? Okay, it's not a legitimate fix, but it held together for months. One day, a few weeks after I'd come home for the summer, I found out that one of the wires had totally been stripped. The fibers in it had disintegrated or something cause they were just gone! Well, damn. Now I've got to scrap the cord.
Thankfully, the battery pack is still good. Not that it does me any good when it can't plug into the wall, but it's better than nothing. We got online that day and ordered a new cord (thanks again mom!) and everything was gonna be fine, awesome even. I'd only have to wait a week or two and my new power cord would come in the mail.
Sadly, it has now been over a month and still no power cord. I've been borrowing compatible cords from my stepdad and neighbor, who both have laptops. However, since I don't want to put either of them out, I'm not going to just lay a claim and steal the power cord from their own computers. That's just plain rude and I don't honestly need my laptop that badly. I am getting impatient for that power cord, but a wait of longer than a month seems excessive for such a simple item. They were on back order when we placed the initial order, I get that, but come on!
As if this weren't enough electronic trouble for one summer, my laptop hinge has knocked itself out of whack so badly that there's a crack in it and screws are falling out. For all these irritating reasons, I'm typing this blog on mom's computer (thanks again, mom!) and will be picking up my lappy from the local repair store tomorrow. (thanks for the $ dad!) With any luck, I can get some smooth sailing on my side sometime soon.
The problem started very simply: one power cord went out and the new one was shorter than my first. Because it was shorter, I pulled it too far, which caused some of the wires to be exposed. Well, that's easily fixed. That's one reason electrical tape was made, right? Okay, it's not a legitimate fix, but it held together for months. One day, a few weeks after I'd come home for the summer, I found out that one of the wires had totally been stripped. The fibers in it had disintegrated or something cause they were just gone! Well, damn. Now I've got to scrap the cord.
Thankfully, the battery pack is still good. Not that it does me any good when it can't plug into the wall, but it's better than nothing. We got online that day and ordered a new cord (thanks again mom!) and everything was gonna be fine, awesome even. I'd only have to wait a week or two and my new power cord would come in the mail.
Sadly, it has now been over a month and still no power cord. I've been borrowing compatible cords from my stepdad and neighbor, who both have laptops. However, since I don't want to put either of them out, I'm not going to just lay a claim and steal the power cord from their own computers. That's just plain rude and I don't honestly need my laptop that badly. I am getting impatient for that power cord, but a wait of longer than a month seems excessive for such a simple item. They were on back order when we placed the initial order, I get that, but come on!
As if this weren't enough electronic trouble for one summer, my laptop hinge has knocked itself out of whack so badly that there's a crack in it and screws are falling out. For all these irritating reasons, I'm typing this blog on mom's computer (thanks again, mom!) and will be picking up my lappy from the local repair store tomorrow. (thanks for the $ dad!) With any luck, I can get some smooth sailing on my side sometime soon.
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