Christmas!

I understand it's almost the New Year, and I probably should do a post on that, but still, it's right after Christmas, and I haven't done a post on that yet, so here we go.

For Christmas I made out like a bandit really. I got No Plot? No Problem! By Chris Baty, Outcast of Redwall by Brian Jacques, and those were the only books I got. I also got a wonderful red toggle hoodie, some nice earrings, um....I know there's more...anyway. That was Sunday, where we got to visit family for Christmas. When we got home on Monday, we had a nice Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day I got...hmm...well, my brothers made me my wooden sword, I got a DS Lite, also a cat book, oh! I also got an AlphaSmart Neo!

That one got me excited actually. I asked for it, but I didn't really expect to get it. I was wondering if I'd ever be able to buy it for myself with me having to pay for mission trip too. So I'm extremely happy that I got it.

Ok, I think I'll have some rambling about New Years in this post too, just for the fun of it. On the NaNoWriMo forums, there's the Big Fun Scary Year thing. Anyway, here's my goal list right now. I might add more as time goes by.

-post in this blog at least once a week (I will have to except one or two weeks out of the year however, as there will be some circumstances that I won't be able to post.)
-Finish writing this year's NaNo.
-Put my shiny new AlphaSmart Neo to good use by writing...say....at least twice a week. (Same weeks will have to be excepted, except during car travels with them I may be able to write in a notebook, but I doubt it.)
-Hmm....I'm toying with wanting to learn French or Spanish or Italian or something...to a conversational level I guess...but I dunno about that one. Shall we say that's a possible goal?
-learn to sightread better on the piano (That's being able to just look at a song you've never played before and play it right there. I can generally do the one-finger melody straight up, but I'd like to be able to do more than that on the first or second go-through)
-another piano related one. This is because my dad really wants me to: Learn to play out of a hymnbook. For me to be able to do this, I need to accomplish the above goal. Sightreading. It's just that sight reading out of a hymnbook seems harder than anything else.
-Finish my CSS self-course. (It's fun, one of those 24-hour things, with 24 1-hour lessons, but I just haven't finished it)
-Finish the JavaScript course (same kind) that I also bought
-Figure out what programming language you need to know in order to program usernames and passwords and all that junk so I can have a more interactive website! And then possibly learn said language.

Those aren't in any particular order, just as they came to mind. So...Do you have any goals or anything you want to get done by the end of next year?

Sunset

This is a picture of a sunset I took the other night. I'm by no means a photographer, butI have a digital camera, and at the urging of my parents and brother (my other brother was at work), I took some pictures of it. This is the best one, fixed up with Picasa. It needed a bit of strightening, but apparently the lightning was good, because when I used those buttons it didn't do really anything. Anyway, I like it, and thought I'd torture you with it while I had it out like this.

While I'm typing, I might as well give you an update on my writing (since that is what this blog is supposed to be about).
My NaNoWriMo novel has slowed down, it's not at a boring part by any means, but I don't know, I just don't want to write on it right now! Thus the procrastination of writing in this blog with the picture that normally would've just stayed on the computer instead of being put on the internet. Anyway, it's at about 56k now, and lately I've only been able to get literally a few words on it per day.
I've gotten out a different writing project however, is coming along beautifully. In that notebook that I took the picture of the fountian pen on (see previous post, the other one with the picture? Yeah, that one!), I'm working that one plot that came to mind during NaNo. I was just going to build on it a bit, but then it insisted that I put it on paper, and so I used my fountain pen to start, and now I'm in love with it. I'm not going to type it up, it'll be my away-from-the-computer project. It's forcing me either away from the computer, or to write on it while sitting at the computer, which is really not what I meant to happen at all. Ah well, maybe I can bribe myself, or threaten, that works too. "Stand away from the notebook, and write on your NaNo, or you'll never see the new story again!"

Great.

All I Want for Christmas...

Is my two straight teeth (sorry, I have braces, so I have to say that)

Actually, I do know what I want for Christmas. (Now that it's weeks after my parents went shopping)
I'd like junk for my fountain pen. Colored inks, or some nice stationary, that would be nice...there's also calligraphy stuff would be awesome.

Now that I've given my list to people who can't get anything for me, I'm off to drool over ywriter4, since I can't have it.
Yes, I know it's free! But I have satellite internet, and we only have so many megabytes of download space per rolling month. In a day or two I'll have the bandwidth back and I'll download it. It looks like fun! And useful...I guess that's important too.

Fountain Pen Ramble (probably Haiku too!)

So, if you will kindly look at the picture over there, ====>
You will see my beautiful Waterman Phileas fountain pen. It's over my notebook, and the snowglobe is there just for fun.
Beautiful, no? For those of you that know what a fountain pen is, skip the following part:
A fountain pen as far as I know is one of the oldest actual pens. For some reason I'm thinking that the nib was at first attached to quills, because the hollow feather allowed it to be filled with ink, and then the nib (the part at the end that you write with) would help it to last longer. I could be wrong on that however. Anyway, the fountain pen is a very elegant writing instrument, and it writes beautifully. My writing is sloppy (that's my writing in the notebook), but I'm sure it'll get better. The thing I really love about it is how it glides over the page. I don't really notice other things not gliding, but if I use a pencil right after the fountain pen, or in this notebook because I'm used to it in this notebook, it seems weird and hard to do.

Those of you who know about fountain pens, here you can start reading again.
My pen came as a nice set for my birthday in August, with the pen, a bottle of ink, a converter, cartidges in several colors, blotting paper and a cloth to wipe with. And don't forget the booklet! I'm really enjoying it, even though until a few days ago I was scared to get it out and use it at all. I got over that quickly as I started writing with it. It's so much fun! I have a medium nib on it, however I've heard that these Waterman nibs run a bit broader than the normal American nib. But what do I know?

Anyway, I love my fountain pen. If you like to write, a fountain pen is a great way to write, it's very elegant, and they write wonderfully. You can use bottled ink or cartridges, either way is great.

Happy writing!

Post-Nano Blues

I have a serious case of 'em. I can't settle down to write anymore. I can get a few words out, nothing really productive though. I've taken breaks, but it's time that I get some writing done again. I've set some goals, and they are:
#1: Write something every day possible.
#2: Finish November novel
#3: Ooh! Here's a fun one: Build on plot that came to mind during November

So, I didn't manage to actually write anything on a novel or story monday, but I oh-so-conveniently (and actually on accident) forgot to put on the first place I posted it what I had to write on. I actually got some writing on a paper on Orthodox Judaism, the assignment I assume was set because we just finished reading a book called "The Chosen" and so I typed on that.

My Talents

Before we go into this, it should be noted that I have virtually no talent. I say virtually because everyone has a strength. For me, the things I'm talented at, I'm not even really remarkable at. Like...writing. I like to think that I'm a fairly good writer for a 14-year-old. But that's just it. I'm fairly good. I'm not remarkable. I don't stand out like that. The thing is, very few people stand out in any field. So I guess I just have to do it because I like to do it. I won't spend all of my time doing it. I have other things that I need to do. But I'll spend some time that I can spare for writing. And right now, I will seranade you with Haiku.

*~*~*~*

Talent. What is it?
That which you are so good at?
Compare yourself now!

Do you feel so great?
There is always one better,
One who can beat you.

Those who are the best,
If they tried so hard, there's fear.
Who will beat them next?

They live in constant fear,
If they love their position.
One will overtake.

But if you don't care,
You can enjoy your new place.
And still pass it on.

So enjoy your place,
But do not love it too much.
For it will go away.

*~*~*~*

See how bad I am? Anyway, the point is, when you're considered the best, odds are you won't stay that way for long. You're what people strive to beat. And someday, you'll be beaten. Anyway, why in the world am I talking about that? It must be NaNoWriMo. I start rambling.♪

Oh yeah! I'm ending all of my posts with that little music note thingy now...♪

I.....did it?

*deep breath* I DID IT!!!! I've hit 50k! Last night, I hit it! It might be hard to understand, but if you go and write 50,000 words in one 30-day month, you'll get it. Maybe. Bragging time (you can skip over if you like):

So far I'm quite pleased with my novel. I haven't seen too many sub-plots, but then, I didn't try. But still, it's fairly intricate, not boring I don't think. Things just keep popping out at me, and then onto the page. It's fun.

*sigh* now I need to keep being motivated to finish writing it....

Novel Update

This is weird....For so long, my words left to write have been so many more than what I had written...but I added up yesterday's numbers today before I started writing...and I only have about 14.5k left! I've written exactly 64 pages, I've never written anything that long...it's not even Thanksgiving! How? It's just so strange...Yesterday was the half-way point, I've just now started writing about how they actually go on their main quest. I don't know if I'll be done with the novel by December! Although, there are always the threats of my friends that say I need to have it done by then end of December.

In other news, tomorrow (Saturday) I probably won't get much writing done, I may have to get up early, although I almost don't want to do that. There's a swim meet you see, and I should be rested. In fact, it's weird. The past few times I've been swimming, my fingers have hurt. Is that from typing?

Oh, and then there's biology. I have a quarterly exam to take today because I didn't do so well on my bi-weekly tests over the basics and the first three kingdoms: Monera, Protista, and Fungi. I don't mind biology, I just don't want to spend the time on it that I need to. My characters call!

Anyway, if I'm so busy, why am I wasting time writing in my blog? We may never know....

So close....

I CAN TASTE IT!!! I can taste 30k coming up! But I will restrain myself. I will save that taste for tomorrow...possibly. Right now I want to reward myself. I want to have some fun! I haven't played a game on the computer in ages. Mostly because we don't have any I really like...but that's not the point! I'm off to do something I want to do. Because my brain needs a break. I will stop thinking about how I should be writing long enough for me to have some fun!

Or maybe I'll just browse the NaNoWriMo forums...hmm....hard to decide....

Why do I write? And "Ode to My Poor Old Laptop"

No one's really asked me that, but I guess I've asked myself now. Why do I write? I don't know that anyone else in my family likes to write. I just like to do it myself. It hasn't been my dream since I was little, my dream back then was to play flute. I always have had a good imagination though. I guess I still do. But I still don't see exactly why I write. I guess I just don't know. I like it. I've got stories in my head that I don't know exist until I write them down, but it feels so good to get them down. I don't so much want to get a point of something across, except that a good novel can be written without romance, but I mostly just want to write a good story.

*~*~*~*~*

The old Windows '98 computer,
served us so well.
It held the files we needed,
And played some games to boot.

But we had to do some more,
So we put on newer software.
It slowed the poor thing down,
But it held together bravely,
And never let us down.

When we needed it no more,
And got a new computer,
We stuffed it in a closet,
And barely used it since.

After a while I picked it up,
And he started faithfully.
I typed some things on him,
And worked on websites too.

But a few weeks ago,
He had been put up for a long time,
I tried to start him up,
But he had died, he was no more.

I sighed and called my mom,
but there was nothing we could do.
He's still in the closet,
I want to save him too.

But he seems to have died,
Never to boot again,
I don't know that I can do anything for him
But write this Ode to My Poor Old Laptop.

WHAT?! MORE Haikus?!

I'm afraid so, yes.
I can't stop writing these things!
They're so addictive!

But there's a question,
One I really want to ask.
Answer honestly!

They seem to jostle,
The Haikus in my mind do.
Do they to you, too?

If so, tell me.
I get you to give me feedback!
I can't write like that!

Well, perhaps I can,
I have already, haven't I?
But I'd like to stop.

But only if they
Actually have no flow,
If they flow, say so!

I truly do beg,
For you to leave you comments,
On this Haiku post.

One more post today!

I just want to say
That I'm writing poem too much
Now I'm on Haikus

*~*~*~*

I was just thinking,
That my problem is I care
Too much about rhymes.

That "Thursday" poem there,
I wrote it without caring
About rhymes or breaks.

So I've discovered,
I really shouldn't care any
If anything rhymes

Now I say good-night,
And leave you with my Haikus,
As I go to bed!

Eruika!

First, some background on the word ('cause I'm weird like that):
Eruika literally means "I have found it" In...um...I can't remember what language, Greek? Hehe...

Anyway, the reason I say that is this (now you get an update on my novel, ooh):
I found another job for Fires in my book! Before I added this one, the job list for them read like this:

Fire: Blacksmith, Adventurers, Miners

Now it reads like this:

Fire: Blacksmith, Adventurers, Miners, Glass-blowers

Which one did I add? We may never know. Anyway, how I came across it was one of my characters was getting a baby bottle for something. I of course had jars and stuff, but it hadn't occurred to me before that someone had to make and probably blow the glass. So then I realized who it was perfect for. A Fire! Who else could keep it hot enough? It'd be easy for them. They don't have to blow it all either, so, yeah. There's a discovery.

Got the Poem!

Thursdays, how I hate thee,
You fill my life with dread
and then deliver worse than I imagine.

I can't stand how busy you make me,
How you make me so tired at night.
You force me up, then push me down.

I don't mind each activity on its own,
But in one day? Not enough time!

Piano I can deal with,
Swimming I even enjoy,
Watching kids is even ok.

But do them all in one day,
and on top of school,
I can't do it! No way!

In November, with 1,667 words per day,
How can I do it all on a Thursday?

I want to lock myself away,
With a laptop and only a little internet,
And just write the day away.

But Thursday, you vile beast,
You force me out, you keep me from operating,
I can't get a thing done! There's do much to do.

*~*~*~*

Wow, that came out better than I thought it would. Seriously, I wasn't anticipating line breaks, but they just popped up. That's cool, the two parts with only two lines even kinda fit. Look, two verses, then one with two lines. Two more verses, then another with two lines. Then two more verses. Maybe it should've ended with a two line verse, but I couldn't think of what to put. I'm not going to care right now.

*sigh*

This might be a bit of a negative rant, so if you wish to skip it, you may.

I HATE THURSDAYS! I dread them, then I hate the experience, then during the aftermath, I wonder why I bother with them. On Thursdays I have to do all of my normal school, along with piano, then vipers swimming, then I come back and watch children. It's almost just all in a row. I get up, go run or bike for exercise, then I come back and try to do some school. We have to leave for piano at 1:00, and it goes to 3:30. There are three of us, but she keeps us for an extra half-hour anyway. I don't see why. Then we come back, it'll be at least 3:45. I finish up whatever school I didn't get done in the morning or at piano, then I try to scrape out some words on my novel if it's November. Then at 5:40 I get a ride from a brother to take me to the YMCA for swimming. I swim until 7:30, then watch kids until supposedly 8:30, but it turns out to be more like 8:50 before their done, then I hang out upstairs munching on a few snacks until everyone leaves. I then take a shower and go to bed, relieved that Thursday is over.
And Thursdays before science tests are even worse! I always have science tests on Friday, unless my mom lets me put it off until Monday or something. Anyway, today I had a test, and so yesterday was even worse than usual. And then sometimes there are orthodontist appointments. I had one the other week, science test, ortho, and the normal junk. That was a bad Thursday. Thank goodness it wasn't during November. I'm enjoying myself writing this novel, don't get me wrong, but man does it make Thursdays worse!

Hmm...that might spawn a poem...not a rhyming one, as stated before, but a poem none-the-less...

Resolved...(slightly)

I've resolved the problem slightly about not being able to write during Thanksgiving. I asked my dad specifically "So I can't write at all on my story while family is here?"
The response came back as something along these lines:
Well, you'll have to be really careful about that, because if you're on the computer all day you won't get to spend any time with them, and you don't want to seem rude or anti-social.

So watch myself. But if I'm careful, I can maybe get my daily word count done! I'm determined to get my word count done, and still spend plenty of time with family!

Hang on...they're still going to wonder what I'm doing on the computer...I'll end up saying I'm writing a novel, if my parents don't tell them right away, and then they're going to ask the infernal question!!!!!

"What's it about?"

GAH! How in the world am I supposed to sum up my novel in one sentence? Even two or three, it's virtually impossible! Oh well, se la vi. I'll start practicing. Hmm...

My novel is about six people who escape from slavery in a different land and find their way home.

My novel is a fantasy about six people who escape from slavery in a neighboring country while their home country is at war in the country their slave in and they escape and go home where they have to save their home and stuff like that.

Hm...dangit, it's just too complicated to explain in just a few sentences!

Another blog?

Nooo...well, yes. This one is for my characters though! I decided that just for the fun of it, I'll make a blog for my Yavn characters. I haven't posted much, but you absolutely need to read the first post. It's quite important if you want to read any of the rest of it. Anyway! Here's the link:
www.yavncharacters.blogspot.com
I'll just post in them both, ok?

Word Count on Nanovel!

I understand I'm probably posting spazzmatically, but as I don't have anything better to do...wait, strike that, I do, I should be writing on my NaNoWriMo novel. (aka NaNovel) Anyway, I thought I'd give you an update on my wordcount. As I'm sure you know, I'm trying to write 50,000 words in one month, this month, November. I've been informed that I can't write at all while family's here for thanksgiving, so that kills two days, one day if I can force myself up on the day they come to get the writing done. So, yeah. I need to be two or three days ahead at least. So far so good. I'm two days ahead, and I build a few hundred words each day, as I get about 2,500 to almost 3,000 done per day. Some days are better than others, but anyway. Here at the stats:
Yesterday: 2,990 words written
Today: 176...Ok, the afternoon is yet young! I'll get it done! Don't worry, look at the total as of right now:
Total: 15,203
I need only be at 11,669 today, and I know what I said about buffers! My point is, I'm ahead, and I'll get about 2,000 words done today if it almost kills me, and then I'll be even farther ahead! So there! And yes, I know I shouldn't be posting on my blog when I should be writing. Didn't I say that at the start of the post? I'm going now! You shouldn't see any more posts from me today.

Ah, a terrible poem, and info!

First I shall serenade you with a terrible poem. I wrote it kind of on the subject of NaNoWriMo (which is the info by the way)

They say everyone has a book inside of them, one that's just waiting to be put on paper. Then why is it, when I write it all out, that I'm surprised at almost every scene? I wrote out an outline, I thought it all through. I drew up maps, I thought of my characters. Why is it then, that I'm constantly surprised? Why is that each thing that comes out, it startles me, and sometimes makes me laugh? If it's from my mind, how can I not know what it is?

Shock-and-awe, that's what I get, each time I lock the editor away. I don't look at the last sentence I wrote, I merely keep writing. When I finish, I look at what came from my head, and I read over it in wonder. I wrote that, I got it down, now my editor can come to play. She'll look at it, then pull out her red pen, she'll mark it all up. I'll type it again, and think about it more. It'll be better each time, but either shorter or longer. The thing that matters is that it's on paper.

And now for the info:
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is every November, and you try to write a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of November. It's insane, that's been established many times over. The point is, so many people do it, and it's so awesome to see what comes out of my head *points to poem above* I hope that makes my point. I apparently don't know it's there until it's on paper. I planned it out quite a bit, but I'm still amazed.

First Post!

I've tried to remember to blog, but after a while I always stop. I'm going to keep writing in this one though! Why? Because this blog is about my writing. So I've got no reason to procrastinate. If I write, I should remember to post in this blog. If I post in this blog, I should remember to write. The only thing I'm going to have trouble with is people. I need people to read my blog. So, whoever might be reading this now: GET EVERYONE ELSE TO READ IT! That's your job. It's also called passing the buck. Not my problem anymore. Anyway, I'm not much a poet, and now I need to read the book "heart to heart" again, because it's got poetry that doesn't seem like poetry. I need to remember this: Poetry isn't about what rhymes, it's about invoking a feeling. It doesn't have to sound pretty or anything, I just need to make you feel a certain way. When I was little I'd write little poems. They didn't rhyme hardly at all, and if they did it was by accident. A friend of mine (who's older than me, I haven't seen her in a long time though) seemed to have it in her head that poems had to rhyme. So she'd make add a line or two that would rhyme. I don't know why that's so drilled into my head today. I know that they don't have to rhyme, but I just can't convince myself.

I should probably tell you why I chose the name. The writing part you probably understand. The weird names comes from a few things: The first: I'm weird myself. Self-proclaimed.

Which reminds me: I need to point something out: I'm a Christian, and I will probably talk about my walk with God in my blog posts. If you are going to take offense at that, then you probably don't want to read my blog. Anyway, the reason that the weirdo thing brought me to the fact that I'm a Christian, is the fact that as a Christian, I am called to be set apart from the world. I need to be weird. I need not to conform to the ways of this world.

Reason number two: The most successful books/stories I write are fantasy, and thus have a lot of weird names. I have to write with them a lot. To be honest though, I kind of like it. Names pop into my head like dandelions. So I use them. I'm sure you'll hear about lands I've thought of, and people I've named, so don't worry, you get to hear a lot of ramblings yet.

This brings my introductory ramble to a close. Thank you for reading.