Nothing New

Not much has happened since my last blog post, but since this has become sort of obligatory, I'm posting anyway.

I'm working on a new story. It is told in first person, through diary posts. It could probably be interesting, but I don't know how long it'll last. I'm kind of at a down point as far as everything to do with writing goes. I can't seem to write anything good at the moment.

It snowed today. It was melted within a few hours though.

My next post will probably be on my birthday, or soon afterward, which should hold more excitement.

~ Major Bookworm ~

Good and Bad

I got my braces off last Thursday. It was exciting, but now I have to wear a retainer, which is annoying. It's only for a month though, then I can start wearing it only at night.

You know that story I was writing for the BYU contest thing? Well, my computer closed down for an automatic update one night, and when I opened it up again, the story was completely gone. I know I had saved and opened that story several times before this happened, so I know that it wasn't just because I didn't save it. Anyway, it was going to be too long anyway. Even if I start it all over again, it won't be ready for me to submit for the contest, so I guess I'm just not going to enter.

Now, since I am not really working on anything, besides The Brotherhood, my fanfiction, I am working on a project that has nothing to do with writing. In fact, it is origami. I am making a fancy origami swan. It isn't just a simple swan, it is very complex and time consuming. Here's the link to a video showing how to make it.

I took my Vocabulary Final today. I got 100% on it, which is good, since I probably won't do that well on the grammar test. It counter balances it.

I was working on editing my novel yesterday but I've been making mental changes and getting ideas for changes to it for a couple weeks and it is going to take some serious work to make all those changes happen. I'm deleting a whole character and adding another one, plus making a minor character a major one. I'm turning one of the bad guys into a good guy and making the bad guy even worse. I'm going to be rewriting pretty much everything except the very beginning and the very end but keeping the main plot mostly the same. No worries, though, I'm keeping the original, just in case I totally mess it up and decide to change it back or something.

~MajorBookworm~

Dream and Other Things

My photography teacher is very awesome, as I'm sure I've said before, but it is true. She gave me 3.5 extra credit points just because she liked my last project. I quote "This is the best yet!" and "This one is GREAT. Love it! No one presented their planet and flare at like this. Can I use it as an example?" Seriously, I think she is a little over the top, but whatever. This semester, she has given me a total of 43.5 extra credit points when the most extra credit points I was supposed to be able to get is 22. Almost DOUBLE! Does that sound like favorism to you? Unless she does it to everyone, which I'm really not sure of...I should find someone and ask.

Anyway, on to other things, I just had to marvel about that for a moment.

So, the dream I had on Saturday night was most peculiar. It was only about a five minute scene, with nothing else going on. It started out with me on a floating boat, kind of like an ark. It was hovering about three feet off of a wintry landscape. A woman, dressed like an Indian chief was talking about the history of the land and passing out colorful feathers. In the dream, I was bored, so I tuned her out and looked around. 


At the rear of the boat, an old man with a short white beard and a balding head, was cackling excitedly, holding up a blow torch which was spouting out flames. In the dream, it seemed like I knew this was a regular occurance, so it didn't even register how unusual that is.


Looking around further, I found that I was surrounded by a group of kids ranging from the age of 2 - 10, all looking bored at the Indian woman's talking as well. 


I faintly recognized that Lydia was sitting beside me, looking bored as well, and then I woke up. 

It was a really crazy dream and it sprung from out of nowhere. I haven't even read anything even somewhat similar to something that could have brought that up. It did inspire a story, like most of the dreams I remember, which are usually the very strange ones. I'm writing a condensed version of the story for the BYU writing contest, and once both stories are done I'll decide which one I like better and send it in. I'm also going to make a longer, more detailed version of the story, though. It's going to be an end of the world type thing, I already have the outline all planned out, and I can't wait to start.

Meanwhile, I am getting my braces off in like two and a half days, I'm pretty excited for that as well, although, it is going to be weird not having braces after a year and a half.

Anyway, this is long enough,
~MajorBookworm~

Random Interesting Thing

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Revar
Denmark
Dominica
Egypt
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kenya
Lithuania
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE
UK
Ukrane
USA
Venezuela
Vietnam


Tell me one thing that all of these countries have in common. Can't think of anything? I'll tell you. In every one of these countries is at least one person who has read one of my fanfictions that I've written. No joke. There are counties here I've never even heard of!


You know, somehow, if I get a book published, I don't think it'll be this far spread. That my fanfictions have spread this far is insane in itself. Who knew? 70 different countries in a year and a half.


Anyway, I just found this interesting, so I thought I'd share it. :)


~MajorBookworm~

New Year's Resolution and Other Things

My resolution for this year is that I'll try to update my blog at least once a week for the entire year. Since resolutions are basically made to break, though, it probably won't happen, but we'll see how long it goes on anyway.

So, the last time I posted was November nineteenth, and I was right in the middle of NaNoWriMo. Well, now it's January and a whole new year, not to mention decade, and I'm still writing crazily.

There's a BYU writing contest going on right now, which I'm trying to make a great entry for that. A short story (between 1000-4000 words) should be so easy after NaNoWriMo, but I had writer's block for a time there...at least on this project anyway. I think I have the basic plot line all planned out though, and now I just have to actually finish writing it, without going over the word limit.

Also, I was randomly looking at my stats for my fanfictions and out of the blue I saw that I had over 25,000 hits for one of my fics that I didn't really think was all that good. Of course, I guess it's popular because it is an original plot, unlike a lot of fanfiction stories. By now, probably, there are others like it, but my was the original, so it's the best, no matter how horrible it is. On that note, I am rewriting it, finally. I've already gotten the first few chapters written out and it is going to be much longer than the first copy. I just hope my fans like the new version as much as they liked the old one.

It's almost sad how popular fanfiction is. The one time I write a fanfiction longer than three chapters, lots of people read it and some people review, even though it is not very good. An original story I'm posting on fanfiction's sister site, fictionpress, has like ten chapters so far and only 16 people have read it, and then they've only read the first chapter. Only one person has read to the fifth chapter, and then nobody has read further. Oh well, at least I am getting feedback on one of my stories that some people like, even if it isn't original.

The last thing I'm working on is editing Involuntary Notions, which is proving to be annoying. 125 pages riddled with mistakes and things I need to change is taking forever to edit. Actually, I printed a copy off and I am almost to the end of that. Now I just need to go back over that and translate all the edits to the copy on the computer. Plus, I plan to add several new scenes and change around several things. I might even delete a whole character. I was planning on killing her off in the book anyway, it just never happened, and she really isn't needed. She was just there to give me some extra scenes to boost my word count.

On a whole different subject, I really need to get back in the habit of practicing the piano daily. I stopped for Thanksgiving Break and haven't practiced even once since. Considering that I'm playing in church next Sunday, I really should get some practicing in this week.

Anyway, in photography class, I once again managed to get extra credit on a project, just because she liked it so much. I'm starting to wonder if she gives extra credit like this to everyone, or she just likes me. Seriously, I have gotten 20.5 points of extra credit so far. Not to mention that she has used five of my ten projects as examples and shown them off to the class. NOT that I'm complaining. It's because of this that my photography grade has stayed above 100% the whole year and also brought my grade average up, which is definitely a good thing right now.

One of my interesting plots that will likely fall through before it even really gets started is an idea I had for a fanfiction several months ago but just tucked away, thinking it was impossible. But since I am now the proud owner of the complete Harry Potter series and the Twilight Saga, I think it might actually work. See, my idea was to write a five series crossover. Twilight, Harry Potter, Pendragon, Inkheart, and Eragon all put together in one huge fic. Of course, it could be very much impossible. But I have a plan and a vague idea of how they could all fit together. There are tiny things in each book that could make them work.

The Inkheart series: The main character - Meggie - can read things and people in and out of books just by reading the book aloud. This is very good for getting a lot of characters in different books together.

Another: in Eclipse - or was it New Moon? Anyway, Bella says something about Angela being a witch, jokingly of course, but what if it was true? And, in the last book, someone from the Volturi (Aro maybe?) mentions something about the type of werewolves that are in Harry Potter existing, if being nearly extinct. This connects Harry Potter and Twilight, making them be able to belong to the same world.

Lastly, Pendragon is all about crossing to different times and dimensions, so it can fit in there with the others, just fine.

This just leaves The Inheritance Series to figure out, but I have a sort of idea for that too...Anyway, that's my crazy plan, and we'll just have to wait and see if it is actually possibly to combine five series (my favorites) into one comprehensible story. I really hope it is, because it would be very cool.

So, on to other things now. Like geocaching. I have almost 100 finds now. Almost. I'm at 98 right now. If I was a premium member, I'd be at 103, but I'm not, so they don't count, unfortunately. I also have that new cache to hide that Ginanne gave me, but I'm not sure when to do that, since I still need to make it, plus I have no idea where to hide it at.

I guess that's all,

~MajorBookworm~

Busy

So, it's been a LONG time since I last posted, the longest yet, but I've been very busy with NaNoWriMo, of course. School has kept me busy this year too.

I have virtually no free time anymore, because it is all spent writing. It really is crazy how much I've been writing.

Seriously, I'm already so attached to my characters, especially Melissa and Hayden that I know I won't want to leave them once the novel is complete. I might just have to write a sequel...or possibly even a prequel. That would be interesting...hmm, gives me ideas of what it would be about...no, I can't think about that, I have to think about my current novel, or else it won't turn out right, although I could add a flashback...

Driving has certainly been an experience for me, it seems like I've been driving for a while now, but when I last posted, I hadn't even driven once. Now I have to try and learn how to drive in snow, since it snowed today, and I'm thinking that this time, it might actually stick.

In the last couple months, Sis. Wood (who was replaced Sis. Romero as YW President) has me playing the piano every second Sunday of each month, while other girls play on the other weeks. I've been learning the hymns, and it has gotten me actually practicing the piano every day again. I've started working on Fur Elise, by Beethoven, and it's coming along great, even though I've only been playing it for three days.

That reminded me though, that I have a talk in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday. I should probably work on that sometime so I don't end up writing it Saturday evening, but, of course, that would break tradition for me.

Funny how these days my mind always comes back to NaNoWriMo...What will possibly occupy all my time when it ends in a week and a half? Oh yes, getting back to my other stories that I was in the middle of and neglected when November started, that's what...and editing Involuntary Notions, I suppose. That could take awhile, since it is not my best writing since I've been striving for quantity rather than quality.

If only I could take my laptop everywhere I go. It is the times when I'm not able to type that I really get the urge to write, and then when I'm sitting at the computer, my mind usually goes blank. That's why I like using a notebook and pencil, but that gets tiring fast, and I would never get to 50,000 words in a month using that method.

I was really hoping to write 100,000 words in my novel, but since the end is quickly approaching, and I have yet to even pass the 50,000 word mark, I don't think it will happen. I'm thinking that after NaNoWriMo ends, I'm going to work on making it much longer though, try and double it in size as I edit it. It can't be too hard, after all, I was writing it so quickly, and there is a lot of things that I could definitely add. Perhaps some foreshadowing, since I hadn't planned the plot out at all when I began. I have some ideas right now, but when I very first started, I had no ideas of what was going to happen.

In Seminary, I've won both of the candy jars that Sis. Smiley has given us to guess on. It was great the first time, since the day before, Sis. Smiley was saying that never had two people guessed the exact amount of candy in it, then both Eric and I guessed the same amount and won. The second time, I guessed a very numbers off, but I was still closest. It would be funny if I won the third candy jar as well. If there is anything I've learned in my seminary experiences so far, it is that I'm a fairly lucky person, of course, now that I said that, my luck will probably change...

Anyway, I've written more than enough. Hopefully the wait won't be so long for the next post.

~MajorBookworm~

Late Night Update

So I guess it's been awhile since I last posted something on here but nothing much has happened...besides, I guess going to Oregon. Of course, that hasn't ended yet, but whatever.

It's really late, almost 2:00 in the morning. Imagine, if I were at home right now, I'd be getting up in three hours to go to Seminary. I'm going to miss the first three days of Seminary because we're here. We didn't know that Seminary was going to start early when we planned the trip.

The beach is usually so relaxing, but this trip, so far, I have spent a total of five minutes actually on the beach. Most of the time has been spent searching for geocach

es, which, I admit, are fun, but still. We only have two days left till we go home!

I'm very proud of myself for climbing Mt. Neah-Kah-Nie and finding the geocache at the top. It was pretty cool, if a little dizzying, being at the summit of a 1,600 foot mountain. Especially when you can see exactly how high that is since the ocean is pretty much below you.

I'm really not tired at all. I'm in a creative mood. I've already written another chapter of Lost, and I'll probably write another one, just because I'm up and I can. I have nothing other to do besides sleep anyway. And who needs sleep? I think it's just a conspiracy to make people buy pillows. Haha, or not...

I bought a whole load of stuff today. Three dolphin statue

things to decorate my room; they are all pretty small but still dolphins! An orca snowglobe; it's very cool. A stuffed animal seahorse which is blue and pink. I finally got a pair of dolphin earrings to match my watch and necklace. Oh, and I bought a mood ring, for pure kicks. Plus I got a couple pairs of socks. One has a bunch of orcas swimming all over them and the other, I think, fits me perfect. It has a picture of the orca then gives a whole bunch of facts about the orca. It's perfect for a wannbe Marine Biologist.

I was watching the TV the other day and we were watching Animal Planet. It was a show on Salmon and their lives or whatever. I saw a grizzly bear that was fishing and thought it looked completely adorable. Lydia thinks I'm strange and that they are ug

ly, but bears are very cute, I think. Or maybe I'm just strange to think a huge killing bea

st is cute...but anyway, it was adorable.

I miss my kitties. I've been making up for it by playing with my virtual cat, Maggi, on FooPets. Here's a picture of her:

Too bad I can't really pet her. I have a couple dogs too, and another cat as well.

In order: Raphael, Jack, Lydia's dog Cocoa, Emma, and Maggi. Anyway, I guess I'm a little obsessed with them, but they are so stinking lifelike and adorable!

˙ʇuɐʇɹodɯı ƃuıɥʇou sı ʇı ˙sıɥʇ dıʞs oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ɟı 'ʎɹɹoʍ ʇ,uop ˙uʍop ǝpıs dn ƃuıdʎʇ ɯɐ ı 'sǝʎ os 'ʍou ʇɥƃıɹ pǝɹoq ʎןǝʇǝןdɯoɔ os ɯ,ı 'ʎɐʍʎuɐ

~MajorBookworm~

Daddy/ Daughter Campout

Early Friday morning, dad, Lydia, and I went up to Skookum for the daddy/daughter campout. We arrived there around 11:00 to reserve the camp and set up the signs and then we went geocaching.

When we went to find the geocache, we parked at the bottom of a hill and hiked up through harsh brush. When we got nearly to the top of the hill, we found another road that we could have parked on. I decided not to go on when I saw the last stretch since it was so steep.

I waited for dad while he climbed up to search for the cache. He didn't find it. Coming back down later, we made our way down the hill, following the road. On our way down, it started pouring. It was freezing, so we decided not to find the other ones. Altogether, I've decided that the cache was definitely the worst cache ever.

We got back to camp and the others soon arrived. We had chili dogs for dinner and sat around the campfire to dry off.

That night was freezing. I think part of the problem was that we were all wet from the rain that fell.

The next day, it was dry most of the time. Dad and I took three of the younger girls around the lake to find a geocache. We found this one.

Before most people left, we had a shoot off with a BB gun. I got second place with a time of 21.12 seconds to knock over four cans. The person who got first was only half a second faster than me.

After we packed up and left, we went geocaching again. These both involved a bunch of hiking. The second one dad and I hiked up was exhausting, and it started to rain as we hiked up the road.

On top of the mountain, we found patches of snow, and it was raining more slush than actual water.

I found the geocache by chance and it was full of smokey the bear stuff. There was one amusing thing though. The geocache had a small bag of marbles and on the bag there was a note that said "For those who have lost their marbles". It was pretty funny since with all the hiking up in the rain and looking for the well hidden geocache, a person could easily loose their marbles.

In other news, in the past week, I have seen a total of five rainbows, one a double rainbow. I wonder if that is significant in some way?

We had the potluck at our house this month and we had steak. It was really good, especially since I've been craving steak since Friday night when we had some streak roasted over the campfire. That streak was better than I expected and I think it makes a much better roasting expereince than marshmallows or hotdogs.

~MajorBookworm~

Thoughts About Writing

Easy reading is very hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it. ~Jules Renard
I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. ~James Michener

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum. ~Graycie Harmon

Writer's block is a disease for which there is no cure, only respite. ~Laurie Wordholt

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one. ~Baltasar Gracián

When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. ~Enrique Jardiel Poncela

What no spouse of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when they're staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake. ~E.L. Doctorow

If I'm trying to sleep, the ideas won't stop. If I'm trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness. ~Carrie Latet

An author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere. ~Gustave Flaubert

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947

Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear - and devils, too. ~Graycie Harmon

Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take you only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all. ~Franklin P. Adams, Half a Loaf, 1927

The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax. ~Alfred Kazin, Think, February 1963

I keep little notepads all over the place to write down ideas as soon as they strike, but the ones that fill up the quickest are always the ones at my nightstand. ~Emily Logan Decens

An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate. ~Chateaubriand, Le Génie du Christianisme, 1802

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. ~George Orwell, "Why I Write," 1947

Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such. ~Samuel Butler

My stories run up and bite me in the leg -- I respond by writing them down - everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off.
-Ray Bradbury

"Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him." -Mel Brooks

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. -Cyril Connolly

Treasure Hunt and Thoughts About Writing

Today was interesting. Mom and dad hid a can when then went on their walk this morning and Lydia and I were sent to find it using the GPS. It was fun. We found it after only a few minutes of searching but then we hung around the cabin for awhile.

Simba, Lily, and Sandy had followed us down to the driveway, so they were exploring the area. Simba was pretty freaked out, though, because that is out of his territory.

Lydia was talking about how when she moves out she should move into the cabin, just put electricity, carpet, and furniture in and it would be great for a one person apartment. She said she was even willing to pay mom and dad rent. She thinks that there's a great meadow behind it for a horse even.

I think it would take a lot more work than she's thinking but whatever suits her.

I've been thinking that since my 'Marauders reading...' story got taken off of fanfiction.net, I'm going to post it up in blog form so that the author of the story that the marauders are reading actually gets to read the finished thing. I think she'd like that since she was pretty disappointed when it had to be taken down.

I had the story half written too, thirty chapters of story, which is by far my longest story, even if most of it wasn't even mine, but still.

I'm surprised Lost is still coming along as well as it is. I've written at least a chapter a day for the last week, which is more than I've worked on any story. Hopefully, I can keep it going and finish this one.

It's been a year since I first had the idea of my Haley Potter fanfiction, and I'm only three chapters into it. It's kind of sad. I had it written up to third year at one point, but then decided that it needed to be rewritten. I have a lot of scenes written for it, but they're all later scenes. I have years four through seven planned out nearly completely. I just have to get years one through three written and it'll flow perfectly how I want it.

I had another fanfiction that was completely written, all the way up to seventh year and beyond, but then I changed a detail in the very first chapter and it ruined the whole story so I had to rewrite the whole thing.

I really should attempt to pre-write before I actually start a story so things like that don't happen.

I have a sort of pre-write for Lost, but I've changed so many things that it's pretty much worthless now, I hope I don't end up having to rewrite the whole thing.

I had a plot-bunny attack awhile back and wrote a whole bunch of ideas down, or perhaps wrote just the first chapter, and then never got back to them. Now I can't remember what the brilliant idea was. It's sad when a good idea for a story just gets abandoned because you forget it.

Then again, Lost has been wandering my brain collecting dust since fourth grade and it's finally being written. I guess it just takes time to process everything I want to include in the story to actually get it written. Or perhaps enough motivation to actually get what I want down on paper...

Anyway, that's all,

~MajorBookworm~

A New Language!

I just found this language I had invented saved on my computer from awhile ago. It isn't really a new language, more of a code, but when you type it out, it does look like a whole different language, and I think it might be possible to speak as well...

1. Take any two syllable word.
2. Take the first syllable and put it at the end.
3. Next, add an -re to the end of the new word. That is two syllable words.
4. A one syllable word...
5. Write the word backwards.
6. Add an -as to the end. That is one syllable words.
7. Take a three or more syllable word.
8. Take the first syllable and put it at the end.
9. Add -asi to the end. That is three or more syllable words.

1. Tiger
2. Gerti
3. Gertire
4. Same
5. Emas
6. Emasas
7. Animal
8. Imalan
9. Imalanasi

Rules:
1. Names don't change.
2. There are no double vowels. If there is, take it out (except in names).

Let's try it out...

Osas, tahwas odas uoyas knihtas foas ymas edocas? Erehas sias as domranre tencesenre tahtas sias nas cellantexasi amplexasi foas llas eerhtas epytas foas drowas. Ecnoas uoyas tegas ehtas gnahas foas tias, tias sias tuallyacasi typretre plesimre.

You definitely wouldn't be able to translate that without knowing how.

~MajorBookworm~

Church

Today was going to be a relaxed day. I didn't have anything I had to do, just go to classes and sit through them and maybe nod off during Sacrament meeting since I got very little sleep last night...or not.

I was asked, a few minutes before the meeting started, to give a short talk about girl's camp. So I had to think of what I wanted to share and without any notes at all, speak in front of the whole ward. Not fun. Lydia was asked too do it as well as Kati and Anne but it was still really nervewracking. Seriously, I've been expecting to have to give a talk anytime now, but like that was insane. I appearantly did very well though.

Then classes today were kind of boring since I've had the same Sunday School lesson the last three weeks and the same YW lesson twice in a row. All well, I knew all the answers.

Lydia made me go in the office and try out her new tablet the second we walked in the door after church. It wasn't very exciting or new and I think until you got used to it, drawing with the mouse would be easier, but whatever.

For dinner we're having hamburgers and mashed potatoes and it sounds so good since I'm starving. I think some of my problem with not being able to sleep last night was that my stomach was growling, and I never ate breakfast this morning.

I think I'm going to write at least two more chapters for my story, and then I'm going to take a nap, because I am wiped out.

~MajorBookworm~

Sleeping In and Lydia's Birthday

I slept in until noon today. It was fun.

I was thinking a lot about my story and I can't wait to get into the third book of the series I'm planning, but of course, I have to wait, since I'm still only on the first book.

For her birthday, Lydia got a tablet, something she's been wanting forever. Now she can draw for real instead of attmepting to draw on paint. It's pretty cool. It's quite amusing watching Lydia try to install it onto the computer.

I'm officially bored now, so I'm going to get off and find something else to do, perhaps write a few more chapters of my story.

Farewell for now,

~MajorBookworm~

So Much Stuff

It has been a LONG time since I last posted. Whoops, I got so busy, I didn't even think about it.

Anyway, a lot has happened. MusicFest, the piano recital, school getting out, the family reunion, girls camp, tons of kittens being born, etc.

Let's go down the list. MusicFest was...exciting. I've done it once, though, I'm never doing it again! I got a silver medal in one class I did...but then again, there was only two of us in the class, so I still lost, but it's nice to have a medal.

The piano recital, I messed up my song completely, but nobody could tell.

School getting out, really nice. I have a lot of free time now.

The family reunion was great. I spent a lot of time geocaching with dad. We found every one of those geocaches, and I get to brag that I found the very first one we ever found. That was pretty cool.

Girls camp was a lot of fun. The canoe trip was exciting. Kati and I were the only people to tip our canoe...and we tipped it 20 yards away from the starting dock. Then, our canoe was leaking. Oh, and I got hit in the head by a flying watermelon. Yep.

We have too many kittens to count right now. I'm thinking we really have to get rid of some. Although I'm attached to the older ones now, the younger ones can go. Except one. He's all black and we named him Voldemort. He needs to stay to rule over the rest of the kittens. Haha.

I recently got really pumped up about my story I've been attempting to write for about three months now. I wrote 53 pages in 3 days and now the story is 53 pages long. Yea, I hadn't gotten very far before, but now it's looking great! It already has nine chapters, and I'm just barely getting into the plot. I'm thinking that it is going to be a long book since I have a lot planned for the plot.

I started reading a horror novel. I got four chapters in and had to stop reading because it was creeping me out, but then again, it was the middle of the night so you can't really blame me.

Lydia's birthday was today. We went into town and watched "Aliens in the Attic." It was pretty cute and funny but I found it kind of disturbing how half the time there was a police man in the house talking to the parents, and they never suspected something big like an alien invasion was going on in their attic. Seriously, the little girl even told them it was happening, and they didn't believe her at all. Crazyness, I tell you.

Wow, it's almost Saturday. I should stop writing and go to bed, but I won't because there is still a lot to say.

I posted up another Harry Potter fanfic today. I found it in one of my old notebooks and thought it was pretty good. I have no idea where I'm going with it though, since the idea I started with has seemingly slipped from my mind. It should be interesting just going with the flow with no real ideas but all well, I seem to do that a lot.

I think I've practiced the piano maybe four times since school ended. It's sad and I'm really itching to go play the piano, but I don't want to start anything new and the only songs I know are the ones I've been playing for musicfest, which means mom and Lydia, and even me, are throughly annoyed with them. Once school starts up again, I'll probably practice more often, even though I'm not going to have a teacher.

So, in the last post I mentioned something about joining Student Council. I really got into it with writing the school constitution and everything. It was exciting and I even got a trip to Ellensburg out of it.

I joined the Key Club. It's starting new at WAVA next year and I signed up to be one of the starting members. The meetings for it have been going on since the first week of July and I haven't attended a single meeting. I always miss them for one reason or another, but I did vote on the presidency and stuff. I really need to start going to those meetings...

I think I'm just rambling now, but that's okay because there's really nothing else to do...except sleep. It is pretty much midnight.

Okay, more about girl's camp then. (Sorry, kind of talking to myself there...or typing to myself?) Since I arrived there halfway through the second day, I missed the exciting happenings of the first night. I heard some strange things went on. Something about a girl eating a moth and freaking out another girl who peed her pants? It sounded crazy. The rest of the week was about the same crazyness level. Since the theme was indians, each ward made totem poles. Our was made of duck tape (my idea, haha) because it was the only way we could think to make it.

I'm totally excited about being a YCL next year at camp. I want to be a fourth year YCL, so I can go on the canoe trip again. Unless, of course, they decide not to do it at Camp Neighborly since there was a lot of talk about changing the location.

I wonder if anyone is actually still reading this, or if they all stopped a long time ago...hmm, I should probably stop writing then.

Farewell till next time,

~MajorBookworm~

I'm Stressed

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

A huge scream is at least one good way I've heard to get rid of stress. Too bad it doesn't work so well.

It's been quite awhile since I last posted and a lot has happened. Starting at last time I wrote...Spring break. Mom, Lydia, and I all went over to grandma's house where we had a relaxing and fun break...oh and I bought my laptop at Sam's Club.

We got back and went back to schoolwork and normalcy.

Some other Main events...Last stake activity, Meagan and I were the only ones from our ward to attend...and we wore dresses because dad messed up. We did skits of primary songs.

I got my hair cut April 18th, I think it was. It's not really cut, just trimmed with some layers cut.

I've sung the last three Sundays in a row with the choir. First was Easter, then Stake Conference, then yesterday was High-Councilman Sunday, which the choir always sings in.

Last Friday I went to the Mock-Musicfest and learned that I really don't know my musicfest pieces as well as I thought I did, so I have a lot to work on for piano.

Also, I joined the Student Council, for some reason now unknown to me. Tonight I have to turn in a "Brick and Mortar" school(as us WAVAians call most public schools)Constitution with a presentation about how that could be adapted into a virtual school, like WAVA. I found three constitutions of schools outside the state but I'm having trouble trying to put together a presentation for them.

I'm behind in schoolwork as well...well not so much behind as having to make stuff up because I messed them up the first time. I'm gone from an A- average to a B average which doesn't really seem like that much of a fall, but it is. At least I'm not failing any of my classes like I was at this time last Semester.

I don't think I've written anything structural on any of my stories since before spring break. I have some ideas, but I just don't have the time to write lately. It's driving me crazy. Either I'm busy or I have writer's block.

I want to go camping. Spending some time around a camp fire in the middle of the woods sounds so good right now. I got excited because we had to pay the fee to go to girlscamp yesterday. It means girlscamp is getting closer...even if it is still three months into the future. Girlscamp will be fun. I'm going on the canoe trip this year and then will get to dress up for the mock disaster. It'll be interesting...plus, Meagan's a YCL and Sis. Mann is the Ward Camp Director so that'll definitely add some crazyness to everything this year.

~The Big Dreamer~

Spokane Stake Dance

Saturday was very fun. I got to sleep in late, which was nice. We missed the Fire Station Service Project because mom didn't want to take us, but that was okay. Around two I went to Meagan's house. I helped her write her talk for Sacrament Meeting today.

Meagan took me to the Spokane Stake dance later that night and she was very right in saying that it was so much better than the Colville Stake dances. I didn't sit down the whole dance. They guys I danced with actually talked with me instead of staring off into space. I got asked some strange questions though. Some guy, I think his name was Nathan, asked me what color my toothbrush was. It was kind of strange telling him I had two, a green and a blue. Another guy asked me what kind of toothpaste I used, and then we got into a debate about which kind was best. That was a little weird. And then there was another guy who went on and on about dirt biking...I didn't get a single word in. I think he just liked the sound of his voice, personally. Oh, and I met three guys named Zach...it must be a popular name in their stake.

Anyway, everyone was dancing nearly the whole time. Despite the fact that I only knew two people at this dance, Meagan and Jake, the people were a lot more friendly and comfortable to be around than the people I do know in my own Stake.

After the dance we went back to the Kelley's. Meagan's dad had picked up Twilight while we were at the dance, so we wanted to watch that but we were so tired when we got home that we just crashed. It was around midnight though and since Meagan had a talk we didn't want to stay up too late. The dance was definitely worth being so tired today for.

Church was good, I guess. It was pretty normal. After church, we barely had time to eat dinner before me and dad left to go to Stake choir practice. After that we attended a baptism and then went to the fireside, which we got to late. Bro. Terry spoke about his mission that he just got back from. That was fun. He had a ton of pictures that he showed us.

Okay, I'm tired now so I'm gonna go to bed. Until next time,
~The Big Dreamer~

Spring!

Today I'm really happy. It's the first day of Spring and the sun is out!

This morning we didn't have a lesson or anything for Seminary. We ate pancakes, sausages, and hot cocoa while working on scripture masteries...of course, since I'm finished with mine, I didn't really do anything except talk with people. It was fun though.

Last Wednesday at mutual we did 'Hold to the Iron Rod Chef'...or Iron Chef. Each class brought an appetizer, then we decorated cakes to see who was the best. Our appetizer got third place and our cake got second. It was fun, even if we didn't win anything.

Yesterday was the usual go into town and piano lessons and stuff. I'm in the middle of three book series right now and I picked up the next book of all three of them at the library yesterday...at least I'll have plenty to read for a few days.

I've got the Sonatina I'm playing for music fest almost memorized...or one third of it anyway. Since it has three different movements it might as well be three different songs. I've pretty much got the first movement memorized, which I'm pretty excited about. It's an awesome song.

Here's some links to a person playing the different movements of the song if you want to hear what it's gonna sound like when I'm finished.
YouTube - Clementi Sonatina Op.36 No.1 Movement 1
YouTube - Clementi Sonatina Op.36 No.1 Movement 2
YouTube - Clementi Sonatina Op.36 No.1 Movement 3

Tonight mom is taking us to the church to go babysit...that'll probably be boring. I'll probably bring one of my books and read the whole time unless I'm really needed.

Oh, and I wrote my research paper on Muzio Clementi...the composer who wrote the sonatina mentioned before...he's probably my favorite composer at the moment. I like him better than Mozart, Beethoven, or Haydn, the other famous composers in his time.

Yea, so I guess that's it for now,
~The Big Dreamer~

Writer's Block

The only reason I'm really updating this is because I'm bored and I can't write anything because I have really bad writer's block. It's miserable not being able to write, I tell you.

Yesterday was the family potluck and we all gathered at Ginanne's house to feast on spaghetti. Justin brought Heather and Heather's brother. Michael, Jaspenelle, and Damien didn't show up though. Emily was being especially cute and twirling in circles giggling. She was really hyper for some reason.

There is no elluminate sessions at all this week because all the teachers are supervising the poor WASL takers. I'm glad I'm in ninth grade this year so I don't have to take it. That'll definitely make this school week boring, but what can I do?

The WAVE (The WAVA Newspaper) was supposed to come out today, but I don't think it's going to happen, since we didn't have a meeting last Thursday to get everything finalized. Of course, it could be published already and I just haven't noticed it...I don't think so though.

I finished my book last night and so I now have nothing to read once more. Although, I'm hoping to get several books from the library on Thursday, including the next book in the series of the one I just finished, so that should be good. Until then, I'll just have to go book-less, I suppose.

I suppose I could write about the dance last Saturday. I brought Neva and Theda to it. It was pretty boring, not dancing very much, but that's only because the guys won't ask anyone to dance. I need a few more boys I know and are comfortable around to be there so I can ask them to dance. Maybe then I'd actually dance more.

Next Saturday, I'm planning to go with Meagan to the Spokane Stake dance because she says those dances are a lot more fun. The boys are willing to dance with people in stead of just sitting around. Maybe it'll be better and I'll see that our Stake dances really are just boring.

I don't really know what else to write, so farewell for now,
~The Big Dreamer~

Finally, an Update!

It's been a month since I last posted but I've been busy. Starting on what has happened since February 12th...

There was the valentine's dance on February 14th...dad got pulled over twice during the trip there. Me and Meagan were the only girls there from our ward, which was kind of upsetting, but I got the piano music for Bella's Lullaby from one of Meagan's friends, so I've been working on that since then. It's coming along great. I've got the first two pages down pretty well. It's a beautiful song and I can't wait until it's memorized.

I started another Music Fest piece because the other one was too long. I'm still doing the other one though, so I am now working on memorizing three pieces. Well, actually one of them is memorized as of now, but the other two still have a ways to go before they are finished. One of the songs take around four or five minutes to play and is a Sonatina, so it is like completely different rhythms and stuff during the song. There are no patterns to help memorize or anything. That'll be my hardest to memorize.

School is definitely in full swing again, and I'm already sick of it once more. My grades are still pretty good though, nothing below a B. In Biology I have a grade of 102.95% right now which is an A+...I'm pretty excited about that. I'm attending regular elluminate classes...one for each class per week, except PE class.

Last Sunday the Mia Maids finally got a new YW women. Sis. Wood. She seems like she'll be a lot of fun. At mutual, we kind of got to know her a little and she seems like a person who'll do a lot of outdoor activities; camping, hiking, stuff like that. It should be fun.

Snow has been falling rapidly here and is not melting very fast. I was hoping that Spring was almost here...

I've started putting more of an effort into actually working on my stories instead of just starting new ones, so there is some definite improvement on the length of several of the stories that I've been working on.

I finished cleaning my room awhile ago, and its already messy again...but not so bad that it'll take days to get clean again, like it was before. I need to organize the room though, as it is very cluttered in other ways then just on the floor.

Seminary is going great, as usual. We're working through 1st Corinthians right now. There wasn't any Seminary today, as Riverside decided not to have school today.

Oh, I joined the debate club, but mostly just because Mrs. Pleasant is the club leader, and also the WAVA newspaper. I'm the advice guru for that. Well, actually, I'm paired with this other girl, Morgan, who is awesome. The newspaper is coming out for the first time on Monday and I'm super excited for that.

There's another dance tomorrow night, and I invited several friends that aren't members but that I knew from ISP. That should be fun. I haven't talked to them face to face for several years, but we kept in contact through email and now through facebook, so its all good. It'll be interesting seeing them again after so long though.

I'll try not to be so long next time. Until then,

~The Big Dreamer~

School, Piano, Friends, and Seminary

A lot has happened since ten days ago. For one, I started school again. I have a new subject. WA state History. It's fun...okay not so much, but the teacher for it is my newest favorite teacher. Mrs. Pleasant. Her name fits her personality. There are several field trips to the Capital of the state or museums of history that she has planned. I'm still trying to convince mom to let me attend those since it'll probably be an overnight trip if I do go.

Wednesday, the fourth, I attended New Beginning's. It was spiritual. The theme was "Worth of a Soul." All the young women brought a pair of shoes that meant something to us to represent our "soles." I brought mom's temple shoes, because they were the ones she got sealed to dad in and made our family sealed together.

I have, so far, avoided being the young womans official piano player, but I fear that is coming to an end. Last dance, I accidentally let it out that I've been playing the piano for nine years now, and Bro. McKinney gave me a few weeks to learn some hymns. Last week I got out of it because of New's Beginning's and yesterday we got there a little bit late, so there was no need for me to play. Unfortunately, next week, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing. The last month I've been trying to learn as many hymns as possible, but I have only four down, out of the twelve I've been practicing. Only two of those, I might feel safe accompanying someone singing. I don't mind accompanying them once, but I know that once I play the first time, they'll get me to play for church and mutual until I graduate from Young Womans, something I really don't want to do. All well, at least I'm getting some hymns down.

In other piano news, my music fest pieces are coming along well, I'm pretty excited to play at music fest in a few months. Just today at lessons, my teacher gave me a new book of Disney songs, but they are like rewrites of them, making them different. That'll just add another thing to practice during the week, making my practice time go up to 90 minutes a day...maybe more. I don't mind though, I love playing the piano. It's one of those things I can do while letting my mind wander, on the songs I've got down well anyway.

I'm really excited for the dance Saturday night, I'm not really sure why, I don't usually get so excited about dances. Maybe it's the fact that's it's on Valentine's Day? Or perhaps that I'm just excited to be around people I can actually talk to face to face. I have friends from school, but I only know names and personalities, not faces. It's kind of frustrating sometimes. I did find a couple of them on facebook though...

I am currently working on a new story...LOST. I actually wrote it a few years ago, and just recently found it again. I rewrote it and Part One is posted on my site if you want to read it.

I'm really tired lately...staying up late (though not on purpose. I try to go up to bed at around 9:30, but then Lydia comes up at around 10:00 and wakes me from my dozing to chatter about her pets on chickensmoothie or kugyay. And then after that, we are both too hyper and talking about random nonsense until I finally get sick of her and start reading around 11:30 to calm myself down again. Then, I usually get caught up in the book and don't get to sleep until around 1:00 :P ) and getting up at 5:15 in the morning for seminary just doesn't seem to agree with me.

On the subject on Seminary, Sis.Smiley hands out a lot of fake money for prizes...and she seems to like me a lot. At the moment, I am the richest fake money holder in the class at $1,186. Everyone else is down around $500 at average. I win the daily prizes and get there early every day, which gets me about double the amount of everyone else by itself. My fellow students have unofficially banned me from saying prayer, reading scriptures, giving devotional, winning games, answering questions, or anything else that will give me any money. It's kind of hard, as I am a good reader, so Sis. Smiley calls on me often to read verses out loud.

Anyway, that's all I can think to write for now. Until next time,
~The Big Dreamer~