During Good Friday service this evening I was sitting with my five-year-old brother, Elhendur, on my lap. He's a very clever, imaginative, and goofy little boy, and halfway through the service was extremely excited when he noticed that my grandmother and aunt were sitting two pews behind us. He grimaced and grinned in their direction for a while, trying to get their attention, and after a few minutes my aunt evidently noticed him, but my grandmother did not.
"I'm going to keep staring at her," he whispered to me, "until she sees me." Whereupon he fixed this ghastly stare and impossibly wide grin on his face and commenced his leering. This lasted about seven minutes, until his five-year-old patience wore thin and more drastic measures were apparently called for.
He tapped me on the arm. At this point in the service there was a hymn being sung and the priest had gone to bring in the Eucharist from where it was in repose after being taking out of the church in a procession the night before for Holy Thursday. So things were somewhat lulled. Still, I was somewhat distracted because I was listening to the choir--which was remarkably good tonight--and so only paid the cunning little guy half my attention.
"Say this," he was telling me. "Say: hibbly dibbly hobbly doo, I make Booma look at you!" ('I' meaning me, and 'You' meaning himself, and 'Booma' being the name my siblings and I give to my grandmother (long story.).)
Not thinking much of the request (I have really weird siblings, okay?), I did as he asked, in a church-appropriate undertone. He looked intently to where my grandmother was sitting, still oblivious.
After a moment he sagged in disappointment against my front, clearly put-out that nothing of note happened. But ever the optimist he then leaned back, looked up at me thoughtfully, and remarked musingly:
'I think you need a broom.'
And that was when I suddenly was very glad that the choir was singing loud enough to prevent anyone else from noticing that my younger brother had just been encouraging me to attempt witchcraft in the middle of the Good Friday church service.
Little kids. You gotta love them.
. . . Even when they matter-of-factly reveal that they think you are a witch in the middle of Mass.
Showing posts with label siblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label siblings. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
"Tangled" Tomorrow!
I am so extremely excited about this film, it's unbelievable. It's an obsession. I'm terrified it won't live up to my expectations. Augh, why do I do this to myself?
Here's a shiny new trailer--Japanese, no less!--which is a million times better than the standard American trailers. Why couldn't the American trailer been more like this one in tone? It gave both me AND my 16-year old brother goosebumps. Take a look. The audio is in English, never fear, although the voiceover is Japanese. I tried to get my brother to translate for me, but he was able to manage translating only about 60% of it.
I've been kidding my younger sister and saying that we shouldn't comb our hair until we watch the film. My younger sister is 10 and has never had a haircut, and my own hair is down to my knees, so we are major Rapunzel fans.
Sacramento was gorgeous and fun. The drive there and back went pretty well, all things considered--we got a new 12-seater van, which was really strange, especially since I was sitting in the back and found out the hard way that my parents in the front seats can't hear me when I'm way back there unless I yell at the top of my lungs. HR, my 6-week-old baby sister, cried sporadically but overall was extremely well-behaved. I'm very proud of her.
I did not recall in my championship, but I did place 22nd. To be ranked 22nd in the entire Western Region is not a bad thing; sure I wish I had placed high enough to be recalled, but I am grateful I was able to dance at all, and enjoyed myself. I haven't been to any big competitions in a long while.
My little siblings weren't that excited about the competitions, since they go to feises all the time; dance is old news now. Instead, they were excited about other things: a horde of cows we saw (and smelled) on the drive; trying to translate the Latin painted on the walls of the cathedral we attended Mass in; howling with laughter when the wind blew my umbrella inside-out during a rainstorm; seeing magpies for the first time; collecting the bright-red fallen maple leaves. I liked all that too, as well as the cold weather; it was nippy, but so refreshing a change, especially seeing all the fall colors.
There was a basketball court at the hotel we stayed at, so my dad got a basketball from the front desk and we all trooped outside to play. The littlest kids have never played basketball before, so it was fun teaching them and seeing them attempt to dribble and shoot a ball which is basically as big as them. Then we had an impromptu game after dividing up into teams. It was fun until my 16-year old brother for some reason decided to pass the ball to me by throwing it as hard as he could at my face while I was standing about two feet away from him. I was afraid I had broken my nose at first, but it seems okay now, though still very sore if I touch it. That was the end of the game for me, anyway.
Now I will spend the rest of the month focusing on exercising, "Tangled" (I am saving to buy the soundtrack and graphic novel), Thanksgiving, and my NaNoWriMo novel. Said novel is currently only at 15,000 words, partly because I spent the last week or so devoting all my writing energies to writing a birthday story for one of my sisters (it ended up being 38 pages long), and partly because of how dance has been eating up my time this month. I wrote a lot more on the car trip though, and I'm determined to get back on track. Somehow. I'll do it. I WILL.
Here's a shiny new trailer--Japanese, no less!--which is a million times better than the standard American trailers. Why couldn't the American trailer been more like this one in tone? It gave both me AND my 16-year old brother goosebumps. Take a look. The audio is in English, never fear, although the voiceover is Japanese. I tried to get my brother to translate for me, but he was able to manage translating only about 60% of it.
I've been kidding my younger sister and saying that we shouldn't comb our hair until we watch the film. My younger sister is 10 and has never had a haircut, and my own hair is down to my knees, so we are major Rapunzel fans.
Sacramento was gorgeous and fun. The drive there and back went pretty well, all things considered--we got a new 12-seater van, which was really strange, especially since I was sitting in the back and found out the hard way that my parents in the front seats can't hear me when I'm way back there unless I yell at the top of my lungs. HR, my 6-week-old baby sister, cried sporadically but overall was extremely well-behaved. I'm very proud of her.
I did not recall in my championship, but I did place 22nd. To be ranked 22nd in the entire Western Region is not a bad thing; sure I wish I had placed high enough to be recalled, but I am grateful I was able to dance at all, and enjoyed myself. I haven't been to any big competitions in a long while.
My little siblings weren't that excited about the competitions, since they go to feises all the time; dance is old news now. Instead, they were excited about other things: a horde of cows we saw (and smelled) on the drive; trying to translate the Latin painted on the walls of the cathedral we attended Mass in; howling with laughter when the wind blew my umbrella inside-out during a rainstorm; seeing magpies for the first time; collecting the bright-red fallen maple leaves. I liked all that too, as well as the cold weather; it was nippy, but so refreshing a change, especially seeing all the fall colors.
There was a basketball court at the hotel we stayed at, so my dad got a basketball from the front desk and we all trooped outside to play. The littlest kids have never played basketball before, so it was fun teaching them and seeing them attempt to dribble and shoot a ball which is basically as big as them. Then we had an impromptu game after dividing up into teams. It was fun until my 16-year old brother for some reason decided to pass the ball to me by throwing it as hard as he could at my face while I was standing about two feet away from him. I was afraid I had broken my nose at first, but it seems okay now, though still very sore if I touch it. That was the end of the game for me, anyway.
Now I will spend the rest of the month focusing on exercising, "Tangled" (I am saving to buy the soundtrack and graphic novel), Thanksgiving, and my NaNoWriMo novel. Said novel is currently only at 15,000 words, partly because I spent the last week or so devoting all my writing energies to writing a birthday story for one of my sisters (it ended up being 38 pages long), and partly because of how dance has been eating up my time this month. I wrote a lot more on the car trip though, and I'm determined to get back on track. Somehow. I'll do it. I WILL.
Friday, October 8, 2010
7 Days
In one week at the most I will have another little sibling to cuddle! I had lots of fun today spending time with other siblings. We played outside: A challenging game they invented called 'Hen, Chickens, and Fox' which was basically a complicated, crazy game of tag and surprisingly fun; hide-and-go-seek; a game they invented based on 'How to Train Your Dragon', and a few others. I then took the two youngest on a walk, which was so relaxing and pleasant . . . I should go on a walk every day. Everything just seemed to mellow down, become peaceful and calm . . . I made lemonade for them as a treat when we got back to the house, and then we all made cupcakes together! I had never tried this particular recipe before, but it was delicious and chocolate-y. I had such a wonderful day today, and the little ones were talking and talking about how much fun they had. I hope to make my newest sibling as happy once she is born.
Now I'm going to grab a half-hour or so of writing time before bed, and then will probably read more of my Revolutionary War history book before actually turning off the light. That's another luxury I've been starving myself of lately, in addition to taking leisurely walks: Reading in bed.
I just finished watching the latest episode of "Fringe", which is why I'm up so late. Seriously, "Fringe" has been amaaaazing this season. I'm so glad I decided to stick with this show after the lacklustre opening episodes of the first season, because it's incredibly good now. Especially Torv; I really disliked her character in the beginning of the show and thought her acting was horrid, and now I both love BOTH versions of Olivia and am consistently wowed by Torv's acting. So good.
All right, back to my book now!
Now I'm going to grab a half-hour or so of writing time before bed, and then will probably read more of my Revolutionary War history book before actually turning off the light. That's another luxury I've been starving myself of lately, in addition to taking leisurely walks: Reading in bed.
I just finished watching the latest episode of "Fringe", which is why I'm up so late. Seriously, "Fringe" has been amaaaazing this season. I'm so glad I decided to stick with this show after the lacklustre opening episodes of the first season, because it's incredibly good now. Especially Torv; I really disliked her character in the beginning of the show and thought her acting was horrid, and now I both love BOTH versions of Olivia and am consistently wowed by Torv's acting. So good.
All right, back to my book now!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Why I Shouldn't Procrastinate
I'm busily working on my little brother's birthday card. Since it's in the wee hours of the morning now, it is already his birthday. This is why I should not put off making cards and things until the last minute; I always end up losing sleep. To make things extra difficult, he asked that his card be butterfly themed. I don't know why. He assigned each sibling a theme: Dragons, Dinosaurs, and so on. I got the butterfly card. Problem is, butterflies are just about my least favorite things to draw. That might sound silly, but I mean it. I've just got a block when it comes to drawing butterflies. Even back in first grade, I remember being frustrated with them. I simply cannot draw a good butterfly.
So now I'm painstakingly trying to copy butterfly shapes and colors from various reference pictures online and having a ridiculously difficult time of it. He had better like this card when he gets it tomorrow ^_^
I'm listening to the "Inception" score while drawing. This helps a little bit.
The blisters on my feet, especially on my right foot, are really, really nasty and painful, but I'm trying to do everything I can to speed-heal them so I can compete this weekend without making an utter fool of myself onstage, eg., limping around instead of dancing. This is, scarily enough, a very real possibility, since I was not even able to put my soft shoe on my right foot at class today, let alone a hard shoe! I tried looking up tips online about how to heal blisters quickly, but I just ended up finding a bunch of articles warning me to take blisters easily because if they get infected they can lead to death or amputation. I'm paranoid enough without reading stuff like that, thank you kindly.
I think I'll finish this card tomorrow morning. I mean, today morning. Later. When the sun is up. Right.
'Night! Or . . . Morning! Whatever you like.
So now I'm painstakingly trying to copy butterfly shapes and colors from various reference pictures online and having a ridiculously difficult time of it. He had better like this card when he gets it tomorrow ^_^
I'm listening to the "Inception" score while drawing. This helps a little bit.
The blisters on my feet, especially on my right foot, are really, really nasty and painful, but I'm trying to do everything I can to speed-heal them so I can compete this weekend without making an utter fool of myself onstage, eg., limping around instead of dancing. This is, scarily enough, a very real possibility, since I was not even able to put my soft shoe on my right foot at class today, let alone a hard shoe! I tried looking up tips online about how to heal blisters quickly, but I just ended up finding a bunch of articles warning me to take blisters easily because if they get infected they can lead to death or amputation. I'm paranoid enough without reading stuff like that, thank you kindly.
I think I'll finish this card tomorrow morning. I mean, today morning. Later. When the sun is up. Right.
'Night! Or . . . Morning! Whatever you like.
Friday, September 10, 2010
It's Sunny Today
. . . which is nice, of course. And it's also a bit chilly, at least inside. That, to me, is the best sort of weather: chilly, crisp, and sunny.
Tomorrow is one of my little sister's birthday, and she has requested that I make her pretzels for reasons that I'm not aware of. I've never made pretzels before. But I'm going to give it a go anyway! I'm working on a few art projects right now, one of them being her birthday card. The other is a crossover project I challenged my brother to, where we have to combine the two films "Ratatouille" and "How to Train Your Dragon"--both of which are among my very favorite films, and both of which are rather similar to each other if you think about it. That's not a bad thing :D
I've been playing "Lego Star Wars" on the Wii--it's very, very fun--and in the game, if you shoot C-3PO, he loses a leg and starts hopping around, leading my littlest sister to start calling him 'The Hopping Droid'. It's pretty funny.
Work on my novel continues apace, and it's coming along. Very exciting. Even more exciting is the prospect of doing NaNoWriMo again this year, I can't wait! I am so determined to reach the required word count this year. Mm-hm.
And that's all really, nothing much else has been happening. Oh, I finally went to the library last weekend, only to discover that the library had absolutely NONE of the many books I was looking for. That was a huge disappointment. Hawaii libraries are SO much better than the ones here. Sigh.
Okay, I'm off to go dig the yeast out of the back of the fridge now . . .
Tomorrow is one of my little sister's birthday, and she has requested that I make her pretzels for reasons that I'm not aware of. I've never made pretzels before. But I'm going to give it a go anyway! I'm working on a few art projects right now, one of them being her birthday card. The other is a crossover project I challenged my brother to, where we have to combine the two films "Ratatouille" and "How to Train Your Dragon"--both of which are among my very favorite films, and both of which are rather similar to each other if you think about it. That's not a bad thing :D
I've been playing "Lego Star Wars" on the Wii--it's very, very fun--and in the game, if you shoot C-3PO, he loses a leg and starts hopping around, leading my littlest sister to start calling him 'The Hopping Droid'. It's pretty funny.
Work on my novel continues apace, and it's coming along. Very exciting. Even more exciting is the prospect of doing NaNoWriMo again this year, I can't wait! I am so determined to reach the required word count this year. Mm-hm.
And that's all really, nothing much else has been happening. Oh, I finally went to the library last weekend, only to discover that the library had absolutely NONE of the many books I was looking for. That was a huge disappointment. Hawaii libraries are SO much better than the ones here. Sigh.
Okay, I'm off to go dig the yeast out of the back of the fridge now . . .
Thursday, September 2, 2010
It's September Already? Wow.
Hello again, everyone, it's been a while! Life's been keeping me busy--mostly battling off one infection after another, it's ridiculous--but I hope to start blogging more regularly again now. If I were back in Hawaii now, this would be my second week of my Junior year; as it is, I am keeping the brain cells busy by writing, dancing, studying for my driver's license, and, of course--reading!
Sadly, I have STILL not managed to snag any new reading material. An entire summer without one trip to the library--I just might explode with the frustration. As a result I STILL have no Book of the Month feature to regale you with. I will, however, list for you all the books that I have been reading. I've read them before, which is why they don't count for my list of new books read this year, but they were good enough for me to read them again--some for the second time, some for the umpteenth time--so perhaps you'd be interested to have a list of titles:
Dance is going well, but I'm trying to figure out a design for my new competition dress; mine is about 4 years old now, and in a competitive arena where dresses go out of style in mere months . . . yep, I'm wearing a relic. My family and I always design and sew my own dresses instead of shelling out a fortune on designer dresses like most other people do, so my dress has lasted longer than most, but it does look old now. Sigh. I've also promised my little brother that I'll dress up as Toothless the Dragon for Halloween so he can ride on my shoulders as Hiccup, so I have that to figure out too!
(Absolutely not-relevant side note here: I'm currently watching Star Wars on my computer as I type this, and just realized that one of Vader's officers is the same actor who played that American rocket captain in "Tomb of the Cybermen"! The one with the annoying fake accent who kept calling Victoria 'Vic'! This just made my day.)
I've been writing a lot, and even though it's pretty hard considering I've got a spot of writer's block, this means my novel is coming along now almost despite itself, haha. Yesterday I baked banana bread; my six year old sister was disappointed initially, but now says she loves it, especially with cream cheese. My little four year old brother however loves banana bread, and basically was asking me if he could eat it every five minutes after it came out of the oven until it was cooled enough to be cut. I do like baking! And making soups, too. I really want to make this lentil soup from a recipe I found recently; I like lentils almost as much as I like baking :)
That's enough rambling from me from now, so I leave you now only with a promise that I'll try to post more regularly and interestingly this month. Oh, and I've been drawing and doodling a lot, so I'll start posting those too.
And I'm 19 1/2 today. I should have made a cake or something, haha. Does this mean I get a wish half-fulfilled today? Hm.
Sadly, I have STILL not managed to snag any new reading material. An entire summer without one trip to the library--I just might explode with the frustration. As a result I STILL have no Book of the Month feature to regale you with. I will, however, list for you all the books that I have been reading. I've read them before, which is why they don't count for my list of new books read this year, but they were good enough for me to read them again--some for the second time, some for the umpteenth time--so perhaps you'd be interested to have a list of titles:
- The Shield Ring, by Rosemary Sutcliff
- The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud
- The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
- Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
- The Pearls of Lutra, by Brian Jacques
- The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
- The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander
- The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
Dance is going well, but I'm trying to figure out a design for my new competition dress; mine is about 4 years old now, and in a competitive arena where dresses go out of style in mere months . . . yep, I'm wearing a relic. My family and I always design and sew my own dresses instead of shelling out a fortune on designer dresses like most other people do, so my dress has lasted longer than most, but it does look old now. Sigh. I've also promised my little brother that I'll dress up as Toothless the Dragon for Halloween so he can ride on my shoulders as Hiccup, so I have that to figure out too!
(Absolutely not-relevant side note here: I'm currently watching Star Wars on my computer as I type this, and just realized that one of Vader's officers is the same actor who played that American rocket captain in "Tomb of the Cybermen"! The one with the annoying fake accent who kept calling Victoria 'Vic'! This just made my day.)
I've been writing a lot, and even though it's pretty hard considering I've got a spot of writer's block, this means my novel is coming along now almost despite itself, haha. Yesterday I baked banana bread; my six year old sister was disappointed initially, but now says she loves it, especially with cream cheese. My little four year old brother however loves banana bread, and basically was asking me if he could eat it every five minutes after it came out of the oven until it was cooled enough to be cut. I do like baking! And making soups, too. I really want to make this lentil soup from a recipe I found recently; I like lentils almost as much as I like baking :)
That's enough rambling from me from now, so I leave you now only with a promise that I'll try to post more regularly and interestingly this month. Oh, and I've been drawing and doodling a lot, so I'll start posting those too.
And I'm 19 1/2 today. I should have made a cake or something, haha. Does this mean I get a wish half-fulfilled today? Hm.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sun In My Eyes
My littlest sister--she's two--just came over to me where I'm sitting on the floor of my bedroom working on a story. She took my face in her hands and very gently and solemnly turned me to face her. Then, with a very sweet look of concentration on her face, she told me "Here, take the sun--" and very carefully mimed putting something into both of my eyes. And with a satisfied smile, she walked away.
This is part of the reason why I love spending time with my littlest siblings--their imaginations are so strong and boundless and joyous, they can come up with a beautiful idea like placing pieces of the sun into people's eyes. What a powerful notion, and one I know I could never have thought of on my own. Just like the time my four-year-old brother wished me goodnight and then added 'I will go find sweet dreams for you!" I have a little sister who puts the sun into my eyes, and a little brother who spends his dreamtime collecting sweet child-dreams to give to me, since I am now too old, alas, to find any of my own. I am so very fortunate to be their older sister.
This is part of the reason why I love spending time with my littlest siblings--their imaginations are so strong and boundless and joyous, they can come up with a beautiful idea like placing pieces of the sun into people's eyes. What a powerful notion, and one I know I could never have thought of on my own. Just like the time my four-year-old brother wished me goodnight and then added 'I will go find sweet dreams for you!" I have a little sister who puts the sun into my eyes, and a little brother who spends his dreamtime collecting sweet child-dreams to give to me, since I am now too old, alas, to find any of my own. I am so very fortunate to be their older sister.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Hello Again
So I'm on episode 2.17 of "Fringe" now, and the second season is miles better than the first. Not that the first was bad, but the characters are more comfortable to watch now for some reason, perhaps because they've finally settled into themselves, grown comfortable with their own personalities. I'm seriously loving all the 'alternate reality' stuff.
Today I took the siblings out to play on a grassy field by my house. My youngest brother begged me to take him, so I did, and then only a few minutes after arriving at the grass he threw an enormous tantrum because he wasn't chosen as the first person to be 'it' in our sibling game of freeze tag, so I had to cart him back to the house. I think he's napping now; he was in need of a bit of sleep, I think. It was pretty embarrassing to be walking down the street carrying a squirming, shrieking child who kept yelling 'NONONONO' at the top of his very-strong lungs. He's had a piercing scream he can summon at will ever since he was very small, though he hadn't used it in a while . . . not until today, anyway. I was afraid someone would think I was kidnapping the kid.
I'm typing this at my desk, which is situated right beside my bedroom window. Outside the sky is pink and purple with sunset, but it's a bruised and dusty sort of sunset, not a glorious one. There isn't any wind. It's been very hot the past few days.
I'm pretty tired myself, actually. I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should; I'll try to rectify that tonight. Just remembered that I have an optometrist appointment tomorrow, and I don't want to have weary eyes for that!
Today I took the siblings out to play on a grassy field by my house. My youngest brother begged me to take him, so I did, and then only a few minutes after arriving at the grass he threw an enormous tantrum because he wasn't chosen as the first person to be 'it' in our sibling game of freeze tag, so I had to cart him back to the house. I think he's napping now; he was in need of a bit of sleep, I think. It was pretty embarrassing to be walking down the street carrying a squirming, shrieking child who kept yelling 'NONONONO' at the top of his very-strong lungs. He's had a piercing scream he can summon at will ever since he was very small, though he hadn't used it in a while . . . not until today, anyway. I was afraid someone would think I was kidnapping the kid.
I'm typing this at my desk, which is situated right beside my bedroom window. Outside the sky is pink and purple with sunset, but it's a bruised and dusty sort of sunset, not a glorious one. There isn't any wind. It's been very hot the past few days.
I'm pretty tired myself, actually. I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should; I'll try to rectify that tonight. Just remembered that I have an optometrist appointment tomorrow, and I don't want to have weary eyes for that!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Writer's Block?
Well, no, I don't really have a block in my way so much as a field of mud. Despite my best efforts, everything is going so very slowly, and so tediously, which makes me suspect that they are therefore not my best efforts after all. I'm planning on giving up Facebook for July to see if that makes any changes, but for now I'm just continuing my life as usual, just trying to write every day and get back into the swing of writing seriously every day.
Today I baked banana bread, which I have actually never done before. I just guesstimated how much nutmeg to use, and was terribly anxious the whole thing would come to pieces when I flipped it out of the baking pan, but it stayed together nicely and tasted great spread thinly with margarine. It made me very happy, and my siblings and parents liked it too. There's just enough of the loaf left to eat at breakfast tomorrow alongside my usual grapefruit, so I'm looking forward to getting a yummy start to the day!
My brother's currently reading "The Tempest" for the first time, and I think he's enjoying it. My nine-year-old sister is just starting in on "The Return of the King", how exciting for her to be reading that amazing book for the first time! I wish sometimes I could rewind the clock just to read my favorite books for the first time. There's a special feel to reading them a thousand times, a sort of worn and comfortable and happy feel, but the first read is always so exhilarating, and alas, it only happens once. At least I got to read LotR for the first time when I was six, completely unaware of what would be in store for me on the next page--She's grown up surrounded by LotR movie posters, books, movie books, art books, and a wall I papered entirely with newsclippings from when the films were being released, hehe. So she's known who Frodo and Gollum and Aragorn, etc., are since birth. That's got to make for a different reading experience.
I myself am reading--well, nothing really. It's very bizarre. I desperately need new books to read--Namely, Chesterton's "The Napoleon of Notting Hill", the next few books in the Aubrey-Maturin series, a long list of Sutcliff books, more works by Faulkner after "As I Lay Dying" whet my appetite for his work back in April, Silvius' "Achilleid", "Seven Against Thebes", and sundry other reads. I'm still reading "Le Morte d'Arthur", but the going isn't very fast, and I'd like to be able to leapfrog between five books at once like I usually do. I started "Guy Mannering" yesterday, but so far it's not really caught me, though I'm sure it will eventually--that's generally how Sir Walter Scott books go. I'm going to start reading to my sisters at bedtime again, but the problem is that we had just started "The High King" when I left for college two years ago, and never finished it, so they want me to finish it now, but I feel obligated to begin the entire Prydain series over again from "The Book of Three" because otherwise they won't understand everything that happens in "The High King", the best book in the series, because they'll only have fuzzy memories of who everyone is, especially side-characters like Prince Rhun and Magg. What a muddle.
The good news is that I've FINALLY begun writing chapter one of my novel today. Remember I referred to my current authorial state earlier as a slogging through a field of mud? Well, it's coming along. I've been expending all my extra thought on the problem of this beginning for the past week, and I think I finally made a breakthrough this evening. I have written most of the first few chapters, as well as eighty pages all told of the actual novel, but the very beginning has always escaped me despite innumerable rewritings and has left me rather stymied. I think, however (although I have thought it before) that today I've begun the process of conquering it, which is a glad thing indeed. I'll try to get it all written tomorrow, and then on with the story! I'm determined to use this year off of school to write my novel, and of course NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching again! This time I'll be ready for it. I have a few ideas about what I wish to write, but I'm determinedly not thinking too much about it because I want to be free enough to write 50,000 words quickly without worrying about niceties of plot and things.
Any other happenings around here? Um, no, not really, other than "Vincent and the Doctor" continued "Doctor Who"'s winning streak for me that really began with "Vampires of Venice" and hasn't let up since, huzzah! In fact, "Vincent" might be my favorite of the new Doctor's stories so far, but I'm not sure. "Amy's Choice" was also excellent. And "The Lodger" looks to be nothing but more goodness. But "Vincent" made my eyes tear up a few times, and was all-in-all very well done indeed. Scenes like the one below were amazing (don't watch if you haven't seen it yet, of course!).
My only critique for this series really is its fondness of Earth. Very, very few stories have been set outside of Earth (Okay, "Amy's Choice" was kinda not Earth, but it kinda was still), and although I've loved the time traveling, which I felt wasn't done enough with Tennant, I miss the space traveling. And with the finale taking place at Stonehenge (yaaay, Stonehenge, I remember going there! It was very windy and very wet), it seems the series will be sticking with Earth until the end. At least it's broken out of the previous series' fondness of London, though, ha. Hopefully next season will have more planet-hopping action. And more aliens that are truly evil, too, not just misunderstood creatures :)
Oh, and I keep meaning to post some art on this blog again, but I keep forgetting, and though I have remembered now, it's late and time for me to be getting to bed, so it'll have to wait. Good night!
PS-I just realized that my last post was number 200. Wow.
Today I baked banana bread, which I have actually never done before. I just guesstimated how much nutmeg to use, and was terribly anxious the whole thing would come to pieces when I flipped it out of the baking pan, but it stayed together nicely and tasted great spread thinly with margarine. It made me very happy, and my siblings and parents liked it too. There's just enough of the loaf left to eat at breakfast tomorrow alongside my usual grapefruit, so I'm looking forward to getting a yummy start to the day!
My brother's currently reading "The Tempest" for the first time, and I think he's enjoying it. My nine-year-old sister is just starting in on "The Return of the King", how exciting for her to be reading that amazing book for the first time! I wish sometimes I could rewind the clock just to read my favorite books for the first time. There's a special feel to reading them a thousand times, a sort of worn and comfortable and happy feel, but the first read is always so exhilarating, and alas, it only happens once. At least I got to read LotR for the first time when I was six, completely unaware of what would be in store for me on the next page--She's grown up surrounded by LotR movie posters, books, movie books, art books, and a wall I papered entirely with newsclippings from when the films were being released, hehe. So she's known who Frodo and Gollum and Aragorn, etc., are since birth. That's got to make for a different reading experience.
I myself am reading--well, nothing really. It's very bizarre. I desperately need new books to read--Namely, Chesterton's "The Napoleon of Notting Hill", the next few books in the Aubrey-Maturin series, a long list of Sutcliff books, more works by Faulkner after "As I Lay Dying" whet my appetite for his work back in April, Silvius' "Achilleid", "Seven Against Thebes", and sundry other reads. I'm still reading "Le Morte d'Arthur", but the going isn't very fast, and I'd like to be able to leapfrog between five books at once like I usually do. I started "Guy Mannering" yesterday, but so far it's not really caught me, though I'm sure it will eventually--that's generally how Sir Walter Scott books go. I'm going to start reading to my sisters at bedtime again, but the problem is that we had just started "The High King" when I left for college two years ago, and never finished it, so they want me to finish it now, but I feel obligated to begin the entire Prydain series over again from "The Book of Three" because otherwise they won't understand everything that happens in "The High King", the best book in the series, because they'll only have fuzzy memories of who everyone is, especially side-characters like Prince Rhun and Magg. What a muddle.
The good news is that I've FINALLY begun writing chapter one of my novel today. Remember I referred to my current authorial state earlier as a slogging through a field of mud? Well, it's coming along. I've been expending all my extra thought on the problem of this beginning for the past week, and I think I finally made a breakthrough this evening. I have written most of the first few chapters, as well as eighty pages all told of the actual novel, but the very beginning has always escaped me despite innumerable rewritings and has left me rather stymied. I think, however (although I have thought it before) that today I've begun the process of conquering it, which is a glad thing indeed. I'll try to get it all written tomorrow, and then on with the story! I'm determined to use this year off of school to write my novel, and of course NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching again! This time I'll be ready for it. I have a few ideas about what I wish to write, but I'm determinedly not thinking too much about it because I want to be free enough to write 50,000 words quickly without worrying about niceties of plot and things.
Any other happenings around here? Um, no, not really, other than "Vincent and the Doctor" continued "Doctor Who"'s winning streak for me that really began with "Vampires of Venice" and hasn't let up since, huzzah! In fact, "Vincent" might be my favorite of the new Doctor's stories so far, but I'm not sure. "Amy's Choice" was also excellent. And "The Lodger" looks to be nothing but more goodness. But "Vincent" made my eyes tear up a few times, and was all-in-all very well done indeed. Scenes like the one below were amazing (don't watch if you haven't seen it yet, of course!).
My only critique for this series really is its fondness of Earth. Very, very few stories have been set outside of Earth (Okay, "Amy's Choice" was kinda not Earth, but it kinda was still), and although I've loved the time traveling, which I felt wasn't done enough with Tennant, I miss the space traveling. And with the finale taking place at Stonehenge (yaaay, Stonehenge, I remember going there! It was very windy and very wet), it seems the series will be sticking with Earth until the end. At least it's broken out of the previous series' fondness of London, though, ha. Hopefully next season will have more planet-hopping action. And more aliens that are truly evil, too, not just misunderstood creatures :)
Oh, and I keep meaning to post some art on this blog again, but I keep forgetting, and though I have remembered now, it's late and time for me to be getting to bed, so it'll have to wait. Good night!
PS-I just realized that my last post was number 200. Wow.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Hey
No time for anything more than a quick hello right now, I'm afraid, but a quick hello is better than nothing at all! My laptop's still messed up, but I'm probably going to start using it again soon anyway, which means I'll be able to post more frequently. Also, I am aware that my monthly book review post is late. However, my reviews and stuff are all on my laptop, so I've been unable to access them! Look for the review post soon.
I played hopscotch with my siblings yesterday; it was very clear and hot outside, but in a very different way than in Hawaii. The sky was more white than blue, and the air was very dry. We also blew bubbles and drew chalk pictures. And Lathspell and I both speedily drew our own versions of Faquarl the djinn from the Bartimaeus Trilogy; mine's better, of course. Maybe I'll post it later, haha.
Also, I still want to post photos of my artwork that I did over the course of last semester! All the pictures are, you guessed it, on my laptop. So expect a flood of posts in the near future; I have a lot of catching up to do.
I played hopscotch with my siblings yesterday; it was very clear and hot outside, but in a very different way than in Hawaii. The sky was more white than blue, and the air was very dry. We also blew bubbles and drew chalk pictures. And Lathspell and I both speedily drew our own versions of Faquarl the djinn from the Bartimaeus Trilogy; mine's better, of course. Maybe I'll post it later, haha.
Also, I still want to post photos of my artwork that I did over the course of last semester! All the pictures are, you guessed it, on my laptop. So expect a flood of posts in the near future; I have a lot of catching up to do.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
I'm really, really home.
My grandmother left to go to the airport about an hour ago, so now I really am home, settling back into normalcy, my old pre-college routines. It's a bit weird how comfortable it all feels. I thought I'd be experiencing a bit more of a culture shock or something, but nope. I haven't gotten as much writing done yet as I had been planning, but this week is when I really settle into a new schedule instead of just sleeping in every morning and watching my favorite films on dvd repeatedly, hehe. The new daily to-do list:
1) Practice my dance at least an hour
2) Read
3) Play with the siblings
4) Write at least a page of my novel
5) Go running
Of course I'm also going to mix baking, needlepoint, and art in there too, along with schooling my siblings. I haven't been able to draw since coming home because I used up all my charcoal in Hawaii, and left all the art supplies I bought in Hawaii there too, which is sad. I hope to make a run to a good art supply store soon!
Also, I hope to go to the library soon. I really miss the school library and even the Hawaii public library system, because it was so easy to keep a fresh supply of new books in my room at all times. Now I'm stagnating and hunting the backs of my own bookshelves for reads I never completed or forgot to complete. So far my search has turned up "Rob Roy", "Portrait of a Lady", and "Warrior Scarlet". A nice selection, sure, but I also want to finish the Aubrey-Maturin series and read some more Faulkner after falling in love with "As I Lay Dying" last semester!
Still, being back at home is mostly pleasant. I'm really enjoying my dance practices again, and am feeling much more motivated at classes than I used to, I think because after being starved for so long, I really appreciate anew just how much I love Irish dancing and how much it means to me. I've also enjoyed hanging out with my siblings again; today in the car Lathspell and I spontaneously burst into a rousing rendition of a medley of songs from "Les Miserables", I introduced my youngest brother to the joys of playing in a ball pit at his cousin's birthday party despite his initial reluctance to jump in (having a very serious four-year old cross his arms firmly across his chest, glare at you, and say "I refuse!" to your suggestion that he play in a ball pit is an extremely adorable and hilarious experience!), my two-year-old sister saw I was wearing a necklace and a straw hat to the party and so insisted I find a necklace and straw hat for her too (I did), and my dad is borrowing "Eagle of the Ninth" to read while he chaperones my eldest brother at a home school high school ball tonight (I can't wait to hear what he thinks of Sutcliff's writing when he comes home!). Also, I really enjoyed taking the siblings to see "How to Train Your Dragon" last week, and they've already scoffed the first batch of chocolate chip cookies that I baked and are demanding that I now prepare scones, lembas bread, and watercress soup. I think I'll tackle the lembas bread tonight. We haven't had it in a while, and it's very good!
1) Practice my dance at least an hour
2) Read
3) Play with the siblings
4) Write at least a page of my novel
5) Go running
Of course I'm also going to mix baking, needlepoint, and art in there too, along with schooling my siblings. I haven't been able to draw since coming home because I used up all my charcoal in Hawaii, and left all the art supplies I bought in Hawaii there too, which is sad. I hope to make a run to a good art supply store soon!
Also, I hope to go to the library soon. I really miss the school library and even the Hawaii public library system, because it was so easy to keep a fresh supply of new books in my room at all times. Now I'm stagnating and hunting the backs of my own bookshelves for reads I never completed or forgot to complete. So far my search has turned up "Rob Roy", "Portrait of a Lady", and "Warrior Scarlet". A nice selection, sure, but I also want to finish the Aubrey-Maturin series and read some more Faulkner after falling in love with "As I Lay Dying" last semester!
Still, being back at home is mostly pleasant. I'm really enjoying my dance practices again, and am feeling much more motivated at classes than I used to, I think because after being starved for so long, I really appreciate anew just how much I love Irish dancing and how much it means to me. I've also enjoyed hanging out with my siblings again; today in the car Lathspell and I spontaneously burst into a rousing rendition of a medley of songs from "Les Miserables", I introduced my youngest brother to the joys of playing in a ball pit at his cousin's birthday party despite his initial reluctance to jump in (having a very serious four-year old cross his arms firmly across his chest, glare at you, and say "I refuse!" to your suggestion that he play in a ball pit is an extremely adorable and hilarious experience!), my two-year-old sister saw I was wearing a necklace and a straw hat to the party and so insisted I find a necklace and straw hat for her too (I did), and my dad is borrowing "Eagle of the Ninth" to read while he chaperones my eldest brother at a home school high school ball tonight (I can't wait to hear what he thinks of Sutcliff's writing when he comes home!). Also, I really enjoyed taking the siblings to see "How to Train Your Dragon" last week, and they've already scoffed the first batch of chocolate chip cookies that I baked and are demanding that I now prepare scones, lembas bread, and watercress soup. I think I'll tackle the lembas bread tonight. We haven't had it in a while, and it's very good!
Friday, June 12, 2009
3 Cheers for Randomness and Reading!
I finally woke up before nine in the morning today. Isn't that wonderful? And the day just got better from there. A little bit of everything: family, cleaning, playing, books, silliness, writing, rats, film, the great outdoors . . .My writer's block is finally clearing. I am writing again! So look for a new installment of 'The Sons of Cwendor' to be posted here sometime this weekend! The issue that's been bugging me is getting ironed out, so it's moving fairly smoothly now. Not the swift, dreamlike smoothly that I like best, but a steady sort that does what I want, instead of doing things of its own that I have to catch up to later. The writing kept me locked in my room for two hours after I woke up, so some people (namely, my brother oldest brother) refused to believe I wasn't asleep all that time. But I was awake, and now it's in print, which makes it true, right?
After a late breakfast of toast--it's still strange to me how much I am craving toast after being in Hawaii, as I never really craved it before--and sliced apple which I ended up feeding most of to my cute little toddling siblings (who have an uncanny sixth sense when it comes to sensing that I have food to share), I determined to take all the sibs outside to a square of grass behind our house. Living in suburbia limits one's contact with trees and green things outdoors, but fortunately we live in a pretty quiet neighborhood, and the grass behind our house, though not extremely large, is large enough for a few tall trees and gentle hills, which we roll down. Yep, I still roll down grassy hills.
So we trooped out there and began a game of Peter Pan, as my youngest brother is currently obsessed with Pan. I was Captain Hook, since I had the long hair and was wearing a huge coat, and my second brother kindly found me a curled leaf to use as a hook. There were a few difficulties due to Elhendur preferring to use is Pan powers to fly instead of save Wendy, but fortunately (for my Sister No.2, I guess, not for me) he decided at the last moment to swoop in and save her from walking the plank (ie. jumping off the stone bench at one end of the grass), and then Brother No. 2 showed up as the crocodile and I was soundly trounced. In the excitement, everyone forgot about poor Tiger-Lily sitting on a hilltop as the fictional water came in, and I suppose she drowned, so my Hook had at least a little triumph. Sister No. 1 was a little put out, though.
Anyway, eventually Brother No. 1 and I tired of being restricted to only Peter Pan's universe, so we suddenly whirled around, yelled out that we were Ols from 'Deltora Quest', and swiftly dispatched Wendy, Tiger-Lily, and the Ticking Crocodile. Little Elhendur kept his wits about him, however, and decided that if we had entered the realm of Deltora, he was Lief and keeper of the Nectar of Life, with which he swiftly restored our fallen foes. These, upon springing up from the grass, bellowed that they were Jasmine, Barda, and, um, Wendy again, and charged us, taking us by surprise and felling us. But Elhendur was impartial, and so revived Brother No. 1 and I both, and I decided I had come back as Bigwig from 'Watership Down', and Brother No. 1 was Speedwell. This worked out fine, and I had an amusing time hopping on the grass, until Barda killed me for no reason whatsoever. Whereupon I came back as Feanor and after a brief stick-duel defeated Barda/Brother No. 2.
And so on. The game became what my brothers later called 'A Literary Mario Bros. Smash Bros.', with each person strategically changing upon death into a character more likely to defeat the other characters, and Elhendur, who created an ingenious cup from bark with a twig for a straw, went about reviving fallen characters who would then regenerate. Brilliant fun and utterly mad. During the course of the game I transformed into Madame Defarge, Robin Hood, Eilonwy, Anne of Green Gables, Frodo, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, Sherlock Holmes, Watson, Marley's Ghost, Ged, Fflewddur Flam, Radagast the Brown, Farmer Giles of Ham, Farmer Maggot, Amalthea, Achilles, and Cluny the Scourge, among others I have now forgotten. It was great fun impersonating these characters, almost as fun as watching my siblings impersonating theirs.
The best part probably--for me, anyway--was when we ended up engaging in an Encyclopedia Brown vs. Sherlock Holmes fistfight. As Brother No. 1 said happily: 'Now this is something that I've always wanted to see!' Sorry, Brown fans, Holmes won.
When we had all tired ourselves out, we assigned each person a character of the Fellowship of the Ring (yours truly was Aragorn, of course . . .), linked hands according to the order of march in Moria, and trooped off back home while singing 'The Fellowship' theme from the film. There was a bit of trouble when I addressed my mother at our door as 'O Lady Galadriel, we seek refuge in Lothlorien,' because she thought at first I said 'Old Lady Galadriel', but apart from that the whole thing went remarkably well for being so random and mad.
Later in the afternoon I was left at home with the youngest three kids and Brother No. 2, so I put on 'Ratatouille' and we watched that together for the first time in a long time. Elhendur fell asleep, but he had been getting cranky, so just as well. I then led the other kids in a cleaning effort and thereby cleaned the kitchen and dining room, which was fun when all the little ones were pitching in. Now all I have to do is muster what vestiges of my energy are left and go practice my dance, and my day will be complete. Oh, and I'll probably stay up a little late writing. Then it will all have come full circle.
How good it is to be alive, book-crazy, and the eldest of seven children!
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