On NaNoWriMo, Latin Midterm Tests, and Stupid Commercials

Hey, readers!  Once again, I apologize for the distance in my posts.  The soccer season is almost over, so I’ll have more time in the afternoon to post.

Today, I’m gonna talk about three things(unless I go off subject, which happens…a lot…): NaNoWriMo, Latin, and Commercials.  Hopefully, I won’t bore you to death.

As a lot of you know, NaNoWriMo(or National Novel Writing Month) is coming up.  In fact, it’s only  20-something days away.  And, as usual, I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do.  I guess I have a few ideas, but I can’t decide.  After a disastrous novel in 2010, I really want to produce something, well, good this year.  On a different note, I’m shooting for 30,000 Words this year(which is 5,000 more than last year), and I think I can reach that.  I know it’s not all about getting my word goal, or even writing a super publish-worthy novel, but I still want to somehow accomplish both.  I’ll be posting more about my ideas, and more about NaNoWriMo as it approaches.

Latin Midterms…eep!  So, I take an online Latin Class every Tuesday at 8AM.  Then, I have to translate sentences for homework, memorize new vocabulary and endings, then take a Quiz.  All in one week.  I’ve been doing this for several weeks now, and I’ve reached the halfway point.  Sunday or Monday I’ll be taking my Latin Midterm Quiz–which is a review of everything we’ve covered so far.  I’m freaking out.  What if I forget something really obvious?  And, of course, after this week, according to my teacher it only gets harder.  So I really need to get these first couple weeks of vocab and endings under my belt before I move on.   Cause if I mess up and forget a bunch of stuff now, then I’m going to struggle immensely with the next few weeks.  Talk about tension.  I’ll tell you how my quiz goes. 😉

Ahh, stupid commercials.  Every Wednesday, I go to a homeschool Co-Op from 10AM to 2PM.  In that time frame, I take two classes, and eat lunch.  My first class is an Advertising class–and it’s not as boring as it sounds.  We talk about commercials, how to make successful ads, and we’re going to make our own commercial soon(wouldn’t it be awesome if you guys saw me on TV? Haha).  Last week, our homework was to find a really stupid commercial and email our teacher the link so we could watch it in class(the teacher brought a computer).  In short, there were a lot of bad commercials.  Some of the commercials were: a 1970’s Arby’s Commercial, a Geico Commercial, an Aflack commercial, and a McDonald’s commercial.  They all were…rather bad, to say the least(except for the Geico one; that one was awesome).  I had a Swiffer commercial(you can see it here).  It was loads of fun watching the other kids’ commercials and complaining about how awful they were. 🙂  If you guys know any stupid commercials, I’d love to see them. 🙂

That’s all for now, folks.  I have to run off to and study for my Latin quiz before my friend comes over.  See(well, not really) you later!

~Fayah~

A VERY IMPORTANT POST: PLEASE READ

MY OLD URL: ablogaboutlifetheuniverseandrandomness.wordpress.com

MY NEW URL: abaltuar.wordpress.com

If you are an Email subscriber, I believe you have to Re-Subscribe.  I don’t know for sure though.

MY OLD URL DOES NOT REDIRECT TO MY NEW ONE!

Okay, I’m done shouting at you now.  😉

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  Or if you just want to give me a virtual medal for changing my URL, you can do that in the comments too.  And if you want to spam me with pictures of Albatrosses–actually, please don’t spam me with pictures of Albatrosses, because I wouldn’t really appreciate that.

Thanks for your time!

~Fayah~

30th Post

There is no significance about 30 at all, but I feel like I should acknowledge it.  I’ve seen a few “100 Posts” on other blogs, so 30’s a bit wimpy. But I don’t care.  I’m happy I even GOT this far.

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70 more to go, and I can join the 100 posters crowd.  WHOO!!!

ALSO: Later today, I AM CHANGING MY URL.  PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR THE NEXT POST, WHICH SHALL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.   THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!

~Fayah~

A Short Post Asking for your Opinion and Tech Support.

Okay, so several people have commented(very kindly, mind you) that my URL is very. Very. Long.  Which, is true, I know.  So, I was thinking about shortening it to: ablogaboutrandomness -or- abaltuar. (The second one is the first letters of A Blog About Life, The Universe, and Randomness.  Abaltuar!).   If you have any other ideas(or if you know how I change the URL…because I have nooo idea how[or if I can{which would defeat the entire purpose of the post…}] 😛 ), please comment.  XD

I have returned…

Sort of. Well. After abandoning my blog for way too long, I’m back. And, now, I’m going to add on to the Chocolate Moonlit thing, that I was supposed to do sometime in July…. *Shifty look*
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What has already been added:
The moon was full tonight, and it hovered over the teenagers as if blessing them. Maybe that’s what it seemed like to anybody else. But Ella had the feeling that it was cursing them.
A snarl sounded right next to her. ”What is it now, Raul?” she asked impatiently, turning. What she saw was much worse than her frenemy Raul. It was a wolf. A strangely large wolf, with glowing eyes the same sharp green color as Raul’s. Its powerful haunches rippled with muscle, and with a growl, it sprang at her. As she fell, it wasn’t the claws and weight of a wolf that landed on her. It was a person.
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What I’m adding:
Ella cried out in shock as Raul–or whatever it was–landed on her. As soon as she hit the ground, instinct took over. She brought her elbow up so it connected with the thing’s nose, then she kneed it in the stomach and rolled out from under it. She leapt to her feet.
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The entire story:
The moon was full tonight, and it hovered over the teenagers as if blessing them. Maybe that’s what it seemed like to anybody else. But Ella had the feeling that it was cursing them.
A snarl sounded right next to her. ”What is it now, Raul?” she asked impatiently, turning. What she saw was much worse than her frenemy Raul. It was a wolf. A strangely large wolf, with glowing eyes the same sharp green color as Raul’s. Its powerful haunches rippled with muscle, and with a growl, it sprang at her. As she fell, it wasn’t the claws and weight of a wolf that landed on her. It was a person.

Ella cried out in shock as Raul–or whatever it was–landed on her. As soon as she hit the ground, instinct took over. She brought her elbow up so it connected with the thing’s nose, then she kneed it in the stomach and rolled out from under it. She leapt to her feet.
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I’m handing this award onto…

Jack–Jack loves writing, and I can’t wait to see what they add. 😀
Pheris–She’s a writer, and I’m sure she’ll enjoy adding a paragraph.

Phosie–Once again, I’m kinda dumping this on her, seeing as she hasn’t posted in a while… 😛 Oops.

The rules don’t say anything about how many people you give it too, so I’m just gonna go with 3.

Have fun, you guys! 🙂

Also…heads up people, I’m starting a very important year in school, and I’m going to be very busy and the like.  Just FYI.  I will get around to posting more, but…well…you know me.  I’m abysmal at staying on schedule. 😛  Sorry.

Oh, and I hope you all had a great summer! 🙂

-Fayah442

Random Awards with Fayah

…While I’ve been away(away = busy with doing nothing) I’ve received THREE more awards.  🙂

My friend Pheris has given me the smoothie

My friend Manet has also given me a smoothie

And my friend GiGi has given me a Chocolate thingy

For the Traveling Smoothie Award, I have to:

1. Put an uncolored copy of the smoothie into the post (for video bloggers, print it out or insert it into your video).

2. Color in another copy of the smoothie. Be creative and color the smoothie, straw, and background, if you wish.

3. Insert your colored smoothie in your post/ video/ webpage. If you wish, you may include the location of the smoothie. Be as general or specific as you wish.

4. Name five blogging/ video blogging/ DeviantArt friends who will then have to fill out the smoothie, too. Also remember to link to them, because linking to people makes said people happy.

So here we go.  I’m going to do one Smoothie for both awards…

But anyway.  Here is an uncolored Smoothie:

And here’s my colored version!!

Yes, I did PhotoShop Yoda into my picture.  Yes, he is using the Force on my smoothie.  And yes, he is standing on the table. 🙂 🙂

And the five people I’m passing it on too:

1. Kalculator–her blog, a Ninja’s Cake, is very, very awesome.  You totally deserve the smoothie.

2. Jack–I met them on NaNoWriMo, and their blog is soo kewl.  I can’t wait to see how they design the smoothie…maybe something Pirates of the Caribbean related? 😀

3. Kasey–I love her blog. 🙂  She is definitely random/awesome enough to get the smoothie!

4. Amelia–her blog is awesome.  Can’t wait to see what she does with the Smoothie.

5. Phosie–She hasn’t posted in a while, but I really want to see how she’ll color the smoothie. 😀

Whew.  One award down. 🙂  Oh, by the way, THANK YOU PHERIS AND MANET FOR GIVING ME THIS AWARD!!

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Now onto the next award.    It’s called the “Chocolate Moonlit Night”.

The rules:  If you are nominated, you are allowed to put in one paragraph to continue the story.  If you’re writing dialogue, you may write two paragraphs if of speech 2 sentences or under (if it’s three sentences that they speak, not including interjections, you can only do one paragraph).  People may be tagged again two times at most.  The premise of this meme is that each time it’s posted, it’s a different story because it went to different people, but they all started with the same paragraph.  You also have to repost the rules and the entire story so far into your blog post that you have for this meme.  Just copy it off the post of whoever nominated you.

What is already in the story:

The moon was full tonight, and it hovered over the teenagers as if blessing them.  Maybe that’s what it seemed like to anybody else.  But Ella had the feeling that it was cursing them.
A snarl sounded right next to her.  “What is it now, Raul?” she asked impatiently, turning.  What she saw was much worse than her frenemy Raul.  It was a wolf.  A strangely large wolf, with glowing eyes the same sharp green color as Raul’s.  Its powerful haunches rippled with muscle, and with a growl, it sprang at her.  As she fell, it wasn’t the claws and weight of a wolf that landed on her.  It was a person.

I’m feeling very lazy right now(and I have to go practice my piano O_O) so I think I’ll add a paragraph tomorrow.

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~Fayah~

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This has been Random Awards With Fayah.  Tune in next time for Fayah actually getting around to adding a paragraph.  Or, stay tuned and listen very, very hard and you might hear Fayah playing Greyson Chance, Frank Sinatra, and various Scottish Folk Music on the piano.  But we doubt it.

And this is why we have dictionaries

Ah, the Versatile Blogger award that I had no idea even existed until it was awarded to moi.  I received a Versatile Blogger award from my friend Pheris(check out her blog here).   As if to prove the point that I really need to re-read the Dictionary, I had to look up what Versatile meant.  😛  Thanks a ton, Pheris!!!

Now, I believe I have to follow some rules to getting this award…ah, yes.

1. Thank and Link the Person who Nominated You

Thanks SOOOOOOOOOO much Pheris!  I cannot express how awesome this is!!   🙂  Pheris’ blog, as I said earlier, is right here.  She has an awesome blog, and I found her on NaNoWriMo. 🙂  You rock, Pheris!!

2. Share 7 Random Facts About Yourself

Ooh, 7 facts about me?  Alrighty…this may take a bit.

Fact 1: I know 20 digits of Pi from Memory:  3.1415926535897932384, and I’m working on the next part: 6264338

Fact 2: One of my earliest memories is from when I was 3, and I jumped off a chair and broke my ankle.  My brother told me that if the balloons(from his b-day party) floated up to high, I could jump off the chair and catch them so they wouldn’t hit the ceiling.  …don’t try it at home, kids.

Fact 3: My favorite food is Spaghetti.  Especially my Grandma’s Spaghetti.  Yummm!

Fact 4: I used to take Ballet, and I did for several years.  But I hated it and quit when I was 7.  I was pretty bad at it too, being more a physically built person than a flexible one.  And the outfits I had to wear for the recitals were weird. *Shudders*

Fact 5: I’ve been playing Goalie in Soccer since I was 6, and a lot shorter.  I’m still playing now, and I love it.  I’m a much better Goalie now, than I was then, for sure.  Plus, I have height advantage, being taller than most other kids my age, so they can’t shoot higher than my head. 😛

Fact 6: I don’t like cats.  At all.  I much prefer dogs.  But my brother and Dad are allergic, so instead we have pet Fish.

Fact 7: My favorite number is 213.  442 is my second favorite number, and 504 is my third.

 

3. Pass Along the Award to Five other deserving Bloggers

Only 5?  Oh, well.  Deciding will be hard enough, but only 5??  *Sigh*

Phosie.  One of my great friends IRL, I love reading her blog.  She started her blog a little after I started mine, and you can see hers here.  She’s such a great artist, it blows me away.

Kalculator.  My Screnzy friend, a little new to blogging, but I enjoy reading her blog daily.  🙂  Her blog is well written, and she always succeeds in making me laugh.  You can see her blog here.

GiGi.  GiGi’s a great friend of mine, and one of the first blogs I started reading.  She’s a great writer and always makes me laugh.  Plus, I love her book reviews.  And I wish I had her dog. 🙂  She has two blogs, here and here.

Climbing Gecko.  He never ceases to make me think harder, laugh harder, and his posts are written with care and dedication.  His blog is right here.

Rhaine33.  Rhaine just started up her blog, but I love it.  I check back every day to see if she’s posted anything new.  She’s a good friend of mine from YWP NaNoWriMo, and I’m so glad she started a blog. 🙂  I laughed out loud when she talked about Sam Gamgee, and you can too.

4. Contact those 5 people and congratulate them

Off to do that as we speak.  Congrats, fellow bloggers!  Again, thank you Pheris for awarding me this, I had a lot of fun writing this up. 🙂

Later!

-Fayah442

Justin Bieber…why do we all hate him, so?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a JB fan…but why is it that we all either hate his guts, or are squealing fan girls or have no idea who he is?  To be honest, I hate him less than I did before, because I just feel bad for him.  There are so many people that absolutely hate him.  I mean, imagine if you were a singer, and just because people didn’t like your hair, they hated you for being born.  It’s sad, what the world has come too.

Rebecca Black…can’t sing.  At all.  So does that mean we suddenly hate her and send her hate messages? No, that means that you don’t listen to the song, don’t listen too it just so you can be a jerk to her.

*Sigh* This is one of my pet peeves…hating the actual singer(s) because of their songs or other stupid things.

Later!

-Fayah442

A Blog Post filled with awesome book/writing related quotes

Never judge a book by its movie. ~ J. W. Eagan

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done, so now I just have to fill in the rest. ~ Stephen Wright

What’s the use of being a writer if you can’t irritate a great many people? ~ Norman Mailer

I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.   ~ Groucho Marx

There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. ~ W. Somerset Maugham

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. ~ J. D. Salinger

Science Fiction is the jazz of literature. ~ David Brin

Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing. ~ Margaret Chittenden

Later!

-Fayah442

Judgement Day has come and gone…and so has my sanity.

(@Pheris: I’m getting that post up tomorrow, sorry.  I spent 6 hours babysitting today, and I already had this one written. 😛 )

It’s a miracle.  I’m writing this post.  You’re reading this post.  We all survived Judgement Day!  (Yes, admittedly this post is quite late).

To be honest, I don’t get it.  I don’t get why people scared of the world ending in 2012, and other such nonsense.  To me, it seems like people are just making up things to be scared of, which I find to be very odd.  No offense intended at anybody who does, but to me, it seems a little silly to believe that the world will just suddenly “end”.  I think that we’d probably know if the world was ending before it ended.  Just saying.

On a different note, I grabbed a notebook the other day, just to keep track of my thoughts(which are much harder to keep track of than one would think, being thoughts) (in fact, my thoughts are quite mulled up and mushed together and I’m pretty sure my mind has turned to a pile of mush and insanity), and I started a To-Do list.  Being a procrastinator, I figured that a to-do list would never work, and I would just keep going on with my life with a “Oh, sorry, I forgot to do that” and “I think I’ll do that later” attitude.  However, I was very surprised by the effect it had on my life.  It’s been a day or two since I wrote that list, and already I’ve accomplished 6 things I would’ve otherwise “done later”.  I am now continually adding to my list, and feeling a great sense of  pride when I cross something off.  That brand new black notebook I picked up has become rather battered, with lists, drawings, and other pages consisting of my thoughts, ideas, and writing.  It’s amazing how suddenly, after a day, I suddenly say, “Oh, I better put that on my To-Do list so I don’t forget!” instead of procrastinating and, eventually, forgetting.

Changing the subject again, Cinna (a character in The Hunger Games series) was just cast in the movie.  Lenny Kravitz, actor and rock star, is going to take on the role of Katniss’ awesome designer.  My first reaction to that was, ” That’s not–did they–how is that–? No.  Just…no.”  In my mind, that is not how Cinna looks.  Not.  Even.  Close.

When you read a book, and you meet a character for the first time, you’re already starting to develop an appearance, maybe based on the book’s description, maybe something that’s completely your own.  But the fact of the matter is, the people doing the Hunger Games casting can’t please everybody’s imagination.  Somebody is going to be disappointed somewhere.  And, that’s OK.  That’s perfectly normal.  The producers have taken into account the book, and what people think Cinna looks like, but sometimes you can’t chose an actor for his looks–but for his acting.  Let’s hope Kravitz is a really good actor. 😉

After knowing that Kravitz was playing Cinna for two days, I’ve accepted the fact that he doesn’t look like how I pictured him.  But I’m not disappointed, because I think that whoever they choose to be in the movie will do great.  Who’s looking forward to the movie?  I am!

While looking over one of my friends from NaNoWriMo’s blog(see Screaming Giraffe in the blogroll), I found this really hilarious picture she posted:

I just found it hilarious. 🙂

As I was typing, I noticed a little “Word Count” at the bottom of my screen that said “561 words”.  I proceeded to…

A) Count the words in my post and realize that, when I said “561 words” there were indeed 561 words.

B) Mull over the fact that I can usually write faster and get more words in when writing freestyle

It’s amazing how, when writing about every day details, I move much slower than when just writing for the sake of writing, and doing whatever kinds of stories I feel like.  When writing stories, you get caught up in what you’re doing, and can tend to go faster, whereas (at least for me) when writing about things that have happened to me, I have to think about the right way to word it, thus making me type a little slower, and write less words.  But don’t get me wrong, I love blogging. ❤ ❤

Changing the subject again(which has already changed so many times, I’m not quite sure what it is anymore), I think I may be going insane.  Or, perhaps, just overindulging in my writing.  My characters, from my various stories and whatnot, are not doing what I tell them to do.  They are completely rebelling against the plotline, so that the plotline I had is gone, gone, gone, baby.  *Sigh*  And now, my characters have been talking to me, and I’ve been spending time having conversations with my characters that don’t actually exist.  I’m beginning to realize how weird I am, truly.

*Long Sigh*

Am I going insane?

*Pause*

Yeah, that’s what I thought. 😛

Later!

-Fayah442