Finally

Y'all know I've been having kind of a rough time lately. Well, these past few days have been just what I needed :)

Sunday:
Play practice went great! My dad took me and we talked a lot in the car. I love that. I don't really talk to him like I used to, and I miss that.

After play practice, I came home and just sat in the living room with my mom and dad :) Sometimes it's nice just to be around. We watched some TV and I colored XD [Shut up. You're never too old to color.]

After dinner, my dad and I walked down to the lake to feed the fish. The sun was shining just right and you see the little swarms of gnats near the water. A boat motor made a loud sound and all the gnats JUMPED! It was the funniest thing! My dad wondered if you could make them jump with your voice. He said "JUMP" in a low voice and...

They did! It was really weird, and equally hilarious.

We went back to the house and Daddy watered the grass while I kicked the soccer ball and played basketball. When he was done, he played with me. I got six shots in a row, which was good for that night. I was missing like 80% of all the shots I took XD

I picked daisies for my mom.

It was a great day.

Monday:
Memorial Day!
"I'm proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, Who gave that right to me."

We can't forget :)

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went down to the lake! My friend Brianna and her little brother Michael came over, and we went down to the beach. Before long, lots of other people had joined us. A few hours into swimming and having fun, a thunderstorm came up! We got a canopy up just in time.

I love thunderstorms. And this one was cool. Not the most amazing one ever, but it had a giant crack of thunder that made me grin.

Some of the kids, including Matt, were actually in the water when lightning struck nearby. Matt said he felt like someone had kicked him in the chest. I wasn't in the water when it happened. I was jealous XD

The whole day was just amazing. Hanging out with friends, doing random things, I even got to DRIVE MY DAD'S CAR. In the neighborhood, but still, with just me and Brianna in the car. Please don't have me arrested.

Tuesday:
I slept late and just kind of chilled around the house. My mom and Lizzy are at a practicum, so it's just me and Daddy at home. We went to this new frozen custard place, which was awesome. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get stuff on a massive list I had just made XD I also got CHEAP CLOTHES! Who doesn't love cheap clothes? I got a skirt and a shirt for a grand total of $9.70. Alriight XD

We ate at Subway.

Play practice went amazing. I'm learning the dances better than I thought.

Daddy and I watched episodes of The Office :) I love that show.

Today:
Another sleeping in day. It felt great.

I laid outside in the sun for a while. It felt soo nice out. I'm not really one of those girls who can just "go out and tan". I get really bored really fast XD But I'm pale. So, I took notebooks, books, and my iPod and managed to stay quite happy for about an hour. Then I got up and played basketball until I satisfied myself with a beautiful three-pointer.

After dinner tonight, a thunderstorm blew up. It was so beautiful. Daddy and I went out on the screened-in porch and watched the bright lightning and listened to the thunder. I love those peals where you can hear where the crack starts, and then follow it as it rips around the sky :)
Daddy had to go to band practice for our church, but I stayed outside and listened to the storm. God is so cool, you know? I think thunderstorms are one of his finest ideas :) It even inspired me to write a little. A beginning of a story that will never go anywhere, but hey, I like it.

So basically, I've been having an amazing past few days. It's finally starting to seem like the best summer ever.

~Kendra

School

Cavender says I hafta post ;P And we talked a lot about this subject today, so he suggested I post about it. Way to open the door for a Kendra Rant, Cavender XD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whether your thoughts are on summer being so close you can taste it, or exams beating you over the head with a 2x4, school is most likely on your mind this time of year.

I'm one of those people who hates school, but loves learning. Every once in a while I can step back and agree that school is really important and it gives you a great foundation for the rest of life.

But some people just plain hate school. They don't see the point. You know what? I don't think that's their fault. I think it's the school's fault.

Schools these days aren't giving you knowledge, they're teaching to test. They're teaching you exactly what you need to know to pass. They don't expect you to understand. They don't expect you to know how to think. They don't expect you to be able to apply what you learn. In my opinion, that's robbing you of half your education.

School should be directly related to life. I'm not saying that it is, I'm saying that it should be. Teach us how to think, not how to spit information back at you. Teach us to read, understand, and be able to communicate ideas. Teach us history so this next generation won't make the mistakes we've repeated for centuries.

You know what I think? I think school is not supposed to be about fitting yourself into an academic box and making good grades. I think school is supposed to be about empowering ourselves with knowledge. Giving ourselves a solid foundation of numbers, logic, history, English, biology, physics, art, music, current events, and public speaking. We go to school to get a foundation that we will use for the rest of our lives!

Every subject we learn is integrated! Our Creator did not just make a bunch of independent subjects to be studied! He made everything fit together in beautiful and delightful ways! He left behind all this knowledge, just waiting for us to soak it in and see how it all works together. When we don't embrace our education, we're cutting off part of what makes us in God's image.

School should not be where our parents shove us because that's just what you do. School should not be about becoming popular because a full social calendar is what it's all about. School should not be where our curiosity and creativity are squashed to promote class efficiency. School should not be a place where we are brainwashed because that's how we're supposed to think.

School should be where we go to soak in the knowledge that God has created for us to learn! School should be about making strong friends who will help you become who you're supposed to be. School should be where we're encouraged to ask questions and be our own person. School should be a place where we're not told what to think, but given the tools to draw our own conclusions.

School should not be about facts or about grades. School should be about gaining life skills in specific areas and learning to think. Because when it comes down to it, understanding HOW to think is a lot more useful than being told WHAT to think.

~Kendra

My Daybook: Week 9

Date: 4.10.10
Starting time: 4:53pm
Mood: uninspired
Outside my window: sunny and leafy :D
I'm thinking: about fire fairies
I'm reading: kind of nothing
I'm listening to: the old computer hum
I'm wearing: navy basketball shorts and a brown T-shirt
Yesterday, I: did school
I'm excited for: Cavender might come over tomorrow
I'm sad because: I have school on Monday.
I'm hungry for: nothing
The song stuck inside my head is: "Comatose" by Skillet
I want: to do well in school
I love: warm weather
I loathe: school
This week, my goal is: get done with school
Ending time: 5:55pm

~Kendra

Perfection vs. Perseverance

I have a confession to make:

I am a perfectionist.

What? You already knew that? It's painfully obvious? Oh. Okay. That's cool, too XD

Being a perfectionist has its pros and cons. Unfortunately, it has mostly cons. As humans, we're always going to fall short of perfection, and beating ourselves up about it isn't a good way to live.

Sure, when you're a perfectionist you are always (well, mostly XD) striving to be perfect and do your best. That's a good, right? Doing your best? Absolutely! God calls us to do our best. He wants us to use our minds and bodies and talents to the best of our ability to serve Him. If we don't use our gifts, we're like the servant in the parable who buries the money he's entrusted with. That's really poor stewardship of what God has given us. So, doing your best is good.

But then there comes a point where it's just too extreme. And that's where I am most of the time. Lots of times, I get to the point where my line of thinking is "If I can't be perfect, I won't do it at all."

You can imagine how many things I've passed up, decided not to go for, chickened out of, and otherwise refused to try, all because I was afraid of failing. That's when perfectionism goes too far: when it stops us from trying things altogether, simply because we might not excel right at first.

Like all opposites, "perfection" and "failure" go hand in hand. You can't really know one until you've experienced the other.

Making mistakes is going to happen. Failure is going to happen. Failure twice at same thing will probably happen. The real honor is not in never failing, but in trying until you do get it right. That's not perfectionism, that's perseverance, and that's really twice as good!

Next time you're hesitating to try something, remind yourself that it's okay to fail. Perfectionism is for the temporarily lucky, perseverance is for the strong at heart.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Titles

The lovely Laura has awarded me! She holds a Modest Outfit of the Month contest on her blog, and the picture I submitted won. Awesome :D Thanks, Laura! You can see the post HERE.

Hang on, lemme think of something interesting to post about.

Okay, I actually have several interesting ideas, but I'm really, really tired right now and I don't feel like putting that much brain into a post. Sorry.

My inspiration has somewhat carried over to today. I haven't written any more of the Random Story, but I came up with two cool book names. I have a list of titles that I think would be awesome for books. Now I just have to write books for all of them XD

Wanna see some of them?

No?

Oh. Okay.

...

...

...

Hah, admit it, for a second you thought I'd actually let that go. Tee hee, no such luck XD

I have a freaking ton, but seven of my favorites are...

1. California Rude
2. Black Christmas
3. Pride and Arrogance
4. The [Real] Difference Between Love and Loathe
5. The Intruder Letters
6. Maps of Life
7. The Wind Reign

Think they're any good? Possibly. Absolutely no fair stealing them. I play to write books to stick on the ends of all of them XD

Anyway, I'm very tired and I think I have an ear infection, so I'm done posting for today.

But, since you all practically begged for some "fun stuff like challenges" in the poll over there (-->), here's a challenge:

Come up with a book title. I don't care if you already have a book going. I don't care if you're not a writer. I don't care if a friend usually names all your stories (*cough* Gabby named my entire series *cough*). THINK OF A TITLE.

Oh, and tell me in a comment, cest vous plait?

Thanks :D

~Inspiration

Inspiration - arousal of the mind to special unusual creativity. From the Latin "spiro", meaning "breathe".

I honestly think I'd forgotten what it felt like. That feeling when you have to write. When all the sudden you've met someone new in your mind. When the world seems like such a perfect place to base a novel. When you feel that special wheel in your mind start turning. When your usually ADD mind is immediately focused. When all the sudden, you feel inspired.

In my experience, there are two kinds of inspiration: the kind you can act on, and the kind that just drives you insane.

Sometimes when you feel the urge to write, you know what you want to work on. All the sudden you have a brilliant idea about how to get the girl out of the dungeon, help the boy finish his sword, or encourage the purple giraffe to try parasailing. Sometimes all you know is that you want to write something with this new character you've just "met" or that your story needs to include walking through a field of daisies.

But then, there's that maddening sort of inspiration where you don't know what to write. Your spirits are soaring, your fingers are itching to fly across the keyboard, you feel light and happy and excited and you just have to write...what?

I absolutely hate that feeling where you just might die if you can't write something, but you haven't the slightest idea where to start. It's even worse if you honestly try to put something down, but it just doesn't feel right. Doesn't it just make you want to shake your brain?

As soon as I have some advice on how to tackle that, I'll get back to you.

This morning, I experienced the first kind of inspiration. The good kind. I think it has a lot to do with the awesome weather we've been having.

I didn't spring (ha, pun) into action with an amazing new chapter to add to Mirror or anything, but I sat down at the computer and opened the document I wanted to work on. I wrote about twenty-five hundred words that I actually like. That really isn't all that much, but it's more than I've written in a long time. Actually, I have a confession to make:

Until the past couple of days, I haven't written a single word of fiction since December.

DECEMBER. As in LAST YEAR.

Can you believe that? I couldn't believe it myself at first, but when I did the math, that's what I came out with. I even double-checked (which is more than I can say for my algebra).

Anyway, today has been pretty good. Inspiration this morning, inspiration this evening, and it looks like I'm going to finish this week's school work ON TIME for a change.

Things fell into a black hole awfully fast last week, but it looks like things are starting to look up just as quickly.

Life is a highway? I don't think so, Rascal Flatts. More like a freaking roller coaster. A roller coaster paved with worries, fears, laughs, good ol' days, irritation, and occasional inspiration.

And a heckuvalotta school work.

Enjoy your weather, and I hope you get hit with inspiration this week--the good kind!

Two in One...Sorry!!

First of all, WHOA. Thanks for following, Hannah Ross, Miss Zara and LaSara! Y'all rock :) Sorry I couldn't find links for Hannah and Miss Zara, though :'(

Sorry I didn't post yesterday! Gosh, I had the post all ready, really, I just wanted to put some finishing touches on it and never got around to it. Here it is, all finished:
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We finished the first season of Alias. Amazing episode, but the worst cliff hanger I've ever seen. Imagine having to wait an entire summer to see the next season!!!!!!

So, Will got tortured, though, and he cried. *hyperventilatingshudder* Y'all know I'm not good with that, but be proud of me; I was okay. I felt like bawling or going into shock (LOL), but I watched it all. I hate how I suck at taking guys' screaming, so I'm working on the whole toughen-up-and-deal-with-it part XD

So, other than that, I went to a Christmas party today! It was kind of awkward, because I don't have mutual friends to talk about with these people, though. They kept talking about people that I didn't know. And they're all masters of innuendos and twisting things. It was pretty okay, though, I'm definitely glad I went. I just hope they don't all think I'm a total dork XD I got a really cute journal and a Hershey bar as a Christmas present, though :)

I've also been doing a lot of serious thinking about lots of people. I should go into more detail so you don't feel like you've bee gypped, but I don't think I will ;P But I could use prayer, and so could one of my friends, if you don't mind? That'd be great :-/

Okay, there are only three days until Christmas. Three.

Tres.

Trois.

Tria.

THREE.

So, what do we do when there are only three days until Christmas?

Christmas Jokes, how about?

1. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It's Christmas, Eve. (WOW, that was lame.)

2. What do you get if you eat your Christmas decorations? Tinselitus.

3. Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace? He wanted to sleep like a log.

MERRY THREE-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!
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So, now there are only--get ready for this--TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! But we'll get to that in a minute.

Today, my family hung out with another family (descriptive, right?). I've mentioned these guys before: Daniel (14, but awesome), Emily (12?), and Caleb (...10?). We went and saw the movie The Blind Side.

Now, no offense to those of you who like them, but I hate inspirational movies. I hate them. To me, they are all the same: the underdog with a bad past gets someone who finally believes in him. They help him out, something bad happens, someone dies, he stops trusting them, and then it ends happily. The entire point of those movies is to make you happy, but to give you the illusion of happiness, they must first make you sad as crap so they can then lift your spirits back up with inspiration.

-.-

Yeah, I hate inspirational movies. Guess what?

I LOVED THE BLIND SIDE.

I mean, WOW. This is an amazing movie. Shockingly *amazing*. I recommend it to anyone. Everything about it was really good. Just see it. It's truly awesome.

Then, my dad dropped Lizzy and me off at good ol' Barnes & Noble, where Cavender and I "happened" to bump into each other XD Yay for texting!

Then, we went to get Matt (little brother) a Christmas present. He had showed me this remote control car he wanted when we were out before. He's very good at subtle hinting. NOT. LOL, his exact words: "Kendra, come 'ere." *drags me over* "This is what you want to get me for Christmas. That one." *points* "See it? That one, right th--No, wait, THIS one...Ooh..."

:)

So, we went to get it. But, it turns out it's a slot car. In the words of Kyle and Cavender, "FAIL." So we ended up getting him a trick kite.

*blink*

I really hope Matt doesn't read this blog secretly...Nah, LOL.

Then, we came home, ate dinner, and decorated a friend's neighbor's house for Christmas. He's having a rough time with his family, lonely for Christmas, so we decided to surprise him with Christmas cheer, LOL :)

I'm freezing and my stomach hurts. But it is all good, my friend(s).

So, anyway, Christmas Countdown!!! Two days :D TWO DAYS. Here we go...

TWO FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS (as suggested by Cavender and approved by Kyle, LOL):

1. The Cross Collection. Every year, someone in my family makes a small cross. Usually, the cross will represent something or be made of something you've done throughout the year. Something that's defined you, or something that you've been interested in lately. The first year my mom taught eighth grade, she made a cross with Greek letters on it, because she had to learn and teach Greek. My dad has made a lot of stuff with woodworking. When Lizzy was little, it was her turn and Daddy helped her make a little cross out of Play-Doh :) Last year, I wrote a cross. It's a poem about the cross, but it's not cross-shaped. I thought it was a cool idea, haha :) This year it's Lizzy's turn again. Wonder what she'll do...?

2. Christmas dollhouse :) I won't go into this more because I've been talking about it a lot lately, but yeah. I love that.

Also, COMING TOMORROW:

AWARDS!!!! :)

MERRY TWO-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Inspiration Tag! And Magic Ring Part III

Dress giveaway! Click HERE to go see it! It's bright green, springtime-y and very cute.

Guess what? I'VE BEEN TAGGED!! How fun is that? Thanks, Ciaraaaa:) (I also just noticed that your URL is "davetheninja". I LOVE THAT.

Okay, so it's called the Inspiration Tag, and you pick pictures for it, then tag people who inspire you. And you have to tell WHY.

1. Choose one picture that makes you "cringe like *heck*" (hehe, censored!)
2. Choose two pictures that just amaze you.
3. Choose one picture that shows your dreams and aspirations.

This is gonna be FUN!!!

Okay, cringe...So, I don't cringe that easily...only two things can guarantee a good wince from me: things being torn off/out (fingernails, eyeballs, etc.) and guys screaming. The latter just freaks me out and I have trouble sleeping. It must be psychological. It just scares me.

But, most of you probably don't want to see someone's smashed finger, so I won't put it here. If you're crazy, click HERE :D

Amaze 1 (CLICK ON IT) I love this. I love the moon and majestic-feeling stuff.



Amaze 2 (It's China)
Dreams:
Now, everyone knows that I want to be a writer and a lawyer, so that's no fun at all. So...guess what?
I "secretly" want to learn how to fence. I really, really do. Unfortunately, whoever invented the GUN sort of ruined it for all us swordmen (or women) wannabes. I mean, nowadays the bad guy could shoot you befor you've even drawn your sword.

And that was the Inspiration Tag. Now, I have to tag four people who inspire me. That's hard. Inspiration for me doesn't usually come from people, at least not "real" people. Famous figures might inspire me, but mostly it's music, books, and exercising (runner's high, there's nothing like it). The main "real" person who inspires me doesn't blog, so forget him/her/it ;) Alright, I tag...

1. David Bailey--my Daddy :)
2. Gabrielle--BFF!!
3. Ellie B--BFF!!
4. Ember-- ;)

Don't be sad if I didn't tag you. I wouldn't have really tagged anyone except that I HAVE to, haha! Inspiration is rarely from people for me.

Okay, now here's the next except from The Magic Ring (this is the last thing in this post, so if you don't care about the Ring, stop reading...NOW ;P)

The Magic Ring
Written at age 12-13
Total number of words: 4,214
Words in this installment: 527

Personal Ratings (1-10):
Plot: 5.5
Style: 7
Last installment go HERE

Part III:

It was the ugliest ring Katelyn had ever seen in her whole life. It was so ugly it almost made you want to cry. It looked like it had belonged to a rich, stuffy person from the eighteenth century.

“Oh, wow,” Katelyn said in a wooden voice. “I’ve never, ever seen anything like this before.” No one I knew was capable of producing such hideousness. “I’ll keep this very safe.” Like in a vault that I’ll never, ever, open. The ring had a thick gold band and a huge, reddish brown jewel in the middle. It was all Katelyn could do not to grimace. Jamie, who was leaning over Katelyn’s shoulder, gave a little gasp of horror. Caroline’s smile was frozen on her face. Mrs. Mullen had her hand over Emily’s mouth so she wouldn’t say anything.

“It’s given to the middle daughter on her thirteenth birthday,” Gram explained. “Your grandfather and I only had two children, so I didn’t have the chance to give it to one of my own. It’s been in the family for hundreds of years and is treasured beyond all compare.”

“Like I said,” began Katelyn. “I’ll keep it really safe.” Remember the vault? Gram still looked irritated to have to give it to Katelyn. It was as though she didn’t think Katelyn was worthy and she wished that Jamie or Emily had been the middle.

“I trust you will, Katelyn Elizabeth,” replied Gram. “And I know you will be so proud of it that you will want to wear everywhere…”

So much for the vault. Maybe I can lose it…

“…and whatever happens, don’t lose it!” Gram finished.

So much for that idea. Silence filled the air.

“Well,” Mrs. Mullen began. “I see Roger driving up now. Let’s all have dessert.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh, Jamie!” groaned Katelyn to her sister that night as they were getting ready for bed. Jamie and Katelyn shared a room and Emily got her own because Emily talked in her sleep and it would wake up anyone who slept in the same room. “I hate that ring!” Jamie nodded sympathetically.

“It’s pretty ugly,” she agreed. “But remember, you only have to wear whenever Gram and Pap are around.” Katelyn wrinkled her nose.

“I wish I could just forget about it!” she declared. “What a waste! A perfectly good notebook or fantasy story replace with an ugly old ring.” Jamie looked at her.

“Katie,” she said. “Don’t be ungrateful. It might be ugly, but it’s the thought that counts.” Katelyn glared at her older sister.

“You might feel differently if it were your birthday present,” she pointed out. Jamie shrugged as she climbed into bed.

“Maybe,” she agreed. Emily wandered in from her room down the hall.

“Whacha talking about?” she demanded. “That ugly ring?” Katelyn shot Emily a look.

“None of your beeswax,” she snapped. “Go back to bed.” Emily wrinkled her nose.

“Are you gonna wear that ring for real?” she asked. Katelyn shook her head.

“Not if I can help it,” she replied. “Now go away.” With one last pout, Emily went back to her room. Jamie turned out the lights and everyone went to sleep

Chinese Culture

Fact or Fiction?

"The Chinese are considering renouncing the one-child law."

Comment. Email. No Google. First one correct gets an award (no longer all who get it correct, sorry :-\).

Oh, yeah, and here's the award from last week that I forgot about XD Cavender and Justagirl4god got it right! (Will a tooth left in Coca-Cola over night disolve? The answer is NO! That's a myth!)

Award:
---------------------------

"Let's get down to business

To defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters

When I asked for sons?

You're the saddest bunch

I ever met

But you can bet

Before we're through

Mister, I'll make a manout of you

***

(Be a man)

We must be swift asthe coursing river

(Be a man)

With all the forceof a great typhoon

(Be a man)

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as thedark side of the moon!"

I am listening to the Mulan soundtrack for the third time today. I have no idea how, but I'm still not sick of the songs yet...

Favorites:
1. Written in Stone
2. I'll Make a Man Out of You
3. A Girl Worth Fighting For

The way the guys do A Girl Worth Fighting For is hilarious! They do a great job, even with the harmony and stuff. I have no real idea who's reading this, since no one uses their real name, but if any of the guys from the play is reading this, GOOD JOB! XD

School is going okay. I've barely started "Pilgram's Progress", and I need to finish by tomorrow so I can start on the writing assignment: write an allegory. Sounds pretty fun to me. I'm going to try to make mine more subtle than John Bunyan's. *rolls eyes* I mean, really. A guy named Help? Hmm, wonder what he symbolizes...sheesh :P

I've become a little obsessed with Chinese culture. (Gee, wonder why? It can't be the fact that I'm totally EMERSED in it 24/7 because of Mulan, can it? XD) It's so fascinating. Very unfair, but fascinating. I love different cultures, they get my imagination going, and I just love learning about them. Chinese culture is such a good culture to write stories in. It's really sad that you're only allowed to have one child, but it does create an interesting premise for stories.

*frowns at self* Maybe I'm just horrible and unfeeling. Oh dear...

I had lots of crazy dreams last night, but I can't remember them clearly at all. Something about kidnapping and a driveway...lol, no idea!

Dance tonight! And no play practice, so I don't have to miss it.

Lizzy will be THIRTEEN YEARS OLD in TWO DAYS!! :O :O It's freaky enough that Matt ("little brother") just turned thirteen, but Lizzy? That's freakier even still.

He turned eighteen (18) today. :- Wow.

Writing on "Mirror" = zip
Writing on random otherness = some

That's all :D Thanks for reading!

Desirae Mayes

God Day! Not much time, we're going to a Labor Day get-together thing in a few minutes.

My short little "God sighting" for the day is my friends. Especially since I have a Facebook now, everyone seems to know everything about me, and they seem to care, too! God has blessed with with so many awesome people. Don't take anyone for granted, y'all!
-----------------------
Thanks to everyone who was sympathetic about my rotten day yesterday :( Today is being much better!

Well, I just got back from play practice. A lot of people were out of town for Labor Day, so some of my friends weren't there.

As far as being Miss Popular goes, people are still fine to me, but not as OH-MY-GOSH-YOU-HAVE-TO-BE-MY-FRIEND as they were, lol! Which is fine. I'm just still...confused.

I love the story of Mulan, and I hope I won't get tired of it. So far, not tired of it at all.

I finally finished "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (the second one). I didn't like the first one at all, remember, but I really enjoyed this one, especially towards the end. I'm looking forward to borrowing the third ("HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban") from my neighbor.

Writing. Hmm. Nothing for "Mirror" or "The W Chronicles", but I randomly wrote something mildly ineteresting last night. The muse just took hold of me and I wrote:

"Being a writer, it's completely against my nature to go through something like this and not write it down. This probably isn't going to be my best writing, but that's alright; I doubt this will ever be seen by any eyes but mine. Not that I ever thought I was a very good writer anyway. Although, I must have been some good or this could never have happened. I still don't really understand. I guess I'll figure it out as I go along. I can't skip to the last page and make sure I come out alive, either. This really is most horribly and deadly, I suppose, but I can't help but maintain a touch of curiosity, of wonder.

I mean, really, who would ever have thought I'd one day be abducted by my own villain?

~Desirae Mayes"

What do you think? I haven't got the whole thing worked out in my head...Something about the girl who wrote a story, and they characters escaped and are coming after her. It's just as she's always wanted: magic on Earth, her own characters come alive. But after a while, as her own life's story begins to unfold with the characters', she begins to see that maybe there's a reason there is no magic on Earth, and a reason why she's not the writer of life...

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Criticism? I'll LOOOOOOOVE to hear it!!

Also, should her name be Desirae (DEZ-er-ay) or Destiny?

Eyes and Brains

It's Picture Day! (Blogger is still being stupid. I can't add links or change the font.)

*gasp* Oh my gosh! I can't add a picture! When I try to, all that shows up is the link, not the actual picture! WHAT IS UP WITH THIS STUPID THING?? GOSH! Okay, if any of you more comptuer-savy people have any idea what's wrong (maybe I clicked something?), please let me know what to do to fix it. -_-

And the pictures are awesome, by the way. And I even had a little "speech" to go with them. *sigh* Okay, well, here's an idea. I'll just post the links and you can click on them. Not nearly as awesome and exciting, but whatever.

Link to picture one: http://www.imagecows.com/uploads/7c83-collectionofeyespicsppr3.jpg

Link to picture two: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa94/patty123654/eyes.jpg

"Speech":

I’ve always been fascinated by eyes. It’s the first thing I notice about people, and it’s the thing I always seem to stare at. Even in restaurants and stores, I find myself looking at peoples’ eyes. You can tell a lot from someone’s eyes. As Shakespeare said, “Eyes are the windows to the soul.”

I think that’s very true. Emotion comes through your eyes. Even if you’re trying to hide your true feelings, I think some of what you’re really thinking comes through your eyes. It’s impossible (or at least nearly so) to prevent this.

Besides being “windows to the soul,” eyes are really beautiful. I love peoples’ eyes. I’m sure a lot of it is just me, but I think everyone has a certain degree of fascination with eyes. For one thing, although there are supposed to be only four main colors—blue, green, brown, and hazel—no two pairs of eyes are alike. Even if they are almost the same color, the shape of the eyes or something else is different.

As I said, eyes are the first thing I notice about people. If I can’t seen someone’s eyes when I’m talking to them or sitting next to them (like in class), it irritates me for some reason. It’s not like I get angry or something, I just feel the need to try to get a glimpse of the person’s eyes.

Some people I know have extremely intense eyes. (I’ve been told that mine are as well, I don’t really think so. It’s possible that your own eyes never seem intense to you.) I’m big on eye contact, but some people I know have such intense eyes that it’s hard for me to continue looking at them for any amount of time. I seem to almost get “lost” in their eyes. When I’m talking to someone like that, I sometimes realize that I haven’t been listening to them. I’ve just been studying their eyes.

It’s completely possible that I’m just a freak and I need to get a hold of myself, but I think I’m just unusually fascinated. Does anyone else feel this way? It seems to me that the eyes are the most important part of the body, and everyone has a certain degree of interest in them. Or at least I think everyone should. Eyes tell a lot about people. Pay attention. Who knows what you might notice?

-end of weird and boring speech-

I'm leaving for mini-camp in two days! Yay! As soon as my dad gets home from doing something (forgot what, lol), we're going to Wal-Mark to get some stuff like more sunscreen and a couple of other things.

I ate some of these weird cookies a couple of hours ago, and now I feel all weird. Ugh. I am not going to eat those again. I hope I don't puke or something.

Wow, sorry; that was definitely too much information, wasn't it? *shakes head at self*

The weird mood is back. Or maybe it's the cookies... XD

Anyway, I've been feeling...bored lately. Not the usual I-don't-know-what-to-do bored. More like, I feel like I don't have a life anymore. Or a brain, actually. I spend entirely too much time on the computer, and my creativity and general intelligence is suffering, I think. (Don't laugh; I'm serious *giggle* No; really.)

I feel like my whole life is on the computer/internet, and that isn't healthy. I need to be outside more, talk on the phone more, write more. I was gonna say "read more", too, but I actually read just as much as ever (maybe more), so never mind that. (FYI, I think "never mind" should be one word. It looks better, and it just seems like it should be one word. Don't you think?)

Anyway, back to my rant about losing my brain (lols).

I have to stop being on the computer so much. It's just not healthy for my body or my mind. I'm thinking of setting myself limits. Like two hours a day or something. Hmm. And maybe I should make schedules for other things, too. Like, being outside time, TV time, reading time, writing time, etc.

I think I should do that. I'll probably hate it, but I think it'll be good for me. The only question is, do I have the self-discipline to stick to this?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

We'll see.

For now, I'm getting off, and I promise myself to only get on one more time (maybe two??) after this.

Carpe diem. NOT on the computer.

Shur'tugalar, "Soup-er" Bowls and Darth Vador!!

Guess what? I HAVE NINE FOLLOWERS! Who woulda thought nine people care what I have to say?? Lols :)

Well, I went to my church's Super Bowl Party tonight. It was fun. Not as fun as it's been some years, but still fun. Usually I end up arguing with someone over something and it all ends up being really exciting and crazy, but this year we've all apparently matured enough to be past that stage :) Everyone brought a crock pot of soup. My mom made killlllllller baked potatoe soup. I pigged out :D Four bowls full!! Wow. Lotsa starch. I'm surprised my fingers aren't too stiff to type. Haha, okay, sorry; that wasn't even funny at all. I'm just still hyped up on caffine (I can't spell) and I'm tired.

The reason I'm tired is that I was up really late last night because I had this idea for a story that would leave me alone!! I don't know if that ever happens to other writers, but sometimes I'll get an idea that just DEMANDS to be thought through. And I have to shake off the drowsiness and think about the plot and decide whether or not it's good enough to pursue. Usually, it isn't, but I always end up getting something out of the exercise. Like last night, the plot was debatably sucky, but I like the names I came up with: Cosa (COS-uh) and Degan (DEE-gin/gan). I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who likes them...oh well. I do :) Sometimes I even semi-act out the first few chapters of the story. I know, seriously, when you thought I COULD NOT get any weirder, I blurt out something like this.

Ooooh, I have news!! Okay, I don't know how many "Inheritance Cycle" fans read this, but I sort of follow the fansite, http://www.shurtugal.com/, and yesterday I found something awesome: they're looking for staff! There was an open job position for a columnist! I totally applied. I hope they'll let me do it *bites nails* It's just the kind of thing I would LOVE to do! Writing, humor, "Eragon;" does it get any better?? I don't really know how funny I am, but to be able to write about "Eragon" in a semi-formal job position, I'll try a lot of things!

I'm pretty sure there was something else I meant to say...yeah, I'm in a talkative mood. At least this time I'm actually SAYING something instead of mindlessly blabbering about personality quizzes *rolls eyes* :) Well, talk to ya later!




OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I remembered it! (Be proud of me) I was going to say that we're watching the original "Star Wars" movies as a family, and Darth Vador is awesome. He's such an amazing villain. So cold and terrifying. You never know when he's going to strike. And he's so nearly-incincible. And thinking about Anakin's face under the mask makes it better :) Alright, Hayden Christenson can't act his way out of a wet paper bag, and his script is terrible, but he still looks pretty darn good :)

I hadn't seen "Star Wars" since I was seven and Han's getting tortured freaked me out (yes, I couldn't stand guys screaming even then). Well, I want to be able to write villains just like Darth Vador. My own villains disappoint me. If I ever met him, I would be very afraid of Darth Vador (or Durza or Sarumon ), but not MY villains. My villains don't scare me in the least. Does anyone else have that problem with their villains? Is that natural? Or am I just not very good at characterizing evil in a scary way? Hmm...

I Love Music

I'm listening to music right now. Music never fails to inspire me. I'm filled with a crazy desire to write. So peacful and yet so on fire. So alive. Happy. Music is beast :)