Non-Grape Wine: As One Wishes to Live

So, I was on Facebook the other day (who isn'? XD) and I'd been tagged in a cool activity:

1- Go to Wikipedia and hit "Random Article" (it's on the left side). The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit "Random Quotes" (on the left side again). The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on "the last seven days” (at the bottom this time XD Then you have to click it again on the right side). Third picture, no matter what (as long as it's appropriate), will be your album cover.

4 - Use paint or photoshop or something like that to put it all together.

5 - Tag the friends you want to do this.

I didn't think it sounded that fun, but the friend who tagged me is new-ish to Facebook, so I decided I'd do it. Here's what I got:

Isn't that awesome? It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It also made me want to start a band XD Here are some that my friends did:

Kyle's

Cassidy's

Aaand then I decided to make a few more :)


You should try it! It's tons of fun :) If you do and you post it to your blog, leave a comment so I can come see it! :D

~Kendra

Four Ninety-Seven...

This post, this one right here, is post 497. Four hundred ninety-seven. Cuatrocientos noventa y siete. Yup.

So, that's only three posts away from the Big 500! Can you believe it?? I missed the Big 400, but I'm determined not to miss 500. This needs to be awesome...epic...legit.

Unfortunately, I've been...let's just say "less than the most active blogger" lately. My posts are beginning to be few and far between, and my activity on other blogs, frankly, sucks. (I do read your blogs, I promise, I just suck at commenting these days.) I'm trying to fix that.

But the point is that it makes a big celebration kind of hard. I'm not particularly in touch with the blogosphere right now. I feel out of practice as far as being the fun and funny blogger I used to be. I'd like to get back to my old self with the Big 500, but it needs to get started with a bang.

Basically, this post has been a grossly extended version of this simple question:

What should I do to celebrate ~Carpe Diem~'s five hundredth post?

I like things that make sense, so maybe five hundred of something. Five hundred questions, five hundred facts about writing, five hundred quotes, five hundred...somethings.

Any ideas? I know I'm asking you to please comment when I've been terrible at doing that myself, but...please? :3

I'll see you again soon--promise.

~Kendra

Second Person Singular

Have you ever written notes to yourself? Just any kind of notes. Letters to yourself in the future, or story ideas in second person?

I've written letters to myself in the future. When I was thirteen, I wrote a note to myself to read when I was sixteen.

There's something really great about doing that. When you read the note, you're more than just reminded of how you used to be; it's like hearing from a different person. It's like who you are now is completely different from who you were then. It's like seeing yourself from another person's point of view; and who hasn't wished they could do that at one time or another?

Today, I was jotting down ideas for a story that popped into my head. I found myself writing sort of TO myself. Saying things like "this is where you put in the weird stuff that'll happen" and "you don't know why yet, but she decides to keep it a secret." I just replaced all the "I"s with "you"s, and the difference was strange.

When I read back over my notes, the ideas felt different. Just the simple word change transformed my scrambled thoughts from "just something I wrote down" to "someone's fascinating ideas." When I my words were talking to me instead of being an extension of me, I was able to look at the thoughts more objectively.

It's hard to see yourself as others see you. But if I write to myself, when I read it over, it feels like someone telling me about their story, not me reading my own stuff. And it's like seeing myself as a separate person.

I probably sound a little crazy right now, but you should try it. Write a letter to yourself to read in a month, a year, or ten years. Talk to the "Future You" like a separate person. Or write down a story idea substituting the word "you" for the word "I." I think you'll see what I mean.

Who knew second person singular could be so exciting?

~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

Food for Thought

"If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." ~ Atticus Finch, "To Kill A Mocking Bird"

People talk about being judgmental a lot, but I'm starting to think it's one of those lessons you have to figure out for yourself. I can talk until I'm blue in the face about not judging, but you have to learn it for yourself.

Things that you swore never to do, say, think, feel, wear, or forget, you will. Don't be so quick to judge people for what they do. You don't know the half of it. You don't know what's going on with them. You don't know how they feel. Someday when you do, you might feel pretty silly for stereotyping them or writing them off.

Of course, there are boundaries to this. There are some things that are never okay, no matter what the situation. However, it may turn out that things you thought were black and white actually aren't.

Think about it.

~Kendra

P.S. Check out Levi's blog, With the Setting Sun. His writing style is cool, and he's got great thoughts.

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

Double Tagged

Today is going fine. Nothing really to report. I might go to Cavender's lacrosse game later. That should be interesting considering I know NOTHING about lacrosse XD (But at least I know about football, huh, Cavender? :P)

School is going a'ight. We're supposed to be starting our Lincoln-Douglas debate this week D: That's a one-on-one debate... Our teacher didn't explain it at all, and yet we're supposed to work on it this week...? Ugh, I'm confused and already stressed -_- And it's only day two. *sigh*

Well, I was tagged by Bleah Briann. This is a unique tag in more ways than one! This particular tag was created by Bleah, but part of the tag is to make your own. When you tag people, they will take your and then create one themselves. The people you tag will take yours, and make one of their own, etc. Here we go!

The Way I like to Say Hello:
In real life, just "Hey :)". In chats online, either "Hey" or "Hai" XD

Once Upon A Time...(finish the sentence):
...is no way to begin this story.

When I was five my favorite item was:
Hmm, I'm not sure if I had a favorite item then...Probably my dollhouse. I loved that thing. I still do!

What I like between two peices of bread best is:
Turkey and pepper.

When I grow up I want to be a/an:
WriterLawyerTeacherWifeMom. Oh yeah.

I like:
Summer, dancing, words, feeling free, being with my friends.

I really, really want:
Since "No school" is too obvious, I'm going to go with...I don't even know actually.

I desperately need:
Self-discipline.

If I could color my hair any color I would color it:
I don't think I would. I don't really mind my hair color, and if you color it you have to keep going to get it done...Not for me.

People often call me:
Weird :D XD

I'm terrified of:
Losing people. (Also spiders, food poisoning, and tapeworms XD)

The Way I like To Say Goodbye:
Talk to you later :)

Now I have to make a tag. Hmm. Let's see...

1. Do you believe the world will end in 2012?
Nope.

2. Which scares you more: things that happen outside your body (like falling off a cliff, getting punched in the face, a spider biting you, etc.) or things that happen inside your body (like diseases, emotions, ignorance, etc.)?
Definitely things that happen inside my body.

3. Briefly describe your life in ten years.
Hmm, I'll be 26. Mkay, if I am still planning to be a lawyer, I'll be just finishing up school. I sort of want to be married by then, but maybe not kids yet. It would be so hard to keep up with school and kids. Hopefully I'll still be writing. It would be cool to have a book published by then. I hope I'll have retained my love for words and imagination and am on the path God wants for me.

4. What do you think is the most power thing in the world, and why?
Words. Words are definitely the most powerful thing in the world in my opinion. Sure, friends, love, and compassion are big, but how are those things expressed? Lots of times, with words. You can persuade people to do the right thing with words. You can make a difference with words. You can spread knowledge with words. You can change the world with words. Words are the way people communicate, and without communication, where would anyone be?

5. What high-school stereotype would you put yourself in?
Either the weirdos or the normal kids. Definitely not running with the popular crowd, but not *quite* a nerd.

6. Why did you start blogging?
I was part of the Pen-Wielders' Guild, and I thought blogging would be interesting to do on my own. My class also started a blog, Students of Serendipity. I've always had lots of ideas floating around in my head, and I thought blogging would be the way to capture them all in one place.

7. What's your favorite animal at the zoo?
Lions. I heard one roar one time. That was AWESOME. It was just O.O So cool.

8. Gold or silver?
Silver.

9. Light or dark?
No such thing as darkness, just the absence of light.

10. Good or evil?
Without evil there couldn't be good.

Okay. *whew* Finished XD Now, you take my tag, do it on your blog, and make one of your own! I'll tag anyone who wants to do it XD Go for it. Can't wait to read your answers!

~Kendra

Kendra's Warm Weather Rant

Notice anything different about the blog?

...

...

-_-

Oh, come on. *I* could notice this.

Yes, I've changed the blog back to its default theme. The warmish weather is inspiring me :D The background is totally new. I like it, and it matches the blog colors so perfectly. I got it from The Cutest Blog on the Block. I'd definitely recommend looking around over there!

Anyway, I see nine of you have voted in the poll over there. You are now my favorite followers. To those of you who didn't vote, I'm offended. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep in a corner, wondering why the world is such a dark place.

Nah, I'll probably go stalk some people on Facebook or maybe I'll write something. I feel like writing something. (Sit down, Kyle, I don't think it will be The Mirror.) I feel like writing about kids in the south in the summer hanging out and doing what we kids in the south do in the summer.

I watched "To Kill A Mocking Bird" last night. Can you tell?

Warm weather always sparks my creativity. I think I've always done my best writing when it's warm outside. Winter just kills me inside. It's cold, and wettish, and pale, and you can't DO anything unless you live where it's cold enough to legit ice skate. Where I live, you have to drive yourself to an ice house and pay to skate around for two hours will trying not to trip over little kids and gag at all the couples giving PDA a whole new definition.

And it's cold. Which I hate.
I like warm weather. All the good stuff happens when it's warm outside: playgrounds, cook-outs, picnics, bare feet, T-shirts, ponytails that don't make your neck cold, tanning, pools, lakes, the Forth of July, fruit, no school, freckles, getting in shape. What is not to like?

*thinks hard about this question*

I got it: bugs.

Bugs are a huge downside to summer, especially if you're like me. It's like the arachnophobic and OCD sides of me come together, making it impossible for me to sleep until I've checked every corner of the room for eight-legged terrors.

You also have bees, wasps, and yellow jackets. Bumble bees do not actually bother me. They're fuzzy and round and adorable and they look cute on the flowers. Wasps on the other hand are hideous and BIG and yellow jackets are like the Mafia of the insect world. They're always up to something and if you mess with one, the entire freaking hive comes to haunt you.

Then you have the mosquito/fly/crane fly category. Do I even have to go into this? Mosquitoes are loud little disease factories with long tongues (note the spelling of that, Cavender). Flies barf on your food. Crane flies were designed specifically to add to my paranoia. (Come on, they are HUGE with long, creepy legs, and they're so...*shudders*...just awful.)

But. Other than bugs, warm weather is completely perfect.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go write something truly brilliant and charming, full of lovable characters and believable dialogue laced with underlying morals and a surprise ending.

Nah, just kidding. We all know I won't get past the first three pages. But for some reason, I'm going to go write it anyway...

You will never understand me. But neither will I, so it's okay.

Go enjoy your weather.

~Kendra

I Need Your Opinion

First, I've been tagged by Katie G.!

The rules for this are easy: grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, go to the fifth sentence, and type up the next five sentences!

"I went up the shore and down the shore, but it was all one, I could see no other impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy; but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the very print of a foot, toes, heel and every part of a foot; how it came thither I knew not, nor could in the least imagine. But after innumerable fluttering thoughts, like a man perfectly confused and out of myself, I came home to my fortification, not feeling, as we say, the ground I went on." ~ "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe

I'm not a HUGE fan of "Robinson Crusoe", just because the writing style is a little tedious. But I still enjoyed the book, and it got my imagination going. It's a tiny bit like...well, an adult version of the first Boxcar Children book! It has those same elements of survive-with-what-you-can-find and be resourceful.

And that's all for the tag :) Thanks, Katie.

So, guess what? Yesterday was the 400th post! Wow! Sorry I missed it. I should have done something fun for it. Ah well.

[EDIT: Wow, I'm such a genius. I had a draft post just sitting around, so THIS was the 400th post -_- I could have done something special after all. Oh. Well XD]

I feel like I've gotten bad about being interactive. I used to comment back on every post and stuff like that. I don't do that anymore. It's not because I don't care about y'all anymore, it's not because I don't feel like talking to you, it's not because I think I'm all that and I don't have to answer you. I'm just kind of busy.

*sigh* Well, THAT came out lame.

I guess I'm not THAT busy, or at least I don't have to be. If I managed my time better, I'd have all the time in the world. But I don't. So I don't.

I am getting there. Um, really, really s l o w l y, but I AM getting there.

I'm thinking by junior year I'll have it all figured out XD :P

Getting back to the interactive thing, I want to post the stuff y'all like to read. Believe it or not, even *I* run out of ideas ;) What would you enjoy reading?

I'm gonna make a poll, but if you have any suggestions at all, please tell me :)

~Kendra

Musical Roots

I must be bipolar XD But this is going to be a happy post. Know why?

I FINALLY DECIDED ON A MUSIC LECTURE IDEA. AND I FREAKING LOVE IT.

The assignment: Pick three different styles of music and analyze and compare them.

Deciding was my biggest hurdle. I couldn't settle on anything. I thought of doing three things that I thought would have nothing in common like Classical, country and death metal. I really wanted to do, like, subgenres of metal. Lots of people (especially the people in my class) think it all sounds the same. I thought it would be really interesting and fun to analyze some different types. Unfortunately, my teacher and most of my classmates would hate that -_- Also, to do the idea justice, I felt like I'd need more time than I had.

Then my mom had the idea to take three kinds of music that built on each other. I liked that idea, but I still didn't know what to pick...

(The project is due Tuesday by the way. We've had all semester to work on it. Heh.)

I began researching stuff like "music family tree" and "roots of music" and "music genome project". I was coming up blank and getting more frustrated by the second. Finally, I'd had it with the whole thing. I decided to pray. I probably should had done that earlier, but I'm never sure how much time God wants to spend on my petty little academic issues...

Anyway, while I was asking God for suggestions (XD), I got an idea.

"What if I take Classical music, trace that through, like, Stravinsky, and then...I wonder if there's a kind of metal that comes from that..."

I did some research. There is a direct line from Classical, to Neo-Classical (Stravinsky), to Neo-Classical metal.

How. Perfect. Is. That.

I actually kinda screamed for happiness. (No one was home, so it was okay XD) I spent the next two hours completely fascinated and excited about my project. This stuff is so fascinating, people! Oh my gosh! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed school so much! I might do this in my spare time!

I got a little sidetracked with my keyboard, though. I do not play the keyboard, but before long I had "Happy Birthday", "What Child Is This?" and some of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" figured out. I was really excited :D

My dad says I have all this natural music talent. I'm not sure. I don't think I'm particularly gifted, but maybe. *shrug* It's interesting me more and more for sure.

And guess what? I'mma have another ring soon. So yay.

*doesn'tgrindoesn'tgrindoesn'tgri--okay, GRINS*

I'm really thrilled about the music lecture. I can't even tell you how excited I am. I'm just really pumped :D :D :D

~Kendra

Bad Memories vs. Good Ones

Why are bad things always easier to remember than good?

I actually thought of this question while riding home from dance tonight. We have this tape-and-wire (technical, I know) thing that lets you play your iPod through the car speakers. Well, the wire is apparently getting old. Half the time the music doesn't come out of the speakers on the right side of the car, and when it does, it breaks up. Static and funny noises are an added bonus. To get your music to play at all you have to contort the wire into uncomfortable positions and HOLD IT THERE.

And then it sometimes still won't play -_-

Sorry. Tangent. But that really does have something to do with the fact that BAD is easier to remember than GOOD.

How? Well, now I can hardly remember what it was like to be able to just LISTEN to my iPod in the car. No wire-jiggling. No iPod-throwing. No wondering if that's really part of the song. All I know is that now, it SUCKS.

We do that a lot, you know, with lots of different things.

When you're starving in the desert, it's hard to remember feeling full and refreshed. But once you're out of the desert, you sure as heck remember how hellish it was to be there.

When you have a broken heart, you swear that it wasn't worth all the good times you had. And then later when you're feeling better, you still swear that getting close to people is a bad idea.

When you're out of shape, you can't remember how good it felt to be able to run a mile flat out. But then when you finally get back into shape, you remember clearly how horrid it felt to sit on the couch all day.

Sometimes the healthy remembrance of the bad is a good thing. It keeps us from loosing sight of where we've come from, and why we stopped/starting doing things differently. But then sometimes it just makes us pessimistic.

The point of this post isn't to say that remembering bad more clearly is better or worse, it's just to point it out. And to ask why.

Why do you think people remember bad things better than good things? Or do you ever agree that we do?

~Kendra

Sol: The Peacemaker and Something-About-Truth (I need help thinking of word for this.)

Meet Sol (and Aiden, but his own introduction is coming later). His God-given power? Sol can discern truth and has a deep desire for peace.

Sit back. Relax. Here's to Sol.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sol put his head in his hands. All around him the noise of high-schoolers eating lunch and gossiping filled his ears and turned his stomach. Didn’t it bother anyone else how much spitefulness and deceit went on between “friends”?

“Sol?” A boy named Brandon clapped his friend on the shoulder. Sol blinked and raised his head.

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

Sol rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and grunted. “No. Sorry. What’d you say?”

“I said I talked to Rachel.,” Brandon repeated, obviously impatient. “About what you saw. With her and Michael Hendricks?” Sol felt a frown come together over his nose.

“Yeah. What’d she say?”

Brandon smiled, almost a smirk. “You were wrong. There’s nothing going on between them.”
Sol fought the urge to raise his eyebrows sarcastically. He had never had a good feeling about Brandon’s girlfriend, but after seeing her and the star basketball player locking lips in a corner, he’d had something concrete to tell his friend.

“You believe her?” he asked, almost gently. Brandon’s eyes narrowed.

“Of course I believe her. She’s my girlfriend. And you’re the one who’s always ranting about how relationships are built on trust. Jeez, man.” Sol frowned.

“That’s true,” he admitted, turning away. “I guess if you really think she’s being honest.” Brandon’s eyes narrowed again.

“I do.”

Sol shrugged. “Okay.”

Brandon ignored his moody friend and engaged in another conversation. Sol was secretly relieved. He hated to tell his friend that he knew Rachel was lying. Even if he hadn’t seen the girl making out in a corner, he would have known. Sol considered himself a good judge of character. He almost always was. The minuet he’d seen Brandon’s girlfriend, the word “snake” had popped into his mind.

Sol sighed quietly and absentmindedly ate a Frito.

Suddenly, something happened across the cafeteria, making Sol turn his head sharply to see. He frowned and scanned the back wall of the room, looking for something that would have gotten his attention. Had someone called his name? No, that wasn’t it…No one had dropped a tray or shouted or fallen, or even come into the room. Everything looked perfectly undisturbed.

“What?” Brandon grunted, nudging Sol. “What’re you looking at?”

“I dunno,” Sol said, still searching the room. “Thought I heard something I guess.” Brandon, uninteresting once again, turned back to his conversation. But Sol kept looking in the direction his reflexes had pointed him in.

After another moment, he turned back to his lunch. There was nothing to see. Everything was average in the cafeteria, nothing unusual, unless you counted that boy who’d banged into Ashlyn the other day. He wasn’t looking too good; kind of green and freaked out.

The bell rang; lunch was over. Sol packed his trash into his paper lunch bag and headed for the trashcan. In his back pocket, his phone vibrated. He tossed the brown bag into the garbage and took out his phone. Text message. From…Ashlyn??

Sol frowned and opened the message, walking towards the door.

Fell asleep in English and had a Dream. About you. I think you might be “blessed” too.

Sol stopped in his tracks, making a freshmen girl bump into him. Feelings of shock and almost horror washed over him. Blessed? Him too? With what? He didn’t dream the future. He didn’t do anything special.

He was about to hit “reply” when he turned immediately to the far corner of the cafeteria. His eyebrows rose. It was that boy. He was alone, standing against the wall near the corner of the room. His face was carefully controlled, but he seemed alarmed. Sol sensed his unease strongly, like waves of turmoil washing over him.

Sol frowned. What in the world…?

Everyone was gone from the cafeteria now except for a few stragglers who were on their way. Sol pocketed his phone and warily walked towards the boy.

The boy noticed him almost immediately and pulled out his phone. His fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard, but Sol didn’t think he was really texting.

“Hey, you alright?” Sol asked when he was almost to the guy. The boy looked up, pretending to be surprised.

“What? Uh, yeah. Why?” He seemed on edge to Sol, like he was trying to play something off.

Sol shrugged, his hands in his jeans pockets. “You looked freaked.” The boy snickered and tossed his slightly long hair out of his eyes.

“Nah. I’m good.” He went back to his fake text message and headed for the door, then turned back to Sol. “Okay, this might sound really weird, but…” Sol waited, silently eager. “…do you have any siblings or something?”

Sol deflated a little. “Yeah. You’ve met Ashlyn, kinda. You ran into her the other day.”

The boy nodded, smiling a half smile, and continued to move towards the door. “Right. Yeah. Thought you looked kinda familiar.”

Sol’s eyebrows twitched in acknowledgement. “I’m Sol.”

The boy snorted. “Hi, Sol,” he said, almost mockingly. “What is this? AA?”

Sol’s eyes narrowed, making him look almost formidable. The boy raised his hand slightly.

“Sorry. I’m Aiden. But really, you should stop going up and playing shrink to people. It’s creepy.” He opened the door with a shoved of his shoulder and disappeared, leaving Sol alone and feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Guess that was weird of me,” he muttered to himself, heading out himself. He mentally kicked himself. When was he going to stop feeling the need to fix things all the time?
~~~~~~~~~~~
PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlease criticize it! :D Or question it. Or point out typos. Or, if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, compliment it ;)

~Kendra

Ashlyn: The Prophetess

Today is legit Character Day :D

Okay, I know I'm supposed to do something different ever day, but would you guys mind too much if I focused on those four characters for a while? Sort of a temporary obsession, I guess. Y'all know how I get :)

Anyway, I know the profiles give a general idea of what the characters are like, but nothing captures someone's personality like seeing them in action, you know? So, I think I'm going to post pieces of the story that give you an idea of what each character is like, sort of each character's introduction. Is that okay with you guys? I mean, I know it's my blog, but...I like to post things that interest you!

However, since today is actually Character Day, I'll just go ahead and post Ashlyn's "introduction".

This part of the story takes place near the beginning, after you've gotten to see Ashlyn's power in action. (And apparently Sol and Ashlyn have an older, college-aged sister named Amy. Sorry. They didn't tell me that when I wrote the profiles. *eyeroll* I know, right? Characters.)

Note: Questions, comments, criticism always extremely welcome. I like to hear that you hate my stuff just as much as I like to hear that you love it. Just the fact that you're sharing with me what you think is awesome. Please, don't hesitate :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashlyn held her mug of hot chocolate in both hands, soaking in the warmth. She felt very small curled up on the couch of her living room. Her conflicting thoughts raged, making it impossible for her tense shoulders to relax.

Dang it, Ashlyn thought angrily, a tear running down her cheek. This is my spring break. My time off of school. My time to relax. So why can’t I?

She knew why. She knew it was the Dreams that wouldn’t let her enjoy church. The Visions that made her push God away in prayer. The Premonitions that made reading the Bible feel hypocritical.

Why was this happening to her? She wasn’t this kind of person! What had she done? How had she gotten into the occult without even realizing it? The Bible condemned psychics. It said they were of the devil, demonic, satanic, didn’t it? How could she be that kind of person?

And then, at the same time, there was that smug love of her internal conflict. That part of her that reveled in the power of seeing the future. That feeling of being superior to other, lowly people who weren’t special like her. She liked the drama of wrestling with her ability.

Ashlyn loved her power, and she hated it. She loved being powerful, but she hated the thought of being damned to Hell because of it.

She frowned. How messed up is that? The only reason I’m not completely in love with my power is because I’m afraid of burning for all eternity?

She brushed away the tears and looked to Sol on the other end of the couch, caught up his book. He looked at peace, like he always did. A fierce, angry jealousy gripped Ashlyn. Why was he so close to God and she wasn’t? Sol never had satanic premonitions that would damn him to the lake of fire. Because being a psychic would do that.

Wouldn’t it?

“Sol…”

He looked up, his wide brown eyes so open and carefree. Ashlyn fought the urge to strike out in jealousy. She felt her face twitch in her efforts to contain her tears. She looked away.

Sol looked surprised. “Ash. Are you okay?” He reached out to her, but she flinched away, sloshing hot chocolate onto her sweatpants.

“Yes!” she snapped, setting her mug on the table. She swiped at the brown spot on her thigh. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I just…” She wound her hand into the front of her hair in frustration. “Sol, the Bible says psychics are satanic, doesn’t it?”

Sol blinked. “Er…y—”

He stopped. Something wasn’t right about “yes”. He was suddenly not sure that was the correct answer.

“No,” he began slowly, beginning to realize something he hadn’t before. “No, I don’t think it does. I think it says you shouldn’t go to them. Don’t seek them out. And I think it depends on what you mean by ‘psychic’.”

“Someone who sees the future,” Ashlyn breathed, her eyes wide and intense. Sol leaned his head back at an angle, slowly taken aback.

“You. You see the future?” He raised his eyebrows as he said it. Ashlyn felt a shock of adrenaline run down her spine. All the anger drained out of her face, leaving only fearful desperation.

“I think I might,” she whispered, not meeting her brother’s eyes. “Don’t tell anyone. Please.”

Sol didn’t say anything for a long time. He believed her—he could always tell when his sister was lying—and he believed that she was right—he could usually tell when something was true or not.

“Joseph,” he said finally. He gave a firm nod. “With the coat of many colors. Joseph was psychic.”

Ashlyn looked up suddenly, meeting Sol’s eyes. “Oh, yeah,” she breathed. “Joseph…”

“God used Joseph for His purpose. That was God-given Sight. There was nothing satanic about that.”

“Oh, yeah…”

“But that’s different from your typical psychic, the ones who try weird stuff like summoning demons and talking to the dead and black magic.”

“Yes…”

“So, no. No, the Bible doesn’t condemn the ability to see the future. Like all power, what matters is where it came from, and how you use it.”

Ashlyn stared at Sol, her eyes wide and clear. Sobs of relief made her body shake. “I think you’re right,” she said through her sudden tears. “So…so, I’m not…a bad person? I’m not un…unchristian or unclean or satanic or damned to Hell?”

Each personal accusation she spoke seemed like a separate blow to Sol.

“No!” he cried, putting his hand on her curled knee. “Ash, no. I mean,” he gave a modest shrug, “I’m not God, I’m not even a pastor, I’m not trained in…Biblical analysis, but based on what I can see in the Bible, and in you, you aren’t anti-Christ.”

Ashlyn covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. When she lowered her hands, she was the normal Ashlyn: calm, confident, and in control.

“I guess the question now is, what do I do?”

“You might want to put on some clean sweatpants,” said Amy as she walked through the room. “What’s that brown stuff all over your leg?”

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose at her older sister’s back. “It’s hot chocolate, thank you,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

Sol laughed until Ashlyn turned to him with one eyebrow raised. He cleared his throat and tried to put on a serious face. “What do you do? Honestly?”

Ashlyn nodded impatiently. Sol leaned in to her.

“I don’t know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like I said, questions, comments, criticism...let me know :) Thanks.

Advice Day and Character Profile: Aiden

First, I got the Creative Writing Award from the awesome Pam Calvert! My jaw actually dropped when I got it XD I was quite surprised. Here's the awesome award:

I am now awarding...

Kyle
Sam
KnightWing
Lia (but her blog is private)
and
Chris

Now. Advice Day...

Advice: I advise you to read this post ;)

I know, I know, that's cheating, but there's just one more character to go before I've introduced my little cast!

I'm somewhat having trouble finding a picture to represent Aiden, but this is close:
1. Name: Aiden Jacob Johnson
2. Age: 16
3. Birthday: July 9th 1993
4. Family: Mom; older brother, Brent
5. Hair color: black
6. Hair length: slightly long for a guy
7. Hair style: slightly shaggy
8. Eye color: brown
9. Height: medium, 5'10”
10. Body type: kind of...medium
11. Loves: music
14. Hates: nosy people
13. Strength: usually good self-control
14. Weakness: when his anger does show, he has a very bad temper
15. Sucker for: little kids
16. Irritated by: bullies
17. Wants most: to get rid of his Sight.

God-given power: Aiden can see demons.

Truth Revealed and Character Profile: Skye

Hello :) I didn't have school today. Yay :D

AND I wrote about 2000 words in that story I've been posting about, also yay :D

Okay, now to answer yesterday's Fact or Fiction Day question:

Question: Is marijuana addictive?

Answer: No. Fiction.

Only Tragedy101 and Milli got it right! Good job, you guys!

To answer the question further, it depends on how you define "addictive". Marijuana isn't addictive like nicotine, but it can become a habit. Just about anything can become that kind of "addictive". But technically, nope, marijuana isn't addictive.

However, it does pose tons of obvious health risks, so I would highly recommend you don't go out and start smoking it. Oh, yeah, and it's illegal XD

Now, because I'm really into this story right now, I'm going to ditch Memory Day (*gasp*) and do another character profile :)

1. Name: Elizabeth Skye Daniels (goes by Skye)
2. Age: 15 (almost)
3. Birthday: February 12th 1995
4. Family: Mom; Dad (divorced); little brother, Mark
5. Hair color: blonde/strawberry blonde
6. Hair length: medium-long
7. Hair style: thick and straight with short side bangs
8. Eye color: blue
9. Height: small, 5'1”
10. Body type: petite
11. Loves: languages
12. Hates: kill joys
13. Strength: very smart and cheerful
14. Weakness: innocence
15. Sucker for: foreign languages/accents
16. Irritated by: rudeness
17. Wants most: her parents to get back together

God-given power: Speaking in Tongues (Skye can speak, read, write, and understand any language naturally.)

Picture Day: Sol

(I had this post prepared last night, but Blogger wasn't letting me post it. So, here's the post for yesterday; today's post coming later :D)

Yes, I realize that using a picture of a character and then talking about the character is cheating for Picture Day. Deal with it ;P I'm too into these guys right now to quit.

Name: Solomon Bricker
Age: 16
Birthday: July 18th
Hair color: very dark brown
Hair style: short, slightly curly
Eye color: brown
Height: 6'
Build: athletic
Loves: practical jokes
Hates: liars
Strength: highly perceptive
Weakness: people-pleaser
Sucker for: honesty
Irritated by: purposeless arguing
Wants most: God's will

God0-given power: peacemaker, truth

Character Day: Ashlyn

Name: Ashlyn Sophie Bricker
Age: 16
Birthday: July 18th
Hair color: very dark brown
Hair style: long, straight, straight bangs
Eye color: murky blue-green
Height: 5'8"
Build: athletic
Loves: action
Hates: goody-goodies
Strength: passion and persuasion
Weakness: lacks tact
Sucker for: flattery
Irritated by: total innocence
Wants most: justice

There's a lot of information about Ashlyn, but the most important thing about this Child of God? That's not something any standard fill-out asks.

God-given power: prophecy

Some people don't believe God still gives out "real" gifts. Tell that to Ashlyn and her twin brother, Solomon. While you're at it, tell their friends Aden and Skye, too. They might disagree.

The Dark Side of Power
In a fallen world, can God show His glory through four chosen teenagers?

Stay tuned for more character clips from my latest project ;)

Character Day: Cosa and Degan

Today has been arguably better than yesterday, and...um, actually, I kinda don't really wanna talk about it.

So, Character Day:

Say hello to my WIP (Work In Progress) twins! I made up the names a long time ago (last February, I posted about 'em HERE and HERE), but they came back to me a couple of days ago. Will they ever amount to anything? It's hard to say, but for right now, they have my full attention!

Apparently I had a plot idea back in February, but that remains to be remembered. It can't have been THAT good then, right? XD

I still don't have a story to stick these two twins in, but they're working on it. In math, I had an idea for a story called "Castles and Cottages" (working title), and I came up with a couple of ideas for it. Maybe Cosa and Degan belong there? *shrug* We'll see.

Cosa
Not a typical Kendra Main Girl Character. For the most part, my characters are strong-willed, kick-butt, pretty and out to break the rules for the greater good. Cosa breaks the stereotypical Kendra Mold.

While she's very clever and not exactly one to go with the flow, she's quieter. Her style is quiet and unassuming, her voice is low. She's stubborn, but more likely to try to change herself than persuade others to change.

Degan
Degan is my attempt at a non-Kendra-stereotypical guy. I've always felt like than in literature lately, the guy twin is the quieter one, the more passive one. I think that was an attempt to break the original stereotype of guys being the louder and more aggressive. However, that original stereotype has been broken, and now there's a NEW stereotype: the guy is the quieter one.

Well, Degan speaks for the twins. He and Cosa are really close, but I guess their relationship and personalities kind of fit the original stereotype...but since that stereotype was broken, does that still make them stereotypical...?

Have I confused you? 'Cause I think I've confused myself XD (Actually, no, that was just being polite. I'm actually not confused. But I am COLD -_-)

Whatever. More about Degan. He is...a bit wild and rash and protective of Cosa. He has a soft spot for little kids, and hates spiders.

(I did NOT just make all that up on the spot... >.>)

Anyway, that was a very jumbled Character Day! Hope you found it worth reading XD

Cultural Honor

So, I’m reading this book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s kind of a strange book in that it doesn’t really help you do anything exactly, it just sort of helps you understand things. Basically, it examines some successful people, and tries to figure out exactly what it is that makes them that way. There are some really interesting parts, and some parts that I sort of skimmed. But my favorite part so far was this:

Cultural honor.

Stick with me, please, because I found this to be profoundly eye-opening.

You’ve heard about family feuds and stuff, right? How for generations and generations, families will just fight with each other for reasons they might not even remember?

Well, as Malcolm Gladwell points out, one family doing this is a feud. A ton of families right along the Appalachian doing it is a pattern.

What in the world makes those people so prone to violent out breaks with each other?

Did you guess it? Cultural honor. Because the main profession of the mountain areas was livestock and stuff, people honor was very important. I mean, if you were a farmer, you had to rely on other people and get along with your neighbors, but there was never a danger of having your crop actually stolen. When your job was tending sheep or something, people very well could steal your hard work, and it wasn’t necessary to get along with the people around you really.

All you had to protect your livestock and your family was your reputation. Build up your reputation as a tough guy and no one will mess with you. Keep your honor intact.

There are other reasons why culture honor was (and is) such a big thing in those parts. It has to do with heritage.

Back when people were still coming regularly to America, a certain group of people settled in a certain spot: the Scotch-Irish immigrants settled along the eastern/southern US.

That would be “from the Pennsylvania border south and west through Virginia and West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, and the northern end of Alabama and Georgia.” And that’s where all this “cultural honor” stuff is big. You can steal my stuff, but you can’t insult my mama. That’s how it works here. *clears throat* I mean, there…

Okay, I’m from North Carolina. And when Mr. Malcolm Gladwell started raggin’ on my homeland, I started getting pretty hot inside.

And as I started boiling, I blinked and realized I was proving his point.

Oh.

…

I read on.

There was then an experiment described. In the early 1990s, two psychologists decided to get together a bunch of 18-21 year old guys and insult them, see how they would react. They came up with the insult they thought would resonate with them the most. “A—hole.” (I am quoting the book, sorry.)

Here was the experiment set up:

“The social sciences building at the University of Michigan has a long, narrow hallway in the basement lined with filing cabinets. The young men were called into a classroom, one by one and asked to fill out a questionnaire. Then they were told to drop off the questionnaire at the end of the hallway and return to the classroom.”

Half the guys were from the states that were high on cultural honor, half of them were not.

“As they walked down the hallway with their questionnaire, a man—a confederate of the experiments—walked past them and pulled out a drawing in one of the filing cabinets. They already narrow hallway now became even narrower. As the young men tried to squeeze by, the confederate looked up, annoyed. He slammed the filing cabinet drawer shut, jostled the young men with his shoulder, and, in a low but audible voice said the trigger word: ‘a—hole.’”

Through different tests that I go into in too much detail, the suspicions were confirmed. Confirmed A LOT. The cultural honor boys were mad. Even though they didn’t act out in violence, their handshakes were firmer than usual, saliva samples revealed that being insulted had raised their levels of testosterone and cortisol (hormones that drive aggression). The guys were also given a short story and told to supply a conclusion. The story had to do with a guy’s girlfriend being come onto by another guy. The cultural honor guys who had been insulted made it end violently, while the guys who lived in other places did not.

IS THAT INTERESTING TO ANYONE ELSE?

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you:

I never thought people reacted any differently.

Call me ignorant, but I thought this was the same everywhere. I had no idea that in other parts of the US, it wouldn’t be natural to react violently to having your honor insulted. I mean, you just don’t do that here. No one gets upset if you steal their stuff, but if you attack their honor, boy, it’s on.

It’s not just guys, it’s girls, too. I mean, I honestly had no idea that it would occur to anyone not to get wild about something like this…I think I’ve already said that :) But you get the idea.

Who knew? I had no idea that culture honor wasn’t the same everywhere. What a cool eye-opener!

Hope you guys found this at least half as interesting as I did :)

~Kendra

Mostly Boring

Thanks so much for following, Katie G! You made my day (well, yesterday, but whatever XD).

Today was the get-together-with-cousins day. Garrett the Tall and Kathleen the College-Freshman are lots of fun, but more and more I'm finding that I'm closer to my friends than I am my own family. Is that bad? I can't decide if I feel guilty about that. I do have lots of fun with my cousins, though.

Oh, Kathleen was interested in Alias, so we watched the first episode :D Watching the first one made me realize something: they just get better as they go on XD

For lack of a Christmas Countdown, I'm left with not much to say. Haha, did some of you actually just cheer?? How rude :P Just kidding. I don't have any big revelations to post, but maybe you'd be interested in a few little revelations? :)

1. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. So much, in fact, that I wouldn't know where to start even if I were going to. I'm a confusing person, sometimes so much that I even confuse myself. And that's REALLY bad, right? XD Doesn't it suck when you don't know what you want?

2. VOTE ON THE POLL TO THE RIGHT. YES, THAT ONE. DO THAT FEW PEOPLE REALLY READ THIS THING? JEEZ. Can't blame you. This is boring :P

3. I have (once AGAIN) started the "fire fairy story". How far will it go this time? You guess. The winner will be given a lifetime supply of virtual cookies.

Just so you don't decide that without Christmas, I am boring, let me tell you some things I plan to post about in the final days of 2009 :)

- Cultural Honor (I like this one. Some of you may have already read it on Carpe Noctem.)
- More Fortuna Kendrae
- Top Ten Blogger Pet Peeves
- "Sex" is Not a Bad Word (This was originally entitled, "Sex is Not a Dirty Word", but I decided that came across a bit differently than I intended XD)

Stick around and maybe you'll learn something, or at least get in a few laughs at my attempts to be philosophical ;)

Hey, if you have an preference to which of those topics I do first, let me know!

~Kendra