I am a Writer

Endings.

2012-01-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

Youth and Government State conference was this weekend!!

Three days of debating (lobbying) in the actual Texas capitol! I've done this for the past three years, but this year was different. This year, I was a lobbyist, as opposed to a representative or senator. This year, I roomed with three of the most wonderful people on the world, who supported and encouraged me throughout the weekend. This year, I felt relaxed and at ease throughout the weekend, as opposed to rushed and harried. This year I got to enjoy the whole thing with the love of my life.
It was absolutely splendid! From exploring Austin on our way in:

to exploring it while there, to exploring it on our way out, the weekend was fantastic. I am so blessed :)

ATF

2012-01-25T12:53:00.000-06:00

Acquire the Fire 2012! What an incredible, God filled weekend. The theme was 'Normal's Not Enough'... and glorious surrender.
Psalm 37: 3-8 says "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil. "
What your heart focuses on is what you go towards. -if your heart is focusing on the things of this world, that's what your life will center upon. But if you focus your heart on God, He will fill you with HIS desires, and His will will be done in your life! :)

It was lovely being able to spend the weekend with these crazies; the people I am closest to in the world (with a few noticeable missing ones :( ) Being able to worship with them was absolutely amazing. The Lord is so good! :)

And I got to see this face a lot. Which was pretty darn great. <3 :)

2012-01-18T01:01:00.000-06:00

My love gave me this flower before he left for the week. He left it on my porch with the sweetest note. It's the little things. <3

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

2012-01-09T18:49:00.002-06:00

Hello my darling little love, and how are you? , I ask.
I find that it's just slightly hard for me to stay on task.

Your face invades my every dream, both waking and asleep,
and though I know you are the same, this silence you still keep.

Why, my love, do you not search these eyes, so unlike yours?
You cause me to spend every moment fighting silent wars

Do I love you more than you so very much love me?
And, if so, how is that wrong? what horror would that be?

I do not doubt the way you feel, the words you softly speak.
I fear the way your actions fall, opposed to how I think.

quarter one.

2011-10-30T19:32:00.001-05:00

I have now been a senior for an entire quarter. Yes, 1/4 of my last high school year is gone.
If I weren't inclined to writing, if I weren't a romantic, I could easily recount the past two months. Homework. Some socializing. Work.
But I'm not that un-reminiscent today.
Lately, I have... well, I don't know what to call it. I haven't become a photographer, by any stretch of the word. And I haven't lost faith in the written word either... but somehow I guess I just find pictures so much more powerful than I ever have before. Of *course* you've heard, a picture is worth a thousand words, but I guess I understand that now.
Now you're probably thinking I'm gonna show you a bunch of pictures, but no, you're not so lucky, haha! I just wanted to let you know about that interesting recent development; my fascination with pictures.
anyways. As I was saying; these past two months have been so much more than just methodical routines of work. These past two months have been:
romantic moments
stars
hands
renewed interest in fashion
SHOES
friendship stronger than ever before
responsibility
freedom
smells
faith
debating
stars, sweet stars
laughter
learning to care
learning not to care
finding God's will
hugs
choosing to smile
unity
loyalty
feeling restless
feeling at home
comfort

I could go through every day of the past two months and give you a detail of what I felt (oh, how I overestimate my memory) but I just don't think you would care, and I don't think it would end up interesting to anyone ;) I have found happiness beyond what I could have dreamed in these past two months, and beyond that, better even, is contentment. I can never proclaim to achieve perfect contentment; my flawed heart is always longing for something. But at least I can say I have felt the human contentment I can feel. "At last I've seen the light, and it's like the fog has lifted". I can even say I am not afraid for the future. Going into senior year was terrifying. I had no idea where I was going to be at the end of this school year, all I knew was that I was going to be leaving everything I've known for the past 17 years. But now... I'm not afraid at all. I am confident in God and His ability to lead me in the path He desires.
bring it on, winter. because fall has been lovely. <3

Cora
(p.s. - if you have an apple device and wish to see my life in pictures, you can follow me on instagram - luthiensnowtail)

Splendidly

2011-09-12T22:05:00.002-05:00

Splendidly, splendidly calls the day,
The sun exclaims “I’m here to stay”
But fear I won’t of harmful rays
For you are ever with me

The heat wears on, but still I shiver
Your softest smirk and laughter linger
And I can’t help but smile as well
For you are ever with me.

Senior Year

2011-08-29T00:31:00.002-05:00

So I have a lengthy explanation I could give for this, lots of reasons, but basically... I want 291 photosets. A picture every day of my senior year. This is, truly, for *me*, not for the two of you readers ;) but maybe you'll like it... ? who knows :) <3

I'll hopefully post them in weekly increments from now on, but I just needed to test things and get this up! :) (click for full view)

08.14.11 - mom's birthday

08.15.11 - first day of class [physics]

08.16.11 - first day of class [TGC]

Parties

2011-08-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

I always thought I was the one who loved hosting parties. Because I *love* parties, everything to do with parties, and well... going to parties.

But I HATE hosting parties.

You have to worry about all the little details, the invites and food and games and all that. and you have to make sure everyone's happy when they get there. You never have to time to *enjoy* the party!

so, world, I will minimalize my party hosting, FYI. but by all means, invite me. I die without constant social interaction ;)

Where Oh where has that little time gone?

2011-08-05T10:54:00.001-05:00

No, but seriously. It's AUGUST. what is this?!?!?

I'll be a senior this year, and in NO way do I feel ready for college. I'll say I can't wait to move out, be free, etc etc... but I honestly cannot imagine being responsible for every aspect of my life. Bills, meals, all of it.

I've always been responsible and self-sufficient, and as a result I think I've always been 'ready' to move out. Not that I don't love my family, of course, and want to be with them, just that I've always found it possible. I'm also quite realistic - I've never expected life in college to be easy, always known the money and discipline life alone takes. It has *always* irritated me when people listen to my plans and smile patronizingly 'good luck with that!' or even worse - 'you know how much this and this and this costs, and what youre going to have to do to get there!'

yes. I know. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I think through things before I plan on them. When I find something I want to do, I research it to the nth degree, find out the information, and then plan on what I need to get done to achieve that something. I KNOW THAT COLLEGE COSTS MONEY FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE.

I've known that since I was *5*. And at least people don't point it out much any more (a senior should know, I suppose) but oh how they used to. I won't overestimate your intelligence if you underestimate mine.

1000 words

2011-08-03T10:53:00.000-05:00

These are my absolute most favorite pictures of all time.

Are they the best quality? no. Do I look good in them? No! But they mean so much.

The first is a gorgeous composition, and just sums up my relationship with my dad. The other day, whilst aiming at a spider sticker next to it on the wall, I accidentally shot a hole through it. I nearly *cried*... and it's just a picture. But it's my favorite, and it's an original, pre-digital! It's fine though :)

The second is indescribable. Honestly one of the best times of my life (so far;)), the two people who I am completely closest to. I would trust them with *everything*. they've known me all my life, and they know my shortcomings, and love me anyways... and I'm the same for them. We don't *look* good in the picture, but it doesn't matter. The memory is what matters.

No matter where I go, I'll always bring these pictures, and display them proudly. I have plenty of others that I like, a lot even, other people who are worthy of being in a 'favorite' picture... but these... these are it.

<3 LS

Ode to School

2011-07-31T22:10:00.001-05:00

I am currently procrastinating organizing my school year. I have SO much to organize, I barely know where to start, and writing a prosaic blog post about it seems so much easier. Also, where would I be without procrastination? ;)

I need a list of textbooks to get, school supplies to get, homework/prework that needs to be done, any other miscellaneous items needed. I also need to draft myself a schedule, and to-do list. I need to figure out what dual credit classes I need/am taking, and register for those.

Classes start in two weeks, a tiny amount of time for what I feel needs to get done. Yet I'd be happy with them starting tomorrow.

I hate school just as much as the next kid, and would be happy if it were wiped off the face of the earth. But I LOVE learning... and I love socializing. I'm taking more out classes this year than ever before, and am excited for the structure and accountability those will give me, as well as the new techniques of learning and such.

and, of course, the school supplies. PLUS all the extracurricular activities that come along with the school year.

The other day I looked out the window and would have sworn it was fall. I knew it was 100+ degrees outside, but it looked *so* fall-like.

I'm ready. This isn't exactly the *last* time I have to 'get ready for school', but... it is. I know getting ready for college is much the same thing, but somehow this feels like very first last time.

<3 LS

speed. love.

2011-07-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

Just imagine what it must be like to drive an airplane.
not fly. drive.
Once you're up in the air it gets dreadfully boring. But for those first few seconds, as you shoot down the runway, all is bliss. Speeding down such a smooth, straight stretch of road. Pure joy. Who knows how fast they go, but it's fast enough to slam you back in your seat, the groan of the engines loud. Would I ever be a pilot? No way. Will I ever attempt 200mph? Perhaps. Legally, of course ;)

words of THE day

2011-07-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

bellwether: a leader or leading indicator.
cozen: to deceive or obtain by deceit.
longueur: a tedious passage in a work of literature or performance art.
pari passu: at an equal pace or rate.
wheedle: to entice by flattery.
supernal: being on high; celestial.
malfeasance: wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior.
florid: flushed with red; also, excessively ornate.
triskaidekaphobia: fear of the number 13.
antediluvian: extremely old.
sartorial: of or relating to a tailor, tailoring, or clothing.
vestigial: relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use.

The dictionary.com 'words of the day' from all my past birthdays (that dictionary.com has been in existence ;))

I find it amusing how, like, half of these apply to me. or birthdays. anyways.

LESS THAN A WEEK GUYS. who knows what the wotd will be this time?!

#winning

2011-07-07T12:02:00.002-05:00

I just figured out how to predate posts.

I used to have 99 posts in 2010. now I have one hundred. OCD SCORE!!!

*does happy dance*

I have a feeling I'll be over here a lot more, now that that awful 99 isn't staring me in the face! ;)

check out the predated post - http://i-amawriter.blogspot.com/2011/07/cdo.html

<3 bestdayever ;)

LS

A Celtic Song

2011-05-20T01:13:00.001-05:00

softly upon the dewy grass
our feet play games with ladybugs
they twist and twirl and lighty fall
and flatten down a grassen rug

the jig I dance is not exclusive
shared by the sun, and by the wind,
by the fawns, the butterflies
and by you, my dear old friend

we laugh and dance,
they dance along,
while the blue sky sings
a celtic song

and the green of my eyes
matches the summer trees
while yours gleam brighter
than the sunlit bees.

and our laughter joins
the birds' sweet songs
and it's exactly like
we're singing along

and the wind catches our hair
and it carries it around
as it does with the sweet scent of summer
and every glorious sound

while we laugh and dance,
they dance along,
and the blue sky sings
a celtic song

and as the sun sets down
we grow quite tired
and we lay upon our flattened grass
and stare up into blackened mire

slowly, stars blink on
small sparks of glory
and we find laughter again
at a remembered story

and one shoots across
and we shout, and wish
did we wish the same?
perhaps at similar-ish

either way, the night grows cold
we sleep upon our grassen sheet
a necessary joy, for on the morrow
we will start again with dancing feet

we will laugh and dance,
and they'll dance along,
while the blue sky sings
a celtic song

Ecclesiastes 3

2011-05-20T00:43:00.000-05:00

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Whatever is has already been,

and what will be has been before;

and God will call the past to account.
And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,

in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
I said to myself,

“God will bring into judgment

both the righteous and the wicked,

for there will be a time for every activity,

a time to judge every deed.”

[...18-21...]

So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

groundhog... ten minutes?

2011-05-14T01:05:00.000-05:00

So I've been trying to clean my room (a process that would take maybe TEN minutes) for the past hour or so.
I'm practically caught in a time loop.

see, I noticed my room was messy, and I have a friend coming for a sleepover tomorrow, so I figured I'd clean it tonight before I hit the hay. Well, I decided that pandora would be a great thing to accompany my cleaning, so I went to my computer to turn it on. I clicked open my internet browser and thought 'hmm, while I'm here, I might as well check facebook! oh, yeah, I still haven't messaged my friend like I meant to earlier. I'll do that!'
well, I get on facebook, spend five minutes creeping random people's profiles (coughleilacough ;)) and then look at twitter, then tumblr, then see the time and think 'oh goodness, I need to go to bed!'
I turn around from my desk, start walking to my bed, and then realize 'oh goodness, my room is messy, I should clean it for Maria tomorrow!'

I have literally done this five times.
about the fourth time, I finally got the message sent on facebook. that was an achievement.
now, I'm giving up. I'm just going to go to bed. and read. which is not sleeping. ;)

but anyways, that was my time bending moment of the night. sorta. kinda. ;)

It's not insomnia. it's stupidity.

2011-05-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

4:30 am is truly a remarkably creative time.
and when you've been writing for six hours... not good writing, not emotional vomit, but boring formal, academic writng... well, you feel even more creative
it is as if you have been struggling against water pushing out through the hole in the dam, and now you can let it go. You've been trying to keep the water from coming out, or make it come out a specific way, but now you can remove your finger and let the water crash over you.
it's a splendid feeling.
of course, if the water drowns you, that is another problem. If you are drowned by sleep, by creativity, if either one (two of the greatest gifts from God, I believe) stifles the other... what to do then? which to choose? both are commodoties, both hard to catch hold of, hard to get time for.
it's a problem.
and problems must be faced head on.
except, at 4:30 am, I lack the focus to face a problem head on. I lack the focus to face a problem anything-on. I lack focus period.
which is why most of my 4:30 am blog posts end up like this, trailing off, strangely poetic and with such potential, but lacking purpose, point, arc & climax, ANYTHING. they are just drabbles of the mind, pointless, trailing, unending drabbles.
I could write random words forever. Just keep writing things, nonsensical things, but that would be of no use! or of some use, perhaps it would amuse me later, perhaps not.
I shall sleep now. I have to wake in two hours. C'est La Vie... *shrug*

<3
LS

Madame Monet (What Say You To Forever?)

2011-03-29T19:08:00.003-05:00

A poem inspired by ‘Madame Monet and Her Son’ by Monet

“What say you to forever?
How would we fare together?
To lay side by side and stare at the sky
Blinded by the sun, but seeing so much.

To speak of everything, yet say nothing
To share a smile or a look and understand the deepest thought
To know the comforts and discomforts
To be as one

For now you are a mystery
Veiled, far away, seen through a mist
Our future is a dream, and a hazy one
The wind, exhaled as a sigh of longing, blows it away.

I stare for a while
I see us
I see our family
I see the future

But it is probably not the future
Dreams are dreams
And they are blown away, changed, redirected
Waves, tossed about, never certain of their course

Those fleeting dreams
Those quick snatches
Those ever-exaggerated scenes
Those.

Wind through the grass
While the sun beats down
And my hair blows in my face
As we laugh at ourselves

Then the mood is somber
Then I stare at you, tears threatening
Then you stare back, and we know
Then again… we don’t really know anything.”

Glorify Him

2011-03-04T13:10:00.001-06:00

(orginally posted at http://thoughts-and-praise.tumblr.com/)

I was looking through another blog of mine for a post I’d written, one that I was planning to post here. It was very good and deep and all that, and it was tagged (on my blog) with ‘God’. I was searching through the tags for the ‘God’ tag and couldn’t find it. Now, on my blog I have the tags set in a feature where the most-used ones are the biggest, and so on and so forth. Naturally I was searching for the ‘God’ tag near the top. Certainly, in all of my righteousness I would have written dozens of posts about Him, and concerning Him. I searched for a few moments, and then couldn’t find it. Frustrated, I scanned the rest of the tags quickly, not expecting to see it. Of course it was there, almost at the bottom. ‘God (4)’ in tiny little print. Four posts, out of 113. only four posts concerning/about God?
I think, of course, this reflects our lives. We’re always being told to let Him be the center of our lives, and to do all to glorify and serve Him. And perhaps we think we are. I certainly thought that, if one were to go on my blog, they would at least get a little helping of God. I thought that they would be able to see my Christianity, and my passion for Him immediately. And maybe they can see the Christmas story, or the verse reference on the top. But is that enough? That’s not glorifying Him! Certainly it’s a start, and I’m not condemning myself. I’m not saying every post I make has to be about God. (although certainly He should be visible through everything I do.) I’m just saying, maybe I should focus on Him more in all my life. Maybe, even though I THINK He is the center, I need to make sure. I need to trace the ‘God tags’ in my life, and make sure there is more than four. Make sure I’m not just telling myself I’m living for Him.
of course, not to condemn anyone “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)” just a reevaluation in my life, that I thought I’d share :)
~Cora
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again

2011-02-24T16:22:00.000-06:00

I want to go swimming.

Oh yes, it's not even march yet. Yes, it is snowing up north still. Yes, yes, and YES it is technically still winter. But that dadgum groundhog (whom I almost called a gopher) saw his shadow. Or didn't... whatever he saw (or didn't see) he said it would be spring. He said it was coming. And we all know, random gophers are always correct.

I mean, spring is here. It's been in the high 70s. We are in spring. But the trees are still brown, the pool still cold, and the sky is still gray.

oh dear. I long so for spring. Summer actually. Semester, get over with.

Ah well.

Are those new leaves or
are they simply old, dead ones
I just cannot tell

~LS

2011-02-17T13:48:00.000-06:00

my laptop looks like an octopus, or an experiment, or perhaps an otherworldly being.

electrical cords portude from every side of it, splaying off in different directions. ther must be ten or more cords lying on the desk. They block it, make it look cluttered. I think I hate them.

part of me wants to unplug all the cords and throw them in the incinerator. It would make the desk look so much clearer. But could the computer survive? I see it as an ancient being (it's only three years old...) hooked up to all these things in order to stay alive. It's connected to life support, and to disconnect that would be certain doom.

naturally, I'm not going to unplug anything. These cords are all useful, and life without them would be quite difficult.

but I definitely hate them.

This is the way my mind works

2011-01-27T00:53:00.000-06:00

A sample:

I begin by realizing (after I get out of the shower) that my hair is drenching my towel. The towel barely gets wet at all when it dries off your body, but your hair leaves it sopping. This leads me to realize that hair can hold a lot of water. As much as a towel, p'raps. And this makes me wonder if anything you would use a towel for, you could use hair for. Could you use human hair to mop up water? Could you use human hair to mop up... blood? I find myself storing this information away to use later, and then I find myself catching myself. Why am I saving this? What possible use could I have for knowing that human hair can mop up blood? Oh, it's for a story, I convince myself, I might need to know it for a story sometime! I then start to really think about the fact that blood can be mopped up by water. this leads me to realize/wonder at teh percentage of water in blood - quite a lot I'd say. And this, in turn, leads me to realize that I think through everything like this. Why does the hair make the towel wet? What use can I get out of it? Why can I get that use out of it?

I don't know if it's a sane mind, but it's mine.

2011-01-24T09:25:00.000-06:00

last night i dreamed that we were at the hospital, (who knows why) and there was a protest going on. And I just heard the shouting and I was like 'Mom, why are they shouting?' and she goes, 'Oh, theres some like, Alex Day? and they're protesting something.'

Of course, I got excited (even though I don't even LIKE Alex Day) and went to see what they were protesting. They had signs that said 'down with 'utubeit' and such. apparently YouTube had come up with a new photosharing software site thing called 'utubeit.' and all the youtubers were mad because now they couldn't use any of the other photosharing site things. And then I got up and gave this super-motivational speech that went something like 'What's wrong with Photobucket, Flickr, Twitpic, or Dailybooth? These things have been around quite a while and they are loved! DOWN WITH UTUBEIT!!!!!'

this is why people wonder if I'm sane....

Spring

2011-01-21T12:52:00.000-06:00

You stare at the title of this post, and your heart starts beating faster. not that, you think, anything but that. I can't take more of her pining, it's only january. Will I have to put up with this until april? it was hard enough last year, I don't think I can do it again this year!

have no fear. I am not here to moan and groan about the lack of spring. I have a fancy new coat! I want it to be cold!

*sigh of relief*

I just wanted to show you this wonderful poem by Emily Dickinson. :)

A Light Exists in Spring, Emily Dickinson

"A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament."

<3

Oh, by the way, I really want to go swimming...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

;)

LS

freebird. Or freewriting. whichever you choose. (if you choose freebird, you're outta luck. sorry)

2011-01-20T23:44:00.000-06:00

today, in english class, we learned about freewriting.

WHAT IS THIS COMPLETE AND UTTER AMAZINGNESS THAT I HAD NOT HEARD OF????

anyways, jubilant and slightly angry shouting aside, I do believe this is my new favorite form. If it can be called a form. I assume all of you who have not been living under some apparent rock for your entire lives already know what freewriting is. Anyways. I mean, it's basically how I blog anyways. One giant freewriting excersise. Constant stream-of-conciousness. Anyways again. For homework we had to freewrite our thoughts on Frida Kahlo's Autorretrato Con Espinas. Well, I don't know why you would be interested in my sheet, but here it is anyway.

anyways. I say that a lot.

anyways....

Exercise 1: Freewriting on Frida Kahlo’s Autorretrato Con Espinas

Autorretrato con Espinas. I should know what it means. If I actually ever did Spanish, I’d know what it meant. Probably.

The woman has scary eyebrows. almost a unibrow, actually. I would almost think it wasn’t a woman, but the hair & the butterflies classify it as such, I suppose. Plus, she looks like a woman, except for the excessive facial hair.

Autorretrato con Espinas – it means ‘Self portrait with thorns.’ I had to look it up, I couldn’t take it. Curiosity consumed me. With thorns… it seems almost as if she is comparing herself to Jesus… and yet it doesn’t seem that way at all. Clearly she’s not attempting to edit herself for the better. She paints herself as she appears, perhaps worse even. (Having never seen a portrait of Frida, I have no idea what she actually looks like.)

And what on earth are the gorilla & cat doing there? and the bird, tied to her thorny necklace. Oh, it has deep symbolism I’m sure. Eleven years reading Sister Wendy Beckett’s ‘Story of Painting’ have taught me that every paintstroke in every painting has a deep, deep meaning. A leaf symbolises communism, a hair out of place symbolises the life of muhammed. Don’t painters [and writers & poets] ever want to paint [or write] something without having to think deeply about it? I mean, sure, it’s wonderful and important to have meanings behind the things we create, and the occasional allegorical piece is splendid & thought provoking. But isn’t it exhausting to come up with a symbolism for every word – every brush stroke? My writings might have inside jokes… perhaps a hidden jab at contemporary life, & culture. But I could never write a whole allegory, or a limerick about Anarchy (that sounds like it’s about puppies)

I don’t really know if that was on topic, but I suppose you could say it was. That was my response to the picture. Disdain, and yet deep respect for the thought & the analysis required to paint, and to fully appreciate this work. Perhaps it’s just jealousy; I’m jealous I couldn’t ever create as deep a work (though at this moment it’s for lack of wanting to create one). My base, lazy instinct is, when confronted with a painting such as this, to say ‘oh, it’s nice’ & move on. Half of me screams at that quick dismisall though. It screams ‘what are you thinking? Do you not see the utter genius you are presented with?’

My word, I can go on! I suppose this is more than enough words! (And I could still go on for hours!)

PS - My english teacher also suggested we all start blogs. He spoke for a paragraph or two on how wonderful blogging was. I felt smug-ish. I have a blog. wtg me!

anyways (<----- must stop using that. I think I use it instead of indenting my paragraphs or something? Or instead of coming up with something catchy to start the new paragraph? or where I would say 'um' if I were speaking? Who knows.)

peace, love, and goldfish.

LS

Ignorance is Bliss

2011-01-18T21:28:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've all heard the saying. Ignorance is bliss. But is it? Is ignorance really all that blissful? Our first response is to say no, no it's not! We've been brought up to seek knowledge, to ask questions. Ignorance is the enemy!
I'm here to tell you, from the point of view of someone who's always known too much for their own good, Ignorance can, quite often, be bliss.

From the ages of about 5-10 I was deathly afraid of thunderstorms. Not because they were loud and scary, or because my friends were afraid of them, but because I knew that with thunderstorms came lightning. I was terrified of the lightning striking my house and setting it on fire. It took my father telling me that our shingles were 'fire resistant' for me to calm down, and get rid of my fear.

If I had been a stupider child, then perhaps I would have had less fears. But is 'less fear' really better?

its a varying debate, one I'm far too tired to go into now.

Ignorance:

the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.

Bliss:

supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment:

for me, ignorance is not bliss, but bliss is ignorance.

this post is rambly. I'm stopping it. thoughts?

Something EXCITING this way comes :)

2011-01-02T13:50:00.002-06:00

in the very very near future... like hopefully some time tomorrow or so, I'll have something exciting to post here!

be patient!

CDO

2010-12-30T12:00:00.000-06:00

I wrote 99 posts in 2010.

NINETY-NINE.

ninety-nine.

>.<

ONE away from a hundred. just one! Every time I come onto this old blog of mine, that little number sits there, laughing at me. I never thought I was particularly OCD. But that number! It's awful. If only I had seen last december. If only there was a way to predate posts. but no. I'm stuck with 99.

oh dear.

songs to listen to:
How to Love - Lil Wayne
Wonderman - Tinie Tempah & Ellie Goulding

2010-12-28T23:15:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I go through waterbottles faster than aang goes through wimpy juice

and sometimes I go through them slower than he goes through strong juice. which means not at all.

I'm just testing some new analogies here.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T20:25:00.000-06:00

and a happy new year!! :)

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. (This was the first census that took place while
⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The Bad Guys

2010-12-15T20:55:00.000-06:00

Today I'm going to take a break from the usual deep, thought provoking content of this blog (stop laughing) and do something a bit more shallow.

I'm going to be discussing the merits of villains and their side changing.

Mainly the phenomenon of why girls like the 'bad guys'. See, I know a lot of girls (coughseracough) who go for the villain in the movie/tv show/book :D

Personally, I like the 'bad guys' when they're good. Honestly, if you take a mildly attractive bad guy and turn him good... *poof* he is 1000000 times better!

Observe:
Our first subject is Zuko! (big surprise there ;))[Avatar: the Last Airbender]

Background:
In the first two seasons of AtLA Zuko was 'evil'. In season one he was the main antagonist, though in season two he took a backseat to Ozai's Angels.
Towards the end of season two he began to 'see the light'. The season finale found him in a cave, connecting with one of the main 'good guys [or, girl in this case].' (I know fellow zutarians, it pains me to put it in such unromantic terms too. :/) In this episode we saw a glimpse of the 'good' Zuko to come, but by the end of it he had turned back to 'the dark side'.
The real 'Good Zuko' wouldn't come until later: halfway through the third season. At almost exactly the halfway mark, he realizes his 'destiny' is actually to be a good guy, so changes teams. We are now introduced to an entirely different side of the previously nefarious Zuko, the side we got a glimpse of in season two.

CCD [Contrasting Characteristics Detail]:
'Bad' Zuko was arrogant, moody, and conflicted. 'Good Zuko' was shy, funny, and... conflicted :D

Teenage FanGirl Summary:
Season three Zuko was attractive, good or bad. But when he turned good, he gained an extra measure of sweet/cuteness. 'Bad Zuko' was someone you'd like to look at, like a celebrity; you'd want to watch him in movies and the like. But 'Good Zuko' was someone you'd actually want to have a relationship with.
also said: OMD OMD ZUKO OMD haaaaaaa.

Our next victim is....
Sylar!!! [Heroes]

Background:
Sylar turned 'good' in season three. He worked with Noah Bennet to catch other bad guys. After a while helping the Company, and trying to be 'good' he gives up and goes back to being 'evil'
[sorry for the short bg. haven't watched Heroes in a while ;)]

CCD:
Bad Sylar is volatile, practically insane, and prone to bloviation [ that is a real word, sorta.] Good Sylar is cheeky, humorous, and most importantly; believable.

Teenage FanGirl Summary:
OMD, so like, 'bad sylar' = *stare... wince at violence when secretly you are loving it (oh, that might just be me) stare* Good sylar = *stare, keep staring, laugh, drool slightly*
;)

now on to:
Ba'al!! [Stargate SG-1]

Background:
Ba'al becoming 'good' is debatable. He never exactly was 'good', he just helped out SG-1. He first appeared in season five (minorly) and remained an enemy (consistently gaining in importance) until season eight. In season eight he helped them find and disassemble the weapon on Dakara. After this he remained one of those confusing characters: The ones who do something bad and then in the next episode help the good guys. Eventually, at the end, he turned into Earth's second biggest threat... I guess. I never really saw Ba'al as a threat, even throughout the movies, where he was the main antagonist. I just like giving the poor guy the benefit of the doubt I guess :D

CCD:
Stargate wikia says: ' 'Ba'al's personality was generally wry and sardonic' [my favorite :D] I have to agree: Wry, Sardonic, and (despite their contradiction) slightly Megalomaniacal. Good Ba'al is the same just... good.

Teenage FanGirl Summary:
Bad Baal is amazing. Good Ba'al is amazing x 1000. :D

next up is:

Darth Vader...

JUST KIDDING :P

Got any examples of your own? Please, share!

2010-11-07T20:36:00.002-06:00

So I've decided to go solo in my wrock career.

I just need a name.

blehh.

Fred's Requiem is on the top of my list.

that would also be a good name for a song though.

hmm.

Permanent

2010-10-27T11:20:00.000-05:00

SO - I have a lot to tell y'all. but I realized I'd update faster if I spread it all around rather than making it one long post!

This post is to tell you that I decided to get a tattoo!

As you may or may not be able to tell, that is my left wrist (the picture is sideways) and that is the kanji for 'fire'. Currently I'm just drawing it on with a sharpie. I figure if I can keep it on for two years, then I'll be able to stand it for the rest of my life. :)

Anyway, that's all for now. Next time, I'll tell you about my dream house ;D

Oh, later today I get to go on a FIELD TRIP. haha I get to go hear Senator Dan Patrick speak. whoo hoo. (no sarcasm... I think... ;D)

OH And my new txt message alert sound is the kimmunicator beep. My life is complete. Leila rules. :D

ciao for now!

~LS

2010-10-11T21:03:00.001-05:00

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
[James]

I am struggling with that - ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth -

bitter envy and selfish ambition. bitter ambition and selfish envy.

Lord, save me. Help me let it go. Help me gain humility and contentment in the millions of blessings that I have.

My sisters say;

2010-10-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

'And you've already watched balto! That's an hour of your time!'

'but I'm like.. I'm like...'

'OK lillian -'

random much? And who watches balto, anyway? What is this, 1996?

anyways.

I don't much do these narratives. I let you see into the depths of my odd mind - and keep you blind to my more practical, day-to-day side. I'm not nearly as good at writing these as Sera, and I apologize for making you sit through this... but it's her fault anyway :)

WELL whats been going on with me lately??????

I honestly don't know! ;) sorta kinda. let me think.....

hold on, I can't think without music on...

GAH MY ITUNES IS FREAKING OUT

ahh, there it goes. The sweet, melodic cadences of Maroon5. I should probably update my iTunes [for the FIVETHOUSANDTH TIME] but not atm. you have to restart your computer, ya know? not gonna go through that right now.

so. once again - let's attempt thinking... ok, screw that. Let's just go to facebook - that'll jog the memory somewhat.

AHHH RIGHT!!! I REMEMBER!!

ok. I'll post the highlights

Monday of last week - YAY FALL WEATHER. It's not 90-100 degrees anymore! it's 70-90! haha :) I think this was the day I went to ikea with mi madre. that was fun :)

Tuesday of last week - Math Exam!! eeps! Was the first one finished - did pretty well :) Also Y&G - that was fun! brought my knitting to jr y&g, got a bit done, wore my fn shirt AND had my fn notebook, which sparked a conversation with my friend that led to us thinking about bending the whole meeting ;D

Wednesday of last week - zip.zilch.nada. I honestly don't think I did... oh, right! I DIDN'T do anything last wednesday. HA. that was the day I sat in my mom's bed and knitted and watched bones all day. aha. a sick day fail. :)

Thursday of last week - um. also nada. like, really nada. haha

Friday of last week - went to Jo-ann's with my mom and got navy and gold yarn :D :D watched pride and prejuidice. haha.

Saturday of last week - babysat in the morning, then cleaned, then went and got my friend and we went out to this treelined drive thing and took some purrty pictures :D then she spent the night [we watched Sweet Home Alabama... she'd never seen it!!!!!!!!!!]

Sunday of last week - Church, and then I came home and watched 17 episodes of the office. HA. yeah.

Monday - I dunno what I did yesterday. Honestly! Wow. Um, thought i'd figured out a bill topic, but it turned out I couldn't do it.

SO YEAH.

bleh blah bleh.

I WANT A LEMON CAKE. but theyre at jell's house. and I'm at my house. Oh yeah, i forgot, lately I've been craving sugar and chocolate. and, uh... I've been eating straight frosting. [chocolate] it's SO GOOD.

anyways.

tooodledoos.

Moo little moo cow...

2010-10-05T13:11:00.001-05:00

moo!

Because I always do what Sera tells me to...

2010-09-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

NOT

Gosh, I love those guys. Haha. Psych is the best show ever - no joke.

So, I had written like half of this post. and then I clicked a button and it all deleted. and so I screamed, went and had a couple giant bites of pudding, and came back to persevere. So if I seem short.... that's why. (I must really love you, P. you better be freaking grateful.)

SO anyways!

"Oh yeah
So scared of breaking it that you won't let it bend
And I wrote two hundred letters I will never send
Sometimes these cut are so much deeper then they seem
You'd rather cover up, I'd rather let them bleed
So let me be and I'll set you free"

Gosh, I love those guys also. ;) Yeah. I bought Maroon5's new album. and it IS freaking amazing. I seriously adore it!

SO. Miss Seraphima A. Stoff (what is your middle name, Ser? May I suggest Alana? orr... Justine. Orrrrrr Marguerite. OR OR OR Isabella (pronounced spanishly), or Isalli (pronouced spanishly)or Rilla (pronounced spanishly)) ANYWAY Sera wants an account of what I've been doing lately. So here goes [accuracy improves as it goes along]

monday the 13th of september
Got HP & the Goblet of Fire. Went to acting, where I had to write a soliloquy and a bio (I hate writing about myself. NOT! haha, but yeah, sorta). Took my friend AnnaMae home, which was fun, cause we got to talk. Came home and read, and read some more, or something.

tuesday the 14th of september
Went to math class. Prof talked about linear equations and word problems. No time for doodles. came home, listened to 'the coffeehouse' a sirius XM radio station. read some more.

wednesday the 15th of september
went to the BEACH!! with my fam and my Oma and Aunt and Cousin [jell]. We went to surfside, and the water was CLEAR. excuse my geeking out - this is a Texas beach we're talking about. I mean, normally you can't see your hand an inch from your face. This time, my cousin took a picture of her leg, and could see it all the way... and more. I mean... WOW. anyways, I acted anti-social when we first got there, laid on the beach and finished my book [sorry cedric, but your death just wasn't that sad when surrounded by the beauty of the ocean. sucks for ya, though.] After I'd finished it I went and boogie-boarded a bit, and then went in and worked on a sandcastle - http://i-amawriter.blogspot.com/2010/9/ruins-of-abalone.html
I applied, applied again, and REAPPLIED my 8spf tanning lotion, but still came away with a nasty sunburn, all down one side of my back, my arms, even the backs of my hands. [which has just started peeling, but more on that later] Ate dinner/lunch in a place that smelled like a bathroom (and the bathroom smelled like an animal shelter) but the food was good. I watched something when I got home, but I can't remember what :/ sry!! oh, and all day I was singing The Only Exception, acoustic version. It was annoying cause I couldn't remember the words. but oh well! I did some math homework, but HP & The Order of the Phoenix was calling me, so I went to bed to read it. Read until 3 in the morning, when I realized I should finish my math homework. So I got out of bed, realized I had actually done all my homework except for one problem I wasn't sure about, and went back to bed.

thursday the sixteenth of september
went to class. prof talked more about word problems, no time for doodles. Came home and crammed all the work I'd missed on wednesday. Ignored my acting homework, which was to find a celebrity who was like me. went to Y&G. was shocked, but pleased, by the giant amount of people there. Went to bed to read. Read until 4 in the morning, when a poem suddenly struck me. Came out of bed, wrote said poem down, and went back, to read until i finished the book.. at 5 in the morning.

friday the seventeenth of september
Finished the tiny bit of school I had left. cleaned the house a bit, or something. Don't really remember. :D :D went to the mall for a friend's bday at 6. got an amazing parking spot, thanks to my aunt who saved it for me. ate delicious Taco Bell, and then went to Bible study. Bible study was awesome. at one point we had to write three things we were afraid of, and my name was on the top of my brother's and another friend's lists. I love it. :D after that I went back to the same friend's sleepover. ha. it was... interesting. we played a very boring truth or dare game, I, naturally, was the only one who did a dare. I ended up with ranch all over my face, and celery in my hand. *nods* played 'freeze' and the ABC game. Had an hour long politics and religon debate. Did a little 'talent show' thing :D went to bed at about 4:30 or so.

saturday the eighteenth of september
came home and cleaned. managed to finish all my chores before I went to a skit rehearsal thing at one. got cast and all that fun stuff, came home and talked to my dad for five minutes, went to blockbuster in the shooting rain and was afraid I was going to go flying across the road, but I didn't! :) watched HP & the Goblet of Fire with Oms, Auntie D, & J, but didn't have time for OotP. went home and discovered the Netflix app... not so great ;) entered NHHS members into a spreadsheet while watching bones.

sunday the nineteenth of september
went to church! forgot how much my sequined dress scratched me! good sermon. came home, thought I was going somewhere with my mom but we ended up not going cause it was raining again. changed into a much more comfortable outfit and watched a couple episodes of bones, and then went over to Oma's to watch Order of the Phoenix with all of them. Watched that, ate a yummy steak dinner, complete with WONDERFUL AMAZING CARBS (in potato AND bread form. GOSH carbs are GOOD)
anyways. Came home, watched another bones while finishing the NHHS stuff.

monday the twentieth of september
woke up at about noon. attempted to do school, got SOME math homework done, and then gave in and read HP & the Half Blood Prince all afternoon. Was almost done with it when I realized I was about to need to leave for acting and I had no idea where my solliloquy was PLUS i hadn't taken a shower and my hair was grody. SO i stopped RIGHT after Snape killed Dumbly and ran around looking for my soliloquy saying over and over again in my head 'I thought Snape was good, I thought snape was good' [SERAPHIMA JUSTINE STOFF DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS I HAVENT FINISHED DEATHLY HALLOWS YET AND IF YOU SPOIL IT... INCIPIO MORTALITIS!) didn;t find my soliloquy, decided to finish the book instead of write a new soliloquy ccause I knew I wouldn't be able to focus in acting otehrwise. finshed it, ran to the car, jetted of to acting, mentally writing a soliloquy all the way.got to acting, wrote it all down in my notebook and went in, only to find out we didn't really need it this week. We studied the way people lead (walking wise.) and that - pretty cool. I found out I was cast as the mother in The Nutcracker! I came home and watched last week's project runway, then skyped leiler, halfway through she decided she wanted to hear a show, so she three-way called me and her other friend Olivia, who is a rabid Kataanger. She [leila] would go, 'say something Kataang guys, say something Zutara' so I would say 'well, aang needs to die' and Olivia would go 'How can you think that, that's not right,' and leila would just be dying laughing. we had a nice little conversation though, while I finished the NHHS stuff. Until my mom came and told me it was time for beddie. started deathly hallows

tuesday the twenty-first of september
went to math. prof was just going over the problems I'd already done, so I had time to doodle two Azulas, one awful sokka, half a katara, hermoine, luna, and little ginny. :D got home and did some school. went to rehearsal and had a lot of fun. glitterfied our bake sale posters :D got home and went to bed, got to leila's fave chapters and sorta understood why they were her favorites (harry finally does something realistic, for one!) stopped just before the hogwarts invasion, cause i knew it was fairly late already.

wednesday the twenty-second of september
did school. and school. and school. :D burned my old paper license, which was satisfying. Got the new Maroon 5 album, which is amazing. started to write this blog post and got distracted writing a story, accidentely deleted this post, cussed, made and ate pudding, started to write this new one, went to gringoes and had enchiladas and frozen yogurt, came home, and finished this post :) :)

well

there ya go, Seraphima Justine [justine is definitely your middle name. definitely]

Now, I am completely out of words. I'll go scan all the doodles I've made over the last few days instead :)

The Ruins of Abalone

2010-09-22T17:47:00.000-05:00

"They came upon the ruins quite by accident.
'What is this place,' asked Sam fearfully
'The Ruins of Abalone,' replied Isabel, staring in awe, 'I thought they were just a myth.'
'Are they... haunted?' Eli scooted closer to his friends
'Sam will protect us if they are, right Sam?' Alise shot a subtle look at Sam through her eyelashes
'Uh...' Sam looked around the ruins, 'Well, I... um...'
'They're not haunted,' said Isabel finally,'Would you like to hear the tale?'
The other three nodded
'All right. Follow me then,' She strode purposefully over the bridge, careful to stay away from the crumbling sides, through the broken gap in the wall, and right up to the door of the center tower.'
Sam, Eli, and Alise followed her a bit more timidly.
'The tale of the Ruins,' Isabel smiled at her friends, 'Is one of mystery, above all else. No one knows what happened to the great Castle of Abalone, once known for it's lavish parties and gossip-ridden court life. Tales are told of the princesses and princes who ruled society from the Castle of Abalone, but no tale is told of it's decline... except one.' She took a deep breath, and smiled mysteriously at the others, "In the rule of Flavius and Neora Sevante, the castle came under attack. The great gardens, once known for their giant seahorse shrubberies, were left unkempt, the moat ran dry, and the towers crumbled. Flavius and Neora evacuated all their friends, family, and staff, but they stayed, wanting to liberate their castle or die trying. A letter written from Neora to her sister Quiani was found. In it, Neora said she'd found a way to keep the opposing army out, but she and Flavius would have to sacrifice to achieve it. She didn't say what they had to sacrifice. After taht, they were never heard of again, and the Castle of Abalone dissapeared off the map. The opposing army found themselves in their beds in their own homes, remembering nothing of the attack and seige. No-one ever spoke of the Castle of Abalone again. This has to be it!' At this she ran to the door and tried to pry it open. It wouldn't come. Sam and Eli jumped up,
'Let us try!'
She rolled her eyes, but nodded, and they set to work. She went to the windows. They were covered in sand, and permanently fogged with time. She tried to wipe them clean, but they were sporting the wear of ages. She was startled out of her cleaning attempts by a yell from Eli.
'We got it! Isabel, we got it!'
She and Alise ran to where the boys were staring apprehensively into the dark building.
'Oh, come on, there's nothing bad in there!' Isabel pushed them aside and started to go into the house
'We'll wait out here. Call if you need anything,' Alise exchanged a look with Sam, who nodded. Eli, on the other hand, shook his head.
'I'll go with you, Isabel.'
'Thanks.'
He nodded, and took her hand, 'We don't want to get separated, you know.'
'Right,' she said, a bit dis concertedly.
They tiptoed into the pitch black tower, attempting not to trip over anything. In the dim light from the open door Isabel could make out 500 year old furniture, slightly shabby, but otherwise in perfect condition. She moved a little closer to Eli, 'This is kinda creepy. Wish we had a light.'
'Yeah. Wait!' He fumbled in his pocket for a minute, and then pulled out a flash light, 'Here!'
'You had a flashlight in your pocket? Why did you -" She stopped talking as he shone the light around the room. It truly was eerie. It was as if they had stepped back into medieval times. Isabel pointed wordlessly at a spiral stone staircase. Eli nodded, and they made their way to it. They crept up the steps, Eli flashing his light before them, until they'd reached an opening into another large room. This one had a large four poster bed in the corner and - Isabel gasped - a roaring fire in the fireplace. A woman was sitting at a vanity combing her long brown hair. Eli tried to pull Isabel down the stairs, but she wouldn't budge.
'Neora?' She took a step towards the woman, much to Eli's annoyance.
The woman smiled slightly and gave a small incline of her head that sufficed as a nod.
'Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Eli! Oh my goodness, you're... you must be... oh my goodness.' Isabel was shaking, staring at Neora. The former queen came up, smile still present on her pale face, and took Isabel's hand.
'Thank you,' She breathed.
'What... for what?" Isabel managed to shrink from her touch and look excited by it at the same time.
'Only one who was not seeking the castle could find it, and only one who did not want to harm it could enter. You have achieved both, and thus have freed me and my husband, Flavius.'
At his name, a man appeared at the foot of a staircase that led up. He stared for a moment, shocked, at the newcomers, and then rushed to Neora's side.
'Have they done it?" he whispered to her. She nodded, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream of joy. she turned bemusedly to Isabel and Eli;
'I'm afraid fivehundred years does not help the voice.'
'Five... five hundred...' Eli shook his head
'Yes. Five hundred years ago we cast a spell upon this castle. Nothing in it would age, until such time as one of pure heart discovered it. Unfortunately, as the spell is impossible to cast outside of the object you are immortalizing, we had to stay for the span of time also. I'll admit, we've questioned our decision many times through the years. But perhaps... perhaps you can use these ruins as a teaching tool. Tell the world about our time, show them how we lived.'
'What about you?' Isabel frowned at the former Queen
'We are going to, finally, get some much needed rest.' Flavius smiled at Neora.
'Thank you, both of you.' Neora laid her hand upon their joined ones, 'May you have a wonderful life together.'
Eli reddened, 'Oh, we're not, I mean -'

'Hush, Eli.' Isabel was trying to listen to Flavius
A slow smile spread across Eli's face, and he moved closer to Isabel.
'Are you ready, my sweet?' Flavius had donned a crown, and given one to Neora.
'I am,' She placed her own crown upon her head, and gave the former King a kiss. THey made their way to the four poster bed and lay on it, on their backs, staring at the stone ceiling. Isabel turned into Eli and began to sob. He put his arms around her absentmindedly, stunned by the suddenness of the monarchs' death.
They came, blinking back out into the light, much closer and more fragile than when they had entered.
'What happened?' Sam noticed Isabel's tearstained face, 'Are you alright?'
'Isabel? Isabel, are you ok? Eli, what happened?' Alise looked from Isabel to Sam and back, worry lines disturbing her normally perfect face
'We're fine,' said Eli, 'Fine.
Isabel nodded. Then she turned to Eli, 'We have to get back, tell the professor. Do you realize what this means, Eli? This can be my first project. I'll finally be able to become a real archeologist. You too!'
He smiled down at her, 'I know. I'm so incredibly happy for us.'
Alise turned to Sam, 'I think more happened in there than they're telling us.'
Sam nodded, 'Definitely.'

Stories

2010-08-30T11:59:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Guess what? I have recently found quite a few original stories -just the first chapter or so- that are primed and ready for completion!
Here is where you come in- you get to pick which story I work on first! I will give you each story summary and you get to pick!
Ok-
Option one: '7 years of servitude', a story about a simple village girl who goes to work in the palace and finds surprises from, and about, her past. [first person - happy story - happy ending]
Option two: 'Unnamed Kung-Fu story'. A story about lei-lah, and her fight for the freedom of her people... and the love she didn't know she had [third person - sad story - semi-happy ending]
Option three: 'Unnamed Princess Story' - a story about a Queen named karlie, how she had to flee from an evil prince, and how she realized her plight wasn't so bad after all. [second/third person - semi-happy story- happy ending]
Option four - 'Savannah'- A girl is in love... with a lion. This is a story about loss, trials, and hardship... And finding humanity. [second/third person - semi-sad story - semi-happy ending]

Well, there are your choices!! The summaries suck, I know, but the stories are good (even if a bit cliche, in the case of the first and third;) let me know which one you want to see first (and/or second, third, and fourth) asap!! I'm liking these!!
:)
~LS
Sent from my iPod

meeehhh

2010-08-21T21:35:00.001-05:00

-_-

^^^ see that face? That's my 'meh' face. That's the face I make when I have a lot of good story and drawing ideas, and no way to put them down on paper because

A) I can't draw. at all.
B) at this particualr moment in time, I can't think of how to say what I want to say, so no story is happening
C) I JUST FEEL LIKE MEEEHHHH

hence the name 'meh face'

well, meh.

~LS

(PS - i wrote 'Zutara & Azokka' on my door in glitter glue/paint. it looks awesome :D)

Getting Licensed

2010-08-20T17:43:00.000-05:00

(excerpt from - The Utterly Normal & Boring Escapades of Elaine)

Today was the day! One of the most important days of her life, one of the milestones that marked her growth.
"I'm going to get my driver's license!" Elaine declared to all her facebook friends
She woke up at 7:10am so that she would have enough time to pretty herself for the photo. This picture would be her ID for a whole year... it was no time to skimp on the prep time.
She found herself with just the right amount of time, a great start to the day. She grabbed her large pile of forms and jumped in the car with her dad, eagerly anticipating the short line (since, of course, they were aiming for opening time... no one else would dare be there!) and the easy passage.
As she pulled into the parking lot she noticed a line outside of the door.
'Well, that's probably jsut the people waiting for the doors to open,' she explained to herself
As she and her father walked up to the doors, they realized that the people were in lines.

The lines had already escaped the building.
Sighing in resignation, she took her place in the correct line.

"This can't be too bad, right?" She wiped the humidity-caused fog off of her sunglasses and look up at the clear blue sky. At least it wasn't rainy! And hey, it was like a sauna out here! A free sauna! She smiled to herself, happy with her optimistic observations. And it only got better. She ran into a friend that she hadn't seen in a while, which was nice, and the line moved quickly inside the building.

and another hour passed

and another hour passed.

at one point she remarked to her father, "I see why they don't make shows, or write stories, about teens getting their licenses. It would be rather boring."
Her father chuckled and nodded.

after three and a half hours in line, they finally got to the desk. All their forms were in order, and everything was done quickly. Unfortunately, she still had to take the driving test. Frowning in annoyance, she scheduled her test for the following monday.

"Well, that went well." Her father made a face.
"Tell me about it," She sighed.

So much for all those plans for the weekend.

(~LS)

a grotesquely incorrect portrayal...

2010-08-18T00:51:00.000-05:00

It's still late. Somehow, I think I come up with my best work at these hours. Evidence;

JACKSON RATHBONE IS NOT AND WILL NEVER BE ANY FORM OF TEXAN, AND NEITHER IS JASPER. I DESPISE STEPHANIE MEYER FOR HER HEATHENISTIC AND GROTESQUELY INCORRECT PORTRAYAL OF THAT SUCH GLORIOUS THING AS A TEXAN MALE

a reply to Sera, who was claiming that Jasper was awesome cause he was a Texan. I say - battleship.

:P it's true, y'all

we are not, by any means, normal

2010-08-17T23:57:00.001-05:00

It's 11:51 pm. Want me to tell you how I know? I just had this conversation on im with Sera -

Sera says
can you read something for me, I need you to look over it and give me your opinion

LuLu says:
NO
NO NO NO

YOU WILL NOT FORCE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEe

Sera says:
pleez
someone HAS to read it

LuLu says:
I WILL NOT FALL FOR YOUR EVIL TRICKZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sera says:
wanna bet

LuLu says:
SHES TRICKSIE

Sera says:
HECK YA!!

LuLu says:
WHATS IN HER POCKETSES???

Sera says:
a new chapter

LuLu says:
SHE MUST KNOW THE WAY OUUUTTTTTTTTT

Sera says:
yes she does, give her four chapter and the way out will be found
sixteen to a happy ending

LuLu says:
MYYYY PREEEECIIIIIIIIOUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

Sera says:
twenty to get it to all come crashing down

LuLu says:
smeagol knows. smeagol knows the truth. smeagol sees your tricksies. SMEAAAAGOOOOL KNOOOOOWSSSSS

*sera puts chapter excerpt that LUTHIEN DOES NOT WANT TO SEE*

LuLu says:
MY EYES ARE CLOSED
IM NOT READING THAT
YOU ARE TRICKSIEEEEEEEE

Sera says:
CMON CORA!!
PLEASE!!!
I NEED YOUR OPINION TO SEE IF I SHOULD CHANGE ANYTHING!!!
PLEASE!!!
WITH A BIG RED SUPER SWEET CHERRY ON TOP!! AND A FREE ZUKO!!

honestly, I wonder. do normal people talk like this? 'Cause... I doubt it. :D

my preciousssss

~LS

Letting Go

2010-08-13T17:57:00.000-05:00

This is Sera's world, that I'm using :D for more Pandora & Luthien go visit her blog!! Serastoff.blogpost.com

"

She felt torn. In many, many ways.

In one way, she wanted her friend to leave. Perhaps it would be easier than this slow band-aid that was being painfully pulled off. If she left, then maybe the salt would stop falling on this open wound. Perhaps her heart would stop its random aching.

In another way, obviously, she didn’t want her friend to leave. She wanted to drag it out, to be able to be with her as long as possible.

“Why must she go?” Luthien recalled her whiny pleading, her immature unacceptance

“She’ll have a better future if she leaves, Lu. Besides, she’s not happy here, you know it!”

“She’s plenty happy here! We have lots of fun! She’d grow to love it even more if she stayed!”

“Luthien, please. Pandora needs to go back to where she’s happy; she needs to go to where she’ll be able to grow more. Don’t fight it.”

She had stalked off, angry at the predicament. She’d sat on the window seat in her room (her favorite place in the whole house) and stared at the sky, the heavy gray clouds echoing her feelings.

“Who will take care of her? Who will watch her, protect her?” Luthien sighed, knowing no-one would answer her.

A sudden call from her mother caught her attention.

“Luthien, a letter!”

She ran down eagerly, hoping perhaps it was something that would help this awful day.

“It’s from Li!”

She smiled. This probably would brighten her day.

She read the message, a standard one about the amazingness of life in general, and felt better. As she returned her gaze to the gray sky, a thought suddenly struck her.

“Li will watch her, Li will protect her! Li knows she’s special, Li knows about her tendencies.”

She knew that Pandora was trying to have a semi-normal life, despite her mental conditions. She knew that Pandora couldn’t stay here and do that. Gradually, over the months before Pandora left, Luthien became accustomed to the idea. She accepted it, was happy for Pandora even. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss her, wouldn’t ache sometimes.

Now, she wanted to rip the band-aid off. She was sitting here, in this old familiar tree (Pan’s favorite), thinking about life in general. Her journal lay open next to her, half a page filled out. There was no other way she knew how to express her feelings except through writing. Writing was emotionless and emotion-filled at the same time. The very phenomena of writing something down in a journal could not be explained. She picked it up again and began to write, the sound of the pen softly connecting with the paper was like a balm to her wounds. She let the tears flow as she wrote, not caring if her eyes would be red or her head would ache. Tears must flow sometimes, despite society’s looking down upon them.

She scribbled a poem that had suddenly come to her in the soft twilight

“For though time passes, we stay still
Sitting, laughing, upon this hill

I smile at you, and you smile at me
We wonder what we might not be

A dancer, a writer, an artist, we scream
these are the simple things we dream

We wish upon the shooting stars
but will we end up tending bars?

For dreams are funny, angry things
they fly around on paper wings

Eventually the wings get torn
and new thoughts and dreams are born

The old ones turn to ash and die
to the corners of our hearts they fly

To stay and grow and fester and mold
until we have grown far too old

For them to ever happen, or such
these dreams feel stale to the touch

And we cry at night as we remember them
What could, and might have very well been

Our future lives as actresses and writers
have fallen in proverbial fires

And burnt to death, as we can see
Burning flesh and death smell we

Our lives have turned to nothing more
than a simple wooden score

And nothing that we say or do
could bring us back to twenty-two

So let us stay here, and speak our dreams
for, perhaps, if we believe, these things

They will come to pass, that is;
if we work , and study too

We will be able to accomplish
things through Him who strengthens us

And anything is possible through Him

Impossible things, like flying, living, dreaming
are possible, through HIM, God our father

So let us leave this pretty hill
go to achieve our dreams, we will

And pray and hope for happy lives
in which I become a loving wife

And you can live where’re you wish
I will visit you with a covered dish

We’ll smile and laugh like always
and it’ll be more than just a phase

It will be our life, filled with love
and joy, and everything stereotypically included above

And when we feel down, we’ll remember this hill
and sitting and laughing and talking still

We will always be friends, always love each other, never will we be able to completely and utterly separate.”

Luthien tore it out and stuck it in the hole in the tree. She knew Pandora would visit here before she left in the morning, and hopefully she’d see this. Brushing a stray tear from her eye, Luthien slid off the tree, relishing in the simple joy of the way the grass felt on her bare feet. She walked tiredly home, emotionally exhausted. Smiling at her complete and utter emotionality and her over dramatic-ness she gave a sudden skip. Life was good, and anyone who couldn’t see that was blinder than a mole.

Yes, a mole!

Never will we be able to completely and utterly separate. This carries me on."

~LS

Facts

2010-08-11T00:04:00.000-05:00

There are some things in life that we know for sure. No doubts. Things like: the sun will always rise in the morning, and the moon will do the same at night. Every morning we will be rudely awakened by beams of gold, and every night we will be serenaded to sleep by beams of silver. This is something we will never question, never worry about... never even consider it becoming non-existent. We can see the sun every day, we can see the moon every night (even 'new moon' we can still see its shadow). Everyone in our history has been able to see the sun and moon. It is an 'unquestionable' fact of life.

It is a part of time; time is the same. We know time will pass. No one exclaims at the fact. No one is surprised by the changing of seasons; no one is surprised to grow older. Saddened by it perhaps, but it is expected. We don't see time, but we know it is there, always moving, always passing us by.

If these things, things that we can and can't see, are accepted so readily, why isn't the existence of God? Why, when he is so plainly visible everywhere and in everything, is he not believed in by every being on this earth? We can accept the passage of time, the rising and setting of the sun and the moon, our own mortality, the life of the things around us... yet we cannot readily accept God. Even the strongest Christian has doubts on occasion. I can bet you have never gone to bed thinking; 'I wonder if the sun will rise tomorrow. I wonder if it will be a new day, or the same one. I wonder if next year will come. I wonder if I will ever die.' You know these things will happen. The same way, I can bet you have gone to bed at least once thinking; 'Is God really real, and even if He is does he really love me? Was it really Him who created all of this?'

Truly, it is sad. God's presence in creation, His ultimate and unconditional love for us is visible everywhere, in every tree and every cloud, in every smiling face and every angry one. He is the one who makes the sun rise and the years go by, the one who changes the seasons and carefully crafts wrinkles onto our faces. He is always there, always loving us; wayward, sinful us!

Sunbeams will always fall in the morning, and moonbeams will always fall at night. If these things are true, how much more is it true that God will always love and care for us; always be there.

Hebrews 13:5b - 'I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you'

Job 37: 5-6, 14-16, most of 38, "God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'
¹⁴Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the twinkling Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? ^42:1-2Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted.'"

~LS

The grass is always greener...

2010-07-19T11:30:00.002-05:00

Winter's ice loses its glory,
We tire of cold and white.
And with heavy hearts we count the months
'til flowers are in sight.

We cry with joy at the first warm breeze
And the tidings it may bring
For we know the grass is always greener
In the first few months of spring.

Birthday Buddies

2010-07-18T15:14:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was my birthday. It was also Harrison Ford's birthday. I wonder if he looks as much forward to it as I do. Does his life revolve around his birthday? Is his email address 'guns-r-better-than-swords713@gmail.com'? (I bet it is). Is his favorite number 13 (mine is), his favorite month July, his favorite season summer? These are the questions that keep me up at night. That and... are sheep really just clouds that have assumed organic shape?? It's really a wonder I get any sleep at all! ;)

happy post-birthday to me!!

~LS

Blue Sky and TLA

2010-07-17T23:06:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how a bad movie can ruin your week, especially when you were expecting it to be horrible. Of course, it makes a bit more sense when you throw in the fact that you have waited six months (counting down the days) for this movie, that you dressed up and went to the midnight premier (and ended up finding out that your 'genius' costume sucked and you looked/felt awful) ...

in case you haven't yet deduced it I'm talking about The Last Airbender (hereafter reffered to as 'TLA')

I am far too het up to write anything even closely resembling a review, so I'll give you pieces of other people's... with my commentary in brackets {like this}

Sera writes: So I went to the A:tla movie premier!! Needless to say, I hated the movie! Don't get me wrong, I love M. Night, {as do I} but it takes a true trooper to get past the lack of acting (although Zuko and Sokka were great!{Still hated them, casting wise}), plot and character development. And through the whole movie I kept waiting for something truly funny to happen, or some sarcasm to blow me away. HELLO!!! Where on Earth were Sokka's endless sarcastic quips... or his intense love of meat? In the show Aang character may have been a little bit emo (VERY emo when Appa got taken) but he still had a sense of childish humor, WHERE THE HECK WAS THIS IN THE FREAKIN MOVIE!!?! Katara spent the entire film looking like she was about to cry... What? Where was her preachy hopefullness!! Why where the Earthbenders weak? Where were the Kyoshi warriors {I was confused by this, because I saw a picture of them... so did they get cut at the very last moment???}? Why was Yue's father dead? Where was Hahn (Yue's fiancee)? Why does it take four hours to make one water whip (And people wonder why the Fire Nation took near complete control of the world?)?

I'm going to blame the writers.
{All of these things bugged me too, as well as a few other things. Erica AKA GreenifyME summed up most of everything else:}

Erica writes:
As for the characters/acting/writing: Let me just say that it wasn't really the race thing that bothered me about these characters. You could quickly get over that. {yeah you could. I was over that in may...}Yes, Katara's family seemed to be the only white family in the Southern Water tribe (the rest were Inuit), but after seeing that the entire Northern water tribe was white, and knowing that Kanna came from there, I allowed myself to buy it. Sure. Whatever. But we barely had time to even get to know Sokka and Katara or even really learn to love them. They were just sort of "there" for the whole movie, besides the very beginning, when they actually had more than a couple words to say. And when they did, well, it wasn't very good. Which brings me to the writing...which was unbelievably awful. {YES YES YES. this was what bugged me the MOST. ugh ugh ugh. continue for more}

I don't know what on earth Shyamalan was thinking when he wrote this script. It would almost be impossible for anyone to perform good acting in a movie that forces you to speak such cheesy and out-of-place dialog. I literally cringed at a few parts...even giggled.{um yes. there was ALL OUT LAUGHING at some parts. my word, shamamallama!} There was nothing natural about the way they spoke, it was just awkward. The pacing of the whole film was terrible. I really don't blame the actors for this, I blame Shyamalan. That being said, Katara could have seeeeriously toned down the melodrama. Nicola Peltz had a tendency to over-act, and everything she talked about seemed to require her bugging her eyes out or having tears in them, or both, and having a constantly shaky voice like she was about to have an emotional breakdown at any second. But once again, this is not her fault. It is the director's job to direct. To say "cut". To say, "Let's try that again with less DRAMA." But that, he did not do.

Noah Ringer's performance started off pretty shaky, but he did seem to get better as he went on, and I did like him at the end of it all. Sokka was pretty good, and was allowed a few humorous parts. Dev did really well in his delivery and emotions, even if what was coming out of his mouth was bizarre. And everyone else was just alright.
Also, Azula does show up at the very, very end, bowing before her father and in a flashback. She looks the part, but we'll see, if there's a second movie. {I LOVED azula!! I loved loved loved her! I sincerely hope they change writers/directors (Although I love shamamallama.... this movie just didn't work for him) so she can actually get a chance to work the part!}

One thing that bothered me was that Aang, in ocean spirit form, did not kill Zhao. A band of waterbenders literally just appeared, lifted him up into a ball of water until he drowned, then dropped his butt and walked away. O_o I was like alright... {yeah, that was weeeeiiiirddd. I was like.. okkk. guess hes... dead??}
Honestly, the most Aang did in that form was lift up a huge wall of water (like you saw in the trailers), and that alone scared the entire fire nation into leaving. That's it. Huge wall of water= we're done for. He didn't even USE it against them! It was just a warning!{EEEEEERRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH I hated that! I was looking forward to Aang Koi!}
And then of course, there's the name changes. Yes, Sokka, Aang, and Iroh are indeed all pronounced differently. Sokka is now Soh-ka, Aang is now Ohng, and Iroh is now Eeroh. I don't care what Shyamalan's reasoning for this was, it was unnecessary. All it did was throw the audience off every time one of those names were said. I'd hear whispers and giggles. It was distracting. {hee hee, ummm yess, we were the ones giggling. and ONCe when someone said 'Ong' Leiler went 'grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!' really loudly, and then we couldn't stop laughing and then.... ummmm... yeah. Sorry everyone in the theater with us!}

SO yes, that's pretty much that. Both of those sum up what I {Lu} feel about TLA. I despised it but at the same time... it was atla. on screen. in real life. SO MUCH POTENTIAL... and... failure.

:)

It is even more amazing how a simple patch of blue sky, a shower, some new cover up, and a night with your family can turn it all back around.

It might seem a little overdramatic if I say that with the failure of TLA I lost my will to live. But it did send me into one of those 'funks' where you don't see the point in anything. I wasn't even excited for my super-birthday celebration, which is going to be amazing!

I'm here to tell you that when you feel like that don't give up! Find the blue sky, drink some coffee, do something you always do that makes you happy, write a song, bake a cake, take a shower! Go shopping or to lunch with a friend, read your Bible, sing, pray, just live life... normal, wonderful life!

:)

~LS

Reminiscing

2010-07-14T23:52:00.000-05:00

So I just posted this pic on deviantart - http://luthiensnowtail.deviantart.com/art/Reminiscing-171371141

and it made me sappy. So I wrote a little paragraph. and it's perfect blog fodder. so here goes:

"I sat and watched her through the window. It was as close as I could get, nowadays. She leaned on the hood of her car (her very own car) and laughed at something that the boy standing by her had said. Another girl came out of the house holding a camera, and took a picture of my girl and the boy. After they were done posing they all got into the car and drove off, my girl driving. I knew she'd come back tonight and type away at her computer, or scribble in her journal. Time was she would tell ME all the important goings on. But that time has passed, something I must learn to accept. It is hard, becoming obsolete. I would despair, were it not for my girl's soft heart, her sentimentality. I know she'll never toss me out. She still picks me up and kisses me whenever I get tossed onto the floor. She still holds me as she falls asleep. And she still talks to me, only once in a while. I'll always be there, always be close by. I'm her teddy, and that's what teddies do."

ack. that's seriously like one of the best things I've ever written

:)

~LS

I'm so-kkanfused

2010-07-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all!! I have a lot of things to tell you, mainly about TLA, but right now I am at Sera's house ;)

She just informed us that she is going to marry a sexy ninja.

and Jell said that Zuko and the Kim Possible guy are hotter than any other japanese guy ever. :D :D

speaking of Jell, the weirdo, she just got a bloggy! so you get her side of this crazy story we call life! :)

check it -http://ajarofjelly.blogspot.com/ :)

sayonara!

(Leiler, Sera, and Jelly say hi. They;re watching me {type this})

JELL IS TOPH

haha :)

<3
LS

natural entertainment

2010-06-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

"She stared morosely at the road in front of her. The grass was itchy, the bugs were biting, and absolutely nothing exciting was happening. The road was as boring as the golf on the TV inside. Which begged the question: why wasn't she inside, where there was air conditioning and a remarkable lack of bugs. I mean, if the levels of boredom were the same...
She pondered this for a moment, and then smiled slightly.
She had come outside originally to escape the cats in the house, the allergens that debilitated her. Now she realized she was outside because the world was much more entertaining. Currently she was listening to a symphony of cicadas, and watching the cadence of her neighborhood's activity. The mosquitoes were annoying, sure, but the heat...
She reveled in the extreme humidity, the type that made her hair curl and her clothes feel moist [more moisture than simple sweat could create]. And the heat... the heat made her feel alive.
As she discovered these revelations her smile grew. It was a glorius day. Why would anyone want to be inside?"

~LS

O to be a bird

2010-06-17T13:35:00.001-05:00

A little ditty type poem I wrote. I had the title 'Oh to be a bird with wings' in my head for a while... it popped into my brain when I was swinging, you know, like on a playground. It is quite wonderful. I finally actually wrote it the other night... and ended up with random haikus. :D ah, the dear japanese influence!

"O' to be a bird with wings
And fly over you flightless things
Up I would soar to see the sky
I'd go until I was so high
I couldn't see the ground

I dream and dream of this
Until it turns into a wish
I continue to wish to fly up there
Where you can feel the wind in your hair
And the bugs in your teeth...

Oh to be a bird
Then I could fly 'cross the world
across the wide sea

Though I suppose being a bird
You couldn't say a word
You wouldn't be understood
You'd be expressive as wood

And I suppose, being a bird
No wits would be assured
You could be as dumb as a rock
To think would be... a shock!

I suppose, a bird
Cannot eat hamburgers, such
A sad tradgedy!

I think I like my life
Though it has a bit of Strife
I'll be content with walking
Thinking, eating, living, and talking!

I will be happy with myself
Put that dream upon a shelf
And I'll love my fellow flightless things
despite our sorrowful lack of wings

I am glad I am
not a bird, for how very
restrictive and sad"

Shila Epilouge (Pianikpok) - A/N [AKA a really long a sappy post :D]

2010-06-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

[BTW this is my 80th post! :) pretty epic 80th post, I think! :D]

So, wow. It's over! eeeps!! Before I go all sappy and comment on how much of a journey this has been, and all that good stuff, first let me comment on this epilouge!

**
This epilouge took me AGES, but not as long as I thought it would. it turned out TOTALLY different from how I had originally planned it, but I think I like it. I think! :D

so, Iroh. Yeah, that was sad, but I downplayed it, cause I didn't want to cry ;(. I needed someone to die and Iroh seemed the easiest. It was a bit wimpy, but I didn't want to get rid of anyone else. Well, Aang is a different story.

Hikari means light in japanese!! :) I LOVE that name, too! I was so happy when i searched it and found out it was such a pretty name!

Azula! I love her! She was soooooo fun to write! At first I thought I made her a bit TOO childish, but Sera said she was fine. I mean, her main problem is that her mother [supposedly] doesnt love her, so... yep.
Seriously, I want to write like 500 azula one-shots now. She is really fun to write. Try it! no, really...
hee hee, YES i did put a march hare moment in there! I couldn't help myself! It was just begging to be written!!
Oh and this line - “I guess so. It really is Zuzu’s baby? Not that moustache man? The earthbender? You two seemed to –“ LOL omg that crax me up SO MUCH!!! I was like dying when I wrote it... haha!

so. Sokka and Kya hadn't fought! I was like, WHAT? thats impossible! so, yep. :D

:D

OH and I wrote that thunderstorm paragraph one night when there was a giant storm outside. I was like 'ahh, I have to put a storm in my story!' :)

Kya is a bit weepy. But so am I... so... yeah. There is nothing wrong with being emotional!!! :P :D

Yes, Zuko and Kat named their son after Iroh. Isn't that so sweet?? :)

LOOK -> I explained Mai and Ty Lee's absence! haha. not well enough, I know. But I really didn't want to mess with them... I had more than enough characters already. (next time I write a story, remind me to narrow my focus to two or three characters, not like TEN! omyword. haha)

Yeah, so... I'm not really sure what Kya did either. that horizontal column somehow stopped the lightning. And since Ky didn't WANT to hurt azula, it didnt. Please, don't examine it. It is full of flaws :D

Sooo, um, sorry leila for kinda making your life tragic :D but hey, you ended up with Cha-li! so its k, right??? haha.

Oh yeah, and, I had written this whole thing minus Aang's viewpoint. Like, Sokka just got the letter and then it went back to Kya's pov. but then I realized that I kinda needed to go into detail a bit. So, I put that little bit in. And then had to make this FB status: 'thought people would worry that I just googled 'how fast do you die if you get stabbed in the chest with a knife' until I found a yahoo answer for it and the person who asked the question was in the same predicament as me: writing a story :D'

and yeah, those avatar relics are two of the ones we saw in 'The Storm' :)

and I don't know what shila did to aang. avatar magicky stuff, I guess. :D :D

well, there ends THAT portion of the authors note :) now on to the sap...

:)

Wow. I cannot believe this is over!

When I started this I hadn't even seen the third season. In fact, i think I started it because I wouldn't be able to get the third season for a while and I was having withdraws :D

So, I know I'm going to go back and hate those first few chapters (i already re-wrote chap 3! haha) but it's ok! This was my first fully digital (like, I wrote it all on the computer) story to complete! I can't believe I actually did it! It's amazing, really.

mainly I need to thank Bryke, for creating such an awesome universe to write about! :D and all the voice actors, for living in my head and helping me out! :D
thanks to SERA! omd! Without her, thsi story would suck, no kidding! she was (almost) always there on chat when I needed to bounce ideas, validate viewpoints, or rant about zutara! :) thanks sis!
thanks to my family, who doesn't even know what the heck this story is about, but knows I am writing a story and gives me my space when i'm in the zone :D and tolerates my 'ZUTARA SHOULD BE CANON' random screams :D
thanks to Leila, for actually reading this story! haha! and for inspiring an awesome, if underused, character! :)
Thanks to Dr. Pepper, Fritos, Funyuns, Fast Breaks, and fudge popsicles (OMD do I have a thing for the letter F? What is that about?) for keeping me from going insane! :D
Thanks to my computer for being amazing! :D
and now for the music portion of this.

So, a long time ago, (not really that long) I realized that there were certain songs that fit with this story. So I created a playlist that I called the 'soundtrack'. I will now share this with you:

Stand in the Rain - Superchick
Save You - Kelly Clarkson
Shadowland - Various Artists(The Lion King [Original Broadway Cast])
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Stumptown - Nickel Creek
Maybe - Kelly Clarkson
Somebody Like You - Keith Urban
If I Fell - Evan Rachel Wood
I Want You - Kelly Clarkson
You Remind Me - Allie Moore
Breakeven (Falling to Pieces) - The Script
I Can`t Stop Loving You - Keith Urban
4 Minutes (feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland) - Madonna
It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
Love Is Worth the Fight - Lanae' Hale
Have you ever really loved a woman? - Bryan Adams
He Lives in You (Reprise) - (Various Artists The Lion King [Original Broadway Cast])
When the Rain Comes - Third Day
Used To The Pain - Keith Urban
Without You - Brooke Fraser
Learning to Fall (Bonus Track) - Love and Theft

That is the Shila Soundtrack :) It is amazing and it really fits, and I love it. :D

other music that I owe my writing capabilites to (for I could not write without music...)

Jack Johnson
Gregory and the Hawk (thanks Alicia aka Squishpie!)
Veer-Zaara soundtrack
Pablo Cassals Bach Cello Suites
DMB (just the song You and Me)
Across the Universe Soundtrack
Replay - Iyaz
John Mayer
Kris Allen
Owl City
Maroon 5
Allie Moore

and THE TRACK TEAM omyword, without them... avatar would have been half of what it is! :)

ok, so... I'll stop being sappy!

I'll tell you now: There will be NO sequel. Haha! I love this AU, and Kya, but... yeah. haha. Maybe a one-shot, but that's unlikely :)

:D

EEK I don't want to end it. I need to bite the bullet

fin

<3

~LS

Ill-I-My

2010-06-15T16:56:00.000-05:00

I've done one of these before, but they're just so fun... had to do it again! This is to tide you over until Shila's epilouge is up! [BTW IT'S DONE OMD! I just have to proofread, which could take a while :D]

1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing this as well as the person you got this from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Remedy [David Crowder Band]
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Our Kind of Love [Lady Antebellum]

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Umbrella (so I never have to worry about the rain?) [Rihanna]

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Giving It Up For You [Holly Brook]

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Give Me Your Eyes [Brandon Heath]

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Alone (LOL) [Allison Ireheta]

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Daughters (not really... haha) [John Mayer]

WHAT IS 2+2?
Potential Breakup Song [Aly & AJ]

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Believe [Britt Nicole]

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
So Small [Carrie Underwood]

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Words I Can't Say (L O L) [Rascal Flatts]

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Love Don't Live Here (LOL) [Lady A]

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Sweetest Goodbye [Maroon 5]

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
What Can I Say [Carrie Underwood]

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Raise The Barn [Keith Urban feat. Ronnie Dunn]

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Hopelessly Devoted to You [Grease Soundtrack]

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Irvine [Kelly Clarkson]
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Hole [Kelly Clarkson]

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (LOL) [The Lion King soundtrack]

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Good People (LOL again!!) [Jack Johnson]
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Surely, Surely [Israel Houghton]

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Spring Again [Lanae Hale]

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
You Found Me [The Fray]

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Revelation (if we are talking the book in the bible... close! :D) [Third Day]

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Drive My Car [the Beatles]

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Real Gone [Sheryl Crow]
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Ill-I-My [toby mac]

you know what bugs me?

2010-06-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

that sokka doesn't recognize Suki when he sees her at the Ba Sing Se ferry-port-thing. he doesn't even recognize her face! I mean sure, she's makeupless and all, but come ON!

its so blatantly obvious that he's made for me.

sooooo obvious.

;D

~LS

Crossroads of... destiny? Perhaps... well, no, destiny works!

2010-06-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been driving a lot.

The problem with this is that I am not good with directions. I'm too easily distracted.

I keep getting lost. I keep ending up at the intersection of 'Procrastination' and 'Work' and I have to make a choice but I can't decide.

The main issue is the time of year. I still have a lot of stuff waiting for me on 'Work' but the same goes for 'Procrastination.' I look down 'Procrastination' and I see flowers, rainbows, and butterflies. I look down 'Work' and I see storm clouds, dead trees, and zombies.

See, sometimes, when I choose to continue along 'Procrastination' I end up getting *some* things done, just not the things that count.

If I would just make myself turn onto 'Work', I would find the key. Because it turns out if you take 'Work', you end up on 'Freedom'. 'Procrastination' keeps crossing 'Work', but 'Freedom' is freedom.

I mean come on, rainbows and flowers make me sneeze anyway. And storm clouds and dead trees are so poetic and inspirational. I can do it: I can choose 'Work'

I think I'll just get on Interstate 'Sleep' and go until it ends. Then I'll wake up and get out of this metaphor nightmare. :D

;)

~LS

C'est La Vie

2010-06-02T23:36:00.000-05:00

[written 5/21/10]

That is my new favorite 'commonly used phrase' (What is the word? It's not a cliche, or a quote or anything. Maxim, maybe? Hmm. I'm not quite sure of the definition of maxim. ahh... [just looked it up] Maxim: N. 'An expression of a general truth or principle, espescially an aphoristic or sententios one.' I see. So somewhere between a cliche and a maxim. Oh dear.)
Anyway, 'Such is life'... (Doesn't C'est la vie sound so much more poetic? haha, foriegn languages always sound better :D) pretty much describes my mode of thinking. I talk, about my life. And it is a great title to generalize what I am saying. Like the Photo Album I have on FB that is called C'est la vie... it's just a bunch of random pictures from the events I have gone to during the month. Such is life.

anyway (my other favorite word, as I'm sure you've noticed...)

I have this old computer

well, to me, it's new. It was my dad's (or his buisness partner's, or someone's) a long time ago.

I mean a long time ago.
well, not that long. over half my life, which I suppose I am qualified to call 'long'. But not that long ago.

Anyway, this particular 'dinosaur', as my brother calls it, is an IBM thinkpad. ['99 or 2000 I believe. But I could be wrong. might be '01]

Yeah, remember those? Remember when that was what companies gave? When ever single computer programmer (And perhaps other people... I know mainly cps so... ha) had one???
I remember that.

Well, turns out the little buggers are quite hardy. My cousin Jella has one also, except hers is a bit newer I think... it has wireless at least. Or, she just keeps is more updated... I dunno *shrugs*.

So, We've had this comp for a while. For a bit it was said that it would be my brother's. But I think he kinda lost interest when he found out it didn't have wireless. plus, it was dead... the cord, or 'brick' as my dad calls it, was lost somewhere in the fifty bajillion cords we own.

Recently (A couple weeks-ish) my dad tore apart all of his cord boxes looking for the connector for a wireless keyboard, and he found the brick!

Perhaps I should explain a bit more.

I have a fantastic computer. An HP Pavilion, got it christmas '07. It is a bit full, but other than that it runs great. Really awesome computer. I have stickers all over it, and it's totally mine. But it also has a 16" screen. It's really not very portable. And I do all my writing, or most of it, on Microsoft Word. That way I don't have to copy it from a notebook, cause I'm horrible at that!
anyway, I had been wanting a super cheap, small, computer, so that I could use it basically like an electronic notebook. I had sorta been looking, when a stray best buy catalouge was lying around or so, but those little dudes run at about 300-400$ which isn't TOO bad, but not really what I wanted to spend. My price range was more about 0-10$... :D

So as soon as I saw this IBM, I was elated. Completely ecstatic. It's tiny (foot long screen, maybe?) and it fits in my life bag (more on that later) and it has word! Plus, it doesn't have internet so I can keep it in my room, and I don't get too distracted while I'm writing (Although I still have my iTouch to check thesaurus.com or avatarwikia or such)

Even though I balked a little bit when I realized it had word '97. '97!!!!! haha :D I got over it eventually, though!

I even personlized it some with a new, perfect, wallpaper from shopruche.com...

Oh yeah, I have a really adorable thumbdrive I use to transport stories and such from the IBM to the HP, so I can upload them, and such.

:)

mucho bueno

What have I been listening to recently

Veer-Zaara soundtrack: Listening to Lodi and cracking up when he says 'notabooka-eh'
My Paper Heart, Francesca Battesteli: and I thought Free to Be Me was good. This album is fantastic!
The soundtrack genre on my ipod: I put it on shuffle, just in the soundtrack genre. I have 199 songs, and some of my fave albums are 'Across the Universe', 'Veer-Zaara', 'Happy Feet', 'Shrek 2', 'Up' (I owned it way before it won the Oscar, or whatever that was, thanks to my addicted little sister), and 'The Lion King' which is my favoritist album of any genre ever. Yep

Well, C'est La Vie!!

:)

Ciao!

:D

~LS

Shila CHP3 (Suinnak) REVISED EDITION - A/N

2010-05-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

So, I rewrote this chapter, because I hated the previous version. I'm moving the previous version to 'Thought wasps and Luna moths' so it'll still be up. Like a deleted scene :)

Not too much to say here! Except I like this version much better, it kinda sets up Macahty a lot more.

for the previous author's note, which pretty much says what I would normally say :)

thanks!

~LS

Shila CHP20 (Uitayok) - A/N

2010-05-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

As you can imagine, I have a whole story's worth of things to say about this chapter. But, really, since I can't sit there next to you and give you a running commentary, I don't have that much! :D

I love love love the letters idea. I kinda, sorta, not really but almost got the idea from a fic i read which I can't remember the name of right now. But I'll remember eventually! :D

in fact, I got so caught up with the letters that it was really hard for me to go back to writing dialouge haha. :D

SO this chapter is pretty epic. it is of epic proportions anyway. hee hee.

*sigh*

hahah, Sera wanted Zuzu to play the Tsungi Horn.So, I got them all drunk. hee hee. :D

OH and the name Yuuchi (pronouced somewhat like 'yoo-ee-chee' but with the 'ee' barely noticible.) I asked her 'what would you name your first child' and she's like, 'boy = yuuchi!' :D

OH and Liluye's thing may be a bit unbelievable, but really think about it. Sokka and katara really would have made an impression on Chief arnook, not to mention Aang. And, since Yue is gone, he would need an heir (although, admittedly, he probably would have already picked one but whatever) SOOO Kat and SOk could put in a few words and suggest Lil. PLUS that would also pretty much clinch the loyalty of Nuuk, since before they werent *clearly* NWT.

so, yup :D

hehe, my favorite line in this: 'he stroked the beard he'd been growing out'.. OH YEAH BABY! bearded sokky! hahah :D 'I can't, it is permanently glued to my face!'
:D

OH YES and I used the songs Have you Ever Really Loved a Woman [bryan adams] and They live in you/he lives in you [the lion king] for helaku's encouters :D

OMG only the epilouge left! wow! I can't believe it! Don't worry, I'll save all the sappiness for the last A/N :D

OH and I am about a third of the way through the epilouge. I think I'm gonna go back and fix everything first though... rewrite the zutara chapter. :)

translations -
Uitayok Opened eyes

(I'm not going through and finding any others. If they're there, they're not new. They're translated in one of the previous A/Ns :))

2010-05-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

"I found myself in a predicament scarily similar to Emma's [Emma, Jane Austen]
I wanted so much for this Mr. Elton to like this Harriet. I worked toward it. I was a bit less modest than Emma though; I suspected him of liking me. The thing was, this Mr. Elton and Harriet fit so very well together, it was plainly obvious they were made for each other. I grow happy just thinking about it. But how on earth could I get Mr. Elton's focus off of me and onto Harriet?
Although I could just be really vain in thinking he had any interest in me.

better safe than sorry, right?

Though he definitely didn't ignore my Harriet.

Luckily I didn't have to worry about it now. In fact, if they did get together now I would be worried. Much too young"

Shila CHP18 (Omayok) - A/N

2010-05-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

SO wow. this chapter took me a very very very long time. yup. Sorry 'bout that, invisible readers! :)

I love it!

soooo, because I am utterly and completely OCD I have to have 20 chapters. 21 with the prolouge. I absolutely adore the numbers 20 and 21, so yup. 19 and 20 not so much... haha :D so there will be one more chap and then an epilouge!

I got a new computer that basically serves as a notebook, so hopefully I'll get a bit more done... haha :D in fact, the next chap is almost done! :D

~Translations~
ningarsareitok tireganierk - Irascible Fox
Omayok - is alive

Obsession

2010-04-29T16:37:00.000-05:00

so hello.

:)

this is a post with pictures.
about AtLA. and Zutara. :)

lets start with AtLA...

Yesterday my mother and I went to the beach! She had an eye appointment in a town right by the beach, so we just hopped on down to the sea when she was done! We were only there for about 20 minutes, but it was enough time for me to do this -

confused as to what that is?

perhaps that helped? It is a bit better angle. still unsure??

:) Yes, i copied Iroh's sand drawings from the episode 'Bitter Work! :D I am a bit annoyed that I mixed up the places of the air and water, but its ok! :) I must concur with Sera and Leiler's conclusion though... anime sand is NOTHING like real sand. ;D

Fire was my favorite! (naturally... being a firebender!)

Water was the hardest! I swear, it took me forever!

Air probably came out the best! also, I find it hysterically ironic that my skirt blew into this pic. seeing how it is 'air' ya know? :D

Earth was the easiest! :D i like it too though!

so, yes. I realized that it is nigh on impossible to find a 'stick' at the 'beach'... yeah... *eyeroll*
I had to settle for a little piece of bamboo that had probably broken off of someones mat or something. It got progressively smaller as I continued, and by the end I had to draw the lines pretty much with just my fingers. :/ ha. it was fun though!

I love the beach. :) (though I don't like the ocean very much. more on that much later ;D)

SO now on to zutara.

I am the slightest bit obsessed. :D

I started maintaining a friend's facebook fanpage (or is it 'likepage' now... ;D) for her! She makes absolutely gorgeous glass jewelry, and she wanted to use the awesome marketing tools of fb, but didn't have the time. Since I am all but addicted to it, I was the one she asked! Well, this was all great, and THEN she told me that to pay me, she could give me a necklace and earrings set! Wanna see which one I picked?

yes. it is a blue, swirly background, with an irridescent flame. and yes, it came with the red & black ribbons.

could there BE a more perfect necklace??

plus, it came with earrings too!

:) I LOVE it. very very very very very much! :)

so, yes, it is a pretty necklace in general! This proves I like Zutara, but obsession? ehh...

that is my hand. and those are kanjii characters. they say 'Fire + Water = Love'

:) on the OTHER hand, I have the Fire Nation insignia + the Water Tribe insignia = a heart :D

oh yes. that is obsession.

(PS - I have had the red and blue bracelets on since last august, long before I knew what zutara was. just FYI ;D)

so, yes. I am obsessed
Oh well, it's fun, eh?

:)

~LS

A couple new one-shots

2010-04-27T23:15:00.001-05:00

here - http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5902599/5/Thought_Wasps_and_Luna_Moths

and... sera made this really cool list. which was inspired by leiler's really cool list.

I sense a trend.

no, it's actually really really addicting making lists.

NO JOKE!

so, probably sometime soon, I shall make a list. ;D

PS - wanna hear something hysterical and ironic? we went to the zoo today! haha, after that faux 'status update' example! :D

but my camera died, so that pretty much sucked. BUT my mother had her awesome one, so hopefully she got some cute shots that I can show you buddies! :)

sayonara!

planning

2010-04-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

I plan stuff out in my head before I post/say/do it

i.e.... my mother says we are going to the zoo tomorrow... in my head I think up a fb status
'LuSno is going to the zoo with ma fam! :D'

and even a blog post

'So, today i went to the zoo. I love the zoo. I mean, who doesn't love cute and interesting animals?? here are some of the cuter ones...
*picture* *picture*'

then my sister contracts a fever. and my mom says, 'Sorry guys, we cant go tomorrow!'

I immediately mentally delete my status and replace it with
'LuSno - Lil is sick UGH so no zoo, which was what was originally planned! :/'

and blog post

'Don't you hate it when you are looking forward to something so much, and then something else happens which prevents it... ect. ect.'

I honestly write entire stories in my head and then go to sit down and write them... and they usually turn out really different :D

you know what is the most ironic... I wrote this whole blog post in the shower. Ah, planning.

:)

~LS

Shila CHP17 (Kamitpok) - A/N

2010-04-21T20:03:00.001-05:00

So. Wow.

I think I am going to go do a dance of joy, or maybe cry.

Aye.

OK so DISCLAIMER: I used lines and scenes from Sozins Comet part 1 and 2 for this! Whenever she flashes to suki, and the agni kai and pre-agni kai stuff is straight from. Otherwise it would be wrong. and i wouldn't like that. I didn't mean any plagiarizing, see, here I'm giving credit!! :)

So yeah, pretty much she just kept flashing to Suki. This was mainly for the ending scene. everything pretty much happened the same except for a few key points:

-Sokka didn't kiss Suki when they were leaving the airship. He just smiled at her, in a friendly way.

-Kya and Hitomi took the lightning out of Zuko, which enabled Kya and Katara to heal the wound right up, without any other after effects. (it seemed a bit easy to me in the show... i mean it took spirit water to revive aang!)

-Ozai died. See, he was really fine. just kinda weak from having his bending taken away, but still as strong as any normal, slightly tired, man. Then he stabbed Suki with his belt buckle thing, so Sokka chopped his head off. this makes me so very much happier. I hate Ozai alive.

-Suki died. Ok, so honestly I like Suki. She is a cool character. But she and sokka are too hard to write, like how they aren't together. :/ so, I had to kill her. please note, she didn't die just from Ozai's flame ornament. That probably wouldn't be enough to kill her. She lost a lot of blood, passed out, and fell off the column thing. :)

-oh and I solved the worst problem I had with this story. How quickly Taang and Zutara happened. Don't get me wrong, I love both of them, but they happened WAY too easily. more will be explained next chapter! :)

so... yep. I was kinda annoyed with how un-involved Li was (sorry leiler-buddy!) but I wasn't going to go back and re-write. it had already taken me ?two? weeks to write this! :)

TRANSLATIONS

Issho Ojusan - Bridesmaids... I believe it literally means Bride and Maid or young woman. :)
Inotowok - isolated, alone
tuwawi! - quick!
ingiarsiwok - Passes beyond
auksarpok - plunges through the air
kamitpok - extinguishes fire
tartok - dark (is without light)
illulikangitok - inside ourselves is empty
niptaitok - foggy (is)
ikkuma manigutiwok... ikkiertok - fire submits. feels cold

:D

~LS

A Good Fight - A/N

2010-04-21T14:21:00.001-05:00

Ok, first of all.... Toph/Teo WOW I don't know where that came from. I was trying to come up with someone who was earth kingdom who could marry her and poof Teo popped up.

It's really weird, and I don't think I'll write anything else with it!

With THAT out of the way! (yes, shameless Zutaraness. I'm sorry, but all my stories WILL be Zutara)

this story came about quite interestingly! :)
Jell and I were playing the park and we decided to play 'pretend.' seeing as how neither of us had played 'pretend' in years, we figured it was worth a try, plus we had nothing better to do. :D

SO we came up with characters and a back story. I was Zia the firebender, she was Tang the earthbender.
(Side note: Zia has nothing to do with Zia from Shila, I just really love the name. And Tang has nothing to do with the Toph Aang shipping. Jell actually doesn't like Taang *GASP* i know... haha. :D she just liked to name too!)

SO we started playing... and every five seconds we would stop and giggle over the fact that we - an eleven year old and a fifteen year old - were *actually* playing pretend!

Originally Ansayto was 'Gyatso' becasue we didn't really want to take the time to come up with a name for him, since he wasn't really a factor in our story. When i wrote it down though i gave him a proper name.

OH and the scene where they attack the Southern Raider's captain - we actually did that. hee hee, I dropped down and went *phhhhhhhhhhh* while sticking my hands out, and Jell went *plah plah* while pretending to shoot rocks. Then we started rolling, we were laughing so hard. :D

Yep, we are officially weird. Oh well! :) I got a good story out of it!!

PS - I LOVE this AU, I think I'll go back to it a few more times in other one-shots! So don't be sad if you like it too! :)

PPS - I absolutely ADORE this line - "This time she wouldn’t try to patch a hole in a dam with a piece of cloth. This time she would knock it down and build a whole new one." Like SERIOUSLY!! thank YOU! haha :D

PPPS - After reading one of Sera's latest post I really wanted to change the name of this one-shot collection to 'Thought-Wasps and Luna Moths' because that is what they all are. But, I really like the name arrows also. comments?

hmm.

:D

~LS

This Weekend pt. II

2010-04-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

Another camping post, this one written on Sunday morning.

"Trying to sleep - it sucks.
[while camping that is]

First there are the outside noises. Crickets, cicadas, owls, other bugs, and other birds screeching, hooting, and buzzing all through the night.

Then there is the cold. No matter if it was 90 during the day, when you're camping by a lake it gets cold at night. We're talking 45-50 (F) which might not be too bad, except you're sleeping on an air mattress. See, when you sleep on an regular mattress it absorbs your body heat a bit. When you sleep on an AIR mattress the air inside is at the same temp as the air outside. Meaning you're practically laying on a piece of ice... *shivers*

Also - there's the rain. Now sometimes rain is good. It's soothing and it drowns out the other noise. But it is also annoying-

Coals are really cool

ANYWAY rain is annoying because it's loud and it makes you worry.

Lastly - you just don't get any sleep. Once all these factors add up, it turns out that you wake up a lot, and when you do finally fall asleep you sleep awfully!

-I LOVE JELL!

ok.
so.
Sleeping at camp = not great!
but the rest of it is worth it!

:D

~LS
[Written 4/18, while sitting at a campfire waiting for everyone else to wake up. Occasional distractions were present]

2010-04-19T16:50:00.003-05:00

I just updated my about me page!! ooooohhh!! :D

HISHE - Author's Note

2010-04-19T15:55:00.000-05:00

Wow. This was SO GREAT TO WRITE! Hahah. I think I am in love with this. Seriously, if the show ended this way, I might kiss Bryan AND Mike. ;)

SO to end any confusion, ‘cause I didn’t go into detail very much (this had to stay a one-shot!)

Katara and Zuko had fallen in love, but they were keeping their relationship a secret. Zuko told off Mai, but Katara was too chicken to tell off Aang. At that point, their plans were to go to Ba Sing Se with everyone else after the coronation.

THEN Zuko talked to his dad and found out info about his mom. They also found out that Ozai was planning a rescue of himself, that he was firebending-less, but still devious and powerful. With that kind of threat, Zuko couldn’t leave to find his mom.

PLUS Katara was STILL too chicken to talk to Aang.

SO they thought out this really elaborate plan.

Katara kills Ozai, but makes it look random. With Ozai she left a note to Aang.

They leave to go find Zuzu’s madre.

THEN Aang becomes disenchanted with Katara.

This solves my three main problems with the series.

#1 – the Kataang ending
#2 – Ozai being alive
#3 – Zuko not finding his mommy

WOW that was long!! Haha ok! Bye now! :D

PS -

The poem I used in this is awesome! it fit so amazingly

It is 'The Flood' by Robert Frost.

"Blood has been harder to dam back than water.
Just when we think we have it impounded safe
Behind new barrier walls (and let it chafe!),
It breaks away in some new kind of slaughter.
We choose to say it is let loose by the devil;
But power of blood itself releases blood.
It goes by might of being such a flood
Held high at so unnatural a level.
It will have outlet, brave and not so brave.
weapons of war and implements of peace
Are but the points at which it finds release.
And now it is once more the tidal wave
That when it has swept by leaves summits stained.
Oh, blood will out. It cannot be contained."

eeeehhhh I love it so much!

A note I wrote a while ago...

2010-04-19T11:22:00.001-05:00

My brain hurts when I think about deep things. I mean, really hurts. It is like trying to walk through molasses, or walking uphill with 50lb weights attached to your ankles. I have to fight through the fog and sometimes the fight is so exhausting that I have no energy left for contemplating. Sometimes though, I get these moments of clarity, moments where the fog has dissapated. It is regretable that these moments always seem to come as I am falling asleep...when I DON'T have a notebook nearby to document them.

I do not agree that tv turns your brain off. Sure, some shows probably do, but not all. A lot of shows stimulate and inspire the little grey cells. The same goes for computer, and such technology. And sometimes the same does for music as well...

A bit to ponder

:)

~LS

[Sent from my iPod]

This Weekend

2010-04-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

So this weekend I went camping! I've been camping before, but I am by no means a wilderness afficionado. I use common sense and episodes of Stargate SG-1and I get by rather swimmingly! :)

ANYWAY - here is a post I wrote sat night.

"When we got here this afternoon, after refereeing the little kids' water balloon fight (OK - side note - Sera, Jell, another one of our friends, and I spent about an hour filling up probably 100 balloons. Well it ended up - by our sorta unintentional design - that the little kids were the ones fighting PLUS the fight was over in like five minutes. one reason I loathe water balloons.)
So, after that, we decided to go on a bike ride. After surveying the map, discussing what we hadn't seen and what we remembered from past camping trips at this park that we wanted to see again, we decided to take a maze of trails that combined the two. We encountered quite a few problems, but it was worth it! I'll now list the pros and the cons:

CON: The trail had a lot of uphill & my bike + I weren't so great at uphill.

PRO: We discovered that biking turns you into a theologian (say THAT ten times fast!) - such as 'The light often fades'... doesn't that sound like something from LOTR? haha.

CON: We had a kid (a ten year old) go with us & the poor thing couldn't exactly keep up. Honestly, it wasn't as much his fault as his bikes, the thing had no gear but one. So, at the beginning of the trail we worried about him & had to keep the pace down + eventually Mia went on ahead with him so we lost her too!

PRO: The three of us that were left went at about the same pace (of course we each had our weaknesses - mine? Uphill :/) plus our personalities worked well - realist + muscles + leader = solid team! So we did alright. (although we did definitely have room for a photographing complaining madcap wayfarere! :( ;D)

CON: Sera fell. of course. and she hurt herself. of course. and it was gushing blood and we had nothing but my used tissue to stop it. (She ended up taking the bra-pad out of her swimsuit & using that. Sera is it ok I'm telling everyone this? and have you washed that yet? DON'T RAISE YOUR EYEBROWS AT ME, I KNOW YOU WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU'D FORGET! :D)
so anyway, this was where my love of blood came in handy. I mean, seriously, when I see blood I'm like 'oooooh I can fix it!' I honestly dunno why...

PRO: The scenery was absolutely awesome! I mean, gorgeous boardwalks, sandy levees with a view of the whole lake and a uber-green, awesome, spillway (which is where Sera fell. Don't ask, you don't want to know.). Everytime you'd start to get bored of the scenery it'd change! (I LOVE TEXAS!!)

CON: It ended up being 7.4 miles. It was long. It took us 3.5 hours.

PRO: It was 7.4 miles. It didn't feel that difficult at all

SO our camping trip thus-far has been great! (except I forgot my pillow, so I'm using two towels folded up in a pillowcase... hahaha) I told an interesting summary of AtLA to Mia as a story and she said "is that really how it is?" and I said "Sorta," and Sera shook her head emphatically. BUT it caused me to come up with a PERFECT ending (to AtLA) so look for a "how it should have ended" type one-shot, COMING SOON! :)

TTYL!!!

<3

~LS

[written 4/17]

Life is Good

2010-04-17T01:31:00.000-05:00

OOh OOH guess what??? I have a surprise for YOU!

:D

A new, super cool ONE-SHOT! (or drabble, as the case may be. it's like, 2500 words or somewhere around that. So what exactly *is* the difference between drabble and one-shot? idk.)

This one is about Katara and her life five years after the war! It was inspired by Toph, and me brushing my teeth. HA read the whole inspiration story in the A/N after the REAL story ;)

without further ado -

Life Is Good

PS - I had to look up 'Sukka' for the summary. Is that not sad? Just had to make sure it was the correct name for SokkaxSuki. I just don't read much Sukka, I mean not Sukka-centric! Hrmmm.. .LOL

PPS - OMG OMG OMG IT was on the FRONT PAGE and OMG OMGOMG it has one review ALREADY!!! (ok ok ok, sorry, geeking out!)

TY!

:)

~LS

overdue...

2010-04-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

SOOOO I've had these pictures scanned for quite a while!! :) thought you'd probably want to see them!!

This is Kya in her Water Tribe getup :)

Here is her in her Fire nation disguise. :)

Ok, so basically the challenge I gave myself was that they were all given a uniform: A tank, a pair of kulat-type pants, and a tunic. The challenge was to make them all look different :)

Kya here has the tunic wrapped tightly, and she has cut the sleeves to a nice, almost T-shirt length

Hitomi and LI! :D

Hitomi! I adore her outfit! I just about died when I drew it! I sat back and went "What! haaa!!"

her pants were actually just a last minute thing... I wanted to make them different than Kya's and Li's, but still obvious that they had once been the same pants. So, she put bands around them and made sweatpants/arabian pants.

Hitomi, much like Sera (no, duh), is the one that is able to take the uniform she is given and create an outfit that it was definitely not intended for, an outfit that takes a boring uniform and makes it spectacular.

I really want this outfit, just BTW

and Li :) What she has done is worn the tank and pants like Kya, but loosened the tunic, and cut off the sleeves.

:) I had the most horrible time with her eyes. I had them all nice and perfect and then I redid her hair and accidentally erased them, and couldn't get them back to their previous level of perfection! I'm pretty ok with how they turned out though!!

:)
<3

~LS

Shadowland

2010-04-15T18:38:00.001-05:00

"I stared at the scene before me disbelievingly. It just couldn’t be possible. Our tiny, peaceful, little Island had been turned into a horrific example of the power of the Fire Nation. My heart was screaming no but my head knew I had to accept it. Accept what? That almost everyone I knew and loved was dead, and my home was a wreck? I don’t think so."
My version of the aforementioned pic...

I know, it's nowhere even close. (Like seriously... I'm not even going to think about that hand) But it's still cool! and I'm pretty proud of it! :)

done with colored pencils and photoshop.

the lyrics are from 'Shadowland' from the Lion King Broadway soundtrack. (a song which just happens to be on the Shila soundtrack. What's that? You didn't know shila had a soundtrack? more on that later... much later! :D)

:) ty

2010-04-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

This picture...

is amazing. It literally almost moves me to tears.

mainly because it reminds me of Kya and Helaku.
I am currently working on my own version of it (I suppose if you give correct credit then it ISNT copying, right? Hope so...)

EESH just had to share!

2010-04-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

"Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation, so long as bargins are your INCLAnation you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!"

"I'll save you from the pirates..."

"I'm sorry Aang. This is all my fault."
"No, it's not!"
"Actually, it kinda is..."

"Are you too busy fighting to see your ship has sailed away?"
"Uncle! We have no time for your silly proverbs!"
"It's not a proverb!"
"MY SHIP!"
"hahahahah... what!"
"Maybe it should be a proverb!"

"You're gonna love this! The tile was in my sleeve the whole time! Hah!"
*seeths*

An Introduction to Twitter...

2010-04-13T22:13:00.003-05:00

:) I have been blessed with the gene that most of my generation seems to have: the instant connect with technology gene. Sera says 'I know right, you just sit down and get it!! It's spooky, yet incredibly convenient."

Indeed.

SOOO I am here to help the less fortunate out there with TWITTER!! :) ahh yes.

Now, I'm sure someone could write a better guide. I personally have only been tweeting for about a week. ;) but there is that gene... and the fact that I like to explore! So I figure I am qualified to write an introduction!! Please ignore any patronization and just skip over the stuff you already know. This is an INTRO so it's gonna cover EVERYTHING!!

Enjoy.

{click on images to make them bigger}

We'll start with the home page.

#1 - Posting a tweet
This is pretty easy and straightforward... you type what you are thinking, what you're doing, a message to someone (that isn't private), and click 'tweet' VOILA! :) you have tweeted! you're such a twit! :D ;)

#2 - Character limit
Yes, worst (or in some people's view best) part of twitter... what REALLY makes twitter twitter, is it's character limit. You can only have 140 characters in your tweet!! Keep an eye on this little number to see how many you have left! :)

#3 - see that up there? That's your username AND under that it tells you how many tweets you've posted. This is a cool little feature, though not exactly useful in anyway!

#4 - Follow
This is kinda/sorta the crux of twitter! Here we have the number of people YOU are following, the number of people following YOU, and the number of lists you are in! you can click on any three of these to see the details, such as the names of the people following you. :)

#5 - There are a lot of links here that we will get to in a bit! Moving along!

#6 - ReTweets and Replies.
These top ones are replies. A reply is a tweet you direct at someone else... usually in response to a tweet of theirs. One such example -

Theleiler: @Luthiensnowtail ahahah thank you :) AND OH MY GOOOODDDD. CLIFFHANGER MUCH CORA??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Luthiensnowtail: @theLeiler I make it a point to cliffhang all my chaps, just to make you happy... HA ;) :D... no, really it just always seems to happen lol!

OR

Qkeller007: Just got out of walmart

Luthiensnowtail: @Qkeller007 that's nice dear. are you going to give a complete play by play? like, 'just got out of the bathroom' 'now we're driving' 'yawn'

To reply to someone, you can either click the 'reply' button underneath their tweet, or type @ and then their username, like '@luthiensnowtail

Retweets are what you do if someone tweets something you like, think is funny, want to promote, or some other reason that you want to show it to all of your followers. There are two different ways to retweet. You can click the retweet button underneath the original tweet, and it will appear as above.
OR you can say 'RT @serastoff Just got coffee with Lulu and my sis!! Lulu dressed punk, I am a walking rainbow!!! Too much fun!!!!!"

both are accepted and enjoyed! :)

SO I think that covers it for the basics of the first page. Lets move on to the next part!

#5...

Now first up there we have '@luthiensnowtail'

when you click this, you get to see all the tweets people have replied to you. that is; all the tweets that have @(yourusername) in them! :)

moving on to DIRECT MESSAGES. These are often referred to as DMs... :)

Direct messages are like Private Messages on a forum, or Inbox Messages on facebook. They are (relatively) private messages, that (relatively) stay between you and the recipient. As with everything on the internet, I wouldn't go talking about stuff you don't want anyone else to know about, such as illegal stuff, on here. (well, I would hope you wouldn't HAVE any illegal stuff to talk about!!!! But, whatever!) This is good for not-FBI style confidential stuff you want to share with only one friend. :)

To write a DM, you just choose the person to send it to, write it, and click send! Difficult, I know! :) Again, you only have 140 characters!

moving right along to Favorites!
Favorites... hmm wonder what those are... ;) These are your favorite tweets! When you see a tweet you like you can click a little star in the upper right corner, and it gets marked. Then it appears here! :)

And retweets... I believe we have already discussed this. This is just where it shows you who has retweeted YOUR tweets! :)

Now we will move on to another, even more difficult, portion of twitter! The top bar!! :D

Home, we've already covered.
Profile is pretty self explanatory. This shows you your profile how it appears to other people. It has all your tweets, your name/website/bio, and the different display of your followers.

Find people
This is where you.. uh.. find people... ;)

The easiest way to find people, especially celebrities, is to type their name in this box! :)

Help and Sign Out are pretty self explanatory.. yep!

SETTINGS - this one's a monster!! :)

First up is 'account'

Username = this is the name that people see when you post, the name they reply to, and pretty much your 'name' on twitter. It is best to pick a name that people will recognize as you. Of course, if you decide you don't like it you can always change it without hurting any of your previous tweets or @replies!

Email: You have to put your email in so you can get notifications when people follow you. You can choose whether to be 'findable' by your email. i.e. someone can put my email in and my name will come up.

Language: Um, yeah. This asks what language you want to see twitter in. I'm *guessing* that if you are reading *this* you'll want it in english, but you may be bilingual (go YOU), in which case you could want it in a different language. just choose your preferred language and voila! :)

Time Zone: this is so they can show you the correct times that people are posting their tweets. simply pick the time zone you're in!! :)

Tweet Location: It is possible to have your location on all your tweets. Sera's for example:

I personally don't have it on mine, but to each their own!

You can 'protect your tweets', meaning you get to pick and choose who can see them. This doesn't work with any connections, such as facebook. So, if you're planning on connecting don't bother with this!

OK - Password!

pretty simple. this is where you can change your password ;)

MOBILE
Here you can send tweets from your phone, or get tweets sent to your phone! :)

Notices: This is where you regulate what you get emails about.

Profile: Here is where you can change your image, your name, your location, your website, and your bio. basically this is where you change what your 'profile' that other people see, looks like! Go figure! :)

Design is where you change what your profile looks like. You can choose one of the ones they have:

Or you can upload your own (a bit more about that at the end...)

Connections is where you manage the things you have connected to your twitter account. things such as facebook, disqus, colorlovers. That sort.

WHEW, done with that bar! Now on to outside connections and the such.

We'll start with connecting your FB to your twitter.
There are MULTIPLE ways to do this. The most basic and straight is to go to FB and search 'twitter'

Now, unfortunately, this doesn't work for some people! (Me included)
If that doesn't work, you can try Hootsuite... I'm sure there are more but that's the only one I know of! And I don't use it, so I can't tell you about it! SORRY! :)

now about making your own profile background.. this is interesting!

What *I* did....
I took a screen shot of my twitter profile (function: prt screen... or such) and then pasted it into paint (you must do this to keep the correct size) saved it, and opened it in photoshop:

Then I just put my elements where I wanted them to appear on my profile... that way I could see where the sidebar was, where my tweets showed up... all that stuff!

(Stuff in red is 'new elements'... shut up, I'm using my trackpad! :D)

When I got a design I liked I deleted the background (layer from background: delete) and flattened all the elements into one layer, then saved it as a png

Then you go to twitter: design: change your image: and select the png you just made

after you upload it, select the background color you want on 'change your color' then VOILA: you have a customized background!!

--------------------

I hope you got something out of that! It sure took me a long time to write!! thanks for making it all the way here! :)

<3

~LS

The Story of how an ATLA nerd became one of the world's biggest ZUTARA shippers...

2010-04-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Soooo, I was chatting with one of my fanfic.net buddies, squishpie AKA alicia.. (my writer... LOL :D) and she asked me how I became a zutara shipper... I promptly replied with a novel... HA see I really am a writer!!

ANYWAY, I quickly realized that it actually is a good story, and an interesting question. So I am posting MY story here, and I want you to tell me yours in the comments!! :) enjoy

"I watched the whole show in like three weeks, because Sera had changed her profile pic on FB to a pic of Mai, and she made me change it to a pic of Azula (I swear, if I'd had the sucky family and expectations zula did I'd be megalomaniacal too... we are extremely similar... anyway) so I was like 'wait, I'm not just changing my pic to something I have no idea about.. plus this show looks cool!' So I watched the first season on netflix and then borrowed the next two from ser.

ANYWAY during the show, especially season one, I was REALLY kataang. I mean Cave of two Lovers, with the hippies/nomads, was TOTALLY my fave epi, because singing hippies + sokka being his awesome hysterical self + at the time, Kataang = perfect (ok, *almost* still is, except for kataang :( ;D). Then Sera (who is super super zutara, almost as much as me) started watching them with me and she was kinda telling me about Zutara, THEN I started reading FF and I was like OMG... how could I not see it?? (Though, in my defense, season two and three, AKA good Zuko is much more perfect for Katara... season one zuko isn't quite as perfect..) Then I watched Crossroads of Destiny and nearly jumped off a cliff with annoyance, luckily Seraphimala was there (misery loves company) :D and THEN when I got to the finale (actually the whole last disc) I was overwhelmed with the Zutaraness... I mean seriously? That whole freaking disc is COMPLETELY zutara, then BAM they kill you at the end! I called sera and screamed at her (feel kinda bad for that now... she was probably deaf for a while) Tried to find Brian and Mike's adresses so I could go murder them, went to bed and woke up the next morning feeling almost better.

Then the other day I watched the last disc again, to research for my story, and went through all the same emotions. I actually turned it off at the end... when Aang walked out to the balcony I hit the power button... LOL!!! My sis was like 'That was the end?" and I was like, "um... yes!" hah!

yep, kataang pretty much makes me sick now... its so sad!! haha! I see a fic and I read the summary and go 'hey, that looks ok!' then I see 'kataang' and go... no, just no... :)"

:)

~LS

Shila CHP16 (Kazoku) - A/N

2010-04-12T18:15:00.001-05:00

:) Another filler-esque chap.

With a very lot of hiddenness that only Sera will get. But that's ok. Sera's cool. :)

ALL the foreign words in this were Japanese (supposedly) !! even the title... aren't I cool?? :)

~Translations~
Kazoku - family
Musume yo - My Daughter
Onee - Big sister
Imouto - little sister
Okachaan - mother
Watashi wa kanojo ga daisuki - I love her
Harasho - wonderful
Wo Nuer (this is actually mandrin. Seeing as how the earth kingdom is mainly based on Chinese culture, as opposed to the japanese based Fire Nation... you get it?? :)) - my daughter

:)

<3

~LS

LuLu!!

2010-04-11T21:58:00.002-05:00

So my sister (who is eight) has this awesome game/just silliness that she does. She likes to say that when she looks in the mirror she is looking into 'mirror world'

well, apparently, she has a twin in mirror world. we all do! her twin's name is Lola.

Now, we've been trying to figure out what my twin should be named. for weeks she's been suggesting names and I've been shooting them down. But yesterday we finally figured out my mirror twin's name..

Lulu.

isn't it fantascious? and so perfect! :) <3

~LS (or LuLu... :))

Shila CHP15 (Audlarpok ) - A/N

2010-04-10T21:09:00.001-05:00

okeedokee this is *sorta* a filler chap. it's k. not much to say! except, I wrote this in the car while on a road trip... yes, I took my computer and typed until it died. see how dedicated I am??? :D

OH Selina is based on my little sis. She was sitting next to me when I was typing, reading it, and I said 'do you want to be in my story?' and she said 'Yeah! Can my name be Selina?' haha :)

OH AGAIN - :D (SERA you rock!) for clarification... Zia is pronounced ZSHH EEEE AAA yeah. Like Zhao. :) :)

~translations~
audlarpok- leaves (departs)

Shila CHP14 (Narpok) - A/N

2010-04-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

SOOOO

this was interesting

YES so I was listening to the song Breakeven, by the script, and I was like ,"OMD this like sooo describes Sokka/Kya in my recent chappala!" (yeah, I think like that. What of it?)

the best is the line "You've got his heart and my heart, and none of the pain" :)

sooooo, I stuck in a bit from his perspective!

ANYWAY

erm yes, skepticality IS a word!

just don't look it up, OK?!

thanks.

MORE ANYWAYNESS

sooo, did you know she was *GASP* royalty???????????????? OZAI'S SISTER!!!! haha. I thought i might have given it away when i said her father was going to marry her to someone to try to patch things up with Roku, in an earlier chap. BUT idk!

~Translations~
Narpok - stumbles. (meh. not my best work, by far)

Indescribable

2010-04-08T14:40:00.001-05:00

So last night I didn't get much sleep.
I was pretty bad today.

bad mood, man.

I lost my camera charger. It made me mad. I mean, my parents paid good money for this camera and all I do is go and lose it?? what?? no.

so, I was pretty mad. like, really mad. I looked EVERYWHERE! I even looked in an old suitcase. but no, no cigar.

So I prayed. A lot. and nothing happened, immediately.

I am a very very very impatient person. It truly is one of my worst qualities. I'm working on it though!!!

soooo, I cleaned up my house like I was supposed to. and seeethed. and seethed. and brooded. and seethed.

and chatted with Sera. and Jell.

and then realized that I was being completely and utterly pathetic.

and then the shuffle on my ipod went to this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKSQjSdU8VA

Free To Be Me, Francesca Battistelli

this pretty much defines me.

"Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe
Even though...

I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me"

It made me feel better, immediately. I love, love, love that song. So much.

And then I went to go put a pen away. And I realized that the table that is under the pen holder also houses the ultimate electronic drawer. and I opened the drawer, rooted around, and found it. IT. my CAMERA CHARGER.

God is so amazing. and wonderful. and incredible.

I love Him.

:)

~LS

because IM also stands for I'm randoM :D

2010-04-07T21:54:00.001-05:00

I really am. I am sometimes the randomest.

check it -

"LuLu says:
*is skepticality a word?
*or rather, can it be?
*"I was dragged along, skeptical at her ‘plan.’ When she stopped in front of the large throne room doors my skepticality wasn’t lessened. "
*ROFL I just typed samantha tapping
*wow
*my foot is asleep
* its bugging me
*OMD i forgot FONG was the earthbending general in the "avatar state" epi
*hrmmm
Sera says:
*try about her plan as a opposed to 'at her plan'
LuLu says:
* ooh, good, kay
Sera says:
*Yeha, hmm... why did you think of that?
LuLu says:
*i was just random searching on avatar wikia "

Aren't I completely awesome??? :D

I know. I just crack myself up sometimes!!

~LS

IM = I'm Magnificent ;)

2010-04-07T19:49:00.001-05:00

awesome im convo between Ser and me :D

"LuLu says:

*hrm
*i want a hp touch
Sera says:
* i want a banana
LuLu says:
*I want a sokka
*I want a life
*LOL"

We are so awesome :)

also... got to the part with the White Lotuses. I love them. They are just so flippin cool!

"Don't you know, all old people know each other!" ~Bumi :D

~LS

Canon, please

2010-04-07T18:38:00.001-05:00

So today I am re-watching the last disc of AtLA in order to get inspiration for Shila...

they are completely and utterly awful. pure torture.

"OMG like, why don't you like it, they like totally defeat the Fire Lord!"

what are you, kataang? the last episodes are so wonderfully Zutara, and then they end up kataang... it makes me so depressed.

I read this in the Avatar Wikia page (the one for the Ember Island Players epi)

"The "cave scene" between Zuko and Katara's actors makes them seem like a couple. This is an obvious reference to the "Zutara" shippers."

REFERENCE?!?!? REFERENCE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

WE DON'T WANT A REFERENCE!!!! WE WANT CANON, GOSH DARN IT!!!!

GRRRRRRRR

yes, I am seriously obsessed.

FELLOW ZUTARA SHIPPERS, BAND TOGETHER!!! THERE IS STILL HOPE

I mean, come on, we still have three movies! Lets all hope, pray, and email M. Night Shamalayn for a Zutara movie ending!

I would cry with joy.

I might cry just thinking about it.

ok, back to my depressed kataang life no

(One of Sera's and my fave Zutara pics)

;)

~LS

Not swimming is such sweet sorrow...

2010-04-06T20:42:00.000-05:00

See that? Isn't it pretty? That is my backyard. Well, part of it.

This is what I look out and see all year. Which is nice and great April-Sept. But in the winter...

oh man, it's awful.

Staring at that wonderful pool day after day, and not being able to swim in it.

WELL GUESS WHAT...

today I got to swim!!! yay!

"Was it cold" Yes, but not unbearable

"Was it awesome" completely.

"Are you insane?" yes.

it was great, really great! So great, I had to share it!

Also, I got a sunburn. It's horrible and painful, but I like it. Ahhhh, it proves that summer is coming!!

:D

~LS

Shila CHP13 (Tonrar) - A/N

2010-04-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

I actually really like this chapter. I mean, really.

Again, she was acting all crabby. Poor Kya, I don't think its a good week for her. I really don't understand why she's so snappish, but I guess we have an explanation now!

Thanks to Sera, as usual, for pretty much keeping this story believable!

ALSO thanks to my other cousin - Jell! She helped me with Macahty! I basically wanted Loki, but in avatarian form! :D So I asked her and she suggested Matata. I could not find him anywhere, and was stupid enough not to copy the link she gave me before we closed chat! So, I pretty much took what she gave me and transformed him into my own little party. Super-duper brownie points if you know a certain evil feline character who he was partly based on!! :D

~Translations~

Karpok - hungry
Atka - guardian spirit
Maiksuk - bad things
Quannik - snowflake
Yurlaria - dancing one
Tireganierk -Fox
kappianartoraluk , suinnak, unwangamiutak, assiminik, piktaungitok, ningarsareitok, naglingnartok, nudyuartok, illitsuitok, piugartok - You terrible, good for nothing, egotistical, zealous, evil, irascible, pitiful, savage, stupid, troublesome,

2010-04-02T22:40:00.001-05:00

I like the word condescending...

Evil Laugh

2010-04-02T21:19:00.004-05:00

From Ruling The World: How to be a Megalomaniac and Assert Your Conniving Ways to Your Advantage...

"
Evil Laughs...

You must have one.

Now don't just go chuckling away and think that its all good.

It's not.

Evil laughs must be crafted, well thought out, and practiced. They are a work of art.

A bad evil laugh can ruin a person. Make you the laughing stock of the megalomaniac community. Don't even TRY to evilly laugh until you know you have it down.

Now... lets talk about the components needed to evilly laugh. I'm going to keep it simple, and give you five words that you should shape your evil laugh around.

Sardonic
Demented
Enraged
Humorous
Evil

That last word may confuse you. Don't worry, we'll get to it.

Let's begin with Sardonic.

"

Main Entry:	sardonic
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	sarcastic
Synonyms:	acerbic, arrogant, biting, bitter, carping, caustic, cynical, derisive, disrespectful, evil, irascible, mean, mocking, mordant, nasty, offensive, salty, satirical, scorching, scornful, sharp, smart-alecky, sneering, taunting, wise*
Notes:	sarcastic means 'derisive, tauntingly contemptuous,' while sardonic means 'bitterly scornful, cynically disdainful'

"
(From Thesaurus.com)

Please read that note. It's important.

Your laugh must be "bitterly scornful, cynically disdainful'" this is perhaps the very definition of an evil laugh.
Dont ever forget that

moving along.

Demented

"Main Entry:	demented
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	crazy, insane
Synonyms:	bananas, bemused, crackbrained, daft, delirious, deranged, distracted, distraught, flipped out, foolish, frenzied, fruity, hysterical, idiotic, in the ozone, lunatic, mad, maniac, maniacal, manic, non compos mentis, nutty as a fruitcake, out of one's gourd, out of one's tree, psycho, psychopathic, psychotic, schitzy, schizoid, unbalanced, unglued, unhinged, unsound, whacko
Antonyms:	balanced, rational, reasonable, sane, sensible

"

(Thesaurus.com)

Now, you must keep this under control. Too demented and you can be seen as insane. Insane is most assuredly NOT something you want to be seen as. All Megalomaniacs are seen as on the brink, and having too demented of an evil laugh is a no go. You could be put into an asylum, or a fellow MM could try to overthrow you.

Easy on the demented.

it's still important though!! Just... in moderation.

Enraged

"Main Entry:	enrage
Part of Speech:	verb
Definition:	make very upset
Synonyms:	T-off, aggravate, anger, ask for it, exasperate, get under skin, hack*, incense, incite, inflame, infuriate, ire, irritate, madden, make blood boil, make see red, needle, provoke, rile, steam up, umbrage, whip up
Antonyms:	appease, calm, compose, pacify, placate, please, soothe"

(Thesaurus.com)

hah, this one might confuse you a bit.

"I mean, its like a laugh right? Omg! It like totally cant be mad, like woah!"

Fail. Throw away your stereotypes and such, and just listen to the master.

You are evil. Evil people are not happy. You don't laugh at jokes. An evil laugh must be saved for the occasions when you are gloating over a victory, or about to face an opponent. And in these times, you have a bit of anger there to fuel your laugh.

Thus, it must be enraged.

Not boiling, you see, but just with a hint of anger.

Comprende? Bueno.

let's continue.

Humorous

"Main Entry:	humorous
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	funny, comical
Synonyms:	amusing, camp*, campy, comic, droll, entertaining, facetious, farcical, hilarious, jocose, jocular, jokey, joshing, laughable, ludicrous, merry, playful, pleasant, priceless, ribald, screaming, side-splitting, too funny for words, waggish, whimsical, witty
Antonyms:	depressing, dramatic, gloomy, morose, sad, serious, tragic, uncomical, unfunny

"
(Again, Thesaurus.com)

Ok, ok, I know, I'm a little bit conflicting here. I mean I just said 'you aren't laughing at jokes.'

But come on. This is a laugh. It must have a bit of humor, right?

I really don't have much to say on this. It's just kinda... common sense.

going right along.

Evil

"Main Entry:	evil
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	sinful, immoral
Synonyms:	angry, atrocious, bad, baneful, base, beastly, calamitous, corrupt, damnable, depraved, destructive, disastrous, execrable, flagitious, foul, harmful, hateful, heinous, hideous, iniquitous, injurious, loathsome, low, maleficent, malevolent, malicious, malignant, nefarious, no good, obscene, offensive, pernicious, poison, rancorous, reprobate, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, spiteful, stinking, ugly, unpleasant, unpropitious, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wrathful, wrong
Antonyms:	auspicious, decent, good, honest, moral, sinless, upright, virtuous

"

(Thesaurus.com)

"Its, like, an evil laugh! No Duh, its like, totally evil! Come on, omg!"

Please, please, have some depth.

An evil laugh is all too often NOT evil. I know, it's sad, but true!

Your laugh must, above all else, be evil. It must make people cringe, and be afraid. Your laugh should be the driving force of your evilness.

SUMMARY:

lets give it to you in a percentage.

80% Sardonic
5% Demented
5% Enraged
10% Humorous
100% Evil

:)

Perhaps the best evil laugh ever... Vincent Price, as heard in the end of Micheal Jackson's Thriller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA

You can fast forward - it's at the end.

Well, I believe that is all I have to say about evil laughs!

Work on it! Don't go into battle without a perfect one!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA <----- acceptable written form." ~LS

la lista...

2010-03-28T20:09:00.005-05:00

I was reading dear leila's bloggy/tumbler, and loved a recent post where she made a list...

so, I decided to be a shameless copycat, and make one of my own :D

Get a story published and have people actually sorta know my name.
Have a bajillion dollars
Marry Ben Browder
Have beautiful children who are every bit as awesome as me...
Live my life to please God
Be in some sort of production of The Lion King
See every awesome Broadway show
Go to every continent, except Antarctica.
Marry Sokka.
Go to every US state
Sew a dress that actually looks nice
Have an amazing bikini bod for as long as possible
Marry Aragorn. And live in the Shire half of the year and Gondor the other half. With nice long holidays to Rivendell.
Waterbend
Run a marathon
Draw something that is truly beautiful
Live in a house with secret passages
Have a pet ocelot
Follow God's direction
Be on national TV!
Win American Idol... which would go with the previous!
Be a good photographer.
As she said... I'm sure there are some I've forgotten!
empty space - to be filled with forgotten items! :D

thus commences mi lista...

<3

~LS

Spring...

2010-03-27T14:02:00.002-05:00

"now winging selves sing sweetly,while ghosts(there
and here)of snow cringe;dazed an earth shakes sleep
out of her brightening mind:now everywhere
space tastes of the amazement which is hope

gone are those hugest hours of dark and cold
when blood and flesh to existence bow
(all that was doubtful's certain,timid's bold;
old's youthful and reluctant's eager now)

anywhere upward somethings yearn and stir
piercing a tangled wrack of wishless known:
nothing is like this keen(who breathes us)air
immortal with the fragrance of begin

winter is over-now(for me and you,
darling!)life's star prances the blinding blue"

~e.e.cummings

Shila CHP12 (Padlakpok Ungayok) - A/N

2010-03-26T14:12:00.005-05:00

I love this chapter. I really do.

BIG GIANT SHOUT-OUT TO SERA!

she (as usual) was an integral part of the completion of this chappie! Kya was being rather snappish, and I couldn't figure out why. I was in a great mood, but everything I wrote was mean and angry! I told Sera about it (we were im-ing at the time, like we do pretty much 24/7) and she suggested that Kya was sick! GENIUS! :D

So, this whole fanfic was inspired by the Beatles song - If I Fell. Well, Evan Rachel Wood's version of it (from Across the Universe)

I pretty much used its lyrics for Kya's part of her and Sokka's argument. :) I love that song!
It also reminds me, just a bit (the argument) of Sugarland's Stay... though it's not really meant that way.

ANYWAY

:)

~Translations~

Illamar - friend.
buniq - sweet daughter
aga - mother
Padlakpok Ungayok - Falls in love

Shila CHP11 (Niviorpok) - A/N

2010-03-26T12:01:00.003-05:00

This chapter....

I like it, I do! But it's pretty much just a filler chap.
Oh sokka. Did you really think that was ok? Not good, Sokka.

THE BEGINNING - was from boiling rock pt. 1. I didn't mean any copyright infringement or anything - it belongs to nickelodeon not me!

OH and everything that happened in the show between Sokka and Suki happened here... up to when she was captured, obviously.

~Translations~
Tuaq - old piece of ice frozen into new
Aga - mother
Buniq - sweet daughter
Illamareit - dear one
Tarralikitak sorartok - Is my butterfly broken?
Tarralikitak nukitarpalliawok. Just… Takrayok. Muy Takrayok, ningartok, annuttok. - Your butterfly is getting stronger. just... tired. very tired, angry, and sad.
Serdlerk nunangoark kipingoyok - is my little flower lonely?
No. I… nagvarpok nutaroyok nukapiak. Krainkoyiyok Sokka. Tipsinartok, siorauyak, okradlakpok, Nukilik, Akiak. Ungayok. Opinnartok - No. I... found a new boy. Called Sokka. he is amusing, sweet, he talks alot, he's strong, brave. I think I love him. it's miraculous.
Kuvianartok , anernerk - I'm so happy for you, angel
Sungitok Aga - Thank you, mother.
Niviorpok - worries

:)

TFR!

~LS

Spring Again

2010-03-24T22:26:00.005-05:00

see that? That is a beautiful flower (I believe it is a blossom on a tree, of some sort).
That is a sign that spring is coming.
OR SO I HOPE!
yes, I am a spring lover. If it weren't for my birthday (in july), the fact that we have a pool in our backyard (i love me some swimming), and no school (three months of pure freedom), Spring would probably be my favorite season.
OK, so maybe not. I mean, there is also the Beach, 4th of July, all the good movies, summer camps, no school (oh wait, did I already say that?), the comfortable clothes... yeah Summer has a lot going for it.

ANYWAY

I do love spring. I love the weather, mostly. Spring is a beautiful season!
Unfortunately, here in Texas, it is taking a long while to get here.
Yes, I did take that picture, but that is only one of very few signs of spring.
The temp today was in the sixties.
While that might not sound too cold to you northerners, that is practically winter to my poor texan body.

I WANT SPRING!!!

*sigh* venting over. Spring will come.

Here, I'll send you off with another pic and a song..

ya know what that is?

You got it... MY CABBAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D <3

"But November leaves won’t fall
Because December stole them all
But I guess its all my fault
I fell frozen one season

Please give me one more chance
And I know I don’t deserve this
But I swear I won’t forget
If you just let it be spring again
Please, let it be spring again"

Spring Again, Lanae Hale

:)

~LS

Nuair a chuaigh mé amú, thaispeáin tú an bealach dom. (A/N)

2010-03-24T11:34:00.001-05:00

Nuair a chuaigh mé amú, thaispeáin tú an bealach dom.

'When I was lost you showed me the way'

:) This is my tale of St. Patrick's Day. We all know the true story. But I was wondering... why do we wear green? This is my reason why. :)

I had a blast writing this. I love it!

PS - Ainfean's accent is supposed to reek of scotland. Just so ya know. :D

thanks for reading!

~LS

Dun Dun DUN....

2010-03-22T16:44:00.007-05:00

Today, I had a snack.

'OMG, its like so totally crayzeee right?'

Very funny. No, that is not right.

I have discovered that pictures on blogs make them 200% cooler, not to mention more eye pleasing. (stay with me, this will all pull together)

Unfortunately, if you are attempting to remain at least somewhat anonymous, you can't exactly go posting pictures of your life, now can you?

While I am not really a safe person in any other way (I often say that I would lick the Manhattan sidewalk for a good sum of money...) , I try to not be stupid on the internet.

But that is beside the point. Kinda.

WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY IS:
I have a story to tell you.

Using pictures.

isn't it wonderful?

Observe:

'The Tale of Eggaline and The Hand.'

Eggaline was your average Hard-Boiled egg. She was nice and sweet and never did anything wrong in her life, except occasionally smell bad. She had a great life!

until one day...

Eggaline was faced with her worst nightmare

the arch rival of every egg...

THE HAND!!

Eggaline feared that her days were over. But then...

NINJEGG APPEARED!

Ninjegg's mere presence was enough to frighten The Hand.

The Hand released Eggaline

But wait?! What is this!? Treachery! Blaspheme!

in a moment of characteristic duplicity, The Hand has grabbed Eggaline AND Ninjegg!! All is lost!

This is the end for poor Eggaline, and dear Ninjegg. The Hand smashes them into the counter, ending their brief existences.

They are left, bleeding and broken, their life ebbing out of them.

with great kindness, The Hand ends their suffering. And then, she eats them.

And they taste very very good!

**********

sooooo?

:D It was a bit gory there at the end but... hey, I found a red paint pen!! :D :D :D

This was very much inspired by my cousana - Sera (as usual! :D)

adios amigos!

~LS

2010-03-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░█▀▀ ░█▀█ ░█ ░█▀▀ ░░█▀▀ ░█▀█░█ ░█░░░
░█▀▀ ░█▀▀ ░█ ░█ ░░░░█▀▀ ░█▀█░█ ░█ ░░░░
░▀▀▀ ░▀ ░░░▀ ░▀▀▀ ░░▀░░ ░▀░▀░▀ ░▀▀▀░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

Haha, isn't that just awesome? Yes, it is!

:)

Perfect People

2010-03-21T19:56:00.003-05:00

"Never let 'em see you when you're breaking
Never let 'em see you when you fall
That's how we live and that's how we try
Tell the world you've got it all together
Never let them see what's underneath
Cover it up with a crooked smile
But it only lasts for a little while

There's no such thing as perfect people
There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scared
Lift up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God

Suddenly it's like a weight is lifted
When you hear the words that you are loved
He knows where you are and where you've been
And you never have to go there again

There's no such thing as perfect people
There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scared
Lift up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God

Who lived and died to give new life
To heal our imperfections
So look up and see out let grace be enough

There's no such thing as perfect people
There's no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scared
Lift up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God

By a perfect God

Be changed by a perfect God
Be changed"

~Natalie Grant, Perfect People

<3

~LS