Ribbon Origami.

Over the summer I discovered Threadbanger, which I'll talk more about later. Anyway, From Threadbanger I learned about Ribbon Origami. So far I've made only two items: a Pheonix, which I don't have a picture of; and a Heart. The heart was really hard, long, and tedious.

NaNoWriMo

I thought that it was about time for me to add something; the only thing of interest for me to talk about is NaNoWriMo.

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Here's what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says about NaNoWriMo: NaNoWriMo is a website(s) for those who want to feel like they've accomplised something while using their creativity. What these people do is they set a word count goal for the month of November and try to meet that by the end of the month. You can type whatever you like and it doesn't have to be edited, for as the saying goes, "November is for writing, December is for typing." If you meet that word count by the end of the month the you get a messege from NaNoWriMo say that you've won in a big, multi-colored font with background fireworks. I you lose you lose nothing, which is the big flaw of the program. Other flaws are that people don't want to write a lot of words, and that they think that they need to be creative in order to write that much.

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If you're an adult then you have to do 50,000 words, but there is a young adults version where you pick your own goal, I chose to do 10,000 because I'm a very slow writer - think seven minutes to plan a sentence and then another minute to type it.

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At first I worked on a book I had been writing, but I got bored with that and started to work on others. I had gotten to the last day of November with 6,ooo and plus words down and more then 3,ooo to write, so I started to type what ever came to mind, winning me a cool "You've Won!" messege and 10,156 words under my belt.

Inkheart; a book review.

Stars: Four.

Pages: 534.

Buy after reading: Not if it's above $10 (hardcover).

Read it again: In a year or two.

Enjoyed it: Yes.

I thought the book very enjoyable, the kind that you want to take everywhere and where you're willing to pay the library fine so that you can keep it for a few more days. the first book that I read -well, I listened to it on audio books- by Cornelia Funke was The Thief Lord, which I thought was great until it got to the part about the Merciful Sister's magic merry-go-round. I had been planning on reading this book for about two years, so I was really hoping this would be a great book; I was not disappointed. The characters are portrayed very well, each characteristic defined and different. It takes the position of several different people, letting you understand every one's view.
I you have any questions about the book then COMMENT!

Art

I am currently low in ideas for posts so I decided to put up a picture that I finished last night. For some reason it turned out looking very odd when scanned so I had to tinker with it until it looked reasonable.
Now that I think about it she kind of looks flat; well then again she was drawn on paper.

Compose/r/rs/ing

Needless to say, everyone likes music; we may not all agree on thee same style, but we all like music. Here's a taste of what I like to listen to:

Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings)
Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean 2&3)
Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia)
David Nevue http://www.davidnevue.com/sheetmusic.htm
Regina Spektor
Imogen Heap
Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera)
And many more.

Rubik's Cube.

As confusing as the card game, Killer Bunnies, I give to you: The Rubik's Cube! I have had one of these for a few years and have not been able to solve it until now! What's that you ask? how did I accomplish such a feat? Simple: Cheating. Out of frustration I pulled up Google and typed in: rubix cube solution, (that was before I found out that the correct spelling was "Rubik's") and found this vary useful website: http://www.wrongway.org/cube/solve.html All you have to do is paint in the position of your messed up cube and presto!

More Paolini!

More Paolini! This is the first part of the prologue to Paolini's first book, Eragon; it includes little notes from me:

Prologue:

Shade of Fear

-O.k., that's just too cheesy, it makes me queasy-

1. Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world. A tall Shade lifted his head and sniffed the air. He looked human except for his crimson hair and maroon eyes.

2. He blinked in surprise. The message had been correct: they were here. Or was it a trap? He weighed the odds, then said icily, "Spread out; hide behind trees or bushes. stop whoever is coming... or die."

-Skip ahead to paragraph 6. where it says he has to wait a few more hours. How would he be able to smell the elves hours before they arrived?-

3. Around him shuffled twelve Urgals with short swords and round iron shields painted with black symbols. They resembled men with bowed legs and thick, brutish arms made for crushing. A pair of pair of twisted horns grew above their small ears. The monsters hurried into the brush, grunting as they hid. Soon the rustling quieted and the forest was silent again.

-"Around him shuffled twelve Urgals..." but here, "The monsters hurried into the brush..." It might just be me, but isn't it hard to hurriedly shuffle into the brush, and isn't it kind of noisy? If the Shade really wants everything quiet for the ambush, then shouldn't they be going about it differently? "Soon the rustling quieted and the forest was silent again." That is, everything was silent again except for the "Wind howled through the night." (paragraph 1.)-

4. The Shade peered around a thick tree and looked up the trail. It was too dark for any human to see, but for him the faint moonlight was like sunshine streaming between the trees; every detail was clear and sharp to his searching gaze. He remained unnaturally quiet, a long pale sword in his hand. a wire-thin scratch curved down the blade. the weapon was thin enough to slip between a pair of ribs, yet hard enough to hack through the hardest armor.

-Thin enough to slip between a pair of ribs, yet hard enough to hack through the hardest armor? Wow, Paolini really knows a lot about swords.-

5. The Urgals could not see as well as the Shade; they groped like blind beggars, fumbling with their weapons. An owl screeched, cutting through the silence. No one relaxed until the bird flew past. Then the monsters shivered in the cold night; one snapped a twig with his heavy boot. The Shade hissed in anger, and the Urgals shrank back, motionless. He suppressed his distaste-they smelled like fetid meat-and turned away. they were tools, nothing more.

-If you are waiting to ambush someone, and you've got your weapons in hand, then there's no need to fumble with them. The Shade hissed in anger? If you're angry at someone for making noise, you don't hiss at them because the "s" would stand out too munch in a quiet forest. The Urgals shrank back, motionless? Yeah, if you haven't noticed, it's really hard to shrink back and be motionless at the same time.-

6. The Shade force back his impatience as the minutes became hours. The scent must have wafted far ahead of it's owners. He did not let the Urgals get up or warm themselves. He denied himself those luxuries, too, and stayed behind the tree, watching the trail. Another gust of wind rushed through the forest. The smell was stronger this time. Excited, he lifted a thin lip in a snarl.

7. "Get ready," he whispered, his whole body vibrating. The tip of his sword moved in small circles. It had taken many plots and much pain to bring him to this moment. It would not do to lose control now.

8. Eyes brightened under the Urgal's thick brows, and the creatures gripped there weapons tighter. Ahead of them, the Shade heard a clink as something hard stuck a loose stone. Faint smudges emerged from the darkness and advanced down the trail.

-Oh, so they've got a stone trail in the middle of a forest; where did they get the stones? and why did they make the trail out of stones?-

I intend on doing the rest later, but by now you should get the basic idea on how Paolini writes.