Happy Weekend!

Indeed, I am happy, for the weekend has finally arrived.  Midterm tests are over, and I only have to sweat it out until the grades come out on Monday!
For those of you that have thoughtfully asked what I am majoring in, I am majoring in English education.  I will take an extra class and get a certificate so that I will be able to teach English as a second language.  I am very excited about college, and I would encourage any of you who are interested in obtaining a degree to attend a good, solid Christian college.  You will make wonderful friends and definitely push your mind to new lengths that you did not know existed!

And now, having given you my pep sermon (if there is such a thing), let me attend to the business at hand.  Having been trapped in the real world of textbooks and lectures so long, I find that writing a little fantasy helps me to get relax.  Thus you will see The Daulots word meter on my sidebar.  Would you like some snippets?  Good!

            Black and shining, glinting in the glower of the gusty torch, the eyes of Slograv of Korvask scanned the heads of the barbarians before him.   He shifted his weight in the makeshift throne that his men had hastily assembled from boards torn from the beds of the people that now stood before him.

            “Kabiak, I want the names of every one written down.  Choose out the choicest and bring them before me as my personal servants.  We march against Schlezimein tomorrow morning, and I want them with me to show that king of theirs just what I can do.”  Slograv nodded his handsome head at his first officer.  “Amia simply wasn’t built to withstand us,” he said with mock dejection.  He languidly rose from his throne and pulled the head of one of the Amians back by her hair.  He held up a bunch of it for his officers to see.  “Have you ever seen such short hair on a woman before this?” he asked with a laugh.  “Barely below the shoulders, it is!”  He stared into her passionless face.  “Well, woman, haven’t you anything to say?  We just defeated you!  You haven’t a home to call your own any longer.  You are a slave to my wish, and have you nothing to say to that?  Are you so cold, so barbaric, that you would not even weep for your fallen land?"

~The Daulots

“Sing a song to speed us on our way, Arda,” said Srlago.  He pulled out a small stringed instrument and began strumming a tune.

            “Is that all you can think of?” Arda groaned.

            “It is my favorite,” said Srlago gravely.  “And it is your prettiest.  If you are to impress Slograv, you must show off.”

            Arda pulled a black scarf over her head and cast her eyes down.  “I really don’t want to impress Slograv or anyone.  Music ought not to be used as a weapon.”

            Srlago shook his head.  “Have you a better plan, Sister?”

            Arda shrugged.  “Swords and bows have often worked before.”

            “So shall they work again, after we have done our job,” said Srlago.  He reached down and touched a dagger concealed in his boot.  “There will be plenty of fighting for your battle-lust, Sister.”

            Arda laughed.  “Battle-lust?  I think not.  I may be a little eager to repay the Korvaskians for all the wrongs they have done our people, but I am not stricken with battle-lust.”

~The Daulots

Timotheus lifted his head and looked toward the door, his pale brown eyes wide with anticipation.  Soon he would see light!

            Whatever you do, Timotheus, never, never let the Korvaskians break you.

            Timotheus recalled those last words of his father.  He had watched the wicked arrow slice into his father’s chest, watched his father fall to the ground with a trickle of blood running down his vest.  He had run to his father, cradled him in his arms, been torn away by soldiers, watched his father die alone.

            The Korvaskians had put him into a horrible dungeon to make him forget, but he could never forget.  He had never seen the face of Slograv, but he was certain that he would recognize it when the fateful day finally came.  Surely his face would be unmistakably marked with evil!

            You know what they did to your mother, to your brother, to your clan.

            Timotheus had never forgotten.  The image had been preserved so well in the darkness of ten years that it was forever etched into his memory.  The cell door creaked open.  Timotheus lifted his eyes to the wonderfully painful dazzle of the torchlight.  It filled the cell, revealing every nasty corner.  To Timotheus it mattered naught.  There was light to satisfy his craving.  He relished the warmth of the fire on his face.

            They are your enemies, your bane.  You will never be free while they are alive.

~The Daulots

“I want their names,” said Slograv to Kabiak.  “Now!”

            Kabiak sauntered over to the first of the prisoners.  “Name!”

            “Sruncl,” said the boy.

            “Name!”

            “Lonsh.”

            “Name!”

            Silence.

            “I said Name!”

            Timotheus turned his soulful eyes onto Kabiak.

            When an enemy tortures you, you never cry out.  This is a sign of weakness, and an Amian is never weak!

            Kabiak brought his hand across Timotheus’ mouth.  “What is your name?”

            “That one,” said Triklaus coldly, “is dumb.”

            “Is that so?” said Kabiak, glowering at Timotheus.

            “He’s not spoken in the ten years since I’ve had him,” said Triklaus with a shrug.  “Dumb as an ox!”  He laughed loudly at his own joke until he noticed the king eyeing him with disgust.

            “His name is Timotheus,” said Lonsh quietly.

~The Daulots

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Character Encounter

Kendra of Knitted by God's Plan has an amazing tag in which I am going to participate!  My character is none other than Laban Squeed from CATT.

Laban Squeed

My arms are full of books and papers.  I'm ready to study at the very large university library.  After walking up the spiral stairs I enter the research room and set my books in one of the cubicles.  I turn around to find the books I need, and what should I see but the a fiery red head of hair bob over one of the other cubicles.  "Immature Freshman Boys!" I think to myself in disgust.  I watch in semi-amusement as the head of hair walks around the line of cubicles and faces me.  When I see his full person I stagger in surprise and horror.  Clutching the side of the cubicle with one hand, I feel my head with the other.  This person is dressed in clothes of a century and a half ago, but more than that, I recognize him as none other than...
"Laban Squeed!" I gasp.
The young man's long, sinister fingers stroke his watch chain.
"At your service," he says with a smile.  "I came here especially to find you, Miss Barrett.  What do you mean by killing me in your novel?"
"I had to!" I cry, looking around desperately for the librarian.  There is a girl in the corner working on her computer, but she doesn't even lift her head at the commotion.
Mr. Squeed takes a tiny revolver from his pocket and brandishes it in my face.  "You will not make a certain character kill me!  I demand the right to live to the end of the story!"
It will be useless to make a mad rush.  I have no doubt that he is as real as I, though it seems fantastically bizarre.  One of the guys from my speech class walks into the room behind Mr. Squeed.  I try to signal to him without Mr. Squeed noticing, but he only gives me a quizzical look and says, "Hi?"
Mr. Squeed whirls around at the sound of his voice, but still the guy doesn't see him.  I run at Mr. Squeed from behind and knock him down.  The gun spins out of my reach.  Desperately a yell at the guy from speech class, "Pick up the gun!  Pick up the gun!"
He stands there dumbly and looks at me as though I am going crazy.
Mr. Squeed scrambles up and lunges for the gun.  I barely manage to trip him and make a wild dash for the revolver.  With a paralyzing yell Mr. Squeed pushes me out of the way from behind and snatches up the gun.
I back out of the room, casting a quick glance at the spiral staircase behind me.  I pretend like I'm going to make a run for it, and Mr. Squeed runs after me.  He trips over the railing of the staircase and plummets!
Unfortunately I see a girl walking underneath him!  "Watch out!" I yell frantically.
She looks up at me with raised eyebrows.  Oh, dash it all!  It's my RA.
When I look again, I don't see a trace of Mr. Squeed.  I only see my RA, walking up the spiral staircase, a concerned look on her face.  "Katie, are you all right?"
The guy from speech class comes out of the room behind me.  "Um, what was that all about?"
I look over the railing.  There's nothing there but a little piece of gold watch-chain hanging from the tip of a wing on the statue of the archangel on the main floor.  "I'm having a little trouble with my writing," I say with a sheepish grin.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Hey y'all!

I thank you for not abandoning me even though I haven't posted in a LONG while.  I am actually at college right now, and you can imagine the busyness I am facing as I pursue my degree.  But don't worry, I am still writing as often as I can, and Lord willing I will be able to publish something while I am in college.
God bless you all, and thanks for reading,

Epic Disney Blog Party Tag Questions

This is probably going to be my only participation in the EDBP, so this had better be good!  (Kiri, I hope you get that quote!)  By the way, these are from Lianne Taimenlore.

Which is your favorite Disney film and why?
Um, I really don't know.  I really like so many of the Disney movies.  I guess I'll go with some that I especially enjoy, as I doubt I could pick just one.  Finding Nemo, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills), The Happiest Millionaire, Beauty and the Beast, National Treasure, and the list goes on.  And the reasons are numerous.  Pick one of those, and I guess I'll say, "Sure, I love that movie..."

Which is the most annoying/worst Disney film and why?
Easy.  Swiss Family Robinson.  Epic Fail!  They totally butchered the book!  I really can't stand that movie, and I loved the book.  They took out the best character, changed names, events, removed the neatest scenes and places, and basically destroyed the original story in a way that would make Johann Weiss positively wear his coffin away with spinning.  And I won't even mention the cheesy acting.  Altogether, this movie is good for nothing except making silly comics about.  Which my brother did.

Which was the first Disney film you can remember watching?
That's a hard one, but I think it would have to be Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too.  I watched it at my grandparents' house on VHS, way back when DVDs were brand new.  Yes, I feel REALLY old.  NOT.  Anywho, I just remember this because I was scared to death when Rabbit gets lost in the forest and his eyes get all spinning and colorful.  Having watched this since, I don't quite know what was so scary about it, but there you are!  Who can fathom the mind of a four-year-old?



What are some of your favorite quotes from Disney films?
"I'M HAVIN' FISH TONIGHT!"
"It says...smudge."
"Is there anything on this menu that is not swimming in gravy?"
"Look at those beady little eyes, and those ricky-diculous striped pajamas!"
"Normally they don't talk, sea cucumbers, but in a joke, everyone talks."
"How would it be if you came and had tea with me?"  (Obviously Mr. Tumnus was Sir Percy's understudy.)
"You're beginning to irk me, Professor.  I am irked!"

What Disney character do you think you are most like?

I honestly never considered this life-changing question before.  But I guess I will say that I am most like Rabbit, always scheming to get rid of my brothers just as Rabbit schemes to get rid of Tigger.  Oh, hi Count Bob!  *Nervous laughter*  OK, seriously, I'm tired of stalling.  I wish some character would pop into my head, and I could say, "Oh, yeah..."  I'll go with Dory from Finding Nemo.   My brothers will completely agree that I am as oblivious and ditzy as she is.  I probably annoy people more than I realize by hanging around them, and I am ALWAYS talking.

What is your favorite Disney film song?
I really like a lot of them , but the entire sidewalk scene from Mary Poppins contains two of my favorites.   "Jolly Holiday" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious" are both excellent songs.

What is one Disney film you find yourself recommending over and over?
I don't tend to recommend movies to a lot of people; in fact, I usually get movies recommended to me.  But I think that Tangled is one of my more frequently recommended movies.


What is one thing from any Disney film/films that really irks you?
One thing that annoys me a lot is Disney's tendency to stray from the storyline of a book, especially in the older movies like *cough*Swiss Family Robinson *cough* or The Chronicles of Narnia.  While the latter mentioned is very good, it is still disappointingly not close enough to the book.

Who is your favorite Disney heroine and why?

My favorite would have to be Susan from Narnia.  I find that I sympathize with her a lot more than with the other Pevensies.  She doesn't want the adventure quite so much as the rest of her siblings.  She wants to turn her responsibility over to someone in authority, and she's definitely dependant on others, at least in the first movie.  This is something I very definitely understand, and it simply makes her more human, and therefore, more likeable.  Also, she's a know-it-all.  *Ahem* Not that I am anything like THAT!

Who is your favorite Disney hero and why?
Is there any contest?  Remy the rat is the best!  And why should you think that my love of cooking and well, frankly, eating, should have anything to do with this decision?  Even if it does.  All right.  I admit it.  Remy is my favorite because he is the only hero that immediately springs to mind that shares one of my three passions: reading, writing, and cooking.  If they had made a Disney movie of Charles Dickens I wouldn't even think about Remy.  He just happened to be there in a convenient place.

Who is your favorite Disney sidekick and why?
Lumiere, of course.  I mean, how could you dislike a candlestick with a French accent and an overwhelming sense of hospitality.  Is Lumiere a sidekick, by the way?  I mean, I don't know whose side he kicks, as it were.  I suppose Coggsworth?  Anyway, Lumiere is just so funny, and he gets all the best quotes in the movie, aside from Gaston.  Although I have always wondered how tall he must have started out years before if he is always lit up like that.  He must have been a gargantuous candle.


If you could spend a day in any Disney film, which one would you pick and why?
I would pick Tangled on the day of the floating lantern liftoff.  Honestly, I would pay to see something like that.  And the town and palace are really neat as well...

Choose any one Disney film character and place him in any Disney film (other than his or her own).  How would the story be different?
I choose to place Marlin in National Treasure.  The story would be not at all different, because Marlin would die from lack of water.  The only change is that Riley would make some witty remark about the situation.  Whew, that wasn't hard!

Thanks for reading, and God bless,

Epic Blog Party at Lianne Taimenlore!

You so totally rock, Kiri Liz!  Now give me some fin!  Noggin!
Ahem, to get back to the point, Kiri Liz of Lianne Taimenlore is hosting an Epic Disney Blog Party.  I just want to encourage all of you to join, even though I will not be able to, as I am leaving for college on Tuesday.  (Casts virtual daggers at Kiri)  OK, well, you would be pretty sad if you had to not join just because she hosted her party a week too late.
Anywho, I am not upset at all.  See, I am doing a whole promotional post just for her.  And I have her button on the side my blog, too.  See, right under my story meters!

So, thanks for reading, and go check it out!

Favorite Characters in Ira Bournton (Already!)

Yes, I already have favorite characters--characters that have sort of taken over the story less than four thousand words in.

#1. Cordelia Gaskey
She's the younger sister of Muriel Irene, one of the main characters.  Cordelia is twenty-two, pretty, and very high-spirited.  She is far more outgoing than Muriel Irene, and since she leaves Nanrantsouak Harbor close to the beginning she is not going to be in the book quite as much as Muriel Irene.  But that is my original plan.  Cordelia is the sort of person who would push her way back into the story, so we might be seeing quite a bit of her.

#2. Elizabeth McBride
Elizabeth McBride is the Nanrantsouak Harbor town gossip.  Because her house is directly across the street from the local tavern, there is virtually no sale of alcohol in Nanrantsouak Harbor.  Every husband knows that if he goes into the tavern, his wife will know it inside of three minutes.  In other words, Mrs. McBride is the Mrs. Lind of the story.  But is still like her, even though she has only figured in a few paragraphs so far.  She has a very strong personality, and I do like strong personalities.



#3. Captain Spadey
Known as simply 'Captain' to the residents of Nanrantsouak Harbor, he is the lame owner of the Lady Abigail Inn, and his business is horroble thanks to Elizabeth McBride, who he hates with a passion.  She is, in fact the only person who he hates at all.  Captain was once the master of a large ship, but ever since he broke both of his legs, he has owned the inn and delights in telling tall tales about his younger days to anyone who will listen.  Captain is fond of smoking pipes and not fond of wives, which is why he doesn't have any.  He loves the Lady Abigail Inn, though, and says it is better than any wife, as she won't talk back or make a lot of trouble.  That, according to him, is all women are good for.


I promise you, this is not only a mystery, although that is the biggest plot.  As of now there are about three subplots that sprang up out of nowhere.  This is going to be a lot more complicated than CATT.
And now, for a snippet.

Captain greeted Mr. Gaskey with a short wave of his free hand, while keeping the other firmly attached to the bowl of his pipe.  “I hear ye got the Bidwell place,” he said around the pipe.

            “News travels fast,” said Mr. Gaskey.  “I only just returned from purchasing it.”

            “This is Nanrantsouak Harbor,” said Captain.  “Fast news is the ladies specialty.  Do better at that than their cookin’.”

            “Well, we shall be out from under your roof tomorrow,” said Mr. Gaskey.

            “You goin’ to live at the old Bidwell place?  By tomorry?  Ain’t likely,” huffed Captain, reaching for his canvas tobacco pouch.  “When there ain’t no one livin’ in a place for thirty years, the place don’t just up and take a new family.”  With these cheering words he leaned back in his chair with a long sigh.  “Smoke, Mr. Gaskey?” he offered generously.
~ Ira Bournton

Mr. Gaskey sauntered into the Lady Abigail Inn, a decrepit specimen of an ancient New England tavern in which no one ever stayed.  The mere fact that anyone at all, let alone a family of twelve, had come to the inn, was subject matter to fuel the tongues of the Nanrantsouak Harbor gossips for weeks.  Already the rumor had flown about town on wings of curiosity that the Gaskey family was here to stay.  Everyone with ears knew that the Gaskeys were from Boston, that they had ten children with them, although the oldest was at least twenty-five and therefore was no longer a child but an old maid.  And it was common knowledge among the ladies that Mrs. Gaskey’s dress was in the latest fashion and therefore the Gaskeys must be well-to-do, or at least they once were.  For, on the tail of the all-important subject of Mrs. Gaskey’s dress was the fact that the Gaskeys had come to stay, and that Mr. Gaskey had contacted Mr. Rufer about purchasing some land, and what do you think?  Mr. Gaskey had purchased the Bidwell place.  He must be down on his luck or insane, because those were the only two kinds of people who would purchase the Bidwell place.  Elizabeth McBride, who prided herself on saying things that nobody wanted to hear but must be said anyway, had already taken into her mind to visit Mrs. Gaskey and inform her that the Bidwell place was no place to raise up children, and that she had better tell her husband to move at once to a more suitable environment.  Elizabeth McBride was rehearsing the words in her head when she saw Mr. Gaskey walking up to the Lady Abigail.  The McBride house was across the street from the Lady Abigail, and perhaps that was the only thing that had stopped the business of liquor-selling in Nanrantsouak Harbor.  No husband wanted Elizabeth McBride to see him enter, for his wife was certain to be told about three minutes afterward.  Elizabeth McBride already knew through Imogene Rufer who knew through her little boy Caleb that Mr. Rufer had sold the Bidwell place to Gaskey, and she was watching for him to return to the Lady Abigail, which he did a few minutes after the news reached her. 
~ Ira Bournton

The last snippet is probably the longest paragraph I have ever put into a book.  Do you think it is too long?  Should it be divided into several paragraphs?

Thanks for reading and God bless,

PICTURES!!!!!!!

Here are pictures of our visit, pictures which I promised I would put up!

This is a CBC classic: Bacon Popcorn!

Here we are signing our CBC week T-shirts

My little brother and their little sister brushing their teeth

Jessa Bri, me, and Beth Grace playing a LOTR board game.
The others are there, you just can't see them.

Doofus being a showoff

Copycat!

Beth Grace put my hair in curlers for the costume party.

End result: Nancy Drew!

Uncle J as Jacob Marley

Molgum as Barney Fife

Teddy as Pippi Longstocking.
There are pipe cleaners braided into her hair to make it stick out!

Kiri Liz as Astrid attacking Sammy as Hiccup

Emily as Arwen

Victoria as Jane Bennet.
She won the best hairstyle award.  The back of her hair was PERFECT!

Jessa Bri as Queen Susan with Andrew as Ted Nickerson

Count Bob as Sir Percy and Cyb as Maxwell Smart

All of the CBCs!

In case you couldn't tell, we had a great time!  I hope we can do this again ASAP.

Thanks for reading and God bless,