Pages

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Recap

♫ All this time I was finding myself ♪
And I didn't know I was lost

I think I'll always remember 2015 as the year I found myself. Like the lyrics above from the song I found this year, and fell in love with, I didn't know I was lost. I don't think I was ever truly lost, but this year was really the start of something amazing. It was also a really troubling year in a lot of ways too. Overall it was an amazing year of learning, and I can't wait until 2016. I think it's going to be a year of really moving forward.

Onward to pictures I found on Facebook because otherwise there'd be none! Woo! Also, there are a few of my instagram photos. But mostly I stole them from others 'cause I don't really do much photography. Not yet anyway. Once I finish saving up for a proper camera that will be a different story. Also, I'm putting this in no particular order because that would be chaos. To me at least.



Ah yes, that time Lilly stole Tommy. The first time we totally staged it, but this time I was out front dancing while she snuck into my room and stole him. Good times. I hope your museum is going well Lilly?



BROADWAY TIME! This was a year of many broadway shows and it was MAGICAL.



Meeting ANDY, YEEEAAHHH!! Ahhh that was amazing, I was totally starstruck and couldn't really speak. Also, I'm not good with people, so that probably had something to do with it.. Let's add that to my new year's resolutions. XD



Meeting ERIK AHHHHHHH



AND GALINDA ERMAGERD



Not entirely sure what's going on here. But I look like Mary just offended my great ancestors or something. XD This was at one of the many parties we had. Not sure which one.



Volunteering at History Flight with the Pleticha's. Man, I've known Elie since... forever pretty much. Not totally sure I remember a time when we didn't know them. XD



Basically Tiana and I in a nutshell. As you can see we get along so well.


This was sometime within the first month or two of when I first arrived at the stable. Back when I couldn't really control Luna. I wonder if I could now...



At the tulip fields. That felt like forever ago... which I suppose it was.



Maybe it's just me, but I can totally see how I didn't entirely know what I was doing here. XD Good gosh I need to bend my elbows a little more. And lean back a little more. And engage my core. Hehe, I've learned a bit since then.


Awwww, back when Scooby was at the stable. I never rode him, but I heard he was pretty naughty. I think he bucked a person or two off before he left. He looks all adorable here, but trust me his only stayed still for like .5 seconds before he pulled back. Though that's typical of horses. They don't pose.



May the Fourth (be with you). Good times, good times.




Now THAT was a memorable day. Had my first time impromptu galloping session. XD This was after the fact of course. Quite the crazy ride, and yet I didn't fall off. Not sure how. Thank goodness Rachelle was there. If she hadn't I probably would have fallen off on purpose just to get off Gigi. XD



Oh yeah, that time we visited Stonehenge while it was like A MILLION degrees out! Okay really it's a remake, obviously. It was really cool. I would have wanted to stay there all day if it wasn't so painfully hot outside. And if we weren't on our way home from Oregon. There's always that.



Throwback to that time as Tiana's graduation where we stole Lilly's phone. This is the only picture we took that I look halfway decent in. XD And of course Bethany looks like a beauty queen, as always.





And finally a little collage of some of my Instagram photos, which is about the only way I post pictures on the internet. And I managed to get locked out of my account. Yay me. There's my first time having butterbeer, and when I got my first chocolate frog (I got the card for Voldemort). That time I mysterious got my Hogwarts acceptance letter, which I finally got Evangeline to confess to. I know you read my blog, and so I say THANK YOU EV! And finally a stack of Romanov books. Both ones I own, and library books. I have more on the way from Amazon. >:)

So now that we've gone through an epic collage of my year, it's time to get down to it.

For starters, this year was really huge for me, because after five years, a spark was rekindled into a flame (that's such a poetic way to put it XD). In other words, I got to start being around horses again.

I am still absolutely giddy every time I go to the stables, even though it's been nine months since I first started. Cleaning stalls is still one of the funnest things I do. Dropping hay is ridiculously fun, and working with never before ridden horses is so fun. Riding gets more amazing each time I swing into the saddle. With all this, I ask myself, if I hadn't had to wait would I feel this way?

After I stopped riding at my last barn, due to financial issues, I could only wonder when I could ride again. At first it was really hard, and I was hard on myself. My way of coping started as me resigning myself to the fact that I would never be able to ride in my teens. Not until I was an adult, and could pay for it myself. But eventually God did what he's always done to help me. I got distracted. There was a long time that I forgot about horses. That they were my passion.

So I forgot. Almost five years of forgetting. Then one day, I just wanted to ride so badly. God said it was time, and all of a sudden I couldn't get it out of my head. I tried one stable, but it didn't work out. Then I found All Starr. In a matter of one week of contacting Rachelle, I was out at the stable working and it hasn't stopped. So I think back to my question, would I still feel so excited, like I described above, if I didn't wait? Honestly I don't know. But if I had the choice to start riding again, right after I stopped six years ago, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Sure, I'd be a better rider. I'd probably be jumping, my dream since I learned what horses were. But I wouldn't be who I am today and I like this person I've become. So yeah, I'd choose to wait.

Another thing about this year, Misophonia. I discovered I had it a little over a year ago. At the time, that was a huge relief. Not gonna lie, I thought I was going insane. Before we found out, it was... driving me crazy. And that's the understatement of the century. Since we've discovered it, there's been a lot of growing. It's a hard condition to live with, both if you have it, or if a family member has it. Considering my sister has it, and I also have it, I get the brunt of both sides. Ug.

Misophonia is... how can I put this lightly. A nightmare. Yeah, that's a fairly good description of it. It's gotten better. Well, not really. My symptoms have worsened these past few months. But the relating to it in my family has gotten better. So that's how it's gotten better (and sugar might be the cause of why it's gotten worse. I've been having a lot lately, so I'm going off again. For good this time). I've had a lot of breakdown lately. I really hate them. There are two options. Either rage, which sucks, or I turn the rage into sorrow. I never naturally cry at a trigger, but I can make myself, and honestly that's almost the better option. I mean it's still really horrible, but it's so much easier to pray when you're sad then when you're ready to punch someone.

Yesterday I had a particularly bad breakdown. I'm okay now, but at the time I was seriously freaking out. I decided to cry instead of rage, and I just sorta sat at my desk for a long time and just cried. Until I finally asked for help, which eventually made it better.

So yeah, that's the dose of severe reality as to what my life is like. On a more happy note there is this song that makes me super happy that I related to Misophonia. It's called Stand by You by Rachel Platten. Whenever I listen to it I just think about my family and my friends surrounding me to help me with it. The lyrics really strike me too, one particular part being "Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through." And I dunno. It just reminds me so much of my Miso, and is kind of like a warm reminder that I'm not alone. I forget that sometimes.

This year was also quite amazing, because 841 Films was started. Sometime in January. Since then we've grown really close to great friends. It's been an amazing journey making films together, and getting to know one another better. And now in our next super top secret film, I'll be one of the two main roles. I'm super scared, but also excited, but mostly scared. XD

Ah yes, and this year I made my first composition! My first four actually, though I've only posted three. I've yet to record the fourth, and possible add instruments. That's been a lot of fun, and I know I have a long way to go, but I hope one day I can be half as good as Brunuh Ville, or Adrian von Ziegler. They're two of the biggest reasons that I started composing. So my hats off to them.

Finally I want to end this post with my new year's resolution. I'm actually going to make one, and hopefully follow through with it. So here it is:

To start exercising regularly
To stop eating all processed sugar, and dairy
To (attempt to) grow a full garden
To complete a full album of music
To finish editing She-Wolf so I can get critiques from friends and family
To pray for help for my Misophonia everyday

Wish me luck! And lemme know what your resolution is. :) Happy new year everybody!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Force Woke Up

I SAW THE FORCE AWAKENS OMG IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

I just... I can't even. Because spoilers are the worst, and this movie has A LOT of them, I will write nothing more.

Mostly I wanted to make a quick post to say that I saw it. And just. Oh gosh. Jee. Yeah. I'll just say it was incredible. It truly was.

It was my first premier (well, technically not, but first like huge real movie premier). It was great. I've always been in a near empty theater, and the audience laughed and cheered and it was great. We were in that theater for like, five hours. It was... arg, just incredible. That'll all I will say, just incredible.

Also, you need to watch it. Like, go to your local theater and watch it. You will not be disappointed.

Also, Tiana, CALLED IT. I SOOO CALLED IT. (And I'm not talking about how I "predicted" that Threepio would come back a ripped war hero. You know what I'm talking about. And too my other followers, no I did not literally think that. We started making crazy "predictions" and that was one of mine).

Monday, December 7, 2015

My Seventeenth Birthday

I had a really great birthday, and I can't believe I'm seventeen years old now. Somehow when crossing from sixteen to seventeen I feel different in a way. Kind of like seventeen is when you really start to enter adulthood, even though I'm not legally an adult until I'm eighteen. In a year I'm going to have to be responsible for a lot more things. More like, responsible for buying consumables for myself (not including food though). So now I want to start putting part of each paycheck into budgets so it doesn't come as a complete shock to my system when I have to pay for things.

For my birthday I got a piano, so I didn't do anything overly special. I'm glad that's what I did, because I couldn't really think of what I wanted to do for my birthday, and honestly I've been wanting a new keyboard since forever. I still love it, and playing piano is the best thing. As for presents, they were amazing this year! Daniel got me the Lego Hobbit game for Wii U. I know, I haven't even seen the movies, but I don't care because the hub on this game is amazing. And honestly most anything Middle Earth is kinda magical. Sereina got me a Slytherin shirt, and the rest of my gift from her still hasn't arrived in the mail. Lastly, Tiana's present to me was to make Elsa's coronation gown from Frozen for me! I seriously couldn't believe it. I love that dress. Unfortunately it doesn't include the cloak (which is understandable because that's a lot of fabric), but if I supply the money she'll make it for me. So I'll have to save up for that. And possibly a wig, though the best one would also be expensive. At least I'll be covered for next Halloween if I do!

Now this isn't the end of my birthday though. True, I did hang out at home and play games in celebration. But then a surprise came at the front door. My mom found it when she let the cat out. It was a letter, addressed to me. It was, of all things, my acceptance letter to Hogwarts! I'm seriously not kidding it was just on the porch, addressed to me, and had all the instructions and things. There was even a wax seal on the envelope. I have no idea who sent it. All of my friends haven't shown any sign of being the ones who sent it, so I'm at a loss as to where it came from. That kind of makes it more magical though, like it really came from Hogwarts. That's really special to me.

On a not so great note, I feel like my Misophonia is going through a rough point lately. I keep getting worked up and the sounds keep repeating in my head at random times which is the most infuriating thing in the world. It seems to happen the most as I try to sleep, which does nothing to help me fall asleep. It's the ultimate "stay away forever" tactic. So hopefully that'll mellow out. Though something kinda completely bizarre happened with it. I heard a trigger noise, but I guess I was relaxed enough because my reaction to it was probably more to that of someone with a type two Misophonia, and I'm around type seven. That's so weird, because whenever I imagine being cured, I can't. These sounds are so prominent and irritating that I honestly cannot imagine being able to hear them, and not going crazy. So I guess that goes to show that there's hope, though it'll be a long time until I'm cured. I mean I'm not even going through any kind of treatment. The only thing I know to do, is to stay relaxed. Which I think horseback riding has helped, because being relaxed is very important, and I must do that while doing dozens of other things at the same time.

I think my horseback riding has helped a lot of things. We had to replace the lights in our garage, and when I went on the ladder I wasn't even remotely scared of the height. I'm really weird about heights, sometimes I'm okay, other times I'm not. Usually on a ladder I get really buggy, and slightly dizzy. But my head was touching the top of the garage and I was totally chill. I suppose racing around on 15hh - 16hh horses has kinda helped with that.

Also, my last ride was amazing. Oh my gosh, just oh my gosh, it was the greatest. I got to ride Ellie, since it was windy and Zoey can be weird about the wind. It was my first time on her, and it was incredible. She is like Lacey, except even better trained! Her trot is huge, just like Lacey, and because of that I couldn't really stop her. Ellie doesn't like you to pull on her face, and I never do. So I have to stop her by sitting deep and slowing the movement of my hips. That is really hard to do when you're flying out of the saddle. Luckily I'm still pretty good at one rein stops, hehe. But it was great, her trotting is so fast too. I also cantered, though unintentionally. Ellie's a lot like Gigi, so when I said trot she heard canter. It was one of my best canters considering though, and it didn't get crazy and go into galloping. I really hope I work with Ellie more, because I think she can teach me a lot. Aaand looking way into the future, she is a hunter jumper (as well as dressage horse, trained in carting, and so many other things) and jumping it what I want to pursue. But like I said, it'll be a while before I'm jumping. Gotta work on cantering and two point first.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Lost Hero

Life has been going pretty good lately. I've been playing piano all the time, and have already learned the entire thing of The Dragonborn Comes on piano. Now to just perfect it. I'm thinking I might do song covers on my channel along with my original compositions. We'll see though.

I've finally gotten around to reading the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I finished Percy Jackson and the Olympians a million years ago. Okay not really, sometime during this year. I forgot when. But I'm so sucked into The Lost Hero, I can't stop reading it. Of course I have to at some points so I can continue with NaNoWriMo.

Speaking of NaNo, it's been going quite well. Each year I've been able to write more and more. My first year was pretty tough. 1,667 words was a lot, and the moment I hit that each day, I pretty much stopped. Until Tiana raced ahead at the end, and obviously I didn't want to get left in the dust. I ended up writing ten thousand words in the span of two days. Now I don't write that much regularly, but it's not as big of a deal anymore. About a week ago I wrote almost six thousand words, and I didn't even mean to. I just kept joining Word Wars, and let me tell you, those get me super competitive. When doing a Word War I average at about a thousand words in fifteen minutes. I'm so excited to start editing, seeing as this is my first draft I'm happy enough with to edit.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here. The time to feast on mashed potatoes is fast approaching! That'll be amazing. I love mashed potatoes. They are my weakness. And not the boxed kind mind you. Real honest to good potatoes.

Fun fact: A new species of daddy long leg spider has been named Iandumonema Smeagol. Yes, there is a spider named after a LOTR character, simply because it looks similar in color. And it had no eyes, but that's just another random thing. So yeah, fun fact.

And another fun fact because you all should hear this. You know that dizzy feeling you get when you stand up too fast after sitting or lying for a while? Kind of like you might pass out? The technical term for it is Orthostatic Hypotension. Thank you medical student/doctor on Pinterest that I follow who inserts your knowledge on pins. It's very educational.

In other news, I'll be going to the stable today. Due to reasons I'll be going an hour earlier than usual, just this week, and won't be there when it's dark. After the time change if felt like I was there a lot longer because when I leave it's dark out. But yeah, anyways, can't wait to go to the stable. I really want to do some cantering. Hopefully I'll do better after learning some techniques. Well, it's hard to call them that, since technically it's mostly psychological. Imagining my entire weight dropping into my heels and stuff like that. Or envisioning myself as something really heavy, to solidify the thought of staying in my seat. Kind of like a bag of potatoes. But of course I gotta keep good posture. So as I'm riding I literally think to myself, "I am the most glorious bag of potatoes." It's hard to say how much it helps, but it's entertaining.

Last week I rode Bella, since it was windy. Usually I'm on Zoe, but she's kinda spooky with the wind and all. I rode down in the big arena the entire time, and Bella decided that "fast trot" was the only word in her vocabulary. It was probably due to the cold though. By the time I was done riding I felt completely frozen. My fingers were freezing. But it was a good ride. Bella randomly decided to canter, and I didn't lose my balance and was able to bring her down within a few strides. Of course I was going in a straight line, so of course it was easier than what I've been doing. But I've always seemed to do better on Bella's canter in the past... hm.

Yesterday some friends came over because Tiana wanted to do a collab video for her YouTube channel, and so did Lilly. Mary and I just hung out playing piano and making homemade granola most of the time. Then we showed them Google Translate sings. They just released a rendition of Google Translate Sings Phantom of the Opera starring *drum roll please* CALEB HYLES! WOO HOO! I want him to play on Broadway as Phantom one day. He has a really great voice for it. Oh yes, and we watched the latest Studio C, a parody on Sherlock. OH. MY. GOSH. Matt looks exactly like Moriarty, and he plays the part soooo well (Matt looks like so many characters, just like how Jason can act out every character perfectly). Stephen made a wonderful Watson (JAWN), and Adam played Sherlock. He did a good job, but it was just a little strange, because his voice is slightly high pitched. Not really in a bad way, but since Benedict Cumberbatched voice is inhumanly deep, it sounded a little off. It was hilarious. I love the part when Matt pulled out the gun and shouted, "That's why there's a GUN!" That's one of my all time quotes. Well, the actual quote, not the parody of it. Not to say I won't be shouting that all the time now.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Oh Life

Okay so the BEST thing ever happened a few days ago. So as some of you may know, I've been saving for a better piano for like, forever. And my dad came back from Costco where they had a really nice one on display that was much more in my budget that the Casio PX850 that I was (and still am, but as a long term goal) saving up for. Well, my birthday came early because my dad helped me pay for it as an early gift (my birthday is early December btw). I've pretty much been playing non stop. I can't help it, the weighted keys and full length are enough to keep me going. Plus it came with a bench, and headphones so I don't have to bother everyone with the same tune a million times while a learn songs. I've named my keyboard the Dragonborn in honor of the first new song I'm learning, The Dragonborn Comes. The piano has great sound and I love it so much.

As for other things. NaNoWriMo. Yes. That. The first week is over and I don't want to write anymore. I mean, I will. I'm competitive enough that I WILL write the 50,000, no doubt. I just don't feel like writing anymore. Plus, my character is undergoing training in hand to hand fighting, weapons fighting, parkour, etc. and I honestly have no idea what I'm writing. I've never done anything like that except when we filmed a fight scene for 841 Films. So that part is weak and will require research before any other eyes besides my own read it. But I'm excited because this is probably the first manuscript that I won't completely scrap. That's exciting! I'm actually really excited to edit.

Okay I've been going crazy reading Resurrection of the Romanovs. Once I got past the beginning (it's hard to read because I know 95% of what they're talking about already so to me it's like, get on with it!) it started to get really good. It's really starting to captivate me. I seriously LOVE Romanov history. Plus I found quite a few books that I'm hoping to get for my birthday related to the Romanovs. Hint, hint family members. Hehe.

My room is a mess. Ugh. I've been too lazy to clean it. I really should, especially since I'll be busy most of Thursday, between keeping up with writing and going to the stable. Last time I went Rachelle was sick, so I rode Zoe and tried some things of my own. First off, imagining the entire weight of my body dropping into my heels really help my seat. Not to say it was perfect. I did a lot of sitting trot, and because Zoe was kinda spooky from Rachelle moving manure in the tracter (despite her being sick stuff had to get done) she didn't need the crop to keep a good trot going. It really made me realise that while I've gotten the posting trot down, I still need to develope my seat. I can't wait to ride again. I'm considering riding bareback sometime soon, to work on my seat. But if I go bareback then there's no chance of cantering. I'm not ready for that yet, considering I sometimes still hold the saddle. Oh decisions.

That's basically been my life lately though. Writing. Playing piano. Procrastinating from writing. Eating. Lots of eating. I made mashed potatoes and I can't stop eating them. Mashed potatoes are my weakness I love them so much.

Ah yes, and I've been stretching this entire month so far because I'm determined to be able to do the splits. Most all of my friends joined me in doing the thirty day challenge alongside NaNoWriMo. I can touch my toes when I'm warmed up, so yay! I'm not a very flexible person so that's pretty good for me. I'm still a bit away from being able to do the splits, but I'll get there. I'm very determined.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015

My third year of NaNoWriMo has begun! So far it's going amazing, and I've already hit day three's par. I was able to do quite a bit of plotting for once in my life, and I think this novel is going really well so far. Especially compared to my last novels. It might actually be edit worthy when the first draft is done, haha.

I've been sick for the past week. Got a sore throat on Sunday and it went downhill from there. Whenever I get a sore throat first when sick I think about when I got sick on the cruise. That's exactly how it started. Luckily this wasn't nearly as bad as on the cruise and I'm almost better.

Call me crazy but I'm no longer saving up for a five hundred dollar piano, but a thousand dollar piano. I can't help it, I found a better model and it's seriously worth the extra money. Ever dollar. So it'll be longer until I can get it, but I'll be getting quality as long as it lives up to my expectations. On another note, I discovered that my piano is once again too short to complete another song, A River Flows in You. It was going so well too. I don't want to forget what I've learned so far, but it'll be a while before I can finish it.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Larkspur

I finished another composition! It's just a simple piano piece, though I may add violins sometime in the future. It depends on if I can get them to sound right, and quite honestly I don't think I'm there yet. So yeah, anyway here's the newest song.


So yeah, whaddya think? I'm pretty proud of it, especially since I only started it last night, and was able to finish it today.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Hey Hey

Hello. It's me. I'm back again.

I haven't been posting as much, but that's because I've been busy and happy. My life is really great right now.

Thursday was incredible. It's like something clicked in my brain, because I was able to canter Zoe hands free. It's strange, because I've been cantering for a while, though I've had to hold on. But it's like the minute I let go... something changed. It was like flying. Cantering is the most addictive thing, and I haven't felt like that since my lesson on Halli with Veronica. Plus Zoe is super adorable. My favorite thing in the whole world is going into her stall and holding out my hands. She'll sniff around for a treat, and press her entire head against my body, and I'll just rest my chin between her ears. It's just... special. And everytime I put her away, she sticks her nose between the door so I can't close it, because she wants more attention. She's basically the most adorable horse ever. Plus my lesson was amazing because Zoe hardly threw her head, and she responded to me when I told her to put her head down. Rachelle also complimented my riding, telling me that it was an amazing ride and that I've learned a whole lot. It just felt amazing and I couldn't stop smiling. It's times like this that make me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Work has picked up again, which I'm glad about. That keyboard isn't gonna buy itself. Except that I found another keyboard I wanna buy, but it'll probably be a few years before I can get it. It's the Casio Privia PX850 and oh my gosh it's the best thing ever. It's a thousand dollars though, sooo... yeah. Haha, definitely not getting that. But for now, it's my dream piano (other than an actual grand, which would be perfect).

I've started yet another composition. It's kind of completely frustrating me though, because the left hand part keeps messing with my brain, and I know how I want the general sound of the song to go, but it's just not working. So yeah, we'll see how it turns out in the end. As for my other piece Ringing Silence... well, I dunno if I like it anymore. I've heard it about a billion times and now the cello's sound cheesy and the drums ridiculous. Luckily I still like the piano part though.

All my shows have started, and Arrow is officially the most evil thing ever. I mean, I still love it, but man they really topped last seasons intro. See, last season at the end of the first episode they *spoilers!* killed Sara. This season they ended it with a "six months later" with Oliver at a grave of someone who's gonna die, presumably at the end of the season. How dare they!? I'm afraid it'll be Felicity with recent developments. Tiana remembers them saying it was a girl, but if isn't I also fear for Diggle. He cannot die. Oliver needs him. It also better not be Thea. They already killed half my ship don't they dare take the other half! *end of spoilers*

Agents of Shield has already broken my heart, and it's so great to get back to The Flash, even if things are... different. *sniff* The CW knows how to hit hard.

Also, Blake Neely is basically my hero. His soundtracks for Arrow, The Flash, and Flarrow *squee* are so incredible. There are a few songs that just... oh gosh. They're so sad. When I listen to them I don't hear music, I see Oliver and how he's changed from the island and I hear Barry and the pain of his mother dying and his father being locked up for it. I don't hear epic fight music, I see Oliver's skill from years of experience and hard choices, I see Barry's lightning fast speed and I can almost feel the wind in my hair as he runs. It's just... these shows man. I really hope Blake Neely does Legends of Tomorrow. It'll be truly epic if he does. Especially if there's a Legends of Flarrow or whatever they'll call it if they do it. I mean, the first Flarrow got an entire album. I hope each Flarrow gets a new album. Now I'm just waiting for a Zatanna show. Seriously man, a show following Zatanna in her search for her missing father, and bring together raw skill, sciences, and magic? It completes the circle, plus, Cisco would be hilarious with magic. And I mean, Zatanna!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

"But We Already Ruled That Out"

My parents just got back from being in Memphis for a week, and while I'm going to miss sleeping without earplugs at night since I took over their bedroom, I'm glad they're back (I went almost a week without them for the first time in about five-ish years). Luckily this time I did not set off the alarm, thus freaking myself out. Haha, good times.

For a while now everything in our kitchen has been breaking. The oven does not know the difference between changing the time and setting the timer, our dishwasher runs at the strangest times for no reason and will run for hours on end, and our family forgot what it was like to have hard ice cream. The bottom half of our freezer acts like a fridge. So it's finally come time, and tomorrow we're getting new appliances! I'm so excited, because new stuff is fun and it'll be nice to have updated cooking stuff. Our stove is kinda old, and takes forever to heat up. I seriously can't wait!

Today I watched a bit of The Fellowship of the Ring. I started it a while back, and only just yesterday and today started again. I cleaned my room while doing so, and it's glorious. Just hearing the music and voices of the actors... arg, Aragon! He's amazing, I forgot how much I love that guy. He's so awesome. And Gandalf man, he's the best. Not to rule out everyone else. I love love the Hobbit's like nothing else, Gimli is the best, and don't even get me started on Legolas. Hehe.

While my parents were gone I cleaned out my room, got rid of a bag of stuff, and reorganized so there's more room to store things under my bed. I'm really glad about that. Plus I was able to sweep under the bed for the first time in a while. It was pretty dusty.

Okay so I got a haul of Romanov books from the library, and I'm on a rampage! I'm sorta freaking out, because according to one book Pierre Gilliard was vilified as a pathological liar! How did I not know this?! Now I really want to read his books, one of which titled The False Anastasia. Now that
will be an interesting read.

I've also been on a Homesteading craze after a friend recommended a homesteading book. I want to plan my Winter garden and plant it soon, so here's hoping I don't fail. I can't wait to get five new chicken in the Spring. It's been weird without the old hens. Every morning and evening I'm like, "gotta take care of the hennies... wait, they're not here."

On Thursday Rachelle put me through what I'd like to call a canter intensive. I was so sore when I got home, and the next day was worse. But it was great! I mean, I'm not exactly any better, but I have a few ideas as to why I'm so... unstable. First off, I know I lean forward (which is bad), but when I lean back I feel off balance and not comfortable letting go of the saddle. I think, while my eq is generally pretty okay, I sit every so slightly forward. I need to open up my hips I think, as well. Second I'm having a hard time getting in rhythm with the horse. I was starting to get a feel for Lacey, but she's gone (and for that my spine is forever grateful). My resolve is to exercise my leg muscles, and find balance exercises to try. I want to get an exercise ball to help simulate a similar position so I can practice balancing. And maybe sometime soon I'll ask for a bareback lesson (no cantering though, hehe). That seemed to help my balance in the beginning. Maybe if I can get Zoe again... she'd great bareback.

Also at the barn, the big arena has footing, wire fencing, and gates! It looks so beautiful! Rachelle has started driving too. Anna got to drive Comet on Thursday, and I ground drove him for practice. I think I may end up liking driving, but it's a little disconcerting. It is similar, but different. Plus in some senses it seems more dangerous. I mean, you can't do a one rein stop on a cart. I'm sure it's not that bad, but while Anna drove Rachelle had me stay down in the unlikely event that Comet tried to take off. Luckily nothing happened, and I doubt it ever will.

The other day I started notebooks for Russian and Norwegian, simply because I felt like it. While Scottish Gaelic is my priority language, I want to familiarize myself with French, Russian, and Norwegian. Plus, writing in Russian is very entertaining.

So you know how I'm saving up for a new keyboard and a camera? Well I just looked 'em up and now I'm furious. The keyboard I want went up $80 in price, and yes while I know it might go down before I have the money, it's still annoying. And the camera I want to buy is no longer being made. Sure, I can probably find basically the same thing but still it's like, driving me nuts. So yeah.

Tomorrow I can enter my NaNoWriMo novel onto the web site, and I'm so excited! Last night I consulted Daniel, the comic specialist, to help me. See, my novel is based on a character that I wish could become DC Canon. Unfortunately, she'll never be added to the family, least of all live in Gotham city as I envision her. So I decided to write her story as a trilogy since I already had a backstory formed through our Lego play (that's how her character emerged). We came up with an interesting way to introduce the endgame baddie whilst keeping them in a small role. Daniel also mentioned that any baddie in a superhero origin story plays a very small role, until the end, because the story is about how they come to be, not the battle. I rather like that.

All the fandoms are returning and it's glorious. Agents of Shield broke my heart in the first episode, and even though we're not caught up we watched the newest Once Upon a Time because a friend had a premiere party. It was amazing! The Flash and Arrow return soon, Supergirl should be starting soon (I think) Legends of Tomorrow should also be starting soon, and just, all the shows. So yeah, the fandoms are returning.

Earlier Daniel and I were playing Lego Marvel Super Heroes on Wii, and things got really crazy. Mystique and Magneto pretended to be new mutants in order to infiltrate Professor Xavier's. Once our characters arrived, I changed into Professor X and let me tell you, it was hilarious. Magneto's disguise was him wearing a simple purple shirt, and Professor X was like, "I see you like purple. Reminds me of my mortal enemy... MAGNETO. But you couldn't be him!" Then Professor X proceed to show him around, first showing him to the death cliff where they either had to polish his head or jump off. Magneto then commented about Wolverine, wondering how he reacted, and Professor X said, "He jumped. Thirty times." Magneto's had to cover up his abilities, and frying pans kept hitting him in the head. Professor X was like, "Just like MAGNETO! But we already ruled that out!" and it was just crazy and Daniel couldn't stop laughing. I wish we had it on tape. Professor X is my new favorite character to be. Part of Magneto's cover was saying his parents were Indian or something, and Professor X was like, "You're pale though. Oh no, son, I have some bad news. You're adopted." It was just... crazy.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Five Favorite Male Characters

Woot, I've been tagged! Time to do the tag dance.... yeah, just kidding. This is the Five Favorite Male Characters (book or screen).

Now fair warning, these are the first five I think of / have on the mind as of the moment. I'm sure I'm probably missing my all time favorites. But then again, this is a good thing, because if I only talked about the top characters, you'd never hear my thoughts on other beloved characters.

Rules:
1.) List 5 of you favorite male characters (book or screen)
2.) Tagging other people is optional
3.) If you are tagged link back to the person that tagged you
4.) Link back to Revealed In Time (preferably using the link to this post)
~ ~ ~
Choose one from each category.
1.) Hero
2.) Villain
3.) Anti-hero
4.) Best book-to-screen adaption
5.) Best character perception

1.) The Doctor


My dear Doctor. He is my favorite hero for so many reasons, that we'd be here all day. But lemme try and 'splain a little.

When you first enter the world of New Who there's this strange man who's running about London, saving the world, all with a big grin on his face. You don't know it until much later, and I think many people forget this. But this is the Doctor whom regenerated from the War Doctor. It was not long before he met Rose, that he destroyed Gallifrey. That he became the last of the Time Lords. You'd never guess that from how he acts.

Nine falls in love with Rose, a simple shop girl who turns into the Bad Wolf. Even so, she still wasn't that special. She was just a girl, who loved the Doctor. Rose saved Nine's life, and regenerated into Ten. So while Nine was born from war, Ten was born from love.

Ten is special. He is the man who regrets. He is the one who counted how many children were on Gallifrey when it was destroyed. When he destroyed it. Ten is the Doctor who kept smiling, but underneath that smile you could see through his eyes the horrors he'd lived. The tragedy that sent Rose to another dimension must have hurt more than we Whovians can imagine. You know why? Because not that long ago, before the end of the Time War, Time Lords could travel between parallel universes. After Rose left, Ten was depressed. Try as Donna and Martha might, he would never be the same again.

In the end, Ten was destined to die alone. He lost Rose, Martha left, Donna forgot, Astrid sacrificed herself, etc. ... everyone was gone. His new regeneration, Eleven, was born from pain. All the pain of Gallifrey being destroyed, the loss of his companions, the pain of being alone as he died.

Eleven is dark. He doesn't let it show, but he's reckless and dangerous. Though he's mistaken as a cute puppy in a fez, who trips on his own feet, he is in fact a killer. Eleven forgot how many children died on Gallifrey. While Nine sent Rose home in the face of ultimate doom, the Doctor kept Amy and Rory by his side. He didn't want to be alone again. But his selfishness is his undoing. Yes, deep down he's a sad man in a blue box. But Eleven became careless, and thus became dangerous.

Now on to Twelve. By all means, Eleven should have died. I mean truly died. He was on his thirteenth regeneration. It was a miracle that the Time Lords restored him, and bequeathed thirteen more regenerations. Twelve is new, and trying to figure out who he is. He's dealing with the ghosts of his past, while trying to make a future. Given time, we'll see what kind of a man Twelve ends up as.

So there's my super long rant as to why I love the Doctor. He is deep. Troubled. Dark. Happy. Sad. He is everything. And that's fitting for a man who is over a thousand years old (and still not a ginger).


2.) The Joker


I'm sure you all expected Moriarty. But I think it's time I elaborate on another favorite. The Joker.

Why is the Joker one of my favorite villains? For many reasons. Starting off, he is scary. I'm not exactly saying I'm afraid of him. That I cover my eyes when he's on screen (technically I've never seen him in a movie. But having a comic nerd brother, and becoming a comic nerd myself, I know who he is). But in a story scenario, he is not to be messed with. Joker is insane, and unpredictable. To a fault of course. He keeps his word, and when he says he's going to reign terror on Gotham, he keeps his promise.

Most importantly, I love his dynamics with Batman. How they are each other's nemesis. And not that they chose each other, but it's because of who they are that they're nemesis's. I just... arlhgsjkahsdf. The fact that neither can kill the other is just... brilliant. And not even because of some prophecy or spell.


3.) Malcolm Merlyn


Oh Merlyn... just lemme punch ya in the face a few times, you crazy git. He's just... despicable and yet he's so awesome. Definitely an interesting dynamic in the show.

There are times I wonder if he's my favorite because of his role as Jack Harkness, or because his character and acting are just flawless. I think a little bit of both. He's a fearsome character, with a purpose. Sometimes I wonder how much he really cared about Tommy... or how much he really cares about Thea. All too often the moment you think he's human, it turns back to be a scheme to save his neck. Or on occasions it's a twisted scheme to help them. He's unpredictable.


4.) Harry Potter



A lot of people think that movie Harry didn't do justice to his character. While I do think he could have used more one liners and sassy comebacks, I still think his character was an amazing adaption.


5.) Tom Hanks / Walt Disney


Sorry to copy you here Evangeline, but you really hit the nail on the head. Also, Disney is by far my most beloved fandom, for so many reasons, so how could I not include it here?

He just... really brought Walt alive. Walt Disney is a very special person to me, because going to Disneyland is some my most prominent and happy childhood memories. He seems almost unreal to me, and Tom brought his character into perspective. He made Walt Disney into more of a man, than a legend. You could feel him as a more down to earth man, even though at heart he's a dreamer.

So there you have it folks. My top five favorite male characters. I hope you had a good time reading this. And congratulations if you made it through my Doctor Who rant, especially if you're not a Whovian.

I shall now tag the following people:

Tiana
Sereina
Morgan
Matt

If you choose to accept your tags, know that I eagerly await your answers.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Sun and Stars

Once again, most of this post is going to be about music. Partially because I found the son Roots by Imagine Dragons, and I'm obsessed with it. I love the tune so much!

Another exciting thing is, I've finally finished my first original composition, and I'm actually kinda of happy with how it turned out. Granted, it's totally got room for improvement. But here it is!


So yeah, that's my big news! I'm really excited to have launched my official YouTube account, and I hope to upload new music regularly-ish. Honestly I can't promise anything. But lately I've been accidentally coming up with new tunes, so who know what could happen? Yeah, I'm still kinda freaking out about this. I can't believe I actually made this. I kinda think the violin and viola drown out the piano a little too much, but I suppose it sounds fine. My favorite part is either the build up or the very, very end.

The part I like about the song the most, it that it reminds me of two of my characters whom I ship hard. The song name is the same as the working title for book two actually.

OKAY freaking out here, a stranger liked and commented and subscribed to my video! Ahh, I can't believe it; that's sooo cool all I wanna do it make music!

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Music on the Mind

♪  She's talking to angels, counting the stars ♫
Making a wish on a passing car
She's dancing with strangers, falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms yeah, in his arms yeah
♫ Waiting for Superman ♪

♪ Hey young blood ♫
Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?
I'm gonna change you like a remix
Then I'll raise you like a phoenix
Wearing our vintage misery
No, I think it looked a little better on me
I'm gonna change you like a remix
♫ Then I'll raise you like a phoenix ♪

♪ I'm an angel with a shotgun ♫
♫ Fighting 'til the war's won ♪

Music is where it's at people. I've been listening to a lot of music lately, and it's been fueling a lot of story inspiration. Today I got new, better speakers to listen to my music. Some of my newest music purchases includes the entire Skyrim soundtrack, of which I'm obsessed with. So yeah, I've really been listening to a lot of music lately, and listening to music makes me really happy. I love my taste in music so much.

Recently I asked if someone could draw my character, Nora, from Believe. They finally finished, I'm and I'm so happy with the finished drawing that I had to share it here. The artist is Ultron5 and all credit goes to her, and her amazing skill.


It's like, perfection. Honestly it's opened so many new doors to her character. I really love it when people draw my characters. I like seeing other people's views of my characters. It gives me amazing new perspective.

I'm probably gonna say this a million times between now and November, but I'm so excited for NaNoWriMo and the release of Tatiana's Diary and Letters. Arg! So excited!

Dang. I'm listening to Into Darkness by Thomas Bergersen. Man when that beat drops. Love this song.

The other day a friend, Evangeline, helped me save a character's life. See, Jason from The Shadow, almost died. He was stabbed in the abdominals, and was going to die. But now he's going to survive, but has a breathing impairment. I'm really happy with how things turned out though, because it's important that his life hangs in the balance to give Moriah (the main character) motivation to kill the bad guy. Also, I think it's hilarious how much Jason is going to hate having a breathing impairment. Knowing his character, he'll be really angry. It'll be good for him. Humbling.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

So Much Excitement

I am so dang excited right now, I honestly can't even. So I was on the Amazon website, and on the first page it has suggestions based on your history, right? Well it had Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918 Like I'm freaking out right now! It comes out on November 6th, and I'm so excited. I want to preorder it. I'm just so excited that Helen Azar is continuing these translations, and I hope more and more continue to come.

Due to a friend referring me to a song, I've now become hooked on Audiomachines music. I've actually heard a song or two of theirs before, but never really looked into them. Their music is really awesome!

Armikrog came out today, and now I have only to buy it. I'm so excited, and I'll be sure to video my first time playing, with commentary and all.

Lacey has officially left the stable, and I'll miss her. But luckily she's just down the road from Rachelle's. Like two minutes. So that's awesome. In the meantime, my official lesson has been moved to Thursday, and I should be riding Halli (is there an "i" or "e" at the end? There are too many different Halli/e's at the barn) so I can practice cantering and get more confident.

Yesterday we had a Studio C premiere party, and it was glorious. We played various games, talked a lot, and of course watched the latest episodes of Studio C. There was cake that Sereina made (soon to be famous cake too. The official Studio C page asked if they could post her picture on their Instagram), and good food. We played lots of Never Have I Ever, which is an amazingly fun game that I'm obsessed with. And yeah, that was pretty much the whole evening. Overall I had a really great time, and I eagerly await the next episodes of season six.

Monday, August 31, 2015

All Sorts of Crazy

On Saturday we attended the wedding of our friend, Rose Beede, or as she is now called, Rose Whipple. It was a very nice wedding... I'm not entirely sure what to say otherwise. There was cheese. Good cheese too.

The big thing was when we got home. It was all casual, and I was playing piano when I heard a commotion upstairs. Daniel came downstairs and was like, "look outside." Me being me, I was just like "why" and kept playing. Turns out a large chunk of the tree behind our house fell down into our yard while we were gone. Luckily nothing seems to be damaged; it missed the chicken coop, playhouse, and even the teepee which is surprising. It really couldn't have fallen in a better spot.

A few days ago I started learning a new song on piano on accident. I didn't mean to start a new one at least until I finished In Dreams. But I failed. See, I found a song (London Calling) that I was totally hyped to start learning and was like, "gosh, that beginning looks super easy." And for the heck of it I learned the first few chords. It escalated from there. I can now play the whole song (minus one key, because my keyboard is too short!). Now I just need to practice to get a few of the transitions on time. Overall it's actually really easy, but some of the transitions will need a bit of practice before I'm smooth on the whole song. It's kinda infuriating though, cause the end get's really intense and when I play it on my keyboard all I heard it very loud clicking from the plastic keys. Oh well.

Okay so something super exciting and a little scary happened on my Thursday ride and I'm still hyper about it. So since Lacey is leaving (isn't that so sad!) Rachelle decided to get me started on another horse to help me get used to a different stride, and so I took my first ride on Gigi. Now I only learned this after the incident, but she's a very literal horse. Everything is black and white to her if you know what I mean. Honestly she was doing moves I didn't know I was telling her to, and it was kinda cool but discombobulating. So anyways, I walked, trotted, and cantered her a little even. Then one of the times I asked her to trot, she decided to canter. See, if you don't tell her what to do every second, she'll just assume you want to go fast. So I'm cantering, and unprepared for the sudden speed, so I loose my left stirrup. Okay, I'm still good, right? Not really. I lose my balance and start to fall forward, losing my other stirrup. I was so off balance by now, and I was thrown forward (a terrible thing, I know). I'm holding to Gigi around her neck, having lost all control by now. Turns out Gigi galloped around the round pen four times before Rachelle got her to stop. And I was stirrupless and didn't fall off. I'm kinda amazed at myself. 'Course that was a pretty big novice moment for me. I mean, leaning forward signals to go faster, and I was gripping too hard with my knees, which urged her forward. But Rachelle did say any other horse at the barn wouldn't slowed down. And she was impressed at my ability to stay on. Haha, so that's my big news. It was really exciting and scary. And to think, I fell off due to my saddle slipping, and not this.

Man, these last few days have been all sorts of crazy.

Okay guys, it's finally been released. The Cake Alternate. Our editor, Lilly, messed around with the footage and made an alternate, which is honestly hilarious in a kinda weird way. I'm just gonna put it here:


So yeah. That's what serious filmmakers do in their spare time. What do you think?

Friday, August 21, 2015

It's Coming

Shawn came, and he went. It was a wonderful visit with our cousin and aunt, and I couldn't have asked for more fun. We went on a grueling hike to a beach, and hung out a lot. It was just a lot of craziness and it was wonderful. While he was here, we saw Ant-Man. That movie was more amazing that I was expecting. Like, I really liked it. AND THAT END SCENE. And the mild Avengers: Age of Ultron references. Ha, it was great.

Okay so like, two days ago I think, I bought an amazing book I found on sale at University Book Store. The Time Travelers Guide to Elizabethan England. Since I've been busy I haven't been able to read much of it, but I got through the introduction and started chapter one. It's amazing. I've never actually read a complete book by Ian Mortimer, but I'd started his first book, The Time Travelers Guide to Medieval England, and what little I read was wonderful. He writes parts of it like a book, even though it's not a story. And his perspective... ahh, it's incredible. I'm seriously so in love with this book. Makes me want to dive back into Tudor history more. Lately I've been all about the Romanov's, and forgotten how much I love Elizabeth's story.

Guys I've got major story feels right now. It's about one of my own stories, and I haven't seriously worked on this one for a while. But I've been listening to Imagine Dragons and... just... oh my gosh. I think I've got sufficient story to turn this idea into a trilogy. Which I'm really happy about. But now I've got a character death planned, and some very emotional parts with another character, Kyle. The story is currently called The Shadow. Lame, I know. It's a working title, 'cause I can't think of anything better. But man, Imagine Dragons is really good at making inspirational music. Honestly super into this story idea right now. Gah, need to stay focused on HOF and Believe.

Just downloaded Part of the Pack by Adrian von Ziegler. He posted about it on Facebook, reminding everyone how he made that song as a thank you to his "Pack" (followers) and that it would always remain free. So now I own it.

Guys, guys, guys, it's getting closer. All the adds are letting everyone know that it's still coming around this year. The fifth season. Fandoms. Everywhere I look it's premiere dates for Studio C, Doctor Who, Arrow, Flash, Agents of Shield... still no Sherlock *fangirling agony* but hey, the best season of the year is right around the corner. And this time I'm actually talking about an actual season. Autumn. Seriously so ready for some colder weather.

Oh, and this is my one hundredth post. Yay.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Neverhood & Armikrog

Welcome to my first game review! I've decided to do a review on a game that scarred me as a child is a large piece of my childhood, and then talk about it's soon to be Successor, coming out... soon... Woo hoo! But first, to get the full experience, I suggest you listen to this on repeat whilst reading the entire post. Fair warning, there are... spoilers... in this post. If you can call them that. It's not exactly one of those kinds of games.

The Neverhood is a point and click adventure game, made entirely of clay. It originally came out in 1996. Being the crazy adventurous child I was, the game interested me greatly. I found it fascinating, though rather scary. The story, puzzles, and plot are incredible. Much like the story of good and evil from the Bible. But I've never been a fan of... claymation. I mean it's amazing that the game was made piece by piece like that. No doubt that it took a lot of work and all. But when put together, and with the style of the game, it's just kinda scarry.

A more specific summary of the Neverhood goes as follows: (as taken from the IMDb)
Long ago, a mysterious being known as Hoborg created a world called the Neverhood, made entirely of an odd substance known as "Klay." However, Hoborg was lonely and, using a mystical "life seed", created a "Klay man" that he called Klogg. Klogg was evil, however, and stole Hoborg's mystical crown,which was his secret to life; without it, he fell into a deep sleep! Luckily, Willie Trombone and his pal, Big Robot Bill, used a "life seed" to create Klaymen. Now, Klaymen must journey throughout the mysterious world that is the Neverhood, solve puzzles, dethrone Klogg, revive Hoborg from his long sleep, and save the Neverhood!
Overall I really love this game. The puzzles are pretty tough, the story well put together, and the animation rather amazing. Sure, the music is beyond strange at times. There are some really tense moments, and others where you can be just confused. But it's truly an amazing game. I would now like to share some screenshots of the game I've found, and share some of my thoughts. It's a wonderful glimpse into this creepy world.

He looks so carefree and happy...
And you thought that button opened the door

Okay... this room guys. It's gonna be the death of me, I mean it's so funny and annoying at the same time! See, throughout the entire game you must collect video tapes to understand your mission. They are extremely important, and you must find them all no matter how hard they are to obtain. This screenshot depicts one of over seventy shots of the same room. I counted once, though I forgot the exact amount. I'm guessing around 93 panels to get to the end of the room for one single tape. All along the way there's the entire history of the Neverhood. How it took that much wall space, I'll never know. Then of course once you reach the end of the room, you must go back. And Klaymen is no fast mover either.


These cart things are... kinda annoying. It takes forever to get around in them. Wait... that's basically the whole game. Everything is slow.

Part of one of the video tapes you find.


This puzzle always stumped me...


This is equally creepy as it is entertaining. This is a drain at the bottom of an empty lake. And you can choose to jump down it. And die. Through the whole game Klaymen says one thing. His name. But there are two times you can make him scream. Either choose the path of darkness, and he'll do this evil scream laugh that sends chills down my spine, or jump down this drain and he'll scream as he eternally falls.


*jumping up and down and screaming* Ahhhh, my childhood in a picture! This screenshot is one of the strongest pictures in my head from this game. Also a very strong childhood memory. Little Tiana and I in the computer room (which is now my bedroom), crowded around either her computer or mine. I forgot which (probably mine). We're approaching the music box. We've played the beginning of the game what feels like a million times, and we know what's coming. And we're terrified. We approach that symbol in the background, and press it. Nothing happens. We press it like a million times before we realise we need to go to the music box. Maybe we don't know this game as well as we thought. We start the music box scenario. Ahh, the memories


I don't know how many times I got stuck in this room for a long time after growing to normal size, but it was too many.

Did I mention there are teleporters in this game? That's what the machine on the left is. Also, do you know how long it took to get to this room?! How much playing time and hard work and cheating it took?! Too much! Ahahahaha, this game... this game man.


So I made this and I call it Klaymen in a nutshell. This is basically the whole game. Okay not really. But it basically outlines Klaymen.


And finally my larger collage of different parts of the game.

Now before I launch into part two, I want to say something. Sometime in the near future I am going to do a walkthrough / playthrough of this game. You will get to hear me babbling about the game, and all the memories and creepiness as I go through and try to beat the game for a second time. The only thing holding me back from doing this sooner, is I don't have the money to buy the program. But when I do, a playthrough of this game is in order.

Next stop, Armikrog!

Not much has been revealed about Armikrog, The Neverhood's spiritual successor, mostly because it's was supposed to come out today.  Due to the need of various bug fixes, the release date has been pushed back to September 8th. But here's what I do know. It follows Tommynaut and his blind alien dog Beak-Beak. They crash land in a fortress called Armikrog, and must find a way to escape. I think they might be trying to steal a powersource to save their planet, though I could be a little bit off about that.

It differs from The Neverhood in various ways, such as:

-The characters speak quite regularly
-The picture quality is better
-More detail in the game

When I finally come into possession of this game (which I suspect will happen soon after it comes out) I'm planning on doing a blind playthrough, with commentary as I go through the game. So be excited for that, cause I know I sure am.

Now let's look through some screenshots that they've released so far, shall we?






Whoa. Just whoa. I am so excited for this game. Look at the incredible design, which is all handmade. All of it's classic claymation. Everything is sporting the classic black sky, and familiar design, but it's new and fresh.

Seriously so excited for this game. Who else is excited for this game? Is anybody out there excited for my blind playthrough? Or my walkthrough? Lemme know in the comments guys.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Cake - The Short Film

Here at last people, our latest film: Cake - The Short Film


And the bloopers:


We had a lot of fun making this film. The hardest part was the script, which took many, many hours of working and reworking.

In this film my jobs were: being an extra, 2nd AC, screenwriter (sorta... it's complicated), and my job without a name. I'm sorta the person that (generally) helps keep people on track and focused. Though I usually do better at our meetings than actually filming. It's hard not to get caught up in the fun of it all. Time flies when you're filming.

This film was shot in one day, which still rather amazes me. There were very few times that people messes up their lines (opposed to me, who's messing up every other word on the occasions I do act). By the end, everyone wanted to be done really badly because the there was a pool waiting to be swam in. And of course we did go swimming. We created come intense whirlpools, and it was fun to just float along.

Looking over the film, I can definitely see room for improvement, but considering it's our second film, I've extremely impressed with what we've achieved. It's also prompting me to work harder on some compositions, because it'd be cool to have a song I composed featured in one of our films. Though I really need to work out some kinks. And avoid violins. *sad sigh* I know, violins are important. But it's almost always painfully obvious that violins (or strings in general) are computer generated.

For this film we got a new clapperboard. Hallelujah! That old chalk thing from our first film was terrible. The new one is white erase, and is a million times better.

Hopefully we'll be able to get out next film out pronto. We've already got a script, which just needs a little overview before auditions, and all that fun stuff.

Lemme know what you think in the comments!

Friday, August 14, 2015

#OficiallyNotHappyWithWindows10SoFar

I am very frustrated right now. Yesterday my computer notified me that I could get my free download of Windows 10. So far out of ten stars, I give it one. Maybe two. But mostly one. My computer barely works now! My music will not play, whatsoever, Cortana will not work whatsoever, videos on YouTube will not load, though the rest of my internet seems to be okay (perhaps a little slow). Overall I'm finding it hard to see anything good about it. Not only do I not like having to figure out a whole new layout, but having important features not work is infuriating.

At least yesterday was okay. I rode Lacey again, and I cantered off the lunge line and with another rider in the round pen. It was really awesome. I'd say I'm at about the same level with cantering as I was with Lacey's trotting on day three. It's been about three months since I first cantered (four since I started going to the stable), so I'd say I'm making fairly good progress. And with trotting I've been trying to keep my legs back more, which is no easy feat.

Oooo, David! Haha, that much not make much sense. See, I've been trying to figure out a good name for the keyboard I'm gonna buy once I have all the money. But I couldn't think of anything. Then I was just thinking, "Why didn't I name Tommy after someone from Doctor Who? Like Ten... or David... wait, David!" That is a strong possibility for my keyboard name. Suggestions are welcome.

It has been thundering and raining most of today, and it's glorious. With all the heat, I've forgotten what rain feels like. Haha, kidding. But it is glorious. And it's more fitting for me to be wearing my signature flannel. Even when it's hot, I still wear it. Like at the stable. Otherwise I'd probably get burned. Granted, I'd probably have a better tan (my current tan is weird). But I don't have any t-shirts I'd wear to the barn. I'm very particular about what clothes I wear there, since I don't have a lot of clothes and replacing certain shirts would be costly or impossible. Not to say I go ruining my shirts every time I go. I'm just overly cautious. Besides, I don't want horse snot all over my favorite shirt. It's become more regular for Lacey to sneeze on me. It's kinda annoying.

You know what I haven't tried on my computer yet? Rebooting. Out of all my childhood memories, that's one of the strongest. When it doesn't work, reboot. I suppose I'll do that now. Beannachd leibh, ma-thĂ .

Okay, that... did little to nothing. YouTube videos are loading now. That's about it. I am now attempting to use Google Music for the first time, since Window's Media Player is supposedly supposed to be gone (maybe that's why it totally isn't working) and this Groove Music is also not working. Here's hoping.

Aaand YouTube's back to not working. Brilliant. Oh look at that, there was a problem setting up Google Play Music. Of course. This is infuriating! How am I supposed to get anything done when Tommy's down and out due to Windows Ten?! So far I'm definitely giving it one star. At least Scrivener works. Now I'm on my third try for getting Google Music to work. Arg, I'm going crazy. It still wont work. Now my Shockwave Flash has stopped working! Things are looking bleak. Stay away from Windows Ten people. It's a trap. Repeat, it is a trap.

Okay, let's be positive. Here's a list of what is working: Scrivener, some of the internet, calculator, files, and the off button.

Ahhh, finally! I thought that first reboot went wayyy too quickly. My music is working via Groove Music, and YouTube videos are working. Things are looking up. My official review is not out yet, but so far I still am not very happy with Windows Ten. We'll see how things go from here.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It's a Good Life

THANK YOU TOM HIDDLESTON.

You're probably kinda wondering what that's about. The above statement that is. There is a reason, and it's not just that he seems to be a pretty cool guy. This actually has to do with horseback riding. Haha, yeah, horses again. A little over a week ago I saw a gif of him in a historical movie (I'm guessing King Henry IV). He was cantering, and doing quite well. And something just clicked in my brain. I think seeing someone riding can help you improve a lot. When I cantered Lacey yesterday (on the lunge line because I am overly cautious XD) I was better than I ever have been. Christina said I could totally be off the lunge. See, before I was just trying too... sit. Staying in the saddle was hard when I didn't hold on, and from what little I'd seen of other riders they just seemed glued to the saddle. But in that gif I could distinctly see how you really need to roll your hips with the rocking motion. Like, a lot. Especially on Lacey. And after trying that, it worked amazingly! I'm so happy about that.

I've been working on my Romanov post, and hopefully will have that up soon. Life has gotten a tad busy. Tomorrow I'm gonna see a dollar movie (today I saw Alexander's Terrible No Good Very Bad Day, or whatever that crazy title was). Stable on Thursday, a film meeting and BBQ on Friday, then finally peace. Until next week. My cousin Shawn is coming to visit for a few days, and I'm so excited!

Also, I've started another post which is slightly top secret. It's a review post, which will not be common but I just really felt like doing it because... reasons. My deadline is posting it before the eighteenth. Something happens that day, and I want this posted on or before the eighteenth. It's kind of in honor of what's happening on that day. So if you figure out what's happening that day, then you'll have a pretty darn good idea of what my post is about. Have fun trying to figure that one out. Lemme give you something to work with here. Something is coming out on that day that is connected to a video game of my childhood. Hopefully that's not too vague / too much information.

I've been doing a lot of research on dancing lately. Particularly contra dancing. I just love it so much, and my friend Mary has really been getting into dancing as well. We've learned the Landler (the real Landler), though it needs some polishing. Now I've got a video playlist with some dances I want to learn next. Specifically Mairi's Wedding (I love that song), Reel of the Royal Scots, Nothingham Lace, Cumberland Reel, and the Duke of Kent's Waltz. I also realised there's actually a step when doing most, if not all, Scottish dances that... refine the dance. I think with just a group of people walking/skipping is fine, but with those who really want to learn the dance I shall teach them. It's beyond easy to do.

Also, I found a fabulous dance that I want to learn. Except it requires a lot of people. Like, a lot. If I had to guess I'd say... thirty or so? Give or take a few. But it looks like so much fun!

Friday, August 7, 2015

The Liebster Award

I've been tagged! Also, sorry for taking so long to post. Life happened... and I forgot... sorry...


This is the Liebster Award, and apparently this one has no rules. But I can't help but link back to the blogger who tagged me. Evangeline!


Do you have a favorite mug or teacup?
Yes, in fact I do. Out of all the cups in our cupboard, there is one that I always grab for. A light blue cup my mom got in Yellowstone years ago. It's the perfect size, and a pretty color of blue.

Are you an adventurous eater? (Do you try "strange" foods?)
I'm probably the least adventurous eater out there. I like all my food plain, so eating at restaurants isn't my idea of a jolly good time. The strangest thing I've eaten is swordfish. To be honest, it tasted like chicken. But it was cooked in a particular way, and had sauce, so I'm sure without that it would have tasted quite different.

What fandoms are you into?

*cough* Oh dear. Off that top of my head we have:

Harry Potter
Doctor Who
Sherlock
Disney
DC Comics
Marvel CU
Psych
Studio C
Heartland (books)
Percy Jackson (books)
Arrow
Flash
Wicked
Phantom of the Opera
Agents of Shield
Star Wars
Once Upon a Time
Heroes
Lord of the Rings
Pirates of the Caribbean
Phantom of the Opera
Wicked

I'm probably missing a bunch. But that's what I could think of for starters. That doesn't even include a bunch of book fandoms that I'm probably the only person in.

What famous author/book do you not really care for?
Stephanie Meyer, John Green, and Suzanne Collins. I think of lot of people know why I don't care for Stephenie Meyer. Sure, Vampire's and werewolves have some promise. But romance in it all? Weird shallow Bella as the main character? The creepy guy that I don't know his name, but I know he was creepy. Yeah, just overall not a book series I'd read. 

As for John Green, well; I'm already not into the romance side of books. I started The Fault in Our Stars, but just couldn't get into it. Just not really on my list of favorite authors.

As for Suzanne Collins, I just wasn't a fan of Hunger Games. Don't attack me here people, but I didn't find Katniss to be a character to look up to or admire at all. The books were all a series of events that defined her, rather than some of her own actions that shaped her future. And frankly, in the end, I feel like Katniss became so dead inside, almost like she couldn't function properly anymore. It just seemed like a book series aimed to depress the reader. I couldn't get into any of the deaths, because they were so obviously inevitable. I could go on... but I shouldn't... So yeah, I just didn't care for that series.

What obscure author/book are you nuts about?
Scott O'Dell. I love his works of historical fiction. Honestly, I could read a longer version of Sarah Bishop or Island of the Blue Dolphins all day. He manages to make everyday survival into something really fun to read. I love his books so much.

What's the oldest movie you've ever watched?
Um, I don't actually know. But once on TV Tiana and I stumbled on a black and white silent movie and watched a few minutes. It was weird and made no sense.

What did you have for breakfast today?
A piece of bread with jelly... that's all I remember eating. Come to think of it, that might be all I've eaten today. Not sure.

When did you first see your favorite movie?
First off, how on earth am I supposed to pick a favorite movie to talk about?! I'm going to choose a random movie that I love, and I want to clarify that it might not exactly be my all time favorite, cause I honestly can't choose.


I don't entirely remember going through this series the first time. But at the time I was a very crazy kid. Always asking questions mid movie and desperately wanting to see what Vader looked like underneath the mask. I was so excited when it came off in six. All I know is, I love Star Wars and have since I was really little. Though these days I can hardly get myself to watch the movies, because I've seen them literally hundreds of times. I know those movies by heart.

Do you prefer fantasy or sci-fi?
Definately Fantasy. Until recently I never actually watched or read anything Fantasy. I thought it was "bad," mostly because I'm basically the only person in my house who likes fantasy, and dragons and stuff. That is to say, while some of my family members may mildly enjoy Fantasy, I pursue it vigorously. I've grown up watching Star Trek and Sci-Fi stuff, so while I don't dislike it, I really prefer Fantasy.

What did you expect your blog to be like when you started it?
I pretty much expected it to be how it is. An online journal. I detest hand writing because my brain is ten times faster than my hand. So writing journal like posts on the internet seemed a good choice.

Has it changed? If so, how?
Yes, it has changed. It's only been recently that I decided to try and write stuff about my Gaelic, and history research. But I still don't make those posts as often as I like. So it has changed to some extent, but at the same time not that much.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

It's Coming

Both my rides this week were on trail, and it was glorious! Ah, I got to take Lacey on trail on Monday. She's not exactly spooky on trail, just anxious to get wherever she's going, even if she doesn't know where that is. Then today I took Joey with Anna (who rode Portia, who's back!). The forest is so peaceful, and the weather was perfect for riding. Now that I've been deemed worthy of trail riding I want to try and go as much as possibly before the weather turns foul.

Some of you will be happy to know that I'm working on another Romanov history post. This one will focus more on Maria Nikolaevna, and that's all I'll say for the time being.

This week I've been doing moderately well with school. I have started a new piano piece, which is coming along nicely. I'm leaning In Dreams from Lord of the Rings. Or maybe Hobbit... I get the two confused, what with me being a newbie fan n' all. It's a lot harder than it looks when watching the video. The first chords on the left hand are humanly impossible. At least, I sure as heck can't do it. So I have to stretch my right hand rather far. It's awkward, but at least that parts pretty slow. Also, playing piano on my Yamaha just invigorates me in wanting that Casio PX150 BK. In time, it shall be mine... *evil laughter*

And a quick note here. 841 Films latest projects should be up pretty soon here folks, and I can't wait to see what you think.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

What a Day

So I've had a rather exciting morning. It started all casual, until I was getting the cat some wet food. I opened the can, being kind of careless and holding it strangely, and I sliced my finger. Course I instantly put it under water, trying to keep pressure on it. I mean, it hurt! I tried to look at it. And I know from experience not to. But I did. And of all the things, I got dizzy and light headed and passed out. That's not exactly the first time that's happened either. I cut my finger while cutting food once, and I got really dizzy and almost passed out. I'm surprised I did too. I don't think it was the blood that made me pass out. Honestly I've got no problem with blood. Cut's have always bugged me out though. Like, seeing inside yourself like that. A flab of skin hanging off where it so obviously shouldn't. And I can deal with scratches fine. The number of times I've been scratched by the cats, or chickens, or other various reasons is numerable. I mean, at the stable I tore off a bit of skin on my thumb and I was fine. No faintness.

After I was sitting down for a bit after passing out, all I could think about was something a friend had once told Sereina. It was some time ago, and I don't remember if she texted her or what. But her brother, Matt, had gotten a cut or something, and was like "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow... I would be very bad in battle." And all I could really think was, "nah, I'd be really bad in battle."

Last night I finally saw Wolverine's Origins. We're watching the X-Men movies for the first time, and a bit out of order 'cause apparently it makes more sense that way. But honestly after River's timeline, I think I couldn't have taken it. The movie was... okay. It helped that I recognized most of the characters. Like Emma Frost, Cyclops... and Wade! It wasn't until he's taken out all the guards with his mad sword skills, and someone addressed him as Wade that I was like... "wait, Daniel... Wade? As in Wade? WADE?!" I'm kind of a huge Deadpool fan, and all of a sudden it made sense. Him running his mouth. His preference to swords. I wish he was in it more, and you saw his better side.

I'm gonna go play Spider-Man 3. The graphics are terrible. But I'm having wayyy to much fun with that game. I'm addicted to the black suit. So much power!