Five Full Days

I'm on day three of five out of my busy week. This is really exhausting, and I have zero stamina. Here's how things have all gone down so far.

On Thursday I had an average morning. Wake up. Eat. That kinda boring stuff. Then of course I went to the stable in the evening. While there, Rochelle's rescue mare (housed at a separate stable than where I actually ride) gave birth to a filly. She rushed out mid lesson to see the new foal. Before that Zoe was being a nightmare. Mary was going to ride her, but while lunging, Zoe started bucking, kicking, and rearing. And contrary to popular belief, rearing is a much less common thing than movies would lead you to believe. So that was a busy evening. Then a friend came over, since her parents were going to be away for a few days, so she stayed at our house until today.

Friday was a full day, but I cannot disclose anything about it. It all had to do with this super secret project I keep going on about. I promise it will be revealed eventually, but for now all I shall say about the day was, I was so tired when we got home.

Today was Aviation Day, which means I got up at seven, rushed out of the house, and spent the entire day at Historic Flight. It's pretty fun, except the B-25 and DC3 weren't there. They were supposed to come back from restoration more than a month ago, but were extremely late. So that was a bummer. Oh, and we were stationed on the East Side. I prefer staying on the HFF side, but whatever. Now I'm really exhausted. But tomorrow afternoon it's back to the battlefield for the super secret project. We're getting closer to the reveal as I said, so that means more hard work. I won't get a full day at home until Tuesday, since I go to the stable on Monday. Oh glory.

10 Favorite Screen Characters Tag

I was tagged by Morgan at Fandom Fox to do this tag! 

Thank you Morgan!

Jack Sparrow

When I first watched the Pirates of the Caribbean films, I fell in love with Jack. He's lovable, witty, but at his core still has a proper sense of humanity. But there's an interesting fact not many people know about him, and it makes him all the more special. 

In the third movie there was a short discussion between Cutler Beckett and Jack. Obviously they had done business together. Turns out, Jack was employed by the East India Trading Company and was given command of the Wicked Wench. But the cargo he was contracted to deliver were slaves, and he chose to liberate them rather than deliver them. This caused Cutler Beckett, his employer, to brand Jack as a pirate and set the Wicked Wench aflame. This is why Jack struck a bargain with Davy Jones, to resurrect the Wicked Wench. It was returned to him in near perfect condition, except for it's carried hull. This is what prompted Jack to rename her the Black Pearl.

Oh, and his debt of 100 souls to Davy Jones? This is because he liberated exactly 100 slaves, and that's why he was so reluctant to pay his debts. So Jack is a better man than you may have imagined. Pretty interesting, huh?

Oliver Queen / The Arrow

It's wasn't that long ago that I started watching the CW hit Arrow, and since then I've only grown to love it's main character Oliver Queen more. He who started as a billionaire playboy, was subjected to a horrid five years on the island of Lian Yu, which transformed Oliver into a killer. When he finally returned, he had a goal in mind.

I love Oliver, because he has a dark past, which is slowly revealed over the seasons. He cares about his family more than anything else, and all he's trying to do is make Starling City a better place. Despite struggles and wrong decisions, he slowly become a better person over the series, and is seriously one of my all time favorite characters in the history of ever.

Skye

Agents of Shield. Some say it's cheesy. I say it's brilliant. One of it's main characters, Skye, has been quite fun to watch through the series. She who started as a hacker to discover her past, has grown as a person so much. There have been many a moments when she was strong in the face of danger, but she's had her moments of weakness to. There are many area's that I can relate to her, which is part of what makes her such a fun character.

Also, I hugely love her because her character rarely, if ever, swears. She uses slightly odd phrases you wouldn't normally hear, and just has a sweetness about her. I also lover her relationship with Coulson, who I kind of see as a father figure to her.

Barry Allen / The Flash

The prince of epic hair (because let's face it, no one will beat The Tenth Doctor)

Ever since my brother got obsessed with comics, particularly DC, he's loved Barry Allen. I always thought he was cool and all, but it wasn't until CW started The Flash series that I really started to love him. Oh, and I just have to add, I totally freaked when he was in Arrow for the first time. Such epicness.

Barry's really kind, and he wants only to help. I like how he always wants to see the best in people, no matter what. He is a terrible liar, and ever so terribly stuck in the friendzone, which is kind of sad to watch. Poor Barry. But he's just such a great character, surrounded by other great characters. I can't exactly explain why I like him, but he's just awesome!

Draco Malfoy

Bet you weren't expecting him.

As far as Harry Potter goes, I wanted to list all the characters as my favorite (particularly Snape, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Hagrid, you know... everyone) but decided to go with Draco because he's a character that intrigued me. And no, I didn't pick him just 'cause he's in my house.

Draco's character was your basic antagonist for the villain. A bad guy other than Voldemort.

I really loved how Draco changed near the end of the series. You started to see how he was forced into becoming a Death Eater from peer pressure, from both his parents and because he was from Slytherin, the "evil" house. But really, he was just a boy who made the wrong choices, and anyone could have made them.

I'm kind of a villain fan, and Draco is one of my favorite villains because he never really was one.

Professor River Song

I decided not to go with the obvious main character from the wondrous show Doctor Who, but spunky River Song.

When she first came in (errr... second time. It's... complicated) I didn't like her. She knew how to fly the TARDIS, and had such an air of confidence and knowledge about space and time that I didn't like it. Not one bit. But she quickly grew on me.

River's timeline is scrambled, and she's everywhere and anywhere. She can hold her own, but she isn't cocky about it, thank goodness. Deep down she's actually the scared little girl, trained to be an assassin. She's a very interesting character, and I was quite sad to see her go.

Jim Moriarty

I think most everyone that I know who watched Sherlock doesn't like how Moriarty is portrayed.

Currently I haven't read about book Moriarty, so I've got nothing to go on. Sure, this Moriarty is a little crazy. He's a complete psychopath. But I actually like the way he's portrayed. He has a careless manner, and his voice changes pitch between basically every word. One second he's laughing lightly, and the next he's shouting in a deep voice. He's so wonderfully unpredictable, and I think it's a very interesting take of Moriarty. Instead of the typical smart, collected, and witty type villain, he's so crazy and random you can't possibly guess what he's got coming next.

Buckey Barnes / The Winter Soldier

A great friend, supporting character, and victim of Hydra. I'd say Buckey is an easily overlooked character in the Marvel franchise, and that simply wont do.

How can you not love Buckey? He was always there for Steve, ever since they were kids. No matter what he had his back, even when Steve was going crazy trying to get into the Army. Then in the Winter Soldier, when he was revealed to be brainwashed? Ahhh, Buckey!

Shawn Spencer

Shawn Spencer is one of the greatest characters. He's funny, and a dang good detective. I cannot tell you how many times I was dying of laughter from his antics. He's just awesome.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

King of sarcasm.

Obi-Wan, the ever lovable mentor of Luke Skywalker for a time, and trainer of Anakin Skywalker. 

Despite being a tough fighter, and a completely lovable character, Obi is one with sarcasm. Seriously, whenever I re-watch the prequels I can't contain myself. There are times that I just lose it, it's just so darn funny for some reason. His character isn't even supposed to be funny, per say.

Overall, I just really love Obi. Or Obi-Boabi as he's called by me. It's a weird nickname that just sorta... happened.

***

That was fun! At first I couldn't hardly think of anyone, but once I started I couldn't stop.

Now I'm going to tag...

Evangeline

&

Tiana

Morgan, you tagged everyone else I know! *hisses*

Luna Again

I think (hope) that I've got all my stuff settled in my new room. Wait... I can think of one box, full of the stuff from my old cork board. I decided to scrap the old thing, because there just wasn't wall space. But surely I can find someplace for those things. As for Daniel's stuff... lets just say that's a different story. His desk has finally been painted, after many problems, and now it just needs to be bolted in place. It's a desk my dad built years ago, and has to be secured into the wall to stay, since it only has two legs supporting it.

Yesterday was a really great lesson. I rode Luna again, and this time Rochelle gave me spurs. They were rounded ones, but they helped me control her a little. It was my first time using spurs, so that was an interesting experience. If they slip the wrong way they can pinch your heel, which is uncomfortable to say the least. Rochelle lunged me so I could practice cantering. She's have me ride a canter for three strides, then come back down to a trot, and then repeat. I did better, though I have a problem of stiffening my back, so sitting the canter is a lot harder. At least, at my experience level. Then I took Luna down to the big arena. It's a short walk from the round pen, and yet she kept wanting to trot and go her own way. I fought with her for a few minutes, turning her in circles. But I've still got a lot to learn, so someone helped me get her down. Luna is a tough mare anyway though. Then in the big arena I had my first "fender bender." Luna was being unruly, as usual, and decided to crash into Fabio (whom Mary was riding). Luckily Fabio was being bomb proof, and didn't flinch. Thank goodness for that.

As I'm going through my new character questionnaire, I realise I'm missing such simple questions, but things I really should know. For instance: is your character right or left hand dominant? How do you describe their voice? Who is your character closest to? Who does your character wish to know better? So many things, that when I think of them, or find them on other people's questionnaires, I just slap my head.

Everyone Smelled My Hair

My straight hair seflie. It's so swoopy!

(I told you I would use that title.)

Today was another super secret meeting. There actually wasn't much left to do at this meeting, so we got rather sidetracked. People were getting their hair done, and usually I don't partake in such nonsense, but I decided I wanted to have my hair straightened, since it's so curly and I haven't seen it straight in a really long time. My hair was still damp from showing that morning, so Lilly, my level six friend who did my hair (thanks Lilly!) blow dried my hair. Apparently my shampoo and conditioner smell really nice, because everyone decided to smell my hair. My hair got really poofy and large, and then it was straightened, so I kind of pulled a Mia Thermopolis. If you get that reference, then I proclaim you awesome. After that we tried to figure out who had the longest hair. It was a close call between three of us. My hair reaches my waist, which is awesome. I might not cut it this Summer after all...

Tiana has been working on character sheets for her story characters, so I've kind of been inspired to work on mine. I take questions from other peoples and make my own, and I've been working on making it longer and more detailed. The worst part is, everytime I update it, I have to change it on all my Scrivener files, which I have around seven to ten. So I'm trying to make a bunch of changes only once. So far I'm failing.

Ever since finding All Starr Stables, I've been going completely horse crazy. I expanded my one horse related board on Pinterest to nine, and all I can think about is riding horses, caring for horses, and the day that I own an equestrian center. 'Cause we all know I will. Someday at least. Yesterday was a tiring day at the stable. I rode Zoe, and she was being really sassy. When I asked her to go, she'd back up, throwing her head around. She trips over her own shadow, and spooked at almost everything. One time she went from standing completely still, to jumping forward at almost a canter. I completely lost my left stirrup, and after that she returned to her sassy self. Finally I took her up from the big area (aka a large field) and Rochelle gave me a crop. I got a few good circuits of trotting one I started slapping her when she threw her head up. Don't worry, I say slapping, but it wasn't hurting her in the least. I was just slapping the end of the crop on her shoulder, to let her know she was being naughty.

Aviation day is coming up, which will be fun. We always stay all day, helping in the morning, then we stay around in the evening until the appreciation dinner. It's always very exhausting. We'll be working the east side like last time, so the traffic won't be as bad. As always it will be a very busy day, and the next day we'll crash and do pretty much nothing. I don't have very much stamina.

Amazon Prime

Good glory that horror is over! Today I went through the pain of fixing my Quicken and now I'm using You Need A Budget. I've barely used it, and already it's a million times easier that Quicken. Maybe I'll actually be able to function on my own for once when it comes to finances. I feel better knowing I'm not behind in computer payments, and I actually have some money. So I'm not completely broke after all!

Our family has decided to try Amazon Prime. Currently we're only using the trial, just to make sure it's something we'd want to pay for. But I'm thinking we'll probably get it. I'm taking advantage of free two day shipping, and just ordered Maria and Anastasia: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words: Letters, Diaries, Postcards. I haven't read it before, cause the library won't get it. But it's by Helen Azar, and she did The Diary of Olga Romanov, so it's bound to be good. I can't wait for it to get here. I considered buying Castles, Customs, and Kings, but decided I would like to read a little more of it before buying it. So far I love it, but I just wanna be extra sure. You know, before spending all that money on it. I also looked up Tsaritsa Alexandra's diary, but that thing is a couple hundred dollars. I have no idea why. I think it might come with a CD set or something... ug, don't you know I just want the diary?!

Just when my room is almost cleared out, more boxes and things are brought in. Daniel and I have a lot of stuff. I'm going to try and get rid of a bunch, since I don't use half of it in the first place. There are many items that I have no idea where I'll put them, and since our cabinet won't be here at least until weekend, we're going to be in disarray for quite some time. Gah! I just want my room to be clean, so I can peacefully return to school. I haven't done piano or recorder practice in forever.

This May Be Getting Out of Hand

On my last post I mentioned how I'd been slacking on my Gaelic, and now I've started to put an end to that. I started out by trying to use Cram to make online flashcards for practice. It was better than nothing, right? Ugh, what little I did was painful. I decided to suck it up and make actual flash cards. I've already started writing them out. Let's see, I think I got a pack of three sets of one hundred, so a total of three hundred cards for starter? Yeah, something like that. I went through almost fifty and I'm only on page four or five. I'm doing two cards per word/phrase, so I can translate from English to Gaelic, and Gaelic to English. I'm going to have a lot of flash cards. This may be getting out of hand. I have half a notebook filled with all my Gaelic research, and that's only a fraction of what is ahead. Maybe making physical flashcards is crazy, but hey, I'm determined to be fluent.

The super secret project I've been going on about is getting closer to being revealed. In a way, we're close, and at the same time, not so much. It depends on your point of view.

Our room is coming even more together. I've got my new bookshelf all settled, and it's glorious. It's kind of sad though, cause it's a really small shelf, and I didn't even fill it with all my books. But that's okay. For years I just borrowed from the library, due to being broke. I seem to be broke most of the time actually. Anyways, I also put up my wall shelves up today, so now my medieval Lego's are all on display, as well as my various other Lego sets. We put my desk in the proper place, and hopefully we'll get the elliptical out of the house soon. I think it's leaving this weekend.

I finished the first Harry Potter book, and now I want to start the next. But I really need to continue Percy Jackson, as well as continue reading a book on Anastasia, and then read Phantom of the Opera. Gah, so many books to read, and yet I just want to curl up on the bed with Harry Potter. Ehhh... that sounded creepy. Not what I mean. I want to curl up on my bed and read Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Haha, that's better... *awkward silence*

We're finally caught up on almost all our shows. All we have left are two episodes of The Flash. Things have been so busy, we haven't been able to keep up. Every show is getting so intense, and with life being so busy all of a sudden, I'll be kind of glad when they're over for a bit. Usually I like intense, but with life being crazy and my schedule actually having weekly stuff, it'll be nice to just feel... decompressed. I haven't had any weekly activities for so long, that just going to the stable twice a week is still a little strange. Having to be somewhere at a certain time. It feels good though.

On Monday I got some compliments from my riding teacher. She said my balance has really improved, and I totally agree. Whenever I'd lose my balance while trotting, or the horse would trip, or anything out of the ordinary, I'd completely flop forward to grab hold. That's the exact opposite of what you want to do, since leaning forward is a signal to the horse to go faster. I catch myself a lot better now, and I feel really proud of myself. I rode Honey Bee, and I worked on doing a clover pattern in the round pen, at both walk and trot. I've never really done much but go in a circle at a trot (like, in a round pen or on a lunge line), so I didn't have much need to really control the horse, rather than post properly and stay on. Turning at a faster pace is fun. I can only imagine what it's like barrel racing.

My pre-order of Nancy Drew Sea of Darkness will ship on the twelfth, so a week from now. I'm really excited for this next game, because it looks really good. I'm still bummed that HerInteractive wont be using Lani Minella for the voice of Nancy Drew anymore, and I don't think the games afterwards will be as good (though you never know). I hope I win the trip to Iceland that I was entered in when I pre-ordered the game. I kind of doubt it, but stranger things have happened.

Slacking

Yesterday was our annual Star Wars May the Fourth party. We invited our friends the Pleticha's, Allmans, and Yackel's. It was so much fun! Some people dressed up, others didn't. I didn't dress up, because I'm broke, and I don't really sew, and dressing up isn't a huge hobby of mine. Anyway, we all hung out, mostly around the food. We played capture the flag in the dark. It was a fun game, and the end was really close. Then we star gazed. Finally, after a year or two since I first heard of it, I tried Star Tipping. It was so darn fun! The weird thing is it only worked on some of us though. Then we started doing weird things, like where someone holds your legs up while you lay on your back, then after a while slowly lowers them down and if feels like they're falling through the ground. You know, things like that. It was all awesome. Oh yeah, and for Potterheads yesterday was the anniversary for the fictitious Battle of Hogwarts. May 2nd, 1998. In case you're wondering, we celebrated on the second purely because the fourth wasn't on the weekend.

The room remodel is going really well. All the hard work is done, and now we just have some touch up stuff to do and then of course moving all the furniture and stuff back in. I got my nightstand and desk back in the other day, which is good cause Tommy's just been floating around the living room the past week. I really love my new room, though I still reach were the light switch used to be, and my first instinct is to go into the office because it was my room only a week ago. I've also started getting all my books on my new bookshelf, which is much smaller than the last one, but will work.

I've been doing some brainstorming for Believe, my story about ghosts if you remember. I never edited it from NaNo, but I'm working on plotting out a new draft. Right now I've been creating characters, and playing with different people for who should be in the book. I'm a fan of lots of characters, though I have to keep it toned down so I don't over do it. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off.

I've totally been slacking on Gaelic practice. I'm up to a thirty three day streak on Duolingo for French, but Gaelic requires more time, since I'm writing everything down in a notebook. My search for online flashcards has been tough, but I may have found something that will barely work. I must find a good way to practice Gaelic, because someday I will be fluent.

Oh my gosh, how could I have forgotten?! I saw Phantom of the Opera! It. Was. Amazing! Oh the sets were incredible, and the overture and rising of the chandelier... it gave me chills. The singing was amazing, and the effects were so cool. I loved it when the chandelier fell, and the gunshots... through the fire after Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again was one of my favorites. They added a little scuffle with Erik (the Phantom) and Roul at the graveyard, and it was really awesome. Better than the little stand off thing from the 25th, and better than the totally weird and out of place sword fight in the 2004 movie. The set for Masquerade was soooo dang cool, and the whole bit of first going down to the Phantom's lair! Oh, it was so amazing! I want to see it again so badly. We even met the cast, and got them to sign our playbills. So that's another for the collection! I can't wait to see Wicked next...