Caliginosity

Technical Issues

2011-08-19T21:52:00.001-04:00

Signing up for Age of Empires Online (a windows live gaming account is needed) messed up my emails...... however I think I have it worked out and all caliginosityblog (at) gmail.com should go where they are supposed to :)

Although I've linked accounts before in Hotmail, I'm not so sure about doing the same for Google (they make it sound dangerous :\).

Anyways, another short (crappy) blog will be coming up soon on what I should write, but I thought I should tell people that while it seems like there are 2 authors, both are still me because I'm a techie failure :)

Sarah 1&2 :P

+ another problem with being the 2nd author is that I cannot change the look of the blog :\

Hottest day... ever?

2011-07-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

Article Here.

Apparently the temperatures today will be up to 48 degrees Celsius after humidity - that's in the hundreds for Fahrenheit. This is the hottest it's been since the 1930's, and today (Thursday) has a chance of breaking the record.

Crazy global warming? I think so :)

Sarah

The Past Six Months...

2011-07-08T13:52:00.000-04:00

February

Decided I needed a job (reffing in the summer isn't enough for a $4000 trip to France now is it?) Then I applied at ≈ 12 businesses in my area. Almost started working, but they never contacted me back after the first call.

Started 2nd semester - Math, Science, Careers & Civics and Spanish.

Received my report card for 1st semester;

French: 85%
Business: 91%
English: 92%
History: 98% --> this could get me the History Award, to join my gr9 Business Award. Wouldn't that be swell?

Forgot about writing.

March

Studied nonstop.

Got a job at Wendy's :)

Worked a lot.

March Break = relaxing.

April

Took the literacy test (which was easy and boring)

Realized how my finances suck. Began obsessively making spreadsheets... now have gone through about 7 rewrites of spreadsheets.

Went on a cruise. See picture of ship? -->

Missed a ton of work while on said cruise, but it was totally worth it. I really miss it :(

May

Celebrated boyfriend's birthday with his family. I'm a lucky girl :)

Discovered that they screwed up my grade 11 schedule. Now I'm taking Gym and grade 10 Food and Nutrition because all the courses I wanted were at the same time. Time Turner, anyone? I felt like Hermione :\

Had a birthday party pour moi.

June

Celebrated my birthday, the day after my Grandma died.

Funeral, sadness and non-birthday-like-drama.

Didn't really have a great birthday in the end, but I got Sims 3 Generations, so gift wise is was great :)

Exams followed my birthday. Did fairly well on everything but science, which was looking to be an 80 by the end of the term. (Will post marks once I get my report card - mail strike has delayed it.)

Got my G1. It's a written test which allows you to drive with restrictions, in case you don't know. I can drive with less restrictions in about a year, and with none in 2 years.

July

Went to Wonderland with my work people, which was a lot of fun :)

Relaxed and began to edit again. Not sure if I even like the story anymore, I'm so sick of it. Maybe if I change the characters names I'll like it more? :P

Obviously, not much has happened in my life recently. But now you know :)

Sarah

Exam Time Update [4/6] & [5/6]

2011-01-26T08:06:00.001-05:00

My business exam was a killer. I didn't die, at least, but I don't feel that great about my answers. Maybe I've just lost faith in myself... only 2 more exams to go. It seems like I've been writing exams forever... although my first one was only last week.

Wish me luck :\ I'm stressed and (therefore) getting sick :(

S a r a h

P.S. good news is that my in-class test (in the form of a journal entry by Pi Patel) got 100%. My teacher said she wants a copy, and that it was the most creative thing she's seen in 7 years of teaching. And apparently, one part made her shed a tear.

Booyah. :] I love emotional writing.

~~Business (BBI 2O0)~~

~~Find all (correct) business definitions - private sector vs. public sector, etc.~~
~~Study and memorize all definitions (about 50)~~
~~Take Business Exam test (in-class) on Tuesday, Jan 25th~~

English (ENG 2D0)

Read Sparknotes of Life Of Pi (to review)
Read Sparknotes of Othello (again, review)
Finish all Othello Questions
Create thesis for Othello essay
Study w/ boyfriend on Wednesday, Jan 26th
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 27th

~~French (FEF 2DX)~~

~~Print study sheets~~
~~Study Passe Compose~~
~~Study Present~~
~~Study Imparatif~~
~~Study Subjonctif~~
~~Study Futur~~
~~Study Conditionnel~~
~~Study Conditionnel Anterieur~~
~~Study Plus-Que-Parfait~~
Study all vocbulary
~~Review Le Petit Prince~~
~~Review Le Hold-Up de la Tour Eiffel~~
~~Review le Bossu de Notre Dame~~
Take in-class Exam on Monday, Jan 24th

History (CHC 2D0)

Study all history terms (again, 50)
~~Review textbook~~
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 25th

one and a half days left.

Not Ready To Grow Up (3/6)

2011-01-24T21:27:00.001-05:00

I did my French test today... it went good, sadly no better than I expected, but also no worse. I'm burned out of schoolwork already, and it's not ever Tuesday. Exams are a killer.

Something that's been on my mind a lot lately is that I'm not ready to grow up. I admit in public that I'm immature and unready for the real world. In reality, I feel okay to do things on my own; however I know how hard life is going to be like, and I don't want to live it right now. I want to stay as a kid so I can prepare myself for the worse years to come.

This is how my life is:
2011 grade 10
2012 grade 11
2013 graduate.
2014 Uni year 1
2015   Uni year 2
2016   Uni year 3
2017   Uni year 4
2017-2025 debt repayment. And that's being optimistic.

Really, from where I can see the plupart de mon vie will be repaying my debts. It's not something I can accept, but it's something I fear will be all too present in my future.

I'm not ready.

I want to have fun, and live life while I can. I don't want to be old and have responsibility, worry about money. I'm worried enough about money as it is! [more on that another time

S a r a h

P.S. this is a messy post... I don't have much to update on my list of things to do - I worked on Business for 2 hours and took my French test. See you tomorrow.

Exam Time To-Do [Update 2/6]

2011-01-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

This is where I want to be.

For some happy reason, I seem to be completing all my studying tasks a lot sooner that I thought. I actually understand French a LOT more than I expected!

I even remember concepts that I learnt in a rushed study-period before a test about a month ago... that doesn't sound impressive, but for me and my memory, it definitely is!

Eg: I made up an acronym - PJ Bec SVF (I didn't have much to work with) and I remember that they all stand for!
-- parler/peur, besoin, envie, content, satisfait, vanter, fiere.
Those verbs are all part of an expression that uses "dont" instead of que or qui. (There are more expressions, but for now that's what we use).

Smart, right? I'm becoming the queen of acronyms; they're useful, and stick! Maybe it's because they're words, and as a writer, I love words.

Until tomorrow (I'll tell you how my French test went! :| hehe)
S a r a h

P.S. updating for the next 4 days, every day. It's a busy time, and this keeps everything in short, 24-hour perspective.

Business (BBI 2O0)

~~Find all (correct) business definitions - private sector vs. public sector, etc.~~
Study and memorize all definitions (about 50)
Take Business Exam test (in-class) on Tuesday, Jan 25th

English (ENG 2D0)

Read Sparknotes of Life Of Pi (to review)
Read Sparknotes of Othello (again, review)
Finish all Othello Questions
Create thesis for Othello essay
Study w/ boyfriend on Wednesday, Jan 26th
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 27th

French (FEF 2DX)

~~Print study sheets~~
~~Study Passe Compose~~
~~Study Present~~
~~Study Imparatif~~
~~Study Subjonctif~~
~~Study Futur~~
~~Study Conditionnel~~
~~Study Conditionnel Anterieur~~
~~Study Plus-Que-Parfait~~
Study all vocbulary
~~Review Le Petit Prince~~
~~Review Le Hold-Up de la Tour Eiffel~~
~~Review le Bossu de Notre Dame~~
Take in-class Exam on Monday, Jan 24th

History (CHC 2D0)

Study all history terms (again, 50)
Review textbook
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 25th

five days left.

Exam Time To-Do [Update 1/6]

2011-01-22T10:58:00.001-05:00

Business (BBI 2O0)

Find all (correct) business definitions - private sector vs. public sector, etc.
Study and memorize all definitions (about 50)
Take Business Exam test (in-class) on Tuesday, Jan 25th

English (ENG 2D0)

Read Sparknotes of Life Of Pi (to review)
Read Sparknotes of Othello (again, review)
Finish all Othello Questions
Create thesis for Othello essay
Study w/ boyfriend on Wednesday, Jan 26th
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 27th

French (FEF 2DX)

Study Passe Compose
Study Present
Study Imparatif
Study Subjonctif
Study Futur
Study Conditionnel
Study Conditionnel Anterieur
Study Plus-Que-Parfait
Study all vocbulary
Review Le Petit Prince
Review Le Hold-Up de la Tour Eiffel
Review le Bossu de Notre Dam
Take in-class Exam on Monday, Jan 24th

History (CHC 2D0)

Study all history terms (again, 50)
Review textbook
Take formal Exam on Thursday, Jan 25th

Gotta love exam time :]

S a r a h

six days left.

Essay Perfection

2011-01-06T18:27:00.002-05:00

Cover of The Truman Show [Blu-ray]

Three perfect essays in a row can say no wrong. And what mine are telling me, is that I should share. I should also not worry mindlessly every day until I get the essay back, marked.

Yeah, because lately, the mark has been 100%.

&& I sit there, looking at the marking scheme, reading the 10/10, 20/20 until I get up to the top, where it says 100% in messy, teacher writing.

And then I check the name. I check the essay. I check myself. Then I shout YES! and get really happy.

This is my essay on The Truman Show and EdTV. It's my rough draft, as the real thing has been sucked into Computer No Man's Land. :\

Meh.

Rough Essay: EdTV & The Truman Show

“People used to be famous because they were special, now they are special because they are famous.” (EdTV, 1999). At first, Ed embraces the fame his television show, EdTV gives him, only to quickly lose his true love, his freedom, and his grip on reality. In contrast to that, Truman Burbank of The Truman Show (1998) was been born to fame, and suddenly becomes away that he has missed his chance at true love, his freedom and a “real” reality. Ultimately, EdTV and The Truman Show demonstrate that in order to gain one’s own personal freedom, true love and a realistic view of reailty, one must lose their fame.

A life where all your choices are made for you is no life at all. Truman Burbank, start of “The Truman Show”, has lived in such a life for as long as he can remember – since he was in the womb, not even born. As he grew up, boundaries and rules made his own personal freedom sparse and limited his creativity and personal growth. When Truman was a kid, he wanted to be an explorer. Upon telling his teacher this, he was immediately shown a map of the world and told that there was no land left to explore. Ruining his dreams and limiting his choices, Truman was backed into the same situation as Ed from EdTV. When Ed tried to quit the controlling and invasive TV show, the director quickly told him that he would be wrongfully violating the contract, and therefore would have to pay for all the companies losses. Ed could not quit the show, and therefore his personal freedom was lost. He could not do what he wanted and lived to serve his countless fans and viewers. In both films, it is obvious that once one loses their personal freedom, they are not the same. Dejected, Truman and Ed realize that if they ever want to lead their own lives, away from the controlling media, they must leave their fame behind.

Styles and fads in society come and pass, but not for Truman Burbank. His life is stuck in the media’s perception of a perfect neighborhood, and his clothes reflect a time that has come and gone. Although his fake town is modeled after real life, Truman never experiences the mysterious and unexpected things that reality often brings and therefore does not have an accurate understanding of life itself. Although Ed has grown up in the real world, he, just like Truman, is thrust into the media’s perception of a “reality” TV show. For both characters this changes how they see life, giving them both a surreal, twisted image of what “reality” is. In order to see the truth again and get rid of the lies, both characters know they must take drastic measures and lose their popularity with the media in order to experience reality again.

Everyone deserves a chance at true love, but the imposing presence of media and the world’s attention are sure to hinder one’s attempts at romance. Both Truman and Ed experience problems with the media and TV shows interfering with their families and personal lives. Truman for one has never had a real family member on his show, and has never had someone close to him that truly loves him. His family, friends and wife are all paid to be close to him and play the part of the star’s friends, but it cannot be said that they truly care about him. For Ed of EdTV, it is the opposite way around. Because he already has family ties, the new presence of media in his life threatens to break the fragile bonds with his family and new girlfriend. This becomes a problem for both men, and Truman realizes that once he gets into the real world, he may find his true love, and Ed realizes that he may lose his true love if he does not lose his popularity and fame. Both characters know that in order to have a healthy lifestyle and be with the people you love, media and fame cannot be part of the equation.

Although a famous lifestyle seems to have many positive aspects, one cannot deny that the loss of personal freedom, love and reality can all be attributed to the achievement of fame. Famous people have limited freedom, as many companies and other people seem to own the rights to their very own lives, like Ed in EdTV. True love and family ties are often broken with the impeding presence of media in one’s life, and the famous person’s idea of what ‘reality’ is often twisted and much different from a normal persons. Although fame seems to be the right way to be in modern-day society, the aquirence of it may lead to the loss of other, more important things that many people take for granted in their normal lives.

-- if you have complaints or don't think I deserved the mark, this was my rough draft. Most mistakes I probably fixed. Desole.

Sarah

Farwell, 2010!

2010-12-31T18:49:00.001-05:00

Welcome 2011!

For me, this has been an okay year. It was definitely better than last year (highschool/grade 9 sucks) but I seem to have missed out on a lot with my homework and general business. I failed to complete my goals (if I had any... resolutions post is coming up!) yet I feel okay. It's just another year. I have 80 of them left.

QUIZ:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
I stood up for myself and went to the University Fair in Toronto. I'm feeling better now, and my future is decided (but a mystery to you!)

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No, I didn't have any new years resolutions (except perhaps standing up for myself, which I did).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
no, I don't think so.

5. What countries and/or states did you visit?
There's more to life than states. Luckily, I avoided the US ;)
However, I did fly over the prairies on my way to BC <3

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
The will to work. Both in job and school :\ (I'm searching for a job, and will possibly be a famed and respected Taco Bell worker... I hope. I also hope where ever I go, I get real hours and am not just a call-in girl for whenever real workers can't make it. :S)

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 17th, my anniversary. December 3rd, a special day. The I Went To Wonderland (and that entire weekend of tears). Every day that I was happy.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I would say winning the Business award (despite it being an easy course), so how about my perfect essay results? (There's been 2 now). I also edited a lot....

9. What was your biggest failure?
All I can think of is a half-ish fight on facebook. What could be dumber? Or my angry response to a comment on a Youtube video. That's not smart either, even though people liked my comment I think :P

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
nope :)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
my netbook :) [dell inspiron mini in ice blue]

12. What was the best thing someone gave you?
How To Learn German?

13. Were you lucky in love or lucky in cards?
love.

14. Where did most of your money go?
myself, because I'm selfish. Although soon, it will be to the $50+ chess board I'm making my boyfriend.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
University? Soccer? Life? :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
The Only Exception - Paramore.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier? yes
Older or wiser? older
Thinner or fatter? less caring about wieght (thanks to cross country, I'm 105 instead of 100)
Richer or poorer? i believe richer. It's not the cash that counts.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Been with friends, homework too. Homework+friends? (maybe not.)

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
wasting my tears on something men have created. And no, I do not mean men as humans. I mean males. One day I may forgive you.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas in my pink PJ's, unwrapping gifts in my living room in front of my new tree.

21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
at home w/ my parents, watching the Editor's cut (the longest version) of Avatar)

22. Did you fall in love in 2010?
i stayed in love through hardship.

23. Did you fall out of love in 2010?
^^ no.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
18 to Life, Glee, The Big Bang Theory, The Office

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
possibly :)

26. What was the best book you read?
Honestly can't say! Linger?

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Secondhand Serenade + Paramore

28. What did you want and get?
German book, laptop, PJ's, love, hapinness (working on it).

29. What did you want and not get?
Popularity ;) jk jk

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Green Zone? HP7?

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 15 & went to school.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A Job.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
simple + comfy.

I would have been super stylish with my long trenchcoat, which is totally in this year, but my family lost it :\

34. What kept you sane?
i'm not sane.

err... talking. I can talk forever.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Actors? Pshaw. I like real people :P

I honestly can't say.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm not really into politics, maybe the G summit?

37. Who did you miss?
Ashely - moved to Germany.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Soccer friends :) (referees)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:
You deserve the truth && top be happy no matter what.

40. Quote(s) or song lyric(s) that sums up your year:
when I was younger I saw,
my daddy cry
and curse at the moon.

I hope you have a really great New Year! 2011 is lookin' good in my timoculars.

Haha. Sarah's funny.

Love,
Sar

P.S. I'm not depressed, I swear. Reading back it seems sort of sad, but I'm looking towards the future.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T19:03:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas from Sarah and the Cat! It's rare to have him this photogenic, so be merry :)

- Sarah

P.S. my favourite Christmas gift? Swiss army knife :) --- or my Learning-German book! :)

Books In Real Life

2010-12-23T16:13:00.002-05:00

copywrites on this one go to me -
but who would want to steal this
lovely blurryness anyways?

Do you recognize this? Probably not. It's a sculpture in Yorkdale Mall - somewhere that is busy, but not known world-wide. I walked through it on my way to the subway, which took me to the ROM.

Yet, I had to stop like a tourist and take a picture. I bet lots of people thought I was crazy. Why did I take this picture? It's a book come to life.

I don't know how many people have read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan (if you haven't you need to, because it's great) but I have, and I absolutely love the book. Scott Westerfeld is reaching the top of my favourite author list fast. His books are a lot like Mortal Engines, if you've read that one, and a better version of Keys to the Kingdom.. maybe even a bit like Inkspell or a more sci-fi Shiver.

Image via Wikipedia

Anyways, it can be compared to a lot of books I like, but that's not why I like it. Leviathan is about an alternate world's version of WW1. In this version of WW1, DNA altering and walking machines have been discovered, and they are ripping the world apart. On one side of the war (Triple Entente) there are Darwinists, who stand strong with their cross-bred animals and science. On the other side (Triple Alliance) Austria-Hungary, Germany and et cetera use their highly advanced, walking machines to attack everything. The book is about the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne and a young pilot for Britian. Although the characters are young, they mature greatly over the span of the first novel, and I can only guess they will do the same in the second - Behemoth.

I wrote a book report on it last year, so if you want to read it click here.

Otherwise, have you ever seen a part of one of your favorite books in real life? (If you say the meadow from Twilight, you're disqualified!)

S a r a h

Silver Bells - 4 days until Christmas

2010-12-21T08:57:00.002-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Silver Bells

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air
There's a feeling
of Christmas
Children laughing
People passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on ev'ry street corner
you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring a ling, hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day

Strings of street lights
Even stop lights
Blink a bright red and green
As the shoppers rush
home with their treasures

Hear the snow crunch
See the kids bunch
This is Santa's big scene
And above all this bustle
You'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day

- lyrics thanks to Metrolyrics + youtube/johnniewalker23 for the Stevie Wonder Silver Bells song :)

S a r a h

My Christmas List

2010-12-18T18:56:00.002-05:00

A collection of things - out of order - I want, need and would love to have, but probably won't get. :)

The List

Swiss Army Knife (for usefulness)

Published Book

Purdy's Hedgehog Chocolates

Purdy's English Toffee

Anything From Lush

Aromatherapy Lavender Body Mist

Behemoth

The Scorch Trails

Predator's Gold

Spells

Linger

Nightshade

The Replacement

Matched

Lament

Clothes :)

Makeup Palate

Small Bag/Purse

Flower Spirits 2011 Calender

Winter Ankle Boot

10-inch Netbook case (any handled one will do)

Kindle e-Reader 3G

And so on :) One thing that always worries me about Christmas is that sometimes, people get so caught up in the getting that they forget about the giving. I try to avoid this - this 'List' of mine is stuff I want, that I will work towards getting.

Also, during my French classes secret Santa gift exchange, I was so wrapped up in watching people be happy unwrapping gifts (especially my gift) I didn't even realize I hadn't received mine :)

Sarah

P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 6 days :D

My Life Looks A Little Like This;

2010-12-16T16:00:00.004-05:00

I'm inside, working on all sorts of papers like this; English essays, French assignments, history projects, business tests. (This week I had 3 French quizzes, a English test, business test, history test, 2 history projects, and 3 books to read in English and French). TOO. MUCH.

Outside, looks a little like this.

Snow. Trees. Sun. Okay, not really the sun, as it goes down at 5:00 or earlier, but the snow! I haven't built a snowman for years!

Plus, it was great packing snow this weekend... I could have easily gone outside, but I had history.

How come I only want to go outside when I need do to my homework? It can't just be my procrastinating side!

I took pictures after school one day with my friend. I love macro, because I feel like it makes me a good photographer, even though I know nothing about photography.

Everything looks so inviting and beautiful, doesn't it?

The sun was shining as we were walking down the hill, it set as we looked out over the water -- a bit too early, but oh well :)

I like photography, but I know it's never going to be my forte. Sure, the pictures are pretty, but that's all natures work! I'm just an observer, never a composer.

The sun's going down. By the time we got to Tim Hortons, it was almost dark.

Gone are the days where it was light at 9:00 :(

:)

S a r a h

Book Review: Num8ers

2010-12-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

Num8ers by Rachel Ward 7/10

I picked up this book because of the cover. It's intriguing and beautiful, but dangerous. It sort of scared me at first, but I couldn't put it down...

Actually, it's a lot like the book.

Num8ers by Rachel Ward is fairly good. I liked the characters, the style, and the plot. I didn't like how unfair their lives were, and the sad ending. Overall, I think this book grows on you. I read it a while ago, and the longer I think about it, the more I like it.

A few things that immediately stand out is that it''s British, which is awesome. The only problem with that is the geography is confusing, and a few terms. But really, my bookshelf is painfully lacking in books from other countries or about other countries. (note to self: get on that).

Another thing that I realized about the book is that these people are far from perfect. Gone is the perfect Mary-Sue meeting her perfect Edward; this book has real characters in plausible situations (besides the numbers thing, that's not that plausible). I like the reality, the somewhat-slums style, and the way the characters behave. It's real, and therefore, creates amazing fiction. Does that make sense? I've been reading Life of Pi :)

Some things that are important to know is that there is a lot swearing. If you don't like F bombs, then try to find another British book of coolness :) Also, there is a really intimate scene, so if you're trying to avoid that sort of stuff and don't want to be surprised, be warned and avoid. (And I mean really intimate).

Also, the ending is sad. There's no happy ending for these characters... but really, you knew it all along. That makes it a little anti-climatic at the end, but just wait; you'll be thinking about this book for weeks, slowly liking it more and more. Like I did. :)

I'm looking forward to more books from this author :)
S a r a h

So, I won

2010-11-30T19:10:00.001-05:00

Sort of.

Okay, not at all. This year has been a bit of a fail, but I have done what I wanted to do - edit Empyrean.

Besides that, nothin' much.

S a r a h

P.S. if you can read french, or just want to look, here is my french summary of "Ailes Du Courage" - a movie.

Les Ailes Du Courage

« Les Ailes Du Courage » un film a réalisé par Jean-Jacques Annaud, racontait l’histoire d’Henri Guillaumet, un nouveau pilote. Guillaumet a travaillé pour la compagnie du courrier aérienne – l’Aéropostale. Sa travaille volait le courrier de l’autre cote de les Andes. Les Andres est un chaine montagneuse énorme au le centre de l’Amérique du Sud. Volé un avion à travers des Andes ont été très, très dangereux. Beaucoup des pilots ne trouvaient jamais après ils avaient au les Andes. La femme d’Henri était soucieuse que la carrière de son mari était trop dangereuse – elle est correct! En 1929, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry a demandé que Guillaumet a transporté le carrier au Santiago, la ville capital de Chili, malgré l’orage dans les montagnes.

Guillaumet a essayé voler à travers l’orage, mais son avion a tombé et a percuté. Pour plus d’une semaine, il marchait à Santiago aux pieds. Il a eu faim et froid, et il n’a eu pas des possessions pour vivre les Andes.

Est-ce que il survivait? Il a pensé de sa femme, Noël, et la voix de St. Ex et Mermoz. Quand ils ont trouvé Guillaumet, il dit la longitude et la latitude de son avion et le courrier, si le courrier livrerait.

Ce film est une histoire miraculeuse. Le courage de Guillaumet et le mystère qu’il a vécu ou non. Je pense que plus du film est en silence – ce n’est pas nécessaire! S’il y avait été de musique ou d’interaction avec les objets inanimés, le film aurait occupé plus du public.

La qualité du film et des acteurs créait un film réaliste et crédible. Le message de courage était un très bon message, et le ton sérieux garantissait que ce message n’est pas un cliché.

Aussi, le film manque l’action et avait pas assez de romance. Bien que nous voyions la femme d’Henri Guillaumet de temps en temps, la romance n’est pas en la plupart du film. Si il avait eu plus de romance en «Les Ailes Du Courage », un plus grand public auraient vu le film. Si il y avais eu l’action au le film, un encore grand public auraient vu le film!

En conclusion, je pense que cette film, « Les Ailes Du Courage » est une histoire magnifique et exaltant. J'ai aimé que le film était un vrai événement et le courage d’Henri Guillaumet est vraiment exaltant.

Sprint for the finish line!

2010-11-26T17:21:00.000-05:00

I've fallen behind on my already very slow NaNoWriMo progress... but I am going to win! I still have four days, right?

The next few days I'll be trying to finish at least a few more edited chapters. ~~There will be lots of cheating.~~ I'll erm.. try to play by the rules?

Booya! 80% completed.

In 87% of my time.

I may not have math this semester, but I don't like that ratio.

S a r a h

Present Empyrean

2010-11-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm still on track for NaNoWriMo. I'm at 31,000 words and doing fine.. or at least, I will be after the weekend.

The majority of my easy work is changing the book from present to past tense.

It's only when I come to the re-writes (the middle/end) that I get stuck. I'm slowly, but steadily making my progress through though. Very, very slowly.

Excerpt? How about it. :)

Empyrean Chapt.9, "King Emerson Palenstine"

The King is an amazing public speaker. His passion, his movements and his use of language create a world where he is right, and no one else can say a word. He explains his history; the first King of Empyrean almost 100 years ago, the fight between him and the "imposter" named Charles Pascal, a man who nearly took control of our country and would have brought it to ruin. The King explains his plans to let the wealth of Empyrean flow out to the other countries, and take away all the opposers - "insignificant, weak people with a low tolerance for magic - they will not survive in our world!" But eliminating the weak, a stronger community will be created. By eliminating the opposers, a stronger community will be created.

By eliminating my sister, a stronger Empyrean will be created.

No, I think, this is not the right way to share one countries wealth to a world. Besides, what wealth did we have? Empyrean is a tiny country, long fought over by countless countries. We have no water access, barely any mountains, and our once virtuous fields are scattered between dead battlefields and sprawling cities. We do not manufacture exports, and many imports have to specifically shipped from other countries - if they can get through the borders. The money Empyrean has is old, from days when we cared about our economy. Our currency is no longer used in the rest of the world, our economy has crashed; it seems like wall has grown between us and the rest of the world, and because of that, the rest of the world has forgotten about us.

"They will never forget about us! Empyrean is perfection, Empyrean is just, Empyrean is Emerson Palenstine's!" The King shouts. Behind him, the wall is lit up with a map of the world. As he speaks, countries change colours and borders shift.

"We have already occupied Tranua. Their forests and mines are being used to create the weapons we need to defeat our powerful opposers in Wat. Soon, we will have the vast lakes and rivers that Wat is known for, and access to their lake." The wall shows arrows as Empyrean progresses outwards from our small space in the middle of the continent to the oceans, then up to the northern powers.

"The northern powers will not be able to withstand our power, as we not posses the Yolan navy and Pillah tar sands. In just a few short years, the problems on our planet will cease to exist! The once troublesome, lesser low-powder citizens will be abolished and sent overseas, to places like Auasanna where they cannot harm us. The world economy will be our ecomony once again, and all our citizens will flourish in the riches of the world! Empyrites will be the leaders of the world, in positions of power all over our lands, and you, students of my great Institute, are the start of that. Already, you have been placed in a position of power, preparing for your futures of commanders, sargents and congressmen. You are almost there!" The King beams at the crowd, radiating energy and power. It is difficult not to get sucked into his words and believe his viewpoint.

But that is all it is. A viewpoint, and nothing more.

S a r a h

Midway Point of NaNoWriMo 2010

2010-11-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

I'm at a tired-of-editing 25k now.

Yes, I've edited 25k. I still have about 25k to go. But it's a start, right? Some parts I've edited over and over and over again. But I'm doing it.

I'm using yWriter5, which I tried out a few years ago for writing, but I've found its a much better editor's tool (for re-writes). Screenshot of my work:

(please click it to enlarge)

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T15:54:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

The tomb of the unknown soldier, Ottawa. This represents
all of the soldiers who died without names; without recognition.
Reconnaissez their efforts.

Today is Remembrance Day, or Veterans day. It is the day the Armistace was signed, but also a day to remember all wars, fought and to be fought. It shows how thankful we are for the men and women who lost their lives for our future today.

It's one day that has to represent the millions of lives lost, so give today your best. Remember the veterans and their fallen comrades. Remember your freedom and ability to be yourself. Wear a poppy. Go to a service. Visit a graveyard, or a veterans speech. One day is so little to thank the millions of people responsible for your great life today, so do your best and make the most of it.

S a r a h

Let Me Introduce You...

2010-11-05T16:33:00.000-04:00

...to the cast of Empyrean!

Emily Browning as Aerynn Bradburn and Alexa Bradburn.

Chad Michael Murray as Erik Marshalls.

Liam Aiken as Liam Sinclair.

Alex Pettyfer as Aydrian Galen.

Evan Rachel Wood as Raechel Silvers.

Alexis Bledel as Kira Little.

Unknown Male Model as Emerson Palenstine. (do you know who this is?)

Yes, I'm writing Empyrean. This is a short update on something Empyrean-related... I hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the shortness of the post... I am writing NaNoWriMo.

S a r a h

NaNoWriMo

2010-11-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

I'm editing this NaNoWriMo - every word I edit will count. So far, I'm at about 200 words. I'm really positive about completing!

Excerpt lines:

Individual Study Unit

2010-10-30T10:23:00.000-04:00

I've been working nonstop on my ISU (Individual Study Unit) which is on a multicultural novel called "Mountain Girl River Girl" by Ting Xing-Ye.

It's an interesting book, where 2 girls from different places in China travel to big cities, meet halfway and work in a factory for a little bit. There's a lot of misfortune that happens along the way... and in case you don't like reading about scary (rape) stuff, (who does? :/ it shocked me) there is that....

Most of my weekend will be on finishing up this project, and then working on History and French projects. (Business I can start, if I have time... which is unlikely).

Halloween is seriously my least favourite holiday... but with a great boyfriend, you don't HAVE to bee inadequate. I just don't want to live my life like some people do... that's not a problem, right?

However, on actual Halloween (not the school celebration) I might be handing out candy, which I've never really had to do... seeing as I live in the country, and I get no trick-or-treaters.

Anyways, sorry for the short update,
S a r a h

Roman Conquest of Italy From 500 BC to 100 BC

2010-10-21T16:35:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

When I think of BC, a time before the Gregorian calendar – our calendar – and Christianity came into existence, I think of primitive human beings, as cavemen, or monkeys. The reality is much more than that. Humans of the time were an intelligent start to mankind; creating the foundations for the world we live in today. Romans, who spoke Latin and lived in Rome, Italy, just off the Mediterranean Sea where just one group, and they are the group we are focusing on today. Three great wars over 500 years enabled Romans to control all of Italy.

These wars started with the Samnite war, from 300 to 200 BC, and were followed by the Pyrrhic war and not much later, the Mercenary war. By 100 BC, the small town of Rome controlled all of Italy, and they would not stop expanding until they controlled all of the Mediterranean.

The three Samnite wars lasted from 340 BC to 290 BC. The First Samnite War began in the 340’s while Rome’s army was preoccupied with another Persian war in the east. The Samnite army took this as an invitation to attack outlying colonies in western Italy. The colonies sent for Rome’s help, and a Roman envoy was sent to negotiate a way around the war. However, neither side could agree on the terms, and therefore a war broke out on the Plains of Campania. Rome led the fight from the beginning, and before long they had turned their attentions back to the Persian war. However, not long after, the Samnite Army managed to trap the Roman Army in the mountains, forcing the army to surrender and agree to a five year peace treaty. Embarrassed, Rome took this time to create their first road; a highway for the time. They began the Third Samnite War in 298, but this time they not only faced the Samnites, but their old enemies the Gauls, Umbrians and Etruscans as well. Rome was not used to facing such a large army and struggled to overcome the four groups. After 5 years of fighting around the city Sentinum, the opposing forces were forced to surrender. Samnite would never trouble Rome again, and the two lived peacefully from thereafter.

Image via Wikipedia

Rome was now the master of central Italy, and a rising power on the Mediterranean ocean. Next, they turned to the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. There, small Greek towns lead skirmishes to their fragile city-states, like Locri, Rhegim and Croton. Rome’s response to the city-states distress was to send their naval fleet, ignoring the peaceful waters treaty Rome had made with Tarentum in 302 BC. Tarentum responded by declaring war on Rome, and turned to their ally King Pyrrhus of Epirus for assistance. Pyrrhus imagined that after winning Tarentum’s war, he would bring glory to his people. The Epirite Army was far more equipped than the Roman Army, with 25,000 well-trained men, along with some war elephants landing in Italy in 280BC. The novelty of the elephants, Pyrrhus assumed, would ensure an easy victory for Epirus. However, the war as quite evenly matched. The Romans outnumbered Epirus with 50,000 men, but the skill of King Pyrrhus’ army made the match evenly fought. The war elephants were used to drive through the cavalry which worked out very well, until they turned on their troops and attacked both sides. King Pyrrhus was forced to withdraw. In 272 BC, Pyrrhus returned to Rome for the last time. Things had changed within Rome, and the Romans now knew how to deal with war elephants. Tarentum became just another city in the Great Roman Empire, despite their allies’ efforts.

The next year, Rome was part of another battle, but this time they did not engage their recovering cavalry and soldiers. The Mercenary War, which began in 241BC, was a war between the city of Carthage, not yet part of the Roman Empire, and a band of angry, angry mercenaries. The mercenaries, almost twenty thousand strong, were lead by Gesco. They originated from Sicily, and moved into Carthage territory to fight for more pay to fulfill their contracts. Negations were attempted, but ignored as the mercenaries took over Tunis, a small down near Carthage. From there, they convince other small towns to revolt with them, out from Carthage’s command. The Carthage army is lead by Hanno the great, and Hamilcar in 239BC and it is defeated several times by the towns and mercenaries. Seven hundred Carthaginian prisoners are executed, while others forced to join the mercenary army. Hamilcar wins the war for Carthage by cutting of the supply lines to the mercenary army, forcing them to leave. Not long after, Rome declares war on Carthage. They surrender almost immediately, with barely any troops to fight back as in 237 BC, Rome occupies Carthage. Now Rome has power over the entire Italian country, and shows no signs of slowing down.

A great many battles were fought in Rome, around Rome, and within the Roman Empire in it’s thousand-year history. These three wars are three of the hundreds, even thousands, but they are important because they lead to Rome’s control over Italy, the central hub of their many conquests all over the Mediterranean Sea. The Samnite wars lead Rome to control central Italy, the Pyrrhic war opened up the southernmost tip of Italy, while the mercenary war ended with Rome in control of northern Italy, and the island to the west of Italy. The Great Roman Empire would reach out from here to cover all the land around the Mediterranean Sea, but it would never forget the city that began it all; Rome.

I had to gloss over a lot of facts for this speech to be 5 minutes, but I think I did pretty well. I probably have some things messed up, but it's such an interesting topic!

S a r a h

Books To Read

2010-10-17T13:01:00.005-04:00

Cover of Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2)

It's been a while since I made a new books to read list, so here it goes:

Books To Read

City Of Fallen Angels - out on April 5th, which much much too far away. I love these books, even if they're a bit predicable.
Behemoth - Leviathan book two. Leviathan was so amazing!
The Scorch Trails - sequel of The Maze Runner, which wasn't long enough :P
The Atlantis Complex - will these books ever end?
Predator's Gold - an unheard of series, where I am, but the first one was really great!
Smart Girls and Fast Boys - because I'm feeling like a gushy romantic gal. A friend said it was good.
Spells - from the author of Wings - think I'll pick this up when I go shopping next week :)
Enchantments - from the author of Wings ---> not out yet, but I'm not sure when it's out either
Linger - sequel to Shiver, which was perfect.
Nightshade - after reading Shiver, I want more wolves!
Halo - saw this in the bookstore once, but I'm not sure about buying it.
The Replacement - another new author and series for me, I love new stuff : ]
Matched - this sort of person vs. society is my sort of conflict, out Nov. 30th 2010
Lament - by the same author of Linger and Shiver... seems interesting, and I love the author's writing. There are two books (at least?) to this series, the second one is called Ballad.
Crescendo - although Hush, Hush scared me (it was a little... mature?) I really can't help but to get the next one... library, perhaphs?

Boy, I have a lot of reading to do. But that's a good thing, right?

Most of these books I'll probably end up getting at the library - my bookcase is full! I may also try www.swap.com, if my parents let me :\

S a r a h

I like...

2010-10-12T18:02:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Chocolate Cake. Or, more correctly, five minute chocolate cake. Five minute chocolate cake that you don't have to share!

Haha :P

I found this, made it, and decided to share it today.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

This was from the Group Recipes website :]

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

1. Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
2. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
3. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
4. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake may rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
5. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous)

Surprisingly, I got it off Facebook on this page here, but it is also (same recipe, there are probably variations to it as well) on a recipe website here.

I love chocolate. This cake is a darkish, rich chocolate (according to my sister) but I think it's amazingly perfect. And it really doesn't take that long to make! (Or eat :P)

S a r a h

Monologue for English

2010-10-11T09:09:00.006-04:00

One thing about English this year that was different from grade 9 English is that we have a lot more creative writing pieces. Which I find amazing, as I love creative writing.

This was a monologue on fear, after reading a creepy story which involved someone possibly drowning/dying, and claustrophobia. Both are different types of fear, so we had to do an artistic representation of any fear.

You could draw, sing, paint, etc, but I obviously chose writing, because that's what I do creatively. :)

Fear Monologue

“I have no way to overcome fear. Not now, not then, and I’m sure I never will in the future. Sure, take deep breaths, think calming thoughts – those are all stress related. Fear itself is not stress. It’s one’s body, preparing for a fight, or a flight. Increased breathing, heartbeat hammers; fear courses through my body. I cannot stop it. All I can do is wait, wait for it to pass and for me to be able to breathe again.

Others may fight. They may stand up and face their fears. How, I do not know. Because when I am scared, my brain turns off. Whatever it is, a stage, a performance, a line; it all fades away until all there is left in me is fear, clouding my mind and choking all my hopes and dreams.

Did I once dream of succeeding? Fear makes that disappear. Logic, pure and simple logic, is as alien to me now as a day without stage fright. It’s impossible to see logic when all my body is showing is failure; fear causes failure.

So when I stand there, on the stage, alone or with other people, singing, dancing, talking, I do not know logic. I only know fear, so terrifying I feel as if I’m about to die; that my body will shut down and leave this earth, somehow, in some way.

But there is a point, that when a person is scared, they begin to stop caring. The adrenaline for fight or flight, the heightened senses, the brain moving a thousand miles a minute, they all help in the end. I remember my lines, I move around the stage like I should have all those times in practice, and I do succeed.

No one knows why I do it. They ask me why I am performer; they ask me how I can do so well on stage, when moments before my hands are shaking, and I’m sweating buckets just behind the curtains.

I tell them that there is a difference between being on stage, performing, and off stage, ready to perform. But the other people are brave, and they have dealt with their fear in different ways. They do not understand my way, because everyone deals with fear in a different way. And until they find out how, the only thing they should fear is fear itself.”

- An Actor

S a r a h

BROWNIES!

2010-10-10T08:55:00.000-04:00

My parents are away for part of the Canadian thanksgiving weekend (Friday-Sunday, they're back for Monday, which is when we celebrate thanksgiving), so I was pretty bored.

I made brownies! And took somewhat-blurry pictures... next time I'll have to remember to take better pictures :$

The second step - mix the melted chocolate with 2 cups sugar. (Anything that's made with 2 cups of sugar is bound to be delicious :P). I missed the first step, which was to melt the chocolate. Seriously, melted chocolate is SO AMAZING. It looked like heaven.

This is the mix with eggs and flour and everything. My whole house smelt like heavenly brownies and chocolate.

The pan. I used the wrong size, but who cares :)

Going into my oven for 35 minutes @ 375

The splendid pan of fantastic brownies coming out. Drooling is necessary.

This is when you get jealous that I'm me. Because I get to eat these. Also, you get jealous of Canadians for having me in their country...

Or you just drool more.

I'm extremely proud of my cooking today :D
And like, extremely not proud of my random posting :$

S a r a h

Day 4

2010-10-04T17:46:00.001-04:00

Cross country was killer today. We ran further than I ever have (4k?) on FLAT ground this time, and then did hill sprints on a root-filled, rocky, steep hill. But it was fun, I guess :P

I've developed a habit of typing things out in the "edit HTML" section of blogger - for non-bloggers, that's the type where you have to edit the < b r / > and the < i > and whatnot for things to go italicized or bolded. I just find it's easier, and sort of fun.

I've always wished I was a pro-coder, and could hack stuff by reading this alien computer language... maybe this is just me settling with the next best thing :)

Yes, I realize that I have already failed the NaBlowWriMo as well. I'm just not cut out for fast-paced blog posts! I'm sorry!

However, I will still try my hardest :) Maybe every day, with every Sunday off? :P

Amazingly, I actually have some writerly news for this. Although I will not start writing until I am done editing Empyrean, my newest story (Untitled, something like Muscle was the working title) I've decided will have NO good guy, because it MC, but NO good guy for her to fall in love with.

No, this girl will love her enemy.

Of course, he won't be the evil enemy. He'll just have that oh-so-nice thought that the world would be better off restarted, and that if he killed everyone and started a new race, they would be better. Yeah, that great idea.

But he'll be sweet and kind and nice to the MC - although, he may be faking it for her DNA, you can never be sure - and the reader will like him. That's important. The Reader Will Like Him.

Exciting right? An experiment of sorts.

Whhyyy can't I start now? Gr.

S a r a h

P.S. skipped the unveiling of the winners/loosers of the yearly short story contest I write in. Erm, I hope that means I didn't loose. I'm checking the teen board right now, and I can't tell. :\

Epilogues

2010-10-02T17:39:00.002-04:00

In school we had to write an epilogue for English class. It was on a short story called "Long Walk To Forever" by Kurt Vonnegut. It was an amazing, cute story; I couldn't help but to throw a wee bit of death and destruction into my own epilogue. ;)

Epilogue
By Sarah Leeves

Catharine never threw out the bridal magazine. It lay in her bottom drawer, under old knitted sweaters and winter coats. To her it represented choices, choices lost, choices taken, and choices she somehow never got to decide.

It had never occurred to her that Henry would be killed in a car crash, just moments before she opened the door to Newt, or that today Henry's child would be responsible for driving her husband home from physiotherapy.

Henry had never even known about Annabelle, but Catharine had made sure that Annabelle knew about him – and the twins Newt and her had had just six years ago.

Below, loud roars interrupted the stillness of their tiny house. Nike and Jake were home from grade one now, and therefore Annabelle would be back with Newt soon. Heading down the stairs, Nike and Jake were already outside playing an imaginary game they'd created in the muddy backyard. The tiny kitchen was the hallway to the stairs and outdoors, and their backpacks were already on the dining room table.

It had taken a lot of work over the past few years to make ends meet. After Newt's accident with the army, their entire life needed to be changed for his new, handicapped state. It had taken years to save up for the house there were in now, most of Annabelle's childhood in a small apartments with neighbours who talked to loud and police sirens every hour of the night. The wheelchair-accessible car, which Annabelle pulled into the driveway with now, had been the difference from a grassy, landscaped backyard to the dirt, weedy one they had now.

It's been worth it, Catharine thought to herself, it all has. Crossing into their bedroom, she took one last look at the bridal magazine – her wedding had obviously not been that fancy – and carried it over to the garbage. She brought the bag out through their garage, watching as Newt lowered himself out of the car.

“Thank-you Annabelle,” Catharine said as her daughter brushed by, heading to the safety of her room before the boys made her join their games.

“No problem Mom.” Annabelle called out. Catharine smiled, and dumped the garbage on the side of the road, ready for pickup. Newt came up behind her; metal wheels crunching the fresh gravel.

“I'm back,” he said, giving her the smile that had made all these hard years so bearable. “That was my last session. I'm all yours now.”

Catharine smiled back. The bridal magazine would be gone by tomorrow morning; no longer would she rethink those vital choices, the events that shaped her life now. She was done with wondering about the other side, and the other ways the last 16 years could have played out. With just one look from her doting husband or happy children, she knew once and for all that her life could not have played out any better way.

Catharine was finally truly happy.

My friend loved the first paragraph. How about you?

S a r a h

Hostage and Humiliation

2010-10-01T12:28:00.003-04:00

I have two things to say about the past week.

One, is that 3 schools in my town were kept in lockdown until 7 o'clock. There was a "brandishing of a firearm". I feel so bad for the little kindergartens who had to stay in school until 7! They aren't even used to a FULL day of school!

It didn't make me feel safe, what with all the rumors of a marital dispute/hostage situation, a sniper in someone's uncles backyard, and children trapped indoors.

Apparently, the parents were all waiting all around the school. Waiting for their children to be returned. It sounds so terrible! If I was a parent, I would be devastated.

Number two..

I joined the cross country team. In my first race, an Open Girls (grades 10, 11 and 12) we ran 4km. I came in 82nd out of 112. This isn't bad for my first race!

Weirdly enough, I like the suicide-sprints up and down a mega-big hill better than the long run. Although, in reality I still suck at both.

Not so say that I haven't improved - I can now run all the way down the Big Hill without stopping. Something I couldn't do the first time I ran. I first did this on Thursday, then raced in two 300-meter sprints, and could still stand (although I was light-headed). Oh, and no one passed me. My team won!

My team is cool. Really, really cool and/or awesome people. But I'm the only grade 10 girl, and the grade 9 girl is amazing and much better than I am.

On to the humiliation. I'm a horrible confronter. On Wednesday, I told my cross country coach I wasn't going to be at the practice that day, because I needed to work on a business project. Responsible? Yes. Reliable? Yes. However, doing my homework was not a "good enough excuse" for her.

Excuse me, but that last time I checked, I was in total control of my life. Yes, other people may have their opinions, but I control me. No one is going to get anywhere by telling me what to do. I make my own choices, decisions and mistakes. Also, I believe that skipping a cross country practice, in my book of interests, passions and things that are important to me, is not as high on my list as my business project (I also had a business test, french project, history project and french quiz to work on).

I have interests. I'm choosing schoolwork over cross country. And although the teacher warned I may not find a place on the team anymore, I believe that schoolwork is more important, for ME.

Lastly, just a note, I'm planning to do NaBloWriMo. A blog post a day in October. AND I will edit Empyrean in November/Christmas/all the spare time I have.

But I'm busy now with school, so I'm giving myself a break :)

S a r a h

Back to School

2010-09-18T10:10:00.001-04:00

Yup, I'm finally heading back to school. Semptember 8th was my first day - grade 10, my sophomore year (I sound so old!) I'm not even sure if it is sophomore - I think that's an American thing, so, Americans, am I an my sophomore year?

Crazy, crazy Sarah. In French, I had an oral presentation about my artistic talent - writing! Although I got overshadowed by a fantastic violinist and singers and whatnot, I'm still proud of my talent :)

English and Business are my least favourite classes. I can't force myself to say I dislike English the most, but really, I fear I might. My class is filled with annoying people, and I have no good friends. I don't belong with the nerds, or the popular kids. I sit by myself :\

Business is also a drag, but I have 3 good friends in it, even though I was sort of mean to one of them (it bothers me to an extreme when teachers explain assignments we'll be starting tomorrow, and certain people finish them that night. I mean, we had a computer lab booked. And she was done. Meh). I do feel bad for it though :(

My locker is teensie, but in a great place - I can visit it between every class, which I do, having 3 textbooks and soon-to-be 2 binders. (I started out the year with 1 binder, because I didn't have enough stuff to fill it. But now my binder is getting full, so I may bring another one).

History is okay. I know people in my class, and I understand it pretty well. I've started off the year with 100%, but it DOES have a lot of homework. I don't really like homework. I also have a unit test Monday, which I need to start studying for. But I understand history - it's common sense.

I know I've left blogging for a while, but I'm trying to find the time to get back into it. Maybe I'll try scheduling the posts again, it worked pretty well last time :)

S a r a h

P.S. met another person in the library contest I entered with this short story.... I hope I win and he comes in second :P

The Mockingjay Book Review

2010-09-04T13:12:00.001-04:00

Cover via Amazon

The Mockingjay. How long have I waited for this book to be released? I read it, like the other two books in the series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, all by Suzanne Collins) in about 8 hours, spread out over a late night and early morning. By the end of the book, my eyes were glazing over and I was tired, making the ending a bit too hazy in my memory, but it was still good.

I'm pretty sure it isn't just me when I say I wish the book had a more in-depth portion describing the fall of Panem (that isn't a spoiler, you knew it was coming, right?) because in the book, Katniss passes out. Also, she doesn't seem as strong as she did in the first book, but I understand her character more, so I'm fine if she isn't superwoman.

What else can I say? A lot of characters die, as is the norm for the last of the series. I survived without tears through the deaths, and luckily, my favourite character was left (although moved away, but alive). If you're a Peeta fan, be prepared to have your heart broken, glued back together, re-broken, and then sealed whole again by a cute, Harry Potter-esque ending. I can't say anything about this book without spoiling it!

I rate this a 7.5/10. But after a good re-read, I may bump that up to an 8 :]

S a r a h

Heist Society Book Review

2010-08-28T17:08:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Heist Society, by Ally Carter, is a book about Katarina Bishop, the daughter of a thief, the granddaughter of the greatest crook ever, and a girl smack in the middle of an entire family of "crooked business". The cover of this book is beautiful (I'm a bangs girl, I love her bangs!) and the look of the pages and setup (it counts down until the deadline on clock-backgrounded pages) makes the book nice too :)

In the first chapter, it almost seems like Heist Society is part of a series, not a stand-alone story.
However, it's easy to understand and the lack of background doesn't really effect the overall plot line. There's a mystery boy who gets her expelled from a posh boarding school that Kat knows, but isn't really sure how she stands with. Turns out she'd chosen to leave the "heisting" part of her family behind, and some of them have accepted that she's gone. It made me sad to read about her family not knowing whether to trust her or not, but the novel is fairly upbeat.

Heist Society is fast-paced, cute, and compelling - her world is so different than ours, even though it's the same place, and the detail to heists is something I could never imagine in my own stories. Also, her friends are unique, interesting characters (although there IS a girly-girl, who I hated at the beginning, but eventually began to like. The author's intent, maybe?) I would have liked to read more on the backgrounds of each character (like the super-genius from LA) but for a lot of people, that would take away from the fast pace of the novel. Oh, and the places! I want to go to the places she goes to, namely Europe. 'Cept I don't want to rob them :)

In short, I would rate this book an 8.5/10. (Grammar question, if you have a number that starts with a vowel, do you write "an"?) Plus, the cover is cool, don't you agree? I like the glasses.

S a r a h

P.S. my writing is horribly awkward in this review, but I've been putting it off for a while and I owe it to you guys to post something :)

5 Major Empyrean Edits

2010-08-17T10:23:00.000-04:00

Major Empyrean Edit Number One:
The school that Aerynn goes to will no longer be the School, or the long name that it's formally called. It's referred to as The Institute but kids and sometimes teachers.

Major Empyrean Edit Number Two:
The Institute is meaner, stricter and overall worse than the old version. It'll have a morning rolecall, shared bedrooms, silent hallways and washrooms which are only open during lunch. It'll also have a washroom that no one uses, which will be the headquarters for Aerynn's friends until it's found out.

Major Empyrean Edit Number Three
Aerynn's school will work on an odd/even day basis, with school going from 9-5, with hour-long classes. Her schedule will also be included in the actual story --

The Institute Of Advanced Learning And Militarial Assistance Schedule, Year 2100

Day One

First Period: Mathematics
Second Period: Countries and Customs of the World
Third Period: English (Part One)
Fourth Period: Lunch break
Fifth Period: Stealth and Spy Training
Sixth Period: Science
Seventh Period: Study break
Eighth Period: T.E.R.R.O.R

Day Two
First Period: The History Of War
Second Period: Battling Without Weapons
Third Period: Languages of the World
Fourth Period: Lunch break
Fifth Period: English (Part Two)
Sixth Period: Fighting With Weapons
Seventh Period: Study break
Eighth Period: Ability Training

Major Empyrean Edit Number FourThere will not be over 100 characters mentioned, there will only be 33, including Aerynn and Erik and everyone important. All of the characters also have an individual schedule which I made on Excel (lovelovelovelovelove!) and the classes which they share with Aerynn are highlighted.

Major Empyrean Edit Number FiveI WILL edit at least one page a day. I promise myself :$ I'll get Empyrean back one track :)

.... starting tomorrow :$

S a r a h

Tell Me I'm Crazy

2010-08-08T16:41:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Lately, I've been playing Sims 3 a lot. First, it was because I got a new town off the Sims 3 website. Then, it was because I bought the new expansion pack, Ambitions - which is cool, and also came with a new town (can you guess I love new towns?)

Now, my Sims-crazed mind has wanted to press "3" on my keyboard to fast forward through loading screens. I've planned out my new triplets lives, and thought about Sims while doing almost anything.

I've also got this crazy, crazy-stupid idea for a story.

However, maybe it'll help me fix the idea/stop being obsessed with Sims.... right?

The first idea that came into my head would be the beginning scene. There's a girl in a hospital/goverment/workplace room, getting her biceps measured by this scowling mean lady. The girl immediately didn't like the lady, but is relieved when she loosens the measuring tape a little and says that the FMC barely made it past level 4. FMC smiles, thinking everything will be okay, but then the lady tells her that despite the fact that the rest of her body is ready for Level Four Fitness, her calves are not, and therefore she will not be able to advance.

The girl is poor, spent all of her paycheck into getting the appointment to (hopefully) level up, and now that she can't, she doesn't know how she'll support her family until her next pay check. She really, really needed this advance, so she could advance her soccer career and make more money - possibly getting into a professional team.

Geddit? I don't have a problem yet, but as this is sent in an era much like the Uglies (by Scott Westerfeld), I think the Prime Minister will be rooting for the team the FMC isn't on, and she'll find out about all this bad stuff, revolt maybe, and whatnot :]

Anyways, give me you thoughts, opinions and down-to-earth STOP PLAYING SIMS please and thank-you :)

S a r a h

P.S. in 3 weeks I'll be linesmanning a WOMENS soccer game... usually I do under 14s! Scary, but exciting :P

This Week

2010-07-31T17:39:00.000-04:00

This week was my last week volunteering. There were two of the kids from my earlier week in the programs I did - "Magical Modeling Clay" (used Plasticine and oven-bake polymer clay) and "Papier Mache and Plaster Casting" (you know those treacherous masks you HAVE to do in grade 6? These people voluntarily did them!)

Image via Wikipedia

The picture to the right is what the polymer clay creations would have looked like, if the kids weren't 5-9 years old. Instead, we had circles and smiley faces, but they were just as good!

The most adorable thing is that one of the kids, named Cameron (ironic, eh?) made me a necklace!
He was one of the kids who was in a class I helped out with two weeks ago, and was 7 years old (I think). Him and his brother rode their bikes to the class, and I hope he got home okay with all the stuff he made :\.

Anyways, the necklace he made me looks like this:

I also got to make and keep a few things. My polymer clay creation (a flower that was a ton of work, but worked out beautifully) was the only thing I didn't get to keep, because the instructor needed it. I'm partial about the fish, but everything else I like :P

Crafts are fun, even for 15-year-olds! haha :P

Fridge magnet, it's a landscape at near-nightfall.

Fridge magnet, sorry for the bad quality :$

Isn't the turtle cute? Don't you dare say my fish looks crazy!

All in all, it was a fun, busy night - after the camp, I had my sister's birthday on the 26th - party on the 25th and this upcoming 6th - linesmanning on the 27/28 and a friend's house on the 29th. I was exhausted, but it was worth it :]

Plus, I have all my hours and a great experience for my application to the daycare at my fitness thingy center - I want to work there so bad!

S a r a h

Stuck.

2010-07-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

My first step inside the building was a positive one. Maybe, things were not as bad in here as they seemed. At least to hallways were clean, and the building was nice. You could hear the air rushing around through the vents above and below, and that was calming. The halls were a dark grey, and a little dimly lit, but stairwells had floor-to-ceiling windows, as did every classroom. Somehow, the glass in the windows was impossible to see through, and blended in perfectly to the rest of the building on the outside, but in here it was as clear as day.

The room I was in was nicely decorated as well. Hundreds of sayings in all different languages lined the walls, and the desks were clean and comfortable. Kids stood around the room, awkwardly picking at their uniforms as teachers ran around the room with forms to sign and papers to hand out.
“Hello, Aerynn Lucida Bradburn is it?” I nodded, and a somewhat pudgy man with a clipboard and pencil scribbled some stuff down. “Yes, I saw you in the paper - ages ago, after that horrific fire. I just knew. I just knew you would be coming here.”

He looked up at me. “Would you mind signing this for me dear? Those lawyers can be quite a hassle for our law enforcement and deflection team.” He shuffled through the papers stuffed messily into his belt, pockets and shoes and finally handed me a long document filled with very small type. “Right there, that little line. Full name, of course.” He stuffed a beautifully modern pen, but with a completely chewed top into my right hand. Awkwardly I switched hands, trying to hold the clipboard, paper, and pen at once.

...... and it gets worse. Somehow, I'm stuck on page 36/333, and I just can't seem to force myself around it. I don't like the way those words sound, and I don't like how my characters are behaving. I've lost my will to edit, even if I'm really excited for the final product, this portion I just want to.... skip.

Should I skip it? Can you think of anything I could change/help me edit this part?

S a r a h

Busy, busy, busy

2010-07-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

All of this week, from 9:00 to 3:00, I've been volunteering at a local kids day-camp. Each camp is half a day, so I helped out with two camps.

My first camp, in the morning, was from 9:00 to 12:00, Monday to Friday. It was a sewing/fleece creatures camp, and the kids got to make animals out of fleece (soft fabric) and stuff them. There were 8 kids, from 5-11. They made butterflies, ducks and Pokemon characters.

They were so adorable!

My afternoon class was even younger, with kids either 5, 6 or 7. They painted, coloured, and dress up to be
monsters! It went from 12:30 to 2:30, and I got to take them outside for a 15-minute break, where we played What Time Is It Mister Wolf and sat in the Gazebo where it was cooler.

Seriously, I adore little kids. The past week was one of the most tiring ones every (I was standing all day) but it was also one of the funnest!

Oh, and I also biked from my house (in the country) to the icecream parlour in my town with my sister yesterday, which was fun/HOT! :P

And I refereed and saw my boyfriends soccer game :)

S a r a h

P.S. short update, but I'm having a friend read over my edited portions of Empyrean, and then I'm continuing editing :)

Empyrean: 29/332

2010-07-04T19:10:00.002-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Horseshoe falls - Canada's side of the falls :)

I finished chapter one! Chapter two seems a big too big to be tackled at the moment, but right now, let's all bask in the glory that I finished chapter one of Empyrean.

:)

Finished? Aerynn Bradburn is within moments of seeing the Institute, and meeting all the amazing characters within :D

I, on the other hand, am moments from leaving. I'm going to Niagara Falls for three days! I'll miss all my friendly bloggers, and my computer :\

However, I will take pictures and post soon :D

Oh, and today, I went swimming! My boyfriend has a pool at his house, and I actually got a tan on my shoulders! (I'm the palest person around, but I don't purposely tan, so I'm fine with my weird skin :P)

Hmm.. anything else? Oh, I think girls are majorly misunderstood. So treat them nicely, everyone :) It seems like it's against the law or something for girls to have an inkling of a good self-esteem, which is wrong on many counts. Be nice to girls! If not me, then the ones in your lives :)

Back before you know it,
S a r a h

P.S. Zemanta worked pretty well for this, don't you think?

Summer of Empyrean

2010-06-28T08:21:00.000-04:00

My plan for this summer is to edit Empyrean. I'll try to do about a page a day, starting tomorrow. That should only take.... erm, 200 days? So far, I'm on page 14. Yes, I'm behind, but I'll try to work on more today! I'm doing nothing today, thankfully, after a few busy days.

Last monday, I had my math exam.

Tuesday, I had my English exam - which wasn't hard, but everyone seemed to write for ages and ages and ages while I tried to get my point across in only a few words - I still wrote 5 page legal sized pages (!) but some people wrote... 9? I couldn't write that fast!

Last Wednesday, I had a super-easy, studied-only-for-an-hour-and-still-knew-98%-of-the-questions Science exam. Needless to say, it was easy :]. After than, I had my first linesman game with the black and yellow under 14 (12, 13 and 14 year-olds) in which the head ref made us wear hot pink "BRAMPTON SOCCER" shirts on top of our nice referee uniform, because one of the teams were black. And, in case your wonder, no, I do not play in Brampton! (We wore the "enemy" shirts). Despite the difficulties and knowing someone on the team, I think I was a great linesman :)

Thursday was a day of rest, in which I edited about 3 pages and... slept?

Friday my boyfriend came over and we watched the Transformers 2... which is really awkward, as Megan Fox acts like it's totally comfortable to stick out your... assets all the time, which it isn't. We also played Super Mario Galaxy 2, which I love <3

Saturday I had a sleepover with some school friends. We watched Alice In Wonderland and National Treasure 1.

Sunday I went to my grandparents house in torrential downpour. I love the rain! We also went to a really good buffet in the farmer's market area of Waterloo.

Today is another day of rest. And editing!

Tuesday is exam review day, in which I get to see if I really know what I was not studying for Science and whether 5 pages was enough for English :\. I also get to linesman another U14 girl's game!

Wednesday is another linesman game, this time boys :] Whoohoo for making $80 this month (canadian)!!!!!!

Ready to go start her day of editing,
S a r a h

Shakesphere

2010-06-20T08:37:00.001-04:00

This is just a short post about my thoughts on William Shakesphere and his work. :]

For the past 3 years, and the next 6ish ones of highschool and beyond, I'm going to study Shakesphere every year. How many plays does he have?

I've read Romeo and Juliet twice, Hamlet in grade 7, and probably every story twice in my education :\

Why?

I don't agree with reading Shakesphere.

Firstly, it is difficult. It ruins the fun of reading, which already a lot of kids have trouble with. Reading Shakesphere gives a lot of people the idea that Shakesphere style is the only style books come in, and why would anyone want to read that for fun?

Secondly, why Shakesphere? He's definitely not the only writer in the world - or the only good one. He's not even the best writer from the 1700's! There are thousands of good writers, and hundreds of amazing books that could teach the same, or even more applicable morals.

Shakesphere is all we read, it seems, and I know there are better books out there. Sure, he was smart, but today he is treated like Leonardo Da Vinci, and I don't think he was that great.

Why aren't we reading other things?

Right now, I'm studying Romeo and Juliet and T Kill A Mockingbird for my English exam on Tuesday.

My math exam is tomorrow, and science Wednesday.

Wish me luck!
S a r a h

The Only Exception

2010-06-09T18:00:00.001-04:00

I found another song I like! I don't even listen to Paramour usually because I stick to love songs, but they have a love song (!) so I like it :)

(If they have any other love songs that you, most likely a much bigger Paramour fan know of, please tell me!)

The Only Exception - Paramour. <3

(yes, i know it's too big for the screen - but I LOVE the music video!!! I couldn't bear to shrink it :P

My favourite part is when she's on the dates @ the restaurant, and the part where she's singing in the mirror.

<3

It's adorable and cute and sweet - a perfect song to listen to when you're on the bus ride home, worrying about the insane amounts of homework you have to complete by the end of the night, and the exams looming ever closer..... :\

S a r a h

Birthday :)

2010-06-04T16:32:00.000-04:00

For my birthday, I got a new mouse/keyboard (wireless, and I LOVE the keyboard because when I type, it makes soft, nice-sounding clicks :) I LOVE the clickety of keyboards!

My sister got my stuff from Lush (bath products store which sells the NICEST stuff) - I got a soap bar (not pictured), bath balm (blue with orange on top thing on left, it makes the water got all bubbly and sparkley -- using this this weekend :]) and moisturizing bar... it's in the shape of a heart, you just can't see it. They all smell SO good!

My best friend gave me chocolate, sunglasses, a jacket and a plant (below)

My grandparent gave me earrings, mini-wallet (for school, etc) and Aeropostale gift card.. I like that store :)


My best friend gave me this ADORABLY cute plant. I love it :) --- repotting soon so it can grow big and live forever <3


Oh, and there is NO better gift to give a serious relashionship female than this :]

Isn't it amazing, adorable and sweet? The letters are on a heart, BTW, and it hangs perfectly too :)

All-in-all, my birthday was spectacular... besides my short story I got back from my teacher, with a 85% (low, seeing as she told someone who wrote it the night before and handed it in a day or two late that theirs was perfect and they should take the writer's course in grade 11/12. WHY NOT ME? I love writing, and that would have meant the world to me. Seriously, people: is my writing GOOD, or is it just "good" because I write so much and I like it?)

Your fifteen-year-old,
S a r a h

Summer Time

2010-05-29T15:17:00.001-04:00

Odie on the sand after a dip in the lake :)

It feels like summer! I'm actually wearing shorts and t-shirts without a jacket, not freezing all the time and swimming! Needless to say, the weather is amazing!

My Week:

Camping was okay. I talked to a guy! Usually when I go camping I'm not social at all... so this was an improvement. Plus, it was buggy but I didn't get bitten, which is also an improvement! The water was freezing, so only my dog swam (go Odie!) and I waded in with him :P My family didn't even get into any fights!

Tuesday I had a math unit test, which I got a 71% on it --- TERRIBLE, if I do say so myself. It was the hardest unit, though, so I'm not too worried. I also went to my boyfriends house, and we watched How To Loose A Guy In 10 Days (HE made me! I have no idea what was going on in his head there, but it didn't turn out too bad... we didn't end up watching much anyways).

Wednesday was a stress-related mental breakdown day, because I still had to finish part of my unit test from Monday, a french commercial for Friday, study for my Referee exam on Saturday, AND plan my party (seriously, my parents just couldn't leave me alone about not having a party, even though I'd carefully explained why several times. Why is a birthday so stressful!?)

On Thursday I got about 15 dollars for cutting my grass, so I was happy about that. I studied and memorized confusing French, and slept.

Friday was my french commerical, in which my teacher TOTALLY singled me out (my partner wouldn't answer because he doesn't like French) and was all like "Les enfants is NOT 10 years old, Sarah, and 5-year-olds would NOT want a Shamwow!". Luckily, my class knew I was meaning our age, and agreed that my commercial appealed to kids. Ha!

Today, I just finished my Referee exam, which was hard, but easier than I had expected. I think I passed - as in got an 80%, which is a "passing" mark for the test. Tonight, I have a pool party/joint twin birthday party.'

It's going to be interesting. I know both twins, but one of them is a bit of an "airhead" and goes to Mayfield. She also has a Youtube channel, called maybabytumbler and does hair/makeup/gymnastics. She told her sister to invite only skinny, pretty people (apparently, that counts as me) and is making jello shots with 2% alcohol. I'm not eating a thing :\. The other twin (my friend) is nicer and plays video games, watches the same people I do on Youtube (PhilipDeFranco, thecommunity, LikeTotallyAwesome, ctfxc and vlogbrothers).

So, mainly it'll be some of my friends and a lot of popular airheads.... which doesn't sound fun. Especially since it's a pool party, and I dislike water and bathing suits (they're badly designed and.... revealing :\ gah)

I hope it's fun :)

Oh, and I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy (boyfriends) because I'm getting the second one on Tuesday...

Which is....

My BIRTHDAY!

So yeah, I'm excited! I'll post what I get, avec les photo's, je pense. I know I'm getting Toblerone, a necklace and roses out of electrical tape from my boyfriend (friend's can't keep secrets!) but the rest of the stuff is a mystery... :]

S a r a h

Camping Quickness

2010-05-21T19:36:00.001-04:00

I hope my dog likes the beach! :)

Going camping soon! This is an update...

Who enjoyed playing Pacman on Google? I did! Who was enough of a freak to join the facebook group? I was!

Hehe :)

Life has been strange and hectic recently. I got a retainer, (the clear plastic type) and it KILLS. I've
also realized how DEAD I am going to be with exams, and that I am clearly the most crazy girl out there. Ever. I have no idea how people put up with me!

I helped out with a dinner served at my school (waitress!) and it was fun, but FULL of faults! At one point, we ran out of sauce and had to make more from scratch -- and the recipe was in the garbage. It was a little crazy, we just hope the audience/customers didn't notice. :]

I'm going camping this weekend, which I'm not to happy about, but I'll live with it, I guess. At least I can bike more and eat marshmallows - but I have to take out my retainer! I hate the thing. It hurts so much! (So, I'm a baby when it comes to pain. No biggie :] hehe).

I have a french commercial coming up, which I hope will be fun. I somehow didn't do great on my Icelandic project - spontaneousity was the flaw. A little bit of a perfectionist, teacher? My partner was pretty upset, I think, even if she was too nice to say - 90% average meet a mark of 80?

Oh, and every single day I have an alert on my screen that says "edit empyrean!".... but I never do it. I'm just so busy!

I'll try to make a short update or even write (gah! I miss it :\) sometime in the future -- nearer than far, I hope.

S a r a h :]

Alive, But Not Breathing

2010-05-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm still here. This week has been tiring. I volunteered on Thursday and had a referee meeting last night. After school, I've either slept or done homework. I haven't even had time to breathe!

I'm trying to stay ahead and find the time to do fun things, but exams are closer than they seem and my grades are dropping.

So, frankly, sorry for my lack of posts. I've commented (I think?) or at least tried to... but blogging has reached a standstill.

Next week, I'll try to get up the Tagged post (yes, I've been tagged again :] hehe) and after that, my descriptive paragraph on the setting of the Hunger Games will be hopefully done, so that can double as a blog post and an English assignment.

Maybe I'll post my group essay, but it's not a very relatable post - it's on 8 or so different short stories from our textbooks. Canadian and such :)

But I worry - what if my teachers checks to see if we copied, and finds my blog? I'm pretty unsearchable on Google, but I'm sure it's possible.

Oh well.

Anyways, tell all your mothers/yourself if you are a mother Happy Mother's Day!

I made breakfast for my mom with all my crepe-making expertise. The recipe called for alcohol but seeing as I plan to almost NEVER drink (wedding, 21st birthday - even if you CAN drink here legally at 18, I'm waiting till 21) I skipped it :)

And it was really yummy :D

S a r a h

Short Review: I Heart You, You Haunt Me

2010-04-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

Sorry this post got screwed up awesome followers! I have no idea what happened... but I re-wrote it now :)

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

A book
Written in verse.
Short lines
Lots of meaning.

A girl dares
her boy to jump

He dies.

But then he comes back?

This book is really cool. It's not long - it took me about 45 minutes to read.. but it's really cute :)

I almost cried in my English class. Luckily, I sit at the back :P

It's about a breakup, but doesn't really center around getting over him... Ava and her boyfriend, Jackson, have an ongoing dare contest. She dares him to cliffdive, and his head hits a rock and he dies.

Imagine the guilt you would have if you pretty much caused someone you love to die! The book is about Ava getting over her guilt and moving forward -- and leaving the ghost of him.

The ghost idea is pretty sweet. It's hard to get the emotions of the characters across with the poetry, but the mystery of the ghost is done really well. Eventually, she realizes that she can't live her life dating a ghost, and moves on... not to a new guy though, like you'd expect.

Another thing I like about the story was the names. Ava, Jackson and Lyric. Cute, eh?

It's just an all-together sweet story. =)

S a r a h

P.S. notice the extreme vein-y-ness of the boy in the cover's arm?! STERIODS!

-- on an interesting note, isn't it always steroids causing the problems in high schools (at least on TV)? There are NO steroids at my school -- even for the extreme protein shake drinkers who talk about their obsession with lifting weights behind me in science. Instead, there's marijuana. That's not exactly what I expected :S

The Summer Of Jack

2010-04-24T09:06:00.000-04:00

Summer Of Jack -- Chapter One

Sunshine boy. His smile lit up my mind, reminding me of all the good times we had spent together. Weren’t all of my good times with him? Out in the sun, on the dock, the dark, shady forest between our cottages, this summer had gone by in a breeze. I could still feel it; the cool, moist ground beneath my bare feet, early morning fog, and the warm lake water. I envisioned pine trees swinging in the breeze, the roar of a wave from the thousands of poplar trees, and the growl of diesel boats. It didn’t seem at all over. Outside, the sun shone bright and the kids played on the road, all oblivious to the one cold fact; he was gone.

The sun was setting, earlier than it had in those long, blissful summer months before. Already, the leaves were changing colour and frost appeared overnight, a warning for me that shorts and a t-shirt were going quickly out of season.

School had started. For me, it was just another thing that shouldn’t be happening. My life was changed; why wasn’t anything else? I refused to change, coming to school in shorts and a t-shirt, remembering the days when the sun shone brightly on the lake, and the woods were the only cool place to hide. To any other person, I was just another one of those kids who couldn’t forget the summer. To me, I couldn’t get over this summer.

Everything had started out so simply, I hadn’t been ready. Buying a cottage last winter, around this time, seemed like such a normal thing to do. Once the repairs were done we moved up there, in the first few weeks of the summer break. Most people were already there – friendships pre-formed and as hard a rock, I spent my first few days alone.

That was fine by me. I took care of my little sister, Ava, as we played on the lakeshore. I read through my stack of science-fiction, devouring lakeside monsters and futuristic worlds. Ava spent her time making sand castles, even if my parents were worried the lake was too polluted for her to swim in.

“We’re up here the middle of nowhere Mom,” I reminded her when she said that Ava could catch AIDS from the sand. “No one is here but us.” It was true. I hadn’t seen many other kids, besides the ones on the other side of the lake. They waved once, but the lake was still cold and too deep for anyone to comfortably swim across.

By the fifth day of my month-long stay at the cottage, I was ready for some exploring. I think about the moment often, wondering if I would take it back if I could. If I had the chance to change what I had done, would I not do it?

Would I take back the best summer of my life, to protect myself from the pain right now?

No. I knew the answer, deep and unchanging in my heart. Even if nothing good happened to me for the rest of my life, I would be set forever, living of the moments of that summer.

The summer of Jack.

That's what I've written for my love story - which I'm worried will not work out, but who cares if it doesn't?

For me, reading it is a bit painful. So sappy :| So I'm worry for the unedited portions.

Anyways, this weekend I'm going to be busy with my Science so I don't fall behind. I got my midterm, and these were my marks:

English: 91%
Extended French: 81%
Math: 86%
Science: 93%

Total Average: 87.5%

So, not half bad, right? Actually, that's pretty amazing. For non-nerds. And luckily, I'm not a nerd, so it IS amazing! I do totally deserve all those marks though - I've put a lot of effort... they're not really that much of a surprise :)

But anyways, see you on the flipside of the weekend. I read a book!

S a r a h

P.S. oh, and optional, you-don't-need-to-read-about-this-part-of-my-life.... this really nice kid is dating a slut. That's what me and my friends have been talking about all week. Poor him, you know? Or not so poor, as they do scary things :|

P.P.S. my word of the week: GAH!

Coincidences!

2010-04-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

Isn't it a coincidence that I chose to do my French project on Iceland food...

and now Iceland is ALL OVER the news because of the volcano?

it isn't every day Iceland makes the news

or a volcano explodes.

Like the massive one.

But hey, my project happened first! And, I may say, it is VERY good. Like, just look at this (yes, look, no read, you will be scared of the French!)

Harðfiskur (Poisson d’Atlantique)

– Un plat très traditionnel au l’Islande. L’églefin, la plie, ou le flétan sont frais et a pris en la cote d’Islande. Le poisson est séché à l’air et servi avec deux tranches des pains des seigles et le beurre des herbes. Le plat est servi en un « trog » (un plat de bois).

Rúllupysla (Saucisse de Mouton)

– La saucisse succulente, fait avec du mouton libre icelandais. Les végétales fraises sont rôties en le gril, comme les pommes de terre, le navet, et le rutabaga qu’est trouve dans les districts fermiers d’Islande. Le plat est (SMOTHERED) en la sauce « Mysa », qu’est une spécialité de notre restaurant! Comme a cote, la soupe a poix casses est un bonne hors d’ouvre et est compris de cet mets.

Casserole

– Un plat délicieux avec notre « Skyr » sauce spécialité. La casserole est servie avec les crevettes, de l’asperge, des champignons et l’épice du paprika. « Laufabrauð », mot à mot « le pain de feuille », un pain traditionnel que est frit en l’huile des végétale.

Crêpes à la Gâteau – Les crêpes islandais, cuit par notre bonne chefs, empilent avec la confiture des les fruites varie. Le gâteau a le diamètre de vingt centimètres et est un bon dessert pour deux personnes après un bon dîner à « Veitingahús af Katrîn »!

Yes, the restaurant is called "Veitingahús af Katrîn" -- icelandic translator to "Restaurant Of Katherine". Cool, eh?

Another thing cool about Iceland is how they name their kids.

I'll explain.

John Jack Camsson marries Katrin Anne Jacksdottir. They have two kids, a boy an a girl named Kellie and Jane. Kellie is a cute boys name! The boy could be called Kellie Jacksson or Kellie Katrinsson - whichever the couple liked more! And, they could even have the middle names, so it could be Kellie Jacksson too! And then Jane, the daughter, could be Jane Johnsdottir, Jane Jacksdottir, Jane Katrinsdottir, Jane Annesdottir.

So, a family tree would go like this:
John Jack Camsson + Katrin Anne Jacksdottir
Kellie Katrinsson Jane Johnsdottir + Ben Quinsson
Annie Bensdottir

ETC.

That's why, when Icelandic people travel abroad, they often run into confusing things with airports, as clerks and security people don't undestand the way of naming.

I think it's totally cool. I like it a lot more than just carrying your fathers name. This is so much more personal!

S a r a h

P.S. I've decided to write more short stories :) Now, all I need is inspiration.

TITLE GOES HERE...

2010-04-16T20:38:00.001-04:00

So, I finished my short story!

Yay for writing!

Yay for writing and posting it on a writing blog!

Yay for Easter and chocolate hyperness!

So, yeah. I don't have much to say...

I have a party tomorrow and a science class to get ahead in!

Story:

Jack

His name was Jack. Has there ever been a better name? Soft light from the small window trickled in, a beam of light falling onto his blond hair and pale skin. The steady rhythm of the machines across from us matched my heart, but not my head. A life was hanging in the moment, as fragile and pure as a white dove.

I could hear him breathing, slow and laborious as he made his final stand against cancer. Last time I was here, he had been surrounded by machines, his heart monitored and breathing regulated. IV had run through his veins, keeping him alive as his body battled the cancer.

Now, however, the machines were gone. Jack was alone, fighting something he could not overcome.

Was there anything I could do? Laughter echoed in the hallways, reminding me of happier times, away from the hospital, with just us and no cancer. When we were together, we were unstoppable.

Now he was stopping. Dying, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I had been on the verge of crying for days, lost in the daze of what was happening. The first tears were just about to fall when a voice sounded outside the door.

I looked across at the old lady in the shared room. Visitors? I hoped not.

They were visitors. A couple, about our age. The girl had long blonde hair, and the boy had black hair. Besides that, they looked like brother and sister. But they weren’t.

The boy hung back as his girlfriend went up to the lady. “Grandma? Hello grannie.” She whispered. The boy put his arm around her shoulders. “Grandma, I have someone for you to meet. This is John.” She smiled at John. “He’s my boyfriend I’ve told you so much about, remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” the grandmother smiled nicely and John opened the window behind her. Yellow sunlight lit up her white hair and made the room sparkle. I had shut out the light before, wanting to be alone and sad, with Jack.

But for the happy couple, everything and anything they wanted was right. They talked in quiet, pleasant conversation about meaningless things, and I felt a burning pit form in my stomach.

This could have been me. This had been us. This was now being slowly ripped away from us – the fun days, sad, quiet and angry days. Time was running out much too soon.

Time was failing us.

I lay my head down on Jack’s chest, listening to the quiet heartbeat. You could barely tell he was breathing and his heart was beating feebly. His life was ending.

Their life was just beginning. John had left the room, and the granddaughter was happily filling in her grandma.

“He said he wants to marry me!” A smile lit her face.

“Do you love him?”

“Yes. I really, really do Grandma. I love him.”

“Then marry him. Why, anyone would love to be in the position you are now, Mary. You are young, you are happy. You are in love. Live life in the moment.” She smiled wistfully, “because some day, you may not be able to.”

Had we lived life in the moment? Our moments were plenty, but not enough for a lifetime. We had made use of the time we had, I guessed, but it would never be enough.

Not if he died now.

Especially not if he died now.

John had returned, standing in a ray of sunlight with his girlfriend. That had been us, I knew, and it could have still been us.

But it wasn’t. Now, I was the one watching, jealous of the time they would have together, the lifetime they could spend, wasting time like it was a renewable resource.

Time wasn’t renewable, but for them it probably was.

Perfection.

I felt like crying, my mind bringing up flashes of a time before the cancer. Long walks on the beach, swings at the park; the sappy things couples are forced to endure. I would kill for just another hour with the man I loved.

Could I have stopped this? The question was ever-present, and unwavering rain on my parade. It had been an invisible, stealthy, silent cancer, but there was always a doubt. No one had detected the cancer before it was too late.

And it was ruining everything.

John had flowers. Jack he given me almost the same ones for our first anniversary – red, pink and blue carnations. The roses had been for year two.

Jack and I had been together for two years. We too, had been thinking of getting married.

But time had failed us, bringing the end all too soon. Fate had chosen, I knew, and it had chosen to change my life forever.

Not once, but twice. I rose to leave, giving Jack a final glace and kiss goodbye. Tomorrow I would be back, if there was still a boyfriend to be back for. I loved him so much. Leaving him, and the thought of him leaving me, brought a black hole to my chest.

My heart was with him. Where would it be once he died?

I slipped past the other bed and occupants, heading for the door. And there, just before I left the hospital room, two hearts broke as one heartbeat fell silent.

EDIT TO THE MAX,
S'il vous-plait!

S a r a h

How Do You Eat Crepes/Pancakes

2010-04-14T19:08:00.001-04:00

I made Icelandic Pancakes.

I used to recipe from this website, but changed it.... the first time, I followed everything except I accidentally mixed up the butter (I used oil, I even googled and found our the right amount to change butter to oil, but I was wrong :( ahaha). The second time, I got the RIGHT butter, and did it all in whole wheat. I may do it half-and-half the third time (I have to make this for my class! ahh!)

Pictures:


The mix, pre-mixed :)

The Mix.

My very first (oily!) pancake. Really, these are crepes...

With sugar sprinkled on top, these are the oily crepes.

The whole-wheat crepes/Icelandic pancakes :)

My cooking area!

My recipe. The original was online and I wrote it in easier-to-understand language ;)

So, it wasn't that bad! I'm just not sure how to SEASON them for the class.

How do you eat your crepes/pancakes?

I know syrup is probably a normal one, but I want a variety for my picky-eater classmates ;)

I feel so pro-bloggery when I post pictures of my life! Whoo!

I have SO much work to do!

English: Descriptive paragraph at the end of May, short story at the end of April (working on... will post sometime :D hehe)
Math: Math test which I flunked today, 2 pages of homework tonight and every single day.
French: Test STILL getting closer, add in participe passe. Which is NEW things to memorize!
Science: now own textbook. Work ahead so you can possibly skip? Or just read :)

Gah.
S a r a h

P.S. I got a 19/20 (95%) on my School Poetry Assignment. The one mark was taken for for writing "Me and him sit in silence", instead of the proper way, "Him and I"..... I could argue that I like Me and him, because as the writer I have a stylistic importance... but I like the teacher :) (plus, i would never have the guts to argue!)

P.P.S. ANSWER QUESTION!

Taking Some Obvious Advice

2010-04-10T09:28:00.001-04:00

Hi, I'm a bit behind and short on this post, but I've been thinking a lot and have a lot of homework. Yeah, excuses excuses.... but what else can you give?

For homework, I have a survey+analysis of whether people who are involved in after-school activities do better in grade 9 English or worse.
In English, I have a newspaper article to edit and submit Monday.
For French, I STILL need to understand all those finicky verb conjugations and study up on some new food-related vocab.
Science involves a stupid lab report, in which I have no idea how to get the answer! Seriously. We're supposed to figure out what substance something is, but it doesn't correspond with anything!
And as for the thinking I've been doing....

I've decided to stop editing Empyrean.

There are mainly two reasons.

The first reason is that I lost a file. The File. It had the schedule of the students, dates they were born, when their parents were born, a family tree, a list of cardboard/secondary characters and EVERYTHING I used to write the story. (Okay, so I still have a timeline, and the pictures of the characters, because those were on Word, but all the Excel-related stuff? Yeah, this sucks).

So, in short, I have a slight problem. I can read through Empyrean, writing down all the facts I put in and trigger some memory of something I made almost 2 years ago, but that doesn't seem that appealing to me.

I asked my boyfriend and some friends. One friend said I should just finish InVincible (okay, a bit biased because he's religious, and IV is the only book without mythical creatures, etc.) one didn't have an answer, and my boyfriend (taking the advice of THIS youtube video made by a friend of THESE people -- aka THIS writer) said that even if I didn't suck, I should still write more to get better.

He's so sweet :) -- and no, that is NOT girl gibberish.

But anyways, I've decided to write another story. For practice, and to get better, and to have fun.

It's weird, but a lot of things in my life aren't fun - like school, parents, and disappointing relatives. I just want to have fun. So I'm going to! =)

Who needs to publish a book at 14? 15? 16? I'll do much better when I'm older.

So, yeah. That's my plan. Also part of my plan, I'm going to write a version of THIS idea, mixed with THIS one, both of which I had a while back and still like a lot.

Now, this writing blog has a writer, and a story to be obsessed about :)
S a r a h

P.S. after homework is somewhat done-ish, I'll write and tell you guys about this new story =)

P.P.S. I'm still basking in the amazingment of my town's ice cream parlor opening Easter weekend. It's closed again, but OH that ice cream was DELICIOUS!

My Bookcase

2010-04-05T18:49:00.000-04:00

I've decided to take pictures of my bookcase and all my amazing books. Usually, I have a LOT of them loaned off to other people, but I have (most of) them back right now!

My Bookcase! (okay, not ALL my books are here... some are in boxes, but these are the ones I read the most.

Voyageur - by Eric Walters

SIGNED! Isn't it so cute? I bought this book as my first signed one :)

My Max Ride books... I own the first one as well, but it's missing ..

My library gave me the advanced readers copy.. after it was out, but still! Notice how Fang's hair is TOTALLY different? He's BALD!

I LOVE this series, and Kenneth Oppel is a Canadian writer, so GO HIM! <3

Of course it's signed :)

City of Glass - Cassandra Clare. Actually, currently with a friend - he took the pictures :)

Signed, and I bought it without even knowing it! Whoo :D

Those are all my signed books (I have a postcard of one of Eric Wilson (ok, confuse this with Eric Walters!))

-- Don't you think it's ADORABLY CUTE when a mathy-guy writes a bracket within a bracket and goes like this: hello (do you want to know? [well you're stuck with it] nonetheless) my name is Sarah. Or however. But like, these brackets ( .. ) and these ones [ .. ] within.. like in MATH! Okay, this is adorable.

If I was into all the impossibly romantical stuff, I'd swoon.

A way to win a girls heart.

ANYWAYS... I shall be posting more on my bookcase later.. I still have to do my Edge Chronicles books imported from England :D
Hope everyone had an awesome Easter!
S a r a h

Post One Hundred

2010-04-01T16:37:00.000-04:00

This is my hundredth post!

ONE
HUNDRED
POSTS

I think that is a pretty special number. It means I've filled up a lot of space with my words, and you must know a lot about me. It means I've changed my blog layout at least 5 times, and that I've spent over 100 hours on this lovely Blogger interface. It means I've been here for a year, averaging 2 posts a week.

So, to be frank, I think I could be classified as a pretty pro blogger. And, in my prowess, I've been editing Empyrean, and I just might put a bit of the edited parts up here....

But there's a problem, you see. The part I've edited is the beginning, the part I've posted the most.

But this is a WRITING blog. I shall show my WRITING, right? So, look at this and think of my editing prowess, not the plotline..

(K, so Empyrean is a corrupt country, the main character (first person; 'I') is a girl named Aerynn. She has the power to summon water and control it, which is a mega-good power. When she is 6, she's trapped in a burning building and discovers her power then. After that, everyone likes her because she is powerful, and the greedy people just want power).

Empyrean, chpt1

....... (she's talking bout the building she's in, and how no one ever comes to rescue the victims - like her).
Soon, sightings such as these would become so common that oneburning building would hardly affect you. No longer would you stare at the tragedy, just avert your eyes andcontinue on, your smile never faltering. One fire was no different from the last one, and neither of them amountedto much in anyone’s eyes.

It was rare for a building fire like this to get the attentionof our country’s fire fighters. Thepolice force was many in Empyrean, but fire response was never high on theirpriority list. On the news, you heardabout riots and assassination attempts, not house or factory fires. They just wasn’t important enough.

They weren’t important enough to stop as well. Not the ones before, and not this one. There was not a doubt in my mind that therewas no help coming to save me.

The flames grew closer and the undersides of my arms started tohurt, the waves of heat rolling towards me, stinging my eyes. My skin was burning, I realized, and agut-wrenching fear rocketed through my body. Horror consumed me, fighting the very grasp of my sanity.

I was six years old and dying in an abandoned,burning building.

Good? I hope so. I'm sorry for the randomness. That's the latest part I've edited.

OH! I just finished reading FANG. I don't like James Patterson. He hires ghost writers and is in it ONLY for the money. At least, to me. Maximum Ride has been going on forever, most likely because of its fan-base, and a large fan-base means more money. That's why, I borrowed this read ;)

The book itself isn't that bad. Sure, they randomly go from fighting to making out in three seconds flat, but at least the emotions seem to be correct. The ending is confusing. Where people STAND are confusing. It seems like the wide fan-base has made this book hard to please everyone, so all these other bits had to be added, subtracted and glossed over so you weren't really sure if you were getting what you wanted or not.

Okay, dislike of the author aside, it was a fun read. A curl-up-on-your-couch sort of read, a skip-the-last-part-and-don't-miss-much read. 3/10? 5/10 for the BOOK.

And yes, I am biased for all those smarticle learners who were probably thinking along those lines.

New project in math: discover if there is a connection between grade 9 English mark and partaking in after-school activities.

English: write a descriptive paragraph which doesn't stretch the truth quite as much (I have a habit of doing that :$) on the Hunger Games arena.

French: I'm ahead. Learn the verbs most kids already know. Know the conjugations as well.

Science: Neaten up my binder, work on chapter 5.3-5.6.... all on the boring particle theory, matter, and substances. Yawn.

Here ends the 100th post, followers and friends :)
S a r a h

P.S. has anyone else realized the glitchly lack-of-curser in the posting box?

School Poetry!

2010-03-29T17:49:00.000-04:00

In English we've moved past our "To Kill A Mockingbird" unit and into poetry and short stories. We also have another ongoing project to read a science fiction novel and write (NOT present, which I hate so GO ME!) some report on it. I'm reading "Black Monday", a book which is not about racism like most people think, but all the oil in the world becoming unusable. It starts off with these amazing lines: "A plague that will cause the death of millions. A plague that will destroy countries. A plague that will plunge the world into a dark age. A plague that will make nobody sick..."

Sound cool or what? I have to say I'm excited.

But for the POETRY, however, I am not.
We have to write two poems, each 10 or more lines, free-verse with matching/rhythmical syllables with two literary devices and two sound devices. One, about about Spring. The other? About love.

Okay, sorry peeps (HAHA my peeps story! -- below), but LOVE is not my best topic to write about. Despite it being personal, it's also not at all easy and quite embarrassing. Submitting a love poem to my teacher is NOT on my list of "Great Things To Do".

But it's English, and I have to attempt it.

So, here is my attempt. Seeing as I'm scraping by with a 90% our of 100 (so, maybe not scraping =P), I really do want some help and HARSH criticism.

Foundry Park --- don't stalk!

The sun rises out of the haze

Two swings clangle in the distance

Tall trees tower above us

Manicured grass lies beneath

Soft wind brushes past like a cat

Which hunts for sadness not found here

No room for bugs or allergies

Me and him sit in the silence

Serene, I may reach out for him

Brown hair and eyes of chocolate

See a smile on soft lips

Smile, for the day began perfect

Don't make fun.

S a r a h

P.S. MY PEEPS STORY: So, I went to Washington DC the summer before last summer ('08) and we were staying at a hotel. We'd just dropped off our luggage and were waiting for the elevator to go downstairs and then we were going to find some food (SO, there is NO FOOD in DC! Like, restaurants, fast-food... even grocery stores!) but anyways, we were waiting for the elevator and when it opened there were like, 4 teenagers (16ish?) and the teen guy (who was NOT ugly, to say the least!) was like "yo peeps!" when the doors opened (he looked embarrassed when he saw my dad) with the whole hand/body gesture. I don't know why that sticks in my head. He was pretty cute. He was like totally embarrassed. He said "peeps".

Hehe :)

TAG; because I have no idea what else to do

2010-03-26T15:34:00.066-04:00

Lapis Lazuli

[:

If I were a gemstone, I’d be lapis lazuli, because I think it is pretty :)
If I were a scent, I’d be maple+vanilla (MMM it smells like HEAVEN)
If I were a pair of shoes, I'd be old and comfy, any type. I'm not that picky about shoes.

Spring Showers

If I were the weather, I would be spring showers, because they are green, dark, and beautiful.
If I were a facial expression, I'd be a scrunchie face =P

Sunset, AND Lake!

If I were a car, I’d be a red Mazda 3 (2006 model)
If I were a time of day, I’d be sunset... or MAYBE sunrise
If were a month, I’d be June (birth month!)
If I were a place, I'd be a cliff overlooking a lake? I think that sounds pretty nice.
If I were a liquid, I’d be pink lemonade... or cranberry juice, or hot chocolate.....
If I were a taste, I’d be chocolatey, because it's an addiction
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a sea turtle

Stir Fry

If I were a food, I’d be stir-fry
If I were a color, I'd be my-room-green ;)
If I were a musical instrument, I would be a piano (i tried playing one once, I even had lessons. I love it, but my fingers aren't designed for a piano)
If I were a flower, I’d be a tiger lily, I love the orange.
If I were a song, I’d be Sudden Movements by Billy Talent (below!)
If I were a planet, I’d be Venus ;)
If I were an object, I would be a pen.. for writing secret messages
If I were a fruit, I'd be a watermelon =)
If I were a sound, I’d be the sound of rain hitting the window (whoa, no need to change this after Alyssa's answer! Great minds think alike.)
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Wednesday. Not sure why I like that day, maybe a Friday would be better, but Wednesday seems right to me.

S a r a h

My Books-To-Read List

2010-03-23T15:10:00.003-04:00

So, since I've had to time to write as of late, I've decided to read!

Well, LATELY I haven't been able to do much reading, but I WANT to read! I don't really like a specific genre of books (mainly just alternate universe teen or sometimes romance, depending on my girlyness at the moment). Here is a list of books I want to read (not all of them are out yet!).

Books I Want To Read In The Near Future:

The Mockingjay - FINALLY the last book of the Hunger Games, out August 24th
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - by John Green
Smart Girls and Fast Boys - because I'm feeling like a gushy romantic gal. A friend said it was good.
City Of Fallen Angels - another book in the Mortal Instruments series
Infernal Devices - prequel series to the Mortal Instruments
Fire - like the Graceling, same author/characters (sequel?)
Spells - from the author of Wings
Enchantments - from the author of Wings
FANG - Max Ride series (even if I don't like James Patterson himself)
Nightshade - looks COOL! out in October

And the list goes on forever :)
S a r a h

P.S. I, Sarah Leeves, did my book talk today! It was TERRIFYING by I did it nonetheless.... apparently all the were at the 3/4 side of the page (my friend says) (A's) and my teacher said it was "very well done, Sarah". I'm proud :)

-- update. i got a 96%

FREAKING NINETY-SIX. Uh-huh. WHO IS AMAZING? :)

Changes

2010-03-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

I've changed my blog, as you can most likely see. I used the layout editor they have in Blogger now (or at least the Draft verison, which I use).

I'm not totally sold on the background image, but I like green and there wasn't much else I could think of. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm open to suggestion!

I also have tabs/pages, which are cool. I had them before, sorta, but these I make myself (avec Blogger).

I also added in a Cbox (chat box) which I changed to fit using HTML (GO ME! I feel extra-accomplished). You can say something in it if you'd like (no pressure), and the email/URL is not needed. Hit enter to post what you've got to say. :)

So, do you like or dislike the changes?
S a r a h

P.S. check out the tabs!

These title things are bothersome.

2010-03-16T19:16:00.002-04:00

A "book talk " I wrote on The Leviathan. :)

Read if you'd like. Enjoy, possibly?

Any thoughts on improvement may help as well. This is for English :)

TheLeviathan by Scott Westerfeld is a science-fiction book which takes place inthe year 1914, at the beginning of the First World War. In this book, the First World War is between twodifferent groups called the Clankers and the Darwinists. At first, the war is only affectsAustria-Hungary and Germany, but soon other countries come into the war todefend their fellow Clankers or Darwinists. What began as a simple murder quickly become a war between all of Europeand it’s two distinct types of people. Although The Leviathan still has the kingof Austria’s murder, the alternate past and the Clanker and Darwinistinventions, which defy the laws of nature and physics, are what make theLeviathan a science-fiction novel.

Thetwo main characters Deryn and Aleksander are on opposite sides of the war, butfeel similar about what’s going on. Deryn is with the Darwinists, who can re-create DNA and make their ownanimals, like the Leviathan, a whale crossbreed which produces hydrogen to stayafloat in the sky. Aleksander is the sonof the murdered Austria king, and uses a “walker” to escape from Germany andall the other countries who want him dead. Walkers are robotic machines, managed from a control room within, withtwo to twelve legs which enable the craft to move. Neither Deryn nor Aleksander want a war orunderstand why there is one, and they both end up in Switzerland, a war-freeneutral zone.

Thejourney to Switzerland is long and hard. Aleksander is pursued by faster, bigger and better Clanker “walker”machines which mostly belong to Germany and other groups of other countries whowant to start a war between the Clankers and Darwinists. As he makes his way to Switzerland,Aleksander must learn to fend for himself and understand the extreme politics aroundhim. When the book starts out,Aleksander doesn’t seem like much of a prince, but in the end you know he wouldmake a great king if he can survive the war.

Atthe beginning of the book, Deryn disguises herself as a boy and joins theBritish Air Service, where she inadvertently becomes a crew member to one ofthe greatest air ships around; the Leviathan. When she is first taken aboard, she knows only the facts they put intext books – procedures and the math needed to help run the enormous ship. As the weeks of training and work in andaround the Leviathan, Deryn learns from experience all the other things youneed to know to be a crewmember of an airship. Eventually, she is liked by her crewmembers and favored by her boss… butthat would all change if they knew she was secretly a girl.

Formost of the book, Aleksander is surrounded by lush green forests and smallrarely-visited towns as he run across the countryside. He travels from Austria-Hungary to Serbia,Italy and then Switerland where he heads for the icy, snow-capped Alps. The description is well done, but not alwaysdescribed, as most of Aleksander’s time is spent in a machine, looking out asmall gap between the visors, and most of Deryn’s time is spent in a whale thousandsof feet in the air. Deryn Sharpdescribes the Leviathan as a big, beautiful “beasty” when she first sees it,noting its thick, grey outer skin and a warm, red, pulsing inside which storeshydrogen and cargo. The living quartersare below the ship and not part of the whale’s body, but most other things areinside the whale herself. If you were tolook down from the whale, you would see ocean and the occasional Clankersubmarine as the Leviathan makes its way across the Atlantic. It passes over Paris before landing in theSwiss Alps.

Derynand Aleksander are both relatable, smart characters who each tell their ownstory from different sides of the war. The Leviathan is written in third person omniscient and it alternatesbetween Deryn and Aleksander every two chapters. What makes this book interesting is how it isabout a major historic event – World War One – but has added, other worldlythings thrown in as well. I find historyvery interesting, and the parts of the war that are obviously true (in the backScott Westerfeld explains where he added in parts and what actually happened) werevery captivating to read. Also, thescience-fiction part of the book was fun to read because you never knew whatelse could happen. The mystery of thehybrid animals and mechanics of the contraptions the Clankers make willenthrall any reader because there are no limits and anything is possible.

Togo along with the overall plot, there are also many other subplots which keepthe book interesting. I liked the bookbecause of its factual and fictional parts and the creative, respectablecharacters Scott Westerfeld made. Otherpeople may like this book because of the otherworldly appeal and fast movingplot. Scott Westerfeld also uses avariety of new or interesting words and different accents and ways of speechfor different characters, both of which make the story entertaining toread.

TheLeviathan by Scott Westerfeld is a story of “adapting to your life as itchanges around you” and “finding friends in unthought-of places” Because of this, I think the main theme isthat “there is always hope no matter the situation”. Deryn and Aleksander learn to cooperate withstrangers and fend for themselves in the troublesome pre-war times, findinghelp in strange places as they realize there are more neutral people to the warthan they originally were lead to believe. They travel all over Europe on ground and air, witnessing theunbelievable Dwarwinist and Clanker creations at every turn. The Leviathan is a captivating book whichrelates already known facts with new ones and puts a twist on the alternateworld’s version of World War One.

March Break Plans

2010-03-12T16:17:00.000-05:00

From now until the 22nd of March, I have the March Break. An entire week of school... I NEED this :D

I've planned to do a lot - shopping, EDITING, homework, and writing if I'm lucky. I REALLY need to edit Empyrean. Did you know, the average writer spends an hour on every page they write? I need to do that. So far, the first few paragraphs are good. I think, I'll go slow and steady, but only do a few edits. Or really, as many as it needs - but I'll go slow.

Other plans include sleeping and eating :)
Oh, and blogging. I'll try to figure out something interesting....
what do you guys want to hear about?

S a r a h

To Kill A Mockingbird

2010-03-06T10:57:00.002-05:00

As far as school books go, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is not that bad. Sure, it's about racism, laws and rape, but it's interesting too. The main character, Scout, is 9 when the story begins and about 12 when it ends, but that doesn't stop the story from being interesting to older people too. I don't really know why Scout HAD to be 9 in Harper Lee's mind, but she acts a lot older anyways, so I can't really complain.

It's about the Finch's family and how their life goes on. There's a guy in their next-door-neighbours house who has never been outside for 15 years (Arthur "Boo" Radley takes up the Part One section of the book) and a trail for a nice black man accused of rape in the second part. Although those are two different things and it makes the book sorta split down the middle, they do tie together at the end and give a few meaningful lessons.

All school books have lessons. This one tells you about Mockingbirds -
things that don't cause any harm and only sing beautiful songs or do helpful things - and how you should not judge a person before you completely understand them and see things from their point of view. The good thing, is that those lesson's aren't overwhelming.

The beginning moves slowly, but I was pretty interested in it. There's no magic, romance or the cool sort of FBI violence, and the biggest violence scene the book has was confusing and disorientating. It could have been more suspenseful and climatic, but this book is about 40 years old, and back then people were more content with slower, less eventful(?) books. I think. Look at Lord Of The Rings, right?

Overall, I didn't mind reading it for school. A lot of people love it, and most people are okay with it... I'm okay with it. <---------My thoughts :)

Oh, and all of my paragraphs are about the same length. Creepy.

English is, sort of obviously, going well. I have a expository paragraph, To Kill A Mockingbird play and French presentation on object from my childhood all due on Thursday, and I'm seeing my boyfriend play hockey (I hate hockey, have never seen him play before either) today. I'm trying to study up on my French verbs, because I know I'll need them - devoir is to have to, pouvoir is to be able to, vouloir is to want to....... detester is to hate.

I've been writing bits of InVincible for fun during our tri-weekly writing sessions in English, but besides that my creative output had all by died :(

I hope I can get my bangs cut soon, because they're getting long and bothersome.

Oh, and if you didn't see my room pictures from my last post (it went weird and I forgot a title) it's here. :)

Until next time!
S a r a h

P.S. POST 99!!! :)

Ermm.. what sort of loser forgets a title?

2010-03-01T18:59:00.003-05:00

Yes, these are pictures of my room! I won't even go into the depths of despair I had to traverse in order to get pictures on here. It was terrible.

Nonetheless, here they are. Pictures cant really capture the entire room all that well, especially since I wanted them all to be vertical so I could type like this... but I hope you get the idea anyways.

Sorry my room is such a mess! I haven't had enough time for homework, not to mention cleaning! My closest is unpainted (still old paint job) and so is the hole-in-wall behind it. If you look close enough, there's pictures of me in that awesome black frame... the top two are me, the bottom left is my cat and dog and the right is a filler picture :P. On my computer screen in the above picture are My Pictures, as I was organizing these as I took them. I also made a cool collage on picnik :)

Au revoir mes amis! (farewell my friends). Other meanie pictures that wouldn't cooperate are below.

Hehe :)
S a r a h

Room is FINIT!

2010-02-27T19:02:00.001-05:00

Finir - french verb for FINISHED.

Uses:    "I" or "you" (je/tu) = finis
            "He/She" (il/elle) = finit
            "We" (nous) = finissons
            "You (polite or when talking to a group)" (vous) = finissez
            "They" (ils/elles) = finissent

And I Am BACK!

*insert bang here*

With A BANG!

My room is finished, I'm getting somewhere with homework, I've conquered my fears. I read the Leviathan for school, I did a project on galaxies, I got grounded (which I have ingenious plans to get out of).

Yeah, I don't have much to talk about. But at least it's something.

Let's start off with my room. Here's a picture:

Even tho the brown is wet.... I will get more pics when my room is back in place.

My mom doesn't really seem to like the idea at all - she never has. It's disappointing to hear her whispering to my dad about "without the stripes it would be a lot faster, why isn't she helping more?" Maybe that's why I got grounded for two weeks.

Hehe :P

It would have only been one, but I wanted to go to my boyfriends house the first day they grounded me so I made a deal: two weeks and his house :)

I think it worked out well. We can walk down to Tim Horton's (which is THE place in my town) during school and I may just need to "get an English project done at the library"... because you know, I have to research titles vs. subject for children's books (nope!). Then we could have a study date at the library or go to this local pizza place that was new-paper officially deemed the best pizza place in all of the Greater Toronto Area. They sell hot chocolate now. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I'm typing a little off cuz I'm excited. I can't wait for time to fly by. Homework is hard. Mental breakdowns: 1. But I'm coping!

I read the Leviathan and I'll post my book talk around the end of the March Break (if you don't get the same March Break I do, mine ends on the 21st).

French is going okay. I have a big test to study for after I flunked the last one. 62%. It was the beginning of a breakdown then. I'm determined to better :)

More pics coming up :)
I've been afraid of this thing for a while because of all my avoidingness. Until I realized avoiding would just make my fear grow..... meh.

S a r a h

Gold Pour Le Canada!

2010-02-14T21:59:00.002-05:00

Whoa! I was watching the Men's Mogul Racing and it was amazing! I tried skiing on moguls and fell over, and the jumps... wow.

Alex Bilodeau won gold! All the Canadian skiers were amazing.... very special moment :) He's the first Canadian winning gold on "our land".

I'd like to take the time to post a picture of him and the Olympic song. Proud Canadian right here!

Hehe :)

And the song:

Let the Games Begin!

2010-02-13T16:16:00.001-05:00

Yay! The 2010 Vancouver Olympic games have started! I have to admit, the opening ceremony was pretty cool (even if I felt a bit like I was in History class).

It's TERRIBLE that the Georgian luge guy died :(. RI.P.

I'm excited to watch the games, but I also have a lot of homework. I feel like dying. I come home and work, sleep, school, work, sleep... it never ends! I might be able to get ahead this 3-day weekend, but I haven't done anything much yet and I'm going to Cora's Valentine's Day :D

I got a 62 on my French test. I'm sad/depressed. I studied, but I had so much other stuff to do I just couldn't study long enough. I feel horrible.

At least in English I get to write a page every other day! That's fun, and I have a book talk on the Leviathan. I'll post it when I'm finished!

Until next time,
Sarah

P.S. SO MUCH WORK! :(

The Ugly Part Of Painting AND....

2010-02-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

RICE CRISPIES!

Uh-huh. Painting break (getting ready for semester 2) and I made these:

Because that's what the cool people do ;)

Unlike some lucky people (Kendrabelle) I don't have a snow day, and have to start second semester tomorrow.

You know, the one where I die from French, English, Math and Science all day? Yes, that one. I'm terrified. Especially for English, which always scares me because it's MY subject, and if I don't make a good impression to the teacher or the teacher isn't good... I want to do good in that class.

Anyways, hey, at least my room... is primered with at least 8 days of painting left.

Here are some pictures.. (putting in pictures scares me, so you're lucky they're all centered.. captions are like running a marathon backwards for me)

Yes, my window is awesome. See the bleak, desolate landscape of Canada south? There's snow, but it's ugly and part-melted. There's cold, but it freezes the snot in your nose (according to a questionable friend), and there's the sun, but it dissapears at 5pm.

Winter has turned ugly. And right now, with primer, my room looks sorta dull. Although it's cool, because I haven't ever seen it in anything besides the green. Painting is a PAIN!

Oh, and this is me and my dad's half-sketched plan...

The white square is my room, the walls are sorta flattened out at the sides (the stripes of blue, green and brown). Trim = white.

Yay for long, picture-filled blog posts!
S a r a h

Mini Update...

2010-01-29T08:36:00.000-05:00

So, things happening in Sarah Town (not tell where that is, but it's somewhere with a -18 celcius average. Grr).. well, my room is going slowly but good. I might have to be painting it during shcool, which I didn't exactly want, but I'll have to survive, right?

It's gunna look pretty cool, but all I have so far is some stripped wallpaper. May post pictures later, but I'm too lazy right now :P hehe.

Tonight, I'm going to a friend's party... me and him both like this song:

Amazing. Too bad I'm not 15 yet! (June, june, june...)

I also need some way to stay fit when I don't have gym class. Hmmmm? Typing only exercises my fit fingers ;)

Anyways, later awesome blogger folks!

Listen to the song!

S a r a h

P.S. I've edited 1 paragraph of Empyrean! Whoo :)

We're Nearing 100...

2010-01-25T16:37:00.007-05:00

...and I'm FREE!

Yes, these horrendous exams (or just plain boredom) are over. I had extreme boredom in art, embarrassment in gym, hardness frenchie testing in geography and a barely-explained project in BTT.

Yay! I even did a few bad things this semester... like asking to go to the washroom and walking out into the cafeteria then library to say hi to my boyfriend! Whoo! It was dangerous and totally bad-ass, right? (Suuureeeee)

Haha. I'm a nerd. I was sweating when I asked for a drink and got some candy from the machine last period. (I got swedish berries)

NERD!

Although.. that's not such a bad thing. With my 88% average. I'll get the final average sometime next week, but I think it'll be pretty good :)

I can't wait for this break. It's a week long, and NO PROJECTS OR HOMEWORK! Pretty special.... especially since I can start writing again! I think I'll be editing Empyrean again, or trying to.. I'm sorry for the boringness. The excerpt I ~~lazily~~ posted a few days ago was for my one-shot of a shortstory, to be entered in the contest at the library (talked about last years THe Car Chase in a few posts all here). I LOVE writing sad stuff. Tragic deaths and recovery from them... mmm :) Ha, I feel so dark, but I'm not (save a few times).

It's really hard not to be the weirdo, too-much-PDA relationship. Meh. Sorry, because you don't want to hear this, but everytime you see some cute couple, you wonder why you're not like that, and when you are, you think of the people awkwardly looking at you and don't want to be there. :S

I know there will be a lot of boring Empyrean stuff... I may or may not post it, but if I don't there will be silence. Possibly music. But I WILL be posting picture of my awesomely, newly-painted room that I will soon be doing! Yay! :)

S a r ah

P.S. this was post 91 ;)

Moving Forward. Oneshot.

2010-01-23T12:03:00.001-05:00

Moving Forward

I was back. In so many ways, this could have been different. But looking out on the across the train station, I couldn’t think of it another way. Here I was, home at last with the horrors behind me – horrors I had brought upon myself, but never regretted.

I saw families greeting, the cry of mothers meeting sons and parted sisters reuniting; the sound of people, once children and now young adults finding their way home.

My home was different now. I couldn’t deny that. When I had gone, fighting through not only warfare but also a personal, family crisis that had taken place in my leave, things had changed.

Some change is not for the better. Our world is fragile, and it only needs the slightest problem to turn it upside down. That is war. Thousands of people die, willingly and unwillingly, knowing and unknowingly, they are dead. Then the war ends, and life may return to normal.

It will never, ever be the same after that.

Family troubles may seem smaller – which they are – but they are just as effective in the chaos that ensues. They touch fewer people, but hurt the same. I may never forget what I have seen the war, and I may never recover from the wounds that brought me home, but I will have to live with the injury and those memories for the rest of my life. I will do the same with my father.

Memories of my father will never pass, never fade, and never leave my mind. They are with me and will be for the rest of my life, like many other experiences I have.I will never forget the last letter he sent, joking about our favourite team loosing because I wasn’t there to see the games and ending on the sincere and caring note that I should come home safely and soon.

I am here soon, Dad, but not soon enough.

He died the day I was in battle, evacuating the helpless from bombed buildings and saving lives. There were many live I couldn’t save, and just as many lives I wished I could have. Helplessly stuck in Iraq, I couldn’t hear my father’s last goodbye as it struggled across the world to reach me.

Goodbye.

Like words could cover the miles between us. As my father died, I was caught in a shower of falling building, twisting my leg past repair. The crutches are with me now, helping me get used to my new leg, all plastic and metal.

I fought for freedom that day, and to many I succeeded. For my father, fighting the control of lukiemia, he lost. We all lost; my family, me, and my friends.

The man coming towards me is followed by my family, crying a mixture of delight and sadness as one member returns, but the other will remain forever gone. Sunshine finds a way to light up their faces, enhancing the small smiles that threaten to change how our lives have been lately. The foreign looks are small and hopeless, waiting for a reason to make them real. I give them that reason, coming back with a strong and happy smile, remembering not only my father, but the way things used to be.

I don’t regret anything. My father died knowing I was doing good, and I return knowing that he is in a better place and that I have helped the world become something more like that as well. Peaceful.

* * *

World peace may never happen, and my dad will never come back.

But all you can do is move forward.

No, I Haven't Dissapeared Off The Face Of The Planet.

2010-01-16T08:35:00.001-05:00

.... I've just moved to a different one ;)

This week I've been studying like crazy. And hour of geography with a friend and highlighting in-class, plus I'm writing out my notes to type up this weekend, and I have some final gym stuff to do (making graphs of how I improved during the fitness testing... you know the beep test? I ran 40 laps :) hehe... although the school record is 123). I don't have much for business (which is in-class and I'm already ahead) or art (unknown, although my most recent painting SUCKS) but I'm so burned out of work, this seems like a lot.

Also, I've began to cook. Usually, I just like the eating part, but lately I've made 2 batches of peanut butter cookies... mmmmm! Apparently, suddenly cooking is a sign of anorexia, but I'm not anorexic (although I am 15 pounds underweight)... we just don't have enough stuff to eat in our house, and peanut butter cookies are amazing!

This Sunday, I've been going out with my boyfriend for 2 years. Yeah, that's a little weird... I haven't talked about him a lot, and two years is a little.. wow. It's not like we do any inappropriate things (in grade 7, we just held hands) but most people don't go out for that long. I don't know why I have, but it's really special having something you can count on :)

ANYWAYS...
writing wise everything has been on the back burner, but I did get a dream/idea after seeing Avatar! (Which was good, although long, but the ending seemed rushed... + how did she know to save his human form? And WHY did they have to "mate"? Oh, and to aid the bad thoughts in most girls, why are the people so skinny and NAKED? The colours and alienness reminded me of the Edge Chronicles - in a VERY good way).

My idea is about this ground of girls, unnamed, who grew up in a "zoo" exhibit in a big mall. The people looking in on them are aliens, who have taken over the world. There are few survivors, but the ones they do catch they wipe the memories of and place them in different zoos. My FMC is in the zoo, trying to escape. When they do, the world isn't like the books and pictures they're allowed to read... it's destroyed, and the aliens haven't bothered to clean it up. There's two species of aliens, one which lives above (WAY above) in tall towers, and on that lives underground. The floor level is old buildings, overrun by wild animals and a few surviving humans. Most are almost dead. When the girls escape, they don't know how to fight or anything.... until my FMC meets this guy, who she gets ready to fight and while trying to help them (she doesn't trust him) he tells her how to make a fist.... then when they leave, he kills all the crazy wild animals they would come after them, trying to let them live. Not sure where it goes from there, but eventually they're 'helper' dude likes the FMC and they go out of the city to an island of humans..... possibly a series :) I haven't done series yet.

I need names, but I'm not going to get into it yet. Summers are for writing and soccer refereeing... schooltime is for learning, and soon I'll have English!

Here is another awesome song, sung by my two favourite singers/bands; Taylor Swift and Boys Like Girls. (Seriously, the lead singers should join together and get married <3)

S a r a h

New Years Post (And Blog Anniversary)

2010-01-05T13:00:00.006-05:00

Wow. I've had this blog for a year! That's special. And obsessively dedicated.

I guess I need to do some blog/new years resolutions - it's about time, I think, since I forgot the first two days of 2010, so I decided to put it off till my anniversary. I hardly remember this time last year, starting a blog because of Kori and NaNo WriMo (yes, I couldn't decide which link to put, so it's split down the middle ;) hehe).

New Years Resolutions For Me And Blog

Blog: post weekly, 300 words or more.
Me: study more, and stop procrastinating
Blog: change complete or make small but large changes to the design
Me: possibly try out a new haircut this summer (like straight across bangs compared to the side ones I have now)

Blog: excerpts, at least every third week.
Me: finish editing Empyrean.

Empyrean sounds hard, but I have a year, right? And I'm nothing if not stubborn ;)

This time last year, I was writing Empyrean. If you want, you can go back to my first post ever and read the first page of Empyrean, which has changed oh so much after all the edits :)

I really didn't think anyone could read this thing (and no duh, the design was horrendous!) but now, I have a few amazing people who are :) Thank-you, sincerely.

On another note, here is the first page of the oneshot I've been working on...

I was back. In so many ways, this could have been different. But looking out on the across the train station, I couldn’t think of it another way. Here I was, home at last with the horrors behind me – horrors I had brought upon myself, but never regretted.

I saw families greeting, the cry of mothers meeting sons and parted sisters reuniting; the sound of people, once children and now young adults finding their way home.

My home was different now. I couldn’t deny that. When I had gone, fighting through not only warfare but also a personal, family crisis that had taken place in my leave, things had changed.

It will never, ever be the same after that.

Family troubles may seem smaller – which they are – but they are just as effective in the chaos that ensues. They touch fewer people, but hurt the same.

I may never forget what I have seen the war, and I may never recover from the wounds that brought me home, but I will have to live with the injury and those memories for the rest of my life.I will do the same with my father.

Memories of my father will never pass, never fade, and never leave my mind. They are with me and will be for the rest of my life, like many other experiences I have.

I will never forget the last letter he sent, joking about our favourite team loosing because I wasn’t there to see the games and ending on the sincere and caring note that I should come home safely and soon.

I am here soon, Dad, but not soon enough.

Listen up for more to come :)

S a r a h

Questions, Statues and Impending Distaster (x3)

2010-01-01T20:48:00.002-05:00

Yes, the title is right. I'll start with the latter - Impending Disaster. Yes, it is coming. No, I don't mean 2012. Don't believe in that.

What I do believe in, is that second semester will start in just over a month. That means math, English, science and French all jumbled into one hard, confusing day. There is no way I am looking forward to that.

Another Impending Disaster is about writing. I wrote a one-shot (still editing) for the libraries contest (in October, but I can never leave it to the last minute without loosing all my good ideas). I wrote it on pure inspiration, fueled by the night and darkness what-have-you, but still. I didn't even place in the last one, and a girl who isn't half as obsessed as I am with writing got an honorable mention. I shouldn't be hoping for the best, but I am.

More Impending Disasters: I am editing Empyrean whilst behind one homework... not a good mix, if you ask me, as the project I'm procrastinating on is about 30% of my grade. Stupidity on the teachers part, if you as me.

Also, I have next semester starting soon - hard, although there is English :D yay!

As for the statues, the picture is the white Bengal tiger I got :D. It's 9.2 pounds and her name is Sasha.. I adore it! Not sure where to put it yet, but maybe after my room is painted I will find a place. (Painting room in the next few weeks).

Because I'm not ready to post my warfare oneshot, I decided to do a quiz thing. Skip it if you like, it's mainly to make myself feel like I have something valuable to post ;)

1. What's the last thing you wrote?
A oneshot about a girl coming back from war after her dad died from lukeimia, figuring out how there is still other things in life and she has to move on, the people around her helping her ('cept that sounds odd..).
2. What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
A story about me and my friends having a snow ball fight where I wasthe special "healer" person (like doctor dodgeball). I wrote it ingrade one and folded the paper in half so it was a book.
3. Write poetry?
I used to, very, very, very occasionally. I don't really like it.
4. Favorite genre of writing?
Fantasy/SciFi
5. Most annoying character you've created?
Cameron, a guy who won't give up on chasing Vince (InVincible).... at least, he was the most fun annoying character. Ethan was the most annoying as in I hated the guts out of him in the Reincarnater.
6. Best Plot you've ever created?
I like them all.... InVincible is action-y and fun to write though :D
7. Coolest Plot twist you've ever created?
Wings dies/her parents are spies.
8. How often do you get writer's block?
Often, but I can get over it if I try hard enough.
9. Write fan fiction?
Harry Potter stuff... but not that much because it seems pointless (now)
10. Do you type or write by hand?
Type, occasionally write late at night in bed.
11. Do you save everything you write?
Yes.
12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Yes, next book will be that :D
13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
Not exactly sure. IV or the Reincarnater, duh :P
14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?
Most people have read Empyrean only, so I guess Empyrean. (at least, school)
15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
Romance-y, but not the entire plotline of boy-meets-girl, etc.
16. What's your favorite setting for your characters?
Forest or abandoned ghost town? I have no idea, but those pop into my head.
17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Empyrean - editing. I want to write the Reincarnater, the oneshot and InVincible, but I'm not allowing myself ;P
18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Like, runner up for under 12 short story and 3rd place for poetry.
19. What are your five favorite words?
Squhsh......... not sure what else :P
20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
I wish I could be Wings, but it would probably be a background character from Empyrean. I forget who :$
21. Where do you get ideas for your characters from?
A personality trait, like Sims.
22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Dreams start the idea, but definitely don't finish it.
23. Do you favor happy endings?
Fo sho.
24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
I try not to, it depends on how long I have.
25. Does music help you write?
Certain songs that break the silence but don't take my attention away from my fingers :)
26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.
I was back. In so many ways, this could have been different. But looking out on the across the train station, I couldn’t think of it another way. Here I was, home at last with the horrors behind me – horrors I had brought upon myself, but never regretted.

Oneshot updates coming up, and...
My Blog Anniversary :)
Go me :)

S a r a h

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T10:58:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate) and happy holidays...

I hope everyone is enjoying the break from school and time at home :) I know I have!

For Christmas (which was this morning, a few minutes ago) I got AMAZING stuff! There was everything I wanted and more, and it was a nice day and (amazingly) the cat and dog behaved - even if they were close together and wearing hideous collars (Garfield) and scary things that he had to sniff (Odie).

First of all, I got a book called the Maze Runner (left) and Wings, (above right with butterfly-thing).

I'm really excited to read these, and I'll tell you how it goes. Also, I got Lindor chocolate (heaven on earth!) English Toffee (picture below the Maze Runner) which is amazing and we get it from Purdy's, an amazing chocolate store up here, and a calender called "Flower Spirits" (picture of the sorta-see through calender) which is beautiful!

So, as you can see it has been a great holiday! I even managed to edit Empyrean, which I really want to do. I did one page, and it took about an hour. Weird.

Anyways, here it is:

EMPYREAN Chapter 1: No Way Out

Fire. Fire surrounded me like a lion, raging on all sides and pacing calmly as he watched his unmoving prey. This had been a mistake; a cruel trick played on the wrong person but now it was happening to me and it was happening all too soon.

The smoke rose above me, hugging the low ceiling in a thick, foul-smelling curtain. Even if I stood, I wasn’t tall enough to reach that height. It was in my best interest to crouch, low to the ground, confined by the white-hot flames and shouldering embers that crept in from all sides.

I could feel the heat sinking through the soles of my scruffy shoes, slowly melting the soft plastic as the heat seared my ankles and arms. My knees protected my face, but my eyes stayed open as they watched a drop of plastic slide down my shoe. It dripped onto the floor like an ice cream cone in the sun, but far less delicious.

This was not delicious at all. My mouth was dry and tasted of smoke and ash. The air around me was so thick with fumes from the fire that I could hardly breathe. I knew I was going to die here, alone in an abandoned, burning building. There was nothing I could do to stop it.

Merry Christmas! :) <3

S a r a h

P.S Appreciate the pictures. They took forever!

2010 Olympic Torch!

2009-12-19T10:20:00.003-05:00

So, I didn't exactly get any pictures - I couldn't find my camera - but I did see the torch pass by! It was -12 degrees and took forever (seriously, 30 police cars, a fire truck, a Coke truck... it was like the Prime Minister was carrying the torch!) but the person came with all the fire and awesomeness of the pretty 2010 Winter Olypmics clothes (I LOVE how they look!)

The torch looks amazing, and when I followed it up to the fairgrounds/library they were having an interview with the torch bearer (her name was Laura, which is the same as my cousin!).

It was pretty cool, not spectacular, but special all the same. I love the design of all the clothes/stuff you can get for the olympics.. it's pretty!

BTW, the picture to the right is of where I was, and I'm pretty sure that's our torch runner with the fire-stick ;)

It was also pretty sweet because they had free skating with a mega-big projector/screen playing music videos and music, so it was a skating-dance, and in the back room you could get your picture taken with the torch and talk to the runners!

Writing-wise, there hasn't been much going on, but exams are coming up after my two-week xmas break, (I don't have any formal ones, luckily) and I have a LOT of icky assignment/project stuff.

Life is going pretty well, and I'm REALLY excited for Christmas! 6 days :)

Sarah

Superstar <3

2009-12-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

So dim that spotlight,
tell me things like
I can't take my eyes off of you
I'm no one special,
just another wide-eyed girl
Who's desperately in love with you
Give me a photograph to hang on my wall
Superstar

I love this song! It's so much like.. how I feel and connections... (haha, no, I'm not in love with a superstar. Well, not the superstars you know...)

Hope you're having fun getting ready for Christmas!
Sarah

Disabled.

2009-12-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

My hand KILLS. Possibly both and I have no idea why. My mom is taking me to see the doctor on Wednesday... (hopefully I can get out of art class!)

I feel horrible about not completing NaNoWriMo... but I'm going to give myself 5 days after this is all over with to finish :P. Then I will feel accomplished, lol.

How was your November?

I'm having troubles in my life right now... not to describe them too much, they are to do with the facts that I want everything perfect (extreme perfectionist), can't just shush about some stuff, and others don't have or want to show their direct, strong opinion. Ahh :S

On another note, school has been going... horrible, but surviving it. It's mainly the people who are bugging me right now ;)

S a r a h

My Hand Hurts...

2009-11-24T20:13:00.001-05:00

My hand started hurting after 1,453 words in 30 minutes. Uh-oh.

I'm taking a break from writing - listen to a song!

Is love. Billy Talent, The Dead Can't Testify. :)

Sarah

P.S. I LOVE the lyrics! It's such a story....... :)

World Hello Day

2009-11-21T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hello! Bonjour! Yia Sou! Hola! Hi! Goedendag! Salut! Hey! Haai! Hej!

According to the radio, today is World Hello Day. Cool! Just say hello to 10 people (or write it 10 times) and well... you've participated. :)

As for NaNo, I have a pretty spotty progress chart. Some days, I just sit down and write my heart out, and then others I write my character's heart out because I can't think of anything else. I am getting there, however, and 30k is a BIG accomplishment. I know I can do 50, this is the best I've done (last year was worse, believe me). I haven't even used any cheats yet, like the Find&Replace can't to can not and names to their full name. You can get about a 1000 words out of that, and then another 1000 words for long, long, lonnnnggggg chapter headings.

But right now I don't even have chapter headings! Whooo!

Although I did make the messy mistake of killing a ghost like a human, I'm getting over that because I hated the dude (Ethan) and just wanted him dead - I can make his soul forget what a human shape looks like later :)

I went skating yesterday with my friends, which was fun because I got to make fun of my boyfriend the entire time xD. I was just joking, and he knew it, and it was one of those times that really makes you happy to have someone who gets your jokes (after hanging out with people at lunch who only care about who likes them, obsessively).

Also, I'm extremely sad to say that sex ed. is part of my school's gym curriculum, so frankly, I had to go to www.sexualityandu.ca and research birth control. Err... not planning on stuff like that until I'm at least engaged, so I don't get the point.... especially when we had to learn how to put a condom on a bananna. Pervs rule the schoolboard, and the pervy guys in my other classes heard about it and made fun of me all day. Ew, gross... horrible!

Anyways, I have to go write now!

Sarah

P.S. 81st post dudes and dudettes :)

Week 2 Blues?

2009-11-15T08:38:00.004-05:00

I just found out that I didn't win the contest at my library. I really thought I was going to win it.. and now I'm just plain sad.

Why do I write? Someone my age who doesn't seem at all writerly (just one of those "I'm writing a book about my life story" people) got an honourable mention. Mehh..

Am I actually a good writer? Sure, I can write fast. Sure, I'm obsessed with it. Sure, I've written lots of words, but as they actually good words?

In a state on confusion,
Sarah

P.S. Read more so see what I submitted. Sure I wrote it a while ago because I can't write short stories very often, but I had hope, you know?

The Car Chase

“Sir, we have a confirmed sighting of the red car. Tailing supposed suspect.”

“Permission to destroy.”

* * *

“Emma! Pass me the popcorn.”

I rolled my eyes at the immature and absolutely uncouth boy beside me. His one hand was inches from the bowl between us, yet he couldn’t even bother to grab popcorn himself.

“If you want it, you have to get it yourself.” I said tiredly, casually scratching the tomato sauce on my shirt, which had dried on after that same boy, Nick, had ‘accidentally’ knocked his pasta on me.

“That’s not the way a man works.” Nick told me, stubbornly tilting his chin higher up in the air. Apparently, his pale blue eyes and straw coloured hair was ‘cute’, but I never saw it. All I saw was a disrespectful, boy who liked spilling pasta on a girl’s favorite shirt.

Much to my disappointment, Nick was still on about his ‘way of life’. “The woman fetches the popcorn, clothes in the morning, food in the afternoon and takes care of everything while the man watches the latest football game.”

I rolled my eyes again. “And how would that family survive? Any way of income?” I liked to think about the practical side of things - especially around him. I had said the practical side earlier, about buying the latest skateboard and Nick had just stood there at loss of words for five blissful minutes.

Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen this time. “They don’t have to work. My parent’s own the Grensbey Amethyst mine, when I inherit that, I’ll sell it all and live off the millions I’ll be paid.” He sounded so proud, wow, his parents own a mine. Sure, whatever. I didn’t really care - all I cared about was getting home and away from him. Like that was going to happen anytime soon.

“I don’t think your parents would like that, Nick.” Our driver said. His hands were on the wheel, navigating through the slushy false spring that happened every February. I looked out my window, hoping that Nick would take that as I sign I didn’t want to talk to him ever again in my life, and for him to shut up for eternity. As if.

He wasn’t even supposed to be here. This was a special trip between me and my brother David, who had just returned from Iraq. It had never meant to include the annoying son of my overly generous parent’s friends.

My brother had joined the army a year after graduating from a high school. I could still remember my mother crying when he left, although it was slightly faded because my memory was horrible, and anything two years or more was almost gone. Either way, it felt like an eternity when he was gone.

In this shopping trip I’d ask him to take me on, I’d been hoping to get to know him again. But things never work the way you intend for them to work.

“Emma, are you there? I’m still waiting for that popcorn.” Nick waved his hand in front of my face. Yes, he was the unexpected thing that had ruined the trip. A last minute business crisis had caused the Wilson’s to run off to the other side of country, leaving behind their annoying son and five-year-old daughter in the hands of their kind and always-there-for-you neighbors, my family. Moreover, with my parents taking both their daughter (my younger sister) and the Wilson’s daughter to the zoo, Nick had been forced to come with us.

“You can’t leave him… who knows what that teenage boy could do. Emma, I know your mature and can handle him… even his sister would be more suited to be home alone than him!” I mimicked under my breath.

“What’d you say Em?” David raised his head and looked at me in the rearview mirror.

“She’s talking to herself. The first sign of insanity. How about we leave her at the closest mental hospital?” Nick asked, acting innocent. “We just passed a sign saying there was one five kilometers East on Kings Road.”

The car stopped at the intersection, and pulled away, driving straight ahead.

“Well, sorry Nick. We just passed the turnoff. Another day, eh?” David laughed. It felt to great to have him back at home and with me - only God knew how much he’d helped me growing up - but I cringed at the thought of him joking with Nick Wilson. Didn’t he know? Why wouldn’t he see the stupid, big headed, arrogant side of him and know to stay away?

Outside the car, the ‘Nashville’ sign passed by. A click of hail joined the clatter of rain that had been following us around all day. It wasn’t the best day to go shopping, and the amount of people and activity in the mall had reflected that. Either way, there was a nice amount of bags in the trunk - maybe a not so nice amount of money taken out of my bank account, but I had the money to loose after my summer job.

“…And that’s the start of the real storm.” David said, referring to the hail falling from the sky. I nodded, and my head fell back against the headrest. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

An electronic whirr came from my left, followed by a downpour of rain, sleet, and heavy rocks of hail.

“ARGHH!” I screamed. Nick was just doing up his seatbelt again as I undid mine and jumped on him, pummeling his face with my hands.

“Whoa! Watch it Emma, we almost got into a car accident!” David shouted. A truck roared by, inches from the side of our car, splattering the previously red, but now a dirty pink, splattered car with more slush.

I didn’t say sorry, and regretfully sat back down in my seat, promising myself to torturously kill Nick some other time when it didn’t endanger my life.

As the slush cleared off the windshield, I saw a pair of headlights cutting across the 4-lane road. A car’s horn blared as the silver SUV cut off two lanes of traffic and headed in a straight line towards us.

I felt my heartbeat quicken, and wondered what on Earth the SUV was doing.

David must have noticed the deranged car and driver heading towards us as well, and he swore colourfully. I think he must’ve picked up some words in Iraq, because before he left, ‘shoot’ was as far as his vocabulary went in the profanities direction.

I guess he’d learnt a new meaning for ‘shoot’ over their, and it didn’t mean the same thing as ‘damn’.

“Is there anyone behind us?” In these conditions, which were getting worse by the second, David couldn’t take his eyes off the road. I waited for Nick to look behind, noticing the line of traffic ahead of us.

“Someone!” David shouted at us. Nick hadn’t moved. I checked behind me.

“No one.” I said, casting the lump of wasted space beside me a look that I hope reinforced the ‘I’m going to kill you’ scheme of things.

David’s hands flew at my words, one hand on the gears and the other controlling the steering wheel. The emergency brake was pulled, gear-stick shifted from three to reverse. Our red car rolled backwards.

“What-” I started to ask.

“Shush.” David said sharply. I closed my mouth and looked at the SUV, which was charging towards us as we drove backwards down the road. I looked over at the speedometer, just visible under David’s arm. It read 70 kilometers an hour. I didn’t know that was possible while driving backwards.

The car slid to a stop, David’s hand switching from reverse to first and up as the car regained speed. Now we were speeding towards the SUV.

David spun the steering wheel and our car moved into the oncoming lane. The silver SUV tried to turn and hit us, but only clipped the back. The car fishtailed for a minute, and then David regained control. He sped off down the road, joining back into the right lane when the SUV was far behind us. Back in our lane, David still drove fast, cutting between cars and passing on the left and right.

“A, S, S, H, O, L, E.” Nick muttered beside me, digging through the pocket and cup holder beside him.

“What are you calling my brother?” I asked, giving Nick another death glare. He reflected it back at me.

“No you idiot, that was the license plate number.” Oh, I thought. I grabbed the notepad out of my cup holder and handed it to him.

“There’s a pen in the glove compartment. David, can you slow down and get it?” I asked.

“I have to make sure they’re gone and we are far away from them.” David told me, but slowed down and got the pen anyways.

We recorded the plate and David told us that he would take it to the police station the following morning. Right now, all he wanted to do was go home.

* * *

“We lost them, sir.”

“Well, do better next time. Your life is on the line - it’s them or you, Gespard.”