Saturday, January 28, 2012

Glimpses of Goodness, Fairy Lights and Nostalgia

Hello, all!  I'm joining in with Mirriam for the first post of 'Glimpses of Goodness'.  I don't know how often I'll do it, but I'll try and link up every couple weeks, if not every week.

Rainbow fairy lights glittering next to me.



The words fairy lights.  They're just so whimsical and... special sounding.  So much more interesting than Christmas lights, which you feel like you have to take down, as soon as the season is over.

The sound of birds chirping outside.

Frost glittering on the top of a fence post.

Laughter with my friend, while we watched my TV production movies from this semester.

My class, TV production, which I love dearly, and always have the best laughs in, which sadly is coming to a close.  (Which, sadly, I do not believe that the high school I'm going to will have...)

The book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" which has helped fuel my constant traveling nostalgia.


Waltzing around an open area in my school at lunch with my friends.

The pile of stuffed animals that seems to wave to me from my chair.

The maps posted all around my room, speaking of far-away places and adventure.


My dog, following me around, begging for a piece of my orange.

Hot, caffeine filled tea, before a school day where I had two tests.

{Via}

The fact that, as I know that I failed one of my tests, having gotten exponent rules mixed up, and done a poor job of checking my work, I am able to retake it.

Books, whose author's I have been very blessed to meet.

Books, books and more books, pulling me into their stories.



Gilmore Girls, when I need cheering up.

Doctor Who recorded late at night, to be watched the next morning.

Childhood books, long thought to be lost, found.


Go head over to Mirriam's blog and check out Glimpses of Goodness!*  I had lots of fun with it, though I did expand a bit more on it than Mirriam did, by adding a few photos here and there.

*If you didn't notice before, both links are at the top of this post.
**Also, all photos in the post belong to me except for the one of the tea.  Please no stealing, m'kay?

The Dandy Lioness

Friday, January 27, 2012

Beautiful People: January

Rapunzel "Zel" Gothel
Zel in the fields outside her tower.  Unlike most Rapunzel stories, she wasn't locked in the tower throughout her childhood-- she was free to roam the forest.
{Via}

1.If your character’s house burned down, and they were left with nothing but the clothes on their back, what would they do? Where would they go?

Hmm… Well, Zel is a spunky girl, and she certainly wouldn’t have too much of an issue finding her way to civilization… or back to a forest, like the one she grew up in.  Something similar actually happens to her, when her adopted mother sends her away with just her sword, and practically just the clothes on her back , to find her sister Rosianne.

2. Are they happy with where they are in life, or would they like to move on?

Yeah.  Zel is happy.  She loves life out in the forest, where she grew up with Mother Gothel, but I think she’s equally happy—or perhaps more so—when she finds her sister Rosianne, and wakes her from the spell she is under.

3. Are they well-paid?
Well, Zel isn’t exactly paid… I mean, she spent her first sixteen years in a forest, and then the rest           of her life is spent with her sister Rosianne, doing… something.  I’m not quite sure what yet.  Their story hasn’t been finalized yet. …or started.

4. Can they read?
Yes!  Zel likes reading to pass the time when she’s alone, but when others are around she’d much rather talk to them, than be buried in a book.

5. What languages do they speak?
She can speak English, and maybe another.  Mother Gothel believed firmly in teaching her adopted daughter everything that she had to, in order for her to be able to rescue Rosianne, and become a princess.

6. What is their biggest mistake? 
I’m not really sure.  I know Zel has made many mistakes in her time, but I’d say that it’s probably rushing into things without really thinking them through.

7. What did they play with most as a child?
Probably something like a wooden sword, or maybe a doll.  Probably something homemade, because she has lived in a forest her entire life.

8. What are their thoughts on politics?
Even though she’s a princess, I suppose she doesn’t know too much about her country’s politics, due to her having lived away from civilization her entire life.

9. What is their expected life time?
Probably into her eighties…?

10. If they were falsely accused of murder, what would they do? How would they react?
Well, she might ask her accuser to a duel in a fit of anger, or perhaps calmly make her case about why she didn’t do it.  Really, it would depend on how she was feeling that day, and how much she disliked her accuser.


This was my Beautiful People link up with Sky and Georgie.

*Sorry if the formatting is weird at all, I've been having some issues with it.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Fairy Tale Nostalgia

While cleaning out one of the closets in my house the other day, I came across a gem in the form of a book.


"The Fairy Tale Book".


Though it's spine is well-worn, and broken, it's no less beautiful.  It's gorgeous.  Full page illustrations, twenty-eight stories, little birds and trees drawn on every page.


I found this inscription on the inside cover.  "From Grandma & Grandpa.  12/25/68".  Isn't this cool?  My great-grandparents gave my dad this for Christmas when he was a kid.


The copy that we have is from the seventh printing, in 1966, and it's absolutely fantastic.


"The Sleeping Beauty" has always been one of my favorite stories.


Is it possible to go wrong with fairy tales like these?


"Beauty and the Beast", another favorite.


One of Cinderella's mice, sitting atop a clock.


Have you felt any fairy tale nostalgia recently?

The Dandy Lioness

Friday, January 20, 2012

NaNoWriMo Winner's Cake

Because ever since Tuesday we've had snow days this week, I finally managed to get together with my friend T, who I've been trying to get together with since November.

See, we did NaNoWriMo this year, and were sort of WriMo buddies.  And when we both won, we decided that we would bake a cake in honor of this achievement.

So, a month and a half late, yesterday we got together, and finally made our cake!

So, without further adieu, here's some pictures of the cake.

An overview of our cake.

The writing.

Another overview.

It says "NaNoWriMo Winners 2011" on it.  It's a two layer cake, and between the two layers, we wrote our main character's names.  For her, it was Qita and Laloiken (sp?) and for me, it was Hugo and Ria.  We had fun with the sprinkles, as I'm sure you can tell, and when we were at the store we were terribly excited by the curlicue candles (which sadly did drip some wax on our cake).

While waiting for the cake to bake/after it was done, we went into my basement, and played Foosball, and then watched The Princess Bride and about 2/3 of He's Just Not That Into You.  It was definitely a fun way to spend a snow day, especially as the two of us go to different schools, and she is always busy, so it's hard to find time to see each other.  

For those of you who did NaNoWriMo, and won, what did you do to celebrate your victory?  Or, if you did it, and didn't win, what did you do to celebrate the accomplishment of writing however many words that you did?  For me, I ordered a Winner's shirt, and waited a month and a half to bake this cake.  (And if you're wondering, it's just a plain chocolate cake, with cream cheese frosting.)  Though, our lovely cake almost resulted in disaster, when, just before cutting it, I turned to T in a panic, thinking we had forgotten the flour.  We didn't, luckily, and it tastes delicious.

The Dandy Lioness

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Why I Look Up to Ginny Weasley

Ever since I was three years old, and was tricked into listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I've loved Harry Potter.

I've been to the midnight releases of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-- the book-- (I made it to two different bookstores that night-- one, the small bookstore near my house, that my sister camped outside of for fourteen hours, and another, a large bookstore downtown that had a huge party), and both halves of the movie.  I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-- the movie.  I was too young to go to the book, but after seeing how much fun my sister had, I was bound and determined to go to the next one.

I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione.  But funnily enough, none of them were my favorite character.

I liked Ginny.  My friends liked Hermione, and Tonks, and Luna, and while I like them too, I like Ginny best.  Recently I've been skimming a lot of Harry-Potter fandom related stuff, and I was shocked at all the hate that Ginny, and Bonnie Wright get.

I think Bonnie Wright made a good Ginny.  End of story.  Ginny always has, and always will be my favorite character.  I look up to her.  I know some people think she's a horrible character or that Bonnie Wright ruined her for them, but I admire her, and look up to her.  And here is why.

{Via}

She is strong.  She knew that diary was trouble, and tried her best to throw it away.  She fought her hardest to throw that diary away, because she knew she couldn't continue on this way.

{Via}

She can stand up for herself.  You don't grow up with six brothers not being able to stand up for yourself.

{Via}

She's not ashamed of her friends.  Neville, and Luna?  In books five, six and seven, Ginny stood by them, no matter their quirks, and loved them just as who they were.  She would have died to protect them.

{Via}

She doesn't get deterred easily.  She broke into Snape's office to get that sword.  She will get what she wants, even if she has to fight for it.

{Via}

She loves her friends.  She would die in a second for Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ron, or Harry.  In book seven, she stayed with Neville and Luna until she wasn't allowed to return to Hogwarts anymore.  And she was eager to return to them in the end, during the battle of Hogwarts.

{Via}

She's not afraid to fight.  Like I said above, she'd die for her friends.  She's not afraid to stand up for herself, and she's more than willing to put a "Bat-Bogey Hex" on you if you annoy her.

{Via}


And one last reason.

She makes Harry happy.  And he deserves to be happy.  And if she makes him happy, I don't see what the problem with her is.  I think she deserves him, and he deserves her, and if they make each other happy, no one should claim that she's a bad character, or Bonnie Wright is a bad actress.  I like her just the same.

{Via}

So, those are my reasons that I like Ginny Weasley.  Do you guys have any characters that you feel the need to defend, sometimes?  And yes.  I always have been, and always will be, a Harry and Ginny shipper.

The Dandy Lioness

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Snowmageddon?

So, last night, my school called to say it would be a two hour late start.  Okay, I'm cool with that.  That's always fun.  So, we get to school.  We go through three classes.

And then...

We find out that we're going home.  At 12:20, as soon as lunch is over.

{Via}

It's barely even snowing-- there's a half-inch of slush on the ground.

But really, I'm not complaining.  It's exciting, interesting, fun that we're not in school.  But we're supposed to have the biggest snowstorm in four decades, starting tomorrow.  The thing about where I live, is that we don't get snow here.  We get dustings.  Just an inch or so, for one or two days.  Snow days can be because of one or two inches, or just ice.  The only time I remember there being a substantial amount of snow for a substantial amount of time was three years ago, over winter break in fifth grade.  And now, we're supposed to have lots of snow.  It should be interesting.  And fun, of course.  Except for the making-school-up-at-the-end-of-the-year bit.  That shouldn't be so fun.

{Via}

The winter hush that usually comes with snow certainly hasn't come today.  At the moment I can hear a truck outside my house, the whissshhhh of slush being thrown up by car tires.  At school the air was filled with excited voices.  At home, the whispering roar of the fire next to me, the occasional car driving past.  More whissshhhhing sounds, an airplane overhead, wind in the fireplace.

How much longer until the city is blanketed in a soft, white blanket, muffling the sounds, dimming the senses?  I don't know.  Nobody can guess when this miraculous phenomenon that comes only with snow will occur.

{Via}
The city is always busy, busy, busy.  In the rain, everyone bustles to and fro, their only goal to avoid the rain.  In the sun, everyone hides beneath hats, and sunglasses, and bustles back and forth, getting this or that done.  But in the snow?  Everyone is forced to slow down.  Listen a little.  Notice those little details in life they normally miss.  To sit by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate, and just look outside.  Little flakes drifting past, trees already laden with snow.  It's impressive, it's beautiful.  And it forces everyone to slow down just a little bit.

{Via}

The Dandy Lioness

Monday, January 16, 2012

Meet Some Friends of Mine

This here is French the llama:


If you're a Nerdfighter, like me, you get the joke.  


This is the sign hanging around her neck.  (If you're wondering, the llama is from American Girl's Girl of the Year 2009 collection, and according to AG, her name is Starburst.)  Isn't she cute?

And here is Perry the Purple Elephant (who may or may not be a mammoth).


Perry the Purple Elephant was a Christmas present, due to my participation in the Purple Elephants, on the NaNoWriMo teen forum.  I think he's pretty cute.

Do you guys have any nerdy stuffed animals/toys?  Also in my collection of nerdy stuffed animals, I have Luella the Latin Cow.  Maybe you'll meet her someday.  :)

The Dandy Lioness

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Passionately Quirky

*pokes head in*
*looks around*

I'm sorry!  It's been two weeks!  I hadn't realized it was so long-- I've been busy with school and friends and my sister (it's been her last couple weeks until she goes back to college) and... I've been ignoring you.  Hugs?

*hugs*

Okay.  Now that that is out of the way, I'm going to try a post similar to what the lovely Mirriam did with this post.


I AM... a girl.  Just a girl.  I have lots of quirks and faults, and sometimes people want me to be perfect, and I'm not.  I'm just a girl.


I'VE CRIED... in Harry Potter, Marley and Me, and Up, and in books.

I AM... nerdy.  I love Doctor Who and knitting and books, and I'm a Nerdfighter, and a two-time winner of NaNoWriMo.  And I'm not insecure about it-- I make a hundred Doctor Who and Nerdfighteria references a day, I talk about the Purple Elephants, my writing community on NaNoWriMo, books I'm reading, to anyone nearby.  So yes, I'm nerdy.  It's not an insult.  I'm proud to be a nerd.  

I LOVE... books.  I love reading them, holding them, smelling them, buying them, checking them out from the library.  They make me smile.

I SING... in the shower.  'Tis the truth.

I AM... clumsy.  Dreadfully clumsy.  I bump into things, fall over, wobble when I'm on a balance beam...

{Via}

I PICK UP... random details.  Favorite movies, songs, plays, letters, numbers, colors, punctuation marks.  

I LOVE... to write.  I love crafting stories, coming up with characters, learning life lessons along with them.

I SOMETIMES... get discouraged.  But that's okay.  Everyone does.  You just have to know to pick yourself up again, to keep on trying.

I AM... a word person.  Not a number person.

I ADORE... quotes.  I put them all over my walls in my room.

I ARGUE... too much.  I argue with friends and parents and my sister, and I need to stop doing it so often.  I need to learn to let go, and just go with the flow, but sometimes it's hard.  

I HAVE TROUBLE... with math.  I don't always get it.  Sometimes the numbers just don't do what I want them to.

I DAY DREAM... about my stories.  My characters, their friends, their enemies, just simple days in their lives, even.

I ASPIRE... to be an author.  To craft stories that people love, and inspire them.

I LOVE... flying kites with my dad.  And not little kites, either.  Our biggest has a tail of 150 feet, and is (I'm guessing here) 25 X 25 feet.  We have a sand anchor for at the beach, and we have to nail it to the ground using stakes if we're not on a beach.  But it's so much fun.

I DANCE... lots.  I love it.  I take Irish dance, and I recently got my hard shoes.  

{Via}

I AM... a girl.  Just a girl.  I have lots of quirks and faults, and sometimes people want me to be perfect, and I'm not.  I'm just a girl.  And you know what?  I'm happy.  As my mother put it one day, I am passionately quirky.  

I AM... a happy, passionately quirky person, and I'm not perfect.  And I'm okay with it.


The Dandy Lioness

Sunday, January 1, 2012

A New Year, A Good Year

Hello.
It's a new year.
A better year, I hope.
Sure, last year had its ups and downs, but I want this year to be many more ups than downs.  

This year started with creme brulee,
{Via}

And fireworks,
{Via}

And laughter between friends,
{Via}

And a few Bananagrams letters left on the table, spelling out three words,
{Via}

And silly hats,
{Via}

And I think,
that that,
is a wonderful way,
to begin,
a new year.
With friends,
 and fireworks,
 and hats,
 and games,
 and creme brulee.
Because,
though they are simple pleasures,
they are important,
they show you are loved,
you have friends and family,
that you want this new year to be even better than the last,
and if you want that,
and if you try,
you can achieve that.

Happy New Year
Happy 2012

The Dandy Lioness