Humans are Disgusting

The title of this post is a quote that I couldn't get out of my mind for part of the day. Let me explain.
Mom has an old copy machine that she's getting rid of cause she just got a new one. So she told Dad to go out and dump it at the recycling place. Before I knew that's where he was going, I agreed to go with him as he ran some other errands. Turns out they couldn't recycle the copy machine, so they had us drive into this huge warehouse room to dump it off (we had to pay to do it too). Inside this huge room was a pile of garbage up to the ceiling along with tractors and guys pushing it around. It stank to "high heaven" and there was a thick coating of sludge on the ground.
"Humans are disgusting. Humans are disgusting." That's what I kept thinking. That's a quote from Ponyo. Ponyo's dad says that. And I completely agree with him. Most of the stuff in that pile of garbage could have been recycled, along with our 100 pound copy machine. But it wasn't. It's going to be buried underground somewhere where it can pollute our ground water.
WHY DON"T WE RECYCLE ANYTHING??? It's not just the fault of individuals. The companies in charge of making new things make them from scratch. They don't recycle anything.
And it's mainly america! Other countries do a GREAT job or recycling.
Humans are disgusting.

Shadow Split

OH! OH! It completely slipped my mind! How could it slip my mind? Last night at 12:07 at night, I finished Shadow Split!!
YAAY! Either way, this story is very long. And it was the story I kept written on paper so I could bring it with me to school and places. Which means that I'll also have to type it up. I think it will take a long time. Maybe I'll stop hand writing stories. I don't work on them as much anymore anyway. I should stick to the computer now, maybe. Save the hassle of re-typing it. Though it gives me the chance to do major editing.

Avatar

Before Ellen gets excited (though I'm sure she's not reading this XP) this is not the airbender Avatar. This is the Avatar movie with the blue alien creatures. I knew nothing about it before going to see it except Ellen and Nicole told me that it had to do with kicking aliens out of their home and stuff.
So, Me and my parents and uncle went to see it yesterday.
IT WAS AMAZING.
The creatures were awesome and the jungle was FANTASTIC. It was amazing to watch. Especially in the 3D with the flying stuff.
Ooh, I wonder if there are any pictures. Let me look.
Ah, when I type in Avatar, all I get is the airbender stuff. I haven't seen it yet, but it's on the list of anime stuff that Ellen and Nicole gave me to watch/read. I'm working slowly on it.
Hunter x Hunter started out interesting, but then got pretty freaky. Especially when they got in the tower. Actually, the anime was a little less freaky that the manga. So, I went through the part where they beat the Hunter exam and found Kilua again. I liked the characters though. It just got too weird after a while.
Now I'm watching Full Metal Alchemist. It's Pretty interesting so far. Except the only place I can find to watch in in japanese with english subtitles is a place where the video takes a couple hours to load. So I need to let if load while I do other stuff. I should ask Ellen if there's a better place to watch it.
Hey, another one of those weird things. Before I watched Full Metal Alchemist, for my Magic-Earth information, I thought that magicians who could turn one object into another I would call alchemists. Looks like someone else got that idea first. >-<
And I'm reading Fruits Basket. I'm about half way through. I like it.

Up up and away in my beautiful balloon!!

Someone gave me a copy of Up as an early christmas present. That's a great movie. I love Dug! Aww!
Anyway, most of the Pixar movies are really good. I think Toy Story might be my least favorites of them. Though it has been a while since I watched them, so my opinion might have changed since I watched them.
I went to see 2 movies in the theatre today. I've never been to 2 movies in a day. Plus we watched Up tonight. I saw the new version of "A Christmas Carol." It was pretty good, if rather dark.
And then me, Ellen, Nicole, and Kelley went to see "The Princess and the Frog." It wasn't bad. But it wasn't great either. Most of Disney's recent stuff hasn't been great. Except Pixar and stuff. And the Ghibli stuff to (since they do the american versions).
I recently watched 2 of their newer movies. I think part of the reason why I haven't seen many of them recently is the commercials. They haven't seemed too interesting. For example, I never felt like I wanted to see "Bolt" of "Meet the Robinsons." But I saw part of the latter on TV, so I went to rent it cause it didn't look too bad. It was pretty good. I liked Wilbur as a character. I thought he was funny. But the ending was so random. All of a sudden evil hats start taking over the world as seen through some mystical flashing device and then the Goob guy goes "oh my god! my hat pushed me! i guess I'll be good now." So the climax wasn't very developed. And I have no idea why they had a squid in their house and stuff. But it was better than I though it'd be.
And then Ellen said that Bolt was pretty good, so I watched that a few days ago. That was a lot better than I thought it'd be too. But the hamster was annoying. I mean, I don't like it when they make animals overly stupid. I can't explain what I mean. Some animals can be stupid, I don't deny that, but not in the way humans show it. They make animals idiotic and obnoxious and too human-like. Talking animals are cool. But people make them do human things that animals would never do. That's what I don't like. Gah! I can't explain this like I want to! It's not coming out right.
Another annoying thing are some nature documentaries that they make now. They make animal lives seem like soap operas. That's a good example, I guess. Like that Meerkat Manor thing. A complete soap opera. The way they edit and narrate some of these documentaries is so STUPID! It's so obnoxious! There are some great documentaries out there, but when I'm skimming Animal Planet, I run into some really stupid stuff too. Like "The Most Extreme" and that show whose title I can't remember that shows all these crazy disasters involving animals and they show the same clip over and over making it way over the top dramatic with their stupid narration.
Anyway, I started this post out all excited about watching Up. Now i'm all huffed up about people making animals look like idiots. Sigh. Either way. Pixar is good. Let me talk about those some more to get calmed down.
A Bugs Life! That's Pixar, right? That's a good one.
Finding Nemo! I love that one! Definitely one of my favorites. Dory is awesome! Great movie. Great.
Monsters Inc is a fun one too. Boo is cute!
And Wall-E. Admittedly the blob people are strange, but it's a sweet story.
Ratatouille. That's a fun one. It makes me hungry. Mmm. It looks delicious!
Cars isn't too bad. Not one of their best, but it's still good.
The Incredibles I actually haven't seen since it was in theatres. I need to watch that one again.
And the Pixar shorts are fun! They were on TV last week, so I watched them.
Like I said, I haven't seen the Toy Story ones in a while, but they weren't my favorites. And they're making a 3rd one. Honestly, it didn't look that great when I saw the commercial for it today. Oh well.
Other Pixar stuff is awesome!
Like Up!

Stealing!

You know what's really strange? Ellen has stolen several of the names I've created. Not intentionally. They were names I'd never really announced before. 2 of them are from our story - Moon Dragon. Rasha and Lati were both names I have planned for other characters, and they were names that Ellen ended up creatng.
And then I was reading one of Ellen's stories, and there was a black wolf named Fang. In the Fern story I've been writing, Fern has a black wolf named Fang.
-_-
How does she do it?

Masks

Ah, so In "Under the Masks" I've repaired some of the biggest damage. I'm all caught up with it. The problem is... I got no idea what's gonna happen next. I mean, they're supposed to meet with someone, but it feels like something should happen before then.
So, I'll finish Shadow Split while I think about how to get from A to B in Masks.
Cause I am almost done with Shadow Split! I need to work on it. Maybe I'll do it once I put away all my garbage form my school pack. I was unloading it today and everything. I need to go through all my papers too.

The Dark Crystal

A movie review.
I watched the Dark Crystal recently. So I thought I'd write about it.
It is a puppet movie. By Jim Henson, I think. He did the puppets. BUt they're really good puppets. It's a fun movie. It takes place on a different planet with strange creatures.
Let me try to fish up some pictures. Ah, there don't seem to be too many. Either way, this picture has the 2 main characters Jen and Kira, and Kira's pet Fizgig.
Either way, it doesn't look like my brain is in the mood to write a good review. Because I just got out of class for winter break, At LAST!! But it's a good movie.

Andy Goldsworthy

OK, so I've been meaning to put up some of his pictures. He does this stuff by hand, and a lot of it ends up getting swept away by wind or water or melting. It's amazing.
You should look up more of his stuff. ANd he has a movie too. Andy Goldsworthy is his name.

To Disappear

So, a few days ago on TV, I saw the end of a documentary about what would happen if every human on Earth suddenly disappeared.
Now, in movies, you get characters who want to get rid of humans because they're destroying the planet. The character that comes to mind is Fujimoto-Ponyo's dad. He wants all humans to disappear because they're polluting the oceans. And the first time I saw Ponyo, I couldn't bring myself to think badly of him when he said that. I can completely understand why someone would want to get rid of humans, though some humans are fighting tooth and claw to protect the planet.
But as I was watching that documentary, I started thinking how lonely the planet would seem without humans. All the other animals would thrive, and according to the documentary, most of humans' mess would be cleaned up in about a hundred years. Global warming, nuclear waste, ex (That's only if all humans completely vanish now. That doesn't count if we keep pumping more toxins into the air).
But one thing they didn't address (unless it was in the beginning of the show that I didn't see-but I doubt that) was invasive species. Humans have introduced all of these non-native species into their non-natural habitats and some of them are completely taking over and destroying the native species and the habitats. There's cane toads, zebra mussels, and hundreds of plants, bugs, and other animals. What would happen with them if all humans vanished? Would they take over the planet, or would they eat themselves out of house and home? Or would something else take care of them?
Sigh.

WHAM!

There's a few things things that get very tiring about some movies. Some movies can be very good (or very bad) and have very annoying parts with long annoying fist fights. They get so OLD after a while! Especially when they're really long. There are some good movies that have these bad moments because of drawn-out fist fights. Fist fights wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many of them in so many movies that last too long.

Clouds

You know, clouds are underrated. I was watching a movie a couple nights ago and this guy was saying something about how people should take the time to look up every now and then to see the clouds. So as I was driving home today, I had to agree with him. The clouds were BEAUTIFUL. There was rain last night and this evening the clouds were breaking up. And before and during the sunset the clouds were so pretty. Most people notice the clouds during the sunset or sunrise when there are all the bright colors. And I agree that they can be BEAUTIFUL. But even in the middl of the day or at night, clouds can still be amazing to look at.
So, take the time to look up every now and then.

Shadow Split

I'm almost done with Shadow Split!!
I haven't been working on it too much, but now that I'm almost done I'll probably accelerate my writing.
The climax still bugs me. It doesn't seem like it's quite exciting enough.
Well... maybe I"ll think of something eventually.
And also there's a lot of characters. Just when you think you know them all, another shows up. Then another and another... So I'm not sure if that's too absurd. Or if that many characters will be too confusing...
Ah. Well, either way, I'm almost done.

Research

I'm still doing research on the "secret" I posted about a few days ago. I won't know if it'll work until I can talk to them, which is difficult because I'm gone during most business hours and they're in a slightly later time zone so when I DO get home, it's later there...
Yeah. But I have tomorrow morning off so I'll call then.
Jeez... and I'm already trying to keep my nerves from fraying with bits of string tied up around them...
Ah ah ah...

Waku Waku!

According to Ellen, this is the sound effect for excitement.
I got an interesting package in the mail today. It it turns out to be nothing, I'll never mention it again. But if it does turn out to be important, you'll be hearing about it very soon.
Until then, let the curiosity of the matter consume you!
Just kidding. Even though Stephanie's probably the only one reading the post anyway. Heheh. Sorry Steph.
PS Happy Thanksgiving! (It's tomorrow)

Psych Out!

You know what would be really fun to do? Is to make a movie. And then you show that movie to someone. But the thing is, you'd make 2 versions of that movie and they would each have completely different endings, though the differences would start out subtly. So when you showed someone the first version, then you'd show them the second version to psych them out. Cause at first they'd only notice the little differences because most of the movie would be exactly the same. And then suddenly at the end-WHUMP. Different ending.
I's so evil. ^-^

Lion Dragon redone

A, I redrew my lion dragon. This guy is better and cuter than the first one. Though the snout is a little too broad. You get the idea.

You Can Save the World

I will do an educational post. This is IMPORTANT. So if you're there, read it. Not enough people know this stuff. And it can help turn Earth around.
So, a couple days ago in my environmental science class, we watched a movie. And I must say, it made me feel ashamed to be human. Humans are destroying the planet. Humans suck.
All the air pollution we're causing-first of all, it's destroying the atmosphere and the climates and ecosystems that are fragile to changes in temperature. And even for the people who don't care that we're making thousands of species go extinct, this is hurting US too. All these little kids are getting asthma because of pollution, and pollutants are getting into pregnant mothers and messing with their babies brains so they can't learn things as well.
And all these people say that it's going to be so expensive to switch all our resources to stuff that isn't as horrible to the planet. But honestly, all the negative impacts that we're having are MUCH MUCH MUCH worse than any difficulties gas companies would face if we found a less destructive source.
And coal is horrible too. It's our main source of power, and it seems to be the worst. One of the worst environmental disasters in america was when a lake of coal sludge broke and spewed all down river. It was much worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and yet no one knows about it. I'd never heard of it either. Almost every time you use electric appliances, you're burning coal. And lots of it. Mainly in freaking waistfull countries like America. and America isn't really doing much to help. Look at Holland. They're trying to stop killing the planet. But America-the "most powerful country in the world"-isn't hardly doing a thing.
And it's not like we can't do anything to help!
Here's I'll list some simple things anyone can do to stop wasting so much. If you do all this-and if everyone makes these simple changes-then it will have a huge positive effect (although major changes still need to be made in our energy sources.)
And for some reason, no one ever talks about over-population. But that's one of the biggest problems of them all. There are TOO MANY PEOPLE. Mainly in poor countries. It's true, no matter what you hear-or lack thereof. And then they make TV shows about people with 8 kids. It's horrible. Don't have that many kids! Have a couple and then adopt or foster or something. Those kids need your help too. But... I digress.
I was going to list simple changes. Here they are.

Plastic is bad for the environment. When you pack a lunch, don't use plastic bags. Use tupperware containers. In the past week I have slowly started putting my food in little containers instead of bags. And don't bring your lunch in a paper bag. Buy yourself a pretty little lunch box. All that money for a new paper bag every day will eventually cost more than just buying a real lunch box.
Turn off appliances when you're not using them. People leave computers and stuff on over night. Don't do it. And turn off lights and TVs when you're not in the room.
Unplugging stuff is important too. Lamps, computers, everything still drains energy even when it's not plugged in. Not as much as when it's on, but what a waste! That TV that's sitting there turned off is STILL using your energy and your money.
Recycle. As much as you can. Seriously, it helps a lot.
Water. There's LOTS of problems with our water now. When you're heating up water to wash your face (Mom did this all the time until I shouted at her enough that she took my advice) put a bucket under the tap while you're waiting for your water to heat up. Do it in the shower too. And then use that water to water your garden or just dump it on the dirt outside if you don't have a garden. At least put it back into the earth instead of letting it go down the drain.
Switch your light bulbs to compact flourescent. Those curly-cue shaped ones. The energy they save for you will cover what you pay for it.
Use reusable grocery bags when going shopping. Don't take their paper/plastic bags.
Buy organic food. Most farmers use TONS of pesticides. And they kill everything-not just the pests. Did you know that almost of our food is genetically modified?
Meat. Don't eat so much of it. Not only is a lot of it bad for you (you should really only eat it a couple times a week-people who eat more are more likely to get cancer, heart attacks, ex, because animal products-dairy too- have a LOT of fat and stuff. Some is okay, and even good for you, but not too much). Mainly it's the most developed countries that eat a lot of meat. The developing places of the world depend on rice, corn, ex. That's because almost all grain in the united states goes to feeding our livestock. Every 12 pounds of grain you feed to a cow will get you only 1 pound of beef. What a waste of resources! When all those people in Africa are starving or suffering from malnutrition...(and us not doing a THING to help them). And the way meat animals are raised is absolutely HORRIBLE. MOST of them are raised in terrible conditions. They are crammed together in cages so tight they can't turn around. They are fed food they're not supposed to eat (and people feed cattle grain instead of grass so the cattle"emit a lot of gas" which is also very bad for the climate). They live in such terrible conditions that I can't even begin to describe it without getting depressed again. You can learn about it in more depth. And they emit a lot of waste too. All I'm saying is eat less meat. That doesn't mean you have to become a vegetarian. Don't eat as much meat. Just a couple times a week. For special occasions or something. Be careful with dairy, eggs, ex, too. They're good in moderation, but don't eat them excessively. (Egg-laying hens are raised horribly too, as can milk cows).
You community can help too by switching traffic lights, exit signs, ex, to LED lights which use less energy.

Here's some bigger changes to make.
Start a compost bin. Don't just throw away all those orange peels. There is so much stuff that ends up in landfills where it sits and petrifies. Stuff in landfills doesn't ever decompose. The conditions aren't kept right. And they drop a lot of sludge into our ground water if we're not careful. Try not to waste anything that will end up in a landfill.
Talk to your energy company. Try to figure out if you can switch SOME of your energy to clean energy.
Energy star appliances. If you need to replace a fridge (they're BIG wasters of electricity) or something, get energy star (toilets too-waste lost of water).
If you need to remodel your house, go with a green plan. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. There's TONS of things you can do to increase the efficiency of your house. Insulation, heating, ex. All can be fixed. And have a south-facing house That gets the most sun.
For water heaters/coolers. There's this cool setup where you get some pipes installed underground. And the natural temperatures of the Earth heat and cool your water for you so you don't need a water heater or anything. You get natural temperature regulation without wasting all that electricity for a heater.

Sun Dragon-mascot

Ah... I'm tired. I've spent the last couple hours (has it really been that long!!??) Researching complicated stuff on the internet...
And either way, I redrew the mascot dragon of my blog. It's a little more realistic... I guess...
Ah, tired. Well, here I am.

Calvin and Hobbes

OK, here it is! More Calvin and Hobbes.  The first 4 pictures or so are part of a series.

Calvin and Hobbes Again

OK, so this last Calvin and Hobbes I read had a lot of really good ones in it. I guess I'll put them up in 2 installments.
Here's the first.
Ah, I think one of them got a bit screwed up... sorry. Either way, enjoy.

Rowing Over Flowers

Ah, I finished. Took me all weekend to color it. And I drew it during class. When I was on the train reading my homework on thursday, a line in the reading made this pop into my head. It is an old piece of literature from Japan, I think. It might have been China. We had two readings that day... But the guy was going on a pilgrimage and he said something about a cherry tree and "rowing over flowers." So I though it could either mean that there are petals in the water, or that there's a REFLECTION of a cherry tree above them. So that's what I went with . Dad says it's one of the best things I've ever drawn. I dunno. It makes me feel kinda peaceful though. I want to go there...

School

Ugh... I'm so tired right now. I've been messing about with my schedule for next semester... and it sucks the life force right out of you. No kidding. I destroys your will to live. Well no... you get the idea.
Actually, I'm not sure how many people know about it except people who are in college, or school in general, in California. But our governor - the muscle dude whose name I can't spell that was in that Terminator movie (Arnold Schwarzenager and I know I spelled that wrong)- is destroying our schools. I honestly don't know why he's our governor... except that people like him as an actor. Well, either way, he and our government are destroying the California school system. Right now, I envy Brian who's going to school in Missouri... And I used to think it was strange going way out there... Sigh.
They're slowly leaching all of the money out of the schools. I've only been in college a year and a half, and already the costs of going to school have sky rocketed. And more fees keep popping up. THis is the first semester where I have to keep paying stuff even after I pay for registration. This semester is HORRIBLE. They have all these furlough days now too. And I know the students don't really care because they get days off of school. But it's killing the teachers because they're forced to take days off where they don't get paid and they CANNOT do anything related to work. They can't check emails or messages or even come to campus.
The bottom line is, we as students aren't learning as much as we are entitled to get out of our classes, and we're paying even MORE to learn less. And half of us don't get the classes we want because there are fewer teachers and the classes are smaller.
*^&%$*@&$*@$%&#!@*$&!#* WHY!!!!?!!!?!?!???!?!?
My dragon's gonna eat someone soon if this keeps going on...

Lockheed Again

Ok, so I was talking to Nick yesterday, and somehow we started talking about X-Men. And then I recalled Lockheed. So I told him I'd put a few Lockheed pictures up.
So, this is the first time we see Lockheed. They're on a different planet and Kitty is fighting some strange insect alien things. And then this creature appears. Looks big and scary, huh?

Well, actually he's not. Either big or scary. Except he breathes fire, and he can do plenty of damage when he needs to.

Then Lockheed vanishes for a while, Until he mysteriously reappears back on Earth at their mansion. Apparently he was a stowaway on their ship.

Can't I keep him, Professor? Needless to say, Kitty and Lockheed become fast friends.

He shows up occasionally throughout the comics. I haven't read all of them. Just the first few. Then they got too freaky. They weren't as funny anymore. They were just violent. So I stopped. But Lockheed is still awesome! And the movies were pretty good.
(On one last note that I keep forgetting to mention, when I was talking about that Wolverine movie and how he always seems to end up in movies where his girlfriend dies? Well, Nicole told me about one that was actually pretty good. At least it had a happy ending and the lady didn't die. Man, the others were so depressing! So, this is, like only the second movie I've seen him in where the lady doesn't die-Kate and Leopold.)

Character People

You know what's kinda hard to do? To write a character that's based on a real person. At least it's hard for me. Maybe not other people. I've tried it several times-incorporating people I know into something I'm writing. And I can never feel like I'm getting them right.
You know the funny thing, in fanfictions, I don't have any trouble writing about other characters. I wrote the whole of Twilight Princess from Midna's point of view, and I got over 200 comments (!!) telling me how good it was. And That's not the only one. Whenever I write something with a character from a book, game, or movie, I can feel connected enough to them that I feel confident about writing their actions and dialogue.
I wonder why that is. That I can use other characters, but not real people. Maybe because in some way, characters in general are more shallow than real people. Or perhaps it's because that when you read or play or watch something, the person who made that tries hard to reveal that person's personality to the reader/player/viewer. So the viewer gets a better sense of what that character is like. While real people don't reveal their true selves all at once. If you don't know someone really well, in can take a long time to figure out what they're really like. Now some people, I can completely predict what they're going to do because I know them so well. I'm of course very good at predicting what my parents are going to do. I'm pretty good at doing it with some of my friends too.
Yeah. I'm curious as to what other people think. If you write about a real person, do you feel like you can accurately portray them? (If anyone is reading this).

Under what mask?

KWAA! This is driving me slightly crazy.
For Under the Masks... I don't know what to do. I mean, I know what to do, but I don't know what to do.
See this is the story I was gonna write with Stephanie (And I bet you're reading this. Hey Steph, I'm gonna send you an email, so check, OK?)
So, either way, I planned the story to include some of Step's REALLY COOL creatures. I got her to put some on the blog a while ago. And again, now I'm on my own with this story (sorry to keep bringing this up, Steph. I should just shut up bout it.) And it feels so strange using Steph's creatures since she's not working on it with me... and I feel kinda bad for using them but now I can't figure out a way to substitute anything else for them... And it would require a lot of changing. And this story has undergone so much changing already... no kidding. I've been screwing with this poor thing for a few years, changing and changing it back, adding a bit more, going back and changing it again. If I ever end up finishing it, it's going to need MAJOR editing. But I've made it so long already that I don't want to abandon it... and there's some cool stuff in it. It's not exactly BAD, but just a bit broken.
But I don't know if I should try to make my own mask creatures or if I should just get rid of the mask idea altogether and do something else...
Bla. Maybe I'll think about that tonight while I'm trying to fall asleep... Actually I'd better go to sleep now. Good night.

Analysis

Remember a long time ago when I went on a tirade against analyzing stuff? Yep. First year of college I really didn't have to do it. A whole year as a break was very good though. Cause we've had 2 analysis assignments so far this semester. And since we're not doing it every other day and only a couple times a semester, I don't loathe it quite as much now. Plus these assignments are a lot easier and less picky than the stuff in high school. And they don't depend as much on making stuff up.
Yeah, thought I should mention that since I got so... passionate about it earlier.

UFO

Another post that I've been putting off.
So, Dad's into astronomy. he was watching this new documentary they did about the first trip to the moon. There were two astronauts that went to the moon. Armstrong was one, obviously. The most famous cause he was the first man to set foot on the moon. The other was named Buzz Aldrin. He recently revealed some information that he was supposed to keep secret. And he's done so for many years. And now he's telling us. When they were on their way to the moon, quite far from Earth, they saw a UFO.
Isn't that AWESOME? It's like that one Star Trek movie-First Contact where the Volcans showed up when humans first discovered light speed. Too bad these guys didn't stick around.

Escape From Plato's Cave Song

Here

Escape From Platos Cave - Ohio University Honor Band
I found it!
There's three movements. The middle one is very pretty.
Okay, here;s the notes on the music that inspired me. Some of them sound funny when taken out of context. Well, I'll just put them all up. First of all the names of the three movements:
1: The cave, the struggle, and the man from the light (a long title)
Dark-Mysterious
Back to Darkness
2: Message of the Man (we liked to tease the title of this movement)
SLowly, Carefully, Bravely
w/ pleading
From the heart
in prayer
3: Escape... Into the Light!
SUDDENLY!
With VIOLENCE (He puts a lot of feeling into these notes)
Very slow and mean. Back to Darkness
w/ New Hope
From the Heart
With Impetus and purpose
Huge, Very slow... Into the Light!
Into the Light


You get the idea. Kudos to you if you can figure out where they fit in the music.

First Chapter of the Cave

Chapter 1: A Light in the Darkness
Deep blackness spread overhead dotted with blurred patches of light, like distant galaxies. The surface of the water shone like a mirror, hardly a ripple crossing its expanse. The flecks of light overhead reflected perfectly in the motionless lake. To anyone else, it would have seemed a motionless night under the open sky, but to Kanya and her friends it was something different altogether. They did not even know whether or not it was night or day, for in their underground city of Palacov, no light ever shone. The dark expanse over them was not the night sky, but the massive cavern that held the water supply of Palacov. And the lights on the ceiling were not stars, but patches of luminescent algae that gave light to the strange underground city.
Kanya’s friend, Mirra, let out a nervous giggle. “I hope we don’t get caught. We’re not really supposed to be out this late. The curfew…”
Jedda gave Mirra a gentle shove. “You worry too much, Mirra. Icon has the curfew so that no one gets lost in the caverns while the electric lights are turned off for the night.”
“We won’t let you get lost,” Dailon said, strutting ahead of the others.
“If you don’t hush up,” Kanya hissed, “We will be caught and out little excursion will be at an end.”
“Is it really this important?” Mirra muttered. “Going out at night like this? We might get in trouble with Icon.”
The four of them made their way around the edge of the underground lake towards one of the infinite tunnels that wove around Palacov. Kanya led the way, carrying one of the lanterns that glowed with a dim light. The lantern light was much different than that of the soft slowing algae. The lantern light was a blue-white color that came from the glowing star worms that lived on the ceilings of some of the caverns. The phospor- algae gave off a greener light that wasn’t quite as harsh. The strange glowing plants lined the ceilings and walls of most of Palacov. And the parts of the caves and tunnels that weren’t coated in algae were carpeted with soft mosses that hung close to what little light there was underground. The phosphor-algae and moss gave oxygen to the citizens of Palacov.
Kanya, Mirra, Jedda, and Dailon crept into one of the main tunnels that branched from the water chamber.
“Yes, it is important,” Kanya said to Mirra after a deliberate pause. “We need to find your moon crystal.”
“Well…” Mirra paused for a moment. “Yes I know that! But I’m saying why can’t we wait until day? We could…”
Jedda cut her off. “You need your crystal for your job. If you don’t have it, you won’t be able to spin the thread…”
“I know that!” Mirra repeated, a small squeaking crack of impatience in her voice. “But why couldn’t we wait until morning?”
“Because, dear Mirra,” Dailon said in his dramatic fatherly voice, “if you have to come all the way out here to get it tomorrow, you’ll fall behind on your work. You’re already behind because you hurt your finger when you jammed it eight nights ago.”
“I’d rather fall behind than to come out at night though,” Mirra said in a half-wail.
Jedda shook his head. “Calm down, Mirra. Kanya was right to bring you to get it tonight.”
“But even so…” Mirra whispered, “You two didn’t need to come…”
“You think we’d let two ladies wander off through Palacov on their own at night?” Dailon said, trying to sound chivalrous for offering to accompany. Actually, it had been Jedda who insisted that they accompany Kanya and Mirra. Dailon had grumbled angrily about being dragged from his bed at such an hour. But it seemed that in the excitement of sneaking about at night, he had forgotten his previous reluctance.
“I don’t remember where I dropped it,” Mirra muttered.
“I think I know,” Kanya assured her. “It was where you were trying to get that particularly large velvet mushroom that you couldn’t reach. Remember, you almost fell down into that pit that was hidden behind a patch of mushrooms? It probably fell out of your pocket. Though I wish you would have mentioned it before we got home again.”
“I didn’t realize that it was missing until I was most of the way back,” Mirra muttered, looking a bit ashamed. “But you drove the cart back… so I didn’t need to find my crystal to power it up…”
“Ah, I wish we could use one of the carts,” Dailon muttered. “It will take over an hour to walk all the way to that patch of velvet mushrooms…”
“Yes, but if we tried to use a cart after curfew,” Dailon reminded them, “They’d catch us for sure. Besides, they shut off the carts when they shut off the lights. Everything powered by the crystals shuts off at night unless there’s an emergency. Remember that time…”
“Yes, I remember,” Kaila moaned. How could anyone forget? When someone had misjudged the amount of flash powder needed for a blasting project and caved in one of the tunnels. He was probably still working in the mines as punishment. They’d had to leave the lights on several nights in a row in order to clear out the tunnel and rescue the people trapped behind the block. Everyone pitched in some way or another. Kanya switched between bringing water and mushrooms to the workers.
Kanya quickened the pace in order to discourage conversation. Several strands of gold-brown hair fell into her face. She flicked them out of the way so that her bright blue eyes flashed in the light of the lantern. She gripped the handle of the lantern in her teeth and reached back to redo her ponytail. She never slackened her pace the whole while. Ponytail straightening was something she had to do several times a day because her hair always managed to escape. She didn’t even think about it any more. When she was done, she took the lantern in her hand again. She didn’t mind walking. And going out at night gave her a slight thrill of excitement, though she didn’t let it show.
Her friend, Mirra, had hair as black as the darkness of the cave. Her brother, Jedda, had the same hair and dark eyes as his sister, though he was much taller than her. Dailon was tall also, but not as much as Jedda. His eyes were pale brown and his hair was a shade darker than Kanya’s. Jedda was the oldest, in his early twenties. Kanya was a few years younger than him at nineteen. Mirra and Dailon were both eighteen, and Dailon resented the fact that Mirra was older than him by just a few nights.
All of them wore clothes made from the same creamy gray material. It was in fact made from the silk of the star worms. It was the only yarn-like material the people of Palacov had to work with. Even after sewn into fabric, it retained a faint luminescence.
The four of them continued on through the net of twisted tunnels that would have been an incomprehensible maze to anyone else. But these four had spent their whole life here. They knew these tunnels as well as they knew anything else.
It did indeed take them over an hour to reach their destination. But at last Mirra’s patch of velvet mushrooms came into view. She had started this patch secretly many years before. It was in a far corner of a tunnel that was rarely, if ever, used. Only Kanya, Jedda, and Dailon knew about it. And she’d sworn them to secrecy. Even Dailon managed to keep the secret for fear that Mirra would tell anyone else about the dreaded “worm incident.”
“Finally we made it,” Dailon moaned. “My feet are…”
“Oh, hush,” Kanya snapped. “Let’s see… where were you when you fell over, Mirra?”
Mirra glanced around, trying to figure out where she may have been. “Ah, it was there. See the place where those rocks fell in?”
“Yeah, it’s a miracle you didn’t fall into that hole,” Kanya sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s see…”
She walked over to a small indent at the end of the cavern. Yes, there was the strange pit. She had only noticed it yesterday when Mirra fell and the bottom fell out from under her. Luckily Kanya got there in time to grab her before she fell in. But Mirra had a few cuts and bruises to show for it.
The entrance to the pit was still almost completely hidden. A few rocks were piled around the rim, and some velvet mushrooms grew over the lip of the pit.
Mirra, Jedda and Dylon started searching around for the moon crystal. Kanya went to the part of the pit that had partly collapsed. She peered down into the dark depths. Then she held up her lantern and glanced around Mirra’s mushroom patch. The round white mushrooms grew thick around the edge of the floor and crept up along the walls. The largest was almost as large as Kanya’s head.
The velvet mushrooms were the main part of the diets of the people of Palacov. They had all the nutrients the citizens needed for survival. The moss was also made into food. And the smallest, and last, part of their diet was a jelly made from the phosphor-algae. There was no variety, but it kept them alive. It was all any of them knew.
Kanya went to a patch of algae and peeled a little fleck of the glowing substance from the rock. The others watched her as she went to the small pit and dropped the algae in. She watched as the light fell, and then stopped as it hit solid ground.
“It’s not deep,” Kanya said. “Help me get in there you guys.”
“You can’t go down there Kanya!” Mirra exclaimed. “What if…”
“I think your crystal fell down there,” Kanya persisted. “Come on Jedda, Dailon. Help me.”
She sat down at the edge of the pit. Jedda and Dailon stood behind her to either side. She help up her arms and each of them took one. They slowly lowered her into the darkness. Just when she thought the pit was too deep for her to reach, her feet hit rock.
“Okay, I’m at the bottom.”
Jedda and Dailon let go of her arms. Mirra’s trembling hand passed the lantern down to Kanya. Kanya knelt and peered around. At first she thought that it was what it appeared from the outside: a pit. But as she moved the lantern from side to side, she saw that two rocks overlapped. There might be a passage back there…
She looked back up. The opening above her was just large enough to show the faces of her three friends looking down at her. But if she moved a step in any direction, she couldn’t’ see them any more.
“Do you see it?” Jedda asked.
“Hang on. There’s a lot of rocks. It might take a while. to get a good look…”
She stepped out of their sight on the pretext of searching for the crystal.
“There isn’t much space… but give me a minute,” she called back, her voice echoing around her.
She crept to the overlap of stones and peeked through. Yes, it was just large enough to let her squeeze through. She glanced back to make sure the others didn’t see her, and then she slipped through the passage.
She set her lantern down mid-way through so that her friends wouldn’t notice the absence of the light. Then she stood up and looked around.
She was in a tunnel. A very old, worn tunnel. No feet had trod here for a very long time. The ground was not smooth, but jagged. Kanya’s boots protected her feet, but too long in this tunnel would wear even these tough shoes. The lantern lit the way for a short distance, but a few scattered patches of phosphor-algae clung to the craggy walls.
An abandoned tunnel. There were a few of them scattered about Palacov. But most of them were completely sealed off for protection. They were too dangerous to be kept open because of cave-ins and such. Could this be one of them?
Kanya glanced back at the dim glow from the lantern, and then she stepped feather-light and swift along the tunnel to where it hit a bend. She peered around the corner and froze.
She had ever seen anything like it. It was far away. So far that a human would seem no bigger than a star worm. There was a light. Not like the soft green of the algae or the bright blue of the glow worms. It wasn’t even like the harsh white of the electric lights. It was bright, warm, and yellow. But it was so far away. As distant as a star.
Kanya stared at it. When a voice called out to her, she almost jumped out of her skin.
“Are you okay, Kanya?” Mirra called.
Kanya fled back to the little passage and ducked through it.
“Sorry,” she said once she was back in the little pit. “I wasn’t paying attention. There was just a little cleft there and I went to look into it.”
Her eyes fell on Mirra’s crystal that was nestled against the wall of the pit. She scooped it up and stuck her head out of the hole.
“I found it! See?” She held up Mirra’s crystal.
Mirra sighed in relief. “Oh, thanks. Thanks Kanya.”
“It rolled down into that little cleft there,” Kanya lied. For a moment her eyes met Jedda’s. He looked stern, as though he knew she wasn’t telling the truth.
Kanya looked away. “Come on! Get me out of here!”
She held up her arms and Jedda and Dailon hauled her out.
The four of them headed back to the city with a considerably relieved Mirra.
But Kanya’s mind was elsewhere. What was that strange light at the end of the tunnel?

Escape From Plato's Cave

So, "Escape from Plato's Cave" is a song we played in band for our last concert. (On a side note, I haven't been REALLY connected to any of the songs we've gotten so far in college Symphonic Band. I guess I have different tastes from our conductor. I mean, some of the pieces are cool. But we don't have anything pretty. Maybe one movement of a piece, or a few lines in a larger piece.)
Either way, that song is based off of Plato's Allegory of a Cave which I had to learn twice-once in high school and once in college. The story is about what would happen if people who had lived in a cave all their life were suddenly exposed to the outside world (more or less). But the margin notes on our music didn't sound too much like Plato's version. They did sound very cool however. It sounded like it would make a good story.
So there's this girl in Symphonic Band named Arianna. She's a few years older than me. She played flute last year, and now she's doing oboe. But she writes stories too and she wanted to write on with me. So we eventually settled on writing this story. So, she told me to write the first chapter. So I did. I sent it to her a few weeks ago. And I have yet to hear anything about it. Sigh. We'll see if anything ever comes of it. If not, I have my first chapter and I can do something with it later. I only have one or two ideas about what should come later on. About the roles the friends play in the whole thing. That's about it... Ooh, I should post some of those notes so you can get the idea. I wonder if I can find a recording of the song...
Hey, I think I'll post the first chapter! Just cause I should post some of my work and I never do.
So, a warning, to people reading this. Don't steal my stuff or my dragon will get you.
(The name of the underground city is basically a rather bad mismatch of letters from "Plato's Cave")

Laws

I don't understand the world sometimes. There are so many stupid things going on...
You know, every time someone is elected into an important political position, they feel like they need to make laws. So they make laws that are stupid and make life more complicated and stupid than it is already. One bad example is that they recently made the train whistles much louder. So though that may benefit a few people who would walk into the railroad tracks because they can't hear a train, it hurts everyone else because noises that are that horribly loud damage ears. So instead of a few people being hard of hearing, then everyone will go deaf... Laws that benefit one or two people and hurt everyone else aren't needed. We don't want them. Not that the minority isn't important. And there are good laws of course. But there shouldn't be laws that only help a couple people and screw everyone else.
For example about a week ago, I heard a story where a little boy in elementary school was going to go on a camping trip, so he was really excited. He brought a sort of pocket mess kit thing to school that included a fork and a knife. and because he brought a knife to school, this little kid is going to be sent to several weeks of correctional learning or some other sort of @#&$!#*$&!#^*!#$%*!#$%&!#$% like that! How is that justice? What is WRONG with our society that we need to do that with a little boy who didn't even know better in the first place!?!?! I swear... if I ever get my hands on people like that... huff huff huff...
And then you hear things about a guy at a theme park who lost his hat so he he climbed up under the rollercoaster to get it and he got killed by the rollercoaster. So his family sued the theme park even though there were signs that stated the obvious :DO NOT CROSS! They sued the theme park because that guy was STUPID enough to walk under a moving rollercoaster! I'm not saying he deserved to die, but something like that would NOT be the fault of the theme park who put up signs. The excuse was that there weren't enough signs or that the signs weren't in enough languages or anything. But that's still so stupid! It's obvious that you shouldn't step over a fence that's clearly there to protect you...
And there were those two freaks who went to the San Francisco Zoo and tormented the tiger enough that it got out and killed one of them. They were throwing rocks and stuff and I heard (though I'm not sure) that one of them climbed over the first fence, which is the reason why the tiger was able to get out. And they had to kill the poor tiger and they sued the zoo even though those freaks were clearly harassing the animals. That was their fault, not the zoos.
Now tell me-is this a just society that you're pleased with? When people with cases like this actually win? And it happens OFTEN.
The people who allow this kind of stuff need to be sent to an intense mental facility. There are certain things where it's just to sue someone. It's not always wrong to sue soemone when some guy drives a car through your front door or soemthing then yeah, make him pay for repairs. For example, up near Nevada City, some arson set the forest on fire and it almost burnt down the Ananda community-a peaceful church community. But luckily nothing was seriously damaged (though it came damn close-you can see the burnt trees right across the street from one of the temples). And Ananda decided NOT to sue the guy.
Ok... I'd better stop cause thinking about this kinda stuff makes me mad if you can't tell. (Yes, another post I've been putting off which is why it's about an event that took place over a week ago).

Wolves

Thanks Stephanie! That helps cause I'm literally just about to have the character meet a fisher-a real one, not one that looks like a fisher but is mean... yeah. So, now I can keep writing. I'm been working on this kinda slowly.
Writing in general has been a bit sluggish for a few weeks. A page or so here and there, writing my fanfic, adding some to this story. I just got a lot to do. Our lives are so strange. They seem to be scheduled on the fact that there's never enough time to do anything... And then there all these things designed to help eat time. Like video games ^o^ Seriously, they really do eat time...
Like I said, I have a lot I really want to write about on the blog but I've been neglecting that too. Again, a lot to do. (Only partly because I got a new game ^3^'' (Yes, experimenting with guilty-looking computer faces).
I lost my train of thought... seriously, I forgot what I was going to say. Oh, I'm so glad tomorrow's my last day before the weekend... thank goodness for no friday classes... Well, maybe I'll remember later. For now, I should explain about the title of the post-wolves. Yes, I love wolves, though that's not what this is about. Another belated post since I actually finished this a week ago. I may have mentioned that Nicole and Ellen gave me a list of anime and manga to get through to "improve my meager repertoire." So, I agree to get through them if there's nothing in them to make me wanna stop.
So, Nicole had me watch "Spice and Wolf." It was pretty good. I wasn't completely wild about it, but it was interesting. (though a warning if you want to watch it, the wolf girl often doesn't wear clothes, though it's drawn in a way to not be too... detailed if ya know what I mean. So not too bad).
Anime really seem to like wolves. There was that other one I saw over a year ago, and I posted on it when it finished because the end was so devastating! Wolf's Rain. I don't remember how much I posted about it. Bu I really loved the wolves and Cheza. The plot in general was pretty dark, but I kept watching because I expected to end with them finding paradise. But (SPOILERS) it ended by everyone-and I mean everyone-dying. And apparently paradise was screwed up too... So yeah. Not a fun way to end the series...
Ooh, I remembered what I was gonna say earlier.
So, a lot of my posts recently haven't been too closely tied to my writing. I want you to know that I realize this. There's just lots of cool stuff to share! And Like I said, my writing's been a bit sluggish since I finished "Of Spirits and Demons." And about that, I still have to but up my silly "tidbits" so I'll be doing that once I get around to it...

:/ No, I hadn't checked my email until just now. I'll sent ya a reply.

Fishers are largely solitary creatures, and usually only gather for important events, like the yearly moon viewing or more serious matters. I sort of see them almost like angels, only in more of a mythical creature sense. They seen mostly at night and if they decide to keep a home, they prefer something like a large enclosed nest hidden in large and old trees. As a species they are supposed to be wise and help keep balance or serve as judges and are avid stargazers.

I don't really remember what the Sorai are like in the context of the story though. D: Sorry.

Floods

Ah, I've been neglecting some posts I want to do.
By the way, thanks for the picture Steph. Did you get my email a couple days ago?
Hey, about your Fishers and the Sorai, I'm curious. Is there any information about their behavior/societies that you have in mind? And where do they live? What are their houses like ,ex. For the story we started writing together? Cause you said I could use those 2 species...

Sooo, here's one of the posts. On tuesday this week, there was a big storm. Now, I live on a hill, but somehow our basement got flooded. Don't ask me how. So we spent a lot of time bailing water out of our basement and pulling stuff out of the way. It was only a few inches in one corner, but it was enough to be a big hassle. There was a cardboard portfolio that Mom kept that had some of my older drawings from when I was younger. Some of them got a bit soaked so we had to let them dry. Anyway, I found a couple of my old stories in that portfolio. As usual, they're only part completed. And they're pretty bad. Heheh. I think I actually mentioned them earlier in the blog.
One was about a group of kids getting lost in the woods and trying to survive. Very random...
Then there are a few chapters about a group of girls that are on a volleyball team. I was in the volleyball team in 6th grade, which is probably when I wrote this.
And the last one was sort of interesting. It was the dinosaur one where people live with dinosaurs. I guess it was like my own version of Dinotopia. Parts of it were so bad that they were funy. Actually, some of the names in it were kind of interesting. And the layout for the city was interesting too. Hmm.

TARA!! You were looking for a picture of San's dagger? I found a picture on flickr for ya!
It's not much but it's something. I'm sure there are more pictures of it out on the internet. Try looking under Mononoke hime and just surf the pictures.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimplytoycollectibles/3969657446/

Crystal Dagger

Well, I was trying to find a picture of San's dagger on the internet, and I couldn't find one so I made my own. I've discovered how to do that! Wahahah! So I might make more pictures some time when my computer "issues" are solved. Hopefully tomorrow cause John's coming over (the computer guy-I still call him the computer guy but I think his name's John.

Frost Dragon Redone

So, I redrew a frost dragon. Still long and swirly, but I suppose the proportions are closer to what I have in mind.

Plot Holes

Moan... Computers... make... my... brain... fry.............
Well, Like I said, I got a new computer. Yesterday, the guy who sold it came over to help with a few little things and we updated the computer, ex. And literally just after he left, I restarted it and everything was all screwed up. All my music and photos were gone (luckily I keep everything saved elsewhere so nothing's lost permanently) and I'd spent the past two weeks slowly going through my music and organizing it (which IS gone and I'm gonna have to redo).
And the internet's a bit screwed up...
So I don't know if it was the update or if I did something to screw it up...
So, I am using that computer now, so it works to an extent... but...
Yeah, the guy came over again today to help fix it. I feel kinda bad cause he doesn't live too close and he has to come back a third time cause we're gonna have to reinstall some stuff to make it work and everything...
Groan... I wish I could move to Magic-Earth or Soreina where they didn't have computer problems or wacky governments and laws and societies and people...

OK, changing the subject. Plot Holes. Always weird in a story. Of course everyone knows this. Oh well. One strange one I always notice in movies like Indiana Jones when someone takes a horse or something, and then they jump from the horse to the car, ex, and the horse kinda vanished into oblivion. Or when someone's holding something one minute and it's gone the next. When random things sort of vanish in the folds of the story... Make sure nothing any of you write sort of evaporates. Tell everyone what happened to it.
Yeah, I know I had a LOT of good examples of plot holes but I forgot them a few weeks ago and I don't know what they were. Maybe some time I'll remember them and put them up...
Bla. Sorry I'm cranky today. Yesterday and today=computer flop. Now I understand that picture I drew with me and Briena...
And tomorrow I got a midterm. But I took this class in high school so it should be easy. Despite the fact that I haven't studied yet and I really need to practice flute cause our concert's this thursday and I feel really lousy now and I wanna go to sleep....
Bottom line... don't bug me when I'm cranky. Luckily it doesn't happen too often...

PONYO!!

WAHAHAHAH! My first attempt at actually coloring a picture in photo shop! It took me forever to figure it out. Drew it, scanned it, and then colored it. I'm sure there's an easier way to color it than what I did, but I guess I don't have a fully updated program or something. I remember it working better on Mom's computer (yes, the computer in my room finally has internet! Before it was just my laptop and mom's computer).

HAAAMM!!

La Corda D'Oro

Ah, Ellen and Nicole gave me this big list of anime to watch and manga to read. So I've been slowly looking at a few of them. Actually, come to think of it, Angeles told me about this one. It's pretty good. I just saw the last episode a few minutes ago: La Corda D'oro.
I shall try to do a basic summary... and just sos ya know, any anime/manga I talk about here (like I've mentioned, I've only seen a few of them) will be on the tamer end of the range. I know that there are some REALLY strange ones out there.
So this takes place at a school that is spilt between music students and normal students. They have this competition where some of the best music students compete over the course of four selections. And this one girl, Kahoko, knows nothing about music. But she's chosen to participate, and she's given a magic violin that plays according to how she feels.
Now, you may know that I play flute. The flute guy seemed nice at first... but there were a couple episodes where he freaked me out. It never goes overboard though. And Nicole was right in that it does bog down a bit in the end.
Ah, and after watching this, I always want to go and play flute! Ah, if I were that good...
So, I approve. Go watch it.

The Animal Seven

Ah, at least a bit of explanation about the guys I put up. I think they're gonna be mostly siblings. I'm still trying to work out a lot of glitches about their story... but I'm pretty sure (maybe) that they'll end up in the story with the family that plays music. I don't know if I've mentioned them yet or not, actually.
Cat
Bird
Bat
Rabbit
Dog
Squirrel
Otter
If I end up going with the vague random normal plot I have in mind, Lavender will be the main character.
They all have different colored arm bands (but Ginko wears his on his finger cause it can't fit on his arm.)
And Piñon-needs some explanation. He's the youngest. They made the first six of mammals. And then they tried to make Piñon out of a bird, but they weren't ready to try blending a human with a non-mammal, so he didn't turn out too well. He ended up with one wing and one arm. So he can't fly, and he only has one arm. Poor guy. Ah, and here's the fun in his name. Piñon is a type of tree (cause all of them are named after plants). But pinion is also part of a bird's wing, and "pinioning" means to take off some of a birds feathers so it can't fly. And since Piñon cant fly... I though it was a good dual-meaning.
And Cyprus, well, let's see. Neither he nor Birch turned out too well. But I volunteer at the wildlife department at the humane society. And it is currently squirrel season. This year, I saw two squirrels (or maybe the same one twice, but unlikely) unlike any squirrels I've ever seen before. I mean, there are black squirrels, and then there were these two. They were completely pitch black-no other colors. They had really long silky tails, and tufted silky ears. They were the most beautiful squirrels I've ever seen. So, I tried to make Cyprus like that. He's supposed to be really handsome, but my drawing sucks. Sorry Cyprus!
Heheh. I was gonna have four boys and three girls, but I lost track as I was drawing them (I drew one each during my humanities class for a seven classes running just to bug Nick and Tracey). So, I accidentally made five boys. So at the last minute just as I'd finished drawing Willow, I realized that I was supposed to have another girl . So I changed Willow to a girl.

My cool guys!

Ah, I'll write about them later. For now, see if you can guess which animal each of them is. The first six are easy. Willow is harder. Look at her fingers.

Lavender


Pinyon


Ginko


Clover


Birch


Cyprus


Willow