Ready My Flamingos

One line from Kipo that I really latched onto was "ready my flamingos!" 

Which is most likely because of the flamingo colony at the zoo.

I was teasing to my friend that I wanted one of the bird keepers to say "ready my flamingos!" 

But it turns out that I helped package up some zoo fundraiser packages. The people that donate get a little stuffed animal of their chosen species. And one of those species is the flamingo. And so it was that I got to say in a professional setting, "Ready my flamingos!"

... Even if no one was around to hear me. 

But hey. We gotta find simple pleasures during these crazy times XD And crazy times make me want to imitate crazy monkeys. 

AAAHAHAHAHAH! HOO HOO HOO!

Introducing Two New Dragons!

A while ago I mentioned that I was finally creating a race of lightning people. 

And I mentioned very briefly that I was finally adding those extra two dragon species. I'd been putting these dragons off literally for years, mostly because I had no ideas for what they might look like. While designing the other species, I tried to cover every basic body design I've seen for a dragon (The idea is that the dragons in that world reflect the dragons in our mythology). But that meant that when I was done, I had no images for what any different dragons might look like. I didn't even think about it, beyond noticing an interesting shape for horns or ears or something. 

So, yeah. My resistance was strong.

But when I made the lightning people, I finally cracked. And once I made up my mind, the dragons pretty much designed themselves in a few hours. I kept getting ideas of what they'd look like. It was like a puzzle that built itself in my mind, and I wasn't even trying to find the pieces. It was miraculously automatic. The dragons just popped into existence. Even their names were so easy (The last couple years, I've spent a lot of time re-naming a bunch of things in my stories, which has usually been very complicated).

Now, here they are!

I introduce you to the Zephyr dragon - with wind magic

 The fronts of their wings are feathered, which helps them fly with very little sound. And their wings are covered with tiny scales, like those on butterfly wings. So they're often iridescent. And they commonly have complicated patterns on their wings. Because of this, they're sometimes called butterfly of fairy dragons. (I think I may have drawn this one with too short legs)

 

And the earth dragon - with rock magic

Their horns and back ridge and tail club all match - they look like crystal. They have short legs to fit through the tunnels they dig. And the backs of their wings have scales, which protects them when they squeeze through rock. This also means they aren't the best fliers. The scales on their back are far stronger than the leathery scales on their underside.

Actually, I already had an earth dragon. The previous earth dragon had both rock and metal magic. but that never sat right with me. When I designed the new dragon, he seemed more like a rock dragon than a metal dragon. So the original earth dragon is now the "iron dragon." And the guy up above is the dragon that has rock magic. 

Earth and iron dragons are closely related, and there is some hybridization. So you can get a few rare dragons with both rock and metal magic (Toph dragons!)

Storm dragons no longer have wind magic. They're pure lightning. 

 

I think I may tweak the features of the wood dragon too while I'm at it. I'm considering removing the feathers from their tail, since they have felt awkward to me in the past. 

(I already drew an earth dragon from Katani's story. But now he's an iron dragon. If I run into any problems with that, I'll cheat and say that he's a hybrid  XD )

Why a Bad Finale Ruins the Show

 Well, now I know why a bad ending makes me so crazy!

Every now and then when I'm going through an edit, I'll find a line or a description that surprises me.  It leaves me thinking, "wow, did I write something that good? If I tried to write that now, it wouldn't' be nearly as eloquent."

I guess when I'm in the zone, I don't even remember when I type stuff like that.

Hippo

Reading Update

Another reading update! Most of the books I've read since my last reading post.

I feel like I've forgotten most of my comments by the time I write one of these big compilations. Oops.

 

All the light we cannot see, Doerr

Beautifully written. I was captivated for the first part. I knew it would get intense (it's about World War II after all) but the ending was still a bit too depressing for me XD 

 

Gandhi: An Autobiography 

It was more interesting than I was expecting! It didn't really go into the big stuff that he's famous for (the stuff in the movie), which I think was part of what I liked about it. You got to see more of his personal view on things. 

 

 The Soul of an Octopus, Montgomery 

I've read several of her books. I love the way she writes about animals. 

 (Here's Aang being an octopus)

 

The Last Unicorn, Beagle 

I've loved this movie my whole life. Many years ago, I read the first half of it. But I never finished it. I finally fixed that @_@  

The author has very colorful writing.  Very creative descriptions. 

 

Pursuing Giraffe, Dagg 

She's the first person to study wild animals in Africa (I think the second person to ever so a study on wild animals). This is the story of her time in Africa. 

It was awful hearing about how Europeans treated the people of Africa. I knew it was bad, but I always like to hope that things aren't as bad as I fear... The author didn't grow up in Africa, so she could see the full extent of the racism. She thought she was beyond all of that herself. But years later when she was reading the letters she wrote during that time, she was shocked to find out how much that racist attitude invaded her thoughts. 

It's frightening to see how those toxic thoughts can weed their way into your brain.

But it was also great reading about giraffes!

The Power of Now, Tolle 

This was a fascinating book. I definitely recommend it. It explains ways to reset your thinking so you're less stressed and such. Basically, everything is about the moment. Don't dwell on the past or focus on the future. Just focus on what's happening now.  What you're doing now will influence the future.

 

Vanishing Tracks, Hillard 

A book about people who were studying snow leopards in the wild. It shows you a lot about the people who live up in the mountains. 

I met one of the main guys in this book.  

 Battle Magic, Pierce 

 She was my favorite author in middle school. But then for a long time, I didn't care about any of her new books. But here's another one I really enjoyed! It felt so much like the books of hers that I loved. A nostalgic feeling.

 

Leviathan, Westerfeld

I really enjoyed this series. I originally checked it out because I liked another series from this author.  I haven't read/seen too much steam punk, so it was cool to read a steam punk WWII story. As someone who works at a zoo, I always bristle at genetically modified animals. But they book uses them in fascinating ways. 

I was hoping for more from the ending. (Spoilers) I thought it would be fascinating to see how Alec balanced love for a person and love for his country. But instead he just threw his country away. Sigh.I was also disappointed that Darren didn't get to do anything for the finale. The finale actually seemed anticlimactic compared to the rest of the series. But overall, it was a creative and entertaining series.

 

Stars Above, Meyer 

A bunch of short stories from the "Cinder" series. I loved that first book. And reading these short stories was like visiting old friends. It was cool to hear tales from their past. 

 

The Horses in my Life, Roberts 

This guy has done so much to help horses.  It was cool reading tales of the different horses that helped to shape him. 

The Positronic Man, Asimov and Silverberg 

A story about a robot who has some very human tendencies. Through the book, he slowly evolves and becomes more and more human-like. It had some fascinating ideas. And it was cool to see how the world around him changed so much around him. (The movie Bicentennial Man is based off this book. But there is no romance in the book)

 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay 

At college, we had a homework assignment to go to an author event. And there was one that  this author was doing about this book. I started reading it shortly after the event. But I only finished reading it now @_@  I liked it at first. But the end drove me crazy, with each of the guys ditching out on everyone at some point.

 

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, See 

I actually nearly quite reading this at one point (because the main character's situation was making me too anxious in a way I don't like when reading). But I kept it up a little longer, and immediately after that point, I started to like it again.  I really enjoyed the second half.

The book is a really fascinating look at the people and the art of tea.

 

 Living in a Mindful Universe, Alexander 

Another fascinating book about the health of your body and mind.

 

Dr. Fisher's Life on the Ark, Fisher 

A book by the director of a zoo. It seems inevitable that people who work with animals end up with a lot of crazy tales!

 

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, Green

I love how they were able to sabotage the system XD 

Unearthing the First Fanfic

So, many months ago I had trouble transferring my data over to a new computer. I'm still going through every single file, making sure everything works. I'm glad I have, because there are problems with a lot of things and I have to go back and reformat them and try transferring them again. 

Yeesh. 

That's when I noticed that funny thing about the poem dates (which I mentioned in the previous post). 

I also ran across a story that I haven't looked at in a very long time. It was one of my first fanfictions - a Twilight Princess one. I didn't even remember what it was about! I scanned a couple pages, but it was like I was reading it for the first time. I think it was the first thing I posted on fanfic. But I also deleted it a while ago, because it felt very old. 

I don't think I've ever so thoroughly forgotten a story I wrote myself. @_@

I kind of want to read it, just to remember what it was about. No matter how cringe-worthy it may be.

 I just noticed that my computer shows that some of my poems were written in 1970. 

That is... long before I was born. And before most people had their own computers to type poetry on. 

Interesting glitch, that. It's only in the oldest poems I have too. Even so, they're not that old. Just middle school.

Sumatran Tiger

George Takei: They Called us Enemy

 I just read a good graphic novel: George Takei: They Called us Enemy

I forget where I heard about it. By the time I get around to a book on my list, months (or longer) have passed since I wrote it down. By then I've forgotten entirely what it's about. And I never read the blurbs on a book, because I like to be surprised. So when I started reading this, I wasn't even sure if it was fiction or nonfiction (I once read half of a book thinking that the characters weren't real, only to discover I was wrong @_@ ). This one was nonfiction. 

I got the shivers when he talked about the bombing of Hiroshima. After visiting the museum and epicenter in Nagasaki, it's impossible not to.

(The sign shows this same landscape after the bomb fell)

Near the end of the book, I finally realized that this story was about Sulu, from Star Trek! And I flipped out a little (They'd actually mentioned Sulu earlier in the comic, but I wasn't sure how it fit into the context of the story). As I've mentioned many times before, I'm more likely to get excited about something when I'm familiar with one of the players. 

I've never actually watched the Star Trek series. But I love some of the movies. It was fascinating to learn about his story.

He has an awesome voice. He's done characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Mulan. He was even the dad of one of my favorite characters XD (Hiro Nakamura)

It says his name on the book, but I didn't know who it was. Which isn't unusual. There are a lot of very famous people who I have no idea what they look like. And on the flip side, there are plenty of actors I know, but don't know their names...

Anyway, the book was great. I definitely recommend it.

Part 2 of actors showing up in unexpected places. 

I was watching a documentary about the making of Frozen 2 (at that point, I had only seen the movie a couple times, and it wasn't recently). The voice actor for Lieutenant Mattias came on. Immediately I thought, "Gee, that sounds like Lio. Nah, that can't be right. I'm just making that up. No way, that has to be him!" And sure enough, it was the same voice actor. Why was I so surprised? Because I'd literally looked him up because I liked Lio so much. And my eyes must have just glazed over that Frozen 2 credit. 

Anyway, I had to immediately go back and watch Frozen 2.  That's my usual reaction when this sort of thing happens (like when I found out that Scarlemagne was Beast).

I liked Mattias the first time I saw the movie. One of the first comments I made when saw it with my friend (back when theaters were open @_@ ) was about his reaction to Olaf's Frozen summary. Olaf's skit is ridiculous, and would be hard to follow unless you'd seen the movie. And yet Mattias (and everyone else) seem to follow it and take it very seriously. His reactions in particular are  what the audience was supposed to feel while they were watching those parts of the movie. 

(And Yelana is kind of this foil in this scene. I love her reaction to the Hans reveal).

But if you look at this scene more seriously, Olaf's summary is the first news of home that Lieutenant Mattias has had in what, 30 years? He got stuck in this forest because he was protecting the prince. And he found out that the prince is gone when Olaf goes, "their parents are DEAD."

Kind or a tragic way for him to learn. We don't even get to see his reaction about that particular bit of information.

I started to get anxious when it looked like they'd make him an antagonist. But I was relieved when that didn't happen.

Blog Cleaning

I just looked back into my blog's history. Oh man, there are so many posts I want to delete! There's so much random crud I talked about.

Or is it good to leave them? Just to see the change? 

Ugh, I want to delete some. But it would take sooo long!

Kudu

 It's really hard to get emotional when I'm editing a scene in my story. 

Instead of getting sucked into the events, I'm rearranging and replacing words, reading the same sentences over and trying to make them as smooth as possible. 

It sucks, because this is a scene where one of my favorite characters dies. And I can't even feel it properly!

But I just finished a big edit of the story! I'm going to scan through it once more and give it a last good polish. But I think it's in pretty good shape!