One of those strange moments, when, for half a second you think, "Crud. I'd better go apologize to my friends."
Only to realize that I didn't get in a fight with my friends. Katani got into a fight with HIS friends.
Wow. Even for half a second, that was strange. @_@
~*~
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Finding Hapiness - Movie
Hey, remember that movie that I got to be an extra in? Well, it's done!
On Saturday, Mom and I went to see a pre-screening of it. The first screening of the final version. So, that's cool!
The movie is called Finding Happiness, which I think comes from Swami Kriyananda's teachings. It's about creating small communities. A journalist woman (played by Elizabeth Rohm) goes to a small community called Ananda Village to write a story about living in small communities.
She was the only real actress. Everyone else in the movie played themselves. And since they were all talking about their real experiences, without any real script, it was a bit like a documentary. But the fact that it was all real made it all the more great.
It was fun to see so many people I recognized. Like David, who showed her around the village. And Asha, and Mirabai. And Swami Kriyananda, of course, who I've seen and spoken to (once that I remember, at least).
The dance Mirabai took part in was beautiful. Especially with the setting sun behind them. Wow.
IT was also fun to see the places that I'd been so many times before. The Ananda Village is such a beautiful place.
Mom showed up a bit in the opening scene. They showed the volleyball team for a moment, but I don't think I showed up in the shot. Heheh. After that fuss about me being on the team, and I didn't even show up. But I got to play volleyball all day, so I don't mind.
Mom showed up in a choir scene. And I showed up for a second during the farewell speech. I think the back of my head appeared a couple times too.
After the movie finished, Asha talked some about filming it. And she explained some about the actress. I was curious how she was chosen for the part. Apparently she heard about the movie, and she'd heard of Ananda before. So she jumped at the opportunity to be in the movie. I was glad to hear that. And apparently she enjoyed herself a lot while staying in the village.
I'm curious to see what other people will think of the movie.
In a couple weeks, there's going to be a website for the movie. So I'll post it when it comes up. But I wanted to write this post while the movie was still fresh in my mind.
Something very sad and strange happened. Yesterday morning, Mom told me that Swami Kriyanada had died the night before. Just a few hours after everyone watched the movie that he had helped develop, and took part in.
He was an amazing person who has helped so many people all over the world. He started the Ananda community, where the movie was filmed, as well as other connected communities in many other countries.
He was very old, and had been sick for a long time. But it just sort of felt like he'd be around forever...
On Saturday, Mom and I went to see a pre-screening of it. The first screening of the final version. So, that's cool!
The movie is called Finding Happiness, which I think comes from Swami Kriyananda's teachings. It's about creating small communities. A journalist woman (played by Elizabeth Rohm) goes to a small community called Ananda Village to write a story about living in small communities.
She was the only real actress. Everyone else in the movie played themselves. And since they were all talking about their real experiences, without any real script, it was a bit like a documentary. But the fact that it was all real made it all the more great.
It was fun to see so many people I recognized. Like David, who showed her around the village. And Asha, and Mirabai. And Swami Kriyananda, of course, who I've seen and spoken to (once that I remember, at least).
The dance Mirabai took part in was beautiful. Especially with the setting sun behind them. Wow.
IT was also fun to see the places that I'd been so many times before. The Ananda Village is such a beautiful place.
Mom showed up a bit in the opening scene. They showed the volleyball team for a moment, but I don't think I showed up in the shot. Heheh. After that fuss about me being on the team, and I didn't even show up. But I got to play volleyball all day, so I don't mind.
Mom showed up in a choir scene. And I showed up for a second during the farewell speech. I think the back of my head appeared a couple times too.
After the movie finished, Asha talked some about filming it. And she explained some about the actress. I was curious how she was chosen for the part. Apparently she heard about the movie, and she'd heard of Ananda before. So she jumped at the opportunity to be in the movie. I was glad to hear that. And apparently she enjoyed herself a lot while staying in the village.
I'm curious to see what other people will think of the movie.
In a couple weeks, there's going to be a website for the movie. So I'll post it when it comes up. But I wanted to write this post while the movie was still fresh in my mind.
Something very sad and strange happened. Yesterday morning, Mom told me that Swami Kriyanada had died the night before. Just a few hours after everyone watched the movie that he had helped develop, and took part in.
He was an amazing person who has helped so many people all over the world. He started the Ananda community, where the movie was filmed, as well as other connected communities in many other countries.
He was very old, and had been sick for a long time. But it just sort of felt like he'd be around forever...
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Going Normal
I got my second five-star mark on a poem this evening. :3
I thought it was a lame failure at a romance poem, but I guess people liked it. XD
It's really weird writing romance poems. And yet I've tried three of them this semester. So, my first three will probably be my last three for a while.
It's strange writing about something that you have no experience with.
I still want to play Ni no Kuni. TT^TT
Which brings me to my next point.
Studio Ghibli.
I heard a while ago that Studio Ghibli is no longer going to do fantasy movies. And while I like their realistic movies, this makes me incredibly sad. Their fantasy movies are so amazing, and catching, and colorful, and creative. They're unlike anything else I know, and they will always hold a special place for me.
I was always looking forward to the next Ghibli movie to see if they could one-up Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, or Howl's Moving Castle. But I guess that won't happen.
Again, not to say I don't like their realistic movies. I like them very much. I just watched Whisper of the Heart again, and being a writer, I love that one especially. But they just don't have that same level of Amazingness that their fantasies have.
Apparently they decided to do this in order to get across different messages in their movies. I think.
But one of the great things about fantasy is that they give you an entirely different field for giving messages. You can say things differently than you could say them in a realistic film. So... why stop? Why stop what you're the best at? Better than anyone else I know of?
And just now, as I was trying to look up more information about this, I discovered something else.
Apparently the next two movies by Miyazaki and Takahata will be their last.
Nooo, please don't stop!! Miyazaki is such a genius! I can't imagine not having him create new stuff. TT^TT
But not only that. Apparently, once these two retire, Disney wants to get in on Ghibli. As in take it over, or partially take it over.
Oh, God, no. I like Disney stuff. There are a lot of Disney movies that I love very very much.
But they bought Pixar. They bought Marvel. They bought Star Wars. They're buying everything! Stop buying everything! They're taking over the film industry! And while I like Disney stuff, they have a certain way of removing part of the creative edge from things. At least, from what I've noticed so far. Pixar is slowly being taken over by sequels. Although I was so excited in the buildup to Brave, even that disappointed me some. Even their English translations of Ghibli movies remove a little something (though to be fair, most translations do).
Disney, while I love a lot of your stuff, I don't want EVERYTHING to come from Disney!
Aww, man, I hope none of this is true. TT^TT
Fact of the Day: There is a certain frequency of vibrations that helps bone strength. Cat purrs fall within the frequency, so their purring is actually beneficial to their health.
I thought it was a lame failure at a romance poem, but I guess people liked it. XD
It's really weird writing romance poems. And yet I've tried three of them this semester. So, my first three will probably be my last three for a while.
It's strange writing about something that you have no experience with.
I still want to play Ni no Kuni. TT^TT
Which brings me to my next point.
Studio Ghibli.
I heard a while ago that Studio Ghibli is no longer going to do fantasy movies. And while I like their realistic movies, this makes me incredibly sad. Their fantasy movies are so amazing, and catching, and colorful, and creative. They're unlike anything else I know, and they will always hold a special place for me.
I was always looking forward to the next Ghibli movie to see if they could one-up Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, or Howl's Moving Castle. But I guess that won't happen.
Again, not to say I don't like their realistic movies. I like them very much. I just watched Whisper of the Heart again, and being a writer, I love that one especially. But they just don't have that same level of Amazingness that their fantasies have.
Apparently they decided to do this in order to get across different messages in their movies. I think.
But one of the great things about fantasy is that they give you an entirely different field for giving messages. You can say things differently than you could say them in a realistic film. So... why stop? Why stop what you're the best at? Better than anyone else I know of?
And just now, as I was trying to look up more information about this, I discovered something else.
Apparently the next two movies by Miyazaki and Takahata will be their last.
Nooo, please don't stop!! Miyazaki is such a genius! I can't imagine not having him create new stuff. TT^TT
But not only that. Apparently, once these two retire, Disney wants to get in on Ghibli. As in take it over, or partially take it over.
Oh, God, no. I like Disney stuff. There are a lot of Disney movies that I love very very much.
But they bought Pixar. They bought Marvel. They bought Star Wars. They're buying everything! Stop buying everything! They're taking over the film industry! And while I like Disney stuff, they have a certain way of removing part of the creative edge from things. At least, from what I've noticed so far. Pixar is slowly being taken over by sequels. Although I was so excited in the buildup to Brave, even that disappointed me some. Even their English translations of Ghibli movies remove a little something (though to be fair, most translations do).
Disney, while I love a lot of your stuff, I don't want EVERYTHING to come from Disney!
Aww, man, I hope none of this is true. TT^TT
Fact of the Day: There is a certain frequency of vibrations that helps bone strength. Cat purrs fall within the frequency, so their purring is actually beneficial to their health.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Soreina + Reyu Map
Finally fixed the map for my Taysia continent, and for Reyu.
The main thing I needed to do was to change the shapes of Reyu and Leyng. So Reyu is the Eastern continent now, and Leyng is the southern continent.
I also finished figuring out all of the provinces for Reyu (I think). I keep wondering if I should change some stuff about Reyu. Maybe I will... I still don't know.
Mewtwo, what have they done to you???? given you that ugly new form? At first I hoped it was just a fake. but apparently it's not. And now it's confirmed that it is in fact another form of Mewtwo. WHYYY??? Leave Mewtwo alone!!
Fact of the day: For falconers, or people who deal with birds of prey. If their perch is a smooth, perfectly cylindrical piece of wood, it can be very bad for the bird's feet. It's a condition called bumblefoot, which leads to sores on the feet. Severe cases can make the feet almost unrecognizable.
It's important that their perches are uneven. Something like a twisty manzanita branch that has a lot of big lumpy knots (with sharp points filed off) is great.
The main thing I needed to do was to change the shapes of Reyu and Leyng. So Reyu is the Eastern continent now, and Leyng is the southern continent.
I also finished figuring out all of the provinces for Reyu (I think). I keep wondering if I should change some stuff about Reyu. Maybe I will... I still don't know.
Mewtwo, what have they done to you???? given you that ugly new form? At first I hoped it was just a fake. but apparently it's not. And now it's confirmed that it is in fact another form of Mewtwo. WHYYY??? Leave Mewtwo alone!!
Fact of the day: For falconers, or people who deal with birds of prey. If their perch is a smooth, perfectly cylindrical piece of wood, it can be very bad for the bird's feet. It's a condition called bumblefoot, which leads to sores on the feet. Severe cases can make the feet almost unrecognizable.
It's important that their perches are uneven. Something like a twisty manzanita branch that has a lot of big lumpy knots (with sharp points filed off) is great.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Resisting Drag
It's something that has been bugging me for a long time. Throughout Katani's story, he's mainly just dragged along. He makes the one big decision to try out for the GRA, yes. But everything after that is decided for him. What team he's on, what dragon he gets, and what missions he goes on.
Crystal brought it up a couple days ago, which is good because then I actually had to address it. It was on my "check later list," along with several dozen other things for my story. I'm getting through it very slowly, but a lot of it I haven't reached in my edit yet. The rest is really stuff that I should be addressing. Get it together, Tara!
This is something that I'll need to address throughout the entire story, so it was good to figure some of it out before I got any farther. Or at least I hope I figured it out. It might me tricky to pull off, it it works at all. I'll see how it goes.
In what I've written so far Katani, only really makes one big decision - and that is to try out for the GRA. Which isn't really that big of a decision. It got me thinking. Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble bringing Katani out when I write. He gets dragged along on things.
In my first draft, he mainly came out as a way for the reader to see what was going on. The other characters overshadowed him completely. I thought I was getting better at bringing Katani out in the story. He's working a little better this time, but still not nearly as much as I hoped. I think I might know how to fix that though.
So, I'm gonna finish re-writing chapter 6, and then go back and try to fix up Katani in chapters 2 and up. Sigh. Just when I got through them. (Sob. Re-writing again. Get used to it. It's probably gonna happen several more times).
While I'm fixing Katani, I'll see if I can make get dragged around less. Although that probably won't show up as much until later. I might have him dragged around for a little while before he decided to get out of it.
I'm also about to get into the introductions of the Red Team guys, and the dragons, and the the fight with Garrett. Which, like everything else, needs to be trashed and redone.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, this post feels kinda pointless.
I'll pretend like I'm gonna turn this into a lesson! Hah!
Character-driven stuff is usually much more interesting. Basically, the desires of the characters should drive the story. If your characters are just dragged around whether or not they want to, it's not very interesting. Let's see how well I'm able to fix it. Because otherwise I might have to redesign the entire system of the GRA. I have no idea how I'd do that.
Fact of the Day: If you have a rabbit (or small animal), vinegar is a great way to get encrusted pee off of the bottom of the cage. Just let it sit for a couple minutes and it all dissolves away.
Crystal brought it up a couple days ago, which is good because then I actually had to address it. It was on my "check later list," along with several dozen other things for my story. I'm getting through it very slowly, but a lot of it I haven't reached in my edit yet. The rest is really stuff that I should be addressing. Get it together, Tara!
This is something that I'll need to address throughout the entire story, so it was good to figure some of it out before I got any farther. Or at least I hope I figured it out. It might me tricky to pull off, it it works at all. I'll see how it goes.
In what I've written so far Katani, only really makes one big decision - and that is to try out for the GRA. Which isn't really that big of a decision. It got me thinking. Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble bringing Katani out when I write. He gets dragged along on things.
In my first draft, he mainly came out as a way for the reader to see what was going on. The other characters overshadowed him completely. I thought I was getting better at bringing Katani out in the story. He's working a little better this time, but still not nearly as much as I hoped. I think I might know how to fix that though.
So, I'm gonna finish re-writing chapter 6, and then go back and try to fix up Katani in chapters 2 and up. Sigh. Just when I got through them. (Sob. Re-writing again. Get used to it. It's probably gonna happen several more times).
While I'm fixing Katani, I'll see if I can make get dragged around less. Although that probably won't show up as much until later. I might have him dragged around for a little while before he decided to get out of it.
I'm also about to get into the introductions of the Red Team guys, and the dragons, and the the fight with Garrett. Which, like everything else, needs to be trashed and redone.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, this post feels kinda pointless.
I'll pretend like I'm gonna turn this into a lesson! Hah!
Character-driven stuff is usually much more interesting. Basically, the desires of the characters should drive the story. If your characters are just dragged around whether or not they want to, it's not very interesting. Let's see how well I'm able to fix it. Because otherwise I might have to redesign the entire system of the GRA. I have no idea how I'd do that.
Fact of the Day: If you have a rabbit (or small animal), vinegar is a great way to get encrusted pee off of the bottom of the cage. Just let it sit for a couple minutes and it all dissolves away.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Up to Five!!
Ugh. I've been sneezing like crazy today. I guess it's all the wind that's blowing pollen around, or something. That's what Dad says. Hopefully I'm not getting sick.
A few minutes ago, Leaf brought in a live rat. Her very first rat. I chased her out of Mom's room before she could let the thing go behind their bed. She took it down to the living room... and dropped it on the floor. I had to pull out the couch so Mom could chase it out, and I finally managed to drop a bowl over it. We took it outside and dumped it in the bushes.
I hope Leaf doesn't make a habit of this... Not only do I dislike the fact that cats hunt, but when they let things go in the living room, it's a bit of a fiasco.
Mom squealed though. That was funny.
Dad didn't even wake up. --_--
At least being a wildlife volunteer means that I've done this sort of stuff many times before.
And Leaf just came up to my room now, carrying a Styrofoam peanut. She steals them from Mom's supply downstairs (and she's recently been stealing the pieces from the pony plushies I sell.) I guess since we stole her rat, she had to find a new toy. She's swatting the thing around my room as I type. There. She dropped it under my chair so I'd throw it for her. Its all chewed up...
Wow. That was a big distraction.
I started this post because I just caught up to chapter five of my story. I re-wrote that far a while ago, but then went back to re-write the first three chapters again. And then yesterday I started to re-read all of the first five, fixing an mistakes I missed before.
So for the first time in a long time, I feel like I've made actual progress.
^-^
Time to start on chapter 6. I'm in new territory again.
It's strange. Every now and then, I'll think, "hmm. Did I really write that?" (either a good or bad way). Maybe I forget a lot of the details I write when I write late at night. Which I do a lot, actually.
When I read my first short story to the creative writing class, a couple people pointed out this one line that I wrote. They said that they really loved it. And when they read it aloud, I just thought, "huh. When did I write that?"
A few minutes ago, Leaf brought in a live rat. Her very first rat. I chased her out of Mom's room before she could let the thing go behind their bed. She took it down to the living room... and dropped it on the floor. I had to pull out the couch so Mom could chase it out, and I finally managed to drop a bowl over it. We took it outside and dumped it in the bushes.
I hope Leaf doesn't make a habit of this... Not only do I dislike the fact that cats hunt, but when they let things go in the living room, it's a bit of a fiasco.
Mom squealed though. That was funny.
Dad didn't even wake up. --_--
At least being a wildlife volunteer means that I've done this sort of stuff many times before.
And Leaf just came up to my room now, carrying a Styrofoam peanut. She steals them from Mom's supply downstairs (and she's recently been stealing the pieces from the pony plushies I sell.) I guess since we stole her rat, she had to find a new toy. She's swatting the thing around my room as I type. There. She dropped it under my chair so I'd throw it for her. Its all chewed up...
Wow. That was a big distraction.
I started this post because I just caught up to chapter five of my story. I re-wrote that far a while ago, but then went back to re-write the first three chapters again. And then yesterday I started to re-read all of the first five, fixing an mistakes I missed before.
So for the first time in a long time, I feel like I've made actual progress.
^-^
Time to start on chapter 6. I'm in new territory again.
It's strange. Every now and then, I'll think, "hmm. Did I really write that?" (either a good or bad way). Maybe I forget a lot of the details I write when I write late at night. Which I do a lot, actually.
When I read my first short story to the creative writing class, a couple people pointed out this one line that I wrote. They said that they really loved it. And when they read it aloud, I just thought, "huh. When did I write that?"
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Saris and Samara
I forgot, I never posted my picture of Saris and Samara. This completes my drawings for the Red Team!
Except now I need to do the entire Green team...
Saris is the girl. I accidentally made her hair a bit too blonde. I didn't screw her skin up though (like I did with Kon).
Samara is a dragon A Loong (she's only got four toes since she's not an imperial dragon).
Except now I need to do the entire Green team...
Saris is the girl. I accidentally made her hair a bit too blonde. I didn't screw her skin up though (like I did with Kon).
Samara is a dragon A Loong (she's only got four toes since she's not an imperial dragon).
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