Slimming Down Posts

I've started going through some of my earliest posts.
It's pretty funny reading some of the earliest stuff that went on on the blog. ^-^ Back when other people posted regularly.
Staaaaare
O__O
O___O

^-^'
So, I've deleted a few posts already.
Mainly just stupid ones of me trying to figure out why my computer wouldn't post pictures to the blog. I tried not to delete posts by anyone else (though I did delete a few of Ellen trying to help me figure out all the picture stuff. Sorry, Ellen).
I'll continue looking through some older posts, but I probably won't get rid of too many more.
Though some day, I might go through a hyper delete. I'll see.

Clearing Out

Something I've been thinking about for a long time, but haven't done anything about yet.
I really want to go back and delete a bunch of my old posts. A lot of them area really lame and pointless.
Maybe I should go back and delete just a few right now. Once I get started, I'm more likely to continue.

I finished re-writing my statement for the grad program. I put it off for a long time. --_--
I should probably take it to school to have someone look at it though. I'm not sure what sort of stuff schools look for in these statements.

A Brief Reprieve, and Curses

So, finished the big test yesterday. I spent the entire day beforehand studying, and several evenings before that to boot. I actually have a couple of the scores already, but I have no idea what they mean. XP they sound good though, I hope.
I'm taking a class this semester, which will make the grad program easier once accepted (and I better get accepted, considering how much money I'm spending to take the class and that stupid test. >:l ).
And I really should be working on my statement for the application... but I think I'll slack off tonight and try to finish this chapter of my fanfic.

Oh, and after months of no ideas, I finally discovered some exclamations and curse words that I can use for my stories. I guess being in band, surrounded by music, helped me think of them? (Probably not, but it sounds nice). Now that I've got the hang of it, I can probably think of some more too. It helped reading descriptions about the explanations used in the Pern series. I checked out the guide to Pern from the library. I like books that explain how fantasy/scifi worlds work. I have a few of them. They're excellent reference and source for ideas. And they help you see what holes need to be filled.
Tomorrow is the first day of the creative writing class that I took last semester. The second semester works different from the first. I'll actually be able to focus on parts of my story to submit. Hope to get some helpful feedback.

Energy Plot 6: Bringing it all Together

After all that rambling about the different types of energy and their pros and cons, I'll start tying everything together in ways that can relate to stories.

With all of the energies I've discussed, none of them is the "right answer." The only reasonable way we can power our planet is to use a blend of all of these different energies. Though fossil fuels won't always be available.
And with a blend of energies, we use far too much energy in our modern lifestyles. If developing countries start using as much energy as more developed countries use, there may be no sustainable way to power the planet.

The future is a great place to play around with energy. Even if you're on a different planet or dimension, you should have an idea of where that energy comes from.
In one of my creative writing classes, someone wrote a future story, in which food and supplies of every kind were very scarce. But they had more than enough energy to go around. I asked about this, but the author had no answer. He hadn't really thought about it.
If you're far enough in the future with enough people, there's not going to be any fossil fuels left. Your people will have had to find a more lasting way to power their homes, and get from place to place.
There's a lot of power centered around energy companies. Fossil fuel industries have amazing power and influence on the government, and will do their best to destroy competing industries, like renewable energy. There's plenty of ways you could make use of that if you're writing about government.
There may be an energy shift going on. Some of the first cars were run on renewable energies, until fossil fuels convinced them to switch over to oil. Or maybe people are trying to switch back to renewables, like so many are today.
You can also set your story in a world that no longer has easy access to energy. Maybe only the top people can use energy, while most everyone else is left without? The Nausicaa manga uses this some, with most of the technology knowledge lost, and no real way to replicate it anymore.
What happens if the major source of energy for your people suddenly vanishes? No cars, lights, medical equipment, TV, anything. That would be bad.

And you can go with a totally fun and different route. Look at Monsters Inc.

Who's used energy plots?
Monster Inc

Studying... Again

So, in order to even apply for the elusive grad program, I have to take a big expensive test next week.
Which means I have to study.
Sigh.
It seems to be mostly math and English. But I haven't taken a math class in a long time. Gotta brush up on algebra. At least algebra was easy for me. Unlike pre-calc.
Siiigh. But if I'm studying, I can't write. --_-- I'm at a good part too.
Stupid expensive tests.
Hopeflly it will be one of those pushover tests. Hopefully.

But today Dad and I got back from a brief trip to the Sierras. Yesterday morning we saw wild horses. And like many of our other encounters with mustangs, it was pretty spectacular.
Wow. This morning I was climbing all over the granite boulders up in the Sierras. And now I'm studying for a pointless test and lobbying for letters of recommendation.

Thank you for visiting this post in which I whine about school.

Wanna Go Back

I want to go back to Japan.
Especially Nagasaki. For several reasons. It's not one of the huge tourist areas. And Ellen's apartment was in a great place - between the river and the beautiful mountain. And that great shopping street was right next to her building. And Iojima Island was soooo pretty. I want to go back and look for more beach glass. At a seashell store near here, they were selling unusually colored pieces of beach glass for really expensive. I should show them my collection of Japan beach glass. XD
And I miss how easy it is to get places in Japan. Japan's public transportation is sooo great.

So, I thought I'd discuss some of the unusual little things I noticed about Japan.
Just for fun. ^-^
Ellen, can you do one of these too? Since I'm sure you know dozens more little "oddities" about living in Japan.

The first day in Kyoto, I was walking around in a tank top. And I suddenly noticed that I saw NO bare shoulders anywhere. So I started looking around, seeing if anyone else was sleeveless. Then I saw someone without sleeves and went "Aha!" But it turned out that that person was a foreigner too. So, yeah. Apparently in Japan, people don't go sleeveless. Which I find odd, for a few reasons. First of all, it can be crazy hot there. And also, some anime girls are pretty scantily dressed... So cartoon girls can walk around in bikini tops and stuff, but real people don't even have bare shoulders.
Lots of cats. Wild cats, wandering around. Apparently people feed them all the time. Still, it seems like they should have some sort of spay+neuter program. All those cats are probably pretty bad for the songbirds. Most of the cats wouldn't let you get too close. But one guy with a bad eye wanted to snuggle for a while.
The wild animals were all pretty tame. Birds would just stand there as you walked up to them. Even bugs seemed pretty calm. I guess people in Japan don't chase wild animals or anything.
Oh, and they have these interesting cafés, that kind of work like vending machines. There's a little machine out front, and you pay and push the button of the meal you want. A little ticket comes out, so you hand it to the people in the café, and they give you your food.
And whenever you went to a place that sold noodles, you heard slurping. Slurping is polite. It's supposed to help you taste the noodles better. I tried to slurp. But I never did slurp as loudly as the people around me.
I started getting a little hand cramp after using chopsticks so often. >-< I've used chopsticks many times, but never as often all at once.

A Long Siiiiigh

Get home in the evening and think I have a few hours to work on my story.
Only to realize that I really have to start working on my grad program application...
So, goodbye, free time for writing. TT^TT
Somehow the website for applying here seems really unorganized compared to the other one I tried out for. Everything you need to know is scattered all over several different, unconnected pages...
Maybe I'll stop soon and try to get in at least an hour of writing.