A re-post

Today we went to Plimoth Colony but since I have limited time on the computer, and because I am not feeling up to writing about my day, I will save it until tomorrow. We are still going to be in Boston tomorrow, so why not do it all in one day?

Today I will be re-posting something I "stole" from Miss Jack Lewis Baillot at However Improbable.

To start you have to pick twelve fictional book characters:

1. Sherlock Holmes (from Sherlock Holmes)

2. Professor Calculas (from The Adventures of Tintin)

3. John Watson (from Sherlock Holmes)

4. Bilbo Baggins (from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings)

5. The Witch King of Angmar (from Lord of the Rings)

6. Hamlet (from Shakespeare's Hamlet)

7. Antonio (from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and also the book I wrote last summer)

8. Mycroft Holmes (from Sherlock Holmes)

9. Eowyn (from Lord of the Rings)

10. Elinor (from Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility)

11. Captain Haddock (from The Adventures of Tintin)

12. Dustfinger (from the Inkheart trilogy)

Now, answer the questions by putting the correct characters instead of the numbers.

1. Who would make a better college professor, 6 (Hamlet) or 11 (Captain Haddock)? Hmmm.... Probably Hamlet. Captain Haddock would get too angry at his class. Although Hamlet is a very depressed character, he wouldn't make the best teacher either.

2. 12 (Dustfinger) sends 8 (Mycroft Holmes) out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed? Dustfinger sents Mycroft on a mission to find Mo and Meggie so they can read him back into the Inkworld. Unfortunately, Mycroft doesn't like leg work so he stays at home and lets the British government take care of it.... Oh wait, Mycroft IS the British government. *sigh* This will require legwork no matter what.

3. What is, or what would be, 9 (Eowyn)’s favorite book? "How to train (a nasty, black, dead, Wraith who happens to be riding on) your dragon."

4. Would it make more sense for 2 (Professor Calculas) to swear fealty to 6 (Hamlet) or the other way around? Argh! All the ones with Hamlet are hard! Why did I pick you Hamlet??!??!!! Hamlet would probably swear fealty to Calculas because I think he's kind of a lost soul. Although Hamlet is bent on revenge on his uncle who killed his father.... So maybe he would employ Calculas to make some sort of weapon?

5. Number 5 (The Witch King of Angmar) is looking for a roommate. Should s/he room with 9 (Eowyn (I DID NOT PLAN THAT AT ALL!!!) or 10 (Elinor)? Probably Elinor because she doesn't kill him!

6. 2 ((Professor Calculas), 7 (Antonio), and 12 (Dustfinger) are going out to dinner. Where are they going, and what do they discuss? They are all discussing how to get read back into their respective books!

7. 3 (John Watson) challenges 10 (Elinor) to a duel. Who wins? John Watson. He's a soldier, he killed people. Although I hardly think that Watson would duel with a proper English lady. It would not be right.

8. If 1 (Sherlock Holmes) stole 8 (Mycroft Holmes (HAHAHAHAA!!! I didn't plan that one either)’s most precious possession, how would s/he get it back? Mycroft would probably send one of his agents to break into 221b and steal back the stolen object. Perhaps he might go there himself, if it fancied him. But Mycroft out of Pall Mall is like a planet out of orbit. I highly doubt Sherlock would want to deal with a planet out of orbit.

9. Suggest a story title in which 7 (Antonio) and 12 (Dustfinger) both attain what they want. "Dustfinger gets back to the Inkworld and Antonio doesn't die."

10. What kind of plot device would you have to use to get 1 (Sherlock Holmes) and 4 (Bilbo Baggins) to work together? Hee hee... This one is easy. The way to get Sherlock Holmes and Bilbo Baggins to work together is to cast Martin Freeman (John Watson) as Bilbo in The Hobbit and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) as Smaug in The Hobbit!

11. If 7 (Antonio) visited you for the weekend, how would it go? AMAZINGLY! We would run up and down the streets yelling, "Ai ai ai ai ai ai ai ai ai!!!!! PUT UP YOUR SWORD!!"

12. If you could command 3 (John Watson) to perform any service or task for you, what would it be? I would get him to let me meet Sherlock Holmes. Then I would dazzle Holmes with my wit and quick eye and I would become a part of the 221b team.

13. If 2 (Professor Calculas) had to choose sides between 4 (Bilbo Baggins) or 5 (The Witch King of Angmar), what side would s/he choose? Probably Bilbo. He's less dangerous.

14. What might 10 (Elinor) shout out while charging into battle? Ladies do not shout and certainly do not take part in battles

15. If you had to choose a song to best describe 3 (John Watson), what would it be? Oooohhhh... Hard one. Hmmmm... "I will follow him" by Peggy March. Watch Sherlock: The Musical and you'll understand.

16. 1 (Sherlock Holmes), 6 (Hamlet), and 12 (Dustfinger) are having a dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left , and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets it? Probably Hamlet. Sherlock would probably be on a case, and therefore not eating and Dustfinger.... He doesn't strike me as the person to eat pancakes.

17. What would 5 (The Witch King of Angmar) most likely be arrested for? Heh.... Probably succumbing to Sauron and hunting down the fellowship and stabbing Frodo and all the other atrocious things he did.

18. What is 6 (Hamlet)’s secret? He's secretly his own grandfather!!! Therefore eliminating the need to seek revenge for his father's death.

19. If 11 (Captain Haddock) and 9 (Eowyn) were racing to a destination, who would get there first? Probably Eowyn. Captain Haddock would find some whisky to drink or he might run into Tintin (and an adventure). Eowyn would ride a horse to the destination and be there days before Haddock.

20. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, who would you be more comfortable walking with, 7 (Antonio) or 8 (Mycroft Holmes)? Antonio. No doubt about it.

21. 1 (Sherlock Holmes) and 9 (Eowyn) reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4 (Bilbo Baggins)'s sinister secret organization. 11 (Captain Haddock ) volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4 (Bilbo). Meanwhile, 4 (Bilbo) has kidnapped 12 (Dustfinger) in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5 (The Witch King of Angmar), they seek out 3 (John Watson), who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fiction? Help!

I've never been to Boston in the Fall

We made it to Boston Massachusetts! Tomorrow ends the 8 hour+ driving days and starts the sightseeing of the historic landmarks! I must say, I am very glad. Driving day after day after day gets very tiring. I am already loathing the trip back....

More signs that remind me of music:

Anytime at all.... Anytime at all! All you have to do is call and I'll be there.

Everybody's got a water buffalo... Yours is fast but mine is slow. Where do we get them I don't know. But everybody's got a water buffaloOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Then of course there's my blog title. And I've never been to Boston in the Fall!

No picture of Boston's sign... sorry.

We went to the store tonight to get some stuff and Grama was very surprised that I didn't want candy, I didn't want ice cream, I didn't want souvenirs.... That all I wanted was line paper. I need line paper because, as I mentioned before, I am approaching a part in my novel that will need heavy editing. So I got 200 sheets of line paper and amazed Grama. I told her that I was a starving author.

Here is my binder (I was surprised the paper all fit! Also, sorry about the quality... Hotel lighting is not the best!) :

A full binder makes me happy.

Now I'd better get to bed. Goodnight!

A Musical Move Accross the Country

My kind of town, Chicago is. My kind of town, Chicago is. My kind of people to... People who... they all smile at you.
We drove through Chicago today. There was so much to look at, although we didn't stop. If there was that much to look at driving past Chicago, I can't imagine how much there will be to see in New York!
There were old fire escapes on some of the buildings. If I had a bucket list (which I don't) the top two things would be, to climb an old metal fire escape, and to play a harpsichord.

Tintin and the Chicago skyline:

 

Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana let me say it once again. Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana that's the town that knew me when.
We past Gary (Indiana) next.

Why it's good old reliable Nathan! Nathan, Nathan, Nathan Detroit!
We didn't go through Detroit, but there was a sign for it!

I've got me a mule and her name is Sal.... Fifteen  miles on the Erie Canal.

And of course you can't go travelling in the car with Grama without eating a ham bun or two!

What's this????!!!! A Tim Hortons in the USA???!!!

YES! =D I have NEVER seen a Tim Hortons in the USA. I've only ever seen them up in Canada!
Tonight we ate soup at this wonderful cafe and bake shop. We didn't get any Timbits thought...

Tomorrow we're planning on making it to Boston!

Puzzling over Piano

Being at Grandma's house meant that I could practice piano. I brought my piano books along in case we found a retirement home or a piano store along the road that I could stop and practice at. But what about when we can't find anywhere to practice? What about when we're too tired to stop somewhere, or if we're too busy?
No fear, Paper Piano is here!

This morning while I still had access to Grandma's piano, I taped a few pieces of paper together and made myself a paper piano which I can practice on when I don't have access to a real piano. It's real sized and looks pretty cool! I tried it out with Sonatina in C by Bertini and it worked well enough! I'm not about to stop practicing just because I'm on vacation!
Today we drove and drove. There were about a million little flies in the car and we were shooing them out all morning. I think we finally got them all, though.
I got about three and a quarter pages of my novel re-written. I was writing practically all afternoon. I'm getting into the part of my novel where heavy heavy (HEAVY!) editing will be required.... I remember thinking while I was writing it, "I gotta get 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo! I'll just write this part really fast and then add all the description/character building scenes/everything else when I'm re-writing...." Now that time has come and I fear I will be re-writing for a loooong time. Oh well, I have good music and good company and a 10(ish) hour drive in the car tomorrow.

Right now Mom, Grandma, and I are in a VERY nice (and cheap!) hotel. There are two TV's in our room and a small sitting room. I have never been in a hotel this nice.

Tintin is enjoying the nice soft bed:

He wanted the whole thing to himself. I haven't told him that he's sleeping in my bag yet.... Oh well, he slept in worse places in the books.

Ta ta for now!

A quick post

This will be a quick post because it's storming and the internet keeps coming and going (probably because I'm attached to the neighbor's internet...)

I'm at my grandparents house right now. Tomorrow Grandma, Mom, and I will be headed to the East Coast!

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding in Nebraska.
Tintin came along to the reception:

After the reception, the fog rolled in...  It reminded me of the end of The Hound of Baskervilles (although I'm sure the fog was much thicker in The Hound).

Tintin and I explored the hotel lobby and found.... a cow!

And a castle:

Today we drove.... It wasn't very long. Only about 6 or 7 hours..... But the road tends to seem longer when it's going through the same rolling, green-hilled country and the road is straight and you can see for miles in front of the car and miles out the back of the car.

The road really does go on and on!

Then we reached our first destination. The Mitchell Corn Palace:

All the murals are made of corn! It was really cool. The Corn Palace was constructed in 1892 because the citizens of Mitchell wanted their city on the map. The Corn Palace has been rebuilt numerous times and they change the designs on the outer wall every year or two.
The coolest past Corn Palace was the one from 1942. It has propaganda written in corn! "Buy war bonds." It was really cool.

Now, as I said, I'm at my grandparents house. I'm going to post this now, as I'm not sure how much longer this internet will hold out!

Yellowstone!

Yesterday we went to Yellowstone National Park! I would have blogged about it last night but I had a bad migraine.

The entrance to the park:

Tintin by the GPS ("Turn right in 400 meters.... turn right.... TURN RIGHT!")

 

The landscape:

Tintin by the Beehive Geyser:

We saw Old Faithful erupt as well but we were on the wrong side and only saw steam. It wasn't very high. Beehive was cooler.

Buffalo:

"Hahahaha." My cousin said that the above buffalo looks like he would laugh like Santa Claus.

The highlight of Yellowstone was the waterfall/mini-grand canyon.

The waterfall started over here:

And wound around over here:

Another picture of Tintin (he's having a good time! Although he wishes Captain Haddock and Snowy could have come along....)

There were lots of things like this next video... bubbling and gurgling. I thought my cousin in Canada would think it was funny! =D

This hill was rising up out of Yellowstone:

I just HAD to take a picture of it because of Lord of the Rings. I'm reading The Fellowship of the Ring right now and as we're driving across the country my thoughts are bouncing between, "Man, God did a good job with that mountain!" and "Wow! That looks like the scene I just read in Lord of the Rings!"

From The Fellowship (Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are in The Old Forest):

A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo's heart, and he regretted now with every step forward that he had ever thought of challenging the menace of the trees. He was, indeed, just about to stop and propose going back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn. The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before the,, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it.

The last stop in Yellowstone was the "Mud Volcano's." They weren't too impressive (perhaps because the steam coming from them made it hard to see), but the parking lot was! There were 4 buffalo in the parking lot examining the cars!

You can see frightened people hiding in the bathrooms. It was quite comical.

Today we passed through the city of Wall; home to Wall Drug.

I always like to see all the different signs leading up to the actual place. However, we didn't actually go into Wall Drug. We just stopped at Subway to eat lunch.

Now we are in Nebraska for my cousin's wedding!
We went out to eat with family tonight at Pizza Hut. Tintin came along.

Tomorrow Tintin and I are going to explore the lobby of the hotel.
Until then, goodnight!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! It's my friends birthday today and I just wanted to let her know that I'm thinking about her! =D

My God is an Awesome God

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," Bilbo used to say. "You step into the road, and if you don't keep your feed, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Day #1 of travelling. I'm still alive. They say getting there is half the fun.... Not for me. For me, packing is half the fun. I absolutely love to pack and orginize things. But when it comes to the actual travelling part.... I get bored. Which is strange, because I hardly ever get bored. I believe that boredom is a choice.
I prefer airplane trips, but we're driving. Driving drives me crazy. Especially long distances. We made 11 hours today, which is good! Right now I'm in a hotel off of Yellowstone Park. Tomorrow we're going to go explore for awhile and see Old Faithful.

Despite getting bored and antsy in the car, I did accomplish work on my novel! I got more done in one day than I've gotten done in the past two weeks.
I also saw amazing wilderness....
Who can look me in the eye and say that this world wasn't created by a higher power when they see these pictures?

It is stunning driving through these places. I kept thinking, God did a great thing creating mountains and clouds.
The rocks and mountains shout HIS glory!
It's just breathtaking.

More tomorrow. (Thank goodness for hotels with free wifi!)

Oh, my travelling buddy is having a good time as well. He has his own special seat.