Senior Recital

I have put my senior recital on youtube!

Here is a list of songs and their start times if you wish to skip around to specific songs (though the bits in between songs are pretty entertaining!):

-Die Lotosblume by Robert Schumann. (2:06)
-Vittoria Mio Core by Giacomo Carissimi. (4:08)
-Think of Me from The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. (7:22)
-Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better from Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin. Performed with my teacher. (11:48)
-Popular from Wicked by Stephen Schwartz. (17:10)
-By Strauss from An American In Paris by George and Ira Gershwin. (22:04)
-Ah! je ris de me voir (The Jewel Song) from Faust by Charles Gounod. (27:00)

-Video of Abbey's journey through music. (31:36)

-Prelude in C# Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff. (40:29)
-Cantina Band from Star Wars arranged by Martin Spiztnagel. Performed with my teacher. (45:53)
-Berceuse by Frederic Chopin. (49:37)
-Children's Corner Suite by Claude Debussy: (55:12)
1. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum
2. Jimbo's Lullaby
3. Serenade of the Doll
4. The Snow is Dancing
5. The Little Shepherd
6. Golliwog's Cakewalk.

Enjoy!

IN SUMMMEEERRRRRR

My mom and I are in Minnesota with the grandparents. Those who are familiar with Midwest summers may find it strange to hear that it's nice to escape the heat in the Pacific Northwest to the coolness of Minnesota! It's been about 70 degrees with a cold wind the past few days. At home on the west coast it's been in the 80s and 90s the past few days!
So what have I been up to?

Writing:
I've been getting a lot of writing-relating things done in the past month! In June, I wrote a Sleeping Beauty retelling. My motivation for this was for this story was Rooglewood Press' writing contest, but I don't know if I'll end up submitting it. I'm not sure it's Sleeping Beauty-ish enough. However, I fully plan on editing it in July (and perhaps sending it to a beta reader or two?) and, if I decide not to enter it in the contest, share it via installments on my blog. 
I've also just finished a whirlwind week of editing/beta-ing a book for a friend. Now that I'm finished, I have more time to work on my own projects. Not only will I be editing my Sleeping Beauty story this month, but I will also be working on my fantasy story. Remember that mysteriously hinted-at story that I wrote last year? Probably not, because I'm far too secretive about my writing and don't tell you anything.
Back in March I did a post proposing my editing plan for my fantasy story. I started Step Two—"Go through story again, this time writing down each scene on a separate note card. Also, note (in the notebooks) all character traits and quirks with sticky notes"—and got through the first notebook (of three) and then realized my plan wasn't working. I had written out, scene-by-scene, the first twenty or so (out of sixty-some) chapters and I already had fifty or sixty note cards! That was too many! So, I cut up all the note cards that I had already written out (because I'm that paranoid that someone will steal my ideas. That's why I don't talk much about my writing on my blog, too) and decided to write out a synopsis of each chapter on separate note card instead.

The cut-up note cards.

I began writing out the chapter synopsis' the other day and it's going so much quicker than it was when I was writing out each scene! I've already gotten through one notebook and am hoping to get through the second one by tomorrow night. After I finish writing out each scene, I am planning on going through them all and changing the ones that need changing (filling in plot holes and such).

Then I will rewrite it and it will be so great that I will feel confidant enough to share it with a few select people. And then, taking their suggestions in mind, will continue editing until the book is finished. And then, I will publish it and it will become the next New York bestseller. And then, I will take over the publishing world and make millions of dollars and then it will be turned into a movie and then the next best seller will come along and I will be all alone in my New York apartment rocking back and forth on my knees wondering what went wrong while surrounded by ten cheap, knock-off sequels to the first book that I wrote to try and reclaim some of my former fame.

...I may be a tad overconfident.

Reading: 

I am currently reading...
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. However, I fear that this one may have to be put on hold until August. This month, I have too many other things to read! I'm really enjoying it thus far, though. Alexander Dumas is funny!
Mistborn: The final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. This was my June fantasy read for my 2015 reading challenge. Oh, dear, I'm falling behind. Anyway... Mistborn is FANTASTIC! Any fan of fantasy should pick up this book. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a really long time. (I especially think one of my cousins would enjoy this book... once he finishes with Wheel of Time, of course. :D).
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is one of my favorite books. I'm rereading it before the sequel comes out (ONE MORE WEEK!!!). We are planning on going to Sioux Falls to pick it up and I'm so excited!
The Gershwins by Robert Kimball. This is my nonfiction for the month. It is a book all about my favorite person and his brother: George and Ira Gershwin! I love this book because it has SO many pictures of George Gershwin that you wouldn't normally see, including pictures of his paintings.

"Self-portrait in an Opera Hat" by George Gershwin. Did you know that he was a painter as well as a brilliant composer? And he never had an art lesson in his life.

What I will be reading soon...
Homecoming by Christie Golden. This is a Star Trek novel that tells what happens after Voyager returns to earth (because the TV series ends as they enter earth's orbit). This one has to go back to the library in the next two or three weeks so I need to start it soon!
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn, book 2.
From the Earth to the Moon (& Around the Moon) by Jules Verne. This is my reading challenge book for July. I haven't started it yet. Whoops. Since August's book is Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I changed it from an Isaac Asimov book, which I still plan to read this year), I think I will survive if this month's book trickles into August, like June's book has trickled into July.

Playing: 
I was SO happy to stop playing my senior recital songs! After playing solely the same songs for six-nine months, I was desperate for new music. Now, I'm playing a boogie woogie version of "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins; "The Russian Rag," which is a ragtime version of Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C# Minor" (which I played for my recital); and another Claude Debussy song: Arabesque no. 1.

So, what have YOU been up to this summer?

Live long and prosper.

Voice Recital Videos

The video from my senior recital is taking longer than I thought so, until it is ready to be posted, here is a song from my voice recital featuring moi and my voice teacher:

And here is my solo song from the voice recital... (follow the instructions in the song and you, too, can be popular!)

And, if you're interested, here is the group number, which is pretty entertaining, if I do say so myself (I'm the first soloist):

Yes, Rapunzel IS a boy.

Live long and prosper!

Big siiiiggghhh...

My senior recital is in a week and a half. Am I ready? Nearly. I need to go over lyrics to a few of my vocal songs and come up with a few more motions and expressions, but all of my piano stuff is ready to go. Well, nearly. There is one run in Chopin's Berceuse that I CAN NOT get right. It's driven me to tears twice. I can't even practice it as much as I'd like because after about four or five tries, my arm begins to feel like there is fire running through my veins and my wrist begins to ache terribly.
So, I sit here typing with one hand (which is both annoying and hard because I'm not left handed) while my other hand lies incapacitated at my side with an ice pack covering it. I'm going to try use my arm, wrist, and hand as little as possible in the next week and a half; little to no computer mouse work and little to no writing. Just as I was feeling inspired to work on both my fantasy novel AND a new, secret story idea, too. I guess they will just have to wait until June.
There is one thing that I can do easily without using my right wrist and that thing is reading. And watching Star Trek. But since I already watched Star Trek tonight, I think I shall leave you so I can go curl up with a good book. I'm going to start The Three Musketeers. Or, perhaps Catching Fire. Or, perhaps both, though that would bring my total of books currently-being-read up to five... or is it six? Maybe I should finish the books I'm reading already before starting new ones.
I will leave with with Arturo Beneditti Micheangeli (isn't that a fabulous name?) playing Chopin's Berceuse:

Live long and prosper.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter!

The biggest mystery in the Tintin movie

I got curious after watching the Tintin movie: is the song that Castafiore sings the famous "Jewel Song" from Faust that she continually sings in the comic books? So I looked up "The Jewel Song" on youtube and, while the two songs sound similar, the song Castafiore sings in the movie is NOT "The Jewel Song" from Faust.

Fast forward a year or two and I start singing "The Jewel Song" in voice lessons. The very next song after "The Jewel Song" in my book is the song that Castafiore sings in the movie.

Both songs are from operas by Charles Gounod. "The Jewel Song" is, obviously, from Faust, and the song that Castafiore sings in the Tintin movie is from Romeo et Juliette.

Why did the people in charge of picking music choose "Juliet's Waltz" over "The Jewel Song," especially since both songs are by Gounod, and both songs sound so similar (featuring lots of "ah" runs)?

In the movie, Castafiore sings her highest note and it shatters a bulletproof glass case which homes the third Unicorn ship model, which is important to the plot. Did the song-choosers pick "Juliet's Waltz" because it goes one note higher than "The Jewel Song," and a higher pitch is needed to break the glass? And is that why they made Castafiore go a whole fourth HIGHER* than the actual highest note in the song?

According to my (minimal) research, you can shatter glass at any pitch, you just have to be loud enough and keep a steady pitch. (I guess the reason opera singers don't shatter glass with those high, high notes is because their vibrato.)
So did the song-choosers in the Tintin movie make a sloppy error with their musical research, or did they have some other reason for choosing "Juliet's Waltz" over "The Jewel Song"?

This question will haunt me for the rest of my life. If anyone can think of a plausible answer, please let me know.

Live long and prosper.

If you want to see someone shatter glass with his voice, check out this video:

*Going up the additional fourth bugs me. A lot. And not just because it's not in the original music. It bugs me because, listening to the song, it sounds like the sound editors electronically moved the pitch from the C (the red note in the picture) to the F (the orange note in the picture). While an F6 (which is the sixth F note on the keyboard) is difficult to hit (my highest note is an E6, which I can only hit on warmups), it is not impossible. Most coloratura sopranos can sing a G6 (the white note to the immediate right of the orange note in the picture) or even a G#6 (Diana Damrau, for instance). If the movie people wanted to change the music and go up to the F, they should have hired a soprano able to do it.

A few songs to brighten your day...

Okay, so maybe I just wanted to post some Kerry Livgren songs... He's cool, okay? First he was in Kansas, which was an epic band from the 70s. Then he converted to Christianity and wrote and performed with the the band AD in the 80s. The band kind of flopped, but the music survives and it ROCKS. Christian music from before the 2000s is so much more interesting (and better, in my opinion) than Christian music today. I mean, you had Kerry Livgren, Rich Mullins, Ken Medema, Randy Stonehill (who performed at my church a few years ago! EEEEEE! That was epicly exciting. Best concert ever), Newsboys with Peter Furler, Keith Green, Phil Keaggy...
Getting back to Kerry Livgren, I just found out he has a book! Now I must find it and read it and learn everything I can about him, because he's cool.

Here's one more song... another Kansas one:

Live long and prosper

Norwegian Wood

I already used "A Day in the Life" for the title of one of these update posts, so I had to use a different Beatles song. "Norwegian Wood" was the first one that came on Pandora radio.

What have I been...

Playing?
I'm frantically trying to memorize my pieces for my senior recital... We just added the final piano song today. Chopin's Berceuse. Wish me luck with the chromatic thirds.
Also playing a lot of classical music on the radio.

Watching? (I'm building up to the big ones)
...Gilmore Girls...
Also, some Frasier. 

Reading?
Oh boy. Get ready for the list.
A biography on Claude Debussy (my nonfiction for the month).
Another nonfiction (that I'm reading for history class) about Islam and why they were super advanced in the Middle Ages, but then never advanced any further until the 1800s, when they decided they really needed to advance their technology a bit.
Second Son by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt. Brant is about to meet Arnaud and I'm excited!
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This is my book challenge book for this month.
WAAAAAAAYYYY too much Calvin and Hobbes. I've finished four books so far this month.
I'm a little worried about finishing all the books I'm supposed to this month... but if there's one thing I'm great at, it's not finishing books when I'm supposed to. Hahahaha...

Writing? (This is the most exciting, guys!)
I finally started editing my fantasy novel! Eeeee!!
I've been thinking about editing and how to edit for twenty-two days, and now I've finally begun! I wrote up a plan last night. Here it is:

Step 1- Read through book, writing down inconsistencies, plot holes, and disappearing details. Also, taking note of changing scenes by separating them by a line.
Step 2- Go through story again, this time writing down each scene on a separate note card. Also, note (in the notebooks) all character traits and quirks with sticky notes.
Step 3- Arrange, rearrange, add, and subtract note card scenes. Eventually, come up with a detailed outline, complete with places for theme and character and plot development (via sticky notes attached to the note cards).
Step 4- Rewrite.
Step 5- Analyze. (Send to beta readers*?)
Step 6- Rewrite and analyze some more.
Step 7- Edit. Copiously.
Step 8- Decide what to do with brilliant, finished manuscript.

*Here is the difference between beta readers and editors: http://www.novelpublicity.com/2011/11/finally-an-answer-heres-the-difference-between-line-copy-and-content-editing/

Look! Here's my stack of Book and editing supplies!

Tea:

Music:

And I got FIVE whole chapters done! That's not very much in the grand scheme of things because the first few chapters are short (and there are 50+ chapters), but it's WAY more than I've gotten done all month so I'm happy! 

What have you guys been up to?

Live long and prosper.

Snow

As I sit finishing up NaNoWriMo I'm listening to monks singing and chanting their evening prayers on the radio. It's beautiful. Just beautiful. This type of religious music is my favorite. It is so worshipful and peaceful. To know that these prayers have been sung for decades by probably millions of different Christians gives me shivers.

~~~

Yesterday morning we were surprised by snow! Even more surprising: it didn't melt by afternoon and is, in fact, still here! Huzzah for snow!

Thriller

Do you ever read something, or smell something, or touch something, or taste something, or hear something that thrills you to your very core?
Here's just a little peak into my own soul:

The first 42 seconds may just be my favorite 42 seconds of music ever...

Books. Books. Books. Or, shall I rephrase it and say... well-written books.

Writing. Writing alone at sunset by the ocean, with God's mighty and awesome power all around me.

Music to Novel By.

I like to write to music. Lately, I've been writing to a mix of Elton John, Queen, George Gershwin, Claude Debussy, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Sound of Music, Beatles, Billy Joel, Harry Connick Jr.... AKA Pandora radio on shuffle.
Sometimes the music I listen to while writing reflects what's actually being written.

After the Twelfth Night was written primarily to the Beatles, because I had just discovered them. This resulted in several Beatles song references. (Can YOU spot them?)
During the rewriting/editing process the music tended to be more on the classical side. And not just any classical music – exciting classical music. Music like Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March or Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Music which elicited strong emotions and reminded me of the crashing waves of the sea. Music that seemed to go with the Ivan Aivazovsky seascapes which inspired some parts of After the Twelfth Night (especially the cover part).

Daniel and Varina's first story is, in part, about Liberace, the flamboyant piano player. So, while writing their first book, I listened to quite a bit of Liberace. Also, around that time, I discovered the genius of George Gershwin and his music fueled much of the book. 

Daniel turned into a piano playing spy and near the end of the book, he sits down at one of Liberace's pianos and plays Rhapsody in Blue.

Since Daniel and Varina are some sort of spy (I haven't figured out what kind yet. Haha), I wrote their next two books to the tune of Music to Spy By, a wonderful CD I purchased at the International Spy Museum.

Now I'm writing a fantasy story and have mostly been listening to the Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg. He wrote the music to go along with a five-act play based on a Norwegian fairytale about a troublesome man trying to figure out who he is. Many people know the first song, Dawn, and the fourth song, In the Hall of the Mountain King. But did you know that those two songs go together in the same Suite? They don't sound like it.

And today I found another "fantasy"-esque song to write my story to. The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas. What a charismatic song! It's wonderful! Just have a listen.

How about you? Do different stories inspire you to listen to different types of music? Or does it work the other way around? Do specific pieces of music inspire stories? Or do you write better without music?

Live long and prosper.

Flying Fingers by Robert D. Vandall

One of my recital pieces.

Live long and prosper.

I Have Confidence

I have been taking voice lessons for two and a half years, but something really clicked in the past six months (no doubt thanks to my wonderful voice teacher!)
My recital was last night, and I sang I Have Confidence from The Sound of Music.
I hope you enjoy!

Live long and prosper!

Day 8: Koningsdag!

For the past 100+ years, the Netherlands have had a queen. Last year, however, Queen Beatrix abdicated her throne to her son, Willem-Alexander.

Every year, there is a special celebration day set aside on the Queen or King's birthday. This year, the celebration was on April 26. Even though King Willem's birthday is on the 27th, they couldn't have the celebration on a Sunday, so Koningsdag (King's Day) was on Saturday.

Koningsdag was wonderful! It was so great to be in Holland for this celebration! 

The day is mostly for children... parades, carnivals, singing, and the like. The evening is for the grown ups, who go to the bar to have a few drinks.

My day started at 8:00 when I awoke to the sound of glorious church bells (more on them in a later post), ringing out 'today-is-Koningsdag.'

At 10:00, the town square had 'singing' which we went to. 

Practically the whole town showed up! Everyone was wearing red, white, blue, and orange. 

Originally, the Dutch flag was orange, white, and blue, but the orange faded to red, so the orange was changed to red, and now the flag is red, white, and blue! But orange is still a big part of the culture, especially because of Willem of Oranje (also known as William the Silent, or Willem of Nassau), who led the Dutch revolt against Spain in the 1560's-1640's (The Eighty Year War).

(The Town Hall, where the singing took place.)

Before the singing took place, everyone who had a balloon, let them go free! It was SO. COOL!!! (Though, no doubt, bad for the atmosphere.)

Here's some samples of Dutch singing... Their music is very bouncy and polka-ish (at least the patriotic stuff).

Here is the mayor singing along:

 

He attempted to lead us in the national anthem... but it didn't work out too well.

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij, onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.

In English...

William of Nassau
am I, of German blood.
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until I die.
A prince of Orange
am I, free and fearless.
The king of Spain
I have always honoured.

The second verse is about fear of God and God's direction. A very popular verse to sing in church, which we did. Twice.

Since we didn't get to go to Loevestein Kasteel, we decided to visit a different one during the afternoon. This one was closer by.

This castle is called Doornenburg, and we got to tour it! Yay! One of the things I specifically wanted to do in Holland was tour a castle.

Here is the outer wall, which  led into a courtyard (and then the castle was across another bridge).

Not only is there a moat around this outer wall, there is a moat around the castle too!

On the left side of the picture is the castle's chapel.

During World War Two, Doornenburg was a hideout for German snipers. After the Netherlands was liberated from the Germans, the Allies had to make sure all snipers were out of the country. Therefore, the RAF flew over and bombed Doornenburg. It turns out that there were no Germans inside... and a perfectly good, old castle was destroyed for nothing. 

Fortunately, a huge restoration effort went on and the castle was restored to what it looked like originally! 

The chapel was not bombed, and is still the original. It's foundation isn't on stable ground, however, and is slowly sinking on one side... You can see it lean. It's pretty funny. 

In the late 1960's, a TV show called Floris (based off of comics of the same name, I believe) was set in Doornenburg! It looks like a great show (sadly it's only in Dutch. Happily, I'm learning Dutch).

We went on a tour... which was also in Dutch. There was a very nice young lady who translated for us. On the tour with us were a Christian couple from Gronigan who came to see the castle just because of the TV show! It was kind of funny. 

The inside of the castle reminded me of Beowulf.

(The big beams are called "Moeder" [mother] and the small beams are called "Kinderen" [children])

(The cellar where they would hang up the meat to dry. One of the steps leading into the cellar was bigger than the rest. If you lived in the castle, you would know that. If you were a thief trying to steal meat, you would step too far and fall, causing a commotion, and alerting someone to your uninvited visit. Now the cellar a party room with a nice bar and piano.)

(Staircase in the wall!)

(See how thick the walls were? They were thick for insulation, protection, and structural integrity.)

Some of the people who lived in Doornenburg in the Middle Ages had their portraits commissioned. Now, in one of the rooms, there are replicas of the outfits they wore in the portraits! Very cool. Also, there were lots of old buttons and such from the Middle Ages, which were cool to see.

We also learned the origin of the term "pair of pants." Ever asked yourself "Why is it called a pair when there is only one"?

Here's the answer!

They actually used to be a pair! Kind of like leggings, except without the connecting part. It all makes sense now. The men would pull one up as high as it would go, and then the other. I believe they had some sort of way of fastening the pants, but I can't remember what it was, and I neglected to take a picture.

In another one of the rooms, they let us try on some armor.

(Me and my dad.)

In the castle tower, there was a super cool model set up of Doornenburg during an attack!

Outside, Tintin had yet another flashback to our East Coast trip in 2012...

(Doornenburg)

 

 (Williamsburg)

We also got to ride some Trojan Horse wannabes:

Outside the outer wall there were some friendly(ish) Oreo Cookies Cows.

You don't see those too often!

On our way back to my aunt's house, we drove through a corner of Germany! Woohoo! Five different countries under my belt now! (America, Canada, England, Holland, Germany!)

After a nice dinner of pancakes (to be discussed in a later post), we walked around one of my Grandma's childhood haunts... Bredevoort. This city is known for it's bookshops. My grandma said that when she was young, nearly everyone ran a bookshop out of their homes! There are still many outside book stalls. You pay by "honesty slot." It's a little hole in the door, where you can drop your money. I really admire the trust of the Dutch. In America, you would never be able to run a bookshop by "honesty slot" but in Holland, that works just fine!

 (There were lots of bookshelves just full of books standing next to people's houses. Hence the honest slot... if it was after closing time, you could still buy a book!)

(It reads: "Bredevoort. Book City" or "City of Books")

I would have loved to stay longer, but Grama was tired, so we kept walking. She just happened to be walking passed someone's house (remember, the Dutch don't close their curtains), while I was looking at some books, and, as she peered in, her cousins peered out! So we sat with some extended family for a bit and my mom got to discuss quilting with some distant relation of some sort. It was quite nice. My poor dad had to try and communicate with my grandma's cousin's husband, who only spoke Dutch. 

I can't wait to go back to Holland, so I can explore Bredevoort in full!

Thus ends day eight... Stay tuned for more...

CE: March, the Garden.

 

You can find Character Encounter's, and Kendra's excellent blog HERE.
And now, the story.

The progress on the roof was coming along nicely. Now if only I could get a picture of the roof without getting the apple trees in the shot too...
I stepped back several paces, holding the camera up, and backed into a wall. I took a picture, and then realized that my backyard has no walls in it. I whipped around and there was a stone wall! I moved backwards and ran into someone. Thinking it was a roofer, I turned, ready to apologize, and gave a violent start. It was not a roofer in jeans, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap in front of me. No, it was a tall, dark-haired man. Underneath his black leather jerkin was a dark blue shirt. His pants were the same dark blue, tucked into black boots. His arms were filled with an assortment of oddities - clothes mostly, though I noticed a few masks. One had fallen to the ground when I bumped him.
"Excuse me," he said simply, with a hint of a smile on his lips, as he bent to pick up the mask. He succeeded in dropping a shirt and a slipper.
"No - it's my fault. I'm sorry! Let me help you," I replied, bending down and picking up the things that had fell. "It's always so difficult to carry large quantities of clothes, isn't it?" I said. "Whenever I'm doing it, I always drop something and have to come back for it later."
"Yes. I think I'm in that predicament presently," he replied. "Thank you."
"Wait!" I said. "Sorry... Can you tell me where I am?" I had gotten a look at my surroundings. I was in a courtyard-type garden area. My house was no where in sight. The wall I had backed into was a palisade built of rocks; the outer wall of a castle. Directly in front of me a garden filled with vegetables and herbs was laid out, and several women in long skirts and aprons bent double to pick the choicest of the harvest. When their baskets were filled, they raised them to their hips, wiped the sweat from their brows, and walked to a wooden door, which led into what could only be a castle.
The man looked at me, thinking my question odd. He fixed me with a penetrating stare.
"You don't know where you are?" he asked.
"Well... I, uh, kind of lost my way," I said.
"You're in the servant's courtyard," he said, "in the castle, in Kasteel City. Over there is the kitchen."
"Oh, of course, the kitchen!" I said. "I'm new."
"I see." He started walking again.
"Wait!"
"What is it now?" he asked, turning.
"Where are you going with all that?" I asked, not really knowing why I was keeping from whatever work he was about.
"To the dungeon."
"That's an odd place to bring clothes."
"Yes, well... I'm an odd man," he said. "Now may I carry on my way? My little wife would not take kindly to you talking to me so long."
"Your... little wife... Are you Draegond?" I asked. Suddenly it all made sense.
"Yes." His brows knit. "How do you know my name?"
"Long story... Speaking of stories - why are you taking it over? You weren't meant to be anyone! Only the nameless guard, and now you're only one step away from a main character!"
"I don't understand. Explain how you know my name."
"And no one told me you looked like Patrick Dempsey! Yes, you are definitely going to be the favorite."
"Patrick Dem- what are you talking about, girl?"
"And what a nice outfit you have... hmmm... I wonder how I could describe it... I like describing clothes, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at it. By the way, do you want to tell me what those clothes you are carrying are really for?"
"Only if you tell me who you are, and how you know my name. And who this Patrick person is," Draegond replied.
"Alright, like I said, long... confusing... story. Books, you know books?"
"Yes..."
"Well, I write books, and you are part of one of my books. And every month Kendra has a character encounter and this month I guess I wandered here and now I'm encountering you... so that's how I know your name. It kind of just came to me. It's supposed to sound like 'dragon.'"
"Yes, because I have always wanted to see the dragons."
"Exactly! Oh, and Patrick Dempsey is an actor."
"In a troupe?"
"Well, sort of... he plays a doctor on... in the troupe of Television."
"Ah." Draegond raised his eyebrows and said 'ah' in a way that suggested the thought 'oh, yes, she's insane.'
"So, what are those clothes for?"
"I'll tell you if you promise to keep the secret."
Evidently taking me for someone whose lost it, gone crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in possession of one's faculties, three fries short of a happy meal... WACKO! [aside: I apologize for the StarGate quote, it just kind of came out] Draegond decided to trust that in my insanity, I wouldn't tell anyone his secret.
He leaned closer and said in my ear: "I'm breaking my friend out of his cell in the dungeon, and we're going to the masquerade held for the princess."
Maybe he thought that I would think that he was crazy too.
"I see. Masquerade. Paper faces on parade. Masquerade. Hide your face so that the world will never find you." I may have accidentally burst into song.
If we had been in America, and if Draegond had actually been Patrick Dempsey, he might have taken this opportunity to call some nice people dressed in white to take me away to a nice, white padded cell. Luckily, we were no where near America, and Draegond just stared at me strangely.
"I must get going now," he said. "Goodbye. I hope you get un-lost soon."
"Thanks," I said. "Good luck with the masquerade! If a bowl of punch accidentally gets spilled on someone... it's my fault."
He just turned and walked quickly toward the dungeon door, which also opened up into the garden-courtyard-thing.
I let out a sigh and turned around - and there was my house!
"Boy, these Character Encounters are just getting weirder and weirder," I said, as I ran back inside to the safety of home.
THE END

I have NO clue why Draegond looks like Patrick Dempsey. Or why he's taking over the story. Actually, I haven't written a word for probably a month. Hopefully this CE and some homework for SAT class I did today will get me back in the writing mood. I've been on a reading kick.


In other news: I actually might be three fries short of a happy meal... WACKO! Yesterday, while it was super windy, it was "Whoa! That's so amazing! Let's go outside and see if we can get hit with a branch!" Today it's, "I wonder what my fruit smoothie would taste like if I put frozen peas in it?" (Mom: "No."). Tonight... I'm listening to Hannah Montana's first album. SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE! Actually no, don't. I'm enjoying her first album. Once, my friend and I were huge Hannah Montana fans. I bought the CD, but before my parents let me listen to it, my dad and I sat down and read through the lyrics of the songs, and he told me what was wrong with some of the thoughts, and which songs I shouldn't listen to. Some of the lyrics are kind of great. "I know where I stand, I know who I am, I would never run away when life gets bad." I think that lyric kind of backfired in Miley Cyrus' life, unfortunately.
Just listening to her early music again brings back such a flood of nostalgia and emotion. It almost makes me want to cry, because I miss being ten, and putting on Hannah Montana concerts with my friend down the street. I miss rocking out to this music on summer nights. I miss our sleepovers, and our games of make believe. Life wasn't so complicated then, it was just naive innocence.
Anyway, I should be off and away to bed. I've got a Jeeves and Wooster book to read. Thank You, Jeeves, of which my favorite episode(s) of the TV show are based.

Live long and prosper.

A rainy Saturday

A rainy Saturday... the perfect day to work on my new writing project. I'm just dying to tell people (other than my parents) about it... but I'm afraid that once I tell someone, I won't want to write it anymore. I'm writing it all out on paper, and so far, everything that I've ever tried to write on paper before has never gotten finished.
Of course, that was before NaNoWriMo. And then, more often than not, I would try to pants it and would have no direction of where the plot was going. I'm not a pantser, I'm a planner, so that method never worked for me... and therefore, none of my written-on-paper-books ever got finished (except for one... two actually, if you count the Warriors fanfiction).
My goal for this new story is to have it done by the end of April. My other goal is to write in it every day, and, if possible, write a chapter a day. We'll see how that goes.
So far today I've finished chapter six... I want write chapter seven and chapter eight today also. I've got until 5:00 (that's about five hours) because at 5:00 I need to start getting ready to go to a friend's house to watch How To Train Your Dragon for the first time!


Though I can't tell you much about this story... I can tell you a couple of things.
The genre I'm writing in is somewhere in between fairy tale and fantasy and I'm having fun/am looking forward to having fun with the various mythical creatures that come with those genres.
The "theme song," if you want to call it that, for this story is the Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg. If you're unfamiliar with it by name... maybe this song will spark your memory:

It's really hard to find good classical music that sounds fantasy-ish. The Peer Gynt Suites fit the bill perfectly, and I was wondering why. So I looked them up and found out something really interesting!
Peer Gynt is actually a play by a man named Henrik Ibsen. It's about a lazy man named Peer Gynt who goes around thinking that the world is his and that he doesn't need to work for it. In one part, he gets drunk and hits his head on a rock and has a "dream" where he visits a troll "In the Hall of the Mountain King," which is where the above piece of music gets it's name...
The storyline is really strange, and it's message is something along the lines of don't procrastinate because at the end of your life, you'll regret not doing anything worthwhile.
Ibsen contacted composer Edvard Grieg to compose the music for the play, and Grieg agreed (though reportedly he liked writing his music from his head, rather than from suggestions). He wrote all of the music for Peer Gynt, but in the end, only the two suites that you normally here today (running approx. 33 minutes) premiered with the play in 1876. The rest of the music that Grieg wrote wasn't published until 1908, a year after he died.
Isn't that interesting? I think it's very interesting.


Well, I'm off to finish my lunch and then get writing! I think I shall hideaway in my bedroom... It's storming outside (not with thunder or anything - yet - but with lots and lots of rain and wind. Glorious! This is my favorite type of weather, especially for doing something creative like writing or reading, and especially if there's some nice exciting classical music in the background) and soon my mom's friend will be coming over the quilt with my mom... My bedroom will be the safest place to hideaway and write privately, while still being able to see the weather outside, since they'll be taking over the living room.


Live long and prosper!

Welcome 2014!

2013: A Year in Review.

The most exciting thing that has happened to me this past year is the spiritual growth I have gone through. One of last years goals for 2013 was to grow in my faith in God and wow! has that come true! God is faithful, God listens, and God is awesome. I made decisions at the beginning of the year to eliminate certain youtube shows and sitcoms from my life. They were polluting my mind and going against Philippians 4:8 (whatever is pure, right, wise, etc... think on these things). I believe that this will be a lifelong problem but with God on my side, who can be against me?
As well as this, I went through two "studies" (one was a Bible study and the other our pastor's sermon series) on modern day idols. As a result, I'm very very careful around sci-fi shows, British television, books and certain actors. It is my goal not to make them an idol in my life - not to place them above my commitment to God, his word, and his commission.

The other goals which I posted on my blog for 2013 are as follows:

Continue to study hard. I think I did a relatively good job on this... until October. The past three or four months have been really hard on my studying. Editing/publishing my book, NaNoWriMo, and many musical recitals wiped me out. I'm looking forward to starting school again, though!

Write three novels. I wrote two, taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo in April, and regular NaNoWriMo in November.

Read at least 40 books (later, in my mind, I changed this to 50). Check! 69 books this year! Wow! I think that's the most "grown-up" books that I've ever read in my life! (When I was little, we would go to the library and pick up 50 picture books each week. They'd all be done by the time we went back the next week. But those don't count in 'the most books ever in one year' category.)

What else did I accomplish this year?

The biggest thing was publishing my book... After the Twelfth Night. I am SO glad that it's over and done with.

My musical abilities really soared. In piano, I just started my first ten page song, and I've learned to use my voice properly.

I learned that there were Prisoners of War in America during World War Two (see the post Algona, Iowa).

I attended several conferences with members of my youth group and did some fun stuff with other youth groups as well.

I finished reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien! That is a feat indeed.

My future has solidified. After my senior year next year I will go off to college to study youth ministry, music ministry, literature, and English.

Top Tuesdays started (I think I started that this year... now I'm not sure) and after six+ months, mysteriously stopped.

As well as continuing to watch Doctor Who, I was introduced into the Marvel franchise, and also in the Harry Potter franchise (by watching the first movie on TV the other night).

So what's in store for the new year?
Here are my plans...

Continue to get to know God, study his word, and make him first and foremost in my life. Read my Bible, pray everyday, and I'll grow... grow... grow...

Continue to study studiously. Finish my Algebra book!!! And get through Algebra II if possible...

Continue growing is my musical pursuits.

Visit my friend's college and start looking into which colleges would best fit God's plan for my life.

Witness to people about the love of God.

Do NaNoWriMo and win! Write a short story a day. Or, just write every day. Especially in my new story idea... (Last year my new story idea was a Defenders of the Realm which fell through. But this new story... well, I think it will stick around for awhile. At least, I'd really like it to.)

I'd really like to catch up on Doctor Who... if that's possible.

Read 100 books! Scary... I don't know if I'll be able to complete that one.

Get more geeky clothes.

Re-watch Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

EDIT: Read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

How about you all? Did you complete any goals you had made last year? What about goals for this upcoming 2014?

Live long and prosper!

For Unto Us a Child is Born

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son in given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:1-8

Merry Christmas!

The Minute Waltz

I don't play it in a minute, though.

Live long and prosper!

The past seven days...

...of NaNoWriMo have passed in a blur.
I'm currently 63 words away from 14,000 words and I'm finally starting to enjoy my novel.
It's titled A Pretty Face Can Hide An Evil Mind. It's a line that comes from this song:

Daniel and Varina, my heroes from my two previous NaNo projects (NaNoWriMo 2012, and Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2013) have to go undercover to stop a dastardly plot to destroy the government.

The first 8,000 words or so were very painful to write. Not because of anything evil... It's just I'm so burned out from all the work on After the Twelfth Night that my writing has fallen to a very low quality. Finally, though, things are starting to warm up. I'm starting to enjoy my characters more. There's more description (the first 8,000 words or so are almost all primary dialogue) and my writing has finally gotten to a level where I feel comfortable sharing snippets!
Here, have the one good piece of writing in all 14,000 words (and it's a very raw "good" piece of writing):

Varina lovingly pulled out Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and settled down to read, forgetting her tiredness for the moment.

Daniel chose a shorter book to read – if, indeed it could even be called a book. He had to search through the bag carefully, but finally he found what he was looking for… Down on the very bottom was a collection of Beethoven sonatas, which he took out and began studying intently, occasionally breaking out in a spurt of humming, while his fingers exuberantly played an invisible keyboard on the bed in front of him.

Mansfield Park because I just started reading it last night and I'm really enjoying it so far! Though I do feel sorry for Fanny.

While my story has started warming up... my character's have decided to turn on me. Alright, maybe not all of them at once... But Daniel has given me two pieces of information - one helpful, and one not-so-much.
The helpful one is that he finally told me his middle name(s)! Lots of ideas and two books later... he finally told me his middle name(s).
Here, have the only other piece of goodish writing from the first 14k:

“So, names,” said the Big Boss. “We were thinking of Rupert for you, Daniel.”

“Sorry,” said Daniel. “Rupert is my middle name.”

“I thought Charles was your middle name?” asked the Big Boss. “That’s what the file says…” he started digging around for Daniel’s file.

“Charles is my middle name, sir…” said Daniel, turning a little red. “But Rupert is my middle name too. Daniel Charles Rupert Adams.”

“The Third?” asked Varina.

“No, but I have high hopes for my first born son,” said Daniel.

As well as giving me his middle names... Daniel has also decided to spring on me that he went to Juilliard for a year in his late teens. Juilliard is one of the foremost music school in the world (I believe... I actually don't know too much about it). I was thinking, okay, that's fine. Just so long as Juilliard isn't in New York. I looked it up. It's in New York! This is a problem, Daniel! Why? Because Daniel is from England and before the first book in my series, he had never been to New York... so I thought. Even now, he's cowering in a corner and apologizing in an adorable stammer. He didn't think it was relevant until now... he's sorry...
Yeah, well, you should have thought about telling me before I started writing this series, Daniel Adams!

I'm not crazy, I promise. Okay, maybe a little crazy.

Anyway, I've been listening to quite a bit of Vivaldi and Paul McCartney. And a song called Weep You No More, Sad Fountains, which I would really like to sing in voice lessons. And I've been listening to a few of the songs from The Great Train Robbery movie. It has a super cool soundtrack.

Well, back to writing! I want to get at least 150 more words before updating my word count and doing something else.

Look forwards to a review of Canterbury Tales coming soon... I finally finished it! Huzzah! That was a painful book to get through.