Random thoughts

[Addison]

I just made a cake using a new recipe. My first devil's food cake. It would have been six layers but the last one fell apart. During this cake I tried something different. I tried to make it display-case worthy. My siblings and I have been watching "The Next Great Baker" on netflix and they've been nagging me that I should go on the show. (I have zero experience with fondant and such things) So with this cake I spread the frosting a different way and it looked alright. But everything else....yech. If Buddy Valastro say he'd probably cry.

 

[Jabrosky]

I've begun to wonder whether message boards like this are distracting me from more productive pursuits like actually writing. Sometimes I come here for help and other feedback on story ideas, but since I almost always end up scrapping those ideas, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to sharing them with this community anymore.

Mind you, I'm not announcing that I'm leaving the forum for good. I just think I need to cut back on my time here.

 

[Scribble]

I wonder if my motivation to write isn't simply ego, that I crave some kind of recognition and fame, and that leads me to wonder if that isn't truly a worthy goal for my short time on this rock. It seems a very inward goal. or at least that is how I perceive it, and that I should focus more on giving the world a piece of something that will fill it up with more riches, rather than seek to take some riches from it. I am trying to be more present, to focus on the life that is around me, rather than being off in a fantasy world. My burdens of responsibility are heavy, and I wonder if I am not simply creating an escape, a sanctuary from them, and the more time I spend there, the less present I am in my actual life.

Sorry if that was a bit heavy, but it's that kind of cloudy day here.

 

[Gryphos]

A sad day for the UK, as Ukip got the most MEP seats in the European elections.

 

[Jabrosky]

I wonder what gender our poster Feo Takahari is. I was going to PM them about it, but their message inbox appears to be full.

Just curious...

 

[Angelic Randomness]

I can't really tell the difference between "Quick Reply" and just "Reply".


Anyway, it's finally June. It's of my most favorite months of the year. Yes!
I have a bunch of exams coming up though... Exams are never fun. Especially since when you finish early and they just make you sit around until time's up. *sigh*

 

[Scribble]

Thinking last night about animals that I feel are my "totem spirits" the gull and the wolf... how their natures evoke both the noblest and the basest impressions... and what lessons each has to teach. I thought about the wolf, and all it represents - too many things to mention, b- the lone wolf - the hunger, the loneliness and also what it means to be part of a pack - the comfort, the comeradeship, the sure knowledge of your place in things. And then, the gull - inspired by Jonathan Livingston Seagull, that a creature so pitiable as the seagull could aspire to fly farther and faster than any could believe. These are but a small sampling of the many ideas I was playing with, and I came up with two expressions that I thought could help me focus at this time in my life.

I've been wrestling to find a simple philosophy to focus on. I haven't found anyone else's philosophy or religion able to satisfy me. They all seem to presume too much knowledge about the universe or humanity. I want a simple set of mottos I can use to focus my daily life.

One seemed to be so simple, and I learned it when I was 5 in Cub Scouts... evoking the Wolf.

Do your best.

Just that, it's simple. Every day, just do your best on the outside. When I kept the wolf's head totem pole at my house, when it was my turn, I used to stare at it, wondering what it was like in life, and that led me to become obsessed with wolves for a time. Their song always struck me deeply, as if they understood the sadness of the world that I felt.

But I also need a goal for the inside, and I thought about Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and what his goal was:

Become your greatest self.

Those are two phrases that are so simple, but carry a lot, for me at least. I can't change the world, I can't change other people, I can only do my best out there, but inside I can in fact change myself. I have that power.

I was idly thinking about a tattoo that I might get to represent that, maybe a pair of totemic animal tattoos... then, I started thinking about Siddhartha's river, and how the river is a perfect metaphor for myself and my life, and heck, maybe I would get a sleeve tattoo of a river running down my arm, with elements of my life and goals by it's side, or leaping out of it?

I could put that wolf by the side of it, and the gull flying over and reflecting upon it... in the water could be the hints of faces of my children... over time, I could add to it, adding elements that have meaning for me.

I dunno, just an idea, thinking about it...

 

[Jabrosky]

Given that reptiles can't digest milk (only mammals can produce and digest it), I wonder if you could use milk to poison a dragon or dinosaur?

 

[Addison]

I think that would just make them sick, not dead.

I've discovered a new type of alarm clock, compliments of my mother-who-thinks-she's-so-funny. There's actual clocks, you can set an alarm on your cell phone. Some even wake up to the sound of the first train, bus, others to a rooster. Me? I woke up to the neighs and bellows of a very distraught horse, Cali. At first I thought she was hollering for food. Nope. She was trotting around her pasture, throwing her head and trying to see past the house. My mother had her horse out, as did our visiting friend, who were getting saddled up for a ride. So I go out, hold the dog so he wouldn't agitate the horse as our friend got on, when my mom comes around and calmly asks me. "Did Cali wake you?"

She and her friend were laughing as I pretended to be strangling the horse. She's only just stopped, she's still alive, she just realized it wasn't helping her. Tomorrow I think I'll see how she likes it when two dogs with a noisy collars tear through her room fighting over a squeaky toy. Oh yeah.

 

[Ireth]

So very frustrated. Another of my favorite websites is no longer letting me log in, at least on my sister's borrowed laptop, which is the only one I can use right now. It always gives me the same error message: "No sign-in name entered." No matter if I type in anything or not, even if it's not my username at all, even if I type my username and not my password. I'm hoping that if/when I get my own laptop fixed, or more likely get a new one, that that one'll work. But I have no way of knowing right now.

 

[Jabrosky]

Does anyone else wonder if The Lion King would have been a stronger story if Mufasa had died defending Simba from the hyenas in the elephant graveyard? That way, Simba would have better reason to believe his own actions (namely disobeying his father and getting himself into trouble) brought about his father's death, and he'd spend the middle act of the movie learning the true meaning of bravery and kingship during his exile. Sounds much better to me than "I must return to my kingdom because I didn't really do what I thought I did".

 

[SeverinR]

Devils food? Made with real devils?
Angel food? Made with real angels?\

 

[SeverinR]

http://jbrown3920.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/i-writee.jpg

"I write to discover what I know."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Hannah's almost 2, my cousin's wife is expecting a daughter, so I took apart the crib and am about to give it to my uncle with some assembly required.

My "random" thought of the day: I will never be a tech writer.

The reason why not is pictured below. I can't call them instructions, but whatever they are, each third of the page is in a different sandwich bag fulla small parts.

 

[Addison]

I came across a pet adoption today. There were two lovable basset hound mix puppies, a 3 yr old boxer, 5 year old Australian Sheppard, and a 3 yr old cross of a dalmatian and...something. I wanted to adopt the two puppies, even if they were enjoying themselves teething on my fingers, and the scruffy dalmatian mix dog. Problem was there were already two dogs at home, zero room for more animals, and no room in the car.

It felt like fate was having a laugh at me. I've been looking for my own pet for a while, then I walk down to REI from the car and see the sign for pet adoption. Fate! Then I discover I have no way to take them home. Ever feel like fate's messing with you for its own entertainment? It's been happening a lot to me lately. Although it has inspired a crazy idea, pack the bag, load the car and just drive.

 

[Writeking]

My pet dragon died, so I decided to bury him in a pet cemetery - It turned out to be a bad idea.

 

[Addison]

The Lords and Ladies of the house.
Lord Dad, dominion over the kitchen, shop, downstairs bathroom and spa room, and deck.
Lady Mom, dominion over the dining room, sewing room, master bedroom, upstairs bathroom, and front yard.
Lady Sister and Lord Brother, dominion over the living room, TV, bedroom, garage and backyard.
Lady Jazzy and Lord Rex, dominion over the hiking trails, sofa, armchair, hallways.
Me, dominion over my bed, all books, and the ottoman.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I saw a bear! A real bear!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Every once in a while, I come across a challenge here, write a really DUMB scene, and get inspired. I just wrote a scene with singing, dancing ogres, and now I'm thinking of including ogres in my story who are just a bunch of jerks. They're not like jerks who deserve to die so the hero slays them. They DO deserve to die, but their jerkiness DOESN'T lead to a fight scene. Like real life jerks, they act like jerks then go away (or you go away), and you don't get to kill them.

 

[Devor]

Every once in a while, I come across a challenge here, write a really DUMB scene, and get inspired.

That scene was brilliant because of its dumbness.