Wisdom

Education and learning are important. School, on the other hand, not so much. I am learning this. Grades are not really as important as actually learning something. You can try and put so much effort into something and get an aweful grade, but you acutual learn something. And then there are the classes where you get As, just skimming right through with no effort whatsoever. And you do not learn a thing. I am sure that my French is getting better from Study Abroad and, while I am not fluent (which is what I was hoping for), that was the entire point of studying abroad. But I have a feeling my grades are not going to be what I wish them to be. But I am trying to keep in mind that it is the experiences (and French amelioration) which are more important.

Results for Empathy Quizzes.

Meople did these, so I did, too. Here are my results:

You Scored as Human Empath As a Human Empath, you possess the ability to connect with other people on an empathic level, allowing you to feel their emotion as though they were your own. Visit us at EmpathCommunity.ning.com Human Empath 83% Balanced Empath 63% Healer Empath 61% Communication Empath 54% Animal Empath 50% Clairvoyant Empath 39% Energy Empath 38% Physical Empath 15%

You Scored as Judge

You are a Judge Empath, one who is a "truthsayer". You can tell truth from lies, good from evil. You do not tolerate wrong doing. You are a defender of the good and the innocent. You are kind and merciful but do not play foolish games. (from "The Book of Storms" by Jad Alexander at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Empaths/)

Judge

60%

Universal

55%

Artist

55%

Traveler

50%

Fallen Angel

45%

Precog

40%

Healer

30%

Shaman		30%

You Scored as Clairsentience ~ Clear Sensing or Clear Feeling

Clairsentience allows a person to feel what others are feeling. This would entail feeling a person's emotions or feeling another's physical pain. This can be a very difficult ability to process.

Clairsentience ~ Clear Sensing or Clear Feeling

67%

Clariscentist or Clairalience ~ Clear Smelling

50%

Clairgustance or Clairambience~ Clear Taste

50%

Clairaudience ~ Clear Hearing

33%

Claircognizance ~ Clear Knowing

17%

Clairvoyance ~ Clear Seeing

0%

NaNoWriMo

I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year. NaNoWriMo is where you write 50000 words in 30 days. Last year and the year before I said "I'm too busy this year; I'll participate next year." So, this year, even though I am once again very busy (Novembers are always busy!), I am participating! So far I have 4606 words and if I were on track (1667 words a day) I would have 13333 words. As you can see, I am behind. But I will not let that stop me!
But Why?
Because it forces the person to committ to one story, to write every day, to work on getting out words, to not worry about if it is "good enough," to let creativity abound, to go after inspiration with a club, to turn off the inner editor, to get into the habit of writing every day, to make "some day" (as in"someday I will write a novel") today, to be dedicated, to Prove you can do it, to see peoples faces when you tell them that you are going to write 50000 words in 30 days. Because you can.

And so, because I am behind, I had better get cracking!!!!

Poem: Of Clocks and Keys and Colored String

Of clocks and keys and colored string
Spring and snow and lightning bugs
Storms and stars and opal rough
Hope and Dreams and swirled stuff
These are the things with which magic is made
Of feathers and flowers and friendship true
Glitter and Greatness and glass slippers
Panache and Poetry and petosky stones
Wonder and waves and wedding days
These are the things with which magic's made
Ordinary, everyday, mundane yet awe inspiring
Comfort and novelites and creative desires.
Magic lives and breathes and fills the world
In every thing; Simplicity
Of clocks and keys and colored string

That poem was written the night of October second. Seems kind of Alice and Wonderlandy and Practical Magicy.

Quote_Pierre Bottero

"Et l'enchanteur, maitre des mots et des fleurs, naquit, enfant sage au milieu des tumultes" C.B.

French vocab for today:

taquiner = to tease, to dig at, to tantalize

brouiller = to make cloudy, to scramble, to shuffle, to befuddle, to run afoul of someone

époustouflante = mind-bloggling, amazing, mind-blowing

pantoufle = slipper

brimer = to bully, to aggravate

tramer = to hatch, to plot, to weave

lampée(s) = gulps i.e. of water

trempé(e) = soaked

tranchant(e) = to be sharp, forthright, curt

flâner = to stroll, to loaf, to roam, to sashay

lover = to coil, to wind, to curl up

A good word_dictionary.com

farrago

\fuh-RAH-go; fuh-RAY-go\ , noun:

1. A confused mixture; an assortment; a medley.

Poem: Storm Secrets

Swirling
Between raindrops--
the Sodden speeches of the clouds--
The wind weaves
Secrets; whispering
A stuttering soliloquy
Unwritten, wordless
Monologue
murmmured
In the pitter-patter voice--
Footstep-heartbeats--
Drumming in your ears
With wind swept rain

Poem: These things I wish for you_for my cousin's 16th.

These things I wish for you:
Rainbows and butterflies
Dragons and Vampires
Knee-high toes socks and bow ties
Long, flowy cloaks and other attire
A kingdom--a world!--just for you
With you as it's queen
With you as it's muse
Just imagine any scene...
These things I wish for you

Anti-Inspired

Oh where, oh where, did my inspiration go?
Someone once said that you can't wait around for inspiration, that you have to "go after it with a club." But how do you propose I do that? Where do you go looking for it?

I miss writing. But I can't find inspiration. It taunts me sometimes, hovering close by, like slippery cobwebs. They slip through my fingers or break completely. I'll start writing and then ...nothing... And what I have isn't all that great either.

Question

Do emotions have to make sense?

Nerdfigher badge.

Visit Nerdfighters

Poem: Alone_for a character

Alone in the wilderness inside my head,
Bearing the marks of sleepless nights,
Disjointed harmonies beating in my heart,
As the long hours tick past during scalding hot days.
Bone white memories crumbling to dust,
Haunting my every shadowed step
To the tune of harsh, ear-splitting screams
Torn from the throats of nightmares.
And frozen fingertips trip over my vertebrae,
Banishing hope and joy a easily as falling down,
Keeping me from dreams and peace and healing.
The Future and the Past crowd in close
Until all that is left is a shell
Broken and withering, more fragile than cobwebs
WIth only fear, and pain, and doubt for company.
And in he wilderness inside my head,
Bearing the marks of sleepless nights,
Disjointed harmonies beating in my heart,
I cling to the hope that I'm not alone.

Poem. Untitled. Goddess

Like a poem, or a song, or a photo
The mountains, the ocean, and the sky,
Instilling the senses
With Beauty, awe, and meaning;
She's the butterfly and the storm
The cherry-blossom tree and the earthquake
The smile and the tear.
She can dance on the fingertips of pygmy shrews,
Smaller than a drop of rain.
She can use whole meadows as stepping stones,
Larger than the greatest trees.
She lives within everyone and everything: Web, Knot
Yet stands separate and apart: Guardian, Watcher
Like a poem, a song, or a photo
She is immortal
Imprinted on us all.

Poem_As Yet Untitled. Fade/drain

Like ink in the rain:
smeared and dripping;
I'm draining away

Like fog in the sun
burning and dying;
I'm fading away

Like blood in the water:
diluted and thin;
I'm draining away

Like dreams come morning-tide
dusty and crumbling;
I'm fading away

Poem_As Yet Untitled.

I hold the ocean in my soul
the sky encompassed by my eyes
No hart like mine but flower gardens
My body a castle, a fortress, a temple
My mind only a dream
Don't take the dare
No risks
Fear outside routine the ocean will dry
The sky will fall
The garden will wither
The temple will be in ruin
The dream will fade
Like a puff plant
Under the light feather fingertips
Of rain
Poof.
Stay.

untitled Poem about Dandelions

A field of dandelions
Like Hope spread far out,
Filled with seeds
Puffy white wishes
Waiting for a breath;
Fairy wings and duckling down
Fastened precariously to the ground...
A field of dandelions
Waiting to welcome a runner
With heart open wide
Singing out wishes
To be carried by
Dandelion seed.

I don't get time.

Not only do I not get time (as in not have enough of it), but I also just don't get it. Minutes pass so slowly, hours pass by quickly. Days pass by slowly and weeks pass by insanely fast. I don't understand. How the heck does that work?Also, I made a schedule for myself listing the things in order to get things out of the way in a 'timely' fashion. And if I don't get things finished when I've scheduled them, I'll be screwed. Because there's no time. Why? Because I don't get time. I just wasn't on Time's gift-giving list.

43 things Personality Quiz

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an

Extroverted Healthy Tree Hugger

0.66% of the 128103 people who have taken this quiz are like you.

Poem_As Yet Untitled.

Open up
Petal by petal
A blossoming flower
Blooming brightly in the quiet
A painting, brilliant in the dark night
Like a secret and a dream, forever young
Open up
Awake
Be

Song/Poem_"The Learning Curve: Hope for the Future"

The Learning Curve: Hope for the Future

Breathe in...

You're uncertain and you've made mistakes
You don't know where you'll be tomorrow
It's true hat your heart aches
And right now all seems very low
Remember the future is a wild card
You're growing up and it is hard
And mind, body, should seem taken by shakes

(chorus)
But the sun will come up again
The world's still turning
And time's carrying you along
Just don't forget to breathe

All your emotions have fuzzy labels
And the learning curve is steep
You know there are still safety cables
So reach for the top, take a flying leap
Remember the future is a wild card
you're crowing up and it is hard
There's hope for the future, so do not weep

And the sun will come up again
The world's still turning
And time's carrying you along
Just don't forget to breathe
Just don't forget to breathe

Breathe out.

quote

"It will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end.

Poem_Peace

Peace

Windows and wellsprings
Of the heart and soul
Watching and waiting
Willing all to be whole
For peace to rise on wide-spread wings
When the world will be free of hating

Poem_as yet untitled. Inspired by Senor Frita's style

Mismatched knee-high socks,
Right hand clad in a fingerless glove,
Hair half pulled back,
Coattails hanging to her knees
And a champagne glass hold grape juice

Lanterns like fierflies stuck on bright
Hang from the trees draped with Orange silk
And white lilies pool around rooted feet
She eyed the party
Music breathing in her ears
Wine red corset hugs curves
As if it were her date
Blue jeans and converses complete her attire

She stands out among
Tuxes and evening gowns
Mismatched knee-high socks
hidden from sight
A secret defiance
Accompanying blatant matchless-ness
She's an audacious proclamation
Daring the others
Forget me if you can
Daring them to do anything but ignore
Accept me
Rebel

Her mutiny is joined by one other
he sees her from across the lawn
Lantern glowing on neon hair
White dinner jacket gleaming
In dark and candle
A shirt in cotton candy pink and blue
Stretches over his skin
And leather pants encase his legs
Bare feet toe the grass
He raises his own glass
Blue cool-aid, unspiked
Eyes meet
Smiles bloom
And they are the only two
Wreathed in light
From mismatched socks
To neon hair

Across the lawn they salute each other
The only two to leave happy
For they are themselves
For they are together
For they are the Forgotten Rebellion
Brazen declarations of
The refusal to be ignored
Mismatched knee-high socks
Toe the line with bare feet
In lantern light
Mismatched socks the pair of them
But belonging together

Possibly "Rebellion of Mismatched socks" The imagery popped into my head. It began with what she was wearing and then the setting came into my view. And then he came into my head.
And then the ending about how the pair of them were mismatched socks but that they belong together came on its own. Nothing was planned. The only thing I changed after I wrote it (besides spelling ;P) was the line "A shirt in cotton candy pink and blue/Stretches over his skin" It use to be one line saying only "a pink shirt stretching over his skin"
THAT"S ALL>>>SUDDENLY MY SHIFT KEY IS STUCK> UH_OH>

Poem: "Poetry in Motion, in Meditation"

Running forward (or it is back)
Running away (or is it toward)
Running 'round in circles
Wiffle-waffling like feather down
On the undulating wind
And dead leaves skittering
On a time-frozen river of stillness

Silence muffling thoughts--
Noise drowning out the deafaning quiet
That makes you face yourself--
A walking meditation
Misplacing self out of body
Sight crystal clear
Yet strangely distant

Like poetry in motion
A beauty found only in passing
All emotion and impression
Raining down on the eyes
Like sunlight in springtime
All creation and formation
Spinning, spiralling, and undulating world

Her poetry is in Meditation
That she finds only in motion
Her running and uncertainty
Creating the world;
Her beauty like a poem
All contradictions and comparisons; silence and noise, motion and stillness

Her beauty like a poem

Sanctuary Blessing_blessing from my story Sanctuary

Wind beneath thy wings
Sunlight upon thy heart
Hands gripping thy hand
Solid ground supporting thy feet
Smiles bestowed upon thine eyes
Hugs to hold thee close
Love, Joy, Peace, Courage
Sanctuary
These things I wish for thee,
to follow, to lead, to accompany--
Wherever thee may go.
Blessings surround thee
Enough to fill all thy days and nights
Sanctuary no matter when, where, or why
Thou art deserving
And so I thee Bless
With Eternal Sanctuary

The first Keeper of the Sanctuary blessed someone hunted with this blessing. The "thy" and "thine" and "thee"s are all there because this blessing was spoken when those words were still used. The entire blessing is often only used in formal, ritualistic ceremonies. The every-day blessing is shortened to "I thee bless," "Thou (you) art deserving," "Eternal Sanctuary," or just "Sanctuary." Among anyone in the Magic World (as it were--the story is an urban fantasy and is set in modern day USA) knows the blessing, what it means, where it came from, and how significant it is.
(an insult is "Undeserved" or "Undeserving")

Spirit Animal_Swan

Spirit Animal Quiz from: http://www.jerismithready.com/quiz/

You are a Swan! (your score: 26)

Characters: Tereus, Kalia in the Aspect of Crow trilogy

Powers: Foretelling future through dreams, dream-walking

Swans are idealistic, open-minded, and passionate. Your good nature often leads people to think they can take advantage of you, but they should be careful—beneath that serenity lies a fighting spirit. Your love is fierce and unconditional, fueled by the certainty that it should last forever.

Best matches: Wolves, Horses, Otters

Watch out for: Cougars, Foxes, Hawks

Quote stolen from Meople's blog. (Sorry...sort of)

"If you take a Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words were printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our Bible IS the Wind and the Rain." -~Unknown

Other quotes:

“Nature has her proper interest; and he will know
what it is, who believes and feels, that every Thing
has a Life of its own, and that we are all one Life.” —
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own.” — Charles Dickens

"I put a capital N on nature and call it my church." -Frank Lloyd Wright

Poem_As Yet Untitled. Inspired nby A'net's "a small sunburnt shack"

It stands forgotten there--
Lost, alone, abandoned--
Where rain and frigid cold, winds and scorching heat
Ravage, weather.
It had been a home once
Now it no longer even deserves the title "house"
It used to be red and cheery, a hub of activity.
No more.
It has faded to grey--
The warped wood shelter only for termites who've carved their paths like tribal tattoos into teh flesh of the structure--
And lost more than half its shingles
The windows have been smashed, leaving
Gaping Holes
Like caves for dead leaves, dust, dirt, and the odd mouse,
The door the last memory as Home,
A tribute,
A sign for any weary wanderer to come and take its precarious shelter.
Roses border it, still faintly seen--
The only color left.
It waits patiently for the Return,
For the Homecoming,
For when feet will once again tread on hardwwood, thread-bare carpet, creaky stairs, and cracked tile
For when laughter echos down the halls instead of the mere faint echo of a memory.
It stands forgotten there--
Lost, alone, abandoned--
Ravaged by Time and patiently
Waiting

Poem_Wavering, between the Brink and Solid Ground

Wavering
At the edge of the brink, tip-toes on the precipice:
It's a long way down from here--
And the easy way is through empty space
Tumbling
With ease like handstands in a swimming pool
Cartwheeling
Through mid air
Going
Down

The landing, though, is much harder
Than the rocky, thorny, twisting-turning and very steep path
Behind
So simple to tip forward
And find out what it's like to fly
To sky dive--to
Fall
Helpless, uncontrollable, spinning and somersaulting
To the hard earth, fast as a semi down hill

Better to go the other way, on trembling feet,
Tripping and slipping and sliding
Skinning knees and twisting ankles, tearing clothes to shreds and
Arriving
Vertical and Triumphant instead of
Splattered like Humpty Dumpty

So turn around and take a deep breath.
Step by difficult step
And into the waiting, loving, and incredibly proud arms at the bottom
Take a bow. you did it.

Shaking, close to the edge,
The brink less than a step away with empty space awaiting
But turn around and you'll find
Solid ground

Poem_In the Form of a letter_Dear Best Friend

Dear Best Friend,
I miss you.
I miss your voice, your hugs, your smiles, your presence. I want to hang out, to laugh, to joke, to revel in the cheery atmosphere. We can talk about nothing. We can talk about everything.
Without you, I feel lost; I feel alone. I just want to call, to see how you are. I’m thinking about you so loud. Can you hear me? I’m calling out for my Best Friend. Please, let me know you’re there.
So when I go to bed at night, I will feel safe and whole because I’ll know my Best Friend is a phone all away, ready to send love, ready to banish tears. And when I wake up in the morning, I will not feel lost and alone because I will know my Best Friend is there.
Can you hear me? Please, let me know you’re there.
Dear Best Friend,
I miss you--
Love,
Me.

French Composition Assignment

"Describe the snow," Greg says and writes a list of adjectives on the whiteboard (in French). OK. And I ran with it. He walked around complaining about how people had started with "La Neige est" (the snow is) and used to be and have a lot. Not me. Here's what a wrote
IN FRENCH:
Le cristalline monde scintille dans la lumièe froide du soleil d'hiver. C'est une sepulcre sévère et sterile mais brillante, scintillante, et immaculée. La blanche cuvre la terre avec l'ennui de la neige, une couverture frigide, aveuglante, et prèsque spectrale, mais belle, toujours belle. Une agonie et une joie au même temps. La purité de la froidure, de petites étoiles, de la mausolée qui est la neige déroule sur la terre. Les arbres tous nus avec rien pour les protéger contre la froideure, la neige encerclement ses pieds racinés. Tous dors, attendant pour la neige fondre et les brises verts et doux du printemps retourner avec un soleil qui est plus chaud.
IN ENGLISH:
The crystalline world glitters in the cold light of the winter sun. It is a severe and sterile sepulcer, but brilliant, glittering, and immaculate. The white covers the earth with the boringness of snow, a frigid, blinding, and almost spectral blanket, but beautiful, always beautiful. An agony and a joy at the same time. The purity of the cold, of the tiny stars, of the mosoleum that is the snow, unrolls on the earth. Trees stand bare, with nothing to guard them from the cold, snow surrounding their rooted feet. Everything sleeps, waiting for the snow to melt and spring's green and balmy breezes to return with a warmer sun.

I'm a beast! I am the mistress of creative writing! w00t! (Can you sense an inflated ego?....;P) I can't wait to turn it in.

2009

Happy New Year. May it be filled with good health, happiness, and achievement. May you be surrounded by family and friends. May you keep your old friends and find new ones. May you be neither too bored or too overwhelmed. May you fulfill your New Years Resolutions and be thankful at the end for the year you've had.

My New Years Resolutions:
--Do not procrastinate
--Do not be lazy
--find time to read things that I want
--Find time to work on my stories
--Exercise
--Drink more water
--Find things to eat
--Be happy