Goodnight

“Cassandra bears your anger rather well.” Lionel had snuck up on Chris. AGAIN.

“What do you mean?” He asked gruffly, not looking up from his computer.

“Well, most people respond to your anger with anger. She appeared mostly apathetic, if not bewildered.”

“Yeah well, she knows she’s wrong.”

“And what is it that’s she wrong about?”

“Nothing serious.”

“It can’t be ‘nothing serious’ if you’re this wound up about it.”

“Lionel, leave it alone. We’ll have it figured out by the end of the week. If not, then you have full bragging rights and I’ll take you out to dinner.”

“Fine. But if it’s not resolved in two weeks you’ll have to let me know what it’s about.”

“Fine. Now get out of my office. I have work to do.”

“So rude.”

Cassy found herself rushing to get to rehearsal on Wednesday night, not because she was late, but because she NEEDED to be in the choir room before Chris woke up from his nap. He was punishing her with some particularly difficult pieces, and she really wanted to get some practice in on the grand. Her keyboard at home worked fine enough, but there was just something about the piano in the choir room that made it easier to practice. Unfortunately, when she got there somebody else was already playing on it.

"Lionel. What a surprise."

"Yes, I normally don't come here on Wednesdays."

"Any particular reason for your visit?"

"Chris mentioned that the choir would be singing one of my compositions soon. I want to know ahead of time that they'll be able to pull it off."

"That's... arrogant of you."

"I suppose. Have you been finding the music very difficult? I tried to make it complex, if only to annoy lesser pianists than myself."

"I'm finding it extremely difficult."

"Good. What part are you having the most trouble with?"

"Measures 14 through 26."

"Really? I would have thought the more difficult spot would be the key change at 78."

"That was easy to figure out once I considered the theory behind it."

Lionel stared at Cassy with a neutral expression.

"I can see now why Chris refuses to fire you, even when you're being impossible."

"By all accounts, he is the one being impossible right now."

"Not in his eyes."

"Yes, well, it will be resolved soon enough."

"I know. Though I am hoping it isn't."

"Why?"

"He promised me bragging rights and dinner if it isn't resolved by Sunday."

"I see. Well, for your sake I might drag it out a bit longer than I'd planned."

"I would be ever so grateful."

Any further banter was int erupted by a not-quite-awake Chris stumbling into the room.

"Lio? What're you doing here?"

"Just checking in on you. I wanted to ensure that you treated my child with respect."

"What child? Oh yeah, the piece... I'm sure the choir's up to it, even if the accompanist isn't."

Cassy burned with the desire to say something scathing, but nothing came to mind.

"Actually," Lionel replied with a charming smile. "Cassandra has just asked me to play it tonight. Said something about wanting to listen to a true master play."

"Did she now. Well, do what you want."

"Thank you ever so much Christopher. Your kindness truly knows no bounds."

"Shove it up your..." They were spared whatever vulgarity Chris could come up with by the arrival of the first choir member. Chris glared darkly at both Cassy and Lionel, but greeted the choir member with a smile. Soon, rehearsal was underway. Cassy surrendered the piano over to Lionel when they moved on to his song, and it soon became apparent why Cassy was the better accompanist.

"Measure 40, Lionel." "Just the parts please, Lionel." "SLOWER, Lionel."

When Chris had had enough of Lionel's inadequacies, they moved on to a different song, and the balance was restored. All in all, it had been a fairly productive rehearsal (despite Lionel). Cassy left the choir room after all the members had left, a small smile on her face.

"Cassandra."

"Yes Lionel?"

"Chris is refusing to tell me anything for another week and a half. What did you tell him that's made him so snippy?"

"Nothing of true importance."

Lionel pouted.

"You're both incredibly mean."

"You'll know soon enough."

"Soon enough isn't soon enough."

"If Chris said he'll tell you in a week and a half, then I'd only upset him by telling you now."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was about me..."

"Who said it isn't?"

"So it is about me?"

"Less about you, more about his pride and opinions."

"What on earth did you say to him?"

"Nothing of true importance. Goodnight, Lionel."

"Goodnight Cassandra."

Start

I'll admit it. I'm a slacker. I implied that I'd get back to posting as soon as I got back from my trip, but I didn't. I'm such a horrible person...

Angsty lamenting over with, here's more story! Well, actually it's a different one 'cause I'm kinda burnt out on the one I was working on, but still! I'm actually posting! That's an improvement!

Cassy fairly flew down the hall in her haste, narrowly avoiding knocking into several people. She made a sharp left turn, and jumped down the stairwell taking two or three steps at a time. That damn woman had made her LATE! Never mind the fact that she was skating on thin ice with Chris as it was, she just HAD to stop for breakfast! They would have been okay on time if they had just eaten then left, but NO! That infernal woman had to flirt with the waiter!

Finally, she reached the choir room. Fortunately, Chris was only halfway through the usual Sunday-morning warm-up. She preferred to arrive about fifteen minutes before the choir did to warm up herself, but she would take what she got. When Chris finished with the warm up, he looked her straight in the eye, and with thinly-veiled disdain, he said, "You're late."

"Mother." She responded simply, knowing he would understand, even if he was still mad at her.

"No excuse." He muttered at her, getting up and allowing her to take her place behind the piano.

Despite Chris' current dislike of her, he and Cassy made a dynamic pair as a conductor and accompanist. She took his subtle directions better than anyone he'd ever worked with (even if he refused to admit it aloud). The short rehearsal was soon over without any fuss, and the choir made their usual migration up to the waiting room. They arrived just as Lionel Rose (the organist and reason for Chris and Cassy's current contention) finished with the prelude, and after a short call to worship, they were on. They processed in with the opening hymn, and just like that, service began, no one in the congregation aware that their beloved Music Ministries director was glaring daggers at the talented teenage accompanist for no real reason. Of course, Cassy wouldn't be the one to say he was being illogical. It was something he had to figure out on his own. Nevertheless, she bore the uncomfortable itch of his hatred all through service, and slipped out as soon as the postlude started. With any luck she would be out of the building before Chris had managed to shake off his adoring fans.

Someone did catch her as she was leaving, but fortunately it wasn't Chris. Unfortunately, it was Lionel.

"Why was Chris sending you death glares all through service?" He asked bluntly.

"I told him something he didn't want to hear."

"Oh. Okay. See you next week."

That's the way he was. Cassy shook her head, and turned to where her mother was leaning against the car, smoking.

"Those things are going to kill you." She muttered as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Honey, you're going to kill me before they ever get close."

"Says you."
"That's no way to talk to your mother."

"Whatever."

"When did you become so petulant child?"

"When did you learn a word as big as petulant?"

"Oooh... you just wait until your daddy hears about this."

"Yes. I'm sure he'll get quite the laugh from it."

"Shut up, child."

"Yes mommy."

Hiatus announcement

So, as much as I want to, I'm not going to give you anything of substance for the next week or so. I"ll be on tour with my church choir, and taking a laptop would just complicate things. Of course, we don't leave until Sunday morning, so I could post some things tonight and tomorrow, but I'm not going to bother. Right now it's past eleven and I need to get up early tomorrow, and tomorrow I'm going to either be in rehearsal, or packing (and repacking) my stuff. So yeah. I'm going to slack off. AND, I'm going to enjoy doing it. Hopefully when I get back I'll have a dozen brilliant ideas, but if that doesn't happen, oh well.

Peaceful Fires

The next day followed in a rather peaceful manner. The Elva Forest was rather quiet, and it was a good thing we didn't have horses. There was no clear path to follow, and the trees were packed close together. To navigate, we relied on Leonard Stone's compass, and Sir Knocks' intuition. It was a formidable pair, and our journey was filled with companionable silence.

It took much longer for it to become too dark, and by the time we stopped, both of the men were exhausted. They didn't bother with a fire, just laid down on a soft bit of earth and fell into a deep slumber. After helping me build a small fire, the Dwarf gave me a look that clearly said that I was taking the first shift, whether I liked it or not.

I sat in the silence, partially enjoying it, but glancing around nervously. I wasn't sure why, but something didn't feel quite right. Things felt eerie, and my companion's slumber was unusually deep. It was almost as if... No, it couldn't be... But it was. They had been enchanted.

Even now, I am uncertain who it was that cast the spell. It could have been Nicre, it could have been the Lady of the Wood (whoever she was at the time. For all I know, it could have been the Lady of Fortune herself. The fact remained however, that they had all been lured into an enchanted sleep, that could possibly prove deadly, and I had neither the skills nor tools to wake them.

I exaggerate slightly, though, I must admit. I panicked at the time, but looking back the answer was obvious. Cold water shocks the system in such a way that it proves quite effective for throwing off curses and enchantments. I didn't think of that at the time though, so I desperately went to each of my companions, shaking each of them in turn, and getting no response. Then I tried making a horrific amount of noise. Within a quarter-hour, I was distraught, sure that none of them would wake ever again. And then, to make matters worse, it began to rain.

That, of course, woke all of them up. They rose with grunts and grumbles, trying futilely to cover themselves from the pelting droplets. When the grogginess of sleep had worn off of them, they all saw me staring at them with a wide mouth and tears on my face. Sir Knocks was quick in an attempt to 'soothe' me, and I managed to get the whole story out through shuddering sobs. The dwarf and Sir Knocks looked worried, but Leonard Stone had a neutral expression on his face.

After I had calmed down we managed to create a shelter of sorts under the bows of a sturdy oak. The others were oddly refreshed after their enchanted slumber, and I was too wound up for sleep, so we sat in a circle, not saying much until the Dwarf asked,

"So who is this Nicre guy anyway? And why can't someone else take care of him?"

"Nicre is the Wizard of the North, and admittedly one of the most insane persons you will ever meet. Three summers ago though, he was as normal as any other Wizard. Not as normal as anyone else, but certainly not crazy like he is now. Well, that summer the order asked him to go into the Mountains to search for a cave that held the scroll of enlightenment. When he came back, there was something not right in him anymore. No one knows if it was the snow, or the searching, or if he was just crazy from the beginning, but about a week after his return, he snapped.

"With one badly placed fire spell, half of the Cathedral went up in flames. It was a mass of terror and chaos, with a good measure of panic thrown in as well. I wasn't there at the time (being on a quest myself), but all of the novice brothers were eager to tell me about it on my return. James refuses to talk about it though. He watched too many of his brothers die."

"Nicre had disappeared at that point, and I helped wherever I could with the reconstruction. It only took a fortnight for Nicre to return though. He literally flew in on a cloud of fire, his eyes lit in unholy rage. He fired at the Order's orchard, causing more damage than one would think imaginable. I was back at the Cathedral, so it took me a vital quarter-hour to get word. I ran with haste to where Nicre was terrorizing the brothers. I distracted him with a shout, and not even thinking about it, cast a spell that would shoot a stream of purified water in any direction I chose. It hit him square in the face, shocking him enough that he lost concentration. The fire-cloud he rode on vanished, and without his fury fanning them, the flames on the orchard died down.

"It wasn't easy to capture him though. It took all of the brothers and I chasing after him, firing spell after spell at him. It didn't help that the only spells the brothers could perform were light spells. After a chase that seemed to last hours, we caught him, and quickly threw him into a damp cell in the dungeon.

"The High Priest sentenced him to exile in the Cursed land, but didn't let him go until his fire emblem was confiscated and destroyed. Since he's back and attacking the Forest of peace, I'm assuming he found a way to create a new one."

"So... what you're saying through that greatly embellished and wandering story is that you defeated this firebug before out of pure luck."

"I prefer to think of it as intuition."

"Think of it however you'd like. I'm going back to sleep."

The dwarf laid down, and Leonard Stone quickly followed her example. Thankfully, they both fell into a nice natural sleep. Sir Knocks insisted that I too should sleep, and that he might as start his shift on watch. I acquiesced, and settled down with my blanket, starring blankly at the fire. I wondered if Nicre knew that I was coming for him. I wondered if he'd gotten any more crazy. These thoughts lulled me into slumber, neither getting a clear answer.

Traveling Music

We continued on in a similar fashion the following day, only coming across a few monsters, all of which Leonard disposed of quite easily. It was almost as if he didn't need any of the rest of us there. Any road, we made it out of the Kogen Forest before nightfall, and found ourselves on the Great Road. We crossed straight over it, into the Elva forest, at Sir Knocks' direction.

"Why not follow the road, like any sane person would?" The dwarf groused.

"Because we need to get to the forest of peace as quickly as possible, and if we followed the road we would not reach it for another fortnight."

"Can we at least find horses?"

"We don't need them. Once we cross through the Elva forest we will be there."

The dwarf sighed, and stared at Sir Knocks with a petulant expression for a long time, but went along with the plan without anymore fuss.

Once again, as soon as it was too dark for the humans, we set up camp. We had a fire this night, and feasted on a rabbit Leonard Stone had caught. He was quite the hunter, one had to admit.

The rabbit eaten, and no one tired enough to sleep yet, we sat around in silence, not quite enjoying each other's presence, but not minding it either. Before long, Sir Knocks requested a song from me. I obliged, singing the Ballad of the Sky with Leonard Stone accompanying me with humming. The men smiled cheerily at me at the conclusion, but the dwarf just huffed and laid down to sleep. The rest of us soon followed suit, Leonard Stone taking the first watch.

I woke, long before the change of shift, with a start. I wasn't sure what had woken me, but stone noticed that I was awake. Through the gloom I could seem him smile at me.

"Sleep, dear one. It is not time for you to wake."

I followed his suggestion, not giving notice to the fact that he had his hunting knife laid across his lap.

Lack of contact

I realize my lack in posting for the past few days is slightly inexcusable, but I hope you will anyway. I have fairly good reasons for it, even though I'm not going to share them with you. You'll just have to be content to know that I am back (if only for this week), and better than ever! ... Or not. Anyhoo, here's some more of Rina and Wylma!

We entered the forest promptly at dawn, glancing around warily at every sound. There weren't too many creatures in the forest, but the ones that were there were vicious. Some said the creatures in the Kogen Forest had enough bite for 10. Others said they were tamable if you knew exactly what to do. Either way, none of us were going to take any chances. Well, apart from the dwarf. She could take all the chances she wanted.

It was midmorning before we came across any of these creatures, and when we did, it was just a little one. You have to understand though, that when I say little, I mean a blood-thirsty monster the size of a grey hound. The adult monsters could get up to the size of horses. Our monster was undoubtedly still in it's youth. Leonard Stone was the first to spot it, and before any of us could even think he had his bow out. With a skill that I'd only ever seen in elves, he shot the monster right in between the eyes (they're most vulnerable spot). The monster went down with a thud, and we kept moving.

We didn't come across another the rest of the day, and when it became too dark for the humans, we stopped. There was a brief argument about who would sleep, but at last the Dwarf and I convinced the humans to sleep, using the logic that we didn't need as much, and more than that the creatures wouldn't go after the dwarf, giving her an advantage. Once they were out cold, I turned to the dwarf and asked without warning, "Who's Cronan?"

"My would-be betrothed. Why?"

"You muttered his name last night. I was just curious."

"Aw damn. I thought I'd gotten over sleep-talking."

"What is he like?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm curious."

"Fine. He's built like a god, has a ridiculously hilarious sense of humor and can make the most beautiful swords you've ever seen."

"And what's your sister like?"

"Petty, selfish, and ugly. And believe it or not, I would have said the same thing about her even before she betrayed me."

"What makes her ugly?"

"She's fat, even for a dwarf, and doesn't take care of herself."

"That's enough to make someone ugly?"

"In dwarfin culture, yes."

"Huh. What are your parents like?"

She said nothing, and through the gloom I could see that her lips were pursed. Finally, she said, "I'm feeling fatigued. Wake me up if you hear ANYTHING."

I wanted to pursue the issue, since she was obviously against talking about it, and people were only like that when there was something juicy going on, but I knew better. I'd seen similar looks from a lot of the Brothers of the Order, and after watching James get yelled at enough times, I finally caught a clue. When people looked like that, the only way you were going to get the information from them was through torture. So I left it, focusing on protecting the camp. Admittedly I wouldn't be able to do much against the monsters, but if I knew they were coming I could wake everyone else up at least.

Blarg.

Daylight savings sucks.

Just sayin'.

At the time

We spent the night at the edge of the forest, keeping a more alert eye than ever. The beasts weren't well known for leaving the forest, but one could never be too wary. I had the third shift, and I watched the dwarf as she slept, the moon offering a clear illumination. She was brash, and loud, and decidedly crass, but the same could be said of any other dwarf. But there was something different about her. I hadn't met many dwarfs in my (admittedly short) life, but those I had met had be far more cheerful. There was a wounded sadness about my companion that was just too hard to ignore.

I didn't know why I was so obsessed with her state of being at that time. To be honest, I didn't consider it odd that I was thinking so deeply about her. It was late, and however vigilant I might have been, I was still half-asleep in my reasoning skills. So I though little of it.

When I woke Leonard Stone for his watch, I walked past the Dwarf on my way to a comfortable-looking bit of grass just beyond her. I thought I heard her mutter something that sounded like, "Cronan", but I couldn't be sure. I wasn't sure why that struck me, but it did, and that one little mutter stayed in my mind for the following months.

Betrayals

I woke up the next morning to the dwarf jabbing me in the side with the hilt of her ax.

“Must you be so violent?” I asked.

“Must you be so lazy?” She replied.

“That wasn’t a very good comeback.”

“Yeah, we’ll, you can stick it up your” She was interrupted by Stone’s call to breakfast. I was almost disappointed. I’m sure that despite her earlier failure to come up with something clever to say would have been deeply overshadowed by whatever insult she could come up with.

We continued on our journey without much fuss, and by mid-afternoon, we were coming up on the Kogen forest. When we reached the border, Sir Knocks called us to a halt.

"It won't take us long to go through it," He said. "But the beasts will be glad of our visit, and we all need to be fully rested to face them. Plus, we'll be letting our horses go here."

"Why?" the dwarf demanded to know.

"They're a liability in the forest. While the beasts enjoy human and elven flesh, there is nothing that gets their mouths watering like horse flesh."

"What about dwarfs? Why didn't you mention dwarfs?"

"For some reason the beasts have an aversion to dwarfs. How do you not know this? It's rather common knowledge."

"I'm of the deep south. Not much of your northern 'common knowledge' reaches to down in the mines."

"Any road, I'm sure we'll be relying on you quite a bit these next couple days."

We set up camp, and soon the men were napping. Neither the dwarf nor I needed as much sleep as them, so we sat together in tense silence. After a while, it seemed like she couldn't take it anymore.

"What's the deal with you and that brother back at the Order?" She asked suddenly.

"You mean James? Oh, well, when my parents were killed in the Cainlin Fires, the Order took me in with the rest of the orphans. James just happened to be one of the novice brothers assigned to caring for us. We took a liking to each other, and while the other orphans found homes for themselves outside of the Order, I stayed, helping with whatever tasks I could."

"How old were you then?"

"Hmm... 24 human years, I think."

"What does that translate to in elven terms?"

"About 10, give or take a cycle."

"I see."

"What's your story then? How did you escape from the mines?"

"It wasn't escaping. I was forced up here by various unpleasant circumstances."

"Like what?"

"My sister stole my betrothed."

"What?"

"My sister, jealous of the fact that I got the most handsome dwarf in the community for my betrothed, seduced him, while looking like me I might add, became with child, and stole him from me."

"That's harsh. Did you get revenge?"

"It's against our nature to get revenge, at least for something like that."

"I see. But that can't be the only thing that drove you up here. What else happened?"

"There is something else. But it is best left alone."

"Are you certain? I'm a great listener, perhaps it might help you to say"

"Leave it, half-breed." With that, she stood up, and walked a ways away. I'd obviously struck a chord. I was curious, but not enough to go after and pester her. If she didn't want to share, then I wouldn't force her. Even if I desperately wanted to know what her secret was.

Love is a battle field

The following day we exited the Bona forest, and found ourselves on the plain land in between the Bona and Kogen forests. The soil there is infertile and rough to plow, so no one, not even dwarfs inhabited the long strip of barren waste. The sky was overcast, so we were free from the sun's blistering rays, but our journey had become even more tedious. I ended up reading five more myths from my scroll that day in an attempt to stave off the boredom. The men seemed to enjoy them, but the dwarf remained apathetic, or even hostile.

I couldn't understand her mood. The old myths were rather hard to believe, but never had I seen one so set against them. When I read the story of creation, she frowned. When I read about the birth of the Sun and Moon, she glowered. When I read about the birth of the races, she glared. The men remained oblivious, but I was well aware of the searing looks she was tossing my way.

Before too long, it got dark, and we set up camp. We didn't have a fire, for there was no wood around to fuel it. The clouds cleared though, providing a full moon to illuminate our little group. We sat in a circle, idly munching on some nuts and berries the dwarf and I had gathered the night before. Just when I was about to fall asleep from boredom, Leonard Stone began to whistle a familiar tune. It was the Ballad of Sir Newt, and once he had gone through the tune once, I began to sing the words.

I am not near as talented as any fully-blooded elf, but I have a better voice than most humans or dwarfs, and none of them complained. The men seemed enchanted, and even the dwarf had a satisfied look on her face. When I was done with the song, they clapped, and I nodded my head.

"A person of many talents." Sir Knocks remarked. The dwarf snorted. "You do not think so?" Sir Knocks asked her, polite as ever.

"Everyone has many talents. Some just aren't as obvious, or well-honed as others. I can sing and read stories too, but if I did you wouldn't call them talents, simply because I don't do them as sweetly as our pretty half-breed here." I could have taken that many ways, but there's only one thing I managed to dwell on.

"You think I'm pretty?" I asked with a teasing smile. The dwarf blushed.

"Merely an observation."

"Ha Ko-ra." I said in a teasing tone.

"What did you just say to me!?" The dwarf demanded.

"You like me." I replied, in the same teasing tone as before. The dwarf turned an even brighter shade of red, but said nothing. The men watched it all with amused glances, obviously enjoying the banter as much as I did. Not long after that, the three of them went to sleep, and I sighed, not looking forward to my two hours of watch duty. It was boring work, but it had to be done.

I stared at the moon, and wondered what the dwarf really thought of me. She was hostile towards me, but she was hostile to the men as well. More than that, she had the tendency to stay close to me. It was possibly because we were both female, and when traveling with a mixed group like us, it was better to stay close to your own kind. The only thing I was certain of, was that she didn't hate me, and as far as I was concerned, that was half the battle.

Fools

We continued our journey just a little after sunup. The dwarf was groggy, but the men were bright eyed and bushy-tailed after chewing on what Sir Knocks described as 'magic beans'. The day was long and boring, spent entirely in the saddle, without any friendly banter. I wasn't completely upset by this, but I was rather discontent at the whole situation. Halfway through the afternoon, I pulled a scroll out of my saddlebag, hopeful that my horse (who I had mentally began to call Algaeca) wouldn't notice that I wasn't holding the reins. The dwarf noticed, however, and called out,

"Oy! What've you there?"

"A scroll of myths" I replied as calmly as I could.

"Why'd you bring that?"

"To entertain myself."

"Why should you be the only one entertained?" I had no response to that. Sir Knocks, ever the diplomat said respectfully, "Perhaps you would be so kind as to read us a tale or two?"

Slightly miffed, I looked to the scroll. I guess it wouldn't be that bad sharing... They were just myths after all. And I did love reading aloud...

"The Story of Fortune's beginning. Long ago, when the world was fresh and new, and only the gods existed, there was a whisper on the wind. That whisper was Prosperity. It was what caused the plants to grow, and the birds to sing. No one, not even the gods know how Prosperity came to be, but it has been with us since before the moon left the sun's womb. As the years went on, the whisper grew in volume. When dwarfs, elves, and men were created, Prosperity was so loud, that it could embrace all of the new-created souls. They all were aware of it's presence, and thanked it with all their hearts when things were good. The creator grew jealous of this however, and banished Prosperity to the center of the world, where it could embrace no one. Soon, everyone forgot about Prosperity, but for one elven maiden, who had fallen in love with the mysterious being that had embraced her as a child. She thought about it constantly, forsaking her duties in order to seek after it. She spent her whole life looking, but never could find it. When she was old, white-haired and withered, she found herself in the Forest of Peace. Her steps were weary, and her mind gone. She collapsed by a stream, where the freshest water flowed. She looked into the water and said to herself, "If only I could find it, I would die happy." The creator had watched her all these years, and hearing her plea, was moved with pity, and allowed Prosperity to rise up through the stream. Prosperity had heard her cries as well, and when it saw her, was overjoyed, but sad, for her life was almost at it's end. Prosperity looked to the creator and said, "Let me have just this one love. I will never embrace another if you let me have but her." The creator was moved, and with his power, renewed her life, and made her into something more. "There is a clause." The creator declared. "She can be yours, but she also must serve the world, bringing what good things I give to those that deserve it. She shall be called fortune, and she shall be your wife." Prosperity and the newly-born Fortune were glad, but were unaware of what was to come. For while Fortune is Prosperity's wife, she must serve elves, dwarfs and men before she can serve her husband."

At the end of the story, the dwarf snorted.

"What a load of feces."

"It matters not what is real and not," Leonard Stone said, "But what you believe."

"Do you believe that some elven broad seduced the creator into making her a goddess?"

"No, but I do believe that Prosperity and Fortune are united."

The Dwarf shook her head.

"You men are all fools."

"Bari ne, cortrul bari ha." Leonard Stone replied. I covered to hide a laugh with a cough, hearing the familiar elven phrase. It was one James had quoted at me several times over the years.

The dwarf glanced at me, then glared at Stone. "I get the feeling I've just been insulted."

"Please don't be." Sir Knocks was quick to interject. "It is merely an old Elven phrase, something along the lines of, He that says fool, is fool." The dwarf darted dark glances at us all, but said nothing more, and there was silence among us until it was time to set camp.

Continuation

I really don't like horses. They're smelly, foul, and no matter how well they're trained, there's always a chance that they could trample you. James often tells me that my father was one of the greatest elven horsemen when was alive. My mother, on the other hand, was a clumsy human that never once in her life rode a horse. I wonder what father saw in mother. It can't have been her charm. She was even foul-mouthed than I was (if the stories I've heard from the villagers are true). Either way, it's quite obvious that I take more after my mother than my father.

I wouldn't make mention of this, but for the fact that we were to carry out our journey on horseback. This, of course, made me absolutely miserable. The horse the Order had provided for me was a temperamental mare that was fond of going into a trot without notice. The humans were ridiculously oblivious of my discontent, and the dwarf smirked at me from her perch on her shaggy war-pony.

My dislike of our mode of transportation aside, we made good time, and were halfway through the Bona forest by nightfall. We halted only when Sir Knocks (our official leader) declared that it was unsafe to continue traveling. I could see fine of course, but the humans eyes weren't used to such an absolute dark. The only light we had was from our lanterns, and even that only illuminated the nearest trees.

We pitched our camp, working together almost seamlessly. The dwarf and I cleared a space for sleeping and gathered firewood while the men unpacked the necessary items and built a fire. Before long, we were all sitting around on logs with rats roasting on sticks in the fire. Occasionally Leonard Stone would shift them for better cooking, but apart from that there was little movement, and even less talking. When the rats were done, we ate, tearing at them with our fingers and spitting out any bones we came across. When we were done with our meal, we threw the sticks back into the fire, but still said nothing to each other.

Soon enough, we got tired of the silence, and one by one, began to crawl into our blankets. Sir Knocks agreed to keep the first watch, promising to wake Leonard Stone up in a couple hours. That night, I dreamed of a vast underwater cavern, covered in blue stones. I woke to the dwarf's unpleasant face as she shook me awake for my watch, the last one before sun-up. I blearily arose, and poked at the fire as I went by it on my way to relieve myself. The other three were sound asleep when I returned, and I shook my head at them as I made myself comfortable by the fire. There was some advantage to having companions, but I still would have preferred to be alone.

Turning Japanese

I'm beginning to think that I should have been born Japanese. Their ritualistic culture and traditional foods appeal to me in a way that my own American roots just can't compare to. I'm all for American freedom and support the troops and all that rot, but I really think that being Japanese would suit me. Of course, any attempt to conform to Japanese culture I do now would be seen as foolish, so I will pine from afar... (Pining happens to be something I'm really good at)

It all started with James calling me into his office. This was not in any way unusual. James typically called me into his office at least once a week 'to talk'. What was unusual, was that when I arrived, there were already several people in the office with him. There were two human males, and a female dwarf, and all of them looked directly at me when I entered with a loud, "Oy! James! You need to get laid so you'll stop bothering me all the time!" That was slightly embarrassing, but nothing compared to some of the things that had occurred in my youth.

"Comments about my sexual relations aside, Rina, allow me to introduce your new traveling companions."

"What in High Heavens? Traveling companions! What are you on James?"

"Nicre's been at it again."

"So? Why does that matter to me? Or even to the Order for that matter?"

"Rina, you're the only one who's been able to defeat him so far, so reasonably, you can do it again." I looked over to where the smaller of the humans and the dwarf were standing.

"Then why do these clowns need to come along? I can do it alone."

"Think of them as... insurance. We don't want you coming back in the same state you did last time."

"Excuse me, but I'm offended by being referred to as 'Insurance'." The dwarf was looking rather grumpy, but not quite as 'offended' as her words lead one to believe. Ever the polite one, James was quick to assure her.

"You're not JUST going as 'insurance', I assure you. Part of your journey will take you through the Kogen Forest, and no matter how skilled Healer Rina is, she's no match for the beasts there."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, James." I quipped.

"Either way," The smaller human said. "I think we'll all benefit from each other's company."

"Well put, Sir Knocks." James smiled at him, and I wondered if my earlier comment wasn't too far from the mark.

"Hey," The larger (and far more muscular) of the two humans spoke up. "Before we get into braiding each other's hair and talking about who we fancy, can we at least know all of our names?"

"Certainly." James said, unusually flustered. "The gifted healer among us is Rina Lostchild. This slim young man to my left is Sir John Knocks, the burly giant to my left is Leonard Stone, and this charming dwarven lady is Wylma Bluestone. Now that you are all met, you can begin your journey tomorrow at sunrise."

There was some hemming and hawing, but slowly the others began filing out. I stayed in James' office, outlasting even Sir Knocks (who obviously wanted to say something to James). When they were all gone, I went over, closed the door, then turned sharply to James.

"What. The. Hell."

"Rina, what ever do you mean by that?"

"You know bloody well what I mean. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm not doing anything to you! The High Priest demanded that you be in this party!"

"Is that so? And why is the High Priest of the Order of Illumination so interested in this case?"

James mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"He's burning down the forests of Peace."

"Who is? The high priest?"

"No. Nicre. No other religious sect cares about the forest anymore, so no one else is doing anything about. The High Priest feels the pain of the trees however, so he NEEDS someone to stop Nicre."

"I see." I sighed. "Very well. I'll go on this 'quest'. You had better hope that I make it back in one piece though."

"I always do."

Smiles in Seattle

So... my trip up to Seattle wasn't THAT spectacular (the only time I spent in Seattle proper was spent in a fencing studio), but it was still a lot of fun. I got to spend the night in a really nice Condo in Tacoma, and I slept in a bed with a really cushy comforter that made me feel like I was sleeping on a cloud. We stopped in Portland on our way back, and walked around Pioneer Place a bit. The stores there are kind of pricy, and it's a little claustrophobic, but it's still really nice, and I had a really good time. Obligatory gushing out of the way, here's a short tidbit of writing for you:

He smiled at her, the first time they met. She smiled back, but only because it was polite. "Hi, my names James." He said. She said nothing. It was disconcerting, but nothing he couldn't adapt to. "Have you lived in Salem for a while?" He asked. She nodded, but still said nothing. Now she was just plain getting on his nerves. He tried one more time. "The weather's been awfully warm for this time of year." She raised an eyebrow at him, but still said nothing. He glanced over to where their mothers were standing, chatting away. He looked back at the girl. He squinted. He made some vague gestures that could have been considered Sign Language by a child. She pursed her lips. She started to shake. Before long, she burst out laughing. "You are so weird! You know how badly that could have offended someone?" "No worse than not talking to them at all" "Toche. Anyhoo, the name's Harriet, but don't you dare call me that." "What am I supposed to call you then?" "I don't really care, so long as it's not Harriet." "Hm... Rose it is then." "Why Rose?" "I'll tell you when I feel like it, and not a moment sooner." "Fine. But that makes you more weird, just so you know." "I can accept that."

Seattle, here I come!

Woohoo! Yeah! I get to go up to Seattle today! It's only for tonight and tomorrow, but still! I get to go up to Seattle. My Best Friend (who's a really great fencer by the way) has a tournament up there tonight, and after listening to all the crap I've gotten myself into recently, she invited me to go along so I could get a mini-vacation.

So, now that you know where I'm going to be in about twelve hours, here's a tidbit of literary genius. (Not really)

Johann was not proud of what he was doing. He was stooping down to a level that he never thought he'd reach. He also had never thought that he might feel this much emotion, so he supposed it all balanced out somehow.

Focusing on the task at had, he carefully, slowly untied the rope binding the magnificent horse to the tree. His soon-to-be-ex companion was rather proud of the fact that he had managed to tame the animal, but he'd never gotten the horse's true loyalty. So when Johann gave him the chance, the beast bolted, running off into the night, the only sound he made being the pounding of his hooves on the grass. All through this, Niel remained asleep. Petty act through, Johann took up his pack, and left Niel alone in the woods, without a companion, without a horse, and once he woke, without hope. Johann's only justification for the act was that Niel deserved it. He was the one who was leading them astray. He was the one loyal to the dark queen. Johann's acts were petty, yes, but completely justified. He hoped.

Gina Burbage

Yesterday was fun, so let's try it again! (But with different characters this time)

Gina squirmed in her seat. You would think they'd make office chairs a little more comfortable. People have to sit in them for hours on end after all. But no, the chair they had assigned her was beyond uncomfortable. She subtly glanced at the man at the other desk. Now HE had a comfortable-looking office chair. Rather than the orange monstrosity that Gina was subjected to, his was sleek, black, full of cushioning and support. Gina sighed enviously, and went back to her task.

Despite the lack of decent back support, this really was an ideal job for her right now. It fit around her school schedule well, and it really was quite easy. All she had to do was input the data from the hard copies onto the computer. If there wasn't something recent to input, she worked on the back-files. It was a job that was practically hand-tailored for her.

Wrapped once more into the monotony of data entry, she didn't notice the man glance her way. She was an interesting one, this Gina Burbage. She had a menial task, a horrible chair, and a below-average pay, and yet she didn't complain once. He would have to keep an eye on her. The quiet ones were always the most dangerous.

A tale of Naomi

Hmm... since the whole idea behind this blog is to make it so that I'm a better writer, maybe I should try writing something here...

Naomi had been waiting for over an hour. For the first fifteen minutes, she had stood outside the coffee house, constantly rearranging her coat and scarf to better guard against the harsh winter wind. After that, she went inside, staying by the door, staring out onto the street. When the barista started bugging her to buy a drink, she did, and took it to a table next to a window, hoping that she would see him.

But even after an hour of waiting, an hour of looking at nothing but the road, she didn't see him. She should have known this would happen. Her invitation meant nothing to him. He wasn't one to make commitments, so his muttered "Sure" had obviously been a sign that he wasn't going to come.

Naomi had hoped, though. She had hoped that her earnest words and kind smiles would break through his icy exterior and maybe give him a little warmth, and maybe cause him to give her a little warmth in return. But, obviously it hadn't worked. She got up, threw her cup away, and muttered a polite, "Thank you" to the barista, and walked out the door.

Five minutes later, he rushed in, and sighed heavily when he saw that she wasn't there.

March Mehness

Well, it's the start of a new month, and while my day hasn't been as great as it could possibly be, it hasn't been THAT bad. I found out that I do actually have the job I wanted. It might be quite a bit of stress, but I think it'll be fun. I get to organize people, and unless I do something REALLY bad, I'll have it for as long as I want.

AND! I got paid today! :D I've already bought a pair of sneakers that I don't necessarily need, but my current pair are looking really ragged. I need to be extra frugal with my money this moth though. I have a trip over spring break that I want lots of money for, and if I'm not careful I'll spend it all before next week.

I know I don't have my full 200 today, but I'm tired. So there.

Liam Neeson is Slacking!

You would think that there would be nothing less taxing that sitting around making phone calls. That is clearly not the case. I've made roughly twenty phone calls in the past half-hour, leaving messages for most of them, and I am pretty much wiped out after doing so. It's probably a sign that I'd suck at the job if I had it. It still stings that I won't get it though...

Anyhoo, I have decided that I would know EVERYTHING there is to possibly know if Liam Neeson was the one explaining it all. He has this soft, baritone voice that makes me want to listen to it forever...

Ugh, so tired. I was lazy this morning and slept past my alarm, but it still didn't do me any good. I could probably brew me up some coffee, but I won't, because I don't like the coffee we have here at the house. It makes me nauseous. I might make some tea though... that sounds kind of nice... especially if I ice it, so I have a nice cool drink...

What I should really be doing right now though, is going through my lines. I have a rehearsal today, and I haven't even glanced at my script in the past week! I'm so bad... THIS is why I don't have a larger role. I slack too much.

Tired Fluffy Bunnies

Once again, I am awake much to early. Well, to be fair, this is around the time I SHOULD be waking up, but I much prefer my lazier wake-up-time of eight, or even nine o'clock. I should probably go get some breakfast... I have to leave in forty-five minutes after all...

Also, after having speed through A Conspiracy of Kings yesterday, I have to say that THAT is my second-favorite book. It would be number one, but there's not enough Eugenides in it to justify it.

I seem to be finishing a lot of things lately. 30 Rock, Conspiracy of Kings... Now I have very little to do... I've lost my obsessions! NOOOOO!!!!

Just kidding. I do have another book to obsess about: Kiss the Bride by Patrica (Meg) Cabot. My problem with this book, however, is like the rest of her novels, Cabot is primarily focusing on the romance. I like romance quite a bit, but when that's all you're looking at, you're missing a much larger picture. Sure, she has some other stuff thrown in there to keep most readers happy, but I really do prefer the fast-paced danger and excitement of Megan Whalen Turner's writing over Cabot's fluffy-bunny writing. Plus, while Cabot isn't anywhere near as famous as Rowling or Meyer, there's still a couple movies based off of her books, which means she's just a little too popular for my tastes.

Vacations and Blue Birthdays

Random question #1: What is your ideal vacation? If I were a more interesting person, I might say going to Scotland, or Japan. But because I'm boring, I honestly would have to say staying in a nice hotel in Newport, OR for a week would be my ideal vacation. Sure I've been to Newport at least a dozen times before, but at least I know the area. When navigating, I prefer going primarily off of intuition and experience rather than using a GPS. That is one of the few ways that I rebel against technology.

Random question #2: What is your favorite color and why? Well, Blue, because it's a calming color. Plus, there's quite a few more shads of blue than there are of red, meaning blue's more diverse. If red gets too light, it turns to pink, but blue just stays blue.

Random question #3: What is your favorite childhood memory? Hm... that's actually a though one. Most of my memories of childhood aren't exactly happy ones. I think I'd have to go with the faint memory I have of my fourth birthday party. It was the first birthday I celebrated at the house my family has lived in for the past thirteen years, and I can remember having a cake in the shape of a train.

Mopping with the Stars

Let's travel back to a subject that is much too close to my heart for comfort. Procrastination. I've checked off ONE thing on my to-do list, and that one thing is 'wake up'. That wasn't exactly hard to do. But there are five other things I could be doing right now, all of them more important than watching the fifth season of 30 Rock. Yes, it's hilarious. Yes, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are one of the world's greatest comedy duos right now. But if I don't get the floors mopped by the time my mother gets home, they're going to be mopped with my ass! Not that that would get them any cleaner, but still, it's the thought that counts.

And while 'blog' is on my t0-do list, I really should be doing something more productive. I have a monologue to memorize, a lead sheet to rewrite, and a keyboard that is in desperate need of attention. But what am I doing? Blogging while waiting for my episode of 30 Rock to load. I am certain that there is no one in this world that is better (or worse, depending) at procrastination than I. Even if I do manage to pull myself away from my lovely computer for a half hour, within two minutes I'll be reading a book rather than DOING something of use... I'm so bad...

Gushy Weather

I was real close to not posting at all today. But then I looked up the author of the book I've been eating since yesterday, and the first result was his blog, and I was like, "Oh yeah..." So, here it is, my post for today.

The weather is unpredictable. Even seasoned meteorologists can get away with being wrong, simply because just a little change in air flow can effect temperatures around the globe. Well, weather in Northwest Oregon is some of the most unpredictable in the WORLD. Seriously. Today alone, we had both sunshine and snow. Within an hour of each other to boot. Don't get me wrong, it was cold all day, but still! I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most solid person when it comes to decisions, but at least my mood doesn't change on a whim. (*ignores the falsity of that statement*).

Ranting about the weather aside, I gotta tell you, I haven't been this into a book since Conspiracy of Kings came out. Oh wait, that's a lie. I got the entire Narnia series for Christmas, and tore through some of those pretty quickly... Either way, I'm really loving the book I'm reading now. I won't tell you the title, or who it's by, but I will tell you that it's really good, even if it is a bit gushy.

Improv day

Today is going to be something of an inprov day. What do I mean by that? Well, I will have about four hours (three and a half if you count travel time) where I can do practically any thing I want. Well, within reason, of course. I can't go on a drinking binge. I can't go to the coast. And I definitely can't rent a hotel room and sleep for the three hours. But I think I will stop by the hostess store and get a box of super-cheap doughnuts. Why? Because there's been a lot of pastry eating on the episodes of 30 Rock I've been watching, and it's making me crave doughnuts. I also need to look around for purple tights for my Godspell costume. Our assistant assistant director keeps going on about how Godspell means great music and bright colors. Well, we've halfway got the first one, and once we're all done we're going to be more colorful that a jumbo bag of skittles.

Other thoughts for today include going to the library. I know it's a little boring, but it's something to do, and they have computers there. I like computers. They access the interwebs.

Can you tell I'm not 100% awake yet?

Late Drugs

You know what? I'm ironic. I love to procrastinate, but I hate being late. If that's not backwards, I don't know what is. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but still. I really don't like to be late. Whether it's to a concert of some sort, to a movie, hell, I hate even being a little late to a dentist's appointment! I just plain don't like it. It makes me antsy.

I also don't like finding out that things I like aren't as innocent as they are in my mind. I would have been perfectly content not knowing that most rock stars do drugs. Or that anyone does drugs at all. Cigarettes I don't mind too much (even though they have an awful smell), because I personally find someone smoking a cigarette slightly sexy. Same with Cigars. But weed, and pot, and stuff like that just doesn't sit well with me. Yes, I realize that any addiction of any kind is dangerous, but at least cigarettes kill your lungs as opposed to your brain. Though I could be horribly wrong about all of this... Either way, addiction and lateness are both very bad, and no one should indulge in either.

White Wedding

So, mom just finished (kinda) my costume for the production of Love Labor's Lost that I'm in. My character, Maria, has to wear white (it's in the script). White is like, the worst color for me to possible wear. (Well, white and pink. Both are equally horrible in my mind. Though I've been a bit looser with the pink thing recently) But what Mr. L wants, Mr. L gets, (he's my director in case you didn't pick that up) so I now have an almost all-white dress. All I could think when I was buttoning it up was "This would actually make a really nice wedding dress". And it would. It's white (as I said before), and has roses printed all over. The only problem I had with it was that the shirt didn't hang right on me. It looked like a Hawaiian shirt. I don't like that look, so I complained to mother about it. I got sore ears for it, but she's going to fix the dress. Hopefully. Sometimes her ways of fixing things just makes it worse. But you didn't hear that from me.

Another part of being in Love Labor's Lost was making a prop 'love letter' that scrolls down to the floor. Making it scroll was the easy part. I just taped a bunch of paper together. Then I had to write all over it give it the facade of being a letter. It took FOREVER. (meaning three episodes of 30 Rock)

Queens and Kings

On to the second post of today! What should I talk about... hmm... Oh! I can talk about my favorite books! It's a four-part series by Megan Whalen Turner, all about a man named Eugenides that lives in a Grecian-type world. The first book is The Thief, and it's how we get to know him. The second one is the Queen of Attolia, and it's how we get to know his (* spoiler alert*) future wife. The third one is the King of Attolia, and it's all about him finding his place in the court of Attolia. The fourth one actually switches focus from Eugenides to Sounis. I've only read the fourth one once or twice (compared to the dozen times I've must have read the other three), but it's just as excellent as it's predecessors. My favorite for certain is the King. I don't completely know why. I think it's because it shows better than the others the romance between Eugenides and Attolia. I like romance. That's mostly because I'm a girl I think. I'd probably be more into the battle scenes if I were a guy, but I'm not. I want to be though. Being a girl sucks.

Forgetfulness

Well, shoot. I forgot to post yesterday. Oh well. I'll post two today to make up for it. Why not just leave it? Because the numbers would bug me. And yes, it does make a difference.

I'll use this post to tell you all about my day. Nothing of note really happened, but I can still talk about it. I woke up at six-thirty to my alarm talking about something stupid like erectile dysfunction, and without even waking up fully, I decided that I hadn't gotten enough sleep, so I set my alarm for another half-hour. At seven, I woke up again, and actually got out of bed. I figured out what I was going to wear, put it on, and then dealt with my hair and makeup. I gathered my things together, and then had a bowl of cereal while I played around on the interwebs. Then Daddy and I left, got to church, and I had band rehearsal. Then I played (like I always do) in service, and then I just waited around for the second service to be over. Then I had lunch with the rest of my choir, then we had rehearsal, and then I came home. Like I said, nothing noteworthy, but it's still something to talk about.

Planetary desk chairs

I need to get me a new office chair. The one I have right now is falling apart on me. Not too literally, I mean, it's still functional, but I'm having to use shoelaces to keep the back in an upright position. Hopefully I'll be able to find a new one at a decent price somewhere. But I probably won't be able to get one any time soon. My next paycheck is going almost completely into my spring break trip, and I have no money currently. *sigh* I hate money, I really do. I love buying things, but I hate spending money.

It just occurred to me that I should name my monitor. Why? Because I just put a cotton bow on it, and it looks super cute. Of course, my computer already has a name (Mars), but since the monitor is replaceable (I just got my current one not even a month ago), I want to name it. I think I'm going to go with the obvious and call it Venus. Mars and Venus. Or Ares and Aphrodite when I'm feeling Grecian rather than Roman. I can remember quite clearly singing a rather crude elementary school rhyme in the shower when I was younger. How did it go? Something about Venus rhyming with penis? I hope that wasn't it...

NY, NY

I like to think that I'm a creative person. I can, on occasion, come up with an idea that is completely my own. Most of the time though, I'm revamping somebody else's idea. Not very moral of me, I know, but there is a saying. Copy from one person, and it's plagiarism. Copy from several, and it's research. I, unfortunately, fall under the first category most of the time. I'm just that lazy. But as I said a couple sentences ago, I can occasionally come up with something original. I can't think of something right now though...

Anyhoo, my latest obsession is 30 Rock. On some level I hate it, because the cameraman gets shaky once in a while and I don't like that, but on another level, I love it, simply because it's so witty. My favorite line so far? "Those shoes are definitely bi-curious". It doesn't take much to amuse me, but it does take quite a bit for me to whip out my witch-cackle, that that line did it. It did it so hard... okay, mind out of the gutter. Anyway, if you're curious about the plot of the show, I suggest you wikipedia it, 'cause I'm feeling too lazy to explain it, and my word count is just about up.

Pointing Fingers

Ideally, there is a point to everything. You don't say something unless there is a point to it. You don't do something unless there is a point to it. You don't use a pencil unless there is a point to it. Well, my problem is that too many things I do are unfortunately, pointless. Like reading fanfiction. Sure, it amuses me for however long it takes me to read it, but beyond that, I spend hours and hours doing pretty much nothing, when I could be improving myself in various ways. Though to be fair I've learned quite a few new words through reading fanfiction. Like Euphonious. If you don't know what that means, look it up. Also, I just realized that I should probably step up my word-count now. I've been at this two weeks, and while it barely takes anything to write the required hundred, it takes me quite a bit to reach two hundred. But the whole point is the challenge myself, and how can I do that if I just coast by on a measly hundred words? So, my posts will now be doubled in their requirement, and through this doubling, I will become a great writer! Not really, but I like to fool myself.

The Egg came first!

'Twas the day after valentine's day, and all through the house, all creatures were stirring, trying to get out.

So yeah, my morning wasn't so great, but the day has gotten better. I just ran down to the store and bought me some egg rolls and ironically, actual eggs. Not raw eggs though. Hard boiled eggs. You might be wondering, hey, why didn't you just boil some yourself? Or, why do you need hard-boiled eggs at all? Well, the answers to those questions you nosy little twit, is that I needed some protein, and I was too lazy to boil some up on my own. Laziness is one of my worst flaws you know.

The Valen in the Tine

So, today is Valentine's day. I could talk about it. I could go on about how it's the most romantic day of the year, and that I love it or hate it or some other rot like that, but to be quite honest, I'm rather apathetic towards it. Valentine's day could not exist for all I care. Sure, it's nice to get cards and gifts and stuff, but I seriously don't care. So, in the fifty or so words I have left, I'll talk about one of my favorite shows. Bones. A hilarious cop-drama about an anthropologist teaming up with an FBI agent to solve murders. These two have quite a bit of chemistry between them, but they're both completely stupid about it. It's been obvious since the beginning that they love each other, but they've never actually hooked up. And they've even hooked up with other people. Is stupid. Though after watching the latest episode I think it's likely that they'll be getting together soon. Fingers crossed.

Speed Typers

So, here we are not even twelve hours after my last post. Why post this early you ask? Couldn't you do this when you get home tonight? I could, but that would defeat the purpose of this exercise. So, I'll make this as quick as possible since I have to get ready to leave in ten minutes, and you can only type so many words in ten minutes. Granted, I'm sure there are several people who could type a lot more words that I in ten minutes, but I am not them, so you're only getting my required hundred. And lookie here, we have over a hundred already. I'm just that good.

Vladentine's Day

So, I'm a little almost late. But whatever. I've had a pretty long day and haven't had a chance to be online until now. Well, to be fair I can check my email on my phone, but that's about it. So, on to why my day was long. Well, I woke up in the bed of one of my friends after falling asleep after midnight last night watching movies (by the way, the Last Exorcism is pointless). After gathering up all the stuff we needed, she, I, and another friend ended up at our church, where we parked the car, and then headed to McDonald's for breakfast. Then we had a three hour rehearsal, and then we set up for the Valentine's Day Dinner my choir was holding as a fundraiser. It was rather fun, but a WHOLE lot of work. I'm almost ready to collapse into my bed and sleep for a day. But I have to wake up early tomorrow and do the whole church bit. But I'll get to see my best friend, so it'll be worth it. Yeah...

Broken Pencils

Okay, so I'm done with the numbered posts. Partly because it's slightly depressing, and partly

because I'm sure I can think up more clever titles for my posts. But while we're on the subject of numbers (and yes, we totally are), I'd like to mention that the number eleven is pretty much useless. Sure, it's important for getting from ten to twelve, but there's no symbolic meaning to it. You don't hear about the eleven commandments, there isn't a special name for something that there's eleven of. Eleven is pretty much completely useless. Eleven is the broken pencil of the number world.

Post Tin

My current obsession is the show 'Better off Ted'. It's this hilarious show about the head of an Research and Development department for a soulless company. Ted is your average superman with on again off again morals and a fierce loyalty for both the company and his friends. His friends include two brilliant scientists named Phil and Lem. They are rather foolish and insecure, but oh so adorable and hilarious. His 'love interest' is a product tester that works for him who acts as the moral company for their group. I don't like her. She's too preppy. I would much rather have Ted hook up with his boss, Veronica, who's cold, controlling, and competitive. And much prettier. But that's just my personal opinion, which doesn't count for anything.

Post Nein

I'm going to be super busy today. My mother and I are leaving the house in about a half hour for Salem (which is about a half hour away). First we're going to run a couple errands, and then she's going to drop me off at the church so she can go do her job while I wait around. Why do I need to wait? Because my best friend doesn't get out of her class until 11:20. So I'm going to laze around, and hopefully I'll find something to do. Maybe I'll time myself on how quickly I can do word-finds. Anyhoo, I'll meet my best friend, and we'll hang out for a bit, and then I have a shift at the little store I work at. For four hours I'll sit behind a cash register, being bored because no one comes into the shop (that's not necessarily true, but still). After my shift's up, I'll walk back to the church and eat dinner, and then wait for band practice to start. Once it does, I get to sit on my butt for three hours, just playing chords. Then I get to come home. I like Wednesdays.

Post Ate

So, we've gone a full week now. Guess this means I've got to up my game. A full one hundred words, every single day. Of course, I was writing close to a hundred words already, but now I actually have to make it. So, what shall we talk about today? I know! The fact that my nails are at that annoying stage where the polish on them is kind of chipping off, but when I pick at them the polish doesn't want to come off. So, today I'm going to take my nail polish remover to them. No more scandalous red nails for me. What color should I paint them next? Blue? Green, maybe? I'll probably go with turquoise, because that's what color I'm planning on wearing tomorrow. Though that has the possibility of changing... I never really can say for certain what I'm going to wear until that day...

Post Sven

Well, with this post I'll have made it a week. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Not really though... What really is impressive though is the amount of time I spend procrastinating. I'm like a world-class procrastinator. I have like, eight lines that I need to have memorized by three this afternoon, and I've just barely started on them. I know I really should be more responsible about these things, but it's so hard...

Post Sick

I woke up much too early this morning. I always seem to be waking up too early, but this morning was especially bad. Six thirty. No one in their right mind should be awake at six thirty in the morning. It's inhumane! It's cruel! There should be a law that states no one can get up before eight, at the very least. (Or I could just go to bed earlier)

Post Hive

So, right now I'm kind of hyper, which is annoying since I just got up forty-five minutes ago, and I really shouldn't be this hyper. I haven't even had any coffee yet! Just some sugary cereal. Mmm... cereal. Anyhoos, I'm going to be leaving in a half hour to go to a rehearsal for the production of Godspell that I'm in. It's all so exciting... And exhausting as well, but that's part of what makes it worthwhile.

Post For

You know what my problem is? Just one more. I would be fine if I didn't get to the end of an episode, or a book, or a chapter, and instead of stopping and doing what I'm supposed to, say to myself, "Oh, just one more. Then I'll do it". That's the trap I'm falling into today. I have a list of about twenty things I should be doing, but here I am, trying to finish up the K-drama I talked about yesterday. It's not even that good. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting, but I can honestly say I've seen better.

Post Tree

Well, I've impressed myself. I managed to clean up my office in just a half hour. Of course, my desks are still both messy, but the floor's clean, and I took out a ton of trash. And I even vacuumed! And since I got it done in just a half hour, this allows me time to watch more of my Korean Drama! :D The K-Drama I'm watching right now is called Princess Hours. It's about a Korean girl that suddenly finds herself married to the Crown Prince. There's quite a bit going on, what with the fact that the Prince is a jerk, and he was in love with another girl before they were married. And he has a cousin who was the son of the Crown Prince before him that's out to get revenge for the wrong that he and his mother suffered fourteen years ago with the death of his Father. It's all so deliciously complicated. There's part of me that wants to stop watching it because the episodes are an hour each, and there's twenty-four of them, and it'll take me FOREVER to watch them all, but at the same time it's just so wonderfully interesting and dramatic.

Post Too

It is a BEAUTIFUL morning! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my parents are still asleep. Of course, the day is only beautiful if one views it from the inside, for it is 31 degrees Fahrenheit out there, and if I were to go out I'd be freezing my fingers off within five minutes. It's better than having snow though. I really do not like snow. It's cold, wet, and makes it hard to drive. I'm sure I would be able to get used to it if I lived somewhere where it snowed all the time, but I don't, so I don't like snow.

Post Numero Uno

So, as you can see by the title, my sister is forcing me to write. Why? Because I really want to write a novel within the next year, and she seems to think that writing on a blog every day will help me achieve that goal. I don't actually know how well this will work. I'm a very lazy person by nature, and haven't been able to keep up even a journal for more than a week. Nonetheless, I will endeavor to meet her challenge. Onward and upward and all that rot.