What Powell's Has Hidden in its Deepest Chambers (A How-To For Blogging/Another Web Comic/Stable Income)...

     Hello, all, G-star here.  Yep, really liking the new site...
     As you probably know, Friday was my dad's birthday, and Saturday he wanted to go to Powell's Bookstore, the largest bookstore in America.  So, of course, we went.
     I spent my entire time in the Gold Room, where the fantasy and scifi genres dwell, along with, more importantly, the manga and graphic novels.
     I have a thing about actually buying manga.  I've always been a little frugal, so I don't want to waste money buying something I'll read in twenty minutes and never touch again (unlike novels, which I can read several times).  I convinced myself not to buy a manga by thinking "you can just read it on the internet or get it at the library for free....just walk away."  Of course, I ended up getting the first two omnibi of a webcomic called Applegeeks.  My main motivation for this was the fact that Fred Gallagher had done an illustrated foreword.
     If Piro likes it then it has to be good.
     And it is, at least so far.  Unfortunately, the book itself is horrible quality and the pages have been falling out ever since I started it.  It's very, very frustrating and makes me want to attack it with a roll of tape.  - _ -
     A couple alternatives that I had considered were a novel version of xxxHOLIC, which I deemed to be exciting to find but not quite worth it, and just some random three-volume omnibus of some manga that sounded interesting.  I didn't even have a particular one.  I've done this before and it almost always turns out well, so it's usually on my list of options when I go book shopping.  There was also vol. 2 of a manga I had started at the school library but could never find again.  Again, I didn't deem it worthy but I did sit down and find out what happened to my favorite character before putting it back.
     Along with the poorly made comic books I got a book specifically on blogging that I found in the science building my dad wanted to stop at.  I'm really not sure why it was there, but I was mesmerized, even if half the book was about advertising.  It had a bunch of stuff about title, design, topic, and "voice", which I think I have pretty well pinned down, don't you?  Apparently there are blogs out there that are entirely composed of pictures.  (I don't personally read blogs despite my obvious obsession for them, so I wouldn't know.)  I thought the whole point of a blog was to tell people things?  I suppose a picture "is worth a thousand words", but still....
     Like I said, about half the book is about advertising on and about your blog.  (I don't know the details though, I'm only partway through the book.)  Actually, when I renovated the site I considered getting an Adsense account to share my blog further or put up ads on my blog of products to get some spare cash, but I need a bank account to do either, and I don't have any money, much less an account for it.  I need a job.  (My parents have been trying to get me to consider babysitting, but do you really think that someone who spends all their time around kids their own age, using manga and music to tune out the world would be able to have authority over small children?  I don't think so.)
     A hotel was just torn down in my area and an organic grocery store is going to open there in a couple years.  By then I'll be old enough to get a job, so I may try to get one there...
     Or I could just get a bank account and open Adsense.  With the views I'm getting now I might get a fair profit.
     (Alright, I'm finishing this a few days later, so I have had time to finish the Applegeeks books I bought.)  Now that I'm done with the omnibi I've been reading the online webcomic, and I've already caught up to the most recent post.  The art changes a ton, but in a good way, unlike Fruits Basket.   It has various plot arcs and they all defy logic, not to mention physics.  But that's what makes it so interesting.
     We have another sub in Basketball class.  Very slowly, the disorder that follows the teacher ignoring the students has been driving me insane.  Finally I managed to get one of the girls to stop playing her own little game in the middle of the court during Blitz, and that gave me a small amount of bliss.
     ...and then the rap began.
     Patveli mentioned on a share for one of my posts that some rap is good, and does have a tune.  That may be true, but not for this rap.  (There are actually a couple of rap songs I enjoy, but they all have choruses and fairly meaningful lyrics.)  It's all cuss words and repetitive beat.  At one point the sub turned off Pandora or whatever it was and instead starting screwing with the radio.
     I liked him for about eight seconds before he turned the rap back on.
     I'm so glad I got out of that fast.
     Right now I'm posting from the school library because all the computers in the labs, including the one used for Business Class, are being updated.  It's nice since I don't have to be interrupted...and the headphone jack on this computer actually works. 
     Right.  All I really wanted to do was finish this, since I started it on Saturday.  Also, I've finished my story for Lit, but it needs a little editing and I may make it longer before I put it up here; I had to cut a bunch out to get it even near the maximum word count, and it's still well over 2,000 words.  Oh well.  I'll figure something out.
     I'll be back on tomorrow to edit it and I'll see if I can post a bit then.  Until tomorrow, this is G-star, signing off.

9/9/9: The Day of the Bloggers (Request to Destroy/Unrealistic Writing Limits)!

     Hello, all.  G-star here.  View stats are at nine hundred and ninety-nine, so this is a landmark event!  (I admit a couple of those were probably me checking the layout on different computers, but it's still kinda cool.)  After you read this (or even before; I really don't care) comment below and the first comment (AKA view if you do it right) gets their choice of a blog dedicated to them about the topic of their choice (well, it has to be appropriate) or a hand-drawn picture of them.  So get commenting!  (I think I may prevent MC from participating.)
     Speaking of drawings, I finished the one I was working on for the background.  It turned out great and I think it represents the blog pretty well.  ^_^  The only problem I have is how I'm going to get the color scheme of the page to work with the colors I used in the picture...ah well.  It'll all work out.  How odd that if I'm working on my comic or just some random drawing I rarely get it finished, EVER, but if it has to do with my blog I'll finish it in two days.  There's my dedication for you.
     Now that the background's finished I'll (probably) be working on editing the site all day.  It may be offline if I can figure out how to make it so, and oddly, I hope I can because I have this cool picture I found to put up when you can't access the page that I doubt anyone's gotten a chance to see.  I don't know exactly why I've been so impatient to change the layout, but one reason is probably because I just got bored of looking at it.  While it looks decently cool, I need change once in a while.  (As long as it's not moving or going bald or anything.)  Another reason, however, may be that, if I get my blog looking better and put my own art up, it might get more popular.  I want to put up Adsense as a part of the new template but I don't have a credit card, much less spare change, so it'll have to wait until I get a job...or something.  Until then, do you think any of you may be able to mention or advertise it on your various social networking sites?  I'd do it myself, but the only ones I use are roleplaying sites that I only use one of at a time and G+, where my posts are already published regularly.
     If you can, then thank you.
     A substitute teacher has been overseeing my basketball class this last week, if you can even call it that.  He has no authority, and even if he did he's not very threatening so I doubt anyone would listen to him.  While we were supposed to be doing drills half the class was just wandering around and shooting randomly.  A few just stood and dribbled in the middle of our Rush drill, and it was annoying BEYOND BELIEF.
     For the last twenty minutes of class (T-T Twenty minutes....that's too long to do one repetitive thing!!) we played Blitz.  The teacher has an amp setup at the back of the gym and has someone play music the whole class.  For some reason during Blitz the person always plays rap.
     This combination of a repetitive game I hate and repetitive music I despise nearly makes me crack.  Every day.  I had an odd Nagato-like urge to go up to the substitute, say in a monotone voice "Request to destroy.  Permission?" and then go bust up the amps until I couldn't hear that boring beat and incessantly fast swearing. 
     Yeah, I wish.
     I really do hate rap music.  It can't even be called music, because music, by definition,

"an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color."  Rap does not contain melody or harmony.  Color, however, it has in abundance. - _ -  Yes.  It's very colorful.  It's colorful like a war zone.

     Topic change time.  In IHS Literature we just finished the book we've been reading, The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and now our end-of-book project is a choice: an essay on theme, an essay on character, an extra chapter for the book, or a short story about the detective of our choice.

     A "short" story.  Right.

     I, of course, picked the short story, which seemed the best choice, especially since I already had a detective character from a story I started in middle school (but didn't save or print and so lost to an end-of-year computer wipe T-T).  Originally he was based off the main character of my comic/previously posted half-story (hence the name Zane White), but ended up being much different than the original.  And for the better.  I centered him around the classic PI characteristics.  Technically I'm not sure if they're "classic" per say, but they were in Calvin and Hobbes and that's good enough for me.

     Understandably, my Lit. teacher doesn't want to sit and grade twenty novels, so she put a word limit on the short story of 1,500 words.  At first glance it seems perfectly reasonable...until you start writing and realize how unrealistic that goal is.   White has just found clue 1/5 and I'm already a thousand words in.

     Yeah, THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

      I don't want to have to make the teacher read a novel in two days, but no amount of cutting and editing is going to get my mystery anywhere near her limit.  It's a bit worrying, but she said to just write and then work that out later.  Right.....she's going to end up having to read my 4,000-word book.

     Once it's finished I'll post it up here, because it's actually pretty good, at least so far.  I might end up having to take out several parts, but I'll put the full one up here, possibly with a continuation if I can't fit in absolutely everything I want to write.

     The rough draft's due next Monday, so I should have it up at latest by Wednesday.  I'm considering doing it in chapters like my previous story for shortness's sake, but you tell me what you want.  I'll be updating the site for the rest of the day and possibly longer, so don't wait up.  Until then (or tomorrow, if I have a reason to post), this is G-star, signing off.   

Mini-Ramble: A Lengthy Description of Something MC Hates (Learn to Roleplay).

     Hello, all.  G-star here.  Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but we finally started the written work in business class and didn't have time.  But I'll make up for it today, with an in-depth article about something Patveli and MC treat with disdain...roleplaying.
     Firstly, roleplaying is not a chat room.  It can be if used the wrong way, but I try to avoid those kinds of sites.  Done right, it is no more and no less than multiplayer creative writing.  One person (sometimes two) come up with a plot, set up a thread, and gather users to play characters to certain conformities.  Sometimes there is a limit to the number of characters, sometimes you just make one up and jump in, but almost always there is a character "skeleton" with the required information the GM (Game Master) will need to know about your character.  Personally, I prefer skeleton threads, since the characters are a little easier to tell apart and look up facts about, but if you don't like spending time writing up a whole background then you might like jump-in roleplays.
     That being said, there are a couple different types of websites for roleplays.  The one I prefer has a couple different categories for the plot and you can make your own stories whenever you want, with an Out Of Character and an In Character thread, separately.  On the site I'm currently using, skeletons are required and admins have to check over each and every OOC thread.  It must be hard.
     A site I tried a while ago was completely different, though.  There were maybe fifteen roleplay 'worlds' in each genre category, and each one contained hundreds of threads.  You couldn't interact with every character at once like in the smaller stories I favor, but instead had to write a short plot somewhere within that world and invite some people to join you in it.  That was just too complicated and didn't have enough choices, so I ditched it.
     I enjoy roleplaying because you can write whatever you want, but you don't have to do it by yourself.  I've known some people to write short stories or even books about roleplays they participated in.  It can give inspiration for stories or just be practice for future writing.  And chatting is very rare and is usually limited to questions about the roleplay.
     Well, MC?  Do you understand my hobby a little better now?  Have Patveli read this.  I'll continue it tomorrow with how I make my character skeletons.  I had intended to do that today, but figured I had better make sure you understand what I'm talking about first.  (I never did that Pokemon, but oh well.  That's sort of to be expected.)  So instead, I'll talk about character skellies tomorrow.  Until then, this is G-star, signing off.


     Roleplaying Vocabulary

• GM/Game Master - Creator of the roleplay, approves character skeletons and creates the IC.
•  OOC/Out Of Character thread - Where a short summary of the roleplay plot is given and people can submit their character skeletons for approval.
• IC/In Character thread - Where the real roleplaying goes on.  Any and all OOC questions and chatting is to be avoided here.  Timeskips and lengthy two-person interaction is common here.
• Forms/Character skeletons (Skellies)- Short forms with relevant information about roleplay characters.  Often include anime-style pictures of the characters in question.  Ex:
  
  Name:
  Age:
  Gender:
  Appearance (pic please!):
  Personality:
  Short Bio:
  Other:
  
• Thread - A part of a roleplay forum that can posted, taken down, or edited at will.  They are the first post of the IC or OOC of a roleplay.  This is where everyone involved in the roleplay posts.
• Post - A submitted segment of your character's interaction with another.  I really can't summarize this.
• Subscriptions - Specific threads that are set to send you notifications when posted on.
• Signature (Siggie) - The pictures and/or text that appear underneath your posts.  Can be personalized to preference.
• Bio/Biography - A short (sometimes) summary of your character's past, family, and experiences.  Sometimes includes their personality as well.
• Accept - A function of GM's; to look over a character skelly and make sure it meets specifications.
• Timeskip - A common occurance in more detailed roleplays where the GM skips any and all interactions until a set time (often used to avoid lengthy conversations before exciting or important parts).

The Cats Are Conspiring Against Me (An Alternate Route To Publication)...

     Hello, all.  G-star here, a little worried about the future of this blog...but I'm getting ahead of myself.  See, the entire first trimester at my school I had (well, have) Business and Financing for third period, and it's in the computer lab (if you haven't figured that much out by now, you need to see a psychiatrist).  Every Wednesday I would spend maybe twenty minutes of my 70-minute class writing my blog, and a lot of the time that would be the only time I would get on the computer that day.  For a while I've been depending on third period for my internet and typing allowance for the day, but next term I have Mechanics Science third period, which is obviously not in a computer lab.  Thus, my posts will probably be up later (like after dinner) and most likely be shorter.  This will have no effect on my Saturday story updates, but since I'm bad at keeping up with those anyway, that's not really a good thing.
     Speaking of my story updates, they will be ending soon.  While I did finish the first chapter after re-typing it from a printout I wrote on a computer in middle school, I never started chapter 2.  Heck, I didn't even type the chapter heading!  I simply lost interest, and now am interested in another story involving Zane, the main character.  After going over my weaknesses in writing, I realized that I'm just not cut out to write a novel and so came up with the idea to do it in comic book form.  I'll have more creative freedom and can put in more humor.  I've already drawn three of the major characters (including Zane) and they turned out very well.  This one I just know will get done.
     I've never talked about my "writing weaknesses", I know, and I will put them in a list in this entry, but now I'm going to talk about some interesting things that have been happening recently (I mean, that is the whole point of this blog -_-).  My family has two cats, an old, cranky grandma cat and a teenager cat who's as cute and timid as a kitten (it's pathetic, really).  Whenever I see the cute teenager, Spike (his name is so inaccurate it's funny) I want to just pick him up and cuddle him; he doesn't resist much, either (I think he's part ragdoll -- yes, that's a real breed) but if I get too close he'll sprint up the stairs and I give up.  Once I persisted because I REALLY wanted to pet him, but he ran back and forth from the upstairs exercise room (that my family never uses) to the upstairs play room (with a Foosball, an air-hockey, and a basketball setup that my family also never uses) and no matter what I did if I got close he'd sprint past me and into the other room.  It was exhausting.
     Last night, though, he ran away from me up the stairs, but kept stopping to see if I was there and then running away again when I got close.  If I went back downstairs he'd sit on the bottom step and stare at me until I followed him again.  Once I got upstairs he stood there until I picked him up, purred and kneaded his claws while I rubbed his belly, and when I put him down and went downstairs he followed me, standing still so I could pet him and then following me again.  He would've followed me into my room if I hadn't changed courses, which caused him to stare at me with a look of abandonment and confusion.  Him going into my room isn't abnormal, because he loves sleeping on my blanket, but normally he only runs into there trying to get away from me.  When I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, it took after I turned on the light and closed the door to notice that my other cat, Abigail, was curled up on the shower mat.  This itself was extremely odd, as for some reason none of my pets ever go in the bathroom (even though they hang out in the oddest places like the laundry room and Dad's office) but what was even stranger was the fact that she didn't look at me until I started petting her.  She normally looks toward even the slightest noise, but didn't respond to the door closing...
     I also tripped over her sitting in the middle of the laundry room in the dark four and running in front of me in the kitchen four times each yesterday.
     Spike came up to her while I was getting their food and randomly started licking her back.
     I swear, they're conspiring to drive me mad.
     Anyway, here's that list some of the ways I write, and I think you'll see why doing a chapter book just won't work for me.  I haven't written a list in a while, have I?  I hope I'll be able to post again next week, but until Saturday, this is G-star, signing off.

      Notes on My Writing

• I always start with either an explanation or by jumping right into the action in some way.
• I prefer to write from the view of my most developed character.
• I try to never use the same verb, adverb, or adjective twice in one paragraph.
• I have a habit of only writing interactions and details necessary to advancing the plot.
• My stories never really have an end goal.
• I don't like doing research.
• I find it difficult to write for more than three characters at once because I have to repetitively use "he", "she", and "they", without explanation of who's talking.

DON'T TOUCH THE WAAAAAAAALL ("Fitz-Simmons" Liars, Perhaps).

     Hello, all.  G-star here, slightly annoyed (as I have been for quite a while now) at the fact that Blogger doesn't seem to acknowledge that tab = paragraph indent key, along with several other websites.  Nnn.  Blatant disrespect for obvious writing rules like that one on the internet just bug me.  Just like people putting an apostrophe in a possessive "its" on, of all things, a writing website!!!  Not only that, but incorrect uses of "to" and "too".  Gosh, if you're going to write, do it right... (pun not intended.)

     Anyway, after ranting about laws of writing, let's get to the actual subject of this post, which, to be honest, isn't really anything in particular.  The one thing I've been wanting to talk about is something I watched with my parents a few days ago; I walked into the room and they were playing some sort of action movie, so I sat down, interested.  Within five minutes (of movie, not counting commercials) of me getting there, three people died in violent, horrible, extremely morbid deaths.  You know those horror movies where you can see the murderer around the corner, but the character can't, and you're shouting like a madman at the TV, "DON'T GO IN THERE!!!  HE'S RIGHT TH...NOOOOO!!!"  (I probably shouldn't have talked about horror films, now I'm afraid there's a guy with a knife behind me. -_-)  Well, this was the same thing.  The characters were in this office building that kept being struck by lightning while at the same time being chased by this really bad CGI ball of pink electricity, and the buff, handsome, evidently genius main action guy was telling everyone not to touch the walls or railing of the staircase, because if they did, they'd be electrocuted, but it was really tight, and this one lady kept sort of stumbling toward the wall, so you just knew something bad was going to happen, and I was yelling "Stupid!  Stop tripping!  BE CAREFUL MORON!!!"  (Dag, that was a REALLY long sentence.)  ...Then the lady fell down the stairs, got electrocuted, and when another guy, noticing she was still breathing, tried to help her, he died too.  It was HORRID.  At that point my parents gave up on it and when they went to the guide to turn something else on, I noticed the name of the movie was "Ice Twister", and the description said that it was about some scientist guy who somehow puts shards of ice into a tornado.  That had absolutely NOTHING  to do with the movie.  I don't know why they even try.  Oh, remember how I mentioned the "really bad CGI ball of pink electricity"?  Well, I wasn't kidding.  It was pathetic how bad the special effects were.  The ball wobbled around with the camera instead of with the background, so the fact that it was edited in was plain for all to see, not that anyone would want to.
     Speaking of horror, I was watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. again last night.  This one was akin to a scary movie, as it was about a girl the team was keeping in the plane who was being haunted.  This guy with a monkey wrench kept appearing and disappearing before and after beating people up and/or locking them in closets.  He took out the power, but the lights kept flickering, and when the lights would be on you'd see him in a doorway, then they'd flicker and he'd be gone.  It was almost like Slenderman the way he disappeared.
     This doesn't have to do with the ghost guy, but it does have to do with the show.  I believe on one of my "culture updates" (they're beginning to have less to do with manga and more to do with stories in general, so I'm going to call them that instead) I talked about how much I love the fact that Fitz and Simmons seem more like siblings than coworkers.  Well, recently I've noticed a lot of the other characters referring to them as "Fitz-Simmons" like they're one person, and I think that's funny.  That's just me, though, and just because they're my favorite characters. ._.
     I just went web-surfing and discovered that someone made a fan video of the amazing tech duo's origins, appropriately named "Fitz-Simmons".  Apparently they had the idea in May, which I don't understand since the series started this fall.  (What...?)  Anyway, they said they were going to have it out by early summer (again, don't understand the timing) but I did a little searching (when I say a little, I mean five minute's worth) and I couldn't find the video itself anywhere, even though they had a Kickstarter for it and everything.  (*nose randomly explodes*  Guh...sorry, someone must be talking about me.)  Needless to say, it's a little concerning, not to mention disappointing.  (Speaking of noses, mine has been hurting on one side [on the outside] whenever I touch or accidentally press on it.  There's a sort of lump...maybe I was stung by a bee or something, although I think I would've noticed.)  Anyway, I'll see what I can find out about that video, but until Saturday, this is G-star, signing out.

P.S.
Have any of you seen FLCL (Fooly Cooly)?  If so, is it good?  The club I introduced a while back reeeeaaally wants me to watch it.  Apparently they've all seen it several times.  Also, the way this country is going by way of education, I'm a little concerned that most kids my age may not even know what P.S. means.  Put a comment below with the definition if you know, but NO GOOGLING.  Yes, I already know, I just want to know if you do.

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Offensive Referrals).

     Hello, all.  For the first time in several weeks, I've actually remembered to post this on Saturday!  And, though it's too late for this now, I have something to talk about.  I was watching "Oprah: Where are They Now?" last night with my mom (for the simple reason of her bed is comfortable and that's what she had on) and I saw two very interesting commercials.  First, you know those toilet paper commercials where they take one of theirs and one of the "nameless competitor's", get them wet, put a roll of quarters on them, and drag them across a table to show which one's stronger?  Well, I always thought that not naming the product you're better than was sort of an unwritten rule of advertising, but that seems to be changing.  There was a commercial for the new Window's Tablet and, at the end of the commercial, the actor specifically said "it's better than an iPad." (Quote not exact.)  If my life were a cartoon, I would've paused it right there, turned toward the camera, and said "Woah, woah, woah, did he just say what I think he said??  Did he just diss Apple??"  About twenty minutes later there was an ad for a truck (forgot the brand) where, after getting inside the truck that magically seemed to block out the noise of the neighboring busy interstate, said "It's so much better than those other brands like, say, Ram and Ford."  (Again, quote not exact.)  That last sentence was completely unnecessary, but they still had to name off brand names they're better than (or think they are).  It's a sad day for the advertisement industry.  Anyway, here's the next part of the story.  I'll see you on Wednesday.  Until then, G-star out.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei

He was greeted by the sight of two boys practice fighting on a gymnastics mat.  The woman was standing in the corner by the mat, correcting the boys’ stances every so often.  “Adam!  Raise your arms higher when you punch!  Brenton, you need to watch for his attacks, not stand there waiting for them to hit you in the face!  I can’t afford another hospital bill because you weren't paying attention.”  When the battle ended with Brenton on the floor and Adam with his foot on Brenton’s chest in triumph (the boy got the feeling that this had happened many times before), the woman clapped her hands, causing everyone’s heads to snap towards her.  “We have a new student today.  Adam, Brenton, say hello to Zane Hart.  And make sure you have his attention before bothering to say anything,” She said, rolling her eyes and beginning to roll up the mat.  Adam came over to Zane while Brenton stood up, grumbling and brushing himself off.  “Nice to meet you.  I’m Adam Smith,” he said, shaking Zane’s hand.  He was thickset in a muscular kind of way and tan, with wavy black hair.  He sort of emanated a friendly vibe, hippy-wise, and Zane liked him.

This is Nonsense, But Video Games Come Up the Most (Smores are Delicious).

     Hello, all.  G-star here, with not much to talk about...  Well, firstly, here's a shoutout (no, I don't know what that is) to my friend Bianca (AKA Smore) at justmehighschool.blogspot.com!  I haven't checked it out yet (she won't let me open the page at school -3-) but you should!  I bet it's great!  Other than that, I don't know what to say.  Well, in that unofficial club I mentioned a few posts ago, we've finally decided what we're doing.  We've decided to make a video game; specifically, a dating sim.  We had two different versions; one where there's one protagonist and one main character, designed to make you like her.  The other was one customizable protagonist and a bunch of different main characters, each one with a different path should you choose them.  I think the latter would be too difficult, as it involves programming more paths and choices (not to mention characters), while the former would be simple and fun.  I made a survey and I'll edit this post and insert the link as soon as I can access it.  (Which I can't from the school computers.)  Anyway, so far my idea has been outvoted 8 to 2, but I think it has a better chance than the more complicated one.  Once the survey is up, please vote!  It's only one question; I'm sure you can find the time.  Please, blow their overconfidence in our collective abilities out of the water.
     Speaking of video games, my little brother bought a paintball Wii game.  (I didn't even know they had those.)  As he was taking the tutorial he could shoot the guide character in the face without it saying anything.  That's one resilient NPC.  Yes, I know, that was completely pointless, not to mention irrelevant.
     I'll see if I can talk about something more interesting.  Lessee... that book MC and I were working on maybe three months ago is finally being continued.  FINALLY.  I had written the second chapter and was waiting for her to continue the story, because I couldn't do anything more without her character doing something, but she took forever getting to Google Drive.  But now chapter three is on its way to being completed, so everything's okay!  And now I'm out of things to talk about again.
     UURRRGH.  This is like the problem I had with another blog website I attempted, trythistopic.weebly.com.  It was a complete and utter fail, mostly because I couldn't advertise it anywhere.  The biggest website I had presence on had a nasty habit of changing any link you posted to connect to said big website, so you couldn't advertise other websites.  The problem was, even worse than the fact I had no visitors, was that I needed comments to run the site.  People were supposed to comment with ideas about what the next entry would be on, and I would comply with my opinions.  Needless to say, it died after a week, though it is still active.  Comment on the latest post and I'll see if I can bring it back to life.
     This has to be the worst blog entry I've EVER written.  Normally, the night before I come up with a topic and outline for the next day's post but I fell asleep fairly quickly last night, and it doesn't help that hardly anything happened this week.  Seriously, all the things I just talked about were the most interesting happenings this week.  That seriously sucked.  In apology I'll do an update on my most recent reads.  Until Saturday, G-star out.  Gonen'nasai.

Recent Manga/Book/TV Update
Ouran Host Club (Bisco Hatori)- I actually watched the entire anime two months ago, but I'll count this as a recent read because I only just started reading the manga version, starting with volume 15 (I think?).  It's just as amazing as the anime, though the art is very different.  I've already read some of her series Millenium Snow, and that was definitely amazing, but this is even better.  Volume 16 contained a short story about when Haruhi's mother and father met...is it messed up that I'm now hopelessly obsessed now over Haruhi's father (pre-crossdress) and that I relate to her mother about how amazingly adorable he is?  ......
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.- I just love Fitz and Simmons.  LOVE LOVE LOVE XXX OOO {3{3.  Fitz is the best, of course, but the sibling-like duo's relationship is just so fun to watch!  The most recent episode was all about them, and I was sobbing like a small child when her goldfish dies when Simmons was about to die.  Ayaw........

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Last-Minute Blogging)

     Hahah....I was on the computer for a good five hours and yet I completely forgot to post.  I'm sorry.  I need to get off in a sec, so I'll cut to the chase.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei (Par. 2)

 

A tall, slim boy stood in front of the dirty glass door, rocking back and forth on his heels as he nervously ran his hand through his spiky blonde hair.  The building before him resembled nothing more than a warehouse, its only means of identification being a poster glued up on the wall, announcing in faded letters that it was the home of the “Four Fires Fighting School Dojo”.  The boy knocked on the rusty metal door, and after waiting a few tense moments, he turned to leave, but was stopped in his tracks by the sound of creaking hinges.  Looking behind him, he found himself staring into the weather-worn face of a middle-aged woman in a plain white yukata.  Her wispy brown hair framed a face that seemed wiser than its years.

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Still No Fan Art)

     Hello, all.  G-star here.  I don't have anything to talk about, so I'll just go straight to the excerpt...except...I'm sorry, but that picture I mentioned I'd put up two weeks ago is still not scanned.  I was going to post it today, but I was not allowed on the computer (at home, at least) today, and so I am typing this from MC's house.  (Thank you, MC.)  Her scanner does not work, so I'll see if I can scan it a little later today if I manage to get computer permission.  For now, though, settle for this.  It shall be torturous fun.  Until Wednesday, (or maybe later,) G-star out.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei

[Hello there.  In case you were wondering, I’m Zane Jacques Hart, and, yes, sorry to ruin the suspense, but that figure on the cliff edge was me.  I thought that sort of introduction might be dramatic, although I suppose that it’s also a bit too much.  But it got you interested, right?  Well, anyway, this is the story of how I came to be what I am, and when I say that, I mean how I became the sort of person who would have white hair and something to write a book about.  I bet you’re curious as to why I have white hair.  You see, it all started when I was just a lad...er, boy of 16...]

Mini-Ramble: Prologue (Stupid Fact of Time Machines Not Existing Yet v_v)

     Hello, all.  G-star here, with some annoying news.  Firstly, I'm sorry I wasn't able to post yesterday, but the computer was off-limits, no matter how much I begged and told Mom that I had a blog (and a reputation) to uphold.  Also, I didn't have time to scan the picture I finished recently (urrrgh) so I'll have to do that tomorrow.  It will be up soon, I promise.  And, lastly, the forums are not done yet.  *loud booing from readers*  GONEN'NASAI!!  I'm actually working on it as I write (don't ask how that's possible), but I only had about half an hour on the computer and that, sadly, was not enough time to finish putting up all the roleplay boards, not to mention all the chat/OOC categories.  I hope to have that finished by tomorrow as well.  For now, you'll have to settle for the prologue (aka first chapter) of that book I mentioned.  Remember...copyright.  Until Wednesday, G-star out.

Prologue

    A tall, pale figure stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down on the crashing waves.  Large, glistening wings suddenly spread out behind it, intimidating away anything that might have been watching.  After it was assured that there wasn’t a living creature for miles around, it stepped off into the night and glided over the shimmering water.  The moon came out from behind a cloud to reveal a young man, wearing metal wings.  Stranger than this, however, was the fact that his shaggy bedhead was as white as the moon itself.

Mini (Not)-Ramble: Everything's New (Except My Old Story)!

     Hello, all.  G-star here, with a special mini-ramble!  The one club at school I've permanently dedicated myself to so far is the Battle of the Books club.  I just finished reading on of the BOB picks, Every Day by David Levithan, and I just had to write a review for it!  Of course, the part I REALLY want to rant about would be a gigantic spoiler, so I'll just have to fume silently...  Anyway, Every Day is about a.......heshe named A.  A doesn't have his/her own body, but "possesses" someone new every day, all around the same age in in the same area.  While possessing a boy named Justin A meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon, and falls in love with her.  I can't really go further than that, but it's a great book and you should read it!!  Except, it has a really sucky ending....*sigh*  Wow, that was supposed to be most of the entry, but I guess it'll only be about half.  Yes, I have more; two more topics, to be specific.  Firstly, as this is the one I'm less likely to get off on a tangent on, I've been having trouble finding a decent roleplay website.  To quote what I said in my introduction on a recent attempt... "The first one I tried was overly addictive and took the characters/plot way too seriously. The second one (I'm not naming any names here, you'll notice) was extremely active and I had to visit it several times a day (which I can't) just to keep up with one thread. The third one, that I started just a few days ago, has some great stories, but the best ones are pretty much dead. In other words, I make a character but no one responds or okays it."  The new rp I tried recently is making things difficult as well, though this may have something to do with the fact that I never try to join a thread with more than fifteen posts so I can catch up easily.  The thing is, most of the roleplays I find that fit that criteria have so few replies because they died off early on, so no one accepts my character anyway.  It drives me nuts... 

     Next topic: I was looking for a picture I drew of the characters in a comic I had been working on, considering continuing it, when I found the first two pages of a story I wrote last year in school; not as a school project, just in my free time.  I re-read it and was surprised how much better it was than most of my other short stories.  It had even me hooked; and I wrote it!  So I decided to continue the story.  It's based off a roleplay I used to do and means a lot to me.  The thing is, though, that said roleplay was based off a tv show, but it got off-track.  I have to create new names and relationships, but fortunately, some of the characters never showed up and others didn't have the same personalities as the originals, so it probably won't be recognizable.  I'll be posting a paragraph of my book and one book review/suggestion (I read a lot, so I should be able to deal with that) every Saturday from here on out, so please enjoy, and remember, this website is copyrighted to Sara G., A.K.A. me, so don't repost it or claim it as your own...or I'll find you.  I know it's Friday, but I just really wanted to post today. 

     Wow, this was a lot longer than I intended...even longer than a regular post.  There was one more thing I wanted to talk about; something strange happened the other day and it brought an interesting thought to mind.  I'll tell you as soon as I can remember what it was.  For now, G-star out.  See you Wednesday.

I'll Never Be Able To Decide On Just ONE College Degree, Will I.... (My Brother and the Bottomless Pit)

     Hello, all.  Not much happened last week, so this should be relatively short.  One thing, though, is that my brother has not been having the best week.  This Sunday my family went to a church picnic.  It was all going well until my brother realized his sweater was gone.  He had left it with some other people's stuff (why, I'll never know) and when they left both their stuff and his sweater disappeared.  A couple days later he realized his glasses were gone too.  Unlike me, he only wears them when he watches TV/movies or we go out somewhere, so they aren't as essential, but our parents are still freaking out.  I wonder if he'll find them...  *checks to see if he found them while she wasn't paying attention*  Nope.  Probably never.  Alrighty then, since I have all this extra space, I think I'll write a list.  A subject came to mind earlier that you might be interested in, but first, an update on MC's and my "Dystopian Fantasy".  I've finished the first page of Chapter 2, and when we reviewed it, we were in awe of just how different our styles are.  This is going to be...interesting.  And as I was considering this, it occurred to me just how many different businesses and stories MC and I have tried to start...  So far, our current book is the only one that's even barely succeeded, but here are some others, and how they went, for your enjoyment...  Keep in mind, a lot of these were years ago.  See you next week.  G-star, signing off.

       Assorted Occupations by Miss Cappuccino and Myself

• Fashion designers (came up with some designs, but never made a real article of clothing)
• Band (found some songs, rehearsed them, then gave up)
• Hair accessory makers (drew a picture; that's it)
• Dog walkers (made flyers but got no business)
• Comic writers (made characters and forgot about it)
• Desk toy/action figure makers (sold some to my family and then forgot about it)
• Film directors/actors (filmed the first couple scenes for one, then forgot about it)
• Music video(ers?) (made some when we were little; they were cute, but they kind of stunk)
• Tons and tons of, of course, lemonade stands (I think you can guess...)
• Journal/Diary makers (now that I think about it, this was mainly me...and I still have some; it went surprisingly well >_>)
• Bloggers/Website Designers.... (I think you can see how that went.  Haha.  She helped me with one blog site, we made another for some recordings, and one more just for the heckofit.  None of them received any views/visits. u.u)

ASSASSINATE! (Heeere we go...)

     Hello, everyone.  Summer's almost over....ha..haaah......-^-  I start on September tenth with an introductory half-day for freshman.  The only things I'm looking forward to, really, about school are 1. the fact that Miss Cappuccino and a church friend will be freshmen with me, and 2. I'll (hopefully) be in the newspaper club.  (Yaaay, journalism.  -v-)  I'm also back from my high school youth group "coast trip".  If you ask me, it was more of a camping trip, though we did visit the beach and dunes a couple times...  We did more over that one weekend than should be physically possible, so I'll only discuss the highlights, which, in my opinion, were the beach and my first ever game of Assassins.  I apologize to those who've played Assassins before and already know the rules, you can just skip over this part...  For those who haven't, it goes like this: everyone pulls a card from a regular deck of cards (but it can be personalized if wished).  The card you draw must be kept secret.  The people who drew Jacks are the assassins; they can go around and killing people by drawing their hands across their throats (like slitting their throats) and, if they wish, go hide them somewhere by putting their hands on the person's shoulder (they have to follow).  Everyone else is a civilian, unable to kill.  They're who the assassins kill.  If someone finds the "body" of someone the assassin(s) killed, they yell "DEAD BODY!!" and everyone, assassins, dead bodies and all gather around it.  The bodies lie in the center around the one that was found and everyone else votes on who they think one of the assassins is depending on what they saw or heard.  The assassins can vote too, though, and sometimes they try to throw the civilians off.  The person they pick is, as I like to call it, "voted off the island".  He admits whether he's a civilian or assassin and goes to hang out with the dead people...I guess they hang him?  Anyway, this goes on until either all the civilians are dead or all the assassins are found.  (Okay, pros, you can start reading again.)  Unfortunately for me, I died before the first vote.... -__-'  I'm slow.  I'm sorry.  And I tripped.... Other than that, though, it was fun.  Eventually us deadies got bored (the civs were SO SLOW!!!) and decided to go freak out the civs by chasing them.  One made a break for it when he saw me while his buddies stood around laughing.  It was funny... -v-  Now for the beach.  I spent more time than I thought I would jumping around in the water, but that may have been a bad-- no, horrible --idea, since I was wearing skinny jeans folded up (they wouldn't dry, and when I tried to roll them back down, they tore at my skin... T^T).  That's pretty much all I have to say about that.  The book (MC's and my "Dystopian Fantasy") is going well.  The first chapter is incredibly long.  And now it's my turn to write one... *sigh*  I'm sorry, this is fun, but I enjoy editing more than writing.  Mainly because I'm a perfectionist and I would spend hours fixing my own writing.  MC and I are taking turns writing chapters, which are from the views of two of the main characters.  She's writing one person, I'm doing the other.  I can't help but wondering, though, if people are going to notice the extreme difference between our writing styles...  Well, I've gone on longer than I should've.  I hate to say this again, but please, comment and share!  I enjoy blogging, but I'll have a lot less time on my hands, especially on Wednesdays, once school starts and I'd like to know for sure that people are actually reading my blog and not just glancing at the page and moving on!  Gonen'nasai for that.... I'll see you next week.  G-star out.

Little Miss Otaku (Two Amateur Authors).

     Hello, all.  I said I would, and I will...  A POST ALL ABOUT MY ANIME OBSESSION!  Well, and other things to...  Before I ramble for twenty minutes about my favorite characters, however, I'll write a recap of what's happened this week.  First, Miss Cappuccino is spontaneously going on vacation to California tomorrow.  We'll still Skype, though, since she has it on her phone.  And we have a reason to!  We have recently began work on what we call a "Dystopian Fantasy".  I won't say much on it because we don't want the idea taken, but I will say it's the best we've made so far.  We've tried many times to write stories, novels, comics, etc... but we always stopped after making a character and a very vague plot.  But I tell ya, this is gonna be it!!!  I'll tell you how it goes.  We'll work on it over Skype while MC's on vacation and then when she's back.  Now for the meat of the post...  For at least two years I've had an obsession with manga, starting with the children's manga Animal Academy by Hakobune Hakusho and going from there to the young adult section eventually.  My favorite manga are probably Aya Kanno's Otomen, CLAMP's Tsubasa, and Maki Minami's Special A.  The art isn't the best ever for the last one, but it's really funny.  For some reason, I try to avoid most of the more popular anime, probably because I hate clichés, and if I become a Sasuke fan then I'll be a walking cliché!  Stupid clichés...  I'm actually a pretty good artist myself and I've drawn a couple of fan-art pictures and I plan to write a manga once my art improves a little more.  I'll post my fanart after I finish each picture, but only if you remember the copyright, okay?  Yeah.  Anyway, there's this thing about good manga/anime where I become obsessive over one character, (usually a guy,) but only for really good ones.  Maybe because the characters are better developed?  Wow, I thought this post would be better than this.  Since I've used up most of my writing skills today making up Dystopian Fantasy, maybe I'll just write a list...  Oh, and I'm going on a high school youth group coast retreat tomorrow, so that's probably what next week's post will be about.  G-star, signing out.  See you next week!

     My Top Manga/Anime (and which version I prefer)

1. Lucky Star (Anime)
2. Ouran Host Club (Anime)
3. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Manga)
4. Otomen (Manga)
5. Special A (Manga)
6. xxxHolic (Manga)
7. Death Note (Anime)
8. Black Butler (Anime)
9. Pearl Pink (Manga)
10. Mamotte!  Lollipop (Manga)
11. Me and My Brothers (Manga)
12. Library Wars: Love and War (Manga)
13. Tsubasa (Manga)
14. Yotsuba&! (Manga)
15. Yu-Gi-Oh! (Anime)