*Bella, seeing some action in the square on this cloudy evening where the gusty wind foretells rain, tiptoes in. She brings some cool ice-cream and watermelon slushies with little decorative diplomas and graduation hats, and presents them before Ryadian.* Congratulations on graduating college!! That's so exciting!

Hello, everyone! I am currently procrastinating doing 6 book reports, (last week of school...last week of school...) so I heartily apologize in that I am not able to catch up since I last posted, also because I forgot where I last posted. I will also apologize for lack of coherency and my sloppy grammar lately - staring in front of a screen, hunching with your back, trying to type while look at a book number at the same time, and winding up for school can do these things to you. That blank Word Document on the drab gray background with the painfully oppressive Times New Roman is really an ugly sight compared to the books I just got from the library so invitingly sitting in their wonderfully shiny jackets and inspiring typesets. (I got some Dorothy Sayers, a couple Children's Historical Fiction that looked very interesting, and Who Moved My Cheese? [the latter is part of the "books that will be beneficial to read since you are growing up" list alongside The One Minute Manager and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People ] )
On top of that, I need to start sharpening my math skills for a test and making proper my currently slipshod grammar for college. I will catch up on this page, though.

Valia, was the Lady of Shallot a movie or something? I'm not sure I entirely knew the details of the conspiracy: I think I had just read the poem when a conspirator linked to it and then donned the graphics.
I looked up the Shadow of the Bear at the library today, but was unable to find it. It sounds rather interesting!

*laughs at Jo's outro poem*

I've been planning on joining the competition to. I'd like to hug you guys for making it in July; July will be mostly the real summer-vacation month for me, so I'm really excited. I hope that the tournament brings the posting up on the forum.

*waves to Varna, Patterwigs, and Gazer*

How was the moot, to you all who went? ... I think I know the answer to that question will be anything synonymous to inexpressible joy, but just wanted to ask.

Awww, thanks stargazer and Aslanisthebest. *Stares at the slushies* Those look like some of the most utterly delicious inventions man has concocted. (Seriously, what I'm imagining with that description... yum! ) *Accepts and takes a sip*

You know, I think I will join the competition. I keep meaning to come back to NarniaWeb, but as soon as I get busy again I lose track of everything and go back to semi-lurking. The competition will make it easier for me to stick around a bit more! *Checks the thread* ...Choosing between the Mice and the Owls. I'm kind of glad that I don't have to pick between them!

Aslanisthebest (or would you prefer Bella?), I'm not sure we've met before (though sorry in advance if we have; I've been gone far too long! )! The slushies make a great first impression! *Extends hand* I'm Ryadian, but I tend to go by Rya. And wow, it sounds like you're going to have an... interesting week! One more week of school... you can do it!! *Rushes home briefly to get the pom-poms*

The Moot was awesome! The way I've come to think of Moots is that they're a lot like being on the forum (especially the Ditto Town and Games and Blogs sections! ), except in person and spanning a few days. (Yeah, I know, not a very good description; and I call myself a writer. ) Sorry; the sleep deprivation hasn't entirely worn off, so my writing skills haven't quite caught up yet.

Mortereve, all!
Oh, btw, Jo and Nellie gave us the card that you all signed, and I saw both of your signatures, Gazer and Rya! It was a special, tangible greeting - kind of bearing the spirit of the moot. Thanks for that!

Haha, I'm thrilled you liked the slushies! It was inspiration of the moment; sometimes those recipes are the best. ^^

I was glad that those two names for the competition won, as they were my favourite. I hope we're on the same team!

Oh, I don't mind Bella or Aitb: I like them both the same. We might have met briefly, but I don't think we've chatted frequently. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance! Thank-you for your encouragement! Slowly but surely, I'm getting there. I'll be signing up for college shortly, so... prayers would be appreciated.

That was a good description of the moot! I had the pleasure of meeting a few Narniawebbers on the way to the moot, and it was a lot like being on the forum, but so much better. It was a little unusual to talk of NW out loud with others, since I'm only used to doing that with my sister. I heard good things about the moot!

Oh, btw, Jo and Nellie gave us the card that you all signed, and I saw both of your signatures, Gazer and Rya! It was a special, tangible greeting - kind of bearing the spirit of the moot. Thanks for that!

That was a thank you for hosting Jo and co twice.

The moot was a lot of fun, although I don't feel that I was nearly organized enough. I left packing to the last minute. I learned how to play Mafia. It was great. It was set in Ditto town. I didn't die in any of the 3 games we played. And I wanted to. In the first game, none of the mafia were killed. I think the one of the best lines was "Has poor Twig's snapped?" I wish we would have had time to play more of it.

Oh, it was our pleasure - it was such fun meeting Nwers for a longer period of time!

Haha, I always either overpack or underpack. One time for summercamp, I left all the t-shirts I packed, and then my towel, and then other times I brought far more than I needed... And let's not forget how fun putting back everything is when the trip is over!

Ooohh, you guys played Mafia? That must have been such fun! That's one of our favourite games, and to play it with Nwers.... Did you play the one where you can sit down, or the one where you walk around? (I'm used to the sitting down one, but I've played the walking around one once.)
"Has poor Twigs's snapped?" Thank-you; that made my day.

it was such fun meeting Nwers for a longer period of time!

You can say that again!
I was one of the fortunate mooters, and I had a wonderful time.
I arrived at the airport in the small hours of the morning after the flight was delayed, and wondered if I would just have to camp out until the morning, but several Narniawebbers were there to meet me, and I was overjoyed! Looking at them all for the first time, I said, "You're all real!" Then we all laughed.
I enjoyed the sense of fun, the sharing and resharing of in-jokes, good food, fun places to go, games to play, and getting to know people better.

And the Minnesota mosquitoes enjoyed biting me. I bought a fridge magnet of a giant mosquito, as a souvenir! Swellings have gone down now.

Have arrived home in New Zealand, where winter has hit with a vengeance. I miss summer already, although not the said mosquitoes!

Glad you enjoyed the postcard, Aitb! It's fun making them to share with other NarniaWebbers.

"Has Twig's snapped?" was hilarious. We had some great Mafia hosts/narrators that night.

It was great to meet Auntie and Nellie of Narnia for the first time (and stargazing with them!) and seeing other online friends again.

The mosquitoes are still crazy here, Auntie, and the summer heat and humidity is on. Makes last week seem almost cool.

Coracle, Jo told us about your early flight and her early greeting of you. That's so special! I bet it must have been really thrilling to be greeted by all those Narniawebbers.
Haha, so far, from the Narniawebbers I've met, I've also had to do double-takes that they are all real and everything that is happening is real. It seems very dream-like after. And it's so nice how usual worries of shyness never come to fruition: one feels so natural and comfortable in front of Nwers. At least that's how it's been for me, the few times I've been able to meet them.

The postcard brought a huge grin to my and my sister's faces, Gazer! Thank-you, again! ^^

Jo told us about the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes haven't been that bad for us, but during meeting Jo, Nellie, and Dot, we did get one ant bite (poor Jo, sorry about that!). Today was just awfully humid, but some rain and rain clouds came to our relief. It's so much nicer outside now, with a lovely breeze coming in. I hope it stays this way for some time.

Wow, what a rapid weather change, coracle!

*sits down on the Ditto Fountain to read her newly-borrowed Dorothy Sayers book while listening to the chirping of the crickets and marsh frogs of the Square*

*waves to everyone*

Did you play the one where you can sit down, or the one where you walk around?

I've never played the second variation. How does that one go?

To ditto everyone else (this is Ditto Town, after all ) the moot was great fun and now I miss everyone a lot. I love sitting and listening to people.

I'm looking forward to the competition too. I watched it last year, but this year I shall be participating. Should be fun!

Sorry for disappearing for a couple of days--I'm still getting used to real life after the moot.

Bella, I'm glad you liked the postcard! It's a really good idea; I'm glad that someone decided to start doing that. I missed a moot recently thanks to it happening right in the middle of finals, so it made me smile when I got one of my own.

Last time, you said you had a week of classes left--does that mean you're pretty much to the end now? *Gets the confetti guns ready*

Ahhh, Mafia! We did discover, however, that that's not a good game to play when other people are trying to sleep. But yes, it was so much fun. Especially when the narrators started having fun. "Has Twigs snapped?" probably is one of the best lines, even though trying to explain it to a non-NarniaWebber can be a chore. I also really enjoyed the game because my brother, some friends of ours and I used to try to play the game when we were younger, except we tried to do it with rules we half-remembered. Plus our group was waaaay too small; we were lucky to have 4 people playing. It never ended well.

Well, the last few days have been kind of eventful for my family. Our DVD/VHS player finally went belly-up, so my dad finally broke down and bought a new HDTV and a blu-ray player. So, first day after the TV arrived, we got to lug our 15-year-old TV out to the van so my mom could get rid of it--given that the thing weighed easily 300 pounds, that made life interesting! Then my brother decided, "Hey, we have to re-arrange a bit to get the new TV in anyways; why don't I rearrange everything?" Most everything ended up going back where it started, but things were really chaotic for a while. But now everything's pretty much set up, and we watched The Avengers. Good way to start this new TV's career.

*Goes to the store to go buy some confetti and streamers... and paint. She's feeling a bit mischevious. *

I got a card from the Mooters as well - I really enjoyed it!
I don't think I'll ever get to a Moot, but thinking about it, I'm probably no further away than coracle is. So far I cannot afford it, though.

But it's great to hear about what you were doing. I don't know that Mafia game - is that where they used all those cards that I've seen pictures of? Or are those for something else?

As you can see, I have joined the Tournament - I've been put on the Mice team, which makes for some nice graphics

*Plops down on a bench near the Fountain with a sigh* The last week has been interesting. My brother's graduation party was yesterday, and I volunteered to make his graduation slide show. So the past week has been dominated by video editing and cleaning up the house. But it's all over, especially since he's the last to graduate. (Boy, that's weird to think about!)

Varna, I hope some day we can arrange for a Moot that you can make it to. It'd be so much fun! Until then, though, I like to look forward to the Moot that goes on forever, with each chapter better than the last....

Oops, the Tournament starts tomorrow, doesn't it? I still need to change avatars. By which I mean I need to pick one. I'm cycling through about three different options right now. *Goes to do that*

Until then, though, I like to look forward to the Moot that goes on forever, with each chapter better than the last....

So do I ... There's always that hope, even with those that we know that we won't see again until then!

Oh, btw, don't forget that you need an owl themed sig as well. And tell the other owls if needed - I cannot give them reminders in your HQ thread. I wouldn't want any of you to lose points on that issue!

Eep, I hadn't realized that--oops! Thanks for the heads-up! And... the Tournament begins today. Wow, where did June go?

It's been a pretty quiet day over here. Everyone else is at work today, so I get the house to myself until my brother gets home in about 20 minutes. I'd like to say that I've been devoting that time to getting productive stuff done, but... well, that's what I was doing this morning.... (Getting posting done for the competition counts as productivity, right?)

(Getting posting done for the competition counts as productivity, right?)

I sure hope so, 'cause I've posted more today than a long time. On the other hand, there are at least two other projects I meant to work on today that I haven't done yet... oh, well, I think there's still a little bit of time before bed...

So... if any of my Square Onion friends were going to make popsicles, what flavor would you suggest? The default seems to be chocolate banana but I think I want something different...