* snags a cupcake with many thanks *

Well, at least you have the comfort angle down, Valia. That is the most important, I think, though I might be biased to cozy places. Has it warmed up any for you?

The filming went pretty well, and the projects are going swimmingly. I haven't picked a play to pitch quite yet, but I'm leaning toward either doing a version of P&P (most definitely NOT period setting, though!) or finding something suitably sinister and comedic for the hallowe'en season. Another part of me greatly wants to do The Third Policeman again, but it has such a limited cast that I think it isn't suitable to a university setting.

Oh! and the murder mystery went off well--much better than last year's was.

My mum's birthday is tomorrow, and while I've been planning her birthday since nearly the end of Epiphany, my dad might have done little to no planning, since right before I said goodnight he handed me a box and asked me to wrap it. I don't think I will be wrapping my box, as it is a decorative box, and I had wanted to put a silk lining into it, but I never got around to finding a matching silk. I guess tissue paper will have to do.

Oh, in other news, I finally got to go to a brick-and-mortar shooting range again. The one my family used to go to when I was a kid was shut down, and we didn't find a new one, so since then I've been shooting through simulation machines. I forgot how much larger caliber guns kick. Anyway, I'm quite proud of myself because, despite not really shooting for a while, my left hand cluster (I shoot ambidextrously) with a .40 Sig measured 5.5" and my right hand cluster measured 7.5". Hopefully this means I can practice a little more frequently....

Other than that...hmmm...despite having wonderful plans for all the gardening, sewing, and cleaning I was going to do during spring break, I mainly slept...Monday classes start up again (whee), and my fraternity is putting on a 24 Hour Show next weekend (meaning that we will conceptualize, create, write, and produce a performance that will start exactly 24 hours after we get our topic). I'm considering pretending to use my Twitter, but so far this pretense has not yet included me actually logging on...yup, I think that's about it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Weekend, all!

Happy Pi Day everyone! (Even if it is almost over in this time zone). I saw several self-proclaimed 'nerd shirts' announcing today as the ultimate Pi Day since the year figures in as well (3.14.15).

(I saw them at a local high school band festival where a friend's child performed).

Spring is here with a vengeance, with highs between 60-70F (15-21C) this past week. Most of the snow is gone but the vegetation is still brown. We'll need some rain and warmth to green things up.

But this warmth means campfires! Had the first one of the season last night with some of Ryadian's family, and we capped off the night with an observation of Comet Lovejoy. Today I cooked some brats over the fire, then after the band concert we went to my friends' house for another fire. Ah, spring!

Glad to hear that, kat. How've you been doing?

Hi, Shawna! I don't think we've met before, but I'm Valia.

Rya! How're you doing?

Oooh, yum, thank you for the cupcakes, fk!

Well, the comfort angle is only sorta down, Wren. But it's still top priority. And it has warmed up here! We got some rain the other day too, which was lovely! (A non-frozen form of precipitation! )
I'm glad the filming went well, and your projects are going well too (and the murder mystery went well!). Oooh, what setting for P&P were you toying with? And what's The Third Policeman about?
Happy belated birthday to your mom! How'd your gift turn out?
Congrats on the nice clusters at the shooting range!
Wow! I hope the 24 Hour Show goes well! It sounds like quite a challenge. Is your fraternity connected at all to drama or performance art or anything, or do you all just do all these creative things for fun?

Hey, gazer! Your campfire sounds like a fun time.

Not much to report on my end. I'm enjoying the warmer weather and not having to bundle up again when I leave work at the end of the day.

You all still enjoying the snow?

Yep! And even though it's been gradually melting, we had a beautiful few hours of a spring snow this morning. Light, but steady and so lovely. (I know everyone doesn't feel this way, haha.)

*waves to Wren-y-poo, kat, Rya, and stargazer as well!*

Hi Shawna, I hardly remember you, so I must have joined after your prime time here. Anyway, greetings. Sounds like you're quite an enthusiastic writer. All the best in this pursuit!

*nabs one of fantasia's cupcakes and waves* I hope they have lots of icing. Thank you!

Wren, hope your mom had a great birthday!

Campfires are the best, 'gazer. Glad you're already enjoying some. Our backyard is still a tad too puddly-wet, aside from still having some snow that has yet to melt.

Well, happy mortereve, everyone! Heehee, here are spellcheck's suggestions for "mortereve":

*forevermore
*moreover
*evermore
*Vermonter

I especially like Vermonter, Jo. I don't think I've ever heard that one before.

The 24 Hour Show went great. We actually turned out a really good script, one that I would like to go back through and clean up and make an official publication from our fraternity. The title that the student body voted for was The Freshman, The Fifth, and the Frathouse, so the setting was basically that a bunch of freshmen go to a frat party, take a shot, and then end up in an alternate dimension where they have to face their fears and an evil villain. When they wake up the next morning, they find out that, in reality, they had all locked themselves in the bathroom while trying to hide from a RA (residence monitor--don't ask what the A stands for...). anyway, it was well received, and it looks like it will become a yearly thing for us. Most of this week, then, has been spent recovering from the show.

The weather has changed for us, so, now that it is no longer winter, it is now summer (:P). The only problem with this is that we still have very little water, so we're looking at a third drought year in a row. :/ How is spring fairing for everyone else?

"RA" meant resident advisor back in the ancient days when I attended university...

Spring in Minnesota is always a bit random...it was 70F for those fires I mentioned above; a week later it was 16F with a bunch of new snow on the ground. Sometimes it jumps from winter directly to summer.

It was 16F Friday in Minnesota; later that day I got off a plane in Seattle to near 70-degree temps. Lots of flowers blooming here, and the grass and trees are all nice and green. No mosquitoes either.

We went up the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, where growers plant huge fields that attract lots of tourists when the tulips and daffodils bloom. We've had nice weather of late, though a little warm for me since I'm still used to winter.

Today marks the annual day of pranks on Narnia Web. Tis a day of foolish behavior. Are the mods up to something or are they not? Tis a day of silliness and I hope that all have a good day!

That's what "RA" means for me, too: Resident Advisor.

Sounds like you're having a great trip thus far, stargazer. Tulips, ahh, pretty! Stay, erm, cool in those warmer temperatures.

Crazy day, or what?! Teases within teases. Lotsa fun and silliness and ... .

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!

Happy April 1st everyone!

Hey, fantasia, what are you doing up there? I'm fantasia!

Spring is in the air big-time today! And so is April Fool's!

So... many... watchful... EYES...

*wonders if she is in one of those fun houses with dozens of mirrors reflecting the same image*

(Happy April Fool's, y'all. )

Hi Ditto Town. I can't stay long, but I wanted to drop in on the forum for a minute in commemoration of my unnecessarily dramatic return a year ago. 😉

I see that mischief is afoot as usual. Don't have time to unravel it completely, but I got an inkling by scanning the last page and noting that "fantasia_kitty5" is updating folks on her riding lessons and therapeutic riding instructor certificate... Well played.

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone! I seem to have missed the fun as I was out and about sight-seeing. We stopped briefly at Olympic National Park but the interior roads are still closed despite a lack of snow. A bit of snow did fall while we were there, however.

Nice to see you, Willow!

Hello, all! Sorry I missed out on the April Fool's Day shenanigans; my new work schedule is still taking some getting used to. Especially since I'm more or less permanent overtime until they hire another person.... But, it's the weekend - and Easter Weekend, no less - so on to new subjects!

What's everyone's plans for tomorrow? My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew are coming to visit tomorrow after church, which will be a lot of fun. My nephew isn't quite old enough for an Easter Egg hunt (he's almost 2 1/2) and I would probably be the only one interested among everyone else, so we're likely not going to do that. Oh well; I'm sure we'll still dye Easter Eggs.

In August of 2013 I thought it was done. Then I spent several months trying to write a companion novel... only to realize that it wasn't really working out and what I should do is combine the two.

Don't you just love it when that happens? Granted, it's nice when you end up with a stronger overall product, but when you're still in the "This just isn't working" stage.... At this point, I'm at that point with so many of my story ideas (no, I have not learned to devote myself to just one or two stories, but at least I tend to only work on one or two at a time ) that my goal right now is to spend a half-hour a night writing anything. More accurately, I have one story where I just say, "I don't care if there are plot holes or if the story is ridiculous, I'm going to do whatever I feel like", which I will turn to if I'm stuck on my other stories. My problem is, mainly, I overthink everything, and I'm hoping to get myself back to the place where I just wrote to tell the story I had, instead of manufacturing everything to death by trying to make it perfect

Hi Ditto Town. I can't stay long, but I wanted to drop in on the forum for a minute in commemoration of my unnecessarily dramatic return a year ago. 😉

As if any of us could have forgotten that. I considered coming in towards the end of the day and making my own "big announcement" (namely, no longer using colored text in my posts, which I actually have considered), but by the time I got home from an exhausting day of work, I pretty much ate and spent the rest of the night vegetating. Gotta love weekends.

*Ryadian takes the time to smell the Ditto flowers that are blooming just in time for Easter* I can't believe it's Easter already - what happened to March??

Speaking of writing...

I went to a Christian writers' conference yesterday with my sister (the Narniawebber formerly known as Alenta). I hadn't really done that before. It was inspirational, but a little overwhelming too, especially when it comes to what it takes to get published. I'm on the second chapter of a novel I'm writing, which is a big deal for me because I don't tend to produce large volumes of words, but I'm very interested in this project. We'll see where it goes.

Also, as it happens, I ran into coraline (remember her?) on my way in to church this morning, and she mentioned that the writing bug has been biting her too lately. She's thinking of something to do with her old Ditto Story character Lianna. I told her I'd be interested to read it.