Another quick catchup post from me. I feel odd posting so soon after my last one, but... it's Friday, after all.

Hurray, Ben! Happy birthday, once again. I'm glad to hear your day was special!

*returns Louise's * Thank you for your facebook message, by the way. I haven't gotten around to replying yet, but it meant a lot to me. And ah yes, "sozy clippers" brings back such memories, doesn't it? And of course, "Ozycay Ipperslay." Good days, good days.

Mm, cake. I was half expecting to see a unicycle one. What clever Lord of the Rings ones, though! The cake of Frodo and Gandalf is amazing. I don't think I would eat it if it were mine. Too cute to ruin.

Happy Friday to you all!

Ha, I've been meaning to do a catchup in here for over a week now, but kept procrastinating on it. And then today on the member chat, Cor said I should post, and the people pleaser mode kicks on and I work like a beaver. I don't know how I ever became so dreadful thing as a "people pleaser," but I love when it works to my advantage.

Let's see, what have I been up to lately? Rejoicing over slightly warmer weather, getting to the park whenever I can, and have been rather thrilled over a website my mother told me about called Project Gutenberg. They have thousands of ebooks available for free, because they're all old books and the copyrights are expired.

If any of you can reconcile yourselves with reading great literature in the form of an ebook (I don't blame you if you can't—took me five years to even let myself think about getting an eReader ), check it out. From what I've seen, the formatting is good, and after browsing through the free offerings at Google Books (The princess and the Goblin? Is it really that hard to press the shift key?!), it was hugely refreshing to find a site that actually seemed to care about and respect the literature they were offering for download.

Anyway, I'm still new to it, so if I find any shortcomings, I'll babble about those as well.

*Waves to Pon* It's good to see you here!! I'm glad you had such a good summer, and have been getting so much writing done! That's a great feeling. I bet you'll learn to love your new state and make tons of friends. Oooh, and Sweeet told me about your short film! I'm so glad it went well!

Hehe! I'm not sure how many people would join, but yeah, I'd be a part of it. *laugh*

True. "Ours is a high and lonely destiny."

Thank you! I hope it goes well, too. Is where you would be moving far enough away that you wouldn't be able to get back to the city easily? That pretty much is the same as moving to the other side of the world, in my opinion.

Heehee, the funny thing is I wouldn't be half so intimidated if we were moving out to the backwoods where we'd have to practically fend for ourselves. That I can handle.

It's the idea of moving to a completely different community that terrifies me, and the wondering of, "Will we be happy there? Are there lots of friends just waiting to be made? Will it be a good move? Will I rue the day I ever saw that real estate listing"?

. . . I stress too much.

*Waves back to Silver, bringer of awesome treats* I hope you're having a wonderful vacation, buddy!

That is pretty much the best simile ever. I take it you like HP?

Thank you! I was a huge fan when I was younger, and I still love the books, but I haven't had much interest in the movies (I blame my general indifference to modern films. It's something I need to work on ), and have basically laid my HP obsession to rest. I think I read them and theorized about them so much, I just got kind of burned out, and as awful as this sounds, it was honestly something of a relief when the series came to a close. I still appreciate the books as some of the best fantasy of my generation, though, and look forward to a time a few years down the line when I can read them again and relive the magic. (Yikes, that sounds so clichéd! )

I feel like I should write more when I'm happy though--- if anyone ever reads through my journal they'll think my life was only depressing!

Lol, mine is much the same way! My longest journal entries always seem to be the ones where I'm ranting.

And Calcifer! I shrieked when I saw what he looked like!

Heehee, I never imagined Calcifer to look like that, but his character design was so fun.

A good friend, who knows me very well, gave me a T-shirt that reads "Movies: Ruining the Book Since 1920" because he had heard me grouse about so many adaptations. I love that shirt.

That's an awesome shirt.

*Waves to stardf29* I liked the story about the farmer and the rabbit! That's interesting! Hope you're enjoying your vacation.

*Waves to Wolfy*

I found out that I am a pig, apparently, not a rabbit. Not the most flattering discovery I've made. Ah well.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a goat. I always wished it was a dragon or a horse or a tiger when I was younger.

I thought I'd post in here today, though, because I wanted to say that I just adopted a kitten!

I'm so excited for you! And you simply must post pictures soon. My cousins got a new kitten recently and I haven't had a chance to see it yet, and I'm suffering from cuteness withdrawal.

We were joking around the other day that in Alaska, instead of having snow days, they have "sunshine days". I personally think that "sunshine days" would be extremely beneficial. Instead of doing school on a sunny day, kids go outside and play all day.

That is a wonderful idea. Why don't the people in charge think like that?

Life's been kinda weird lately (what with Rose and the owls and all *looks innocent*) but hopefully this month will straighten itself out though.

I'm not even going to comment on that.

. . . Well, technically I just did comment by saying I wouldn't comment, but you get what I mean.

Who all watched the Super Bowl? Great game, huh?

I watched some of it, and was glad the cheese won. I think I liked some of the ads better than the game itself, though. I like football to a degree, and love an exciting game as much as the next person, but most of the time I find it just gives me a headache.

I don't like wearing long-sleeved shirts, so I have to wear coats during winter. But I don't really like coats either, so I try to wear really thin coats or sometimes just a sweatshirt.

You sound like my brother! He would go around in a t-shirt and shorts when it's below freezing outside if we would let him.

*Skims*

Lot's of people despise me for this, but..... Finding Nemo. I can understand the love of this film from a production standpoint (the animation is amazing!), but I really never "got it". It's O.K, but hardly the amazing, moving, perfect film everyone claims it to be. *wonders if he has also alienated Dryad now.... *

Nope, you haven't alienated me. I like Finding Nemo, but I can see your point. I think one of the big reasons why it's been so popular is because parents can relate to it, and it's fast-paced and colorful enough to keep the kids happy for the entire film. Definitely not my favorite of Pixar's films, but fun. And fun to quote.

*Waves to dotK* I hope you have a nice time at the dance with your dad!

*Tacklehugs Anna* It's good to see you in here again! And I'm glad you're feeling better, and that the writing has been going kaboom as of late.

(I actually never read the books; I listened to them over audiobooks, which is what I am doing this second time. Have you heard of them? They're read by Jim Dale, and they are excellent! I recommend them to anyone who enjoys audiobooks... even remotely.)

Oooh, I loved those to pieces when I was younger! I listened to them over and over. I actually think The Sorcerer's Stone audio book was the first CD set I ever owned. Dale does a fantastic job bringing the books to life.

*Ears perk at Cor and Elanor's sports discussion* Baseball? Any favorite teams? I've been dropping some very definite hints to my brother about getting me a Braves hat and jersey for my birthday this year.

May I join you?

Certainly! I'll let you know as soon as I get the kinks out of my anti-gravity hiking boots.

And last but not least, happy birthday, Benjamin! It's a little belated, but extra cake is always good, right?

And I think that's it! Apologies if I've missed anything, or if this post is full of typos. Whew, it feels good to finally be caught up. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

I found out that I am a pig, apparently, not a rabbit. Not the most flattering discovery I've made. Ah well.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a goat. I always wished it was a dragon or a horse or a tiger when I was younger.

I'm a rat. I think that might be worse than a pig.

RE: Pixar Movies: I've seen Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc, A Bug's Life, Up, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille. Out of those I like the Incredibles, Monster, Inc, and Ratatouille the best. For a while I kind of lost interest in Pixar movies. That's probably because the last one I saw was Up. It's not that I didn't like it. It's a good movie but sad. I kept crying and my family was teasing me. I know they aren't doing it to be mean or anything but I'm getting tired of being teased. Luckily, I was told discussing Pixar movies with someone and he told me that I needed to watch the Incredibles ASAP (I had only seen the last 10 minutes or so of it). I watched it and absolutely loved it.

Today my mom, my sister, and I went shopping. It was a lot of fun but my mom spent way too much money on us. We made the mistake of going to a large antique place. My sister is really into Peanuts and they had Peanuts drinking glasses. We like to collect glasses of that sort. I got some Muppets ones and some Care Bear ones. My mom got a set of twelve that each has one of the days from the twelve days of Christmas song. I also got the second Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: Super Sleuths book so now I have both of them. I was unable to find a copy of The Haunted Bridge with the original instead of the revised text.

Well, I have a library book I need to finish so I should probably go.

*pops in on a warm February evening* (hey, it got above freezing here today! )

A bit of catch-up as I haven't posted here of late:

...in many Asian countries (including China and Japan), rabbits are associated with the moon. Whereas Americans see "the man in the moon", these folks instead see a rabbit--specifically, a rabbit standing on its hind legs like a human...

I've had fun, now and then, trying to point out the rabbit in the moon to people I observe with. Usually kids can see it more easily, perhaps because they're not so used to seeing a man in the moon.

And speaking of China, some friends adopted kids from there. The younger one is coming up on 10 years old now (how time flies!) and loves to look at the sky when I visit. Just tonight she was asking what some of the stars we saw were.

The Chinese zodiac...I'm a rooster, I guess, but I won't crow about it too loudly. *rimshot* I'd rather have one of those cool animals, like a dragon or tiger.

Who all watched the Super Bowl? Great game, huh?

I watched it with my dad while visiting them. We enjoyed the game; it's a lot more entertaining when it's fairly close and the outcome isn't determined by halftime. A few of the ads were good too - the Darth Vader Volkswagen one is probably my favorite.

Did someone mention NaNo editing? *runs in corner and covers ear* Don't remind me!

Me too. I should be editing it, but instead I'm working on a short sequel to it, just for fun, in which I pop a character into a very similar alternate universe-type place that's just different enough to really confuse him.

Yup, it's a matter of opinion, although it seems like most people I know like Up, but not WALL•E.

I prefer Up as well. I think part of it in my case is that my parents (and even me) are getting old enough that the musical montage at the beginning really resonated with me.

Nice to see you drop by, Princess Anna! Glad you're feeling better now, and that your writing is full of ideas.

I'll catch up later. I just wanted to come in here and say...

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear ~LL~, happy birthday to you!"

I hope your day is wonderful.

*departs in a cloud of confetti*

*waves cheerily to stargazer (cool about the Rabbit in the Moon: I'm going to have to check that out next time it's full), Pattertwigs Pal, Rose, and Louise the First*

I'm joining Louise in wishing Lady_Liln a loverly birthday today! Cheers and warm thoughts to you, dear L_L. And ... a cake, of course! Happy, memorable day to you!

I found out that I am a pig, apparently, not a rabbit. Not the most flattering discovery I've made.

You could always call yourself a boar. That sounds cooler.

Also, I know of awfully cute boars (search "clannad botan" on Google Images for proof).

You know what's funny? When you put your music on shuffle and you get the acoustic version of Relient K's "Which To Bury; Us or The Hatchet?" and then right after that, you get the non-acoustic version of the same song. Makes me chuckle. I'm easily amused.

As Shuffle is my main music modus-operandus, I have all sorts of shuffle shenanigans going on. For example, first giving me "Jesus Doesn't Care"* by Point of Grace, followed by "I Don't Care" by some other band.

Although there was the time when it threw me Mozart's Turkish March, followed by three different techno remixes of the song. Yeah.

*This song is about Jesus not caring about your background or your past sins. Not, you know, He doesn't care about you at all.

(insert various Prisoner of Azkaban movie spoilers)

And for that reason, anytime someone says the Harry Potter movies are the gold standard of movie adaptations, I have to roll my eyes. I mean, I could amuse myself with some of the ridiculous additions made to VotDT. I can't exactly do the same to a glaring omission in HP3.

Re: WALL-E: Key thing about that movie is, they set the absolutely epic moment of

I'm not very good at skating either. If only you could see me try! After wobbling about for half an hour or so, I can usually get around and stay up on my feet all right. But I still haven't learned how to stop.

I've found that the best way to stop is to purposely throw myself either into a wall or onto the ground.

Needless to say, I'm no good at skating either.

The Chinese zodiac...I'm a rooster, I guess, but I won't crow about it too loudly. *rimshot* I'd rather have one of those cool animals, like a dragon or tiger.

The two ways I know of to make "rooster" sound awesome:

1. Listen to "Rooster" by Alice in Chains
2. Search "blaziken" on Google Images (flaming kung-fu chicken ahoy!)

I happen to be born Dragon, which is pretty neat. Although not necessarily. After all, in the world of Fruits Basket, where thirteen people bear the curse of one of the twelve animals (plus a cat) such that they transform into said animal when hugged by a member of the opposite sex, the one who bears the curse of the Dragon turns into

The one who bears the curse of the Tiger

By the way, in the realm of Things In The Manga That The Anime Did Not Have Time To Cover (major spoilers behind the spoiler!), the one who bears the Rooster

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope you all are having a very happy, extremely red and pink, and heart-full day!! I've been having a rather splendid day myself. The weather has changed spontaneously from freezing cold to spring. It's supposed to be in the 70s (Fahrenheit) all week! Yay! Winty and I took a nice long walk today to enjoy the beautiful weather.

And I'm especially happy because my piano lesson went exceptionally well. I played what I've learned from my Mozart Sonata very well, first time through. I rarely do that. I usually play it terribly for my teacher the first time. So I am extremely happy.

And then of course this morning I woke up to red roses and red in general all over the Dining Room! Instead of doing their traditional Valentine's Day breakfast, my dad and brothers are going to make us Valentine's Day dinner. We couldn't do breakfast, because too many of us had to be out early this morning for that to work.

Nope, I've never even heard the word before! But, now I know what it's like.

I can't believe no one on NarniaWeb has ever been glomped before! I feel so proud, being the first to glomp anyone on the square. I'm sure someone at sometime got glomped by somebody else...

Oh, I'll bet seeing it in 3D didn't help your sickness any. Yeah, there were some good parts, but, like you said, it was very slow-paced.

For some reason all my experiences with 3D movies have been bad ones. I sometimes like slow-paced movies, depends. I didn't dislike UP, but it wasn't like I loved it either.

*listening to her Irish Dance music and trying to resist the urge to get up and start dancing*

*waves to The Prince and his dragon* How have you been doing? It's great to see you and your sister here on the Square! Having a Happy Valentine's Day?

Congrats, AC on finishing up that school report! I always love the feeling of turning in a huge project. I remember turning in my fifteen page paper for Rhetoric class...such a beautiful feeling of freedom!

*hugs back* I'm doing well, thanks. (see top of post for my current mood, it's pretty obvious ) My workload for school should lessen considerably after next week, and when that happens, I'll actually be able to sit down and consider how my life is going. When I'm busy like this I just tend to go and go until it's over, d'you know what I mean? How are you doing? Oh, I saw from a later post you're reading Harry Potter?! Yay! Enjoy. How many have you read so far?

I'm doing really well! It's great that your school load will lighten up soon. I know exactly what you mean by just going and going and not stopping. My school's been going pretty well, not too busy, but busy enough. I'm struggling a little in Algebra, with quadratic functions. But I think I'm starting to get a grasp on them somewhat.

Piano lessons are going great, as you can see up above. And dance class has been going really well. But dance class always going well.

You know what's creepy, is that exactly the same thing happened to me, like, a week ago? I can't stand the acoustic version, so I clicked on, and it got the better one for me. lol. I suppose that makes me.. easily pleased.

Bahahahahaa! Well, I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks that's funny.

*HUGTACKLES Queen Susan* Heeey! How are you doing? Having a Happy Valentine's Day?

*waves to dotk* Good to hear that your school has been going well! I hope it gets warmer there and I hope to see more of you on the Square! I'll send some sunshine your way, we're getting lovely weather.

*waves to Princess Anna* I wish my writing would explode. I feel so dry on any ideas and I'm supposed to write a creative writing piece for an audition for an Arts Camp before Saturday. Eeeps! I'm doomed. I'll probably just write a really short pathetic piece and hope it passes.

Hmm. I like that word, Ruby. Glomp. It sounds funny. I think I will adopt it as one of my favorite words. (Aren't words fun?) I don't know if I would be brave enough to glomp someone in real life, but it sounds cool anyway.

It's become one of my favoritist words. I love making up words. I've glomped very few people...most of them siblings or very close friends.

Oh my, I'm not very good at skating either. If only you could see me try! After wobbling about for half an hour or so, I can usually get around and stay up on my feet all right. But I still haven't learned how to stop. I guess that just adds extra excitement to the adventure! (But it sure makes it more scary.) That is so neat about your mom taking figure skating in high school. I always thought that would be a fun thing to learn. I've never done anything like that - dancing, ice skating, gymnastics.... I've done some music, but nothing in the area of sports.

I did gymnastics when I was like ten, but I had to stop when I started choir. And then I had to stop choir when I started Irish Step dance. I'm kind of glad I never stuck with one thing, because it's given a bit more background experience, I guess. I do Irish Step Dance and choir now, which is fun!

Stopping on skates got easier for me after I had learned to ski. And it didn't make me so scared on skates. After going down a hill on skis, tripping on ice isn't so scary. I also played soccer a little with the YMCA as a kid, but I've never been seriously into sports like some people I know. I have some friends who are absolutely addicted to sports. Makes me a tad annoyed sometimes.

No, I haven't heard of Regina Doman's books. How many books are in the series? I should check them out, maybe during spring break when my schedule relaxes a bit.

There are five books in the series right now (The Sign Of The Bear, Black As Night, Waking Rose, The Midnight Dancers, and Alex O'Donnel and the Forty Cyber Thieves), but she's working on writing two more. I've only read the first one. I really want to read the other ones, but I'm determined to finish Harry Potter first. I've started way too many series and have failed to finish them.

*GLOMPTACKLES BENJAMIN* Aaaack! Where have you been? Well, wherever you've been, I hope you've been doing well. Great to see you on here!

Hello, Ruby! School is going pretty well - I have an average of A in my math tests, though I'm not very good, so that's encouraging. Oh, that's okay - I'm in 8th grade this year. haha - poor you!

That's awesome that math is going so well! I believe I have an average B in my Algebra right now. Believe me, that's a miracle! Sigh. I remember being in 8th grade. I have a brother in 8th grade right now--well, he's sort of in 9th grade too. That's the nice thing about home schooling. You can be in two different grades at once and get ahead. I did that and it turns out like almost all of my high school credits are completed and I still have my senior year to go! Whoot!

So, how has your Valentine's Day been going? Do you do usually do anything special?

*waves to johobbit and gives her a ginormous hug* How have you been doing, Auntie? It's so great to see you on the Square!

That is a wonderful idea. Why don't the people in charge think like that?

If I'm ever a mother, I think I'm going to home school my children. And I know that I would forget school for a day to go outside on account of lovely weather. Besides, children learn so much more simply by being around adults a lot and exploring things for themselves and exercising their imagination. I know that in my home schooled child hood days, I spent the majority of my time running around outside with my siblings.

*waves to stargazer and Pattertwig's Pal*

As Shuffle is my main music modus-operandus, I have all sorts of shuffle shenanigans going on. For example, first giving me "Jesus Doesn't Care"* by Point of Grace, followed by "I Don't Care" by some other band.

*This song is about Jesus not caring about your background or your past sins. Not, you know, He doesn't care about you at all.

Reminds me of a time when I heard Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take The Wheel" on country radio and then right after that they played "I'm Taking The Wheel" by some other artist who I can't remember. Oh the irony.

As to the Harry Potter spoiler, I guess they always have to take something from the books when they make movies, but
Despite all that I still loved the movie. Gaaah! I'm becoming a fanatic concerning all things Harry Potter!

Oh, and you've read Fruits Basket? I read that a long time ago...it was pretty interesting. I really liked some of the characters, but it didn't really strike me as anything amazing. I personally love Fullmetal Alchemist. I know that FB and FMA are very different styles of manga, but...I'm a die-hard Edward Elric fan.

Hah! I'm a dog in the Chinese Zodiac.

Well...it seems that I need to be off now! Dinner is approaching and I need to practice the piano and do my Algebra home work for tomorrow.

God bless, everyone!

*a cloaked figure enters the Square*

'Ello! Sorry for my absence as of late... I've been busy discovering the rest of Ditto Town (*cough* roleplaying *cough*). I keep thinking I need to do a ketchup post in the Square, but since I don't have time at this moment, I wanted to pop in and wish all my wonderful NW friends a VERY VERY HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

*waves to everyone, handing out boxes of chocolate*

I'll probably work on a catchup post someday soon, but in the meantime my laptop is down so I don't know when that will happen. I do have permission to use the family's computers, so it's not like I'm computerless, but I am missing my laptop. Hopefully it will get fixed soon, and I can come join you all in the Square once more.

In the meantime, I've got a battle to fight - hopefully the first of many in the War of the Overdoms. Not to mention stories to write, people to talk to, and my life to live.

How is everyone doing? I'll return as soon as possible.

Hiya everyone! I've missed you all and have been meaning to do a catch-up post for ages, but kept putting it off. Even now I don't have tons of time, so it's not really a catch-up, mostly comments on the last few pages. Oh, and, yeah, I have an exam in the morning, and while I don't feel entirely prepared, I don't want to study now, so...

It's been a while, but, yes, ~LL~, we do have awesome taste in movies, with our matching avvies and cool sigs.
And a belated happy birthday from me!

*waves also to Mel* How're you doing?

to Tiana. It was really great to see you on back at the beginning of the year.

*waves back to The Rose-Tree Dryad*

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a goat. I always wished it was a dragon or a horse or a tiger when I was younger.

Is that the same one as the ram or sheep? I've almost never heard it called the goat before; it gives it a different connotation. As cool as the horse and tiger are, at least you're not...the snake or something.

What, lys, you're not familiar with my thoughts on Toy Story? Though ~LL~ is quite shocked about it, I'm not a fan of the films.
And you do need to read North and South. Preferably before you see the mini-series, but I won't be too picky, I guess.

Elanor, you really do need to read the book of North and South. It's very good, and the mini-series does justice to it. I don't think that reading it would make you dislike the mini-series.

*waves to Miss Rose*

I found out that I am a pig, apparently, not a rabbit.

I would echo what stardf said---call it a boar instead. It may not make it all better, but it does have different connotations.

How's the kitten, Ithilwen?

What Lewis books did you check out, wolfloversk?

Oh, Melian_Maia, we did the 30 Hour Famine last year. It was definitely a challenge (I get very cranky when I'm hungry as well), but it was a good one. I didn't think I'd make it through, so I was very suprised to find out I could function without food for more than 30 hours. Just remember to drink lots of juice.

Hey, Aiden! How're you doing?

Jo! How're you?

Liberty, why do you like the recent adaptation of VoDT better than the book, if I may ask?

Very nice cake, Silver the Wanderer!

So, PC004, did your finals week get pushed back another week? That rather stinks. Thankfully, though we did have a number of snow days, my uni hasn't added any days.
*waves to Vern as well* Are you keeping busy with PC004 at classes?

Congrats on finishing your project, Aslans Country!

Hullo, daughter of the King. Do you know what you're planning on getting your Bachelors in yet?

Hey, PA! 'Fraid I haven't talked to you in a while. How're you doing?

Hullo, Benjamin! A very happy belated birthday from me.

I'm a rat. I think that might be worse than a pig.

If it helps at all, according to wikipedia (and other sources ), the rat is rather clever.
Too bad about not finding an original The Haunted Bridge, though! I've got several of the original blue book ones, but I don't have that one, either...

The Chinese zodiac...I'm a rooster, I guess, but I won't crow about it too loudly. *rimshot* I'd rather have one of those cool animals, like a dragon or tiger.

Well, the rooster isn't very bad, all things considered, even if not the epitome of coolness. My dad brought back some glass pendants for my sisters and I from a trip to China once, and mine is a rooster. It's very pretty, though, I don't think I've ever had a chance to wear it. He also brought back some other pendants for us, and I always thought mine was a panda bear. Upon recent inspection, though, I discovered that if you look at it from the other side, it looks like a tiger. Oops.

Hmm, interesting, stardf. I've never heard of the rabbit in the moon. I shall have to try to figure out where it is sometime.

I happen to be born Dragon, which is pretty neat. Although not necessarily.

Awww, but the FB dragon is so cute.
*avoids the Rooster spoiler* I think I already know what it is, but in case there is more than one big spoiler about the Rooster, I will avoid it for now. Oh, and funny thing: my sisters and I have been watching the series recently for the first time, and so we've all looked up which years we were (if we'd forgotten). I keep thinking, though, "I wonder which years the year of the Cat are. *pause* Oh, yeah..."

Hah! I'm a dog in the Chinese Zodiac.

Hehe. Hehehehe. Hehehehehehehehe...
*coughs* Just ignore me over here. Though, I think you're much less strange than the dog in FB.
And I'm curious to see how FMA goes on. So far, it hasn't been particularly intriguing (mostly all back story), but some of the characters are fun and we're only a half-dozen episodes or so in.

Hiya, MountainFireFlower! I hope you get your laptop back soon---never fun to be without your computer like that.

I liked Up, even though it was a bit bittersweet. It was really nice to see something that treated the elderly with respect and value.
I still haven't seen Wall-E, though.

Oh, and although it's not the coolest, I've always been fairly favourably inclined toward my animal in the Chinese Zodiac. (Oh, and the FB representation wasn't bad, either. Certainly not the most likable of them, but one of my sisters said it kind of fit me. And then had to clarify her statement to say not in a bad way. But it was okay, because I knew what she meant, even if she had not meant it in a good way.) At any rate, though, when I was little, we'd sometimes go out and eat at this Chinese restaurant that had paper placemats with a list of the animals in the Chinese zodiac and all their years, along with a short description. I always loved reading them, and seeing which years my sisters and I were. I think I still have a copy or two that I took home with me.

And that's that for now. I'll be back...sometime.

Hello, everyone!
This week has been such a hassle! Staying up very late every night (on Saturday I stayed up until Sunday watching movies with a friend, rehearsals go until 10:30 . . . agh! I just want to relax. I gotta admit I'm looking forward for this play to be over. Life to get back to normal. So much to worry about right now . . STRESS!!!

And likewise, Elanor. Image It's great to have you and your sister here on NarniaWeb. Btw, how is she doing? I've missed her lately. I hope she is healing well.

Thank you very much! She is doing very well, almost completely healed now, which we're all very grateful for. Thanks for your concern!

*Ears perk at Cor and Elanor's sports discussion* Baseball? Any favorite teams? I've been dropping some very definite hints to my brother about getting me a Braves hat and jersey for my birthday this year.

haha - you're so cute. The only team I care about at all is the Brewers (of course). And I'm a fairly big fan of theirs. I've been to two games. Have you ever been to one? lol, good luck!

Heehee, I never imagined Calcifer to look like that, but his character design was so fun.

I know! He really shouldn't have looked like that. Reading an interview of Diana Wyne Jones, I saw that she was really surprised too! Ah silly movie makers . . .

Me too. I should be editing it, but instead I'm working on a short sequel to it, just for fun, in which I pop a character into a very similar alternate universe-type place that's just different enough to really confuse him.

That sounds really cool, Star (though not good for your poor original NaNo novel, sitting neglected - ).

I've seen more Super Bowl talk floating around, so I'll just say - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy they won!! We're the best team ever! Go Aaron Rodgers!!

That's awesome that math is going so well! I believe I have an average B in my Algebra right now. Believe me, that's a miracle! Sigh. I remember being in 8th grade. I have a brother in 8th grade right now--well, he's sort of in 9th grade too. That's the nice thing about home schooling. You can be in two different grades at once and get ahead. I did that and it turns out like almost all of my high school credits are completed and I still have my senior year to go! Whoot!

Thank you! haha - I totally understand. Math is so . . awful. Hard, confusing, ridiculous. lol. Yes, that's really cool! How I love Homeschooling . .

So, how has your Valentine's Day been going? Do you do usually do anything special?

Kind of busy, and we didn't do anything special at all. Last year we held a dinner for all the couples at our church, and that was just AMAZING! But we couldn't this time . . .
how about you? What did you do?

Elanor, you really do need to read the book of North and South. It's very good, and the mini-series does justice to it. I don't think that reading it would make you dislike the mini-series.

No, it wouldn't make me dislike the movies, but I would hate it. I couldn't appreciate it, and I don't want to! The movie was quite amazing enough! Sorry, you know, with your favorite books, they can't be made into movies, and you can't read the books of your favorite movies.
Oh, and please call me Ellie, Ela, or Ella.

Hallooo to all... Happy belated Valentine's Day I hope it went well Mine did

Good mortereve, everyone! I'm back from my trip, and I had a fantastic time. I hope you all had a good Valentines day! (Says Silver, while eating a fantastic piece of chocolate from a heart-shaped box with a kitten on the front of it. )

Silver the Wanderer, did you make that Onion Cake? It's terrific!

I'm glad you like it! But alas, I cannot take credit for such a lovely cake. That would be Google. Oh well. Whoever really made it, you did a fantastic job!

Sure, so.. what should I watch? I've seen.. Finding Nemo, Up, Walle, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, (a long time ago..) and that's it, I think. I've also seen Toy Story 1, I think, but remember practically nothing from it.

Oooh! Well, Toy Story 3 was fantastic. I really love that one. The storyline is straightforward enough that you really don't have to have had watched the other two to enjoy it. Although, they do stick in references to the other Toy Story movies occasionally, so seeing all three adds to the experience.

What a cute cake, Silver! Did you make it? (If so, I am heartily impressed. I can't cook or decorate food to save my life.)

Haha, I wish I could make something like that. Unfortunately, my culinary skills don't really go beyond rolling pre-made cookie dough into balls and sticking it onto a cookie sheet. You should see me try to frost cupcakes. Frosting everywhere.

*glomps Ruby* Would I be bragging if I told you I know exactly what a "glomp" is? My friend and I always use that word. It's fun.

Silver the Wanderer, loving the unique cake creations you've been posting.

Oh really? I'm glad to hear it! In that case, here's another. We all might have different opinions about Wall-E (though I personally loved it), but you have to admit, this cake is pretty cool:

Let's see, what have I been up to lately? Rejoicing over slightly warmer weather, getting to the park whenever I can, and have been rather thrilled over a website my mother told me about called Project Gutenberg. They have thousands of ebooks available for free, because they're all old books and the copyrights are expired.

Ooh! I'll definitely have to check that out. You know I like free books. I'm only hesitant to convert to eReaders is because I don't want to see paper books die out. I heard somewhere that Borders was getting ready to declare bankruptcy. It made me sad.

I was a huge fan when I was younger, and I still love the books, but I haven't had much interest in the movies (I blame my general indifference to modern films. It's something I need to work on ), and have basically laid my HP obsession to rest. I think I read them and theorized about them so much, I just got kind of burned out, and as awful as this sounds, it was honestly something of a relief when the series came to a close. I still appreciate the books as some of the best fantasy of my generation, though, and look forward to a time a few years down the line when I can read them again and relive the magic. (Yikes, that sounds so clichéd! )

Ahh, I see. I like both the books and the movies, though the books are obviously better. And the movies are sometimes a bit hard to understand if you haven't read the books first. I was sort of late in getting into HP...I only started reading them the spring before the last book came out, so I really didn't have time to theorize. But I did dress up and go with my friends to get the last one at midnight, and I had it read by the time the weekend was over. So much fun!

*waves HI to everyone I didn't mention*

Alright, well I'm off to work on writing a little bit. I have no homework today, and tons of printed-off pieces of manuscript (with writing in the margins and crossed out text everywhere ) waiting to be typed.

*waves* Hey, all! No major ketchup from me today - but I'm trying to keep up on the latest posts so that I don't have two ketchup posts hanging over my head. I'll probably do that notorious ketchup post "soonishly", to quote our dear NWebber (and fellow Lurker of mine) Nioniel.

Hiya, MountainFireFlower! I hope you get your laptop back soon---never fun to be without your computer like that.

Thanks, ValiantArcher! Thanks! I hope so too. I've been surviving so far, so it isn't too bad, but it's not fun either. Please, feel free to shorten my username to Mountie or Fireflower or whatever you feel would make an awesome nickname. How are you doing?

*waves to Ela* Aww... I'm sorry. Stress is no fun. Praying for you, dearest!

*waves to wolfy* Hello! How are you doing?

*waves to Silvie* Yay! My dear member of the strike team! How are you doing, in the midst of this perilous mission?
I'm hesitant to convert to eBooks too, especially because I don't want paper to go out of style. I love it too much for that.
Ooh, good luck writing! Typing stuff up can be really fun, especially when you get to fiddle around with words and where the best place to put them would be. I try to view it as fun, anyway.
I like to edit, well... other people's stuff anyway. When it comes to editing my own work, I just haven't gotten around to it.

Good mortereve everyone! *disappears once again*

Good mortereve, all! Today was an interesting day. It was actually warm! 40º. I almost wore a skirt to school. We still have a bit of snow, but it's melting away and I'm not too sad about it.

You could always call yourself a boar. That sounds cooler.

Also, I know of awfully cute boars (search "clannad botan" on Google Images for proof).

That does sound cooler. Pigs are cute when they're little, but then they get old and fat. Hm, I didn't know pigs and boars were the same zodiac. Interesting.

Aiiiiieeeey, I googled "clannad botan". It's CUTE! After seeing that, being called a boar is almost a compliment.

I've found that the best way to stop is to purposely throw myself either into a wall or onto the ground.

Needless to say, I'm no good at skating either.

Well, yeah. That's necessary in my case. Unless I wish to run someone over, that is. And I can only remember wanting to do that that once. I'm glad skating rinks have walls around them.

Happy Valentine's Day to you as well, Ruby! I'm glad you had a nice time. My day was... interesting. Very stressful. But I got chocolates and a doughnut! That's a plus.

I did gymnastics when I was like ten, but I had to stop when I started choir. And then I had to stop choir when I started Irish Step dance. I'm kind of glad I never stuck with one thing, because it's given a bit more background experience, I guess. I do Irish Step Dance and choir now, which is fun!

Actually, I did take a gym & swim homeschool class several years ago. I only remember participating for a month or so. I'm good at swimming, but my gymnastic abilities don't go beyond somersaults. Ah well. Irish Step Dancing sounds fun! I tried out Jewish dancing once. It was pretty fun.

Yay! I'll have to check out those books sometime. I'm in the middle of a reread of Harry Potter at the moment, and I need to finish both Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings. And then I can begin another series. Ha. I have too many books halfway read as well.

Hey there, Fireflower! It sounds like you've been busy. Eek. Hope you get your laptop fixed soon! Having a defective computer is a pain.

*sends a hug to Valia* Good luck with school!

When is your play, Elanor? Hopefully you'll be able to relax soon -- stress is no fun. Do you have Monday off next week?

I'm glad you had such a nice trip, Silver.
Oho, yes. Any activity inside the kitchen spells out d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r for me, except for eating and washing dishes. And I know what you mean about frosting! I can barely frost a cupcake normally -- much less creatively. Adorable WALL-E cake, though! He's so cute.