Soon, my friends...

No big long post today. You see, I'm almost at a thousand views, and I'm working on something special for that. So stay tuned. :)

Ah, Love (story)

Rynn looked at the floor. She was only grateful that the extra color in her cheeks wasn't visible under the costume illusion she had wrapped around herself. There was no way she could speak the truth. She couldn't tell the whole class about her crush on Lahden. Her mind scrambled for an excuse.

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Ideas, anyone?

So I've been thinking lately. I get about twenty views per day on my blog, give or take some depending on when I post and what I'm writing about. This is wonderful, and I'm very grateful to everyone who reads my blog, even my mom who probably makes up half my views. :) But there's one problem. Publishers are not going to be impressed with twenty potential readers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset about it. I got over being worried about how many views I got after the first couple weeks. I decided that it's no fun to write a blog if I'm going to be stressing over how many people actually read it. But I would like to increase my audience. So, does anyone have any ideas on how to do it? The way I see it, there are three things that could make my audience less likely to grow.

The first are the things I write about. If I write about boring topics, even half the time, no one's going to be regularly checking my posts. So if everyone would be willing to share one or two topics you're interested in reading about, that would be very helpful.

Another thing that could potentially be bad is the length of my posts. No one wants to read a super long post every day, no matter how interesting it might be. Most people don't have time for that, and others simply don't have the attention span. But if it's too short, it will be hard to provide enough helpful or interesting information (depending on the topic). So what length of blog post do you think is perfect? How much can you read before you start to get bored? And how little leaves you unsatisfied or thinking I'm lazy?

And of course the final thing is publicity. If no one ever learns about my blog, no one will ever read it. I refuse to be the sort of person who goes around begging for people to read it, or like my Facebook page, or share it with their friends. I'm not going to do that. I find that behavior annoying and I refuse to take part in it, except perhaps in a joking manner from time to time. But maybe there are things I can do to my posts to make them more easily found in search engines and such? Or perhaps there are places where I can share a link to my blog for others to see? If any of you have any ideas, they'd be much appreciated.

Well that's it for today. I just wanted to bring this matter to everyone's attention and see if I can get some help. Thank you all for being so great. :)

Control (story)

Mrs. Bee took a deep breath, visibly gaining control of herself. "Rynn, you're one of the best actresses here. You've done wonderfully on every line but this one. What's wrong?"

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Very Important

Blablabla. Bla blabla blabla blablablabla blablabla, blabla blablablabla bla blabla blabla bla blablabla bla bla blablablabla bla blabla. Blabla blabla, bla blabla blabla bla blabla, bla bla blablabla bla bla bla blabla bla blabla, blablabla. Blablabla, blabla blablabla blablablabla bla bla blabla blablabla blabla blablabla, bla bla blabla bla blablabla blabla blabla bla blablabla blabla, blablablabla blabla bla blablabla bla blablabla blablabla bla blablabla blablablabla bla blablabla. Bla blabla blablabla bla blablabla; bla blablabla, blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla, bla bla blabla bla blablabla bla blabla blabla bla bla blablabla bla blablabla bla bla blablabla.

Blabla blabla blablablabla bla blablabla blabla blabla blablabla, bla bla bla blabla bla blabla bla bla bla blabla blabla blabla bla blabla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.

And there is the most important lesson you will ever be taught. You're welcome.

Scolding (story)

The drama instructor strode onto the stage, obviously displeased. "Again, Rynn?" Mrs. Bee snapped. "The show goes up in a week! I've been lenient so far because you told me you would get it, but this is ridiculous. The line is easy. 'Yes, Sahv, I do.' That's all you have to say!"

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Middle Earth University

My college classes just got out for the quarter. Spring Break! Yay! As I was thinking about school this morning, an interesting thought came to me. What if there was a Middle Earth University. My mom and I started brainstorming classes that would be offered, so I decided to make a list of instructors and what they would teach. Each one gets three different classes. Keep in mind this is based mostly off the movies. I can't really remember the books, though I plan to reread them soon.

·         Aragorn-

1.       How to Get Women

2.       Herb lore

3.       Being Extraordinarily Gorgeous

·         Arwen-

1.       How to Get Men

2.       Speaking Elven

3.       First Aid (specializing in stab wounds)

·         Bilbo-

1.       Cartography

2.       Smoke Rings 101

3.       Story-telling

·         Boromir-

1.       Scaring Hobbits (It’s fun!)

2.       Resisting Pain (specializing in multiple arrow wounds)

3.       Nationalism

·         Eowyn-

1.       Female Rights

2.       Horseback Riding

3.       Cooking

·         Frodo-

1.       Grooming (specializing in foot hair)

2.       Anger Management

3.       Object Disposal (specializing in rings)

·         Galadriel-

1.       Mind Reading and Other Tricks

2.       Beauty & Fashion

3.       How to Sound Wise

·         Gandalf-

1.       Self-defense (specializing against Balrogs)

2.       Fireworks

3.       Smoke Rings 102

·         Gimli-

1.       Smithing

2.       Elves Are Your Friends! (Why Not to be Racist)

3.       Bragging

·         Gollum-

1.       Riddles

2.       Psychology (specializing in Dissociative Identity Disorder)

3.       Real Estate (specializing in caves)

·         King of the Dead(classes for the recently deceased)-

1.       Intimidating Mortals 101

2.       Intimidating Mortals 102

3.       Oaths and Curses

·         Legolas-

1.       Outdoing Your Friends

2.       Extreme Sports (specializing in stair surfing and elephant jumping)

3.       Martial Arts

·         Merry & Pippin-

1.       Pilfering From Sam’s Garden

2.       Pilfering Gandalf’s Fireworks

3.       Talking to Trees

·         Sam-

1.       Gardening

2.       Ethics- Loyalty (Honor Course)

3.       Gollum Name Calling

·         Saruman-

1.       Army Management

2.       Speech

3.       Trapping People and Keeping Them Trapped (specializing in killing giant eagles)

·         Sauron-

1.       Jewelry Making (specializing in rings)

2.       You Are Special (Regaining Self Confidence After a Massive Defeat)

3.       Working in Extreme Conditions (specializing in volcanoes)

·         Theoden-

1.       Dealing With Grief

2.       Regaining Youth

3.       Seeing Through Deceit

·         Wormtongue-

1.       How to Not Get Women

2.       Being a Creep

3.       Backstabbing

Reality (story)

Then a voice pierced the quiet. "Cut!" it said loudly.

Lahden looked away from her, and she snapped out of her trance, coming abruptly back to reality. The scene she had set in her mind vanished, leaving behind only the flickering illusion conjured by amateurs as a background to the stage. From the shadows behind the drawn back curtains, the faces of her fellow actors peered out, all eyes on her. Some were laughing or giving her sympathetic looks, but the majority seemed as frustrated as Lahden.

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

New Break the Code Game

Yay! Here's a new break the code game! This one is fairly simplistic I think. It shouldn't present too much of a challenge. Which means that following these instructions should be that much easier: you're free to do this just for fun, but if you'd like to help me with gathering my own data, then I have some instructions for you. Time how long it takes you to crack the code and email that time along with the hidden message to me at propheciesofshadow@yahoo.com along with any thoughts you had while trying to do it. Thank you.

The one hint is on the hint page here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/hints.html. I don't think this code will need more than one hint, if any. Of course, I could be underestimating it. Maybe the colors just make it seem more simple to me than it is. :)




Hypnotized by a Look (story)

Rynn felt his gaze pulling at her and unwillingly looked up into his midnight blue eyes. Immediately she was drawn in and captured by their intensity. The answer to his question vanished from her mind, swept away like a toy boat in a storm. A wave of desire washed over her, and it was all she could do to stay motionless. The silence lengthened as she stood there, and she knew somewhere at the edge of her mind that there was something she was supposed to say. Irritated, she pushed the thought away, wanting only to stay immersed in the chaotic joy of his full attention and his stunning gaze.

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Chemistry and Immaturity

Okay, so I already posted about this briefly in my status on my private Facebook page, so most of you have probably already seen it. But since it's kind of a funny event, I thought I'd explain it in more detail for those of you who aren't taking Chemistry and have no idea what I'm talking about, or for anyone who didn't see my status.

Finals are this week, and in Chemistry today we were reviewing for our test. One person asked my teacher to go over shells and subshells. Here's a brief bit of Chemistry stuff for anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about. If you know or don't care, skip this paragraph. An atom is made up of three basic parts. Protons and neutrons, which are found in the center (nucleus) of the atom, and electrons which just kind of revolve around the nucleus. Any atom of any element has a certain number of orbitals, which can hold two electrons each. The periodic table is divided into sections by which you can tell how many orbitals an element has. These sections are called subshells. Subshell S has 1 orbital, subshell P has 3 orbitals, subshell D has 5 orbitals, and subshell F has 7. These are then organized into rows on the periodic table, numbered 1-7, that are called shells and tell how close to the nucleus the electrons are.

Anyway, my teacher was going over the names of the shells and subshells. The first shell only has one subshell in it, which is S. The second shell has two shells, both S and P. But every time she came to 2P and asked the class what that section was called, someone would yell out 1P. Eventually my teacher was like, "No 1P's!"

No one pees? Get it. And, like a true idiot, I got it the moment she said it. I burst out laughing hysterically while the whole class was dead silent. I am, apparently, really immature. But I'm a teenager amidst adults! What can I say?

Wow, What a Jerk... (story)

The man, Lahden, smiled slightly as he looked her over, his expression untouched by her suffering. "You know very well why. You have played your part in this, and I am finished with you." He stepped closer to her and she turned away to hide her tears. Anger rippled through him at this, and he roughly pulled her back around to face him. "I am too close to my goal to abandon my plans for anyone, even you! Do you understand?"

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

My Mom

I love my mom. I know that this isn't really typical of teenagers, but my mom isn't really the typical mom. She does a lot for me, and doesn't ask for anything in return.

Her whole life seems to revolve around her children. She gives most of her time to us, sacrificing it over things she could do for herself. She gets up at 5am with me every weekday morning so that she can drive me to Seminary, then either drives me to Everett or goes home to get my siblings ready for school, depending on what day it is in the carpool schedule. Then she comes a few hours later to pick me up. When my siblings and I are all home, she endures our whining. Together with my dad, she makes dinner for us, cleans up our messes, and gets us all into bed despite all the fighting and complaining. And that's just a normal day.

Truly mothers are amazing.

The Room (story)

A window on the same wall as the fireplace looked out on a dark, sleeping city street. The closed door on another wall stubbornly kept the cold night air outside, allowing the flames to fill the room with a cozy warmth. Rich paintings adorned the walls, an old-fashioned carpet lay in the middle of the room, and an ancient cushioned chair faced the fireplace, giving the place a classic charm. The room was usually comfortable and cheery, but the events of the moment drove all happiness away.

(Read all previous parts of chapter two here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Why? (story)

Chapter Two

 

"Why?" Rynn asked, her hazel-green eyes wide with pain and heartbreak.

 

Her gaze was focused on a pale, dark-haired man. He stood close to her, but displayed such an icy attitude that he seemed far away. He loomed over her, and the crackling fire to his left cast a long shadow over the stone wall to his right.

(Read all previous parts of the story here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html)

Some SAT Tips

I thought I would do a follow up post for my desperate SAT one on Friday. I took the test. An email I got said that I won't get to see my grades until the end of March, but that's not as bad as it was for the PSAT. I'm not too worried about it now. It was tough, and I'm sure I got a lot wrong on the Math portion, but overall I think I did okay.

One thing that I'm very grateful for is that they allow you to bring a snack, and give you several breaks to eat or go to the bathroom or just stretch your legs. I know that when I haven't done any of those things in a long time, my mind tends to shut down. I'm fairly certain that it's the same for most people. I have also heard that drinking plenty of water is important when you're taking a test because it hydrates your brain or something like that.

There was one thing that I did which I think was a fairly good idea and might help anyone else going to take a timed test. On one of the math sections, when the man announced that there were only five minutes left for that section, I could clearly see that I wasn't going to be able to finish all the problems. So, I very quickly filled in C for all the answers on the ones that were left, then went back and worked out every problem that I could in the time that remained. I finished all but two, and I still have a chance of getting those two right.

Something I would suggest for anyone preparing to take the SAT is to really study vocabulary. In the reading and writing portions there were a lot of words I had never seen before. Since I'm fairly good at that sort of thing I was able to use the process of elimination or the context to figure most of them out, but I know that a lot of people don't have the same skill set. So if English stuff is at all difficult for you, definitely look into that. If you go to dictionary.com there are some word games and activities that I think would be helpful.

Khan Academy can be a useful tool when studying for the math portions, or really for any math thing. I know that they also have other subjects, but I haven't explored anything but math on their site. But the math part alone is incredible. It's been my greatest resource in figuring out how to do different kinds of problems. He adds videos regularly, and already has a very wide range of topics.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. I hope that was helpful for anyone who needs it. And thank you to everyone who gave me advice when I needed it!

The End. Of Chapter One. (story)

Sparks of red light danced around the hand on Daevyn's head. Xeldan and Aerana stared at Elysse, shocked that the woman would use their child to gain immortality. A long silence stretched out until at last, a look of pure innocence on his face, the Immortal giggled.

(Read ALL OF CHAPTER ONE here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/chapter-one.html)

The Math Portion of the SAT...

So, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow... I've been doing some practice problems and realized that I have no idea what I'm doing. It's not like I'm a stupid person. I've never gotten anything lower than a B as my final grade, even in my math classes. I can figure the problems out if I know the process. But I just can't seem to retain the information of how to do every problem I've ever been taught. The formulas and little tricks and things just seem to disappear right out of my head the moment I stop needing it. Oh sure, I remember lots of things, like dividing polynomials, how to solve a quadratic function, and rise over run for the slope of a line. But I guess there are things I've forgotten too.

Take, for instance, one of the practice problems I was trying to do just a few minutes ago. "A 3 by 4 rectangle is inscribed in circle. What is the circumference of the circle?" I stared at it for a few moments, then exclaimed, "What does that even mean?!" I could understand the individual pieces of it, but when I tried to put it all together or make a formula out of it, I was completely lost.

Does this mean I'm really stupid? Do I lack skills that everyone else has? This is very scary for me. If I don't do well on this SAT, sure I can take it again, but I feel like there's not much I'm going to be able to do about this issue. I just don't have the capability to retain all that knowledge. And if I can never get a good score... Does that mean I won't be able to go to college? Will I not be able to get a good job or support my family?

I don't even want to work with math equations like these. The two career options I'm considering right now are creative writing and psychology. Math is not my strong point, and I don't want a future based around my weakness. But, with the SAT, is my future already based around my weakness?..

If any of you have any suggestion of ways I can fix this, please let me know. I'm going to go through the Khan Academy website for now and try to cram in anything that might be useful.

Elysse's Idea (story)

Her eyes shone with an idea. She placed one hand on the baby's head and spoke loudly. "With the power of the Hyspire I bind myself and the great Power's followers to the child Immortal to share in his lengthened life until the end of his days."

(Read all previous parts of the story here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/chapter-one.html)

Yay Fantasy

Could our world use some more magic?

I just finished reading Don Quixote by Cervantes, and it brought up this question for me. In case you haven't heard of it, the book is about a man in medieval Spain who goes mad and runs around pretending to be a knight. Truthfully, there is much more to it than that, but I don't want to give it away for anyone. Anyway, the main character Don Quixote always blames anything he can't explain on enchanters.

It's been making me think about how plain our world is. Why can't we all just be crazy? Everyone needs an adventure every now and then. Let's all band together and be awesome heroes that do amazing things.

The Key (story)

"What indeed..." Elysse murmurred. Her golden eyes fixed on Daevyn's peaceful face. She continued speaking thoughtfully, as if to herself. "This boy is the key to both great power and a delicate balance. My order has searched for him for many years. And now I am the one to find him. Wyerma would say that the whole world must be told of the Immortal's birth, but that would cause unnecessary panic among the people. It might even waste what could be a marvelous opportunity..."

(Read all previous parts of the story here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/chapter-one.html)

Bad News and Good News...

So, I'm going to start off with some sad news today, because I kind of feel like not making it top priority would be disrespectful... Duckling, one of the orange kittens in the litter, died Saturday evening... I wasn't there when it happened, but apparently there was an accident while some members of my family were trying to move a couch, and he was crush beneath it. My parents raced him to the vet, but they weren't able to save him. We all miss him.

Some of you may say that it's stupid to get so upset over a dead animal, but our kittens kind of become like family to us for the time they're here. We play with them every day and enjoy watching their personalities develop. And yes, kittens do have personalities. So it's sad when one of their lives is cut short before its time...

Anyway, I don't really want to talk about that too much. I've just barely gotten over it and would rather not open the wound again. I don't need tears right now...

So in other news, I posted my first video on this blog's Youtube channel! What? You didn't know this blog had a Youtube channel? Well, that's okay. I didn't really announce it before. Yes, there is a Youtube channel where videos relating to this blog will be posted for your entertainment! I probably won't post very regularly, as many of the videos will depend on certain posts I publish in the future. However, I will be adding things when I'm able, so either subscribe or keep an eye out for new videos!

The one I posted today is of Dante being a pest. But a cute one! I mostly made it in order to test out some things about Youtube and certain aspects of movie making, but it's still pretty cute. I'll also be posting it on my Facebook page (here: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Arriah-Dreamscribe/146768685480583) for anyone who doesn't actually read my blog regularly.

What? (story)

"My husband meant no disrespect," Aerana said hurriedly. "His mind is simpy focused on the same question mine is. What should we do about this?"

(Read all previous parts of the story here: http://propheciesofshadow.blogspot.com/p/chapter-one.html)

Calendar

Okay, so I was bored one day in class and I designed a basic calendar system for Uhdrea. I thought that there should be eight months per year, with eight months within the year. There would be six weeks in each month and eight days in each week. The days would be the same length as our own, but separated into eight "hours". The numbers eight and six are signficant in Uhdrea. That's why I picked them. What do you think?