For those in need of something to read

I promised Joe I would do this.
So, for the record, fresh baked cookies a la mode with lemonade chaser?
AWESOME!
Thanks for that amazing homework Mr. Duran.
Now, anyway, to the promised entertainment!
"So, there are these two prawns swimming in the ocean; one named Justin, and one named Christian. They are constantly terrorised by sharks, as sharks tend to terrorize ocean dwellers. Anywho, one day they're swimming around, and Justin turns to Christian and says,"I'm so sick of being terrorised by sharks. They seem to have it so easy. I wish I was a shark."
Right then, a magical cod appears and says, "Your wish is granted! You are now a shark!"
Lo and behold, Justin is transformed into a shark. Of course, Christian is quite naturally terrified, and swims away as fast as he can. So Justin enjoys himself for a while, being the biggest fish in the sea and whatnot (even bigger than the other sharks!) but eventually he grows lonely. All his old friends are scared of him, of course. So one day, he sees the cod again! Glory Be! He can't believe his luck. He goes up to the cod, and he says, "Please, can you turn me back into a prawn? I'm so lonely..." The cod nods! And, lo and Behold! The cod turns him back into a prawn!
Delighted, Justin calls a big party and has cocktails with all his shrimp friends. But he notices something at the party... His friend Christian is missing.
"Where's Christian?" he asks around.
Finally, someone brings up what happened, "He thinks this is all a trick, he's locked up at home!"
Shocked, Justin runs off, finally getting to Christian's house. He knocks furiously on Christian's door, and yelling,"Please, come out and talk, I've changed back!"
and Christian yells out "No! You're a shark! I won't fall for this!"
Justin's reply:
"No! That was the old me! I've changed! I found cod, I'm a prawn again, Christian!" "
instantrimshot.com
So, a man walks up to a woman at a geography convention. He says to her "Hey baby, your latitude is good. Wanna see what happens when it meets my longitude?"
*cricket sounds*
[DISTRICT 9 SPOILER!]
"So, District 9. A government agent, a wacko mercenary, and a prawn walk into a bar... two prawns walk out."

Okay, I'm done.

Doublestar

Often times, in a drama, everything the main character does will be chalk full of significance. Every setting has meaning, every action has a message, every phrase is an expression of something behind it.

I walked outside tonight; I was surprised about how warm it was; I thought I smelt a hint of rain.
I could only see two stars in the sky.

It's been a while...

Hasn't it? Since I posted, I mean.
I find myself at a rather interesting quandary.
I don't want this blog to follow the events of my life, nor do I want to lament my emotional woes, as both are rather standard for a blog, and also rather personal. Also, anything I have an issue with I should be able to deal with, and isn't really that big a deal, big scheme wise.
So, what to blog about?
hmm...
You know that old phrase, "fighting like cats and dogs"?
Who came up with that?
Why do cats and dogs fight?
It's not like they're natural predators, or that they competed for food in the wild. Generally, they had different food sources, didn't they?
So what's with all the natural, vicious "fight-to-the-death" everyone expects when a cat and a dog get anywhere near each other?
I think it really has to do with the similarities between the species' psychologies, actually.
Both tend to be rather territorial, affectionate towards and protective of friends and extremely aggressive towards anyone or anything else. Often they'll get a sense of entitlement, and belonging to a particular person, thing, place (possibly an extension of the 'territorial' and familial instincts). So, I think much of it (in a contemporary setting, not out in the wild) will stem from the natural confrontations between two such animals natural instincts.
Take two pets, one cat and one dog belonging to, say, a brother and sister, respectively. Both, individually, are fond of either sibling though, of course, having a natural tendency to their "owner" (a laughable term, but it gets the point across). Now, bring them into the same situation: The one, say the dog, sees the sister with the cat. Now, several thoughts probably cross the dogs mind:
a ) Unknown figure, is it hostile?
-If the dog has had any run ins with cats before, this will definitely change the outcome.
b ) What is it doing with /my/ person?
etc. It feels something potentially hostile is intruding on it's territory and thus, as protector, the dog needs to eliminate said intruder.
Now the cat, sensing (and probably seeing) the aggressive behavior knows instinctively how to protect itself, and so prepares to fight. This, to the dog, is a sign of previously hostile intentions and, they are now and forever bitter enemies. Until, that is, until they can be taught that the other is /not/ a threat, that they are /not/ being replaced, and that they are /still/ loved more than the "intruder".
At least, that's what I think happened between my sister's dog and my cat.
As a rather humorous side note, the cat now has the dog thoroughly whipped. He (the dog) was nosing around her (the cat's) litter box the other night. I heard the dog's collar, and went to investigate (in case he would mess with said litterbox). I find the cat calmly sitting by the door, humorously eyeing the dog, who was stuck, hiding under the old baby's crib.
>:) Go Ninja.

*I know I said I would try not to post personal stuff. But a ) I'm in a writing drought, and needed to write /something/. b ) it's not me, it's my/my family's pets and c ) I used it merely to extrapolate on a curious behavioral phenomenon occurring in many modern day household animals.

Further on Writers and their muses.

I know it isn't exactly the same as my situation, but I thought this was a good article:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

'Twas a Dark and Stormy Day...

And I sat, in front of my monitor, with the rain drumming on the roof accompanied by the occasional pitter-patter of Ninja walking through the house. My little cousin is over, as I have an emergency babysitting job due to the recent closure of all public education institutions in the district. But, my mother has recently (temporarily) relieved me of the responsibility, occupying the young one with the age old entertainment of cookie baking. And so, I take the chance to remark on a curious phenomenon I have noticed of late: My reinterest with children's movies.
Now, I'm not talking Barney or anything like that. I'm talking Disney movies.
Agreed, not all Disney movies are of the same caliber, but a remarkable number of them, that I knew were good when I saw them as a child, I'm finding I'm only now truly appreciating.
Take, for example, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I knew it was a good movie, which it is, but as a child I was never able to fully appreciate the epic music that fills the film. The Lion King, also, I don't think is fully appreciable by children. It seems to me that most of those good old movies were so good, because they went deeper than mere childhood entertainment. Sure, some of the old stories that they made into movies were made easier for children to watch, and they are obviously outwardly oriented to a younger generation, but they're so much deeper than that. Kids often miss the subtle humour of these movies (here, Aladdin comes to mind), and also don't appreciate the truly awe inspiring sequences they have (Parts of quite a few: the Lion King, Aladdin). Of course, then there are also those other, non Disney movies which rank just as high, but have less fame, and that which they have is often misplaced. Anastasia, for example, is one of my favorite of these old movies; everyone thinks it's Disney, when it isn't. And, thanks to the internet, I've rediscovered several old favorites that I plan on watching as soon as opportunity allows: Quest for Camelot (Which I just bought today!), Thumbelina...
In entertaining my young charge today, I took the opportunity to watch a movie for today's youth: The Clone Wars (he brought it). In that it would entertain him until my mother could return to take some of the load of watching him off me, and that I had been fairly curious to see it, I decided to pop it in...
I didn't get nearly the same feelings of satisfaction watching it than I did from watching those old favorites. It seemed to me that it didn't take time for good story telling, and was relying on it's Franchise fame and special effects, as well as some painfully inaccurate situations for humor, to draw in an audience. It seems to me like a lot of things are like that nowadays... Alas, I weep for our culture, which folds in on itself in an unquenchable search for more and more senseless and empty entertainment, for less and less payment...
Well, on this note, I go to take what pleasure I can while my young charge is still occupied. Not to give you the wrong idea, I love the kid, but he does require quite a bit of attention, which distracts from my own actions a large amount. Well, the proceeds go to my laptop fund! I don't think I'll be able to find a better job for now.

Of Writing, and Consequences Thereof

It is true, I openly admit it. I plead guilty, and have ever bared my breast on this subject, rather than hide my shame to fester in some dark corner of my heart. To my friends, I have already admitted this (though to those I care not for, I have not found it necessary), and since I shall talk here as if to a friend, so shall I admit it to thee, oh wide and infinite internet...rather, to those small few who happen to read this, oh smallest and least significant of blogs. Here, I shall proclaim it, once again, so that I may be tried and sentenced by thee:
I am a writer.


Anticlimax much? Well, there you go. I am one of those who bears that curse, or is it a blessing? Both, I should say, that curse and blessing which strikes whene'r it wants to. In my early days of youth, it was not so much a curse... The world was an open sheaf, in my hand a pen with endless ink, my mind the vast ocean of an inkwell with which to write... But, as I grew, so my mind has narrowed and developed, and one such occasion was in the writer's vein. Now, I find that, although I greatly enjoy the feeling of writing, of bringing to life story (One thing which I praise nearly highest in my life), I find that, although the fire may continually burn, sometimes the door is shut between the heat within and the man without. My muse is a fickle one, as all muses be, and of late I have felt many a time the incredible urge, the burning of mind and hand and heart, to write, to create, to continue what I have already done, what I have planned! But as pen touches paper (or rather, hand touches keyboard... I find myself infinitely more comfortable in this more modern media), no spark lights the torch of my mind, that allows me to see the story as it unfolds, and to record it... In short, and in less dramatic English, I don't know what to write. This also occurs, has occurred and probably will occur, with Blog posts, which is my preemptive excuse for ever going a long while without posting... that or I forgot this was here. The only reason this blog is here, in fact, is that the same person who got me started blogging, was bothering me (by proxy) to blog, as I was unable to IM her in a decent while (Blogging apparently "makes up for that" to which I reply "..."). In fact, this is one reason you shall rarely see me blog anything seriously emotional (other reasons including the fact that almost /every other blogger does that/ (not looking at you, Joe) and also that anything I would have to talk emotionally would have to, by definition, not be viewable by people I know.) But this blog is one excellent way to do some creative writing (not fantasy, etc., but just /writing/... creatively.) [Note, I don't feel like hitting "Ctrl+I" or "Ctrl+B" for italics and bold, so I'll just use "/ /" around things that ought to be italicized, and "* *" around bold print. You'll have to deal] But, even if this is an excellent writing source, and therefore a key outlet to the building fire, I still run into the same problem: that of inspiration. It is a continual problem I deal with: Wanting to write, needing to write, burning to write, but having nothing to write... People I say this to have offered me the advise of "choose a random topic, and write about it". To all those out there as such: I Don't Work Like That! I cannot pull a subject out of thin air and immediately spin a tale or an argument around it. Give me a topic, and I will send you to faerieland and beyond, or wax eloquently about some situation or argument... But ask me not to think of it myself. Unless excellent opportunity presents itself, as of now, my chances of finding a subject are somewhere between those of Sauron volunteering to destroy the ring, and my theatre troupe being spontaneously advanced tot he State competition after we did not advance from the lowest level (admittedly, we /should have/... but what's done is done.) So, my plea to those few readers of mine in my last post was not an idle, nor a jesting one: If you wish me to write (or if you wish me to not lose what semblance of sanity I still hold), give me inspiration! And do not jest: an honest suggestion, I pray you! One such truly meant word, and I shall give you a world!

Also, when I ge tin the writing mood, I tend to get a /bit/ dramatic... the more it builds up, the more so. So, seriously, unless I have anything particular to talk about... Help me out, would ya?

Of Tones, Tiredness, and the Tertiary.

So, yesterday I found this neat little doodad on the #xkcd channel:
http://lab.andre-michelle.com.nyud.net/swf/fl10/ToneMatrix.swf
It's called "Tone Matrix", and it's basically a sixteen by sixteen square grid of tone boxes. Each box provides a single tone for a single instant, based on a continually running "tone starter" that loops the entire square. From top to bottom the tones change from low to high, and left to right is how frequent they occur. It's pretty nifty, you can spell out names to hear what they would sound like, and such (They seem to mostly fit as well), or just random squares all along the grid. It seems to be well made enough that most anything reasonable sounds good; there's a couple ways to make a jarring sound, but nothing major. All around, a pretty cool little gadget.
In my school theatre group, we just finished our OAP (didn't advance for who knows what reason, completely unjust), and we're going to be doing just one more thing before the end of the year:
Our Spring Variety show. Of course, I'll be hosting it (as I have been), but last one there weren't many skits, and most from the same people... so I've been looking around a tad, and I found this skit: It's Who's on First... as if it were written by Shakespeare. Pretty cool, I think me and another guy could pull it off... but to do that, we need to rehearse... to rehearse we need a script... of which, there is none online. So, I had to transcribe the entire nine minute video by hand... that took an hour, and so last night I was exhausted. I wanted to make a post here about it, but I was utterly sick of typing, of looking at a computer screen, and anything that doesn't begin in "sle" and end in "ep!!!" with nothing in the middle. It felt good to crawl in there with Ninja, konked right out...
For the record, the skit can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG1leLrZKHM
These guys are great, hope we can get the skit ready in time.
From what I can tell, the script by itself is naturally funny. The keys of it rely on three things:
1 ) The Audience comprehending the problem, so it's funny
a ) the Issue here is the Shakespearean language. They need to be able to decipher this. A theatre appretiator will be able to readily enough, but I don't know about the average audience member.
2 ) The deadpan of the Abbot character.
b ) Abbot needs to be just as oblivious to the problem as the Costello character, and not the other way around. If he laughs (if I laugh), then it ruins the entire skit, as it makes it look like he's leading the Costello character on.
3 ) The rapid paced dialogue.
c ) This is probably the most critical. This delivers the punchlines quickly, keeps the audience from being bored with an admittedly long skit, and gives motivation as to why the characters don't comprehend the problem: they don't have time to. This is perhaps my greatest concern... we have to know this skit so thoroughly, backwards and forwards, upwards and downwards, longways, sideways, and any other ways you want, to be able to deliver it at maximum effectiveness. We only have a month...
Hmm... any ideas for topics to discuss? I feel more in the mood for topics, rather than life events. All, what, three of my followers? Feel free to make suggestions.
Till then, adieu.

Blog the Second

So, if you are going to be following me (I don't see why), you oughta know a few things about me:
1 ) See my profile... that'll tell you a lot.
2 ) See my first followers (at the moment, one... I honestly don't expect more, but you never know.)
3 ) See the blog (s) I follow (Only one at the moment, again... probably won't change, but might. Joe's a friend of mine)
4 ) I am very proud of my heritage, being heavily filled with Gaelic blood.
5 ) I have something of a both dramatic and theatrical flair. Take this as you will.
6 ) I am Catholic, staunchly so, and intend (Insha'Allah) to become a priest of the same. I take my religion very seriously, but am not too hard-headed to engage in an open-minded, calm religious or moral debate. However, I am convinced by both faith and logic of the rightness of my opinion, but that won't stop me discussing.
7 ) I have a cat. Her name is Ninja, and she lives up to it. She is amazing (I know every pet owner says that about their pets, but how many of their can do a triple backflip out of your arms when they want down?)
8 ) I assume you'll learn more about me when/if you follow this blog.
9 ) I shall no longer title my blogs "Blog the #". That was fine for the first couple, but the Future was Then.

Blog the First

So...This is a blog. I was advised, heavily, to start one as an 'outlet'...
Like I need an outlet... Why would I use an outlet, anyway?
Thanks, oh protege mine.
*sigh*
Well... In case you haven't noticed, I use a lot of ellipses... It's the way I talk, it's the way I type.
So, subject of the day: Internet Addiction.
Fact: You're reading this random blog of a nobody blogger who was forced into blogging.
Conclusion: You have Internet addiction.
Internet addiction is characterized by excessive internet use, rapid and enormous mood swings when seperated from the internet for any reasonable length of time, knowing what "memes" and "4chan" are, reading more than five webcomics/subscribing to more than five blogs/having a "live bookmark" to anything, as well as possible shakes when being forced through withdrawal.
And now, I've probably alienated any readers I would ever have, as well as confusing anyone reading from the future (one reason I was told to start this blog... right...)
Who says the internet will be around in the future, anyway? Might it not easily be replaced by something, which in turn is replaced, so on and so forth? How far in the future anyway? Maybe this'll end up in a museum... I can see it now:
"This rather obscure shard of the ancient "Internet" of the late 20th and early 21st century, is theorized to have only survived the great Internet Inquisition for it's relatively obscure location, harmless content, and infrequent updates. It is nothing more than a, and here I quote the first *ahem* "post" of the "blogger" who went by the, erm, "Username" of "Highlander", it is nothing more than " random blog of a nobody blogger who was forced into blogging." Curiously enough this "blogger" in the slang of the time, nothing but someone who posts a personal journal for all to see, foretold this vary event. In fact, it was his first post from which I got this speech talking about his first post..." Wow, meta prophesy...
Yeah, I'm entirely sane, why do you ask?
Anywho, that's me, that's my first post (like anyone cares... not to sound emo, but honestly, who will?) And at that, I bid thee all a fond goodnight!