tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54153704280579693142024-03-14T00:12:55.359-07:00I'm in Love with the Universearielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-17959072874485698102022-03-21T07:48:00.006-07:002022-03-21T07:50:52.654-07:00Hello AgainThis last week, I've gotten dozens of spam comments on various posts on this blog. I haven't posted since 2015, so I don't know what's up with that sudden change. But I decided to come check it out.<div><br /></div><div>It feels weird lol<br /><div><br /></div><div>Typically I write blog posts on my own website (www.arielesieling.com) but coming back here affords me a great deal of nostalgia. In addition, I noticed that there's something super appealing about the simplicity of "just a blog." Here, I don't have to think about ecommerce and CPC and CPM advertising, there's no SEO or making sure my content will feed the algorithm. I don't have to delve into analytics or consider the business decisions involved in whether or not I should post something or the frequency with which I write. I could, but I don't have to.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's just a blog. </div><div><br /></div><div>If people read it, they read it; if they don't, they don't.</div><div><br /></div><div>And given that the last time I posted here was 2015, I think "frequency of posting" can be thrown out the window entirely.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're reading this, and haven't followed me from Blogspot to all of the other places I exist in the digital realm, a lot has changed since 2015. I have 30 books published. I'm a full time author. I have moved several times. I'm married. I have a large dog.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Time keeps on slipping into the future I guess</div><div><br /></div><div>I hope you made it through 2020 and 2021 unscathed. Happy today.</div><div><br /></div><div>And come check out arielesieling.com/blog if you want.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmHij5sn-T5RlWxgZX-WFNivKfCn69T1enuQ4c7yUlHrlm-gllJmWsFOUKNiOogo2XyLoz5VZADlBYjWYeItu7hQ0WRq0XdcdLJsHkmPEnk-woZ2IseX2SANdulyintZlOgy_Oh3iYFAFWTJcPhYCxHSWAM8OuQxu6_0bdNZEhjn-i8CRYZc5ErmU7=s3088" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmHij5sn-T5RlWxgZX-WFNivKfCn69T1enuQ4c7yUlHrlm-gllJmWsFOUKNiOogo2XyLoz5VZADlBYjWYeItu7hQ0WRq0XdcdLJsHkmPEnk-woZ2IseX2SANdulyintZlOgy_Oh3iYFAFWTJcPhYCxHSWAM8OuQxu6_0bdNZEhjn-i8CRYZc5ErmU7=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-31626708390190765652015-06-15T11:12:00.003-07:002015-06-15T11:13:16.464-07:00We've Moved!Are you looking for new blog posts by Ariele? Check out her new website, <a href="http://www.arielesieling.com/">www.arielesieling.com</a> for the same old and brand new blog posts, books, and stories. <script type="text/javascript">
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-19119494225738288872013-09-03T09:32:00.000-07:002014-07-09T09:36:11.759-07:00An Offer From A Publishing Company<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: right;">
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<a href="http://www.arielesieling.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ClockWinked-cover1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="ClockWinked-cover1" border="0" src="http://www.arielesieling.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ClockWinked-cover1.png" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Today I received a voice message from a very nice-sounding lady. She said,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><i>"Hello, Ariele. This is Melissa calling from Book Whirl Publishing. I would like to talk to you about your book, The Clock Winked. You can call me at 877-207-1679, extension 323."</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Naturally, I was very curious, and, having grown up in the generation of the unlikely-sounding email forward, I was very suspicious. Let me give you a run down:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">They help publish.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">They help market.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">They create cover art.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">They do interior book design.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">They do ebook and hardcopy distribution.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Etc.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">It all sounds great, right?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Their best package is $699.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Now perhaps I'm mistaken, but $699 is a lot of money. Of course, that's not to say it's not worth it. Let's see what you can get for $699:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
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<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Paperback Design</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Ebook Design and Distribution</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">A Variety of Trim Sizes</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Full bleed, full colour</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">25 images</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">25 pages</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Electronic and Paper Galleys (proofs)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">3 free paperback copies (minus shipping and handling)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Now, for anyone interested in self-publishing, let me tally up what all of that costs if you do it on your own:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Paperback design - you can get a Word Template for free. MS Word 2013 costs approximately $100.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Ebook Design - you can download Calibre for free, and use a WebPage format in MS Word.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Ebook distribution - costs a few cents per copy through Amazon or any other distribution service. One book costs me about $1.00 (35%), but only if I sell a book.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">If I go through CreateSpace (or other online printers), I can have a variety of trim sizes.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">A 25 page book through CreateSpace would cost me about $1.00 to produce (plus shipping).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">I can have as many images as I want in CreateSpace, although colour printing costs a few cents more per page.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Proofs for a 25 page book would cost $1, maybe $2.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">3 copies would cost the same as the proofs</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;">Even if I bought MS Word twice - one program to use for the ebook, and one to use for the interior design - I would still be spending less than $250. To buy fifty copies of my book would cost an additional $200 - still less than $699. For $699 they don't offer copy editing, they don't offer cover design, and they don't offer marketing services - the three things which authors find most difficult.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">To get these services, you need to purchase one of their other packages: The Challenger, at $1,299, or, to get copy editing - but only up to 40,000 words, The Visionary for $4,899.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I could hire a professional copy editor to do more than my full novel, and then order some books and maybe a college student to help me set up a website for that kind of money.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I understand the allure of publishing, and I understand fear of the unknown, and I understand the pain of having to learn to do it yourself. But don't let these guys lure you in. I think a company like this could be really useful to do-it-yourself self publishers like me, but only if they alter their model to actually be what we're looking for: reasonably priced, focused on the hard stuff (like cover design and marketing), and flexible enough to meet the demands of the changing publishing industry. But for now, I strongly feel that you or I can do better, either with a big publishing house or on your own. Don't fear the unknown, and don't be afraid to learn.</span></span></div>
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</script>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-3809422840327194572013-07-17T09:37:00.002-07:002014-07-09T09:16:01.118-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: Brendan Cahoon<div>
The Art of Telling Stories is a series of posts designed to take a deeper look at what it means to tell a story. Writers tell stories constantly, but many other people in many other vocations tell their stories as well, in other, often more subtle, ways. Today's guest is Brendan Cahoon, a Production Assistant at the television station <a href="http://www.wmur.com/" target="_blank">WMUR</a> in Manchester, NH. He is also an Emmy-nominated editor for the news-magazine style show <i><a href="http://www.wmur.com/new-hampshire-chronicle" target="_blank">New Hampshire Chronicle</a></i>.</div>
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<i>Thanks for taking the time to interview, Brendan! Tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do.</i><script type="text/javascript">
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Allow me to go back a bit and briefly explain my background. I've been involved in the technical side of entertainment for 30 years, I was just 15 when I worked my first professional job at an outdoor summer theater. I got a 2 year degree in Broadcasting, but ended up working for a laser show company right out of school. In 1989, I headed south and worked at Epcot at Walt Disney World, working on the nighttime effects show, IllumiNations. I was there for 8 years, then moved up the street to work at Sea World as their only laser technician. By 2003, I had finally grown tired of Florida and headed back home to NH where I was eventually hired at WMUR, the ABC affiliate television station in Manchester. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAoY61W25pvkl4j53UrPpR955sGlmRwJr2h86k757bRgDKz-Z-3l1PkQbGhDGcSzIRF12lUJoBcmQlPRaV6RkJM-awK4Ml7v8lKBtXHf_EmkVKBTDDn3S5un89iogoOtCc4zRuqVGaps/s1600/Avid_editing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAoY61W25pvkl4j53UrPpR955sGlmRwJr2h86k757bRgDKz-Z-3l1PkQbGhDGcSzIRF12lUJoBcmQlPRaV6RkJM-awK4Ml7v8lKBtXHf_EmkVKBTDDn3S5un89iogoOtCc4zRuqVGaps/s320/Avid_editing.gif" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Editing system similar to the one Brendan uses.</td></tr>
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My official job title is Production Assistant, but I am considered a "utility tech." This means I can do numerous jobs around the station including audio, camera, set design and construction, lighting, etc. One of the things I've found I seem to have a talent for is editing for the news-magazine style show New Hampshire Chronicle. I have been doing this for about 6 years now and am somewhat proud to say I was nominated for a regional Emmy for my work a few years ago.</div>
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<i>Would you consider yourself to be a storyteller? Why or why not?</i></div>
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In his book <i>How to Tell a Story</i>, Mark Twain writes "I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told." As an editor I sometimes think of myself as a storyteller by proxy. The process by which a story segment, or package as we call it, is finished, is a little different than what other stations do. A producer researches an idea, then takes a videographer and goes out and shoots the story. Once that's finished, The producer goes over the footage and writes a script, then hands off the footage and the script to the editor. </div>
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Here's where I come in. </div>
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As an editor on Chronicle, I often will get a script that's nothing more than dialog. Simply the interviews and the voice-overs that comprise the package. My job is now to take that audio, combine it with the visuals in a way that makes sense and makes it interesting, add music and turn it into something that looks effortless. </div>
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To me, this is my version of being a storyteller. When I edit a package I take ownership. Even though someone else wrote it, and someone else shot it, I take on the responsibility for bringing that story to life, for creating the feelings it makes and the emotions it brings forth. Often times this means moving parts around or even deleting some things that don't work. The executive producer on the show gives her editors a lot of leeway in that regard since the segment producers often aren't available during editing.</div>
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<i>How would you define storytelling?</i></div>
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Director <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_stanton_the_clues_to_a_great_story.html" target="_blank">Andrew Stanton</a> (Toy Story, Wall-E) said, "Make me care. Emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically, just make me care." He goes on to say that a good story will make the audience think... though not too much. Give them 2+2, but not 4. Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor for the New Yorker, receives 1000 submissions a month, but as he says, the ones that make it into the magazine are the ones that make you think.</div>
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A few years ago I got to do some judging for the regional Emmys. I watched about half a dozen entries from the west coast and was, frankly, unimpressed with how some of the packages were done. But, the one I ended up rating the highest was a simple piece about school nurses. That was the one that I connected with the most emotionally. It kept my attention. It made me care.</div>
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<i>How do you think the many pieces involved in television - such as types of camera, camera angles, lighting, audio, etc. - play a role in the way a story is told?</i></div>
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Obviously all those things have a part in the process of making TV, but one of my core beliefs is that all the technology that's available, those are only tools. They are only "things" which we use to tell a story. I had a professor in college who said that if you're watching a film or TV and at any time the viewer thinks "that was an interesting way they used that shot", then you have failed. You have allowed the viewer to step out of the story and notice something that wasn't important. I once worked on a student film where part of the plot took place in a sewer. Rather than shoot in a sewer... we built one. One of the things I remember about that set was the amount of detail the art department put in to it. The color of the walls, the amount of extra trash strewn around, and even a forced perspective set piece to make the set look longer than it really was. All of this was done so that the viewer wouldn't see it and think "set". It kept the viewer in the story.</div>
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Now that said, each tool can be used in ways to elicit a response as well. Using blue lighting will make a scene feel cold. Low camera angles are used to make someone look imposing. Music is the ultimate method of perpetuating emotion. Just about every movie trailer is meant to play to your emotions. Listen to the score from Star Wars and you can practically see every scene in your head. But again, these tools should only be used to advance a story and not be obvious.</div>
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<i>Talk a little bit about the role of storytelling in editing. What is an editor's most important role in telling the story?</i></div>
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The word that comes to mind here is pacing. Each story has a different pace to it. If the package is about race cars, the shots are quick, and the story moves along fairly fast. If the piece is about an artist, then your pace will be slower, you linger on the shots longer to the viewer gets more information. For the type of editing I do, recognizing the differences is key. A story can feel "off" if the pacing isn't right.</div>
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Another big aspect as well is something I've already mentioned, music. As the editor, I'm responsible for choosing the music used in a package. This is a pretty big deal since the music has to match the pacing as well as the emotions that the producer wants. I have a pretty eclectic musical background, so I can usually choose music that suits a piece pretty well. I will also use several different pieces of music during a package to keep it sounding interesting and less repetitive, this moves a story and the pacing along as well.</div>
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<i>What is your favorite project that you've worked on? Why?</i></div>
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As I mentioned previously, I was nominated a few years ago for a regional Emmy. The<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3u-AHMuobM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"> piece I was nominated for</a> was about autistic kids learning surf and to be honest it was a rush job. I got handed the script on a Friday and the package aired on Monday. Besides the script, the only direction I got from the producer was "inspirational". I chose the music and started editing on Saturday and finished the piece Sunday night. It shows that even under a harsh deadline you still have to apply all the tricks of the trade to make a good story. While I admire the work I did, it's not one of my favorite pieces.</div>
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About 5 years ago I gave a story suggestion to Chronicle about a summer program at the University of New Hampshire that brings masters of violin repair and construction to the campus for a series of workshops. As it happened this piece was shot just before the show went on a summer break, so I found myself with 3 weeks to edit the story. I changed things around, spent one week alone just looking for music - a three-part violin concerto, added graphics, color corrected every shot, and tweaked every shot to within frames of where I thought it should be. The result ended up being a piece that may not have been exactly true to the original script, but... it was how I thought the story ought to be told. Because of the effort and energy that went into that package, it's still one of my favorites.</div>
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<i>Is there anything else you would like to share?</i></div>
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The phenomenal storyteller Geoffrey Lewis wrote:</div>
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"Not long ago, I was down in Marrakesh in North Africa. Every night I used to go out in the marketplace there. They had snake charmers and acrobats and magicians and dancers... all kinds of people entertaining. But the people who gathered the largest crowds were the storytellers. Some of them would come out of the desert in a loincloth, just talk for two hours, then disappear. I would sit and listen to them for hours. I was enthralled by what they were doing. Pretty soon, I began to pick up pictures of what they were saying, although I couldn't understand the words. And that's what we do... we tell stories."</div>
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Geoffrey is the narrator for a spoken word/musical group called<a href="http://celestialnavigations.com/" target="_blank"> Celestial Navigations </a>and through listening to his work, I think I would like to be able to stand on a stage and tell stories someday. Right now though, I'm satisfied staying behind the scenes. As <a href="http://zenpencils.com/comic/50-neil-gaiman-make-good-art/" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman once said</a> in a commencement speech "Do what only you can do... make good art!"</div>
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<i>Thank you, Brendan, for taking the time to provide such an intriguing and fascinating look into the world of storytelling! </i></div>
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<i>You can check out Brendan's Emmy-nominated piece, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3u-AHMuobM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Surfing Through Autism </a>on Youtube. Also, look at <a href="http://zenpencils.com/comic/50-neil-gaiman-make-good-art/" target="_blank">a cartoon of Neil Gaiman's commencement speech quote</a> on making good art, and you can find <a href="http://celestialnavigations.com/" target="_blank">Celestial Navigations here</a>. Finally, if you're interested in storytelling, watch <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_stanton_the_clues_to_a_great_story.html" target="_blank">Andrew Stanton's TED Talk</a>!</i></div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-36475454785123156382013-06-24T07:56:00.001-07:002013-06-24T08:00:47.285-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: Ryan Holmes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Art of Telling Stories is a series of posts designed to take a deeper look at what it means to tell a story. Writers tell stories constantly, but many other people in many other vocations tell their stories as well, but in other, often more subtle, ways. Today's guest is Ryan Holmes, the bass player for the Connecticut-based band <a href="http://www.echoanddrake.com/" target="_blank">Echo and Drake</a>. You can check out their music and upcoming events at their <a href="http://www.echoanddrake.com/" target="_blank">website</a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/echoanddrake" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, or <a href="http://www.echoanddrake.com/music/" target="_blank">click here to download some free songs</a>!<br />
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<i>Tell us a little bit about you and what it is you do.</i></div>
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I'm Ryan, a lifelong student of music and songwriting, but more specifically, the electric bass guitar. I write and perform music like its my job (ha!) and primarily with my band 'Echo & Drake'.</div>
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<i>How would you define a storyteller?</i></div>
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This is such a broad concept, but to me a storyteller is someone who works within their chosen art form to get their message across. Their message could involve simply conveying some facts, or persuading a room full of thousands of people. That could mean using their spoken language, music, paintings, writings, or a delicious combination of any possibility. Its hard to define because a storyteller can mean so many things!</div>
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<i>Do you consider yourself a storyteller? Why or why not?</i></div>
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I consider myself a storyteller before the music. I've always been told I have a knack for telling a great story and tying all the ropes together before I ultimately drop the punchline. I've taken pride in it! Some have said "Cut to the chase!", but I've always maintained that I'm simply building an environment for the listener to revel in for a while.</div>
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<i>As a musician, what are the different elements you might use to tell a story? How do those elements work together?</i></div>
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As a musician, I feel like my whole existence is a story. Being in music, like any other walk of life, your message will begin to become a wash if you're perceived as someone who doesn't truly live inside that world you've created. You have to prove yourself to any prospective listener before they even consider your music and your lyrics. As humans we can become unsure about our actions before we even commit to them. An audience member at a comedy club may stifle his own laughter at a particularly outlandish joke for fear that the gentleman down the row will give him a dirty look. A group of concert goers may decide not to dance to the opening act (even though they may want to) because they're not endorsed by the whole crowd yet. A person will jump to read the newest novel by a known NY Times Bestseller, but a newly published upcoming author might go under-noticed for a while as they build this trust with their "audience". Sitting among friends at a restaurant you may subconsciously begin tuning out a particular person who has a track record of droning on about things you have no interest in. To me, its because that person has built no credibility with you as a storyteller. As a musician you don't need to be a master of your chosen instrument or a master of your spoken language, you simply have to prove that the notes you play and the words you've chosen have meaning. You have to deliver them with conviction. </div>
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<i>How do you approach the thought process of writing a song? What is it about that process that really appeals to you?</i></div>
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Songwriting has become one of my greatest passions. After really delving into it I've discovered that its something that makes me truly happy. With that said, there are about a million ways to approach songwriting - and my best piece of insight would be to not approach it at all. By that I mean the best ideas aren't forced; they tend to come to you. Sometimes it can be a melody that seems to appear in your thoughts, or a great phrase you think up at random in a passing conversation. Usually the idea starts with something small, and then you're able to sit down with this idea behind a piano, or holding a guitar and begin developing. "Maybe the bass line could start on the 5th of the chord played on the guitar... Nope, that doesn't sound great, maybe that line would sound great an octave higher." In other words, I think really great ideas appear from some sort of higher musical power within you and only then can you take that idea to the workshop and start your adjustments, your layering, your additions, etc. They tell any new songwriter to "write everyday." Some go as far as to say "You should write an entire song every day." I don't think it has to mean that per se, but I think working at it as consistently as possible is the best course of action. As I said, its nearly impossible to force a good idea, but if you force yourself to sit down and be continually thinking musically (making sure to notate and/or record ideas you may have for future reference) those ideas could resurface and be great supplements to your spur-of-the-moment breakthroughs.</div>
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<i>Imagine you're playing/writing a song without words. How do you make that song tell a story? How do you make it resonate with your audience?</i></div>
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"Dynamics! Dynamics!" But seriously, music stems from the human vocal chords. So, like it or not, to really move the listener, that has to be considered at all times. While performing instrumental works, often times it helps to consider how those lines would be sung, how the voice would portray them. This could come in any form of variation in dynamics, accents, lack of accents, note attacks, note endings, anything. I think one of the reasons so many are up in arms about the current state of popular music is due to its lack of originality. People go to see live a live show to be wowed by a performance that wouldn't otherwise have been heard on a recording. This has to be realized before you're able to open yourself up to the possibility of an actual moving performance.</div>
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<i>What is your favourite part of being a musician? Why? </i></div>
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The best part of being a musician is developing that trust I mentioned with listeners. Of course, there's a lot of personal validation in being able to perform at a high level - but none of it really would matter if there were no others to share it with. Being able to carefully articulate your message, deliver it with intent, and see it resonating with another person is the absolute best feeling.</div>
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<i>If you had to pick a favourite instrument (besides the bass!) to listen to, what would it be and why? </i></div>
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At the risk of sounding unoriginal - the piano. "All music comes from the Piano" - this idea isn't off base. The instrument is so equipped to aid the musician in telling their story, so to speak. It can sound so dark and dreary on one hand and so light and relaxed on the other (quite literally!). Its such an inherently dynamic instrument (as all instruments are, of course!) But in general, I find it pleasing to listen to just about any instrument that is performed well and with meaning. If you can pull great sounds out of a crinkled up piece of paper and a broken rubber band - then let's hear it!</div>
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<i>How do you approach the concept of telling a story as a team (as in, you have to work with the other members of your band to all tell the same story at the same time, but in different ways)?</i> </div>
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Musically, the entire process is close teamwork. You need to be a great listener in order to effectively fit your piece into the puzzle. You have to consider your relationship with other voices, your relationship with space, and how it all relates to one another. In terms of lyric, I find it more difficult to piece together a story as a group. Particularly with songwriting, being that it can be difficult sometimes to convey your own deepest inner thoughts - it can be increasingly harder to tap into another individual's. </div>
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<i>Is there anything else you would like to share?</i> </div>
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"I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit." Just sayin'.</div>
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<i>Don't forget to check Ryan out on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RyanHolmesBassist" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and on his<a href="http://www.echoanddrake.com/blog/" target="_blank"> Echo and Drake</a> website. In addition, stay tuned for some music by Ryan under a different name (TBD)!</i></div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-14709388425649673822013-06-11T17:21:00.001-07:002013-06-11T17:32:03.820-07:00Orange Fur: Life Lessons from Goblin, part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If a window opens, check out what's on the other side.</div>
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Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. </div>
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Don't look away. And don't blink.</div>
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Good luck.</div>
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Get it before it gets you.</div>
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Once you've captured the feather, don't let go.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3YLKj_vrvrN72UDzTL6pa8XfogIp5xVnUtAOffmBVOUGNr1-YhWy21fKN53NPcAIKhwq1ZUTjVYKJcCg8llJGG-vIOdUuIHAa0lOtBEJGqQxQAwa7_Abyz96Z0Cs8kglNwCZGrg3So/s1600/P1020934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3YLKj_vrvrN72UDzTL6pa8XfogIp5xVnUtAOffmBVOUGNr1-YhWy21fKN53NPcAIKhwq1ZUTjVYKJcCg8llJGG-vIOdUuIHAa0lOtBEJGqQxQAwa7_Abyz96Z0Cs8kglNwCZGrg3So/s400/P1020934.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Always keep your head up. It shows off your fabulous neck.</div>
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If the TARDIS lands in your yard, run. </div>
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(Towards it, preferably).</div>
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</script>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-16402995461427547682013-06-09T16:08:00.000-07:002013-06-09T16:34:01.666-07:00Casual GallifreyanGallifreyan "language" (more of a code for us Earthicans) can be a bit of a challenge, especially to design the more beautiful words, sentences, phrases, and paragraphs we see wandering around the internet. These are lovely, but also difficult to do, especially when working by hand. Take this one for example. It's my name:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCUQmK9oy0KvgOsNaB9_rKJMgnz-diMeh8rFcZ8kjPpX2syqPKKK_IjEDmUO5bNA0lgNBq8YqubFwyjcA-37s35Q4_BvJDbKVtlTDrjYla2hmDYBT6jxk99Ono7mLBuv7d9eBGBu6YU0/s1600/P1020883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCUQmK9oy0KvgOsNaB9_rKJMgnz-diMeh8rFcZ8kjPpX2syqPKKK_IjEDmUO5bNA0lgNBq8YqubFwyjcA-37s35Q4_BvJDbKVtlTDrjYla2hmDYBT6jxk99Ono7mLBuv7d9eBGBu6YU0/s400/P1020883.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It took me about twenty minutes to get a good circle, put in the right letters, and erase the extra lines. It's my name. I know how to write my name, so very little of the time is spent thinking - it's spent making it look pretty. It's a bit like learning cursive in second grade, or learning calligraphy as an adult.</div>
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So it seems like the Time Lords must have had some type of shorthand, right? A short hand which allowed them to scribble notes to each other without spending hours desperately sand-blasting their message into the floor of some great hall. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3VvZov-IOvyFjBGB4duCNIvN6YKuDCloXe4KQhS3Nk56FcGM2h5CyehZZpdQXO6fitb-wF3j2Z1gPWd3DLkxmtmAFLxsx8_xytq-OQJmgwDtTmliHL_cfqzO_yUt0Umg1wNJF1V8Ok8/s1600/gallifreyan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3VvZov-IOvyFjBGB4duCNIvN6YKuDCloXe4KQhS3Nk56FcGM2h5CyehZZpdQXO6fitb-wF3j2Z1gPWd3DLkxmtmAFLxsx8_xytq-OQJmgwDtTmliHL_cfqzO_yUt0Umg1wNJF1V8Ok8/s400/gallifreyan.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See image <a href="http://thoruf72.deviantart.com/art/Gallifreyan-009a-WIP-Teapot-Lines-1-3-adjust-325577161" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
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Suppose some Time Lord had to desperately get the above message (I'm a little teapot, short and stout; here is my handle, here is my spout, etc., etc.) to another Time Lord and couldn't go back in time to cross her own timeline... Time Lord problems. You know.</div>
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So anyway, casual Gallifreyan - that's where I'm going with this. I started experimenting with a handwriting version of this, and while not as pretty, it's a heck of a lot easier. Unless Time Lords were born with the innate and unbelievable ability to draw perfect circles every time, then scribbly handwriting would probably be written in ovals. On the left are the three words in my name (Ariele Joy Sieling). On the right are the same characters written in ovals.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wB5rMHkiApsBRwlIHSNNC_-pRIjdrnQQiUxlDbZo2wBMo8KXwSclO-w0j6R9E2xRzSdgYXt_QtFZCm4GWPVWJwi-p_Pfd1rfvH8wMrrkyVuWS683LHgbhZ_dhey8kFkkIb4zKo9YPh4/s1600/name1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wB5rMHkiApsBRwlIHSNNC_-pRIjdrnQQiUxlDbZo2wBMo8KXwSclO-w0j6R9E2xRzSdgYXt_QtFZCm4GWPVWJwi-p_Pfd1rfvH8wMrrkyVuWS683LHgbhZ_dhey8kFkkIb4zKo9YPh4/s400/name1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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And no I didn't just take a picture of the page from a weird angle.<br />
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But then I began to consider the elements that might make one Time Lord's handwriting different from another's. The little dots, for example - some might just do them as dots, others might have the size change, and they can be placed differently as well - mine tend to be in the middle of the letter, but they could be on either edge. It's just like some people cross their t's low or high, some people dot their i's with circles or hearts, and some write in tiny or big letters.</div>
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Here is my name written in four slightly different styles. I'm the only one making the words, so the strokes all look the same, but the dots, tidiness, lines, and shapes are slightly different. With other people writing similar words, it would look completely different: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNCcFDiLJwHonjzGLBdA-ujxwdoHMVS3pV_a5zPT0rGpWNEbIoqdN1LwfbBMGvA20ZVzd-rVOgLH3UmxtaJKMBb1sYtoH4v9E636GpvuSjXbRE_MgtoWJO8pEyP1OhIxsd2x2C4iMrZg/s1600/name2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNCcFDiLJwHonjzGLBdA-ujxwdoHMVS3pV_a5zPT0rGpWNEbIoqdN1LwfbBMGvA20ZVzd-rVOgLH3UmxtaJKMBb1sYtoH4v9E636GpvuSjXbRE_MgtoWJO8pEyP1OhIxsd2x2C4iMrZg/s320/name2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I intend to keep experimenting with writing quickly, because I think that is really how handwriting is formulated - practice! Here is vaguely what I think my Gallifreyan signature should look like - a 3/4 moon having a seizure: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITRdOjtnp5ExxH3IsQQtHYg8ms6UMWCXztrE6zVyUSFnV2Kv5wBkpQB48GHi2n0RvThn3uHLPT8k4oMB9hRxM_jHB56ZMA67OdcVE4fdjRmTbWnYA3PVoRn1tPXeifCQG7IoOhOgN8tw/s1600/P1020895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITRdOjtnp5ExxH3IsQQtHYg8ms6UMWCXztrE6zVyUSFnV2Kv5wBkpQB48GHi2n0RvThn3uHLPT8k4oMB9hRxM_jHB56ZMA67OdcVE4fdjRmTbWnYA3PVoRn1tPXeifCQG7IoOhOgN8tw/s320/P1020895.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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For more practice, I wrote "Doctor" repeatedly: </div>
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And of course, as any good Doctor Who fan would do, I tried to invent a signature for the Doctor using the word "Doctor," since we're not allowed to know what his real name is. Of course it should be as messy as a medical doctor's:</div>
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I would really like some nerd at the BBC to teach each of the doctors how to write "doctor" in Gallifreyan - then we could see how his handwriting changes, in addition to his face, outfits, and tardis!</div>
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Anyway, I intend to keep working on this - practicing my writing, getting faster and better at full sentences (not just words), and figuring out what shortcuts make it easier to write but not confuse the meaning. Stay tuned.</div>
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And <a href="http://www.arielesieling.com/" target="_blank">send me</a> any of your scribblings and I'll include them in my next post!<br />
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-8541408797991835722013-06-04T18:17:00.000-07:002013-06-04T18:21:21.258-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: Aurora GordonThe Art of Telling Stories is a series of posts designed to take a deeper look at what it means to tell a story. Writers tell stories constantly, but many other people in many other vocations tell their stories as well, but in other, often more subtle, ways.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi8JQBgGVbjrWxqKF3bSfxWReHFOqTdHRwsshWLZT7eCsE-QiUGcZvd2EqVmF6PtWq1b8RBhMuBhSkzOS6JbNo5LfwkYLhzeCaj8SS7CNS5X6Ju2HXqf89JUOQI3Kr9aBAtmkdW53C1s/s1600/rory2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi8JQBgGVbjrWxqKF3bSfxWReHFOqTdHRwsshWLZT7eCsE-QiUGcZvd2EqVmF6PtWq1b8RBhMuBhSkzOS6JbNo5LfwkYLhzeCaj8SS7CNS5X6Ju2HXqf89JUOQI3Kr9aBAtmkdW53C1s/s320/rory2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Today's guest is Aurora Gordon, a dailies colorist for television, a video producer, and a brilliant artist. You can check out her newest trailer about the Daily Ocean as well as several of her other projects <a href="http://rorygordon.tumblr.com/post/51752048260/the-daily-ocean" target="_blank">on her website</a> or on <a href="http://vimeo.com/65446626" target="_blank">Vimeo</a>. In addition, the image to the right is one in a series of nine that will be available to benefit the Red Cross of Oklahoma with the recent tornado damage.<br />
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<i>Aurora, tell us a little bit about yourself.</i><br />
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I'm a dailies colorist for television - and that means I'm the one applying a look to the footage<br />
immediately after it was shot (so I work the graveyard shift, yikes!). We do this so that the footage will look as close to the final intention as possible for the rough cuts before the footage goes to a final color session for polishing, and eventually broadcasting on TV. In ideal situations I talk to the DP beforehand, and we discuss what sort of look he's going for. Then it's up to me to come up with the right "cocktail" of dial pushes to recreate that everyday. I go through all the footage and make sure if more than one camera is used that both cameras have the same color balance. So, if B Camera looks too blue compared to A Camera, I'll either add yellow to B Camera, or add blue to A Camera.<br />
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What that means in reality: I stare at monitors overnight and turn knobs and roll track balls!<br />
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In my daytime I'm a video producer and lately I've been working on <a href="http://rorygordon.tumblr.com/post/51752048260/the-daily-ocean" target="_blank">a documentary</a> about a woman who goes to clean up the beach 20 minutes at a time. I work mostly on personal documentary style projects but I've been known to take a commission or two. Especially if it means working with an awesome small business.<br />
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<i>How would you define storytelling?</i><br />
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Wow, storytelling defined! I'd say good storytelling is forgetting about your ego and relaying events in a generous, affordable, relatable way. Being a liaison to the world - even if it's a small story.<br />
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<i>Would you consider yourself a storyteller? Why?</i><br />
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Definitely. I used to get asked a lot, are you ever going to specialize and focus on just videos, or just color? And I think it's a lot of the same skill set. To me it's almost the same job. As a storyteller you have to get this idea in your head out to an audience - and as a colorist I have to get the idea in the DP's head out to the audience. But, there's still a lot of room for my interpretation. For example if someone says to me "Make this scene warm!" my first image is a slightly yellowed cozy kitchen, probably with something being baked for hungry guests in the oven. So I'll then grade the scene with my interpretation of warm - gold familiarity. But another colorist might grade it like a warm body on a beach - almost red. I live in a land of subtlety and perhaps it's hard for a lot of people to understand nonverbal storytelling as the same as Storytelling with a capital S - but that's what I like to think I do best: subtly transfer feelings.<br />
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<i>How do you decide what images tell the story and what ones don't?</i><br />
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When I'm cutting a documentary project, I'm just ruthless. I ask myself: what's the most important image here, and what am I really trying to say? Does this other image inform and support that? No? On the cutting room floor it goes then. Another good question to ask is: Would an alien get this image? Hopefully it's powerful enough some creature from Mars would even understand.<br />
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<i>What impact does colour have on the story being told?</i><br />
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Ah - this is a good question. Like I said before, it's a nonverbal art form. I think really great color can take a cold, steely scene from a movie like Skyfall, and make a lonely spy trapped in solitary confinement relatable to everybody's life. What's actually on screen might be a creepy dude with a bad attitude and a bionic jaw, but everybody has a time in their life that was blue and steely and lonely. Sometimes it's easier to say with a look than words.<br />
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<i>Do you think you could tell a story with just colour? How?</i><br />
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I think there are color arcs like there are story arcs. I don't know if I could just pop colors on screen and say something a viewer could understand though. I do think oftentimes the color really confirms what you're seeing. For example, oftentimes movies will end warmer than they started. If it's a happy ending, it probably looks a little rosy too. A filmmaker can dial in a look that says, "You might not feel this way, but here's how I want you to feel." I think a stylized look can be a really honest tip of the hat to the fact the story is of course coming from a biased and subjective point of view. For example, Wes Anderson always uses his yellowed, aged, signature look and I think that's a nice way to subtly say to the audience, "This is my fading memory and it may or may not be what's really occurring in the world."<br />
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But I also think there can be stories told with color in homes. I'm fascinated with the way people choose to decorate and paint walls. I think there's a reason some people have dark walls and some people have light walls.<br />
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<i>What is your favourite part of the work you do and why?</i><br />
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My favorite part is probably the moment before I dial it in. (Do people know what that means? We say a scene is "dialed in" when we've got the knobs literally dialed in to the right position. It's another way to say "nailed it.")<br />
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When I'm working on a challenging scene I might go back and forth with 10 different versions that are all minor, minor changes, but from version 1 all the way to version 10 is cumulatively a big change. I like the challenging scenes because oftentimes the moment before it's dialed in is the moment I try something new and discover a new way to combine shadow, midtone, and highlight color values.<br />
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<i>What is your favourite colour?</i><br />
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Green! Our eyes are most sensitive to around 550 nm, which is about green. So I like green because it illuminates most things for humans.<br />
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Also, when my husband James first met me he insisted I have green eyes, even though my driver's license and everybody else in my life says I have blue eyes. He sees me green instead and it makes me laugh.<br />
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<i>Is there anything else you would like me to share?</i><br />
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Eat your vegetables! Play with animals! Don't buy things that sell you another version of yourself!<br />
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<i>Don't forget to visit <a href="http://www.rorygordonphoto.com/" target="_blank">Rory's website </a>to learn more about what she does and what she can do for you!</i><br />
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-72736982068864951462013-05-28T08:20:00.000-07:002013-05-28T08:38:54.897-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: Nancy Tozier Sieling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today's guest for the series <i>The Art of Telling Stories</i> is Nancy Tozier Sieling, a brilliant seamstress and costume designer. You can check out <a href="http://dressmakersmuse.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">her blog</a>, some photos from her most recent shows <i><a href="http://fln.smugmug.com/Performing-Arts/Youtheater/Peter-Pan/29351368_BMngHV#!i=2504213682&k=njn3Ss7" target="_blank">Peter Pan</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://fln.smugmug.com/Performing-Arts/Youtheater/Seussical-Jr/22850955_KcpLQp#!i=1834384305&k=ndrXwS5" target="_blank">Seussical</a>, </i>or follow her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreatEastEmporium?hc_location=stream" target="_blank">on Facebook</a>.<script type="text/javascript">
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<i>Nancy, tell us a little bit about yourself.</i></div>
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I am a seamstress and costume designer. I do alterations and make custom clothing - mostly wedding and formal wear. I also design and make costumes for theatrical productions.</div>
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<i>How would you define storytelling?</i></div>
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Storytelling to me is communicating a set of related ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Usually, but not always, there is a point to be made or something to be taught. The greatest storytellers are able to reach across time and cultures with tales that resonate with a wide variety of people, which is why so many filmmakers turn classics (take Les Miserables, for example) into blockbusters.</div>
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<i>In what way do you use costumes and clothing to tell stories? </i></div>
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If I am working on a show, my job is to help the director portray his or her vision of the story. Costumes help define who the characters are and how they relate to each other. They might be rich or poor, attractive or ugly, self absorbed or clueless, etc. and I try to reinforce those qualities and relationships through their clothing. Color can be used to define someone's mood, attitude, and social status. Costumes can also be used to sort people into groups to make the story easier for the audience to follow. If I do my job well, you will feel like you know something a important about an actor the minute he walks onto the stage. Costuming is not usually a standalone form of storytelling, though it can be. How the actor wears and uses his costume is also important. For example, in 1905 men all wore hats. Does he wear it properly, toss it in the air, twist it in his hands? What the actor does with his hat takes you deeper into the story.</div>
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<i>Could you look at one person and see a story in them, based solely on the clothes they were wearing?</i></div>
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I do that all the time. Sometimes I have the opportunity to find out if my surmises are correct, but more often I don't.</div>
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<i>How do you approach the thought process of telling the story of a character through their clothes and appearance?</i></div>
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I start with the time period. I research both the era and the clothing. I educate myself on the social class and occupation of the character. Next, I consider what other details the script tells me about the person - any peculiarities, color or dress preferences, etc. and integrate them into the costuming as much as I can. I love to read old books and have found pop fiction from the time period I am working in to be very helpful, because it tells you things about everyday life that you wont pick up elsewhere. </div>
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<i>What is your favourite thing about costuming?</i></div>
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My favorite thing about costuming is transforming a person from today into someone from another place and time. I feel really successful when an actor's mother fails to recognize her own child.</div>
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<i>What is your favourite outfit/era? Why?</i></div>
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I can't pick just one, but in general I love the time period from 1880 to 1950, and I especially like the early 1900's and the 1940's. Fashions in these two eras were graceful and slightly formal without wild excesses of fabric (with the exception of the hats in the 1910-1919 era). Wartime shortages and rationing of fabric and buttons forced clothing designers in the 1940's to be really creative. The result was the development of some breathtaking designs. This is a favorite of mine from 1912:</div>
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...and this is a favorite of mine from the 1940's:</div>
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<i>If you had to pick one element of costuming that has the most impact on telling a story, what would that element be and why?</i></div>
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If I had to pick one element of costuming that makes the most impact I would say it is what you don't see- the foundation under the costume. The undergarments of an era provide the shape the dress or suit sits on and plays a huge role in setting the time period. Something as simple as a man wearing suspenders under his suit coat with the pants cinched way up can make a huge difference in setting the time period. Ladies foundations run the gamut from nonexistent to incredibly complicated, and are capable of giving the same woman wildly different shapes. Compare these two dresses- the foundations are radically different:</div>
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Don't forget to check out Nancy's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreatEastEmporium?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and <a href="http://dressmakersmuse.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>!</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-87436056064779048802013-05-21T05:14:00.001-07:002013-05-21T06:53:49.822-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: Harley O'Brien<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to the next in the series of interviews on The Art of Telling Stories. Today we will hear from Harley O'Brien, a multimedia architect and big-picture thinker. Coming up, he will be at mLearnCon, speaking on Redefining the Document: Creating Content for a Mobile World. You can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/harleyobrien" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, check out his <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/harleyobrien" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, or <a href="http://www.elearningguild.com/mLearnCon/concurrent-sessions/session-details.cfm?session=4604" target="_blank">click here</a> to visit the conference webpage. <script type="text/javascript">
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Harley, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.</div>
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I'm a multimedia architect, I deal with images, forms, and colors, but also with computer code. It's a nice blend of designer and programmer. My formal background is communications and marketing, but from a very early age I got involved with computers, and the interactivity captured me. I fell in love with the worlds you could create and control using media and programming.</div>
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How would you define the idea of storytelling?</div>
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The basic idea is to convey a story... sounds simple, but that's what makes it so exciting. It can be as simple as a short marketing message, pretty obvious, uh? But also an e-learning module where you need to communicate new concepts, or even better, an RPG or an immersive scenario!</div>
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As a Multimedia Architect, how does the work you do make an impact on the way the story is delivered or perceived?</div>
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It affects it in almost every way. I'm a firm believer of the old saying "the medium is the message." And that applies even more to interactive media. If you think about it, audiovisuals and interactive media require a lot of team work. You need graphic design, audio, music, layouts, interactions and of course, a good story!</div>
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I see a multimedia architect as the orchestra conductor that weaves it all together, carrying the responsibility to respect the essence of each of the parts and enhance it in a new whole.</div>
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What role do graphics and images play in storytelling?</div>
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Nowadays, a lot. We live in an audiovisual culture. For good or bad, not judging, it's just the way it is. Most of the world's population believe that an image is worth a thousand words :)</div>
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I think I could put it this way: "visuals" are important. Even a still image can tell a story, ask any photographer... but also the right word, the right font and the right background can be a powerful visual. See how it is all the medium? Anyway, I feel that text can be a flexible, on-demand and cost-effective media when used correctly. </div>
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What thought process do you use to approach the way you present information to your consumer?</div>
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I think you should start with the end: what is the reaction you want? You work from there. You know your times, media, resources. Put yourself in the user's shoes. In what context will he receive the message? a video on a TV screen sitting on a couch or just 20" from a computer monitor? Maybe walking down the street on a smartphone screen?</div>
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Then you dissect the message, identify the essence, and start creating different ways of communicating it effectively. Keep in mind that "the message" can be anything, a conventional message in the case of a marketing piece, an e-learning lesson or an interactive experience in the case of an application. I would say that creating interactive media is creating user experiences, something like on-demand, user-controlled storytelling. </div>
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Would you consider yourself a storyteller? Why or why not?</div>
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Definitely. I see myself as a user experience designer. You as a writer can identify with this. The end goal as a creator is to create a user experience. In computer lingo, there's even an acronym for that, UX Designer :-)</div>
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How do you think multimedia architecture is going to change over the next decade? In what way will that impact the way we communicate and the way we tell stories?</div>
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I think the technological aspect of it is the least interesting. I'm sure most people won't be surprised to be able to create holograms at home or use 3D printing. Our fascination threshold is pretty high. But it's the social implications I'm excited about. The Web 2.0 gave us the tools to produce content and share it with the world. Some developing countries have gone from no land lines to a cell phone in every hand and internet connections in just a few years. This moves us towards scenarios that should make us think.</div>
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With the overwhelming complexity of search, the trend to "curated" content is growing. Are we sharing our knowledge or giving up on our decision processes?</div>
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What about the cloud? It's not only for storage. A lot of "smart" devices are now windows to content that get processed in "the cloud." But remember the PC revolution of the 80s that meant breaking free from the big central computers to have your our processing power on the desktop?</div>
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I could talk for hours, but imagine a world with overwhelming audio and visuals, interactions that affect other senses but only 140 characters for text. I'm so up for that challenge! :-)</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-16378634590910059332013-05-19T18:49:00.000-07:002013-05-19T18:51:28.916-07:00Looking for Dragons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One day, she went looking for the dragon.</div>
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She set out on food, walking through the trees.</div>
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She walked past the hidden apple tree.</div>
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And strolled through the sumac tree wood.</div>
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And stumbled into the Enchanted Forest.</div>
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She saw a bird. It wasn't singing.</div>
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When she reached a strange rock wall, she paused and looked around...</div>
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Was she lost?</div>
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She turned back. Everything looked the same.</div>
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She frowned, concerned, and began walking again.</div>
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She walked for hours.</div>
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Finally, she found an old birch tree. It seemed to be</div>
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pointing her towards something. She began to walk in that direction.</div>
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Suddenly, she stumbled into the field on the edge of the Enchanted Forest.</div>
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She breathed a sign of relief.</div>
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She began to head towards home, disappointed that she hadn't found the dragon.</div>
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Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw a splash of red, </div>
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amid the green wash of green and brown that surrounded her.</div>
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It was beautiful.</div>
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Then she looked up.</div>
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She saw something in the trees.</div>
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She moved closer.</div>
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A wall? She began to follow it.</div>
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It was the Lost Fortress!</div>
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Her mind began to spin castles and adventures...</div>
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...and suddenly there were knights and witches</div>
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and fairies and animals...</div>
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...and there was her dragon.</div>
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</script>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-41716220326483942802013-05-17T04:51:00.001-07:002013-05-17T05:17:57.305-07:00Art of Telling Stories: Amber Anderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The next guest in the series of interviews on The Art of Telling Stories is Amber Anderson, a graphic designer and animator. Amber is always looking for new people to work with and new projects to work on - and asking questions is always free! You can find out more about Amber and her services by visiting <a href="http://amberkarmstrongdesign.com/" target="_blank">her website</a>.<br />
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Amber, tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do.</div>
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I am a self-educated designer, animator, developer, and programmer that believes design and visual appeal are a mainstay in any marketing or branding effort, with eight years of professional experience in the fields of information technology, social media, website design, e-marketing, branding, animation, website development project management, and graphic design. I create and design end-to-end solutions with standards-compliant code with an emphasis on identity branding, efficacy, cross-platform browser compatibility, interactivity, accessibility, and search engine optimization. </div>
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How would you define storytelling?</div>
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When I think of storytelling, I think of someone expressing themselves creatively using an outlet such as writing. When someone says storytelling, I think of a fable, or someone taking inspiration from a fairy tale.</div>
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In what way can images fit together to help tell a story?</div>
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Images and graphics are key elements of supporting and/or singly expressing a point inside a story. They give the audience something to envision and imagine when exploring an idea or concept. They also give the reader an identification point of a way to feel connected to the author and the author's vision.</div>
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How do you decide what images or colours tell a part of a story and what ones don't?</div>
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It depends on whether I'm using graphics to tell the story or graphics to support the story. When using graphics to tell the story, I go on my own gut instinct of what I feel and what I see when I review the content. When using them as support for an existing story, I pull key words, scenes, feelings, characters, and seasons, along with other components from the story to visually express the writer's vision.</div>
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I use all of these elements to visually format the story. That can be anything - changing fonts, sizes, colours, graphics, layouts, margins - formatting is everything. Formatting is what makes the document visually come together. It's what makes it easy to read, it's what makes the story come alive, it's taking your vision combined with the author's vision and making it tangible for someone to be able to connect to.</div>
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What is your favourite design work that you've done?</div>
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My favourite projects are ones that I get a hand in all the way down the line. I would have to pick something where I got to do some formatting of text, graphic design, story boarding, animation, framework design - any project where I get to touch it from beginning to end. For example, I recently worked on a project for a client that was producing multiple toolkits to provide a variety of programs working towards similar goals but in different locations, in order to have access to tools and resources to help them better implement their events and assist their clientele. On that project, I designed the framework, the templates for the documents, created their branding style, worked on story boards, and developed tutorial animations for the final product, created visual graphics for reports, and more.</div>
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In what way does branding tell a story?</div>
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Branding expresses the vision of that individual (or organization). It expresses not only how they see themselves, but how they want to be seen by other people. Branding is a stylistic consistency that allows customers to identify with, feel connected to, and know that they can have faith in the company or organization and its products.</div>
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What is your favourite colour and why?</div>
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If you had asked me that question twenty years ago, I would have told you anything but pink. If you asked me that question today as a 32-year-old woman, I would tell you that my favourite colour is pink. I used to run away from anything that labeled me as a girl when I was younger because I thought that meant constraints, keeping me inside a box, holding me to a standard, having to be a part of a societal norm. As an adult, I realized that being a girl and liking pink are probably two of the most powerful things that I own. I learned to embrace my gender but not conform to the societal norms or stereotypes, and instead created my own way of thinking that didn't necessitate the colour pink, but still welcomed it. The colour pink signifies to me where I started and how far I've come professionally and personally. It's a reminder to me as to how strong we all really are. </div>
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Similarly, what colour do you use the most frequently when designing and why?</div>
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Grey. It's a neutral colour, it's a complimentary colour, and it doesn't overpower or take over a program or organization's already established colour pallette. It's a way to add in lines, colours, and graphics with a calming appeal which doesn't clash.</div>
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Is there anything else you would like to share?</div>
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Creating a brand for your business or organization is important. It's as important as buying a house. It's something that is going to be with your business for a very long time. Don't settle. Don't find one designer and think that you have to stay there. Don't take no for an answer. Don't lose your vision because someone is trying to tell you that you're ideas aren't valid or that you're wrong. Your brand is a part of you. It should be a reflection of you and it should tell your story.</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-81838627391084412632013-05-16T05:20:00.000-07:002013-05-16T05:36:04.043-07:00Leaping Into the Universe - Children's Literature WeekThe thing I like the most about children's stories (aside from the fact that they're chock full of magic and wonder) is the way they can make it possible to take a leap from your living room chair into the whole of the universe.<br />
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Take <i>Diary of a Worm </i>by Doreen Cronin, for example.</div>
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On the first page, it introduces the idea that the world is much bigger than just us. Then it goes on to talk about the specifics of our world... from the perspective of a worm, but in the context of something much larger.</div>
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Simple, but effective.</div>
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Or take this book: </div>
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<i>Tuesday</i> opens up the idea that everything is weirder than you can imagine...</div>
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...that anything is possible...</div>
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...and that you can never predict tomorrow. In addition, there aren't any words in the book, so it allows you to tell the story yourself.</div>
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The Magic School Bus uses facts. It says "look how amazing the universe is. For real!"</div>
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...except for the whole "magic" part...</div>
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If you check out<i> Baloney (Henry P.)</i> by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, it takes the total opposite approach - take a look at the immense potential for exploration that is available just inside your own mind.</div>
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Also it has fantastic pictures.</div>
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But my favourite of all has to be <i>The Big Pets</i> by Lane Smith. First of all, the illustrations are spectacular (you may notice that the images are oddly similar to the illustrations in <i>Baloney</i>)... </div>
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...and secondly, it takes you from simple, wonderful, and calm imaginary place where the girl is small and the cat is big...</div>
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...to the massive majesty and awe of the universe in one two-page spread. I could stare at this page all day.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...with the milk and the cat and cat toys and the stars<br />
and the globe in the corner there and the yarn<br />
and the little cat houses <br />
and all of the cats!</td></tr>
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Children's stories are great, and if you keep looking and reading, you'll find the perfect one: a story that opens up the whole of the universe just for you in just a few short pages.</div>
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To check out more blogs about children's literature, visit the <a href="http://www.genreunderground.com/" target="_blank">Genre Underground</a>.<br />
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-56989000906976865582013-05-12T17:09:00.003-07:002013-05-12T17:11:55.663-07:00The Lonely Whelk: Editing Has Begun<span style="font-family: inherit;">Everyone has a slightly different editing process when they go through their rough drafts. I know people who write everything out by hand and then type it as a way of processing; others might read it out loud to themselves. I do what I like to call "putting my editor hat on;" in other words, I am doing for myself what I would do for any friend or writer's group member: track changes! I thought I would share a few of the comments I have begun to leave for myself, just in case you want to try to guess what my next book is about. :)</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">This
is too obvious. You’re clearly trying too hard. Perhaps you should cut this
paragraph out, and use the story at the end when [spoiler].</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Run away; p</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">lay along in case she’s insane - rock</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rewrite this section. Hazel would have a less…
suspicious response. This is probably something she’s thought about a lot
before. She should be better
prepared.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rewrite through here at least.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">How will I get home?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Men tend to be less afraid of strange women than women
are of strange men.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not probably a good reaction. FIX! FIX!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">You should decide what kind of drunk he is, and then
make him follow that stereotype.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, so we need to do some serious work on Maddy's
personality here and everywhere, really.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Got hit in an asteroid belt.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">hahahaha</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">And suddenly he’s not drunk any more. Either he is or
he </span>isn't<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Make up your mind, yo!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Now
he is again…</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Ummm…
no.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">What
does this even mean?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Pick
something less game-y</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Enough
with the ‘cute’ already!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Too
much drama. Give Rupert a less irritating character.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">This description could be way more awesome. Get your
game on, Ariele!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Etc.</span></li>
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Next steps: Go through each note as an action item and get my "writer's hat" on.<br />
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And since this book is about a lonely whelk, I give you this:</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-52025109218403527482013-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:002013-05-09T18:40:42.574-07:00The Art of Telling Stories: A.H. Browne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaaDb20Mm460yLrIQQNHeeO76FdiMg-LdyR_yCdY7maf1xiGlg08VzroPuRDTsrBCnbrRjHgCwsgD475Xnc6f-sT8MMB_J6IR82pKHyzR1hvJ7J_8_sU-YmTkhkbAEAg1BaAvDhRLC8k/s1600/2-2013_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaaDb20Mm460yLrIQQNHeeO76FdiMg-LdyR_yCdY7maf1xiGlg08VzroPuRDTsrBCnbrRjHgCwsgD475Xnc6f-sT8MMB_J6IR82pKHyzR1hvJ7J_8_sU-YmTkhkbAEAg1BaAvDhRLC8k/s200/2-2013_1.jpg" width="172" /></a></div>
Welcome to the first of my series "The Art of Telling Stories." Over the next few weeks I will be interviewing a series of individuals who work in different vocations, and looking at how they approach the art of telling stories.<br />
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My first guest is Ariana Browning, who writes under the name of A.H. Browne. She is author of <i>Dark Illusions</i>, <i>Dragon's Dawn</i>, and <i>Always Consequences</i>. You can check out her <a href="http://www.ahbrowne.com/" target="_blank">writing website</a> and <a href="http://www.arianasmemoir.com/" target="_blank">personal one</a>, and you can find her on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/realahbrowne?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook here</a>.</div>
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<b>Ariana, tell me a little bit about yourself and your writing career.</b></div>
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I have been writing since I was young, but never really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the storytelling and fantasizing part of it, but not the writing aspects. I never really had a passion for it until my mid 20's, at which time I used it as a way to save myself. A lot of personal stuff happened in my life and I needed something to focus on to get my mind off that. Around my mid teens, I ended up starting with poetry because I've never been good at expressing my emotions and I used that as an outlet. I began to write short stories around 18 or so and then progressed from there with encouragement from people to put it online. When I noticed how much joy it could bring people to read what I wrote and that I could perhaps change lives through it, I found this passion strike me that has stuck with me since then. No matter how much hard work it is at times and how much I wish I could have a break, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I love it.</div>
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I've published 3 books so far and many poems. Short stories too. Some of my poems have been in writing magazines and poetry books, but I've lost touch with where those all are. When I was younger, I sent them off, but didn't think about keeping track. Most of the poetry and short stories can be found on my website (<a href="http://www.ahbrowne.com/">www.ahbrowne.com</a>), as well as what I've published, and the list of what's to come.</div>
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<b>How would you define storytelling?</b></div>
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Now that's a great question. I've never really thought about it. Let me see; I would say that storytelling is taking someone into another world of existence. Opening up their heart, mind, and soul, and taking them on an adventure without them ever having to leave where they are at. Magic does exist. All around us. That, is storytelling: magic.</div>
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<b>Do you do any other forms of storytelling (any element of theatre, design, fashion, music, etc.)?</b></div>
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Other than trying to motivate other people to better themselves and showing that they can do anything they want, through telling my own story on <a href="http://www.arianasmemoir.com/">www.arianasmemoir.com</a>, for now, I do not. I have plans later on for more, maybe even sooner than later, but right this second I am focusing mostly on my books. </div>
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<b>How do you think about designing your book covers to communicate to your reader what they are going to experience?</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRbWOakR_z6G51O-HtNhyubE-dgGgoTzU_M2qEJOev4YLcVWKbbPvERFcwZofsHGwRUn-oXzaQ2dMTFENnskTC3gmsl86YJrg1BpVu4Or_P1_BNUAl-0ysgFMW_qKddoIKmta3qaJFnY/s1600/579255_486782558053825_623422684_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRbWOakR_z6G51O-HtNhyubE-dgGgoTzU_M2qEJOev4YLcVWKbbPvERFcwZofsHGwRUn-oXzaQ2dMTFENnskTC3gmsl86YJrg1BpVu4Or_P1_BNUAl-0ysgFMW_qKddoIKmta3qaJFnY/s200/579255_486782558053825_623422684_n.jpg" width="133" /></a>When I design a book cover, I think about the colors and images that most convey the story in psychological ways without giving everything away. For my most recent cover, Always Consequences, I wanted something with a slight military theme overall, but also a woman imprisoned. The psychological part is whether she is imprisoned mentally, physically, or both. I went with a title font which portrayed a military theme, and the blue, green, and grey colors. Those colors went with that more somber quality of being imprisoned. The slight bit of red on her dress was to be eye-catching for the observer and break up the blue, green and grey coloring, but also because one of the main lead males, Umar, happens to dress her in a red dress for his benefit. It's also the color of passion and strength. Then you have the bars she is looking out, which happen to be a window to signify a prison and mental anguish.</div>
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So the main theme became military, imprisonment, and the colors blue, grey, green, and red. Simple, but loads of meaning behind it. Covers don't have to be complicated, just eye-catching to make the reader check out the synopsis. (Keep your eyes peeled for free download days! Coming up June 4th and 14th, and July 18th and 19th!)</div>
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<b>How do you decide what you are going to write? Where do your story ideas come from?</b></div>
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My ideas come mainly from dreams. Or moments where an idea pops into my head from reading another story, watching a movie, or staring out at nothing and losing myself in nothing for a while, which I admit, I can do when it's gorgeous out. Nature is my addiction. I choose which story to work on through gut instinct. I have had to abandon stories that, after a few chapters, didn't stay with me when I didn't listen. But in general, I always advise choosing one that you feel within. That little voice that says this one. You will never go wrong because even when you're mad at your book, and hate your characters, the love will be there, and you will stick with it. Since doing so, I've rarely, almost never, experienced writer's block.</div>
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<b>What is your favourite word?</b></div>
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Favorite word ... wow, not something I thought about. How about "which" when I write and in real life, all the old words! I am determined to keep using old words because I love the sound of them, how they sound, how they flow. I may start annoying people by avoiding contractions too. </div>
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<b>Is there anything else you would like to share?</b></div>
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Shall I share how much I love chocolate? Oh, sorry, about writing. How about some advice? Know that we all think we're a failure or have that little voice saying "I will never be that good." The winners are the ones who have those thoughts, but keep pushing ahead, despite that fear. In the end, the winners are the ones who don't let that fear keep them from being as amazing as they can be. </div>
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<b>Thanks, Ariana for sharing all of this with us! And good luck with your work!</b></div>
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</script>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-37851672723493470622013-05-01T11:49:00.000-07:002013-05-01T11:55:03.658-07:00Orange Fur: Life Lessons from Goblin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxNyJh4FLYVvejiMcJ1cc9meVJ1zY0eRdBW2kbJUQcrLWB7G_IfXQKYgYX26Y6H9Nib6UMFy3vnRASz7GCAYNkA8O1mH6jcKWEO6FN_0csQR4aR_XOyzZLALUgsVyRjNF58-cbWjAOi8/s1600/IMG_20130422_175750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxNyJh4FLYVvejiMcJ1cc9meVJ1zY0eRdBW2kbJUQcrLWB7G_IfXQKYgYX26Y6H9Nib6UMFy3vnRASz7GCAYNkA8O1mH6jcKWEO6FN_0csQR4aR_XOyzZLALUgsVyRjNF58-cbWjAOi8/s400/IMG_20130422_175750.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Don't let anyone disturb your nap. Ever.</div>
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Stalk only the things that matter the most. </div>
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Like feathers.</div>
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1. Find the ribbons. </div>
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2. Get the ribbons back.</div>
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3. Leave no one alive.</div>
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4. Chew on the ribbons.</div>
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If you're desperate for a hug, you can probably find one somewhere.</div>
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Just keep it short. And don't be afraid to bite them when they won't let go.</div>
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Life is good. I am not Milton. Thank goodness.</div>
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</script>arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-79064687228058141992013-04-28T08:37:00.001-07:002013-04-28T08:37:20.587-07:00A Short Reading of The Clock WinkedThis is a reading of an excerpt from "The Clock Winked." The book is available for sale through Amazon. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Clock-Winked-ebook/dp/B00C14JZ1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367150859&sr=8-1&keywords=ariele+sieling" target="_blank">Click here</a> to get your copy.<div>
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Soon after young Auvek Oliphant finds himself the unintentional curator of his uncle’s bookstore, a series of strange events leads him and his new friend Bronwyn towards unraveling an old mystery – the legend of the winking clock.<br />
<br />Meanwhile, Sauvignon Pincer, a local journalist, investigates a series of seemingly normal incidents around the city, which lead him into the middle of a growing altercation between two opposing gangs.<br />
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This science fiction tale will pull readers into a brand new world filled with mystery and intrigue, as well as humor and fun.</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-42715338114304734992013-04-21T07:00:00.000-07:002013-04-21T07:02:14.795-07:00Practicing GallifreyanI've been practicing my Gallifreyan. It's quite fun. But there are some aspects of the not-quite language - it's really more of a code - that make it difficult. For example, a lot of the "rules" are purely aesthetic. How the dots look on the letters, or how long the lines are, can vary depending on mood or your particular style of drawing. It might, however, allow for the Time Lord version of "handwriting" I guess. I also find that the hard part of making sentences (and paragraphs, etc.) is the spacing of the letters. Some groups of words just seem naturally suited to each other. Others are less so. One strategy I've been using is to make the words separately to get an idea of what they look like. Then (because the size of the words can change to make them fit together) I will sketch the rough shapes out to try to get them all to work together.<script type="text/javascript">
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I also attempted to cut out the shapes, but since you can't really change their shape or slightly move the letters around to make them fit together, it wasn't very helpful.</div>
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I have also tried using the computer (PowerPoint, if you must know, as my Photoshop skills are nil) to make the shapes. They are much cleaner, but lack the rough, artistic look of the hand-drawn characters. This one says "Gary." I hope :)</div>
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So here are my first to basic attempts at writing full sentences in Gallifreyan. This says "Give me liberty or give me death" (more or less).</div>
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And this one says "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first, invent the universe." Also more or less.</div>
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I highly recommend learning it. The alphabet/code is an easy learn and there are lots of resources online (<a href="http://timeturners.wikidot.com/circular-gallifreyan">http://timeturners.wikidot.com/circular-gallifreyan</a>). And it looks cool. At very least, all you Whovians should figure out how to write your name!</div>
arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-16156465632930125302013-03-26T08:20:00.001-07:002013-03-26T08:21:47.018-07:00The Clock WinkedSo I published <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Clock-Winked-ebook/dp/B00C14JZ1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364298530&sr=8-1&keywords=the+clock+winked" target="_blank">a book</a>.<br />
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I highly recommend trying it - for anyone who thinks they can make it all the way through to the other side of the revision stage. But honestly, the most difficult part for me was making the cover.</div>
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Now, obviously, you can hire people to do your design for you. And sometimes you can even find people to do it for free - but in that case, you're asking a lot of someone, especially if you want to do it in a specific time frame. So after poking people around a bit, I did it myself.</div>
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I went through a wide variety of versions - blue, black, orange, different fonts and font sizes. I stuck with the clock image throughout the whole process, however, because I liked it. I asked different people I know for feedback - which versions they did and didn't like and why and eventually I got bored.</div>
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I get bored very easily. So I made one final version that was completely different from the others, and then said, "That's it, it's good enough."</div>
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This was due in large part to a piece advice from a coworker, which was not intended to be advice and spoken in relation to something entirely unrelated to my book. The advice (paraphrased into my own words) was this:</div>
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There's something to be said for perfection, and there's something to be said for getting it done. Sometimes you need to just get it done.</div>
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And for your own enjoyment, I will post the old versions of the cover here, and you can decide which one you like best. Oh, and you can buy my book, too. It's on Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Clock-Winked-ebook/dp/B00C14JZ1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364298530&sr=8-1&keywords=the+clock+winked" target="_blank">click here</a>.</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-45716526580913516262013-02-21T12:21:00.000-08:002013-02-21T12:22:25.875-08:00Plants in a Bubble <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hydroponics on the Destiny. <a href="http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Hydroponics_lab" target="_blank">Image credit</a>.</td></tr>
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In Stargate Universe, there is a hydroponics lab (see right). <i>What is hydroponics? </i>you ask.<br />
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Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil. Simply put, the necessary nutrients for growth are put in water, and the roots absorbs them without ever touching soil. The Stargate version has the plants growing towards a centralized light source while spinning slowly and watering the roots at the base (which you can see in the image). The water is of course filled with the necessary nutrients. You can find more information on this system <a href="http://www.omegagarden.com/index.php?content_id=1539" target="_blank">here</a>.<script type="text/javascript">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAa4ChsKXlJ-fMuvIFR1WguPT7-nzgC3apEhlD1LXdOEaYIkOLH2n8mm7b38e1u3l76OYphbP4Uko9DOiT5FyV2QVlpWx4bv4ZG6PttTFKYEV-Di-ZSosMoghS_FVKz31_UrcK2LBrw0/s1600/plants.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAa4ChsKXlJ-fMuvIFR1WguPT7-nzgC3apEhlD1LXdOEaYIkOLH2n8mm7b38e1u3l76OYphbP4Uko9DOiT5FyV2QVlpWx4bv4ZG6PttTFKYEV-Di-ZSosMoghS_FVKz31_UrcK2LBrw0/s200/plants.JPG" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boston Fern is <br />
named Franklin. <br />
He's cute.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I have more recently been interested in plants, especially the live kind that grow (as opposed to the dead kind that don't). My new(ish) apartment actually gets light during the day, so I have found warm and wonderful spots for my plants. Here they all are in a row, happily out of the snow (left). </div>
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<div>
When I no longer have an apartment and am also not living with relatives or in a van (this assumes that I can afford a house at some point in my future), I would like to build a hydroponic garden. I have to get to it before the hipsters, though. My other option (if the whole house thing falls through) is to build an ecosystem in a bottle. I guess I could do that anyway. Look at this guy. He appears incredibly happy. I imagine I would also be happy if I had an entire ecosystem that I could hug.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdDnfh5V75mSGS8lPyKJfD3orbKOdv-9ddKQ02o1IKkOYsFlpErqA4ekbOeRskozNb0K0Cox8_Pdv6Jhi2EeRkntkQf8wxfhKwR7W-ZNPL6DTjEru42LhJIIze2_DJr2oM9ujCJwyyeQ/s1600/davidlatimer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdDnfh5V75mSGS8lPyKJfD3orbKOdv-9ddKQ02o1IKkOYsFlpErqA4ekbOeRskozNb0K0Cox8_Pdv6Jhi2EeRkntkQf8wxfhKwR7W-ZNPL6DTjEru42LhJIIze2_DJr2oM9ujCJwyyeQ/s320/davidlatimer.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Latimer, hugging an entire ecosystem.<br />
<a href="http://blog.longnow.org/02013/02/11/ecosystem-in-a-bottle/" target="_blank">Photo credit</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Now, if I were to grow an entire ecosystem in a bottle, I would include fairies. In fact, maybe that's what genies are - fairies trapped in one ecosystem that is somehow contained inside a magic lamp. That is probably why genies are always grumpy - weeds are constantly taking over everything! If you don't believe me that genies are grumpy, read Arabian Nights.</div>
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<div>
At any rate, until I can afford a house and power tools, I guess I will have to stave off my impatience by growing real plants and doodling pictures of plants. Maybe some plants hanging off of walls, or plants stuck inside bottles (see image to right) or even plants that can fly! Plants that can live in outer space! Plants that are intelligent life forms!</div>
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<div>
And then, of course, I will share my plant pictures with you. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8tawZBVfSXCsf5sbH9A-QovQmu4_vgvbWhLeRfYkFpq5R5HDBcfkHUnamGQXiUX68rRsGm9Q3F3dVIaqW2dfQJ4CwBE_EB3Z95eup0hjAXZUhVyNh2-V8etFPb42_bkR52pwa5e9PnE/s1600/plantbubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8tawZBVfSXCsf5sbH9A-QovQmu4_vgvbWhLeRfYkFpq5R5HDBcfkHUnamGQXiUX68rRsGm9Q3F3dVIaqW2dfQJ4CwBE_EB3Z95eup0hjAXZUhVyNh2-V8etFPb42_bkR52pwa5e9PnE/s400/plantbubble.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-51917835090607929982013-01-02T05:11:00.001-08:002013-01-02T05:11:34.026-08:00The Year of the JellyfishIt's the New Year, and as we all look forward to our new and improved lives, pay vigorous attention to our resolutions, and intensely focus our efforts on altering our lifestyles (yeah right), there is one crucial detail that we should beware: the Jellyfish.<script type="text/javascript">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lKe15DmYt0weKH0OArC_Gp6Ssu0C00gRDOK-X9I5YCFAqKTOqMK1OTc97uk-L4cy9VEeivSdtzGzuPce07-0ZR1DEnuMZSsG16F1GU6nCD_7g4oyvaXXAJ9XN_iIZ4E9nBHUxUmrL0M/s1600/Jelly_fish_Blooms_Shawn_Rener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lKe15DmYt0weKH0OArC_Gp6Ssu0C00gRDOK-X9I5YCFAqKTOqMK1OTc97uk-L4cy9VEeivSdtzGzuPce07-0ZR1DEnuMZSsG16F1GU6nCD_7g4oyvaXXAJ9XN_iIZ4E9nBHUxUmrL0M/s320/Jelly_fish_Blooms_Shawn_Rener.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch out - they're going to get you!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
The number of jellyfish in our oceans is rising (see news article <a href="http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/68449-increasing-jellyfish-numbers-are-part-of-global-cycle" target="_blank">here</a>). I think they might take over the world. Scientists say it's just a cycle - every 20 years or so the number of jellyfish reaches a high - but I don't believe it. Maybe scientists are plotting to take over the world using jellyfish. Maybe the dolphins are about to launch a massive offensive against humans, as a test of which species' intelligence is really higher. Maybe the CIA is training jellyfish to carryout stealth missions against other countries. Maybe NASA is secretly imitating the way jellyfish move to create some sort of awesome spaceship... or are going to use jellyfish <i>as </i>spaceships. Or maybe aliens have tapped into the jellyfish mind and are going to use them to take over Earth.</div>
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I mean, imagine it - weird wobbly fish with the ability to zap you with magical poisonous lightning, increasing in population to the point that the ocean water just bubbles with their round little heads - and then they all suddenly ATTACK.</div>
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Perhaps 2013 will be the end of the world.</div>
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At any rate, here is my New Year's advice: don't get behind on your resolutions, and watch out for jellyfish!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iubJ-XSL9go?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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*Picture from <a href="http://www.fmap.ca/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-83664457497217554512012-12-13T08:08:00.001-08:002012-12-13T08:09:37.403-08:00Party Tricks for Introverts<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For an introvert, going to a party filled with people you don't really know (and/or work with) can be both stressful and tiring - to the point where you'd rather be anywhere else, including the moon. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmuEdskkZJ-BoFecjJ8Xa0x0rWDsBHd4CUzHhg6N3zFoy8lqfYX_e_gPYmGQ7NRgEWOC7At242_aXSgo5x5hMkRQzSRnqCSorLpVJ1Uhr7IfzFo1t7r1L38T4d8FtGFoi-hdJrt-M3uU/s1600/5052124921_fd5e0bdf71_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmuEdskkZJ-BoFecjJ8Xa0x0rWDsBHd4CUzHhg6N3zFoy8lqfYX_e_gPYmGQ7NRgEWOC7At242_aXSgo5x5hMkRQzSRnqCSorLpVJ1Uhr7IfzFo1t7r1L38T4d8FtGFoi-hdJrt-M3uU/s320/5052124921_fd5e0bdf71_o.jpg" width="312" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This particular time of year can be especially stressful, with company Christmas parties, family parties, and old friends showing up in town and throwing even more parties. Here are a few tips to help you navigate uncomfortable, awkward, or just plain old normal people-filled events.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pre-Party</span></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are a few things that you can do before the party to prepare, ultimately (hopefully) making the actual event that much easier.</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Find out what to wear. There are few things more awkward than showing up in jeans when it's a black tie affair - except maybe showing up naked.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plan conversation topics ahead of time. You can even do research on something if you are certain the other party-goers will be discussing it (such as sports, something about which I know nothing, but people always like to discuss).</span></li>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sports</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Projects at work</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Children</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Weddings</span></li>
</ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Know what is inappropriate to talk about - office politics, awkward medical problems (especially if you meet a doctor), and marital issues are all poor conversation choices.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take a date. If you have a spouse or a friend that is willing to go, take them so you always have somebody to talk to.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Find out who is going to be there - this way, you can more easily plan topics of conversation, as well as potentially have some friends who will make it a little easier for you.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During the Party</span></b></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Be courageous!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't arrive first.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't arrive extremely late.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't get drunk.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Start by talking to someone you know; look for opportunities for them to introduce you to other people - so you don't have to take as much initiative.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To involve yourself in a conversation, walk by the circle of people at a tangent, so someone will see you and let you in.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ask people about themselves.</span></li>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How did you like living in X location?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do you think of X project?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you heard about X event in X location?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you have kids?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is your job?</span></li>
</ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To escape from an awkward conversation:</span></li>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Always carry a glass and keep it 1/3 full (alcohol is probably a bad choice of beverage for this trick.) Then, you can always say, "I need to go refill my glass."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can't visit the bathroom too many times, especially if you're keeping your glass 1/3 full.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let someone else into the conversation; then the circle of people can split like an amoeba into two conversations.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Get an extrovert buddy. This person can help you escape from conversations, give you someone to talk to if you've been wandering around helplessly for too long, and/or can intervene in conversations that need a bit of livening up. They can also introduce you to new people, which will take a little pressure off of you for initiating the first exchange.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Talk to a lot of different people for shorter periods of time. This may seem intimidating, but it allows you to only need two or three conversation topics which you can use repeatedly.</span></li>
</ol>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Post-Party</span></b></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ask your extrovert buddy how you did.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make note of things to do and/or not to do again.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Go to bed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take some time to yourself to recover.</span></li>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-31041349375282653312012-12-12T17:15:00.001-08:002012-12-12T17:16:00.122-08:00Meteor Showers HurtApparently there is a meteor shower going on tonight. I think meteor showers are very interesting things. Some people envision <a href="http://www.9wsyr.com/content/news_team/blogs/weather/story/Catch-the-Leonid-meteor-shower-Friday-night/skohCqZ2-kiCzJgKdfLg2g.cspx" target="_blank">this</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGl9pYbLwFN4CeVjK1DCZSrO_Rn8o5iYQlHoziqfISTM4DAE7zj03D1fqI2WMEdPzVv5U3rRkEw7JxISRsq8wM3BGsF_t45sj8QnnpAhtUiE6SHs-GkA1zM-Oj6LXex9o6rrUsInwvXo/s1600/meteor2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGl9pYbLwFN4CeVjK1DCZSrO_Rn8o5iYQlHoziqfISTM4DAE7zj03D1fqI2WMEdPzVv5U3rRkEw7JxISRsq8wM3BGsF_t45sj8QnnpAhtUiE6SHs-GkA1zM-Oj6LXex9o6rrUsInwvXo/s1600/meteor2.jpg" /></a></div>
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...brilliant streams of light sparkling in the night sky - glittering wishes, hopeful, but sad and quickly gone.</div>
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Then NASA shows us pictures like <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51754" target="_blank">this</a>: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLCzcWttMr1ZuR40P9GHCYzDbyjdGBRCophPpSuMFN79lfmIuKEhbe34ek7l6voHrZt3c0dKx9dtLAxcFI_cZN6UPAQ_HzYkxTGYn2sX_V0lxWllCNUHmJ_vajrRaZ3UPw9o0PbuBStc/s1600/meteor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLCzcWttMr1ZuR40P9GHCYzDbyjdGBRCophPpSuMFN79lfmIuKEhbe34ek7l6voHrZt3c0dKx9dtLAxcFI_cZN6UPAQ_HzYkxTGYn2sX_V0lxWllCNUHmJ_vajrRaZ3UPw9o0PbuBStc/s400/meteor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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...an underwhelming streak of light about to disappear in the overwhelming beauty of our planet.</div>
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I have a slightly different image: an image of giant rocks soaring through millions of light years of space, only to accidentally bump into a planet and begin plummeting to their doom, ablaze; miles of atmosphere, of cold, and hot and fire... and then they drop on my head with a perpetual clatter as I try to slather shampoo into my hair. And of course they melt the plastic on the bottom of my tub and I don't get my deposit back when I move out of my apartment. </div>
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You know what I think about meteor showers? They hurt. And they ruined my shower.</div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-45323151519781066722012-12-07T05:14:00.000-08:002012-12-07T05:20:17.885-08:00Aliens 101<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently I have been thinking about aliens, and how we create our aliens to be relatively like us in most regards. Take some of the Star Trek aliens, for example: </span><script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This guy, and that guy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8AluQXnc5C4M0QIFUx2GfuP2J7JSE8EH6JL5QJDvGp58ADYOU1J9XD5eL-mR86N9e_40wuA_j_J2qZSdbk6LpFQaIYwmYL-s7aqOYyItKD6QFZhmWqLJvrCZFecs7Q6Z5rIidDjqrro/s1600/worf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8AluQXnc5C4M0QIFUx2GfuP2J7JSE8EH6JL5QJDvGp58ADYOU1J9XD5eL-mR86N9e_40wuA_j_J2qZSdbk6LpFQaIYwmYL-s7aqOYyItKD6QFZhmWqLJvrCZFecs7Q6Z5rIidDjqrro/s1600/worf.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Very humanoid. Along with those are all of the people from BattleStar Galactica and Firefly, aliens from Star Trek and Star Wars, Doctor Who, etc. We seem to like the idea of humans exploring the universe and finding other humanoids. But those are definitely not the only types of aliens the human mind has invented.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are much weirder aliens...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7bYjAkChU79ApA6TZQ_s9CpBLoWVcDBJnox-zOE5S7uTQw6DcivCegoENoCfBUxjp19Kf1wnSofpvPXOCDyz0ST8DtxCblWOSqXTXVlclZPV0eEjAZvx7qwQ0Uc0tkEDf95O7JHlh2o/s1600/Meat_(Torchwood).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7bYjAkChU79ApA6TZQ_s9CpBLoWVcDBJnox-zOE5S7uTQw6DcivCegoENoCfBUxjp19Kf1wnSofpvPXOCDyz0ST8DtxCblWOSqXTXVlclZPV0eEjAZvx7qwQ0Uc0tkEDf95O7JHlh2o/s320/Meat_(Torchwood).jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Like this giant lump of meat, which is actually an alien (Torchwood) and it's still alive when they cut it up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then you have scary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39QfhP9BNady7_l5lkkt_4eDAtRy969GICP_Pviw0DnEMlXF3WGhm6-RO6950YviLCEupZ3ZR4dujBbvcHQO053YQv50SMvH3rP6aN9JlJmjXUXCL0dcmP8gV5hXxoSkQaaTsun6HrzU/s1600/Primeval-Bat-Predator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39QfhP9BNady7_l5lkkt_4eDAtRy969GICP_Pviw0DnEMlXF3WGhm6-RO6950YviLCEupZ3ZR4dujBbvcHQO053YQv50SMvH3rP6aN9JlJmjXUXCL0dcmP8gV5hXxoSkQaaTsun6HrzU/s320/Primeval-Bat-Predator.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a Predator, which may not be an alien after all, just a human from the future (Primeval). But alien enough by one dictionary definition (unlike one's own; strange; not belonging to one.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1-oQEJrMtuWKuCqOpLwnFnFZA2DkITv9ixJBOenlxMlAO-pJycL5cZIY65QlHzPAMba3BO4z8O2PXW3Un7PeV6vTZB39C3JfuAOwg2wZ3mom4r0NKXhrc6sQtIb2HLxQIt_hHQ-cOkI/s1600/dalek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1-oQEJrMtuWKuCqOpLwnFnFZA2DkITv9ixJBOenlxMlAO-pJycL5cZIY65QlHzPAMba3BO4z8O2PXW3Un7PeV6vTZB39C3JfuAOwg2wZ3mom4r0NKXhrc6sQtIb2HLxQIt_hHQ-cOkI/s320/dalek.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And there are Daleks - they set the bar for scariness, with their insatiable desire to be the only intelligent life in the entire universe and their tendency to exterminate everyone (Doctor Who).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WG-iq3H5UFso-jV1oCY0ZAR2eSaioH9dPKI2Pb5MMMZcGAp0doV7CnWgJg2hamz6XJwtSUB-PDQ0RzD8UW_Oq2sdlTRDYrCN-K1M1jJhrPizgOu90FRExU1EeB-jIKWuf0Yu90R4wVU/s1600/monstersslitheen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WG-iq3H5UFso-jV1oCY0ZAR2eSaioH9dPKI2Pb5MMMZcGAp0doV7CnWgJg2hamz6XJwtSUB-PDQ0RzD8UW_Oq2sdlTRDYrCN-K1M1jJhrPizgOu90FRExU1EeB-jIKWuf0Yu90R4wVU/s320/monstersslitheen.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Slitheen, who kill humans and take their skin to wear as suits (Doctor Who)...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eK5ni4Vn4bEMdhtSTJ9orqIF43_yzmFVK61YHKxEUmd8FhXaCDB4J8cJWDbRwO4qwE5EiSgZD3arRBpJgiFOsx1sRw38lqqkUrPJ8VhhBjz0IMuo02qEn5XCEuVP0twC3U_aKJvNq50/s1600/silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eK5ni4Vn4bEMdhtSTJ9orqIF43_yzmFVK61YHKxEUmd8FhXaCDB4J8cJWDbRwO4qwE5EiSgZD3arRBpJgiFOsx1sRw38lqqkUrPJ8VhhBjz0IMuo02qEn5XCEuVP0twC3U_aKJvNq50/s320/silence.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Silence, who make you forget they ever existed when you can't see them (Doctor Who)...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-ZmwNrUQ8Qcj1aqDJo20nuFKXtxKCOo4hfV043yUyPLMv_OlXl4PGAEzBuEggyqaS7X6akMp-jUzHY9MgMAZ4Ww21fp3SRww028qRIKxx1ZcDoLlOxYXKWyPZrwia6aHjfNY9mS6byo/s1600/STARGATE-UNIVERSE-Aliens-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-ZmwNrUQ8Qcj1aqDJo20nuFKXtxKCOo4hfV043yUyPLMv_OlXl4PGAEzBuEggyqaS7X6akMp-jUzHY9MgMAZ4Ww21fp3SRww028qRIKxx1ZcDoLlOxYXKWyPZrwia6aHjfNY9mS6byo/s320/STARGATE-UNIVERSE-Aliens-01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The blue aliens are scary because they seem to be studying us... and yet we can't understand them (Stargate Universe).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are of course hilarious aliens...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MkLhgOmj8C_Kan5ufcBPQkqVJDsWG3FfNDkfXm5pOykSMYrv5JRJCZYcmzn8CBQavOmZMjy_5wrvwo6RjHRbJQDDb6Rewo05jhRT2mpgQwXLMxHBU51joP7Ck5nb4KruvwdDKudAwIc/s1600/mib3_fte_building-a-better-alien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MkLhgOmj8C_Kan5ufcBPQkqVJDsWG3FfNDkfXm5pOykSMYrv5JRJCZYcmzn8CBQavOmZMjy_5wrvwo6RjHRbJQDDb6Rewo05jhRT2mpgQwXLMxHBU51joP7Ck5nb4KruvwdDKudAwIc/s320/mib3_fte_building-a-better-alien.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8ZcYuI64xbaPF3ymvvKi_l4e9knUrVErWdrUKxnuir-qfs4rkrKYHtUF_hcjxohkKE3-z0vmZm53dwq5KAlQ9b1Bacm4_ibf1DcBLtLAKxy0UEhYZDk68Y6bNom10GBP2FhAzO7GFw4/s1600/men-in-black-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8ZcYuI64xbaPF3ymvvKi_l4e9knUrVErWdrUKxnuir-qfs4rkrKYHtUF_hcjxohkKE3-z0vmZm53dwq5KAlQ9b1Bacm4_ibf1DcBLtLAKxy0UEhYZDk68Y6bNom10GBP2FhAzO7GFw4/s320/men-in-black-2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Men in Black)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Superheroes...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHX9FKZpGv3Bo_0-ja0ZiUJeJkJpRgTa9AbS6wh4vAbxIYLPNusT6TV4AH9AHmO34z6zL55a8vM5nHuihRc0b1uV3wqFS3OOC6pstYbpecNjJLuL6RJ2govXy3TxTNz3t7L0ksHzcJyo/s1600/megamind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHX9FKZpGv3Bo_0-ja0ZiUJeJkJpRgTa9AbS6wh4vAbxIYLPNusT6TV4AH9AHmO34z6zL55a8vM5nHuihRc0b1uV3wqFS3OOC6pstYbpecNjJLuL6RJ2govXy3TxTNz3t7L0ksHzcJyo/s1600/megamind.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Megamind)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMJYQjP1EUoIzRyZ8nLqS0-ZYuNzyODD0HVtnbtOe6-PcMc5_YGKLqrvYooyuDyB1U6piVTptFQBBb4Nd8-CKdOi8GAOMlIiTGa9gTIEw-zbeiScveENPEYcAnB4G23ilFzp4HAlyouc/s1600/superman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMJYQjP1EUoIzRyZ8nLqS0-ZYuNzyODD0HVtnbtOe6-PcMc5_YGKLqrvYooyuDyB1U6piVTptFQBBb4Nd8-CKdOi8GAOMlIiTGa9gTIEw-zbeiScveENPEYcAnB4G23ilFzp4HAlyouc/s1600/superman.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Superman)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And let's not forget the metal aliens...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjD4lhzW7w88EfmPt46SS7haKOo3lGTK9ZdBFwGFDkf5MPBaI9ZTXGKGFt8rf4oHPSUkEdWoE2m7RGPz5eRqQrTMlrcjG3SpdEqHaAVNRsV1OvuhB8CloqS6ne9nixORNJUVzA6fC3jzA/s1600/Alien_drone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjD4lhzW7w88EfmPt46SS7haKOo3lGTK9ZdBFwGFDkf5MPBaI9ZTXGKGFt8rf4oHPSUkEdWoE2m7RGPz5eRqQrTMlrcjG3SpdEqHaAVNRsV1OvuhB8CloqS6ne9nixORNJUVzA6fC3jzA/s320/Alien_drone.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is an attacker drone from Stargate Universe, set on autopilot to find and destroy any and all forms of technology that are at or above its level. They escaped, don't worry.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IGkBpyyy7x8I6jI8w1gXGndSS0pi7ZnwciQBfC_1qs_oAWLf1EY88LKs4aLuiDasM-tjhKv3e68PHWg2uyu15csNeglZ3w2sC8tN6H80LLBmcEw-0z6yt16p4J5EdSvK8UeAVjHd23g/s1600/Cylon-Raider-battlestar-galactica-3999170-1200-900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IGkBpyyy7x8I6jI8w1gXGndSS0pi7ZnwciQBfC_1qs_oAWLf1EY88LKs4aLuiDasM-tjhKv3e68PHWg2uyu15csNeglZ3w2sC8tN6H80LLBmcEw-0z6yt16p4J5EdSvK8UeAVjHd23g/s320/Cylon-Raider-battlestar-galactica-3999170-1200-900.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXR_wThE3QxwteRvJq6J3Vqth01QnzwPug7lI4eLjqhM8_Ep7Zj1fSMucVn283DjAqnkd_2fjC_HzOKkKoFS8fm9eNDAup17fS_BtWnlG7LQkizNZxJCe393gqOUksXssRJ6U947RmCx4/s1600/cylon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXR_wThE3QxwteRvJq6J3Vqth01QnzwPug7lI4eLjqhM8_Ep7Zj1fSMucVn283DjAqnkd_2fjC_HzOKkKoFS8fm9eNDAup17fS_BtWnlG7LQkizNZxJCe393gqOUksXssRJ6U947RmCx4/s320/cylon.jpg" width="274" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These two are Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. Everyone in Battlestar is technically an alien, but these are not human aliens. Of course, humans invented them...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbQ1b9ewx-MKEHTEKL3l8aj4XsM_BFMix04Vh8K19emwIbJ5X6lhFIjMRe5YbdJiXFZCC-gKUL3Ut5gSDYbRQqEzrp_ue1XLYRaJdHdR4bYX6IvfOB6OLEDYft1uIPa692Fh4r3a7zv8/s1600/cybermen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbQ1b9ewx-MKEHTEKL3l8aj4XsM_BFMix04Vh8K19emwIbJ5X6lhFIjMRe5YbdJiXFZCC-gKUL3Ut5gSDYbRQqEzrp_ue1XLYRaJdHdR4bYX6IvfOB6OLEDYft1uIPa692Fh4r3a7zv8/s320/cybermen.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And the all-famous Cybermen (Doctor Who), not technically aliens, but creatures invented by humans (and made out of humans) usually brought in from another universe or from the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pIhTcM0ONA6v2BtB8yWAyjJ1PyDjtdFHM9C0ylEbvhxycrzkP-azvujM-ZnSU5qQKe-gAwaxJg4qkgFBEDcJAXFX8XvOO7Wyy2SI7IJCRH9SBTq8NqUR0yPRYPSNcw-60EZAShzBeRc/s1600/transformer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pIhTcM0ONA6v2BtB8yWAyjJ1PyDjtdFHM9C0ylEbvhxycrzkP-azvujM-ZnSU5qQKe-gAwaxJg4qkgFBEDcJAXFX8XvOO7Wyy2SI7IJCRH9SBTq8NqUR0yPRYPSNcw-60EZAShzBeRc/s320/transformer.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And we wouldn't want to leave out a Transformer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm also going to throw a nice alien in, for good measure:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4fKmGaKX0UqAvToc2sASqYluGAbriyaqHccGvzHgWFG9ALSdxZOQ556EAlzQ494idMI0x4zTLdd89Vm28i1xAS4bp3QIrmomRUWh05rDN5R7AXqtAivY2hBKQkNncKBqJQg6nXW-sP8/s1600/_300x199_5039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4fKmGaKX0UqAvToc2sASqYluGAbriyaqHccGvzHgWFG9ALSdxZOQ556EAlzQ494idMI0x4zTLdd89Vm28i1xAS4bp3QIrmomRUWh05rDN5R7AXqtAivY2hBKQkNncKBqJQg6nXW-sP8/s400/_300x199_5039.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These aliens can morph into anything you want them to be. They are in Star Trek, Next Generation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And finally, I'm going to leave you with a taste of one of my favourite aliens - the Clockwork Aliens (Doctor Who).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTatyYQiF8YrQkMS2JmE-hwN2K6PS3vL2PL7Dq5bzY_9Qx9Y5iamxzboW2kiCdIr1bh59r5X6ooHFjuTKxfkLSN_3NZaOKSQkYMYmtkC7in2NVR8lqfhyphenhyphenq1usCVSktFE-b09pp0IS1pg/s1600/clockwork-man-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTatyYQiF8YrQkMS2JmE-hwN2K6PS3vL2PL7Dq5bzY_9Qx9Y5iamxzboW2kiCdIr1bh59r5X6ooHFjuTKxfkLSN_3NZaOKSQkYMYmtkC7in2NVR8lqfhyphenhyphenq1usCVSktFE-b09pp0IS1pg/s320/clockwork-man-l.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYVegyZAv-yQTbMfqlVRzJicj-Pi35bp_ejhI5A5zYAiYKwY2InPCdZk0jgK6znzv3jQC3zbKwasZ6psGcjPvADkNQ0OumKaHsyydhVDqQhM65JIJxr0yg8b1oBAHVh-2maZcseTC06w/s1600/clockwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYVegyZAv-yQTbMfqlVRzJicj-Pi35bp_ejhI5A5zYAiYKwY2InPCdZk0jgK6znzv3jQC3zbKwasZ6psGcjPvADkNQ0OumKaHsyydhVDqQhM65JIJxr0yg8b1oBAHVh-2maZcseTC06w/s320/clockwork.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, these are probably better classified as alien robots, as they seem to function under only one directive and have no willpower to do otherwise. In that sense, they are slightly terrifying, because they're taking people's internal organs to make their ship function properly, but they're so beautiful! And imagine they weren't evil killing machines - they would make awesome butlers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is far from all of the aliens in the fictional universes of Earth, as it leaves out all books and about a million movies and other TV shows, but it's a start.</span></div>
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arielehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860617806045597315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5415370428057969314.post-2135973532142947772012-11-15T16:27:00.000-08:002012-11-15T16:27:14.460-08:00The Lonely Whelk: Excerpt 1<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This post is largely for my parents. I am currently in the throes of National Novel Writing Month, topping today with 32,000 words, and for their sake, I put up a little bit of my novel - rough and unedited - so they can see what I'm up to. The picture is a crudely paint-made illustration of the planet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN9h_BSMHB-3tZKBTXnEues8bV4qP49k0GJscPmJjzwZ6iUG9cq5anGa7sceXOFIxx_lPs8XtiMaVMdtMRLCP2ALbjLjGbqnRGGUrST1fMcw6psDNqag-I4-RioU8LXCo8jpa919-kqY/s1600/donut-ocean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN9h_BSMHB-3tZKBTXnEues8bV4qP49k0GJscPmJjzwZ6iUG9cq5anGa7sceXOFIxx_lPs8XtiMaVMdtMRLCP2ALbjLjGbqnRGGUrST1fMcw6psDNqag-I4-RioU8LXCo8jpa919-kqY/s200/donut-ocean.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">They
called it the coffin room, although the boxes in the room weren’t, per se,
coffins. The boxes looked like coffins, they were lined with silk, and they
even had people in them, but the people weren’t dead. They were sleeping.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
room was long, and Hawking’s cane clanged loudly, echoing among the boxes with
each step he took. Towards the end of the room, lay one coffin, separated from
the rest. A wheel stuck out from the end. He slowly hobbled over to it and
leaned his cane against the side. Grasping the old metal wheel with both hands,
he began to turn it slowly. He glanced down the room again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rows
and rows of people sleeping. Hawkings typically tried not to think about it, as
thoughts of coffins filled with people that could wake up did not usually suit
for pleasant dreams. The room was weird, and he had never heard anyone voice a
different opinion than that. The wheel turned. The coffin’s lid began to open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It
looked even weirder from inside the coffin, Holland thought, as the cover to
her box opened slowly and squeakily. It sounded like the gears of an old, giant
clock. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her
limbs felt like ice. One leg tingled a bit, the other felt like a dead log; she
twitched her fingers and rolled her eyes around in her head. Her ears were
regaining feeling, which was weird because she had always imagined that her
nose would be first and then the feeling would spread like warm water pouring
down her skin. It didn’t feel like that it all. It felt like her son was
driving his toy train up her leg while her ex-husband stabbed her in the back.
And here came the emotions. She hated those.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hawking’s
head appeared over the side of her coffin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She
coughed and gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“By
god, Hawkings,” she croaked. “You look like you’re eight hundred years old!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Seven-hundred
and ninety-three,” he replied, as a broad smile broke into his wizened eyes.
His face was partially hidden by a monstrous, pitch black beard and mustache.
“You look as young and beautiful as the day we put you under.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Has
it really been six hundred years?” she asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yep.
Minus two weeks. I had to wake you up because Old Man Jacobs died last night so
the crew was down to just me and Squeak.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Jacobs
is dead? Does that mean that Captain Abrams and Lady Mastin are dead too?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes,
ma’am. Although, we won’t have much opportunity to miss Lady Mastin. She spent
the last two years of her life carefully recording her voice into the computer
system.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Holland
raised her arm. “Ow!” she exclaimed as blood rushed backwards into her body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Careful,”
said Hawkings. “I need you healthy and strong to help me wake up the rest of
these bastards that spent the last six hundred years sleeping. You know the
rules, wake up from stasis – then you’ve got to sleep for twenty-four hours.
Let’s just hope I don’t croak before you get back up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“No,
wait,” she said. “My son…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You
can watch the briefing vids when you wake back up, sweetheart. But you need to
sleep. Or you’ll die. Literally.” Hawkings hobbled over to her med-station. He
turned a knob and a yellow liquid seeped into the tubes that fed into her box.
“You won’t feel anything. It’s just sleeping medication.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I
don’t want to go… back… to…” Holland took a deep breath and fell silent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Sweet
dreams,” he whispered, leaning to kiss her forehead. “Please, wake up soon. So
I don’t die alone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*****<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
rain weaseled its way out of the clouds and through the air, landing cautiously
on the ground and slinking into every corner and hole it could find. The street
lamps hadn’t bothered to turn on, so the light that lay casually across the
sidewalk primarily came from the windows of an old Victorian-style house. The
sign that swung in the light wind read “Mr. Gwyn Oliphant, Therapist.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although
it was rather late, Mr. Oliphant had a patient.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I’m
a villain,” said Maxwell Dippings, leaning back in his chair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That’s
very interesting,” said his therapist. “What makes you think that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I
have an evil plan,” Maxwell replied in a quite straightforward manner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“And
what would that be?” Gwyn Oliphant, XXXV, scribbled rapidly in his legal
notepad – a carryover from his days as an intern with Jeffery Oliphant,
Attorney at Law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh,
I can’t tell you.” Maxwell braided his fingers together. “I can only tell my
arch rival, and then only right before my plan is about to succeed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“And
who is your arch rival?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“His
name is John.” Maxwell smirked. “And boy is he going to regret that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Regret
what?” asked Mr. Oliphant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Being
named John.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“This
is all quite fascinating,” Mr. Oliphant replied. “What is it about his name
that he will regret?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Having
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes,
but why?” Mr. Oliphant looked over the top of his half-moon glasses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh,
I can’t tell you that. But just pay attention to the news.” Maxwell took a deep
breath. “The news tells all.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well
then, would you care to let me know when your plan is going to go into effect?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Right
this very instant,” said Maxwell. He stood and leaped through the window.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
sound of shattering glass barreled into Mr. Oliphant’s ears as he jumped from
his seat and watched Maxwell Dippings sprint down the street. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Thanks
for all your help, Mr. Oliphant,” he yelled over his shoulder. “You won’t
regret it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mr.
Oliphant shook his head. “I should probably call the police on that one.” He
looked at his watch. “But after dinner, I think.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maxwell
Dippings did not run home, assuming that eventually Mr. Oliphant would, in
fact, call the police. Instead, he headed to the old playground which was
overrun with weeds and pricker bushes. He leaped over the rotting, three foot,
wooden fence that had once completely surrounded the miniature park, and made
his way through the weeds to the main structure. It had a slide, a six foot
platform with some holes and a fake steering wheel, and a couple of rope
ladders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ducking
underneath the slide, Maxwell entered his secret lair. He had dug out the
ground underneath the playground and added slats of wood to make walls.
Encouraging the weeds go grow up and around the slats as camouflage had proved
harder than he had expected, because, while they were quite a voracious species, they didn't really grow up as much as out. An old rug that smelled a
bit like wet possum covered the ground, and a few pillows and a feather blanket
made the tiny room a bit more comfortable – well, it would have been
comfortable if the rain hadn't made everything damp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pictures
of Maxwell’s arch rival were tacked onto the makeshift wooden walls. A large
map of the planet graced one wall, and tacks with strings covered it –
although, the tacks didn't seem to mark particular locations or create any sort
of pattern, but just looked a bit random, as if purely for show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maxwell
chuckled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Now,”
he said, “I only have to wait. Wait and it will be mine. All mine. Just mine.
Not his, but mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He
pulled a small box out from under the rug and opened it slowly. Inside the box
was a pencil – a yellow, wooden pencil, with a graphite lead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“It
will be mine,” he whispered again, and curled up in his damp pillows to wait.</span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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