I am not dead!

I don't even know why I bother apologizing for my non-existent posting, seeing as no one actually reads this blog, but I am going to anyway.

On that note, I am sorry that I have not been posting and I shall endeavor to not to do so again.

Okay, now that the pointless apology is out of the way... What should  I do on this blog? Should I rant? Should I review books or movies? Should I do something else? What should I do?

Ranting would be okay, but what would I rant about? Obviously, it would be about things that annoy me, however that takes real talent to bug me. I don't really like reviewing things, I mainly watch or read things for enjoyment. What else can I do?

I know! Poetical postings and daily rambles.

Poetical postings is kind of self explanatory. I do want to impose some rules upon myself.

1. Poems may be original, song lyrics, or poems that inspire or interest me.
2. Poems must have an explanation of why it is being posted. If it is one of my originals, I will explain what inspired me or why I wrote it. 
3. Poems not my own should be analyzed and my interpretation of them posted as well as proof found in the poem itself.
4. Song lyric postings should have a link of some sort to the music and the lyrics must be completely accurate.

There are also some rules for the daily rambles:

1. The post must have a mood reading and a horoscope reading, to interest me and give me something to write about. 
2. Rambles can be about anything that I find inspiring, interesting, or annoying.
3. The post must also have a "Listening to" section. This section includes a song, or musical piece, that I am currently listening to. 
4. Analysis of daily activities in order to help me de-stress from the day and learn from what happened.

These rules will certainly help me, even though I don't have any readers of this blog. Oh well. 

Senebti! 

Complaints of a Teenager

There are few things that I hate more than the current job market. Seriously, I have been looking for a job for almost four -- count 'em -- FOUR months! My previous job kicked me off the schedule when I turned in my two weeks notice (that was considerate) and the job offer that lead to the two weeks notice fell through. I haven't heard from them in FOUR months.

I know that it is silly to be complaining on a blog that no one reads but I can't seem to help myself. I have had other interviews and they said that they would get back to me. There is one job opening that I am pariticularly hopeful about, but nothing as of yet.

Sometimes I wonder if I should be worrying about a job right now. I mean, I have college coming up this fall and senior year is coming to a close. I have had little time to write my poems, watch anime, read, or do anything that is for my personal entertainment. I have a research paper that will be due soon after spring break is over plus Spanish projects that are going to be due at the same time!

Oh well, I can't do anything about that, but I can do something about my lack of employment. I just need to keep working at it and hope that something comes along soon.

Ciao!

The Blizzard of 2011

I don' t know about anyone else, but I am kind of upset that we had that blizzard. I liked having a break from school, but now we have to stay in school until June! This upsets me. My school is located in Northern Indiana, so we already have lots of snow days because of lake effect snow from Michigan. It is annoying that we cannot seem to get days like Martin Luther King Jr. Day or President's Day off anymore.

On another note, can anyone else believe that TEXAS got six inches of snow?! That says a lot about the nationwide cold snap.

Anyway, that's all I have to say on this. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and that Spring comes soon.

Later.

Fanfiction and DeviantArt Account

I know that I haven't been very faithful with this blog, but I am hoping to change that. Anyway, this is just to inform my nonexistent readers of my fanfiction and deviantart accounts in the unlikely case that someone wants to see what I have written or posted. Just wanted to put this up and start my new blog regime. I might start a video log on my YouTube account as well, I don't know yet.

A New Book!

I recently was able to purchase a historical book on the the curse of the Hope Diamond. When I saw the movie Titanic years ago I wondered if there actually was a Hope Diamond, and there is! I was so excited especially when I found out that the diamond was going to be on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

According to the book the Hope Diamond was mined in India and the raw, uncut diamond was an intense blue color and one hundred twelve and three-sixteenths carats. For a diamond of this size to have been found and in such a rare color was a completely unique opportunity. When the french king, Louis XIV, bought the diamond it cost him 1.8 million dollars of today's money.

Throughout the diamond's history it has been said to be cursed and the 'proof' is in the ill-fortune that occured to the owners of the diamond itself. This rare and valuable gem brought publicity to the Smithsonian but will bad luck and the curse follow?

Manga Versus Normal Books

Many things separate a manga from a book that any person would read. Three of the main ingredients in a manga are artwork, dialogue, the way the manga is read,  and narration.

Unlike most fiction books written today, there is no set narration style in manga. The narration depends solely on the manga-ka, or the author of the manga. Most manga-ka will write the narration in the point of view of the central character or have no narration at all and rely only on the dialogue and the artwork of the story. For example, in the manga Black Cat, the only narration happens in the specification of the location in the artwork and in Train Heartnet's and Sven Volfied's flashbacks, when they narrate, and even then the narration sequences are far and few between.

Without the narration that is present in most books of any genre, manga must rely on the dialogue of the characters and any particular characters thoughts that are not spoken. These two devices are separated by the way they are presented in the panel. Once again in Black Cat, spoken words appear in speech bubbles and unheard thoughts are shown as words connected to a character by a black line. Another technique is to show onomatopoeia, or sound effects. These are usually shown in a different font and size.

Another aspect that sets manga apart is the fact that the setting is not specified n dialogue, but in the artwork of the story. The backdrop provides a lot of the backstory and the manga relies heavily on the artistic ability of the artist.

Finally, the way that authentic manga is read plays a huge role in a manga's difference from contemporary books. In an 'unflopped' manga the story is read the way it would have been in Japan, or backwards for the rest of the world. This preserves the integrity of the artwork and prevents confusion and mix ups in the manga itself. For example, if the author had a character wearing a shirt that said 'BOY' in a 'flopped' manga it would read 'YOB' whereas in the 'unflopped' version it would remain unchanged.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan

I know that the Ranger's Apprentice Series could be considered an easy read, but, frankly, I do not care. The story begins in the book Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan and is a very good read. The story of Will, a boy who has grown up in the Ward at Redmont Castle, in the sovreign kingdom of Araluen, with no knowledge of who his parents are. Alone and bullied by Horace, a boy twice his size, Will takes refuge in his natural climbing abilites and the knowledge that no one ever looks up.

Nervous, unlike his wardmates, about the coming Choosing Day, a day when the craftsmasters would consider the wards for their own apprentices and decide their futures. If a ward is not chosen, he is sent to work on one of the farms that supplies the fiefdom with it's grown produce. After his wardmates are chosen, Will is considered but no one, except the quiet and forbidding Halt, the Ranger, is willing to accept the small boy as their apprentice. From that day forward, Will is a Ranger's apprentice.

The Rangers were a mysterious group shrouded in obscurity, leading the common people to believe that they were sorcerors who practiced black magic. The skills required to be a Ranger, stealth, silence, and, most of all, the ability to strategize on the spot, make the Rangers a group feared by the commoners and enemies of the crown alike. Will has been thrust into this world and already the people of the town see him as someone to be respected, for fear of what he would do to them. The training he goes through is grueling, but he makes it out okay. By the end of the book, he is well on his way to becoming a great Ranger.

Will's struggles could be connected to anyone's difficulties in this modern world. His denial into the other crafts that were available to him was based on his height and stature; he has always been rather small for his age. However, his abilities more than make up for his lack of height and parentage, but only Halt is able to recognize that. Being accepted into the Rangers will give Will the opportunities that he would never have had access to if he had not become Halt's apprentice. This act of determination and trust in his own abilities gives Will the strength he needs to survive his harsh training and learn the trade which he will come to adore in time.