Well, So Much for Keeping it a Secret

Yup. It's my birthday. I was going to be all *hush hush* about it but Someoe decided to post it on her blog *shakes head at Rebecca/Sonshine* and then another someoe posted it up on Facebook *shakes head at Claire/Co-Worker* so the Cat's out of the bag as they say.

Huh. People say weird things.

Oh! Today I am writing with a sparkly purple pen! It's amazing.

Oh, and the aforementioned Claire bought me caffeinated sugar coffee. I haven't had caffeine in I don't know how long, so... I'm on the verge of running around the parking lot squeeling.

BUT that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is... Um... Write about things that I get to do now that I'm 21.

1. Find a good excuse not to drink liquer/alcohol. I'm trying to decide if I should lie and say I'm allergic (but lying's bad) or if I should laugh at the absurdity at the thought. I already can't walk in a straight line, I often slur my words, and speaking coherantly can cause me issues. So... Alcohol? Not a good idea. I also am thinking about staring at people and explaining to them that my grandma was an alcoholic, and I'm Terrified of that happening to me too. If I could cry on demand, this would be perfect. Any other ideas?

2. I can drive with my soon to be sixteen-years-old brother. This is very important to my brother. Because he'll be able to drive with just me in the car, and no parents. In fact, I believe he's more excited than I am. About turning 21, not the driving part. I trust him. Plus, he knows if he breaks anything he's totally paying for it from his pocket. Or from his bank. I doubt he has money in his pockets, though he probably has other, scarier, things in there. Like... dirt, fuzz, and day old french fries. ;P

3. I get to be kicked off of my parents insurance. Aw, what a thoughtful birthday present. *grins* Now I have to find a way to Never get sick Ever. I'm scared of Hospitals already anyway, so this shouldn't be hard to do.

4. I get to pay off my school debt (okay, this isn't directly correlated to turning 21, but I'm running out of things to say.)

5. I got to pay the government 80 bucks and 50 cents to get a new license. Again, awww... Just the birthday present I was lookig for. I Lurve giving the government my money.

5. Erm... I get to... be... Human? Um... Okay. I get to run out of ideas.

So that's pretty much all, my LamNams.

A Big Giant Hug and Thank You for everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday. I love you guys! I talk about you as if you're "real people" and people look at me strange. But seriously, for reals, you guys are Amazing and Encouraging and all that *hugs* Thank You for being Awesome!!

The Summation of the A-Z Challenge (temporally displaced)

Lee from Tossing it Out asked those who participated in the A-Z challenge to reflect on how the challenge affect us, our lives, our blogs, and the general well-being of horses.

Oh, wait. I forgot that this is temporally displaced, so you don't know about the horses yet. Don't worry. You will.

Tell us how it affected you and your blog.

Well, it made me a little bit more crazy, but it made me think of things to blog about that I probably wouldn't have thought about blogging about. Like mythology. I never would've found out how many of you enjoy mythology if not for this challenge.

How did you come up with ideas?

I closed my eyes and thought about the first thing that popped into my head, then began typing. Yeah. Pretty much. Which is why there'll be some pretty weird posts coming up. I also read other people's blogs and used their ideas as springboards, or sponge cakes, or whatever. Mmm... Cake.

How did you find motivation?

Usually the idea of failure is enough to keep me motivated. This time, however, it was not enough. *hangs head* But I will carry on until I can bring this to completion, and next year I totally want to do this again.

How will it change the way you blog?

I'm going to try and actually blog regularly now. About more than just "this is what I'm writing now." But also, not being afraid to blog about my random writing experiences.

What did the challenge do for your writing or the way you interacted with other bloggers?

Well, when I totalled my car, or was rushed for finals, y'all chimed in to encourage me. It was like... Scones. Like a little piece of world peace. It definitely reminded me that I'm not alone in the world. Seriously. I am so stoked to catch up on your guys blogs. You are all little scones, making the world a more sconeful place.

And in conclusion:

Don't let horses drive cars

And don't text while driving.

Trust me. It will all make sense one day.

F is for Freedom or Frustration? Followers, and Fantastical Creatures

Yeah, um, that blog title is huge, and I don't know how well I'll cover everything, but I figure this will help distract me from translating the Descent of Ishtar (kill me now!) and give me something else to think about.

First off: Forty Followers!!!!!!! *spazzes out* I can't believe it. You guys mean so much to me. Knowing there are people out there reading and commenting.... It's Fantasically Fantabulous.

Second off: I figure there are two aspects to writing: Freedom and Frustration.

Freedom!

I picked this pic because for me, this embodies freedom. A path to take where you will, when you will, benches to pause and rest on. There are (hopefully) these freedom moments when writing. When all the words are lining up just right. When you can sit for an entire day typing, forgetting about food, forgetting about sleep, forgetting about everything except the world unwrapping itself around. (Okay, some of you would never forget to eat, but I would so just imagine you could forget to eat.) It is freeing to be able to write.

It is also Frustratin:

His main character just shot three people and squawked like a duck. Ahhh!

THEN there are days where we can't even write two words, everything we write sounds like garbage in a rusty garbage bin, and when we try to get a character to act correctly they end up flying off on spaceships and leaving us alone to sit in front of our laptops/computers/notebooks trying not to scream or throw shoes at the nearest individual. We know we're writing for a reason, but the only thing we see is the myriad letters laughing at you, because you can never be a writer.

This is why all writers are insane. We have our FREEDOM! VICTORY! days, followed by a day of Frustrating, and it leaves everyone around us wondering: What is wrong with them?

What are your favorite Freedom moments? Do you have a special way of dealing with the Days of Frustration? (other than eating lot's of sugar and pretending to be a cow... not that I've ever done that, or even thought of doing that.)

And just for quick...

My friend and I were looking up mythological creatures when we found this:

The Uma-No-Ashi, which is a leg that dangles from trees to kick passersby. Don't you love the Japanese? That is just so random.

Then there's the Fear Gorta, who comes around during famines. According to legend they originate from Hungry Grass, which is a bit of grass cursed by fairies. At least, that's what wikipedia says, and we all know that if wikipedia says it it has to be true. *eyes roll*

Oh! And CONTESTS!

Jackee over at Winded Words is having a contest. Apparently her prizes are lucky, so check her out.

Also, Lisa and Laura have an EPIC contest over at their blog. They're sisters, and who doesn't love sisters?

Alright. That's enough for one day. My homework is feeling a good amount of rejection, so this blog has served its purpose.

Following Your Own Footsteps...

Okay, so the name of this post sounds super egotistical, but give me a chance to explain myself. The fact is, following your own footsteps sucks, like lemons sucks (except that I like lemons, but it's a word picture, so as long as your picturing a sour face, the job has been effective.) And the fact is I sure hope I'm not just following my own footsteps, because then I would probably end up falling off some cliff.

Which kinda' brings me to the point of the blog:

I always thought you had to wait until you got published, or at least had an agent for goodness' sake, before you could start a blog about the writing journey, but then I realized "hey, since when do I follow the rules?" Because one of the things a good writer knows how to do, is how to break the rules properly. So I am going to start blogging about my writing experience now, because it's fun, and because I will enjoy it.

But more than for my own benefit:

I hope to be able to network and find other newbie authors (and maybe not so newbie) because I love authors. I love people (except for when people become customers, then I just want to punch them in the face. Okay, not really punch, because that's violent, but I do want to sigh at them, and wonder why people become mad crazy when they enter the role of the customer.) So hopefully I can make some super cool "cyber" friends through this website, and that way I don't have to just follow my own footsteps.

Oy. Cyber friends. That sounds like you're all robots are something. Oog. That's not what I meant.

Anyhow. I kinda' think these posts I always do for beginning blogs sounds lame and boring. This is what I'm going to do, this is why, blah, blah, blah. So I'm going to shut up now.