This year, in my English class we read Macbeth. I knew that the play was about some guy who killed some other guy and couldn’t wash the blood off his hands. Little did I know. I wasn’t very exited. The previous year we didn’t read any Shakespeare because he wasn’t on the AP test. The last play I’d read before Macbeth was Othello: not my favorite literature piece, but I fought through it.

This year when my teacher told us we were going to read Macbeth, I was indifferent: just another play where everyone dies. I was expecting long speeches, blank verse, extended metaphors, etc. I wasn’t expecting to understand or appreciate Macbeth.We finished the first Act quickly. I understood it all. No need for sparknotes or pink money or whatever. For the first time, I could comprehend what the play was about.

I thought maybe I’d gotten lucky. But no, I grasped all five acts easily. Macbeth is my favorite. It became my most annotated play and my most wrinkled,

Two weeks after Macbeth, we began reading Hamlet. I thought I wasn’t going to understand it. But I did. I get it. I was so happy when I finally understood what the famous “To be or not to be” speech was all about.

We’re still not done with Hamlet, but I’m looking forward to reading the end. I know that everyone dies because someone spoiled the ending for me but I still want to know.Now I want to see through Shakespeare’s words, not through the condensed summary written by a sparknotes writer or through the simple words of a classmate.

I know it soudns geeky, but I like Shakespeare. [specially Macbeth xD]

Well I just finished my NaNo for this year! I have to say this year was way more difficult than last year. this year I had to find time to write, do calculus homework and apply to colleges. But after all the toiling, the sweating and the cramped up fingers, it feels good…

Halfway through the month, the “v” key on my keyboard stopped working. I have to hit it really hard to get it to work. I found myself avoiding words or names that contained the dreaded letter “v.”

I was realyl worried that I woudl run out of plot before I reached 50k. And I did. So I had to improise. The plot of Airheart was over, I;d reached the final scene with the final lines my mai character said adn I still had 10k left to fill. So I had to improvise. I wrote a series fo short stories, little things I had thoguth of some time ago that were pertinent to the main story but were also superfluous. I called them Incidents. There’s six of them. They all tell a short story covering an adventure of Daica and Cryseeh or Evan and Angela. There’s even one for a minor character, Adam.

Now that NaNo is over I can blow away the dust from this poor blog and begin to write for it again.

Goodbye monster NaNo, see ya next year like always.  Now, let me get out my red pen and edit Airheart…

A few days ago I was introduced to an experience that until that point seemed impossible to me. Even though I am a teenager, I have a pretty stable relationship with my parents. I’ve never gotten in a significant argument with them. My parents and I were on our way to the movie theater. It was Sunday afternoon and the sky was slowly becoming darker. As we drove down the street, we went by a small demonstration against Prop 8. They were waving signs that read “No on Prop 8,”  and other such messages.

My father looked at the demonstrators and grimaced in disgust. He shook his head in disagreement and made no comment. We began to discuss the current situation of gay marriage and I expressed my opposition to Prop 8. It was like my parents were stabbed in the chest. How could I, the daughter they had raised and educated, support the gay marriage movement? They were just dumbfounded. It really wasn’t a surprise that my parents were anti same sex marriages, I mean they are Catholic. But I was a surprised at their reaction.

They became really angry and confronted me with arguments that I was going against religion, against what God had dictated upon humanity. They repeated that those ways were wrong. I asked how. They said that the purpose of marriage was to procreate, and that same sex couples couldn’t, therefore they were not fully united in the eyes of God. I asked about infertile couples, their reply: it’s different. I told them that to me, the purpose and reason of marriage is love. I said that no one has the right, not even God, to tell us who we should love. We continued to argue for some time. It got pretty intense.

They told me that I “was not raised like this.” We arrived at the movies and I left. The last statement still echoes in my mind. I believe I was raised with an education so that I can be informed when making decisions such as this. I guess my parents didn’t foresee the possibility of the education backfiring on them.

What if studying for your Art History, English, Chemistry, or Geography tests helped the world? Would you participate? Now there are no excuses.I just found out about this awesome site that donates a certain amount of rice grains for every question you get right.

It’s easy. You log on to their site, choose a subject, answer multiple choice questions in order to get rice donated.The subjects include:

• Famous paintings
• Chemical Symbols (Basic and Full)
• English Grammar
• English Vocabulary
• Identify Countries on a Map
• World Capitals
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish
• Multiplication Tables

Ok, yes the last one is a little too basic, but hey, that means you’ll get more right and therefore donate more rice. However, most of these subjects are part of the core curriculum in  most high schools. I’m going tot guess that the most popular one is English Vocabulary. Why? The answer is SAT tests.

For every question you get right, the site donates 20 grains of rise to the UN World Food Program directly. I know it sounds like an insignificant amount, but it’s better than nothing. In less than ten minutes playing the English Vocabulary game, I donated 2900 grains (*applause*). There’s nothing to lose. I learned over twenty words, (Guessing is ok, when you get one question wrong, they tell you the answer and ask it again) and I made it to level 20 out of 60.

So, if you are one of the following (check all that apply)

a) a person longing to help people, but tied down by lack of resources, time, or restraint of society

b) a nerd (it’s ok, you can admit it.)

c) a geek (I know it’s the same as nerd, but some argue there is a difference)

d) a philanthropist

e) someone who does not know the definition of “philanthropist”

f) someone who loves helping people

g) someone who is addicted to computer games

h) a procrastinator who looks for and uses any excuse not to do schoolwork

i) anyone with at least five minutes of free time during which they can open their heart and click on the right answer

If you qualify for one or more of the items listed above, congratulations! You may log on to FREERICE.COM and help the world one question at a time (*fanfare, cheering, confetti*) However if you did not qualify for anything on the list, please do not feel left out and log on the FREERICE.COM!

Thank you all. And remember, “about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children” (Free Rice: FAQ)

I can’t wait until November. It is sucha  great month: there’s NaNoWriMo, my birthday, it’s the beginning of the rainy season, the best time to have tangerines… the list is just endless.

For this year’s Nano, I’m writing fiction, but i’m not sure I i will do fantasy again or if I will go for mainstream fiction. Before, I’d decided to expand on a flash fiction prompt I answered on this blog (Hidden Under Your Nose). But during Worldbuilding Month, I got really Exited about the stories of Agarithia. I really want to add more to The Lion’s Head (last year’s NaNo). Aww man!

Ok the only fair way to decide this is trhough a con flip. Let me look for a quarter in my backpack… *rumages through bag* Aha! here’s one. It’s a New York quarter. Heads: Add to The Lion’s Head; Tails: Do Hidden Under Your Nose. 50-50 shot.

Drum roll please!

Heads! The Lion’s Head it is. Cool now I have something to write about. Now I need to start managing my schedule so I can write and get all my homework done.

I just finished writing my first drafts of the UC admissions essays. I think those were the hardest papers I’ve ever written. Well the first drafts are done! I basically sat down in front of the computer, read the prompt and began to type. THat’s what my teacher told our class. Just type, don’t stop. This way your true self will come through. The hardest part was thinking about what to write.

Now I’m going to step away from them for a couple of days. Forget about them, and then come back with a fresh mind. I know that next time I look at them, I’ll say: “Did I really write this? This is horrible!”

after one month a five days together, my dog was put to sleep yesterday. she had distemper, there was nothing the doctors could do. i took her to the vet yesterday morning because she was partially paralyzed and foaming at the mouth. i feared it was rabies. but she had gotten her shot two week earlier. it couldn’t be.

we rode together in the back of the car. she was wrapped in her favorite blanket and she wouldn’t move. she didn’t respond to her name anymore, i could tell she was scared. that was the last time i was with her.

the vet rushed her in for observation. after twenty minutes, she came out and told us it wasn’t rabies. when she said that, i was happy and overjoyed. soon we would be together in the living room playing tug of war and catch. i showed her a video of one of her seizures. she watched it carefully and  said that the nurses drugged my poor puppy to control the seizures. the vet said the only way to know what she had was to do a blood test. they performed it. my dad and i waited outside for an hour and a half. finally the vet called us into a room.

she told us that everything was ok. that harmonee (my puppy) was a little dehydrated. they had put subcutaneous fluids to help her. i asked what was causing the seizures. the vet said she didn’t know, but she feared it was something really bad. she said there was a dog neurologist in irvine. she called him for any ideas.

the vet came back and told us that she probably had distemper. there was a minute of silence. finally my dad asked the dreaded question, “is it mortal?” the vet only nodded. “is there anything we can do?” the vet shook her head. “we can do a lot of test to see if she really has distemper. it’s a really hard disease to test for. but most likely she has it.” silence again. the thought was already creeping into my head. i was trying to fight it off. there was still a chance right? my eyes moistened with tears. “the only thing i would recommend is to put her to sleep.”

“put her to sleep” those words echoed in my mind. tears spilled down my cheeks. my dad nodded. i bit my sleeve. “we will take care of the body.” my dad agreed. the vet said she would get everything ready and get me a box of kleenex. before she left she asked me if i wanted to be there. i said no. as she opened the door, i asked her if i could keep the collar. she said yes.

my dad and i sat in the waiting area. he signed the death sentence and harmonee died on september 13, 2008. i didn’t get to say goodbye. after it was done, the vet came out and told me i had been a good owner. she returned to me the folder that contained harmonee’s adoption papers, vaccine records, and training handouts. she said she was sorry. i nodded. she gave me the collar. we left. i cried, i still cry.

i wear her collar as a bracelet.  sometimes, i hear the jingling of her tags. then i think it was all a dream. that she is still running around the backyard, waiting for me to go an play with her.

she was less than five months old. i miss her. i’m not ashamed to say that i’m crying as i type this.

Goodbye harmonee. wait for me wherever you are. be a good girl and don’t forget me, i know i won’t forget you.

Harmonee

3/25/08 to 9/13/08

“i won’t let you fall away from me, you will never fade.” [from Oh Star, by Paramore]

I miss you and i love you

Finally, after thinking about this issue for a long time, I;ve come to a decision. The language of Amtret is going to be changed. The words will remain the same, but the writting method will change. Originally, I had thought of Amtret as written phonetically,but when I set off to design the characters, I realized I’d bitten more than I can chew. I had little over 50 characters, with many more to go. I was runnig out of characters.

For simplicity’s sake, Amtret will now be written with an alphabet. Similar to our system. In Amtret, words of universal importance will have their own character. These words include the elements, the nations, the names of places, things like that. The symbol of Sitket, will be kept because of its strong ties with the mythology of Agarithia.

I was working on the new written Amtret using photoshop, when my computer crashed. It’s fine now, but I didn’t get to save the changes. I will recover as soon as I can and post the new Amtret.

The symbol, Sitket (figure 1) is named after the goddess Sitket (Figure 2). Sitket is a woman in her middle years. She is characterized by her orange skin and the blue and white markings on her face. Sitket has power over the clouds and thunder. She is associated with destruction sent from the heavens. It is  when Sitket, one of her servants, makes an appearance or leaves an omen, tragedy will strike within three days. Her servants include sharks, vultures, and lions.

When sitket was created, her purpose was to bring the world to an end. When Sitket makes an true appearance, the world will collapse within three hours.

Elves used to sacrifice babies born with the signs of Sitket to avoid the end of the world. Birthmarks that resembles her markings, marked a child for sacrifice to Sitket’s enemy. Atika, the god of time.

Figure 2

Figure 1

When Emir, a 15 year old Illusionist Elf living in the small town on Terr (which no longer exists) heard that Oasis had fallen to Akmar Etida, he knew the end of his world was near. Terr was on the beorder between the Golden Desert and The Jaden Mountains; it wouldn’t be long until Etida headed back to the Ereti Territory (now known as the Jaden Kindgom). Etida was not completely welcome there, but he had powerful supportes who could silence the opposition easily.

Emir watched as the people of Terr waited their turn. They only waited. He was restless, he confronted his father about organizing a force to fight back. His father onyl shook his head and went back inisde the house. Emir grew irritated and frustrated with the people of Terr. They could not just sit like sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter house. He was no sheep. He was an Elf and he was proud of it.

One afternoon, a young Ereti shepherd stood in the outskirts of the town caring over his sheep. He was the only Ereti in Terr. He had been abandoned as a baby and taken in by a family of Elves. He saw the mighty army of Etida. The boy left his herd and ran through the city screaming. Everyone hid inside their houses and locked the doors and windows and sat down to pray to the stars. The boy was left out, no one would respond to his knocking, not even his own parents. The parents thought he would be safe, after all he was not an Elf.

Emir went to the boy, he had prayed the previosu night, and the gods told him he would be safe. Together, they hid in the mountains. Form there, the town was out of sight. When the night came, they saw giant flams rise up into the sky surrounded by a black smoke. Emir told the boy to sleep, they would leave at midnight. The boy asked where they were going, Emir said nothing. The boy cried but soon fell asleep. As soon as the boy was asleep, Emir left towards Terr with a knife in hand.

There were no buildings left. Only piles or burning rubble and bodies. Emir used his Illusionist skills to become invisible as he searched for Etida. He found him, drinking with his commanders, eating a lamb they had slaughtered from Terr. They were celebrating their victory. Terr was the las Elf town in all of Agarithia. As Etida drank from his cup, the taste of his own blood tainted the bitter taste of the wine. He was stabbed one time across the heart.

Amir returned to whenre the boy slept before midnight. At midnight, the pair left. They fled to the Wildlands. No one saw him again.

With time, Amir’s story spread across Agarithia. The Jaden Eretis, admired the boy’s bravery. They trnasformed him into a deity and named a star after him, however the story was changed. In the new version, Emir was an Ereti, and the young shepherd an Elf. Emir, is the god of Brotherhood in the Jaden culture.

Some claim they have seen the spirit of Emir, wandering about the Jaden Mountains, looking for Terr. The knife Emir used to kill Etida is a precious relic and a legend. It is believed the knife, still stained with Etida’s blood, can give unimaginalbe power to whoever uses it. Brave men have embarked in adventures that lead them through the WIldlands and far away from Agarithia. Few have returned, and those who have, came back empty handed.