MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Next "Ink and Fairydust" Release Date
Just making an official annoucement to the non-forum world that the next issue of "Ink and Fairydust" will be released on January 7th. Between the holidays, SOTB filming and moving to another state, there was no way this editor could commit to having it all done by the 1st.
So I apologize for the delay on your favorite e-magazine, but I promise the wait will be worth it!
So I apologize for the delay on your favorite e-magazine, but I promise the wait will be worth it!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Christmas Lights and Gore and Romance
I find it interesting that, though we have Christmas "traditions," each year still ends up being undeniably unique.
This year it is rather crazy. My mother was in a car accident last week, so our whole family is under stress from that. I'm still recovering from my fall illness. (One last flush they tell me. One more. *sigh*). Immediatly following Christmas we have three or four days of filming for "The Shadow of the Bear" which includes the highly complicated "End Fight in St. Lawrence Church" sequence. And then directly after that I shall be flying out of state to spend January-April nannying and tutoring for the family of a certain favorite author of mine.
So it's been busy.
In the meantime I've still managed to do some fun reading and other entertainment pursual.
First off, I finally sat down and watched "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. I've been avoiding it for years because of the "R" rating (and rumors of gore). However, my brother told me the other week that the gore actually wasn't so bad and that I absolutely must watch it. So I did. And he was right. Other than sort-of-not-watching-all-the-battle-scenes-very-closely I really had no problem with any of the gore that was presented in the film. I actually thought it was pretty well done, and had the exact right level of gore that a serious war film should have. Not too much, but not too little either. The acting was lovely, the script was quite good, and the costumes had me drooling. I loved how it was a personal story, rather than a grand epic war film. However, part of me wonders whether it wasn't too personal - too much about revenge and not enough about fighting to keep a family safe? I don't know, I think the message got a little muddled. But I thoroghly loved the movie anyhow, even if I have to be a little more thoughtful about it now.
Secondly I read this absolutely amazing book by Lauren F. Winner, which all 18+ Christain adults ought to read. It's called (and yes, I'm not making this up) "Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity" and is like a breath of fresh air. Neither too liberal nor too conservative, it's a refreshing, intriguing and clear explanation of the definition and importance of chastity. While I think all adult Christains should read it at some point, it is most important for the 20-somethings who are not yet married. If you're in that group, I highly reccomend that you pick it up!
Thirdly I finally read a Phillipa Gregory book that I feel I can reccomend to the 16+ crowd! (Her stuff really can be so very grownup at times that I haven't dared to mention it on this blog yet.) It's called "The White Queen" and is a wonderful historical fiction book about Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV of England during the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth and Edward had a beautiful love story that makes the transition from history to fiction perfectly. It is also a clear picture of the confusing political turmoil of England at that time that any Anglo-phile will love. I will admit that there is some medieval magic that I was a bit concerened about, but it follows the Biblical precident of following any act of magic with something in which the magic-user is directly punished for their use of magic. Which actually I found pretty cool for a secular book...
Then for the YOUNGER crowd -
I picked up some "Wolverine: First Class" books from my library, which is a delightful series of one-shots about 13-year-old Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde and her first adventures in the X-Men under the guidance of gruff old Wolverine. Hilarious and pretty clean and appropriate for the younger crowd.
We also finally watched "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" which had really no depth, but was great fun nonetheless.
And meanwhile the Fairy-Tale-Novel Forum numbers keep ticking upwards... we have 490 members today. Will we have 500 by the new year? Perhaps you should join and help make it happen!
This year it is rather crazy. My mother was in a car accident last week, so our whole family is under stress from that. I'm still recovering from my fall illness. (One last flush they tell me. One more. *sigh*). Immediatly following Christmas we have three or four days of filming for "The Shadow of the Bear" which includes the highly complicated "End Fight in St. Lawrence Church" sequence. And then directly after that I shall be flying out of state to spend January-April nannying and tutoring for the family of a certain favorite author of mine.
So it's been busy.
In the meantime I've still managed to do some fun reading and other entertainment pursual.
First off, I finally sat down and watched "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. I've been avoiding it for years because of the "R" rating (and rumors of gore). However, my brother told me the other week that the gore actually wasn't so bad and that I absolutely must watch it. So I did. And he was right. Other than sort-of-not-watching-all-the-battle-scenes-very-closely I really had no problem with any of the gore that was presented in the film. I actually thought it was pretty well done, and had the exact right level of gore that a serious war film should have. Not too much, but not too little either. The acting was lovely, the script was quite good, and the costumes had me drooling. I loved how it was a personal story, rather than a grand epic war film. However, part of me wonders whether it wasn't too personal - too much about revenge and not enough about fighting to keep a family safe? I don't know, I think the message got a little muddled. But I thoroghly loved the movie anyhow, even if I have to be a little more thoughtful about it now.
Secondly I read this absolutely amazing book by Lauren F. Winner, which all 18+ Christain adults ought to read. It's called (and yes, I'm not making this up) "Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity" and is like a breath of fresh air. Neither too liberal nor too conservative, it's a refreshing, intriguing and clear explanation of the definition and importance of chastity. While I think all adult Christains should read it at some point, it is most important for the 20-somethings who are not yet married. If you're in that group, I highly reccomend that you pick it up!
Thirdly I finally read a Phillipa Gregory book that I feel I can reccomend to the 16+ crowd! (Her stuff really can be so very grownup at times that I haven't dared to mention it on this blog yet.) It's called "The White Queen" and is a wonderful historical fiction book about Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV of England during the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth and Edward had a beautiful love story that makes the transition from history to fiction perfectly. It is also a clear picture of the confusing political turmoil of England at that time that any Anglo-phile will love. I will admit that there is some medieval magic that I was a bit concerened about, but it follows the Biblical precident of following any act of magic with something in which the magic-user is directly punished for their use of magic. Which actually I found pretty cool for a secular book...
Then for the YOUNGER crowd -
I picked up some "Wolverine: First Class" books from my library, which is a delightful series of one-shots about 13-year-old Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde and her first adventures in the X-Men under the guidance of gruff old Wolverine. Hilarious and pretty clean and appropriate for the younger crowd.
We also finally watched "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" which had really no depth, but was great fun nonetheless.
And meanwhile the Fairy-Tale-Novel Forum numbers keep ticking upwards... we have 490 members today. Will we have 500 by the new year? Perhaps you should join and help make it happen!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Narcissa and Bella are back!
After a LONG break, "The Sisters Black" is being updated again! We have chapters five and six edited and up, and seven and eight shouldn't be too far behind! And now the action really gets going with the appearance of Lily Evans and James Potter and an outright duel in Chapter Six!
Link to Chapter Five on Fanfiction.net
Link to Chapter Five on Fanfiction.net
Monday, December 14, 2009
Spritz Cooking Spree
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Harry Potter and the Cartoon Prince Index
This summer, while bored, I started doing a parody of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in stick figure cartoons. Later I figured out how to make brushes on GIMP (sort of like a stamp, for those of you who aren't tech savvy) and started transfering the pen-and-paper drawings to digital pictures. This proved to be rather popular with some of my readers so I continued the trend. At this point I'm making no promises about being able to finish the entire story of HP6, but I will keep going as long as I am able.
Since I have over twenty of them up now, rather than fill up tons of space on my blog sidebar, I figured I should just make an index. So. Voila.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#12b
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#20b
#21
#22
#23
#24
Since I have over twenty of them up now, rather than fill up tons of space on my blog sidebar, I figured I should just make an index. So. Voila.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#12b
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#20b
#21
#22
#23
#24
HP and the Cartoon Prince #22
Whoops! I should have gotten this up yesterday! I apologize. However, I've been working on more HP goodness in the form of editing "The Sisters Black." My co-author is on vacation, but once she approves the edits we should start getting them up on fanfiction.net again. I'm looking forwards to this as Narcissa and Bella still have a long story to be told and I'm very happy with the plot outline I have for it. So stay tuned on that!
And if you're more of a LOTR or X-man person, you should check out the storylines I've got going on the FT Forum. They're not as polished, but they're a LOT of fun both to write and (so I'm told) to read. Plus we're only 15 members away from having 500 members, so if you haven't signed up yet, now would be a good time to do so!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
HP and the Cartoon Prince #21
More Harry Funness. And in case you haven't already seen, the first clips from "Deathly Hallows" are online at Mugglenet.com!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
HP and the Cartoon Prince #20b
Ho Hum. So much for faithful WMF updating! I apologize. I shall make more and endevor to post more regularily. Still enjoying them? I'd be thrilled to hear from you! Have a scene you want to make sure you get to see? Let me know!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December Sewing Project #2
You lucky readers! You've gotten far too many pictures from me this week... ;)
Anyhow, I set to work on sewing project #2 today. I adore this style of skirt, but I hate the huge amount of gathering that must go into it. However, it will be very comfortable and practical and just the sort of thing that the soon-to-be nanny of six children needs!
(As you can see, the print is a little small for a skirt, but I think with the right top it'll work fine. And it was only about $2.00 a yard, so who cares? ;) )
I didn't work off a pattern this time, but rather just used basic knowledge of past projects. I cut 10-inch-wide strips, and increased each suceeding strip by half of the previous strip's width. (so 40 inches, then 60, then 90, and finally 134. Which was a pain to gather, let me tell you!)
I did a simple drawstring waistband. It'll usually be hidden, but a drawstring looks a little nicer than elastic anyhow. And with fabric of this weight, there isn't much differance in comfort. I added a narrow seam around the very top to create a flatter look and to ease the wear on the upper edge.
Snapshots of Random Beauty - Christmas 2009
We decorated our house for Christmas on Thanksgiving Day... and since I needed pictures for the I&F Photo contest, I ran out taking dozens of pictures. Here are some of my favorites that didn't make the submission cut (I'll share those three with you later).
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