Cellos and Lightsabers

I know that I (Leslie) do not post videos often, but this one is totally worthy to be on our blog. As a violinist, I can appreciate the depth of this music and the hilarity of this. By the way, I found this on a blog called This Page Intentionally Left Blank. If you like our blog, go check out his! It is totally awesome! Here is a quote from his post on this video.
"For the music nerds:  Notice how the dark side cellist always plays minor.  Yup, all of his themes are minor, even the ones originally written in major.  If you can’t tell that easily, skip ahead to two minutes and thirty seconds into the video and listen carefully.  Very carefully."

So, enjoy! I will make an effort to post more but in between my job (lifeguarding at a camp) and other summer stuff, it may not work. Any way, have an awesome summer!!!!

~Leslie

The Love Triangle: My Theory

It seems like every book has one. But what is it with them? I mean, everyone knows that they are no fun in real life, so why do we have the urge to write about them?

This is my theory: 

The author of a book with a love triangle in it has likely participated in one during his/her life. Whether he's the one that had to choose between two people, or she's the one that got left out, or he's the one that found true love and had to let the other go, they've likely all experienced one. So, to let out the pain/joy/anger/peace, whatever, that they went through, they wrote about it.

The way I see it, authors and their characters are sort of like actors in a play. When I'm in a play, I tend to merge the character with myself. Sure, I read the lines from the script, but I say them in my own way. I make them my special. I think that, while the characters are definitely different from us authors, they merge with us. They have their own lives, but each one has a sprinkle of our personality traits in them. 

So, in my theory, if an author has experienced a love triangle, then one will likely appear in their book. Your thoughts? 

~Elizabeth

Unique

Sorry I haven't been active this past week. I'm home-schooled and just got done with my schoolwork a few weeks ago, and have been slacking a lot since. Anyway...

I, like anyone, have always had issues with who I am. My name, my body, my past, my talents/lack thereof...    everything.

I was talking with a young boy a week or so ago, and he told me a few of his insecurities. This little boy, he is very small for his age--and he's embarrassed about it. People pick on him, and no one believes how old he really is. He doubts his worth because of his size.

I explained to him that he is perfect, just the way he is. He doesn't need to be bigger, he doesn't need to have some other persons shape/abilities. Because, then, he wouldn't be him. I told him that he should be proud of himself for who he is, not sad over who he isn't.

I practically slapped myself in the face when I got home that day. I had just lectured him on something that I myself struggle with. It's so much easier to say than to do.

I try to keep this blog book related--but if you can't have confidence in yourself, how can you be proud of anything you write?

I know you're not going to read this post and have your problems fixed. You won't walk away from your computer screen feeling 100% confident in yourself--but can you at least know that you are who you are? If you were supposed to be someone else, you would be them. But you're not--you're you. And you were made for a purpose. 

And, please, respect that the same is true of other people. That boy that I mentioned? He gets teased all the time at his school about who he is, and that is just wrong.

Everyone is special, everyone is unique. Live like it.

~Elizabeth

Mythological Creatures and our Perceptions of Them: Zombies

What exactly is a zombie? 

This is what I personally think of.... 

I've also been told that I look like a zombie when I wake up in the morning (probably true). 

Basically, a zombie is a dead person that is not wholly dead, but partially alive (definitely  sounding like me in the morning ;)). 

They don't control themselves--they are so empty that they don't even have a will of their own, and they are typically inhabited by some evil spirit/demon/person, etc. 

Honestly, if they really existed, I would feel very bad for them. Going through life having no control over yourself, not being able to talk... yet still being alive and having to suffer through it all. 

It's a sad existence, really. 

What I want to know, however, is this: why have they practically disappeared?! It seems like now it's all vampires and werewolves. I think zombies could make a really interesting twist to any story. 

What are your thoughts on zombies? Why do you think they have disappeared? 

~Elizabeth

Just listen....

I realized that it's been a while since I've put a music video on here, and even though they aren't exactly book related, they're nice sometimes.

This song is called Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas. It's been one of my favorite songs lately, and I hope you enjoy it! :)

~Elizabeth

Mythological Creatures and Our Perceptions of Them: Vampires

There are many things that may come to mind when one thinks of the word vampire. Perhaps you think of them as being beautiful, strong, smart and wonderful (ahem, Twilight...). Maybe you think of them as terrible creatures that sleep in coffins and do nothing but kill people. Or maybe, they're just normal people  that have an unusual diet and that happen to be practically immortal.

Maybe this is what comes to mind....

Or maybe you picture him....

Isn't it funny how two people can think of one creature and picture completely different things? Personally, I think it is really cool--because, since they don't exist, we can let our imaginations run wild with them. That's why I love mythological creatures; you can go crazy with your perceptions of them.  

What about you? What do you picture for vampires? 

~Elizabeth

Memorial Day

Alvin C. York born on December 13, 1887, in Pall Mall, TN. A blacksmith, York was drafted into the army during WWI. While serving in the 82nd Infantry Division, he took command and captured a total of 132 German soldiers. York was promoted to the rank of sergeant and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. His heroic story was told in the film Sergeant York. He died in 1964. Taken from here.  


This bio really just skims the surface of Sergeant York's life. When he was first drafted for World War 1, he didn't want to kill  due to his Christianity--he believed that Christians were to make peace and not to kill. Nonetheless, he went and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia.Training for war made him uneasy, because he didn't believe in it. 


He talked with Captain Danforth, his company commander, and Major Buxton--who were both Christians themselves.They showed York verses from the Bible, and gave him a ten day leave to visit home. 


He went home; he thought, and he prayed. 


God showed him that the only way to truly make peace was to protect, and that God calls His people to defend their fellow man, and the things that He has given to us. 


So York fought... and he became a hero. He saved lives, and he was one of the many, many people that fought to defend our country. 


And there are still people fighting today, here and now. People that are giving their lives so that we can keep ours.  


Thank you, all who have served (and are serving)! Happy Memorial Day! 


~Elizabeth

Dirty Dishes

My mom and I both do the dishes (and both of us will claim we wash more than the other). I use the dishwasher we have, but some dishes are just to dirty to put in there. They need to be scrubbed to be clean.

I can't tell you how many times I've taken the lazy road and, instead of washing the dirtier dishes, I put them in the dishwasher anyway just to make my life a little bit easier. 

But why do I do that--seriously?! 

Because I'm making a mess that someone (be it me or my mother) will have to clean up. 

There are some parts of books that are more tender--that need to be scrubbed just a little more than others to shine. Some aren't meant to shine. 

Like a plastic cup--it's easy to clean, but it's not really shiny or anything like that. A saucepan, however, is hard to clean--yet, when it's clean, it shines bright and catches your attention. 

Some scenes are just meant to glow, but they only will if we give them the proper attention they deserve. If not, then it won't look right--it will look dirty.  

Some things are truly worth the effort, because if you put it into it, it will shimmer. :) 

~Elizabeth

Metaphors

Have you ever used them? I love metaphors! For me, it takes writing to a whole new level--because I'm writing about something I'm zealous about, and re-creating it so that it becomes even more meaningful and deep to me personally.

I personally like writing metaphors about my faith in God. Some people like other things. It's just such a way to make things that were already important so real to us.

It makes me really think about what I'm writing. Sometimes, I involve them in small ways throughout a book, and others the whole story is a metaphor.

Take Lord of the Rings, for example. It's an incredible book, but it also means something. Tolkien's world of Middle Earth reflected his faith.

What about you?  Do you like using metaphors? If so, what do you like writing them about?

~Elizabeth

Something New

Generally my creativity grows a lot during the spring, and I try a lot of new things.

Consider music, for example. It  has always been something I have had a lot of interest in. I love listening to it, and I love watching others make it. Yet, I had never been able to make any on my own, due to a mediocre at best singing voice and no music lessons. 

I figured that I was thirteen and that most people that played an instrument started out at like five. Which, in some cases, is true.....but it is not absolute. There are plenty of people that start things later then others and still do very well in them. 

So, over the past two months, I have been taking piano lessons every other week. And now, though I'm at a beginner level... I'm playing. And it sounds good. 

I encourage you to actually try that thing you've been thinking about for a while. You might like it... and you  just might be good at it.

Have you ever had a time where you tried something new? Are you still doing it?  

~Elizabeth