BethJoy.com

I have worked three hours in the shop today

So now I am planning on how to spend the money I earned:) It is very fun to do "online research" before buying things because you often see other things. Since I am going to the Dollmarket on Saturday I'm briskly looking at dolls, and it's very fun. There are a LOT of very pretty dolls out there. And most of them are expensive... Which is the main reason I've been looking at them online, to get inspiration to go out and work in the shop. Considering the fact that I worked in the shop for three hours today it must have worked... So now back to my online research.

This post has been a bit delayed

On Friday an extremely important event occurred which happened in close proximity to going shopping so I didn't have time to write about it and apparently I haven't gotten around to writing a post since so I have a bit of news to tell.

The important even that occurred on Friday was the acquisition of a new sword for my collection. It was a present. The sword is really neat, and sharp. Though most of my swords are not "menancing weapons" this one is, and the machete my brother John gave me could also classify as such. So I will have to be a bit careful of my sword collection. The sword is very realistic, in my opinion, and the scabbard is quite neat.

Also, I don't know if you remember it, but earlier we were planning on going to the Dollmarket in celebration of my mother's birthday. This plan has been resurrected and we may end up going there this weekend. It will probably be fun:) Though it has a high probability of being a disaster for my bank account, especially when paired with going to a very large fabric store on the way back.

Today I directed camera at the evening service at church. I did not do a very good job but... It was probably more interesting than just a wide shot being on all evening. Andrew ran camera and did a very good job.

And speaking of Andrew, I rode in his Porsche again today, twice. On the way to Salsa's and then from there to home. It was a little less exciting than the previous time I rode with him since it wasn't raining. However Andrew did liven things up by pretending he was a rally car driver as he went down our gravel driveway. A good deal of gravel was kicked up by his tires and I said, "Andrew" very hurriedly several times as he drove. But I had fun.

A great many other things have happened between this post and the last but as it is late and as I am tired I am going to end this post now. Tomorrow should be an interesting day... I may actually go to Mordor, I mean I'll probably work in the shop tomorrow and earn some more money to spend. I still have $36.00 dollars in cash but at the Dollmarket that won't go very far... Besides, I may be going to Walmart this week and that typically can subtract from my finances. So I will end this post now.

FINALLY!!!

I am relieved that it has finally worked, however I'm sorry that the movie you are about to see is a very low quality compression of the movie. I wrote the script and I still can't understand what the characters are saying with the compression. Oh well, my apologies and I hope that I'll have a better quality version of this on here soon. However since this is a free website I hope you won't object to the low quality, I don't have to put this on here and I'm mainly just mentioning this for my own comfort. I am probably going to have a talk with Daniel tomorrow and find out if he can change the uploader to something which will allow me to upload more. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel like tackling the extremely difficult job of putting a better version on here. However this is going up on my website after only seven hours have elapsed since I first got the idea for it. And that is including OVER AN HOUR of trying to get it up on here as well as a lot of breaks. I hope you enjoy the movie. I am very tired right now and I'm ready to go to sleep...

Part One
Part Two

UGH!!! I am not pleased right now

I have been trying for nearly an hour to put my latest movie up on here. It's been one thing after another going wrong and I am not very happy right now. I made the mistake of writing the post to go with it before I had the movie up on my website... But perhaps it is for the best since the post was written before my headache fell upon me. I may just have to postpone the movie going on here altogether, but I don't want to since I was working so hard to get it all done and on here in record time... I am about to cry I'm so upset right now. I started the script at five PM this afternoon and then I had all of the filming done about eight, and that was with a lot of breaks and fiddling around. So hopefully the film will cooperate soon and get on here so I can go to bed and stop feeling upset. I do like the movie though, it's quite funny. My parents were laughing when I showed it to them and Daniel enjoyed it too.

I'm on the cover of our church bulletin!!!

Isn't that exciting!!! I run camera at church and my picture was taken running Camera One(I will admit that I hinted very forcibly that I would love my picture taken running camera). A whole lot of pictures were being taken that Sunday night, of the choir and the general etc. I happened to know the person who was taking them. It was quite a while ago though and I was really surprised when my picture showed up with several others on the front page of the church bulletin. It's mailed out to the members you see. It's a very nice feeling being on the cover of something.

Oh, and if all goes as planed there will be a movie on here this evening. I'm writing the script right now. It will probably be a fairy tale with a dragon, a lovely princess(me), and perhaps a singing Moose. But I don't really know whether or not the Moose will be in it.

Today is Thursday February 24th 2005 and I am going to try writing a fairy tale

Once upon a time there were three soldiers who had fought bravely in battle. However the war was over and there actually weren't any more wars for them to fight in since peace had settled down on the lands so the three soldiers were tramping along without occupation or income. Which means that there is no great gain without some small loss. One evening they entered a forest and decided to pass the night there. One of the soldiers searched for firewood and after collecting an armful he suddenly saw a strange little man who stood about two feet high. The strange little man looked at him and said, "Barley and Rye sting my eye" and suddenly the strange little man vanished. The soldier thought much about this as he returned to camp and built a fire out of the fire wood.

A short time later the soldiers grew thirsty so a different one set out to look for water. He had just found a rollicking stream when he suddenly noticed a different strange little man who was filling a bucket of water. On observing the soldier the strange little man decided that he didn't want to be on the same side of the stream with him so he suddenly said, "Acorns and Rope get my goat" and a pair of wings grew and carried the strange little man across the stream where he said, "Get my goat do Acorns and Rope" and the wings vanished.

The soldier was greatly interested and puzzled with this but he returned to the others without really understanding the importance of what he had just seen. The third soldier, who had heard the tales of the other two soldiers decided to go into the forest and see what he would find. So making an excuse he left the other two and began looking around for strange little men. Apparently the strange little men could only be found when they weren't being looked for for the third soldier never saw them. But he did see a dazzlingly beautiful maiden locked in a high tower guarded by three ferocious dragons who attacked anything they saw.

Fortunately the dragons did not see the soldier because as soon as the soldier saw the dragons he was so frightened he said the first thing that came into his mind, which fortunately was "Barley and Rye sting my eye". Suddenly the soldier became invisible. He was very pleased about this so he boldly walked forward and looked for an entrance to the tower. He couldn't find one and he decided that the only entrance must be the tower window where he had seen the dazzlingly beautiful maiden. He was about to call out "Rapunzel Rapunzel Let down your hair" when he suddenly realized that the dazzlingly beautiful maiden's gleaming golden hair was not long enough to reach the ground. And besides that, though the dragons couldn't see him they could most certainly hear him if he shouted. The amount of gnawed bones in the vicinity made him decide to quietly enter the tower. But he did make a little bit of noise for he very quietly whispered, "Acorns and Rope get my goat". A few seconds later he was flying up to the tower window and entering.

"How do you do this fine morning?" he said to the dazzlingly beautiful maiden. She started and and looked frighteningly around the room while saying, "Who speaks?". The soldier suddenly remembered that he was invisible, and also that he didn't know how to become visible again. This bothered him but he decided that he may as well be rid of his wings so he said, "Get my goat do Acorns and Rope". Then, while the dazzlingly beautiful maiden looked around the room even more puzzled than ever the soldier decided to try something. So he said, "Sting my eye do Barley and Rye". And then, from the dazzlingly beautiful maiden's facial expression he knew he was visible again.

"It's a lovely morning don't you think?" he said with a smile and then the dazzlingly beautiful maiden smiled and looked even more dazzlingly beautiful than ever. It was not long before they were engaged for the soldier was young and handsome and moreover the dragons had eaten all of his competition. So the soldier and the maiden got married and lived happily ever after and the other two soldiers lived happily for as long as the lived but unfortunately they went looking for their comrade and encountered the dragons and... The dragons eventually died of indigestion.

MORAL: Due caution when in the vicinity of dragons should be observed and logical thinking is a great treasure and not all dazzlingly beautiful maidens locked up in towers are named Rapunzel.

I have been doing a brief study of the Knights of the Round Table...

And I think that I have material for a few stories, which however I don't think I'm going to write at this time as I am rather busy with the "Rough Draft Rendition of a Love Story between a Handsome Prince and a Beautiful Princess". My studies on the Knights of the Round Table will probably aid me in writing the rough draft. Currently I am at chapter two where the handsome prince finds out from his parents that he has been engaged since birth to certain princess, and unfortunately he finds this out AFTER proposing to a completely different princess. So he is currently engaged to two princesses, only one of which he will marry. So will he marry the dazzlingly beautiful Princess Rosalind whom he is very much in love with, or will he marry the rather plain and chubby Princess Helga whom he has been engaged to all of his life without his knowledge? Maybe someday the world will find out!!! There will be some interesting situations in this story, hopefully.

I have just been brought home by a handsome young man in a red Porsche

It was a most exhilarating ride, and by that I mean my adrenaline was running rapidly. Red Porsches on Rain Days demand to do interesting things, like under-steer and skidding. There is a big difference in riding in a silver Porsche with your mother driving it and riding in a red Porsche with an eighteen-year-old-about-to-be-nineteen-year-old driving. And in case you don't know by now, my brother Andrew drove me home today. As I told Andrew, if anybody else, with perhaps the exception of John, had been driving that car and doing some of the things he was doing, I probably would have been much more terrified. As it was, my adrenaline just increased a little at times. But Andrew was very careful, he didn't do interesting things with his car when there was traffic around, but when there wasn't... One turn he showed me how his car under-steered. I'm not sure I can describe with words the feeling but Andrew said that he kept the brake on while turning too late, or something like that. At any rate he waited to turn until the turn was right there and then there was a bit of a skidding noise and things felt exciting, but by that time I was fairly calm being used to this sort of thing. And THEN he told me he hadn't done that before much... It was quite interesting. I think the biggest thrill of the ride was right at first when after I got in the car he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street... It was... You know I just realized something, Mom is going to read this post!

So um, Andrew drives very nice and slow and careful except when it is rainy and wet and there is no traffic and very little chance of screeching off the road into some dark ditch and only being found after years and years had passed by a pedestrian hiker. I thoroughly enjoyed riding home with Andrew. His birthday is on Monday and he will be Nineteen. Today he is eighteen. I have already given him his birthday present. Andrew is a most interesting person and he was nice enough to carry the take out boxes to the car (we had eaten at a Mexican Restaurant). I do not like carrying out take out boxes in case anybody wants to know. However I do like it when some body else carries them. So now I am going to end this post and I hope that Mom will let me ride in Andrew's Porsche again.

Guess what I did yesterday?

I added another folder to my Stories That Have Their Own Folder folder. However this time Instead of foreseeing a stop on the work of the story in the near future I'm going to try doggedly determining to keep on working on the story until I get it written. Currently I foresee some cases of writer's block and some headaches in the near future.

The plot on the story is quite basic, there is a beautiful princess and a handsome prince and they fall in love and get married and live happily ever after. However there are quite a few things that happen between the falling in love and getting married and living happily ever after and I'm not completely sure about what they are going to be. I think there will be a few fierce dragons in the story, and definitely an evil villain trying to take over the world and almost succeeding. In fact he might even succeed taking over a lot of kingdoms, but his victory will probably be cut short with the ending of his life.

I suppose all of this doesn't sound very interesting but due to the aforementioned writer's block and headache I'm not in a very pleasant mode toward the story. Hopefully tomorrow...

The Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration

Once upon a time there was a king. He was rapidly approaching the age of retirement and was being hurried on to it by his two eldest sons, who each wanted the throne. The law of the land was such that the king would have a test to see which of the sons was the most worthy of the throne, then that one got it.

Finally one day the king decided that the time for the test had come as he was quite ready for peace and quiet. So he called his five sons, Arvais, Bralx, Cradron, Dermith and Edgar, together. The two eldest were pleased indeed for both had been busy practicing all manner of knightly arts so as to be ready for this test.

In a speech in which few words were less than than three syllables the King expounded unto his sons the importance of the kingdom, and the importance of ruling it well. He then told his sons that the one who brought him a fruit from the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration would have the throne. Then without any further explanation about where the fruit might be found, and the proper method to get it and then return, he sank back into his throne and smiled a satisfied smile as he knew quite well it would be a while before any of his sons returned with the proper fruit. However, in this he was sadly mistaken.

The five princes set out from the palace. There was a great deal of debate as to which direction to go in. The two eldest wanted to go in a direction which nobody else was going in. There were three main roads leaving the palace. In the end Arvais simply set out across country. Bralx took the northernmost road and Cradron took the southernmost. Dermith and Edgar looked uncomfortable for each brother had a great desire not to travel in company with each other and only the eastern road was open to them. Finally Edgar offered to start a half an hour later than his brother so Dermith started off down the eastern road.

As Edgar was waiting for the half an hour to be up and wishing that he had some means of telling time he saw an old woman going down the road carrying a heavy bundle of pots. Since he had nothing else to do he had an excellent reason to just continue sitting by the roadside while his horse ate grass but being a kindly soul he offered to carry the pots. The old woman gratefully accepted and Edgar carried the pots for her to her, and even helped her hang them up in her little stand. As he was leaving she gave him a small clay jar, and told him that it might be useful to him later.

Edgar accepted it and thanked her for it and then when back to the cross roads where he had left his horse. When he got there he found that his horse was gone, either it had wandered off or it had been stolen. Although he was rather disappointed about not having a horse he looked at the bright side of things, he could now leave and not have to worry about catching up to his brothers.

Not being sure about the direction to go in he closed his eyes and spun around, and then went off in the direction he faced. It happened to be the southern road. However, it was not long that he spent on it.

Arvais meanwhile was having interesting adventures. He had been accused of trespassing and had only gotten away without a beating because, after trying to explain his royal right to tramp over all the land if he wanted too, he mounted his horse and rode rapidly away. So far he had neither heard nor seen anything like the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration.

Bralx was still briskly riding along the northern road, his purpose unshaken, however he was beginning to think he should have brought more things to eat with him as his great appetite had already greatly depleted his stock of provisions.

Cradron was having better luck, his huge intellectual capacity was thinking about the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration, and he could not help wondering that perhaps a fruit from the Tree of Happiness would work quite as well as a fruit from the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration, since Exhilaration and Happiness can both be found in close proximity in a Thesaurus.

However, Dermith had just figured this out too and as he was a great studier of maps and great deeds of old, he knew exactly were the Tree of Happiness was, or were it used to be at least.

After walking fro some time Edgar realized that walking was distasteful and he began to think about riding. The clay pot the old woman had given him came to his mind and he suddenly took it out and tried to see if it would change into a horse. It didn't and Edgar decided that he ought to read less fairy tales. He put it back in his pocket and trudged on.

Arvais decided to travel on main roads after an encounter with a Russian Wolfhound and the owner there of. Arvais was sure that a certain old wise man could tell him were the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration so he went to him and asked. The old wise man told him that the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration and the fruit thereof was located in the Valley of the Seven Shuddering Shivers and five dollars please. Arvais wondered audibly where the Valley of the Seven Shuddering Shivers and five dollars please was and received this intelligence, that the "and five dollars please" part was the fee.

Bralx decided to stop and eat and encountering a fruit stand he stopped by and purchased a large amount. While there he asked the old man who kept the stand about the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration, and the old man told him that he had never heard of it before in his life. So Bralx went on.

Cadron knew that he wanted to find the Tree of Happiness but was not quite sure where it was. So he decided to look at a map. He journeyed to the largest university in the kingdom and looked at maps and entries of all kinds and finally he decided that the Tree of Happiness which he sought was in the middle of the Island Surrounded by Wet Water. There are no cats on that island.

Dermith however was heading for the Desert of Zelzarinianerum were he was quite certain that the tree was. Now to get their required crossing the Sea Snaky Salt but this deed worried him little for he had made the journey before, though never for a purpose so great as this.

Edgar was still wishing he could ride when he looked up and saw a very pretty young girl working in a garden. She was about to draw a heavy bucket of water from a well. Edgar decided to do it for her and as she had no objection, especially when she noticed how handsome he was, Edgar drew the water from the well.

Arvais went to the Valley of the Seven Shuddering Shivers and there indeed was the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration. He plucked a fruit from the tree and smiled to himself as he began his journey back home.

Bralx meanwhile had had the great fortune to suddenly encounter a dictionary and after searching for some time he found that a Woody Perennial Plant was a tree. Exhilaration he found was a feeling of happiness and excitement combined with a heightened sense of being alive. Thinking about what Exhilarated him he picked up an acorn and headed back to the castle.

Cadron soon found the Island Surrounded by Wet Water and there in the middle of it was tree which had an inscription on it which read, "The Tree of Happiness" on it. He took one fruit from it and then began his return journey.

Dermith had also succeeded in reaching the Desert of Zelzarinianerum, and there also he had found a Tree which he was certain was the Tree of Happiness. So he felt that his search was at an end and he plucked a fruit from it and began his return journey.

Edgar meanwhile was still busy with the pretty young girl. He was helping her with her garden and he couldn't help noticing the strange fruit which grew on the tree in the center of it. He asked her about the tree and she told him that the tree was named, and here she giggled, the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration. Edgar told her that he was looking for some fruit of that tree. The pretty girl gave him son and he was so pleased that he proposed marriage to her right then in there, instead of waiting for another ten minutes as he probably would have done. So he too began his journey back.

The King was just sitting down his second lunch of the day and was thinking how nice and peaceful the royal palace was without his sons in it when suddenly, they were in it. For at the same precise moment all five princes showed up. Arvais and Bralx exchanged glares with each other. Cadron and Dermith looked in surprise at each other, for both had the same fruit since the Desert of Zelzarinianerum is located near the center of the Island Surrounded by Wet Water.

Edgar, who had the pretty girl on his arm, was stared at much, but he didn't mind. He was used to being looked at by his brothers as though he was some remarkable specimen of stupidity.

The five princes entered the throne room together and then set their respective fruits on the table for the king to judge. Edgar set his fruit in the small clay jar the old woman had given him. Then he stepped back next the pretty girl and smiled at her. She smiled back.

It was now up the king to decide which of them would be king after him. It was not an easy decision. Bralx's acorn made one decision easy, it wasn't going to be him. However... The other four fruits were obviously genuine. But when the king saw that Cadron's and Dermith's fruits were from the Tree of Happiness instead of from the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration he was able to remove them from the contest too. This left a choice between Arvais and Edgar. And then he noticed that Edgar had brought a pretty girl back with him. Instantly making a decision he proceeded to unfold his decision in a speech of about four hours duration. And then he mentioned that he had chosen Edgar to be the next king since he was the only one who was engaged, besides, he had brought a small clay pot back with him in addition to the fruit. However since Edgar couldn't take the throne until he was twenty-five he would just have to remain a prince until that time, which was about three years away.

So the King got to stay King for another three years, which pleased him mightily. Edgar got married and then became King. Dermith and Cadron became the two most scholarly princes in the realm. Bralx married a wealthy young heiress who had pet squirrels. And Arvais, he surpassed them all for he married the wealthy crown princess of a kingdom that was twice as large as his own. And how did he do this? By bringing her a fruit from the Woody Perennial Plant of Exhilaration! THE END

TWO YEARS TODAY!!!

Isn't that exciting? It was on this historical date that this post was written on two years ago. Therefor February seventeenth is Bethjoy.com's birthday in a manner of speaking. Which is appropriate since the overall color scheme is purple and Amethysts are the birthstone of February.

I am very sorry to say that at this time I don't have a new, exciting, interesting, funny story to put on here, but I am going to attempt to write one soon. In the meantime...

Mischievous Mice Munched Minced Meats.

I have just gotten three very interesting emails

One was spam which said something like

Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative site. I have learned a lot from your site. Thanks!! I think you have done an excellent job with your site. I will return in the near future.

but had a URL to an online casino (I did not go there so I don't know for sure). I was about to be complemented and reply when I couldn't help wondering that the word "funny" was not in the description of the website, and that the word "useful" was...

The other was from Daniel and pretty much just said that a girl he knew would like to talk to me about sewing something.

The third email of importance was from the girl herself. And I think I'm going to have to brush up my sewing skills because although I told her that I was not skilled enough to make something for her she could actually wear, eventually I would like to be that skilled. It is remarkable what one can do with a sewing machine. Some people can make expensive looking and feeling clothing, other people can make things that you look at and go "huh?" and they themselves look at and think, "this doesn't look like the picture on the pattern envelope cover". And some people, like me, can make things very quickly that look nice, but aren't. In other words, a bit sloppy. I am not extremely skilled in sewing, I don't finish seams properly and most persons who have finished a home economics class can probably sew a whole lot better than me. But I doubt they have advanced to the point of designing their own costumes, inventing patterns and new techniques, that I have almost managed to get to. At any-rate, I can sew quite well for me. I even just made a trip into the exciting world of Doll Clothes making. I made a lavender colored evening dress for Barbie. It actually looks very nice which considering previous attempts into the world of doll clothes making is very encouraging.

A piece of complete and utter romantic nonsense which takes place at a ball, I think...

Gezelda stepped into the room and with one swift survey of it she seemed to make it plain that she was now in charge. Eyes flashing she glided from the opening door to where handsome young Drasan stood with his eyes fixed on pretty Telzi. With a conniving sneer at Telzi, Gezelda took Drasan's arm and together the two stepped out onto the dance floor. As the music rose and the lights twinkled and played amongst the crystal of the chandeliers Gezelda and Drasan began to dance.

Telzi mischievously smiled, displaying a cute little dimple, she was thankful for Gezelda's interruption as Drasan's attentions had become most irksome. Suddenly she felt a breath of wind on her face, which was odd in a room that had no windows and was far removed indeed from the outer world.

Hastily turning around she suddenly saw him, handsome prince Jason. She smiled ever so slightly and blushed as his gaze met hers. As he approached her and laid his hand ever so gently on hers he whispered, "Happy Valentine's Day, Darling."

Then as the violins struck up a soft, dreamy waltz they floated off together completely unaware of any one or anything else in the room, even Gezelda, who was fervently wishing she had delayed her grand entrance a few minutes, and was now sending looks Telzi's way that, although they wouldn't have killed, probably would have resulted in the freezing to death of Telzi had they had the effect intended.

But none of this happened, fortunately, and everybody lived happily ever after since an even handsomer and richer prince than Prince Jason came into the room and successfully captivated Gezelda a short time later. True, his manners weren't to the same caliber as his looks and he greatly resembled a Tyrannosaurus Rex in brain size but Gezelda was the sort who didn't care, so long as he was rich.

However, although they all lived happily ever after... Well, some of them only lived happily ever after compared to a freshly caught fish hung out on a string to flop and wriggle until the end of it's miserable existence (cough Gezelda cough) while others lived as happily as a two young lovers who get married and settle down and almost never quarrel can, (cough Telzi and Jason cough). THE END

MORAL: You really don't want to know what I was going to type here... It had to do with fish...

There, now I've put something Romantic up here. on Valentines Day. And I'd better post this NOW because in TWO MINUTES!!! It won't be Valentines Day.

I'm not quite sure what is wrong with me today...

I have not really been in a writing mood all day, and when I finally do break down and start writing this is what happens...

Once upon a time there was a cute little cabbage leaf that so very much wanted to be a bright cheery red tomato. However one day he saw a tomato being sliced and put in a hamburger bun, along with the hamburger and some ketchup. Then he watched as it was eaten... And the cute little cabbage leaf decided that it could be thankful that it was not a bright cheery red tomato.
Moral: Be content the way you are or else a Rabbit might eat you.

Quite frankly, I don't think that story is the most cheerful one I've ever written... All day I've been feeling just a tad bit depressed. Chances are I've probably just been watching way to many DVD's but I'm also not throwing out the crazy hypothesis that being sick for so long is effecting me. Or the really super ridiculous hypothesis that I felt that Valentines day could have been a lot more romantic and that it would have been nice to get a valentine or something. However the three Yellow Roses(and the little white flowers too) from my brother Daniel were very nice. AND I did get a card from my Grandmother, which I need to answer... Oops, I had forgotten about doing that...

I really wasn't expecting anything special this Valentines day anyway. For one thing I never saw any one outside of my family. However, as Calvin's Dad said if you have a rotten vacation every year it will make all the rest of the time seem like a luxury cruise. In other words, if their aren't times of less enjoyment then the times of great enjoyment wouldn't stand out:)

So any rate, I may attempt to write a little bit more this evening or maybe just go to sleep. Or maybe do something completely different... But at any rate this post is ended.

Happy Valentines Day!

At some point today I intend to write a very romantic story and put it on here. In fact I just might do it right now. However, I'm not in a writing mood right now so I won't. I hope you have a very pleasant Valentines Day.

I think I shall write another Fairy Story

Whereas I mentioned Fairies in the previous short story I put on here and
Whereas I kind of feel like writing a bit of a Legal Form and
Whereas I have no clue on how to do it and
Whereas I think I had better stop this and move on to something else and
Whereas this is beginning to look like poetry and
Whereas I ought to be able write a really interesting if not strange tale right now
Be It Decided that I will stop this and get down to business.

What I meant to say was that in the last story, although I mentioned fairies, I didn't exactly mention my impression of what they looked like, or what size they were, or what their costumes were etc. Therefore I think I shall fix this problem by attempting to write a descriptive fairy story, though really, I think I'm going to fail miserably so I hope you'll just enjoy whatever it is that I write and please remember, I am writing this while feeling very ill and upset in the region of the stomach. So with that said, please do not criticize too harshly the following tale...

The Quest for the Lovely Silver Something or Other

Glarcer looked up nervously as Kligran exited the house where he had been and moved on down the street. A fierce rivalry had sprung up between the two young men fairies ever since they found out that each of them liked the exact same girl, the lovely young Daffodil whose golden hair would never inspire a blonde joke, though her actions might...

Today was a very interesting one, for it was the day before Daffodil's eighteenth birthday and it was customary for all of the fairy girls to become engaged when they turned eighteen since if they didn't on their nineteenth birthday their lovely pink wings would curl up at the edges and then wither and look like fallen leaves of the brown variety. Now no one has actually seen a female fairy with wings of this sort since none of them have ever managed to reach the age of nineteen without at least being engaged. Fairy girls are quite fortunate for all are born beautiful and stay beautiful and charming, and even if that were not so, in a typical fairy family there are about eight sons to each daughter... The fact that only two young men fairies were fighting, or at least hostilely glaring at each other, was a testimonial to the fact that in comparison to most about to be eighteen year old fairy girls, Daffodil was rather plain...

Daffodil's father, The Great High and Mighty Claf Congruter (and how he got that title and what that title means I have no clue...), would that very day make an announcement as to what the proper gift would be in order to secure the hand of his daughter. This was quite customary and was correct due to the laws of supply and demand. As there are not very many diamonds in comparison to, let us say, Wrapping paper you can buy quite a lot of wrapping paper for the price of a diamond although more effort might have gone into the manufacture of the wrapping paper. Now in case you, like me, have entirely lost track of what I am writing about I shall recap, or even better, move on.

Although from the amount of shoving and bumping into one another you would have thought that at least five dozen fairies were present, Glarcer and Kligran were the only ones there, besides of course Daffodil, her Father, her eighteen brothers, and various other relations of Daffodil so really there were about eight dozen fairies present in total and Glarcer and Kligran did most of the shoving. Their mutual enmity increased rapidly as the time for Daffodil's engagement drew near. Indeed the only reason they were able to contain themselves was that the bride price for Daffodil had not yet been announced, and each felt certain that the other could never get it, whatever it was.

Indeed, as soon as The Great High and Mighty Claf Congruter mentioned what the bride price was going to be in a speech of two and a half hours duration each felt even more certain of the other's failure. For the bride price for Daffodil was none other than The Lovely Silver Something or Other. The mere fact that the words Lovely Silver Something or Other can bring to mind visions of many very different things did not aid the fact that there was a "The" involved which meant that a very specific Lovely Silver Something or Other was wanted. However in ten minutes out of the two and a half hours Glarcer and Kligran had learned enough about the The Lovely Silver Something or Other to know which one was meant, and where to get it.

As soon as it was five minutes past the proper time to set out and each had decided that just standing there knocking their knees together was foolish, Glarcer and Kligran set out on their quest. For some odd reason they remained within close proximity of each other as they left the safe fairy glade behind them and headed for the dangerous world outside, I think it was because each felt that if something with an appetite came along, while it was eating the other one they could sneak past it.

Indeed, their destination was hardly in sight when they encountered their first serious danger. It was a monster towering above them, nearly twenty-times their height. Out of it's mouth proceeded a most horrible and deafening Yip noise that would have frightened the ears off a deaf post, if it had any to begin with. Glarcer and Kligran look nervously at the monster and wondered just what sort of creature it was. And although they didn't know what it was, I do. It was a Chihuahua Puppy!!!. The terror they would have gone through if they had met a certain animal I see just about every day who has the Great Swissy Paw of Death I don't like to think...

Glarcer and Kligran decided that the wise and prudent thing to do under the circumstances was to get out of the vicinity of the Chihuahua Puppy as quickly as possible. Unfortunately this was easier said than done for no sooner did they move out of the vicinity of the Chihuahua Puppy than the vicinity moved to include them in it. For you see, the Chihuahua Puppy had decided to chase them while yipping madly. Finally the two of them were able to lose the little dog by flying over a nest of hornets which it ran straight into, and then ran yelping in the opposite direction from while being pursued by the occupants thereof.

Having gotten ridden of their encumbrance the two fairies made there way into a nearby farmhouse where The Lovely Silver Something or Other was most likely to be found. And indeed, find it they did. For they saw a lovely Silver Thimble.

As they considered that all was fair in love or war, which is not quite true I think, they picked up the thimble and flew away with it, never thinking of making any sort of restitution. Remember this, it will probably have some effect on the Moral of the story. However, "they" picked it up as neither could lift it by themselves and they came to an agreement that they would let Daffodil choose between them, in other words they were postponing a large fight and argument until after they got the thimble to the fairy glade.

However when they arrived they decided to postpone the altercation until after they had gazed once more on the loveliness of fair Daffodil. And as they approached the part of the clearing where Daffodil was they suddenly realized with a sinking feeling that there was now no longer any reason for the altercation, or for the thimble. for Daffodil was now engaged to handsome young Drotwedge as he had brought an even bigger thimble than the one they had.

With a sigh of despair the Glarcer and Kligran looked at each other and decided that crime doesn't pay. So they returned the thimble and decided to steal no more, and they even swore bonds of eternal friendship as they returned to the fairy glade. And then they saw Violet... THE END AND HISTORY OFTEN REPEATS ITSELF

Moral: Sometimes when tastes are exactly the same Twins are very useful... Oh, and Crime doesn't pay and writing when your stomach feels upset can have really odd effects on the resulting story...

Oh, and I do apologize if this story isn't quite the same caliber as some others I've written, I know it's better than some stories I've written. As tomorrow, or perhaps I should say today since it is eleven minutes after twelve, is Valentines Day I hope to write at least one romantic story and hopefully more. As I can write one by merely and just saying, "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. A handsome prince saw her and fell madly in love with her. Although she didn't think he was wise in his decision to eat a half a loaf of rye bread every half hour she decided to accept his marriage proposal, which she did. So they got married and lived happily ever after and with the addition of ham, mustard and the invention of sliced bread they invented sandwiches."

I think I ought to stop writing now. For one thing thinking about food is making me hungry and I know eating right now is a bad idea. And for another thing I ought to get to sleep and this post is quite long enough already. Besides, I still have some medicine left to take, a few more episodes of the Dick Van Dike Show. Remarkable how a few DVD's can make you forget an illness... However now is the time for sleep...

And I do hope I haven't bored anyone with complaints about my illness, but I am ill and it probably will turn out to be a good thing for Bethjoy.com that I am since I'll probably stay home from the YMCA Monday and that will give me plenty of time to write:)

Daniel's Luncheon Party was most enjoyable

I have known for a few weeks that Daniel intended to invite over to the house some friends of his for lunch. Not to eat them of course. Well, today was the big day. Yesterday as I was sick (I still am) I thought I'd probably just stay up in my room and then I thought I'd come down stairs, say "hello" and then return to whence I came. However, I ended up staying downstairs for just about the whole of the visit. Daniel is very nice and thoughtful and was kind enough to allow me to show off select portions of my sword collection, my costume collection AND I got to sit down with my computer and show off almost all of my movies! That was quite fun. They seemed to enjoy it.

Now, as I only heard every ones names about once I'm very much afraid I can't tell you what they were... There were two young ladies and three gentleman, all in a sort of college/career/latehighschool age group. They go to the church which Daniel goes to, I'm pretty sure. It was a very fun afternoon.

Daniel did something very nice, he gave three yellow roses to each of the young ladies present, with the exception of my mother, in honor of valentines day. I very much like mine. So now that I have had a fun afternoon it is time for rest, and much of it...

A Fairy Tale with a Fairy in it

I have decided that for the complete and utter ridiculousness of it I am going to write a fairy tale. Now, for some odd reason many "Fairy Tales" do not actually have fairies in them. In fact most of them don't. I do not think I have put a fairy tale with even the slightest shred of a fairy in it on here yet so I think I shall make up for this by writing a Fairy Tale that has at least one fairy in it.

Now I do happen to be sick right now but hopefully that won't have a negative effect on this story. Indeed crazed ramblings of a fevered mind might actually add to a fantasy fairy tale about utterly imaginary and nonexistent diminutive beings...

Begin here this Fairy Tale does
Once upon a time, a long time ago there lived in a pleasant valley by a little brook which sparkled flowed pleasantly along, though where to nobody really knew or cared, a family of fairies. Or perhaps I should say more of a clan of fairies because there must have been at least three hundred of them when the story started, though perhaps by the time this story ends there may be about five hundred since fairies multiply more rapidly than rabbits and it may take me quite some time to get to the end of this story.

One pleasant sunshiny day when the trees were twittering to the birds and an old Robin was busy consuming an early worm, who, if it was still capable of wishing, would have wished that it had slept in that day, when little Teaslel decided to go on an adventure. It has been solemnly decided in the council of the Five Elder Fairies that Teaslel will be the main character in the book as she is pretty much the only one of the fairy clan that does not mind being made ridiculous, or at least is incapable of objecting to it...

As has been mentioned before there was a little brook in the valley and of course if you want adventure sometimes the water can supply it so Teaslel made up her mind to go explore near some mushrooms. However, they were not mushrooms!!!(insert suspenseful scary music here) they were Evil Toadstools of DOOM. This was moderately evident by the fact that they were colored a mixture of bright neon shades of green, purple, and orange with a bit of soggy black thrown in for bad measure. Also the scent emitted from them was most unpleasant to the nasal passages.

Teaslel however was rather immune to scents unpleasant to the nasal passages as she had eight very active brothers, who all had pets, but after flitting around the Evil Toadstools of DOOM which she thought were mushrooms for a while she began to feel a strange feeling sprouting up inside her. She had felt it before, oh many times indeed, and all eight of her brothers knew it even better. It was the sort of feeling that most people have before wending their way to a refrigerator...

Now although fairies are very small, their appetites are great for it takes a great deal of energy to fleetly frolic from flower to flower, or mushroom for that matter. Therefore when Teaslel felt hungry she decided to eat something and as the most convenient thing to eat seemed to be the mushrooms she was flying around, she ate a piece of the Evil Toadstools of DOOM.

After a little bit of munching Teaslel suddenly decided that she wanted to be home so she went there, crawled into bed, and was violently ill for three weeks while the pleasant sun softly caressed the bright green meadows.

However she did recover and eventually got married and lived happily ever after! THE END

MORAL: It is usually wise to avoid Evil Toadstools of DOOM and some times abstemiousness between meals can greatly improve your health.

You can consider this a "Sneak Peak" or "Teaser Trailer" of the movie to come

Although I didn't "Miraculously Recover" I did feel a little better this evening so I thought I would do just a little bit of filming. So I filmed twenty-six lines of dialogue, out of eighty-six. Which means that I have sixty lines left, and probably a few more shots. I did all the lines of five characters, four of which had no more than five lines a piece, and most of those less than four. As this gave me a completed scene I am putting it on here as a "Sneak Peak" at the movie which will probably eventually be put on here. Enjoy!

Watch Sneak Peak

And in case you were wondering, yes this movie IS going to be a bit Star Warsy, only it's the Empress instead of Emperor...

Unfortunately the movie that was going to be filmed this evening has been delayed due to the unexpected illness of the main actress

I other words, I am feeling ill. Which is going to delay the movie a bit. At any rate I have just about everything thought out on it so when I feel up to it(hopefully tomorrow or sometime soon) it ought to be fairly quick filming wise.

My room has had something new added. Dad made a frame for my bed which raises it enough to put quite a few bins underneath it. That way I can put all of my fabric etc. under my bed instead of in the middle of my room.

I am quite certain that the last time I felt sick it was the dust in my room causing it, among other things. This time I'm more inclined to think it was the YMCA since I felt sick shortly after going there on Tuesday night and I started to feel really bad there on Wednesday night. Monday night I got to stay home, as I have done for the past while. However it could be too much using of computers but I really don't want to think that... At anyrate, I hope that soon the new movie will be filmed and be up on here. And now it is the end of this post. I found some DVD's underneath my bed that had not seen the light of day for months and I'm currently making sure they still work...

Here is a test movie with the Blue Screen Effect

This is very, very, very, very neat!!! It is EASY!!! to do Quick Time Movies from Final Cut! Which means that I will probably be using it for the movie I plan to make tomorrow. You know, one really nice thing about a compressed movie is that you can't see the blotches caused by the wrinkles in the blue sheet I used very well... I hope you enjoy the test movie!

Watch very low res test movie

I have just come from an estactic conversation with Daniel...

I don't think I'm going to put a movie up on here after all as not everything is cooperating. However I have delved into the mysteries of Final Cut Pro and escaped unscathed... Though now, I think I know how to do the BLUE-SCREEN EFFECT!!! Which means that I can stand in our house and talk in front of a piece of fabric and then change the background to be standing in paris or on mars or in a dollhouse or in the Millennium Falcon or in Hawaii or where ever... Which is REALLY COOL!!! Plus with this technology I'll be able to put two of me(or more than that) on the screen at the same time. This will mean some more interesting movies coming up in the near future...

However, there is something I have learned, when experimenting with something new, start small. Therefore I do not think I am going to use my new knowledge for the eighty-six or more shot movie that I wrote the script for. However, I may edit it in Final Cut Pro providing it is fairly easy to put what is there into quick time format. I will probably spend some time in the near future and read through the manual on Final Cut Pro and find out all that it can do. And I will try to make "Test Movies" of great interest and put them on here.

So I am very excited about what I will be able to do. And now I am going to end this post and do a little "experimenting".

Something Really Cool I have learned

Post more about it later I will. Have to go to the YMCA now do I. Short film on here you can expect to see then.

I did a bit of "Drawing"

I think for something I did this princess looks quite nice. I made her using two different programs, a cross stitch program and Microsoft Paint.

Ten Characters and Eighty-six Lines...

That is how the script is going... The most lines a character has is twenty-one, Zara talks a lot... So it looks as though it is going to be a moderately long movie. I'll probably do it soon. It looks as though it ought to be amusing providing every one ignores the plot holes... There are six different locations that I will have to figure out where they will be. I have most of them figured out. Probably the "Imperial Locale" will be in the office, providing it isn't occupied when I film there. Dad's desk will be perfect for the Empress to sit at, and then she can turn her chair around just like the Emperor did in Return of the Jedi. There is no Emperor in this movie and the Empress is going to be blonde and fond of saying "I have forseen it." And although I have borrowed a great deal from Star Wars, nobody says, "May the Force be with you". As I happen to have some other things calling my attention away right now, I will end this post. The movie will probably be up here Thursday night, so be sure to see it! It may be a little late, but hopefully not.

I just finished the rough draft of the script I mentioned in the previous post!!!

Which is quite exciting! I think I will have to do a bit of editing toward the end as it is rather rushed and not very funny since I'm tired of writing but I think I have a good basis. The script is six pages long, which is fairly long for a script of my writing. So now it is time to go to sleep!!! I may film the script Thursday night if not before, or I may do it later or never end up filming it all. But right now I am going to end this post and go to sleep, hopefully...

Even the smallest thing can change the course of the future...

I am currently writing a movie script. Currently it has a lot of dialogue. I'm not quite sure where the story is going but I have more of an idea than when I started. I thought I would do some writing this evening and I thought I would write something Star Warsy. So I have the Empire and the Rebellion briskly fighting each other and then lovely young Tara Arnan, Captain of the Diminutive Leviathan, and her twin sister Zara Arnan find themselves joining the fray when... Well, Zara likes to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the Empire confiscated all Jelly for the use of it's armies... So will Tara get her jelly back? Will Captain Tara Arnan have another name change? Will the Diminutive Leviathan ever show up on screen? Will there be an exciting fight scene? Who will win the battle for the galaxy? Will I ever finish the script? Will their be more than five characters seen in the movie? Will the movie ever be filmed? Will I go to the YMCA to exercise tonight? If you know the answers to those questions then you know more than I do right now! So now that you have had an update on what I am doing right now, I shall return to the script because I think the answer to the last question is Yes. Yikes.

There, that was a lot of work!

I just finished the story in the previous post and I think it quite a good story. Of course that is just my crazed and tired opinion. That story took at least two hours to write and edit, very likely more. So I hope you enjoyed the story. I have camera tomorrow morning so I had better go to sleep now!

An adventure rescue story about a Handsome Prince, a Beautiful Princess, and a Traitorous Scoundrel Knight written by Elizabeth Von Fange

Once upon a time there was a Handsome Prince who was madly in love with a Beautiful Princess. The unfortunate part of this was that the Beautiful Princess was not madly in love with the Handsome Prince, instead she merely tolerated him for she felt that she preferred Bold Adventurous Knights. Never having encountered a Bold Adventurous Knight she was still blissfully unaware of the fact that a Handsome Prince was usually preferable to said Bold Adventurous Knights.

The day on which the princess met some one who could have the term "Bold Adventurous Knight" applied to him was a dire day indeed, for the Bold Adventurous Knight also happened to be a Traitorous Scoundrel who considered any form of washing to be avoided at all costs. And sadly, he, like the Handsome Prince, thought the Beautiful Princess exceedingly fair and lovely. And as he was not as gentlemanly as the Handsome Prince the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight decided to kidnap the Beautiful Princess and carry her off to his far away castle, which he did. At first the Beautiful Princess was pleased by being swept off her feet in such a romantic way and carried off to a distant castle, but she changed her mind eventually...

The Handsome Prince soon heard the news, though sadly not quite soon enough to do much more about it than merely jump on his horse and ride off as fast as he could in the direction that the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight had taken the Beautiful Princess.

Before the Handsome Prince had ridden far his horse encountered a Hornet which temporally caused a delay while the horse moved about rapidly in such an active manner that the prince found himself on the ground. While he was calming his horse down, after a short and desperate struggle which ended with the squashing of the Hornet beneath the feet of the Handsome Prince, a rider rapidly approached.

The rider introduced himself as Sir Impracticaleous, though he really didn't need to introduce himself as the Handsome Prince had met him on several other occasions. Sir Impracticaleous told the Handsome Prince that he knew where the the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight's home was, and also that the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight had taken the seaway to get there and that it was quite a long way to go by land.

Having heard repeatedly from the Beautiful Princess's lips that she thought rescues on horseback were the most romantic the Handsome Prince decided to take the land route to get to the castle. This decision was exactly to Sir Impracticaleous's taste so he decided to come along. The Handsome Prince made no objection to his coming along as he had no idea how to get to where he wanted to go and Sir Impracticaleous seemed to know at least where the place they were trying to get to was.

After a short time of riding they were faced with a slight difficulty for three Green and Puce Spotted One-eyed Bearwolves came roaring out of the forest as though they intended to eat the Handsome Prince, Sir Impracticaleous, and the two horses. But fortunately for both of them this was not the case since the three Green and Puce Spotted One-eyed Bearwolves were merely crossing the road to get to the other side since a Huge Fire Breathing Dragon had decided to take up residence on the side of which they had been. This was soon learned by the Handsome Prince and Sir Impracticaleous for the Huge Fire Breathing Dragon decided to also cross the road but when the Handsome Prince's sword passed through it, it decided merely to slump in a heap in the middle of the road while making a mild earthquake.

The Handsome Prince was quite pleased with what he had just done and knowing that the Beautiful Princess would be very impressed by his killing a Huge Fire Breathing Dragon he calmly cut off one of the Huge Fire Breathing Dragon's teeth to take with him. After spending about an hour in doing this he had his tooth so he and Sir Impracticaleous road off on their journey, both very glad that they weren't dentists.

It would take far too long to tell you all of the adventures they encountered on that journey, for this was only the first of the dragon's that they encountered as Sir Impracticaleous decided to take a "short cut" through Dragon Infested Mountains. Fortunately this only took them about eighty-nine miles out of their way and it only took a sixty-seven mile short cut through Marshy Bogs to get back to the road which would take them to the castle they were trying to reach. The end result was that it only took them three weeks to do a journey which normally would be five days easy riding.

Fortunately the traitorous scoundrel knight's ship encountered storm after storm so it took him about two weeks to reach his destination. Though otherwise she wouldn't have been too pleased to see the gloomy castle she was brought to, the seasick Beautiful Princess was quite glad to reach it.

One week later when the Beautiful Princess was recovered from seasickness and was beginning to come down with a great disgust for her surroundings, and especially the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight, the Handsome Prince arrived at the hill overlooking the castle. However as this hill was separated from the hill the castle was on by a deep and rocky canyon which had a raging stream roaring at the bottom.

Sir Impracticaleous suggested many ways to get to the castle, most involved flying by methods which were doomed to failure before even being uttered. The Handsome Prince considered these methods, and the ones which involved bridges, cannons, dams, rocking climbing, eating pizza, and going home to marry some other princess, very carefully. Then in desperation the Handsome Prince decided to do something extremely foolish.

He got on his horse and jumped over the canyon and since it was only about three feet wide, though very long and deep, he made it quite safely to the other side. Sir Impracticaleous followed his example and then it was time to see about rescuing the Beautiful Princess.

The Beautiful Princess had seen the Handsome Prince coming and being thoroughly ready to be rescued she decided to do something extremely unladylike by waving to the Handsome Prince and shouting from her balcony, "You Hoo, I'm up here!"

The Handsome Prince was overjoyed to see her so quickly swinging from his horse he climbed up the vines which covered the castle wall and soon had the Beautiful Princess in his arms. Although the princess did not exactly think that the three weeks of adventurous dirt enhanced the handsome prince's charms very much, compared with the thirty-three years worth of dirt that the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight had it was hardly worth mentioning. They were just about to descend the vines, mount the Handsome Prince's horse and ride off into the sunset together when the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight arrived on the scene.

He objected to the Beautiful Princess leaving and since the prince objected to the Beautiful Princess's staying an altercation ensued. Swords were drawn and while the princess stood out of the way and thought how romantic this was, the Handsome Prince fought bravely against the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight. The Traitorous Scoundrel Knight was no match for the handsome prince, he was far his superior and it seemed as though the rescue mission was about to end in a funeral when Sir Impracticaleous showed up on the scene.

The brilliant idea to climb up the vines occurred to him when he heard the sound of fighting and when he reached the balcony he quickly drew his sword and entered the fray. As the Handsome Prince was about as much his superior in sword fighting as the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight was to him the future did not appear very bright for Sir Impracticaleous.

Suddenly the battle was brought to a close by the Handsome Prince picking up a chair and forcibly applying it to the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight causing him to fall off the balcony into an open water barrel thereby making him take a bath.

While the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight was occupied in this business the Handsome Prince and Sir Impracticaleous decided that it was now time for a Hasty Exit.

All the way back to the kingdom the Handsome Prince told the Beautiful Princess of his Daring Deeds that he accomplished in order to rescue her and as she was already favorably disposed towards him, and even more favorably disposed once they returned to their homes, she decided to accept his marriage proposal.

Six months afterwards there was a Grand and Glorious Wedding where Sir Impracticaleous married a Lovely Young Lady. The Handsome Prince was Best Man and the Beautiful Princess was Matron of Honor since she and the Handsome Prince had eloped three months before.

So just about every one lived happily ever after, with the exception of several dragons who didn't survive to the end of the book and the Traitorous Scoundrel Knight who was rid of so much dirt by the water barrel bath that his subordinates didn't recognize him which caused him to leave and find some other way of life and he ended up as a bathtub salesman. THE END

MORAL: Washing frequently is a good idea or else you may not be recognized when you do wash. Also, if a Green and Puce Spotted One-eyed Bearwolf crosses your path you will eventually die, maybe not right off but probably within the next one hundred years.

Sometimes I wonder whether persons who write the descriptions on the back of the DVD cases have ever watched the movie... Sometimes I doubt it

Yesterday Mom and I went to the dollar store. Since the invention of the Dollar DVD going to the dollar store has always been more fun. As usual I carefully looked over the selection of DVD's and then picked out several for Mom to buy. So I have been busy "previewing" the movies while knitting and untangling yarn. Someway, Somehow the yarn I was using managed to get itself into a large tangle, and by a large tangle I mean I have been working on untangling it through SIX Dvd's and it still looks as though it's going to take six more DVD's to finally untangle it... But I've been having fun.

I do enjoy old TV shows and it's very nice that they are putting them out on DVD. I got three more episodes of Ozzie and Harriet, which I enjoyed. I have just watched a movie starring Cary Grant called "Great Adventure" which was most interesting. It was one of his early films I'm sure. The title is a bit misleading as it sounds more like a war movie or perhaps some sort of exciting pistol shooting or sword swinging swashbuckling film, whereas it is really quite different than that. It's the story of Rich Man who tries to go for a year earning his own living. And in case you can't guess, he falls in love with a lovely young lady also earning her own living who has no objection whatsoever to being rich.

To completely change the subject I saw Daniel today, I usually do see him, and he told me that he had had a lot of people telling him that they enjoyed my website. I enjoyed hearing this and it briefly brought some joy into my humdrum life. Actually I'm joking. Though actually... Well... I definitely enjoyed hearing that my website was enjoyed but I would hardly call my life humdrum. The fun part about typing is that it is so very easy to hit the backspace button, but sometimes I don't.

Right now I only have one DVD from the dollar store I haven't watched yet, and this one I have been saving for last. Apparently quite a while ago somebody in England decided to do a TV show of "Robin Hood". I currently have six episodes of that TV show and this DVD has three more. I suppose most people would probably be bored by the actual English accents, realistic castles and sets, charming old footage, ingenious escapes and captures, excellent acting, and plump plots but I have been enjoying them:) I am very much looking forward to watching watching this new DVD. I am also looking forward to finally getting my yarn untangled. However I may have to watch several more DVD's before that is done. Though I am making progress. I'm not so eager to get the yarn untangled as I am to finish the scarf I am knitting with the yarn that is tangled.

And if my plans do not change and I am able to fulfill them you just might see another story on here this evening:) I think I want to write an exciting adventure with a handsome prince for a hero who will probably rescue a beautiful princess. With luck she may not tell him that his socks do not match.

Telephones are a most wonderful invention

Mom just called the Dollmarket to see what time the sale room opened and... Well, the sale room isn't opening until April. As it is not going to be open tomorrow and as some new dolls are not going to be in tomorrow we are NOT going. It is rather a good thing too, I'll have a few more months to save my money:) However, since we arn't going for Mom's birthday we will probably go for mine, if not sooner. Which should be very fun. However I don't think that we are postponing the fabric store! And we may go to the Thrift store so I am not totally escaping going shopping, but I don't want too:)

A story inspired by the fact that I had writer's block

I was trying to write a story about a princess who collected dolls, but I couldn't. So I decided that since I had writer's block I would write about that instead. So this is what happened. And now I need to go to sleep!!! And I mean NOW!!! ELIZABETH TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER!!! SHUT YOUR EYES AND GO TO SLEEP!!!

I hope you enjoy the story. I am about to take my own advice so...

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young princess. She loved to write stories, especially late at night, but some times she could not think up anything at all to write. This bothered her greatly for she loved to write away rapidly on tales that told themselves to her as she wrote. Finally, after several evenings of being unable to write anything of great interest she approached the kingdoms wise man and asked him what the problem was. In a voice as solemn as the squawking of parrots from the mouth of a goat the wise man told her, "Your highness, you have writers block!"
The princess was glad to know that the strange malady she had had a name, which meant that probably some one had had it before, so she asked to know more about "Writers Block"
"I shall tell you the tale, your highness." the wise old man said, "Long ago, in a kingdom so ancient that I have forgotten the name of it, there lived a great storyteller who told tales of such wonder and excitement that the people of the kingdom would sit and here the tales for hours on end. The day that the story teller died was a sorrowful one indeed for the kingdom but out of great sorrow sometimes comes great joy. One day a young clerk decided that instead of writing boring accounts he would write down the stories that he could remember, and see if he could possibly sell them. As he wrote he felt new ideas coming into his head and soon he had a whole hoard of tales which he had never heard before. These stories were eagerly read and he became a rich man because of them. Others imitated his success and soon even more people decided to become writers. And then the problems began showing up. For so many people were busy writing that all other business was neglected. And what was more, there were too many books! Since everyone was writing and nobody was reading the demand for stories greatly decreased. The price of paper and ink skyrocketed. The King, who had been hoping that everything would merely sort itself out in time finally decided to take the situation in hand once his head chef decided to write poetry instead of cook. So the King sought out the wisest of the men in the kingdom,"
"Like I did?" the princess briefly interrupted,
"Yes indeed. And the wise man gave him the solution. He said that if ideas and stories did not flow so rapidly that stories were easy to write then it would take more effort to write a good tale. And if the king's subjects were only writing because it was easy and enjoyable if writing ceased to become easy and enjoyable then everyone would probably stop doing it. So together the king and the wise man invented Writers Block. This ingenious device puts a limit on the flow of ideas. The king suggested that the first person try this on would be the head chef. The experiment proved a success for just as the head chef was in the one hundred and thirteenth stanza of his Ode to Steaks so Rare he suddenly could not think of another word, so he decided to cook some steaks and bother with poetry later.
"All through the kingdom it was the same, people left off writing and resumed their duties and the price of paper slowly went down. A few writers still persevered and as the supply and the demand balanced out being a writer became a profitable career again, though not an easy one for great concentration and effort was required to get ideas despite the Writers Block. So as you can see, it is really a very good thing that Writers Block exists, or else we would have far too many stories in the land and little else would get done. And besides, sometimes when you can't think of ideas when it is late at night it merely and just means that it is time to go to bed!"
The princess agreed and taking the advice of the old man she decided that the next time it was late at night and she could not write, she would merely go to bed and turn out the light.

MORAL: When you have Writers Block sometimes writing about somebody having Writers Block is about all you can do...

Saturday is probably going to be a big day...

Mom's Birthday is comming up. Now this means that we are going to take our annual trip to the Dollmarket to look at the new dolls. Now, so that I know what to look at, I have been busy doing online research of the new dolls, and it has been quite interesting:) Something tells me that I will probably spend some money this Saturday, especially since we are stopping at a HUGE fabric store on the way home from the Dollmarket. Talk about double trouble!!! It probably would be better for my financial prosperity if I did not go however I'll probably have a great deal of fun:) And I will probably get plenty of inspiration to start writing so I can get published and earn book royalties... Or maybe I'll just go work in the shop in order to be ready for next year. There are definitely some very lovely new dolls out this year, and of course there are plenty of last years dolls that are quite pretty too. If you want to know more about the Dollmarket I will refer you to this post from the archives. The trunk I bought that day is very nice. Though currently, I'm sorry to say, it's mainly just collecting dust along with the other dolls and things. I don't really play with dolls for very long at a time. In fact, I really just play with them about as long as I work on a story. And it is a WHOLE lot more economical to type up a story:) I'll probably write a story about a beautiful princess who enjoyed collecting dolls. Oh, I just had a great idea for a story!!! I'll probably go write it, and then perhaps I'll post it.

Oh, Mom read the post I wrote about the YMCA. She stated that it seemed to be... well... I'm not quite sure how to describe it but I don't think she liked it very much. She said that the exercise machines did not make sense the way I wrote them. So I will here say that when you use the machines they do make sense, up to a point... So now to go write!!! Hopefully...

This post comes to you from the YMCA

Though I won't be able to post it until I get home. At the moment I have Star Wars music playing from itunes(I brought headphones with me and I'm wearing them) which, hopefully, will lend a touch of drama to scene. Now I won't say that I can see hundreds of persons slowly walking to their doom as most of the people here are jogging or bicycle peddling, and some are lifting weights... I am sitting near the Subway restaurant, which sadly is closed right now. You can buy freshly baked cookies at the subway if you feel that you've burned off too many calories.

In order to make sure that you are not bored while exercising there are several, in fact I count twelve televisions stationed at various angles throughout the building so that if you want to watch the television, you can.

Mom and Dad are taking their positions on jogging machines directly in front of me and a little to the left. These jogging machines are very strange looking, for your feet never move. So it is not a treadmill. There are two different sets of handles which, if you use your imagination and some Star Wars music, can look like the arms of some strange alien that is about to box you, or maybe is holding it's arms up in surprise and astonishment at being stepped on by some one of so ponderous a weight. Not that everybody in the building is wide of girth or ponderous of weight. I for one am an exception:) Though there probably are several people here who weigh less than me, such as but not limited to the staff.

But back to the subject of the jogging machines from which I have diverted. Mom just waved at me temporally taking her hand off the handles, which move back and forth as they are connected to the miniature moving platforms on which you stand. In fact, if you have a lot of arm strength, you don't have to exert any pressure at all with your feet, you just move the handles. However if you are weak at both, or want to merely work both your arms and legs and everything else in between while deadening your mind by watching television, then these machines are probably the ones of choice.

Personally one of my favorite forms of exercise, and one in which I frequently indulge, is walking rapidly through Walmart. But the form of exercise which I enjoy the most at the YMCA would definitely be the recumbent bicycles. These interesting mechanisms although you to sit and read a book while peddling slowly and fooling yourself and people around you into the assumption that you are exercising more than your mind.

But really, on reconsidering it, I think I prefer sitting and typing on my laptop and watching everyone else exercise is preferable even to a book and recumbent bicycle. For one thing, I'm getting useful things done:)

You know, I never should have compared the jogging machines to aliens. The more I sit and look at the one near me the more alive looking it is becoming, and the more the smaller handles are looking like arms. I can see the mouth quite clearly too as there is a little ledge thing below the screens, which work quite well for eyes. However I am not going to change my positions merely because the exercise machine near me is looking threateningly at me because I prefer sitting and using my computer to enjoying the awful tiredness of brought on by a jogging machine. Maybe listening to exciting Star Wars music while writing a post about the YMCA was a bad idea. Perhaps I should have chosen something more cheerful and classical, like a Strauss Waltz. Ah yes, observe persons exercising to the soft beautiful music of the Blue Danube!

It's really funny. Two of the television channels are both covering the same thing. And either they are off sync, which I am just realizing that they may be, or else they are covering two different events with people who look very similar and very similar camera moves, or else... They have the same TV feed and one merely is off sync of the other. Because the Fox News Channel will change the camera shot and then about a second later the ABC and HGTV television will change shot. It is so funny. Two people in the background stood up and then while they were still standing up the other two people on the other television stood up. It was also funny when they sat down just as the imperial theme went BOM BOM BOM BOMDA BUM BOMDA BUM if you know which particular phrase of music I am referring to. In case you don't know this theme is usually played whenever Darth Vader walks into the screen in the Star Wars Trilogy.

Now in this YMCA there is a special screened off area which has several machines in it. Now this area is for self conscious people who want a more private place to exercise, and who also may want to exercise with all of the other self conscious people. This room would be the room in which to go with a notebook and pencil and stare at people and take notes if you really wanted to upset people, and I do not recommend doing it! Just so you know.

I suppose this post is probably quite long enough already but while I'm here in all of this atmosphere (Star Wars music can create atmosphere out of, well, little) I may as well continue writing. Now on of the machines here I really do not like, and perhaps the feeling is mutual. There is only one of the machines here, as far as I have seen, and there only needs to be one. This machine you are supposed to climb up on, and then, firmly squishing yourself to the back of it and supporting yourself on (the dearth star would be exploding about now) the arm/elbow holders you are supposed to step off it and then try to lift your legs up as far as they can go as many times as you can. This is rather hard to do and I never really done it, though I have "sort of" done it. There are jump ropes here too, but I think I've only used them once.

An alternate form of exercise which Andrew likes, and I do too, is the fooseball table in the "Fun Zone" area. This ingenious game requires knocking a ball in a hole, however it doesn't resemble the game of golf in any other way, to my knowledge. It is rather fun. The last time I played here with Andrew the official score was five to zero, in my favor. This happened only because Andrew did not record his goals which was very nice of him since he did score more than five goals. Brothers can be very nice you know:) When they choose...

The time is Nine Thirty, the place, The YMCA, the action, well, I think it is time to close this post before the jogging machine reaches out it's black hand for my ankle... Wait, it looks as though somebody left their black glove behind them. I hope... If you read this post you will know that I made it home safely. If you do not... Well then, you won't even know about the Evil Jogging Machine of Doom and it's plot to take over the world! Or at least, it's plot to abduct all sixteen year olds who become aware of it's alien like qualities:) I hope that this post amuses somebody. Oh, my favorite bit of Star Wars music is playing right now!!! It's the theme heard mainly in The Empire Strikes Back. Princess Leia's theme I've heard it called. And I do apologies if the many references to Star Wars music annoy you since you can't here them, but as I am just describing things as they happened this evening, I put it in. The two televisions of sync are really funny, a person one of them fidgets and the the same person on the other television fidgets. They color balance is different on each of them too.

It being now 9:39 PM the YMCA is, well let's put it this way, about the only line in the place would be the line to get out:) And you would have no trouble right now getting your choice of exercise machines:) So now I think I will end this post, as I have been contemplating doing it for some time.

My Two Year anniversary is coming up!

On the monumental date of February 17, 2003 I wrote the first post for this weblog, as you can see from the Archives. I'm mentioning this because
1. I need to write a post today and this is a good a subject as any
2. I am afraid I'll forget to post something on the actual anniversary date so I'm posting something now.

Now if everything goes as planned, which it probably won't, there may be a longer than usual story put up here on that date. In fact, I am currently writing it however knowing how I write chances are that "The Great Adventure of Seven Chapters" will never be completed but... They may. And maybe even in time to go up here on February 17th! Or perhaps before then. So currently I have about fifteen days to write seven chapters, as the tale is going to be seven chapters long, probably. I have the plot and the main characters all nicely adjusted to my liking and all though the rough draft of the story currently looks like a piece of random ridiculousness... Maybe it will look better later or else I'll just restart the story, or, as is more likely, start writing something new. But now it is time to work on my afternoon's agenda, a nap:) Or I may just use my computer for a bit before getting to work.

Being too sick to go to the YMCA does not equal being too sick to stay home and SEW!!!

Now what you are about to see and read about is entirely John's fault. If he hadn't gotten engaged to Erin, Erin would have never asked me to be a bridesmaid. If Erin had not asked me to be a Bridesmaid I would not have gone to David's Bridal and selected a dress. If I had not selected the dress I did Mom would not have decided to make a matching Bolero top to go with it. If Mom had not selected and bought the pattern she did to make the top I would not have been inspired to make the outfit in the pattern. Which is, to some extant, what I did this evening though I made significant alterations to the pattern. Here is a picture of the dress

This is not the best of pictures but it gives you the general idea. You can hardly see it, but there is a separate jacket. So now I am quite tired and I have a back ache, which I am going to cure by having a snack and watching a DVD:) Oh, a happy lot is mine! I may be one of the few sixteen year olds who is brought exceeding joy by the sight of a school bus. And that is because I don't have to ride on them:) Or go to whence they go. The reason for mentioning this is when Mom and I went to Walmart and got the pattern for the dress, on our way home we arrived near where we lived a little bit behind the school bus, and therefore we got to see where all the children lived near us.

Now, just so you don't misunderstand my opening paragraph, as it kind of sounds like I am not happy that John got engaged to Erin. Actually I am extremely pleased about all of the things that I mentioned. I am quite glad to have my new pink dress, and I'll be even happier still when I get my actual bridesmaid's gown, and get to be a bridesmaid. And it is going to be GREAT having a sister living just next door. So as it was my decision to make the dress anyway, I don't think I'll let John have the credit of it.

And now, since Mom and Dad will be back from the YMCA soon, it is time to watch a DVD:)