Guest Post: Madeline

Hello...as I mentioned in yesterday's "tag" post, I'm going to put up a guest post from my friend Madeline. She doesn't have a blog as of right now, but Madeline is considering starting one, so if she does I'll make sure to put the link to it later :) So, here's Madeline!



      
       I feel sad when I hear about people's extracurriculars and their sports and activities and hobbies and whatnot. Because I feel, I don't know...passionless? I wake up in the morning, may or may not eat breakfast go to school, come home, do homework/study, eat dinner, do more homework/study, and then go to sleep--every school day. My weekends are kind of the same, except I spend the whole day doing homework.
       Some people have some sort of passion or hobby that takes up some of their time and makes them happy. My friend Karianna does gymnastics nearly 28 hours per week. My other friend Audrey (yes, the Audrey whose blog I'm invading currently) has a bunch of different activities after school to keep her busy. I don't really have anything, not even a religion, nor am I a huge fan of anything in particular (except Harry Potter). I'm not a part of anything, I'm not involved in anything.
       Well, I guess you don't really have to have any hobbies or whatever to make you happy, but I feel bored with my life. Unhappy with my life, I suppose. I'm in eighth grade, which is considered my childhood. Your childhood is supposed to be fun, and you're supposed to enjoy it while it lasts. But I don't really know if I'm doing that--I don't know if I'm enjoying life. Are you enjoying your life?
       And there's more than enjoyment on my mind. If I died tomorrow, would I be satisfied with my life so far? Would you? How I wish I could say yes. But no, if I died tomorrow, I would feel like I hadn't done enough in the years I'd lived. My uncle said to me that one purpose of life is to live it so that you would be contented with it, if you died the next say. So have I failed a purpose of life?
       Another thing that bugs me--would anyone really care if I died? Besides my parents and my siblings, is there anyone who really needs me? I don't talk very much--I like to just read and write, and frankly I'd rather read than talk to someone. So if I did die, my parents would be sad (at least I hope they'd be). But what if my existence, every single word I've said and action I've performed, just vanished? I haven't impacted anyone's life. I haven't made any large donations to people in need, I haven't befriended someone who has no friends, etcetera. I wonder, has anyone benefited from my existence? One of my friends is in ballet, and if she just vanished, her ballet school would probably have a hard time replacing the many roles she plays in their various ballets. No one really needs me.
       I wish I couldn't say this, I wish that right now I was away doing something instead of sitting at home, typing away at the computer. But I want to know if maybe anyone knows what I mean, because right now, nobody I know does. (Granted, I haven't asked many people).
      So this is the part where I wrap everything up eloquently and sign off gracefully. However, I really have no skill at that, so we'll end here. Conclusions aren't really necessary, seeing as I'm not putting this on an English teacher's desk and waiting for him/her to pour a gallon of red ink over it.


And that was Madeline! :)

--Audrey

      
      

 





Little Things Tag

Well, July didn't actually tag me with this "Little Things" tag but she said I could do it, and for some odd reason I actually like these awards and tags and things. And this is supposed to be related to One Direction...not sure why...
*comes back after second Google search on One Direction that I did due to something related to my blog* Little Things is apparently a song by that band. So, anyway...


1. One thing that makes you feel beautiful:
Well, it's rather conceited to go about talking about my beauty, I think...but I guess when I'm on the uneven bars.

2. What's something that people often compliment you on?
Mmm...I've been told that I'm good at playing the flute, but this isn't something that I actually agree with.

3. What's one of your insecurities?
One? Out of my million-mile list? I often think that everyone else is better than me--although, everyone is better than me at something...

4. If you could tell every insecure person in the world one thing, what would you say?
Inspirational stuff? I'm very bad at inspirational stuff. I also dislike many common inspirational quotes, especially anything involving telling someone that they're "unique" because, um, duh everyone has different DNA. (although you are 99.9% the same, gene-wise as your siblings, and 99.6% the same as your parents)
But I think almost everyone is insecure about something, so it's not like insecure people are totally burdened and everyone else is just all rainbows, smiles, and unicorns.

5. Do you talk in your sleep?
Uh, I don't know...if I do talk in my sleep, I wouldn't be able to tell because I'm well, asleep.

6. Little Things you appreciate about life:
Sunrises. I love getting up to see them. And flowers--real ones, that grow out of the earth and come alive right before your eyes. Also the fact that we are all part of a family, a city, a nation, a world...and no matter what arguments or wars we get into, we're still part of something larger.

7. Favorite little things about someone you love:
Oh, I don't know how to answer this question... But someone that you love should understand you, and it's very nice to be, well, understood.

8. Something someone said to you to make you self conscious
I was at a gymnastics meet, and one of the girls from another gym told me how awful my form was, and then I was worried for the rest of the meet. (I still did okay, luckily)

9. If you could change one thing about yourself, would you?
Certainly...I wish I could just make myself overall more talented at everything. But just one specific thing...I wish I was better on the balance beam. I cannot do anything I want to be able to do on the beam.

10. What's one thing about yourself that you would never change?
My eye color, I guess. My eyes are really, really green and I kind of like them.

Ih, I don't really know who to tag, so if you feel like doing this tag, then do it! :)
And by the way, tomorrow I'm going to put up a guest post from my friend Madeline...it's a really meaningful post, so please read it.

--Audrey

Shine On Award

Well, Seana over at The Totally Insane Writer tagged me with the Shine On Award. Thank you very much! And I will try to continue shining on, whatever that means.

Rules:
*Link back to the person who nominated you
*Post the badge on your blog
*Answer the questions posed.
*Nominate five bloggers who shine a light on your day and notify them.
*Issue some questions you'd like them to answer.

 

Okay. So.

 The Totally Insane Writer

 

Well, this is a particulary pretty award badge.

 

1. Which do you prefer, One Direction or Justin Bieber?

Well, I can't say I really know much about either of these two options...I do know that they are both musicians, though.

*comes back after Google search* Ummm, One Direction uses relatively less computer-generated music sounds (at least from what I can tell), which I personally despise, so I'll choose that.

 

2. What is your favorite genre to read (and/or write)?

Fiction. But if that's too broad, then...fantasy. I love reading fantasy and mythology. Not so good at writing it, though...

 

3. Would you rather be deaf or blind?

 Deaf. That way I can still see color and do gymnastics. Although communicating might be a problem. I don't know much sign language.

4. Who are some of your heroes (real or fictional)?
Oh, well, J.K. Rowling is definitely one of them. And Harry Potter, too. Albert Einstein, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Anne Frank

5. What is a random fun fact about you that most people wouldn't know?
Well, you may recall this from my Liebster Blog Award post, but I am afraid of butterflies. Although I like butterfly designs on clothing...but I'm quite scared of real butterflies.

Hmmm, now for the nominations...
Fira Marine
Jessica
July
And since some people like Hilda have already been nominated, I'll just leave it at three. Three time's the charm, right? But if you want this award you can just take it...

Questions for the Nominees:
I'm terrible at coming up with questions. But I'll try.

1. Do you ever nominate the number of bloggers you're supposed to nominate for an award?
2. Do you believe in magic?
3. What came first, the phoenix or the flame?
4. Have you ever heard of a S'muffin?
And you can answer the questions that I answered too, if you feel like, since they're better than mine.

--Audrey

 

The Riddle Answers

Okay, so I posted some riddles and paradoxes on Thursday, and here are the answers!

The sentence below is true.
The sentence above is false.
(which sentence is true, which is false?)
This is a paradox :)

What is the probability of getting this question correct?
a) 25% b)50% c)75% d)25%
Okay, so this is a trick question haha. I believe when all calculated out, the answer is 13 out of 36, or 36.1%. This is because there are two 25%, so there is a 1/3 chance of choosing a 25%. Then, out of that 1/3, there's a 1/2 chance of choosing the correct 25%. So the average is 5/12. And then for the other two, 50% and 75%, there is a combined 2/3 chance of choosing them. Average 5/12 and 2/3, and you get 13/36

Monty Hall RiddleThere are three doors. Behind one is money, and the other two doors have nothing behind them. You want to pick the door with money, quite obviously. You choose one door. Of the other two doors, a man, Monty Hall, opens one empty door. You are then offered the choice of staying with your original door, or switching to the other door. Should you stay, switch, or does it not matter either way?
The answer is, you should switch. There are three scenarios:
--You've chosen the door with money. Monty Hall reveals an empty door. If you switch, you lose.
--You've chosen one of the empty doors. Monty Hall reveals an empty door. If you switch, you win.
--You've chosen the other empty door. Monty Hall reveals an empty door. If you switch, you win.
Switching gives a 2/3 chance of winning! :)

Pop Quiz RiddleA teacher tells his class, "I will be giving a pop quiz some day next week, and I guarantee you will not know the quiz is happening until you come into class that day."
Gina, one of the students in the class, thinks about the teacher's statement and determines that the quiz could not possibly be on Friday, because if it were, then all of the students would know this on Thursday night, which would would contradict what the teacher said about the quiz being a surprise.
She then determines the quiz could not be on Thursday either, because if it was, all the students would know by Wednesday night (since the quiz hadn't yet happened, and thus must be on Thursday or Friday, but since we already determined it couldn't be on Friday, it must be Thursday). Again, this wouldn't be a surprise, contradiciting what the teacher said, and so the quiz couldn't be on Thursday.
Using the same logic, she then determines that the quiz could not be on Wednesday, or Tuesday, or Monday. Thinking that the teacher must have been contradicting himself, Gina decides that no matter what day the quiz is, she will always know.
Much to Gina's surprise, the teacher announces on Tuesday that he is giving a pop quiz. Gina is surprised, just as the teacher said she would be.
What was wrong with Gina's reasoning?
Okay....so there's actually no specific answer, as the riddle is still being debated. Here are a two possible solutions:
--Gina is not allowed to eliminate Thursday on Tuesday night, as she hasn't had the Wednesday lesson yet, ergo her logic is incorrect after she eliminates Friday.
--Although Gina has eliminated all the days, she still has no idea what day the quiz will be, so she will still be surprised.

Liar and a Truth-teller (easiest version)You are walking down a path when you come to a fork in the road. One road leads to the Truth Village where everyone tells the truth. One road leads to the Lie Village where everyone lies. You want to go to the Truth Village, but don't know which road to take. (oh, and for some odd reason if you take the wrong path you can't turn back LOL)
In front of the doors are two twin brothers, one from each village. One of the brothers always lies, and the other always tells the truth. You don't know which brother is the liar and which is the truth-teller.
You are allowed to ask one single question to one of the brothers (not both) to figure out which door to open.
What question should you ask?
You should ask: "Which village do you come from?" The truth teller will point to the truth village, and the liar will also point to the truth village.

Liar and a Truth-teller (slightly harder version)You are walking down a path when you come to a fork in the road. One road leads to the Truth Village where everyone tells the truth. One road leads to the Lie Village where everyone lies. You want to go to the Truth Village, but don't know which road to take. (again, you can't turn back if you choose the wrong road...)
In front of the doors are two twin brothers that know which village is which, but do not actually come from the villages themselves. One of the brothers always lies, and the other always tells the truth. You don't know which brother is the liar and which is the truth-teller.
You are allowed to ask one single question to one of the brothers (not both) to figure out which door to open.
What question should you ask?
You should ask: "What would the person next to you say if I asked which way the lie village was?" This way, the truth teller will point to the truth village. The liar will also point to the truth village. (you can also ask "what would the person next to you say if I asked which way the lie village was?" in which case they both would point to the lie village haha)

Liar or a Truth-teller (hardest version)You're walking down a path and come to two doors. One of the doors leads to a life of prosperity and happiness, and the other door leads to a life of misery and sorrow. You don't know which door is which.
In front of the door is ONE man. You know that this man either always lies, or always tells the truth, but you don't know which. The man knows which door is which.
You are allowed to ask the man ONE yes-or-no question to figure out which door to go through. To make things more difficult, the man is very self-centered, so you are only allowed to ask him a question about what he thinks or knows; your question cannot involve what any other person or object (real or hypothetical) might say.
What question should you ask to ensure you go through the good door?
You should ask: "Is the good door on the left?" (or right. you could also ask about the wrong door). There are four scenarios:
--truth teller, you've pointed at the right door: will say yes
--liar, you've pointed at the right door: will say yes
--truth teller, you've pointed at the wrong door: will say no
--liar, you've pointed at the wrong door: will say no

Three people check into a hotel room. The bill is $30 so they each pay $10. After they go to the room, the hotel's cashier realizes that the bill should have only been $25. So he gives $5 to the bellhop and tells him to return the money to the guests. The bellhop notices that $5 can't be split evenly between the three guests, so he keeps $2 for himself and then gives the other $3 to the guests.
Now the guests, with their dollars back, have each paid $9 for a total of $27. And the bellhop has pocketed $2. So there is $27 + $2 = $29 accounted for. But the guests originally paid $30. What happened to the other dollar?
Actually, it makes no sense to add the 2 to the 27, because the $27 that has been paid includes the $2 the bellhop made.
The correct math is to say that the guests paid $27, and the bellhop took $2, which, if given back to the guests, would bring them to their correct payment of $27 - $2 = $25.

Jenny was 17 the day before yesterday. Next year she will turn 20. How is this possible?
Today is January 1. The day before yesterday was December 30, and Jenny was 17. On December 31, Jenny turned 18. This year on Dec. 31, Jenny will turn 19. Next year, on Dec.31, Jenny will turn 20!

Okay, so that's all! :) I'm not much of an explainer, so tell me if this didn't make sense.

--Audrey

Riddles, Paradoxes, and Such

Sorry that I haven't posted in a week...I didn't have access to the Internet for a few days :/
Anyway, although I failed to mention this before, I love riddles and paradoxes. Oh, and by riddles, I mean logic riddles, not those riddles that go like "what happens once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years" (which is the letter m, by the way). I thought I'd share a few of my favorites...for the riddles, I'll post the answers on Saturday, so you can guess in the comments if you like haha.


The sentence below is true.
The sentence above is false.
(which sentence is true, which is false?)

What is the probability of getting this question correct?
a) 25%  b)50%  c)75%  d)25%

Monty Hall Riddle
There are three doors. Behind one is money, and the other two doors have nothing behind them. You want to pick the door with money, quite obviously. You choose one door. Of the other two doors, a man, Monty Hall, opens one empty door. You are then offered the choice of staying with your original door, or switching to the other door. Should you stay, switch, or does it not matter either way?

Pop Quiz Riddle
A teacher tells his class, "I will be giving a pop quiz some day next week, and I guarantee you will not know the quiz is happening until you come into class that day."
       Gina, one of the students in the class, thinks about the teacher's statement and determines that the quiz could not possibly be on Friday, because if it were, then all of the students would know this on Thursday night, which would would contradict what the teacher said about the quiz being a surprise.
        She then determines the quiz could not be on Thursday either, because if it was, all the students would know by Wednesday night (since the quiz hadn't yet happened, and thus must be on Thursday or Friday, but since we already determined it couldn't be on Friday, it must be Thursday). Again, this wouldn't be a surprise, contradiciting what the teacher said, and so the quiz couldn't be on Thursday.
Using the same logic, she then determines that the quiz could not be on Wednesday, or Tuesday, or Monday. Thinking that the teacher must have been contradicting himself, Gina decides that no matter what day the quiz is, she will always know.
        Much to Gina's surprise, the teacher announces on Tuesday that he is giving a pop quiz. Gina is surprised, just as the teacher said she would be.
What was wrong with Gina's reasoning?

Liar and a Truth-teller (easiest version)
You are walking down a path when you come to a fork in the road. One road leads to the Truth Village where everyone tells the truth. One road leads to the Lie Village where everyone lies. You want to go to the Truth Village, but don't know which road to take. (oh, and for some odd reason if you take the wrong path you can't turn back LOL)
In front of the doors are two twin brothers, one from each village. One of the brothers always lies, and the other always tells the truth. You don't know which brother is the liar and which is the truth-teller.
You are allowed to ask one single question to one of the brothers (not both) to figure out which door to open.
What question should you ask?

Liar and a Truth-teller (slightly harder version)You are walking down a path when you come to a fork in the road. One road leads to the Truth Village where everyone tells the truth. One road leads to the Lie Village where everyone lies. You want to go to the Truth Village, but don't know which road to take. (again, you can't turn back if you choose the wrong road...)
In front of the doors are two twin brothers that know which village is which, but do not actually come from the villages themselves. One of the brothers always lies, and the other always tells the truth. You don't know which brother is the liar and which is the truth-teller.
You are allowed to ask one single question to one of the brothers (not both) to figure out which door to open.
What question should you ask?

Liar or a Truth-teller (hardest version)
You're walking down a path and come to two doors. One of the doors leads to a life of prosperity and happiness, and the other door leads to a life of misery and sorrow. You don't know which door is which.
In front of the door is ONE man. You know that this man either always lies, or always tells the truth, but you don't know which. The man knows which door is which.
You are allowed to ask the man ONE yes-or-no question to figure out which door to go through. To make things more difficult, the man is very self-centered, so you are only allowed to ask him a question about what he thinks or knows; your question cannot involve what any other person or object (real or hypothetical) might say.
What question should you ask to ensure you go through the good door?

Three people check into a hotel room. The bill is $30 so they each pay $10. After they go to the room, the hotel's cashier realizes that the bill should have only been $25. So he gives $5 to the bellhop and tells him to return the money to the guests. The bellhop notices that $5 can't be split evenly between the three guests, so he keeps $2 for himself and then gives the other $3 to the guests.
Now the guests, with their dollars back, have each paid $9 for a total of $27. And the bellhop has pocketed $2. So there is $27 + $2 = $29 accounted for. But the guests originally paid $30. What happened to the other dollar?

Jenny was 17 the day before yesterday. Next year she will turn 20. How is this possible?



...and there are more, but I won't post them all at once.

--Audrey

Ending of the Story

I really need to get a title for this story...anyway, I posted the first 2/3 of a shortish story that is loosely influenced by The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. I'd written yesterday and on Tuesday, so scroll down to see those posts.

And....Happy Valentine's Day!!!! :) I don't really celebrate it very much but I know the United States of America as a whole spends millions on this holiday haha.



       Completely flabbergasted, I headed out the door in a daze after Tiffany into a vast garden, which was the most peculiar thing I'd ever seen. About 100 meters in front of me was a section of the garden in which bare tree branches swayed in the howling winds, and a flurry of powdery white snow whirled about the plant life. But about 100 meters to my right, the trees were all covered in lush green foliage, with branches covered in delicate pink and purple blossoms; bright flowers in every color imaginable bloomed densely from the emerald-green grass.
       "It's the Garden of Seasons," Tiffany explained to me. "There are four sections in the garden--one section for each of the seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Come on, we have to pick one of each kind of flower. Try not to do too much damage to this garden, since the fairy princess would be outraged if we ruined all of her hard work in maintaining this place. In an hour, let's meet with all of our flowers right here, in front of the door."
       We split up, each gathering as many kinds of flowers as possible. When I entered the spring section, I was absolutely blown away; never in my life had I seen so many types of flowers before. I could name daisies, marigolds, daffodils, celosias, tulips, pansies, poppies, narcissus, petunias, liles...
       Nearly an hour later, Tiffany and I met up by the door that led to the snooty fairy's throne room. "I didn't know that many flowers could grow in winter," I remarked, seeing Tiffany's arms full of flowers like forsythia and witchhazel.
       Surveying our flower pile with a critical eye, Tiffany exclaimed, "Oh! We forgot buttercups!" and she dashed off.
       Only a few seconds had passed when I heard a terrible scream come from where Tiffany had run off to. "Tiffany!" I cried anxiously, sprinting over to her.
       When I arrived, I saw nothing dangerous. Tiffany's eyes were as large as dinner plates, and she pointed with a shaking finger at an ugly weed. I didn't see anything wrong with one weed in a humongous garden, but the weed seemed to be causing Tiffany great distress.
       "Um...what?" I asked, confused, peering at the weed to see if I was missing something.
       "The fairy princess despises weeds, and her Garden of Seasons almost never has any weeds in it, since she uses her magic to keep them out. But if she sees this weed, then she'll suspect that we planted it. Of course, she's too arrogant to ever even consider that she might have just accidentally let it in. We better pull it out," Tiffany told me in a hushed whisper, even though no one was around to hear us.
       "Okay then," I replied, still not really seeing what the big deal was. I reached over and yanked the weed out, roots and all. Tiffany and I headed back to our flower pile, which we inspected for missing flower types.
       Once we were sure we had all of the types of flowers in the fairy princess's garden, we headed back to the throne room. Tiffany held the weed carefully, so that it was completely surrounded with other flowers, making it practically invisible.
       "Your Highness, shall we test the flowers?" I asked as respectfully as possible.
       The fairy princess have a high, condescending laugh. "Sure, but you haven't done anything different than all the other girls. I suspect a failure." She held out her disguised twig-wand, which Tiffany retrieved.
       Biting back a snide remark, I split the pile of flowers in half and began the testing. I took a pansy and held it to the wand for a few seconds, but nothing happened, so I put the pansy out of the way.
       Throughout the testing, Tiffany and I were careful to keep the weed out of view from the fairy, but when we had tried almost all the flowers, the weed was no longer camoflauged from her Royal Snobbiness.
       "What is that? It's...a...a weed! You...you were planning to plant that in my garden, weren't you?! This is aboslutely outrageous...I can't believe--why, you," the fairy princess spluttered indignantly, her angry thoughts mixing up into a jumble of words.
       "Quick--she's in too much distress to do anything yet. Test the rest of the flowers!" Tiffany hissed at me, and so I obeyed immediately. But the last flower didn't work, so all I had left in my hand was the ugly weed. when I inspected in closer, I saw tiny white blossoms underneath the leaves. "Worth a try," I muttered, tapping the twig with one of the little flowers.
       "Oh my gosh...Mia!" Tiffany gasped, as the twig elongated and transformed into a sparkly, silvery-blue wand with a blue flower on the tip.
       Seeing her wand, the fairy princess was so startled that she forgot her distress about the weed. "Well, it seems you have succeeded," the fairy princess announced, trying in vain not to seem surprised. She snatched the wand, and told us, "Now I have the power to give you your regular appearance. Uncursing is much harder than cursing." She tapped me on the head and muttered a few rhyming lines under her breath.
       I felt as though little bugs were scuttling around in my body, and then I was engulfed in a cloud of flower-scented silver-blue mist. When the mist faded, Tiffany exclaimed, "Mia, you're back to normal!"
       "Thank you," the fairy princess said, making a face as though the words tasted bad in her mouth. She tapped us both on the head, and we went through the same tunnel we had fallen through earlier, but this time were rocketed upwards, and landed in Tiffany's living room.
       I glanced at the clock on the wall of the living room: 11:38 AM. With some luck, my parents might have not noticed I was gone yet.
       "Bye-see-you-later-thanks-for-all-your-help," I told Tiffany hastily, darting back out the door.
       Miraculously, my parents were still sleeping, so I pretended that nothing had happened when they did awaken.

Okay, so I really didn't know how to end that story, so there's basically no ending. Well, I hope you enjoyed, and I will very gladly take any critique!

--Audrey

Story Continued

Here's the next installment of that story! I think I'll finish posting it tomorrow. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, go here.


       Once I arrived at Tiffany's house, I lifted a finger to ring the doorbell, but then I realized I might wake up Tiffany's parents. I knew that Tiffany always got up this early on weekends, so I knocked three times, relatively quietly, hoping that my friend would hear, but that I wouldn't wake anyone else up.
       "Mia, what are you doing here?" Tiffany asked as she opened the door. I looked up slowly, and she pushed back my floppy sun hat. "Oh my--what--what happened?!" Tiffany demanded, as though she couldn't quite believe her eyes--not that I blamed her.
       "I was sort of hoping you could tell me what happened," I started as Tiffany gaped at my face. "Last night I looked perfectly normal, and this morning I woke up looking like a witch! Can you think of any fairy tales that are like this?"
       Tiffany cocked her head, and I could practically hear the gears whirring in her mind. Finally, she exclaimed, "Yes! I cannot believe I didn't realize it earlier. Your last name, Millistrode! So there was this-"
       Although it was rude, I cut Tiffany off. "If this is one of your never-ending tangents about magic, can we skip the legend and proceed to the part where my appearance is normal again? Please? I really need to get home before my parents wake up."
       "Okay, okay. The legend said that if this ever happens, we should--oh, I--I'll be right back!" Leaving me puzzled on the doorstep, Tiffany darted away and I heard her backyard door open and close. She came back holding a daisy cupped carefully in both palms. Handing me the daisy, Tiffany directed, "Pluck off each petal in a counterclockwise circle starting from..." she scrutinized the daisy I held. "Starting from that petal," Tiffany finished.
       Feeling foolish, I obeyed, as Tiffany chanted something under her breath.
       To my absolute amazement, when I dropped the last daisy petal on the ground and Tiffany finished her spell, I felt the floor vanish beneath my feet. My eyes closed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get them to open. However, although my eyelids were shut, I could still see an odd, silvery-blue mist.
       About ten seconds later, I stumbled into a room the same silvery-blue as the mist I had seen with Tiffany. The only thing not silvery-blue in the room was a snooty-looking fairy.
       She was perched on top of a golden throne that was bejeweled with many precious gemstones carved into the shapes of different flowers. The fairy wore a dress, which had a skirt made of huge rose petals, and the top of her dress seemed to be made of avocado tree leaves. Glittering, translucent wings sprouted from her back. A silvery-blue tiara was nestled atop her shiny blonde curls.
       When she caught sight of me, she snickered. "What do you want?" the fairy asked, nodding at me.
       "Um, when I woke up, I found myself looking like this, which is not at all my usual appearance. And then, um..." I glanced at Tiffany, because I didn't know why she had taken us here.
       Tiffany curtsied to the fairy and said, "Your Highness, I realized that my friend Mia Millistrode was a victim of the curse you had cast upon all the female descendants of Anna Millistrode."
       The fairy princess nodded, and with a haughty expression on her face, she explained to me, "I saved Anna Millistrode from a flood she was caught in at the age of ten. She promised she would repay me. About two years later, I insulted a witch by calling her hideous, so that blasted witch turned my wand into an ordinary stick. While I can still do magic through it, I am much less powerful. On the third Saturday after Anna Millistrode's twelfth birthday, I summoned the young girl here. The witch had told me that when I certain type of flower came in  contact with the stick, it would turn back into my wand and return me to full power. I told Anna to pick every type of flower into my garden, and uncurse my wand."
       I watched the fairy princess, dumbfounded as she continued the story. "She picked flowers for hours, but after she tested each blossom with my stick, my wand had still not returned. Anna Millistrode failed me, so I turned her into an ugly witch that closely resembled the one who had cursed my wand. Now, every female descendant of Anna Millistrode will turn into an ugly witch on the third Saturday after her twelfth birthday. Some find me, but all have failed to find the correct flower. Some girls never find out what happened, and live the rest of their life as a hideous witch. Your Mother, Miss Mia Millistrode, came here...but she didn't find the correct flower. Ashamed, your mother went into hiding. Thinking that she might be rewarded if she had a daughter that uncursed my wand, your mother gave birth to you and died a few seconds after you had been born. You were found, taken to an adoption agency, and adopted by the people you call your parents. My garden is out that door. Your friend may help you."
     

Some More Writing (seriously in need of editing)

I was digging around in my old folders and stuff and stumbled upon a rather short story I had written, oh, two-ish years ago. It was supposed to be a fan fiction (I don't do those very often, but I happened to want to this time) of the awesome book The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman, which I've read like five times now. So the story didn't turn out to be a fan fiction, though if you know the book, you might be able to see the connection.
Anyway, enough with my rambling. here is the unedited first third of the terrible, horrndous story which was supposed to be a diary entry but doesn't really sound like one, so I just decided to make it a normal story. And since I didn't mention it until rather late into the story, the narrator's name is Mia.


       After over twelve years of living with my parents, I never figured out I was adopted. When I finally did learn that I didn't know who my birth parents were, it wasn't my adopted parents who told me--no, I was informed by a rich, snooty fairy princess. It all started this morning the third Saturday after my twelfth birthday...
       Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm clock screeched, pulling me out of my dreams. As I stretched my legs, I realized that I couldn't reach the backboard of my toes, even though I had been tall enough to do that for nearly two years. Well, that's odd, I thought absentmindedly.
       "Oh, no...it's Saturday! I forgot to turn off the alarm," I muttered sleepily.
       Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm clock persisted, so I shut it off and climbed out of bed, glacing at myself in the large mirror attached to the back of the bedroom door.
       "AH!!!" I shrieked when I caught sight of my reflection.
       After I rubbed my eyes furiously, I looked back at the mirror, hoping what I had sen was just a hallucination (although I didn't really want to be hallucinating, either).
       "AH!!!" I yelled again. My hair, which was supposed to be a light brown, was coarse and black. I was about half a foot shorter and had a hunched back, which explained the confusion with my height.
       Before this morning, my face had been mostly clear of acne, but now huge, ugly warts blossomed on my nose and cheeks. My skin was not pale, like it should be, but a dark tan with a slightly greenish tinge. I made a fist and opened my fingers, finding that my skin was dry, tight, and cracked. Behind the ugly skin, black hair, and warts, you could see my terrified expression reflecting back at me in the mirror.
       I had never quite believed in magic, but I had never quite not believed in magic either. This is magic, isn't it? I thought hesitantly. I grew shorter, which is impossible at my age, and my hair and skin changed color overnight!
       Right then and there, I could have sat down and pondered about the existence of magic for hours on end, but I knew that I couldn't. Somehow, I had to get my appearance back to normal. I didn't want my parents to catch sight of me. They'd probably rush me off to the hospital, where I would have to give blood samples and receive shots, which didn't sound even remotely appealing. It was only seven AM on a Saturday morning, so I knew my parents wouldn't even begin to stir until at least ten AM.
       "Tiffany! She'll know what to do!" I announced in a triumphant whisper. There was no one else in the room, but I spoke aloud anyway. "She knows just about every single fairy tale, fable, legend, myth, and tall tale in the world. Maybe she's heard of something like this." Now that I had a plan to see my friend, I felt slightly better.
       As I didn't own a ski mask to cover my face, I just pulled the brim of a huge sun hat over my face and kept my head down. Once I tied my hair in a messy knot, I shoved it under the hat as well. I quickly put on a large sweatshirt and long jeans to hide as much of my skin as possible. Most of the people I knew probably wouldn't be out so early on a Saturday morning.
       However, I was proved wrong almost as soon as I stepped out of the door. My next-door neighbor, Mrs. Shaw, was pulling weeds out of her front yard, but had stopped when she heard me open the door.
       "Why, Mia! Hello, dear. Up so early today, aren't you? Something special going on? Why do you have a sun hat? It's so cloudy today!"
       "Umm, yeah, I have stuff to do today! Which is why I'm up so early. And...um...it might get sunny later, so I brought a hat just in case. Um...I have to go now!" I babbled, darting away.
       "Oh...okay," Mrs. Shaw replied, although I could only barely hear her. "Have a nice day," she called after me. I could hear the bewilderment in her voice, but I didn't even turn around as I hald-waved to Mrs. Shaw over my shoulder and kept running to my friend Tiffany's house.


Okay, that's all I'll put today...I'll post the rest tomorrow and Thursday!

--Audrey

Seriously! What a Great Blog Award

Thank you Seana for nominating for the Seriosuly! What a Great Blog Award! I mean, seriously, what a great award! So. Let's see what I have to do this time....



1. Nominate 10 bloggers
2. Answer the questions
3. Thank the blogger who nominated you
4. Notify the bloggers you nominated

Shall we? I'm going to do them out of order, because I liked to nominate bloggers last (well not last exactly since I still have to notify them) though I'm not sure why exactly.

3. I did this, but...thank you, Seana for this award!
2.
The job you want to have?
Hmmmm, well, I have always wanted to be an author, and I still do. But as authors don't make a lot of money unless you're totally famous (which I won't be), I might be an author as a side job. I like debating, sooo...a lawyer? Maybe a pharmacist.

Favorite singer/band?
Er, don't listen to music much, but I do like Taylor Swift.

Favorite chocolate or sweet?
I don't know if this counts but I LOVE cheesecake. Strawberry cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, caramel turtle cheesecake, or just New York cheesecake...gotta love cheesecake!! :) if that doesn't count I like Godiva truffles, despite their insane price.

Three words to describe you?
Well, if it counts, my full name is Audrey Lynn Jones.
If it doesn't, then: queer, shy, and bookworm

4. Now for the nominations I ought've done first but didn't:
July because she's just, well, awesome :)
Fira Marine even though she doesn't do awards, because her blog is seriously great, and ergo worthy of the Seriously! What a Great Blog Award
Jessica because I love her blog
Kayla Anne because she's an amazing writer and poet
Liam because he apparently hates most awards and there's an evil little scheme going on to nominate him.
Hilda because she's really sweet, always comments on tons of blogs, and she's PUBLISHED!!
So for the people I nominated, you just answer the same questions that I answered :)

That's only 6, but there are lots of people I would've nominated that have already been nominated. If you want this and I haven't nominated you, take it!Have fun if you choose to do this award, and if you do it, maybe nominate Liam because some people seem to delight in this plan of everyone nominating him.

--Audrey

Book Review: Anne of Green Gables

So today I'm going to review Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery!
And happy Lunar New Year! Superstitiously, whatever you do on the New Year's Day (today) will determine how the rest of your year is spent. So hopefully this means I'll be blogging a lot :)



Book: As aforementioned, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Genre: fiction (now, I cannot tell what books are literary fiction, mainstream fiction, etc so I'll just stick to fiction. No magic in this book).

Overall Review: This was a great book! Make sure to read the "complete and unabridged text" because this is a "classic" book and there are all sorts of condensed versions that aren't as good as the original. Anne Shirley, the main character, is a spirited and hilarious girl that has a humongous imagination, a knack for getting into sticky situations, and a poitive way of viewing things. I just devoured this book, since it was so interesting, funny, and just amazing. The descriptions of where Anne lives--the Green Gables farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada--are awesome, and now I want to visit the island, which does actually exist.
Anne and her caretakers, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, are all very nice people that weave an  amazing tale. When I finished the book, I felt like I was best friends with Anne--and Anne is really the kind of book character that you wish desperately you could meet.

What I didn't like: The beginning was a tiny tad slow. But after the first two or three chapters, the book gets really interesting. And since this was written a while ago, the writing style is a bit different from more modern books, but nothing that isn't understandable.

Recommended Readers: Oh, any age, really, this book has nothing inappropriate. Just for the purpose of naming an age, maybe 8 and up?


So there's my review! If you do read or have read this book, tell me in the comments or chat box how you liked it!

--Audrey

A Short Little Post

I haven't much to say, really...
Except, a new prime number has been discovered! Yay...
It's 17 million digits long: 2 to the power of 57,885,161 minus 1. It takes up 30 megabytes of storage all by itself. Which is crazy because that number only has two factors XD
I think it's pretty cool, but not a number I'd use every day.
And now a few random pictures of Hermione Granger, just 'cuz.













*pictures from Google Images

--Audrey

Book Review: A Girl From Yamhill

I'm going to review the first of two of Beverly Cleary's memoirs, A Girl From Yamhill! I've been pretty busy, but I managed to finish this book, and I;ve definitely been owing this review for a while now. It's a delightful and funny read that shows how Beverly Cleary lived as a young child--and how she was, in some ways, remarkably similar to her famous Ramona Quimby.

Book: A Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Clearly (genre: memoir--if that's even a genre, that is)

Rating: Hmmm...it's a really good book...4.8 stars out of 5

Overall Review: Well, the first thing I have to mention is Ms. Cleary's sense of humor. A Girl From Yamhill is witty, funny, and very enjoyable to read. It's not exactly a high-action edge-of-your-seat thriller type of book, but the memoir is interesting and holds your attention. (Well, it held my attention, at least). There are two chapters regarding Beverly's ancestors, who were pioneers. I found it really cool that her great-grandparents were some of the people that traveled bravely across the country in covered wagons.
     Another thing that I loved about this memoir was just the kind of personality young Beverly Cleary seemed to have. A Girl From Yamhill included verrryyy familiar references to children walking down streets in tin can stilts. (If you haven't read the Ramona Quimby books, Ramona, a young girl, and some of her friends liked to walk around the sidewalk on tin-can stilts) Also, it takes some serious guts, Ramona Quimby-style, to stick your finger in an electrical socket and stand up at the top of a Ferris Wheel. This memoir was filled with vivid descriptions and humorous anecdotes.
    When Beverly Cleary was a child, her life and the typical children's lifestyle are a whole lot different from today's typical child's life, and it's really awesome to read the memories of someone who remembers the "olden days" when television is not even in the picture, children are paid to write book reviews, and people ride street wagons everywhere.

Stuff I didn't like: Almost nothing, really. Chapters 2 and 3 were a little confusing for me. These are the chapters where Beverly describes her family tree. It may just be me, but I can only understand so many pages of "Person A, the daughter of Person B and Person C, married Person X, who would later give birth to my great-grandmother and her sister, Persons Y and Z." But if you read slowly, you should have no problem understanding :)

Recommended reader's age: Um, I would say anywhere from age 8 and up. I don't know.



And that concludes my review! Soon I will review Anne of Green Gables, I'm in the middle of it right now.

Reader Appreciation Award

So I was over at Amanda's blog, Everyday Adventures and I saw that she had tagged anyone who wanted the Reader Appreciation Award with said award.
It's not like I really want the award or anything, but I do want to post as often as possible, so I figured I'd do the award.



Rules:
1. Link back to person who nominated you
2. Attach the icon to your site.
3. Answer the attached questions.
4. Nominate six bloggers and inform them that you have nominated them.

Well, then, let's get started, shall we?

1. I think I already did that. But just in case... Everyday Adventures
2. Oh, well I did that too. For good measure...
 

3. Erm...I'll answer the questions that Amanda answered.

What's your favorite color?
Turquoise or teal or aqua or whatever that blue-green ish color is called.

What's your favorite animal?
Well, humans are animals, right? And of course I do like myself better than other creatures with whom I've never spent much time with. But if humans are not included, then cats.

What's your favorite non-alcoholic drink?
Water.

What's your favorite number?
Favorite numer?! Well, ummm, I guess I rather like the way the number seven sounded, so...7.

What's your favorite day of the week?
Hmm...Thursdays, I think. I have  both debate and gymnastics on the same day :)

What's your favorite flower?
Er...roses are very nice. I also like lilies and narcissus.

What is your passion?
I've never understood this question. Writing, I suppose.

Do you watch television?
What is that supposed to mean? Have I watched television in my lifetime? Yes. Do I watch television often? Nope.

Who is your favorite author?
Oh no. I hate the favorite author question as much as I do the favorite book one. There are simply too many awesome authors. But J.K. Rowling is definitely veryyy high on my long list.

Do you like 80's movies?
Can't say I've ever watched one...I hardly watch movies or television.

How do you like your eggs?
Well this is an odd question. Scrambled eggs are good, I suppose. Or fried eggs. I like bread, and bread is made with eggs. I like lots of things with eggs in them. So...?

When did you discover blogging?
Er...I've been reading people's blogs since I was like 10 but I just started blogging myself a few months ago...

Why do you like to blog?
My original intention for this blog was to get critique for my writing. I also like blogging because it's exciting when someone comments on your post. And I have so many weird ideas and thoughts, why not share them?

4. Six bloggers. Well. I only recently nominated people for the Liebster Blog Award. So I'm going to copy Amanda....
If you want this award, then by all means, take it! If not, then, well, whatever.

--Audrey

Some Weird Writing

A writing idea...it's really weird...but I just really wanted to post it :)
(by the way, Mr. Omweg is my English teacher)


Dear Mr. Omweg:
       I regret to inform you that my essay has been abducted by many argumentative English language monsters. You see, I was walking to school this morning with my completed essay in my backpack. All of a sudden, with no warning whatsoever, odd little creatures in even more eccentric shapes marched down the sidewalk right in front of me.
       These creatures were shaped as punctuation marks or words. A few leapt into my backpack, pulled out my essay and threw it to the ground. I had exclaimed in indignation, "Hey! I need that essay for school today!" Then I asked as politely as possible, "May I please have my essay back?"
       One of the monsters, shaped as a semicolon, nearly screamed, "Why did you use a comma here?! There are clearly two independent clauses--meaning you should have used a semicolon!!" The semicolon monster picked up a comma off the page and ate it. It then stamped itself on my page, leaving a semicolon printed neatly in place of the eaten comma.
       "We are the grammar monsters. So pleased to meet your acquaintance," an exclamation mark greeted with a heavy British accent, bowing deeply.
       "ACK!" came a shriek from a monster shaped as the word 'spelling.' "How could you?! Everyone knows that necessary has one collar and two sleeves--one 'c' and two 's'! Why in the world did you use two 'c' and one 's'? Do you mean to tell me you've seen a shirt with two collars and one sleeve?" Spelling demanded, glaring at me furiously. "And you spelled receive wrong. I before e except after c, unless saying 'ay' as in neighbor or weigh! This essay is atrocious, I do declare!"
       The grammar monster named Appositive stormed up to me. "No commas," he fumed as though he couldn't quite believe it. "All those appositives and not a single comma! This is an outrage!"
       Angry grammar monsters shouted at me as they fixed my mistakes. Participle, one of the largest monsters, cried, "Do you know how many dangling participles you have? Seriously, I haven't seen a worse essay in my life!"
       Preposition, another one of the larger grammar monsters had told me, "You can't ever end a sentence with me, oh, never!" The Preposition fainted when it saw that my prepositional phrase didn't end with a noun.
       All of the grammar monsters were so angry with me that they pounced upon my essay and carried it off so that they could fix the "despicable mess of revolting grammar errors."
       So I might not have my essay today, Mr. Omweg sir, but see, this encounter with the grammar monsters has a benefit. cuz won Thing iz 4 shore: i aint never gonna 4get mine grammars Rulez everr uhgain.
                                                                                      Your student,
                                                                                      Audrey Jones


And that's my writing idea. It's very short, and needs a lot of work, but I wanted to have some writing as this is a writing blog and all. Please tell me what could be improved!

--Audrey

Liebster Blog Award

Well, I was over at Seana's blog, The Totally Insane Writer, and she was nominating every person reading a certain sentence on that post for the Liebster Award, and as I had read that sentence, well, I thought I should do a post. Thank you Seana, for nominating me and everyone else who read that sentence! Even though this award seems reaallllyyyy long. So. Let's get started, shall we?

Rules
1. List 11 facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you left.
3. Ask 11 new questions for those you nominate.
4. Choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate.
5. Go to each blogger's page and let them know about the award.
6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 facts. Seems like a lot about me. I'm not very interesting, so I understand very much if you just skip right over these facts.

Facts
1. I hate fake flowers. Despise them. Even though I do have some pollen allergies. Why would you want cheesy cloth and plastic flowers when you can plant some seeds, take care of them, and watch them grow--watch them come alive!?

2. I have an irrational fear of butterflies. Not spiders. Not cockroaches. Butterflies. Don't ask, because I don't know the answer.

3. Despite the rest of my family being extremely prone to motion sickness, I can walk down the aisle of an airplane in turbulance without feeling the slightest of stomach flutters.

4. Yes, I have walked down an airplance aisle while the plane was in turbulance. I was talking to my dad, who was in a seat quite far from mine, and then suddenly there was turbulance and I had to walk back to my seat.

5. I hate fishing, but I love crabbing. This probably isn't the most accurate fact, as I've only been fishing twice (hated both times) and been crabbing thrice (and loved all three times).

6. Although I'm mad at myself because of it, I aboslutely adore those boots that are lined with soft lamb fur. Even though most brands are crazy expensive and I feel guilty when I where them because I feel like I'm stealing a poor lamb's warmth.

7. I'm useless with computers, absolutely positively useless. Never liked to tinker around with anything...I'm not very creative.

8. My handwriting is really weird. I can't explain it, really. One day, when I stop being useless with computers, I'll scan a page of my handwriting and post it so you can see.

9. I love baking. Pie, cake, brownies, cookies, bread, muffins, whatever! Not very good at baking, but I love it.

10. I enjoy sitting on wooden chairs much, much more than plastic chairs or metal chairs. I don't know why. And while I don't mind a soft, padded chair, wooden chairs are really just more my thing.

11. I've never bothered to learn how to keyboard. My fingering is all over the place, yet a type a nice healthy 78 WPM, last time I checked, so I don't bother using those programs that make you type random letters over and over with proper fingering.

Questions to Answer
1. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
That's a rather eccentric question. I've never known groundhogs to chuck wood, personally, and there are plenty of groundhogs around my area. Well, I guess it depends on a few things:
a) how much wood there was available
b) how old the woodchuck was
c) how strong the woodchuck was
d) whether the woodchuck felt like chucking wood
And probably some more things, too, but I won't list them here.

2. Who do you look up to in the blogger world?
Hmmm...well.
Hilda: Hilda is extremely nice, and she always knows what to say. And she's PUBLISHED!!
Fira Marine: Fira Marine is a brilliant writer. Simply brilliant.
Jessica: Jessica is an amazing writer AND an awesome artist. And she can write poems. I can't.
Seana: Seana is very funny and finds lots of funny and interesting things to post about. She also made her Liebster post interesting, whereas I just can't seem to do that.
July: July is really nice, has an awesome blog, and she just seems so...likable.
There are probably more...

3. If you were on a deserted island, what three people would you want with you?
Cody Lundin, Dave Canterbury, and Bear Grylls. I figure three famous survivalists won't fail to save me. Then again, as I'd be totally useless, they might just abandon me. Hmm.

4. Can you finish this sentence? "Cause you've got that one..."
Er, come again? Cause who's got that one...? I have no idea. But technically I have the ability of finishing that sentence, so long as I just slap some grammatically correct word(s) in there. How about 'book?' I like books.

5. Where would you love to go some day and why?
China. And I am going, this summer. And why? Well, because there's supposed to be lots of haggling there and I love bargaining. Just love it. Also, I love authentic Chinese food. Can't go wrong with those little white buns filled with soup and meat! And gluten balls...love those gluten balls.

6. If someone granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?
Here are the things I SHOULD wish for:
1. world peace
2. cold fusion achieved
3. cure to cancer
What I WANT to wish for:
1. To be able to enter the worlds inside books
2. To be published
3. To live a happy and successful life
So the question is, wish for the world or wish for myself? Ih...I'll try both:
1. world peace
2. to be able to the enter the worlds inside books
3. cure to cancer

7. Do you consider 7 an unlucky number?
No, and I've never known anyone to consider it an unlucky number. How do numbers affect luck?

8. Do you have a lucky number? If so, what is it?
I don't have one :)

9. What fictional character would you love to hang out with for a day?
Just one???!!! Oh, no. I have to go with Hermione Granger, though.

10. If you casted a patronus charm, would would your patronus be?
Apparently your patronus is an animal that represents your character traits...umm...er...well, I am rather easily startled, so a deer, I suppose?

11. What is your favorite mythical creature?
Oh, dear, this is a hard one...umm...fairies, I guess.

Questions for Nominees
Unfortunately, I don't think I can come up with any interesting questions, but I'll try...
1. Do you believe in the Big Bang Theory?
2. If you could spend a day with just one author, who would you choose?
3. Do you consider ballet a sport?
4. Have you ever risen up early just to see the sunrise?
5. Are you superstitious? If so, can you give an example?
6. Do you prefer logic riddles or trick riddles? (In case this doesn't make sense, a logic riddle is one in which you need to think  up a clever solution, and a trick riddle is one in which there's a seemingly impossible riddle that has a trick to its wording)
7. Why do you think it is that we call people 'weird' or 'annoying?' What constitutes such traits? (Okay, so that was two questions. Sorry.)
8. What is your favorite genre of book?
9. Have you ever cried when watching a movie or reading a book because of what was happening in the movie/book?
10. Do you dreams ever reflect what you're thinking?
11. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head?

My Nominees
1. Fira Marine
2. Jessica
3. Kayla Anne
4. July
5. Hermione
You know, I can't think of any more than that. There are lots of people who have already been nominated...
Oh, well. Have a nice day, everyone!

--Audrey