Ewok-in' the dance floor.

Today is going to be a post pertaining to August.

Firstly, in case you DON'T know what BEDA is, I shall explain. BEDA is a project, created by the wonderful @Maureenjohnson in which the goal is to blog every day in a month beginning with A. This project started out in April (I do believe), but has since moved to August. I've done BEDA last year, and despite the madness that ensued, it was amazing, and I made some incredible friends.

So that's that. BEDA. BAM.

Secondly, some people have been talking about their August plans, and I will be joining those ranks today.

Among other things, this month my mom has surgery, we've got scads of proposals to get out for our theatre business, and at the end of the month, we're going to the Unschooler's conference! All that, and there are summer projects to do, home improvements to have done, and books to read!

Also, I'm starting sewing up little stuffed superheroes and supervillians to sell at the unschooler's conference, so that's really exciting!

As you may be able to tell, this BEDA is going in rather the same way as the past year. It's after midnight, and despite my plans to write a blog post before now, nothing has gone up.

Like last year, I'm calling this "blog once a day before you go to bed August".

Anyway, I think I can get let off easy because the reason I am late posting is because I was watching Return Of The Jedi...for the FIRST TIME.

While my thoughts on Star Wars will undoubtedly crop up in this coming month, I will simply say this:

Ewok dance party at the end. 'Nuff said.


~Whimsy

Pitching myself off the cliff into oblivion!

Do you ever have one of those decisions where either option could potentially end up being something you'll regret?

It's one of those "lesser of two evils" situations. You weigh both options, and try to find the one that you'll regret LEAST, and pick that one. ...or at least I do.

It can be hard to choose what option will be the one you'll regret, especially if you don't have all the information. Perhaps there's some rouge element in the future? Something you can't count on in your careful planning and weighing? That's when it gets really tricky.

Then it becomes not just a matter of having everything fit in the neat little "pro" and "con" lists that you've drawn up, but also a sort of future-guessing.

If you can't tell, when I'm making a decision, I like to have ALL the information right in front of me, and not having that information can send me into a tailspin. Yes, you read that right. Trying to work out what I should choose can send me into a minor stage of panic. Not pretty, not helpful.

So, back to the lesser of two evils, leaving my panic mode behind.

There you are, analyzing every possible outcome to death, under a time restraint (because since when did a really tricky decision come WITHOUT a time restriction?) and all you can think about is what you're going to do about your really tricky and potentially life-threatening question, what NEXT?

Wait, shhh. Of COURSE it's life threatening! Geez, you people. Your answer will not only threaten your life, but it could CHANGE THE WORLD.

Raised stakes never hurt anyone, am I right?

.

.

.

Hang on. What the hell were we talking about? Life threats, world changing, evils, future-guessing, and a mild mode of panic...

There was a point, I swear.

RIGHT! So, in the line of all great life-changing decisions, I have decided to take a flying leap and pitch myself off the cliff into the oblivion that is BEDA. God knows what I've gotten myself into, but we'll see.

I've got madness coming, this August, so let's see what happens.

Here with you for the ride, for better, for worse, and for late posts,
~Whimsy

P.S. Role call! Who's doing BEDA?

Pondering BEDA

I'm seriously contemplating BEDA, but I can't decide whether or not to actually DO IT.

In the meantime, I am fiddling with my blog's layout, and pondering this.

Happy BEDA to those participating, happy VEDA to those who are doing that project, and Happy August to EVERYONE!

~Whimsy

Under construction!

Pardon the way Whimsyville looks while I fiddle about with the theme. Strange colors and odd coding may abound as I attempt to update this blog from the CRAZYLEMON of last year.

Week Thirty: The need to DO something.

As of this post, I am officially caught up with my BOW'11 project. It's taken quite a bit of doing, but we're there!

I'm having one of those days where I have an urge to DO something. Not just enjoy the fact that for pretty much the first time ALL SUMMER, we don't have anything PLANNED for this weekend, but to really DO SOMETHING.

Do you ever get to that point where you feel like you want to create something, to make something happen, to make something that wasn't there before you started? When I get into one of these moods, my only stumbling block is figuring out exactly what I want to do.

It's not the problem of not having anything to do, it's the problem that I have too many options.

Do I brainstorm some crazy plan or party on the internet?

Do I finish adding library slips into my home bookshelves?

Do I write music?

Do I video myself playing a song I wrote, and then upload it?

Do I work on editing last year's NaNo?

I can make myself clothing, or film my first vlog.

Do I figure out what plot I want to work on for THIS year's NaNo?

Or I could revamp my iTunes library, or work on my business.

The day is young, and I have so much to do.

Thoroughly enjoying my day,
Whimsy

P.S. If you ever feel like you need to DO something, what sorts of things do you DO?

P.P.S. I really, really really CRAZY WANT to get into Pottermore, to the point that I just might stay up until 4am tonight to see if I can. Or I might not. Sleep can be very nice. Are you all as crazy as I am?

P.P.P.S Happy birthday to J.K. Rowling and to Harry Potter. Without either of them, I more than likely would not have met any of you, my blog readers.

Week Twenty-Nine: A Letter

I decided to write a nice letter to WB, the makers of the Harry Potter films after watching the last movie, and thought I would share it with you. Keep in mind, there are SPOILERS from this point on.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


Dear WB, and everyone else involved in making the (admitedly amazing) Harry Potter movies:
Congratulations on making the Harry Potter films such a wonderful (overall, let's not get ahead of ourselves) addition to JKR's magical word.
I adored the movies. I really did, and that is part of the reason why I am talking the time to write to you about the latest film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
The list of things I loved about this particular installment would be far too long to write down here, but suffice it to say that I loved a good 90% of the film. However, there is one thing above all that I took issue with.
There is a certain detail that I believe went a tad bit...off, when the Harry Potter books were being translated to movie form.
First, may I start out by saying that I, unlike many Potter fans, can forgive you for not making Harry's eyes green. I understand that Daniel was allergic to the contacts, so it's not like you didn't try. Harry's eyes are a charming light blue that borders on piercing. I can deal.
Now let's fast forward a few movies. As a viewer, we have numerous repetitions that Harry has "his mother's eyes". This fact is practically drilled into our skulls. Harry and Mummy have the same eyes.
It was July 15th, just after midnight. Here I am along with dozens of other devotees of Harry Potter, watching Snape's memories and bawling my eyes out. In front of me on the screen appears young Lily. She's adorable, with long flowing red hair, a sprinking of freckles, the sweetest little smile you've seen, and big brown eyes.

Yes, you have read that correctly, my dear WB friends. Her eyes are a beautiful deep, rich brown. To reiterate, Harry's eyes, while green in the book, are light blue in the movies, while Lily's eyes (that are supposed to match Harry's to the extent that almost every person he meets remarks upon them) are deep brown.

In light of this most grevious mishap, I suggest a revision to the famous line that plagued Harry his entire life..."You have your mother's eyes". From what I see, this line is not accurate at ALL, and therefore, my suggestions follow in a neat bullet point list for easy reference.

* "You have your mother's eyes when she forgot to wear her colored contacts."
* "Your mother's eyes were placed just like that on her face, too."
* "You have your mother's eyebrows."
* "You have your mother's blinking habits."
* "You have your mother's perfect vision...with your glasses on."
* "The scum on your lenses sure makes it look like you have your mother's eyes."
* "You have the same number of eyes as your mother."

If you wish to use any of these lines in future, I would be much obliged.

Sincerely,
Whimsy McWhimsysen

Week Twenty-Eight: Baking Heat, Books and Brains.

I don't know if any of you noticed, but it's BAKING HOT right now.
I've been seeking refuge in libraries, the studio*, and drinking ungodly amounts of water. Now, any excuse to spend more time at a library sounds like a good idea to me.

It's kind of odd that as of just over a week, it will have been a full year since BEDA**. As much as I would LOVE to do BEDA again, I don't think I could manage doing a daily project at this time. I'll keep on with my weekly schedule, but I don't think I could properly do an EVERY DAY thing. Unless something changes, and Rowling knows, that happens all the time.

In reply to you lover-ly commenters, I will NOT give up on Buffy. So many people lohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifve both the show and the character, I can't write it off after just ONE bad episode. (I may take Rachel's suggestion, and just skip to season 2. Nothing wrong with getting all emotionally invested and then going back to see the cringe-worthy stuff after you care about the characters.

I've been trying to get some reading done, nothing huge, nothing like a summer project, but it's just nice to have pages to turn, and things that actually leave some story to the imagination. Don't get me wrong, I'm horribly emotionally attached to the Doctor Who characters, but I really like the action of READING.

There's something to be said for physically picking out a book, leafing through it, making sense in your head from just some back ink on a page, and getting to know characters in a way that I, personally don't think you can when you're watching the drama play out on a screen.

Take the character of Harry Potter, our wizard of page and screen. One of, if not THE most well known book character of today. When I read about him, the Harry I have in my head will be different than the character in your head, who will be different than the Harry that's in your best friend's head, who will be different than the Harry who is in Daniel Radcliffe's head.

And you know what? We can all be right. I don't get to tell you that how you view him is wrong, and you don't get to tell Daniel Radcliffe that how he views Harry is wrong***.

Reading is a very personalized experience, and for that reason and MANY others, I prefer it to anything on a screen. I guess that's why, when I hear that I should watch a certain TV show, I automatically think "Oh, d'you think there's a book I could read instead?" even when I know that the show came first.

If you think about it, reading reveals far more about yourself than it does about the author or book characters. I really like that.


Now I'm going to go find a book, get into my bed and READ.

~Whimsy

P.S.
I'm curious to know your thoughts on a few things, if you managed to get through this whole post (and good on you if you did).
Firstly, what are your thoughts on TV and movies versus books?
Secondly, do you have an e-reader/would you want one/do you like the idea?
Thirdly, how is your summer going? I feel like I haven't spoken to my blogging friends in AGES!

P.P.S. I don't think I ever mentioned this before, but the times you see on my posts are the actual times I finished writing them. I go into the options and change them to reflect the minute I actually manually hit the "PUBLISH POST" button. As you can see, I do a LOT of my writing after 1am.


*The studio, where we do most of the work for the business that we own (plus crafts as well!), is the one room in my house that has A/C. Everyone clusters around the nice cool air, and we all flop around like dying fish.

**Blog Every Day In August, where last year, I met some wonderful people who I am so proud to call my friends.

***To clarify, I still am a staunch supporter of raging at WB for some of their choices with the movies, and I am in NO WAY saying that every acting decision that Dan made as Harry was the right one. That being said, the way he played Harry is just that. The way he played him. It doesn't make YOUR Harry any less valid, just because "that's not how it was in the movies". Since when did the movies dictate the books or what's real in our minds, anyway?