“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”~C.S. Lewis.


Argh! Yes! Brisingr was not long enough! Such a good series! However, I was a little disappointed with the lack of a climax. = ( I was waiting for the climax, waiting, waiting...

And then the book just ended. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Here's another excellent quote by C.S. Lewis:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
He is such a wise man.




So, per request of Libby, Peach, and Kei, I am posting these videos.

Do not feel obligated to watch it. You probably won't be amused.

A laugh for all you NaNoWriMo-ers:

Here is a hilarious, indispensible quote from William Somerset Maugham:
(It made me burst out in giggles, [yes, giggles mind you] when I first read it)

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

Is that hysterically, tragically true? Boy, do I know it. I am in the process of creating a villain (not for NaNo, for school!) and I have decided to make him as interesting as the main character. Huh. Easier said than done.

Anyway, here's some inspiration for you writers:





I am convinced that most bloggers decrease posting by half in November, if they are doing NaNo. Not that I blame them or anything.

Here's to NaNo-ers! Best wishes to you and have fun writing. I hope your eye's don't dry out from staring at the computer screen!

One last Marian post:

Two poems too exhilarating to not share:

And what eye hath e'er seen such a sweet Maiden Queen,
As Marian, the pride of the forester's green?
A sweet garden-flower, she blooms in the bower,
Where alone to this hour the wild rose has been:
We hail her in duty the queen of all beauty:
We will live, we will die, by our sweet Maiden queen. Thomas Love Peacock

"A bonny fine maid of noble degree,
Maid Marian called by name,
Did live in the north, of excellent worth,
For she was a gallant dame.

For favour, and face, and beauty most rare,
Queen Helen she did excel;
For Marian then was praised of all men
That did in the country dwell." ~I actually don't know who wrote that. Sorry...

Maid Marian's Character:

From quotes! First of all, I had to put down this classic one from Tennyson... because, well, it's classic.

“And these will strike for England,
And man and maid be free
To foil and spoil the tyrant
Beneath the greenwood tree.” Tennyson, The Foresters

And I absolutely love Maid Marian as portayed by T.H. White! From The Sword in the Stone:

“Robin lay happily with his head in Marian’s lap. She sat between the roots
of the lime tree, clad in a one piece smock of green girded with a quiver of
arrows and her feet and arms were bare. She had let down the brown shining
waterfall, which was usually kept braided for convience in hunting and cookery,
and with the falling waves of this she framed his head. She was singing a duet
with him softly, and tickling the end of his nose with the fine hairs…
[the two boys, Kay and Art go with the Merry Men on an adventure]
The boys had felt disgruntled at first, at being put in a woman’s band. They would have preferred to have gone with Robin, and thought that being put under Marian was like being trusted to a governess. They soon found their mistake.
It was not easy to be a companion of hers. In the first place, it was impossible to keep up with her unless she waited for them-she could move on all fours or even wriggle
like a snake almost as quickly as they could walk- and in the second place she
was an accomplished soldier which they were not. She was a true Weyve-except for
her long hair, which most of the female outlaws of those days used to clip. One
of the bits of advice which she gave them before talking had to be stopped was
this: Aim high when you shoot in battle, rather than low. A low arrow strikes
the ground, a high one may kill in the second rank.
“If I am made to get married,” thought the Wart, who had doubts on the subject, “I will marry a girl like this: a kind of golden vixen.”
As a matter of fact, though the boys did not know it, Marian could hoot like an owl by blowing into her fists, or whistle a shrill blast between tongue and teeth with the fingers in the corner of the mouth; could bring all the birds to her by imitating their calls and understand much of their small language; could hit the popinjay twice for every three times of Robin’s; and could turn cartwheels. But none of these accomplishments were necessary at the moment.”

A deep and meaningful quote.

"By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bright Quote:

"Most cars on our roads have only one occupant, usually the driver." - Carol Malia, BBC Anchorwoman

Epitaphs:

Here are some great reminders to leave a legacy:

Here lies Lester Moore.
Four slugs
From a forty-four.
No Les
No More.

(I like this one! -Ophelia who can't abide dentistry)

Stranger tread
This ground with gravity.
Dentist Brown
Is filling his last cavity.
Edinburgh, Scotland

On a housewife:
Mary Weary, Housewife
Dere Friends I am going
Where washing ain't done
Or cooking or sewing:
Don't mourn for me now
Or weep for me never:
For I go to do nothing
Forever and ever!

Here lies the body
of John Round.
Lost at sea
and never found.

Sacred to the memory of
Major James Brush
Royal Artillery, who was killed
by the accidental discharge of
a pistol by his orderly,
14th April 1831.
Well done, good and faithful servant.

Sacred to the memory of
My husband
John Barnes
Who died January 3, 1803.
His comely young widow, aged 23,
has many qualifications of a good wife,
and yearns to be comforted.
In a Vermont cemetery
(She obviously looks forward to marrying again. Is that an advertisement, or a tombstone?)

Wisdom:

“Better to write for yourself

and have no public,

than to write for the public

and have no self.”Cyril Connolly

(Photo used without permission or authorization on the sole basis that the victim in the picture is holding a pen.)

-Ophelia, the ignoramus who doesn't actually know anything about Cyril Connolly except that he was a English writer.

Bright:

I have posted the following quotes that I might help inspire in you a great respect for humanity:

"I have a God-given talent. I got it from my dad." - Julian Wakefield, Missouri basketball player

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." - Former Australian cabinet minister Keppel Enderbery.

"I cannot tell you how grateful I am -- I am filled with humidity." - Gib Lewis, speaker of the Texas House

"The streets are safe in Philadelphia. It's only the people who make them unsafe." - Frank Rizzo, ex-police chief and mayor of Philadelphia.

"Weather forecast: precipitation in the morning, rain in the afternoon." - Detroit Daily News

Miss Manners

As of late, Bracie and I have been reading Miss Manners, also known as Judith Martin. We came across this brilliant quote:
Dear Miss Manners:
A while ago, a beautiful gal with her mom dropped a doughnut on the floor beside me as I was turning to walk out of a snack shop in a shopping mall. I have been puzzled about the meaning of that-if it was an accident, or if I missed the chance to meet her. How should I respond so that I don't miss the next opportunity like that?
The Response:
Gentle Reader:
If there is a standard flirtation maneuver called the Doughnut Ploy, Miss Manners is blessedly ignorant of it. Frankly, she does not think that was much of an opportunity you missed. A doughnut cannot be scooped up gracefully, like a dropped handkerchief, and presented to the lady with a deep, meaningful look and an ingratiating "Excuse me, but I believe this is yours."

Some of our best and brightest:

"Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something." - Dennis Rodman

"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight." - George Gobel

"Solutions are not the answer." - Richard Nixon