Pre-Birthday Reflection

Tonight, at exactly 12:00am, I turn 12. Not 12 and a half, not 12 and three quarters, but 12.

And this scares me. It feels like just yesterday, I was walking into my kindergarten class for the first time. And the funny thing is, my three best friends to this day sat at the same table as me, surrounding me, getting to know me. We're all so much older now. I know we all wish to go back to when we were five and role-played Barbie in the recess yard.

It sounds rather dramatic, more dramatic than it really is, but 12 is a big thing for me. I've been told that when I turn 12, I can ride shotgun by my parents' side (which has been moved to 13 by now). I've been told that when I turn 12, we'll have flying cars and robotic pets that can talk to us. I've been told that when I turn 12, I'll be all grown up, near entering high school, be almost as tall as my mother and gain even more potential than I previously had.

Only one of those statements turned out, surprisingly, to be true.

Of course, we haven't developed the technology to have flying cars and robotic pets that talk to us, and I'm still not allowed to ride shotgun (and frankly, I'm okay with it). But my joyride from 11 to where I am now was a roller coaster, I can tell you that.

In these 364 days that I've been 11 years old, I've done and learnt so much. My life has turned upside down then right back up. One of my best friends moved to the other side of the globe (Thea, I know you're reading this, so hi), and the other went to another school. I participated in my first-ever middle school play and met some pretty amazing friends (Adam and Andrew, if you're reading this, I'm talking to you!) and some pretty obnoxious people as well.

I've gotten closer to one of my friends since birth (Tyler) through a miracle of a program called Skype. We Skype nearly every day now, and he's introduced me to some truly amazing people that I couldn't live without (Jordan, Christian, Garrett, Taylor, David, Matthew, Justin). I have video parties every week with one of them (Taylor), called (whether video or audio only) almost every day with another (Garrett), fan-girled over Doctor Who for months with Christian, talked about the excitement of Bronycon with David, found out about some pretty weird expressions with Matthew and Justin, and discussed the adorableness of kittens with Jordan.

I don't know what I would be now without them.

I introduced Tyler to Doctor Who and Bronyfied at least eight people I know. I obsessed over Legend of Korra for a period of time before forgetting to watch the rest of the series (which I regret, Thea, thank you very much). I finally made a FanFiction account (they let you make one if you have a Twitter account!) and wrote a MLP:FiM fanfiction that made strangers cry.

I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo (June) 2012. I finished writing one book and got it published on the Kindle for fun. The other one I hope to do the same, but it will be (most likely) finished when I'm 12. I participated in Script Frenzy 2012 (the very last official year of Screnzy) and hope to continue next April, even if the official challenge online is taken down.

I made a gaming channel on YouTube with my friends and we've gotten to 5,000+ total video views, and 30+ subscribers. I started uploading to my own YouTube channel around a month ago and already have 11 subscribers and 4,000+ views. I've found recording and editing videos to be a fun hobby of mine.

I got into the computer club and video crew at my school, and assisted the faculty and staff for a short time. I was able to earn my way into the honor roll once more and my average grade hit 97% (and 98% is the highest you can get!). I had an amazing ELA teacher, who loved Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and Jane Austen. I had a hilarious and super-nice math teacher for homeroom, and there was never a boring moment.

And I may or may not have new interests, too.

Favorite Song: A Little Irony by Tom Milsom

Favorite Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Favorite Animated Movie: Brave from Pixar

Favorite Real-Life Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Pt 1)

Favorite Female Celebrities: Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange)

Favorite Male Celebrities: Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)

Favorite Candy: Sour Patch Bunnies

Favorite Food: Macaroni and cheese

I feel I've changed, and I will be changing even more. But it's better to think in the present sometimes than plan the future.

-Dom

It's complicated.

I won Camp NaNoWriMo! (Sort of.)

....this blog post started off completely anticlimactically for me. I had this whole theme set for it about writing to my past self (see my last blog post), but I can't really do that. It's complicated.

So let me start from the beginning. You might want to grab a cup of hot cocoa (or freezing cold lemonade if you have sweltering hot weather like I do) and pull over a chair because, my friend, this story is going to be very, very long. (Okay, fine. You caught me. I'm exaggerating. But still, it's pretty long.)

I started at the beginning of the month writing with my friend. I had written over 5,000 words in the first week and was extremely proud of myself. But then, she had to quit and I decided to start from scratch (we thought of the plot together and I wanted to be fair).

I was so behind. I procrastinated (because I'm the world's biggest procrastinator) with YouTube, Twitter, the YWP NaNoWriMo forums, Doctor Who, Goodreads, my summer reading projects (that was actually a rather productive kind of procrastination), Skype, Minecraft...

What? You want me to stop listing everything I procrastinated with? You get it? Oh, alright. Just for you, blog reader, just for you.

There were just so many things to procrastinate with! And, when I finally got some work done, I'd take a five minute break and end up playing Minecraft for three hours. Are you face-palming? Don't tell me that you're face-palming! No! Don't click on the X! Not the X! Don't click away, please! Don't lose hope yet?

*dramatic sigh* Okay. You get it. I'm really bad at keeping track of my time sometimes. I started to pull apart my inner procrastinator. I killed it slowly by sitting in front of my netbook, sitting in the big, black, leather, reclining, soothing (fine, I'll get to the point) spinny chair in my living room and writing. I had a whole list of tools: WriteOrDie, MyTomatoes, SimplyNoise, the word sprints from @JuNoWriMo, and previous pep talks from the YWP NaNoWriMo archive.

Since I'm not old enough to join the official Camp NaNoWriMo website and have to wait until next year, I joined the JuNoWriMo website. It was created before Camp NaNo started for people who wanted to do NaNoWriMo over the summer. There, I looked at the blogs and the spreadsheet of everyone's progress. It was great.

I was seriously organized. I made myself pacing charts to keep myself on track, a list of tips, tricks, and plot ninjas, and remembered to bring my writing journal everywhere so that I could write in my free time. Everyone was going awesome!

Then, everything went downhill.

Nearly an hour ago, the clock struck midnight and I only had 46,000 words. I was devastated. I was completely disappointed in myself, and then I realized: Wait, what about that first 5,000 that I didn't include? I was seriously confused for a moment. I kept asking myself, Did I win? Did I win? And so I looked on the NaNoWriMo website for the rules.

The rules specifically state you have to start from scratch, and cannot use any previously written prose from before November 1 (or, in this case, June 1) as part of your novel. It needs to be original (you have to have written it on your own) and you must have written at least 50,000 words (or, in YWP NaNoWriMo, your personally set goal) by November 30 (June 30) in order to win.

Started from scratch? Check.
Didn't use a previously written prose? Check.
Original? Check.
Wrote, in total, at least 50,000 words by the end of the month? Check.

The only problem is, I don't feel the same spark that I did when I won last year. Maybe it's because I doubted myself. (Or because I didn't have the thrill of watching my stats on the NaNo website...age requirements, schmage requirements...) Because there wasn't a YWP Camp NaNoWriMo website, I lost the thrill of many things, such as the pep talks and the weekly blogs and the certificates and the online badge. Oh, the online badge. It made me glow with pride. I managed to find one online for me to save, though. I also got the JuNoWriMo badge.

tl;dr: I won Camp NaNoWriMo. Eh, it's complicated.

-Dominique

To my future self.

Dear Future Self,

Hello. This is your past self. This is your procrastinating, absent minded, disgustingly lazy and low self-esteemed self. And I hate myself for that. I hate that I may have, possibly, disappointed you. I hate that you may look back at me and frown angrily and kick your computer and stomp on the floor and cry into a pillow or whatever you might do when you're frustrated. If you do look back at me with repentance and wish that I could have committed more to my Camp NaNo novel this month, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I had you lose, and most likely make you so disappointed that you forget about August, or even September completely.

Or, I might make you smile.

I might make you smile so hard that you just fall out of your seat out of happiness. I might make you think, It was totally worth it. I might make you jump up and do a happy dance, not to mention that all of your friends are listening to your screaming on Skype. I might make you do hip swivels and make you run up and down the stairs without anything but your finished 50,000 words on your mind.

And I sure hope that it goes down that path.

Whatever it is that happens on that night of either glory or disappointment, I have one word of advice for you before that midnight strikes on the clock at you either break down out of sadness or smile like you've never smiled before:

Write.

Yours truly,
-Past Self

Today went well, so what's wrong?

I found my wallet.
I found my library book.
I found a star in two of my Snapple caps today (for their promo).
I got a Chipotle quesadilla.
I went to the pool with my best friend.
I got special prescription goggles.
I finally got enough sleep.
So what's wrong?
I'VE ONLY JUST HIT 10,000 WORDS FOR MY CAMP NANO NOVEL, THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-From your stressed out and completely demotivated Zoe.

Review: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Although Matched was a great read, there were a few flaws (at least, for me) that have influenced my review. The plot is a bit typical for dystopia; I've found quite a few books revolving around a dystopian society now (such as the Hunger Games). Like most dystopian society books, it considers a rebellion.

The book didn't start off as well as I thought it would. I had gotten feedback about the book from my friends, and I expected to be hooked by the first page. The beginning of the book, however, was a little boring and I didn't understand much. If I hadn't read the summary on Goodreads, I probably wouldn't have understood a single bit of what was in the first chapter.

The book also felt rushed. It went from her Matching to finding out about Ky to her grandfather's Final Banquet. I think that if it had been slower, I would have enjoyed it more. The majority of some chapters are mostly of Cassia and Ky talking on the Hill. I'm also not very favorable of first person.

The ending was a little anti-climactic as well. It went from exciting and heart racing and slowly went downhill. In fact, the ending was so vague that you're pretty much forced to read the sequel (Crossed) rather than just enjoy the first book alone.

I'm not one for romance, but I found this book rather enjoyable. I mainly read it to satisfy my craving for another book of dystopia. In conclusion, this book was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Hunger Games or Divergent. I plan to read the sequel, but not anytime soon.



View all my reviews

Chooooooooooooooch!

On Friday, I went to my first Phillies game (well, first baseball game, for that matter, not to mention the fact that I haven't been to any other game, baseball or not, in my whole life) with one of my best friends. I was incredibly overwhelmed when I arrived; I'd only seen Citizen's Bank Park on a TV screen in a living room until just then. Not to mention that the park the Eagles played at was across the road from it.

The park was so much different than I had expected. The stadium as a bit smaller than I had expected (considering I've never seen it up close) and there were stores. Everywhere. I thought that the only way to get food was to buy from those people that ran up and down the seats from the movies before, and that there would be some sort of gift shop. Fortunately, it was much better than that. There were gift shops everywhere, as well as different food outlets (including ice cream!).

The game was very entertaining to watch. When Carlos Ruiz showed up on the jumbo screen, everyone yelled "CHOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!" and I thought they were booing him at first. I asked my friend, and she told me that it was his nickname. They also clapped when a certain song came on. Apparently, they do this at every game. It's expected.

We left early because of a rain delay. It began to pour at the beginning of the fourth inning. It was definitely a night to remember. I hope to go to another Phillies game soon. Although I didn't understand some parts of the game or what the audience was doing, it was great!

-Dom

Minecraft Singleplayer Tour

As most of you know, I am cough-obsessed-cough with this game called Minecraft. I doubt that you haven't heard it, but if you haven't, here is a definition from Wikipedia. Not that I like Wikipedia (it's terribly detracting when you're writing essays), but I'm awfully too lazy to paraphrase for you.

Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video-game originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang.

Minecraft is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. Gameplay in its commercial release has two principal modes: Survival, which requires players to acquire resources themselves and maintain their health and hunger; and Creative, where the player has an unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and no concept of health or hunger. A third gameplay mode, named Hardcore, is essentially the same as Survival, but the difficulty is locked on the hardest setting and respawning is disabled, forcing the player to delete his or her world upon death. An outdated Classic version is also available for free, although it is no longer being developed. Creative Minecraft resembles Classic, but with many more features.

So, there you go. I've never actually described my obsession or explained it, but mainly because I have this terrible condition called "procrastination" I can't describe it with words. And since I can't, I'll just give you a tour my my single-player world (alas, the world I escape to when I'm not in the mood for productive activity!).

This is my house; very simple, yet not too simple. I guess. I'm not a refurbishing professional.

We'll start at the front of my house. This house didn't take any more than 10 minutes at the maximum. I had a limited amount of cobble and only enough would to last me a while, not to mention the lack of any kind of decorative block. I made one of the most basic houses, and it actually turned out very nice! :)

This is the inside of my house. It's not too shabby.

I didn't want to spend 30 minutes decorating, so enjoy the dully furbished inside of my house.

This didn't take too long, but I really like it. I'm great at making mines.

To make this, I just dug up a 5x4 rectangle and made stairs. It's not too fancy and there aren't water elevators or anything, but it's very efficient. I love it! I found a cave very early into the mine and have been hunting for ores ever since.

It looks like a mini-forest. =))

Considering I had single player commands turned on (a mod that can spawn you supplies, change your gamemode, etc. in single player) and I didn't feel like breaking leaves for a straight 20 minutes....I cheated and spawned a stack of saplings. Minecraft is like the famous prison-break of the Productive Activity Jail Center.

I didn't want to make this super-complicated, so I just used up the space behind my house to make this.

I spawned myself seeds here as well. And the water. And the fences. And the fence gates. Maybe I should turn off Single Player Commands....nah

R.I.A. Esther Earl: This star won't go out.

For this one, I didn't spawn myself anything. I felt that my little-one-Minecraftian-neighborhood wouldn't be complete without a grave for Esther. I am a hardcore Nerdfighter, so it had to be done. (For more information about Nerdfighters, click here.) Esther was a Nerdfighter who died of cancer. Under the stone slabs, there is a large chest filled with flowers.

I call those islands over there "The Small Yet Efficient Jungle Biomes".

To finish the blog post, I'll show you "The Small Yet Efficient Jungle Biomes". I spawned in a small jungle biome placed on a small island. I was able to get most of my wood supply from there, as well as cobble. There are several small jungle islands over there, not just one. I go there when I'm too lazy to replant saplings in my tree farm.

For the album on Imgur, click here. That's all, folks.

-Dom