• About
  • About the Brooklyn Project
  • Allies
  • Bound to the Flame Chapters and Artwork
  • Definitions and Erin-isms
  • Erin’s Point-Based Guide for Evaluating Movie Adaptions
  • Novels
  • The Archives of Selay’uu

The Upstairs Archives

~ A random repository of how-to-write and geekery, with an occasional snippet of accidental wisdom.

The Upstairs Archives

Monthly Archives: January 2014

Changes

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

alternate universe, creative writing

If I was one of the writers of Sherlock, I would have turned amoral and killed off Irene Adler, and then saved Jack Douglas (also known as Jack McMurdo and Birdy Edwards) instead. (That is, if they ever get around to doing The Valley of Fear…)

If Darth Vader could have gone back to Zygerria, he would have whipped Obi-Wan without mercy.

If I was Jack Frost, I would have never stopped running.

If I was Obi-Wan Kenobi, I would have found a way to save Qui-Gon Jinn.

If I was Qui-Gon Jinn, I would have done nothing differently.

If I was Charles Wallace, I would have been more cautious and less prideful.

If I was John Watson, I would have followed Sherlock to the ends of the earth.

If I was Lady Marguerite Blakeney, I would have trusted Sir Percy.

If I was Siri Tachi, I would have saved Anakin Skywalker.

If I was Meg Murry, I would have never turned my back on destiny.

If I was Sherlock, I would have never run off to leave John with Soo Lin, eventually leaving her defenseless.

If I was Martin the Warrior, I would have not attacked so recklessly.

If I was the President, there are a million things I might have handled better.

If I was Ahsoka Tano, I would have left all the same.

If I was Barriss Offee, I would have stopped Palpatine.

If I was Merida, I would have talked to Elinor.

If I was Mariel, I would have said goodbye.

If I was Triss, I would have been more merciful.

If I was Xanatos, I never would have turned against Qui-Gon.

If I was Sydney Carton, I would have sacrificed myself all the same.

If I was Obi-Wan Kenobi, I would have no regrets.

If I was John Watson, I would have no regrets.

If I was Siri Tachi, I would have no regrets.

If I was Jack Frost, I would have no regrets.

If I was Ahsoka Tano, I would have no regrets.

If I was Martin the Warrior, I would have no regrets.

There are always things we wish we can go back and change, whether they be in our lives or the lives of others. But what we would have done would have led to another future, one perhaps worse than that which they created. In the end, it is what we do that matters. It is leaving nothing that we should have done undone; doing nothing that we should not have done. It is about having nothing to regret.

Make a difference.

Each one might be your last.

Author’s note: I hope you enjoyed this little piece. Bear in mind, though, that I was saying what I would have done, under their circumstances, rather than what I would have liked to have done. 🙂 God Bless!

Advertisement

Bound to the Flame preview

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Bound to the Flame, Tales of a Wandering Bard, Uncategorized

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

brave, disney, frozen, kysherin, madeleine l'engle, pixar, star wars, stories in progress, story dynamics, tangled

All right, this story has a lot of backstory. It’s my first novel-length original story to be posted serially on this blog, and I hope everyone enjoys it! Please note, Bound to the Flame will be posted as I complete the chapters, so there may be some pauses longer than others between chapter postings, and the chapters may be of odd lengths.

Anyway, this story was inspired by an idea I had while watching Disney/Pixar’s Brave, and I thought, hmm, what would happen if Star Wars had happened in the medieval Scottish Highlands? Then the story slowly gained influences from Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and (possibly) Frozen (?). Then it changed from a crossover to an original story. Why did that happen and how? I’m not quite sure, but this is the result. I hope you enjoy it…

Bound to the Flame

Prologue

                Queen Melilana was not an easy woman to faze.

However, despite being among the most powerful Wielders in existence, she was still human, and the return of her son, missing for a fortnight, was enough of an event to break even her stoic fortitude and run down the hallways of Castle Daareth, down to the courtyard. As she hurried down the stairs, Fortaine came to join her.

“Queen Melilana,” he said. Melilana instantly knew that he was troubled, due to the use of her formal title, rather than his more familiar manner with her as his adoptive parent, but neglected to ask him to call her “mother.” She looked at him in silence. “We… we found him.”

Now King Halbryn was hurrying across the high entry hall to meet her. She grasped his hand as they both ran toward the hall doors, drawing strength from their unity, their connection, much as she always had, even when he was a young knight errant and she the inexperienced Queen of the kingdom of Ertraia. He smiled reassuringly down at her once, then the doors boomed open and they were running down the steps into the courtyard.

Julian, their other adoptive son and Hal’s second apprentice, came slowly toward them, bearing the young prince of Ertraia in his arms, as if the boy weighed nothing. The boy was wrapped in the traditional green cloak of the knights of Ertraia, the same cloak worn with formal wear by all the nobles. The cloak was faded and worn, made of a durable, coarse homespun cloth, being more practical than fine. It was tattered, the edges torn. Both the boy’s cloak and the knight’s were streaked with damp, dark stains. Melilana gasped.

“Rowan,” she whispered. The boy was perfectly still. Melilana ran to her son’s side. Julian stared at her, their eyes meeting. His eyes were hollow. Together, they slid slowly to the cobblestones of the pavement, Julian cautious to shield the boy’s broken body from any jarring or sharp impact. “Is he all right?” Melilana pleaded. “Please, tell me he’s all right!” Julian’s midnight blue eyes filled with tears.

Between them, the boy breathed, but only barely, as above the merciless moon stared down from the night sky.

Its light slowly dimmed to nothing as clouds gathered across the sky, veiling the stars. It was dark, but not as dark as the night that awaited them now.

 To Be Continued

So, that’s the story… you’ll have to tell me if it’s any good. Also, I may need ideas for continuation… however, that depends on my muse. *leans out the window to shout at Kysherin, who is currently engaged in blowing away all clouds that might lead to any snow* HEY! GET BACK HERE! And leave off blowing away all our poor snowstorms!!! *turns back to audience with an apologetic smile on my face* Sorry about that. She’s such an idiot sometimes.

A Random Story

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Tales of a Wandering Bard, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

alice in wonderland, alligators, author, bagels, bbc sherlock, disney, doug, dragons, dug, editor, electronics, funerals, g.k. chesterton, hilary clinton, iris, j.r.r. tolkien, john h. watson, justin beiber, lewis carrol, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, moriarty, paratroopers, pixar, sherlock holmes, social networking sites, the hobbit, united nations, up, venus flytraps

This is what happens when three writers on the way back from Washington, DC get bored. They begin a randomly-jumping-in-and-writing game of Story Round! And this is what results. Bask in the random awepicness!

Bold: Erin

Italics: Iris

Underline: Our other friend (who in real life shares a first name with me!)

Once upon a time, there was a dragon. He had nothing to read, and so he picked up a book by G.K. Chesterton, and his [the dragon’s] name was Fred.

However, the book turned out to be the wrong dust jacket on the wrong book, and he found himself reading “The Hobbit.” Caesar and Napoleon put all their genius into being heard of, and they WERE heard of, with a loud snore like a clap of thunder. And he [Fred] had a chicken as an uncle.

iPods and iPhones fought the other MP3 players, CD players, tape players, and radios, while Facebook bad-mouthed Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr hid. Instagram kissed Pinterest, who fainted. Touchpads and iPads fought the other tablets, who were led by General Samsung Galaxy. The authors studiously ignored them all with a tea-drinking contest. The computers got tired of the authors procrastinating and revolted. His [Fred’s] life was ended when a tomahawk came down and through the door he [Fred] entered.

Aliens came down from Camazotz and fought a marvelous battle with the Hobbits, and Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin whopped them spectacularly and sent them packing. They [the aliens] hid in a rabbit hole and were lost forever in Wonderland. They ran into Cyrus and Alice as the two were on their adventures, and our intrepid heroes slaughtered them all.

The squirrel fell off the balcony and into Doug [from “Up”]’s mouth. Dug died of imaginary tuberculosis (so he wasn’t really dead) and was sent to Camazotz, where he turned into IT. Meanwhile, Moriarty snored up a storm, so Sherlock stuffed a biscuit in his mouth and escaped over the back fence. Meanwhile, Meg Murry defeated IT and IT turned back into nice, friendly Doug. [She made me spell it like this and not like Dug, which is how it was spelled on the back of the movie case. Gah.] They all went back to Earth, where Doug became friends with Fortinbras.

A dog dressed in a military uniform walked up the aisle beside the casket at the funeral for the squirrel, which [the casket] was empty because, of course, the squirrel had been eaten. Meanwhile, Twitter and the United Nations texted disrespectfully in the background. Then Sherlock ran in, shouting that the coffin was NOT really empty. Hilary Clinton gawked. Justin Beiber screamed like a fangirl and fainted. John Watson stepped over his inert body and opened the coffin, which contained a bagel. The entire funeral dissolved into a brawl as to who got the bagel. Sherlock told Clinton to shut her mouth. It snapped shut like an alligator or a Venus Flytrap. Doug tried to bury the bagel for later as Facebook ran in and screamed that Twitter was cheating on him. He laid Twitter out with a punch and ran out the door with Sherlock and John in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, tablet paratroopers dropped in and carried off the bagel for their general’s breakfast, so everyone else went back to the funeral. They buried Moriarty in the grave with the tomahawk and now-empty casket, Facebook went to jail, everyone cried buckets, and they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Author’s note: Being the scribe, I got to embellish wherever I liked. I also added notes in the hopes that it would help you, my readers, understand the complete craziness that happened on that trip. Here’s hoping that you enjoyed the story! Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

 

The Top Ten: Villains

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Uncategorized

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

baroness emma orczy, bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, dreamworks, jane austen, kung fu panda, kung fu panda 2, mattimeo, mossflower, rise of the guardians, robert louis stevenson, sable quean, sense and sensibility, star wars, the last battle, the pearls of lutra, the scarlet pimpernel, top ten, treasure island, villains

Well, while we were on the way to the March for Life, Iris and I made up some lists of the Top Ten Villains. We didn’t make up ones for the heroes, but we have two lists of the Top Ten Villains; one with the theme “Villains Who Deserve a Punch in the Face”, and one with the theme “Villains Who Are Strangely Attractive.” FYI: Xanatos is not on either of these lists for the simple reason that, though he is amazing as a villain, I was recently introduced to good Xanatos by Iris, and Xanatos as a hero far outshines Xanatos as a villain. Now, for the top ten!

Villains Who Deserve a Punch in the Face

10. Tai Lung (Kung Fu Panda)

9. Lucy Steele (Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

8. Zwilt the Shade (Sable Quean [no, not a spelling error!], by Brian Jacques)

7. Tsarmina (Mossflower, by Brian Jacques)

6. Sidious (Star Wars)

5. Slagar the Cruel (Mattimeo, by Brian Jacques)

4. Gabrielle Damien (The Scarlet Pimpernel: Mademoiselle Guillotine)

3. Grand Moff Tarkin (Star Wars)

2. Charles Augustus Magnusson (Sherlock)

1. Shift the Ape (Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis)

I must admit, it was a close run between Magnusson and the Ape for Best of Worst, but the Ape won out. He was just too eeeeeeeevil to pass up!!! And if the characters from Redwall kind of swept the board, what can I say? Brian Jacques is awesome.

Now, to quote Sherlock on all these villains:

You. Repel. Me.

For the Top Ten Villains who had a strange fascination, they had a bit more of a run for their money. It was hard to pick just ten. Most of these villains are more sophisticated, and also are very good at mind games. I love this kind of villain. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because the quiet, sophisticated ones always seem more dangerous, because they have less bluster and thus, threaten very effectively; you just know they’re about to do something very bad and very evil. A blusterer is easy to block out, but someone in a deadly calm… that’s another thing altogether.

Now, for the next Top Ten!

Villains Who Are Strangely Attractive

10. Pitch Black (Rise of the Guardians)

9. Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda 2)

8. Vilaya (The Sable Quean, by Brian Jacques)

7. Darth Maul (Star Wars)

6. Long John Silver (Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

5. Ublaz (The Pearls of Lutra, by Brian Jacques)

4. Nimueh (Merlin)

3. Chauvelin (The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emma Orczy)

2. Count Dooku (Star Wars)

1. Moriarty (Sherlock)

Again, we have more villains from Redwall than any other book or series… *sigh*

It was easy to compile these guys, but harder to put them in order. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my two lists of the Top Ten! Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

I’m Alive!

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Tales of a Wandering Bard

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bbc sherlock, catholic culture, catholocism, christianity, complete epicness, homeschool culture, iris, march for life, march for life 2014, national shrine of the immaculate conception, notre dame indiana, sacred heart church, star wars

Hello, continuous readers and newcomers to my blog! No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. However, a different (and only slightly less astounding) thing has occurred: I only thought about Star Wars three times in the past week.

No, really. Really.

But, to catch you all up; I attended the March for Life in Washington, DC, and if you have not checked out their Twitterfest with the hashtag #whywemarch, then by all means, DO SO! Virtual cookies and bonus points (not to mention visits and likes on your blog!) to those who do so and then comment! I don’t have social media but all you people out there who do, get out and shout out! Here’s my first shoutout: To Erin of Laughing at Live Dragons! Unfortunately, I did not see her at the March this year, but I did see the Santorums, the Duggars were there too! And then there was an entire spirit squad, no less!!!

It was cold, but fun. I made the stupid mistake of wearing dress shoes instead of boots. Iris was smarter. (But she always wears her boots anyway, so she don’t count. ;-P She wanted to wear her combat boots, but her mom wouldn’t let her. :’-( )

We went to the March with seven boys and three girls from another Latin Mass parish, and (including us) seven girls and three boys from our parish. Add in three deacons and an Italian priest and you have unbelievably awesome chaos!!! We rode in three vehicles: The Deacon Buggy, Eagle One (the girls’ van), and Donkey Zero (the boys’ transport.) Note from Sgt. Sprite: The boys’ van was aptly named. Lots of them were donkeys. And they all had crushes on Elsa, of Frozen fame. *shudders* I was tortured for all the trip by songs from Frozen and merciless teasing about not having seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Little Mermaid. (By no means am I normal. Huff. I still question how people could take thirty minutes just to decide to freaking go to bed! Taking twenty minutes to decide what to order at a restaurant, on the other hand…) It took us two very full days and about three more hours to get there; it snowed on Monday night, so we wound up going an extra few hours to get to Richmond, where we were staying. We rode a charter bus into D.C. and visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for an hour, not nearly enough time, in my opinion. Iris bought two post cards, and I tucked them in my purse. I lost them that afternoon. :’-( She’s mad at me for “apologizing too much” and “having tardiphobia.” (That’s the fear of being late, for those who were wondering.) We lost her hunter-orange stocking cap at the Smithsonian; if anyone has visited the Smithsonian recently and found a hand-knitted neon orange hat somewhere, yep, that belongs to Iris. You’re welcome to whatever bugs and/or dandruff are left on it. (Just kidding! :-P) I am officially tired of Subway and all cheap pizza. And the second shout-out goes to the housekeeper for the FSSP priests of St. Joseph’s in Richmond. That was the most delicious beef stew EVER!!!! 😀

On Thursday, we visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The artwork (especially the murals) was incredible. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to touch the murals/statues/other artwork, and I am a very tactile person. *sob* Then we visited the Holocaust Museum. It was much more intense than I had expected, and I had a hissy fit at one of the boys who was joking around right after we had to rush through the last exhibit due to time concerns. This is one of my favorite all time quotes; I have to thank my history teacher for introducing me to it, even though I can’t remember who to attribute it to. The reason why we need a Holocaust Museum in the United States, which did not take part in the horror, is:

The recuperative power of innocence in a liberal society

Which basically means that the reason why we need the memorial is because otherwise, due to our own complacent stupidity, we’ll forget, because our society is a free society (aka, “liberal.” This has nothing to do with Republican vs. Democrat. It just means free.) That’s my deep thought for the day.

We went to the house of a lady who had offered to let us use her house to shower up for showers and while we waited in line, someone turned on the TV. They started watching Duck Dynasty (which I had never seen before, or even heard of) and I said, “Bored!” (Sherlock quotes for the win!) and worked on my knitting instead. (Don’t judge. I really was bored. But the endings were sweet…) Anyway, I got ten merit points for being bored with the show. Teehee. I took a very cold shower.

After sightseeing, we ate out at the China Buffet (I don’t remember where it was. Yummy food, though. Almost as good as the beef stew!), where we got merit points for trying new things. I tried sushi. The stuff which was made with fake crab wasn’t that bad, but the salmon stuff just tasted odd. I didn’t have a gag reflex problem, though. And I also tried oysters. MMMM! We tried to talk our Youth Group coordinator to try calamari (read: adorable baby octopus, heehee), and she almost did, but she had all this drama with bringing it to her mouth, and when she finally popped it in it shot out again! Like a bullet. Like the sound of Father’s former ringtone. (Which was a machine gun and bombs before he changed it to some demented music from Psycho.) And I have the photos to prove it.

When we headed back out for Omaha, Iris and I (who had sat in the VERY BACK of the van before) switched out our seat assignments and rode towards the front. We played lots of games and had a sing-off (which was FUN! :-D) Iris proved to be the champion of a game which has the point of making “it” laugh, and she was “it” and only laughed THREE TIMES among the many games we played. I replied “Get Sherlock” at one point and had to say that to everything. It got me farther than before, but I still cracked up. People teased me about Moriarty wanting to marry me, and I said “No way! I’m probably way taller than he is!” (I’m taller than Ewan McGregor, for crying out loud!!! Why are most British actors so short???!)

We stopped in Notre Dame, IN and visited the Church of the Sacred Heart. More subdued than the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, but just as beautiful. The ceiling murals were the best part, and their high altar was amazing.

We stayed in the most iffy motel I’ve ever seen on the way back. Breakfast was blah and the shower had poor pressure. One of our room doors was 1) frozen shut, and 2) had a broken handle. Another one smelled like smoke, so we switched on that one. Who wants to smell tobacco all night? Eugh. But at least we could lock our doors, and there was no balcony door to become loose and begin to break away from the wall. (That was at the second hotel we stayed at, fyi. Since there was a connecting door that led to one of the boys’ rooms, the girls in that room traded assignments with the other guys. Also, that was the same time I had my first temper tantrum. Everyone forgot ENTIRELY about my brother!!! He had stayed in his room to go to the bathroom and he had NO IDEA where we were meeting! I wound up crying, but that was partly low blood sugar and sleep deprivation… I’m still embarrassed about it though. Though I think I WAS JUSTIFIED!!!)

Anyway, we arrived safely back home at 9:10 p.m. central time. The St. Francis youth group still had an hour and a half to go, though… I feel sorry for them.

We did get in some good prayer time and soul food, though. We went to Mass every day, Confessions on Thursday, and had a full Rosary (three sets of mysteries!) a day.

All in all, it was a good trip, and my first big adventure since 2008. Hope you’ll forgive me for dropping off the ether, and also hoping that you’ve enjoyed my story! Thanks for reading, as always, and may God Bless you! Have a better than awesome day!

There Will Be Another Season of “Sherlock”

19 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bbc sherlock, completely random posts, confusing nonsense, obsession, sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle

I don’t usually use any questionable language–the occasional “freaking”, sometimes, when I’m under stress–but this time…

Oh. My. Goodness.

You can probably tell what I’m thinking.

I just saw the finale of the third season of Sherlock. And since my dear friend Iris (who is as redoubtable and trustworthy–and as courageous and trouble-seeking–as Doctor John Watson himself. Unfortunately, she’s also as annoying as Sherlock.) is out of my clutches range, I’m just going to shout and scream and rant at the world in general. (Warning: here-on-after will have SPOILERZ. :-P)

Only Moffat/Gatiss could make one think that the show was over–for good–curtain down–permanently–and then save it thirty seconds later by (apparently) resurrecting a very, very dead villain. (HE SHOT HIMSELF THROUGH THE HEAD, FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE!) I’m still trying to guess how Moriarty survived. And they pulled it off, with style. Seriously?! How can anyone be that good?! And they had Sherlock basically sacrifice himself to save the Watsons’ marriage (and Mary Watson in particular.) I cried over that bit…

Yes, I’m in shock. And very, very much addicted to the show. For good.

Please, just ignore me. Or commiserate. Whatever. And I can’t seem to get over the feeling that this is going to be my life story for the rest of my life.

But I guess I’m actually kind of fine with that.

Sherlock lives.

Because the Ladies Like Gentlemen

18 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Story Dynamics, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

author, baroness emma orczy, bbc sherlock, brian jaques, dreamworks, jane austen, madeleine l'engle, redwall, rise of the guardians, sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle, star wars, the scarlet pimpernel, writing

I’ve been noticing a trend in my (male) favorite characters from fiction.

Jack Frost is a bit of a rascal, but he has a good heart.

Sir Percy Blakeney pretends to be an idiot, but he’s devoted to his wife.

Obi-Wan Kenobi gets misunderstood–a lot–and complained about by Anakin, and can be cold and distant at times, but he’s kindly.

Doctor John Watson is a soldier, a bit hard-core and rough around the edges, but he’s a true friend.

Edward Ferrars can be a bit naive, but he keeps his promises.

Martin the Warrior can be rash and reckless, but he is also determined and protective of his friends.

Charles Wallace Murry can be a bit prideful, but he’s also very close to his sister.

What do all these characters have in common? They’re all flawed, but they have redeeming features too. They’re all good at heart.

They’re gentlemen.

Make your boys into gentlemen, fellow authors! All your readers will like them all the more as a result.

Highly Improbable

17 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

completely random posts, science, small rants, star wars

Okay, someone just told me that apparently all known Skywalkers, except for Shmi, are Force-sensitive.

Umm… no.

Not possible.

Though this is entirely theoretic, I would assume that the chance of a normal family having a Force-sensitive child is about one or two in ten thousand.

In an established, known bloodline (aka the Skywalker dynasty, the Gallia and Allie families, or the Kenobi or Daemes families, in my imagination universe), it would likely be around one or two in a hundred.

If one parent was Force-sensitive, then the chances might be as high as twenty-five to fifty percent.

If both parents were, the chances are likely to be around fifty to seventy-five percent.

So, why are there all these Force-sensitive Skywalker kids?

I would assume that it’s due to the size of their families; they never have the fourth child who isn’t Force-sensitive.

On Children’s Shows

17 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bbc sherlock, completely random posts, diamond, dogs, hounds, insanity, long rants, madeleine l'engle, pbs, politics, sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle, sofa cushions

NOOOOOOO!!! NOT THE PSYCHOTIC, OVERSTUFFED ORANGE SOFA CUSHION! HELP!

SAVE ME!!!

SAVE ME!!!

Er… ahem.

Yes, this post is about children’s shows. It’s partially in protest. Totally unfair to dogs. I mean, here we have the Hound of the Baskervilles…

HOUND

The Hound, from “The Hounds of Baskerville”, the BBC Sherlock episode

And our dog Diamond, who was absolutely awesome (until we had to put him down; he was old & had cancer…)

Our late Labrador Retriever, Diamond Bulrush.

Our late Labrador Retriever, Diamond Bulrush.

And I need not even mention Lassie, Old Yeller, Ananda, etc….

But on PBS, the only dogs to be found are horrendously flour-sack shaped Martha and the prodigiously overweight Ruff Ruffman.

What gives?!

That’s not the only point, though.

These shows are supposed to be entertainment. Oh, we’re entertained all right. Entertained that anyone (except, of course, for Raya, who has no taste whatsoever) could really like these shows. The plot lines are sickening. They’re full of tired cliches. Cute, maybe. But not educational.

The long-lamented Redwall is one show which I would consider was not a miss. I used to like PBS shows, some of them. But that was before the common era. And before I really learned to think.

Please, let’s have our kids read, rather than watch more TV. Have them write–even if it means writing fanfic (gasp! :-P). Have them go outside and play.

I couldn’t care less that the Republicans were going to reduce government aid to PBS. I’d rather go ride my bike. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be able to get into the ladies’ equivalent of the Tour de France!

Rant over. You can go on with your lives now. 😛

A Big Fish Story

15 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Tales of a Wandering Bard

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

completed stories, completely random posts, fish story, nature, short stories, silver carp

This is the story of the silver carp that appeared in a previous post.

One day last August, Iris and some friends of ours and I were out canoeing.

This is the enormous silver carp that jumped into Iris's sister's canoe when we were canoeing this past fall.

This is the enormous silver carp that jumped into Iris’s sister’s canoe when we were canoeing this past fall.

While we were canoeing, our chaperone overturned one of the two kayaks that were out there.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

While we were making our way back to shore, we heard a sudden splash.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw a silvery flash leap into Iris’s sister’s canoe (which she was sharing with another girl.) The fish almost landed in Miss Other Person’s lap!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Of course, after that, we all paddled back to shore as quickly as we could hack it, sending up bow waves all over the place and occasionally splashing each other like crazy.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As I jumped out of Iris’ and my canoe, I completely soaked my feet and ankles and shoes. I didn’t care. I was too excited.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I ran over to Iris’s sister’s and Other Person’s canoe and helped to pull them up on the bank. The thing flopped about in the canoe and Other Person almost stepped on it while getting out. Then we pulled it up the rest of the way and had a good look at it.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

IT WAS HUGE. It was a little longer than the space between two of the support struts of the canoe, and though none of us was carrying a tape measure (note to self; add this important piece of gear to nature pack!!!), it was at least two feet long!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We stood around on the bank for a bit, talking about what to do with it. Iris suggested that we find some way of taking it home to her family to make fish sticks out of, but we didn’t have the facilities to do so (besides, none of us had hunting or fishing permits!!!) So, in the end, we wound up deciding to throw it back.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

That posed its own set of problems. The stupid fish just kept on swimming back into the canoe, which we had slid halfway back into the water and semi-capsized. It swam back into that darn canoe three freaking times!!! In the end, I wound up wetting my already wet feet even more in order to get a paddle to our chaperone, so she could push the idiot fish back out into the lake.

And that’s how it ended. We drained the canoe out, rinsed the paddle, and there’s my one big fish story of my lifetime. I even have the photos to prove it. 😀

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

← Older posts

The Teenaged Superhero Society

Proud Member of the Teenaged Superhero Society

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 300 other subscribers
Follow The Upstairs Archives on WordPress.com

Categories

  • Artwork (19)
  • Living Life with Passion (204)
  • Story Dynamics (156)
  • Tales from Selay'uu (36)
  • Tales of a Wandering Bard (229)
    • Bound to the Flame (21)
    • Shifting Tides Series (20)
      • Battlefield of the Soul (5)
      • The Hero's Dream (15)
  • The Brooklyn Project (11)
  • The Music Writing Challenge (5)
  • Uncategorized (231)

Archives

  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Upstairs Archives
    • Join 300 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Upstairs Archives
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...