http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:elhalfling&section=today deviantART RSS for by:elhalfling en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:57:54 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27596867/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27596867/ Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:05:58 PDT
This past week has been really... interesting, for lack of something better to call it. It has also been really long. Not just because of school (though I daresay that hasn't helped a bit!), but something happened on Thursday night while I was studying for my physics exam that I didn't forsee. I should've seen it coming, but I just... didn't. <_<

But I decided that I desperately want to write a bit more with the trio (Scott, Sam and Michael). I hate to admit this, but I'm turning more and more into Sam as time goes on, which can be evidenced by some of my actions yesterday. For those of you who don't know, Sam's probably the only person who can really push her brother or Michael around at all. And she really does sometimes.

Anyhow, I should probably get going before I'm almost late to class again~

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27336197/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27336197/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:38:14 PDT
I guess one thing that I've realised while being sick is how thankful I am for close friends. During the time that I actually spent awake this weekend, I was talking with one of my really close friends on instant messenger. Fortunately, influenza cannot be transmitted through the interwebz.

Anyhow, I should probably get going now. I need to rest up a bit before I finish what needs to be done. I promised a friend I would go on a journey and I need to recover my full strength again before I set out to do so.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27108633/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/27108633/ Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:03:20 PDT
So I altered the "amor et odium" piece slightly and gave it to a friend. Unfortunately, I think the original one still looks better, so I didn't even bother taking a picture of it to upload.

I'm actually really excited because I'm taking one physics class (from my advisor), three philosophy/theology courses (!!!) and an introductory psych class. Hoorah for gen eds. No really.

Hmm... I think I need a bit more sleep. Oh well, I can come back after my last class this afternoon and take a nap. It is my own fault for staying up past midnight and then choosing to set my alarm for 5:30AM so that I'd have time to get on the computer and eat breakfast before having to leave for class.

And I kind of wish I lived on campus because that would make some things a heck of a lot easier. Like getting IRL hugs. But it would also make things a lot harder and a heck of a lot more awkward sometimes...

Last night was just... wierd. I think that's all I'm going to say here.

With that said, I should really get ready for class now. Hoorah!~

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26922704/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26922704/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:50:06 PDT Just a little short something I wrote... I hope you enjoy.

I cannot fly anymore. I used to have wings, but he took them away from me and broke them. I don't even want to think about it right now, but my mind cannot keep itself from thinking of him. I don't know his real name, so I shall just call him Chris. Ironic. I've always liked that name. But not this time. Because it reminds me of him. The man who took my wings away.

These wings were a gift a long time ago and I've just learned how to use them. I guess I was born with them, but I can't know for sure. As I discovered more about myself and the world around me, they just grew until they were large enough to support my weight. I learned how to fly. She was the one who taught me how to fly, to use these wings. It is because of her that I put forth the effort into practicing and it is because of her patience when she taught me and because of her compassionate love for me (even though I assure you I do not deserve it) that I was able to learn.

She was my only true friend when the world was full of enemies and a light to help find my way in the darkness of my mind. Don't assume that we didn't argue because that isn't true; we did argue... we even fought, exchanging bitter words with one another in the irrational heat of anger. But because of that, the bond of our friendship strengthened. She taught me that sometimes a smile can change someone's day for the better and that having words to say isn't really necessary. She instructed me in a different way of viewing the world and that the scientific method doesn't always provide the answer. But most important of all, she taught me how to fly.

But now she is gone. I will never see her again. And because I will never see her again, my wings are broken. As hard as I try, they will not work anymore. So Chris cut them off. It was very painful and I remember screaming. Not so much from the pain, but from realising that they are gon, never to return. I will never be able to fly again.

Perhaps it is possible to fly without wings, but I have been told that will be very difficult, if not impossible. This is what Chris told me. "Have hope," he said. But hope is something that does not exist. Not in a world without her and since she is gone forever, how can the world have hope? No, I do not think I will ever be able to fly again. Especially without my wings. My beautiful silver wings.

I want... no... I need my wings back. Without them, I cannot fly. And without the ability to fly, life is pointless.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26695078/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26695078/ Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:09:22 PDT
RULES:
- Tell 100 Truths
- Tag 15 people after
- They do the same back to you
- Do Not Pass Go
- Do Not Collect $200

LAST:
1. Last beverage : Aqueous dihydrogen monoxide chilled to approxiately 10 degrees Celcius
2. Last phone call : My sister!
3. Last text message : I think my roommate, but I erased a lot of my messages recently.
4. Last song you listened : Whatever they had playing at work....
5. Last time you cried : Couple weeks ago when I was talking to one of my friends on AIM.


SIX HAVE YOU EVER’s
6. Dated someone twice : No
7. Been cheated on? : No
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? : No
9. Lost someone special? : Sort of
10. Been depressed? : No
11. Had a friend turn on you : Yeah

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
Black, purple, dark blue, green

HAVE YOU:
12. Made new friends : Yeah, a few really good ones.
13. Fallen out of love : No.
14. Laughed until you cried : Yeah, probably.
15. Met someone who changed : Everyone changes.
16. Found out who your true friends : Yeah and we've been through quite a lot together.
17. Found out someone was talking about you : No, it's more like I'll be talking about someone (or thinking about them) and they'll show up. "Speak of the devil" and all that, I suppose.
18. Kissed anyone on your friend's list : Yeah.
19. How many people on your friend's list have you dated?: None, and I'd only even consider dating one of them.
20. How many kids do you want : None of my own. I'd rather adopt.
22. Do you want to change your name : Unofficially shorten it, yes. Change it, not particularly.
23. What did you do for your last birthday : Spent seven hours in the lab, then went out for dinner with Christian and Dan. But I know what I want to do this year.
24. What time did you wake up today : Slightly before 3AM local time, but my internal time clock was telling me it was closer to 5 or 6AM.
25. What were you doing at midnight last night : Asleep.
27. Last time you saw your father : A few months ago.
28. One thing you wish you could change about your life : That I could be a physics and philosophy major.
29. What are you listening to right now : In my head? Evanescence... <_<
30. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom : Yes.
31. What's getting on your nerves right now? : Not much, really.
32. Most visited web page : My school's webpage

ABOUT ME:
33. What's your name : Like I'd tell you.
34. Nicknames : E, Eli (as a friend from school spells it), various names of my fictional characters
35. Zodiac sign : Don't know the western version
36. Male or female : Apparently I talk more like a guy than most girls do, but I talk more like a girl than most guys do.
37. Elementary : Some small school
38. Middle School : Private school
39. High school : Same private school
41. Long or short hair : Just long enough to tie back, so a bit too long
42. Height : I'm about the same height as Michelangelo was, apparently.
43. Do you have a crush on someone? : *silence*
44. number 44 doesn't exist. so instead of a question here's a smiley: Alright, who decided to get rid of 44?
45: What do you like about yourself physically? : My eyes are really cool looking, but they don't function too well.
46. Piercings : Nope
47. Tattoos : None
48. Righty or lefty : I write with my right hand, but I do just about EVERYTHING else left-handed, so you take your pick.

FIRSTS:
49. First surgery : Never
50. First piercing : None
51. First best friends : Don't remember really, but I do remember being friends with Laura and Michael. That would've been in elementary school sometime.
52. First sport : Swimming. I can't remember ever NOT knowing how to swim.
53. First pet : Dog
54. First vacation : Hawaii, I think, but I was too young to remember.
55. First concert : My only concert, really. Our youth group went to see Michael W. Smith and Avalon.

RIGHT NOW:
57. Eating : Haven't eaten anything since lunch (at 9AM)
59. Drinking : I have my waterbottle...
60. I'm about to : Go get something to eat
61. Listening to : The sound of my thoughts
62. Waiting for : Classes to start back up so I can see my friends again!

YOUR FUTURE
63. Want kids? : None of my own, thanks.
64. Want to get married? : If I meet someone, then maybe.
65. Careers in mind? : Something science. I'd really love to teach high school physics, actually.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE GENDER?
66. Lips or eyes : Eyes. I love looking at people's eyes, actually. <_<
67. Hugs or kisses : Definitely hugs, but I'm not one for physical affection.
8. Shorter or taller : Taller, but... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26623371/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26623371/ Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:53:41 PDT
---------------------------

August 6, 2007
Dear Katie,

I'm not sure why I'm writing this to you, but I felt like I needed to say something. Ever since I last saw you about two months ago, God has been putting it on my heart to tell you a number of things. So if you will please do me the honour of reading this letter, that would be appreciated.

First of all, I have been praying for healing. We're all broken people, but it is our brokenness that makes us beautiful in a way. I don't know if you know what I mean, so I'll just leave it at that. But things that are broken need to be fixed. What you did hurt me a lot and it hurt Michael and my brother, too. You must know that healing cannot happen until Forgiveness and Grace are present.

I have forgiven you for what you did. So has Scott. Even Michael has, though stubbourn he is to admit it. But in order for you to heal - for any of us to heal, really - you must forgive yourself.

I am not going to be falsely nice and tell you that forgiving you has not been difficult. On the contrary, it has been one of the more difficult tasks I have been faced with. I know what you did was very bad, but how much must one atone for past mistakes? How long does it have to be before it becomes a legalistic ritual rather than an act of heartfelt penance? How muchmust one pay to redeem herself from past transgressions? Although no action is without consequence (as Michael so often points out to me), I see no reason for a person to continually beat herself over the head for a past mistake.

Do not get me wrong here. I am not saying that atonement is unnecessary, but that it needs to be balanced out by Grace and Mercy. From them comes Forgiveness and when all three are present, together with Love, that is when healing can happen. It is a choice, one that must be made to accept forgiveness.

And so, I have chosen to extend my forgiveness to you. God has already forgiven you for what you have done and now it is my turn. I cannot force you to accept it, but I am giving it to you as a gift and I hope that you will accept.

Your Sister in Christ,
Samantha Christine Adams

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26303342/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/26303342/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:42:51 PDT
Anyways, here's a short piece I wrote earlier today. I'll leave you to guess what's going on; if you know my characters, it really shouldn't be too hard.

--------

"May I ask you a question?" There was a short pause before the voice resumed. "Have you ever made a girl cry?"

The other youth turned around, suddenly no longer interested in his foot-long sub and he returned the half-eaten sandwich to his plate. "Sure... why'd'ya ask?" Unlike the other boy's tone, his was light-hearted and quite a bit higher in pitch.

"Oh, no reason." The response came quickly as the shorter boy set his chopsticks down on a napkin and frowned slightly.

"This is about my sister, isn't it?" The Asian boy nodded, so the other youth continued. "Well, with her, it'd be best not to try and hide behind anything." His glance shifted towards the window, where it settled for a long moment before turning back to his companion. "If you need to yell at her, then do it. She can take it a lot better than she lets on sometimes." He shoved a potato chip into his mouth.

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes slightly.

The taller youth nodded and took a few gulps of water to wash down his food. "You think I'd lie to you about this?" He let out a heavy sigh. "Chance are, if you made my sis cry, it wasn't you." He stood up and picked his tray up. Leaving the other boy to ponder the words that had just been spoken, he turned and headed out of the cafeteria...


--------

I'm also working on a piece with Sam and the others when they're all grown up. And at least one compeletely new character will be introduced, as well as a handful of at least sort of recogniseable ones. I'll give you a paragraph-long teaser, but I'm still in the process of writing it.

For the life of her, Sam couldn’t remember where she’d put it. It wasn’t at her brother’s apartment; he’d already called and said he couldn’t find it and it wasn’t anywhere in the apartment she was sharing with Katie. Thankfully for both of them, the other girl insisted on keeping the place immaculate. But despite the fact that everything was cleaned and organised, Samantha still couldn’t find what she was looking for.

How is that for a change? I'll leave you guys to wonder what Sam's looking for and whether or not she actually finds it. Aren't I just so cruel?

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/25292262/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/25292262/ Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:04:12 PDT
I just thought I'd stop by here, say hello to everyone and let you know that I haven't fallen off of the face of this spinning planet. I've just been busy and haven't had internet access.

But I have been writing a bit more than usual! That is always a good thing. I got the third part of "A Duel of Wits" uploaded and now I need to figure out exactly how part four will play out before I continue writing. <_<

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/24818711/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/24818711/ Mon, 18 May 2009 08:49:48 PDT
In other news, I am done with classes! Finally. I really need to do some more calligraphy to post it up here. And finish embroidering that bag. And figure out a better way to understand Japanese other than being purely based on non-verbal communication.

Uhm... yeah.


50 Random things.

Body: 50 ODD Things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. Do you like bleu cheese?
Nope. Don't eat cheese at all.

2. Have you ever smoked?
Nope. It makes me cough enough when other people do it. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid and I do have a sense of self-preservation.

3. Do you own a gun?
Nope.

4. Your favorite song?
Currently? Too many to count. I really like "Stained Glass Masquerade" by Casting Crowns.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
A little. I don't like being poked with needles or having medical tests done or anything.

6.What do you think about hotdogs?
Eww...

7. Favorite Christmas song?
Silent Night or O Little Town of Bethlehem

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Orange Juice

9. Can you do push ups?
Not right now. I'm not supposed to put much weight on my wrist.

10. What do you want?
Knowledge. And Wisdom. And more CS Lewis books.

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
Don't like jewelry, actually.

12. Favorite hobby?
Knitting, crocheting, calligraphy, writing

13. Secret weapon to get the opposite sex?
*arches eyebrow* That's amusing.

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
Nope. My attention isn't deficit... it just gets misplaced.

15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself?
I'm stubborn.

16. Middle Name?
Like I'd tell you.

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment
Math. Computer. Tired.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday
Uhm... nothing, nothing and nothing. Saturday I bought food so that I could have something to eat, though.

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Water, orange juice and sometimes root beer.

20. Current worry right now?
That my characters are going in a direction I'd rather not follow.

21. Current hate right now?
People making too many assumptions.

22. Favorite place to be at?
Hanging out with two of my best friends from school... or spending time with my family.

23. How did you bring in the New Year?
I stayed up writing and hanging out with my sister. Most of the rest of the family went to bed.

24. Where would you like to go?
To go see my friends.

25. Name three people who will complete this?
Uhm... Toni already did. Maybe Rae? And my sister?

26. Do you own slippers?
Yes, but I haven't worn them in, like, forever.

27. What shirt are you wearing?
Board shorts, my glasses and one of my several shirts with the periodic table on it.

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
Eww...

29. Can u whistle?
Yes.

30. Favorite color?
Purple. Black. Green. Not necessarily in any order.

31. Would you be a pirate?
Nope. I'd prefer to be a ninja!

32. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't sing in the shower.

33. Favorite girl's name?
Emily or Samantha

34. Favorite boy's name?
Michael, Nathaniel, Daniel... there are so many!!!

35. What's in your pocket right now?
Nothing!

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
More than chuckling to myself? Probably something that happened when one of my friends and I were staying up all night on Friday trying to pack, clean and get ready to leave. I was really hyper at about 3AM.

37. Best bed sheets as a child?
Don't remember. I really like flannel sheets, though.

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I sprained my wrist twice within the course of one month.

39. Do you love where you live?
Yeah.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
One, which is more than enough.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
Katie.

42. How many dogs do you have?
None.

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
How should I know?

44. Who makes you smile the most?
My sister or one of my two best friends.

45. What is your favorite book?
Anything by CS Lewis!!!

46. What is your favorite candy?
Those hard spearmint candies. I also like various Asian candies, though I... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/24269515/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/24269515/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:10:01 PDT
In other news, I've been knitting again... and writing some. It's good to be able to write again. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to write Sharpe very much, so Snapshots isn't going so well. But I guess that's life.

Oh well, I am off to breakfast soon, but before I go, here's a character survey for you.

----------------------------------
Original Character QUIZ!

(1) Pick one of your original characters. If you haven't made one up yet, now's a good time. Got em picked? Now answer some questions.

What is their...

1. Name? Emiko Takahashi
2. Race? Human
3. Age? Meh, let's say 18
4. Gender? Female
5. Favorite Color? Pink (and Black)

(2) Okay, now pick ANOTHER original character. Again, now is a good time to make one up if you haven't already.

What is their...

1. Name? Michael Liu
2. Race? Human
3. Age? 17
4. Gender? Male
5. Favorite Color? Blue?

(3) Okay, you've got your two characters. Put them in a room together, and lock the door. What happens now?
Assuming they're the ages I've set them as, they would just ignore one another. If there was anything around to do, Michael would look for whatever that was to avoid talking to Emiko. Emiko might look for a chess set and if she finds one, ask Michael to play.

(4) Interesting. Okay now put them in a room with a rabid, starving wolf. NOW what happens?
Well, they'd have to figure out a way to cooperate. Emiko would order Michael to create a diversion of some sorts while she goes to break the door down, then proceeds to smack the wolf uptop the head with it and then both Michael and Emiko would run out of the room as fast as they could.

(5) Haha! Now take them and put them into a really formal dance party. Someone comes up to your first character, and asks them to dance. What do they do?
Emiko would totally dance with the person. If she thought this person was mean or ugly, she might insult them first.

(6) Someone comes up to your second character and asks them to leave. What do they do?
Uhm, he wouldn't even want to be there, so he'd just leave.

(7) Someone comes up and shoots your first character out of the blue. At the party, no less. What does your second character do?
Michael's no longer there... but if he heard Emiko got shot, he'd come back to help her.

(8) Assuming your first character is still shot, are they able to help themselves out, or do they need someone else to save them? Unless they're dead....but that's up to you.
Nah, she's not dead... not yet, anyways. She got shot pretty badly in the shoulder, but she manages to find something to throw at the guy who shot her (with her non-dominant hand) and knocks the gun out of the guy's hand and across the floor, where Saunders picks it up. Don't ask me why he's here.

(9) Okay, now they're dead. Sorry. How does your second character react?
Michael would be notably upset and a bit shocked. Unlike some of my other characters, he's never seen anyone die before. He would try to see if she was still alive.

(10) Now they're alive again. Tada! But there's a problem. Character One is missing one of their five major senses. Which one is it? (this is cause they got shot, duh!)
One of the five major senses? She'd hate me for this, but probably touch.

(11) And Character Two had to sacrifice one of their five senses so that the first one would come alive. What's their response to THAT?
Taste. Haha.

(12) And finally, a fairy comes up to them both and tells them he'll grant them each one wish. What do they wish for?
Michael~ That he could get into the medical school that he wanted when the time comes.
Emiko~ She'd wish that her parents were still together and her family situation was a better one.

(13) Now rescue them from this hypothetical situation and go tag other people to answer this lame quiz. Go on, DO IT!
Whoever wants to do this can do it.

The End.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23505145/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23505145/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:44:55 PST 1.) Perfect?
Nope

2.) Tall?
Heh... compared to some of my fictional characters. Like Aislynn.

3.) In your pajamas?
Nope, though I could be if I wanted to.

4.) Left handed?
I'm not going to give you a straight answer for this, other than the fact that I've been more left-handed than I usually am over the past two weeks.

LAST:
1.) Friend you saw:
I saw Joel at breakfast this morning...

2.) Talked to on the phone
My sister? I don't know...

3.) Person to text you:
My sister! *loves*

4.) Was today better than yesterday or the same as any other day?
Meh, the day's just getting started, so it's hard to tell. Yesterday was really long, but I got a chance to write, so that made me happy.

FAVORITES:
1.) Number:
7 or 13. I don't know why... I just like odd numbers better for some reason.

2.) Color(s)
Green, purple, black...

3.) Fruit
Not bananas.

4.) Place
The lower levels in the science center... or even the upper levels sometimes. Mostly the lower levels, despite their likeness to a dungeon and the creepiness at night...

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Q: What was the first thing you did this morning when you got up?
A: Turned off my alarm and put my glasses on.

Q: Do you have anything bothering you?
A: Yes.

Q: What's the last movie you saw ?
A: Full movie? Probably The Princess Bride or Star Wars. Actually, it was that documentary we watched in physics about telescopes the other day...

Q: Where is the last place you went?
A: Breakfast this morning.

Q. Do you smile a lot?
A: You're kidding me, right? >.>

Q: Do you wish upon stars?
A: Nope... usually I can't see the stars. Silly thing called being close to a city.

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: Maybe.

Q: Where did you sleep last night?
A: Didn't sleep much, but when I was sleeping, I was in my bed, in my room.

Q: When was the last time you cried?
A: Probably a few days ago. Stupid wrist.

Q: What was your last thought before going to sleep last night?
A: Wondering what's going to happen next in the story. Sharpe is being himself, but he just did something that I didn't predict he'd do.

Q: Rate life as of right now one being bad ten being great?
A: Not in the mood for rating and a 7 is too high (haha), so I will just have to go with somewhere between e and pi. Just because those are interesting numbers.

Q: What do you hear right now?
A: Ambient sounds, people down the hall, the weather outside.

Q: Does anything hurt right now?
A: My wrist.

Q: What's your favorite month?
A: Generally? I love September. And January/February.

Q: What did you do last night?
A: Got back from lab early, did homework, wrote.

EIGHT EMOTIONS:
1.) Are you missing someone right now
Yes, but there isn't much I can do about it.

2.) Are you happy?
I would hesitate to say happy, but rather content.

3.) Are you sad?
Meh, not really.

4.) Are you bored?
Maybe. I have stuff I should be doing, but I'm not (obviously).

5.) Where did number five go?

6.) Are you nervous?
Maybe. I have two exams tomorrow.

7.) Did 7 run away? Sheesh... where are all these numbers?

8.) Are you tired?
Yes. Silly neighbors and our room being 90 DEGREES this morning when I woke up. Sheesh.

ABOUT YOU:
001.) Real name?
Elizabeth

002.) Nicknames?
Amo Scribere (because of my username on blogger), Elee

003.) Eye color?
Green-yellow-blue-brown, depending on the angle, lighting and what I happen to be wearing.

004.) Zodiac sign?
No idea. My birthday is exactly a month and a week before Sharpe's, if that answers your question.

005.) Male or female?
Female.

009.) Smart?
Maybe.

010.) Hair color?
Almost black. If you've seen Prince Caspian (the movie...), my hair's about the same color as Caspian's... and shorter!

011.) Tall or short?
Uhm, didn't I already answer this?

012.) Where do all the numbers keep going?

013.) Sweats or Jeans?
Sweats are more comfortable.

014.) Phone or Camera?
Camera, as long as I'm not the subject of the pictures. You're much more likely to find me with my phone, though.

016.) Drink or Smoke?
Nope and nope. Can't drink and wouldn't smoke.

020.) Tattoos?
*shudders at the thought of something sharp and pointy sticking into her*

021.) Righty or lefty?
Like I'm going to give you a straight answer... normally, I'm so both-handed that it's ridicu... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23285201/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23285201/ Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:27:24 PST
I'm alright (I seem to have a high threshold for pain in my hands), but between that and homework (the never-ending joys of physics), that's probably why I'm not around here much. One thing that has really been a blessing is that I've made more time over the past few days to go spend time with friends (because I can't sit in my room and knit), so that has been a lot of fun. I also have a new-found sympathy for a character like Sharpe, as he only really has a decent level of dexterity in one hand.

So that is how I spent my weekend. Hopefully this next weekend will be writing more and not totally spent doing homework... and I am going to get my hair cut today so I don't have to worry about tying it back! Hoorah!!! It'll probably be about the same length as Aislynn's... only NOT bright pink and bright orange.

Bleh. I would almost rather go without the pain medication because then I'd be able to THINK clearly.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23142057/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23142057/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:10:49 PST 1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18 and find line 4:
The phase in Eq (2.26) is (kx-wt), whereas in Eq (2.29)
(That is my optics book... they're talking about sin and cos waves.)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you reach?
Tiger, a pillow, the box where I keep my dpns (double pointed knitting needles).

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
For more than five seconds? I have no idea... I've watched several movies on my computer, but I haven't watched any TV for more than about five to ten seconds since the beginning of January.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
3:44 PM

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
3:42 PM (My cell phone said 3:43, but my computer said 3:41, so I only figured an average was fair.)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My roommate, people down the hall making noise and shuffling things around and talking.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Just before 3PM when I was coming back from the science center (my other home). I had optics class.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
My sister's journal so that I could copy and paste the questions.

9. What are you wearing?
Socks, blue pants, a long-sleeved teal shirt, a navy blue t-shirt, glasses and a bracelet.

10. Did you dream last night?
Yes. I had a dream that I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not. I was hanging out with a bunch of my friends and it was wierd.

11. When did you last laugh?
I think I chuckled at a comment made either before CORE or in quantum class.

12. What are on the walls of the room you are in?
A few pictures and my roommate has Christmas tree lights up. I haven't put anything up, as I am lazy and don't care much about personal decorations.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Seen or heard? Well, there was the three-dimensional form of the Schroedinger's Wave equation that we were talking about in physics class and then our chem professor mentioned it in quantum and that was kind of wierd.
I've also recently seen two guys (in my CORE class) who have hair longer than I do. That's a little odd.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It's a good way to procrastinate.

15. What is the last film you saw?
Full film or a clip of one? Last full film I think I saw was The Princess Bride over break. Or no... it was Star Wars (A New Hope) with Michael and Katie and John and everyone else in Donovan's room. I think.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I would put money away to pay for my education and for my school books next semester.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know about.
I love being a physics student. There is something so beautiful about the system of equations that many people have come up with in an attempt to describe the how the way the world around us behaves... and to see how mathmatically precise these equations are and how well they predict things, yet how far we still have to go and how much we still don't understand.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
That people would form opinions about another person based on reliable facts and intuition, not just rumors and spur of the moment ideas.
Or if I was all-powerful (like Q from Star Trek~ haha), I would find a way to cure all diseases and any sort of physical or mental illnesses. But I think I can do a little more something about the former than the latter...

19. Do you like to dance?
No. I don't like to dance and I don't like going to dances. Though if there is a dance number in a movie or something and it's done well, I'm all for watching it. Take the Lead is an amazing movie and it's primarily about dancing.

20. George Bush:
is human. There are better people and there are also worse people, but let's not judge him.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Not planning to get married or have kids and even if I did, it would depend on my husband's last name. I've always liked the name Cassandra for a girl... Elizabeth would be a good middle name. I also really like the name Michelle.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Again, it would depend on my future husband's surname, but I LOVE the name Nathaniel. I always have. And Andrew and Daniel and Michael and Christian and Joshua... now you see why most of my characters are guys?

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23047037/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/23047037/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:55:42 PST
So... I was sitting in quantum chem today and we were talking about blackbody radiation (my favourite subject... haha!). As we were going through the notes and drawing our little diagrams and writing over-simplified equations without going through derivations, I realized something. I miss not being able to make the assumptions that we make in chemistry class in order to change the math from calculus to what would be required of a high school algebra student. I actually miss thermo class.

Call me a masochist, but it's true. Despite the fact that I didn't understand about a third of what was going on in that class (at least as far as math was concerned), I enjoyed seeing where the equations came from and actually going and walking through the plethora of derivations we did in class. I think the moment I was most proud of myself was when I figured out how to derive the integral of the Gaussian without looking down at my notes (and no, I didn't memorize it!).

Sitting in chemistry class with people who have only had through calculus two and don't even understand or remember that (hey, at least I don't stare at you stupidly when we're discussing when we can and cannot change a summation into an integral!) is a completely different world than sitting in physics class where people have had 400-level (that's senior year and the highest level of undergrad mathmatics) classes and where the instructor operates under the assumption that everyone in the class has had at least three semesters of calculus already. Sad thing is... I miss it.

Yeah, I know I should be grateful that I've taken more physics classes than most of the people in my quantum class, but it's just one of those things that happens when you've been doing something really hard (and you've come to have a love-hate relationship with it) for so long and it's over... and all of a sudden, you're back in the world of mediocrity with nothing to challenge you in the way that what you've previously done has.

Maybe that's why I do it... take up so many hobbies, I mean. Each one is learning some new skill and once I'm done with learning it and getting decent at it (ie, calligraphy), I get bored and want to move on, learning another new thing. It doesn't satisfy me to create numerous objects of work if I'm not learning new skills while doing so. Like there were at least eight distinct calligraphy styles I've learned, but I stopped doing calligraphy because there really aren't very many other ones (other than Script, which is a killer... because I've tried!) to learn and master. There's also knitting, which I've only been doing for a little over a year now. I've learned most of the techniques needed for various projects and once I learn how to successfully make a pair of socks, I don't know what I'll do next. Maybe knit lace or something. I have already even written my own patterns.

I guess I've said all of that to say this. I get bored easily. And I wish chemistry was a little more math-intensive (though I think most people in the class would disagree with me, considering that we have so many biochem majors!) because I really miss having the math-intensive physics course. This always seems to happen... I hate something at the time I'm doing it, but when I look back afterwards, I realize how much I miss it and how much I really did enjoy it and learn from it. Like high school physics. As much as I complained about the class, the teacher and anything and everything related, now that I think about it, I did learn a lot and I did actually enjoy it more than I thought I did at the time.

Last semester, I got so used to doing more math than application and constantly being challenged to think things through, rather than to just accept things as they are and move on. I miss that.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/22973357/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/22973357/ Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:44:15 PST
Little Scribles: AKA my writing blog. Here I post things I've written or things I am thinking about writing.
Adventures of Knotted String: AKA my knitting blog. It's mostly patterns of things, as well as pictures and commentary on finished objects.

Not that I'm leaving DA, but I'm just not as active around here as I used to be.

So... eight things about myself. Bleh. And I'm not going to tag anyone because I doubt there's anyone on DA who hasn't done it yet. Seriously.

1. I collect stuffed animals and especially love penguins and fish. Right now, I have two fish, at least two penguins (possibly more, as they tend to get lost easily), two stuffed giant microbes and an orca in my dorm room.

2. I am fairly non-confrontational by nature (not a wimpy push-over like Aislynn), but if you get me pissed off, well... let us just suffice to say that you don't even want to try. I will fight back and I will fight back harder than you could ever imagine. Trust me on that.

3. I don't like to drink coffee unless it's black, so without sugar or anything extra added. This includes Starbucks and other specialty coffee drinks. I prefer tea.

4. I used to wake up before morning swim practice to finish homework for school, especially physics. I found that I could think more clearly at 3AM than I could at 10PM...

5. I knit, but unlike many other people, I tend to finish a project before I start the next big one. The only main exception to this is my garter stitch scarves I make, because those are for working on while I watch movies.

6. I have seen Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice (the long version!) and the Narnia movies enough times to quote almost flawlessly from any of them. Even the Elvish bits in LotR.

7. More of my (main) characters are male than female. And a disproportionate number of them are left-handed or ambidextrous. It's kind of odd...

8. One of my greatest pet peeves in writing is when people say their character is "___" (fill in the blank with just about anything of your choosing) and they don't write it convincingly. Like writing a blind character the same way as one would write a character who has 20/20 vision. I know I'm probably guilty of that with at least one of my characters, but I try to do my research before writing characters. Show, not tell, people!

But that's it... those are my eight things about me. Most anyone who's talked to me before probably knows most of these things about me. I'm really not that interesting.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/21349165/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/21349165/ Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:06:51 PST
I just haven't been choosing to do stuff for DA recently. But I have been writing. Like I wrote a short AU piece involving character death (before the piece actually happened) and I wrote another observation. I owe that to being bored while eating lunch in the cafeteria...

Adult Michael: "I'd make my diagnosis on the grounds that the medical team overlooks the psychological aspects and the psych ward overlooks medical history and symptoms. My brother is a psychologist and he taught me that examining both reports is often necessary." (A Guardian Angel)
Michael is a doctor trying to justify making a particular diagnosis that seems... rather unlikely... to say the least. He's talking to his supervisor and attempting to explain his reasoning to her so she might listen to him.

Kiran: "Our esteemed science professor is going to have my corpse as the next anatomy specimen."
Kiran has such a sarcastic sense of humor sometimes. She's talking to Ming - saying she shouldn't leave the school - when she says this. It is unknown which teacher she is talking about.

Callisto (while reading aloud from a textbook): "...blah, blah, blah. Like I really care."
I love that girl... she's crazy. And she's only about twelve or thirteen.

Tem: "Go figure that Grandmother picked it out. Tatiana Eleanor Merquet, indeed!" (Camp Aestas Prologue)
Tem hates her full name, but who wouldn't?

Sharpe and Michael: "Mr. Liu," Sharpe's voice cut through the air quicker than a samurai's sword. "I highly suggest you show respect to your superiors."
Michael narrowed his eyes even more, a definite sign of defiance. "Then I suggest you earn that respect!" he snapped back. (Snapshots 1)
This is a characteristic snippet between Mr. Sharpe and Michael. I'm pretty sure it takes place during homerooms one morning and for this, Michael finds himself in detention.

Sharpe: "If you do not tell [what you're thinking of], the truth of a statement cannot be verified." (Snaphots 3)
Isn't this just pointing out the obvious?

Scott: "Courage isn't not being afraid... it's being afraid and still doing what you need to do."
I actually don't know when Scott says this, but I know he says something of the sort. And probably to Michael or one of the other members of the Fellowship.

Sharpe: "Mind your verb tenses." (Snapshots 3, various)
Sharpe says this to Michael when Michael remarks that Tetsuya Takahashi was a bully... to which Sharpe replies "Is, Mr. Liu... Mind your verb tenses". He also says something very similar to Samantha later in that chapter.

Sam: "Up until now, [Sharpe] has been the nastiest teacher at this school – and probably any other in America – and he's done absolutely nothing to earn himself passing marks in the kindness department. Every chance he's had, the nicest thing he does is make a snide remark at someone else's expense, usually yours." She sighed, hoping that her reasoning would appeal to the sensible part of Michael's mind. "I don't think that's characteristic behavior of someone who's an ally. More like the opposite." (Once upon an AU)
Sam says this to Michael when they're arguing over Sharpe's most recent behavior. They have differing interpretations over what has happened.

Callisto: "It's always Verity this, Verity that, but never, ever Callisto anything."
Callisto is always amusing when she's complaining about something. This time it happens to be about one of the older students who always cals her by her last name. She should never meet Sharpe.

Mr. Wilson: "I'd be 'specially careful around the likes of them and you can never be too cautious around the cheerleading folk." There was an ominous, warning tone to his voice. (prom)
Ironic because Wilson's oldest son, Kyle, was dating a cheerleader throughout high school. But that was Kathryn Saunders...

Sharpe: "About an hour later, all of the football and baseball players arrived, then the cheerleaders. The fairly innocent –" at this comment, Sharpe lifted an eyebrow "– party was subject to massive alcohol consummation." Absently, his hands unfolded and his left index finger traced along one of the scars on his right hand. "Only morbid curiosity about what would happen next coerced me into staying; I have never had any inclination to partake in the lovely ceremony of ethanol intoxication." (Snapshots 4)
This has to be one of my favorite quotations that any of my characters have said. We all know that Sharpe doesn't drink and he sums his views on getting drunk up very nicely... with none of... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/19345419/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/19345419/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:45:45 PDT amoscribere.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/18422234/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/18422234/ Mon, 26 May 2008 11:39:03 PDT
Unfortunately, I have no idea what I'm going to do for a job this summer. Yet. I shall be deciding that as I work on the new calligraphy pieces I am doing. Because of the insanity that one calls the dark side, I have not had much time to do calligraphy recently.

And, very happy birthday to Tonio! *bakes chocolate cake*

Sorry for the short update... I'm really not in much of a talking mood right now and I have to go finish some writing stuff I've been working on.

Edit: May 26 - Well, I did two brief calligraphy pieces yesterday, but unfortunately, the scanner isn't working, so I don't know when I'll get them uploaded. One's done in Simple Roman and the other's done in the Celtic-style writing.

Speaking of writing, I've come up with a list of the teacher characters at Riverdale and I've gotten where most of their loyalties lie. Sharpe's a bit harder because he's, well, his loyalties aren't exactly what I would call normal. He's doing a special task, but he's not about to let anyone else - including the person who gave him the assignment - know what he's up to!

And I'm working on a piece where Kiran meets the cast at Riverdale. She's basically an exchange student living with the Liu family. She, Michael, Scott, Sam (etc) are sophomores. It originally started with me wanting to do a piece where Kiran meets Sharpe. It's narrated by Michael, so you get his commentary throughout the piece.

A note to the people that I've said I'd do things for: It's coming. Please just be patient.

Okay? Okay. Good times.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/18015400/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/18015400/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:38:32 PDT
In other news, I've finished Snapshots, Chapter Four: Sharpe's Dark Secret. All I have to do now is type it up, proofread it and check for continuity. That'll be fun. Scroll down for a couple of sneak previews. I think it'll be enough without giving away any major plotlines... and since you don't know who Rose McGonigal is yet... But you'll find out later probably. She has... connections...

No really, Snapshots is turning out better than I thought it would. Chapter Five has already been started. (Working Chapter Title: A Long Night) Though I must admit that the chapter titles are always subject to change and occasionally several times. It'll be interesting to see where it ends up; I can see a few scenarios that will happen.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I draw my inspiration from many of the classical authors. Most recent has been Jane Austen - specifically Pride and Prejudice - and how every character ends up getting mixed up in a horrible mess... and then everything turns out okay in the end. I think it'll be that way with Snapshots... there's still so much to write with it and so many characters to bring in... and so much mess to have! And then, of course there's references from other pieces... specifically when it comes to Sharpe. Not only his name (*cough*Frankenstein*cough*) but also several things he says...

--------------------------

Jon almost chuckled. "[Takahashi]'s no more a politician than you are religious."
[A fully grown man sat awkwardly in the back row of the chapel, glancing nervously around. By his manner of dress, he appeared no different than any other regular church-goer. However, his mind was obviously distracted; it was evident that he had only come reluctantly.
In the front of the church, a pastor read from the Bible passage. The man was smiling as the elementary school students acted out the story. His almond shaped eyes sparkled in the spotlight that was dancing from the back of the church.]
Sharpe's dark eyes narrowed towards Jon, but he knew it was true. "Thank you for your..." Sharpe thought for a split second in an attempt to find the word he wanted to use. "...astute observation, Jon."

"Rose [McGonigal], like her young nephew, can be very persuasive intends to be." The slightest hint of a smirk touched the corners of Sharpe's lips as he spoke.

"The fairly innocent-" At this comment, Sharpe lifted an eyebrow "-party was subject to masive amounts of alcohol consumnation." Absently, his hands unfolded and his left index finger traced along one of the scars on his right hand. "Only morbid curiousity about what would happen next coerced me into staying; I have never had any inclination to partake in the lovely ceremony of ethanol intoxication." His top lip curled upwards in a sneer.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17796493/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17796493/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:58:24 PDT


RANDOMOLOGY #

First place you went this morning? Latin class
What can you not wait to do? Go to the photoshop class this afternoon!
What's the last movie you saw? Don't remember. Probably something when I was at home.
Are you a friendly person? I don't think I'm particularly friendly, but I'm not unfriendly.


CURRENTOLOGY ♪

Missing someone? Perhaps.
Mood? Bored...
Listening to? Tocata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major (JS Bach)
Watching? Nothing...
Worrying about? Housing situation for next year.


LASTOLOGY ◄

Last friend you talked to in person? Christian
Last person you called? Kateses!
Last Voicemail Message? Probably Mom
Person you hugged? *shrugs* Don't remember.


BIOLOGY •

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Ambidextrous. *smirks*
Do you like your smile? No. I don't smile very often. If I do, I'm usually smirking... or plotting something.
What's your best feature? For appearance, my eyes. For functionality, probably either my ears or my hands.
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? I've had my hair cut... does that count?
When was the last time you had a cavity? >.<
What is the heaviest item you lifted last? *shrugs*
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? I don't think I've ever been knocked unconscious...


DAREOLOGY ♫

Would you walk naked down a public street for $10000? No.
Would you cut off one of your little fingers for $200,000? *arches eyebrow*
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Heck, yeah.
Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Yeah, the only thing I ever watch is occasionally the news (when it's on) and Jeopardy. That's only when I'm at home, which is pretty rare.


ULLCRAPOLOGY ☻

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? I don't know. Something a little less common, I suppose. And something that doesn't get stuck with a million and a half horrible nicknames. >.<
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Probably.
Have you ever saved someone's life? Not that I'm aware of, but perhaps.
Has someone ever saved yours? Probably.


DUMBOLOGY ↓

What is in your left pocket? Nothing;
Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie? I actually have not seen it.
Do you sit or stand in the shower? I thought people stood up in the shower.
Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Never.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17718997/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17718997/ Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:27:37 PDT [Snapshots Chapter Three: A History Lesson], so it's uploaded here. I've also been thinking about going through some short pieces with various characters, especially first person POV narration (particularly with Sharpe). That'll make writing chapter four easier because he almost narrarates sections of it. Needless to say, things are about to get interesting.

In other news, school is going. Physics, as always, is a never-ending adventure, though I know several people who want off the metaphorical physics train. Too bad; we still have five more weeks of it to endure suffering and torture at the hands of our tour guide. Just kidding, I rather enjoy it. Registration is next week, but thankfully, I already know which classes I'm taking. Things shouldn't be too bad.

Man, I wish the weather would stop changing every fifteen minutes. It's kind of annoying to be hailing one minute, raining the next, then sunny, then cold, then warm... It's enough to drive a sane person crazy! >.<

When I have the time (hah hah), I should get back to the 100 themes meme I started. I also need to get my scanner turned on and plugged into my computer so I can scan those pictures in. Hoorah for random cartoon versions of various characters. One that I've already drawn is of Kiran Shasthri and the other is of Sharpe (along with Nernst and Arrhenius). Amazingly, the one of Sharpe actually sort of turned out!

---------------------------------------

Themes I've yet to Complete...

4. Dark
6. Break Away
7. Heaven
9. Hell
10. Breathe Again
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
16. Questioning
17. Blood
22. Mother Nature
23. Crazy
24. No Time
25. Trouble Lurking
27. Foreign
29. Happiness
30. Under the Rain
31. Flowers
33. Expectations
34. Stars
37. Eyes
38. Abandoned
39. Dreams
40. Rated
43. Dying
44. Two Roads
45. Illusion
46. Family
47. Creation
51. Sport
52. Deep in Thought
53. Keeping a Secret
55. Waiting
56. Danger Ahead
57. Sacrifice
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
62. Magic
63. Do Not Disturb
65. Horror
66. Traps
67. Playing the Melody
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
73. I Can't
75. Mirror
76. Broken Pieces
77. Test
78. Drink
79. Starvation
80. Words
81. Pen and Paper
82. Can You Hear Me?
83. Heal
85. Spiral
87. Food
89. Through the Fire
91. Drowning
92. All That I Have
93. Give Up
94. Last Hope
95. Advertisement
96. In the Storm
97. Safety First
98. Puzzle
100. Relaxation

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17438259/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17438259/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:15:35 PDT I got up pretty early this morning to finish packing and at least get my room sort of clean. It's not really that clean because I tore the room apart looking for some of the stuff I needed to pack, but whatever.

Midterm week went alright, I suppose. But we have a Latin exam when we get back to classes, which is a little annoying. Oh well, I enjoy Latin, so it's not such a big deal. Hey, and math and physics didn't assign homework over break.

Actually, the main reason why I made this journal was to put in random factoids about my characters. Most of these are about Sharpe. Heh. What a novel idea...

------------------------------------

Sharpe's DOB is February 19, 1970 (ST, 1).
Kyle and Marie Wilson's mom, June, passed away from cancer shortly before they moved from Oregon to California (ST, 1).
Chess is a recurring theme throughout everything I write.
Kylie's Coffee Shoppe has been in existence since at least 1980 (VD).
Hideaki has more colored bandanas than he can keep track of (CA, P)
Laura Clarkson is originally from Texas.
Riverdale Academy did not start until fall of 1999 (ST, 3).
Sam and Scott's pet cat is named Sauron, after the dark lord in Tolkien's LOTR books (ST, 2).
Sharpe didn't get his driver's liscence until he was twenty-six and he still does not own a car (ST, 3).
Michael's sister, Elizabeth, enjoys eavesdropping (ST, 2).
Tem's real name is Tatiana Eleanor Merquet, but never call her that (CA, P)!
Evan Saunders is the only (known) person who has ever gotten into a physical fight with Emiko Takahashi and won (AU).
Tyler is very good friends with both Marie and her older brother Kyle. He is the only one of the "fellowship" who is.
Evan Saunders is the one who originally calls their group a "united group of misfits" (ST, 2).
Sharpe is left-handed, which is unestablished in canon thus far.
More than almost anything else, Sharpe hates being called a coward (ST, 3).

ST: Snapshots Through Time
VD: Valentine's Day
CA: Camp Aestas
AU: Alternate Universe

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17170855/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/17170855/ Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:55:08 PST
Despite the fact that I love physics and as soon as I get forms turned in, I'll be a physics major(!!!), that does not prevent me from making stupid mistakes. Which is rather unfortunate. I really enjoy physics more than other classes because if I know the material, I will do well on the exam and if I don't know the material, I will not do well on the exam. In other subjects, that's not usually the case. *cough*biologymathchemistry*cough*
-----------------------------
By the way, for the people who have read multiple stories of mine, I'm trying to come up with a list of recurring objects/places. So far, I have
Sharpe's pointy stick
Michael's sketchbook
Sauron the cat
Ellie Johnson's rosebush
the treehouse
Kylie's Coffee Shoppe
the violin (presumed to be Andy's)
If you know of any others, please let me know. I'm trying to organize a list and write brief descriptions of those items and/or places.
-----------------------------
Now, onto something for entertainment's sake. I snitched this from my sister, ~ellethana. Since I'm rather bored of answering all these surveys from my POV, I decided to pick on one of my characters. Three guesses as to who answered this suvey.

1. Are you ready for 50 questions?
No. I have work I need to do.

2. Which state/country do you live in?
Currently, I reside in California.

3. What is your favorite thing you got for Christmas?
I hate Christmas.

4. What was the last thing you did in 2007?
Well, I was at the Alton's house and we were playing a game of Monopoly. Jennie had almost won, but Clarence escaped from his cage and sent the board pieces flying. We never finished the game after that.

5. How tall are you?
Metic? More than 180 centimeters tall.
(Me: He's six feet tall.)

6. Are you new on dA? How long have you been a member?
The person who the survey is directed at has been a member for nearly three years.

7. Are you male or female?
Male. The idiot who is forcing me to fill out this survey is a she.

8. Which program do you use to chat?
I prefer alternate means of communcation.

9. What was the first thing you did this morning?
Woke up. Obviously.

10. Do you own a website or forum?
Yes. I use it to post old exams and homework for my students. The said other person owns some site called "Little Scribbles". What kind of *idiot* would have a site called Little Scribbles?
(Me: Hey!)

11. Is the computer you're using your own computer?
Yes.

12. What is your favorite type of food?
Anything except for Italian. The spicier, the better.

13. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
I decline to answer that question.

14. Do you have an account on myspace?
Perhaps. Like I'm going to tell you.

15. What is your favorite video game or anime character?
There is an online game similar to concentration that forces students to match chemical symbol to the name of the chemical on the periodic table. That is where I send most of my students when they first enter my sophomore level chemistry class.
(Me: There really is such a game. I used to have it bookmarked.)

16. What is your favorite color?
Ebony black.

17. Everyone loves candy, right?
Obviously you do.

18. Have you ever gotten a gift art from a friend or someone?
*raises eyebrow*
(Me: I have. From Tonio and Ellethana and other people. *grins*
Will you just shut up?!
(Me: *sinks down into chair*... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16936054/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16936054/ Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:32:51 PST
That being said, let's move on to something more interesting... and the real reason why I made this entry in the first place.
---------------------------------------------------

So, I was wondering about how old exactly Sharpe was at the time that Michael, Scott, Sam and everyone else are in high school and which year he was born. Being the logical person that I am, I set out to establish something with what facts I have written.

I've already established that his birthday is February 19th, which is shared with Arhennius (a famous chemist). His birthday is stated in [Snapshots Through Time, Part One]. He's somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties when the company (my main characters) graduate high school. Other than that, it took a little tracing back to figure out the exact year...

Everyone in the company (including Michael) graduated high school in Spring of 2007. Michael was not quite 18 (September birthday), which placed his DOB on September 20, 1989.

To get any further, a brief character history must be recorded. Michael was born to Kiyoshi Sato and Johannah Liu at the beginning of Johannah's junior year of high school (he's later adopted, so he doesn't know this yet). Since 1989 was the beginning of Johannah's 11th grade year, it is fair to assume she graduated in 1991.

Sato, who was originally the same year as Sharpe, but got held back a year, was in his fifth year of high school during Johannah's sophomore year, making him a proper senior during her freshman year. He should have graduated in 1988, but didn't graduate until 1989.

Sharpe entered high school the same year that Sato did and he graduated as he was supposed to, with honors. This would have put him graduating in 1988. It would have also put the accident happening in December of 1983, in the middle of his eighth grade year.

It's fair to assume that, since Sharpe has a winter birthday, he follows the pattern of being "normal aged" at school, versus nearly a year younger, like Michael who has a September birthday. That said, Sharpe graduated high school at age 18. If he graduated when he was 18 in 1988, then his year of birth would be 1970.

Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that his date of birth is February 19, 1970. This makes him thirty-seven years of age when Michael (and the rest of my main characters) graduate high school, thus fitting in with what I originally had in mind.

So, happy thirty-eighth birthday, Mr. Sharpe!

(Just for the sake of random facts, Michael's father, Jonathan, is three years older than Sharpe. He would have been born in 1967.)

And now I can go update Snapshots Through Time to show his complete date of birth.

---------------------------------------------------
Before I go, I still owe the following people artwork...

And I've been tagged to do various memes by
... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16856700/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16856700/ Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:50:22 PST And then we had another one tonight. Meh... I've had almost no sleep since I woke up Monday morning. >.<

Really random, but it's kind of odd when you finally realize that teachers and professors actually exist outside of classes... I was at the store this weekend and I saw one of my professors and it totally threw me off...

In other news, the semester is going fairly well. Latin's a lot of fun (and work). Calculus is calculus and that's all I'm going to say about that. At least our lectures actually make sense this time around. And physics... wow. I'm not quite sure what to say about physics, other than the fact that there's no way that I'll fall asleep in that class! No, there's really not too much of a chance for a dull moment in that class, which is definately a good thing. Especially since I get bored easily.

Another thing that's been fun is karate. For that class, we really don't have much of a lesson plan yet, so the first week was spent working intensely on Heian Sandan with Wayne. That was cool, especially since we've never really worked on it a lot before. And yesterday, Zac taught us Kanku-Dai. It's one of the brown belt katas and definately one of my favorite ones to watch, but it's freakishly long. There were only short bits that I actually did (sort of) right and most of those bits were things from other katas that we've worked on before, like there's stuff from Heian Shaodan, a nice sequence from Heian Nidan, some pieces (and influence) from Heian Sandan and quite a bit from Heian Yondan. And I think I was sort of able to do certain parts of it because I can get lower to the ground than most people can because I'm short. XD

And, no, I haven't really had time or energy to do artwork recently. Or write very much, though I'm planning out more to the piece I've been writing... the one about Sharpe. And boy is Michael going to be in trouble if his parents find out!!!

---------------------------------------------------
Before I go, I still owe the following people artwork...

And I've been tagged to do various memes by
Those will eventually get done. Absolutely NO promises about how quickly, though.

And now, off to bed. Take care everyone!
-Elizabeth

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16727982/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16727982/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:31:41 PST
I'm also really happy because my schedule finally got straightened out! And just in time... it was only this afternoon when I found out exactly which classes I was taking and when I'd be taking them! >.<

Hopefully, this will be an easier semester because I'm only taking one upper division class, seminar, which is a one credit course where you basically go listen to people talk. Fun. I'm also taking Latin, which I'm really looking forward to. And calculus, which I'm not looking forward to so much... oh well. I'm really excited about the cool binder cover I've made for that class, so something's good! And physics should be interesting. I'm in the same class as both Doug and Christian, so it should be really cool. Unfortunately, my binder cover isn't as cool for physics as it is for calc. But, you can't have everything, I suppose.

If I hadn't just put the binder covers in (and spent about five minutes getting them to stay!), I'd scan at least my math one in and post it here. My physics one looks kind of stupid - it's just colored green with "PHYSICS" written down the side, along with my name. The math one is really cool; it's a nighttime silhouette with a city at the bottom and calculus written in black, outlined in gold metallic pen. I'll have to get to work with the front covers soon or make something really cool for the back of the binders.

In other news, I've been working on writing a story that explains a lot about Sharpe. It's a little less... mild... than most of my other stuff and there's some bitter history between him and some of the other characters, but you'll find out about that later! And, in the process, you'll find out more about Michael because (as we all know) Sharpe knows way too much for his own good - or for anyone else's!

Seeing as how it's starting to get late, I should probably go and eat something before the cafeteria closes. Or maybe I'll just eat dinner in my room... again.

Before I go... I still owe artwork to the following people...


-----------------------------

Okay... was tagged by *Duani
Eight Random Things About Me

1. I'm a p-chem (physical chemistry) major who happens to enjoy microbiology, especially infectious diseases.
2. My desk has lots of books on it, including LotR, Narnia (all seven in one book), my Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Hot Zone, The Demon in the Freezer, Pride and Prejudice and The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged version).
3. My calendar for last year was Finding Nemo.
4. I know how to crochet, even though I'm not very good at it.
5. I like playing with parafilm in the lab.
6. I've memorized atomic weights of about 25 of the elements on the periodic table, yet I can't remember my own phone number.
7. I usually draw myself wearing a bandana.
8. I collect old books, including a couple of chemistry textbooks from the 1970s and a biology lab techniques book originally published in the 40s.

Since I've done this before, I'm not going to tag anyone.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16637027/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16637027/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:29:33 PST
Over the break, I'll be cleaning my room. Right now, it's in a state of extreme disarray, due to the fact that cleaning has simply fallen off of my priority to-do list. Hopefully I'll also be getting a few calligraphy things up, more stuff written (including an AU story that I've started and am having a lot of fun with!) and just generally get things straightened out around here.

Next semester should be fun. I'm taking physics, calculus and Latin. Not sure if I'm taking anything else, but that's what advisors are for, right? Maybe seminar. Other than that, no upper division classes. Good news is that I think I'll be able to get into a morning physics lab and I'm glad I had the overwhelming compulsion to go to the science center this evening. Man, I love that place!

Okay... I need to go to sleep before I go crazy. Even though I took a nap this afternoon (hoorah for having no time committments after class!), I'm still tired. How annoying. I still also have a lot of things to think through, which isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Before I go... I still owe artwork to the following people...

~ellethana - Yours will be coming in quite awhile... I'm trying to work on figuring out how to do it... long story.

Maybe I won't die of boredom during Jan term break...

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16387599/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16387599/ Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:58:11 PST
Wow… the last calligraphy piece I submitted was over a month ago. That is so not like me. I’ve been really busy, though, both with school and with other stuff.

In school right now, I’m taking a really awesome upper division biology course about HIV and AIDS. Basically, classes right now are three hours long for the entire month of January and then we have homework on top of that. Last year, I think I spent a grand total of less than ten hours on work outside of my class during January. This year (so far), I’ve spent more than that and we’ve only been in class for a week. But it’s so much fun and the information is just fascinating. It’s even more fun because a lot of my friends are in the class because a vast majority of my friends up at school are biology students.

I’m also working a couple of times a week right now, as needed by the chemistry department. Usually it constitutes doing small jobs that it would be nice to have them done before the second semester starts, like putting away chemicals in the chemical stockroom. That place is kind of creepy, but not as much as the art building. Twice a week in the evening, we’re also training karate, which is a lot of fun. Last Wednesday, we got to work on Heian Yondan. Really hard, really confusing, but so much fun!

I’ve also been working a little bit on the story where all ten characters go to summer camp, which has been quite interesting, as well as a short piece between Michael and Hideaki (they’re college roommates). Hopefully that’ll get done soon, as it’s for the 100 Themes.

Kind of random, but I have a really great idea for the "Waiting" in the 100 Themes Meme challenge! It's going to be so awesome if I can pull it off, but I'll need to do a little more research on stuff. I just pulled up about 25 reference pictures to use.

I’m actually quite excited about second semester. I’ve heard good things about my physics professor and I do believe people’s comments this time. Not so excited about calculus, though, but I have to take it, so I will and I’ll cut the complaining when I can. Latin should also be fun, as it’s a small class. Unfortunately, I’m not taking any chemistry next semester, which is really sad. I won’t be taking chemistry until spring of 2009 (hoorah for upper division physics – NOT!), it seems, unless I take one of those one credit courses next fall. Le sigh.

For anyone who has been requesting something from me, I apologize for not having done it in a more timely manner. I’ve been kind of crazy busy the past month or so and I don’t know when things will settle down enough for me to get much calligraphy or artwork done. I know I owe a lot of you artwork and it will get done eventually (not digitally, I hope). Lots more stuff to practice calligraphy with, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!

Speaking of calligraphy, I got wonderful new calligraphy pens for my birthday! Yay! So maybe some of the stuff that I owe people will be done with those. Yeah, my birthday was pretty interesting. I spent part of the morning watching the first half of Fellowship of the Ring and then I realized how much I missed having those movies up with me at school. And I had Chinese food! ‘Twas muchly good.

People I owe artwork to:

I also owe critiques to people, both on devART and off.

Update:
No Longer Owe Artwork to the Following:
http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16202546/ Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:44:49 PST
Looking back, this year was just as chaotic as last. I finished up my second and third semesters of college. In the first half of the year, I decided that I really didn’t like biology that much and that chemistry is more for me. Now, that’s turned into chemistry and physics. I’ve discovered that getting a 96 on a test that takes twenty some odd minutes when half the class fails the exam is sort of messed up. I’ve completed a semester of Latin and I love it. I’ve also taken my first upper division class and that was quite an experience. I’m still not sure how I did as well as I did. This past semester, I worked in the chemistry lab more often than I was in class, it seems. I made a couple of good friends from that.

Speaking of good friends, I think that I’ve finally realized what a blessing they are. They’re the people who can help hold you up when the wind and rain are trying to knock you down and oftentimes, people who don’t have to ask what’s going on; they just know. They’re people who you can loose track of time talking with, long hours into the night. Yeah, thanks.

I also felt I’ve improved a lot in my calligraphy and drawing skills. [Here] is a calligraphy piece I did close to the beginning of last year. See how it’s slanted, really uneven and there’s no fancy capital letter? Be honest and get real. It’s pretty bad. Now, compare that to [this piece], which was completed early last month. Quite easy to tell the differences, eh? (Nota bene: two different alphabets were used and they are not supposed to look exactly the same. I haven’t done anything formal in the former alphabet for several months.) I’ve also begun to enter the digital art scene, but I’m really not all that good at it yet.

I’ve also learned a lot about myself and other people in the past year. There are so many times when people are different than what you expect them to be – for good or for bad. Friends come in unlikely places and, much as I hate to admit it, physics professors are a heck of a lot wiser than they seem to be.

Right now, I’m sort of at a loss to come up with a new year’s resolution, especially if I know it’s not going to be kept (like my room staying clean or something like that). I’m not even going to try with that one. I think that my new year’s resolution will be to finish the adventure story/novel I’m working on before the year is complete. It has Michael, Scott, Sam, Evan, Tyler, Marie, Nate, Jose, Hideaki and Tem in it, as well as some other random characters and a really awesome villain. So I’m kind of excited about that.

Hopefully, this new year will involve being more interested in the classes I’m taking (especially that upper division biology class coming up!), improving more in my calligraphy and drawing skills, actually completing a writing project (the last major one I’ve completed was probably when I was in about tenth grade or so), doing research over the summer and managing to stay sane through all of that. Oh, and finally test for rank in karate. *grins*

Lastly, a quote that sums up this past year almost perfectly… “The things that happen to you which are most awful are often the things you learn most from.” -Hugo Weaving

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16012391/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/16012391/ Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:56:56 PST
Oh, and I'm also probably not going to be on the computer much on Friday afternoon or Saturday at all. Or Monday or Tuesday, for that matter.

I've been working a little bit on drawing and calligraphy and mostly figuring out how I'm going to finish the Christmas exchange drawing without a scanner. My digital art really isn't as good as I want it to be (a big understatement!), so I apologize for anyone who requested or is getting a drawing as a gift and it's not as good as they hoped. Usually, I do the lineart in my sketchbook, scan it in and digitally color it. So yeah...



Before I go, I'm going to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Yes, that's right... feliz navidad, joyeaux noel... *tries to think of another language, but can't*

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

I love all of you and I hope you have a blessed Christmas! Toni, Rae, Jenny, Christine, Maddie (nice to finally meet you yesterday!), Gwen, Kateses and anyone else whose name seems to have slipped my mind - make sure you have a good Christmas. Relax, spend some time with family and friends.
-----------------------------------------
In other, on-going news...
I've decided to open up for calligraphy commisions and trades. So, if you'd like something, here are some guidelines.

Quotes: Preferably between 10-45 words work best.
Versal Letter and Illuminations: I'd like to know if you have any preferences on these.
Color Schemes: If you have any particular color preferences, please let me know and I'll do my best to match them.

Alphabets:
*Roman [Here]
*Simple Bookhand [Here]
*Celtic Bookhand [Here]
*Chancery Italics [Here]
*Rotunda [Here]
*Uncial [None Currently Submitted]
*Blackletter Gothic [Here]
*Gothic Pointe [Here]
*Elvish Runes (see below)

If you're requesting something in a language other than English (sorry -- no Arabic, Chinese or Japanese calligraphy yet!), please provide an accurate translation into English.
Also, I reserve the right to decline if a quote is vulgar or otherwise considered inappropriate or strongly and blatantly contradicts what I believe. Please keep that in mind when requesting.

Also, please be patient. I am a full-time student and contrary to what some of you may think, I do actually have a life.

Requests: Friends Only
Commissions: Currently Open
Art Trades: Currently Open

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15920462/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15920462/ Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:57:05 PST Pineapple-Koji put up in her journal, I'm opening up for 10 free sketches or calligraphy doodles.

Closed now.

If you'd like a sketch or calligraphy doodle (nothing fancy and it'll probably end up being like [this one here]), post a comment with what you want me to do. Versal letters and/or illuminations will be kept very simple (if anything at all) and if you don't specify which colors/etc you'd like, you'll get whatever I'm feeling in the mood for. Sketches will likely be pencil only and may or may not be inked.

I don't draw animals or machine-stuff very well and if you have an original character you'd like me to do, please either post a description or a link to an appropriate picture. Limit is one character per sketch and one free item per person. Thanks!

1. - Dominis Draco
2. - Calligraphy quote - LotR (Faramir)
3. - [Finished Piece Here]
4. - [Finished Piece Here]
5. - Calligraphy of a Chinese proverb
6. - Calligraphy with either Celtic alphabet or Elvish runes
7. -
8. - [Finished Piece Here]
9. - [Finished Piece Here]
10. - Calligraphy from My Chemical Romance

Nota bene: On fandoms, I am only familiar with LotR, Narnia, Phantom of the Opera and some Disney movies. For anything else, I will need some sort of reference picture or a link to one.
------------------------------
Personal life:
Finals are almost done and I've been cleaning my room most of the day while listening to Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera soundtracks. Unfortunately, I still have a lot of cleaning left to do.
Fortunately, for the most part, finals went well yesterday. Latin was as most Latin exams go and our chemistry final was one of the hardest exams I've ever taken. Our karate final went well, I think and I didn't majorly mess up with that. Heh.
Physics is tomorrow, which should be interesting. And not so much fun, but whatever. Like I'm doing badly in that class. Actually, I'd be doing better if I could think more clearly and if I could actually do math.
And then on Saturday morning (really early), I'm headed home!!! Yay! I can't wait to see all of you.
Over break, I'm also going to work more on writing stuff, so maybe I'll put part two of [N... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15841574/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15841574/ Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:47:31 PST
Quotes: Preferably between 10-45 words work best.
Versal Letter and Illuminations: I'd like to know if you have any preferences on these.
Color Schemes: If you have any particular color preferences, please let me know and I'll do my best to match them.

Alphabets:
*Roman [Here]
*Simple Bookhand [Here]
*Celtic Bookhand [Here]
*Chancery Italics [Here]
*Rotunda [Here]
*Uncial [None Currently Submitted]
*Blackletter Gothic [Here]
*Gothic Pointe [Here]
*Elvish Runes (see below)

If you're requesting something in a language other than English (sorry -- no Arabic, Chinese or Japanese calligraphy yet!), please provide an accurate translation into English.
Also, I reserve the right to decline if a quote is vulgar or otherwise considered inappropriate or strongly and blatantly contradicts what I believe. Please keep that in mind when requesting.

Also, please be patient. I am a full-time student and contrary to what some of you may think, I do actually have a life.

Requests: Friends Only
Commissions: Currently Open
Art Trades: Currently Open

--------------------------------
In other happenings...
So things have been going crazy and I'm not sure of all of what's going on right now. However, I am thankful to be blessed with an awesome family and a couple of really good friends who have really helped me get through the past couple of weeks.

Final exams are next week, which should be... interesting. My hardest final is probably going to be analytical chem and most of that's because I really don't know what to expect. We've already been given pretty much what's going to be on the physics final as well as the Latin final. Plus, our physics prof is really predictable - most of the time.

On a lighter note, today was the science department Christmas party. It was really fun and there was good food. Dr. Mike made his infamous chili, but it wasn't as spicy as last year. Turns out that serrano peppers aren't as hot as habanero peppers are. It was still very good (and spicy). It was fun hanging out and getting a chance to talk to the science students who I don't necessarily get to see very often anymore.

And lastly, a quote. I've been working on putting this one into calligraphy and it's been a lot of work, but fun to do.
"The things that happen to you which are most awful are often the things you learn most from." - Hugo Weaving
For those of you who don't know, he played Elrond in LotR and Agent Smith in the Matrix, amongst other roles.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15749754/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15749754/ Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:56:21 PST [Christmas Art Exchange] - Run by :deviconpineapple-koji: and I'm taking part in it. She asked me to put a link in my journal to let other people know, so if you're interested, leave a note at her journal.

---------------

Just to let you know, I apologize if I haven't answered your comments yet, but I've been really busy with school and everything else going on. Hopefully after finals week, things will settle down and get back to normal again. Looking on the bright side, in two weeks from now, I'll be at home.

I know I probably owe some of you guys artwork (namely calligraphy) and I wanted to let you know I'll get that done sometime soon. And I've been working on Christmas presents for people. Hopefully those will get done before Christmas, but who knows?

Sadly, however, I did not have the opportunity to complete NaNo this year. Maybe once things settle down, I'll have to get back to torturing Michael, Hideaki and the rest of the crew.

And contrary to what *cough*some*cough* people think, I do have enough common sense to do what I need to do. You know who you are if this comment applies to you. 'Nuff said.

I miss you guys and hopefully you're staying safe - and warm - this winter.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15705836/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15705836/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:47:48 PST -----
[Christmas Art Exchange] - Run by ~Pineapple-Koji and I'm taking part in it. She asked me to put a link in my journal to let other people know, so if you're interested, leave a note at her journal.

------------------------------------
TAGGED:

1. Must answer all questions.
2. Be honest.
3. Tag 6 other people.

NAME: Elizabeth

BIRTHDAY: January

BIRTHPLACE: California

CURRENT LOCATION: Washington State

EYE COLOR: Olive green-hazel-yellow with a little bit of grey and blue mixed in. Basically, as my younger brother put it "tye-dye".

HAIR COLOR: Dark brown, NOT black!

HEIGHT: Somewhere between five and five and a half feet... not really sure exactly.

L/R HANDED: Literally both. There's only a few things I can't do equally well with both hands.

THE SHOES YOU WORE TODAY: I'm currently wearing my boots... the pair that I got last year.

YOUR WEAKNESS: I'm really not a people-person and I spend too much time holed up in the science lab.

YOUR PERFECT PIZZA: If I must... vegetarian pizza with sauce, no cheese and vegetables!

GOAL TO ACHIEVE THIS YEAR: Resist the urge to see the light and turn over to the dark side. (AKA become a physics major)

YOUR MOST OVERUSED PHRASE ON AN INSTANT MESSENGER: *raises eyebrow* or M'kay (like okay... sort of) or alrighty then...

YOUR BEDTIME: After nine and before two in the morning. It depends on what's going on the next day.

YOUR MOST MISSED MEMORY: Playing outside with my sisters in the afternoons of summer...

PEPSI OR COKE: Neither, but if I had to choose, Pepsi.

McDONALDS OR BURGERKING: McDonalds

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: I have never been on a date and nor do I intend to go on one.

LIPTON ICE TEA OR NESTEA: eww... *shudders*

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA: If I'm having it with something else, usually vanilla. If I'm having it plain, chocolate. I like both, though.

CAPPUCCINO OR COFFEE: Clearly, when choosing between two evils, we should choose the lesser of the two, so coffee. (A little Aristotle for you guys there!)

DO YOU SMOKE: No. The only time I'm around smoke is when something catches fire in the lab or the kitchen.

DO YOU SWEAR: I usually don't. My language is pretty mild. I have been known to say "What the heck" and "You idiot!" before, but that would hardly constitute swearing. In fact, when I write, I don't include swear words, even if the character was meant to swear.

DO YOU SING: Sometimes.

DO YOU SHOWER DAILY: Not daily.

HAVE YOU BEEN IN LOVE: Love (in the romantic sense) is overrated.

DO YOU WANT TO GO TO COLLEGE: That's where I am right now and hopefully I'll graduate on-time...

DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED: Perhaps.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: *raises eyebrow* Do I believe that I exist? Certainly.

DO YOU GET MOTION SICKNESS: Not super easily, but I'm not completely resistant, either. I can read in the car (without feeling sick) when we're driving on a mountain pass, so I guess that's pretty good.

ARE YOU A HEALTH FREAK: Not too much. I tend not to eat or sleep enough, but I don't get sick that easily.

DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS: When I'm inside and don't have to go out, yes.

DO YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT: Hoorah for the recorder!

In the past month have you

1. DRUNK ALCHOHOL: Never.
2. SMOKED: Nope.
3. BEEN ON DRUGS: Only prescription for allergy medicine.
4. GONE TO A MALL: Nope, but I went to the shopping center that's a short walk from campus.
5. EATEN A BOX OF OREOS: No.
6. EATEN SUSHI: I did a little over a month ago when my parents were visiting.
7. BEEN ON STAGE: No, but I've given short talks to the lab students during the lab period I TA. It's only a few minutes ever though... mostly just adding onto whatever the prof may have glossed over.
8. BEEN DUMPED: No. I don't date.

DO YOU WORK: Yes, I work between 10 and 15 hours per week in the chemistry lab at school.

IN A BOY/GIRL:
FAVORITE EYE COLOR: Just as long as they aren't red or yellow or something really freaky...
FAVORITE HAIR COLOR: Preferably dark, but whatever.
SHO... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15640220/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15640220/ Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:04:14 PST [Christmas Art Exchange] - Run by ~Pineapple-Koji and I'm taking part in it. She asked me to put a link in my journal to let other people know, so if you're interested, leave a note at her journal.

---------------

So here's my list of stuff...

So, for my fictional characters… physical descriptions…

Sharpe:
* looks a little like Sarek (Star Trek) when he’s younger, but has a thinner face (imagine stretching it up and down).
* one of his eyebrows is supposed to be flat while the other one arches.
* thin lips and a dominant nose.
* very dark hair (almost black) and dark grey eyes.
* skin color like the darker of the two hands in the “Hold My Hand” piece.
* deep set eyes
* he’s pretty tall (about six feet or so).
* usually dresses in a button-up shirt, doesn’t wear a tie, sometimes wears a lab coat that doesn’t quite reach down to his knees. He also wears long pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

Ashiaro:
His picture is up around devART a little bit. [Here] is a picture that I drew of him. He’s the darker haired one. [Here] is a picture that ~rika195 drew of him.
As for specific coloring, his skin has a grayish tint to it and his eyes are very, very green. He does a lot of fighting and he uses two swords or sometimes a staff.

Michael:
He actually has lots of pictures of him up around devART…
One that I drew. He’s wearing the green.
When he was younger… he doesn’t have his glasses yet.
Him lying on the sidewalk after being knocked out
One that Tonio drew of him. He’s in the green turtleneck.
Another one drawn by Tonio. He’s the only guy.

Or if you really don’t want to draw one of those people, you can draw me a picture of Glorfindel (from LotR) or Spock (Star Trek). Or of penguins or maybe a manta ray. I like those too…

And unless you know my fictional characters really well, please don't try and write them. Especially Sharpe.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15617038/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15617038/ Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:18:46 PST
-------------------

Updates:

Firstly, I cannot wait until January. We found out what classes we're taking and I'm taking an upper division biology class, which should be both a heck of a lot of work and a lot of fun at the same time. It's from the same professor who I had for microbial last year and he's good, even if his tests are difficult.

Secondly, I haven't gotten much art uploaded because I just haven't had a lot of time. I've been trying to write, but it hasn't been working so well. Except the piece I've been writing with ~rika195, which is going to get interesting pretty soon.

-------------------

[Christmas Art Exchange] - Run by ~Pineapple-Koji and I'm taking part in it. She asked me to put a link in my journal to let other people know, so if you're interested, leave a note at her journal.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15456868/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15456868/ Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:18:30 PST
Maybe I'll look on the bright side. At least I'm not sick this weekend (like last weekend - that was horrible!) and I don't have much homework to do. So maybe I'll get some calligraphy done, which I haven't worked on in a long, long while... sheesh, I wonder if I still even know how to do it!

----------------------------
I think I've done this one before... but I can't remember where I put the answers.

1. choose a few of your own characters. Five at the most.
2. make them answer the following questions.
3. then tag three people.
4. feel free to go ahead and add some questions yourself!!

OCs :
-Michael Liu
-Hideaki Sato
-Cassandra Liu
-Mr. Sharpe

How old are you?
Michael: *raises eyebrow* How old do I look?
Hideaki: Eightteen... well, nineteen next September.
Cassandra: Fourteen next October!
Mr. Sharpe: That is none of your business to know. (Author: He's thirty-eight.)

What's your height?
Michael: Umm... I'm kind of short. A hundred and sixty-three centimeters. You do the conversion.
Hideaki: *shakes head at Michael* Five four.
Cassandra: I'm only five feet tall right now, but Mom says I'm not done growing yet.
Mr. Sharpe: Last I measured, between six feet and two meters.

Are you a virgin?
Michael: *awkward silence* Are you sure this question is PG-appropriate?
Hideaki: *rolls eyes and jerks thumb at Michael* I'll answer for him. Yes. And yes.
Cassandra: I'm only thirteen...
Sharpe: *sends the glare of death* (Author: That's a yes.)

Who's your mate/spouse?
Michael: Umm... well... it's a... long story...
Hideaki: *groans* Yeah, Michael's in love with Sam. Everyone knows that!
Michael: *glares at Hideaki*
Cassandra: I'm still too young.
Sharpe: Again, that is none of your business. What I do with my life is my business and my business alone.

Do you have any kids?
Hideaki: Well, I'll answer for Michael - since it's obvious he doesn't want to answer these stupid questions - and Cassandra and myself. No.
Sharpe: It has already been implied that I have neither a mate nor a spouse and since two humans are required for reproduction, then the answer to this question should be obvious.
Random Character 1: No it shouldn't!
Sharpe: *sends the glare of death*
*Random Character 1 drops to the floor, out cold*
Author: *calls interference and issues Sharpe a stern warning*

What's your favourite food?
Michael: None of it. I don't like food and I only eat what is necessary.
Hideaki (muttering): Yeah, which implies NOTHING!!!
Michael: *raises hand to initiate a physical fight*
Hideaki: *hands raise in placating gesture* Hey, hey, sidh. Take it easy there...
Cassandra: Well, since they're busy arguing, I like lots of foods, especially foods that I help Mom make.
Sharpe: Habanero peppers. Plain.
Author (confidential to readers): He's lying. His favorite food is anything but Italian.

What's your favourite ice cream flavor?
Cassandra: Well, I'm allergic, but I like sorbet. And popsicles.
Michael: I don't like ice cream.
Hideaki: Well, I like ice cream! Especially chocolate. And vanilla. And coffee.
Sharpe: *glares at Hideaki* And someone ate all of my ice cream.

Have you killed anyone?
Cassandra: Talia said that we aren't supposed to kill anyone. That's called murder.
(Author: Talia = Natalia Johnson, who is one of the youth group leaders.)
Hideaki: Nope.
Michael (fuming): No, but sometimes I wish I had!
Sharpe: Sidh. *glares at Michael for a moment*

Do you hate anyone?
Cassandra: We aren't supposed to hate, but there are lots of people who I don't like. Like Olivia 'cause she's a show-off. And Bobby 'cause he's mean.
Hideaki: I hate things that people do, but I don't think I hate anyone.
Michael: Yes. I hate Katie.
Author (confidential to readers): Amongst other people...
Sharpe: Yes, but it's none of your business. Anyone who doesn't hate anyone else, besides for Cassandra and other people so young, is probably lying.

Have any secrets?
Cassandra: *giggles* Elizabeth told me one this morning! And she said I can't tell anyone.
Hideaki: Yeah, a few. Most people know most things about me and, besides, it's hard to keep a secret with him *jerks thumb at Michael* around.
Michael (in a sa... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15309680/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15309680/ Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:00:05 PDT [Oh, that way madness lies, let me shun it!] - Otherwise fondly known as the link to my new writing journal. You can see how I'm doing with NaNo there.

I think I've gone crazy. I want to do NaNoWriMo (or at least make an attempt at it) this year, despite my class load. I know I won't be able to do it next year (hoorah for upper division physics classes!), but this year... this year at least I have a chance at making something, even if it's not the 50K mark that most people aim for.

To make it easier on myself, I'll probably end up doing first person narration through the eyes of one of my characters that I know pretty well. Likely the chosen character will be Michael and other known (and probably unknown) characters will make appearances. Maybe I'll write the piece I had started (okay, I wrote about two pages) in first person and continue on. I don't know how it will work later, but maybe I'll alternate narrators a little bit. It'll depend, I suppose, with how far into the plot line I get with the word count.

Only a little more than an hour to decide! Aaugh!!!!!!! So if I decide to do NaNo, please don't expect much (if any) artwork or calligraphy to be updated until sometime in the latter half of December.

------

In other news, classes are going pretty well. Physics is finally getting more interesting, though I really enjoy applied physics more. It just makes more sense when you can apply it to something that you're familiar with instead of some esoteric scenario about people jumping out of trees into a wagon that's going to fall off a cliff.

My class schedule for next semester (what I have of it, anyways) looks pretty good. Except for the whole calculus thing, but there's not much I can do about that. And January term is going to be a lot of fun. Hoorah for probably being the only chemistry/physics student in an upper division bio course! It'll be a heck of a lot of work, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

Sigh. And such is life.

QotD (Quote of the Day):
"bellum autem ita suscipiatur ut nihil aliud nisi pax quasita videatur." - Cicero
Translated: Let war be taken up in such a way that nothing other than peace seems to be soft.
(In other words, wage wars that are justified.)

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15134553/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/15134553/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:04:20 PDT And yet, somehow, I’m managing to take more upon myself, but this is through my own wants and desires. I’m doing a calligraphy project for a friend of mine, which included an English to Latin translation… between idioms and using the future tense (we’ve only learned the regular present tense in Latin), it was kind of difficult, but I think I kept the quote (or at least the meaning of it) intact. Once I put it up, I’ll probably be doing a reward for the first person who messages me with who the quote is by and what it’s saying. Or something like that. At least the translation and the calligraphy are done… now all I have to do is the versal letter, illuminations and the layout, as well as the final draft. And it’s the illuminations that take the most time, so hopefully that’ll go smoothly. Yeah right…

I’m also really happy because our physics professor terminated our group projects so we won’t have any more of them to deal with. I don’t mind group projects in upper division (or at least second-year) classes because then people are usually more dedicated and at least have a vague idea of what’s going on. Not so in entry-level physics for science and math majors. But with those kinds of group projects, one or two people end up doing all the work and everyone gets the same grade, which really isn’t fair.
And I may regret saying this, but if I get nearly as good of a grade as I got on the last exam, I think I may go to our professor and ask him what I can do to make it more challenging, except for “do problems with nastier numbers”, which is just plain annoying, not really more challenging. But really, I rarely get cocky, except for a good reason and even then, it’s pretty rare.


Apart from being holed up in the science lab recently, I’ve been having a pretty interesting time and I’ve realized that the professors here at school usually do really know what they’re talking about (except if you ask a physicist how to interpret the NMR spectra!) and they’re really cool people.
If I may digress for a moment… upon coming up to school, I was a little concerned about the idea of getting to know your professors. Even though I go to a small school, my high school was even smaller and I got to know several of the teachers fairly well (and there were a few who I had for two or three years). Here, it’s a little different because you get to know your advisor pretty well, as well as some of your other profs and most of them are within the department (well, using the “science department” as an all-exclusive for biology, chemistry and physics!).
It’s really cool, actually, and I’ve discovered that you really do get to know the other professors and that usually they’re open to helping you with questions, even if you don’t have a class from them. Or if you’re asking a physics prof a question about calculus… okay, I’ll admit that was because it was 7:30 AM on the day the assignment was due and Dr. K was the only prof I could find anywhere in the science building. And I figured that he would be able to help a heck of a lot better than an English prof would be able to… considering that it was calculus and all that…

Okay, back to what I was originally saying here… if I don’t reply to comments or journal entries, it’s not because I don’t care. It’s more likely because I’m being held captive in the science lab trying to finish some project or something like that.

And, before I forget, happy birthday to !!!!!!! I miss you so much and your birthday present is probably going to be late.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14955185/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14955185/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:03:18 PDT ellethana. For my sake, since about 75-80% of my music is classical and named by the composer of the piece, I selected the non-classical pieces. Most of my classical songs have COMPOSERNAME_randomnumber as names, so yeah...


1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, ETC on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say:
"In the End" (Linkin Park)
[The end justifies the means???]

How would you describe yourself?
"The Middle" (Jimmy Eat World)
[Yeah, I'm in the middle of the insanity and caught up in the science lab...]

What do you like in a guy/girl?
"Angel in My Heart" (Jump5)
[I love this song...]

How do you feel today?
"I'm Just a Kid" (Simple Plan)
[Yet another good song]

What is your life's purpose?
"Friends" (Michael W. Smith)

What is your motto?
"Gibberish" (Relient K)
[*cough*Toni*cough*]

What do your friends think of you?
"Going Crazy" (PlusOne)
[Well, right now.... *rolls eyes*]

What do you think of your parents?
"Reflection" (Mulan)

What do you think about very often?
"Good Riddance" (GreenDay)

What is 2 + 2?
"Fireproof!!!!" (Pillar)
[Love this song! And it makes an interesting answer... but I thougth tht 2+2=4... or 5, depending on if you lived in the world of Orwell's 1984...]

What do you think of your best friend?
"Welcome to My Life" (Simple Plan)

What do you think of the person you like?
"Reach" (Gloria Estefan)

What is your life story?
"Masquerade" (Phantom of the Opera soundtrack!)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Kick Me" (Plus One)

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
"Meant to Live" (Switchfoot)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
"Unwritten" (Natasha Bedingfield)
[This song was actually sung at our high school graduation.]

What will they play at your funeral?
"When You Believe" (Prince of Egypt)

What is your hobby/interest?
"All I Ask of You" (Phantom of the Opera soundtrack!)

What is your biggest fear?
"Remember Me" (Mark Schultz)

What is your biggest secret?
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Green Day)
[More like what I utter when I'm really annoyed with something/someone...]

What do you think of your friends?
"Make a Man" (Mulan)
[Long story...]

What will you post this as?
"The Reason" (Hoobstank)

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14946741/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14946741/ Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:29:07 PDT

I've also been doing a little calligraphy and a little bit of writing, though it hasn't been enough to put anything up recently. Sorry about that, but school has been crazy for the past few weeks. I am working on a piece [here], with the lyrics of a PlusOne song. But I still have probably about an hour's worth of work left on that project, so hopefully it'll be up in the next couple of weeks.

--------------

A Survey, tagged by ~Tay-nith.

If I were a month, I would be: September

If I were a day of the week, I would be: Thursday

If I were a time of day, I would be: middle of the night

If I were a planet, I would be: Mercury because it's awesome!

If I were a sea animal, I would be: Manta Ray because they aren't harmful but they don't like to be around people.

If I were a direction, I would be: south or southwest

If I were a piece of furniture I would be: a hand-made and one of a kind table designed and made from three or four different types of wood

If I were a country, I would be: England. I've always wanted to go there and their history is so much richer than ours.

If I were a historical figure I would be: I don't think I'd be content being a historical figure, but it'd be interesting to be Marie Curie or Albert Einstein for a few weeks to see how they lived. Same thing with Leonardo daVinci. That would be... fascinating.

If I were a liquid, I would be: Mercury!!! It's toxic!!! Or concentrated ammonium hydroxide. Or something else like that.

If I were a stone, I would be: Garnet. Dark red and dark blue are two of my favorite colors.

If I were a tree, I would be: Quickbeam!!! No, wait, techically he's not a tree...

If I were a bird, I would be: a hawk or falcon

If I were a tool, I would be: a small pocketknife. They're useful.

If I were a flower/plant, I would be: Artificial.

If I were a kind of weather, I would be: Either hot and dry (think Arizona during the summer) or cool, overcast and grey.

If I were a mythical creature, I would be: either a griffin (half-eagle and half-dog) or a chimera, which is kind of a hybrid of several different animals.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be: an alto recorder. They're lower than the ones that sound horrible and when played right, a recorder (kind of like a flute of sorts) can sound really nice.

If I were an animal, I would be: probably a cat. I can do pretty cool things, but I can also be lazy a lot of the time.

If I were a colour, I would be: very dark blue or very dark red, almost to the point of being black.

If I were an emotion, I would be: cynical annoyance

If I were a vegetable, I would be: a cacao bean

If I were a sound, I would be: fire crackling softly

If I were an element, I would be: that's a hard one... probably phosphorous.

If I were a car, I would be: a secret-agent car that is disguised to look like a regular family mini-van.

If I were a song, I would be: "Calling Down an Angel" by PlusOne

If I were a movie, I would be: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: EE

If I were a book, I would be written by: either myself or Tiana or Gwen... or CS Lewis.

If I were a food, I would be: dark chocolate with a high concentration of cacao

If I were a place, I would be: the chemistry lab... sad, huh...

If I were a taste, I would be: spicy enough to burn your poor tongue off.

If I were a scent, I would be: ammonium hydroxide... or concentrated ethanoic acid.

If I were a religion, I would be: Christianity

If I were a word, I would be: Unique
... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14764062/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14764062/ Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:08:00 PDT
In other news, we have a karate seminar next week. Sensei Clark (or is it Clarke?) is coming in, so that should be fun. And a lot of work, so I’ll have to do my homework and stuff on Friday night or Sunday afternoon. As if that’s any different than normal, but whatever. And I also figured out that it’s not a good idea to go to class after taking allergy medicine. Even if it is non-drowsy. *rolls eyes*

Latin is such an awesome class! Even though I’m probably going to end up getting verb conjugations confused with Spanish (they’re similar, but also very different), it’s probably my favorite class right now. Either that or analytical chemistry. Except for the fact that I hate the quadratic formula. To look on the bright side of things, at least I have it memorized. As if anyone could forget it after that song!!!

Aside from school stuff (and being in the lab about fifteen hours per week), I’m working on writing what I hope will eventually be a novel. Yeah, a little early for NaNoWriMo, I know, but I don’t think I’m doing that this year, unfortunately. Between classes, labs and research (and trying to maintain at least a little sanity), I won’t have enough time to do anything that big. So I’m writing a novel in my spare time instead.

Nevertheless, I should really have a goal in mind (otherwise I’ll spend all my time re-watching Pride and Prejudice on my computer DVD drive over and over again instead of writing), and my goal is 50 thousand words by the end of the year. It may have to be re-adjusted when things get closer, but I think it’s a good goal to shoot for and I think I’ll still be able to do it (provided I don’t get serious writer’s block) and keep up with my schoolwork and other stuff. But that’s my goal, and hopefully I’ll achieve it… or at least come close.

This particular piece will be interesting because I’m introducing fairly new characters, such as Hideaki Sato, Johannah Liu, Mark Roberts, Tem (eventually I’ll do a character survey on her, just because she’s so… weird…, Bianca (her sister), Shane MacDonald… and I’m also writing characters who aren’t extremely developed, like Kyle Wilson, Laura Clarkson and probably at least a few others. Just for information, Tem is Hideaki’s long-time best friend. Johannah Liu is Michael’s aunt (Jonathan’s younger sister). Shane is the RA in the dorm that Michael and Hideaki are in. Kyle Wilson is Marie’s older brother and Shane’s roommate. Laura Clarkson is the biology teacher (and the thorn in Sharpe’s side). Mark Roberts is her significant other. Also, Michael and Mr. Sharpe are going to be in the story, too. I don’t think Scott and Sam (Adams) are going to be in it much, seeing as how they’re in New York visiting their cousin, Nate, for a good portion of the summer.

Other than that, all I’m really going to say is that I have a very evil plan up my sleeves (which happen to be short right now, but whatev) that probably none of my characters will end up liking. Especially Michael and Hideaki, but that’s their problem and not mine. And Sharpe nearly invokes the silent treatment on Laura Clarkson, but since when did that surprise anyone? And I hope none of my characters will end up dead by the end of this, but you never know, eh?

No, I couldn’t kill any of my characters without a good purpose to said character’s death. I killed Ashiaro’s older sister, both of his parents, Tem and Bianca’s mom and a couple of other select characters, but that’s it. Oh, and Sharpe’s parents and his older brother, Mike. Yeah… I’m so mean to him… and to Ashiaro. It’s also unknown whether Mrs. Wilson (Kyle and Marie’s mom) is alive at the time of the stories. I doubt I could really kill any of my other characters without serious repercussions.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14651089/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14651089/ Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:35:42 PDT
Analytical chem is going fairly well and I'm enjoying acid-base (how many times has that been?) and equilibrium just as much as I always have. Lab is going to be fun because we're basically doing three major projects in groups of four. But we were allowed to pick our groups, so all is well.

Biochemistry... oi, why am I even taking that class? No really... I should be a p-chem student. I mean, it's interesting stuff, but I hope I can manage through that class relatively unscathed.

Physics is physics and shall always be physics. It's a heck of a lot easier the second time around, but that doesn't mean I like it any more than I did the first time. We have a good prof, even if he does go a bit slower than I would like. (We also have lots of biology majors in our class, so that should be interesting...)

No, I'm just not looking forward to next year when I heard that the chem students have to take thermo and quantem from the physics department. Not only are those courses very math intensive (I'll be finishing up calc 3 in the fall, probably), but they are also harder coming from the physics department rather than the chem department.

Latin, as always, is a lot of fun. Not that I enjoy languages (I really don't) but the grammar makes sense. It's logical and follows a set of rules and regulations and there are few exceptions (unlike English!!!) to those rules.

But because I'm taking 16 credits, have five labs (two of my own and I'm working three) and might possibly be doing some semi-independent research for another professor, I haven't had much time to get artwork up or even do all that much artwork.

So if you wonder what's happened to me (like if I don't return messages - not that I'm good about that anyways!), that's what I've been up to and what I will be doing for quite some time.

In what little spare time I have, I'm working on writing a piece with Michael and Hideaki when they are roommates in college. So that is bound to be interesting... Hideaki has a much better memory than Michael does (Michael's forced himself to forget a lot of what happened to him when he was pretty young) and seeing how a psychology student and a pre-med/chemistry student with an intertwined past (though not what either thinks at first) work as roommates will be quite interesting, if nothing else.


----------

As both these characters are fairly new and haven’t been developed yet, here’s just a little bit about them. I’m looking forward to getting around to (and being able to!) write things with both Hideaki and Shane in the storyline, although the latter is going to be a minor character.

General
1. What is the name of your original character?
Hideaki Sato

2. What Gender?
Male

3. Age?
He’s about eighteen or nineteen, depending on what story he’s in.

4. Race?
Judging purely from his name, he is Japanese. Well, that is only half true; he’s also half Chinese.

5. Where does he live?
Until after his eleventh grade year, he lives just outside of San Francisco, California. For his senior year of high school, he lives near Seattle. When he’s actually in the story as a character, he is going to university in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

6. When did you first create this character?
He was first created in summer of 2007.

7. What does he do/what is his job?
He is a student in college (or university), considering either psychology or sociology with the hopes of working with people.

Appearance
1. What does his hair look like?
Since he is Asian, his hair is dark (almost black), straight and kept neatly. He almost always wears a bandana (usually either purple or orange).

2. What color eyes?
He has dark brown eyes.

3. Is your character considered normal in his own world?
He’s considered fairly normal. He’s not in the majority on most things, but it would be a far stretch to say he isn’t normal.

4. What is his body type, height, etc?
He is five feet, four inches, well-built (though a tad thin). He looks Asian and he has fairly medium skin (he does go out in the sun a lot during the summer).

5. Would you consider your character as attractive?
As much as I hate to admit it, yes I would.

Personality
1. What are some of his more attractive personality traits?
He tends to be forgiving and tries to understand others. He knows when to say something to comfort another person and when to keep quiet and even if he do... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14524110/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14524110/ Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:38:37 PDT
Although we don’t start labs until next week (the joys of being a science major...), our first day of classes was yesterday. I’m taking sixteen credits, which is quite a load, considering that two of my classes are upper division.

Latin: This should be an interesting class. We already did a simple translation for homework. It’s different because a literal word-for-word translation would leave the words in a very mixed up order, kind of like Shakespeare, only worse. But Latin is really cool – it’s a lot like Spanish, only not really. Some of the pronunciation is different, but if I’m not mistaken, it’s almost exactly like Sindarin Elvish.
I’m excited about Latin because hopefully by the end of the year, I will be able to take a block of English text, translate it into Latin (with the help of my dictionary, of course!) and then put what I’ve translated into calligraphy. Of course, I’d have to make sure I translated correctly before I wrote it all nicely and all that…

Analytical Chem: Yeah. Not sure what to say… we spent our first day covering sig figs (significant figures, for you non-science students out there!). You’d think that after getting nagged constantly by my high school chemistry and physics teachers, I’d learn to pay attention to stuff like that, but we’ll see… Actually, except for the part on electrochemistry, it should be pretty good. It’s basically second semester of general chemistry, only a heck of a lot more in depth.

Biochem: The only class that I’m really cringing about. Organic chem (surprisingly enough) was pretty easy, so hopefully biochem won’t be all that bad. But my advisor is my professor for that class and most of my chemistry friends are in there.

Physics: And everyone lets out a loud groan. Okay, it’s not that bad. First day was really easy… almost too easy. Since it’s first semester, it’s just Newtonian physics, basically, stuff that I’ve already seen and done before. Except that now, it’s “calculus based”. Well, there’s about one thing from calculus we need to know: how to take the simple derivatives. In other words, stuff that I learned while I was learning how to balance chemical equations for the first time. But I remember a lot of what we covered in the high school physics class I took (even though that was the hardest class I’ve ever taken!!!), so I’ll just need to let it come back to me through a little review. And having a slightly easier class isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I’m also taking karate again, which should be fun, but maybe I’ll talk about that more later. That’s one of my fun classes… well, that and Latin.

-------

In other news, life is going fairly well. I’ve found that it’s very different not having a roommate (after having one for as long as I can remember...), but it’s nice living in a small dorm (about 20 people total). I kind of like having my own space so that I can get my homework and stuff done without distractions (I tend to get distracted when there are other people around) and – oddly enough – I think it’s forced me to become more social. Either that or only sort of knowing one person in my dorm…
Tonio – I miss having you around to give me a hard time and I miss you lots.

I’m also happy because a friend of mine (we’ve been friends for years) asked me if I did commissioned calligraphy pieces and what I charged for them. I told her that I could do commissions (everything I’ve done for other people have either been gifts or trades or simple things that don’t take more than half an hour, so I’ve never charged anyone), but I’d have to think about what to charge. I know that there’s the cost of materials and time involved.

With “regular” artwork (ie, drawings or paintings), I think it would be easier to decide on flat commission prices. One character costs ___ much, two cost ___ much. Background is extra. Coloring is extra and everything is pretty much a set cost. And a lot of artists who do commissions like that – at least the ones I’ve seen around here – have a very set style of drawing they use. In calligraphy, it’s a little more varied than that. I know seven distinct calligraphic alphabets. At least three are to the point (and nice enough) that I... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14232858/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14232858/ Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:35:49 PDT
I would really appreciate your help with an art project I have in mind. It's a calligraphy piece for the 100 Themes Meme. What I need is anyone who knows another language (other than English and Spanish, both of which I've got under control) who would be willing to write down (or type) the word in that language for "words" and send it to me (either here, or PM me if you'd rather do it via e-mail).

What I'd like to do is get around 10 different languages, other than English, with the word "words" in the language and what language it is written in. For languages that don't use the same alphabet as English (ie, Russian or Japanese) or have special characters (ie, Chinese), I would prefer to have it written in the style of writing for that language.

I'm not sure if this makes sense or not, but I would really appreciate your help. I would credit the help in the deviation, of course!

Thanks in advance,
elhalfling

----------------------
100 Themes: Ones I've Completed

1. Introduction [Here]
2. Love [Here]
11. Memory [Here]
15. Silence [Here]
18. Rainbow [Here]
19. Gray [Here]
20. Fortitude [Here]
21. Vacation [Here]
26. Tears [Here]
28. Sorrow [Here]
32. Night [Here]
35. Hold My Hand [Here]
36. Precious Treasure [Here]
41. Teamwork [Here]
42. Standing Still [Here]
48. Childhood [Here]
49. Stripes [Here]
54. Tower [Here]
60. Rejection [Here]
61. Fairy Tale [Here]
64. Multitasking [Here]
72. Mischief Managed [Here]
74. Are You Challenging Me? [Here]
84. Out Cold [Here]
86. Seeing Red [Here]
88. Pain [Here]
90. Triangle [Here]
91. Drowning [Here]
96. In the Storm [Here]
99. Loner [Here]

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14140708/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/14140708/ Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:17:48 PDT rika195 and she challenged me to come up with eight random facts about myself. Trust me, they are a bit random...

1. I am a fan of a certain blonde elf.
2. I have a stuffed chondryicthes, a manta ray to be more precise. His name is Spock.
3. I'm ambidextrous and have actually switched which hand I am writing with during a test. That was physics (thermo?), if I remember correctly. I may have done that more than once...
4. Depending on my mood (and what I'm wearing), my eyes change colors.
5. I enjoy staying up late and writing because that's when I can connect to my characters best.
6. When I was in elementary school, my favorite subject was math. Now it's science (applied math, really...).
7. I tell people apart by the sound of a person's voice and I can picture people's voices in my mind if I'm thinking about the person.
8. I really enjoy learning about infectious diseases and toxic chemicals and plants. Oftentimes, you can find me in the science library reading through the toxicity and MSDS stuff.

So... tagging people (forgot about that the first time around):

During a break from spending time in the science lab or at the pool volunteering as a lifeguard, ElHalfling flips open her communicator...

- Goldie is sitting by her computer after getting home from school. She's tired, but wants to see if any of her devART friends posted anything new. Suddenly, there's a message that flashes across her screen saying "You've been tagged by the pointy-eared Elvish halfling!!!"

- He's on his way home from work and recieves a text message on his cell phone. "Tag! You're it!" it reads. Puzzled, he decides to call the sender and bother her about what this is all about.

- She just got home from a friend's house where she's been writing and working on character development for a story all day. Her brother runs up to her and puts a sticky note on her forehead, saying she's been tagged and to check out ElHalfling's latest journal.

- He just logged off from instant messaging with a friend and comes onto deviantART to upload a picture of a cartoon character. There is a message waiting in his inbox that says "You have been tagged and have 2300 hours to report to duty."

- She has just finished an art trade and logs onto devART to post it. She finds that a strange deviant is now watching her and that this person has tagged her in a journal entry. Hmm...

Alrighty, then. I think that is all the people who I want to tag. ElHalfling closes her communicator, slips it into her belt and walks off towards the science lab where she is reporting for duty.

-------

As a side note, life has been going fairly well. I can't wait to go back up to school and get into the routine of having class at 8AM until 1PM. And then I'll have afternoons free for working or for homework and stuff. That'll be nice.

I also have a few pieces to scan in and upload (mostly calligraphy, I think), but whenever I've thought about it, someone else is always on the main computer, which is the one connected to the scanner/printer. Oh well, I'll get it up eventually.

Oh, and I'm not stumped at this... I just thought the guy raising his eyebrow was kind of cool. Especially since, as , , http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13907088/ Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:09:14 PDT and I decided I would give it a try for my main character, Michael Liu. In Almendrim (where he's originally from - it's a long story), his name is Kai.

General
1. What is the name of your original character?
Michael Liu (or, in northern Almendrim, Kai).

2. What Gender?
Male

3. Age?
In our world, depending on the story, he is anywhere from about 14 to 19 or so. In Almendrim, Kai is pretty young.

4. Race?
Technically, he is an Annuviel, basically like a winged humanoid, but he appears to be human when he lives in our world.

5. Where does he live?
He lives in a two-story house in a small neighborhood in Silicon Valley, California, USA.

6. When did you first create this character?
When I was in ninth grade, so a little more than five years ago.

7. What does he do/what is his job?
He is currently a high school student who does odd jobs during the summer. When he goes to university, he is a pre-med student.

Appearance
1. What does his hair look like?
His hair is dark brown, straight and hangs into his face a little bit. It’s a little dry and not too thick.

2. What color eyes?
Michael has dark brown eyes. Kai (the Annuviel), his counterpart, has dark blue eyes, as most Annuviels do. As a result, sometimes Michael’s eyes appear almost navy blue when he’s stressed out.

3. Is your character considered normal in his own world?
Not exactly. Michael is painfully introverted and socially phobic. Kai is a little more “normal”. Like most of his species, he is telepathic and he hates it, especially when he’s younger.

4. What is his body type, height, etc?
Michael is a little bit thin and about five feet, four inches. He tends not to eat a lot.

5. Would you consider your character as attractive?
Yes, especially when he’s stressed out, which is part of the reason why he sometimes has a kind of horrible life. A lot of girls at his school think that, too, hence his fan club… or perhaps that’s thanks to ~rika195’s whims…

Personality
1. What are some of his more attractive personality traits?
He is honourable and tries to treat people well, as he is a firm believer in the code of chivalry. He’s fairly level-headed and doesn’t go along because they are popular. He considers several possible outcomes before deciding what to do in a situation. It takes a lot to get him to loose his temper. He’s usually pretty quiet and he is loyal to those he loves. He rarely lies.

2. What are some of his least attractive personality traits?
He is majorly socially phobic! He can also be incredibly sarcastic and pessimistic, if only to himself. If pushed past his tolerance level (and he’s still functioning after that), he can become violent. He isn’t very open to people and tends to ignore his emotions because they hurt both him and others. He also isn’t very forgiving and tends to be a perfectionist.

3. Leader or Follower?
Follower. He prefers to stay out of the spotlight (both literally and figuratively) if at all possible. Although he will sometimes question authority, he rarely disobeys direct orders, unless it goes against what he believes strongly.

4. What are his fears?
He fears people and what his emotions could do when brought to the surface and what might happen if he looses control of himself. He also fears rejection, which nearly causes him to loose the one person he’s loved for his whole life. He is also afraid to fail.

5. What are his strengths?
For the most part, he is incredibly even-tempered. He enjoys logic puzzles and is good at them. He isn’t controlled by the impulse of his emotions and is usually the person to consider all the logistics of a situation before rushing in. He can also tell if other people are telling the truth or not. In certain things, he is able to succeed by sheerly being determined.

History
1. What is his family?
Since Michael is temporarily living in our world, his Earth family includes his dad (Jonathan), mom (Mei-lani), his brother, Andy, and his sisters, Elizabeth, Cassandra and Hannah. In northern Almendrim, Kai has a brother (Ismet), though they don’t ever see each other. Kai considers the centaurs to be part of his family. Later, he and Adriana get married, so she, her twin brother and their parents become part of Kai’s family.

2. Has your character had any injuries or illnesses?
Kai has been poisoned after b... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13760976/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13760976/ Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:43:53 PDT from her journal.

The first fifteen people who reply to this journal and tell me that they want a spot will have me go through their gallery and pick my three favorite deviations, which in turn will be featured in this journal.

The catch is that to qualify, you MUST post a similar journal, this gives us an opportunity to really appreciate and support this lovely artistic global community we've got going on here. Oh, and the pictures aren't ranked in any specific order.

I will be updating later with my favorites as soon as I have time to go through people's galleries.































]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13697216/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13697216/ Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:16:45 PDT
If anyone has sold any of their calligraphy and would be willing to give a suggestion about how much to charge for it, help would be very much appreciated. Feel free to send me a message. Thank you in advance.

------

In other news, things have been going fairly well. In addition to doing calligraphy and working (lifeguarding), I've also been writing. My main piece that I'm working on right now is a story where Scott convinces Michael to ask Samantha to their senior prom. I am also doing a piece that tells what happens during the first day of freshmen year (for these characters) through the eyes of their homeroom teacher, Mr. Sharpe.

Oh, and to the people who have left me comments... I will get back to you soon. Don't worry. Life has just been a little crazy with work and everything.

That's about it for now...
Elizabeth, over and out.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13339981/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13339981/ Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:15:18 PST

So... I'm doing the 100 Themes Meme. Most of it'll probably be doodles and calligraphy pieces, for sure, but I think it'll be something interesting to do over the summer. Firstly, I'll probably see if any of my current deviations will work well for any of the categories and then link to them from here.

In other news, things are going fairly well. I haven't had time to update a lot and get back to people on comments about everything, but I've been working and writing and practicing calligraphy... and trying to teach my sister calligraphy and working on a story challenge a friend of mine gave me.... etc.

The rules:

1) Make 100 pieces each one having a theme listed below. Only one theme per piece!

2) No time limit so have fun!

3) Pieces should be of own artistic ability. You may not edit photos, or break any other rules set out in the DA etiquette policy. Your pieces can be anything from sketches and doodles to great masterpieces. Just have fun with it.

4) The list below is to be placed somewhere in your journal for others to see that...
A)You are in the challenge
B)What you have completed

5) Make sure to update this list with a link to your deviation.


THE LIST:

1. Introduction [Here]
2. Love [Here]
3. Light [Here]
4. Dark
5. Seeking Solace [Here]
6. Break Away
7. Heaven
8. Innocence [Here]
9. Hell
10. Breathe Again
11. Memory [Here]
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
15. Silence [Here]
16. Questioning
17. Blood
18. Rainbow [Here]
19. Gray [Here]
20. Fortitude [Here]
21. Vacation [Here]
22. Mother Nature
23. Crazy
24. No Time
25. Trouble Lurking
26. Tears [Here]
27. Foreign
28. Sorrow [Here]
29. Happiness
30. Under the Rain
31. Flowers
32. Night [Here]
33. Expectations
34. Stars
35. Hold My Hand [Here]
36. Precious Treasure [Here]
37. Eyes
38. Abandoned
39. Dreams
40. Rated
41. Teamwork [Here]
42. Standing Still [Here]
43. Dying
44. Two Roads
45. Illusion
46. Family
47. Creation
48. Childhood [Here]
49. Stripes [Here]
50. Breaking the Rules [Here]
51. Sport
52. Deep in Thought
53. Keeping a Secret
54. Tower [Here]
55. Waiting
56. Danger Ahead
57. Sacrifice
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
60. Rejection [Here]
61. Fairy Tale [Here]
62. Magic
63. Do Not Disturb
64. Multitasking [Here]
65. Horror
66. Traps
67. Playing the Melody
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
72. Mischief Managed [Here]
73. I Can't
74. Are You Challenging Me? [Here]
75. Mirror
76. Broken Pieces
77. Test
78. Drink
79. Starvation
80. Words ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13268635/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/13268635/ Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:48:00 PDT
Work hard at both of my jobs: lifeguarding and (hopefully) helping coach the summer swim team.
Practice calligraphy letters at least twice a week. Get my verticals actually vertical (and straight!) for the gothic lettering and work on consistent slant for italics.
Learn how to use Photoshop and Paint effectively to color pictures on the computer.
Work on my drawing skills, which need desperate help. 'Nuff said.
Finish Othello and read at least one other Shakespeare play.
Do calligraphy quotes for Shakespeare pieces, as well as finish up other quote requests I've had from people.
Perfect my half-uncial, rotunda and italic alphabets.

Umm... yeah... I'm not sure if that's it or not, but whatever. Right now, I'm really not thinking all that much. Such is life.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12845452/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12845452/ Fri, 04 May 2007 21:17:48 PDT
It's almost sad that the school year is coming to a close. I felt this way last year, but that was understandable. We were all graduating, all going our separate ways. Although I've kept in contact with a few people, I know I probably won't see many of the other people again and if I do, it will be under very different circumstances. But I'll see most people here next year, so what's the big deal? Why am I feeling so... nostalgic (for lack of a better word to describe it)? Yes, it is one of the rare times when I'm actually feeling emotional.

I haven't been able to do much calligraphy lately or much writing, which is disappointing. When I have been working on writing, it has been on a new, short piece with Mr. Sharpe and some of my other characters. He's awesome, by the way. I've also been working on a joint story with Toni. However, I recently got a new calligraphy piece up, one I've been working on practically forever... go figure... versal letters for italics are the most annoying thing ever. Seriously.

Anyhow, and life still goes on. No matter whether or not I'm actually taking a part in anything, life still goes on. Things still happen. Springfest is happening tomorrow and I'm not going. Tomorrow will be a nice, relaxing day without people around. Time for me to sit and think. And write and work some on homework, but not spend time with people. There will be plenty of time for that. Right now, I just need some time to contemplate things for awhile...

And life goes on.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12684579/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12684579/ Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:43:54 PDT rika195 (my roommate) challenged me to come up with ten things that I liked that began with the letter X.

Yeah, the hardest letter of the alphabet and it forced me to flip through the exhaustive glossary of all my textbooks that I have access to in order to find what I was looking for. I was going to do "xopllams", which is "smallpox" spelled backwards, but I figured that was cheating and resisted the urge to do so. Here goes...

1. Xenon - Element 54 on the Periodic Table. It is one of the noble gasses and can form bonds (usually two, four or six) with fluorine. Actually, xenon is one of my favorite elements and it always has been.

2. X-Men - Yes, I liked the movies. We watched them in the dorm over Jan term break in a movie marathon. Sadly, my favorite character died. But for those of you who haven't seen it yet, I won't say who my favorite character is!

3. Xerophytes - These are plants that do well in a desert climate, like cacti. Next year, I want to have a cactus in my dorm room. That would be very cool.

4. X-axis - It is a lot better than the y-axis, though much harder and more annoying to try and find intercepts for. Plus, drawing a horizontal line is much more fun than drawing a vertical one that actually doesn't end up being vertical in the end.

5. Xylene - Otherwise known as dimethylbenzene and it can have substitution patterns at ortho (1,2), meta (1,3) and para (1,4) positions. Hoorah for organic chemistry (which is currently taking over my life).

6. Xerogel - A type of gel that has a high surface area (due to having so many pores) and many types of xerogels are used as catalysts in chemical reactions.

7. Xylem - which comes from the Greek for "wood" and it is one of the vascular tissues of plants.

8. Xanthophyll - A yellowish pigment that falls under the category of carotenoid pigments. We did a chemistry lab with it and we were also talking about its application in plant biology.

9. X-rays - These things are pretty cool unless you have to get them yourself. But it's medical technology, so what else can I say?

10. Xerox - Even though I have had my share of problems with a copy machine, they have ended up doing more good for people than harm. And, besides, I needed that tenth thing...

But that's the list. I hope you find it to be amusing. Yes, to answer what you're probably already thinking, chemistry and biology have already taken over my life, so there's nothing more to loose. Except my sanity. No wait, I already lost that the day I decided to be a chemistry major. Or probably before that.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12595543/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12595543/ Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:16:14 PDT
And we can't even get into the NMR room to get the spectra sheets that we print out. So, therefore, we can't do part of the lab that is due. Which is rather unfortunate, but it is life.

Anyhow, since my scanner is working, that means that once I finish something, I should be able to upload it sooner rather than having to wait for a long time until I decide to go into the library and scan it in. Oh, wonderful day! Now if I could only finish my chemistry lab before it's due on Monday... heh heh...

Sometime, when I have the chance, I'll have to scan in some random pictures I have taken. That'll be cool.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12569040/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12569040/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:47:31 PDT
So, next semester (which is in the fall because I'm NOT going to school in the summer!), I am taking analytical chemistry, biochemistry 1, physics 1 and Latin 101. Hoorah for Latin! I've always wanted to take something like either Latin or Greek or some old/dead language that most people don't care too much about anymore. Which is sad. But Latin seems like so much fun. I've had a good background in Spanish (took it throughout high school) and French (I've spent lots of time around people who speak French at least semi-fluently and I've learned to understand a lot of what they say). I also love studying languages and figuring out where words in the English language come from. Many of these words are ultimately derived from Latin (hence similarities with Spanish/French/Italian, etc.) or Greek.

In other news, I've been working a little more on writing and more on calligraphy, in addition to trying to figure out everything with classes and put up with the classes I'm currently taking right now. Heh heh, sometimes that's harder than it seems to be. Let's see here... I hate the way math is taught. Always have and probably always will. I hate using a microscope in biology lab and I get a headache from looking at the little microscopic things for too long (if I can see anything at all!). Hence, much of the reason why I'm not studying biology at a more extensive level, which is disappointing. (I am still going to take at least one more biology course when I'm in school, though, and not counting biochemistry, which is actually a chemistry course.) And, of course, wanting to scream and go crazy because we have two labs due on Monday and another pre-lab assignment that is due on Monday. And some of the product got ruined so we couldn't run the GC/MS on it.

To look on the bright side of things, the weather is getting warmer. And I have some more calligraphy stuff I need to finish up and scan in. That is looking on the bright side of things... Sigh. It's going to be a long weekend...

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12498041/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12498041/ Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:52:48 PDT Tay-nith and used her twist. The annoying thing with the characters I chose is that some of them don't even know each other. Like Michael, Samantha, Scott, Mr. Sharpe, Evan, and Marie are all from present-day America. Quayle, Ashiaro and Kai are from a fantasy land (they all know each other). Danny is a fictional character who fits within the Star Trek universe.

And, secondly, none of the aforementioned characters are gay. So that is mentioned below. Gah, you'll see what I mean when you read it.


First you randomly pick 10 characters, they can be anything I guess.


Characters:
~~~~

1. Kai
2. Michael Liu
3. Samantha Adams
4. Scott Adams
5. Mr. Sharpe
6. Danny Smith
7. Marie Wilson
8. Ashiaro
9. Quayle the Anuviel
10. Evan Saunders

~~~~
Then you answer the questions below by plugging in the person next to the respective number into the question. It's kind of silly...
~~~~

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF...

Number 1 (Kai) woke you up in the middle of the night?
--Likely I wouldn’t be sleeping, but I would ask him what was wrong and look around for Winged Raiders.

Number 2 (Michael) asked you to go out with him?
--Umm… I don’t know. I don’t think he ever would. He’s never really asked a girl out before (well, it’s a long story, but he was convinced by Scott to ask Samantha to the prom)

Number 3 (Samantha) walked into the bathroom while you're showering?
-- Since the showers have curtains, I probably wouldn’t do much of anything. She’s a girl, too, so she’s probably going to take a shower herself.

Number 5 (Mr. Sharpe) cooked you dinner?
-- Probably wonder what I did to deserve that. And thank him. And pray that the food wasn’t poisoned somehow.

Number 6 (Danny Smith) was lying next to you on the beach, sleeping?
--I would wonder if he was on shoreleave, but I wouldn’t wake him up or anything like that.

Number 8 (Ashiaro) got into the hospital somehow?
-- Ashiaro wouldn’t be in the hospital. They don’t have hospitals where he lives. If he was in the healing rooms, however, I’d probably go check up on him, but wait in the corridor to stay out of the way of everyone.

Number 9 (Quayle the Annuviel) made fun of your friends?
--He probably wouldn’t do that. Out of almost all my characters, he’s the most understanding and even-tempered.

Number 10 (Evan) ignored you all the time?
--It sounds like something Evan would do. Or he would make fun of me. Personally, I’d rather have him ignore me, so I wouldn’t do anything. I’d probably just go about my normal business.

~~~~~
WHAT WOULD THEY DO UNDER THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES?

Two serial killers are hunting you down. What will Number 1 (Kai) do?
--Fight them with his quarterstaff and hurt them badly enough so they were almost dead, get someone to heal them and then turn them into the High Council.

You're on a vacation with Number 2 (Michael) and you manage to break your leg. What does Number 2 (Michael) do?
--He would try and radio for help and tell me not to move.

It's your birthday. What will 3 (Samantha) give you?
--Probably a notebook or a book of some sort.

You're stuck in a house that's on fire. What does Number 4 (Scott) do?
--Scott would start screaming and yelling and come up with some crazy plan (that neglects tact and disregards the laws of physics) to get me out. And he would yell at his sister (or Michael) to call the fire department.

You're about to do something that'll make you feel extremely embarrassed. What will Number 5 (Mr. Sharpe) do?
--Assuming he knows ahead of time, he would roll his eyes and go back to whatever work he was doing in the chemistry lab.

You're about to marry Number 10(Evan). What's Number 6's (Danny) reaction?
--Probably not say anything. Danny doesn’t even know Evan! They’re from different worlds. (Well, Danny’s from Star Trek and Evan is from present-day America.)

You got dumped by someone. How will Number 7 (Marie) cheer you up?
--She would offer to spend time doing something fun. And she would give me a hug. And then make tea or coffee or something like that.

You're angry about it afterwards, how does Number 8 (Ashiaro) calm you down?
--Threaten to send me off to the northern wastelands if I don’t calm myself down. And, anyhow, I wouldn’t be in that situation (for one thing, I don’t live in a fantasy land and for another thing, the Elves – like Ashiaro – have parental-supervised courtships).

You compete in some tournament. How does Number 9 (Quayle ) support you?
--Telep... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12285387/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12285387/ Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:52:29 PDT
My calligraphy background is fairly traditional. I started by practicing rows and rows of the simple roman alphabet (for which I made a tutorial for the lowercase letters) and then eventually moved onto more complex alphabets and projects. I've done one very formal manuscript and a few semi-formal pieces (not using parchment paper and the like, but still going through the same process as for the formal manuscript). I have one of the pieces I did hanging in my room right now. That was the first piece that I actually designed my own illuminations and versal letter for, though I adapted an idea out of a book. Like my formal manuscript, it is a piece done in blackletter gothic and it is of the fourth verse of "O Little Town of Bethlehem". I finished it right before Christmas break (and the week before finals last semester). Consequently, this one is Christmas themed with poinsettas as the main theme of the illuminations and such.

Recently, however, I've come to enjoy just doodling calligraphy letters when at lunch or breakfast (if I'm not studying!) and I've been practicing and having fun with drawing letters by hand. This is a little bit different than using a chisel point calligraphy pen to do calligraphy because you can experiment more with the three-dimensional effects that a chisel point gives. My first experimentation piece was of Ephesians 4:26 and it was using different colors and weights of pens (including a yellow highlighter outlined with a black inking pen). That piece was eventually set in a solid black background using MS Paint (which took an unearthly amount of time - literally exponentially as long as the calligraphy itself took!!!). Another experimental piece I did was with slanted blackletter gothic. Needless to say, it didn't work out too wel, partially due to the composition of the alphabet and it being designed to be upright and erect.

After that, I gave up with the whole experimentation idea for awhile, with the exception of using a chancery-based lettering system to put headers on my notes for class (I'll have to scan a page of my class notes in sometime). It wasn't until I decided to set up a website to put my calligraphy and writing stuff up on that I decided to give the whole free-style calligraphy another chance. I created a website banner, combining the chancery hand that I've grown to enjoy using (and, I will admit, a hand that I over-use!) and tengwar runes, based on a version for common tongue (LotR). This piece was a lot of fun to do and it turned out fairly well. The next few pieces I did combined the drawing idea with more traditional calligraphy, like I had in my semi-formal manuscript. I did a couple of pieces (Philippians 4:6-7 and Job 19:25-26) that the calligraphy was traditional and the versal letters were based on an alphabet and drawn by hand. They were a lot of fun to design. Most recently in this style, I completed a script of Romans 4:14-15(a), where the bulk of the calligraphy is traditional, but the versal letter was drawn and designed specifically for this piece.

Another style of calligraphy/typography I do is what I call "free-style". It does not adhere to traditional forms. All of my freestyle calligraphy is hand-drawn and most of it does not require the use of a calligraphy pen (or even a chisel point pen at all). For my Shakespeare/Klingon piece (quote taken from sixth Star Trek movie), I had not originally planned to use a calligraphy pen for the black letters, but it just ended up working that way. In that piece, I am especially proud of the adaptation from the uncial/half-uncial alphabet (think LotR-style calligraphy... very round and simple with a nice elegance) and using that to make something look "Klingon". Overall, this particular piece ended up having an almost Asian look to it (perhaps that is due to the color scheme - red and gold). The two other non-traditional pieces I've done (and actually completed, with the exception of some computer work piecing the latter together) are both short quotes. One is a chemistry quote and the other is a... ]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12172787/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/12172787/ Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:50:00 PDT
Unfortunately being busy with school has meant I haven't had much time to work on anything with calligraphy. Hopefully I'll get around to doing a piece this weekend because I doubt I'll have too much homework (except for a chemistry lab due, but like I said before...)

Speaking of chemistry, I should really go finish my homework... or, rather start my homework... tsk tsk tsk, not the best thing, considering the fact it's due tomorrow! Heh heh

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/11919733/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/11919733/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:28:52 PST
And so, physics seems like a nice option. I never really had much of an impression of biology in high school (that I can recall at the moment), but physics... ah. I enjoy being able to apply the reasoning and the equations in order to get somewhere and find some sort of logical solution to a problem, not just memorize facts and spit them out at the professor when he asks us memorization questions on the quizzes. And then there is the fact that biology terminology and chemistry terminology are slightly different (hydrogen ion instead of hydronium ion for pH, respectively). The latter of the two is more correct.

But I can't wait to take physics next year. I'm actually really looking forward to it, as well as to taking some of the upper division classes later on, specifically optics. It is a difficult subject for me, but fascinating material. Optics and thermo were my two favourite subjects in second semester of high school physics. And math is really cool. Our prof is definately energetic and it is very obvious he loves calculus. He's even writing a calculus book! *shudder*

Karate has been a lot of fun, especially doing two hours instead of just one. I like going to the easier class because I know the basics so that then I can concentrate on the little things, like breathing out when making a technique. But it's not easy to do two hours. Sensei is trying to get someone so that we can possibly test for rank at the end of April and he said that we would probably be ready if we worked really hard. I mean, we already know the kata and the kihon and the kumite (those are a lot of K words!), but it is perfecting everything that needs to be worked on.

In other news, I finished another calligraphy piece, but I have been too lazy and preoccupied with everything else to scan it in. Over the summer, I'll probably be taking requests... just nothing too long/complicated, please. Until I get around to scanning it in, I guess there's not much else to say... other than the fact that it's SNOWING here!

Off to do some stuff before class this afternoon... and tutoring.

]]> ~elhalfling http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/11662782/ http://elhalfling.deviantart.com/journal/11662782/ Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:13:21 PST

Last night, we stayed up until 3 AM doing a movie marathon. Before dinner, we watched the first half-hour of Phantom of the Opera, up until the part when the Phantom takes Christine down underneath the opera house. And then we saw all three X-Men movies. That was interesting (though I must say I enjoyed Star Wars more!).

Because I have so much extra time over break, I'm working on writing some of the stories that I was originally going to do, including one from a Star Trek-based scenario question that Toni (aka rika195) asked me. That is still coming. But it is in the process of getting written... including working out things like ranks for the different OCs, which has proved to be more irksome than it is worth...

Other than that, I cannot wait to go home for the week-long break in March...

]]> ~elhalfling