New Year's Eve Special

Okay, so tonight I'm inviting all the cats in Warriors over to the blog for a New Year's Eve party! Several of them have accepted, and we're planning a wild night! This is gonna be fun!
Yellowfang will speak in bold.
Spottedleaf will speak in italics.
Purdy will speak in underlines.
Jayfeather will speak in blue.
Cinderheart will speak in pale green highlights.
Lionblaze will speak in gold.
Sorreltail will speak in hot pink.
Russetfur will speak in red.
Mousefur will speak in brown.
Blossomfall will speak in green. {Not to be confused with Cinderheart.}
Lilykit will speak in pale purple.
Firestar will speak in pale pink.
Brokenstar will speak in bold dark purple.
Leopardfoot will speak in dark blue italics.
Lionheart will speak in underlined dark red.
Midnight will speak in bold underlined italics.
I will speak in regular font.

Let the party begin!

Happy New Year's Eve! Is everyone here?

I think so.

Hi, Spottedleaf. How've you been?

Fine. Though Clawface was being a jerk the other day...

Why were you talking to him? He's in the Dark Forest, isn't he?

It's a long and gruesome story that I shall not go into in front of Lilykit.

Pig latin.

Fine. So, Iay asway alkingtay otay Irestarfay inay neoway ofay ishay reamsday. Hentay--

Never mind. It would take forever for you to tell a story like that.

Has anyone seen Lionblaze or Cinderheart? They RSVP'd, but they haven't--

Hi everybody!

'Sup, everyone. Hi, Jay.

Hi, Cinderheart! How'd your date with Lionblaze go?

Oh, it was great, Blossomfall! He took me to the nicest restaurant...

Where?

Plumwillow's. It was so romantic...
Hi, Sweetie! Did you enjoy your date?
Oh, it was perfect...

Ooh! Dr. Pepper! Can I have some Mommy? Please?

Of course you can, Sweetheart. It's New Year's Eve.

Speaking of sweets...do you know where Sweetpaw is, Yellowfang?

She wanted to come, but Swiftpaw asked her to the StarClan New Year's Eve dance.

Hiya, young'uns! We brought music!

Oh, hi Purdy, hi Mousefur.

Okay, Trans-Siberian Orchestra or Led Zeppelin?

Um, why don't we do Newsboys instead, Purdy?

Okay. *Starts playing Newsboys at top volumn.*

Turn it down, Purdy! *Music turns down.* Thank you.

Alright, Jayfeather, where's this surprise you promised me?

Relax, Mousefur. I was just about to announce it. Guess what, everybody! *Everyone quiets down* I got to look at the current allegiances for Aurelia's Star Wars/Warriors crossover!

Really? Who was I cast as?

You're Shaak Ti, Russetfur.

How about me?

You're Luminara Unduli.

Great. I got a character with approximately four and a half seconds of screen time.

At least you got that much. Blossomfall is Siri Tachi, and she doesn't get any screen time.

Curse you terrible Star Wars prequels!

I'm posting a link to the planning page so you can all look at it.

Awesome. I want to see who I got.

I don't think you got any roles, Sorreltail.

Go tell it to the Clan Leader, Cindersue!

Who is taking my great and mighty name in vain? And even worse, who is dissing my--What the fox-dung?

Please, Firestar! There is a kit here!

Sorry, Sorreltail. It's just, why the DF am I speaking in pale pink?

Because I was running out of colors. Anyway, it's a nice color. I think it fits you.

Shut up. Anyway, as I was saying--Who is dissing my BFF's apprentice's daughter? *Silence.* Fine! But whoever it is, I will get you eventually! *Randomly disappears.*

Um, Jayfeather? Who's Siri Tachi?

Adi Galli's Padawan. Best friend of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and later Master to Ferus Olin.

Thank you, Mr. Wikipedia.

Shut up, Lionblaze. No one gets the Kane Chronicles reference.

Dang it. I didn't get a part.

Neither did I.

Yet. You didn't get a part yet. Emphasis on the yet.

Well, I got Anakin Skywalker!

And I got Padme Amidala!

Be quiet, all of you. You're going to ruin it for the audience!

We have an audience?

*Extremely awkward silence.*

Well, that put a damper on my evening.

Alright, next on the agenda we have--Name That Medicine Cat! First clue: This medicine cat a complete Sue. First medicine cat of ThunderClan during the Original Arc, she is a is a small, slender, lithe, orange-and-brown, dark  tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with a distinctive dappled coat, small white paws, a white chest, and a white muzzle. One of her eyes is rimmed with darker fur than the other, she has a black tipped, gold-and-brown striped tabby tail, and soft fur. She has a mottled face with a small pink nose, and warm, large, pale, clear amber eyes.

Um--Spottedleaf?

What?! That's the official description of me from the Warriors Wiki Website! Who wrote that card? And I am not a Sue!

Well, that's--weird. Next clue: This medicine cat is a jerky, small, thin, silky, mottled gray tabby tom with blind, brilliant, clear, blue eyes, a short, slender tail, skinny shoulders, strong, lean muscles, and a scar running down one side. He can walk in dreams and is a son of Leafpool.

Jayfeather?

That is so not fair! That's my official description too! And I'm not a jerk!

Uh, actually, Jayfeather, you are a jerk.

Okay, but that's not the point! Where did you get those cards?

I sure as mouse-dung don't know.

Swearing! Really, guys, I'm going to start charging a dollar a swear word if this keeps up!

Sorry. Next clue: This medicine is the jerkiest of them all. She's a totally ugly Persian kittypet with--um, maybe I'd better not read that next part in front of Lilykit. The point is, it's Yellowfang.

Oh, that is it! It's enough to see Spottedleaf and Jayfeather picked on, but me? That's just--just--it! I'm calling StarClan's Complaint Center!

Oh dear.

Mua ha ha ha!

Whoa! What the sprinking crow-food-eating fox-dung? Brokenstar?

Yellowfang, that'll be three dollars.

I made those Name That Medicine Cat cards! They insult every medicine cat in the history of the Clans and there's nothing you can do about it! Mua ha ha ha--*cough, cough*--ha ha ha!

We'll just see about that! *Yellowfang leaps at Brokenstar*

*The following violence is far to graphic to be shown here.*

Well, thanks to you crazy people cats, I think Lilykit is scarred for life now! We're leaving!

Well, since Sorreltail and Lilykit are gone, we'll have to select two random canonical characters. Beam 'em up, Scotty!

You're so unoriginal.

Since when do you watch Star Trek, Aurelia?

I don't. And here come the characters! *Leopardfoot and Lionheart randomly appear.*

Where the mouse-dung am I?

Um, I think we're at that party Aurelia was throwing.

Oh. Well that's cool, I guess. Hi, Spottedpaw!

It's Spottedleaf now, Leopardfoot.

Right, right. Well, what are we doing?

Well, we were playing Name That Medicine Cat, but Brokenstar sort of crashed it. Then Yellowfang beat him up and--say, where is Yellowfang?

*Yellowfang is on the phone in the corner*

Seriously, Adderfang, pick up already! Okay, there we go. Hello? Yes, this is Yellowfang. I'd like to place a complaint about Brokenstar. He's trying to crash Aurelia's New Year's Eve party.

She's being surprisingly calm about this.

Oh yeah? OH YEAH? Well, you can go tell your mangy, crow-food-eating Leader that, you frog-dung-smelling fox-heart!

Never mind.

It's a good thing Mom and Lilykit weren't here.

Well, on that disturbing note, it's time for snacks!

Oh awesome! Coffee!

Lionblaze, don't you dare.

Aw, come on! Why not?

Remember what happened last time?

Oh. Good point.

Yum, pretzels! Delicious!

Raspberry crepes! I love those!

Tortilla chips and hummus! My favorite!

*Firestar randomly appears.* Oh, Meow Mix! I love that stuff!

Firestar... you eat... kittypet slop?

What? It's delicious! De-lic-ious!

I don't think anyone gets the Tim Hawkins reference.

Well, anyway, lay off, you racists! Just because I eat kittypet food doesn't mean I can't be Leader!

Firestar, that's breaking the warrior code.

Whatever. I break the warrior code plenty anyway. One more rule isn't going to hurt.

I never thought I'd see the day...

Well, um, anyway, moving on! It's almost midnight, after all!

Greetings, young ones. I come to see Jayfeather.

That was a terrible pun.

Hey, it's not my fault!

Yeah, actually, it is.

Anyways, it's time to count down to the new year! Do it with me! 10!

9!

8!

7!

6!

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

All: IT'S A NEW YEAR!

Me: Happy 2013, everyone!

 

Credits

• All characters included in this spoof are canonical Warriors characters. They are the property of Erin Hunter and do not belong to me.
• The link in Blossomfall's line goes to an excellent blog by Kristen Lamb about the Star Wars prequels.
• Star Wars is the property of George Lucas and does not belong to me.
• The link in Yellowfang's quote about StarClan's Complaint Center goes to a hilarious spoof on the Warriors forums by Cranestar.
• All linked names go to the appropriate pages on the Warriors Wiki website. There is also a link in one of Spottedleaf's lines going to her page.
• Warriors Wiki is a free domain on the internet and does not belong to me.

Please enjoy this fun and insanely long spoof, and have a wonderful New Year (Eve)!

 

My Favorite Cats

**Warning: This blog may be weirder and/or contain more spoilers than previous posts on this blog. If you cannot stand weirdness and/or spoilers, leave this blog right now.**

Happy Christmas break, everyone! Yup, today is our first day of Christmas break, so to celebrate, I'm going to talk about my current second-favorite series, Warriors!*
Since I already gave you the gist of the series,* today I'm going to talk about my all-time favorite--and all-time least favorite--cats in the series!

Favorites



Jayfeather--Mottled gray tabby tom with blind--
*Muted crash* *Sound of scuffling* Jayfeather, get away from my computer! Okay, sorry about that. Jayfeather tried to hack into my account. As I was saying:

Jayfeather--Mottled gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes.
Jayfeather has to be my all-time favorite cat of the entire series. He's a medicine cat, meaning he knows how to use herbs to heal wounds. He's pretty cranky in general, but underneath that he is very sweet. Despite being blind, he has the power to walk in other cats' dreams, along with reading their thoughts & memories. The thing that annoys him most is people cats referring to his blindness or pitying him because of it. Oh, and I hate Leaf--
*Muted crash* *Sound of cat screeching* Jayfeather, for the last time! Get away from the computer or I'll call Leafpool! Sorry. I think he's gone for good now. On with the post:

Ivypool--Silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes.
I like Ivypool because she's brave. She doesn't have any special powers like certain cats, but she's willing to spy in the Dark Forest for her Clan. Ivypool risks her life nightly. The thing that annoys her most is being compared to her ultra-perfect sister, Dovewing.

Phew, I got through that one without any interruptions! Maybe this'll go better than I thought.

Bluestar--Blue-grey she-cat with brilliant ice-blue eyes.
If you've referred to my other post (or better yet, read the series), you know that the suffix -star means that the cat is leader of their Clan. Bluestar is leader of ThunderClan at the beginning of the series, and she's both my favorite female warrior and my favorite leader. She was mentored (trained) by the former leader of ThunderClan, Sunstar. She did go somewhat crazy after her deputy Tigerclaw betrayed her, but she spent the last of her nine lives saving her clanmates from a dog pack. She is a strong, patient leader and few things annoy her. Don't listen to that, Bluestar was a weak piece of fox-
*Loud crash* *Sound of sirens in distance* Tigerstar! Off! Yes, you heard me, off the computer! You hear that? That's the StarClan Safety Patrol on their way to pick you up! Don't you dare touch that keyboard! Don't make me use this fire extinguisher!
*Sound of cat screeching* *Muted sound of car screeching out of driveway* Phew! Is there no peace here? Hang on, I'm going to get a security guard over here to keep these cats away from the computer. Please stand by...

Okay, Yellowfang's got a patrol guarding the perimeter, so I will now proceed with my least favorite cats from the series...

Least Favorites



Spottedleaf--Lithe dark tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with large amber eyes.

Spottedleaf is a Sue--a character who's perfect, beautiful, who always does the right thing and whom everyone loves. Firestar first falls in love with her, but she dies a heroic death (of course) while trying to keep a litter of kits from being kidnapped. She is a medicine cat who often walks in Jayfeather's dreams. She has been accused of stalking Firestar & his family members.

 

Yellowfang? What are you doing with that sack? And that duct tape! Did you ask if you could get that from the office--

*Muffled scuffling* *Sound of cat screeching* *Sound of door slamming*

Okay, this is Yellowfang. I locked Aurelia in the closet. She's giving Spottedleaf, and us medicine cats in general, a bad name! No, Spottedleaf, I won't let her out anytime soon. That mouse-brain deserved it--what the DF? How the hey do you work this thing? Stupid computer--augh! That's frinking it! No, Raggedstar, I haven't been reading Guardians of Ga'Hoole! Get off my case! Spottedleaf, you take over.

Thank you, Yellowfang. Spottedleaf here. I am not a Sue! And I am not stalking Firestar! I love him! And I'm trying to help Jayfeather and get him to see what he's meant to do! And how is it my fault that I'm pretty?

*Sound of door slamming* *Sound of cats screeching*

Okay, I'm back. I threw Yellowfang out the window and stuffed Spottedleaf under my bed. Raggedstar is on guard duty now. Don't listen to anything Spottedleaf said above. She is a stalker and a Sue! Now, on with my least favorites...

 

Dovewing--Smoky grey she-cat with brilliant blue eyes.

Dovewing is Ivypool's sister and a total Sue. She is perfect, beautiful, and to top it all off, has a special power--she can see, hear, and smell things far away from her. Her perfectness annoys Ivypool, and almost causes Ivypool to join the Dark Forest.

 

Firestar--Lithe ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt and brilliant emerald eyes.

Firestar isn't quite so much of a Sue as Spottedleaf or Dovewing, but he's still too perfect for my taste. His flaw is that he is extremely paranoid and afraid that he will mess up as leader. He has quite a large family, despite being a kittypet (house cat) before joining ThunderClan. He is mate to Sandstorm, father to Squirrelflight and Leafpool, uncle to Cloudtail, great-uncle to Whitewing, great-great-uncle to Dovewing and Ivypool, and grandfather to Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf. He is also known to--

*Sound of glass breaking* *Sound of multiple cats screeching* Ahhh! Help! Raggestar! Yellowfang just launched a full-on attack, so I think we might need to--ouch! Squirrelflight, get off me! I didn't mean to diss your father--augh, don't do that, Nightcloud! Please! You don't know how much money that cost! Okay, I need to deal with this, so I'm signing off for--help! Russetfur, over here!

*Signal lost*

 

*Please see previous blog, 'Warrior Cats'.

Warrior Cats

One of my favorite series right now is the Warriors series, by Erin Hunter. It's basically a fantasy about cats--as in house cats, except they don't live in houses. They live in the wild.

It's not as chaotic as you might think. The cats are structured into four Clans: ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. Each Clan has a leader, a deputy, and warriors.
The cycle starts with the kittens, or kits. When a kit is born, its name ends in the suffix 'kit' (example: Bluekit). When they reach six months, or moons, old, they are apprenticed to a warrior of the Clan, and the suffix is changed to 'paw' (example: Bluepaw). When they've had at least five moons of training, they become warriors, and the suffix becomes anything other than kit, paw, or star (example: Bluefur). If they become leader, the suffix is changed to 'star' (example: Bluestar).

A good friend (who shall remain nameless) and I have been trading a lot of emails on the topic of this series recently, and now we're thinking of writing down a revisionist version (or something like that). The idea is that the villain (whose name is Tigerclaw, by the way), is really the good guy, and was framed by the two protagonists, Bluestar and Fireheart (I'm doing my best not to give any important parts of the series away, in case anyone reading this should ever read the series). Once all the cats figure out that Tigerclaw wasn't the villain everyone said he was, everyone takes sides, and a huge war ensues.

I'd like to recommend to the Warriors series to anyone reading this blog who likes animal fiction. Just to warn you, the series is long, (twenty-four books) and the books are moderately long (two hundred to three hundred pages long), but other than that, it's great!

Moving, Part II

I'm writing this from a small, two-room TLF (or Temporary Lodging Facility for short) in Oklahoma. The good news is, soon we'll be on our way to Alaska. The bad news is, 'soon' means two to three weeks. It's August now, and I can feel autumn in the air. The air is getting cooler, and the leaves are starting to fall. However, I've been thinking, and I've realized something: autumn is just starting now, so it should be more or less in full swing by the time we leave. It's approximately a two-week trip to drive to Alaska from here, and since autumn in Alaska only lasts one or two weeks, we'll probably have missed most of autumn by the time we get there. The only good part about that is that we'll probably see snow sooner rather than later.

Ah, snow. The last time I saw snow was over two years ago in Georgia. That was the only year I've ever gone to public school. We got a snow day on the Friday before a three-day weekend, and boy was it fun! We went sledding on the little (tiny) hill near our house, we caught snowflakes on our tongues, Dad and I even had a snowball fight. That's a tradition with me and Dad--whenever it snows, we have a snowball fight.

I'm excited about going to Alaska because there should be enough snow there to make a snow fort, something I've never done before. A snow fort, a big snowball fight... I've never done it before, but it sure sounds fun.

I know this is totally unrelated, but I'm really excited because a couple of much-waited-for books are coming out this fall and next spring:

• The Mark of Athena (By Rick Riordan)
• The Warden and the Wolf King (By Andrew Peterson)

Plus a couple of movies, too:

• The Hobbit
• The Silver Chair

So, I'm looking forward to lots of snow and some new books. And maybe I'll even beat Dad at our next snowball fight!

Legos (Star Wars and otherwise)

 Recently I've been doing a lot of stuff with legos. I like to build these big scenes, take pictures of them, and then break them up so everyone else can use the pieces. One of my favorites is this huge Star Wars battle scene I made with two big green platforms:

Separatist Fortress

Republic Charge

The part I'm really proud of is the walker in the bottom picture. I built that walker from scratch. It wasn't easy. I also like the two clone troopers hiding behind the bush in the background of the same picture.

I also built a non-Star Wars scene--a space police station:

A downed power terminal--did it break, or was it sabotaged? 



A busy police station

I also take videos of the scenes because when I try to take a picture of the whole scene at once, usually all of the elements come out too small to see properly, so it's better to take a video of it. I like all of this scene, but a couple of my favorite parts are the repair girl fixing the power terminal, and the space police trooper riding on his transport.

Lastly, I've built a couple of places from my novel. The biggest one is probably this villain's lair:



The transparent legos in the scene represent mirrors that are positioned throughout the fortress. They're used as a type of surveillance system so that anyone in the room in the bottom left corner can see what's happening throughout the lair. The area in the top right corner of the scene (holding a creature I made up called a virulen) is booby-trapped--the walls can open, releasing the virulen unexpectedly!

I don't know what my next lego scene will be, but I'm thinking about doing a non-Star Wars, sci-fi thing, a little like the space police station--or maybe I'll do another scene or place from my novel. Who knows!



Moving, Part I

This week we've been moving. A lot. For us, moving involves driving all day. Where can I start? Lots has been happening.
Well, to start out, I've been riding in Dad's car with Dad and Joe. Dad and I are riding in the front seat, while Joe is in the back and the luggage is in the trunk (with few bags in the backseat with Joe). Fortunately, Joe seems to like Dad's car better than he likes the other car, so we don't have to listen to him whining all day.
Dad and I have been doing all sorts of things to pass the time. We listened to an audio book of Treasure Island. I did a lot of reading. Sometimes Dad let me play games on his Ipod or cell phone. Sometimes I just stared out the window and thought.
On our second day of driving, we passed through some hills in Arkansas (well, Dad said they were hills, but they looked more like mountains to me). The hills were covered in all types of trees, but mostly pines. It reminded me of a place in the novel I'm writing called the Eastern Mountains. The Eastern Mountains are tall mountains in the east that are covered in pine trees. That was inspiring.
Another time (I think it was also on our second day of driving), we got stuck in traffic. Big time. We were stuck sitting there for about three hours, doing nothing but move a few feet forward every fifteen minutes or so. That particular day, we had hoped to get to our hotel before sunset, so we swim in the pool. No such luck. We got to the hotel around ten o'clock p. m. No swimming for us.
Another thing Dad and I did: every time we crossed a state line, I would take a picture of the 'Welcome to ~'  sign. Most of the time the signs were by the side of the road, so Dad could pull over in front of them. However, the 'Welcome to Arkansas' sign was on a trestle bridge over a river. That certainly put a stitch in our plans. Luckily, I was able to get a picture of the sign even as we were crossing the bridge.


Welcome to Arkansas!

So our collection of state signs is intact, featuring Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.


Oklahoma--OK!

By the way--what did Tennessee? He saw what Arkansas!
 I was amazed as we entered Oklahoma City, which is where I'm writing this from. Oklahoma City isn't as big as Miami, but it's nonetheless a cool city, and it's fascinating to drive through it with your dad telling you what used to be there and how this building is new and how this highway didn't used to go this way, they must have rerouted it.
So far, I have a list of things I want to do while we're here this summer. Here it is:

• Go to the library, either on base or outside the base.
• Go rock climbing at the place Dad pointed out to me.
• Visit the water park I saw, the one that's close to our current hotel.
• Visit the 'Family Fun Center' that's right next to said hotel.

So there you go. And as the title implied, there will be at least one sequel to this post.

Adios!

Maps

So my new assignment from Mom is to blog at least once a week. The subjects? Just about anything.
This is my post for this week. The subject is, as you may have gathered from the title, maps.
I'm writing about maps because they're actually very important to me as a writer. About 45% of the names in my book were either taken from or inspired by names of towns on a map. Makes me wonder how I even named characters before I discovered this. (Okay, scratch that. Before I discovered this, I was writing Star Wars novels, and about 95% of the characters in those books had already been named for me.)
Anyway, there's another way maps are important, especially when you're writing fantasy. Soon after I began writing Version Three of my current fantasy story, I drew up a map of the made-up world. To tell the truth, I did this because I was getting tired of mapping out the whole thing in my head all the time. So I drew up a physical map.
Having a physical map has its problems. Every time I started the story over, the map had to change slightly. (Fortunately, I had had the foresight to draw it in pencil.) I added towns, added geography, I even added a bay and group of islands.

And this is where I realize just how much I miss writing Star Wars novels. I liked the whole concept of different planets, and I liked writing like that. I didn't like having to give it up. Some of the towns almost became city-states because of this. Almost, but it never actually happened.

I did come up with a solution, though. Some of the towns have their own residents who draw their nationality from the town they come from. So it worked out in the end.

So, maps. Yes, maps are important to me as a writer. Of course, a lot of the other names in my book are drawn off of other things. One character even got her name from a character in Greek Mythology (more on that in my next post). And I'll always need the map I drew of my made-up world. Some of the names I have in my 'name bank' (a list of names I might use in the future) were taken from the names of towns on a map of the southeastern United States during the Civil War. Maps are very important, and not just so you know where you're going on the highway.

Next Week: An update on my Semi-Random Book Character Ideas

Our Trip to Flamingo Gardens

Today I went to Flamingo Gardens, along with Ethan, Crista, Mom, Mrs. Buondelmonte, Vinnie and James. Flamingo Gardens is a large animal sanctuary and botanical garden. There were walkways through the gardens, and there were all sorts of amazing plants that I've never seen before. The animals were just as amazing. We saw many types of birds, including one called a spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

and at least three different types of owls: barn owls, great horned owls, and barred owls. We saw a show called Wildlife Encounter where animal keepers brought out four animals for the audience to observe. All of the animals were injured or handicapped in some way and were permanent residents of the sanctuary. I'll describe them here:
#1: An opossum named Penny. Penny was hit by a car, and although she survived, she was permanently blinded. The keeper told us that she is the best-looking opossum we'll ever see; opossums in the wild want to look as dirty, disgusting, and inedible as possible, as they have very few ways of escaping predators.

 Penny the Virginian Opossum

#2: A barred owl named Whisper. Whisper fell out of his nest when he was only three days old and broke both his hips. Rather than have him euthanized, the people at Flamingo Gardens kept him, knowing that he would never fly. Whisper had been a part of the Wildlife Encounter ever since Flamingo Gardens obtained him, as he could never be released into the wild.
#3: A box turtle named Shelly. Shelly was a pet that was given to Flamingo Gardens. As Shelly had been around humans and fed by them her whole life, she couldn't be released into the wild, as all her instincts were gone. Shelly is only nine years old. She is not yet fully grown.
#4: A baby alligator. The alligator was one of the offspring of the two alligators at the Gardens: Elvis and Priscilla. Like Shelly, the alligator had come to associate humans with food, and therefore could never be released into the wild. Alligators that associated humans with food will come closer to developed areas where humans live. Alligators that do that are killed, because they are deemed too dangerous to live. The alligator's skin is sold as high-quality leather, their meat is used in soups, and their head and jaw becomes a souvenir in a shop. This is why there is a law against feeding alligators.

I came away from Flamingo Gardens with a sense of thankfulness that I had gone, as my time in Florida is growing short and I know that it is unlikely I will ever be able to observe animals in their natural habitat again.

MM&M

 To start, MM&M is probably is a weird title. But I like it (that's probably one of my weird writer quirks). MM means Memory Master, which I just finished by testing with our CC Director, Mrs. Kelso. I'm one of sixteen Memory Masters this year (from both our Tuesday group and our Wednesday group). Incidentally, I was the last Memory Master that Mrs. Kelso tested this year.
Another update from my world: M is for Moving. We are moving (again)! This time we're headed to Alaska, with a brief stopover in Oklahoma for Dad's pilot training. This development is a coin with two sides (I'll elaborate in a moment).
 For one, this is an adventure. I'll be visiting Oklahoma, one of the best areas in the west (in my opinion, of course). I'll be staying for about three months on an Air force base with planes flying over head all day (that's actually an asset, in my opinion; the sound of planes sooths me). Also, when we get to Anchorage, we'll be on the edge of wilderness--I think this might be a chance for me to get inspired for my novel(s). Plus, there's lots and lots of snow in Alaska, so it'll be a chance to cool down after our stay in hot, hot Miami.
 On the flip side of the 'coin', I'm not terribly excited about moving again. I kind of liked Florida, and besides, no matter how much I like (or dislike) a place, moving is always a huge hassle: we have to pack up personal belongings for the move itself. Then the movers come, and they have to pack everything in the whole entire house up and put it in boxes to take it up to Alaska. Then, once we find a house there (which also takes forever), we have to unpack everything and get it all situated in the new house--although getting a new house is one of the good sides of moving.
 So that's the update. As to novel news, I finished the first book and am about seven pages into the next. Things are going good, except for the fact that I'm feeling really insecure about the sequel (is that normal?)
 And that's all for now!