nook For the Win!!!

Well.  I have good news!

First of all, I'm back from Hilton Head!  Which means I'm back on my desktop.  After that little, easy-type laptop keyboard and the single-tap mouse--not to mention the very convenient mobility and automatic SpellCheck--well, this'll take some getting used to.  But I have Alice (my computer mouse) back!  Huzzah for speed! 

Anyway...I HAS A NOOK!  The Barnes & Noble digital reader thing?  Yeah!  I have one!  Now, allow me to say why it must be a nook (it's not supposed to be capitalized) and not a *shudder* KINDLE.  Number one, nook is from Barnes & Noble, which is THE best bookseller in the world, in my opinion.  They KNOW their stuff.  Kindle is by Amazon, however, which is a huge business tycoon and has one tentacle in about every category of online retail known to man (and I think seven known to dolphin).  Number two, the nook is smaller and easier to travel with.  It's lighter and not as bulky as the Kindle.  Number three, with the Kindle, the publisher can recall an e-book release, and guess what?  Even if you bought the e-book in question, Amazon swipes it off your Kindle.  Not so with the nook.  Number four, the nook comes equipped with an inate ability to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots, also known as hubs in your local Barnes & Noble store.  That's right--pop by B&N, grab a Starbucks, and read free e-books in the store.  Is there an Amazon walk-in store?  Thought not.  Number five, the nook has COLOR.  I know, I know, big whoop, right?  Right!  For me, what gets my attention first off with a book is its cover.  The cover holds the title, the image and design, the author(s), and possibly a tagline and/or which series the book is from, for example.  Kindle's grayscale touchscreen may be cool and all, but with the nook, I can see the covers as they would appear on the shelves of my favorite book store.  Now how cool is that?  Number six, the nook has a built-in app (I guess you could call it) called The Daily.  Blog updates and notices are automatically posted there by the e-book staff about new releases, recommendations, basic troubleshooting, and software updates.  Which leads me to number seven:  with both the Kindle and the nook, the technology will inevitably be updated.  The big difference?  You'd have to buy a new, updated Kindle (pricey!) and transfer all your purchases--if possible (questionable and a hassle, if it works).  With the nook, you can automatically download the updates and improvements for free. 

And with that spiel, I leave you for now.  Keep flying!

~Cara

The Legacy Begins!...on Halfway-to-Halloween Day?

Happy Halfway-to-Halloween Day!  Nah, just kidding; I have no clue if that's true or not.  That's just the story Caroline and I made up if anyone asked us why we were carrying our toy swords around the marina this evening as we snuck around like rats.  But  maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

It all started in the chorus room...

...

*flashback fail*

What, you guys didn't get the ripple-y view and the harp glissando?  ...No?  Dang.  Well, all right.  In chorus a few months ago, I found a metal fork on the floor of the large rehearsal room.  Long story short, I dubbed it the Musical Fork of Evil, took it home, ran it through the dishwasher, slipped it into my bag, and carried it around as a self-defense apparatus for the rest of the school year.  And I will do so again next year.  And the next.  Until I graduate from college, that fork will be my constant school-time companion.  I'll sniff it when I'm lonely...  (Inside joke from a public speaker that came to our school.  Just don't ask.)  But I digress.

This evening, in a stroke of impulsive insanity, I crept ninja-style to the edge of the balcony of our condo and chucked a slightly chocolate-crusted spoon to the marina pavement, a good four stories below us.  We heard it clatter satisfyingly.  By the way, I blame Caroline for that, for the birth of the Legacy (which will be explained later), and for the aforementioned sword-carrying.  It was her idea.  All of it was.  I'm just the epically impulsive spazz that orchestrated plans that allowed us to actually go through with it all.  That's us--the tactician and the general.  

Sort of.

Anyway.  First of all, she said as we were eating our microwaveable cake out on the balcony, "You know, I've always wanted to throw something down at the unsuspecting bicycle-riding passerby."  Cue the impulsive spazz, also known as moi.  (That's "mwah," for those of you who are French fails; it means "me."  Which reminds me, I have a funny story about a student teacher failing with the pronunciation of "oui" in chorus.  Someone remind me to tell that someday.)  So what do I do?  Well, just re-read the beginning of this paragraph.

And THEN she said, "Haha, remember the Musical Fork of Evil?  What if we threw another spoon down there, but there was a note attached saying, 'if you find this spoon, you have been chosen!  You must pass on another utensil within forty-eight hours or you will'--don't tell me you're actually going to do that--!"  But it was too late.  At the word "utensil," I'd turned around and made a beeline for our room, clean metal spoon in hand.  The note was drafted.  The location planned.  The final copy of the note written, wrapped around the spoon and tied with gold-colored elastic thread.  We then convinced my parents to let us have "one last marina walk."  Little did they know.  Then--oh, and then--Little Miss Tactician gestured to our swords.  (You think she'd have learned by then.)  It was official--the swords came on this our Most Epical Journey.

We crept down to the marina and tried to plant the spoon at Frosty's, the ice cream place.  It was a fail--what if a little kid got it, or some creepy old man?  The Legacy of the Musical Fork of Evil would die before it had begun.  I said to Caroline, "A teenager has to find it.  Where have we seen the most teenagers around here?"  "The pool," she said instantly.  The pool was in Harborside I, just down the street from us in Harborside II.  I got a sparkle in my eyes.  "Don't tell me we're actually going to go over there!"  "We have to!"

Long story short, the spoon was planted at Harborside I's pool, and Caroline and I snuck back to the room without any further mishaps--although some people did comment on our swords, to which I muttered, "We'll just say it's Halfway-to-Halloween Day."  And now, I fear, the computer must be surrendered--keep flying, guys.

~Cara

Swords, Sand Dollars, and...Yoshi Fails?

Hey, guys!  Sorry I haven't blogged in a bit; I've been busy spazzing out with Caroline.  (SpellCheck still doesn't recognize "spazzing" as a word.  How lame is that?)  Anyway, today was a day full of, as always, wins and EPIC FAILS.  Let's start with the night's most recent fail, shall we?

I'm not sure how many of you play Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii (I use a GameCube controller because I am a fail with the Wii remote, like most people), but those of you who do play probably know about the CPUs and their levels.  Well, I have an alliance of local gamers that play similar games including SSBB.  We have a color and rank system and it's all official and pretty.  You know how I said my best friend Caroline was my mentor?  Guess what!  Anyway, I can kill three level sevens on a good day, which technically makes me a level eight.  Well, she was testing me on my level eight status.  After several fails, I got very, very mad at a certain egg-laying Nintendo dinosaur with a tendency to be green in color, high-pitched in voice, and annoying in demeanor.  Also known as YOSHI, who is *officially* my sworn enemy.  Just by the way.

But I degress.  Well, I set up a battle with me as gold Pit, the epical level-eight-in-training, two level-one Yoshis, and one level-three Yoshi.  Now, I know what you're all thinking:  "You dominated!"  Yeah!

NO.  

The level one killed me, people.  I have never experienced a bigger, more EPICALLY FAILING FAIL in my short life.  EVER.  God bless Caroline...

In other news, Caroline and I scuttled down to the toystore I mentioned in a previous post and purchased some *toy* swords and shields!  I'm not sure how much I said about our selections in the aforementioned post, but either way, they're those ones.  And they're awesome!  We can now run around the condo like idiots with *style.*  Win.

Also in other news, the sand dollars are bleached!  Nice and shiny white.  Yays!  And though I'm sorry to say that our local hobo, whomever he or she may be, does not get a white and sandy companion (if you'd paid attention to the poll I put up, you'll know what I'm talking about), it does make Caroline and me feel like we've done something legitimately productive.

~Cara (why did this say Caroline?!  For a freaking YEAR?! >.>)

Good Morning!

I blog to you guys now over a nice bowl of Cheerios with banana.  Caroline and I just got up (as in legitimately out of bed) about ten or fifteen minutes ago.  Sorry I didn't say anything yesterday.  There was a fantastic night-time beach walk last night.  I've discovered that there are a few things that help me feel like flying, or at least as close as a wingless person can get:  

1.) Howling outside, free and clear and loud

2.) Sprinting

3.) Singing

4.) Swimming

As of yet, I haven't discovered a proper wind tunnel, but I'm working on it...

Keep flying!

~Cara

Neep

Not much has happened today.  We went to the Salty Dog Cafe, though, which is always fun--I think.  This was my first time.  A great place, though.  

In other news...well, I have no other news.  No epic battles.  No awesome little kids or old people.  No life-changing experiences.  No epic wins (although, as usual, there were a couple epic fails).  However, recently, in a burst of Fire Emblem-y obsession, I yelled "Naesala!" to a crow that was flying overhead; it cawed back at me loudly.  *raven win*  Nothing much else to say right now.  Keep flying, guys.

~Cara

BLOBBEHS

Boredom+blobs FTW


http://www.addictinggames.com/gluey-game.html

~Cara

Another Day, Another Mollusk

So, as you all know, my friend Caroline and I are at the beach.  So, my dad dropped us off at the actual beach, which is across the road and down the ways a bit, at around 10:30 this morning, after we'd gotten up and nommed my dad's "famous" chocolate-chip pancakes, which Caroline can easily eat sixteen of in one sitting--literally.  She did it once.  

(On a completely random note, somebody just walked by underneath us--the condo's balcony is on the marina, where all the shops and restaurants are--whistling "It's A Small World" very clearly.  But when I stood and looked over the balcony edge [I'm typing from said balcony], the whistling fluidly stopped and no one was there.  When I did look over, however, I heard cooing from above me, from the roof.  Looking up, however, nothing was there.  *Twilight Zone music plays*)  

Anyway.

The waves, at first, were puny, and the water was cold.  Unpleasantly so, at least for me.  Caroline, however, did what I would normally do--flailed right in and splashed around, pestering me to do the same. Eventually, she managed to do so by dead-legging me, causing me to splash down in the water.  Naturally, a small water war ensued.  I'd like to think I won.  (That cooing was just confirmed--the pigeon took flight, wings flapping it into the air with that signature pigeon-wing sound.)  After that, we played in the waves for a bit before I yelped.  I'd stepped on something sharp, and automatically bent down in the water to investigate, though Caroline was basically yelling, "C'mon!  Just leave it alone!"  

All right, I'll admit, you think I would've learned my lesson after yesterday's incident with the horseshoe crab:  Caroline and I were wading in the ocean, and I'd felt something smooth yet with spikes in the sand, like a shell, much like today, actually.  I'd gone down to investigate and deduced that it was a horseshoe crab.  A dark-haired guy with a couple tattoos had answered my summons for help, then promptly backed off and said, "I'll pass."  I'd sighed and continued digging, ignoring Caroline's protests all the while.  Finally, I'd dug it up enough to pry it from the water.  Then I'd felt something slimy and hard.  I'd shrieked and dropped the crab, and I saw its tail thrash around just below the surface.  "Those things can sting you, you know," Caroline said nervously.  We then promptly flailed away, with her yelling "I told you so!!!" the entire time.

Well, today, I proved that I was not the "live and learn" type.  I felt something similar, but I quickly identified it as a conch or whelk shell because of the shape it felt like.  

So, naturally, I started digging it up.  Caroline groaned, throwing her hands up in the air.  "For heaven's sake!" she cried.  I ignored her, still digging.  I unearthed a beautiful pink whelk shell, containing the fattest, biggest, and possibly ugliest-in-a-cute-way creature I had ever laid eyes on (with the possible exception of...nevermind).  I promptly scuttled out of the water and went to the tidal pools, plopping it down in there.  "It's our mascot," I announced to an exasperated Caroline as she walked up.  "Its name is Frederick."  

She plopped down beside me in the shallow water and looked at Frederick with a blank expression.  Then she looked at me and said, "Can I stab it?"  

"NO!" I yelped.  I grabbed the long-handled pink shovel from our umbrella place and returned.  I then commenced digging a pool.  

"What.  Are.  You doing?" Caroline asked as I began to dig.  

"We're making a pool," I replied.  After I saw that she wasn't going to participate, I huffed out a breath and commanded, "Just...just make sure Frederick doesn't burrow too deeply, all right?!"  

She grinned smugly.  "Sure, sure."  She watched me dig for a very long time.  Finally, she looked at Frederick again, pulling him up from the sand and putting him back.  He didn't move.  She looked at me, then back at him and asked, "Do you think he's dead?"  At that precise moment, Frederick squirted a trail of water out of the tail of his shell in her general direction.  

We broke out in laughter.  "I'll take that as a no," I replied, then went back to digging.

Long story short, we used the extra sand from the poolfail to make a tiger sand sculpture.  I'd post a picture or two, but a storm was moving in, and my dad herded us off of the beach before I could get a shot or two.  We did, however, release Frederick with a call of "Be free!" that earned us several strange looks.

This is the life.

~Cara

Sword Evaluation, Model Investigation, Foreign Languages and Thunderstorms

It's thundering out, meaning the evening marina walk was cut short.  But, in the time we were down there, we were able to do several productive things, including (but not limited to) :

1.) find out that the "other side of the train-tracks" was VERY boring, and apparently anti-pet

2.) wander around like idiots (which is actually much more productive than most people think)

3.) head into a kid's toy shop and appear quite formal as we promptly ignored an "LOL! Rollover" toy that--as its name indicates--laughs maniacally and rolls around when it senses motion (I was able to ignore it because I was READY for it this time...) and made our way to the back of the small shop.  There, we evaluated various (toy) swords for their length, stability, design, overall quality, price, functionality, and appearance (my friend suggested "prettiness").  We took mental notes, and my friend vowed to save up twenty dollars by the end of the trip so that, at the last minute, we could dart in there, purchase a sword and shield each (in different colors so we can distinguish) for ten dollars apiece, and then spar the entire eight hours home.  In the car.  With the dog, my parents, and all our stuff.  Muahahaha...

4.) walk into the shop next door to the toy shop and investigate various models of ships and sailboats.  I was surprised by how many of the ships I actually knew.

5.) discover that the woman that...womanned...the toy shop spoke a foreign language, and that the man who...manned...the shop next door (which had models, various random things, fancy compasses, old-fashioned padlocks with small keys, false daggers that were, however, metal, chess sets in various forms, etc.) spoke the same foreign language; it sounded French or Russian.

6.) avoid electrocution, as lightning was present near the end of our walk and we were by water; however, as my friend pointed out, we were far from the tallest things around.

7.) take the stairs up to the condo, for exercise purposes as well as the fact that, if in some stroke of horrible karma the building was struck by lightning, we wouldn't be trapped in the elevator indefinitely.  (Can you imagine that phone call?  "Um...Dad?  Can you, uh...call 911?"  "WHAT?!  Why?  What happened?!"  "We're, um...stuck in the elevator." *pause* "...You're what?")

~Cara

P.S. Thunder+laptop FTW (for the win, for those of you that aren't up to par with the abbreviations--which is far too long a word for something that means a shortened version of a word.  Oh, irony...)

Okami for Wii Review/Rant

This is a fantastic game with a great if not predictable-at-times plot, with loveable and hateable characters and great graphics.  I love the Wii version because there's something satisfying about knowing that your wrist movements--and it is all in the wrist, people, especially with the shields--are the ones that result in absolutely epical battles.

The world itself is beautiful, and there's plenty to do.  The sidequests alone can take, literally, days of playing if you don't use a guide--which you shouldn't.  (Where's the fun in having someone tell you all the discoveries the game has to offer?!)  Firstly, regarding sidequests, I'll address the Stray Bead hunt.  You may have encountered these because you ignored the sidequests, and you just so happened to return to, say, Ishaku's place and talk to him, thus earning yourself a Bead.  Or maybe you got lucky and, like many of us have, encountered a Bead in a treasure chest.  Though I'm not going to spoil the surprise, what you get for collecting all one hundred--the 100th of which can only be gotten by completing the game--is very, very worth it.

Again, regarding the sidequests, they're half the fun of the game!  Even if, like my friend (I'm her apprentice regarding many games, all of which I will eventually cover here), sidequests aren't really your thing, particularly on your first run-through of a game, I encourage you to at least check them out for the fun of it--and the rewards aren't half bad most of the time, either.  Take the brush upgrades, for example.

As for the graphics and landscape, I can't count the hours I spent just running around like a moron--yes, doing the sidequests--just enjoying the people and the landscape and exploring everything.  I'm a packrat, meaning that most of the time, everything must be dug up--every hole, every chest, and if I can't get to a clover or chest, I MUST go to the Dojo and acquire the necessary skill to be able to dig up said item--; every clover, tree and patch of grass bloomed; every Devil and Demon Gate done; every Bandit Spider conquered; every chest opened; every pot, boulder--again, even if it takes a special Dojo skill to be able to do so--, and flower or patch of grass slashed or head-butted; every Demon Scroll wiped out; every nook and cranny investigated and appropriately looted.  That packrattiness led to a good chunk of my vast explorations.

By the standards of the Peacock Alliance (a group of gamers that stick together and play similar games; our headmaster's last name is Peacock, hence the name; my friend was a member, and I am her apprentice, initiating me by default), you're a master at a game if you've completed three full run-throughs of said game (for me, that includes all sidequests done).  You also must show considerable skill with the game, meaning you can't just flail through it in five months three times in a row and be a master.  You must have the map and landscape basically memorized; you must exhibit, as I said before, considerable skill in fighting or whatever the game requires.  The first game I Mastered was Okami, and the title was awarded to me after a test by my friend and teacher.

And so I say again, this is a fantastic game, if you couldn't tell by my ranting.  You get to run around as a beautiful white wolf with red markings, a four-inch-tall green Poncle on her nose, and a paintbrush that can control the elements in order to aid you on your quest to--naturally--save your world from impending evil and disaster.  You fight enemies, have to use strategies and quick thinking, and need a good sense of direction--but the map helps in case you're lacking in that last area.  As I said in the beginning, don't forget that it's all in the wrist!  Give Okami for Wii a try!

~Cara

Boredom Strikes...So Send the Link!

...and so I blog.  Surprise, surprise.  After my friend and I went on our second marina walk of the day--this time with the dog--we came back here to avoid the sun and to just chill out.  She's currently hunting up a pencil to draw with, and I, obviously, am blogging.  If I'm being completely honest, I'm merely rambling; I have no clue what to write about (my friend would say, "As usual!" but that's beside the point).

Anyway, for all you Zelda fans out there, here's something my boyfriend sent to me that totally made my day a few days ago.  Google image search "zelda send link" and it'll be the first result.

Hehehe, "Send Link"... xD  Like I said, made my day.  I shall now read the third Maximum Ride book, as I am addicted to that series.  

~Cara

P.S.  No clue what the hell is up with my font.  o.e

Sand Dollar Farms, Cover Stories, and Cookie Fails

Let's start with the fails we've had so far today.  Most recent fail:  I forgot how to spell "cookie" for the title of this post. xD  Cookie fail:  Are my friend and I the only ones that eat Oreos in three phases in an attempt to have the third phase be "eat the lone layer of frosting we've managed to separate from both cookies without breaking said layer of frosting"?  I sure hope not...  Well, either way, I did it twice.  That brings my total of counted times I've been able to do that up to...five.  *cookie fail*

In other news, as I said previously, my friend and I are at the beach.  Go Hilton Head!  And except for the fact that there is a little yapper dog in the condo next to us that won't shut the frick up, all is well.

After my dad dropped us off at the beach directly following breakfast this morning, she and I slathered on about four ounces of sunscreen each (not really, but it was a freaking lot of sunscreen) and flailed into the waves.  There were six.  Freaking.  BILLION.  Sand dollars.  Probably because it was low tide, but still!  We rounded up twenty--count them, twenty--sand dollars and scuttled back to the tide pools left behind because of...well, the tide.  (And the dog still won't shut up as I type this.  Oh, happy day. -.-)  Anyway, we dug a hole in the watery sand and dumped all the sand dollars in there.  We called it our Sand Dollar Farm of Partial Failure.  (I say partial because...well, adjectives make everything more interesting and SHUT UP YOU STUPID DOG!!! *happy place, happy place*)  Eventually, my dad picked us up from the beach.  My friend and I are going to bleach the sand dollars after we kill them (or kill them in the process; we haven't decided yet), write their names--most likely their namesakes will be the Greil Mercenaries--and take them home.  Hand-Made in the United States of America.  On a side note, you rarely see that italicized phrase anymore.  We've seen it a few times while souvenir shopping; it's very refreshing.  

As for the cover stories, well, we--my friend and I--are telling people the following:  We are twins.  I was born seven minutes earlier, thus I had seven more minutes to grow.  We lived in Colorado but we now hail from Georgia.  We miss the place where it actually snows.  We have one younger brother, who is ten.  Our and and uncle are a pilot and flight attendant, respectively.  Our dad is a partially-retired English professor who is teaching full-time this year, and our mother is an assistant dean.  Our pseudo-names shall remain classified; it is a cover story, after all.  Also, people are going for it.  It's really awesome, especially considering that she and I do look plenty alike, and we love each other like sisters.  So, it's pretty beast.  

On another note, my "twin" and I were bored, as the adults went to lunch and left us in the condo with the dog.  So, prior to my getting the computer and typing this, I pulled out the requisite deck of cards--the original boredom-buster.  She (my friend, not the deck) looked at me like I was nuts and said, "What are you doing?"  "Playing cards, of course," I replied as I started shuffling the new pack.  She blinked at me and said, "I don't know how to play."  Not poker, not War or the Never-Ending Game, not Go Fish, not ZIP.  ...It's a work in progress--just like my boyfriend (but I love him anyway).  But more on that later; the dog is whining, and must be attended to.

~Cara

P.S.  My genius best friend just managed to snap both of her rubber bands for her braces about thirty seconds apart from each other.  That either takes a certain amount of skill, luck, or stupidity.  Possibly all three.

You'll Get No Sympathy from Me--Now Go to Bed!!

Says my best friend, who is technically rooming with me.  She is with my parents, two very close friends of the family that are empty-nesters, and me.  We're chillin' in a cozy two-story, three-bedroom condo on Hilton Head Island for the week, in celebration of the first week of summer!  She and I are sharing a room, a bathroom, a dresser, a computer (which is my mother's laptop), a Wii, a TV, a sink, a shower, and basically everything else of importance except a toothbrush (which reminds me--I need to brush my teeth before I go to bed).

While I fiddled around with this thing, she'd been playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on my Wii, which I convinced my parents to let me cart down here (thank God we have a TV in our room).  She went through Classic Brawl with Ike on Intense, then did some Brawls with Marth.  (I am highly aggravated that this computer doesn't recognize the words "Ike," "Marth," or "Wii."  I mean, seriously.  Get with the program, SpellCheck!

Well, my friend is getting a bit annoyed with my clickity-clickity (not to mention the glow from the screen), and I'm yawning as I write this, so I'm going to go to bed now.  Night, guys!

~Cara

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a girl with a blog who had no clue what she was doing. xD Well, guys, welcome to the homepage. This is where updates are posted, and stuff about my life in general. Make your way to the other tabs (when I get them) to read reviews and rants on various video games, books, my writing, et cetera. Enjoy, and bear with me as I get my...bearings...

~Cara