Elestra

iceofwolf noticed my last journal is very old and decided to fix that. Thus, a meme.

10 things about me:
1. I have grown my hair long since I was three years old. While I sometimes cut the ends I don't really comprehend the idea of cutting my hair short. The extremely long hair is a very intrinsic part of who I am.

2. I haven't used hair ties in a while and now fasten my hair with ribbons. I'm not sure if ordinary hair ties really made my hair ends that much thinner or my hair just decided that it is so long it might as well act old-fashioned.

3. I've done NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, must write 50 000 words of novel during November) five years in a row. I love it. Even if it drives me crazy every single time.

4.When I was little, I was a really picky eater. I didn't eat ketchup, mustard, honey, liquorice, mushrooms, carrots, beetroot, turnips, olives… a lot of things. I still dislike olives and beetroot.

5. I get upset when the books in my bookcase are not in the exact order. I change the order from time to time, but I still get very fidgety when someone puts a book in the wrong place. Same with pencils in their boxes.

6. I really dislike looking into a mirror in the dark. I don't fear darkness, though.

7. When I was a kid I wanted to become a nun. I am not quite sure why, since I never was really religious and what little Christianity managed to cling to me wore off by the time I was ten or so.

8. I love Boolean algebra. Especially Karnaugh maps. I think Karnaugh maps are beautiful. (Yeah, I'm a nerd.)

9. My favourite historical person is Eleanor of Aquitaine. I read about her in French class and was impressed from the beginning.

10. I read a lot, but I don't really have a favourite book. I do have a top five.

10 questions for me:
1. What kind of questions do you like being asked?
The ones that make me squirm a bit, or at least exercise my brain.

2.  What are you supposed to be doing instead of answering this question?
Homework.

3.  What is... damnit, now I have to think of real questions.  What is your favorite YouTube video?
I don't really have one.

4.  What is one movie you want more people to see?  Not necessarily your favorite movie, just one that you think people should watch for some reason.  (Note that I will probably end up watching it, so no pr0n!)
The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky. I am the kind who thought it deep. And, well, if it isn't deep for you, it has beautiful visuals.

5.  Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night. Definitely night. I can get up early, too, and have a tendency to go to sleep late and wake up early(ish) until I crash and sleep 12 hours in a row.

6.  Do you listen to music in languages you can't understand?
Yes. I usually start listening music because it is beautiful and don't really think about the lyrics.

7.  What is one odd habit or quirk of yours?
  I have a tendency to start dividing a number into its divisors. Any number. Page numbers when I read books, numbers on street signs… and I usually do it without thinking about it.

8.  Cats or dogs?
Tough one. I like cats more, but after two hours in their company they make me sneeze and my nose starts itching horribly. I suppose it is an allergy, although the tests they did when I was little didn't catch it. No such problem with dogs.

9.  What is something you really, really wanted — and got?
Hum. I'm not quite sure. Some things I shouldn't have wished for, among others?

10.  What is your favorite scent?
Cinnamon, I think.

10 questions for you:
1. Coffee or tea? If tea, green or black?
2. Sounds or scents?
3. Who is your favourite artist?
4. What book would you recommend to everyone?
5. Is there such a thing as sin?
6. What will the future be: dystopic, utopic, or something between these two?
7. Do zodiac signs have any influence on people?
8. What is your motto?
9. Do you fear death?
10. What foreign languages do you speak?

The tagged:
Iardacil
Leurindal
MsBrandybuck
llille
archseer
Please be so kind and write ten little facts about yourself, answer my ten questions and think ten questions of your own. Tagging is optional, I suppose.

***

I'll write a proper journal... somewhen. Take care.

It's been a long, long time since my last really devious activity... three months since last poem and two since last journal. I've been studying... and then resting. And doing exams in between. I've gotten all the results by now. The lowest was 85% and the highest 96%, with the average 90,8%. (Yes, I did calculate it.) I'm pretty satisfied.

The irony is, of course, that I did one exam twice, last year and this year too. I got exactly the same result, 86 points out of 100.

I'm finishing high school this Sunday. Getting all the important papers and headmaster's speech and so forth. Bye-bye, Tallinn French School. More than once I thought you would make my brain explode (of wrath and/or exessive studying), but I wouldn't trade you for anything.

I'm also 18 now. My birthday was June 12. The party was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. We played boardgames. Lots of boardgames.

Of LARPs... I've been to two of them in these last months. Thanaria, playing my beloved 'how the hell is this sickly teenage girl still alive?' Meilia; and Paths of Fate (not quite sure about the translation, but it should be near enough), playing a peaceful priestess of the dream-goddess. The last one is also a series and quite good.
The third game of my own series is coming in July. I'm nervous, but it should be interesting.

"A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge is a very awesome sci-fi book. It might look terryfingly long, but the plot is paced well.
The author's surname is a slang word for 'awesome' in Estonian. This probably means something.

And how have you been?

Exactly what it says in the title. I wrote my big and important essay today. The theme I chose was "How have the advancements in science and technics changed the people's image of world?" Or something like that, since translating things is hard. I hope it went rather well, but I will get my results in two months' time.

The next exam is going to be mathematics, May 4. Must study for that one, since I like maths (more or less), but the formulae are not especially fond of me.

The life has been more or less shiny... studying, role-play and other things. Sometimes busy, but not yet too busy.
anubishoarmurath is a goddamn evil genius. Her high fantasy LARP series Fyerellal is so powerful I dreamed about it. Twice. Also, the character I played wrote poetry. The deviation is "Leedi I" and it actually has English translation in it. Go and see, me and Leedi want to hear your opinion.

A game from my own series, Tiair, went also rather well. I was really worried it would go awry and it certainly didn't go as I planned, but it worked. I'm really happy.

I watched all of Firefly and have decided it's my favourite TV series ever. However, in my opinion the movie sequel was not so good. Serenity was not bad... but it lacks the charm Firefly has.
Watching Rozen Maiden now... a high school senior must have something to rest her eye upon.

But I stop rambling. How have you been in the meantime?

How have you've been doing?

I'm... busy, I guess. The spring is coming and the exams with it. I realized I was mad enough to take five state exams. (We must take five exams when finishing high school, three of them must be state exams. These matter when going to university. Others can be school exams, those matter less and are there... well, they're there to make us study, or something. I'm not quite sure. If one wants to take more exams, s/he can do so, of course, and if said person thinks it was a stupid and tiring decision, it's too late.)
I took essay (that is compulsory anyway), maths, chemistry (again), biology and English.
I've been thinking about studying IT... it's shiny and interesting. Just like genetics. But there are quite many things I could study with those exams, so I have time to decide.

The NaNoWriMo... lost it, got only 35 000 words or something like that. I rather like my novel, will finish it some day. Right now I'm messing around with 'Anglopolitan Lives', the book I started two years ago.

I've become a Firefly fan, also. It's probably my favourite TV series now, since Heroes got weirder and weirder after season one. But then again, I hardly ever watch TV or TV shows.
Simon Tam is more epic than Peter Petrelli... sorry Pete.

I've also had a crazy idea lurking around in my already crowded head... were I to do commissions, would you take one? I can manip (more or less), draw (a tiny little), knit (I prefer scarves, shawls and the like, but could also do gloves. Not sweaters though... too much work) and crochet. Since I have no master skills, they would be on the cheap side.
I'd just like to know.

I hope you have a nice day.

It seems that I update my journal once a month or so. It also seems to be quite proper length of time.

My wanna-be art block is leaving. I can poetze around if nothing else. There are probably some manips coming, but I am not quite sure, since NaNoWriMo is approaching frighteningly fast. I am mostly writing background information for my this year novel.

'Astrin's Daughters: Cause of the Red Wars'
Indeed, the title makes even myself smile. I originally named it 'Eskiriel: Red Wars', but later realized that Eskiriel is not intriguing enough to have her as a main character all the novel.
In a world more or less resembling mid-nineteenth century, the ruler of Chaeral, king Astrin, is dying. His successor, prince Andair, is ten years old and his eight daughters, ranging from thirty-year-old princess Elwith, nicknamed The Sorrowful to the twelve-year-old Edieth who is more mature than some of her elder siblings, cannot inherit. Nevertheless, they are the regents council that must keep the throne in next six years.
Let us add the little fact that royalty marries with royalty (less than ten exeptions for that rule in last five centuries and six kingdoms) and every magic user has mental problems (no exeptions for that one. Most of them are sociopath). I think it should be fun.

About life:
I'm single again, after six month (minus six days, but that is being pedantic)of un-singleness. Not really whining about it. I suppose.

The steampunk LARP did take place and my character found -probably- her aunt. Which is epic, as her extended family has been getting smaller and smaller. For all she knows she hasn't had any blood relatives around since last winter.

I also finally organized my own LARP, named Tiair.
I was hectic before the game began and quite sure that it would go awry every possible and impossible way, resulting with my being drowned in the nearby stream. I am alive. It went rather well.
They thought it was a picnic... nevermind about it being mid-October. By the end of the game a coup d'etat had happened and unfortunately every person who might have been pregnant with the heir to the throne got killed. I actually intended to have them run away.
I think that some inside jokes from that game are going to last forever.
Last Thursday I was forced to kick some annoying girls out of the mathematics club. The other teacher of the club (and my fellow Game Master) said we must barricade the door with a broom and an ashbin. Those things were really and successfully used to barricade a door during the LARP. We had a laughing bout. When I repeated the advice to one of the teachers-in-training, who also participated, she started laughing, too. Others were verrry puzzled.

It also seems that one of my schoolmates is dead. It is really frightening. Having old relatives die is sad, but understandable. But a high school senior dying is plain creepy.
Elegy is written for her. I did not knew her personally, but the situation made me write it.

The best book I've read lately is 'The Iron King' by Maurice Druon. The first novel of the series of seven, it is about Philip the Fair, king of France who destroyed Knights Templar and had serious problems with adulterous daughters-in-law. I especially like the style of the book. It is easily flowing and engages the reader.
"The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray" is close in goodness. Somewhat steampunkish alternative history with its own version of Jack the Ripper and Cthulhu gods is way too good to put down.

It is feature time, since I promised to feature the winners of Cataclysm-X's Couples and Duos Contest. I got no place and features are not very pretty without a sub, but who cares?
First place: darkona-goth.deviantart.com/ar… by DARK0NA
Second place: lion83.deviantart.com/art/Two-… by Per-Svanstrom
Third place: mitchellnelson.deviantart.com/… by mitchellnelson
Fourth place: asiajunkieasia.deviantart.com/… by Ladowska
Fifth place: aevitas.deviantart.com/art/A-G… by aevitas
Sixth place: fizzymilkshake.deviantart.com/… by fizzymilkshake This one is literature!

I hope you are having nice time.