To All You Perfect People (and all you real ones, too)...

I suffer from indecision.  What that means is that I don't always know what to do.  What that means is that I do a lot of different things.

So, I assume that at least a couple of you will have noticed that my blog is different.  Yet again.  Well, this is the last time.  I've finally found one I can live with.  The flower was just tiding me over until I got a better picture.

So, if you're thinking What an ugly picture.  She has no taste, feel free to leave!  However, if you're thinking That's a pretty cool picture; I'd like to see some more, look below!

As you can see, a beautiful evening!  I actually took these last night.  My dad got home from work really late, and he said the stars were beautiful, but I unfortunately was not awake to see them.

I'm no photographer, but I do like taking pictures of the sky and the woods and that kind of thing, so as we get more into Fall, I'll probably be posting a lot more pictures.  I especially love sunsets.

I hope you enjoy!  Goodbye!

Anna

We are People

So, what most of you don't know is that I'm a member of a website called The 39 Clues.  The 39 Clues is a multiplatform book series from Scholastic, which means they have the books, a forum, and games.  I am very active on the forum, or MB (Message Board), as we call it.  You cannot hope to understand what it is like if you have never been.  It has grown out of T39C and into itself.  It's its own community, with T39C at its core, but if T39C stopped being made, the MB could continue.

Okay, that whole long explanation is to introduce a...well, I can't call it a speech.  I'm not exactly sure what it is.  I'll call it a talk.  Except for that doesn't really apply either.  So it's a type.

Anyway, this type was something I made for my fellow MBers during a really low time on the MB.  You won't get a lot of this because it's for a very specialized audience, but the central point is true for everyone.  I hope you enjoy it.

I think some of the spacing is a little weird, but bear with it.

We are People

Hey, y'all.  In case you don't know me (this applies to most people) I'm Anna, and I've been on the MB a little over a year.  I have something to say to everyone.



Lately, I've seen a lot of suicidal posts and learned a lot about people's lives.  It makes me really sad.  Also, there's the whole thing about people leaving the MB.  They come here for a reason--if they're leaving, they haven't found what they're looking for.





I'm a homeschooled Christian.  I'm not exposed to much.  And this...this makes me feel a lot of things.  Children so often feel unwanted.  They feel rejected, or, worse, ignored.  I know a little bit about how this feels, but I'm not here to complain--I"m here to help.





Listen, y'all.  I'm sure you've seen the posts.  So many MBers want to help people in pain.  What hurts us hurts you.  But...I think it's time I told you something.





The MB is awesome.  It's a place where we can use only our words to build a reputation, where nerds actually fit in.  But it's also a place where you have to work to be seen and where things can be hard.  But the MB is built on people, not words.





PEOPLE.





So I'm going to bring up some agent names.





Gabby.


Alex Writer.


Layna.


Vanessa.

Justin.





All MBers who brought something so important to the MB, and then left.  Gabby made peace between the branches and made the MB more of a union.  Alex Writer took Fyre's and Ashes' invention of Alter Egos and turned them into the Protectors and Lexians.  Layna turned the MB into a close-knit community with her associations and stories.  Vanessa revolutionized Amian with her unfinished story, Gold Digger.  Justin organized the MB and made agents feel like they really mattered.





I was here when they were here.  I watched them leave, and I couldn't do anything about it.  When they joined the MB, none of them expected to leave.  Layna, especially, insisted that she would never leave.





She was one of my dearest friends.  (My other bof was Andy, who also left.  The reason she isn't on the list is because I was only mentioning really well-known Mbers.)





So, here you are, reading this, and I've got you depressed.  If these people left, why should anyone stay?  I already said that the MB is built on people.  How can it stay strong if all the people are leaving?  I'll tell you why.





You are a person.





Yeah, that's it.  That's the reason.  You are a person.  You make the MB strong.  So stand with us.  And make an effort, not only to enjoy yourself, but to make the Message Board better.





Yes, these people left.  Yes, we will mourn their absence forever.  But the main thing is that they were here.  Someday you'll leave, too.  But on that day, be happy that you were here, and for now, make a change.





For anyone who's suicidal, please rethink this.  You are a person.  Isn't that amazing?  You are a person, not just some dumb animal.  You have a choice.  Even if the only people who care about you are on the internet, we do care about you.





Because you are a person.





Life is worth living, and it's our choices that determine its direction.  You can change things.





And everyone, please remember something for me--even when your friends are gone, even when your family ignores you, you are yourself.  And God is still there.





When my friends, Andy and Layna left, I was stricken.  We had been the unbreakable trio.  I and Andy were Layna's best friends, I and Layna were Andy's best friends, and Layna and Andy were my best friends.  I didn't know why to stay.





But here I am, and you're reading this.  So please take strength from this.  It may be hard to recover, but you can.  I know because I did.

Take strength in knowing that you can make choices.  Unlike animals, you have a spirit.  These things matter.

I hope you realize your worth.

~Anna

New Look!

Okay, I'll admit, I am having a hard time writing Snow White's What Really Happened.  I'm sorry.  I'm having some sort of Writer's Block which involves a lack of the proper whimsical imagination necessary for this sort of thing.  Don't worry, I'll figure it out soon.

In the meantime, I updated my blog!  I noticed that the template I was using was sort of overused, so I changed it.  If you were on yesterday, you may have noticed that I changed it to a red template, but I've changed it again to my own picture.  I hope you like it!

In the meantime, tell me if you have any blog post suggestions for after Snow White.

Find out the backstory of a terrible *snort* criminal!

Author's Note

I am going to be continuing the What Really Happened series with Snow White in just a few days.  Today, however, I am doing something different.  One day, when I was young and playing with my little siblings, we decided to interview each other.  This was the interview with William, who insisted on being called William Samuel Tum-tum and saying some strange things.  Patience interviewed him and I sat off to the side and wrote it down so fast my fingers started smoking.  This is it, word for word.  Please make sure that all the milk is out of your mouth before you start reading.

Interview with William Samuel Tum-tum

Neighborhood News (made-up newspaper):  How old are you?

William:  Five hundred.

NN:  And how much money did you steal?

W:  652, 000.

NN:  Why did you steal it?

W:  It's what I've been doing my whole life?

NN:  Are you brother-in-law to Grup S. Groover?

W:  Yes.

NN:  Is Grup married?

W:  No.

NN:  Where did you grow up?

W:  California.

NN:  Where do you live?

W:  North Carolina.

NN:  What--when you were little, what did you do?

W:  My parents and brothers and I stole from the bank.

NN:  But you had a sister, right?

W:  My sister didn't marry Grup.  *snores*

NN:  Do you have narcolepsy?

W:  Yes.

NN:  Have you ever been to another country?

W:  New York.

NN:  I said country.

W:  I don't know what a country is.

NN:  Have you, um, William!  This is my exterminator thingy!  William!  Stop that!  William!  William!  Not that!

NN:  Have you ever murdered?

W:  Your brother.

NN:  I don't have a brother.

W:  Do you have a sister?

NN:  No.

W:  Anyway.  Interview me.

NN:  Who did you murder?

W:  My brother.

NN:  His name?
  
W:  Grup.

NN:  Grup isn't your brother.

William had no further remarks to make.

What Really Happened: Rapunzel

Welcome to the second What Really Happened!  These are the missings from the story of Rapunzel.

Missing #1:  What father would give up his child to avoid punishment for stealing?  My guess is that the plant, rapunzel was some sort of drug and that the father had partaken of it.  And he was so addicted that he gave up his own child.

Missing #2:  I would assume that the tower where Rapunzel was kept was at least twenty feet tall.  If it weren't, it wouldn't qualify very well as a "tower" and it would be pretty easy to climb.  Keeping that in mind, along with the fact that the average hair growth is 6 inches per year, it would take her forty years for her hair to grow twenty feet.  

Missing #3:  Every girl with long hair knows that if you don't cut your hair, it will get frizzy and dry.  Forty-year-old hair is not going to stay strong and beautiful, like apparently Rapunzel's did.  Which leads us to our next missing...

Missing #4:  Maybe the witch could have managed it up Rapunzel's hair, endowed with her magical powers, but dry, dead hair is not going to bear a prince's weight, even a skinny prince.  Therefore, the rapunzel plant must have had something in it that kept Rapunzel's hair like it was.

Missing #5:  There are two versions to this part of the story.  In one, Rapunzel remarks that her dress is getting tight around her dress, indicating pregnancy.  In another, she asks the witch why she is so much easier to pull up than the prince.  In both, I think we can agree, Rapunzel could use a little common sense.  Although I must say, in that first version, if Rapunzel is forty years old, of course her dress is getting tight!  She came to live with the witch when she was twelve years old.  Of course, the witch could have been getting her new clothes.  She could have just been overweight, too.  Did the witch even think of that?

Missing #6:  Let me just ask you a question?  If you were blind, could you wander for months through the wilderness and survive?  I didn't think so.  The prince must have found someone to lead him through.

Thank you for reading.  If you have any comments or suggestions, please voice them.

What Really Happened: Cinderella

Have you ever read a fairy tale?  I'm sure you have.  I'm sorry for your pain.  The thing is, fairy tales sadly lack believability.  Let me tell you some things that obviously were true but left out in the story of Cinderella.

Missing #1:  Wouldn't Cinderella's neighbors and friends notice that she was now a servant when before she had been nobility?  Her step-family could have bribed them--but you would suppose that there must have been at least one honest person among all her acquaintance.  If they said she was sick they would have tried to visit her.   If she supposedly died, people would have gone to her funeral, which the step-family would not want to spend money on.  They would have had to move to an area of the kingdom entirely unsuitable for visits from old friends.

Missing #2:  Their new house had AWESOME security.  Otherwise, Cinderella would have escaped, even if by accident.  She was a servant, so she knew the ins and the outs of the place.  

Missing #3:  Cinderella was very young when her father died.  Then it would have been much easier to get her to stay a servant.  She also wasn't initially very strong but she became strong through her chores.  Which explains why she was able to run faster than the prince even in a ball gown.

Missing #4:  Cinderella didn't wear the shoes.  They were glass and would break.  Her dress was long enough that this could be concealed.  It's understandable.  Cinderella was a servant girl and was probably not accustomed to shoes, especially glass ones.  She could have hidden them in the folds of her dress, and somehow pinned them there.  When she ran one fell out.  This also helps explain why she could run so fast.  

Missing #5:   Cinderella's feet were oddly shaped.  If they weren't, the shoes would have fit someone else, too.  That's why shoes are mass-made.  But Cinderella's were custom-made, so they were different.

Missing #6:  After this incident Cinderella was forever afraid of coaches, horses, coachmen, and footmen.  She was always afraid that they would suddenly turn into pumpkins, mice, rats, and lizards.


And that's it.  I will be doing several more What Really Happeneds, so stick around.  If you have any suggestions or questions be sure to leave a comment.

Tradition

Why do we cling so strongly to tradition?  The answer is, in a way, obvious.  That's what we've always done.  But there's something deeper there.

We follow tradition because our very selves are molded by others.  And we automatically know that we are not as experienced as others.  So we follow their example, go with the flow.  We create memories that become our real reason for doing tradition.  And stupid traditions that we don't even like?  I can't explain every case, but it's because we hold on to things.  We're afraid that if we let go of something significant in our past, we'll let go of a part of ourselves.  Not to mention the fact that we are attracted to rules.  Humans talk about freedom, but we really can't get along without making some rules.  There is no such thing as absolute freedom.  We are always accountable to ourselves and God. 

And perhaps tradition is one of the rules we make for ourselves, to anchor us down.  Something to hold on to so that we don't get lost in the world.  Of course, traditions aren't the only ways to do that, but they are one of the best.

Whatever happens, we will always create traditions.  They may be family traditions, they may be little rituals you do to decrease your sense of loneliness.  But we are drawn to rules, and a tradition is a rule that some never tire of.