Human Interaction Is Hard, Okay

My family and I went out for the day to go Christmas shopping to eat a nice lunch together. (Yes, we do our shopping approximately 4 days before Christmas. Everyone does, right? Haha ahem anyway....)

We went to this awesome restaurant that serves some of the greatest quesadillas and salads on this planet. I was really excited to eat the meal, which must have led my brain to my first mental fumble of the day, which went something like this:

Waitress: Soup or salad?

Me: *hearing "super salad" and thinking, "yep, I definitely want a super salad hur hur hur"* Yes please.

Waitress: .....So which do you want?

Me: *stares blankly until my mum and sister tell me what she actually said and I start breaking down with laughter* *chokes out the word "Salad."*

We ordered desserts (as seen above) and, well...

Waitress: You guys enjoy your desserts!

Me: *automatically* Thanks! You too!

She was sweet about it though, and laughed along with everyone else as they laughed at me as I laughed at myself.

Stay warm! Eat super salads! Only four more days til Christmas!

//Your friendly neighborhood Embers//

Twinkly Lights and Hard Crunchy Bites

#this is the face of pure happiness #NOT

Merry Christmas! I hope you all are feeling the lovely Christmas spirit and enjoying the smells of cinnamon and gingerbread cookies baking. I sure am, mhuahaha... *cackles as I nom another gingerbread cookie*

Okay, speaking of which, I BURNT THE COOKIES BY ACCIDENT. *cries* Note to self: when your family gets a new oven installed, do NOT bake cookies from a recipe that you have only tried once before in your life. You are still not sure a) how hot the oven gets or b) how long or short of a time the cookies actually need to bake in the oven. Ahem. (It's all good, we covered them in frosting, so you can barely even tell anyway. ;)

Anyway, make snowmen, deck the halls, bake cookies but be careful and have an awesome holiday with your friends/family/loved ones! Merry Christmas once again!

//Your friendly neighborhood Embers//

In Memoriam...Of A Stereo

We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of a mighty fallen soldier.

My beautiful, lovely stereo system, who has officially given up the ghost.

...Yeah. My stereo system died. I received this handsome thing for Christmas a couple years ago, and I have loved it every second it was still working. I used it almost every day whenever I was crafting, drawing, or just being in my room. It had two large, lovely speakers and very useful Bluetooth capabilities.

It basically worked perfectly up until a month ago, when it just wouldn't turn on. This little guy was just done. #reallywhatcanyoudo #technicaltantrum

Yesterday my dad opened it up and checked inside to make sure the problem wasn't fixable before we threw it out. (Sadly, he called it. This Insignia radio was declared officially dead.) I will say, the 'tech surgery' was scary and everything, but it was awesome seeing all of its 'guts'. Seriously, just look at this beautiful chaos. XD

We've been through a lot, this little stereo and I. It's so hard to see him go.

I'll never forget you, little buddy. *presses hand to heart* So long, so long, and thanks for all the music. X)

//Your friendly neighborhood Embers//

I Actually Fell Off a Hill

'Ello mates! :)

Okay. So. Long story short, my friends and I went to a park in search of a good swingset. We found an awesome park that had a sledding hill nearby. It was an arduous climb up, but of course we had to scale it! (There was no snow – we just wanted to check out the view.)

So, I happened to be wearing my Sherlock-y coat, and the sharp angle of the hill just reminded me of a certain shot from (you guessed it!) the Reichenbach Fall. So I did what any decent fangirl would do.

I made my friend take pictures of me being Sherlock. XD

#nailed it

Okay, so it might not look it, but... this hill was really steep.

Really steep.

Aaand I was leaning forward. (I had to get the full Sherlock effect, right?)

Well.
(I'm not kidding, guys. In this shot I am falling. Down a hill. This is what we fangirls do for a photo op.)

(Spoiler alert: I was okay. ;D)

Have you ever actually fallen down a hill? Please describe. xD

Do you guys miss swingsets too?

>> Your friendly neighborhood Embers

#I Chose the Fandom Life

AHAAA I finally did it – I carved an apple like Moriarty did in The Reichenbach Fall! 

(I was crazy proud of this thing okay it was ridiculous. I couldn't stop giggling to myself. XD )

If you haven't seen Reichenbach... well, you're lucky. Your heart will most likely still be intact! XD Oh dear. I watched this episode of Sherlock (BBC) with my family a month-ish ago. I was an emotional wreck after watching this episode!! (And still kind of am if I think about it too much.) It's really good – fantastically written, really well-acted... but wow, it hurts. (Why do I still recommend this show to everyone I meet...?)

Anyway, that's all for now. :) Don't be boring, blame Anderson, and have an awesome Thursday!

-- Your friendly neighborhood Embers --

Sketch Compilation – Dragons, Star Trek, Sherlock

Hey all! I've been sketching a lot recently and I wanted to share some of the pictures with ya.

I love to design characters from TV shows as dragons, so that's mainly what you'll see here. The two fandoms in the sketches here are Star Trek (which is a very recent fandom for me) and Sherlock. Hope you like them!

First, the Star Trek stuff: 

Jaylah, from the newest Star Trek movie Beyond

Captain Kirk

Spock as a little wrymling!! He's facing a Vulcan elder.

"'You did well, Spock.'

For a half breed, came the unspoken comment."

And now for some Sherlock sketches – the first picture is of Moriarty.

"the reckless king"

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know which one's your favorite! :)

>> Your friendly neighborhood Embers

Purple, Cashew-Scented Fingers || Jammy Dodgers

DO YOU SEE THAT FIRST PICTURE? Notice how both my hands are in the shot? That was a timed option on my iPod. Yes, I was holding my iPod with my chin. XDD

Anyway. In relation to a craft I'm doing right now, I had to cut shapes out of plastic. The closest plastic material I could find was an empty container of cashews. I traced the shapes I needed onto it with – ta-da – yes, a purple marker. Well, the more I cut the plastic and held the container to steady it, the more the ink rubbed off onto my hand (as well as the residual cashew dust!). The result was nutty-smelling purple-Smurf fingers. XP Worth it!

•

My friends and I made Jammy Dodgers today! (Find recipe here.) Yes, the Eleventh Doctor inspired this.

Me: Guys wait I want to get a picture of these before we eat them

*They respond by making sure to get their hands into every shot*

To get revenge I decided to post the pictures here. >:D

Have an awesome weekend! :)

>> Your friendly neighborhood Embers

Watercolor Weekend

Watercolor is amazing! I've been using some paints that my grandmother gave me. Above: A Dalek with a Gallifreyan headdress (which has to do with a Doctor Who fanfiction I'm writing) and a peacock! The wrinkly paper that results is one of my favorite parts. X)

Music I'm listening to: Jailbreak by Awolnation, This is the Future by Owl City, Barking at the Moon by Jenny Lewis

What have you been doing over the weekend? Have you ever done watercolor?

>> Your friendly neighborhood Embers<<

The Saga Continues – My Room

Hey, I never gave you all the update! I bought my bookshelf!

I built it mostly myself *casually brushes off shoulders* (...HAH! let's be real. I had a lot of help from my mum. XD) But look how impressive I am, guys. I even used tools and stuff.

The sonic screwdriver – a vital tool for any workman's belt.

We actually had to move the bookshelf from where it was originally meant to go – when we put it in the original corner, it looked way scary and imposing.

So it was moved to the other wall, taking the vanity's place (and the vanity scooted over in front of the window).

Anyway, I'm very happy with the bookshelf! I'm glad I finally got it. It has very nice, simple paneling detail on the sides, and the whole thing feels very sturdy. Just to give you guys an update!

>><<

In unrelated news, editing is happening on my manuscript!! Whoo! *sighs* Do you ever do the thing where you change the plot of your story at the very last minute?? I DO. It's annoying.

Oh, The Joys of Writing

Hello everybody! Again! I've dropped back into the blogging hemisphere. And, clearly, I'm fiddling with the design again. Heh... just wanted to say it's good to be back!


I've been doing heaps of writing lately. For several different stories I've have to look up some things (to make sure that facts are accurate, etc.) Does anyone else have to Google some weird stuff on the Internet just for story-related purposes?

In the past week alone, I've looked up:
1) medical uses for lemon concentrate
2) tools needed for lockpicking
3) unique girl names that start with the letter k
4) animal with largest eyeball in animal kingdom
. . . all purely for writing purposes. xD Please tell me you have also had to look up some obscure stuff before!


>> Your friendly neighborhood Embers

My Weird Obsession

I have this weird obsession with taking pens apart. I don't usually take a pen completely apart like this while it still works, but once its ink runs out, I completely deconstruct the thing. (There actually isn't any ink left in the cartridge... it only looks like it's full.)

Also, I'm not at all opposed to having a cat on my desk. :3 Nova wanted to join in on the pictures.

What's a weird obsession of yours? I'm interested. :D

>> Ze Embers <<

The Saga of My Room

Hi everyone! I'm getting a bookshelf this weekend!!

Isn't it such a handsome little thing?? I've been looking forward to getting this for a while now – I'm currently improvising by using the top shelf-part-thing of a piece of furniture I already own.

*coughs* I was actually meant to get it last weekend, but *grumps* I got sick. 

Isn't that just how life works? So, as I'm writing this, I'm sniffling and trying to battle this cold. XP

... Please ignore the sad, empty fish tank beside it. There are a lot of things in flux right now.

I'll tell you all when it gets here and how it looks, all that fun jazz. ;) I've been waiting for a long time to get my room into check, and finally things are movin' along! Wish me luck! :D

>> P.S. Dirgun, wherever you are, hope you had an awesome birthday, my friend. <<

The world was wet

via

I like rainstorms.
No, correction – I like lightning storms. Every time the sky flashes, I feel a pulse of hot purple electricity pump through my veins, just for a second, and it is magical.

The wind from my window came warm, wild, and smelled of young summer.

The sky in the distance rumbled, like the uneasily empty stomach of some terrible beast.

First there comes the flash of bright, impossible white that fills the sky, like God is taking a picture of the world.
Then, after the silence of sniggering raindrops comes the bellow of raw laughter. An invisible fist beats the taut skin of the sky like a drum, and the world just reverberates with the sound.

>>

It rained and thundered last night. Excited about our first thunderstorm of the year, I was awake at an hour way past being considered normal, by the light of my iPod, writing the above blurb in a notebook.
Summer is coming, and it is good. :D

Do you ever stay up past 12:00 just because you were suddenly struck with writing inspiration?

Do you like lightning storms?

journaling >> my weekend

Working in my journal = deliciously messy desk

Sketch of the inside of Eleven's TARDIS – soon to be colored!

I absolutely love painting in my journal... the pages get wrinkly and crisp, but the dramatic color is so worth it. X)

I hope you all are having an awesome weekend! :D

>> Embers

happy >> tagged :D

Even though I'm very late in replying to this, I still wanted to reply to Lady Emily's happy tag! Thank you for tagging me!

books: OH NO I CAN'T PICK THEM. Um... the Naughtiest Girl In the School, by Enid Blyton. Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury, How To Train Your Dragon (the whole series) by Cressida Cowell. Oh, an also, this is a little bit of a kiddy choice, but the 'Dear Dumb Diary' book series is actually really hilarious. And it makes me happy, so there we go. XD

words: Raxacoricofallapatorious (haha, that had to be the first one), fantastic, geronimo, dizzy, algorithm, yellow, écoute (French for listen), endoplasmic reticulum, facetious

movies and tv: Doctor Who, definitely. Also Sherlock, House M.D., and How To Train Your Dragon. Also, ahaha.... *ahem* the Wombles. (its for kids but it is so so adorable)

scents: cold outside air, butter and vanilla, pine needles, cinnamon, upturned grass (like when you rip it out of the poor ground like a two-year old. Aah X), baking banana bread, baking cookies

songs: anything by Owl City, Sigh No More (by David Tennant and Catherine Tate), We Go Together (also David Tennant and Catherine Tate), Hold on Forever (PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS), TobyMac in general, Geronimo by Sheppard, and the Cave Johnson remix

miscellany: falling snow, my cat's soft fur, my River Song's sonic screwdriver, Christmas pajama pants, weekends, writing, my sister, laughing, the French language, this blog community in general :3


>> Embers <<

"don't eat me" >> cookie cutters

#that awkward blogging moment when you photograph a banana on the floor because lighting is inadequate on the counter

First, let me explain the banana thing – in my house, bananas are widely and deeply loved. For one to ensure that she will have the banana for breakfast the next day, she must carve a message into the prey itself to fend off other predators. All it takes is a careful fork tine and a slight indent in the banana's skin. ;)

My brilliant plan worked. I did eat the banana today, just saying.

Aren't these cookie cutters the cutest things? I got all of these for about $12 at an old-fashioned country store that sells candies, candles, and other neat things like twig pencils (which I also bought!). Clearly among my favorites are the hashtag, the t-rex, the hand (TenToo, anyone? Any Whovians out there?) and, of course the bow tie.

*faint shouting from the Eleventh Doctor about how bow ties are cool*

What's your favorite cutter of the bunch? :3

*this post inspired heavily by the lovely Sarah. I hope you don't mind I borrowed your style!*