Updates and a Rather Kind Punishment

Hello, readers.

Frankly, it has been much too long.

First, updates are in order.

I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I'm already ridiculously busy as it is, but I've decided to take on the challenge. The plot is still a bit fuzzy and requires much sorting out, but I will be sure to share portions of it as I write. Moving on...

A certain event has occurred, as many of you probably already know, between the time that that the last blog was posted and now. Wait for it. Waaait for iiit...

I MET JOHN GREEN.

*celebratory explosions of happy dancing and eating of peeps*

I didn't truly come to terms with the fact that I was meeting John until about two days beforehand. The whole experience had seemed so distant for so long that I had become numb to the news, but I properly spazzed when I started to gather my books together for him to sign (Yes, I created my bookstack days in advance). The entire day preceding the evening signing, I was in a trance. My focus was purely on getting through the day, playing my Powderpuff game (We won 27-0), and meeting John.

I arrived at Books & Books promptly at six o' clock, took a seat in the front row and waited. I was deep in conversation with some Nerdfighters who had driven 2 hours from Jupiter, Florida to see him when John nonchalantly waltzed into the room with his Powerbook in tow. I didn't realize it was him at first, for he was wearing the same colour green as a group of the employees. But, once I did knock myself out of the initial state of shock, I took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. At that point, this was the only one worth keeping.

From there, he tested the internet in the back room, returned, set up his computer for the BlogTV broadcast, and began.

I did take video of most of the night, but I shall not embed them all here. I will, however, link you to the YouTube playlist I created for the footage of the event.

Following a reading of Paper Towns and a Q&A session, we lined up to get our books signed. Naturally, I fought through the crowd and worked my way up to almost the front of the fangirl/fanboy blob that had formed at the 2 foot by 2 foot table that had been set up for John. On said table stood John's laptop in all its shiny, Apple glory. I took it upon myself to start speaking to the lovely people in the main room on BlogTV and made some shoutouts (UnityOfEffect, ChristianTheHeretic, and of course, you, Adam). My dear friend, Victoria, then joined me in entertaining our virtual guests. One highlight of the whole experience was Rosi recognising me! It was a minor detail, but I was a little flattered. :] I had to say goodbye to the main room eventually and take my place, book bag in hand, in front of John.

I started out with placing only two books on the table.

Little did he know that I had four others in my bag. I didn't want to frighten him, you know? We made small talk (mostly about my taking over BlogTV for a bit, him thanking me for buying all these books, him scratching out Emily Lockhart's and Maureen's name when signing Dramarama and Let it Snow). I took this picture of us hastily before I had to leave.

On my way out, I saw the sign publicising the event to the public. I asked the store manager if I could have it, and she, rather quizzically, allowed me to take it home and cherish it forever. Well, I don't think she said it that, but that's how it sounded to me. I rode home in the car accompanied by all my spoils.

That's all that is going to be said about that, Adam. I don't want to upset you any further. Really, I don't. It's the raging fangirl in me that's blogged about the experience, I swear.

This blog is coming to an end. I believe I'm going to be having curry in a moment or so, so I shall bid you farewell, readers.

DFTBA,
♥,

Reese

P.S. PUNISHMENT INFORMATION: Adam, I'm going to be very kind. Too kind, actually. You were moving house, and that's very stressful. I cannot possibly punish you cruelly. For your punishment, I'd like you to reply to my last blog as you would normally, but you must write another blog written entirely in haikus. It can be about whatever you please and can contain images, but everything must be written in the short, lovely, and Japanese form of poetry, the haiku. Not too bad, is it? I desperately hope it won't be of much inconvenience or result in too much suffering.

Tree-saw has returned bearing funny pictures and prolix dreams.

It has been entirely too long since I have written one of my Consequent Bloggers blogs. As one half of this Nerdfighter collaboration, I feel as if I've let you down by leaving you hanging for over a month. I cannot be excused entirely, but I do have my reasons. Mostly, my absence has been due to a combination of deciding on an answer to your last question (which was, actually, surprisingly difficult) and my terrible procrastination, a habit I must break as soon as possible. I'm sorry for making you wait, but I'm back and ready to head into this project again at full speed. Wow. I'm making this sound like we're steering a large aquatic vessel.

Those who have read the last few editions of Consequent Bloggers are aware of my punishment, the entirely-painful, annoying, pout-inducing punishment that I had to endure for...wait for it...one day. I know I sound absurd, for this was a generally simple challenge that is completed my millions of indifferent preteens everyday. To me, communicating with someone should require effort. Does it really take that long to use vowels in words like "people" and "text"? Can it be that much of an inconvenience to utilize commas and apostrophes? I just can't wrap my mind around how they can get through the day talking like that over the internet or through text messages. The upsides are 1.) I have completed the punishment with success and lived and 2.) I will, most likely, never have to be punished again (after this one, I have no idea what Adam will have planned, and I don't want to find out). Moving on.

I'm very glad that you've accompished moving house (and connecting to the internet rather quickly, might I add). The news about the stereo, however, made me sad. House thieves are just pirates without the plus side of having an abundance of eye patches and rum available to them and the epic, wooden ships. Tsk.

Adam, could you possibly be more adorable? I'm just not sure by looking at those pictures.

Alright, because I've been away for so long, some updates are in order, non? Just two, I promise.

1. I spent at least 5 hours in a bookstore with three of my friends awaiting the release of Breaking Dawn, the final instalment of the Twilight saga. Now, I like Twilight, don't get me wrong, but I'm not all fangirly for it like I was during the three other midnight book releases to which I've been (all of them Harry Potter [OOTP, HBP, and DH]). It was a great night with my comrades, nevertheless. We even got interviewed for a local teen magazine that none of us heard of before! I made sure that I plugged Nerdfighters, John and Hank, and the Five Awesome Girls while they spoke to me, for they all (mostly 5AG) suggested that I put Twilight on my to-read shelf. I've been stopped at Chapter 31 for the past three days, though. I blame your amazing writing, Maureen (I finished Girl at Sea this morning). I will be finished with the book in the next couple of days, hopefully.

2. Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, and Stephen Sondheim. Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, and Stephen Sondheim. Coming here. Near my city. Next year. In the months of February and March, respectively. Need I say more? 'T'will be surreal. Fiercely surreal.

Now, I'll be turning back the elephant in the room. (I've never actually used that idiom. Hmm.)

QUESTION 6:

Apart from Emma Thompson, who is your favourite actor/actress, and why?

Now, I'm paying close attention to the wording of this question. You asked what my favourite actor/actress is and not the best actor/actress in my opinion. My favourite actor is, not surprisingly, Alan Rickman. Alan's body of work is positively astounding. His film and television career started 30 years ago and is still going strong. He has also appeared in over 50 plays. Plus, who can resist that strong, mellifluous voice (which was caused by the very tight jaw he had when he was younger; it is considered a speech impediment) he has? I've decided to include some visuals along with the textual answer to your question.

My Favourite Images of Alan:

Classic. Clean. Alan.

Alan is happy dancing, maybe?

Alan with Richard Attenborough doing...I have no idea what.

Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. Yes.

My own illustration. Huzzah!

Now, it's my turn, Adam.

Question 6:

Have you ever had a dream you could remember distinctly? If you have, can you describe it for (the readers) and me? Illustrations are very much appreciated.

I recently had a dream that I could distinctly recall. It was unnerving how detailed everything was.

The dream was set in 1980, yet I couldn't really tell by what I saw or what occurred in the dream. Let's name the main character Dream Reese (she is never given a name). So, Dream Reese looked exactly like me but dressed differently. We were completely different people mentally. Anyways, the dream began from Dream Reese's perspective looking up towards the ceiling. She was sitting on the floor of a subtly ornate hallway with white walls and opulent crown moulding. The floor was carpeted blue and bronze in a Victorian sort of pattern. The lighting in the hallway seemed to glow gold. About six feet to Dream Reese's left was a stretch of blindingly-shiny, white tile flooring with a ceiling-to-floor window looking out onto the water. This body of water was a remarkable sight. Ocean-like yet entirely consisting of freshwater. Into the water, from a point in the large, doughnut-shaped structure that was the building, descended a racing green, wooden staircase onto a large, free-standing platform of the same colour in the same material as the staircase. Now, I must describe the building before I proceed in the narrative. It is oblong in shape with a hollow center. There were many strange qualities about this building. For one, it was separated into two parts: a public, residential area and a private mansion. Second, the mansion looked like this:

This is the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, USA, by the way. I've actually been there.

It was connected to the residential area like a diamond in a ring, protruding and gorgeous out of something mildly plain. Thirdly, the entire structure was suspended above the water about twenty feet by thick wooden planks. The building was also extremely white on the outside, completely brilliant. Lastly, the structure was isolated, an island with no access to civilization outside of this glamourous little universe they've created. Back to Dream Reese...

As she got up from the floor, our perspective changed. We are now looking at her; we can see her entire body in relation to the landscape. As she rises from the floor, two people run, in a frolicking manner, down the hallway, one male and one female, roughly 20-something years old, holding hands. Now, I'm not sure how, but we recognize them to be brother and sister. They live in the mansion, and have one other sister that we never hear from or see during the course of the dream. The male was wearing dark-blue, almost indigo, dress pants with a white Oxford shirt and black patent leather shoes. His sister was wearing a linen dress in orange-scarlett with clotted-cream-coloured trim. Yes, I remember exactly what they were wearing (illustrations to follow). They ran straight through the front door with one quick turn of the key without so much as one look at Dream Reese. Curious, Dream Reese followed. The front door was extremely magnificent, over-sized and was this colour. I'm not quite sure what happened between looking at the front door and ending up on the floor in the middle of this room, but I can only make rational assumptions (Victoria, my real-life Nerdfighter confidante, thought I had apparated). The room was enormous with very high ceilings and two swinging doors that faced each other on the far left of the room. There were large French doors on opposite sides of the room as well. Bursting from one of the swinging doors, triumphantly, came a regal woman dressed in an, almost, military-style uniform. Here, I provide a visual.

As a huge surprise to me, this woman looks exactly like someone I know; she just looks the same. As soon as she entered from one side of the room, her two children (the ones we saw before, still holding hands) rush through the door opposite her. She said something inaudible to them, and the two of them left. Looking around the room, her eyes locked on me. Whispering, yet still far away, she stated, "Stay as long as you'd like." Then, the woman ran out of the room. Its carpet was jade and navy blue for those who would like to know.

The dream becomes fuzzy again here. I end up at the opposite side of the mansion on a different day. I'm standing, staring at the locked entrance in a sort of trance-like state. All of sudden, I start moving towards an unnoticed part of the entrance. I push down on one corner to reveal a secret opening to the room adjacent to the one she had just left. What did she discover (forgive me for going all sermocinatrix on you)? A vintage bowling alley filled with people dressed like they were all from the twenties and thirties. Waiters, who all looked like tuxedoed Frank Sinatras with skinny moustaches, floated throughout the room carrying trays of cocktails and passing around cigarettes drawn from long, shallow, open boxes that hung from their necks. The party was a mixture of sport and mingling (which is basically a sport in itself). Everyone was standing around in small, intimate circles drinking and gossiping while occasionally taking turns throwing a ball down the lane. This place had the same glow as the hallway in which we began our story. Dream Reese crawled through that 3x3 space she found and marveled in what she saw. She took her place, quietly in the corner, and observed. As Dream Reese glanced towards her left, the regal woman of the mansion, wearing the most glorious gown and fur wrap, weaved carefully in and out of the crowd coming towards her determinedly. The woman of the mansion stopped in her tracks about 3 feet in front of Dream Reese, and looked straight passed her. She had a look of anger and shame on her face that was directed towards someone behind her. Slowly, the people in the room silenced and became very still; they turned their heads to witness what was occuring in the far corner. Dream Reese was the last one to have the nerve to turn her head and see who was right behind her. The brother and sister. The children of the woman of the mansion. They still held hands (honestly, I thought they were into incest) and looked at Dream Reese as if she was the scum of the earth, an intruder onto their precious, pristine territory. The woman of the mansion carefully turned her expression from her children to Dream Reese. Her face had changed; it was nearly apologetic. The woman turned her head from view and walked away. The end.

I woke up at that point. I figured out later what had happened exactly. The woman doesn't mind that I'm hanging around her mansion, but her kids, obviously do. In the last scene, the children had done something to sabotage Dream Reese (I didn't find out what), and their mother knows it and is disgusted with them. The ending feels incomplete, but that's how it happened, so don't attack (a lot, at least) in the comments. Here are some more illustrations.

This is my own original illustration. The top left figure is Dream Reese. The figure on the far right is the woman of the mansion, and on the very bottom is her daughter.

This one just explains the colours (all of them mixed by me) of all the costumes and who is who.

This the gorgeous gown that the woman of the mansion wears in the bowling alley scene. The children and Dream Reese don't change costume, by the way. I forgot to say that earlier.

This is the colour I mixed for the gown.

I am definitely wrapping this blog up right here. I think I'm trying to make up for all the lack of blog around here. I hope that this didn't bore you too much. I've just spent 5 hours writing all of this and adding pictures, so I hope that someone benefited, even if it's just me.

Thank you for reading (even if you just scrolled through the dull bits)!

Looking forward to your next blog,

♥,

Reese

P.S. What do you think? A new banner perhaps?

May 18th, 2008: How Could My Response Blog Possibly Follow That?!

Hello, Dolls!

For anyone new that's reading this (which I highly doubt, in the best sense, of course) and is a bit confused as to what we're doing, please refer to the last two blogs in this series of instalments. We (Adam says it more eloquently) try to explain it as best we possibly can. It's not confusing; the project is still developing, I think.

How could I possibly be consequent to that blog?! His description is absolutely perfect. I remember hearing that song for the first time when I was nine.; it immediately captivated me. Songs like that entirely altered my views on music. I realized that it could be more than mediocrity coming from a computer-enhanced synthesizer; music is a science, a great coalescence of specific sounds and tones, sometimes accompanied by carefully mulled over lyrics. Magnificent. Just magnificent.

The format needs work, I think. If you have any suggestions, I'm ready to comply. :]

QUESTION 2:

What real person, alive or dead, do you most relate to?

I cannot believe that I'm actually going to say this (I'm not worthy to grace the ground she walks on), but I would have to say that I relate to Emma Thompson the most. She is a strong, driven woman in an industry that is known for objectifying and prostituting individuals, particularly of the female sex. I can identify with her views and goals. She doesn't work towards fame or money. Emma is person who works purely for her art. In an interview she revealed that she's not very rich (by celebrity terms, anyways) at all; all she has is a house for her family and a small sum of money in her savings. The rest goes to charities and such. I absolutely love that. She's not caught up in the idolatry of disgustingly-large sums of money. Along with her views on the separation of her art and the media, we share a lot in common. We both are actresses, writers, extreme lovers of Jane Austen, witty, thirsty for knowledge, hilarious, and not afraid to be different or controversial. Emma Thompson personifies what every celebrity should be but is entirely not.

Well, I could go on and on about Thompson for hours, but I won't because this site must have some sort of word limit. Both Adam and I know very well that we could go on writing without desisting.

Adam, about the video embedding, you have to go to edit HTML when composing your blog and enter the code there. I hope that helped. :]

I love the banner. It's perfect.

QUESTION 3:

If you were given two tickets to travel to any place at any time (fictional or non-fictional), who would you take, where would go you and why?

This question is not very difficult to answer, but it does require a lot of sorting through adored locations and their glory years. I finally have come down to one and an honourable mention. I know that this sounds like such a stock answer, but I'm going to say it anyways. I want to go to the Wizarding World. I want to be in the same land as Harry Potter.

Hello, my name is Reese, and I am a Harry Potter fangirl.

I would want it to be right after the war and want to be involved with the new beginning of a life without the kind of fear Voldemort brought upon the people of the wizarding community. Id probably bring my friend Victoria with me, because I feel that she would benefit from it and enjoy it most (we both are very avid Potter readers). We would travel into the world by thestral or magical train to the Burrow. From there we could use the Floo Network to get around.

My second choice would be the world of The Borrowers. When I was younger, I wore my copies of the series down to their delicate little bindings. I just think that there something attractive about being very small in a very big world. I also like the idea of using thimbles as cooking pots.

I'm quite interested in reading your response, Elated Mango Jam (very clever). I hope that this response hasn't been that pathetic.

By the way, I leave for my trip on May 27th (I return on the 12th of June), so I may not be able to respond to your blog within the time limit unless you respond before I leave. No pressure, I just didn't want to leave you hanging for a couple of weeks. :]

I can't wait for your response,

Reese