Ants....ew

Just another random thought, think about ants. Thier whole world consists of their colony, their ant mound and the environment around it. Maybe they have a war with another colony, maybe they branch out and colonize new territory. But an ant can never fathom the whole of the earth. It is too big and far beyond the ants capacity to understand. To the ant the whole universe is the colony and the land they search for food. Our universe consists of this solar system, the galaxy and all the galaxies we can see. But what if we are like the ant? What if there is more out there that we just cannot begin to fathom? Is our universe only an ant hill in the grand scheme of things? But, the more important question is, if we are the ant, who, or what, is the human..... and do they have magnifying glasses?

Reflection

In light of the recent election, I got to thinking (a dangerous prospect, I know). Everyone in the US seems so focused on their party winning, their candidate attaining the office. It has been so for years, but I have always found it ridiculous for a country that is all about being united. “A house divided cannot stand” and while that was said about slavery and the conflict between the north and south, it applies to the intense political party competition today. It astonishes me that people truly believe that one way or another is the best way to run a country. How can they come to that conclusion when there is evidence to the contrary all over the place! There is no ‘one way’ that is the right way. In all of human history there has never been a form of government or a policy or set of ideals that has proven to be perfect for every person under it. People can be so different from each other, motivated, or not motivated, by so many different things, be it family, money, love, food, knowledge, whatever. It’s like trying to come up with a mathematical theory that explains everything, from molecular particles to VY Canis Majoris, the largest known star. The differences are just too vast for an all-encompassing frame to fit it.

I don’t mean to say I’m an expert by any means on politics or opposing views. I am the first to admit I don’t pay enough attention to politics and I’m not sure I really have any desire to. But I have gathered, at least to my own reckoning, that one view point is to help people as much as possible even if it might hurt your own success. The other view being to let people make their own way, helping a little, but looking out for yourself. The first view, view A, does not give motive for those in need to better their place in society and hurts those who have actually put in the effort to better themselves, while view B does not help those who actually need it and allows a large gap to occur between those who have and those who have not, the ingredients for pretty much every single revolution in history. So which one is better? No idea, but I don’t think either one is all right or all wrong.

In nature there are no kind and fluffy feelings. If the wolf can kill the baby deer more easily than the old sick deer, it will go after the baby deer. The wolf doesn’t care if the old deer has led a long life and that it is fairer for it to die instead of the baby. The wolf is hungry and needs to feed its pups so it goes after the baby. Since we are human and able to reflect on things like this, able to understand the concept of fairness and rightness, we are compelled to come up with a system that makes sure everyone wins and no one is negatively affected. Which is good, we should always strive to do that, it’s what we do: making order out of chaos. But the other side of that crazy coin is the fact that the laws of nature are called the laws of nature for a reason. You might be able to violate them for a while and come up with something that helps everyone, but eventually nature comes along with a nail studded bat and beats you down, standing over you and laughing at your failed policy. There is an incredibly fine line between doing too much and doing too little, and while we might have gotten close, I don’t think any human society has ever found it. Just my thoughts on this lovely, cold, clear sky day.

Imagery

I just wrote this, inspired by the crazy weather here in my hometown the past few days. I feel it's pretty good, this could possibly go somewhere.... maybe. I guess I'll have to write and see. Haha... see what I did there? Yeah, it was lame, I'll stop now. Here's the bit:

The wind whistled through the pine trees, tossing their branches in a wild, untamed dance. The frost wind spoke of the coming winter as dead-brown pine needles were shaken from still living branches and tossed about in the gale. The inky black of the sky held twinkling steel stars shining coldly, unaffected by the movements and stirrings on the earthly plane. A lone figure looked up briefly at those impassive watchers, pausing in the mad dash it had been consumed by moments before. The figure, hidden by the shadows of the tossed pines clutched a threadbare jacket closer around thin shoulders, searching the black for a guiding light. A shout carried on the wind made the figure spin towards the sound, muscles tensed once more, ready for flight. Another gust of wind roared over the pines and the figured turned away from it, running with the wind, dodging pines and twirling needles as bare feet skidded on the needle littered ground.

 

The figure ran a mile more before slipping to a halt before a large fence whose ominous hum was audible even over the raging wind. The figure glanced around frantically, the shouts growing closer, when a lonely pine near the fence was spotted. This harried pine, most branches stripped almost bare, was left to defy the presence of the man-made fence all on its own, resting near enough so that it’s browning branches drooped over either side of the confining affront to nature. The figure raced towards this lonely protester, briefly flitting into the path of a motion sensor that triggered a floodlight mounted on the fence. In the sudden garish light shadows sprang up, a mockery of the life they were attached to, stretched and distorted and flung against the surrounding landscape as though hoping to meld back into the shadows of the surrounding world. The figure’s small shadow raced alongside, a fleeting companion in the mad dash to the tree. The figure turned once, glancing at the line of trees a hundred feet from the fence, the light playing across the figures face, revealing feminine features, full lips, exotic cheekbones and striking grey eyes. The eyes creased with worry, the lips spread as she gasped for air.

 

A shadow moved beneath the trees and with a strangled cry she turned back and put all her strength into her legs before leaping up and grasping a low hanging branch above her head. She climbed quickly as the shouts grew ever closer, followed now by the sounds of pounding feet and the sharp metallic clicks of weaponry being readied. She reached hand over hand, pushing and pulling her body further up the tree, fighting the wind tossed branches as they bucked beneath her, trying to force her back to the ground where she belonged. She stopped climbing up and moved around the trunk, pausing to look down as the branch below her swayed dangerously. Words trickled through the heart pounding adrenaline, the meaningless shouting suddenly forming words, possibly prodded into meaning by the familiar voice, the familiar tone.

“Sylvia stop! Just- just listen to me, please!” The girl closed her eyes, but didn’t turn to the voice, didn’t move at all, just clung to the shaking tree. The voice continued, seeing her non-action as a response. “Come on, you know this isn’t the way. Come down, let’s just talk about this.” A tear fell from her closed eyes, the voice once a source of comfort and strength now a hurtful thing, a reminder of betrayal and lies; so many awful lies. She shook her head, not even sure if he could see it, the action more to reaffirm her own decision. She faced the trunk and began descending, palms and feet now sticky with sap, scratches and bruises forming from where twigs and thicker branches slapped her as the wind grew suddenly more violent. She was twenty feet from the ground when the voice shouted over the rising wind, a last desperate plea for her reconsideration.

“You know what will happen if you jump down from that tree, please, just don’t do this!” without hesitation she let go and landed solidly upon the ground on the other side of the fence, the hum of the deadly electricity a throb in her ears. She took one last glance at the other side of the fence, the side soaking in the stench of captivity. Her eyes locked with a pair of grey eyes similar to her own, only darker, the grey of the storm clouds the fierce wind was heralding in. And in them was the desperate plea voiced in his words, a plea for her to second guess herself, go back to him and accept the lies he had told her.

“Good bye Allen.” She whispered, the wind tearing the words away before any other ears could hear them. Heart hammering in her chest with fear and exhilaration she spun away towards the waiting shadowy trees on her side of the fence, just as wild and wind tortured as their brethren on the other side, but with the promise of freedom drifting somewhere under their boughs.

Long Time

So, it's been a while... yeah. In my second year of college and boy, is it a busy one! I can only imagine it will get more hectic from here, so it is a surprise that I can find the time to write anything. I've had a story bumping about in my head the past few days so I started just typing away. Then I thought to myself "You know what? It's not amazing, or as well written as I would like, but it has potential." So I've decided to post the first bit of it here, and whoever sees it, sees it. It might even convince me to post some other stuff that I like better. And it might make me write more consistently to keep adding bits of the story on here. Anyway, enough beating around the bush, time to take a deep breath and post the thing! If you read it and like it, awesome! If you don't, well, I'm sorry it wasn't awesome. I scincerely apologize if that's the case. FEAST YOUR EYES!!

The brilliant sun just rising over the trees was heralded with the sound of the great gates of Mathon grinding open. The populace of the city was already bustling about, filling the air above the streets with the ring of hammers from the shipyard, the shouts of merchants pushing their wares on passersby, the creak and grind of wagon wheels over cobble stone streets. In the center of the city the spring fed marble fountain splashed noisily as decorations for the midsummer festival that would kick off that evening were strung about the marble columns ringing the square.

 

Excitement could be felt in the air as people walked by the decorations, calling out to those they knew and making plans for that evening. The decorating always began in the square, then it would drift north to the Wharf district and the docks, the half built ships hung with lights and flowers. Next the Lower district would be transformed with ribbons strung between the tall buildings, bringing color into the usually dark, close streets. Lastly the Upper district would be decked out with large amounts of lights, ribbons and flowers lining the more open streets and grand homes until the whole city would be glowing, welcoming the shortest night and the longest day to follow. It was then, near sunset, that the Hold Lord and his family would emerge from the Great Hall and parade to the town square where Lord Goren would officially start the Midsummer celebration.

 

Workers from the outlying villages slowly trickled into the city through the large gates, and soon their families would be walking through those gates to join the celebration. But one in the crowd passing over the threshold of the city was not there for work or the festivities later on. At first glance the young woman could have been one of a number of young women joining the early morning throng on her way to work as a seamstress or nanny. She had on worn leather boots, a dress that was slightly dirty and torn in a few places but was a very pretty shade of blue, and over that a grey wool cloak that bespoke her travels in the northern holds. She kept the hood of her cloak up as she followed the stream of people through the twisting streets; the old, slightly rundown buildings of the Lower district looming over them and creating an almost perpetual dusk. She stayed in the middle of a large group heading towards the town square and was able to avoid the hassling of merchants and beggars and staying out of the eye of any of the guards that occasionally passed by.

 

When the woman saw the open square ahead of her, she looked around quickly and spied an Inn several paces away. The hanging sign out front named it the Sunrise Inn and she gently pushed her way through the crowd to the door of the Inn and slipped inside. The interior was small, but well lit, sunlight streaming in through the windows facing the square. The woman gazed about at the patrons sitting at the few tables and eating breakfast. Several looked as though they had been drinking heavily the night before, but one man in the far corner looked up sharply at her, a movement she missed as she made her way to the bar where the innkeeper was wiping it down. The innkeeper had a large girth and was a good head taller than the woman, but he smiled amiably as he turned to her approach.

“Mornin’, what can I do ye fer?” He asked in the rough accent of a Southern Barrens man. The woman replied in a low voice that didn’t carry very far.

“I would like to buy a room for a night.” The Innkeeper nodded his large head, not even blinking an eye at her strange accent. With the festival that night many people from all parts of the land were running about in the city.

“Very good, tha’ll be one gold piece.” The Innkeepers voice carried through the room to the man near the back who was watching the exchange with interest. The woman pulled out a single gold coin that flashed in the light and placed it into the palm of the Innkeeper. As he turned to go around the bar, the woman turned her head and looked directly at the man in the back corner. She took in his brown hair, olive skin and watchful green eyes and stiffened slightly. The two strangers stared at each other, the man trying to see her face under the hood, but then the Innkeeper addressed her and she turned to listen to him.

“Firs door on the righ’ up the stairs. That’s all yours for the night. If ya don wanta stay another night I ask ya been gone by noon tomorra.” She bobbed her head in a nod, glanced once more at the man in the corner, then went up the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight of the dining area she hurried to her room and locked the door behind her. She had no pack with her and she ignored the bed as she walked over to the window and looked down at the slowly transforming square below. She pulled her hood down to reveal long, curly black hair, a full mouth, high cheekbones and sparkling grey eyes. Her eyes fixated on the platform where the Hold Lord and his wife and son would be standing later on that night and a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

 

In the back corner of the small Inn the man sat back against his seat and watched as the hooded figure disappeared up the stairs. She had powerful magick in her, he felt it the moment she walked through the door. He was a Proficient at the College in Sethis Hold, his specialty in water magick, so he knew quite a bit about the magickal arts. And that was what made the hooded figure so very intriguing. He couldn’t place what type of magick she had.

 

The four schools of magick: water, fire, air and earth, left an impression upon the person using them, a sort of energy or aura about the person. Earth auras were strong and unyielding, shoving other energies aside. Fire was crackling and intense, passively reaching out and drawing energy from the things around the person. Air felt as though the aura was constantly shifting, shapeless and without form, but there all the same. And water auras encased the user in a smoothly flowing blanket of energy that shifted in strong patterns. The aura around the figure was nothing like anything he had ever encountered before; it felt alive, wild and untamed, barely contained power swirling around in mesmerizingly random forms.

 

As he took a last sip from his drink his mind wandered to the possibility of the stranger being a dark magick user, a type of magick strictly forbidden by the College. He quickly threw that idea out. He had only ever read about black magick users, but he did not feel like the magick of this stranger was wrong and unnatural. If anything it felt more natural and more a part of the world around them than any other kind of magick. He stood and sauntered over to the Innkeeper. The large man knew he was a magick user, it was hard not to see from the large water amulet he wore around his neck and the glyph burned into the inside of his wrist. He liked staying at this Inn when in Mathon because the Innkeeper did not mind magick users. Most people outside of Sethis Hold had an inherent distrust of mages. Sure, there had been mages who had gone bad in the past, but most magick users were simply scholars with a rather unique ability.

“Excuse me, but did you happen to get that person’s name?” The Innkeeper, whose name was Marley and who appreciated the mage’s business, what with how much he could drink, smiled regretfully.

“Can’ say tha’ I did.” He leaned across the bar and the mage leaned closer to hear him. “She did haf a strange accent though. Ne’er heard anythin quite like it. Almost like a song it was.”

“Strange. How long did she buy a room for?”

“Only the night.” He wiped out a few glasses as he watched the mage think over his information. “D’ya think she’s a disrepu’able character?” The mage was pulled from his reverie by the question and smiled up at Marley.

“No worse than your usual customers. Now, I know it’s early, but how about a small glass of ale before I go up to the Great Hall?” Marley smiled largely and went to fill his favorite customers order. As Marley went about pouring his drink, the mage focused on a few of the bottles of liquor on the top shelf near the stairs. He reached within himself for the pool of energy that was his life force and shaped it into a simple spell that would allow him to scry the stairwell whenever he wanted.

 

As he took the mug of ale from Marley and handed over the coin to pay for it he thought about who the woman could be. He planned on finding out, between consulting the Hold Lord and taking part in the midsummer revelries. Yes, he would have a very hectic evening. Much more exciting than sitting in the library at the college or discussing the parameters of a certain spell with colleagues, he smiled to himself at the thought of a little adventure.

 

And that's all im posting for now. If you read all of that, thank you! If you didn't get to this part, then you won't be thanked, I guess. If you scrolled down to here without reading the above bit of story then I take my thank you back as you did nothing to earn it! Well, you did look at this blog so I guess I should thank you for that. Well, that's all for now!

Cookies and... Doctor Who?

Today, while in my Integrative Science and Biology class, my professor was talking about rocks and erosion. Then he said, "gravity has a role in it." ... get it? "role"/"roll".... because rocks roll down the hill when they erode.... let's just pretend that lame joke didnt happen.
Anyway, as I was walking back from that class (which was my last for the day, hooray!!) I noticed lines on the sidewalks that looked like someone had sprayed them there. And it wasn't just in one area, it was on every side walk on my mile or so walk back to my dorm. Then I happened to glance over and see a golf-cart like contraption that was spraying the side walks down. What?! It has to be oil based as it's not evaporating, but why does it smell like manure? Are they fertilizing the sidewalks? Great to know thats what my tuition money is going towards....
My younger cousin (I can't say little cousin cause she really isnt a little kid anymore) is coming out to visit me on campus this weekend! Yay! She might almost be as excited as I am! I'm taking her to Noodles and Company, which has THE BEST macaroni and cheese I have ever tasted and we might go bowling! Who knew there was a bowling alley on campus? Oh and don't even get me started on Insomnia Cookies! There is nothing more awesome than having a place on campus that will deliver cookies and brownies to your dorm room at two in the morning! Not that I've ordered cookies at two in the morning, I'm either asleep or chuckling over something on Grouchy Rabbit or Dear Blank Please Blank, but the point is, I could have cookies delivered at two in the morning if I wanted too. Well, this has been a COMPLETELY useless and boring post, so I'm sorry if anyone actually stumbled across this and read it. Unfortunately I haven't yet come across mind bleach so you will forever have to remember that you actually continued to read this. Of course, you could have just hopped into a Tardis and gone back in time, but that is a whole other post entirely.

Quote of the day:
"Substitue 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." -Mark Twain

FIRST!!

As many great and potentially life changing thoughts come, one came to me while I was, ahem, in the shower. "Why not," says myself, "make a blog about your experiences in college?" Then I quickly laughed at myself, for; one, that is one of the most boring topics you could choose; two, you are not, what you would say, your average college student; and three, well, I didn't come up with a third so this sentence is pointless. "But," says I, "You like writing and even though no one will probably ever care to read what you have written... wrote?... it will be fun to do, so what the heck, let's do this!" then I clutched my knee as it started stinging because I "cut" it while shaving. (for the squeamish, there was no blood.) Anynoodle, I'm just going to write what I want on here, maybe about college and how I don't go out and party all the time, maybe about something else random in my everyday going's on. I mentioned above that I like to write so maybe I'll post bits of some of the stories I am currently writing, or maybe I'll be too shy and horde them all for myself, saying "My Precious" in the creepiest Gollum voice I can muster. I'll probably post some pictures if I can ever figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer *sigh*, but my phone takes some pretty darn awesome pics, so hopefully I can work that out. In short, even though this has been the longest blog post I've EVER done (haha, sarcasm!), I'm just seeing how this goes, and if I'll even keep it up.

P.S. Sorry in advance for grammatical and capitalization errors and any "teh" or "nad" you might come across. My fingers hate me when it comes to typing...
P.P.S. can you even do a "P.S." for blogs?