I suppose I should really update this today, so I'll blog about New Year's Resolutions. But since this is a writing journal, then they are going to be related to writing.
1. Write on a regular basis. That includes updating here at least twice a week once Hollidailies is over and working as often as I can (with schoolwork and everything else) on other ongoing writing projects.
2. Get to know some of my minor characters better and their relationships. I'd really like to focus more on Emiko Takahashi... because she's important.
3. Finish at least one large piece (either Snapshots or Once Upon an Alternate Universe or the chess story I've been thinking about). Snapshots would likely be easiest because I've already written a lot of that.
4. Finish the short-term projects I have. This includes the piece where Kiran comes to stay at the Liu house (and gets involved with the debate club), the Christmas Eve story I've been sort of working on, the incident where Wilson is teaching a physics class and decides to use a rather interesting method to keep his students awake and the more recent piece with Hideaki and Emiko.
5. Delve deeper into the relationships that first generation has (or had). I'd love to write a piece with the Maplewood students. And not just a short piece that's a page long, but something real.
6. This may be the wierdest one of them all, but I'd like to find a fellow writer whom I can critique and who will critique me (well, my writing).
7. Just because seven is a much nicer number than six, I'd like to develop Seven McAllistair a bit more as a character and find out where he fits in... if he does. By extension, same kind of idea with Aislynn Celeste.
And those are my New Year's Writing Resolutions. Happy 2009, everyone!
To make up for my patheticness at posting yesterday (I was trying to do five different things at once and I was a bit distracted), I'll write something for you today.
First off, a little bit of background information. I wanted my characters to have a (slightly disastrous) game of truth or dare at a New Year's Eve party at the Liu's house. So the characters present would be Michael's parents (duh), Mr. and Mrs. Adams, Hideaki's dad, Wilson, Tyler's mom, Nate's parents and maybe others. Oh, and Sharpe because Jon invited him over and for some reason, he agreed to come. Younger people present would have to include Michael, Scott, Sam, Evan, Tyler, Marie, Hideaki, Emiko, Kiran and Nate. Wouldn't that be a fun group?
So the extended fellowship goes into the other room. They've each had a little bit to drink (they're all at least 21, so no big deal) and the door between the room they're in and the room the adults are in is about half opened. Someone (Saunders?) suggests they play a game of truth or dare. Needless to say, neither Michael nor Sam is particularly excited about that proposition and Tyler's being cautious (as always). But they make a few rules and the game gets underway... needless to say, it'll be interesting.
No really. I'm just deciding how to narrate this piece before I start in on it. I could do the same third person narration I usually do or I could do first person. If I did first person, the most logical choice would be first person to Michael's POV. More amusing would be first person to Sharpe's POV, as he realizes that something is going on and he goes to stand by the door between the rooms. But none of the younger people can know he's there... or if Michael (or Sam) figures it out, neither can say anything to anyone else.
And this brings me to where I was meaning to go... to share something that I wrote with you guys. It was too late last night to post it here, so here it is today. Enjoy! This piece is actually going to be rated PG by the time I'm done with it, but this particular section is harmless. Trust me. Okay, it's just a short little paragraph-length teaser, but still. I actually wrote something. >.>
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Michael, Emiko, Evan Saunders, others are present. Word Count: 134
Michael stopped before he said anything and put a hand on Emiko's shoulder. Such an uncharacteristic motion for him. With a firm grasp, he pulled the Japanese girl closer to him and when she was facing him, her face only centimeters away from his, he gave her one look and hissed a few words in her left ear. "Don't even consider it" was all he said. Those words were meant for her alone to hear. He let his hand drop down to his side and quickly turned and paced out of the room. If she went through with Saunders' proposition, that would probably be just about the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Which is quite the accomplishment for her, he thought, the bitter taste of bile rising up in the back of his throat.
So I spent most of the afternoon watching Prince Caspian (the movie) instead of writing like I told myself I wanted to. While not comparing it to the book, it was a well-done movie. Which got me thinking... oftentimes when I write, I'll imagine my characters to be in a movie of sorts and just write down what I see... and sometimes what they're feeling (if I can manage that - ha!).
If my books were ever made into movies, I wonder who would get cast as my different characters. Like I said before, I definitely imagine Johnny Depp playing Siyamak (who is seriously a creep). Usually I just imagine people I know looking like my different characters, actually. But that wasn't what I was going to talk about.
What I was going to talk about today was I am completely not sure. No seriously. I have no attention span right now. But what I need to do is figure out the relationships within the first generation and continue this piece before I work more on the Christmas Eve Story and eventually Once Upon an AU.
So on Facebook, I was tagged in a note to post random facts about myself. Just because I can, I decided to switch it around and do it for one of my characters. This time, it's a guessing game! There are ten clues per character. All five are known characters and four out of the five are quite well known.
Character One
I work part-time at a school.
My grandmother came from Poland when she was a girl and she loves to cook the most delicious foods for me when I go visit!
Although I don't remember Dad, he was the one who named me.
No one except my family knows this, but I have a younger sister. I've only seen her a few times and haven't seen her at all in the past ten years, but I know she's still alive. I really want to meet her again someday.
Most of the students I teach are taller than I am. It isn't that hard if you aren't even five feet!
I used to be afraid of toasters, of all things!
I almost always wear skirts and blouses and rarely wear jeans.
I'm actually not from the USA. I was born and raised in Canada.
I speak fluent French and English and sometimes I'll switch back and forth! Like now! *starts speaking in rapid French*
I absolutely love mathmatics.
Character Two
Although I'm most well-known for playing basketball and football, I'm also on the school swim team.
We - Kyle and I - lead prayers before and after games at school with other Christian athletes.
I'm probably the only African American person in these stories. Well, me and my family. But I'm the only prominent one.
My favorite class is history and my favorite historical period is the Industrial Revolution.
I live in an apartment with my sister, our mom and Aunt Dolores.
My favorite thing to do on the weekends is hang out with my friends and do whatever they're doing, as long as they try to get into trouble!
My middle name is the same name as one of the prophets in the Bible.
My birthday is May 22nd, which is unfortunately, about a week before finals. At least it isn't during finals week!
I really actually don't like ice cream all that much.
I like most of the books we're forced to read for school.
Character Three
I'm fluent in both English and Spanish... and I know a few random words in French and Italian.
I have a pet named after a book character.
My least favorite board game is Monopoly.
I spend a lot of time with my cousins. Whether that's good or bad is anyone's best guess!
Though I'm not really a vegetarian, I usually don't eat a lot of meat stuff. I just don't like the way it tastes and I never have.
Both my older sister and I are adopted.
I'm probably one of the craziest people you'll ever meet! Or at least Callisto seems to think that.
I go to a boarding school in the UK that requires a school uniform.
I love drawing in the margins of my notes during class.
My family celebrates Las Posadas in the days just before Christmas, but we don't celebrate Thanksgiving.
Character Four
I'm learning Japanese. Unfortunately.
I have a single tatoo on my left shoulder and five piercings, all in my ears.
I used to take dance classes.
I tend to hang out with the cheerleaders at school half the time and the "bad kids" the other half.
I hate my homeroom teacher, but who doesn't?
My best friend taught me how to play chess.
I kind of have a crush on my best friend.
I have a half-sister I've never met, but we've talked before.
I moved four times before I was in junior high.
I love thunderstorms, especially when the electricity goes out.
Character Five
I was partially named after a book character, of all people.
I enjoy drinking coffee when I can, though I rarely do.
I was offered a job twice by the same person.
One of my most used endgame strategies is queen sacrifice.
I am left-handed.
I can read music written in the alto clef.
I am fluent in two different languages, one of which is uncommon.
I share my birthday with a famous chemist/physicist.
I was homeschooled for about a semester in junior high.
The first prom I went to was one that I chaperoned.
I'll post the answers sometime later this week, most likely. Best of luck! I'll also finish tagging with characters (where applicable) once I post the answers. I don't want to give it away.
If you're interested in the answers, they can be found here.
I'm really needing to figure out how the characters in first generation at Maplewood get along with one another before I continue with whatever else I am writing. Like the fact of how Shaun Ackerman and Stephanie Rei both fit into the picture.
Shaun Ackerman is a graduate in the class of 1987, a year a head of Takahashi, et al. Given Maplewood's small size, they would have known each other when they were students. Same thing goes for Sharpe and Ackerman. It's known that Sharpe and Ackerman don't get along very well when they're adults, but this could be attributed to a conflict of ideologies and personalities. Shaun's very outgoing and scatterbrained. Sharpe is introverted and deliberate. (Think Q and Captain Picard here and you'll get the general idea!) Ackerman is also very strongly Catholic and he is outspoken about being so. While Sharpe doesn't necessarily have anything against the idea of Christianity (or Catholicism), the fact that Shaun is a bit pious grates on his nerves. Same thing with Kiran, actually.
I'm not sure what came to pass between Ackerman and Takahashi. If I can figure that out, I'll be able to figure out whether or not Takahashi had motive for ordering a certain person to kill Ackerman at the beginning of Once Upon an AU. If not, then I'll have to resort to using Peter Screwtape, which would be a little bit annoying. Okay, that would be more than annoying because he's a power player in most everything else and that role gets old quickly.
Second character I need to fit in is Stephanie Rei, Emiko and Hana's mother. She did go to Maplewood and she is friends with Sharpe. That much I do know. She's either a year ahead or a year behind the main group of students, making her the same age as Shaun Ackerman (and Emily Royal, who is Evan Saunders' aunt) or putting her in the graduating class of 1989. She needs to be close enough in age to know the main characters fairly well if everything is going to work out with Takahashi and Sharpe and all that. If she's the same grade as Ackerman, that might come into the storyline somehow.
In Once Upon an AU, I have a character who is a hired assassin. I'm not going to tell you guys who it is yet and only that it's not Sharpe. Sharpe couldn't do that. Anyhow, said person basically has their hands tied and can't do anything but follow orders at the moment. It'll be interesting to write, to say the least.
I spent another day knitting instead of writing, which is unfortunate for my sadly failing writing skills, but it's all good. I've decided on a few things in response to the Christmas Eve story. Sharpe does have a good idea of what was in the package for Emiko. If he did, why does he deliver it? To answer this, I need to do a little background information on Sharpe and a little bit more on how he and Takahashi know each other.
Sharpe's thoughts on religion are different than those of most of my other characters. He does know what he believes. He grew up in a Christian home, so he has been to church. However, right now, he is extremely angry at God for a multiple number of reasons (which I don't feel like going into right now) and he hasn't really been to church since he was a teenager. He still holds many of the same ethical principles as are taught in the Judeo-Christian belief system. His anger is directed first and foremost at God and secondly at people who call themselves Christians but don't act as such.
Takahashi, on the other hand, is adamantly against any type of organized religion, whether it be Christianity, Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, dancing around a campfire and worshipping the sun... need I go on? He would do anything and everything in his power to prevent Emiko from getting the copy of the Bible that Stephanie sent.
If I may digress for a moment, Sharpe and Takahashi don't get along at all. They met at the beginning of ninth grade as students at Maplewood Academy and Sharpe said something he shouldn't have said to Tetsuya. Things escalated from there. When they're adults, they are coldly civil to one another.
Back to the point here. Sharpe's going to do almost anything he can in order to make Takahashi angry. He is fairly neutral towards the idea of Christianity, so ensuring that Emiko gets the Bible that Stephanie sent would be a perfect way to do just that.
This leads me to believe that Sharpe and Stephanie would have been friends... or they would have known each other somehow. Given that Stephanie used to be married to Tetsuya (they're now divorced), it was probable she was a student at Maplewood. She would have been at least a year younger than the main group... or perhaps the year ahead of them (same year as Shaun Ackerman). I need to think a little more about how they know each other. Likely either she and Sharpe are good friends (and kept their friendship up throughout the years, which would be a bit odd for Sharpe) or he owes her something and there's a story waiting behind that.
So instead of writing, I was trying to knit a sock. But maybe tomorrow I'll write more. I'm not sure. I still need to figure out where the other Christmas story (the one with Michael and Kiran at the church) is going. It'll be interesting...
Since I have been failing so badly to post with anything relating to writing lately (and that's what this blog is about!!!), I feel bad for not continuing my Christmas Eve story today. Yay for writer's block and being sick. Not. I've been knitting like a crazy person over the past few days in a pathetic attempt to get Christmas gifts done by Christmas and today I taught my sister how to knit.
Did you know that one of my characters knits? Yes, Septimus McAllistair (though almost everyone just calls him Seven) does and he's quite good at it. He has a pair of black fingerless gloves he's made himself that he always wears. He's also kind of a computer geek and he's really smart. No wonder he gets teased a lot. Marie Wilson knows how to crochet and I'm guessing she's taught most of her friends how to do that also. Sam, Tyler and Michael probably both know how... Sam and Tyler just because they're willing to go along with whatever is happening and Michael because he is quite artistic.
And this last little bit is kind of completely random (my thought patterns are not linear, in case you haven't already noticed!), but most of my characters are somehow interconnected. There is some way that Sharpe knows Stephanie Rei (see this entry) because despite the fact it's not explicitly mentioned, that is Sharpe. He was the one who delivered the package... but he has no idea about its contents. My guess is that Stephanie contacted him and told him that she had something that was really important that it get to Emiko... and that Tetsuya wouldn't like his daughter having it. Which is rather true.
So yeah... I guess that's all I have to say tonight. Let me end with a quick CS Lewis quote this time. It has nothing to do with writing. "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." ~CS Lewis
I just thought I would say Merry Christmas to everyone!
Due to having family things going on today and tomorrow, I don't have time to make a decent entry here. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day, I'll have time to finish the Christmas Eve story... and let you know what happens to Kiran, Michael and everyone else. And why Sharpe is at the church!
To finish off, a Bible verse. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~Isaiah 9:6
Take care, all and have a very Merry Christmas! ~Elizabeth
Yet another half-effort entry in this journal because I'm pressed for time trying to finish Christmas presents and all that before tomorrow... hopefully I'll get more done in the actual story later on this week. Sorry it won't be done before then.
But I know who kills Shaun Ackerman!!!!! In the Once Upon an Alternate Universe piece, I mean. Not in the real world or anything like that. Hideaki sees Ackerman get shot, but doesn't know who did it. Sharpe has a pretty good idea of what's going on, but he'd never say anything unless he's certain. No one else knows what's going on... not even Candace.
And I am enjoying myself greatly right now. Plotting is so much fun! Especially plotting whilst procrastinating on finishing up Christmas presents. Alas, I'll just work on them tomorrow, right?
Well, thinking about the holiday season that is coming up on us (and that Hanukkah already started for anyone who didn't know that), I've always wondered what some of my fictional characters do for the holidays. So I've compiled a short list of some of their traditions...
Liu Family: Since Jonathan is a pastor at the local church, all five of the Liu children are always somehow involved in the annual Christmas Eve service. Usually Andy will play his violin, Michael will occasionally work backstage (depending on the year) and Elizabeth and Cassandra are in the choir. After the Christmas Eve service is over, their family will go home and get ready for bed. In the morning, Johannah Liu (Jonathan's younger sister) will come over and they will read the Bible story as a family. Then, they'll open presents. In the afternoon and evening, they'll make a large dinner.
Adams Family: Scott and Sam's family spends Christmas in a similar way that Michael's family does, but after the Christmas Eve service at their church is over, they go over to their uncle's house (their uncle is Shaun Ackerman) and their whole family attends Midnight Mass. On Christmas, both Shaun Ackerman and Julianna Miller (Shaun's niece - I'm not sure how she's related to Scott and Sam quite yet) come over and they all spend Christmas together.
Sharpe: Except for the Christmas Eve story that I'm working on, Sharpe really doesn't celebrate Christmas. Sometimes he will go over to the Alton's house; other times he will just stay home and work on what needs to be done as if it's any other day.
Donovan Isaacs: Donovan's kind of an interesting case because he goes to school abroad as a high schooler. Sometimes his parents will come over from America to England to visit for the holidays and he'll go to church with them. Other times, he'll go to church with Stephanie and Hana Rei (Emiko's mom and half-sister) on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, Lucy (his second to youngest cousin... there's six of them!) will wake them up and they'll all open presents. That afternoon, usually Uncle Edmund will take him, Connor, Steven and Emrick out to the movies while Aunt Alexandria, Lucy, Sarah and Beatrice stay home and cook the meal.
I really wish I could know how my other characters celebrate the holidays. Hugh Avery is Jewish, so he celebrates Hanukkah. Aislynn Celeste celebrates Christmas with an interesting mix of French and Polish traditions that she learned from her grandparents by whom she was raised. Kiran would go home for Christmas and spend it with her parents, except for the story I'm working on right now (her parents are on a missions trip) where she spends Christmas with her aunt.
P.S. Oddly enough, I spend more time at my computer when I'm at school than when I'm at home. Isn't that wierd?
I just thought I would take a break from the Christmas Eve story and write something with Emiko in it instead. Mr. Isaacs is the father of Donovan Isaacs (cousin of one of Hana Rei's classmates at school).
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Emiko Takahashi, Tetsuya Takahashi, Stephanie Rei (Emiko's mother), unknown man, others by mention Word Count: 536 Summary: Emiko reflects on Christmas and gets a mysterious visitor.
"Hey Mom, it's me. Emiko." For the hundredth time, she couldn't bring herself to pick up the telephone and call her own mother. Dad had already told her it was okay. It was Christmas after all, but the fourteen-year-old couldn't.
"Call her. She wants to hear from you, Miko." He had told her as he handed her the telephone attatched to the wall. Miko was her Dad's pet name for her, something that only he was allowed to call her. Tetsuya bit both of his lips together. It was him that Stephanie didn't want to hear from. Without waiting for his daughter to ask, he left the room, leaving her in privacy. Things would be better this way.
Five minutes passed and Emiko slid her polished fingernails along the plastic of the receiver. Five minutes quickly turned into ten and ten turned into fifteen until she heard a knock at the door. "Go away, Dad." A single tear dripped from her eye and fell onto her desk, splattering onto her laptop computer. "I don't wanna talk."
"I am not your father, Emiko." The voice came from the other side of the door. The voice obviously belonged to a man, but it wasn't quite deep enough to be her father's. And it was too quiet. "I just wanted to leave you something. You can call your mother now. Merry Christmas." Before Emiko could open the door, the person was gone. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, reached down for the present, which was wrapped in purple and black wrapping paper and took it inside her room.
As she tore open the paper, a typed note on a single sheet of paper fell out onto her floor. She picked it up and read what was written. Dearest Emiko, Turn to page 1085 and read the story that is recorded in Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. You will find a story about two brothers and their father in this passage; Mr. Isaacs shared it with us last month at church. I love you very much and we pray for you every day. Please take care of yourself and your father. Merry Christmas. Love, Mom and Hana.
Emiko flipped open the hardcovered book to page 1085 and began to read. It was a rather interesting story about two brothers, one of whom ran away from home and when he went back, he wanted to be a servant in the house of his father. At the end, the father welcomed him back as a son. Emiko read the story three times through, but even at the end, she still didn't understand why the dad had done that. Surely if she'd done that to her own father, he wouldn't have forgiven her, would he? The kid had just wasted all of his dad's money! This didn't make sense; she needed time to think about it more.
With a sigh, she picked up the phone receiver and dialed the number to her mom's house. "Hey, Mom, Hana? It's me, Emiko. Merry Christmas. If you get the chance, call back, okay? There's some stuff I'd like to ask you. I'll talk to you later." With a gentle, but firm motion, she hung the phone back up.
Go read Part One, Part Two and Part Three (in that order) before you read this if you haven't already. It'll make more sense that way. Characters and setting are still the same as before.
In other news, I'm still working on Christmas presents. Yay... or not. I'd rather be writing, but such is life, I suppose. This piece is actually going to turn out interestingly...
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Michael, Kiran, Sharpe Word Count: 277
As soon as he heard the voice, his head snapped up. He hadn’t heard it in probably fifteen or more years, yet the particular accent it held was ingrained forever in his mind. Such was his way with people; he remembered them by certain quirks they possessed. In her case, it was her unusual voice and the peculiar intonations she used. Slowly, he pushed himself into a standing position, grasping at the alter railing to aid his balance.
“What’s he doing here?” he could hear the harsh whisper coming from the opposite side of the room, despite the fact that there were other intermingled voices. The boy’s voice rose up over the others. “You didn’t invite him here, did you?” His hands were folded across his chest and Sharpe could see him leaning forward, nearly standing on his toes.
Kiran’s mouth dropped open slightly and she didn’t speak for several seconds. “Why would –?” she started, but she did not finish her thought. Instead, she turned around and flounced off towards where her aunt stood. Sharpe’s dark eyes watched for Michael’s reaction. Michael started after Kiran, but stopped after a few steps and then turned towards the front of the church. “What’s going on here, Michael?” Kiran's voice sounded both hurt and confused at the same time.
For a long moment, Kiran waiting for an answer and for that moment, Michael locked eyes with Sharpe. Sharpe’s narrow-eyed gaze was probing and Michael’s was quietly defiant. The Asian boy licked his top lip slightly. Seconds ticked on until a faint whisper reached her ears. “I don’t know.”
I won't be writing any more of the Christmas Eve story tonight (unfortunately), but I wanted to talk some about what I've noticed about my characters and how stories flow... something that came to mind as I was drafting the next piece in a word document. I'll probably finish that and get it uploaded tomorrow or Sunday or something like that. And this was because I was working on Christmas presents and then I got busy with some other stuff. Like socks.
Anyhow... in the Christmas Eve piece, the main character is technically Sharpe, though it changes POV several times. When I was writing Sharpe's parts, they were a lot more reflective and less rushed. There hasn't been any dialogue with him; no one knows for sure what he's thinking and people certainly know less of what he's saying.
When I've been writing Michael (and Kiran), there is a lot more dialogue and the story actually moves along. But it loses some of the individual touch and reflection that Sharpe brings along. Kiran's nearly as talkative as Scott is.
And to go read where Kiran first meets the group, read this story. She also meets Sharpe later on in that piece; I haven't written it yet. You get a bit of Michael's narration in that piece. Just so you know... Riverdale's mascot is a knight, Michael (and Scott and Sam) all live on Chestnut Avenue, Sam wasn't talking about Evan Saunders... Scott has no sense of direction whatsoever, Ackerman got fired and re-hired over the summer thanks to something that happened with Sharpe (that'll be fun to write!), and Victoria Chapel and Evan Saunders date throughout high school. Oh, and Sharpe's favorite color is purple.
I can't wait to write more of that and I'll be bringing in the idea of the Debate Club and a plot idea for writing that. It should be fun. And I can't wait to write about why Ackerman was fired and how he got rehired over the course of about two months. Silly administration...
Once again, this is a continuation of what I've been writing. Go back and read the other pieces first if you haven't already done so.
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Michael Liu, Kiran Shasthri, Priya Shasthri, others by mention Word Count: 344
“I’m staying with Aunt Priya over break. Mom and Dad’re still in India.” The matter-of-fact voice explained before Michael could even begin speaking. “She doesn’t live far from here, so she said it’d be alright if we went here for Christmas Eve service instead of her church.” The girl pushed a long strand of dark hair behind one of her ears and she bounced slightly on her toes, no doubt having the extra energy from sitting still in the pews for so long. The Christmas Eve service was nearly twice as long as those on Sunday mornings.
While Kiran was talking, Michael nodded absently. He had grown used to her chatter during the semester and a half she stayed with the Liu family as an exchange student during his sophomore year. For a moment, his thoughts drifted over back towards Sharpe. First seeing him here, then Kiran. What was going on with that? Was there something he didn’t know about? Seeing Kiran at a church wasn’t a strange idea to him; she had cheerfully gone with the Liu family every Sunday while she was at their house, except for the time she had come down with a nasty case of the flu.
“Well, maybe we can do something together. You, me, Scott, Sam and Nate.” Kiran kept talking and Michael was about to excuse himself when he saw an woman who looked like an older, thinner version of Kiran standing on the opposite side of the corridor, waving towards her niece. Michael smiled slightly towards Dr. Shasthri; he had met her once or twice before.
“Kiran!” As Priya Shasthri called towards her niece, Michael’s dark eyes caught a movement out of the corner of his peripheral vision. A head jerked up in a quick motion and Michael turned from Kiran to the shadowy figure and back to Kiran again, eyeing the girl suspiciously. He licked his top lip with his tongue. Surely there was something going on here and he wanted to know what that something was.
So some of my characters have originated in the alternate universe and others haven't made their way into the regular universe yet, but Tem was originally an AU character. It's kind of futuristic stuff.
Tem is a time-traveler and she can basically travel through time. Well, she used to be able to do that until Calanon got furious with her for trying to go back and change something in history. She allows Isaiah and Jeremiah Lewis to time-travel with her and sends them all over the place.
Isaiah and Jeremiah Lewis are actually human. None of these other characters are... anyways. They've been anywhere and everywhere in history that I can think of and that's mostly thanks to Tem. They're orphans whose parents were killed in a horrible lab accident. Isaiah's a lot more outgoing than his brother is. Jeremiah's quiet, but very knowledgeable.
Siyamak's a creep. He reminds me of the Child Catcher on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or of Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka. Or really of anything I've seen Johnny Depp as... which is really only one thing, but whatever. Anyways, in his past, he did something incredibly stupid in a fit of rash decision making and he's running away from that. The only one who knows what it is is Kana.
Kana is Siyamak's own worst nightmare. She found out about what he did and she won't let him forget it... and he's holding one of her secrets. So they're constantly at one another's throats about something. She's alright for writing a girl, but she can be a little bit annoying... and a bit of a know-it-all at times. In fact, she reminds me a little bit of Callisto. Sort of.
Hal's the guy who keeps everyone together. He has no idea what Siyamak did or of what Kana's secret is, but he manages to keep Kana alive and Siyamak at least partway sane. Or as sane as one with a horribly tortured past can be. Hal actually has a halfway decent life.
I'm thinking that if I want to write a futuristic dystopian type story, these characters will be the ones to look into using. Them and the rest of the Feconi Order... and lots of other of the AU characters. I'm really not sure and right now I'm just rambling. Hopefully I'll figure out what's going on with the Christmas Eve story later so that I can write more for you guys to read tomorrow or this weekend sometime. That should be fun.
I don't really have a lot of time to write something decent, so I'll just give a little background on the Christmas Eve story that I've been working on. Plus, we've had storms and our power at home was out all this morning and I was not necessarily here this evening or I would've blogged earlier.
Anyhow, it takes place in December of 2008, which means that the Fellowship et al have been out of high school for about a year and a half. They're all sophomores in college. Kiran Shasthri, Nate Winters and Danny Turner are all freshmen, though Kiran probably has close to sophomore credit as far as her classes go. Ellie Johnson is a senior in high school and Andy and Elizabeth Liu are juniors. Cassandra is (probably) in eighth grade, though I'm not 100% sure.
It's been twenty-five years since Sharpe was in eighth grade, making him now nearly thirty-nine years of age (he'll be thirty-nine in the middle of February 2009, as his year of birth is 1970).
In other news, this is a little bit random, but I really want to write something futuristic/dystopian with Seven and Tem and Aislynn and Kana and Siyamak and all those other characters. Well, maybe not Aislynn, but definitely Seven because he comes from an alternate universe where science and technology are basically worshipped. That has real potential to turn into something interesting. And I'd love to include Tem because she randomly pops up in the most inopportune places at the most inconvenient times. And Kana and Siyamak because they're two of Tem's original AU counterparts and they're just fun to write. Siyamak's a bit of a creep, though...
Go read this post first if you haven't already, as this entry is a continuation of that and it won't make any sense otherwise. Okay?
Yes, Michael et al are all sophomores in university. Ellie Johnson is a senior in high school and Danny's a freshman at university.
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Michael, "unknown girl", several people by mention Word Count: 402
That was the last of the playing he felt like doing that night and he set the violin carefully in its case, cleaned the remainder of the rosin off with the soft cloth that came with the instrument and strapped the handle firmly in place. Fingers that were plenty agile snapped the case shut and he carried it out of the backstage area and down the corridor, walking in a straight line towards the main area of the church. His eyes scanned the area for signs of Scott or Samantha Adams, but neither of the twins was anywhere to be found. Nor was Ellie Johnson, Danny Turner or either of the Feliz brothers, for that matter. They had all probably gone home for the night and for a good reason. Tomorrow was Christmas.
Quietly, he hummed a few measures of O Little Town of Bethlehem to himself as he walked towards the front of the church. He had spent hours preparing for the Christmas Eve service, just as everyone else in the youth group did, but somehow, he felt that this was somehow more special to him than it was to anyone else. The rehearsals had gone over well, but tonight, there seemed to be a certain peace in the air. Even Ellie Johnson and Danny Turner - who were constantly at each other's throats about one thing or another - stopped arguing long enough to deliver their lines flawlessly.
Oh yes, it had been nearly perfect. Except for him. Halfway through the duet he was playing with Andy, he had noticed a familiar face in the outskirts of the crowded pews. It had been several moments later when he placed the face; he wasn't good at putting names to faces, especially out of context. And this man was the last person Michael would expect to see in a church. His ears pricked back at the mere thought.
"Hey! There you are!" A voice from scarcely five feet behind him called out. The voice obviously belonged to a girl and it had been one that grated on his nerves for weeks on end at one point a few years prior. Forgetting all about Sharpe and what he could possibly be doing at a church, Michael spun around and came face to face with the other person he least wanted to see at this point.
This was going to be one long night.
tbc... this is just starting to get interesting...
I'm just going to warn you in advance that this might be a little controversial. So if you don't like that, don't read on. Okay? Consider yourself warned.
As I was at a swim meet today and didn't actually have time to write much of anything as far as my own fiction goes, I'll be talking a little about books again. Some of my favorite novels have been the dystopian books, like Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm or Lord of the Flies by Golding. Oddly enough, according to the list of banned books and authors, many authors of these novels (and other such excellent novels) either are or have been banned for some reason in some place around the USA. In fact, some of these have been required reading for school classes.
As an author, I don't necessarily invite debate into what I write, but I don't shy away from plot points just because they could be touchy subjects. Most of my characters tend not to swear too much (one of the main themes I've noticed in the "banned books" list) and I don't write past PG-13. My plot lines have elements of dystopian societies in them (or at least Once Upon an Alternate Universe will - think weird combination of influence from The Phantom Tollbooth, Animal Farm or just about any other dystopian society idea and CS Lewis - just because his writing is made of pure awesomeness and he's one of my favorite all time authors - and you'll be spot on). But I digress.
Honestly, if you don't want to read a certain book, no one is forcing you to read them. I don't think they should require such authors to always be read for school... we seemed to read an abundance of the dystopian and other weird books in high school English classes (but Edgar Allen Poe's stuff was freakier than anything like Animal Farm or Farenheit 451!)... and parents should be cautioned before letting their kids read whatever they want (except for Tetsuya Takahashi because he doesn't care what Emiko does). But books shouldn't be banned from public libraries just because of controversial issues; people just need to be aware of what they read.
Since between traveling home (yays!) and live in general I don't have time to write anything new today, I'm going to direct you to a piece I've read recently. It was written by my sister, Manwathiel, and I've really enjoyed reading it. It's very much teen chic reading, so if you really can't stand that genre, I wouldn't necessarily advise you to read it. ^_~
Short Critique: To be honest, she's improved quite a lot since I've really read what she's written (as I tend not to read too much fan fiction). I really enjoyed the characterization differences between Emily and Annie... and contrasting each of them with Mai. It was fun - and cute - to read.
Dialogue is a bit stilted and formal (especially for teenagers), but it's pretty obvious she's working on it. Plus it's a little difficult to go from writing Tolkien's Elves to modern day American teenagers without some level of difficulty in adjusting to mannerisms and verbal quirks.
All in all, it was good and I'd like to know what happens next, especially in regards to Damien. I'd love to see his character get developed more... and to see what happens between Emily and Tiffany.
So that's my review. Take it with a bit of sodium chloride as you see fit and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
I'm stress writing right now, so this may not make a whole lot of sense. I'm just going to warn you in advance... just in case you'd rather not read on. But we finished exams and then it's home for me tomorrow.
Onto the actual writing portion and continuing sort of where I left off with the chess idea...
MPAA Rating: G Characters: Hideaki, Emiko Takahashi Word Count: 497 Warning: Mild swearing. Once again, it's Emiko...
Buzzzzzz. Buzzzzzz. Buzzzzzz. Hideaki's cell phone vibrated its way off the table and onto the hardwood floor of the San Rafael apartment he was living in with his dad and Uncle Joe. For the last three hours, he had been trying to do the homework Mr. Umeki assigned, but it was no use. He could translate from Japanese to English just fine, but going the other way still confused him, even after years of studying the language and the culture on Saturday mornings. He ran a hand along the line his bandana made until it reached the tight knot tied in the back of his head. Right now, his writing looked like knots to him. Time to take a break and see who had called. It was probably a wrong number again - he seemed to get a lot of those - but it wouldn't hurt to check. Oddly enough, she hadn't left a message; he frowned.
Emiko usually left messages, unless something was really wrong. Last time she'd called and not left a message was when her dad's political campaign went horribly awry and he'd ended up throwing her out of the house for the night in a fit of rage. She had ended up spending the night at his house... and the rest of the weekend. And that was when he had taught her how to play chess. That had been about a year ago and he smiled fondly at the thought as he pushed the redial button and waited for an answer.
"What the hell's going on with you?" The shrill voice came from the opposite side of the phone line and Hideaki winced, nearly dropping the phone onto the messy floor of his bedroom. Well, that answered his question. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and there was an awkward silence in which neither party spoke.
"I... uhm..." Hideaki frowned and picked up an old wooden chess piece, this one a black rook. It had been given to him by a friend and absently, he twiddled it in the forefingers of his right hand as he held the phone to his left ear. "You were the one who called me." Sometimes stating the simple truth was the best. "Hey, maybe you should come over or somethin'." He could hear the clicking of fingernails against something hard on the other side of the phone as he awaited an answer.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'll be there in half an hour." Emiko grabbed her car keys and slammed the door shut, not even bothering to leave a note for her father. He wouldn't ask where she was; he never did. Despite the fact that it would be nearly an hour drive in commute traffic from her San Jose home, Emiko automatically halved the time it took. "Bye." Without waiting for Hideaki to answer, she flipped the phone shut and dropped it into her purse, climbed into the car and sped down the street.
I have such bad writer's block right now... it's not even funny. My brain is completely dead from yesterday's physics exam. Anyhow, onto something more interesting than my rambling about real life before I bore you all with complaining about exams, the weather and just about anything else I can think of.
This is a little snippet of the chess piece I've been planning out. Yes, there's a greater theme than just Emiko going on. It actually has more to do with her father and with the rest of first generation (like Sharpe) than with Emiko, but I just felt like writing Emiko today.
MPAA Rating: G Character: Emiko Takahashi Word Count: 268 Warning: Very mild swearing (one word... it's Emiko's POV) Timeline: May 2006, so during their junior year of high school
It was lost. She had looked around her entire room for it, torn everything apart and thrown her clothes across the floor in an effort to find the missing piece of wood. To anyone else, it wouldn't be anything special; it shouldn't have even been special to her, but she had found it in her backpack after school about a week ago and had taken a liking to it. The Japanese girl couldn't explain it. Her father's expression was unfathomable when she'd shown him the trinket.
But now it was gone and she couldn't find it. Damn. The girl kicked her soccer ball across the room, hitting the door. Was it really gone? Where was it? More importantly, where had the bishop come from and who had given it to her? She licked her top lip, a nervous habit she'd developed over the past few years. She only knew of one person who knew how to play chess: her friend from Japanese school. She didn't even know how to play. Slowly, she picked up her cell phone, went to her contacts list and dialed his number.
Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hey, you've reached me. Obviously I'm not here right now. Leave a message and I'll call you back, okay?" She got the answering machine. Emiko's eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth in disguist. It figured that the one person in the world who might be able to help her would be out of reach. Without leaving a message, she shut the phone. It was no use. She'd have to do this on her own, just like everything else.
These are just a few of the relationships Sharpe has... I just felt like outlining a few for you guys. Hopefully you already know who these characters are, but I provided brief notes on who's who. All these characters are adults during the RHS-timeline; maybe in another entry I'll look through various interactions with students.
Candace Pruitt: Candace was Sharpe’s high school chemistry teacher and she’s now the vice principal at RHS, where Sharpe teaches chemistry. The relationship between Candace and Sharpe went from being the typical “faculty member being fed up with student” mixed with a little bit of respect to more of a friendship between equals. Candace was originally the one who got Sharpe involved in the SAT (students assisting teachers) program at Maplewood and she was the one who pulled a few strings to get Peter to hire him, despite his less than satisfactory record.
Jennie Alton: Jennie is Sharpe’s “little sister”. She works part-time at Maplewood and is a continuing studies student in the evening. Jennie and Sharpe have an extremely close relationship and she knows more about him than probably anyone else does. He refers to her as his sister (and she calls him “her brother”), even though they are not biologically related. Their friendship is closer than that of Sharpe and Mandie.
Laura Clarkson: Laura is the biology teacher who is originally from Texas. She appears to have a crush on Sharpe, which he doesn’t return. Laura and Sharpe really have a love-hate relationship. He hired her because they needed a biology teacher who was at least halfway competent (Josiah Alton was moving to administration) and Laura has always been curious about Sharpe. Somewhere along the line, the curiosity turned into a one-sided romance. I’m still not sure what’s going on there; it’s a storyline that I really haven’t explored much yet.
Shaun Ackerman: Shaun is the PhD. history teacher at RHS who especially enjoys causing controversy in his classrooms. He graduated from Maplewood in 1987. Interactions between Ackerman and Sharpe are, if nothing else, fun to write. They are also incredibly difficult because they interact like Captain Picard and Q from Star Trek TNG do. Not only do they co-run the Debate Club (that must be interesting), but my suspicion is that they knew each other when they were students at Maplewood. Ackerman is incredibly religious and Sharpe is... not.
Hugh Avery: Hugh is the math teacher (and former physics teacher) who is friendly and personable. He graduated from Maplewood in 1983. Hugh Avery is friends with everyone on the staff team, but he’s one of the few staff members who actually chooses to interact with Sharpe (versus a forced interaction). He and Sharpe became friends during the 2000-2001 school year and since then, they have been playing a series of (harmless) practical jokes on one another. Not that anyone would believe Avery if he said anything...
Jonathan Liu: Jon is Michael’s dad who graduated Maplewood in 1985 and is a pastor at the local church. Jon sort of served as a casual mentor to Sharpe while they were in high school (during Sharpe’s freshman year). In essence, they lost contact for several years (more of this is detailed in Snapshots), but now that Michael is a student in Sharpe’s homeroom...
Tetsuya Takahashi: Sharpe’s former classmate, now a local politician and a member of the school board. I should dedicate an entire entry to what’s happened between Sharpe and Takahashi, but in short, they went to school together. They were in the same homeroom. Sharpe made a snide remark at Takahashi’s expense and Takahashi took offence; things just escalated from there. Now, they are coldly civil to one another and Emiko Takahashi is in Sharpe’s homeroom so things are about to get interesting again...
Aislynn Celeste: Aislynn is the graduate student who works with Hugh Avery in the after school math program, Operation Numbers. Aislynn and Sharpe confuse one another... they're both a lot more alike than either knows and yet they won't be finding that out the easy way. I'm really looking forward to writing more interactions between them because Aislynn's curious as anything about other people (naturally this extends to Sharpe) and Sharpe is puzzled by Aislynn, especially after observing how she interacts with Hugh Avery.
Only a few of my characters play musical instruments, the most notable being Kiran and her flute (which she carries around with her everywhere), Andy and Michael Liu both play violin and Natalia Johnson plays piano. Michael can also sort of play piano, though not very well. Kiran is mentioned in several instances carrying her flute around with her and she is part of the school band at Melanthios.
The other character of mine who plays an instrument, though I'm still not sure which one, is Sharpe. Or he used to. He doesn't exactly play anymore. Judging by his age and what I've written about him (and talking to my friends who have band experience), he would have started sometime in elementary school or junior high. He quits when he is in the middle of eighth grade after the accident.
I'm still not exactly sure what instrument he does play. I've asked people and they've given good feedback and I think I've narrowed it down to two possibilities based on criteria I've come up with. Before I decide which one he will have played, I'm pretty sure I need to decide where I'm taking the Christmas Eve story... and whether or not he should still be able to (theoretically) play said instrument.
First Instrument: Oboe. I kind of originally pictured Sharpe playing some sort of woodwind instrument (not the flute, though!) and this would definitely fit the category. Being a double reeded instrument, it would be one of the more difficult ones to play. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, it's the one that sounds really cool. He does have excellent breath and vocal control. However, this would require good dexterity in both hands, something I'm not quite sure whether or not he possesses. Likely he would have learned to play clarinet before playing oboe and switched over in the beginning of junior high.
Second Instrument: Viola. AKA the lower, misunderstood and somewhat forgotten cousin to the violin. Sharpe's personality would also lend itself excellently to a stringed instrument, I think. He would have the slight advantage of having excellent control and good finger range in his left hand (so that he could press the various strings down in different positions). Also, as Christian pointed out, the viola uses the alto clef, which is not commonly used. If I decide on viola, I have a potential plotline I can incorporate.
Since dexterity in both hands is kind of important for woodwind instruments, he probably wouldn't be able to play oboe anymore. His right hand is significantly weaker than his left and it's even less agile than before the accident (if you don't kno what I'm talking about, go read Snapshots).
This entry is dedicated to a brief history sketch of the RHS Controversial Issues Club, otherwise known as Forum Philosophorum.
Staff Advisor: Sharpe Secondary Advisor: Shaun Ackerman. Occasionally Josiah Alton will step in and assist in moderating debates. Years of Operation: Fall 2000-Spring 2002. Students lost interest. At this time, Sharpe was the only staff advisor. Fall 2005-Winter 2005. Stopped by administration (Peter Screwtape) due to "controversial content", which turned into a huge yelling match. Some Known Student Members: Michael Liu, Emiko Takahashi, Samantha Adams, Kiran Shasthri, Evan Saunders. Oddly enough, the list of known members does NOT include Tyler Martin, Marie Wilson, Scott Adams and a number of other prominent characters. Tyler doesn't like debate, Marie really doesn't like Sharpe and Scott just doesn't want to do it. Purpose: To provide students with the opportunity to discuss and debate controversial issues, including but not limited to the following: religion, ethics, technology, politics, war, social justice and many, many other things. AKA: The "Debate Club" (Emiko Takahashi)
Other Clubs This isn't a complete list, but here are some of the other clubs around RHS... Film Club: Staff Sponsors: Anthony Wilson and Hugh Avery (duh). Looks at various films, both contemporary and historical. Student Council: Staff Advisors: Josiah Alton and Candace Pruitt. Elected student government. Media Productions: Staff Sponsors: Becky Rodriguez and Laura Clarkson. They write and edit the school newspaper and put out the forms of media on campus. Writing Club: Staff Sponsor: Julia Perry. Students gather to improve their writing skills and occasionally talk about books. Sam is the president of the Writing Club during her junior and senior years of high school. Operation Numbers: Staff Sponsors: Hugh Avery and Aislynn Celeste (and also Jason Hartley). These are a group of students who spend time working with low income students and finding ways to make math and science more interesting and fun. Chess Club: Staff Sponsor: Sharpe. Group of students focuses on developing chess strategies and competes in local tournaments. Assisted by Alan Harrison (2005-present) and Candace Pruitt. Technology Club: Staff Sponsors: Amy Kerrington and Jason Hartley. Helps maintain school club webpages and focuses on other forms of technology. Student Service Club: Staff Sponsors: (various, but it has included Jennie Alton). This is a group of students who do community service. Marie Wilson helped start it during fall of 2003.
NB: Most clubs have two staff sponsors, particularly those that are larger or require more organization or, in the case of Forum Philosophorum, deal with controversial issues. Sharpe is probably the only staff member who is the main sponsor for two clubs. However, since the Debate Club (using Emiko's words) was not in existence for a few years, this is not very surprising.
And now for a bit of a treat...a snippet from a Forum Philosophorum meeting... (Kiran's POV, third person) MPAA Rating: G. Sharpe's being his typical self. Characters: Kiran, Sharpe
A dark haired girl raced through the courtyard. She was wearing loose pants, a shirt and a sari wrapped around her. It was trailing in the wind as she ran; she hoped she wasn't late. It wasn't her fault, really. She had been talking to another student when she realized that two o'clock was quickly approaching.
Her dark skin blushed as she nearly ran into the person who she least wanted to see at that moment: Mr. Sharpe. The arrogant chemistry teacher had already blatantly told her that she wouldn't be allowed to take most of his advanced classes, despite the fact that her transcript proved her quite capable. She had a theory that it was just because he wouldn't stand for anyone with religious convictions in his classroom and she had set out to prove that here.
"Miss Shasthri," a cold voice spoke as she took a moment to straighten herself up. "It is very nice of you to come. What, praytell, brings you here on such a fine afternoon?" The voice was sickly sardonic and Kiran could feel her heart sinking.
"Sorry, Mr. Sharpe, but you didn't say I couldn't join the philosophy club," she replied with a smirk. "So, if you'll give me one of those paper things to fill out..." Sharpe's glare was intense. "...please."
Sharpe lifted an eyebrow as he held his pointy stick out towards her. "Well, it will be interesting to see how well your religion holds up," he sneered. Despite this, he handed her a paper to fill out and she set to work answering the questions.
Michael plays violin and is known for enjoying and being much better at the faster pieces than the slower pieces. Andy also plays violin, but plays the faster pieces in a much slower tempo.
Emiko has a half-sister, Hana Rei, who lives in England and goes to school with Callisto Verity and Donovan Isaacs.
Sharpe used to play an instrument (though I'm still not sure which one). He doesn't anymore. I'm soliciting feedback if anyone cares to answer.
A number of my characters share birthdays with people I know or with "famous dead guys" (Dr. Shasthri, Sharpe). None of my characters have the same birthday I do.
Evan Saunders has the most stereotypically American family: dad, mom, two kids (brother and sister), family pet. Scott and Samantha's family also follows this pattern.
Hideaki, Emiko, Tyler, Marie, Aislynn Celeste and Sharpe all come from "non-typical" homes. They were either adopted, in foster care, lived with relatives or have single parents.
The largest families in my stories are the Liu family (two parents and five kids, two of whom are adopted), the Wilson family (five kids and one parent), the Page family (six kids, two parents and one cousin) and the McAllistair family (two parents and eight kids).
Forum Philosophorum, the debate forum for controversial issues, was originally Sharpe's idea and he ran it. It was abolished in 2005 upon the insistence of Peter Screwtape. (Which reminds me that I'll have to share a brief snippet of a conversation between Sharpe and Kiran that I wrote...). I'm thinking the secondary staff sponsor is Shaun Ackerman, just because of the way he and Sharpe interact. That would be a lot of fun to write.
Aislynn Celeste was actually originally sort of a shapeshifter. She can change her natural coloring at will.
Emiko and Hideaki actually met each other in Japanese school and became friends there.
I got this idea when I was at the Christmas Nativity candlelight service and I just had to write it... it will be continued, probably throughout finals week, culminating in something large getting closer to Christmas...
Timeline: Christmas Eve, 2008 MPAA Rating: G (though this piece will probably borderline PG-13 by the time it's done if it goes in the direction I think it will...) Character(s): Sharpe (obviously), Jonathan Liu (mention only) Word Count: 296 Warnings: I'm not going to shy away from controversial talking about religion in this piece at all... though it will be to the POV of my characters and not necessarily what I think or believe. The night had been long, but fifteen seconds passed forever in his mind. His minutely accurate time sense, normalized to the atomic clock to the nearest nanosecond and his mind able to predict the result of complex arithmetic calculations several decimal places out. The man gritted his teeth. This wasn't relativity, as he wasn't moving close to the speed of light, so he couldn't blame Mr. Einstein. No, it was much simpler, yet simultaneously more complicated. As he knelt down on the wooden floor, the middle aged man wondered what he had been missing all his life and why it was coming back so quickly to him. Little lights flickered all around him. The candles were still lit, though most everyone had left for the night. They had families to go home to. One knee dug into the floorboard and his teeth bit into his bottom lip, determined to ignore everything around him against what little better judgement he possessed at the moment. If he truly possessed his better judgement, he would not have come here this Wednesday evening. No, he was clearly desperate. It had been twenty-five years since that night... a quarter of a century. He could hear footsteps coming from the opposite end of the corridor, but he closed his eyes and clenched his right hand into a fist, supporting himself with his left arm in a halfway balanced position. Even now it was painful to be here; surely Jon knew that. Yet something had drawn him here tonight. The seconds ticked by in his mind and he started to lose track of time. It must have been minutes and the man could have sworn he heard a violin playing in the background. That was the absolute last thing he needed right now. tbc.
Did I ever say this blog was going to be 100% about writing fiction? Well, here's a little treat for all of you... and mostly because I don't have time today to write anything real.
We got our physics papers back today, so I'm going to include some of that... hoorah for lower division classes and spending two nights on one assignment and using an organic chemistry textbook as a reference for a physics assignment. This was mostly a physical chemistry topic.
Although the most infamous aspects associated with nuclear physics are related to the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Japan to end World War Two, nuclear physics has proven itself to have important applications in two closely-related areas that many people encounter on a regular basis. One is NMR, or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which is often used to identify chemical compounds. Operating on the same basic principles is the MRI, which stands for magnetic resonance imaging.
The NMR takes advantage of the fact that energy levels are quantized. ∆E=h2n/4mL2 (where ∆E is the change in energy between levels, h is Planck’s constant, n is an integer, m is the mass of the molecule and L is the wavelength required to excite the molecule to the next energy level) should prove that the energy is quantized, as 4, h, n and m are constants for any given molecule. This is one requirement for the NMR to work.
The other requirement is for there to either be an odd mass number or an odd atomic number on the molecule. If A=Z+N (A is the mass number, Z is the number of neutrons, N is the number of protons), then either A or N must be odd. This is so that the nucleus can spin. When the nucleus is spun, then angular momentum is generated. This makes a magnetic field. You can apply an external magnetic field and the nucleus’s magnetic field will either align or not align with the external magnetic field. The NMR rotates the nuclei by applying an external magnetic field and quantizes the energies.
The basic machinery for the NMR requires four parts: a magnet, a radio frequency transmitter, a detector that can measure how much energy the molecule absorbs and a something to record output versus how much magnetic field was applied. The magnet is what applies the external magnetic field and the sample is placed in the middle of the magnet. The transmitter emits a frequency, which can be read and interpreted by the detector as a series of waves. Most NMR spectrometers operate from anywhere between 60 to 800 MHz, with 300-500 MHz being the most common frequencies of operation. These frequencies refer to how often the transmitter emits a signal that can be detected. The NMR spectrometer in the laboratory at our university is a Jeol 300 MHz.
Most NMR spectrometers used now are actually FT-NMRs, or pulsed Fourier transform NMRs. The pulsed Fourier transformed part of the name refers to a mathematical process that takes an oscillation vaguely resembling a sine wave and changes it into a vertical peak or series of peaks. This is what is seen on the printer and consequently what anyone who wants to know the chemical identity of the substance is interested in.
The most common atoms used with the NMR are the 1H, 2H, 13C, 15N, 19F and 31P. In chemistry, proton (1H) and 13C are most common, due to the fact that most organic molecules are primarily comprised of carbon and hydrogen molecules. The basic theory behind a proton NMR is that some protons are more shielded, or has more electron density around it, than others do, depending on what kinds of atoms they are attached to. For example, hydrogens attached to a carbon would be fairly shielded and have a lot of electron density around them compared to a hydrogen attached to a nitrogen or especially an oxygen, both of which are more electronegative than carbon. In a proton NMR, the peak of a more shielded hydrogen will show up with a lower applied magnetic field strength than that of a less shielded hydrogen. Being able to determine the chemical structure of a compound can be incredibly useful. For example, if you are trying to synthesize a certain chemical with a known NMR spectrum, you can run a sample. If the spectrum comes out looking like it should, chances are that you have made what you intended to make. The NMR can also be used in forensic work to assist in identifying an unknown substance.
Aside from chemistry, the technology seen in the FT-NMR has another application that more people have heard of. Whether someone has gone to the hospital to get the medical test done or seen a medical drama show on television, most Americans have at least heard of magnetic resonance imaging or MRI. The NMR was discovered in 1945, around the time that World War Two ended, but the MRI was not proposed until 1974 and was not put into diagnostic practice until the middle of the 1980s. Given that it is nearing the end of 2008 right now, that would date the MRI as thirty-four years of age this year, but somewhere between twenty and twenty-five years in diagnostic medicine. Despite what people may think about nuclear energy and anything else associated with things nuclear being unsafe, the MRI is a relatively safe medical procedure.
The scientific community has possessed NMR spectroscopy for more than fifty years and since then, we’ve made significant advancements. One thing that we could continue to do is to apply what we know about the FT-NMR to the MRI. If there is a possible way to make a lower dose of radiation for an MRI scan possible, research could be done in that area. Also, since an atom must have an odd mass number or an odd atomic number for the basis of the NMR to work, it would be interesting to know if any research has been done to find an analogous way to characterize atoms with even mass and atomic numbers, like sulfur and calcium. The FT-NMR has its uses, specifically in chemistry, as does the MRI in medicine.
Halliday, David, et al. Fundamentals of Physics, Seventh Edition Extended.New Jersey: John Wiley Sons & Inc. 2005.
Mohrig, Jerry R, et al. Techniques in Organic Chemistry, Second Edition. New York: WH Freeman and Company. 2006.
Thermodynamics Lecture notes. PS-363. 07 November 2008.
NB: After I finished the paper, I couldn't remember whether L was the wavelength or the length of our physics professor's imaginary box, but it still proves that energy is quantized...
I also took out the name of the place where I go to school at and replaced it with something generic. I did actually use the school name in the paper.
Holiday Stories. We love 'em, hate 'em, but the holidays wouldn't be the same without them... so here are a few I've encountered.
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck. This story is about an elderly man reflecting back on his teenage years on Christmas morning. At our dormitory Christmas party on Friday, it was read to us. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (in my opinion, one of his two decent works) is one of my favorite Christmas stories. I don't know how many times it's been parodied, but one of my favorite holiday memories was from when we went on a class field trip to the City and we got to see this performed live. That was truly a treat. The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry has always been one of my favorites.
Here are two Christmas/holiday stories I've written... A Midwinter's Eve: a LotR fanfiction based around Elrond, Legolas and other characters in JRR Tolkien's Universe. Rated G. Written in 2005. General holiday theme, as I don't think they have Christmas in Middle-earth. A Christmas to Remember: An untimely snowstorm (snow in California?) traps Michael, Scott, Sam and the others at the church during rehearsal for the Christmas play. Other characters include Sharpe, Natalia and Ellie Johnson, Alton and all the church kids. Written in December of 2006. Rated G, but explicitly religious.
So now you have five holiday themed stories you can go read. I'm sorry that (with the exception of A Midwinter's Eve) they're all Christmas oriented. I just don't know of any good Kwanzaa or Hanukkah stories to share with you guys.
Creative Writing Prompts Prompt 139: The Halls Were Silent Character: Dr. Priya Shasthri MPAA Rating: G Word Count: 273 Timeline: circa 1990
The hallway was silent. Any other time, she would have been thankful, but today, it was just odd. Though it was the day before Thanksgiving, Priya Shasthri was in her office, trying to finish grading the exam she gave her quantum chemistry students yesterday, it still threw her off to see no one in the entire building. Usually, students or other faculty members were milling in the halls or finishing up projects in the library, especially so close to final exams. The professor shook her head with a smile as she slipped her coat on over her clothes and turned off the lights in her office. Despite not having any family nearby, six o’clock on the evening before Thanksgiving was late enough to go home. As she locked the door to her office, she thought she heard a sound coming from the opposite end of the corridor.
That was odd. An anomaly... and anomalies were interesting to a scientist. One should have expected the building to be completely empty, but apparently it wasn’t and upon reaching the south end door, the thirty-six-year-old professor frowned slightly. So this was what the noise was. She arched an eyebrow slightly as she approached the student and simply stood in the hall for several moments, observing and not saying a thing. Quiet sniffles came from down below and she simply waited, standing there. She had nowhere to go and it was pretty obvious to her that she might be there for awhile. Perhaps she was thankful she’d stayed late tonight rather than going home to grade the exams. Despite what things appeared, the hallway was not silent.
Name: Priya Shasthri, PhD DOB: April 23, 1954 (shares a birthday with Max Planck, obviously not the year, though!) Occupation: Professor of Physical Chemistry Relations: Aunt (paternal) to Kiran Shasthri Generation Classification: Zero. She's the around the same age as Candace Pruitt, Josiah Alton, et al. Characteristics: As a person, she's very caring about those she knows, albeit a little distant at times. If you get close to her, she can be pretty emotional. She's strict about the rules, works hard and tends to stay late. As a professor, she is notorious for having difficult exams. Physical Appearance: She looks quite a bit like her niece, Kiran, except she's quite a bit taller. NB: She hasn't appeared in any stories as of yet. She is, however, destined to make an appearance in the Once Upon an Alternate Universe piece I'm working on plotting... She's been mentioned by Sharpe as the professor he had for thermodynamics. She was also his faculty advisor while he was a student at university.
Her first mentioned appearance was in Snapshots, chapter five, in a flashback sequence. I'm still in the process of writing it (that's why it's not uploaded yet). I'd love to go more into her character because I think she could become interesting to write, especially if Kiran finds out that Sharpe had her aunt as a professor while he was a student. That could potentially serve as an interesting conversation...
Slightly OT (off-topic), but I decided to do the Holidailies, which is the basic equivalent to NaNo of the blogging world... only over the holiday season instead of during the ever crazily insane month we all know and love as November. What one has to do is to write in the online journal every day (or at least try to) for at least fifty words and that’s about it. So I shall be updating this on a more regular basis.
My reasons for doing this are quite simple. First of all, I want to commit myself to writing more regularly. If I don’t write, then I won’t improve. Second of all, I’ll be off of school for a decent duration of the time period. Thirdly, I want to get in the habit of letting people know where my writing is going so I can be held more accountable for actually writing.
So what am I going to be doing in these entries? Since this is still my writing journal, this will be writing-oriented. I’ll be posting brief pieces of what I’ve been working on, commentary about various characters or IC (in character) surveys or other character exploration pieces. You may get a book or author review or commentary about music I enjoy listening to when I write, but most of this will be on-topic writing. I may also link to other stories that I've enjoyed reading (either on DA or fanfiction.net, most likely) and comment on what I like about them. Maybe have a featured author or something.
I know I should really be doing homework or something else right now, but I wanted to put this out there before I forgot. If anyone has any good book suggestions, I'm much in need of a good one. I've put Othello (Shakespeare) down for quite awhile and I don't think I shall be resuming it any time soon.
Points to Consider:
Good characters
Plot that involves mostly action, adventure, suspense, thriller.
Possibly some romance, but not too much.
I don't like reading stuff with graphic sex, drugs, violence, language, etc. In other words, probably nothing worse than PG-13...
Something in the tradition of Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo) would be nice.
I love the classics, but I also enjoy suspense-thrillers. ^_^
If you guys have any book suggestions, that would be muchly appreciated. I've been meaning to try to get my hands on a copy of George MacDonald's Phantasties, but haven't been able to. Which is rather unfortunate, if you ask me, but it's life.
Here are some of the known Maplewood students. Obviously there are more than this, but here are some that come into the other stories... or at least their kids do.
Class of 1983 Hugh Avery: current math teacher and former physics teacher at RHS
Class of 1984 Nicholas Saunders: father to Kathryn and Evan Saunders
Class of 1985 Jonathan Liu: father to Michael, Andy, Elizabeth, Cassandra and Hannah Liu Jeremiah Liu: father to Mei-ling and Jenna Liu Felicia McGonigall: mother to Scott and Samantha Adams Melissa Royal: mother to Kathryn and Evan Saunders, wife to Nicholas Saunders.
Class of 1987 Shaun Ackerman: history teacher at RHS. Emily Royal: younger sister to Melissa Royal
Class of 1988 Tetsuya Takahashi: father to Emiko Takahashi Kiyoshi Sato: birth father of Hideaki Sato, deceased Eugene Kim: classmate and close friend of Tetsuya's Andrew Tam: father of Ming-yue Tam Jedediah Sharpe: chemistry teacher at RHS Rose McGonigall: mother to Nate Winters Mac O'Brien: father to Frances O'Brien
Class of 1990 Johannah Liu: younger sister to Jonathan and Jeremiah Liu
Class of 1991 Jennie Alton: part-time employee at RHS
Class of 1994 Mandie Alton: younger sister of Jennie Alton
Class of 1999 Victoria Lim: recently hired as the physical sciences teacher at RHS
Victoria Lim is one of the younger teachers at RHS. As a comparison, graduate student Aislynn Celeste (who works under the direct supervision of Hugh Avery) finished up her last year at Northpointe Academy in 2002.
I've been plotting for Once Upon an Alternate Universe, also known as the continuation to this piece (go read that first!) and I have something really cool in mind for Aislynn Celeste. Simply because she is who she is and I'm planning to take advantage of that, as any author would. Basically what happens is that Sharpe's life ends up being one giant lie for a good cause, Emiko must ignore her father's wishes and take matters into her own hands as far as her life goes and Kiran Shasthri and Nate Winters go on a secret mission to uncover what really happened to Ackerman. Meanwhile, the Fellowship (Michael, Scott, Sam, Hideaki, Evan, Tyler and Marie) must decide where they're going to stand in the conflict and remember that betrayal comes from within their ranks... and with thirty pieces of silver.
Starring Sharpe Emiko Takahashi Peter Screwtape Aislynn Celeste Kiran Shasthri Nathaniel "Nate" Winters Donovan Isaacs Tetsuya Takahashi Hideaki Sato Michael Liu Scott Adams Samantha Adams Marie Wilson Tyler Martin Evan Saunders Featuring Shaun Ackerman Dr. Shasthri Laura Clarkson Hugh Avery Sophia McAllistair Ming-Yue Tam Callisto and Ali Verity and many, many more...
No, but seriously... this is going to be so much fun to write!!! I'm really excited to actually get around to writing it. I've been planning some out as ideas have come (mainly at meals when I've had a few extra minutes and my notebook with me). I have huge plans for certain characters and I am greatly excited about that... particularly for Aislynn Celeste. I know what I'm going to do with her and how I'm bringing her into the story.
This piece is going to involve a lot of my characters, not only from second generation, but also from first generation and from abroad. Like the teachers at Riverdale (Laura Clarkson, Hugh Avery, Ackerman and Sharpe are the only ones metioned specifically) will be making appearances or be in the story. Peter Screwtape is the principal of RHS. Dr. Shasthri (Kiran's aunt) was Sharpe's university physics professor. I'm not sure what she'll be doing in the story, but it'll be interesting. Callisto, Ali and Donovan live in the UK. Sophia is from Arizona, but she knows Donovan. Ming, Kiran and Nate are all from New York. Laura Clarkson is originally from Texas and Aislynn's originally from Canada somewhere. Sharpe was born on the East Coast, but moved to California when he was a teenager. I'm pretty sure most of the other characters are SF Bay Area California local.
Oh, do I love playing around with symbolism, allegory and the meanings of names!!!
Since other characters come into this story, I guess I should mention the sister schools. There's four of them.
Maplewood Academy: Location: California. School Colors: Burgandy and Silver Mascot: Gryphon Known Students: Sharpe, Tetsuya Takahashi, Shaun Ackerman, Jonathan and Jeremiah Liu, Rose and Felicia McGonigall, Mac O'Brien (et al.) History: Was founded in 1953. First Dean of Students was Angel Carlston. Lost ability to exist due to lack of funding and was forced to close in Spring of 1999. Campus is now the site of Riverdale High School. Culture: Maplewood is the only one of the four schools that is not a boarding school. It schools kids from sixth through twelfth grade. Uniforms are required.
Northpointe Academy: Location: Canada School Colors: Dark Purple and White Mascot: Falcon Known Students: Aislynn Celeste (also her father) History: Northpointe was founded in 1950. Culture: Most students here are exceptional at various forms of art. School uniforms are not required for most purposes. Classes are taught in both French and English; nearly all students who attend are bilingual. This is a mandatory boarding school: starting at age ten, students are offered dormitory rooms to share with others their age.
Melanthios Boarding School: Location: New York School Colors: Green and Black Mascot: Vikings Known Students: Kiran Shasthri, Nate Winters, Ming-yue Tam (et al.) History: Founded in 1909, Melanthios is by far the oldest of the four schools in the coalition. Culture: Melanthios places a high priority on academics. They accept students from seventh through twelfth grade with suggested (but optional) boarding. School uniforms are casual, but must be worn to most classes and on special occasions. When students are not in uniform, there is a fairly strict dress code to follow. Classes are small and there are approximately 500 students attending Melanthios at any given point; about 450 of those are boarding students. Melanthios was originally only a boarding school, but opened its doors in 1972 to become open to daytime students, as well (hence its full name).
Alcantha Instructional Institution: Location: Northern England School Colors: Navy Blue and Gold Mascot: Sharks Known Students: Callisto and Ali Verity, Hana Rei, Donovan Isaacs (et al.) History: Alcantha was founded in 1949 and houses students mostly from the UK. Culture: If nothing else, they're strict. To attend Alcantha, boarding is required. Students must wear uniforms at all times outside the dorms, except if official permission is given; they are not allowed to wander the halls at night and there are many more rules. Many students who attend here come from rich families. Alcantha leans neither towards academics nor arts nor athletics.
