The Blog Challenge (and 2012)

Starting tomorrow, I will be participating in a challenge with these lovely people. In this challenge, we are supposed to post one blog post every day for an entire month. Whoopee! What motivation to post regularly here! I sincerely hope I don't fail.
You're all looking forward to the happiness of Rainstorms-posts that will flood your Google Readers and Blogger Dashboards soon, right? 

In other news, tomorrow also happens to be the first day of a new year.
2012 is the year of the dragon. My uncle is a dragon. His name is Dragan. I think that is so cool.
2012 marks the beginning of a year in which I want to change a lot. By that, I mean a lot. (More on that later.)
2012 is where the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar ends. Ohnowilltheworldend? We'll have to wait and see. I'd like to graduate, though, so I hope 2013 comes along.
2012 looks pretty. 2012 2012 2012 2012
And uh, yeah! Happy New Year everyone!

Observations of My Google Docs

• I have a document entitled "musings" that is completely empty. What happened there? o.0

• I shared my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel, Raedan's Heart, with NINE other people. O the shame. That was such a terrible piece of writing. All 33,000 words of it. 

• "AP Euro Midterm Study Guide," last modified in April, is still marked unread.

• There is a spreadsheet called "the lees" that contains all our ideas for what my brothers should name their children. (Ginger Lee, Actual Lee, Incredib Lee, Pai Shen Lee, etc.)

• HOW MANY STORIES HAVE I STARTED AND NOT FINISHED!? D:

• I have about four "Untitled document"s in my list. They're all different and really should warrant titles. I guess I'm just too lazy.

• My longest title is "River blindness is most common in Afr..." Inside that document is a lovely short paragraph or two about the parasite on a parasite on a blood-sucking fly that causes river blindness.

• "fairy tale 2," a collaborative effort between me and my brother to write a fairytale, was sadly abandoned more than a year ago. There were some pretty awesome similes in there.

"They would often take much joy in riding through the villages of the land and slicing through the people as one cuts through fruit in an angry orchard."

"Suddenly, like a penguin slipping into the frigid waters of the North Sea, a massive dust cloud appeared upon the horizon."

"Within the cloud rode a dark mass of horsemen. With flags and shields they rode, like a raging iguana that frantically scampers across twigs and leaves to dine upon a colony of ants."

"As he reached the fifty stones' throw mark with a pace like that of a terrified ant that hysterically rushes away from a raging iguana, Xeliyn looked behind him and beheld the multitude of Raiders quickly overtaking him."

•  The oldest document in my list is "The Epic Conversation." This was called epic rightly. Not in the way that epic seems to be used most commonly nowadays ("That was an epic dive-catch!") but in the older way. As in, really, really, really long.
  It was born of a chat between my good friend Ellie and myself some two years ago, where we each impersonated a character and um, roleplayed? for hours. And that chat, I think, was born of our excitement over how OK is a stick-man when you turn your head to the left. We created two of the OK men, named them, and made them talk to each other.
  A choice snippet:
  

  Tom walks a few steps away from Billy after smelling him
  
  Billy: Hey! Whadidya sniff me for??!!
  Tom: I didn't 'sniff' you.I simply took notice of your...er...odor...I suggest a nice warm bath...
  
  Tom plugs his nose and gets out his man-perfume
  Tom starts squirting it everywhere

Conclusion: Um, I don't really...have one.

Typical Conversation #2

NATHAN: Mom, I want boar. Can we eat boar tonight?
MOM: Boar is a bore.
NATHAN & JEREMY: Hahaha!
ME: Has missed the joke. What? What just happened?
NATHAN: You didn't hear it 'cause you were trying to hog the conversation.
NATHAN & JEREMY: Hahaha!
ME: Hey, snort funny!
MOM: Yeah, stop pigging on your sister.
NATHAN: I ham dying of laughter.
JEREMY: Man, keeping up with you guys is such a hard tusk.

Typical Conversation #1

MOM: Holding a loaf of sliced bread. If I eat this whole thing, will I get fat?
ME: Um...yes.
MOM: Throwing down the bread and whining. Don't say that! You're so mean! Pouts like small child.

Hunted

The prisoner's sitting on the floor, her ear pressed intently against the wall as I walk onto the second-floor balcony.
"What are you doing?"
"Listening to the wall," she replies, as if it's a perfectly normal thing to do.
"Why?"
She looks up, surprised. "Don't you know? The walls see everything, remember everything."
I lean against the railing and stare at her, wondering what could have possessed the master to think we should let the prisoner roam free through the house. What’s up with our having a prisoner, anyway? No one will tell me.
"And what are the walls saying?"
"They’ve watched for many years," she says seriously, almost wistfully. "When this house was first built, there was happiness here, and lots of people. Then one by one they went out and never came back. I don’t know what happened, but it was terrible. The walls absorbed the sorrow of those few left behind here." The prisoner stands up, running her hand over the wall. She wanders over next to me and places her elbows on the railing with a sigh. "If the house wasn't so big, it wouldn't be so hard to erase the sorrow, replace it with laughter again."
I wonder how she found out. Did the walls really tell her all that?
I've only looked away for a second, but when I glance back she's gone.
Her head pops back up over the railing for a moment. I forgot, she likes to climb around on the stairs, though I can never figure out why.
"There's so much sadness here," she says, "Take care it doesn't swallow you whole."

~~~

Not exactly sure what inspired this. I wrote it a long time ago, and I can't remember the circumstances surrounding it.

Biology

I've been doing quite well in my AP Biology course so far this year. I think this academic success can be attributed, among other things, to my notes that I take in class.
Because these notes are not just copying down whatever's on the PowerPoint. No, these are notes with annotated illustrations.
I'm sorry, that sounded really pretentious. It's really not that impressive, and I don't annotate everything. I only illustrate the concepts that strike my imagination.

Here are a few examples:

Archaea: prokaryotes that can live in extremely cold, salty, or hot habitats

Lysosomes destroy nonfunctioning organelles by digesting them

Stoma: leaf-pores | Stroma: the fluid-filled space between grana in chloroplasts

In Photosystem II, the carotenoid pigments pass excited electrons to the main pigment, chlorophyll a.

Energy transfers from sunlight to glucose through photosynthesis, which is ingested by other organisms like us, where our cells convert it to ATP through cellular respiration, which is then available to facilitate cell work. And so we live.

Apoptosis: programmed cell death when something goes wrong. The cell pulls itself apart, and the fragments are digested by little...thingies.

These pictures have helped me remember so much. I definitely advocate doodling in the margins while taking notes, because it actually does help (if you're drawing things related to the course matter). Especially if it's a little silly. Hehe.

December Days

This time of year, the world swirls and scurries
like no other month.
I stand and watch,
and I hear so many voices calling--
buy this, or maybe ask for that,
and after all the shopping,
we can frolic in the snow.
If you're well-behaved,
then Santa brings you things,
unless you don't think he exists.
Then other people give you things,
and you give them things too,
and everyone is positively bursting
with all the holiday spirit--
And this is what we call
Christmas.

I stand and listen,
and I hear a soft voice speak,
telling me a story I've heard before.
Years ago, on another bustling night,
where quiet was all but impossible to find--
innkeepers busy with new guests,
shopkeepers with new customers,
as people traveled near and far--
the angels were singing in the fields.
Peace, they said.
Glory to God and
peace,
because Immanuel has come.

So while the world is hurrying and worrying,
I will look upon a Savior,
One who came unnoticed
in the midst of a season more like this
than often we might think.
I find my peace
because a child was born to die
for me--
For me!

This is what I will know as
Christmas:
Christ the Lord is here.

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms: one of the sweetest cereals in the world, approaching unbearable sugar content.
Contains: ...um...Ireland stereotypes in the extreme? Also sugar.

Mommy doesn't buy Lucky Charms for us very often, but we happen to have a box in the pantry at the moment. I never paid attention to the shapes until this morning, whereupon looking into my bowl I became greatly confused while trying to ascertain what the distorted marshmallow things were supposed to be. So I went to the two most easily accessible sources of information: the Internet and my brother Nathan.

This is what the Internet gave me:

I was less than satisfied.
I liked Nathan's answer a lot more. Even though he didn't get to all of them, because you're lucky (:D) to get what you get in your bowl.

"You see," he said, beginning to pick out the various shapes, "They all have significance.

"This is a Christmas tree...this is a cross...this is a Christian fish...and this is a fat Christmas tree...

 

 "This is the star of Bethlehem...

("and here's another star of Bethlehem, and another star of Bethlehem, and another...)

"This is Noah's rainbow...

 

 "This is the hat that Saint Patrick wore when he drove all the demon snakes out of Ireland...

 "This, uh, this is a 'u'...

 "And this is one of the magical red balloons that will make your life magical if you get 100 of them in one bowl!"

 

Mom: Nathan, that's impossible. Don't be silly.

Weaver of Dreams (sneak peek)

Preview of my current work-in-progress. It is a fantasy novel that I hope to actually finish, but is still in its baby stages right now. I am sharing this in the hopes that if it seems interesting enough, I can get more people to nag me to keep writing.

~*~*~


Prologue:

Two sit together, staring blankly at the stone wall opposite them. Shriveled bones lie unmoving where before strong hands would stir to weave or spin. One begins to cry.
"Shh," says the other, turning. "Do not give him more tears to take."
A whisper. "How long have we been here?"
"Too long."
"Too long," echoes a third occupant of the room from where she curls in the corner. She has seen her companions only once.

•

A bowed figure, chained and shackled, pulls madly against his heavy bonds. He screams, a deep rasping cry of despair.
Nobody listens. Nothing comes undone. He screams again.
He never thought he’d long for light, but the darkness has been too much, too long.

•

A woman, achingly beautiful, sleeps silently, almost peacefully. Three frozen crystals, no more, have dropped from her closed eyes beneath the deep layer of ice that covers her body.
She has been waiting to wake for too long.

•

A child, playing among the rocks, suddenly stops and gazes into the distance.
"What is it," say her playfellows, "What are you looking at?"
She cannot tell them that the winds have changed, that a storm is coming. She has learned this only from many, many years of experience.
I am much older than all of you, she sometimes remarks to the other children, but always it is soundless.
It has been too long since her voice was heard.

Obligatory Questioning Post

I will now proceed to ask a series of questions that are directed to no particular audience, are intended to seem deceptively profound, and don't really require any form of answer.

1) Why is the sky green?
2) Why does everyone tell me the sky isn't green?
3) Who first thought of squeezing cow udders and drinking the white stuff?
4) What makes things "cute" and why do people want to "eat" said objects?
5) Why is pink now a girly color when it used to be associated with boys?
6) Who decided that there are 360 degrees in a circle? (Was it the Mayans? Why do we take everything they say so seriously?)
7) Is that squishy-looking blob on my ceiling dead or alive?
8) How is catchy music catchy?
9) why doesnt time go slower whenn I want it too goshhhh
10) What's actually awkward and what's not?
11) Should the thought of growing up be terrifying or exciting?
12) Is it okay for it to be both?
13) Were those last two questions genuine or rhetorical? HMMM.
14) Why does the red-throated loon have such a creepy call?
15) Will I end on an even or an odd number?
16) Is that even a legitimate question to ask?
17) Does anyone care what number I end on?
18) Do I count as "anyone" for that last question?
19) Nineteen or twenty, which sounds prettier?
20) Or should I go by which looks prettier?

OH WHATEVER. Twenty's good enough.

How to Get to Know Someone (Fast Track)

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON THIS SUBJECT. NOT AT ALL. I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE READING THIS IF YOU KNOW IT'S ON MY BLOG.
Now you may read on.

I have always been frustrated by awkward conversations with people I have just met, where we must delicately dance around topics in search of a common interest, sometimes without any success at all. In lieu of such potentially agonizing social interactions, I propose that new acquaintances ask each other the following three questions, after which each may walk away with a basic knowledge of the other's disposition.


1) If you could only keep one of your senses, which would it be, and why?

This question serves to provide a sense (heh) of what is important to the recipient. For example, a person who values their sense of hearing the most might be musical, or at least have some sort of interesting story as to why they like it best.

b) Cute tiny animals (like hamsters and baby bunnies), loyal ones (like dogs and horses), or wild free ones (like eagles and tigers)? Why?

This sounds like some sort of test of personality, as in, whatever he/she chooses reflects his/her temperament, but I think it doesn't actually work that way. That would be way too easy. But animals are always a good topic of conversation.

iii) What's the weirdest thing you've ever inhaled?

= Fodder for funny stories. (Laughter helps to bring people together.)


I must give credit where it is due. I shamelessly stole borrowed the first question from Emmie, who is actually thoughtful enough to come up with intriguing inquiries like that.
Oh, and, I should have mentioned this before: everything here is purely philosophical and lacks field evidence, as I've not had the opportunity to try this myself. You are free to test it out, but keep in mind that it might not work at all. If you happen to do that, please notify me with the results.

Breathing is Good

I never realized how beautiful it is to be able to breathe normally until last night, when I couldn't.
Maybe it was some sort of virus brewing since my first signs of a cough on Saturday. Maybe I overexerted myself doing something.
(In retrospect, maybe going iceskating wasn't such a good idea? Oh well, it was such a good time that I don't regret it.)
Whatever it was, I couldn't breathe last night without my lungs hurting like I'd stuck them in a freezer, where they were burning with the cold. It's one of the worst kinds of pains ever, because if you hold your breath, it hurts too in a different way, and you'll probably die. So you're in anguish every few seconds, either way.
It kept me up until roughly five in the morning. The most annoying part of not being able to sleep was that "Come Home" by OneRepublic was stuck in my head. The same song, all night. And my breathing didn't match with the rhythm. Gah.
I was only able to fall asleep when I deliberately pushed the song out of my head and replaced it with another. Or perhaps it wasn't exactly me who replaced it. I had been praying for much of the night--ranging from friends and family to babblings about my life, but by that time it had turned into a desperate repeating of God, I just want to stop hurting, stop the hurting, stop the hurting.
And it was this song that popped into my head:

My heart is filled with a thousand songs
Proclaiming the glories of Calvary
With every breath, Lord how I long
To sing of Jesus who died for me
Lord take me deeper into the glories of Calvary

I had to stop and think about that. With every breath? Is this perfect for my situation or what?
But...do I really long to sing of Jesus who died for me? When was the last time I longed to sing about this wonderful gift? When did I cease to be constantly amazed that the very Son of God would die for me?
My greatest problem has already been taken care of, when my sins were nailed to the cross with Him and were thus atoned for.

Sinners find eternal joy in the triumph of your wounds
By our Savior's crimson flow, holy wrath has been removed

What a miracle that I can even speak to God now, that He is my Father and listens to me.
I lay there thinking about the glories of Calvary, and though the pain in my lungs was still there, I didn't mind it as much. I finally slept with those thoughts on my heart.

I am mostly okay now. My breathing is good and doesn't hurt too much anymore. I don't, however, want to leave the sharp, clear view of the gospel that came with the pain.
A thousand songs I would sing.

And I really did want to sing, but I've lost my voice D:

Guess Who's Back?

That's right, you got it: ME!

Has your Internet experience been missing a little Davina? Is your life incomplete without Davina's blog? Have you been pining for some Davina humor?

Well, never fear, because Davina is here! And that rhymed!

But seriously though...sorry for the eight-month disappearance from the face of the blogosphere. I had almost completely forgotten about the existence of this blog, but I've decided that henceforth it shall be home to short stories and the occasional poem in addition to regular posts. This is to keep me posting even when I think I don't have anything to post.

I will post. Really, I will. Especially because it's Christmas break right now, so you're guaranteed at least two weeks of Davina-spending-time-to-post. Woohoo. I know you're all looking forward to it.