Genre of the Month: High Fantasy

Hello, Friends!

This month's genre is High fantasy. High fantasy takes place in a world completely unrelated to our own, with no access to our world. This is unlike portal fantasy in that portal fantasy contains portals to completely different worlds.

Some books I have read that are high fantasy are: Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, The Hobbit, and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (which I post about here.)

Christopher Paolini's Alagaesia is full of elves, dwarves, dragons, humans, well known fantasy creatures, as well as creatures he made up, like urgals.

Middle-earth is J.R.R Tolkien's amazing fantasy world, while the world in which The Enchanted Forest Chronicles take place is never named.

To learn more about types of fantasy, read Erin's post about fantasy here.

What books have you read that are high fantasy?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-There-Back-Again/dp/061815082X

Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 4 (Character Constructing)

Good Day, Friends!

Today, to continue with our Build-A- Bear World series, we are going to create specific characters. To start, think about last week's Creative Complex. Use these two Creative Complexes to help you: Character Constructing: Evil Villain and Character Constructing: Minor Character.

If you missed the first three installments of this series, here they are:
Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 1
Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 2
Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 3

Next, pick one main character. Keep in consideration:

• Gender
• Race (elf, etc.)
• Upbringing
• Class

After this, choose a background for your main character. Remember, we are constructing a snow globe world, so you only need to create a basic background.

Even a Pegasus can be a character.

Things to think about:

• Age
• Where they live
• Past experiences that influence their beliefs and actions (ex. in the new Cinderella movie, right before Cinderella's mother died, she told Cinderella: "Have courage, and be kind." This influenced Cinderella's decisions for the rest of her life.)
• Personality (you can look up lists of personality traits online.)

Then, do this for a few of your other characters.

You are almost done with your snow globe world!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/pegasus-composite-horse-animal-1253359/

On My Mind: Water at Restaurants

Hello, Friends. Today's topic is an odd one.

You know how when you go to nice restaurants, when you get water, they refill your cup whenever they come by? I really, really, dislike that. I wish they would ask if you wanted more water. It bothers me. I don't know exactly why, but here are some of the contributing factors.

1) It makes me feel like I didn't drink any water.
I already don't drink a lot of water, so when I do, it feels nice to think: I drank one glass of water. But if they keep refilling my cup, I can't tell how much water I drank.

2) It wastes water.
If someone keeps refilling your cup, when you leave, there is an almost-full cup of water left behind that they have to dump out because it's contaminated with your germs. It saves money and is better for the environment to not waste water, so why do we?

3) Also, this only kind of relates to the topic, but it's so cold.
Whenever I have water that's too cold, it makes my teeth hurt, and I don't want to drink the rest of the water. It would be nice if they gave the option of ice water or tap water at restaurants.

Ah well. I guess I've had to live with it so far, and I will continue to have to live with it.

On a side note, a I recently discovered that someone I know is at the opposite end of the spectrum; she judges how good a restaurant is by them constantly refilling your cup. :)

Are there any random things that bother you?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/water-ice-glass-cold-534098/

Recipes: Simple Quesadillas

Hello, Friends!

Today, I decided to share an easy recipe with you; one you can make while you are babysitting, or just instead of the dull sandwich you always fix yourself.

All you need are: Tortillas, cheese, and oil or butter.

First, put some oil or butter (butter is easier and less likely to burn) in a saucepan and put it on a burner. Turn the burner to about 4, but it will be slightly different depending on your oven. Then, put one tortilla in the pan and put cheese on it. Cover it with another tortilla. Cook it until the cheese is melty, then flip it. Cook it for a little longer, then take it off and cut it into slices. Enjoy!

By the way, you could also add whatever else to the tortilla, but I'm not sure how that would turn out.

Have you made quesadillas before?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:
https://pixabay.com/en/food-lunch-meal-mexican-dish-1284268/

Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 3

Hello, Builders! Are you ready to continue making our snow globe?

If you missed the first two installments of this series, here they are:
Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 1
Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 2

Today, we are focusing on characters. Start with deciding if there are more than one race of intelligent beings.

Examples:

• Elves
• Dwarves
• Humans 
• Make up your own!

Also, decide if there are intelligent creatures that are not human based. For example, are dragons one of your races?

Next, pick one to five major characters, and one to five minor characters. A major character is a character that is very important in a story, but is not the main character (ex. a friend of the main character), and a minor character does not play an important role in the story (ex. the milk man, who delivers milk every morning, says hi, and that's about it). If you are confused, ask questions in the comments.

Then, one character at a time, decide if they are:

• Static
• Their character (beliefs) stays the same no matter what experiences they undergo

• Dynamic
• Their character (beliefs) change depending on the experiences they undergo

 and

•  Flat
• Usually minor characters, you know very little about them; and they have a very basic personality

• Round
• Usually major characters, you know a fair bit about them and they have a complex personality

Leave comments below!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/fantasy-fairytale-elve-man-owl-1481591/ 

https://pixabay.com/en/beast-dragon-flying-monster-1296506/

Dragons: The Harry Potter Series

Hello, Dragon Lovers!

Now, we are looking at dragons in a different manner. Have you all heard of the Harry Potter series? We'll be looking at how dragons are viewed in it.

The first time dragons are mentioned is in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, with the whole Norbert catastrophe. After this, they are mentioned throughout the series. In this series, dragons are viewed as creatures, just like lions, hippos, and the like. They are not "intelligent beings" like humans, elves, etc. This sets them apart from the dragons in The Inheritance Cycle and the dragons in The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

Now, the regular question of the dragons post: which is your favorite way to view dragons?

Also, are there any other books or movies you can think of that have this view of dragons?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions: 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-j-k-rowling/110003632

Gardening: The Easy Way

Greetings, Gardeners and non-Gardeners alike!

Gardening seems to have more parallels to life every time I write a post. Maybe I should rename the "Gardening" section of my blog to "Life Lessons With Plants."

Anyways, in gardening, it is often tempting to take the easy way. You see the wonderful, giant tomato plants at the store, or even the four-inch tall ones and think: I love gardening, and that would be so nice, and they'd do so much better than if I started my own seeds indoors. . . 

But would they do better? Just like in life, how the "short cut" or the "easy way" seems like it would reap many more benefits and be so much faster, in the long run, it often isn't. Usually, taking the time to go the long route proves to have more benefits. For example, in

baking, if you get the box of cake mix, it tastes nice, but a cake made from scratch tastes way better.

Tomatoes work the same way. The plants from the store often are thin and weak. Tomatoes started

Tomato From Store-Circled

From Store: Bushy-- But many thin branches

from seed indoors often grow much stronger central branches, and become large, healthy, bushes, whereas the ones from the store tend to not grow nearly as well. At least, in my experience. :) I have heard some people not get good plants from starting seeds indoors without grow lights and heating mats, which are really expensive, but mine do just fine without either.

Take my plants for example. I bet my two front tomatoes will be about the same size as my tomato plants last year, but here is the tomato I got from the store.

Also planted from seed, but smaller

Planted from seed

 

















So, what decision will you make?

Spruce Nogard

Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 2

Hello, Friends!

Today, we are continuing with our Build-A- Bear World series! If you missed the first installment, read it here.

Who likes government and politics?

Continuing with our high fantasy theme, you will need a government system for your mini world, to hold up to scrutiny. Think of it like this: we're making a snow globe world. It needs the basics, but no more than the basics. Government is essential to any world you are creating.

There are a few basic types of government:

1) Democracy

Basically rule by the people, for the people. The people vote directly on pretty much everything.

2) Republic

Kind of like a democracy, but instead the people elect representatives to vote on laws for them. This is like the US's government.

3) Monarchy

Basically rule by a monarch (king, queen, emperor, etc.)

4) Aristocracy

Rule by the wealthy people (aristocrats). The middle and lower classes have no power.

5) Dictatorship

Rule by one person. Dictators are usually bad leaders, such as Hitler.

6) Communist

A communist government is where everything in the country is owned by the government and the government distributes everything according to people's needs (supposedly). People do not get paid for their jobs; they  get the supplies they need to live (ex. food) instead. Communist governments usually do not work this way. Instead, they become corrupt.

Pick a government. Then, decide if it:

• Functions correctly 
• Is corrupt
• Is not corrupt, but has minor problems 

If you picked one of the last two options, decide what the corruption looks like or what problems the government has.

We are one step closer to making our very own snow globe! If you would like, tell us what government your world has in the comments below.

Spruce Nogard

Source: http://depts.alverno.edu/dgp/GEC/Types%20of%20Government.html

Attributions:
https://pixabay.com/en/crowd-people-democracy-community-296520/
https://pixabay.com/en/crown-king-emperor-royal-royalty-42251/

Books: Favorites: The Lunar Chronicles

Hello, Friends!

Today I am finally writing a post solely about The Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer. I mentioned them in my post on cosmetic plastic surgery, and in my posts on fairy tale twists and sci-fi. However, today they get the post all to themselves. First of all, go read the books. If you are the type that doesn't prefer this genre, you probably won't like them. That makes me sad. I don't generally prefer sci-fi, but sci-fi combined with fairy tales is pretty amazing. There are four books, as well as multiple short stories and a book about the main villain (which I haven't read, so I won't post about).

1) Cinder

Cinder is the first book in the series. Cinder is based on the fairy tale "Cinderella," and is about a

cyborg, part robot, but human. Cyborgs are created after accidents; for example, if someone lost an arm in a car accident, a metal arm could be surgically connected to replace it. This involves more advanced technology than we have today. Androids and the blue fever, a deadly plague, also exist in this sci-fi world. Anyways, Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing, but is looked down upon because of a prejudice against cyborgs. One day, she is commissioned to repair the prince's servant/tutor droid. While repairing the droid, she accidentally overhears confidential information the droid is transmitting to someone. . .

Later, after an outbreak of the plague at the local marketplace, Cinder is forced to question who she really is and where she came from.

2) Scarlet

DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CINDER. THESE BOOKS DO NOT READ WELL AS STAND-ALONES. Use your better judgement: Do not read the other book descriptions if you have not read the previous book(s).

Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. She has been missing for a few weeks now, and Scarlet can't get the police to help her find her grandmother. Scarlet, which takes place in France, is the second book in the series, and is based on "Little Red Riding Hood." When Scarlet delivers some tomatoes for one of her grandmother's customers, she meets a street fighter called Wolf, who claims to have information about her grandma. After Wolf shows up at Scarlet's farm, she decides to go with him to rescue her grandmother. On their journey, she discovers there is much she did not know about her grandmother. . .

Meanwhile, the news is full of the crazy cyborg girl who tried to kill the prince at the annual peace ball. However, it changes once they hear Linh Cinder and another prisoner have escaped. . .

Cinder wants to find out more about her past. After she escapes, she decides to go to France to find Michelle Benoit, the person who supposedly helped smuggle Princess Selene successfully onto Earth. But what she finds surprises her.

3) Cress

Cress has been trapped on the satellite since she was a child. She is an amazing hacker, and previously contacted Cinder with vital information. Cress is based on the fairy tale "Rapunzel." Cress works for the Lunar queen herself, but is secretly helping Cinder, Scarlet, Thorne, and Wolf.
However, there is a catch: if she is caught, she will be killed. The Rampion's crew determines that Cress is their best chance of defeating Levana, but their rescue goes wrong. Cress and Thorne crash land in the dessert, Scarlet is taken, and Cinder and Wolf are left on the Rampion, but with a new addition: the guard of Cress's former mistress. As they try to figure out how to save the Commonwealth (and the world), they must also, somehow, reunite.

4) Winter

Winter is the stepdaughter of Levana. She is breathtakingly The Lunar Chronicles.
beautiful, and the people of Luna love her. But because she chooses not to use her Lunar gift, she has horrible hallucinations, which make the Lunar court disdain her. However, she might be the key to starting the revolution the Rampion's crew is looking for. This is the fourth and final book in The Lunar Chronicles.











I love these books. They are amazing. My favorite of the four main main characters are Cinder and Scarlet. Cinder has to make decisions all the time, and is a wonderful leader, even though she never thought she would be. She also almost always makes the right decision, which is wonderful. Scarlet carries a gun with her at all times. What could be better than that? Also, she is a very strong female character.

Have you read these books? Do you like them? Have you read other books in this genre?

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://www.amazon.com/Cinder-Marissa-Meyer/dp/1250007208 

https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Lunar-Chronicles-Book/dp/1250007216/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467922723&sr=1-1&keywords=scarlet 

https://www.amazon.com/Cress-Marissa-Meyer/dp/1250007224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467922787&sr=1-1&keywords=cress 

https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Marissa-Meyer/dp/0312642989/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467922822&sr=1-1&keywords=winter

Books: Fairy Tales: Fairy Tale "Authors"

Hello, Friends!

Fairy tales!!! They make me so happy. Let's get started, shall we?

There are a few famous fairy tale collectors (not authors) around. How many do you know?

1) Joseph Jacobs
  
Joseph Jacobs was an Australian who was a historian and critic, and collected English folklore. Like most fairy tale "authors," he collected his fairy tales from a variety of sources. The stories were well-known and had been past down through generations. He lived from 1854-1916. He wrote: English Fairy Tales, The Fables of Aesop, Celtic Fairy Tales, and many others. Remember, he didn't actually write the fairy tales, he just collected them. For example, Aesop was the author of Aesop's Fables, Joseph Jacobs just collected the stories. Some of the stories he "wrote" were: "The Three Little Pigs," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and "Jack the Giant Killer."






2) The Brothers Grimm

Jacob Grimm lived from 1785 to 1863, and Wilhelm Grimm lived from 1786 to 1859. They were Germans who collected fairy tales. Their fairy tales were collected from the middle/lower class, and were often violent. For example, the version of Cinderella in Grimm's tales includes the stepsisters cutting off parts of their feet, and birds pecking the sisters' eyes out, as well as some differences from the Disney movie. They published numerous versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales throughout their lives. Some of their well-known stories are: "Hansel and Gretel," "The Frog King," and "Little Red Cap" (Little Red Riding Hood). Also, they collected "The Robber Bridegroom" and "Fitcher's Bird," which I talk about in my post Books: Fairy Tales: The Robber Bridegroom, Fitcher's Bird, Bluebeard, and Mr. Fox. 




3) Charles Perrault
 
Charles Perrault lived from 1628 to 1703. He collected fairy tales in a volume called Mother Goose. He was a French poet, writer, and story teller. His stories were meant for aristocratic families, unlike Grimm's Fairy Tales. Some of his tales are "Cinderella" (The version in Disney's original Cinderella movie), "Puss in Boots," and "Little Red Riding Hood."

Have fun with these fairy tales!

Spruce Nogard

Sources:
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/publication-grimm%E2%80%99s-fairy-tales
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Perrault
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Jacobs

Attributions:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Grimms-Fairy-Tales/dp/0394709306
https://www.amazon.com/Fables-Aesop-Childrens-Evergreen-Classics/dp/0486418596
https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Perraults-Mother-Goose-Fairy/dp/1841357278
  

Creative Complex: Build-A-World Part 1

Greetings, Neighbors and Friends!

How lovely to be back! (I was just on a trip, so all the posts had been prescheduled by a ways.)

Today, we are having the first part of the Build-A- Bear World series!

We are going to start very, very, basic, so as to not overwhelm you.

First, pick a general setting. Today's setting theme is High Fantasy.

Things to consider:

• What time of year is it?
• What are the seasons? Are there seasons?
• What types of environments are there? (Ex: city, farm, etc.)

 
There are many other things to consider in the setting, down to the quality of the air, but this is meant to be a fun little activity, not a complex world building guide. (After all, there are whole classes on world building.)

If you like this Creative Complex, answer the questions above in the comments below.

Relax and enjoy yourselves!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/treehouse-forest-composing-fantasy-1308108/ 

 

Writing: Mental Library: Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

Hello, Friends!

I know it's weird to have two guest posts in a row by the same person, but I'm going to do it anyways!

Basically, here's what happened. The post for Mental Library is supposed to be today, but the only thing I could think of was stressed and unstressed syllables. Dragomir didn't have any suggestions either. (Maybe it's because he wanted to do another post. . . ) I understand stressed and unstressed syllables, but Dragomir is better at explaining them than I am. I mean, he reads Gothic poetry, which is full of patterns in stressed and unstressed syllables, so of course he'd be good at explaining them. I actually think Dragomir's way of explaining stressed and unstressed syllables makes a lot of sense. So, without further ado, here is Dragomir!

I do not see the purpose of detailing our complete dialogue to your readers, Spruce. Notwithstanding, let us continue.

As you no doubt have observed, any form of language is unspeakably trying. The subject of stressed and unstressed syllables is of the more difficult material our language provides. Stressed and unstressed syllables have to do with how a particular word is pronounced. To illustrate, I will provide an example.

In this instance, I shall use the word "nodded." At this point, say the word aloud. If you ignore my advice, you will be despairingly lost for the remainder of the time. Notwithstanding, we enunciate the word "nodded" as seen: NODD-ed. In other words, we put emphasis on the first syllable. Now, vocalize a minimum of two other two- or more- syllable words. Discover the stressed and unstressed syllables.

I have included an excerpt from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe to illustrate how profoundly magnificent stressed and unstressed syllables are. Stressed syllables are bolded.

"While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,"

Wait. If your going to quote "The Raven," I'm going to quote "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Robert Browning. 

"You heard as if an army muttered;" 

(I have read some poetry.) 

Literature has created many patterns involving stressed and unstressed syllables. If you would prefer to learn more, investigate this website: http://cummingsstudyguide.net/xmeter.html

Also, I do believe it is essential to indicate that words with one syllable act as either a stressed or an unstressed syllable.

Dear Readers, I appreciate your willingness to permit me to write on Spruce's blog.

Dragomir Volkov

Thanks for posting, Dragomir! I should really make you a contributor.

Bye, Friends!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/bird-crow-dark-flying-raven-379296/ 

https://pixabay.com/en/fiction-germany-honesty-myth-1296651/ 

Guest Post: Edgar Allan Poe

Good Day, Friends!

Like I promised, Dragomir is doing another guest post today. I hope you enjoy his thoughts!

Dragomir:

Greetings, Readers. Under other circumstances, the title of this post would be: "On the Subject of the Esteemed Edgar Allan Poe." However, Spruce prohibited this title, stating that it was "too formal." Nevertheless, I will continue with this post with no complaints.  

Many of you have, no doubt, heard of the revered Edgar Allan Poe, writer of gothic and mystery stories, as well as poems. "The Raven," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Murders in Rue Morgue," as well as "Annabel Lee," are some of his works, amongst others. He is considered the father of modern mystery novels.

Edgar Allan Poe was, also, the first to use onomatopoeia, hence the "poe" in onomatopoeia. His prose and poetry is exceedingly marvelous. As an illustration, I have included a passage both from "The Raven" and "The Masque of the Red Death."

"The Raven":

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting-
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
                Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." 

"The Masque of the Red Death":

. . . There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these — the dreams — writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away — they have endured but an instant — and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. 

These passages illustrate the magnificence of the esteemed Edgar Allan Poe. Dear Reader, if you do, indeed, find you favor Edgar Allan Poe's technique, I must reveal to you the brilliant website of http://www.poestories.com/

Thank you, Spruce, for deigning to allow me to write another post on your blog.

Farewell, Readers.

Thank you, Dragomir! We all, um, appreciated your post, but it was a little gothic for some of us.

Dragomir: (Sorry, everyone, but blogger is glitching and won't let me put Dragomir's writing in red.) I write only gothic literature, taking no pleasure in literature other than gothic and the associated literature, as well as mystery. You, should have gathered that by now.

Sorry! I know. . . I guess everyone has different preferences. Anyways, thanks, Dragomir!

Dragomir Volkov

Spruce Nogard

Sources:

http://poestories.com/read/raven 

http://poestories.com/read/masque 

Attributions:

https://pixabay.com/en/raven-crow-night-creepy-darkness-988218/