Travel Tuesday: Woodstock, NY - Part One

Last July my family went up to Vermont where our grandfather's house is. Since I could drive and I have my own car, I went up separately, with a friend of mine. The friend who has appeared a couple of times in various posts because, well, just because. Anyway, so we were heading up by ourselves, me driving up there for the first time and her having never gone up there. And with my dad's directions.

I  don't remember who messed up the directions, but somehow we took an exit that didn't make any sense, but, hey, it's not like I remembered how to get to Vermont, so it could have been the way for all I knew.

So we followed the road. And came upon this cute little hippy town. Being the crazy, semi-hippie (okay, SUPER hippie), people we tend to be, we had to walk around this little town. Also, we were kind of hungry and had to pee. I think. And we pulled over and called my dad who had no idea where we were and couldn't help us right then and neither of us had any way of looking up directions, sooo... We hopped out of the car and I started grinning because I loved the town already.

Woodstock, New York has nothing at all to do with Woodstock the festival. That's Bethel Woods. I actually saw a concert there once. The Jonas Brothers. Despite liking folk music and more Woodstock Festival approved music, that's who I saw there. Anyway... but Woodstock New York is a completely Hippie town.



If that store doesn't scream Hippie, not sure what does.

There was an adorable little book shop. Two actually. One was in a house and was crowded with all sorts of fascinating and old books. I wanted to climb the shelves and start playing a guitar. The other was on the main street with all the businesses. Not that the first one wasn't on the main street, it was just down a little ways.

from goldennotebook.com

This one was super adorable and had a stairway with some shelves going halfway up it. So I looked at the YA section while sitting on the stairs. I like books and I like sitting on stairs so it made me happy. I really liked the interior set-up. Sometimes little bookstores can be a little lame in how they are set up, probably in part due to space issues and the fact that they have an eclectic assortment of books that sometimes don't fit well together. I still love those shops anyway. But, back to this shop, it was a happy little book shop with a pretty decent variety of books. At least the ones I looked at. I have been in a couple of book stores where the YA and children's section felt unloved. Not so here. I bought a Dragonbreath book from here. 

Oh! There was a road going one way that I think was part of Woodstock. There was another bookstore on that road. A lot of the books were super fascinating and I wanted to buy half the shop. You guys might not have wanted to, as some people aren't interested in all religions and spirituality and psych stuff. But I am, so at one point I raided the children's section, full of really interesting books, and disappeared from reality for a while. 

This is the door. It's called Mirabai.

Then there were these:

There were so many "ON THIS SITE STOOD" signs. Most of them relatively weird. The first one we saw was pretty much a name and the day she died. I think. There was someone who stood in a spot and thought. I have to find my pictures of these signs because they amused us so much. Dear little Woodstock, how high were you when you made and erected these signs? Not that I mind. I loves them. 

At some point in time, possibly after I get my butt up there again, I will tell you more about this strange, adorable little town. But, if you are ever in New York and like cute little towns, especially hippie ones, you should totally check this place out and tell me what you loved about it. Unless you hated it. Then stay away from me with your opinion or I will slap you with fish! Not really, as I would be super curious as to how someone can hate such a place. 

Writerly Wednesday:

Yesterday was crazy so I didn't make it to Travel Tuesday. Again. So hopefully next week.

But, anyway, today is Wednesday, so I have something else.

I am sure you know about the Marvel Universe, especially the movies.

Have you seen them? You should. I love them. I love Loki in Thor: The Dark World in particular. I want to find him and love him and find a way for him to still be an evil villain because, honestly, he's kinda sexy as a villain, but then also make him a nice evil villain. No. I am not fangirling. No idea what you are talking about. This is completely healthy. Actually, it is. I am not super obsessed. That's just what that movie invoked in me.

Anyway.

So there is the Marvel Universe.

from angryweb.net through google

I don't know if you have watched all the movies and have seen everything on social media connecting everything, but, Marvel is scary. Not even in how everything is so well planned out. But in the casting. I was watching Thor  and one of the guys from the 2nd Captain America was in it for a minute and I started making weird noises and scaring my dad (who was watching it before I hopped over him to sit on the couch and eat his rice cakes).

So, that level of planned out ness (if that makes sense. And I am sure there should be hyphens there but I don't want to use them. So sue me.) scares me. Just a wee bit.

But whenever I start to get super my mind is about to implode feeling from it...

I remember that I have a universe like that. My friend calls it the Naomtumniverse. As it is hers, too.

And, believe me, if you think Marvel is mind-imploding, we implode our minds all the time.

Or used to, anyway. I think we have gotten kind of used to it by now.

Every story is linked together through something. Buildings, characters, species, gods. All sorts of things.

It is kind of maybe sort of really exponentially (it's a cool word but used for math, apparently. Stupid math) crazy.

If anyone is a fan of Tolkien, a true fan because I am going to be a Tolkien snob here, you know that everything of his is connected somehow. Even Roverandom, which was adorable, is connected to Middle Earth somehow. I found that amazing when I realized that. And then laughed because we always said we were like Tolkien and Lewis and ah-ha! we were even more like Tolkien than we ever dreamed.

So one day, we will (somehow, I promise you, it will happen, I demand it) one day be sitting with our books on your shelves and you will pick up the first book and then begin reading others and then you will have to go back and read that first one again because holy babies and bananas they are connected! and then your mind will kind of sit in a daze for a while because of EVERYTHING.

And we will laugh because imagine writing all of that and having to deal with editors who will want to cut out "useless" scenes that actually are the post-credits sequences for the Marvel universe, just for the Naomutumniverse.

And it will be fantastic.

And yes, I have used And possibly way too much. And that might sound crazy, all of that, but it's true. Just maybe not you reading our books, although you totally should. As in, you're reading this, right? Look for my name on the cover of a book one day. Or scan this blog in a year or two to see if anything is happening with our universe print-wise.

Toodles!

Style Sunday!

Helloooo everyone (whomever that may be)!!

I am super late and shall have this done before Monday comes but I am here! With Style Sunday!

And obviously having way too much fun with exclamation marks but I am tired and slightly energized mentally. It's an odd combination.

So, these outfits are from the past two weeks, whenever I had someone to actually take a picture of me wearing clothes. Wait. Not that I have people take pictures of me not wearing clothes. I meant that people don't normally take pictures of me so asking people to take pictures of me for the purpose of clothing was very strange. Like armadillo sipping orange soda in my closet strange.

The first one

This picture is weird, but I asked The Boy Person to take pictures and every other one he took winded up being when he was asking me to make weird face and do weird things (like pout and snarl and be a monster). So while this isn't the best shot and there is a car in the background...

I wore this hiking. It was a sort of chilly day and I wanted to look kind of nice since this was before church.

This sweater is one of my favorites. Mainly because I saw it and that is exactly the sweater a character of mine wears. It's basically her trademark piece.

My sneakers matched, by the way. Just in case you care.

Don't ask me what's up with the lighting. My phone's camera can be weird.

That is my all time, favorite flannel. I wore it to school. Maybe. Not sure.

I just love wearing it. It is huge and engulfs me and likes to hide any shape I have when I button it up.

Sometimes I wear it with leggings and I feel like I'm from the 90's. But with jeans I just feel super comfy and like I want to drink tea and write all day.

So, this is only a partial of an outfit I loved.

Yes, I know I look slightly alien-esque. It might be the make up, which I never wear. I only wore make up, actually, because I had make up from my show the previous night left over on my face that wouldn't come off, so I just fixed it up a little.

Anyway. That is my favorite hat. It is straw and brown and has peacock feathers and is wonderful.

Then underneath it is a cozy brown sweater I love sinking into.

What you can't see is the pair of shorts, black knee-high socks, and my purple converse. The whole outfit was very Scotch-like.

I wore this to a book sale, walking around a little town, and to a youth group.

 I wore a belt with this dress. Which was weird. Because belts around my waist rarely happen. But when I bought this dress I had a skinny belt on and decided to try it with the dress and loved it.

The dress and sweater I both bought at Macy's for around $7 dollars each. It was amazing. The sweater I knew I wanted because it's such a pretty color, but the dress I wasn't sure about. I liked it, but I don't normally wear non-structured dresses, especially dresses with patterns. But then I found out the wonderful sale and thought about summer and bought it.

The only thing wrong with this outfit was having to wear shorts underneath it because fashion people think that non-see-through fabric is super hard to make.

This was for the last day of Fiddler, when I was super happy and excited and needed some cheery clothes because it was over.

What you can't see are the high-heeled boots underneath my jeans. My super comfy, worn jeans that I love.

It's that sweater again! And a ridiculous pose that I just had to share with you guys to match the ridiculous headband. Thank you Blaire Waldorf for following me to the mall and giving me an intense desire to buy one. And thank you Forever 21 for selling them for 3 dollars.

There were other ridiculous pictures from this but...

These were my Arting clothes. My mom jeans that are loose and hide my butt and were okay to get paint all over. A band T (Flyleaf, if you are being super nosey). And a button down.

P.S. I learned that I no longer know how to model.

I bought this dress for one of the first times I went to New York Ren Faire. Wait. No. For my second year going. There weren't any clothes that looked time period appropriate. Then I found this and it made me think of a fairy.

So, of course, I had to buy it.

Anyway, I wore this Thursday. First, because it was beautiful out so I wanted to wear a skirt. Second, because I had my voice class which meant singing and I wanted a dress like Emmelie de Forest wore for Eurovision and my awesome skirt disappeared. So this sufficed and I felt epic.

Especially with the hemp and clay beads anklet I added and a pretty leaf necklace.







So, that's it, folks. My first Style Sunday. You get to be as confused as people who see me in real life are by my wardrobe. And get to see how weird I look in pictures because, really, cameras and I have a weird relationship.

Enjoy your passions this week and find an outfit that you adore!

Applications and Random Findings

My life right now is rather confusing. Mostly because I am 19 and there is no having people tell me exactly what to do right now.

This means I have a ton of schools I want to apply to, no money for applications, the desire to stay here, the desire to travel, and I still have no idea what I want to do with my life.

Okay. That's a lie. I want to travel. I want to write and read and eat. I want to help people. I want to make an impression on this world and be someone I am proud of. I want to unleash my potential and explore myself and the world around me.

It's just the job part I have no idea what I am going to do about.

Because you need degrees to do school and that takes time and money I don't have. I want to take crash courses and become friends with the experts and float around and go to every school and this is why immortality has become rather appealing all of a sudden.

So I am actually going to apply to schools to transfer to and pray my bad grades don't affect me too much and then hope Life chooses for me where I am going next because I can't. I will run to a scientist and ask them to clone me or giving me some superpowers or teleportation or something before I choose.

Or go hiking, fall on the ground, curl up in a ball, and start singing random songs from Ireland and Denmark while my boyfriend looks on and tries to rouse me with promises of cheeseburgers and milkshakes and vegetables. That might happen (again), too.

If you can't tell, I am horrible at making decisions. I am good at finding random things, though.

Like a script I wrote.

wrong way, but I can't change it...

That is the script. I remember making that cover, but I don't remember writing the script or why I wrote it or anything. I just know that it is mine because 1. That's the way I used to write 2. My language is in there with stuff no one else would know. So unless I have a really creepy stalker. 

Then this is on the last page. Do you see that 100%? So, apparently, this was for school because why else would there be a grade on it. But... I never took a class I had to write a skit for. 

Okay. I did. Satire, Parody and Humour. But that was in groups. And with partners. And I took Song lyrics and Song writing but a skit is not a song. At least not this one. 

I have to say, the skit was hilarious. Mostly because of all the random things it made me think of. So I need someone to read it for me to see if it's as laughtacular if you aren't me. It might very well be because of how absurd it is. Lot's of random people with random insults and an adorable little boy and his confused mother. 

I really really want to find people to act out this skit for me. 

I shall, hopefully, see you again tomorrow for my first Style Sunday (squeee!!). Have a lovely, sunny, inced-tea (if you like such things) sipping day!

Writerly Wednesday: Pens, Ink, and Characters

Howdy Ya'll!

(No, I did not turn into a cowgirl over night or take a trip to Texas. I'm just slightly strange. In case that hasn't become apparent yet.)

I have been doing some writing this week because, whew! musical is finally over and I can have time to write again! Mwahaha!

Not much writing happened, but enough happened for me to have fun with something.

My characters have certain pens. They even fight over some pens because there is only so much ink and the pen is so pretty and red (like flowers - the happy character - and like blood -a very unhappy, slightly crazy character). Some refuse to use pens and will ONLY use a keyboard (no matter how much I beg and plead. These people are stubborn as heck). But most of them like pens. Two of them will only use pens. And use the same pen (that red one).

Maybe it's strange, using certain pens for certain stories. But I love it. I love that I can flip through a notebook and see certain ink or the way a certain pen writes and know what story that scene belongs to. It makes my life easier. Post-writing, of course, as sometimes I don't have the right pen or can't find the pen right away and I begin freaking out because man, is this an important scene and I want to write it right now. Then there's the what am I going to do when this sacred red pen runs out, because it will at some point, and my two lovelies (or unlovelies, really) stop refuse to write until I find it again. But most of the time, it's fun.

I also try to use different handwriting, since a lot of the stories are first person and none of these people would have the same exact handwriting as me. Except maybe one. So using different pens helps make that easier, since every pen makes my handwriting come out just a little bit different to begin with.

Fun fact (in case you care): None of my characters like blue pens. None. This makes me super happy since I have a dislike for blue ink. Unless it's the light blue that only colorful packs of pen have. I like that blue.

Does anyone else use certain pens or colors to when writing?

Writerly Wednesday: A Bit Late but Let's Talk Characterization

I was perusing the internets when I found 25 Things About Creating Characters by Justin Mclachlan. Since I am a writer and since I like reading this lists, I clicked on the link and tralala, read the list.

Sometimes these lists are pretty useless for me. When it comes to characterization, I know my characters. It's a matter of stitching everything together and deciding what the reader needs to know (like age. Readers like age, while I prefer to give random details. Age is a bit more need to know in most cases). I still like reading them, though. They serve as a reminder or a checklist, something to hold my characters up to and make sure they are developing well. Sometimes I even catch one that was sliding through the cracks and go crazy trying to figure EVERYTHING out. This is impossible, by the way. I cannot know everything about any of my characters. I can know quite a bit, but not everything. In some cases, this is very good.

Most of the time, I don't have any reaction to what I just read in and of itself. This time, I did. If you like, you can click on the title of the post thing I read and read it for yourself to see if you agree with me. If not, that's okay.

8. Real people sometimes like lascivious and licentious things:  porn or weed or orgies, or porn, weed and orgies—you get the idea. So, why can’t your character like some of these things, too?

While I agree with this to some extent, basically every book I have read with a male MC has him liking all 3 of those things. So... maybe this isn't really a necessary comment? My version of this would be something along the lines of "real people sometimes like weird things like Cow statues and Veggie Tales and anything Irish. So why can't characters like weird things, too?"

I'm not kidding with this. It bothers me how normal most characters are. They like normal things. They like beer and weed and boobs or muscles. Things we expect people to like. I loved Unspoken  by Sarah Rees Brenna because her characters liked weird random things. Just like real life people. Someone I know loves everything Icelandic. I get super excited about really weird things. A friend of mine was obsessed with pickles for a while. Porn and weed and orgies are so boring and normal and everywhere.

 15. At a base level, every character wants the same things: food, shelter, sex...

Ahem. Excuse me. Sex? Every character wants sex? Half of my characters couldn't care less about sex. I have Kevin, who is asexual and cares way more about everything else. I have Dave (by the wayside, you are getting these names because they are relatively common names so I don't care if you know the names) who never wants sex. At all. I have females who are the same way. It just... no. Not every character wants sex because not every real life person wants sex.

I was so offended reading this. I mean, yes, sexual people, it's weird to wrap your mind around the fact that there are people out there who ohmybabies don't want to have sex or don't care about sex or kind of just stare at sex because it's confusing and why does it even exist let's just eat pasta. Also, this is totally debasing. And wrong. And says something about our society as a whole.

Why? Cause let's face it, you can have all the sex you want, but if you do not have a relationship, a working, active, personal relationship with someone, you will be unsatisfied. That is what every character wants. Not sex. But a relationship - maybe a messed up one -  but a relationship. That specific character may be overly afraid of relationships - not romantic ones, just fyi, but any relationship, be it mother or father or friend or lover - but there is still that desire there, somewhere.

So, you're characters, Mr. Person can want sex. I don't care about those characters. Because those aren't people I know. I know people who want food and shelter and a meaningful relationship, sometimes with sex as a bonus, sometimes not.

16. Just because a character lives in the past doesn’t mean she has to conform to outdated stereotypes.

It also doesn't mean he or she can't be in one of those stereotypes. Whenever I read a book set in Victorian times, the females are lumped into either 1. superfluous and silly or 2. headstrong and super independent, take no crap, revolutionary. Those are the new stereotypes. I'm not sure what the outdated stereotype being referred to here is - probably women who need men to save them - but let me tell you something, those stereotypes can still exist. They became stereotypes for a reason. Not every women alive was super headstrong and revolutionary. A lot were, but a lot weren't. What's wrong with those stories? Or how about the characters who are just human and alive during a certain time period?

18. In real life, we strive to avoid conflict. But in fiction, characters who always agree have no life—at least, not one worth reading about.

Has this guy ever strived to avoid conflict in an extremely conflict-ridden situation? I don't think so. I read and thus sometimes write realistic fiction. I enjoy it. Because it's life. Usually the nitty-gritty aspects of it. Let me tell you, I live in a family where striving to avoid conflict actually makes conflicts worse. I have a life. I have a life and emotions and reactions and responses. Someone could easily write a story off of my interactions with my family and it would be worth reading.

Why? Because is situations where taking sides is easy, the character who says "I will not take sides. And this is why" can be way more interesting than the person who says "I am taking sides" and is completely ignorant. Avoiding conflicts doesn't mean completely out of fear. How about the reason why the character is striving to avoid conflict is explored? Something like this depends on the skill of the writer, not on what is happening.

 20. Don’t be surprised when a character you’ve created does something you don’t expect. That’s called magic and you should just get out of its way.

This is so completely true. Although I'm pretty sure I did not create my characters because when I create characters, they suck. So... when a character appears in my head and demands I know his or her story... don't be surprised by random things. But really, feel free to get in its way. Challenge it. Fight it. Make sure it is actually there. Then hug it because it really is fantastic.

 22. Real people are seldom interesting enough to make great characters. Create, don’t imitate.

Um... Real people are way more interesting than most of the "great" characters I have read. So I'm not really sure what is happening here. I think real lives are seldom interesting enough to write a book off of, possibly, but real people, no. Real people are interesting. Possibly too interesting because I have no idea how to translate them to paper.

And obviously, I do not know everything there is to know about writing and characters. So this is not an end all say all, but I do know that some of the points I have made here about writing a character, are points that are valid and writers should pay attention to. Because readers want this stuff. Readers can tell the difference between a character who likes weed and a character who has an obsession with elephants. Weed is normal, but random obsessions are pretty normal, too. Not only that, but those elephants will make that character and individual. Those don't always exist. Especially not in YA.

Do you have any modifications to the 25 Things post or my responses to it?

I'm Back and Making some Changes

So I have been gone. For a while. Probably not as long as I am thinking, but long enough.

I have a confession to make. I kinda sorta left this blog for another one (Autumn Unleashed). I needed to.

In the process I realized I had abandoned the purpose of this one. Sure, I wrote some posts that I really liked, but in general, this blog isn't supposed to be about that stuff (thus my new one). This is supposed to be about my thoughts and adventures. Basically, it's supposed to be fun. Mainly. Because sometimes writing gets super serious and nitty-gritty.

Now: the changes!

I will be making the purpose of this blog anew. Yes, it will still be the thoughts and adventures of me, this silly writerly person. But with some new additions. Like...

Writerly Wednesday: in which I inform you about writerly stuff. Such as difficulties I have had in writing, if I have written, what sort of stuff I am working on. Have I made any progress? And at some point I have to read a thing on grammar, I am sure, because I feel like this whole paragraph thing is error laden. 

p.s. I might also talk about/share other writer's stuff on these days because there are awesome writers out there. 

Style Sundays: Shut up. I know. That's girly. But... I believe that style is very important in characterization. It says a lot about someone in little ways. And... 1. Style is not fashion. I could care less about fashion. Style is personal, what an individual wears. 2. Style is nothing to judge people by. Sometimes it is meaningless, sometimes not. But in general, it is fairly helpful and defines a lot of the world. 

So what shall Style Sundays be? I will post pictures of the various things I have worn throughout the week because A. It's my style and you might want to know more about me as a person and B. I want to keep track of all the things I wear because my style is rather random. So these posts may be amusing.

And at times, I may include some styles my characters love, either on me or just pictures.

And... My personal favorite -

Travel Tuesday: (Notice the green because T's are always green, but especially the word Tuesday)
I haven't been able to travel a ton, but I have been to places in this world. Some very nice places that I would like to share with you. Here I will choose places I have ventured to and share my thoughts on the places and my adventures there as well as some information about the place. This may not be useful to your life, but I hope you find it interesting. 

And that's it! I am back! If you so wish, you can click on the link somewhere up there and visit what I have been up to for the past month or so, if not, here's an impromptu Travel Tuesday and hope to see you around!

I do not own this. Unfortunately my current phone doesn't have my pictures of this skyline. But, it looks like where I got this from doesn't own it either.

So, since I'm not delving into anything too much right now, I'm making this a game. 

Can you name that certain place I have traveled to??