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Welcome! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to my little Den! Here you'll find all sorts of things- mostly blog challenges, but mixed in, you'll notice:  I'm a bit of a fangirl  My life is very busy I enjoy using emoticons  I don't tend to swear, but stuff happens. |
| Unicorns. They're special and unique and fun and whatnot. But what are they, really? What do they eat? Where do they live, and where do they sleep? What do they do when they're not out unicorning or whatever it is they do? And what's the proper name for a baby unicorn? Please write the Wikipedia entry on unicorns from your unique, special blogging unicorn perspective. Unicorns Unicorns are animals, related to either the goat or horse family (it is highly disputed between experts which animal it is). Unicorns have a single horn protruding from their foreheads, which is said to be used for defense and storing magic. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Taxonomy categorization: Kingdom Fantasae Phylum Charmingae Class Mammalie Order Adorablatia Family Equiinus Genus Caprica Species: Monokerato General Information On the most basic level of understanding unicorns, humans believe the animal to be a fantastical creature, not unlike Pegasus. However, it must be noted that not all unicorns have wings. There are currently 5 different sub-species of unicorns, out of which only two have wings. The other three, while wingless, retain the ability to fly through the magic they store in their horns. Even though unicorns physically look like horses, their behaviorism is more unique. They graze on grass, though the energy they get from eating grass is typically transformed into magic for their horn. Early Life Unicorns are born with their horns fully grown. However, at birth, the horn is very lightweight, as there is little to no magic stored in it. The proper name for a baby unicorn is a unifoal. When the unicorns turn 5 months old, they attend unicorn school to learn about magic and spells, until they are 3 years and 5 months old. Upon graduation, they are taken to a magical river, where they bathe and acquire the shimmery color for their horn, which is how one can distinguish a unicorn from a unifoal. Unicorn School Unifoals attend unicorn school to learn about being an unicorn, from when they are 5 months old, to when they are about 3 years and 5 months old. There are monthly lessons on different subjexts, such as defensive magic and unicorn biology. Upon graduation, the unifoals are given freedom to practice their magic outside of school grounds, though for the first 20 days, all magic must be supervised by an older, wiser unicorn. Food and Diet Unifoals are typically kept on a diet of grass and sugar water. The sugar water gives them their sense of justice, and grass gives them the strength and nutrients they need to grow into unicorns. During wintertime the adult unicorns make carrot puree for the unifoals to eat, for good eyesight and a sweet personality. Sometimes sugar water is mixed in so the unifoal's horn will be extra glimmery when they graduate unicorn school. Daily Life Unicorns and unifoals alike bathe in snow during the winter to keep their hair coats a nice and pristine shade of white. They keep the coats soft and fluffy by letting the snow melt on their hair before shaking off the droplets. In their free time, unifoals like to play games with each other, like leap-foal or running races. The unicorns, in their free time, help to look after the unifoals, and when it is raining, they take cover in caves, not unlike the one I have on my blog page, except their caves are more grey and are hidden in the forest. Unicorns stay well away from humans, because some humans want to use them for profit, ranging from circus attractions to free labor to unicorn horns. However, sometimes young children get lost in the woods, and the unicorns help to watch over them until their parents reappear. Once the parents do appear, though, the unicorns put a strong forgetting spell on the parents and a weaker one on the child. These children are frequently called fairy kids, as they claim to have seen unicorns before, though nobody will believe them, and they are unable to remember where the unicorns live. This article is sponsored by the following images: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxfxY0SVQAAuT1t.jpg ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| What Lo-Fi, non-electronic, or old school things from the past do you still enjoy today? Okay I tried writing this on the blog on my phone and then the phone refreshed the page and I lost it all.  Also thought I'd have a chance to write this on my computer but nope.  Anyways: This is where my geekiness/nerdiness comes in. I like puzzles- of almost all kinds. Mostly logic puzzles like the ones here: http://www.puzzler.com.au/logic-problems There's a grid with squares you're supposed to tick and x-out in accordance to the clues they give you on the side, to figure out who did what. Like in Clue, I guess? I've never actually played clue before but I've seen pictures and such and that's what it looked like? Either way, I like picking up one of those books at the newsagents whenever I have a chance.  Another fun one is pixel puzzles and Link-a-pix. In pixel puzzles, you're given a grid, and on the top and left side are numbers- which go in accordance with the shading pattern- how many shaded ones in a row before there's one (or more- that you must figure out!) unshaded ones, and you start shading again. The end product is a picture! For Link-a-pix, there's a grid as well, but the numbers are in the grid, and you've got to match up the numbers and shade that amount of squares to form a path of X squares long in between them- the end also makes a picture. Yeah, then there's regular jigsaw puzzles- I haven't done one in forever but they're definitely still fun. I remember one of my friends from 4th grade got me a Wasgij jigsaw puzzle- the picture on the box was what the picture in the puzzle would look like in the future. I think it was a New Zealand company? Because she's from NZ, and I've never seen it in the US.  Okay apart from puzzles, there's also the less geeky stuff... Reading, drawing, and very occasionally, piano. Like, I'll have to be bored or something and Mom cannot be around if you find me playing piano, mostly because I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing I might actually enjoy playing the instrument. plus I only play pop stuff when I'm playing for myself and she doesn't approve. So win-win for not playing while she's around, I guess. No lecturing/nagging and I can play what I want. |
You probably know that already, don't you?  Either way, I blame finals. 100%. I blame finals for messing with my head and my sanity and everything else that makes me, me. BLAST YOU, FINALS! Housing for 2017-18 opens November 18, 7 am PST. Which makes it 2 am AEST, November 19, not 16. Today's not even Thursday, for crying out loud.  So I stayed up until 1 am for nothing. Absolutely nothing. And to top it all off, I actually went on to the housing portal and applied for housing, thinking "oh hey, this must be my lucky day, I can apply for housing already. And in the preferred community I wanted to!" I checked the time stamp- 5:47 am, November 15. Wait wait wait did I miscalculate the time and pass it already?!  *Goes back to check the email* Nope. Hmmm, then what did I apply for, then? *checks the confirmation email* housing as a 2016-2017 continuing student. |
| We're at the halfway point of November! What have you learned from any of your fellow bloggers in the group this month? This is going to sound terrible, but I hardly read anyone's blog, ever.  Sure I'll read the occasional entry or two, but that's about it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I promise I'll try to get better at that, and start commenting/liking more people's stuff too. Just, finals and such made it kinda hard to read anyone's stuff, let alone keep up with everything!Yeah yeah yeah I always blame school when I'm not doing things I need to be/should be doing on here, but hey, it's true. School comes first, and so does education, because without it, you can't get a job, and without a job, you've got no income, and without an income, how can you survive? Okay, now I'm sounding like my mom. But maybe she has a point. Just maybe. Anyways, the prompt. Typically I just come online, see what everyone's up to, lurk a bit, chat more than a bit, then go off to do my own thing. So usually I'll just check out the blog of whomever I'm chatting with at the moment, which tends to be Kit- and from her, I've learned it's more than okay to rant! Hey, my blog, my rules, and I say what goes and what doesn't!I consider myself a relatively mild-mannered person, but if you really try, or if you just know me well enough, it's not that difficult to push my buttons. For example, just as a forewarning, do NOT call me "Dee" or any other version of it. I may have that as my name on Facebook, but if you read my description, it says "because 'Dragon' isn't a real name, according to Facebook." It's one of my biggest annoyances. I'm not going to call you "Jay" if your name is actually "Jack" or "Jacob", so why would you call me "Dee" when my name's actually "Dragon"? So that's just one way- and yes, I've been taught to rise above it all, don't get upset at people who don't know better, etc, but you really can only take so much of it. I add you to my Facebook because I feel I've known you well enough/long enough to consider you as a friend, but if you start to think my name's actually Dee, maybe I shouldnt've added you in the first place. Even on this site, there have been people, who, well, somehow found all the wrong buttons to push and really, really irked me. Like I said, I'll deal with you in my own ways. Chances are, you had it coming.  #SorrynotSorry for: ignoring you, being short with you, maybe a dash of snootiness (whether or not you caught it  ), talking behind your back (Yes, I do that too, but mostly to IRL people who don't know the comings and goings of the site. ) and maybe pretending that I liked you even if I really, really don't. And to re-write Ariana Grande:You saying that you know [me] But I really really doubt you Understand my life is easy When I ain't around you Once more, my blog, my rules. #SorrynotSorry |
| Prince Charles (the oldest child of England's Queen Elizabeth II), born on this day in 1948, once said "I learned the way a monkey learns...by watching its parents." What is something you've learned from either of your parents, using only the power of observation? Gonna do this now since I'll be spending a good portion of my day tomorrow with Mom. Ummmmmm..... I really can't think of much that I've learned just from observing, because Mom's one of those really hands-on types who explains everything. The first thing that came to mind was travelling, I suppose- how to get through customs/immigration without issues, and safely get from point A to point B. I've travelled alone for about 3-4 years now, I think- starting from the summer I graduated high school- I went to Australia and Texas by myself- Australia was a pretty daunting trip, actually, because the first time I went I believe my flight was delayed for about 2-3 hours at LAX due to some engine malfunctions? I may have actually slept through it, though, because US-Aus flights are typically red-eyes, so by the time I board the plane I'm all  ..... Then I'll put on a movie, and depending on what it is, I'll usually fall asleep before it ends. I usually sleep through dinner as well, though I'll be awake in time for breakfast and the customs forms. I'm also pretty familiar with the airports in Aus, now, too. Especially the Jetstar terminal here, as everyone tends to arrive (and depart) via Jetstar when they're coming up from Tasmania, which means going to the airport from my apartment is no longer a challenge- though learning how to get there was definitely something I learned on my own. |
| This week, it's been reported that Russia is considering blocking access to the employment-oriented social networking site LinkedIn because the site is in violation of a rule requiring data on Russian citizens to be stored on servers inside the country. What do you think about that, and what role do you think governments should play regarding what websites their citizens should be allowed to visit? Is it really only day 13?  Feels like much longer since I last blogged. Must've been the long sleep- almost 12 hours, I think. And I still don't feel ready. And I still feel like all this worrying is going to do my head in. Should probably save all that for another blog post, though.My first thought about this would be loopholes, I suppose. I'm all about the loopholes. I didn't actually read the article because, like I said above, studying is doing my head in, and so is worrying, and I therefore can't 100% focus on anything right now. Back to the loophole... does this law say the data may only be stored on Russian servers? Or if data must be stored on Russian servers in general? If it's the second, I see no reason to block LinkedIn- just have the Russian government start storing data on their own servers as well. But if it's the first, I think that's kind of an odd law to have- what are the Russians afraid of? International hackers stealing data on their citizens? Are their citizens that awesome/amazing that their personal data must be kept internally within their country? I kinda doubt that every Russian person using LinkedIn is hiding top-secret federal information in their data, and that keeping that data in international servers will lead to the ultimate downfall of the country. Unless, of course, I'm missing some big news about Russia, which is also pretty likely. Aside from the law being a little nonsensical, I think that people should be able to do what they want with their own data. It's their information, after all. Like Facebook. It has so much personal information and data on it, and people are free to share what they want about themselves on the site. Plus, I kinda doubt the Facebook servers are based in Russia. Is Russia going to block Facebook as well? It probably has even more personal data than LinkedIn collects. If they're not blocking Facebook, then why start with LinkedIn? As for the second part of the prompt- governments controlling where and what their citizens browse and see, this sounds like it's China and their censorship. And I wrote a whole paper on it in HumCore two years ago, which I'd rather not write/revisit again. But in a nutshell, yes, I think governments should have a say in what their people see/upload/browse, but maybe the countries should be working together on this, so the content they want shared can be shared worldwide, and people don't have to wait for ages to find out information about stuff. I know there's places that do international live broadcasts, but a good majority of the time, you've got to pay for it. So make those free, so it's easier to be informed. And maybe the government should have better control of the deep web- not that I know much about it, but I know it exists and I'd say about 99% of the time the content isn't good. Yeah, so keep the deep web out of our regular web, and maybe also keep a good eye on the deep web in general. Mild censorship is okay, but make sure it's for the right reasons and the right content you're blocking. |
| Did you have a favorite stuffed animal (or toy) when you were younger? Give it an interesting origin story- tell us what it did in its life before he/she met you and became your pal. Okay, see here, the problem isn't that I don't have one. Maybe it is, technically, because I have three. And since I really can't choose between them, I'll do all three. Plus, like I said in "Invalid Entry"  , plushies are people too- can't call them "it"s! Always people pronouns: he, she, they, them, his, her, him, her's, etc.  I'll do them in chronological order in terms of when they came into my life, so first would be Show (see "Invalid Item" ). Mom found her at the supermarket, back when Woolworths was still called Purity and I hadn't moved to the US yet. The (real) story behind Show and how she came to meet me is pretty simple, actually. Mom saw her in the toy section of Purity (the supermarkets here usually have a small aisle just for toys/kids magazines/stationery/etc) and thought she was the spitting image of me. I had a huge stomach, just like Show, and an undeniably round, onion-shaped head, just like Show. And so Show came back to the house and became one of my best friends as a baby, and even made it back to the US with me when we moved, though she's become more bossy and more… liberal these past twenty years, which would lead me to her pre-meeting-Dragon activities… She would probably be running around without her overalls on and scaring all the Purity customers. Because that’s what she likes to do now- well, at least, according to Mom, that is. And because what baby doesn’t like running around naked? Especially in public. I’ve seen a good number of toddlers pulling up shirts/dresses/skirts/whatever clothing item that can be pulled up, in public, and being quite pleased with themselves until their parent(s) notice and go “ Pull your clothes back down!” Next up is Nellie! (the bear on the left in {photo:1046842}) I unfortunately don’t remember how she came to be with me, only that she’s a Kiwi bear- Mom got her in New Zealand. So her backstory should be fun. Let’s see, right now she’s quite the Owl-Cat-Bear- she likes staying up late and having “secret” plushie parties with my other plushies- they’re “secret” because she thinks I don’t know, but really, how else can we explain her daytime tiredness/hugginess/clinginess? And she’s a cat-bear as well because as long as you’re hugging her, she can fall asleep. Pat her, though, and she’s guaranteed to doze off in your arms. And she’s so cute that you can’t help but hug her more. So. Her backstory: She’s probably one of those plushies that goes around handing everyone confetti and sparkles, so that when the shopowners are away, they can all party it up and have a wonderful time. And when she’s not partying or snoozing, she’s painting everything pastel colors, because that will match her perfectly. Pastel walls, pastel floors, pastel shelves, you name it, and she’ll paint it! Maybe she was an artist bear as well before we got her- painting pretty pictures and such of her friends and surroundings, in all pastel colors!The last plushie (but definitely not least favorite or least in any way!) would be Miffy ("Invalid Item" ). She was a gift from the Tooth Fairy when I was in kindergarten. I still remember bringing her in the next day for Show and Tell, which is actually how "Invalid Item" came about. She came in a clear cellophane wrapping, the kind that crinkles really loudly and kinda squeaks if you agitate it too much, and I remember the top had a gold twisty tie to keep the cellophane together. She was pure white, but I once dropped her in the ashes from the incense, and so now her fur is kinda grayish, even after my aunt was really nice and gave her a thorough handwashing. I'd have to say she's one of my favorites because she might've been one of the first plushies I got in the US- before it was just Show, and she wasn't very comfortable to hug to sleep since she's plastic (but don't tell her that! She'll get very offended. ). Plus she's been on a few adventures with me- I almost left her on the plane once, and we were in the gate area by the time I remembered she was still sitting on the airplane seat and not resting safely in my hands. Mom had to run back through the connecting tunnel to get her! Thankfully, airport security wasn't as tight back then and she was allowed to rescue my bunny. Mom actually mentioned (as a not-so-funny joke) that had I not remembered, Miffy would probably be sitting in a dumpster somewhere, forgotten and sad.  I told Mom she'd crossed the line with that joke and walked out. Miffy's just a very special bunny- I think she's the right size for hugging to sleep- she can stay next to me on the pillow without taking up too much space, and her ear makes a nice pillow for my cheek. Anyways, Miffy actually has wings on her back, so I can only imagine the fun she would have with the Tooth Fairy before she arrived in the closet of the bedroom in which me and sis slept, back then. (Mom got creative with the “Tooth Fairy presents” and would hide them various places in the bedroom/hallway as we got older). I can imagine her flying around next to the Tooth Fairy, holding a little white bucket either for the kids’ teeth or sleeping dust to keep the kids deeply asleep while they do their job and exchange teeth for presents or money. She probably had a little wand as well, the cheeky bunny, so that if the kids did, by chance, wake up, she could cast a simple forgetting spell on them and make them forget the Tooth Fairy ever came, because her identity is supposed to stay anonymous. Otherwise, if the kids don’t like what they get, or if she missed a household with a lost tooth, they can’t contact her to address their grievances. When she’s not collecting teeth with the Tooth Fairy, I think she’d be helping the other fairies/pixies with the upkeep of Tooth Castle, because all teeth do decay, even if you brush/floss/use mouthwash every day, so they use the new teeth to replace some of the older, weaker teeth.  And since she has wings/can fly, she gets to help pour mouthwash over the castle every now and then, and brush the top spires of the Tooth Castle, keeping everything nice and sparkly clean. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Show   Nellie ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Miffy |
| On this day in 1952, the first video recorder was demonstrated by John Mullin and Wayne Johnson in Beverly Hills, California. How would you explain YouTube to these gentlemen? I'm not sure where I'll be for the rest of today so gonna do this from my phone- had half a response all typed up last night on my computer but it was being ornery and slow, so I restarted it. And lost the entry. Anyways, a brief explanation of YouTube; Well assuming they know the basics of the Internet as well, I'd say it's a place on the Internet where you can upload videos for people to watch. Musicians put up music videos with all sorts of special effects, and sometimes hopeful musicians will post covers of their favorite songs. Others use it to watch TV shows or movies, and now that there's YouTube Red, you can pay for a subscription to their service and watch more TV and movies. And yet others use it to upload random things like pet videos, though some people use it more productively and post tutorials, which can be helpful! |
| There's probably actually way more than 56 pictures because one picture was a burst shot- so I think there came to be 16+ of them in that one. Anyways I ended up with two dinners tonight, plus an ice cream- one of which is giving me stomach issues now. the first dinner was what Mom brought back after hunting around for a convection oven and returning with a slow cooker and oven- spicy seafood noodles- and the second one was a few hours later with my aunt and cousin (Baby). I may no longer be his favorite cousin, but I got to run around with him for a bit on the sidewalk as we went back to the car. we He also took about 39 selfies on my phone- some with me and Blue Snuffy, and some of just himself, which are pretty funny and cute (he's 3 1/2!). He also learned how to flip the camera and took about another 20 pictures of everyone else at the table, except my aunt because she didn't want pictures. There was one point during dinner where he just got super sleepy and almost fell asleep on me while sitting in his chair, but his dad woke him up and gave him more udon to eat. |
| Pick a quote from one of your favorite movies and tell us how you relate to it. Hmm I always say I don't have a favorite movie, and that's mainly because I've watched so many and it's hard to choose. Plus, remembering specific lines from a specific movie? nuh uh. TV shows, yes, because the plot is so much more extended and easier to get hooked, but not movies. With that said, I ended up looking for movie quotes for today's prompt, and here's one I found that's: a. from a movie I've actually watched b. not about something 18+ or above c. somewhat useful and d. clean So without further ado: "No good to fight. But if must fight... win!" I think that's pretty wise advice. I'm terrible at fighting in general- I'd be totally unable to throw a punch or kick someone hard enough to save my life, so my solution? don't get into fights! Simple enough, yeah? But sis and I aren't always on the best relations and with that said, verbal fights are pretty frequent. And I don't win those, either. So me being me, and sis being sis, we usually only engage in a "fight" if we know/are pretty sure we'll win. And usually sis ends up winning anyways. Probably half the reason she thinks I'm such an easy pushover. Anyways, back to the topic: I think I just explained the first part- "No good to fight"- yeah, don't fight. It's not nice. But if you must fight, win! Yeah yeah yeah winning's not everything and it's the journey that counts for most people, but at the same time, fighting isn't always between people- it might be between yourself and the environment, or you might just be fighting yourself. It's like learning all those different types of conflicts in English class, that the characters go through in whatever story/book you're reading at the moment- the situations may be fictional, but the struggles are real. Or, maybe I should say, the types of struggles are real. Some people may have had a terrible past, but they're trying every day to forget it or make the most of what they have- and not let it affect them too much. That's a fight, too. And if they end up not letting it get to them too much, I think that's considered winning, too.Want a more real example? Let's just go with BAMP because that experience is something I never, ever want to have again. I'd say the biggest thing I learned from them was that I really need to start standing up for myself. Stuff it if what I say offends people, because we're working as a team of 5 equals, not 4 main people and one on the sidelines. I learned to say "enough is enough" and put my foot down, even if it meant leaving the board. I don't think leaving could be categorized as a total loss, either, because I did it for my sanity. I don't remember what the last message that pushed me over the edge was, but maybe that's a good thing because I'm letting go of the experience now. It's like saying, "Well, that's that, and I'm not going back!" And to be honest, I doubt I will be going back.  |
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