Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

First off, I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays, was able to spend time with their families, and received gifts or goodies to make them smile. As usual, I kept busy with my various “Christmases” between my family and my fiancée’s family. Two visits on his side (his Dad’s side and his Mom’s side) and three visits on my side (my parents at our home, my Dad’s side, and my Mom’s side). It was good seeing our families and spending time with them. But now the holiday season is winding down and making way for…the New Year!


Wow! 2010 has just flown by! So many things have happened and changed over this year, and not just in my life but in the world as a whole. And like many bloggers today, my entry will be about my “New Year’s Resolutions.” I typical don’t make resolutions merely because I often make them too unachievable or forget about them completely halfway through January. But this year, I figured that if I wrote them down on my blog, I’d probably remember them and would be more inclined to follow them since I could then give a sort of status update on them throughout the year and/or in next December. So here are my realistic resolutions for 2011!

Awesome Movie Mash-Up

Hello again, my fellow bloggers! (And a big thanks to my 9 followers!) I'm just doing a quick post today to show off this awesome movie mash-up someone posted on Twitter. (Twitter post link to this entry at ScreenRant.) It takes one of the famous sword fight scenes from "Princess Bride" (my favorite movie) and adds in an interesting element from "Star Wars". Please Enjoy!

~Namárië

NaNoWriMo 2010 is Officially Over

Final Word Count: 34,720

I’m a little saddened that this challenge is over since I really enjoyed it. It was more fun than I expected. =) But all good things must come to an end…or do they?
<.<   >.>   O.o

Yes, there is always next year…but why not continue writing throughout the year? Why not set your own monthly word count goals? Why not find a writing group to join or writer friends to hold you accountable? Or pledge to yourself to sit and write for a set time amount or set word count every day? 2 hours or 1000 words a day?

“It All Started With Popcorn and Shamu…”

Wow! I have 7 followers now! Hello, new friends!

So...I attend another write-in for NaNoWriMo…

Oddly enough, despite getting lost in North Austin, having to reply on some friendly nerds to give me directions to an obscure coffeehouse, and telling some somewhat embarrassing stories about myself to random strangers…I had a good time!

Rewind—

My NaNoWriMo Excerpt

“Mysticism of Fear” is the current working title of my NaNo WIP. I’m growing more fond of the title was I go, but it still sounds a bit corny to me. But then again, parts of my novel still sound a bit corny to me. *shrugs* Anywho, here’s the excerpt:

**************************

Prologue: June 1860

The ticking of the seconds hand drummed in beat with Raleigh’s heart. 3 o’clock sharp.

“There’s a Snake In My Boot”

Actually…there’s a snake in my house. O.o

Apparently, this little snake has made the exterior siding of my house his home. My mom went out to feed the dog when she saw his head sticking out of a hole in the siding near the back door. She freaked out because she didn’t know what kind of snake it was. She immediately texted me and I came out to see it. By this point, it had slithered out farther along the side on the back porch. It was a thin tanish-colored snake with some yellow and black designs along its sides. Mom immediately ran inside to go research it while I watched it slither back into its hole. Of course, my dog was totally oblivious to the snake and was confused as to why he weren’t feeding him. Later on that evening, when my dad let the dog out for one last time before going to bed, he saw the snake chilling along the side of the house. He told us it was a garter snake, perfectly harmless.

I’m glad because it was kinda a cute little snake and I would hate for it to have been poisonous. I’m trying to think of a good name for him since he’s still there. It looks like my household has a new “pet” for the time being. *shrugs*

~Namárië

Chalking This One Up In “Life Experiences”

Hey, I just noticed I have 2 more followers...I'm up to 5. Hello, new comers! Welcome to the insanity...now listen to my rantings...

I attended my first ever NaNo write-in the other night at a tiny coffee shop in South Austin. It was a nice coffee shop, but then again the most experience I’ve had with coffee shops is Starbucks…and a local joint across the street from the Texas State theatre building in San Marcos. (I’m not a big coffee house person, I guess. Though I do love a good Iced Chai Soy Latte!) Anywho, the write-in was…well…interesting. I got some writing done (906 words in fact, which was more than I thought I would), but I was also highly distracted by the “entertaining” people I meet there.

"The Rumors of my Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

At least I think that's how the quote goes? I know someone famous said this (or something like it) once ago, but I do not know who...*shrugs* I'm too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia right now.

Anywho...I'm back! Lots have happened since my last post...almost 2 months ago! OMG! I'm so behind on this blogging thing. First things first, a quick on life: "The Hobbit" came and went...and we did great despite several hiccups thrown in there at the last moments. I completed both my substitute teaching orientations and have now been working at various schools nearly everyday. My schedule is very sporadic and I usually don't know if I'm working on not until the last minute in the mornings, but I'm actually enjoying it. It will definitely help me gained experience in an actual classroom and learn how to deal with students behaving at their worst. (Because who wants to behave when there's a sub in the room?!) The costume shop where I was periodically working has now closed the actual store, finishing out the month of Halloween sales. And while I did not complete (or really even start on) my Halloween costume, I did make a "Dr. Horrible" lab coat for my friend. I was very proud of myself despite the issues I kept having with the patterning. (I took a different pattern and work it to create my own for the coat. Yay for using the skills I learned in college!) I will post pics of the coat later on...including the ones where my friend posed in his entire costume.

I'm Not Dead Yet...

Huzzah! I have gained another follower…welcome to the zaniness of my blog. Hope you don’t get scared off! (You have been warned…beyond this point, there be dragons…)

Anywho…*in a old-fashion radio announcer voice* much has happened since last we caught a glimpse of our heroine’s life. She has been on many “adventures” and dealt with many “tribulations.” She has seen epic things and slaved in dusty places…she has suffered many a pun or poke or awkward situation…but she has been greatly rewarded! *insert “achievement gained” video game music*

"Her Room" -- The Result Of A Writing Exercise

Two summers ago, I went to a writer's conference at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. The conference was called "Teachers as Writers" and my father had stumbled upon it while looking at the school's website. At the time, my youngest brother was considering going to school there, so my dad had been researching it. (By the way, my brother was accepted into the university at the beginning of his senior year of high school. He just started his freshman year of college there. It's a good school and perfect for him, so he is very happy with his choice. Anyways, I digress...)

The conference featured several published children and young adult writers, each giving a day-long lesson about a different topic of the writing process. Each of these workshop sessions, we did writing exercises and had discussion with the authors, along with their presentation. I loved every minute of it and meet several wonderful people! I even bought one book from each author-presenter! But other part of the conference was each evening we meet in our designated groups to have a writing critique session. (We were given several "writing breaks" throughout the day, the longest being the 2-hour period after dinner before group time.) We were expected to turn in at least one writing piece every night and after reading it aloud to the group, would receive a critique by our peers. For me, this is the most terrifying part of the writing process: having to read your work aloud to others for them "judge" it. O.O (I have a slight reading problem, so I tend to stumble with the words by misreading or mispronouncing them. I hate reading aloud! And yes, I’m in theatre…figure out that one!)

Adventures in Babysitting...and Apron Making!

First...does anyone remember that movie? Adventures in Babysitting? I love that movie and hadn't seen it in a while. Hmm...I must add it to my Netflix list. Sorry, got lost in my own thoughts for a moment. Anywho...

Last night I babysat for two of the world's cutest little girls! They are so adorable and smart. I know the family though the preschool I used to work at. I helped in the younger girl's class when I first started at the school, but then became the older girl's teacher in the Pre-K class. Both girls formed a quick attachment to me and when I left the school to pursue other things, their mom asked for my contact info so I could babysit for them. A few weeks ago, the mom called and was so thrilled that I said I'd love to babysit for them!

Creative Craftiness

Despite feeling very busy and working on various things today, I feel like I haven't accomplished much. *sigh* I think its because most of my day was spent in front of my computer. I was working on paperwork for costumes for Ruth's Locket, emailing the production team and whatnot, checking all my internet addictions (facebook, twitter, etc), and attempting to make ribbon flowers. 

My friend (the lovely artist who drew my profile image) showed me a youtube video that shows you how to make several different ribbon or fabric flowers for craft projects. (We had spent part of Monday at Hobby Lobby looking at craft stuff and she mentioned the video to me while we were looking at ribbon.) Anyways, I was determined to try out these "flowers"...the girl on the video made them sound pretty easy. And I do have a costuming degree (or a "making sh*t degree" as my artist friend so delicately worded), so I thought "how hard could it be?" O.o Needless to say, it was harder than I thought. I think I just need more practice, but I'm starting to get one of the flowers called the "3-D rose". Here are my latest two attempts (and the most successful though not by much):

Sometimes I Wondered If I Should Have My "Nerd Card" Revoked...

So...I finally starting watching "The Guild" today...and I love it! *squeals* I finished season 1 and am halfway through season 2. (My computer kept freezing up and having issues, so I stopped watching for today.) It's such a hilarious show that makes my nerdy self so very happy!

Back-story time!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Despite the usual “bad” connotation this day can have, I have always had very good days on the “Friday-the-13ths” in my life. And the number 13 happens to be my lucky number…not that I really believe in the whole concept of luck. But I digress…

Anywho, I wanted to do a little promoting during this blog-post for various projects I’m working on and people I know are working on. First, thanks to various friends I made while working on another show, I have the opportunity to work as Wardrobe Supervisor for a small non-profit film titled “Ruth’s Locket,” produced by a newly founded production company called Dedicated Works Productions. The film tells the beautifully tragic story of love lost as a heart-wrenching tribute to the victims of Alzheimer’s disease and their loved ones. The film is just getting off the ground in its production progress, but I’m already working on finding costumes for it! For more information about this film, please visit our website:

Why, Hello Strange New World!

Welcome to "May-Day's Daze," my blog to record the imaginative ideas and zany happenings that spark from the insanity of my life. My intent for this blog to be a place where I can share my thoughts and life experiences, exhibit some of my creative writings and crafts, and promote the various theatrical projects I’m working on. I’m still relatively new to the “blogging scene,” although this is my second attempt at this particular blog. However, I hope this online venture to a fun albeit unique journey into my creativity chaotic world.


~Namárië (it means "farewell" in Quenya, an elvish language created by Tolkein)