L.Y. Levand's Blog, page 40
November 1, 2012
November 01st, 2012
So everyone just celebrated Halloween, right?
Well, Kym's younger siblings didn't do trick-or-treat this year. It was raining. So they stayed home, ate pizza and rice krispy treats, and watched the old Disney cartoon of Sleepy Hollow. But when the littlest one (she's six) went to bed, mom told the other two to pick a scary movie.
Less than five minutes later, she hears the theme song from Rugrats playing on the TV. That's what we call a facepalm moment.
Well, Kym's younger siblings didn't do trick-or-treat this year. It was raining. So they stayed home, ate pizza and rice krispy treats, and watched the old Disney cartoon of Sleepy Hollow. But when the littlest one (she's six) went to bed, mom told the other two to pick a scary movie.
Less than five minutes later, she hears the theme song from Rugrats playing on the TV. That's what we call a facepalm moment.
October 31, 2012
October 31st, 2012
Bonus Halloween post!
Everybody be safe out there, and have fun. Don't scare anyone too badly. (And don't forget to brush your teeth before bed!)
Everybody be safe out there, and have fun. Don't scare anyone too badly. (And don't forget to brush your teeth before bed!)
October 31st, 2012
"Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title." ~ Shaggy from Scooby-Doo
I do hope that I'd have more courage than Shaggy or Scooby. But, having never been faced with something that was 'scary, spooky, haunted, or forbidden,' I can't really say. Unless you count scary movies. I used to get nightmares from watching Jurassic Park. It's kind of funny when you think about it, since my worst nightmares now involve my sister (who can't swim) falling off a pier into the ocean.
The scariest things don't really have anything to do with the words 'spooky,' 'haunted,' or 'forbidden,' do they?
Happy Halloween, everyone!
I do hope that I'd have more courage than Shaggy or Scooby. But, having never been faced with something that was 'scary, spooky, haunted, or forbidden,' I can't really say. Unless you count scary movies. I used to get nightmares from watching Jurassic Park. It's kind of funny when you think about it, since my worst nightmares now involve my sister (who can't swim) falling off a pier into the ocean.
The scariest things don't really have anything to do with the words 'spooky,' 'haunted,' or 'forbidden,' do they?
Happy Halloween, everyone!
October 30, 2012
October 30th, 2012
Halloween is tomorrow, which means you probably have all your costumes arranged, candy bought, decorations up. But what if you haven't?
Gasp! You have no decorations?! What do you do?
First off, don't panic. When did panic ever get you anywhere? (The time you crisis-cleaned because your mother-in-law paid a surprise visit doesn't count.) So, take a deep breath.
Go out and buy some of those cute little mini-pumpkins. You can arrange them just about anywhere. You'll also need some spiderweb stuff to decorate your front porch. If you're just prepping for trick-or-treaters it should be easy. Set up your pumpkins on a chair on the front porch, or table if you have one. Any flat surface will do. Then spread spiderwebs all over the place wherever it'll stick and still allow you in and out of your house. Ta-da! Emergency decorating, done!
If you have more time, though, set your kids to work with scissors and black construction paper. They can cut out bats, witches, cauldrons...then you can tape them to the inside of your windows. Or you can have them make paper chains out of orange and black paper to drape all over the place.
Gasp! You have no decorations?! What do you do?
First off, don't panic. When did panic ever get you anywhere? (The time you crisis-cleaned because your mother-in-law paid a surprise visit doesn't count.) So, take a deep breath.
Go out and buy some of those cute little mini-pumpkins. You can arrange them just about anywhere. You'll also need some spiderweb stuff to decorate your front porch. If you're just prepping for trick-or-treaters it should be easy. Set up your pumpkins on a chair on the front porch, or table if you have one. Any flat surface will do. Then spread spiderwebs all over the place wherever it'll stick and still allow you in and out of your house. Ta-da! Emergency decorating, done!
If you have more time, though, set your kids to work with scissors and black construction paper. They can cut out bats, witches, cauldrons...then you can tape them to the inside of your windows. Or you can have them make paper chains out of orange and black paper to drape all over the place.
October 29, 2012
October 29th, 2012
I offer my sincere apologies to everyone who visited my blog over the past two days. We had some...technical difficulties. In other words, I had no internet, at all, all weekend.
But the good news is, I have it now, and everything should be back to normal! In addition, I came back online to discover that my newest novella, The Willon Clan Curse, is now available on Amazon.
But the good news is, I have it now, and everything should be back to normal! In addition, I came back online to discover that my newest novella, The Willon Clan Curse, is now available on Amazon.
October 26, 2012
October 26th, 2012
Randomosity is escaping me at the moment. I think I left it in bed this morning. Or lost it on the way to bed last night. I was really hyper last night, so I might have used up my quota for the week.
You know what? I take it back.
As a martial artist, I like martial arts related TV shows. Like Naruto. BUT I was introduced to Naruto by a purist cousin who hates the English version. Which means I've seen the first sixty or seventy episodes in Japanese. Which is pretty awesome, by the way. It's more of a teen/adult anime, just to warn you. It's quite violent, but as a writer I love the story. And the humor is just great. (My favorite characters are Rock Lee, Kakashi, and Shikamaru, just FYI.)
You know what? I take it back.
As a martial artist, I like martial arts related TV shows. Like Naruto. BUT I was introduced to Naruto by a purist cousin who hates the English version. Which means I've seen the first sixty or seventy episodes in Japanese. Which is pretty awesome, by the way. It's more of a teen/adult anime, just to warn you. It's quite violent, but as a writer I love the story. And the humor is just great. (My favorite characters are Rock Lee, Kakashi, and Shikamaru, just FYI.)
October 25, 2012
October 25th, 2012
Kym got to rearrange furniture at work this week. Or, rather, help the OCD coworker rearrange the furniture, and everything hanging on the walls.
First, they tried to move the book racks. The big honking heavy ones that get caught on the carpet and try to fall apart if you move them the wrong way. They huffed, puffed, lifted, shoved, and wrestled, and in the end, managed to move them all of six inches.
Then she got to watch this coworker claim to be a master of safety while leaning over to one side while standing on the edge of a ladder, and trying to unhook a cello from its holder near the ceiling. This, of course, in addition to trying to hang cymbals in size order on their rack - after moving the rack twice.
But on the way home, she was still thinking about the book racks. Do you think they should have pulled all the books out first?
First, they tried to move the book racks. The big honking heavy ones that get caught on the carpet and try to fall apart if you move them the wrong way. They huffed, puffed, lifted, shoved, and wrestled, and in the end, managed to move them all of six inches.
Then she got to watch this coworker claim to be a master of safety while leaning over to one side while standing on the edge of a ladder, and trying to unhook a cello from its holder near the ceiling. This, of course, in addition to trying to hang cymbals in size order on their rack - after moving the rack twice.
But on the way home, she was still thinking about the book racks. Do you think they should have pulled all the books out first?
October 24, 2012
October 24th, 2012
“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” ~ William Penn Isn't it intriguing how we all say 'I'll do that tomorrow'? But what if we have no tomorrow? Won't we all be wondering why we didn't do that yesterday? Especially something good, like kindness, or 'any good thing.' Procrastination is bad enough when it comes to things like homework, or housework. But putting off doing some kindness for someone else is another kind of bad entirely. Remember, we 'shall not pass this way again.'
October 23, 2012
October 23rd, 2012
I think it's almost time to retire the Goofy Gardener for the year!
I'm thinking about going holiday themed for the rest of the year. The holidays are really big in my family, so we have tons of recipes, crafts, and gift and game ideas. If you have any awesome ones of your own, go ahead and email them to me. Who knows? I might feature it in my blog! (With your name, of course - and if you have a blog, send me the link, too. I'll include it!)
I'm thinking about going holiday themed for the rest of the year. The holidays are really big in my family, so we have tons of recipes, crafts, and gift and game ideas. If you have any awesome ones of your own, go ahead and email them to me. Who knows? I might feature it in my blog! (With your name, of course - and if you have a blog, send me the link, too. I'll include it!)
October 22, 2012
October 22nd, 2012
Once you've identified your holiday dietary weakness, it's time to prepare a battleplan!
First of all, now's the time to start recognizing the difference between craving, and hunger. A craving is in your head, while hunger is in your stomach. I once had an experience where I listened to my head instead of my stomach, and kept eating what tasted good, even though I was full. I paid for it dearly with heartburn and loss of sleep.
Start recognizing when you're full, and then stop eating. Stopping is the hardest part, while figuring out when you're full isn't all that hard, but start exercising your self control now, and you should notice a difference. When I started paying attention to how full I was, I realized just how little it took to fill my stomach. It was right after that when I ignored the 'I'm full - stop eating!' cues and made myself sick. So learn your cues, and listen well!
First of all, now's the time to start recognizing the difference between craving, and hunger. A craving is in your head, while hunger is in your stomach. I once had an experience where I listened to my head instead of my stomach, and kept eating what tasted good, even though I was full. I paid for it dearly with heartburn and loss of sleep.
Start recognizing when you're full, and then stop eating. Stopping is the hardest part, while figuring out when you're full isn't all that hard, but start exercising your self control now, and you should notice a difference. When I started paying attention to how full I was, I realized just how little it took to fill my stomach. It was right after that when I ignored the 'I'm full - stop eating!' cues and made myself sick. So learn your cues, and listen well!
