Live Performances

Last night, my family sat together and watched "Peter Pan" one of Leslie's favorite shows of all time! This version was the live one that premiered not too long ago. It was supposed to be like the "Sound of Music - Live!" that premiered last year. I didn't see that one, so I can't compare the two. Sorry!

It was fairly well performed. There was a couple small mistakes, which of course, is what people sometimes tend to focus on when they watch these live shows. That kind of bothers me though, that when something is advertised as live, people try to look for those small mistakes.

Live theater should not be a big deal, especially to the actors. Most actors have built up their acting skills over time. There are very few cases where actors just started out famous. A possible example of this could be Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen. They were cast as the cute baby on "Full House" and they did an amazing job! This is a VERY rare case.

These actors usually build up their skills and get their name out there by being in live theater. When you go for a night out to see a play, that is live theater. We don't make as big of a deal out of it then. Why don't we? They could mess up then, too.

Here are a couple of reasons why we tend to make a bigger deal about live theater on TV:

1. It's typically on National Television. It is a bigger audience than when you actually go to a theater. Plus, that means it is advertised a lot, and is made to be a bigger deal than it actually is. Both of these put more pressure on these actors if they mess up.

2. DVRs are a live actor's worst nightmare. With our modern day technology, we can record this live performance on TV and watch it over and over and over again. If they mess up, people can watch them mess up over and over and over again. That's also a lot of pressure.

3. Actors in these live television programs are typically already famous stars. On one hand, this means that should have live theater experience already, but on the other hand they haven't done live theater in a long time. Plus, people would expect more out of them. This adds even more pressure to these actors to do well - to not disappoint their fans.

These three pressure points are seen by the actor's fans which is why they tend to look for these mistakes. Sometimes it is more interesting for people to see mistakes that weren't supposed to be there, than just watch and enjoy the performance.

Changes

My grandparent's are changing their house. They are adding a bedroom on the first floor and taking out their back deck.

This struck me as absolutely shocking. How could they possibly change the house I know as Grandma and Grandpa's house? It's perfect just the way it is. I don't want it to change.

But it has changed before. From things as small to shifting furniture around, to adding a TV room (which I wasn't alive for, but it was a major change), Grandma and Grandpa have changed a few things about their house ever since they first started living in it.

We were also talking about tonight about how some of us don't like small changes. Like getting a new Christmas tree or new lights that change the Christmas tradition. These things make Christmas feel less like Christmas. I didn't see how this was different from changing the house.

The difference is that one has to happens, where the other is optional to change. We have to accept the fact that some changes must happen, so we might as well deal with it. We don't have to change the other optional things though.

As humans, we don't like change. That is the same with everyone. Even those who don't fret about the small changes don't like change. Things like moving, getting a new job and leaving your parents is a big change that most people probably don't like.

But there are a lot of benefits to these things, too.When you get a new job, it's most likely that you are moving up in the job chain. When you move, you get to make new friends. When you leave your parents, you are getting to start a new life on your own.

Changes can be difficult sometimes, but they're just a part of life. Let's not let these changes get to us. We can learn to love them.

Thanksgiving Break

It's finally Thanksgiving break! It's time for sleeping in late, staying up late and finally getting stuff done!

I've had this long list of things I've been meaning to do since summer ended and because of Thanksgiving break I'm planning to get a lot of it done.

Like for one thing, haven't you noticed that I've posted three blogs in the past three days? The last time I posted was forever ago! I've been able to post on all of my blogs more, including my Nancy Drew one. I've also posted three new walkthrough videos in the past three days completing my Nancy Drew walkthrough for The Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake! (Here's a link to the playlist if you want to see it:  Click this!)

I've also been able to get this many things done because it's my without technology week. (I know it seems like I'm on technology because I'm blogging, but it doesn't count because it's on the list). Every month I take a week without technology meaning computers and TV, so I can realize that I have better things to do with my life. Not sure if it's working, but at least I have that week to find new things to do.

Thanksgiving break for some people is a hectic time. Getting ready for family to come or getting ready to get on a big trip to visit them can be hard. Plus, you have to worry about getting all the food together for that big Thanksgiving meal.

But it's not hectic for my family. We typically don't have people coming for Thanksgiving except for this special Thanksgiving (my grandparents are coming). We normally get up, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in our pajamas and eat cinnamon buns! Then we get dressed and go out to eat at some place like Cracker Barrels or Luby's. Preferably, Cracker Barrel (Sorry Luby's). It's a nice holiday.

Thanksgiving break for me is just a good time all around right now. I'm going to have to try really hard to stay focused on enjoying it and to spend every second of it wisely. I'm going to want to look back and saying that this was a good, worthwhile Thanksgiving break.

Two Plays

In my last post, one of the things I mentioned was that I had two plays coming up. It's one of the things that is very hard not to look forward to!

The first of these plays is "Pilgrim's Progress". It's a funny and entertaining version of it, not the long boring paragraphs version. I've been in it before and I'm super excited to be in it again! Auditions for it are in a week and I've been waiting for it since about October.

The second of these plays is yet to be announced, so I don't think I should say anything, but it is super exciting for me. For the first time in my acting life, I have been requested to be in this play. I was one of eight other actors requested. I have only been in one play there and a camp, and I was chosen with someone who has been there eleven years. It's so exciting!

The only problem that will probably come up is the stress of being in two plays... at the same time.

I want to be in both so bad, and it looks like I'm going to, but it's probably going to be stressful. With two plays and my schoolwork I might not have much time to myself, which means I'm probably going to be doing another month or so of catching up on new TV shows after these plays.

I am so willing to do both these plays, because I have been waiting since my last play to be in another. It will be slightly stressful, but at this point I'm willing to do it. Now I just have to patiently wait for my auditions. I hope it comes soon! (Stop looking forward to it, Eastin!!)

Looking Forward

I had a sudden rush of thoughts while I was trying to go to sleep last night. It's November. It's Thanksgiving break. We're halfway to summer. Where the heck has my life went?

Every once in a while I just get this feeling that my life is going by so fast. I mean, I'M in HIGH SCHOOL for crying out loud! Every once in a while that really makes me shocked. I get this feeling that I don't want to grow up so fast. I want to stay young and enjoy it!

But, time constantly goes by faster, because I'm looking forward to things. When I look back at the past three months, it seems like it went by so fast. But when I think ahead a week to my auditions for the school play, it seems like it's a long time to wait! My sister deals with this, too. In fact she recently said to me, "Three weeks until Zed comes seems like so long, but he's staying three weeks and it just seems so short!".

I've been looking forward to these two plays that are coming up in the winter that I'm going to be in and to various things about growing up like getting my learner's permit, a job, a driving's license, where I'm going to college and what career do I want to have. These things and little minor things that come up throughout the day have I been looking forward to. But every once in a while, all I want time to do is SLOW DOWN!

I think looking forward to things makes time go faster, whether we believe it or not, and sometimes we just have to try and not look forward to things. To enjoy what we're doing now, because it will be gone in an instant.

I think I'll remember this when I'm twenty something. I'll be saying something like, "Man, I wish I could be fourteen again. I would have no responsibilities and no stress about anything like jobs or college. That would be the best."

Mystical Creatures part 12

Art

You are very good at any kind of art. You can even make your art look like it is actually real!

Acting

You are very good at acting. It is very easy for you to trick people, because you are good at being a believable actor.

Dancing

You are very good at dancing! It's as simple as that really.

Helpless

You don't have a normal possibility or much of any extra talent really. If you lose your powers, you'll be pretty much helpless.

Singer

You are really good at singing! It's as simple as that really.

Horse-back

You are really good at horse-back riding, which means that you probably have a horse. You can do lots of tricks on it and it is a faster way of getting around than just walking.

Magician

You are really good at looking like you're doing magic even when you're not. You can do tricks without having the actual magical powers to do them, but keep these tricks within the realm of possibility!

Kids

You are really good with kids. Kids tend to like you and their parents tend to come to you when they want a babysitter. You'll be a great parent someday!

Socially Awkard!

When you read this title, some of you may be thinking "Oh, this post must be about someone Eastin knows.", but others may be thinking "So, she knows how socially awkward she acts around people." My close friends know me as the fun, crazy, dramatic Eastin Kandt. But when I first know people I'm the quiet, try to say something once in a while, introverted Eastin Kandt.

I've been feeling this so much lately with my move to San Antonio. Going to different churches, youth groups and theaters has really been difficult. It's a miracle that I got to bond so well with my schoolmates. Thank goodness, too! If it weren't for my schoolmates, I wouldn't have any good friends.

It's not like I haven't been able to warm up to people though. There was a group of people recently that I was a part of that I warmed up to them and started to be my crazy self. But this was a temporary event. After about a month, I didn't see them for about another two or three weeks. When I saw them again though, I went back to being socially awkward!

I think to be myself around people I have to see them nearly every day, or at least three days a week (that's how it is with my school pals). After a while, we grow on each other.

But this whole situation has shown me something else. I have a friend that deals with this everyday. I won't say their name to keep it private.

I'm not sure of the particulars, but they have some sort of social disorder where they can't socialize with people well. Everyone wants friends, but it is particularly hard for them. Like me, around people they know really well it's easier for them I think, but otherwise they have it pretty difficult.

If they are reading this, I want to let them know that I know how they feel. I'm dealing with the same thing. It's hard, but you're not alone. Every person feels that way at some point or another.

Mystical Creatures - part 11

Illnesses allowed in the game:
      Blindness
      Deafness
      Muteness
      Paralyzed
      Diabetes
      Asthma
      ADHD
      Migraines
      Seizures
      Dyslexia
      Autism
      Cancer

You can have up to eight illnesses if you really want to, and you can have none, which most people prefer.

The point of the illnesses is to add another level or complication to the game.

We will now begin with the Normal Possibilities, which is basically what a Mystical Creature can fall back on if they happen to lose their powers.

Fighting Styles

Anything that involves fighting, you are talented at! That is, if you have fighting styles!

Inventions

You are a genius! You can build anything, including things you make up. Most Mystical Creatures with Invention have their own secret passageway or secret room, but this is optional.

Gymnastics

You are good at gymnastics, plus you can dodge any punch, kick or anything someone uses to physically hurt you.

Mystical Creatures - part 10

Animal People

This was made up by Conor, Pierce, Grace and I, I believe.

You have to choose between one of these different animals: 

       Dog People can take the form of a dog. They are protective and hyper. They have a super bark (destroy everything in path of bark), super-hearing and they can dig through anything. If you harm a dog person behind their ear, they die (or get seriously injured if preferred)

       Cat people can take the form of a cat. They are lazy. They have a super jump (high jump) and good eyesight. They can make their eyes glow in the dark and they have claws they can make appear on their hands. Cat People also have the normal possibility of gymnastics, which will be explained more thoroughly in the Normal Possibilities section to come.

      Frog people can take the form of a frog. They can super jump, super croak and they have a really long tongue they can use to grab things if wanted. Frog people are really good swimmers.

      Panther people can take the form of a panther. They are good at climbing, spying and hiding. Their abilities include very good eyesight and claws they can make appear.

      Bird people can take the form of any bird of choice. They can fly (obviously!) and can make their beak and talons appear at any time to harm someone. They are good at hunting, diving and are stealthy.

      Bear people can take the form of a bear. They have super strength and a super roar. They can also make their claws appear. They are good at fishing and climbing.

Pop-fizz

This one was created by Conor but was greatly inspired by Skylanders Giants.

They can't help but hate everyone.

When they get too angry, they turn into a beast that destroys everything their path for an entire minute.

Their natural form is a small creature with claws.

Pop-fizzes specialize in potions. Choose one that they can use:

      Explosion: They can make explosions happen in a designated area. As a beast, this means they can breath fire and the potion lasts for three minutes.

      Acid: This makes their claws stronger for attacking. As a beast, it gives them super-speed. It lasts for three minutes.

      Minion: This allows Pop-fizz to mind control people. As a beast, it lets them become a pro at backflips. It lasts for three minutes.

Mystical Creatures - part 9

Wood Nymph

This one was inspired by the Percy Jackson series.

The Wood Nymph's life is tied to a tree. That means that if the tree dies or gets cut down the wood nymph dies.

They can turn into their tree.

Wood Nymphs can control plants.

They can talk to animals.

Their natural form is green but they can look like normal people.

Mummy

This one was partly inspired by Wizards of Waverly Place and partly inspired by The Red Pyramid.

Mummies have mind control.

They can look normal if they wish, but their true form is, well, you know what a mummy looks like.

You must choose one or more of these abilities: Ha-di: If you say this word, you can fix something that is broken. Hi-nem: If you say this word, you can break something. Seeing Invisible: You can see invisible people or objects or anything else which might be invisible. Hyroglyphics: You can read hyroglyphics with ease. Divination: You can see the future.

Sorcerer

This one was made up by Conor, Pierce, Grace and I.

Sorcerer can predict the future.

Sorcerers can see people no matter where they are if they want to.

Phantom Horse

This one was made up by Conor, Pierce, Grace and I. For some reason, I feel like it was mostly Pierce, but I can't remember.

They can disappear in shadows, so if they are in a shadow they can basically turn invisible.

They can turn into a human.

They cause nightmares.

They must obey any son or daughter of Hades playing in the game.

Movie Ratings

I've taken a break from my "Mystical Creatures" series to talk about something that has been really bugging me. Movie Ratings.

Million Dollar Arm is the new Disney movie about two Indians coming to America to make a name in baseball. You may have heard of it. On Saturday, I watched the movie. It is rated PG yet there was mention of sex and beer. Mostly beer.

My first thought is why the heck is this rated PG? I'm sure many parents who took their kids to watch the movie thought the same thing. But then, I thought about it a little more.

On the "Why the Heck?" side, ALL the movies these days that are rated PG are movies such as Frozen. Completely age appropriate for those that are in Kindergarten. Drugs and sex do NOT fit into the age appropriate Frozen-like movies! Not at all. Many parents would agree with me.

On the other hand, PG means "Parental Guidance". My first question is for what ages? Do I need to bring my parents to this movie when I'm thirty? Would they need to bring their parents? But I'm not going into that right now. But technically, the abbreviation would make me think that anyone 17 or under would fit under the category of Parental Guidance, but then wouldn't PG be the equivalent of R?

Whatever happened to the rating of G? Many PG movies these days belong in the rating of G. The only G-rated movies that we have anymore are nature films. Or the coca-cola polar bear movie which hasn't came out yet. Or maybe isn't an actual movie.... But my point is most movies which we rate PG should be G-rated movies.

Ratings have no meaning anymore. All these directors and movie rating people need to get together and decide exactly what movies fall into what rating. I don't know what the process they have for rating movies is now, but I can tell you that it needs adjusting.

Mystical Creatures - part 8

Skeleton

This might have been slightly inspired by the Percy Jackson series but I don't know for sure.

Skeletons get to pick one paranormal activity. Choose from the ones listed in Ghost in an above part.

Skeletons can sense people in danger.

They can make someone ill or hurt.

They can make themselves have flesh, so they appear to be a normal human.

They have the ability to wave their hand over another person and see their skeleton - sort of like an x-ray machine.

Zombie

This one was partly inspired by Wizards of Waverly Place but most of it was just typical Zombie-known stuff.

Zombies have mind control.

They can do three things to people: Make them talk gibberish, make them be very slow, make them look 

ugly.

They can remove their body parts.

They come with two normal possibilities (to be discussed later): Dancing and Spying.

Troll

This one was inspired by American Dragon: Jake Long

Trolls have super strength.

They can change the color of their skin.

They can't go in sunshine, otherwise they turn into stone.

They are known to love chaos.

They can make mountains.

Satyr

This one was definitely inspired by Percy Jackson.

Satyrs can sense others emotions.

They can cause weather phenomenons.

They have forest powers (plant, trees, etc.)

They are talented at playing instruments: Music.

Mystical Creatures - part 7

Genie

This might have been inspired by Wizards of Waverly Place

They can turn tiny, or grant any wishes seen or heard but it is their choice whether they want to grant it and they CAN'T  grant wishes said or written by themselves.

And if someone has their lamps they must do whatever they say, so if you are a Genie lock your lamp up tight.

Gnome

I think part of this was inspired by Gnomeo and Juliet but not a lot.

Can teleport, turn into plastic, make things turn into plastic, make people hear things, and make people not able to move.

Again, a gnome's general appearance is short but can appear tall.

It think this was helped by Liz and Elisha, but most memorably Elisha.

Phoenix

I think this was inspired a little by Harry Potter and maybe Percy Jackson  or something written by Rick Riordan.

Phoenixes can heal, turn into any bird and control fire.

A few thing about phoenixes is they are reborn from ashes, have good eyesight and sharp hearing.

Elisha helped with this one.

Dwarf

Dwarves come with one super power which you can pick from Superhero above.

Dwarves like everyone and loves to work.

Their natural appearance is short, but they can appear tall.

Giant

Giants come with on super power which you can pick from Superhero above.

Giants can either be huge or a normal size.

Giants have super strength.

I think Elisha might have helped with this one.

Mystical Creatures part 6

Superhero

There is a list of superhero powers to choose from and here they are: Invisibility (to be around but no one sees you), Speed (to go really fast), Strength (be really strong), Flying (Fly), Water (Control water), Fire (control fire), Air (Control winds), Mind Control (can make others do what they say), Mind Reading (can listen to other people's thoughts), Animal (can turn into any animal), Teleport (can go from one place to another without moving), Tele (to move objects without touching them), Ice (controls ice)

Normal

Have no powers but have an extra normal possibility. Normally born in a family of mystical creatures.

Leprechaun

Leprechauns can make gold, can make it so they look tall but are actually short, can make people lucky or unlucky and can change their voice to sound like anyone.

I think Elisha pitched some ideas for this one.

Elf

This was partially inspired by Wizards of Waverly Place

An Elf has a few traits they can't turn off or on. 1. Everybody has to like them. Nobody can hate them. 2. They have good hearing. They can hear practically EVERYTHING! 3. Their body temperature is the same as the weather outside, so if it's -43 for example, an Elf would be freezing while when its 93 it would be hot, no matter what heat or air conditioning is on.

Like a Leprechaun they natural form is short, but they can make themselves tall and they also are really good at inventing things.

Element

This one was made up by Liz and I.

This person is made out of a certain "Element" but look human. The elements to choose from are Water (this means they are made of water and when they touch water they turn into water, and can control water), Fire (made of fire and turns into fire when it touches them, and can control fire), Air (made of air and turns into it only during strong breezes, can control air), Earth (made of rock and can turn into it when they touch rocks, can control things that have to do with Earth like rock), Weather (When goes outside turns into weather, can control weather), Dark (made of darkness and turns into darkness when touched by it, control darkness), Light (made of light and turns into the light when touched by it, controls light)

Mystical Creatures - part 5

Oracle

This was influenced slightly by Percy Jackson and partly American Dragon: Jake Long

There are several things you must choose for oracle. First you must choose if they are 1. Good (which means you always predict good stuff, and you must be Goth), 2. Bad (always predicts bad stuff, are usually peppy and happy all the time - I think we all know how these people are), 3. Good and Bad (Can predict both, is normal), .4. Question (Can answer any question asked correctly, this means you don't have to choose from the other two)

The next thing you need to choose is if you see 1. Past (To see things that happened before) 2. Present (Can see what is happening right now) 3. Future (What oracles are supposed to predict, sees what will happen)

The last thing to choose is how you get the vision. 1. Glowing eyes (when you are "predicting" something your eyes glow) 2. Dream (You see everything in a dream which you can't wake up from until it is over)

If I am not mistaken, I think Elisha helped me a little with this one.

Unicorn

Unicorns can fly, make it stop raining, make gems and (duh!) turn into a horse.

Unicorns also get three super powers which you can see under Superhero below.

I think Elisha, Liz and Jordan all had a little input on this one.

Pegasus

Pegasi (the plural of Pegasus) can fly and (duh!) turn into a horse.

It also comes with two superpowers which you can see under Superhero.

Ghost

This was probably inspired a little by Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? and mostly by Danny Phantom

Ghosts can fly, turn invisible, take over bodies, go through anything, and shoot lasers from their hands.

Also when you are around ghosts, it is always cold.

Ghosts can have one of these powers: Doors (can open and close doors without touching them), Voice (can make their voice sound like anything, especially something creepy), Lights (can turn lights on and off without touching them), Animal (can turn into any animal), Skeleton (when they wave their hand over a person's bodies, anyone can see that person's bones), Multiple (this means you can have more than one, this is up to eight), Tele (can move things without touching them), Memory Loss (can make people forget things), Mind Manipulator (Can enter people's minds, make them see whatever you want them to see), Fear Frenzy (Can make someone be seen as everyone else's worst fears for example if someone is scared of spiders, that person will be seen as a spider. Same goes with clowns, etc.)

This was helped partly by Liz.

Mystical Creatures - part 4

Vampire

I think this was mainly influenced by My Babysitters a Vampire

Vampires have strength, speed and can mind message, which is like sending message telepathically (we usually did this by talking with an echo-echo-echo-cho).

They also are influenced by full moons and have no reflection. Then there is the other basic stuff which I'm pretty sure I don't have to mention.

Liz helped me a little with this one.

Dragon

I think this was mostly influenced by American Dragon: Jake Long

All dragons can: Shape-shift, duplicate, have strength, and their scales work as a shield when activated.

All dragons have one special power. You can choose from: Earth (control things that have to do with earth, such as earthquakes, volcanoes etc., they can sense vibrations in the ground and tell what or who is coming, blow rocks), Air (can control winds), Water (controls water, blow water), Fire (control fire, blow fire), Sleep (can make people fall asleep, blow sleep), Poison (make people sick, blow poison), Ice (control ice, blow ice), Storm (controls storms, blow lightning)

Don't forget to pick a color for your dragon!

Elisha helped me with this one using a book. I forgot what that book was called but I would like to thank Elisha and the author of that book.

Mix

Basically this means you have multiple powers. You can "inherit" up to eight powers. (Meaning you could be half Dragon, half Demigod, half etc.)

Angel

I think this was influenced partly by Wizards of Waverly Place

Angel cans fly, mind message (discussed this in Vampire), turn invisible (this is a special type where not even other invisible people can see you unless you wish), see invisible people, and have mind control.

An angel must do good things, unless someone somehow gets her to steer bad and then she/he must do all sorts of bad things. (A dark angel if you will)

Everyone when around does good things.

I believe some of the ideas came from Liz and possibly Jordan.

Mystical Creatures - part 3

Centaur

The idea for centaurs mainly came from Percy Jackson I believe.

Centaurs can turn half horse, are skilled at archery and come with two superhero powers. (These are covered in the superhero section in another part.)

Cyclops

I'm not sure, but I believe at least some of the ideas for this one came from Percy Jackson.

Cyclops have one eye, but can hide it by magical glasses.

They have strength, are immune to fire, and can sound like anyone.

Elisha helped me a little bit with this one I believe.

Triclops

This one is inspired by Pair of Kings.

These are like Cyclops, but they have a third eye on their forehead. They are known for wearing bandanas and hats.

They can look in two places at once and come with one super power (Again, I will be covering these in Superheroes)

Werewolf

This was mainly influenced by Wizards of Waverly Place and Boy who cried Werewolf.

Werewolves have strength, speed, good reflexes, can jump really REALLY high.

They also can turn into a dog whenever they want, and on full moons a (duh) werewolf.

Mystical Creatures - part 2

Fairy

This one's ideas came mainly from Peter Pan and the Tinkerbell movies.

All fairies: Can become tiny, can become a beam of light, can fly and can make others fly. (I assume you can see how we got most of this from Peter Pan)

Each fairy has a special talent that gives them extra powers. They are: Animal (can talk to animals), Garden (can grow plants), Tinker (are very good at inventing), Fast (speed), Light (controls light, hates darkness), Water (controls water), Healing (can heal), Cooking (can cook well), Snow (can control snow), Ice (control ice), Dark (Mind control, control darkness, can control fog, must obey children of Hades)

Don't forget to choose a color for your wings!

I think some of my friends helped with the Dark fairy. I can't remember which ones (sorry!) but I would like to thank them.

Mermaid

The mermaid came from mainly H20: Just Add Water and partly from Aquamarine.

All mermaids: They look human, but when water touches them, a fin comes out, they can heal BUT as soon as they do they pass out, when a full moon comes out they act strange (one from H20), and if you help a mermaid they'll grant you a wish

With each mermaid comes a special ability. They are: Freeze (can freeze stuff by using a hand motion like stop, and can control snow), Jello (can turn anything into jello and turn it back using a twist of his/her hand, can control snow, fire and air), Float (can control water using a stop sign with inlaid fingers if that makes any sense, can control wind), Heat (can heat up things mostly water using a fist motion, can control fire)

Don't forget to pick a color for your fin!

Alien

This mainly came from Race to Witch Mountain and Aliens in the Attic.

All Aliens: Have mind control, can make it so there is no gravity in the room, and can take over bodies.

Each Alien has an extra power to choose from. They are: Talk to animals (does this need explanation?), Through (can go through objects), Shield (can make a shield to protect themselves from anything), Mind Reading (Read others thoughts), Tele (can move objects with their mind)

Mystical Creatures - part 1

First I will explain each of the mystical creatures, again in a lot of detail.

Wizard



The wizard was mainly influenced by Harry Potter and Wizards of Waverly Place.

This was one of the most fun to be, because you can do practically everything. For this one, we normally use a pencil as a wand and you can make up your own spells

Some spells we used were: Alaca-freeze (to freeze someone), brainus-controlus (mind control), and some spells from the shows mentioned previously.

A rule for this one is that, no matter what, you can not use your spells to kill someone who is playing in the game. Unless, that person is sick of their character and 1. don't want to play anymore 2. wants to change their character.

Demigod

For this one you need to choose from several Greeks/Roman gods. This one is mainly influenced from Percy Jackson.

The gods are: Zeus (sons of Zeus can fly and have lightning powers to shoot lightning from the sky), Hades (can take gold out from the ground, talk to things that are dead, can rise people or animals who are dead, can kill people but the same rule applies no one who is playing in the game, and skeletons must always obey children of Hades), Poseidon (can control water, and can breathe under water), Hestia (can control fire, loves to work, and can make others do work), Demeter (can grow crops, detests fall and winter), Athena (if someone is attacking they can sense every move they make to hurt them, and avoid it, are really good with inventions, is really smart, can read minds, can turn invisible), Artemis (skilled at archery, hates opposite gender so if you are a boy you hate girls, but if you are a girl you hate boys, has strength, can control darkness), Apollo (skilled at music, control light, can make people talk in rhyme, can make art come to life), Ares (Has strength, very competitive, and can turn into any animal), Hephaestus (can control fire, is very good at inventions), Dionysus (can turn grapes into a drink which doesn't have to be wine for young kids, can control drinks, can make people do things they don't think is right, and love parties, this one is optional for young kids since Dionysus isn't the best dude), Aphrodite (can make people beautiful, can make people fall in love, has a mind control that is different than normal mind control you think of, when she/he gets too far away it loses effects), Hermes (can fly, is a blabbermouth and blabs any secret) Father Time (this one is made up, can pause time, fast forward time, rewind time, can make everything slow motion or fast motion, and mute people. Also, if you hurt them in their sensitive spot which you get to choose, then they lose their powers for a day, since they are so powerful), Mother Nature (this one is made up, loves nature, and can create nature such as trees, plants, weather, etc.), Medusa (this one is made up, can turn her/his hair into snakes, can make people turn to stone, has mind control, and laser powers), Jack Frost (this one is made up, control ice, snow and sleet, is always cold)

Some of these aren't Greek Gods, but we made them up as I told you in the explanation.

Some of these ideas, were from Elisha, who is really addicted to the Percy Jackson books. Thanks Elisha!

Mystical Creatures - Intro

I've played this game a lot throughout the years. I don't play it anymore and I would really hate to see it die out. It's a game that I hope future generations will play, so I am starting a series explaining the game to you. Credit to Liz for giving me this idea to post about this game!

When I was in fourth grade, my friends and I played all sorts of games. We played wizards (mostly), mermaids, fairies etc. One day, I thought "why don't we combine all of them in one game?" I called it "Mystical Creatures".

I don't know why I called it Mystical Creatures instead of Magical Creatures, but I watched a video for a school about a year ago which I hadn't seen in a LONG time and heard that phrase in there. Maybe it stuck in my head.

The game began with only six or eight mystical creatures. Now, we have thirty-seven mystical creatures, fourteen illnesses that we allowed in the game, eighteen "normal possibilities", nine possible ways to have your powers, three ways to play the game, twenty-four ages allowed, and eleven personalities to choose from if you don't know how to start the game. If you're confused, don't worry it will be explained later.

This is going to be a VERY long series of  posts, because I'm going to go into detail. This isn't a game like Tag or Hide in Seek, it is very complex. You don't need to know all of this information now. It will probably be easier to refer to it while playing the game, so put this blog in your favorites tab. If you choose to play it, you WILL be referring to this blog A LOT.

I'm a little nervous about posting about this game. It isn't really something I talk about much, since it seems like it's a lame game for a teenager to be talking about. But, like I said before, this has been a great game throughout a good part of my life thus far, and I want to give other kids the thrill of the game. So, get ready! My "Mystical Creatures" series officially begins... NOW!

Long Lost Post

Here is a post I found that never got posted from Halloween, 2011.

It's Halloween if you haven't noticed and I'm ready to go out and hit every house nearby me! I'm getting me loads of candy tonight! I'm going as Nefetiti, an Egytian Queen who later became a goddess apparently. Who knows these things anyways? Anyways, I'm going trick or treating with my friend Manvi, who used to live a few blocks away but moved by my church, which is about ten minutes away from me. She's coming to my house to trick or treat in her old neighborhood with me and we will have a blast! Have a happy halloween!

Wow, is that seriously how I wrote back then?

Truth is, I never could find much to talk about when I posted on my blog. There are things that happen in my life that I want to tell people about but it's not enough to tell in one blog post i.e. the long lost post above.

I still can't find much to talk about! It's really hard to write a long post that someone might be interested about. And when there is something to talk about, I forget to post about it. By the time I remember, it's not even reasonable that I should post about it!

Maybe I should write more "long lost" posts. Maybe, I should go back and write about things I should have wrote about a long time ago. It may be a little confusing, but would it be interesting?

Maybe I should even post about the random things. I sometimes can find the most interesting points out of the randomest things. Would it be interesting for you viewers to read about the random thoughts that just pass through my mind?

Should I go back to writing stories on my blog some more?

What do you want to know about? What posts of mine do you find the most interesting? I would love to know.

The Science Fair

We had a Science Fair on Thursday at our school. I personally didn't think Science Fair is a good name for it because I was obligated to do it. I didn't have a choice, which isn't fair or fun. So, I started calling it the Science Anti-fair.

But, by the end of Thursday, my opinion changed.

My experiment was about the amounts of caffeine in drinks and how it affected the speed of your heart rate. I chose four drinks: water, Diet Coke  (30 mg of caffeine in 1 cup), McDonald's coffee (78.6 mg)  and Monster (80 mg). Each day I could, I had to wake up at 7:00 and take my test at about 9:30. Otherwise, it would be a variable.

One thing I learned from this experiment is that humans are all one big variable. Emotions always differ each day and what happens each day also differs.

My experiment did not agree with my hypothesis or research. I found from research that caffeine was supposed to increase your heart rate, but my experiment showed exactly the opposite! With my caffeinated drinks, my heart rate decreased at great amounts while my water increased my heart rate!

I think this happened because I don't like caffeine. I hate coffee and I'm not a big fan of energy drinks or soda either. I drink water a lot, though. So, it may be that my body is used to water and it wakes me up.

I was a little upset that my heart rate decreased. I really wanted to see what it would be like if I were bouncing off the walls like a crazy woman. Think about it - my personality plus caffeine should equal the insanity in an insane asylum. But, that's not what happened.

When I set my board up, I didn't think I was going to win. Science is not my strong suit and I was very nervous about the whole thing. But, it ended up that I got first place in my age division. How the heck did that happen?

It definitely changed my view on the Science Fair. Although, I still like to call it the Science Anti-fair.

The Great Game Plan... Again!

About three years ago, I was in a play that my mom wrote called "The Great Game Plan". Don't confuse it with "The Game Plan". No, it is a PLAY on that name (HA! Clever wordPLAY...). It has nothing to do with football. It has to do with classic board games.

You see, the story is that Teagan, a little girl, likes to play with her board games. In her dream, she is somehow "shrunk down" and is in the world of her board games with various characters like the Chutes and Ladders kids. But, the mice from the Mouse Trap game are loose but they can't capture them without the Old Man's tub! So, the search for the tub is on along with Teagan's search for what makes her feel... complete!

When I was first in "The Great Game Plan", I played Teagan. We are now doing it again, and I am going to playing Teagan's mom, the captain from the Battleship game, a cherry picker from the Hi-ho Cherry-o game and the Broker who sells insurance from Life.

Believe it or not, I am actually excited not to be the lead. With Teagan, she was basically a regular girl. There wasn't much work to put into the acting of the character. And the costume was just my normal clothes! Now, with my new characters, I can do all sorts of fun and funny things! My Mom's personality could be like this WHILE MY CAPTAIN'S PERSONALITY COULD BE LIKE THIS and the cherry picker's personality could be like this while the Broker's personality could be like this. I didn't have this much exploration to do with Teagan.

Also, it is bringing back so many good memories from the first time I did "The Great Game Plan". I loved being in it from what I can remember. It was my first actual decent part in a play and now I really love to act! I'm so glad I get to be part of a new cast performing "The Great Game Plan".

If you want to come see it, it is showing at the end of March near the beginning of April. It's a dinner theater at my school and we're raising money for our big trip! Make my memories happier by coming that night!

Relationships

This week at church, the pastor talked about love. Even though this wasn't the most important topic he was trying to get us to get out of his sermon, he talked about how we should be open to relationships and try to keep the relationships we have. This is the part that spoke to me.

It got me thinking. How many times have I actually contacted anyone from Iowa? Not many times. I can assure you of that. When's the last time I actually had conversation with friends from NJ? I don't have them often. I haven't heard from some of my NJ friends in a long while.

I feel like I'm not very good when it comes to relationships. I think I became like that because of the two moves in my life.

The first move made me shy. It made me not comfortable around people like I was in NJ. Not as outgoing. I didn't want to say the wrong thing. I wanted to make friends. The shyness was probably made worse in public school. Public school showed me that there were certain expectations and if you didn't meet those expectations or if you exceeded those expectations, you basically just weren't friend-worthy. And with my move and all, I tried to fit in. I don't think I even noticed it until the next year when I was homeschooled again, but I changed. I was immature and disobedient when I was homeschooled before. I became a brat when I was in public school. But now, I'm neither. I think I became a better person because of it. But, I have not been able to shake off being shy when I first meet a person.

The second move left a scar. Honestly, I had some pretty shaky friendships in Iowa. There was a period of time when I had no friends. I was ready for new friendships when I still lived in Iowa, but when I finally moved I didn't want any friends. I just wanted to be alone. I wanted my only friends to be my family and Nancy Drew. It's kind of hard to try to make friends, and I know isolation isn't the answer. I had also gotten into a bad habit. I seemed to think that if they wanted to hang out with me they could just call me and ask me. I wasn't going to call them and make an effort to hang out with them. And, in thinking that, I lost the chance to learn the etiquette of asking someone to come over. That'll make things harder in TX.

All in all, I want to make a commitment to make more of an effort to have new friendships with people in Texas, to reacquaint with my friends in IA, and to get back in contact with my friends in NJ. Friendship is important. I just need to remember that.

My New Dog

I got a new dog! His name is Wheatly and he is very cute. He is the sweetest dog in the world until you put him in his crate and leave. Then, he becomes destructive. Very destructive.

Thus far, he has torn the wall up in the laundry room (very bad!), tore up his bed we got for him, ate a hole through his plastic crate, scratched the wall up behind the new metal crate we got him, figured out how to get out of the metal crate and figured it out again after we got things to hold it closed.

But his exploits out of the cage are cute and fun. When I lie down on the floor, (you know from being exhausted/lazy) he licks my face. When someone hugs another person in the house, Wheatly jumps up on top of both of them. (It's cute, but now we can't have any meaningful hugs!) He has officially learned to play with his squeaky fox but he had it all tore up a few hours later! And we have a game we play outside. He'll run and I'll stand in the middle of the yard and try to block him from passing me. (He is very good at faking me!)

Altogether, I am so glad I chose Wheatly. He is very sweet and very cute and I couldn't have asked for a better dog.

Summit Christian Academy

Hello, Eastin is here! I realized that I haven't posted in a long, long time, so I will now post about my new school - Summit Christian Academy!

Summit Christian is a half private school and half home school. How is that possible you ask? Well, we 7th and 8th graders only have classes in school on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Elementary school students have off on Friday). The rest of the days we have school at home.

I have only two other people in my grade but five other people in my class. The 7th and 8th graders are nearly always together in class. And I love them all! Here is all of them with their bio which I wrote up for them.

H. - The principal's daughter. She's in 7th grade and her electives consist of Drama and Cross Country. She also helps out with the Elementary school P.E. She is really nice and says she invented "Football Baby". (She didn't. I did. Maybe I should write about Football Baby next post?)

A. - The first graders' teacher's daughter. She's in 8th grade and she is the stage manager for the play in Drama but is technically not in the elective. She also babysits for some of the parents' kids. She and I are currently writing song about traffic.

C. - His mom helps out in the third grade class. He's in 8th grade and is in the electives Drama and Cross Country. He is a little crazy but it's the good kind of crazy.

J. - He's in 7th grade and he's not in any of the electives. He loves playing Nintendo games and let me borrow his Sherlock Holmes game.

L. - He's in 7th grade and he's not in any of the electives. He loves playing "Call of Duty" on his X-box and made up a rap about it.

Eastin (That's me!) - She's in 8th grade and is in the electives Drama and Cross Country. She is crazy, fun, awesome and loves writing traffic songs! (Maybe I should post about that song next, hmm?)

As you can probably tell, it's an awesome class. We're all different but we're all friends! That's the beauty of having small classes. It's really brought out me. I feel like I can be myself in class.

(And we have a break almost every month!)

So that's my school! Thanks for reading!