Vacation

OK, so my lack of posts is (partly) because of the fact that I was on vacation! Yay me!
For lack of a better topic, I shall talk about my vacation!

I went up to the Sierra mountains. My family owns a cabin there, within five minutes of an awesome river, and a half hour from a lake.

Here is some of what happened:

The River
The river has a strong current and is cold as snowmelt. Luckily, in the summer, it is so hot outside that the river feels good that cold. You can swim around, careful to avoid sharp rocks and strong currents, or use the current to carry you somewhere super fast. A fun way to use a floaty is going down the rapids in one...like short white water rafting trips in weaker, safe currents.

The Lake
The lake is big. And awesome. And full of islands, that are medium sized and awesome. I've camped on an island in the past, but this time my friend and I were content to swim out to them and play around. There is a lagoon that is good for wading and shallow swimming, and has a long strip of rock underwater that slowly descends for ages, making a good place to get used to the temperature.

My Feet
Yes. My feet. You read right. I hurt my legs and feet way too much on my six day vacation. Here are four of the memorable ways in which I injured myself:
At the river, I slipped on a wet rock, skinned my knee a bit, and got a bruise on my upper leg. Then I got up, walked three steps, and stepped on a yellow jacket. ERG!
At the lake, a got a huge wound in my toe from scraping it lightly against a rock (don't ask how...) and then fell in a trench hurting my knee so it hurt to walk on for a while.
So basically me feet are cursed.

Um...

Uh...

Well...




Well, I'm feeling un-creative...so that's all ya get. Sorry!
Over and out!

-Shadow

Ideas, and the Fact that I'm Out of Them

Yup. Glory be, I make a comeback, pledge to post a lot now, and utterly fail. This is why I avoid New Years Resolutions... Well, certain ones at least.

So. Um...How about books? Books are always a popular topic...I think. I'll start with the three most recent books I've gotten: Dune, Foundation, and Long Earth.

Dune, By Frank Herbert
So, Dune is one of those books science fiction fans rave about, especially if they're of the previous generation. A classic of classics, it features a huge and well planned world. Unfortunately, I don't know much about that world yet. I'm on page 37. So, yeah. Dune seems cool so far. It always takes getting used to, reading a really rich and good work from another time. Like Shakespeare. The first bit of a play to me is always hard to plow through if I haven't read one in a while, but once I get going it feels more or less like reading a normal book. I just focus on the story. Dune is like that. Sorta. I can feel the antiquity in the slightly formal feeling wording and the use of italicized thoughts which, at least in my experience, are less and less common nowadays.

Foundation, By Isaac Asimov
Another classic of the sci fi genera. Seeing as I only got these two (and Long Earth) yesterday, I haven't even cracked this one yet. So...what can I say? Nothing.

Long Earth, By Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
This one, also unread (although I did peek) is partially by an author I am very familiar with: Pratchett. Pratchett is the author of the hilarious adult fantasies in the Discworld series, as well as the co-author of Good Omens (a collaboration with Neil Gaiman) Since adult fantasy is uncommon, and humorous adult fantasy is downright rare, Pratchett has become one of my favorite authors. With characters such as Death, an emotionless grim reaper with an immortal horse named Binky; to The Luggage, a treasure chest made of sapient-pear-wood that stores money, washes laundry, and eats people who reach in to steal some gold; I always find Pratchett fun to read, and I look forward to reading this book.


So. That was books. Tomorrow maybe I'll talk about springs, bit of mauve fluff, or even tongue cleaners made of recycled yogurt cups. Who knows. Thank you for reading.


-Shadow (Who has decided against the poetry idea)

Welcome (Again)

So. For many of you who read my old blog, a welcome message is redundant. You know who I am (mostly), and you know that, though I now can't really call myself a newbie, I still have a lot to learn about blogging.

But, there are three things I want to address here.

Firstly, my old blog.

Many of you must wonder why, in the midst of a glorious era of absolute postlessness, where crickets thrived, I would make a new blog (and blogger account). The answer is simple. The old blog, and account, used my old, and somewhat embarrassing e-mail address. (Don't worry, unless you know me from third grade I gave you the new one) So, when I created a google+ account, instead of using my blogger info, I decided to start again, from scratch.

Since I will most likely never post on Spilled Ink again, except to link to here, you should all feel you have a clean conscience when you remove it from your blogroll (except got Billybobjean, who has no conscience). However, if for some strange reason you want a link to it, one can be found in the page titled "Spilled Ink" or here.

Secondly, and quite shortly, I'd like you to promise me that if I ever go a full week without posting, and did not state a reason why, you will promptly bang me on the head with a virtual baseball bat until I post. Agreed? Good.

Lastly, the naming of this blog.

One fateful day, during a skype video chat, someone (I believe it was BBJ) said something so amusing that, in the act of laughing, I fell off my chair. This was perhaps even more entertaining than the thing that made me laugh. So was born the new LOL, the improved ROFL: FOMCL. My web address.

Now, the actual credit for the actual name goes to Billybobjean. While skyping with her, I said *falls off chair* but forgot an f in off. So, she rushed to some unknown photo editor, and came back with this:

After then followed the falls of bed:

And finally, my version of the falls of chair, made large enough to be the background for this blog:

And that is the story of the falls of chair

Spread it onwards, if you dare

For in this bout of thus unplanned

Poetry that is at hand

I give a message of repose

Expressed in this first draft of prose.

-Shadow
(Who is considering finishing each of his posts with an on the spot, unedited stanza...)