These are a few of my favorite things

So, when I was 11, I created a post of my favorite things. Now, at the age of 15, I will refill (or refresh? Update? I'm not sure what the correct word would be) all of those things, and add some more areas. Without further ado:

My favorite computer game is now Minecraft, although I still love Spore. I really like how personalized Minecraft can be, what with maps and textures and all that. 

My favorite actor is still Nigel Marven, as I haven't really been keeping up on movies. 

My favorite narrator is now Morgan Freeman. David Attenborough has been dethroned. 

It should be "You've probably never heard of either of them."

My favorite movie is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", because it is a story about an ordinary daydreamer going and doing awesome things. It is a movie that says you can do anything you want, so long as you have the guts to do it. Also, it is really funny, especially the bit with the shark.

I have become much more deceicive about my favorite book, and finally formed an opinion in seventh grade (shortly after I wrote my previous post). My first favorite book was "The Thirteen-and-a-half Lives of Captain Bluebair," which is a long, epic story of a blue bait in a strange land that I recommend you all read. The second is "Skullduggery Pleasent," because it uses exactly the kind of humor I love, so much so that I was actually guessing some of the jokes before I read them.

I've become a lot more of a music person, and I listen to more stuff now. My favorite band right now is probably "Postmodern Jukebox" and I have a playlist of songs that have, at one point, been my favorite. The latest one is "living in the moment" by Jason Mraz.

My favorite bookstore is STILL Borders. I don't care if it went bankrupt.

My favorite restaurant is The Walnut Cafe. My favorite food is still bacon, and it probably always will be. My favorite pie is still pumpkin pie, and my favorite candy is still candy corn.

My favorite animal is now the cat, my second favorite animal is the mantis shrimp. My favorite imaginary animal is the flightless arboreal trilobite.

I'm not sure if I have a best friend anymore, but if I did, it would still be Kyle.

My favorite toys are still Legos, on account of me not playing with toys much anymore. My favorite series is still  Primeval, because it's just that good. My favorite YouTuber is... huh, I've been spending more time on YouTube than is healthy. I think I have to go with Vsauce, because it is three channels in one and it might have been one of the first channels I've ever watched.

Now for new stuff. My favorite year was 2012, for many reasons, including the end if the world. My least favorite year was 2014, because my Freshman year marked the end of the golden age.

My favorite book series is Artemis Fowl, although for a long time it was The Spiderwick Chronicles. My favorite webcomic is Romantically Apocalyptic, because omgsquee.

My favorite extinct reptile is the elaphrosaurus, because of its giant afro. Where did you think it got its name?

Well, that's all I can think of for now. The future me will create more categories. Good night!

All good things

Yesterday, the webcomic Nimona released its last page. It was cool. Nimona has been one of my favorites for a long time, and it's kind of bittersweet to see it end. In honor of Nimona, I present to you several places and things on the internet that have now finished.

First: Nimona. Found at http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic/page-1, Nimona is a comic about a shapeshifter who becomes a mad scientist's sidekick in a medieval world with modern technology. Awesome. Be warned, however, that if you read it you will have feels. All the feels. It will in fact give you an unprecedented amount of feels, as shown in this image:

Despite the feels, or maybe because of them, I would definitely recommend this comic to anyone.




Another nice comic is Dawn of Time, available at http://www.dawnoftimecomics.com/index.php?id=1. It stars a young girl named Dawn (see what they did there?) sometime in the past. It has almost no actual science in it, but it is still a nice little comic. Definitely worth an afternoon reading.

The Exquisite Beast is one of my favorite things on the internet. Period. It is a project that starts at http://exquisitebeast.tumblr.com/post/15302418534 and.... Well, it's a project between two artists who take turns modifying an animal. This sounds simple, but they managed to get from this:

to this:

via this:

and this:

If you would like to see this whole process, and even if you don't, Read it through (The "next" button is below the comments, for some unfathomable reason). On a related note, "flightless arboreal trilobite" is right up there with "irresponsibly corrosive" and "liberal application of fire" on my list of favorite phrases.

In a similar vein, but not nearly as awesome, is The Morae River (http://www.themoraeriver.com/2009/08/the-red-tailed-mardik/). It is a blog about the biology of fictional animals in and around a fictional river, and makes for a pretty cool little world. Check it out if you liked The Exquisite Beast.

Girly is... odd. I don't know what else to say. It's very good and unsafe for small children, but that pretty much covers everything I wanted to say. Oh, well. Here's the link: http://girlyyy.com/go/1

In the YouTube department is Mario Warfare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AHfj0uDrf0. In Mario Warfare, the Mario games are made into a movie. With guns. The story is actually pretty good, and they have a bunch of references to different games. Check this thing out.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete is different to the other comics on this list in that it's not over. However, the original story has finished and the comic now focuses on another set of characters, so I consider it done. It's a comic about video games. Also love, scorpions, robots, and time travel, but mostly video games. Not much happens in the beginning, and a lot of the pages have nothing to do with the story, but it's cool. Eventually, I'm going to run out of ways to transition into the link, but for now: http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20021023

A Miracle of Science is about a detective in the future who teams up with a member of the Mars hive mind to stop a mad scientist. I don't think there's anything I could say that would add to that, so... http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos000.html

Last but not least, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72G4WwqUF5c. There have been many playthroughs of Skyblock uploaded to YouTube. TAG's videos will always be the best. These guys are so stupid... well, watch the thing. As an example of their failings, in the first episode they lose:
- 1    Bucket of water
- 13  Dirt
- 7    Sand
- 12  Wooden planks
- 7    Cobblestone
...and set the tree on fire. Yeah. Also, you should probably know that they curse. A lot. I think they are the single curse-full-est YouTube channel that I have ever seen. If that doesn't bother you, check it out.

So yeah. Now you have things to do for the next few days. Well, more things. Have fun!

Paddleboarding

Today, I went paddleboarding for the first time. It was amazing. There were almost no clouds, even though it had been overcast and rainy just that morning. The water was about 20°C (70°F), or, in other words, just cool enough to be pleasant. Also, because it's a Thursday, there were no speedboats in the water to create waves.In other words, it was basically the best possible conditions.
After we got our introduction, we went down to a lake and got on our boards. At the very beginning, we stayed on our knees, just to get used to the paddle. When paddleboarding, you don't paddle by moving your arms around like in canoeing or kayaking, You move your entire body and keep your arms straight. That way, it takes longer to get tired, and you turn less when going straight. This is an odd way to paddle, so it takes some getting used to.
Anyways, after we got used to paddling, we stood up slowly and went out to a nearby buoy. When we got there, we decided to refine our strokes while going to a small floating dock in the middle of the lake. While I was trying to keep my arms straight, I noticed something on the back of my board. It was a small cricket that had probably hopped on when the board was in the grass. As we neared the dock, I asked the instructor if it was normal. He said it was pretty common to have small insects hitch a ride on boards.
When the instructor looked back up, he noticed that my dad was speeding towards the dock. He told us to slow down when we got close, but it was too late for my dad. He careened straight into the dock and fell off of his board. We all got a good laugh at that.
After we had all rested on the floating dock for a few minutes, we got back on our boards. Lucia, who had gotten on her board first, rolled on her back to look at the clouds. I paddled over to her and we joined our boards into a sort of raft. Mom and dad came too, and we spent the next few minutes staring at the clouds. It was pretty neat.
We then set off back to shore. Other than the occasional boat, nothing of interest happened. When we got back, we decided to stay in the shallow area and play a bit more. A couple of minutes later, I decided that it was a good idea to show off my rad paddleboard dancing skills. Needless to say, I danced right into the water*. As we laughed, I got back on the board to use my hands to get the paddle, like the instructor told us too. I turned to the paddle, gained speed and got the paddle 100% on the mark.
Of course, by "on the mark," I mean that I lined up parallel to the paddle and it sailed right under me. That was interesting.
Suddenly, I heard Lucia cry out. She had lost her paddle! We all looked for her paddle everywhere, even in the water plants, but to no avail (What does "avail" even mean? I've only heard it in the context of "to no avail (With the power of Google, I have an answer. "avail" means use, help, or benefit. Neat.)).
When the instructor returned, we told him that the paddle was lost, and he told us that the paddles sometimes sink. Immediately, we got of our boards and started feeling around with our feet. We had just about given up finding the paddle, and were heading out of the pool, mom yelled "Wait!" She reached down and pulled out... the paddle!
So yeah. That was our little adventure. After that, we just got on our shoes and went to the car. All in all, it was really fun.
...
Man, I envy the days when I could just write "THE END" at the end of a story, instead of actually writing a conclusion. Conclusions are hard.
Oh, well. This end is as good as any, I suppose. PUBLISH!

*Technically, this is not true. I actually danced enough so that my shoe fell off, and then "dived" after it. This version is funnier, though.

Elevator

Today we went to the art museum in Denver. In one of the buildings, there is a large elevator used for carrying the art pieces up onto higher floors. On the walls of the elevator, there is this pattern that completely confuses my brain. If you look at it and then put your hand in front of it, it looks like your hand is further away than the wall, even though it is blocking your view of the wall. Gah! It's so weird!
Anyways, we (My mom, one of her friends, and I) were on the elevator, and some people came in. When the doors closed, a guy in a Ninja Turtles T-shirt remarked, "Well, we're never getting out," or something like that. He then turned to the girl next to him (whom I assume is his girlfriend because they were about the same age and looked very close) and asked, "Did I just say that out loud?"
When she answered yes, he looked very embarrassed, so I told him, "It's okay, we're all weird here."
Later when a lot more people had gotten on and the elevator was nearly full, He turned to the girl and said "OK, on the count of three, we jump." He started counting, and when he got to three, all three of us jumped. The entire elevator shook and there was a loud creaking noise. We looked around sheepishly, but I don't think anyone knew it was us.

So yeah. That happened. I never got either of their names. It was cool.

Just for the record

Yesterday I watched Star Wars for the first time. It's really cool.

Fatal Flaw

I just had a hypothetical conversation with Vanyel. I had just asked him whether he had noticed a flaw in his plan. It went something like this:

"Of course I did. I think these things through a lot."
"Sorry. I wasn't sure if you had caught it. I don't think I would have."
"What do you mean? You just pointed it out to me."
"Yes, but I usually don't think the same way about things I've made. It's my Fatal Flaw"
"Your what?"
"Fatal Flaw. The one biggest flaw I have. You have one too."
"What is it?"
"You take everything negative somebody says to you as an insult, and you argue against it."
"What? I don't do that!"
"Not all of the time, but you did it right now, see?"
"That was-"
"Look, it's ok. I have one too, remember?"
"Now that I know my Fatal Flaw, shouldn't I just get rid of it?"
"No! If you cure your Fatal Flaw, what's the point of having a Fatal Flaw in the first place?"
"But aren't Fatal Flaws... you know... bad?"
"No. Your Fatal Flaw is there so that you can forget about it and solve your other flaws. It kinda soaks up the other flaws to become one big, looming flaw."
"And why not get rid of it, too?"
"Because the Fatal Flaw is the hardest to get rid of. It's in your bones, so to speak."
"I see. And is that all they do? Sit around getting bigger until you die?"
"No. You can also see other people more clearly after you've established their Fatal Flaw. Max's Fatal Flaw is that he depends too much on technology. Small Josh's is that he doesn't know the line between funny and annoying, the other Josh's is that he doesn't know the line between funny and insulting or painful. T-bo gets addicted too easily, Alex gets hooked on collecting things too easily, and they both want to share their interests with everybody. The list goes on."
"This conversation just took a rather dark turn."
"Well, the thing is, you can just blame most bad things they do on their Fatal Flaw and go on without feeling that they were mean to you or anything."
"So... what does that achieve?"
"It's a way to instantly forgive someone, and that is a very good skill to have."
"I see. Well, that was interesting."
"Yes, it was. Lunch is almost over."
"That's what I was about to say. Bye!"
"Bye!"

That never actually happened. I'm not brave enough to say things about my friends like that. That's why, every once in a while, I spill my guts out in my imagination. It actually helps. This is the first time I've told this to anybody else, though. Don't tell anyone.

A Brief History of a Fictional Multiverse 1

For the past two years, my friends and I have been giving each other quests to go on and solving the quests. Eventually, we built up an entire universe of quests, overlapping and twisting together. Here is a brief summary of the universe so far:


In the beginning there nothing. Well, that wasn't strictly true. There were many gods and supreme beings, two of which were the DM (played by Vanyel) and his assistant (played by Max).Together they created the universe, starting with Earth and Mars (you might have heard of them). Vanyel populated the Earth with life, and Max started life on mars. There was also a freshly born DM (me) who had traveled there from the future and thus had the ability to travel in time.

On Earth there evolved two sentient forms of life: the Humans (guess who) and the Undead (like humans except when they died they could come back to life at sources of intense magic with Undead remains). For years they lived in peace (mostly because neither of them knew that the other existed,) but then the Humans decided they wanted more land, discovered the Undead, and bands of crusaders were "sent" to kill them or imprison them.

Among these crusaders was a crew that decided to camp out in a ruined temple to avoid the howling wind outside. In the morning, only one crusader was left (played by me) and, using his semi-existant alarm clock and his semi-existant iPhone*, he bravely made his way across the land and crashed into a canyon, where he made friends with a sea dragon, narrowly avoided being killed by the malevolent god E (played by E,) and obtained a fully-existant iPhone with non-exixtant knowledge of how to use it.

While fiddling around with the iPhone, he accidentally played Guile's theme and raised his awesomeness points to Like a Billion. He immediately gained glasses, an AK47-guitar, a fedora-bandana, and a pink-and-perrywinkle raptor that shot lasers out of it's mouth. Incidentally, the malevolent god E had trapped him in a time lock, and when he escaped* he appeared at the beginning of time as a DM. The sea dragon was taken to live on Mars along with a sea minotaur and cthulhu.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst (don't you love that word?) to the crusader, the first escape from the Zombie Prison (an asylum/prison for the Undead) in history was being accomplished. Through one thing or another, a band of five prisoners escaped with a fire glove, a golden door, and 20 mechanical rock crabs made by dwarves*. The prisoners then crossed a hazardous swamp, a town, and part of the potato-filled Void to reach a large castle. There, after one thing and another*, they invented electricity.

And so ends the first epoch of The Universe.


*Long story