Well, NaNoWriMo has started. Actually, it started about ten days ago. However, to the point.

I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year. My novel, which I can only hope gets to 50,000 words, is called Expedient Lies. It is about a pathological liar, Lyra, who is sent to an equestrian boarding because her mother has a demanding job (lawyer) and she doesn't want to have to worry about her.

Okay, short summary, but I don't want to go into all the details because all the details are constantly changing. So, I'm going to post an excerpt instead. Hopefully, that will help show you more of the mother's actual character, and Lyra's as well.

(Honestly, I did not pick her name because it rhymed with Liar. I had the character before the personality, and I didn't want to change her name because it suited her.)

Excerpt From the Work-In-Progress that is Expedient Lies

Lyra poked her fork into the squash on her plate. No, she didn’t poke her fork into it. She poked her fork at it. It rebounded with surprising speed. She stared gloomily at it, “Mom, isn’t squash supposed to be soft?” She asked slowly, pushing the burnt orange lump around on her plate. Delia glanced up at her, having made no more headway with her own lump of squash, “Hmm, try taking a knife to it,” she suggested.

Lyra jabbed her fork at it as hard as she dared; only to have the squash slip off her plate and slide halfway across the table. Lyra sighed and set down her fork. “I give up,” she said, exasperated. Delia set her knife down too, it wasn’t working as well as she thought it would. She stared at Lyra’s squash lump, sitting in the middle of the table, “Okay, I promise I’m not going to try and cook squash again.”

“Good. Now, what is so important that you kicked Adelaide out of the house for the rest of the day? Couldn’t you have waited until she cooked Dinner at least?”

Delia shrugged, “I probably should have. I haven’t cooked anything in so long.” She pushed her plate to the side folded her hands together in front of her on the table. “I’ve decided to send you to an equestrian boarding school.”

Lyra narrowed her eyes at her mother, “A what boarding school?” she demanded.

“An Equestrian boarding school. You know, equestrian. Horses. They have a lot of horses at the school and the students learned to ride and they take the students to shows and everything.” She paused her for a moment, “I thought you might enjoy it. You’re signed up to go this coming school year.”

Lyra glared at her, “Horses? Dogs are big nasty animals themselves, but horses? Horses are massive nasty animals!” She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, she planted her hands on the edge of the table and leaned forward, “Did you say you thought I would enjoy it? You know that I hate animals. Why would you sign me up for any such thing!”

Delia smiled lightly at Lyra, “Well, it’s a very nice school. And they have Counselors and everything.” And you can stay there the whole year ‘round. Lyra glared at Delia for a while. “I won’t go,” she stated, quite clearly. Delia’s smile grew wider, “It’s too late, the tuition is paid and it is non-refundable.” Here, her voice grew hard, “So whether you like the idea or not, you are going to that school!”

Hey! Skyline now has Twitter! http://twitter.com/SkylineWrites Current updates are mostly about my current work-in-progress Expedient Lies

Have and idea on what Skyline should write about next? Email her at Skyline.Writes@gmail.com

Have you ever heard of NaNoWriMo? No? Yes? NaNoWriMo is actually National Novel Writing Month; where thousands of people converge to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. Basically it’s people putting their lives on hold for thirty days to get that amazing (or crappy) story out of their heads. It’s a time to live on caffeine and sugar (besides the fact that you get Thanksgiving near the end for that final boost on the homestretch.).

Nanowrimo is the loveliness that proves that many (if not all) writer’s are insane, and that we accept that and write it anyway.  50,000 words can be an amazing story (several NaNovels have been published) or it could be a long rambling list of nothing in particular. NaNoers could wing it, writing the very first thought that enters the mind. Other NaNoers plan, plan, and plan some more. Others have no idea what to do, so they wing it one year, and then plan the next. They just need a little bit of experience in both areas to decide what is best for them.

I, personally, winged it last year and failed epically. With a lousy 26,347 words. This year, I am taking the planning approach and I am really, really, really excited about it this year! I can’t wait for Nano to start. Only sixteen more days! And, for those of us in the US, we have the end of daylight savings time. Did you know that that means one extra hour of writing that first day? Or an extra hour of procrastination… whatever you like. I am planning on waiting until 12:00 and then starting. And then going until 3:00 when the time rolls back to 2:00 and them writing some more. Or maybe not, I might use that time so that I’m not missing so much sleep.

Here's the Nanowrimo site. http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Or, if you don't want to join, everytime you search with Goodsearch, NaNoWriMo gets $.01 Nanowrimo is the Office of Letters and Light.

http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx

http://www.goodsearch.com/

First things first about riding; riding is the art of keeping your horse between you and the ground. I have heard many comments about this from non-equestrians and the results are quite disturbing. I have heard such things as, “Riding is easy. All you have to do is sit on the horse and go.” Wrong. Riding is not that easy. Here are the following lessons for those non-equestrian horse owners.

Lesson #1: The horse will always refuse to move the first time you ask if you are new to them. The walk, okay, you don’t have to do much at the walk, right? Just sit there and tell the horse where to go. That is, unless, the horse is unwilling to go. This is extremely frustrating, especially when the horse is half your height.

Lesson #2: Horses are intelligent, they will find a way. When tied to the hitching post or cross-ties, this is a favorite game for the horses: get loose. This can happen in a number of ways. They can pull the post up from the ground. They could also paw at the lead to pull it free or bite it; both work. I’ve found the easiest way to keep my horse tied is to wrap the lead as tightly around the post as I can without untying it myself.

Lesson #3: Horses are very talented. They find it very entertaining to get into anything. The feed box, water tank, trough, other horses’ stalls or paddocks, and even the tack shed. Though getting out is always a problem.

Lesson #4: If you have a friend or an audience, the horse will not listen to you; however, if you have a friend or a new rider on the horse, the horse will listen to them better than they have ever listened to you before.

Lesson #5: Horses spook, be ready. No matter what it is; be it a plastic bag, a piece of tarp, wind, or that baseball-sized rock, be prepared for the horse to spook. Don’t expect it or it will certainly happen, just be prepared. Falling is an option. It always is. Don’t be afraid to fall. Yes, you might break an arm or get some bruises or even break a few ribs.  It is not going to hurt you that bad. Taking spills is a part of riding a horse. Just get back on, okay?

Lesson #6: Eating like a horse is an expression for a reason, just like eating like a pig; horses eat a lot, pigs eat messily. Feeding a horse is going to cost a lot.

Lesson #7: Electric Fencing is called electrical fencing for a reason. Do not believe people when they tell you it is off. It’s not. Do not believe people when they tell you that if you poke it with a metal pole it won’t hurt you. It will. Do not believe people when they tell you that horses instinctively know that the fence is on through vibrations. They don't.

Lesson #8: Horses will learn to respect the electrical fence, but the wooden fence becomes a bit of a joke. If a horse thinks they can jump the wooden fence, they will or they will try. But they will not risk falling on an electrical fence. Therefore, an electrical fence can be two and a half feet high and the horse will leave it alone. A wooden fence can be four and a half feet high and my horse will still jump it just because she wants to frustrate me. Miniature horses love the wooden fence, but not why you think. A wooden fence is an obstacle meant to be overcome. Miniature horses can fit into spaces you’d be sure they were too small for.

Lesson #9: Horses cost a lot of money for various reasons; tack, food, vet bills, fence repairs, barn repairs, and human medical bills. So, just be prepared.

Snow. Okay, so the first snowfall, everyone is excited. All the kids want to go out and play, all the teens are flying off the road, and all the adults are laughing at the teens who have never driven in snow before. The first few weeks of snow, everyone likes the white powdery stuff. Personally, I love the white powdery stuff. That is, powdered sugar. I hate snow. But still, even for me, the first few weeks are amazing.

Watching a little miniature horse wading through the snow to the food trough, the dogs deciding that snow tastes good and they'd rather eat that than go on a walk. It's all great fun. Eventually, the horses have created their "poop paths" trails covered in poop that lead to their favorite spots. (The places they spend all their time at during the winter.) To the water tank, to the stall, to the troughs. They have a massive pasture, but during the Winter, they don't use it.

After the first month of snow, the novelty wears off. People are like, "Okay, there's snow, no big deal." Kids are still excited to play out in it. The family goes off to have a sledding party. They all have fun. But it's cold. And now we're realizing that it is cold.

After the third month of snow, we want it to end. Three months is enough. It has to be. Now everyone doesn't want the snow. The kids don't want to go play outside. Everyone just wants to stay in the house. It's cold. Keep the fire going. Someone, go throw some logs on the fire.

After the fourth. "When will it end?" The snow is a bitter enemy. By now, the teens have learned how to drive in the snow. The snow is just annoying. People want it to go away. It's cold. We hate it. People get grumpy. The steers and the horses complain. I don't want to go out and feed the steers. Why won't it go?

Now here, we don't know if it will be one more month, or two. One more month of snow. It's gone! Yes! We're happy. The kids are outside playing! Everyone is happy. It's 60 degrees out. Can't complain. Three days later, what happens? It snows. Again. Thanks. Now let's hope that it melts quickly.

Procrastination is an art. An art that has been practiced for years, rarely, if ever, perfected. In fact, I don’t think you can perfect it. If you don’t know already, procrastination is the art of leaving something alone (Often something important.) until you suddenly realize that it needs to get done now. Not later; now.

Procrastination is often practiced when one is in college. Though, it is used when completing a project that you want to finish, you just don’t want to work on it at the moment. So it pretty much means delaying-working-on-something-because-you-feel-like-it. As I’ve said, I don’t think it is possible to perfect the art of Procrastination. However, there have been some pretty close cases for some people.

I’ve been a fan of procrastination for quite some time now. I’ve seen others do it very well. And I appreciate it when done well. It’s like watching a painting unfolding in front of your eyes. I’ve also seen it done terribly wrong. Now, if you fall apart in stressful circumstances, I do not recommend this form of art for you. I might recommend drawing or writing. Or something even less disastrous, shall we say, looking at paintings.

I’ve practiced this art for a few years, and I am under the impression that I am getting even better at it. (Though, I believe I should quit this form of art, it’s pretty much addicting.)

My first year, I didn’t do very well. I was writing my English essays the day before class and I was not getting very good grades. In all fairness, my teacher was supposed to teach us to write essays. He said, “If you don’t know how to write an essay, you’re a bonehead.” He said so in, not so nice terms, but, eh. So, for my first year, since I didn’t know how to write essays, I thought I was a bonehead. I pretty much had to teach myself to write essays; which I did, and proved my skill at them in my next English class by getting an A. This was a situation where my procrastination was no where near perfect. But, you have to believe me, it was my first year! You can’t be amazing with a new form of art if you haven’t done it before.

My second year, I was getting pretty good at it. Not great, but okay. My third year started. The first half, I pretty much had it down. I was writing eight page stories for my Creative Writing class an hour before class; and getting good grades on them too. One of my classmates told my brother that I was the best writer there that she had read. It made me feel special.

I have still not perfected the art of procrastination, but I doubt that anyone has. It makes me wonder how I will continue with this wonderful art form after I graduate from college. Waking up at the last minute, even though I’ve been awake a half hour before? Oh, I already do that…. Perhaps leaving the house when I realize I should have been where I’m going five minutes ago? The possibilities are endless, but less accomplished. I believe that when I reach that time when I am no longer in school, I will have to bid this art good-bye. Well, I have four more years, right? At least.

As for now, be careful, this is a very unstable art form. We don’t want you to get a failing grade because of it.

Good luck with your art! May it never stab you in the back!

Okay, there are stupid animals. It is beyond me how these animals survive. Smart animals should be the ones surviving while the stupid animals die off. Let’s do a demonstration with cats, shall we?

Cats - Stupid Cats = Surviving Smart Cats  

Simple, right? Wrong. We forgot to factor in humans. For some reason, we humans find stupid cats (animals) adorable. Why? They are stupid. Some cats that we have had over the years have not known the difference between the litter box and their bed. We’ll find them sleeping in the litter box and pooping in their pet bed. Why? They are stupid. I’ve seen my cat in the litter box and dump it over while she was missing it. She has done this at least twice. It was then that I started thinking, why? Why are stupid cats surviving?

All these years and you’d think that the stupid cats should have died off. Oh wait. As I said before, we humans have a tendency to find stupid animals cute. We feel the need to save them and watch them. They amuse us. The fact of the matter is, that we, as humans, are stupid ourselves. Oh, yeah, we can say the alphabet backwards. But is that a sign that we’re smart? Oh look. We have an alphabet. Let’s say it backwards! Then people will realize how smart we are! Yes, there are some remotely smart people. But then there are the “normal” people. The “normal” people are the ones who often take in the stupid cats. Let’s check out our new equation.

Cats + (Humans – Smart Humans) = Stupid Cat Majority

We are stupid. Face it. Therefore, we feel compelled to surround ourselves with even stupider cats so that we don’t feel so stupid and we have something that completely (I mean completely, “oh, that’s a litter box?”) depend on us. If we let all of the cats in the world out into the open for a few months, you will find many smart cats preying off of the stupid cats. Stupid Cats will litter the streets. That is just a hypothetical situation, of course. It may or may not be remotely close to what would happen.

The point is that we humans save the stupid cats because we feel sorry for them. We only feel sorry for them because they are stupid. You don’t see everyone smiling and laughing at the smart cat who managed to bring in a dead animal to eat. No. You do see people (Mind you, people who won’t scream at a living mouse.) smiling and laughing when a stupid cat brings out an alive mouse (or rat) and manages to lose it within a matter of seconds.

You don’t see people laughing at the smart cat that judges the distance perfectly and jumps from table to chair. Lots of people laugh when they see a stupid cat misjudge the same distance and land far short of their target. It is hilarious to watch. We had a great time just watching my cat as it grew. The things it did were amazingly stupid. Our other cat amuses itself by following mine around and watching it do stupid stuff.

If the stupid cats weren’t there, the smart cats would grow quickly and each generation would get smarter and smarter until cats were a highly advanced race. They would conspire against us and lure us to isolated parts of our homes and lock us up. Or kill us. Whatever their little hearts desire. So, you see. There is an advantage for the world to have stupid cats. Eventually, the time for the smart cats will come, but for now, stupid cats are the majority and smart cats are the minority.

There you go. The reason why there is a majority of stupid cats in the world. We just plain love them. (And they keep the Smart cats dumb enough to not be able to kill us in our sleep.)

Okay, so, this is my blog. You can call me Skyline, as I will be referring to myself as such. I decided to start a journal. I don't know why. I thought maybe I'd show a little bit of progress with my short stories and stuff. Just random tid bits.

I have two horses.

Babe is a twenty-year old Standardbred Bay Mare who is an ex-pacer. (Meaning that she used to harness race. Isn't that so cool?) We got her from an Amish auction at the same time as we got Mac. Seven years ago. She loves it when we go on our bareback rides through the muck fields. AWhen we go bareback, she knows she gets to race the cars on our road. She loves racing the cars. Sometimes, though, she gets a little too into it.

Penelope (Pay-Nay-Low-Pay) otherwise known as Pene (Pay-Nay) is a seven-year old light Bay Standardbred X Quarter Horse. Babe is her real Mom. Pene was born on my family's hobby farm. She is the only one that is actually my horse. She loves to defy her stock horse heritage and jump over the four and a half foot fence between the horses paddock and the Steers' paddock. So, I am hoping to (After I find a job, of course.) take lessons with the Trainer down the road and learn to jump with her. 

 I have a cat (Who is, without a doubt, the stupidest cat I have ever known.) she is getting stupider by the day.

Anyway, now you know a little bit about me

Oh, and don't forget to check out the sites on my tag board.