Sunday, August 9, 2009

Birthday Surprise!

Wow, times flies when your having fun! I am currently seated on the family couch in the center of the living room. Why am I in the center of the living room, you ask? Well, it's because we are replacing our old worn out carpet with hardwood floors. Half of the room is done. But not the spot where the couch was sitting, so my dad moved it to the middle of the room to put down the hardwood floors where it was.

I made a video for my friend LJBoldyrev's husband. It can be played on this page, or on youtube.com/sibi098

I had to stare at my iTunes library for an hour and a half before coming up with the script. Then I had to film it in my room with the door closed because my dad was installing the hardwood and making a ton of racket.

Next up on my list of videos will be me arguing with myself. Yep, that's right. I'm bringing out the dreaded green screen. I've written a quick script so I know how long to pause while playing my "roles". This video will be a twilight parody and it will be awesome (if I can pull it off).

I'm not sure how I'm going to make three of myself appear onscreen and make it look real. But I love a challenge!

My word count is up to 40,000 on Vampire Prince and I'm printing it slowly so it won't kill my printer. I've already endured paper jams and the horrible "error" screen. And that was only page 2!!

I wish I could do something more fun than sit here and blog, but there is nothing to do. Well, I'm about to wash my clothes and put them away and do the dishes, but that's not fun, is it?

Goodbye for now people,
A. J. Spindle

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Vivid Dreams Can Be Tricky

I just woke up from the strangest dream I have ever had the pleasure of dreaming. It consisted of mind controlled polar bears, pirates, ship wrecks, rich people, and Doctor Who. Now I know this all sounds a little strange, but in my dream it was so real that I could taste, smell, and feel everything around me. It was like I had been transported into another world full of magic, excitement, and adventure. I was disappointed to be woken up right before I was to be devoured by an angry polar bear wearing mind control ear pieces.

The dream started out like any normal day until I went over to my aunts house to find her jumping up and down, screaming with joy. When I asked her why she was so happy she showed me a brochure for a boat that she had won. It was small but large enough for her family and myself to go for a ride. Then 'POOF' we were on the ship just like that.

I walked around exploring the ship to find vast game rooms full of arcade games, hotel suites, dining rooms, swimming pools, hot tubs, and people to wait on you hand and foot. It was like a cruise on the inside, but the outside of the boat was no bigger than my house.

My aunt was steering the ship when it hit something (sounds like Bennett Nelson, huh?) and out of nowhere smaller ships popped up in the water around us. Everyone went into full panic mode and shoved their way off the sinking ship and onto the smaller ones waiting to bring us to safety.

After I had exited the ship and was safely stored on a smaller one, I remembered that I had left my childhood teddy bear, Bernadette, on the sinking ship. I tried to get back onboard the sinking ship but the ship suddenly exploded and was on fire.

I was then stopped by random life guards who were standing on the sides of the ship. My uncle decided that he would go back and rescue my lost bear. I followed him back to the S. S. Marine (the sinking ship) and found that there were still people on the boat just walking around, not paying any attention to the passengers who were running down the halls screaming to exit the boat. I searched for my hotel room onboard the boat but couldn't find it. I actually was calling my teddy bears name.

"Bernadette! Bernadette, where are you??"

Then without warning just like the first time, the dream changed. I stopped looking for my bear and looked over the railing of the boat to find land, not that far away. All of the rescue ships had disappeared and I was suddenly alone on the boat except for a boy around the age of 17 or 18. I jumped overboard and started swimming to the land, he followed.
I found myself inside an old abandoned house without knowing how I got there. The boy was searching through the tiny house for "treasure" as he called it. I then looked out the small window about the size of my face to see a herd of angry pirates, who severely needed a bath, surrounding the small dwelling. I turned to the boy with no name and warned him of the danger.

"They can't hurt me, they might want you though," he said plainly and continued his search of the house

I fidgeted in the corner of the one room cabin as the enemy neared closer. They busted through the front door and demanded that we give them all our "booty". I saw an open cabinet miraculously filled with money. Not US currency, but something different, something new. I handed a large amount to the pirate wearing an eye patch and an old hat on his head. He snatched the money from my hand and pulled it up to his face. He inhaled deeply and examined the bills.

"This is counterfeit!" he accused. I panicked and just as he reached out to grab me, the dream took another abrupt change and I was grateful.

I was standing in my church, people all around me but I felt like they couldn't see me. I found an elderly woman who attends my church. She was sitting on the couch in the foyer so I sat down next to her. She looked me up and down. I realized my clothes were torn and dirty from the ship wreck and the pirates attack. I told her about my "dream". I explained to her about the pirates and how they were trying to take me away. Then her nephew Michael came up to her (he's 4) and said he felt sick so she started taking care of him and left me to sit there by myself.
The people in the foyer disappeared without warning, but I didn't panic. I sat there, motionless. A sky light was positioned above me. I heard a noise coming from it so I looked up to find Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant from the British TV series Doctor Who.

They were arguing about something and came crashing through the glass sky light, landing dangerously close to me. I got up from my chair and flattened myself against the wall. They didn't notice me... yet. David took out his sonic screwdriver (an amazing gadget that can do almost anything, that only the doctor has) and he used it as a laser gun, shooting bright blue beams of light at Christopher. Christopher then pulled out his own sonic screwdriver and did the same, only his light was pure yellow. Davids grip slipped and the blue light hit me in the shoulder. I sat still for what seemed like hours, then I was gone. It was black, but I was falling.

I landed on a dirt road. People were walking around me. I sat up slowly, taking in my surroundings. I was in an old wild west setting, like Little House on the Prairie. I laid my head back down on the hard, hot dirt. I don't know how long I stayed like that. But for some reason, I thought I needed to play dead. It seemed like the logical solution in my wild dream.

A young man, around the age of 20 or 21 was riding in an extravagant carriage. He stopped the driver, I heard his voice tell the man to pull over immediately. I laid quiet and still. The rich young man walked toward me. I was counting his footsteps. I could see his face. He had a nice smile, bright eyes, and dark, curly, black hair. He was wearing a top hat.
"Live again," he whispered confidently in my ear and waited. When I didn't move he got up and left. I heard his carriage leave. I sat up slowly. I was still in the wild west but I had a burn across my left shoulder where the laser had hit me. I stood up and watched a group of women laughing at my futuristic clothing as they walked around in large dresses and petticoats.

Again and for the final time, the dream changed suddenly. I was walking into a large building. A girl around my age was waiting inside for me.

"Come on. Where have you been? We've been waiting," she said and pulled at my hand to follow her.

I entered a vast room, at the center were six very large, very angry, polar bears. They were wearing different colored collars that were covered in silver spikes. The room spiraled inward and railings were placed to help with ones footing. A loud, plump, lady was telling us about the polar bears, explaining their diet, feeding schedule, temperament. I asked her a question but I don't remember what it was, or her answer, but while she was speaking to me, a rather aggressive bear pulled at his collar and broke free of his imprisonment.

A guard came in and shot it dead. I was in shock. I tried to get a closer look for no reason
in particular. While I was bent over it's body, another polar bear broke free of it's confinements and took a snap at me. I backed up quickly, barely out of it's reach. It was thrashing and clawing toward me. He was blocking the only exit. I thought I could slip just under his reach and get out but he was getting closer. Kids behind me were crying as the polar bear approached us. I saw it was wearing a small ear piece and I understood it was being controlled by someone somewhere. Just as it took a swipe at me, I was awoken by my father telling me to get up.

After I awoke, I laid there and thought it all over. It felt so real, like I was actually there. Then as I thought over it, I realized how absolutely ridiculous the dream had been. So now, I'm writing about it here to share with you. I'm going to one day turn this into a short story or somehow incorporate it into one of my books.

I do not own these photos, I got them from Photobucket.com.

That's all for now,
A. J. Spindle