Camping, Goo-Monsters, The Mess and Weird Summer Nostalgia

     First, Camping!  I happen to have a family and large "village" of people who camp, dirtbike, surf, skateboard, be musical, be strange and be there. I went camping for a week with said group of people.  This is where I finished Lamentaion (which I found to be a very worthy endeavor.)

     AG, what did you do on this trip you adventuresome and daring adventurer?

Well, since you asked so kindly...

Most of what I did was read and jump off of rocks.

But, I also
Caught a frog,
Called a river a lake,
Ate S'mores,
Geeked out with my cousin-person,
Took illegal(ish) river showers,
Celebrated my Aunt and Uncle's Anniversary,
Played 'Catchphrase' for the first time,
AND
Last, but definitely not least,
I got to spend time with some of my favorite people. Ever. *

     Something I think Hyperspace would want me to mention is that he has full permit and is close to being able to drive to were I am. This will be a big improvement from our current approxiamtely-once-every-three-months arrangement. I have a standing offer with Addyday for driving lessons in the college parking lot.   


     There is a new Goo Monster in my part of Cali. She is the daughter of the sister of Blondie. Which makes me sort of an Aunt, I guess. She is loud and smelly and has adorable toes. She also has the same largeish head that both of her parents had as Goo Monster/Very  VERY small people. 
     The Mess is nearly clean. Which is nothing short of miraculous. It only took me two months. (NOTE: the sarcasm)
     My summer is nearly over, but I hope to get my summer homework done and at LEAST 

spend at least one more day at the beach. 

*Ammamay is more for "outdoorsing". I don't mind tents.

Love You, Stranger,
AG

The Dollar Tree, Lamentation and Pork Skins

Have you heard of the Dollar Tree?

It's a store where EVERYTHING inside is a dollar.

  That makes it a very useful place for people like me who happen to not have a very large amount of spending money. 

On a recent trip to this wondrous place I made two very important purchases. 

1)Pork Skins

and

2)Lamentation

Ok. so, why would pork skins be an important purchase?

     Porks skins are something I have wanted to try for about two years.  It has taken two years because I was very wary about buying them.  The most common argument against being “what if I don’t like the snacky foodstuffs contained in this bag? what if it tastes terrible?”

     The Truth, which I find not hard to admit whatsoever - is that I absolutely, unashamedly, through-and-through find pork skins to be disgusting.  That is one dollar I am never getting back.  

I regret nothing.  

  The other VIP I am talking about is a book.  It is by Ken Scholes.  The advance praise on the cover is from Orson Scott Card!  To those of you familiar with the iconic science fiction work Ender’s Game, that’s a pretty big deal.  

  So, I’m sifting through these books and none of them look particularly interesting for a light read.  There’s some political books, about a bajillion romance/detective books, a book on natural aphrodisiacs and a few “self-help” books.  

     When my friend who was just about through with being checked out pointed out Lamentation “This one looks a bit interesting” and walked out the door.  

This one looks a bit interesting, indeed

I pick up the book, complete my purchase and after consuming five-and-a-half pork skins, dumping the rest, making my way home and finding a nice soft spot to read, I’m hooked.  

One thing before I go- I have a habit of finding mistakes in published works.  Not out of spite, but because I like details.  

On page 71 of Lamentation Lady Jin Li Tam has “Piercing blue eyes”, but on page 121 her eyes are “blazing green”. 

-AG

I have been busy...

...and so, I haven't had a chance to write as often as I like.  Finals came and went, along with several birthdays.  I have dabbled in vlogging a little bit, y'know, to test the waters.   I didn't do as well in school as I normally do, but I'd rather not go through the terrifying experience of reliving THAT.  Let's just say I'm retaking history this summer and I'll be glad when I'm done with that.  There's been some movies I'd like to review and books I'd like to recommend.  I'm not sure when I will update next, but I hope to do so soon.

-AG

Oh, Ruby, you shall have greatness...

...not that you really want it, my dear child with eyes that flame strange colors and an immeasruable sense of justice.


I got these questions off of my friend Nitz's blog*

1.) How do you feel about Ruby Nation thus far?

     I am really enjoying it, thank-you for asking.  I know that Ruby didn't do any brain-washy-stuff, so I am kind of curious to find out how THAT happened.(PTSD, anyone?)

2.) How do you feel about the ending of Chapter 2?

     Oh. Oh hey. Still curious about the amnesia stuff.  I really hope Elise is ok, 'cause those Apex people don't look really nice.  I am very interested to hear what happened to her as she was with them, because we know her way-back-story, but not any of the more recent stuff.

3.) How do you feel about the existence of the Ruby Nation Wiki/About Page?

     Oh, you vain, silly man.  I like your wiki(even the "NEW, EGOTISTICAL WIKI ENTRY").  I have found it to be a very handy reference guide.

4.) Do you have a favorite character so far? Why?

I still have a silly fan-crush on Jiro(Hyperspace, if you read this, be glad, all of your competition are fictional men who are notavailableanywaysoyeah) but I would prefer to be a girl-Jiro than date the guy-Jiro.  Maybe be a twin sister or something with all the same powers(I already have a lot of similarities defect-wise along with a lot of the personality "ups").  Ok, enough obsessing.  I also really like Alexis, but I liked her in Ruby's World.  She hasn't really been around as much here, yet, but I'm really looking forward to that.

5.) Do you have a least favorite character? Why?

Ratel.  She scares me more than Moray.  I guess that would make her more of a "most scary" rather than "least favourite".  I don't really know how else to answer that question.

6.) What would you like to see in the coming strips?

I want to see Elise's more recent history before the rescue.  I also want to see her smart her way out of this to prove that kindness and compassion do not equal stupidity or compliance(rar, Moray, I will wreck you like that guy who stole my pudding cup).

*Found here: Handi-CAPEable  

Ruby's World

The first Book in Nitz's series.  Begin here, new readers. 

Ruby Nation

The Sequel to Ruby's World and the topic of this post. 

-AG

The Fair Mk 2

Ok.

Remember the Gravitron?
Remember Lover Boy(now on known as Hyperspace)?

     Welp, he managed to get me onto the ride.  This may or may not have involved dragging me bodily through the gate(it did).  After half-frog-marching-half-carrying-me onto the ride, I actually enjoyed the ride.  It was after the ride that was a problem.

     You see, low blood pressure runs in my family*.  I happen to be affected by this.

     Riding the Gravitron made all of the blood(or at least more than the usual amount) rush to my head.  While the ride was going everything was SUPERB.  After it stopped, the world around me started losing color and I was having problems with that "standing up" thing you people tend to treat so casually.

Lying on my back for about a minute-and-a-half** cleared my head, though, so no real complaints.  I'd do it again, but only if I was absultely sure I was not dehydrated***, because I think I might have been teetering.  My tendancy to forget to be thirsty makes this even harder.  YAY!


     So, I avoided passing out, and got a kiss out of it, too.  For my bravery. Or something like that.

Love,
AG

*Despite sounding very much like a bad thing(which it can be), it has perks, like salt. SALT, SALT EVERYWHERE!

**don't take my word for it, I'm terrible with telling time.

***I'm also Chronically Dehydrated. I would prefer the term "hydrophobic", but that makes me sound like a lipid, which I am not.  I think.

The Fair

     Call me sentimental.
     Call me insane.
     The fair is magic.

     Yup.  Magic.

     OK, I'm not a stark-raving looney(kind of).  It's just that the fair is different from the rest of the year.  It doesn't take place in "normal-time", it takes place in the same weird, alternate-reality that houses Halloween.  That place where kids have freedom to just run around, junk food is not just allowed, but mandatory and enemies declare(temporary) truces.
     For one weekend of the year, every year, everyone is friends.  For the parents - there's nostalgia, for the kids - a world of light and wonder, the teens get a chance to live in a place of their own, a domain that is solely based on their decisions.  It's sort of like real-life, except someone else is paying your bills for you and there's no mortgage.  The really neat part is that the normal rules of engagement don't seem to apply in this other-world.
     Under the stars, gaudy lights and too-loud sounds of the music, games and crowds, everyone is equal.  You can be a kid.  You can run around, tell stupid jokes, and basically act four or six or eight as a middle-schooler or high-schooler.  Balloon-animals, "sword fights", ice cream, tag, hide-and-go-seek-tag*.  Parents lose a lot of the "serious, parental attitudes" and laughter is everywhere.  Seriously. 

I'm not making this up.

      We live in a fairly average sized city and that part which we inhabit is fairly small.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't some small-town, my high school has enough humans for the Census Bureau to gain us the title of "Small Town"






































 Anyway, when you're my age, the people at the fair are the people you've spent your whole life with(although you may not know them super-well).  You pass these people on your bike, that group you've known since pre-school, those guys are your buds and you've been saying, "Hey" to that person at the baseball field since before your brother stopped using a tee.
     So, in order to break grudges, break normalcy and basically break the whole fair down to one component, I have come to the conclusion that the fair is magic.  It's not perfect, but it's not perfect in the most perfect way possible.  You know Sandlot?  The fair is a lot like the Fourth of July in Sandlot, minus the fireworks.  It feels like something is going to happen, something unusual.  The anticipation and possibility mix with the sickly-sweet cotton-candy and adrenaline from the Gravitron**.
     I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting weekend.
 -AG

 *like tag, only hide-ier and seek-ier.  And cooler, that too.
**I'm still too chicken for this ride.  Oh so very chicken.

Love vs. Money

Being loved is a lot like receiving a savings account, they're both gifts that keep giving. And, hopefully, give more as time progresses. Also - every time *you* give more, you get more back. One main difference is, you are able to take all your money out of the account and you can't do that with love. But, the most important difference? When the economy goes to Hades and work is hard to find, while your savings account withers and dies, *true* love is a refuge - it is a safe place, that, even in the worst economic climate - still gives.