Saturday, March 28, 2009

Spring Break

To whom it may concern:


It is now officially spring break. Since it is my break, I am going to take a break from posting here during that time. Although, I do have a Poetry Friday scheduled so you have that to look forward to. I hope that you enjoy your own spring break as I hope to enjoy mine.

Until I write,

Adam

Friday, March 27, 2009

Poetry Friday (4)

To whom it may concern:

Every Friday I'll post one poem that I wrote. Here's my poem for this Friday.


A Tribute of Words


I was not a religious man

but the heart's cathedral adorned

with rubied glances, have opened my

eyes: a new childhood, to learn the world

again.


A priceless relic in the sand

washes my impurities with a true

and unconditional corona. I am newly

swaddled in the heart, my years melt to this

moment.


A goddess rises like the sun

but over both horizons, humbling

all the titans, and refracting her golden

light off the dark waves like a clear midnight

moon.


All heralds at her coming

light their signal fires, engulfing

my newborn heart in ceaseless flames.

Now steps lead me to a hallow to cry to the

heavens.


From the darkened halls

of Minos, to the crystal cascades

of Niagara, the world will know that she

has come, and intangible Elysium will be mine

forever.


You entered my life, love,

like a Venus upon sea foam, and

now I am forever changed for the better.

You have granted me the greatest wish there is:

love.



Until next I write,
Adam

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I am Camad Arysil

To whom it may concern:


Hey all.


So, I was having an interesting conversation today, and I thought I would share. So my friend noticed that some people, for one reason or another, are first name and last name people.


Think about it.


Ok. Done?


It's weird isn't it? For example, I would never refer to John Green as John, nor would I call him Green, or even Mr. Green. He is John Green, almost like it's one word: Johngreen. Or me, for instance. I have a more flexible name. Some people call me by my first name, some use both, and some just call me by my last.


I can think of some more examples:


First name only people: Jesus, William, Cleopatra, Alexander, Barney, etc.


Last name only people: Obama, Reagan, Hearst, and others.


First and Last name together people: Adolf Hitler, Bill Clinton, Jack Black, Chuck Norris, etc.



Also a sub-conversation about names spawned from this one. One of my friends went on a long tangent about how to find your Star Wars name:


Take the first three letters from the name of the town you were born in, add to that the first two letters of your first name. Thats you Star Wars first name. Then you take the last three letters of your mothers name and add to that the first three letters of your favorite color.


My Star Wars name: Camad Arysil


My brother's name: Madal Aryred


My Girlfriend's name: Sange Ldapur


Cool, huh?


Anyway, I'm off, but I have something planned to talk about soon, so, until then, best wishes.

Adam

Friday, March 20, 2009

Poetry Friday (3)

To whom it may concern:

It's Friday and that means that I get to show you guys another one of my poems. Critics are always welcomed.



Sycophant to your own Arrogance


Hide

behind the open door.

Watch the purple lights,

wish they were green.

Walk the drunken line,

but only in your head.

Make an angel in the grass,

it will spring to shape again;

sand and snow remain,

until the wind writes both

Away.

Plans

burn and peel in the sun.

Dancers only in the iris,

put you on your head.

Shadows hang the open time,

With arms of doubt.

There she is eternal.

On the inside, but never

Together.




Later guys,

Adam

Monday, March 16, 2009

Graceling review

To whom it may concern:

Hello all. How are you? Do you like being asked rhetorical questions? Do my pathetic attempts at humor bore you? My apologies, one more piece of evidence in the growing case file for why I should not write late at night. But on to more important things.




Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Summary from Amazon.com:

"Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.

Combining elements of fantasy and romance, Cashore skillfully portrays the confusion, discovery, and angst that smart, strong-willed girls experience as they creep toward adulthood. Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom, truth, and knowing when to rely on a friend for help. This is no small task for an angry girl who had eschewed friendships (with the exception of one cousin that she trusts) for her more ready skills of self-reliance, hunting, and fighting. Katsa also comes to know the real power of her Grace and the nature of Graces in general: they are not always what they appear to be."


Here's my take on it:

Fantasy is my favorite genre, and when I read a book like this it reminds me why. Graceling was a riveting read that I finished in the same session as I started. It was a deep yet engrossing journey of self discovery in a world where our problems seem trivial. It has the well deserved place amongst a very select group of books that I have laughed out loud and also teared up at while reading.


However, I must admit (since it can't be all sunshine and daisies) that it did take me awhile to get involved in the lives of the characters, because the names used (for both people and places) were, in a word, horrible. I found myself unable to take many of the characters seriously when they were laden with names like Po, Randa, or Bitterblue. Luckily the book was so good, that by the end most of the tragically odd names had become endearing, though I still found myself snickering at the expense of poor Bitterblue's name. On the plus side, if ... odd ... naming choices in a book I wrote were my largest concern, I would be quite happy with that. So, Kudos Kristin Cashore, and thank you for a great book.


Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. Fantastic book. I give it four very magical stars. Heres why:






Two stars: A beautiful rich fantasy world that is painted for you in a way that only the imagination can provide. The idea behind the world is ingenious, a refreshing step away from the normal elements of fantasy, and it is carried out with an elegance and precision that should make any writer proud.


One star: A charming cast of characters that you quickly fall in love with. The kind of characters you can cry with, laugh with, and go on daring adventures with.


One star: A compelling, heartening story that never goes into the ridiculous, or tries too hard to entertain, and yet, manages to be surprising, exciting, and mostly free of the storybook cliches which haunt too many books.


Later guys,

Adam

Friday, March 13, 2009

Poetry Friday (2)

To whom it may concern:

Every Friday I'll post one poem that I wrote. Here's my poem for this Friday.


Midnight Poet


Twelve hours from twelve

the ink dips the quill

and the words paint on parchment

of a blank white computer screen.


Half past halfway to two
Miracles scatter from a fraying mind

dance in circles on the squeaky swivel chair

and go their separate ways.


Ten half dozen minutes to three

a tired heart quickly pounds the beat

to noteless songs and ballads,

keeping time with the metronome cursor.


A quarter to a quarter on the clock

an cast of ideas and a crew of images

work their acts and scenes

into life, on a stage of metered lines.


Half a day before noon

the midnight poet scratches away

with his metaphor quill, and imagery ink,

while the handless clock ticks away in his mind.



Later guys,


Adam

Friday, March 6, 2009

Poetry Friday (1)

To whom it may concern:

I was thinking the other day that I should post some of my poems. I'm in this creative writing class at school and we've been writing a lot of poetry. Critics are always welcomed!



Earth

I saw three men
far out on the starry sea,
riding tattered sails
and broken hulls;
they did not notice
the tempest fury.
they only wrapped themselves
in each other's words,
back and forth
frothing mouths spitting
hate.

Their blue-green boat
pitched and bucked them,
to shake them from their wrath,
but the men just took a tighter grip,
and then fought that much harder.
They yawned the cords,
and dragged the ropes,
but not to hold the course.
They fought to break her hull to splinters,
and bury each other's bones.
Each would sink the boat for all,
if he could not take the wheel,
back and again,
the blue boat and the men
fighting

One man had gold
one man had god
the third had envy
for the other two.
And the blue boat
pitched and rocked,
as the fearsome battle raged.
One fell to another
one fell to himself
the last was helpless,
taken by the boat,
as she sunk in the starry sea,
forgotten.


Later guys,

Adam