Kismint's Piece of the Planet

I think I'll give you a little taste of everything I have been working on of late. How does that sound?

First, pictures.


Last week I brought my camera everywhere I went while herding small children around our church campus. Yesterday was also a successful snapshot sort of day too. I'm really enjoying all this photography stuff. It makes for more eye-catching blog posts, yes?
AMAZING POWER

THE ROYAL PALM

CONVERSE MACRO

Ah, and speaking of macro pictures, I've been playing around with that.
Ick.
A super macro of an eye (no telling who's though...).

Either this is really gross or really cool.

Next, I have a confession to make: Alas! I have not worked on a single one of my writing projects in a very very long time. I feel as though I may have given up. But then I turn around and shout stoutly: I AM NOT A GIVER UPER!! To the face of defeat. Instead I'm only a procrastinator. But I have excuses, don't I?
I run three (active) blogs, I try my best to keep up with at least thirty other blogs that I follow, I ride a horse three times a week, I take pictures, I edit videos, I work on exercising my sketching hand, I write songs, I edit pictures, I play songs, I take more pictures...etc., etc.
Anyway, my novel writing side has suffered quite a bit, but after reading what both Jake (@ http://www.teenagewritingrocks.blogspot.com/) and Ely (@ http://www.quillquizzer.blogspot.com/) have to say about writing and aspiring to a summer NaNoWriMo mood, I'm thinking about picking up the ol' Statheros story and plotting the fate of my four (actually, I guess five...maybe six) main victims characters.

(Yes, E-Jai, I know I bounce all over the place. Someday we'll pick up on Charley and Lea again, 'k? =)

Some of you may remember a post that interviewed me on this particular endeavor that I published a little while ago. And some of you may not. Either way, I think you deserve to hear an interview from the characters themselves. Here is a figment of one of my attempts to learn a little more about my mind's creation(s).

Feel free to just browse through. I put quite the assortment on there, but it's fine with me if you're not all that interested...

How old are you?

Danthren: 14, but I'll be 15 soon.

Eliot: Same.

Bennet: Ha! Already 15!

Brenin: Yup. 14 too.

Emery: I guess we're all 14.

Bennet: Except meeee!

Emery: * rolls eyes * Yeah, and your maturity really shows.

What do you do with your spare time?

Danthren: Think and pray.

Brenin: Train in the arena.

Eliot: Go dare Bennet to do something stupid.

Bennet: Hey!

Emery: * chiding * He's only telling the truth.

Do you see the big picture or live in the moment?

Danthren: The big pictures is important to see. All things work together.

Brenin: Agreed.

Eliot: My father used to say the same thing Dan.

Danthren: What, you thought I just coined it?

Bennet: Life is like mirror. There's a bigger and better future, and that's what the big picture is about.

Emery: The only way to really live is to seize life as it is.

Bennet: Yeah, and Emery throttles it.

Emery: * shoots Bennet a scowl * Says Mr. Profound.

Are you a perfectionist?

Bennet: Nah, where's the fun that?

Danthren: I try not to be.

Emery: Nadda.

Brenin: I'm not much of one.

Eliot: * turns red * ...Uh sometimes.

The other four: SOMETIMES!??

What does your handwriting look like? (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.)

Danthren: Uhh...like handwriting?

Brenin: Blockish maybe?

Eliot: Slanted.

Bennet: What kind of question is that?

Emery: * blushes * Some of us don't know how to write.

Favorite animal?

Brenin: Horse.

Danthren: Lion.

Bennet: Cougar.

Emery: Wolf.

Eliot: Manatee.

The other four: WHAT!??

Eliot: Kidding.

Do you have any pets?

Emery: No

Danthren: Nope.

Eliot: Nadda.

Brenin: I once had a three-legged filly that my father gave to me. She died before she was a yearling.

Bennet: Do the field mice that I caught and tortured count?

Do you have any siblings? How many? Where does he/she fit in?

Eliot: I'm the younger brother of two sisters.

Brenin: I'm the third eldest in a family of nine children.

Bennet: Not biologically, but Dan's parents adopted me.

Emery: I'm an only child---I think.

Danthren: No siblings unless you count Bennet.

Do you have a 'life verse' and if so what is it?

Danthren: A few. One being: “If this is what the Potter's hand hath wrought, so be it!”

Brenin: “It's unlikely that anyone will remember you for what you did, instead, they'll remember you for how you made them feel”

Eliot: Too many come to mind.

Bennet: Umm...

Emery: (to Bennet) How about: “I'm an idiot and I'll do my best to remember it.”

Bennet: Har har.

Favorite writing utensil?

Bennet: We don't use much in Aynklem besides quill and ink.

Eliot: What about charcoal?

Bennet: Correction: I don't use much in Aynklem besides quill and ink.

Brenin: Quill.

Danthren: My hand.

Emery: Nice job wisecrack.

What’s your worst childhood memory?

Bennet: * looks down at feet * When my mother died.

Danthren: I was ten years old when a neighbor's house burned down with the family inside. All I could do was watch and listen to the screaming.

Eliot: When I was four and my sisters shut me in an icebox. * shudders *

Brenin: Really? * starts laughing *

Eliot: * socks Brenin in the stomach * Aww shut up, it's not funny!

Brenin: * gets wind knocks out of him * Ooof...

Emery: * bites lip * I don't want to answer that question.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Emery: * perks up * Invisibility.

Brenin: Telekinetic abilities.

Bennet: Flight.

Eliot: I'd take telekinetic powers any day.

Brenin: Cheater.

Eliot: Whatever.

Danthren: Courage.

If you crashed on an island with a bunch of other people, how would your character help the group survive?

Danthren: Hopefully by keeping a level head.

Brenin: Helping explore the island to find useful things.

Eliot: Using the plants for medical needs, since my father has taught me a little bit of doctrine.

Emery: * sing songedly * And Bennet would entertain everyone by getting killed by a coconut falling on his head!

Bennet: What kind of interview is this anyway!?

What is a cause you would die for?

Eliot/Bennet/Brenin in unison: The life of a friend.

Emery: Justice.

Danthren: What I believe.

Brenin: Oh yeah.

Eliot: That too.

Bennet: Good one Dan.

Would you rather die fighting valiantly, or quietly at home?

Eliot: I'd rather not die with a dagger between my ribs, but if it came to that...

Emery: Better to fall in honor then grow old and stupid.

Bennet: If I had my choice, I'd rather look death in the eye then have it creep behind my back.

Danthren: I don't think the choice should be up to me, so I don't really have an answer.

Brenin: * choosing his words carefully * I think it's important to give your all for what you believe in. But life is a precious gift. I don't want to forget that.

Do you prefer the country or the city?

Brenin: Country.

Bennet: Country.

Danthren: Wherever I feel like I belong.

Eliot: Country. I guess that's what we were all used to before we were taken to the castle...

Emery: Country, away from people.

Bennet: Ooh, what now? Have I found a recluse?

Emery: * growling * Be quiet.

What type of laugh do you have?

Bennet: Emery has a fake one!

Emery: I DO NOT!

Eliot: Are we answering this question for each other?

Danthren: Sure, why not?

Eliot: Okay then, * looks thoughtful * Brenin has a laugh like a donkey.

Brenin: * jumps to his feet and collars Eliot * WHAT?

Eliot: * shrugs coolly *

Danthren: On second thought...

Who is your best friend?

Everyone: * Glances awkwardly from person to person with lopsided smiles *

What is your family like?

Emery: I didn't have much of one anymore.

Brenin: Pretty chaotic, but lots of fun. With eight other siblings, there's never a dull moment.

Eliot: Wonderful enough. My father worked hard to make sure my head stayed the right size. * grins *

Danthren/Bennet: * high five *

Danthren: * Mock distress * Terrible. Just terrible. I could never get any peace and quiet with the EXTREMELY annoying brother bothering me ALL the STINKIN' TIME.

Bennet: You're telling me.

Do you like hedgehogs?

Brenin: Is there ANY relevance to these questions? Any at all??

Eliot: They aren't on my hate list if that's what you mean.

Danthren: Nothing against them.

Bennet: They taste pretty bad.

Emery: * gasping * Since when do you eat hedgehogs!?

Bennet: * crosses arms * You have NO idea.

Favorite kind of weather?

Emery: The calm before the storm.

Danthren: Chill with enough nip to keep you awake and feeling alive.

Bennet: Thunderstorms.

Eliot: Sunny with a bit of a breeze sounds nice enough at the moment.

Brenin: Bright, and windy enough to tear through.

Do you have a good sense of humor? If so what kind? (Slapstick, wit, sarcasm, etc.?)

Danthren: Quick wit.

Bennet: Cryptic.

Eliot: Light sarcasm.

Brenin: * nods head with solemn expression * Genuine charm.

Emery: * hesitant smirk * Charming, witty, sarcastic criticism.

...And finally, we come to the musical side of Kismint's world.

My last post was a few samplings of my latest recording work, and so shall this one be. But before you listen, I must explain these tidbits of song first.

"The Hanging Tree" is a song that you will find in the The Hunger Games Trilogy's third installment: Mockingjay. It's a creepy little song about (what else?) a tree where they hand people. Feel free to listen to a the fan version I was played this off of at http://www.grooveshark.com/. I found it quite eerily inspiring.

Anyway, after listening to it, I tried to find out how to play this rendition of the song on my keyboard. The only problem though, is that I don't know how to read music.

Yeah.

Problem...

And that's where a lot of my musical problems start at. I've never taken any sort of music lessons before. The only thing that you might say comes close to music lessons would be those little book lesson things that my parents got for me to teach myself with when I was seven. From there I learned my musical ABCs.

But that's about it. I never got into the textbook side of music enough to learn the notes on paper.

One day, I found http://www.onlinpianist.com/. DUDE! THIS WEBSITE IS MY MUSICAL HERO! You can check it out for yourself (though I warn you, you can only view two tutorials before they make you sign up for free using your email account) at the above link if you're interested in learning a new song visually. It's the whole "The keys light up to show you what to press system", and it works great for me.

But it is often that I simply let my fingers find their own keys to dance on.

And now that I understand chords at a more intimate level, I can record a few things that I might actually become proud of (maybe).

A few days ago, I was working on my version of "The Hanging Tree". This is a clip of the piano part. 

And this is a tiny bit of it with a mild bit of strings and percussion that I added. 

Tell me whatcha think, okay?

Oooh, another movie-like thing of exciting measure that happened today was the unblocking of YouTube for my computer! Yeah!

So now I have my own YouTube channel with---what else---my Robot Rap video as my debut! Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KismintKate?feature=mhee

And that is what I've been up to.

Somewhat.