Eclipse Review

Hey, I’m Scarrlet, but all of you will mostly know me as Telrracs, or Tel. I’m honored to have been allowed to do the blog review for Eclipse! Now let’s crack open this nutshell.

To start, I would like to say that I’m sure we’ve all had our fangirl moments. Whether it was from getting to meet the stars themselves or from just seeing a new smoking-hot picture of our favorite actors. Even though you may not want to admit it or believe, there is a reason you’re staying up until two-thirty in the morning to see a movie. There’s a reason why you may continuously read about the same characters over and over again. It’s a little thing called an Obsession (or incredibly strong feelings for one thing). Now, I didn’t drive three days to LA, camp out on the streets for another five days and sleep in a tent to go to the Eclipse premier, but I do read fan fiction more than I read regular books, I write fan fiction about the same characters, and I nearly killed myself trying to find midnight tickets to the Eclipse release. I call that a little obsessed (hey, at least I know I am).

***Spoiler Alert: Do not continue if you do not want information from the movie***


Now, let’s start from the very beginning of my journey. A group of my friends and I all went to the midnight show of Eclipse together. I told them we should have left earlier, but no, no one every listens to me, so when we get there at 11:30 the line to get into the movie theater was out the door. I verbally cursed all my friends off. But it was then that one of my friends, who has a problem walking and has to use crutches all the time, went up to one of the managers and explained that she wouldn’t be able to stand in this long line. The man made a few calls, and Bam! they are allowing my friend to get an early seat inside the theater! What luck, right? Well not so much, they would only allow her and one of my other friends to go in early, so even though the rest of us had to stand in the terribly long line, we had the best seats saved for us by my friend, right in the middle. Score!

So we all settle down, I’ve got my giant soda, bag of popcorn, and twizzlers at my side and I’m ready to enjoy. The movie is just about to start when I hear this woman talking to her “baby daddy” about how useless he is. In any other situation I might have found this amusing, but I’m about to watch Eclipse and I don’t want to be interrupted. So I turn around to ask her to be quiet, until I see her. And she was pretty freaking scary, so she quickly glares me down I stay shrunk in my seat until the movie starts.

And, so it begins! Now, not to drag this out and make it incredibly boring, I’ll point out the things that I hope will make you want to see this movie, if not even more, and also the things that I did not like or felt were done wrong.


1. The Acting: I know that in the first two movies you would cringe into your seats or look away from the scene when Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were touching/kissing/and/or interacting in any intimate way. But throughout the entire movie of Eclipse I felt like they had a much better connection with each other. They looked like a real couple (as real as a couple in their situation could look) and I felt no need to look away from moments when they kissed.

2. That Damn Fucking Smile: We know it, we love it, and it’s become one of Edward’s signature actions throughout the fan fiction world, the damn crooked smile. Now throughout Twilight and New Moon, we had to sit through two hours of an expression that looked like he was being tortured, not very appealing. BUT throughout this movie we get to see that wonderful smile. I have to say Rob pulled it off wonderfully. It was pretty damn sexy at times.


3. The Action: I’m the kind of person who could always enjoy some good action scenes. Eclipse did a pretty good job at it. The CGI was done way better and the wolves looked more realistic. I really loved seeing all the training the actors went through come out good. Also, one of my favorite parts was right after Jacob kissed Bella the first time and she punches him. In the book Edward acts all calm when he gets to the two but in the movie he was angry and looked pissed off like I wanted him to be in the book. And it was hot.

4. Jasper and other Characters: Haha. I just HAD to give the guy his own little section, because I LOVED Jasper in this movie! Jackson did an awesome job! Jasper’s back story was done great and I’m not much of a war person but if I had General Whitlock at my side, sign me up! Also, when he was training everyone, it was done flawlessly. The little fight between him and Alice was so freaking adorable. Let’s see… Rosalie’s back story was done well too, I thought. It was one the time I actually liked her in the movies. I seriously loved the person they picked to play Leah Clearwater. She did an amazing job. I didn’t, however, really like the person they picked to play Victoria. I really did love the other person that played her, but there is only so much Summit could do about that. The wigs that the actors wore had definitely improved from the last two movies. I didn’t want to vomit when I saw Jasper’s wig, though Bella’s looked kind of awkward at moments. Then, there was the fact that Jasper wore a sexy smirk throughout most of the movie, and I just wanted to stare at him with his wickedly gleaming eye and pounce his ass. Hmmm… where was I?

5. Hilarious: This movie as pretty fucking funny. I found myself laughing all though it. My favorite was when Bella and Charlie had “The talk”. It was so funny. I love Billy Burke. Also, in the tent scene when Jacob said “I’m hotter than you”. The whole theater went into a riot. And, speaking of the tent scene. It was probably my favorite scene or scene they got most dead-on from the books. The whole freaking time Kristen didn’t say a word and it was perfect, haha. I’m not her biggest fan, but Rob and Taylor are fantastic here and all I wanted was to be able to snuggle in between the two of them, hmmm.

6. Finally, The Proposal: And other favorite of mine. Though this part felt kind of rushed through, I thought it was very good. And Rob looks like quite the kisser *melts*. The whole scene was hot and I did my best to blank out Kristen’s face while watching it, hehe. And I will admit that I clapped and squee-ed when she said yes. XD




Now the things that annoyed me:

1. The Ending: I was so looking forward to two things at the end of this movie. One was Edward trying to seduce Bella in the meadow and second was Jacob receiving the wedding invitation and running off. What did I get? A boring speech and no Jacob. WTF? I have no idea why they made Bella have this little speech at the end, but it was pointless. We already know that she’s chosen Edward, get on to the seducing! I guess we’ll get that in Breaking Dawn. Then, there was no wedding invitation. I wasn’t as mad about this point but what are they going to do that the beginning of Breaking Dawn? Have it start with him getting the invitation? I guess that would work, but it would have the same impact it would have if they would have left it off as him leaving, but, hey, that’s just my opinion.

2. Glass skin: During the action scene there were a lot of vampires being ripped to pieces but one thing that annoyed me was how their skin looked like. Whenever an arm or leg or head was ripped off it looked and kind of sounded like glass breaking, not stone. I was kind of weird, not a big problem, just something I noticed.

3. The Ring: The ring that Edward gave Bella. WTF is up with it? I really, really didn’t like it. I’m not saying that it ruined it for me but that’s nothing like I pictured it. It looked like a shiny, circle disc instead of a ring. (Would you want to where that on your finger for eternity?----->

4. Making Edward look Bad (Grrrr): In the parking lot of the school Jacob comes with his motorcycle and Bella just leaves Edward there while driving away with Jacob. No. Wrong. This made Edward look bad, but the Edward from the book would have NEVER let Bella just ride away like that. In the book, it was Bella who went behind Edward’s back to go with Jacob. And I kind of wanted the scene where she tricked Alice and rode away with Jacob. This, in the book, would have led us to the leg hick scene. They took that away! Though they did do a leg hick in the proposal scene, there were three bed scenes in the book and only one in the movie. All I can say is they better not cut out any scene like that in Breaking Dawn. I want feathers AND a broken headboard!

5. No Wolf Cry (I would like to thank ILWA for making this point): I have not read the Twilight books in quite a while and when I was watching the tent scene I had totally forgotten that when Edward and Bella where talking the next morning and Edward just so happen to slip that they were getting married Jacob had been in his wolf form and heard the whole thing and quote on quote “the silence outside the tent was ripped apart by an earsplitting howl of pain.” Now, I’m no Jacob supporter but I can say that he did love Bella (god knows why) and that howl told us how heartbroken he was hear that. It may not have been a big thing or something you noticed immediately (unless you’re a Team Jacob fan), but after it was pointed out to me I continued to feel like it should have been in there. Also, (I know these just keep on coming) in the book Edward went after Jacob. In the movie, Bella did and it kind of make Edward look like a jerk for saying what he did knowing Jacob was out there. Another way you’re making Edward look bad!

6. Finally, Victoria: Well, what’s there to say really? I didn’t really like her. And her hair and the way it was styled just didn’t go together at all! Kind of like Kristen Stewart and smiling.




And so there you have it; the Pros and Cons that I saw in Eclipse. I honestly thought this was the best of the three movies and the third book being my favorite, I was happy with the way it turned out. So, what did you think of Eclipse? Loved it? Hated it? Going to your third time? Let me know!

I’d like to thank AT for allowing me to do this post and hopefully I’ll see you guys soon!

~Tel

The good, the bad and the beautiful

What do you get when you put two Rehab Ladies together?

Yeah! That right we get a tasty new, hot off the presses fanfic video!!!!

Bringing together the talented Mamma4ever or ILWA as we know and love her, writer of the fic in question and the awesome editing skills of Allysue08 who has far too many AKA's to mention... including AKA!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK
             -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bella has always been the odd one out, never having many friends. College life could turn that all around. But her friendship with Edward Cullen might not be exactly what it seems. Does the shy, sweet Edward have a secret?

Weekly Recommendations - AND WE'RE BACK!

I’m baaaack! Did ya miss me? Sooo, soooo, sorry for being a fail at my rec blog. It seems that when I started writing, everything else in life was put on the back burner… no, further than the back burner… the splatter guard BEHIND the back burner. That’s okay, ‘cause our lovely AT (Alitriona) is going to keep me on track now. She has a whip and handcuffs… wait, those aren’t for me… Anyhoo, she’s going to keep me from forgetting. *grin*

So since we are basically re-starting, I’m not going to go with my little hint from before. I’m just starting fresh. And one of the fics that is just begging me to rec it is:

Midnight Sun of a Biotch by Greeen Goldfish

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5825067/1/Midnight_Son_of_a_Biotch

GGs summary:

What would happen in Midnight Sun if the characters weren't so...Mormon? How does a vampire break it to his lady love that he wants to eat her? Can vampires get drunk? Let's find out. Warning: I delight in abusing canon. OOC, AU.

My summary:

Now, don’t go thinking this is just a re-write of SM’s Midnight Sun, because it is FAR FROM IT! First of all, many situations are entirely different. Yes, Bella’s blood still sings to Edward and yes, he reads minds, Alice sees the future, yadda, yadda. But, there’s so many other things that are different, like for instance, Edward was changed by Tanya. Ooooh, interesting, no? ;)

So, anyway, this is so wonderful! Edward is snarky, and he cusses like a sailor – but it’s epically funny! I haven’t read a single chapter that I didn’t laugh out loud!

That being said, a few people have started the fic and said, “Ehh, it’s not for me.” And quit reading. Personally, I think everyone should at least read three or four chapters before they pitch it, because it is just so incredibly funny!

To help reel you in, you know I always give you a good teaser, so here goes:

Teaser 1:

"It all happened so fast, no one really saw. I've been in their heads and they all just assume I was standing there when the van started skidding and I shoved us both out of the way."

"What about Bella?"

"Well, obviously I don't know what she's thinking."

"That's a bit of a problem, isn't it?"

"Alice doesn't seem to think so," I said, nodding toward the overbearing oracle of optimism.

"What do you see, Alice?"

"Same stuff as yesterday, really," she said. "Except Edward plays hard to get for a while, first."

I already knew this, of course. But it wasn't something I particularly wanted to discuss with the whole Bloodsucking Brady Bunch. It was something I needed to think about.

"Can you tell in the visions if Bella knows what Edward is?" Carlisle asked.

"Not really. But I'm guessing if they're cuddling, she's going to kind of notice that he's not exactly…warm and cuddly."

"But you don't see her revealing anything?" he pressed.

"Nope."

Carlisle turned to me then and raised his eyebrows.

How are you feeling about all of this?

"I don't know," I answered.

"Hey! No brain talking! That's rude!" Rosalie protested.

"Well, then maybe the rest of you should let me and Edward have a minute," Carlisle responded. The girls narrowed their eyes at Carlisle then, but Jasper and Emmett took it in stride and began ushering them out. As soon as the door was closed, Carlisle and I began talking again. Ironically, he didn't speak to me in his head once they were gone. He found that, then, he would often let things slip that he didn't want me to respond to. I mean, I would hear them all the same. But at least if he spoke out loud, I would know what he deemed appropriate for conversation. "So?" How are you feeling? Are you worried? Have you developed feelings for her already? Is it only because of Alice's vision? You can't possibly have feelings for her already. Would you have saved anyone that that was about to happen to? Did she lose any blood? Does her blood still sing to you? My god, you must have will power.

See how much the mindreading can suck?

Teaser 2:

"Thank you."

"Oh. Uh…you're welcome. Like I said, it was kind of just instinct. I didn't really think about it."

"Well, thanks all the same. It sounds really strange to say it out loud, but I'm pretty sure you saved my life."

"It's cool. You loaned me bio notes yesterday. So, uh-I figure we're even now."

She smiled at me then. I won't lie—I was kinda hoping for a laugh. But I'd take a smile.

"I don't remember…right before the accident… It's so weird. I remember standing next to my truck, and I remember the squeal of the tires and seeing the van headed toward me. But I don't remember you."

"Wow, way to wound a guy. I like to think I'm memorable."

See how good I am at deflection? (And fishing for information?)

"What were we talking about?"

Shit.

"Uh. Actually, we weren't. I had just meandered over there. I hadn't had the chance to strike up conversation yet."

"Oh." She tilted her head then for a second. "What were you going to talk to me about?"

"Uh. I don't remember. I was probably returning your notes or something."

"Oh." She seemed satisfied then, because she began digging in her pocket and then turned toward the vending machine. She pulled out a handful of change and began counting it out. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath. Then she looked up. "Do you have any change?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, fumbling for my wallet. I pulled out a dollar bill and handed it to her.

"Thanks. I'll get you back. I just don't want Charlie to get all suspicious when I don't come back with a soda."

"Don't worry about it." Then I watched as she tried twice to get the machine to accept the bill. It rejected it and spit it back out both times. Which was weird because it was a pretty crisp bill. "Want me to try?"

"I'll get it," she said. Then, I could see the tip of her tongue protruding from her mouth in concentration as she gave it another go. On the third attempt, the machine finally accepted the bill and she pressed her selection. Then, she retrieved the Diet Coke that came tumbling out, along with her change, which she turned and offered to me. I shook my head.

"Keep it." Better not to risk any more contact for right now.

"So. Uh. Do you think you'll go back to school?" she asked.

"Probably not. Might as well exploit the shit out of the near-death experience, right?"

"Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking. I'm not exactly looking forward to being a spectacle," she said, as she popped open the soda and we began strolling back down the hall.

"Yeah. Me either."

"What are you talking about? You're always a spectacle."

"Sorry?"

"Uh. I mean… I just mean… Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"Like what?"

"I just meant that your family doesn't exactly blend."

"Right. Yeah."

"Sorry."

"No, don't apologize. It's the truth."

"It doesn't bother you?" she asked.

I shrugged. Only when it threatens to expose us as the undead creatures of the night that we actually are. When that's something you have to worry about, the rest is kind of just gravy. I don't think I'll be sobbing myself to sleep if I'm not crowned homecoming king. And not just because my body can't produce tears.

"So, uh…can I get your notes back to you tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yeah. Of course. Getting those notes back isn't exactly top on my list of concerns right now."

"What is?"

"Huh?"

"Top on your list of concerns?"

"Um. I don't know. Not getting killed by careening vans. Keeping this whole thing a secret from my mother. Avoiding Charlie's scrutiny."

"Why?"

"Uh. Because he can be a little…overprotective, I suppose."

"No, I mean, why not tell your mother what happened?"

"Oh. Because she would freak out about it even though nothing happened. No reason to get her all worked up over nothing."

"You call your dad 'Charlie'?"

"What's with the twenty questions?"

"Sorry. I just…I guess I'm nosy. Didn't mean to pry. Sorry."

"No, it's OK. I just…I don't know. Are we like, suddenly bound by our shared near death experience now or something? You can go back to being aloof if you want."

"Ouch."

"God. Sorry. I didn't…I didn't mean it like that. That came out totally wrong. I just…I don't really know how to act around someone who saved my life. It's really weird, right?"

"I don't see why you need to act any differently than before. But then again, you're not, really."

"I feel like I kind of owe you. Like…my life."

"Like I said—bio notes. Don't sweat it."

"Um. I don't think it works like that."

"Seriously, Bella. You don't owe me anything. You would have done the same for me."

"Uh."

"You know, if you hadn't been too busy staring at the careening van."

"Right."

We slowed down then, as we had reached the doorway of the room we had originally come out of.

"So, um…I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, unsure of what I was supposed to say or why I had even engaged in the conversation with her in the first place. In fact, the only thing I was sure of in that moment was that I was even more confused about everything.

"Um. Yeah. Tomorrow."

And that’s only chapter 3… it gets better and better and better, lol! I love how Edward REALLY acts like a teenager in this. He’s so confused and doesn’t understand anything about anything involving relationships, and girls, and Bella, it’s just hilarious :)

Ok, so, as usual, I have to give you a hint for my next recommendation.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and rec something that is gonna take a LOT of finagling to get y’all to read ;)

The hint is:

Not over fruit

Luv you all!

-RSA

Hi everybody!

*Hi, Dr Nick! *

Sorry – I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, this is KC writing the blog, and when I didn’t have the rehab blog I thought of so much I could write, but at the moment I’m pretty stuck for words. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?



It’s like when I’m writing, sometimes I just stare at the screen and nothing comes, but whenever I’m at work… or, nowhere near a note pad, I always seem to have the best ideas and dialogue, and half of the time I forget about them. So annoying.
Yes, that's exactly what I look like when I'm annoyed, although you might want to add the nineteen years>>


Anyway, I still feel like the newbie to Rehab, although I must have been knocking around for what…2-3 months? I remember when I first arrived and was nervous joining the chat because I didn’t want to seem like an idiot, but I spoke and that gave everything away – dammit. Haha, but seriously, everybody has been so nice and made me feel right at home. Thank you all for being so lovely! :)

Haha...I'm thanking people for being lovely...

Oh, and thanks for being so supportive with my competition entry! It really means a lot!




So, it’s summer, and I really have nothing to do…well, I do, but it’s not that important…just my job. Though, I am going to Latitude festival, which I’m so excited for (because I’m going to run around in bare feet and wear floral dresses and say words like ‘psychedelic’!)…but it’s not like I’m going to Paris and London like a certain someone…ahem. So, this means that I have a lot of time to write – which is great – but also I can do some beta’ing, if anybody needs it. It’s there, left on the table, my proof-reading skills, waving at you. Yes, you.

Oh, and while I have the blog, I might as well promote the non-canon blog I’m working on with MBL, For the Love of Non-Canon. It’s been really fun to get interactive with another twi-site, because before joining rehab I never explored the fandom…I just kept myself to myself.

Aww, rereading that makes me sound so sad. I wasn’t sad! They were the happy days when Kim didn’t tell me about this horrible woman called Aunt Flo!


That's Aunt Flo.

Hahahah…







Anyway, I’ll keep on rambling, since I think I’m doing a fine job. So, I’ll tell you my favourite angst-y song of this week that has really put me in the mood for writing angst. It’s called 'Fistful of Love' by Antony and the Johnsons. It’s really sad, being dubbed as a ‘sweet masochistic song’. I find that his voice alone makes me feel pretty emotional. But then again, I’ll cry at anything. I can’t watch Britain’s Got Talent anymore because every time an old woman sings and she’s amazing – the flood gates are open, and I’ll be shouting at the T.V ‘It’s so beautiful!’

Ahem, moving on…


My happy song of the week is…hahaha, I barely have any happy songs. Oh, I tell a lie, I really love this MGMT song called ‘Brian Eno’. I love a bit of MGMT. Overall, my other rec’s are any Laura Marling or Patti Smith. Or Joni Mitchell.

Okay, I’m done, but when it comes to music I could go on for hours. And hours and hours and hours.

You get the picture.





Of course, I have some fandom questions, which I really should save for my mentor…but I’m going to ask you ladies, because you always give me really detailed, and insightful answers. Not that my Twi-mentor doesn't, she's pretty brilliant too.

Anyway, would it be a bad idea if I wrote a twific that was set in England? You know, with English characters, typically English. Since, I feel like I’m betraying my own writing style by deciding to use American grammar for the obvious reasons. I mean, I know people have written fics in England and had English characters, but I just wanted to know if that puts you off, or attracts you, or maybe not even bother you? So yeah, some feedback on that would be great, because I’ve started another fic where all my characters are English, and I’ve decided to get a bit of courage and write my first non-canon fic. Woo. Excitement.


Actually, I thought I would have more questions, but that was the main one that I’ve been thinking about lately.

Okay, I’m stuck for words. But I swear I’ll be better if I have the blog again! :D

So, I’ll love you and leave you.

But not without some male beauties. ;)












And, as our beloved Duckie would say from Pretty in Pink, 'I'm off like a dirty shirt.'

Kitty.
x

Random rambling from MBL

So, AT emailed me earlier this week and said it's my turn to write on here. But the thing is, I have no idea what to write about!

I don't know whether to write what's been happening in the past couple of months, or just ramble and put some random stuff so then I know I've done what I need to do :P.

Anyway, decided to just ramble, and before I forget, started a new blog! It's called For the Love of Non-Canon (it's linked), there are so many blogs out there that cover everything within the fandom, or some specific part e.g. The Major (lets face it, we can NEVER get enough of the Major), but this blog is based on everything Non-Canon. We have themed weeks, which is basically a week dedicated to one character and we find a load of fics and rec them and interview authors etc. who write something with that character.

This week is Carlisle week, so we're finding pictures of Carlisle and posting them, as well as finding other non-canon fics and posting them. This is the first week of us posting something everyday, and I love it, it's hard work, but it's so worth it in the end!

So to anyone who reads this blog, please check it out, leave a comment or something, or even follow us :), or send us your favourite non-canon fics, we'll post them, :)

So enough about the blog, I might have bored you to death with that. Other good news... I've finally had my operation, 15 months is wayy to long to wait for one, I even took pictures of my knee, how lame is that?? Before and After shots, it's hilarious, but I'

m so glad that I can walk now, run, skip, star jumps (I had a major wack out yesterday doing all of them), it's just amazing on how two weeks after my operation I'm doing all of them already!!!

The last 15/16 months have been really hard on me and my family, and to be honest, I don't think I could have gotten through it without all my friends, especially the rehab girls, AT, Sheree, Rags, ILWA, Frenchie, KC, VampsHaveLaws, Allysue, and most importantly Detochkina and Sobriquett. These girls rock, no joke, but when things have been seriously bad, and I just feel like giving up altogether they were always there picking me back up again, I can't thank you guys enough for all the help you've given me in the past year and a half, and know that if there is anything I can do, let me know!

BEWARE-RANDOM RAMBLE

Sometimes I don't know if I'm taking on too much, I mean I have three fanfics, the blog, Picprompt, two novels, beta'ing, and I've kinda accepted someone's request at co-writing a fic with her. AGHHHHH *pulls hair out*, maybe I need to organise things, and do things straight away and leave the writing until I have time or something, I don't know, but I really need to sort myself out. Maybe take myself out of the fandom for a while? Actually, no. I tried that and I didn't last a day. Urm... Any tips?

Man rant

So coming to the end of my post, and I promised Shereebedee that I'll rant about guys. So here it is.

Men are stupid, pathetic creatures who are just there to tear us down when we're vulnerable. There may be good guys out there, but where the hell are they? In Sheree's case, I wanna hunt down anybody who hurts her coz she's an awesome person and I hate hearing/seeing her hurting, I wanna kill the people who hurt her and I'll be really happy, in my case, I have stalkers, guys who are insensitive jerks who post on my facebook wrong things that my family shouldn't even see, I mean who the hell does that?! I think that both Sheree and I, and whoever else who is having guy problems... we should just forget about men altogether and just be happy with who we are, and live life the way we want to, that may include getting with guys ;) but at the end of the day, things with guys always end in tears.

To people who are Happily Married/in a relationship, you're the lucky ones and make sure that they don't hurt you and if they do... we're here for you :)

Kind of a lame rant or what?! lol.

End of rant

But if anybody is interested in following me on twitter I am @miss_bekki_lou, the blog address is: http://fortheloveofnon-canon.blogspot.com/, my pen-name on FF.net is Miss-Beckie-Louise and yeah that's about it.

So if you read this, thank you, if you just glanced at this, then you've probs saved yourself so good on you!

Anyway, laterz ;)

MBL xoxoxoxoxox

Coz I'm so lovely ;) (Laugh it up ppl) I'm leaving this post with a couple of hunky pictures ;)

(500) Days of Summer

I can't very well let my last post be my only post this week, since it was too negative for my taste. I don't like what I did and a part of me wishes I hadn't published that rant, but I stand by my words, so the only way to balance the negativity is to post another post.

I had intended to use this week to impose on you guys my views on writing styles, or even do a few grammar tips, but quite frankly, I'm not feeling that. Instead I have decided to show you what I'm doing this summer, and actually what I've been doing every summer since 2007.

As many of you might already know, I'm born and raised in a little country in the North Atlantic known as Iceland. Furthermore, I grew up close to a town of about 2500 people, which is called Húsavík, and it's situated on the north part of the country.

I started working at the Húsavík Whale Museum in 2007 and I loved it. I work mostly with foreign volunteers, and I've met some great people over museum. I try to delegate that task onto the volunteers, since I hate speaking in front of a crowd, but I have done quite a few guidings, both in Icelandic and English (and even two in Danish, now THAT was impressive :P).

I also get my own projects, like write and review texts, translate from Icelandic to English and vice versa, write news for the home page, and now I have the task of going over all info plaques and correct them (because there are a lot of embarrassing mistakes, unfortunately).

The whale museum also does research, and every day, someone goes out with the whale watching boats and records sightings and the route of the boat, as well as taking pictures of whales. Did you know that individual whales can be distinguished from each other, simply by looking at their flukes or colour patterns? It is pretty interesting. The fluke of the humpback whale, for example, has a very distinctive black and white pattern, some have a completely white underside, some are completely black, while others have spots and stripes.

I can't even begin to count how many whale watching trips I've been on. Not to mention that I acted as a guide for one of the whale watching companies in 2008. I've gone out in all kinds of weather, including a day when they decided the weather was too bad to sail in (of course that was decided after my trip), in blinding fog (though that was one of the most awesome trips I've had, since we ended up seeing six humpback whales, and we didn't even bother chasing them, most of them were that close), and in burning sunshine. I have gone on trips where we saw nothing at all, and trips where the ocean was so clear that you could see the whales underneath the surface. I have seen blue whales, sei whales, fin whales, minke whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises, long-finned pilot whales and northern bottlenose whales. I'm still waiting on the Orcas :P

Despite cold and wet tours, much like the one I had today (it was nothing special, but we did see a blue whale and two minke whales, one of which even jumped for us), going whale watching is probably my favourite part of the job. To be able to go away from the stuffy air of the lobby and breathe in the fresh ocean air -- it's bliss. A lot of my brain storming is done out at sea, and I think a big part of my story, Simplicity is Key, was thought up while waiting for whales.

So, if there are any outdoorsy people out there, then I strongly recommend you coming to Iceland. It is the best place for easy hikes and beautiful scenery. And come to Húsavík, visit me, and go whale watching :)

P.S. - I have loads of good pictures just like these, and I might be uploading them to a good place somewhere, so if you're interested to know where they'll end up, you know where to find me on Rehab (I hope), and if not, you can find me on twitter @ragsstone :)

To Rant or Not to Rant

Last night, we got wind of a rant.

Last night, I read the rant and felt a little annoyed by ranter.

Today, in my curiosity and as I was reminded of the subject, I went to check up on the comments, and that’s when I noticed how big the little rant had become.

Ranting is one thing, bitching is another, and utter bullying is something completely different. It doesn’t take much to make one little rant entirely and inappropriately personal, and when it becomes personal, it has turned into bullying. Keeping things ‘anonymous’ and then going off to say all kinds of things about the-one-who-shall-not-be-named does not mean it isn’t personal. We’ve all read Harry Potter, we all know who you-know-who is.

So today, I am furious. Having had much experience of being both on the receiving and the giving end of bullying, I am the first one to say that it’s simply not cool. And publicly ranting on a blog about someone is taking it a step further than nasty comments. When someone puts something out in the open like that, they can very well expect people to respond, defend and lash out at them in return.

I do not condone bullying, but I will stand by my friends. I am the ultimate diplomat, and I prefer to make nice than be bitchy, but some people really make me want to bitch at them. I don’t like who I become when I bitch at people.

Maybe, just maybe, it would be better for me to contact these people by PM or email and nicely point out where their arguments don’t add up and stand up for my friend. Or maybe I should contain my rant in a private place, so the people in question wouldn’t get hurt. It is what I would have suggested in the first place, if anyone would have asked my opinion on it. It is what I usually do whenever I need to vent.

But why should I rise above these people? Why should I be the one keeping my mouth shut and not bitch in public? Someone said Freedom of Speech, so I’m using it. Someone also said do unto others as you would have them do unto you (yes, me, the atheist, is quoting the Bible, deal with it), so I’m doing unto others what they would have others do unto them. And with that, I’m ready to have someone rant about me in return. The cause is well worth the risk.

The third golden nugget: if you are attacked -- attack back, but with class. Jeez. Some people should really think before they say something, and actually look at all sides. What has been done and said so far is far from classy. Besides, can anyone remember who was attacked first?

I can.

And that’s exactly what drives me to rant myself.

I hate that this is my first blog post on here, and I definitely don’t want to waste my week on a rant, so y’all should expect another blog soon, something more cheerful, I hope!

Oh, and there are other mama bears in this fandom, some of whom I am more scared than others (*cough AT cough*)