What Happend On Saturday.

Hello All! :D How are you? :)

 Well, I shall tell you about what happened yesterday. It turned out to be a busier day than I thought it would be, which was surprising.

 So at about 10:50 my brother and I headed over to the Dojo for our class.  We arrived with twenty minutes to spare, which was nice, because the other times I had been getting there with at least three minutes to get ready because of the time I'd have to leave circus at.

 The class started fifteen minuted later, and to my disappointment none of my friends were there, because I was hoping that one of them would train with me after class. My Sensei decided to put me with the older and more advanced students (She divided the class) even though I'm a white belt, but I suppose it was because I've trained with adults and was going for my brown-and-white belt (the first belt in the Adult's grades).
 It was a pretty good class, and I enjoyed it. At the end the older students and I were having a good laugh.

 Then my training partner, who I hadn't seen for weeks and had stopped replying to my emails about when we should catch up to train, suddenly came into the Dojo and asked if we could do some training. I said yes, and so we started, but about ten minutes in we had to stop because the gradings had started.

 I didn't watch the first grading - I had vanished into the change rooms to plait my hair. We're judged on appearance, performance and on how well we know the history of the Dojo, and at that particular moment I looked scruffy, hot and sweaty.

 My grading was at the very last of them, with my training partner (If two or more people are doing the same belt, they will group them together), and because I didn't feel like walking around town for three hours I decided to stay. Plus, unlike all the people who are doing their first gradings I never went to see what a grading was like, so it was better that I stayed and watched.

 It was cool to watch, and the kids who were under ten (I'd be guessing that they were somewhere between seven and nine) were fun to watch.

 My turn came out, and I was really nervous. Now, believe it or not, I have never done a test or a grading or anything like that before, because I'm homeschooled. So this was my first time, and it's no surprise I was worried about not doing something right.

 The grading started out fairly well. I actually surprised both the Senseis with how good my strikes were (snap-kick and punch with step), which was really good! I felt encouraged after that (my blocks had been a bit shoddy).
 Anyway, it all went really well until reflexes. I suddenly had a mind blank, and forgot which block/lock I was meant to use on the different attacks. So I ended up completely failing that section.

 Anyway, my Sensei's called me up after they had talked for a while and sorted out our grading sheets. From the looks on their faces I was fairly sure I'd failed, and to be honest I didn't feel surprised, because for the past few days I'd felt like I was going to fail. xD
 But actually, to my surprise, I had neither failed nor passed. I stood there, I bit shocked, as my equally surprised (and maybe  confused...? xD) Senseis told me that I hadn't failed enough sections for them to say it was a fail, but I hadn't passed all seven sections, so they couldn't give me my belt. I, however, had passed five out of the seven sections.
 So, because my Sensei's want to give me my belt and certificate, they told me that I have the whole of next week to practice and fine-tune the sections which I had failed, then on Friday we can finish off the grading and then they can present my belt to me.

 I ended up as the only person who didn't get their belt that day.

 My brother and I headed home, and when we arrived Mum and Dad were packing food for the picnic we would have while listening to the Symphony in the City. Their friend Edward was there too.
 We left again thirty minutes later (maybe it was fifteen minutes...) and when we arrived at the park it was getting really full. I'd guess there were roughly 15,000 people there already.

 So while we were hunting around for a free patch of grass to sit down and have our picnic at we saw a Cyberman from Doctor Who. I got super excited and would've taken a photo, but there was a crowd of people around it. 

 After settling down I had a run around and saw the TARDIS!!! I took a few photos of it:

 

 After I took these photos the Cyberman appeared again, about three centimeters in front of me, and probably would've walked into me if I hadn't jumped out of the way. I would've taken a photo of him that time, but he was going 'away' (in other words the person inside the Cyberman out fit was getting hot and needed to get out, and was going backstage). So that was the end of getting a photo with/of him.

So I went back to our picnic, and the Symphony started playing shortly afterwards.
 The MC had the coolest last name ever - it was Perfect. No, really, his name was Eddie Perfect. xD And the assistant Conductor was called Christopher Dragon. Maybe I should change my last name to Unicorn. Then I really would be Willow Unicorn... :P




  Here are some more photos I took:

 Waiting for it to start.

 Took a photo of the sun setting over the river.

 Can you see the Christmas hat?

 Can you spot the hat in this one?

 Fireworks!!

The hundreds and thousands of people who were watching Symphony.



OK, I gotta go now. I have stuff to do.

 Merry Christmas!

 Spinj xoxo


(A few weeks later...:
 (Hey all! Sorry I didn't post this when I meant to, stuff got busy. X| I thought I'd tell you that I ended up with my brown-and-white belt! It was so cool, and I was so relieved to get it.
 (I'm writing a post on my LEGO blog now - catch you all later!)

And I'm Frozen.

Hey y'all! How chu all going? :D

 Well, I thought I'd do a post today. :)

 Soo, lets see, what first? :P

 Well, I had martial arts today. I did some training, had a break, and did more training. Hopefully I'm ready for tomorrow (when I'm doing my grading) because I really want to get this belt. It's a brown-and-white belt, which is the first one in the Adults belts. Then I think it goes red-and-white... I dunno for sure though.

 And I've got a bit of a Frozen obsession... I've never watched it, but I've heard the songs, and I know nearly everything about the storyline and the characters plus I know that there is supposed to be a sequel.
 So my favourite songs are Let It Go and Let it Go (Demi Lovato) and First Time in Forever (reprise). Favourite character... hmm, I'd have to pick between either Elsa, Anna or Kristoff, and I'm not in the mood for picking favourites at the moment.
 Favourite line from a song... I have a few. :P "Standing frozen in the life I've chosen" which is an awesome line, "No escape from the storm inside me..." I just like that line in general, "We can fix this hand in hand" well, who wouldn't want to fix something hand in hand with an awesome sibling? :)

I had a go at editing some Frozen pictures. Here they are:

 1. First try. Looks interesting...

 2. Second try. S'OK, I could've done better. XD

3. Does this count as an edit? :P

 4. I'm getting better...

 5. And better... I still think that this one was probably one of my best.

6. And the only really good one that I made. xD However, in the process I also got rid of the original picture (just plain Elsa) so I can't re-do it in a different way. Oh well!

 So those are all my edits. Some are OK, others are better. :P
 Here are some ones that I found and that I do not own. Credit goes to each artist:

 I really love the last one and the ice GIF. And the one with Anna. And the fire one... :) :P

 I also had a go at writing a Frozen Fan fic, but that kinda failed... Although I'm going to have another go at writing it one. :)


Well, I hope you all enjoyed this. :) I'll let y'all know what happens with my grading tomorrow!

 Night!

 Spinj xoxo

Up Date

Hey All!!!


 So last week it was my brother's birthday! The young lad is now 7, and he had quite a lot of fun! He was also extremely pleased, as he got Benny's Spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP, and he won't let anyone touch Benny. Or Wyldstyle. But he'll let me look at Unikitty and the Robot thing.
 I was also really pleased, because I got to help build the spaceship (it was mainly putting on stickers, but I got to finish off one of the bags!!). ^-^ :P

 We went to this really cool park for his party, with awesome swings, a really cool climbing frame, super amazing slide, and lots of trees!! Here's some photos:

 Above is the slide! Apparently when you go down it it's super duper fast, but it wasn't working when I went - I could sit on it and not move anywhere. Rather disappointing, but maybe it'll work next time!

 And here is the playground! I loved the swings and the spinning thing. I could lie down on the swing and stay there for ages, and the spinning thing was so cool - I could make it go slower or faster when I changed how I was sitting or standing on it.
 And somehow my other brother (the older one of the three) managed to get the soccer ball stuck in the palm tree (pictured above in the picture) and my Dad, two of my brothers and myself started throwing really thick sticks at the ball. We had nearly given up when it moved, so we started throwing stuff at it again XD. It finally came down, but something had punctured it, so it's dead now and we can't use it. I think Mum was going to buy a new one.

 On the way home when we walked through the park I was this really cool, mini, artificial waterfall! It was so beautiful, so I got out my camera and took a photo.

Isn't it lovely?


Yesterday I finished my essay on Love and War, and I also wrote a poem! It's been ages since I last wrote a poem XD. You can check it out here.

 On my LEGO blog I now have a new chapter of Rise of the Nerds up!

 And for Throwback Thursday (I believe that's what it's called!) I'll tell you all to check out my Hexaflexagon post on Unicorn Crafts and School!!

Well, I'd better go, I have tidying to do, more essays to write, and I also have to get ready for my belt grading (martial arts) which is on Saturday. Wish me luck!

 Over and Out!

 Spinj

Everything Les Miserables!

Heya everyone!

 How are you all? Are you all well?

 Well, I've been doing a lot of Les Miserables stuff - mainly singing and drawing pictures. I've also been trying to organize a Les Mis Flash Mob, and so far it's going pretty well.

 Before I show you my drawings, I'd like to say that the Rose of Persia shows went really well! All in all we had about 180 people come to see us over a period of two days. I think the first night we had about 70 people, so there was still room for another thirty, but on the second we had 110 people - the stage manager and his assistant (my brother) had to run around looking for more seats to put out.

 So yes, my Les Miserables obsession!! Well, I've been singing some of the songs, but so far the only one I've recorded is On My Own. Here are both versions:

On My Own (Three Verses) this is the first version. I could only remember three of the verses.
On My Own the full song.
 Please let me know what you think of these! :)

Now, some Les Miserables drawings:

 1. I've been drawing them mostly in the form of My Little Pony. Here's Cosette.

 2. Eponine Thenardier. She's definitely my favorite character!

3. Marius Pontmercy. My second favorite character.
 (Please be aware that I am basing these drawings off the Musicals, not the movie).

 4. Little Eponine, after the Thenardiers loose their inn, and the shadow of her future self.

 5. Eponine taking Marius to see Cosette.

 6. Eponine is told to watch for the police while her family try to rob jean Valjean. However, Eponine tries to get Marius off the scene before anything bad happens.

 7. Eponine threatens to start screaming if her father and the gang try to rob Valjean's house.

8. Eponine's death.

 There are supposed to be a few more, but I haven't started drawing them yet. There will be a lot more of them with Cosette.

 9. Drawing myself Eponine style. That is pretty much how I look, I have all those clothes at home, but I didn't draw the hat properly. X)

 10. The outline I drew (of myself as Eponine).

11. Same as the picture above, but I coloured it using GIMP. :)

 12. The Les Miserables Logo. :)

13. I found this on the internet (like the Logo). Whoever made this is very clever, I give you a great big high five!



 We're going to see the Les Miserables concert for my birthday when it comes to town. I'm planning to buy a Les Miserables t-shirt, poster, and DVD recording of the 25th anniversary. I might also try to find the back door and meet the performers, get some photos and autographs. Did you know that 2015 is the musical's 30th anniversary?

 My friends and I are planning to do a Les Miserables flash mob. Well, I'm actually doing more of the planning. We've got three, maybe four people (including me). So there's my friend doing Cosette, and myself doing Eponine, my brother doing Gavroche, and I'm not sure who my friend's friend will want to be. Now I just need to find another 16-26 people...  Lets hope I can find them all.
 Although I'm wondering if we should do it in costume or not... I'm leaning towards in costume, but I've never organized a flash mob before, so I dunno if people normally do it in costume...
 I decided we'd sing "One Day More", but a few other good ones are "Do you hear the People Sing?" and "Look Down". The problem is that there are too many good songs!!

Well, I must go now, I have to do some organizing for the flash mob and we have someone coming to the house at 10ish.

 Goodbye, don't get messed up in any revolutions without me, and I'll see you all soon! :D

 Spinj xoxo

Busy, excited, something else...

Hello readers! :D

 How is everyone today? Have you had a good week?

 Do you remember in my last post that I mentioned that I had a blister on my finger from the frying pan dropping on it? Well, I went dancing yesterday, and in the middle of one of the songs the blister popped, and I could feel the pus on my hand. So I found a tissue and wiped it off.
 Then, later on, the skin that had covered the blister pulled off in the middle of another dance! So I could see this big red circle where the skin had pulled off. It hurt a lot, and still hurts at the moment.

 Today I have a rehearsal for the RoP. We start at 1 and go until 5. Dad reckons we're doing a dress rehearsal, but I'm not sure yet. Hopefully he's right - I'd love to wear my costume again!!
 I'm going to help one of the girls at the rehearsal (hopefully!). She is singing this really fast part, but can't sing it very well because she says 'hour' as "ower" instead of "our". Hopefully I can help her out. :)
 Our Show starts next week, on Friday, so I'm getting really excited!! It's been ages since I've done something like this.

 Friday was the day that they turned on the Christmas lights, so it's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas! :D :P I'm trying to remember all the verses to all the Christmas Carols at the moment. So far I can remember Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock, We Three Kings... And there are countless ones from which I can remember only one verse. :P
 

 

Here is a picture of the Christmas Tree in the City and some of the Christmas lights. Doesn't it look cool?

 Well, I have to go now. I have to have breakfast, and then get ready to be going to my rehearsal (I got up rather late today).

 Rock on!

 Spinj xoxo

Busy Wednesday

Hey Everyone! :)

 So I thought I'd tell you about yesterday, Wednesday the... 12th, I think it was. :P

 So, first thing I did was write some of my book, Powers. :) I wrote about a chapter or two, and read some of it out to my brothers. However, the story is starting to get a bit... dark, so I had to stop reading it aloud because some of my audience were on the young side.

 Then we had breakfast and I somehow managed to bump the frying pan, and it began to fall. I stopped it from falling, but it was really hot (because my brother had been cooking his breakfast in it) and I burnt my finger. I put it under cold water, and then had my breakfast, but because I was kinda laid-back about leaving it under the water long enough I got a big blister on it. :( I now had two sun-burnt shoulders from Tuesday and a very sore finger. :P
 We then started tidying up. I was doing the dishes, but couldn't put my hand in the water because my finger felt like it was burning again.

 Anyway, I managed to do the dishes, and then I went to circus class. Only my brother and I turned up, so we had a really good lesson. I started to learn Catcher's Hang on the silks, and then I also got to do some stiltwalking. Next year I can start doing professional stiltwalking, so I'm going to save up and buy a pair of stilts.

 After that my Mum and the Teacher had a long talk, and we left an hour after the class finished. I quickly got changed and went into town to see if the Library had the Les Miserables score. However, it was my second time to go to that library, and I got lost in the various music scores. I ended up spending just over an hour in the library, looking for the Les Miserables score, but I gave up after an hour and went back home.

 I got home just as my Mum was getting ready to leave to take my brothers to a music class. I tidied up, cooked dinner and did other stuff. My dad phoned to tell me he'd be late, and told me to have my dinner, put some into a container for him to have, and get ready and  then meet him in town. So I did that, left the house, and was halfway to the bus stop when Dad phoned to say he actually wanted to drop off his work bag at home. Then I realized I had left my bus fare at home, and my keys as well, so I couldn't get in. :P So I went to the front gate and waited for Dad to arrive.

 Anyway, it wasn't long before we arrived at our rehearsal with five minutes to spare. My friend's Dad (who is doing the lighting for the production) was there, and we all started to chat. I then wandered around, saying hi to other people.
 We got ready to do vocal warm ups, but the pianist was sick, so the choral conductor played our warm ups for us. But not having the pianist provided another problem - we didn't have backing for the opera. So then it was decided to sing along to the CD version. There were several jokes about this not being a rehearsal, but "A Karaoke night", but the CD brought out quite a lot of surprises... such as actually being able to sing some of the songs a lot faster, and a fewer mistakes!
 Unfortunately we have about a week until the first show, and many of the people feel that they won't be ready in time, as most of them are still using their music scores, and some say that they will need cheatsheets to get through the show. I find it rather amusing, because most of them are retired, and have plenty of time, while I have school work and other such things, and have learnt everything off by heart already, so it makes me wonder why they still don't know it. However, I remain hopeful that they will learn it, so I have my fingers crossed that they will.
 The rehearsal finished half an hour earlier than expected, and because of that a few people voted for a longer tea break in the middle of practice. :P However, I liked it finishing earlier, because I got to get home earlier and eat the dinner that I hadn't finished of - normally my Dad and I get home so late that I have to get to bed straight away.

 So when I got home I chatted to Mum and Dad about the rehearsal, then went to bed. And because I didn't put more coconut oil on my shoulders, they are feeling more sun-burnt than yesterday.



 Well, that was my Wednesday. I'm not normally that busy in one day, but I have been for the past week or two, and I'll still be that busy next week.

 I'll see you all later! :D

 Rock On!

 Spinj

A few More Drawings... and things

Hello all! How are you today?

 Once again, I have taken a rather long break from postings, but do not fear, I am back!... for now. :P

 Well, I have been busy. Busking, music rehearsals and school have been really fun recently, and I've been catching up with friends. I've suddenly acquired an odd, unexplainable obsession over Les Miserables. I've also been drawing, and trying to make my own book covers. :) Plus listening to Doctor 11's theme song (yes, Doctor Who).

 AAHH EEEK!! It's the Les Miserables Logo!!!

 Benny says hi(gh)!

 Shimmer, who makes 1/4 of my main characters in Powers. Reason for the white skin is... aw, should I tell? >:) :P

 Shimmer, before the image above... figured out why she's so white yet? :P

And a fairly accurate drawing I did of me... dressed as Eponine from Les Miserables. The clothing is pretty much what I've got here at home, just a different type of cap. I'm planning to attempt a go at making my own production of Les Miserables, so I'm putting together my costume (because I'm Eponine. :P) and doing lots of planning.
 If any of my readers have any tips on putting together plays/musicals, please let me know about them in the comments! :D

 OK, so above is the front cover for Powers. Took a while to get the right colour for the title.

 

Now do you know why Shimmer is so white skinned? :P Have a guess in the comments! :D



 Well, I have more to say, but I can't remember it... Oh well, it'll return to me later. Hope you all enjoyed this post! :D

 See you all later!

 Spinj xoxoxo