Aiphos-Sender

I don't post journals often enough for you to have forgotten about this:
GAH! BLOOD! EVERYWHERE!Yesterday was a...very strange day. I woke up motivated, surprisingly, and successfully completed two exams (which weren't really exams, per se. they were really just project/portfolio reviews to appease the rest of the school departments because apparently they think art is too easy and anyone can do it and that's why no one else in the school is and so we have to fake some exams so the other students who can't think past unchanging formulas won't throw hissy fits because we spent all semester creating things out of sheer artistical genius and have tons to show for it while they can only fill in the blanks and run a scantron through a computer)...
Aaanyway. So. Yeah. I wore my glasses, and I'll be honest, I think I look pretty freakin' awesome in my glasses. I just hate them because I have to keep pushing them back up my nose (ISHIDA? MURAKI?! NUUU~!)!
Due to the amazing smexiness that is my glasses-fied face, I had one of those days. You know what I mean, right? One of those d
Well...it happened again Sunday. But this time, we had to say goodbye to Gozer. He went quick and easy with a painless little pinprick. Em and Cass were with him to say goodbye. I was visiting friends and family in GA at the time, so I didn't get to say goodbye, but I have no regrets. He knows I love him. Yes, present tense, 'cause it's still true and I believe in an afterlife, for humans and other critters alike.
Gozer was an awesome, over-sized lap dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and I will miss his massive, ugly face. Nevertheless, I feel certain that letting him go this way was best. Otherwise, we'd have been living apprehensively, always wondering when the next fight would be and whether the dogs would stick to fighting each other or if little Sadie might get caught in the middle somehow. Also, we didn't want to put him up for adoption because, well, let's be honest. The only people who would want him would be jerks who wanted to fight him. This way, we can remember him happily as the good dog he was and not heap guilt or fear or remorse onto his memory. After all, he really was a sweet dog!
Listy is still recovering. We should be able to take the head wrap off tomorrow. So many stitches... She's lethargic from the pain and pain meds, of course, so we're not sure, yet, if some of her subdued behavior might be due to missing her playmate.
Sadie keeps saying Gozer is sick and in the car 'cause that's the last she heard or saw of him. We're hoping she'll just forget about him until she's older and ready to learn more about the whole "death" thing. I mean, really...she's not even three, yet. It's better to just forget, right?
When everyone else went to bed last night, I stayed up and talked to Em for a couple hours. She's not the type to wear her heart on her sleeve, so I was rather surprised to find that she soaked mine while crying over Gozer. She feels terrible, and I did my best to comfort her, but a death in the family is not something that you can just get over so fast or easy - nor should it be. The fact that we miss him and it hurts is proof that he was special to us.
Cass is really struggling with the loss, too, but I don't expect him to confide in me and that's fine. I think I'd break down if he cried in front of me.
Mom is doing all right. She was the only one home when it happened, and she's still coping with being covered in blood while trying to separate the dogs again. We'd been carefully keeping the dogs separated unless we were with them, but this was one of those, "Oh, I'll run downstairs to grab something really quick and they'll be just fine," moments that you never expect to turn out so bad. I hope she doesn't feel guilty, but I'd be surprised if she didn't.
Oh, Gozer... T-T We're all gonna miss you, Little Bittle!
In other news...well, no. I don't feel like saying anything else right now. I want everyone to think about dogs and friends and family and how wonderful they are. Especially around this time of year. Especially Gozer.

...Oh, wow. According to DA, my birthday has already started. Odd, since that would make today yesterday already while tomorrow is today but not quite yet as I'm still not willing to leave the current today to yesterday.

That aside, I have an interesting (to me) question for all of you!

What is the first line of your favorite novel? I don't want forewords, introductions, or author's notes. I want the first line of Chapter I. How does your favorite story begin? What does that first sentence contain that stopped you in your tracks and dragged you to the check-out desk?

See, I was reading this www.fuelyourwriting.com/the-mo… and decided to go through my shelves and see what I had that actually hooked me from line one. I have to admit, I was disappointed with a few and so didn't list their first lines, but the majority were lines that instantly intrigued me. Here's a list of some of my favorites. And, oh! It is tempting to just keep writing, because I feel like the first line on its own doesn't do the book justice - but that very strangling desire to keep writing is the same as what keeps me reading, so that means the first line is good enough.

Anyway, I'd like to share some of these masterpieces with you all, get your opinions, and hear about some of yours! Give me one or twenty, I don't particularly mind. The more the merrier! I think we'll all learn a lot about what is necessary for a gripping tale. There will undoubtedly also be some interesting insight as to making illustrations and photographs more appealing.

So, here they are! See any patterns?

"A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate." – The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy

"Sure, it's good to be bad, but the life of a villain is not always about blocking out the sun." – The Villain's Guide to Better Living, by Neil Zawacki

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." – A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

"It was with some trepidation that the household steward confessed that Dris Verras's daughter had escaped." – The Sorcerer's Lady, by Paula Volsky

"This book is about bloodshed and death and atrocity." – Shinsengumi: the Shogun's Last Samurai Corps, by Romulus Hillsborough

"It was Old Bess, the Wise Woman of the village, who first suspected that the baby at her daughter's house was a changeling." – The Moorchild, by Eloise McGraw

"Thunder rumbled in the distance like the growl of angry wolves." – The King's Shadow, by Elizabeth Alder

"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened." – The Giver, by Lois Lowry

"Piper decided to jump off of the roof." - The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun." – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

"It is a cruel thing to do, to cage such a beautiful, passionate animal as if it was only a dumb beast, but humans do so all too often." – In the Forests of the Night, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

"The old man just appeared, seemingly out of nowhere." – First King of Shannara, by Terry Brooks

"You think you've found somebody, so suddenly my program gets the ax?" – Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one." – Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

"I shall never forget the first time I laid these now tired old eyes on our visitor." – Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery, by Deborah and James Howe

"One of the few redeeming facets of instructors, I thought, is that occasionally they can be fooled." – Another Fine Myth, by Robert Lynn Aspirin

"We are at rest five miles behind the front." – All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

And just for fun:

"The etymology of a word is essentially an account of its history." – Chambers Dictionary of Etymology

"Am I really pregnant?" – What to Expect When You're Expecting, by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E. Hathaway, B.S.N.

Come on, then! What do you all read? What's on your shelf? What's on your gadget? Show and tell! (It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that I highly recommend all of the books I listed!)

Yesterday was a...very strange day. I woke up motivated, surprisingly, and successfully completed two exams (which weren't really exams, per se. they were really just project/portfolio reviews to appease the rest of the school departments because apparently they think art is too easy and anyone can do it and that's why no one else in the school is and so we have to fake some exams so the other students who can't think past unchanging formulas won't throw hissy fits because we spent all semester creating things out of sheer artistical genius and have tons to show for it while they can only fill in the blanks and run a scantron through a computer)...
Aaanyway. So. Yeah. I wore my glasses, and I'll be honest, I think I look pretty freakin' awesome in my glasses. I just hate them because I have to keep pushing them back up my nose (ISHIDA? MURAKI?! NUUU~!)!
Due to the amazing smexiness that is my glasses-fied face, I had one of those days. You know what I mean, right? One of those days where, for some unaccountable reason, you just...feel like a...SUPER HERO INCOGNITO?!
I told Mom about it on the way to our painting exam (so fun taking classes with her!) and she just gave me this detached-yet-amused look. "Yeah. You're definitely in disguise. No super hero wears glasses!"
WHAAAT?! Sure they do! Oh, wait. I actually have a quote in my notes from cartooning...when my professor said, "Super heroes don't wear glasses. That's why I could never be a super hero." What about Clark Kent?! Oh. Right. I despise him. And it's still the whole "incognito" thing.
...Whatever. I'll just pretend I didn't hear and laugh at and write that down...
Continuing on with my astounding account of yesterday! We did the exam thing, totally passed, went home...and then the poo hit the swamp cooler.
Second most scary day of my life starting at precisely 5:00pm MST. Can't decide if it was scarier than when I heard from Mom that Dad got into a car wreck while I was in Italia on the other side of the globe and totally freaked because they're divorced so why is Mom telling me it can only mean one thing and that is Dad is dead nooo~! Turns out he just had both arms in a cast and a broken collar bone and totaled car. Yeah. I'm sure it was nothing. IDIOT! Don't play tag with SUVs when you're in a dinky little Taurus! PLEASE!
Oh. Right. I was talking about yesterday. Well, I was sitting in my room, drawing the next Mini Melee character card (Laura's card shall forever make me think of death after this...) when all of a sudden I hear Mom shouting from the backyard. She screamed my name and told me to bring my phone. What the heck? So, being the calm and collected, dutiful daughter that I am...I grabbed my cell, staggered out of my room, and ran to the kitchen...
...and stopped dead in my tracks.
Oh.
No.
I have never seen so much blood in my entire life! It looked like a cheap horror film!
I despise horror films even more than I despise Super Man.
Seriously, though. There was blood splattered over every inch of the kitchen floor, like spots on a dalmatian! That was my first thought, and it was weird, but totally accurate. Blood on the table, chairs, oven, fridge, dog kennel, counters, smeared on the walls, on the waste basket, the blinds, the door...
My mind died. There was no way to get through the kitchen without stepping in puddles of blood, and I was barefoot and suddenly not very keen on the idea. I mean, not like I've encountered this sort of scenario before and been thrilled to dance in others' bodily fluids...but...well, you know. Mom was still shouting, so I stepped over the baby fence. (Thank heavens it managed to contain the disaster area to just the kitchen and backyard. I don't think I could have handled it if blood was on the carpet, couch, and beds as well. Or the crib. Oh, man, that would have been too much. Wait, what am I saying in these parentheses?! It was too much, anyway!!!)
When I ran onto the deck and saw the blood all over the wood, too, along with water, and saw Mom spraying the dogs with a hose, I was beyond confused. She saw me, shouted at me to call my sister Emma (to whom the dogs belong) and then shouted at me to help her separate the dogs. I was petrified. What am I supposed to do?! Call or intervene or drag Mom away from them or keep standing in the blood, gaping in dismay?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!
So, I ignored my cell and ran down to her and started slapping Gozer (the chill-est dog I've ever known) who was lunging repeatedly at Lister (the hyper-est dog I've ever known) and going for her throat. Listy, meanwhile, was gnawing on Gozer's face and both were yelping and snarling and pouring bloody water as Mom sprayed them in an apparently futile attempt to scare them apart.
My relief at seeing Mom unharmed was swallowed up so fast in all the panic and violence that I...really...just...don't know. I think I'm still a bit broken. We couldn't get the dogs to stop. Those two were best friends! What on earth had possessed them to attempt murdering each other?! Oh, I am SO glad the baby wasn't home - or my sister or her husband, for that matter.
I ran back up the stairs to the deck, whistled and called Listy in an amazingly convincing happy voice, and dragged her inside with me before slamming the door shut in Gozer's face. Almost immediately, I wished I had brought Gozer with me instead. Listy and I stood in the blood-splattered kitchen, dripping wet and covered in red, suffocating on the overwhelming stench of bloody wet dog, and stared at each other.
I thought she was going to kill me.
She thought I was going to kill her.
We stared. And stared. And when I finally decided that it was okay for my heart to stop pounding because she obviously didn't have rabies, Gozer started beating himself against the locked doggy-door. I think that's when I started choking on my heart, which had somehow leapt into my throat. But, seeing that Listy was expecting punishment and Gozer was just freaking out because he was being punished by closed doors and spraying hoses (yay, Mom!), I looked around the room again and slowly allowed coherent thoughts to interrupt my horror.
First thought:
'The dogs are dying. I need to call Emma. Where's my phone? Oh, crap, the battery is almost dead! I'm gonna die! DEATH!'
I called Emma, left an undoubtedly far more dramatic vm than necessary, asked her to come home from work asap or call me, and then hung up. Then I looked around the room again.
Next First thought:
'Huh. That's a lot of blood. It reeks in here. Omigosh, it's on Sadie's high chair! Ugh! I'd better clean this up before they get home!'
Second thought:
'...Good sir, that is a LOT of blood! It reeks in here! Omigosh, where's my camera?! This is excellent reference material! I should shoot pictures of the walls and floor and dogs before I clean this up!'
Third thought:
'What am I thinking?! This is no time to be all creepy-artsy! I need to clean this gore-fest up before my two-year-old niece gets home and sees bits of dog all over the kitchen! She'll be scarred for life!'
I grabbed some paper towels, threw them on the floor, and started mopping up blood and water. As soon as I ducked down to clean, the smell re-assailed me and I gagged. I thought I would throw up, but then realized that would only contribute to the mess and somehow managed to overcome my nausea. Meanwhile, Listy stared morosely at me with the most pitiful, bloody eyes I have ever seen. Tail between legs. Dripping with blood. And then WHUMP! She just fell onto the floor and started twitching.
AAAAAAAAAGH! LISTY! What's happening?! <--I would have verbally expressed this mental distress had she not immediately stood back up, shook water and blood everywhere, and then flopped down again. She wasn't twitching. She was simply rolling in her own blood because apparently her back was itchy! AAARGH! You stupid canines! Stop trying to give me myocardial infarctions! Blast you!
So, yeah. Mom came in a while later as I was scooping up handfuls of bloody fur. I asked if she was all right. She was. She asked if I was. I started laughing - that kind of nervous laughter you make when your mind has completely left you. We stared at each other, stared at Listy, stared at the blood, and then I started mopping again. Couldn't think of anything to say.
Mom took charge, which annoyed me for some reason, and told me to do five things at once. Again, the whole call-and-separate-the-dogs-at-the-same-time thing. Make up your mind, woman! I cannot possibly do everything at once! And I really don't feel like tracking blood all over the house! Dangit! I'm bare foot! This totally SUUUCKS!
I turned on the swamp cooler to try to clear the stench, checked the dogs to be sure they weren't seriously injured, called Emma again and left a less panicked vm, searched for a real mop and bucket and disinfectant stuff, checked my phone again and realized that not only was the battery dying but I'd left it on vibrate and had missed five calls from Emma who was indubitably freaking out, called again, finally told her what was going on, got back to cleaning, checked the dogs again, started scrubbing semi-congealed blood off the walls and high-chair, got another call from Em saying they were leaving work early and picking up Sadie and would be home soon, started cleaning in earnest so the baby wouldn't see blood everywhere, barely finished in time, and then took Sadie to my room because she's usually not allowed because of my compy and various other things she tries to break so of course she was stoked and we played while Emma and her husband checked the dogs and called a vet friend and then they decided to take the dogs to the vet for stitches and this sentence will never end because then I got stuck watching Sadie for a couple hours until I could finally switch with Mom who had finished sanitizing the kitchen and then I finally got to take a shower and rinse the blood off and GYAH! I took the longest, hottest shower I could stand. The others got back a few hours later with the dogs shaved and bleeding in patches and stitched up and totally stoned. They were both exhausted and weak and aching and could barely stand but didn't want to lay down because of their painful injuries.
That's when I started shaking.
I guess it was because I didn't have to do anything anymore. Sadie was ready for bed, the kitchen was clean, the dogs were fine, everyone was home... Gozer, my favorite little (big) puppy (bully dog) climbed into my lap, got blood on my jammies and leg, and just sighed. I started tearing up, about ready to cry, and just started shaking. Emma's hubby noticed and asked if I was all right. Mom said I was probably just finally letting it out. I agreed and decided it was time for bed. Changed my jammies, cleaned off the blood, crawled into bed...
...and couldn't sleep. I finally realized the terror I had experienced and blocked all at once. I thought the dogs were killing Mom. I thought she was dying. I thought the blood was hers. Then I thought the dogs had gone crazy and were trying to kill each other. I thought Listy was going to kill me.
No way was I gonna sleep with my mind replaying the afternoon dog-fight blood-bath.
I am so grateful for friends with nocturnal sleep patterns. Thank you, PV! Totally diffused me. As soon as I hung up after talking with her, I was out cold and didn't wake up until late this morning. I feel sooo much better. The dogs are behaving like normal, albeit a little less energetic, and everyone is doing fine. One more exam tonight and then this semester is over. And then I'm going to cry. For realz. I really, really need a good cry. And then I'll get back to the fun stuff - like Mini Melee cards and Faunart and cleaning my room after the disaster Sadie made it into yesterday.
So! The next time I feel like a super hero incognito...I think I'll be a bit more wary of the dogs and various other things that like to go BOOM!

Rules
1. For each of the 15 first people answering this journal, I will put their avatar and the two deviations I like most from their gallery on the list! OR MORE. Deal with it.
2. If you answer, you have to do the same in your journal, putting the tagger on the first place. The idea of this is not to get a free feature, it is to spread art around for everyone!
3. Break the rules! I'm way too tired to care – not that I would care if I was awake anyway.

Regole
1. Per ognuno delle 15 persone che rispondono prima a questo diario, io metterò il loro avatar e le due deviazioni che mi piaciono di più dalla loro galleria sull'elenco! O PIÙ. Figuratevi.
2. Se rispondi, dovrai fare lo stesso nel tuo diario, mettendo il tagger nel primo posto. L'idea di questo non è avere un feature gratis, ma diffondere arte per tutti!
3. Rompe le scatole - o le regole. Che centra?

1. - I must admit that the main reason I wanted to do this was for Rheill. The day my world threatened to go KABOOM, I clicked on her banner, read her story, and fell in love. She's a well of inspiration, creativity, imagination, and friendship, and I am so glad to know her! I tried! Really, I did! But to pick only two when I love her work so much is just impossible! Is this favoritism? Why yes. Yes, it is.
:thumb148364532: :thumb203391078: :thumb193929630: :thumb123279948: :thumb130868757:

2. - Such a goober! RHM has one of the quirkiest senses of humor ever - and that is why I prize him! Plus, he knows what Myst is! I think his greatest fear, at least when I'm around, is that he'll wake up with a tail surgically attached to his backside. Now, why do you think he has such a strange phobia...?
The No No No No No No ListThe No No No No No No No No No! List of Myst "do's" and "do nots"
1. Red or Blue pages are not suitable substitutes for toilet paper.
2. Neither are Journals.
3. It is not nice to replace the red pages in the red prison book, and then rip them out while laughing maniacally.
4. Matches that are found in a safe are only to be used for starting the boiler.
5. Graffiti will not be tolerated.
6. Linking books are not Frisbees.
7. Linking books are not to be read.
8. Linking books will not try to stab you.
9. In the event that a prison book talks to you, please ignore its advice.
10. I shall not eat the berries found in Edanna.
11. Nor will I make juice, powder, pie, or any other consumable product from said berries.
12. I will not offer said berries to any other stranger.
13. If I have given said berries to said other stranger I will not find their "state of mind" funny.
14. Saveedro does not worship Squees.
15. Squees are best left in their natural habitat, and should not be taken h

3. / - Changed her sn~! Few people can make me laugh as spontaneously and loudly as this girl! She knows cute like the back of her hand, but she can also stretch the expressions and come up with some great exaggeration! She's one of the most understanding and encouraging friends I could ever hope for! I totally love your guts, PV!
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4. / - Also changed her sn. Of all my friends, I've known LP the longest - and of all the artists I know, I think her development has been the greatest and most interesting to watch! If you want someone with a unique style and an intense determination to constantly better said style, you should really pay her a visit!


5. - Suki has got to be one of the craziest people I've ever known, with a well-developed obsession - er, passion for culture and history (especially Japanese). She has an eye for beauty and an imagination that brings it to life. Simple things are no longer mere background but details of nostalgia and fairy tales.


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Ogni notte di questa settimana, ho sognato gli incubi orribili! Le persone care a me svaniscono, cresco le ali e caddo, vedo mostri spaventosissimi, e mi sveglio di nuovo. Quasi non voglio dormire, pero'...beh, sarebbe piu' distruttivo non dormire che perdere la mente...?
Allooora~!
Something very strange has happened. Never before has a professor asked me to use DA for class...so this may be a bit...weird. For one thing, I'll be updating fairly regularly for a change, but it'll all be assignments...and for another, I'll know exactly who's looking at my stuff. Che veramente strano!
Yeah.
Mi pare che scrivero' di piu' in italiano a causa di questo, perche a me sarebbe piu' significante se le mie parole importano ai miei colleghi di scuola abbastanza per loro da tradurrle. Altrementi, che ne' freg'!
La scuola va benissimo - ed io sono emozionatissima di preparare - finalmente - per la mia prima convenzione!!! Saro' a AWA a settembre! Magari vedro' alcuni di voi!
VVTB - ish! XD