National ‘Nooooooo’ Writing Month

Hello, fellow Rubbers! How’s everyone’s Halloween this year? Did you go trick-or-treating ? Or stayed at home all day? My mum brought candies for trick-or-treaters, but due to classes we have that night, we didn’t give away any candies nor did my brother had a chance to trick-or-treat. But I was far busy to be upset for that, for I am busy preparing for the upcoming NaNoWriMo 2012!

So what is NaNoWriMo anyway? NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, in which in a mere 30(or 31?) days, you will have to write 50, 000 words (a novella size story). Intimidating? Yes, it is. But there are a few things you have to understand to join it.

At NaNoWriMo, you can write about anything, but it should be original. (It is part of the rules, but no one is going to check what you wrote, so no one would know if you are writing a piece of fan fiction.) NaNoWriMo focuses on quantity, not koala-tea (quality). I reckon this is to keep writers motivated and committed to write a 1,667 words every day to make it to the goal of 50,000, despite on November, is when a lot of events lie ahead (Exams! Christmas! etc, etc) Instead of writing and editing and writing and editing and never getting the story done, what about complete a novel and you can at least tell others, “I have written a novel.” even if it is a horrible one. It’s the first step.

For 30/31 days, there will be a word counter for you to update the word count of your story, and provide you a very handy dandy stats of the average words you wrote, target word count (which is 50,000), target average words per day (1,667), total words written, words remaining to your goal, current day, days remaining to 30/31th, “At This Rate You Will Finish On”, words per day to finish on time and a bar graph of your progress! When it comes close to the 30th, there will be a word counter available in NaNoWriMo and by pasting your story in, you win as you reach 50,000 words!

So… question time!

If no one is going to check it, how do they know if you cheat?
The thing is, they don’t. But what can you gain if you lie? This is a project to help you, either take it or leave it.

But how am I going to write 50,000 words in 30/31 days?
My saying for this year is this: “WING IT.” Plot? Outline? Monsters? Mainstream! Go with the flow if you don’t have an outline or plot! Too cliche? Too stupid? Too boring? Don’t change it. Or if you are really irked by it, make a line across and write your alternative ending. Try not to delete masses of paragraphs at a time because it will only decrease your word count. Don’t think about it, just write. (TIP: Someone taught me that writing without looking at the screen helps, and it did.)

What happens if I win?
You get a story done then, well done, you. You won’t get a prize for winning the challenge (Actually, you do! It’s a winner certificate and web badge!). However, you have a complete story in front of you, the achievement is overwhelming. Do whatever you want with your story! You could use it for private purposes, for your friends, or even for your future career. It’s up to you what you do with those 50,000+ words you get at the end of the month.

What happens if I lose?
It’s alright, love. There’s always next year. But that doesn’t mean you are going to leave your story unfinished after the end of the month! Finish it off, and you are too, a winner at heart.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

I am a proud NaNoWriMo participant since 2011. I found out about the challenge on Day 5 or later, and started writing. But my first try, only lasted for five days and less, ended up with the amount of 5,171 words. Mistake 1, I edit while I write (I got negative words on Day 4); Mistake 2, I lack an outline and Mistake 3: I was not motivated. But this year, after reading some articles, I realised I’m doing it all wrong.

Ten minutes before NaNoWriMo on October 31, 2012, I was waiting for it. I panicked when it turned 12AM, and I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote like a mad woman on that night, I got 2,000 words that night. I wrote what came into my head, without filtering, and collapsing them onto a blank canvas. Often changing point of views, writing a scene of what I think should happen earlier or later, an event of a character’s past, etc. Put stuff in. Put more stuff in. Repeat stuff. I was steady for the past four days, forcing myself to 2,000 words every day. Currently, I have a count of 7,554 words and I plan to reach my 10,000 mark today. Though I’m still repeating Mistake 2, but tad different as I do have an outline, but I don’t stick to it like what the post-November me had expected.

 

Doesn’t sound that bad, eh? What about giving it a go? This is NaNoWriMo’s official webpage. Check out more from there. And here, also very resourceful to learn more about NaNoWriMo. Despite that NaNoWriMo began four days (or three or five, depends on time-zones), you can join NaNoWriMo, perhaps you might not be able to hit your 50,000 count by the end of the month. But try to hit your best shot, 40,000?

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Feast of Fiction

Lately, I have been into watching vlogs on YouTube. Thanks to Zoe, I have become a fan of LizzieBennet and feastoffiction.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are based on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, but is modernized and slightly altered to be hilarious. It stars Ashley Clements and was created by the famous Hank Green and Bernie Su.
Feast of Fiction features recipes from dishes in certain shows, games, and movies and also shows how to make them. This is epic because I have been wanting to see real Water Tribe Noodles, Turkish Delight, A Krabby Patty, Lamb Stew with Plums, and Peeta's Burnt Nut and Raisin bread.

These videos contain fun and funny in epic proportions, so it will do you good to watch 'em.

Reminders from Mother Nature

#DoItYOURSELF
#MakeACHANGE

Yes, it’s one of those times where you sweep your lazy bums off the sofa for watching too much, or sitting on the chair in front of a laptop, in a dim room, wondering what year it is. No, you get up. Stand up. Walk around the room. Walk out of the room. Greet your mother hello. Greet your sister hello. Greet your father hello. Get out of the house, knock at your neighbour’s house, greet them, share a smile, and don’t continue reading this post until you’ve done that. (Not wise if you’re reading this in the middle of the night.) I hope you learned something new from them.

Now that you’re all pumped up for the activity, or just the exact opposite, no matters! It won’t be a craft that requires a lot of technical skills. God bless.

And the dish(craft) you will be cooking(making) today is…

A terrarium necklace. I’m guessing that is a quite straightforward craft to do. “Just stick a plant and some soil into a little container and you’re good!” But it would be silly of me if I put it that way, even when that is the truth.

YOU WILL NEED:

• A glass bottle charm

 

Honestly, I have no idea where you can get these bottles without buying them intentionally. When I was young, they were in the ‘trend’, and the people who sold these bottles decorate them prettily. And they put pink glittery things into it and make it sparkly. And you put little messages for yourself ten years later, and bury it in the garden……

• A small plant and soil (that fits in a bottle)

Yuka comments “The plants that I’ve put in my necklaces so far have stayed small (mostly clovers and plants that don’t become huge), but yes, that’s totally possible if you use other plants!” I think having small plants is a nice idea, but what if you put a normal small plant in it, if it overgrows the bottle, replant it on solid ground, and place another small plant in the bottle? Excuse me for the sudden bold in words. That was a good idea for the environment, and I want people to take note of that.

• Tweezers

Some things that I don’t really need to elaborate.

• A chain or string for the necklace

Length depends. Making it a bracelet would be a bit annoying dangling around your arm. If you don’t like it as a necklace, there are always other options to be explored, like hanging somewhere on a hook where you see it every day.

• Jump ring

Don’t take it literally. It will not hop out of your sight.

 

METHODS:

1. Stick the dirt and plant in the bottle. Or, stick the soil first, then use the tweezers and stick the plant in. (Don’t squish it!!!)
2. Also, clean the inside of the glass because it won’t look like nice with dirt everywhere. “I cleaned mine with a chopstick wrapped with a little tissue around the end.” Quote by the author. Then, close the bottle.
3. Attach a jump ring, and let the chain or string go around it.
4. Lastly, water it every day! So this lovely plant will grow.

I actually love this idea of bringing a little plant around. When I first saw this post, I thought it’s simply brilliant for the workshop I’d be doing for a primary school, as part of the environmental group committee, and teach them about sustainability.

That little necklace is a constant reminder of the urgency of global warming, and the way they will water it every day, will become a habit to participate in events for the environment. I also interpreted it as a souvenir from Mother Earth, reminding, reminding, reminding that this is our Earth, and we’re to make a change here.

 

Also, shameless promotion of semi-related environmental programmes in Australia:

Youth Decide: The Energy Election is a national youth vote on renewable energy. In the next few months, the Federal Government will make a decision about how much of Australia’s future electricity will come from coal, gas, wind or sun. For one week in September, young people across Australia will come together in a national youth referendum. This is our opportunity to have our say on this critical issue.

From 10-17 September, join young people across the country holding voting events in their schools, universities, workplaces or communities. Put up your hand to help tens of thousands of young people be heard: register to hold your own voting event by filling in the form below.

(READ MORE: http://youthdecide.aycc.org.au/)

Because this is downright important business. And my group had only a week to organise this, and we need as many Australian youths to vote. I am aware that all my recent posts are environment related subjects, but… (resisting the temptation to use a witty response like #yolo)

      Please don’t forget about the environment.
                        Please don’t forget about her.

 Thank you, Clossette, for sharing us this craft! For the original article, here is the place. Picture credits in chronological order: x, x, x, x, x and x.

A parrot went to the Olympics

Well, wasn't the Olympics wonderful. Everything went as we expected it would. Records were broken, medals were won, and the United States of America got the most gold medals. But it's now time for another Olympics. Olympics for birds. I've been training my friend Crackers up for all the events.

Of course, there are many events to compete in. Crackers seems to struggle a little with the 5 metre running race, often mistaking it for the "walking" or "turning around and going the wrong way" race.

Then there's the Flying race. Crackers is a little better at this, but still tends to fly the wrong way most of the time.

Finally, there's Crackers favourite event. It's called "Seedsearch." Seeds are scattered in various places on the ground, and the birds have to try and find as many as they can before the other birds get to them. Crackers has much fun training for this.

Olympics for parrots begins on August 29 and continues for 11 days, going by the name of Parrotolympics.

Actually...

It appears I may have misheard the name of these Olympics. Sorry Crackers, but it's not the Parrotolympics that starts soon. It's the Paralympics. There is no Olympic Games for parrots. I'm really sorry.

(Oh no...he's started crying. He really did want to go to London to compete. Poor bird.)

Even though I got things a bit muddled there, I'll be tuning into the Paralympics anyway. The Paralympics is a separate Olympic Games held shortly after each regular Olympics, with 21 sports. The key difference between the regular Olympics and the Paralympics is that the Paralympics is for athletes with a physical disability. This means that some amazing talent is showcased in some truly unique sports.

Like Wheelchair Tennis. Which is like tennis, but is played in a Wheelchair.

Source: http://www.london2012.com/paralympics

There are some slightly more regular sports such as Archery, Cycling, Athletics, Shooting, Rowing, and Swimming. But while the sports may be regular, the athletes are far beyond regular. Izhak Mamistvalov swum in the 2004 Athens Paralympics, and because of his cerebral palsy, can only use one arm when he swims. His other arm and his legs don't work, and simply hang there producing drag while he swims. Yet he broke two Paralympic records. Truly amazing.

Whilst these normal sports are quite nice, it's the more unusual sports I find more interesting. Goalball's very interesting. It's for blind or visually impaired people (everyone wears a special mask to make them totally blind if they still have some partial sight). There's two teams. Each team has half a court, and has to throw a ball past the other team and into their goal. The ball has bells in it so they know where it is, and unlike many other sports, the crowd has to be completely silent while the game is played so the athletes can hear the bells ringing.

Source: http://www.london2012.com/paralympics

"Sitting Volleyball" is another interesting sport. It's fairly self-explanatory. It's volleyball, but rather than running around you sit down. If you're someone that's too lazy to do regular Physical Education at your school, you may wish to suggest this to your teacher...

Source: http://www.london2012.com/paralympics

Wheelchair Fencing initially appears quite interesting, but gets a little dull after a while, whilst Wheelchair Basketball is very good. But my favourite would have to be Wheelchair Rugby, the best Paralympic sport of all.

Yep, you read that right. Wheelchair Rugby.

Each team is allowed to put four players on the court at a time. Each athlete has a disability that affects their arms or legs, and is given a certain amount of "points" as to how severe their disability is. Each team can have a maximum of 8 "points" on the field at a time, to keep things fair (so a team can't just have four very mobile players). The idea is, just like regular rugby, a team has to carry the ball over their goal line. But, unlike regular rugby, each player is in a wheelchair. Players are allowed to crash their wheelchairs into other players, and try to grab the ball off them. It involves lots of falling over, and has been given the nickname "Murderball."

Source: http://www.london2012.com/paralympics

In the second image you can see my favourite player, Australia's Ryley Batt. He's possibly the best player in the whole competition, and Australia's strategy is always to simply pass the ball to him and hope he'll be able to ram his way through all the other players to score a goal. You can see the highlights from the 2008 Beijing final here, where the United States beat Australia to get the Gold Medal, whilst Australia won Silver.

Unlike the actual Olympics, there's a lot less Copyright and Broadcast rights around the Paralympics, which means that you can watch the games live on the official Paralympics Youtube channel here. (For readers in the Philippines, my research suggests that this is the only way to watch it, as it doesn't appear to be televised. In Australia, the ABC will be showing it live! Without annoying ad breaks in the middle of sports! Hooray for the ABC!)

Even though everybody is confident that the United States will win the most Gold medals, it's still worth having a look at. I personally follow it more actively than the regular Olympics. The only person not happy about it is Crackers, who is still imagining himself winning a Gold Medal at the Parrotolympics...

Light ‘Bottle’

 

A Liter Of Light Video (Official Version)

‘A Liter Of Light’ is a project by Illac Diaz from Phillippines, aiming to let this simple craft spread across the world so that no one will suffer with lack of electricity. It’s a good and smart craft, so I thought I should share with my fellow PRs. As I believe, many authors and readers are from Phillippines, and some may experience this ‘no-light-in-the-house’ and if that’s the case, this is for them. And for anyone you readers know who suffers from that.

Otherwise, it might be useful someday in the future. For example, one day, you may be lost in the forest and found a little hut as shelter for the night. Throughout the cold, dark night, no light brighten up your night… But wait a minute, you remember something! You remember? The video you watched thirty years ago on how to make a light bulb with a water bottle…

Survival skills. Right, that’s the word. But I doubt that would be your top worry if you were ever lost.

For those people who can’t watch the video, let me recap how this is done.

1. Get an empty water bottle. From the ground, after you finish one, from the bin (For hygienic reasons, this is optional.) This size can be enough, any smaller is okay too, as long as it fits (the top bit seen from the roof, and the bottom bit seen under), size doesn’t matter.
2. Punch a hole on a piece of metal roofing. Be sure the hole must be big enough for the bottle to slide it in.
3. Slip the bottle in and apply some sealant around the bottle that intersects the metal. (Brought to you by dictionary.com) sealant (noun) A substance used for sealing, as sealing ex or adhesives. After you do that, you might need to wait for them to dry for them to stick.
4. Fill the bottle with filtered water, add some bleach and close the lid.
5. Install it on the roof. I’m not sure how to explain it, for I did not do it myself, but here and here’s a screenshot for how they do it.
6.  Make sure it’s sealed. So the roof won’t leak.

Then it’s done. Simple as that!

FRIENDLY REMINDER: The craft only works on metal ceilings, or other materials similar to that. But I would love to see you try punching a hole against a brick ceiling and install a water bottle there. If that’s the case, ‘It’s for the environment!’ is not a valid excuse for that.

The Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics 2012

   Hello, lovely readers! I'm sorry that none of us have updates in quite a long time, since most of us here are from the Philippines and we have school. Anyway, have you guys watched the opening ceremony of the London Olympics yesterday? Man, that was awesome! The Queen jumping out of a plane (not really, just a stunt double), the NHS performance, JK Rowling, giant puppets of villains from British literature, Mary Poppins having a duel with Voldemort, the technology performance, the performance of the London Symphony Orchestra with Rowan Atkinson, and so much more! Oh my, it was beautiful. And let's not forget the Arctic Monkeys and Paul McCartney!
   But you know what I enjoyed the most? These.

Source: http://www.hollywood.com/news/Queen_Memes_Olympics_Opening_Ceremony/35322777

   Pencil Rubbings now has Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/PencilRubbings

   Don't forget to follow us on Twitter as well: @PencilRubbings

   And I have updates some of the rules regarding the contribution to this blog. Authors, please read as well.

Inspiration and Other Matters Such as Why I Feel Very Guilty Right this Moment

While all of the other members of this blog who live in the Philippines have been working their rubbish butts off studying and have been writing blog posts, where has the one American author been? On vacation in Italy and Greece.

Anywho, what I really came to talk about is those moments when you're high on inspiration; how they tend to come at the worst times; and tips for managing them more efficiently, for lack of better expression.

The #1 worst way to attempt to look for inspiration? THE INTERNET. All of the sites devoted to inspiration, pinterest; blogs. They seem like a great easy way out. And that they are. But when we're talking about writing, inspiration or any of that related good stuff, easy way out is NOT the way to go. GET OFF OF THE COMPUTER (alright, finish this post and THEN GET OFF OF THE COMPUTER!) All they do is suck you in and they never actually inspire you to go do something. For this reason, GET OFF OF THE COMPUTER!(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 Inspiration. Ack. I can't even begin to describe it. It's different for each person; like our perception of color. Like color, it can make something bland beautiful. Unlike color, it does not last long. Inspiration is kind of like wind; it's really strong at all of the wrong times (Midnight, anyone?) and sometimes it can be very desperately needed, but still won't come. Ah, inspiration and its rubbish sick sense of humour.  So, how do you gain inspiration?  
There's no magic formula. It's something much more complex than many physical objects. However, when inspiration comes streaming in, be ready. Whenever I fly on a plane, I carry a notebook. Much of my best writing happens in planes. Many people will give you the advice of journaling, writing down your thoughts; it's not that simple. Writing is something that comes only at a certain time, and with the previously mentioned (and still rather rubbish) sense of humour that inspiration tends to have, this usually comes at the worst time possible. Late at night, for example. For this reason, I journal whenever I wake up during the middle of the night. I usually don't remember it in the morning, so seeing the magically appeared journal entries is kind of like seeing tally marks appear all over yourself, except it's actually a positive thing; encounters with inspiration, unlike with The Silence, have never killed me. Then again, nothing's ever killed me, so I wouldn't know.

Moving on.

A journal can be like a pensieve; not for memories, but for inspiration. It isn't a magical way to get inspiration. It's a way to invest and grow a small spark of it, a seed; into a tree in the form of a story, letter, poem, artwork. So do yourself a favour, and, next time that you are having a burst of inspiration at midnight,  no matter how tired, write the ideas down. You might not feel very good tomorrow in class, but you'll have preserved some inspiration for a rainy day.

Speaking of which, the ideas might sound like TOTAL RUBBISH to you later. But, 99.9999999999999 and on to infinity% of the time, there's something to those ideas. And everybody knows that infinity - 1 is equivalent to infinity.

Besides, sometimes craze is the key to sanity.

On that happy note,
                     Bye.
Nina.

The Butterfly Project

Trigger Warning: Mentions of self-harm.  To read, click the read more button.

MTV Reverb

   Hello there! Lianna here. I just wanted to ask you guys, how as your Friday the 13th? Mine didn't go well, actually. I never believed in bad luck on Friday the 13th until yesterday. Anyway, let's not let that eat up my point!
   After my very suckish Friday the 13th, I came home and switched the TV on. I flipped to MTV, and then I saw this new kind of segment that they have called "MTV Reverb", which features indie music.
   You do not know how much I jumped around my room. I love indie music. Indie music is always seems to fit every mood I have (being an almost teen, mood swings is very common). Right now, I'm taking note all the songs I hear on MTV Reverb on my phone. I only have three songs so far; Youth Without Youth by Metric, Wildest Moments by Jessie Ware and National Anthem by Lana Del Ray. Why don't you watch MTV Reverb, take note of the music videos you've watched, and share them here? :-)

A Grim Grimm Grins when Snow is White

The year is 1811, and Jacob Grimm has an idea for a story. Various elements flow through his head. An evil queen, who wants to be the fairest one of all. A princess, who happens to be the fairest one of all. A magic mirror, that can not only talk, but is also a fashion expert, and is able to judge exactly who's the fairest one of all. An excellent idea for an excellent story. The only problem is, Jacob really cannot get himself motivated to write.


Letting your creative juices flow by writing your own story can be a lot of fun. Keeping yourself motivated when writing however, whether it be a short story or a novel, can be difficult. Especially if you’re writing a novel. So how can you do it? Fortunately, there are two very easy ways to motivate yourself. If you know anything about how Jacob Grimm wrote, you should be able to work out the first one quite easily.


Jacob Grimm had a brother, Wilhelm Grimm. His brother was also an aspiring writer, but also suffered from motivational problems. And as he could not afford a psychologist to tell him how best to get himself to continue to write, he got his brother to help. And of course, his brother realised in an instant the best way for someone to motivate themselves to write.


1. Write with someone else. It’s simple. Find somebody who you get on well with, whether it be a face-to-face friend or an online friend, think up a good idea, and start writing. Try doing it online; Google Docs, for example, is a free way to allow you to both work on a story together. Perhaps you could plan out the story to start out with, and alternate paragraph by paragraph/chapter by chapter. Or perhaps you could take it in turns to write chapters, with not much idea where the story is going at all. Either way, with another person working with you, you’ll feel much more motivated to keep writing. I call it “Collaborative Fiction”. A grand idea deserves a grand name, after all.


Unfortunately, it would be another 200 years before Google Docs came, which made Jacob and Wilhelm’s job rather more difficult. The only internet they could get their hands on was tying two paper cups together with a long piece of string, and talking through it. As this was a rather inefficient way of writing a story, they decided to sit there face to face, (...Freaky! Face to face!...) typing on a keyboard known as “the quill”, and motivating each other as they went. As a result, not only did they stop procrastinating but they were able to choose the best ideas out of their separate heads. This meant that Jacob’s brilliant idea to have Dwarfs was included, and his rather silly idea to have the queen turning into a dragon was laughed at by Wilhelm, and was dumped into the trash can. (A real, physical trash can. To Wilhelm's disgust, there wasn't any pixel trash can yet on his non-existent computer.) It also meant that Wilhelm’s idea of a poisoned apple was kept, but his dangerous idea of having a detailed description of how the apple was infused with rhubarb leaves to make it poisonous was excluded. “After all,” reasoned Jacob, “we don’t want to be sued for teaching rubbish children how to poison their nasty old rubbish step-mums.”

2. Write with a whole group of people. Okay, this second Collaborative Fiction idea won’t be getting you any literature prizes. But it’s probably the most enjoyable way to write. Basically, a whole bunch of people get together, and take it in turns to write a paragraph. Nobody has any idea where the story is going, making it very unpredictable, and meaning it’ll have lots of twists. There are all sorts of versions; it can be done online, or perhaps in person, where a bunch of people pass around a sheet of paper and add to it. Another variation that you may have done at school is where a class sits around and each person speaks out a couple of sentences, and other people have to continue the story. The result of this is often very confusing, and very amusing.

“I have a wonderful idea!” announced Wilhelm without warning, causing Jacob to spill his tea all over his desk.
“What rubbish is it this time?” grumbled Jacob, trying to mop up the tea before it reached the Snow White Word Document (which was really just an old fashioned thing known as a piece of paper).
“Well, you see how much better we’re writing with two of us working together?” asked Wilhelm.
“Rubbish,” replied Jacob. “If it weren’t for rubbishy-old-you I would have had Snow White cutting herself rubbishly out of a dragon by rubbish now.”
“If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have written one line,” retorted Wilhelm. “So why don’t we expand on this way of writing? Why not get more of our friends in here, and we can all work on our story together!”
“Rubbish idea,” wheezed Jacob. “That’d mean I’d have to share the rubbish profits with a whole rubbish group of people. As it happens I really don’t think you deserve your rubbish share, what with silly rubbish like rhubarb leaves. Rubbish!”

If you're doubtful about whether writing collaboratively can actually work, then I'm happy to remind you that Pencil Rubbings is a good example of it! This very blog thrives because of the way its multiple author setup works. If Pencil Rubbings only had one author, I'd be quite confident in saying that it would likely have crawled to a halt months ago. The additional enthusiasm of a number of people has kept it going strong.


This post wouldn’t be complete without an example of a Collaborative Fiction story. So, here’s the Pencil Rubbings Collaborative Story. I’ll start it off in the comments section below. Then, anyone that wants to can contribute by writing the next paragraph, or at least the next sentence or two. Nothing inappropriate, or your contribution will be deleted! To keep the story flowing nicely down the page it would be best if you only comment if you’re continuing our story. So take the plunge, and add a twist by writing at least a sentence or two!
(And by the way, all the italics in this post are, to quote Jacob Grimm, “rubbish.” I made it up. The Brothers Grimm didn’t actually write their fairy tales, they compiled them. So someone else wrote Snow White. Probably without collaboration. But you never know…)
Here it is then.

Maria and the Green Wizard

Which one’s greener?

Do you like nature? Do you love trees? Do you like how the wind blows over the grass and leaves and it twirls and twirls, like how poetry has described them? Well, I do! I love the outdoors, but in Australia, the Sun is the harshest in the world (information from here; teachers tell me all the time wikianswers or yahooanswers are not to be trusted, but I still do!) Every time I walk out of the door without sun screen makes me paranoid, “What if I get cancer? I’m going to die!” And I crawl back indoors. But out of Australia is different, so I search up websites on green countries and here are my results.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) had researched about it, and came with The World’s Top Ten Greenest Countries. And that is what I am about to share with you today! Let’s do the countdown, shall we?

 

10. Colombia –  76.8 (%)
Colombia’s status on eco-friendliness aren’t the best a while ago, but the country didn’t make it to the list until the government cut down the deforestation and organise eco-friendly projects. This tells us if you believe and do it, you can do it, you can end global warming. But that’s another issue… On to the next.

09/08. Cuba, Austria – 78.1 (%)
Although they have the same index, they each have their own ways to go green. Cuba launched a project on supporting hydroelectricity in an area, while Austria built an ecofriendly garden across the border between the Czech Republic (With consent, of course.) Three cheers for them for their effort!

07. France, 78.2 (%)
Who doesn’t love France? The country with sexy accents and cakes that make you water… And don’t forget the magnificent Paris tower! Why, according to the article, their most interesting fact that helps them accomplish their eco goals is the straw bales for construction of buildings!

06. Mauritius, 80.6 (%)
This place, is an island, next to Madagascar (Hey, hey). It’s run by an African Prime Minister and whoever that person is, he is amazing. Despite the limited resources the island have, the PM is able to make his country eco-friendly. Just the thought of it inspires me.

05. Norway – 81.1 (%)
I always like the sound of Norway, ‘Norway’. If you ask me to name a European country, Norway will always be the first one I think. Why? Don’t know. The country itself is an ‘oil export oriented country’ and I’m glad they are putting effort into making carbon neutral!

04. Sweden – 86.0 (%)
According to the article, Sweden has been put so high from the EPI because of the plan they have on discontinuing fossil fuels by 2020. Fossil fuels are stuff deep in the Earth that are decompositions of animals and plants, but becoming into fuel, the liquid that keeps your car going.

03. Costa Rica – 86.4 (%)
In the past, Costa Rica was in need of space to grow their crops, they had to chop down trees. But now, their main goal is to regrow all the trees they have chopped down. From the last five years, they have planted over five million trees. And now, that is amazing!

02. Switzerland, 89.1 (%)
For a few years, Switzerland has been on the EPI list. How do they do it? A lot of motivation! They just kept going and going to make their country even more eco-friendly, even if they are already on the lead. Do you know? In a few small towns, driving cars are prohibited.

And here goes number one. The moment everyone is anticipating… the number one of the world’s greenest country is……

 

Iceland! With 93.5%!
Remember the Iceland and Greenland irony? Ironically, Iceland became the top of the most greenest on the EPI list. Let’s hope Greenland didn’t come off as the most greenless country! Iceland is consider to be one of the world’s beautiful countries because of the nature. Oh, how I always wanted to visit Iceland! (If you have read my previous entry on the band, Of Monster and Men, they are from Iceland too.) According to statistics, 82% of the electricity and heat in Iceland comes from hydrogen (air) and wind energy in Iceland, only 18% comes from coal. I have to say, I just put Iceland to one of the top of my travel priorities, above London and Paris.

 

If the information I provide are incorrect, I apologise. There may be arguments and debates on whichever country deserves the top greenest, but this is not the conclusion of my research. It is rank by the Environmental Performance Index, and they have their methods on ranking. For more information on them, here is the place. And more information on the article, click here. It will also provide you reader comments, if you are interested.

Updates: New Twitter account!

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Poaching

Poaching: The act of illegally hunting or catching (game or fish) on land that is not one's own or is under official protection.

I love poaching. It’s an art that requires much skill. People have poached for hundreds of years, and there’s no danger in it dying out. The end result is so tasty! I happen to know a poaching secret or two, and so I’m now going to reveal exclusively to readers of Pencil Rubbings my guide to poaching. No, I’m not referring to illegally sneaking onto someone else’s property shooting their pet deer, and dragging it home for dinner. I’m referring to a different type of poaching.


Poaching: Cooking an egg without its shell in or over boiling water.


Eggs can be healthy, if eaten in relative moderation and if cooked in a healthy way. Poaching is one of these ways. The problem with poaching however is how complicated it is. Poaching an egg the traditional way involves putting water and vinegar into a saucepan, boiling it, stirring the water to make a whirlpool, putting in the shell-less egg (if you’re lucky it won’t completely disintegrate into the water), cooking it for a few minutes, and taking it out. Quite a time consuming breakfast that leaves you with heaps of washing up to do afterwards. And so my grandmother, fed up with all this bother just to get herself a delicious and healthy egg for breakfast, decided to experiment with cooking eggs in the newly-invented microwave she'd just bought herself. Of course, this was before all the fuss about what you can and can’t put in a microwave, so I’m sure she may indeed have begun her experimentation by putting a whole egg, in its shell, into the microwave.

(Don’t do that, by the way. Let’s just say you end up with a very sticky situation. And perhaps in need of a new microwave. If you don't believe me, watch some of the YouTube videos.)


So with a little more experimenting, she discovered how to poach an egg in the microwave, with minimal dishes, time, effort, and explosions. She then eventually told my mother, and my mother eventually told me. Now I’m sharing this closely guarded secret that has been passed down the generations with the Pencil Rubbings community! Although I somehow think that it’s more likely that my “closely guarded secret” was similarly discovered by many other people a long time ago, and is already all over the microwave-possessing part of the world anyway. I really have no idea. Anyway, here it is. How to poach an egg in the microwave. Obviously this only works if you have a microwave oven. I really don't know how common microwaves are outside my own country, so if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then disregard this recipe.


You’ll need:
-An egg (No need to leave it out of the fridge before-hand. Not like when you’re making cakes.)
-A microwave (No need to leave it out of the fridge before-hand either. Assuming you store your microwave in the refrigerator.)
-Bread (Assuming you wish to eat toast with your egg.)
-Toaster (Assuming you want your toast to be toasted, as opposed to raw.)
-Glad-wrap (also known as cling-wrap. The plasticky stuff that people use to wrap things. Like sandwiches, not presents. You know, this sort of thing:

)

-A knife and fork (Not the Murder-Weapon-Knife, or even the Kitchen-Chopping-Things-Knife. Just an ordinary Spreading-Butter-Knife will do.)
-A plate (Unless you want to save on washing up by eating off the bench. But I would not recommend this; very unhygienic.)
-A microwavable cup. (Do check that it’s microwavable. Best results will be if the base is round and about the same size as what a regular poached egg is. Something like this:

)

-Salt and pepper (Depending on taste, or how healthy you want to be.)
-Margarine/butter/table-spread/any other yellow or white stuff you spread on toast
-An adult’s supervision (It’s obligatory, I know.)

The rest is easy.
1. Put a slice of bread in the toaster. You may need to get the afore-mentioned adult to help you cut it if it hasn’t been cut yet.
2. Crack the egg into the cup. Make sure there’s no shell in the egg, you don’t want a crunchy poached egg.
3. Use the fork to prick the yolk. You’re not trying to mix it in, all that’s needed is a quick prick. There shouldn’t be any difference to the naked eye, but this will help prevent the yolk from...gulp...exploding.
4. Cover the top of the cup with the cling-wrap.
5. Possibly the most important step: use that ever handy fork to prick holes in the glad wrap. Probably about three good pokes around the centre of the glad-wrap (but only little holes, don't let them join up to make big holes).

Nope, I haven't put two eggs in (although you can do that if you want). I somehow managed to get a double-yolker egg when I took that photo (that's an egg with two yolks in it if you didn't know).
6. Start the toaster. (The idea here is to try and sync things up so the toast finishes cooking at the same time as the egg does; but this’ll really depend on your toaster and microwave.)
7. Put the cup with the egg in it into the microwave, and cook it for 10 seconds on High (which should be the default setting anyway).
8. This is where things get a little challenging. You want the egg white to cook through, but ideally you want the yolk to still be a little bit runny. After 10 seconds, take the cup out, inspect, and give it a little swirl to make sure it’s cooking evenly. It’ll probably need a little longer. So, put it in for another 10 seconds or so, and continue this procedure until the white looks mostly solid.

9. If you hear a “bang,” there are two things you need to do.
    (a.)  Don’t panic. There’s nothing the matter. All that’s happened is the yolk has exploded. That’s why you put the cling wrap on top of the cup. It just means that your egg won’t quite be cooked as it should, with the yolk a little too crumbly, instead of runny. It’s still definitely edible, and quite tasty. Just blame your adult supervisor for it not being perfect. And stop it earlier next time.
    (b.)  Stop the microwave straight away, and take out the egg.
10. Use the knife to spread the spready stuff onto the toast once it’s cooked, and then use the knife to go round the egg in the cup so it tips out easily onto your toast. Put salt and pepper over the egg if you wish, and then enjoy eating your egg with that ever useful knife and fork.

Wow. That seems rather complicated. It isn’t. Getting the egg cooked just right may take a few attempts, but it’s certainly easier than the traditional poaching method. And there’s far less dishes as well. Just a plate, a cup, a knife, and a fork. Try it. At the very least you’ll be able to tell your friends about how you’re now officially a poacher.

The 7 steps to being liked by absolutely everyone

Don’t you find it annoying that there are people out there who just seem to dislike you? Do you make enemies easily? Well then why not try these steps that will allow you to be liked by everyone?

1. Decide to change. If your current behaviours and actions are making you enemies, then there’s a good chance that if you continue as you are doing, you’ll continue to make enemies in the future. So you’ve got to decide to change your behaviour before anything will work. It’s very similar to learning to tie your shoes properly. You can continue to let your parents tie your shoes, and wish that you didn’t have to rely on them whenever you wanted to go outside. But nothing would change unless you learnt how to tie them yourself. And that would only happen if you decided you wanted to learn.

2. Tune your behaviour to the people you’re around. This takes skill and practice, but with a bit of effort, it is possible. So for example, if you happen to find yourself around a group of dedicated, hardworking students, then pretend to be a dedicated, hardworking student yourself. If you happen to be around a group of lazier, fun-loving people that would usually call hardworking students all sorts of dreadful names simply for being hardworking students, then pretend to be the same when you’re around them. The key is to develop 5 or 6 different personalities and be prepared to instantly switch between them at a moments notice. Very similar to switching channels on the television. (Although if you find yourself flicking through channels on the TV looking for something to watch; perhaps you’re better off going outside for a walk. Which means, if you were silly enough to refuse to learn yourself, you have to get your parents to tie your shoes for you.)

3. Don’t make enemies. It’s generally your fault for making an enemy out of someone only when you want this to be the case. So if you don’t try, it’ll probably be the other person’s fault whenever it appears that you and somebody else really aren’t seeming to get along. In which case, as soon as you notice that this is happening, the key is to immediately take steps to rectify the situation. Try and be extra nice to them. Hopefully, they’ll soon stop trying to be your enemy. For example, if your parents are starting to get annoyed at you because they always have to tie your shoes, as soon as you notice them getting cross with you about it immediately begin learning to tie your shoes yourself. That should prevent you from making an enemy out of your parents. (And for most people having an enemy as a parent is not a very nice thing at all.)

4. Be polite. Always. There are some people that think that good manners are very important. There are other people that think that good manners aren't so significant. If you’re not polite around these people, they probably won’t care. But if you’re not polite around the people that think that politeness is important, then they might get upset with you. On the other hand, if you are polite, then those that think politeness is important will likely respect you more, whereas those who are not polite won’t see this as a downside to you. Curious, isn’t it. In other words, if you remember your manners, you’re potentially doubling the people that may respect you. Like your parents, for example. If you’re stubborn enough to refuse to learn how to tie your shoes yourself, then your parents are far more likely to continue to respect you if you remember your manners whenever you ask them to tie your shoes.

5. Don’t swear. Never. The politeness rule applies with swearing as well. Whilst if you do swear there will be a group of people that will look down on you for doing so, if you don’t swear it’s not likely that anybody will find fault in you. And swearing at your parents when they offer to teach you how to tie your shoelaces won’t help anyone or change anything.

6. Spontaneous acts of kindness. Simply trying hard to not upset someone often isn’t enough to make them like you. Many people will only like others if they feel they have a reason to. And this may only be because the other person has done something nice to them. So try to do something nice for as many people as you can. Whether it’s something small like holding a door open for them, or whether it’s something bigger like offering to look after their pets while they’re overseas. But you should be concentrating most on the smaller things, because there’s a lot of people around. So offering to wash the dishes for your parents is a great idea to help them to continue to like you, even if you have to bother them to tie your shoelaces whenever you decide to go outside.

7. Realise that it’s impossible to be liked by everyone.And for those of you that really can’t be bothered learning to tie your shoelaces, you’re aged above 6, and your parents are going crazy, consider getting pull-on boots.

Indie Shuffle

Indie Shuffle offers a wide range of songs and artists to choose from: from electronic to hip hop to remixes & covers to folk & acoustic and to indie itself. This site is a great tool for discovering new music and artists; best of all, it's free! I highly recommend this to fans of the aforementioned genres. You wouldn't regret it, I promise!

K-12 in the Philippines

In the Philippines, we only have 10 years of education (college is not counted). Kindergarten, Prep, Grade 1-6/7 (normal Philippine education has only until Grade 6, but in some schools, we have Grade 7, like mine) and 4/5 years of high school (if there is Grade 7 in the school, then you only have 4 years of high school. If the school has only until Grade 6, then they have 5 years of high school). Usually, the education you're familiar with is Grade 1 until 12. The President of our country recently launched the K-12 program, which means we will have Grade 1 until 12 too.

Everyone has their opinions about this. Some say it's good, some say it's bad. Some say it's a mix, like me. Why? Well, first of all; the good thing about it is we could learn better. The fourth graders and eighth graders in my school are using iPads now, but it doesn't mean that the rest will have iPads too. It's just some sort of test to see if it will be effective in making us learn or if they are responsible enough for them to be "holding" it, which means that it shouldn't get lost. Second; I think the government should first address the other educational problems of this country. Some schools are lacking chairs, the buildings were burned down or destroyed by the typhoons, not enough school supplies, etc. If this K-12 program is supposed to make us learn better, then how would others learn when their schools lack a lot of stuff?

Anyway, my school is not yet following K-12 because I think they launched it after the enrollment, but my school sort of already had K-12, it's just that we have to change the names of our grade/level. Right now, I'm in the sixth grade and I'm graduating this year. Next year, I will be in the eighth grade because we will be changing the level names next year, which doesn't really make a difference. It's just the name. Everyone will be skipping a level next year.

And I hope the new education program will teach me how to end blog posts like these! Haha. Have a great day, everyone x

P.S. On behalf of most of us here, I apologize if we don't post as often because our school just started! Haha, I hope the others would update as well (cough cough). :-)

If the World was a Machine

"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too." --Hugo Cabret

Hi there, I just want to share with you a movie that I just watched that I really enjoyed. I'm not really going to review it or anything, but rather tell you why I loved it. It'a a mix of an adventure, comedy and drama. This movie is a really nice one for the whole family. Hugo (based on the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret") is about an orphan who lives in the train station and is trying to find out about the mystery of his late father and an automaton. 

The plot has fiction and facts in it, too. I won't spoil the story, but I can tell you that there will be a lot of books and movies involved. Then the characters, on the other hand, are such well played and they make the movie even more enjoyable. Georges Méliès is a former movie maker who has a brilliant creativity and passion for movies, but then he has a heart felting story behind it (watch the movie to find out!) And there's the Station Inspector who was pretty funny and made me laugh because of his awkward and clumsy ways. Hugo, is a determined and brave boy who will stop at nothing to make his automaton work again. Isabelle, a free-spirited bookworm who loves adventure, helps Hugo on his journey.

Now, I won't tell you everything about it so I'll stop about now, hehe.
I learned a lot from this movie and I strongly recommend everyone to watch this movie if you haven't yet, and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much I did! Happy weekends, everyone :)

Summer's Out; School's In!

Hi. This is Ica. I wasn't able to introduce myself before; but I was the one who reviewed the Avengers, Legend of Korra and Sherlock. (Visit my personal blog here.) Okay, anyway, I'm not here to review any T.V. series or move or whatnot; I'm here to help you kids to get ready for school.

Here in the Philippines, school's right around the corner (mine starts on June 7), and I'm doing my best to prepare for third year.While doing my end of summer routine, I realized that I should share some of my tips and tricks with you. I'll be telling you several important things you should do before the start of your school.

1) Clean your study area- Right. We all need one (a study area), where you'll be reading notes or doing homework. This place must be the most peaceful and serene place in your house; and the place must be nice and tidy. Over the summer, my study area became a place where I'd throw all my old books, notebooks and other pieces of scratch paper. Yesterday, I went over the things and decided on the things that I wanted to keep, sell or throw out. My table is relatively neat right now; and I think it's ready for school.

2) Buy a planner-Or at least a notebook where you can write down all the projects and homework you have for the day. You can't rely on memory alone when you're in school. Try getting one with a very colorful and vibrant design; that'll surely wake you up after a long day of answering what x is equal to, and what started the Cold War.

3) Skim through your books- I mean, honestly, don't take this the wrong way but you have to at least read the few pages of your books. You need to prepare yourself for what's to come this school year; mind you, it'll be much harder than the year before, this will be a good way to prepare for school. If you're really up for it, you might even try taking down some advanced notes.

So, there you have it. Three tips on how to get ready for school. Hope you found these very helpful! Good luck to all those whose school is about to start. You're going to need it.

Just Got Sherlocked

The novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle take on a new life in BBC's hit TV show Sherlock. The show, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, was first broadcasted in July-August 2010. Each episode is around 90 minutes long, so there's only three episode per season. So far, two seasons have aired and season three will show in 2013.

Personally, I fell inlove with Sherlock after the first 10 minutes of episode one. They created the perfect balance of action, drama and humor; and they were even able to throw in a bit of bromance into the series as well. I was also perfectly baffled on how Sherlock would create such accurate deductions and would often laugh at his complete obliviousness with everything that had nothing to do with solving crimes or learning who stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

But what really made this show the show, is the cast. Benedict Cumberbath is the perfect Sherlock (sorry R.D.J.); and Martin Freeman is the absolutely brilliant as John Watson. You could just feel the chemistry the cast has with one another; and I was absolutely heartbroken when one of the many brilliant characters was cut from the show (not telling you who; you'll have to watch to find out).

So all in all, you should try watching this show. It doesn't really air here in the Philippines (not that I'm aware of), but you can download the shows online or you could buy a DVD. Anyone who watches this show will become a Sherlockian immediately.

It's elementary, my dear, Watson. (Side note: Sherlock never said that phrase.)

Room Makeovers

Do you hate how your room looks? I do. Mine is cluttered with toys that I haven't gave away yet, coloring books, Barbie dolls, old clothes and a lot more! If you were to give your room a makeover, how would you do it?

Start with your old stuff, like what I mentioned above. Donate them to the unfortunate kids out there or have a garage sale! You could even keep some of your stuffed toys or your action figures, build a shelf and put them on top in a line. To fill the empty spaces of your old stuff, you could place all the stuff in your room that makes it cluttered on it, like the stuff that you just leave lying on the floor.
Now that your old stuff are out of the way, what should you do with your books? Or your movies? Or your CDs? You could build a shelf (you just need a plank of wood, those frames to keep it up and a few nails, but even if it sounds easy to buy and make, I don't guarantee it would be cheap. Usually is) and stack them there. Arrange them by kind, author, color, alphabetically, height, width, or just stack them there in no particular order! You could also place these stuff where your old stuff were, like what I mentioned earlier.
We should start with your desk next (if you have one). It's always important to keep your desk clean so that you could study there (studying in your bed makes it messy, and when you're done doing your homework, you're probably too lazy to pack them up so you just shove it all to the floor). If you study on your desk, you tend to study more neatly and properly (if you don't, try) and if you're done doing your homework and you're too lazy to pack up, just leave it there and pack it the next day. But you should at least make an effort to clean up.
And my favorite part of room makeovers is...badum tss your wall. Bring out all your Tigerbeat magazines, pull out the posters and stick them to your wall! Haha. Here is how my wall looks like (maybe you could get some ideas, hmmm?):

I love shopping, and whenever I snip off all those price tags from my clothes, I keep the brand tags and tape them to my wall. It mostly consists of Forever 21, Candie's and Artwork.

These are all some (I repeat: some) of my posters in my room. The picture in the middle of my door is a picture of Mikee and I when we graduated from photography classes.

The mainstream thing now on walls are usually quotes and song lyrics, but I placed a Bible quote. (I didn't cut out all of the letters individually because I was too lazy) I placed some of my pictures of me and my friends under it.

"Sorrow is better than laughter because when the face is sad, the heart grows wiser." -Ecclesiastes 7:3

I hope these helped in making your future room! :-)

On Saving a Certain Punctuation Mark

Hi. I'm Nina, and since the other authors and I have established that I am rubbish at introductions, I shall give none but my blog, which can be found here.

When writing, I particularly like to use a punctuation mark that I like to call a semicolon.

Oh, the dear semicolon. I don't know what I would do if it disappeared ...  But that, in essence, is what is happening to it.  People are forgetting about it; abandoning it; replacing it with the simple but boring comma! People, the semicolon is going extinct!

*Pause* I'm dramatic, aren't I?

Yes, yes I am.

But it does need to be saved; I really can't imagine a world without semicolons; think- comma splices in every sentence, instead of using the noble power of a semicolon;  no beautiful writing left! Okay, I'm really quite dramatic. But, seriously. My point is that you should use it; use it in blog posts, stories; poetry... and together we shall save the semicolon!







Okay, let's see if Mikee and Lianna kick me out for that overly-dramatic and short post.