Draw Something October 2021 - Last One

I redrawn this several times but I'm still not quite sure about this piece. This character is also the same person in this other piece.  I don't have a name for her.  I call this 'Midnight Snack' but I probably wouldn't eat this much as a snack but noodles is one of my favorite food. What about you? Do you eat snacks at midnight?

Midnight Snack

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space (3)

This month's Words for Wednesday is hosted by Elephant's Child. This week's prompts are common phrases with links to food. Feel free to mix and match - or to add ones of your own. They are: 1. He had a chip on his shoulder; 2. Best thing since sliced bread; 3. With a cherry on top; 4. She wants to have her cake and eat it too; 5. Everything but the kitchen sink; 6. Bringing home the bacon. You can find more participants at Elephant's Child's blog over here.
    I didn't use any these phrases, they just didn't fit so I decided to make up one - 'An egg a day keeps the doctor from going back in time to hand you a bill.' It sounds a bit silly but I like it. Maybe I wasn't so clear-minded when I thought this up.

Photo by Ray Bilcliff Photography, link here

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space — Part 3 of 4  (Read part 1 here, part 2 here)

Ben stopped and stretched out a hand. "We're here." They were in a empty field with flat grounds. There was nothing in sight except for the fallen ferris wheel which was far away and was the size of one of Trudy's fingers. How did they get so far so fast? Her leg throbbed every step she took but at least the pain had lessened. She stopped beside Ben.
    "No need to think too deeply. I moved us forward a bit because you were too slow." Ben smiled. There was that hint of laughter in his voice again. "Look up there." He tilted his chin upward. She lifted her head and looked up. 
    A light appeared in the air high above them. It grew bigger and wider and sent light outward like a pinwheel. The structure was about twelve meters high and was about four meters wide. The light came from the dome at the top of the structure.
    "Is this your ship?" There were no doors or windows aside from the various openings spaced out one above the other which Trudy could only see darkness in them.
    "Of course not. Don't you know it's a lighthouse? It's a cover to keep the tourist away."
    Trudy wondered why he would need to do that when it was Ben's planet. She turned to him. He was grinning with his hands in his trenchcoat pockets. "What do you think? Too old fashioned?"
    She shrugged. "Maybe but I like it." She had never seen a lighthouse but she had read books on how they were used to light the way for ships at night. 
    He snapped his fingers and a door opened in the lower part of the lighthouse."Let's go." The moon sphere light began to dim and shrink and fall into Ben's opened hand. He entered the opening and left Trudy in the half dark. The light from the dome gave off a lot of light but it was rather too high up to light where Trudy stood. She followed him, half wobbling, half walking.
    Inside, Ben's sphere lit the small space. The opening closed with a low click. They started to move upward. "Where are we?"

Reading Side Effects

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is: Halloween Freebie - I got nothing for that. So instead, I'll share a list of reading side effects or some books I read that sort of changed my thoughts on what I'm reading. This may be a list of complaints just so you know. I probably, maybe, should stop linking to Top Ten Tuesday because I don't use the prompts any more. For more Top Ten Tuesday, visit That Artsy Reader Girl here.

01 | Read one too many translated book that was a bit too Americanized — So maybe it's mostly Japanese translated books that I find a bit too Americanized and not other foreign books. Maybe because it never felt like the books were taking place in Japan or even with Japanese people that sort of make me think it's Americanize plus all the American cliches and phrases that were used. Do they make them more Americanized for American audience or for some other reason? I actually don't want to read that many translated book because I find most of them aren't translated well or rather, I read them as not translated well but who knows?

02 | Read one book with gross content — The fact that some people said this is their favorite book baffled me because it was not a book one would say nice things about and yet, these people make it seem like it's a wonderful fantasy book. I don't know if they were reading the same book but mine version had a disgusting scene in it and it would never be a favorite book. Also, this was categorized as children's book which makes no sense because there was a sex scene in there. This book had me avoided reading the author's other works. Actually, now that I think about, I don't read this author's works because they are mostly horror which I've not realized before.    
    This book made me realized my tolerance for disgusting things is just a little too low compared to other people's. How other readers loved this book, I guess, is by ignoring the disgusting bit and the sex scene and focus on the good bits which this book does have but the disgusting scene overrode any good that I had read because I certainly don't remember any of the good parts.

03 | Read a book with a scene with a boy watching two men having oral sex — This definitely started my need for trigger warnings or at least, content warnings. It may have been my fault for reading one review that offered a glorified view of the book and a couple of reviews that said how good that book was but none of them mentioned any kind content that people might need/want to know. But I definitely prefer not to read books with oral sex.

04 | Read more than one book that uses the f word as a verb — If a man says to a woman, 'Okay, let's f*ck,' and then the woman actually sleeps with the man, is this consider romantic? It makes me wonder, why would a woman sleeps with a man who says such things? I find that too vulgar and certainly, it's neither romantic nor something I would think of as a good thing. Being frank is good but isn't this a bit too much? But I guess I'm too much of a prude to accept such talk.

05 | Read far too many books with rape scenes — Why is it the scene is never quick or short as if the writer decided we need excessive details about how a woman is being raped? Reading books with rape scenes makes me keep wondering how could this happened or why did this happened or sometimes, was it necessary to have happened? If a writer wants a woman to have a tough life, why did they use rape when there are many ways that could destroy a person? There are a few books I put off reading knowing there would be a rape scene in it. It's just not something I read and then moved on. The images lingered somehow.

06 | Read one too many books that are first book in a series but I didn't know — Somehow, I seem to always missed where it said that the book was first in a series until after I finished the book and it has no real ending. Why publishers keep pretending that some books that are part of a series can be read as a standalone and advertise it as such, I don't know. They are standalone if you don't care about finding out the end to the plot that the whole book series is supposed to be about. I sort of hate book series and I kind of avoid them but I always, somehow, end up reading a book that is a series. I think it's easier to find books that are part of a series than standalones.
    And novella series? They are even worst. I think of novellas as short stories so to me, making novellas into series is like separating short stories into books. Why do that? Or why is it not a novel? Or why can't you just put them into one volume? Or why are they 20 or 30 books long? Or why do we have to pay full price for them when they are under 150 pages and are clearly not a novel? Do we need to treat novellas like book series in which people anticipate their releases? Why are we so into making every book, novella a series?

07 | Read many YA books that has romances that I hated — Is it mandatory to have a romance in Young Adults books? I wonder. One of the reasons I avoid reading YA books is because they almost always have a romance in it whether it is needed or not. I'm not against young romance but sometimes while reading a YA book I keep thinking, don't make it a romance because it's stupid or so unreasonably unnecessary but they always do, it's like you can't avoid them. Is it necessary to have romance in YA books or are YA books essentially romance books and I just didn't know?

08 | Read too many middle grade books that have semi-romance — I said semi because it's not actually romances but blushing and hand accidentally touching, that sort of thing but they feel like romance moments, cringe-worthy romance moments because these are 11 and 12 years olds. If they are implying that 11 and 12 years olds can have deep, romantic relationships, then I'm out. Yes, they can have crushes but can't they start that after they are older like in a YA book and not in a middle grade book? I read middle grades to avoid romances but somehow they just keep leaking in.
 
09 | Read too many books with footnotes — What's up with footnotes? It's okay if they are teaching kids word meanings but when they contain useless information that offer nothing to the story, then I have to question why they are there. Can't they insert these info into the book or are they footnotes because they are useless? I guess I don't like my reading getting interrupted for useless information or side information that does not make the story better or make the reader more informative. I can ignore footnotes, yes but I guess I keep thinking, these footnotes are there for a reason so I should read them, right?

10 | Read one too many books that uses famous characters or some relation to those characters  — I guess since we are all for the familiar that if we see any name we know, we would immediately be interested in that book. I also am like that. For example, I gravitate toward books related to or about Sherlock Holmes and I read a lot of them and they could be original stories if not for the Holmes bits. I guess the only reason to include such familiar and famous character is to attract readers but I kind of wish writers would stop doing it. I'm not saying I won't read books that uses original characters or some new make-up original characters' children or relative, I just find that I either like the famous character or the new original idea more than the combination of the two. I suppose if I am to choose, I would rather read an original story than one that combines a familiar character with a new idea.
    
Has a book or books changed your idea of reading?

Draw Something October 2021 - #7

I went to this random generator prompt link and make two screen shots and what I got is: Who are you drawing: A Demon. What re they doing: Chibi Style. I have to look up chibi style as I don't know what that is. (Link for drawing chibi is here and random generator prompt link is here.) Maybe he's a devil demon or just a devil.

James and Batty

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space (2)

This month's Words for Wednesday is hosted by Elephant's Child. This week's prompts are: The image at right and Horizon, Tired, Coincidence, Splashed, Holiday, Understand. You can find more participants at Elephant's Child's blog over here.

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space — Part 2 of 4  (Read part 1 here)

Trudy felt around the bandages over her eyes and pulled them off. She blinked rapidly. It was dark and the only light came from a sphere in the hand of a tall, thin man standing before her. "Hello again, Trudy Fine," said the man. The lapel of his black trenchcoat flapped against his cheek by the wind.
    It was Ben. Under the dim light, his eyes were still quite bright and green. They seemed to be laughing. His thin lips wore a subtle smile. "You might want to shield your eyes for a few seconds." He threw the sphere into the air.
    Trudy lifted her hand over her eyes. A brilliant light was all around her and then it dimmed to a moderate brightness. She lowered her hand and looked up. The sphere was hanging in the sky and it shone down like a moon.
    "Shall we go?" Ben turned and began walking.
    "Hey, wait!" Trudy ran to catch up. "What's that sphere light? It looks like the moon."
    "It is a moon but a different sort of moon as I'm the one lighting it."
    "Oh." She looked up again. It was a beautiful sight though she had only seen the moon once before she lost her eyes.
    They began walking through a forest full of giant trees. Some had colorful leaves, others bare with black trunks, some had odd-shaped fruits and others seemed to drip down but all of them were at least fifteen feet tall. Trudy could only identify the red maples. There was a small maple that used to grow in front of the house she and her mother had lived at when she was five.
    Ben didn't speak. He took long strides with the tail of his black trenchcoat swaying.
    Something jumped past on her left side. Indistinct noises drifted by. Trudy paused to listen. Shuffling. Footfalls. A small object flew by above her. She ran to catch up to Ben. "Didn't you say there are no other inhabitants here other than you?"
    "There aren't. The animals you saw aren't inhabitants. They are part of this planet."
    "They were here when you came to the planet?"
    "No, I brought them here to make the scenery better. The humans weren't appreciating them anyway. Don't worry, they won't harm you."
    Was Ben being kind or did he really brought the animals here to beautify the scenery? She smiled. "Why are we walking if you have, you know, powers?"
    "Why? I have exerted myself trying to get you here. I'm dead tired. And besides, if a being can't walk to their destination, then they must ask themselves, why do they have legs?"
    "I was just— I mean, I don't mind walking. Why are we going to your ship again?"
    "You've accepted me as someone you can trust so why all the questions?"

Draw Something October 2021 - #6

Why did I drew a flying cat? Why not? I was going to put him in another artwork but now I don't know. His name is Oscar because... I have no idea. Some drawings I just decide on a name on a whim.

#6 - Oscar

Here are the answers to last week's game. The difference between these two artworks are:
1. The seahorse is on the left then on the right.
2. The creature with the swirly body in the right then on the left.
3. The patterns on her shirt are triangles then rectangles
4. The horn on the octopus is a circular pattern than a different pattern.
5. The dress has a two strips but then no strips.
6. The fish on the right near her hand has 4 gills then 3 gills
7. The mermaid has eyebrows then no eyebrows

Some Thoughts and Two Links of Interest

Sunset & Stars (the sunset, buildings and tv antennas are real, the stars are fake)

01 | Amber at The Literary Phoenix had a page (three actually) for problematic authors which is a good idea but I really didn't care what these people did and also, I really rather not read about how horrible they are. What I would really like is a list of problematic books instead but as we know, books can be subjective so what offends one person might not offend another so I don't hope for such a list. But reading about these problematic authors makes me even more adamant about not finding out any info about an author aside from the brief bio at the end of the book - that's all I care to know about an author - just a brief note. Read about problematic authors at Amber's blog over here.

02 | I read mostly ebooks borrowed from the library which I'm very grateful but whenever I want to read a book, it's unavailable and then I get on the wait list and just when I don't want to read the book at the moment, it's available. What's up with that?
    Also, I wish we could borrow books for 41 days instead of 21. I always seems to use the full 21 days. It's rather strange to return a digital book because if you don't return it, it just became unreadable/expired/returned and you don't even have to do anything. But I do recommend returning a book early if you can because there are people waiting for the book even if it doesn't seem like it.

03 | Bonnie at Bonnie's Books recently told about her adventure in getting away with a lie - she wrote a book report for a non-existent book and got an A. This made me wonder how hard it must be to be a teacher to not have the time to check if the book is real. Of course, I'm not saying it's okay to do this but damm, I wish I had done something interesting like that to tell people.
    Also, it made me realized book reviewers are basically writing book reports. I don't know about other people but when I was in school we used to write book reports. Well, I can only remember writing one report but I'm sure there were others that I can't recall. It must be why sometimes it's hard for reviewers to write a review because you're basically doing homework and you are kind of graded by the readers who read your review by either wanting to read the book or not. Read Bonnie's story here.

How is your October going?

Draw Something October 2021 – #5

Can you tell what are the differences between these two artworks? Click on the images for larger views. Answers will be in the next Draw Something post.

Here are the images by themselves.

mermaid 1

mermaid 2

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space (1)

This month's Words for Wednesdayis hosted by Elephant's Child. This week's prompts are: machine, telephone, fiction , delightfully, trap, skulduggery and/or groaned, umbrella, fertile, corner, deft, selection. I used machine, telephone, groaned, corner. You can find more participants at Elephant's Child's blog over here.  (Note: Ben is a character from this previous story but you don't have to read that to understand this story.)

Fiction: Trudy Fine's Very Short Journey Through Space — Part 1 of 4

Machines whirled somewhere behind her and then they stopped. She listened. For a long moment, silence greeted her. Then the whirling began again. But the sound faded away.
    When she opened her eyes, she saw only darkness. Blinking rapidly, she kept trying to see but the darkness never changed. A groan escaped her lips. Sharp pain ran through her eyes. For a moment, she had forgot she couldn't see. The constant darkness around her made it easy to forget she didn't have eyes. She lifted her hand to her face. There were bandages around her eyes.
    A telephone rang. She recognized the sound but it couldn't be. They could never afford one. The ringing continued and then it abruptly stopped. No, it wasn't a telephone, it was perhaps an alarm, the kind firetrucks made when they passed by her house. She listened. But again, all she heard was silence. She pressed her hands down to sit up. The material was soft but firm beneath her palms. She turned her body around. Through her thin socks, she could feel the solid cold floor. It was a bed she had been lying on but it was too comfortable to be hers. The scent of cleaning detergent, probably bleach, was all around her. This was not her home. But where was she?
     She held out her hands near her feet. Her boots were there. She put them on. Slowly, she got up and walked forward. One, two, three, four, five, stop. Her fingertips touched something cold and smooth. Carefully, she took slow steps following the pace of her hands on what she assumed was a wall, around a corner, more steps until her knees struck something. It was the bed. The room was small as it only took her thirty steps to go around. There was no opening on the walls. She sat on the bed. Wherever she was, she could not tell without seeing.
    The darkness had been her companion for a long while. She had grew used to it. Counting steps helped her to navigate the space around her. Ten steps to the fridge, five steps to the bed, every time she counted, they were always under one hundred. Small spaces had been her comfort. She could not imagine living in a vast place with so much spaces to count.
    Normally, she kept her eyes closed or else people would see into the sockets and that usually scared them. Some mornings, she would wake up and thought perhaps it was all a dream and that if she could just open her eyes, she could see again. 'Miracles do happen,' Steven had said, 'You just have to wait for them.'
    Steven. Yes, she remembered she was at Steven's grave. And then she was here.
    "Trudy!" That was the name Steven had called her. But it wasn't Steven, he was dead. She stood up.

Paper, Electronic, Audio...How Do You Read?

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday is: Paper, electronic, audio...how do you read? [ Tell Me Something Tuesday was originally created by Heidi but is now hosted by Berls, Jen, Karen, Linda and Roberta. ]

These days, I read mostly ebooks on a kindle and most are from the public library. Without ebooks and the public library, I really would only be reading less than three books a year because I used to only purchase books (in paper format, usually soft covers) that I'm certain to like which is one or two books a year. But now I can try out books without wasting money and save trees. Of course ebooks aren't without their disadvantages but I think it's the best type of books for me right now.

How do you read? Paper, electronic, audio or other ways?

Draw Something October 2021 – #4

I think this is a pretty simple piece. What do you think when you look at it?

Listen

Draw Something October 2021 – #3

I found the quote while looking for a Disney quote and it seems to fit this piece. Can you tell she's a Mickey Mouse fan?

Bonkers

"You're entirely bonkers but I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." — Alice in Wonderland.

Fiction: The Guardian of Planet No. 621

This month's Words for Wednesday is hosted by Elephant's Child. This week's prompts are: Unsuitable, Ladies, Didn't, Crocodile, Home, Cards And/Or Life, Wall, Appeared, Voice, Both, Slipper. I used unsuitable, didn't, home, life, wall and voice. You can find more participants at Elephant's Child's blog over here.

Fiction: The Guardian of Planet No. 621

Ben didn't mean to do it. There was only a slight sense of regret as he flew back. But the sell was final and in no way could he undo the deed without consequences.
    The buyer, the Meekends, promised under contract, to do everything to keep Martha from harm. It was a plan that Ben wasn't entirely certain about but Martha, the nickname he gave to a planet that he had called home since he was a youngster, had been nearing some kind of end. In selling it, Ben had saved it. Or so he kept telling himself.
    Back on Martha, Ben's days became calmer and unobliging. His neighbor and friend, Paul, had noticed the change. Before, Ben used to rush here and there whenever there was a planetary attack which happened almost every other month but now all he did was worked in his garden and kept leisure hours.
    One sunny morning, Ben went out and looked up. There was a strange layer above the clouds, some sort of clear cloak yet, the sky was nice and bright. Even as he kept looking up, he saw the cloak there. The humans saw only sky.
    Curious, Ben sent a message to the Meekends: Had you done something to Martha? What was this cloak around the planet?
    The Meekends' reply: Only a little something. We, the Meekends, after much discussion, had came to this final and only solution. It is for Martha's best survival to use what we called, the protection cloak. This cloak keeps the planet in its own orbit and thus, no one can enter to invade it.
    Ben: Was this a proper thing to do to Martha? By putting the planet in its own orbit, you are keeping people trapped within.
    Their reply: Martha and the humans that inhabited the planet are our property. We will protect it however we like.
    Ben had no respond to this. The Meekends were right. The planet was theirs and they could do whatever they liked. There was no part in the contract about the humans. Ben had overlooked it but perhaps this too will protect the humans as well as Martha.
    But each morning, as Ben looked up at the sky, he couldn't help but wonder if this cloak might hinder the little planet. But he stored that thought away. It was no longer his problem, however he felt.
    A few months passed. Ben became used to the cloak. He kept thinking it wasn't an unsuitable way to protect a planet. He had seen worst.
    But Martha began to wither. The pollution that was mostly light drift became worst and people became ill. As more time passed, people tried to leave the planet but with the cloak, it was impossible. Those who flew to the sky, came back down defeated and in pieces. Some aimed weapons at the sky but that only caused destructions and death below.

Draw Something October 2021 – #2

I don't have much to say about this piece. This should be a night scene but I just don't want to work more on this so I'm showing it as it is.

#2 - Roar

Roar - closeup

Draw Something October 2021 – #1

I just saw that Tammie Lee at Beauty Flows started her Inktober for October which sort of reminded me I haven't been drawing. (Inktober is about creating one drawing a day using ink. For more about Inktober, go here.)
       I'm not doing Inktober but I'm going to be (hopefully) drawing the whole month and posting whatever I had created. I'll be drawing on my ipad using the app Procreate and their many brushes. So you might say the ink I'm going to use is digital. Who knows, I may do some actual drawings or two in ink. Also, I'm learning to draw with a electronic pen on a tablet which is definitely a lot harder and it takes a lot of patience.
    I'm calling this Draw Something October challenge or trying to draw when I don't really want to draw but sort of do challenge because that's exactly what it is as I really have a sort of unmotivated mind and often times, I don't quite have the will to draw. Anyway, I'm not going to follow any rules, I'll just be drawing and sharing them once a week or once every two days or whenever I feel like a drawing seems presentable which I can't promise you as you could be seeing just scribbles or lines or sketches that are chicken scratch. And most of them is going to be black and white. Here's the first drawing:

Lala and the Thing

I call this piece Lala and the Thing and it is inspired by the iconic scene in My Neighbor Totoro. No idea if the thing (creature on the right) with her little children is a cat or some other strange being and no, I have no clue why the girl's hair is like that but I call her Lala for some reason. And here's the sketch. (Click on the images for a larger view)

Lala and the Thing - Sketch

Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 2

Here are the rest of the books I read in September.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas > link
This reminds me of The Little Prince, similar tone, similar way of writing but it's written in first person (an eleven-year-old Stella) but directed toward her father which is kind of unusual but it seems to work. I enjoyed the beginning but then it just seems a bit slow and you kind of know where it was going. Summary: I like the idea of the story and I kind of want it to be fun and quirky and there were those moments but I guess in the end, it's a book about someone grieving so there's a bit of sadness there that somehow overrides a little of the fun and quirkiness. I enjoyed reading this but a little less at the end. Favorite quote: "I'm too bookish for prison!"

02 | The Last Human by Lee Bacon > link
It was the cover that made me want to read this plus I thought I should read more science fiction and since this involves robots, it made me want to read it. Although I did think the narrator, who is a robot, sounded and behaved too much like a human but maybe that is the point. Summary: This was sort of a familiar read and I sort of know what's going to happen but it was still fun.

03 | Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim > link
This is a standalone but if you didn't see the Disney movie Mulan (the animation, not the live action), I'm not sure you would enjoy this as much. But if you know the story of Mulan, then maybe it's enough. They did sort of give you some of the back story about Mulan here and there. The book starts with a scene from the movie and it detours to a new story. I love the movie so I was expecting much of the same thing but with a slightly darker tone as it mostly takes place in the underworld aka diyu (aka hell). There's Mulan, still pretending to be a man, there's Captain Li Shang and some of the soldiers but the story is just Mulan, Shang and Shishi (Shang's guardian) trying to get through diyu so there really isn't much to the storyline but we did get to learn a few things along the way. Summary: This was a good read though I think the challenges Mulan had to face keep piling up and at times, it seems like the book should have ended but it didn't. It has a happy ending which I had expected. This is actually not as twisted as the title implies, more like a light read. I enjoyed this more than I had expected. I think I would read the sequel if there was one.

Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 1

I've read a lot in September and most of them seems to be series. I honestly try not to read book series because I find I don't really like them unless they are short books. Anyway, here are the books that I read in September that are part of a series.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | A Problematic Paradox and The Unspeakable Unknown (Nikola Kross) by Eliot Sappingfield > link1, link 2
Some reviewers compared this to Harry Potter and yes, there's a school with some things that are almost like magic but this is more science and technology than magic and it's more fun. The classes Nikola attended are a lot of fun, although, the idea that you might get seriously injured might have dampened my thoughts of wanting to attend such school - it's really not for the weak or the dumb. I don't always understand the science and technology talk but I appreciate they are included. Sometimes I forget Nikola wears glasses as they rarely mention this but I really like that she's a bit of a nerd. Summary: This duology are crazy, wacky, slightly creepy, kind of nerdy, fun reads. These are probably the most fun books I had read this year.

Favorite quote from The Unspeakable Unknown, Chapter 17:
"I'm employing tedium and diversion to occupy myself in order to avoid frank consideration of harsh realities. Besides, being murdered tomorrow will pretty much render the issue of long-term emotional development completely moot, so who cares?"