The Strength of the LDS Youth

Where do the youth of the church get their strength from?  Where do they receive the courage and will to push through all the crud of the world, and repel the fiery darts of Satan?  How do they do it? Where does this extreme amount of spiritual strength, commitment, and courage come from?  For young women, it comes through the personal progress program.  The personal progress program is a part of the young women's program, in fact, it is the structure.  The personal progress program strengthens us and our testimonies by providing hundreds of experiences that bring us closer to Heavenly Father.  The Personal Progress Program consists of 8 values.  They are faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue.  For each value experience there is a project that needs ten hours at the VERY LEAST!  The Personal Progress Program takes at least 180 hours to complete if you do it fast.  It usually takes at least 300-600 hours. The Personal Progress program is the equivalent of an Eagle Scout project for a young man.  These activities increase our relationship with God, and this increases our strength in the Gospel so much. Through our strength, we can be strong enough to resist all temptation.  For example, sex before marriage, drugs, smoking, drinking, etc.  These things are an abomination in my sight. 

Another thing that helps us be strong is a pamphlet released by the church titled For The Strength Of Youth. This book lists many of our values and lists why it is important to stay strong and steadfast to these principals. We are instructed to carry it with us at all times.

That's What I'm Talkin' 'bout!!! 

Then there's stuff for the strength of young men, like duty to God. I don't know very much at all about the Young Men Program, so I'll just put some pictures in:

DINGBAT OUT!!!!

STORM..CELTIC THUNDER!

We were at the Celtic Thunder concert in Salt Lake City where we purchased the Storm DVD and CD.  I watched it on my laptop and found it to be amazing.  Storm is a little story about Irish Settlers and they have a big chest of gold and jewels.  There is a Gypsy King (Ryan Kelly) and he tries to steal the Settler's stuff.  He is the opposing person.  Damian McGinty is the Young Buck, George Donaldson is the Chief, Keith Harkin is the Highwayman, Paul Byrom is the Land Owner's son.  I like that it is choreographed and everything in the story is musical so it is sung.  The dialog is in notes and music.  It is pretty much music.  I love it when Neil plays the Mandolin.  Even though is not very good looking, to me that is, he plays like 15 different instruments.  It is a story of honor, pride, vengeance, romance and lust.  My favorite song is "Hail the Hero, Shadows, and Look at Me." 

I love the percussion and the enthusiasm of the performers, the choreography, dancing, singing, flipping, acrobatics.  The Gypsy men are very ahtletic and are amazing.  The Gypsy men dance very athletically.  I love Damian's deep bass voice!

In the Heritage DVD, Emmett sings Kindred Spirits and I love him more than Damian (which is hard to believe)!  Emmett is my very, very, very, very favorite member of Celtic Thunder ever!  He is hot too!  He sings Opera too which is very sexy if you ask me.


That is all for now! 
DINGBAT OUT! 

Flutes, Flutes The Magical Sound!!!!

I brought my flutes to school today so that I could play them at lunch.  (If you don't know already, I LLLLOOOOVVVVVEEEEE NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTES!)  I brought my flutes to school on Friday because it's not a school day.  I showed up early so I could play for The Shimmy Dude before his meetings started.  He loves to hear people play the Native American flute.  Unfortunately, he doesn't own any, and I don't think he can play, but the Short Man's wife plays, and so does the Quack, and his wife too I think.  Anyway, I showed it to him, and he loved it and asked me if I would walk around at events such as the COL (Celebration Of Learning) and play to set the mood with music.  I brought them again today to show the Quack, and it's amazing, because anything he picks up, he can play, literally.  He's a prodigy.  Anyway, he was super interested, and asked me to play each one for him.  I own three, so I played them all.  Then, and this is so cool, he picked one up, wiped it off, and started playing it. That was cool; to see my teacher play MY flutes right in front of me.  Neato!  Then, in math class, it's funny because The Shimmy Dude plays Native American flute music on his computer, and I just kind of sink when I hear it.  I relax immediately.  But today I didn't notice it.  He loves it when I do that, and I think that's why he plays it.  He was like, "oh, come on!  Sarah."  Then he got my attention, smiled and turned the music up.  Then I was like "ah," and slumped down.  He laughed softly and lovingly.  I love The Shimmy Dude.  We have a special friend relationship and we talk about religion a lot too.  I will post my persuasive essay that I wrote in parts, so you can read it.  It’s based on religion. 

Anyway, this was a great day.  Of course every day is great, but this was a GREAT day!  I love my teachers, and my school!  The only thing is I didn't get to play my flutes at lunch because I forgot I had other requirements, boohoo, but I will play tomorrow.

So long,

DINGBAT OUT!!!!

Maze Runner

I have not written about this book for a while, since the last post I have fallen in love with it and it is one of my favorite books.  After Thomas gets taken out of the elevator and meets Alby who is the leader, they do not do much to welcome him in.  They tell him the rules, and they give him to Newt to show him the ropes.  They take him to a boy named Chuck who is really short and looks to be about 12 years of age.  Chuck is a portly kid that reminds me a little of my brother.  Thomas starts looking around and starts looking at where he is and he finds out he is in a place called the Glade and everyone there are called Gladers.  There is a garden, a place with cows, pigs, chickens and so forth.  There is a wooded area with dying trees.  Thomas runs in to a guy named Gally who is mean to him because he said he remembers him.  Thomas finds this interesting, because no one can remember anybody in the Glade.  Gally insists that he knows Thomas.  Gally went through a changing because he was stung by something called the Griever.  A guy named Ben is going through the changing at this time and Thomas asks what this is.  Gally tells him to go look.  Newbies are not allowed to see things like the changing.  The guy on the bed has green skin, his veins are green and he is writhing.  Thomas is kicked out and he gets into trouble for being there.  He returns to Chuck.  Chuck is sarcastic all the time and does not answer Thomas' questions.  Thomas likes Chuck and at the same time finds him to be annoying.  Thomas is glad to have a friend, nonetheless.  Thomas goes to bed and tries to put the image of Ben out of his mind.

DINGBAT OUT!

I Went to the Cadaver Lab at UNM (Cont'd)

Guess who fainted out of all of us?   I never would have guessed in a million years that she would have fainted because she's such a tomboy?  My best Friend, Briana.  It was scary. When she fell, she was shaking, and her eyes were glassed over.  We thought she was seizing. Turns out it was just a freeze chill, because all the blood went to her organs.  When we came out she said, "Oh man I can't believe I missed the brains!"  She is so tomboy!  The only reason she passed out in the first place was because she locked her knees because she was so interested in what was going on.  Bryah's mom was watching, so she was able to catch her.  Then Briana's next response was, "I wish I could have hit my head and got a concussion, then the story would be much more dramatic to tell the engineering kids."  She is a dork, but of course I probably would have said the same thing.  

So anyway, we went to lunch at the Sub, and I got a Calzone with Mushrooms which was delicious, but the mushrooms looked like smoker's lungs which we saw there.  I was like "hey guys, what does this look like?" And they said, "a smoker's lung," and then I stuffed it in my mouth.  YUMMY!  The Piercing Spear rolled her eyes, saying her husband says stuff like that all the time, and we laughed.  I love my friends.  So anyway, we went back and back to class. Yeah (not)!

WOW, THAT'S LONG!  (Just for you Shimmy Dude),
DINGBAT OUT!!!!!

I went to the Cadaver Lab at UNM

            Today I went to the Cadaver Lab at UNM and my best friends Jakey, Briana, and Sam went with me.  Just to see if I can, I am going to name all the Anatomy and Physiology students who came with us.  There was Bernice, Johnny, Reno, Alexis, Bryah, Sydney, Chris, Cheyenne, Isaiah, Asa, Sara, Mary, Steven, Niquelle, Meghan, and I can't remember any others.  The Piercing Spear, The Robot Lady and our principal came too.  I remember we got there and were waiting, and there was this couch that had waves.  Seven of us were sitting on it and it goes up and down because it is shaped like a wave.  I was sitting on the upward part and the gravity was pushing me onto The Robot Lady.  I'm going into a lot of detail now because I don't want to go into too much detail about what we saw when we were in to the Cadaver Lab, because then I'll start smelling Formaldehyde! 

 

We walked up the stairs and we saw this doctor with a big bushy white mustache and two white tufts of hair on either side (LOL).  He looked a lot like Einstein at first glance, at least to me.  There was also a young pretty woman with reddish/brownish hair and blue eyes.  They were both in lab coats. When we first went in, I was fine.  I was pretty excited.  We were asking questions, and it was great. Then the white haired doctor opened up the body bag.  I couldn't breathe, the Formaldehyde smelled so strong.  It seemed with every breath my stomach lurched upward, and my gag reflexes triggered.  I thought I was going to puke.  The whole thing was SUPER COOL, but I just could not have handled the smell; it engulfed me.  I almost puked a total of 3 times, and almost passed out the same amount.  The whole thing was really cool, because we got to see all the organs, and touch them, and feel how thick the skin was.  The one thing that really got me grossed out about feeling the organs and body parts was the moisture and coldness of the organs.  (I'm already getting nauseated again; knew I couldn't refrain from the details.)  We wore gloves so the organs and such were not touching our skin, but the moisture and coldness of the organs is what we felt through our gloves, and we felt the cold and the wet for a while after touching it.  That was the worst thing, other than the smell. We could feel the temperature and wetness of the skin and organs. Oh, and the texture. The coolest parts were when we got to hold the brains, and hearts, and lungs, and livers; but the hearts and brains especially.

TO BE CONTINUED.....,

DINGBAT OUT!!!!!

How Harry Potter should have ended, the youtube video, and how star wars should have ended, the youtube video!!! BOTH ARE HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting in World History class with a Sub in the room, and I'm done with my assignment, and the next one's not due until Thursday, so I decide to take a thirty second break from my work (inside joke, LOL!) and I go on to YouTube and look up Severus Snape, who is my favorite character out of them ALL!  I like him even better than Harry.   So.... back to where I was going. I looked up Severus Snape and I found this little animated cartoon titled How Harry Potter Should Have Ended.  Intrigued, I clicked on it.  I swear I laughed so hard it's not even funny, and it's awesome, I mean, Snape comes back to life and then shoots Voldemort in the head with a "muggle" gun and then he goes back in time with Hermione's time turner, and returns to where Dumbledore is in Tom's orphanage and Snape jumps in out of nowhere and kills Tom Riddle.  Then Dumbledore's like "What the heck?  Why did you do that?" and then Snape's like "I just saved your life in the future, but it's a really long story.  I mean no, it's a REALLY LONG STORY, like long enough to fill 7 books, and then Dumbledore says "or 8 movies," and then it's the end.  It’s so funny!  OH MY GOSH, and then there's How Star Wars The Emperor Strikes Back Should Have Ended.  That’s so funny.  I’ll explain this one briefly because I want you to watch it.  It’s HILARIOUS!  The Emperor is telling Darth Vader that Anakin Skywalker has a son, and he freaks out. “I have a son????!!!!” then the emperor says, “no, I Said Anakin has a son, you’re Darth…..” “I can’t believe this, this is so exciting!!!  Hey guess what Storm Troopers, I’m a dad!!!  Guess what asteroids, I’m a dad!!!!  Hey Bounty Hunters, you know I’m gonna be a dad right???”  Now you can watch the end of it.  Here’s the videos

DINGBAT OUT!!!!!!

School: What's Happening?

School is pretty awesome, and there's a lot going on.  I'm finally squared away on my master project, and Flower and I are on top of it now.  The Barbour wants me labeling and mapping all the nerves and nerve endings in the thumb, on all sides.  Flower and I are trying to get it done but it's a lot of work.  Today was a good day in school and I got a lot of my work done in class.  I love school so much, but very sadly I didn't get to see my favorite teacher (The Quack) today : .(.  Other than that, it was a really good day.  I understood my math in class and had it finished, so I got to help the other kids in my class understand and do it.  That was probably the funnest (YES, FUNNEST IS A WORD IN MY VOCABULARY!) class today.  Shimmy Dude was so pleased that I helped that he asked me personally to come back, but I told him I couldn't skip the Short Man's class, (unfortunately) but he knows.  I hope that he knows I would always be more than willing to help if I could. 


Different topic altogether, but guess what??!!??  The Sewards Rat had her Baby, Nico on Friday at 3 in the afternoon!  He's so CUTE, I"M GONNA DIE!  Also, my World History teacher's wife had their Baby also, Michael!  I haven't seen a picture of him yet, but it's so exciting!  Even though it's exciting neither of them are here right now so we have to deal with Subs, uck, but I know it's all good, and they'll be back before we know it.  


Oh and guess what?  WE'RE GOING TO THE CADAVER LAB ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!


Dingbat Out!

The Maze Runner

I'm reading a book called Maze Runner, and for a book written by a Mormon author, it is pretty gory, and has some pretty close language.  For instance when Alby says, “what the Shuck is wrong with you?" or "you shank," or "you Klunk- head."  I don't like the book, but I have to wait for the second book of The Beyonders to come out.

The book starts out where there's this boy in an elevator that is moving.  He doesn't remember how he got there, and he doesn't know where he is.  He gets scared and panicky, and he can't see a thing.  He starts trying to remember where he is and how he got there.  The only thing he seems to be able to remember is his name.  His name is Thomas.  He remembers things that he did, eating a hamburger or hotdog, watching a movie, but he can’t incorporate places or people in them, so they’re void and empty. It’s frustrating.  He doesn’t even know how old he is, or where this elevator is taking him.  All he knows is that he’s been in this elevator for a really long time, and he wants out.  After what seems ages of being in the elevator shaft, he sees a sliver of light, and feels the elevator come to very abrupt stop.  It’s so bright that he can’t see what and who is there.  All he can see are blurs.  He starts to pass out, and the voices around him get muddy and indistinctive.  They pull him out of the elevator and he’s standing in front of this big group of boys of various ages from 12 to 17.  There’s this Asian guy who’s looking at him from head to toe, examining him.  His name’s Alby.

We’ll stop here,

DINGBAT OUT!!!!!

THE CONCERT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got to the Maverik Center where Celtic Thunder was performing, and I was so excited I almost passed out!  I was like, "I hope Damian will be here, and Paul."  We were in line for merchandise and I saw the poster they had available of Damian, and I almost fainted!  HE IS SO HOT!  I swear I almost fainted several times.  So while we were waiting I got to talk to this girl that I met named Sarah!  She's a Junior in High school, and she is in love with Damian and Paul, like I am!  She plays the piano too! We’re like sisters, OH MY GOSH!  She’s obsessed with all music, and just as big as a dorky nerdy goofball as I am!  She reminds me a lot of my favorite cousin, Cassie.  We went in the theater after buying out the whole merchandise store (literally), and we took our seats.  The only thing was the show didn't sell out for some reason, so they pushed the stage forward and our view was blocked by a column of speakers. That was really annoying.  We ended up getting up and moving to better seats in the next section over, LOL!  It was awesome.  We were sitting behind this Mormon family that drove all the way down from Rupert, Idaho to see the show.  They were just as crazy as we were.  The girl and I bonded immediately.  Her name was Rebecca, she's fifteen, and she has really high standards!  She loves Keith and Emmett the best. Personally, I love Damian, George, and Paul the best.  My mom likes little Danny, George, and Keith.  So we moved rows and sat by them because they moved to.  When Celtic Thunder came on the stage, I screamed so many times, I almost passed out!  I felt bad though, because the people sitting behind us moved and so did the people sitting in front.  After a moment I could care less.  I screamed louder.  This was the moment I’d been waiting for all my life.  The first song they sang was in Gaelic, Little Danny sang a solo.  He has a very pure high soprano voice.  My favorite part of that song was when Danny, who is still fairly new at performing, got nervous and didn't know where he was, George grabbed him on the shoulder and situated him.  That was the sweetest thing.  George is the nicest man in the world, and I love him so much, and just for that, he's my favorite, even though he's bald. Personally, I think bald guys are sexy.  And also, George is the greatest performer. HE'S A HOOT!  He is always making the audience laugh, and when the crowd was cheering for him, he gave us thumbs up.  He even smiled and winked at me!  I ALMOST DIED!  He’s gotten so much better in the last 4 years, and I am so in love with him!  What is it with me and bald guys, or older guys that I find attractive? I HAVE NO IDEA!  But I'm a teenage girl!  We’re weird!  So anyway, enough talk about sexy George.  

Now on to Keith.  Keith was awesome!  He would throw his pick into the audience after he was done playing a song.  Keith is also an excellent performer.  Neil doesn't have the pizzazz, and Danny is still new.  Emmett on the other hand, he has a voice like an angel, and he sings Opera!  THAT IS SO HOT!  He’s also a BIG fan of Josh Groban!  Emmett's the third hottest of them all.  Here they are (in my opinion) in order of hottest to least hot:  Damian, Paul, Emmett, Keith, Ryan, George, Danny, and Neil (ucky wucky!!). 

So, anyway, the concert was amazing, so I'm going to stop babbling now. 

DINGBAT OUT!

Sitting here, in the Albuquerque airport, bored as all heck!!!!

I'm sitting here in the Albuquerque airport at my terminal, A8.  FUN!  Now we have to wait for 1 hour and a half.  When we got here we learned our flight had gotten delayed, and I thought here we go, it's going to be really tight trying to get to the concert on time because we'll get there at 5:30 pm instead of 4:30 pm.  The concert starts at 7, and by the time we're out it will be 6.  It's going to be hectic but it will be worth it!!!!  Oh, and guess what's so ironic?  We were checking in and there's this Jewish guy (I'm pretty sure he's Jewish), and he looks almost exactly like Jakey!  It's so cool, and he's even on our flight LOL!  The reason I think he's Jewish is because he's got curly hair and a big nose.  Now believe me, I WOULD NOT be saying this if Jakey didn't say it all the time, and he's Jewish, so it's ok.  I am NOT meaning to stereotype.  Then after that incident we went to this restaurant called Los Cuartes and our server looked exactly like Flower, I mean EXACTLY!  She was even as short as her (4 foot 10)!  She even walked like her, it was crazy!  My mom told me she'd take a picture with her Black Berry, but I said no, because that's weird.  So this is the jest of my really weird adventure here at Sunport Airport in Albuquerque.

That's a wrap,

DINGBAT OUT!

CELTIC THUNDER IS AMAZING!

Tomorrow we are going to go on a flight to SLC, UT to see a concert of my favorite band of all time - Celtic Thunder.  They have been around for about 5 years, they are all Irish and started out with five members.  Now there are 8 of them.  The original people were Ryan Kelly, Paul Byrom, Damian McGinty, Keith Harkin, and George Donaldson.  Damian was 14 when he started and is about my age and he is super, super cute and smart.  He gets straight As and he respects his mother, which I think is hot!  Paul is also super, super cute and was 28 when he started with Celtic Thunder and he starting training at the age of 7 to be an operatic singer, which I also think is hot because I want to be an Opera singer, or study Opera.  Keith Harking has an amazing voice and he started at the age of 28.  He is amazing with the guitar.  He loves music, has a high pitched voice for a guy and sometimes sings like a girl as far as the range.  He is not nearly cute, in my opinion, as Damian and Paul.  I will have pictures of them for you to see, since now there are 8 members instead of the original 5.  George is a really cool guy and has an interesting voice. When he started he was 48 and he is bald naturally.  He sings a lot of the folk songs and the sad songs.  Ryan was an Accountant before he joined the group, and he is cute, but not nearly as cute as Damian, Keith or Paul in my opinion.  Ryan was in his 30s or early 40s I believe.
Now, after 5 years, they have added three new people to their group and they are finally coming in concert to Salt Lake City.  They now have a 12 year old boy named Daniel Furlong.  They have a man in his 20s named Emmett Cahill that is to die for!  I think Emmett is better looking than Damian, which is hard to believe, and he has an amazing voice.  They have a new guy named Neil who was with them originally as a musician.  I don't care for him much as I do not care for his voice and I do not think he is that cute.  We are going to the concert tomorrow night and we are going to sit nearly in the front row on the farthest right side of the stage.  I think the view is going to be fantastic.  I think the tour they are doing is either Heritage or Storm.  I am not sure.  I would like to get CDs of Heritage and Storm at the concert.  Now I am going to insert pictures of these amazingly hot men!

George Donaldson

Damian McGinty

Keith Harkin

Neil Byrne

Paul Byrom

Daniel Furlong

Ryan Kelly

Emmett Cahill 

DINGBAT OUT!!!!!

Jakey became a skeleton!!

My best friends Briana, Sam and I painted my other best friend Jake's (everyone calls him Momo, but I call him Jakey) face.  We used face paint.  It was in Anatomy and Physiology class because we have a test tomorrow and we have to know the bones.  The Piercing Spear brought in a white T-shirt that our principal gave her.  Jakey volunteered to wear the shirt and be labeled.  It was awesome.  Sam, Briana and I put glittery face paint on his face to label the bones in the skull.  I painted the Frontal yellow.  I also drew his ribs on his shirt, and his clavicle.  We even put lip gloss on his lips, (to his strong opposition) to label the muscle in his lip.  I forgot to mention that when I was drawing his ribs, he complained a lot because he, The Quack, Flower, Kevin, Austin, J.D., and Nick just got back from a caving trip in Carlsbad Caverns, and his ribs are bruised, poor guy.  I love Jakey.  We also put hair-ties in his hair.  He looked like a chick, LOL!  The Piercing Spear drew the vertebrae on his back and front, and Sam and Briana labeled and drew his arm bones. Then we were done.  PICTURE TIME!  I took three pictures with my phone and I'll put them on here.  The faces he makes are hilarious.  He was totally up for it too.  He said, "This is the only day of the year that my mom will let me get away with this."  Then after we were done we went to show him to our Principal.  The Barbour and The Short man were in there.  Then we went and showed him to The Robot Lady.  We tried to show him to the Quack but he did not look happy that we were disturbing his class, so we left and went back upstairs and showed him to the Sewards Rat.  Then we showed him to Shimmy Dude.  Here are the hilarious pictures of Jakey:

DINGBAT OUT!

Bwahahaha, I got to take the Barbour's stitches out!!!!!

In Anatomy and Physiology class we had an opportunity to take The Barbour's stitches out.  He had had a cancer on his face so they had to cut it out and stitched him up.  He only had one stitch on his face, so he told the Piercing Spear that he would let one of us take his stitches out.  The Spear asked who would be interested and me, Sara, Sam, Briana, and a couple other people raised our hands, and The Spear put our names on pieces of paper and then we had a drawing.  I had a hunch I would get picked because I have really good luck, so I left to go the bathroom, and when I came back, I was told that I had won.  I screamed like a Banshee, I was so excited.  The Sewards Rat came in and so did the Barbour.  We sat him on a chair and I took the sanitized scissors, but I was so nervous that I grabbed them wrong.  I would not in any case make a good surgeon, because I tend to freeze up right before, and then I cannot to save my life remember how to do anything, not even hold scissors.  I went for his stitches with the tweezers in my left hand and the scissors in my right.  I know no one noticed, but my hands were shaking wildly.  I grabbed the knot in the stitches, pulled gently, and snipped the knot and pulled it through. It was short and sweet.  Sara was like, "That's it? That’s lame!" The Barbour's response was "I let you guys do it because it's easy.  What did you expect?" I was still shaking and shocked but I think I did a pretty good job. 

That's a Wrap,

DINGBAT OUT!

OH MY GOSH I'M GONNA BE FAMOUS!

You know how I got to go to D.C. because I was one of the ten selected out of 210 out of 4,700 people to be at the grand opening of an art show that was going to tour my original artwork all over the country right? Well guess what?  I learned, just barely, on Friday when I was at Arts Adventures Teen Night that MY artwork that I was only goofing around to make was bought by a museum in SALT LAKE CITY UTAH!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!! I was so overwhelmed and happy and shocked and just plain overloaded that I just fell apart, I mean I was weeping!  I was shaking wildly, my face was bright red and I almost passed out!  I mean I'm 15, 15 and my artwork was bought and is going to have a permanent home in my hometown, Salt Lake City, Utah!  I mean, when does this kind of stuff happen to a 15 year-old???!!!???  I could not be more happy, and I am so thankful to my beloved Heavenly father for the blessings he's bestowed upon me in my life, and now, more than ever, he is helping me accomplish what I want to in my life, and not just in art, in my academics.  I have straight A+s (well, except for the Short) thanks to his help.  He is my father, and I love him so much.  I'm thankful to my parents for giving me the Gospel, and raising me as a Latter-Day-Saint.  What would I be without them?  Nothing.  My parents are a blessing in my life, and I love them more than anyone except perhaps my Father in Heaven.  The support they have offered me in my life is astronomical, and they are always pushing me on.  Sorry I'm being so sentimental, but this is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me. EVER!!!!! THIS COULD MAKE ME FAMOUS!!!!!! 

Anyway, enough ranting and raving on my behalf,

DINGBAT OUT!!!!!!

A shocking truth and a proposal of service: BEYONDERS

Maldor walks in and pours some liquid into his goblet and tells Jason its Lumbaberry juice.  Jason is so bewildered nothing happened. Maldor was still here. As if he knows what Jason's thinking, he tells Jason he got the word right.  "Well if I got the word right, why didn't it work?" Then Maldor explained that the word would unmake a different wizard, one who was dead.  In other words, the word is a fake, and Salzared, the one who wrote the book bound in human skin was his servant, and knew that the word was a fake.  He is a displacer.  The book has his eye and his skin on it, and is written in his blood.  The purpose of this was so that he could be the ultimate spy.  Jason is so lost.  How did this happen?  It was all a fake?  All of it?  Jason asks him angrily why he created the word.  Maldor tells him it was to test people and he see that his greatest fighters were so he could recruit them.  He tells Jason that he is one of the only people in the world who know about the truth of the word.  Jason asks if Galloran knows.  Maldor says he told him it was a hologram of him so he could erase the suspicion.  He tells Jason that he was surprised that he knew the whole word, because he thought Jason only knew 4 of the six syllables.  Jason tells him that Galloran broke the rules and allowed access to the syllables in other places.  Jason asks him what his second order of business is and Maldor says it's because he wishes to propose something to Jason; an offer to serve him.  Maldor tells Jason how impressed he is of him and how he is the kind of man he needs.  He points out that Jason is wise, patient, clever, witty, strong, brave, impulsive, courageous, and most of all loyal and competitive.  He indulges him even more by promising that if he works hard, he will become one of the most respected and honored of his men, and receive rare treatment.  He also states that there is no reason to keep resisting him since the word is a fake.  Jason contemplates these things and the choice held before him.  What about Rachel?  What about Tark?  What about Drake, and Jasher, and everyone else?  He had to tell Rachel the truth.  He wasn't going to let her suffer for something that isn't even real.  Maldor is evil, why should he serve him?  He will warp his mind, and make him into a bad person.  Jason shudders at the thought, although it would be much easier. Jason shakes this disturbing thought out of his mind.  "Galloran said that a real hero is willing to stand up for what is right no matter the consequence" Jason said, glaring at Maldor.  "I refuse."  Maldor shook his head. Then Jason asks him if he knows how to get back to the beyond, and Maldor says he does.  Jason asks him if he will help him get to the beyond, and Maldor says he does not help his enemies.  He gets up and leaves. (OK, honestly I'm getting tired of talking about this book in so much detail so I'm just going to sum up.)  Jason gets drugged, and thrown in prison first with a huge kind of cobra snake.  He runs away for a while and then inevitably gets bitten.  The venom makes him spill the beans of everything to his interrogators.  Then he gets drugged again and thrown in a coffin.  Then Ferrin comes and knocks out the guards and rescues him and brings him to a well in a cave.  The well will take him back to the Beyond.  Jason fights, not wanting to leave Rachel, and so Ferrin pushes Jason in the well but Jason drags him in with him.  Ferrin detaches his hand and Jason keeps a hold of it, and then he's in the beyond.  He puts the hand in his pocket and walks to a house and asks if he can use their phone.

WOW, THAT'S A LOT!

DINGBAT OUT!

Disappointment, anger, imprisonment: BEYONDERS

We left off were Jason says the word.  I mentioned how he can feel the power of the word as he screams it, yet after he screams it, nothing happens.  Maldor just sits there, perplexed and puzzled.  "Well? Is that all? Then away with you.  How unfortunate that the one word you had to say is in gibberish.  Take him away!" The guard who escorted him in takes him out with instructions to put him in a holding cell.  They walk him down to the dungeons to a holding cell with a thick iron door.  The guards open the door, and push him in.  He tries to escape, pushing two of the guards over, but he is grabbed and pushed to the floor with unnecessary force.  Then they pick him up and force him in this chair, and lock in his arms and legs and waist, and neck into place with these metal confinement rings.  Then they leave.  He can barely breathe.  He can't move.  It's dark.  He’s extremely claustrophobic.  He starts freaking out, and has to calm down.  He tries to forget that he is tied up and can't breathe.  He goes to his "happy place."  He tries to keep track of time. Where is he exactly?  What time is it?  How long has he been here?  Each minute seems to drag out for eternity.  He tries to tell how many seconds, how many minutes, how many hours he's been locked up in this chair.  It's completely dark.  He can't see a thing.  Why hadn't the word worked?  He was certain he had said it right.  He couldn't remember the syllables as promised, so what was he going to do now?  All of a sudden, after who knows how long, the door swings open, letting in blinding light that hurts his eyes.  What’s going on?  Who is it?  MALDOR.  He walks into the room alone with a silver tray holding a bottle of liquid. The door closes behind him, flooding the room with darkness once again. DUN DUN DUN!!!!!

SUSPENSE!

DINGBAT OUT!

Arriving at the City, and a Change in Plot: BEYONDERS

When we left off, Jason was captured.  They take him and they start traveling to this city.  The leader's name is Ian.  He tells Jason to brace himself for what lies ahead for him in the prisons.  They travel for two days, and then he starts seeing the peaks of the city.  He is in awe at how protected and sturdy it is.  It has never been invaded.  Jason now knows why (I mean you can't even climb up the walls without being killed).  When they arrive at the gates they settle down for the night.  They will journey inside the city tomorrow.  They go to bed.  Jason wakes up with a hand over his mouth.  It's Drake! Drake pulls him to his feet and explains that he killed the guards.  He tells Jason that in order to get in front of Maldor and say the word, he explains to him that he needs to go inside the city and bang a gong.  When the gong is banged, a law states that that person must get an audience with Maldor, but he/she cannot choose the consequences that come from the audience.  They sneak into the city at night, and Drake kills the guards so that Jason can run to the platform where the big gong hangs.  He grabs the mallet and bangs the gong three times for effect.  The one guard who survives Drake's violent attack tells him he will get his audience, and then drags him roughly to Maldor's castle.  As they walk through the halls Jason runs the word through his head: Arimfexendrapuse, Arimfexendrapuse, over and over again.  Jason wonders if he will be able to pronounce the word correctly in the presence of Maldor.  They finally arrive to some double doors that are rough and heavy.  Upon approach, the doors open loudly allowing them to pass through.  As Jason walks in, he sees this man sitting on a throne in a black robe with a scepter in his hand with a handle of a smiling skull.  Sitting around him are dozens of displacers.  Jason tells Maldor that he wishes to share only one word with him, and then belts it out: "ARIMFEXENDRAPUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  He screams.  He can feel the power of the word in his body, taste it on his tongue. 

We’ll stop here,  

DINGBAT OUT!

Departure Cont'd and the Explosion of Jasher and Capture of Jason: BEYONDERS

We left off with the borehounds are chasing these men and they kill Tristan.  They catch up to Drake and Tark too but they start slaying the dogs.  Jason does too, but they get a hold of his arm and his leg, and he finally gets them off of him and he is bleeding.  Drake is not bleeding anywhere, and has four dead dogs around him, his sword covered in blood.  The dogs were followed by men on horses; one of them Kimp.  Then Jasher comes out with Rachel, and he rides toward Kimp.  Once close enough, Kimp jumps off his horse, colliding with Jasher.  Then a bright light and clash, and Jasher and Kimp are on the ground; Jasher blown to pieces, an arm over here, a leg over there, his head on top of his charred body; Kimp’s on the ground a little farther away, on fire.  The impact of Kimp’s tackle triggered Jasher’s Oriantum causing an explosion.  Jason runs to where Jasher lay, and starts frantically looking for the seed with his companions so that they can replant it and give Jasher a new life.  Jason checks the man’s charred neck for the seed, but it is not there.  He panics, asking his friends to look harder, and the anticipation builds, while their chances of escaping are becoming slimmer and slimmer.  Finally, after what feels like ages, they find the seed and head off on the horse Rachel has.  Unfortunately, there is a group of men coming their way.   Jason gives Tark the seed, and tells him to tell Rachel that the last syllable is DRA.  One half of the group of men pursue Tark’s group while the rest stay and confiscate Jason.  He surrenders, and they tell him they are taking him to a city called….. (Oh shoot, I can’t remember.  It’s kind of important to know what it’s called huh?  Sorry ‘bout that.)   Anyway, they start heading toward their destination.

That’s enough for now,
DINGBAT OUT!

Duke Conrad duel and departure cont: BEYONDERS

When the preparations are made they gather into the Billiard room, where one of the billiard tables is filled with billiard balls.  The rules are simple:  they pick up the billiard balls and throw them at each other until one of them dies or is killed.  The match starts, and Jason soon realizes that Duke Conrad is very slow and clumsy when it comes to dodging and throwing balls.  He hits Jason with one ball, and Jason soon throws a ball that unintentionally hits him in the head. Jason was aiming for his shoulder, but Duke Conrad ducks, making his head the target instead of his shoulder.  He slumps to the ground unconscious.  His second tells Jason he has the right to kill him, but Jason declines the offer.  All he wants is to leave.  He asks if anyone wants to come with him other than Tark, and finally Drake says he will.  He says that he told himself that if Jason won he would go with him.  Also, another man, Tristan, decides to come with him; however Jason is a little concerned because Tristan is very obese, and they were going to be doing a lot of running.  He offers one last time, and then they head off on foot, all armed with their own personal weapons.  They start running and almost immediately they hear dogs behind chasing them; borehounds mostly.  So they keep running, and Tark and Drake are very fast runners, so Jason is having a hard time keeping up with them.  Tristan on the other hand is having a hard time keeping up with them, and they haven't been running very far and his face is already red.  The borehounds are running faster than they can run, and they catch up to Tristan and attack and kill him.  

More to come....