Category: Other

For Part 1, click here.

 

“Good evening, Death,” Jeremy greeted him cheerfully. Jeremy was a young man who had been a wonderful scholar until one evening, as he was walking to his dorms, he had a heart attack and died. He had grown fond of Death and often made for Death’s only real companion. Then he noticed the look on Death’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his jolly grin turning to a look of concern.

“Meh.” Death shrugged. “This job has sort of… gotten old. It bores me.”

“No!” Jeremy replied, making a long face. “You’re Death. You’re immortal. What would we do without you? The people need you.”

“Guess the Sun was right. I just have to make the most of it.” Death sighed.

“Well, you could always change it up a little.” Death looked curiously at Jeremy. “You know, make it fun. Add some dancing, a couple jokes, you get the idea.”

Death thought about it and, for the first time in his highly extensive life, actually did some research on people and their hobbies. He found out about music, and card tricks, and everything else that seems like everyday entertainment to you. And then it hit him. The idea that would develop his monotonous career into a fun, capricious… game! He started running out the Gates of the Underworld.

“Where are you going?” Jeremy asked, looking up from his books. Part of his liking for being one of the Dead was that he had all of eternity to read his books, reread his books, and read books he had never previously had access to.

“Changing it up. Want to come?” Death asked, halfway out the door. Jeremy very quickly closed his books, slid them into a drawer in a desk that he had made, and stepped out with Death. Now, stepping outside into a North Dakota winter without a jacket may seem foolish to you, but I assure you, it had no effect on either man whatsoever. For, you see, not being able to feel cold and heat was yet another benefit of being Dead.

They made a sharp turn and started down a busy road. “So, what’s the plan?” Jeremy asked.

“We’re going to change it up,” Death replied. Then he turned down a street into a park and started singing and dancing around, randomly tapping people. He eventually returned to Jeremy, triumphant, and said, “Ten more people. That should be all for this week in North Dakota.” With that he turned and led Jeremy back to the Gates of the Underworld.

When they got back, Jeremy asked, “How will all those people die?”

Death turned and responded, “Assorted reasons. The young man will Die in a car accident, that family of four’s house will burn down, taking them with it, and the rest will die of stuff like old age and diseases.”

For once, Jeremy seemed lost for words. “But… but isn’t that sort of mean? Killing some off so young?”

“No, my dear boy! I only let those who are Ready – pure of heart and soul – Die and join us in the Underworld. It is a gift! Eternal life! No pain! No rules! It is access to all the knowledge they ever wanted!” He waved his arms emphatically.

 

What about there? Was that the ending that satisfies you most? Death explaining the good that has come from his role? If not, I have one more possible ending for you, the one that I originally used for the contest, coming next week!

It occurred to me that it has been over two years since I received an honorable mention in the Felix Dennis writing competition in the Stratford Literary Festival for a story I wrote about Death. Literally. My main character was Death. And it occurred to me that perhaps, I should share that story with you. And then it occurred to me that that story was too long for one post, so I decided to split it across three. Enjoy! (And please pardon the cheesy plot: after all, I was younger then.)

 

For All Time

“This job is getting old,” Death said to himself. And his statement was quite literal. For, you see, Death’s story went back way past most anything you could imagine. Past the Louisiana Purchase, past Babylon, even past the dinosaurs. For, in fact, Death’s story started way back when the universe itself was said to have been created. He witnessed what you mortals nowadays can only dream about. Let me explain.

Millennia ago, when the universe itself burst into existence, so did Death. Death was not cruel, as many today picture him. He was, much like you, a normal human being. Well, almost. For, you see, Death was immortal. He himself was created, like the rest of us, different. Taking the form of a human being, he was created as a full grown man. Yet he knew not of his job to-be, nor how he came to exist. In fact, none of us did, save the Sun, who guided us into our rightful positions.

I was there when the Sun told Death his name, his new line of work, and the job criteria, so to speak. Old as I am, I still remember the conversation I witnessed, fresh as grass in spring. “Your name shall be Death.” The Sun began. “Your job is to take the Lives of those who are Ready, and welcome the new Dead to the Underworld.” Death seemed to understand the job reasonably well. He dispatched himself to the Underworld to begin his job.

That was when the Sun turned to me. He spoke in a stern, deep voice, yet it was still kind. “You shall be the Moon. You shall light the Night with the Stars during my rest. The people will look to you for guidance as you reflect my Light unto them.” To my surprise, I understood exactly what he meant.

We all went to our works. Centuries passed. Every decade or so we held a council to discuss our jobs. That’s when things changed. We had gathered for one of our councils, and the Sun had started talking to Death. “And how is your job?” he asked, expecting the usual response.

“Honestly, it’s getting kind of boring,” Death replied. “Could we, say, exchange jobs for a day? Or take a vacation?”

“This is your job, Death! There is no vacation from a job as important as yours!”

“Well, has it ever, ever, occurred to you, brilliant you, that I might not like my job? I quit!”

Sun gasped, then regained his composure and replied, “There is no quitting your job, Death. Don’t even try. You are destined to pluck Souls and welcome them to the Underworld.”

“Easy for you to say. Everyone looks forward to the Sunrise, when the dark and scary Night passes,” Death scoffed. “I, on the other hand, am feared, banished to the Underworld, and hated! People always look forward to you, but I am despised. I’m sick of it. I quit!”

“Death, you cannot quit. Please try to make the most out of your job.”

Death slumped his shoulders and went home, if anyone can call the Underworld a home.

 

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of my story! The rest will be posted these next two Sundays, if you’d like to finish it. Or, perhaps, you liked the message of the Sun’s statement as a final note, and you don’t really want to read the rest of the story, in which case, don’t! It’s all up to you!

 

Alright, we’re taking a new twist this week. Instead of me rambling incessantly over some game, person or event, I want you to leave me a comment telling me about one of your favorite things. It could be anything: a game, book, toy, person, group of people, or a memorable event. I’d love to hear what you all have to say!

Happy Holidays and may the force be with you!

Yeah, a little off topic, I know. But cats are an important part of my daily life. Plus, they’re adorable.

The reason I’m posting about cats goes back a month or so now. At my school, every kid in my grade has to take a mandatory 9-week speech class. During that time, we had three speeches to present. After the second one, our teacher asked us all what we wanted her to ask our parents for. Thus, per my request, she sent home an email saying that they should get me a kitten.

A few days ago, we were headed home and my mother detoured to the local animal shelter. As could be expected, I was over-the-top excited and couldn’t wait to meet everyone. We started by greeting the older cats, the youngest of whom was a shy brown tabby named Omelette. We liked the cats, but we were looking for someone young enough to keep our older girls, June and Diane, on their toes, with a strong enough personality to compete.

So we went to meet the kittens (oh, the horrors!). There were only three, two of whom were Omelette’s offspring: Bacon and Eggs (nice, imaginative naming, guys!). They shared her quiet and skittish personality, but the third, a white and black who was at the time called Haley, came right up in our faces, asking for attention. She was constantly purring and bounding around, so we decided that she was the perfect choice.

As could be expected, there was a little trouble in introductions, leading to at least a day of the older girls hissing, growling and frantically pawing whenever any other cat came close. The kitten just kept bolting around and exploring, though, so eventually the other two came around.

Next was the matter of naming: we already have a relative named Haley, so we knew that the kitten’s would have to change. Mom rooted for Eowyn, but I decided that she was more of an Arwen. I prevailed and we officially named my kitten after an elf.

Cats are excellent companions, for both entertainment and cuddly purposes. They are, true to stereotype, very mischievous, but I can assure you that black cats are not bad luck. Quite on the contrary, in some places they are considered good luck! Those places are correct, as I spent the first 9 years of my life with a black cat in the household. During that time, I (or my parents) won everything from little raffles to a car at a baseball game (Camry 2012, Cubs game). I never managed to break a bone, get a cavity or require glasses, which is only somewhat luck, but I count myself fortunate anyways.

Can somebody tell me where that superstition came from anyways? But seriously, if you haven’t done so today (and you aren’t allergic,) go pet a cat!

 

This is another topic that isn’t entirely geeky, it’s just super cool! In my speech class, we were supposed to choose an informational topic that would be used for our first and third speeches. I chose the search engine Ecosia!

Since I wrote a whole speech on Ecosia, I could certainly just write that here, but that would be sad and lazy of me, so I won’t. About a year prior, I found an ad for Ecosia on Facebook. Had I been entirely alert at the moment, I would probably have just ignored the ad. As it so happened, however, I was tired and bored, so I clicked on it.

I immediately became intrigued by the general basis of their site. As I said earlier, Ecosia is a search engine. Like all search engines, they make money off of ads when people search. What makes them unique, however, is what they do with that money: they use their profits to help plant trees in other countries!

I was so interested in how this worked that I went ahead and clicked through their extra info. I spent probably a good half an hour sifting through personal info, financial reports and other fun facts! I was so impressed with the work they were doing that I made it my default search engine.

Recently, they have rocketed forward in progress. They’ve planted 10 million of their 15 million total trees in this last year, as well as doubled the amount of countries they help in!

This past summer, I got to meet with their UX Designer Ina over a video chat. Since their headquarters is in Berlin, the time difference was significant, but despite having already spent about nine weeks chatting with users already, and being near the end of her work day, she seemed very excited to meet me and didn’t mind at all!

I don’t know about you, but I think that what these guys are doing here is really cool. You can follow their blog, their YouTube channel, or just use their site to help contribute! (Link to main site above) Whichever you choose, I hope you at least check Ecosia out and give it a shot!

The Vlog Brothers, Hank and John Green, have recently become some of my favorites after Hank did the Hobbit Drinking Medley with Peter Hollens (who I mentioned here). After watching the medley, I clicked to Accio Deathly Hollows, the song that made the Vlog Brothers famous. They have another Harry Potter song, called This Isn’t Hogwarts, that also became a favorite of mine.

They also do a lot of science songs, like The Universe Is Weird, and The Fermi Paradox. And then there is the song We’re All Going To Die, which I’m not sure how to categorize, but it’s hilarious.

The Vlog Brothers also have another channel called Crash Course, where you can take Computer Science, World History, Sociology, Mythology, and more. I look forward to trying all of them.

Hank was also in Titansgrave, a show about a role-playing game GM’d by Wil Wheaton.

Update: I also just found out that Hank is in a YouTube science show called Eons from PBS.

I believe this post is long overdue. What kid doesn’t like stuffed animals, right? For me, I always loved Build-A-Bears. I have more than 60 of them currently. In Build-A-Bear, you choose which type of stuffed animal you want, then take it to the stuffer. They will stuff it to your choosing, and then you can add scents or sounds. You give it a heart, and then they sew it shut.

The next order of business is to pick out any clothes you may want to buy your bear. They also have little cars, tents, and more. Once you’ve chosen accessories (which you can then give to your other Build-A-Bears, also), you fill out their birth certificate, and purchase.

I like the way they let you decide on its stuffing. They stuff it, then have you hug it. They will then either add stuffing, remove stuffing, or, if you are satisfied, they will have you choose a heart for it.

They have a lot of bears, and a good amount of cats, dogs and rabbits. What I would really like to see are more exotic creatures. The only place I have seen these was the St. Louis Zoo Build-A-Bear Workshop, where I got a toucan. I think they should bring some of those to the stores near me. They also have special plush, like Chewbacca and Rocket Raccoon. I have an Ewok.

I think the clothes are cool. The nice thing is, you can take the outfits on and off, meaning that no bear is stuck wearing the same outfit for eternity. You can dress them by the holiday or just by what you think is cute. I bought a Build-A-Bear wardrobe for mine, which is convenient depending on the quantity of outfits you have.

I’m going to say ahead of time, this post is a little off topic. I, however, felt the need to mention this group, who I have been listening to a lot.

History in music is something I was first introduced to through my cousin and uncle. Sabaton is a group of musicians that write songs about historic battles and warriors. We like to play their music while playing World of Warships (see previous post).

My favorite of their songs is The Lost Battalion, a World War I song about a group of Americans trapped by the Germans in the Argonne Forest. I have a project at my school where we’re studying the 1910’s-1920’s in Language Arts and making an Animoto video of it. I got special permission from my teacher and my partner to use this song as part of my project, since my friend and I chose World War I as our topic.

My second favorite song is Resist and Bite. Resist and Bite is a World War II song about the Belgian blitzkrieg, where forty men stepped to arms to hold off the Germans. They succeeded for a total of 18 days. Again, I love this group and suggest their music to those interested.