Below Gravity (original) (raw)

24 December 2009 @ 12:42 am

Just a story I've been working on. Part 1. Based of the story of Alice and Wonderland, but with a sort of twist. Also based on the world of SyFy's Alice. As you may or may not know, I'm a little bit obsessed with Alice and Wonderland. It's one of my favorite stories, so here's my take on it. On a side note, I never referenced the book, the Disney movie, or the SyFy mini-series while writing this. Some ideas may come from said things, but if anything is incorrect compared to the book/movie/series, I don't really care because I'm not trying to be correct. So, without further adieu, Are We Mad Yet? by BelowGravity.

SORRY! I lied. It's not here yet. Check back in a couple days.

18 December 2009 @ 11:21 am

Well, isn't this a momentous occasion. My first review since coming back. But it's about time! Let me just calmly state that I have never promised to abstain from bias during any review. On that note, I've never promised anything. On we go!

P.S. Spoilers inside, if you haven't yet seen the movie.

Overall Opinion:

Amazingly done and written. Definitely worth watching a second, third, or even fourth time. I loved the new spin on the old classic.
Full Summary: ( are we mad yet?Collapse )
Rating: 5/5

18 December 2009 @ 10:46 am

Yes, that's right. I am BACK.

My first order of business, as long as I am here, is to (eventually) review SyFy's newest (newer?) mini-series, Alice. You will not be finding said review in this post, however, so please be patient as I remove myself from the computer, get breakfast, take a shower, and prepare in my conjumbled (is that a word?) head what I will say about this series.

Thank you.
Cat

Mood: BACK

I'm really not sure what to do with myself. I just spent a week teaching about God and learning from Him at the same time. I just spent a week seeing the true power of God and what He can really do, not just what we think we can do. I just found myself to be nothing in the presence of God, but everything when He is in me. What do I do with this? I can't even imagine what I can say about it. It's too much. Looking back, I have to ask myself, "Did I really do that? Did that really happen?" Because it just doesn't seem real. Those people feel far away. But I don't want to feel like I left them in India. Like I left God in India. Because to forget them wouldn't be right, wouldn't be good, wouldn't be useful. To forget them, to forget what I learned, to forget who God really is, would be (for lack of a better word) useless.

I learned that I don't even have the words to speak. The words that come out of my mouth mean nothing without God.

I learned that I'm selfish. Unworthy. Silly. Nothing. But loved by God all the same.

I learned that prayer is important. That it is nothing to be ashamed of. That I am to wrestle in prayer. To pray without ceasing. And to pray with only God in my mind and in my heart.

I learned that I can do much more than I say or think I can. When God stretches me, it's never more than I can handle but it's always more than I think I can handle.

I learned that God's grace is amazing and only is mighty to save.

I learned that I have a lot of growing up to do.

I learned that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Lift me up, Lord, give what I need.
Lift me up, Lord, oh I want to see you.
Lift me up, Lord, higher than the trees.
Lift me up, Lord, oh I beg you, please.

Because, God, I have no strength without you. I have no words, I have no life, I have nothing. I am nothing. I see that now and I know it better than before. You have taught me so much more than I can ever have imagined. About you, about me, about life. I have this incredible longing for you, if that's even the right way to explain it. I feel like if I do anything, it just doesn't feel right. Do I even do it with the right motives? I do it to get it done, not as if I was doing it for you. Do I listen intently as if I was listening to you? Do I see clearly as if I was seeing you? Or am I just continuing to live my life as I did before, like a camp high, gone within moments of reaching the bottom of the mountain. Tony has put it so well. I've been to the moon and back and I've seen things no one but the ones that were with me can imagine. What do I do with it? I pray that I don't forget what I experienced, God. I don't want to go back to being the same person I was before I left. I don't want to know what I learned and do nothing about it. I want to live every day with my complete trust in You, living completely in You because I can nothing else. I pray that I don't forget those people. That every day I will remember who I met and formed relationships with. That they will remember You and what You've done for them. That they will know I have done nothing but You have done everything. I pray, Lord, that my life is not just changed in how I live it but also in how I see it.

God, we all made ourselves nothing so you could fill us up. Let us stay at that point and remember how fulfilling it was. Let us keep each other accountable. Let us remember what we said we'd change and change it forever. Let us not forget what we have here in America. Let us not forget who blessed us with it.

God, I love you.
Have I ever said that?
I'm told God is love and God loves us.
But have I ever said how much I love you?
I thought I didn't know what love was. I don't.
But I know who you are and I'm incredibly blessed.
Thank you, God, for this experience of a lifetime.
Let me remember what you did, Lord.

AMEN.

Gah. I cannot get over how much I love this story. I don't know how many of you have read it or seen it or heard it or whatever. It's SO good. Honestly, it's my favorite story ever. Yes, I like even more than Lord of the Rings or whatever I occasionally call my favorite book. It's definitely a recommended book if any of you are looking for something to read. I will warn you, though, it's a bit tough to get through. I'll admit I read chapters 1-4 and gave up, not understanding a word of what had happened. Then I watched the movie (2005 version), adored it, and read the book. It made more sense then that I had an idea of what was happening to guide me through it. Pre-19th century novels aren't exactly my "thing." It's worth reading, though.

In other news, sorry I haven't updated in a couple weeks. Been a bit distracted and such. If I get time this week, I'll post my summary of Kidder Creek. Yeah, the one I wrote down when I was half asleep on the way home. It's probably also worth reading, if you're really curious.

I wonder if you could say my love for P&P is bordering on obsession.
You probably could.
It probably is not even bordering on.
Obsessions are an unhealthy.
So is chocolate.

Done stating the obvious.
I am now going to sleep.

G'night.
- Cat

p.s. I have a twitter account. twitter.com/catrenard
Do what you will with that information.

Mood: crazy

Music: various p&p musics running through my heads.

Ok so I lied. This is my last post before I leave for Kidder Creek.

Just a going away post, really. I'm leaving midday tomorrow and I won't be back 'til lateday (is that a word? haha) Saturday. That's pretty much 7 whole days, since I won't be on tomorrow.

If you're curious, I'll be up on the Oregon/California border cleaning up a camp for the week minus the time it takes to get there. As far as I've heard, it's an amazing trip and I'm super excited for it.

The sad thing is I'll probably not get any sleep, and I'm already deprived as it is. Then when I get back, the next morning I get up at 5 A.M. for Easter Service, then I work with kids for two services after. Woohfun. Actually it is. It's just... tiring. We'll see. Love those kids.

Umyeah.
I think that's all.

Enjoy the icons I posted earlier?
Try not to miss me too much? (haha...yeahright)

It's funny, the only thing I can think of is all the shows I'll have to catch up on when I get back. Kings, Robin Hood, Lost. Shows how much life I have. Or does it actually? (If you didn't catch it, there was sarcasm in the first statement).

K I'm done now.
<3 Cat

Location: Away!

Mood: excited

Music: Call Me - Shinedown

This is probably going to be my last post before I leave for Kidder Creek tomorrow. Enjoy!

( deep in the heart of englandCollapse )

DO ; credit / comment / upload to your own / enjoy
DO NOT ; edit / hotlink

CREDIT ; screencaps from extant

Yay for Step 4s and Part 2s and the like. Again, this is my way. This is how I make my icons.

Let's start with Subject A ; Robin of Locksley, picture from S3 E2 (previews) of BBC's Robin Hood series. Screencap by extant. I'm going to start from step 2 and go all the way through.

( {Step 1} Click to ContinueCollapse )

Ok, so I suck at tutorials and teaching. But that's basically how I do it. It's a simple process, and I know anyone can do it with the right tools and programs. It just takes practice.

Hope this helped, if not to make icons but at least to give you insight on my methods. I know everyone makes their icons a little different, so find a method that works for you and go with it.

<3 Cat
PS. The Robin Hood Icons will be up by 1:30 PM my time (PST), I promise.

There's three steps to my icon-making process. Make that four steps. There's four steps to my icon-making process.

{Step 1} Find Good Screencaps
After picking what you want to make icons of (Step 0), you need to find good pictures. Otherwise, the icons will suck. Sorry, just being honest. But just think about it. If you don't have a good starting point, more often than not it will turn out bad. So, find good screencaps. I recommend dj_capslock. That's where I got my Robin Hood caps, and they were awesome. By the way, those icons are coming. I just need a break.

{Step 2} Pick Good Pictures
Ok, you can have the best screencaps in the world and if you still don't pick the right picture, your icons might not turn out all that great. The picture needs to be as clear as possible, blurry images are hard to work with. Don't settle. A clear image doesn't mean a good icon. The subject of said clear image needs to be a icon-worthy position. Most of it is opinion. Play around with different pictures, see what works and what doesn't.

{Step 3} Choose Good Positions
Again, Steps 1 and 2 can go find, miss step 3 and they might be ok, but not awesome. When I say positions, I don't mean of the characters in the image. That was Step 2. Positioning here means cutting the image in such a way that the subject looks good. There's not much to say for this. Cut of heads and eyes and hears and hands. Whatever. Do what you want, as long as it looks good and you're happy.

{Step 4} Complete Good Icons
This is the ambiguous step. There's like... 5 million substeps to Step 4. I'll give you my method in the next post.

FOR THE RECORD; I'm saying there's a right way and a wrong way to make icons. This is my way. You don't have to like it. <3

I just finished the first episode in season 3 of BBC's Robin Hood series. I'm actually kind of excited for this season. My thoughts placed in an lj-cut, for those of you who haven't seen it and are planning to do so.

( we are robin hood!Collapse )

Ok, it was predictable. They're all predictable, though. I want to see a not-predictable movie or show. Not gonna happen. But even though it was predictable, I must say I loved it. Although, I'd watch the suckiest episode of Robin Hood just to see Jonas Armstrong. Haha.

Best line in the episode goes to Guy of Gisbourne. Said to the Sheriff, "I've come to realize that I don't really like you."
I think you deserve an award.

When I get around to it, I'll make some icons from this episode.

Go watch it. It's good. Even if you haven't started.
It's one of my favorite shows (next to Lost, The Mentalist, and Kings)

Oh, geez. Kings. The last episode sucked. That's another post, though. xD

Location: the couch

Mood: haaaappy

Music: the sweet sound of my dad teaching my brother math. woot?