[Terri]

Haaaaai. =D  Perhaps you remember me. :O  Or perhaps not.  My Internet has been, and still is, down, so I have /very/ limited Evelon access.  This is something I've been meaning to do for a while, though, so I may as well do it while I have the chance.

Besides, I know I'll chicken out if I put it off any longer.

Here's how this is gonna work.  The will be four categories: R, S, K and L+.  Each category will have several questions.  You may pick TWO questions from each category to answer.  (Well, you could pick less, but that wouldn't be a particularly wise move if you want a good prize.)  Answer the questions in detail‚Äîramble if you must.  There are no correct answers; if I knew the answers to these things, I wouldn't be asking you. ;P  Just impress me.  Show insight, understanding.  Blow me away.  Keep in mind that I'm a sentimental sap. ;P

Also, please don't ask for clarification on any of the questions.  If they're vague (I love vague :3) it's because they're meant to be.

...So.  Got it?  Answer two questions from each category, eight in total.  The number of winners and what they will receive is for me to know and you to find out; I promise, though, that it will be worth your while. ;)

Contest will end...umm. oPo  When I'm able to find someone's Internet to steal? XD;;  I'll give it /at least/ two weeks, but I wouldn't delay too long if I were you.

'Kay.  Go!

R

1. How do you live?
2. Why do you live?
3. What do you live?
4. When do you live?

S

1. Define empathy.
2. Define poverty.
3. Define ego.
4. Define mistake.
5. Define trace.
6. Define fear.
7. Define ambiguity.
8. Define genuine.
9. Define buried.

K

1.Tell me an anecdote about a time you cried.
2. Tell me an anecdote about a time you lied.
3. Tell me an anecdote about a time you failed.
4. Tell me an anecdote about a time you succeeded.
5. Tell me an anecdote about a time you were wrong.
6. Tell me an anecdote about a time you were right.

L+

1. Dodge a bullet for a friend?
2. Chapters.
3. If the world worked the way it was supposed to, we'd all be skunks and zebras.
4. Our world's falling; pick it up?
5. Relative perspective...
6. You deserve it, loves.

[robopup24]

Terri! D: I missed j00... -Tackleshugs-

Anyways, I'll be entering <3

R

2. Why do you live?
Ah... that's a very, very good question. Let me start from the beginning.

Supposing that 'you' is you, not me (which might be a bit confusing), 'you' are alive because of some lucky experiment waaay back in the prehistoric times. Some little cells multiplied together and, by some random luck! managed to mutate. Now they can absorb sunlight. Another mutation. Now they can eat other cells. And so on and so forth, mutation after mutation...

... And here we are.

The other answer is quite simple really: Because we can.

Since we can breathe and our body helps us convert this magical atmosphere to something we can use to live, plus food and drink, we are alive.

If this was a personal question, I would say that I'm still alive because of the Snickers bars. Delicious.

Uh... yeah. Don't laugh. Without Snickers bars, I'd be going insane right now. And of course, my friends on Evelon and in life help keep me sane. And the knowledge that we may encounter something amazing one day, such as contacting aliens, discovering a new species, perhaps even invent new types of housing. And I keep on living because I know that there'll be tough days, but also wonderful days, where you can laugh your head off with your friends, where you can experience something magical, and have that perfect day and special moments. Even though I encounter those horrible days which practically reduce me to tears, I keep on going because I know that tomorrow might be better.

Yup. And that's why I live.

4. When do you live?
Supposing that we are actually a second generation of people who had previously inhabited Earth but had been wiped out, we could be actually in the 41st century, or the 21st. I bet that didn't make sense, especially the date. Ah well. Let's see... uh... when do I live?

Well, I started living when I was a little bundle of cells in my mummy's tummy. Then I started to multiply and everything and then I was born. I guess that's when you start living.

My brain and imagination actually lives in any time I want, you know. I can live in the 15th century, 900 B.C., 4200 A.D.... the possiblities are endless.

So... uh... onto the next question!

S

1. Define empathy.
Empathy:
-(n) To feel what others feel, and to sympathize with them.
That's very dictionary-like, isn't it? Well, let me go on. Empathy is an important thing in the human nature as it allows us to feel what the other humans must feel, perhaps even human to animal. It stirs pity in us, and sometimes brings out our merciful sides. Not everyone has empathy though, and I personally think that is one of the things we need to make the world a more peaceful place.

6. Define fear.
Fear is what humans have always harbored. We have fear of the unknown, we have fear of death, fear for our loved ones, and many others. Fear is an emotion that has always been around and will likely always be around.

Fear, at times, hinders us, and yet, sometimes it helps us. Fear can be seen as a hurdle we must cross to become better people, to better understand what and why we were so afraid.

And yet fear is a powerful tool, which can be used to turn an entire population against each other. Fear can lead to utter destruction of a group, can be used to force people to follow.

K

2. Tell me an anecdote about a time you lied.
The first thing I remember was that it was an ironically sunny day. The sun, of course, is supposed to be out if it's going to be a great day, if everything was gonna go right.

I sat in my seat, eyes cast down, flickering now and then to the trash can. My mom and teacher were waiting for my answer.

Fifth grade. Fifth grade was torture for me, as was the fourth and third. I never understood what the teachers were saying and, when they spoke, all I heard was gibberish that might've come from Mars. I was too shy to ask, and as a result, my grades suffered terribly.

My grades. That's what this whole mess was about.

It was a week ago.

There was an important test, a post-chapter test to see what our knowledge was. I struggled through it, trying to figure out what the funny numbers meant. The next day, when I got it back, there was a big, fat 'F' on it.

When I had gotten my test back, I stared at it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I almost cried, knowing that my mom would be so angry at me for failing. Nobody had failed in my family before. Nobody.

So I did what I thought was the best decision. When nobody was looking, I casually tore up my test, crumbled the remaining pieces, and threw it into the trash can.

That was a mistake. A huge mistake.

It was nearing the parent-teacher conferences, and I happily tagged along, sure that nothing bad could possibly go wrong. And then the teacher mentioned about my bad grade.

Here I was, sitting in the hot seat, my unblinking gaze fixed on the trash can I had thrown away my test in.

"Well, Jessica?" my mom asked quietly. "Where is the test?"

I looked up, at my teacher, then at my mom and I almost broke down right there. I swallowed my confession and carefully said, "I don't know." A lie. A dirty, dirty lie. I knew where my test had went. But I didn't want them to know. I didn't want them to know what I had done.

They didn't seem to believe me, and they exchanged grave looks. I look back at the trash can and continued to do so until the meeting was over. The moment I got home, I excused myself, locked myself in my room, and cried.

4. Tell me an anecdote about a time you were wrong.

(Will edits later when muse returns >3>;)

[Shaetani]

actually, go ahead and count me out... I'm in a rather pissy mood which would make my entry turn out crappy, so... yeah. ^_^6

[Jaden Wolf]

R

How do I live?
I live by breathing, eating, sleeping, and drinking. The basics XD
Though if you want more, I'd say...I live by attempting to enjoy things without caring what others think of me. Of course, at times...I completely and utterly fail. As do others. I still can't quite answer that question because I don't know 100%, heck even 80% myself. No doubt because I spent more time holding in my emotions and thoughts.

Why do I live?
Another question I do not know the whole answer to. I think I live simply because I'm meant to, same as anyone else. This can get rather religious and so it's tough to say anything, but I also live because I have people who care about me, my family and (few) friends. And Evelon. o3o Can't forget that XD.

((Will edit with other answers~))

[Fallen_Snow]

R

1. How do you live?
Well, let us look at the basics. You eat, sleep, use energy, think, and use the bathroom. Those are the simple things. But then- then comes the hard part. The thinking part. We must think to live. We think about everything- what to eat, what to drink, how to go about doing things. We use thinking to solve our problems, tell our stories, map out our lives. Thinking is our core, the thing that gives us meaning and purpose. No matter what, your knowledge is what gets you through life.

Mind over matter.

2. Why do you live?
Hmmm...

Well, you could go for many different reasons. But I guess I'll go for the destiny one. Everyone on this earth was made to do something. Our lives hold our strange destinies, and how our destinies are formed determines how we turn out. Why we make the mistakes we make, the way we live our lives, the things we do and don't do shape our destiny and what our life was set out to do. The only thing is, the only one that can change that destiny is you. No one else interferes with it, because they don't live exactly the way you do. You control everything that has to do with you. You make it work, you make yourself you. No one else, kid. X3

S

3. Define mistake.
A mistake, a mistake. Mistakes are something that you've done not knowing it was wrong and getting into some form of trouble for it. You're told to do something when young by an older person, you do it, no questions asked. You end up hurting someone's feelings? Mistake mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a real person to make up for them.

4. Define ego.
Oh god. This may sort of turn into a rant. No promises. Well, anyways, ego is how great you think you are compared to others. When you have good things happen in your life and you get what you want, you can get a swelled ego. Your ego shows how you think of yourself and others. You think highly of yourself? Good for you. Don't think highly of yourself? Try to find something good to help think higher of yourself. Now, if you think highly of yourself but not of others? Yeah, then you need a reality check. You can't be that much better than the kids you went to school with, people you've known for who knows how long, or just people you judge based on first appearances.

K

5.Tell me an anecdote about a time you cried.

When I was a little girl, my first pet was a green and yellow parakeet with black spots. I loved that bird to death, dubbing him Petey when he first entered our household. He was the smartest parakeet I'd ever met, and he brought so much color and love of animals to my life.

I remember once, when we were cleaning his cage, he got out of the second cage. We hadn't gotten his wings clipped. He flew into my room and pooped on my bedspread. I laughed while my mom freaked.

Anyways, I'd just come home from a long day of first grade and Kids Club, the class I stay in because my parents work late and didn't want me to stay home alone. I sometimes got my dad to stay home for a while and then pick me up, because I had fun in Kids Club.

That day was one of those days.

I convinced my dad that my fuse bead creation wouldn't take more than 15 more minutes, and I had to make another monkey to go with the almost finished monkey Miss Kathy was about to iron so it would stay whole. My dad agreed, "But I'll be back in 30 minutes, okay?" he said, before kissing me on the cheek and waving goodbye and walking out the door. I was so excited, and I managed to finish the other monkey before my dad came back.

I flaunted those monkeys for only a few minutes. My dad kept looking at me funny, and it seemed like he had something to say, but didn't want to tell me. Because I was so young, I got excited. Maybe he got me a present!

I came home to an empty cage.

"Petey?" I called, waiting for the familar whistles to respond to me. "Where's Petey?" I asked my father, staring at him. He looked away from my gaze, and took my small hand in his. "Come with me." he said, and took me out and into the back of our garage. My father had an old bar table back there, and I used to enjoy spinning on the wooden stools.

There, laying on the table, was a small bundle wrapped in a patterned paper towel. "Something happened to Petey, honey." he told me, looking down at me sadly. I approached the table slowly. I didn't know why my dad would wrap my bird in a paper towel. I pulled at the paper towel, and a part of it came off, uncovering Petey's head. His eyes were closed, and his beak was slightly open. Uncovering the rest of him, I stroked his belly feathers, and closed his beak gently, then recovered him with the paper towel.

"Petey died, sweetie."

I didn't want to believe him, but my bird was laying there. Cold.

"We have to bury him now, so he can rest in peace." my dad said to me softly. I nodded slowly, carefully taking the bundle off the table and holding it close to my heart.

My dad led me outside to our backyard, where a parakeet sized hole was in the ground right below our pine tree. He kneeled down by the hole and took the paper toweled bundle from my slightly trembling hands and put it in the hole, then filled it in.

He stood up. I wrapped my hands around his waist, pushing my face into his side.

And I cried.

6. Tell me an anecdote about a time you failed.

Let me see...

It was my last year of middle school. Everyone was anxious to take the finals. Unfortunately, I wasn't. You see, I'm not a very good test taker. I don't think I ever had been, unless I studied the material so carefully my brain would've had to die overnight for me not to get the questions. Well, it's the end of May and they announce that finals are the last week of school on our half days.

I studied until my brain couldn't function right on the weekend before and I was too tired and stuffed with knowledge to do anything. I knew that I'd have one more night to study for all my finals, and then nothing would stand in my way except for the last day of school, where I'd have to face not seeing my friends persistantly for 3 whole months.

I got to school on Monday, tired and grumpy. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I kept having nightmares of test booklets trying to bite the hand that marked them. And as soon as I enter homeroom, one of my best friends, Anna, came up and said, "I hope I do good on my Spanish final today. Did you study?" she asked. I placed my books on my desk and sat down heavily, shaking my head. I held my head in my hands, trying to compose myself. You know the material. Just think. You can do it! I told myself half-heartedly. I managed to think my words, and I knew some of the material really well. I knew I'd be okay. I knew I'd get probably a low B or so.

I entered the Spanish room, and cleared my desk. Se?±ora Jennings plopped the booklets on our desk, and said "You may begin."

I must've had a lot of courage, because as I went through the quiz, I felt confident that my answers were right, and began to get more and more giddy. By the time we'd finished and were allowed to go to lunch, I was excited to find out what our grades were.

Three days later, on our last day of spanish, Sra. asks us if we want to know our scores. We say yes. The test was out of 357 points.

I got a 201. I'd failed one of the most important tests I would take that week.

I couldn't believe it. I cried over pity and dissapointment of myself, and lied to my mother, telling her I'd gotten a low B. Luckily before we'd taken the test I'd had 3 A's and a B. So when my final average came out and I had a B, it wasn't suprising. But I was still upset.

It was the first time I'd ever failed ANYTHING. And Sra. wouldn't let me retake it.

It stunk.

L+

7. Dodge a bullet for a friend?
Before their life comes to an end.

By the way, shouldn't it be take a bullet for a friend? If you're dodging a bullet, then you're avoiding it. And I don't think that would help your friend much.

8. If the world worked the way it was supposed to, we'd all be skunks and zebras.
Black and white. Everything's boring, alright. With more color, we learn about one another.

I don't know why I rhymed on the last one. XD Uh... I'll work on K laterz. o3o

[Freezair]

HAI TERRIBUG.

Sooo... Here I go!

CATEGORY R.

What do you live?

I live a continual state of detachedness and seeming aloofness, wandering the back ways of my own crazy mind for the answers to the Secrets of the Universe, and a really cool metaphor to spice up my next short story.

When do you live?

Twenty minutes in the past, when everything that was popular three years ago is fresh and hot, and it's still "cool" to still be slightly obsessed with the things you loved when you were nine.

CATEGORY S.

Define poverty.

Poverty is the state of being unable to provide for one's basic needs, be it through lack of money, ability, or other things.

A hunter with no material possessions save for his weapon isn't poor, so long as he can catch his food and he can build a tent to shelter him at night. However, if he twists his foot and can't hunt, or if he looses his tent, he's poor.
A homeless person trapped in a city where food and shelter comes only from money is poor. However, if she gets outside of the city, somehow, into the wilderness, and joins the hunter and learns from him, she is no longer poor.  
If either of them get sick and they can care for themselves in most situations, they're not poor.
But if they know no first aide and only a doctor can treat them, they become poor.

Poverty is complicated.

Define ambiguity.

Ambiguity is something-or-other.

KATEGORY K. (Eye c wut eye did thar.)

Tell me an anecdote about a time you cried.

I was 11 years old. I was in my sixth-grade class. It was January. We were reading the newspapers, as we did every morning. After reading my favorite section (the op ed pieces), I opened up the comics. I wanted to read them because today was the day of the final Peanuts strip.

I read it. Gee, that's sweet, I thought.

Then somebody said to me, "Did you hear? Charles Schultz died today."

"Did he," I said.

I turned to the teacher. "Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes," she said.

So I went to the girl's bathroom.

I sat in the big, handicapped stall. I closed the doors.

I cried.

Tell me an ancedote about a time you succeeded.

They used to make us take these awful standardized tests in high school. They were unpleasant. They were long and tedious. The questions were stupid. They were often ambiguous and dumb. The prompts they gave us for the writing section were inane. I HATED them. The only respite I had was that I was more intelligent than approximately 70% of our student population, so I could be in and out of those annoying tests in one round. No retakes. Right?

Well, I passed math. I passed reading.

I failed writing.

You have no idea how enraged I was. I couldn't believe what they'd done to me! How could I fail writing?! Me! The greatest writer in my class, as secretly confided to me by my English teacher! Why, I--well, after my ego recovered from its bruise, I was still righteously angry. I had to retake the writing portion, which I did not look forward to.

The day came, unfortunately. I sat down. Dumb prompt. Something about kids failing in schools.

I'd write them a paper, alright. I'd tell them exactly how standardized testing WOULDN'T solve their problem. The useless, godawful, pure rote thing.

But I was angry. Angry, angry, angry. And I didn't just want to chew them out, no. I wanted to make life hard for them.

I wrote the entire essay backward, in mirror, DaVinci handwriting.

Yes, the whole thing.

Fuming, I turned it in. I knew I'd have to retake the test, but I needed the catharsis.

I passed the test with the highest marks.

L+ CATEGORY. TWO LETTERS AWAY FROM TE N+ CATEGORY.

2. Chapters.

Book 2 has exactly 40 of them, not counting prologue and epilogue. I like that. And the first 20 are the first half of the book, and the second 20 are the second half! The plot's split up so nicely between them! I love it. I think the page count is uneven, though. If only we had a true editor to help us clean the wordcruft from the first 20 chapters! Book 2 is currently on Chapter 14, which was originally part of Chapter 12. Chapter 12 was going to end up being 50 pages long in Times New Roman size 10 font, single-spaced.

I remember the first thing I ever tried to write. Died at chapter 2. The second thing, a Zelda fanfic, might have gone to completion if my computer hadn't died right after I'd finished chapter 8. And chapter 8 was so cool, too... It had Link fighting giant electric jellyfish!

Say, why ARE fictional jellyfish always electric?

You deserve it, loves.  

My sister got to take tap dancing lessons from her hero. I forget his name. I feel like such a heel. She watches his movie ("Tap!," I think it's called) on every road trip. She got to shake his hand, give him a hug, and learn his mad moves in person smack dab in the middle of Hollywood, California.

My best friend Ender finally got to become a Magic: The Gathering official judge and tournament organizer. Her gets to officiate official Magic stuff. He's wanted to do this for years. He's so psyched about his first tournament, which he's holding in October at the local used book store.

My roommate, whom I still don't know all that well but who is awesome, became an aunt yesterday.

And I should buy her best friend a pizza, because she fixed our drain.

[Moofius]

Moofius

R

Why do you live?

I live life to the fullest. I live it with open eyes. I live it with as much understanding for everyone. I live if for happiness. I live it for love. I live it for me.

You only live once, Friend and so you do everything you can to enjoy every moment. And I try, of course I try. I mean some moments you'd rather skip.
The death of a loved one, broken bones, cuts, bruises and sickness. Telling your crush your feeling, being crushed by your feelings when he doesn't like you. Telling your mother something you're scared to admit to yourself. Realising after you've told her that it is truth and you've recognised it. Knowing your father is a liar, a cheat an all around bad man.

And then there's the good. That perfectly yellow leaf in fall, the gentle change from green to gold. The smell of fallen leaves. The colour of the clouds after a storm. A first kiss. A hug when you're sad. Stepping into the house to be greeted with the smell of a fresh Christmas tree and Christmas carols. The first day of school. Finding out your long time crush has like you this whole time too. Standing up for what you believe in. Waking up every morning and thanking yourself for this amazing everything.

I live it because that's what I was put here for. I wasn't put here to.. not live. I'm here and you know what? I'm going to make the best of it. So I live to live and to enjoy what I have here. Why rush into the unknown? Enjoy what you've got while you've got it.

What do you live?

What an awkwardly phrased question, Terri. What do I live...? What... I live as me. I live as a caring, loving, amazingly normal girl. What am I that I live as? An average girl of average height with average brown hair and averagely white skin in this North America. I have average marks and I'm just... average... Atleast on the outside.

What do I live inside? Inside I love to discuss, to talk, to listen. I love to love and I live to live and I love living and living is love. hahaha. This question is so VAGUE!

What do I live? What do I live? I live everything! You're to vague, even for me sometimes. <3

--------------------

S

Define ego.

Ego is the boy in my class since kindergarten. But seriously? Ego is... Not confidence. There's a fine line between confident and ego. Confident is somebody who believes in themselves... ego... Ha...

Somebody who's egotistic thinks they're the best darn thing since sliced bread. Maybe better than sliced bread! Ego-ists think they're better than everyone and not only that... they rub it in others faces. I think that's the big thing... The biggest thing, actually. I mean if you can excel at everything and be modest... Then you're not an egotistical person.

people with an ego either say they're the best and they're not... Or they're actually pretty amazing and they rub it in others faces. Ego.

Define mistake.

Mistake is a word used for negative people. I dunno, life is too short for mistakes. I mean if the mistake is actually a learning experience then... Well, then it's a learning experience.

I think most mistakes are learning experiences. ...Unless you do it a second time. Then it's not a mistake. There's to many words to describe what that is... I won't go there.

--------------------

Continuing Later

[Mojave]

I will edit this with my answers as I get them completely organized and completely thought out. ^^

R

1. How do you live?
2. Why do you live?

S

3. Define ego.
9. Define buried.

K

1.Tell me an anecdote about a time you cried.
3. Tell me an anecdote about a time you failed.

L+

4. Our world's falling; pick it up?
5. Relative perspective...

[/quote]

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Category R

Why Do You Live?
The meaning of drawing breath, of taking steps, of faith, of hope... It is lost in the vast chasm that is knowledge. To seek understanding of a single drop in a well is to seek understanding of knowledge itself. It is an unfathomable question whose answers lay in the very depths of the human consciousness, unable to be unearthed for as long as time remains to us. If there was but one single answer, nothing would make sense. If one were to know why they were to walk down one path and not another, why they were to eat bread and not fish. Why they were to breathe... to exist... Things would become so much more complicated. Almost so much in fact, that our minds would be consumed with the answers, and we might even forget to breathe.
But if there truly need be an answer to this question of ages, the answer must lie within the one who asks it. It is the foundation of one's own soul that will give the proper response to a question at once as bleak and vast as 'Why?'. One may as well ask why each day begins, or why the cat stalks the mouse for its meal. It is a question that MUST remain unanswered, or the walls of reality itself would come caving in, and trap us in the dust of what was.

How Do You Live?
I live on the edge. Danger surrounds my every step. Every time my heart beats, it's a miracle. If you want to ask me HOW do I live, you'd have to see it for yourself. Grand banquets. Lush parties. A huge family... And intrigue. Betrayal. Backstabbing. It's like planting yourself in the middle of a weed-garden when you're the only flower there. That's what it's like for me to live. What I do every day is put in jeopardy by my bloodline. What I see, I have to make sure I really see to believe it. My own feelings sometimes aren't even my own. Everything I put into my mouth has about 70% chance of knocking me out so that I never wake up.
Really, I don't know HOW I do it. How I live day to day. Luck, maybe? Divine providence - whatever that's worth? I don't know. All I know is that I DO live. And live it up for as long as I've got. Nothing guarantees that I'll be here tomorrow morning. Nothing promises that I'll wake up beside the one I love. But I take everything for face-value, except when it isn't, and most things work out okay in the end. I'll tell you one thing, though... A cat's got NOTHING on me.

Category S

Define Fear
Fear is when your heart can't decide whether or not to speed up or slow down, so it stops momentarily, then goes racing. Like a kid who's just heard the word 'Bathtime!'. I have experienced enough of the stuff in my life - fear, not baths.. well... those too - that I can pretty much say I'm an expert of it. Fear is that THING that's on the ceiling that you can't identify, or the shadow waiting around the next corner, that disappears when you look. It's that noise in the night you can't explain, or that way someone is looking at you that you don't want. Fear is hearing something you wished wasn't true, and knowing it is. Fear is washing away sins, only to replace them with new ones. Fear is the time you couldn't breathe, or the time you felt your heart stop.
It is the single-most frightening thing in the world. When someone tells you that there is nothing to fear but fear itself... fear fear. Because what it can do to you... what it can do to others... is possibly scarier than the source it springs from. The shadows in people's minds are by far more terrifying than anything material. Even that THING on the ceiling can't compare to the look in a murderer's glance. Even that shadow in the corner can't comprehend the sheer power in the stare of someone who hates you. Fear is that thing you can't understand... AND the feelings you can.

Define Ambiguity
Something I wish I had. ambiguity is the freedom from all things that require names and faces. Freedom to be free. To do what you want. To do thing as you like them, and not have to worry about the consequences. For me, ambiguity is a blessing that will never rain down on me. People who are anonymous can walk the streets without worrying about whether or not their lives are at stake. People who nobody knows are free from the rigors of life in the spotlight. Being famous is dangerous, far more than it is fun. Ambiguity means not having to look out the window, and up into buildings to make sure no one's got a gun pointed at your heart. Ambiguity means not having to hold lush balls in fancy palaces to placate the masses, and insure loyalty. Ambiguity means not having to check your shoes or hat every time you put them on for razors or bombs. Seriously here. The power to not be known, THAT is ambiguity - and that's something that - as Hamlet  would say - devoutly to be wished. Yeah. I pray for it to. Because ambiguity is one more thing. If not cultivated, it is so easily lost, and you will never get it back again.

k

Tell Me An Anecdote About A Time You Cried:
They say... whoever 'they' are.. that boys are never supposed to cry. Yet, there was a time in my life where it was all I could do not to. I am a jokester at heart. A comedian, a smith of words. I wrestle with them in such a way as to make people laugh. But that wasn't always the case. There was a time in my life that I found nothing funny at all. It was something I had to learn to shape myself into, and there was a culminating moment where I decided that enough was enough.
It began one summer morning. It was unusually chilly outside, and I had a long way to go to get to the next town. My father had taken the car, and I was left alone to walk. I forgot to bring a map, because I thought that I knew the way. Big mistake. I was lost within an hour's walking time. So much so that I couldn't trace my steps back home, because I couldn't tell one tree from another. For a while, I continued to walk. Then, it grew dark, and I knew I had to find a place to sleep. So I wandered about until I found a small clearing, and curled up there for the night. I was frustrated with myself. With getting lost, yes... but for other things as well. My cowardice, my hostility, my arrogance. I held so much of it back then that I drove away most of what I had of my family. It hurt, sitting there alone, and thinking that I might be alone for the rest of my life. It especially hurt, out here in the wilderness, afraid in the dark, to think that I might never see my family again. And worse, that they wouldn't care. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. I didn't know I was crying until it was full-blown sobbing that I couldn't control. I buried my head in my knees, and bawled like someone so much younger. But as I cried, I slowly came to realize that it was time for change. Eyes watering like a fountain, I stood up, and looked toward the moon, telling it that I would find a way to make myself better. Find a way to bring the pain I had caused others to an end.
Sometime during that evening, I stopped crying, and fell asleep. When I woke up, my father was there, and looking at me with concern. Worried over ME. I cried again. This time, out of joy. And out of the death of my old life, and the birth of the new one.

Tell Me An Anecdote About A Time You Were Wrong:
I have always considered myself the ultimate authority in matters concerning my family. There has never been a time when I was wrong. ... Okay, that's a lie. I've been wrong so many times that it's painful to admit. One of those times was with one of my sons.. who are also my brothers, but that's a story for a different day. I thought that I knew what was wrong with him. I thought that I had all the answers. You see, I'm a doctor, and he was sick. So I believed that I could cure him with what little knowledge I had at that point. I tried my first idea on him immediately. And I couldn't have been more dismayed when - instead of working - it made the poor boy worse. I didn't understand what I had done that wasn't correct, so I tried another remedy. The boy grew even worse at that point. Desperate, I threw every medicine I had at him, and still... worse and worse. I started treatments for various cancers, forced elixirs down his throat, tried magically healing the ailment, all to naught. After a time, I finally had to admit that I didn't know what was wrong with him. I was wrong about everything I tried, and there was no escaping the fact that I'D made the poor boy worse with my interfering.
I tried once more to find the cause, and finally did. An infected cut just below the shoulder on his chest, had been causing all the symptoms. He grew well immediately when I treated the cut. Such a simple thing, and I'd missed it in all my attempt to always be right. Thus proving that even the very person who runs a family, whose life is taking care of that family, can be wrong. And being wrong can get someone killed - if you don't admit it.

L+

Chapters
Wonderful thing, books. So easy to get lost in. Life is like that too. Page after page and page of dialog that goes on and on. Chapters of life. Chapter One: Infancy. You're crawling all around, tasking, touching, taking. And talking. or trying to, anyway. Making yourself heard. You have to know what comes next, because the pages keep turning, and pretty soon you're too deep into the story to stop yourself. You move one to Chapter Two: Childhood. Oh, but this is a long chapter. Filled with heartaches and sorrows galore. It would make every emo-kid in the world a happy little solider. You fight wars with your parents, and drop bombs on your friends. You slip sweetly to sleep every night, wake up, and do it all over again. Day after day, page after page. Things seem to go on and on like a teacher droning about the world war, when all you want to do is sleep. Chapter Three: Teenage Years. The shortest chapter, but with much to say. Where will you story go from here? Each turn of the page is a surprise. Surprises both good and bad, but they are there nonetheless. It makes the story more interesting to not read ahead... but some do, skipping all the way to chapter four in the blink of an eye. Chapter Four: Adulthood. You're in for it now! You've got your evil arch nemesis, and you have to save the world. Can you do it, or will you be thwarted by the dreaded work-monster, or the rearing, ugly head of the political machine. Oh, you know how this ends, though. You've probably already read ahead, and found your perfectly happy ending. Or written it yourself, so far away from the mainstream. But this book doesn't work that way. Pages turn, no matter how you try and tear them out. And eventually you end up on Chapter Five: Death. This is the chapter that no one can read. Not here, anyway. Sorry, you have to go to another library to finish this book. No one knows how this chapter reads. Different for everyone, some say. Some say it's the same as starting the book over again, but who can tell? Because no one who's ever read that chapter is going to tell. Just like a spoiler in a movie, you just don't say it, don't do it. It's Taboo. So the world may never know how the book ends. But we read it regardless, page after page, on and on, until our fingers are too feeble to turn the last sheet of parchment, and the scythe-carrying librarian shelves our book again.

Relative Perspective...
One thing that I have always wondered. Why did whoever the hell is up there create brothers? Or sisters for that matter? I would be FINE being an only child, if I never knew what brothers and sisters were. Or fathers. Or mothers. Or aunts. Or uncles. Or a number of other relatives I could care to name. Oh, but it's strange how ties to family can blind our senses. And our ambitions. You want to be a doctor? Sorry, but dad doesn't want you in that field. Try again. You want to go to the show? Nope. You have to take your sister to her friend's house. Any number of excuses can be blamed on these ties to our very being. But regardless of this, excuse or not, they are still our family, our relatives, and that is why we must love them. Not for who they are, not for what they do - but for the simple fact that they are tied to us, and it is... if not required, expected. But how do people expect us to love monsters. Some of them are, you know. Monsters. And still we put up with them because of the collective term 'relative'. Well, I say relatives are relative. Just like perception. If I do not see you as my brother, you are no longer my brother. I can refuse to call you father, and understand that you are no longer the man who raised me. Call it what you will, but seeing this sort of reality is something that only one mind can do. Yours. And that sort of reality may be just what someone needs to escape ties that aren't there, or roles that are never going to be filled. After all. WHAT is a father? A mother? A sister? A brother? Isn't all of that sort of... relative?

[Celtic]

R

What do you live?
When do you live?

S

Define ego.
Define fear.

K

Tell me an anecdote about a time you failed.
Tell me an anecdote about a time you were wrong.

L

Chapters.
Our world's falling; pick it up?

My Mind is currently muddled up cause I just finished poetry... And so if I write my entry now, I'd be inclined to get extremely sappy and cross. XD So I shall wait for my mind to clear and for a time when I have time to write this.....

Hi Terri!

[GrayGriffin]

R

When do you live?
Anytime, my friend, anywhere. When I'm on Evelon, or reading a good book, the hours flash by like minutes. On the other hand, in class, the seconds drag on like hours. I tend to be somewhat spacey, sometimes having to be brought up to date in a flash. Sometimes I have no patience. But time is time, and no matter what we say, we all live in the present, moving towards the future. Argh, how cliche!

How do you live?
I live my life to the fullest, I am sure. Of course, my standards of fulfillment are not the same as everyone else's. I try to do my best on homework and such, but yet play and relaxation still stand ahead of those. But I still live my life, day in and day out. Day after day, I do the work I must to do what I wish.

S

Define genuine.
Genuine is the real thing, not fake, true as true. Hardly anything can be called genuine now, though. Art? Forged, most likely. Animals? Genetically engineered. People? Plastic surgery, anyone? Have we forgotten that God gave us what we have? Do we have the right to change it, to change what is good and true?

Define trace.
Trace is when you take something and draw an outline of it, while moving your drawing implement around the edge of this object in order to draw the outline. Or when you place thin paper over a picture and draw carefully, following the outline of the picture below. Tracing is for young children with no confidence, or otherwise for crime scene people. Real artists don't trace; their creations are genuine.

K

Tell me an anecdote about a time you lied.
When I was little, boys annoyed me. They were always stealing my stuffed animals, and then I had to jump on them and wrestle my beloved friends back!

[HunnyBun]

[center]I SO gotta enter >XD

~:R:~

1. How do you live?: Well, how I live is probally like how most humans live. I wake from my sleep in the morning, do my daily routine, eat 2-3 meals a day, sleep once again, then start over. I get sick, and have injusries as time goes by. As each season goes by, I change the way I may live, and the objects around me. It is the way of most humans. We adapt and change.

2. Why do you live?: I use to live just because I woke every morning, not caring what happened to me. But then I started my dream. That dream was to become a cartoonist, which later changed to an Illistrator. But I woke ever morning with new ideas to how I would acheve my goal. Then the opertunity to go to a Vocational school to enhance my art ability. So I grabbed at it with eager arms. But, I also had found something else there that gave me a new reason to wake up in the morning. I found an angel. His nam was Troy, he was so perfect. I some times don't want to fall asleep, afraid I'd never see him again. But now I finish this answer, he is why I live.

~:S:~

4. Define mistake: The true definition for this word is: An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness. But my definition for it is to be wrong or fail. I would not the definition more then anyone else, for mistakes is the number one thing I do. I have to check everything I do, over look everything. So I don't keep doing mistakes. I fear it will ruin my life and make my life miserable.

6. Define fear: Everyone asks "What is fear?" but we never know the true answer. Fear isdifferent to each induvidual. From what you are afraid of, to what makes you break in a cold sweat. But my definition for it is: When your heart race, and all you can do is scream. If you can even scream. It holds you tight, like a smothering blinket. Fear is your consients holding you back for no appariant reason. To overcome fear is to be able to do anything, to achive all your goals.

~:K:~

1.Tell me an anecdote about a time you cried: Oh, which one do I say. Crying is secound nature to me. Well, the worst time was my 16th birthday. Yes the day each teen waits for. Suppost to be the best birthday you ever had. Well, not me. My 16th birthday started out fine, and seemed it would go without a hitch. Until I got the phone call. I looked at the caller I.D. and saw it was my boy friend. At first I was excited, I thought he was calling to say happy birthday. But no, the words that came out of his mouth were "I'm breaking up with you.". . .Or "It's over." I can't exactly remember. But once my ears heard that, I froze. I didn't know what to think. After my fingers hung up the phone, the tears came out. Oh, they poured like a waterfall. I laid on my bed the whole morning. Just crying, until my eyes couldn't cry any longer.

5. Tell me an anecdote about a time you were wrong: Well, I was in a way wrong. I chose the wrong decision. I had been at my Grandparents house, and I wanted to swim. But my Grandma told me she was heading out to her moms to mow the lawn. And I like going with them, so I decided to go with them, instead of swiming. Bad idea. He had come up to a cross road, and it was our turn to go. But someone thought it was their turn to go.  Resulting in our to vehicles colliding. Oh, It was terrible. Our vehicle was fine, a few dents and scratches. But the other was terrible. They needed to use the jaws of life to open the doors. I still stop my foot as if there was an invisible break.

~:L+:~

1. Dodge a bullet for a friend?: You know it. If my friends life was in danger and I could sacrafice my life for them, I would. If anyone dare threat one of my friends lives, they have to go through me first.

4. Our world's falling; pick it up?: I wish I could, but I can't make a difference. Also, if this is the way we are ment to go, then I say we just take it. Nothing will last forever, eventualy we will succome to death. You better be ready when the time comes.

[Azura Rayume]

R

1. How do you live?
Well, my life is rather boring actually, so I "live" my making my own story. As of now, I am Nari Lupin, daughter of Remus Lupin, Seventh Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, oldest of three sisters, and a werewolf. If you would like anyting more, please feel free to drop by. I'm sure I can explain it in much more detail in person than I can here. Limited space and whatnot.

4. When do you live?
I live now. That is to say, not then or the past or the future. Just now. Sure I have plans, but they won't come to light until later. And when they do, I'll still be in my now, even though at this moment the time in which I will be accomplishing my dreams is the future.

S

6. Define fear.
Fear is an emotion (usually) brought on by a lack of understanding. A child may fear the dark because he doesn't know what monsters and ghouls lurk there. In truth, if he were to turn on even the slightest glimmer of light, he would find his fears ungrounded. Fear is also a weakness. Fear incapacitates us, prevents us from fighting back. It floods the mind like a paralyzing poison, tensing muscles painfully and leaving the person exposed. Fear isn't really one of those things anyone can do away with completely. You will always fear something, weather it be the dark as a child or death as an adult. It never rests, never pauses but to feed on our deepest secrets. Fear is inescapable and consumed creativity and hope faster than a flame eats a page from a book.

9. Define buried.
To bury something does not have to mean put it in a hole and cover it up. You can bury a memory deep in your mind, shunning it from view and preventing the pain seeing it again might cause. If something is really truely buried, it is hidden away so that it never becomes known again. Burying something is extremely hard, because the very notion involves detatching yourself from whatever it is, something humans are extremely reluctant to do. In the end, nothing stays buried forever. Memories come back, unwanted. Bodies or lost objects are discovered after some amout of time. Something that is supposed to last forever is disturbed. It can never be reburied, no matter how hard you may try.

K

Tell me an anecdote about a time you lied.

This was last year actually...

Report card time. This is usually when I would go home, flash my mom the paper that said I knew exactly what I was doing by being covered in A's and B's, then stash it away in my room somewhere. Unfortunatly, I had a D in English class.

A D!

That lady must have had some nerve to give me a D when I could talk circles around her...

I still don't like that teacher. She glares at me in the hallways like I've got some kind of bazaar growth on my face.

Which I don't in case anyone was wondering.

Anyway, back to the story...

So instead of showing my mother that I'd gotten a D from that good-for-nothing teacher, I hid my report card.

Days passed without incedent.

Then my mother wanted to know where my report card was. She said I should have gotten one by now. I told her my teacher didn't give me one. So she said I should go to the office and get another one.

I did my best to avoid the office for two weeks, my mom pestering me all the while to get a stupid report card. Finally, after my dad threatened to take away my internet access for a month, I produced the original report card with that D-shaped stain next to "English II Honors."

I only lost internet for two weeks.

Tell me an anecdote about a time you were right.

8th grade, a time of rampant hormones and boys who were so stupid it was hard to believe they could still walk and breath at the same time. This was the year most of them lost their fear of "cooties," that foolishly spawned disease of young minds, and finally decided that girls weren't so bad after all.

And I was already one of the most literate people in my grade.

Just me, Rai, and Tyler Berg.

The teachers hated us.

My science and homeroom teacher specifically hated us because we knew more about the animal kingdom by age thirteen than she did.

She thought we just went home and read the textbook for fun, so she made up her own lesson about how simbiotic relationships in animals. The only problem was, her examples were wrong, as I pointed out once...

"And so the shark and the remorid have what kind of relationship?"

My hand shoots into the air at once. With my posture and frizzy hair, I looked an awful lot like Hermione Granger. With a sigh, the teacher calls on me.

"Mutualism!"

With a grin of victory she looks at me. "How is that?" she asked smiling like an idiot.

"The shark's a messy eater," I explain in a very Granger-esque way. "The remorid swims around and eats the food that the shark drops. He also gets protection from predators and is taken from one place to another by the shark. The shark benafits because the remorid eats little parasites off his skin as well as keeping it free from decaying food."

My teacher's grin left her face and was replaced with a glare. "The shark is not benifited in any way," she said sternly, but that didn't stop me.

"Look it up."

So she did. And, much to her embarassment, discovered that I was right.

L+

1. Dodge a bullet for a friend?

Um... Sure? I mean why not? If I knew someone was going to shoot at me, I'd get the heck out of there as fast as I could. If I was going to tackle one of my fiends at the same... moment... I...

I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOIN' HERE, TERRI!

Hah! I got you! If I say, "Dodge," that means the bullet would hit my friend, right? That makes it the same as "Take a bullet for a friend." Ah, clever, Terri. Thought you'd get me with that one, eh? Nope not me. I see through your clever word trickery.

So here's my answer, plain and simple: Yeah, I'd dodge. Right into my friend. Kill two birds with one stone, right? Neither dies, so I've got back-up when I go and beat the crap out of the guy who attatcked us.

4. Our would is falling; pick it up?

Unfortuantly, I can't. In more than one way.

The first would be that I am not Atlas and I don't have the strength to rest the Earth between my shoulder blades. Though it would be cool if I could.

The second, and more realistic of the two, is the fact that humans are unchangeable, as was perfectly demonstrated by the ending of Death Note. No matter what you do, whatever changes you implicate, humans will by nature, try and go back to doing whatever it was they were doing in the first place. I cannot change the ideals of human society, and neither can you. The only one I can change is myself. And you can only change yourself.

So, go on. Start changing. The world isn't gonna help itself you know. If it could, we'd all be alright by now.

[Terri]

Yaaaaaay. o3o  Good stuff so far.  I'm gonna have quite a bit to think about for the next few days.

(And, Azura, thanks for telling me how DN ends. X3 I haven't finished the series yet.)

Anyways, the real reason I'm posting is that, since I have Internet access again (FINALLY(, I've come up with an end date for y'all. P=

SEPTEMBER 29TH

kthnxbai.

[kabuto_rocks]

I like this contest-it seems interesting and different I'm going to give it a go...

R

How do you live? I live in a nice, simple, little way. I wake up, I go to school, I sleep through lessons for 6 hours, I come home and I write pointless replies to online forum contests That's essentially how my weekdays work, with all the spaces in between these activities being filled by eating, sleeping, homework or real-life friends. The weekends are a little different-I spend more of my time watching TV, reading or writing my book. Not the craziest life of course, but you know what? It's all mine

What do you live? How to answer this question, in all it's complicated glory? I guess by adding random words on the end. For instance, it might mean 'What do you live in?' in which case I would answer 'A house' or occasionally 'A cat'. Then again, it might mean 'What do you live for?', a question I would answer first by thinking it over carefully, then by saying 'For my friends and family'. Finally, it could mean 'What, do you live?' with a comma, therefore the answer would be 'Yes, I most certainly do.' I could go on all day pondering the meaning of this question, but for now I think I'll move on

S

Define mistake A mistake is generally thought of as something you don't do on purpose, but it can also mean something you did on purpose but now regret. They are not always bad things. You can do something by accident but find out later that it was better that you made that mistake. One could argue that no mistake is bad, because you (hopefully) always learn a lesson from it, thus it makes you a better person in the long run

Define empathy Empathy is different from sympathy since it is so much more than just feeling sorry for a person. If you empathize with someone then you understand exactly how they are feeling, thus can relate and help them in a way that other people might not be able to. Empathy is a great thing in my opinion, but can be terrible too if the incident you are empathizing about is a nasty one. It can be nice to talk to someone who has had experiences like your own and share how you feel about them

K

Tell me an anecdote about a time you lied I'm going to start this personal section with something funny, purely because that's how I prefer to operate. I feel uncomfortable telling something sad or embarrassing, thus explaining the following story. Once when I was young, I was building a toy tower out of bricks with my dad. We spent aaaages building this tower, especially since it kept on toppling over. Finally, when we were done my dad went to go get my mum and show her what we'd done. I thought it would be hilarious to knock over the tower, so I kicked it over and demolished it completely. When my dad came in I panicked and blamed it on my toy dinosaur, completely oblivious to the fact that the video camera set up had taped the whole thing...

Tell me an anecdote about a time you were right It's always hard moving to a new school. Several years ago me and my friends were moving schools. It was especially difficult for me because I was going it alone-at least they were sticking together. I'd be in a strange building on my own. The last day was awful, although I managed not to cry, something which my friends failed to do. We all promised to stay friends forever, keep in touch etc. I didn't believe it at the time, not really. I tried to stay in touch but in the end we all drifted apart. Seems I was right after all

L+

Chapters Why'd I choose this one? I suppose as a writer I decided to go with the familiar. Books are often split into chapters to make them easier to read, and people say your life is split into chapters as well. Does that make it easier to live? I guess no one knows the answer to that question, although it can be incredibly hard if you feel like a chapter of your life is ending when it is one you particularly enjoyed

If the world worked the way it was supposed to, we'd all be skunks and zebras Even if we were all skunks and zebras, I don't think the world would be working properly. Imagine it though-half the world are funky horses wearing striped pyjamas whilst the other half end up as smelly creatures eating garbage? The important thing to remember is the world isn't black and white. And what colours are skunks & zebras? Exactly my point