Just Two Cartoons...

I was so boring and long-winded in my LAST post, i shall keep this one breif and truly amusing by posting my two new cartoons. Enjoy.

Cartoon 1: 'Cookies'

Cartoon 2: Nightmare

Thank you for reading!

The Mennyms

I am currently re-reading my all-time favorite book series, The Mennyms, by Sylvia Waugh, and i have simply been DYING to analyze each of the characters for you (very generous of me, i know!).

The Mennyms are a large family of life-size, living, breathing rag dolls.

If thats not awesome, you tell me what is!

They come to life after the death of their maker, Kate Penshaw, and take over her house and live there for over 40 years. Each of the characters is differant, vibrant, lovable, hate-worthy, and epic, and i have taken it upon myself to dig deep into each of their personalities and roles in the series, as i absolutely adore them and have been dying to do this ever since i read book 1 around five years ago.

I'll go oldest to youngest...be warned, i do play favorites and some characters will be giving far more attention than others.

Granpa Magnus Mennym: He's very annoying, yet amusing. He lays in his bed 99.99% of the time, and as he is supposedly very wise, he takes it upon himself to admonish and council his family on all matters. His main role is the protector of the family; he is constantly aware of what everyone does (thanks to his wife) and keeps the family from being discovered by the outside world.

Granny Tulip: She's bossy and very business-like. She disaproves of much her family does, and is detirmined to keep everything running smoothly. She is mediater between her husband and the rest of the family.

Joshua: Joshua is Magnus and Tulip's son. I love Joshua very very dearly. He is quiet, patient, refuses to argue, and loves peace and quiet. He is frustrating at times when he acts somewhat childish, but he is so simple a man, one could never remain angry with him. Usually very weak, at the lowest times, he rises up and is strong for, if not himself, the ones he loves.

Vinetta: Vinetta is Joshua's wife. She is loving, kind, generous, and faithful. She is far more independant and complex than Joshua, but they make a good match. So Kate Penshaw made them.

Miss Hortensia Quigly: Not a member of the Mennym family, but a friend of Vinetta's. She bothers me sometimes, because she's always either unbearably flustered or annoyingly cool and self-assured. She's moody, but she is a good nanny for the baby and she is very much herself. All of them are.

Soobie: Here we shall have to talk for a while. Soobie is my very favorite character. He is complex yet simple, and differant from all the other Mennyms, because he is entirely blue. He is 16, or 18, depending on the book. He refuses to pretend anything, and takes everything as it is. At times his family, and even himself, believe that he is a freak. But he is the one character who is able to understand his family members when things are ugly. He is the one who goes out to save his sister, comforts his mother, and discovers his unfinished twin sister in the attic. I love him. I would love to meet him, but it is highly unlikely i ever would (even if he were real). He wouldn't let me meet him. I often wonder if Soobie ever loved someone outside his family, because i feel he would be so easy to love.

Pilbeam: Soobie's twin sister. Pilbeam is totally honest, even when her honesty offends people. Like her brother, she hates to pretend, but its easier for her. She is lovely and loving, and i imagine she had a very lovely singing voice.

Appleby: Applyby is irritating, dishonest, rude, obstinent, and bratty, and yet her family always loves her. Even when she terrifies them with lies and tales and insists on having her own way, they still can't imagine being without her. I still find her terribly abraisive, but she's doomed to be perpetually 15, so i can sympathize with her.

Poopie: Yes, there is a character named Poopie. He is 10, and i have very little to say about him. He is almost exactly like my own 10 year old brother.

Whimpey: Whimpey is Poopie's twin. Also i have little to say about her. She is endearing and sweet and much like my younger sisters. So there.

Googles: The baby. She hasn't much personality, but she is often referred to as 'the worlds best baby'. She rarely cries, and as she is only 9 months old, she never advances much. The family would be empty without her, though.

Nuff said. READ. THIS. SERIES.

Thank you.

Little Known Fairy Tales, Part 1

Despite what you may think, there are hundreds of fairy tales, and not all of them were written by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. In fact, almost none of them were written by them! They were folk tales...made up and changed as people told them. And they were origionally told to frighten children into behaving, so many of them are terrifying and or have terrible endings.

Anyway...one of my personal favorite little known fairy tales is Maid Maleen. Maid Maleen is like a clever combination of Rapunzel and Cinderella. I REFUSE to spoil it for you, but i will simply say it is AMAZING!

(Illustration: follow link for more information)

I feel this particular tale deserves a little more lime-light. It is haunting and beautiful, and it truly embodies all that the Grimm brothers set out to do in compiling fairy tales: tell a story, preserve a culture, and teach and lesson.

Well done, Brothers Grimm!

Way Out Here

There is a popular new country song that i am totally in love with.

Way Out Here, by Josh Thompson.

LOVE. THIS. SONG. SO. MUCH!!!!

Why?

I have no idea. I have never considered myself particularly 'down home'. I do live in one of the smallest towns in the nation and we have over five acres of land, but we don't own any guns, our really good watch dog just passed away, and no one in my family smokes or chews.

And yet i love this song and am trying to think of a worthy book plot to write based on it.

There is something so true, honest, beautiful and pure about this song. Its patriotic, and it sounds like freedom. It sounds like the theme song of people who really, honest to goodness LIVE and make the most of every moment they have. Its kind of like God Bless America meets American Saturday Night lol.

The other thing i like about this song is that i love the guys voice. Josh Thompson knows his range and stays in it, which is more than we can say for other singers (who, yes, shall remain un-named).

And to prove that i do really live 'way out here':

There you go. One of the worlds smallest John Deere's ever. ;-)

Big Time Rush

Imagine please, four incredibly cute dudes in one half hour, who sing and dance.

It doesn't seem possible, but it is.

If you are familiar with the title of this blog post, you will know what i'm talking about....the Nick show Big Time Rush starring Kendal Shmitt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena and Logan Henderson! (GO GUYS!!!)

I don't watch a TON of tv. I mostly watch Food Network, and whatever my family is watching just to hang out with them. But occasionally i fall for a show. BTR is the latest (and greatest).

So, OF COURSE, I just HAVE to do a blog post all about it!

Mwahaha.

Yes, i know, bear with me.

Mm hm. That's them. Cute, huh?

Not to say i'm boy-crazy, either. I'm not. I have no interest in marrying any one of these dudes (considering, also, that they are in their 20's and famous and i just don't need that). But i L.O.V.E. their show and they are so very very cute. And that picture doesn't do them justice. Pixilated and weird.

ANYWAY, i would like to analyze their tv personalities, as, having never met them in person, i can't analyze their REAL personalities.

If you're bored and think this is lame, feel free to say so. Really.

On top of the golf cart there is Carlos. I do love Carlos. He's very endearing in a manic sort of way. His favorite activities (besides singing, i suppose) are running into walls and doing dangerous things. He's very sweet. I think if he weren't so insane he would be very romantic. Unfortunately, he has his share of faults. He falls for mean controlling girls who take advantage of him. If you can imagine and fully insane Latino Charlie Brown, you've got Carlos.

On the left, in the gray tank top, he with the stunning muscular arms, is James. <3 I love James. (I will just state now that i love all four of them). He's incredibly good-looking, for one thing, and for another, he's got a great voice. His charms, unfortunately, end there for the most part. He's very driven and passionate, but he's also in love with himself. Its hard to become fully attatched to someone who carries around a mirror and is offended when girls DON'T fall in love with him immediately. But one unbelievably awesome moment in which he gave up a rather awesome acting job  to save the feelings of a girl who did NOT get an acting job has redeemed him in my eyes.

In the middle is Logan. I find Logan hard NOT to love. He's really nerdy, but his nerd-ness is cute. He's sweet to his girlfriend but clueless and shy. He's the kind of guy a self-help maniac could go to town with. He's cautious and keeps his friends from doing anything beyond the reasonable fields of stupidity and insanity. He also has some of the best lines ever, such as, "Does he know he looks like a yam?" However, Logan has his own form of insanity. He gets obsessed with things and often gets sick of his friends' lack of coherant thought.

And Kendall. He's unbelievably loyal to his insane friends, sister, crazy mother, and cute girlfiriend. There are many qualities i admire in him; his voice, his patience, his ability to not completely lose it when things get tough...very refreshing. And his hair is fun to watch when he flips his head lol.

All four of them are very dedicated to their band, and that makes me happy. Occasionally, they abandon each other, but by the end of the episode all is well.

And i could go on, but you're probably sick of this. I just needed to talk about something OTHER than French, because its driving me nuts.

Thanks for reading!

Beware the Ninjas

You just NEVER know where one might be! And MINJAS? (Mini-Ninjas) DEADLY. Just look at where some were, quite luckily, found before anyone stuck they're foot (or anything else!) in this tiny croc!

CLEARLY these are very inexperienced little rubber minjas, otherwise, they would NEVER have let me get photographic evidence of them. Pretty amazing, really.

To their credit, the picture isn't very good...you can hardly see the shoe on the dark counter in the dim light.

In other news, history almost killed me today and i now know more about the founding of Rome than i ever wanted to.

In happy news, cinnimon mentoes are heavenly and soooooooo yummy!!! :-d. I love them. Thank you, Anna! <3

New cartoon:

Don't LOVE how it turned out but, y'know.

Thanks for reading the blog!

Summer Again

The first time i heard the song Summer Again by The Afters, i cried. Because its so very, very true. We're hanging out with summer for over three months, and than suddenly....its gone.

Dead.

*Sob*

Yes yes, i know. There there.

Why did i post the link to this particular and most heartbreaking song?
Because tomorrow, i will be thrown into the Pit Of Despair (or POD).

My parents don't show much mercy when it comes to the POD, even though they themselves know how horrid it is. The unthinkable tortures of math, history, literature, French, and more, will all be used on me weekly.

Ok, yes, i'm referring to school.

*SOB!!!*

And i think you all agree that summer passes with sorrow for many of us. To be all technical and accurate, it still IS summer, and still will be for the first month of school. I don't know about you, but that doesn't exactly make me feel BETTER.

For me, as a homeschooler (woo hoo, uh huh!) school doesn't actually change my lifestyle too drastically. I do have to go to bed earlier (HUMPH!) but i don't really get up any earlier. I do the same chores, continue on with my favorite hobbies, etc. But my favorite time of day is morning. I love mornings. And school sucks all the life out of them. My school is diffacult and challenging, but most days i only have two subjects (i don't have extra classes like art and gym and stuff like that), so i get done in the morning. There went my awesome morning. Lunch comes and goes. Chores. THAN i have free time, but i am still forced to do educational things, like read.

And i have so enjoyed this summer. I think its been one of the best ones yet. So much fun.

Memories:

1. Ah, school was finished at last. Sweet freedom.

2. Totus Tuus!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 I love you guys!!!

3. 4th of July visit to Minnesota! Dude, i could talk about how epic THAT was forever. I miss my Ninjas and cartoon drawing buddy soooooo much!!!!!!

4. Big Sister leaving for her big adventure on NET :'(

5. My BFF Squishy coming for her first visit in 2 years. *SCREEEEAM!!!!* That encompasses WAY too many good times.

Aw yes. And now summer is over. :'(. Very very very very very VERY sad.

Some mean old genius said 'All good things must come to an end'. And i would like to personally BLAME whoever that was. :-P.

That said, farewell, Summer.

I'll miss you.

There are far too many sad songs about summer leaving, and i'll be sure to listen to at least one of them today to REALLY get me in the mood.

Hope you don't have to start school any time soon!

Clare

Goodbye, Bosco.

Today was hard.

Its hard to have your little brother knock on the door of your room and tell you the dog you've had and loved for nine years is dead.

I was not at all close to this dog (named Bosco) when he died. I was much closer to him a few years back, but as i got older, i went out to visit him in the yard less and less. I don't really regret this; it made it so, so, SO much easier. My sisters and brother who were all VERY close to this dog and loved him very much had a harder time. Not to say i'm not sad. I am. And i miss him.

I remember him as a little tiny puppy (well, as tiny as a great pyranese/border collie can get), and my mom and older sister took a little clock outside for him to sleep with to remind him of his mother's heartbeat. He was born on the same day as my brother, a year after, so he was the first dog my younger siblings ever really knew. He was the first dog i really, really, REALLY loved.

He was an angel. He protected our house and loved us. We loved him so much.

When we first realized our beloved doggy was probably dying about four days ago, at first i was mad at my parents for ever letting us have pets because they just die.

I guess now i know its worth it. Because even though all of us cried today because we loved him so much, it was because we. loved. him.

And that will always be worth it.

Bye, Bosco <3

Very First Post

Well, here I am! First blog, first post!

Hi, Mom!

First I shall breifly say who I am:

I am Clare. I live in the midwest, and I am homeschooled (WOO HOO!). I am an author, artist, designer, etc. I have a lot of other random hobbies i will go into LATER.

My blog, as you (hopefully) noticed, is a fun little spin of Brothers Grimm. I chose this name because i very dearly LOVE fairy tales (i have even re-written a few!) and i have 5 sisters, so it just seemed to work nicely :-). I will CERTAINLY be talking about fairy tales (and anything else that pops into my head).

For my first post, i decided to share something i have done recently.

My very first cartoon. I am rather proud of it, even though its terrible. Its based on the general reaction of my friends and family to getting out of bed in the morning.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog, as i am sure i will enjoy writing it. Forgive me spelling errors and when i let my I's be little...or if i write fro rather than for (i do that quite a lot).

Thank you for reading! Write more soon.