...she talks like june

Amy, noun; A girl who loves words.

2011-07-03T15:41:00.000+09:30

Some words are just special, I think. They can immediately conjure up images and feelings, the right words can create just the right atmosphere.
There are some words that I absolutely love, and you can create so many wonderful titles and phrases by just combining a few.

I did a few little squiggles the other day when I was working in the shop and feeling kinda bored.

They gave me the idea to do a post about words I love. I've found that if you're trying to come up with a title (like a username, for example) it can be really help to just jot down some words you really like and see what combinations you come up with.

I had to make a twitter account to join Pinterest and I couldn't think of a username. I employed this method and came up with the name The Quiet Kingdom, which is probably my favourite username that I've ever used. :)

Some word I love;

Kingdom
Empire
Prince
Legend
Brave
Arrow
Courage
Quiet
Enchant / Enchanting / Enchanted / Enchantment
Kaleidoscope
Intertwined
Tangle / Tangled
Sparrow
Fox
Circus
Paper

Sleep / Sleepy

Silent / Silence

Marionette

Carousel

Uncharted

Halcyon

And some titles using them;

The Tangled Empire
The paper circus
The Brave Sparrow
Legend of the Sleepy Fox
Silent Circus

Kaleidoscope Heart (Which is the title of a song by Sara Bareilles)

An Uncharted Empire

Also a big, giant, Happy Birthday to my lovely sister Kathryn, who turns 19 today!

For the love of books, write faster!

2011-07-02T18:57:00.000+09:30

Ahem. Yes, anyway, there are a number of books I'm waiting for that come out in the second-half of the year.
Two of them are the conclusion of their series, which is awesome/exciting AND sad/heartbreaking. >_<

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
I loved Jessica Day George's Dragon Slippers trilogy, so I am really looking forward to this.
It's been described by the publishers as "a mix of Home Alone and Hogwarts' Room of Requirement.", which sounds awesome!

Available from October 11, 2011.

The Sending (Obernewtyn, book 7) by Isobelle Carmody.

As much as I love this series, Isobelle Carmody is possibly one of the most frustrating authors I've ever read, simply because you can't trust her release dates as far as you can throw them (which is nowhere, since they don't have any physical mass.)

And now The Sending, which was meant to be the final book, will actually be the second to last book, with the conclusion to came out at some as-yet-unspecified date.

The Sending is purported to be coming out November 8, 2011.

Goliath (Book 3 of the Leviathan Trilogy) by Scott Westerfeld

*Squee!* I can't wait for this to come out! I absolutely love the first two books, so I'm super excited!
Not only is it a fantastic story, but it also has incredible illustrations by Keith Thompson.
But this awesome is mixed with sadness, Goliath is the last book. It all seems to be over too quickly!

Available from September 20, 2011.

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle, book 4) by Christopher Paolini

This is the last of the Eragon books, which is a little sad but mostly awesome because I get to know how it ends. woo!

Available from November 8, 2011

Cold Fire (Spiritwalker, book 2) by Kate Elliott

I got totally hooked on the first book, and it's always a good sign if my hands are glued to a book like they were to Cold Magic.
So I'm definitely looking forward to this sequel. Getting a little impatient, actually.

Available from September 26, 2011.

More on polyvore...

2011-06-30T20:23:00.000+09:30

Polyvore is one of the best sites to use when you're bored and have access to the internet. Can't afford the clothes to create your dream outfits? No problem; you can drool over them on polyvore and pretend you have them. :P

Admittedly I haven’t been using it quite as much lately (see “In the interest of pinterest”) but it’s a ton of fun and I heartily recommend it!

Untitled by { Amy } featuring a 14k yellow gold ring

Untitled by { Amy } featuring aviator sunglasses

Untitled by { Amy } featuring a peep toe bootie

Untitled by { Amy } featuring h&m jeans

How many words is a day worth?

2011-06-29T17:45:00.000+09:30

Since mid-2008, Kathryn and I have been doing a daily Word of the Day. It's a little project where you take the word of the day supplied by dictionary.com and write something containing that word. There's no set word limit, so it could be anything from a short sentence to an eight page story.
I think Mum originally intended it as an English exercise to improve our vocabulary, spelling, handwriting, and our use of language in general, but it's actually just a lot of fun :)

Some of the words we've had include triskaidekaphobia, halcyon, wunderkind, kismet, irascible, and pecksniffian.

I thought I'd post one of my stories here, this one is from December last year. It's a little darker and creeper then most of my writing, which is generally much more lighthearted. But Kathryn liked this one, and I was pretty pleased with it, so here you go.
It's also a little long; sorry!

Liminal \LIM-uh-nl\ , adjective;

1.Relating to the point beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced.

The Ash Glades could take days to reach if you didn’t know the way, but for those who did, it could be reached within half an hour.

The temperature began to drop as the healthy pines and oaks thinned, giving way to twisting brambles and creaking, slender trees so grey and lifeless they looked like stone. By the time Luka stopped Ava’s nervous, shuddering breaths were clouding before her face, curling away like ribbons of white smoke.

Ava Trueboat hated the Ash Glades; she could feel the luminal sigh of death brush across her neck, hear the groan and creak of every tree, like a thousand souls trapped in some eternal misery, and she felt the mystery and horror that hung in the air seep in through her toes and fingertips.

“Well, don’t dawdle.” Fear made her snap.

“Keep your pants on,” Luka muttered, unconcerned where Ava was terrified. And that was reason the Headmaster had asked him to do this little errand; Luka knew every twisting turn and narrow path. And he had asked Ava because he knew she wouldn’t let Luka out of her sight; because no-one, no-one who wanted to return whole and sane, went into the Ash Glades alone.

“Here it is.” Luka said, having located their quarry.

And there it was.

Hanging from the bushes’ spindly branches, surrounded by inch long thorns, were Hairy Hearts, their plump beating mass covered in thick dark fur.

“How many did he want?” Ava asked, all the while fighting down nausea.

“Five.” Luka replied shortly. He unscrewed the jar they had taken for the grisly use of storing the hearts. “I don’t suppose there’s any point asking which one of us is going to do this?”

Ava shook her head. In comparison to their grey surroundings, even her ashen tresses shone with colour.

Luka knelt grimly to his task. He grimaced as he took hold of one and twisted until it pulled free. The heart shuddered in his hand as he dispensed it into the jar.

By the third one, Ava had to turn away. She screamed when she felt a hand grip her shoulder.

“It’s just me, Ava.” Luka gave a shaky laugh.

“You’d better cover that up; we don’t want to scare the students.” Ava said, motioning vaguely to the Hairy Hearts.

Luka nodded, slipping it into his backpack. “Let’s get out of here, you look like you’re about to faint, or throw up.”

So do you, Ava could have replied in perfect truth, but she just nodded and followed him out into the normal world, where the ground didn’t smell like death and the sir didn’t taste like ash.

There you have it! Writing is fun, so hop to it!

Time to break open the piggy bank

2011-06-28T12:19:00.000+09:30

Etsy is a wonderful and whimsical place to browse through vintage and handcrafted items. The only problem is that there are too many things to buy; a fact causes me great suffering.

Anywho, I was going to pick a theme (stationary, jewellery, accesories, or something like that) but instead you get some random awesome stuff! woo, random awesome stuff!

Carrot by SteffBomb

Pearl Nest ring by luckyduct

Decorative Wren by SeaPinks

Oak Tree Locket by EclecticWendyDesigns

Action Bunny by corduroy

Pumpkin Pincushion by SeaPinks

Sherlock Holmes Book Safe by SecretSafeBooks

In the interest of pinterest...

2011-06-27T13:37:00.000+09:30

The internet is a big place, and it's full of awesome stuff, but the question is; how can one person find all that quirky, interesting, beautiful, inspiring stuff on their own?
The answer is, you can't. That's why there's Pinterest , so you can let other people do it for you!
I am slightly (ok, totally, hopelessly) in love with pinterest, and the reason is thus; when I see something I love, (a beautiful image or an inspiring quote, a fantastic bit of art, or something that cracks me up,) I want to save it. Pinterest gives me a way to keep it, look back on it, organise it, and add to it.

Here are just a couple of things I've pinned, but keep in mind there are millions of colourful, unusual, lovely, fantastical images to see.

Source: imgfave.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: img3.visualizeus.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: msnbc.msn.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: fashionprose.wordpress.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: baubauhaus.com via Amy on Pinterest

Etsy dreaming...

2010-11-26T19:44:00.001+10:30

There's so much stuff I would buy from etsy if I had a bottomless bank account. Sadly, that's not the case, so I'll have to settle for drooling over them via the internet :P

Bibliothèque.

2010-11-21T19:41:00.000+10:30

I love libraries!
Recently our local(ish) library moved to a new premises, so of course I went and took photos!
And guess what? It's got nice light!

And it happens to be right next to the old railway line;

Evenings in the garden.

2010-11-15T23:43:00.000+10:30

I love spring evenings; light, bright, fresh, mild, gorgeous! And perfect for photographing my beautiful sisters :)

+ Bonus Kathryn face!

Epic walk.

2010-11-05T20:56:00.000+10:30

We went on a 20km walk this last wednesday. It was long, I got tired, I was sore afterwards, but it was satisfying in the end :)

And, of course, I had to take at least a couple of photos;

What? I'm sixteen? Seriously?

2010-10-31T23:55:00.000+10:30

Well, today's my birthday!
I had an awesome day of eating, frozen mocha cheesecake and lasagne, and reading!
Present wise I was gifted two awesome cards, a lovely butterfly ring set with garnets, an amazing hot-air-balloon pendant from my sister, Vickie, and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (which I'm already more then half way through!)

Here's the first card, hand drawn and painted by Adam, Christopher, and James, my brothers

And the second one, again hand drawn, from Vickie

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my pendant (which is made of awesome), but I do have a picture of my ring (also made of awesome.)

Instant instants

2010-10-23T22:27:00.000+10:30

We got a Fuji Instant Camera, and, needless to say, we all love it!
It's so cute, the pictures are pretty tiny but so cool. We got eight packs of film, so there will be plenty more, I'm sure, but here's a sample of what we've got so far.

These four are mine;

And here's a couple from Mum and the boys

The Great Pig Caper

2010-08-27T16:53:00.007+09:30

The story is that a woman and her fiancé, whose code names are Cat’s Pajamas and Pigeon Wing respectively, are planning to murder CP’s cousin, Reggie(short for Regina), in order that CP would inherit the family’s vast pig farm.

To do so they train one of Reggie’s show pigs, who are allowed to wander the gardens unhindered, to charge on command. Reggie is renowned to very dangerously point her letter opener towards herself when opening her mail. So all they have to do is replace her regular letter opener with a specially sharpened one, position the pig in front of the French windows, wait until Reggie is in the process of opening the aforementioned letters, then give the pig its command, thus causing Reggie to accidently stab herself during the collision with said pig. As she has no will nor any siblings, CP will became fabulously rich and be free to marry PW, whose status as a lowly gardener had previously stopped such a union.

But wait, what’s this? Poirot is staying at Reggies manor house the very same weekend the murder is scheduled to take place! What will happen now?

Shown here are the correspondence between CP and PW, photos of their intended victim (me, with my new fringe!), PW’s pocket watch, and the murder weapon itself.

Sheet music to a memory.

2010-08-25T22:34:00.000+09:30

A wander through the wonder of nature

2010-08-16T21:11:00.000+09:30

The spinning vortex of time and space.

2010-07-18T13:17:00.000+09:30

Home...

2010-07-02T20:24:00.000+09:30

Home is the place your heart resides
Home is the place that you decide
Home is the womb that holds the soul
Home is the place where one is whole

Home is the glow you hold in your eye
Home is the emotion that makes you cry
Home is safe and a place of peace
Home is where all strivings cease

Home is protective against the others
Home is full of sisters and brothers
Home is where you find your rest
Home is where you feel your best

Home is a memory that follows your being
Home is a dream for those agreeing
Home is the place where reserves fall
Home is the place you yearn to call

Home is where the family meets
Home is a place of restful retreats
Home is the place you know you’ll be heard
Home is the pace where nothing blurs

Home is all these wonderful things
Home is the place you develop wings
Home is the place that you’ll find one day
Home is the place where your heart will stay

-Lisa Emry

Colour these hazy dreams...

2010-06-30T20:26:00.000+09:30

Throughout the world of beauty...

2010-06-25T19:29:00.001+09:30

The Poet's License! — 't is the right,
Within the rule of duty,
To look on all delightful things
Throughout the world of beauty.

To gaze with rapture at the stars
That in the skies are glowing;
To see the gems of perfect dye
That in the woods are growing, —
And more than sage astronomer,
And more than learned florist,
To read the glorious homilies
Of Firmament and Forest.

John Godfrey Saxe

Sunstroke project.

2010-06-20T15:48:00.001+09:30

.....

2010-06-13T22:24:00.000+09:30

Upwards and onwards...

2010-06-12T20:23:00.001+09:30

Down the rabbit hole...

2010-03-13T20:38:00.008+10:30

I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!
-From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The meaning of time and the lack of things which can stop it

2009-06-19T16:47:00.003+09:30

I haven't posted anything in a while, and I thought I'd better not let my blog die completely

Here's my photo for the day, I'm on day 232 :D

she sells seashells....

2009-06-08T18:13:00.005+09:30

..by the seashore.
Except I found this little one in our garden. Look at the little hole in the first photo, doesn't it look like a heart? But unfortunately it dropped onto the floor and the heart is now just a blob :P
And it's really tiny :O

rain drops keep falling on my head....plonk plonk plonk

2009-06-08T17:43:00.004+09:30

about the title.....ahhh, I bet Kathryn didn't expect her little song to last so long :P

It was so lovely and rainy this morning, a perfect opportunity for droplet photos :D

boggle ya' noggin

2009-06-07T14:42:00.009+09:30

Don't ask about the title.
I haven't blog for a few days, and I still don't have much to blog about but I though I should post something anyway.

My 365days photo for today, I'm up to 220!

here's the texture I used on it, by oceanT

When is that song gonna start?

2009-06-02T15:47:00.000+09:30

I took some self portrait for a very cool new group on flickr, Get Me Inspired

The one I put in the group;

And some outtakes;

And one last one, an outtake to showcase Vickie's wonderful dog wrangling skills;

Assignment #2

2009-05-30T15:11:00.000+09:30

I've just submitted my 2nd assignment for my photography course, learnt a lot from this module. It dealt with shutter speed and aperture.

Here's the photo I submitted;

and here was one I was considering;

blog season

2009-05-29T19:42:00.001+09:30

177/365: I've been given this one world...I won't worry it away..
Originally uploaded by { Amy }

I've made this blog many to post outtakes from the photos I upload on flickr, as I don't like to post too many at one.
I'm going to try hard to keep this going, and not just forget about it like my last blog :P