BEDA 15: It's all over.

I don't know whether it was the curse of Friday the 13th, or because I'm really just that bad at this, but I missed my second day yesterday. And, as promised, I give up. I'm done. No more BEDA for me.

Now that I've got this blog actually in use, however, I might come back once in a blue moon. Maybe, maybe not. In any case, it was good while it lasted, but perhaps I just need to accept that I'm not cut out for this "daily" nonsense.

Good talking to you all! Farewell! Until next time, whenever that may be!

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA ...13?: I lost the game.

Well, there you have it, folks. I missed a day. I can't believe I missed it, but I did. How incredibly lame of me. I'm not sure now whether I want to continue blogging and just use that as my one freebie, or give up on it altogether because I lost? It just feels like giving up now would prove what I've been fearing all long -- that I can't actually do this.

So I will blog! I will blog until my heart gives out! Well, no, I will blog until August 31st. I think I'm doomed to fail before then, and if I do, then I give up for good. But right now, you're not getting rid of me so easily. I am here, and I am blogging. Guess you'll just have to deal with that.

I missed day 12, yes, but this is day 13. A new day, a new beginning. Though, you know what they say -- never start something on a Friday or it will be doomed to failure. And what a worse Friday to set out a goal than Friday the 13th.

SO LET'S SAIL OUT ON THE FAILBOAT, GUYS. (Something else you're not supposed to do on Friday -- begin a voyage out to sea.) Maybe we'll see some Failwhales. And before long, I'll never be heard from again. 'Tis the curse of Friday the 13th. Ta-ta for now.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 11: Doctor Who

Guess what I've been doing all day? That's right, watching Doctor Who. I haven't restarted it all, though. I was going to last night, but decided against it. So instead, I watched some of my favourites. Rose, The Empty Child (though strangely not The Doctor Dances), The Christmas Invasion, Tooth and Claw, The Shakespeare Code, Blink, Partners In Crime, The Fires of Pompeii, Silence In the Library, Forest of the Dead, and Turn Left. There are a few more I'm interested in going back to watch, and therefore I shall be doing so. But the point is, that these are some of the greatest bits of television ever, and I have had a blast the last two days watching it all. It's amazing how funny, scary, and thrilling Doctor Who can be - all at once.

Say what you want about Matt Smith and Karen Gillan (who is a goddess among women), but they will never be David Tennant and Katherine Tate. I think she's my favourite companion. The two of them are so funny together, and Donna really brings out the best in the Doctor. I also love it because there's no sexual tension or awkwardness WHATSOEVER, unlike with Rose (though I didn't mind it too much, because they were meant to be). OR MARTHA. Goddamn that bitch was annoying with her undying affection for a man that DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT.

Sorry, got carried away.

The point is, Doctor Who just seems to get better with every episode I watch. I will never get tired of it. Bring on season 6!

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 10: CRAP.

Dear me, dear me, dear me. I forgot. I can't believe it. I couldn't make it TEN DAYS. But here's the thing: I haven't gone to bed yet, have I? No, therefore, this can still count. I'm still running on the energy of day 10. Or some rubbish like that. Point is, I haven't messed anything up. It's BEDA day 10. That's right. Suck it.

So what did I do today? Absolutely nothing, I'll tell you. But I don't mind. It was a pretty normal day altogether. Bit of bad news, though: my phone doesn't work anymore. I can't send or receive text messages. AT&T tells me I need a new SIM card, so I've got to go out and get one of those. Until then, no Facebook, no Twitter, nada. How lame.

Brad went out tonight to spend time with friends, so I've been sitting here watching some of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who. Just finished The Shakespeare Code, and promptly flipped right the fuck out at the Harry Potter references, as is necessary. Ah, British culture.

Anyway, guess I'm off to bed now. Hopefully I won't forget this tomorrow.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 9: OMGZ U GYYZ~!

Today has been pretty rad. I watched last night's True Blood this morning, which was SO WEIRD. I mean, my eyes will never recover from seeing Eric have gay sex with Talbot. Scarred for life. Though, the staking afterwards definitely made it better. But fuck, what was Sookie thinking, having sex with Bill at the end? I mean, I get that you're having this huge adrenaline rush from just handing Debbie her ass on a silver platter, but damn bitch. Though I think I prefer Bill over Alcide at this point. That scene on the porch? The fuck, Sookie. The fuck. OH, spoiler alert.

But that's only a small part of why today was awesome. You know why it was actually awesome? Because I just actually finished ANOTHER chapter of my fanfiction. Brad and I were on an Oovoo call all night, having a writing party. And we both wrote asstons of shit. And danced along to some pretty epic wizard rock. Or, well, I danced. He laughed at me. Though sometimes, he laughed with me. In any case, it was buckets of fun.

So, now it looks like it's time for a BETA party as we both read and correct each others' stuff. I'm off to do that! Life is good, though it sucks dick for my character. Go figure!

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 8: Not a real blog.

Today I am not in the mood to write any semblance of a blog. The day started out okay, and within the past hour or so, plummeted into oblivion. So, therefore, I am going to opt-out of writing anything legitimate. As of now, the only thing that I think will make this not suck so much is the new True Blood episode. I'm not linking that, Google it if you're that fucking curious. Anyway, I've filled my quota for today. I technically wrote a blog. BEDA still in session.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 7: Fanfiction

Remember on day 2 when I talked about my ridiculous writer's block? Well, with no help from you, internet, I got over it. Today I finished the next chapter of my fanfiction, with over 3,000 words! As of now, it has not been published, because Brad has been at work since 4:30, and he's my BETA reader. But he'll be home soon, and after he reads it, I'll put it up. Not that you actually care, internet. You never care. But since I'm here, I'll ramble a little about my fanfiction. Hey, you're not reading this anyway, so what does it matter?

I write a *cringe* Draco/OC fanfiction. (Called Shades of Grey.) NOW STOP RIGHT THERE BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME. I know OC fics are usually pretty bad, especially Draco ones. But something you must remember is that I'm not a 12-year-old, near-illiterate, sex-starved, Twilight-obsessed, little girl. So, no, it actually doesn't suck, thanks very much. It's 100% canon to the plot of HBP, and is an insight to life as a Slytherin. Everything from being a Death Eater, to being evil, to being not evil, to being in love, to being in danger, etc.

Two years ago, I wrote this Draco/OC called Unexpectedly Acquainted. (And its sequel, Difficulties Will Arise.) This, more so than my current fic, is a story about being a Slytherin and being a Death Eater. I can't quite explain it, but it does a good job (if I do say so myself) of making the other side (the evil side, if you must) a lot more human. It sheds some good light on it. Now, the quality of the writing on that one is a little less awesome because I was fifteen when I wrote it, but the content is better, I think. Save for a few very teenage-girl moments, it's pretty mature for my age. Though, in that first chapter of the sequel, I was Twilight-obsessed, and it is embarrassingly obvious. But I digress. Point is, if you really want a fic that delves into Slytherin and Death Eater life from our view-point, read UA and DWA.

Now, back to Shades of Grey. Like I said, the quality of writing is much improved here. The thing that might turn you off for a bit is that it might sound cliché. The reason for this is because it's about arranged marriage. STOP JUDGING ME. I don't write it in a cliché fashion, I assure you. If I add non-canon things to my stories, I insert them in a way that makes them plausible, and doesn't interfere with any existing canon. It all works quite nicely, as a matter of fact.

Anyway, I'm bragging, I know, but I'm proud of the work I do. Though, not always. Sometimes I'll feel really insecure, and think I've done a crap job. But overall, I think I do well for myself. So, if you're reading this, internet, which I'm sure you most certainly are not, go give one or all of those a read. I think it'll be worth your time. Oh, and review. Because if you don't, I'll slice you in half :]

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

PS. It's hug a Slytherin day, so let's get those hugs now. NOW, or I'll force you.

BEDA 6: Adventures

It's only day six and already I have no clue what to blog about. I wish I had life experience. You know, like one of those people that make it a point to do something interesting and exciting every day, and then I could sit down and tell you all about it here. But no, I sit all day on the computer, browsing Tumblr, watching Psych, and playing on Photoshop. I must face the facts: I am a giant nerd, and my life is such. So whatever, I'm going to go bury my head in a book, and live my adventures there. I'm going to open up a Word document and live my adventure there. And at the end of the day, I won't have a story to blog about, but I sure as hell can make one up, or enjoy someone else's. And who says I can't get pretend-life-experience from that? If I get that close to a character, a world, an adventure, who's to say I can't take it and make it my own? After all, isn't that what the world of fiction is actually about?

This has turned suddenly profound. I really just planned to bitch and moan about lacking a blog topic. Oh, the places we can go when we start typing.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 5: Photoshop is a fucking bitch.

So I had every intention of writing an actual blog today, but I did NOT. And I will proceed to tell you why.

Earlier this evening I decided to make something on Photoshop. I decided I would make a Harry Potter image based on a wizard rock song. First, I tried "Lullaby" by The Remus Lupins. But you try finding decent pictures of Remus and Tonks. Fuck that. Then I think I was going to try "Don't Wanna Be A Death Eater" by The Brothers Black. Another fail. And then FINALLY, I settled on Draco and the Malfoys' "99 Death Eaters." Score.

So I decided to do a nice image with a GIF in it and everything, you know. Something classy. Well after FOUR AND A HALF HOURS of that shit, I finally finished, and it looked BADASS. But since it had a GIF in it, I couldn't save it normally, right? So whatever, anyway. I try to save it and gives me some bullshit quality.

You can see around the edges where I made the fading, and everything. I tried to make it smaller, which sucked, and it still looked retarded. And then, and THEN, get this, the GIF doesn't work on Tumblr. File is too large. It doesn't move at all. What. Is. This. Shit.

So my sweet-ass piece of fucking ART, and four and a half hours of my night were WASTED on my piece-of-shit Photoshop CS5. Fuck you, Adobe. You go to hell. You go to hell and die.

The image:

I'm off to sulk some more about this.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 4: Does this count?

I forgot! Oh my god I forgot! I have 10 minutes left. What do I do? What do I say? Can I just ramble on for one paragraph about how I screwed up, and have it count? I can do that, right? Yeah, I'm sure I can. There are no rules here. This happens too often. I'll remember earlier in the day or night, and then forget for later on. Goddamnit. Well at least I'll make THIS deadline. I will write an actual blog tomorrow about insecurities. Or maybe about something else. We'll see.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 3: Internet Celebrities

I don't have a lot of time because it's nearly midnight, so this won't go into as much depth as I would like.

My topic today is "internet celebrities."It's very subjective, because some people would argue that people that are famous on the internet aren't "real" celebrities. I disagree wholeheartedly. I think internet celebrities are just as much - if not more - no, definitely more - deserving of praise as "regular" ones. Because, for the most part, internet celebrities are very down-to-earth people that are just doing the best with the talents that they have. A Youtuber is just a regular kid that sits down once a day or once a week in front of a camera in their bedroom, and talks. They have no Hollywood agenda to maintain, or fake appearance to keep up. They're just regular people, and that makes them more worth celebrating than most of the assholes that populate red carpets.

That being said, I also don't believe that any of them have the right to be stuck up about their "fame." Because, like I said, they are just regular people. And this goes for every celebrity, internet-wise or not. There are plenty of people in the world that can do just what big-name celebrities can, maybe better. But just because they aren't recognized worldwide for their talents, doesn't make them any less of a person than their famous counterparts.

Those are basically my feelings toward all of this in a nut shell. I have to wrap it up, because midnight approaches, and I have to post this in time for day three. Leave your thoughts in the comments, though I'm sure you won't. Until next time!

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

BEDA 2: Writer's Block

You'll never believe it, but I'm actually here! It's amazing that I've managed to remember my second day, though just barely. It's nearly 11pm, and I just happened to stumble across someone else's BEDA, which reminded me to do mine. But in any case, I'm still here, so let's get on with it.

But before we continue, click this. Now that you're back from it, tell me honestly, is it at least 30 minutes later? I bet it is. That shit is addicting. Moving on!

I'm going to go with a topic that might sound extremely boring, but bear with me. It's mostly going to be a ramble, with a desperate plead for audience participation. Yes, you. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Writing.

Now, "writing," as a topic can be extremely broad, but I mean specifically writing of the novel variety. How many people have actually attempted this kind of thing before? Fanfiction, NaNoWriMo, something you do as a hobby, whatever. All I know is that anyone that has can attest to at one point having had something we like to refer to as writer's block - that most deadly and vicious of all beings. I appear to have found myself sharing very close quarters with our villainous friend, Writer's Block, as of late. Let me tell you, Mr. Block and I go way back to the days of my youth, when I was just a pimply 13-year-old writing awful, horrible, shitty fanfiction. But NOW, I am a pimply 17-year-old writing pretty sweet fanfiction. Or so I have been told. Up to you to decide.

My experience has taught me that very often, Señor Bloque de Escritor appears not because you lack inspiration or creativity, but because, deep down, you are displeased with what you have written. My advice is to go back and reread the last scene that you have written, and ask yourself if you really like it. 9 times out 10,* deleting it and starting over will pull you out of your mental hole-in-the-ground. As for myself, I have found this NOT to be the case at the moment. My story is definitely going in the direction I wish it to, but I simply can not sit myself down and write.

So I come to you, dear reader, for some advice. What do you do when the International Novelist Postal Service packs up your creative juices in a can of whoop-ass and ships them halfway around the world to a 7-year-old Japanese girl with a lisp trying to draw a pony for parent-teacher day? What do you do? Because right now, I am so drained, even my ridiculously overdone metaphors are becoming thin. Help me out, guys. I am in a rut.

I anxiously await your replies, though the little chattering birds in my head tell me no one will reply, and I will be forced to return to my cubby hole and speak to that ridiculous little Mexican rat that insists on feeding me chalupas.

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.

*based on an 1855 survey conducted by the Fictional Writer's Union of Your Imagination.

BEDA 1: I really suck at this.

Welcome to the second annual BEDA! I'm your host, Tina McFlorenmeister. Today's show is brought to you by the wonderful makers of Flab-Be-Gone: it's like magic! Let's bring out our first guest, world-record holder of making the cheesiest Cheezy Bread, and professional thumb wrestler: Amanda Rumm.

I'm going to be frank with you all, this will not work. I tried BEDA last year and failed after a week, then I tried to vlog everyday in November, and made two videos. I've attempted THREE 30 Day Challenges on Tumblr and have not completed either. I update my Dailybooth account once every couple of weeks. Long story short, I can't keep up with daily things. But I will give this a

shot! Though, like I said, schedules aren't my thing. Like that time I tried to participate in NaNoWriMo, wrote 600 words, and gave up. As you can see, I have plenty of stories about failure. But let's make this one a story of success.

I'll begin by explaining what BEDA is. It's fairly simple. In 2009, Maureen Johnson launched something called BEDA (Blog Every Day April) in anticipation of the release of her new book Scarlett Fever (which is excellent, by the way.) This year, everyone asked if she planned to do it again, for kicks. April was a busy month for dear MJ, so she moved it to August. But now she's once again too busy to participate, so we will all try EXTRA HARD.

I don't have another direction to take in this particular blog today, so I will not continue past this point. I think that it is a great place to start, personally. This was just an introduction and I look forward to forgetting to post another one tomorrow!

Goodnight, Tiny Humans.