Roonerisms Spock

We love silly humor. Puns, wordplay, goofy memes, weird inside jokes... all these things are right up our alley. But the silly game we engage in most frequently together consists of swapping sounds around in pairs of words, particularly the beginning consonant sounds.

Some examples: 

• squeaky pencil becomes peaky squencil 
• chapped lips becomes lapped chips
• blue shorts becomes shue blorts

If one of the words in the pair begins with a vowel, you just move the consonant from the word that has one to the word without one. Example: itchy legs becomes litchy egs.

You get the idea. We come up with these all the time, and occasionally, we drive our family crazy with them (inadvertently, of course). Though we've enjoyed doing this for about as far back as we can remember, the frequency with which we spew out these mixed up pairs of words has increased recently, especially since we found out that there is actually a term for them. They're called spoonerisms.

Some of our all-time favorite spoonerisms we've come up with include:

• buttermilk scones ---> scuttermilk bones
• my phone is buzzing ---> my bone is phuzzing
• digging into my shoulder ---> shigging into my doulder
• jiggling belly ---> biggling jelly

To clarify, the pronunciations of the consonants in question are never changed when they're shifted, even if phonics would dictate otherwise with the new letter combinations.

A word of caution: Thinking before you speak is always wise, and coming up with spoonerisms is no exception. When you're constantly mixing up letters in words, it's inevitable that at some point, you're going to stumble across something that doesn't fall under the PG rating/something that you don't want coming out of your mouth. ;)

Now that we've given you a little insight into just how weird we really are, tell us what sort of silly things you like to do for laughs!

Bonus Post: What I've Learned From NaNoWriMo

Hello, Sarah here.

Katie told you all about Camp NaNoWriMo last week, so for our bonus post I will be giving you some advice on making the most of your NaNo experience. 

Last July was my first experience with Camp NaNo. Despite my good intentions, it did not turn out well. On the first day, my ego was enormous and my energy levels were high. Over the course of the month, all of that leaked out of me gradually like helium out of a balloon. I began to hate my writing, and had I not been typing on a computer, I might have flown into a passion and ripped apart the pages with my teeth, or burned them and danced around them like a maniac. (Luckily, that's a little bit harder to accomplish with Microsoft Word documents.) :)  
The lesson I learned that month was that if you're going to write, you cannot rely on circumstances. Things will not go as planned. Emotions will fluctuate. You might hate what you are writing. That doesn't matter. In the end, how you felt at the time won't be as important as how you dealt with it. Sometimes your best work may come from fatigue, frustration, even depression, as proved by countless artists of all kinds through the ages who turned their hardships into beauty. In retrospect, I realized that.  

With fresh resolve, I decided to try again in November. That was when things got real. This time, my goal wasn't just a measly 10,000 words or so. I wrote 50,000 words that month. Probably more than I usually write in a year. I did fall off track several times, but I was able to write an enormous amount over Thanksgiving break, which I can tell you was a pretty bad time to decide to pick up my slack and write like a fiend. Nonetheless, I finished shortly before midnight on the 30th, barely in time for the deadline. Truth be told, there's never going to be a good time to buckle down and write. You'll always have excuses. Great things can happen when you decide to set aside those excuses and do a thing that most people only daydream about.

This year, with even the tiny bit of experience I have gained, I feel stronger and wiser. I know I still have a lot to learn, which is why I am trying to expand my horizons. My projects this month include short stories, poetry, and possibly a work of nonfiction. In November I plan to attempt a novel again. I have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but the journey, though full of frustrations, may yet prove to be the best part of the experience.

Camp NaNoWriMo: July, 2015

Hey guys, Katie here. I'm posting solo this Friday, but Sarah will be writing the next entry to make up for missing out on this one. :)

It's July, which means it's time for another session of Camp NaNoWriMo! What is NaNoWriMo, you ask?

The main event of NaNoWriMo (which stands for National Novel Writing Month), takes place every November. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in just one month. It's a massive undertaking, but I'm here to tell you from first-hand experience that it can be done! 

The Camp sessions, which occur in the months of April and July, are a little more flexible than the November event. You can set your own word count goal, and you can work on a writing project other than a novel (such as short stories, a script, or your memoir) if you so choose. Technically, you can do these things during November too, as long as you're okay with breaking the rules and thus falling into the "rebel" category.

The challenge presented by NaNoWriMo is a great incentive to move beyond simply thinking about your story idea and actually get a first draft down on paper (or in a word document). If you'd like to know more about NaNoWriMo and and why or how one participates...
Here's a link to the main website: nanowrimo.org
And the camp website: campnanowrimo.org 

For the current Camp session, Sarah and I have each set our goal at 15,000 words. This target requires an average of just 484 words per day, as compared to the 1667 average needed to complete the November goal. We like to reserve that sort of crazy all-out NaNo-ing for the main event.

My own current project (and Sarah's too, I believe) is short stories. I'm planning to write one to three of them a day, depending on the lengths of the entries in question. I chose short stories because they give me a chance to play with the multiple ideas that have been bouncing around in my head rather than being forced to pick just one. Also, I'm getting practice for outlining longer works of fiction by planning shorter ones. I don't naturally tend towards such planning, but I've found that when I don't have at least a basic outline for a novel-length story, I tend to just meander through the plot. Such an approach does not make for interesting reading or a pleasant revision process.

That pretty much sums up my personal writing objectives for this July. Sarah will discuss her own project in our next post, so stay tuned! Happy writing!

Reading Recommendation: Manga Edition

We recently finished reading Hiromu Arakawa's popular manga series, Fullmetal Alchemist, and enjoyed it so much that we are dedicating this post to talking about it. It has a great setting, interesting and realistic characters, intriguing plot lines, tough decisions, moral dilemmas... basically, everything that makes a great story. As aspiring writers, we feel that we have a lot to learn from Arakawa.

Many people are already familiar with this series, but there are also many who have yet to enter the world of Japanese manga. Fullmetal Alchemist is a great place to start. For those new to manga, it does take a minute to get the hang of reading right to left, but it starts to feel natural sooner than you might expect. Also, these are very quick reads, so don't be daunted by the 27 volumes.

Synopsis:
The story is centered around two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, both of whom possess alchemic abilities. The brothers have a secret in their past: they committed one of alchemy's taboos - human transmutation - and they paid the price. Ed lost two limbs, which have been replaced by metal prosthetics (automail). Al lost his entire body; his soul is bonded to a suit of armor, anchoring him in the real world. Edward has signed on to work for the government as a state alchemist, with the hopes that through his position he will gain access to information that will help him and his brother get their original bodies back. Throughout the story, the two brothers atone for their crime and search for a way to achieve their goal. At the same time, they must deal with the unrest going on around them as trouble brews in the government and strange new enemies appear.

Ed and Al are wonderful protagonists, and their supporting cast is equally well-thought-out. Our favorite thing about the story is that the characters and their relationships are always developing, to the point where you have a vested interest in everyone, including minor characters and villains.

Shortly after finishing the manga, we started watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - one of two anime series based on the manga. (It's supposed to be the more faithful adaptation, and we're extremely satisfied with it. Eventually, we might watch the other one too, just to see what it's like.) Katie has already seen FMA Brotherhood, but certainly doesn't mind re-watching it! If you decide to watch it too, we recommend finding it with subtitles first, as opposed to watching it dubbed over in English. Hearing the original language is an amazing way to experience a part of Japanese culture, plus it's fun to watch for words that sound like their English counterparts, while also picking up on some Japanese words. That being said, we've heard that the English-dubbed version is very well done, so if you have an aversion to subtitles, you can definitely take the dubbed route.

Let us know what you think of our recommendation, and give us your own recommendations in exchange!

Summer Approacheth

Another Friday, another late-night post hits the web. Our excuses? Well, there's the mad end-of-the-school-year rush, house cleaning, company... you get the idea. Hopefully these opening apologies won't become a habit with us - although they do make a handy beginning to our posts. Hm... ;) Anyway, let's get on to one of our most favorite things ever, the fount from which ideas flow - the mighty list!

Spring is drawing to a close, which means it's time to look back over our spring bucket list and put together a summer one. We can check off the following items from our spring list:

• start a blog :)
• craft and cook - examples can be found here and here
• go to a movie - see our review here
• make brunch on Mother's Day - see more here
• dye Easter eggs
• make music playlists

We can put partial checkmarks by these:

• participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in April - We didn't do all that well, but we plan to try again in the July session.
• practice harmonizing - We worked on this a couple times.
• clean our room - We started, but we still have lots to do. Yes, part of it is that we are extremely messy, but in our defense, we're going through practically everything we own so that we can have a garage sale. 

The things that didn't get done at all or that were just partially done are now shifting over to our summer list, as are certain ongoing projects (like crafting and cooking). Plus, we're adding a few new things:

• attend the two Shakespeare plays that are happening near us this summer
• attend the outdoor jazz concert that also happens near us
• go swimming
• watch "Sherlock" and "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" - Katie has already seen both of these, but they'll be new for Sarah!
• write a story together
• read "Go Set a Watchmen" by Harper Lee, discuss it together, and then maybe write a blog post about it
• put together a time capsule - We've done this before, and it was cool - and hilarious - to open it up a few years later.
• organize pictures and possibly make scrapbooks
• surprise our little sister with a tea party
• kool-aid dip-dye our hair
• plan some birthday hoopla for our best friend
• make t-shirts for the Taylor Swift concert we'll be seeing in the fall (!!!!)

In case you hadn't noticed, we tend to be a little over-ambitious while making these lists. Still, we'll prioritize and try to get as much done as we possibly can. We'd also love to hear from you guys about the things that you want to accomplish this summer!

We have some fun ideas for our future posts, some of which you may be able to guess from the above list, so we hope you'll keep reading. Thank you so much for your support! In light of the fact that this blog has probably moved you incredibly and added a touch of radiance to your hum-drum life, we feel that it's only fair to allow you to express your heart-felt gratitude by making cash donations... no, just kidding. All we want you to do is keep coming back here. Now, go make a list!

Scones for Mother's Day

Hello, loyal readers! These past couple of weeks have been super busy, so we're putting our post up kind of late in the evening... but it's still technically Friday! Still, we apologize for the lateness of the hour.

As planned on our Spring Bucket List, we made our mom breakfast for dinner on Mother's day. Katie made turkey bacon and scrambled eggs, and Sarah baked three varieties of breakfast food, all of them chocolate. (We're linking to some recipes further down in the post.)

The baked goods were huge hits. Our family managed to polish off all of them within less than two days, if you can believe it. The chocolate chip muffins even received the compliment of being "better than Panera's." Click through for some amazing recipes:  scones  donuts  muffins 
They are all relatively easy to make, even for the inexperienced baker. Take Sarah's word for it, baked donuts are infinitely easier than fried, and way less mess. The only special equipment needed is a donut pan, which is cheap and worth the investment.

In addition to the food, we gave our dear mother some small gifts, which are pictured below.

Flowers from Angie (our little sister)

Tea from Katie

Card from Sarah

Our mom is a fantastic human being, and it was wonderful to spend some quality time with her on Mother's day. How she put up with us all these years we'll never know. =) Tell us in the comments what you did with your mothers (or children).

Happy belated Mother's day to all you moms! We sincerely congratulate you on your patience and perseverance. 

Schedules and Clothespins

Hello, lovely people! Today we're going to be showing you a fairly easy craft you can make to help organize your schedule. All you need are clothespins, paint, and a sharpie!

Here's the finished product:

Sarah's ↑

Possibly you have a family calendar at your house, with everybody's basic work hours, appointments, etc. We have one of those, but having a place to map out your personal schedule is incredibly useful, especially if you don't want to call your family's attention to the fact that you're setting aside time to watch Gilmore Girls and write your novel. :)

We've tried planners and the like, but these attempts ended in failure. For some reason, we have a hard time actually putting plans into action unless they're right up there on the wall staring us in the face. Also, we find it helpful to focus on just a few days at a time, otherwise we start going crazy and trying to plan out every minute of our lives for the next five years. (Yeah, we've got issues.) Anyway, when we saw this craft on Pinterest, we thought it might be perfect for us.

Katie's ↑

Going into the project, we were feeling a little bit cocky, thinking that we'd whip through it in, oh, half an hour or so. It ended up taking a little less than two hours to complete. Granted, a lot of that time was spent trying to get our paint colors mixed exactly right.

That being said, this craft is very straightforward. In a nutshell, the directions are: Paint clothespins and write the days of the week on them in sharpie. However, if you read these instructions, you'll get some useful tips for how to go about the painting process.

Our own procedure deviated a bit from the original. We were slackers in that we didn't bother to sand our clothespins as the directions suggest, and we were overachievers in that we painted the entire clothespin rather than just the side where the day of the week is displayed. This all could have been avoided had we actually... uh... read the instructions beforehand. However, we think it's for the best; this way, we can flip the clothespins around to the blank side if we ever want to use them for something else, like story outlining, recipes, etc. Also, it was a bit of an exercise in patience for those of us (aka Sarah) who do not have the longest of attention spans when it comes to crafts. (There have been a lot of unfinished knitting projects and Christmas ornaments over the years.)

Our completed clothespins:

Sarah's ↑

Katie's ↑

Side note: The schedules pictured were thrown together on the spot so we could take the pictures. Our actual schedules look a bit different. ;)


We're pretty happy with how this craft turned out, and we're hopeful that it will help us make better use of our time. Will they be more successful for us than the planners were? Only time will tell. But for the moment, at least, we're feeling enthusiastic about this new idea. Let us know in the comments about your own crafting and scheduling endeavors! And on that note: happy organizing!