FreeCountry

Well..

2009-01-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

I kind of feel bad ha ha i never post :/

But.. has everyone read the count of monte cristo?

i decided it was one of my official favorite books :)

opinions? anyone else like v for vendetta? :)

have a nice day

can i inturrupt for a second...

2009-01-07T15:30:00.001-08:00

PROPANE!!!!!!!!1!11!!!!1!111forteen!!!!!111!1!!11!!!

Twilight.. don't read if you haven't seen movie?

2008-11-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

I know this is a dumb subject ha ha but i just wanted to say..

I really liked the movie! I read the book wayy before it got popular and i thought oh this is a good book but then it got over publicized (if that's even a word ha ha) and then i go oh well that's stupid..

BUT when i heard there was a movie coming out i was really mad because that's even MORE stupid ha ha and i wasn't excited to see it at all.

Then i went and saw it last night because a couple of friends wanted to go and i tagged along.

I really was so surprised when it was over because i really liked it. Of course it's not better than the book, never could or will be but it's kind of nice to see some parts of the book on something visual, instead of trying to imagine it ya know? Of course Robert (Edward) wasn't the greatest looking guy ever but after the movie i was kind of attracted to him a little bit more ha ha not much though but i didn't think of Harry Potter the whole time ha ha it was crazy.

Jacob is OK looking too, no one in the movie was really that great looking ha ha but.. the kid playing Jacob did a really good job too i think. Bella did a good job too, most of it was perfect in a sense for her, but she had some really awkward parts.. because she looks like she never changes face, but that's probably just me. Charlie was really good too, i liked the girl playing Alice a lot, Jasper was kind of creepy lookin ha ha but great none the less, Emmett did a good job too, Rosalie was definitely a bizznitch in this one ha ha she did a great job of that role, James scared me for sure, Victoria looked creepy but great too, Mike was funny, Jessica ehh.. perfect ha ha, Angela was good too (idk her name? is that it?), Eric (?) was funny/asian, umm...... Carslile (idk how to spell that) did a good job too, Esme was alright.. i don't really like that actor tho, and Billy was OK too lol i think overall the actors tried their best and did what they could and it turned out pretty good ^^

Now.. not being like the book definitely was dumb, but i like some of the changes they put in it just because it maybe makes more sense and makes it more interesting to watch? If the movie had been exactly like the book, no one would be interested for a long time because the first 100 pages or so in the book are kind of a yawn.. but I don't know just my opinion. :)

I think they did a really great job turning it into a movie also because it just sets everything up for the next 3 movies if they are going to make them so...

I definitely recommend going to see it lol. Some of it was a little.. awkward or fake ish but that's how vampire stuff is supposed to be right? So it made the movie even bettah.

:)

Anyone else see it? Thoughts?

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

2008-10-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

That's right: I still exist, and I'm still doing stuff. I was left without a computer for a few months after my loaner was stolen, and lately I've been busy with school, but I'm still here. I exist in the minds of those who wish to remember me. Now: post toast.

Being an insomniac, a procrastinator, and a flash gaming addict, I often stay up until two or three in the morning. This causes me to be struck by inspiration at odd times of the day, namely those where the only people I can talk to are those in another time zone. Here's something I wrote last night, not that any of you care.

A subway in a tunnel. Everybody's got somewhere to go, and they keep on going. Some of the lights are out; the interior of the train is bathed in the eerie glow of the flashing lights on the tunnel walls. They pass too quickly to focus on one in particular. In reality, of course, they don't move at all. The lights stand still, it is we who move. We are permitted to glimpse them only briefly, as we hurtle by at speeds unimaginable to those who came before us, and yet we pay them no heed.
There's a girl, sitting alone at one end of the aisle. Brown skin and blue eyes, she's about fourteen. Too young to be riding the subway alone, really, in a city like this. But these are crazy times and she has neither time nor money to spare. She has a black backpack slung over one shoulder, her opposite hand clutching the strap tight, as if holding it was reassurance of its solidity, its reality. Reassurance that her possessions are not merely figments of her imagination.
The subway grinds to a halt, pulling up to a concrete slab littered with trash. The eternal travelers depart, setting off on their many ways. The girl steps off last, reluctantly setting foot on the dirty tile of the station, walking past a tall man in a tattered gray uniform as she does so. "End of the line," he says, his expression blank. She walks on.
She walks past the beggars, the bustling commerce, the broken turnstiles and the overflowing garbage cans, striding toward the grand concrete stairs into the overworld. Climbing the stairs, she emerges into the light. The sun is painfully bright, blinding those who rise from the subway station. An empty infinity of asphalt stretches out before her. A metal pole stands, desolate and alone. It juts upward, violating mother sky. It may once have held a flag, but whatever symbol lay upon that faded banner has long since been eroded by the passage of time. There is nothing.

hi everyone.

2008-09-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. Sorry I haven't really posted anything. I have photos which may or may not end up on here. Someday. LOL. Life's been really busy what with high school and all that...

So since we're kind of losing our creative-material touch since everyone's been so busy, just post about anything you want to talk about. Nobody really cares anymore as long as it's not porn or something.

After all, it is a free country...

haha

2008-09-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

school is awesome i think. yeah.. i'm getting a lot of homework, but it's manageable i love it XD lot's of great stuff. i joined the photography club too wish me luck! ha ha rocket summer concert is this friday for me XD i'm so stoked!! wooooo hooooo

anyway. have a grand fantabulous great week everyone XD hope all is well for you as it has been for me! (except my ipod -.-'''''') :D

miaaa

ps- KEEP POSTING!

long time, no post!

2008-09-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hey, sorry everyone for not posting since like, the fourth of July. just stoppng in and saying: 'WHY THE HELL DID SUMMER HAVE TO END?!?!' school is boring and right now im procrastinating about 3 hours worth of HW during the last few hours of sunday. so ive gotta go. enjoy the rest of the weekend! (and PLEASE people! keep posting!)
pce-love-Liv

Hello everyone

2008-09-14T11:58:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in.....almost forever. Sorry, I've had some difficult things going on. Anyways, I thought I'd show off some recent and not so recent Photoshop creations.

A new icon (not sure for what):

A creepy bit of doctoring (original image courtesy of Techie):

And then a fairly cool wallpaper:

https://dl-web.getdropbox.com/get/Photos/Abstract%202.png?w=51dc25bd

That's it for now folks.

~PessiMystic

Haha my line.. anywayss

2008-09-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

So.. I don't want to start some huge dumb politic fight cause it really doesn't matter to me, but... i'm kind of curious. Who does everyone want to win? Obama or Mccain? Personally, i like Obama better, but that's just me :) I want to know what everyone thinks about this ha ha. I don't want to fight or see who is better or anything cause like i said, i don't care.. at all.. ha ha so yeah i'm just kind of curious. If you could vote, who would you vote for?

:)

Oh my hello kitty land!!

2008-09-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I had to steal that line there. I just wanted to revive this blog, in case anyone out there still has any interest in submitting something. All I have at the moment to submit is my 20-page paper on supersonic aerodynamics that I wrote for science last year (What fun!) so i won't submit anything. but i thought I'd try to liven up the place.

So I Really Hate..

2008-08-15T21:33:00.001-07:00

Child Abuse!!! Oh my hello kitty land! Why the frick do people do that?! Hitting a little kid?? Blaming the thing for your problems? Yeah right! I hate how people get mad cause they had a kid by accident and then beat up the thing! Srrsly! You shouldn't get pissed! You are the one that got horny and had sex so why can't you just accept the fact that babies come from unprotected sex!!!! Good GRIEF! I seriously want to just punch everyone who is like that!! It's so uneccessary and immature!!!!! Good Grief. Sorry, just had to post this ha ha.

okay bye

To Write Love On Her Arms

2008-08-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Man I really love the Rocket Summer XD He IS amazing. Anyway!

New pictures :D If you like them please check out my gallery at http://www.happy-endings93.deviantart.com

anyway! Have a great day everyone :)

no mudkipz this teim.

2008-07-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

I went to wander around my neighborhood and take pictures, in a way that i could have a kind of photographic memento of my past for 20-30 years from now when i want to look back, and i ended up taking an awesome picture. (I was lucky to get this one, because the sun was directly above me in the sky, and any good photographer knows that makes for horrible lighting. unless, of course, you're taking a picture of a body of water, as seen here.)
I'm frankly quite happy that I managed to get a picture like that at that time of day. I'll go for another round in the evening- hopefully i'll get something else worth posting.
EDIT:
And suddenly, pictures I forgot about!
ONES OF THEM!
BANG!

Happy 4Th Of July!

2008-07-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

hey, just posting to say happy 4th of july to all you guys. hope you guys had as much with explosives as i did!

just a pic of fireworks i saw, and some that i had the pleasure of setting off two days ago! =]

Drawing

2008-06-26T16:06:00.002-07:00

It's a wolf, I drew it like 3 days ago... I don't know, I just got bored and no one's posted on here in forever. HINT, HINT

*EDIT JUNE 30 - 1000+ hits on the counter! Also, 50 posts! This has to count for something!

i have too much time on my hands

2008-06-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

just a mirror dont do something idiotic

Panorama

2008-06-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite Alaska photo of all. Click to enlarge. The resolution is very high, though, so don't have too many apps running if you try downloading this thing. Just to give you an idea, if I were to print this out in its current size, it would be over 7 feet long.

Give some credit to PessiMystic for stitching together the 7 shots needed to form this panorama.

Massive Alaska post

2008-06-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is so late in coming!

Flying in...

The day after that, we had to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down to Prince William Sound, where we got on a boat and did an educational cruise-type thing over the day. It was beautiful weather, which they said was really unusual.

We saw otters.

And kittiwakes.

LOTS of kittiwakes.

The day after that, we went to the Alaska Zoo, just outside of Anchorage. We saw a lot of native animals there.
A bald eagle...

A yak...

A seal, LOL...

A wolf...

Some hilarious-looking alpaca things...

And a snow leopard, among others.

After we were in Anchorage, we drove two hours up into the Alaskan Interior to a tiny little town called Talkeetna. This is where most of the bush planes bringing climbers to Mt. McKinley (a.k.a. Denali) take off. It was a pretty cool little place; I liked it the best of all the places we stayed.

Mt. McKinley - or Denali, whichever you prefer, though Denali is the prettier name. That means "The High One", in case you didn't know. And it certainly is.

This is just a cool one I took on a hike. The water was so reflective, like glass.

While we were in Denali, we went on a bus tour into the park. We're talking no people for miles and miles around, except for the other ones on the bus. And we saw some pretty cool stuff.

Including a fox carrying around a snowshoe hare twice its own size.

And a great horned owl with the yellowest eyes I've ever seen on anything, except maybe the ones of that wolf.

There was also a REALLY fat little ground squirrel.

And bears. Now, the park ranger we'd talked to the day before made it sound like if we were lucky we might even see a ptarmigan and a hare - which made this even more amusing. She said she hadn't seen a grizzly yet that season. Well, we saw a total of four bears, but this was the one that came closest to the bus.

Such a gorgeous creature.

A caribou - one of a very small herd - drinking water from one of the little streams on a gravel bar.

And a moose, the last of the really interesting wildlife we saw.

On the last day in Denali, during the drive back to Anchorage, we stopped at an overlook - and from there, you could see Denali Mountain, clear as day. Usually it's bathed in clouds and fog, like it was in the Talkeetna post. But this was all of it, the whole thing. It was so big, I couldn't even believe it.

They just keep coming!

2008-06-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

So yeah, i've taken more pictures once again! You have to slow the whole thing down.. i couldn't figure out how to make it slower ha ha ha sadly.. i'm not a computer genius. Stay with me here ha ha. So in the beginning of the slide show i've got a couple of pictures i've taken randomly again, and the rest are from my hike that i went on last weekend.

It was, well really long ha ha. 25 miles long so.. yeah. I took pictures on the way in and when we turned around i stopped. I was way too tired and hot to take pictures ha ha ha but yeah! I hope you enjoy seeing Utah in all of it's colors! ha ha ha.. yes :) enjoy.

Oh, if you hover your mouse thing over some of the pictures have captions. just FYI. :] maybe.. probably not. never mind ha ha ha

thanks! comment please! bye

Wood Shop Projects

2008-06-05T14:06:00.001-07:00

Well I was cealnin out my room today, and jezus is it a mess! Well I've
found some of my wood shop projects that I made this year, and last year, and they're kinda kool. Here's some pictures.

Well this was my most recent creation, a mirror and shelf. The design is a Native American eagle picture. This took me most of hte year only because I helped out, and hung out with my friends then. The stain I used was called special walnut, it was that or some cherry thing. I was gonna do the cherry, but then a friend talked me outta it.

This is just a closer look at the design, if you can't tell, i kinda messed up on the outside of the eagle cuz I was cuttin too fast =( . Oh well can't do anything about it now. Also for some strange reason my class mates were telling me that mine was really smooth, even when I could still feel a ton of bumps left by the finish*.

This was the jewelry box, first eighth grade project in wood shop! As you can see it's got a lizard for the center design. Not much else to mention, i put the box top on crooked (my mistake!), and I stained the lizard a different color then the box at first (whoops!)asides from that, nothing much was worth mentioning it.

This is a spice rack, I made it 7th grade, best shop class ever, had a ton of really kool guys in it. Since it really doesn't go in the kitchen, i use it for legos!

This is a gum ball machine, my first ever wood shop project!

These were just cut out pieces from some of the projects. I think that the one on the left looks like a yoshi baby who's mom did crystal meth before he was born. lol! The one on right looks like a giraffe I think.

Well thats all for now g2g sleep. Ciao for now!

I believe in angels, the kind that save you

2008-05-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo. I hope i'm doing this right.

Alright, so i had a lot of pictures i wanted to put on here, but it's kind of much. So i put them in a slideshow.. Hope that's alright :]

Anyway, the pictures i didn't really mess with at all except maybe two or three of them.. You'll know when you see them. it's just their color.

Well these are just pictures around where i live or just random shots i wanted to take :) Hope you like them.

--hahaha i accidentally spelled a lot of things on there wrong. You'll see---

thanks!

Is this a blog or not?

2008-05-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hay everyone who belongs to this blog, START POSTING! This poor things is starting to die! I know that many of us have been somewhat busy between papers, and plays, but seriously START POSTING MORE CRAP! Thats all for now.

More D.C. Pics?

2008-05-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yes there are even more D.C. pics. These ones were taken at Arlington, the FDR memorial, and Mount Vernon.

These were the Arlington shots

These are from the FDR memorial.

These were the Mont Vernon shots.

D.C. Pics.... For Realz????

2008-05-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the wait on these I have a few good reasons for the delay. The most recent was that my iPhoto kept crashing every time I tried to get rid of some of the excess pictures that kept on appearing . The second was that i just got a disc of photos from a teacher last week think and it kept giving me trouble. The other 2 reasons were from homework and I haven't felt like putting on the photos on my computer. This post pictures were taken at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

Out of all the Monticello pics I took I like the tree reflected in the pond the most. It just seems... Relaxing.

This last shot was somehow taken by one of the teachers on the last day when they gave us a few hours to mess around this park place. As you can probably tell I converted it to B & W and increased the contrast of it.

guitar video

2008-05-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Just a video of me playing my guitar at my school. thanks you guys for letting me on!

Arizona pics

2008-04-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

Some photos I took on a trip to Arizona recently. Sorry I've been so long getting them up here. I got them onto ApatheticRebellion, my other blog, but they never made it here. Now they have.

Okay, wise guys.

2008-04-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Which one of you specified Psychic Revelations as acceptable posting content in the rule section?

Vector Art: Waterfall

2008-04-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I have created a simple Vector version of the waterfall picture posted a while back:

Click Here to Go to File

It's a PDF, because that is the only way to preserve vectors.

circles and other objects

2008-04-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

i guess i'm pretty good at xlogo what do you think

Coolest pictures ever.

2008-04-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm Techie57, and I approve these photographs.

2008-04-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, I forgot to mention this, Welcome PessiMystic, and Max 614 to the soon to be biggest phenomenon on the nets since the nets!

DON'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE

2008-04-04T21:31:00.001-07:00

LOL @ Godsmack.

I just had to share this with all of you- it was too awesome not to.
~'Q?'

----------------
Now playing: Godsmack - Faceless
via FoxyTunes

News

2008-04-02T18:30:00.001-07:00

Update -

In order to help users feel more secure contacting us, since leaving an email address in a comment on a random blog will obviously feel a bit risky to outsiders, an email address has been created on gmail specifically for that purpose. This address is freecountry212@gmail.com and is ADMIN ACCESSIBLE ONLY. Please ask someone in the know for the password so you can check it, too.

If you're a member of any status, you can send email to this address with information about bugs and glitches, ideas for the website, or troubleshooting. Remember only to send emails with things that shouldn't be posted in the comments section, for whatever reason. All requests to join (hopefully we'll start getting some soon) will be saved here and reviewed. Instructions on how to request a membership will be updated accordingly. Hopefully this will work out.

Thanks!

Can't We All Just Get Along?

2008-03-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Can't we all just get along? I mean is it so hard to be nice to others, or do we have to be complete assholes to each other most of the time? That is the question!

Somewhat Strange......

2008-03-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

So today I was messin around on this application called Photo Booth (it takes wacky pictures of whatever is in front of the computer) and I found this setting called "X-ray" so i clicked on it and got somewhat of a negative perspective. There were many other settings like "Thermal Camera" and "Comic Book" and some for just distorting the normal image like "Mirror" and "Swirl". There were a few other settings but I'm kinda too lazy to type em up.

This is a picture of the original sry bout the glare from my window I couldn't do much about it and the computer screen.

This is the same picture but with the thermal setting on.

Same picture just with the "Mirror" setting on.

"Swirl"

"X-Ray"/something like negative

Black & White

The rest is just kinda random stuff that I think looks kool/interesting enjoy!

This is the same picture as above but its on a "Comic Book" setting. I couldn't get the picture so I just took a picture of it reflecting the computer screen.

This last one is just a random shot of me in "X-Ray" being somewhat emo LOL.

WHAOWHOA

2008-03-30T17:55:00.001-07:00

Hey guise! GUISE!
I messed around with the raw files for some of those pics, and a couple came out AWESOME!
I wanted you all to see.
(The last one is REALLY cool. You guise should click on it to see the full picture.)
Please don't use these pics as your own.
~'Q?'
----------------
Now playing: The Bravery - An Honest Mistake
via FoxyTunes

Some new lyrics

2008-03-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I am a singer/guitar player/song writer and these are the lyrics to my song Someone I Cant Be:

I am surprised by this outcome
Life isn't what i thought it would be
I’ve to come realize I am who I cant be
time and time i have failed.

CHORUS: I tried and tried to be someone I cant be
And this is all I have to show,
I tried and tried to be someone I cant be
And this is all I have to show.

Gossip and friends keep you awake
Rumors and people destroy you
Through all of this you find
Someone you cant be.

CHORUS.

People laugh if you change
Be yourself who you are
Its a dog eat dog world
And your stuck in the middle of it all.

CHORUS.

This will never change just be your self
And you will see who you are.

Hope you liked 'em,
-Alex

Y'allz in da hood.

2008-03-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

'Sup, dizzles?

Thought I might post a few of the pix I took in DC... Just a few, though.
Take note, none of them have been doctored as of yet, excepting the last one. That had too much bloom to see the detail in the background, and no program I have could get the detail back, so I just made it black-and-white.
I wasn't trying to get a good picture here... I just really love that plane.
It's the Bell X-1, the one that broke the sound barrier. That's the smithsonian it's in.
This one barely makes 'decent' grade, but I still had to wait a long time for the sun to come out so I could take it. I like the clouds behind the capitol, though.

This one is REALLY cool.... I don't know, it's something about the light coming through the clouds and the way the statue is facing that I really like.
This is where I start becoming satisfied with my pictures a little more. The cherry blossoms provided a great accessory to the Jefferson Memorial in this picture.

In this next one, I got Jefferson and a passage right by him in the same picture- kinda going for the inspirational feel. I don't know- I just felt like it, being in the memorial and all. Click on the picture, and it'll probably give you a larger size, (I'm not COMPLETELY sure) where you can read the passage. My camera's really high-resolution, so that shouldn't be a problem.

This is the FDR memorial... I just couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture of the waterfall. I think this might look really good as a black+white pic, so I'll try that out later. What do you guise think?

This one turned out really good, because of the different blossoms. Well- even if you guys don't like it, I still do.
This is one of my favorites. There were so many of the blossoms, it looks like they never end!
This was the lantern I was talking about earlier. It has a lot of potential, if I could just get the detail in the back out.... the blossoms would make that picture PERFECT.
Oh well. I'll find some way.

Hasta, everybody. Remember, don't be afraid to provide some criticism- but keep in mind, I'm an amateur (the very definition of the word). I might not know what you're talking about sometimes. LOL.

~'Q?'
Don't use these pics as your own, PLZ.
----------------
Now playing: Lenny Kravitz - Bank Robber Man
via FoxyTunes

News

2008-03-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is NOT a post of material, but a bulletin. Read it, it's important.

First of all, PessiMystic installed a hit counter. It increases by one every time you load the site. Just thought I'd let you all know, and thank him. (Please, though, do not spend time refreshing and refreshing over and over again to make the hit counter get up. I know how entertaining it is. Don't do it anyway.)

Secondly, on Sunday, FreeCountry is making a debut on StumbleUpon. According to Nake_snake, our local meteorologist, we can expect a high number of hits and a higher number of requests to join. (I'm not sure I believe it's going to be as good as all that, but we'll see.) We are NOT going to grant positions as authors to everyone who asks. We only have 100 spaces (actually, 94), and if we really are going to be flooded with requests then it's important that we consider them seriously, as we're limited on room. Requests should be discussed amongst ALL admin members - don't make decisions as to who to accept without checking with the rest of us, since we can't very well kill someone's brand-new account because of one of our mistakes. When we DO accept someone, they'll be an author. We're finished granting admin posts, and even if we weren't, they certainly won't go to people we don't know.

Which brings me to the final topic, which is that IF StumbleUpon brings that much success, we're going to see if we can move to our own domain and come up with a better template design that isn't as ugly as these auto-programmed Blogger ones. We'll keep you posted on that part of things, but it's likely that we all ("we all" being the collective admin) are going to need to pitch in a little bit on design ideas. Unfortunately, there is one drawback: hosting one's own domain costs money. It may be possible to find one for only $4 or $5 a month, which is what we're looking into right now. It'll be worth it, though - independency from Blogger will bring (hopefully) unlimited member slots, as well as a huge range of possibilities as to what we can do with this site. Cross your fingers!

A simple yet difficult Photoshop Job

2008-03-28T13:26:00.001-07:00

Because I had nothing better to do, I took one of Techie's photos from last post, and 'shopped it to oblivion. Final result (for now, I might make it a bit better):

Comments, suggestion, critiques?

Photography - An Amateur's Perspective

2008-03-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

There are a few important things that all amateur photographers should know, which I have learned mainly through experience, being a (VERY) amateur photographer myself. (You probably won't be finding much of this in any handbook, it's just information and technique I've picked up throughout the course of my short career.) To start, I've found that one of the most important things to remember about photography is that you don't need to limit yourself to photographing the unusual. Anything, ANYthing, can be interesting. In fact, a big part of the art of photography is to flatter everyday things using a subtle combination of angle, lighting, focus, and composition. (The other half of photography is, in fact, finding unusual, exotic or out-of-the-ordinary subjects, and snapping photos of them frantically in order to save them. But we're not there right now.)

The second thing that you should know is that photography is extremely unpredictable. Anything can happen while you're snapping your photo. Learning to take a good picture is an art of balancing proper setup with the hundreds of variables that could possibly occur, an art which I have not mastered yet in the slightest. But I can hope to give you a little bit of advice, anyway, so here I go.

But before I launch into more explanation, the third and final thing that I have found important (and this one, I have heard from other people, too) is that NO photograph you take on the first shot will be what you want - unless you have an extreme amount of good luck. It takes dozens of photos of the same thing to get what you want. Don't snap one picture of a subject and then move on. As long as the subject stays in the same place, take up to ten - or more. It sucks when you go back and look at the photos later, and realize that one of them is just blurry enough to be distracting but would have been really good if it hadn't been - and that you don't have any more pictures of that subject.

Mostly, this post is about the topic of making things interesting - and about accidents that have turned out really good. (Those happen, sometimes, too.) For example, look at this lightbulb. I took this picture in my friend's kitchen. Would it normally be interesting? Absolutely not. But when I focused on it with my camera, the background turned from whitewashed walls and a kitchen counter to completely pitch-black. Now the photo looks cool.

Now, these rabbit tracks. I found these in the snow in the forest near our Winter Park house, when I was out tromping around looking for subjects. Rabbit footprints are not that interesting. But with the filtered lighting, it becomes more interesting. Also, the footprints hold enough contrast with the snow around them to stand out that much more.

My final example for you is an icicle. This picture came out way better than expected. I figured out how to focus the lens on the icicle instead of the background, and was snapping pictures like mad - but in this one, I caught that droplet of meltwater completely on accident. I still consider this one of my best pictures.

So there you go. When taking pictures, remember these things: anything can be interesting, accidents will happen (but may not turn out badly), and one picture (or even five pictures) is never enough. If I could, that's the photography advice I'd broadcast to everyone.

And, feel free to fault me if you want - I'm not exactly the next John Fielder at all, so I know pretty much next to nothing about what I'm saying. This all comes from experience. So if you disagree, let me know. You'll probably be more right than me anyway.

The News

2008-03-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'd like to thank 'Pessimystic' for the awesome new theme. 'Tis incredibly awesome.

Sorry I haven't been on in a while, everyone- I just haven't been focusing on much lately. (unless you count my 19-page science paper and 30-page powerpoint as something I've been focusing on. Well, crap. Just forget all of that. I've been doing my science paper, okay?) But, as I haven't been focusing on anything (productive, or not relating to schoolwork), I have been watching the news a lot- both on TV and on t3h intarwebz. I have MSNBC as my homepage, and occasionally look at CNN, (They pretty much report on the same stories, so I mostly just look at MSNBC because it has a clearer layout) and I have to say that, even simply as a 13-year-old boy just watching the world revolve around him, the news is sorely disappointing. The headlines as of 11:10 PM on March 22nd on MSNBC are about easter sermons on racism, something about basketball (I don't care, honestly) and the mistaken release of a prisoner. (WTF) There are two headlines which ARE relevant to actual things, such as con artists targeting homeowners and Cheney talking to Israel about security, but if you scroll down, you'll see something very different. There are things about Britney Spears' wardrobe, Tiger Woods playing golf (STILL. WHO CARES), and other things specifically catered to the general public. Where are those of us who want to know what's happening in the world to get our information?
There was a recent documentary that I watched called "In the Hot Zone" by Kevin Sites that I found quite interesting. Mr. Sites was in Lebanon during the short war between Israel and Hizbollah (you say Hizbollah, I say Hezbollah...) that resulted in many civilian casualties, along with a war in Sri Lanka, the Chechnya province of Russia, and other places, recording the suffering endured by just a few of the millions who live in war zones. Why can't we have news like this? Why can't we simply hear about what happens in the world? We are the most powerful, the richest, the most influential nation in the world. Why should our people care more about Britney Spears and Tiger Woods than the millions dying in Africa, the medical breakthroughs scientists make every day, the technology of the computer industry that constantly changes and improves upon itself? Granted, there may be some showing of this, but when people like Kevin Sites go in and report on what's TRULY happening in places like this, it leaves you wondering what MSNBC isn't reporting.

So that's my rant. Hope you liked the wall of text that my random thought patterns spawned.

This is Jacob, signing out. But first, how's about I leave you with a nice picture?And please, I'm totally open to constructive criticism about what I say on this blag. If no one ever tells you what you're doing wrong, and you don't notice it, how are you going to fix it?

~'Q?'

TotalCrap Weekly

2008-03-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

OK everyone, it's time for my weekly post of total crap. Let's see...

I made a new logo for this blog. Anyone notice how much cooler it looks? If yah didn't, then you suck. Ah...the magic of PhotoShop. And the magic of having nothing better to do.

OK, so I have an observation to make. People are lazy. Very lazy. I do not deny that I am one of these lazy people. In America, and many other locations throughout the world, we have truly entered an era of laziness. An era where new innovations only exist to fuel the laziness of our current culture. What brought this on? I have no idea. What could get rid of it? A few days without any electricity would probably do the trick. Well, I take back the statement that I don't know what brought it on. The revolution of products that limit the amount of work Man has to do brought it on. They sure as hell seemed like a good idea at the time...and yet now, look at all the fat people. What have we done to ourselves?

In a completely unrelated topic, anyone hear about the woman who got killed by the stingray? Or rather, should have gotten killed by a stingray? She got hit over the head by a jumping ray, and then fell down, and got killed when her head hit something. That something killed her. Now see here is where I get slightly pissed off. There was more publicity given to this story then to the death of Arthur C. Clarke, one of the fathers of Science Fiction. As much as I really don't give a crap which famous writer just died, it still doesn't make sense that an Almost-Ray-Murder scores more media points than the death of a writer. I would say that a ray hitting someone should score even lower than a football player ODing (which happens a lot). This is the unfortunate state of press these days. Whatever scores ratings is the news that they will display. Fark is always a good source of other crap like this.

And lastly, I've been working on retouching in PhotoShop. Retouching of people, that is. Here is an example of my work so far:

Before:

After:

Notice the suspicious lack of pimples...

I'm sure I'll have more crap to post next week, cause I'll have a full week to collect it.

2008-03-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...I am a new author here, so bear with me.

To give you a quick description of myself, I will say that I'm a quirky little geek who sits in front of his computer at any possible time. I have an extremely depressing and dark outlook on the world in general. I enjoy spending time with my cats, as long as they hang around by my computer. I pretty much never go offline on AIM, and when I do, it's usually just to avoid someone. I know several different programming languages, from Javascript to HTML, to Applescript, to Cocoa. I program a bit for the web, and plenty for Macintosh. Quite frankly, I despise PCs in every way possible. As far as Linux goes...meh. I mean come on, it's a cheesy operating system created by a bunch of bored teenagers in their spare time. But I won't get into my own opinions here or anything...

In MY spare time, I either am programming or photoshopping someone/something. I have to say, the more I realize the power of Photoshop, the more I realize that pretty much all the pictures in magazines are totally photoshopped. By the by, if you need to make yourself look better, send me a picture!

As far as programming goes, I have a fairly popular Mac application out right now (roughly 33,000 downloads from macupdate.com, and an un-countable amount from Apple.com) called xMod. It modifies hidden preferences in Apple's new Operating System, Leopard, and does all sorts of other crap like that. I find it fairly useless, but others don't, so who am I to complain? I run a software company called Geek Peak Software, ( geekpeaksoftware.com ) which currently only supplies xMod. I am working on a few other programs, such as an iTunes companion and automation application.

Well, now that I've successfully bored the hell out of everyone, I think I'll sign off for the night. Catch me on IM any time (pretty much), and I will be around to post more random crap! I promise!

It's been a while...

2008-03-21T21:45:00.001-07:00

but I think (note the lack of certainty) this blog is still on track. There are plans to invite more members soon. The more the merrier - and the higher the number of posts. In the meantime, though, you're stuck with the four of us... and Alex, who doesn't post. But don't worry, we have plans to fix that too.

Been taking pix, but haven't really looked at them, just randomly uploaded them into my iPhoto library. I only really got around to checking them out tonight, and found some really cool ones. Here are two that got a general rating of approval.

This first one I took about three hours ago when we were driving up Berthoud Pass on our way into the mountains to do some good ol'-fashioned skiing. The moon was beautiful and full - and, of course, my camera had a bunch of issues with it. I took 5 photos. This was the only one even remotely worth keeping. I edited it into oblivion, and now it looks good - as opposed to a black void with a white spot in the middle.

And this one's just kind of cool.

I should be sending a teaching post at y'all quite soon, keep checking up on our site!

Rules

2008-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

You are playing The Game.

Everyone is playing the game. They always have been and always will be. Participation in a game requires neither consent nor awareness of its existence.

Only when someone has told you about The Game does it become possible to lose, unless you independently create The Game.

The creator of The Game was the first person to realise that he was playing, and was therefore the first person to lose.

Loss is temporary. As soon as you forget about The Game, you start winning again.

It is possible for people to simultaneously lose The Game.

Causing others to lose The Game more than you is the only way to "win" The Game.

Rule 2 can be interpreted in a number of different ways depending on:

When during the thought process of thinking about The Game constitutes loss?

(i) Whenever you think about The Game.

One interpretation is that any thought involving The Game constitutes loss. Therefore, the objective of this version is to forget about The Game. Experienced players can think about, and even discuss, The Game without realising they have lost. Not announcing this loss violates Rule 3. Whether or not a thought is about The Game is hard to define.

(ii) Whenever you remember that you are playing The Game.

There is a point at which you realise you are playing The Game without realising this means you have lost. Loss at this point would mean that the objective of this version is to forget that you are playing The Game. It is still possible to not realise that you have lost this version of The Game.

(iii) Whenever you then realise that you have lost.

When you become aware that you should lose, you lose. This version of The Game has seemingly paradoxical properties. The objective is to not realise you have lost. Unfortunately, the rule "Whenever you realise that you have lost, you have lost" does not explain how you lose to new players. However, this version of The Game prevents accidental cheating.

(iv) Whenever you realise you have thought about The Game.

It is possible to realise that you have thought about The Game without realising you have lost. This version still allows accidental cheating but significantly reduces it.

After reading these possibilities, you could well have forgotten that you are always playing The Game. No matter what version of the rules you play, you are playing The Game. You are thinking about The Game. You know you are thinking about The Game. Lose The Game. If you haven't just lost The Game, hopefully you have now. Only a true master could read this whole paragraph without losing The Game.

Do you lose when you are told about The Game by someone who has just lost?

There are 2 possibilities:

i) Yes

In accordance with Rule 2, you lose if you think about The Game (see above), even if this is because you have been told by someone who has just lost. Many people play that you do lose, but that loss does not have to be re-announced. This results in it being beneficial not to be around other players of The Game (in addition to the fact that them losing reminds you of the existence of The Game in the long term). It should be noted that hearing someone else announce their loss does not necessarily cause you to lose as you may not think about The Game.

ii) No

A new rule needs to be added to incorporate immunity if the trigger for rememberance was someone else losing. This rule would also have to take into account messages that are left about The Game.

Can you keep losing?

Some variations allocate a period of time, or "grace period", after losing The Game, during which you cannot lose. This is often based on preventing repetitive or continuous loss.

i) No grace period

Some players would argue that they do not need a grace period to prevent repetitive loss. Involving time limits may in fact increase the rate of loss by associating The Game with when in becomes possible to lose again, as well as other time related occurrances.

ii) The grace period is 15 minutes long

You must tell everyone you can that you have lost.

It is possible to explain The Game to someone without realising that you have lost. Whether this counts as cheating or not depends on your interpretation of rule 2.

Every loss must be announced to at least one person.

P.S After reading this post or any of it you are all now playing "THE GAME". You have 15 minutes to forget. 2 points for me!

Don't you just LOVE high focus?

2008-02-05T18:24:00.000-08:00

I do!
Playing some more with the Macro setting. There are these huge, HUGE lilies sitting in a vase in our kitchen, and I took a bunch of pictures and then cropped out the ugly background to leave the flower. OK, so it looks a little pink and froufrou and whatever, even though I'm not. But you all have to admit it's a pretty cool photo.

Butterflies!

2008-02-02T13:41:00.001-08:00

OK, so, last week I FINALLY figured out where the Macro setting on my camera is. Just for all of you who don't know, the Macro setting is the one that enables the photographer to take pictures or close-ups of very small things and capture a lot of detail. So I was sitting at my desk, trying and trying to think if there was anything I could use it on, when I saw some pinned and framed butterflies sitting on my desk, ones I've used for decoration for a long time. I took one that had already fallen out of its frame once and separated the back from the frame, and then I took a picture of it. I was convinced the whole time that I was going to drop it or something and totally ruin the whole thing, which would have sucked - but I didn't. Voila.

Mudkipz

2008-01-31T17:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to introduce you all to some "memes", or internet jokes. Today, the very first-
Mudkipz.

As you will soon learn, Techie57, the creator of this blog, is actually a mudkip in disguise. But, I might give you some insight on why mudkips are so popular on 73h in73rn375.

I don't know the origin of this meme, but I do know lots of other stuff about it. For some reason, people say "SO I HERD U LEIK MUDKIPZ?". Leik (LOL) I said, I don't know the origin of this meme. so don't ask.

And, in case you didn't know what a Mudkip was, it's a character from "Pokemon."
Of course, if you don't know what that is, you're beyond help, and i'm not going to say anything else about that.

But, here's some of the funny pictures I've seen which relate to this meme.

Happy Intarblagz, everyone.

Hey, everyone.

2008-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

I'm Jacob, your link to t3h 1n73rn375. (the internet)

You're obviously thinking, What? I'm SURFING THE INTERNET. I don't NEED an introduction.
well, I'm sorry.
you do.

There are lots of things on t3h int3rn3ts that yuo don't know about- my job is to hunt them down and provide you with lots of information about the goings-on of those crazy people who take up all yu0r bandwidth.

Memes (running gags) are a big part of the crazy people on the internet. you won't know much about them unless you go on forums or things of the like. They're just silly jokes, so I'll provide the funny ones to you. (of course, on the internet, as people aren't fully responsible for their actions sometimes, some people do hateful things and create memes which reflect that nature. these I won't share- don't worry.)

Another thing- sometimes, there will be events that happen concerning the internets. (that's what many people call them). I'll be your guide to "internet neutrality", a campaign to stop corporations from fully controlling the internet, and other things that happen specifically concerning the internet.

Other times, I might just share a story or two on here- nothing big, just some things I write down. and, always, I'll post my song of the day.
I like doing that- i don't know why, but I do. It's very fun for me.

That's all- except for the aforementioned song of the day.

Rock and Roll Band- Boston- Boston

From what I consider to be the best band ever, Boston's title album proves to be one of their best. "Rock and Roll Band" is one of the more exciting songs on this album, and the guitar and organ blend together perfectly.
A great song, in my book.

Photos, baby

2008-01-30T17:34:00.000-08:00

I like to think I'm something of a budding photographer, so here is a picture I took. I'll be posting pictures regularly now that this site is up and running. I was going to upload more, but Blogger is extremely slow, so this is all you get. This one is of a valley in the Rocky Mountains at sunset. The trees seem to catch on fire as the sun goes down. Really gorgeous.

2 stories and a link

2008-01-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

इ ऍम टाइपिंग थिस फॉर थे बेनेफिट ऑफ़ हिन्दी-स्पेअकिंग रेअदेर्स, ऎंड इ हवे तो तेल यू, आईटी'एस प्रेत्टी फुच्किंग अवेसोमे! थे रेस्ट ऑफ़ थिस पोस्ट, होवेवर, विल बे इन इंग्लिश, सो प्लेस सेट यौर ब्रोव्सेर्स फॉर ट्रांसलेशन। अल पॉवर तो थे एन्गिनेस!

Alright then, i present to you two unrelated stories, and one link. Tale the first:

Chapter One

Thomas Riengold stood, scared, among his far larger fellow knights as they faced the metal-mesh-gate at the bottom of the hill. To his right stood a horse, beyond that was his commander, Gregory, whose tall, lank frame cast a shadow over the rest of them. To his left were David and James, stubble marking their chins like darkness engulfing their mouths. Before them lay the end of the forest, and a steep downward curve beneath the hill on which they stood that gently angled outward up to the gate… and certain death. For behind the gate lay the eighth district, which had long since fallen to Them. They stood behind the line, pressed up against the gate and smiling smiles that could curdle milk and turn the hair of babes gray. They were dead and rotting; all they wanted was food. Unfortunately for Thomas and his friends: they were their food. It was broad daylight, but the light seemed gray to Thomas’s eyes, and complete silence fell upon his ears. It was as if a nightmare turned to reality. Fear swallowed Thomas’s heart as he gazed down on what were surely sendlings from the very depths of hell. The decaying hands of the terrible creatures grasped the mesh of the gate, as if in anticipation of closing upon the throats of their prey. Their yellowed and hollow eyes burned with an otherworldly fire as they looked at what they were sure would be their next meal. Seeing this, Thomas did what any sane man would do: he looked to his commander and tensed, preparing to run. As if sensing his intentions, Gregory stuck out his arm behind him without even looking. Rather than striking down the deserter, however, his fist bore a long dark-grey knife with notches along its blade. Thomas knew what it was for. When soldiers sought to abandon their fellows they were offered a choice: they could do the honorable thing and stay, or they could take their own life. While many would consider such a practice barbaric, it was not an easy choice to make. There were many who would choose suicide over a slow but inevitable death, and for those they were given a choice. Thomas stood as still as a bird among tigers, and gazed, mesmerized by the blade before him that meant so much more. Seeing his indecision, Gregory turned his head slightly and, staring into Thomas’s eyes, became insecure. He tilted his head and waited, unsure. Tears blurred Thomas’s vision and he shook his head stiffly. Bending down, Gregory spoke to him: “Alright, you have to run exactly when I say, ok? Go when the gate opens or you’ll never make it!” Confused by this act of mercy, Thomas nodded. Looking over his shoulder at David and James, the commander stood up. Turning he faced the gate and the demons that lay beyond them. “Open the gate!” he ordered. In the breadth of a moment the two guards opened the gate, the creatures shot out and up the hill, and Thomas bolted in the opposite direction without looking back. One of the creatures leaped up the hill and charged, hissing, at Gregory, who blocked the lunging slash of the creatures long-nailed hands with his sword, drawing a line of bright red blood from the demon’s palms. Its flying mane of wild black hair blew in all directions about its head as it snapped downward, trying to bite its foe. Its sharp, pointed teeth glinted in the afternoon sun as it hissed and screeched. Its eyes seemed to devour Gregory as they beheld his visage reflected in their gleaming yellowish orbs.The other two monsters that had stood at the gate quickly swarmed up the hill after their fellow and began to tear at David and James, who could barely hold their own against the wildly flying claws and teeth. They all knew that many more had heard the grinding of the gate, and were coming, lurking just beyond the line of sight, but they fought valiantly.Thomas ran on, unaware of this. For the only thought in the mind of a man in such clear peril is to run faster, in hopes of escaping whatever doom that might befall them. But a man cannot run forever, eventually his troubles catch up to him, and so it was in the unfortunate case of young Thomas.Reaching a clearing near the road, a desperate hope began to enter our hero’s mind, only to be crushed by despair as he was hoisted up to the air, in the rotting green arms of a thick-limbed terror.Such a monster it was that held him in its grasp that it need be described to those who can stomach it. To say it was thick-limbed is to say that the world is large, in reality its huge sausage-shaped muscles bulged in such a way as cannot fittingly be worded. It was a large beast, in the same manner as some men who are not fat but simply so big that they appear so. It probably did weigh quite a lot, even for one of its size though, as it had the beginnings of a plump belly showing through the faded gray butcher’s frock which it wore over peasant clothes. Its face was a horror fit for some tale that is whispered between children as they huddle in the dark. It bore the visage of a fat man as one often sees walking the streets of so many towns and villages, utterly unremarkable in its fat cheeks and bushy eyebrows. It looked as if one had thrown bits of clay together and molded them to appear as a man, its green-tinged skin pulled over chubby lumps of flesh. Its hair was a light gray, as it appears on the heads of old men, and it grew only from the sides of its head in ragged patches, as on top it was as bald as a babe, the light reflecting off its skull in a comical imitation of a mirror. Its teeth were rotten and worn away, fallen out in places. Flattened out at the tips, they stuck out crookedly into the air as it opened its maw to engulf its prey. But worst of all were its eyes: they shone orange in the light, and seemed to burn, the pupils ever shifting to reflect an inner fire.The demon just kept on walking, as if the bundle in its arms were a package to be delivered rather than a writhing human being. Thomas struggled against the beast, its arms held strong though, pressing him against its torso. He held back its head with one arm as it attempted to bite him, repeatedly striking it about its neck and head with his other arm. Alas, his attacks were futile however as it would not release him no matter how hard he struck.Suddenly the creature fell back and dropped Thomas to the ground. He landed sprawled in a pile on the earth, and unceremoniously scrambled up to continue running. It was then that he beheld his savior, a boy scarcely older than himself, dressed in the robes of a peasant, and holding a jagged black dagger dripping with bright red blood.They sprinted onward, side by side, through the clearing and down the road. By this point the beast which had captured Thomas had regained its stance and resumed its hunt, several other horrors having joined it. Seeing such, and being terrified in a fitting response in one faced by such creatures, the people of the country began to run about screaming in all directions.It was such a bedlam through which Thomas and his hero ran as they made a mad dash for safety, as if there were any left. A horse-drawn cart, its driver likely beset by some manner of insanity, veered around the bend in the road and rushed past the pair, stirring up a cloud of dust. Expending the last reserves of energy left in their frail and depleted bodies, they sprinted after it and, grabbing the ledge at the rear which keeps things from falling off, they launched themselves over and into it. They landed among various odds and ends, gathered in a hurry, and one very confused cat.“So,” asked the driver without turning around, “where are you headed?”“Bell,” supplied Thomas’s nameless hero, “one of the three walled cities.”“Ah, you know where the real battle will be fought,” remarked the driver.And so it was that they rattled on along the road, to an unknown destination, prisoners of destiny.

Tale the second: How Far We Fall.

Chapter One

The world was a nightmare. The war had ravaged the earth, turned it into a huge battle-scarred wasteland. No one seemed to be able to remember exactly how it happened…it was as if one day the planet was thriving, everyone happily living in their own self-delusions…the next the remnants of a fallen civilization scrapped over bits of safe food among the devastated structures that were once buildings. Some of humanity still lived among the ruins…others took refuge in the underground military bases that littered the jungle…but most were busy making a new society, here: in the desert. <> The music that could be heard only in Jason’s head was epic as he looked down over the dunes, reaching a crescendo that seemed to echo through the sand. It suited the far-reaching landscape of the desert, he thought. The tightly wrapped cloak that kept the sand from creeping along Jason’s skin flapped in the wind a little, it’s loose ends whipping back and forth behind him, adding to the feeling of drama. Putting on a smirk that no one could see beneath his scarf, Jason set off for the city. The wind quickly blew sand over his tracks as he walked. It was as if he was merely a fleeting sensation, a passing touch that could leave no lasting mark on the immortal desert. The city was far from paradise, but it was a welcome respite from the never-ending sand and the blazing sun. The people lounged in the “streets,” having nothing else to do now, the everyday distractions that once kept them idle long since lost in what was known only as “The Fall.” It’s sad to think this is probably all that’s left, thought Jason. Starving people lying in the sand among desolate buildings; the only structures, manmade or otherwise, that marred the vast expanse of nothingness. But it was a form of art, in a sense. How sick I must be, he thought, that I can see beauty in this. Walking onward, Jason came upon a large domed-roof building that was partially submerged in the sand. A man whose face was obscured by a raggedy scarf wrapped around his head stood outside the entryway (the door was missing). Jason decided it might be worth taking a look at. He glided over to the doorway and stepped inside, his bare feet making no noise as they stepped onto the sand-covered stone floor. The floor was tilted slightly due to the fact that it was beneath ground level for about a quarter of the building. A fat man wearing only a piece of cloth over his loins sat in a throne carved into stone which adorned the far side of the room. To his right there was a worn wooden door in the wall. In front of him, half hunched over was a second man. He wore nothing, and was so thin that both his ribs and his spine were visible through his skin, his dark hair was found only on the sides of his head, in messy little patches above his ears. His skin was dark, just like the fat man and everyone else here, but his eyes were bright. His eyes shone with a deep inner intelligence and an emotional spark was present that told volumes about his personality. Two men who wore loincloths and scarves in the manner of the man outside stood beside the fat man’s throne. One hold a dull scimitar that had likely not been polished or sharpened in years, the other’s hands were empty. They both stood with a rigid posture, looking straight ahead of them, reminiscent of the demeanor of guards. “No.” said the fat man as he reached to his side and picked up a piece of bread, which he then he shoved into his mouth with all the grace of a slack-jawed hippo. “But sir! I simply can’t live on what you’ve given me!” demanded the gaunt man, who appeared to be some sort of peasant. “I said no,” replied the fat man. The gaunt man slinked off, looking even more depressed than before. His feet dragged along the floor as he walked and his face fell under the shadow of his brow. A slight whine escaped his mouth as he left the building. Jason stepped forward, demanding the attention of the fat man.“By what authority do you preside over these people with such cruelty?” he asked.“My own,” came the reply “I need no mandate for I am the king, and who the hell are you?”“Me?” Jason pondered the question “I’m the punchline.”The fat man was confused, one eyebrow raised he remarked “to what?”“Life,” said Jason as he walked away “and you can’t do this.” Behind him one of the guards swung his scimitar smoothly sideways in a clean arc, swiftly removing the “king’s” head. The guard didn’t even break posture, remaining a sentry to nothing; forever gazing ahead. The fat man’s blood stained the floor, and his rule was no more.How easily men rise and fall, thought Jason morbidly.The city was of passing interest, but no answers lay there, and so Jason moved on into the unknown. Wandering through the streets, the only one with a purpose. <> Looking back, the city was a speck, a forlorn dot barely marking the desert. Jason wondered if he’d done the right thing, leaving. He wondered if there really was anything left out there, beyond that city, beyond the ill-defined borders of the pathetic little shell that was probably all that was left of humanity. But Jason’s mind was no party to regret, and so he walked on, in no direction in particular.The sand and heat wore on the mind, a burden on thought, hindering passage through the desert. Being surrounded completely by nothing had that sort of effect on people. The journey was rough, but possible.The sand eventually gave way to long craggy cliffs of cracked tan rock, falling away sharply to reveal the ocean stretched out into infinity. The water was dyed a deep unnatural green by the cast off bits and pieces of society’s refuse that were scattered among the waves.Sighing gently, Jason let go of the earth slowly…and jumped.

And: watch this. It's only NSFW if you have [an] overprotective parent(s).

Post #1

2008-01-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome to FreeCountry. Maybe some of you know me personally, or from over the Internet, or by proxy because you're friends with a certain friend of mine; or maybe you have no idea who I am. This is pretty much my first time doing something like this, but I've been debating the idea for a while. The designated role of this website is to basically become a board where people - namely teenagers, others my age - can post writing, photos, art, Internet links/photos, or anything they feel like sharing with others. It's good to feel like you have a voice. I know those who write and take photos as a hobby, so maybe it would be cool to have a place for them to live on the Internet. Right now it's starting small, but hopefully it will grow.

If you are here because I have directed you here and would like to join so you can post your own stuff, let me know on a blog comment or something and I'll send you an invite thing. You have to be an administrator in order to post things, and currently I'm the only one who can dub other people into the status of administrator, so you have to let me know if you want to be one. After that, feel free to post artwork, photos, writing, music or music referrals, Flash animation, or just funny Internet stuff - just keep it clean. Hopefully we'll soon have a small group of administrators going.

I have to admit I have some high hopes for this project. Like I said, this is my first time doing this sort of thing - but I'm going to try to do it right.