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An Apology

Posted by Velox , in BZPower Mar 06 2013 · 126 views
Apology

~ :: Posted Image :: ~

 
I've been thinking about some things related to my past actions for a while now, and it feels like the time is right to address them, so I'm going to do that here.
 
Put simply: in the past, I have involved myself in discussions that ended in unresolved conflicts. I said things in those discussions that I truly regret to this day, and I know that people were hurt by those things. I don't want there to be conflict between myself and other members, and as a staff member I realize that my behavior in those discussions was not appropriate. That being said, I would like to offer an apology:
 
I'm sorry. For anything I've done or said that was hurtful. My earnest desire is for resolution and reconciliation on these issues. It was never my intention to be hurtful toward anyone, and I sincerely apologize.
 
In the interests of prudence, I'll be locking this entry. If you do have a response, however, by all means send me a PM. Thanks for reading.
 
~ Velox



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Introducing the First Ambage Anthology

Posted by Velox , in Personal Writings, BZPower, League of Authors Feb 06 2013 · 193 views
Ambage, anthology, X:15, writing and 1 more...

Posted Image
 
But it here: https://www.createspace.com/4145933
 
That's right, the Ambage has published a book. You can read the full announcement/details in this post. So please, give it a read; tell us what you think! We hope you enjoy it. =]
 
~ Velox





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2012 in Review

Posted by Velox , in BZPower, Other, Life Jan 05 2013 · 160 views

So 2012 was an amazing year. Most probably the best year I’ve had yet. I’ve made some mistakes, I’ve done some stupid things, I haven’t done quite as much writing or reading as I would’ve liked, and there’s been a few other small downtimes, but overall it was amazing. So, let’s break down the categories (I considered separating them like Nuile did, but I figured why not just put them all in one entry…maybe that was a mistake =P): 
 
Writing ~ I’ve made amazing progress with my writing this year. Previously it was rare that I write – a short story, maybe two, a year and otherwise that’s about it. This year that has grown exponentially. Starting in around June, John (55555), Micah (Kakaru), and I, along with many others, started doing nightly “Write-Offs” where we’d write about a theme for 15 minutes and then comment on each other’s works. While we took a long break (like, 5 or 6 months =P), recently John and I have started doing them nightly again, and it’s amazing. They’re not my best writing, but just writing almost every night is something that I truly love and am thankful for.
 
Perhaps my biggest writing achievement this year was 30,000 words for NaNoWriMo (I meant to write an entry on that, but I guess I forgot…). No, I didn’t quite make it to the 50k, but considering how little I had been writing in previous years, and how this is the first year I’ve written (while also juggling the first semester of college), and how I’ve never written a single story longer than 1.5k, this has been a huge step for me. Writing this much in one month about one single story is just awesome. I’m still surprised I was able to do this much, and I look forward to getting the full 50k next year.
 
What I wrote was an espionage and psychological thriller. My old, 2010 short story “Hope” is actually the prologue for it. I definitely had a lot of fun writing and planning this, and I hope to finish it soon, as I’m only about half-way done with it. I’ll probably write another entry sometime just about this and other writing, but since I’m covering a lot in this entry I should probably leave it at that.
 
I’ve also written four poems this year – the first poems I have written since freshman year of high school. While they were for my creative writing class, I’m still fairly pleased with them and look forward to writing more poetry next semester, as I’ll be taken a poetry class (same professor, too, so that’s cool – I really liked him). Additionally, I’ve written several short stories in 2012, two of which are over 2,000 words – longer than any short story I’ve written before 2012 – as well as several over 1,000 words. These are both big steps for me as, again, I really hadn’t been writing much and it was hard for me to write long stories. Now this year I’ve written several. I may do another blog entry some time specifically about my character Detective Calvin Duster and the stories I have planned for him and the stories I have written.
 
But all in all, it’s been a great year writing-wise. I still haven’t written as much as I would have liked, but that’s what 2013 is for, and I’ve written more this year than I have in all other years combined, so for that, I am happy.

In total, let’s see. I’ve written roughly…7? short stories, half of a novel, parts of two different Serials, 4 poems, and over 50 flash fiction pieces. 2011? I didn’t write a single short story, apparently. I must have written something, but nothing that I thought was good enough to post online.  Wow, that’s bad.
 
Reading ~ I’ve written several blog entries on books in 2012, so I don’t think I need to do that again. I’ll just link to my Best Books of 2012 and leave it at that. This is the second year that I’ve read more than a-book-a-week, and I’ve read many great books. I hope to continue my book-a-week streak for 2013 as well.
 
Blogging ~ So this year I started blogging for the first time (off of BZP), mostly for my write-offs. It’s been a great experience and I’ve met some awesome people. I just plan on blogging even more this year.
 
Movies ~ Wow, so 2012 has been a great year for movies. I’ve watched more movies in theatre this year than quite possibly my whole life combined, haha – I don’t go to the theatre often. The Hunger Games was enjoyable, and it’s been fun ranting about it and the book to various people. Seeing the Avengers at BricksCascade with the awesome people there was really fun. Then of course The Dark Knight Rises over summer was completely amazing and one of my favorite movies. I saw The Bourne Legacy with a friend, and enjoyed that. I really like Jeremy Renner, and it wasn’t a bad sequel to the Bourne Trilogy. The last two movies I saw were The Hobbit and Les Miserables, both of which were completely amazing. I hope to write a review of and ramble for both, but for now I’ll just leave it at saying they were amazing.
 
TV Shows ~ I’ve discovered several new TV shows this year. Namely, Castle, The Walking Dead, and Justified. All are amazing shows, and Castle is definitely one of my top 5 all-time favorite shows and is amazing, and Katie and Aimee are awesome for nagging me enough to finally start watching it.
 
Music ~ I’ve found a variety of new music this year. Most importantly, ThePianoGuys. These guys are amazing, and definitely my favorite band/music group. Many thanks to Will (Tolkien) for introducing them to me. Then Katie (Ezorov) has shown me some awesome bands as well, name Eisley, the Hunger Games soundtrack, and Adele’s Skyfall song, among other things. I’ve started listening to more of the Beatles and finally got their #1 Hits CD, and I’ve also started listening to Billy Joel, thanks to Grant-Sud. And lastly, I’ve started listening to soundtracks a lot more this year – Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, etc., as well as other classical stuff like Handel’s Messiagh, etc. Really amazing stuff. I have of course listened to other things new-to-me this year, be these are all some of my favorite groups and songs, now.
 
Personal Life ~ With the help of the people mentioned below and other things in my life, I think I’ve definitely grown as a person this year, specifically in my Faith and beliefs. I can’t really get into the detail, but suffice to say I am extremely thankful for these people and the circumstances that allowed me to become, in my opinion, a better person. I still have a lot of work to do, and unfortunately I have also failed throughout the year many, and I’m not happy with many things that I have done, but I believe that I have gotten stronger and I hope to this year accomplish some personal, private goals that I was not able to accomplish last year, though I did make progress on them in 2012.
 
People ~ I’ve had some amazing relationships with people this past year. I’ve grown close to many, many people that I hadn’t been previously close with or as close with.
 
First and foremost, while we started talking since BrickCon 2011, Katie (Ezorov) and I didn’t really get super close until 2012. She is one of the most amazing people ever, and the best of friends one can have. Talking to her for literally hours a day is just really, really amazing, and she is a super awesome person. I just can’t put into words accurately how amazing she is and how amazing it is being so close to her.
 
Then there’s John (55555), who I’ve been friends with practically since I joined this site. But it seems like this year we became particularly close. Alike in so many ways, and just easy to talk to, he’s been an amazing friend this year and we’ve told each other practically everything. It’s been fun talking about our various struggles and wishes and people that we like, giving advice to each other and whatnot. He’s always there for me and is like a brother.
 
Micah (Kakaru), too, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot closer to this year, probably because I’ve gone to two conventions with him and talked to him a lot on Skype. Micah, as I’m sure is obvious, is an awesome guy (just ask Rob), always willing to talk and help out with things. I’ve also gotten closer to Jason (xccj), rooming with him at two different conventions and going on mini road trips to Seattle – it’s been really fun, and I love how it doesn’t matter if we disagree on politics or religion, we put those aside and just be friends while respecting each other. And everyone, at BCon and BCascade, I’ve had awesome times with and gotten closer to.
 
I think perhaps the biggest jumps I’ve made this year with people (previously rarely ever talking to them, and now talking to them very often and being good friends) would be Caleb (Cederak), Will (Tolkien), and Nate (GSR). I’ve always respected them a lot as writers (Nate less so, but that’s only because he wasn’t even active until like earlier this year, so I had no idea who he was until he entered those short story contests and then he immediately gained my respect =P). Caleb, especially, I’ve gotten really close to, and he’s helped me out a lot with things. Again I love how I can have practically completely opposite viewpoints on politics and religion with both Caleb and Nate, and we’re still great friends, because we don’t let that get in the way. Aimee (Aderia), too, I didn’t really know until this year, and now we’re great friends (and she’s also my Les Mis buddy that I can yell at about awesome Les Mis things any time I want. We’re also Les Mis t-shirt buddies!). And same with Kraggh – we’ve got a lot in common and we can both appreciate Les Mis for the awesomeness that it is.  
 
Although I went to school with her for 4 years, I didn’t really meet my friend Christina until early 2012. She really helped me become a better person and realize that there are other people out there like me (besides John [55555] =P), and since then I’ve grown so much in my Faith. Katie, too, has helped me immensely with my relationship with God, and she’s another person reminding me that there are people who share my views and beliefs. I’ve become a much better person this year, in terms of my beliefs, I think, mostly due to John, Katie, and Christina, and for that I will be forever grateful.
 
And I could seriously ramble on and on and on about all the amazing relationships I’ve had this year, and keep listing more and more people, but I’ll end with just mentioning the members of the Ambage Skype chats. Especially Nuile, who never gave up his writers club idea, and I’m so glad we were able to create the Ambage and how successful it’s been. Literally everyone there is amazing and are awesome friends, and I couldn’t be more grateful for how they have been so influential on my life.
 
 
 
And, well, that’s about it. I know I’ve probably rambled more than people care, but this was a fun entry to write. Here’s to 2013! *raises glass*
 
~ Velox



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This Time With Babies

Posted by Velox , in Personal Writings, BZPower, League of Authors, Literature Oct 01 2012 · 110 views
Poetry, BZPower Contest, Ambage
New poem: Life of a Father. Wrote this last Monday for my Creative Writing class after holding my cousin's new baby two days before. Comments are much appreciated. =]

And check out the new Fortnightly Flash Fiction Contest! If you enjoyed the flash fiction marathon, that's what this is, just not quite so rapid-fire. Stories are due by October 8th, 11:59 PM EST. Also check out the Ambage if you like writing -- we have made several changes and added new features.

~ Velox



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Excited!

Posted by Velox , in BZPower, Life Jun 22 2012 · 118 views
Dark Knight Rises, Les Miserables and 2 more...
Oh man am I so excited. Last Sunday I bought tickets to see The Dark Knight Rises opening day in IMAX. Which is going to be amazing. Today I bought tickets to go see Les Miserables which is being performed at a theatre near my house (seeing it this Sunday)...I really, really wanted to see the play again before the movie comes out, so I'm very glad I'll be able to. This will be the second time I've seen it done professionally (I also saw it twice performed at a high school) in person (as I also have a video of the 10th Anniversary Edition which is awesome).

Aaaand that really doesn't sound like I'm excited that much, but that's because it's 5 AM and I haven't gone to bed yet. =P But seriously, I'm so excited! Les Miserables and The Dark Knight Rises are both going to be amazing. Less than a month away for TDKR!

Last thing before I go to bed (I tell you, John/55555 is really having an influence on me...he hardly ever goes to bed before 4 AM and I think that's rubbing off on me as the past week I haven't gone to bed before 4 haha), the ECC Contest has now been posted, and remember: only a short time left to vote in the Flash Fiction Marathon Final COT Polls!

Okay, time to go to bed. Even though I'm not tired so I'll probably end up staying up another half hour at least anyway...

~ Velox



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Coming Soon

Posted by Velox , in BZPower, Other, Reviews Jun 18 2012 · 97 views
ECC
Do you like epics and want to give back by giving people reviews? Ever thought of joining the ECC? Well now's your chance. Coming June 22nd, a contest will be hosted in the Epics Critics Club (staff approved); the winner will be given an internship at the ECC. Keep your eyes on the ECC topic this Friday for further information and the opportunity to put the power of the pen in your hands.

~ Velox



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What Is This Madness?

Posted by Velox , in BZPower Jun 13 2012 · 196 views
Madness, Awesomeness and 1 more...
Specifically, this post 'till the end of the topic.

Though then again, I think "awesomeness" might be a better adjective.

~ Velox

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Preparation

Posted by Velox , in Personal Writings, Literature, BZPower Jun 08 2012 · 159 views
Summer Olympics, Library, Contest

Preparation


I typed away furiously at the black keyboard before me. I glanced at the clock on my computer screen. One-hundred words to go, nine minutes left to enter. I focused on the task at hand, pushing all other thoughts aside and only caring about the story in front of me. I continued to type, my stream of consciousness flowing straight from my mind to the keys and subsequently onto the computer.
..........There, I said to myself, finished. I looked at the clock again. Perfect. Three minutes left. I quickly switched to my internet browser and clicked on the Fast Reply box at the bottom of the screen. I quickly typed out my Member Name, the Theme, Word Count, and then copied and pasted my story from the Microsoft Word document and into the white box. No time for any formatting – not that it was allowed, anyway – so I gave it a quick once-over, spotted a single grammar mistake, fixed it, and then clicked the “Post” button.
..........The page loaded and there it was: my story entered into the contest with a minute left. I smiled to myself, proud that I accomplished my goal and entered in time, even if just barely.
..........I scrolled up the page, glancing at the other entries. Forty entries all together.
..........“Quite a good turnout, wasn’t it?” Velox asked as he posted the new theme.
..........“Indeed. And just one down; still eleven more to go.”
..........“Time to start on ‘Treasure’,” he said, the second theme posted.
..........There it was. The next theme. Treasure. Already the wheels in my head began turning, thinking of a myriad of possibilities I could use for my story. I sat down and began writing, excited to write again.



~ :: ~


...Five Days Later

Amor Omnia Vincit. I wracked my brain trying to think of a story idea for this theme. But nothing came. Only six themes into the contest and my inspiration was already dying. My writing seemed to get worse and worse with each story.
..........Not matter what I did, nothing came. Come on, I shouted inwardly. You can do this, you can do this, just focus. I sat there for a few minutes, head resting in my hands, probing my brain for answers, ideas. Something.
..........And then it hit me. The inspiration inside me flourished once again; an idea had popped into my brain. I opened up a blank Word document quickly, and began to write, my fingers flowing across the keyboard. It was exhilarating, enlivening.
..........But that feeling didn’t last long.



~ :: ~


...Six Days Later

There. Last one, I think to myself after I had finished writing my entry for the twelfth theme.  I drop my hands, exhausted. Relieved that the twelve days are over. My fingers are sore, my mind tired. But I know it’s over. I completed them all, entered every single theme. And now finally I can relax. A sense of pride filled me. I did it. I leaned back in my chair, propping my feet up on the desk, resting my head in my hands.
..........“Why are you laying back?” Velox asked. “These were just the beginning. The warm-ups. Simply a preparation for the real contest. So get back to your computer and start typing. The BZPower Library Summer Olympics 2012 are about to begin.”
..........And that invigorated feeling hit me again as my passion for writing consumed me. I was ready for the challenge. Ready to write.



~ :: ~


From here. Yes, not the best writing, I realize that (most-likely due to getting my wisdom teeth taken out and not being in the mood to write), but it served it's purpose, I think. The Library Summer Olympics have now officially been announced.

~ Velox



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A Great And Crazy Week (Cascade Entry)

Posted by Velox , in Other, Life, BZPower Jun 07 2012 · 143 views

Day One; Wednesday, May 30th -- The last day of school and finals. I didn't do very well on my math or physics finals, but I ended both with a B so I was happy. After school we had graduation practice, and then everyone went home. Later that night was the Senior Barbeque, where it was a BBQ at school for just seniors and faculty where we all hung out and mostly signed year books. So it was really fun being able to talk to people and write in their yearbooks and such.

Day Two; Friday, June 1st -- Graduation. In the morning I woke up for the Baccalaureate Mass (Mass=Catholic Church service) followed by the Baccalaureate luncheon, both of which were good. The Mass itself was beautiful, but I won't go into more details than that. It was kind of weird that we were wearing a graduation robes/hats because it somewhat felt like we were graduating, but whatever. The luncheon's food wasn't good at all, but luckily I wasn't really hungry anyway (when I'm excited/sad/a bunch of other emotions I'm not often hungry), and it was awesome being able to hang out with people for one of the last times. Definitely the last time all together, which is sad. I am very glad that I was able to talk to most of the people I wanted to, however, and there was much hugging/promising to hang out with/etc., all emotionally tolling. I just hope everyone (including myself) actually does as they promise and do make an effort to hang out with people. I know I will try.

So then I went home for a couple hours and then it was Graduation itself. My brother unfortunately wasn't able to come (he's in a Seminary, aka studying to become a Catholic Priest), but my sister drove down from UCLA and a friend of the family (mostly was my brother's friend, but is mine as well; he's also becoming a priest but is on "summer break") came as well, along with one of my grandpas. The graduation ceremony itself was really nice, and I really loved the Valedictorian speech, even though it was super long (okay, maybe it was just because of the person who said it -- my prom date -- but still, it was a very good speech! =P). She was able to find a perfect balance between school/goodbye/thank-yous/God/etc. After graduation was spent taking a bunch of pictures, saying goodbyes, etc. I really wasn't that sad yet because I was comforted by the fact that I would still (hopefully) hang out with the people I truly care about. After all that I went to dinner with my family at Hof's Hut. At home is when it finally hit me when I was reading all the notes people signed in my yearbook. I honestly shed a couple tears, mostly for one person in general who is the most amazing person on earth and her note was super long and super nice and awesome. Because I realized that while I'll still hang out with her, I won't see her every day any more, and she's the best friend anyone could have. But anyway, then I had to pack for BricksCascade and it was then that I realized it was a little after 2am and I should probably go to bed since I had to get up at 4am for my flight, so I promptly went to bed and finished packing in the morning.

Day 3; Saturday, June 2nd -- As I said above, woke up super early to finish packing and to allow time to drive to LAX/get there an hour early for my 6:15 flight. Flew into PDX, then sat in Starbucks for a while to eat breakfast/wait for Jason (xccj) and crew (Micah [Kakaru], Russell [Micah's brother], and Steven [Swert] -- we all stayed at Jason's house) to pick me up because Jason was writing a story for my contest (lol, I was on my computer in Starbucks, browsing around, and saw Jason post right at the time he was supposed to be at the airport =P but it was all good, because I needed breakfast). We went straight to the convention, where I got to see Andrew (B6), Pat (DV), and Madison (Nukaya) again, as well as meet Rob (Janus) and Becca (Hahli Husky) for the first time. Honestly, now I realize why everyone is all "Janus is amazing" -- he really, really is. And it was super awesome meeting Becca because she's the Library Queen and just an awesome person to talk to so it was awesome finally meeting her in person. I also got my brick badge (unfortunately, now for the second time [this also happened for BCon], I forgot my brick badge so only had the generic Cascade one) and staff T-shirt, which is awesome.

Later that day I saw Kelly (Bink) and Thomas (Sumiki) again as well, as I had met the former at BCon and the latter at BFair. Sumiki, along with our group (from now on, "our group" = Myself, Jason, Micah, Russell, and Swert) started playing a Bionicle board game that I still don't completely get mostly due to ignoring Jason when he was explaining and spending most of the time texting while we were playing, lol. But still it was really fun, and I definitely won. :psychotwitch:

But then Kelly came so we abandoned the game and after that went to lunch at a mall, where on the way we all jumped/danced/played on these huge cement balls (we also did this at BrickCon, so it was a must to do here =P). At that time the other BZP group were on their way back and saw us, and B6 was later like "we saw a bunch of people in light blue shirts doing stupid stuff on these balls, and I thought 'is that our staff?' Then we got closer and I was like 'yep, that's our staff.'" Then at the mall Micah and Sumiki and I were awesome and went into a dental office and asked for a toothbrush (we debated getting food, walking into the office, eating said food, then walking out [among other ideas], but I and Sumiki couldn't've kept a straight face and we all decided against it), where Micah actually received one (it was one of those crummy, use-once-with-a-little-toothpaste-already-on-the-toothbrush toothbrushes). Then we ate lunch, and after I introduced Micah to Cinabon cinnamon rolls, which I think are the best cinnamon rolls ever. On the way out of the mall we discovered a different dental office, so of course had to go in where Micah and I again asked for toothbrushes and toothpaste. At first they said they didn't have any, but after talking with us for a while they gave them to us but told us not to tell anyone. We didn't. But this worked out, because they were actually nice toothbrushes/toothpaste, and I didn't bring any toothpaste on the plane because I didn't have one under 3 oz. At some point we were also doing the "What is Love?" Jim Carrey skit, where people bobbed their head in a "car" (a few seats joined together in the middle of the Bionicle table).

Then there was the Awards Ceremony which was cool; Kevin Hinkle answered a lot of questions. But more importantly afterwards we went to our fancy dinner with our group, along with Rob, Becca, Andrew, Pat, and Madison. We sat across from Rob and Becca so mostly talked to them, which was very fun. A lot of people wore dress shirts and tie, but I was unfortunately the only one that went all out with a suit and bowtie (I wanted to wear a legit tux with the special shirt, cummerbund, shoes, and bowtie, but I decided to wear a normal dress shirt instead as that would've been too dressy). I swear one of these days everyone will wear suits. : D Awesomely, Micah did wear a sports coat, which was close. Anyway, that was at this amazingly good Italian place (their fettuccine alfredo was amazing) and had an awesome time talking. Then our group went home and I forget what we did but we stayed up pretty late.

Day 4; Sunday, June 3rd -- We all had to wake up fairly early because I wanted to go to Mass at a church near the convention center, so Jason and the rest awesomely accommodated, even if I was a little late. Micah actually even wanted to go with me, so that was cool. He's not Catholic, and he said the service was a lot different from his (he's Christian), but it was still cool that he went. It also gave me someone to walk back with since Jason just dropped us off and headed to the convention, but it was only a couple blocks away. And, amusingly, we saw Rob and Becca walking by the church toward the convention, and if it wasn't for them we would've missed the church (we told them what we were looking for, and Becca was like "you mean that Catholic church?" and pointed to the building right behind us. Not my proudest moment, considering it was brick and had a cross so should've been visible but I guess I wasn't looking for it well haha. Anyway, so Micah and I got out and Rob/Becca took our spots and were driven to the convention.

The convention itself was a lot of fun. Sumiki wasn't there, unfortunately, but we still had a lot of fun. Our group talked with Rob for a long time about how he would've done a lot of Bionicle storyline, and most of it I agreed with. It was fun discussing Bionicle and how much it could've been better and everything haha. I also spent around 4 hours talking to Rob alone, as I was doing something important, so it was really cool being able to bond with and talk with Rob, as he really is an awesome, awesome guy, especially since this is the first time I had met him. Later in the day I also was able to talk with the other Andrew (B6), Pat, Madison, and Becca a lot, which was awesome as while I had met all but Becca, I still had never really talked to them before in person. Then there were closing ceremonies, more talking with people, group pictures, and then saying goodbye, at least to the people not in our group (Andrew, Rob, Becca, Pat, and Madison).

But the night was young (and since we were young that night, we decided to set the world on fire haha #weareyoungsongbyfun) for our group, and still had awesomeness ahead of us. I had not seen Avengers yet, and really wanted to, so we all decided we would. My thoughts? It was a really good movie. I won't dispute that. But all the same, I didn't think it was amazing. But anyway. I may or may not write more on that later (probably not). Afterwards the mall was closed, so we had fun getting lost and trying to get out (poorly designed mall exits are poorly designed).

When we got back to Jason's house we played "Assassin" with Nerf guns in his huge and awesome backyard (there's a small medow, then his backyard is literally a forest). Yes, I know that's not too uncommon, but hey, I'm from Southern California. =P And I love forests. Anyway, then after a while we played capture the flag, which while was awesome in theory, with only four people (Swert didn't play), pitch blackness, wet grass, etc., it wasn't as awesome as it could've been. =P But it was still incredibly fun. After that, even though it was like 2am or something, of course Micah, Jason and I weren't tired (yay for almost no sleep the whole weekend!) so we decided to do a review of the...Ghost Train, I think? Some Monsters set. Anyway, that was fun, filled with hilarious and (somewhat) inappropriate jokes; I feel bad for Jason who has to edit it all if we ever want to post it on BZP. =P But again, it was really fun, and we ended up staying up past 4am before we all decided to go to bed (from that set, since we all pitched in money-wise, I got to keep most of the plane as well as a Ghost minifig, as that's all I really cared about).

Day 5; Monday, June 4th -- Monday we woke up to see Micah and Russell off (aka, Micah jumped on my bed to wake me up =P), and while I did say bye, I was unfortunately in the shower when they actually left. Micah really must stay longer next time (and I must arrive sooner), because he is one of the most awesome guys ever. So anyway, it was just Jason, Swert, and I, and we spent the bulk of the day driving to and from Tacoma to drop Swert off. Once in Tacoma we visited the Lego studio that Swert works at, I got to meet Dan Parker, his boss, for the first time, as well as get a tour of the studio which was really cool. We all went to lunch at the foodcourt there, then we drove Swert to a bank so he could pay Jason some money he owed him (which, while by Swert's definition was only a couple blocks away, was actually several miles, but it wasn't bad =P), then we dropped off Swert/the Mata Nui island at Swert's home. Jason and I had a great road trip back (but again, I wish Micah and other people were still there...we must do a huge bro trip some time!).

So we were talking about a bunch of random stuff on the way back, and it started raining. We (well, mostly "I") wanted to stop at the Lego store, which was quite a bit out of our way, was still fun -- like I said, the car ride was fun. There I picked up the LotR sets with Shelob and the Gandalf arrives ones, because 1) they were the cheapest; and 2) I really wanted those ones anyway. At some point I hope to get the more expensive ones, but I had already spent a lot of money on this trip haha so just stuck with those (Shelob comes with three rings and two Stings [the sword Frodo carries], which is awesome, and the sets themselves are cool). On the way back from the Lego store it started to pour. And I don't mean California pour, I mean pour like I've barely ever seen before, where Jason had to drive at like 35-40 MPH (along with the rest of the people on the road) for a long time. But we made it home safely. We then spent the rest of the night building a couple sets, watching Pirates of the Caribbean (which I unfortunately fell asleep during, which is weird because it's one of my favorite movies, but then again I hadn't had much sleep and watching movies makes me sleepier sometimes), and eating Goldfish.

Day 6; Tuesday, June 5th -- Tuesday we slept in a little bit ('till about 11), and then went outside to view Jason's backyard for the first time in the daylight. We played with his super awesome dog for a while (who I think fell in love with me, and I definitely fell in love with her -- my dog's lame and won't play fetch or follow you or anything =[), and then went into the forest a little bit to a creek where his dog played in while we admired. Seriously, that forest is so amazingly beautiful, and it is awesome that it is his backyard (reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes...). Then we spent the day touring Portland. We parked at a mall near the convention center because Jason had to return some shampoo for his mom, and we also got Jamba Juice and four bite-sized Cinabons just for the heck of it.

We took the tram to downtown Portland, where we went to this super amazingly awesome place called Powell's Bookstore. We only spent an hour or two there, but I could have easily spent the whole day. I ended up spending more on that than anything else I had the entire weekend (including Lego), because I love books and they had a bunch of books I had been looking for forever. It was fun trying to stuff them into my already full backpack, but hey, it was worth it. And they weren't a bad price, either. Then we went to this place called VooDoo donuts, which, while I don't like the name, the donuts there were amazing. I had this Oreo one which was simply genius of whoever thought of it. Then we walked around the waterfront for a long time to kill time, talked to a cop for a bit (who went to UC Riverside, so he knew the area where I live), then rode the tram back to the mall where Jason drove to the airport. We stopped at a Target along the way to again kill time where I got new headphones and, yes, another books (A Song of Fire and Ice, by George R.R. Martin, because I've been meaning to read that series forever but haven't found it for cheap [aka, at this used bookstore I frequent because of its cheap prices] probably because it's so popular, and it was a good price). Anyway, then I was dropped off at the airport and that was that. Had a nice and safe flight home, so that was good. But I went to bed fairly soon after I got home as I had to wake up early.

Day 7; Wednesday, June 6th -- As I said, I had to wake up early. Why? To have surgery to get my wisdom teeth taken out. Yes, fun. #sarcasm. But really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and there is thankfully not much pain so far (I've only had to use the triple-strength Motrin they gave me, rather than the stronger Tylonol with Codine so far, so hopefully it stays that way [even though people have mentioned they wished they could see me with Codine, haha]). So today I've been a little groggy and incoherent, mostly catching up on the Flash Fiction contest (yeah, I know, perfect timing with Cascade/graduation/finals/school, right? Eh, oh well; it was fun). I hope to have the remaining polls done soon.


And that's about it. It's been an amazing week, and while I wish some other people could've been there, it was super fun and I really look forward to hopefully going to BrickCon and seeing most of them again. I definitely already miss everyone, and as I've said before, we all need to move to some small town (Micah's town could work... =P) and have a BZP town so that we can hang out every day. But more than that (and actually realistically =P) we must have a week-long road trip sometime around a convention, or maybe just in the middle of summer/winter/spring break for the heck of it.

Now I am off to finish a few contest things and then bed!

~ Velox



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The Bzpower League Of Authors: Reborn

Posted by Velox , in BZPower, League of Authors, Literature May 20 2012 · 316 views
Authors Guild

...Is back. Nuile and I realize that we have neglected this, and we also realized several problems there were with this writers' club. But we are ready to devote our time once again to this in order to hopefully stimulate writing on BZP, whether it be fanfiction or not. As such, we have decided to start smaller -- we realized that we expanded far too quickly, and as such for the moment the League of Authors shall consist of only bi-weekly challenges and a Review Pass.


With this new change comes a new name: The League of Authors is now the BZPower Authors' Guild. With the smaller set-up, a new name was needed that conveyed that -- "League" denotes something much, much larger. We do hope to expand in the future, but for now, we hope that this format will help our fellow writers on BZPower.

What is the League of Authors? you might ask. For those that don't know, the LoA is a creation of Nuile that is, in some ways, the successor to the writers' clubs before it (honorable mention to Lazzy the Spazzy for, in my opinion, having the most successful writers' club with his "Story Fit" which was a great inspiration to the formation of this club). All the LoA -- now BAG -- is, is a writers' club for the members of BZPower; to get writers writing more, to inspire writers, and to help writers become even better than they already are, because let's face it: everyone can improve.

Want to join? Post in the main entry stating your desire to join, and you'll be added to the list! Simple as that. There are no restrictions here: we welcome everyone and anyone who wants inspiration to write more and/or become a better writer.

And so, it is with great joy that I say: Welcome to the incarnation of the LoA: The BZPower Authors' Guild. Nuile and I will remain dedicated to this, and we hope you will as well. After all, in the great words of an anonymous writer:



"A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write."


That is what this club is for.

~ Velox



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Bibliophilic Littérateur
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|| Account Approved | Administration | 20th September 2007 ||

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|| Forum Assistant | Black Six | 20th February 2012 ||

All About Me

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Name ~ Andrew
Username ~ Velox
Nicknames ~ V, TV, Felix, etc.
Age ~ 18
Birthdate ~ July 8, 1994
Gender ~ Male
Location ~ Los Angeles, California
Grade ~ College Freshman
Occupation ~ Student
Hobbies ~ Writing, reading, reviewing, listening to music
Interests ~ Books, books, books, and more books. Also reading said books and music and Katie and murder mysteries. 
Religion ~ Roman Catholic
Political Views ~ Conservative Republican

Favorite...
Bionicle Character ~ Takanuva and Kopaka
Bionicle set ~ Brutaka
Bionicle Element ~ Electricity, Ice
Color ~ Dark Blue
Animal ~ Wolf, Dragon
Sport ~ Basketball
Standalone Book ~ A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness; The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Authors ~ Vince Flynn, Michael Connelly, Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, Jim Butcher, Ted Dekker, and J.K. Rowling. 
Musical ~ Les Miserables
Action Trilogy ~ Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
Fantasy Trilogy ~ Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings
Drama Movies ~ A Few Good Men, Warrior
Animated Movie ~ Ratatouille
War Movies ~ Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Act of Valor
Old TV Shows ~ Sherlock Holmes, with Jeremy Brett; Columbo, with Peter Falk; and The Rockford Files, with James Garner.
New TV Shows ~ Sherlock; Castle; HIMYM; Person of Interest.
Comedy Movie ~ The Princes Bride
Music genres ~ Classical, Soundtracks, Musicals, Rock, Alternative. 
Artists ~ ThePianoGuys, Rise Against, Matt Maher, Switchfoot, the Beatles, Billy Joel, and others.
Composers ~ Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Howard Shore, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven
Board Game ~ Monopoly
Environment ~ "Fall" -- (or Winter, in SoCal)

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