Lazzy the Spazzy

SPIIINNNKKKKYYY!

Ha, I had you fooled didn't I? You and I both know you can't really ever leave BZP for good. =P

Nice tip, Zennia Jorra, that's a personal favorite of mine.

[submitted by Lazzy] See it Everywhere

Ever notice how you learn a new word and suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Let's say it's something obscure, like, say, retrograde. Suddenly, you're reading a book =and 'retrograde' pops up, or your teacher/professor mentions 'retrograde' in a lecture. Weird, right? That works for writing, too. Keep the intended theme or subject of your writing in the back of your mind (in this case 'beginning'), but go about your daily life -- go to school or work, surf the internet -- you'll start to notice situations where that theme applies. 'Hey, I never thought about this before, but this sofa I'm sitting on was made by someone and came from somewhere. I wonder where it began.'

Dang, you weren't kidding when you said you were going to take this seriously. Props on getting it up so fast! =] I'm in. Won't be on regularly, but still.

And for what it's worth:

Thanks for the advice! Yeah, at least I overslept through classes my first week, nice wake-up call (no pun intended) to get me to fix my sleep schedule...for now, I've got the homework part down, just gotta keep from giving into those dark temptations to procrastinate. =|

Thanks everyone. I've read all your comments, I might find some time in the future to respond to all those but rest assured I'm touched at what you all said. Thanks for the fun times. =]

For what it's worth:

I have no idea why I never fave'd your blog before, good, solid arguments, and I 100% agree with you. People need to calm down some. BZPower News was never just about Bionicle it was also about BZPower itself, and I'd argue that this change is even better for the fans, because now it's more focused on us. It was great to see the reporters start the Member Highlight section, long overdue IMO -- the fans are ultimately what made Bionicle so popular, so shouldn't there be rejoicing rather than complaining now that we're getting more of the spotlight?

Anyway, thanks for the good read, Bones.

Correct about what?

And sorry about editing your post, I just took away your banner which was a bit too big for my blog. I need to figure out a way to shrink those side boxes and keep that content...

Heh. A yellow roadster. You guessed right, my dream car does happen to be the Camaro that Bumblebee was based off of. Not quite the yellow roadster you were imagining though, I suppose. =P

Anyway, awesome story, exceeded my already-high expectations when you told me yesterday (or is that two days ago, now?). Writing-wise, really no major flaws, only things you can always further improve on, such as changing this:

"Then you should have said so," he said with a venomous tone.

Into something shorter:

"Then you should have said so," he said venomously.

Beyond that, I love how you keep with the overall theme and tone similar to Snoops's epic. You also made all three main characters epic in a different sense -- your RPG skills shine through in the battle, giving both combatants equal parts and equal credibility.

Anyway, no complaints. Thank you for guest starring me (or the fictional representation of me, anyway) in your short story. I'm honored. =]

Aha! My bad, couldn't figure out how to approve comments. ^^;

And noted, my word choice was a bit poorly chosen...hm...I'll edit.

Encouraging Comments 1: First off, thank you for posting this blog entry. Not only did you provide something that reviewers have needed for some time, you made it concise and easy to understand, something that a member doesn't have to spend much time on to understand.

Constructive Critique 1: However, I did notice some parts of the blog where you could have simplified it even further. I'm not talking about the understanding part; I'm talking about the syntax in this case. This sentence, for example, was somewhat awkwardly worded:

I have seen good reviews that consist of just encouraging comments, but the lack of saying what could improve can be bothersome.

The second half of the sentence in particular clashes with the pattern you used in the first half. Try to stick with what you choose as the style, tense, etc.

Helpful Questions 1: I'm wondering whether you visit the Library or Creations forums? Because I personally haven't seen you in the Library, only in the Artwork forums, but even so your 'rant' is remarkably applicable to reviewing stories as well. Maybe it's just because the nature of reviews are the same no matter what's being reviewed?

EC2: I personally thought it was ironic in a metaphorical kind of way that, while telling us that explaining why something is wrong in Constructive Criticism, you explain why it's important to do so. Throughout the entire blog post, in fact, you anticipate our questions and answer it right away. The general outline of what you wrote was solid: You address the problem you perceive in the standards of reviewers, then explain how one can improve their reviewing skills. Then when you go on to 'Encouraging Comments', you address the natural question of 'won't it go too far?' by explaining that yes, there is a balance between praise and honesty.

CC2: At first I wondered why you would call this a 'rant', when I didn't see anything rant-like about it, but after looking over it again I noticed that at one point your tone can be mistaken as condescending. I personally don't think it's anything to worry about, but seeing as some people already took offense to your 'rant', I suggest you make your tone even more neutral than it already was. The specific instance I mentioned was this:

Got that?

 

Alrighty.

 

Now let's break it down a little.

Now, I'm not sure how changing this would get rid of the problem any, since people can take offense to just about anything, but no harm in trying.

HQ2: Do you like Pokemon? Because I'm looking at the boxes on the side of your blog and--

Just kidding. But seriously, this is great, definitely what beginning reviewers (and even some vets) need. Very step-by-step, descriptive but at the same time economic. Keep up the good work! 10/10 =P

Congrats. It's a pity you were only an Eagle Scout for 9 days...what's that? You've never heard of the rank above Eagle Scout? It's called Man Scout, EW, and congrats on becoming one. =]

You've achieved the impossible, Gato.

How about some philosophical ramblings? I personally like to read about and discuss the nature of random stuff.

Sending good vibes your way, let's hope you'll be well enough for Brickfair!

Are you going to take up on Emzee's request to switch to a girl again?

I wish our area had owls. =[ Or at least owls that come out like that. Nice pic, you should submit it to one of those nature magazines...I'm not sure if they still give out money for the 'best one'.

Whoa, a bit late here.

Smeagol, you've only been a 'household' name to me for the past few years, it's only been this year that I finally got to 'see' you in person, and you lived up to all the things I've heard about you -- topped it, even. You are every bit as funny as Friar and [almost] as eccentric as EW. What I liked the most about you, though, was the evenhanded way you dealt with things. You treated us RPers in an unbiased way (being gone for five-ish years probably helped XD), dealing with vets the same way you did newer players. People I've chatted with have affirmed this as well; you don't hold grudges, and in a world like today, that's something I haven't seen often, and that's something I respect.

I guess this turned out to be a bit longer than I planned...but yeah, agreed with everyone else, you're awesome, Smeag!

Heh, guess I wasn't the only one affected by the ninth-anniversary-nostalgia. Yeah, I don't know...actually seeing what used to be, that's really, how do you put it. Kind of makes me sad, really. We've been here so long, and so much has changed.

You could, you know, do that commission thingie. =P I don't mind paying for it, even.

But yeah, proportions schmroportions (is that how the saying goes?). I think it's fine...well, I might not be the best judge, I only really pay attention to the faces, and the faces are perfect.

Toy Story 3 was def a great movie...I don't know, it was the first time I was actually afraid that

I just find other ways to waste my time. I have this strange compulsion to fill my daily procrastination quota. I don't know, that's probably not a good thing...

I personally don't think 'Zaria' sounds feminine but I can see why you think it would be (the 'ia' ending). Matter of opinion, I guess.

Orde's referred to as a male a bit too much for it to just be a typo...

The interactions within the team seem a bit forced, but maybe that's because there hasn't been enough story for it to feel natural yet. In light of that I think Greg made the right choice to only have four main characters from the start; I'd rather have stronger characters than more.

^Similarly Raleigh scattering is also why the sky turns red-orange-ish when the sun rises/sets, but it's too complicated for me to understand beyond that.

The oceans aren't blue. Well, clean oceans would be but I don't know if any exist.

Maybe next century...USA victory was a long shot this time around.

Whoever did Iroh's voice nailed it. Awesome VA skills.

It's been almost a week and I'm still reeling...I can't believe it's been almost ten years! Wow.

Edward! Al! <3 Greed! So many heartwarming moments...and that last double spread...Hohenheim! Mustang + Riza! Finally! =]