I just realized how long it’s been since my last post!  I so need to update more often.

First some site related stuff:  I updated the Dragon Cave Breeds with the latest images and descriptions.  And I also updated the Links section.  There was quite a bit of new links that I wanted to add and several I deleted.

The reason I haven’t been updating lately is because I’ve been busy working on a project.  It started quite simply with reading the Twilight series and watching the movie.  One of the extras on the dvd was an interview with the author Stephenie Meyer.  In it she said that one day she had a dream and just started writing.  She didn’t plan it, but it just happened.

For some reason that simple statement really inspired me, and it gave me this huge epiphany.

I’ve always considered myself a dreamer.  As a child I was always dreaming up something or another.  Some of it was normal childhood stuff, playing with toys and making them do and say things.  But sometimes I would also dream up things like song lyrics and detailed stores with imaginary characters.  As I grew up I started reading a lot and I sort of channeled those dreams into the stories I found there.  But that’s as far as I would take it.  It was something I would do in my spare time.  It was a hobby.  I never thought of it as anything else.

Until I saw that interview with Stephenie Meyer.  Then I got inspired.  What if I didn’t view myself as a dreamer but as a creative person.  Someone who takes what they dream and actually does something with it.  It may seem like a subtle distinction, but it was a big deal for me.  In that moment of realization I got this burst of inspiration and came up with an idea for a book.  A book series actually.

But I’ve never tried to write something before.  Not something like this.  But I just had to try.  I haven’t gotten very far, only about 10 pages, but it seems like the first pages were the hardest.  I had to think of names for people and places.  What job would my main character have?  How would I start the story?  How would I introduce the main characters?
But now I’ve gotten that nailed down (I think) so the writing is going much easier.  I don’t know how long it will take me, but I’ve found I really like it.  Creating a story that only comes to life through me.

So forgive me if I’m not posting a lot.  I enjoy writing on this blog, and I’ll try to make a point to do it more often.  But if I’m gone for a while now at least you’ll know the reason. 

I decided do do some updating to the Dragon Cave part of the site.

Dragon Cave:  I updated this to include all of my newest dragons.  I’m pretty close to getting 2 sets of each breed!

Dragon Cave Breeds:  I was asked to take the original version of this down because I didn’t have permission to post the images of the eggs and hatchlings.  Then BIRD left a comment asking if there was a way to put the descriptions back up without the images.  So I decided rather then include all of the images I would just create a link to my adult dragon of that breed as an example.  I don’t have all of the breeds, but I do have most of them, so it worked out rather well.

Dragon Cave Help Guide:  This is a new page!  I was going to create a post with this info, and then I realised that posts get lost and it would be a pain to try to keep a post updated with the newest info.  So instead I created it as it’s own page.
I have some more ideas to add to this page, but for now it is just a list of where I go to get views for my dragons and a little bit of explaining about those places.

So as you can see I’ve been pretty busy!  I know that most of the people that come here are viewing the DC pages, and I’ll try to keep them up to date and filled with new information.

Go check them out!

WordPress is now blocked at work.  Which totally SUCKS!  That’s where I did most of my posting from.

I could just do all my posting from home, but my time is always limited at home, which is why I started posting from work in the first place.  I’ve gotten used to posting something whenever it pops into my head, and I know I’m bound to forget what I wanted to post about by the time I get home.

Another option is that when I think of something I want to post about that I just write it in a email to myself and then quickly post it when I get home.

I have a lot of potential post ideas that have been rolling around in my head, but I just haven’t had the chance to write about them.

So I might not be doing a bunch of posting for the next little while until I get a new routine figured out.

I’ve made some more Zazzle products.  I’ve always loved the Coexist bumberstickers (the one with the different symbols making up the words) so I decided to make a line of Coexist stuff.  And being me I couldn’t just take an image off the web and copy that exactly, I had to make it my own.  What I didn’t like about the ones I found on the web was that most didn’t have the Pentacle as the “O” symbol, most had it over the “I”.  So I combined a couple different designs and made my own in several colors.

Here’s a sample of what they look like:

 

I’ve only made the set in aprons so far, but in the next week or so I’ll try to get the rest done.

 

I also updated my Pentacle page here on EbN.  Even though I had finished the Pentacle products a while ago I totally forgot to post them here!  So now all of those are listed.

If you want to see an up-to-date list of all of my products you can go to my Zazzle Gallery.

I did a much needed update to the Dragon Cave Breeds page.  I added the Autumn, Winter and the new Christmas “Yulestag”.  I even got the image for the hatchling (without wings) for last year’s christmas dragon (can I just say that I was kind of disappointed that I wasn’t able to get that dragon this year. I like the new one, but I was so looking forward to getting the old one).

I didn’t add the the Vampire dragon because the images are still on my old computer, which I didn’t quite feel like dragging it out at the moment.

I’ll try to be better about keeping it updated.  I tend to remember to updated it while I’m at work, but by the time I get home I totally forget.  So just try to be patient with me ok?

Tomorrowis the five month anniversary of my blog.  I’m making this post so that I can look back and see how far I’ve come.

Here are the stats as of today:
5,384 total views
2,190 views this month (october)
between 400 and 600 views per week
between 60 and 100 views per day
160 posts
28 comments
the busiest day was Monday September 15th2008, with 106 views

The most common things viewed are the Dragon Cave and Valenth pages and posts.  Although the ponytail cutting posts are pretty common to.

So wordpress has a new feature: polls!

So to test out this new feature I’m asking why you come here, and how often you visit.

Let me know what you think if you have a moment!

 

 

 

Thanks!

I added a new page called Chicken Smoothie here on EbN.

Chicken Smoothie is a site where you can adopt pets and watch them grow.  You don’t need views, clicks or feedings for these guys, they grow up on their own.  Each pet has the potential to grow up into one of several different variations, so you won’t know what it will be until it grows up.

So there is yet another addition to my ever growing adoptable pets list.  Check them out if you have a moment!

I’ve updated two of EbN’s pages, the Valenth page and the Dragon Cave Breeds page.

Valenth:  I added my new pets.  I’ve noticed that alot of people are coming here for valenth stuff, so I’ll try to keep this page updated.  Give them some clicks if you have time!

DC Breeds:  I added the images for the two new breeds (Guardian & Season), the two new alternates (Black & Plant).  I also added the “Other” breeds (Dinos & Chicken), which I didn’t have listed before.  I’m still missing two Dino sprites, I’ll keep trying to hunt them down.
I don’t have the descriptions on the new breeds or the others, but I’ll try to get to that soon.

I’ve added a new page called Book Reading Log.

I started keeping a log of what I read when I bought my house in the summer of 2004.  So I decided to just copy that down here as well.  And it will also be nice to have a back up in case I ever spill something on my log book.

I list the title, author, when I start and finish them, and I’ll also rate them by how good I think they are.  I’ve listed them with the newest first, so my most current will always be on top.
I’ve gotten all of 2008 done, and I’ll add the other years when I have time.

I also need to get my book list done.  I used to have a file that listed all of them (not just title and author, but also the year and number of pages), but since a computer crash a year ago I lost that file.  So now I need to start all over.  So once I’ve gotten around to writing down all that info I’ll get that listed here too.

Part of the reason I haven’t been posting much lately is because I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reading.  I quite often have a book going, but lately most of my free time has been spent reading.

It started with the Harry Potter books.  I decided it was time to re-read through the series again.  I don’t think I’ve done that since the last book came out.  So I started pouring through those.  And boy did I ever pour through them.  The fattest book (book 5 – the order of the phoenix) only took me 2 or 3 days, and that was during the work week.

After that I read the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini.  I saw the movie several months ago, but I didn’t know it was based on a book.  As usual when I love a movie, I love the book even more.  It is perfect.  It is much like the Harry Potter books, in that it is easy enough for kids, but mature enough for adults as well.  I was surprised (pleasantly) that the movie and the book were so much alike.  Most of the time the movie version tends to stray from what is in the book from time to time, but this one is almost spot on.
This book is about a boy who finds what he thinks is a large stone in the forest one day.  He continues to think that it is just a stone until that stone starts to hatch.  He is quite surprised when a dragon falls out of that egg, and he ends up caring for this little dragon that grows very quickly.  But what he doesn’t know is that the egg was stolen from the king, and that he will stop at nothing to get it back.  After the kings assassins find out who he is he has to flee his home and try to find a safe place for him and his dragon.
Eragon is the first book in the series, I already ordered the second book Eldest, and the third book, Brisingr, is coming out this month.

The next book I read was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  This is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  I LOVE this book.  It is written as if the 12 year old boy this book is about was talking.  So it is full of things that kids that age say.  But rather then making it seem childish or dull, it makes the character better and makes you understand him more.
This book is about a boy, Percy Jackson, who is a normal kid in most ways.  He is the only child of a single mother, and gets into a fair bit of trouble at school.  The result of which means that he ends up changing schools at least once a year.  Until one day he finds out that he is the son of an greek god.  That means he can do things that most other kids can’t, but it also means that evil creatures want to kill him.  He is thrown into this world he doesn’t know or understand, and he has to struggle to keep up.
I have always loved the greek gods, and this book takes those old stories and brings them into today.  I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Then I read Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts.  Again I saw the movie first, and the book did not disappoint!
Tory Bodeen is a most unusual girl.  She can see into other people’s heads.  This got her into much trouble as a child from her father who thought that those visions were from the devil, and every time she would say something that he thought was from a vision (which was quite often) he would beat her bloody.  Tory saw the rape and death of her best friend.  After she told the family exactly where to find her body, and told them what happened the night before, rumors started circling around their small town.  It was to much for her father, who quickly moved them away.
Tory, now an adult, is still haunted by the memory of her childhood friend and what happened to her that night.  After running way from that memory for years, she comes back to the town where it all happened.  She finds herself the talk of the town and finds that no one has forgotten the little girl that she was.  She is soon swept up in mystery when she finds out that the person who killed her friend has killed again.
This is a great story about a damaged girl who is ashamed of her gift, into a strong woman who embraces it.  While this is a romance book, it is mostly in a drama/mystery genre.

Now I am reading the book Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.
Now I’m only about half way through, but I already like it.  It is about a woman, Sookie, who lives in a world where vampires have “come out of the coffin” and are now a recognized member of society.  She desperately wants to meet one, but she fears one will never come into her small town.  One day her dream comes true.  She ends up starting a very unusual relationship with him.
Like I said I’m only part way through the book, but I can’t wait to see how it ends!  There is a tv series that starts this coming week that is based on the book.  The series is called True Blood, and it airs on HBO on sunday at 8pm (central).  I can guarantee you that I’ll be watching!

Now that I’ve read over what I’ve written here, I saw that what I’ve said seems almost like what you would see on the back cover of a book.  I think I’ll make a new post catogory here on EbN called Book Reviews.  When I read a book post what I think of it!

Last night I changed around some of the pages here on EbN.

1 – I created a new page called Online Pets.  I placed Dragon Cave as a sub-page under that.

2 – I also added the page Valenth (also as a sub-page to Online Pets), which is a site similar to DC, where you adopt eggs and they grow up based on how many clicks they get.  I’m new to Valenth, but it seems pretty cool.

3 – I changed the names of three pages:  Pictures, which used to be My Pictures, and I also changed it to be a sub-page under About Me;  DC Images, which used to be Dragon Cave 2, and is still a sub-page under DC;  and My Store, which used to be Zazzle Items (still has the same stuff, just a different name).

These changes are just to make the site a little easier to get around, and now that I have the site navigation on the top of the page I need to keep the “base pages” to a small number to keep it clean looking.