The Songbird Group

Chatterbox: In This Month's Issue

The Songbird Group

The Songbird Group

Hi Amethyst! 

*looks at forms*

Oh, we're both scared of spiders apparently! The big ones frighten me the most. There's just something about them that is really creepy crawly...for some reason I like other insects but not spiders.

And we both like the Chronicles of Narnia and Wonder! Those are all very, very good books. Which is your favorite book in the Narnia series? Mine is the Horse and His Boy. The interesting thing is when I first read Wonder, I didn't like it, but when I read it the second time, I loved it.

What kind of poetry do you like to write? I like to write rhyming poems with rhyme scheme, meter, and consistent syllable length.

submitted by Lyric, age Excluded, nowhere in particular
(May 10, 2023 - 7:19 pm)

 

*adds new comment instead of reply*

Yes, Kimchi was utterly adorable...I like how you used the phrase "had had enough of the world for a while"--for some reason the phrase just seems to fit really well. What was your guinea pig's name, if you don't mind me asking?

Lol the idea of a squirrel making a "No Trespassing" sign is making me giggle, especially thinking of a squirrel pounding it into the ground with a mallet. In my case, it would be the raccoons making it (which, now that I'm remembering it left some bones on the old playground slide in the backyard once...*shudders*). Or the peacocks. Or the cats, which insist that the backyard is theirs, not ours. Ah, yet another reason why humans shouldn't feed wildlife, unless the squirrels get the candy themselves.

My pile (the biggest one) is made of a sticker, papers, a recipe for pancakes I never finished writing down (unrelated, but do you like pancakes, waffles, both, or neither?) pen pal information, this year and last year's planners, an unfinished drawing, a quote that I didn't finish decorating yet...

It's nice to be able to write in a place where there aren't any interruptions. I can't focus if someone is looking over my shoulder and criticizing my work...

And even worse, what if the movie took out the part you liked best about your book??? There are already movies that take out the best part of another author's book, so I can't even imagine how horrible it would be if they took out the best part of your own book. I'm actually taking a screenwriting class next year, which is really exciting! :D

During a wildfire back in 2020, we actually got house plants as an attempt to get more oxygen and avoid the smoke...mine is the only one that's still alive, the other plants did not survive 3 years...(I named mine Anastasia, because I don't have any pets and plants are the next closest thing...or stuffed animals). 

Nice location! I love the sounds of names in Narnia too. The Calormene names all seem very exotic and innteresting, especially the spellings. I'm running out of locations so I think I'll read the rest of TSC which I flipped through briefly to find my current one... 

submitted by Lyric, age 14, City Ruinous
(July 3, 2023 - 4:09 pm)

*reply instead of add new comment* :/

No, I don't mind telling you :) Her name was Cookie. Somehow it suited her, although she didn't really look like a cookie (lol).

Aw the idea of a squirrel pounding the sign into the ground with a mallet is so funny ;D Either that, or we'll have to put a squirrel-sized trash can outside for them to leave their candy wrappers in. Leaving bones on a playground slide?!? Eek awful *joins in shuddering* Once Something (probably a fox) left some dead baby rabbits right on our doorstep... it was very sad :( There are some cats in my neighborhood who used to claim my garden as their own too, though actually I haven't seen any for a while.

I like BOTH. I have pancakes around every week, and I always have waffles when I visit my grandparents in Mexico, so waffles remind me of them :) What about you?

Frankly, I would hate anyone to be criticizing my work ever, and while I was actually writing it would be much worse... It would be absolutely dreadful if they took out the best part of a book of mine, I would probably refuse to let the movie be released. That sort of happened with the movie of Wonder - my favorite part is when they're all at the nature reserve, and although that part is put into the movie, the feeling of it isn't quite captured; anyhow, I don't think they give it enough importance. Although that movie is in general verrrryyyy good :) Ooh, a screenwriting class should be fun!

Naming plants is a great idea, actually :] I currently have an (unnamed) plant that's been around since around 2017 or something, and another plant that was supposed to die after it bloomed but actually lived and bloomed again a year later.

Btw, what sort of music do you like? (I'll go into more depth on my own personal music preferences in my next post, because I practically need a whole post just for them ;) )

submitted by Amethyst, Anvard
(July 10, 2023 - 3:28 pm)

Oh no, I'm sorry...when I started a new comment instead of a reply, did you not want me to? (I saw the ":/" you wrote in your last post and worried about what it meant...)

Cookie is a great name! Kimchi didn't look like kimchi either, so we made her middle name tofu instead which she looked like more than kimchi.

Eee a squirrel-sized trashcan is absolutely adorable!!! (although the squirrels probably wouldn't use it lol). Dead baby rabbits??? That's horrible. There are no foxes where we live, just coyotes, black bears, bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, and variou other animals. 

I have pancakes about every week too, but rarely waffles for some reason (it used to be the opposite several years ago: always waffles and never pancakes--I wonder what changed...) I can't decide which is better because they are both nice in their own way, have their own unique texture, visual appeal, etc.

I saw someone once who was criticizing anoter person while they were writing, but I was too shy to ask them to leave the person writing alone :( I am very shy irl and would not be talking very much at all if the CB was in person...

I would probably hold back the copyright of the book so nobody could make it into a movie OR refuse its release (like you said). I agree that the nature reserve part wasn't really captured...it was better in the book. My favorite part of the book was Summer's part for reasons I already explained, but they took most of that out probably because there wasn't space in the movie.

Besides Anastasia (who is an vermillion colored anthurium), I have a crepe myrtle called Rachel who is becoming too big to keep inside the house because she's literally a tree and about 2.5 feet tall. Before I had a flowering weed called Eleanor (not sure why I decided on a weed, but the flower is exceptionally pretty for a weed, and the plant was easy to keep).

I like classical music (mainly in the Romantic period), musicals, and catchy, simple little tunes--classical because I play it on the piano and so have more appreciation for it and also because a good piece can be so beautifully poignant that I forgot everything else and just freeze in place. And musicals--I love how the music and the lyrics tell a story and convey emotions, and it's astonishingly similar to poetry. I also love singing the music because it seems to require more vocal energy than other genres of music and is just...fun to sing (skipping over any cursing, of course) My favorite musicals are Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked. 

submitted by Lyric, age Excluded, Harfang
(July 14, 2023 - 2:59 pm)

Oh, no, don't worry! The ":/" was because really I should have started a new comment myself, so the comments don't get too thin, but I couldn't be bothered ;)

Tofu is also such an adorable name! I actually have a whole list of names - primarily for guinea pigs, but they could also be used for hamsters or rabbits or Small Rodents In General - such as Othello and Goodiva (which is a brand of chocolate).

You have mountain lions and bobcats?!?!?!? I'm hoping not too close to where you live... I've always thought that mountain lions and animals like that are beautiful, though, sort of in the way wolves are beautiful - sort of majestic and powerful.

Actually, I'm slightly shy irl too, so I sympathize. But, of course, on the CB it's very easy not to be shy and to "talk" a lot :)

Ooh I love those names for plants! Eleanor seems to suit a flowering weed, somehow :) And weeds can be pretty sometimes, at least in my experience; thistles have lovely flowers, and there are quite a few plants in my garden which we thought were weeds (and possibly are) but ended up being pardoned and allowed to stay in the yard because of their flowers.

In general classical isn't my favorite genre of music, but in some cases it is lovely. I actually haven't heard that many songs from musicals, but what I have heard is nice... sort of like music from movies. Ah, I've heard of Wicked, and I think I've actually heard one song from it, which was definitely powerful and breathtaking, so I'd probably like the rest of the music from it too :) For other taste in music, I really like a huge variety of things; old country music is nice (though I don't like modern country so much), and I also love some traditional music from around the world, folk music from the US, and Celtic music. Really I just like any random song that appeals to me ;) Theoretically I don't like metal, but there are even a couple of "melodic metal" songs that I rather like; and I also love some Chinese music, and practically any music that has a certain type of guitar music. Some of my favorites are probably "Behet Ghol Midam" by Mohsen Yeganeh, and "Perfect Love" by Trisha Yearwood, and some of Martina McBride's songs, and "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me" by Rosanne Cash, but I have tons of other favorites too :)

submitted by Amethyst, Beaversdam
(July 19, 2023 - 8:04 pm)

You have a list of guinea pig/small rodent names?! That sounds wonderful and very useful! I'm terrible at thining of names for some reason...

The mountain lions and bobcats are pretty close since I live very near the mountains, but they're not TOO close and I've never seen them before. I have seen coyotes, a baby black bear, an opposum, and several deer, however. I've never actually seen a wolf but I think I know what you mean by "majestic and powerful."

I actually just looked Eleanor up in Wikipedia (she's an oxalis pes-caprae), and apparently she's not a weed, but sometimes an intrusive plant, and her name is spelled differently then I had thought. I named her Eleanor because I thought oxalis started with an e instead of an o for some reason, and I wanted to have some alliteration...oh well for that. Thistles have flowers? *looks up on Wikipedia again* Oh, apparently they do, but I don't think we have thistles in our front/back yards; I would have seen them.

Some kinds of classical music (like Baroque) tend to be more slow and repetitive then others, with less crescendo, so it's not really my favorite either...that's why I said I liked the ones in the Romantic Period, which are more dramatic and interesting than the Baroque Period ones. Wicked in general has a lot of catchy, lighthearted sounding songs, but there are two songs that are very breathtaking, like you said: Defy Gravity and No Good Deed. I've never actually heard any old country music because I mostly listen to what my mom listens to, which is mostly classical and musicals/movie music, plus various cultural music like Mongolian, Hawaiian, etc, and I've never actually tried anything outside of that...maybe I'll branch out and try listening to some country music.

Oh dear, I'm starting to run out of Narnia locations...I don't remember if I've already done the one I currently have before... 

submitted by Lyric, age Excluded, Aslan's How
(July 26, 2023 - 1:10 pm)

Aw, a baby black bear? That must have been cute :) Assuming its mother wasn't around, of course, hehe... I've seen deer sometimes too, though not that often, and I've only seen stags once or twice. Deer are lovely animals too, I think - they look so sweet and delicate.

Oxalis actually sounds beautiful, for some reason, sort of like a type of jewel or precious stone. I don't have thistles in my garden either (luckily; imagine trying to weed them with all their thorns!!!), but I've seen them when they're flowering. Thank goodness part of them is pretty at least, or they'd be completely awful. Speaking of thorns, did you know that blackberry plants have thorns too?

I don't think I've heard that much Romantic Period classical music. In general, I find classical music good for providing background music to scenes in my imagination; good classical often has a certain feeling of its own. And ooh, I'll try those songs from Wicked :D I've heard some Mongolian music myself, actually. It's amazing how some traditional Mongolian instruments sound exactly like horses whinnying or running. I think a lot of traditional music actually adapts itself to the sounds of the place it comes from: if the people who make it are always listening to goats, or running water, or wolves, or whatever, then their music probably naturally adapts itself to those sounds. At least, I've heard some traditional music which sounds a bit like the sounds that their inventors would probably have been listening to.

For Narnia locations, there are a lot of good place names in TheVoftheDT; Dragon Island, Ramandu's Island, Bernstead, etc., if you need more. Or you could always just do "a patch of grass in Narnia" the way you suggested XD

Eek I can't believe it's almost August!! What have you been doing over the summer (if you want to share, ofc)? I've mostly been just rEsTiNg and enjoying being able to do nothing :) And reading and writing, naturally.

submitted by Amethyst, Terebinthia (Lone Island)
(July 31, 2023 - 9:00 pm)

The baby black bear was cute. (When I saw it, it was climbing up a tree in the backyard of a house that was being remodeled, and probably startling the workers who were there lol). I didn't see the mother, and no one could find the baby bear afterward when they called the animal control. Ooh yes, deer are lovely, as well as graceful. It makes me sad sometimes that some people hunt them :(

Blackberry plants have thorns? I've never actually seen them in real life so I didn't know. I wonder if thistles are the kind of weed that comes out of the ground easily, or if it's the type where you pull with all your strength and then only part of it comes off *sighs*

I agree, classical music really helps with that. Or, just instrumental music. Lately I've been listening to instrumental Studio Ghibli on piano. It's very calming :D Hm, that's an interesting theory. I can't actually remember what Mongolin music sounds like right now because I have a song stuck in my head. For some reason it's hard for me to think about any other music when there's a song stuck in my head.

Good suggestion! There are a lot of locations in that book...so many that it's hard to decide

Ahhhh you're right, where has summer gone??? I've been writing a ski lodge (I just got guessed), journaling, learning how to knit (do you like to knit...?), going through two summer workbooks, and volunteering at various places.

This is not related to anything we're talking about, but I think you did a wonderful job on the MCU! I thought the AE commentary was really funny and well-thought of. :D

submitted by Lyric, age Excluded, Avra, a Lone Island
(August 8, 2023 - 5:58 pm)

Yeah, I would imagine it would be quite a surprise to be working on construction and suddenly see a bear cub XD And I know, I can't imagine how anyone could hunt deer :( I think in general you do need a permit for it, though, which hopefully makes it less common.

I sometimes like weeding WHEN the plants come up easily... when only a part will come off it's so iRrItAtInG. My Fascinating Plant Fact of the Week is that bougainvillea plants (they have the most beautiful pink flowers) have thorns!! I've seen them in real life, because I've been to Mexico where they grow in abundance, but somehow I never noticed that.

Ack yes from time to time I get a song stuck in my head, and then it goes around and around inside my head until I get myself started on some other song... Generally when I've got a very sticky song in my head, I try listening to some other music (if it's too irritating, ofc; sometimes it's actually quite nice to be listening to the same song on repeat for a while).

Yeah, I saw that you were Illusion :) Btw, your ski lodge looks so interesting and fun. I've been trying to keep some sort of a journal too, but currently I'm very behind on what we've been doing (still frantically trying to write about what happened last week). No, I don't actually know how to knit, though I'd like to learn; I do know how to crochet, though, which I enjoy a lot. I've also been going to parks, participating in a few local activities, reading reading reading, writing writing writing, and doing some calligraphy...

Ah, thanks sm :) It was so much fun; I really enjoy doing funny commentary. I actually thought of most of the commentary a while ago, to be said by some of my other characters, but it fitted quite well for my AEs ;D

submitted by Amethyst, Ettinsmoor
(August 13, 2023 - 1:21 pm)

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad if deer were hunted for survival, but since as far as I know no one does that anymore, they're probably just hunted to be used as decoration :( I don't think it's worth it to take the life of a deer just to be mounted on the wall and have an eerie this-used-to-be-alive-and-now-isn't feel, which creeps me out.

Ooh yes weeding is fun when weeds actually  come out. It feels rewarding in a way. But when they don't come out, that's a whole different matter. We actually have bougainvillea in our front yard, and thankfully I've never been pricked. The bougainvillea needs a lot of fertilizer before it will bloom, and if we don't prune it it grows one long stem sticking out in the air and looks very untitdy lol.

You get songs stuck in your head too?! I almost always have something stuck in my head that makes it hard for me to concentrate on anything.

Tysm! I've been working on my ski lodge for several months now. One of the hardest aspect besides the plot is preplanning which parts will be told from which person's perspective, believe it or not. I've redone that countless times by now, and will probably redo it countless more times. *sighs*

By journal I meant more of a planner that is more of a visual journal than a planner, although planner sounds less accurate to me than journal, because I don't use it to plan anything really. I have a diary that I am *checks* ...a month behind. I mainly use it to record my feelings, because I've learned that if I record everything that happened every day then I bore myself. I'm thinking of learning to crochet once I've learned how to knit. Oh, and I do a little calligraphy as well, in my planner-that-is-not-really-a-planner. 

submitted by Lyric, Deathwater
(August 20, 2023 - 4:34 pm)

You have bougainvillea in your yard? Wow, you're so lucky :) I love the way it looks. And yes, I definitely get songs stuck in my head, unfortunately. It's amazing how one song can just go around and around and around in your head forever... It's sort of like hiccups XD

Oh yes, I agree; it's always difficult to balance the parts fairly. I've done a couple of solo writes, and I've had difficulties with that too. One way is to just have each character tell one entire part, but that limits the number of parts to some extent. *shakes head over the difficulties of ski lodges and solo writes*

Ooh, the planner/visual jounal sounds really nice! Maybe I should try something like that too... In my diary, I tend to write about the more major things that have happened, as well as sometimes just letting out my feelings; I also have about three million small notebooks (well, not quite, but probably way too many :| ) for jotting down ideas, making lists, and multiple other things. And wow, you've been doing calligraphy too!! I love writing in calligraphy, but lately I've started getting interested in knotwork designs, which are surprisingly easy to do and also end up looking lovely :)

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? It's a question I ponder from time to time, though I'm never able to pick just one place... I would love to visit Portugal, or Spain, or Italy, or really any of those places in Europe; but I'd also like to see the African grasslands, and theoretically (very theoretically) Antarctica, just because it's so completely different from anywhere else. In reality I wouldn't actually want to go there, because it's way too cold and far away and probably not that nice to visit, but in theory I feel it would be interesting to see it. Anyway, what about you?

submitted by Amethyst, Ramandu's Island
(August 25, 2023 - 6:38 pm)

Eep, sorry for taking longer than usual to reply!! School's started so I've been busy.

Yes, I have bougainvillea in my yard. I think it's really pretty and looks a bit like pink leaves at first, lol.

Wait, did you say a couple of solo writes? I think I only saw one that was written by you--I think it was the Middle-earth solo write (which I'm going to read now that I fished through the Inkwell and found it). I haven't done any solo writes or RPs yet, because I'm nervous that what happened to my written picturing thread will happen to the solo write/RP. 

Aghhhh I also have too many notebooks, as well as notebooks that have barely been written in and too many pencils that I doubt I'll ever finish using. I wonder when I'll actually get around to using them lol. What are knotwork designs? I've never heard of them, but they sound intriguing.

That's a hard question. I'd probably want to go to a field of wildflowers in the middle of the wilderness where there's nobody at all (if such places exist...I hope civilization hasn't taken the over :(   ), as long as I could get back without becoming severely lost. I'd also be interested in visiting places in Europe. Oh yes, Antarctica would be definitely very different, but yes I agree that it's probably freezing cold (quite literally) and I prefer warmer weather.

And lastly very random but captcha says <ibike> which is really exciting because it rarely says anything that is even vaguely interpretable!!! 

submitted by Lyric, Dragon Island
(September 4, 2023 - 6:44 pm)

Yeah, school has made me pretty busy too :/

Yes, I said a couple of solo writes :) Aside from the Middle-Earth one, I'm also writing the one by Lilacgold. And I've been one or two other solo writers... Every once in a while I decide that it would be fun to do another one, though it's really amazingly time-consuming, and it's difficult to get the parts out without too much time in between them. And yes, it's a constant worry that your readers will lose interest, but oh well. I actually had an idea for an RP that I haven't had time to really develop yet... something about magical wolves? Maybe, if you have time, we could work on it together? Only an idea, though, don't feel pressured :)

Knotwork designs are incredibly complex-looking patterns created by drawing lines that weave together into different designs. One of these days I'd love to post some of them on the Art Posting, but for now I hope you get the picture. I'd seen them before, but like you I never knew what they were until I read that book. It's amazing how complicated they look, but how simple it is to draw them.

*shiver* Warmer weather has very definite assets. A field of wildflowers sounds like the perfect place in many respects... quiet, secluded, and pEaCeFuL. Yeah, I hope such places remain; at least, I'm fairly sure there would still be some in Mongolia, but again there's the question of climate.

Yay!! ibike! A wise saying... captcha, are you trying to say that you're a bicycle? The trouble with captchas is that even when they say understandable things, they're still entirely ununderstandable :/ My captcha, Origami, isn't even trying to making herself understandable: her only remark is <cwevv>...

submitted by Amethyst, Arsheesh's hut
(September 6, 2023 - 8:42 pm)

I literally just found out that you were Idyrn...which really, really, really surprised me, because I got confused by the fact that you joined your own solo write (yeah...again, I also thought the same thing about your Middle-Earth solo write lol). Hm, magical wolves sounds interesting. I can work on it a little with you (not a LOT though, because I don't have the time for a really big commitment, but I can help a tiddle bit). What type of magic would it be? Forest magic? (Do Wolves live in forests? I don't know much about them.) Maybe there can be evil wolves called Shadow Wolves because their fur is black and so they camoflauge into the shadows. I don't know, just a few suggestions. (If you already have a developed idea for this you can ignore them).

Hm, I'll check out knotwork designs someday. The description reminds me of zentangles, which are drawn to help people relax while drawing them. Maybe I'll post some zentangles that I drew here (if you don't mind that there are clock times in the background, because I usually draw them in my planner journal thingy).

I bike or I'm a bike??? Oh dear, if my captcha turns out to be a bike I don't know what I'll put in the appearance if I sign her up for a ski lodge or something. She actually gave herself a name "Nya" and also xe/xer pronouns which I don't know how to use so I'm just gonna go with she/her. Now she's saying <tgxcd> Tag cd? That's the second time she's said something around those lines. (she also told me to <botag> tag bo, a while ago in the Tag Game, but there isn't a CBer called Bo) Yeah, sorry...can't tag a CD.

 

submitted by Lyric, age Excluded, nowhere in particular
(September 14, 2023 - 9:22 pm)

*actually clicks add new comment for once yayyyy ;D*

Yes, I've found that joining your own solo write is a very good strategy for confusing people as to who you are ;) Besides, I wanted to go ahead and start writing the Guardians solo write, and so I just submitted some charries of my own to speed things up. Ooh, I love those ideas for the wolf RP! I've been having trouble thinking up who could be the antagonists, and Shadow Wolves would be great. Maybe they're seen as normal (magical, ofc, but not evil) wolves by the other wolves, but really they're conspiring to take down the other packs? *starts having too many good ideas and runs off to write them all down and decide that they're not really so good after all* And yeah, I like the idea of Forest Wolves. Also Ice Wolves, I was thinking - wolves who live in snowy northern lands.

I'd love seeing some of your zentangles!! I have nothing against clock times, so don't worry :) I think I've seen some zentangles on the Art Posting thread, and they look really nice.

Oh dear, a bike?!? Dear Nya, couldn't you think up something a bit more imaginative? My own captchas had no say in what they were; I decided they were going to be hedgehogs, so that was that. (One of them is called Fifa, and for a while I had fond hopes that she'd someday say <ififa> [I'm Fifa], but she never did.) Nya seems to have very strong opinions on who you should tag... Origami is presently saying <ewucy>, which I don't understand very well. <Ew, yucky>? What on earth is disturbing you so much, Origami?

submitted by Amethyst, Avra (Lone Island)
(September 17, 2023 - 8:04 pm)

Oh dear, I forgot a Narnia location last time. Whoopsies. But yayyyyy new comment!!! *celebrates with you*

Ooh, Ice Wolves....I seem to have forgotten that there are also artic wolves (unless they're artic foxes...I really do not know anything about wolves :O). I think some arctic animals can also camoflauge in the snow, so maybe the shadow wolves would need a different magical ability, hm. I like your "conspiring to take down the other packs" idea. Perhaps the Shadow Wolves were judged in the past by the other wolves for having darker tendencies than the others and the Shadow Wolves never forgave them, and the ultimate ending of the story is that all the different packs of wolves learn to accept each other as they are, instead of seeing how they're different and rejecting those wolves. I feel like that would bring more depth to the story, and some internal conflict.

Here's the first zentangle! (with the clock times in the background, lol). I tried to put it on the Art Posting thread before, but it didn't work. Hopefully this one works *crosses fingers, because for some reason I just like doing that a lot* I'd be interested if you wanted to post a knotwork design here, but if you don't, that's fine too :)

Oh, your captchas are hedgehogs? That's so cute :D Is Origami a hedgehog, too? For some reason I imagine Origami to be a pink paper crane. Some of the more recent captchas (the ones were they tell you to select all the images that have a motorcycle in them) take a rEaLlY long time--no offense to the captchas on CB who are related to them lol. 

 

 

 

 

Mandala Screenshot 2023-04-02 at 4.23.09 PM.png
submitted by Lyric, on the Dawn Treader
(September 22, 2023 - 6:45 pm)