Google Translate Ruins Shakespeare Sonnet

Hey there, In the age of a global house arrest, one watches lots of YouTube and Netflix as is the new customary worldwide pastime.

I binged an endless stream of videos and the thing I laughed loudest at, is this bizarre game by Markiplier and Ethan in their series Unus Annus titled:

We Played Mad Libs And Ran It Through Google Translate

I don't know why, but it tickled some part of my brain that must be very witty because it was read as a story turned into a joke by translation and shifts of subtle innuendos. 

I enjoyed it so much that I shall repeat the experiment Mark and Ethan of Unus Annus have done, using Google Translate, then I also saw on Graham Norton's show, that Dame Judi Dench is currently going through all 154 sonnets by Shakespeare, as Graham casually called the Dame to ask her during a mock Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show over video chat.

The Best Lockdown Moments Of Season 27 On The Graham Norton Show | Part One

He also later mentioned this to Sir Patrick Stewart, who is also reading the sonnets.

Inspired by the Dame and Sir, I've decided to use Sonnets and allow technology to butcher these with its poetic algorithms.

Original Sonnet 138

When my love swears that she is made of truth

I do believe her, though I know she lies,

That she might think me some untutor’d youth,

Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties.

Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

Although she knows my days are past the best,

Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:

On both sides thus is simple truth suppress’d.

But wherefore says she not she is unjust?

And wherefore say not I that I am old?

O, love’s best habit is in seeming trust,

And age in love loves not to have years told:

Therefore I lie with her and she with me,

And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be.

Google Translate into Malay:

Sonnet 138

Apabila cintaku bersumpah bahawa dia dibuat kebenaran

Saya percaya, walaupun saya tahu dia berbohong,

Agar dia menganggap saya pemuda yang tidak baik,

Tidak berpengalaman dalam kehalusan palsu dunia.

Dengan sia-sia berfikir bahawa dia menganggap saya muda,

Walaupun dia tahu hari-hariku sudah melewati yang terbaik,

Cukup saya memuji lidahnya yang salah:

Oleh itu, kedua-dua pihak adalah kebenaran yang sederhana.

Tetapi mengapa dia mengatakan bahawa dia tidak adil?

Dan mengapa tidak mengatakan bahawa saya sudah tua?

O, kebiasaan terbaik cinta adalah dalam kepercayaan,

Dan usia cinta suka tidak bertahun-tahun memberitahu:

Oleh itu saya berbohong dengannya dan dia dengan saya,

Dan dalam kesalahan kita dengan pembohongan, kita akan menjadi sanjungan.

Google Translate into Mandarin:

十四行诗138 当我的爱发誓他说出了真理 我相信，即使我知道他在说谎， 为了让他认为我是一个糟糕的青年， 对世界的虚假微妙经验不足。 认为他认为我年轻时徒劳无功， 即使他知道我的日子过得最好， 我足以称赞他的错舌： 因此，双方都是谦虚的真理。 但是为什么他说他不公平呢？ 为什么不说我老了？ 哦，爱的最佳习惯是信任， 爱的年龄不等于岁月： 所以我对他撒谎，他对我撒谎， 而在我们谎言的错误中，我们会受宠若惊

Google Translate into Maori:

Sonnet 138
Ka oati taku aroha he pono tana korero
Ki taku whakapono ahakoa i mohio au he teka ia,
Kia whakaaro ai ia he tamarikitanga kino ahau,
Te ngoikoretanga o nga wheako o nga tinihanga teka o te ao.
Whakaarohia i whakaaro ia he horihori ahau i taku taiohitanga,
Ahakoa ka mohio ia ko taku koiora te pai,
Ka taea e ahau te whakamoemiti ki a ia mo tona arero he:
No reira, ko nga taha e rua he pono pono.
Engari he aha ia i kii ai he he tana?
He aha koe ka ki atu kua koroheke ahau?
Aue, ko te maatauranga pai o te aroha ko te whakawhirinaki.
Ko te tau o te aroha kaore e rite ki nga tau:
Na ka teka ahau ki a ia, ka teka ki ahau:
Ana ki nga he o a maatau korero teka, ka patipati tatou.

Google Translate into Hindi:

गाथा १३ Son मेरा प्रेम शपथ लेता है कि उनका कथन सत्य है मेरा मानना ​​है कि भले ही मुझे पता था कि वह झूठ था, कि वह मुझे दुष्ट पीढ़ी समझे; दुनिया के झूठे धोखेबाजों के अनुभवों की कमजोरी मान लीजिए उसने सोचा कि मैं अपनी युवावस्था में बेकार था, हालांकि वह जानता है कि मेरा जीवन अच्छा है, मैं उनकी गलत जीभ के लिए उनकी प्रशंसा कर सकता हूं: इसलिए, दोनों पक्ष सत्य हैं। लेकिन उसने यह क्यों कहा कि वह गलत था? आप क्यों कहते हैं कि मैं बूढ़ा हो गया हूं? ओह, प्यार की सबसे अच्छी समझ विश्वास है। प्यार की उम्र साल के समान नहीं है: इसलिए मैंने उससे झूठ बोला और मुझसे झूठ बोला। हमारे झूठ की त्रुटियों के लिए, हम सराहना करेंगे।

Google Translate into Spanish:

Sonnet 13 Hijo

Mi amor jura que su afirmación es cierta

Creo que aunque sabía que era mentira

Para que me considere una generación malvada;

Debilidad de las experiencias de los falsos tramposos del mundo

Supongamos que pensara que yo no valía nada en mi juventud,

Aunque sepa que mi vida es buena,

Puedo alabarlo por su lengua equivocada:

Por lo tanto, ambos lados son ciertos.

Pero, ¿por qué dijo que estaba equivocado?

¿Por qué dices que soy viejo?

Oh, la mejor comprensión del amor es la fe.

La edad del amor no es lo mismo que la edad:

Así que le mentí y me mentí.

Por los errores de nuestras mentiras, lo agradeceremos.

Google Translate into Arabic:

حبي يقسم بيانك صحيح

أعتقد أنه رغم علمي أنها كانت كذبة

ليعتبرني جيلا شريرا.

ضعف تجارب الغش المزيف في العالم

لنفترض أنه اعتقد أنني لا قيمة لي في شبابي ،

على الرغم من أنني أعلم أن حياتي جيدة

أستطيع أن أمدحه على لسانه الخاطئ:

لذلك ، كلا الجانبين صحيح.

لكن لماذا قال إنه كان مخطئا؟

لماذا تقول انني كبير في السن؟

أوه ، أفضل فهم للحب هو الإيمان.

عمر الحب ليس مثل العمر:

لذلك كذبت عليه وكذبت على نفسي.

على أخطاء أكاذيبنا ، سنقدرها.

Final Google Cross-Translated Sonnet 138

Sonnet 13 Jr
My love swears your statement is true
I think even though I knew it was a lie
To consider me an evil generation.
Weak fake fraud experiences in the world
Suppose he thought I had no value in my youth,
Although I know my life is good
I can praise him for his wrong tongue:
Therefore, both sides are correct.
But why did he say he was wrong?
Why do you say that I am old?
Oh, the best understanding of love is faith.
The age of love is not the same as age:
So I lied to him and lied to myself.
For the errors of our lies, we will appreciate them.

Original Sonnet 138

When my love swears that she is made of truth

I do believe her, though I know she lies,

That she might think me some untutor’d youth,

Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties.

Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

Although she knows my days are past the best,

Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:

On both sides thus is simple truth suppress’d.

But wherefore says she not she is unjust?

And wherefore say not I that I am old?

O, love’s best habit is in seeming trust,

And age in love loves not to have years told:

Therefore I lie with her and she with me,

And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be.

Reading the final version of the sonnet somehow made it feel like Google is having a midlife crisis. "Why do you say that I am old?" felt very passive-aggressive there. It is interesting to see the result of Shakespeare lost in translation across 6 languages. Fun experiment to try.

Journal Therapy: Hero Of My Story

Mood: Afraid 
Location: Sydney

Rationale: I've been watching a docu-series on Netflix - Myths & Monsters which discussed the pattern of stories throughout human history. This got me to thinking about how I could use this plotline to influence my subconscious and navigating my 'mindgarden'.

If the purpose of my journal therapy is to create a more orderly, positive landscape within, what better way than to overlay a heroic story for myself, combining my love for creative writing with the emotional need for a relatable storyline. So I shall begin...

---

PART 1: A STORM IS COMING

Once upon a time, there was a young boy, and we use the term 'boy' loosely, as sometimes, he would prefer to be a 'she', not a woman or a girl,  but a more effeminate form of himself, with a large range of states in between. Suddenly conscious of sitting on a stump in the middle of a wide field, a single street lamp shone down from above. 

The landscape was dark, the sky above cloudy like a storm was about to arrive, but it seems to have always been like this. Instinct nudged against his mind, a soft alarm to find shelter, a safe space where there would be peace and comfort. 

Despite not wanting to leave this familiar spot, There was a fluttering of shadows that he thought must be his friends. They were black ravens, diving sharply from above and right past him. 

He cried "Wait! don't leave me alone!", but deaf to his words, they flew onward into the pitch black sky, melting as if they were the same essence of the gloom ahead, leaving him to run in his slow, sluggish footsteps. 

In the silent dark, not being able to catch up, it began to feel truly lonely, quiet tears streamed down his face, each drop marked the heavy expression on his face. He had walked so far that his sitting stump was no longer visible. He decided there was no choice but to move ahead, tucking his hair  behind his ears in the blowing winds.

He came upon wild brambles that had strange whispering plants. A wet sheen covered the leaves, reflecting his own blurry image that he realised he had never seen before. What did he actually even look like? He stopped to smell some roses that he liked a lot, he named them and decided they were his sisters. He asked them why was he lost, but each gave him a different reason from their limited understanding. They spoke lovely words and comforted him, but he knew they had not given a true answer as none of them resonated with him. Walking slowly and cautiously, there were also thorns that hurt his feet as he made the journey towards the garden. Again he wanted to stop but had nowhere to rest. A scary lightning snake flashed through the clouds. It zig-zagged across the sky, forked tongue flicking in the quick winds, heralding the storm that was about to break.

He saw a humongous tree far away, towering over layers of growth, he couldn't separate the shadowy outlines of bush and hedges, but could only stumble painfully towards the general direction. He looked back and wondered how far he had journeyed from the beginning, and he wished for someone who could help him. Another lightning snake zapped out of the sky and struck a bush nearby, lighting it on fire. The flame danced and grew, turning into a sparkling form. Long straight tresses revealed a beautiful breath-taking face with an aura so powerful, she must be a goddess!

PART 2: LADY JEWEL

The bright aura was a purple nimbus, shimmering around her long sparkling hair and naked form. She looked at him and asked, "Why are you so sad my child?" 

He was afraid, in awe and yet, desperate for a friend. He shyly replied, "Can you help me? I think I'm very lost". She smiled, eyes large and hypnotic, made of embers that gave off no heat but brightened her surroundings. "Do not hold onto your fears, you are stronger than you know, your search will be blessed as it will also bring joy to others, so I will lend you my strength", she said as she held out her hand.

Afraid to be burnt, he crept slowly towards her, wanting to be like her so he could shine a light into the darkness, and bring joy to others so that maybe his friends would return, ending his solitude. He squinted his eyes and touched her flaming hands, the flames didn't burn but instead flowed over his skin and melded through him. The electric fire swallowed him as she and he became one. For the first time, he felt what must be Courage, warming the chilling grip of fear and loneliness. He glowed with an aura of different colours, letting him see more of the path ahead. He heard her voice within, telling him to continue on and not to give up.

Suddenly he floated above the thorny path and could see that the shadowy outlines resolve into a maze of hedges and bushes stretching much further than he first thought. The winds seem to push him ahead like a bubble caught in a breeze. Floating past the last bit of the field's edge, he arrived at the huge leafy wall of the hedge maze. The entrance was to the side, its opening guarded by three large statues, towering over him with a stony gaze that brought some of the dispelled fear back into his heart. Each guardian sent a fierce thought into his mind, challenging him, blocking his path until they deem him worthy to cross.

PART 3: THE GUARDIAN OF BODY

The first guardian statue had a large platform before him, the platform had numbers and an arrow that pointed at 0. When he stood on the platform, that arrow spun to a humongous number, indicating how cumbersome and heavy he was. The guardian said "Thou shalt not pass! you are not the ideal weight", then proceeded to show calculations of the correct size he should be for his current state of being. The guardian struck at his mind and from the impulse blossomed a sense of deep shame. An awareness of his shapeless wobbling form dawned upon him, causing him to suddenly expand and contract just as quickly. He tried running around the walls of the maze, stretching himself this way and that to become the correct shape, but he would always snap back in the wrong position, size and weight. 

With a sense of despair, he sat on the judging platform and stared at the large scary numbers, absently he plucked at a nearby fruit and started to chew, then to munch, later to binge on the entire fruit bush before stopping himself. The arrow on the platform swung up and up, numbers growing ever larger, making him panic though he just ate more in response. His mid-section soon bulging like rolls folding on top of each other.

---

...Will he ever get past the first guardian? tune in next time on my next Journal Therapy entry.

How To Plan & Grow Your Own Organic Veggie/Flowerbed Garden

Easy DIY Planting Guide For Your Home Garden

I remember my grandmother always having her own little herb garden in front of our house.

She didn't really teach me how to do it but I learned how to do it with YouTube gurus and occasional gardening books.

I read that Cinnamon, Honey, and powdered Aspirin are great rooting agents.

To start, I used a baking tray with cotton pads and some sterile potting soil, also wrapped seeds between paper towels and kept that in a sandwich bag. The last experiment was propagating coriander in water.

The best results were propagation in water and wet paper towel in a sandwich bag. I guess peat moss in a baking tray was exposed to microbes and mold, killing seeds before germination.

I went to the DIY shop to get some Peat Moss, which many sites rave as the best alternative. You can also try making your own with some of these recipes - https://balconygardenweb.com/homemade-seed-starting-mix-recipes/

Most supermarkets also carry herb seeds and garden flower seed.

Moving on, I needed to decide how to plant my flowerbed and where would I like my blooms to greet me every time I walk in and out of the house.

I got the blueprints of my home and recreated my real-life home in one of my all-time fav games - The Sims! it took some time but I managed a fully decorated sim simulated garden with cyber plant growth.

I wanted to be exact so I even included my home furniture to know how much space has already been used, and how much space was left for my garden design.

Real-life view of my outdoor lawn where I decided to put most of my DIY garden. You can see some tree "crutches" because trees get "Tree Shock" when they are uprooted and moved for replantation.


In the far back, you will see a greenhouse of netting, made for our own organic veggie farm. We grew spinach, cabbage, kailan, & bok choy.

That's it for now. I hope you guys will be inspired by this humble post and start your own garden.
It's not only good nutrition for your family, but it also reduces pollution as you don't need heavy transport to deliver these organic veggies to you.

Good luck & green thumbs up!

Moon Rabbitch

illustration by Royce Tan T.G. (The Great)

When the moon disappears from the sky, we know that it has been eaten.
Because on the moon, there lives a creature with long sock-like ears, huge padded feet, as cute as a bunny.
BUT, this adorable sack traps a dark soul and is called ... the RABBITCH
(*A terrifying creature created when a bunny voodoo doll was used to trap that spirit in The Ring's horror video... I digress, ehem.)

The Rabbitch is trapped on the Moon with no body and no food.
The Rabbitch is always hungry and she is always angry.
Angry enough to eat rocks; and she does.
Piece by piece, She eats the moon in 28 days.
Her bite marks are craters, her crumbs are comets.

The Rabbitch has done this over and over again for eons.
Perceivable only as the Moonshadow.
Every once in a while, she gets powerful enough to eat the sun, which they call a Solar Eclipse.
The Chinese characters for Lunar eclipse are = 月食Yuè shí

月= Moon

食= Food/Eat

When the moon is full you can see the Rabbitch'es shadow with a good telescope.

Over time humans have collected proof of her existence.

Now you know why the moon gets eaten every month.
Appreciate the Moonlight, before it is consumed anew.

Learn more about Japanese Moon Rabbit Legends on the WIKI : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit

Prompted Writing: Tell a story set in a place where the landscape reworks itself nightly.

Working Title: When All Was One

0.1. One. Many. Humongous. INFINITE.^1000

Our existence expanded from the smallest of pinprick of vibration into a massive cataclysm of exploding energy.

The blossom of energy thrust itself forward at the speed of light and left a stream called Time.

The next few seconds, we were One no longer, but disintegrated into many impossible divisions, with such force that we are still expanding as you are reading this.

In those first billion nights, our universe was but a swirling mess of  cross-elemental marriages between Protons and Electrons, turning us into unions called Hydrogen.

It was always night then, for we were the stars.
We had only the consciousness that we prefer to stick together than not, and so, clusters of our Hydrogens gathered and exploded in constant Hydrogen bombs (which was a form of copulation).

Each night was a dance of creation and destruction, and to us back then, each night was a billion years.
Then suddenly the dance...changed. We created unions called Helium, then more complex unions came from our reshuffling.

EONS.

We have mastered the dance of creation and destruction. We gathered in such masses, and with such closeness, that we were called the planets

Gigantic clouds that danced to destruction pressed against themselves so tightly that they tore through the stream of time, falling into a sucking black abyss.

Other Clouds danced to creation, releasing massive waves of energy which formed the light of our universe.

The most basic of our dances is called Gravity. The pulling together. We find similarity, direct and complimentary, and attempt to regather in the semblance of our past One-ness.

Warning: Over doing Gravity will cause everyone to trip on each other and implode into a Black Hole or fall outwards to trip on all surrounding Clouds and spill their essence as a Supernova.

Our Music is Electromagnetic, a system that governs our steps at every level, pushing, flowing, repelling...it compels our motion.

Finally, Our gathering was called Mass. clusters of us so tightly gripped that we formed a one...not quite the One we used to be, but at least partially fulfilling our desire to unite.

And there is one of our largest mass, a Galaxy, milky swirls of glitter parading down the streams of time.
Night was our state for we are the stars.
In our dance, the light shall ever blaze as the glory that was once One.

I WANT: To Be Adept in the Art of Writing.

I WANT: to be adept at writing.


I WANT: to start finish a fiction novel based on the drama of my family tree's history.


I WANT: to create sculptures of a very interesting material that can capture the imagination.


I WANT: to create lots of really good, self edited, hi quality videos, in a few buttons.


I WANT: to make how-to guides on specific ways to take advantage of the internet through piracy 'data-sharing'

Desires to Delay

I WANT: a world that has no such thing as a login, but we are all already constantly connected to the internet.


I DO: ?




This is my attempt at Strange writing.. it's not the flowery words of creative writing, it is meant to be an uncomfortable glance at my desires. It's the loud desire that carries a soft, sketchy description, to show how easy it is to WANT, but how few of us dare to visualise it. And only ? of us do it.

EloquenceAcademy.com

What Does It Mean To Be Different.

What Does It MeaN To Be DiffeRRent?

IT is suggesting Smoeihitng else.

In is giving the Odd One Out~'

And the twilly-toves. and the momeraths,~ Outgrabe.


What lies in the conscious minds

our memories doth it play. with silver spines and golden wines

How pretty a soft display.


I sha|| do this as an ode
to the oddest of arts/

The disconnects,
The monotones.
The chromium sound of google chrome.


In da Gadda Da Vida baby~

TG = Tiong Ghim = The Great

This is my Superego talking or perhaps I am brushing up against a Muse of inspiration.
I realize that the human population has just gone digital and the power of the internet to preserve our thoughts and ideas till almost forever puts me in awe.

In the context of time, I have to consider that in a few hundred years from now, someone might be collecting information on the idiosyncrasies of the 'old internet' and can still stumble across my blog long after I'm dead.

By then, Neo-english would be a complicated blend of digital references, but they will probably have advanced translators to interpret my words.

I have decided to add the initials T.G. to my name when I write because it signifies my heritage = Tiong Ghim.

It also signifies my aspiration to hopefully be amongst the ranks of The Greats.
You know, like:

Catherine The Great, Alexander The Great, Ashoka The Great... and more = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_known_as_The_Great

The price of that title is surely heavy though. I am scared of the commitment and sacrifice it takes to earn the title. Those who with the honorific were great conquerors or rulers.

Power & Influence are very seductive abilities. Being one of the greats requires one to earn and then maintain their reputation. Most have rewritten history in their favor, awarding themselves with the title.

There is a poetic beauty to be remembered as :Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, Sir Arthur Pendragon.
Each name and title paints a mythical figure of awe.

I desire such a legacy yet struggle with what that says about my ego.
Doing a good thing to be remembered and doing a good thing to feel good are 2 different intentions.


Perhaps I need to concentrate on being a great individual first and a great community member before I tackle Great legendary figure. Just...great...

My Secret Lair

I understand a lair to be this dark secret room where one might plot against the whole world or a particular superhero. I do not know if I will be sharing the ambitions of those who actually use lairs, but I definitely would like one.

The way secret lairs have been typically described, tend to be in poor and lousy conditions. Probably trying to link dirt to evil as god is to cleanliness. Yet I think a person who can devote all their time into a personal space that is furthermore kept a secret, would not allow it to fall to dusty disuse.

If I had a lair...

It would be underground, hidden next to a secret garden route to provide cover when I enter my secret base. The entrance shall have to be connected to several locations at the same time via Space wormhole technology. This is in case I feel like eating KFC and Pizza at the Same Time.

My secret lair has a stylish salon as the greeting hall in case someone accidentally drops into my lair from one of the constantly connected locations. This would also serve as the preparation room before entering the proper lair. This gives the reveal an extra dose of awesome.

You walk along the entrance of black mother pearl lined with intricate veins of gold in a graphic representation of goldfishes swimming. The skylight is visual programming to give the impression of night time in the rainforest falls. There are some digital spray mists for a realistic experience.

Your hands wave across an image that illustrates the Haiku of the day, and then Florence and The Machine plays so that you may contemplate the beautiful poetry, all whilst the circular black and gold image of earth that you are standing on begins to rotate into the next section of the wall. You are engulfed in the dark.

Mood lighting softly glows on the ceiling and the spray mists surround you again while rainforest birds serenade, and you do not realize that the mist is actually antibacterial spray. Just another amazingly smart idea of mine to avoid insulting other human beings. I highly recommend this method to all airline personnel that spray canned disinfectant at their customers whilst they are held captive in your cabin.

Back to my lair...

Like the crack of dawn, light creeps into your elevator and the scent of geranium, lavender and rose to accompany you as you step out of the elevator. A large pillar in the center is the first thing to catch your attention because it is a humongous aquarium of tropical fish, jellyfish and my sashimi reserve included.

The interior feels like you've entered into a movie set of a few fantastical locations. The kitchen has a central island that could accommodate a chef staff of 20, in case I need people to reheat my KFC. I bring your attention to the sides of the island have been redesigned into a tiki bar called The Island, and the concept of it is that there are mini people who live on my kitchen island as a real Island, like Hawaii for example. Therefore my alcohol bottles will be redesigned into a classy little bottle-shaped high-rise-huts. The little island alcoholics will live in them.

We both take out the bottles and begin drinking to get the little islanders inside, out. By the time we've got them out, we were so drunk that the health-bot I have lying around began attending to us, but you threw up on it and it malfunctioned. You blacked out and I have to leave you in KFC through my connected wormhole entrance that seals off as soon as I leave you there. There is a personalized Royce chocolate in your pocket to keep you from going hungry.

I continue to enjoy construction on my secret lair.
You wake up drunk in KFC. You want to post your experience up on facebook but you don't remember the details.

Ladies and gentlemen, THAT is how you keep your lair secret.

The End.

Narwhals vs Hammerheads

Why The Hammerheads Hate The Narwhals.

 ...King Neptune ruled the seven seas, he granted the sea creatures protection against the Two-Legs whom have left the dry lands and began destroying our oceans. The docile Jellyfish, received ribbons of poison; the Eels he gifted with lightning; the Octopus gained shape-shifting and many more creatures were blessed with new abilities. When it came to the last & most important gift, he asked his royal counsellor,Mana the Manatee leader.


King Neptune asked: "Who under the Surface deserves the horn of Pegasus?"

Mana replied: "Such power must rest with wisdom. We would take the burden."

Great White, leader of the Sharks greedily disagreed: "We should be the guardians. We swim faster and    our sharp teeth serves us well."

This argument went on as King Neptune thought of an idea. He decreed: "Let the horn be awarded to one who can remove a Two-Leg weapon by disarming them and bringing that object to me."

Each of the two tribes sent their leaders to seek this weapon. Mana knew Great White would follow her, she thought of a plan and swam to a Two-Leg she often saw by the Sargasso sea. Soon, she found the demon ferociously bashing what must be a weapon against the giant driftwood which they used to traverse the Surface and capture fish folk. Mana took care to disguise herself, seaweed placed over her head to resemble human hair, Mana crept to the shore where the Two-Leg they called Carpenter stood waist deep, smashing weapon against wood with terrible ferocity.

SPLASH!

Carpenter looked at Mana's tail and the strange human form beneath the waves. Dark flowing hair and ample hips swam away. He called after her: "Fair Mermaid, please grant me my wish!" and began to swim after Mana mistaking her for a real mermaid.

You see, there were times when the Two-Legs have captured our merfolk and demanded powers in exchange for our people's freedom. The infamous Two-Leg they called Aphrodite was one such monster, but this old Turtle will tell you that story some other day. Where was I? Oh yes, Mana saw Great White lurking behind rocks and swam towards him calling: "The Two-Leg is attacking me! He has a weapon!"

Great White was lightning fast. In a surface sparkle, the Two-Leg, Carpenter, had been attacked by Great White. Mana hurriedly swam to the giant driftwood and found the strange weapon, half driftwood and half ...silver rock. Mana wasted no time in rushing back to the king before Great White realized that he had been tricked.

In the castle, King Neptune inspected the odd item and looked carefully at the small but heavy two-headed end. He said: "This is surely not the craft of any Merman. Well done Mana, The horn of Pegasus shall be granted to thee and you shall henceforth be known as the Whales of Neptune, Nar-Whals as the ancients would say." He crowned the horn on Mana's forehead and each of her group sprouted the same horn.

Great White swam in, furious at the sight of Mana and her legion receiving the horn, He protested: "No! We were tricked, Your Majesty! Mana made me kill the Two-Leg."

Mana swam to Great White and lightly touched him with her new horn.

The truth came pouring out of his mouth unbidden: "I care not for defending our oceans, I want revenge for my finless brothers. I would gladly kill every single Two-Leg and would kill Mana now and You if it would assure my revenge."

 Upon hearing this, I remember King Neptune's dark face: "We shall not become like the bloodthirsty Two-Legs! The horn is a gift of truth & peace, not revenge. Great White, You who would kill your own king, you are hereby banished from the Kingdom of Sirenia and you are never to return again."

Great White fled the castle in embarrassment, vowing to kill each Two-Leg, Nar-Whal or Manatee he could find.

King Neptune raised the weapon, which Two-Legs called... a Hamma...no, no. A Hammer. That's it! King Neptune struck the Hammer down upon the rest of the shark soldiers. Their large heads became flat and they lost many of their sharp teeth. They were then called the Hammerheads, wearing the shameful form of a Two-Leg weapon wherever they swam.

They serve to remind us of the dangers above the Surface and the terrible power that Two-Legs wield. This is why they still swim in a unity of a school and the Great White's descendants choose to be lone hunters, abandoning peace and unity.

The Nar-Whals gaining more wisdom through the power of the horn, taught us that peace is more powerful than force. They retreated to the freezing arctic ocean where Two-Legs do not like to go.

 However, the tides bring warning of change now. Two-Legs have created Whale-sized driftwood, made from their hammer's head silver rock, even the arctic seas are not safe any longer. The Hammerheads still hate the Nar-Whals for assigning them such a fate, but both sides agree that they must dismiss their differences in the face of the greater Two-Leg threat.

That is enough of bedtime stories for now, young Prince Triton. Your father King Poseidon would be angry if you did not get your rest. This old turtle needs to rest too now. *yawns* The purity of the waters are not what they used to be you know."

The ancient sea turtle sighed once more and left Prince Triton to contemplate the fearful Two-Legs deep below the now polluted surface.

THE END.

Short Fiction: Girl of the Gale - Part 1

   

Girl Of The Gale

           The wind whipped her hair in the custard yellow light. Each buttercup blossom nodding its head back and forth. Green eyed and innocent, Aurai's face lit up as she took in the scent on the breeze. She took care not to step on any blossom for fear of damaging the delicate wild flowers. She sang:

"Are you going to Soveren Faire? Flowers bloom,~ Rosefairy and Tyme~" (sung in the tune of Scarborough Fair)

The breeze picked up.

"With song, this Spring, shall fly on the winds~ There was once a true love of mine.~" 

With that last verse the winds rushed past her dark hair and sent a whole field of pollenated seedlings into the air.

Like fairy dust, the seeds spun around her and flew across the hills towards the desert. She stared into the horizon, willing the seeds to take root in the Starving Lands. Calming her heart, she brought the winds back down to stillness.

She heard a rustle from a specific spot now, She turned to see someone hiding among the thrush. She was being watched.

"Come out! I know you're there, do not think you can conceal yourself and watch me! Pervert!"

In anger, she drew a circle at her feet and a small stirring of air spun itself into a fast funnel. Aurai opened up her palm and the funnel rushed into the direction of her spy, tossing dirt and dust in its path. The little tornado threw the person into sight. Aurai heard loud coughing, as if whoever it was swallowed a good amount of dust. The brown powder settled and the form of an old woman in worn out clothes raised her hand in defense.

"Please, kind Magess, do not harm poor old Vate, Vate means you no offense."

Aurai ran to help her in alarm, she had not thought it would be a weak old woman hiding by the river. It was usually the town boys whom tried to play pranks on her. Aurai lifted Vate's slender frame slowly, at a closer look, she noticed that this woman wasn't as old as she thought, simply emaciated from hunger.

"I am so sorry Vate, pardon my transgressions (she intoned formally in the Aniki tongue with a slight bow to her elder) Are you injured at all?" Aurai's face blushed with a rosy glow.

"It is alright, peace to the contrite (she replied in a different accent of the tongue). I should not have concealed my presence Magess, it is my fault. I simply did not want to disturb your ritual." She smiled a weak smile and tried to arrange her garments as best she could without looking into the river's reflection.

With another embarrassed smile, Aurai looked away and said: "Oh... this was not an actual Sidhe ritual. I...I've have simply been practicing you see. My mother is the town's Prima Magess and I am simply her apprentice." She did not want the traveller to know that she wind summoning without permission.

She quickly asked:

"Your accent and dressing are not familiar, Did elder Vate travel far from the west?" Aurai guided the older lady to a boulder nearby, it wasn't comfortable for sitting but it would have to do for then.

"Thank you Magess." Vate winced as she sat on the sharp rocks and Aurai quickly replied "Your gratitude is admired" (in the formal Aniki way) "Well Vate has traveled far from the borders of the Starving lands. This winter has robbed Vate's family of her food source......"

In that moment, her eyes became haunted and even more tired. Her body sagged like a rice bag and she held her wrist looking down to the ground.

"Vate has lost her son two weeks ago." she almost whispered. Her eyes welling up.

by *DominikaAniola

Aurai's heart was filled with sympathy when she heard this, and sat beside this lady in an attempt to comfort her. "I am so sorry for your tragedy Vate. Please tell me more and you do not have to use the Low Language with me." (Low Language is the way a commoner or one of lower rank would refer to themselves as the third person when speaking to one of higher rank)

" Va... I... I have nothing left to live for in the Shara, the last winter has brought the borders of the Starving lands into my village, Enlil, . Many have left in search of new living lands. My son Amun has been lost to the hunt... Another hunter thought him prey..." At this, she began to sniff and clenched her skirts to suppress her great sorrow.

Aurai touched her silver worked Magess necklace, a symbol of good luck and her station. She silently prayed for Amun's soul as such a tragic incident would surely not let his spirit rest. Aurai lightly patted Vate's arm to reassure her.

"The hunger in my village have driven my neighbours to petty robbery." She said that with a hint of anger. "They would not even let an old woman grieve in peace. That was when I decided that there is nothing left in Enlil for me anymore."

Staring at Vate's sunken cheeks and trembling arms, Aurai decided that she will at least give this woman shelter and a warm meal for throwing her into the air with such indignation.

"Elder Vate, please accept my invitation to rest in my home and share my meal. You shall stay with me and my mother until we find you a suitable living in my town, Soveren. Mother always says that the town could use more female energy."

Vate's eyes widened at such a generous offer and before she could motion to refuse, Aurai interrupted her: "I will not take a refusal as it is my payment for inflicting injury to your body. Please, it is the least I can do. I would be dishonoring the oath of the Magess Circle if I do not help someone in need."

Weakly, Vate let her hand fall down and thanked Aurai with a defeated nod. She was much too exhausted to put up an argument.

Aurai reached into her bag and took out her feathered Windchime. Like a large dandelion puff, it had a chamber inside that rattled noisily. Aurai threw it into the air and with a sharp gesture, a jet of air sent the Windchime spinning and rattling into the direction she pointed.

"That will notify my mother and the household of my return. Are you well enough to walk elder Vate? Let me get you some water."

As Aurai turned, taking out her flask to collect water from the river, Vate watched Aurai from behind. As the fiery red sunset fanned its dying light across the land, Vate held a glint in her eye but her face betrayed nothing of what lied beneath...

<END OF PART ONE>

Theories on the Spirit World and Ghosts

This was a reply to a fellow mystic whom discussed a few ideas about hauntings. As a psychically sensitive person who has lived in a haunted house before, I feel that my personal experience on the matter is relevant and based on careful thought :Royce Tan

Hey, Thank you for the reply. I too have lived in a haunted house with a few family members. My observation is similar to yours, true hauntings rarely cause harm to the ones who experienced it.

The thing I question is, Why do only specific individuals experience the hauntings personally and almost never on an equal scale. Meaning that if the spirit were a single purposeful entity trying to communicate with us via exerting equal spiritual force on all living souls within the vicinity, should we not all receive equal amounts of it's energies and therefore experience the same thing?

In simpler terms = if a singer stood in front of us, singing for us, would we not all hear the same song? yet spiritual experience is always individual and unique, some smelling things, hearing things, seeing things. Different experiences within the same haunted location. This further supports my theory that the area has a Dimension/space-time anomaly, that leads us to perceive different strange things in very individualized ways.

The individualized ways such as hearing, seeing and feeling are again indicative that it isnt' the Singer (spirit) with the intention of communication, but the Listener (the haunted) that has the subconscious intention to 'hear' the transposed and dislocated Sounds (ghostly experiences) recorded in that space.

I am still unsure if the land is 'recording' these energies or if the land simply has a weaker boundary between different Times, allowing us to sense past or future Living people in the same location yet physically in a different time.

I've always wondered how come mediums can connect to a person from the past in the present yet have their timelines run parallel. I'm a psychic precognitive dreamer (I dream of the future) so I always saw it as connecting to my future self. Ghosts to me are leftover energies of the past because I think the original bulk of the soul & energies have moved on. This for me explains why ghosts fade in and out, they seem to be stuck on repeat and bound to certain geographical locations. It's like leaving a recording of your soul upon the land which acts as a giant recorder. You hear the sounds and occasionally see the video replay but the actual person is already gone.For me these vibrations that are picked up, are not so much significant of the 'ghosts' intentions but rather, your mind is attuned to that particular energy and that's why you pick it up.perhaps the message of the spirits is dependent on your 'mental channel' It;s like when you tune into a certain radio channel. It's not so much what the radio is trying to tell you,the radio station is going to keep playing with or without you, but rather, what your mental receiver is trying to listen to. With this, I think you have a very direct link to your subconscious and your senses are actually indicative of what Your subconscious intentions are, rather than the spirits.

I formulated this whole idea because if the Spirit world does exist as an unseen dimension side by side with ours, then it must be bound by certain laws of physics as well. Energies cannot be created or destroyed, simply transmuted into another form. The resulting conversion of such energies are usually able to be observed.

Yet, we assume that when we die, part of our energies gets turned into a 'Spirit" which is usually undetectable within the physical dimension, yet able to exert force and presence once in a while. This idea is weak to me because the transmuted energies disappear and then reappear only during a haunting. Where is the potential energy stored in between that? Energy for the most part is visible when active as fire, light, electric. When it is dormant like tension, chemical and potential energies, they need to be stored in something physical ; like a spring coil, food or ball at the top of a slide.

Spirits would need to have the power to store energy in nothing or perhaps another dimension, then the power to transmute that energy out of nothing and over to our dimension or directly into our perceptions. If a Soul is only one third of a Full human (Body + Mind & Soul) , then a full human should be three times more powerful and able to transmute invisible energies across dimensions to other people.

Reiki and Absent/spiritual healing could be indicative of that power, so maybe it is possible for energy to be stored in certain wavelengths that are undetected by us. Such as microwaves, infrared and electromagnetic fields. But if this theory applies then we should be able to "haunt" fellow humans much more effectively than spirits.

Sorry for the rant, but I just love considering the world of spirits.
Hope this is another interesting read :)

Of Gods And Characters

The Iliad and Homer's Odyssey was written around the 8th century B.C. 800 years later they still built great temples to these gods. Today the Parthenon still stands as a monument to this writer's characters. When you think about it, all gods are personified in ways that help us identify with them. The stronger the resonance of a characters personality with your own, the more you develop this idealistic person in your head.

When you worship and make someone your idol, you would also want to be like them. It is the same thing with a persona that we hold dear, we begin to emulate their traits for ourselves. We model ourselves after well-loved personas, are these characters not more influential than the gods of religion? For we become godlike by mentally channeling them.

The issue with an All-powerful god is that we crave power ourselves. I think the main lesson in the bible is that humans are prideful power-hungry sinners and we will always seek to embody higher powers. Every religious setting shows this manifestation of believed power via prayer,chanting, spell casting, rites and so on. Somehow channelling god's powers by their will alone.

Perhaps we need to begin thinking of God as ourselves. The one that could change everything is our own minds, everything that has ever been created by man began in the imagination.
I surmise that creativity itself is God, because it is the one limitless, all-powerful resource that we have, we are in direct contact with it and it is within us as well as all around us. Most importantly, it is a part of us that will go on long after we are physically gone.

Every book, idea and lesson are the gifts of gods past. The house you live in, the comforts we have, the relative peace this world experiences all came from creative desires that just wanted to help people. Every idea demonstrates how powerful that god is.

One such past god is Einstein, his imagination and creative thinking gave us space travel, and vast amounts of interchangeable energy. However that same idea created the Atom bomb that destroyed Nations.

The world needs to stop waiting on an imaginary god and use your own god of imagination. If each of us would come up with even just one idea to solve global issues. We'd truly be able to make the gods that have gone before us proud.


We are creations and so is god.

How Doth The Little Dandelion

The House-mate/Room mate questionaire

 The Housemate Questionaire


The Basics
Name:
Birthdate:
Gender:

Preferred Move-in Date:
Length of expected stay: 6 months/ 1 year

Contact number:

Email:

Emergency Contact:

Number/ email:

Relationship: 

Friend or mate?
1. Do you prefer your house-mate to be a stranger or close friend? 
2. Your house-mate's going out for drinks with friends,do you expect to be invited along? 
3. If you are currently dating someone, how often would you have them over?
4. How long do you think is fair to have guests staying over? 
5. Will you be annoyed if the guest is hanging, cooking, showering, etc. in communal areas? 
6. Do you look forward to having time alone or do you like to talk when you get home?
7. If you are currently working/studying, what are your hours? 
8. Why are you leaving your current accommodation?
9. What was your worst living arrangement?
10. Do you get along better with guys or girl?


Money & Perks 
1. Do you have your own pre-existing phone & internet plan or would you like to share?

2. Utility bills are usually split evenly, are you able to pay bills each time in advance?

3. How would you share communal items like cleaning supplies/ laundry powder?

4. Do you buy your own meals or do you expect to share groceries?

5. Do you have any furniture of your own?
6. Are you fully supported by your parents?

Housekeeping

1. How long does takeout stay in the fridge? 
2. How often do you do laundry? Dishes? 
3. What household items (kitchen spices, toilet paper, etc.) would you like to share? 
4. Who is responsible for cleaning common areas? How often? 
5. If you leave clothes in the washer, and your roommate needs to do laundry, what would you like them to do with your stuff? 
6. Should groceries be shared? How? 
7. What constitutes “borrowing”? How many times can a roommate “borrow” before it becomes an issue? Are there any things which are absolutely not up for grabs? Don’t be petty, but do replace what you’ve borrowed.

Social Skills
1. Are you involved in criminal activity?
2. Do you drink, smoke, or toke? 
3. Do friends or family stop by frequently? 
4. What time do you usually go to bed weeknights? Weekends?
5. Are you a light or heavy sleeper? What noise can you tolerate?
6. Speakers or Headphones? 
7. Do you watch a lot of television. Usually in the morning or night?
8. How long have you been at your course/ job? 
9. How would you describe yourself when you're in a bad mood?

reference:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/11011/roommate_questionnaire.html?cat=41

Birthday Fairy

-------Fictional story-----

Every year most people would complete a ritual to commemorate the day the were brought into this world. The Chinese do it to ward off evil that is said to follow them on this day, The Romans believed that honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. The Greeks believed that your guardian angel or spirit guide would attend your celebration and it had a special relationship with the deity that you were born under.


Believe it or not, I've always felt the presence of my spiritual companion. Her name is Aurielle. It was perhaps on the day of my fifth birthday that I noticed her. Aquamarine eyes smiling in the middle of a baby doll face, staring at the candles on my cake.


Have you noticed how sometimes before you even begin to blow out your candles, the candles would get blown out by the 'wind' ? There Aurielle was, her childish lips rounded, blowing as hard as she could at my cake causing the candles to go out. I remember how my parents would say " Strong winds today". But I knew better, it was my spirit companion; little Aurielle. 


Each year, she would become clearer on my birthday, the rest of the time, she was an unseen presence that could be felt strongly during rainy days and when the moon was full. I grew to understand the meaning of making a wish by the time I was 8. The party was held in my father's country club in the courtyard by the pool. Cousins, friends, enemies and parent's friends' snotty children made up the guest list. Aurielle was rolling about on the surface of the pool water, sticking her tongue out at some of the other children whist swimmers in the pool were oblivious to her presence.


I ran in circles around the big pile of patterned boxes with all hues of shiny ribbons. I inspected each box carefully by holding it up to my ears and shaking its contents. I nodded in a grave expression, as if approving of the 'shakeability' of the gift. The child guests had already begun playing catch up and down the sun dappled foyer.


Speakers were turned on, the Birthday anthem played. A scary clown came out from behind the curtains with a dripping moist chocolate cake with 8 white candles on the top. Evil clown man placed the cake in front of my face as the other greedy cake-stealers gathered around me with the intention of getting a piece of their cake earlier rather than genuinely celebrating me.
The birthday song ended. The off pitch voices of my guests hung awkwardly in the air as they just realize there was no more music.
In the glow of the candle light, I could see the very same glow around Aurielle. It was time to make a wish, the clown asked me to think carefully, but all I could see was the ocean that was within Aurielle's blue-green eyes. I knew she would grant my wish....




(May or may not be continued)