Someone's gotta achieve world domination. I'm just gonna go ahead and do it. My first step is to get my book published. Here I'll keep track of the steps there. Yup. Come on in. There's cookies. =) By the way... yes, I am Christian. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:55:00 -0500 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:55:00 -0500 I just wanted to let you know that I got a new blog, and this one will probably just fade off now...I don't think I'll be updating it as much anymore. Maybe I'll check back once in a while, but  I'll be posting updates HERE:   http://mariellahunt.livejournal.com/   And if you want to email me, you can contact me at mariellahunt@gmail.com   I'd like to keep in touch with every one of you, so please visit my new blog!! :) Please please please PLEEEEEASE. I'll love you forever if you'd visit my blog. (No actually I'd still love you anyway, but I don't know how often I'll be getting back here. I might check the Friends page occasionally or something, I dunno.)   I may drop in at your blogs and comment occasionally. :) I do want to keep in touch.     I love you all! Please visit my new blog. :) -Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/698755/ Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/698755/ Happy Easter, everyone! Lent is over now, so I can write (legally) again. It's been a long and very tiring Holy Week this year. Even when we didn't attend the Masses at church directly, watching them on TV from the Vatican was one of our main activities.   Yesterday the bunkbed in my 'computer room' broke. The bottom bed collapsed on me when I sat on it to tie my shoes. Awkward. So we got rid of it and are going to put something else in its place. The room is a big mess, what with the clothes that we'd had piled on the top bunk, and it looks a lot bigger than I thought it did. It's pretty cool. We got a smaller bed to build in here eventually, when we can get the room cleared up. I'll get pictures.   I found out that apologetics is something you have to learn slowly, especially the Catholic ones, since there is so much I have to study and learn to defend. I'm learning new things that I didn't know, and other issues that I had been unsure of in the past (e.g. ghosts, purgatory, etc.) I have a solid, positive opinion on them now. I've also decided that it's not in my place to try and convert anyone to the Church. I just learn about everything and if the need ever arises, I'll defend it. But who am I to try to force someone to join the Church? Although the fullness of truth is in the Catholic faith, there's really nothing I can do about it---I don't like arguments. I don't even like friendly debates. I'm not very confident in myself, so I try to stay away from them. In the end I'll just love my neighbor like I always did and let God do the rest. He knows what's best, and He knows why we're where we are (that sounded silly.) During my reading in the past few weeks that I took a break on Lent, I've learned that all denominations have different opinions on issues that range from how you get saved to purgatory to even baptism, and that just showed me how complex it all really is. But the truth is that in the end, the one thing that we all have in common is Jesus, and everyone I know believes in and loves Him. I'm satisfied with this. In the end He is the rope that keeps all Christians together, and in a way we're all a huge family because of this. I give thanks for that. I understand now that my calling was only to study these things and to know. I wasn't born to argue or debate or discuss or...any of those things. And I wasn't born to be like one of those missionaries that goes from door to door and tries to convert people. My mom told me that it's enough to show God to others through our own example. Live the live He wants us to, and we'll see that the truth will be spread to others in some way or another. This is enough.     Moving on. I submitted a short story I wrote, entitled Stephanie's Gravestone, to TeenInk.com. Within the following weeks they'll review it and decide if it's worthy to be displayed on the website, and if they decide it is, they'll email me. I'm not getting too excited---after all, then when it's not put up I won't be disappointed. I have low self-esteem in these things so that's not a problem, really.   Our Macy's raid gave me a pretty new wardrobe of new clothes. I'm keeping them away from the dog before she gets then covered in fur. They're coming to Peru with me on May.   The weather is getting decent. We've had a couple of grills outside in the back yard this weekend. It was so fun. It finally feels like spring, and today was perfect Easter weather (sunny with a breeze.) I am so happy. I was getting tired of rain.   I have reached the halfway point in my big leather journal. The $40 one I got for my birthday. That's probably because I failed at my Lent sacrifice and kept writing short paragraphs in it from different random stories, and in the end it adds up to be an entire chapter. And a handwritten chapter takes a lot of paper. Oh well. I daresay no one, even God, really expected me to be good at this sacrifice.   I have returned to Blogger, where it is easier to edit the template and all, but don't worry! I'll keep posting on my HomeschoolBlogger because I adore the community. And it's the only place I get comments. :/ So basically I'll be submitting the same post to both of my blogs. Hooray. I hope to hear from all of you soon. I like comments but haven't gotten many lately.   Take care! -Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/678635/ Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/678635/  A lot is happening lately, so I don't have time to get on the Internet much at all, except to use Windows Messenger and check my email. So if you want to contact me and I never come on, email me. If you have my addie. If you don't, you have to wait, I suppose...:P   It's possible that later this year (after the trip to Peru) I have a job. I'll be working with my dad at the Five Guys Burgers and Fries that's being opened here in Boise on June, I believe. If all goes well, that is. So pray that it does. I'm excited. :D I need to make money...publication doesn't come for free, so (the nerve of them!) I'll need to pool in some money on my own end, in addition to having written the flipping thing. Oh well. So this is also an answered prayer, I was fretting about that. I can't walk up to my parents and go, "Can I have $1,000+ to publish my book properly---IF anyone is interested in it?" That'd be dumb. And then I can't ask them at the very last minute if one of the publication forms is accepted. So I need to make my own cash. It's only fair. I will work hard to achieve this.   As for Lent, it's being hard. I keep wishing that it was over so that I can type the story (instead of handwriting, a sort of not-so-easy shortcut, at which rate I get about 3 pages done per day. That's only about 1,000 words. GASP.) I keep considering giving it up and opening a new document and WRITING, but I trudge through it and keep to my promise. It's almost over...right? In any case I'm proud of myself for having made it thus far.   Jane Eyre is WAY too long. And descriptive. I hate classics that have too much description. I can skip over entire paragraphs and not miss ANYTHING. I can't stand classics, I'm sorry.   We're going to Peru with Dad on May 22 (I believe) and it'd be the first time he's there in years. (I don't know if I already blogged about this, but if I have, I don't care.) He's gonna be there 12 days. I'm only worried about my doggie, the only one who isn't going. She's going to have to go to a kennel for those 12 days because there is no way my grandma can handle her---she's a little demon when she wants to be. So I'm sad about that. :( Happy about the rest, though.   I'm leaning towards addicted to the Twilight movie. I get excited whenever I think of my DVD, and want to watch it a second time but somehow never have time to. This week I swear I will, though. I don't care if my parents think it ridiculous, I loved it. XD   I think that's about it. Please comment. I want to hear from you. :)   Love you all, -Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/673068/ Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:41:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/673068/ And...I'm surviving?   Even though every moment of the day a new idea for a story comes to me and I want to write it. I don't write it. Instead, I edit the story that I already wrote.   I'm tearing apart and polishing and rephrasing and perfecting The Shadow. After Lent I'll research publication for it. I'm tired of waiting. And I think everyone else is tired of me waiting too. XD   I'm doing better on the no-writing sacrifice than the no-soda one. Yeah. Sorry, but there's one that I just can't resist. But I only have one small cup, I promise. >.< Also, Father Bruno says that if I'm under 18 I'm too young to fast. I only have to fast if I want to if I'm between ages 18 and 60. Once I turn 60 I can stop. BUT. I must abstain from meat, he said. So I'm trying that. That's somewhat easier.   The weather is insane. It SNOWED. It's not supposed to snow on March. This sucks. At least the snow melts, and I'm praying REALLY REALLY hard that it won't snow again. I want springtime weather. I want to lounge in the sunlight with my iPod. But apparently I can't. There's no sunlight. It's pure decoration because it's not warm.   Currently listening to: Beautiful Eyes by Taylor Swift. <3   SPEAKING OF... I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO UTAH!! TAYLOR IS COMING HERE, TO BOISE. Dad told me he saw it in the news yesterday. I checked her tour dates to make sure, and he was right. She's coming here!!! This is a relief. I was afraid of the thought of getting into a plane alone. But now I can drag my whole family to the Idaho Center to see her on May. YAY. We need to buy the tickets this month.     So yeah. I'm happy. I shall click Add New Entry and hope that someone comments. -Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/666439/ Sat, 7 Mar 2009 20:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/666439/ Sorry. *grin* I fell asleep last night with "Love Story" by Taylor Swift on repeat on my iPod. And I was wondering how anyone can say that she can't sing. If you listen closely and try to sing like she does, you figure out how good she really is -- she does sing, can hit highs and lows, and I most definitely will never be able to sing like her. Sure, she's not as good live, but who can sing well live anyway? She's only 19... give her time...   I should be writing but I'm blogging instead. So I'll update my status. Right now (9:22 PM) I have 65,532 words and 135 pages. I'm trying to get this novel finished before Lent begins on March, or at least get past the interesting bits and reach the last few chapters. I'll need a lot of poking though because I always find a reason to not write and do something else. (I know what you're thinking. Uh-huh, you got 65,000 words in 21 days, you so procrastinate. Well, I do. A lot. Like, if I didn't procrastinate or have to eat to not die, the novel would be done by now.) I'm sacrificing writing for Lent, so when Lent begins I can't write anything till easter. (Shoot, I just remembered that Lent doesn't begin on March, it begins on Ash Wednesday. Whaddo I do. That's this week. O_o Help!)   Okay, with the knowledge that Lent begins ON Ash Wednesday, I have to cut this blog post short and FRIGGIN GET TO WORK. *panics* When I sacrifice writing I'll replace it with studying Bible and Apologetics and trying to stretch my hobbies over to other things. Like maybe... piano... it wants me to practice more. ...In fact, I'll try to get a blog post done daily on my other Catholic blog which I should put up the link but I'm lazy. I'll put it up when I actually start posting.   Okay things start to speed up as of... NOW. PRAY FOR ME. -Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/661034/ Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/661034/ Yeah, I needed a title. I just happened to be listening to that song. ^   Okay, so due to some prodding from certain friends (*grins at Gaby*) I have decided to keep my promise and post again. Yes, I do need prodding to post on my blog. But today I opened my inbox and I saw that I had 4 blog comments (HALLELUJAH MY BLOG HAS LIFE AGAIN) so I decided to post.   Firstly, I guess I'll have to dig out HTML from somewhere in the deepest, dustiest corners of my brain and make my own blog template. This should be... not fun. And I'm dead serious. I despise HTML with a passion (it hurts my brain) but there are some things I simply can't forget, so I'll try. I want my new template to be blue. *thinks*   Secondly, I need to update my playlist AND my novel list (this needed more prodding from Gaby.) It's the HTML that has me lazy to get off my butt and start updating. But I have loads of new songs that I want to share with you, and, well, my word counts have changed just a tad bit since the time I last updated that thing. So yeah. I will at least have the novel word count thing updated by tonight.   Thirdly... okay, logically thinking, I can't be the Empress of anything here on Earth. I'd rather be the Empress of something in my story (I'm sorry, but my story is so much more interesting, especially when here on Earth you're stuck at home because the weather is so cold that you can't go out and do any Empress-ing. Whatever that is.) Empress of Celthia? Maybe. I'll swipe that title before Maeve takes it. She'll be ticked, but do I care? Nooo... *sweats a little* O______o;   Numbah four... general blogging. Okay. Me becoming 'apologetic.' *grins at Gaby* Our debates most definitely had something to do with it. And then there's the incident when I had read something on a Catholic Answers Forum. Someone was calling someone else an "informed Catholic." And I'm all like, "I WANT TO BE AN INFORMED CATHOLIC. *sulks because she thinks she'll never understand things such as plenary indulgences*" So after I got off the computer, I was looking for a book in my bookcase, which just happens to have two rows on each shelf (I have SO many books, many of which I don't even read.) So, with the thought still in my head that I wished I could become an informed Catholic, I pulled out a book. And right behind it was my tiny pink Precious Moments Bible that my Grandma gave me for my baptism (I was baptized recently, on 2005.) I had been looking for it months before but was sad when I couldn't find it. And then, at the most unexpected moment, it was there. Yeah, that's as if God was saying, "You want to be informed? Go for it!" So that's part of why I want to be... 'apologetic.' :D As for those people who view Catholicism as a cult... that's a product of one of my other new pet peeves: religious ignorance. My advice for those people... stop listening to a Protestant hater and start researching yourself. If your church pastor is more focused on making Catholics look like a cult, than he is in asking us to "love our neighbors," well, that's his decision. But as for yourself, I suggest you start building your own opinion, dears. Here's a great place to start: http://forums.catholic.com/ These forums are great. There you can ask an experienced apologetic for answers to a question you have and they'll answer you. So before you read a book called Catholicism: A Cult (I have NO idea if there's a book that's really called that, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is) gather your own bits and pieces of research, before you resort to calling the church Jesus established a cult. Okay? Okay. Because in doing so, you're in a sense hurting Him, because you're hurting the church that He founded. Need proof? http://home.inreach.com/~bstanley/reply.htm False charges made against us. There are straight-out answers right there. In fact, that site is also a wonderful place to go do your research, but I think it's directed mostly to Catholic-Haters, or to Catholics who are trying to learn to defend themselves. Done with that rant. So I'm going to start another blog for my Catholic rants because they have the potential to get really long. The writing blog and the Catholic blog. You can ask questions on either of them, though.     I'll move on to writing now before I explode.   WRITING is going awesome. I reached 51k last night. Beth had a panic attack, so that was really hard to write. But with the help of Squid my writing buddy I survived it, and I was sweating when I finished. Ahaha. I'm so evil to my characters. I'm about halfway through this book. It's amazing. Loads of things I'd had planned before I started writing it... well, it turns out that I won't be able to write them at all w/o turing the plot into a bunch of nonsensical mush. So I won't do that. Something/someone (maybe God?) is telling me that when I'm done with this novel, I'll be ready to send out forms for publication. So I'm working extra hard on this. I've been looking for the path that I'm supposed to take and it looks like I found it.   And now I move on to life. Life is VERY VERY COLD. The weather is indecisive. It can't seem to decide if it wants to be winter or spring, but it's leaning more towards winter, and that sucks really really bad. Because my hands are all frost-burned now and I keep opening the doors in the morning expecting at least cold sunlight but it's always cloudy. I hate, hate, hate. My dad's birthday was on Valentine's Day. We made him a nice heart-shaped birthday cake. I had fun icing the cake. And then I licked the icing off of the spatula because I'm still only 15. :D Cherry chip cake is heavenly. It's already almost gone. My dog's acting weird. She doesn't want to eat. She hasn't eaten in days. I don't know what's wrong with her, but if this keeps going, we'll have to take her to the vet this week. Please pray for her because I don't want the same thing to happen to her that happened to my bunny. I watched the Grammies. Ahem. WHAT WERE THE JONAS BROTHERS DOING AT THE GRAMMIES. WHY WAS TAYLOR SWIFT NOT NOMINATED. HER SONG WAS ON THE TOP OF THE CHARTS FOR FLIPPING MONTHS. WHY WAS TAYLOR SINGING WITH MILEY. MILEY SOUNDS DRUNK WHEN SHE SINGS. (NO OFFENSE TO MILEY FANS.) I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CD WITH GRAMMY NOMINATIONS, BUT EVERYTHING ON THERE WAS GOOD TRASH, AND ALL OF THE GOOD SONGS, I ALREADY HAD THEM. SO THIS WAS A BIG LETDOWN. The only good thing that resulted from this Grammy was that John Mayer won a Grammy. So That's one good thing. But why did Jason Mraz get nothing?! He was nominated three flipping times. What happened to this country that it's only cruddy hip-hop and rap and annoying songs that are either those two or somewhere in between that get nominated? UGH. If I was allowed to swear, there'd be a lot of swear words in the above rant. *blushes* I am so, so angry. When the tickets to the Taylor Swift concert come on sale, I'll update you on whether I go or not. I already got the okay from my aunt. My mom's still thinking about it... ah well. Whatever's supposed to happen will happen.     I'm off to church now. *grin* I know that lots of people commented and are waiting for replies. I promise to reply as soon as I get back on tonight. Love you guys! -Mariella, Empress of Celthia. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/658531/ Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/658531/ Hey! I'm baaaaack. And, on account of some healthy prodding from a friend (*grins at Gaby*) I'm testing my persistence and adding a new resolution to my already rather full list of late new years' resolutions. I will blog at least once a week. I have a lot to say, you see, but I'll try to summarize it all in this 4AM insanely-late-but-determined blog post.   First off, before I begin recounting the year so far, I have an announcement to make. Frankly, I am tired of this purple background and am in the mood for something more cheerful and new year-ish. In other words, I'd like a new blog template, please. Now, I'm busier than you'd think I am... I mean, you have to be me to understand in what sense my days are busy. I'm dead serious. So I'm not going to be going aroung HSB, advertising that I want a new blog template. So if anyone stumbles upon this blog post and would like to make me a new template (all credit goes to them) they will be greatly appreciated. *gazes at purple background with distaste* I'm afraid I have neither the patience nor the time to make my own. I used to do HTML fairly well, but not now. My interests have moved more towards writing and apologetics.   Oh, that's right. To anyone, my interest in apologetics will be fairly new. For those who don't know what it is, here's the definition: Apologetics –noun (used with a singular verb) the branch of theology concerned with the defense or proof of Christianity.          I know, I know, if you already know what this is you're probably wondering why I put up a definition on here. Simply said, some people won't know what it is. A good example is me, early this month. Yeah. So in my case I'm studying Catholic apologetics. I'm sorry, but I don't like seeing people attack my faith beneath my very nose and being unable to do anything about it. I'm determined to study and defend Catholicism, but do so in a way that gives other denominations the respect and credit they deserve. Like I said in my last post, all Christians are a family, but it isn't nice to watch people attack my own faith and treat us as the worse. I'm not saying, of course, that apologetics applies only to Catholicism. But in my case, my goal is to be able to defend the church I was baptized in, because it seems to get constant jabs and I hate being unable to do anything about it.     Moving on.     Writing! Yes, this is still one of my favorite things to do, and I promise I am doing it. In fact, today/tomorrow I'm planning to get a solid 10,000 for my 30k challenge 'cause I can. But, in addition to this, my characters have been AWFUL and DISOBEDIENT. I finally got Beth in a direction I want (thanks to Squid and my imagination, which wove her idea into place) so my word count is beginning its regular habit of... ahem... skyrocketing. :D I seriously need to update my word counts up there. ^ However, my current writing status as of February fourth-going-on-fifth-since-it's-now-5AM: The Hunter, sequel to The Shadow: 11,767. This doesn't count for the 30k challenge. You see, I began to write a few days before that challenge actually began. The Shadow: It's undergoing editing, but the word count is still around 110,000 words. =) The Hunter, for the 30k challenge: 5,090. Hey, I'm 1/6 of the way there. I'm also editing my beloved novel The Last Descendant, which I finished last fall. Sigh, I do wish that it'll be worthy of being read by the public eye soon. It won't be too soon, I'm afraid, since I'm going through which will be hopefully my last editing/rewriting stage. Alex wants a new plot, and half of Anna's plot has to be redone to fit her depression. Then at the end I need to decide how much of her memory she really loses, and then add bits of Cade into the story every now and then. So if any of you get to read it, it won't be until at least the end of the year.   That's where I am. ^^ Any questions? Please do comment.     Other random insignificant news: Aha. I have revealed to a friend (Gaby :D) that Stephenie Meyer's books aren't as horrible as the ignorant public assumptions make them out to be. Of course they're not a literary miracle that someone might want to base their own novel off of (by saying this I'm referring to the Twilight series. I know, I know, a third of the world loves them, a third of the world hates them, and the rest of the world are just following the examples of others who have never actually read them but think that they're going to be awful just because of... well, I don't know what their reasons are, really. But they weren't that horribly bad, and if they were, why are they currently a worldwide bestseller?! I have to say that I liked them. I said liked, not loved, but I'm not out flaming them. If you don't like them, keep your opinion to yourself, and don't brainwash a friend against reading them by simply telling them that they're horrible. You need evidence, my friends, and facts, to back it -- but not the kind of evidence that is called by most people 'spoilers.') *takes deep breaths* In other words, a new pet peeve of mine is literary ignorance about certain books (*cough*Twilight*/cough*) and just assuming that they're bad because you saw a review by some bonehead (please read my definition of bonehead below, in the bold-faced letters, before you think of starting a grudge) on a public forum who is out to brainwash you, and apparently you're letting them. My bottom line: READ THE BOOKS AND GET YOUR OWN OPINION. Don't decide that you despise them until you've actually made it from cover-to-cover. Sheesh. (I know that this paragraph of run-ons and outbursts will try and offend some people. Please, don't let it. But if I don't like something, I'm not going to keep quiet about it... and no, not all reviewers are boneheads. Just the unauthorized ones whose 'reviews' are a blend of spoilers and personal opinion, with a dab of ignorance and jealousy and, in most cases, brain-soap. Hey, that's a new word. Brilliant, Mariella, absolutely brilliant.) The Host, another novel by Mrs. Meyer, is a completely different story in many senses. That's more of the kind of book that can possibly be compared with a literary miracle (although I'm not going to say that it IS one because of all the people out there that I know will disagree with me.) To find out why, go read a review by someone authorized to review -- a review that isn't, like I said above, merely personal opinion and ignorance. For the good of yourself and the friends you'll be discussing these books with, I ask you that you find a nice review that doesn't only state reasons why the reviewer dislikes the books, but please find one where they show the positive aspects of the novel, too. In other words, an honest review by an honest person who is polite and has actually read the book cover-to-cover and knows what they're talking about. Don't judge a book by its cover or by a corrupted review. This goes for all books, not just Twilight, but Twilight is the one that people flame the most. THERE. I've finally spoken my mind. I CAN BREATHE. *gasps the FREEZING winter air* Okay. Sorry for that little outburst. It's one of those things that you can't hold back, especially if they're words that have been stuck in your throat for years. Feel free to listen to me if you want to. But I think an honest, fair review is the way to go. I've been ranting so much that I lost the point of this whole entry. Ahem. ANOTHER THING I've been doing lately. CATALYST. Church youth group. They rock. I think I'll be going to a retreat on May with them. I turned in the forms and everything, but May is still three months away. Taylor Swift is coming to Salt Lake City, Utah!! I know I don't live in Utah. But Utah is sooooo close. Probably 45 minutes away on a plane. And if somehow I can weasel my way down there to see Tay perform live, I will. Yes, this is a fangirl moment. I'm sorry, but she's my favorite artist. My bunny, Cookie, died on February 4. Pray for him. Maybe I'll put up pictures in the future.   And now my fingers hurt. I've just written a long blog entry, possibly the longest one I've ever written. I hope I get comments. No, actually, it isn't, but it certainly felt like it was. -Mariella (Future New York Times Bestseller, Nobel Prize Winner, and sole achiever of total world domination. Really. And the Voice of Doom. And the Empress. That's what everyone calls me anyways. Bwaha.) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/654760/ Thu, 5 Feb 2009 05:26:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/654760/ Details can be found at: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=31635 (You don't need to be Catholic to pray with us! Please keep reading this blog post.) Starting January 20 (sorry for the late notice! I just found out today) Catholics across the country are going to be praying the Rosary, over the course of the first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency. This is so that we can sacrifice a bit of our time, every day for those 100 days, for these intentions: "1) That God would give President Obama the grace of conversion concerning the inalienable right to life of unborn babies; specifically, that he will see, embrace, and defend the unborn child’s God given right to life, and will use the office of President to restore the full protection of law to the unborn from conception till birth; 2) That God would thwart the evil acts promised by Obama during the election concerning the unborn. (I.e., signing the Freedom of Choice Act, undoing certain past pro-life executive orders); 3) That God would grant great courage to our Priests, Bishops, and all Christian leaders to publicly resist Obama’s stated agenda, and defend the right to life of the unborn; 4) That God would inspire (where needed) righteous men and women to run for political office in 2010 against pro-abortion politicians from both parties; bold candidates who will defend and protect the right to life of children in legislation; 5) That God would call thousands of new, prayerful, and peaceful (yet bold!) “warriors” into this life and death struggle. " (Quote article from Catholic.org, link above)   I realized that this was also a great opportunity to get all Christian families involved in a cause that consists mostly of prayer -- a simple act, yet the most powerful of them all. If all of our voices can be joined to end this madness, across the country and around the world, for 100 days, that would be wonderful.     My request is that all of my friends on HomeschoolBlogger (and, of course, outside of HSB too) join us in prayer from January 20 to April 29. There will be a group of Catholics praying the Rosary outside of the White House for those 100 days, but since many of us cannot make it, we are welcome to send our prayers to God from our own homes. I repeat: This is by no means for Catholics only. Any Christian who believes in a baby's right to be born can join us in prayer for these 100 days. The battle for justice was not lost with this presidential election, and if we can all raise our voices in unison for this, a miracle will happen!     If you would like to join me in fighting for the rights of our future brothers and sisters, let me know in a blog post (this is optional.) Also, we would appreciate it if you would recruit friends and family to pray with us too. We need as many voices as we can get!     All Christians are a family, and this is a wonderful time for our family to gather together for a cause -- whether we don't know each other face-to-face, or if we have never even heard of each other in our lives, our voices can be joined and we will be a family! So join me and everyone else participating in this. It's time to take action together!     Also, if you read this post late, remember that it is never too late to add your voice!     Thank you for reading!   ~Mariella http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/648065/ Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:37:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/648065/ The back-up singers called in sick because it's snowing outside so heavily.   So yeah, I'm 15 now. Well, I'm technically not until 8:38 PM, the time I was born, but I don't care, I'm going with that anyway.   So... I didn't have a party... I didn't get an insane amount of useless presents, though the ones I did get are amazingly beautiful and valuable. *points to her golden bracelet* And I got a lot more greetings on the Internet than I got birthday cards, but those are just as good. Thanks, you guys! *hugs her friends*   One present I did get and love is my Polaroid Digital Picture Frame! It has the weather, too, in case you didn't notice.   Although I did have a good 15th birthday, I didn't get a party, and I prefer it this way. I'll spend all Sunday... probably reading in my pajamas. ^.^ We're COMPLETELY snowed in so I don't think we'll be able to get to church, unless we risk slipping on the sleek roads and dying. I'll try to take some pictures for you. Last night we were at 18 degrees. The roads are pure ice!   I owe you a long blog post, so here goes.   First of all, I should take some time off to honor one of my saints. He's St. John of the Cross, and his feast day is December 14th (my birthday!) so I'd like to take some time off to explain a bit about him. (Yes, I got all this info off of Wikipedia, so what?) Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) (24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591), born Juan de Yepes Alvarez, was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation, a Spanish mystic, and Carmelite friar and priest, born at Fontiveros, a small village near Ávila. Saint John of the Cross was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature. He was canonized as a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. He is one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church. When his feast day was inserted into the General Roman Calendar in 1738, it was assigned at first to 24 November, since his date of death was impeded by the then existing octave of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This obstacle was removed in 1955 and in 1969 his feast day was moved to his date of death, 14 December. Patronage contemplative life; contemplatives; mystical theology; mystics; Spanish poets So he was a writer. Uh, a poet, but it doesn't matter. <3 St. John of the Cross is a Doctor of the Catholic Church.   While I'm at it, I'll stop to honor the saint with which I share my middle name, St. Cecilia. This is also from Wikipedia. Saint Cecilia (Latin: Sancta Caecilia) is the patron saint of musicians[3] and Church music.[4] Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches on November 22. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. It was long supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian(us) and his brother Thateus, suffered martyrdom, c. 230, under the Emperor Alexander Severus. The research of Giovanni Battista de Rossi,[5] however, appears to confirm the statement of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 600), that she perished in Sicily under Emperor Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180. A church in her honor exists in Rome from about the 5th century, was rebuilt with much splendor by Pope Paschal I around the year 820, and again by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati in 1599. It is situated in Trastevere, near the Ripa Grande quay, where in earlier days the Ghetto was located, and is the titulus of a Cardinal Priest, currently Carlo Maria Martini. The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of her husband and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius.[6] The officers of the prefect then sought to have Cecilia killed as well. She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she was arrested. At that time, the officials attempted to kill her by locking her in an overheated sweat-house (bathhouse). However, the attempt failed, and she was to be beheaded. The executioner attempted to decapitate her three times unsuccessfully, at which time he fled. Cecilia survived another three days before succumbing. In the last three days of her life, she opened her eyes, gazed at her family and friends who crowded around her cell, closed them, and never opened them again. The people by her cell knew immediately that she was to become a saint in heaven.[4] She was a friend to all. The skull of Saint Cecilia is kept as a relic in the cathedral of Torcello. "Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia," by Stefano Maderno, one of the most famous examples of Baroque sculpture. Her Feast Day is on November 22.     Okay so enough of that.   Right now I am actually reading something. It's The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce. It's among my favorite books now. What? You haven't read it yet? I don't care. Go read it. What? You're busy?! So what! Buy it and read it next weekend. It's really a very quick read, though I wish that it would never end. I have to run and get the sequels.   And I'm editing my NaNo novel. 96,000 words are now almost 102,000 words and I'm only on page 85 out of 222. By the time it's published it's going to be nice and shiny.   Now my rant is over. :D I need to get busy taking pictures for my picture frame!   -Mariella (Future New York Times Bestseller, Nobel Prize Winner, and sole achiever of total world domination. Really. And the Voice of Doom. And the Empress. That's what everyone calls me anyways. Bwaha.) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/632118/ Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/632118/ Hi guys. *turns off Bold and Italic* NaNo be ooooooover. And Mari[ella] has time to blog again now. Yay.   My book ain't over yet, but when it is there'll be at LEAST 90,000 words. And guess what? I WROTE ALL THE SCENES I WAS SUPPOSED TO. I mean, there might be some that I'll need to add, but I can show it to somebody who wants to read it and they won't wonder who Miia is! *muse whispers in ear* Oh. You don't know who Miia is yet, do you? Bother. I still need to put up some chapters. I got the romance part over with... next comes the part where--oops, no spoilers.   Say, does anybody even READ my blog posts anymore? Seriously.   I'm afraid my novel will have a rather tragic ending, so I don't want to finish it, but I have to. This is my first potential bestseller.     Okay so The Empress is back with her lovely signature. Yay.   See you... sometime....   -Mariella (Future New York Times Bestseller, Nobel Prize Winner, and sole achiever of total world domination. Really. And the Voice of Doom. And the Empress. That's what everyone calls me anyways. Bwaha.) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/628272/ Fri, 5 Dec 2008 03:32:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/onestarlessnight/628272/