Vickie's Blog

Something I'll Never Say...

2008-01-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

Something you will never hear Vickielysia say:

"I'm just going for a quick swim in the ocean."

A brief word from the RW

2008-01-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

I hate winter. Really, truly, I HATE it. First it floods and stuff blows over. Now I find out that what I was being told was "probably a cold or flu, it's going around you know" is actually bronchitis. Could explain the fever-induced hallucinations.

I hate winter...

Wild Sex?

2008-01-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

In response to Quont's Question of the Week (and to prove that yes, I am still around even if I am answering this one really late) ~

The wildest place I've had sex would be the top of a waterfall. No, not one of those big, beautiful waterfalls that you see in postcards from Hawaii where they go cliff-diving, but the kind that landscaping company's build. This one is at the entrance to a housing development, and one night...well, use your imagination. Luckily the security guard never made it to that area...or he did and decided to just watch the show!

Keep in touch

2007-12-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

If anyone wants to keep in touch, you can find me at http://magicmoondesigns.deviantart.com

Three Things About Me

2007-11-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

http://quont-mernac.blogspot.com/2007/11/question-of-week-17.html

Vickielysia is otherwise occupied with Wolf, no doubt sleeping off a hangover, so I shall tell you three things about myself.

1. I have an obsession with flashlights and must have one with me wherever I go. There is one in each room of my house, one in my car, one in my file cabinet at work, and a little bitty Maglite that is always in my pocket. I think this stems from being in the bathroom at a mall when I was five or six, the power went out and there was no emergency lighting -- I was one scared little kid! I WANT MY MOMMY!!!

2. I love to do pencil drawings despite the fact that I complete suck at it. I have an artist pad and a cup with several pencils, and whenever I have a spare moment and feel the urge I try to sketch something. The only identifiable drawing I have done is of an empty martini glass.

3. I enjoy writing fanfics and have two posted at fanfiction.net -- in two different genres and under two different pen names. I'll give a cookie to anyone who can identify one of the stories I've written LOL.

2007-10-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Toy for Quont

2007-10-04T22:54:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know this is a week late, but here a couple of the images of the new "toy". I would have waited for the next chat but I doubt I'll be around for that (I will try though) but I am curious as to what you think it is and how you think it works ;-)

Simple Pleasures

2007-10-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

In response to Quont's Question of the Week 11:

My answer is to simply be. Incredibly simple, I know, but it is such a wonderful pleasure to be still and let the world go on around you for a short while. Sit at the desk and "zone out" for a few minutes, or find a spot in the backyard, sit on the ground and just be still. Okay, so sometimes it isn't so easy, but when it does come easily it's a great feeling.

Some other simple pleasures would be singing along with the radio in the car, curling up with a good book on a rainy night, and and enjoying a glass of fine wine with a friend.

A Quick Update

2007-10-03T16:54:00.001-07:00

Just in case any of you thought I had dropped off the face of the Earth, you'll be happy (or not) to know that I am still among the living. I'll try to get over to Mernac later tonight or tomorrow.

The Invaders of Mernac?

2007-09-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, something has happened to the lands of Mernac. I'm not sure exactly what, though. All I know is that I have been trapped on the Ethereal Fire plane for the last few days, and then Elsen got word to all of us Disciples that whatever is going on, it prevents all of us from entering Mernac (good thing Elsen can communicate with his Disciples via their Element!).

Who would want to invade Mernac and keep us all out?

I have heard that Quont is spreading news of warriors and magicians working tirelessly to restore order to our world, and I hope that they are successful.

Since I am bored here in the Ethereal Fire plane, I baked a big plate of cookies and then I decided to make a new "cookies" banner (you know, the "come to the darkside, we have cookies!" banner I use when I visit Mernac). I think it lacks the emotion of the original banner, so I may scrap this one and continue with my original...what do you think?

Weekly Progress Report

2007-09-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well it's been quite a week at Mernac! Seems there is a lot of discussion going on about the future of our world, where we are headed and how best to get there.

As for me, I reviewed the following stories and added missing connections when necessary:

Majikku Island

Huda Strone, Choicemaker

Kayri Braetooth

Port of Despair

Weeping Stones

Cats of Mendak

Black Anguish Lake

Manta Trees

Faithmore City

Garuff

Koomba Treats

The People Of The Fog

The Scepter of Sonnets

Ol' One Foot

Port Mystic

Shadowmane, Bane Of The Light

Wow, that's a lot of reading! I need to take a nap now...later!

Who would you dine with?

2007-09-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 9

Vickielysia's answer - Why my sister Anemo of course! It's not like I have a lot of choice, it has to be someone immune to my fiery self as I don't want to scorch my dinner companion, and oh the fun time we could have. Anemo can hear sounds that travel on the wind so she would be able to fill me in on all the latest gossip!

My answer - It depends on what day of the week it is and what mood I'm in ;-) I can see a peaceful dinner with Terees being quite enjoyable, discussing all of that knowledge that she possesses. Then again, dinner with Canu would be splendid as well -- I do so adore good music and would love to discuss it with him although I haven't attempted to play any instrument in years. Some evenings I think it would be heaven to dine with Quont, although I'd probably swoon like a school girl.

A Visit to the mountains

2007-09-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Trying something new

2007-09-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

No, not anymore of my doodles...although you have to admit my Crystal Faery was pretty funny. I've decided to try a more anime style of rendering and I really like it...unfortunately it doesn't fit in so well with Mernac but still, it's fun.

My Doodle

2007-09-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Update to the weekly report

2007-09-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

I got three stories reviewed for missing connections, and of course two of the three already had all of the connections made, yay!

Drug out the character story that I had been working on telling about Vickielysia's early life growing up with the Dark Elves...stashed it in favor of working on an erotic Tarot deck. (It's all Traesha's fault, she came up with the topic but I don't want to post my images in the challenge thread because there's no way to rate a post so that it only shows the image if you click on the "18 and older" icon. I may email them to Quont just because...if you can't share erotic Tarot cards with the God of Lust, who can you share them with?

Weekly Report

2007-09-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

First, let me just say that sunny California has been HOT this week. Not as hot as Arizona where Traesha is, but still...enough with the sunshine already! I want rain! (Now you know it's bad when the Disciple of Ethereal Fire wants rain!!!) I'd ask my dear sis Anemo to provide a breeze but blowing the hot air around isn't going to help much.

I've tried to at least keep adding the new stories and saplings to my list of stories that I need to review for missing connections, but all this heat has given me such migraines that I can barely read them, let alone add the missing connections. And of course the list of stories to be reviewed just keeps on growing...now don't get me wrong, that's not a complaint! More stories is a great thing for Mernac...I just wish Disciples could have Disciples. Hmm, maybe I should offer to pay silver to anyone else that reads the stories and posts to the Missing Connections forums so all I have to do is edit the story and add them.

I was going to go to the state fair today with my (as Traesha calls him) new hunk, but it's too hot even for that. Then we thought about going for a drive to San Francisco, but the Bay Bridge is closed for the entire Labor Day weekend for repairs (brilliant idea there, CalTrans...you started telling us several months ago that the bridge would be closed, why didn't you decide several months ago to just do the work on ANOTHER WEEKEND??? Sorry, just have a bit of a rant there...I told you it was hot here!)

We settled on going out to dinner tonight after the sun goes down and it hopefully cools off, and where things go from there...?

Defeating a Creative Block

2007-08-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 7

Whenever I feel blocked, I go sit in my garden at night and stare up at the sky. There's just something about seeing all of those stars, the moon, the planets, making out the constellations -- it just gets my imagination going. Then I can fantasize that I'm really on an adventure, maybe making camp for the night before continuing on my journey to find something or someone. Out there alone, with just nature to keep me company, my imagination seems to run wild.

Until the first strange noise which I tend to believe is a serial killer coming to get me but always ends up being the cat coming to check and see what the heck I'm doing out there.

If the weather is bad and I can't go outside, I add a bit of lemongrass oil to the bathwater and soak for a while, then dig through a box of old photos that belonged to my grandmother (we're talking photos going back to the 1900's) and try to imagine what life was like and what was going on when the picture was taken. (Hmm, maybe the big box of old pictures is where I got my love for photography.)

New Disciples!

2007-08-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, the family is really growing! We have three new additions to the rank of Disciple: Wolf, who will be a fellow Disciple of Elsen, and Naysia and Shanyaks, who join the Shadow Guard as Disciples of Terees.

Please stop by to say hello and congratulate them!

Response to Quont's Question

2007-08-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 6

Vickielysia's answer:

I visit Mernac during the cold winters when the people welcome fire for its warmth instead of calling on Elsen to send me back to the Ethereal Fire Plane. There's just something so soothing about the sound of rushing water as my flames melt the ice.

My answer:

*blinks* Relax? Huh? Who has time to relax? I have stuff to do and things to see and fried foods on a stick to eat!!!!

Ohhh, you meant in general...sorry. People seem to assume that vacation is for relaxing...HA! I usually feel like I need a vacation from my vacation by the time it's over with.

So how do I relax? I like to start with a nice Margarita
Then I put the ocean waves CD on, lie down on the couch and lose myself in whatever fantasy comes to mind (usually it involves being in a tropical location with no phones, no faxes and no internet connections, but a nice group of cabana boys to cater to my every whim).

Video from the Fair

2007-08-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

A Day At The Fair (Pt. 2 of the pics)

2007-08-22T02:57:00.000-07:00

Poor Poppy the Bear has been reassigned to guarding the bathrooms.

Now we move on to The Farm.

Rice!

Corn!

Milo? What the heck is Milo besides one of the characters in Milo and Otis?

Kiwi! California is the only place in the United States where Kiwifruit are grown (in case you care).

(You don't really need me to label this "Sunflower", do you?)

I just thought this picture turned out kind of cool for a night-time pic.

The water tower.

That's all the pictures for now, but I'm going back out Friday so I should have more then! And I'll try to get some of the video uploaded to YouTube over the next couple of days.

I'm Back! (for the moment, anyway)

2007-08-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've returned briefly to share some pics with you all. Today I went to the State Fair -- wahoo! Where else can you get your Coca-Cola fried and drink your watermelon?

I must admit that the pictures turned out rather craptacular, especially since I got a pit in my lens that causes a red dot to appear in certain photos (I cloned it out of most of the pics already, but there are a few that I didn't). Boo!

On the other hand, I got some incredible video! The Budweiser Clydesdales performed -- it's something that you just have to experience, those horses are so powerful and so HUGE but the way they work together is beautiful.

But enough of that, here is what you've been waiting for :-)

This is the "World Famous California State Fair Fountain". I'm not sure what qualifies it to be "World Famous", but the health department tested the water and decided that after 40 years it qualifies as a threat to public health. Therefore the fence is around it to keep everyone out of the water. Since 1967 kids have played in that fountain; I remember playing in it, so this makes me very sad. Hopefully the fair will raise the $500,000 that they need to replace the pumping system so we can all play in the fountain again.

All around the fountain are banners, one for each of California's 58 counties.

The American River flows through Cal Expo.

Forget bumper cars, we have bumper boats!

There are rainforests in California?

I'm going to divide this into two posts so it doesn't take forever to load with all of these pictures ;-)

Pictures From Years Past

2007-08-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to organize my photo folders in anticipation of taking lots and lots of pictures *big grin* and I thought these might provide some inspiration for Mernacian flora. It was part of a floriculture display at the California State Fair in 2003.

(I don't know when acrylic started to be considered 'floriculture' either...*shrugs*...but it looks very Mernacian, no?)

Off on vacation!

2007-08-17T00:18:00.000-07:00

Well I'm not actually off to anywhere, just taking a break from everything and focusing one whole week on my photography (minus one day to visit the JellyBelly Factory -- mmm, Jelly Bellys).

I'm looking forward to having this time with no splitting my time between work, Mernac, and other projects. Just me, my camera and the open road (now before you go getting some romantic image of me zooming down the freeway with the top down, I should tell you that I drive a minivan. Maybe not as sexy, but all of my photography stuff fits in it and if need be, I can stow all of the seats and sleep quite comfortably in it.) and the only limitation is how much gas I can afford LOL.

Take care, and I'll see you all in a week if I don't post pics sooner!