Saturday, January 12, 2008

Originally Posted November 22, 2007:


Again, I am so sorry I haven’t posted for about a month! School has taken up a lot of my time. I would rather be surfing the internet finding cool websites to post than do Algebra homework, but sadly schoolwork is higher on the need to do list than blogging.

That doesn’t matter now, though! I’ve found some new websites that I think will be to your liking!

Do you like products with personality? Do fast food erasers or hangers shaped like clouds? The website is fredflare, and it sells some of the oddest (and cutest) things I have ever seen. Bangles shaped like apples? Check. French fry coin purse? Check. Ear ring made from a mini cassette? Have that too. They’re priced pretty reasonably and even if you don’t have any money the stuff is a lot of fun to look at.

What comes to mind when you think Photoshop? Complicated? Useful? It can be both. Farlow Studios has got you covered with a few in depth tutorials. How to color flats, how to ink, and how to shade face and hair are all covered. In the side bar on the right there are a few other tutorials covering how to draw the female face and figure, how to prepare your lineart, and how to color a muscled arm. Pretty useful stuff right there.

How fast do you type? I myself type at about the norm. Don’t know your speed? Take this Speedtest and find out. It will only take you a minute. Go, do it now. It won’t take long.

Ahh. Who hasn’t used a box of Crayola crayons in their life? What other brand is there? Roseart? Bleh, too oily. Crayola? Just right. Now you can relive your childhood coloring experience with Crayola Digi-Color. Crayola has really updated their product line. This application only boasts nine of their many products. Crayons, Twistables, Super Tip, Washable Markers, Eraseable Markers, Colored Pencils, Slick Stix, Mini Stamper, and Paint are all included. Look ma, no mess!

Think of these words; amazing, angry, anger, answer, bad, dull, fat, good, interesting, move, say, and scared. What do they have in common? They all are common words that all have synonyms! This list of synonyms might just help you some in your writing. I know I’m tucking it away in my bookmarks for future use.

Some people learn by reading, some by hearing, and some visually. If you’re the kind of person that learns by looking at illustrations, Merriam Webster has something just for you. A visual dictionary! Now who doesn’t like looking at something than read a boring description that is hard to get in your head? Not too many people (and if you like reading boring descriptions, than you’re kinda weird). This is a wonderful resource for visualization.

If you are a writer, you know the common problems. How do I create a memorable character? Can talking be interesting? How do I name my story? Well I’ve got the resource for you! At Writing-World’s fiction page it seems that there are a million and one links for all sorts of topics. Check it out, I dare you.

Speaking of writing, it is important to have good spelling and grammar. Where can you find such a site to check if you’re writing right? The Research Tools at Economist.com, of course! Many things are covered there in an easy to read format. You can even buy a hard copy of the information if you want!

Okay, now that you’ve worked on your plot and storyline and made sure that you’re forming sentences correctly, where can you get published? Lulu.com! This is really a great site because not only are publishing prices reasonable, but you can also buy single copies of your book. Can you publish it yourself? If so, it will only put you back $50 USD! Publishing by Lulu itself is a little bit more expensive at $99.95 USD, but it is a far cry from the prices I’ve seen on some other companies (Oh, say about $1,000 USD). You can even get your own ISBN number. Pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

This is Kaitlin signing off.

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