Dragon Wars

Status: Starting another week of writing
Song: Animal - 3 Days Grace

DRAGON WARS

If you happen upon the skull of a dragon,
leave that place quickly,
For whatever killed it, may still be around.
~Thieves' Proverb

Don't know whose picture this is.

Dragon Slayers

Status: Editing, and plotting next novel
Song: If You Could Only Fly - A.T.O.M.

DRAGON SLAYERS

Bargain not with a dragon.
Dragonslayer's Guyde

Once in a Lifetime

Status: Really needing a camera
Song: Crush On You - Broken Sainthood

Taking a very short break from Dragons.

But not for long.

Tonight, I have to report that I actually saw.... a real live...

Well, you see...

I was driving along Patterson, heading for my next piano lesson when I saw this really cool car in the Mall parking lot. It was definitely a super car, a really gorgeous one. As I got closer I tried to determine what it was. I thought maybe it was a Jag, or a Ferrari.

As I passed by, I got a good look. "Ooo-hooooo." Boy it was pretty.

But it wasn't either a Jag or a Ferrari. It didn't have the right nose. The dropped nose was too distinct. I'd seen that line countless times in pictures and on TV.

By the time I got to the next light I knew I had to take a closer look.

I circled around and drove by, r-e-a-l slow. I hadn't ever seen a paint job that pretty, let alone a car. It wasn't very tall, and wider than I expected. The name across the back was in gold letters. There wasn't anything else to say what model I was looking at. Sleek, shiny black, and gorgeous. I wished I knew how to work that camera Cory gave me.

I parked where I could get a good look. I wasn't in any hurry. I didn't have to be to my lesson for half an hour.

A parade of cars started, guys of all ages getting a better look, guys in big trucks, in souped up cars, (there was a corvette that looked like a junker in comparison). The phones came out and pictures were taken. A car with a family stopped. Dad and kids got out and walked all the way around it, taking pictures. A guy in a jeep parked beside it. The Mall security came rushing up and made him move.

It really was a nice car.

Lambourghini Murcielago.

Sigh, drool, drive by waaaayyyyy slow.

Official Lamborghini photo.

Dragon Riders

Status: Getting ready
Song: Believe - The Bravery

DRAGON HIGHLORD
by Tavari

I stare at the black screen and try to think of something...anything... to put on it. If I had an old fashioned typewriter, I'd rip the page out of the carriage, wad it up in disgust and throw it across the room to the growing pile.

I need help. And fast. *pick up the phone and punch in a long string of numbers* Drat. No answer.

I check my email. Nothing new. I've added Twitter to my list of things to look at--another thing along with Myspace and my blog to take my mind off of getting nothing done. I think they call it procrastinating.

I open up another tab and start looking for pictures. That's how I got so many dragon pics. Along with dozens of cars, Final Fantasy pics , and Devil May Cry pics.

Yep. This is procrastinating. And not getting my second novel moving forward.

I need help.

Sigh. Go check my blog again.

Well Hey...There's something here that wasn't a few minutes ago... a blog by John Maxwell entitled 'Seeking Creativity in its Natural Habitat.'

Wow. There really is someone looking out for me. I wait impatiently for the dial-up. Urgh.

Eagerly I read what he has to say. It's quite good. And helpful. I've been following John Maxwell for a while now and have found he has a lot of good things to say.

To see it follow this link, [Creativity].

An added fun thing, you can see your log-on at the right hand side of his blog screen. It only lists where you're from, but it's still cool.

Lost info about pictures in previously mentioned computer crashes.

And More Dragons

Status: Knee deep in contest evaluations
Song: Dangerous Mind - Within Temptation

EARTH-DRAGON

Due to two computer crashes in the past I don't know whose picture this is.

Dragons

Status: Feeling better all the time.
Song: Prelude 12, 21 - A.F.I.

DRAGONS

When drop dead gorgeous Slade shows up in Alex’s boring town she becomes the ultimate prize in a tug of war between two brothers for the crown to rule a world of dragons. - LEGEND

Above and beyond super cars and supersonic planes I have a passion for dragons.

Spectacular creatures from legend, dragons are sometimes large and dangerous--predatory and all reptile. Sometimes they are small and intelligent, imbued with magical skills. They are at times the monster bent on destroying everything in their path. Or they are the loyal companion, using their might for defense.

Sometimes though--they have it all--whatever their size. Power. Intelligence. Alluring magnetism. Magical abilities. Animal instincts. Duplicity. Loyal to their own kind. Though sometimes not.

I have become so fascinated by these magnificent beasts I wrote a book about them. I've also collected pictures--hundreds of them.

I know people are always looking for dragon pictures. I thought I'd share mine. This is the first and one of my favorites. I've had it so long I can't remember what site I got it from. I'd give credit if I knew it. It's not mine.

Look for more dragons in the days to come.

When a car is like a fighter plane

Status: Wishing I had a couple mill.
Song: 7 Days to the Wolves - Nightwish

This is it, the
LAMBORGHINI REVENTON

*Girlie squeal*

Named after the notorious Spanish bull that killed the famed matador Félix Guzman in 1943 this limited edition made its debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. With only 20 cars made, this super car costs a banging 1.8 million (today when I checked). While Lamborghini says the Reventón is a road vehicle with an extreme specification, for those of us who are destined to only be drooling spectators the changes are mostly visual.

According to Lamborghini, this angular design is inspired by modern aeronautics. Looking at the car dead on in the photos, the arrow head shaped nose and the massive air intakes resemble those on the F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

The whole tail with the adjustable rear spoiler, afterburner type tail lamp housings underpinned by the accentuated diffuser is reminiscent of the jet fighter.
The five-spoke black aluminum wheels are fitted with carbon fins which create a turbine effect and cool the ceramic brake discs.

Wow, the best of both worlds. A super car that's like a super fighter.

I could really go for a car like this.

O-100 km/h takes 3.4 seconds and can reach a top speed of 340 km/h (211 mph).

Yep, my kind of car.

Got $1.85 mill. laying around? If you do, check out this beauty for sale at a Lambo dealer in Houston. [site]

(All the photos from Lamborghini)

Sleek, Fast and Powerful

Status: Wishing I'd visited the dentist earlier.
Song: Bye Bye Beautiful - Nightwish

B-1 Lancer

When at the Hill Aerospace Museum I approached an older gentleman sitting at one of the information desks and asked him if there was a B-1 Bomber anywhere in the hangers. He looked at me wistfully and said, "I wish we had one." It turned out he had actually flown one, so I got to ply him for all kinds of information. His enthusiasm for the aircraft was understandable.

The first time I ever saw one of these it looked like this, going over my head.

It was so close to the ground I could see into the afterburners.

The bomber wasn't alone. Accompanying it was a smaller fighter which I honestly don't remember very well. So not like me because I'm always trying to identify the fighters that fly over head. The only thing I noticed was how much bigger the B-1 was. And how loud it was.

Not the B-1 I saw, but this shows the size difference.

I could tell the sounds of the planes apart and the B-1's engines (four turbofan engines) were huge. The air and ground actually shook. I could feel it clear through my bones. It was the most exciting thing I'd ever heard. A real adrenaline rush.

The second time I saw one, I heard it coming long before I saw it. It went right over my house. I got a good look at its belly and then the afterburners again. The ground shook, the air vibrated, my ears rang, and boy! did the adrenaline surge. By the time it was gone over the mountains, I was a fierce fan.

I really love machines with tons of power and speed. This aircraft was the most powerful one I had ever seen.

I wanted one!

Isn't it gorgeous?

I could park it in front of my house. Really.... Never mind that it would take up all of my drive way, the street and half of the parking lot to the new hospital going in across the way. It would be way more impressive than the Hummer I had sitting there for a little while.

I mean--what girl wouldn't love to have her own Bomber sitting in the front yard?

The last time I saw a B-1 it was on the ground,
taller than the hanger it was sitting beside.
It would dwarf my house.

Bigger than the SR-71 Blackbird, the B-1 Lancer is a strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force. Its origins began in the 1960s as a supersonic bomber with sufficient range and payload to replace the B-52 Stratofortress, (which is also really big), but developed primarily into a low-level, subsonic penetrator with long range.

The B-1B is the last variable-sweep wing aircraft remaining in U.S. military inventory.

Wings swept forward.

You know, I envied the gentleman at the Air Force Museum his time flying the B-1.

I didn't get the chance to go see it up close, like I did the SR-71, though I really would have loved to.

My secret dream...to fly one of these giants? So not going to happen.

Though, I'd settle for just a ride.

I'd have a better chance getting my hands on a Lamborghini Reventon, the most exclusive, and expensive super car on the market.

Length: 146 ft (44.5 m)
Wingspan:
Extended: 137 ft (41.8 m)
Swept: 79 ft (24.1 m)
Height: 34 ft (10.4 m)

None of the photos are mine.

Don’t Die Dragonfly by Linda Joy Singleton

Status: So not looking forward to my dentist visit.
Song: Smile Lines - Incubus


“And to the girl with a dragonfly tattoo, don’t do it…”


“After getting kicked out of school and sent to live with her grandmother, Sabine Rose is determined to become a normal teenage girl. That’s why she hides her psychic gift from everyone at her new school, pretending that the predictions she helps write for the school newspaper are just fun nonsense. But when she starts having deadly visions of a girl with a dragonfly tattoo, she’s afraid everyone will think she’s freak, or worse—that no one will believe her until someone dies. Just like at her last school. Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Sabine must find a way to prove her innocence—and warn the girl with the dragonfly tattoo before it’s too late.” From the back cover.

Sabine spends a great deal of effort trying to be just like everybody else. She has a best friend, nicknamed Penny-love, who Sabine shares everything with, except for the occasional dream. Nor has she revealed why she is living with her grandmother.

Sabine doesn’t want the dreams and visions that caused her to be expelled from her previous school, even though she is able to save Josh, the boy she is interested in, because of a vision. After she pushes him out of the way of a car, he asks her out on a date. They become steady dates, double-dating a few times with Josh’s best friend, Evan and his girlfriend, Danielle, who has a dragonfly tattoo on her wrist.

Sabine has had visions of a girl and a dragonfly several times. When she realizes that there really is someone who fits her visions she becomes concerned about her enough to follow her when she breaks into the school. She discovers Danielle looking for something in the file storage room. The janitor, who has been stealing from the school, catches them. He threatens to blame the thefts on them. Sabine and Danielle get away from him, but he ends up in the hospital from a beating he gets after they leave.

Sabine finds herself being framed for the break in and for the beating of the janitor. But she is able to get rid of the evidence that is left in her locker, before the police find it. She now knows she has an enemy, and she is forced to keep on her toes while she tries to discover who wants to destroy her reputation.

In the meantime, her grandmother has hired a boy, Dominic, to help out on her farm. Sabine is hurt when she discovers that her grandmother is sharing the secrets of her psychic skills with him, choosing him over Sabine. But she has gone so long in denying her gift, and ignoring her spirit guide, she has become rusty and can’t call it up at will when she finally decides she needs it. When she tries to prove to her grandmother that she is psychic she can’t do it. Her spirit guide, Opal, is miffed at being ignored most of the time so she doesn’t respond.

Sabine is left on her own to solve the mystery of who wants her out of the school, so she turns to her friend, Manny, at the school paper. He pairs her up with a Goth girl named Thorn, who uses psychometry to find things. Together, the three of them try to discover who has it in for Sabine.

When things get difficult and Dominic is the only one who can help her, can Sabine let herself trust him enough to rely on him? Will she realize that Josh really is not the rock she thinks he is. Can she ever let herself respond to the interest she feels for Dominic instead, or is she going to keep pushing him away?

This book, which is the first of a series, is interesting but doesn’t go very deep in character development. The character’s motives are the usual fare found in many of the young adult novels today. There are no real surprises. I had the culprit figured long before the end of the book. The only reason I would read any subsequent volumes is to find out what happens between Sabine and Dominic. I think, however, that this is a good book for young adults, there is very little that is offensive in it. It is an easy read and has enough romance to interest the high school girl.

A well written story but with nothing unexpected happening. I'll even read the next one.