Braking for Turkey

Hi, guys!
So, I thought I'd take a break from complaining about how horribly behind I am and answer some fun questions I found at Further Up and Further In , which hosts an activity called Beautiful People (a sort of fun questionnaire for characters). With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I thought it would be a genius idea to answer this installment of Beautiful People: Holiday Edition. Aaaand answering all these questions is also giving me an excuse to not write. But hey, I'm getting to know my characters better! That's good. Right?

You can also find more installments of Beautiful People under Resources on my blog's homepage.



1. What kind of holidays do they celebrate, if any?
When Mae's family moved to America from Germany, they adopted all the traditional holidays which came along with the country. Christmas [also celebrated in Germany, but a celebrated much differenly in America] and Easter are the two biggest holidays they celebrate. Krescentia [Mae's mother, called Mutti], being Catholic, also observes Catholic holidays and holy days, though the rest of the family usually doesn't.

2. What are they most thankful for?
Individually, many different and sometims trivial things. The one thing they are all thankful for is the country they live in--Mae's father [called Vati, the German equivalent of "daddy"] is especially fervent in his prayers of thanks for his home, his work and his family.

3. Do they have any family traditions?
Mae and her family love good food and music. They also have a taste for German beer and mulled wine made by Vati [no, really, it's a fact] and can stomach it pretty well. At a time when Christmas trees were not very popular, the Enzes always put up a small tree and decorated it with ribbon and beads left over from sewing during the year.

4. What is their most memorable holiday memory?
Though the children cannot remember it, the Enzes' first Christmas in America has always been Vati and Mutti's favorite memory.

5. What is the most memorable gift they have ever received?
It is difficult to buy many gifts for a family of ten, but one year Vati was able to get a small, cheaply made doll for every one of his girls. The dolls were to be their first and their last, and Mae especially treasured her doll in an old hatbox until it withered away into forgetfulness.

6. Do they consider it important to be with family during celebrations?
Mae has no other family in America; her grandparents, aunts and uncles stayed in Germany; she has never even met them. Her immediate family is who she spends her holidays with, and that is exactly the way she likes it.

7. Do they usually wait till the last minute to purchase gifts, or do they buy them ridiculously early?
The Enzes rarely buy gifts, but when they do, the presents are always on sale right before Christmas.

8. Favorite Christmas song? For fantasy authors, is music a part of their celebration?
Vati instilled a love of "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen" or "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" into his girls from their earliest Christmases--it is by far Mae's favorite Christmastime hymn.

9. Do they celebrate for religious reasons?
Mutti--yes. The rest of the family celebrate to eat good food, drink delicious drinks, and simply be together.

10. How do they celebrate the beginning of the new year?
Vati used to obtain a small amount of lead each year; he would melt the lead in a spoon over the stove and pour it into a cup of cold water as the New Year began. An old German tradition dictated that if the lead formed a certain shape, the New Year would be safe and prosperous, but if it formed another, the New Year would be lean and wanting. Mutti eventually talked Vati out of his superstitions, but Mae always remembered watching the lead cool in the small wooden cup.



Well, that was fun! I hope your writing is going well--I can't believe we have less than ten days left. I am REALLLLLLY behind. Oh, boy. Gotta write.

Happy Thanksgiving [Almost]!

Elisabeth

A Meme for Me, and One for You, Too!

Say that five times fast.

Anyway, sorry for the lapse into silence. I've been pretty busy. As you can see, I sort of redid my blog a bit. I like it so far :] I have a MUCH more detailed profile page and book page up (you can see them under the blog title). Okay, the book page is not done yet, but it WILL be. Someday.

Today, I have a meme for you. I already did it, which kind of makes the blog title...incorrect, in some way. How I don't know. My brain hurts. The Venerable Bede has been chewing on it.

I found these memes here. I CANNOT vouch for the site in that I don't know if all of the memes are appropriate (I've only done two). But I liked what I've done so far, and I thought I'd share the memes with you.

Here's my favorite meme so far. It's UTTERLY confusing and you'll probably do the numbers wrong like me, but it was so fun to do. I would have posted my completed meme, but it's very long and garbled and I was asleep when I did it.

For the record, I didn't write this meme--I only found it online and have duly credited my source.

Have a great time :]

God Bless~

Elisabeth

PS. In case you're totally clueless like me, OC means "original character." Maybe I'm just weird XD

Reality TV Show Writing Meme!

Rules:

- Choose 6 OC's.

- Put your OC's names in list of numbers and answer the questions with your OC's names instead of the number, write at least 100 words to answer.

- Once an OC is evicted, you must choose the next consecutive number to fill in the question.

1. Welcome to the House! Introduce the OC's and what their luxury item would be.

[1] [2]

[3] [4]

[5] [6]

2. There are 3 bedrooms, 1 with 2 double beds, 1 with 2 single beds and 1 with only 2 matresses on the floor. Who pairs up with whom, is there an argument over who should get the better room, and how is this resolved?

3. Now they've decided where they're sleeping, they make their way to the living room but find that it is empty expect for a few large and heavy boxes which hold the furniture which [1] and [4] have been told to put together within a time limit, how well do they do?

4. The furniture's together, now for dinner and a rest! [2] and [5] are designated for cooking first. What do they cook? Do they work well together? Does their cooking go down well?

5. A few days pass and a relationship is growing between [3] and [6], is it a good one or is it a bad one? What measures are made to make their relationship blossom, or stop them from attacking each other on sight?

6. A week has passed and it's time for an eviction! Someone hasn't put in their penny's worth and needs to be gotten rid of. Choose one OC, and have them say their weepy, or exuberant, goodbyes.

7. There's a siren in the middle of the night! [1] has tried to escape with [3] as accomplice, however they are both caught, who blames whom, and what is their punishment? Do the other house-mates suffer for it?

8. The next task appointed for them arrives in the form of a letter and a pack of bendy wires. They pick up the letter and read that housemates [2] and [4] must make a cube using the fewest number of wires possible within 30 minutes of time.

Do they manage it?

9. That evening, they find alcohol [Elisabeth says: They mean root beer, of course :P] in the refridgerator and a karaoke machine in the living room. However, it is incredibly hard to set up and it's instructions are in Japanese. [5] and [6] are bullied into geting it sorted. How do they get on?

10. Eviction time! Eviction this time is based upon house-mates behaviour and performance in the last week, and sadly, [1] and [3]'s escape attempt has not impressed the higher hand.

[1] or [3] must go, choose, and have them say goodbye.

11. Confessions Time! Having been together for two weeks, how do the house-mates feel about the others? How do they feel about the evictions? Let's listen to them now.

12. [1] and [4] have become very close, and [6] is jealous and decides to confront [4] about it, what happens?

13. Their next task is to simply tidy the house, however, they have to do it blindfold, [5] cheats and [2] does nothing, such disobedience so late in the game earns them a time-out and their luxury item is taken away, how do they cope?

14. Due to the cheating in the previous task, the electricity in the building is cut, and the living room is locked off from them. [4] suggests a game of hide-and-seek, does anyone get injured in the dark? Does anyone take this moment to be naughty with another housemate?

15. The living room is open to them again and inside is a television, an XBOX and four Guitar Hero guitars, a not stuck on the television let's them know that it is a play-off between [3] and [6].

Who wins, and did they realise the loser would be evicted?!

16. With only three house-mates left, tension starts to rise, [1] becomes super-competitive and starts taking over any tasks given to them. [1] accepts a task before even hearing it, and it's challenging them to sit in a bath of maggots for half an hour.

How does [1] react and do they complete the task?

17. Another Confession. Poor [2] is starting to suffer from cabin fever and is sure the others are out to get them. Let's listen to their ranting.

18. The house-mates realise they are quite quickly running out of food, and find three unlabelled tins in a cupboard, with blindfolds next to them and a letter explaining that two tins are sliced peaches, one is dog-food, they must each choose a tin with their blindfolds on.

Who gets the dog-food, and evicted?

19. The final task denotes the winner of the entire game, the final two house-mates are given an envelope, inside is the instrutions of their last task, they simply are.

"Choose."

Does this shock them? Do they choose themselves as the winner or the other? Do they give their own victory up, or are they selfish?

20. Now it's (quite abruptly) over, tag someone!