The Good News Thread: I'm So Excited! And I Just Can't Hide It!

[Delightful]

18 hours ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

AHHH! And I didn't notice it at the time, but I passed the 10,000 word mark on my WIP today!

10,000 words on cowboy wizards in what's it been, a month?! You my lady are impressive. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

5 minutes ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

10,000 words on cowboy wizards in what's it been, a month?! You my lady are impressive. 

Thanks!

[manukos he/him]

i finaly got around to ordering Arcanum Unbounded i will finaly be up to date with spoilers 

also i found a signature that i like!!!!!

[Briar King]

5 hours ago, Manukos said:

i finaly got around to ordering Arcanum Unbounded i will finaly be up to date with spoilers 

also i found a signature that i like!!!!!

I'm just right at the end. About 75 pgs left. It's been really fun to read.

[Silverblade5 he/him]

My school's athletics director was recently named best in county.

[+Slowswift]

On 1/13/2017 at 4:16 PM, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

AHHH! And I didn't notice it at the time, but I passed the 10,000 word mark on my WIP today!

Nice!  It's a wonderful feeling watching that number roll over, isn't it?  

I too hit a milestone just recently. 30K, I think, which really isn't that impressive when you realize I've been writing on and off on it since July 2015.  

[Sunbird she/her]

I saw several of these beautiful ducks today while out with a bunch of other bird enthusiasts:

They're called Common Goldeneyes--male on the right, female on the left. Before today, I had never ever seen one in person! ^.^ We found a lot of other cool stuff too. (Happy to elaborate if anyone cares...)

[The Honor Spren she/her]

On January 13, 2017 at 6:16 PM, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

AHHH! And I didn't notice it at the time, but I passed the 10,000 word mark on my WIP today!

Now I didn't know this at the time, but we were NEAR THE SAME SPOT MY SON DIED, IS THAT WHY-- 

That's very impressive, Twi. I don't think I'd be able to do something like that. d(◕_◕✿) 

My mom got plane tickets to Florida, so we'll get to go home for a month!

Edit: @Sunbird I'd like to see pictures of birds

Edited January 15, 2017 by The Honor Spren

[marsoupial they/them]

1 hour ago, The Honor Spren said:

Now I didn't know this at the time, but we were NEAR THE SAME SPOT MY SON DIED, IS THAT WHY-- 

SIX he examined his gun with such rigor? I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger.

[The Honor Spren she/her]

3 hours ago, bleeder said:

SIX he examined his gun with such rigor? I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger.

SEVEN Confession time, here's what I got. My fellow soldiers will tell you I'm a terrible shot. NUMEBER EIGHT Your last chance to negotiate. Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight.

[Kobold King he/him]

5 hours ago, The Honor Spren said:

Now I didn't know this at the time, but we were NEAR THE SAME SPOT MY SON DIED, IS THAT WHY--

 

Either you had a son and a very tragic story I missed hearing about during my hiatus or there's a reference here I'm not getting.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

4 hours ago, bleeder said:

SIX he examined his gun with such rigor? I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger.

 

4 minutes ago, The Honor Spren said:

SEVEN Confession time, here's what I got. My fellow soldiers will tell you I'm a terrible shot. NUMEBER EIGHT Your last chance to negotiate. Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight.

What is this glorious rhyming scheme? I'll start a thread with the exact same theme! Rhyme the words that last were sent, and soon we all shall re-invent, our lives.

Also; my dad fixed the water heater last night! Add that to their decision to go on a three day date/anniversary thing and let us stay at a good friends house while they're doing so? Yes!

[The Honor Spren she/her]

5 minutes ago, Kobold King said:

 

Either you had a son and a very tragic story I missed hearing about during my hiatus or there's a reference here I'm not getting.

It's a Hamilton reference. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

11 minutes ago, Kobold King said:

 

Either you had a son and a very tragic story I missed hearing about during my hiatus or there's a reference here I'm not getting.

 

4 minutes ago, The Honor Spren said:

It's a Hamilton reference. 

Hamilton: An American Musical. GO LISTEN TO IT. It's the story of one of our Founding Fathers in hip-hop form. You need it in your life. 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

46 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

 

Hamilton: An American Musical. GO LISTEN TO IT. It's the story of one of our Founding Fathers in hip-hop form. You need it in your life. 

It's a lie, don't do it! It's how the body snatchers get you nowadays!

[Briar King]

My daughter has been having a friend over for the last 4 nights and my son is trying his rusting best to show off. He is going to have it made once they get older.

[Sunbird she/her]

16 hours ago, The Honor Spren said:

Edit: @Sunbird I'd like to see pictures of birds

'Kay. I'll just list some of the highlights, since my list at the end of the day was 33 species and you all probably don't want to scroll through 33 photos all in one post. (Disclaimer: most of these photos are not mine, since I didn't bring my camera on the Saturday trip.)

I think the most numerous bird we saw was the American Coot; we probably saw over 100 over the course of several hours and visits to several different ponds. Some people call them mud-hens because they sorta look like black chickens.

Spoiler

And their feet are really odd-looking. Here's a closeup:

At the very first pond we visited was a pleasant surprise: a pair of Black-crowned Night-herons. They're pretty shy and secretive and usually active at night (hence the name), but very beautiful in a sleek, understated sort of way.

Spoiler

Night-herons do have fairly long necks just like other kinds of herons, but most of the time they keep them scrunched up like in this photo, unless they're striking at a fish.

Biggest surprise of the day IMO was a Great Egret. They're fairly easy to find in coastal areas or in the warmer months of the year, but winter in Utah is soooo not where you'd usually find one.

Spoiler

I took these next two photos myself during my visit to southern Florida in December.

Here's a closeup of the egret's head:

At one pond, in addition to a bunch of ducks and coots in the water, there was a flock of Great-tailed Grackles (a kind of blackbird) hanging out in the trees and on the grass. Several of the water birds came over and climbed out of the water expecting handouts from us birdwatchers. We didn't give them anything, but I totally cracked up when one of the grackles started harassing a coot. The grackle would sneak up behind the coot and tug on its tailfeathers with his beak, and then dance away when the coot turned around and tried to snap at him. After a few repetitions of this, the coot finally got fed up enough to jump back in the water where the grackle couldn't bother it.

Spoiler

There are three kinds of grackles in the continental USA; Great-tails are named for that ridiculously long tail. Also, males and females don't look the same. The photo above is a male; below is a female:

One of my favorite birds, even though I've seen them plenty of times, is a Belted Kingfisher. Lots of times you'll hear them before you see them because their call is very distinctive; field guides and birders will often refer to it as a "machine-gun rattle." We saw and heard a few of them near various bodies of water on Saturday.

Spoiler

Here's a nice video of a male calling while perched. (A female would have a second stripe, reddish-brown in color, across her belly below the blue-gray stripe.) You can skip to 0:15 in the video if you want to get right to the call.

 

I think I'd probably better end this post now before it gets too image-heavy. I don't mind posting more later if y'all are still interested, though.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Sunbird

[Delightful]

18 hours ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

 

Hamilton: An American Musical. GO LISTEN TO IT. It's the story of one of our Founding Fathers in hip-hop form. You need it in your life. 

@Kobold King WHAT SHE SAID. GO. LISTEN. BE AWED. 

[A_star_to_sail_her_by]

I have just finished my final exam in english and I think it went well. I got to work in a virtually silent room (I have auditory proccess disorder so that's bliss). The essay part was about whether or not friends should always be honest with each other and they said I can use my or other peoples' experiences, so I used one of mine.

When I was in 7th grade I had this friend who I wasn't all that close to, but I liked her and enjoyed her company. It changed when one early morning she called me. I was surprised she called but even more surprised when I heard she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she talked about me behind my back to another girl we knew, that she was so, so sorry and if I could ever forgive her. I wasn't angry, I forgave her at once and she was genuinely relieved. Writing about this made me so warm and happy inside. I'm still in contact with said friend even after she changed schools, and I would trust her with my life. 

[Pinnacle-Ferring he/him]

You know what I love about the Israeli Railways? About a year ago, they decided to make waiting for trains less mind-numbingly dull by putting pianos in some of the larger stations and inviting anyone who could play anything to bring their instruments and make everyone else happy.

I have a few cool stories. Today I saw a bunch of soldiers passing through. One of them just sat down and started playing Fur Elise, then went straight into the Mario theme. Also when someone else replaced him, this guy and his two-year-old son started dancing to the music.

A few months ago there was this guy playing and a couple of female soldiers walked up to him and requested Disney songs. Then they started singing a duet together along with him. They harmonized and everything. It was awesome.

This entire idea is just great you guys.

[Claincy he/him]

D&D tonight was good  This session was the first opportunity I've had to use my dwarven forge street terrain.

Also, our dog really likes playing with the hose and sitting in his shell on hot days.

^That is one happy chappy.

[Briar King]

Hmm I'm listening to the steady patter of rain out my den window.

[Nashan’Elin he/him]

I have a nice three-and-a-half day weekend off of school, which is always fun. Videogames and Stormlight re-reads, here I come!

[Erunion he/him]

Just had an awesome physio appointment for my screwed up neck. Got it cracked, stretched out, needled and electrified. 
Feels great, and finally on the road to recovery with it  

[Briar King]

Inaugural concert is going great so far. I was worried about it.