I do believe in llamacorns! I do! I do!

Do you see this picture?

Sure, it may look like a picture of a llama that someone photo shopped a horn on. But to the eye of the experienced etherzoologist (that's internet zoologist), it is scientific proof that llamacorns do in fact exist.

Next, we are looking for wombaticorns, the miniature golden elephant, and the wild goose. Wish us luck.

~Naddie (and my friend and fellow blogger, Me.)

Count of Monte Cristo

My theater group is putting on this play. I am not in this one, but I strongly urge you to go. My group always does very professional productions, and they are great to be a part of and to watch.

~Naddie

******

Homeschool Theatre Troupe presents:

The Count of Monte Cristo

book by Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Julie Little

Edmond Dantes was a young man with a future filled with promise: a promotion to ship’s captain and engaged to the beautiful Mercedes—until he was betrayed by his jealous associates, arrested, and sent to prison on false charges of treason. Years later, deep in the dungeons of Chateau d’If, Dantes meets scholar Abbe Faria, who teaches him patience, as well as the intellectual pursuits of philosophy, science, and languages. When Faria, who considers Dantes a son, dies, he bequeaths to him an enormous treasure. Dantes escapes from prison, and emerges back into aristocratic society as the fictitious Count of Monte Cristo, a highly skilled but ruthless man, promising revenge on all those who plotted against him. This is the ultimate story of betrayal, greed, and vengeance. This is The Count of Monte Cristo.

Come see a classic come alive!

Performance Dates
November 17 @ 7pm, November 18 @ 7pm, November 19 @ 1:30pm

General Admission:

$8, available at the door before each show, at the Sharron Baucom Dale City Recreation Center, or from members of the cast. Ages 3 and under are free.

Group Tickets:

$6 each for 10 or more tickets. Groups can receive special benefits too, such as reserve seating. A 15-20 minute Q&A and tour of the set is also available. Contact julielittle@verizon.net for more information.

Location:

The Dr. A. J. Ferlazzo Auditorium, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Please feel free to repost this announcement.

New background

You have probably noticed the new background and color scheme. Yeah, I'm still experimenting. And the old background made me feel depressed. Expect more changes.

~Naddie

Four Signs That Your New Friend May be a Time Traveler

I wrote this because you just... never... know.

Four Signs That Your New Friend May Be a Time Traveler

1. Your friend has the irritating habit of, during a completely normal conversation, suddenly adopting a look of alarm and running away with a sense of urgency, often accompanied by a brief utterance, such as “Then it’s not too late!” or “Forget the stupid time-space continuum! I can fix that!”

2. When you first met your friend, they were dressed strangely, or even offensively. Examples include wearing a life preserver far away from any body of water or a hat resembling a small, sleeping wombat. Either they have just arrived from another time and have not had time to change, or they are unaware of what the rules of acceptable dress are in this time.

3. Your friend does not know how to use, or appears transfixed with, commonplace technology. Examples include attempting conversation with radios or television sets, riding escalators up and down over and over again, playing with the lever on toasters to such an effect as to burn the bread, or walking endlessly in circles in a revolving door. (Note: this last example does not necessarily indicate that your friend is from another time.)

4. Your friend uses uncommon or outdated slang terms, such as “That’s just infestational!” or “This is heavy.”

Also, a tip: If you ever pick up the phone, the caller doesn't introduce themselves, and the voice on the other end sounds remarkably like yours, just hang up and register for a new phone number as soon as possible.

~Naddie

Ninjas vs. bunnies (or, community education takes an unexpected turn)

The following is the second of three stories that I wrote as part of my Girl Scout Silver Award report. To give you some background, my project, called 'Bun on the Run' was to teach different Girl Scout troops about rabbit care (i.e., don't keep them in hutches, please spay and neuter, yes, rabbits can be litter trained, etc.) In total, I brought the class to the meetings of well over 100 girls. But because animals and small children were involved, it was inevitable that there would be some, ah, "memorable moments," like the one that follows.

#2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Bunnies

I think that many girls who do their Silver Award do at least one thing that they have never done before, never in their wildest dreams imagined they would do, and hope never to do again. Each of these experiences is unique, memorable, and completely weird. Having said that, I think mine could easily top the experiences under this category of many, many Silver Award veterans.

As part the Bun on the Run program, I always had the girls take a look at one of the rabbit pens I had set up, and ask them what they saw in it. They would all look, and as they told me each object that they saw, I would explain what the rabbit used it for and why.

After they had a rough idea of what a rabbit needed in his or her enclosure, I would ask the girls what they thought you shouldn't put in a rabbit’s cage. This was a list that reliably included, depending on the group, “plastic toys,” “poisonous plants,” or, the ever-popular “things the bunny could choke on and die.”

This is why I was fairly unprepared when, on an evening in early May, I had this talk with a Brownie troop, or more specifically a Brownie troop including one particular Brownie, sitting in the back of the group with her blond hair in a ponytail.

The conversation went something like this:

Me, to troop: “What do you all think I shouldn’t put in a rabbit’s cage?” *hands are raised. I call on Girl 1.*

Girl 1: “A Barbie doll!”

Me: “That’s right. The rabbit would get sick from chewing on it, and your doll probably wouldn’t look so good anymore besides. What else should you not put in a rabbit’s cage?” *hands are raised. I call on Girl 2.*

Girl 2: “Anything rubber!”

Me: “Exactly! The bunny would get really sick from eating rubber. What else?” *hands are raised. I call on Girl 3, who is bouncing up and down in her seat, making faint ‘ooh, ooh!’ sounds.*

Girl 3: “Things the bunny could choke on and die!”

Me: “Exactly right! I think that stands for itself. What else shouldn’t go in a rabbit’s cage?” *hands are raised. I call on Brownie with Blond Ponytail.*

Brownie with Blond Ponytail (and slight smirk on her face): “A highly-trained ninja.”

Now, at first this may not seem that bad. While this answer is a bit awkward to respond to in a group of young kids, particularly when you were expecting an answer like “candy” or “poisonous plants,” it is a no-brainer that highly trained ninjas should not go in a rabbit’s cage. But then another girl pipes up and asks me “What is a highly trained ninja?” Fifteen pairs of eyes turn towards me expectantly.

I am caught by surprise. The Brownies’ parents are watching me. I look behind me at my two volunteers for support. One of my friends is politely trying to stifle a laugh, and the other is not looking at me and seemingly very amused by something on her shoelaces.

“Um, a highly-trained ninja is a person who punches people for a living,” I say to the group of impressionable young children.

Before that moment, I never imagined for a minute that doing a Silver project about animal shelters and bunny rabbits would lead me, through various twists and turns, to explaining to a group of wide-eyed, innocent seven year olds what a ‘highly-trained ninja’ was. As policy, I do not think exposing children to violence is that great of an idea.

Yet somehow, I admire that girl with the blond ponytail, who caused me to be in such an awkward situation. She demonstrated an ability to voice her opinion, no matter how strange an opinion it was. Perhaps she will grow up to be an artist, or a highly successful politician. And why not admit it, she reminds me of myself when I was seven.

~Naddie

Welcome to this, by humble attempt at blogging

How should I begin?

'Welcome to Singing dragons, the Best Blog on Earth' seems somehow presumptuous. 'Welcome to Singing dragons, a reasonably ok attempt at blogging' seems too far in the opposite direction. Maybe 'Welcome to Singing dragons, my new blog' is the right way to do this. It seems neither too bold nor too flamboyant.

Here goes. *ahem*

Welcome to Singing dragons, my new blog. If you are reading this at all, chances are you know me reasonably well. And if you know me reasonably well, then you also know that I am, for the most part, what some people have politely referred to as 'technologically challenged.' But I thought I'd give blogging a shot anyway, because most of what it involves is writing, and that at least has never posed any problems for me.

This blog is exactly what it says in the description: Adventures of a reasonably well-adjusted artist. I will do my best to record the more noteworthy of my experiences on this Earth, mostly related to the various forms of art that I practice: writing, music, and acting. I hope, mainly for your sake, that these tales will be worth reading.

And now, a word about me. My name is Naddie Boyne. Really. Some of you may know me best as XXXXXX, (or sometimes Pigeon, Past, Onion, the Sandwich Bandit, or Sunny) but for the purposes of this blog I am Naddie Boyne. You may be wondering why I chose this name (and if you were not, I am going to tell you anyway). One day I was at my favorite restaurant, Chipotle. I had ordered online, and when I received my bag of food, I could not help but notice that the surely well-intending clerk had misspelled my name rather badly. I am not sure how he got Naddie Boyne, because my actual name is something QUITE different. But there you are. The name stuck, so now, for all intents and purposes, I am Naddie Boyne.

Thank you for reading this. I have a feeling this will be a learning experience for all of us.

Naddie