I Create Alphabets for Fun
I create alphabets for fun. I have created many, although the one most used is my LOTR (Lord of the Rings) print. For instance, I always use it for my signature. I got some of the symbols from one of the three LOTR books, but several I created. It turned out really well. It takes a lot of time to write, though, so I built in shortcuts. For instance, there are separate letters for combinations such as "sh," "ch," "gh," "tion," "th," etc. Also, any time a letter is repeated, you put two dots inside the letter in specified places to sdignify two letters. A capital letter is made by using just one dot. I am also thinking of making a shorthand version that would take less time to write, but would be much less intricate. The LOTR print looks really complicated when you first see it, but with just a minute of explanation, it's really easy. I gave Chessy a few tips and she just started reading it. Given, some of the letters she had to ask about, but it's pretty easy once you get those few that really don't look like normal letters. On my main AIM account (not given in my pro, that one is a secondary), I have this symbol, a capital S, for "Sobaguda."
Of course, the screenname has nothing to do with Lord Sobaguda, but most people don't know what it means. To most people it's just a line with a squiggly thing and a dot. Well, there's a double secret of my life. Now you know that I make alphabets AND what my symbol means on AIM. I have also decoded the Covenant alphabet, which is where my Lord Sobaguda icon comes from. The "Cleave" (the name of the symbol) is a Covenant symbol. I do not know its exact meaning, but it is unmistakably similar to the other Covenant letters I decoded, and comes from Halo 2. The lettering system is composed of triangles, and in some cases, the large triangle has a half-circle cut out of one side. The positions of the triangles varies to make the letters, but they all, except I and T for some reason, have one central triangle and most have other smaller triangles surrounding the larger central one. I also developed variants of the alphabet which I do not use as much now as I did when I first created them. I now have a list of around 150 variants of the letter S as well, as over time I come up with new ways to write it. These could easily become fonts for the computer, although I don't think I'll ever end up using them to do that. They are much more likely to be used as symbols for, say, companies, or such. I would definitely enjoy designing such symbols, but for a living, definitely not. Maybe a hobby...
Of course, the screenname has nothing to do with Lord Sobaguda, but most people don't know what it means. To most people it's just a line with a squiggly thing and a dot. Well, there's a double secret of my life. Now you know that I make alphabets AND what my symbol means on AIM. I have also decoded the Covenant alphabet, which is where my Lord Sobaguda icon comes from. The "Cleave" (the name of the symbol) is a Covenant symbol. I do not know its exact meaning, but it is unmistakably similar to the other Covenant letters I decoded, and comes from Halo 2. The lettering system is composed of triangles, and in some cases, the large triangle has a half-circle cut out of one side. The positions of the triangles varies to make the letters, but they all, except I and T for some reason, have one central triangle and most have other smaller triangles surrounding the larger central one. I also developed variants of the alphabet which I do not use as much now as I did when I first created them. I now have a list of around 150 variants of the letter S as well, as over time I come up with new ways to write it. These could easily become fonts for the computer, although I don't think I'll ever end up using them to do that. They are much more likely to be used as symbols for, say, companies, or such. I would definitely enjoy designing such symbols, but for a living, definitely not. Maybe a hobby...
The writing test wasn't that bad. I had a difficult time getting started, but once I did, it was pretty easy. The topic was "Define uniqueness and how it relates to being a member of a group." I reused a lot of the ideas that I put in my diversity practice paper whenever I thought they fit in. I thought it turned out pretty well, but I'll see for sure when it comes back, whenever it does come back. That night I took notes for my Atlantis paper. It's coming along pretty well, but I do need to work on it, as I need to have two more sources by this coming Friday. Wednesday I GOT MY BRACES OFF!! It's about time. I'm not really celebrating that much though, because now I have to live through several more years with a retainer. I think most people celebrate because braces are ugly, but that's not what bothered me about them. Given, a retainer is better, but I'm not going to be really happy until I get the retainer off too. I had one free day, and it felt good. For Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, I didn't have a retainer or braces. But alas, such freedom was short-lived. Wednesday afternoon we had Logos, so I owned at Halo 2, and we watched "I, Robot" for a discussion this coming Wednesday (watching the movie took three weeks). Thursday we took a "field trip" (If you can call it that) during school to NNHS to get IDs for the New York Trip over Spring Break. After that, we went to fourth period for a grand total of one minute, and then I went to the orthodontist's. They put the retainer on, and told me to come back in a month. I talked to some people that had braces, and most of them still have their retainer, although only the metal part on the bottom teeth. Most of those people haven't had braces for years. Now that is aggravating. Just shatter my one little glimmer of hope. Friday Fuzzy came over. We played xbox live most of the time he was here. In fact, I actually missed the new episodes of Stargate. But hey, that was the first time I played on live in the past two months. So, after we dropped Fuzzy off at his house, I checked the Myth, my RC model sailboat, and went to BED! The next day I went to Thomasville with Aramaia for her All-State tryouts. On the way there, we talked, and also watched a movie, because SOME PEOPLE have a tv in their car. When we got there, I saw some people I knew, and they were... frankly, confused. Since I haven't been playing in a band for a while, I had no reason to be there. (Even if you take private lessons, you can't try out for All-District or All-State unless you're in a band) I saw the band director at my school, and he was pretty confused too. He really thinks I should be in band; says it's a "waste of talent." I wish there was a way I could, but unless I go to NCSSM, I can't see one. Even if I go to NCSSM it might not be that easy to just start playing again. I don't really know. Anyway, he was with a couple people from our school, and I talked with the one I knew and wished him luck. He got first chair at All-District for flutes! That's pretty amazing. He's got a lot going for him in music. Then there was someone who was never in my band, but once went to my church. He's a bit of a perfectionist though, and we were never really that good of friends. I don't really like his attitude; I think he worries about being cool a bit too much. He acts like he's above other people, a quality I resent. After Aramaia was signed up, we went to have lunch. Then we went back and dropped her off to go try out. Anyway, while Aramaia was trying out, I went with her dad to go sail the Myth. It was perfect weather, really. The wind was strong, but not quite too much so. We found a place to sail it and had a good time just talking.
For a scale, the boat is 42 inches, or around 3 and a half feet tall. It has "Myth" written on the back plate *In LOTR Long Print* (long print means no short letters, so "th" is two letters, rather than one). For the first time I can remember, the boat had no problems the entire time we were sailing. It's something I've come to expect, you know? Something always goes wrong. Not this time, though. Given, the wind shifted a bit, and it was a bit difficult to bring it back in at the end, but other than that, no trouble at all. If anything, it was an enjoyed challenge to get it back in. The wind was blowing away from the shore, and there was just this one place that was deep enough that I could bring it near to the shore to get it out. If I missed that little outcropping, the Myth got stuck in the mud and I had to push it back out with the tip of my remote (I can't very well pick it up with that little antenna). So, after a few tries, I tacked it well enough to bring it to the right spot. Tacking is switching angles to keep sailing into the wind; it's a bit hard to understand unless you see it. We went back and waited for Aramaia to finish her audition after that. While we were waiting, I talked with a couple old friends. One was someone who used to play bass clarinet in our band, but went to NNHS instead of RMSH. I see her every once in a while at her mom's restaurant, but that was the first time I actually talked to her in a few years. I also talked with someone I hadn't seen since seventh grade. He always used to call me by my middle name, and he still remembered my full name! It was really good to see him again too. After Aramaia finished, we left for Raleigh, and then Stony Valley, and for them, then to Verde Ciudad. On the way, we talked a lot. We asked questions and each (me, Aramaia, and her dad) took turns answering them. It was pretty interesting, and fun. In Raleigh, we stopped for dinner. Unlike my family, they wanted to decide where to go BEFORE we got to Raleigh, though. We talked about that for a while really. Anyway, as they were naming types of food, I heard "Caribbean." I told her I had never heard of that, so she explained what it was. She was amazed I had never heard of it. Am I alone in that? After much more discussion, we finally decided we should go for Caribbean. I was a little nervous about it, but looking forward to it more than worrying about whether it would be good. We went to a restaurant called Bahama Breeze. They told us the wait would be around 30 minutes or so I think, but we were seated very quickly. We all got exotic drinks, and I think we all loved them. Mine was delicious: pineapple juice with orange juice and sprite. Dinner was delicious. We also tried shrimp with coconut coating; very good. For the entreé I had a chicken sandwhich with jerk sauces, a Caribbean topping that is sort of barbecue sauce with fruit flavors. I couldn't eat it all but I wanted to. The fries were very interesting too; they were cut very slim. Good food. LOL- I once overheard some girls saying they felt nervous eating with their boyfriends, but I must say I had no trouble eating that food! Definitely a good choice. We went the rest of the way back to Stony Valley still talking. Aramaia came in for a minute, and I showed her my picture album (ha- you have no idea how far that thing goes back- there were pictures from around eight years ago). Our parents talked for a bit, and they went on. That was a really good trip. I really can't wait to get my license and go to Verde Ciudad more often to visit. Monday (the 7th) I couldn't go to prayer breakfast because my dad was too busy to take me, and my mom was at work. Wednesday we finished up "I, Robot," as mentioned earlier. It was a good movie, and I read the book also. The two had nothing to do with each other, but they were both very good. Thursday I wrote up an outline for the Atlantis essay, and realized it might be a bit too big. I'll need to be narrowing that down a bit... Also, I wrote up some information on Rufino Tamayo, a Mexican artist, for Spanish 4. Friday I watched the new episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis... sad, the last episode for this season is this coming Friday. I'll miss the new episodes, but then, maybe I'll get to see a few I missed or some old ones I never got to see. It's always good to catch up, especially when you get confused in all the enlightenment stuff... you'll have to watch the show to know what I'm talking about. Saturday we had fog at Wheezy's house. This one was a bit tense, but we all had fun anyway... except maybe superman. He got pretty aggravated. It's really too bad, he used to be good at Halo, but he just doesn't get Halo 2. I think one of the main reasons is that you start out with the best weapon in the game in Halo, so he thinks he's really good because he can kill people with it.
The pistol, by the way, is undisputably the best weapon in Halo. In Halo 2, it lost its zoom and rapid fire features, so it is now only used for dual wielding. At least, unless you want to be owned by even an SMG. Superman complained more than usual, and actually got mad even when his team won, because Ruiner was on his team and he doesn't like "the way he plays." It's kind of hard to put up with all his complaints, especially when he hates you in particular, more than anyone else. Superman has changed a lot... and not for the better. I just wish I could help him, but it's difficult when he gets mad no matter what you say to him. Sunday was a normal Sunday. Church, finish homework, xbox live, etc. I worked on homework pretty late though. I thought I had to memorize something, so I did. It was the Rufino Tamayo information for Spanish 4, by the way. I think I was the only person in the class that did. It kind of freaked everyone out when I started speaking fluently in Spanish from memory! They asked me to translate, so I did, and then they were even more confused. Tell me, is this so hard to understand? "Rufino Tamayo believed in the universality of painting, which put him in direct opposition with the other group of Mexican artists of the time." Maybe it is. But then, every time I speak in front of the class, they always end up getting confused. It's just a natural talent, I guess. I presented the information today (Tuesday), by the way. I also had a poster of Tamayo's paintings, a collage, and I think the teacher liked it. It certainly had more paintings than the other posters. I think it looked pretty good, but I didn't expect a comment from the teacher, or "You think that's good? Look at Douglas's." from anyone in the class. It seriously wasn't THAT good.
For a scale, the boat is 42 inches, or around 3 and a half feet tall. It has "Myth" written on the back plate *In LOTR Long Print* (long print means no short letters, so "th" is two letters, rather than one). For the first time I can remember, the boat had no problems the entire time we were sailing. It's something I've come to expect, you know? Something always goes wrong. Not this time, though. Given, the wind shifted a bit, and it was a bit difficult to bring it back in at the end, but other than that, no trouble at all. If anything, it was an enjoyed challenge to get it back in. The wind was blowing away from the shore, and there was just this one place that was deep enough that I could bring it near to the shore to get it out. If I missed that little outcropping, the Myth got stuck in the mud and I had to push it back out with the tip of my remote (I can't very well pick it up with that little antenna). So, after a few tries, I tacked it well enough to bring it to the right spot. Tacking is switching angles to keep sailing into the wind; it's a bit hard to understand unless you see it. We went back and waited for Aramaia to finish her audition after that. While we were waiting, I talked with a couple old friends. One was someone who used to play bass clarinet in our band, but went to NNHS instead of RMSH. I see her every once in a while at her mom's restaurant, but that was the first time I actually talked to her in a few years. I also talked with someone I hadn't seen since seventh grade. He always used to call me by my middle name, and he still remembered my full name! It was really good to see him again too. After Aramaia finished, we left for Raleigh, and then Stony Valley, and for them, then to Verde Ciudad. On the way, we talked a lot. We asked questions and each (me, Aramaia, and her dad) took turns answering them. It was pretty interesting, and fun. In Raleigh, we stopped for dinner. Unlike my family, they wanted to decide where to go BEFORE we got to Raleigh, though. We talked about that for a while really. Anyway, as they were naming types of food, I heard "Caribbean." I told her I had never heard of that, so she explained what it was. She was amazed I had never heard of it. Am I alone in that? After much more discussion, we finally decided we should go for Caribbean. I was a little nervous about it, but looking forward to it more than worrying about whether it would be good. We went to a restaurant called Bahama Breeze. They told us the wait would be around 30 minutes or so I think, but we were seated very quickly. We all got exotic drinks, and I think we all loved them. Mine was delicious: pineapple juice with orange juice and sprite. Dinner was delicious. We also tried shrimp with coconut coating; very good. For the entreé I had a chicken sandwhich with jerk sauces, a Caribbean topping that is sort of barbecue sauce with fruit flavors. I couldn't eat it all but I wanted to. The fries were very interesting too; they were cut very slim. Good food. LOL- I once overheard some girls saying they felt nervous eating with their boyfriends, but I must say I had no trouble eating that food! Definitely a good choice. We went the rest of the way back to Stony Valley still talking. Aramaia came in for a minute, and I showed her my picture album (ha- you have no idea how far that thing goes back- there were pictures from around eight years ago). Our parents talked for a bit, and they went on. That was a really good trip. I really can't wait to get my license and go to Verde Ciudad more often to visit. Monday (the 7th) I couldn't go to prayer breakfast because my dad was too busy to take me, and my mom was at work. Wednesday we finished up "I, Robot," as mentioned earlier. It was a good movie, and I read the book also. The two had nothing to do with each other, but they were both very good. Thursday I wrote up an outline for the Atlantis essay, and realized it might be a bit too big. I'll need to be narrowing that down a bit... Also, I wrote up some information on Rufino Tamayo, a Mexican artist, for Spanish 4. Friday I watched the new episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis... sad, the last episode for this season is this coming Friday. I'll miss the new episodes, but then, maybe I'll get to see a few I missed or some old ones I never got to see. It's always good to catch up, especially when you get confused in all the enlightenment stuff... you'll have to watch the show to know what I'm talking about. Saturday we had fog at Wheezy's house. This one was a bit tense, but we all had fun anyway... except maybe superman. He got pretty aggravated. It's really too bad, he used to be good at Halo, but he just doesn't get Halo 2. I think one of the main reasons is that you start out with the best weapon in the game in Halo, so he thinks he's really good because he can kill people with it.
The pistol, by the way, is undisputably the best weapon in Halo. In Halo 2, it lost its zoom and rapid fire features, so it is now only used for dual wielding. At least, unless you want to be owned by even an SMG. Superman complained more than usual, and actually got mad even when his team won, because Ruiner was on his team and he doesn't like "the way he plays." It's kind of hard to put up with all his complaints, especially when he hates you in particular, more than anyone else. Superman has changed a lot... and not for the better. I just wish I could help him, but it's difficult when he gets mad no matter what you say to him. Sunday was a normal Sunday. Church, finish homework, xbox live, etc. I worked on homework pretty late though. I thought I had to memorize something, so I did. It was the Rufino Tamayo information for Spanish 4, by the way. I think I was the only person in the class that did. It kind of freaked everyone out when I started speaking fluently in Spanish from memory! They asked me to translate, so I did, and then they were even more confused. Tell me, is this so hard to understand? "Rufino Tamayo believed in the universality of painting, which put him in direct opposition with the other group of Mexican artists of the time." Maybe it is. But then, every time I speak in front of the class, they always end up getting confused. It's just a natural talent, I guess. I presented the information today (Tuesday), by the way. I also had a poster of Tamayo's paintings, a collage, and I think the teacher liked it. It certainly had more paintings than the other posters. I think it looked pretty good, but I didn't expect a comment from the teacher, or "You think that's good? Look at Douglas's." from anyone in the class. It seriously wasn't THAT good.
Anyway, that's pretty much a full update on everything for the past, say, two weeks.
posted by Doug at 11:22 PM
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