Punnett Llama

We've been learning about genetics.
Dominant traits.
Recessive traits.
Heterozygous. Homozygous.
Punnett Squares.
So I ran some experiments and developed the Shark Llama Genome. So, little children, here's my lesson.
You see, we have the shark llama.

Squarish head, small body, fluffy tail, long teeth.

But I researched all these different traits. For example....

FUR

Fur comes in many shades of brown (ranging to orang-y) 

Dark fur is generally dominant, but you'll notice that it can have codominance with the lighter shades.  A shark llamas fur color is about as predictable as the exact shade of a human's hair - not much.

Short hair is a dominant trait with shark llamas. Long hair tends to come with the darker shades, and tends to get scraggly. You could try buying some shark llama scrubbers, but be careful, there are some really horrible business men out there on the shark llama market.

TEETH

Teeth are important to a shark llama. They are almost always curved. When not, this is generally a birth defect. Teeth can be long or short. Long teeth (generally about 15 feet long) are considered more useful than the more shark-like rows of smaller teeth, but both have served their species well. Teeth tend to be longer towards the front of the mouth. 

Another trait of teeth is the sharpness. Occasionally (and this is definitely recessive) the teeth can be slightly rounded. This does not affect tooth length. These shark llamas are rare as they usually end up dying before they can reproduce. 

BODIES

As well as ranging in size (they are dominant for smaller body size, but this can be rather random) the bodies tend to fall into two classifications of shape. Dominant is the more shapely, rounded rear, while recessive claims a sharp corner in bone structure with only a thin curve at the rump. Sharkllamas tend to be bred for their rounder shapes.

EYES

Eyes can be rather big and spirally or small. Although big is also rather prevalent, small eyes are the dominant. There is a range. As for eyebrows (which grow up to ten feet long), short is dominant, although long eyebrows can be considered a desired luxury for potential owners. It is possible to clips eyebrows if desired.

TAILS

Fluffy is dominant. Round is dominant. White is dominant. Recessive includes bulgy, scruffy, oblong, and tan. No pictures available at this time.

SO. There are some traits about sharkllamas you never knew you needed to know! I recommend mapping out your own genomes for various other lovely creatures such as this one. Contact me with any requests!

~Julia

P.S. Does any one know how to get the video thing working on blogger? I've been trying to post something for days....

The Brother Book

Okay, so I've decided to start a new series called "The Brother Book". I tell what a good brother would do, what a bad brother would do, and what my brother would do (hypothetically). I wanted to start this a long time ago, but it was just too much work to illustrate. Hopefully I can keep this going. I might even open a new tab to store them.
My posts will probably consist of only one at a time, but I'm trying to kick this off with three. Tell me what you think!

SCENARIO:
Your brother is talking on the phone about some unimportant boy thing like stinky socks. They've already covered all their homework and are just chilling. You are filling our an important online form, which asks for some information about you that you don't know. The deadline is in one hour. You ask your brother to use the phone.

GOOD BROTHER:
Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: Of course, sister dear! Let me just rap up my conversation with my chums!
Julia: Okay! :)

BAD BROTHER:
Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: No.
Julia: Please?
Brother: NO! (flies into murderous rage and murders me with an axe.)

OR

Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah.
Julia: Hello! Brother! Could I use the phone, please?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: BROTHER! HELLO!
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Oh my gosh you are scaring me...
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Can I please use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: ....
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: AAAAGH! (Attacked by giant bird)
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Carried into distance and eaten.)

MY BROTHER:
Brother: Blah blah blah
Julia: Brother of mine, could I please use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah
Julia: Benjamin!
Brother: No.
Julia: It's important!
Brother: No.

Then I would end up pulling out commanding big-sister authority and oust him from the phone.


SCENARIO:
You have a top secret diary.

GOOD BROTHER:
Brother: Julia, what is in that book?
Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.
Brother: Okay.

BAD BROTHER:
Brother: Julia, what is in that book?
Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.
Brother: Why not? What's in it?
Julia: Nothing.
Brother: Let me see!
Julia: Eep!
Brother: Ha ha! (Grabs diary and runs into room. Locks door)
Julia: :(

OR

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Let me read it!

Julia: No.

Brother: WHAT? DIE! (Goes into murderous rage and kills me with an axe)

Brother: Hehe (reads diary)

OR

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Okay. Hehe.

At night

Julia: Zzz

Brother: Hehe (steals)

MY BROTHER:

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Let me see....

Julia: No.

Brother: Let me see....

Julia: No.

Brother: Okay, fine. Hmph. (Walks off)

SCENARIO:

You have a bathroom. It is a nice bathroom, but your brother often leaves it in bad condition. Let's say he doesn't flush, hang up his washcloth, cap the toothpaste, or... drain the bath. You confront him about his habits. 

GOOD BROTHER:

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: Sure. What do you want me to do?

Julia: Well... (you list the things)

Brother: Okay! (Goes and cleans up)

BAD BROTHER:

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: No.

Julia: But brother, you are being very sloppy!

Brother: WHAT? DIE!!!! (Goes into murderous rage and kills me with an axe)

OR

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: No.

OR

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: EAT MELON! (throws melon at me and runs away)

MY BROTHER

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: I do!

Julia: No you don't... (explains problems)

Brother: Okay

After a while he probably forgets and I remind him again.

Animation Paper

My New Toy

Today I got a brand new toy as a belated Bat Mitzvah gift.

                                       
                                       
DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM
That's right. A turret.
For those of you who do not know, turrets are mechanical devices in Portal and Portal 2 (computer games) that shoot you. They may be evil but they are SO DARN ADORABLE. Especially plush ones.
And it talks! It says quotes from real turrets, if you turn it on.
The little eye-laser thing lights up. [That's called an optical sensor.] If it sees you (if you move in front of you) it can say:

• Target Acquired.
• There you are.
• I see you.
• Preparing to Dispense Product
• Activated

Followed by a smattering of bullets (oops. you die. hehe.)

If you knock it over from behind or shake it it says:

• Critical Error
• Shutting Down
• I Don't Hate You (I remember that one from the game. So sad. Those turrets are pretty forgiving)
• Hey! Hey! Hey!
• Malfunctioning.....

I keep it turned off most of the time. It's still pretty cool. It came from THINK GEEK, which has all sorts of geeky stuff like space time watches and pi-shaped ice cubes makers. ThinkGeek also has plush Companion Cube and a GlaDOS potato battery (long story) science kit.

I wanted to spiff up this post so I made a little video. It's short (really short) and kind of lame, so I just threw this together in the 15-something minutes that I had. I wanted to post this today. I do have a drafted script of a more elaborate film-ish thing involving Portal and Turrets that I may or may not be able to compile with Benj this weekend.

Anyways, here's the filmy thing.

There you go!

If this stupid video finishes loading, I'll post it. If not, I'll try again tomorrow with an apology. 

Love y'all!

~Julia

P.S. I see you....

P.P.S. That "FOR NOW" was supposed to come at the end. Sorry. I'll fix it tomorrow.

Ways To Die

As we near the apocalypse, I thought this video might be appropriate.

Love the piano chords, Alex. :)
I'm trying to put together a little end-of-the-world documentary. I should be able to at least put up a preview sometime this week.....
So bear with me!
~Julia

Techno-Whiz

YAY!
My iPod nano (purchased with Bat Mitzvah money) arrived today! It's blue, 8 GB. 6th Generation.

I've named it Genevieve, Gigi for short. I've been messing around with it. Although I don't have headphones, I have a speaker hat I got as a Bat Mitzvah (I guess people just assume all teenagers have iPods and such). I'm playing around with the settings. So awesome.
Unfortunately, I can't download anything yet because dad wants to help set the settings when i plug it in and he's at a concert with Mom. Mom gets a ton of free ASO tickets because she makes and airs their show on GPB.
So, until I get music and pictures and stuff, let's just give a hooray for Genevieve!
YAY GIGI!

FINALLY

Okay guys, I know you've been waiting for over a month for Emma's b-day animation. Emma, I'm really sorry it took so long. But I hope it was worth it!
So, three disclaimers. One, those things that fall on the bananas are guinea pigs. They look ridiculous. Trust me, I can draw guinea pigs. Two, I know my flute animation is a little choppy. But it was hard, and I lost my progress like three times. Three, my eyes look nothing like yours, but they are to communicate that you can draw eyes well.
Enjoy!

So yeah. Questions? Comments?
I'm really sorry it took so long, but I hope it's worth it.
~Julia
NOTE: Ugh! iMovie cut off so much! I'm sorry emma. The confetti spells yay. Even though you CAN"T SEE IT. And it says from Julia at the end on the bottom.

Bugaboos

What are bugaboos?
Well that's a great question. Bugaboos are mushroom like carnivorous creatures with feet.
Pretty weird. I mean, I've drawn plenty of twisted, weird, really, really random creatures myself....

(These are some of my random creatures I doodled in 5th grade. Certainly not my 

best work since then, but it was what I clicked on)

But bugaboos are weirder. And cooler. Unique. They spray poisonous fumes and acid. There are different types.

WHITE - are possibly considered the least dangerous.  They are the jellyfish of the bugaboo world, relying on instinct alone, with no deliberate malicious instinct. Personnel training to do work involving bugaboos start with these to learn how to care for bugaboos and react to their motions. White bugaboos live alone and mate once in their lifetime. They prefer northern woodland as unpopulated by humans as they can find. Contact with human creatures severely confuses them, and they are thus subjected to danger.

GREEN - Greens are also rather free of malicious intent. Although they prey often to keep up their energy supply, they treat their encounters with humans as laughable occasions. Mostly any harm that befalls you will be the bugaboo's idea of a practical joke. It will get confused if you get mad when such an occasion befalls you (watch your feet) and the more moody of them will then proceed to eat you and/or your belongings. Greens love household objects like lamps and shoes for food.

YELLOW - Yellow is when it starts to get nasty. They live and hunt in packs, like lions, often in wild areas such as the savanna. Yellows love the sport to invoke creativity in every unique chase. They are smart and fast - athletes. They can jump very high and love creating obstacle courses in the chase. Although they will settle for smaller objects, they lust for the excitement of bigger prey like antelope.

BROWN - Brown bugaboos have one "trigger" color that sends them into a rage to destroy it, possibly an evolution to assist hunting. We have different theories as to why that is. One is that they are color blind to every color besides that one. Another is that they see everything as a shade of that color, and the authentic ones are startlingly bright.

PURPLE - Purple bugaboos can fly, manipulating their skin like a sped-up jellyfish motion. They live in squads of approximately 10, and their behavioral habits seem similar to yellow bugaboos, yet their mind set has been shown to resemble green. 

RED - You need a license to own this bugaboo. Actually, you should probably need certification for every type, but you need a specific license for red bugaboos. They are sly and cruel and can hold a grudge for as long as they live. Homes must be secured with mirrors, security cameras, and motion sensors to ensure modest safety. There is no guarantee, however - red bugaboos learn from their experiences - especially the negative ones.

BLUE - Blue bugaboos are strictly restricted to military personnel ONLY. They are cunning, evil, violent, and large. BEWARE THE WRATH OF THE BLUE BUGABOO!!!!

Bugaboos have extremely keen eyesight. Their alphabet is a sequence of Os with the slightest differences of width at various places. The only noticeable difference between genders is that the female is an atom longer. Bugaboos' language is a burbling, ooo sound.

WARNING: They are extremely adorable. They sing. Do not fall for it!

And then, we have footage of a blue bugaboo from 2010.....

Woo! So.... Alex, I know you're the bugaboo, so if you've got any arguments, let me know.

And I guess that's all!

The Era of the Squid

Okay, so as you all know, we have revived the four houses of Inman.
Cheetador.
Wolfador.
Foxador.
Squidador.
A certain person was causing a ruckus involving being placed in Squidador. ("I'm not HAPPY! Do I look HAPPY? The sorting squid should take opinions into account. I AM NOT A SQUIDADOR! AAAAAGHI'MGOINGTOMURDERYOU!!!!")
I would like to not that phrases such as "I'm going to murder you." as well as the actions they describe are not permitted at Inman. Such actions indicate that one is turning to the DARK SIDE and will be transferred. To an EVIL school with EVIL squids.
Anyways, Alex formulated some Inman lore and provided it to me.
I've finally gotten around to posting it. Any spelling/grammar errors are Alex's fault. If you see any (which I doubt) comment and I'll fix it.
Also, any arguments relating to the actual content of the lore can be commented and taken up with Alex and other people involved. Here goes:

The history of how the middle school Inman started was lost long ago, its contexts burned after President Cornelius Blanc was overthrown in the United Republic of Nations, Cornelius’s attempt to unite countries long ago, removed from timelines.

                  A new city had sprung up in what is now called Georgia, called New Tristram (a.k.a. Atlanta). Four powerful tycoons had met together and decided to create a school for the town. Their names: Pippa Bigfoot, who owns a company that hosts track competitions; Lana Fisher, who owned a company that caught seafood, and the two brothers: Wolfram and Samuel Inman, who both ran an agency for the government.

                  It was decided that each founder would teach certain kids. “I will teach the most athletic, the most willing,” said Pippa.

                  “I will teach those who admire learning, a greed for knowledge, and have a knack for the fine arts,” replied Samuel. He had thought of this ahead of time; he named his house Foxador, who’s mascot was a fox.

                  “I will teach those that are the most resourceful, the most sly, the ones who can always a loophole in things,” said Wolfram.

                  “And I will teach those who are the most easygoing and loyal!” Lana said happily.

                  So it was for the founders of the school. Together they have built the school, yet the houses names and their mascots had not been agreed on yet.

                  However, conflict arose. The founders fought over who would rule the school. The conflict came to a cold, dead end when Wolfram had killed his brother, Samuel, and left the school, leaving only his son, Darim Inman, behind.

                   Sadness swept over the last two founders, even naming the school after Samuel Inman after his death. With Darim with them as a painful memory, Pippa and Lana decided to kill the young boy, throwing him in a den of wild wolves. Yet however, Darim had survived, having resentment towards the people that had tried to kill him. With this he named his house Wolfador, in honor of his father and the wolves that had almost killed him, and the mascot a wolf (obviously).

                  Pippa had advanced too by naming her house Cheetahdor (mascot the cheetah). Lana hadn’t been left behind; with her love of seafood, she named her house Squidador (mascot a squid). And to honor the memory of Samuel even more, they included his house of Foxador with Inman (after all, he WAS one of the founders).

                  In the beginning, when the school opened, each of the founders claimed students to be in their houses. But as they aged, with Death coming closer by their side, Lana Fisher of Squidador had given up her prized squid, granted with immortality, later dubbed the Sorting Squid, to take over the process of putting kids in their houses.

                  The history of Inman Middle was dark and dreary. After each of the founders have died, Pippa being first, then Lana, with Darim being last to die, the school grew darker. Rivalries with the other houses grew harsher. This is the ground where all the urban legends were true, where kids from Wolfador and Foxador massacred each other, with gangs from houses terrorizing classrooms day to day.                   When Cornelius was overthrown, when the United States of America were created, Inman Middle School took a turn for a change. Kids stayed at home instead of sleeping in their dorms, which were torn down. A new school system, named Atlanta Public Schools, had stripped Inman Middle to pieces, even going to the point when they removed the houses. Just like the Inman Middle school you see today.

                  But the roots of Inman are still there. After you’re taken to homeroom for your first day of middle school, teachers lead you to a secret room- hall, to be more accurate- where hundreds of other kids in grade 6 are seated. At the very front of the hall is the Sorting Squid.

                  When you get sorted into your house, you sit at the table with your other fellow housemates. After that, you’re taken back to your homeroom to start a normal day (like they always say it). Teachers are in houses too: some are even heads of houses (exception is Squidador; the head will always be the Sorting Squid).

                     Of course you won’t see it at first. Those weird glances rival house members will give you are only just the beginning; if you dare peek around the school, you’ll see it. And all those fears will wash over you like a flood. I suggest you don’t, but if you want to find answers, you’ll to explore. And that’s when you’ll start having second thoughts about this school. 

So yeah.

More posts hopefully coming soon! I have a 'DOOM' video planned out. Emma's animation will probably get dealt with. I'll have a bunch of timeless posts if I can make them.

These probably won't happen till the weekend, though. Don't hate!

I try......

~Julia

P.S. Yeah, I feel guilty about the delay. Bat Mitzvah load. Sorry guys. But again, redemption hopefully coming soon!