Katie Runyon

A little over 2 weeks ago, my mother and brother drove over to the Delaware River. The last time we visited it, little black tadpoles clogged the shallow water edge. And when they went back, they were still there. So my mother scooped up a bunch and brought them back home. Of course, I took care of them (as I can’t seem to go for long without having some wild creature to take care of around here!). We had plenty of different fish foods left over from our fish owner days and used some of that to feed them. Every day, I used a turkey baster to suck out their poop floating on the bottom and added some fresh water. When they started growing their back legs, I transported them from their little container to the 5 gallon tank. I added a big green leaf from near the stream in our back yard, a large rock and a floaty popsicle stick or two.

A few days ago they started growing their front legs! And soon enough, we found one standing up on the rock all toadlet-like. So I made up our 10 gallon tank with the dirt my mother had used to for her tomato plants last year (the plants have been dead, so it’s not like she was using it!). I also added a rock, some clumps of moss, some tree parts and a little lid filled with water for their own underground swimming pool. Between the dirt and everything else, there are lots of different little bugs running around for them to attempt to eat.

By yesterday morning, we had 4 tiny toadlets in the 10 gallon tank and 2 more on the verge of being transferred out of the tadpole tank. The 4 before had no troubles climbing out of the water and onto the rock when they were ready. But these two didn’t seem to have the smarts for that (I think maybe they are males). So the one I placed on to the rock myself and he was smart enough and stayed. The other, no matter what I did, seemed to want to drown himself. I tried multiple times and finally I stuck him in his own little container with a center that bulged up out of the rim of water. I figured this way, he wouldn’t drown himself and he could just wait out the couple hours until it was time to transfer him.

Then, about 2 hours later, my brother says to me, “Did you put him in the tank?”. Of course, somehow he had gotten out of the container-even if he couldn’t seem to figure out how to get himself out of the water. We searched all over the desk for him, carefully picking things up and inspecting them. We even looked on the floor and the bottom of our shoes! Thankfully, my brother found him after moving some things underneath the desk and I decided the suicidal toadlet was going to be put in the tank for his own good.

At this time, there are 6 toadlets in the 10 gallon tank and 8 still in the tadpole tank. At least 3 have all 4 legs and will lose their tail and be ready for the “big boy” tank in the next 24 hours. Hopefully they will be smart enough to drag their butts out of the water and onto the rock this time.

My mom found a crap load of aphids this morning and I cut a piece off the plant-after flicking all the ants off first. I wrangled most of them toward the plant and now they are gathered around, having thanksgiving dinner. Watching the first one scramble over and grab a bite reminded me of my cat after a toy. They seem more like cats or dogs than toads. They will lift their back legs up and scratch at their little tale stub or wipe at their face. And their little head movements when something gets their attention can me hilarious and sometimes even creepy…especially when a whole bunch of them sitting together turn and stare at you like they did this morning.

I grabbed a few more pieces with aphids, since we’ll have a few more hungry mouths to feed soon enough. And the aphids are small and slow enough for them to begin on.

Seeing a toad in such a small form-some the size of my pinky toenail-is amazing.

…or something like that.

Have you ever wondered about the longest book ever published? Or the longest word in the English language? Well, here are those facts and a few others.

What’s the longest book ever published? Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach is over 17 million words long! Of course there are some other giants, like The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm at 11 million words.

How about the longest word in the English language? Well if you want to be technical, then you can exclude the 189,819 letter word for titin and head over to dictionary.com and input the 45 letter word Pneumonoultramicroscop-icsilicovolcanoconiosis. Try saying that 5 times fast. Or even once.

How long is the longest published sentence? Well, there is some debate about that, but according to wikipedia the top contenders are The Rotters’ Club by Jonathan Coe with 13,955 words, The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm at 2,403,109 words, and finally Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach again with a whopping 3,000,000 words. I can safely say that none of mine have or will ever come close to these behemoths.

Oddest book title? This is a tough one and since there is no technical way to figure this out (and I thought it would be an interesting question), there are many different answers. I can’t help but point out the title to the book shown in the picture above. Since there are just too many to name just one, here are two lists from the following places: 17 Unusual Book Titles and Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title.

17 Unusual Book Titles

1. How to Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer
2. Scouts in Bondage by Michael Bell
3. Be Bold with Bananas by Crescent Books
4. Fancy Coffins to Make Yourself by Dale L. Power
5. The Flat-Footed Flies of Europe by Peter J. Chandler
6. 101 Uses for an Old Farm Tractor by Michael Dregni
7. Across Europe by Kangaroo by Joseph R. Barry
8. 101 Super Uses for Tampon Applicators by Lori Katz and
Barbara Meyer
9. Suture Self by Mary Daheim
10. The Making of a Moron by Niall Brennan
11. How to Make Love While Conscious by Guy Kettelhack
12. Underwater Acoustics Handbook by Vernon Martin Albers
13. Superfluous Hair and Its Removal by A. F. Niemoeller
14. Lightweight Sandwich Construction by J. M. Davies
15. The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes by Michel Pastoureaut
16. How to Be a Pope: What to Do and Where to Go Once You’re in the Vatican by Piers Marchant
17. How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title

100 Girls on Cheap Paper
A Tortilla is Like Life
Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology
Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter
An Intellectual History of Cannibalism
Bacon: A Love Story
Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 1741-1845
Bondage for Beginners
Briefs for the Reading Room
Budgeting for Infertility
Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich
Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes
Curbside Consultation in Cornea and External Disease
Cute Yummy Time
Dental Management of Sleep Disorders
Father Christmas Needs a Wee
Fluffy Little Kitten in Fluffy’s Brother
Food Digestion and Thermal Preference of Toad
Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots
How YOU Are Like Shampoo: For Job Seekers
I Stopped Sucking My Thumb…Why Can’t You Stop Drinking?
I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears
Is the Rectum a Grave?
Jokes by the Not So Famous Redneck
Map-based Comparative Genomics in Legumes
Mickey Mouse, Hitler and Nazi Germany
My Hare Line Meets the Brown Rabbit
Obama Guilty of Being President While Black
Peek-a-poo: What’s in Your Diaper?
Planet Asthma: Art and Acitivty Book
Plough Music
Plug-in Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Bean Conference
Schoolgirl Milky Crisis
Soft Drink & Fruit Juice Problems Solved
Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing
The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The First Home-Built Aeroplanes
The Great Dog Bottom Swap
The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin
The Origin of Faeces
The Quotable Douchebag
The True History of Tea
The Wild World of Girly Men and Masculine Women – And Why Americans Suffer from So Many Other Idiotic Syndromes!
Venus Does Adonis While Apollo Shags a Tree
What Horses Do For Us
What Kind of Bean is this Chihuahua?

Who is the first author of a fantasy novel? It seems that the person most commonly considered the first author of fantasy as we know it today is George MacDonald, who was even a great influence on J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

No, not lots, as in “a lot”. I am talking about Legend of the Seeker, the TV show that is based (only in broad terms) on The Sword of Truth series written by Terry Goodkind. I know many people don’t like the show for what they’ve changed, but I am able to see them as two separate things, which allows me to enjoy it every week. Today, after just watching the newest episode via Netflix, I was given this link. It’s a “recap” of the episode, but made as a joke and I found it pretty funny. So I figured some people, at least those that watch the show, might be interested in taking a look. So there it is, go and have a laugh. It seems the lead actress, Bridget Regan, does. At least according to her tweets.

I decided to pop over to my Google Webmaster Tools today and I ended up checking out my Top Search Queries. This shows Google searches that have listed my site in the results. Some are a bit…odd…so I figured I’d share with you the top 25 search queries for my site.

As you can probably tell, I’m a pretty bad blogger. My blog posts are usually pretty few and far between. The problem is, when there actually might be something to blog about, I tend to forget about it before I can get the chance. That and, I don’t think anyone is really all that interested to hear about my everyday boring as hell life. And the things people might find a little juicer are a little bit too personal/private to put on here. So, I’m left with a very sad and emaciated blog. But still, here I am, trying my best. There is at least one good thing; I am becoming a bit of a better Facebooker. I usually try to post SOMETHING a few times a week. After seeing some of the other things people put up, I don’t feel so bad telling everyone about my turkey burger that tasted like feet or even my one from this morning complaining about stupid people repeatedly calling me. Maybe if I try a little harder I can find something more interesting for the masses. But I make no promises. I’m pretty boring!

I do have a Myspace page, but don’t go on there at all. It seems to have become a little chaotic, where Facebook is slightly sleeker. I do not have a twitter page and have not decided one way or the other on that subject. For now, I am a Facebooker, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I am happier with my shorter ramblings, feeling that a line for a blog post is a bit too pathetic. If I’m going to blog about something, I’m sure going to try and write more than two words. But after usually writing 5,000 words during the week, plus whatever notes I might make in my notebook, my own words run from my head before I can even think them. But this week there is no new chapter, so I figured I should at least give a new blog post.

So, if it isn’t obvious by now, check out my Facebook Page. Not much there, but some input wouldn’t help to let me know what to do to spruce the place up a bit. And if you somehow missed the shameless groveling in my news post last week, register to my forum if you haven’t done so already. It’s quick and will give you access to a butt load of things. This includes a forum arcade with over 60 games at the moment, my novels, a personal photo gallery, posting abilities, a chat room, and a whole lot more. Just go to the forum and click the “register” link at the top. If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask. You can use the contact link at the top of the forum, post in the technical help/suggestions forum, e-mail me, or however else you wish to. No question is too stupid, so don’t be shy. Now, it’s time to go until I blog again the next time I have something to blabber about!

Out of the blue last night, I decided to start a Facebook Page, which is different than a Facebook Profile. My Facebook Profile wasn’t seeing much action and wasn’t really geared toward me and my writing, so that’s where the Facebook Page comes in. It will be filled with things that are related to my writing. I’m trying my best to find things to fill it, so if you have any suggestions, feel free! Don’t forget to become one of my fans! I added a Books application, which doesn’t seem to be working. It’s suppose to show a list of books I have read, books I’m reading, books I’m going to read, and even some of my favorite books. I also added the blogcast application so people can follow my blog from there if they wish. This also means that I finally have the RSS working. If you’d like to subscribe to the blog RSS, go HERE (I hope that works!) I’ll try adding some unique information on there to help get things moving.

In other news, I finally received my new phone, which is a Verizon Wireless XV6900. I still have a lot of fiddling around to do with it and I’m waiting on my SD card to add all my songs and whatnot. So until I’ve been using it for a little longer, I’ll label it as “fine”.

Where to begin? I just watched the movie version of Eragon by Christopher Paolini and it sure was different. I have read both Eragon and Eldest. I remember most of both books, so I am aware of the important things needed for the second book. The end of the movie left me guessing if they were even going to do another one and if so, how the heck they would accomplish it. One of the important things that didn’t occur in the movie was Eragon being wounded by the Shade. It plays a big part in the second book and without it, I can’t see the second movie working the same.

The whole time I was watching the movie I was thinking, “That isn’t what happened” or “That didn’t happen that way”. It was hard to focus on the movie when I was picking it apart. I could make a very long list of all the differences, but here are just a few that bothered me.

1. Was Arya even an elf?
2. Eragon’s scar of course.
3. Arya being conscious for a while after Eragon rescued her.
4. No twins.
5. Brom dying from the Shade instead of the Razacs.
6. Saphira naming herself.
7. Eragon didn’t get his legs all scraped up after his first ride, causing him to hardly be able to walk.
8. Farthen Dur is supposed to be underground.
9. Murtagh’s scar was on his side instead of his back.
10. We never met Solembum or Katrina.
11. The Urgals were so wrong.

Those are some off the top of my head. I could keep going, but I won’t. Remember, always read the book, it’s usually always much better than the movie.

Well, as I announced on the front page the other day, I am beginning my search for beta readers. This is new to me, so we’ll see how it goes. I have made a short questionnaire to help select people. If you are interested in being a beta reader, GO HERE. Sometime in the next few days, I am going to try and put up the WHOLE first chapter to my novel. This was supposed to be part of the “Big Update” coming…sometime (hey, not my fault), but the time is right. I’ll let you know when it actually is available. Of course, remember that it is still in its editing stages (hence beta readers), but you should at least get a better feel for the writing.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope that everyone’s Christmas is happy and safe, and your relatives are only slightly annoying :). Thankfully, I will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas with people I love and whose company I enjoy. I know there will not be a white Christmas here, only a chance of a gray one. Well enjoy your holiday.

Well after a day of bearing the freezing cold while I untangled..I mean put up…the Christmas lights, I was surfing around and decided I wanted my own little place to exchange my ideas with other authors and maybe even get some opinions on what I have so far. So I thought the best place to try would be, Yahoo! So I have just created a group for writers. It is a public group, but you will have more things to access if you are a member. My group is appropriately titled Katie Runyon Writing Group. Feel free to check it out and say hi.

As a reminder, if you haven’t read the last post. My first chapter is up on Critique Circle and I have so far received two nice critiques. Hopefully I will get more by the time it is moved aside to make room for others (Wednesday). So hurry while it is up and at least take a look.