Announcements

This is super important! If this shows up in your newsfeed, just take the two minutes to read what I have to say.

This is going to be the last post you'll be receiving about a new post on "the emo wolverine writes". This URL is going to be handed to "The Lunar Descent". This blog can still be found at "www.themowolverinewrites.blogspot.com".

Thanks for reading (:

PS- All tags/contest entries will be on the "emo wolverine writes".

The Handwriting Tag

The Winter Wonderland Challenge: Tag

I've signed up for Yasmine's Winter Wonderland Challenge and the first task is up for us to do. But before I dive into the tag, I'd better tell you guys the rules.

The rules:

1. Answer the questions.
2. Link back to this post. :)
3. Nominate one more blogger (but make sure they don't tag anyone else because that way the tag will go on and on and on until the end of the competition, which I can't have.)
4. Have fun! ♥

Q) What is your favorite winter drink? How do you make it? Why is it your favorite?
A) Well, I drink tea throughout the year- but coffee is the only new winter drink I take. Usually we go out and have coffee but sometimes I stir some up in the kitchen. I used to make really bad coffee but one day Lalie came to my place and made coffee which was really well received by my mom so I watched what she did closely and resolved to copy her style. Basically, what you do is put milk and water (in separate pots) to boil. Meanwhile, you put in the tablespoon of coffee and sugar in your cup and put in one tablespoon of the hot water that you'd put to boil and stir the mixture until its frothy. Then you just pour in 3/4th of the cup's volume of milk and fill the rest up with water. Now that's what you do with the coffee grain thingies but we bought instant coffee last year (and the box survives to today) and what I do there is just put the powder in the cup and boiled the water and milk together and poured it in. I didn't drink this concoction- my brother did and he had no complaints.

Q) What is your favorite winter month?
A) Definitely January- since it means a brand new year!

Q) Do you get snow where you live? How much?
A) No snow- not at all. It hailed once though and it was soo much that it blocked the drain in our terrace and all the rain pooled up there and started entering the bedroom from under the door. Can you imagine your room being flooded with ice cold water? In winter too!

Q) What is your favorite winter activity?
A) Sleeping in front of the heater.

Q) What's the worst thing about winter?
A) Making wudhu with hot water and then stepping out in the cold and losing that hot water feeling rapidly.

Q) Favorite winter associated symbol?
A) Frozen xD I love the part where Elsa sings Let it Go and build her mega palace.

Q) Tag one blogger to support you while you do the challenge/ do the challenge with you.
A) I must spam Maine Lyn again xD I tag you to do this challenge!

Well, that's all for today! Hopefully my college starts next week on Monday- I'll be shifting blogs on the weekend ^^.

Home is Where the Heart Is

It's 11:31 pm and I'm huddled in bed, having coaxed my seven year old brother into being a part of my entry for Envy's contest and in return of being called a teddy bear and all the little pet names I could use to get him to work with me, he has decided to cuddle up with me as I write. (Stop breathing on my arm, it tickles. Also, don't shove your head too close.)

"Home is where the heart is"

Sounds simple and rings with truth. But if I was to explain this saying to you and talk about what it meant to me, I would b dragging in a third concept. Family.

I'll admit- I've never been away from my family for long. Also, we've made so many life changing decisions and gone through so much as a team, it's hard to imagine a house becoming a home without them.

So I've managed to connect home with family, but what about heart? The concept of heart, or dil in Urdu is a vast concept. You can talk of your desires with the phrase "mera dil chahra hai" or vice versa "mera dil nahi chahra" which in rough translation means "my heart wants this" and "my heart does not want this".

Isn't that nice? You instantly join your heart into everything you want to do and if you don't want to do something, it's taken that your heart doesn't want this to happen. Best part? Everyone understands. The heart is taken very seriously.

So what am I trying to say?

If you were to ask me, "Do you want to be with your family and in your home?" I would say yes- my heart desires so (mera dil chahta hai). Indeed. Home is where the heart is.

(Ugh, iPhone front camera sucks)

The Grateful Blogger Tag

I was tagged for this post by India, who blogs at The Tudda Pudda Diaries (I liked calling it TTP Diaries). The rules for this tag are pretty simple, but I'll go through them again since this is my first time with such a tag!

#1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
#2. List some major things you are grateful for.
#3. Tag ten bloggers.

This post is supposed to be a bit of a deep and thoughtful sort of post but I'm afraid I can't actually delve into the mysteries of what I'm going to write and explain them in more details, but to sum it all up, I'm grateful for-

My parents, my family, both close and extended, and my surroundings and environment.
My friends, both online and off (yes, you too, blogger buddies) for being there for me and letting me be there for you too.
My functional mind and body.
Having so many ways to be productive and try doing something new.
Being able to forgive and forget relatively easily.
Being okay with my flaws and not usually obsessing over them too much.

I tag the following to do this post (and also suggest you to check out the original post by India)
Picking up the pieces
Almost Completely Mad
A Little Yarn Blossom
Lynde Avenue
Good Morning, Morning!
Sunset and Sundays
Maine Lyn
Daily Diaries
Reflections of a Jollygirl
Cranberries and Crescents

Okay, I'm going to finish off this post with some apologies and stuff.

(/)*-*)/) I'm sorry for not posting so much and also, not commenting on your blogs. But rest assured, I DO read and go through posts- either through the bloglovin' app or through twitter links you guys share but unfortunately, commenting is a hassle on a mobile phone and getting a laptop out is even more so. I'm going to try leaving feedback through twitter at least- otherwise, if I liked your post, I LIKE/SAVEd it on bloglovin!

(/)*-*)/) Also, I don't think I'm bored of blogging. I think I just find it a little difficult to sit down and write it all down. Did you know this post was in my drafts folder for a week? I sat down and decided to finish it just now. Did you also know I have a whole list of posts I can write about but haven't started on yet? Oh, and did I mention contest entries and other cool stuff THAT I CAN'T SEEM TO START WRITING ABOUT.

(/)*-*)/) My term has been delayed a week thanks to Imran Khan- that means one more week of staying at home! I've decided that I've had enough and now I'm thinking about finishing animes and stuff before college starts. Still thinking...

(/)*-*)/) You wanna know what else I'm thinking about? Water colors.

That's all for this week probably. I'm honestly going to try writing out something better for next time.

Why You Should/ShouldN'T Play DOTA2

Defense of The Ancients 2- a popular game in the geek world, filled with your classic characters, the tanks, the mages, the support and the thrill of battle between the classes. I got hooked up to this game by my brother earlier this year (sometime after summer) and I'll admit, the game is enjoyable and fairly easy to conduct. However, there are a couple of downsides to this game too. 

What is DOTA2 about though? Basically, it's a game set in a closed arena. You'll have five characters on each side with a base and a couple of towers, making ten characters in play. You have creeps spawning after every few minutes. Your job is to take your creep wave into the enemy land and destroy their base (called Ancient, thus Defense of the Ancient). 

If I had read an article like the one I'm going to write- before I had started playing- I probably would have thought twice about downloading it and stopped playing without thinking twice. But that's just what I would have done and what a lot of people wouldn't do. Nevertheless, here's all you need to know about-

Let's talk about why you should play DOTA2 and what is it exactly that makes this game enjoyable and addicting? (I'd ask my brother but he's kind of busy in a match at the moment) DOTA noob Kanra is here to do some game promotion!

First of all- the graphics of this game are amazing. From the characters, to the creeps, to the entire arena, the look of everything is amazing. You'd think such a detailed game would lag and go really slow but actually, game play is smooth and you can just sit and watch your character run here and there and be amazed. The characters (called "heroes") are produced to appear lifelike- while standing, they appear to be breathing and if you leave them alone too long, they'll probably do a tap dance to entertain themselves. (Oh and if you write LOL in chat, they actually LAUGH OUT LOUD). (I just had to say that).

The arena, or the battlefield has great graphics too. Change between day and night causes the arena to appear completely different during the respective time. Heroes running over water creates ripples and if you happened to have used a tango on a tree, you can watch it disappear and then suddenly shoot up in a rapid replay of growth several minutes later.

Developers don't make games for beauty though. They make it so that you find yourself challenged. I said, earlier, that conducting the game is fairly easy- you direct your Hero to a location with a mouse, move the camera with the keyboard, select spells and target with your cursor. It sounds easy but the game is dynamic. You have five Heroes on each side (ten players in all, including you) and each of them acts individually (whether playing against Bots or against Players). Then you have the Creeps who come out wave after wave, trying to push into enemy territory. Oh, also, remember how everyone is individual? That means they have a Hero who also has their own unique powers which they can use whenever they want and maybe end up killing you over and over and not letting your Hero do anything heroic. (see what I did there)

The game isn't that simple, we conclude. There are lots of things that compound to this fact. There is no easy way to play the game. You must fight if you want to level up and get money- but if you die, you lose a whole chunk and your respawn time increases after each death (along with the cash needed if you want to get out early). However if you manage to kill a Hero, you might get a substantial increase in cash (depends on how much the Hero was carrying) along with a boost in experience. Each character has different stats- mages are squishy, tanks are tanky and carrys love to gank. But guess what- there's a shop in the game and you can build up your character in ANY way you want. You could take the squishy Crystal Maiden and make her a tank by boosting her strength stats, increasing her health and raising her defenses (provided you manage to hoard enough money without getting killed- which would be really difficult considering how squishy she is, but okay).

Point to be noted? DOTA2 has a variety of characters and playing styles to choose from. You could turn a support based character into a carry, or a mage into a ganker or whatever, really. You take your character and you build it up the way you want. There are three major stats in each character, being strength (increases health points) agility (increases the number of attacks per second) or intelligence (increases your mana pool). Personally, I'm a big fan of agility characters- I like watching my Heroes hit rapidly and pull down someone's health points. But you could give your Hero lots of health and have them survive longer in fights (and maybe be able to get out alive, thus saving you money) or give them intelligence based items and have an enormous mana pool to spam spells from without burning out! The choice is completely yours.

Remember what I said about there being ten players in all? And each of them being individual and unique? DOTA2 is a game based on strategy and teamwork. I've seen some of the Bots of DOTA2 play really cleverly- luring a player with a loner Hero deep into enemy lanes to have the rest of the team gank on it and wipe you out (and I've been wiped like that, honestly). This is a game where, along with your own playing, you have to keep an eye out on what your team mates are doing and lend a hand in if possible. Everyone's Hero is different and has different abilities- there's definitely a time for each of them to shine- provided you know what you're doing. Also, if you've done teamwork sort of work, you'd know how hard it is to get everything just right- so it's going to be doubly hard doing that, whether it's with Bot teammates or Player teammates, adding to the challenge of the game.

What are my favorite Heroes in DOTA2? Well, I'm biased towards long range characters. I love the way I can stand outside the fight and get a few hits and run away before I get killed (which doesn't happen that much, sadly). At the same time, I like female Heroes. (I'm incredibly biased, amn't I?) Nevertheless, here are top three heroes in my list who are..

Female

Drow Ranger (Agility based Long range Hero), Legion Commander (Strength based Melee Hero), Lina (Intelligence based Long Range Hero)

Over Powered

Bloodseeker (Agility based Melee Hero), Viper (Agility+Intelligence based Long Range Hero), Sniper (Agility based Long Ranged Hero)

Personal Favorites

Legion Commander (because she's so awesome), Viper (because he poisons and how cool is that), Sniper (because running away with him sounds easy and he mega kills around level 15ish)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We talked about the dazzling side of DOTA2 but I promised to write why you shouldN'T play as well! And that's exactly what we're going to talk about now. The game sounds amazing and intriguing but- why shouldn't you play it?

First of all, this game is highly addicting. You'll be having so much fun building up your character in each game and trying to kill other people and dying that you won't realize how much time you've spent on one game (which is an average of at least thirty minutes to a full hour- if we're talking about the shortest time span). Think about it. You need to level up your character, carry your creep wave to the enemy, destroy towers, kill Heroes, advance deeper in and then raid the base- while your enemy is doing the absolute same. It's definitely going to take quite a bit of time.

On top of that, since every game starts with all the characters at level one, it's going to add to the addiction. How about I build this character in that way now? How about I take another character? How about I play as a jungler and just farm next time? There are a variety of Heroes, build up styles, playing styles and not to mention the situation itself, making each and every game you play unique. The possibilities of game play is endless and just as engaging as the first. 

On the other hand, DOTA2 can also get extremely frustrating (doesn't that happen in every game?). It is difficult to "learn" to be a pro player- even by practice- so if you're a newbie who didn't click in to the set up, chances are you'll never click in (yeah, that's me). If you mess up in a game once, chances are that you're going to be targeted (whether by bots or players) because your mistake will make you look vulnerable. Even if you're strong, all your enemies are going to go for killing you first because you'll look easy and against a big group, you will be the first to fall. All because of that one tiny mistake.

So you frequently mess up your game and keep getting targeted and you want to improve your playing style. Let me tell you something- I've been playing for a while and I haven't figured out how to level up my own playing so I can't advise anyone on that. Also, I don't like admitting I'm a really bad player. Conclusion? More frustration while badly playing a game you're already bad at and can't improve in.

Last but not least, DOTA2 has the option of online play. Oh, let me warn you. The DOTA2 community is harsh and unforgiving. Online rules aside, I'm talking about the players. If you die, you're stamped as a noob loudly and if you repeat that mistake (even after repeatedly announcing your own noob-ness) there are high chances of being abused. Oh and you know what I do? I mute all my team mates and don't get to see what they're saying and then I do whatever I want and make the team lose. This is going to happen every single time so I just stick to bot games nowadays.

But if we decide to put aside the issues put up by players in online play, we end up with two other problems. First of all, while playing online, you cannot PAUSE the game (because there's other people playing and they're not going to like the pause) so forget playing online casually. You would really have to sit down and dedicate a solid hour to your game, playing online. Next, if you lag, you can say "Game Over" for you because not only does only YOUR game stop, but your character is going to be stranded and (1) miss out on experience and loot (2) become easy killing targets if abandoned near your area frontier. Easy solution to online play would be to just play offline with bots. Much less hassle.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So here's why you should and shouldn't play DOTA2. I've put my reasons forward, coupled with my own experiences and now it's your turn to decide on what you're going to do. Are you going to dive into this rich world of Heroes and battle or just do the smart thing and walk past?

Five Reasons to Watch The Legend of Korra (GIF heavy)

With Season Four almost halfway done and most of the fandom crying about how only a couple of weeks are left and compounded by the release of the last Naruto chapter which concludes the decade running series, I decided to publish this post.

It sounds simple enough, I try convincing you to watch The Legend of Korra and, depending on your perspective, you start watching it! But here's where two things about this post stand out. First off- GIF spam. I love GIF files and tumblr has a mega database for Korra GIFS. Second off, I'm going to sit down and be realistic- there are some negatives to this show and I will tell you what I think about them. However, good things first! Let's talk about why you should watch "The Legend of Korra", starting with an introduction.



The Legend of Korra is an animated television show (later shifted to internet releases) hosted on Nickelodeon and created by the same team that produced Avatar: The Last Airbender. It takes place after ATLA and focuses on the next Avatar, a waterbender girl (named Korra) who is technically from the country and moves in to Republic City to do her Avatar business! Oh- and check this out. The world is already introduced to cars and radios! So it's pretty interesting seeing old fashioned technology in this alternate universe. (Usually you have no technology at all or extremely high tech stuff in animated series).

Now, why should you watch the Legend of Korra?

Realistic and Individual Characters

Example #1

Varrick- the mad scientist and rich investor guy who is actually the smartest person in the entire series but seems really whimsical and selfish- until you find out what he's been doing to contribute to the ending. Also, when I mean selfish, he is REALLY selfish- but manages to get people to support him. Also, he's starting to develop a conscious (Season 4 spoiler xD)

Example #2

This is Bolin. He's comedic relief but often turns out to be doing EXACTLY what you want to do or makes happen what you want happen. One such example is his display of fangirling over Lord Zuko (yeah, the Zuko from the first Avatar The Last Airbender).

Example #3

This is ice princess Eska (Season 2) who is... literally made of ice. She's also super awkward (along with her twin ish brother, Desna) but seems to have no idea about it or doesn't care at all (I think it's the latter). Also an interesting character.

Example #4

Say hello to Asami Sato- beautiful rich girl who is also super smart and business-savy. She runs an entire tech company which produces cars and robots but that doesn't stop her from getting into business with Korra and lending a hand during fights (whether it's in a plane or on ground). And yes, her father is a diabolical genius (more on that below).

The Importance of Family
Both series, Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra focus on the importance of family relationships- and a wide variety too.
There's Mako and Bolin, the two brothers who manage to get along pretty well and find their distant family from their dad's side, including a lovely grandmother who adores them.
Then there's Asami and her father who was one of the villains in the first season- who try patching up their relationship in season four while portraying the journey towards that goal (Asami trying to hurt her father by saying how she hates him but her father still loves her and it's sincere).
Korra's relationship with her parents is also explored in depth in season two where she finds out a lot of things she hadn't known about her father, her original anger and sense of betrayal followed by acceptance, understanding and further strengthening of bonds.
The relationships between Aang's children and Tenzin's children is also explored quite a bit- each ending with the conclusion that no matter how different your family is or how weird they are or how much they annoy you, they're the ones who will always have your back and stick with it.
I think the messages given from this aspect are amazing and are definitely a major reason to watch the Legend of Korra for!

Amazing Animation and Battle Sequence

Example 1

Example 2

I

I love how they included the little detail of sand falling off the rock as she brings it over.

The best animation- ever. I haven't seen anything that is on par with the beauty that is in each and every Legend of Korra fight. You will not a find sketchy details and characters twisted during the fight the way you have in animes like Naruto (*cough* Pain arc *cough*). Each scene is detailed and the characters are portrayed realistically- they DO get tired and exhausted- they're not war machines rampaging till someone's dead.

The Strong Female Cast
Most hit cartoons and animes have leads that are male, for example animated Marvel and DC shows like Batman and Spiderman or animes, like One Piece or Bleach, and yet shows like these manage to target both, the male and female audience. Although these shows target 50% of viewers that are male, you'll find more than that watching without being judged for it.
If they happen to be female, they are usually used to target the female audience and dismissed by the male audience as girly or stupid. An example of a show like that would be The Powerpuff Girls- where the three main characters are strong, female, individual and pass on worthy messages to the audience. However, the show is dismissed by the male viewers and this tends to affect the female viewers as well. (Oh so you like PPG! That kids show! You need to grow up!) (Excuse me, Teen Titans is a kids show too)
There are exceptions to these two cases though. We have shows like Teen Titans which has two female heroines, both strong, independent and have a fleshed out character. Then there's anime like Attack on Titan which also has a strong female cast- not as thoroughly developed- but individual and self standing.
If the female lead is in a show aimed at both genders, it's probably a shoujo anime with lots of romance and stuff- where you'll have the lead sexualized, stereotyped, unrealistic and filled with fan service.
(This point is open to discussion, If you can present to me a show or anime with a female lead who is strong, individual and presenting a worthy role model and not reduced to fanservice, comment below and please don't write something like Asuna because she is not the main lead, Kirito is and plus, that anime borders the harem genre also don't say Sakura because tbh it's all about Sasuke and Naruto- ONLY)
The Legend of Korra is basically the Legend of Korra. This is all about Korra. She is the character who runs the show and the show manages to have a balanced audience of male and female viewers. Korra has been built in a way that appeals to both genders- she is strong, aggressive and powerful while being feminine, individual and realistic. But she's not the only female character here!
You'll find that there are more female characters in the show without you even noticing. And they can be on both sides, good and bad. None of them have been portrayed as weak or dependent on a male character. Every single one of them is self-standing and has more than one dimension. There is no gender stereotype or fan service or anything causing it to fall into a category other than it's own.

Strong Fandom

And you know what strong fandom means?! It means LOADS of beautiful art, lots of discussions, GIFS and you'll definitely find lots of little tid bits you wouldn't have noticed in the episode if you hadn't met this fandom. (Plus, someone who's going to ship your ships with you).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Now- why SHOULDN'T you watch The Legend of Korra?

The only reason I found to put in this section was that THERE'S ONLY FOUR SEASONS.

Okay, but in all honesty, I did find some things lacking. For example, the romance in the first season was awkward and difficult to watch but thankfully, it got better afterwards. Then some people complained about Korra seemed to lack developement as a character- she kept on charging into battle first and thinking later- but in my opinion, this was something she had been doing right from the beginning and it's begun to change in the fourth season, so all you Korra haters, calm down!

Mako was frankly a really annoying sort of guy but he has his moments and he has also vastly improved in Season Three. 

So, what are you waiting for? The first three seasons are available online- as well as the fourth season episodes which are being released every Friday. Sit down with some coffee and enjoy your winter evenings with some Legend of Korra. ^^

Medical College + GIF Spam

In an earlier post, I talked about my interview at Shifa, a private medical college in my city. I had passed the test and given the interview on the 22nd of October. Through hacks at medstudentz.com, I had gotten my hands on the merit list for the candidates and my name was #30 on the list!! Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail confirming this by inviting me to join the MBBS class of 2019! Isn't this exciting! I'm totally excited! In fact, I'm so happy and excited, I've been a little overwhelmed!

Anyway, I promised to write about my interview properly and so here we go. I'm only writing the gist or whatever I thought was really important.

"You are holding interviews for a job position and one of the applicants says that due to his father's ill health, he was unable to complete the application in time. He is now asking for an interview. What would you do?"

Me: Well, I'd ask him to bring some sort of proof of what he's saying, like a medical certificate of his father and see whether it was really serious or not.
Her: So you think you'd be able to judge whether the condition was serious enough for the candidate to personally attend to?
Me: No, I'd show the certificate to a physician and ask for his advice.
Her: Good, but what if the condition was fifty-fifty?
Me: Then I'd ask at least three physicians and take the majority opinion.
Her: Good, okay. Well, we finished your interview early.
Me: Oh okay. So, uh. What do you think about the Shifa and PMDC issue?
Her: That's not a problem, it'll be resolved in no time.

 "You had an argument with one of your classmates. Your teacher has divided the class into groups and both of you are in the same group. You want the groups to be changed. Request your teacher for this"

Me: Uh. Hello, I'm a student in your class and I have something I wanted to discuss with you.
Her: *nods*
Me: Uh. You recently divided our class into groups for a study project and I want to ask you to change groups.
Her: Why?
Me: Because there's someone in my group who I cannot get along with.
Her: Why?
Me: *flustered* Well, we had an argument and I think our feelings will disturb the rest of the group.
Her: Who started the argument?
Me: *thinking along the lines of 'what the hell'* Uh. Well I'm not sure I could answer that question properly since I'd be biased in my own favor.
Her: Did you think about apologizing?
Me: I think we should give it time to cool off before apologizing.
Her: Okay but why should I change the groups? It's been this way for weeks and it would disturb the class dynamics.
Me: *I think we're roleplaying in two different time sets* I'll find someone willing to change groups.
Her: No one will change groups-
Me: *turns slightly frustrated and mad* No, I will find someone. Let me take care of this and then you can change the groups.
Her: Okay, tell me what the fight was about.
Me: *still mad* I didn't like her so we fought.
Her: Why didn't you like her?
Me: *realizes this was a bad course of action to take* Uh.. she uh... She does her work really late.
Her:...
Me:... *realizes this was a stupid reason to fight imaginary friend with and go complain to teacher for*
Her: ...
Me: *stares at shoes*

"What qualities should a good doctor have? Relate an incident which shows that you possess this quality"

Me: Relate an incident? That's going to be difficult.
Her: No it wont, just tell me something that you did at home or at school that would prove any positive quality needed for being a good doctor.
Me: *clearly confused and has no idea what to say*
Her: Why don't you tell me about an internship you did.
Me: Oh, yeah, I've done a few internships, Most of them were about teaching children in katchi abadis, not like, educating them, but trying to get them interested in reading books and stories and stuff.
Her: So what did you learn about yourself?
Me: I learned that I'm pretty patient. It's really hard to control a group of 8 year olds and keep them entertained *gets an approving nod from interviewer*
Her: And what was the drawback?
Me: Well, the only drawback I felt was the language barrier.
Her: *leans forward* Language barrier?
Me: My Urdu isn't topnotch and for katchi abadi children who are fluent in Punjabi and Urdu, it was a little hard for me to communicate properly with them.
Her: Your Urdu?
Me: Yeah, I came from the States about seven years ago. My Urdu is good for conversation, but it's mostly filled with English words, which I'm sure you know, those children would not have understood so easily.
Her: That's true. So what did you think about Pakistan's education system?
Me: Uh- *bells rungs to end interview*

"You run a tertiary government hospital which is supposed to provide free medication. However, you have a shortage and patients have to end up paying themselves. What would you do?

Me: I'd file a report to the government.
Her: ...
Me: And maybe start a trust or an NGO to get funds for these people.
Her: ...
Me: ...
Her: ...
Me: ....
Her: ...
Me: *sniffs*
Her: You have a cold?
Me: Yeah, it's just mild. It started on the weekend.
Her: Are you taking medicine?
Me: No, just hot milk in the morning.
Her: ...
Me: ....
*bell rings*

"You were exiting a car parking when you hit the car next to you and break something. The security guard sees and informs you that it is Doctor Y's car and he has been told of this incident. Call Doctor Y and tell him what happened"

Me: Hi, my name is Kanra and I accidentally hit your car in the parking lot.
Him: Yeah, the security guard told me, I asked him to get a hold of you. Did you come by yourself or did he send you?
Me: .... I came myself.
Him: Good, so you came by yourself?
Me: Yeah, I felt it would  be better to deal with this problem face to face.
Him: Okay, so do you have a license?
Me: No...
Him: Then why were you driving?
Me: Wait, are we talking about real life or the scenario?
Him: ... the scenario.
Me: Oh! Then I'd have a license!
Him: ... Okay so if you have a license, you must be a careless driver to have hit my car.
Me: It was an accident and besides, my ability to park and unpark a car doesn't really affect how I drive on the streets.
Him: Fair enough. So who's going to pay for the damage?
Me: I'll pay it.
Him: Are you going to pay it or get your parents to pay it?
Me: It was my mistake so I should pay for it.
Him: Okay, that'll be all.

 "You are a drug addict and you really want to get admission into a college. The college is conducting screening tests. What would you do?"

Me: I'd sign up for a rehabilitation program.
Her: But you don't have enough time to get the drug out of your system. What would you do then?
Me: I'd tell the college about my problem and ask them to make concessions for me. I'll tell them I'll join a rehabilitation program and kick off this habit.
Her: Would you think about switching your urine sample with someone else's?
Me: No way! That wouldn't be fair. I would go straight up to the administration.
Her: Okay. Do you think drug addicts should be doctors?
Me: Well, if they kick off the habit, then I think they should definitely become doctors so they can help other people kick it off.
Her: Oh you're taking it in a positive light. Good good.
Me: *psychology classes paid off! whoop whoop!!*
Her: Okay so what do you think about someone taking drugs in your class?
Me: I'd be okay with that person being in my class and I probably wouldn't have anything against them personally, but I'd like to stay away from that person.
Her: Why?
Me: I don't want them turning me into an addict.
Her: How do you think most people turn into addicts?
Me: I imagine someone randomly hands it to them and says "Hey check this!" and they taste it and get addicted.
Her: So is it their fault their addicted?
Me: No, it's not their fault if their addicted but they have the power to kick it off. If they stay addicted, it's definitely their fault.
Her: What would you do if one of your friends starts taking drugs?
Me: I'd talk to her and then call her parents and say "Do you know that your daughter takes drugs?"
Her: What about smokers?
Me: I don't have a problem with smokers as long as they're not smoking in front of me. They can go outside and so it or whatever, but not infront of me. They should respect my feelings about smoking the way I respected theirs.
Her: So why are you lenient towards smoking than towards drugs?
Me: Well, I think drugs are more dangerous, you'd literally watch a human being degrade into an animal. I think that's scary and as a friend, I should stop that from happening.
*bell rings*

 "Here is a table of a survey conducted by an ice cream company who wants to launch a new flavor. Look at the data and explain which flavor they should launch"

This one would be really hard to explain because there was a table of data and I kept referring back to it but the main point I focused on was restricted samples and how you CANNOT survey ice cream flavors from adults when it's actually the children who consume it and to put flavors that people like up front, not random flavors the ice cream company likes.

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

I can't remember this one really well, but just this snippet.
Him: 70% of females sit at home after getting a degree.
Me: I will be that 30%

And that is how my interview ended xD My percentage was 68%/87.5% and my final percentage is 79%. That means that out of 12.5, I scored an 11 in my interview. Not bad, don't you think? ;)

Oh, and as a sort of celebration for this, I got an iPhone 5 xD pretty random, yeah? I can finally use apps like Whatsapp and Instagram decently (: I still have the Windows with me though.

Now because I have loads of GIFs and this is my blog and I can do whatever I want-

So Kanra, what're you going to do with an iPhone 5?

I haven't really thought about it but-

Don't tell anyone but-

Maybe take a selfie?

And don't tell anyone or..

Cause-

I never realized how much fun it is to talk with GIFs sorry for spamming you guys but that's how happy I am xD

One Lovely Blog Award

I got nominated to do this by Jenna at Sparkly Kid and this is the first time I got this award *-* so yes, I'm pretty excited to do this (: Jenna is a fellow TBC blogger who's also joined our Google+ group! If you're a TBC blogger, join the group too!

This blog award is pretty brief. Here are the rules!

Seven Facts About Me

1. I am bilingual- I speak English and Urdu quite fluently. However, I aspire to learn more languages. Arabic, German and Chinese have made it on my list!

2. I love reading books and I really wish libraries existed in my city. Unfortunately, when the British decided to colonize India, they didn't bother about building libraries the way they built railroads. A pity.

3. The first thing I do when I open my browser is open blogger. Want proof? Here.

Blogger, Bloglovin, Tumblr, Google, Facebook, Med Studentz, Kick Ass Torrent, Twitter.

4. I am totally fangirling over The Legend of Korra! The animation, the characters, the plot, the tension, the action! I love it all to bits! In fact, I'm planning to take out all my fangirling in a total #TLOK blogpost xD That's how much I love it.

Bruh the Avatar is back in business and better than ever! 

5. I'm also fangirling over the latest Naruto chapter- I don't know how many of you guys watch or read Naruto, but sorry for mega spoiling BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT LET ME SHOW YOU.

Read from Right to Left.

<-----

6. My mom wants me to write tons of stuff and mail them around but I don't tell her I've got a blog because I'm afraid she's going to mega stalk me and read every single post. So that's why I'm going to make a side blog where I'll write everything she wants me to write so she can be happy xD the blog is currently under construction by Emily at Lynde Avenue ^^

7. Today is the last day of October! And tomorrow is going to be November! And November is when the Shifa merit list is going to be out! I hope my name is on it QnQ

Okay, next part of this award is to nominate fifteen other bloggers. Let's see how far I go..

Cloudy Dreams

Perks of Being a Reader

Waking Moments

Lynde Avenue

Cranberries and Crescents

A Little Yarn Blossom

Ink on Paper

Maine Lyn

Almost Completely Mad

Inky Quill and Paper 

I think ten is enough @.@

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a great start to November!

Expedition Trail 6

Trail 6: one of the many man-made trails made for tourists to scale the sides of the Margalla Mountains located outside of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Situated between the beautiful Faisal Mosque and the scenic mountains, the trail has it's own parking lot which is closed off and on a Sunday with lovely weather, is a perfect cricket ground for visitors. Trail visitors are greeted by trees planted in memory of individuals of the Marker family (whoever the heck they are) followed by a Visitor's Information Center and a sitting area with swings and a bird watch tower (which looks more like a small tree house).

Faisal Masjid, with it's scenic background- the Margalla Mountains and the sky.

Trail 6 passes through the Kavani Valley and leads all the way up to Chak Jabbi in four miles. The trail includes a smooth track for mountain biking as well as sitting areas for hikers. A stream follows some part of the trail as well, so during your climb, you can listen to the gurgling of water or decide to take a break and dip your feet in too.

Cause dates are cool and posting articles as evidence makes you look professional.

My family and I had set out to conquer this trail and reach Jabbi. We started this expedition with the clothes on our back, the shoes on our feet and a bottle of water. The start of the trail was smooth, easy rise and had several signs along the way asking visitors not to litter and to carry back their garbage. Further along the trail came a sign saying "Jabbi" and leading to another trail and that's where the rise became a bit steeper and the environment gave off a feeling of being in a jungle, isolated.

Nice sitting area, right?

The trail was quiet with birds chirping and was shaded by trees all around. The weather was good too so hiking seemed pretty easy and relaxing- coupled with the fact that we were stopping at every sitting area and stream to either: take a couple of pictures, have a hydrating drink or take off our shoes and socks and stick our feet in the running water.

My brother took off just one shoe.

We had crossed the 2.0 kilometer mark when the trail became really steep and climbing became tough business- especially since we lost the company of the trickling stream. We stopped and had a voting: Go on the last 2 kilometers and see Jabbi or head back? Majority voted on going back and ending the expedition. On our way, it was time for Zuhr and we could hear the adhan coming all the way from the masjid.

Doesn't this look tropical? Don't be fooled, this is in the middle of a mountain forest.

It was a great trip and an amazing experience. Even though the expedition turned out to be a failure since we didn't achieve our aim, we still had loads of fun! For anyone who is planning to be a tourist in Islamabad, you should definitely visit Faisal Mosque and swing by Trail 6  for some exercise too!

The Ideal Blogger (#3) Common Courtesy

I'll admit, this is a pretty delayed post, but I have finally written it and thus conclude the end of this blogging trilogy *-* I hope this helps bloggers out there a bit or inspires them. Here's a post I read this week by Kat @ (Almost) Completely Mad which talks about getting readers too!

Let's talk about what exactly courtesy is. Courtesy means excellence of manners or social courtesy. So we're not going to talk about "nice things to do" but "extra super duper nice things to do" cause we're going to aim for the absolute best!

Your post should be in a font that is large and clear. Don't use one of those fancy chic fonts that are great for titles but horrible for the actual post. It makes it hard for your readers to get through and will probably scare them off. Additionally, your font color should contrast to your background. Black text on white backgrounds is a good idea and pretty popular- that doesn't mean you can't deviate! Go ahead, pick out something totally new but make sure you check if it's easy on the eyes.

Everyone need to blog-promote every now and then. Most do it through comment spam. You'll find that same comment stamped on several inter-related blogs with absolutely no mention of the post or blogger in question who they are addressing. If you want to blog-promote through comments, READ the post you decided to leave a stamp on and add a personal line or two. Make people who see your comment feel like you're easy to approach and human, instead of a spam bot.

Comments you write on other people's blogs should be free of profanity. Just because you like being profane doesn't mean you can go spew whatever you want on someone else's corner of the internet! That's wrong and gives off a horrible impression. So remember, no profanity! Also, if you disagree with something written in the post, be polite about it! In fact, what's stopping you from writing a response post? That way, you could share your views more productively than in a comment- and move a potential war zone out of someone else's blog!

When you give out social media, for example your email, twitter, facebook or instagram, you should actually check it and look out for your followers. There's nothing readers like better than the occasional tweet or mention on social media from their favorite bloggers. Here's your chance to turn follows into friendships!

Teenage bloggers love adding music players to their blogs. It makes the blog look professional and personal at the same time. However, for link-clicked reader, it might be a turn off to suddenly have loud music playing from your blog window. Most people take the quick route and shut down the tab so stop the music- and that's how you've lost a potential reader. So what can you do? You could either put the music on an extremely low volume (like soft background music), giving your readers the option of turning it up themselves, or stop the music entirely and hope your readers think about turning it on themselves. I suggest the former.

When you hand out people link awards, there's quite a possibility that your followers decide not to read that post. Awards aren't that fun to read when all you're doing is answering random questions (unless you add lots of cool gifs and pictures, then your awards are super awesome) so if you tag people, they might not even know about it. Solution? Leave a comment on your nominees' blogs telling them about what you've done!

My Shifa Interview

I had to make an entire post for this because it was really interesting and lots of people wanted details and it's a little difficult typing out the same thing to different people again and again xD So I'm just going to write it down altogether here.

The interview is basically called MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews) and the introduction given by the college is as follows:-

The college will conduct MMI as a part of its admission process. These will consist of 8-10 interactive stations of 7-8 minutes duration with a single interviewer at each station. The stations will focus on the following domains.

-      Critical Thinking

-      Ethical Decision Making

-      Communication Skills

-      Knowledge of Health care system

Final eligibility for admissions will be decided by the admission committee according to the applicant’s performance in all area of assessment.

My interview was conducted on the 22nd of October. The time they gave for me was 11:30 am but since I'd been spending my days in the hospital since Monday, I was there since 9:30 am and went to the college around 11:00 am. I was the first person there but right after me, two other girls came and the three of us settled into a nervous conversation about the ordeal we were about to face.

We waited until almost 1:00 pm- that's when the interview was officially starting. The first ten people to arrive were lined up and sent into the corridor which contained the rooms having the different stations.

Station#1: My first station was the rest station, where I spent my first seven minutes sitting in the corridor.

Station#2: "You are holding interviews for a job position and one of the applicants says that due to his father's ill health, he was unable to complete the application in time. He is now asking for an interview. What would you do?"

Station#3: "You had an argument with one of your classmates. Your teacher has divided the class into groups and both of you are in the same group. You want the groups to be changed. Request your teacher for this"

Station#4: "What qualities should a good doctor have? Relate an incident which shows that you possess this quality"

Station#5: "You run a tertiary government hospital which is supposed to provide free medication. However, you have a shortage and patients have to end up paying themselves. What would you do?

Station#6: "You were exiting a car parking when you hit the car next to you and break something. The security guard sees and informs you that it is Doctor Y's car and he has been told of this incident. Call Doctor Y and tell him what happened"

Station#7: This was a rest station. I sat down in the corridor again.

Station#8: "You are a drug addict and you really want to get admission into a college. The college is conducting screening tests. What would you do?"

Station#9: "Here is a table of a survey conducted by an ice cream company who wants to launch a new flavor. Look at the data and explain which flavor they should launch"

Station#10: "Why do you want to be a doctor?"

The result will be out on the first of November. I'll repost these questions and share my answers and responses then xD. Have a nice day ^^

TBC 2014 Birthday Tag!

Click on the button to see the original post for rules and requirements.

What made you decide to take up blogging and what inspires you to write till today?
Well, I started blogging after my friend Kashaf introduced me to Blogger. We made a joint blog and it's still here, but we've stopped posting on it that much. After that, I made two or three blogs before finally settling on this current one. I've invested too much here to scrap this blog- especially after working on it for two years and having Morning design it for me. As for my current writing inspiration, it's my readers! I'd write whatever I want whenever I want, but it's seeing your views and comments that makes me put in extra effort and more creativity. Thank you!

How did you find and register on TBC? Did you find it helpful and worth recommending to others?
It took me a long time to find TBC. I remember finding Maine's blog by myself and I loved her style and content so I thought "why not follow some more teenage bloggers?". I combed through several posts and several comments before finding Teenage Blogger Central- and let me tell you that this site is definitely worth it. I joined in May and ever since then, I've followed a lot of blogs, read a variety of content and made my own blogging buddies here and there (: TBC is #KanraApproved!

What awesome blogs have you found through TBC? Link them up!

1. Picking up the pieces
2. Sunsets and Sundays
3. The Fence of Stars
4. Smiles No Matter
5. Good Morning, Morning
6. A Little Yarn Blossom
7. Feed Me Books Now

Seven is okay, right *-* 

What do you liked best when you connect to bloggers your age?

I like finding how everyone has different perspectives about different things. Bloggers are like those strangers walking down the street- except you can tap into their brains and see what they're doing and if you like them, you can just follow and be permanently tapped in. Freaky? Try it out xD

What do you hope to achieve through your blog?

A personal record of my life that I can turn into an autobiography easily if I get famous B)

How do you say "Happy Birthday Teenage Blogger Central!" in your language?

Saalgirah Mubarak, Teenage Blogger Central! (I have no idea what Blogger or Central would be in Urdu. I also think Teenage would have to be translated into something along the lines of youth or young people)

*Other Updates*
I'm going to finally post the third and last part of The Ideal Blogger Series next week-ish.
I have another medical college interview on Wednesday.
I've signed up for helping out at a teaching program for the duration of next week.
I think that's all for now (:

Picture Perfect Memories #2

Picture Perfect Memories is a monthly meme hosted by Envy at Picking Up the Pieces. I thought this was super interesting to do and now, I've finally decided to do it. Basically, you just share a picture or two that are associated with a share-worthy memory and the best part is, you don't even have to be in the picture! (how cool is that omg xD)

LET ME EXPLAIN FIRST

Weddings are a really big affair in almost every culture- Pakistan isn't an exception. This is an event which excites people from every single age and class because weddings mean shiny new clothes, jewelry, big get-to-gathers, food and excitement in the air. Well, my family hadn't attended a wedding for quite a few months so all my little cousins decided to have a wedding of their own- with dolls.

From Left to Right --> Bride's sister, Bride, Groom, Groom's sister.

It was a full-fledged affair, I tell you. There was a four foot tall mother-in-law fussing with the bride's mother (bth of the moms were sisters, btw) and people bringing gifts for the couple (usurped by the little mommies again) and then all the traditional customs being carried out- including a marriage document being signed .__. (Gudda and Gurya respectively)

My favorite one is the part where the bride's family steals the groom's shoe and the poor guy has to sit down and haggle with his in-laws over the price for getting his shoes back. This part was taken over by the older cousins and there was a whole play about it- where the bride is like "Give him his shoe back!" and the groom is like "I'm just a doll! I don't have any money!" and the bride's sister is like "Pay up 2000 rupees or your shoes will never see the light of day!"

After all that festivity, it was decided that the bride would have to be handed over to her inlaws (or, in the care of the elder sister) but the bride's mom (younger sister) didn't like this one bit and spirited the bride away to give her a bath and wash her up- which of course, ruined all the care taken into making sure the bride was spic and span for her wedding. This caused a great uproar between the elder sister and the younger sister and the mother of both (my aunt) had to resolve this issue.

This was literally, a one of a kind wedding and it was absolutely hilarious. I loved this memory, and that's why I decided to share it with you (: 

Black And White Photography Entry

Click on the picture for original post.

Rules

1. Submit an original black and white photograph.
2. Submit a short piece of work telling what story the photograph is telling you.
3. Please keep both pieces of work clean and appropriate.
4. You can publish your entry on your blog and leave a link on the original post or email the blogger hosting the competition (lyndeavenue@gmail.com)
5. The deadline for this contest has been extended to 10th October. 

My Entry

And still after all this time, The Sun has never said to the Earth, "You owe me". Look what happens with love like that. It lights up the sky.

-Rumi

The Ideal Blogger (#2) Content and Consistency

Before I start off with this, I thought I'd let you guys know that I added one last section to the previous post titled "Utilize Social Media". Click here for the previous part.

Okay, let's get started (:

First off- content. This is what people judge your blog by. And this is what you should ask yourself when you open up your blog in your browser tab. "Are my blog posts actually interesting? Have I written these posts sincerely enough to catch the eye of someone who doesn't know me and probably has different interests? Is there something in the posts that a general majority should be able to relate to?"

If you're writing a personal blog, ask yourself these questons. "When I document these feelings and events, does this help me in any sort of way? Will I be able to refer back to my blog, like a diary, for these memories? Will I be able to look back at my blog to see how much has changed? Have I written sincerely enough for other people to see what my life looks like?"

The first point I'm trying to make is not about content- not yet. It's about the sincerity and depth of your writing. You can write about a circus (which is really exciting in real life) but if you don't put your heart into your words, the event will seem bland and boring on your blog- no matter how many paragraphs and lines you type away. You could write about a stroll in your neighborhood (which could be something extremely normal) but if you decide to write it sincerely and focus on the best, it can turn out to be something that your followers found worth reading.

"It is an old and true maxim that "a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall"

 So remember- you must write sincerely, whether you write for yourself or for your followers or for both. Give yourself time to do this. It's better to write one post with your heart than to write ten with your fingers. Trust me, quality over quantity.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What are blogs usually about? If you look through most of your blogroll/blogfeed, you'll see that the majority of blogs that teenagers follow are written by teenagers. What does this tell you? It tells you that the target audience is related to blog content. You can't write a blog about your personal life and expect business/fashion blogs to follow you because your blog just isn't their thing. What you have to do is realize what your target audience is.

"... I happened to be excited about boats and the visitor discussed the subject in a way that seemed to me particularly interesting. After he left, I spoke of him with enthusiasm..... My aunt informed me he was a New York lawyer; that he cared nothing whatsoever about boats.... "But why then did he talk all the time about boats?... "Because he is a gentleman. He saw you were interested in boats and he talked about the things he knew would interest and please you. He made himself agreeable""

Fortunately, you, as a blogger, do not have to bend your back so far as to start blogging about something that doesn't even interest you (do you know what this means? This means that teenagers are interested in teenagers. Whatever you write will appeal to 70% of teenage bloggers). But what you do need to realize is that there are lots of teen bloggers out there and that most of your interests and blog content will overlap. Teenagers- especially those with personal blogs like this one- will write about a variety of subjects which would include

• School related subjects, for example rants/studyblrs/stationary/note-taking
• Relationships, whether it's about your parents, your siblings, your friends, your relatives, your classmates, your teachers
• Writing, for example poetry, short stories, book reviews, fandom reviews, other rants, discussions, arguments, informative articles
• Photography, which is a really popular subject among a great majority of teenage blogs and should be classified as separate from art.
• Art, whether it's drawing, sculpting, painting, singing, designing, fashion

It's not so hard writing on a personal blog (a category which quite a few bloggers are in and it is these bloggers I'm focusing on). But what you need to do is to present the same information in a unique kind of way. You need to make your blog creative so it stands out from the rest of the blogging world. You need to create your own niche.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next most important thing about content after your subject is how you present it, also known as, how creative you are with your posts. Standard posts tend to involve images or gifs, but we want your post to burst with something special! How can we achieve that?

For starters, check out tumblr for images. This is a website which is overflowing with unique ideas and text posts. You know those famous "teenager posts" and "that's so relateable posts" that are a hit on Facebook? Those all came from tumblr. Imagine what else you could find there. Literally everything, including fandom related stuff. One of my favorite personal posts was created from tumblr's vast data base of images and that post quickly made it on the "Most Popular Post" widget on the sidebar. You can check it out here.

Since you're aiming at a teenage audience, ideas like that will most probably make itself a hit.

Creativity also includes font, paragraphing and divisions. Remember, you need your blog to be easy on the eyes. There are some fonts available on blogger that really make reading a chore. I know, because I used to use a really difficult font on my blog and I didn't even know it was so hard to read because I never looked at my blog properly. Lesson learnt? Visit your blog as a reader regularly and try to understand how it looks to a visitor.

Next is paragraphing. Split your writing into proper paragraphs because, let's be honest, no one wants to read a textbook styled essay. Even if you ARE writing an essay on your blog, paragraph each point, each example separately. Your readers are not your academic examiners. They are not under a contract to read each and every word. If you thrust too much in one go, chances are you're losing a reader.

Don't forget to divide the post. There's a feature in blog writing where you can write in a variety of modes, being Heading, Sub Heading, Minor Heading and Normal. Utilize these features! Apart from these, you can also use bullet points to categorize facts and important information- or just outline the entire post at the start or at the end. It's little things like these that make your posts reader friendly.

These were some simple ways to make your posts creative. Here are some more complex ideas.

• Use your own photographs to make gifs
• Create text graphics
• Use different colors and highlights
• Present information on images (also called infographics)
• Add your own drawings (traditional or digital) to illustrate your post

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You could have a beautiful blog with fantastic posts, but what's the point of following you if the last post you made was in 2012? I have seen SO MANY amazing and fantastic blogs that have been inactive for years, and it just literally kills me. It's like finding a dead tree- tall and splendid, but it's not going to grow even one more inch. Most of these blogs have final posts like "I find blogging a chore now" or "blogging isn't fun anymore" or "I'm on hiatus", giving me the impression that if blogging becomes worrisome, a blogger is inclined to simply dump the project and leave.

Now, I'm not exactly one to talk. I HAVE been blogging 2011, but I actually started and stuck to this blog since 2013. Only one and a half year. I have yet to come across a period where blogging is something I want to drop and run away from- but I DO occasionally have writers block. Here's how I combat these periods.

Create a Blogging Notebook

That's right! It won't hurt to dedicate a notebook to your blog, would it? In fact, it would actually be super helpful! I've dedicated a notebook of mine to this blog and so far, it has really benefited me. 

I've tried re-sizing this to fit in the post area but it's not working -__- 

And remember- it's for rough ideas. Throw everything in there. I even stuff in my awards here since I realized spacing them out evenly is a better idea then doing the awards as soon as they come. Write down all the memes, all the contests, all the blog trends happening- even if you have too much on your plate already- because when you're out of ideas, this is what will keep your blog afloat.

But what if you're completely blank and have no idea about what to blog about? You need to sit down and give yourself time to think about it. Brilliant ideas don't come when they're wanted- they just arrive unexpectedly and that's just their nature. There's nothing much you can do about it- but here's what you CAN do to get the process started.

• Browse Pinterest. Here's a site that will have loads of ideas, quotes, books, projects, fashion- everything available. Just sift through all the information and find something you really like- whether it's a tutorial or a quote. Post it on your blog along with your thoughts about it- turn it into a writing exercise. (If it's a tutorial that's caught your eye, DO IT and post your results on your blog).
• Read a book from your To Be Read pile and write a book report on it! Everybody loves book reports!
• Browse through other interesting blogs and see if something inspires you to write your own post! There are lots of writing blogs out there that gather quite the resources for their readers. A good example of such a blog is "A Splash of Ink" by Sunny Smith.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Are you on a writing roll? Is creativity flowing out from your fingertips onto the keyboard? Let me advise you- don't post all at once. Pace yourself. You cannot write ten posts in one week and then be absolutely blank the next. Plan out your schedule- it's okay to write everything down and prepare a blogpost, but you won't gather readers effectively if you post everything within a short span of time. Use the "Schedule" option on the side of the page when you write your blogpost. It's bursts of creativity like this that will help cover up your blog when you're having a writer's block.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everything highlighted in pink are excerpts from the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.

Part Three of this post trilogy will be Common Courtesy.

Did you find anything lacking or any new point that could be added? It would be my pleasure to add your insights and examples to this post (I'll credit you, of course).