vanilla_rent

there are a lot of high quality apps that allow you to create high quality icons- not ones that just resize a given image, but actually give you control. A favorite, and -extremely- inexpensive favorite of mine is by the Iconfactory- http://iconfactory.com//. It works simply as a Photoshop plugin- nothing could be simpler and more productive than that, man. With IconBuilder, you can not only create the icon but in high quality resolutions, and decide what icon to show depending on the size of the icon- this is especially important for lucky mac lovers- as Panther allows for -insanely- large yet beautiful icons. Also, it was mentioned about getting an error changing the icon for your cd. Well, I'm not an expert on pc's as I am a mac addict, but yet again the IconFactory has your perfect extremely inexpensive shareware solution- Candy Bar, and it is -kick *bottom*- ...trust me. or just see for yourself.

too erotic? actually, it rather is not- and poetry takes great length for poetic/artistic license... ...my current poetry/prose/drama performance piece for this Speech season on my high school's speech team is actually a poem entitled "The Erotic Philosophers" so... but anyway, back to reason I'm typing the post- your poem. I have to say that I loved every single line- you might want to play with the verse (as in rhythm and rhyme- the poem already has it, but there is a certain amount of rhythm and rhyme simply in the skill of the writer in verse and etc ) as you have all of the possible ones in a single stanza (unless you meant it as a prose piece, in which does not require verse, and in which case I take it back) but I absolutely love the poem- the flow and the vision was perfectly and rushingly clear... ...basically, it perfectly summarized the rush and the ...excitement? (in a non physical manner hahaha) I get looking in the eyes of the guy I'm in love with- it's... just amazing. Post more poems you are an awesome writer!!

I especially like the start of your first poem, and all of them are pretty good, but I did have trouble seeing the flow and vision of the poems- I could easily understand being about faith and struggling with it, as it's in different lines, but there are random lines in all the poems that I read and suddenly completely lost the vision of the poem- not that I am saying they are bad because of these, they are cool, just constructive critcism from a fellow writer.

what? posting poems you -claim- suck? silly poet. I was immediately smiling after seeing the first line of each poem- you clearly show a ton of talent :rolleyes:both poems are very cute- and it is complimentary to be able to clearly speak a poem in as little as a stanza or two- that takes a definate realization in the writer of the actual sort of well, embodiment of the poem and, not to be weird, the poem's self. While the second poem more simply makes me smile and happy, I actually really do like the first one- it shows your skill in not simply writing with words and entitling it a poem, but metaphorically and truly poetically writing the unrealities that are the facts of the life we seem to claim to know a reality for.

first off, I love these poems, (of all posts)- as for the ones you've written, JaVe, they show a lot of involved inspiration... and hey, inspiration is everything- one of the greatest quotes for me I've kept as a writer was said by Jack London- "You can't wait for inspiration. You have got to go after with a club." I say this not only because you awesomely mentioned the girl you are in love with (I am actually madly in love with a guy, whom I just finished the last draft of poem about him, so I guess were both writers in the same boat) but also because the poem would not simply be terrible because you wrote it in several minutes- the most amazing stuff you've ever written can be written in the mad course of a few seconds. That aside, I do have some criticism- as I always wish people to give me more criticism on my writing than is actually said. The first poem shows this and it's incredibly common, a teacher I know at my high school is constantly (lovingly) reminding his creative writing classes it, is that you more tell than show things in your poem.I know that seems like I just made something not easily understandable up, but you give the lines God peers down- his hand has touched me / my thought is- I've been saved... In this case you're really simply telling the reader a few words, as opposed to poetry which is more intended to be showing through rhythm and rhyme, and onomatopoeia (and etc) It is not that good poetry and prose cannot use I in every single line of a poem or anything thoughts like that, the strength of poetry and prose are there actually are no rules, though you've gotta realize it still applies that a true poem has a sort of embodiment you get from reading it, and a sense of who it is... if that made any sense :rolleyes:I am only an aspiring writer, (and in my free time, no less) so I'm not even leaping in any direction to show myself as an amazing writer, but instead I'll give you an example of a showing line of a recent poem I just wrote a few minutes, and a great line from your latest poem as well that is showing as opposed to "telling"...from here Slash there-re-open your eyes and I will still be therefalling now like some petaldetached and yet... somehow dreamingdown into your lap...the stanza doesn't make sense as it's simply a tiny portion cut from a many many stanza and couplet poem, but I'm hoping you see the showing as opposed to telling- your poem isn't terrible, it's actually pretty good, though the first one you posted I think I like quite a bit as the best (it's so good, man!)First eye-contact with the girl I love,As I look up to the sky above...those are two awesome lines- you veer off with the other two in the stanza that really distract from the meaning of the first two lines as they don't flow in the same dimention of the stanza and also are rather "telling".... if none of this has made sense to you just whack me on the head with a book and I'll try harder to help XD

the logo you created is awesome, man... I immediately thought of it as cute, and of winter- though, I do have to say living in the twin cities of minnesota I haven't exactly associated the two together this year:D Anyway, it's a great piece of work, and undoubtedly detailed

well, I would actually go for a laptop, but it is more towards preference and situation than either/or. For me, my current computer works fine. It is getting a bit old, but it has Panther, nice apps, and it gets my homework done and allows me to talk to my friends, etc. So, going on to college not only are new computers incredibly nice, but by getting a laptop you not only succeed for yourself an utterly new computer, but it's also portable and, in terms of at least mac powerbooks and ibooks, completely wireless ready. and hey, laptops are cool.

it looks great, especially being this is your first pen drawing- out of absolute curiosity, was it tablet drawn? I love the stylization of the whole drawing- it gives more expression to the drawing as a whole, and the physical expression you are conveying with your character as well.

I would love to comment on the layout and design of your site, but I was greeted with a completely blank page after loading your site- looking into the activity window and seeing your actual Xisto host site url, I went there to find your host couldn't be found, man.

I do have to say I've taken dives into Dreamweaver and GoLive several times, and unless you are maintaining a large commercial site, not usually personal, neither can still compare to simply coding all your languages yourself. ...Dreamweaver and GoLive do allow you to do this, but I don't seem much point of using them only to do that- ...As there are several programs much more accomodating to this- the most popular among the code world, as it is definately at least one of the oldest in it's class, is BBEdit- which also comes in BBEdit lite. Those two aside there are several other commercial and shareware options, as well as a colossal of absolutely free open source apps that can easily compete with BBEdit- you just must be simply willing to compile the code yourself, or have an application to deal with the compiling for you- both are simple options. Given the choice between anything, I'll -always- go with those mentioned in the second paragraph. Open source applications are incredibly easy to find- though I use Fink Commander and https://sourceforge.net/ for finding the most reliable and useful ones.

it's not simply an issue of features- there are too many mp3 players to simply consider on that... but it is your personal preference ;)personally, anything that calls itself the I-river when only Apple uses i's in front of the names of it's products is kind of silly... As Apple originally used it in the iMac when it stood for internet, and has now become their thing, but only for themI actually do have a 40 gig iPod and it works insanely well- from working with iTunes to wherever I go to really any reason you can possibly come up with- of course, that's my opinion but- take it from the size to the placement of the the buttons to iTunes and in the end no mp3 player has anything at all on the iPod....and how is iTunes a rip-off, I ask? ...out of sheer curiosity- as I've had it since version 1.0

wrong wrong wrong! it's a -5- part trilogy you also forgot the book published after he died- Salmon of A Doubt. Truly, -no- Douglas Adams fan should be without reading it! Also, no fan of Hitch hiker's should forget to read the Dirk Gently books- they are truly ingenious... It's possible to not like douglas adam's writings, I guess. But to anyone who loves the irrelevant, the offbeat, the absolutely wrong and yet in reality, actual life, then you'll love Douglas Adams. ...Who couldn't after reading the fifth book in a [tri]logy? It was actually made into a multiple-part miniseries for the BBC a while back, and the original version of Hitch hiker's was actually a radio show, but Douglas Adams actually died seeing his work being turned into a movie- which for a while, we all thought was lost. But actually, it's finally coming- with trailers coming soon.

sad to see so many harry haters... dude, at my high school harry potter is huge- but of course, so is teenage mutant ninja turtles, recess, etc etc. I'm serious man- I guess we're just that cool. But actually, J.K Rowling did not write Harry Potter for children- she wrote it for adults, it just got simply marketed to kids, and hence harry became a kid. I'm not saying you have to like harry potter- or saying any of this to be annoying- I just thought i'd put in my own thoughts... I'm 17, and yet still refer to myself (as others do to themselves) as a kid- I mean, I'm a theatre kid. So I don't know how I am an not really any of you harry haters, but- I love acting like a kid- and yet for the longest time sophmore year a lot of people thought I was the most serious acting person they'd ever met... this is just my opinion, but I do find a lot of books boring, but... you can't simply say a book is boring and have that what the book truly is- because it's just maybe not your thing- don't diss philosophy just because it isn't your marzipan is kind of what I say- and it applies to books to. some people think the Lord of the Rings books are the most boring things ever- actually a lot of people do- and yet not only is it one of the great classics of literature, but there's the this world-sized impact of the movies... it's all a matter of perspective. I for one, am proudly obsessed. He's harry potter! I mean, he got stuck under the cupboard beneath the stairs! Who can't relate??...it's -all- a matter of perspective- while none of you might like harry potter, I simply think you're all silly muggles.

caveman... nice to see someone so like-minded in this forum! where do I start.. I have no idea where to start. There are way too many books that have changed my life before I even knew they were changing my life- that sounds silly but I'm referring to days like 5th-6th grade, and the like... so many books are amazing that it's an obsession of mine as a writer, and for anyone who even rarely reads (you would think I spend all my time reading loving it so much and yet how sometimes I don't even get to it except for school) but loves reading... books can definately change your life. look at me- looking at schools for creative writing majors when I would of never even of thought myself good at writing save essays and the like freshman year... but books? Well, over the summer I read House of Leaves, as did actually a bunch of incredibly talented book-literate theatre kids I know... It can be one amazingly confusing book at times, but never in a frustrating way- only confusing in the ideas swirling in your head... no one has any idea what I'm talking about, just because when you try and summarize the magnitude of House of Leaves it's almost.... you really are lost in where even to start to even give a halfway accurate picture of the book. It is one amazing book- I could name other books that I keep by my side as picturesque momentos of thoughts of members of the real world as abstract as it is, but it could take me forever- even a partial list... spans hundreds of authors. but I do have my favorites, like anyone. you see, it's not so much House of Leaves changes your train of thinking- or possibly it does- theatre kids like myself live in a world sometimes so amazingly... upfront? (not even the world for it, though, unfortunately to truly generalize it) to simply keep from being pretensious that possibly we can't be completely changed by something when you are always changing but... it's like seeing the span of your life spread out so evenly and chaoticly, extremely researched and footnoted and yet in reality, utterly made up, and yet how in reality it is a novel by a guy with no relation to you, and the story has absolutely no relation to you, and yet... House of Leaves swallows you up, and eats you alive... now that, that is what gives me inspiration and a will to live in life... and the want to be a writer and to be around other writers, theatre kids and like minded... anyone...

I've gotta say there's absolutely more than one side to it, as everything. Of course the current commercials of today are worse than any other time- it makes us all dumber by day, really. And then there is the on-flood of every single banner ad you've ever seen that promises great fortunes of products by whacking what... a santa? a laughless joke of some programmer? (Not to burn Xisto- I was actually amazed to see ads that were relevant for once, and paying for your hostee's no-ad sites by having pay per <- snipped -> on your own is absolutely awesome) And let's not forget the endless half-brained ideas in almost every reality show released these days... It makes me laugh- because, when reading the mention of the excessive use of sprawling green fields in drug ads I was reminded of "the purple pill"- nexium, i believe... hahaha- the commercial with it's usual green fields, almost magical floating purple pills everywhere, and multitudes of old people and middle aged adults with expressions that almost potrayed their "seeing the light" by talking to their doctor and making their life heaven. And now that drug has been completely recalled... haha.but, of course there's still the genius minds in art institutes and amazingly inventive and inspired companies alike across the nation... I am continually inspired by the artistry in marketing and design institutes, in companies that actually dare to be inspired- it is truly amazing and awesome.}

first off, thanks the feedback and the great comments! secondly, your college plans are absolutely awesome... when I was a lot younger I always wanted to be an architect, but I'm your average bad-at-math kid- pulling in your average B- in analysis. As for myself... writing has always come naturally to me, but I wasn't actually inspired to like it until my english teacher of last year and currently this year- and now, three other teachers of the english department as well. slowly since the beginning of sophmore year I've been getting more and more into my writing and I am actually planning on a creative writing major- I wouldn't imagine what else I could do, haha. I'm currently looking at Columbia College Chicago, Emerson, the Pratt Institute, and University of Montana Missoula. And yourself?Writing, for me... it's become something I've fallen so much in love with. I got into theatre last year and realized I'm such a huge theatre kid. From there my life has expanded insanely- into amazing hang out friends, speech, improv, etc etc... the reason I say this is because it is half of the reason I'm a writer- and why I love the creative writing major- because for once in your life, what happens in your actual life actually matters when you walk into class or when you sit down and write... It's what makes it so amazing for people like me- who could do lots of things, and lots of careers, but... don't want to. haha. I mean, if I had an english major and went on to become an editor... I'd be so amazingly bored out of my mind of the 9-5 office world I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be interested to see some of your writing, you knew exactly where I was coming from

hey all- I just joined- I'm steph and.. I'm a high school junior, to start off with, I guess. To begin, I thought I'd post a poem- it hasn't actually been edited, it was simply written on the moment and set aside, and criticism is very welcome. ...As I only write in random time, I don't actually ever get feedback as no one ever sees them- so any thoughts at all are welcome. ...I'm posting an unedited poem I wrote and then set aside, unchanged, for this reason(Untitled)I wish I was alive todayto see the sands and fates of a passing agethe memories you hold in your handare like star dust...even pixie fanskiss your remembrance on meI watched a flower wilt and dieand how it was beautiful in all the momentscan you tell me the meaning of life?can you twist up the earth in all your quicksand?because maybe there is importanceI've not hadmaybe the twilight will show and I'll kiss the moon from my envelopeI will spread my life acrossall of these fieldsacross the countryside of plaster and dreamsIf you are paris perhapsI am brazilour world is so vast and miniature...an oxymoron where people believethey aren't actually lostand how we chase withouteven agreeing on sidesnot until the opening criesof a shocked lover lamentingsome demisekiss the world with all your lifedon't hide when the monsters are made...we all fear it allwe are masking for the dayof our disguiseand will it come someday?or maybe we're so paranoid of our own selvesand we actually bring it every dayif nothing else I see myself alivenot the dining deadAnd you are not some zombie bride...so maybe we should all just let ourelevator take us for a ride....If you are lost in my continentdon't mistake it for a search for your pridenone of us have anything to hideI'm just sitting here waiting for your time...yes I'm sitting here waiting for your timein this world it's love we havenot cellophane melted on our mysterious eyes.---