Saturday 12 May 2012

Songwriting

Okay, this one will be quite short; it is up to you to decide what you want to write. The way I do it, though, it to first come up with an instrumental part, then a vocal melody, then lyrics. You can do it in a different order, though, but I find this the easiest way. Anyway, just pick up an instrument (guitar, piano, ukulele, etc.), play some chords, and find a chord progression that you think sounds nice. Then you can randomly hum along to it until you are satisfied with the melody you have come up with. THEN, just write a poem-type thing that follows the melody (the lyrics). It doesn't have to rhyme, but it can. Anyway, after you've done all that stuff, you can leave it the way it is, or you can decide to add other instrument parts or vocal harmonies. You can record your song (if you want) on Garageband (if you have a Mac) or on some other program for PC (if you want), but you can also just record stuff on your phone or whatever (but it won't sound as good).

BTW please let me know if all this is a waste of time (I mean, it's not like anyone really reads this blog anyway) but I am bored, so I am writing out stuff that I do to make myself NOT so bored. Get it?? Anyway, HAVE FUN!!

Oh. It wasn't as short as I thought it would be. SORRY.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Writing

STOP! BEFORE YOU DECIDE THAT THIS IS LIKE WRITING HOMEWORK, READ IT! THIS BLOG IS MEANT TO GET RID OF BOREDOM SO WHY WOULD I GIVE YOU HOMEWORK?

Anyway, today I want to talk about writing. I just posted the second chapter of this story I'm writing, Keeper (http://feiriesetc.blogspot.com/2011/05/keeper.html), on my other blog, 'Feiries, Etc.' (http://feiriesetc.blogspot.com/), which is all writing. Writing is more fun that it seems. Take an idea, and write it down. I don't want to go on and on about how to write something good, because it's not that hard. Tell everyone what you're thinking with your words! Poetry is a great form of writing for expressing yourself, especially when you're bored. Everyone always tells me that my poetry is really good, but all I really have to do is put a bunch of nice-sounding words together in incomplete sentences. Many times, sure, I'll write a poem about something that really speaks to me, but generally, it's just for fun. So get some paper (or a keyboard) and get writing! Enjoy!

Sunday 12 June 2011

Random Poop

Hey there. In case you haven't noticed, I've been avoiding posting about activities using electronics. That's because of two things: the fact that it's way too easy to have fun with electronics, and the fact that electronics rot your brain. I know that I'm probably coming off as really hypocritical, but blogging is different. I'm not rotting my brain, RIGHT? RIGHT?! Ah, never mind. Summer vacation turns me into a lazy bum. Anyway, I hope you spend your summer in a more meaningful way than me, and that you actually READ my posts rather than deciding that they're too long and boring like this one. Otherwise all of my wasted time will be even more pointless. Please enjoy your free time. Enjoy! (In case you haven't noticed this either, that's like my signature end to these posts.)

Making Cookies

You could also just bake some cookies. And yes, I mean from scratch. It's more fun that way. This is also a great babysitting activity. Kids love baking. Anyway, all you need is:

3/4 cup sugar,
3/4 cup brown sugar (or you could just use 1 1/2 cup plain sugar),
1 cup butter or margerine,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1 egg,
2 1/4 cup flour,
1 tsp baking soda,
1/2 tsp salt.

Collect these ingredients or go buy them if you don't happen to have all of them. The vanilla extract is not a total necessity. Also, READ THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE YOU START MIXNG. Otherwise, you might mess up. I got this recipe off of the Betty Crocker website, so it's very good. I've tried it. It's good. Anyway, using this recipe, you have to:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour a cookie sheet. Mix together the sugars, butter, vanilla, and egg in this order. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Roll the dough into balls and arrange on the cookie sheet, then bake for 8-10 minutes.
Trust me, these cookies are very good if you don't mess up, so READ THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE YOU START. I know I said that already but I thought I should remind you.

I also came up with a few variations of these sugar cookies (other than chocolate chip). For peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter if you're allergic to nuts) cookies, replace 1/2 cup of the butter with, well, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter. For snickerdoodles, you obviously just put a lot of cinnamon in them (as well as a topping of cinnamon-sugar). The most fun cookie variation is the crazy cookie. just put whatever else you think will taste good in a cookie. It's really fun! Anyway, cookies are definitely NOT boring. Make some. Enjoy!

Saturday 11 June 2011

Forts

Another thing to do if you're bored is to make a fort. A fort can be made inside or outside, depending on the weather or your mood. Both are loads of fun, especially if you can make one big enough to stand in! Anyway, if you wanna make one indoors, build around a couch or bunk bed and add to the size with chairs. Grab a whole bunch of blankets and drape them where you want, and then you can fill the floor of the fort with pillows.

If you want to build a fort in your backyard or even at the nearby park, you can build around a tree or even just out in the open. Use sticks and arrange them any way you prefer, usually done like a teepee. You can even use leaves found on the floor to provide more shelter or softer flooring. Of course, it's harder to make a big fort outside than inside. I'm not saying that inside is better. It's just harder. Both are just as fun.

It's especially fun to build one with friends, siblings, children (a perfect babysitting activity), or parents, even. Hide in your fort for Nerf gun battles, hide and go seek, or just for sitting and doing whatever else you do to get rid of the boredom you have once you're done building the fort. Enjoy!

Friday 10 June 2011

Collage

One thing to do if you're bored is to make a collage. Collaging is easy. Anyone can do it. All you have to do is take a bunch of random pieces of patterned paper and stick them to another piece of paper or cardboard. Of course, you have to avoid putting two of the same patterned paper pieces next to each other. Then you can think of a word or phrase to put on your collage. Take the word "Vision" for example. Take magazine letters (that look somewhat different) for the word and maybe cut out some eyes from magazines. Glue them on and voila, you have an awesome collage. This helped me to realize that even I have some talent in visual arts, and you do, too. Enjoy!

Boredom

Being bored sucks. I know. I made this blog BECAUSE I was bored.... Bored looks like this: aldslrnfnnvhr dayaha and then trying to figure out what it says.
But I created this blog to post a bunch o' stofe to get rid of your boredom symptoms. So check back every once in a while for non-boredom poop. :)