Muse

I apologize in advance because I'm going to be calling the parakeet a 'she'. This is what we initially thought, so it's kind of stuck in my head. And she probably is a girl, but I just want to be sure...

I have a baby parakeet who is probably... I'd say she's about 6 months old. Her cere (nose) is very pale, but definitely has a purplish-blue tinge to it. It's somewhat periwinkle colored, I suppose. Now, I know that male parakeets do a lot of singing and are much more charismatic, and that's where I'm stuck.

My baby is generally quiet, but when she's in a good mood, she'll start singing and chirping. For instance, every morning when I come downstairs, she spends the better part of an hour chirping and making kissing noises at me. She is very good at learning voices and noises, and mocks a lot of our words already. We have a canary and she sings along with him (much to our amusement) every time he starts his song. She'll also sing when the vacuum is turned on or the shower is running, though most birds will do this.

On the other side, she can be pretty moody and doesn't like strangers. She is very loud when she isn't happy; she definitely voices her irritation. She can be quite bossy, and doesn't like it when she's away from me.

She kind of sits in the middle right now, and I'm really unsure because it could go both ways. I'm curious - boy or a girl?

Thank you!!!

I just purchased a new, 250 GB hard drive for my 360 to replace my old one (which was running out of room).

I had to format the new hard drive before using it, but when I did, it claimed that it was below recommendations for my system, and said that the capacity was only 15.9 GB instead of 250 GB.

We transferred all of the data from the old hard drive onto the new one anyway. 2 DLCs could not be moved, but besides that everything seemed to come over fine.

When I actually plug the new hard drive into the xbox, in place of the old one, it does not read that it is there at all. When i put the old hard drive on and connect the new one to the cable, it reads it fine, but still says it's below recommendations. I did not seem to lose anything, and I'm currently transferring everything BACK onto my old hard drive.

Why isn't my 360 reading the new hard drive? If any more information is needed, I'll add it as I go. Thank you so much in advance!

Is there some sort of science behind this? A reason why?

Just a Curiostity question- thank you in advance.

My xbox 360 profile was recently corrupted, and I wasn't able to salvage any of my achievements or awards. I have a secondary profile, and would like to delete the one that was corrupted.

There is a single saved game on my old profile that I would really like to transfer to the new one. A character that I have imported from Mass Effect 1 into Mass Effect 2.

If I move my saved game onto the new profile, will I still be able to get achievements while playing that particular saved game?

And, if I choose to import this game again when Mass Effect 3 comes out, do you think I will be able to still get achievements?

I apologize for asking so much. Thank you in advance.

When I got on my 360 this afternoon, it started acting strange. It took a really long time to load up the main screen, and then it wasn't loading the disc that i put into it (not that the disc was scratched - the 360 literally wouldn't start up. i had to restart it twice before it started the game). When I finally got it working, I noticed that it had a hard time siging me in, and then it wouldn't display any of my achievements for the game. when i went into the memory i noticed that all of the save games usually under my name were under the name 'corrupted profile'.

I'm not sure what I did to corrupt it, or what it means necessarily- i've never seen it happen before. My profile was perfectly fine last night, but as of today it isn't. I'm just a little concerned - I've had the same profile for as long as i can remember, and really don't want to scrap the 1500 points worth of achievements that i've gotten over the years.

Is it impossible to fix my profile? And is this a sign that something is wrong with my 360?

If it has any bearing, I don't use xbox LIVE at all - the 360 isn't currently connected to the internet, but I am able to connect it if that helps fix the problem.

Thanks for any help - I really appreciate it!

The main character is a girl. I have two set choices, so no other ideas, if that's okay. Please just pick one or the other... This is for a science fiction novel.

Lena Poliro

or

Ensign Poliro (pronounced En-Sun)

Thanks for the votes! :)

How to describe a first kiss?

The characters are 2 best friends, that's what makes this so hard. Neither of them wants to admit anything, for fear of ruining the situation. Well, the guy grows balls enough to kiss the girl.

He kind of pushes her against the wall to do it, that much I know already =/ But I'm not any good at this kind of writing. It HAS to happen :P

It would be from the girl's POV, too :l

I'm sorry, but I'm really bad at writing romance of any kind and this scene is holding me back from working on the rest of the novel.

So is anyone good at describing stuff like this?? Thank you so much :)

The characters are 2 best friends, that's what makes this so hard. Neither of them wants to admit anything, for fear of ruining the situation. Well, the guy grows balls enough to kiss the girl.

He kind of pushes her against the wall to do it, that much I know already =/ But I'm not any good at this kind of writing. It HAS to happen :P

It would be from the girl's POV, too :l

I'm sorry, but I'm really bad at writing romance of any kind and this scene is holding me back from working on the rest of the novel.

So is anyone good at describing stuff like this?? Thank you so much :)

Um, this question is hard to explain, so I'll try to make it easier by wording it this way...

1. After a nuclear explosion, how many years would it take for the afflicted area to lose its radioactivity? In the air as well as in the soil?

This is a curiosity question, a question for a subject in a novel that I am writing. Anything is helpful here, even reference links-

I have been unable to find any information, so references to books or links will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you! :)

This is a clippet from my novel beginning... can someone please edit this and check for mistakes?

Thank you so much :)

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She peered through the misted, dusty glass of a gas mask, the demon did. For several long minutes, she found herself standing on the wilting porch of a decrepit bed-and breakfast that sagged a little to the left, like a carton of milk that had been crushed under a shoe. On either side of it were several trees, stretching their black boughs forlornly up, as though to catch the building in its final fall. The stagnant wind picked up sprays of ashes from the dead soil and threw it about like confetti, and before long, the demon’s fur was flecked with white, like a fine dusting of snow. She stood and surveyed the landscape; something inside of her tugged painfully, something deep down in her belly, but she did not give it any mind.

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Thanks again!

~*muse

I'm not really asking for a critique of ideas, just grammar and such. Does anything need to be changed in this paragraph?

The sky was the color of a rusted nail.

She supposed it sounded rather candid, and a little artsy, but there was really no other way to describe it. The clouds sagged, hanging like forlorn puppets from the horizon. They were splotched with yellow and grey, the sickly color of a smoker’s rotting teeth. The whole world looked like a shelf, as if it had not been dusted off for too long a time. Perhaps, in some deep way, there was no color at all. In fact, the second that she had stepped into the world, she’d known something was different, at least from what she’d expected. It was the first thing her pitch black eyes had taken in of this new world, the sky; She, along with the others of her kind, did not express emotion with ease, as they did not come naturally- and yet, deep down, she felt the tiniest pinch of disappointment.

They’d told her it was blue.

Thank you so much! XD

It's very strange timing- about a week ago, I completed a plot structure/outline of my first novel (all I really need to do is write it, now). But now that it is sitting in front of me, I have no idea... what to write. I have absolutely no urge to write the story at all. My mind is literally blank from a sort of fear that I can't really explain.

I think it's kind of imposing to me. I feel apprehensive and kind of sick to my stomach when I look at it.

Is this normal?? And if it is, what can I do to kick my creativity back into gear??

I just finished reading the Memoirs, and really liked it. But I have a question.

Sayuri's older sister, Satsu-san? What ever happened to her?

Sayuri finds her early on, working in the Prostitution Okiyas on the bad side of Gion. Throughout the story, Sayuri worries about her sister, and wonders how she is doing.

But then the okiyas were shut down and the War reached Japan- so, what happened to Satsu? Did she die in the bombings, or does it hint that she had survived? For something so important to her, she never even tried to find what happened to her sister?

Maybe I missed this part of the novel, but I really want to know. I vaguely recall something in the beginning of the novel, where Satsu managed to run away but... I'm not sure.

Thank you!! :)

I can't seem to think of any unique names, but I tend to find inspiration in famous literature- people like Edgar Allan Poe give me ideas. Nothing fits, though.

I do not believe this planet will have much to do with my plot- it is a major background, though, considering the geography I've set up. Any suggestions would be great!

Thank you :)

Nothing I do seems to work quite right, and I really need something new and different, not the average scenario. My storyline isn't exactly 'normal', so I need a unique twist. ^_^

But I can' get past this one big, awkward issue:

*The two characters are best friends, which makes it even harder because they have to get past those 'friend' boundaries and still be comfortable with each other.

-->Should one of them get hurt? what would be a realistic reaction?

--> What would it take to get the boy to take the first step? He is kind of cowardly when it comes to these things, so...? HELP!

I've never really written romance before, but this scene is very, very important!!! What kind of advice can you give me about where to look or how to write this?? Anything helps :)

This beginning is up for revision, so any changes you can suggest would be greatly appreciated. I'm not really looking for criticism, but is there anything with this one paragraph that I could change to be better?

Keep in mind that it is only one paragraph out of my prologue, but it is the first paragraph, and is meant to hook my reader. That was its intention- Would you read more of this???

Thank you!! :)

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The sky was the color of a rusted nail.

But then again, everything was. The whole world looked like a shelf, as if it had not been dusted off for too long a time. Perhaps, in some deep way, there was no color at all. The fields were barren and muddied by stagnant water, and the small population of people that the fallout had left behind struggled for almost every meal. But this was life. Some years before, the trees had ceased to open their leaves, and the grass had browned and grown sick and malnourished. It was not that people were not caring for the trees; it was that the world was dying, choking desperately on the poisons borne of WW III.

The demon lay motionless, body pressed against the prickly dead grass of the ditch.

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Thank you for answering! :)

Graham is the surname. I need a first name for Graham.

Has to be boy names (this is for a character)

Thank you!

It could be a person, your life, a hobby, or even a fly on the wall. What is it that causes you to come up with those brilliant story/poem ideas?

---> I get my best novel ideas when I'm washing the dishes, for some reason. Maybe it's just the fact that my hands are doing something, so my mind is, too.

*bonus: how often do you encorperate your own life / situations into your writing?

Thank you! Have fun!

My novel is science-fiction. It's about a little boy who stumbles into a different world while looking for his father (more or less. Not exactly my plot but that's the best way to put it, without getting specific ideas stolen)

It is after the effects of World War III, most likely, but the basis of the book is about the little boy convincing this new world to lend a hand to the remaining colonists of Earth. I don't believe he does it on purpose, he just kind of inspires a story.

I know this sounds confusing, but it's a new concept to me, too, and it's hard to write down in plain English at this point.

QUESTION:

What are some scary/action-packed things that could happen to a twelve-year-old boy that's lost in a different world?

I'm sorry that this is such a weird question, and I probably won't get a lot of answers here, but it's worth a shot, right?

Any ideas are greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you so, so much!!!

:)

I really need a name for a Politician- someone involved in a republican-type government.

He'd be around his mid-forties, and his physical appearance will be created at a later date.

Perhaps he is an ambassador, someone that can influence politics, or is a great speaker?

I'm not good at stiff, fleshy names, but please.... nothing too... normal, like 'David' or 'Tim'? It's a fictional story.

Anything is helpful- even if it is just one name or idea. Go crazy!

Thank you so much!! :)