This is a short fable that I wrote for my 4-H creative writing project. I thought I would post it here as well.

The Boy and the Brewer.

Once upon a time there was a young boy who lived in a faraway village. One day he decided that he wanted to make some money. His parents refused to simply give the boy money, and told him that it was time for him to find a job. Now in such a small village it is hard for a young boy to find employment, so he decided he would find something to sell.
First he talked to the town blacksmith. The blacksmith said that he would pay the boy for metal ores. However the boy knew nothing about mining, so he politely declined the blacksmith’s offer.
Next he tried the town baker. The baker said that he would pay the boy for wheat to make flour. The boy knew he could sow wheat in his father’s field, and he thought about the baker’s offer for a long time. However it would take far too...

After debating for a couple of weeks I have made the switch to a Dvorak keyboard, so if you see me making more typos than normal that's why. It's going to take some getting used to, but I like it so far. Does anyone else use a Dvorak, and do you have any advice for me?

-Chardar, copying Aldin and wishing that I had learned to type this way the first time.

It's been a few months since I started back up in Tae Kwon Do, and it seems like it's been the only constant in my life recently.

Our belt system uses a two part ranking system for colored belts. you can either be a color recommended or color decided. Right now I am Blue Decided, which means I am ready to test for Brown Recommended. Then I have to train for three months until the next testing cycle, where I can become Brown Decided (then red, then on to black).

Anyway I'm going to be testing for Brown Recommended this Saturday. I'm pretty excited. It seems like this means I'm officially a part of the family. The people there have been great, instructors, students, everyone. It's been a good experience, and I hope that I can stick with it for a long time.

I'm also a little nervous. I have my form down to a science. I'm not at all worried about that. I'm a little less sure about my board break, but I've been able to do it pretty consistently in training....

W@HS is stopped for the Lost Scenarios, but I didn't tell LordE in time so he went ahead and wrote the Map of the Week (entirely my fault). I felt bad that he put so much effort into the piece, so I agreed to post it here. Enjoy!

-Chardar.


Map of the Week

Well in celebration of the C3G's hard work that they put into their new Marvel Master Set, Fantastic Forces Unite, we have the Fantastic Four's home, The Baxter Building. The scenario Battle at the Baxter Building uses 1 Rise of the Valkyrie Master Set, 2 Fortress of the Archkyrie Expansion Setsand 2 Marvel: The Conflict Begins Master Sets.

"It is not the accumulation of extraneous knowledge, but the realization of the self within, that constitutes true progress."
- Okakura Kakuzo

For reference my old belt system worked as follows.

White-yellow-green stripe-Green-blue stripe-blue-red stripe-red-black stripe-black, and then nine degrees of black belt.

Well I have been out of Martial Arts for almost two years now, having practiced Tae-Kwon-Do for 4 years and reaching the rank of Blue Belt. After the economy crashed my old school was forced to close, leaving me and a lot of others out on streets. After that I sort of fell out of it.

I had been researching some other schools in the area, and had planned on visiting one last weekend. I ended up spending the day with the nasty cold, so that didn't pan out.

I got to visit the school today, and spent a good three hours trying out the different lessons that they offer. I was very impressed with...