It’s Christmas time. You’ve strung up all the lights, hung up your stockings, and put out your commemorative plates. All the wonderful decorations are out for display, including the magnificent Christmas Tree. Standing tall in the corner of your living room lies the hallmark of Christmas, covered in layer upon layer of lights and ornaments. Some of those ornaments were handcrafted by members of your family!

As your family sits by at the table, giving thanks for all you have, a loud CLASH of toppled ceramics hits the floor. Rushing to the source, you find a toppled tree and many shattered decorations. Standing proudly atop this horrendous display is your resident fluff ball, who thought the tree would make a wonderful new toy.

How it’s unsafe

As beautiful as your tree may be, it can seriously injure your animal from it. Playing with the tree can cause:

Electrocution, cuts and bruises, illness from oils found on the tree, getting sticky on sap, and others.

Preventing animal attacks

Preventing your animals from attacking your tree can be done in several ways.

Setting up the tree beforehand without the decorations will allow your animal to explore the tree with fewer health risks. Once their curiosity is satisfied, they will become less interested in the tree.

Keep your pets toys, bowls, bed, and other necessities away from the tree. They won’t feel the need to go near the tree by doing so.

Also keep the tree away from areas your cat likes to climb, like shelves and furniture.

Let your animals evaluate each ornament before you add it to the tree so they become more familiar with it. Be careful not to wave it or make it appear like a toy to your pets when doing this, as it may have the opposite effect from what you had intended.

Simply don’t use decorations. Normal ornaments and such attract your pet’s attention, and attaching food to the tree makes it look more delicious.

Use prickly mats or tin foil to wrap the base of the tree. The sound and feel of these objects will discourage your pets from approaching and walking beneath the tree.

When using a real tree, your pets will attempt to drink its water. To prevent this, simply cover it up and prevent them from drinking. Also, make sure they have their own water bowl full and ready.

Use your normal discouraging tactics should they come near. This refers to a firm “No” or a spray bottle or whatever you may use to train your pets normally. Also, using bitter sprays will discourage curious pets from coming near, as they will quickly learn not to.

Close off the room with your tree from your pet. Using a baby gate or what have you to block off the entrance from your pet will prevent anything bad from happening in their relating to your pet.

Buy smaller or ceramic trees that can be left on tables or out of your pets reach.

Distract your pets with fun activities and active play. Making your pets tired and sleep throughout the entire Christmas day is very effective at preventing them from messing with your Christmas party. It is also healthy for your little friend and will deepen your relationship.

Not all these tactics will work for everyone, nor every animal. The best thing to do is a combination of as many tactics as possible. As they say, it’s better safe than sorry.

There are thousands of competent and successful writers out there.

It is our duty a writer- both successful or aspiring- to learn from each other and develop new amazing works whenever we can.

Of Mice and Men: Efficient descriptions.

This magnificent story is wonderfully short. The writer’s ability to describe everything in a few short sentences with amazing detail is why I recommend it.

This fictional piece describes a pair of migrant workers trying to survive during the great depression. One is short and smart and the other is big and dumb. They try to take care of each other and work towards their shared dream: A big farm, with soft rabbits to pet.

Unfortunately, trouble starts where ever they are and ends in a beautifully sad way.

I recommend this story for it’s intelligent, meticulous planning and artistic descriptions.

I enjoy reading. I often read during class since few teachers want to discourage such a behavior. After 12 years of schooling, I have finished over 100 books of various quality and would like to share them. with you. I believe many of these can help people become better writers, and I will describe how.

Things Fall Apart: For developing culture.

This book is the first installment in its series, and the most important. This book is a historical fiction in the southeastern part of Nigeria during the European conquest.

The goal for this story was to show the world that Africa did have culture. Since the Europeans wrote all the history books, Africa was displayed as a barbaric, cultureless populous, and that Europe helped them.

This book says otherwise.

Things Fall Apart was intricately written to show their culture before, during, and near the end of the colonization. It gently teaches the audience what life was for them, including their religion, seasons, diplomacy, government, and holidays. It teaches the procedural changes in their life’s as the Europeans gain power and command, and what would be an accurate ending.

I feel this story will help writers detail their worlds without interrupting or trampling the flow of their stories.

Have you ever wanted a thought-provoking, well-written puzzle game? There are so few of them out there that when one becomes a series, people take notice. Professor Layton is a game based entirely around puzzles with 9 installments! This blog will be comparing them for the best one.

Animation

In a game without any action, art and design become important factors. The animation and design for characters are prevalent factors when it comes to determining the quality of these games. Should it be of low quality, forward facing, robotic characters or high quality, textured characters with personality and fluid movements, I’ll tell you.

Graphics

With the development of 3d gaming, the style of gaming has changed. Even though many people don’t care about the 3d aspect, Professor Layton used 3d imaging to make the characters move in humanistic ways, with making characters sway when standing and making movements fluid.

Music

Music needs to fit the atmosphere set up by the setting and plot. If they are in a dark forest on the way to a vampire’s castle, the music should be dark and spooky. If they are going through a Hawaiian city in the middle of its festivities, then it should be fun and tropical. If they have gone through time back into the Middle Ages, it should feel like the Middle Ages. The series uses lots of classical music, and has yet to disappoint.

Puzzle Quality

Puzzles make up the gameplay of this series. Some puzzles are based on math and deep thought, while others are based on simple frustrating tricks. As the series has reached its ninth installment (including the 2 spin-off games), it is important to know if they’re still good. Also, the hint system definitely improved over time.

Section 3: Product Review #1 Curious Village

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the start of the series. It is a fine installment in the series, though as the oldest, it is the most lackluster.

The sound quality for each interaction was always a little too electronic for me, sounding fake. The music is great but gargled.

The graphics are basic. The game has an old feel to it, with the character portraits always facing one way and having minimal changes in their expressions.=

The puzzles are good, ranging in difficulty as it should. However, as Level-5’s first attempt at this series, the descriptions are a little difficult at times, and there are only 3 hints instead of the 4 in later installments.

Section 4: Product Review #2 Katrielle and the millionaire conspiracy

This is, in my opinion, the worst of all the Professor Layton games. I dislike the characters, as they feel very gimmicky. They really enunciate certain aspects of the characters that may be better as an underlying characteristic, or as if they’ve boiled them down to their base personalities.

The story has been split into multiple smaller mysteries as a private investigator. One of the mysteries involved literal bird poop, and that single mystery has sullied my opinion of the rest of the game.

The puzzles are of noticeably poor quality, and I personally despise them.

But the music? Fantastic! They took their classical violin music and applied modern aspects to it. They have successfully created modern classical music, and it’s great.

Section 5: Product Review #3 Mystery Room

Professor Layton and the Mystery Room is a free mobile game you have to pay money for. It starts as a free demo, then you have to pay 5 dollars for the rest of the game. It’s cheap and fast, though I don’t appreciate the “it’s a free Professor Layton game!.. That you have to pay money for.”

The game operates in a different fashion from the others, instead of having the player analyze a crime scene for evidence and piecing everything together.

The character art is cute, and the crime scenes are fairly simple. There are no wrong answers to these investigations, and there are only nine of them. It has a good twist at the end, and a good plot for how short it is.

However, it takes FOREVER to move around the scene, and is very painful and tedious. Also, the last investigation allows for free reign, but doesn’t explain… how. Basically, you can tap anywhere for evidence besides the predetermined circles, unbeknownst to the player. It’s an interesting change, and worth the 5 bucks.

Section 6: Product Review #4 Vs. Phoenix Wright

Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright is an alright game. It is a crossover between these two famous thinking games, and I believe they blended well.

They kept the art styles of Phoenix Wright the same, just made him 3D. The art and animation looks great, and moves smoothly.

The music is very nice and catchy. It helps enforce the atmosphere set by the setting, one of knights and kings times.

The puzzles are good, but you can really tell that this is the point Level-5 has started running out of ideas. Many puzzles have no wrong answers,  removing any sense of risk.

The dialogue during the game takes on the Phoenix Wright style, which feels a little tedious. They summarize the previous chapter in every scene, which is annoying.

Section 7: Product Review #5 Azran Legacy

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is my personal favorite. This game involves traveling around the world of Professor Layton. Each location has its own culture and theme, building upon the world they live in.

I enjoy the mini-games, including one that brings you to each location multiple times for new puzzles.

The animated movements are very nice and there are no problems. The 3d graphics are pretty and use cold colors.

The music is beautiful and has many different songs per location.

As the final installment in the prequel trilogy, they throw in MANY good plot twists, and a great finale.

Section 8: Conclusion

From the start in the Curious Village, Professor Layton has gradually improved itself in all areas. It reached its pinnacle at the Azran Legacy, and has fallen far since.

If you want to get into the series, I recommend you start with Professor Layton and the Last Spectre (or your European equivalent), as it is the start of the prequel trilogy.

If you want something cheap, Mystery Room and The Curious Village are still worthwhile games. They are important to any fanatic.

Literature. There is a variety of English classes and websites available to teach people how to write. However, none of these things are guaranteed to help. If you don’t internalize the information, or it clashes against your own personal values, then you’ve only wasted time. This blog won’t teach you HOW to write, but it will give you some suggestions and ideas on how to make it better.

1. Reading

Books are one of the most helpful ways to create good writings. Published literature has gone through multiple editors and manufactured to be as close to perfection as possible. Literature is a great source of new vocabulary, ingenuity, inspiration, and structure you won’t find anywhere else.

2. Vocab

Having a broad range of unique and intuitive terms allows writers to have the right words for every situation. It allows the writer to enunciate what they are trying to convey in fewer words and more accurately than otherwise possible. Always be sure your vocab fits the atmosphere though. Don’t be exuberant or hyperbolized when you don‘t need to be.

3. Characters

Every individual you create should be important to the story. Each side character or unnamed voice should have a purpose to deliver. Main characters are the people the story follows, but that doesn’t mean they need to be complex or experienced. Characters should have a history and personality. They should feel human and be more than “Comic relief” or “love interest”.

4. Poems

Poems can be difficult, especially when taught in English class. I‘ve written many poems about war, but it doesn’t come from it. I just have beliefs and ideas that spawned on their own. If certain styles of poetry are too difficult, relax and try again. If that doesn’t work for weeks on end, then choose a different style. Writing is an art, and is entirely based on opinion.

5. Grammar

Proper Nouns, Italicize, Quotes, etc. These things are mostly used for blogs, but are important nonetheless in writings that take place in the present day. Grammar is something every writer struggles with. They might not have been taught grammar properly in school, or forgot.

Either way, proper grammar changes between posts so often, the line has blurred too much. Always try to find the correct way to capitalize something, but even then it could be wrong. Just try your best and believe in your abilities.

6. Contests and Freelance Writing

These are important for writers trying to fill a portfolio or make quick money. Contests are simple tournaments where you submit some of your well-developed work and some information. You may not win, but it will help you learn, and you can always try again next year.

Freelance writing, on the other hand, will pay you for good work. If you get a job through a credible site, you should always get paid. However, most of the work won’t feel like yours. It will be a writing according to your employers’ specifications, usually different from what you’d want.

7. Show Don’t Tell

This is a basic instruction often given in school. Even still, it is a very important quality of writing. Simple statements aren’t interesting or enticing. If you’re telling a story from a character’s point of view, then describe what they are seeing, maybe just in the way they react.

8. Variety

Be unique. Use everything life has taught you, and everything you think it will teach you. Follow your own plan, write what you want, and take advice. Try to be interesting. Don’t do what is expected of a book, change things a bit, then a lot.

I have a very powerful imagination. I currently have eight drafts stored on Wattpad for me to edit and review to become real shows later on in life. However, this isn’t easy for everyone. I gained creativity over a lifetime of using my imagination. This is how.

Media

I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again, the use of media is important. Reading books, playing video games, watching tv shows, seeing movies, studying religion and history, etc. Using these kinds of media will teach you new words, premises, functions, cliches, what’s boring, and what works.

Form an opinion on what makes something great, and what it‘s lacking. I recommend playing the Professor Layton series, a game based entirely around puzzles and storytelling. The puzzles will make you think and the dialogue will teach you grandiose words.

Thought

In all the martial art movies and shows, there‘s usually a wise old man who became the best by sitting alone in a cave for years. There is a reason for that. Meditation is the clearing and focusing of the mind, and it is best trained away from the commotion of people. I’ve spent lots of time laying in my room, watching tv. I’d turn it off, lay in darkness, and wait to sleep. While waiting, I’d think about the show I watched and ask “What would I do in that situation?” or “How would I change this show?”

I would just think about what I would do with other shows, how it would change if I introduced a personal character into the show. I would ask how it would affect the world and everything else. I enjoy asking the hard questions and answering them, defending the impossible. The ability to understand the opposing side is sorely lacking today, both in and out of the real world. This ability will help in writing when creating the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist.

How I work

Whenever I’m imaging something, I see it as a show. I watch the events and interactions unfold as an anime, which is difficult to transition into writing. I instead just sketched a general plan for each of my ideas instead of actually creating it. This has allowed me to record everything I’ve thought about for the future of the story without having to wait for that point. However, I now have difficulty creating the actual story. Actual images describe a scene without using words, but writing forces me to describe it, and I prefer to make it as descriptive and meaningful as possible, without breaking the atmosphere.

I like to write about interesting ideas I seldom see and take it in ways readers would not expect. Make the insane character a daycare specialist. Make detectives following a mystery that ends up having NOTHING to do with the main villain or plot line. Integrate a character who is devoid of drama and nullifies tension with simple statements.

I enjoy changing the world others have created too. I’ve had fun making major conflicts in stories and pointing out how easy it is to solve, or making it harder.

How to Make Delicious Chocolate Chip Brownies

The first step to any instruction guide ever is to gather the necessary materials. You will require one box of any brownie mix, one bag of any chocolate chips, a mixing bowl, a cookie sheet, and all the ingredients to make brownies. You will also need an oven and timer, but that’s common sense, as is most of this article.

Step two involves making the brownies. Any store-bought box of baked goods will have instructions on the back you can follow. STOP before cooking the brownie. If you require specific instructions on cooking, say, how to break an egg, go elsewhere. Ask your friends and family, or a random person who’s willing. It’s not that hard.

Step three is where this DIY is actually beneficial and not condescending. After pouring the mixed brownie batter into the pan, pour in ALL the chocolate chips, and put it into your oven. Someone should set the timer to the same amount as on the box. After it’s finished cooking, take it out of the oven, and enjoy.