Z-Day 2

Posted on by scott

So here is my long-delayed post on the Leviathan-researching Zeppelin ride.

To ride a Zeppelin, one must travel to Friedrichshafen, Germany. That’s the very town where Count Ferdinand Zeppelin set up shop about 100 years ago, having decided to blow his retirement fund on building giant airships full of hydrogen. (Coincidentally, this is what I plan to do with my retirement fund.) As you saw from two posts ago, this town is Zeppelin-themed to the max. The museum there is amazing, and I took loads of photos for the artist I’m working with on Leviathan, but let’s skip that and go straight to the Zeppelin ride.

The day started with a wake-up call from Zeppelin HQ. The weather was crappy, so they’d canceled our flight (heart stops in chest) but were putting us on an earlier one (heart restarts).

We only had a few hours to have breakfast and attack the Zeppelin Museum before showing up at the airfield.

Of course, the moment our taxi came within sight of the hangar, I started geeking out, and thus many photos were taken:

This hangar is big, by the way. The Zeppelin itself is 75 meters (240 feet) long. That’s less than a third of old-school Zeps like the Hindenburg or Graf Zeppelin, but the hangar is still an impressive sight.

As we drew nearer, every little sign made me happy:

Zeppelin Fluge! I’m about to fluge in a frickin’ Zeppelin!

The place where you wait for your flight is a sort of tent-like temp building with a cafe inside:

It was far superior to the average airport lounge, I assure you. For one thing, the outside cafe had a view of the giant doors of the Zeppelin hangar:

Perhaps I will move ahead, skipping past the next roughly twelve hundred photos to the part where we see the actual ZEPPELIN.

But first: they gave us a quick wave of a metal-detecting wand for regulations’ sake. (You know, in case one of us were to hijack the Zeppelin with, say, our fingernail clippers and fly it—oh, so slowly—into a crowd of innocent people where its deadly load of the dreaded element helium would make them all talk funny . . . um, you get the idea.) Then we had a quick run-down on safety procedures; as the only English speakers, Justine and I had a private session.

Finally, we were taken out onto the airfield to await the return of the airship from its previous flight . . .

Wait! Look!

Yes, that’s it. Circling around to land straight into the wind. (And no, those cranes are not Zeppelin-related. They just made a nice composition.)

In this next shot you can see how small the gondola is compared to the rest of the ship. That’s the thing about Zeppelins: it takes lots of helium, or hydrogen, to lift one person. So, yes, those kids’ books in which handfuls of toy balloons lift people off their feet? Damnable lies!

This 75-meter Zep carries only 12 people—plus the flight gear, engines, and fuel, of course.

As it comes in quite close, check out the tilt rotors on the side. Those two engines (and two more at the rear) can angle in whatever direction the pilot wants.

Here, as you can see, they’re tilted up to slow the airship’s descent:

Then the airship “landed,” sort of. Being aerostatic (the same density as the air around it) a Zeppelin never really settles on the ground. It just bounces to a stop on its single wheel, balancing there and pirouetting with the wind like some graceful, ballet-loving whale.

To keep it steady, one guy holds a rope hanging from its front end.

(Yes, that’s a really short movie. But I’m in a hotel room where the internets are slow.)

At this point, they asked me to please put my camera away and maybe pay attention, because we were about to board. Switching out passengers is a bit tricky, because you have to keep the airship aerostatic. So the de-Zepping passengers can’t just walk off all at once. For every two people who get off, two have to get on, keeping the weight the same throughout the procedure.

So no more pictures for, like, sixty seconds, until we were aboard.

Here’s what it looks like from the inside:

I’m in the last row, so that’s about everyone: ten passengers and two flight crew. (The woman standing was both tour guide and co-pilot.) Every seat is an aisle and a window seat, and those windows are huge. Basically, you’re flying in a big wrap-around picture window, which bubbles out so you can look straight down if you want to:

By the way, we’re flying over Lake Constance, between Germany and Switzerland.

Here’s the Zeppelin’s flight control panel, covered with what are technically known as das blinken-lightz:

Love that little Zep silhouette at the bottom. This control panel would totally pass muster in a James Bond movie.

Okay, so I have to pause in the blogging now. I’ll be showing you more of this flight later, revealing the many wonders seen from the air (not to mention the cool landing protocols). But uploading all this stuff on hotel wi-fi is, like, a total waste of Paris-time.

So one more aerial vista, and I’m out of here:

Beautiful, yes? But rest assured, the best is yet to come . . .

175 thoughts on “Z-Day 2”

  2. that’s pretty much INSANE. like whoa…i know what i want to do before i die now lol…who doesn’t love a little blinking-light action?

    now i’m even more excited about leviathan! even though it won’t contain a zeppelin ride…

  3. man, i want to take a zepplin ride.
    new life goal!

    and i admire Ferdinand Zepplin’s retirment strategy. but then again, if your name is Coutn Ferdinand Zepplin, you’re really REQUIRED to do something fearsomely awesome.
    of course, at the time people probably thought he was just another one of those guys in his basement trying to build a droid army or a giant metal suit of death.
    they always say that….until that guy turns out to be IRONMAN.

    dude, i really need to stop getting up before noon on weekends. scary things happen.

    Leviathin just keeps sounding more and more awesome. can’t wait.

  4. omg! i wanna ride in a Zeppelin now! at first i wasnt so sure about the idea of leviathan, but now i am totally excited!

    this post was so geekyness-making! BUT FAWESOME AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!

  6. ooooo very fawesome!!!

    that zeppelin looks amazing!
    and it only has one wheel!
    …ahh crazy fawesome!
    i wanna ride one!

    can’t wait till Leviathan!!!

  14. that’s pretty cool.
    kind of looks like riding in an airplane
    but its probably different.
    thats so cool though.
    i wanna go to germany!

  16. lol… That is so sweet I wish I could see it-(in person of course)

    I love Superamn/Tom Welling!!!!!

  17. I’m so jealous! You’ve totally made me want to go to Germany and ride a flying balloon! That’s hard to do! Lol.

    I can’t wait to see what of all this stuff you’re going to put in Leviathan. I’m going to be laying in bed and read a line about a Zepplin and go, “Hey! I learned that, like, a year ago from his blog!”

    It should help make me feel oddly special for about 3 minutes until I become engrossed in and obsessed with the book once again:D

  18. Wow, thats awesome Scott-la!

    I hope everyones day was good. Mine wasnt. From 9 this moring to 5:30pm i have been working on the math projects. Non stop. We got about 30 min of break but thats it. Too. Tired. To. Care. About. Things.

  19. Oh ya- The REAL lucky number is 19!!!
    Any-who, I also now have a life-goal! Pretty pics, Scott-la
    Wait Bran-la didn’t you post this on a Sunday? Where the heck ru? It’s Sunday Here!!!!
    Too. Confused. To. Type. More. So. Bye.!.

  26. OKAY, SCOTT, SERIOUSLY. IF YOU HAVE NEVER READ THE WEBCOMIC XKCD, DO SO NOW:

    http://xkcd.com/73/

    http://xkcd.com/288/

    XKCD is described as a webcomic of “romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”

    And there are many strips devoted to zeppelins. And velociraptors. WHICH IS SO COOL. … Also a strip that involves motorized skateboards, philosophy, Mario Kart, and Calvin and Hobbes.

  28. Ya…uh…I don’t have a list of things to do before I die…I have more of a list of things to do before I live, ya know, before I enjoy life to it’s fullest…ya weird I know whatever…I rarely make sense and right now I’m drugged up on cough syrup, whoooppee.Not.

  30. ok so i definetly remember posting on this but appearntly not….so anyway….this is so cool i wish i could ride one!

  33. OMG. I neeeeed a zepplin. No, I’m totally serious! I want one!!! That is so fawesome and if I am not able to buy a zepplin (which I WILL be able to!) then I am definitely going on a zepplin ride! Super fexcellent!!

    P.S. I’m home sick with the flu! This caused me to accidentally delete my blog cause I wasn’t paying attention… wow. Am I stupid or what? I just made a new one like 5 seconds ago…

  35. Dude, when I was little I used to think that the passengers sat in the big balloon part. I’m sure that’s not uncommon (for a kid to think that).

    I used to really want to ride in one of those, but then I realized that it was just me dangling from a big balloon and I got scared. Wimpy little me. haha.

    I wouldn’t have noticed the fancy sillouette if you hadn’t pointed it out. Freaking hilarious!! I didn’t know that things actually had those in them. Uhm…hold on…(awkward)

    Thanks for keeping us desperate little fans posted!

  36. Aloha! How was your day? Mine was pretty good. Cant say ‘as always’ but you know the drill.

    I dont have any hw! Yessss! Why? Because I’m going on a trip! From Wednesday to Friday. So dont miss me to much when i dont comment. I didnt want you guys to think i dies or miss me too much so i had to tell you. So just be prepared, ok? I will miss you, too!

    I finished reading the 2 Pretty Little Liars book so i have to get the 3rd one. And im going to get luxe. I need books, or i get bored. Like right now.

  37. Hey everyone! I randomly decided to come on this site today because I have 2 hours in the library and no hw and look! I new blog! Am I lucky or what? Zepplin rides are officially hella sick. I hope I get to go to Germany someday; that would be awesome!

    Tally & Zane: I totally heart you “Things to do Before I Live” idea. It’s way less pessimistic than all those “Before I Die” lists. I am stealing your idea!

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  38. uhh.. my day stunk. and i need help making a decision. okay so first today started out really awesome and great because i talked to my Journalism teacher about applying for yearbook next year (and it was wayyyy past the due date for applications) and she was all really excited about me wanting to be on it and saying stuff like “ooooh i’m so glad you decided to apply! we need a mature person like you!” and she even was gonna put me on the photography unit (so i would get to work the AMAZING DSLR… which btw i am totally in love with.) so i was all smiles for most of the day. then after school i went in to guidance to decide what classes i wanted to drop so that i could be in yearbook cuz it meets for an hour and a half each day all year so it would take the place of 4 quarter classes or 2 semester classes. and so i was gonna drop Alg. 2 and another class probably spanish 2 and stick them in my Junior year. but my guidance teacher wants me to get the cum laude with high distinction (big fancy award that gets me tons of scholarships and requires a 3.75 GPA and taking all the toughest classes.) and plus i have band so that takes up a lot of my schedule and so i’m pretty much screwed. and won’t be able to take yearbook. or i could drop band (which i loves a lot) and do yearbook….which would probably get me farther considering that i want to be a photographer. so i don’t know guys what do i do? ……it’s soo awfully stressful. cuz i don’t want to make the wrong decision.

    so Bran-la are Pretty Little Liars as good as the Private Series?

    Sarah-la- hope you feel better!

  40. you should totally drop band. If yearbook will help you in the long run, that is.

    And no, Pretty Little Liars isn’t very good, in my opinion. It is, how do you say? Message Board worthy. The plot was intriguing, but the only reason people keep reading is because of the annoying cliffhangers at the end of the books.

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  43. oh wow! That looks like lots and lots of fun! (not to mention how gorgeous it looks there…with all the views and what not). i can’t wait to read/here/see more!

  45. Nice! Great Pictures! I can’t wait for your new book!
    It would be so fun to ride in one of those I bet.

  46. ~Kay-wa~Drop band. I mean its either do what you love and will use, or do what you like as a hobby and sort and probably never use it again.
    Yes!!! They are totally good! I just got back from buying the 3rd one!

    ~Lizzy-wa~I’m going on a state tour. I say state tour because were touring my state and id rather not say what state it is. Its gonna be long. But fun……i hope.

  47. I just finished reading The Vampire Diaries and I really liked it but I’m so freaking confused about the ending. Anyone else read it?
    Ya so I’m sick of the dreary pessimsm going around so yeah….

  50. yeah, i read both those series.

    House of Night = no comment.
    or else it will be a rant. about emo and The Doors and many other things.

    The Vampire Diaries= when you say finished, i’m assuming you mean the end of Dark Reunion, right? i dunno, i found that rather self-explanatory.
    or maybe vampiric resurrections just make more sense when you’re in first period English and they’re all talking about To Kill A Mockingbird.

  51. thanks for the advice guys! i think your right that i should drop it. plus i just got done talking to one of my friends who is in band with me and she heard from the “band advisors group” (or w/e ya wanna call it. basically just a group of students my teacher chose to help him work out “band issues”) that my band director is gonna change things up next year by seperating the band into 3 groups: beginner, intermediate, and advanced level. beginner best grade you can get is a freaking C. intermediate is a B. and advanced an A but to be in adavanced you have to sing and take tons of tests and all this other crap. and i’m not the best in band and i don’t sing. so pretty much i could get a B or C…and i don’t want either one of those grades so yeah. i think my best move would be to drop it and take yearbook. the only bad part is that i have to miss out on the NYC trip next spring. which kinda sucks cuz i was excited. but maybe yearbook will travel too….i hope so.

  52. hi every body did you know that 13 times 4 is 62 to well my plan is to get comment number 62 to so lets see how that goes

  54. *spoiler alert for Vamp Diaries*
    Uh I know how she came back, I meant like why does she apparently love Damon now instead of Stefan? That really tripped me up….like right before she you know, drowned she was yelling at Damon bout how she loved Stefan and was engaged to him, then bam she wakes up from the dead and it’s like the freaking opposite where she tries to kill Stefen for hurting Damon, her “love”. But yeah, I just read the first book with The Struggle and The awakening, but I’m gonna get the next one within the next couple days…so anyone care to explain before I go crazy?

  55. thanks Lizzy-wa! i’ll need it trying to convince my counselor to let me drop band.

    o yeah and the reason we decided my name isn’t la is because Kay-la sounds too much like Kayla and my name is Kaylee so we went with wa instead. weren’t you one of the people who helped me decide? …eh i don’t know. time to sleep. 😀 goodnight!

  57. know this is kinda late and all but i think u should srsly drop band and all….besides, if u wanna be a photographer, u should go 4 that instead of just a hobby.
    btw, what instrument do u play? i play the flute.

    i haven’t been on in like days since we’ve been painting the kitchen and the back hall, so ya it takes a while. o well it looks awesome.

  61. hey Hannah-la! to get his email just click that “contact me” little button thingy and the little email thingy pops up! but then you have to change the AT to a @ and the DOT to a .

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😛

  62. EEE! Tomorrow is the day i leave. So um…..im really bad. I haven’t even started packing. We leave at 5:30 in the morning. Yikes. Btu yeah it will be fun.

    My friends are mad at me again. I’ll make it short and simple (there always mad at me anyways. At least HE is.). I heard my guy friend talking to a girl (#1) about something that he had talked about with a another girl (#2). And i new that the 2nd girl didnt want him telling the first one cause it was about if #1 had said anything about her behind her back (#2) which she had. So i told girl #2 they were talking about what she had asked him and she got mad at them. So there mad i told her about what they did. But she deserved to no. I mean, wouldn’t u want to no if u BEST FRIENDS (yes, they were her best friends) were telling stuff about you behind her back? I would. I feel bad for her. Shes happy i told her though. I mean, they were even planning to lie to her about it. And at lunch today, girl #1 was yelling at me for telling #2 and the guy was just ignoring me. w/e……

  63. O by the way when i say ‘friends’ i mean the the guy is m friend, girl #1 like hates me already, and girl #2 and i have been friends for awhile so only one of my friends is made at me.

  64. I’d be scared if a zeppelin were hijacked.
    I mean, even at its completely unswift speed, all the helium *could* kill someone. (Or several someones.) If they were, you know, not smart enough to run away from a zeppelin…
    Helium is dangerous, kids. Breathing is good!

  65. so today i went in and talked to my counselor again and she said she didn’t want me to drop band and that i should stick with it one more year and then junior year drop band and be on yearbook. but then i told her the rumors of the new system and she mostly changed her mind. so now she’s pretty much on my side. but my band teacher is gonna be sooo very p.oed… like he would totally screw with my grade. so i have to wait and tell him till like after the fianl grade reports come out in like June. so yeah. i think i’m gonna go make a pro/con list.

    have fun on your trip Bran-la! and good luck with the friend issues. hate those. you did the right thing though. i would have told her too.

  67. haha, lol scott on the joke about crashing the zepplin and making every1 talk funny. it’s weird how ppl in airports flip out over the littlest things. i mean, i get it after the whole 9-11 thing they take extra precautions for every1’s safety, but, like ur gonna kill a bunch a ppl with a pair on fingernail clipers. and, jw, how long were u up in that zepplin thing anyways?

  68. Oooohhhh, that explains it. I don’t have it yet, I just read the preview in the back of the other one. Thanks!
    I just won my first softball game of the season! YaY! I play first base, and I scored twice with a line drive and a hit to the wall centerfield! So much fun! Except I feel like crap cuz I wasn’t supposed to play, I have strep throat and I’m coughing like crazy right now. Ugh…oh it was 9-2.

  74. Thanks everybody! And sorry I was using baseball-speak. A line drive is when it’s a ground ball hit down the third base line and so yeah. I like baseball better too, but I play softball…-shrugs-

  78. Ya, well…I live with a buncha baseball players, when my older brother finished HighSchool he was offered a spot on a major league team, but he decided to go to college instead, but I spent my whole life going to his games when he was in jr. high and highschool and my Dad watches baseball all the time and stuff so it’s a bit expected…

  79. Whoa
    I have a postcard that looks just like that last picture
    I’ve had mountains of homework (and still do..I’m just lazy)
    I took that “who is your Billings BFF?” quiz
    I got Natasha Crenshaw
    I’ve only read the first book in the vampire diaries
    LIZZY-WA IS ALIVE!!!
    Okay, yeah, sorry *cough*
    balls have a tendency to hit my face
    I avoid sports that involve bats…and swinging them.

    Wow
    that was very random

  83. I was playing defense on soccer and this kid kicked the ball at my face
    that’s when I became immune the pain to getting smacked in the face with a ball…at least soccer balls and anything lighter
    well, I kicked the ball back and the kid kicked it at my face again
    and again
    and again
    that’s where my immunity kicks in
    now I can’t even tell that I got hit

  84. Wow!! I’d luv to be there right now!! it looks so pretty. But instead, i’m sitting here doing homework because sadly, this school years not over yet.

    I have a few questions for you Scott-la-

    1. Was it last october that you came to Old orchard center in Illinois??? Or is it this year?

    2. I don’t know if you remember, cus it was in october, but you came to my school (Elm Place Middle School) in Highland Park, Illinois and talked to the eighth graders about your books and yourself. I was really mad when i found out (which happens to b today) because im in 7th grade so i didn’t kno u were there!!!!! I missed you by a year! Its so unfair! The author of Skelly (or someting like that) came to the 7th graders, but id much rather that you had come to us, because like the whole 7th grade loves the uglies trilogy!! If you come back next year, i hope you will, could you talk to the 8th graders again?? Because ill be in eight grade next year and i realllllllly want to meet you. (oh and after your trip, could you post where you are going to visit on here, because i come on here a lot)

    thanx

  85. Oh that reminds of this time in class when these kids were being we and he was saying that he had Jo Jonas on speed-dial. So my friend ,who is opsessed, with Jo Joans was like “you don’t even have a cell-phone.” Which we all knew was true so he made a paper cellphone. and then my teacher kept finding notes so she said that the next time she finds a note than she will read out loud to the class. So the person who was talking about his “cellphone” was writting a really weird note and was like I called Jo Jonas. so the person writing back was like I have a cellphone too. And he’s like what kind is yours mine is a juke. and so she was like so is mine so then he was like *cough* loser *cough* it may not sound funny but it was one of thse have-to-be-there things.

    I love Sueprman/Tom Welling!!!! (I know that this comment weas very random)

  87. HaHa, that cellphone thing’s pretty funny!
    OhMyGosh! This idiot from my school got suspended for putting a picture of him with the principal and vice principal on my space and labeling it “Me and Two Fags”. I mean seriously, how stupid can you get?

  88. today was good. spanish was hilarious. we watched youtube videos. and like the last 2 days have been filled with dirty talk. lol. it’s funny though. but i won’t say any of it cuz it might offened some people. and my teacher is so fawesome. she’s 25 so she still is like fool and parties and stuff. and so today we were talking about ways to cheat without getting caught. lol. and it wasn’t like a lecture or anything…we just some how got on the topic of ways to cheat on tests. and so we told her all the ways we cheat and then she told us all the ways she use to cheat. it was funny. sooo yeah. well i gotta go write a paper. laters.

  89. today was good we are currently doing wasl(aka.big gradewide test)
    and it was reading i finished it in like and 45 min out of 3 hours so i reread the last days
    and then after everyone finished with like and hour to spare me and my friends played egyption ratslap are thats at least what we call it lets jsut say we got really into it plus we got to chew gum so all good
    but then we had to go to our first three periods(not bad Social studies math and drama) so in ss we have to think of a subject that we want to change and then get the whole class decide on a problem
    i want to to animal cruelty as art because ive seen some articals and videos on it and its horrible
    one artist starved a dog in the name of art
    one put a goldfish in a blender and let people decide to turn it on or not
    there is a video in torano,canada called
    Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat
    and also a video showing six barnyard animals being blugered by falling hammers
    all of it in the name of art its absalutly horrible
    im not really a peta person but this is too much

  95. woo hoo
    that test i did a while back to get into page and i made it!
    well only math but still
    but im smarter than 90%of the population i guess

  98. Congrats Kenzie!

    why are you lost Netta-la?

    ok so today was yet another day of vulgar talk in spanish and at lunch. haha. 😀 …apprently everyone has there minds in the gutter this week. …even my teacher! lol! it’s been really funny though!

    Bran-la – you can get Ambition online now!! 😀 😀 😀 …i’se gonna go beg my mom to order it in overnight shipping so i can read it while i babysit this weekend! 😀 …AHHH! i’m so excited!!!

  99. ehh.. my mom’s not gonna order it for me tonight. …..but she said she would do it soon. and she said she would get me a few books. so i’m thinking i should order Ambition and a few Pretty Little Liars.

  103. …i’m eating a strawberry cheesequake (yes it is actuall quake. not cake.) blizard from DQ. es muy delicioso!

  104. haha i love DQ the ice cream place and my friend goes by DQ(his intials) and hes like my bff 😀

    is it me or are comments moving kinda slow??

  105. Oh, Scott, you’re such a geek. Zeppelins are cool, though. Next time you fly in one, TAKE ME WITH YOU!

  106. Je m’ennuie ainsi en ce moment pour que soient pourquoi je parle dans la droite française ne faites-y maintenant ainsi aucune attention si vous ne pouvez pas le comprendre, mais si vous pouvez alors cela être fabuleux! Hou la, je dois recevoir une vie…

  109. me. but your probably long gone and i’m going too cuz it’s like 12:48 a.m. here. and yeah. homeworks done. so i can sleep. 😀

  111. oooooooooooooooooooo u have school this week? haha i don’t!!! hee hee april vacation!!!! :mrgreen: u see we don’t have spring break in march, but we have feb. and april break, so ya i’m good….heeeheee :mrgreen:
    it’d be cool to have a brother on a major league team….owell tho. his decision not mine….
    i saw a tshirt yesterday that said “i support two teams: boston and whoever beats new york” hee heee i luv that!

  113. we don’t get many breaks at all. like this entire month we had one day off…and that was considered our “spring break” and last month we had 2 days off. but now all we have is 18 more days of school! (not counting weekends.) then summer break!!! 😀 😀 which is 3 months long. how much time do you guys get for summer break? …do you go year round? …cuz my cousins do and they get like a few weeks off at a time then go to school for a few weeks and ect.

    so guess what… the world is becoming even more like Uglies! my mom was watching Oprah and they showed this really fawesome smart house. (i know there are movies kinda like this and everything but this is for real. crazy. huh?) yeah so she called me down to watch like 10 minutes of it and it was amazing. and the room says goodnight to you… just like in Uglies. there’s like this satellite woman or whatever that takes care of the house and stuff. and there is this supper fawesome shower that i want! it like has like 5 sprayers in it and it’s like a spa and you can set your water temp and the pressure and you put your iPod in this little holder and it plays your music inside the shower. ugh. someday i’ll buy one! heres the link if ya wanna check it out: http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/home/decorating/slide/20080425/decor_20080425_350_301.jhtml

  114. It’s so pretty there…that is the coolest thing ever! Wouldn’t you just love to live in that castle! Anyways my school just took a trip there too and the people in german class who went said it’s pretty…Well i hope you realy enjoyed it Scott, and hope you got some good ideas 😉

  115. I thought I made a comment on here already…I swear, it was here before…oh. I remember. My computer crashed before i posted it.

    crap. oh, well. I just said something about the awesome zeppelin ride, how cool it would be to be able to do that. And also about how beautiful the last picture was. is. whatever.

  116. AHHH! I’m back! Did you guys miss me?!?! I missed you!!!

    the trip was over all booooooring! Yesterday on the way back to my city it was a 6 hour bus ride. OMG! Talk about bored. We watched 4 movies, sang tons of songs, and didn’t have any dinner. Or water. Yep. I was starving. Lets just say, out of the whole trip (3 days) we went to 10 places. Not towns or cities, 10 little camps and restaurants. The rest of the time we were riding on the bus.

    I would have rather stay here than go. Lets just put it hat way. But o well, at least i didn’t have school!

  118. Bran-la – Ambition is out online now. at amazon and some other one. my mom ordered it for me yesturday. 😀 so hopefully i’ll get it like monday or tuesday. 😀 …i can’t wait it’s gonna be so fawesome!

  119. woah smart house….that would scare the living crap outta me. my biggest fear is robots and non living things that talk but for some reason the stuff in uglies didn’t bother me…hmm i never even thought of that until now…weird..

  120. I have this issue where I look at all of the possibilities and that is why I don’t like things like rides or jumping off the diving board or… you know stuff like that.

    I love Superman/Tom Welling!!!!

  122. oh my name on my site is Owlstar and u can post in the Advertise~Affiliate section about Leviathan since thats the only guest friendly board

  123. I really don’t know what Levaithan is I was wondering what it was too.

    I love Superman/Tom Welling!!!!

  124. That looks amazingly awesome! Now I want to try a zepplin ride someday too… hopefully in the near future 🙂

    Smallville (I’m assuming that’s where you’re getting the Tom Welling = Superman reference?) is an awesome show!

    The controls /are/ just like James Bond. Wonder if there’s a new movie coming out anytime soon, along the lines of Casino Royale?

  126. So I’m just wondering but am I the only person that goes through tons of drama?!?! So ur wondering what I, bran-la, could have possibly gone threough now! Ok ill make it simple. My friend ditched me to become popular. A more popular crowd invited her to hang with them and she said it was her “dream” so she hopes we could still be friends. Yeah, w/e she made it clear we were never friends. So now I have no one. What’s my pay back? (I always have somthing) to make sure evertone at school knows what she did. Cause to me that would make ppl wonder what kind of person she really was. Isn’t that enough pay back? I mean….I was crying like crazy when I found out!

  127. Just, don’t let people get the wrong idea about you for spreading around what she did…and no, you are not the only one with drama. You just….vent about it more….

  128. Haha. People won’t get the wrong idea about me. I’m sure. Because I am really only telling people who ask why we don’t hang out. And it will be obvious. I mean one day she’s with me all day and the next day she’s with….someone else? I’m sure ill get questions as to why….

    Urg I have to fill out a packet about what I “learned” on my trip. I didn’t learn anything exceptthat 4 hours without water is horrible in hot weather!!!

  130. my mom all ways says to me “ah U are one wise grasshopper” juust cause she feels like it……

  132. 2day we were at a party thing at my cousins’ house, and i was walking to our car, reading uglies (yes–u know i’m a bookworm when i can safely manuver around things while absorbed in a good book) and two of my cousins (both a couple years older than me and boys) were on the trampoline, and one of them threw his sneaker at me and it hit me square on the shoulder. HARD! ouch. srsly. sigh. we bookworms get so neglected. i just said ‘hey!’ and the other cousin said ‘y’d u throw it at her?’ so ya twas sorta…interesting. i dunno y he threw it at me, tho….hmmm…and so it begins.
    i really shoulda like pounded him tho. or not even turned around, acting like it hadn’t happened. i like annoying my family!! hehe (evil chuckle) :mrgreen:

  133. Well don’t feel bad. My sister has read like half of the books in our school’s library. One time she was walking and reading. Well there is this chain at school to keep people from driving up that way. She tripped right over it. At the tiem she was reading Eragon and when it hte ground it made this big sound and ever1 thought it was her face that made that sound. I couldn’t help but laugh. My family is kind of clutsy. I have never biffed while reading a book… Nor has any1 thrown a shoe at me.lol

    I love Superman/Tom Welling!!!!

  137. Can’t be worse than the numerous times I’ve nearly walked into a pole even without being immersed in a book. 🙂

  138. i dont have to be into a book to trip im just a klutz all together though reading a book doesnt really help the situaltion. and it seems i cant go through one pe class without getting hit in the head unless it like weight room or run day where we dont use dangorus equipment.
    does anyone know a good website to make a blog im lookin to start one

  139. have you ever thought about turnin ur books into movie? i think they would be great movies. i just started reading your books not too long ago..i picked up uglies two weeks ago n finsished it in one week, then right away i got the next one n just finished it the other day. im waiting to go shoppn so i can get ur 3rd one. I love them so much n would love to see a movie of them..oh i also love ur type of writing style. me myself is aslo a (young) writer. im starting a book and would love some tips!

  140. Is anyone else excited for the release of “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer? I am going to have to hurry up and read the books that I am reading ( which are the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, I have read them once before, but you know how that goes. )

    May 6th — yay

  141. Oh! I am. It comes out the day before my birthday so I’m going to have to wait a day…I don’t know if I can though. I might try and find it…[;

  143. guess what guys… today is my birthday! 15! i get my drivers permit on Thursday! 😀

    spanish was funny today. we played human tic-tac-toe and it was like you had to write the right answer on the board then if you got it correct you could go pick a spot on the tic-tac-toe board. and it was girls v guys and we kicked their butts! they didn’t even get one point. so then this one guy who is all upset said “I don’t like girls!” and everyone just cracks up laughing and then he’s like “No, no I like girls!! I like them a lot!” it was funny. i don’t know maybe you had to be there. took me a minute to get it though. lol.

  144. Happy B-day! So exciting…..15……permit……driving. Yep. Funner than you know other ages *cough* 13 *cough*. Ok, so i was inspired by a certain someone on this blog to write a poem about me feelings. So here it is……on Scott-las blog. (hope its good!)

    She stood by the desk
    Just looking at me.
    I knew what she had done
    So i sat quietly.
    I miss her so much
    But she had just gone.
    Ive wanted her back
    Shes known all along.
    Even though she hurt me.
    Even though i cried.
    I hoped that one day
    Shed come back to my side.

    and im talking about my friend in here. and i tried to rhyme it as much as i could or at least make it SEEM like a poem but who knows……im only a poet in training!

    Is it good? Huh-huh? How was it?

  145. Haha. It is funny Kay-wa. I could imagine it happening.

    How many of you can type without looking at the key board. I cant. I have to look at it but i type fast. Just…..while looking at the keyboard.

    Read me ‘poem’ if you didnt!

  146. i like it Bran-la!! foolio! don’t you love how therapeutic poetry is? i do! i write some. and thanks! definitely looking forward to driving! the first chapter of Ambition is up! 😀 ..i just read it. it was good. and now i am excited! i ordered it on amazon on Friday so i could get it early. now i just got to wait till the amazing ups guy brings it to me! 😀

  151. Nice poem Bran-la, I hope everything works out.
    I’m having a crappy, life is a bottemless pit of nothingness, sucks out every last bit of hope and happiness, kinda week. Not fun. But yeah, theraputic poetry helps bunches. I wrote this, about a little of what’s going on:
    I knew a hero once,
    I looked up to him,
    like he was the north star guiding my way,
    He was my role model,
    A person I loved and cared for,
    a person that I wanted to be like,
    I admired him so.
    The day that he left, to go overseas,
    I cried many tears, more than I thought possible,
    I hugged him and never wanted to let go.
    But I had to, I had to say goodbye,
    though I swore it wouldn’t be the last.
    I prayed that he would come back to us,
    safe and unharmed at all,
    my wishes came true, and I cried again.
    Though this time, tears of joy.
    Safe, at home, my hero once again.
    I noticed no difference, I made sure I noticed none.
    I couldn’t let anything happen to the one leading the way, the one…
    ***
    But now….now my hero has been led astray.
    No, not led, he walked off the path,
    but I was wrong, not now had it happened,
    but long in the past.
    My hero hasn’t been the person that I thought I knew,
    not, not at all. I cry yet again for my hero no more,
    I cry for his sins, deeds that I thought he was incapable
    of committing, because that’s not who he is,
    He’s my hero. He’s my hero. He’s my hero.
    Maybe if I say it enough it will be true.
    He could never do this, I know him.
    Please make it true.
    But no, only he my hero of the past could make that true, true again.
    I never knew who he was. Never really.
    Yet, I love him still, though I hate what he has become.
    He’s my hero.
    No.
    He was my hero.
    I miss him, no longer I know the person that takes his face,
    his heart isn’t as it was, I don’t know who he is now.
    I want to help him, I need to help him.
    I need him to be my hero again, for real this time.
    But maybe….first I have to be his…
    ____________________________________________________
    It’s kinda long….tell me how it is?

  152. Yep so there it is…oh and yeah I can type without looking at the keyboard, but that’s cuz my school has classes on that, that I’ve been taking since like second grade. And poetry doesn’t always have to rhyme, it just has to express a feeling, and if you want it to have like a rhythm you can use rhyme, alliteration, repitition, and lots of stuff like that….I write poetry, frequently. Can you tell?

  153. Cool i’m going to start a blog about anime and Drawing manga and anime shows like Bleach Vampier Knight and Naruto Its going to be called the two crazy girls making a flipen Blog I’m reading maximumm ride The third onr they are SOOOOOOOOOOO good but scott thanks for the idea of a blog I’ll post a comment when the sites up I would like Peole to go to it when it’s done thanks 🙂 Oh and I’m writing a book About a were wolf who has not pack and has a super confusing love life were evrey person will hate the girl he likes Its called Metalic Eye any other names that are good post them scott blogs are sooooo awsome I bet its lots of fun once again thank for the idea

  154. Hey Scott-la! 🙂

    I’m so excited for your new book! And the Uglies guide is making me happy! I can’t wait for it to come out!! You’re the best!!

    ~Hannah-la~

  155. i can type really fast w/o looking at the keyboard. heehee at school last year we took typing things and kids in my row were like “wow is that u?” so ya

  159. okay, i haven’t been on here in a while.
    random points.

    WHY DO ALL OTHER STATES LET YOU GET YOUR PERMIT AT 15? because if mine did, i’d be that much closer to bumming rides off my friends. you can’t get yours til you’re 16 here. liscense at 17. and i’ve got a late birthday.

    i love the Abhorsen Trilogy. can’t wait for those other books he’s writing in that world. i’m rereading it at the moment too, as a matter of fact.

    i type way fast. and i can do it without looking.
    i really creep my dad out in fact, i’ll be typing fast and turn and talk to him without looking at the screen or keyboard and keep typing at crazy-speed.
    this is what spending whole summers writing does to you.

    also, awwww T&Z-la. hope crap gets less…crappy. but hey! poetry! it’s fun and therapeutic!

    hooray for werewolves!
    i need more werewolf stories. seriously.

  160. My state has the 15-permit-16-license law. Whoop-ee for me! But not so much whoop-whoop for u Serafina…….

    Guess what i’m doing right now? Math homework. and before you get all jeleaous and wish you were here doing my pre-algebra for me……just rember that i will share. Gladly. sharing is caring! (i hate it when people tell me that! i mean i hate sharing. if its mine….im not givin it to u to have or borrow. So yeah….i dont care!)

    So. Scott. when you gonna post some more?!?!?!

  161. im the same as serifina, permit 16 license 17. it stinks!!!! 🙁 but i only have a few more years till i get mine!

    have any boys read the Uglies trilogy???? sorry just wondering cause i wanna prove to boys in my class that they’re not books for only girls. am i rite, or am i rite. ok well maybe they are a little bit more something girls would enjoy reading, but they are written by a guy so they are also boy books.

    when does ur school let out???? mine lets out on the 15th.

  162. Yeah, I saw a couple of the only non-illiterate guys at my school reading them…and thanks, it is a bit less craptastic lately, a lot better…and yes, poetry is awesome.

  167. good thing there were no
    bombs on board
    (Germany dropped bombs on innocent
    people in France(ww1))

  168. Okay.

    So there were just people in that zepplin like, “Oh, look, it’s the guy who wrote the best series in the world.”

    Did any of them come up to you and say, like, “Aren’t you the dude who wrote Uglies?”

    Or did they just ignore you?

    For the record, I’d annoy you with so many Midnighters questions you would want to take me down and slap me relentlessly.

    …Just for the record, of course.

  169. When your finnished with that book, write another Uglies book.
    Will Aya go to Tally’s city?
    What happened to Dr. Cable’s Lab?
    Could someone skeak in and use her machines to become special?
    And where was David’s dad buried?
    How do we know he’s not alive?

  170. 🙂 😀 🙂 😉 🙂 😀 🙂 😉 🙂 😀 🙂 😉 🙂 😀 🙂 😉 🙂
    TO SCOTT: that is so so awesome! i WISH i could ride in a zeppelin… but – you were wrong.

    it IS possible for a little kid to be lifted off the ground by a nuch of balloons. Granted, it’s a really really big bunch of ballooon, but Mythbusters proved it! they had some little girl hold onto a huge bunch of balloons (somewhere in the high thousands) and she actually lifted off the ground pretty far.

    so there. 😀

  171. oh,It is funny and very cool!
    ” (The woman standing was both tour guide and co-pilot.) Every seat is an aisle and a window seat, and those windows are huge” –very good!

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