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The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

Found  by: Angelica Louise Pfleider Source: The tales of Beedle the bard by J.K. Rowling

There was once a kindly old wizard who used his magic generously and wisely for the benefit of his neighbors. Rather than reveal the true source of his power, he pretended that his potions, charms, and antidotes sprang ready-made from the little cauldron he called his lucky cooking pot. From miles around, people came to him with their troubles, and the wizard was pleased to give his pot a stir, and put things right. This well-beloved wizard lived to a goodly age, then died, leaving all his charrels to his only son. This son was of a very different disposition from his gentle father. Those who could not work magic were, to the son's mind, worthless, and he had often quarelled with his father's habit of dispensing magical aid to their neighbors.

Upon the father's death, the son found hidden inside the old cooking pot a small package bearing his name. He opened it, hoping for gold, but found instead a soft, thick slipper, much too small to wear, and with no pair. A fragment of parchment within the slipper bore the words "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it."

The son cursed his father's age softened mind, then threw the slipper back into the cauldron, resolving to use it henceforth as a rubbish pail.

That a very night a peasant woman knocked on the front door.

"My granddaughter is afflicted by a crop of warts sir." she told him. "Your father used to mix a special poultice in that old cooking pot -"

"Begone!" cried the son. "What care I for your brat's warts?" and he slammed the door in the woman's face.

At once there came a loud clanging and banging from his kitchen. The wizard lit his wand and opened the door, and there, to his amazement, he saw his father's old cooking pot: It had sprouted a single foot of brass, and was hopping on the spot in the middle of the floor, making a fearful noise upon the flagstones. The wizard approached it in wonder, but fell back hurriedly when he saw that the whole of the pot's surface was covered in warts.

"Disgusting object!" He cried, and he tried firstly to vanish the pot, then to clean it by magic, and finally force it out of the house. None of his spells worked, however, and he was unable to prevent the pot hopping after hin out of the kitchen, and then following him up to bed, clsnging and banging loudly on every wooden stair.

The wizard could not sleep all night for the banging of the warty old pot by his bedside, and the next morning the pot insisted upon hopping after him to the breakfast table. Clang, clang,clang went the brass footed pot, and the wizard had not even started his porridge when there came another knock on the door. An old man stood on the doorstep.

"Tis my old donkey, sir." He explained. "Lost she is, or stolen, and without her I cannot take my wares to market, and my family will go hungry tonight."

"And I am hungry now!" Roared the wizard, and he slammed the door upon the old man. Clang, clang, clang went the cooking pot's single brass foot upon the floor, but now its clamor was mixed with the brays of a donkey and human groans of hunger, echoing from the depths of the pot.

"Be still, be silent!" Shrieked the wizard, but not all his magical powers could quieten the warty pot, which hopped a his heels all day, braying and groaning and clanging, no matter where he went or what he did.

That evening there came a third knock upon the door, and there on the threshold stood a young woman sobbing as though her heart would break. "My baby is grievously ill," she said. "Won't you help us? Your father bade me come ir troubled -" but the wizard slammed the door on her. And now the tormenting pot filled to the brim with salt water, and slopped tears all over the floor as it hopped, and brayed, and groaned, and sprouted more warts.

Though no more villagers came to seek help at the wizard's cottage for the rest of e week, the pot kept him informed of their many ills. Within a few days it was not only braying and groaning and slopping and hopping and sprouting warts, it was also chocking and retching, crying like a baby, whining like a dog, and spewing out bad cheese and sour milk and a plague of hungry slugs.

The wizard could not sleep or eat with the pot beside him, but the pot refused to leave, and he could not silence it or force it to be still. At last the wizard could bear it no more.

"Bring me all your problems, all your woes, all your troubles!" He screamed, fleeing into the night, with the pot hoppinh brhind him along the road into the villsge. "Come! Let me cure you, mend you, and comfort you! I have me father's cooking pot, and I shall make you well!" And with the foul pot still bounding along behind him, he ran up the street, casting spells in every direction.

Inside one house the little girl's warts vanished as she slept; the lost donkey was summoned from a distant briar patch and set down softly in its stable; the sick baby was doused in dittany and woke, well and rosy. At every house of sickness and sorrow the wizard did his best, and gradually the cooking pot beside him stopped groaning and retching, and became quiet, shiny, and clean.

"Well, Pot?" asked the trembling wizard as the sun began to rise. The pot burped out the sinke slipper he had thrown into it, and permitted him to fit it onto the brass foor. Together, they set off back to the wizard's house, the pot's footstep muffled at last. But from that day on, the wizard helped the villagers, like his father before him, lest the pot cast off its slipper, and begin to hop once more.

[iammillenial-blog]

The Beauty of Books

By: Angelica Louise Pfleider

Do you know how you can make time fly? Do you know how you can go on an adventure without having to leave the comfort of your bed? Do you know how you csn keep yourself entertained without the need of internet, tv, or any form of electricity? Read a good book.

I know reading isn't for everyone. Some people find it tedious and boring but I think that is only because you haven't found the right book for yourself. There are endless options of books for the different kind of reader. If you are new to the reading club then you don't have to finish the Divine Comedy straight away. There are so many light stories that are timeless that can entertain anyone.

It doesn't matter what genre you like the best; romance, action, horror, thriller, comedy, fantasy, books have it all. The great thing about books is that you get to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the characters. Their thoughts and their exact emotions are described so much so that you feel the same things they are feeling. Books can make you hold your breath, can make you laugh out loud or cry like a baby. Books can take your emotions and mix them all together into the plot blender and make a delicious one-of-a-kind smoothie.

So open your minds. Pick up a book. Any book and be prepared to be taken away and experience the adventure of a lifetime.

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How to survive doing your thesis

By: Angelica Louise Pfleider

Thesis, the defining moment of college life. It is what all those technicial writing and theory classes have prepared you for. it will cause sleepless nights, stress eating, and amazing printing expenses but you won't be able to move on to the next step of your life if you don't finish it. Some people think the dreaded thesis is the kraken waiting to devour them but I say, you can do this! WE can do this! Forty sheets of paper won't be able to get the better of you if you follow these few tips.

1) Make a time table

This is the most basic step when thesis time arrives. I think it is important to make a time table when your thesis adviser starts giving you deadlines. It can help you plan how much and how often you should start researching and writing so you don't overload your brain.

2) Don't cram

If your adviser gives you a week to finish your review of related literature, don't wait till the day before to start researching. Doing a little work everyday is better than doing too much in one night. The results ypu will yield will even be better.

3) Give yourself a few breaks

You are a researcher not a slave. You don't have to turn making your thesis into a dull, tiresome task. You deserve a little enjoyment while making it. Prepare a playlist to serve as your writing anthems, stock up on your favorite study snacks, and reward yourself every now and then by watching an episode of your favorite series or a youtube video. This will make writing your thesis seem more inviting and will push you to start.

I made these tips based on experience. It works for me, I hope they will work for you too. Good luck!

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Time for Goosebumps

Story Found by: Angelica Louise Pfleider Source: https://www.creepypasta.com/tag/based-on-a-true-story/

Everyone loves a good story. I for one am a fan of horror; the kind that makes your hair stand on end, makes you afraid to use the bathroom, and will simply give you instant Nyctophobia. Or the kind that is more on realism and digs into the darkest pits of human nature and the human soul.  Here is a story I found from one of the sites I love, creepypasta.com.

The Well February 2, 2017 at 12:00 AM

My grandfather grew up on a chicken farm outside of Krakow, Poland. He passed away a few years ago at the age of 82. A few days before fis passing on, due to an aggressive form of stomach cancer, he sat me down next to him in his old rocking chair and said in his familiar polish accent “After I took the boat to New York, I promised to leave this story behind.” He didn’t look up as he spoke to me, simply staring into his cup of black coffee. “It’s been 70 years… and I must tell someone before I meet God.” “I was born in a smalll, quaint, empty town, which despite the Nazi occupation, still functioned. We lived in this two-bedroom farmhouse. My father, my mother, and my brothers Michal and Igor. I’m sorry, you never got to meet any of them. Anyway, Michal and Igor were twins, identical twins actually, and we had heard rumors of the Nazi fascination with identical twins. This forced us, and we already lived in a secluded part of the countryside, to be even more reserved. In order to not go into the occupied towns, we basically ate only chicken and eggs for every meal, and whatever mama could gather from the garden. It was lonely, but we survived. “ “The only two things which were really hard on me were the fact that I had to sleep in the basement, due to Michal and Igor being toddlers, they required my father’s and mother’s attention. The basement was cold, with only a small window and moonlight was the only light I got. Because of this, I always delayed going down there until I was absolutely exhausted, so I wouldn’t have to lie there awake. On the nights that I couldn’t manage to sleep, I would look out of the window, which gave me a small view of the garden and the large abandoned water well. This was my daily activity throughout those lonely war-torn nights. In general, it was boring and uneventful, but occasionally I would catch a glimpse of a family, lone men , or lovers sneaking their way through our garden up to our front door. They always looked rushed or frightened, and sometimes wore tattered uniforms. What would follow were horrible sounds of banging and pleadings for whoever lived here to open up, followed by an argument between my Father and Mother whether we should let them in. “ He moved the chair to adjust himself. “You see son, we didn’t know it, well I at least didn’t, that we lived fairly close to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and those people were escapees” “Well did your father let them in?!” I asked impatiently. “No.” he said “It would have been a death sentence for them as well as for us. The Nazis didn’t like Poles, but they tolerated us, it was easier to hide Michal and Igor than an entire family. My father did what he had to do in order to keep his family alive. As the war went on, less and less people began showing up in the middle of the night. Only our chickens and vegetables began to disappear. Losing our only supply of food would not have been possible, and at this point my father knew it was probably the escapees, so he built a fence around our property. Despite this, the chickens continued to disappear. They weren’t killed, they were simply… gone… just vanished from their cages and pens. “ “One night I decided to stay up myself in order to see if I could find out the answer. I battled my tiredness until the wee hours of the morning, and despite the poor lighting and rain, I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a human figure run across the garden. I rushed upstairs to tell my father and he ran outide with a knife, the best home-defense weapon we could afford, but we found nothing. No one.” “The next day we did find something though, footprints, leading from the chicken cages, to the water well. They were made in the wet mud from the rain, and they were of bare feet. No shoes, no socks, just feet. My father had mrcy on the man who was trying to find refuge and left him a note, indicating that he had 2 days to leave and then he would begin to seal the well.” I waited impatiently for my grandfather to tell me the fate of the man. “The following night, I conjured up the idea to take a blanket down to the well to the man since winter was creeping in. I waited until my parents were asleep and I snuck outside. I shouted down the well something friendly, indicating to the poor man that my intentions were benign, and I began my descent, hands and feet clinging to the pegs which were attached to stones. As I was approached the bottom, I smelled something absolutely horrific, and I pulled my father’s flashlight from my pocket and tried to shine it on the man, coming to the realization of how large the well really was, since it used to supply water for the entire toen and its families. Families which no longer remained.” “But I found no man, only… a hole. A hole in the stone, where the wall of the well had collapsed, opening up to some type of crevice. Only 2 meters wide , and 3 meters deep and tall, inside sat not  man. Inside was a family, with only a skeleton like creature as the only survivor. The light reflected off his sunken eyes, and grayish skin. His face was covered with blood and there were chicken carcasses scattered all around. There was a woman, a son , and a daughter, the children must have been barely 5 years old. They seemed to have been dead for weeks. The man, if he could even be called that, just stared at the light. I stared back, incapable of breaking his satre. I did not feel threatened by him for he lacked any sense of aggression. He simply sat there crouched over, witohut a sound, next to the putrefying body his loved ones, and chicken carcasses.” “He was empty, devoid of whatever in us makes us human. He should have realized his family was dead long ago, but he was still bringing food to their corpses. He couldn’t accept it. He did finally turn his head though, when I shined the light back onto the corpse of his daughter. He stared at her, and sat down closer to her, and continued to stare. “ “You can leave now. I’ll open the gate so you can escape. My father will seal the well in the morning.” I said to him. “Please leave now” my young voice and advice didn’t seem to have any effect on him.” “At this moment I decided it would be better for me to just climb up the well and leave, hopefully he man would follow and escape. As I began my climb I shined the light on him one final time…” “What did you see grandpa?” I stuttered “A tear fell from his eye, he had become a man once again. He broke free from the delusion, only when he saw the body of his dead daughter, which had been hidden by the darkness. He realized he had been bringing food, not to his family, but to corpses.” “That night it rained again, but I found no footprints leaving the well in the morning when my father sealed it.”

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Paws up for pets!

By: Angelica Louise Pfleider

This one goes for all you pet owners out there! I personally cannot imagine life without a pet. Even the tiniest little fish makes a home complete in my point of view. Maybe it’s because I grew up around pets and they have been in my life for as long as I remember. They always manage to brighten up my day no matter how stressed I am (though sometimes they can be the cause of your stress. But how can you stay mad at them?) But you know what’s really great? Pets, especially dogs and cats, have so many health benefits too! Here is a list I was able to find at animalplanet.com 1) They can help ward off allergies Yup you heard me right. University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatrician James E. Gern has conducted a number of studies that demonstrate having a pet in the home can actually lower a child’s likelihood of developing related allergies by as much as 33 percent. In fact, his research ,as published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows that children exposed early on to animals tend to develop stronger immune systems overall.

2) They are great ice-breakers They improve your socialization skills and pets are a topic everybody loves. They can also help people who are not very alike connect.

3) They are great for heart health The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) have both conducted heart-related studies on people who have pets. The findings showed that pet owners exhibit decreased blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, all of which can ultimately minimize their risk for having a heart attack.

4) They give you an excuse to exercise Dogs can act as the perfect personal trainer, if only because most of them need to be walked several times a day. According to studies like those conducted by the Wellness Institute at Northwest Memorial Hospital, as long as you’re the one holding the leash, you’ll lose all those extra calories. Playing with them burns carbs too!

5) They can always cheer you up Not only are they known to they offer unconditional love, but they may also give their owners a sense of purpose, which can be crucial for those feeling down in the dumps. Pets also combat feelings of loneliness by providing companionship, which can boost your overall mood and even bring you feelings of joy and happiness.

So give your furry friend a big hug because he deserves it! Source: http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/benefits-of-pets/

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Just some stuff you should know

Gathered by Angelica Louise Pfleider

1) Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas.

2) A newborn panda weighs as much as a cup of tea.

3) Strawberries aren’t really berries. Avocados are though

4) Turtles can breathe through their butts.

5) Falling coconuts kill more people every year than sharks.

6) Sea Otters hold hands when they sleep so they don’t float away from each other.

7) Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the building of the Great Pyramids.

8) Researchers have found that phobias may be the result of memories passed down by our ancestors through our DNA.

9) Seahorses mate for life and when they travel they hold each other’s tails.

10) Your eyes have a blind spot that your brain is just filling with what it “thinks” you should be seeing.

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Anyone up for a marathon?

By: Angelica Louise Pfleider

One thing that has been sprouting out like mushrooms these days are series. Everyday you hear about season 2 of this or the premier of that. There are the world renowned series like Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead, but I just want to share about a few series that I have discovered that are not really well known but in my opinon are pretty awesome.

1) Stranger Things

The 80s setting of this Netflix series is reminiscent of Steven Spielberg and all the other classic movies we loved growing up. A small town where a kid goes missing, a lab where secret experients are conducted, a man eating monster, and a girl with telepathy shows up. You guys will be in for a Stephen King like adventure full of nostalgic 80s references and music. Oh, you will also passionately ship two twelve year olds and cry duirng episodes 3 and 8 (believe me guys, you will). This show is just in it’s first season so you can catch up before season 2 airs this June or July.

2) Mr. Robot

From the 80s we time travel to the present day. You will be intrigued by the socially awkward, maladjusted hacker genius Elliot Alderson and Fsociety, the vigilante hacking organization that aims to bring down capitalist America. What makes this series so intriguing is the fact that it mirrors life today and many of the hacks that they do are very very possible in real life. It kind of makes you want to put that tape over your web cam.

3) Orange is the New Black

Another amazing Netflix series. It is based on the true story of Piper Chapman who turned herself in after she transported a suitcase full of drug money. The fun part is, her ex-girlfriend (who also got her into this mess) is in the same prison. This series gives you a look into the lives of women in prison. From misogynistic perverted guards, homophobic wardens, camaraderie and rivalry among inmates, and prison wives to how being in jail turned a sweet little Taylor Swift into a tough badass who you would be afraid to mess with.

4) Steven Universe

I don’t know about you, but for me cartoons are awesome no matter how old you get. This Cartoon Network masterpiece is set in “Beach City”, a town protected by the Crystal Gems, a group of gemstone based aliens from outer space that protect the Earth from evil. Steven is half-human and half-gem and is training to take his mother’s place in the Crystal Gems. (she kind of gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven, so it’s like she died) Steven is lovable, sweet and quirky and tries his best to help the Crystal Gems in any way he can. What makes this series unique besides the awesome storyline; how it shows Steven mature from a quirky kid who thought having powers was fun to a quirky kid who realizes he has a big responsibility to Earth, the art, and the music is the fact that is showcases LGBT relationships. Gems are all female in form so, need I explain further? It’s nice because it’s one of the first cartoons I have seen that is not afraid to support the LGBT community. It’s also the first cartoon to be created by a woman so, raise up your feminist fists!

These are just a few I have discovered but I am sure there are so many more out there being made and just waiting to be made. It’s amazing the stories that are created that last ages. So guys, grab your laptop, Torrent or stream it, and have the marathons of your lives!