cassia burke.

All right, so I've asked a few of the seventh years what books they picked and why, and now I'm curious. What is it that makes you personally pick up a book? The colour of the cover, the design? The typesetting or the title? The author? Whimsy? In general, which is it? Personally I tend to go by the title (although if I see a book that looks nice, I'll grab it) and then open it up to read a page or two, or at least the inside flap, so I can see if I'm still interested beyond the first moment.

I expect we'll get our shot at choosing books next ("we" being sixth years in this instance) so I suppose I am mostly wondering what it is that people look for in their choice when confronted with various books.

[WARDED: RAVENCLAW SIXTH]

Si Are Is everyone all right?

[WARDED: MADELINE]

Did Claudia get back to the dormitory yet?

[WARDED: WAYNE]

Hello So Hi.

[WARDED: WAYNE HOPKINS]

Please explain who Batman is.

[WARDED: SIMON CAPPER]

Do you know who Batman is?

I am convinced that one of these days I will wake up unable to think in anything other than ancient runes.

I am not certain if I dislike this idea.

Hello! This is an informal invitation to vote as to whether Tommy Cresswell or Simon Capper has the best haiku skills. In other words, a Haiku-off. They'll be writing in response to this entry, and you can simply comment to whichever poem you think is the best (by whatever criteria you prefer). Each haiku will be matched (i.e. the first haiku written by Tommy or Simon will be versus the first haiku written by the remaining contestant, while the second haiku will be versus the second, and so on and so forth until one of them loses interest and/or is so obviously falling behind that I decide to crown the winner), and you can simply add your vote to whichever haiku you prefer, if you want to participate. After a reasonable amount of time/votes I will declare the single matches complete by awarding the winning point to the contestant with the most votes in that match.

I'll have the deciding vote in the case of ties (or if no one votes), as the Haiku-Off Official Judge. Each won match will earn the winner 1 point. The one with the most points at game end (game ends tomorrow night or whenever we feel like ending it) wins. What do they win? The right to rub their victory in the face of the other. Other prizes may be suggested and will be considered by the Judge whenever she feels like it.

If you think you can take on either of our illustrious champions, you are welcome to try it. Just label your entry as a NEW CHALLENGE, and Tommy and/or Simon (or another wildcard contestant) will take you on. If you're not sure how to write a haiku, please be advised: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Or, in haiku form:

First five syllables,
Then use seven syllables,
Then five syllables.

Anyone caught breaking this format will be docked a game point and will no longer be in the running for Haiku-Off Champion (although they can still play and earn points, and may win a secondary title at the end of the game).

Points will be tallyed below! Keep checking back to see who wins. Or who loses.

( CONTESTANTS/MATCHES )

Everyone always asks what the best gift you received was for holidays, so I would like to ask the opposite: what is the best gift you gave to someone? I don't mean the most expensive or hard-to-find necessarily, but something that they loved, or something you just really enjoyed getting or making or finding (I fully encourage you to give me tales of the great lengths you went to for the sake of the perfect present, even if you have to embellish things a bit).

( cassia helena burke )