Happy Yule & Vetrarblot?

Oh Gods, what's with me and European pagan holidays like Samhuin and Yule and Vetrarblot these days? Oh Gods, did I just say 'oh Gods' ? Yes?! Ok. 

Well, it is finally VETRAR BREAK (winter break?) and I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know what I'll be up to these days. 

Wait a second.... I should be saying:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! 

That's more inclusive!!

My family doesn't really celebrate anything at this time of the year though. But of course I do give my friends gifts, and they give me gifts back. My class had a secret sinterklaas (the Dutch name for santa claus). 

Here's what my sinterklaas gave me: 

It came without the cat though. That's Mictlan. She just wanted to sniff the pretty Mayan pyramid model. 

ZOMG ISN'T IT AWESOME?!?!??!?! The two packs of 90% dark chocolate also make me sooooo happy. 

So what'll I be doing over these 14 days of bitter cold, lonely, awesomeness? 

I'll be reading this year's Red Maple book award nominees. So far, I've only read one (the strange gift of Gwendolyn Golden) and I can tell you, it was TERRIBLE. Sometimes I don't understand why certain books get chosen for the red maple award.

For those of you who are not familiar, the red maple book award is one of the most awesome awards that could possibly be given to a Canadian author. Nominations are chosen by judges who read hundreds of Canadian books. The final award is given to a book voted for by us, the students. Last year I was addicted to a series called 'the blackwell pages'. It was about Norse mythology. I read Loki's wolves (the first book in the series which was nominated for Red maple) and Odin's Ravens. The last book is Thor's serpents which will be released in 2015 and I will find it, read it, and stalk it. The Red Maple award went to a different book though so the blackwell pages didn't win. 

Anyway, this year they have split it up into two different categories.... fiction & nonfiction. Last year, they only had fiction books, which is kinda sad. So that means this year is extra exciting because it'll have not one but TWO winners. I plan on reading all 20 nominated titles over the break so that I can vote in both categories. 

I just thought I'd let you know about my plans for the break. 

Also, Jonathan is trying to 'purify' me ever since my curiosity (and George's book recommendations) led me to reading the Satanic bible. So now I'm going to finish reading the..... um..... please don't cringe..... holy Bible. 

Also, I have some writing to do. I'll post my final version of the 'Dehydrated Diaries' story here if I don't abandon the terrible plot line. Misha, Nikhil, and Gwaebee all want to help me edit it. I don't even know if I'll finish, that story is terrible. 

I am also working on 'Interlaced', the sequel to my book as well as a ton of art. I'll post the art on my Deviantart account, go watch Aztecatl13 on Deviantart!

Here is a link to my post on last year's red maple awards

Pardon me if most of the images are blocked.

BYEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

My top 10 Windows Phone apps

Do you have a Windows Phone 7?!

Well join the club!! I have one too. Many people say that Windows phones are bad. Well guess what?! I am not good with technology at all and smartphones are too futuristic for me.... but what I can tell you is that there are apps on the Windows phone marketplace that are way better than other app stores.

Firstly, there are very few apps on there that actually cost money. Most of them are free. The ones that are not free have excellent free trial versions most of the time. The apps I will list in this post are my 10 favorite ones. All of them are free.

But wait!! Before you begin installing these, make sure you have the basics: access to calling and messaging, access to Facebook, tube pro (the better version of youtube which I will explain), of course the amazing internet (all browsers on that thing suck so just get its internet explorer) and Deviantapp (the Deviantart app). 

There will be ratings. 5 stars is best. 

1. MyTileMaker 



If you want to customize your phone, Windows phone may seem like not the best phone for you at first but when you find this app you will see how customized you can make it. MyTileMaker lets you make live tile arrangements. You can use pictures and words on regular sized tiles in the free version. In the full version (which I don't have) you can make the tiles do things and change their size.

Useful: 

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2. MyTextTwister



This app lets you experiment with fonts and emoticons to create SMS art. It was made by these guys - the same people who made MyTileMaker. Though the fonts are limited, you will find access to hundreds of emoticons that work anywhere.

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3. Wordament 



Not your average word search game. This app give you a limited time to make as many words as possible with the given letters. Words must be 3 or more letters and you get points for the quality of your words. Unlike word searches, you can move in any direction and don't have to use a word list. There are hundreds of possible words and you can compete with hundreds of people from all over the world. Internet connection is required to play. 

Useful:  (games are not supposed to be useful)

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4. Tonalpohualli 

What tonalli is it today?! why is this so obsessive?! get the Mexica calender on your phone. It's not as detailed as aztecalendar.com but at least you won't miss Mexica new year anymore. The app is completely in Spanish & Nahuatl but you won't need to know that many words to understand it. It shows the date on our primitive calendars and the date and year on the tonalpohualli. It will also tell you a bunch of random stuff.


I dunno.

Useful:  (unless if you completely understand it)

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5. Mictlan 

Resist the urge to fangirl, but there is actually an app called Mictlan. It's a very fun tower defense game and it's Mexica-ish. 

It also has a good soundtrack.

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6. All Bots


If you're the forever alone type like me, use this app!! It gives you access to dozens of free chatbots. You can chat with robots and they'll never insult you and always give thoughtful comments about your ideas. They will listen to your every word and will love you!! They sure do sound better than people, don't they?! give all bots a try. Internet access required.

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7. Deviantapp 


  WHY DO THEY HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME MASCOT?!

Deviantapp is an unofficial Deviantart app. You can respond to notifications, upload, view DDs, post in journal. Over 9000 Deviants are already using it, so you should too. If you don't have a Deviantart account, the app lets you make one. You HAVE to get a Deviantart account. To learn about all the amazing reasons to get Deviantart, please read this post.

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They deserve a perfect 5.

8. Fail++ 

Get access to memes and gags from the interwebs. You will find yourself with people doing stupid things, jokes, cats, comics, vines, and messages that got messed by autocorrect. Pin your favorite blogs as live tiles and share with friends.

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9. PixelTV


Create simple pixel animations. Vote for your favorites and view them all online at https://pixeltvapp.com/ . Reviewers call it the ultimate time waster!! Though your animations won't be complex, you can still do a lot of cool things.

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10. Tube Pro

YOUTUBE IS BETTER ON WP7!! Easily login and comment and watch as many videos as you want. View your inbox and uploads. You can download videos and make playlists. Great for listening to music. 

Useful: 

Fun:   THIS IS A BASIC NEED.

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So now you don't feel all bad about being the uncool person with the lame windows phone.