Venn Anfralustro... now you know how to say Good Morning in Faerie

there it is in its original language - 'Good Morning' in Naturim, the language of the Amadii

There has always always been some sort of way for kids (especially girls) to jabber while in the company of adults without the adults understanding a darn word that is being said.

Ememberay Igpay Atinlay?  Not making heads or tales of this gibberish? Ask a Baby Boomer to translate.

Hivow ivabivout Ivivy Tivalk?.... Same?.... In this case, consult a Gen X-er.

Today's youth have relied on text & IM acronyms at their disposal when trying to pull a fast one on their elders.  But then those self same elders found the social network pot o gold, Facebook, and learned how to text in order to keep tabs on their kids and now OMG they can cyberspeak with the best of 'em LOL... J/K kids are still much better at it.  Either way, the parents of today clearly know too much.  So how then to conspire right under their noses?

Go old school.  I mean reeeeeeeeeeeeeally old.  Yep, way before this millenium!  Hard to believe there was life then, huh.  Actually, I am talking about going somewhere around 'oneu-annen sekkls' before the dawn of of the Common Age - to the time of the Amadii, the sea folk of Amadun.  Described as nymphs, elves, faeries, you name it, their language had a little bit of everything, and looks to have links to the later Romance Languages.  Though only a few thousand words of it have been discovered so far, the Amadii language, Naturim, boasts a rich and logical alphabet and numeric system.  The words tend to run long, but the same can be said of Ent..... or Dutch for that matter!

So if you want to confound and confuse previous generations, by all means, learn Naturim.... that is unless you spend a lot of time with old sea nymphs from Amadun!

Have a 'potenn lum,'
[great day]

Lily

P.S. Naturim classes will be taught as part of Siren School's Fae Folk camps in 2012

Flutter-By Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes 

Ingredients

• 1 quantity basic cupcakes (see recipe below)
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 300ml thickened cream, whipped
• icing sugar mixture, to decorate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced oven. Line two 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans with paper cases. Make basic cupcakes (see below)
2. Using a sharp knife, cut a 2cm-deep x 3cm-wide piece from top of each cake. Cut tops in half. Spoon 2 teaspoons jam into each hole. Spoon cream over jam. Arrange cake tops over cream to form wings. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

Yield
24

Notes

• For 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans use 2 level tablespoons of mixture. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.
• Stand cakes in pans for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Basic Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

• 200g butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 4 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
• 1 cup (250ml) milk

Butter Frosting

• 200g butter, softened
• 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the milk and beat until well combined.
5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing.

Bully for You....... NOT!

Nobody likes a bully.
As such, you would think no one would want to be labeled as one.
Yet they are cropping up faster than Farmville strawberries.
And their homebase is not the local diner or 7-11, it is cyberspace.


Wikipedia i.e. the people's encyclopedia, defines this rampant unseemly practice: 

Cyber-bullying has been defined as "when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person". Other researchers use similar language to describe the phenomenon. 

Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech), ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation. 

Cyber-bullies may disclose victims' personal data (e.g. real name, address, or workplace/schools) at websites or forums or may pose as the identity of a victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames or ridicules them. Some cyber-bullies may also send threatening and harassing emails and instant messages to the victims, while other post rumors or gossip and instigate others to dislike and gang up on the target. 

Kids report being mean to each other online beginning as young as 2nd grade. According to research, boys initiate mean online activity earlier than girls do. However, by middle school, girls are more likely to engage in cyber-bullying than boys do. Whether the bully is male or female, their purpose is to intentionally embarrass others, harass, intimidate, or make threats online to one another. This bullying occurs via email, text messaging, posts to blogs, and Web sites. 

This epidemic affected as many as 43% of American teens in just one year.  58% of kids say that they have received hurtful messages online, and 40% say it has happened more than once.


What makes this form of bullying even more cowardly and insidious than the traditional in-person locker-side gang-up is the fact that the villains can attack their prey anonymously or using faux accounts and names... and en masse.


The effects on targets/victims include depression, retaliation and even suicide


So there's the problem, but where's the prevention?  StopCyberBullying.org offers this advice: 

Education can help considerably in preventing and dealing with the consequences of cyberbullying. The first place to begin an education campaign is with the kids and teens themselves. We need to address ways they can become inadvertent cyberbullies, how to be accountable for their actions and not to stand by and allow bullying (in any form) to be acceptable. We need to teach them not to ignore the pain of others.

Teaching kids to “Take 5!” before responding to something they encounter online is a good place to start. Jokingly, we tell them to “Drop the Mouse! And step away from the computer and no one will get hurt!” We then encourage them to find ways to help them calm down. 

They can even let others know that they won’t allow cyberbullying, supporting the victim, making it clear that they won’t be used to torment others and that they care about the feelings of others is key. 

For more information on putting an end to the meanness and madness, visit CyberBullying.us, the National Crime Prevention Council, CyberBullying.org, or KidsHealth.