Chatterbox: In This Month's Issue

Hi, and welcome to the November MCU! We apologize for the fact that this didn't appear earlier; we were rather busy.

{I'm Aldebaran, he/him, the oldest, wisest, most charming one. Pleased to meet you.}

^Vireo, she/her, back for another MCU!!!!! And really. Do not listen to Aldebaran. Unless you want to have your very ears bored off by his compliments of himself.^

|Eri! He/him, and very creative.|

~Hi guys, I'm Ibis, she/her. Maybe I should sneak out the back door before the real chaos begins...~

/There isn't any back door. Silvan, she/her./

We're getting very good at rattling off introductions. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. But all the glory is not for ourselves! |It isn't?| Let us pause for our usual moment of silence, remembering the amazing founder of MCUs, Ella Starburst. Thank you! We would be without one of our best, most quintessential CB traditions if you hadn't come along.

And to continue, we start off properly with Important Dates!

{Oh, so introductions aren't starting off properly?}

|We have to start with introductions!! Otherwise it doesn't work!|

^Did you two actually just agree with each other? This is an incredibly Important Date! Aldebaran and Eri actually didn't disagree with each other!!^

Shall we just go on? Important Dates, courtesy of Seadragon~

Nov 1: Deviled Eggs Day, Day of the Dead (submitted by Seadragon and Avara), Author's Day (yay!) (submitted by Seadragon and Moon Wolf), National Calzone Day (submitted by Moon Wolf), and All Saints Day (submitted by Avara) ~Why do so many things happen on Nov 1? Anyway, happy Deviled Eggs Day, Day of the Dead, etc, etc!~

Nov 2: Int'l Stout Day and Men Make Dinner Day {I rEfUsE to make dinner today, so don't look at me that way, Vir}

Nov 3: Sandwich Day

Nov 4: Common Sense Day and Candy Day (submitted by Moon Wolf)

Nov 5: Zero Tasking Day (which happens to be on a weekend) and end of Daylight Savings Time (submitted by Avara)

Nov 6: Saxophone Day

Nov 7: Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day (yum) (/yes yum/)

Nov 8: Tongue Twister Day

Nov 9: Chaos Never Dies Day |That is so truee this is my day chaos never dies!!!| ^I think I'll hide under my bed until the day is over^

Nov 10: Forget Me Not Day (the sentiment or the flower?) and Vanilla Cupcake Day

Nov 11: Origami Day, Rememberance Day, Sundae Day (submitted by Moon Wolf), Veterans' Day (US) (submitted by Seadragon, Moon Wolf, and Avara)

Nov 12: Happy Hour Day and Giving Tuesday

Nov 13: Sadie Hawkins Day and World Kindness Day (submitted by Seadragon and Moon Wolf)

Nov 14: Spicy Guacamole Day and Pickle Day (what do those taste like together?) (~I am NOT trying them together~)

Nov 15: Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day

Nov 16: Fast Food Day and Use Less Stuff Day

Nov 17: Take a Hike Day /I was planning to anyway, but nice to have a day for it/

Nov 18: Push Button Phone Day

Nov 19: pangolin's birthday!!!! (submitted by pangolin) {*tosses up way too many balloons all at once*} /*makes cake of pangolin's choice*/ ^*throws eco-friendly confetti*^ |Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to youuuuuuu| And other evidences of chaos which I shall not include

Nov 20: World Absurdity Day

Nov 21: World Hello Day ~Hello, world!~

Nov 22: Go For a Ride Day

Nov 23: Fibonacci Day and Thanksgiving (US) (submitted by Seadragon, Moon Wolf, and Avara) |hehe pUmPkIn PiE|

Nov 24: Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day, Buy Nothing Day (submitted by Seadragon and Moon Wolf), and Black Friday (submitted by Moon Wolf)

Nov 25: Shopping Reminder Day

Nov 26: National Cake Day (sub. by Seadragon and Moon Wolf)

Nov 27: Cyber Monday (sub. by Moon Wolf)

Nov 28: Red Planet Day and Giving Tuesday (sub. by Moon Wolf)

Nov 29: Electronic Greeting Card Day

Nov 30: Computer Security Day

In the USA, Canada, and Northern Mexico, Daylight Saving Time ends on 11/5/23. November is Native American Heritage Month, Movember ^which is...?^, Diabetes Awareness Month, Epilepsy Awareness Month, National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, National Veterans and Military Families Month, National Family Caregivers Month, and National Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Religious holidays in November include All Saints Day (11/1), the anniversary of the crowning of Haile Selassie (11/2), Diwali (starting 11/12), Guru Nanak Ji's birthday (11/27) |Happy birthday to you...|, the Jain New Year (11/27) and St. Andrew's Feast Day (11/30). (All dates are accurate for this year.)

~It's also the month when three members of Flamarestii's family have birthdays!! *throws eco-friendly confetti* (And do not start singing happy birthday again, Eri, Or Else. You don't really know how to hold a tune.)~

|I can hold a tune parfaitment.|

/Is that really grammatical?/

^It's parfaitment grammatical, we are French!^

{Wait, what?? No, we're not.}

^Ah, but we are. We're either French, or we aren't French, right?^

{*collapses in laughter*} for some reason

|Oh dear. Is our dear AE a soufflé?|

/A soufflé??/

|Well, he's collapsing, right? And that's what soufflés do. I would advise putting yourself into the refrigerator, Alde. In some cases that helps. And I don't really want a collapsed soufflé on my hands, especially not in the kitchen.|

*sighs* Let's continue to the playlist, to drown out the sounds of my arguing AEs. And if you insist on being an expert on soufflés, Eri, you can be my assistant in the kitchen. Playlist, courtesy of Avara!

Truckin' by Grateful Dead

Take on me by A-ha

We Used to be Friends by the Dandy Warhols

Take It Easy by the Eagles

Larger Than Life by the Backstreet Boys

Kind and Generous by Natalie Merchant

^Hurray for playlists! Thanks, Avara! And hey, I know Natalie Merchant--^

~YOU DO?~

^I mean her songs. I will listen to anyone who inspired Wonder^

|*starts watching a soccer game for no apparent reason*|

When Eri starts watching soccer games... *tiptoes out of room* And while we're taking it easy in a kind, generous way that seems larger than life - /that didn't follow as well as you thought it did/ - allow me to present you with quotes, both from the Chatterbox, real people {Wha - CBers are real people}, and, um, haha, real people. CB Quotes, picked out singlehandedly by Moon Wolf ~A gargantuan task *faints*~

"Hmmmm. Maybe I am winning. Also, unpopular opinion here, Panera Bread is a black hole, they have never ending dishes (like the pasta)= infinity matter, which equals black hold. Prove me wrong." Peregrine Falcon (Last to Post)

"Since pi is infinent, I have endless dessert" - Hawkstar (Random Thoughts/Things?) ^Yeah I liked that one too^

|Guys United's losing aaaaaaahhhhh *runs round room shrieking before returning to soccer game|

Don't say I didn't warn you.

"Cauliflower is just albino broccoli" - Darkvine (Random Thoughts/Things?)

"On multiple occasions, I have eaten the whole sugar packet.. straight out of the packet XD

The ppl I was with the second time I did it saw me just calmly eating sugar and started fighting over the remaining sugar packets to do it too, and then they all got SO HYPER... what's weird is I don't get hpyer at all when I eat sugar" - Celine BurningBright (CBers Kitchen)

|*voice from the living room* HOW DID YOU MISS THAT SHOT THAT WAS OBVIOUS--*|

{Who's even playing?}

|Manchester United vs. Real Madrid. EEeee|

{I'm going to root for Real Madrid--}

Don't you dare--

{Too late *vanishes*}

Now we'll get even more chaos. *sighs* Before we get more interruptions, let's proceed to Inspirational Quotes, provided by Celine BurningBright!

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all" -Oscar Wilde

"Be happy, it'll drive your enemies crazy" -??

"Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth." -Mallory Hopkins

"Whenever I have a problem, I sing. Then I realize that my voice is worse than my problem." -??

"An original is always worth more than a copy" -my teacher last year's poster, but also Suzy Kassem

*checks another item off the list and consults the next* We have book quotes, found and submitted by Poinsettia~

~And because Amethyst finds it easy to ignore your question, it's going very well with the sugar cube. Better than ever, actually, and she wishes - ~

Yes. Quite. We continue.

"The emphatic presence of life. Facing so much death, so much cold, so much danger, so much fear, the warm, intense, victorious presence of life. Centuries of centuries, roses, comets, sunsets, oceans, journeys, noise and silences, wounds and caresses... everything that had to happen so that my daughter would exist."

-Germán Dehesa, No basta ser padre. this quote was translated by me...

"Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant bloom. Below the boughs the air was full of a purple twilight and far ahead a glimpse of painted sunset sky shone like a great rose window at the end of a cathedral aisle."

-LM Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

"I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace."

-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

So that's that. Thanks for taking care of it, Ibis ~since you were thinking about sugar cubes~

|DON'T DO THAT I COMMAND YOU|

{No no, do}

|Argh|

Please close the door, Vir. There are so many wonderful quotes in books, in the world around us, and on our own wonderful CB - and if you want to find your own inspiration in that last, here are selected threads from pangolin. (We are hoping the links post.)

CaC: NAMES! psted by Name: Name https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/chirpatcricket/node/555586 Guess what CBers' irl names are, and see what they think yours is!

BaB: Book Related Recommendations posted by Celine BurningBright https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/blababoutbooks/node/557429 Share recommendations for books, author blogs, and anything else book-related.

DtE: debates! posted by fallen leaf https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/downtoearth/node/557283 If you have strong opinions on whether pineapple belongs on pizza, or the classification of hot dogs, then come battle it out on the debate thread!

|I have strong opinions about whether MU or RM is better and I am battling it out HERE AND NOW|

Eek.

PP: Playlists! posted by Amethyst https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/556941 Unless you're like me and just have one monster playlist, this thread is a great place to share any playlists you might have! ^Thank you so much for representing us <333 I love seeing my ideas in an MCU^

~Ahem. It wasn't your idea.~

^Ah, but it was.^

Inkwell: Story of Your Dreams posted by Periwinkle https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/inkwell/node/556575 Whether you're a reader seeking a story with specific criteria, or a writing
looking to write a story for someone, this thread seems like a great way
to grow creatively while making some ~story dreams~ come true.

Kyngdom: Woodland RP posted by Genivieve https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/kyngdom-rp/node/550369 This RP is great for jumping into the world of Kyngdom because there's multiple storylines and it doesn't necessarily have to impact the main plot. Plus, who doesn't love magical forests?

^Kyngdom forever!^

{*muffled voice from living room* Real Madrid forever!!}

Since we obviously need some advice here on how to handle things, let's turn to the Advice Column next. Although we really should have asked how to make Eri and Aldebaran get on together, we decided instead on learning about your favorite and/or eco-friendly way to do yardwork! Here are the wonderful responses we got~

Moon Wolf says:

"Honestly, I don't really do it, because I don't really have any trees in my backyard lol. But anyways...leave it for the birds for nesting material? Or just rake it."

Emekittycon Kitten says:

"I just rake 'em, jump in 'em, and then when I'm done, I just put 'em at the side of the yard." |*appears briefly in the doorway* Good advice, good advice. The best|

Avara says:

"My favorite way to clean up my yard is to pick up most of the leaves and compost them to make soil, but leave some leaves to decompose on their own."

Flamarestii says:

"We rake up our leaves, play in them for a couple weeks :D, and then mulch them to put on the lawn and garden for fertilizer."

~This Is Me~

{Beware of pillows, Eri}

And with the changing seasons and inevitable pillow fights, we all have wonderful memories of the passing autumn. These are the best memories of autumn, and plans for Thanksgiving, that some CBers shared with us!

pangolin said:

"My favorite thing I've done this autumn is going camping with my family and some family friends :D And this Thanksgiving, I'm going up to my grandmother's house upstate. And writing. A loooot of writing."

Moon Wolf said:

"So far, I went apple-picking at a local orchard, and it was quite fun! I got apple cider from there and I had apples in the afternoon for days. Not really going to do anything on Thanksgiving, unfortunately, because I'm going somewhere on the break."

Emekittycon Kitten said:

"Probably when I went to YG this past week. I don't really know what I'm
plannin' for Thanksgivin', but I think we might be havin' the family
over."

Avara said:

"My favorite thing I've done is explore some craft shops! I'm planning on having some family over for Thanksgiving."

^A recurring theme, and a nice one :) Just make sure you don't watch soccer or football games unless you're all on the same side. And oOoh craft shops that is wonderful^

Flamie said:

"I was walking a few days ago and found the two most beautiful trees I
have ever seen! They were the brightest and most gorgeous of yellow."

~AuTuMn~

|Hey don't tell me you're already done with the MCU|

~You're back?~

{Real Madrid and United tied. Which is perfect.}

^No, we aren't done, but please don't start arguing about whether Ronaldo or Messi is better.^

|What? Never. We are of one mind on that.|

~Speaking of sugar cubes...~

We need to get this done, it's getting later by the minute. /An astute observation./ With the shortening days, it's important to find humor... here are some of our favorite November-themed jokes!

Moon Wolf: What comes at the end of Thanksgiving? The letter G.

Emekittycon Kitten: What do you call a man without a body and a nose? Nobody nose!

Avara: Q: If pilgrims travel on the Mayflower, then what do college students travel on?

A: The Scholar Ships.

Q: What's the best thing to put into a pumpkin pie?

A: Your teeth.

|Ooh, don't get me started on pumpkin pie.|

Flamarestii: What did the turkey do when he stepped up to the plate? He hit a fowl ball!

And finally, finally, we get to the end of this month's MCU with one concluding feature. May I bring to you...

~May we bring to you, you mean...~

*sighs* I can't do anything with all these AEs. Anything. Here is the judging for Location of the Month! All the entries we received were wonderful, each amazingly reminiscent of autumn in one way or another, and they definitely all deserve first prize.

Honorable mentions, in no order~

Moon Wolf! With "At home, watching the birds in my yard"

Our reasons: Birds are migrating, so it's rewarding and wonderful to watch them. Unfortunately, the location box doesn't go that far.

Emekittycon Kitten! With "In a blanket fort :)"

Our reasons: I love the originality. There's something wonderful about the mere idea of a blanket fort.

Third place~

Avara! With "the farmers' market"

Our reasons: Farmer's markets are opening!!! And the location box approves of something so short and meaningful. Luckily.

Second place~

Flamarestii! With "Walking a carpet of crimson and gold"

Our reasons: This is so beautiful. The imagery it evokes is wonderful; so poetic and symbolic of autumn. But again, this thing called a word limit in the location box is being temperamental...

First place~

pangolin! With "beneath a canopy of flame"

Our reasons: Lovely, meaningful, reminiscent of autumn, and the location box has passed its judgment and chosen you for the winner. Good job!

With this, we regretfully close the November MCU (and with more apologies for our lateness, we weren't aware that it was going to be this long or chaotic). Thank you for ignoring the chaos and arguments, as well as for reading, and we hope to see you around again soon! We loved hosting!

Amethyst,

~Ibis~,

{Aldebaran, the charming one who -},

|Eri, before Aldebaran can continue|,

^Vireo^,

and /Silvan/

 

 

{P.S. And I am totally not a soufflé}