The Beginning of an End

Note, it says AN end, not THE end. Because the end comes at different times for different things. For example, the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign for world emperor-ship ended quite a long time after the end of those poor dinosaurs, who could no longer function in an environment that did not have the over-hanging water shield of sorts that gave them the humid antediluvian environment in which they thrived.

I thought it would be fitting to end this year with a post, seeing as I haven't been posting at all lately--school, life outside the Internet, my parents finally enforced their "no-Internet-until-we-get-home" rule with a changed password, take your pick. (although I still personally blame procrastination)

I've discovered the magic of allowing the desktop picture to change! Apparently this is also better for the pixels of your computer screen or something, because it allows them to give different areas of your monitor different brightness levels, or something. That did not come out as literate as it sounded in my head. Ahem, moving on...

2011 is almost here! Or is here already, depending on when this post is read. We have almost completed another revolution (is that the correct term?)/orbit around the sun! Huzzah! We must forget all of the bad things that people have done to us, and focus on trying to build bridges, clean up the environment, and hopefully do something BIG so that the poverty issue in environmentally-threatened areas of the world will be greatly diminished. For people, in the end, are more important than the trees, even though they are of immense import to our ecosystems.

But most important of all is their souls, for it does truly matter what you believe in, and no, we are not random bits of matter left over from a cosmic accident.

With that cheery thought in mind, I just want to wish the entire hemisphere of the world a happy new year's eve! See you in the year of TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW DAYS/SECONDS/MONTHS!

Swan Lake

A great deal of ballet is hard work. And grace. And some natural ability also helps, too. But if you really love the art, and want to dance, then by all means dance. With your heart, your soul, and your mind.

I shall forever rue the day when I was a tiny second grader, griping about how ballet was too "slow" and"boring" (because, looking back now, it is most definitely not). But, I believe that every happens for a reason. Just because I'm not dancing ballet anymore doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it! Thank goodness for Anaheim Ballet.  Huzzah for ballet dancing! And most dancing in general!  And Chinese traditional dance (which is what I am fortunate enough to do)! But on to what I think was supposed to be the main part of this post.

The music of the Swan Lake ballet is so haunting, and mystifying, and just magical in general. It perfectly captures the hopeless feeling of the story, and the despair and grief that results in its climax. Because, like any good classic story, a character MUST die.

I think my sentiments can be fully described in the first part of this video (even though I can't understand a word the guy is saying, except maybe for a few cognates "prima ballerina" and such).

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING(MADNESS) MONTH!

As you may have noticed (oh tiny corner of the Internet), I haven't posted in practically a month! Bad blogger etiquette! But I offer a very reasonable reason for my absence...

I did it. I won NaNoWriMo. The official shebang. Not even the YWP thing, where you get to choose your word count goal (I was going to do 20,000, but then said, "why not just go for the big kill?"). I WROTE 50,000 WORDS that somehow resemble something that looks remotely like a very disorganized novel (seriously--I have the ending written out in the middle of the manuscript if you could even call it that).

I'm not really going to do anything further with my "novel". It's not my favorite story idea, and I don't really know how to finished fleshing it out. I wanted to do a different idea, but that would have required me starting the story all over at the beginning, and I already had a few things written out for that story.

I pantsed it this year. And here are a few things that I've learned along the way:

• Never pants a mystery novel. For me, anyways (tried that this year--yeah, didn't really work out). Always have an outline, and know who did it and all those wonderful secrets before you write the book! It will save lots of time afterwards, when you're staring at the screen and going, "Now how would my main character find out about...?"
• NaNoToons are really the most hilarious things to read when panicking about a flailing word count.
• Pep Talks can be fun! Except when they are from Lemony Snicket. Then they are exciting.
• Dares are there to be done. And to help you increase your word count!
• This can help a lot with your typing accuracy.
• Never procrastinate. This goes for school assignments and personally assigned things (coughNANOWRIMOcough).
• Do not neglect your normal life (aka school assignments and other deadlines) while attempting. Result could be fatal.
• I'm better at writing beginnings and endings than middles. Which is not that good, because the middles are the most exciting parts of the novel!
• Writing is awesome. 
• Writing is totally epic.
• I love writing even more than I did before.
• I am going to write a novel about NaNoWriMo next year.

And if you want to know what my "novel" was about, then check out this word cloud (word size based on amount of usage) courtesy of Wordle.net:

It will tell you all you need to know. (click to make larger)

Bonus points if you can guess what my main character's name is! (ahahahaha) :-)

How to YAWP

I'm going to be Petra Andalee for Halloween. Or my version of it, I guess (of both Petra and Halloween). I usually spend Halloween nights watching a movie (that has almost nothing to do with the holiday), but this year, I'll have to amend that plan. Darn holiday on a sunday! They should fix the date of Halloween on, like, the last Friday or Saturday of October. I think I'd prefer Saturday, because Saturdays are just good days to celebrate things. And because the letter S makes me think of Spooky, Scary, and Sinister things (alliteration FTW!).

Speaking of rules of poetry: my English teacher is a HUGE fan of Walt Whitman, and is a great supporter of the thought that people should yawp barbarically now and then. If you don't know what or how to produce your "barbaric yawp" (a term Whitman actually came up with, in his "Song of Myself", Leaves of Grass, #52), then please refer to the following guide:

1. Make yourself stand out, either by standing on a chair, waving your arms around, or just staring creepily at someone.
2. Take a deep breath (recommended, but not required).
3. Yell/proclaim/sound out the word "YYYYAAAAWWWWWWWWWP!", with emphasis on making a gutteral sort of sound and the "AW" syllable of the word.
4. Yes, you have to say "YAWP".
5. Well, technically there's another way to yawp barbarically--you can just express yourself creatively, either through a painting, a story, a song, or anything else that is a representation of a part of yourself.

And there you go! This could work for a "trick" on Halloween if the people don't give you candy. Much more environmentally friendly than TPing or forking or egging someone's house. My English teacher actually had us line up around the windows of the classroom next to us and YAWP into the room. The kids in the room stared at us like we'd grown two heads each. We exited quickly.

Speaking of Hallo-school things: My chemistry teacher decided to introduce us to a bunch of really awful chemistry puns, such as:

"What do you call a prisoner in a funny clown costume?" A SILICON (silly con, get it?)
"Everything but the kitchen...." ZINC (you should know this one)
"What do they do with dead people?" They BARIUM (ahahahaha)
etc.

Back to Petra Andalee! All I really need is her checkered coat, for which I'm using a long checkered zip-up collared shirt-jacket-thing. And then her high-waisted pants, a black belt, black fake leather shoes, and a white button-down collared shirt. Voila! What are you dressing up as?

I need more sleep

Hello again, after a month-long hiatus! It felt terrible to just leave the last post as a tagging one, and so here comes this post, after 30+ days!

School has been very...school-y. Homecoming week's come and gone (what kind of a theme is "Defying Gravity"?), with no particular regrets or disappointments, mainly because I did not participate in the crowded, bad-music filled gym that constituted the HC dance (although I did miss a live concert with Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, :-( but at least I have it on CD). An advanced class that I heard horror stories about in previous grades actually isn't so bad, and I really need to get working on my time management skills!

The afternoon bus that I ride has become completely populated by middle schoolers. They all either sit in a big cluster (ahahaah Statistics vocab ahahahaha okay school is getting to me) in the middle or back of the bus and spend the entire ride TALKING about things that they don't really understand, like why violins are so expensive. (MS-ers: "It's just a stick of wood and some hair!" Me, in my head: "NO IT'S NOT IT IS A VERY SOPHISTICATED BOWING INSTRUMENT AND I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU MAKE AN ENTIRE VIOLIN BY HAND!!!") But that's what everyone does--they talk about things they don't really understand, just so that they can maybe understand it a little better, or to find someone else who shares their opinion.

I have discovered that I love physics! As much as I can love something that I don't really understand. Yet. Even thought I'm not taking it as a class, I've checked out a book entitled "Basic Physics" (boy, you don't get any more obvious than that, eh?) from the library and am going to use it as the aloe to satisfy my burning need to understand HOW THE WORLD OPERATES. Can't wait for physics! And chemistry (the class I'm actually taking) is a blast, even though we aren't really told why anything happens. Yet. I hope.

TAG! YOU'RE IT!

Thanks to Elizabeth from A Collection of Reflections! But no, I don't get to run around, chasing people across the blacktop. Instead, I'll do the Internet version of that! Even better, no? No? Okay, well, um, on with the taggin'!

CRAZY 8s

8 books you've read recently:

Desecration (Left Behind series--wonderful end-of-the-world stuff)

Enola Holmes: The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye (so sad! and the end of the series, too...)

A Wizard of Mars (Young Wizard series--awesome fantasy/sciencey fiction series. perfect for wannabe-geeks like me :-D)

The book of Genesis (from the Bible, where else? Trying to read the entire Bible in a year! Yeah!)

Lord Brocktree (Redwaaaallll!)
The Inside Story (Sisters Grimm series. Man, I read a lot of series, don't I?)
A True and Faithful Narrative (about a bookseller's daughter in the 1600s! OMGosh! They had books back then? ahahahahahahjkjkjkjk AHEM.)
The Wizard of Oz (Like, the original version. I can tell how it was totally written for small CHILDREN.)


8 Songs or Albums I listen to All the Time:


"Big Yellow Taxi", by Joni Mitchell (I love her sound, her self as a person, everything!)
Mozart, Sonata in A Minor, K.310 (hurrah for classical music geeks! I'm also learning this song on the pianah.)
Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker Suite. (Gosh I love that ballet. It is my favorite...favorite.)
"Cross the Line," Superchick (love the music video. Makes me want to go bash some cultural barriers.)
Barlow Girl--their album, Another Journal Entry. I think they're my favorite Christian band, tied with Superchick and Casting Crowns, of course. Which leads us to...
"What if His People Prayed," Casting Crowns (Didn't see that one coming, did ya? ahahaha. But, in all seriousness, this song has such an important message.)
"Valentino," Diane Birch. Once again, awesome music video. It's got this dancey-yet-not-too-much-like-pop-music sound that I extremely enjoy. 


8 Things I Love:


God (well, He's not a thing, obviously, but I still love Him!)
The truth (and I know that sounds cheesy, but really--lying is way uncool)
BOOOOOOOOOOOOKSSSSSSSSSS (and, I guess, the public library. Does this count as two things?)
Being different from the "mainstream". If not in appearance, then in mind and character.
Rainy, gloomy, cloudy days. These days are perfect for reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. And just for pondering Deep Things in general. And for writing.
My parents (how many teenagers would say that, eh? But really--I'd be nowhere without them. Literally.)
Patterns and coincidences. In life, in nature, in most art. They're a sign of the Creator's masterpiece (which is you, me, and the natural world!)
Typewriters, and typing on them (except when the ribbon wears out...bleh. Heading for Amazon!)


8 Things I've Learned This Year:


Practice slowly (for any musical instrument).

Sleep away camp isn't all that bad. Especially if it's at a university (ahahahaha).
Second-hand clothing stores are wonderful places to go find clothes, unless you go with someone who doesn't think that highly of second-hand clothes (unless they are from friends).
God is amazing.
Driving/car control is much harder than it looks.
English teachers are really cool (okay, I've known that since 6th grade, but still...)
Shakespeare (when actually acted out) isn't all that bad. It's quite good, really. Which is why he's considered a classic author, I suppose (duh!).
There are no such things as concidences.


And one extra one (although this is entirely of my own doing and thus completely optional): 
People can surprise you. Especially by their kindness.


8 New Recipes I Want to Try and Make by the End of the Year:


[Hmm....I don't really cook, but if I did, then here's the list:]
1. Soup (seriously--a good soup is difficult! Although it seems so simple...)
2. Turkey Avocado sandwich (I just had one at a restaurant the other day and it was DELICIOUS. The best turkey sandwich EVER.)
3. Fudgecake (this is something I say a lot, usually in place of swear words. It'd be interesting to actually make the stuff!)
4. Cookies. (the Internet kind, ahahhaha not really)
5. Scrambled eggs with bell peppers and ham (yum! and fairly simple--throw those three things into a pan, and stir-fry away!)
6. Ratatouille, as seen in the movie of the same name. It looks absolutely delectable.
7. Elvish bread from Lord of the Rings. Not possible, but there's no harm in trying, right? (Plus I love the scene where Legolas is describing the bread, saying one small bite will fill up a grown man for hours [or something]. And then Merry says to Pippin: "How many'd you have?" Pippin: "Four." xD okay, that was from the movie, but whatevz. Hilarious! Ahem...that leads us to...)
8. This Asian noodle soup that my mom made on Labor Day, with small scallops and this awesome flavoring stuff and ramen noodles. The best way to make noodles, ever.


8 Favorite Online Hangouts:


Ah, this one is making me excited (hurray for the Internet generation?)
1. Blogger (obvs)
2. Young Wizards Discussion Forum (yay for nerdiness...)
3. NaNoWriMo YWP (in November, and thereabouts)

4. YouTube (a necessity for someone without an MP3 player)
5. Runescape (yeah...any time I spend on there is too much time. unless I'm hunting hill giants.)
6. Google (does this count? It's my homepage.)
7. Gmail
8. Apple site (ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaZOMG IS THAT A NEW IPOD NANO)

8 projects I need to work on:


1. AmStuds homework. If you're taking the class, you'll know what I'm talking about.
2. My "short story" which is quickly becoming a "not-so-short-story/novella"
3. My novel, which is actually supposed to be a novel.
4. Writing. In general.
5. Assembling a gift-email for my friend. (With pictures!)
6. HTML. Learning, using, and understanding.
7. Reading all of the Redwall Books.
8. Reading through the entire Bible in one year. (Best for last, :-D)

8 other people I think should do this:


Hmmm...does this go for anyone? Then anyone it is....
1. Wendelin Van Draanen (the awesome author behind Sammy Keyes)
2. R. L. LaFevers (another awesome author--go check out Theodosia Throckmorton!)
3. Tru (who doesn't love pretty little things? especially cupcakes.)
4. Quintessajazz (another about-school-and-other-things blogger, only much cooler than me. And a WVD fan!)
5. JD (and no, I'm not initials-biased. She's actually written a book! And published it! Under the age of eighteen!)
6. CasadillaAndPeetaBread (Sammy fan with awesome drawing skills! aka xxCammyLoverxx. I can't link to her because apparently her blog "cannot be found by blogger".)
7. Mila (a fashion blogger who's not afraid to tell the world about her style!)
8. Gilda Joyce (okay, she's a fictional character, but that doesn't mean she can't come up with at least 56 things about herself!)

Okay, simple rules--If you're tagged, do the above categories (with your own answers, of course) and then tell 8 other people to fill this thing out! But, since some of the people mentioned above probably don't have that much time to do this, I shall say that this is optional.

Gosh this is a long post.

Foursquare--the internet version

So apparently a new Internet thing is up. It's called foursquare, and it has NO resemblance at all to the beloved childhood blacktop game (unfortunately). Basically, the main idea is to broadcast where you are to the internet (or Facebook and twitter, at least) on your phone (with either texts or Internet, if your phone has it). You can find out more on their website (just Google it! Or, fine, the link is here).

I just wanted to talk about it a little (seeing as I am a citizen of the Internet, what with this blog and everything), especially after I read an article about it in my dad's Time magazine (I don't usually read it much, except for when there's something in it about new internet/techy stuffs [yeah geek wannabes FTW]). I guess I've been expecting something like this to happen, eventually? Like the idea of combining "real life", so to speak, with the Internet. So, voila! Foursquare is invented! The more you go to certain places (in real life, please, not just sitting on your couch and pretending to be at the local grocery store, or something), the more "badges" and potentially cool/free stuff you'll get! (Assuming the places you go to know about foursquare, of course.)

Now, to be even more review-like, a list of pros and cons! (as I see them):

PROS:

• It encourages people to actually get out more, and physically go to places they won't usually go to (such as the gym, quirky little cafes, etc.). Motivation: special foursquare "badges" and (if the places you go to know about foursquare) free/discounted stuff/special offers to foursquare users.
• Another social networking site! Wait, or should that be a con?
• You can get insider information on places near you/your city via other foursquare patrons. Akin to the idea of asking your friend about that new store/deli/yoga place before actually going there. And you can offer your own tips too!

CONS:

• It lets other people know THINGS about you (people that you might not want to disclose every detail of your life with). Especially if you do lots of checking in from your house. And are paranoid.
• Another social networking site! Still not sure about this one.
• Not for spies. Unless they're trying to throw someone OFF of a trail (that would be interesting). But I suppose real spies and secret agents wouldn't have an online profile anyway!

It's also one of those techy things that boldly proclaim: THE FUTURE IS HERE AND YOU BETTER BE PREPARED, BUCKO. Mainly with the fact that it's a mix of "real life" and "virtual life" on the internet. And yes, they do have cool features that allow you to satisfy your need for privacy while also enjoying foursquare, but something about the reward system makes my brain go on HIGH ALERT.

What makes me stop and think about this new phenom is the very fact that it is trying to make real life a game, but one without punishments. I suppose the "no bad side" is because it's more of a social networking site, but it's much too close to the idea of being a game in real life to be comfortable. And this might just be my over-voracious science fiction reading habit talking, but something ominous always lurks behind the sunny, paradise-like forefront of new technology.

But hey--people have been wrong about doomsdays before. 

More listage!

School is commencing in a matter of days. Single digit days, to be exact (bleh). And so I've been reminded (by the dear old companion known commonly as the "calendar") that I haven't exactly done anything to get ready for school, except for get a new backpack and get my schedule. Which leads us to...

THINGS I MUST DO BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS

1. Get all school supplies ready (i.e., notebooks, writing utensils, writing utensil holders, calculator, file folder thingy, etc.).

2. Go "back to school" shopping. If there's time.

3. Finish reading The Fellowship of the Ring. By Friday, preferably.

4. Finish reading Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis. I'm so close! I can taste it! (erm...)

5. Finish reading Twelfth Night, by our favourite Bard, William Shakespeare (no idea why I decided to go all British there).

6. Finish reading The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Or at least get halfway through.

7. Read an Anton Chekhov short story. Or five.

Yeah...so half of it is the remainder of my summer reading list (assigned by me), and the first two are really the only ones that are consequential to the purpose of that list. Hmmm.. (NTS: stop making lists of things that have nothing to do with the list title!)

Relaaaaaax

Schedule change pending. Sometimes I wish that I didn't go to such a big school. Well, relatively big. And that our school had enough money to continue everything, every year, and budget cuts were a thing of the past. But no. It's the present and near future. I just hope that the new school board has some sensible people on it.

But God has everything under His control! Who am I to worry about things that are way beyond my control? I've been trying to let Him handle everything, but I still worry and fret about useless things sometimes. For "faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it". And I want to be more faithful to God this year, and forever.

Oh, and in response to my template background: why yes, 1+1 does INDEED equal pencil. Why didn't I see it before?!?!

Rite(s) of Passage, Spring, etc. etc.

Got my permit today!! Aaaahhh!!!!! Watch out roads, here I come! Sort of. Not sure yet if I'm completely ready to drive yet. But it's a skill that's practically necessary for everyday life here, and I don't want to burden my parents by having them drag me everywhere. But I'm in no hurry to be "independent". I guess I already am, in a way. I haven't got any brothers or sisters, and I usually am home alone right after school in the school year. But I still get into disputes with my mom about what I want to wear, which is SO STUPID. Almost makes me wish I don't really care about clothes, like when I was little. But, unfortunately, I do, a little. I'm interested in clothes as an art form (this is a great example--don't judge it, just watch), not those garments displayed in those "junior's" sections of department stores.

But that is another post for another blog, another time. Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" is a lot weirder than I thought it would be, but I suppose that depends on what the definition of weird is. And I am rambling because I had a late lunch and need to go knit.

Farewell until later,
The Blogger

RESOLUTIONS and Back to School-centric posting!

Methinks the going-back-to-class process has already started. We're picking up our schedules (and thus getting our pictures taken for our school I.D.s) tomorrow, and today was the first day of school tennis practice. Ugh, I'm quite out of shape for tennis. Not too bad, but not really good, either. Doesn't help that the JV coach this year is also the girl's track coach. Sigh... must get used to running. Running can be fun, I suppose, but I personally prefer biking better. Maybe because I'm a terrible distance runner? And can only do sprints? Ja?

I suppose this calls for a back-to-school resolution list. Yes! I will do that. And then go choose what to wear for picture day tomorrow. Procrastination is not helpful. At all.

School Year Resolutions, 2010-2011:

1. Be faithful and diligent in my Quiet Times (basically daily Bible studying).

2. Do Quiet Times in the morning, every day (we'll see how this goes).

3. DO NOT procrastinate. Especially on projects involving gluing things to a poster board.

4. To finish my story, if not finished by first day of school.

5. Journal more often (no, blogging doesn't count).

6. Practice more piano. And violin.

7. Blog wisely.

There, I think seven's a good number. I hope that I'll be able to remember these. Well, have a happy August! I hope that you've all had a good or passable summer, and wish you luck on adjusting from summer to school. In the meantime, live summer out to the fullest while you still can! So cheesy, but most cheesy things are mostly true.

Cultured

Caution: quasi-philisophical post ahead. Read on at your own peril.

America has its own unique culture, even though the country itself is only a few centuries old (a young lad, he is!). In the 1900s, each decade had its own identity, something that sets apart the '20s from the '50s and '90s and so forth (and the aughties? I think not. I'll still call the past decade the 0s, pronounced the "Oh"s, thankyouverymuch). Each generation has their own worldly experiences that seem completely alien to their children. Each generation also has the option to pass down their culture to the next, whether it be in old records, ancient scrapbooks, or musty books that were the Harry Potters and Redwalls of their childhood (hey, I like those books!).

Because America is also known as a "melting pot" of all the different immigrants who've arrived here, there are also cultures from all around the world mingling here, in this common land of freedom.

I started out this post wanting to rant about how the Cultural Revolution of China has left me little for learning about my parent's cultures, but I see now how wrong I would be if I decided to complain about that. I remember the ancient days of Greece and Rome, where songs and tales (both epic and ordinary) were spread by songs, or storytellers, not books and other tangible things. Cultures and customs stayed alive because the next generations remembered the tales of old, and honored those memories.

Because, those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. History repeats itself. There is nothing new under the sun. We have to learn about the past in order to not repeat its mistakes.

And our parents, no matter how annoying they may seem to be at times, each have their own unique stories to tell. If only you ask.

Midsummer Crisis

I haven't really embarked on any of my goals for this summer, and since this is probably the only time that I will have to actually do those things, I need to get off of the Internet and start doing something productive. Like start/finish one of my too-many novel ideas and actually complete writing a story. And journalling more often. And basically doing everything on my "goals for summer" post.

Plus, this blog was really more a "school" blog anyway, and so I guess posts will pick up when back-to-school stuff starts up again.

So, until September, adios, Blogger! And the Internet! Except for maybe email! I will and am going to use the rest of my summer responsibly. For you never know what you have until it's gone.

PIANO CAMP IS FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME

Yeah, was MIA for the past week or so because of this awesome piano camp! So much practicing, almost everyone there was better than me, I must go practice some more...

Anyway, to sum the whole experience up: basically, it's just increased my love for piano, if it even existed before then. I know more about music, definitely, and now know how to listen to long sonatas and concertos and symphonies without falling asleep (especially when the orchestra or the soloist is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD).  

So, a new appreciation for music (and its history--I found that I quite like the Impressionists, in both paintings and music. GO DEBUSSY!!!), a new drive to practice and improve my abilities, and possibly a new teacher (who will help me with the latter). 

Music is definitely my most favorite thing about being human. It can say so much, it can be funny, silly, serious, a mix of all of them (cough BEETHOVEN cough)--it is just totally, epicly, completely, awesome.

"Chairwoman of the Bored"

"Chairwoman" because "Chairgirl" just sounds wrong and "Chairfemale" sounds even more wrong.

And the "of the Bored" because of this.

Lots of people like to announce when they are bored, me being one of them. "I'M BOOOORRREEDDDDDDDDDDD," I'll intone randomly. But surely none of my bored phases have descended into the deepest, darkest parts of boredom, which actually aren't that boring after all.

Because you can always bore your way out of them. With a nuclear-powered power drill.

And then, usually, in these voyages into the pit of boreDOOM, people will say a bunch of random things that have nothing to do with what they just said a few seconds earlier.

Like avocados. And very short paragraphs. And I don't think that was supposed to make any sense.

IGUDESMAN AND JOO!!!

Remember, you can always Google what you don't understand.

If the thing that is masked is already known by everybody, then is it truely masked?

Why is a raven like a writing desk? (some say they both have inky bills, but I think they both have binky ills.)

Riverdancing violinists are cool!

Okay, this post has really gotten out of hand. I meant to provide a commentary on the precepts and preconcieved notions of the phases people go through during which they announce their feeling of mild ennui, but I see now that I have given in to the siren's call of apathy.

I hope that none else have succumbed to this dreadful and extremely frightening creature. If you do ever come across it, remember to always scream and run away.

With all due respect,
Lemony J. Snicket

Goals, Summer 2010

I need to organize my crazy thoughts and make sense of a few things I want to do by the end of the summer. Hopefully I'll actually be able to do some of these things:

1. Read my Bible every day! 
2. Write a complete story, no matter how long, or how short. It just needs to have a complete beginning, middle, and end. And some character development! 
3. Read lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots etc. etc. of BOOKS. Thank goodness for the freedom to have access to an awesome public library.
4. Become more flexible, i.e. improve splits, back-bends, etc. etc.
5. Journal lots. Attempt a daily habit.
6. Learn the piano arrangements of "Discombobulate", by Hans Zimmer for the Sherlock Holmes 2009 movie soundtrack (SO EPICLY COOOOOL), "Alice's Theme" by Danny Elfman for the Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland soundtrack (ALSO EPICLY COOOOOL), and practice all of the exercise pieces that my piano teacher gives me.
7. Survive piano camp.
8. Practice violin! Lots! Improve vibrato! Learn tricky bowings! Etc.!
9. Polish up HTML semi-skills, and learn CSS and maybe JAVA or PERL or Python or some other programming language.
10. Knit a chain scarf. Ala Yokoo.
11. Get into the habit of going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Will help loads in the future. Or so my mum tells me.
12. Read Shakespeare's plays. Especially A Midsummer Night's Dream. Gosh I love that play.
13. Survive Driver's Ed. 

Clogs!

Not the stereotypical teenager kind--you know, the Birkenstocks? You know, the kind that has reached the same level of popularity as Uggs? Yeah, anyway, TWO of the blogs that I follow both featured clogs of some sort in their posts recently!

Modest is Hottest--a very cool and non-conformist (in idea and motive) fashion blog that is about dressing MODESTLY. ZOMG PPL DRESS MODESLTY THESE DAYS? I CAN BEARLY SPELL ITTT!!! And the two totally cool peeps who are behind it (Me and Sal) are Christian. Which is just so cool, because I've also been looking for a fashion blog done by a Christian (and I don't count, mainly because I rarely post at my "fashion blog" and b/c my outfits are twisted ST brain childs).

2nd blog: Style Rookie, aka ST here on this piece of Internet. I've referenced this blog waaaaaaay too many times for my own good. I think I'm a bit obsessed? This is weird b/c she's only a year younger than me? Yeah, I'm so not a stalker, srsly!? I still think that it's pretty amazing that she managed to convince her parents to let her skip school for the Commes Des Garcons x H&M collection AND for a pair of Miu Mius.

Yes, I observe fashion now and then. And attempt to make non-boring outfits myself, sometimes. It's just another outlet through which I try to express my "I AM NOT A STEREOTYPICAL TEENAGER" vibe. I do not obsessively FaceBook, try to use correct grammar and punctuation as often as possible, and do not shop at Abercrombie, Hollister, Aeropastle, or American Eagle. Not that doing those things are wrong, of course. Everyone's different, even the people who do all of the above things. I just enjoy doing things that are off the beaten path, different, even "strange" things, and try not to crack under peer pressure in the behavioral part of my life. But that part still yet needs a bit of work.

"There's no place like home." *tap* "There's no place like home." *tap* "There's no place like home." *tap* *POOF!*

Home again! Well, actually got home yesterday, but only got time to blog just now. Woopeee!!! Tomorrow's the last day of dance camp, and then I am FREE to finally sleep in! And RuneScape (why yes I AM a geek I do indeed play RuneScape. And like it!)!! And do other stuff that somehow corresponds with my summer goals! Huzzah!

Vacation!

Headed off to vacation for the next 5 days! So, no new posts in that time. But I wish everyone a happy Friday!

~Adios!

FREEDOM!

Yes I am free to go after whatever goals I want to go after for the next two and half months! Roughly speaking, anyway. This is just a quick post to celebrate the last day of school. Because what would a blog about school be without a celebratory entry about the END of a school year and the commencement of a new BEGINNING?

Even if you're not out from school yet, the weather is not going to suddenly turn into winter so....

HAPPY SUMMER, Y'ALL!

FINALS PROGRESS: 1/3 COMPLETED and some mo' reflectin'

Finals are one-third over! Well, technically, only 1/4 done, because this semester I only have 4 classes that didn't already take their finals early. So, one down today, one more tomorrow, and TWO on Friday. Gah. But one is English, so it shouldn't be that hard. My teacher even said so herself. [Speaking of my English teacher, she used to look a little like Anna Wintour. Then she got a haircut and now looks a little like Julie Andrews. Just sayin'.]

It was a great way to end a fantastic year of Concert Orchestra (aka the "freshman" orchestra, even though some genius freshies have auditioned into the higher orchestra). But, before fun and games comes work. Lots of it. Sort of. We sorted this huge amount of music into their respective "score orders": score meaning the conductor's version of the piece (which has every single part of every single instrument on it), and then the parts of the instruments themselves, which go in this order: violin I, violin II, sometimes violin III/treble viola, viola, sometimes viola II and III, cello, and bass. And then all of the other instruments after that, like piano, percussion, and woodwinds. Then each massive stack of music went into their respective folder/boxes, and were stored away in this huge shelf/drawer thing in the music library (which is a tiny room filled with those sliding shelves).

And then! We (as in the collective we, but really it was just a bunch of kids--others mulled around elsewhere, like by the piano, just sitting around, or actually studying. but of course, few people chose the latter option.) started a game of ninja. Which is basically a bunch of kids (or whoever) standing around in a sort-of circle and try, in an organized fashion, to tag the hand of another person, thereby getting him/her "out". It's hilariously fun and every person under the age of thirty should play it. Youtube it if you still don't know what I'm talking about.

Then came a few rounds of "WAH!", which is even harder to explain than ninja, so, when searching on Youtube for these curious kids' games, just look for a bunch of people standing in a circle, raising their arms and saying "WAH!". The point is SPEED. Go as fast as you can without messing up.

And yet another curious circle game! Called "zoo", I think. It also is a go-as-fast-as-humanly-possible-and-don't-mess-up-or-hesitate game. Since I don't think it's on Youtube, I'm going to try to explain it. For the record.

1) To start with, you slap your hands on your thighs TWICE and clap them ONCE. Repeat this rhythm throughout the entire game, when you're not doing something.

2) Now, to DO something: each person chooses an animal, and each person has to choose a different animal. Each animal has its own sign/symbol/shape that you make with your arms and hands. REMEMBER YOUR ANIMAL'S SYMBOL/SHAPE/SIGN.

3) Then, to start: slap slap clap, slap slap clap, and someone does: slap slap [their animal sign], slap slap [someone else's animal sign]. The slap-slaps MUST go between the signs. 

4) Then: the person who has the animal with the sign that the first person signed second (the action that is highlighted) must do the slap slap [their animal sign], slap slap [someone else's animal sign].

5) Everyone else must keep doing the slap slap clap rhythm while one person is doing the signs.

6) The signs go around the circle in that order, but you don't have to choose the animal sign that the person sitting next to you has. You can choose any animal, and the person who chose that animal has the responsibility to pick up the pattern and do the signs. 

7) If you miss, you're out (well, duh).

8) Get as fast as you can!

Was that coherent at all? Blargh, must go study for finals. But one more thing! Our orchestra "final" was one of those quizzes that tell you to read the directions first before doing anything. The instructions that followed that first one were all strange, and involved drawing or standing up and saying something or doing something else. You know what the last instruction was? "Now that you have carefully read all of the instructions, go back and only do 1 and 2. Sit back and see how everyone else does." AHAHAHAAHAHHAHA! The people who actually did do all of the stuff felt bad about it, and we all laughed it off. Then, our orchestra teacher (who is probably not coming back next year- :'-( boohoo sadface) told us that we must step back and think about what we are getting ourselves into before we make decisions about important things to do. We can't just jump right into something without even knowing what the big picture is about! And we have to learn to say no to certain things, even if they are good things that we want to do. You have to pause and think about what's really going on here, and whether or not you'll be able to do it. I think that that would stop a lot of arguments from even starting, especially in ye olde "cyber world", where so many people type up angry comments or emails and just hit send without actually thinking about what they are saying. 

And those are my two cents for today. Good day.

How to Survive Dissecting In Biology

School is going on FAR too long. We still have a week before we are set free on the 11th of June. Foo.

Well, in biology we are actually doing something stereotypical-high school-ly! Yes, we are

DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNNN

Dissecting frogs.  That smell really bad. From the preservatives. That apparently smell better than ones from previous years. Which makes me shudder to think of what they must've reeked of back when my parents dissected frogs. In a country far, far away from here.

It's actually not that gross or anything--it's just the terribly GROSS smell that gets really annoying. So, when dissecting frogs, wear a scarf or something that can be used to filter the smell from your nose. Yes, that is a must. And wear surgical gloves. And those lab glasses, if you don't wear glasses already. To protect your eyes from mysterious liquids that could possibly land on your eyeballs.

Have I scared you from ever taking HS bio forever? MWAH HA HA. Not really. Biology is cool! And sometimes fun! (If you get a cool teacher.) Take it! It might be a requirement anyways! Plus you get to go on field trips. Or you should. Because biology cannot be taught simply through classwork.

All of this makes me happy, because in the comic FoxTrot, by Bill Amend (super cool Apple-fan dude), Paige, one of the characters, is also in 9th grade and in biology and dissected frogs! Which makes me feel like my life is sort of cooler, all of a sudden, but not really. Because truth really is stranger than fiction.

And--GAH. Lots of end-of-year projects/assignments to complete. Does anyone know anything about the current situation between the U.S. and Iran?

HELLO INTERNETZ GREETINGZ FROMZ LONGZ HIATUSEZ and Reflections on the Past Year

Yeah. Sorry for the lack of postage! I was out all of Memorial Day weekend with a fever/headache/cold/type/thingy and I still have a slight cough (but I WILL SURVIVE!).

Finalz are next week, dudez! For me, anywayz. How many wordz can I use that will involve z's? I dunnoz. Is it annoyingz yetz? Well I will just quit doing that because it's difficult to be typing "z" after so many wordz (ahahahahahaz).

Anyway, continuing on w/da post (I should abbreviate that phrase or something. I think I'll be using it a lot.  COWDP--YES):

It's sort of hard to believe that I've actually (almost) been through my freshman year of high school. There's only three more years left before I have to brave the real world! (HS is the preparation for the "real world", apparently, even though the real world doesn't give you grades? I guess that's what college is for.) I still feel like I'm in middle school or something, because part of me isn't really accepting the fact that I am GROWING UP (oh scaryscaryscaryscary). INTO AN ADULT. (oh superscarysuperscarysuperscary).

Maybe I should just move to Neverland. Or Wonderland.

But then that would be cheating, because I would be avoiding my reality and not accepting responsibility for the things that I do in this world, which is (unfortunately) the only one I have. Well, except for maybe RuneScape. But that doesn't count, because it's obviously just a game (and SUCH a time-eater-uper).

It makes me sad, a little. I feel like I have a stick in the mud of childhood, and I don't want to let go and be sucked into the current of the grown up world. Sadly, life can't be all fun and play. Or make-believe. Elementary school was much easier for this type of end-of-year stuff. Back then, growing up was fun and cool (and such things like end of year field trips were still in existence). Plus, there was the assurance that you would have friends back at school the next year. Now, I'm not saying that all my friends are going to move away this summer, but it's just that things were more "stable" then, you know?

As excited as I am to be moving on to 10th grade (and hopefully getting more involved in school!), I will still miss this freshman year, when everything was highschool-but-flavored-with-middle-school-still (except for maybe less drama, obvz). It just seemed like middle school, but with a little more work and a little less tight-knit. [EDIT: This post sums up most of my feelings about growin' up.]

I guess I'm saying that a little part of me will always remain a child, no matter how old the rest of me gets. I'll always believe in magic, classic Disney movies (i.e., the pre-Hannah Montana phase), and recess.

But, I've grown to like summer vacation more as I get older. The harder you work, the more you'll appreciate breaks.

Have a happy summer, everyone!

4-D ness: change over time: derivatives in real life (oh boy my brain is still on calculus...the ap test is over...WHY?????)

Just wanna dance to "Valentino"
by Diane Birch.

Man, that song is so good for moving around. The first few seconds are practically DRAGGING you out of your seat and onto your feet (oooh punny rhyme ahaha). "Whooo oooh, whooo oooo."

I really like things that change over time, I guess, even though I don't really like big change and wish that I lived in Victorian England. But then I remember the INTERNET and COMPUTERS and YOUTUBE and feel content here in good ol' 21st century USA. Anyway, what I'm saying is that I like watching movies and listening to music and watching dance performances because they're ALIVE and MOVING and just so much more here than stable things, you know?

Take Alexander Calder's mobiles, for instance. If given enough breeze, they'll change shape every minute! They're always turning, twisting, moving up, down, or sideways and turning into myriads upon myriads of thought-inducing shapes.

And dance is just fun (and by dance, I DO NOT MEAN the type of dancing at school dances, where all you do is wiggle yourself to the beat and maybe jump up and down a little). Especially when you LEAP across the stage or floor or room.

Music is also moving across the realm of time. And so do movies and plays and other performances.

Time is the most precious resource we have. Don't you even dare waste it, but it's good to slow things down for a little while and JUST DANCE, IT'S GONNA BE OKAY.

Music will SAVE THE WORLD or at least hopefully our orchestra teacher

Darn budget cuts. My orchestra teacher might be laid off at the end of the school year because of those accursed things (she was hired on only as a part time teacher this year). >:-P Uncool! She is the best music teacher I've ever had in school! Well, all three of them so far were really great, but, she's just so cool and awesomely good at music and you can't just fire her!

So what did the upper (i.e., better) orchestra do? Oh yeah, they took ACTION against this dastardly possiblely-happening deed. Yesterday, in the parking lot outside of the school board meeting, a few of the kids from the better orchestra arranged their own mini-concert right there, in the parking lot, with stands and a student conductor and everything! They even had a sign up that said: "SAVE [insert orchestra teacher's name here--no personal info will be typed]!"

In the ideal world, the school board would've been moved to tears by their awesome playing and agreed to let our orchestra teacher stay for as long as our orchestra teacher liked, and that the budget cuts regarding music and school lunch would all be reconsidered and relooked at.

But, in the real world (oh phooey, we live in the REAL world? shucks.), all the school board said was: "If we don't let her go, someone else will have to go." Which also isn't really good.

Speaking of budget cuts, my Spanish teacher is being transfered to a middle school next year. Gosh I hope she doesn't have to each 8th graders. Y'all should know how despicable some 8TH GRADERS can be. I should know. I was one (no DUH, Jinny, now get on w/da rest of da post, wouldja pleeze?).

Another thing that'll be changed by the budget cuts will be lunch time. This year we got an entire period to eat our lunch, which was very useful in certain cases. Next school year, we only get 25 minutes. Which isn't that bad, but still--waiting in line for half that time and then scarfing it down in 5 to finish homework for the last couple of periods? I don't think so. Which means that I might have to start regularly bringing my own lunch. Gah must get up earlier.

Also, I'm going to try to get more involved in school for my sophomore year. This year all I did was tennis, an Asian drama-watching club (ahahaha I know--how typically Asian of me), and "JV" on Science Olympiad (meaning I didn't actually compete, but still helped out and got to see how everything worked.

Next year I'm headed for tennis, Speech team, Science Olympiad ("varsity"! I will compete next year! Hopefully.), Honors Orchestra, MAYBE the school play and HUGE DOUBLE TRIPLE MAYBE softball. ABSOLUTELY HONKIN' HUGE MAYBE on that last one. I mean, spring is the time for AP testing and finals! I don't know if I would be able to fit in a sport in spring, even though I like softball.

Oh well. We'll see how the end of THIS year passes first!

Biology: the fun class where you get to watch AVATAR

Bad blogger! Bad! Inconsistent posting! Too much time between posts! Ahem. Self-beration will now cease and desist.

I feel like blogging today, and will try not to make this a filler post.

School happenings: State science tests this week. Bleh. What in the world is a cladogram? Apparently we have to know that for the test. Meh. The state's only been administering the science tests for a couple years, and already they're a drag. But with testing comes a few good-ish things! In biology we're watching AVATAR which is AWESOME (well, the first 50 or so minutes is. And have you noticed how cool Avatar looks when it's all in caps? Like the A and V are making this secret tribal hieroglyphic code or something. This makes sense in my mind). And we are actually taking our comprehensive all-year final this week, instead of the last week of school. Which means one less final to study for (yay...?).

I have finally checked out Confessions of a Serial Kisser from my school library! Which means I'm going to procrastinate on studying the abovementioned state science tests. Not a good thing.

Boy, when Ms. Van Draanen said that she was going to write a book about kissing, she sure went all out. Evangeline, the main character, seems to be entirely focused on one goal: getting her "crimson kiss". And she does the most outrageous things in her search for it!

P.S. The avatars in Avatar are MUCH MUCH HUGER than I thought they would be. I thought that they would just be blue versions of normal humans. WRONG! They're about twice as tall and yeah. HUGE. Short people like me are afraid of HUGE things. But it's an awesome movie! So far! Hopefully until the end! James Cameron likes his 3-hour long movies, doesn't he? [Titanic, Avatar, etc....]

Systems [crashing] of a down or something

Piano was recently tuned and I am re-excited about playing piano again! That made no sense! Let me explain! Exclamation marks! But first! School happenings!

Today the Internet on our school computers died and my friend and I only got to identify two out of ten organisms that we discovered in our pond water/scum. And then the entire system crashed. Woopdedoodah for nonreliable school computers! Google didn't even work. GOOGLE! The embodiment of the Internet!

Also, my last period class only had about 16 kids. The rest of the class was out at baseball and track meets/games. Huzzah huzzah for spring sports. I don't think I'd ever have the stamina to do spring sports. I mean, (hectic sports sched)+(lots of tests and AP exams in spring)+(my annoying procrastination)+(my hectic sched)+(homework)=unhappy and totally stressed out ME!

Now, onto piano: when I first started as a wee lassie, I was totally gung-ho about it and practiced it tons without having my mother yell/tell me to go practice. Then, as I got older, I practiced only as much as I needed to, and dreaded my practice sessions (not that they were boring, but I just didn't like practicing when someone told me to, you know?). But, the cycle soon turned full circle, and as of some time in middle school, I started liking piano again! I think it was sometime after I read Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata, by Jennifer Allison. It made piano seem mysterious and cool and exciting again.

Blue Screen...of DOOM DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

My laptop display is slightly blueish-tinged. I do not know why. It is sort of bugging me, even though blue is one of my favorite colors (see blog template!).

Anyway, onto the main topic of this here post: We did something in school today that actually made it seem less boring! Well, in science, anyway. A few days ago we trekked out to the pond on the outskirts of school property and gathered some pond water into Petri dishes, to start off our unit on classifying microorganisms! Huzzah!

And, today and yesterday's class periods were spent fighting with microscopes for the viewing of the said microorganisms. Classtime used for looking at cool things=fun. Classtime used for lecture notes=blahhhh.

It sort of reminded me of Chasing Vermeer and the U of Chicago Laboratory schools (man, I really want to go to a school like that. Public school is so dulllllllll.) in the way that we were actually thinking for ourselves (sort of--9th grade boys are sooo immature) and we were INVESTIGATING the world around us! Which sounds really cheesy, but I can't think of any other phrase to describe it right now.

And, because we went on that "field trip" the other day. Just like in Chasing Vermeer, when Ms. Hussey took the entire class to the Art Institute of Chicago. Lucky fictional kids!

School would be so much more meaningful if we got to actually do stuff to learn, instead of just sitting there and taking notes (speaking of which--we went over pronouns in English today. Apparently we're going through a grammar unit instead of our usual "talk about ethics and other theory-like stuff" regimen. In the words of my teacher: "crushingly dull".)

Also: English teacher who thinks grammar is "opposite of exciting"=cool teacher.

Oh and apparently all the creativity is sort of linked with psychosis, according to the Harvard Brain. So be KKERRAZZAAYYY!

Kinds of Fans (no, not those things that blow air into your face)

There are two kinds of fans in this world--those who have the money to actively support their obsession, and those that don't have the money to buy all the STUFF but like it anyway.

Ex: a TV show (like Star Trek or something)

FAN Type #1: They buy all of the associated stuff that has anything remotely to do with Star Trek--DVDs,  costumes, action figures, full-size models of the Enterprise (okay, not possible--but you get my meaning), etc. etc. etc. They really love everything about the series and buy the stuff to show that they really LIKE THE SERIES.

FAN Type #2: They also REALLY LOVE THE SERIES AND WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE OR WHATEVER whenever they can, and read everything they can about it, but don't have the means to buy all the STUFF. You getting what I'm saying? They would very much so like the stuff, but they can't buy it, which makes them feel like they're inferior fans or something.

Now, I know that you don't have to buy things to show that you really like something, but sometimes, when other type 1 fans say, "I've got all the action figures! And five versions of Spock!", type 2 fans can't help but feel a little jealous, or even annoyed. I mean, they UBER-LIKE that stuff too, but maybe they aren't allowed to get it (a possible obstacle is the parental unit--they mean well, but unless you have a job, you ain't got no resources for your hobbies. unless, of course, you convince them to buy it for you. in which case...well, you're lucky).

So why am I going on and on about this? Because I've had a similar situation happen to me in real life (with something similar to Star Trek....sort of). And I must realize that we are all different, and all spend our money differently. Not having fan-stuff doesn't not make you a fan! If that made any sense at all.

But, it would help if people were better at looking at the heart, instead of just appearances.

Wire-free, it's good to be free... FREEdom!

My house finally has wireless Internetz! Huzzah! Huzzah! Hip Hip Huzzah! So, techinically, now I can watch KP episodes anywhere I want to in the house--my room, the kitchen, the basement, the bathroom (okay not really but you get the point). I really need to get another hobby. BURBERRYYY!

Ahem. But it sometimes doesn't work and then I'm still confined to the cable. Darn doodles.

Am listening to Diane Birch, who has the coolest music video ever (and plus it's a great song) go check it out RIGHT NOW! Please. Seriously--I love the beat, it has a very dancey sort of feeling it to it without being the speaker blasting, nightclub type (you know--Ke$ha and all that). Plus the background music also rules. :-P Her voice is the most unique one I've ever heard, and it has this soft, floaty quality that's very moving. But don't take my word for it. Go listen to her and form your own opinions! We are not taught how to think.

Fortress of Words/Secrets Protection

Still haven't chosen a new notebook to use for a journal yet, but I'm thinking about doing another hardcover one. That purple one was the first hardcover journal I've ever used, and I think that the hard covers (ahahaha) are better at keeping secrets than just a spiral notebook. Like sort of a fortress for your words. If that makes any sense.

Today at school we had this random fire drill in between classes. Yippee. Got to miss a few minutes of Spanish, which is pretty okay, but such a drag when you have it last period. Mehhhhhness. What was sort of cool about the fire drill was that when it started blaring BEEP BEEP BEEP the doors that led to other hallways automatically closed in. SOOOOO COOOL. It's like invisible elves were pushing the doors closed or something. Once again, this makes sense in my mind.

Expanding horizons

This blog is now going to talk about reading, books, writing, school, and other things that can be categorized "my life". But the main talking about clothes is reserved for my very amateur-ish "style blog", Clothes Speak Louder than Words.

Speaking of the above, I just finished a journal! Since I rarely write in those things it's quite a big deal when I actually use up all of the pages in a blank notebook. Huzzah!

Hey--pictures! Real pictures! WWWOOOAAAHHHH MOMENTOUS OCCASION. Now, onto a new notebook that will probably take me that long or longer to finish (took me TWO YEARS to finish that one-inch pile of paper! well, one and three quarters).

Happy Easter!

Break me off a piece of Internet

I've decided to make an outlet for this fashion obsession thing I've been dealing with for a while. We'll see how it ends up.

I won't apologize for who I am....

Since I've been sort-of obsessed with clothes and "fashion" for the past few, oh, I dunno....months? weeks? fortnights? I've decided to talk about SCHOOL and FASHION.
Oh my, will those two words ever go together? Especially since most of the girls at my school wear Abercrombie, Aeropastle ("air mail" in French!), American Eagle, Hollister, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Oh, and I forgot to mention: Uggs or very clever look-alikes. (I swear I saw five-thousand zillion pairs of them every day during the winter. Those and this type of clogs.)
Even one of my best friends has started to wear Aero and these Ugg-ish boots. 
GGAAAAAHHHHHHH. When will high schoolers ever decide to stop conforming and dress the way they like to dress? Now, I'm pretty sure that some people actually like the clothes from A and F, Aero, and AE, but others just wear it because everyone else is wearing it. 
I think that in all human beings, there's a need to feel like you belong somewhere, with a group of people (no matter what group it is). So, by dressing and looking like everyone else, you'll be able to belong to the huge collective group of "everyone else"? I don't think so.

Compromising yourself to fit into a group that you don't like that much is not very effective. You don't feel like yourself, and the other people probably just think that you're just another one of the Abercrombie-wearing group, and thus don't really get to know you.

But, not all of the people at my school are Aero-followers (and just because you wear that stuff doesn't neccessarily mean that you are an Aberzombie [credit to Style Rookie for that term!]) There are a few girls who actually wear things that are different from the mainstream--they create outfits that are whimsical, unique, and expressions of themselves. They don't worry about trying to fit in, because they know who they are and are not afraid to tell the rest of the world.

Spring Break!

Hallelujah! Spring break is FINALLY here. After a day of grueling tests and quizzes, I have managed to escape the jail-like school and break out into the REAL WORLD OF THE INTERNET. Okay, so not everything on the 'net is true, and it only connects almost everyone to everyone else.

I wish I was going somewhere (doesn't everyone?), preferably Washington D.C. The last time I went there it was during high summer and I was 8 or something. So, I couldn't remember anything except for the unbearable heat and the refreshing coolness of the air conditioning in the Air & Space museum. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh. So, I want to go there and see the INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM! Especially after I read Gilda Joyce: The Dead Drop, by Jennifer Allison. The entire series is wonderful and Gilda is such an inspiring dresser. She does everything FEARLESSly.

But I'm grateful that I'm still in school and therefore still get a spring break. I wonder how adults make it through the whole year without designated breaks?

Beware the Ides of March! Beware them!

Which is today, by the way. So, if anyone is reading this today, BEWARE. Julius Caesar died this day many a day ago.

A few weeks ago we had a sub for homeroom who was, well, a little more elderly than some previous subs we'd had. Anyway, she was all of five feet tall, and was having trouble keeping the goons (aka hormonal immature teenage guys) controlled, so guess what she did?

She walked up to the goons on the far side of the classroom, and said, "If you guys don't start behaving, I'll be IN YOUR FACE! And you do not want that!" And she was, like, sixty.

This, of course, sent the entire goon-half of the class into peals of roaring laughter.

Definitely the awesomest moment of my entire high school experience, so far.

Quixotic

Oh yeah--vocab wrds are totes boss, yo. Idealistic, btw, not that you asked, but...whatever.

Ahem...

QUIXOTIC

I envy those

who do not need prose

to explain their deepest feelings

I envy those

who can use prose

to depict their inner minds

I envy those

who are allowed to goes

To movies, like Alice in Wonderland (TIM BURTON 3-D ALICE JOHNNY DEPP W00T!)

I envy those

who stick their nose

in places they should not be in,

and have the courage

to follow the rabbit

down his wee-little hole.

I envy those

who can write the prose

and set it to music

and have it make sense

I envy those

who have a voice

to sing about

and can sling their voice

out into the crowd

of critics and scrutinizers

and poets and spin doctorers.

I no longer envy those

who plant the rose

and use the hose

for play.

I can see the day,

no more delay,

when night comes

and no one can work.

I must therefore,

get off my butt,

and get going,

before the going catches up.

Another Alice thing...

Well, not so much Alice as it is Wonderland...

Rei Kawakubo's F/W 09/10 collection is called Wonderland, and the show and the clothes all fit that name very well. In her own words:

"Wonderland, where nothing is as it seems."

A few words, but more than enough to describe it.

Avril in Wonderland!!!

TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ARE COMING TOGETHER. AGAIN.

Favorite Thing #1: Avril Lavigne. I just LOVE her music. It's the greatest. There's just something about their atmosphere and lyrics and rhythm that make them very real, bold, and empowering. But enough of that fangirl chatter. On to...

Favorite Thing #2: Alice in Wonderland! As evident from my last post. The whole story is awesome. And I just finished a book called Finding Alice, by Melody Carlson(which is another 2-fave-things-mixed-together: Melody Carlson & her books, and AiW [of course]), about a girl named Alice Laxton (Alice Liddell? ahahahahahaha) who's inherited schizophrenia paranoia from her grandmother, and how she overcomes it and how it almost completely takes over her.

So...

Avril + Alice = "Alice", Avril Lavigne's new single for the official soundtrack of the new Alice in Wonderland movie directed by Tim Burton!

I LOVE THAT SONG. Well, the refrain/chorus is a little...meh, but the rest of it is EPICLY COOL. Quite as cool as "Keep Holding On", the song Avril did for the Eragon movie (that I haven't seen. Yet. I still haven't read Eldest or Brisingr. Series-reading-fail).

Alice in Wonderland!!!

In honor of the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie, I decided to recreate the Mad Hatter's costume using random bits of clothing I found. Voila!

Face is blocked out because I am paranoid and Lemony Snicket's secret twin. It's actually very warm, b/c of the coat and gloves and hat and being indoors and all.

Sunday night stakeout...

...on the computer, in front of Wendelin Van Draanen's blog, etrtr.blogspot.com.

WHEN WILL THE PAGE BE UPDATED? Just checked. Nothing. Gahhhhhhhhhhhh...... she said that there would be updates today.........

Just checked again. Nada.

I was so excited when she announced that she would be starting up the blog again, after a year long (probably?) hiatus. Yipppee!! I thought. I can now peek into the mind of [just checked again. zilch.] one of the coolest authors ever! W00t! Plust get updates on all new books and movies!

And then I found out that she would update every Sunday. And so that's why I'm here [just checked--still nothing], simultaneously blogging and clicking the refresh icon on the screen.

Maybe I should check again in a few minutes? But I don't want to miss anything! Oh, the wait is so agonizing......

Oh, shoot. I might have to put my stakeout on hold for a while. I still haven't practiced piano today and a MUCHO HUGE-O piano competition is on Sat. Dang it!

Just checked again--zero, zip, zilch, nada.

I've also noticed something--whenever it appears on my screen, it always displays the time as a few hours ahead. I suppose that's because of the time difference, but sometimes it's completely random, like I check it @ 8 o'clock pm but Blogger says it was posted at [checked again. no change] 3:23 or something. Strange.

Or maybe I should just learn to be a tad more patient. Maybe. And Ms. Van Draanen probably has a busy life filled with running, writing, and other cool things.

Okay. I'm going to practice piano now. Hopefully it'll be up here in an hour...

Later. Okay, an hour and a few minutes later.

IT'S UPDATED! And chock-full of cool info too, albeit a little sad. The Sammy Keyes series is ending at book 18! Only five more years left of new Sammy books! But at least there's the impending "Sammy Short" thing--that would just be the COOLEST BEANZ, YO. And that just might hold me over until October and Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher comes out.

Can't wait! Won't wait! Will unfortunately have to wait! Darn it!

DUH

Since this web log is supposed to be logging my HS experiences, I will now start actually going on that topic instead of rambling on about my teen angst and other random topics.

My school, which I will call Central High School, (even though the real name is NOT Central High School, obvs) was designed by a guy who designs jails. Apparently. Whether or not that's true, it IS true that our locker arrangements are completely and totally inefficient.

So, this jail-architect dude (or so he appears) decided to lump lockers together in little spaces called "locker bays", one for each "house" (which is really half a floor and is only there for room numbering purposes. I think). It's not too bad in the morning, when everyone's half asleep and there's no one in the locker bay, and the lockers block a little of the light so you can stand there and pretend to sleep while standing before your open locker. BUT! At the end of the day everyone is rushing to their buses or rides or whatever, and the locker bays (with lockers arranged sort of like library shelves, but with less space between them) are PACKED. Every day I have to stand outside of my little "locker section" and wait for someone to come out so I can go in, grab my coat, and split on out of there.

Mr. Jail Architect could've at least spread the lockers out around the halls, like in a normal school.

But then again, normal is highly overrated.

Quickly, now, I'm late!

A quick note: I changed my url back to astoldbycasey.blogspot.com

I know. YOU'RE SO FICKLE! JUST CHOOSE ONE AND STICK WITH IT ALREADY! But I guess I just feel sentiment with the original url. I don't know why. I don't let go of things easily, I guess. I nearly melt down when we traded in our old piano for a new one a few years ago. I KNOW I'M QUITE STRANGE.

I haven't been posting because I decided to go on a little hiatus, clear out my head, get away from the screen for a bit. Also maybe because I wanted to get away from the blogging community for a while (as is evidenced by my blow-up/rant post a few posts back).

Sometimes, things just get too overwhelming and your natural "hey what about ME" alarm goes off and calls a DEFCON 1. That's when the mudslide of jealousy and critical voice starts. "You're not good enough. You'll never be good enough. You should just pack up and call it a day. Forever."

A little like watered-down schizophrenia, although that's a really bad analogy because I know next to nothing about mental illnesses. And I don't mean to offend anyone who has a mental illness or knows someone who does! It's just me and my badly-researched figurative language.

iPad

THE iPAD IS HERE!! Go check it out NOW. Unless you prefer other types of computers.

THE FUTURE IS HERE.

Lighty night.

:-)

?...turns into... :-)

The title is a mystery. And so is this blog. And my life. But, to put it more simply, everything is now just one big WHY that's been building up for many years. Ever since seventh grade, as a matter of fact.

Now, I don't want to go all "middle school drama"-y here, but I can't help it. Lately all I seem to be able to do is complain and sit there pointing out the problems of the world without actually doing anything to help.

And it's starting to get annoying.

WHY am I so bad in social situations?

WHY are the people who are deemed "uncool" by the rest of society always my friends (not that this is a bad thing, really: they're cool!)?

WHY do I complain so much?

WHY do I have to fight my nature to be mean and impulsive rather than calm and respectful?

"No man is an island," John Donne says. Then why am I so isolated? Why do I unconsciously attract things that make me an "island"?

Do I want to be an island?

Sometimes, but not all the time.

Do I want to be separated from the mainland?

Sometimes, but not all the time.

Do I want to just sit back and watch while other people are putting themselves out there and I sit here and curse my laziness?

No, not really.

Even though that's what happens most of the time.

So, you're wondering (if there even are any readers of this isolated section of the blogosphere): if I say that I don't like complaining and criticizing, then WHY am I sitting here writing a post that is, essentially, one big complaint? I'll tell you why. It's because that's what human nature is. We are all sinners. No one is "basically good". Why do you think that little kids have to be taught to share instead of just naturally sharing their toys? Why do you think that parents have to teach their children to be polite in public?

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be hypocritical and start complaining again. SO, from now on, I'm going to make a pact with myself to try and only say things that will not be complainy even if I feel the desire to do so after reading something that gets me all twisted up because things are not going how I want them to be! Because, ultimately, I am not in control of my life. God is.

And I am not afraid to say that the Lord is my God. Even if you will call me names and ridicule me.

Water off a duck's back.