Breakfast for Dinner

My grandmother, bless her heart, is the most wonderful person on the planet. Her natural disposition as a worrier leads her to worry that my house isn't clean enough, thus taking it upon herself to clean it. After said cleaning, she'll relay what she has done to me, making me feel horribly for being such a slob, and worry that it still isn't clean enough and that it is her fault. I did my laundry on Sunday and she kept saying to me, "Let me know when you're done so I can help you fold anything!" I brought a hand to my heart, touched at the sentiment and adamant that I would never make her do such a thing, though I unconsciously allow my mother to fold all of my freshly cleaned clothes on a regular basis. Shame on me. And shame on anyone who would take advantage of their grandmother whenever she stays with them. Mine makes me french toast and eggs when I come home from school, remarking I haven't eaten all week, which might, in fact, be true. And then, Lord love the woman, she worries I might not like the way it tastes because she hasn't made french toast in such a long time. I had to insist I enjoyed it thoroughly maybe five times before she conceded, "I'm glad you liked it." It was an awful large amount of food, for someone who barely eats regularly, making my stomach turn and forcing me to give up after a slice and 1/4. I felt horribly, knowing she would worry I hadn't liked it when in fact I did not feel well at all. Anyway, my conclusion is this: Grandmothers are the sweetest, dearest people ever known to walk the Earth and I am lucky to have such a great one. Cheers to grandmas!

I Like to Rant

I realize it has been quite some time since my most recent post. I'll accredit my etymology class (or lack thereof) with this scandalous outrage, and will say nothing more on the subject.

I was taking a shower (okay, yes, it was a bath. What can I say? I love me some bathtime) and I found myself reflecting upon the new trend that is taking over our great country. It's being called the "wetlook" as I understand it and as you can see by the picture I've supplied to the left, it looks like you've just stepped out of the shower (bath) dripping wet, and threw some clothes on. Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of this one. To me, it's an excuse not to get ready in the morning (as are sweats, but that's a topic for a different day) and makes everyone look like a drowned wet. I know, as a suburban high schooler, I could never and would never rock this look, due to genetics and choice. And doesn't it dry after a while? What if you have nasty natural hair and go walking around with a Jewfro all day? It should be called the "Creepy Thin Man" look, because anyone who rocks it will just look like Crispin Glover.

But the undermining of this hideously unfortunate trend was not my intention when restarting my, as so affectionately referred to by myself, rant blog. I realized, in my nice hot bath, that hair in general is the most annoying thing to ever grow on one's body. It's a controversial issue, no doubt, because women love their hair, whether it be long, short, blonde, brown, ginger, black, sleek, curly, frizzy, etc., etc., you get the idea. However, when in the shower, hair becomes wet, and comes loose from the fragile bonds attaching it to our heads (I am currently an anatomy student and can tell you that the average person loses 90 hairs a day) and arranges itself all over our body. As a former diver, I have come to loathe wet hair, especially wet, chlorine-smelling hair, and one of my biggest pet peeves is wet hair that is stuck to my body. I find it all over, on my leg, my back, my shoulders, my neck, my arms, etc., as I'm sure everyone else does (all women at least, and men with long hair). But it's not just the hair on our heads I'm talking about. All women must agree bodily hairs are infuriating. We have to shave armpits, legs, some women shave arms, and various lady parts inappropriate for a high school blog. Not to mention, tweezing and waxing eyebrow hairs, lip hairs, annoying chin hairs or various hairs growing on our temples. Then there are mole hairs, maybe the most vile hairs of all. They stick out and make you look like a hag from a Grimm Brothers story. People will stare at you as you pass and whisper, "That is DEFINITELY not a beauty mark." We also have nose hairs that I'm guessing some men trim, and possibly ear hair, I don't know. All I know is that it is everywhere. And it's pissing me off.

A Chance Stroke of Luck

In some happy mistake, TeenVogue keeps sending me copies of their latest issues. I don't know if it's because I created an account online, or what; I didn't pay for a subscription but the issues keep coming. Either way, I'm not complaining.

For the August issue, Taylor Swift lives up to her title as the new face for Covergirl in a completely new way. The article on T.Swift talks about her new tour to promote her album, Speak Now, which I like, surprisingly. I'm not much of a country fan, but since when did that every matter with T.Swift? Anyway, I like singing Mean to myself, pretending I'm sending it out to all the cliquey girls at my high school. Smoochez, everybody.

The reason I'm mentioning Taylor is because when asked what occupation she would, ahem, occupy were it not for her sensational music career, her response rang true with my hopes and dreams for my future. Quoth she, "I'd be doin something creative and idea-related - like coming up with ad campaigns or writing novels." Reading this, I thought, "I can't remember being interviewed for TeenVogue. Weird." Novelists seemed to be a small trend for the magazine this month, for at the back, teenage daughter Georgina Bloomberg of New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg, recently released the first book of her new Young Adult series, The A Circle, that she coauthored with Catherine Hapka. What I want to know is, why isn't anyone offering to coauthor with me? Lame.

Anyway, this was just a "random" post. I really don't have that much to tell y'all. Although, I am dye-ing part of my hair purple today, so that's new and exciting. Perhaps I'll post a picture of the finished product soon? Who knows? NOT ME!

Just An Update

My short story/novel, whatever it ends up being, is 10 pages, 4,271 words in total. Awesome.

Summer Continues

After my jaunt to Alaska and Canada, I feel my summer has, schedule-wise, "cooled" off. Lately, I've been hanging around my house, or friends' houses, doing a whole lot of nothing. Don't get me wrong, a lackadaisical summer can be a good summer, but I'm rooting for a great summer, full of accomplishments and memorable...err...memories. Yes, memorable memories. I said it. I want to finish my short story by the end of the summer, cross off some more of my bucket list, attend my cousin's wedding, go to Seaside, read a lot of books, exercise more (that one is actually happening, believe it or not), a whole lot of something! Unfortunately, I was sick yesterday and today, although it didn't really stop me from having fun.
Yesterday, three of my pals (for safety purposes, the girls will be known as Kat, Laura and Bea) and I went out for some YoYo fun. As I had already had the delicious ice cream the night before with my mother and psuedo-brother, I left my wallet at home so as to refrain from purchasing any of the irresistible treats. After "chilling" (get it; ice cream, chilling. ha.) at YoYo's for a while, and naughtily nabbing some ice cream in the little "tasting" cups, we decided to check out the dollar tree, and randomly ended up buying balloons and mermaid figurines. What was our intent, you ask? Well, being severely odd teenage girls, we decided to tie the balloons to the figurines and deposit them on some boys' doorsteps. I won't say who, just know I did not choose the boys and so had no personal connection with them. Yeah, we're weird. Next we headed back to Kat's house and watched the Justin Bieber movie. It was at this time that my sore throat, which started that morning, came back with a vengeance and I started feeling sickly. I spent the rest of the day in bed and did not wake up today until 1:30 pm. Yeah, embarrassing.
Today was not wasted, however. I got some sun, watched some youtube videos, and started my summer reading for AP Comp. Choosing from the two lists available to the class, I'm going to read Tuesdays with Morrie and am currently reading Columbine, the full disclosure on the school shooting tragedy of 1999. It's quite scary actually, and parts of it had my aforementioned sickness making an unscheduled appearance, but is also riveting and intriguing. I recommend it to all the nonfiction lovers out there.

So I Promised This Long Ago

An excerpt of my short story, as of right now titled Pass It On. Well, here goes nothing.

It was an atypical Sunday afternoon in New York: a day of crystal clear skies, white clouds dancing above the skyline, birds trilling lilting, musical notes. I was, of course, not outside, enjoying the first warm rays of the timid summer sun on my skin, but in the New York Public Library, researching British literature for my final thesis at NYU. It was my own fault, really, that I was holed up in the library, unlike all of my peers. I'm much too lazy for my own good, although somehow I managed to stay well above the class average due to my ability to work well under pressure, not to mention my uncanny knowledge on all things literary. If I hadn't procrastinated so entirely I might've gotten a few hours to myself that day, maybe to spend practicing for my lacrosse game that weekend or lounge lazily in the park with Norah and Stiles. Unfortunately, it's impossible to rewrite the past, and all things considered, that day turned out to be pretty eventful; but I'm getting ahead of myself.

All right, one paragraph at a time. (Please remember this is a rough draft)

My MadLib

Dear Ashley,

I don't really know how to tell you this, but our romance is over. I think I realized it when I tripped on sesame seeds outside of Chicago and I saw you sit on my best friend. I'm sure you're scarred enough to understand that there is no solution to this. I'm returning the couch cushions to you, but I'll keep your mom as a memory. You should also know that I always will remember your reincarnation as an eskimo.

Greetings to your frog Leonard,
Riley

This Seems Fun

It's like MadLibs, blogger version. Let's do this!

Dear (the last person who left a comment on your Blog). I don't really know to tell you this but ___1___. I think I realized it ___2___ ___3___ and I saw you ___4___ ___5___. I'm sure you're ___6___ enough to understand ___7___. I'm returning ___8___ to you, but I'll keep ___9___ as a memory. You should also know that I ___10___ ___11___. ___12___, -Your name-

1. What's the color of your shirt?
Blue - Our romance is over
Red - Our affair is over
White - I'm joining the monastery
Black - I dislike you
Green - Our horoscope doesn't match
Grey - You're a pervert
Yellow - I'm selling your house
Pink - Your nostrils are insulting
Brown - The Mafia wants you
No shirt - You're a loser
Other - I'm in love with your sister

2. Which is your birth month?
January - That night
February - Last year
March - When your dwarf bit me
April - When I tripped on sesame seeds
May - First of May
June - When you shaved my head
July - When I fell off a cliff
August - When I saw the shrunken head
September - When we skinny dipped
October - When I quoted Santa
November - When your dog ran amok
December - When I changed tennis shoes

3. Which food do you prefer?
Tacos - In your apartment
Pizza - In your camping car
Pasta - Outside of Chicago
Hamburgers - Under the bus
Salad - As you ate enchilada
Chicken - In your closet
Kebab - With Paris Hilton
Fish - In women's clothing
Sandwiches - At the Hare Krishna graduation
Lasagna - At the mental hospital
Hot Dog - Under a state of trance
Other - With George Bush and his wife

4. What's the color of your socks?
Yellow - Hit on
Red - Insult
Black - Ignore
Blue - Knock out
Purple - Pour syrup on
White - Carve your initials into
Grey - Pull the clothes off
Brown - Put leeches on
Orange - Castrate
Pink - Pull the toupee off
Barefoot- Sit on
Other - Drive out

5. What's the color of your underwear?
Black - My best friend
White - My father
Grey - Bill Clinton
Brown - My fart balloon
Purple - My mustard souffle
Red - Donald Duck
Blue - My avocado plant
Yellow - My penpal in Ghana
Orange - My Kid Rock collection
Pink - Manchester United's goalkeeper
None - My John F. Kennedy statue
Other - The crazy monk

6. What do you prefer to watch on TV?
Scrubs - Man
O.C. - Emotional
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes - Frostbitten
Lost - High
House - Middle - Class
Simpsons - Cowardly
The News - Mongolic
American Idol - Masochistic
Family Guy - Senile
Top Model - Scarred
Other - Ashamed

7. Your mood right now.
Happy - How awful I've felt
Sad - How boring you are
Bored - That Santa doesn't exist
Angry - That your pimples are at the last stage
Depressed - That we're cousins
Excited - That there is no solution to this
Nervous - The Middle-East
Worried - That your Honda sucks
Apathetic - That I had a C-section
Ashamed - That I'm allergic to your hamster
Cuddly - That I ogle garbage men
Overjoyous - That I'm open
Other - That Extreme Home Makeover rocks

8. What's the color of your walls in your bedroom?
White - Your ring
Yellow - Your love letters
Red - Your Darth Vader poster
Black - Your tame stone
Blue - The couch cushions
Green - the pictures from LA
Orange - Your false teeth
Brown - Your contact book
Grey - Our matching snoopy-bibs
Purple - Your old lottery coupons
Pink - The cut toenails
Other - Your memories from the military service

9. The first letter of your first name.
A/B - Your photo
C/D - The oil socks
E/F - Your neighbour Martin
G/H - My virginity
I/J - The results of your blood sample
K/L - Your left ear
M/N - Your letter of resignation
O/P - My common sense
Q/R - Your mom
S/T - Your collection of butterflies
U/V - Your criminal record
W/X - David's princess tutu
Y/Z - Your grades from college

10. The last letter of your last name.
A/B - Always will remember
C/D - Never will forget
E/F - Always wanted to break
G/H - Never openly mocked
I/J - Always have felt dirty before
K/L - Will tell the authorities about
M/N - Told in my confession today about
O/P - Was interviewed by the Times about
Q/R - Told my therapist about
S/T - Get sick when I think of
U/V - Always will try to forget
W/X - Am better off without
Y/Z - Never liked

11. What do you prefer to drink?
Water - Our friendship
Beer - Senility
Soda - A new life as a clone
Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri - Your reincarnation as an eskimo
Milk - The apartment building
Wine - Your obsession with scarves
Cider - A passionate interest for mice
Juice - Our Oprah Winfrey imitations
Mineral Water - That embarrassing rash
Hot Chocolate - Eggplant infatuation
Whiskey - To ruin the second world war
Other - To hate the Boston Celtics

12. To which country would you prefer to go on a vacation?
Thailand - Warm regards
USA - Best regards
England - Good luck on your short-term leave from jail
Spain - Go eat a rag
China - Disgusting regards
Germany - With ease
Japan - Go burn
Greece - Your everlasting enemy
Australia - Greetings to your frog Leonard
France - In pain
Other - Greetings to your freaky family

Gone (and back)

Greetings all people of planet Earth! I realize I've been absent from Blogger lately, which is unforgivable of me, especially when I left you in such suspense after my last post. Don't worry, I haven't given up on my short story yet, it's just not far enough along to be revealed as of right now. Be a little patient people, seriously. Anyway, last week I returned from my trek around southern Alaska/Canada and let me tell you, it was FABULOUS. Onboard the cruise I ate every two hours, sucked down several virgin strawberry daiquiris and won many rounds of BS, Egyptian Ratscrew and Kemps. Overall, a pretty relaxing and eventful week. Off-board (if that's even a real term), I got to dogsled, hold adorable baby Alaskan Huskies, watched six killer whales spy-hop not ten feet in front of me, zip-lined hundreds of feet up over Alaskan ground, saw reindeer, exited the United States for the first time in my life (CANADA COUNTS AND IS AWESOME), ate freshly baked salmon (delicious as it sounds), and acted like a crazy tourist, which I didn't really like honestly. I would much rather have pretended to be an integral and long-lasting part of my surrounding environment, but the tour buses and multiple cameras/camcorders made that an impossibility. Alas, I had an exceptionally good time. Met some new people (cute people, to be quite frank) and some not so cute people (someone wanted to watch me sleep) who scared the living, sorry but, hell out of me. I hope I do not offend anyone with my curt and coarse language but really, I feel like I should have a pass on that one. It's not everyday a seventeen-year-old is stalked on a cruise ship by a nineteen-year-old Texan. So, come on, cut me a little slack (MOM). Other than my persistent follower, my cruise was spotless, although it was pretty chilly and I did have a serious case of homesickness and even a little seasickness. Open waters are no joke people, not even with a giant hunk of ship like the Golden Princess (How lame does that name sound, on a scale of 1 to 10? I give it a 7.5). Anywho (word?), I have videos I will upload to share with everyone, as soon as I get them back. My camcorder didn't have enough memory space so I had to save some on my friend's laptop during my vacation and I still haven't gotten them back. Trust me, though, the whale videos are worth the wait. Speaking of whales...

I know I already said this but...WE SAW KILLER WHALES! How awesome is that? If you think that's no big deal, I really should explain more. Our whale watching expedition took place in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Our tour bus drove us from the cruise ship port to the whale watching port and we boarded a cool double decker along with maybe two hundred other people. I was pleasantly surprised as they had a giant buffet inside the boat and a bar where you could order drinks. I wasn't really hungry, plus the buffet was savagely attacked by all the other passengers, so I settled for some goldfish and a diet coke, which I shared with Brie. Anyway, the whole point of the excursion was to spot some humpback whales and see some of Juneau's glaciers, which are pretty cool, all tucked away in between two gigantic mountains. Seriously, those things are huge. Pictures do not do them justice. Moving on. We did see some humpback whales, but not as much as we'd like. There were only two, a mother and her calf, and they were looking for food, diving down deep to get krill, the only fish they can actually eat. Did you know that the size of a humpback whale's throat is so small, you couldn't fit your foot into it? If they get so much as one salmon in their mouths with krill, they have to spit everything out and start over or risk choking themselves to death. It's ironic, a mammoth this size and they can't eat anything over maybe 4 inches. (Our tour guide was really cool and very informative. She also had a very nice speaking voice.) Anyway, the humpback whales were cool, but once they dive down to get food, they can be under for up to 20 minutes, so we moved on. Amazingly enough, we happened upon a pod of six killer whales. Now, the reason this is so amazing, our guide told us, is because they usually only encounter killer whales 10% of the time they're out on expeditions. We were extremely lucky, especially because the pod was pretty large. Six whales, one of them a calf, four females and one male. You could tell a calf by its size, and by a slightly orange tint that occurs because their blubber is so thin at birth. Therefore, you can see the blood vessels beneath. Another awe-inspiring occurrence was something called a "spy-hop." That's where whales jump out of the water to get a look at their surroundings. Basically, looking at us. The calf spy-hopped probably 6 or 7 times, which is crazy because our guide told us they only see spy-hopping once or twice out of 4 spottings of Killer whales. We really must have been a lucky bunch, because the day was nice and we saw something only 25% of 10% of people whale-watching get to see. You'll get to see the video later, hopefully soon. I know this was a long post, but my mom says that blogging is my summer job, and if I don't continue, I'll have to get a real job. Yuck. So long for now!

Going, Going...

Taking a cue from the bulletin outside of Deer Ridge Elementary School, I've titled this blog Going, Going... because there is only one day left of school for the 2010-2011 school year. In 24 hours, I will have finished my fifth and final exam of the year and will be officially on summer vacation. More exciting than that, 24 hours from tomorrow morning, I will be leaving for Chicago, to get on a plane to travel to Seattle (a place I've never visited before!!!) to board a cruise ship and sail to Alaska!!!!!!! How exciting is that!?!?! I cannot even begin to describe my absolute euphoria at being invited on a cruise with my friend's family. It's going to be epic. We're going to a mushers camp, where we will learn to dogsled and we're also going to go zip-lining in the forest! I'm so excited, it's ridiculous!!!! See how many exclamation points I'm using?!?!?!?! THAT'S how excited I am! Hopefully, I'll be able to access the internet from the ship so I can blog about my experiences as they happen and continue writing the short story I've started. Want a sneak peek? I'll bet you do. Be patient.

Hello, my name is...

It's come to my attention lately that unless you go to my school and are in my etymology class, you have no idea who I am. That's pretty funny, at least to me. I wonder if you'd still read my blog if you knew? Anyway, I'm prepared to introduce myself. So without further ado, here it goes.

Hello, my name is Riley. I'm seventeen years old and a junior in high school. Surprised? No, probably not. Anyway, at the risk of sounding like a giddy teenager finding herself on a social network page, I'm going to tell you a little about myself. As you probably already figured out, I'm an avid reader. Unlike my classmates, who only blogged in an effort to keep their grades up, I actually like blogging (as does my mother, although she'd rather read/tell everyone she knows about my own. Hi mom!). I thoroughly enjoy english class (at least, this year I started to) and it's unsurprisingly my favorite subject, thus my decision to hopefully go to college and study creative writing. As cliche as it is, I love music. I wouldn't go so far as to sound cheesy and say it's my passion because I'm not sure I have a passion just yet, although reading would probably be the closest thing I have to a passion. I like finding new artists and introducing their music to my friends. Recently, I discovered a new band called Givers. They were described as akin to Vampire Weekend, with a female singer and I am in accord with the assessment because they do sound extremely alike. I highly recommend the song Up Up Up if you are at all familiar with VW, and even if you are unfamiliar with them because it's a pretty fun song. I really don't like metal/hardcore/screamo and some forms of rap (like lil wayne). My closest group of friends is a group of miscreants whom I enjoy thoroughly. It's a pretty mixed group of friends, seeing as I get along with a lot of different people. I'd like to say, along with everyone else, that I'm quirky, and truly unique, unlike everyone you've ever met, but you'll have to decide that for yourself. I do count myself pretty cool because I inspired my older sister to start a blog. She wishes she could be me, no big deal. Check out her blog thatsall-caitnoelle.blogspot.com Au Revoir!

P.S. I was not privy to, in any way, the making of the hilarious video Hot Kool Aid, I am merely an avid fan. Sorry to dash your hopes and dreams. If I were as entertaining as Julian Smith, I would most definitely make videos documenting my hijinks, but sadly I have no such talents; just a sarcastic sense of humor that would probably not be entertaining to most viewers. Which is why I will stick to my guns, which I believe (as my mommy has told me) is writing/blogging. At least, I hope I'm good at blogging. You'll have to be the judge of that, as my readers, however few of you there may be. *sigh*

Crossing the Finish Line

Okay, yes, this post has nothing to do with running and the analogy is a little stretched, I admit, but I like using random titles instead of just "Reflection" or "Final Blog." You can deal.

I feel very accomplished this semester, reading-wise. I broke the 4000 page barrier with 4311 pages read this whole semester (since I'm still reading Weeping Underwater Looks a lot Like Laughter and I don't have it with me to count the pages, this is just a ballpark figure). I probably could have read more, although my mother had to ban me from reading for fun. Yes, it's embarrassing that the only thing she could think to take away from me as punishment was literature. Nerd Alert. I am a nerd reader; a very independent, enthusiastic, can't-put-the-book-down-'til-I-finish bookworm. I wouldn't say I've progressed in my reading since the beginning of my Etymology class, however I have challenged myself to read more challenging literature in my days with Hill. Again, this makes me feel very accomplished.

My reading places basically consisted of wherever, and whenever, I had a couple of spare minutes. I read in math class, in etymology, in AP lit, sometimes I even read at lunch, thus furthering my nerd status. However, mostly I read right before I go to sleep. I hate just lying there, trying to fall asleep. Reading gives me something to do while I wait for my heart rate to slow and my brain to fall into hibernation. As soon as my eyes start drooping, I might close the book, begrudgingly.

I find in my sister a good listener when it comes to book commentary, especially because she's almost as book-wormy (book-wormy?) as I am and we read basically the same things. I love reading books, and I even have a quota I want to reach by the end of the summer. I'll let you know how I'm doing, periodically. Hopefully. Don't quote me on that.

As for poetry, I dreaded poetry at the beginning of the semester and I still have a little apprehension when it comes to facing it, but I feel I'm able to analyze them a little better and thanks to my AP Lit class, I really do understand them. Writing about them, on the other hand, is a different story...

Anyway, I really enjoyed our Etymology semester and I'm sad it's ending :( Hopefully, I keep up my blog.

SCARY

Make your own animation

"Uniqe" Does Not Exist Within a Suburb

I've been searching for an interesting, not even necessarily good, book to read, one that I can get through. Yesterday, I found myself roaming the aisles of Barnes & Noble, spending a good hour searching the shelves, reading the backs of countless books, wishing one would jump out at me and "catch my fancy," so to speak. Amidst my great quest, I generated quite a lot of odd looks, patrician-looking adults, the elderly, and quite a few teenagers questioning my appearance with their eyes. Now, I understand that the Fort is very conservative and that they don't like people who necessarily stand out and attract attention. I also understand that if a person shows up with multiple facial piercings, tattoos and/or less clothing than is expected and required, then yes, this outlandish being is going to get some criticizing looks. However, that is not how I was dressed yesterday. The reason for the scrutiny of my person: red lipstick. Oh, no! I'm a teenage girl wearing noticeable makeup. I must have some sort of problem with myself. WRONG. So what if I found red lipstick at my house, put it on and forgot about it. It's a free country, and last I checked, red lipstick is not that uncommon. My point is, it's very discouraging to someone who doesn't want to end up just like everyone else living in such a close-minded environment. If I lived in, say, New York for example, I could wear candy striped leg warmers, purple tights, neon shorts, a sweater with a carousel horse on it and earmuffs as an ensemble, and no one would look at me twice (Not that I would ever consider such an outfit...unless it was Halloween...maybe). Just, show some open-mindedness. Is it really that hard?

Not to Be Confused With Anthropologie

My anthology project centers on the poet Lisel Mueller. I've chosen to feature her poems The End of Science Fiction, When I Am Asked, Things, Love Like Salt, Romantics and Beginning with 1914, as well as some other poems by her.

The New Modern Family

So basically our generation is being defined by our "over-usage" of electronics. The abundance of gizmos and gadgets (a-plenty) is taking over our lives. Nowadays, we're even using computers in the classroom every day!! C'est incroyable! (I don't really speak french). However, the majority of electronic usage occurs in our own home. I admit, my family is very technology oriented. My mom just got a MacBook Pro for Christmas (lucky), my dad's company supplies his technology, my sister got a free laptop from her college for being super smart and my little sister and I both have our own personal computers. Not to mention the two desktops, the three iPads, and several iPods and countless gaming and television devices. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. The plus side to this is that I wouldn't consider us obsessed with our electronics. We may use them frequently, but we still make time to socialize in the outside world and even within our own home. We have family meetings (some, like last night's, that only include the words "Bedtime"), we sit down and eat dinner together without our gadgets, we actually talk. So in the article "Quality Time, Redefined," I agree with some of their points. Yes, my family includes electronic devices in our family time, but that's the thing. We still have family time! Plus, we're not all on different devices. We watch movies together ALL THE TIME! Sometimes, I do my homework while sitting in front of the TV. The world goes on and I still get to chill with the "fam." I like this family time redefined. It, ironically, brings us closer.

Convenient for Etymologists

100 Books Every High School Student Should Read

The Nineties in One Picture

Along For The Ride

Sarah (Sara?) Dessen is extremely adept at writing about the trials and tribulations of teenage life. In her latest novel, Along For the Ride, Auden is an insomniac braniac with two college professors/authors for parents. Divorced parents that is. Her father lives with his new, pregnant wife (Heidi) in a small seaside town miles away. She's been living with her intimidatingly smart mother, who's been filling her head with negative comments about her dad and how he's "shacked up with some coed." While Auden is busy graduating, shunning social advances, and being the "little adult," her brother Hollis is traversing throughout Europe, filling the role of "big kid." Auden decides to visit her father the summer after senior year, thinking it'll be good to bond with him before college. Unfortunately, she's faced with a newborn scream machine, a frazzled step-mom and an absent father. Before she knows it, she's facing cocky guys, emotional girls and a mysterious loner. Having been considered an adult most of her life, Auden never got to experience the things a normal childhood would consist of: cul-de-sac kickball games, bowling and riding a bike are just a few things she's missed out on. She even missed Prom, getting stood up when her date opted for a scientific conference instead. When she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac with a tragic past and a knack for bike riding, she learns that it's never too late to learn to be a kid.

21

I haven't written much on here lately that hasn't been assigned by my teacher. I'm truly sorry for that, however, I have been really stressed and exhausted these past two weeks back from break so I've been opting for naps after school instead of blogging.

My older sister, the freshman at IU, just purchased the CD 21 by Adele and I am in raptures with it. "Turning Tables" was featured on Glee last night and while I don't believe Gwyneth sang as well as Adele, it's such a good song it didn't really matter. "Someone Like You" is also a favorite of mine, lamenting the moving on of a past boyfriend/lover. Adele is very soulful and I usually reserve her for when I'm in a bad mood or when I'm sad, which has been, unfortunately, very frequent lately. Oh, come on, school's almost over, yet we still have a bunch of stuff to do. We all deserve to be a little peeved, especially juniors who have to start worrying about college and starting applications and making ourselves look perfect so that we'll be accepted. And then there's the money i$$ue. Short paragraph even shorter, I hate school right now.

Other Masterpieces

Shideler continues to amaze, creating the screaming portrait through only vertical lines and the senior citizen portrait with only black and grey fingerprints!

Squiggles In Art

From far away, Eric Shideler's portrait of Josh looks like any other hum-drum drawing you've seen a dozen times. Upon getting a closer look, however, energetic squiggles become apparent, filling in the dull, boring places of the drawing.
Eric Shideler's utilization of bright colors and make-up of squiggly lines lends a silly playfulness to his portait's demeanor. Shideler's neutral subject contrasts with his use of color and child-like doodling, his small smile humorized through Shideler's spontaneous creativity. What was once mundane and uninteresting gets a new spin, becoming worthy of it's super-sized display.

Where Are You Leading Us, DeLillo?

1) What is the significance of the "day of the station wagons" to Jack and Babette?
2) So what's up with Babette's reading choices?
3) What is the root of Murray's obsession with Elvis?
4) Why argue about the rain when it is obvious whether it's raining or not?
5) Do any of these characters have cerebral abnormalities? I'm starting to get suspicious.

......

I'm speechless. I seriously can't think of a book to read next. Suggestions????

Country Living

Dan Martensen and his girlfriend Shannan Click live in a farmhouse somewhere in upstate New York. Their property consists of two large barns and a large garden. It looks like their house is just surrounded by green. The natural, woody colors of the barn, and the encompassing green lends the farmhouse a relaxed and peaceful feel to it. The trees seem to box them in, creating the feel of a world separate from ours. The fact that they grow all their fruits and vegetables adds to the organic feel of the farmhouse. Let's just say, I wish I lived there.

Overwhelming Relief

It's really not as drastic as I make it out to be. I only found my missing poetry journal for etymology that I had been missing for a while now. 22 poems down, 18 to go!

Simply...Exhaustion

YoungLife is a youth group get-together thing that happens every Monday in my basement. As it is Monday, you can bet it is happening right now. It's very loud and very fun, so I can hear them through the floor beneath me. Why aren't I there, you ask? Well, spring break just ended yesterday and I drove ALL DAY so I tried sleeping the duration of the trip. Probably not the best idea, seeing as a result, I couldn't fall asleep last night. So now I am exhausted and the only things keeping me from collapsing into bed are these:

A) YoungLife happens in my basement which is where, subsequently, my bedroom is located. Suffice it to say, I would not be getting any sleep down there.

B) My math teacher gave us book work and my etymology teacher gave us blog assignments. My AP Lit teacher, who is also my ETY teacher, gave us pages to read and a blog post to write about it. I have to memorize a 200 word poem by Wednesday.

C) I haven't showered yet, and my bathroom is, you guessed it, in the basement. How awkward would THAT be.

Lacking in Empathy

I, as a very empathetic person, can very easily feel for other people. I can't really imagine a world without emotions but there are people who go everyday without knowing how their actions affect others. There is a mental disability known as autism and autism has its very own spectrum. At the high functioning end of the spectrum is a diagnosis called Asperger's. In the novel House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Jacob, an eighteen year old boy with Asperger's syndrome, finds himself wrapped up in a serious murder investigation and trial, as the prime suspect. Jacob, as an autistic adult, is extremely intelligent and could carry on conversations with people double, even triple his age which is why Asperger's is known as the Little Professor syndrome. Jacob can retain any information he comes across, has a photographic memory and knows everything there is to know about dogs, dinosaurs and forensic science. Yet Jacob lacks the social skills needed to survive in this world (he can't stand people touching him, he can't look into anyone's eyes for more than a second, and he can't interpret emotions that other people are exhibiting). Kids who suffer from Asperger's desperately want to fit in and make friends, but are often viewed as freaks because of their inability to interact with others. For example, Jacob has nervous tics that he experiences when he gets stressed or nervous. Even the smallest thing can set him off. He starts "stimming" or flapping his hands at his sides and then starts screaming at the top of his lungs. Jacob cannot stand the color orange, hates loose hair, has to eat by color-coordinated days (Red Mondays, Green Tuesdays, Yellow Wednesdays, etc.) and has to watch his favorite TV Show, CrimeBusters, every day at 4:30. If his schedule gets interrupted he goes ballistic. He has numerous medication he takes to help him make it through the day, and sees several doctors and even has a social skills tutor, Jess. Jess tries to help him see the world through normal eyes, teaching him how to make conversation, look into people's eyes, and even how to ask a girl to the dance. Despite his high intelligence level and adult age, Jacob is, in many ways, still a child. And his mother is forced to take care of him, while his younger brother Theo gets tossed to the side. When Jacob's social skills tutor, Jess, turns up missing, and is eventually found dead, Jacob is suspected of murder, due to his close interaction with Jess, his being prone to lashing out, and countless evidence piled against him. Oliver, his lawyer, has to show the jury that while his behavior may make him look guilty, it is just his Asperger's acting up and Jacob couldn't have known right from wrong in the situation due to his disease.

I'm really glad I decided to read this book, due to the fact that my cousin, Matthew, has Asperger's and I wanted to learn a little more about this condition. Matthew has always gotten on my nerves due to his behavior (which was just recently diagnosed as Asperger's) but he's not nearly as bad as Jacob behaves in Picoult's novel. Reading, and learning, how Asperger's works makes me believe I can interact more easily with my cousin. I don't believe Asperger's is a disease, or something to be ashamed of. It is merely a part of who Matthew, and Jacob, are. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in psychological issues, crime scenes and family issues.

P.S. Solved: Me, 1:00

Familial Relations

I don't know why, but lately I've been reading books centered on slightly skewed families. Okay, scratch that. These families are pretty messed in the head, usually featuring one child who possesses a slight sheen of normality. The abnormality (at least by my standards) rates for these two familes are through the roof. I just finished APOLOGIZE, APOLOGIZE! and This Is Where I Leave You while on spring break and let me tell you, the main characters are as far from my view of family as you can get. A,A! is about a son, who is relatively normal, existing (or at least trying to exist) in a family of crazies, living on Martha's Vineyard. His mother is a radical activist, a communist and a Marxist who blames her father for her mother's death and is obsessed with dogs. Apparently they own upwards of 20 I guess. His father is a compulsively unfaithful drunk who married into money and can't hold anything except a glass of chardonnay. His uncle hates his mother, is obsessed with training carrier pigeons and randomly goes missing. His brother is incorrigible, yet still mommy's favorite. The only other person in their family is The Falcon, otherwise known as Grandpa, who pays for his family's lavish lifestyle. Oh, by the way, did I mention the main character's name? Yeah, it's Collie. As in, the dog. And his brother's name, you ask? Bingo. Yes, his name is Bingo.

The other family I read about is from the book This Is Where I Leave You. While not as radically abnormal as the other family, it's still much different from mine. Judd's wife has just left him for his boss (Wade) and his father has just died. His family's Jewish so they are forced to "sit shiva" which is a way of saying they're going to sit in their house and grieve for seven days, while people come to their house to pay reverence, I guess. The characters weren't really all that into it. So Judd's the third child, after Wendy and Paul and before Phillip. Wendy brings along her husband and three children, Cole, Ryan and Selena. Paul brings along his wife, Annie, who used to date Judd. Awkward, right? Phillip, another incorrigible baby brother, nine years away from his closest sibling. He brings home a surprise guest. His forty year old life coach-turned-girlfriend. Oh, and surprise, Judd's wife, Jen, is pregnant. But it's not Wade's baby... And then there's the mother. She's a psychiatrist, I think, who specializes in raising babies. She's also, well, let's just say "surgically enhanced." Oh, and a closeted bi-sexual. Who knew families could get so crazy, huh? NOT ME. I have two parents, and two sisters. My family is about as square as you can get which, I think, is the reason I've lately been drawn to "special" family books. I don't know what it's like to have family members constantly go missing, passing out in a drunken stupor in neighbors' chimneys. While I'm happy about that, it gets kinda boring, doing the same old things. Can't one of my family members raise ten dogs, or carrier pigeons or something? I NEED SOME VARIETY HERE PEOPLE! Ah, well, as I always say, c'est la vie. Adios muchachos. I'm due for some much needed sleep. See you on Monday!

SB XI

Spring Break finally kicked off this year. It took its time, huh? Anyway, being in paradise, a.k.a Seaside, Florida, this week is shaping up to be pretty spectacular. If you're a fan of snow cones, Frost Bites is the coolest, most original and most delicious snow cone place you could ever visit. Every combination has a cool name. For example: Shark Attack, Frog in a Blender and Taylor the Sailor. Frog in a Blender is basically a combination of every single flavor. TtS is my personal favorite, and I don't even like snow cones. That's how good they are. Anyway, the weather has been perfect, the beach, pristine, and the company, while not stimulating, is very enjoyable. But come on, who expects stimulating conversation on Spring Break? So why am I sitting at this laptop instead of enjoying the day? Well, since you asked, a got a nasty bout of sunburn on my shoulders, face, hands and feet so I don't really feel like basking in the sun today. But rest assured I will be back out there tomorrow, ready to soak up more rays and expose my body to even more risk of skin cancer (at least I'm better off than those who tan everyday. I mean really, you couldn't just wait until you got to florida? come on, being pale is not that bad. take it from the master.). Anyway, I'm off!

An Early Father's Day

so it's my dad's birthday today, so everyone say a quick happy birthday to him, even if you don't know him. happy birthday, michael!!! next year it'll be the big 5-0! oh and p.s. my birthday's in 13 days, so if you haven't gotten me a present yet, you might want to get on that ;)

Unexpected Freestyling

I'll admit, I used to play soccer. I was never the best, but I was fast and when pushed down I got right back up, sometimes even doing a backwards somersault to get momentum. There was a determination in me whenever I stepped onto the field that I'd never felt before. I recognized that same determination in Indi Cowie after reading the article, "A Soccer Phenom Puts the "I" in Team." Of course, Indi is this amazing 16 year old soccer freestyler who's been to Prague and Rome because she's just that good. "This 16-year-old nobody does things no other girl on the planet can do," she's basically the best and yet she still practices "90 minutes a day" perfecting something I would have stopped trying to reach long before. However, she's still unpopular, unnoticed and hated for her selfishness on the field. So the girl may not pass all that much. At least she's scoring goals! How could a coach complain about that? I'll admit, I'm in awe of her and a tiny bit jealous that I can't do a third of what she can, but that doesn't mean I hate her. How can you hate someone that good? Jealousy is a mean emotion, possessing so completely and driving out any other thought in a person until all they have to say is "we all hate you." A girl as talented as Indi should be appreciated as the "phenom" that she is. All I have to say is, YOU GO GIRL!

Clairvoyancy: Can You Predict Your Future?

Teenagers these days. While some may have an idea of what they hope to do in the future, most of us (yes, me included) are struggling to find something, something we love doing so we don't feel stuck for the rest of our lives. The teenagers from San Diego all seem to have a pretty solid view and anxiety towards the future, concerning what they want to do and where they want to be. I somewhat stand with the Undecided guy and the wanna-be Actress. I love the combination of acting and singing (not necessarily show tunes) but I know that the business of Entertainment is a tough business and I might never be stable with that job, so I lean towards undecided a lot of the time. I agreed with what Jana Tran (Photographer) was saying, "I don't think I'll ever be wealthy, but I think I will be financially stable." I can only hope to love what I do, and be paid a comfortable enough amount to do it.

Where I see myself in ten years is hopefully graduated from college, living in an apartment with a job to pay the bills, possibly on the verge of getting married maybe or at least dating someone. Career-wise, I know I'd love to be able to do something concerned with acting, singing, photography or even English, perhaps writing for a newspaper column or something. I'd like to think I have interesting things to say, things other people would be interested in reading about, but you never know. I think the most realistic of these would probably be writing or photography, since I could always work for my mom, helping her take pictures of people in her studio. Alas, no one can predict the future. I'll just see where life takes me.

Hamlet 2.1

So the beginning of this scene starts with Polonius and his manservant (I guess) Reynaldo. We kinda skipped this part, so we don't really know what happens. I guess it was unimportant, so on to the next. Anyway, Ophelia rushes in, talking fast and crazy-like, saying Hamlet rushed into her room and "with a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors," he came before her. Polonius is astonished at his actions and Ophelia continues her story. Apparently, Hamlet grabbed her and just stared at her for some time, actually all strange like. Polonius becomes suspicious of his behavior and decides to tell the King that Hamlet has become "mad for [Ophelia's] love."

Quotes: "Mad for thy love?" "He falls to such perusal of my face as 'a would draw it." <-- indication of intense love!

Hamlet 1.3

Laertes, Ophelia's brother, is leaving to go back to school and as he walks and talks with his sister, he advises her on her relationship with Hamlet, basically telling her it is unwise to continue on with him, for his status is well above her own and she must not believe they are fit for each other. Polonius in turn gives Laertes random, general, paradoxical advice, as Mr. Hill calls the "ultimate Dad." For instance, he tells Laertes "Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, Bear't that the'opposed may beware of thee." In "American" he's saying, "don't get in a fight, but if you do, kill the guy." He's basically giving backhanded advice, which doesn't really advise Laertes at all. He's kinda dumb that way. They all hug and kiss goodbye to Laertes and then Polonius turns on Ophelia and gives her the same advice Laertes gave, but in more of a commanding tone, yelling at her really, telling her to cut herself off from Hamlet, to protect her virtue, etc. etc. Polonius, you're dumb.

I remember this scene made me angry, most particularly at Laertes and Polonius. How dare they discourage Ophelia's love for Hamlet, trying to make her feel inferior and unworthy of him.

Overblooming Excitement

I really can't wait for Spring Break. These last few weeks have been killing me!!! Anyone else feeling the drag that is spring semester?

Happiness

Short, sweet and to the point.

Happiness
by Gunter Grass

An empty bus
hurtles through the starry night.
Perhaps the driver is singing
and is happy because he sings.

Babysitting (and Childhood) Fail

Upon the request of the five- and two-year olds I babysit, I discovered I could not recall more than two Disney Princess songs, one of which from the very recent Tangled. I am disgraced.

This photo gives me a whole new view on the supposed perfection of the Disney Princess. Each finds love with a handsome/rich/amazing Prince, which is lame and predictable, they're all beautiful, all nice, all smart, etc. etc. However, this picture depicts a D.P that isn't conforming to every little girl's fantasy. They like to let loose and be silly sometimes, and that makes everyone feel better. I appreciate the face Cinderella is making, one of my personal favorites. (I'm not really sure why Alice is in the picture, but hey more power to her! Not everyone has to be a princess!)

Novel Memories

1865 - Lewis Carroll wrote the epic children's novel, Alice in Wonderland. While Carroll's story may not be my favorite, John Tenniel's illustrations are comical and well done. The 1867 illustrations of Alice In Wonderland are creeepy. Thanks a lot, Arthur Rackham.

1898 - I remember reading, and then seeing movie versions of, Madeline. The one I recall first is when Madeline gets kidnapped and forced into child labor in a lace shop. Not a very child-like storyline, but it was memorable.

1900 - L. Frank Baum. In case you didn't know, he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Illustrations - top notch. Story - funny and timeless.

1910 - Been a long time since I've heard of/seen/read Goodnight Moon!

Love You Forever. My mom used to read that book to me. Good memories.

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM - 'nuff said.

Independent bookstore for children??? I wish I had known about this when I was younger. I basically would be living there. I'm going to start an independent bookstore for teens and young adults with built in barista (NOT Starbucks). Yeah, sounds good to me.

To Thine Own Self Be True

(Warning: title has nothing whatsoever to do with post other than it is a quote from the same play)

So Act 1.1 of Hamlet was pretty interesting. Marcellus, Horatio and Bernardo encounter the ghost of the lately dead King Hamlet. Spooky, right? However, he does not say anything, just reaching out his hand a lot, which frankly makes it even creepier. Horatio's convinced he will only speak to Hamlet, his still living son. Why does he think this? All he did was walk towards him with widened eyes and held out hands. Also, why does the king vanish whenever the rooster crows? Is this bird somehow connected with the "other world."

You Cheeky Little Blighter

Sounds british doesn't it? Oh it is such fun to adopt an accent, even if it be on my blog and you can't hear it :) Sorry if I've been absent my dear readers (all 8 of you) but I've not been feeling at all well lately and have been bedridden these past few days. I also tried to stay away from the computer for some reason I now cannot recall.

I purchased two books this weekend, both by acclaimed authoress Dame Agatha Christie. The first one, And Then There Were None, I'd already read but it was such a magnificent read and it was in sixth grade I was obliged to finish it for my awesome English teacher, Mr. Bray. So I feel that if I can't remember who committed the crimes, it doesn't count as rereading....okay maybe it does. Fine, I won't count it on my page count :P. The other novel was Death On the Nile which was only $5.98 despite it being a hardcover. I thought it a very good deal, and a very good read as I only just finished it not ten minutes ago!

So they go a little like this:

And Then There Were None (also known as Ten Little Indians) is a murder mystery about ten strangers all summoned to Indian Island off the coast of England. They're summoned either by a Mr. Owen, a mysterious millionaire who just purchased the mansion on the island, or Mrs. Owen, his wife, for various reasons. There are three women and seven men overall. Turns out, Mr. and Mrs. Owen don't exist and they were invited there by a homicidal maniac with a penchant for justice. See, each of the guests are supposed to have had a hand in a past murder, but are untouchable by law for various reasons. The murderer sees it as due justice to kill each of these people, following a nursery rhyme called the Ten Little Indians.

Ten Little Indians going out to dine;

One went and choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine Little Indian Boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight Little Indian Boys traveling to Devon;

One got left behind and then there were seven.

Seven Little Indian boys playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five Little Indian boys going in for law;

One got in chancery and then there were four.

Four Little Indian boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three Little Indian boys walking to the zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun;

One shot the other and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;

He went and hanged himself

…and then there were none.

So the ten people are killed by an unseen murderer, starting with the first choking on his drink after dinner, the last hanging herself in her bedroom. What they find out before, though, is that since they are all alone on the island, the murderer is among them! The really creepy part is that at the beginning there are ten indian figurines on the dining room table and one vanishes each time someone is murdered...needless to say it is thrilling and I love it. A must read!

Death On the Nile is about a wealthy American-born, England-raised socialite who steals her best friend's future husband and goes on Egyptian cruise for her honeymoon. Her jilted friend follows them constantly, and one night, Linnet (the man-stealer) ends up dead, shot through the head. Obviously, it was the jilted best friend, but when she produces an airtight alibi, no one is safe from suspicion. Hercule Poirot, Christie's famous detective, just happens to be on the boat, and does some major sleuthing. Will he catch the culprit? Read to find out!!!!

So yes, they were both fabulous. Read.Read.Read.Read.Read them.

A Very Potter Post

I swear, after posting this you are going to think I am the nerdiest person you've ever read about. But that doesn't matter because I feel this is funny enough to be shared. If it's not, life goes on.

So there's this thing called Youtube, right? That newfangled, teenage website where the most random videos in the world are posted, so that everyone may have a delicious taste of random humor every now and then.
As usual, I must get to the point. Some many months ago I found a series of videos chronicling a play that a group of Harry Potter fans put on in Ann Arbor (I think). It's called a Very Potter Musical and is broken into 2 Acts, the ensuing hilarity spawning over 20 scenes. They wrote original scripts, borrowing various events from the seven HP books and wrote original, humorous songs. It's fan-made, but it's also a parody, poking fun at several characters from the series. My favorite part is that the character Draco Malfoy is played by a girl, and is flawlessly, ridiculously hilarious. She rolls about the stage, taunting Harry Potter and his "lolly-gagging ginger and his stupid mudblood girlfriend." He constantly talks of his father, Pigfarts (the wizardry school on Mars), and how he "wants Hermione Granger!....*quiet voice* and a rocketship."

Needless to say, it's hilarious. Even if you don't appreciate HP, you will find it wildly entertaining. I hope...

Fairy-Tale Logic Alluding...?

One quick question: doesn't this poem remind you of Harry Potter? (Line 11)

Fairy-Tale Logic


Fairy-tales are full of impossible tasks;
Gather the chin hairs of a man-eating goat,
Or cross a sulphuric lake in a leaky boat,
Select the prince from a row of identical masks,
Tiptoe up to a dragon where it basks
And snatch its bone; count dust specks, mote by mote,
Or learn the phone directory by rote.
Always it's impossible what someone asks-

You have to fight magic with magic. You have to believe
That you have something impossible up your sleeve,
The language of snakes, perhaps, an invisible cloak,
An army of ants at your beck, or a lethal joke,
The will to do whatever must be done:
Marry a monster. Hand over your firstborn son.

A.E. Stallings

Dejected and Disappointed

Have you ever been waiting for something, building it up in your head, and then when it finally arrives, you're let down because it wasn't as good/fun/exciting/whatever as you imagined it? Of course you've experienced this! Otherwise your life is a) totally exciting and your reality is better than your dreams in which case I will shun you forever out of jealousy or b) nothing ever happens to you, so you have nothing worth living for, and even if something did happen to you it would always be above expectations because you have no expectations to begin with. If (b) is your problem I feel a mixture of pity and jealousy, but mostly pity. No offense.
My hopes were dashed to smithereens when I finished Pride and Prejudice around the tenth time and decided I should read something else by Jane Austen, convinced it would be as good (certainly not better, for what could be better than the family Bennet and the dour Mr. Darcy?!?! Blasphemous!) as my dear, dear P&P. When I was at Barnes and Noble recently I picked up I Am Number Four, which I finished in a day, not due to it's greatness rather due to the anxiousness to know what happens at the end. To be frank, I feel like I could have written that book, in fact, a better book because it sounded like a lovestruck fourteen year old reading out loud from her diary. Although it was an interesting topic, the sentences were short, choppy and not very eloquent. In fact, the movie was better than the book. Moving on. I also picked up Jane Austen's Emma when I visited B&N, convinced I would be pleased because, come on it's Jane Austen. Plus the back said it was her best novel (lies) so I figured it should be good.
I feel as if it's almost my fault I didn't like it. Okay scratch that. I didn't not like it, it was just boring. Plus I kept thinking "I'd rather be re-reading Lizzy and Darcy's love story, it's much more interesting." Honestly, I haven't even gotten past the first volume. The description of Emma leads me to believe that she's lacking in the "brain department" and the description of her father depresses me because I know he will not be participating in witty sarcasm. In other words, Emma is NOT Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Woodhouse is NOT Mr. Bennet. I miss them. To sum it all up P&P > any other Jane Austen Novel (esp. Emma and S&S). No offense, JA. Love you!

3.1 Diction Excercise!

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe

(a)
love
child
beams
dreams
stars
beautiful
sepulchre
tomb
darling

(b)
elevation: medium diction (it sounds elevated, but Poe doesn't use many difficult words)
connotation: literal (there's not a lot of representation/symbols/etc. he loved her, she died, the end).
sound: musical (dreaminess, swaying on the sea)
concreteness: concrete (he says what happens. see connotation)

(c)
The dreamy mourning of Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee" underscores the narrator's longing for his deceased love and the violence of his heartache.

Hope Makes My Head Spin

This weekend was one of the best weekends of my high school years. My family, along with three other families, journeyed 2 hours and 45 minutes north to the small town of Holland, Michigan, to watch my "older brother" play in a college basketball tournament. We went for two games, one of which was the championship against their arch-rivals. The players? Hope College vs. Calvin College. Yes, there is a college named Hope, and it is one of the coolest places ever. I got to experience dorm life a little because three of my friends/extended family members go to Hope. There are the twins, Amanda* & Jackie*, and my "older brother" Charles*. So since Hope is a christian college, my parents trusted me, and my friend Carly*, to hang out with them the whole weekend, although we did meet up at the games and when we returned to the hotel where we were staying. By the way, if you ever go to Holland, MI, make sure you stay at City Flats Hotel. It is the coolest place you will ever visit, take my word for it. And if you don't believe me, ask my friend Carly. Oh wait, that's right, you can't, you don't know her real name! Drats!

Moving on. There were four main events I experienced this weekend, two of which were the most hilarious, intense college basketball games I've ever been privileged to participate in (Yeah, it's a preposition at the end of the sentence. My mom will hate me, but who cares? This is MY blog!). The basketball games were awesome! And of course the student section, nicknamed the Dew Crew, had rituals for home games. There was a roller coaster, which all Homestead kids can appreciate, but there was also this Scoot thing that took me totally by surprise. When the leaders yell scoot, everyone sits down, grabs onto the shoulders of the person in front of them, and pulls back. Eventually the combined motion of this huge group of students will start to actually move the bleachers back and forth! My friends had no idea, even though they went to the school, because they'd never been to a home game, so we were a little taken aback. Anyway, Hope won both games and the second one was probably my favorite because it was super intense. We made 8 three-pointers the whole game! Every time a three-pointer was made, a freshman (chosen at the start of the season) had to take a cutout Mountain Dew bottle (Dew Crew, remember?) and post it on the wall behind the bleachers. First half three-pointers on one side, second half on the other. This kid had the funniest run I've ever seen. He would jump in the air, fist pump, and then kick his legs out like a country dance when he ran to the steps, shaking his head left and right. Needless to say, the games were exciting, and I'm definitely looking forward to next season.
The other experiences I had were definitely new for me. The first, a root beer float kegger, was a little scary at first because we were surrounded by older people we didn't know, and it was in this tiny "cottage" on campus, but as time went on, and food was served, we loosened up, found a place to sit and were able to mingle, getting to feel like actual college students. People kept telling us we looked like we could be freshmen in college, so we didn't feel inferior, which was a relief. And the food! Oh lordy, it was delicious. I think it was especially funny because the kid whose birthday it was turned 21 and instead of having alcohol, he had root beer. I definitely want my 21st birthday to be that fun.
The last, and probably most fun, event this weekend was Club Durf. See there's this all boys dorm called Durfee and three or four times a year they host a themed dance party. This time it was mardi gras. Everyone dressed up, wore masks, someone even dressed up in a panda suit, which doesn't really make sense, but it was entertaining. The best part is that it was exactly unlike any high school party I've ever been to/heard about. No illegal activities, no dirty dancing, no fighting, no cliques, just silly, harmless partying. I'm still sore from all the krumping I did!
It was sad leaving Hope, and now I can't wait to go back. I think I might have found the college I want to attend...? We shall definitely see!

*Names have been changed to keep their identities, and mine, a secret.

Perspiring Accomplishment

While it is unfortunate that the repeated closings in our school district keep pushing back the last day of school, I'm thankful for this day off. Firstly, because now my AP Lit essay isn't due tomorrow (I think...). But that's not the only reason. Usually snow days make me feel lethargic and I end up just planning on doing all these things I never follow through with. However, today I woke up at eight something (amazing right!! At first I thought I was late for school and freaked out because my phone had died, therefore my alarm on it didn't go off) and already I've worked out and have almost finished the 400-some page book I bought yesterday! I pride myself on my sharp reading skills, even though it is a pretty easy read. Anyway, about my workout. I've never liked running but since my mom has been on this Zija kick (more on that later) I've had a ton more energy and am properly preparing for swimsuit season (SB '11 here I come!). My running duration has been steadily increasing and today I ran for twenty minutes straight. Nothing exceptional, but I am a speed runner, not distance so I'm pretty proud. Proud enough to have spent over a half hour on the computer shopping for swimsuits. Have I mentioned I'm super psyched for Spring Break? It's the first year I get to bring a friend with us and I cannot wait!

So this Zija thing, you ask? Well Zija is this nutritional shapeshifter (there are many varieties, which I will explain) that was created from the most nutritional tree on Earth. Yes, on Earth. I'm not exaggerating. The tree is called Moringa and is used to cure all types of maladies and diseases, etc. etc. There's a Zija canned drink, drink powder you mix with water, an energy and Moringa capsules that you take once a day. According to what my mom has told me, all the food we consume is devoid of nutrients and filled with chemicals made to make it sugar free, fat free, everything they say is good for us. What Zija does is it fills in the gaps so that your body can function correctly and perform its job to its highest potential. The other cool thing is that it gives you all this energy because of the nutrients and it satisfies you so you don't each excess junk. Plus the Moringa caps help you lose weight. I mean if you just took this you probably wouldn't have to work out all that much but it does help. My mom's gotten me on it and I've stopped drinking soda (against my will, unfortunately, but soda has a boatload of chemicals so it's a good thing. Whatever, mom) and I personally think I look the best I have in a long time. Ever since I stopped playing soccer after middle school and stopped diving this year, I've been super lazy, but lately I've felt AWESOME. If you want to see some success stories go to www.drinklifein.com. I'm not trying to peddle this, but it's seriously amazing. I've never liked working out, but now I run every single day.

Underrated Predictability

The novel Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson turned out to be pretty good ( I would say "delicious" but puns are overrated). The story was pretty sad at first because Birdie's farm is going under and her dad is a divorced, sad, fat old man with no hope left in him, about to sell to a skeevy resort owner. Her dejection and lack of confidence at the beginning of the novel is intensely annoying because she keeps comparing herself to her "perfect" cousin, Leeda. She also is an emotional eater - she's described as a little on the chunky side and she's always holding or near some type of food (mostly Girl Scout cookies. It makes me hungry). Leeda, who is far from perfect, is annoying too, half the time going on and on about how her sister is preferred over her (although it doesn't really make me hate her, just her mom who is an *expletive*), the other half spent talking about Rex, her supposedly hunky yet unacceptable boyfriend. Murphy is the only girl who didn't host a pity party 99.9% of the first half of the book. She's feisty and quick-witted and I like her sarcastic, dry sense of humor. She's a B.A! Although she is a little promiscuous...oh well! She's the best! The good part is that this dejectedness only lasts until the three girls become friends, sneak out and then actually start working, picking peaches. Birdie starts losing weight, acting a little less like an emo second grader, and meets a boy! Ah, the comfort of predictable teenage fiction. It's not a YA novel without boys getting in the way. By the way, Rex starts liking Murphy. Yikes! My favorite part, though, is when Murphy tells off Leeda's mom for not respecting Leeda, and treating her as if she was worthless. I told you, Murphy's feisty! It didn't make anyone happy, but that doesn't matter. Conflict is exciting, especially when the villians get their just desserts. The predictability of this novel was a nice change from Never Let Me Go and Atonement and the diction was much easier to understand, although I do like the challenge of elevated diction that literary fiction has to offer. I like the combination of easy and difficult reading; it makes for an interesting week. Plus, all of my posts don't have to sound pretentious. (At least, that's how I see it. I may flatter myself I sound more intelligent than I actually do).

2.23 Diction Exercise

(a)
effortlessly
uselessly
momentary
debilitating
cynicism
pessimism
strenuous
involuntarily
familiar

(b)
elevation: intelligent diction (kind of a medium-ish high)
connotation: cynically straight-forward
sound: bleak monotone
concreteness: substantial concreteness

(c)
Alain de Botton's cynically straight-forward diction in On Love depicts his pessimistic view on love and loss.

It's Not Falling, It's Landing

You know how on television, the stereotype of a therapist is that they'll show you ink blots and you have to say the first word that pops into your head? I feel like that wouldn't help anyone with a therapeutic need. My point isn't actually directly related to therapists. It's about poetry, so maybe I'll try to be a poetry therapist...? Here goes: When you hear the word poetry, what do you automatically think of? Many people I know would probably say "boring" or "tough to analyze" (yes, you, my AP Lit-ers). When I think of poetry, I don't think of a single word. I think of a line, from a book (and movie, I guess). "I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!" To which Mr. Darcy responds, "I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love." "Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Every thing nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.'' Again, this quotation has nothing to do with this poetry post, yet I wanted to add it anyway. Pride and Prejudice is probably my favorite novel of all time, which is why I've read it maybe ten times. Anyway, poetry. I used to think of poetry as two stanzas with an ABAB rhyme scheme, Dr. Seuss style. However, after being in Ety for almost nine weeks, my views on poetry have been opened to many different kinds of poems. There doesn't have to be a rhyme scheme, not everyone has to understand it and it doesn't even need to have a concrete meaning. Poetry can be anything you want. It can be rough, harsh, abstract or poetic, musical, lilting. I was reading a collection of poetry about love, Falling Hard, the other day and they were all different, written by people ages 12 to 18, girls and boys, from all over the world. The different styles of the poems made me appreciate how versatile poetry can be and actually made me start to like it again (thanks, 7th grade English teacher, for ruining poetry for me in the first place). I think my favorite thing about poetry, that I've only just now learned, is that there are no right or wrong answers. All poems are up for interpretation. Poetry can be whatever you want.

"Are you ready to dive in?
It's not falling, it's landing."

Restlessness

I realized a few days ago that lately the only type of books I've been reading have been Lit fiction: interesting, but I can't get through it as fast as I can popular fiction. So I decided to read a book I found in my house that I figured I could get through in a couple of days. Peaches is about three girls living in Georgia: Birdie, Murphy and Leeda. The three girls end up bonding over spring break and the summer, helping Birdie save her family's orchard and behaving like teenage girls will. There are more books to the series, which I might read, but for now this story will satisfy me.

Do The Creep, AHHH

We are the Facebook generation. Or that's what they call us. Personally, I'm not all that obsessed with Facebook. Of course I have one, and I probably check it everyday but I don't spend hours on it, creeping on people I know or don't know at all. If I'm on the computer awhile I'm on Stumble, finding new sites, listening to music or blogging HKA. In short, I don't creep. Like a lot of people I know. For instance, my mother. She is a total creeper! She might even be reading this, but I'm not all that concerned. She should know the truth. This might be some kind of intervention even. Anyway, sometimes I'll get on her computer and her facebook will be pulled up, but it's my page that she had been looking at. She basically monitors my facebook I guess. Creepy. Thus my belief that only college and high school students should be allowed to have facebooks. Middle schoolers having a page just exposes them to creepers on the internet and parents with facebooks just use it to make sure their kids are behaving. Which is fine and all, but there is a point where it becomes annoying, paranoid and overprotective.
This reminds me of a song the Lonely Island just did and their new music video was on SNL a couple of weeks back. It's called Do The Creep and it cracks me up. CHECK IT OUT!

Over and Out

What is McCarthy trying to say by having Blevins die and Rawlins return home?

Blevins is portrayed as the ultimate cowboy throughout the whole novel, escaping from his home, being the best shot, rescuing his horse, running away from the police and the list goes on and on. While Blevins is this impressive, yet younger, figure, Rawlins pales in comparison. He's following John Grady, he's not exceptional at anything. He's the anti-Blevins. The irony is in how Blevins and Rawlins are left at the end of the novel, because Blevins, as the stereotypical cowboy, is supposed to go out in a hail of bullets or vanquish all evil doers while Rawlins expected end might be death, as a secondary, almost uninteresting (by comparison) character. However, through his choice to have Blevins shot so quietly, almost secretively, McCarthy comments on the superficiality of the western dream. The western myth is just that: a myth. It does not exist, and McCarthy uses Blevins' pathetic murder to illustrate this point. Rawlins returning home also exposes the western myth through his defeat, while the western myth usually ends in triumph.

Cover It Up

Covers. I love hearing new artists sing my favorite songs and put their own spin on them. A few months back I was really into MGMT and found three covers of their songs by three different people. Katy Perry, The Kooks, and Sunday Girl, whose cover is sadly not available on iTunes. If you want to hear Sunday Girl's cover of Time To Pretend look it up on Youtube. It's really good (*warning* it does say the F word, although being in high school you probably hear that word a million times a day, unfortunately). They took these electronic, hyped up songs that I love to jam to and slowed them down, made them easier to understand and gave me a new perspective on their songs. It just goes to show how every song is versatile, and really showcases the artists' talents. Speaking of talented cover-ists (?) this guy, Sam Tsui on Youtube (channel kurthugoschneider) is AWESOME! He made me like songs I didn't even like to begin with. Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears was too club-beats for me but when my friend showed me his version, I didn't even connect the two songs as the same. It is so good and just goes to show that switching up the tempo, mood, etc. can make even the most insufferable songs enjoyable. (See Just A Dream by Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie).

Singing In The Rain!

"Moses supposes his toeses are roses!" This quote from the film Singing in the Rain hints at the playful mischievousness Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor's characters exhibit. The whimsical lyrics, light-hearted music and jovial dance moves of the scene reflect the men's lack of ability to take anything seriously. Kelly and O'Connor poke fun at their instructor, trilling their r's cheerily and adopting audacious accents. Their fast-paced dance moves are executed with impish grins, suggesting amused sarcasm with respect to their lesson. From their behavior it is obvious Kelly and O'Connor's characters are amusing themselves instead of attempting to learn anything.

And Some Lovely Male Clothes?

Babysitting. The easiest job in the world...right? Not exactly. Babysitting is having to act like an adult for up to nine hours at a time. Now what sixteen year old wants to do that on a Friday night? When you start out babysitting it's a piece of cake, looking after middle schoolers who will do their homework when asked, help you make dinner, and then read/play video games without giving you much grief. Oh, how I miss those days. When you grow in age and maturity level some people will probably let you look after their toddlers and infants. 2, 3, 4 and 5 year olds are a heap of trouble. They fight, they scream, they run, they fall down, they cry, they whine, and the list goes on and on. And when it comes to bedtime, forget about it. You rock the baby, the five year old wants you to rock them too. And then they both fall asleep and you can't move without waking them. And when you do move, they both wake up and demand you rock them more and lie down with them for "just one minute." Of course, when a five year old says one minute they definitely mean 10 minutes to an hour. Thankfully when they force you to let them stay up an hour after their bedtime they get a little worn out and will fall asleep around the second time you put them to bed. On worse days, you might get the baby to sleep but the other one...she'll beg for nine bedtime stories with that winning way, throw a tantrum when you only read her six, and scream your name at gradually higher decibels when you put her to bed half an hour later. Don't get me wrong, kids are super cute, and eternally grateful when you bring them two new Ken dolls, wearing "lovely male clothes", for no reason at all. And when they're the most talkative kids you've ever babysat, they're probably going to be your favorite, just because "kids say the darndest things." They're a hassle, but they're also supremely entertaining. (And getting paid for it is just icing on the cake). Ah, babysitting.

Stephen Colbert

“Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.”

Secret Guard

As I've already mentioned, at Hailsham (in Never Let Me Go, of course. You need to pay more attention!) guardians are basically teachers. You'll need to remember this for later on. Without further ado, in this section of flashbacks, Kathy talks about how her relationship with Ruth started. While they are in the same year, they'd never really crossed paths until one day in the sand pit, Ruth gets angry at two girls sitting behind Kathy. Kathy describes that all she wished for at that moment was for Ruth to see that Kathy was not with the other girls, that she was not part of Ruth's problem. So basically, she was a little intimidated/afraid of Ruth. The next incident mentioned is when Kathy's around seven or eight. Ruth asks her if she wants to ride any of her horses (imaginary horses). They ride around and bond over the different horses, but Ruth seems frustrated at the end when Kathy isn't "riding correctly" and makes her lead the horses back to their stables. Out of nowhere, Ruth mentions Miss Geraldine, a sweet, soft-tempered guardian (see, told you), asking if Kathy likes her. Kathy replies in the affirmative. And this is where Ruth mentions the "Secret Guard" and almost begrudgingly lets Kathy into this prestigious club. Apparently Ruth and her friends think someone is planning to kidnap Miss Geraldine and the Secret Guard collect evidence against people, blaming (between themselves) random people for being at the head of the conspiracy. They never actually do anything to protect Miss Geraldine, instead just continuing to "gather evidence."
Miss Geraldine is the root of the problems Kathy and Ruth start having. Ruth always hints that Miss Geraldine favors her over all the other students and finally that Miss Geraldine gave her this really pretty pencil case. She never directly says this so Kathy cannot confront her. So she comes up with a plan to figure out the truth, because she believes Ruth just bought it from the Sale (the Sale is where the children get all their stuff, clothes, toys, gadgets, etc.). She tells Ruth she was looking at the register, where all the information on what was bought lies. Ruth responds to this worriedly; she knows Kathy has figured out Miss Geraldine definitely did not give Ruth that pencil case. Instead of getting angry, though, and getting back at Kathy, Ruth becomes downcast, and Kathy feels sorry. She makes mentions about how Miss Geraldine favors Ruth to make amends.
This section seems a little unimportant to me, but I guess it must be setting up Ruth's character and her relationship with Kathy for further down the road. Not much to say about this section other than GET TO THE POINT! I just want to know what is going on with Hailsham, why Madame is afraid of the children, why Miss Lucy says the children should know more? So many unanswered questions, it makes my brain go fuzzy.

Round 6

So, national public radio has this contest called Three Minute Fiction where ordinary people submit short, fictional stories. They have several rounds, each round judged by a different person, each judge setting certain parameters the author must write within. Round 6 stories must contain someone telling a joke, and someone laughing. I read several stories from Round 6, but my favorite one went by the name of Soft-Shoe by Cynthia Gunadi. A father lies in his hospital bed, unable to answer to his 6 year old son's jokes, unable to ask his weeping mother-in-law to leave. He describes his son, Joseph, and his routine, how Joseph would ask him a joke, and he would return with another. The narrator describes himself as "practically vegetal" but able to respond with groans, twitching limbs, hoping Joseph realizes he's trying to "convey all the knock-knock [he] knows." The thing that gives him away, communicates to Joseph and his mother-in-law that he is still there, is when he breaks wind, reaching through his mother-in-laws sobs and causing her to snicker.
The really sad part about this tragic, yet quietly funny story is that this little boy has practically lost both of his parents. Apparently his mother already passed away and now his father is trapped inside his own body. While I'm always up for a sad story, I like the way Gunadi inserted humor at the end, lifting the characters spirits and mine along with it.

Sweet Discombobulation!

Ah books! The way you speak to me is magical, however sometimes I feel like you're speaking a different language. Okay, maybe it's not THAT dramatic, but I feel like Never Let Me Go is a fast moving carousel, that likes to switch directions every five seconds, and I'm still standing outside the gate, waiting to be let on by the teenage ticket-taker, too busy reading her tabloid magazine to notice my hand waving paper in her face. Nice image right? I know I'm so proud. So Kathy H. is a "carer" and so far I still have no idea what that means. I know the story begins when she's older, but as of late she's been having many flashbacks to when she was 12, going off on tangents about her years as a Hailsham student. Their traditions and schedules are odd to me, and I find myself wondering if they've ever been out of "school?" To further clarify, here are some thoughts directly from my brain (you're so lucky, I know), "It seems like these kids never really had a life before they started at Hailsham...Do they have families? Did they start "school" at birth? Do they get a summer? Any time off? What is the deal!?!" Stimulating, wasn't it? Back to the point. Kathy describes the guardians, which are more or less teachers at the school. Apparently, Miss Emily is the head guardian and is very intimidating, although she's softspoken. Miss Lucy seems like a more rebellious guardian, perhaps because she speaks about the gallery directly to the students. The gallery is a collection of the "best" creative works from students, gathered 3-4 times a year by "Madame." Kathy's friend Ruth is convinced that Madame is afraid of the students and they set out to discover whether her claim rings true. Apparently it does, because when they approach her, Madame stiffens. Doesn't gasp or shriek. Just freezes and holds her breath. Like she's afraid they're going to brush against her. Kathy (older Kathy) hints at Hailsham's main objective at this point. She says "there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you-of how you were brought into this world and why-and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs." It gives more detail of what Hailsham's all about, but still lacks the ultimate epicenter of the purpose of the place. I'm really looking forward to figuring this mystery out. Oh, one more thing. There's this really creepy part where Kathy mentions the woods, and how everyone's afraid of them, who even sob just looking at them at night. There's a story, that once a boy who had a row (fight, for all those who are not as versed in real English as I ;) with his mates (friends) and ran into the woods. Days later, apparently, his body was found tied to a tree, the hands and feet cut off. Gross, right? I'm curious what role the woods will play in Kathy's ultimate story... I must read on!

Never Let Me Go

So I'm really confused by this book I'm reading. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is about three kids who live in England and go to a boarding school, apparently called Hailsham. What I've discovered so far is that Kathy is friends with a group of girls, who all revolve around the character of Ruth. She's kind of like the ring leader I guess. And their acquaintance/friend (it hasn't been distinguished thus far) Tommy has anger management issues I guess. He's really good at football (England's soccer) and is all psyched when they're warming up and when it gets around to picking teams, he doesn't even get chosen. So he starts throwing a temper tantrum, which by what Kathy says (she's the narrator) I assume to be a common occurrence. Kathy keeps commenting on how he's going to get his favorite shirt all dirty and when she brings this up with Tommy himself, he becomes even more enraged and yells at her. Later he apologizes, in the midst of another odd common occurence: the children must have checkups and wait in line on the stairs for them. They're checked for health development.

I'm not sure what's going on in the book at this point. I feel like I'm walking around blindfolded. It's discombobulating, but the curiosity is too great for me to stop reading. Let the confusing novel unfold!

Poetry At Its Best Changes Things

In 2010 I happened upon a special on HBO - the Brave New Voices 2010 Poetry Slam. Four teams of teenagers from around the United States competing, using poems they wrote themselves, after training year round. This poem, by Denver’s Eli Lynch, Elizabeth Cheever and Libby Howard really stuck with me. I am not a poet myself, but if I was I would have wanted to be up there with them, yelling these words through the mic. You should know, before you watch this, that the judges at this slam never gave a score below an 8, on a 10 point scale, although I believed several competitors deserved less than 5’s. The audio in this video is not the greatest so I apologize, I can’t post the words here or it’ll qualify as plaigarism. Just try to listen as best you can. I also recommend Brave New Voices - Childhood, Amber Alert and Favorite Color.

Music and Emotions

Another reference to the legit website that is Stumbleupon.com. Oh how you make my world so much more interesting. Please, if you value any music whatsoever, go to stereomood.com. No matter what mood you're in they will have music to match. Or if you want to change your mood, they have music for that. Just click an emotion. feeling, activity, etc. sit back and listen to the music that unfolds before you. My friend and I are currently listening to peaceful, complete with beautiful piano covers, instrumental songs, string solos and I could go on forever. Needless to say, if we weren't peaceful before, we sure are now. I've been eating sweet tarts for the past hour and a half, and earlier was running around out in the blizzard and could fall asleep, just by listening to this playlist. As I'm obsessed with music and am always looking for the next big thing, I could not be happier. Good night everyone. Have fun getting snowed in. Don't forget to have french toast for breakfast tomorrow. I know I won't.