I Used To Have A Life

Don't Blame Me...

2008-11-04T22:43:00.002-06:00

We are SO hosed.

That is all.

Dad Gummit

2008-10-16T21:18:00.004-05:00

So my church generally has a Christmas thing called Journey to Bethlehem... The practices are starting up soon. I can tell that Journey season has come not because it's getting colder or that the director of the indoor segment has sent out the cast list and schedule...

It's that I have the almost unstoppable urge to say "Shalom!" to Every. Single. Person. That. I. Meet.

I mean, for Pete's sake, you'd think it would be such a habit by now, but every year around this time I want to start shouting random Jewish expressions... Shalom included. Now, really, I don't say it the rest of the year.

Just thought I'd say that.

Right, now that I've gotten some of the more useless stuff out of the way, it's time for me to spread my whiny 17-year-old fury all over the blogosphere! YAY!

So I'll be turning 18 in a matter of days, meaning I just eke in under the deadline for registration to vote in the general election next month. The very thought is infuriating, seeing as both McCain and Obama are one big huge crap sandwich. Way to blow my first election.

Honestly, there's a reason I'm a teensy bit misanthropic. People like THAT.

I'm not going to go on and on about how much one or the other sucks, or how both candidates suck, and I'm also not going to "Make my voice heard!" because honestly? I got nuthin'. Most teenagers have got nuthin'. A bunch of college students want to "Make Our Voices HEARD!!" But they don't have anything worthwhile to offer. I don't want to hear your voice unless you have something intelligent to say, ya tardbox.

So I'll have to stick with shutting up, holding my nose, and voting for the lesser of the two major evils.

Bugger. I think I'll live in a cave somewhere. Hermits United meets every ten years; should be fun.

Current Mood: Cynical

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Hwell DUH! Everyone knows that "reality tv" isn't all that reflective of reality. Example? The main man in Fox's 2003 series "Joe Millionaire" was touted as a $19,000 construction worker actually worked as an underwear model more than once and appeared in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives." A little bit of extra change, there, eh?

It Feels Good to be a Gangsta

2008-09-14T20:29:00.002-05:00

...Actually, I wouldn't really know what that's like anyway. I'm too gosh-darn white to be gangsta. Seriously, I'm translucent. *holds up arm* And I bruise easily.

Nope. I am no gangsta.

Unfortunately, it seems that a bunch of folks here in the 'burbs think they're pretty gangster. I feel it's my duty as a productive member of society to say this:

PULL YOUR BLOODY PANTS UP.

GAWD.

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE EXACT TOPOGRAPHY OF YOUR BEHIND.

When I see guys running around with their back pockets around their knees, it makes me want to grab the nearest roll of duct tape (staple guns are even better) and cinch up said pants around their armpits. Maybe I should start stuffing two or three of their friends in there, too, seeing as there's enough room for at least two people in there.

While we're at it, stop trying to graffiti the transformers. I can tell you're just using one of those extra-large "Sharpies" and not making any real effort. You fail.

Oh, and one more thing: For the love of all that is good and holy, stop trying to act like the bandanna on your head and hanging one arm out the car window makes you cool. It doesn't. It makes you look like a douchebag. I could most likely kick your butt to the moon in a fight. You fail even more.

Sincerely,

The One Chick That Is Going To Be Making More Money Than You

Mood: Oddly satisfied

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Gig Young, an Academy-Award-wining actor, was originally cast as Charlie in "Charlie's Angels." Unfortunately, Young was also an ardent alcoholic, and showed up to work on the first day so drunk that the producers had no choice but to fire him. Hence John Forsythe came onto the scene in a last-minute hiring decision. The Day Was Saved!

kicking and screaming

2008-07-10T21:09:00.002-05:00

All right, all RIGHT!!! FINALLY.

Geez. People keep buggin' me.

So.

Blogging. This newfangled thing.

First off, an update: I got my black belt back in February (what?), got into my first car wreck in April (what?) --Don't worry, the car is fixed and in perfect working condition-- and I am about two weeks out of entering my senior year of high school (WHAT?!). I've taken up the bass guitar, which is coming along swimmingly-- I love the thing.

Next off, a plug: Doctor Who. One of my friends recently introduced me to this lovely bit of British sci-fi, and I've gone and gotten completely addicted. It's really a very fun TV show. I mean, how many other shows have decent writing (one writer constantly makes me almost pee myself with fright), unusual plotlines (including dropping various people and about a zillion angry nemeses into separate parallel universes), attractive leading men (David Tennant. Scottish. I need not say more.), AND nerdy gadgetry into 40 minutes of... stuff? It's hilarious. If you don't watch the show, then at least watch me and my friends watch the show. Sometimes that can be more entertaining than the show itself. (No, I'm not kidding.) I've gotten myself so incredibly brainwashed that I'm currently teaching myself the bassline to the original 1960's theme music.

On a completely different note: the ACT. I hate that test. I took it a few weeks ago, and am exceedingly glad that I've gotten it done. I managed a 29, with high scores in reading and English. Science was okay, not really so much the math. But since everything I plan to do involves using a calculator and a lot of scratch paper, I think I'll be okay. I don't think I'll be needing to graph matrices and sine curves while closing business accounts, do you?

Yeah. Didn't think so.

Once again, a non sequitur: Video games. My mom managed to buy a Wii off of one of the college students, so when I feel like it I pop in Smash Bro's Brawl and start Beating the Ever Loving Tar out of various Nintendo characters. It's great fun. I plan on acquiring MarioKart eventually, but perhaps with an easier controller than the Wii wheel. (Tried it. Not such great results... I prefer a GameCube controller.) I also went and blew quite a few moneys on a Nintendo DS (Yes, I am a Nintendo fangirl. Shut up.), which has proven to be quite a riot. Lego Indiana Jones is quite the Good Time when I'm bored.

Up, down, looping around to: Roller coasters. My lawd. I almost died when the church youth group went to Six Flags. Seriously, I have a Deathly Fear of roller coasters. I don't even like driving over hills that fast, ok? That's how much I despise the feeling of g-forces on my gut. But of course, a couple of my guy friends decide to put me on the most extreme rides the park has to offer. You should've seen me hyperventilate on the Mr. Freeze. I was shouting obscenities by the time that one was finished.

Guh. The fear is a little less deathly, but I still hate hate hate HAAAAAATE the feeling of g-forces. They are officially Not Cool.

Last one, I promise! It's the most important (aside from events that I'm not allowed to crow about... yet): We gonna have us a weddin'! Yes, my big sister finally found herself a man that can keep up with her biting sarcasm. Well done, B.J., for surviving this long! (Especially the vote.) But at least we know that he can take public humiliation. When Amy told me about the wedding plans, it was a little hard, I admit, to absorb at first. At first, I was simply "buh?" which quickly progressed to "OMGWTF?!" which eventually morphed into "Ok, cool. The Force is back in balance. Carry on." But I'm happy for them. The two tend to be so lovey-dovey it's sickening.

As, perhaps, it should be.

Current Mood: Exhausted

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The original version of "The Sleeping Beauty" was most likely not something that you'd read to your innocent little girl. In Charles Perrault's original version, the sleeping girl wasn't awakened by her handsome prince's kiss, but the nudging of her unborn twins. Yup, that's right, the still-married Casanova violated a comatose chick and THEN took her home, where his first wife tried to have her killed. ...Dang. Disney must've had a field day.

Score.

2008-02-01T17:50:00.000-06:00

At last, after two and a half years, I finally got my letter. Which one?

The one saying I'm confirmed for black belt testing come February 16th. WIN.

You missed the show. I got home from black belt club last week, and checked the mail since I was pretty sure that no one else had gotten to yet. I grabbed the wad of envelopes and started flicking through it, doing the usual "Not mine... not mine... not mine..." before I can to a really thick one. "Heeeeeey, this could be interesting." Sure enough, it was my name on said envelope, causing a shiver down my spine and my legs to bolt as fast as they could go down my driveway into my house. I dropped my gym bag rather unceremoniously on the floor and tore into the envelope, shouting "HOLY CRAP, MOM, IT'S HERE!!!" And, lo and behold, there sat the letter and testing requirements for first degree black belt, along with the testing form I would have to turn in and pay for.

So I just said goodbye to a paycheck and a half paying for this test. It was worth it, though.

As you can probably tell, I'm bloody thrilled and am trying to go for any and all regular classes just to make sure that I can't possibly get stuff wrong during this test. That brick is going DOWN.

School is going all right, just slow (as I say every time, but it's true). Right now my literature unit is focused on death and mortality... Wow, that's cheerful.

Bible Bowl tomorrow. I wouldn't mind quite as much if certain people weren't showing up... I won't (and can't) go into details, but understand that it's difficult for me to coexist peacefully with these people after all the crap that they've tried to pull and the sullying of our reputations they are attempting (and in most cases failing) to do. I know that revenge is no way to exist, but honestly it sucks when the evildoers and troublemakers among us don't get their just desserts. As it were, however, I just try not to pay them the attention they so desire. They don't deserve it. Grr.

Right... Nothing much else has been happening around my neck of the woods. I'll see you folks when I see you. :]

Current Mood: Peeved

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Today's winner of the "EEEEUUUU!!! Gross!!" Award goes to Tilbury Docks in London, after finding over 300 kilos of decapitated rates in a shipment of synthetic hair. Apparently the rats had been smuggles in from Ghana, where smoked rat (kebabs?) are a considered a delicacy.

Iiiick.

Internets is a Meaneyhead

2008-01-18T15:22:00.000-06:00

My broadband is being slow for some reason. Rawr.

So I finally made Google take (and keep!) my password, so hopefully that means I can update here a bit more often than I do (I'm sure Charlie will be thrilled).

So it's cold here, or at least colder than I enjoy it being. I mean, I don't mind cold, but if all my hoodies are in the laundry that really makes things a bit more intolerable. It's windy, so I can't turn on the fireplace. Hmmm, there's always the electric heater. And the dogs, one of which is attempting to bury her nose under my laptop once again. I don't know why she enjoys that, but she does. The puppy is just weird.

I just now realized that this thing types on a delay. So right now I'm typing what I normally would, but the processor is actually a few words behind me. It looks like there's a ghost using my computer as soon as I stop typing.

So my Christmas was good, albeit somewhat tardy as my brothers went to their respective in-laws for the holiday itself. So my immediate family waited patiently to open gifts until the 26th. It was a nice Christmas, seeing as on the 25th we all sat around in our pajamas and watched movies all day. Yes, I do mean ALL DAY. I think we watched somewhere around five or six movies. We're never going back to Blockbuster, seeing as the Philistines over there keep scratching up or dirtying their discs to the point of their not being playable. Other than that and the dishwasher decided at that moment to decide to die, it was a very enjoyable Christmas. I enjoyed the sleeping in.

You know, since my partial insomnia seems to have cleared up over the past year or so, perhaps I should change my blog address. Any ideas? Do tell.

So I've been camping out by my mailbox since Christmas Eve... Why? Because Christmas Eve was the day I got a notification saying I am being considered for the February black belt test. (Needless to say, I immediately called and/or told everyone that would stand still long enough to listen. I was a happy child.) The last newsletter released said that the final notifications would be sent out this month, but so far pretty much no one's gotten anything. (I don't think they've sent anything out yet.) I'm really hoping I make it. It'd be nice to know for sure so I can start planning a party. I mean, this is definitely a celebrating occasion. :)

Right then, I should probably check on how my uniform is progressing through the laundry.

Behave, kids!

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Bach's "Kafee Kantate," a story about a man who wants his daughter to quit drinking coffee (which the girl refuses), is considered the greatest piece of art written about coffee.

Full Stummy

2007-11-23T22:08:00.000-06:00

That's what happens after Thanksgiving: you get full. Right now I find eating to be a difficult thing, seeing as either my stomach feels like it's going to rebel or I simply don't feel hungry. Like, at all. So it'll be a few days before my system is back into swing. I hope yours has had less trouble getting over the gluttony that is America's favorite national holiday. :)

(I say Thanksgiving is America's favorite holiday because if you say "Merry Christmas" anymore you get yelled at for pushing your Christianity on other people, which is so totally un-PC. Scroo dat.)

It's cold. That's fine but a little annoying, because I get a tad depressed in the evenings because it's a pain in the rumpus to regulate my temperature. As long as I don't wear shoes and I keep the hoodie on it's a little easier. But it's still a bit more than is necessary, I think.

Tomorrow will be occupied with tree decorating. I'm dreading this somewhat, as it means I'm going to be kept in the same room for about four hours while I attempt to find just the right place for each of our million billion ornaments. At least we all know where the GOOD ornaments go: Star Wars things go front and center. Garland is wrapped around my neck and upper body while we drape it exactly right. But our tree is fake so we have to set that up before we do anything else, meaning another half hour of straightening out the branches on said fake Christmas tree. Fun times. We attempt to make a runway of our front yard while we set up the outdoor lights (which are actually pretty once we get them all up... It's the getting them up). Really though, it can be fun, at least if I don't have to do it alone. It's a lot better to do with at least my sister; having the brothers around makes it that much more fun, because we start poking around at each other and cramming me in the corner behind the tree, haha.

So Mizzou's playing KS tomorrow. GO TIGERS!!!! DOn't fail us now, or else Mom will be in a bad mood!

Blah. Sleepy now. That and I need to go put my pants in the laundry because this is my last clean pair. I'm sure people would prefer it if I wore pants. I would, too.

Current Mood: Hot and tired

Random useless Fact of the Day: Since it's the day after Thanksgiving... Every year, it's American tradition that the President 'pardon' one turkey from death. Usually, this turkey comes from a petting zoo. Talk about respect for the bird that would've been our national symbol...

You! With the Face!

2007-11-12T10:05:00.000-06:00

Yes, you. You with the face.

I've recently become addicted to that particular expression. Thanks a lot, Joel. Just remember, you started it.

Speaking of Joel, for those that didn't know about his getting brain surgery a couple of weeks ago, he's doing well now. He's been cleared for full days of school (which I'm sure he was just THRILLED about) and for driving (not that that'll help much). His hair is still trying to grow back, but it's at the stage where it feels really weird if you rub it. It's fun. I'd do it more often if he weren't a foot and a half taller than I am.

Being short can suck, you know. I get poked about it all the time by some of my taekwondo classmates. They seem to think it amusing that I'm almost too short to function. My friend Scotty especially is laughing at me, saying that his kneecaps are about at my face level. Oh, wait... that was LOW of him. Excuse me while I grab an axe and chase him around with it. Sharp objects are dangerous.

I prefer to say that there's nothing more dangerous than a short person with something to prove. Hehe.

Midterm are going well. Just one more to take, and I want to get those dang trig identities down. Not my fault they're so incredibly obtuse they're almost impossible.

Voice lessons tonight. Taekwondo tomorrow. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Yeah, life's been somewhat boring lately, in case you couldn't tell.

Right then, should probably get back to chemistry. let's see how long it takes me to fall asleep. XD

Current Mood: Warm

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The Amish, in accordance with the Second Commandment ("Thou shalt not make graven images") refuse to have their faces photographed. So to help out those wanting a picture, they compromise by allowing photographers to get pictures of the backs of their heads. (Yet another good reason for proper hair care.)

I'm Old

2007-10-25T14:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, I celebrated my 17th birthday yesterday. I feel old now. Or somewhat obsolete at the very least. (Hey, if my siblings get to whine about how old they are, it's my turn to get in on the fun.) But I can't exactly say that I'm technologically obsolete, even though the laptop that I'm typing this entry on is old. (Hey... It's a laptop and it works. I'm not going to complain.) I mean, hey, I OWN the laptop and a new Bluetooth headset (which I now am wearing so I don't have to be so productive as to reach over and grab my phone while I am typing...).

But yes. Revel in my ability to check my email in front of the fireplace instead of downstairs, where it's cold. I can also join in the laptop parties that tend to ensue whenever my siblings come to visit (everybody sitting around on whatever they can find, checking email and their respective computers). Yay for wireless internet!

Just got done with a trigonometry assignment. Man, I hate that subject. My book does a pretty crappy job of explaining things, so I have to look in yet another math book to figure out exactly what's going on. Combine that with an inability for actually work very quickly, and it takes three weeks to get anything worthwhile done. Lit is almost the same way, but I'm actually not bad at that. The only thing that takes forever is writing the papers that I have (which alone would take anyone a while), so there's two weeks to get a unit done in there, at least. Blarghag. At least accounting's going ok.

The fireplace is one. That makes me happy. It's warm now. :)

Just thought I'd give a short update. Behave, Kids!

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The average person consumes 8 spiders during sleep in his lifetime. (Can we say... EEEEWEEEWGROSSGROSSGROSS!!!)

Five Deer and a Lovebird

2007-10-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

So the wildlife in my backyard has gotten a bit more interesting lately. Usually I only see one, maybe two deer out there. A few days ago, however, there were five. Yes, five. Three adults, two fawns (which didn't have spots but were still suckling). Funny thing is, I didn't notice said deer until I was out in my backyard, walking Pepper the Boston terrier. (But Pepper's not exactly bright, so she didn't notice them either.) Dumb things just stood there and stared at me and the dog, wondering what we were going to do (answer: Pepper did the business that she's supposed to). Once Pepper started growling, though, then they scampered off into the woods.

They'd better not be pooping all over the backyard.

Deer aside, the animals back there are pretty boring. Then Phil makes the lovely discovery of a very strange bird living in the birdhouse, being a friendly neighbor to the sparrows. This bird looks a little bit like a parakeet, only a tad larger and with a shorter tail. It's mostly green, with a pinkish head and parrot's bill. In other words, this bird is something very much not native to the state of Missouri. I did a quick search on Google Images, and it turns out that this thing is most likely a lovebird. What a lovebird is doing in my backyard birdhouse is a complete mystery. I'm thinking that it's someone's liberated pet; it seems to have no fear of humans at all. I mean, I was standing right under the tree branch where it was perched this afternoon and it only sat there and looked at me like I was some sort of retard.

Dumb bird. I have a couple of buddies in my taekwondo class that own parrots; perhaps they can give me a few words of wisdom as to what to do with the lovebird.

Speaking of taekwondo class, it's going really well. I had sparring class tonight, which was pretty interesting. My instructors have been reshuffling the sparring classes (by what standards the rest of us have NO IDEA), so I'm stuck in a class with not very many adults. The oldest of us is probably 18, and the majority of people I would even attempt to spar are about 15-17. Unfortunately, these folks are in short supply: the rest of the people in the class are KIDS. That's right... I'm in a class with a bunch of 12-year-olds. Needless to say, I'm not very happy about this. I don't want to fight kids. I don't feel right attempting to hit kids, especially since they're shorter than I am. It doesn't work. Not, don't get me wrong; the folks I did end up fighting were good people; they're in my normal Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday classes. But KIDS? In my SPARRING CLASS?!

I'm hoping I get reshuffled to the class with older folks... You know, the ones that I actually like sparring and getting beaten by. Because honestly, if we're being arranged by ability, then doesn't that stifle our development since we're not able to get tips from the ones better than we are??? Ah, well. We'll see what happens with that. In the meantime, I'm only 22 more classes away from being eligible to test for my black belt. That makes me happy. :)

Photo shoot tomorrow. Oh, joy.

Birthday in a week and a half. Here I come, #17!! :D

Got my ticket for "Wicked!" I'm excited about this one! This is where I get down on my knees and thank God that I have friends that know how to use their presale connections... Because we got the GOOD SEATS!!! Second row in the first mezzanine, yo! None of this "Hey, being on the floor sucks because I can't see over you people" stuff! Plus, I've been wanting to see "Wicked" since I first heard the music for it. It's supposed to be a really sweet musical, so I'm sure my girlfriends and I will have a great time mouthing along to pretty much every song in the play.

Going to see "Body Worlds" next weekend! For some reason, I'm fascinated by the prospect of seeing actual dead bodies being put on display for educational purposes. It should be really cool. I'm calling it my 17th b-day party. :)

School is going. I've scheduled one midterm and have taken two others. I still tend to have homework up to my eyebrows, particularly in Lit. Blargh.

I get to sleep in tomorrow... Again, that makes me happy. I don't get to sleep on many Saturdays any more, which is pooface because I'm still a lazy bum.

Right then... I'm going to go wash the sweat off of my stinky self and go to bed.

So there ya go, Charlie!! :D

Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: In the early days, people with syphilis were cured by being given malaria (yes, THAT malaria). The fever killed the syphilis germs, and once the malaria was offed by a few doses of quinine, voila! Cured!

I Officially Hate Google.

2007-09-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

Why, you ask?

They won't let me keep my password.

This seems to me a bit awkward, seeming as I have had to reset my password to Blogger about 5 times thus far, plus two JUST TODAY. This is simply getting insane. I'm cranky enough without their resetting my password every two seconds-- can't I have Facebook for that???

Anyway.

Otherwise, life here has been all right. I'm still moving along in school (though in some subjects, the moving is slower than I would like it to be; blame Missouri higher math requirements for that). A few of my subjects, though I really enjoy, AP Lit/Comp being one of them. The teacher gives me smiley faces on my work, and I find that highly amusing! I mean, I haven't had smiley faces on ANYTHING since kindergarten. This is a BIG THING. But yeah, I think the school will work out, especially since I received some literature on how to actually use my graphing calculator. (We spent big money on that thing... but have I become technologically literate enough to use it properly? NO! Even with the user's manual!) So now I have TI-89 Graphing Calculator for Dummies. How special!

My social life has increased a lot these past couple of weeks. Extreme (the high school choir) has started up again, which has me all a-flitter. I love Extreme. It's not very large, and we really do need more guys to join (seeing as we only have about two when Nick decides to show up to practice), but the friends I have in there are great. The music is really good this year. We're already working on the stuff we'll be using for our concert in the spring. It'll sound great, I know it. Now if we could magically recruit more guys, life would be amazing there. I've already tried roping in a couple of my guy buds, but one of them has been throwing excuse after excuse (Psssh, who needs his health?), while another's parents are being a tad unreasonable (in my opinion) and are not letting him do anything outside of their church-- even though quite a few of his friends are already attending Extreme. Wacky.

Well, the Tour of Missouri is passing my subdivision any minute now. This is going to foul up traffic bigtime, I'm certain: there are only two ways out of here, and they both lie on the same main road, which the cyclists are supposed to be riding down about this time. Darn you, Team Discovery!! (Though not really. I'm sad you're disbanding after this. Godspeed. Truly.) But hey, I've got to be getting to taekwondo class somehow... Anyone have a helicopter I could rent for a few? Just to get over the nastiness that is sure to be Upper Bottom Road?

Man, I didn't have a Mountain Dew this morning and I'm already twitchy. Though I'm pretty sure it's because of the death-defying stunts I'm sure to be pulling this weekend. How? The Missouri Taekwondo Invitational is Saturday, and I'm competing. My parents weren't thrilled when I announced that I would be sparring in this tournament, as they've seen what happens in the very rare event in which someone catches a hard kick to the head. (Which isn't very pleasant, by the way. The victim of that kick was on some pretty hefty painkillers afterward.) But my division will be made up of the short stocky people that are not yet black belts. This means they won't be attempting a lot of headshots, but since I'm short (only about 5' 2"), it's always a concern for me. My major advantage, though, is that I'm pretty aggressive in the ring. I simply do not want to back down, even after I get knocked pretty hard. (I've taken more than one kick to the face, and last month I was fighting on a foot injured so that I needed crutches immediately afterward. Ouchy.) But I'm still really nervous. This is the first time I've ever competed in a sanctioned tournament, either in sparring or forms (not fighting, but routines of power display). That reminds me, I should make sure I've got all my sparring gear in my bag before I head out...

Yikes! I should get back to my homework-- writing this served as a break enough. I've got another lit essay to draft. (Oh, and hi, Charlie!)

Current Mood: Jittery

Random Useless Fact of the Day: An actual warning label on the hair ointment "Rogaine for Men": "Do not use if you are a woman." (*insert "DUH" here*)

Therapy

2007-09-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

Now, these aren't directed to anyone in particular, just to those that ever go to order something from a deli/bakery thing. I'm sure that some of my friends in foodservice can sympathize.

POINT #1: Get yourself organized enough to think ahead.

Okay, so you want to take lunch to a meeting you're going to. Great. We love orders. I'm glad to make 'em. I'm even good at it. Just please... Call us at LEAST an hour beforehand if the order is more than just a couple of sandwiches? Because if you're going to order a bunch of cookies and scones with five sandwich box lunches, then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure we actually have what you want! We don't appreciate having to call you back again and again to see if you have no problem with our being out of scones or veggie sticks. This is especially true on the first day of our week after being closed Sunday and Monday. People tend to come in and clean us out of everything...

POINT #2: Look over the menu and see if there's anything you've missed.

When you're ordering a sandwich using one of the fill-in menus, please have mercy and take the time to make sure that you've filled everything in. This is especially problematic with the bread selection; it's hard to make a sandwich (which, remember, I kind of enjoy) when you don't have any idea as to what to put said sandwich on. Also, please make sure that you've checked whether it's for here or to go... It's a pain in the rumpus to have to run back and forth and ask these things, especially at the lunch rush hours. Oh, and before you order, please make sure it's what you actually want. Having to stop and start over just because you decided you DIDN'T want mayo or something just makes time go slower and the sandwich people want to shut our heads in the coldtop.

POINT #3: We are not, I repeat, NOT a fast food establishment.

So you're in a hurry. I understand that. Really, I do. I'm going to try to make you as happy as I can with our service, meaning I will try to get your order up as soon as I possibly can. But let's think about this: It's noon, and there is a very long line of people standing around and not looking at bread. The safest thing to assume is that these folks are waiting on sandwiches. When you see us scurrying around at the coldtop making sandwich after sandwich, pounding them out at a pretty good clip, and looking at a stack of yellow papers, it's also safe to assume that your order JUST MIGHT TAKE MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. As I said, my co-workers and I are going to be moving our fastest, but it's not easy trying to coordinate many sandwiches on the board at once. Things happen, and we might have to take even longer (this is especially true when we've received a ginormous call-in or fax order). Trust me, this is hard, and all I ask is some patience.

POINT #4: We are CLOSED Sundays and Mondays!

I know you love us. Many people do. But the owners need a weekend, so they close down the shop on Sunday and Monday. This means we bake NOTHING on these days. (Go back and read that again, if you don't mind. I'll wait.) So everything we sell when we open Tuesday morning is going to be two, maybe three days old (which is why sell it at 40% off). One batch of bread is going to take FIVE HOURS from start to finish. We take pride in our work. We make everything from SCRATCH. Using the normal timetable, this means we don't even START getting the fresh bread out of the oven until 10, maybe 10:30 on Tuesday morning. Even then, we can't slice anything for you for at least another 25 minutes, because if we try then the loaf will collapse. Not pretty at all. If you want good-quality, fresh Tuesday bread, then you might consider coming in the early afternoon; we usually have everything out by then.

POINT #5: There is a good reason we print out that calendar every month.

You see those large pieces of paper sitting by the cash register? The one that lists whatever breads we're making on whatever day? As I said, we have that for you to take and study so that you can find whatever bread you would like. Mind you, we're a SMALL TEENY TINY ITSY BITSY little bakery, so we can't make everything all the time. It's just not physically possible. So if there are any specialty breads you want, please don't hesitate to call in, or ask any of us working there. We'll be happy to take down your name and number and call you when whatever bread is being baked. Heck, we can even set some aside just for you! It's not that hard! Just arrange a time you want it! But if it's not on the calendar, then it's once again safe to assume that we're not baking it. You can put in a request, if you like, for the bread to be baked next month. I'm not promising anything, but we actually DO listen to our customers.

POINT #6: There are customers in the world other than you.

I don't mind serving customers. Really, I don't. I even like it, when the customers are friendly and polite. There are some that I've come to consider almost as friends. I know them by name. But when you barge into my shop and demand that I stick to you like glue? Yeah, that makes me unproductive. I despise being unproductive; that's not what I get paid for. Contrary to your apparent belief, when I'm getting some cookies for you, then it IS indeed possible for me to answer another customer's question and still give you the same kind of service I was already giving you. I mean, hey, I'm probably going to like the questioning customer better because they actually check to see what we have before they order their sandwich (see Point 5). But BY NO MEANS do you have the right to chew out my other customers. I don't CARE how picky you are or how much of a hurry you are in. Stop it. Right now. Take your food and go, because I don't enjoy people chewing out my customers because you think they're cutting in on your service.

Rawr. I needed that. I feel MUCH better now. I guess my main point is that the people at your local bakery/sandwich place are people too. We have lives. We have other responsibilities. We get stressed out, sometimes almost to the breaking point. You'd be amazed how much a smile or a "thank you!" or even a "Wow, that was really good!" can reduce that stress. It's great when you know that your work is appreciated and that you might've made someone else's life a bit easier by doing it. It's a good place to be in. All that we ask in return is that you come back with your business and goodwill. Thanks.

Back Once Again

2007-07-19T19:54:00.001-05:00

This is pretty much solely for my uncle Charlie, who continues to ask me why I never update my blog. Answer: I just got out of school (finally), I have a job (yeah, still! Crazy, ain't it?), Blogger has been taken by Google (meaning I had to try about a bajillion different passwords to remember which one was the real password), and I'm just a lazy little booger (read: teenager).

Life here's been all right since my last update. There has been some drama from a certain juvenile delinquent (not me), but nothing that my family hasn't been able to handle without the help of a lawyer and a lot of sarcastic humor when we're in our own little corner. I've been breezing through my taekwondo training, though I've been busy this summer. On Saturday I'll be testing for Recommended Black belt, the last belt I will have to complete before being certified as a full-fledged black belt. In other words, I'll probably get the black belt some time in the winter. Makes me glad I have a job; apparently the test costs about $160 to test, even with the Black Belt Club discount. Mind you, that price includes certification, a new uniform, and the customization of the belt (the thing gets embroidered with your name and the name of the school). But for right now, I'll focus on completing the requirements for Recommended Black as fast as I can; I'll probably try to get some private lessons in to make up for the time I lost this summer.

Why was I gone so much, you ask? Well, in the second and third weeks of June I was involved in a program called Servants, which is run out of Kentucky Christian University. The first week was spent at the university in a musical boot camp of sorts. The director was really strict, but still had a great sense of humor (often could be seen popping his collar during morning rehearsals, ew). I was reminded constantly of the director of my elementary church choir; upon leaving the first practice session on the first night, I was thinking, "I've found Perry's brain twin! SWEET!" The music practices were really tough, much more so than I expected them to be. For example, we would practice about 6 to 8 hours a day (with breaks every hour or two) in order to prepare our concert. In between practice sessions were many devos and sessions with our family groups (THOSE were hilarious fun!), during which I got the nickname "Spruce." Our family name was the First Forbidden Frumptious Forest, mostly because the only thing my entire ADD group had for sure was that we were all named after trees.

The second week was the tour. That was the most fun I have ever had on a bus since Bible Bowl: for one thing, taking pictures of people sleeping was pretty amusing, plus the fiasco with Prayer Partners (and how I was pulling many anonymous stunts on my PP, who happened to be the director of the choir, heh heh) were just PERFECT. We (all 76 of us) stayed in the houses of people attending the churches we performed at. Those folks were some of the nicest people I could ever hope to meet-- one lady took in eight girls (me included), and the first thing she did when we got to her house was to feed us chock-full of sandwiches and homemade cookies, and then encouraged us all to swim in her pool (which she opened just for us). Another couple let us four girls have the run of their basement apartment, complete with a fridge and freezer stocked with strawberry ice cream. Everyone in the choir became pretty much family, with no real cliques or groups forming within. The drama was left at home, which was a real relief and a change of pace for me. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and I plan to go back next summer!

The next trip I took was to Bible Bowl Nationals in Kansas City. We did really pretty well in the competition, making it through 5 rounds of double-elimination competition (which is the best my team has ever done) and ranking right in the middle of all the teams at the tournament. Who loves the upper 50th percentile!!! We actually got our team into the standings on the Bible Bowl Web site, of which Mom was really proud. The text for next year will be the gospel of John, 1-3 John, and 1-2 Peter. Should be interesting, since there aren't nearly as many places to memorize (unlike a couple years ago with Acts...). We'll see how this year goes; hopefully we can all beat our own bests while actually learning the Word.

A week from today, I'll be flying up to Minnesota to visit my brother Chris. I'm really looking forward to it; I haven't seen Chris since Christmas. Amy should be up there as well, so we'll at least have a three-fourths voting majority. Not sure what we'll be voting on, maybe Phil. Should be fun.

Mom has already enrolled me in my courses for junior year. This year I'll be taking American History, Chemistry, Accounting, AP English Literature and Composition, and Trigonometry. The trig only lasts for a semester, though, so perhaps I'll start Pre-Calculus in January. It's either that or statistics. Either way, I start school on August 6, sooner if my books arrive. It should be an interesting year. I'm sort of nervous about the literature course, but if I work hard enough things should come to me. I'm not big on recognizing symbols and whatnot in novels, not to mention I tend to see the 'wrong' lesson within the story. For example: In Romeo and Juliet I decided that the lesson was "Don't marry the 14-year-olds," but apparently that wasn't it. (Yes, I knew that the lesson was not to carry huge grudges against random people for no reason.) Ah, well, good thing I'm getting some practice, then.

Well, I do hope that this has been (somewhat) satisfactory for those that haven't seen anything out of me for a while. (Hi, Charlie! Next time I know I'm going to see you I'll bring some bread. :] )

Current Mood: Waiting in utter excitement

Random Useless Fact of the Day: James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, dressed up in a style similar to that of George Washington. Why? Apparently he was THAT flattered by folks' comments about his resemblance to Washington. (talk about someone's fashion being out-of-season....)

rises from the dead

2007-01-27T13:33:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, yes, my minions, I have returned from the fictional realm of Noblogger. Who hates it when the site randomly changes hosts and so everyone has to redo their accounts? *raises hand*

So, um, yeah. Everyone knows how I turned sixteen last October. Mid-November I hit another milestone: The almighty driver's license. I even am driving a car that I call my own (though Earl the 1989 Oldsmobile really belongs to my grandmother) to just about wherever I need to go. Happy stuff. I like that car; once I figured how to handle it, it works well for my purposes.

Event number two since my last update was Journey to Bethlehem, in which I somehow landed the role of Mary. It was really very fun; that baby bump was a two-person job to take on and off. Joseph had a really good sense of humor through the whole thing, so that made it more fun. I was sorry when it was over and done.

Event number three: the red belt. I still have a scar on my hand from punching my board at that particular test. Taekwondo in general is still going swimmingly. In fact, I've got Black Belt Club this afternoon, squee!

School is, again, going pretty well. I made it through my first semester with good grades (mostly; geometry is much harder than I give it credit), and am still trucking along. That reminds me, I've still got homework to do. Oh, joy.

Running sound tomorrow in the youth service. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, seeing as I don't normally get along well with teenagers who deliberately act like idiots, but I still love fiddling around with electronics. It should go well, though; this week I get the good worship team, the one that actually knows what's going on and has some actual talent. Crazy! Hopefully, I won't have to mute the mics on the drums. Either that or hand the drummer some paper sticks.

Well, I best be off. I'd like to catch a nap before Black Belt Club, since I'm truly going to need it. After all, right afterward is movie night with some of my friends. Yipee!

Current Mood: Excited

Ranomd Useless Fact of the Day: Studies show that chickens, like many humans, like attractive people best.

Hey, Lookit!!!

2006-10-30T14:29:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know I'm a little late in saying this, but a momentous event has happen six days ago: I turned 16 and managed to live through it. (Much to my siblings' surprise, but I'm then I can be alittle spiteful when it comes to surviving things when people think that my parents are going to kill me.) I haven't tested for my driver's license yet, but I plan to do so in the next month (so I can beat Joel to the punch and so prevent him from rubbing it in my face like last time).

So yes, life is good. School is still going, and I have recently taken my midterms. The only one I wished I studied more for was Spanish (dang preterite tense), but I still made A's on all the rest. Happy me. Work is fine, though I am getting a little tired of summarizing bread ingredients for people that don't bother to read labels. I've also probably made more sandwiches in my life so far than any teenager should deal with, except for those in fast food. Quite frankly, I think working where I do is a really good deal, especially over a place like, say, McDonald's or Subway. Nasty places, them; I've heard horror stories from friends who have worked there.

Taekwondo? Still good. I'm getting ever closer to being able to test for my red belt. If I really hustle in the next few weeks, I should be able to make the November testing. Either way, I will have tested for red belt by New Year's. I also have gotten my photos taken for that (there was the annual photo shoot), which various family and friends might be able to see if we stick them in the Christmas Brag Letter. They're cool-looking, believe you me, particularly the one with the sword. (Yes... Phil got me a sword. It's a pretty sword.) I had my usual Black Belt Club class Saturday. I'm just happy that I came out with only one or two big bruises, and that I didn't hit myself in the face with my nunchucks. Clumsy weapons, nunchucks.

Right, then. I've got homework and Bible Bowl studying to get to. Plus I feel like a nap.

Current Mood: Achy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: You know the 1990's movie "Twister"? Rumor has it that the sound effects used for the tornadoes themselves was made of... wait for it... yawning camels; the yawns were slowed down considerably in order to make the tornadoes sound more realistic. (Why they used camel yawns, I have no idea...)

And I Thought I Was Lazy!

2006-09-29T23:43:00.000-05:00

My, my, I have been gone a while... But not nearly so long as some others on the links list. Hmm. And yet I keep getting bugged my the grand total of two, count'em, TWO people that actually check this page regularly, so I suppose I should go ahead and reveal a little bit of what's been going on the past coupla months since I last got the initiative to update.

First off, the most significant thing I got is my job. I now work late morning/early lunch at one of the local bread companies, and am enjoying it (or at least the paycheck; I don't care if it's only minimum wage). I make loads of sandwiches, I wrap lots of... stuff (muffins, scones, cookies, and the like), I bag bread, and I take people's money (that is, if they wish to leave the shop with anything without my chasing them down in the parking lot). Thus far, it's an okay job. It's not something I'd want to do for the rest of my life, but hey. They were desperate enough to hire me, so I'll take what I can get.

Taekwondo is going swimmingly. A while back I got initiated into blue 1st, meaning I now have a much longer stretch between tests. My red belt probably won't be acquired until between Thanksgiving and New Year's, and I got my belt in either July or August, which should tell you something about how long it takes. I've also lately been attending the Friday night sparring classes. I think that they're great fun, and I'm already learning how to fight a bit smarter. The bad thing, though, is that I seem to be getting injured a lot more, no matter how much protective gear that we have to wear. Right now my left knee is an interesting shade of green from the bruises (note the plural) I received last week, mostly from colliding with my partner's knees. There's a nasty tendancy for that. I've also been kicked in the face by a black belt. My nose was throbbing for a good three days, but it didn't bleed or break, so I am grateful at least for that. I've also been allowed to sing the National Anthem for the Missouri Taekwondo Invitational, which went extremely well. (You know you've done all right when your instructor admits to tearing up and hugs you onstage. Whaddaya know, he does have the ability to show emotion!) So now I'm booked for next year; hopefully I actually compete.

School is also going well thus far. I've made A's in all of my tests, which I'm sure you expected. Pur-leeeze, you thought I'd stoop to making B's? My parents would kill me.

My sister and I are going to be running around a bit tomorrow. We're heading over to Barnes and Noble to attend a book-signing by Brian Jacques, the author of the Redwall series and a number of other books, one of which I am attempting to get read by tomorrow (I haven't actually read anything else of his, you see; I thought I'd at least read one of his books before going to shake his hand). The book is pretty good thus far, if a tad confusing with the sheer number of characters involved. Not to mention that it's the third book in a series... Bit of a dumb idea to start off with the third book in a series... Ah well.

Black Belt Club class tomorrow afternoon. This should be interesting, since I think that we're working with the escrima sticks. I'll do my best not to injure myself, although I might say that this has been a bit harder than it sounds as of late, as I've described above.

Well, I'd better get to bed. Long day tomorrow, and I took Nyquil an hour ago, so I'm feeling a little drowsy.

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: In Nuweiba, Egypt, you can fork over about $400 to learn how to properly ride a camel. That's right, they have camel-riding school. Sure, it only lasts for three days because it's meant more for tourists, but you know what? You get the camle license. Sweeeeeeet.

Before I Get Beaten

2006-08-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, my cousin has been threatening hacking into the computer again, so here I am with a long-awaited update. (So I know that there are at least two people that read this thing.)

Thus far, no one that I actually know has died, at least since my last post. Injuries have been few, though I did get diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. So now I have to puff an inhaler before I get into my taekwondo classes... Not that terrible, but the stuff makes me really twitchy. At least I can breathe now, which is better than I could say a couple of weeks ago. Now if only I could figure out what was wrong with my puffy foot... (Two weeks and I'll be heading in to see the orthopedist, who will probably refer me to vascular guy, since the x-rays my normal doctor took didn't reveal anything abnormal. Joy.)

I'll probably be starting school on Monday. I've sneaked a peek at my new video teachers, and I have some strange first impressions. My biology teacher looks like a bug. My geometry teacher is sort of fat and balding, so I'm not sure how he'll do. We'll see. My history teacher I'm really looking forward to; my cousin had him a couple of years ago and not only is he good-looking, he's funny! Great combo. My Spanish teacher is the same woman as last year, so I know she's good. My English teacher, though, she has this really quiet "I will kill you in your sleep and eat your children" tone of voice. Freaky. Makes me miss Mrs. Schmuck. Ah, well, I'll see how these folks do; it normally takes a couple of weeks to get aquainted. I've got all of my books and whatnot, and the boxes are all cluttering my desk. Got a new desk chair, so I should be a bit more confortable during the homework part of the day.

The 19th is going to be a good day: I'm testing for blue first in taekwondo! Yay! It's always good to be moving up rank, since now I won't be at the bottom of the heap in the Intermediates' class anymore. Always a good thing, not being at the bottom of the food chain. It gets annoying after a while.

Bible Bowl started off (I think) on the right foot on Sunday. This year, we're studying 1 Samuel, and 2 Samuel chapters 1-6. Yay, blood and gore! Always a good thing to teach the younger ones. I especially like the part where Samuel slays Agag (Phillistine king) with the sword. Moral: Don't mess with the preacher. And then there's the part about David, Saul's daughter, and the foreskins... I can't wait until Mom has to explain to the innocent 6th graders what a foreskin is. Appropriate response: Well, if you're a nice Jewish boy, you don't have one. Okay, changing the subject.

The animal shelter business is still going nicely. I'm quickly coming up on my fourth year of volunteering. Once I hit sixteen, though, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue with that or try to get a job (or volunteer) at some veterinary clinic. Because honestly, my parents are getting tired of shuttling me around and if I ever get my driver's license, that's another $100 bucks on the insurance that I'd want to pay for. I need to get paid more than $5 a week for doing Grandma's laundry (read: Julie needs a job). Driving will be a good thing once I actually learn how to do it.

Well, I think that's pretty much everything that's been happening on my end of the wire.

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Four percent of men prefer to wear thong underwear.

A Small Rant

2006-07-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know I should be getting to the Cult of the Month, but I feel like being a dirty little procrastinator at the mo'. So here I sit, having just finished the 4th Harry Potter book and a few chapters into the 5th (why yes, I AM attempting to re-read them all before the next school year starts!). The coffee cup is empty, which means that I will probably be forced out of the Dungeon of My Black Despair, Down We Plunge to the Prison of My Mind. (Er, yeah, random "Phantom" lyrics. Yes, I know. I'm a freak.)

There's one thing that I've been thinking a little bit about lately, and that is swearing. You know what I'm talking about- the 'f' word and such. I know that some might look at me funny and yell "HYPOCRITE!!!" at the moment, but rest assured I'm working on my own problems with certain words in the English language and have thus far made a tiny bit of progress. (There are a few issues that I won't go into that it's stemming from, and so I'm trying to treat the disease and not merely put a band-aid on the symptoms.)

But this isn't about me. Not this time. This time it's been directed at my friends, and it's meant to wound and hurt and downright offend. It's disrespectful, and it's wrong. And you know what? This might sound really really weird to some, but guess what? IT DOESN'T MAKE YOU LOOK MORE MATURE. Quite the contrary, really. It just makes you look like some... I don't know... like some illiterate nutjob that just has to "emphasize" their situation instead of actually taking care of it. (Lauren and Linsdey's mother/supposed!friend, I'm looking at you. That's not a good thing when I've got coffee and a rising Pavlovian urge to kill.)

And it doesn't convey any sort of idea, either. When you think about it, you simply have to wonder where these words came from and what they were originally meant to mean. Take the 'f' word, for instance. You hear that one all the time (unfortunately) and it seems to have lost any sort of shock factor that it might have, since it's so overused in pretty much every aspect of society. It's a noun, verb, adjective, and any other part of speech you can think of. The only thing people don't know about it is where in the world such a word actually came from. I sure don't know, and I'm not really in the mood to type such a profanity into my search engine and find out. All that anyone really knows is that it's there, it's mean, it's disgusting, and it's probably here to stay, at least until someone thinks of something nastier.

*sighs* I kinda wish I knew why people choose to use things like that, especially when they have essentially no meaning. Sure, you can use them in the place of proper words, but why? There are a bunch of other words that sound a lot funnier than, say, the 's' word when you mean a pile of defecation. Come, now, you can't say that you've tried the word "defecation" and didn't smile a little bit. (Or maybe that's just me again.) It's a mind-boggler, to be sure, but it's one I'm interested in, both for myself and for others.

And just to let those strangers who tell me to show them a Bible verse that denounces cussing, I've got one: James 5:12- "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned."

Or perhaps this one, Matthew 5:37- "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

I do believe that last one was straight out of Jesus' mouth. It's right up there with the Beatitudes and the whole "Salt of the Earth" thing. Sermon on the Mount, you know what I mean?

Perhaps I should add the last verse of that chapter, verse 48: "Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect."

I can't think of anything quite as simple as that, can you?

Current Mood: Curious

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Radioactivity doesn't make stuff glow. You need phosphor (the stuff you find covering the TV screen) for that. Besides, you're lucky if you can make all the little particles stick, so it's not contagious either.

yawn

2006-06-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

So yeah. I just realized that I'm really quite unusual, at least in today's society. How so? Well, aside from my obvious mental quirks, there's quite a lot that would get me some weird looks in certain parts.

I don't have a boyfriend, nor do I really want one at the moment.

I don't think boyfriends are a big necessary for a fifteen-year-old.

My family is stable, my parents have been married to each other for over 30 years, all of my siblings and I share the same parents, and my parents have only been married once.

I think that obeying the parents is a good way to live (and continue to stay alive, at least in my house), and that having good familial relationships is a wonderful thing.

I am Christian, and am not afraid to stand up for that fact that I am religious.

I'm one of the teens who can say they are satisfied with their bodies (or at least mostly satisfied).

I have friends that I can actually talk to, not just call my friends and not actually mean it.

I enjoy reading for hours a day.

I believe that going to college is essential for making a decent living to support onesself and one's family.

I believe that brains and character are more important than beauty.

I think that abstinence is a really good method of birth control/being safe/avoiding a whole lot of trouble.

So did I miss anything?

Current Mood: Thoughtful

Random Useless Fact of the Day: There's a reason that copper rivets are only used on the pockets of blue jeans. Levi Strauss (of denim fame) heard about the little problem of cowboys settling next to a campfire, causing copper metal to do what a metal does best: conduct heat. The rivets would heat up to pretty high temperatures, and, well... You can imagine why cowboys sang mournfully.

And Here We Go Again

2006-06-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I promised you people an actual post, didn't I? I suppose I should get to that before I forget (again).

Aside from the events surrounding Memorial Day, like my grandpa getting into a car wreck (he's okay; he's got a new car, it was the other guy's fault), the annual family barbeque at my aunt's house (and her gigantic swimming pool), and getting out of school for the summer (thank you, Jesus!), there's not a whole lot that's been happening. Well, I did get my blue belt in taekwondo, moved up to the intermediates' class, and was invited to join the Black Belt Club (which I will, woot!!).

Not exactly sure why I was invited for the Black Belt Club; I'm just getting the hang of my blue belt. It was really a surprise to see the invitation in the mail. Only a few students get invited, and only the instructor's reccommendation will get you in. Apparently I fulfill all the necessary qualities, so I'll be heading to that particular class. The thing I'm really looking forward to in this class is that I get to start learning stuff with weapons. That's right, they're giving me nunchucks and a pair of escrima sticks! Yay blunt objects! Well, not giving; there's a membership fee, but still. And then there's the little patch you get to stick on your uniform... I'm sure it'll be a blast.

That's pretty much what's been happening around here at Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. (Now let's see how long it take Garrison Keillor to sue me for using his quote.)

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The guillotine WAS NOT invented by Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a deputy to the French Estates General. The first working model of the guillotine was made by a German engineer, so no one knows how it was named after Dr. Guillotin. The e was added at the end to make the word rhyme in various revolutionary ballads.

We don't exist. Not physically, anyway.-- Christian Science

2006-06-01T22:50:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not talking about science in the Christian perspective. That's a completely different subject, one that actually makes sense. Today it's the religion. Strap on your helmets, kids! It's the Cult of the Month!

Christian Science

Founder: Mary Baker Eddy, via the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

First Founded: 1875

Some Basic Beliefs: Are you ready for this? *ahem* Sin doesn't exist. Go ahead, re-read that. I'll give you a second. Done? Yeah, physical matter doesn't exist, either. Disease is also nonexistant. All physical matter, disease, and evil are a product of Malicious Animal Magnetism. God is Principle, Truth, Love, and Goodness all rolled into one, but is very impersonal; He is described as a "divine Mind." Biblical prayer is actually a hinderance to spiritual growth. (Yeah, I'm weirded out about that one, too.) Man is "spiritual and perfect" (according to Mrs. Eddy herself). Since God is Principle, Principle is all, God is good, and God is all, then all is good. (My logic machine just broke.)

Evaluation: Argh. Right, let's first tackle the whole "there is no sin" thing. If Mrs. Eddy really did believe the Bible, then she would know that God completely validates the existance of Satan and evil. So we can throw that one out the window. Next, God created Adam out of material things and took part of his material body to create another material body- Eve. He gave man material bodies with material needs. In other words, you really have to have pretty much no ability to think logically in order to follow this religion. There are too many gaping holes.

Disclamer: It's really the same one as last time. I'm giving out my (unsolicited) opinion of religions. I'm honestly not trying to rip up any particular person (except maybe Tom Cruise, but that was last month). Don't sue me. I only have about ten dollars.

Quickie

2006-05-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

Relax. I'll have a new Cult of the Month up tomorrow, and an actual post shortly after that. But right now, I've got an essay to revise.

Current Mood: Thoughtful

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Onomatopeia: The act of naming something by the sound associated with it. For example: Hiss, boom, or crack.

The Internets Ate My Baby

2006-05-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

This blog entry is brought to you by Internet Explorer and Charter Cable, both of which have been farting so much lately it's hard to check one's email without that internet going down. Much frustration has been spent on this.

On the upside, there has been quite a bit going on here on my end. Take last night, for example: I tested for my blue belt. (It was a make-up test since I wasn't there on Saturday.) Results? Passed! The board-breaking went pretty smoothly; the jump spin side kick went a lot easier than I expected it to. (Snapped on the first try.) So yes, now I have to transfer up to the intermediates' class on Mondays and Wednesdays, instead of going Tuesday/Thursday. Should be a nice change of pace; now I can watch "House" in peace.

Next up on my to-do list is fill out an application for employment (yes, EMPLOYMENT) at the animal shelter. Since a couple of people quite, they're needing people to do pretty much the same thing I do for free. So now I'm going to try to get paid for it; let's see if they'll hire a fifteen-year-old who hasn't quite finished her first year of high school.

Speaking of school, I took three of my finals thus far. I got a 97% on my science one, but the English and geography ones haven't been graded. Algebra will be done on Tuesday, and Spanish would be done in less than two weeks at the rate I'm currently going. So yes, good stuff all around.

Tomorrow will be mostly filled, since Lindsey is graduating from pharmacy school. Should be interesting, and the last of the graduations for a while. So now we'll have our very own drug pusher!!! (Just kidding. Maybe.)

Current Mood: Satisfied

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Wener Heisenburg (yeah, you know, the nuclear physics guy) is either a hero or not as smart as is desirable. He told the Nazis that they didn't have enough uranium for an atomic bomb, overestimating how much they would need by a pretty substantial margin.

Tired

2006-05-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

Stupid finals week. Too much homework, especially when doing 2-3 lessons of Spanish in order to catch up... On the upside, I should be done with most of my subjects by the end of Friday. Who knows how long Spanish is going to last; the doubling up is helping me out somewhat, but it still seems like I'll be in school forever.

Nervous about testing tomorrow/Thursday... I actually don't know if I'm testing for blue belt tomorrow or Thursday, but I'm ready either way. Can't wait.

The shelter's been really hectic for a few weeks. There's been a massive outbreak of parvovirus, and another of pneumonia. Both of our back rooms are filled with sick puppies, and it's possible we'll have some more dying from one thing or the other. Some are doing okay, but others... I stopped into the parvo room, and a bunch of them look like they're just waiting for the end. It's so, so sad. It'd make the nastiest old Scrooge's heart break...

On a better note, one of our dogs had a leg amputated and she's doing really well. Dixie's at a fostor home, and she's wearing a little white t-shirt to hide her stitches. She's got to be feeling so much better, now that she doesn't have to drag around a useless foreleg. I'm not sure what caused it to swell up and be generally nasty, but it'd something she had since before hurricane Katrina back in New Orleans. (Yes, she's one of our Katrina dogs.) She's such a sweetie; I hope she gets adopted soon.

Got done watching the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale while doing me homework. All I have to say is, WHY DID DENNY HAVE TO GO AND FREAKIN' DIE?!?! HE WAS MY FAVORITE!!!! (You can tell I'm mad because I'm abusing the exclamation points!) Pfft, the guy had another series to do. I guess he had to get bumped off of one of them in order to retain his sanity. (Sanity? Who needs it? I've never had it and I function fine! */retard*)

Right. I'm dead. The tanning lotion's dry so I can go to bed. Enjoy, y'all!

Current Mood: Brain Fried

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The 1981 wedding of the Crown Prince of Dubai cost $44 million dollars (and you think yours was expensive), had 20,000 guests, and was held in a stadium built just for the occasion.

dons helmet

2006-05-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's right folks, tomorrow is when one of two scenarios will happen:
1) Pigs will fly
2) Jesus will come back

Why, you ask? Oh, yes. Phil's getting his Master of Divinity. (He's already instructed one of my friends to call him "Devine Master.") Translation? He's graduating from seminary. At last! I kind of thought he'd be in school until Jesus came back. Kind of dumb, I know, but when he's one of those carrying on that proud tradition of 10 years or more of college... (But don't forget, I'll be one of those proud traditon-followers; veterinary medicine takes a while.)

So the plan tomorrow is to wake up at 5AM, leave by 6, and be back some time around mid-afternoon. I'm bringing the iPod and I'm curling up in the back seat and I'm going to sleep. Getting me up early on a Saturday is just cruel. (But Dad's making coffee, so... maybe it isn't so bad.) We're all proud of Phil, and are all kind of stunned that he's finally done.

But the fun doesn't stop there! The week after that, my sister-in-law, Lindsey, will be graduating from pharmacy school, so more graduation hoods are in my future.

Speaking of graduating and getting promoted and all that jazz, there's still more: Next week? I'm testing for blue belt. Intermediate class, here I come! Another essay, here I come! School finals? Here I come! Okay, okay, I'll stop now. I've still got homework (oopsie).

Current Mood: Excited

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The current goldfish swallowing record is 300 in one sitting, set in 1974. And yes, I do mean live goldfish. You know, the little wriggly orange things that you can't seem to keep alive for more than three days? Imagine swallowing 300. Ick.

Just hop up on the couch, Mr. Cruise-- Scientology

2006-05-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the month again, kiddies! Hope you brought your eye protection! Strap in, and please keep your hands and feet inside the blog at all times, because it's time for the Cult of the Month!

Scientology

Founder: L. Ron Hubbard, via the book Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought
First Founded: 1950
Some Basic Beliefs: That man is immortal and a spiritual being, that his capabilities are limitless though they may not be realized (this means I can go leap off a cliff if I only realized that I could fly by taping cardboard to my arms!), can achieve everlasting happiness by reaching a higher awareness (of what, I have no idea). That whatever is true is only what one has observed to be true (Black=white, I tell you!). There is none of this accepting stuff on faith or on a belief system. That absolutely any sort of chemical additive in ANYTHING (yes, including medicine) is a barrier to our well being (So... they would rather us all die of influenza? Mmkay.), and that sweating in a sauna cleanses the system. Anybody that can see the actual source of his problems isn't just a MAN, he's a freakin' higher being, no longer just a "man"! (One, two, three... *steely-eyedglance* *problems vanish* WHEE, I'm a demigoddess! Bow, puny mortals!)

Right. This is just too weird. *takes a breath* Right, to the next paragraph! I'm having a great time with this!

Scientology gives a person the ability to handle POWER (and yes, POWER. ALL IN CAPS.) without abusing it or being scared of it. (As opposed to man being a fallen being and not being physically able to handle any kind of true power without screwing it up somehow. Pfft.) A soul is a thetan, using whacked-out Greek. Having an Operating Thetan means that one exists without physical means and that one is fully onesself (bzuh???).

Aims? Oh, there are aims, all right- impossible ones. A war-free world in which crime and insanity don't exist, and only the honest ones have any rights. (Good luck. I repeat: MAN IS A FALLEN BEING.)

Evaluation: Hoooo, boy. I'm drowning in the humanism-- it's like man pretty much is God, God doesn't exist, and that man can actually make himself perfect without any outside help. Puh-leaze. How many times have we tried this and failed? Merely being influenced by thinking men doesn't help; they're imperfect like the rest of us.

I'm also seeing some suspicion of outsiders in here, a lot more so than I've seen in the Christian Church. Apparantly you'll never be betrayed so long as you are a member of Scientology. According to their web site, the "sun never sets on Scientology", which, in my opinion, attempts to pacify people into thinking that everything will be all right, that there is no impending judgement, and that it's no one's fault that they don't succeed, because it's man's current inability to realize his potential that causes everyone's problems. As a Christian using the Christian point of view, this is simply wrong. Man is limited. Man is imperfect. Man is responsible for his own actions. Man was, is, and will pretty much always be man. Period. End of story.

Okay, I'm done here. Feel free to critique my critiquing; I'm always eager to figure something else out.

Disclamer: Now, tell me you didn't read my little explanation using the First Amendment that I did in my last entry... Please be aware that I am not trying to rip up any particular person (except maybe Tom Cruise, but pretty much everyone makes fun of the odd little man), merely giving out my opinions on various religions. Don't sue; I'm not worth much.

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

2006-04-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

So yeah, Demolition Ball? Friggin'. Fun. It ranks up there with Laser Tag on the List of Stuff That's Fun But I Still Suck At. My team lost three consecutive times, but the last game was really close. Thank goodness Preston (Birthday guy) actually knows how to play, because the rest of us were really pretty crappy. We had a great time anyway; I mean, it's like bumper cars and wiffleball had a lovechild! Come on! The card I made for the party went over well, especially the whole "*lights come up* Phantom: What the...?! Everyone Else: The PHAAAAAAAANTOM, oh, the Birthday Boy is heeeeeeeeere! Let's cuuuut the caaaaaakkkee! DUNDUNDUNDUNDUUUUUUUNNN!!!" thing I stuck in there (the Wehrenburg gift card didn't hurt either).

I now have a huge bruise just above my knee. It's a royal pain; I kept getting whacked into the control stick of the bumper car... But still, there's just something about yelling "KAITIE, GO GET THE BALL!!! PassitpassitpassitPASSIT!" and crashing into your friends that does it for me.

Right. I've got an essay to write. *stalks off*

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Thanks to break dancing, there are now injuries that are named Breaker's Thumb, Break Dancer's Pulmonary Embolism, and Break Dancer's Fracture of the Left Metatarsal. No kidding.

Sing a Song of HU- Eckankar

2006-04-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

Before we get started here today, I would like to say that I won't be specifically making fun of the kooky religions. I'll let you do that yourself; I'll only be interjecting myself in occasionally. I'm not witty enough to do these things justice. If you hate the idea of a Cult of the Month, let me know so I can yell at my sister (it was her idea).

Name: Eckankar, Religion of the Light and Sound of God (o...kay...)
Founder: Paul Twitcher
Introduced as a Religion: 1965
Some Basic Beliefs: The Soul is eternal, and exists because God loves it. Contact of the ECK (Divine Spirit) is achieved through something called Soul Travel (Yeah, don't ask me what the heck that is).
Main Form of Worship (if any): As far as I can find (or as far as I want to look), it's relaxing and singing the word HU- the Sound of all sounds. (Well, if it's capitalized... */grammar nazi*)
Source of Info: Mostly seeing the ziggurat on top of the Temple of Eck in Minnesota, and watching as my sister Googled the thing. The site she came up with: eckankar.org
Next Month: Scientology! Come on, you guys know I hate Tom Cruise...

So yeah, this is sort of an expirimental thing. I'd appreciate comments on how to make it better, but please don't just flame me- according to today's standards, it's within my First Amendment rights to scrutinize weird religions. I'm not trying to be deliberately offensive to anyone. I'm merely a bored teenager with too much time on her hands.

breaks out of the bubble

2006-04-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I'm back. I actually have been for a bit, but I just didn't feel like updating because I'm lazy like that. We got the bathroom installed in my brother's townhouse, I got some new jeans, went to this totally awesome furniture store up there called Ikea, ran around at the Mall of America (the one with the theme park in it), convinced my mom to buy an iPod Nano (black, too!), stuck a bunch of new music on my own iPod, got Little Women finished, totally pwnd the power sander. Yes, fun stuff up in Minnesota, so long as it wasn't raining; the weather up there was awful. Got back all right, obviously, glad to be home.

Not a whole bunch has been going on here on the home front, other than my team getting 1st place in our division at Bible Bowl competition Saturday, and Nights of Praise on Sunday night. Now that's a story!

So yeah, there we were at about 5 on Sunday evening, rehearsing for Nights of Praise. We were in the solo of this big huge choir number, and the light bar above the stage starts shaking! I mean, it's bouncing all over the place, the ceiling's doing the wave, the projectors are swingin' like Tarzan! It was nuts. Then this one lady runs into the auditorium yelling "TORNADO!" And we're all standing there like, "Uh, yer wot?" And the lady's all "TORNADO! Seriously, THERE'S ONE ON THE GROUND!" So we all start running to the community lobby, since the architects were smart enough to stick a basement in there. My mom and I had to help my voice teacher down three flights of stairs (she'd been in a car accident and her legs were still giving her trouble on the stairs). So there we were, all holed up in the basement and wondering if anyone would show up for the actual concert. (People did, by the way, and it was teh awesomes.)

Yes, fun times there. But dang, Mom didn't let me go chase the tornado... (Those that know me know that my life's ambition is to see a tornado before I die.) I'm just that kind of freak.

Finally got my green 1st belt in taekwondo! *glee* Once again, it's a size too long, but I've gotten used to that by now. (Every single one of my promoted belts has been too friggin' long, particularly my yellow 1st belt; that one was hanging past my knees.) Got my form down in its entirety, and for that I got my first two of the three required skill tapes, yay!

Mr. Andrew, one of my instructors, was taping the things onto my belt while Ms. Angie was giving another girl the first tape for her form, and then Mr. Andrew was all, "Julie got two tapes!" Ms. Angie just kind of looked indignant and said, "Mary got it down pat in two minutes." Mr. Andrew, in the spirit of sibling rivalry, shot back "Julie still got two tapes." Mary and I are just kind of snickering through the whole thing, because even though there's still the whole "aura of respect" thing going on through my dojang, Mr. Andrew and Ms. Angie still try to outdo each other. It's hilarious; you should see it sometime.

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Some school in the country (I wasn't listening too much to the news) banned anything to do with flags after some schoolboys had disputes over the superiority of America and/or Mexico, to some other dude replied, "It's our country! If you don't like the flag, then you can leave." Of course, these "BANNINATION!" people deserve a kick in the pants...

Oh, wait. If I did that, I'd give 'em brain damage since their heads are so far up their butts... (If you'll forgive my French.)

Quick Update

2006-03-24T21:05:00.000-06:00

General Status: Well
School: Fine, got 100% on yesterday's science test (without studying)
Taekwondo: Just tested for Green First, passed with flying splinters
Dogs: Just fine; shelter is bursting at the seams with so many puppies
Currently Reading: Little Women for a book report
Tomorrow: Leaving really early in the morning to drive up to Minnesota to see my brother and install a bathroom in his old house. Bother the dogs, play with the "Roomba"... Bother the dogs with the "Roomba"...
Current Mood: Tired/excited/did-I-really-pack-everything-I-need
Random Useless Fact of the Day: Gasoline generally doesn't explode unless it's mixed with 93% air, so the car exploding after you crash it probably isn't going to happen.

Random!

2006-03-10T21:09:00.000-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I've been a bad blogger lately. Since I can't think up any particular subject matter to go on, I've decided to just go on randomly. (Oh, dear...)

...
...

Just took midterms, did pretty darn well on them, especially in English, which is among my least favorite subjects (even though I'm actually good at it). The science and geography were no trouble. Could use some more work in algebra. Haven't taken Spanish yet, but it's not too far away. (I started Spanish later than everything else.) So yeah, the scholastic side of things is going pretty decently. Last quarter, yay! Only nine more weeks of school!

In a couple of weeks, my family is going to head on up to Minnesota to help my brother install a bathroom in his old house, since he and his wife recently bought a new house. I'm looking forward to it; I haven't even seen much in the way of pictures in this new house, and besides, this is my brother and sister-in-law we're talking about here. I love seeing them. (Now let's see if we manage to bring the "Uno Attack" thing....)

Taekwondo is still going strong. I think I'll be testing for Green 1st on the 18th, God willing. The injuries have been slowly cropping up; my quad muscles (you know, they're in your legs) keep getting kicked. I think the muscle might've been bruised last night; I was sparring again and caught some gal's heel. One thing I will say is that I'm GLAD I'm not a male. Getting kicks "down there" is not an uncommon occurance, seeing as everything's moving around so it's hard to take aim properly. So there's something being female is good for.

I think I'm catching my mother's plague; she's been pretty sick lately. My throat's starting to bug me and a fever's been slowly cropping up... Yay. Tylenol for me. (Better living through chemistry.) Hopefully it doesn't last long. I can't stand colds; they go straight to my ears and lungs so it feels like every orifice in my head is plugged up. Thank God for vaporizers and those little shower tabs that are made from "Vapo-rub." (Now THOSE are cool! Plus it's a great excuse to take a long, steamy shower.)

So yes, that's what's been going on around here. I'm a very boring person.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: "How now brown cow?" The "brown cow" spoken of in the old proverb used to mean the large casks of beer in pubs. Simply walk up to the bar and ask for the brown cow of the hour, and one could avoid some nasty hangovers.

The Prettiness of New Monitors

2006-02-23T21:33:00.000-06:00

We recently got my mother a new flat-screen monitor... It's pretty... And that's pretty much All that I know about it; I'm somewhat technologically illiterate. I hope to eventually remedy this situation.

Life is going pretty well for me at the moment; just ask anyone who actually knows my recent news (which should be pretty much the entire church congregation by now, knowing my mother)... I'm not going to say much about it, just that I had a REALLY good Valentine's Day (at least, the last two hours of it). One word: boyfriend. Does that sum it up quite nicely?

School is going well. I'm rapidly coming up on midterms, which should be in about two weeks, depending on which subject you're asking me about. Taekwondo's going fine; I pretty much know what I need to know for my next test. I'm not sure when that'll be, but I should do pretty well, since I've been using up the vouchers for private lessons I got for Christmas. Those have been extremely useful.

As far as I know, pretty much everyone in my family is doing all right, aside from the two youngest members of my clan; they apparently have what I'll call kid-germs. Ick. I'm hanging a biohazard sign on their front door and I'm not going over without wearing a hazmat suit. My immune system has taken plenty of hits in the last six months; I don't plan to get sick for a quite a while, at least not until I get a decent break from school. Or a weekend that's free. Whichever comes first.

Okay, now for the part you REALLY come here for: The current mood and the RUFD.

Current Mood: Tired/achy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The first-ever recognized orchestra conductor, Jean-Baptiste Lully, was the first musician ever to use a baton to lead the rest of the band. This thing wasn't just a little stick. This was a six-foot long rod, which he accidentally pounded into his foot during a performance. Gangrene developed and Lully died a probably painful death.

I'll just leave you to guess...

2006-02-16T11:39:00.000-06:00

What recently happened in my life. I just don't feel like telling the internet at the moment. :P

Current Mood: Euphoric

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Dr. Theodore Suess Geisel's book Green Eggs and Ham is comprised of less than 50 different words. Literary genius? Or just plain laziness? (I prefer to think the former; that was one of my favorite books when I was little.)

kicking and screaming

2006-01-30T21:32:00.000-06:00

And that's how I am currently posting this entry... Why? Because, really, I have other stuff to do, and I'm just a procrastinator. But I knew that I would be a bad, bad blogger if I just suddenly dumped this blog and never posted again. That and my cousin was threatening to hack into the computer, which I immediately beat down, seeing as this thing has all the anti-spyware and that sort of good stuff, plus she kind of flunked Computer Hacking 101.

So yeah. I'm back.

So far no one has been killed (on purpose) or mutilated (beyond repair) or injured (greviously). Mostly, it's bruises and really dry knuckles. Sometimes it's wrenched wrists and the like, but that only lasts for a couple of days (until the next time we practice self-defense in taekwondo)...

Speaking of which, I recently tested for (and received!) my green belt, so now I'm eligible to go out for Friday night sparring classes and get beat up by black belts (whee!). I'm not sure if I'll start that immediately; perhaps I'll get my driver's license first, but that won't be until late October at the earliest. Dang. But yeah, classes are going pretty well. I already know the first half of my form, so I should get that out of the way pretty quickly. The new kicks are fun, albeit that a lot of them have the words "spin," "jump," or "hook" in them. Not that easy to get when one has more torso than leg and has the agility of a three-legged rhinocerous. Still, very fun.

Another interesting event is my moving into the basement apartment. It's all nice and fixed up, and I recently got the last of the furniture moved in (mostly lamps and a nightstand for one of the aforementioned lamps). Still need to vacuum the den, and Mom will eventually move the computer desk down there. It's a really good place to do homework, since Phil had the courtesy to leave behind this huge desk, makes things a lot more comfortable than leaning over a lap desk or something like that. There's a bathroom immediately adjoining my bedroom, so that's especially convenient. There's also a door leading out to a walk-out patio, so if there's a ever a fire I can just open the door and I'm home free. Since it's in the basement, if I ever hear the tornado sirens in the middle of the night, I can just roll over and go back to sleep. (There's something to be said about having the safest bedroom in the house!) So yes, I'm quite content down there; it's very cozy.

Just a quick request for my readers: My cousin, Chris, joined the Air Force and has graduated from boot camp. My family is very proud of him, and hope that he continues to do well. We got some photos of him, and he's looking very military. It's like he knows where he belongs now. I just wanted to ask that everyone pray for him and his safety. I don't think I really need to expand on that, do I?

Other than that, I can't really think of anything else to type. The various newlyweds are doing well, the dogs are fine, and my sister still hasn't taken over the world, although she did get a summer job at John Deere, which we are very happy about. (She's fascinated with tractors.)

Current Mood: Caffeinated!

Random Useless Fact of the Day: "Remember the Maine!" Yeah, you know that ship? It probably wasn't even blown up by Spain. All anyone really knows is that she exploded, but new evidence says that the Spaniards didn't do it: perhaps it was rebel Cubans blowing up the ship in an attempt to draw the U.S. into the battle (well, it worked), or maybe a misloaded cannon was the reason for the explosion.

Lines are fun!

2006-01-13T14:18:00.000-06:00

Right, so my mom, aunt, grandpa, a couple of cousins, and some family friends went to the art museum to see this "Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur" thingy. Since it's Friday, we got in free (yay!) but there was this big huge line (boo!). Therefore, we spent like 45 minutes waiting in line (could be more or less; I was feeling too lazy to actually keep track of time). Also, when we got there to meet everyone else, we had to stick together (of course), and in order to do that we had to all group up in front of this one lady that seemed to have slept on a bed of nails last night. She kept whining and going "Well, who ELSE is joining you, eh?!" and I'm thinking, 'Lady, there's only one of you. You're welcome to cut back in front of us, but guess what! The art ain't going anywhere!' Honestly, I think she and my aunt were about to start duking it out in the hall. (Never mess with the mother of a two-year-old.)

Other then that, I wouldn't say that anything earth-moving or really all that great happened around here since the last update. Well, there is one thing: I get to test for my green belt on the 21st, go me! Oh yes, who's sticker chart is bigger than yours!

Current Mood: Satisfied

Random Useless Fact of the Day: England once had a government position that involed holding a bell and ringing it if the holder saw Napoleon coming. That job wasn't done away with until after WWII.

EDIT: And I cannot believe I forgot to post about this. Everyone, be aware that I think that I saw a flying pig, as my brother Phil finally got married (GASP). Phil, go ahead and hit me for not mentioning this. Also, one of my older cousins (there are a lot of cousins), Kerri, got married the week after Phil's wedding, so I guess the whole wedding thing is becoming a weekend habit. (Kerri, you can hit me if you're reading this.)
Highlights: The toasted ravioli at Phil's reception, and Grandpa saying that he was supposed to pray after the toast but he didn't see any (and so the kitchen folks actually made him toast), the wedding itself, my eight-year-old cousin filming about 15 minutes of Phil's wedding, and later deciding at Kerri's wedding to turn off the camera when Grandpa started speaking, the throwing of paper airplanes at Kerri and her new hubby, another cousin and I standing there while Kerri threw the bouquet, and the time that a bunch of family and friends got to spend together for something happy instead of a funeral. (Thought I'd end with a sentimental note there.)

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

2005-12-27T18:17:00.000-06:00

Why? Guess. Go on, guess!

...

I got my learner's permit!!! :D

So yeah. Clear the roads, or at least the church parking lot. Just thought y'all ought to know.

So, yeah, Christmas? Was awesome. The servies at church were relatively uneventful, except for the worship leader forgetting the words to "O Come, O Come Immanuel." This caused quite a bit of laughter among my siblings and I. After church was the extended family Christmas/lunch over at the aunt's house. That went well; we all got filled up on sandwiches and soup, then opened presents. (I also had to open one from my birthday; my cousin had repeatedly forgotten to give it to me back in October.) A few hours there, and then it was tromping off back home to have the immediate family Christmas. This was very relaxing, very nice, and, of course, filled with the captioning from my siblings. (You really can't avoid some sort of sarcastic joke being cracked at some time during any and all gatherings.)

Last year, the big surprise was the iPod. This year? I got a TV. Yeah, you read that right... A TV. A 20", flat-screen Sanyo, to be precise. The ploy used to deliver it was great: A large box down in my dad's workshop. See, we have exactly the same model of TV in front of the treadmill, so I thought it was something else entirely in that box. Dad had told me it was presents for my brother, and to not mess around with it. (I couldn't anyway; it was sealed.) So I unwrapped the VCR/DVD player with a large "HOLY CRAP!", and then came the question of what I was to play it on. So then I'm all, "So THAT'S what the stupid Sanyo box was for?!" Yup. As Phil said: "Hook, line, and sinker." (Even though, in my defense, I had wondered if Dad wasn't using reverse psychology on me.)

Current Mood: Elated

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Two of the original "Dogs Playing Poker" paintings were estimated to bring in only $50,000 at an auction. Instead, they sold for over $600,000 and are now emblazoned on many novelty t-shirts.

Yeah, Yeah, Still Alive...

2005-12-24T20:17:00.000-06:00

There was one particular thought that struck me a couple of minutes ago: I have now had this blog for over a year. How 'bout that, eh?

Well, Christmas Eve is once again here... I've just gotten done with the first three of four Christmas Eve services; I was singing with the choir and Mom was playing the piano/keyboard. So yeah, now my feet are toast, seeing as the shoes I was wearing were comfortable but not supportive. Not great when standing on risers for long periods of time. But at the moment, my family is waiting to go to the late night service at church (starting at 11 o' clock... great). The late-nighter last year was really very pretty, and very quiet. That I can deal with. Tomorrow? We have church, then the extended family Christmas at my aunt's house, and after that is the only time we have been able to get at least most of my immediate family in the house for our own Christmas thingy. So by Monday we're all going to be completely bushed.

But Monday doesn't end it, no sir! Next week will be spent preparing franitcally for my brother's wedding on Friday. Let's just hope that my voice holds out enough to sing well- Phil says if Joel (the duet partner) and I don't do a good job then we get no toasted ravioli at the reception. This? Can cause panic. I want that darn ravioli!!

So yeah. That's pretty much all that's been happening around my house. I hope you guys all have a merry Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is you tend to celebrate. (I refuse to say "Happy Holidays.")

Current Mood: Really Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Jesus probably wasn't born in winter. Since there were shepherds watching over flocks, then it was probably the time of year when lambs were born- in the spring.

Ah, Great, Here We Go Again...

2005-12-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

Yup. For those of you that don't know it already, Journey to Bethlehem season is once again upon us. Great. That means cookies being baked until the house smells like butter (nauseating), practices (mostly done), days off of school (w00t!), and being Bible-fied until 11 at night with no coffee (argh...). I'm not even allowed coffee. Why? For one thing, I got a solo to sing, and I have to do well, and do it repeatedly. Meaning my voice has to actually live through the weekend. (Plus, my brother's wedding is at the end of the month, and I'm singing for that, too, so that tosses my precious caffeine supply out of the window.)

So yeah. Great times. Not that I'm really complaining a whole lot, it just gets really crazy around here. Makes me yearn for things like the day after Thanksgiving, where everyone just lays around and talks (or, in my siblings' case, watch "Star Wars"). Some of the backstage stuff (when you get a few minutes) is really fun, especially if someone brought cards or board games or some of those chips that taste like onion rings. The friendships you make back there are awesome.

Those Lab pups that I mentioned in a previous entry are sick. Now they've got a bunch of upper respiratory stuff, which is really nasty. Most of 'em are getting better, but one particular puppy is still coughing up junk. Poor girl. :( The really ironic thing is, they can't leave the shelter until they're better and they're spayed/neutered, but they won't get better unless they leave the shelter. I'm not saying we have nasty facilities or anything, but coming back to the same room might start to infect other animals (particularly other puppies that already have been through a lot), plus they keep picking up previously left germs. Sort of a catch-22 situation, I guess.

Extreme, my high school choir, is done for the year. There's going to be some great stuff happening next year. We sort of expirimented with drumming around on PVC pipe, sort of like the Blue Man Group. People loved what we did with them, so next year, according to Captain Kirk (no, I'm really not a Trekkie, the nickname just fits him), we will be building more complex PVC instruments and fiddling around with them. It's going to be great, I can tell. I'm kind of excited about that.

Well, I'm going to go check on another batch of cookies, and/or wash some dishes.

Current Mood: Impatient

Random Useless Fact of the Day: In Singapore, one movie ("Talking Cock: The Movie") was the only film to have ever received an NC-16 rating for bad grammar. Talk about the war against Singlish.

Oh, by the way, Nish: Mental_floss is therefore your ideal magazine. It's the one that I get a lot of my useless facts from. The link to their site is right here.

Lab Pups = Sponges

2005-11-29T09:23:00.000-06:00

Remind me not to go to the humane society after it rains. Why? Because it gets muddy. Why is this such a difficult problem for a girl that happens to like the "drowned rat" look and practices it weekly? Well, here's the answer to that unfathomable question:

Have you ever tried to bathe a bunch of Labrador puppies that have been playing in mud?!

No? I thought not.

Ooh, believe me, it's a fun activity! Especially when the bath is over and they're all wet. This means you have to dry them off. And Labs? Well, let's just say that they're very absorbant. Meaning my shirt(s) get soaked whilst making the puppy burrito with the towel. Fun stuff. At least they held still, very sweet puppies, aside from the fact that they had a staph infection previously...

Well, yesterday was also interesting in that my mother's computer has gotten upgraded. Buh-bye, old fart of a compy, hello to Windows XP!! Boots up a lot faster, now... Sweet.

Sunday, I think, was "Recruit Poor Runti" Day. How so, you ask? Well, during church, the choir seemed to be a bit lacking. I was heading back to the green room (where all the cool people hang out if they've already heard the sermon), and my buddy Preston, who had gotten recruited for the choir earlier that morning, looks at me and says, "Get in a robe." Of course, I'm freaked out now, and people are saying, "Hey! You! Get in a robe!" I look at my friend Britney and ask one of those whiney "Do I hafta??" kind of things, and she nods.

So I got in a robe. Guess that means I'm in Victory now. *insert a shrug here*

Yeah. I'm off.

Current Mood: Cold

Random Useless Fact of the Day: White chocolate isn't legally a type of chocolate. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Here We Go Again...

2005-11-23T17:40:00.000-06:00

I'm going to have to make this quick, but...

Yeah, my cousin was yelling at me again.

My siblings came home for the holidays, we're having turkey, and all that good stuff.

No school this week. Taekwondo's fine, although I did get flipped a bunch of times and my head still kinda hurts, but ibuprofen is taking care of that.

Current Mood: Hungry

Random Useless Fact of the Day: This one's for Nish, who I recently heard is engaged to Tisch. :D The diference between a mountain lion and a cougar? Absolutely none. Difference between running and racewalking? Racewalking requires that one foot be on the ground at all times. Difference between a violin and a fiddle? None!

Mr. Head, Meet Mr. Desk.

2005-11-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

Dear Stupid:

If you walk into a pet store and buy a dog that they say is a chihuahua, please read up on the breed. A chihuahua puppy should not be weighing 5-10 pounds. Heck, an adult chihuahua shouldn't weigh that much. Therefore, it is not a pure-bred chihuahua, or the poor thing has some pretty crappy genes.

Also, once it gets through your skull that it isn't a purebred chihuahua that you paid $800 bucks for, try actually taking responsibility. Like, say, actually knowing that you want a dog. Impulse buyers of dogs suck pretty bad, particularly if they dump it on an animal shelter doorstep.

In closing: Do homework and think with your brain, plzkthxbai!

With absolutely no love,
The Management

Out with One, in with Another

2005-11-07T10:50:00.000-06:00

Well, "Dorothy" was a pretty good success, and I'm kinda glad it's over. Bad thing is, now I'm going to start getting restless that I'm not acting. It's sort of a weird split: I'm going to miss all the fun it was, I'm going to miss all the people, I'm not going to miss constant absence from taekwondo, and I'm not going to miss getting home at eleven at night. Oh, well, Nazareth practice for Journey to Bethlehem is starting up on Thursday, and my mother signed me up (sort of without my prior knowledge) for either a large or small speaking part, so I'll figure what it is I'm doing then. Sigh.

So yeah. My weekend was long.

Current Mood: A bit confuzzled

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Difference between lager and ale? One's light beer, one's heavy beer.

Chick Shoes and Hoop Skirts

2005-10-31T17:09:00.000-06:00

Well, the clock is ticking, and the light at the end of a very, very long tunnel is drawing closer: The opening night of "Dorothy." It'll be this Friday, and boy am I ready for it to be over with! Yeah, I know, it's been fun, but I haven't been to a taekwondo class for a couple of weeks... I'm getting antsy. On the upside, the troupe's going to be on TV! I won't say what show; it's one of those local things and we'll be in the window, waving and hollering (or not) and advertising shamelessly.

And about the chick shoes and hoop skirts... There's been a lot of hoopla (*snort*) about the hoop skirts. Every female in the play over five feet tall has to wear a hoop skirt (and I'm five foot two). You know what? Those things are annoying as sin and whoever invented them deserves to be shot in front of their family. You have to be really careful about how you sit down in those because if you're not, it'll flip up, slap you in the face, and make everyone else in the room die of laughter. The shoes are a big advantage, though: they're gold strappy dealies and they are just generally great shoes. I mean, seriously. Awesome shoes here. I call them my "chick shoes." I don't know why, but the term just seems appropriate. So there. But anyway, the makeup for the entire thing is really cool, particularly the stuff for Beelzebub and his minions. It's pretty much a mix of Darth Maul, camouflage, and African war paint, highly interesting.

School's going fine. Mom's only letting me do half-days this week, since she thinks I'm overextending myself or something like that (and I tend to agree), so I'm getting short days until "Dorothy" is done and over with.

Humane society was interesting today. I know it can be a pain to walk one dog when it's pouring rain, but how about multiple dogs in pouring rain? That's how it was this afternoon, I tell you! It was pretty much a dog-walking army, trying to get everyone exercised since it was too wet for them to be outside in the runs. I decided I look pretty good in the "drowned rat" look.

Anyways, I gotta get going. I think my parents need the computer, and I have to go get my contacts in.

Current Mood: Tired/hungry/content

Random Useless Fact of the Day: My cousin still hasn't given my book back. Remind me to fiddle with her hair until she gives the thing back, seeing as I've only read it once.

Oh yeah, and before I forget... Happy Halloween!

Another Year, Another Joke Flies Over My Head.

2005-10-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

I'm not exactly sure about the joke (although some really do escape my comprehension), but yeah, another year has passed by. Yesterday I turned 15.

Now, this is really a significant event, seeing as now I'm legal to get my learner's permit, and that my parents and siblings, though threatening to kill me multiple times, have allowed me to live thus far. All I can really say is this: I'M NOT DEAD YET. BWAHAHAHAAA.

So now back to life as normal.

Current Mood: Accomplished

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The iPod song total is now up to 993. w00t!

I Hate My Lungs

2005-10-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

Why? Because pretty much any time the weather starts fluctuating like it has been in the past few days, my lungs become full of crud and my throat gets drier than the freakin' Sahara. I swear, I've drunk enough liquids to make my eyeballs float, but my throat feels just as dry as before. Coughing has ensued, especially at night. So now I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, on the suspicion that I have bronchitis. Ew, ick. Leave my drinking glasses alone. You cannot have a bite of my apple. You cannot eat the peppers off of my plate of szechwan chicken. You cannot borrow my pencils.

On the upside, Friday's going to be highly interesting. For one, I get the day off of school (WHEE!). If I am deemed well enough, then Mom might allow me to help prepare stuff for my sister-in-law-to-be's bridal shower. For two, the bridal shower is going to be a hoot. It's a bunch of women crammed into one house. There's going to be an "Oberweiss" sundae bar. (Salivation: Commence!)

But I probably won't be able to stay for the entire thing because Friday is also testing for yellow first in taekwondo (yipee!!). So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. Then there's Saturday, which will be photo day in taekwondo. I've already gotten the "normal" school pictures, now I have to get the ones in which I look like I'd like to rip someone's leg off. It's going to be interesting to see which photo Mom puts in the Christmas card...

Current Mood: Congested

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Got the new "Series of Unfortunate Events" book, squee! And? It's really good, very enjoyable. Okay, Cori, you can tackle me to for plot details now... Oh, wait. Your computer's borking. Oopsie. :)

Go Cards!

Ninja Brat

2005-10-07T13:48:00.000-05:00

Yup, got myself a brand-new nickname, courtesy of my brother Phil. Amy had called last night, and I was wanting to talk to her, and Phil was just getting off the phone with one last "Yeah, I gotta go. The ninja brat wants to talk to you."

Me: "Wha?"

Phil: "Ninja brat."

Me: "But it's taekwando! Big difference!"

Oh, well.

In other news, got the reccommendation to test for yellow first in a couple of weeks, yay! I also got all of my sparring gear, so now can I fight in class, within reason (and when we actually spar in class) without getting completely beat up. That's not to say a nose won't get broken; that's entirely possible. In one tournament, a guy in my class was actually knocked unconscious and given a broken nose and a black eye because apparently the guy he was sparring with got a little overzealous. But yeah, I'm already getting injured: we were practicing a self-defense technique in which the elbow gets pretty well wrenched or broken (and it can be done from a handshake, so don't try to make up with me while really wanting to continually fight). My partner? Gets a little jumpy and moves my arm in a such a way that I hear something crack. So I was nicely wrenched up. Not cool.

School is going very well at the moment. I aced pretty much all of my midterms (lowest score: 93 in health), so that should count when I'm applying for scholarships... Haven't taken the Spanish one yet, seeing as I started that a week after everything else. But still, good grades rock.

My choir, Extreme, has ventured into a sort of new area lately: precussion/drumline type stuff. Really pretty cool-sounding (and looking) once it's done right, but still not exactly what I would envision the average choir doing. Huh. Voice lessons are still fine; my teacher is now allowing me to sing in other languages (not that I actually know Italian, but I do my best on "Caro Mio Ben"). They're very pretty songs, but the demos suck. (Why do they always get the "American Idol" rejects to do the CD demos? Is it just because it's cost-effective?)

Tonight? It's off to my cousin's bridal shower. Girls' night out, w00t!

Current Mood: Passive

Random Useless fact of the Day: Buckminsterfullerine- a highly complex molecule comprised of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a spherical shape. Also known as buckyballs.

Because I'm Getting Yelled At...

2005-09-25T18:04:00.000-05:00

...By my cousin via email. She's all, "And you should update your blog! Like right now!" I'm thinking, "Geez, we're impatient." So here I am. Updating.

Got my mondo government project done, yay! Now I can actually read a book that I want to read, not just some really long biography that doesn't give what I'm looking for. In other words, school is fine. Just need to remember: Sodium=Na. Blah. Missed that on the quiz, crap. A long with a couple others... Radon=Rn. Grr. (And shut up, Chris, I know you'd be getting on my back about it.)

Well, after much anticipation, the first Bible Bowl competition of the new season is this Saturday over Acts chapters 1-6. I'm kind of excited to get going again, as this time I think my team just might actually get to be feared. My mom did some really good recruiting, i.e., the sort-of social misfits that like memorizing and have kind of weird senses of humor. Geeks. well, not all of them are geeks, but mostly what the team is made up of. Er... yeah.

Taekwondo is still going well, nothing new to report at the moment. I'll probably test for yellow first some time next month. Thursday I kearned a technique for breaking someone's elbow from behind if I'm grabbed by the wrists. Whee!

Current Mood: Hungry

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Today with John's last day at my church, as he's heading up to Boston. Fare thee well, Tish. Don't act stupid and I'm sure you won't be abused for still being single.

Project "Death Waltz"

2005-09-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, during Labor Day weekend, Phil passed me a peculiar piece of music that I found funny. This music? "Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz." Based on an ancient cro-magnon skinning chant, arranged by accident, and really funny to show to musicians. Trust me, that piece is utterly impossible to play without the assistance of a really elaborate computer program. For instance: There are harmonic intervals in the shape of pyramids, rectantgles, and really big long lines that take up the whole of the grand staff. There are insanely fast "Lord-only-knows-what" notes with about eight bars connecting them, and absolutely crazy dynamic symbols like fffffffffff. The best thing about the "Death Waltz," though, has to be the notation that's printed in with the 'song.' Stuff like, "Release the Penguins." "Light the explosives now, and.... now." "Balance chair on two legs." "Sing 'Hey, hey, hey-o, ho, hey!'" "Remove cattle from stage", and "Add bycicle" make the song so completely ludicrous it's funny.

And musicians hate it with a firey passion. I first showed the "Death Waltz" to Chris, who doesn't play an instrument but was still all, "What the heck is this crap?! Is it, like, five different songs printed on top of each other?" The next morning I showed it to my buddy Syd, whose face went all pale and she asked "How do you play this?!" When I explained about the song and showed her the notation, she laughed and dared me to show it to various members of the church orchestra. Who am I to turn down such a great time? I headed up the aisle to my third victim: Kirk, the director of the orchestra. When practice was over, I called him and said, "Hey, I thought this would be an interesting song. Only one page, but interesting." I handed up the "Death Waltz" and much the same thing happened as with Syd. This look of utter confusion came over his face and he muttered all the notation and stuff to himself, asking how in the world a person could physically stand this piece. (He especially hated the empty repeat signs.) The next people to stand up to the fury of "Faerie's Aire" were the bass player, who pretty much shook his head and looked scared, and one of the drummers, who had the day off. He displayed that same confused look as well and wondered if there even was steady beat throughout the whole thing.

That being done, I mosied up to the worship minister, and showed him the music, asking how it might be played. One glance and he was all, "'K, you don't, man, you don't." after that the service started, and the "Death Waltz was put away until second hour, when Syd and I traipsed down to the youth building, laughing at various reactions and figuring whose reaction was the most funny. We agreed that the worship minister had given us the most laughter, at least until I showed the "Death Waltz" to another singer. His reaction? "Oh my God, what is it?!?!" Syd and I? Pretty much dropped to the floor laughing, and immediately gave him the prize for the best reaction to joke music.

Second hour passed, as did third hour. When that was done, I headed on over to show the piece to a couple of my buddies in the orchestra. Joel: "Agh!" Nick: "'Add bycicle?!' What the...?" Steven: "That is awesome!" Olivia: "Get that thing away from me!"

And so ended the cycle of hilarity. It was a good ride, and I ended up with a sore gut from all the laughing I'd been doing.

School is going well, taekwondo is fine (I'm currently trying to figure sizes for sparring gear), dogs are still lazy, it's raining, and all is normal in Lake Woebegone.

Current Mood: All 'brainy-d' out.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: It's sad that I found more books on Barbara Streisand than James Madison in the biography section of the library.

Labor Day, Schmabor Day...

2005-09-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

The Day to celebrate work-day, some geek celebrates work by playing all day.

But do I mind? Naw. Any excuse to get off of school is fine by me.

So yeah, everyone came home for the weekend, meaning that a merry game of "Screw the Sibling" (aka "Uno") was played. For those of you who have no idea what the heck it is I mean, a game of "Uno" is usually accompanied by yells of "That's mean!", "Sorry, Mom, I guess we're cooking breakfast tomorrow because I'm about to really tick you off...", and, of course, "Screw you!" "No, Kiddo, screw you." (Hence the name.) It's really entertaining, especially when husband goes against wife and reverses, as Phil calls it, the "Cycle of Vengeance". Always a good time. You go to bed feeling like your lungs have been ripped out and stomped on because you're laughing so hard. The game has really gotten more fun with the addition of this little machine that spits cards back out at you. You never know exactly when it's going to vomit out a few cards, but sometime you can predict, depending on who's been getting the most cards when the button is pressed. (Last time, the machine really hated my mom and Chris.) And when one of us plunks down a card that makes you press the button, well... There's the family name for "Uno" being yelled. Great times, great times.

I've decided to give the church's high school choir, "Extreme", a chance, mostly because I really need something to work my voice. Only problem is, this group is pretty dang puny and I'm sick of being told that I should hold back almost any and all power from my voice to avoid outdoing everybody else. Can I help it if even when I'm honestly doing my best to blend I don't succeed? Sing louder. I could use the help. Bleh. We'll see how it goes. If I hate it, then I'll just ask if I could join the adults' choir a little prematurely.

Taekwondo is still going well. Last night's lesson was full of kicks, so my legs were feeling a little weird this morning when I first stood up. I've almost got my form down, so I'm looking to get the next tape for my belt tomorrow night. (Three tapes: Two red tapes for form, one black tape for ground, or sambo, moves. All three tapes means that you're probably ready to test for the next belt.) I think I've pretty much got my kicks down; just need to remember to aim for the leg in the first part of a low/high kick.

School's all right thus far. Tomorrow I have tests in Spanish and algebra, and at least one quiz in government. Whee. So I'll have to go scale Mount Homework tonight after choir practice.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless fact of the Day: The number one most annoying person in history according to "Mental_Floss"? Nostradamus. Why? For making his prophetic visions vague on purpose: Using a mixture of French, Latin, Hebrew, Italian, and Greek; including few dates and scattered geographical references; and claiming that the "people of the future" would be able to figure all that crap out. (*coughcoughWeeklyWorldNewscough*)

Stuff, Stuff, and Yet More Stuff!

2005-08-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

Doesn't that just sound so exciting? Er... yeah. Got the part I auditioned for in "Dorothy!", so I'm quite pleased. I would've gone for the larger one if I thought I had the time, but, as it were... I still think that producing this sucker is going to be a hoot. The people are all nuts, but nice, and seem agreeable. It's gonna be a blast.

Went to taekwondo class this afternoon, and got my yellow belt, yeye! It's a startling contrast to the white I've gotten used to. But yeah, just all around good stuff there.

School's going fine. I managed to get a 95 on my Government test, which I'm pleased about. (I mean, hey, this is a senior course...) I'm getting along just fine in my other subjects, though I'm going to really have to stick it to the Spanish because I keep missing questions on my quizzes... Gr. Not cool.

Current Mood: Tired/Hungry/Congested

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I think my parents are planning to chuck me and my belongings into the basement apartment as soon as Phil moves out and use my room as an office. Cool. A bedroom that's bigger then 9'x10'. But we'll what actually happens... Might not at all.

And Half the Results are In

2005-08-20T15:41:00.000-05:00

Well, the "Dorothy!" auditions this morning went pretty well, in my opinion. I tried for two parts (one major, one minor) and I'll see on Tuesday who gets what role. So a little suspense for me this weekend. We'll see how it really went.

My other big event today was my belt test in taekwondo. Results?

...

...

...

I PASSED!! *squeesqueesquee!!!* (Insert your own happy dance here) I successfully didn't screw up my form, kept most of my balance in my kicks, remembered the Tenets, and (this is a big development) broke boards. Yes, I, one of the THE most unathletic people on the face of this earth, broke boards. So yeah, my right hand is a little tender, but no biggie. I get the sparkly (well, maybe not sparkly, but still...) new yellow belt on Tuesday, I think. So now I'm kinda glad that's over.

School's going well. House is still standing. Pixel now believes that she is a giraffe and keeps trying to eat the leaves off of this one tree we have in the house. I keep attempting to discourage this. Pixel (in effect) gives me the finger and keeps chewing on the leaves.

Current Mood: Accomplished

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The Tenets of Martial Arts are: Courtesy, Integrety, Perseverence, Self-control, and Indomitable Spirit.

Just So People Know...

2005-08-17T14:33:00.000-05:00

I took people's advice and switched the "anyone can comment me" option off, since the comments are starting to look a tad like a billboard. It's like, "Dude... I can't afford a Corvette, nor am I old enough to drive. I'm not legally able to get a paying job. I don't want an X-box, since my mother is sort of against video gaming systems and I wouldn't play it anyway." So yeah. You anonymous folks are either going to have to get an account or talk to me in person. (Sorry Sarah...)

Anyway... Bible Bowl started up again Sunday. The grand total of team members at this point? Eh... Somewhere around 20. Five teams. Now, let's see how many kids decide to back off before the first Round Robin, since that's when the dropouts really start leaving in droves. I mean, hey, I appreciate y'all coming, but this game is a lot of work. If you're in a bazillion other things or just don't like studying, this isn't your game, so don't take it lightly, plzkthxbai.

Still waiting for Saturday. "Dorothy!" auditions in the morning and my belt test in the afternoon, yay!

Current Mood: Impatient

Random Useless Fact of the Day: My government professor rocks. Why? He's funny! Just this morning he was all, "Well, I don't have to fear the policeman if I'm following traffic laws, but if I'm doing 60 in a 30 zone, running over children and small dogs, I just might have something to worry about, don't you think?" Things don't get much better than a darkly sarcastic teacher.

And the Drought Breaks

2005-08-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

And all God's people said? "Amen!"

Yeah, we finally got some decent weather around here, mainly thunderstorms that give a lot of rain and a good light show. Let's see how long it lasts; hopefully for at least a few days because it's getting really freakin' hot again.

Had another taekwando lesson this afternoon. Today it was mostly practicing forms, kicks and high jumps. The high jumps? Suck. I like doing 'em, but I just can't jump that high. Stupid Irish genes... Meh. I still had to do my form blindfolded. Got dizzy and screwed up my directions. And I was almost done, too.

So I was in Waldenbooks at the mall today, and saw a display with a book that I've read and enjoyed (Cornelia Funke's Inkheart). One of the paperbacks I saw had a sticker on it that said, "Soon to be a major motion picture!" Me? I'm all "WHY DOESN'T HOLLYWOOD LEAVE MY BOOKS ALONE AND THINK UP ACTUAL MOVIES FOR A CHANGE?! IS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE?!" No, I didn't actually yell that in the middle of the store, but I was thinking it. I mean, pfft, some on. Stop riffing offa books. I realize that this may seem like a large money-generating thing and that some directors actually do a good job of representing literature, I'm majorly of the opinion (read: fact) that movies =/= the actual quality of the book. Yes, there are a few very rare exceptions (*coughEllaEnchantedcough*), but the book-into-movie thing's starting to get really annoying. Blah. But anyway... Got a couple of new books, yay.

Current Mood: Slightly sleepy

Random Useless fact of the Day: Got the recommendation to test for my yellow belt, w00t!

Please Excuse My Big Red Nose

2005-08-10T14:31:00.000-05:00

It always goes red -always- when I cry. And yeah, I've been doing plenty of that these past few days. Yes, Grandma went to see Jesus on Friday, her funeral was Monday, and her burial, yesterday. So yeah, the weekend ended up being one big red nose after another, combined with quite a few headaches. But seriously? I'm kind of relieved now, because she had Alzheimer's for, what, eight years? My family's mostly doing fine, although my grandpa (obviously) is taking it extremely hard. Why not; the two were married 54 years. So do me a favor and pray for him. I'll say no more about it. Just wanted to give you folks an update on what was going on...

But the upside about funerals? Funeral dinners. Especially the ones at Uncle Joe's house. The guy may look surly, but man can he and his wife cook! We're talking about five different types of brownies and fried chicken, here. I'm talking a big freakin' dinner. When you grow up in an Irish clan like mine, you get fed and fed well. Food=love, love=food. You are loved, you are fed. If you're not sure an Irish person hates you or not, just ask yourself whether or not you've had food or drinks offered to you. If yes, then you're pretty well off, at least for now. If not, excuse yourself politely and don't call back.

But yeah. School started last week and I've got four different pages of algebra homework.

Current Mood: Awake

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Taekwando isn't all kicking. For instance, I now know a techique that will have someone unconscious in ten seconds or less. (Go ahead, Tyler. Bring. It. On.)

...

2005-08-03T13:40:00.000-05:00

Got a phone call this afternoon. My mom's just gone off to the nursing home where my grandmother is... Grandma's blood pressure is way too high and her heart is racing, and they can't seem to get her BP down.

So I guess this is it.

I guess I always thought she'd die in her sleep...

...

...

*sniffle*

Current Mood: Waiting

Relief at Last

2005-07-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

A lot of you know about the heat around here. Mostly? It sucked. But then, last night, it rained. And the people celebrated. It didn't feel like being fried when I walked outside this morning.

And all God's people said? Amen!

Well, last night was certainly a kicker when it came to the ol' schedule. The first half of the day was pretty much nothing, except for the average laundry day. But then came 5:45 in the evening, when it was time to head over to voice lessons, where songs I'll be singing for a wedding next month were practiced and generally hit pretty hard. At seven: dinner. Pork kabobs, yum. 7:35, changing into my uniform and heading over to my tae-kwan-do lesson, in which I think I strained a nerve in my right foot since the side of it's a little sensitive. No matter. 9:15: Shower really quick, since there was a quite a bit of lightning and I'm a little paranoid about getting electrocuted. So yeah, busy times.

But tomorrow through Sunday, that's what's going to be a real pain. Why? Well, let's just say that getting up at five in the morning really isn't my kind of thing (especially when it's cool outside and the blankets are nice and warm). Then it's an hour's drive across the river to do a dog show to earn money for the Bible Bowl team. Staffing it this time has been really interesting, since CIY and every single band camp in the state has decided that this week would be a great time to do their events. (And I don't even get the point of band camp. You'd think one could practice marching formations and songs during the regular school year.) So we don't get as much as we could've, but it's better than nothing. But whatever, not my problem.

Current Mood: Passive

Random Useless Fact of the Day: My genetics really don't allow for much hip flexability, which makes executing inside/outside/axe kicks kind of difficult. Which sucks.

Be Vewwy Vewwy Quiet

2005-07-22T16:31:00.000-05:00

...Because my baby cousin is sleeping and if you wake him up and make him start yowling again I will hurt you. Seriously. I found one thing Ibuprofen does not fix headaches from... But yeah, my two youngest cousins are spending the day at my house, since my aunt, uncle, and other cousin are at a golf tournament. Why they voluntarily are working outside when it's like a bajillion degrees is beyond me.

On a better note, I finally started up karate classes. Results? It is freakin' awesome. So what if the tops of my feet hurt after a bunch of roundhouse kicks? I can deal. I have really good feeling about this class, I really do. The uniform's a lot heavier than one would think...

It is really really hot around here. It's too hot to go swimming, almost. I think now would be a great time to sightseeing in Alaska. Or perhaps Siberia. Or maybe somewhere down south, like the Shetland islands, maybe New Zealand, or perhaps Antarctica.

On the drama front, I managed to swing the lead in a certain sketch that I think we're performing for the teen worship service at church. My part? A troubled teenage girl with a deadbeat father and a cheating crackhead boyfriend! (Believe me, if any boyfriend of mine decided to do either one of those, he wouldn't be living.)

Current Mood: Hot and Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Ninjas were actually quite ineffective as assassins. Not to say they haven't tried, though; one general nearly got his head blown off with a cannon but the ninjas firing it missed.

After the Book

2005-07-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have successfully finished reading the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series. My thoughts? It's probably the best of the books so far, in my opinion. The fifth book was just a little, I don't know, unsatisfying. Yeah, that's it. The sixth was a lot more action-packed. It had more funny moments than the last book. Most of all (and this doesn't happen very often, mind you; I didn't shed any tears when Sirius Black bit it), it made me cry. Yes, I admit it, I cried during the funeral of... Ha! You thought I was going to say who dies, didn't you? Don't worry, I'm merciful and won't reveal that particular fact, since I'm aware that a lot of people don't stay up until 1:30 in the morning to finish a book. (Yeah... I felt the effects of no sleep today. Oops.) And who was the Half-blood Prince? The result neither surprised nor shocked me, but it did kinda raise my eyebrows. And then there were the romance parts. Boy howdy, that was funny. For those that would moan and cry about any little fact they haven't heard about until the read the book, close your eyes now, because I'm about to reveal something! The name "Won-won" (*snerk*) had me laughing. That was just plain hilarious. I mean, geez. Talk about your unfortunate nicknames.

In all? Very good book. I'll probably start re-reading it soon.

Oh yeah. And another thing: I love my mother. Why, you ask? Well, aside from the obvious reasons, Mom had the foresight to buy two copies of the book. See, my sister's reading speed is much higher than mine, and she tends to steal the book before I really get into it. She gets done fast, yes, but I'd rather read it straight through without someone else snitching it. It's the principle of the thing, you know? So yeah, in order to prevent a fistfight from brewing, Mom got two copies to pacify both Amy and me. And good times ensued.

Started hi-lighting my Bible Bowl text today. Got the first seven chapters done, and boy are my pages colorful now! :D Plus, a friend of the family found a buzzer board hidden in the back of his closet, and asked my mom if our team could use it. Heck yes! That saves the team $425! The thing may be ancient, but it's a buzzer and we needed another one badly. Why? Three teams this year. That means we need at least two buzzer boards. Which means that costs more money, which is tight because my church is in a cash crunch and the budget was small in the first place. So, great stroke of luck there.

Current Mood: Passive

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The results from my little poll question last entry are in. Pwn is prounounced "pown", at least in the minds of many people. Thanks for the help in improving my knowledge of the outside world; I don't get it very often and so I'm doomed wander around looking like a moron.

Saturday

2005-07-13T12:17:00.000-05:00

And here it comes, that momentous occasion that millions around the world are waiting anxiously for... What is this moment, you ask?

The release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Yessir, Mom's preordered my copy, and for the duration of the weekend I'll be quite busy waiting for the mail to get here (kinda feel sorry for those poor postal workers...), and actually reading the book. Don't expect me to answer the phone if it rings, don't expect me to talk, don't expect me to be very responsive to any outside stimuli aside from the book. Just warning you...

Since Bible Bowl has ended, I have been taking full advantage of my (belated) sumemr vacation. Just this morning I didn't summon up the energy to drag my lazy carcass out of bed until 9:15. This may not sound like a lot compared to other teenagers, but it's the best I can do with my internal clock, okay?! A lot of reading's been getting done; I managed to read a couple of books in the span of a day. My iPod now has a couple new albums on its little hard drive (Both by Mannheim Steamroller, ha), sticking my song total up to 784.

Bad thing about iTunes: Whilst I was updating my iPod, the computer recognized the disk I was attempting to upload, but iTunes didn't. And of course, version 4.9 was out! This meant that I couldn't do squat until iTunes was updated. Darn those turds at Apple! But hey. Everything is working merrily now so I'm not going to complain.

Current Mood: Hungry

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I am still attempting to figure out if 'pwn' is pronounced 'pawn' or 'pown'. Any opinions?

I'm Ba-aa-ck...

2005-07-08T21:17:00.000-05:00

Finally, the Bible Bowl National Tourney is over and done with for this year. The trip was long, excruciatingly mind-boggling, and really really fun. For instance: We made Steven, one of my teammates with a sort of afro, cut his hair. This scared the crap out of his mom upon our return. We (the entire team) swam a lot in the hotel pool and hot tub. Card games ran amok, and I discovered that I'm pretty good at "Spoons". (NO, there is nothing weird about this game, for those of you that don't know. The object is to grab something like a piece of candy or a drink coaster off of the table before everyone else does.) We played against teams that were actually of our own caliber during the Round Robin, resulting in a victorious five games. Rawkin'. We broke a hundred points against a team that I expected to show us absolutely no mercy whatsoever. I didn't get to bed until 1:30 this morning. (Yes, I do mean this morning.) The team has decided that I am either going to marry Joel or Ethan, two of the boys. I am neither confirming nor denying this; I'll figure that out later. Like, in ten years.

The organization in the hotel should've been a lot better. We weren't able to get into our rooms until, like, seven on Sunday night because they screwed up our reservations, resulting in utter chaos. In one room, the boys had their refrigerator stolen, with their food and stuff inside. Sucked to be them. They hotel also charged for use of the exercise machines, which was outrageous. Not to mention that every day for just about every meal we had to walk no less than six blocks to get to food. So yeah, we're hoping for better accomodations next year. I'm sure there will be; Mom's put in for suites in Louisville next year. w00t!

And as for the actual competition... We didn't do so well. We had a 5-6 record in the Round Robin, so we were put up against teams that were a lot stronger than ourselves. Ah, well. We didn't care much; losing just meant that we had more free time to go swimming, watch movies and play cards. So yeah.

The team also experienced a Random Act of Kindness. This one lady from the Pampered Chef convention walks up to us as we're playing cards (yet again) and asks us if we wanted an entire pizza that her group didn't want. Now, keep in mind that this was Chicago deep dish pizza. You don't find that stuff often around here, I don't think. So of course my team leaped at the oppertunity to score free food, and, thanking the lady profusely, we all gnawed happily on pizza. (But so you know, I still prefer St. Louis-style-provelone-and-ketchup-on-a-cracker pizza.)

So yeah, my week was quite interesting. I had a blast, and I'm really glad to be home.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Also got new music and art supplies! w00t!!

Dude, This is Awesome...

2005-07-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

Sauron in space!!!

If a buncha Nazgul show up, I am not here. I don't know anything about a mysterious ring. *insert innocent whistle here*

The Weekend Shall be... Filled.

2005-06-30T09:51:00.000-05:00

Lesse... I should really be studying the next couple of chapters of Luke, but I wanted to poke my head in and say 'hi'... I've got piano on Saturday. Leaving church for Chicago on Sunday, so don't expect anything outta me until next weekend, unless I can bribe my dad to let me use his laptop (and only if the hotel rooms get some decent broadband). So the bus ride'll last around five hours, four if Dad drives fast, and then at four that afternoon is the Top Brain Test. Ick.

For those of you in the audience that don't know what the Top Brain is, allow me to explain. During the Round Robins, it's 150 fill-in-the-blank questions in a half an hour. Tensions are high. During the National Tourney, it's 400 fill-in-the-blank-using-a-Scantron questions during the course of two hours. And they usually hold it in large conference rooms during Nationals, so there isn't a proper desk to work things out on. This usually results in your neck and legs aching really bad afterwards. Sucky. This year I'm planning to sit on the floor. But the big secret? Do what you know, and guess on the ones you don't know later. Easy, in theory.

And then we'll be play various games until the Double Elimination, in which my team must play, as my mom put it last year, "for blood". But when you lose twice, the rest of your day is free, free, FREE!!!

Sent my school stuff back yesterday, w00t!

So yeah. I'm off.

Current Mood: Daunted

Random Useless Fact of the Day:
I do feel for Holmes-
Tom Cruise is such a retard.
Someone, shut him up!!

Obviously, I don't suffer idiots very well.

So What's New?

2005-06-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Nuthin' much. Currently my days are spent studying Bible Bowl and doing lots of laundry, one of the most unpleasant chores in my house, short of cleaning out the fridge. But mostly, it's Bible Bowl 24/7 in preparation for Nationals in Chicago. So yeah, that's going to be no vacation for me and my team.

Excuse me for a moment; I think Pixel's tearing something else up.

...

Idiot dog loves eating cellophane.

...

I guess I'd better get back to work. Blah.

Current Mood: Thirsty

Random Useless Fact of the Day: People seem to be foregetting the basics of American law, as the Ten Commandments have been banned from various courtrooms...

Idiots.

Haiku

2005-06-23T17:15:00.000-05:00

Some are just confused
The world is full of retards
Head, meet Mister Desk.

Thank you.

In case you couldn't tell, the bigger retards tend to annoy me. Pfft.

Even though they're kinda fun to laugh at.

At Last

2005-06-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

"I'M FRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" remains my rallying cry at the moment. I am running away from the junior high bandwagon screaming. I'm not looking back. Oh, yeah, got good grades on my finals.

I'm officially on summer vacation. At freaking last.

Current Mood: Like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders, AKA liberated

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Bad news? My throat has bugged out once again. I peeked down there using my mirror and it's all red. Dang. Back to Mom's famous tea remedy.

Vebis Part II

2005-06-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

Yeah.... Haven't had a whole lot of time to write stuff. So now I suppose I'll entertain the masses with more Stories from Vacation Bible School. Fifth grade boys? Are legally and in all senses insane. I don't know how the junior worship people handle them all.

But the really funny story was this: I was describing what it would be like to spend the night in a stable, and I asked what happens when one rolls in the grass. I got a few good answers, but this one blew everybody in the room away-- "Umm... Well... You might get animal potty on you." Everybody had to prevent themselves from CRACKING UP LAUGHING. All I did (aside from failing miserably at keeping a straight face), was say "Well, yeah, that might also happen, but that's not what I'm looking for."

Hence, a great story from VBS.

Finals are coming up soon, THANK YOU LAWD. Algebra tomorrow, history if I'm lucky. If not, history will come on Tuesday. And then I shall be free to sleep until nine thirty in the morning, depending on how bad Beans has to go outside.

So yeah. Story of my life.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The best place to read is on the toilet. I'm not sure why, but it is.

VBS

2005-06-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Yes, that's right, vacation Bible school has begun at church. And what did I go and do? I signed up to do one of those story room thingies. So I'm stuck preaching about Jesus being born in a barn. Not too bad, since I got the same room as one of my friends and an intern that is as crazy as the rest of us. Plus our room looks awesome. I worked the staple gun, which is was pretty much the highlight of the decorating process. I've also been learning about the kids in various grade levels:

3-4 Years Old: We only had one kid cry, and that was because he wanted his mother. Poor guy. But they behaved pretty well, albeit with a couple of interruptions.

First Graders: They know too much for their own good. For example: "Is this a play?" "This used to be a classroom!" "Why did the shepherds knock on that door?!" They have two volume settings: Loud and louder.

Third Graders: Pretty well behaved, pretty quiet when asked to be.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Girls: Fun. They kept the rest of us entertained, listened pretty well, asked just enough questions, responded when asked stuff.

So yeah. It's shaping up to be a pretty interesting week, and it's only Tuesday.

The Humane Society was crazy yesterday. It was Critter Camp, meaning that there were small children running around and making the place even busier than normal. Hilton the lab/chow was very happy to see me. He showed this by offering his butt for me to scratch, and by sitting in his little wading pool, then trotting over to me, shaking himself off, and then sitting in my lap. I love that dog. Marigold the Jack Russel was also jumping for joy when I visited her, although she jumps most of the time. She also leaped in and out of the pool and my lap, licking me in the face with her stinky dog breath. This job rocks.

Had to do a political analysis for history today. I had to find the staces of both political parties on various topics, and then decide if they were corectly labeled as "liberal" and "conservative". My brain is now liquefied.

Current Mood: Mah brain iz teh liquefied.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Remind me not to sleep with my arms all sprawled out under my pillow. That will jsut result in severe acheage.

Break It Fix It Then Upgrade It... Technologic!

2005-06-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is the Title That Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Entry Whatsoever!! Bwahaha!

Okay, the maniacal phase has passed for now.

I just felt like typing something. So why not? I'm blogging. I'm blogging about blogging. I am still blogging.

Wow! I think I just felt some personal growth!

Current Mood: With a Headache

Random Useless Fact of the Day: --->(Disclaimer: A lot of this blog entry was inspired by a recent "Dilbert" cartoon in which the Pointy-haired Boss started a journal, wrote about writing, and was sure he'd felt personal growth. I just thought it was funny. Don't sue. Plzkthxbai.)

Algebra: The Haiku

2005-06-09T08:39:00.000-05:00

Dang it, algebra.
Once again I have screwed up.
Crap!! Wrong radicand!!

Thank you.

The End Draws Near

2005-06-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

The end of school, that is. All I can say about that is "Hallelujah!!". But yeah, next year I'm so not taking all the Internet courses... Sent in my big hairy-scary geography project the other day, so that's done with. 385 questions just makes your brain hurt like whoa.

My mom took me and my cousins out to see "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" yesterday. It was a really good movie, very sweet. Yes, one might want to be equipped with tissues. One part involved this kid dying from leukemia and I'm all, "Parallels to my life suck." There was, like, no one else in the theater except for this one old guy that looked like he was asleep half the time. Not sure why he'd wanna see this movie, since it is very much a chick flick. Good movie.

A lot of entertainment these past couple of days has been gotten from watching the Cardinals stick it to the Red Sox. Too bad they couldn't do that back in October... This September I might be heading out to see the Cards play, as Chris puts it, "the crappy Pirates". (Maybe I'll get a ketchup dispensor, since Chris has already claimed the one for the mustard.)

Current Mood: About to go get some lunch

Random Useless Fact of the Day: There are now 725 songs on my iPod. Trippy.

Maybe Some of These Would Work...

2005-06-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

This entry shall be dedicated to my siblings: Chris (who plans to blow up the world), Phil (who has constantly plotted to take over the world), and Amy (who probably will blow up the world after taking it over).

I have weird siblings. But anyway...

I hope they find this helpful.

Current Mood: Headache-y on one side

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Let's see... About thirty days 'till Chicago. (Give or take a few nanoseconds.)

iPods, Again

2005-06-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

So who's the newest member of my clan to be getting an iPod? My dad. This one was pretty much free; all he had to do was suggest a name for a security tool for work. so now, he'll be the lucky owner of an iPod. That makes four of us. Don't know when it's coming or what type it is or how much memory, only that it's an iPod. So yeah. Four of us have transferred over to the Dark Side.

Changed that background of this blog yet again. Notice, now there are actual LINKS in the sidebar! Phear my teknologikal prowess! (Ow, the spelling just died.) So, anyone else want linking to the Blog list? (If you want off it, I'll go and delete the link...)

Some of my new schoolbooks came the other day. Some of my Spanish stuff, some of my English and literature stuff. Whee.

Current Mood: Caffeinated

Random Useless Fact of the Day: One month until Bible Bowl Nationals... Look out, Chicago, here we come.

Gimme a Break!

2005-05-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

Now, I think the the iPod Shuffle is pretty nifty. Of course, I love my second-generation 10gb iPod better. But trying to copy the shuffle and then make it crappy?

Now that's just funny.

In other news, my grandpa went in this morning to get a kidney removed. (Won't give out too many details, as a precaution to avoid getting yelled at.) He's doing fine, and I think he's in his hospital room right now. I'll probably be going over to see him this evening. If y'all could keep him and my family in your prayers, that's be much appreciated.

Tyler left my church Sunday... He will be missed; that much I know. You just don't get too many bald guys that are willing to deal with a bunch of insane youth.

I suppose I should go study for my history final... Whee.

Current Mood: Blank

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Whilst tag-team babysitting, my friend Joel got my arm pinched in between the sections of one of those retractable toy lightsabers, resulting in a very ugly bruise. Therefore I chased him around the house beating him with another lightsaber. Remind me not to play Star Wars with those kids again...

Eh?!

2005-05-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

This entry is provided by the words What, The, and Crud.

No, I did not just turn Canadian. That was my first thought when it was announced that my mother didn't get the job she's been working 11 years for. Atch. Excuse me while I call the college and yell that I hope they get what they asked for.

In other news, Pixel the Abnormally Stupid Pug ran off this morning, probably to go roll in something obscene. We've got coyotes back there, and I wouldn't be surprised of one of 'em got hungry for a small animal that blunders into their territory. In other words, Pixel don't go get eaten by coyotes! (Because guess who'd get the blame? Yours truly.) EDIT: Yes, we did in fact find her again. Stop worrying.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Ab initio Roma erat oppidum parvum in media Italia in ripa fluminis Tiberis. (But everyone knows that.)

Star Wars

2005-05-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

Yessir, the latest movie was pretty darn cool. Good old-fashioned lightsaber fightin'. The dialogue needed work, and Darth Vader's "NOOO!" at the end just should've gotten the axe.

The Chosen tour Saturday went pretty decently, in my opinion. Nobody screwed up massively, we didn't get lost on the way there, and the ice cream was good.

Am still trying to finish school. At this point it feels like I'm never going to finish junior high. Sucky!

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone.

Current Mood: Bored, somewhat

Random Useless Fact of the Day: If there's anything you want to remember, it's the number forty-two. (You knew the Hitchhiker's Guide reference was going to be in there... Go on. Admit it.)

It's Still Hot

2005-05-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

I hate the humidity around here. Just so you know.

There is nothing worse then staring at the little thingy blinking at you, waiting for you to type something when you had an idea of what to say but there's nothing coming out. Bleh. Okay, it's not the worst thing to happen but it sucks when you feel like typing something.

Finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy today. Highly enjoyable. Now I'm in the middle of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Still good, especially if one is rather sarcastic and enjoys weird humor.

Dad, Amy, Phil, and I are going to see "Star War Episode III" tonight. Can't wait. (Only two more hours, only two more hours, only two more hours...) Ha! I'm seeing it before you, Chris!

Now let's wait for Chris to fly down here and smack me for that out of sheer jealousy.

My mom ordered my schoolbooks for next year. Bring on high school. I feel empowered. I'm even taking government. Let's see how long it takes for my brain to get twisted up in knots from trying to understand that various political systems of our country. Spanish should be pretty easy, considering right now I'm doing Latin. Apparently that makes things easier. I've found a few parallels between the languages, so it shouldn't blow up my brain or anything. The only course I'd really be nervous about is the Government. Otherwise, it should be a relatively pleasant ride.

Current Mood: Eager

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I know where my towel is. (Hee.)

Sunday

2005-05-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

And so Sunday comes again, continuing that long, long cycle that makes me wake up early. Gah. But this time I actually got to stay in bed, since I didn't have to be at church until 10:15, which rocked because usually the deadline is 7. So hey, two and a half more hours of sleep made for a much better day.

Karate might start Tuesday, depending on my parent's schedules.

My sister's home from college for the summer. I think it's going to be amusing to see her working in the fast food industry, as do my brothers.

My friend's little brother is in the hospital for a sinus infection that spread to his eyes. The kid may be a punk, but I hope he gets through okay. I'm sure he will. He's not just a punk, but a stubborn punk.

Grandma's got eyelid surgery tomorrow.

As Gerisson Keillor would say, "And that's the news from Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

Current Mood: Stuffed

Random Useless Fact of the day: Chosen tour is on Saturday. Let's see how that goes.

Summer? Already? NOOO!

2005-05-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

That's right folks. Our two seconds of spring as come and gone, and now it's time for the heat, humidity, and outright "Holy crap, it's freakin' hot out here!" to start. For some reason, spring never lasts too long around here. That kinda sucks, because once spring actually comes it's some really nice weather. But now the weather's continuing to spawn thunderstorms (none of which I actually get to see, which sucks). Lovely Gulf air hovering over our heads.

Got my grandma moved into her new apartment. I can only be glad, for various reasons I won't mention. But hey, it'll be a lot easier on us since now my family doesn't have to drive two and a half hours to go and visit, since the apartment's five minutes away.

The last kickboxing class was last night. So now that's over, and I'm pretty much begging my mom to let me take up karate. I may not be an athlete worth a durn, but I really liked kickboxing, and since there aren't any classes I can take without violating any gym policy or whatever, karate's probably my best bet. So yeah. We'll see.

I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a few days back. Methinks that that'll be one of the books I come armed with on any long car trips (like, say, to Bible Bowl Nationals in Chicago. Teens plus bus equals headache, even if you're wearing headphones). But my info supply has been in no way affected, since a trip to the library has brought some some pretty interesting reads. Armageddon Summer was the one I finished at, like, midnight last night. I couldn't get to sleep without figuring out what was going to happen. (Plus I'd had a double shot caramel macchiatto, so I was on a caffeine buzz.) It was that good. Forgot the author's name, but ah, well. If I ever find it in a bookstore I'm buying it.

Current Mood: Brainy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: If my family ever does adopt a big dog, then we can't get something from Doberman Rescue because they all require fences, which are frowned upon in my subdivision...

Survey Says: "We're Closed! Go Away!"

2005-05-06T09:11:00.000-05:00

Well, my days are certainly taking on a weird trend: Wake up. Let dogs out. Make sure Grandma doesn't try to let the dogs out again, as this will cause a big spat. Do school. Feed both self and Grandma, thank God for sandwiches.

But once Grandma moves into the apartment... (A few more days. A few more days. A few more days.) Life'll get easier... Just have to remember that. Especially when you own the "Series of Unfortunate Events" DVD. The director/author commentary? Rocks. It's hilarious, especially when the leeches are attcking and the author can't stand it, so he gets out his accordion. Reminds me of "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Kickboxing is drawing to a close, although there may be an encore week coming up; I need to check with Dave later on... After that? I don't know. Maybe I'll take up karate. That sounds fun.

Bible Bowl is going okay. Competition this Saturday, drat. Ah well, we're in the B bracket again so we have a chance to win something. My team's been placing pretty consitently in the Top Brain standings, so we might get something for that. :D

Just thought I'd update.

Current Mood: Tired, even though I should be waking up by now.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: You don't meet very many teenagers who actually like the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, do you? Take a good look, folks. Back to school for me now.

Ah, Crud

2005-04-27T15:45:00.000-05:00

As most folks that read this know, I work at the local animal shelter. Whilst working there on Monday, I discovered that two dogs that were very difficult to adopt out (Hilton the lab/chow and Marigold the Jack Russel terrier) were returned. Now, these guys are great dogs, honestly. They're really very sweet, so long as Hilton is taken out regularly so that he isn't lifting his leg against your antique furniture. I feel especially sorry for poor Marigold, though. Apparently her ex-owners dumped her this nasty animal shelter and left here there for TWO WEEKS, and she caught this bad case of kennel cough while she was there. So now Marigold's back with us sick and unhappy. She seemed to remember me and my mom, though. Hilton was returned because hs ex-people couldn't handle so many dogs... So now we have to get Hilton and Marigold back to good health, make sure they're adoptable again, and find them homes again. Krutz.

Poor Mari's case just makes me lose yet more faith in the human race.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: "Series of Unfortunate Events" is out on DVD, w00t!

And so it Goes, and so it Goes

2005-04-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

Yeah. Billy Joel lyrics. Rawkin'.

But anyway, life around here these past few days has been hectic, to say the least. A couple of days ago, I was woken up much earlier than I would've liked (which has been happening ever since my dad got a new scale and stuck it in my sister's room) by people running around and talking. This doesn't usually happen, considering that when Dad's still around in the morning no one else is up. It turns out that Dad had received a phone call from my grandmother (who lives two and a half hours away from us) that her eye was swollen and red. So, that meant that grandma had to come up here, bunk across the hall from me (meaning that I have to share the bathroom that I've grown possessive of ever since Amy went to college), and that I had to clean my sister's room. Talk about sucky, having to clean up a room that isn't even yours. Ah well.

Well, my grandma's going to have to have surgery on her eyelid, meaning that she'll be here for a month, probably. In the meantime, we've been trying to convince her to move closer to us, since it's a real pain to drive for five hours to pick her up for a few days during holiday season and for her to get any help from my family. So my parents, after many misgivings, found an apartment we think she likes. If grandma doesn't, then... Too bad. They've already got the rent started. She's moving ASAP. Hallelujah. This means that we can see her and check up on her a lot more often, and is a lot easier on the family in the long run. No more having to bunk in my room during the holidays, yay! (Plus the apple pies are in much better reach, hehe. Ain't nobody beatin' my gramma's homemade apple pie. Except possibly her coconut cream...) Point is, it's a much better arrangement for everyone. Seriously.

Kickboxing is still something I enjoy. So what if I wake up sore? I discovered what abs are! They're the ones that hurt! *cough* It's really fun, and is a good way to exercise. Plus, if anyone tries to misbehave then I'll break their legs. I'm not tall enough to kick their jaws to the other side of their heads. It's only a four-week class, though, and my mom hasn't found any other classes in the area, I don't think. Thus, I might get to take karate! :D Now that's what would be awesome.

The one big mystery right now is my friend's big secret. I'm not sure, but I bet he's engaged. I mean, if the senior minister at church knows but no one else does... And I have informants that say he's been hanging out with some girl. Right now all I can do is speculate. Heh.

My dad says that my youth minister had better watch out or I'll mention him here. So here I go: Hey Dave! Here's your honorable mention! Happy?! *ahem*

Current Mood: Tired but accomplished.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Got a new songbook the other day. Josh Groban, w00t! It's orange! That way I can't lose it no matter how hard I try.

Of Dog Shows and Kickboxing

2005-04-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

I'll report on the kickboxing first just so I can get it out of the way. For one, I'm still kind of sore from the class Thursday night. But you know what? It's worth it. The instructor seems nice, and the kickboxing is actually really fun. I'm just looking forward to not being sore once I get used to it. Waking up in the morning and having your legs crumple isn't that great.

What's with the dog shows, you ask? Well, my Bible Bowl team needed money for the hotel rooms we'll be staying in this summer at our National Tournament. We're not allowed to sell anything (which I'm really kind of glad for; I hate waltzing up to strangers and asking them to buy stuff). So my mom got this email, saying that this dog agility show needed people to help work the rings, so the entire team (and then some) was all signed up.

Result? We're a lot richer than when we started out and we want to do it again. And again. Enough to finance the whole trip, perhaps. It's that cool. For those of you who don't know what dog agility is, I suggest Google-ing it because right now I can't be bothered to post links. (so nyeah.) But anyway, it was a great time for all of us on the team. The judges were pretty nice, especially one judge that let me scribe for him. Scribing is pretty much keeping an eye on the judge and writing down the hand signals he uses to say if the dog has refused an obstacle, failed, etc. I'm surprised he let me do that, considering that scribing is usually an executive task and isn't handed out to kids. Aside from the scribing, I was a pole setter (setting up jumps, putting bars back if the dog knocked them down, that sort of thing), a sheet runner (taking score sheets up to the appropriate personnel), and a leash runner (taking leashes from one end of the course to the other). It was quite a working thing, so now my brain is mush from concentrating so hard for the entire weekend. (For which reason my mom said to go and do something mindless. So here I am.)

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I must be an inspiration to my family, as my mother has made a blog. You can find it here.

I Get the Point

2005-04-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

Everywhere I turn today, it seems like I'm faced with another picture of the dead pope. Seriously, those photos look Photoshopped, simply because after a few days dead a body doesn't look too good. But anyway... Pope's dead. We know. Next?

I'm still really excited about the kickboxing thing. I'm not sure why I am, because when it comes to sportsy-type things I never really wanted to join in. Maybe it's because it doesn't involve basketballs smacking me in the skull. Instead it's kick and punches, yay.

My beloved dog, Beans, gets to go into the vet again tomorrow. This time she's getting a liver panel, just to check and see if those enzymes have returned to normal. What's the deal with liver enzymes, you ask? A lot. One of 'em gets out of whack, and it's bye bye doggie. Luckily, Beans seems to be getting along quite well after being put on thyroid medication.

Got to go to quartet practice tonight... Let's see if I actually remember the harmony I'm supposed to do.

So yeah, that's the news from me.

Current Mood: Brainy

Random Useless fact of the Day: Thomas Edison electrocuted small animals just to prove Nikola Tesla wrong. That's just cruel.

Of Small Choirs and Kickboxing

2005-04-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

Well, not a whole lot about the kickboxing will be said yet. I haven't started the class. But come Thursday, I'll have a report up on that. Yes, I am, in fact, taking up kickboxing. It sounded fun.

You know what's ironic? It's being taught to junior high and high school students at CHURCH. Hmm. So much for the non-violence approach to persecution. Ah, well.

Chosen, my "choir" (yes, there is a reason for the quotation marks) is as small as ever. I doubt that, in the history of Chosen, it has been this small. Tonight's attendance? Six. Total. Two boys, two altos that didn't know what they were doing, and two sopranos. It could've been worse. Last week I was the only soprano. You know something's up when there are only six people in what used to be, like, a 40-strong choir. Seriously, Chosen used to be huge, as did Visions of Praise, the elementary school choir before fifth and sixth graders get their own group. That being the case, I'm used to singing with gigantic groups of people. Having to abruptly switch from 40 to 15 people was quite a change for me. I guess I'll have to get used to it if I want to do Extreme next year... They're even smaller, if that's possible. Oy.

Current Mood: Content

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Dude, it has been beautiful around here lately. Seriously. The weather is almost never this nice. Ever. So yeah. Better enjoy it while it's still here, because it'll probably change pretty quick.

EDIT: I changed the background again, in case you didn't notice.

And so it Begins...

2005-04-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

As my brother Phil once said to me as I was eating breakfast:

"Today is a good day, a very special day. Do you know what it is?"

"No."

*Insert the cover of the sports section here. And I don't mean the stuff about basketball.*

"The start of baseball season."

"Wohoo!" And so pretty much the entire city rejoices.

Current Mood: Excited

Random Useless Fact of the Day: And what else is coming up soon? Something that only a weather geek looks forward to- tornado season. Why am I so interested in stuff that can kill me?

The Great Weekend of a Wannabe Superstar

2005-04-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

And Bible Bowl finally seems to be looking up. Yes, my team was finally kicked down to the lower bracket after many months of abuse from all of the high school teams. And so everyone rejoiced. A couple of my teammates wouldn't believe me when I told them... Guess they learned their lesson. Results? We brought home my team's first trophy of the year. It's a rental kind of a thing, but who cares!? It's a trophy! It's shiny and blue and busted our tails trying to win it. So there. Five out of nine people placed on the Top Brain test, meaning that (yet again) we got Dairy Queen today's practice. So my weekend rocked.

House groups was pretty interesting tonight. The current discussion was on the lies that the media so frequently feeds to children and teens. Tyler showed us a video on violence and suicide in today's music, video games, movies, and television shows. Some of the music and movies really grossed me out. I mean, take the band Slipknot. There were a few snippets of a music video, and a few song lyrics. Their looks freaked me out so much that I wondered how people can possibly endure that sort of thing. I mean, dude! They say the F word pretty much every other line, and have songs about killing and raping women and shooting and killing... And what's so strange? These artists have wives and kids. They wouldn't let their own kids listen to some of the stuff they produce, and yet they market it to teens.

Hypocrites.

There was a story about this 14-year-old kid who was depressed because of that type of music. He took a hunting rifle, loaded it, proceeded to kill his mother and younger brothers, and then he shot himself in the head. It's those kinds of things, like teens and kids listening to that kind of music, playing those games and watching those movies and then becoming so depressed and twisted that they kill themselves or someone else, that really make me scared for my generation.

In another note... If my mom gets the job she's been going after, I might be able to go to Christian high school. I don't know if I would, but the idea is sort of appealing to me. I'll have to think long and hard on it before I make any real decisions. But maybe going to an actual school wouldn't be too bad. Huh.

Current Mood: Still appalled

Random Useless Fact of the Day: That darn trophy has to be returned next month, sigh...

Funny/Weird/Scary Dreams

2005-03-23T19:45:00.000-06:00

Having yet another head cold, I have to get reacquainted with generic cough supressants. This particular one (cheap equivalent of NyQuil) I had to take in order to get more than two hours of sleep. I took the regular dose and flopped down in bed, waiting for a while until this drug came into effect. When it did, I was out like a lamp that had been tossed out of the back of a pickup truck going full speed down the interstate... Well, you get my point.

I discovered that this medicine, though effective in keeping away my cough during the night, gave me weird dreams. Not just stuff that makes you think, "Now what the heck is this?" but the kind that scars you for life.

First off, I was just standing in the parking lot in front of the youth building at church, seeing my buddy John getting falsely arrested for some reason. He comes over to me and he's like, "But I didn't do it... You know I didn't..." while all the time giving me this pleading look and I'm like, "What?" while standing there like a moron.

So I look around and he's suddenly gone, but then I realize that I'm late for some play and Count Olaf (from the book series "A Series of Unfortunate Events") was chasing me and my cousin around for some reason or another. So I yelled at my cousin to run, and we did. We dove behind this hill thingy, thinking that we'd be safe, but had to run again two seconds later. So we make it into the middle school, run from Olaf there, and bolt back across the road for this play thingy.

We burst into the chapel and take our place in the choir (why there was a choir there, I have no idea). It turned out that we were doing a play about the kids in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books, so my cousin and I go along with that, thinking that this would be interesting.

Then came the part where something had to burn down. (You can see where this is going.) So in comes Olaf as himself, and he lights a match and tosses it right onto the rather flammable stage. Everyone's running around screaming, but the crowd manages to escape the burning building without getting seriously hurt. I turn to my cousin and say, "I guess we should've rehearsed that part, huh?"

Current Mood: Congested

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Generic NyQuil goes along with chocolate pudding on the "List of Things That Give Me Weird/Strange/Scary/All of the Above Dreams." Let's see what I'm up to tonight.

Tea'd Off

2005-03-21T11:08:00.000-06:00

You know that my throat is bugging me when I drink hot tea willingly. Now, I think tea's okay, but it's just not something that I prefer to drink if I don't have to. Unfortunately, I tend to catch every throat bug that comes to me. Right now it's not a big deal, just enough of an aching cough be annoying. I'll have to ask my voice teacher tonight about some decent remedies... Preferably ones that won't put me to sleep.

Otherwise, nothing too exciting going on here. Pixel the pug is still being a bit of a brat. (What else is new?) Beans, in a display of bullheaded insistance, got me up at 6:15 this morning, whining and scratching at my door. Little punk. So that was a bit of a sucky start to my morning.

My cousin's birthday dinner is tonight, so that should be fun. I need to wrap her present, as I can't put it off any more... I mean, geez, it's two minutes to wrap a present of that size. Why do I put it off? 'Cos I'm lazy.

Not a whole lot of plans for the rest of the week, except for Friday...

Current Mood: Not 100%

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Apparently the word 'blog' is one of the most overused words of our time. Well, guess what? Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog! So there. I thumb my nose at you!

U2 is now Legendary

2005-03-15T13:24:00.000-06:00

After school, laundry, and taking the garbage out, I was bored. I thought that I might do dishes, but I decided to check over the Internet first. One of the things I discovered was that the Irish band U2 (one of the my favorite bands) has been inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of fame.

They deserve it, in my opinion. Go them.

School was okay. Not too much new, just some more stuff about the Cold War, more algebra, and yet more stuff on electromagnetism. Don't get me wrong, I think electricity is interesting, but I've been studyinbg it for a couple of months now and I'm starting to get a little tired of it. So... Can I just do chemistry now?

Listening to Bill Cosby. He's got this one act entitled "Noah". It's a spoof on Noah's conversation with the Lord, among other things. For example: God-Noah? It's the Lord. Noah- Right.
'Tis one of the best acts ever.

Can I never really focus on one topic? I can think of, like, three entries here that involve less than two topics. Huh. Guess I have "Blogger's ADD" or something.

Current Mood: Snickering

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Lord-"Noah?" Noah-"WHAT?!" Lord-"How long can you tread water?"

Laser Tag

2005-03-12T17:15:00.000-06:00

If I'm not mistaken, most junior high groups have gone to play laser tag at one point or another. I got my first taste of the game last night. Result? I loved it. A lot. I want to go play laser tag again.

What is it that makes it so darned fun? Maybe it's the way that you're allowed to go around shooting people in the back. Perhaps it's the way that white things glow under that blacklights. Or it could be the way that students get to hangout togther whilst doing something fun.

I personally think it's the shooting. I shot Tyler once, I think. Can't be sure. This one guy, Todd, wouldn't move so I just stood there tagging him over and over. Got plenty of boys shot, so I am quite proud.

Otherwise, not too much news coming from my end. My mom had this one party so I had to clean the house (payment: new headphones). Managed to hunt down the one CD that I needed. Need to get the two songs off of iTunes. My brother has five laptops under his roof, along with two iPods. Dork.

I was asked to give a 15-minute thingy for the adults Sunday school class on Scripture memorization. I am sort of freaked out, but I think I have some idea of what to say. Maybe a quick blurb on Bible Bowl...

Chosen sings for the youth service tomorrow. Yippee.

Current Mood: Satisfied with life in general

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Got a new hoodie. And a good pair of shoes. Nike Shox? rock. w00t!

My Brain Hurts

2005-03-05T17:03:00.000-06:00

Hey, your brain would be throbbing too after thirteen rounds. Know what's even worse? No wins. The bye round doesn't even count.

So yeah. Bible Bowl isn't on the list of great inventions right now. Too much brain throbbing going on to really be happy.

Current Mood: Tired like whoa

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Never eat chocolate pudding just before bed. That's just asking for weird dreams. Just don't ask. It's too strange and/or scary for the sane mind to comprehend.

Greatest Magazine Ever

2005-03-04T12:18:00.000-06:00

And the trivia junkie's world revolves around... Mental_floss. It's just this magazine that tells you a bunch of stuff that you probably didn't know and probably could live without, but is interesting anyway.

And it's funny.

Current Mood: Dork

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Soda's first ancestor was seltzer water. Although I bet you know that already.

Let it Shine, Mah Brother!

2005-03-03T13:44:00.000-06:00

This morning was a rather interesting one. My cousin and I went to the community college to see a play called "Inherit the Wind." It was about the Scopes trial, in which a schoolteacher taught evolution, which was against the laws of the town in that time. Various people were fighting for the Scriptures continuing to be taught, while a man of renown was defending this teacher.

I'm not sure exactly how evolutionists believe what they do. It's nonsensical to me. I would rather believe I came from intelligent design and not from a little blob of jelly. All the time I was watching this play, I was saying to myself, "Now that's just strange." Apparently even evolutionists can't defend evolution in their own; the defense lawyer kept trying to admit zoologists and that sort of thing into the courtroom. Apparently they need backup in order to explain what they believe, whereas this one guy named Brady stood up for the Bible with almost no trouble, until the defense lawyer just pounded him down to a pulp, using tired arguements like "Well, who says a day is 24 hours? Huh?!"

Man, that ticked me off. I know where I stand, thanks, and that's on the Bible.

Because if we're all wrong, then nothing's lost. If Christians are right and I don't believe it, then it's all lost.

Current Mood: A bit confused

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I'm not sure why the title of the book I'm reading in English is called "The Lord of the Flies." Is it because some boys are like annoying insects? Or is it just because they had no oppertunity to take a bath on that island and so attracted flies? Ah well. I'll figure it out.

Dentists

2005-03-02T17:05:00.000-06:00

My least favorite kind of doctor has to be the dentist. And why not? As taken from the wonderful Bill Cosby, they poke around in your mouth and try to talk to you ("So, how's your life going so far?" "Ah heen hokai. Hoo i' een har."), they tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal objects and immediately prod your mouth with an iron hook, and they stick a little white sucky thingy in there. ("This will suck up your face.")

Had to get a couple teeth repaired this morning. Nothing like waking up and thinking 'Oh, yay, I get to have some dude with a funny name poking around in my mouth!'. I had an extra cusp on a couple of my molars and apparently that was inviting junk, so I got to spend the day with my face feeling like it had slid off my skull (yet more Bill Cosby).

So my day was interesting. Yay.

Current Mood: Sleepy

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Latin for asparagus? Asparagus. Wow. What a stretch. Let's see how many times I have to fend off that one guy tonight...

Updates of Various Kinds

2005-03-01T12:39:00.000-06:00

Last was productive. How, you ask? My iPod has sucessfully been modified to fit the new software Apple came up with. So now the menu is more organized and there's a a couple more CDs on it... Mannheim Steamroller, yay. And I am ecstatic.

My brother Chris has recently gotten a job and better TiVo hardware, so he is at least happier than he was a couple of weeks ago. (Chris isn't known for his joyous personality.)

Need to pick up "Lord of the Flies" from the library before it gets checked out again...

But otherwise, I just felt like typing something. And now... On to the algebra! ( Insert a *w00t!* here.)

Current Mood: Quite content, thank you so very much.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: My dog, Beans, has discovered the couch and won't get off unless we make her. Little stubborn punk. And I changed the layout, by the way. I just felt like it. Got tired of the Minima thing.

A Field Study: Teenagers

2005-02-23T21:21:00.000-06:00

Tonight should be really interesting (read: Hey! I actually have a subject! Go me!). I'm going to type up a field study of teenagers, as I saw them tonight at the youth program thingy. Being homeschooled, I don't know very much about my peers. I live a rather sheltered life compared to some, and speak a different language (read: better vocabulary than most teens), and live in a different culture.

The first thing I did was ride a large capacity vehicle, along with my objects of study. Most of these teens were male, wearing baggy clothes and baseball caps. There were a few females- the type that seemed more concerned with makeup and/or athletic events than with living a productive life. Unlike the males, in whose pants you could store more than one person (heaven forbid), the females were wearing clothes that looked rather tight, and must've been cold, since it was snowing at the time.

I arrived at large, open area, known as a 'gym' to most who saw these structures on a daily basis. There were packs of teenagers here, and the ones riding on the bus with me immediately tried to locate their friends. Most of the males were either swaggering around with females with them (they seem to pair off quite early). There were two very large packs, both of which were playing a game with a spherical object and two hoops. (They call this "Basketball".) I presumed that this was a game too out of my knowledge to play, and didn't feel any compuction to join in. Instead, I watched both packs from the sidelines.

One of the packs was mostly males, but a few females were playing along halfheartedly as the boys scored basket after basket. (Watching them come your way in one large stampede is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.) In the other end of the gym, a smaller group, this one mostly made up of females, was playing basketball as well, although they often paused to yell at one another in play or exasperation, or so I think. Many minor groups were strewn around the place. Most of those were made up of girls with a couple of boys, or of a few boys and a couple of girls. You could tell which males were the dominants, as they had the baggiest jeans and a female on the arm. I think that these were the so-called "popular kids". A few males were sitting on top of the bleachers, either listening to music players or talking amongst themselves. I think that these were the less dominant males, as they didn't make any move to join in the games or socialize with the females. There were few female stragglers.

A few minutes of watching on the sidelines lead a one of the lesser males to sit next to me, asking "What's up?" and getting a bit too close for my liking. For this, I simply told him about my older brothers, who I knew would object strongly to his getting too close to their little sister. The male backed off and went to join one of the games.

A couple of minutes later, the adult leaders came in. It was obvious that these were the most dominant of the entire pack, as when the bald one stepped up they all obediantly jogged over to listen to his instructions. His instructions turned out to be his rules of playing dodgeball.

It was then I began to understand the ruthlessness of teens when it comes to dodgeball. They slam into others, they smack each other with hard objects, and they attempt to generally cause pain, or at least embarassment. The game lasted for at least fifteen minutes. When all of the teens that played were a little tired and sweaty, the bald leader (at least, he seemed to be the leader, since he was the one telling people what to do) spoke to the pack, giving advice for life. It was obvious that most of the teenagers seemed to respect the bald one, since he came down to their level and spoke in a language they understood (you see, teenagers are quite simple when it comes to communication. At least to me).

After this time of speaking, the bald leader said that the teens were free do go eat food, which was graciously given to all of us by other adults. The waiting was now on to see who could reach the shuttle bus first, thus getting a seat. I was one of the lucky ones to get on the first bus. It was a short ride, but I think that all of the yelling caused by the teenagers' confusion will result in a more ferocious headache.

Conclusions? Teenagers might seem simple on the surface, but underneath is a complex and very confusing society. I think that this should grant another look, perhaps in different surroundings, or in smaller or larger groups. (Even though going with a larger group might just produce more of the same.)

Current Mood: Geeky

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Even though it's snowing, I get no snow day. If there's a foot or two of snow outside, I get no snow day. Sigh.

Sorry, We're Closed.

2005-02-22T14:52:00.000-06:00

Heh, I've been a bad blogger. No updates for a week. Nothing really has actually been happening, so I thought, "Why bother? My life is boring, why would people want to read about that?"

So yeah. Have to be at church at 5:30 tomorrow evening for choir practice... Better take some aspirin because I know I'm going to have a headache. Why shouldn't I? I've had a headaches running rampant for the past few days... But that's why God made Excedrin.

I did laundry and the dishes voluntarily. I must've had a useful streak. Now that doesn't happen too often. (You're not allowed to answer that one, Phil.)

Current Mood: Productive, maybe? Nah.

Random Useless Fact of the Day: I think my mother is becoming more and more geekified. She was looking at iPod Shuffles and is apparently interested... (That's right, come over to the Dark Side, Mom.)

And By The Way: I changed the title of this blog. I just felt like it...

Kids? Do I Have to?!

2005-02-15T22:17:00.000-06:00

If there's one thing in this world that can annoy me, it's little kids. I mean, sure, they're not going to be as disciplined or quiet as the average teenager. But they just annoy me. I'm not sure why, so don't ask. Yeah, there are a few kids that I actually like (my cousins, and about five others from church). But the rest? No. Just no.

Take tonight, for example. Mercifully, I had Pixel the pug to do her tricks, et cetera, but the little girl I was watching had no idea whatsoever of what to do around dogs. She wanted to play really rough with Pixel, fiddle around with her tail (which is asking for Pixel give a person one of her 'leggomytail!' bites), and then proceeded to scream and whine when Pixel got riled up. (As the wise prophet would exclaim when a person riles up a dog and said dog goes nuts... "Well, duh!") Then this girl decides to try to chase Beans, my Boston terrier, around the house when Beans really, really doesn't want to be messed with. So yeah. When someone messes around with my dogs (especially eight-year-old Beans who hates strangers), I get somewhat ticked.

I'm just not sure why I get so irate around little kids. They're cute, right? The pride and joy of their parents' lives, right? Maybe I spend too much time with animals (you try to cut down on it and..well... I'll take shelter in the Humane Society shed) and that inhibits various relationships with various kids, but I doubt that's it. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a babysitter.

Current Mood: Tired

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Found a cool website... These guys crack open an iPod mini and show all the little different parts. Yeah, I'm a dork.

Little iPod? Ooh!

2005-02-12T17:01:00.000-06:00

Ever since I first saw my brother's first iPod (the one that's now mine), I have been fascinated with all sorts of MP3 players. Mostly, the iPod itself. A couple of days ago I found that Chris's wife, Christine, has ordered an iPod Shuffle. Yeah, the one that's tinier than a pack of gum. I think it's because she needed, like, a USB storage device or something... I think. But then, I don't know what the heck I'm talking about when it comes to computers so I'm just going to shut up about the really technical stuff.

So yeah. Now there's three of us: Chris, myself, and Christine. We're rapidly becoming the Aliance of White Earbuds. Or something like that. With me it's headphones more often because earbuds kind of irritate the cartilage in my ears if I wear 'em too long. But I like them well enough.

Current Mood: Slightly headache-y

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Mom got a new watch. Took long enough for her old one to conk out...

Meh...

2005-02-11T19:47:00.000-06:00

My life? Is boring. Ah, well. Guess it'll get interesting sooner or later...

Wednesday was sort of an interesting day. One of the staff members at the Humane Society quit, and the others really needed help. So Mom and I marched right up there at 8:30 in the morning and cleaned things. The only real issue was that at 10:30, there would be camera crews. Why? Because this one organization knitted a bunch of dog beds and those (very nice!) folks donated them to us. And of course, it had to be done on television. So the camera dudes came as Mom was sticking the last blanket in the last dog cage while the camera was running. She was backing out, and, well, I'll say no more. She'd probably kill me, and I'm not allowed to die until at least the end of Bible Bowl Nationals...

In other news, I think we've found a good way to make some money for the Bible Bowl team. There's this dog agility thing around the county, and they need to staff up the events. Good news? For one day of really simple tasks (setting up jumps, carrying leashes, etc.) the team gets paid $150. If we can keep that up for a few days, that'd really cut hotel costs... So yeah, I'm excited about that.

Current Mood: Yawning

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The only really bad thing about drawing with charcoal is that it gets all over your hands. It's worse than oil pastels... And no, I'm not talking about the kind of charcoal one uses to light one's grill.

I Used To Have A Life

Don't Blame Me...

Dad Gummit

It Feels Good to be a Gangsta

*kicking and screaming*

Score.

Internets is a Meaneyhead

Full Stummy

You! With the Face!

I'm Old

Five Deer and a Lovebird

I Officially Hate Google.

Therapy

Back Once Again

*rises from the dead*

Hey, Lookit!!!

And I Thought I Was Lazy!

Before I Get Beaten

A Small Rant

*yawn*

And Here We Go Again

We don't exist. Not physically, anyway.-- Christian Science

Quickie

The Internets Ate My Baby

Tired

*dons helmet*

Just hop up on the couch, Mr. Cruise-- Scientology

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Sing a Song of HU- Eckankar

*breaks out of the bubble*

Quick Update

Random!

The Prettiness of New Monitors

I'll just leave you to guess...

*kicking and screaming*

Lines are fun!

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Yeah, Yeah, Still Alive...

Ah, Great, Here We Go Again...

Lab Pups = Sponges

Here We Go Again...

Mr. Head, Meet Mr. Desk.

Out with One, in with Another

Chick Shoes and Hoop Skirts

Another Year, Another Joke Flies Over My Head.

I Hate My Lungs

Ninja Brat

Because I'm Getting Yelled At...

Project "Death Waltz"

Labor Day, Schmabor Day...

Stuff, Stuff, and Yet More Stuff!

And Half the Results are In

Just So People Know...

And the Drought Breaks

Please Excuse My Big Red Nose

...

Relief at Last

Be Vewwy Vewwy Quiet

After the Book

Saturday

I'm Ba-aa-ck...

Dude, This is Awesome...

The Weekend Shall be... Filled.

So What's New?

Haiku

At Last

Vebis Part II

VBS

Break It Fix It Then Upgrade It... Technologic!

Algebra: The Haiku

The End Draws Near

Maybe Some of These Would Work...

iPods, Again

Gimme a Break!

Eh?!

Star Wars

It's Still Hot

Sunday

Summer? Already? NOOO!

Survey Says: "We're Closed! Go Away!"

kicking and screaming

rises from the dead

yawn

dons helmet

breaks out of the bubble

kicking and screaming