~Exactly AbbiGal~

Comptine d'un autre été

2011-06-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

And here's the finished project!

Comptine d'un autre été: l'après midi

Composed by Yann Tiersen
Performed by Abbi Traaseth

(My blog layout seems to cut off the side of the video; my apologies for that! If you click on the video after it's playing, you can go to the original YouTube source, and watch the full thing there. :) )

The Note's Song

2011-06-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while, and I figured I really ought to write a blog post about it, because it's far too extensive for a Facebook status update and I really want to convey what this means for me.

I play piano. I love playing piano. If you've read here before you probably know this, but I'll sum up my experience anyway. I took one lesson in my life, and found that the teacher and I didn't get along. But I didn't want that to stop me from playing. Fortunately, I have a fantastic ear for music and notes, and I could always figure out the melody of any song I wanted just by fooling around until something sounded right. But I wanted to learn notes, I wanted to enjoy the piano to its full potential, and most of all I wanted to play songs that I liked and that I felt moved by. So I printed out a little piano sheet that looks something like this:

Yep, that's right. That's my deep, dark, piano-playing secret. I printed out an image like that, and set it up on my piano next to my sheet music. I used this to slowly, deliberately decipher every song I was curious about, and then commit it to memory. Several years later, I've gotten better (and worse, as the frequency that I play surges and wanes) and can now for the most part read sheet music, but I always keep the page for reference to make certain that I'm reading it right.

Like I said, I memorize my songs. Once I decipher them, like I outlined above, I'm then able to toss out the sheet music, and play. But how do I remember them? I amaze myself constantly to find I can play immensely long and complicated songs straight from my head. What I've found is a lot of it is muscle memory, for one; I know the feeling of my fingers on the blacks, between the blacks, crawling over one another, et cetera. I know the flow and the pacing of the song.

But sometimes that isn't enough either, so how do I remember the notes? What if I forget the flow and draw a blank and can't think of what comes next?

I find stories in the notes I play for every song. I discovered when I was little that I did this unintentionally when I learned songs, and I still do it now. I won't notice it until I'm finished and playing through, and I need to remember what comes next, and it comes to me as something like "Oh, this is when D gets pissed off and goes sharp, and A and G make a cage around it so it can't cause any trouble."

I didn't realize that this was maybe unusual (or maybe it isn't?) until I was telling my mom about it and it was interesting to her. I thought everyone did it. I'm sure there are others who do, but either way, I now have the most fun figuring out what each song is telling me when I play it. I also learned that it helps me tune in with the song and feel the emotion behind it. I can't say whether this emotion is what the composer originally intended for it, but it's definitely what I'm pulling out of it.

I'll give an example of my most recent song, called Comptine d'un autre été: l'après midi. It's from Amelie. Here's a video for it:

I already got that this was a very emotional song from this video, but listening to the notes gives it even more of a tie to its core for me. I'll do my best to explain what I mean.

The left hand is constantly going through a steady loop of notes throughout the entire song. There are four patterns. It goes: E+E, B, G+E, B, E+E, B, G+E, B. The next is: D+D, B, G+D, B, D+D, B, G+D, B. As you may have noticed, the most frequently repeated note descended one step, from E to D; this gives it a lower sound. Next is: D+D, B, F-sharp+D, B, D+D, B, F-sharp+D, B. Again we've lowered another note from G to F-sharp. This gives it a little bit of a cryptic sound. Finally, we go to: D+D, A, F-sharp+D, A, D+D, A, F-sharp+D, A. We've taken one last step downward, the one note that stayed the same the entire time: the B, to A.

What does this mean? It's a steady, gentle, repeating pattern that's nice on the ears. What does this mean to me? These soft, happy notes of E, B and G, slowly and surely fall into the depression that is D, A, and F-sharp. And they do it over and over and over... And not all at once. I always watch from the B's perspective, and it's so sad to me how first it's the most influential note (E), and then, B's closest friend, G, before finally giving in herself.

The melody of this song is all about the higher notes attempting to reason with the lower ones. They try to convince them that life is worth living up at the top, but by the first time the loop resorts to the F-sharp, already the melody is also makes the turn to use an F-sharp.

As the song goes on, you hear the use of chords, and the pace quickens; this conveys an air of desperation. "Please please PLEASE don't go to the F-sharp again!" They always do, but I like to think that by the end of the song, the final chord is E-G-B, meaning we finally made it back to a place of happiness.

Anyway, if any of that made any sense, that is what goes on in my head without any sort of preconceived attempt made on my part. This flows from the notes to my mind back to my fingers again as I play through the song as if I were also part of it.

Once I know a song, there's also a certain amount of knowledge on my part that assures me that I can't mess it up, because the song isn't mine to mess up. The song is going, and all I can do is finish it. Fittingly, if and when I do mess up, you'll find that it's as if a spell was broken and as I look at my fingers, and can't even remember what I was doing before some wrong note was hit and I was thrown out of my story.

But we'll just assume that that happens less frequently than just playing and being a part of the magic of the song happens.

So that's how it works for me, from the most complicated song to the least. They all have a story; a reason for going the way they go. I can't wait to continue learning more songs and finding out about them. I don't know what will be next, but I know it'll have something in store for me.

Moved by the Music

2011-02-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

O gentle sound, from the slow and sweet piano make,
The heart and soul within my chest are forever yours to take

O passionate heat, from the quick and fired piano stirred,
Do drive me on, it is from you that it has been incurred

O stringent song, from the depths that have brought you here.
Sing me to sleep, and I in turn, will only you, revere.

To Exist.

2010-08-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

I just read a book set in the future. Everyone has their own feed - posting pictures and blogs and videos - everyone is always connected, everyone wants everyone to look at them. To be famous is to get what you want, no questions asked. Not too different from the world as we know it now, is it? But it brought to my attention a certain question: what if you unplug, and no one is looking at you anymore. Do you still exist?

The answer is yes, of course, but the frightening truth behind the question lingers: most (if not all) people want to be acknowledged, to really prove their existence to the world. They want to leave something behind, to be remembered. But it's also a question of security. Do you still feel comfortable in your skin, doing what you're doing, if you're the only one giving yourself approval? Or do you feel you need the eyes of the world on you, nodding, giving you a pat on the back?

A rough quote from the book is, "Don't worry, you'll still exist, even if you don't have a camera pointing at you."

There are so many people I know and look up to, all of whom are confident and happy and secure in who they are as people. But I still can't help but feel bad for the people out there that think they need to be showered with attention to feel alive, and as soon as there is no one looking at them, think they're alone. That doesn't seem like a happy or fulfilling "existence" to me, if it can be called one.

So here I write my own philosophical inquiry:

If you do something and no one knows, did you do it? If you did something only so someone would know, was it worth doing?

If you're alive but no one knows, do you really exist? If you live only so people know you exist, is it a life worth living?

Scarlet

2010-08-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

What has Abbi been into, lately? What has been keeping her attention, what is teaching her patience and tolerance, and what is getting her psyched about the future?

Her brand-new black and red, glowing, shiny Gateway FX6840-03E.

As I'm constantly looking out into the world and searching for passions that excite me, my interest has always been drawn back to electronics. I don't know what it is about gadgets, but I love them. Starting with my jogger's CD player (it didn't skip if it was bounced around!), to my Zen Creative (hand-held, hello?), to customizing a hand-me-down desktop, to my own pink laptop, to my iPod Touch, and finally, a completely up-to-spec Gateway desktop. I love it all! (The one thing I never cared that much about is a cell phone, go figure.)

What has me most excited about this computer, now? It started off with me needing a computer that was capable of playing the new Final Fantasy MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV, and extended to "hey, I never had a really good computer for myself that would allow me to play on it when I want, and do more demanding things like Sims 3 or World of Warcraft raids."

Eventually, it lead to me doing it all, and with a giant grin, too. I did the research on the processors, the graphics card, the ideal RAM and hard drive space, and then compared the prices. I found the best one that would suit me, the deals that would be coming in the future, the monitor that I would want to accompany it, the keyboard, the mouse, the chair. (Computers can be really pricey when it comes to all the little things. I still don't have speakers covered.) I learned so much, and didn't realize just how giggly I could get about something mechanical.

And now? I have her. She's fast, she's red, she's silent, she has rotating wallpapers (this is my first Windows 7 computer) and she can hold everything I'll ever, EVER need. Her ATI HD Radeon 5770 graphics card is gorgeous, too. I played with the idea of getting the 5870, but maybe that'll be later, when the price is lower.

The power this thing has, it's mine! And, if you can't tell, I am thrilled. I'd be lying if I said the experience was without its frustrations, ex. where do I put it, why isn't Sims loading right, what if I delete this, etc. But most - if not all - of that is sorted out now as I finish the final touches. Now, with Alec's help, I understand the ins and the outs, I know what I'm putting on it... it won't get bogged down with stuff that I didn't need before. All of my pictures will be in their appropriate, organized folders, all of my bookmarks are relevant to me and labeled correctly... there are no broken links, and everything is orderly. When FFXIV comes out (Sept. 30th) she'll be prepared to tear it APART. This computer has me so happy every time I see it it's ridiculous. And yet, here I am, proud to say, she belongs to me and I love her.

Oh, and if you were wondering... her name is Scarlet. ♥

These are a few of my favorite things...

2010-07-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Throughout my life - as I'm sure others have also done - I've continually found sounds that I love hearing... here are a few simple pleasures that make my ears sing.

The crunch of a crisp pine cone.

A finger's perfect snap.

Gentle, dripping waterfalls.

Harsh, storming waterfalls.

Babies giggling.

The crunch of a crisp autumn leaf.

Freshly-baked, crackling almonds.

Fingers typing quickly on a keyboard.

That one high, pristine note on a harp.

A slow exhale.

That clack, when someone snaps their tongue in their mouth.

The crunch of a thin layer of ice on the side of the road.

The build-up, and eventual high screech of a tea kettle.

Birds chirping.

The rustle of leaves outside.

And finally, complete, utter silence... silence, eventually to be cleanly sliced through by any one of the aforementioned sounds.

Sharp, clear, focused. Such clarity is rivaled only by...

Relaxation; wispy, dreamy. Calm and gently at peace, enjoying the serenity within one's own mind, and bathing in the simple sounds all around us.

This how I like to live my life, and this is how I like to hear it.

Acting Camp

2010-06-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

This summer is going to be pretty busy for me; busier than most years, anyway. I'll be attending three different camps: Laura Bowman's ETUSC in August and Vermont Session 3 NBTSC in September being the later two. But the one that's the most risky personal leap for me, is the two-week intensive acting course with the Georgia Shakespeare Co. It will take place Tuesday - Saturday, July 20 - July 31, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

My actual acting experience is extremely limited. I had small dancing parts in the Paul Bunyan Playhouse productions of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan, and I fell in love with plays. The behind-the-scenes, the make-up and costumes and props, the coordination mixed up with improvisation, and the amazing, creative people behind it all. I've tried out for a couple other plays since, but after moving to Georgia, it's slipped my mind and I haven't pursued anything.

Still, I've always loved memorizing and performing monologues. I performed V's introductory speech (from V for Vendetta) at the 2006 Live and Learn conference, and more privately memorized Helena's heart-ripping accusations toward Hermia as Lysander and Demetrius both proclaim their love for her (from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 2). I also worked on a few of Lady Macbeth's soliloquies.

So, as I said, I'm finally pursuing this interest again by attending this camp (through no small part from Madeline Rains, to whom I am most grateful.) It's the first time I've ever taken part in an intensive course, but I'm really excited. And anxious. And nervous. I have no idea what to expect, except that I plan to jump in head-first and do my best. I know that I didn't get a few acting roles in the past because I was too caught up in having fun and being silly - at the time I was between 8 and 10, so can you really blame me? - but I really want to take this opportunity seriously this time, and really learn from the actors that are here to help me. (For more information on the camp itself: http://www.gashakespeare.org/camps I'll be attending the "High School Conservatory".)

I suppose the last thing I'm left with is the wonder if I should prepare beforehand, or just continue with my days as I have up to this point, and just enter with an open mind. Like I said; I'll be present, listen for advice and constructive criticism, and just... be all that I can be! I won't worry about needing more until I'm there, and if it does call for something I'm lacking, I should be set to take care of it then.

Been a while, eh? Recap!

2010-06-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hello, Blogger. Remember me? Yeah... some couple, six months ago or so, I said that I would write here more often. So, uh... so much for that. But there's no use dwelling on what I failed at doing! What I can do now is write a little recap! "What has Abbi been up to?" some of you may be thinking? Or maybe you aren't actually thinking that, but you're willing to read on anyway? Maybe you don't care in the slightest and you're right now typing into the URL space I Can Has Cheezburgers? Either way, this what I've been doing! Or... what I can remember doing.

In May, we drove up to Minnesota for our family reunion, and general family and friend visity stuff. It was a very, very long drive, but Alec and I bought the new Pokemon games for the ride so we were entertained for quite some time. Well, actually, the entire way up felt like a couple minutes, and the entire way down, I was reading. So I guess it'd be more accurate to say it felt to everyone else like a very, very long drive; I'm lucky to be able to zone out into a book or a DS game while in the car, which happens to make things go quite a bit faster. The trip itself was a lot of fun, too, but we were all glad to be home when we got back.

A little further in May (or before the trip, I'm not sure) we had a conjoined birthday party for Kyra and Sierra in Johnson City at a roller rink. I'd never rollerskated before (or I had, once before, at the same location and only a couple weeks prior to the party) so I was very inexperienced. I was lucky to have only fallen over a couple times. It was a lot of fun!

Almost a week ago this month, the "Big Four" of Metal went on a tour together in Belgium. The Big Four are Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. This is the first time they've played together, even though they've all been around for over thirty years. To sum the exact... "effect" these bands had on the music world, they practically invented metal, as well as revolutionized it over the years of their fame. So needless to say, the tour was huge. So huge, it was being broadcast to theaters all over the world! Alec and I went to it in Cumming, and it was pretty... epic, for lack of a better word. Four hours of metal that went from 7:30 to 11:30. Very enjoyable, but left me extremely wiped. Now what I want most is to go to a Dream Theater concert, but Alec assures me that that won't be for another year or so, at the least. Boo.

And finally, most recently, Kyra, mom and I have been playing with felting projects! I made a circular color-ball, two little... cartoony face things, and a giant Poliwag! Pictures coming soon. Maybe.

I guess the last little details would be the TV shows that we've been watching- Buffy and Angel! ...that's right, Buffy and Angel AGAIN! I'm watching Buffy for the third time and Angel the second, this time with Kyra. I'm still in love with both series, so they're as fun as ever.

Well, more details on my life coming up later, and in more detail, as they occur to me. Maybe I'll write more about the events these last couple months, or maybe some later stuff... either way, I'm glad to have at least brief across this little life of mine that had gone un-blogged about for so long!

See you soon, and I'll try my best not to forget about you next time.

No, really. I'll try.

My first Unconscious Mutterings

2010-01-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Week #362

Click here if you want to play.

365 :: Kittens

Tombstone :: Crypt

Dumb :: Dumber

Intrusive :: Cruel

Fat :: Phat/Cool

Axe :: Handle

Planned :: List

Spike :: (Hot) Vampire

Bleach :: Color

Shopkeeper :: Service

Piercing

2010-01-06T08:13:00.001-08:00

Hmm~. I was going to get a tragus piercing. That's the little cartilage knob right in front of the ear. I have thought for years that a little silver stud there would be adorable, and I've planned to get it ever since. I had no specific time frames, so I was content to just wait until the urge really overwhelmed me. There were a few occasions where we were going to go out and get it done, but every time something else happened. Eventually mom convinced me to research them a little more before making my full decision. As I said, I wasn't in a huge hurry, so that was fine. In fact, I only just got around to it last night.

*If you're a bit squeamish, you might want to skip the next paragraph.*
The tragus is considered an "exotic" ear piercing. You are most likely going to be asked to lie down on your side while they pierce it, because the needle takes a bit more pressure to puncture the thick cartilage, and that way your head has the most stable position and won't move. It doesn't, however, hurt as much as everyone thinks, because there are very few nerve endings within it. Blood is almost always inevitable, even for the first couple hours after.

It is suggested you clean it two to three times a day, and because it is more prone to infection (thick cartilage), it is suggested that you swap out a clean pillow case every three or so days.

After reading all of this, I was still convinced that I wanted the piercing. I was talking with some friends about it, and jamming to my Avenged Sevenfold music, listened through my brand-new, highish quality earbuds that I got for Christmas. It was then that the thought occurred to me... that I wouldn't be able to wear earbuds or headphones for the first ten weeks after the procedure. I'm not sure if I'd be able to fit them in correctly at all afterward, with the stud's clasp in the way.

Whelp, that idea's out! As I said, I still love the piercing, but I'm not sure if I'm quite willing to pay for something that's aesthetically pleasing, but affects the functionality of my entire ear. I guess I'll have to think of something else... a cartilage piercing for my right ear, perhaps? Another lobe piercing...? I am DEFINITELY getting a tattoo when I'm legal to!

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Naive you are / if you believe / life favours those / who aren't naive. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)

Calendar

2010-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

I've really never used a calendar all the way through the year. I've always bought the really cute ones, with the horses or the gardens or the art posted right under each month's name and right over the days, but I never got past February. Then it would end up folded or bent, collecting dust in my junk drawer with the rest of its discarded kind. By the time I finally remembered it, it would be past the year that it was meant for, and all of those pretty pictures would go to waste. Saddened by their loss, I would resolve to go out, buy a new one, and make use of it this time! ...well, rinse and repeat. By February...

Eventually I wore out of this, and just stopped buying them. I mean, why have them hanging around? Mom has her wooden calendar hanging in the kitchen, and I have a laptop that tells me what time/date it is at any point in the world (currently 3:45PM in Paris, and Wednesday, 1:45AM in Sydney), so why would I deliberately pay money for something disposable that leaves a hole in the wall, and just tells me things I already know?

The answer that I came up with to that question is the reason I haven't had a calendar since I was nine. The reason I have one now, is because of Mrs. Laura Bowman. I saw the calendars that she had on her wall, and they were pieces of art! They were almost like scrapbooks, or a variant of a journal! With little hearts and stars on days that were particularly good, people who came and how long they were staying, events they were going to... all I ever knew about how to fill out a calendar was the rudimentary way of crossing out each day until there were 365 X's!

To sum it all up, with Laura's piece of inspiration to create a wall-journal of my life throughout the entire year, I now have a "365 Days of Kittens" calendar leaning against my desk in my room. I plan to fill it out with love, colorful sharpies, and maybe even a sticker or two. As mentioned in my previous post, I want to be able to look back on it in a couple years, and take the time to remember decorating it and think about what I did that year!

Is it unusual that I seem so adamant about cataloging my life? Maybe, but I'm enjoying it, so maybe that's just the kind of person I am. Here's to the calendar!

Journals

2010-01-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I've come to realize lately, that I like recording my thoughts. Be it blogging, journal-ing, Facebooking, creating personalized calendars, or even vlogging a little bit, I want other people (my future self included) to know my thoughts on things. I tend to be a very opinionated person, and I'm also very interested in the way a person changes over time, so maybe this is all just an experiment to see if I still agree with myself in ten years. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But I know that when I read it, I'll remember exactly where I was all that time ago (like right now, sitting in a warm house on a cold morning, wrapped in a blanket that is way too big for me), and I'll remember what I was feeling, what I was thinking. I'll take myself back ten years... and I'll see if I'm still the same person.

Because of this interest of mine, I have been writing in a journal. I had been going on and off since I was about eight, but as of the last... maybe about ten months, I've been doing my best to make frequent entries. I still enjoy reading back. I still enjoy experiencing the changes. What had seemed like a slow progression and evolution different thoughts through the months, can be read in a matter of minutes. And my opinions certainly DID change! "I love World of Warcraft!" "The internet is so great!" "I think I'm going to write a book!" "I don't like the book anymore." "I'm done with the computer for now." "I'm really excited to go to [insert location here]!" "I'm feeling sick now, I don't think I can go." "Healthy again! It'll be a blast!"

I also like recording little pieces of information that I would have long forgotten about in later years. It reminds me, again, what I was feeling in that particular moment. I don't think that inconspicuous memories should be lost just because they're small. It brings me down to earth a bit, I guess, to remember what my favorite cereal was at the time, or my favorite song.

In a way, these entries are like tethers to my memories. Sure, there is a chance that I would have remembered all of these details without the need to remind myself... but with them, I can really pull them in again, if they were lost. They're physical evidence of how I felt. A little piece of that moment that I have with me in the future.

Anyway, I think I was going somewhere with this. I may start blogging more. Recording those small, little thoughts for other people to read too. My journal is personal, but sometimes I feel like I want to share it. So, as a compromise, I'll share them here! Let's see how I do.

Filler Thursday

2009-08-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well today I'm tired and my eyes hurt and I just want to sit and watch movies and read books and play WoW and recording a vlog isn't included in that so here's a filler episode with Alec and me riding on a fun ride in Legoland I hope you enjoy and I'll see you next week.

Aquarium Thursday!

2009-08-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

We spent last Thursday at the Haworth's, and we went to the aquarium! We got this amazing footage from it, and I am wholly satisfied. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I was able to make this great vlog!

Vlog stuff aside, I also spent about three hours dancing with Mindy at her belly dance classes! That was also a lot of fun, and I feel like I learned so much. Thank you Mindy!

Music~ a poem

2009-08-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

Listening and playing the piano often inspires me, filling my head with words bursting to come out.

Music

Like angel's lips to my ear do the sounds so gently kiss
And lull me into a tranquil trance of everlasting bliss

My heart goes to you now without remorse or regret
So take over my will and senses, I do so now let

Now dance and sing forever in my open, flowing heart,
Where the music never ends, and we shall never part

Raiding Thursday!

2009-08-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry about missing Week Twenty Four, and I'm sorry that I didn't post Week Twenty Five. I'll explain what happened to Twenty Five in the vlog; but, I finally got Alec's raid! Here you go!

Mastermind Thursday!

2009-07-24T05:40:00.001-07:00

It turns out I'm not as good at this game as I would like to be. Maybe with some practice (and patience, and more thinking) I'll get better.

Thank you, Alec, for being here and creating the humor in this vlog with me!

Another Thursday

2009-07-16T13:38:00.001-07:00

Pretty simple vlog today, but we had fun. :)

Belly dancin' away

2009-07-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot stop dancing! We turn on music at home, and I just start twirling and kicking and letting my groove out. I don't really know what it was. I think Laura inspired me a little bit, dancing whenever she hears music (I've always felt that way, but have always felt a little conservative about dancing wildly by myself with other people watching me.) We've also watched a few episodes of So You Think You Can Dance for the first time, so I suppose that's also part of it.

But anyway, I've felt interested in maybe getting some lessons, or learning about different dances. I was in ballet when I was pretty young, and tap dancing. I was also in Just for Kicks for a couple months, but that never spanned out. I didn't like the competitive nature to it.

We visited the Haworth's for the 4th of July! Mindy is a Tribal belly-dancing teacher. I was finally able to ask her the questions that had been burning inside me about belly dancing, and other dances. She taught me so much about it! From the idea of belly dancing, drills and moves, to isolation and the strict discipline required to perfect each lift, drop, and twirl.

I've been doing pilates for the last several months, so I already have the core strength needed to do basic undulations and belly rolls. I've been really excited about getting better at it. The style I'd be doing is just solo work. I may have to just teach myself, or practice by myself until I meet up with Mindy again, because as far as we've searched, there are no belly dancing teachers in our area.

Unfortunately we also don't have any full-length mirrors in our house, which makes it difficult to watch myself perform; it's important for me to be able to see my hips, knees, and where my feet are placed, so I can correct my posture, experiment with different contractions, etc. We are planning to buy a big sheet mirror to put down on one of the basement walls from Home Depot (or some place like that) though, so that should work well.

I've also been looking up some YouTube videos about belly dancing, to see what the professional solo workers look like when they're doing it. This woman, Sadie (whose last name remains a mystery to me) blows me away, every time I see her. She is absolutely incredible.

Maybe some day I may look forward to being able to perform at least somewhat as well as her!

Thursday with the Haworths!

2009-07-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Alex stayed at our house for the last couple days, when we came home from Chattanooga for our 4th of July celebration. Mindy, Ella, Max and Sophie came over yesterday to pick him up, and I managed to get it on the camcorder!

We had a great time playing Warioware, Bananagrams, and eating cookies.

Hair Thursday!

2009-07-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

This week we were doing our hair, and it happened to fall on Thursday, so it worked out for my vlog!

What's NOT included in the video is the end result, and my mom's hair. She ended up putting in some "Crimson Storm" a couple hours after the video was finished.

Fortunately, though, we're going up to Chattanooga today, and for the rest of the weekend! It should be a lot of fun, and we'll get lots of pictures.

I really like my hair, Kyra really likes hers, and ditto for my mom. Very cool!

THIRD Thursday!

2009-06-26T04:52:00.000-07:00

...which was yesterday, but I never got around to posting a blog about it.

Caars.

V. R. 1. CORVETTE.

I feel like I wish I could have been "smarter" in the video... but as soon as I turn on the camcorder, I just start babbling. There are a lot of facts I wish I could have pointed out that didn't even enter my train of thought at the time. The Mustang is a lot cheaper, the Mazda Miata is EVERYWHERE here in Georgia, the Corvette (and most of them) gets terrible gas mileage- although I guess most of those are commonly known. I didn't even get to touch all those beautiful Ferrari convertibles!

Ohh well. Enjoy.

Second Thursday!

2009-06-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yay, I was able to use the camcorder! The quality is muuch better. Good, good.

Thursday! Which means...

2009-06-12T05:49:00.001-07:00

Abbi's first Our Seven Cents video!

So, I had fun doing it... I feel a little silly about it afterward, but I guess that's okay. I'm sorry about the poor quality; it took me two hours of playing with different computers, webcams and programs to finally get the sound to match up with my voice, and the lighting to be right.

I'm also sorry about how it's hard to hear my voice. It sounded clear and fine when I was listening back to it in Windows Media Player, but when I uploaded it to YouTube, it degraded a bit. Hopefully next week I can use my camcorder.

The Seventh Cent

2009-06-07T07:45:00.001-07:00

Heyy, everybody! I'm really excited about this new opportunity... I'm not sure if all of you are aware, but about seventeen weeks ago, seven Unschoolers got together to make vlogs together, titled "Our Seven Cents". Each Unschooler is assigned their own day, and together, they're entertaining people all through the week.

The Unschoolers and their days are:

Friday - Dagny
Saturday - Jesse
Sunday - Andrew
Monday - Jessica
Tuesday - Logan
Wednesday - Chris
Thursday - Wendy

Unfortunately for them, as of recently their Thursday vlogger, Wendy, has decided she's no longer interested in doing Our Seven Cents, which means they have an open position. They've asked me if I'd be willing to take part in their vlogging, and being very excited with the idea, said yes!

I have yet to make my own vlog yet, but this coming Thursday, watch out for it. I may end up posting it here on Blogger, in addition to YouTube.

If you're interested in looking more into Our Seven Cents, the URL is www.youtube.com/user/OurSevenCents. Everyone is really cool, so please check it out! I'll see you Thursday!

Friday Fill-in!

2009-06-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

1. When I'm surrounded by my family and familiar things, I feel most at home.

2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been my dad's Chef Salad, complete with romaine lettuce, ham, cheese, croutons, hard-boiled eggs and Western Dressing.

3. Saddi likes getting at least one walk a day... or else she goes all: bark! bark! bark!

4. A nice long walk in cool, crisp weather, is my favorite.

5. I like me some good news.

6. When all is said and done, I like returning to my familiar objects and routines.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the first episodes of Bones season 3, tomorrow my plans include praying for less humid weather and Sunday, I want to sit and enjoy simple life!

Renassiance Festival!

2009-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Today, for Mother's Day, we went to the Renaissance festival! It was the first one I've been to, but I've been eager to go for the past several years. I really get into the old-age roleplaying and costumes. For Halloween two years ago, I dressed up as a wench; I did a lot of researching for the right kind of material for a corset bodice, but they all ended up being too expensive. I ended up buying a $30-ish costume of poor quality, that didn't fit well. It worked, but I wasn't too pleased with it, and I didn't want to wear it a second time.

Anyway. We had planned to go to one of the festivals several years ago in Minnesota, but we never ended up doing it. I think that worked out for the better, because today's festival was incredible.

On Mother's Day, there were a bunch of Holiday Benefits; Mothers gets roses, free meal plans... that kind of thing. (Dad was good with the coupons, so we got a pack thing that also included food and rides and 10% off costume rentals.)

So, here are a few of the reasons the day was so great: A) Being that it was Mother's Day, a lot of people didn't show up, so it was pretty slow to begin with. B) It was predicted to rain, so it was very cloudy most of the day, and because of that, even more people decided they didn't want to show up. C) It did rain a couple times, which flushed out all of the wimpy customers... the true Renaissance fans (us) stuck around through it, to find themselves blessed with a cool, cloudy, people-free day to explore!

Mom's new friend.

From my personal perspective, I didn't realize that most of the festival was browsing the shops. Not a lot of people know this about me (though some may suspect, and/or find it very much like me) I have a hard time saying no to people... especially when they're trying to sell me things. (I had a really hard time in Mexico.) But here, I didn't feel pressured into buying things. There were a couple times where I could tell they were trying to squeeze a few dollars out of me, but most of the time they were genuine in what they were trying to sell, and respected me if I wasn't interested. I appreciated having the time to look around, and leave the shop/stall if I didn't want to buy.

And trust me. I looked around a lot. I don't get to do that often... if you were with when we went to the Inman Park Festival, you probably know that about me. I really like to browse, and often times I don't get enough time to do that... Alec normally starts groaning half way through, or we're trying to get to something else that's at a certain time, so I get rushed. I felt I was able to enjoy the festival at a very relaxing pace this time.

Some of the other things we enjoyed beyond the shopping, was watching the performers. The "Barely Balanced Acrobats" were a comedic trio performed acrobatic stunts, while making jokes. My favorite was the "Shakespeare Sisters": Three women quoting whatever Shakespeare play you gave them. We witnessed the witches from Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet in 60 seconds, three Pucks talking all at once from Midsummer Night's Dream, Orsino quoting his love for Olivia, and more! They were amazing. I gave them a run for their money when it came to naming plays, I'm sure.

In the joust, we were paired with Sir Maximilian to cheer for; the big, arrogant, win-streak Knight, who was cruel and everyone else hated. He was the funniest though, which won out for me.

Our guy!

Somehow a tiny, young-Arthur type guy managed to beat him. Something about how "nobility" and a "true heart" always conquers. Whaateverr.

All of the costumes that were being worn were great quality, which meant... pretty pricey, wherever we went. Of course, the first place we checked out was by far the best of them all, and I spent about 15-20 minutes trying on quality, high-end corsets... and was ruined for most of the other clothing shops. (The one I liked from that store was $285. For a corset. That doesn't include the skirt or the shirt or the danglies or the other three skirts that put together makes the 'outfit'. Just the corset. Wow.)

But, it's okay! In the end, I found a great deal from a different shop; they were asking $200 for the whole outfit: underbust corset, shirt, and skirt. While that may still sound pricey, at all of the other places, it was $185 for JUST the bodice. Then the skirt was $35, and the shirt was $39. So, we got a deal, and I LOVE it.

If you're wondering if it's just a trick of the light that I'm glowing, it isn't... I'm actually that happy.

While I was off checking out the outfits, Alec managed to find a little crush! One of the wenches wandering the festival applies (as Alec calls it) "two inch thick lipstick" every couple seconds, planting large kisses on the cheeks of men she finds roaming without a wife or girlfriend. I wish we could have gotten a picture of it, because I kid you not, his cheeks were red! I managed to find her and got a little kiss myself, however that wasn't photographed either. Sorryy.

Kyra also had fun buying costumes...

That's right: what you see on her head are horns! Like most everything else at the festival, the cape is beautiful. I've had the honor of trying it on once (that's all the time that Kyra has spent NOT wearing it) and she seems extremely pleased with it.

Anyway, to conclude this post, we had a WONDERFUL time. I cannot commend the place enough. I didn't end up buying anything else other than the outfit, but the merchandise that we found everywhere was beautiful. From horns, to jewelry, to weapons, to clothing, ocarinas, drums, tapestries, paintings, henna art, and the awesome workers. Honestly... if I were to ever get a job anywhere, it would definitely be a place like that.

But now, I am wiped! It's time for me to head to bed, and dream wonderful dreams filled with Renaissance people, places and costumes!

Juust me!

2009-05-02T19:12:00.001-07:00

Mom tagged me! You're supposed to take a picture of yourself.. right NOW! No primping, no nothin'. I was wanting to wait until tomorrow (I'm in my PJ's right now!) but I figured that wouldn't be in the fun of the game... so here one is!

So, there I am, as I am, right now; ruffled hair, no jewelry, PJ's and all!

I don't really enjoy doing the tagging thing, so if you're reading this, you think it'd be fun and would like to participate... consider yourself tagged!

My first Friday Fill-in!

2009-05-01T05:30:00.001-07:00

Well, I've seen Zenmomma (among others) to do these so often, I decided I wanted to have a go at it!

1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is try to be helpful to fellow workers.

2. I like finding empty shells on the beach, from old clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of how terrible it would be if a rat got in the cotton candy machine...

4. It disappointed me when I found out that my beautiful bright blue, orange, purple and fuchsia flowers were dyed, and normally they're just white daisies. Oh well... I guess they're still my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include newspaper articles, glasses, and earphones. But then again, I don't have a desk, and this is just the kitchen table.

6. Reading 'Calvin and Hobbes' makes me wanna laugh.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the first X-Men movie, tomorrow my plans include a down day with my momma and dad at home and Sunday, I want to read my favorite Sunday comics!

Pictures and Zodiac stuff

2009-04-21T20:00:00.001-07:00

For those of you who haven't already seen the new hair pictures on Facebook, here they are now!

I am very much satisfied with mine, and I think mom is too. Yay!

In other news, however on the same day as the haircuts, I found out what my true Zodiac sign is. And why I say "found out," is because I was born September 23rd, and that means I'm on the cusp of two signs. Every other year, it changes between Virgo and Libra, and I was never certain which I really was because every website recorded it differently. Fortunately, there is a fabulous website - which I would link, should I remember what it was... I'll get back to you on that - that, after putting in your birthday (ALL of the specifics, down to the very minute you were born) tells you all of your signs. Your Sun Sign, Moon Sign, Rising Sign... I'm sure I'm missing a few, but you probably get the idea.

My Sun Sign is Libra, my Moon Sign is Libra, and my Rising Sign is Taurus. Taurus - let's hope I get this right - is ruled by Venus, which makes me a triple Libra, or... something like that? I'm not really doing Renae's words justice. When we talk about it again next time, I'll make sure to bring a pen and paper so I can relay what she said with more depth.

Anyway, I'm an all around Libra- in Renae's words, I am the Goddess! ;) I'm not positive how much of the Horoscope stuff I believed in, but I thought it was very interesting hearing about typical Libra habits, because they summed me up pretty well. Very indecisive, sees both sides to most arguments, slightly vain (shh), likes pretty things... but because Libra is an air sign, Taurus is earth, and I'm so close to the cusp of Virgo, I have a very broad personality and like many things. In other words, I'm difficult to describe because I have many sides. I'd say that definitely sounds like me... especially the "indecisive" and "hard to pin down" part.

Okay, well there are the haircut pictures a blip about my Horoscope discovery. Sleep for me now, but I hope everyone has a great day!

Haircuts!

2009-04-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Man, is it hard for me to have a picture taken of me. Mom too, as we discovered. We both end up posing, holding a fake-y smile in place, with eyes that are not at all enthusiastic, as they would be should the picture have been taken as a whim in a happy moment. But, most people are this way... I guess I just found it interesting, considering when I'm smiling in the mirror, I can make find the perfect smile- but I can never replicate it for a picture, unless it's simply genuine. Blah, whatever.

The reason we were taking new pictures was because we both got new haircuts! It was a bit of a Girl's Day out at Wendy's place. Mom, Wendy, Shelby, Renae, Wendy's mother and I received new hairstyles; Wendy, Shelby and Renae had new dyes, while the rest of us just had our hair cut. For mine, it was nothing too fancy... I just had it cut a bit shorter, with new layers. I really like it, though.

For mom, a bit of the same, but it looks incredible! For the cut, she trimmed the ends and fixed the layers. Amy, the hairstylist, melded the layers with the rest of her hair so much better than any other stylist ever has. She had it blow dried straight, but kept curls at the bottom, around in other places. We all decided that she had Shampoo Commercial Hair. It's so luscious and perfect. Amy is amazing at what she does. We were all very impressed. Pictures up soon, I'm sure.

Anyway, not much else has really been up lately, however we are going to check out the Body Museum this Wednesday. That should be really cool.

Yay for haircuts. ♥

Story time! - Kyle Pattinson

2009-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

A Day in the Life of Kyle

Meet Kyle Pattinson. He is about 24 years old, black hair, kind, attractive, charismatic, creative, and loves meeting new people. His interests range across many different things, such as cooking, fitness, and music, above all. Like most good-looking guys who wear eyeliner, he's gay. Simple fact, and it almost makes it easier to make female friends. No need for all that sexual attraction.

Anyway. Kyle recently moved into an apartment, and is eager to start his new life there. After meeting the rest of the people who reside there, occasionally struggling to keep a civil conversation afloat, finds that it's pretty easy to become at least kind of friends with them. (The woman in the apartment room closest to him is pretty loud at night, but he'd rather sacrifice a bit of sleep to earn a friend, than the opposite.)

After throwing a few parties at his place, inviting people outside of the apartment as well, he has plenty of female friends, many of which are attracted to him and looking for more in their relationship. Malissa tends to be the pushier of the women, however Kyle just isn't interested.

Then, he met Jason Cleaveland. Jason is charming, funny, good-looking, and he and Kyle share the same interests. Put simply, there is a lot of chemistry between these two. Kyle, noting that he has never found someone he melded so well with, decided to flirt with Jason a little bit.

That's when Malissa came in. She was furious! Kyle thought that maybe she was convinced she and Kyle had more of a relationship than just friends, so he was calmly prepared to explain to her that that wasn't how it was, and he just wasn't interested in women. However, it seemed that that wasn't the case... in fact, the opposite was.

Here's the major plot twist in our story: Malissa is actually Mrs. Malissa Cleaveland. She and Jason are married, with one A+-Grade child. Whoops.

To speed things along, Malissa attacked Kyle for flirting with her husband, and Jason scurries off, not wanting to be in the middle of this mess. Soon after having his butt handed to him, Kyle requests that Malissa leaves the premises. Easy to say, Kyle is pretty disappointed by this discovery... he was really looking forward to getting to know Jason better.

To take his mind off of things, he was looking forward to going to work. It was his first day as a clerk at the local Record Store. Now, this would be fun. He loves music and everything about it, so this should be a snap! About an hour into the day, a customer walks in, requesting a terrible mainstream album. Kyle would hate to have to sell this piece of trash to a customer, but he knows that his boss would be pretty mad at him if he didn't...

Kyle decides that he'd recommend some better music for the customer. After all, they might thank him in the end!

Turns out, this customer is a vengeful fanboy, growing intensely aggravated that Kyle wouldn't just give him the album he wanted. He complains to Kyle's manager, and he gets fired. On his first day.

This throws him into a bit of depression. He lost his job, his love interest is married, and he had his butt kicked by a woman. He's going to need to pay for the rent soon, and he has no income! Well, he decides to give a call to Jason. They could at least talk, as friends, right?

Jason comes over, and they have a blast. Listening to music, talking, watching TV. Next thing you know, sparks fly, and the inevitable happens. Jason makes Kyle promise that he won't tell Malissa of their meeting, and though he is slightly upset by this, agrees. With a promise of meeting in the future, Jason hastily departs, leaving Kyle feeling dejected.

Soon after, the landlord is requesting payment for the room. Kyle manages to scrape up the request amount, however he's now down to his last dollar.

Now, this is where our story ends. Will Kyle get another job to support his weight? Or will he have to get a roommate to help pay for the rest? Will Jason leave Malissa for Kyle? Or will the two secret lovers have to part, in order to keep peace in the Cleaveland household?

Tune in, next time... for:

A Day in the Life of Kyle

I hope you guys have enjoyed this story! Now, I am about to mix in perhaps the most interesting plot twist of them all. Believe it or not....

...Kyle Pattinson is my Sim character.

That's right. My Sims lead a very dramatic life. (I didn't plan the Jason-Malissa thing, or him to get fired from his job.) If his story continues to be interesting, though, I will write again the next chapter of his life! So if you liked it, please do stay tuned!

Long lost poem...

2009-04-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Another little something I found while shuffling around my old, dusty documents. A poem! I can't remember when I wrote it, what its name is, or what was even going on in my head at the time... but reading it back, I kind of liked it. So, here it is.

Whispering softly with an elusive voice,
To a person who's hardly there
I stay bound to my chair, without much choice
I yearn for your touch to my hair

I turn left and right with a quick heart,
Scared and excited that you may be standing, watching
My blood pounds in my veins as I jump with a start,
But I'm only surrounded by the shadows that resemble your figure

Darkness surrounding and pressing in,
I still search eagerly for you
But as much as I look I simply cannot win,
You have played me for a fool

Confidence slips from me as the days pass on,
And your presences is as scarce as ever
I'm encouraged by others to forgive and forget,
But your face I will forget... never...

A poor one's love that is not returned
Is the saddest thing to see
But my soul is now bound to yours,
And I will never set myself free

I will never stop looking, my sweet lost angel,
And one day we will be together at last
My love only grows stronger as the weeks tangle,
And those memories from long ago past

Another conversation...

2009-04-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, late tonight I was looking through my Documents, found a bunch of little random writings that I had saved here and there. I had completely forgotten about all of them, so it was pretty cool reading them again. Some were old posts for Blogger or CotF that I had saved as drafts and had never deleted, some were AIM conversations... one I found was an old conversation I had had with Alec, one day. By now, I've forgotten when it took place, but reading it back again made me laugh, so I thought I'd post it here!

Introducing, Abbi+Alec Conversation No. 2! Guest staring, Mom!

Abbi: ...so, I put up this sucky rare on the Auction House, and--
Alec: What makes it sucky?
Abbi: I don't know. It had bad stats. It sucked.
Alec: Like what, Strength?
Abbi: I don't know... Spirit or something. Anyway--
Alec: Just 'cause it has spirit doesn't make it bad.
Abbi: Whatever!
Alec: I just wanted to know what made it sucky.
Abbi: It just... sucked! In general! I don't know, it was Shaman gear or something.
Alec: Just 'cause it's Shaman gear doesn't mean it sucks.
Abbi: ... Stop it! I don't care. It wasn't good. Oh, and it's this you always do, you know. I get frustrated with you because you keep going on, but then you say something like "Hey, I was just being cheerful! Don't get upset!" and I get turned into the bad guy for getting upset!
Alec: But I didn't say it this time.
Abbi: I know. But. Still. For next time, so you're "aware."
Alec: But I didn't say it. You didn't catch it.
Abbi: But I'll catch you next time!
Alec: But you have to catch me saying it first, or it won't count!
Abbi: AGH, you're doing it again!
Mom: He always has to be arguing something, doesn't he?
Alec: Well just save it for the next debate, then you can catch me.
Abbi: No. No arguing. Stop.
Alec: But we're debating.
Abbi: No. No debating.
Alec: No?
Abbi: No.
Alec: Oh. I thought you said we were debating.
Abbi: No! We're not.
Alec: Okay, now we are. I debate that we are debating, and you'll debate that we aren't.
Abbi: ...ahah..ha.. n-no! No debating! You're always debating!
Alec: Hah, I got a laugh!
Mom: See, it's okay to joke about it that way... 'cause it's true.

As it happens, I must have been snappy that day. But either way, he was interrupting me way too much! ;)

And that concludes our late-night blog post for today. Stay tuned, next time, for Abbi+Alec Conversation No. 3!

The Courageous Medieval Barbarian

2009-03-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Uh-huh, thaat's me! Hand me a battle axe and I'm ready to go. [You should do it yourself.] It's loads of fun.

Emo Pig

2009-02-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hopefully the subject to this blog post doesn't offend anyone, it's just... well, I'm afraid we have a serious crisis here, at our home. We've always wondered about Sam, our guinea pig, and well... I think this finally confirms it...

As it happens, this is pretty darn accurate. Poor guy is absolutely terrified of coming out of his big plastic igloo, he squeals all the time, and I don't think he ever got lucky with Rosie... and now we finally know why...

We never meant to ignore him, I swear! But... he rolls his poop. I mean, come on.

Anyhow, I know I'll be doing my best to give our little piggy a bit more attention from now on. Poor little guy...

BuffyBuffyBuffy... AngelAngelAngel...

2009-02-06T09:48:00.001-08:00

Well, lately, mom and I (and occasionally Kyra) have been obsessing over our lovely, but whiny, Buffy, and our brooding, yet dashing, Angel. When Buffy season three ended, Angel started his own series, that sometimes has a connection with Buffy. I've already seen all of the Buffy seasons, but now I'm seeing the other half of a story that I'd been missing! It's lots of fun, because we'll be watching Angel, and then Cordelia will be talking on the phone with Willow, and she'll say something like "Willow was decrypting codes today too!" and we get all giddy, with "Yeah! We just saw them doing that!"

Much fun is to be had. There are fewer and fewer episodes going back and forth as we get further into the seasons, but we're still enjoying them immensely. We just finished Buffy season five and Angel season two, and we're starting the first episodes of Angel season three now!

So, this is just a short post to kind of update people on our latest love. I'm being called off now by Angel! Byebye!

I am...

2009-01-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Whoo! First blog post in... a very long time.

Okay, well right now I'm hangin' out at the Smith's house (my boyfriend's family). I've been here for about two weeks, and I'm going home this Saturday... so far this whole thing has been a blast. I snowboarded, hung out, was introduced to Oblivion - AKA my new addiction - checked out the Science Center of Baltimore, and tomorrow we're going to D.C. to visit the Smithsonian.

On top of that, we've been playing Bananagrams and Apples to Apples. For Apples to Apples, we have a bit of a... personality game. (Just assuming no one knows how the actual Apples to Apples game works, there are green cards that have adjectives written on them. You try to match red cards that make up your hand, which have nouns written on them, to the adjectives. The goal is to acquire the most green cards.) Once the actual game is over, you check out what green cards we have, and what they say about us.

Tonight, Nic, Olivia, Cece (for half of it), and Kate all played an almost excruciatingly long game of Apples to Apples. It was filled with boisterous laughter and much fun. Unfortunately, my results were a little... disturbing.

I am...

Clueless
Addictive
Useless
Corrupt
Creepy
Desperate
Cranky
Confused
Ordinary
Patriotic
Fuzzy
Shallow
Deadly
Nasty
Mysterious
Awkward
Adorable
Demanding
Cheesy
Appetizing
Unbelievable
Unnatural

...okay, I'm just going to say... wow. There were a few "good" ones there, but the rest... geez. Meanwhile Kate got "Charming," "Squeaky Clean" and "Cosmopolitan". Olivia got "Cosmic," "Zany" and "Worldly". Nic got "Cuddly," "Organic" and "Dead".

The negative green apple cards are drawn to me. I'm a little worried about what this says about my personality...

Weird Conversation of the Night

2008-09-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Abbi: I wonder if you can measure things using Fruit by the Foot.

Alec: Well, I guess it'd work if whatever you're measuring is exactly a foot.

Abbi: Well you could use several, and then subtract whatever inches are left, and then you'd have a few feet and however many inches!

Alec: How would you know how many inches there are?

Abbi: Using the knowledge you just happened to have memorized.

Alec: Or you could pick up a ruler and use that.

Abbi: That would completely defeat the purpose!

Alec: Yep.

Abbi: Did you know that Fruit by the Foot is actually three feet, now?

Alec: Fruit by the Yard!

Abbi: Yep, they're little liars. "Fruit by the Foot! Now three feet!"

Alec: But Fruit by the Yard doesn't rhyme...

Abbi: Fruit by the Foot doesn't either. It's a double-F alliteration.

Alec: Yeah they do. Fruit and Foot. Kind of like Moon and Spoon.

Abbi: But Fruit is "frewt" and foot is most often pronounced "fuht".

Alec: Then maybe we should start calling them "fruht". "Fruht by the Fuht."

Abbi: Hey, yeah! We should!

Alec: "So, what were you doing today?" "Eating fruht."

Abbi: And the plural will be "freet," like "feet"!

Alec: Hippo.

Abbi: ...what?

The End!

I love Alec and our oddness. We must have been really tired.

Overwhelmed

2008-09-18T07:16:00.001-07:00

Lately I feel like I want to crawl into a hole and stay there for a couple days. Everything feels like it's coming at me so fast, I don't really know what to do with it all. Live and Learn was, in a word, amazing, but after something as extravagant and long as that I feel like I need some time to recuperate. I don't know how long it's going to take before I feel ready to put myself out into the universe again and be that social butterfly I know I am, but I know I need something of a break.

I was talking to my mom last night, and I had said to her that about a month back, I almost thought my life was boring (mostly owing to the move). We're never out and about and we're never doing things all the time like some people are, so did that mean my life was uneventful? Yes, that was my answer then. Sure, my life is boring, but I still liked it. Sometimes I wished I could be doing more things. So now we are. We went to Live and Learn. We're going to Les Miserables for my birthday. We're going to ARGH. We're going to Wicked for my mom's birthday. We're going to Williamsberg. We've only hit the tip of the iceberg with Live and Learn a little over a week ago, and my head is already spinning... I feel like so much is being crammed into the end of this year, it's almost overstuffed.

It's at times like these that I realize, my life wasn't boring. It was mellow. It was comfortable. I know I'd be bored with it if we never did anything, but doing too much, and I think that's almost worse. I can't tell if I need to toughen it out, because that's what my grandpa would say: I shouldn't pass up these experiences, because they'll never come again! I can rest later! Go, go, go! ...or if I should suck up my mellow life and just enjoy the flow. No, neither. I just need to find my balance. When to see people and when I need to crawl into my hole and watch Buffy.

I still love seeing everyone. I love talking, I love hanging out, I love making little crafts and swimming and playing Rock Band and Soul Caliber 4. And there are even some people I'd be willing to spend my down-time with, as long as it doesn't turn into a party... I guess I just have to breathe.

Maybe I'm just in a long blah mood. Maybe I'll feel better soon... I don't know. But I miss that familiar slow life that has sort of been shoved aside for the new, busy one. I guess I need to remind myself that ARGH and Williamsburg are a whole month apart... no rush...

ANOTHER new JibJab video

2008-09-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, you guys tell that I'm having a lot of fun with these videos? Here's another one!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

New JibJab video

2008-09-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

Okay, I was searching through the more recent JibJab videos and I just couldn't help myself... it was way too hilarious to share.

I love these guys!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Live and Learn '08

2008-09-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Wow... I think that this Live and Learn was perhaps the best of all of them. Of course, I remain biased about it with Nic by my side nearly 24-7 the entire time, but still. I found my balance while I was there... I went to a few talks (I was really upset that I missed Brenna's and Cameron's, but I was so exhausted that I needed to sleep in at least one of the days, especially if I was going to survive the masquerade) and I feel that I went to just enough funshops that I enjoyed myself, but I wasn't overwhelmed or overscheduled. The few that I went to were:

Gillain's friendship bracelet funshop, and that was a lot of fun. Gillain was marvelous at helping people from demonstrating/talking people through cutting the hemp, to weaving the knots, stringing the beads, and finishing. He was patient and modest with everyone he worked with! Though he tried to refuse many times (as I said, modest), he eventually accepted a bracelet that I had made for him, with his own help. Unfortunately I was incapable of going to the funshop its second time around, I was very grateful to have been there the first time.

Robyn's mask-making funshop was another. I love the mask I made, and I could feel the inspiration flowing through the room as everyone made theirs together. There were beads, paint, markers, plastic gems, feathers, lace and yarn. Kyra's was amazing! I loved the colors she put in it, and all of the detail she thought of. I was a bit simpler than that, but simple was what matched what I wore, so I was very satisfied.

Make-up with your friends. Wow. That was... an amazing and hilarious funshop. When I read about it, I was hanging out with most of my usual L&L friends (Nic, Alec, Roxy, Kimi, Chloe) so I asked that they all just come along. A lot of them said they'd tag along, but they didn't want me putting make-up on them... well, that just wouldn't do, so I spread the word, and managed to tug Logan along as well. I won't lie, I really made him into an A-Class slut. Ruby red lipstick, eyeliner, bright blue eyeshadow reaching up to his eyebrows, and thick mascara. I say, he would have made Mimi Carey proud. How patient he was with me really was incredible... I think I would have grown very irritated with myself. Ah, I'm spoiled by my friends! Nic was my second subject, who was also incredibly patient. After applying eyeliner and eyeshadow, he said that the only way he would allow me to put lipstick on him was to make him into a Joker. ...so I did.

I know I'm already extremely biased, but isn't he beautiful? ♥ Heehee!

There were way too many inside jokes to name, but I'll try a few anyway. Kimi's poisoned ice cream turning her hair blue, having a seizure, ripping the sunglasses off your face while you're outside and putting them on when you're inside, "Did you know the distance between here to here, is the same from here to here?", Moo-purr (though that wasn't really my inside joke to begin with), "Ahbbeii!", beautiful babies, The Chicken, and so many more. Y'know how awful it is when so much happened, and though it's all on the tip of your tongue (or... fingers, if you're blogging) but you just can't grab them and say/write it all? Egh. Yeah.

The talent show was a blast, as well (and as usual). The amount of the kids that were brave enough to participate the very first night was amazing to witness, and they were (though I hope they won't feel demeaned or offended that I say so) adorable. After being berated, reminded and begged by a few people (cough cough, Mindy and Alec) to play To Zanarkand at the talent show, I did. I was shaking from head to toes as I got up on that stage, but I did it! It was weird... I could have walked up to any of those people in the audience and had a conversation with them, no sweat. I am so confident in myself now, that I feel I could have done that... even talking to them up there, that was no problem, because I can just concentrate on those eyes that I know. But when I'm performing on a piano in front of everyone on a stage, and I know they all can hear my playing, I get a little shivery. I made more mistakes than I could have accounted for up there, but I still managed to get an applause that reassured me that I was exactly where I needed to be, and everyone agreed. I still have to thank Alec and Mindy excessively for getting me up there. It was great.

The masquerade was incredible, too... apparently Logan was so impressed by my makeup the first time I did it, he allowed me to put a little bit of eyeliner on him to match his costume! Nic did as well, and I was oh-so flattered. Nic looked ~~sexy~~ very handsome in his costume, which he and I had picked out at a thrift store sometime in the week before L&L. At first he wanted pirate, then we thought swashbuckler type shirt and dark pants, maybe he could just dress up instead of dressing up as something... then once we got it, it took us another week before we really realized that he looked just like Wesley from Princess Bride, dressed up as the Dread Pirate Roberts! So it turned out he got his pirate look after all. The ironic part about it, is Princess Bride is the first movie that he and I watched together... ♥ A little while later, it was apparent that my costume also resembled Princess Buttercup, so apparently we were dressed up as someone else after all!

(Thank you to Madeline for uploading these pictures for me to steal!)

The entire masquerade was fabulous. Unfortunately, it was so warm in there, I could only bear to wear my mask for about fifteen minutes before taking it off. Same went for nearly everyone else, in fact. I was a little disappointed with most of the music (preppy pop stuff like Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me, and My Humps) but when surrounded by all of your friends, it doesn't really matter what song it is you're jamming to. We all had a great time.

If only it could last. Nic went home near the end of the picnic, and I had a really hard time dealing with him not being there. I've mostly coped by now, but everyone else was really supportive and helpful. Ben, Christine, Mindy, Dagny, Kimi... they all had some advice and comfort that I was very grateful for. I love all of you guys, and I can't wait to see you sometime soon!

I'm sorry that I didn't have more pictures to put into this blog, but I'm on my laptop and the pictures are on the PC. I'm sure my mom will post them all sometime soon, so you can enjoy them over there! I'm sure I didn't do Live and Learn justice, but at least that slightly summed up my experience.

Learn Nothing Day?

2008-07-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

It was a lost cause before we even began trying. It was so great, though! Not the learning-nothing part (as I said, lost cause, how can you not learn something?) but failing and learning with all of the people we gathered together to meet! Mindy, Laura, Wendy, Ren, and a bunch of other Unschooling/Homeschooling families that we found and hung out with there! The day before Learn Nothing Day, we hung out at Ren's house, which was a blast. I have to admit, I was feeling really tired the whole day (and slightly groggy... my mind was still in The Host, which I had been reading in the car) but when the sun went down and the music was turned up, I was energized to jump and (belly)dance with everyone! If you want more pictures, go to my mom's blog --> Our Joyful Life, because I don't have any on this computer.

Anyway, on the Learn Nothing Day itself, I was treated to the massage of my life. Thank you so much, Mindy! I (yes, I know, bring on the nagging) learned so much from her, and gave her and Wendy a massage right after. I found that I really enjoy giving people massages... feeling the knots in their neck, shoulders and back, working them out, and helping other people feel better and more comfortable. Mindy and Wendy agreed that I have a natural talent for it (that's purely their opinion, though, because who am I to say? I've never given myself a massage!) I'm really interested in learning new techniques. I think I've found another calling of mine.

Now I just have to figure out how I can be a masseuse, a writer, a track runner, a bow-and-arrow-person, and an actress. A ma-wri-run-bow-ar-tress. Mawrirunbowartress. I'm sure they're looking for one of those somewhere! ...anyone? Anyone?

Chibi Comic

2008-06-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well, recently Dev has been showing off her amazing drawing capabilities (*loooves*) and I, as usual, am very envious. I've never been particularly good at drawing people, for that matter, for I get obsessed with little details and I can never get 'em right... so instead, I decided to take a different anime-drawing approach. The term is 'chibi,' which translates to "small" in Japanese, but is also known as an anime style in Japan.

Chibi: A term used by anime/manga fans to refer to small and detailless characters. "Chibi" characters are often used to represent a form of cuteness. It can also be used to indicate small characters (like Chibi-Usagi/Sailor Chibi Moon in Sailor Moon).

Anyway, I decided that maybe I wouldn't be too bad at this kind of drawing! I mean, you can't really mess up chibi. It just has to small, cute, chubby characters!

Dev was thrilled to hear I decided to try this out, and she confessed she was never that good at it... but pfft, she doesn't have to be! She draws so beautifully, and with such amazing detail... I've decided to go to Chibi to escape the pressures of realistic drawing!

And so, these pieces were born. But first, let me give you a little insider on Des and Celi; first, they are our WoW characters. They both are rather fond of alcohol (I'm not sure I'd go far enough to call them alcoholics, though) and bubbles by the mouth often indicate that they are drunk. They both love fun, and they are the BEST of friends, just like Dev and I.

For the basics, Cel is Dev's character, and has long hair with multiple piercings up her ears. She has earned the title "Failure of a Hunter" because all of her pets hate her and run away. She's very racist, as well. She despises Draenei, Dwarves, and Gnomes... Humans seem to be safe from her fury only because her home is Goldshire, a Human town outside of the Human city of Stormwind, and if she were to be cruel to her hosts she could very well be kicked out. In addition, she can be very dramatic, outspoken, and has a reputation to be a ticking bomb with sharp weapons. On the flip side, she's cuddly and very hyper!

Des, my character, is a less extreme version of Celi and at the same time, exactly like her in so many ways. She has also earned the title "Failure of a Druid" because 1) She can't heal, 2) She's constantly trying to do things Druids can't/aren't supposed to (i.e. wear plate, fight with swords, learn arcane magic) and 3) She looks bad in green. For the qualities that separate her and Cel: she's a little more polite to strangers and doesn't snap quite as easily. She doesn't have any piercings, and half of her shoulder-length hair is pulled into a small ponytail on the back of her head. She also wears dresses, while Cel will never get near one.

And so, without further ado, I give you the first ever Chibi Drawings of Destiny and Celi!

THE END

Well, I had a LOT of fun drawings these, that I'll probably decide to do more! I hope you guys enjoyed 'em!

Tree-Hugger

2008-05-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well, today I was in a tree-huggerin' mood, sitting outside and feeling the cool, Minnesota-May breeze... I knew that it would probably be the last like that. There certainly wouldn't be "cool breezes" in Georgia, anyway (maybe in the 'winter', I suppose!). My mom also mentioned that she would miss the trees... yes, there are trees in Georgia, and the area we would be moving to would be a lot like Minnesota, but nothing quite matches MN's... forest. A woods in the backyard, watching our baby twin deer growing up. There probably wouldn't be things like that in Georgia.

But a change is necessary, nevertheless. I know I'll miss these old things, but what would the point of living here have been if I didn't? I really love Minnesota and thinking about myself as a Minnesotan girl, but I'm really looking forward to embracing the new aspects of life, and the pure differences that Georgia has to offer. It will be like nothing before, that's for sure, but as Bilbo Baggins would say, "I think I'm quite ready for another adventure!"

Anyway, going back to the note on trees... a friend of mine was bored a couple of hours ago and asked if I had any requests on an icon for her to make. I suggested something that had to do with "Hug a Tree". I thought it was so cute, it instantly inspired me - as did the entire day, as well as nature in general - to write a poem. Here it is!

Tree-Hugger

The soft, peaceful breeze
Lightly blows the trees,
Caresses the leaves,
And all worries, relieves

Darkness unfolds
Wonder, the night holds
The starry sky knows:
For now, all goes

The ocean, it sways
Beneath a sun's harsh rays
The cool water's touch
Sand escapes one's clutch

The clouds from above,
We all truly love
And as nature breathes in,
It warms all from within

She's aliive! ...with a poem!

2008-05-20T23:44:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's been a very long time since I posted *anything*, I know... but I'd like to assure everyone that I am in fact still alive. Great news, huh? I know!! Right?

Anyway. Teenage mockery aside, I return with... a poem! I've been rather obsessed with the Twilight books lately, so it should be a no-brainer to guess where I got most of my inspiration from. I also gotta' thank Dev, who just randomly blurted "Oh, I want to write a poem about vampires!" Obviously it was too tempting for me to resist. Anyway, here it is!

In the Night, Before the Light

A setting sun,
A brand new run
I rise to stroll the night
A drunken stagger,
No need for a dagger
I licked my teeth with delight

I walked into the cool, dim room
Music too loud and a gray smoky haze
The darkness covered my cold, pale face
But my voice quickly pulled the girl's gaze

"Come with me," came my soft whisper,
And she was smart enough not to disobey
But once I spoke a single word,
It was hard not to be my prey

I led her to the alleys of the street,
The aroma of her body far too sweet
I couldn't resist the temptation much longer
I gently pushed her to the wall
But it only made her curiosity stronger

"This won't hurt a bit," I whispered again,
But my eyes flashed a lie
My fangs quickly slipped into her neck,
But her gasp was merely a sigh

The taste of her blood washed over my senses
And pulling away was no longer an option
I sucked and licked every drop with my might
There was passion in every motion

Soon enough she was as pale as me,
And her eyes could no longer see
I gently sat her on the hard pavement
And as calm as I arrived, I went

A cold deed
To simply feed
I was quickly out of sight
I returned home
I was all alone
And asleep again before twilight

Abbi's Explanation - Travel Day

2008-03-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

Yeah, here's the apology/filler blog for not posting in... well, for a long time. What have I been doing while I was gone? Lots of stuff! Traveling, getting stuck in airports, riding rides, coming home, getting sick from airports, not-letting-that-stop-me and cooking, playing piano, playing Crystal Chronicles, cooking more, watching movies, and playing our new Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yeah, a lot, but I'll start from the beginning.

As most of you may know, my family and I went off to California on February 14th, but I'm not sure if all of you knew we were trapped in the terminal the first day. Mmmm-hmm. We had to way up at the agonizingly early hour of five, drag our exhausted butts out of the hotel room and rush down to the elevator, heavy suitcases swerving to-and-fro behind us. When we got to the main lobby of the hotel, our expecting shuttle had just left. We had to talk to the hotel employee behind the counter to call it back so that we could hurry into the -20 degree weather and run into the shuttle. I had never really been on a shuttle before, because friends had always been there to pick us up and drop us off at the airport... because it was so early, we decided to just take a hotel shuttle, but, I didn't really like this:

When I can normally expect a comfortable, warm drive and fun conversation with my family, instead I got to nuzzle into the slightly torn, germ-infested seats, while we were crowded with other cold people clinging to their luggage. My nose was runny from the weather, the driver looked grumpy, the people did not appear happy, and the drive down the interstate was as bumpy as legally possible. Okay, so we're on the shuttle, and we're goin' to the airport... just a few more hours, I kept telling myself, and we'll be in bright-and-sunny California, where everyone is tan, rich, and happy. (Okay, maybe not happy, but there were definitely a lot of tan and rich-looking people.)

As we were driving along to the airport, we noticed that a similar shuttle in front of us was taking off from another hotel. It was almost identical to the one we were riding in, except... well, the back door of the shuttle was wide open. You could see the passengers' luggage bouncing around in the back there, appearing right-out prepared to hop out and cause a several thousand dollar accident. Everyone in our shuttle was pointing out the mistake of the driver in front of us and giggling to each other in that quiet movie-theater whisper, but you could all tell they were a little nervous. I caught a few of them glancing behind, as if to check to make sure that the door to our shuttle was closed, and that their luggage wasn't about to bounce into the street behind us.

Thankfully, as we pulled into the airport drop-off station, there were no accidents, and all of our luggage was once again comfortably in our arms. (Okay, maybe not comfortably... I was getting used to the heavy bags getting carried around by a car. Nope, now I am blessed with the pleasure of personally dragging it behind me, beckoning people to the side so I can make way through the crowded airport with my mother-ship of a suitcase.)

Well, the next stuff is pretty predictable. Checking in (though it took much longer to do it this time, I can't remember why, but it was...), going through security (which was a bit of an adventure. Now that I own a laptop of my very own, I had to unpack and pack it, while I subconsciously felt the stares of the people behind me, urging me to hurry up). And finally, finding the ding-dang gate, which always happens to be alll the way on the other side of the terminal. So we walk, we walk, we walk and we walk. We finally get there, and it's still dark outside... maybe about 6AM. We take a seat, and me and Alec just chat for a while, before the first-class gets to board. Now as they're getting on, we get called. We move into the airplane, sit down, and I fall asleep almost instantly. I could hear the driver talking over the radio here and there, but just in the back of my head. I was dreaming of the blue ocean, roller coasters, the sun, amusement parks...

...I woke up some time later, what felt like maybe an hour... looked around, expecting to be in the air, and...

We were still on the ground. No, we hadn't arrived, we hadn't even moved. I could hear the driver speaking over the radio again. Something along the lines of, "We're sorry folks about the slight delay we're experiencing at the moment, but we'll clear it up immediately." Fifteen minutes later. "Hello, and again we're sorry, we'll be taking off very soon." Another fifteen minutes. "Hi again everybody, I'm sure you've noticed that we haven't taken off yet. We'd like to apologize for this, and add that we're afraid that there is a slight disturbance with the engines at this time, but we will get a car over here immediately to fix it, and then we'll be on our way." Twenty minutes later. "Good morning everybody, we're afraid there is something wrong with the car that was coming over here. We thank you for your patience, and right now we are sending a car over to fix the car that will fix our engine." A final twenty minutes passes, and we still are not moving. Eventually we hear the driver talk one last time.

"We're sorry folks, but this flight has been canceled. You may call-"[insert cellphone number here]"-and they will be glad to help you reschedule a flight today. Thank you for choosing Northwest Airlines, and have a wonderful day."

... Great. Just perfect. We woke up at five AM to get on this stupid flight so we could get to stupid California so we could enjoy this stupid vacation, but now we can't even get over there. I look over and notice mom's on the phone, probably trying to reschedule a flight. Yep, she is... and we got one. The earliest possible flight. Lucky for us, it's still today, and we don't have to get another hotel. But y'know when it is? Seven. Seven PM. Yes, we have to wait twelve hours for a new flight... and best of all, our luggage is already flying over to California. It'll probably arrive over ten hours before us, too! Perfect. Dandy. Absolutely brilliant. By now (what with the frustration of the flight and having to wake up so early,) we're starving and want something to eat. Thankfully there's the terminal right by us, and food is being advertised everywhere. But of course, upon leaving the aircraft, we have to go through SECURITY AGAIN to get back into the terminal. More fun with two laptops, yay!

Okay, so we're finally in, and we're eating at Chili's. My mom pulls out the cellphone to start calling people that could take us in while we're here for the next twelve hours. We call up some good friends of ours, but nope, they're at work. We call up my mom's brother. Nope, not there. We call up a few more people (of which are not striking me at the moment, but I knew there were more people than that...) nope, nope and nope. No one is there. But, who would be? Who would be home at 7AM on a weekday? And if they are there, who would be awake? Ugh... well, looks like we get to spend some time in a terminal.

It was frustrating, but at the same time exciting. The thought of having to wait until our plane was depressing, but the idea of being "trapped" in a terminal was like a little adventure. Looking at our situation with a brighter, more optimistic perspective was refreshing, and I felt prepared to look around. We got to explore everywhere, I was able to try some herbal great hand cream, Kyra got some satsuma lip balm and body wash, I considered getting a new sweater (decided against it in the end) and we hung out in a comfy computer area. I also got to watch Pan's Labyrinth ('Laberinto del fauno, El') for the first time (which turned out to be pretty good... I didn't like the gore, but it was a fun, thrilling adventure.)

Overall, it was a fine experience... it got boring after a while, but I was able to cope, especially when I had the best chocolate ice cream I had ever tasted. Ben & Jerry's. Amazing. I had never tasted anything better. Besides all that, the flight there was pretty annoying, arriving around midnight to one o'clock. I was happy to see my dad, and we all fell asleep in the hotel pretty fast.

So that was an... interesting day. Exhausting, frustrating, and thrilling (mostly the Labyrinth part, but the terminal part too). I was just glad I didn't have to eat the free condiments (crackers and ketchup) from the fast-food restaurants.* It was all good the next day, where I was greeted with freshly squeezed orange juice (the ONLY orange juice I have EVER liked), fresh made eggs, perfectly toasted bread, and the best breakfast service ever. Crown Plaza, L.A. Incredible. Anyway, that pretty much includes the first couple of days on our trip... I'll brief up the rest of it tomorrow (it's 12AM now and I'm rather tired) and then finish what I did with the rest of my days. It probably won't be as long as it was today, mainly because nothing could be as long as the travel day!

Love you all, and I'll write again soon.

*a The Terminal reference

Trivia Tips about Abbi!

2008-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

...some that even she was unaware of!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Abbi!

Abbi is born white; her pink feathers are caused by pigments in her typical diet of shrimp!
Abbi can't sweat.
Abbi, from the movie of the same name, had green blood.
While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their Abbi!
Grapes explode if you put them inside Abbi.
Abbiolatry is the mindless worship of Abbi!
Abbi was first discovered by Alexander the Great in India, and introduced to Europe on his return!
If the annual Australian Abbi crop was laid end to end, it would stretch around the world seven times!
The Vikings believed that the Northern lights were caused by Abbi as she rode out to collect warriors slain in battle.
The risk of being struck by Abbi is one occurrence every 9,300 years.

..11. Abbi believes that more people should practice and express the holy religion of Abbiolatry.
12. Abbi doesn't actually like shrimp, but she still thinks that her "feathers" are pretty.
And yes, 13., Abbi truly is the mastermind behind the Northern lights.

Thursday Thirteen - Movie Soundtracks

2008-01-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I apologize for being so negligent toward my blog, but here I am making up for it, and posting my very first Thursday Thirteen! Yay! Truthfully, I'm surprised that I'm makin' it in, it's really late today... sure, people will be readin' it on Friday or later, but at least I know I got it in on Thursday!

This TT's Theme is...

My Favorite Movie Soundtracks!
In the order of preference (preference may or may not change in the future).

1. Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street

All right, so I've owned this soundtrack for two days, and it's already been promoted to the top of my list. Wow, I absolutely love this. I can listen to the songs over, and over, and over. I have most of the songs memorized by now (of course!!) and cannot stop repeating the CD. I think Kyra's getting a little annoyed with the repetition, but geez, I cannot stop loving Johnny's voice. Johnny + Helena duet = beautiful and heartbreaking! Johnny + Alan duet = sweet and passionate! Johnny + Jamie duet = gorgeous and breathtaking! Man oh man, ALL of them can sing. Oh, and as long as you don't mind a bit of blood (let me correct that - a LOT of blood) then I definitely recommend the film as well. It's beautiful. Unfortunately, if blood bothers you, I'd have to say... stay away. (In which case, you can just go ahead and buy the soundtrack, and enjoy that!)

2. Across the Universe

This movie is... complete bliss. You just have to watch it, I can't explain to you how amazing and incredible it is. The soundtrack is the same - every single song is by the Beatles, and have been tweaked slightly by the singers. It is just... wow. When we got this, I listened to nothing but it. I'm counting down the days for when it is released, and truthfully, all I can say is: WATCH IT.

3. Phantom of the Opera

I fell in love with the movie almost immediately, and like the No. 1 & 2 Soundtrack Favs., the songs are breathtaking. I swear, if I just put these three soundtracks on repeat, I could listen to them to the grave. This CD was the only one that I listened to for about two months straight, and I watched the movie every other day. Personally, I like the songs in the movie over the Broadway version, but that's just my opinion. Oh, and... the moment I saw the Phantom, I knew he was sexy. Little did I know, he turned to be the beautiful Gerard Butler (who me and my mom now both ADORE, as do many others) I get to flaunt the fact that while other people somewhat cringed at Gerry's deformed face, I loved him from the start. (Yeah, yeah, I'll still share...)

4. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, Two Towers &

Return of the King

Because I'm a little dork and don't want to post three albums in a row, I'm just gonna' post a good picture of Viggo.

Yay, Viggo!

I would link the names, but I couldn't find the soundtrack on Amazon. What is wrong with them for not having Lord of the Rings soundtracks, I'm sure you're asking, and I confess I share in your exasperation. Fortunately, we already own the CD and love it passionately. Hoorah! The songs on that are awesome, and, well... there's not much else to say. The singing, the lyrics, the orchestra... it just plain rocks, man. "Into the West" (the last song on Return of the King) can even make my mom cry, every time she hears it. Dang, that's one good song!

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

There's not much to say for this one either, except wow Johnny's a good actor, and too bad he's not singing here too. I love all the songs, as well as the orchestral pieces with no singing. Thank you, Danny Elfman, and it's really too bad that Chris had to cut your head off in the Star Wars Family Guy episode (which I recommend people watch, too)!

6. Juno

Such an adorable film with the most hilarious quotes, and the soundtrack is no exception to its wonderfulness. The songs they have in it are sweet and funny, and very hard to resist. Obviously it's not a movie you want to watch if you're looking for action, but it's a slow-rowing, fun journey through nine months with a sarcastic, nonchalant 16 year old girl. What kind of shenanigans can she get into, you may be asking yourself, and the answer is simple: you'll just have to watch the movie and find out! We just bought the CD today, and have been listening to it over and over (well, it's sharing every-other repeat with Sweeney Todd). This is a 100% recommendation from me, both the soundtrack and the movie. In fact, get both!

7. Elizabeth Town

Like Juno, this is a very cute movie, with two very cute actors. The songs on the soundtrack are awesome and quirky. In the movie, Orlando received a CD mix from Kristen, and all of the songs are on this one! The variety is great, and perfect for all occasions. I love to listen to it in the car, and I think you would too! A good, worth-it buy.

8. Shrek & Shrek 2

If you haven't seen these movies, then I have to say, shame on you (not really). But, "really," you should watch them if you haven't. The soundtracks are really fun, too, lots of good music. Believe it or not, the sequel is as good as the first, and that's saying a lot... because the first was really good.

9. Yellow Submarine

Okay, so I admit, when I was watching this one I fell asleep. I didn't mean to, I swear, but it just stretched on and on... I lasted until they like, found themselves trapped in a bubble, and rescued themselves. What was that about, again? Some sort of freakish time travel, where they found themselves again? Or were made of stone, and they un-froze themselves...? Anyway, they saved themselves, and were babbling on about how they were identical replica, all in their cute little English voices... I didn't get it. Oh well. I still love the music, especially "Lonely People." Go Beatles.

10. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Great, hilarious movie, and funny original songs. I remember being really little and waking up to the smell of good, freshly-made coffee, and singing "Man of Constant Sorrow", as well as "Down to to the River to Pray". I recommend both (the movie and soundtrack, not those two songs, although they are my favorites). They're entertaining to no end!

11. Michael

I forget how many times I had listened to this soundtrack, but had never seen the movie. Only recently had I actually watched it, but I was still in high confidence - I had loved the songs for so long, after all. They're all fun and good. Oh, and this is another recommendation! (I forget why I still add that... I mean, it's it being advertised on my blog, of course it's recommended, right?) Anyway. Buy, watch, listen, laugh, love.

12. Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Yep, most movies that are turned to games suck... but is that the same for games turned into movies? Not really, I don't think! This movie really was a fun action film, and the songs are all original creations by Nobuo Uematsu (a famous Japanese composer). Incredible orchestral music, which some songs I will listen to repeatedly.

13. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
When I was wayy little, I remember walking down the street and shouting... "Stop!" Everyone would turn around and stare at me, wondering why I so abruptly wanted everyone to halt. There would be a silence, and after a moment I would continue "Stop you robbers, your little number's up! One of you have stolen my precious golden cup!" Yes, one of Joseph's songs. I can still sing them off the top of my head, that's how deep they've been embedded in my brain. I watched the movie again recently, and was surprised at how many... well, sex references there were in it! I never noticed any of them when I was younger, so it was slightly amusing to watch and register what I had previously skimmed over without a second thought. But don't let that scare you away from this movie. The film and soundtrack is still much fun, and Donny Osmond is always cute to watch dance around. Very good kid's movie, as well as adult's (and women, who squeal to see Donny so young again!)

Well, there's my very first list, and dang did that take long. It's past 9:30PM, and I'm exhausted. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and take to heart what I posted/advertised - I swear to you that I love them all, so check them out if you haven't!

Flattered or freaked?

2008-01-12T07:08:00.001-08:00

I think I would be more the latter... but still, I can't help but admire the woman who came up with the lyrics for this.

I now present you with, The Johnny Depp Song!

Nama-nama... mmm-hmmm... for the rest of us that the song isn't about, I feel we may all appreciate his manliness as well as this song. And I know I'd be able to love him more than that Frenchy model-chick in Paris, he can bet on that.

Actually, last night when I heard that song, I was first a little skeptical... I mean, he's how old, now? Maybe I should stick with the mid to late thirties, instead of forties... such as Richard and Gerry. Well, might as well not assume without a bit of evidence, so I decided to Google a few recent images of Johnny. Here's just a taste of my result:

Those chocolate eyes...

Those seductively ripped jeans...

...and that cigarette which I will inconsequently ignore for no one else but he.

*Quickly wipes away drool* Okay, well I'll admit I don't know if these pictures are necessarily "recent," but lemme tell ya': the fact that he was born in '63 suddenly isn't of any... how should I put it... consequence to our love, as it may have moments ago. Yeah, I've changed my mind, whatsit to ya'!

Never again shall my adoring compassion falter, Johnny... Isa' promise... ♥

(But then with us watching Lord of the Rings lately, my mind's also been shared for a certain Viggo, and simple thoughts of how good looking he is with dark hair... but I'll save that rant for a different lustful post. ;) )

Just when you thought she couldn't get any weirder...

2007-12-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Yay, I was tagged for another meme!

Which, brings to question. What is a 'meme', exactly? Is it some big thing that I've been left out on? Maybe it's just a nickname for quiz, or survey? Or maybe it's just a little joke about quizzes/surveys, because you're filling out a form about "ME,ME!"? Oh well, no matter. Curiosity's knocking at the door again, but I can keep it at bay with my own (more or less accurate) assumptions and theories.

Anyway.

My good friend Madeline has tagged me for this 'meme'. I think I've done it already (twice), so if you've already gotten enough weirdness from 'meme' and don't need any more, you have my permission to read somewhere else. Of course, if you would like to read more habits, I demand you do so.

That's right. I'm forcing you to read ~~against~~ with your will. Just dandy how that works out, eh?

Once again, here comes that final encouraging - and most likely overused - word that pushes me along with my post: 'anyway!' Here are the rules, with my commentary added, free of charge!

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you. -Check. Madeline!
2. Post these rules on your blog. -I find this rule rather funny. I can understand if the first rule in the listing of the rules is to post the rules along with your post, but no. They made it the second rule in the rules, to post the rules with your post. Human logic amazes me every day.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. -Getting to that.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. -Personally, I think this is a questionable rule... I feel weird tagging people if they don't want to do this blog, and I don't think they should be pressured. (So many people have already been tagged, too, so I don't know who has already had their turn to sharing weird facts).
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog. -See above.

Another personal comment: I think that it would have been more appropriate to have seven rules to accommodate the seven facts that will surely follow... ohh well, I suppose.

Without any further ado, just when you thought she couldn't get any weirder... she came out and admitted seven more facts.

1. I don't know how 'weird' this is, but rather, it's a peeve. For some reason, I cannot stand open drawers/cabinet doors. I swear, I do not know why, but I'm always tempted to close them... weird, yes. Abbi-ish, of course.

2. I can hear one thing, and then link it from that, to another thing, to another and another and another. Before I know it, I'm thinking completely off subject and in my own little world, while others are keeping perfectly focused on the topic at hand. Example: Today I was drinking an Ice Tea, and it was really good. I drank that ice tea while eating kernels. I was eating the kernels 'cause I ate all the popcorn. I was eating the popcorn 'cause I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean. I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean while talking to Dev. When talking to Dev, we were practicing DnD. While practicing DnD, I was thinking of new characters that have yet to be created. While thinking of those, I was also talking to a friend about downloading movies off of iTunes. Which reminded me how we had to upload all of our music to our laptop because it was all screwy with the graphics, and the music files got erased. Which reminded me that we might not be able to hook up iTunes to the laptop anymore, so we would have to change where we hooked the iPod up to. Which reminded me that we got a new iPod car-connector thing, called 'iLuv.' I really like that name for a brand... 'iLuv.' Not love, but Luv. Isn't that just great? And Apple came up with that, too.

While doing all of this, I was drinking ice tea.

3. I have an old spirit. Older than my body, anyway. I have found through the preferences of male actors, that I like the older men a lot more. Sure, Corbin Bleu is cute, but he has a few years ahead of him to age. Same goes for Orlando Bloom. As odd as this sounds to compare, I can relate my opinion like some do to wine. Sure, when they're new they're sweet, cute and the like, but they're always better after they've had time to age. So, as I was saying, Zac Efron? Pass. Gimmie my Richard Armitage and Gerard Butler and I'm one happy chickie (who are in fact, 36 and 38. And honestly? I'm all for the accents; Richard = British, Gerard = Scottish. Yummy!)

4. I have an awkward acting thing. I'm really good at memorizing lines, moving and acting along with the words, and presenting it in front of a mirror. Of course, give me an audience expecting a good performance and I freak. I can't keep eye contact with someone while I'm speaking, lest I stare at them during the entire thing. Instead, I get shifty eyes and look everywhere, often at my hands or my feet. Y'see, I think I've gotten it figured out: I'm great at acting, memorizing and becoming one with a character. ...I just can't do it while you're watching.

5. I have a slight twitching habit, as I think you might call it. When I'm watching a movie or reading a book, my leg always ends up tapping or twitching. Most often, I'm bouncing it to nothing in particular... while it annoys others that are sitting next to me, it's calming to me. Goddess knows why, but it is! I also notice that I do it most often if I'm in suspense, which explains why I do it while watching movies/reading books.

6. I think I mentioned this in another "Weird Facts" post, but I'll elaborate a bit more now. I love coffee! In fact, put quite blatantly, I'm a huge coffee snob. My mom dealt with bad coffee for a while, and will inevitably drink coffee that isn't the best if need be... well, then she found her awesome coffee that she can make right at home. That's what I was introduced to. I never had to drink awful coffee, and was given this good stuff, straight out of the belly! In other words, I'm spoiled right to the bone. I've heard it's odd for a 'child' to like coffee, and to that, I've created a few theories; maybe the reason most kids don't like coffee is because a lot of adults aren't too picky about what they drink. They see it as coffee, right? To drink coffee because it's coffee, and everyone drinks coffee. Then kids don't drink it because it doesn't taste good. Why drink something that isn't good? Then when they get older, they don't see it as something that tastes bad, they see it as coffee! Not how it tastes, but what it purely is. I'm also not 'addicted' to coffee. I don't need it. If it doesn't taste good to me, I don't drink it. Maybe that's why I'm so picky about it! I allow myself to be, and I don't suffer if I don't have it. Again, I don't see it as coffee, I see it as a drink that I enjoy having on my tongue in the morning... and if I can't have that taste, then why stoop so low for something that isn't good, just for what it is? Of course, don't get me wrong. If someone does feel they need their coffee fix in the morning, it's all the better that they aren't picky about it. Can you imagine if you were as snobby as me and NEED to have the coffee? Yikes, talk about a raging Godzilla every morning that the coffee wasn't warm for me. Rambling much? Of course, it's Abbi's Blog!

Oh, I also like to think I like my coffee 'bittersweet.' Very dark roast, very little cream, lots of raw sugar. Mmm...

7. As my last weird fact, I'll chose the most random one that I can come up with off the top of my head: I, Abbi, am picky about... eyebrows. Ruffled eyebrows bother me. I swear I don't know why, but they just... do. Whether they're ruffled or poking out of place, I'm so tempted to straighten them. I'm really big about in-place and orderly eyebrows. Out of all the things... eyebrows. I know, weird, right? But what better place to talk about those weird things than this... weird blog? No better place, that's what.

Ack, once again I am faced with the opportunity - or better put, dilemma - of tagging people. I'm sorry to say I'm going to pass, only because so many people have been tagged so often, and I don't know who has already been tagged. I hope too many people don't get angry, even as I doubt they will... (*grabs a book to hide under, just in case*)

I hope you guys enjoyed reading! :) Seasonal wishes to you all!

Picture Survey!

2007-11-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

Now really, I'm more of a leader than a follower... but when it comes to following cool-chickies like my mom, Diana, Mary (and Scotty of course, but he's more of a cool-male than chickie :D Loved all the same!), I'll share my limelight to follow them into the new trend of picture-surveys. ;)

1. My age next year: 14

This guy wanted to announce it.

Or, for a cuter look into 14,

I'll admit. I'm a Little Bear groupie girl; he is my hero. Y'know why? 'Cause he's a hewo, he's a guyy... he's a hewooo, he's a guyyy... he's hewo-guy!! (If you haven't seen Sesame Street, sorry that you don't get that. I would give you a link to the song, but YouTube doesn't have it! :( )

2. Place I'd like to travel: Claude Monet's House/Garden in Giverny France

Gorgeous house,

Spectacular Garden (and artist, but I think we all knew that. ;) )

3. Favorite place: All sorts...

I love it at the ocean with the sunset,

The snow and the trees,

My friends,

and the moon.

I'm sure I'll find the perfect place eventually. :)

4. Favorite Object(s): That's easy

Keyboard,

Pencil,

Nail file,

Piano

Give me my basic everyday items, and I'm as happy as this kitty. ;)

5. Favorite food: Chicken Pot Pie; homemade style!

Ahh, this is the homey delicacy that I have had as my birthday dinner for about five years, now. :)

6. Favorite Animal: Like my mama... horses!

7. Favorite Color: Purple!

Ooh... now this is a gorgeous picture. Probably photoshopped, but beeeauutiful all the same. :)

8. My nickname: Abs

Wooweee. I knew what I should expect when openly googling "Abs," but I am swept away by the manliness... *fans self*

And even though there are many, many more pictures after this, I'll leave it to one. For some reason, I rather not having a face to my muscle man... if he has perfect muscles, I tend to expect perfect heads, as well. Unfortunately, either their hair is weird, their eyes are closed, the nose is too big, the mouth is too small, or other ittybityt details are off... but the headless man in black and white? That one serves my fantasy just fine, thankyouverymuch!

(That doesn't mean I want to find a real man walking around with no head... fantasies can stay fantasies and reality can stay reality. I like heads too much to give them up for something that would grow old way too quickly. :D)

9. Town I was born in: Bemidji MN

Do I hear Jingle Bells?

10. Bad habit I have: Correcting people.

...okay, hopefully I'm not that bad. ;)

Consider yourself tagged!

Featuring: To Zanarkand, Starring: The Picture Shirt

2007-11-17T11:14:00.001-08:00

Well, it was promised, and here it is! Me playing To Zanarkand on our beautiful Baby Grand piano (which resides smack-dab in the middle of our living room, thank-you-very-much). And, as you may also be able to see, I am wearing The Picture Shirt!

It's a very big file, so if it takes a little bit to load, I'm sorry. Though, it probably won't... hopefully won't.

Anyway. Please enjoy!!

Not for the weak of mind...

2007-11-15T21:59:00.001-08:00

Well, because I love testing myself often, I decided I wanted to know what my WPM (Word Per Minute) was, because all-in-all, that's what I judge my typing skills by. The site that I went to to test myself had this quote, which I found absolutely hilarious...

"A programmer is a person who passes as an exacting expert on the basis of being able to turn out, after innumerable punching, an infinite series of incomprehensive answers calculated with micrometric precisions from vague assumptions based on debatable figures taken from inconclusive documents and carried out on instruments of problematical accuracy by persons of dubious reliability and questionable mentality for the avowed purpose of annoying and confounding a hopelessly defenseless department that was unfortunate enough to ask for the information in the first place."

A lot of my friends didn't really get what it meant from that, and it seemed I was the only one who really found it amusing. I just thought I'd share, and perhaps a few of you here would also like it. Oh, and if anyone was wondering, my WPM is roughly 150 (I took several different tests, each of which came up between 135 and 170).

(P.S. The video of me playing To Zanarkand will come either tomorrow, or the next day... as long as we can get this ding-dang camcorder to work on our side)

Oohh, the whole song!

2007-11-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

Thaat's right! After about a month's worth of work and a year's worth of patience, I got it all down! The song To Zanarkand is composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and is now being played on a regular basis, by moi! I don't have it perfect, but it's only a matter of days, now. Be expecting a video of me playing it, too!

A little bio about me and my music...
When I was little (AKA younger than I am now), I would think of any song I wanted to hear (which, for example, would be "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," or other simple songs), and I could play out the entire thing by ear. I never read notes, and I HATED playing those little songs they have in the beginners book... why would I want to play a song that goes A, B, C, B, C, B, A, B, C, B, G at a slow pace, with one hand? Sure, it teaches me how to read the notes at a slow but steady pace, but... ugh, again, who wants to play songs like that? Though I admit, sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

One of the sacrifices I made was sucking up my pride and going to a teacher. I decided it would be fine to see what she could offer, and if she could help improve my playing skills. It turned out to be a double-taught class, so me and Kyra were in there together, learning together. That much was pretty cool, and because Kyra was there, I got some backup when I was explaining how horrible the experience was. I went there to learn how to play music, not how to play the 'Wiggle game'. Do you know what the 'Wiggle game' consists of? Playing music? No. Learning notes? No. Wiggling your fingers as you count to five, so you know which ones to use as you played so you didn't have to move your eyes from the sheet music.

Now, if that works for some people then good for them and they should continue working at it, but it didn't for me. So all in all, I knew I wasn't going to waste my time playing a game that involved anything that had to do with wiggling, when I could be teaching myself how to play an actual piano.

So I did.

A few months ago from now (and a few months after the teacher incident) I decided I wanted to learn Mad World. We had the sheet music, so my mom played it and I watched her fingers. A few days later, I had memorized the entire thing, and could play it (those who went to Live and Learn saw me playing it at the talent show with Kyra and my dad at vocals). I really liked that, but from there, there really weren't that many other songs I wanted to play. Soon enough, my mom came up with a song that SHE wanted to learn, so she printed out the sheet music and started playing. This song was called To Zanarkand, a song from the popular game Final Fantasy X (so I had heard the song before, but never in my living room). I was entranced by the music as I listened, and by watching her fingers, it didn't seem that hard... I decided to give it a shot.

I figured out the beginning and the right-hand-part of the song completely by ear, and was shown the left hand by my mom. From there, my mom played each part over and over for me to see and hear, then I would practice and she would critique me (or, show me what I'm doing wrong, an easier way to put my fingers to help while I play, et cetera). Eventually, I had it all down, until the very end with the left hand.

My mom began showing me some of it, but I was running out of patience, and got snappish with her. I was straining to continue playing it correctly, and then I'm told that I've been playing it wrong? Everything began falling apart, and I needed to take a break from the piano and that song.

A few days later, I showed up at the piano once again, determined to keep calm and keep at it until I had it down. I decided I didn't want to snap at my mom any more, so I tried to figure it out by ear... uhh, no. That doesn't work, not with the left hand. The melody is too hard for me to pick out, especially when I have no one playing it by my side to listen to. After groaning and grumbling, I decided to look at the sheet music... I recognized a C, I saw an F sharp, I knew what was a D. From there, I figured out the entire ending of the song! Some of it sounded weird, and I would tell my mom, but eventually I would figure it out (in most cases, I had my hand playing B, D, G, instead of C, E, A, or something like that).

Anyway. After lots of practicing (and lots of grumbling from Alec, who I kept waking up at 2PM every time I wanted to play), I have finally gotten it down! This is very exciting for me, because I've always loved the song, and now I can play it at my own leisure.

Once again, be expecting a video of me playing soon.

Melodic Addiction

2007-11-12T13:51:00.001-08:00

Thaat's right, another poem by yours truly. Lately I've been hearing a lot of music, and I've felt really attached to it. I need to listen to it over and over and over... which, has inspired me to write this new poem. It's a bit shorter than the ones from the past, but I think it gets the point across with the few paragraphs that make it.

also, it's not about death... yay!

Melodic Addiction

The melody courses through my veins
Like the blood that keeps me alive
Music is like my addiction,
I go insane if I am deprived

With every note I hear,
I want another one to follow
It's the only thing keeping me going,
Without it, I wallow

The chorus tells of my feelings,
And I become the song
I lose myself in the lyrics,
As I dreamily sing along

My tears fall down in sync,
And I laugh along with the flute
I dance to the rhythm that leads me on,
And my heart beats till its mute

I close my eyes tightly
And imagine the elaborate tune
I'm always disappointed,
When it ends, far too soon...

And with that, I'm going to go watch Phantom of the Opera! More great music!

To Dream, or to Live

2007-11-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

To start this post off, I'd like to point out that I'm sorry for being neglectant! I've been in Oregon, and was having trouble finding the time to type about something. I hope I'll be able to make another post when I get home, which will be this Tuesday.

Anyway, this post is... *drum roll*

Another Poem! Yayy! This one was inspired by the ocean, when we visited the coast with all of our friends. It also reflects my feelings on this place, in Oregon, and by the ocean.

To Dream, or to Live

The wind is my rhythm,
The waves are my song
The sand is my home land,
A place that knows no wrong

As I sink my hand beneath
The surface of the grain,
I lift my palm up slowly,
Grounded rocks who show no pain

The wind picks up just as I feared
And blow at my captured sand
They floated away just as they came,
Even I could not restrain it with my hand

The sand glides slowly above the ground,
Carried by the air
Colored so my eye can see,
The beauty that lay there

The ocean waves break to my left,
A bird calls to my right
It is my love, this area of peace
So vast, and full of light

A stirring voice calls out to me
I ignored it without much thought
I shall not leave my paradise,
And if need be, it will be fought

And fought it was, as I clung to the ground
Hoping the voice would fade
But it was not it, that disappeared
For my love shall now be paid

I lift my head from a satin pillow
And stare at the wall before me
A dream, not real, something I just made,
Not the life I live I see

Secretly, I must confess,
I want the life of that:
Of winds and sands and ocean bands,
Not the plain one of a rat

To have that one that I so crave,
I must take the chance
I must move forward toward the dream,
In life, I must advance

I Who Cannot, Do - Interpretations

2007-10-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello! I've decided to run a little test of sorts. I've been induced with the curiosity of individual interpretations of all sorts. Recently, I wrote a poem, and showed it to a couple friends... both of them thought and saw it as different things, which I found were both really cool! So, I would like to you guys to help me with this little test/game. :)

I'm going to post the poem that is almost painfully vague, and I would like you guys to email me (which is abbidt@gmail.com) your thoughts and interpretations on it. Now, if you're looking to simply rate or review it, you can leave a comment on this post. Reviews are always welcome. :)

I'd just like for you to tell me what images and conclusions you drew while and after reading. Did you think of love? Or maybe science? Those are just examples, I'd like your own personal conclusions. :) The more detailed the better!! Did the person happen to look a specific way to you? Did they have an expression, or were they faceless? I'd also prefer you send it back to me in an email, and not a comment on this post... if you were to leave your thoughts as comments, another person could stumble along and read that, and it would somewhat ruin their original interpretation, and make it yours.

After maybe a month or so (depending on how many replies I get) I'll post many (if not all) of the different interpretations I was given. I won't put names, if you would prefer. This is not for science homework or anything for school (I don't go to it :p) but a little project I've set for myself, which I think will draw very interesting results.

Anyway, without any further explanation, here's my poem:

I Who Cannot, Do

I have not been favored,
It is something I for one lack
But I see more than all else,
So don't cut me your slack

It is not relevent, for I make up quick
It is something I use, and it's not just a trick
I have mastered my loss,
And I realize, life is not something to toss

I sometimes wish upon the falling stars,
Though I cannot see the redness of Mars
Some of you call me an illogical fool,
Though I do not roll over; I am not the tool

I need not the capability to see the light
I need not the ability to perceive the fight
I understand all around me and perhaps even more,
Listening to old stories, languages, and a bit of lore

I am getting more out of what others throw away,
For only I realize what I must do and say
The ruthlessness of the fellow friend,
The life that cannot 'simply' mend

One should and shall savor,
The not-so-long lasting flavor,
For it will not be forever,
Something we only now can treasure

Helpless victims,
We must act now,
It's not a question of why,
It's a question of how

A limited supply,
I need not an eye,
To see what flies by,
What goes on in the sky

But it's not out there that we must discover,
It's right down here which we have to recover
But no, you're all lost, in your little fantasy lands,
Drinking your beer and singing with the bands

Ironic, how I'm the only one who sees
The darkness around us, while you allow its seize
No, you're too convinced of my lack of sense and eyes,
But you'll soon realize, these words I spew are not simple lies...

Now go, go, go, and email me your thoughts! :) Please and thank you! And as I said before, there are no wrong answers.

Happy birthday to mee!

2007-09-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

All riight!! I'm thirteen, I am I am! And I have pictures, too!

Okay, I need to tell a little story before I can show you the pictures. There was this huuge, beaauuutiful red pine right beside our driveway. My uncle and the builders of the house all wanted to chop it down, because they thought it was "annoying", and it would be easy to drive into. My mom fought to keep it in place... it really was gorgeous. After a bit of negotiating, and plain facts such as "it's my house, it's staying," the guys gave up, and we kept the tree.

So, we go on trips, we stay home, we walk in the park, we live our lives. Slowly, we're seeing all of these... these holes in the tree. A stupid woodpecker is trying to eat away our beloved tree!! So, our lovely tree began dying away at the beak of the woodpecker. Eventually, it's looking done-with, and pretty dead. We decide to saw it down...

After it was down and my dad sawed it into several different pieces (actually, I was recently informed that it wasn't my dad, but The-Picture-Shirt-Giver's (Karin's) husband, John!), we all decided they would be great to have as stools, and to paint! I have a bunch of pictures of us painting them. Yesterday was when I was painting, and I put the finishing on today.

My dad's:

Kyra's:

I don't have a direct picture of mine or my mom's yet, but we will soon. Alec kindly declined the offer of making one himself, but he said he's fine with us making one for him. I think we're going to do that tomorrow.

Okay, more birthday pictures!!

The fairy drawing Kyra made for me!

A bit closer

And of course, I didn't forget The Picture Shirt!!

I also got to watch Blades of Glory tonight, with everyone. And after that, the Star Wars Family Guy episode!! I hope everyone else had as good a day as mee.

Thirteen, Flirteen', and Thriveen'!

2007-09-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

(To all those who haven't seen it/can't remember, that quote above is a joke on 13 Going on 30's "Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving"... and specifically to anyone who hasn't seen it, go watch it!)

Happy birthday to me (Cha-cha-cha) happy birthday to me, (Cha-cha-cha)

Happy birthday dear Abbiiii...

Happy birthday to me!

That's right, I'm officially a teen now! Who knows how old that makes my mind, now?? Maybe if we count in dog years, or cat years, or... parakeet years? (Let's not go with the parakeet thing... I don't think that would improve my own self-image by a whole lot...)

Well, anyway. I'll probably be making another birthday post today or tomorrow, with pictures!! Well, love you all! See ya!

La Picture Shirt

2007-09-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have found that in all of my pictures, in all of the posts, that are visible on the first page right now, I am wearing the same shirt. All of them. Even the profile picture! And, coincidentally, I am also wearing it right now.

As it happens, this spectacular shirt was given to me by Karen Buxcel! Thanks to her, I can now strut around in my newly dubbed Picture Shirt. When I wear it, people just can't not take pictures of me. Ain't that just dandy? Thanks, Karen!!

And there it is! (You can even see the Blogger page where I'm typing this post out in the background!)

2007-09-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

I could say I have no friends. I could say everyone shuns me and talks about me behind my back. But it would be a lie. It's an illusion! And it's Minnesota's fault. But it's truth, I'm lost here. Where we live, I have no friends. Where I am now, no one understands Unschooling.

I have friends, and I love them all. But they're somewhere else. "Small world," everyone always says. It isn't when you're all the way up here. Maybe if I was more willing to drive six to forty hours every time I have the urge to see a friend, then it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe if everyone lived a little closer, the world would seem smaller. Maybe if we didn't feel so rooted to Minnesota, to this house, everything would be better.

Maybe it's time for that change. I'm sick and tired of no one understanding. Of clique-y school girls not returning my sister's phone calls. Of School mothers who don't let their children spend more than 49 minutes at that weird home-schooler's place.

I think this is all we need. One decision. One final reason to put our foot down. We'll pick our stuff up and move. Buy an RV. Do something! Something other than hanging out here, in the smack-dab middle of No Where.

The Future As We Made It

2007-09-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

This poem is mainly about the creation of the planet, and how we're slowing killing off what we were given.

The Future As We Made It

There's purple, there's green
There's faint, there's sheen
There's darkness, there's light
But in the end, it's all just black and white

The earth was created
The public all paraded
The ego was pronounced
The disagreements were announced

The evil was invented
True nature was prevented
So much for a peaceful park
The light became the dark

They can't just get along
In a place they all belong
They trash the world they love
It's a painful thread they wove

The trees died away
People started to pray
It was time for them to pay
When it stops, no one could say

Pity for them, this is how it came,
Pity for them, it's all going to shame
Pity for us, this is what they made
Pity for us, in one blatant shade

There's purple, there's green
There's faint, there's sheen
There's darkness, there's light
But in the end,
There has to be more than just black and white

Wowowow!

2007-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

The title says it all! Okay, so last night I fell asleep watching Chocolat with mom, dad and Kyra (at least, until they booted me out sayin' they need sleep, haha), and when I woke up I finished it with Kyra (I was up early enough to say g'night to Alec, too!). So most of the day so far Sir Johnny Depp has been in my mind.

And when it's that hunk, whose mind isn't he on?

So, after drooling over him for half the day, I take my shower, and my mom reminds we have another movie that we need to watch... one that we got yesterday, by my awesome dad.

Thaat's right! We got it! So instead of Johnny Depp, I got to fantasize over another hunk (or both, y'know, I'm a girl... I can multi-ogle)

My dreamy-eyed Sir Guy of Gisborne!! Oh, and after watching the first episodes of Robin Hood, I'm reminded how terrible he is... after only three episodes, I've lost count of how many people he's murdered.

But when he's got eyes like that, that cute smile and pretty hair, and the tolerance to wear black leather in Hungary at 80 degrees... I forgive him.

All right, so...

♥ Johnny Depp ♥

♥ ♥ Richard Armitage ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ Robin Hood season one ♥ ♥ ♥

Life, my friends, is GOOD!

A Different Life - Poem

2007-08-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, here's another poem about another depressing subject about another person not satisfied with their life. I'm actually kind of embarrassed that I find inspiration in this sort of thing, I mean-- the life I lead is amazing! Filled with happiness and joy! Maybe, just maybe, I find inspiration in this unknown. I write about things I have never experienced, and thus I am curious to write about it?

Curiosity, fear, and inspiration of the unknown!

And without further ado...

A Different Life

Trapped, I'm trapped
Within the confinements of this maze
Solitude, no escape,
Sanity is becoming a haze

Overturning every rock
Every glance, I find a lock,
I'll search until I am long gone,
So no longer, I will be a pawn

I'm running through this endless tunnel,
It's getting smaller - harder - like a funnel
The darkness is slowly pressing in,
The silence is overwhelming; I hear the dropping of a pin

Passageways are left and right,
I doubt I will survive this night
I'm losing my whim, my will,
But I'm still sane enough not to kill

Madness is threatening,
Giving me a taste of freedom;
To leave this life,
To be redone.

The stars above should lead the way,
But they shift in place, secrets they will not relay
Should I beg? Worthy to plead?
I'm desperate enough to bleed

Take me out of this cold, brutal night,
Just take me away, I won't even fight
I want to be relieved, I want a new heart
A new cast and crew; given a different part

This Goddess is so unforgiving,
This is a life not worth living!
My haze of sanity is no more...
...I'm left with me, a soul that has tore

More cooking!

2007-08-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Uh-oh, what's Abbi up to now...? Judging from the mess she's left behind this time...

COOKIEESS!!

Yeah, unfortunately, when I was done putting these perfect scoops on the pan, I realized I forgot to put Crisco across it!! So, I had to pick 'em all up, and lay 'em across the counter...

...while I Crisco'd the darn pan.

And there it is!!

It's the damned Crisco!! Oh, how I loathe you so. It's almost as scary as those creepy eggplants!

And voila! Le finished project!

Beautiful. I have many more, but this is all that I had finished at the time. I have so many, I fill up almost two jars to the brim!

Enjoying the creation.

I made these cookies for those certain guests that're plannin' to show their faces here, around 6! Can't wait to see you guys, and Happy Birthday Hayden!!

My French Camp Experience (Part 3)

2007-08-24T13:05:00.001-07:00

Wow, I'm on a writing spree, no?

French meals... amazing. Truly and utterly spectacular. A friend of mine (Sophie, the girl I have a picture with in Part 2) had been talking about what it was like at Italian camp. Apparently she didn't like the food very much... she kept mentioning how the more and more meals she ate there, the more she was missing ramen, chicken noodle soup, macaroni & cheese, and subway.

Quite the opposite for me, when I was there at French camp. The more French food I ate, the more difficult it would be for me to grasp the idea of returning to chicken noodle soup again, or store-bought baguettes.

I would miss all of the food I had there! La mousse des chocolat (chocolate mousse), le poulet (chicken), le porc (beef), la pommes de Français (French apples, pshyeah), la mousse des fraise (strawberry mousse), la fraise bonbon (strawberry bonbon; French candy)... I'll miss all of it, EXCEPT........

...le poisson. Le poisson est du poison!

Ah yes, the evil poisson. Le poisson est "fish" en Anglais. Yes, French fish is awful!! One of the most frequently used phrases at French camp (excluding "Merci," "salut," et cetera) would be "Je deteste le poisson!" I know I shouldn't laugh, but what was always funny for the bit more experienced French-a-iers, was hearing people say "J'ai suis deteste le poisson!" That would mean, instead of "I hate fish," "I have am hate fish." Heehee...

Meals were so long, too! I mean, that should only be expected at French camp, but really. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, because I'm fine with it, but they're sometimes so long, I would have to go to the bathroom two times, while everyone's still eating! I guess it elongates the dinners when there are announcements afterwards, and such.

Oh! Speaking of announcements, I said I was going to explain the pin-thing on one of the parts. I might as well here.

Well, as one of the games that all of Lac du Bois plays, it's called "Mono mystérieux". About three Counselors (or 'monos') are chosen every day to be the "mystère" Counselor, in secret. (Mystère means "mystery," and mystérieux means "mysterious") Those "mystère" counselors would secretly watch around, and see who spoke a lot of French. At the end of the day, after dinner and during the evening announcements, we would all play a really cheesy game with a detective, trying reveal who the mystère monos were that day.

Once the detective found the mono, they would give hints about one person they thought spoke a lot of French, and eventually they would scream their name, and they would run up between the tables to get a little pin, that said that they spoke a lot of French! It was a real honor to get one of those pins; only a handful of the camp got them throughout two weeks.

I was one of them!! It's kind of funny, it happened to me on the very last day, and the exact way I had always imagined.

To be fancy at the last day, all of the tables had little pretty candles on them. One of our wilder and crazier friends was even more of a pyromaniac than I! (And that's sayin' somethin'!) The difference between she and I, is I have common sense and reasoning. She would light a napkin on fire to see what would happen, and all of the Counselors would have to run over here and put it out, then they'd scold her in French, and she'd say it was worth it.

Anyway. All of the candles were blown out, because we didn't trust her (Katia is her name) with the fires being lit. So to entertain ourselves, she and I were both digging candle wax out of the candle-holder, and rolling it into stuff! Snakes, little balls, squares, flat-things... I gotta say, it was pretty darn fun. She and I were giggling, and then trying to pick the wax that got stuck in our fingernails out, and working the dents out of our wax-creations, when suddenly I heard...

"Giséle!!"

I looked up, and had a really stupid "huh?" expression on my face, as the detective was scanning the rows of kids for where this Giséle-person was. I looked over at Jackie (a good friend of mine from my cabin) and asked her if they were talking about me... she replied "No, the other Giséle that has blonde hair, brown glasses, loves chocolate mousse, and is a first-year at the Language Villages. Now get up there!!"

Next think I knew I was walkin' up between the tables to get a little pin that said I spoke a lot of French, from my Lac du Bois dinner mama', Amiko! (I'll explain families later, too) And now I have a pin! Here's a picture of it:

It's the blue pin attached to the top; it's a bit blurry, but it says "Agent Secret {{star picture}} Spécialiste en français". Hee. :)

Well, let's see... what more do I have to say before I conclude this part 3? ...eehhh... nothin' is coming to mind. I hope this doesn't end up being a 10-part story. Oh well, doesn't matter that much if it does, anyway. It could be!

That's all for now. Bye-bye!

My French Camp Experience (Part 2)

2007-08-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

I learned so many dances while at French camp! I don't know why, but I did. But if you're looking for something mind-boggling... why in the world did they teach an Indian song? Or Romanian?? We learned (and this is my favorite) the "Tanuk Tanuk Tun" dance! Otherwise known as the Male-Draenei dance, for those who play World of Warcraft. It is in fact, originated from India. Here's the video:

We also learned "Dragostea Din Tei", also known as "The Numa Numa" song, which is Romanian!! Oh well, I'm glad that we got a variety of different songs and dances. Obviously the majority of the dances were French. My favorite (and the most popular in general) French song/dance was "La Baloncé". I'm not sure if that's how it's spelt, but it's how it's pronounced.

Here's a picture of me doing it at the Closing Ceremony:

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of any other dances. Kyra's planning on doing the Tanuk Tanuk Tun song at the Unschooling Conference Talent Show though, so if any Unschoolers (that are goin' to L&L) are wanting to see how it's done, check 'er out!

Moi et Morgane!

Left to right: Odessa, Giséle (moi), Fatou!

Segoléne (REALLY cool gal), me!

And last but not least, Sophie (a girl from my cabin) and me!

This is Paris, where we ate our meals, and I took French Poetry (not quite as cool as it sounds...) It's also the only place with fans and some-what-working air conditioners.

As far as the first and second Activités go, you're sorted into them two ways. Y'know how I said you have two Activités in a day? Well, the first one you choose at the beginning of each week. You're given a sheet of paper with eight different Activités, and you are given the choice of which one you want. The way you do this, is you write three preferences. The first you want to do you write "1," second "2," third "3". Pretty simple, so if you don't get the first one you want, you get the second or third. Whichever you are put into, that is Activité 1, which you go to after cleaning and singing (those two are after breakfast).

After the first week, you get to change your first Activité. You get a new sheet, with new and different Activités, and you're given three more preferences choices to spend.

Well as my first preference in my first week, I chose 1: Poetry, 2: Cooking, and 3: Filming. I got Poetry... which... wasn't fun. My advice to anyone who ends up going to Lac du Bois, make sure that your experience in French is more than .1, if you want to sign up for Poetry... it's not a great way to start your French-learning experience.

Oh, and I'll also point out. I explained Activité 1, but not 2. The second Activité of the day is completely random; one of the other seven that you didn't land on, that were originally on the list. So overall, you get to do everything! The first Activité is plainly so you get to do more of what you want.

Anyway. The second week was much better! I got a taste of Poetry, and I knew I didn't want it. I got new preferences! 1: Cooking (it looked so fun... unfortunately, EVERYONE wanted to do it, so it was a slim chance for everyone else) 2: Fencing (yes, fencing, with swords. How cool is that?) 3: Graffiti.

I figured, this would be cool. I wasn't desperate for cooking, or fencing, or Graffiti. So whatever I landed with would be good.

I got graffiti! The graffiti instructor's name is Anthony (pronounced "Ant'ony"). He was really nice to us all. I seemed to have a natural talent for graffiti-ing! I had already picked up my own style of disfigured-letters! The first how-many-classes, you're just drawing whatever word or name you want (a name can be anything obviously, but the word must be in French). This way, you are practicing your letter-disfigurements. It felt like downtime for me, because I was just drawing. It was great... an Activité without the normal pressure of... everything.

At the end of the second week, everyone submitted one of the artistries that they drew, and that would be made into a banner, which would be hung in Paris! Once all the drawings were chosen, everyone voted. Mine got chosen, hee!

And here is the finishing project:

I'm really proud of it.

Once again, I find that I have written away another hour, of another day! I'll close this off as the end of Part 2, and I'll write more later.

Au revoir!

My French Camp Experience (Part 1)

2007-08-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know, I've been neglecting my blog. Well if you're expecting my first (or second, I guess, if you're including my Armitage one) post to be in French, you had better forget it! Geez, camp was... well, I would like to say it was hard, but only in a perspective.

It's hard if you're expecting to understand EVERYTHING that's going on around you. It's pretty easy if you smile and nod every time someone speaks to you in French. I hate it when people expect me to do that... I would see one of my friends listening to a mono (counselor) speaking to them in French, presumably explaining something to them. They were nodding and saying stuff like, "Okay," "yeah," "I get it," "thanks," "I'll try to do that," et cetera. Then she would walk back to us (me and other friends) and I ask her what that was all about? What was the counselor explaining? Her reply: "No clue. What's for lunch?"

I've always been one to non-stop attempt to understand what someone is sayin' to me. I'll keep guessing and guessing and guessing, until I get it! Sometimes I got the feeling that I was bugging some of the counselors when I didn't get it... I have the tendency to expect people to keep trying until I got it. A lot of people were nice that way, and they would continually help me as far as understanding goes, but some other people... "c'est bon, c'est bon," waving their hands dismissively if I didn't get it. "Decour? Decour. Salut!" Ugh.

Well, I'll explain my schedule (which everyone has taped on the back of their name tags): Oh but before I elaborate, let me point out, that this isn't an exact translation, only what I know it to be. Sometimes I'll know the literal translation (which I'll point out) but if I don't, you'll have to look it up in a French dictionary (I always had one on me at camp!):

8h00 Réveil - Wake up
8h30 Petit déjeuner - Literal translation: small lunch, AKA Breakfast
9h15 Nettoyage/Réunion de staff - Cleaning up/Meeting for the counselors
9h45 Chansons (à l'amphi) - Singing songs
10h15 Activité de loisir 1 - First activity!
11h15 Goûter - Snack
11h30 Grande Odyssée/Odyssée/Cours - You heard it! "Grande" Odyssée for t'weekers (two-weekers)
12h45 Présentation du repas - A little play that the counselors put on.
13h00 Déjeuner - Literal translation: Lunch!
13h50 Annonces du temps libre - Announcing what areas/activities will be available during free time
14h00 Sieste/courrier - Quiet-time for the t'weekers (where we take naps or write letters) and "courrier" for the monthers (for further explanation on "courrier," ask Scotty!)
15h00 Course magnifique/Cours électif - Leaning about the course magnifique for t'weekers, "cours électif" for monthers.
15h30 Pause pour les 2 semaines - Fifteen minute break!
15h45 Activité de loisir 2/Portfolio - Activity 2 for t'weekers, portfolio for monthers.
16h30 Temps libre - FREE TIME!! The ONLY time you can buy anything, too
17h30 Odyssée/Cours - Odyssée for t'weekers, and Cours for monthers.
18h20 Plaisirs d'amour - ...no clue. Sorry, I'm racking my brain and I cannot think of what I did at that time. The translation is "Pleasure of love" or "love pleasure"... and I know I didn't do anything sexual while at camp.
18h45 Présentation du repas - Another skit!
19h00 Dîner - Literal translation: Dinner!
20h00 Pause - A few announcements, and a handing out of awards to those who speak a lot of French (I'll go into deeper detail about that soon)
20h15 Veillée - An after-dinner activity with the whole camp
21h15 Feu de camp - Goin' back to le pavillon (cabin) to sleep

Wow, now that I look at it, my schedule is a lot longer than it is on my name tag.

Well I would like to point something out before I elaborate on anything else. It says that people wake up at 8:00AM? Well, I always woke up at 7:30AM to take a shower. Just gettin' that out of the way.

I have to ask. What in the world is wrong with the USA? WHY do we have "AM" and "PM"? Why do we go up to 12 twice, instead of 24 once? The rest of the world is doin' it! Yeah, the rest of the world also goes to school and listens to their elders and everything, I know... but changing from a more reasonable, sensible, and simple way of telling time to AM and PM just complicated everything, and made it harder for other people to understand the time if they were to go to another country. Thanks a lot, whoever thought that up.

I really didn't like the Activités, unfortunately. They were all really boring, and unlike Odyssée, they (the counselors) would babble in French, and expect everyone to understand. And when we didn't, they might get a little irritated, but just blow it off... then we'd play a really easy and boring game. Sometimes we'd even play it in English, for the Counselor's benefit (a few of the counselors don't speak English very well, as it turns out).

It's sad how, even here at Lac du Bois, where people are paying to get in, almost half of the kids still don't want to be here. They'd constantly be complaining about being there, and being away from their computer, and MySpace, and their iPod, and their dog, and their friends, and--... geez. I ask them "Why are you here?!" They reply, "My dad thought it would be cool if I could speak French," or "my aunt teaches French, and my mom wants me to speak it with her," et cetera. All of the sad "they wanted me to" stories.

Anyway. My favorite counselors were Odessa, Morgane, and Anaiis!! They're great, I love 'em so much. Morgane and Anaiis were my first Odyssée teachers. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, some of those people who don't want to be here or learn French, or put any effort into learning it at all... a handful of those people were in my Odyssée class. (Odyssée classes were sorted by language experience and level.) A lot of the kids (if not all) didn't know French. Including me, of course, but my willingness to learn and endless effort came to my advantage. Sometimes, while everyone would be practicing how to say "salad" (with is "salade" by the way, big yippie there) one of the teachers would step away to explain grammar and speech with me! About separate stuff, not salads.

Most of the time we would be speaking of negations, and "which word is masculine, which is feminine?" It may sound kind of boring or simple, but I learned a lot from them, especially with the masculine and feminine. The nouns are always masculine or feminine, but some adjectives change, depending on which noun they're describing. Sometimes they're neutral! I found that really interesting, how nouns are the superior and reigning word, while the adjectives will change their spelling and pronunciation depending on which noun it is! Then my Odyssée class switched, and... well, I was used to the amazing classes, and the new ones were just as bad as the le Activité.

Okay, I've typed a lot so far today, so I think I'll cut it off as the End of Part 1. I'll tell more about it later! See ya!

The Armitage and I

2007-08-18T11:20:00.001-07:00

My most recent obsession (Richard Armitage)

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Richard Armitage plays Sir Guy of Gisborne, the "Sadistic Lieutenant", right-hand-man to the Sheriff of Nottingham in the popular BBC TV show Robin Hood. There's a better picture of him here:

Him and his sexy perma-scowl...

Oh, to everyone and anyone! I highly recommend the BBC Robin Hood; it's very, veery good... you can find it on Netflix here, and on IMDb here. The only warning is this: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. Currently only the first season is available, and the second season is in the making. It'll be aired in Europe this October, but who knows when it'll come to the U.S., or even on video to rent...we (my family and I) will have to wait practically a YEAR until we're capable of seeing the second season. Oh, the horror!

And if you're a fan of romantic/drama period films, I very highly recommend another Richard Armitage movie: North and South. (Nextflix, and IMDb) And, you can watch it for FREE at Netflix Instant Watch! (No, I'm not advising or suggesting that you give away your email, your last name, your zip code, your address, your bank code, or your social security number. This is free.) You can find that link here. You can watch the WHOLE series (which is a little about three and a half hours) right here. Veeery good watch. I loved it. Richard is a bit more gentleman like in that movie, but tough and... well, kind've mean. But misunderstood, and sweet, and lovable, and sexy, and-- *swoons*

Okay, that's all I have to say for now.

Oh, and as you all may have guessed...

I'M BACK FROM FRENCH CAMP!!

I'll write more later. Bye!

Camp! French! French Camp!

2007-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ooh-la-la! I am leaving to go to French Camp tomorrow!! Excited. Nervous. All new people, all new experiences, all new foods, all new games, all new words... for two weeks!! Eeeek. Scary... I've been pondering my "two week" decision for the last few days. Wouldn't one week be a bit better for a beginner, like moi? Ehh... It'll be okay. It'll be fun. I'll be okay. I'll have fun.

If I just keep telling myself that, everything'll be fiine...

*Twitchtwitch*

Some of my drawings

2007-07-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pieces of my anime-type drawings (I've chosen my favorites). Nina is my most recent one.

Nina

Nameless Woman

Mimi

Graph

2007-06-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Okay. Time for some WoW talk. I'm gettin' low on money! Oh noes! What'll I do?! I ask Alec. "What do you think I could do to make some money on WoW?" He tells me that a lot of people farm (search around, hunt for) Primal Fire, and then sell it to make a profit.

Here's your WoW lesson for the day... when you kill an Elemental (type of monster) it has a chance of dropping its own element, in a Mote. A mote is an item. I can kill a bunch of Fire Elementals, with a chance of Mote of Fire's to drop (when you kill a monster, you can right-click their corpse to get stuff from 'em). Once you get ten Motes, you can right-click the motes, and turn them into one Primal Fire. That's what sells for a lot. Anyway, back to my story.

He tells me a lot of people farm for Primal Fires (well, Motes, then turn them into Primal Fires) and then sell them on the Auction House. (The Auction House is a... well, an Auction! It's run completely by other WoW players. If you find something when you're killing stuff, and you want to sell it, you can put it up for Auction. You can put a Buyout - which means that people can buy it instantly for that price - or you could put it up for people to bid on. Normally I put Buyout, 'cause that's easier and faster.)

He tells me Primal Fire sells for the most, currently. By the way, like in real life, the prices depend on how much other people put the items up for. Supply and Demand.

There are a buunch of Primal-whatevers that anyone can get. Primal Fire, Primal Water, Primal Air, Primal Earth, Primal Shadow, Primal Life, and Primal Mana. I think that's all. You can also get Primal Might, but that's another story.

Hmm. I wonder. Is it true that Primal Fire sells for the most? Let's look!

I check out the Auction House, by typing in the Search, "Primal Fire". (For all those wondering on the time frame, right now in the story, it's yesterday.) Currently, the Primal Fires are selling for 25 Gold! That's pretty good. I just need four of 'em to get 100 Gold. That's *really* good. But is it still as much as everything else? Hmmm.

I put in the Search "Primal Air". WHOA! Primal Air is selling for 28 Gold! Yes, not THAT much more than Primal Fire, but when you're selling a lot at a time, it adds up.

All right, 25 Gold for Fire, and 28 Gold for Air. I wonder...

I put in the Search "Primal Water". That's sellin' for 25 Gold, 50 Silver! (Okay, another WoW lesson. It takes one hundred Copper to become a Silver, and one hundred Silver to become a Gold. You can have all the gold ya want.) So in other words, that's half a gold more than Primal Fire.

And here Alec had said that Primal Fire sells for the most... psh... both Primal Air and Primal Water is selling for more. Big whoop.

And with that, I shall begin my scheming... if I could get a bunch of Primal Airs, and then sell them, I'd be rich before I know it! Perrrfeect.

Wait. It's 11PM. Bah, let's go to bed.

~Next Day~

I wake up at 9AM, and rush downstairs to check the prices on the Primal Air, Fire, and Water.

WHAAAT?! My jaw drops to the floor.

Primal Air dropped 7 Gold, Primal Water dropped 8 1/2 Gold, and Primal Fire-- Primal Fire dropped half a gold... bah. All of my plans! All the money is gone!! Who the hell would put all that stuff for so low, when they could have made SO MUCH MONEY?! Oi vey!

Time to go, I decide. I leave. I eat. I go back a few hours later.

Whoa! Prices shot up again! How did this happen so fast?! It's down. It's up. It's down. It's up. Supply and Demand, baby! It all sells for much much more when people are awake, compared to when they're asleep.

Since the prices were changing so quickly (and drastically!), I decided, I'll make a graph of it! Which seems to support itself more?

Here it is:

Here are the color codes:

Red = Fire
Green = Air
Blue = Water
[Number]g, means "[Number] Gold"

Primal Air and Fire seem to be doin' pretty good, while Water is only goin' downhill. Geez, this is so confusing. I guess I'll just have to get both! ;)

(P.S. This is graph of the last five hours)

Fever

2007-06-20T08:59:00.001-07:00

Oh, I forgot to add, yesterday. When I was on the trip, I finished Harry Potter pretty quick, so on the trip back, I was Harry Potter-less! So, I began reading a book called Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson (Author of Speak). Truthfully, the only reason I picked up Fever, was because of the cover-book picture... it looked so creepy, that I needed to check it out. (You can see the picture if you click on the link in "Fever 1793"). I learned it's about the yellow fever in '93, that killed off thousands of people. Me, having been interested in the Black Plague that happened so many years ago, thought this would be a fascinating book to get.

It was! It was a really amazing book. Being this one of the first books I read that wasn't by Janet Evanovich, who favors comedy, it was really hard for me to deal with the death of one of my favorite characters. I recommend it to everyone.

It also perked up my interest in the Yellow Fever that took place way back when. It was said that if you had it, you would be an outcast to everyone. You would be thrown out of the house by your own family, out of fear that they would catch it as well. You wouldn't be allowed into other cities. People treated you like you were a stray dog. Few wanted to be near you at all. The disease would most likely kill you within a few days of catching it. Few lived. I'm only reading the case that had happened in Jamestown, though... Yellow Fever is known to still be around.

"In the US: The last epidemic of yellow fever in North America occurred in New Orleans in 1905 during which more than 3000 cases were met with 452 deaths."

"Internationally: Yellow fever transmission predominately occurs in areas of sub-Saharan Africa and South America 15° north and 10° south of the equator. It has never been documented in Asia. Yellow fever epidemics were dominant in Africa from 1986-1991, with close to 20,000 cases and 6000 deaths. This is considered to be grossly underestimated because of underreporting. These epidemics commonly include 30-1000 cases and have fatality ratios of 20-50%. In areas of West Africa, 200,000 endemic cases may occur annually. In South America, an annual mean of 100 cases has been reported for the last 25 years. These cases predominate from January to March among males aged 15- 45 years who work outdoors in agriculture and forestry. The last outbreak in the western hemisphere occurred in 1954 in Trinidad. Yellow fever's range continues to expand, now including areas in which it previously was believed to be eradicated (eg, eastern and southern African countries)."

Can you imagine living in one of those areas...? It's scary for me to think about.

"Mortality/Morbidity: Yellow fever ranges in severity from a self-limited infection to hemorrhagic fever that carries a 50% mortality rate. Fatality rates are higher in the young. Early appearance of jaundice (day 3) indicates a poor prognosis. Transaminase elevations reflect the degree of hepatic injury and are prognostic. Individuals who survive the toxic phase may experience renal failure. Convalescence with symptoms of weakness and fatigue may last up to 3 months."

"Pathophysiology: The pathophysiology of yellow fever infection was largely inferred from vaccine studies in rhesus monkeys using the attenuated 17D vaccine. After inoculation in rhesus monkeys, the virus replicated initially in local lymph nodes, followed by blood-borne spread and subsequent replication mostly occurring in regional lymph tissue, spleen, and bone marrow followed by the liver, lung, and adrenal glands.

The liver and kidneys demonstrate the greatest degree of pathologic changes. Hemorrhage and erosion of the gastric mucosa lead to hematemesis popularly known as "black vomit." Hepatocellular damage is characterized by lobular necrosis with the subsequent formation of Councilman bodies. Albuminuria and renal insufficiency evolve secondary to the prerenal component of yellow fever, ultimately leading to acute tubular necrosis with advanced disease. Fatty infiltration of the myocardium, including the conduction system, can lead to myocarditis and arrhythmias."

Again, it scares me to think about. As I read in Fever, it said that if you threw up this black blood, that was the sign of Yellow Fever, and you were shunned by the community. You were to tie yellow flags around your door, indicating you had a Yellow Fever patient inside. Doctors rarely felt they wanted to treat those with Yellow Fever, out of fear they may catch it themselves. Most still continued their jobs, if they hadn't already fleed the infested town.

I'm currently unsure as to when the date of the first Yellow Fever took place. In Fever 1793, it says that it happened fifty years ago, which would place it around 1740's. In a Yellow Fever article, I just read, it says "Yellow fever was first recognized in an outbreak occurring in the New World in 1648." But if that was the truth, it would make the book off by a hundred years. Seeing as this book has been published everywhere with the number "1793,"and the article only said it happened in 1648 once, I'm assuming the book is right. But then the author could have changed it a bit to better fit her book. I'm not sure which to trust, so you'll have to do a little history lesson yourself if you want to find out for sure.

Wow. Who would have thought fatal diseases would interest me so much? Oh well. Time to read up on Malaria!

Top 20 Most Broken Rules

2007-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

I know several of you read my mom's blog, but even so, I found this just too hilarious to not post on my own.

A quick and quirky ‘Top 20′ list of the most common rules broken in the English Language.

Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
And don’t start a sentence with a conjuction.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Avoid cliches like the plague.
Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
Be more or less specific.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
No sentence fragments.
Contractions aren’t necessary and shouldn’t be used.
One should never generalise.
Don’t use no double negatives.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
Never use big words when a diminutive one would suffice.
Kill all exclamation marks!!!!
Use all words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.
Puns are for children, not groan readers.
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

Ohh, geez, this list cracks me up so much!! As I said before, I've been see as a Grammar Nazi (Along side Kelly ;) ) yet even I break many of these rules!

Harry Potter reading spree

2007-06-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

I want to announce to everyone that I never read, but that would be a lie... counting the millions of key-written things I've read over the internet, seen in RPing. What with the WoW-inspired poems, WoW-inspired stories, and WoW-inspired RPing that has gone on for months on end, I read all the time. But if you're counting real, published books, I've only read about twenty. As I said in a past blog (which time I had been practically bursting at the seams because I wanted to go into my Harry Potter week so bad), I only really read on trips. That includes car trips, and plane trips, where I am left with nothing else to do. Such a habit changed as soon as I was on my trip in Washington D.C. with my mom, dad, Alec, Kyra, grandparents, uncle, and his two sons (read in my mom's blog (www.ourjoyfullife.blogspot.com) for further information on said trip). We had been watching TV when we saw they were interviewing J.K. Rowling on her new, and last Harry Potter book, which will be released this July. My mom convinced me to try reading them, because they're "very good reads!"

My god. I read through the first one so fast, and as soon as we got home, I got done with the second one in one read. Five hours straight. The third one I got done with just a few hours ago, and I plan on starting the fourth one soon. The more and more I read the books, the more and more I begin to dread and even hate the director of the Harry Potter MOVIES. I'll start naming the many errors they made in the movie. (P.S. These are some of my peeves... little details found in books, that they don't seem to bother adding in movies)

1. Dudley and Petunia Dursley are SUPPOSED to be BLONDE. Not brunette. Blonde. Other than that, I'd say they chose the actors quite well.

2. They don't even care to introduce Dudley's best friend (which would have been SIMPLE TO DO), Piers Polkiss. He's hanging out with Dudley at his birthday. Again, it would be easy for them to have just said "This is Dudley's friend, who is being invited to his birthday party." But no. They don't.

3. While watching the first and second movie (which I had seen before I read any of the books), Dumbledore was wise, and solemn. Always knowing what to do in whatever situation, in the most reasonable and practical fashion. I was furious when they had to hire a new actor (because the previous one died, rest his soul...), and this was one quirky! He was... weird! And careless! Once I began reading the real books, I found out something very strange...

...he was SUPPOSED to be that way! Here's a direct quote from the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

See? Quirky. And just to prove my point further, here's another quote.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."

I learned to love Dumbledore so much. He's great.

4. They don't have Lee Jordan (Fred and George Weasley's best friend) in the movie at all, except when he's commentating the Quidditch matches. He's a bigger part these books than the movie gives him credit for.

5. They hardly show the pompous and arrogance that's been leeching out into Percy in the movies! Being a Prefect and Head Boy has been getting to his head. The long and hard change that he's been going through in the books. Nothin' in the movies. Nada.

6. Hermione is more of a know-it-all than they let on in the movies.

7. Snape has a larger part in it all, too! They hardly show his back story in the movie. **NOTE, SLIGHT SPOILER COMING UP... skip if you haven't read the books, and want don't want the surprise spoiled by me**

They don't even mention why Snape loathes Harry so much in the movies... they say he was never on good terms with Harry's father, James, but they hardly go into detail when they say that Sirius had once played a trick on Snape, that nearly got him killed. If it weren't for James who saved his life, Snape might as well be dead!

**Tiny, insignificant spoiler over**

8. In the third MOVIE, when they left to see Hagrid in his hut to see how he's dealing with the Buckbeak incident, they go by daylight, and don't worry about the dementors at all. In the book, they enter by night, under the invisibility cloak! WHY did they change it that much? WHY couldn't they have just done it under cloak? Really, it wouldn't have been that hard for the director. It's as if he is doing this to intentionally aggrivate me.

9. In the third BOOK, they have an entire lawyer case for Hagrid when he was being sued for Buckbeak injuring Draco Malfoy. They go to court for it! Ron, Harry and Hermione all read up on the laws of Interesting Animals to find something that would help Hagrid out at the court date. Hagrid ends up losing the case, that's why they decided to behead Buckbeak. But in the movie, noo, it's just "You hurt Malfoy, so we're gonna cut off that hippogriff's head. Done deal." Oi! They left out that entire chunk! Ughhh.

I think I'm done rattling on for now, but only because it's pretty much the same thing over and over again, with other characters have been ignored by the director. Egh.

Oh! While reading the Harry Potter books, I was highly impressed with J.K. Rowling. I had spotted little to no spelling errors in the book, nor grammar errors! But I learned that no one is perfect. As I was reading further, a simple mistake shown clear to my eye. It was the very beginning of a chapter, the first word in the sentence. "Professorr McGonagall--"

Professerr? Professerrrr. Hah. Yes, I was already informed by mom that it could be the publisher's mistake, but it doesn't matter to me. All I know is that they made a mistake! Bwaha! No, I'm not evil, I just knew that it would be impossible for her to be impervious to the common mistake that is a spelling error. So nyeh.

That's all for now! Tee!

P.S. So far, I have only read up to the third book, so please don't make comments on this that may reveal anything that hasn't yet been said in these three books. Thanks muches!

More weird facts and habits!

2007-06-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Rue!

~~~Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.~~~

1. I have an obsession with my fingernails. I can't help it, I love them! They're so beautiful! When they get chipped, I often even it out with a file, hardly ever clipping them. When I do clip them, it's only because A) So many have broken off, and they're all difference sizes, B) They are way too long anyway, and have a creepy yellow tinge at the ends of them, or C) I feel abruptly dedicated to guitar/piano, and that it would be much easier for me to clip them than try to play with them. Yes, when I do clip them, they're never too short for my liking. I can still see the white of them, proving that they're successfully surpassing the skin that holds them to my fingertips. The last time one of my nails broke was while on my trip with my family (I'll be posting a blog about it later), and in Williamsburg. I cried when it happened; it broke into my skin. "It's a disaster!" I shouted between sobs, while other people could hardly keep a straight face, as their minds straying to Hurricane Katrina as I mention disasters. I can't blame them, my fingernails don't quite match up to hundreds to thousands dying. I was overreacting a bit... but I still love my nails too much to let them snap without a proper mourning session.

2. My feet are almost always purple. From my ankles down to my toes, purple. By my mom, I've been told this is unnatural! But, I mean, if my feet are doing it, it must be natural, right? I'm not dunking them in freezing water while she's not looking, and then pulling them out and showing them off, proclaiming they did it all by themselves. I sit at my computer, writing whatever (like right now, for instance), and my mom comes into the room, and tells me my feet are freezing! Purple in color! They've also turned out blazing red, in other circumstances. Mom says it's because of poor circulation in my feet, but I've come up with several theories as to why they do this. For instance; I believe that when I am cold, my feet sacrifice their own warmth for the rest of my body, thus causing them to have a purple, deathly appearance. And in the summer, my feet freely accept the heat from the rest of my body, causing them to be red! My feet are so brave, and selfless... I've been told this theory is complete ludicrous (telepathically or through body language, of course. I do not mingle with those of rude demeanor). I still hold my ground and will believe such, thank you very much!

3. If I happen to, perhaps, find myself staying up all night (more than likely Dev or Josh's fault, I assure you), once it has reached five AM, I have an unbearable urge to write. Whether it be a poem, or a story, I need to let it out. Normally this feeling disperses at around nine AM (if I've managed that long without passing out). It's odd, but that's when I have written most of my poems. Don't believe it? Look at the time of my past poem-posts, and tell me if the time they were written was between five and nine!

4. I often entertain myself with new things. Example: on WoW, killing things brutally cannot hold my interest as it does for Alec. To continue without getting bored, I'll often RP with my friends. Something new always seems to come up, as it does exploring life in the "real world"! If RPing has lost its original, flavorful luster, I'll make a new character. Just creating someone with new, unique features, and carrying their own individual background story will satisfy me. I'll make a name for them, decide if I want them to have a secret, dark past, or perhaps a lifelong goal. Maybe they're longing to venture out and explore the world, but are unable to because of their strict teachers which decides they must stay put and study harder on their Priestly courses, or feel less pity for the creatures they slay for their ruthless Warrior training. Anything will do! As I'm sure you have found, I have a writer's urge to come up with new ideas, and grow bored with the usual routine.

5. I only really read when I'm on trips. At least, I used to, while I'll get to later with another post. I would have never even read the beginning of my now-favorite book series (Stephanie Plum series, by Janet Evanovich) if my mom and dad wouldn't have declared we're heading up to Moorhead to visit some family members. I read several books while there, and when we got back, didn't pick up another one 'til we left once again. Terrible habit, terrible habit... thankfully I'm getting better with it, and have been reading much more frequently now that I've found another surge of inspiration. Once again, I'll get to that in a later post.

6. I'm random. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to find that one out, but since I'm running out of weird facts and habits, I decided to announce it here. Ask any of my friends, and they'll kindly assure you of this fact being true! I hold my head high, proud that I may carry such a title.

7. I have GIANT peeves over the TINIEST of things. For example: I've been given the title Spelling and Grammar Nazi, next to Kelly. Flattering and offensive, I know, but I concentrate more so on the flattering part. I correct people without thinking, when it comes to both spelling and their speech. I know I shouldn't, but I can't seem to help myself! Oh well. I'm sure people will love me anyway, or else they'll face my wra--... uhm. Nevermind. I'll talk more about my peeves in the post about Harry Potter.

8. I love cats. I love them with every inch of my being. Yet, I'm allergic! It's painful how much I long to cuddle and stroke and love those felines, and having the full knowledge that I'd have to suffer the consequences of a running nose, and itchy, blotchy, reddened, swollen eyes in return. Half of the time it's worth it, though.

All right, to all those who read through all of my weird facts and habits, I tip my virtual hat to you and shower you with applause! You have outdone yourself by staying this long, and I am flattered out of my wits! Since everyone has been tagged by now, I'm not even going to tag anyone. I also have more blog posts to write, so I'm too busy.

Bye-bye for however long it takes me to write my next post!

Gothic Paradise

2007-05-31T04:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I admit to browsing Dev's MySpace page, and marveling at how pretty she is when she's all dolled up with her make-up. And I admit, I love putting on lipstick and eyeliner. And I ADMIT, I'm the one that suggested that she and I talk on Skype and use Webcam while we toy with a few products...

...but who would have thought this with be the result??

...okay, and I also admit, that I did deliberately do the eye-stare-thing like Ren. I am fully guilty of that charge.

On three: everyone say, "Satan"!

Amy and I!

2007-05-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

I met Amy Steinberg for the second time! How lucky am I?!!

Very, very lucky. That's how.

Woe for Woe (Another-nother poem! Gasp!)

2007-05-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Another depressing poem! I guess dark subjects inspire me to write about them. No, I'm not emo... maybe I'll just become the next Tim Burton. :P

This story was, again, about our WoW characters, at Dev's request. It was when Celiia betrayed Destiny, and killed her... I changed it a bit, though, to make it more dramatic. Enjoy!

Woe for Woe

I sit here with a sinking feeling in my chest,
In my head, I shall all but rest
Brain dizzying from rapid breath,
Who would have thought this would be my death...?

Visions and memories, they were all lies,
False joy and happiness, why oh why?
Good times, good games, good drinking parties as well,
I remember when we were on the roof, and we both fell!

We gathered ourselves up, bruises on our arms,
"It is fine," you said, "we have hardly any harm!"
A mischievous grin twitched at the side of my mouth,
I yelled, "I bet I can beat you to the cabin to the south!"

We ran and ran until our hearts pounded with pain,
The clouds grew dark, so we danced in the rain!
Slippery grass and mud between our toes,
We need not the sun to chase away our woes!

We had each other, and that's all that I saw fit,
Now I lay gagging on the ground, taking your every hit
We were sisters, and the best of friends, too!!
What has become of this... who the hell are you?!

Sadness debating with a persistent, stirring fear,
Not even a glimpse of remorse, or "sorry" did I hear
My rage was winning over, perfect for the time,
Doubt was a quiet nagging voice; no louder than a single chime

Red blood darkened and poured from where you plunged,
My clothes soaked it up like a sick, thirsty sponge
I gripped the sword in me, and pulled you near,
I whispered soothingly and close, so only you could hear:

"I will not die by your hand,
"For it's not the way I must go.
"But you will feel my vengeance...
"...and I will pity you; woe for woe."

My voice rang in your ears as I gripped your neck tight,
It wasn't hard for me to put up with your small, futile fight
I forced you to your back as your face turned blue,
It would soon be over... and I'd be joining you

But not by your hand, for I did not jest,
I'll throw myself away like you-- like an insolent pest!
For this is what you deserve for betraying me,
Fight fire with fire; do you not see?

As your struggles cease and your raspy breath fades,
The adrenaline in my blood disappears and decays
The wound in my stomach forces me to keel,
My mind is poisoned; it cannot heal

So I retrieve your sword as I heard the nine o'clock bell
I whispered to your corpse, "...I'll meet you in hell."

Once again; no, I'm not emo!

I hope you enjoyed reading, as I did writing!

Dark Eyes; another poem

2007-05-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ta-daa! Another poem I will share with you all - whoever "you all" may be.

Personally, I always get the most inspiration in the morning. Whether it's writing or poems or having intellectual debates (while I was writing, Alec and my mom were talking about debating religious beliefs... what's the point?). I always ramble the most, in the mornings, as well. Maybe it's because it opens up my imagination, and lets it ALL out. It throws away the filters, allowing myself to go and go and go! ...which means that later, I need my mom and/or Alec to edit it out, and find the grammar errors in the sentences. :P

Anyway. I felt the need to write more, this morning. All night, Dev has been making me these AMAZING photoshopped pictures! They were all gorgeous (and you can find my photoshopped eyes on the right)!! But I could not do any of them. Maybe it was making me feel less special, and incapable. Maybe I was just jealous! Whatever it was, I wanted someone to ask me to do something for them, and make them proud of whatever I ended up doing. Thus, I asked my mom and Dev for a subject to write a poem about. My mom suggested "friends." I would like to have written about friends, but I don't have THAT many friends that I hang out with all the time, so I felt no inspiration with that idea (sorry mom!).

...Dev, on the other hand, suggested I write about her World of Warcraft character; Celiia the Werewolf. She wanted me to write about what it'd be like to be a werewolf, and have to endure turning into a beast every week/month, and being excluded by everyone around. Next thing you know, I have a six paragraph poem! Whoo!

ONE more thing I must add before I post the poem itself! The "herbal pill" that I will be referring to in the poem is one that Celiia had been taking for a long time, and eventually developed an allergic reaction to (another debate going on between my mom and Alec AND Dad now... can you grow immune to a formula that helpful to your body? Yes and no. The "pill" in this poem is not helpful, as far as Celiia's body knows.)

Okay, and here it is!

Dark Eyes

I did not ask for this, I would not have tried,
To have fangs, claws; to grow a hide
A curse, a spell, a hex, if you will,
I've grown immune to my old herbal pill

"It was gone," I said, "why did it return?!"
This power and thirst and blood that I yearn
"Make it go away, make it disappear!"
Must I continue to endure your jeer?!

While you all laugh and drink and have fun with your games,
I sit over here, being shouted and called names
Frustration and rage runs through my dark veins,
It's becoming worse... egging on my pains

Feral growls escape my lips,
My body jerking through my hips
Pulling my hair and clutching my head,
I clumsily load my gun with lead

Hurry, now! I must do it quick!
Time goes by with every "tick... tick... tick..."
Then... my eyes darken a shade, and I lose control,
Dropping the gun, I begin my patrol

My breaths grow low; forced and unsteady,
My lusts have renewed! Restored, and ready!
Continue to make jests, they all will?
Thus whose blood shall I spill?...

Morbid? Sad? What would it really be like to live as a werewolf, and be forced to live with such a curse? Blah. Personally, if you ask me, I think it would quite literally suck. Unfortunately, Dev fell asleep by the time I was finally done with the poem, so she'll have to wait until tomorrow to read it.

I hope you enjoyed reading as I did writing!

A poem I wrote a while ago...

2007-04-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well, a while ago I wrote a poem inspired by Dev's DnD character. I wrote it, and forgot about it. A few months later (now), someone posted on the RP forums about poems involving WoW, what their opinions were on them, and if anyone actually wrote any. A bunch of people shared poems they had wrote, and it reminded me of the one I wrote so long ago. I know the one I created was inspired by DnD, but hey, it's close enough to RPing in WoW!

I guess there isn't harm in just posting the entire thing I had on the forum, so here it is!

Sleeping Dust

Sleeping dust, glimmered in the air thick,
Above he who fell victim to her trick
Shuffling through his unprotected bags
It was his whose gold, she would snag

Cloth, leather, a pen and some rye,
It seemed as though it all disappeared to the sky
Ever hopeful and searching with fear,
Could he have spent it all on beer?

“It has to be here,” she muttered some more,
“It has to be here, or else I’ll stay poor.”
She threw the bag to the ground,
It landed quietly, with a soft pound

He did not wake, as she took another sack,
She gazed down at it, and began to unpack
Unpack the sack, in hopes there would be,
The gold she so dearly, needed to see

A candle reflection caught her eye,
A small shine, in that small bottle of rye
She took it and opened and stared inside with awe,
No rye to be found, but GOLD she saw!

Corking the bottle, she found what she wanted
She hid it in her own bag, as the deed never haunted
After she made sure everything was as before,
She stepped to her feet and made way to the door

Succession shown as a small smirk to her lip,
The gold jingled in the sack on her hip
The poor fool thought she would not be able,
But it was a lost to him, as soon as she sat at the same table

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's not the best, I'm not afraid to admit,
But it's fun to unravel ones imagination from that dark, blissful pit
The blissful pit where imagination runs wild with gold,
In that one Rogue's hands, she shall all hold

Instead of in a grocery store where some shall always be bag'n,
My poem was inspired by a character from the Dungeon and Dragon

For I, editing a post can be seen as a bit lame,
But my mind failed to remind thyself to put in a name!
My poem may not be remembered for as long as many hath,
But if you call it by anything else, may you feel my wrath!!

[ Post edited by Destinycloud ]

Well, I guess that's all I really have to say today. Hope you enjoyed reading as I did writing!

It's time forr... Perfect Personality Quiz!

2007-04-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	80%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|	16%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Religious	\|\|	10%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|	16%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|	16%
Avoidant	\|\|	10%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|	16%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	64%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|	16%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Female cliche	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were very low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Extraversion results were high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

trait snapshot:
messy, outgoing, open, self revealing, ambivalent about chaos, unpredictable, not good at saving money, social, likes large parties, likes to stand out, risk taker, quick to make friends, does not like to be alone, rash, fame seeking, sarcastic, craves attention, social chameleon, low self control, food lover, not rule conscious, weird, assertive, not a perfectionist, anti-authority, thrill seeker, vain, likes to fit in, reckless, emotionally sensitive, leisurely, trusting

Whoo!

I was... sad.

2007-04-15T02:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight I mourned Hannah. I was on World of Warcraft, listening to my music. It was right after Dev had gone to sleep.

A song came on. It was country, but I couldn't help but notice that the man singing had a really clear and soothing voice. So I decided to listen to it. Slowly listening to the lyrics, I heard the man was talking about a girl who had an illness.

Sara Beth is scared to death
To hear what the doctor will say
She hasn't been well
Since the day that she fell
And the bruise it just wont go away

So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad
And flips through an old magazine
'Til the nurse with a smile stands at the door
And says "Will you please come with me?"

Sara Beth is scared to death
Cause the doctor just told her the news
Between the red cells and white
Somethings not right
But we're gonna take care of you

Six chances in ten it wont come back again
With the therapy we're gonna try
It's just been approved it's the strongest there is
I think we caught it in time
Sara Beth closes her eyes

And she dreams she dancin' around and around
Without any cares
And her very first love
Is holding her close
And the soft wind is blowing her hair

Sara Beth is scared to death
as she sits holding her mom
cause It would be a mistake
For someone to take
A girl with no hair to the prom

For just this morning right there on her pillow
Was the cruelest of any surprise
She cried when she gathered it all in her hands
The proof that she couldn't deny
Sara Beth closes her eyes

And she dreams she dancin' around and around
With out any cares
And her very first love
Was holding her close
And the soft wind was blowing her hair

It's quarter to seven
that boy's at the door
And her daddy ushers him in
When he takes off his cap they all start to cry
Cause this morning where his hair had been
Softly she touches just skin

And they go dancin' around and around
Without any cares
And her very first true love
Was holding her close
And for a moment she isn't scared
Ohhhhhh.

Right after I heard the last part, I noticed I was crying. I couldn't *stop* crying. Tears just kept coming. It had went on to the next song, but I decided I wanted to listen to the Sara Beth song again, so I skipped back. I heard another country song, so I assumed it was the same one. But, instead, it was another...

Broken skies, heartaches that flowers won't mend
Say goodbye knowing that this is the end
Tender dreams, shadows fall
Love too sweet, to recall
Dry your eyes, face the dawn
Life will go on, life will go on

All day long thought that we still had a chance
Letting go, this is the end of romance
Broken hearts find your way
Make it through just this day
Face this world on your own
Life will go on, life will go on

There'll be blue skies, every true love
Someday I'll hold you again
They'll be blue skies in a better world, darlin'

Tender dreams, shadows fall
Love too sweet, to recall
Dry your eyes, face the dawn
Life will go on, life will go on
Broken heart find your way
Make it through just this day
Face this world on your own
Life will go on, life will go on

Maybe I was giving off a death vibe to my iPod or something, I don't know... but the chorus to this song did comfort me a bit; for that I'm grateful.

I guess I just felt I should tell someone about this, or write something about this. It makes me realize how lucky I am for my love, my life, my friends and my family. I'm eternally grateful for everything that I have; I love everyone so very much!

New unschooling word:

2007-04-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to mom's beautiful Scorpio horoscope today, she and I both discovered a new word that defines unschooling.

Ebullience

e·bul·lience [i-buhl-yuhns, i-bool-]
–noun

1.	high spirits; exhilaration; exuberance.

2.	a boiling over; overflow.

n. Zestful enthusiasm.

overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval

I am just filled with ebullience thanks to Unschooling.

( P.S. The defining of the word is thanks to dictionary.reference.com )

Dungeons & Dragons!

2007-03-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well, lately, Dev's family and friends had been playing DnD! She kept telling me all about how much fun it was, how much she enjoyed it, and how much she thought I would like it. After hearing several stories and tales about their adventures, I decided I wanted to check it out! If asked around the family, and they said they're all willing to try it out.

I found on Amazon.com a gift package thing. With everything you'd need! A Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, and Monster's Guide! About $60, not including the shipping fee. And I'm leaving for the South Carolina trip in two days. AND it's Sunday. So, we can't send it over... we checked around town. There was a small shop that had the exact same thing! Albeit $90 dollars instead, it's instantly ours. That's what we ended up doing.

There was a DnD group that was there. They said they gather together and play at noon, every Sunday. A good way for a beginner to learn! There's also a day where beginners can show up, and learn in groups, how to play. We'll be keeping that in mind.

Now that I'm back home, I have my three Core rulebooks, and I have decided on my character:

Name: Lavinia Leagallow
Gender: Female
Race: Halfling
Class: Rogue
Personality: This quirky, greedy, sneaky Halfling loves to explore and discover. She doesn't favor the hobby "collecting" as most of her race does. If something is valuable, she'll turn it into gold before you can blink. Once she has the gold, she'll spend it before you can open your eyes again. She favors sharp daggers and has an interesting perspective on the world around her; one she isn't afraid to express.
Physical Appearance: Medium length raven black hair, with a few sporadic braids here and there, several beads in the braids, a few dark and light feathers weaved in, and the occasional dreadlock. With pale white skin, she isn't the prettiest to look at, but wouldn't quite count as a Dwarf. Four small silver rings pierced up her left ear, and three on her right. She stands 3'2" and never wears any shoes.
History: **This piece is still under construction**

I can't wait until I fully understand this Handbook, and I can begin playing!!

Toe-Confessions of a Teenage Drama-Writer

2007-03-14T03:42:00.000-07:00

Well. Today, on my way to bed, I tripped over Alec's 60-some-inch Sephiroth sword. My eyes widened with horror and I fell forward, catching myself with extended arms. I could feel a painful throbbing, coming directly from the bone, nail, and flesh of the second toe on my right foot. Well, at the time, I guess it was a throbbing generally coming from the entire foot. Quite literally, it hurt like hell.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry so hard that my own foot would feel pity for me, and would ease up on the pain. Maybe stop hurting. But I couldn't get anything out. My throat felt like it had swelled up, and at any moment, it would close. Fear that my own throat would close on me? Scary. Gagging, I simply held my foot with agony, rolling back and forth on the ground. My body spared me a few gasps of air, which were shortly lived. Eventually my lungs were filled to the brim with these quick gasps, and was unable to exhale. Ready to explode, yet also unable to stop, while I'm fully aware my lungs are "full." Gasping over and over, while the pain kept lulling in. Glancing down at my foot, it turns out I had ripped the cubical, and a third of the nail was black and blue.

Again, I wanted to scream. The pure terror that was struck within me by the very sight! But, I didn't. I just stared at it. Alec was kneeling beside me, and ask if he could do anything... after a few silent moments, I managed the words "can you get me some ice?" He nodded, and as soon as he was upstairs, I cried hard. With all my heart, finally releasing that air I had recently gathered so desperately in my lungs. When he returned, I was silent again. I really don't think I would be scared or embarrassed to cry in front of my own brother, but maybe, just maybe... my body wouldn't allow me to cry in front of someone, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Or maybe this is just another theory? A desperate attempt to add some deep meaning, to a truly meaningless detail or flaw in my being.

After Alec handed the ice over to me, I quickly applied it to my toe, but pain spurted throughout my entire body. It was unbearable, thus I had to take it away. My entire foot was aflame! Only once I put the ice to it did I realize the drastic difference in temperature, between the two. Also of my toe, and the difference between normal room-temperature! It was obvious that it *didn't want* ice on it, and applying the ice lightly was only teasing it. Teasing with terrible pain, but no actual result. Some higher - or lower - being's plan to foil me once again. Blast! Alec got me a tennis ball to squeeze as I pressed the ice tightly to my toe. Fight fire with fire! It was easier that time; the rougher approach was successful! So much for my mind to concentrate on, it was overwhelming. So very overwhelming, that I was too distracted to notice how much it really did hurt. Of course, as soon as I lifted the ice, the terrible after-effect kicked it. The throbbing. The burning.

It was like when you fill up your tub with hot water, or walk into a hot tub for the first time. You dip one of your feet in the water, and it's too hot. You retract your foot back to you with perhaps a bit of surprise, and you have that burning, throbbing sensation as I do now. Although what a hot tub would give would probably be a milder "version" of the pain I'm feeling now, I suppose you could say. After a few seconds, your foot would cool off, and it'd be fine. To know what I feel, try imagine the throbbing and burning. Fiercer, and... well, non-ceasing. It just continues and continues and continues. On and on. And the ice, that I KNOW I should apply (because I don't want swelling) only making the entire experience worse.

About ten to fifteen minutes later, after I've told my parents and I'm sitting in a chair with my feet raised, it still hurts. Continuing and continuing. My dad makes a comment about how he's fascinated by the nerves, and communication that goes on throughout the body, to tell the brain that a part of the body is in pain. How very many nerves must understand and tell the brain. And it's all done in less than a second! I made the comment that I wish my feet would STOP letting my brain know its in pain... I GET IT, THANKS FOR THE NEWS FLASH.

A half hour later, while I'm writing this, my feet are elevated by a chair and two beach towels. It's still throbbing and burning. Continuing and continuing, more and more. It reminds me of when I have restless legs, from not sleeping. I just accept the pain, thinking eventually it'll die down... but then it comes back, striking fiercer! Harder! Again, foiled by some superior being "watching over" me. More than likely laughing at me.

And even after I'm fully aware this sucks, a lot, I can't help but think... am I overreacting? Am I exaggerating with words? Maybe I'm just writing as I feel. Others couldn't possibly understand how it could be this bad, I guess. I can only assume...

...anyway. We think I might have broken or sprained my toe.

Ouch.

My Weird Facts!

2007-03-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Kelli. I'm supposed to include in a blog 6 weird things about me.

Here are the details: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means. So here goes.

1. Okay, I never thought of this as weird, but apparently it is. I'll explain... in my Sign Language class, the teacher was explaining that when you're signing some one's name, you don't need to pay attention to every single letter that's being signed, as long as you get the main idea. This is how she said it. "For example, let's take... Lawrence. You don't pay attention to every single letter in that name, as long as you hear the main idea, right?" Well... I guess that's what's weird about me. When I hear a new word/name, I spell it out in my brain! That's how I remember it.

2. Whenever I stay up all night, I always ask my mom to make pancakes, in the morning. I don't know why, but that's what always sounds really good. Pancakes and a mocha. About an hour after I eat and drink, I'll most likely be asleep. Even after a mocha!

3. Ooh, that last Weird Fact just reminded me of another. I like coffee! Hehe, I've always loved the smell, but now I even get urges to drink it. Mmm. (My mom spoils me with our amazing coffee.)

4. I can stay up for 20 hours easier than I can wake up after getting 10 hours of sleep.

5. For about a month in my life (not now, but in the past), I had eaten only nachos, and I didn't gain a pound.

6. I cannot drink any other milk but 100% skim! Not even soy.

Hee!

Okay, this is the hard part. I don't know who's already been tagged... I think I'll skip this part, but thank you. ;) I did all the facts, anyway! I hope you're satisfied!

I like writing. Suggestions?

2007-03-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

I like writing. Really. But why can't I always come up with new ideas? Maybe it's just a hint from the high gods that I wasn't meant to be a comic writer, or a weekly TV series plot line-writer, or whatever you would call that role. What should I write? Another story? Should I join more WoW RP threads, and maybe it'll give me an idea? I don't know.

Maybe I should write about how I feel. Yeahh... maybe then I can get an inspiration for a character, for some new story that will only last a few chapters in a failing novel. Fun.

Okay. There is an absolutely amazing writer on the Roleplaying forums. She's friendly, she's bubbly, and she gives out free waffulz! (Inside joke, sorry.) Her character's name is Lilam (as that is also what everyone calls her). But I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, when I read her writings. Should I feel inspired to continue writing, and eventually I'll get better at it? Or should I feel discouraged, knowing that I'll never possibly be that good? Mmph. I don't know.

I doubt I really ever could be as good at her, anyway. Perhaps when I get older, and through my years, I'll learn/understand more words. I'll have them at my will to weave into my writings. Perhaps it'll create some sort of illusion that I have a creative, intelligent mind, yet no idea what those particular words mean. No one would know of my incapability to understand my own sentences, of course. Incredible idea.

But of course, I'm only kidding you! Dictionary.com is my best friend, so I'm never unaware of what a word means. Sometimes I'm unaware of how to place it in a sentence, and what context it should be used, but you get the picture. Oh! I almost forgot. A link to Lilam's most recent thread: click here

Just her first post on the forum sent chills up my spine. The way she can write. The ideas that come into her head, and the very logic of it all. How can does she do it? Alec said it was over elaborate, and really didn't need that much detail. The least possible detail - yet still getting the point across - the better. That's HIS opinion, of course... I love detail. It's one of my weak points, though. I could most definitely get better at it.

Hm... perhaps I'll write another story, and post it on the blog as I go along. That would be fun!

Okay, I have a request for all of you, my friends! Do any of you have any suggestions as to what I should write about? A tragedy, a romance, how about adventure... maybe I should just write about a bunch of characters, because I know that I'll never be able to create a plot line, quite yet. What about characters? Should I use a tomboy girl, and a shy boy? A pompous paladin-knight-type and an independent woman? Whatever you can come up with, please do tell. Names are also accepted for suggestions. I'm in need to write again! Please help me out!

Busy Monday!

2007-01-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Well, who would've thought that ANY teenage child would be excited about Mondays? Most of Mondays means it's the end of the weekend; it's the start of the school week. But, for an unschooler who has recently signed up for Piano lessons AND ASL (American Sign Language) lessons, Mondays can be VERY fun!

Sign Language!
I suppose it's been about a month ago since Diana and Hayden were here. But, while they were here, I was very excited about learning Sign Language with Diana. Diana's job since she was... sixteen, I think she said, was interpreting. Sign Language is her second language. Who perfect to ask for answers about this sign-speak? While she was here, I learned how to say "idea," "dream," "love," "evil," "internet," "connection," "disconnection," "lost connection," "sorry," "love," and of course... "fart"! A lot of these relating words have the same signs. Why does this surprise me? Of course they would have the same signs. It would only make sense!! "Disconnection" has "connection" in the word, right? So why wouldn't you have the same sign of "connection" in "disconnection," and just adding another extra sign? That's what we do in English! Maybe I'm underestimating the knowledge of the other people around. It would only make sense to do it in such a fashion.

Hmm... I think I am underestimating it. Well, after she left, I still had an urge to learn this. I've always wanted to learn languages! So says my mom, I've always been very languistic. I am practically fluent in Chinese Pig Latin, fairly good at Ubby Dubby, can and can kind of speak Pig Latin. I could use a bit of work on a few of them, but that'll come in time, I'm sure. My mom just needs to practice a bit more, or I need to teach my sister!

Oh, and to clarify, all of these languages are all put in the same category: Gibberish. Unfortunately, none of these languages are spoken in any country... and if they were, everyone would have to know how to speak/spell English first! And what's the point of learning another language to get away from English, if English is its origin? I think I'm still making sense. Someone just remind me in a comment if I'm not.

So I know all of these languages, but no one to speak to. Hmm. I either 1, need to teach more people these gibberish languages, or 2, learn a REAL language, that people would already know! I suppose you can guess which won out in this decision? I've sort've tried to learn Spanish, a little with Japanese, and I've even put little sticky notes on different objects around the house with the written name in French! Eh. All was too difficult. I didn't know anyone that spoke any of these languages, anyway. My mom still knows a bit of French, but not enough to have a real conversation with someone who is fluent.

Sign language. Sign language! What better language? I doubt we'll be going out of the country any time soon, unfortunately, so why not learn another language that people already know around this area? And Diana knows it fluently (as I mentioned before)! How perfect!

These lessons will begin in a few weeks. I'm so excited! It'll be great!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piano!
So my other chosen lesson that I'll be taught on Monday. Piano! We have recently gotten a new Baby Grand piano that was imported from Moorhead MN, to our house. It was sold to us at a cheaper-than-normal cost, from a friend of ours! It is absolutely gorgeous, and I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I've always loved music. I played violin for a while, then I unofficially played ocarina, and even a bit of electric guitar which I was taught for a few months. What I love doing most with music intruments: figuring out songs by ear. With my ocarina, I could play Harry Potter. On my Guitar, I figured out Jingle Bells Rock. I never did much of that on my violin, having played that while I was... five, maybe, maybe six. Around that age was when I took lessons for it.

Piano was great, because it was so amazingly easy to pick out different songs! I played Mary had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells (and Jingle Bells Rock), and many more. I even played the theme song from one of Alec's once-favorite video games. The name is escaping me at the moment, though. We had an old piano for a while, of which we gave away a few years ago, after moving too much. My favorite song to play was If I Were a Rich Man. I had memorized it by heart, and could play the top keys. I had never really learned to do the second hand, and instead my mom would play beside me. I had often played on the keyboard Kyra had gotten for Christmas; though she never really liked me playing it.

The moment I saw our new Baby Grand, I fell in love with it!

I played on it a lot. Alec got angry with me when I played it while he was sleeping. I relearned If I Were a Rich Man, and can now play it by heart, again! While I was playing WoW in the basement, I heard my mom playing a hearty tune; very upbeat, and kind of corny. I instantly wanted to know it!

It's called The Entertainer, and I can now play half of it. I still cannot play with both hands, though, I play the higher notes. Alec has already gotten extremely annoyed with the song, but I'm getting so good at it! I'm so happy! I've began practicing with both hands, but so far I've only gotten a few notes down. I always play the songs too quick for my other hand, hehe. The Piano lessons are going to begin TOMORROW!!

Well, that's all I can think of writing right now. I'm so absolutely thrilled that I'll be doing this! Whoo!!

Wait, what?

2006-12-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

Lmao. That is all.