'Twas the night before Christmas (legal version)

I didn't write this. It's from an email from a friend.

“Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain
improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of
stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and
around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/
St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime
thereafter.

The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House, were
located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations,
i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited
to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in
said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as
"I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the parts of the
second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained
period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of
headgear, e.g. kerchief and cap.)

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the
unimproved real property adjacent and apparent to said House, i.e. the lawn, a
certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of
the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the
cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of
wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter the "Vehicle") being
pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8)
reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the
previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the
approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal
co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner
and Blitzen (hereinafter the "Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is
further asserted that an additional co-conspirator named Rudolph may have been
involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer
intentionally and wilfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences
located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle
was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or
nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or
implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the
chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue
from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the
aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items. He was smoking what
appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances
and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor
children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts.
(Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the
applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.) Upon completion of such task, Claus
touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of
the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as
"lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House,
the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry
Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.”

Random Harry Potter Spewing

I'm beginning to really not like Wednesdays. I'm not sure why exactly. The day itself is fine. I have Sparks from six to seven and it's usually a good time to watch six year olds run around like crazy possessed beings. Maybe it's because there's no blog on Wednesdays.

I'm about to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I really do love that movie. It's so funny and clever and wonderful. Yes, the Burrow part is pointless and stupid, and yes, Dumbledore drives me absolutely crazy with his abrupt meanness but I still thoroughly enjoy watching it. There's one part in the middle especially that has some of the funniest scenes all grouped together. Cormac McClaggen is so good. All the actors are really. They've all sort of grown and it's been so fascinating to watch.

I am upset because my dvd did not come with any special features whatsoever. We've always bought the two disk special edition and this year, for some reason, we did not. Which means all deleted scenes must be viewed on YouTube. It's not that bad, considering, but I am a little sour.

There's something incredibly wrong with Harry's hair. It's kind of sad, really.

GAH! My sister can be infuriating. I have to go. See you in the soup.

A Loud Realization

It's been a few days since people across the country remained silent for a day to raise awareness for the millions that live without rights and without a voice. The challenging day was full of reflection and the following is a realization I made which I'm sure participants everywhere shared.

I think everyone who participated in Vow of Silence learned a very important lesson. Not being able to communicate verbally means not only no voice and the added strain and difficulty of communicating, it means not having an opinion, no being able to ask for help, and not being able to tell people how you feel and what you want. It means you can't get what you need and depending on other people to help you attain certain things. It means dependence--on paper, on your writing implement and on the people around you to be understanding.

On November 20th, I realized that the Vow of Silence is not just about challenging yourself to remain quiet for 24 hours. It's also about experiencing the frustration and the hopelessness that comes with understanding that you can't call out for help or express your feelings. It makes you realize that every child in the world who doesn't have the rights they deserve needs our help to get those rights. They can't do it on their own.

Silence sucks.

It's 5:18pm, where is the sun?

I feel like avoiding schoolwork and my novel for a while. What wins the competetion of what I'm going to do? If you guessed read Going Bovine and eat month old sweet & salty bars, you are WRONG. I'm going to write a blog, because I've been feeling neglectful and I actually do want to write at present. Just not NaNoWriMo. [I'm so used to the swiggly green line under so much of my work that I feel obligated to tell you that last bit there was a Fragment. Would you like to Ignore it?]

November seems to be moving along at an alarming pace. It is also sucking up my daylight hours and I'm not at all pleased about that. The notion that maybe if I got up earlier and went to bed earlier I'd have more daylight hours in my life just crossed my mind. And then it flitted out as soon as the teenage instinct to sleep all the time started threatening it. It started to say that I could still sleep just as much, just at a slightly different time, but there is absolutely no reckoning with those teenage instincts. They are violent and unruly.

I thought the whole point of daylight savings is that you have more sun, or something. It seems to be failing epically because it is 5:18pm and it is dark outside. I am not happy.

This is the point in the blog where I struggle with a new topic and wonder how I can string two random thoughts (like daylight savings and ... together). It might be easier if I could figure out what ... was.

Maybe I can write about the fact that I'm a neat-freak with not enough space for the stringent organization I would like to have in place and a rebellious sister who thinks that leaving her socks on the floor is acceptable.

Maybe I can write about the fact that I'm a terrible artist (at least at stuff like drawing and sketching stuff). To prove my point I will share an example in which I tried to draw a picture of my sister for my art course using pen and ink and it turned into a awful drawing of an Asian looking version of Harry Potter. Why do artist's make it look so easy to draw apples and pears when really it's all just a vicious lie. They trick you into attempting your own sketch of a banana and when it turns out to look like the moon they laugh at you for trying. Or at least, the little artist people in my head do. I'm sure real artists have more tact.

It's Halloween, yes, but more exciting than that--what could you more exciting than Halloween you ask--it's the eve of NANOWRIMO. I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to begin my novel.

That's basically all I had to say.

Halloween was so-so. Walking, candy, costumes. Seems pretty normal by now.

I should be doing school. I am very behind. *head falls on keyboard* dskflcggfgfffgfvjk

Jo Bro haterz

I'm angry, and what do I do when I'm angry?

If you guessed write a rantish blog post, you would be correct. You win a cookie.

What spurred this emotion? (direct quote below from two unmentioned FB "friends")

"95% of teens would cry if they saw the Jonas Brothers at the top of a skyscraper about to jump. Copy and paste this if you are part of the 5% that would sit there with popcorn and a camera and yell "DO A FLIP!""

When I first read this, I didn't even know what to say. That's unusual for me. I was just so shocked.

My first reaction was to leave a lengthy comment on the person's status. It went something like this:

I just want to say that I think this is really mean.
You don't have to like their music, but wishing death upon them? That's pathetic, sad and just plain awful.
I'm really disappointed that this message is being passed on. I mean, come on guys, seriously?
It isn't even funny. Do you really want to watch someone kill themselves? Suicide is not a laughing matter.

Go f....ly a kite.

After that, I posted a status update about how disappointed I am in these people.

I don't like the Jonas Brothers. I don't like their music (save for Love Bug) and I'm not too thrilled with about the time they said they'd have a special interview with home schoolers and then advertised to us instead. But I don't want them to die. I don't want anyone to jump off a skyscraper.

What's is wrong with the world? Sometimes I worry.

Just don't sing

Two things today. I'm not going to number them, because I want to grant you your proper intelligence. If you can't differentiate the two, specifically separate, things I write about in this blog, you should go back to kindergarten. Or you could try good old fashioned homeschooling. I'm leaning towards option 2.

I got a pirate kite. Actually, I won it. Technically, I didn't play any part in the winning, but still, it's in my possession. And I flew it. Only it didn't really fly. Whenever I stopped running, it plummeted swiftly towards the ground. Maybe pirate ship weren't mean to fly. Or maybe the wind just hates me and wants to mess with my mind.

--------*

Advice: don't ever sing in the shower. Or in the bathroom. Or as you do housework. You will be mocked mercilessly. A sample conversation:

Singer: *singing*

*Singer comes out of the shower.*

(People are sitting at dinner table)

Person 1: Are you okay, Singer?

Singer: Uh... yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?

Person 1: I heard you kind of wailing in the bathroom.

Singer: Oh... *pauses awkwardly and tries to collect self*

Person 1: What were you doing? Were you crying?

Singer: *silently calls Person 1 a mean spirited b**** * No, I wasn't crying. Dinner is great, Person 2.

Person 2: Oh, thanks. Let's talk about the parakeets at the zoo.

*Singer attempts to forget incident ever happened, while also making a note to never sing anywhere again, until completely alone*

I'd like to inform you, Person 1, that there is such a thing as tact that would have prevented this painful conversation and the after effects, and maybe you should try and get some.

This is incredibly sad. Now the only time I'll be able to express myself is when I'm alone. Instead of enjoying the freedom of having access to whatever television channel I want, I'll have to have karaoke sessions just so I can outlet my singing habits.

*This is for the people with low intelligence--I didn't feel like now was the time to give you self esteem issues.

ignore me

I am trying out this banner thing. I have a basic theory of how it works so forgive this lapse of oddity.

I'm a Popsicle (a survey)

Are you a sir or a ma'am?
I'm a Popsicle.

How do you feel when people call you sir or ma'am?
This only happened to me once when I was in a mall in Seattle and a woman was trying to sell me a cell phone plan. I'll be honest, it was kind of awkward. Then again, maybe she was talking to someone else and it's extremely weird that I responded.

Do you keep a diary or journal?
Not really. Sometimes I write stuff down in an unintelligible manner when I'm mad about killing people, but that doesn't happen too frequently.

What's the favorite thing about what you're wearing?
They have stripes which could mean three things: I'm a convict, I'm a baseball player, I'm a girl who likes stripy pajama pants.

What movie has the greatest soundtrack?
Juno, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice, The Holiday. I'm sure there's more but that's all I've got at the mo'.

Do you watch educational TV (like National Geographic or Discovery)?
Only when my mom forces me. Being home schooled is a wonderful thing sometimes, but not after lunch when I have to watch Planet Earth.

Have you ever watched a local Christian channel?
We have a local Christian channel? Holy crap. No way!

Are you even Christian? If not, what is your religious affiliation?
This question is so lame. But I'll answer it anyway. No and not applicable.

Fiction or non-fiction?
Seriously? You have to ask?

What's so great about the city you live in?
Not much, not really. That's a lie. I'm sure there's tons of ways I could answer this question but I'm watching Supernatural and it's distracting.

Have you ever been confused about your sexuality?
Well there was that one girl with the cherry chapstick... but other than that no. Pretty damn clear.

What would have people labelled you in high school?
The most awesome girl ever in the entire world.

Do you dislike people who are different from you?
No. Unless there's something to dislike in the difference. For example I dislike people who don't care about the environment and kill kittens. But if you wear a yellow hard hat I'm going to give you a chance to prove yourself before I go about hating on you.

Were you a cute baby?

Duh.

How do you feel about premarital sex?

I don't know how to phrase this. It's a funny way to ask something. How do you feel? Like, uh, I feel sad when I think about premarital sex. I guess I feel like if you're safe, it's all good. Go ahead. :)

Have you ever been a loner?
Kinda. I've sat on the bus alone, before. I've eaten lunch alone before. I never carried around a duffel bag. Depends on your definition, I suppose.

Do you like '80's music? (It's great!)
I wasn't alive in the 80's. I don't know what the music was like.

Have you, or would you ever smoke pot?
No and most likely not.

What do you think about harder drugs, like heroin, meth, and coke?
It's sad that people are unhappy with their lives and feel the need to escape using drugs. :(

Do you have asthma?
That's pretty random question. No.

Homosexuality: is it nature or nurture? Or just a straight out choice?
Is being a girl nature or "nurture"? Oh wait, let me think: should I be gay today? Homosexuality is a fact, not a choice.

What's the awesomest planet? (Besides Earth.)
Honestly? I refuse to answer this on principle.

Blogging vs. Vlogging

I've been watching a lot of vlogbrothers lately, which, apart from being insanely entertaining and giving me lots of time to play Frecell, has also made me think about my [non-existent] history as a vlogger.

So today I am going to be comparing the two forms of internet journaling and partaking in both. First I'm going to write this blog post, and then I am going to talk about the same thing in a vlog. It should be interesting. Should is the key word in that last sentence.

You should note that I've tried vlogging a few times and never found my niche. Also it always felt a bit awkward to me, talking to a camera. I'm willing to give it another shot, but I make no gurantees about the end result...

From my experience, I've compiled this list of things you need to be a successful* vlogger:

1. A topic/point of view
2. Basic video editing skills
3. Some place that you can be alone and talk to yourself/the camera
4. Creativity
5. A good quality camera

You also need some confidence. Putting a video of yourself on the internet is easier said than done. In theory, people are going to be watching that video, and you have to believe you aren't wasting their time.

To be a blogger you need less things, in my opinion:

1. A topic/point of view
2. Writing ability
3. A computer

Again, you need confidence in yourself. Making you inner thoughts known the the internet at large? It takes an ounce of courage. Especially if you realize that maybe no one will ever read it.

After that, everything else is bonus points.

My point here is that, for me, vlogging is harder. I'm sure it's different for everyone, depending on your personality, but it's much easier for me to type quietly at a keyboard than try to charismatically capture attention with a video camera.

When people read my blog, I'm not on display, gesturing my hands and stumbling over my words. If I don't know what I'm about to say next, my fingers pause over my keyboard. Vlogging seems a lot more personal, and with that a lot more scary. Maybe sticking to blogging is a it cowardly, but if you're good at it, why not?

*By successful, I don't mean insanely popular. I just mean being a good vlogger. I'm sure there's lots of under-watched, under-rated, yet awesome vlogs out there. Bonus points for views.

Moving and Moral Matters Solved

This morning, I woke up at 8:30am. This is unusual, to say the least. It's possible that I might make this a regular occurrence, simply because I like having the house to myself. It's so quiet. I like it.

Two major happenings filled up my day (one more than the other):

1. The autumn Girl Guide cookies arrived. (not all of them, but 24 cases are residing in my dining room at present)

2. My dad moved.

Up until the actual act of moving, I was uber excited. I thought I liked moving. But I realized it's not moving that I like.

What I like about moving is the furniture arrangement and such. I love putting stuff away and hanging pictures on the wall and finding out where the couch fits best. I like rebuilding the desk and hooking up the computer.

Carrying boxes from one place to the other? Not so much.

It's not that I hate it. One good point is that I'm sure my muscles got a good workout from it, but it's not something I love.

I can't wait until everything is put away. That is what I truly love, seeing the transformation of empty house to livable home. Sounds a bit cliche, but's it's the truth.

On another note, literally, I was writing some Nerdfighter notes today. I'm going to be all sneaky and drop them off when I go to buy Paper Towns in paperback.

The decision about whether or not to buy Paper Towns has been a moral dilemma I have been debated over for the past week. Somehow, my mom's friend loaned/gave me a yellow Margo copy (not what I would have chosen) and I feel guilty buying a second when I have a perfectly functional book right on my shelf. As guilty as I feel, however, for the trees cut down and carbon emissions, I have convinced myself that it's in support of something important to me (i.e. John Green) and that the hardcover doesn't really fit on the shelf anyway (it doesn't match his other books).

I'll just make sure I lend it around to everyone I know so that I'm not the only person benefiting. Who wants to borrow it first?

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Courtesy of Crazy Brained Rena (Uttering Nonsense)

Ponder this...

- Why can't I buy unicorn pinatas in bulk? I would love to take one of them out on a bad day and beat the crap out of it. And then eat candy.

- Why can't I go into any Starbucks in the entire world, order an ice coffee and then leave, satisfied? This may never happen. However, I still hope.

- Who invented the lawn? Seriously, what is the point of having grass in front of your house? I'd rather everyone plant tomatoes and I HATE tomatoes. That says something.

- How come I can force myself to write lowercase a's like the keyboard writes them, but every time I go and type chai tea latte, it comes out with an extra r?

- Why do people drink beer? It's disgusting. Ew. *vomits*

- Come to think of it, why do people drink wine? It's gross, too. *triestothinkofalchohalthattastesgoodbutfails*

- Just want to say I don't support teen drinking. Bad. Very bad. And gross.

Random commentary...

- I love Indian food, but there's very fine line of spiciness that must be met. I don't want it to be flavourless, but I don't want to have to run around outside with my mouth open to try and calm the flames. Stop, drop and roll, my friends, simply does not work in these cases.

- All I want (well, one of the things I want) is for people to bring own their damn travel cups to Starbucks. I think Starbucks should have a week where anyone who brings their own re-usable cup gets their beverage free. 10 cents off is not enough.

- I want to watch Gilmore Girls.

- My battery is low. 20% remaining. Shucks.

- I'm liking the math right now. Spreadsheets are easy and Excel 2007 makes them super easy. It's like it does half the homework for me.

- TOMORROW IS MOVING DAY! HOORAY!!! EXCITEMENT! *jumpsupanddown*

- I'm hungry.

Human needs pull me away from my keyboard, but fear not, I will return. Someday.

Despair for the World

I'm going to talk about one of those incidents that makes me groan and fear for the future of our society whilst listening to A Very Potter Musical. It's things like AVPM that keep me from following Dobby's lead continuously banging my head against the wall. Thank you, Harry Potter, for making my life livable.

Let's just jump right in.

To get to my neighbour's house, you have to walk up a big staircase. It's kind of laborious and creepy because the stairs creak and you feel like you could come crashing through to the ground (and your death) at any step, but apart from thaaat the trek is just peachy.

It's not that I have a problem with stairs, though they are a bit irritating, the problem is that at the top of those stairs is the mailbox.

If it hadn't been for my extensive (*laughs*) work as a newspaper carrier, I might not care about this, but as it is I have a lot of compassion for those who trek through sun, rain and snow to fearlessly conquer evil barking dogs and finger eating mail slots just to deliver your mail to you. So I have a big problem with lazy-assed people who can't even walk down a flight of stairs to retrieve their own damn mail.

We've broached the subject with our closed-minded, selfish neighbours before. The mail carrier has also made a comment. Their flimsy argument is that they are worried that people may steal their mail if it is any farther away from the door. Now I know it's a bit pretentious, but has anyone ever seen those locking mail boxes in Home Depot and Canadian Tire? Yes, it's kind of conceited to assume your mail is important enough to be stolen, but there are options. You may need one of these if you're in the mafia, say, or maybe if you're an FBI agent, or just really paranoid, and maybe I'm just naive, but I don't think the average citizen needs to be so worried and mail theft.

Are people really that lazy and selfish that they can't grab their mail on the way to their door and save the mail carrier a tiresome journey? Seriously people, get over yourselves.

Now I'm going to go back to hitting my head against wall to the beat of AVPM.

Happy Dancing

I got a new layout, I got a new layout. It's very pretty. La di da.

Yesterday was pretty chill. Rachel, Caitlyn and I went out for coffee today. After some internal debate, I ordered a London Fog. Medium. Yeah, I'm that hard core. When the barrista handed over our drinks at the table, I took a sip, and, to my surprise, discovered that it wasn't a London Fog, but a large chai tea latte*. I suppose I was never meant to get that London Fog, and the chai tea latte was, indeed, delicious, but I still missed my Fog. Life is funny.

I've noticed I've been using Twitter a lot more frequently of late. I wonder why that is.

Now that I have this pretty, new (or pretty new) layout, I feel like I need to be providing some worthwhile content. Is anyone interested in the fact that the barrista screwed up my order? I don't think I'm even interested in it. So what to do. Well... LET's PLAY I SPY!

I Spy with my little eye, something that is tragically hip...

any guesses???.... no???

The Answer: Trying to write something meaningful in your blog so that you can live up to your lovely layout (Tragic because it's just plain pathetic, hip because new layouts always are).

I Spy with my little eye, someone who is sitting in her pajamas, blogging, and wants to eat breakfast...

guesses? c'mon, I made this one nice and easy for ya.

The Answer: Yours truly.

And so I take my leave of you. If you even made it this far. I will work on writing something more worthy of your interest. Did you like playing I Spy? I thought it was oodles of fun. Ta ta.

*Every time I try to type chai tea, i ALWAYS spell chair tea. It's this weird reflex. I wonder what a chair tea latte tastes like...

After typing that subject, I realized I don't really have a specific happy dance. When I'm excited about something I usually just jump up and down and twirl around. Hmm.... I'll have to think abotu that.

A List of Movies To Which I Am Quite Partial

Being such a excellent list-maker, I made this one the other day and thought I'd record it in electronic form. Each movie on this list is there for a different reason. Needless to say you should watch them all.

(in some particular order, but don't pay too much attention to it)

• You've Got Mail (1998) - You can really see the characters develop throughout the movie and it's so wonderfully intwined with Pride and Prejudice. *****
• Love Actually (2005) - Each story is touching and lovely in it's own way. British films are so realistic and wonderfully funny. *****
• The Breakfast Club (1985) - Startlingly honest and moving. ******
• Die Rote Zora (2008) - A great adventure story. Kind of like The Goonies with romance thrown in. [German] ****1/2
• Max Minsky und ich (2007) Realistically romantic and funny. [German] ****1/2
• Pride and Prejudice (2005) Spectactular cinematography mixed with excellent acting and a great story. ****1/2
• Mamma Mia (2008) - Hilarious and fun to sing along with. Plus an amazing acting ensemble and great setting. I need to go to Greece. ***1/2
• The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) I love Grigg. 'Nuff said. ***1/2
• Hot Fuzz (2007) Hahahahahahaha. "thegreatergood" ***1/2
• Finding Nemo (2003) **** I love this movie. One fish's journey to find everything that's important to him, and discovering so much more along the way. Inspiring.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) Edmund got so much hotter in the past year. ***1/2
• Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 (2008) So many scrummy guys. Brian. Ian. Kostas. *sigh* ****
• Ratatouille (2007) Pixar is amazing.***1/2
• 27 Dresses (2008) James Marsden's smile can cure cancer. Seriously. I melt. ***1/2

I'm listening to AVPM right now!! This is so jokes.

Google Trumps All

Today it poured. To clarify it poured rain. So naturally, I went outside, in my bathing suit, and let the cold, wet drops fall on my bare skin. Needless to say, I didn't last very long outside before I ran to the bathroom for a hot shower, but it was a very enjoyable exercise, nonetheless.

It's the weird things I do that make me such a nerd. I like to dance in the rain. I like to skip down the side-walk. I like to wear mismatched socks.* I look to point out absurd things in life that no one else takes notice of.

My sister, Rachel, works close to the beach at a restaurant. The beach is downhill from my house, and it's a nice scooter ride down, but a laborious walk up. Thank you, Government, for public transit.

Sometimes Rachel gets a ride to work with my dad, and sometimes with my mom. Getting to the point, my parents each have their own way to drive from my house to the resturaunt. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but at the moment that I thought of this, I figured it was somewhat symbolic that they take different routes. Everyone thinks in different ways, so one person may think they know the fastest way to get somewhere while another person thinking the exact same thing could be going in a different direction.

I decided to ask Google Maps how it would get to the beach and discovered that the genius that is Google takes an entirely new route. More research: Googles route: 4 min., 2.0 km; Mom's route: 5min., 2.0 km; Dad's route: 5 min., 2.1 km.

It's possible that it's only interesting to me that my mother takes a more fuel efficient path to dropping my sister off at work than my father, but I hope this has taught us all one thing: Google knows best.

*HP Spoiler: As a memorial to Dobby, may he rest in peace.

An Open Letter to Russ Hiebert

(WARNING: Heavy sarcasm to follow)

I got your survey in the mail, Russ. I'm glad you're being so considerate of your constituents opinions and wishes. The way you phrase those questions so that we know your opinion and give inflictions so strong that you basically just guide our pens to the correct checkmark is very thoughtful. You must know how busy Canadians are these days, so it's a releive to have someone making decisions for us. This question is just one of many political gems you were kind enough to ask our opinions on:

Which statement reflects your view on the environment?

[] Our current efforts to preserve the environment are satisfactory, especially if doing more would result in job losses or higher prices.

[] We need to do more to preserve the environment even if it means job losses or higher prices.

I just love the way that you make it sound like environmentalists are lobbying for job losses, because there's no way for us to create more sustainable, environmentally friendly jobs. The very idea is ridiculous.

Before reading yours, I thought surveys were supposed to unbiasedly ask for the honest thoughts of a group of people without making revealing the thoughts of the survey writer. Now I know that a political survey is simply a device to make it look like the politician actually cares about what their constituents say. Thank you very much for clearing that up.

Most sincerely,

Alex

Everlasting and Impossibly Short: Summer

There's a month left of official summer and though many will say that they feel the season is drawing to a close I must disagree.

This summer has shown me many distinctly different phases.

The first phase was really the pre-summer. It was those early days in June when all my commitments had ended, but my summer activities haven't yet started. Impatience and boredom, were all around, but I survived.

Then came the busy, never stop travelling around portion. There was my leadership conference, which was very hectic and energizing, then came a relaxing vacation, after I returned home I was shuffled off again on a road trip, where lots of books were read :), then I came back and was off again to hang out with friends at their various summer residences.

The next is the part is still upon us. It is the calm-to-the-point-of-death bit where I tend to my garden, read Jane Austen, sit outside and drink ice coffee and go see movies twice a week. This phase is rather contradictory, because it's one of those things where at times you want it to be over and have school to focus on again, whereas at other times you just want to stay the same forever. I think we can all understand this feeling in some way. But hey, the house is looking very tidy :)

On another note, I got this book a little while ago called The Book of Answers and I asked it if I should write about it and it said, "You may face opposition." Does anyone have any idea what that could mean?

It's this little yellow book that has answers an every page and you have to think of a question for 10 seconds then open it at random and it spits out some confusing answer that you then try and decipher.

For example, I asked, "Should I go to the library?" And the book replied, "Mishaps are highly probable." So am I to understand that I'll mishappen on the wrong decision and regret it? Or I'll get to the library and have remembered the hours of operation wrong? Or maybe I'll be walking there and trip and injure my face. Possibilities are endless.

This question asking got me thinking: what if you were to go through your entire day doing whatever the book told you to? When you wake up in the morning you could ask, "Should I go make breakfast?" and if the book said, "There will be obstacles to be overcome" you could stay in bed and read, and if it said, "Listen more carefully and then you will know" you could hear your stomach rumbling and get up. You could repeat this for the whole day and see where it led you.

The only problem is, of course, that if you ask a question and want a certain answer you will usually do one of two things: 1. think about it until you can turn the books response into the answer you desire*, or 2. ask the same question again until you get the right answer.

If you were truly dedicated to do this, you could force yourself to stick with your original answer and try to be as impartial about the question as possible.

I think I'll do this soon.

*you could ask, "Should I clean my room?" and it could say, "Enjoy the experience" and could delude yourself into thinking it meant enjoy the experience of being lazy and watching a movie, instead of enjoy the experience of cleaning your room (which makes more sense).

Notes on Things (desciptive and witty title, I know)

I haven't posted in three weeks. Before April, this would have been a completely normal occurrence, but since then, I like to think the standard of this blog has changed and so it's a bit of a disappointment.

Then I'll think about something to blog about, and I'll have to save it away for Sunday or Thursday on Raving Persuasions. How sad is that?

Then when I think of something substandard that I don't want to post on my "good" blog I'll just post it here. For example, I didn't want to write about my thoughts on Harry Potter 6 or the midnight show that I went to (that is basically summed up by this video), but then I thought... does anyone really care? But then I thought, do I really care if anyone cares. I will write what I want and if you don't want to read it, do us all a favour and go away.

1. Bellatrix.

Why must Helena Bonham Carter be so promiscuous. First of all, you're a creepy pervert, second of all Draco is your NEPHEW, and third or all, we know you and Voldy get it on, SHUT UP NOW. Also did anyone notice that after Dumbledore died and the Death Eaters were fleeing the castle Bellatrix kind of looked like a mixture of reprimanded naughty schoolgirl and a member of the Yaya Sisterhood? What was WITH that jumping and squealing after she lit Hagrid's hut on fire? Freeeak.

2. Dumbledore.

Michael Gambon irritates me. Why does he have to be so mean and hostile? Sure, they added in some lines about knitting patterns, but the real Dumbledore would have laughed at Harry's jokes and been more friendly overall. "Slughorn has something very important to me and he won't give it up." Did anyone giggle uncontrollably after that line? In the nicest possible way: I'm glad he's dead. Gambon was just a little too aggressive for my vision of Dumbledore.

3. The Burrow scene.

It was unnecessary, it used up valuable time that could have been spent elsewhere (hello? Dumbledore's funeral? or the end battle scene? Or Bill and Fleur's romance? How, pray tell, are they going to explain the wedding now? There was no build up!) and it just irritated me. As if the Weasley's aren't going through enough, now their house has been burned down.

Basically, I loved everything else about the movie. I loved how the actors are experimenting with comedic aspects; I loved all the new small parts (Cormac McLaggen makes me blissfully happy--for someone so scrumptious, he's a bit of a pervert); I loved Luna, as always; Harry on Felix Felices was one of the best movie watching experiences EVER. Oh the sore stomach I had from all the laughing. Great movie, I'm really looking forward to Deathly Hallows p.1 (and 2 for that matter) and I think I won't need to see it again until it's on DVD. (Four times is quite a lot and I wouldn't want to see it so much that I'll get sick of it. If that were even possible. What a dreadful thought.)

I have another idea for a blog. I promise to write it here. Pinky swear.

SHOUT out. hi.

I've never written a shout out before. Huh. Wow, I'm a really incredible writer. Huh. For some reason I'm oddly nervous about my shout out. It's not like I'm being paid for this. Wait, should I be getting paid for shout outs? No, I didn't think so.

Anyway thanks for taking us to see Harry Potter for the second time around. And thanks for not making us leave the theatre because of all the school girl giggling. It's chronic, and, like my snoring, I can't really control it.

Is this where I say your name? Damn, I forgot to ask if you wanted Jeff or Jeffrey. JMAN? Hmm, a conundrum.

(I'm sorry for the drawing. Art is subjective, and thus, at times it can be crude. Go with it.)

Shout out goes to Jeff/Jeffrey/JMAN MacDonald. Thanks for reading. Good luck with your blogging endeavour, JMAN's Junk. Also congratulations on getting some featured art in these trying times.

On another note, I have to acknoweldge what a terrible blogger I've been of late. I have an explanation, which is that I am on holiday of sorts and thus the days pass without much notice at present. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was Sunday today and in a deeper reserve I knew that meant I should write a blog, but that part of my brain did not connect with the part that was scheduling time in my day to do such a thing. From about 9 o'clock this evening to about 8 minutes ago (12:09am), I've been playing Wii with my sister* (this is the time I should have spent blogging. oopsie daisy?).

A large part of this time was spent on a *insert negative adjective here* game known as Mario Party 8. This game was a complete waste of time, and after an incredible amount of effort and two stars, everything was ripped from me by the idiot Mario and a roll of the dice. I want my life back, Mario, give me a refund.

Blind or deaf:

Either would suck eggshells but I'd go with deaf because being without sight would be horrible. Imagine never seeing the last installment in the Harry Potter franchise or never seeing the sun set over the ocean again. *shudder*

Grandma or baby:

It's a toughie. Fo shizzle. This is hard. Either answer sounds horrible so I guess I would have to let my grandmother go. Yeah, that sounded as horrible as it sounded it my head.

New phrase I will try and adapt**: Cabbage patching (definition is some sort of dance maneveor) (curtosy of That's So Raven).

Question: What is your least favourite television show?

*Note to self: don't ever go head to head with Maddy in Wii tennis because she will turn on you and use whatever she can to her advantage. (ex. I was on the phone with my mother and she decided to time was right to serve the ball to me. Meanwhile I had a multitask and accidentally hung up on my mom after a wicked backhand volley)

**I think this will be a new addition to my blog because there are so many phrases I want to insert into my regular vocab.

GOD SPEED ;) Thanks for being you, Jeff. dftbA. (Oh and get back to work.)

Random mutterings

I'm sitting eating Eggos and watching Arthur and it's making me feel nostalgic for my childhood. It's actually an Arthur episode I haven't seen, which is a rarity. Buster beat Brain in a decathelon of some sort and now he's changed his name to Allen and decided to be a comedian. How sad.

The twelve-year-olds of the world scare me. I can't describe why, they might team up on me and Dare me to take off my shirt and run down the street clucking like a chicken. *shudder* That would be bad, so I'll just stick to being afraid.

In two days I leave on an airplane and travel across the country. Or about 2/3 of the way across.

Blogging about my actual life feels incredibly weird.

I've been think about the word 'like'. I say it a lot. This bothers me. Especially the fact that whenever I try to notice it and stop, it just makes me more aware of exactly how many times I say it. It's like, really irritating. So then I'm like, "okay, no more. I'm going to stop, like, right now." From there it just gets worse.

What am I supposed to

do? I can't exactly just stop. It's more complicated than that.

It's cold outside today. Did I just resort to the weather? I think so. Wow, dire indeed.

Why is it so hilarious that I'm watching Arthur. It's a really entertaining show, okay? And yes, it's marketed at elementary school kids, but that doesn't mean it's not educational and entertaining. Jeez, everyone can just leave me alone. :)

The garden:

I feel extremely stupid right now.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you did something and then you thought 'hey, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all' and you still had time to fix it, but you didn't for whatever reason?

I did that two nights ago. I put my iPod in my pocket and I remember realizing that the pocket was pretty shallow and maybe I should put it somewhere else and I might've put it somehwhere else, or it might have fallen out of my pocket and the worst part is I can't remember. I don't know whether to keep looking, and if I did I would know where to look. I don't know if it fell out of my pocket onto the ground and was run over by a Mac truck.

It's the worst. I don't know whether to hold out hope that it'll come back or just buy a new one.

I don't like the new iPod nanos. I liked mine. And it's gone.

Short

The house smells. It has something to do with the dog. I saw her licking some liquid out of a plasic bag in the backyard and now she's come in and it smells horrible. The only refuge is my room, where the best entertainment is, you guessed it, my new laptop.

It's so beautiful and shiny and new. I want to knit it a hat.

Other than the house smelling, I really have nothing to say. We are having a bar-be-que today, which makes the current smell a tad inconvenient, but what can you do? The answer to this question, in case you're wondering, is light candles, open the doors and windows and make your dog stay outside. We could make some cookies or something, but the current plan is working just fine. Well as fine as any plan can.

My first blog on my new computer feels very satisfying indeed.

Potential Entertainment

My last blog on here was a little depressing. To lighten things up, I'm going to be filling out one of those pointless and mundane surverys that you find on Facebook. I'll tell you, the only way to answer these things is with a sense of humour. What can I say, I'm really bored right now. I really want it to be July so that the summer will be in motion already. But I'm going to have to wait, and until then, well...

Is your room ever clean?
Well clean is a subjective phrase. Compared to a uncared for public washroom it's squeaky and compared to the kitchen of an obsessive compulsive person, it's not.

When was the last time you said you were fine and really weren't?
I don't lie, if I can help it. So I don't remember. Wait, that made me sound depressed, which I'm not. New answer: I don't say fine because it's a placeholder. Tell us how you really feel.

Is there anyone who doesn't like you?
How am I supposed to know? Ask people? Honestly, I don't care enough to figure out who likes me. If you like me, well, I like your taste and if you don't, stop wasting my time.

Who did you spend your summer with last year?
Some crazy people who think abuse is funny, my quirky family and other people I deem worth spending time with.

Do you have an older brother?
Not that I know of.

Do you believe in karma?
Justin Timberlake says it best "what goes around comes around". That was JT, right?

What were you doing at 7am this morning?
Having a very odd dream.

What's the weather been like today?
Nothing earth shattering.

How many kids do you want to have?
Geez, I know teen pregnauncy is on the rise, but really, do you have to assume such things?

Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
I'm not Tom Riddle, but what is a good relationship with your parents? Talking to them? Spending time with them. I like my parents as people. We get along just fine.

Are you close to your siblings?
Not right now but I have been. Very close. Wait, you mean emotionally close? I'm that, yes.

How did you feel when you woke up today?
Like I had just woken up.

Does anyone have feelings for you?
I have a secret admirer, yes. Do you mean aside from my cat? Then no.

What is your middle name?
Jayne. With a Y.

Are you a bad influence?
I'd say so. Whenever I'm at the park I always climb to the top, even when you're not supposed to. And the little kids always try to copy me and they end up falling. I'm incorrigible.

Does your best friend have a myspace?
I thought this survery was about me.

Do you and your friends have code words for things?
The pink bird flies at night. It was because of the dancing. She's a psychic and he's a fairy king. YES!

Could you ever be friends again with someone that broke your heart?
I've never understood the broken heart analogy. Maybe you have to experience it to understand.

Honestly what's on your mind?
My closet doors are open. It's REALLY bothing me.

When was the last time you laughed REALLY hard ?
All the time. The last time I was reading Rena's blog from here: www.ravingpersuasions.blogspot.com

Are looks everything?
No, but I do look extremely gorgeous in this light.

When you meet someone special, do you fall fast?
Define "special" and then you will have your answer.

Are you a dog or cat person?
Cat. I was born in the year of the dog, but I'm a total traitor.

Do you think your life story would make a movie?
I don't think it would, but it could. If I met a really hot guy and fell in love and then had something horrible happen, but then it turned out okay, than yeah, I'd be a great movie.

Do you ever think "what if" about anything?
Totally. What if I hadn't done this quiz? What if I had picked rock? What if I had been a boy? What if my parents had named me Bronwynn? What if i had just turned off the stove?

All. The. Time.

Goodbye, I guess

I'm typing this on a computer at the library. I could be at home, but Jane Eyre was overdue (I finished it today! finally...) along with some other stuff and I'd been in the house all day, so I decided a walk to the library would be the perfect solution to my empty Wednesday night.

I've been wanting to write this blog since Friday. On Friday I went to a Harry Potter camp. I'd been to the same campsite two years ago. It was the June before my friend moved away, one of our last camps together before she left. We had a lot of fun at the camp two years ago and on Sunday it was her dad that drove us home. Me and my two best friends at the time, Victoria and Denise.

The trip home was just about as fun as the camp itself. We chatted about everything that had happened at camp, earning the irritation of our driver, who was racing down the roads at an incredibly fun speed, however illegal it may have been. I remember having so much fun that day as Richard (Denise's step-dad) sped down the country roads bouncing over bumps and laughing with my friends. A really great adventure.

Two years later, it seems so far away, and even brings tears to my eyes (cliche and sad, maybe, but true). So much has changed since then. Denise moved four hours away; Victoria and I have slowly drifted apart; and then a few months ago I received the news that Richard had died. Gone forever.

It's weird how hard it was the write that. I didn't know him that well, but he's the first person I have really known that's ever died. I cried when I heard, but not really because I was sad he was gone. That sounds bad. What I mean was I was more sad for Denise, her mom and her younger brother. I can't even imagine how hard it is for them.

Death is weird. I've remarked on this before while blogging, but you think you understand something, and then you actually experience it and you realize you didn't know anything about it before. It's one thing when your pet gerbil dies, but to have it wash over you that you're never going to see a person again, never going to hear their voice or touch them, is horrifying.

This blog was deeper and more serious than most. I don't know why I'm pointing that out, you probably realizes it on your own you brilliant reader. I hope I haven't scared you off. Until next time...

A note to Richard, who won't ever read this, but still:
I didn't know you very well. I didn't even like you that much. I'm sorry your were so unhappy. I'm sorry that you had to leave. I'm not apologizing, mostly just sympathizing I guess. You were a really good person, even if you were annoying at times. I don't know where you are now, if you're anywhere at all, but I hope it's better there than it was here, even if nothing is all you have. We miss you.

Thoughts on Books

Two years ago, while sitting on a bunk bed in a hostel in Mexico City, I saw one of my fellow travellers reading a book with a topless (possibly naked) guy on the cover. This book has been highly memorable to me, and since then I've seen it a number of times. My sister read it. Our friends read it. They all talked about it, but nothing really inspired me to read it.

I know it's not really fair to turn your back on an entire genre. I'm just not naturally disposed to like fantasy novels. Harry Potter being an exception. Dragons and fairies and magic just doesn't excite me as a reader.
It was probably because of this that I halted reading City of Bones for so long. My idea of the book was so off. I had judged it too harshly. The picture I had in my head was of demon hunter people (true enough), on some sort of quest to save the world. If you've read the book, you know that my image of it was a little askew. Yes they hunt demons, and yes they sort of in a very vague way, go on a quest, but I had envision it wrong. Bad Alex. No more judging books based on genre again.

But the thing is, it's nearly impossible for me not to judge a book based on genre. As much as I try to be open minded, I can't just pick up a sci-fi novel and start reading. It's different.

I'm just going to give me thoughts on the trilogy now. I'm trying to be spoiler free.

City of Bones
The first book in the Mortal Instruments certainly had a gripping start. You are introduced to Clary and Simon, who are immediately endearing and relatable. Slowly and carefully the author informs the reader of Shadowhunters, mysterious demon hunters and everything starts to fit together, with tons of missing pieces to keep you reading. You meet Jace, sexy, cynical, sarcastic and charming, and watch the emotional and physical stuggles of Clary slowly discovering her past.

I'm usually weary of any person who thinks that you have to know who your parents are to know who YOU are. I just don't believe you have to know who your father is to truly discover yourself. However, I was not irritated by Clary's want for information. I loved this book; it was so full of plot twists and secrets, it kept your interest throughout. Plus there are tons of hilarious lines, worth reading again and again.

City of Ashes
The second installment in the Mortal Instruments trilogy was equally intriguing. Unfortunately I read all the books extremely fast, and therefore they all blend together in my mind to an extent. I remember it was an emotional roller coaster with tons of twists and turns and unexpected drops (sorry for that cheesy metaphor, but it's true). The series itself is filled with so many secrets that the reader can't help but devour the book chapters at a time.

City of Glass
At this point in my reading frenzy, I just wanted to get to the end of the book so I could finally see all the secrets unravelled. I regret reading it a little too fast, but I'll just have to read it a second time to get more out of the experience a little later.

A few charming new characters are introduced as Clary continues to struggle to save her mother and discover the secrets of her past (some things can't NOT be corny). Her battle against her feelings is startleingly realistic. The end of this series was nail-biting, tense, and satisfying. It was fulfilling to finally discover the truth about everything, and see how it all ended.
***
After you've read something like Twilight, it's a relief to grab onto something with round and believable characters. I thought Clary was a beautiful, understandable, complex character. It marks an incredible romance when you can actually understand why the characters fell in love with each other. It makes it so much more real when you can see the attraction and believe it.

I loved these books. They were page turning, intriguing, well written and comical. Some of the lines are just so funny, and the dialogue is intensely realistic. I don't know how much more I can rave about the series without exploding so I'll end here. I would recommend these books to anyone, regardless of past relations with the genre. You won't be disapointed.

Solutions!

I have come up with a solid plan for this blog. I will continue to post to Raving Persuasions on Thursday and Sunday, and if I feel the need to blog on any other day, I will post here. I know, it kind of feels like this blog is being shoved to the back burner, but at least the stove is still on, right?

I think you'll mostly be seeing the odd journal-like posting here, because I'll be saving most of my interesting content for RP. I'm sorry A2A1 (according2alex1), but that's just the way things are. I wrote the following to kill time with no intent to blog it, but it seemed like worthy material at the time, so forgive the rambling and topic-less nature of it. If you're still reading that is. Because usually I like to fill this blog with what I'm thinking, because that seems much more interesting than what's actually happening. What here it is, my thoughts on my ACTUAL LIFE...

It’s 10:59pm, and mom is sleeping in my bed so that Rachel and Maddy can watch Hellboy, so I get to stay up until the movie ends so I can sleep on the couch. My other option is to attempt to fall asleep with the movie on, but seeing as I can’t even focus on my book, with the background noise and other distractions, I don’t think that option is the best one.

As I said above, I can’t really focus on reading, and Jane Eyre requires constant attention. I often do this thing when reading, where my mind starts to wander off, and I don’t notice until my eyes reach the bottom of a page and I can’t recall what I just read. This is a problem if you're actually attempting to follow the book's plot. 

I really like Jane Eyre; it isn’t completely riveting and gripping, but I’m invested enough in the story that I want to continue reading. The writing is good, and I like the character of Jane, for some reason. She seems like a good person, and reasonably talented.

But I can’t focus. Why is that? The book is captivating; I guess it’s more me that is failing to be captivated. Typing works, too, as entertainment.

I really don’t understand the appeal of movies like Hellboy and The Hulk. It is definitely not because there are good-looking male leads, but I guess it must have some appeal, otherwise my sisters would not be watching it at this moment, and I would not be typing here.

My birthday is in two days. I’ll be fifteen on Sunday, which also happens to be Mother’s Day. Today, when my mother asked me what I would like on the menu, I had an innovative idea. Normally in our family, on a person’s birthday, that person gets to decide what we eat, when we eat it, what we do, &. But for a few reasons, such as I don’t feel like deciding such things and it feels a little repetitive, I have asked my mom and sisters to come up with the menu and other events for the day. It’s going to be a surprise for one said birthday girl.

I have to say I’m quite impressed with my plan. Not only do I have no decisions to make, but it’s going to be interesting seeing what my sisters think I want to eat and do. It’ll be a kind of test, to see who knows what my favourite cake is, and also very enjoyable for me, the surprisee (I just added that the the MS Word dictionary—WIN!).

I guess we survived the week without mom and Rachel. We deviated from the menu for most of the time, but we survived (mostly due to the Special K). Everyone made it to all their activities promptly, and I think we had fun. We had fun, right?

Last night was actually a lot of fun. My dad came home from his soccer game, feeling extremely sore, with a craving for pizza. We hurried out the door to the car, before we could lose our nerve, and drove to Safeway, to see if it was open at 10:30pm. It was--apparently the establishment closes at 12am. After wandering the aisles for a while, we came out with a Delissio pizza, some bulk candy, Miss Vicky’s and a box of Fudgesicles. Talk about epic success. 

Driving home we debated what movie we could watch and headed in the door to pop in Hot Fuzz. Unfortunately, at about midnight, we were all too tired to go on. We turned off the movie about half-way through and all stumbled off to bed, sugar laced, but sufficiently tired. What a night... 

That is all, hope it wasn't to boring, and if it was, well, there's not a lot I can do about it. That is my life. Deal with it.

Conundrum

I have a bit of a problem here, reader. You see I've started up this Made of Awesome group blog with my BEDA buddies, which I am supposed to post blogs bi-weekly on Thursdays and Sundays.

That, however, is not the problem. The blog itself, Raving Persuasions, is completely awesome and I'm really excited about it. The problem is, that I don't know what is going to happen to this blog. I don't know if I want to post my blogs on both of the blogs, but I might do that anyway.

I've had this blog for so long, I started it in March of 2008. That's a year and a bit. How long have you ever kept writing something for a year? 

I want to bring back some memories from those days of blogging, simply because 1. I need to prove how much my blog skills have improved and 2. I need to show you how much things change (namely my obsession with Twilight).

This is an excerpt from my first ever blog post:

So what else is there? Right, books. I love to read. Reading is the best, you can go anywhere with books and I try to explore different genres though my favourites are vampire romances. Well just one favourite. Three words: The Twilight Saga. One word: Love. If you havn't read Twilight or it's sequels I order you to stp reading this right now.... I mean right now..... stop reading. Go read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to stop writing now so you can read it. Get it from your library or buy it! Trust me it's worth it!!!!

Look at all those exclamation points. I write like an insanely deranged and obsessive teenage girl. Which I suppose I was at the time. Back in that time, I used to end my blog posts with "Alex loves you!!" and write about things like America's Next Top Model (how lame it was--I wasn't a completely different person) and how hot Robert Pattinson was and about how I met Avril Lavign's drummer (which I actually didn't, he was some creeper PRETENDING to be Avril Lavign's drummer). The amount of sentences ended like this!!! is astounding.

I wrote about some noteworthy things, like global warming when I had just seen An Inconvenient Truth, and my issues with Girl Guide cookies, but most of it was about Twilight. I know, it's sad.

One thing I did notice, is that the month I blogged the most in last year was April. There were 17 blogs written by me in April, and though they weren't as long as the ones I wrote for BEDA, it was still significantly more blogs than I wrote any other month. I guess I was in training or something. Haha. BEDA training ;)

I have to stop reading my old blogs because I pass out due to the inferiority of my past writing. If you're interested in a laugh or seeing how much things change I recommend you check out the archives of my blog. I just have to say, I've come a long way since March 17, 2008.

Another charming blog finish:

Signing out! -Edward's water bottle (aka Alex)

The Bone Thief

I feel like blogging. I have a story I have been meaniing to tell. I can't tell if it's as funny as I seem to think, but I guess you can decide after you've heard it. 

I have a joint-ish backyard with my neighbours. There's this huge yard and we both have sliding glass doors, which we usually leave open in warm weather.

My neighbours have a dog. He is a keeshound (if you're into that kind of thing) and extremely fluffy. I have never seen this dog when he was wet, but I'm sure he would be a third of the size he normally is, if he were soaked the the skin. He is a fluffy hairball of a dog, and this may be irrelevent information to the coming story, but he is quite unattractive. Oh and his name is Willy. Or Willie, I'm not entirely sure.

Anyway, sometimes when the door is open, Willy will sit outside the glass door, looking all sad and pathetic. He sits there and sometimes he comes in and looks around. He usually keeps his head down but if you look up at him and he sees you staring at him, he'll leave, like he knows he shouldn't be in there. You don't even need to tell him. He KNOWS.

We have these red containers that we keep the dog's food in. One for kibble, one for doggie bone treats. After restocking the bones we had so many in there we couldn't put the lid back on. But that was okay, because Maggie wouldn't take more than one per day. It was like a self reward system. She's very intelligent, that dog.

One day, the weather was nice, and we left the door open. I was sitting in the living room, when I saw Willy walk into the house, head straight towards the dog treat containers, grab one, and walk out the door. As soon as he was out the glass door he sat down looked right at me and started eating his stolen bone.

It was so odd, I just started to laugh. He had known exactly where the treats were kept, like he'd been watching us all this time, and had finally caught on to our routine. Seriously who does this dog think he is?

Summary of April

Today is April 30th. Which means that tomorrow is May 1st. Which means that my birthday is in ten days. Which means that I will be fifteen soonish.

Being April 30th today also means that it is the last day of BEDA.* As I said yesterday, I don't really have an fantastic ideas for blogging today. This is my 29th day of blogging in a row, which is quite a feat, in my book. The thing is, I feel like today is special, because it's the last day, and so I don't want to prattle on about something meaningless like I would on any ordinary day. Because today is far from ordinary. Today is extraordinary.

Instead I'm going to recreate some of the blogging tactics I have used this month. Some of which include listing, ranting, rambling and having no idea what I'm doing. Today is going to be a huge wrap up of everything. When I read a book, I like a clean ending, which I what I will TRY and provide here. Screw that, no one likes clean endings; as I have said before, life is MESSY. So scrap that, this blog is going to be as messy as any of my others. I think that's enough of an intro

What I have blogged about in April (A summary of my wonderings):

• Elections, violence and STV
• Birthdays (beachy, liquor filled, and glamourousness)
• Books (my insane* reading list; Jane Eyre, Jane Austen, etc. reading=awesome)
• Road use and the scary thought of driving
• Ranting from the view of random objects
• Promiscuous women and Harry Potter
• Bowling, dishes and noun labels
• Lots of other fun stuff.

One thing that I can really appreciate about this "experience" (I'm really beginning HATE that word) is that I have a lovely record of the things I did and thought about for the month of April 2009. Blogs seem sort of eternal, more so than journals even, and I like the fact that I'm be able to check back and read this in the future.

Which transitions me (a little more smoothly than usual) into my next subject. Time is a peculiar thing. It's so variable and diverse and ever-changing. For instance, it's moving right now. And you can never touch it, or change it, or have more of it. You just take what you get. I think about time a lot. I don't like it when people say something is a "waste of time", because obviously, if it were, the person wouldn't be doing it. Can we really waste something that is never ending? Wasting implies some sort of negativeness. Am I wasting my time right here, blogging? What's the point anyway? What am I getting out of this? 

Are we wasting time all the time, whatever we do? Our lives are centered so much on the future. We go to school so we can get a job, and we work at our job to make money, what are we really trying to do? What is the purpose of us? I used to ask myself that a lot when I was a kid. It's crazy to think of an 8-year-old thinking "why am I here, on this planet?" "what's the point of everything?", but it's true, I was thinking those things.

Blogging every day has become a habit, part of routine and my life. It seems like I've been doing it forever, but it's only been 29 days. It's mind numbing. Sometimes time flies and sometimes it goes so slowly. Does time even exhist? Or is it just now, the present, that ever matters?

I'm going to leave this here, even though time is on my mind still. 

I have no rant. I'm just happy, and anything that is irritating to me write now is either hiding, or just staying out of my way.

Vita's question:

Rena's questions:

Do ninjas have day jobs? What profession are the people you consider to be most ninja-y?

Yes, ninjas have day jobs. Have you ever met one of those people, perhaps in an antique store, that seems to be everywhere are once, watching everything, at the same time? Ninjas are great at their jobs, always on top of everything and able to cope with difficult situations. They're EVERYWHERE! Watching you...

You have one wish. Use it. No wishing for more wishes, no wishing for world peace/cures/end world hunger ect... it's cliche.

I always have the hardest time with wishes. Birthday cakes, those lame-o chain emails (maybe I'll rant about how LAME those are sometimes soon), whatever. I'm a bad wisher. I never know if I should wish for something big (for instance, um, winning the lottery), because I could be wasting it, or for something smaller (ex. that I will find some change on the ground and buy some gum). What's the point of wishing anyway (NOT going to get into that)? I'll wish for... damn it, I can't think of anything I want that doesn't seem too shallow. Okay I'll wish that the goddess of cleaning will be with my this week while my mother and older sister (primary house keepers--that was not meant in any offensive way, btw) go away on vacation. I need you cleaning goddess to guide me safely through this perilous seven days.

QUESTION: What is the weirdest thing you have ever done in public, or alternatively, what is the weirdest thing you have ever seen anyone do in public?

This question was a bit more troubling than the wish question for me. I feel like I never see any extremely insane acts being executed in public. Sure, I sometimes do some dancing to that strange music outside the mall exits, or skip down the road and do that thing where you hit your heels together, but nothing truly drastically odd. From this day on, I vow to do more strange things, to rectify this situation. We need to see more weirdos in public, so that more people will feel comfortable coming out of their shells. I will tell you a funny thing I saw some people  *coughmysisterscough* do in public. My sister's embarrassing story:

One day we were walking home from the mall and we saw a vehicle that looked EXACTLY like our dad's drive down the street. We watched him go and were convinced it was our dad, he was wearing the same sunglasses and everything. So when he pulled into a parking lot we had to go over and say hi. Two people who will not be named ran up to the car and started doing that -gross- thing where you stick your mouth up to the window and blow air, so you look really stupid (I can't really describe it). So there they were, making out with the window and then a second later, they realized that (you guessed it) it WASN'T my dad in the car. It was some random dude who looked exactly like him.

I could stop laughing at them the rest of the way home. The guy in the car had started laughing and then they ran away. I followed, also laughing. It was amazing. 

Oh a quick random thing I did that I just remembered: last October I learned and danced the routine from Micheal Jackson's Thriller video as part of a worldwide effort to break a Guinness World Record in front of city fall. That was pretty exciting.

I will be doing more crazy and public stuff, and will let you know my amazing stories once they have come about.

This is it for April. I'm debating whether I will blog tomorrow. I feel like I shouldn't, because then the significance of BEDA is gone. So I won't. Maybe the next day. 

It isn't really an end. I hope you keep reading this, but I don't really care THAT much. I'll still keep writing, regardless if there's anyone out there who's interested enough to listen to me. I don't blame the people who don't care (although according to the window: hell is waiting for you, sinner). It's been good. I'll "see" you guys around.

*Unless we go with Rena's version of days in April in which tomorrow is the last day, with it being April 31st ;)

Sign Waving

Sign waving makes you feel official. It's not exactly a huge act, but when you're standing out there, holding up your sign and waving at passing vehicles, you kind of feel like part of something. I'm not trying to get all cheesy on you, just stating the facts, something I try to do whenever possible on this blog.

We had a lot of people ignore us, but there were a bunch that waved back and some who honked. The honking is a bit strange, because honking in general sounds like an obnoxious and negative sounds. It's how you let other drivers know to get out of the way. So standing on the sidewalk and being honked at might not seem like the most positive response in the world, but at least it was SOME response.

Sometimes, thought, I have to say it gets a little disappointing. I mean, really, what are the chances that one of the people that saw us is going to actually go to stv.ca and do that research and then possibly vote for BC-STV in the referendum? I don't mean to get all doom and gloom pessimist girl, but sometimes you can't help but let these evil thoughts eat at your brain.

It was still fun thought, regardless of the fact that, at times, we felt like crazy girls holding signs and dancing at the side of the road.

This blog is going to be pretty unexciting from this point on. It took me a while to get this out of my fingers and into the keyboard, and so I'm not really sure where this is going. I couldn't really think of a topic, and so the thought I had a few days ago that I've been getting better at blogging as the months goes on, seems a little silly. But I'm starting to realize something about blogging, and that is that it's not all about what you write about, or how much you write about it, or if you have any witty remarks or anything else. I'm not sure what blogging is about, but I'm trying to think up an answer for that, because tomorrow is the last day of April and thus, BEDA.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do on the blog tomorrow. My buddies are apparently doing something exciting and special, but I can't really think of an idea that sounds good. I still have until tomorrow though, so I may surprise you.

I am going to stop before I start saying goodbye, because I need something to say tomorrow, and it's not really goodbye at all. I'm still going to keep blogging, and April comes around once a year, so with any luck I'll be back here next year, digging up topics daily. Stopping.

The Soothing Answers

Vita, my darling buddy, I enjoyed your blog where you took questions from crazythoughts.com (awesome website) and answered them, so I am doing the same! Yay. Here are the soothing answers to your burning questions...

How come you never see a billboard being put up by the highway? The reason for this is because billboards are put up be invisible super ninjas and they have the art of the billboard change down to such a fast-paced art that they can do it in broad daylight and no one ever notices. Drivers are exceptionally unobservant and won't even notice if a billboard they are looking at magically changes in another. 

Do the English people eat English muffins, or are they just called muffins? For this question, I have a question: in other countries, do Canadians/Americans have a food? Is it McDonald's because that's just sad. Anyway to answer the first question English people don't eat English muffins. They're way to awesome for that.

In some books, why do they have blank pages at the very end? Publishers are very smart people. They realize that not everyone is going to like or agree with the end of a book. So they leave you some blank pages so you can write your own ending. Either that or it's incase the author changes they mind about the end of the both and decides to rewrite it. 

Why do people never say "it's only a game" when they're winning? I have lots of theories about this. You see, humans are naturally competetive. Everyone suffers from this on a scale, some have extreme competetivness others suffer minimally. When we are losing at Monopoly, or Chinese checkers or Sorry (which by the way is a huge oxy-moron), we naturally want to tell ourselves it's not really that bad, sure we're losing, but this has nothing to do with anything, it's just a game. As opposed to accepting the fact that it sucks and you feel really bad at losing. This is also a tactic to try and bring down the winner. By saying "it's only a game", you're telling the winner that it doesn't really matter that they're doing better than you, in the end it doesn't mean anything. Humans are highly capable at lying to ourselves to feel better.

Why do we sing "Rock a bye baby" to lull a baby to sleep when the song is about putting your baby in a tree and letting the wind crash the cradle on the ground? We are sadists who revel in the fact that the baby may dream of crashing to the ground from great heights.

Why does the Easter bunny carry eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs. Not regular rabits, no. But Easter rabbits are actually magical creatures, and magical creatures do not listen to the regular rules of life. East bunnies do whatever they want. They hop, they hide your eggs, they eat radioactively large carrots. "Rules are for little people", of which group the abnormally large rabbits of Easter do not adhere to.

At a movie theater which arm rest is yours? Both! If you want the armrest you have to fight for it. Either than or half of each is yours and you should promise to share and be a friend.

-----

All this talk of things people didn't know too much about until now got me thinking of the Laundry Fairy. I know you've all thought about those socks that go missing in the wash. I'll let you in on a secret: they don't actually go missing; they get stolen. By the Laundry Fairy. The LF is a very mischeivous and devious fairy not unlike the Tooth Fairy, who teaches kids it's okay to sell body parts. The LF also has a knack for strange collections, instead of teeth she collects socks and leaves change at the bottom of your washer. She enjoys seeing the pain of people trying to match socks are realizing that they are missing too many.

I know what you're thinking: I'm doomed! I'm eventually going to lose all of my socks to this crazy fairy. But fear not, reader, there is a way to thwart the LF. You have to wear mis-matched socks. Dobby the House Elf was a very smart guy, and he was in on this trick. If you wear two different socks the fairy will realize that you don't really care if you're missing one, because you will find a way, regardless. Did you hear that LF? I'm on to you! And I'm teaching everyone else how to deal with your annoying ways too! Take that.

Yes I just sent a message to a fairy. Deal with it and move on.