Swords and Paper Swans.... the memories of a dream

Of light

2007-06-04T10:43:00.000-06:00

Two nights ago, I shut down my computer, pushed the clothes that were on my bed onto the floor, and turned off the lights. Once I laid down, a little flash of something caught my attention; a tiny green light. It came from the middle of my room - not against a wall or on a desk, but just sort of floating in mid-space. It was a bit weird, but knowing that I wouldn't be able to see the light if I turned on the light, I stayed still. Sure enough, the little light came again, but this time it was hovering over me! A second later, it flashed again; this time I could see the Light moving from above me to the window. There was darkness.

And it lit up again, and again, in the same spot on my curtain. Then I realized what I had seen: a firefly had somehow become trapped in my room! I turned on the light and looked at it; it seemed like a common bug, not extraordinary in any way. Once I turned off the lights, though, it flitted about, shining a little green beautiful light.

Last night, lightning flashed through my windows, and though lightning is very pretty, it didn't compare to having a firefly in my room. I kinda miss the little guy.

Itch the scratch

2007-06-02T16:13:00.000-06:00

My left arm itches. So does my right one. Probably the wrong one as well, and even my leg is itchy. Why? Because I live in Texas, and fleas like Texas. Especially areas of Texas that house over twenty cats. Soon to be less than twenty, if the Giving-away-of-the-kittens Plan works well.

I've tried itch cream, but I don't have enough self-discipline to leave it there, without scratching, until it works. One, two, three, four; I declare the Flea War. Five, six, seven, eight; don't use yourself as bait.

I'm so uncreative.

Which reminds me: I haven't played piano today or yesterday, and my poor ol' upright is probably feeling all alone and lonely. What shall I play today, Beethoven? Perhaps the Turkish March, or Evanescence, or absolutely nothing at all. That's one lovely thing about not ever taking lessons; no one can tell you what to play or how to play it!

"You need to use your brain/spell check/a thesaurus more. Please stop blogging until you do."

2007-06-01T10:55:00.000-06:00

So, I decided to peruse through some blogs, choosing to click the "Next blog" button until I find a good one, then transferring to other blogs using their blog roll. This process usually works really very well, except today, it isn't. Every "Next blog" blog has left me disappointed at the grammatically insufficiencies of common people, coupled with spelling and punctuation errors that prance around in almost every post.
First I come to a seemingly nice blog, but then right off the bat I realize their mistake: oh, it is sensationalistic news! Bring on the faulty logic and fear-inciting posts about robots taking over the world and killer mowers.
Next is a blog in another language, so that one I cannot criticize.
I come to a poetry blog, and while I can't say that it is any worse than my own, it is pretty obnoxious. I click "Next."
Lo and behold! A blogger who insists on adding some of that talk that consists of "b4 u go, no that i luv u.... girlz rulz!!!!!11. lol!" ICK.

Then I decide that this is rather quite enough, and come to complain to you about it. As I do so, I notice a blog that is rather pointless, has grammatical errors of its own, and has this goofy "Pull" tag. It's name is Swords and...

Wait, that's mine. Never mind.

How to make your Brain hurt

2007-05-30T21:33:00.000-06:00

Whenever I go to my dad's for a day or so, we always go through a movie marathon. Like that time I watched 11 movies in three days. I don't actually remember them now, but I do remember that none of them were spectacular, so I probably am not missing much. Today's score: five(5) movies in about twenty-two(22) hours. Five movies in a day; I think we did pretty good. Actually, I did pretty good, because he watched maybe one and a half before falling asleep. And there is no better way to make your brain shout "I give up!!" than to watch several mind-bending videos, all in a row. In order of viewing, I watched

[last night, before going to sleep (four am)]
Pan's Labyrinth - A really really good movie, even though it is in Spanish with English subtitles. It's a violent fairy tale, reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers, just much more [better].

Fight Club - Now THAT was a good movie. It's not just about a fight club, either. Well, it is, but there's a bunch of other stuff that's going on as well that I will spoil if I continue talking.

Apocalypto - It was a decent film; not the best but definitely enjoyable. I must admit, I didn't realize that the whole entire movie was in Mayan and I was just putting voices and subtitles together until this afternoon.

[this morning to this afternoon]
Bourne Identity - An action film. This was probably the least exciting of the bunch, because of the disappointing way the People made it clear what had happened to Jason Bourne. It required little to no thinking, but was a pretty nice movie either way.

The Prestige - By far the best movie I saw these past twenty-four hours. Heck, the best movie I've seen in quite some time. The plot was twisted, the characters demented, the circumstances so out-of-control and unfathomable that I'm STILL trying to dissect it all perfectly. Unfathomable? That was a fun word. Maybe not entirely accurate, but still fun.

So that's what I did all night/day. That, and making other people's brains hurt in Hot Topic. That is so much fun. If you haven't tried it, I say you haven't lived until you do. Top priority, right up there with eating squid tentacles,* running on train tracks also being used by a train, and starting a fight with a total stranger.

*No, I do NOT want to eat any. Thank you; I'll save my suction cup usage to sticking things to windows and mirrors.
**Oh yeah, excuse my atrocious grammar today. I'm exhausted, and don't feel like changing the minor mistakes I made. Basically, I'm too lazy. Go ahead, you can call me on them if you like, but don't start a fight you can't win. (Kidding!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing.....

2007-05-29T14:44:00.000-06:00

I realized that I don't talk enough. Well, not that I don't talk enough, but that I don't have enough space to talk as much as I'd like. So I made another blog.

That's sorta kinda maybe how it went. Actually, what really happened was, I was reading Ron's blog, and he had a post about team blogs, and I thought: what the heck? Let's try it! (That was probably a run-on sentence, but I'm too lazy to fix it. Sue me. Yes Daniel, sue me.) So to make a long story longer, I set out to create a team blog. I sat there for about seven minutes trying to think up a name. Then my connection died. Since it was already around two in the morning, I decided to just go to sleep and work on it in the morning. After a couple template issues and email glitches, I can now present you with New Blog: The Sharpie Chronicles.

Visit it. I would tell you what it's about, but your guess is as good as mine.

Saying of the day

2007-05-28T13:51:00.000-06:00

I was introduced to a new saying today.

I'm in the kitchen, see, putting away dishes, when my [Mexican] grandmother comes in. We exchange a few words, and then she goes into the dining room. She returns, laughing.

"I went in the kitchen to get a bowl for the fruit, but instead I just stood there like a chile."

"Like a what?" I asked her.

"A chile; a pepper. Just standing there, being hot."

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I am so going to have to use that line.

Another thing: it seems that I simply cannot leave a comment anywhere (Facebook, other blogs, etc..) without writing a paragraph about things that may or may not pertain to the subject. I have to go back and delete about half of the 'short note,' because people really don't want to read a paragraph of my ramblings. And if they did, they'd read the blog. You know, The Blog. (Hint: this one.)
Yeah, I'll stop talking now.

Because, Etc.

2007-05-27T20:42:00.000-06:00

Oh, you poor readers. No weekly links, and no posts. You must be sad, and deprived of Tiphanie.

Or not.

As I speak - er, type - a train is honking as LOUDLY as it possibly can. Mind you, it's 10 o'clock at night. People (other, normal people) are sleeping. I wonder what the engineer is trying to do, announce his presence to the man on the moon? Probably woke him up, too. One day, I'm going to put a penny on those tracks and TEACH HIM A LESSON.

Guess what two new and exciting and 'everyone-is-going-to-see-it-or-has-already-seen-it' movies are out? Yeah, Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Funny. Two thirds. Anyway, I haven't seen them. Neither of them. You know what I was doing on opening night (for BOTH of them)? Babysitting. Yes, I was indeed in a house where I put babies in sacks and sat on them. They behave wonderfully. I did get a consolation phone call from a friend, however, while he was at the movie theatre. Yeah. Rub it in.

Though I haven't seen PC3, and still am totally out of the loop when it comes to the Great Debate about whether They (universal they here) will make a fourth one, or if they'll just leave well enough alone, I did take a picture with Johnny Depp.

And that Chick, and Orloser Bloom. Seriously; what's her name?

Okay, okay. I admit it. I took a picture with their cardboard cut-outs. Though I'm SURE that Bloom acted just like he would in real life. I was a bit disappointed with the Captain, however. No matter, on my wall I have a picture of Elizabeth, Captain Jack, Me (in braids!), and William[ick]. Pronounced '"Will'-yu-mick." It's right next to the picture of the Evanescence logo and that moon I painted, along with a few other notecards of poems, language quotes, and snippets of stories I never wrote. And clay. Yes, I have clay stuck to my wall.

I think that's a long enough update. I would keep going on and on about what happened Saturday at the few garage sales I went to and what great deals I got on old lamps and shadowboxes, or perhaps ramble about my brother's amazing birthday presents (a Wii and a trampoline), BUT I WON'T. Mostly because my room isn't clean. Again. And secondly because I'm just a teensy bit tired, and after my Super Speedy Throw-Everything-In-The-Closet Cleanup, I'll be very tired.

So: good night/sleep tight/bedbugs/etc...

Linkage

2007-05-14T10:04:00.000-06:00

I decided that each week, in conjunction with StumbleUpon Day (which is today!), I am going to provide a "Too Much Time On Their Hands" link. Like that ping-pong one. This week's: someone with enough patience (ahem, bored enough) to set up a domino effect design. With coins.
Other links:
fridge 3.0
Treasure Box. This is wonderful. I love this. This is amazing. I think you should play this. (This is me showing off my wonderful grammar/vocabulary/sentence construction skills.)
The Shakespeare insult kit. Click the link, thou errant, doghearted harpy!
U.S. Population in 2000.
A picture. You decide what it is. Comment on it if you wish.

Notice!!

2007-05-09T01:43:00.000-06:00

Because of a family affair, I will be leaving my room (oh, the horror!) and traveling by cramped Suburban to somewhere in Oklahoma. Chances are, I will sit with my headphones on the whole time, while the kids yell about whose space they are not violating, and whose breath is reaching past their Personal Bubble. Since I didn't pack today, like I was supposed to, I will do that tomorrow, leaving precious little time to be online. Therefore, I most likely will not post, unless, you know, I have this amazing idea that just MUST find its way onto the blog. But since those come about once every Halley's comet and that went by a few years ago, I doubt that.

I didn't forget

2007-05-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, today is Stumbleupon Day. Here are your links!!

Artwork by Oliver Polanski.
Things to do at home when you're bored. This is great.
$200 loan joke. Brilliant.
The drawings of Leonardo DaVinci. If I could draw one half as well as he can...
Are you prepared for a velociraptor attack?

p.s. In case you didn't notice (it took me a bit to figure it out, but I bet it's just cause me and internet aren't on friendly terms right now), the comment place is to the right of the date and time and stuff. That was a big friendly hint to remind you to leave me some.

Why I should not mess with computers

2007-05-07T17:46:00.000-06:00

So, can you figure out what's different?
PULL THE PULL-STRING!! Isn't it great?! You know, except for that fact that everything is sorta irrelevant, seeing as how not many people can read Latin. I haven't quite figured all of that out yet, but trust me!! I will!! Right up there with trying to add a title so Swords and Paper Swans will be right there for you to see.

Give me time. :D

Open Letter to the dad at the store

2007-05-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

When I first saw you, I wasn't really paying attention. It was when I noticed a little girl clinging to your arm, probably asking you for something, that I couldn't help but watch you. It was nice seeing her near you as you helped a customer. She had her own little space behind the counter; a blanket and pillow, coloring books, and maybe a game. You reminded me of my own dad, when he took me to work with him, and I am sure that your little girl will be grateful for that time she spent in your store. Happy memories of behind-the-counter playhouses will be remembered when she grows up. Thank you; thank you for giving me a little remembrance of when I was a kid, thank you for the love you showed your daughter when you picked her up and put her on your shoulders. Thank you for being a dad.

And Dad, thank you for all those times in the paper shop. Pumpkins, peaches, apple pie; who's not ready, holler I!

A bit of both

2007-05-03T10:02:00.000-06:00

It's been two days since I started cleaning my room. The pile's still there. Smaller (by one or two objects that I wore yesterday and today), but still there. It gives flavor to the room; you know, that sort of "hey, this is Tiphanie's room" kind of feel. Personalization. At least that's what I keep telling myself. It could be worse, you know - at least I don't keep human skulls in my room. Like SOME people.

I had a conversation with a couple people the other day, and it left me chuckling (for the sake of this blog, they shall be numbered One and Two. I get to be Me):

Me: One is brilliant. He should be the president.
One: Good ideas, all of them.
Me: Actually, there were only two.
One: So?
Me: So, you should have said both.
Two: I can see it now. You, as president: "Bomb all the countries!!" Later, "OH MAN! I MEANT BOTH!!"

Yeah, for some reason it's not as funny typing it out. THAT'S OKAY. YOU CAN STILL PRETEND TO THINK IT'S FUNNY. I am amused too easily. Like an kid. Or a cat on catnip. That should be illegal, you know.

This Saturday is going to be basically evil. I'm trying to get out of babysitting my little brother all day. Not exactly my choice way for spending the weekend. Maybe I should feign illness. Except.. I was sick LAST week. I could always break a bone, or something, but I don't think that would quite be worth it. I'll probably just suffer through it all, making sure that there is cake on hand to make me feel better.

Because I am biased towards that side of my room

2007-05-01T16:40:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those days that you wake up, look at the sun, and curl over and go back to sleep. My morning went exactly like that, except for the going back to sleep part.

I guess to make up for the lack of sleep, I was thrown into an OCD Neat Freak mood from the second I stepped out of my bed, only it was an hour or two later. Anyway, when the mood DID hit, I quickly put on some music (wonderful music like AFI, Evanescence, and the Godfather soundtrack), put up my hair and set to work.

The only problem is, I clean very well. But the catch? I clean backwards. Instead of tackling the big things first (oh, you know; those piles of clothes that are sitting on the floor maybe, or the stack of books that could easily be put in the bookshelf. That sort of thing), I start with the smallest, most minute detail of the room that nobody will ever think to look (think dresser drawers and jewelry box) and organize that to death. The end result is a perfectly clean room. That is, if I finish it. Since I usually get tired and/or distracted before I'm finished, what I really am left with is piles of even more junk that I've pulled out from the top drawer.

That's what my room looks like now. That half over there is clean; very very clean. This half over here (including my desk) is not. My bed is most definitely not clean. I'm considering sleeping on a pallet tonight, if I decide to be too lazy to clear the bed off.

It's very nice looking at the clean half of the room though.

Trip over

2007-04-30T14:24:00.001-06:00

and stumbleupon.

This week's links:

Musicovery: an interactive web-radio that lets you find music by mood and genre. I fell in love with the Dark/Calm side of Soundtrack, so I basically stuck with that.
The Master Juggler: the name says it all; this guy's amazing.
Antilimit: creative photography by an Eric M. Gustafson.
Staircase: drawing of, well, a staircase - with a twist. (Pun not intended, but okay)
Ping-pong Ball Stunts: I'm pretty sure this guy has way too much time on his hands, but hey, it's interesting.
Things People Said: in a courthouse. Apparently, lawyers are hired for comic relief.

So there you have it. I'm off to design a mini-staircase that I may or may not build and put in my room, and then prepare a surface for a picture that I may or may not paint. Wish me luck!

At long last?

2007-04-29T17:12:00.000-06:00

Guess who's back?

After a most busy month of school, a Gala and a Spring Formal, birthday parties, and getting sick, I'm finally back.
So what to talk about? Seems like there's so much, but where to begin?

First, I'll make known that I have become addicted to a very consuming substance. Once a person gets their hands on this, it takes up their lives, eats away at their time and brainpower. It can be resisted, yes, but it's one of those things that you don't really want to quit, so the little discipline you had is pushed away in the storm of the addiction. What is this? Oh, simply Stumbleupon. Yes, I know; I'm late. But still, it's better late than never, right? I think I'm going to dedicate Mondays to Stumbleupon, and give you all a few links that I enjoyed.

When I'm not stumbling through the Internet, I've been trying my hand at drawing. I basically stink. Unfortunately, that doesn't deter me much, and I can't help but think about the horror my family members will feel when they look through my sketchbook when I die and find such hideously ugly pictures. It's an amusing thought.

You know what's just great? I was hungry, so I get up to go find food, right? And I come back, sit down at the computer, and totally forget my train of thought. So much for a nice long post. Maybe I'll remember later.

I shall now go on a quest to find the hidden green jellybeans. I'm certain they're in the house somewhere...

Peeps!

2007-04-08T20:40:00.000-06:00

Today was a bit warmer than yesterday, *only* 42 degrees. I was a bit sad; no Easter Peeps.

The yellow ones are the bestest. I actually got some yellow bunnies in March, just because they were already selling them, but none now.

It seems that most people I've spoken to do not like Peeps. Tell me what you think; are Peeps good, or blech?

Candy and Celcius

2007-04-07T22:45:00.000-06:00

I'm back. For now, at least, and I can't believe how long I've left this poor blog run idle.

I'm currently searching my drawers for hidden stashes of candy, just because that's what I tend to do at night. At least, recently I have been.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

It's April
I live in Texas
It is 39 degrees! Fahrenheit!*

So much for Easter sundresses, hm? More like, "cuddle up with some hot chocolate and a good book by the fire."

And people talk about global warming.

Well, I cannot find candy, and the cold is getting to me. Time for me to wrap myself in my comforters and dread the coming of the morning, just because it means leaving my warm bed and stepping into the cruel, cold world. Welcome to Texas. Everything's bigger and better here, including the extreme weather.

Happy Easter, all! (Save me some bunny eggs, alright?)

*When I originally checked the temperature, weather.com said 4 degrees. I just about fell over. That would explain why it's still very cold inside. But then I notice that big bold C next to it, and realize that it's not there for show. Oh. Yes. Four degrees Celcius. That makes sense.

Is this The End?!*

2007-03-27T17:31:00.000-06:00

Because of circumstances on the homefront, the schoolfront, and the Back Door, I won't be posting regularly. This means I might post tomorrow; I might not. It might be a week until I post, or it could be a month. So, for the time being, don't expect daily or semi-daily postings. I will, as time and occasion allows it, blog blog blog. Just not now.

Sorry for all you who actually read this blog (which is probably some insignificant number like two). Before I go - I love making this more dramatic than it actually is... or is it? - do this for me: comment! It'd spark my will to keep blogging even in difficult circumstances if I get fan mail. :)

Until the next time, then.

*No, it's not.

Day 6 - In a health food store

2007-03-25T22:10:00.000-06:00

Woman to her less-than-thrilled husband: Hey, sweetie; do you want to try this water?

Husband: Why, is it speecial?

Woman: It's from New Zealand!

Husband: It's in a funny-looking bottle.

Woman: Okay then, we'll try it.

I had to turn away because I laughed. Hooray for the husband who wants to know why the heck he has to pay twice as much for water from across the globe. And why she had to drag him through the store clucking, "Honey, do you want to try this new vitamin? How about this zucchini chip? Would you like some of this organic soap?"

We bought plenty of stuff; stuff that looked disgusting like flax seeds and mung beans (mung? Way too close to dung for me) and then some better things like pears and oranges. After filling our truck with food that can be eaten all raw and none of it needing a refridgerator, it was time to find dinner.

Restaurant of choice: P.F. Chang's.
Go us!

Day 5 - she's serious

2007-03-25T20:36:00.000-06:00

So my mom's really going to keep to this diet - excuse me, healthy eating. She bought a food processor online (you can always tell when one's mother is serious about something when she buys something online), and invited a friend over to show her the ropes.

So we ate spaghetti. Raw. But get this: IT WAS MADE OF ZUCCHINI. So yeah, I was given three green zucchinis and a peeler, and told to peel until I got to the seeds. So we ate raw zucchini strips with cold tomato sauce. Plus mushrooms and guacamole and glop and bunches of other stuff which I don't remember. You know, one of those automatic trauma-blocking brain things. I ate about two bites of lunch and soon decided I was incredibly full.

Dinner was about the same, since it was leftovers. We got dessert! Banana leather (dried bananas that form a brownish-black leather thing) with nuts and other stuff inside. I ate a bite. And then I went into the kitchen later to eat some bread and jelly beans. So I didn't starve.

Out of the mouths of babes..

2007-03-24T11:37:00.000-06:00

"I love being a bad guy! You can get Corvettes and every kind of expensive care and speed away escaping!"

-my sister, Beth; 9 years old.

Day 4 - again?

2007-03-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

While it was annoying being forced to eat breakfast without milk, I withstood that test. I ate a waffle. The cereal on the shelf called to me, but I wasn't about to have cereal with almond milk. Ick. Lunch was actually chicken taquitos, so apparently we are doing things gradually.

Dinner, however, was "eat a salad." A salad?! "And a fruit or something."
I chose the "something." As a matter of fact, I fried up some corn tortillas for chips and at those with the salad. I killed the corn. Arrest me.

Since it's so incredibly late, and my eyes are closing as I type, I think I'll post some real, non-food related content tomorrow. Unless I don't, in which case I won't.

Day 3 - the confusion

2007-03-22T20:24:00.000-06:00

Breakfast consisted of oxygen/nitrogen/ hydrogen/whatever-the-heck-is-in-air. Very filling. And, it stuck with the "raw foods" concept.

Lunch is when things started to get a bit hot. Literally. I made tacos for lunch, and everyone went with it. For dinner, we ate at Chick-Fil-A, but we came home with bunches of icky groceries! For example, my mother bought just every kind of nut there is. Cashews, walnuts, peanuts, almonds - only about 5 pounds plus some almond butter; I'm not even sure if we'll have enough! - pecans, macedamia nuts, pistachios, and some never before seen ones that I think she invented while there like rolonut and nunnut.

Or maybe that was just my imagination.

And our fridge is packed. Not with wonderful stuff like milk for your cereal or yogurt for snacks; not even leftover foods for lunches or lovely junk food. No, our fridge is filled with green things like zucchini and squash and cucumbers, brown things like mushrooms and potatoes, and so much more!

So while the diet* seems to have been pushed away, what is all this plantlife in my icebox? And why are there almonds wrapped in paper towels on my kitchen windowsill?** And who in the world thought to squish up some of the almonds and make milk out of it?

My fridge is probably very sad right now.

*I have since been informed that it is not a diet, rather it is healthy eating. So excuse me.
** Another news flash: nuts and vegetables that are "sprouting," i.e. actually growing, are better for you. Someone should start a plants' activist movement.

Cooties

2007-03-22T17:41:00.000-06:00

First off, I find it funny that I went a whole day looking at yesterday's post and not even notice the title was missing a 2. That just goes to show you my concentration level, or lack thereof.

I was talking with my friend on AIM when out of nowhere she starts the following conversation:

Jenna: We're trying to rid the world of cooties.
Jenna: :D
Jenna: check my profile.
Me: okay...

(I checked, and it contained a song that she and her friend made up. It went something like this):
"No more cooties my friend cause weeee can fight until the end cause we are cootie free, no time for boys cause we are cootie free and girls rule the world. O YAA!"

(After reading, I responded as follows...)

Me: haha!
Me: well, this is my song:
no more cooties, my friend
cause we can FIGHT until the end
cause we are girl-germ free
no time for girls cause we are
girl-germ free and
i rule the world
OH YEAH!
Me: XD
Jenna: how bout we replace "girls" with "stupid people"?
Me: it's synonymous.*
Me: :D
Jenna: HAHAHA!

Hooray for the girls who can take a joke!**

*No comment.
**This is why I love Jenna. :)

Day 2- the kill

2007-03-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

It seems almost as if the diet has gone into shambles. I ate orange danish/cinnamon roll things. I ate beef stew. I ate an Arby's Melt.

Did everyone forget, or is it over this quickly? Please be the latter please be the latter please be the latter.

And guess what? I'm not hungry! It's a wonderful feeling, not being hungry.

So nothing interesting happened today. Lots of that has been happening, keeping my life spiced. I mean, how can there be much variety when excitement is already happening? Obviously some slow, boring parts must come about to provide change.

And guess what slow boring part is up next? Sleepy time for the Tiph.

Day 1 - an introduction

2007-03-20T19:45:00.000-06:00

As some of you may already know, my mom and stepdad have decided to put our family on a "raw food" diet. For health reasons. The diet is supposed to increase longevity and energy, and should just generally help one's health. So, along with the normal blogging, I'm probably going to chronicle the horrors of the non-meat meals. Just for my sake. If you'd like to laugh at me through my struggles and strivings, then so be it. I'll be laughing as well.

I wonder if cereal is "raw." They bake the flakes, don't they? At least I think the milk is okay. Like an idiot, not looking ahead, I did not eat lunch today. And guess what was on the menu? Brisket. But see, I don't care for brisket that much, so I decided I didn't want it. Oh, Tiphanie; that which you will despise now is what you will long for in about six hours.

Dinner was, as my dearest mother put it, partially dead food. That's as opposed to raw food. See, we actually cooked our corn, instead of going hardcore and just chewing it straight off the stalk. We ate that and baby carrots and apples. Oh, remember the bit about more energy? Yeah, well. I don't want to call anyone a liar or anything, but all I am now is hungry. No energy, or vigor, just an empty stomach.

I. Want. Chicken.
Or tacos...

And announcing that I'm hungry would only lead to "eat a carrot," or "have an apple." Um, I already had six baby carrots. And an apple. They are fine for snacks and all, but that's one tasteless, unfilling dinner.

Did I mention that I'm hungry?

Tomorrow morning I'm popping some cinnamon rolls in the oven. Yes, they're cooked. OH MY GOSH they're made out of dough! But if we're going to do this vegan thing, we're doing it gradually. Hopefully we have ham in the fridge.

Quotes to be quoted and expanded upon

2007-03-20T17:05:00.000-06:00

Movies have always been a big part of our family. Every good animated movie out there, we owned. Classics like Old Yeller and The Jungle Book are favorites, and once we get a new movie, the kids insist on watching that and Only That until every person within earshot of the TV can quote the entire movie back verbatim. It’s not unusual to hear one of us start to say something and another to finish with a quote that would have finished. We’re just weird like that. It doesn’t help any that I can watch a movie and remember half of the lines, because then, inevitably, the kids think they should be remembering them all too.

Since last summer some time, when my mom and I (finally!) watched the Lord of the Rings series, we’ve been connecting our lives to that of the Fellowship with a series of jokes and quotes. First, we had a teapot that sounded like a Nazgul. We don’t eat snacks, we have first breakfast, second breakfast, luncheon, dinner, tea time, etc…. If we don’t want to share, the customary thing to say is, “It’s mine! All mine, my preciousss!” Talking to oneself is not abnormal, especially when discussing evil plans with your alter-ego. We refer to each other as “sneaky little hobbitses” when someone does something clever.

And don’t forget the lovely Veggie Tales rendition, Lord of the Beans. From there come even more gems, like being afraid of Sporks. And the well-known fact that Sporks can be tamed by cookies (sounds a bit like Moose), and that there was another elf that wasn’t mentioned much in the story: “The Other Elf.” He’s the one who makes cookies in a tree.

Currently, we have established that Josiah eats like a hobbit (aka: constantly) and I’m the tricksy one.

And, like Bilbo, I have a speech: I have posted half as much as twice as you and twice as less as half as you, but here I shall end until the next time.

back into a routine

2007-03-19T22:13:00.000-06:00

I'm BACK.

After a long, extended period of time in which I just didn't feel like writing anything, I have returned with the hopes that my routine will get back into gear.

Update on Josiah: He's growing and eating normally - as a matter of fact he's in a growth spurt and eating like a pig. :) No more problems as of yet, so we're happy about that. I don't have any more pictures of him on the computer, but I'll post them when I do.

A wasp is currently trying to force it's way into my window. I feel sorry for him, because I know, even if he doesn't, that no amount of ramming into the glass will make it give way. What will give way is his head. And/or wings. I hear a squeal of cats as the pregnant one gets mad at another one for sitting in her spot, and I can see them in my minds' eye glaring at each other. Oh, feel the love.

Yes, my kitty is pregnant again. \o/ What fun!

I got a fresh supply of jelly beans last week when my friend came over (yay!) and, as Moose pointed out, I have taken her to the green jellybean dark side. That Tuesday/Wednesday was the highlight of the month.

I have acquired and begun learning some new sheet music: The Open Door by Evanescence, and Phantom of the Opera. If things go as planned, I will be able to show off some of my new music next month at the Spring Formal. In addition to my new songs, my sister Beth is also learning how to play "Heart and Soul," the duet. While I was teaching her that, I learned that I can actually play that song by myself, and with practice I am hoping to actually play it correctly. So far, I've made such a mess of it that I'm almost reluctant to keep playing.

Scholarships finally came in! I am now officially going to HBU with a Founders' Scholarship. Now for a job to complete that. I applied for a Debate Team scholarship, which would pay the other half of my school, so I'm waiting to hear back from that. I had to write an short explanation of why I thought I would be good for the Debate Team and why I'm interested in it, and my immediate thought was: Well, I like to argue and I need the money.

No, I didn't send that as my Final Answer.

It's nearing eleven o'clock, and my brain has decided to cease it's Creative Thinking/Blog-Writing Functions. So, until a) tomorrow, or b) whenever I write another post, I bid you all a good night and happy blogging/living. (The two are synonymous, no?)

Swingset

2007-03-08T00:10:00.000-06:00

We went to the park today.

Actually, we had planned on taking hot dogs and snacks and grilling at the park, but night fell more quickly than we had anticipated. It was as if the hands of the clocks skipped across a few minutes here and a few minutes there, finding it fun to spend time so foolishly. There was a bit of time to straighten up, a teaspoon's worth of seconds to indulge in a snack, a cup of precious minutes devoted to school; then it was 6:30, and no one had prepared anything. By that time, the kids were asking for dinner, and whining about how long we take. My stepdad realized that it would take too long to fire up a grill, so we cooked the hot dogs at home, and again with the steady ticking, time went by. The children didn't want to wait to eat, so they wolfed down their food and went to find their bikes. By the time we got to the park, it was 7:30.

The sand was squishy under my shoes, causing me to trip as it shifted around my feet. It was a small, empty playground: it was tucked away and not many houses - especially houses with children - were nearby. A bright red plastic playground stood on one end of the sandbox; a four-seater swingset on the other. I went straight for the swings.

The sun was setting pink behind me, and in front of me - right before I closed my eyes - I could see the dark blue of the night meeting with the lighter sky, the tendrils of clouds swirling down towards the edge of the earth. And then I pushed my feet against the sand and created a rhythm: up, down, up, down; my weight alternating as if I was on a rocking chair. Everything was dark; with my eyes closed, I could hear the sound of the nearby oak and pecan trees, the laughter of the kids. I could feel the cool wind on my face, my arms; running through my hair. And best of all, the feeling that I was flying was pulsing through my veins and making my stomach flip with each swing.

Soon it was hard to see and distinguish things; dusk was settling in and the shadows made by the huge trees only added to the mystic gloom. Half an hour later after we arrived, we packed up to leave the park. A motorcycle drove by as I tried to walk along a fence, its engine revving as it zoomed past. We put the bikes in the trunk, and a dog tried to sidle up to us, maybe looking for food. He ran away before we could even call for him; just darted into the woods behind the park.

Then we drove home. The ride back was uneventful; darkness had now almost finished sealing the night, and the work out had made the kids tired. Now everyone's in bed. Most likely, everyone's asleep. But my favorite part about swinging stays with me:

I can still feel the rhythm of the swing, moving like a pendulum in the night.

Follow the white rabbit..

2007-03-05T10:41:00.000-06:00

I was at my dad's this weekend. Which basically means that I'm online until late, watching movies and talking to people simultaneously. It's great to have a dad who works at Blockbuster.

The movie I chose this time was The Matrix, because, well; I've never seen it before. (Be shocked. Okay stop.) It's one of the best movies I've seen in a while. It makes you think, too. I mean, what if we're being held hostage by AI that we created, but don't know that we created it? What if we're just batteries?!
Alright, so I'm not really thinking that our reality is not the "real" reality, but it's always a fun concept to ponder and get lost in. It reminds me of movies like The Butterfly Effect, or even Donnie Darko. The Secret Window was good, and I need to see The Lake House. (I still haven't watched it yet, Bri! I keep looking at it and thinking: I really want to see this! but I just don't seem to have the time.)

I also watched I, Robot. I've had that movie checked out from the library for four weeks before I saw it. I guess I am a die-hard procrastinator.. even when it comes to good things like movies.

'Puters and 'Possums

2007-03-03T17:37:00.000-06:00

Over the past few days, I've learned some things.

1) If one goes to sleep at three or four in the morning and then wakes up around eight, the rest of the day will be tiring.

2) Drinking Coke is not enough for lunch.

3) When one cannot find things that should be easy to find, it is probably time to clean the room.

4) The internet is an amazing resource. It has free sheet music.

5) Usually, when setting an alarm clock, it's best to make sure the clock is set for the right time so as to avoid the alarm going off at five in the morning.

6) Purple nail polish is fun.

I'm sure that there are countless other things, and perhaps a few not-so-meaningless ones as well, but that's not very fun. I have three (3) movies to watch (as in three [3!!] whole entire different movies I have not yet seen), and I don't feel like watching any. I did go see Amazing Grace last night, and was impressed. It was witty, it was moving, and I loved the characters. Definitely a movie I would recommend.

I continue to have issues with my computer (yes, Moose, I did a scan), and now - to top things off - I can't burn CD's. Which actually isn't that bad, since I can't even find my CD player. According to one of my friends, a gremlin stole it. My dog must not be doing his job.

Speaking of my dog, he cornered a 'possum last night. There it was, trying to steal my dog's food, and Sugar caught him in the act. As could be expected of such a cowardly and nasty little animal, he played dead. After a short fight, a shovel and a couple tosses, the opossum found itself tumbling across the yard into the woods. If he comes back, I doubt we'll intervene, and the dog can eat him.

I feel like I slept a lot this past week. And did a bunch of nothing, except for being sick. I drank 7up, listened to music, and slept slept slept. And now, I'm finally better; no more sick! Now all I have to do is stay unsick.

Update

2007-02-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Josiah's been home for four days now, and he's doing so much better. He's eating normally and feeling good; we're happy that everything seems to be going well.

I have been so busy recently, and no I haven't forgotten about the blog, my brain has just been a bit unimaginative recently.
I'll post soon.

Moose! Bison!

2007-02-24T16:19:00.000-06:00

Last night, I went to a party. We drank lots and lots of beer.
Root beer, that is. My friend Moose brought about 5 kazillion different kinds, all in his backpack. He said that he had more varieties at home, but he didn't bring them. (Loser.) :D

It was so much fun; we basically spent five hours forming circles with ourselves then messing up the circles and excluding people. For fun; they could always come back in.... if they found a spot. And then Moose started making dinosaur sounds. Or maybe they were bird sounds. We couldn't tell, cause I can't really speak dino-bird.

We also played a sorry game of tackle football. It lasted for approximately Four plays, and then we stopped. The four plays probably lasted double what they should have, but we were messing around in between. My team came up with a new play: Thrun. Throw, Hit, and Run. It went pretty well. The hit, of course, stood for Tackling.

I got to practice swordfighting, something I really love to do but never ever get to do, so it was nice to finally be able to fight. So much more happened, with meese, and elk, and bison (only a few people will get this, so don't try :P) and Circles. The circles were the best.

After the party, I spent the night at Bri's house, and we stayed up pretty late, but not really (past midnight.... maybe one?). We could NOT stay awake. We were trying to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, but couldn't. And no, it wasn't cause the movie was so boring, it was because we were both dead tired. When she woke me up the next morning, I was dreaming about talking to her on the phone, and was freaked out when out of nowhere she said, "Hi!"
I was quite confused, wondering what she was doing, until I realized it was a dream. I hadn't even known there was a dream going on in my head before that moment.

We woke up and ate breakfast and she went to work. I walked down the street to the mall (which was freaky; all those cars going SO FAST!) and basically did nothing for several hours. Went into Hot Topic and got upset because they didn't have any Kittie CD's and their AFI CD's were way overpriced, did the same to the music store there (except they did have Kittie, so they were slightly better) and finally settled for Barnes and Noble. When it was finally time to walk across the street again, it was raining. And me, being directionally challenged, couldn't remember which was I was supposed to be going. All I remembered was seeing a yellow chain that said "Do Not Enter" (I remembered it because I entered it as I was walking), but I couldn't find that, either. So there I was, walking outside the mall, when I could be inside, dry and warm. I felt like an idiot when I saw what I had done, but it was already done, so I braved the street again, and found Bri.

We ate a pizza lunch, which was quite amusing because two tables down a group of kids were singing and playing games. Out of seemingly nowhere they started counting, and Bri noticed, "They can't count; they're skipping all the fives." Then they got to one hundred and started again, by saying: "Slide, slide, slippery slide. You cannot say the number five. One, two, three, four, six, seven..." We felt stupid. At least I did, maybe she didn't.

After that, I reluctantly told them how to get to my house. I thought about getting us lost, but decided that that would probably void all my chances of being invited over to their house again. So I dutifully directed them down the alternate path (since the normal route was filled with idiotic bridge construction), and we arrived at my house. I like my house. People say they like my house, so then I like it. Bri said it looked like a doll house, but I assured her, it didn't on the inside. I proved it by taking her upstairs and showing her my messy room. It was clean two weeks ago. Maybe a week and a half. You see, I have a devil that lives in my room and messes it up while I'm asleep. So really, it's not my fault.

Now it's almost 11pm, and I'm just as tired as I was last night (I actually have typed some of this stuff with my eyes closed, so if I made a mistake, please forgive me). I'll probably finish listening to this song and then kick the bu-- no, we've established that what I'm going to do is Hit the Sack. No kicking involved.

Some pictures I've found online over the course of months. I just had to share them with you guys.

2007-02-21T14:44:00.000-06:00

An Overview

2007-02-20T22:46:00.000-06:00

I will begin by apologizing. What with cooking and cleaning and watching siblings and all the other things that falls to the oldest in Times Like These, I have been simply too exhausted and too braindead to find anything to write about and then proceed to write it.

Josiah is still in ICU. Testing has determined that he has kidney reflux, which is a disease in which the urine goes back into the kidneys instead of making its way into the bladder. Eventually, this will poison the kidneys, causing irrevocable damage. My now-six-year-old brother Joshua had this when he was a baby also, and he still suffers from partial kidney function. Put simply, it messes your whole body up. As of now, we don't know how long Josiah will have to be in the hospital, or if he'll need corrective surgery, and if so, when; right now we're doing all we can do: taking it one day at a time.

My grandparents are here, which is both a blessing and a curse, and the world is still turning. My mother needs prayer as well; she hasn't left the hospital since Friday, only leaving Josiah's side to get a few snatched hours of sleep when he is sleeping as well. I'm hoping to bring good news soon.

Since Sunday, so much has happened at the house that I doubt it would be very feasible to write it all out. Some of the things I've done is Slept A Lot, Made Cake, Not Cleaned My Room, Bought Stuff, and Made My Teacher Mad.

Sleeping is good. It is always best when it is done when you should be awake. I don't know why, it just is. So recently (since my mom's not here to tell me to sleep), I have been staying up late late late (like three or four am) and waking up at eight. Sometimes later. Sometimes earlier (like this morning I woke up at seven). Making cake is self-explanatory, but it might interest you to know that we did not frost the cake. Bestest cake I've had in a while. Course, I haven't had cake in a while, so that perhaps nullifies the validity of that statement.

Cleaning my room is like sweeping the street. Or moving all the seaweed from the oceanside. People do it, sure, but it's basically pointless. It will come back. It will. Like, tomorrow.
And I bought stuff! I bought black ribbon and red ribbon. I cut a piece of red ribbon and tied it around my neck for a necklace. See, the thing is, I didn't consider how I'm going to take it off. I also bought a CD for myself, band name: Kittie. Annddd.... I bought black material. I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, but I wanted it.

And on to making my teacher mad. See, I hadn't eaten all day. So I wanted to share that news with my friend, but she was over There, and I was over Here, so naturally I mouthed to her what I wanted to say. And Teacher got upset. And for some strange, horrible reason, I thought it was funny. I did apologize. And I did stop talking. Even though, I was exactly talking anyway, but yeah.

So that's the highlights of my few days that I seemed to disappear from the Blogging World (which is flat, by the way). Now, I shall continue my adventures, and will be sure to be faithful once again to my poor lonesome blog.

2007-02-17T09:14:00.000-06:00

I divert from my usual light-hearted posting to say this:

Many of you know my little brother Josiah. He's eleven days old today, but yesterday he was taken to the hospital because of a urinary tract infection. He, along with my mom and stepdad, spent the night at the Children's Hospital, and the doctors have decreed that he will be staying there for at least ten more days. My now-six year-old brother had similar issues when he was a baby, resulting in permanent kidney damage. He had to undergo several surgeries and is very small for his age because of it, though he is now healthy for his condition.

As you can imagine, everyone is distressed, especially my mother, so we would greatly appreciate being in your prayers now. There are few things more difficult than seeing your baby, only days old, in the hospital intensive care. Please keep Josiah as well as my mom in your prayers during this time.

I feel better...somewhat

2007-02-16T13:28:00.000-06:00

Though I am feeling mostly better, I still cannot breathe. That makes me irritable. Being irritable usually means I can't write well, so I currently have nothing to say. Isn't that just thrilling.
Yesterday I got to sleep and be on the computer all day long, and today I have to resume my duties as oldest sibling. Ick.

I need more books. Well, need - not so much. But want. Definitely want. See, I can go to the library all I want and read books, but it's not the same as bringing home your very own book to put away carefully in your bookshelf. And besides, my sister's read almost all the books I'll let her (she's probably not ready for Edgar A. Poe or Beowulf, or other such books), and that means her supply is waning. I'm thinking about raiding Half Price Books sometime soon. Of course, that takes money. So, I need to start saving for a Book Trip. Does anyone have any recommendations for books, either for me or for my 9 year old sister? (She doesn't read baby books. She's into 200-300 page books...that's my girl.)

chicken soup for the Cold

2007-02-14T18:07:00.000-06:00

Now is the time when everyone is supposed to feel sorry for me, bring me jello and Sprite, ask me if there's anything I want to watch, or if I'd rather be read to, and get lots of blankets at my request.

Because I'm sick. And being sick on Valentine's Day is icky. Because the true meaning of Valentine's Day is candy, and candy is one thing that is forbidden when one is sick. How stupid.

So here I am, (and no one over here is offering to read to me, as a matter of fact what I'm hearing is more along the lines of "Go away! You're going to get us sick! Don't breathe near me! Get out of the room!" You'd think I had the plague), blowing my nose without any good effect (I still can't breathe) and feeling pitiful and such-like. Although, feeling sick can be somewhat amusing. My sense of touch is messed up. Everything feels weird. My friend asked how I knew what I was typing, and I told her that there are these convenenient stickers on the keys. Either that, or I really don't know what I'm typing, and I'm just being like monkeys banging on keyboards for a million kazillion years.

Have I ever said that I hate chicken soup? Well, I hate chicken soup. Who would want to eat the juices that come out of a chicken? I mean, an orange, yes; a watermelon, maybe. But a chicken? Chickens have blood. Chickens have icky stuff inside them. I don't want to drink the icky stuff, even if it is sanitized and people think it's good. I don't care if you think it's good. It. Is. Ick.

My brain just shut down. It says, No more writing. No more blogs. Stop it; I'm tired. I must comply, since if my brain gets mad at me, he usually wreaks havoc on the rest of me. So I bid thee farewell.

patriotic safety

2007-02-13T19:26:00.000-06:00

I'm tired.

Nothing interesting happened today.

Except for STAR.

Which was very fun and full of things to tell.

I just don't want to tell.

I'm tired.

What I am going to do is watch The Patriot, which was very kindly loaned to me by my friend. (Sorry Andrew, I dropped the disc when I was trying to get it out of the case. It's not scratched very much.....)
He says to take good care of it, which I will. (Did the booklet already have that blue spot on it?)
And I will greatly enjoy myself.
Maybe, after I'm finished I will feel refreshed enough to post something more...significant. There's only a few things I can do well when tired. Playing piano is one of them, because it gives rather than takes energy. At least for me.

Anyway, that's what I'll be doing tonight.
And Andrew, I was kidding. I did not do ANYTHING to your prize. It is all safe and sound, in a glass container (not really) safe and safely safe.

This is how much I like my Pop-Tarts

2007-02-12T16:27:00.000-06:00

This is amazing! My special Backpack matches my Blog!

Just look!

My friends, the Pop-Tarts

2007-02-12T16:09:00.000-06:00

Look look! It is my very own, long awaited Pop-Tart bag! See, I was very diligent in collecting the little tokens on top of the Pop-Tart boxes (I eat them quite often, as long as they are brown sugar), and keeping them in a safe place. When I had hoarded enough tokens, I sent it, along with one dollar and fifty cents to Kellogg's, and they promised to send me this Pop-Tart backpack. That was in August. Maybe September, I don't know. Anyway, I got exactly TWO notices saying that "because of the great demand of this product," yadda yadda yadda, they wouldn't send it. If I wanted a refund of my dollar and a half, I could send the note back. But see, I didn't want my dollar. Plus two quarters. I wanted my backpack. It had Pop-Tarts on it! I WANTED MY BAG!

So I waited, very patiently, for the day to arrive. Occasionally I thought of it longingly, wishing with all my heart that today would be the day I would go to the mailbox and find my Pop-Tart backpack. Then, Saturday, it came!

Only no one told me. No one at all. Except for my mom; she called me on Saturday and told me. But that doesn't count, because I should probably be told about three times before the message makes its way through the passages of my ear into my brain. Sometimes four, but since this was Very Important to me, only three times.

So now I have it! I will take it with me to STAR tomorrow, where I shall flaunt my Pop-Tart bag. It is the only thing I own that is Pink that I will wear out of my room, but the coolness of the Pop-Tart dudes greatly outshines the uncoolness of the Pink. It is a very Cool Pink, as a matter of fact, since the Pop-Tarts grace it.

It is the anniversary of ME! (Not really, but we can pretend. Or I can. You might not want to.)

2007-02-11T14:17:00.000-06:00

As I am typing this, a small, brown spider is sitting next to me on the wall, probably waiting for me to not pay attention to him so he can jump on me. Spiders are like that, you know.

So, today really is my Month Anniversary for This Blog. After looking through at all my posts, I've realized that there is absolutely nothing of importance in them. There are no life-changing, earth-shaking revelations, it does not help the poor and hungry, and there is nothing in the blog that might change the world for good. So, because of all this, I have decided to discontinue my blog. There's so much more things I can be doing, other than writing my thoughts, that would help save the trees and the whales.

I am also totally kidding.
(The spider is dead. He looked at me funny.)

Really, though, I have had lots of fun this past month. I will continue, because.... I like having lots of fun.

My room is absolutely and totally and completely and contradictorily [to normality] clean, because I cleaned it yesterday. Nothing is on the floor, nothing is out of place on my dresser, and my 3x5 card collection is neatly in a 3x5 card Holder. But do not look in the closet. Not because it's not clean, of course, but because it has monsters inside. I wouldn't want you to get scared, or anything.

I just held Josiah. He's basically a more human form of a worm, bigger of course, and he also likes to cry. I've learned that if I do a Monkey Dance while I'm holding him, the shock of my Craziness will usually quiet him. Monkey Dance consists of intense work-out of the back, arms, and legs. It's good exercise, and I don't think I will be needing to go to the gym anytime soon.

Friends are coming over to bring us food, very happily, so I must go and prepare for their immenent arrival. Until tomorrow, then.

I am placed on a website to receive Votes

2007-02-10T16:02:00.000-06:00

Just in time for my one-month of blogging mark, (which is tomorrow), Bob put my blog up for voting. Which means, you have to go here, and vote for my blog. He better get lots of results. Or else. Else... I won't write anymore. I don't care if every one of you say I've got a 1 Star Blog, as long as there are results.

I was enlightened greatly this week. Besides it being said that I'm male, as I told you in the last post, I was also said to be a 43 year-old midget! Or at least write like one. My identity is being stripped from my feeble hands, like, like.... the way you take a cane from an old person. Or like how you pull a gun from a strong man, except opposite. If I start having an identity crisis, at least I know I have you readers to listen (and laugh, probably; knowing you people) to it. So yes, that is all I have to Say for today. For now.

*Reminder: GO VOTE.

The internet and its amazing display of random things that really have no good, world-peace use, but that are still fun anyway. And Cheez-its

2007-02-09T14:08:00.000-06:00

I've told you guys before that I discovered the ever-amazing del.icio.us the other day, and I'm now making the most of it. Just a simple search of "writing fun" has shown me that I type at 105 words per minute, I write like a guy, how to write my name in Elvish, and that I should probably stop making up new passwords and screennames, but instead use only one. What a novel idea! Instead of having 3x5 cards everywhere, or trying to remember them all, Just. Make. One!

I say you should try these tests. At least if you're bored go and see how fast you can type.
As for me writing like a guy, that was the results of my poetry (some of them) and my fiction stories. The "Gender Genie" says that I'm a male. Wow. I didn't know that! Oh, another really cool thing I found was some pictures. See?The amazing thing is, this guy does this with a bunch of other shapes too. Go see more of his cool pictures here. It's really amazing, what he does with plain white paper.

Yeah, so that was my escapade with the internet bookmarks. All this stuff, and other stuff, is on my del.icio.us.

Yesterday, the kids and I were playing an active game of "touch the Cheez-it box or you don't get any Cheez-its" until they started making a bunch of unnecessary noise. Like screaming. And shouting: "I WANT CHEEZ-ITS!!! GIVE ME SOME! MAMA! SHE WON'T GIVE US CHEEZ-ITS!!!" So then we had to stop that game. Next thing we did was sing Phantom of the Opera at the top of our lungs. My sister thinks I'm amazing because I can reach all the ridiculously high notes with my real voice, and get even higher in a fake operatic voice. While we were pretending to be La Carlotta and the Managers, my six year old brother Joshua starts marching around. When he comes near us, he puts his hands out and says, "Step aside, ladies!" and kept marching. I'm sure it was funnier then than me telling you now, but I still find it funny and still like saying it.

At least he was polite.

Choosing a career that doesn't involve biting

2007-02-08T19:51:00.000-06:00

Mosquitoes have always played a big part in my life. Growing up (and still living in) Texas meant that there were skeeters in all seasons. Of course, there are only two seasons in southern Texas anyway: Summer and Allergy. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between the two.

Anyway, when those nasty Bugs would try to eat me, my Dad would always say, Bite them back! That went for Bed Bugs too. "Sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite! And if they do, bite them back!!" It was just common knowledge to me as a child, that if I was bitten, I was to retaliate. Eye for an eye; tooth [in skin] for a tooth [in skin].

Apparently, other children were taught this too, and they've grown up and gone out to seek their fortune and make a living. By various means, of course. Some just happen to be burglars, but that's besides the point. Kinda.

See, these two guys robbed a grocery store and stabbed a clerk (don't know where he learned that, maybe too many movies or something), and then were confronted by policemen and their dogs. One guy thinks, Hey, I can beat these angry, snarling, frothing-at-the-mouth, almost-rabid dogs! and then promptly begins to fight the beast. So he forgot the rule, mixed it up, the memory got shifted in the transition stage between childhood and Robber-Adulthood, or something, because he proceeds to bite the dog. The dog, who listened to his father when he was little, bit the dude back! Way to go, Puppy.

Moral of the story: listen to your parents. Bite things back, not first. Oh, and probably not choosing robbery as your life skill would be good too.

Would the girl in the scarf remain standing please

2007-02-07T21:30:00.000-06:00

Josiah's home!
He arrived here at 3pm or so, and has basically slept ever since. Except for, like, now. Since now is when he's supposed to sleep, of course he's awake. He is so tiny!!! Well, not that tiny, seeing as he weighed 9 pounds, minus an ounce.

I decided to write about my College Prep class. Finally.

Yesterday, everyone started out all wrong. You see, I come into class (late, but that's besides the point), and there was no chair for me!! I had to go and fetch my own, and sit between Boy Scout and Sillyhead instead of two other girls. I was also smack dab in the middle of the table. If the teacher looked at me a lot other times, she focused even more attention on me, since I was right there. This past week, as I've said, we had to write a five-paragraph essay on something, and I chose Afghanistan. It was one and a half pages long, not including the bibliography. Anyway, I turned it in, along with a couple other things assigned, and looked at my quiz I had taken the week before. I aced it; yahoo! But, Sillyhead got bonus points for answering the bonus question. We.... (what did we do?) Oh! We discussed mnemonics, during which I decided that I don't like to use "study aids" and "memorization aids" and whatever else. Then. We. We. Um. Oh! We organized ideas by making a tree thing, named something interesting but not interesting enough for me to remember it. So far we've covered our learning styles (I'm visual, mostly), our right brain/left brain predominance (I'm right brained; creative), note-taking (my style of note-taking "works for you; as long as you know what it means after class." Yes, I do.) and... probably something else too, but I don't remember what.

We get candy in class. This time, she forgot to put the candy out, and I was sad. And depressed. And mostly hungry. Finally, someone said something, and we got our candy. It's the only class in which we get candy, so it's my favorite right now.

So yeah, that's all I can think of to write about College Prep at this time. Please hang up and try again. Or, come back for more at a later date. Not necessarily about College Prep, but...other things. That I can remember better.

The picture I promised

2007-02-07T09:16:00.000-06:00

Look at him!!
All cute and asleep and bundled up and asleep. My mom took this picture with her camera phone and sent it, since I had forgotten my camera last time. But, some good news! Well, good/mixed news. He's coming home today!
I say it's good, because, well....it's good! I say mixed because, this is the time when no one can sleep for more than 4 hours at a time, if that. I am thankful my room is upstairs. But still, he'll be home, and I can take all the pictures I want!

You know, I have realized that it's been a week since I said I'd write about my different STAR classes, skipped College Prep and never went back to it. I'm lazy. Hopefully I'll write about it soon, if I have time. I'm not sure how my schedule will change when Josiah comes home. Probably: a lot.

The music tells the story

2007-02-06T20:46:00.000-06:00

Another fun thing I found while browsing the web. I think it's called a meme, but I've been known to be wrong. Oh wait, no I haven't. I'm infallibler. I had forgotten for a second.

I got this from Jake, who got it from somewhere else, who... I don't know, maybe made it up. Either way, the point of the game is to put your music player to play All Music, set it to Shuffle, and for each question click forward and write down the name of the song. Doesn't matter if it makes sense or not; you must write down THAT song.
No cheating!
Here's mine:

How are you feeling today?
Say It Right (Nelly Furtado)

How do your friends see you?
Sooner Or Later (Breaking Benjamin)

Will you get married?
Death of Seasons (AFI)

What is your best friend's theme song?
Fully Alive (Flyleaf)

What is the story of your life?
BYOB (System of a Down)

What was high school like?
Hurt (Christina Aguilera)

How can you get ahead in life?
Serenity (Godsmack)

What is the best thing about your friends?
Firefly (Breaking Benjamin)

What is tonight going to be like?
Hung Up (Madonna)

What is in store for the remainder of this weekend?
Strength Through Wounding (AFI)

three of fifteen, plus one

2007-02-06T17:50:00.000-06:00

*Sigh*
I'm tired. STAR, new baby, staying up late writing essay and waking up early to finish it; all have made me feel ready to collapse on my bed. Which is what I'd do, if I didn't have to make dinner for the Siblings.

I took some pictures of my doggie, Sugar, and 1/5 of my cats (three of them). You see, I put new batteries in my camera to take pictures of Josiah, but I forgot the camera. Hopefully I won't be so forgetful tomorrow.

Always early in the morning

2007-02-06T07:28:00.000-06:00

At 2:30 this morning, my cell phone rang. Groggily, I answered, and it was my mom. Not that this would surprise me; we often call each other to keep from screaming across the house. I automatically assumed that I had overslept and she was wanting me to wake up.

"We're going to the hospital," she said. "Josiah's coming."

This time, it was for real. Four hours later, she calls again. "Eight pounds [can't remember how many ounces], 22 inches long."

She's sounding good for just having a baby, all smiley and happy. She tells me that my stepdad will probably be there later to bring us to see him. He cries just before we hang up. It's like he's freaked out with the world, not liking the weird, open, empty space; he wishes he had the nice cozy spot inside his mother. Then he stops, not really sure if his crying will accomplish anything, but trying nonetheless.

Josiah Craig is born!!

new games, new names

2007-02-05T20:49:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I'm posting again. I should be doing something else, like writing that essay, for example. But I couldn't help it. I'm an addict now.
So anyway, I was over visiting Joel's site, and I was introduced to something great, something marvelous, something - something, del.icio.us!!! And now I'm also addicted to that. Because it's so much fun looking at what other people think are great sites. And making your own list of great sites. So, I did.

Have you ever colored with those wonderful creations, crayons, and then realized you colored the tree trunk green on the top, thinking it was a leaf? I have. And there's no going back. Not like, say, dry erase boards. But those are not so great to color with; crayons are the best coloring utensils. So I've decided to invent something new and ingenious: the Crayon Eraser. If there are pencil erasers, and marker erasers, and even pen erasers, then by golly there should be crayon erasers too. I will name them Crayon, Crayoff. (Someone should hire me for neat and interesting names. :D)

How I will get to the point in production where I actually need to name it is besides the point. I have the idea and the name, and that satisfies me for now.

define "a life"

2007-02-05T16:30:00.000-06:00

I just got a comment saying that I have a life. (By the way, all comments are subject to my criticism, praise, or discussion. Says me.) But that made me think. Do I? Really, do I have a life if I've posted oh... let me see, 29 posts in 25 days? Ha. That's a lot now that I say it that way. But, I could be not posting, and then what would happen? No more posts to read.

And, in case any of you want to know, I've been drooling over iPods for a long time now. Like really long. So, if you guys want to buy me something for my birthday, oh wait no, my birthday is in October. Um, if you want to buy me anything for my Half-Birthday, in April... Nope still too far.

OKAY! If you want to get me something for my Unbirthday, then this is what to get. :D

My parents can NOT spell

2007-02-05T12:55:00.000-06:00

Look what I found; look what I found!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

See? No one else in the country has my name. *gets warm fuzzy feeling* I know now that I cannot be mistaken for someone else, because there IS NO ONE ELSE [with my name]!!
So perhaps it is a good thing my parents decided to name me the ever-weird: Tiphanie.

I'm always finding ways to keep me from my work

2007-02-05T12:20:00.000-06:00

And, I have not left this poor blog all alone. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking of it for the past two or three days. You see, I've been in the middle of some letter battles, using the letter P, the letter C, and last but not least, the letter T (you have to scroll down a bit for this one).

You see, I have been very busy; busy procrastinating. I'm doing a science experiment: how long can one wait to do a five-page essay before it is too late? I had a week from Tuesday to write this essay on a) any country, b) any war, c) plant life, or d) colonial life. It is now Monday. The essay is due tomorrow, and I do not have the rough draft completed yet. Bad, bad me.

But never fear! I can write very quickly! As a matter of fact, I can write so fast I think I will have the essay finished by tomorrow at 11 am, just in time. So my days of procrastinating have been very filled indeed.

Another thing I have been doing is reading a bunch of books. Because I do not really feel like putting up all the books I'm reading right now onto the sidebar (because I have to go find a picture, create a page element, and stuff, and I don't want to: I'm lazy), I'll just tell you.

I stopped reading Dragonspell for now, because it's not that great a book and I have other, more interesting ones to read. Like The Subtle Knife. But I already finished that one, two days ago. Next up is The Amber Spyglass, but I have promised myself I will not even crack the cover before my essay is done. This is how dedicated I am. I'm also reading several books on Afghanistan, the topic for my essay.

I was told this past week that my self-discipline had run off with someone else's underdeveloped self-discipline. Which explains why I decided to wait forever before beginning this paper. It doesn't matter, I'm in the process of adopting a new Self-Discipline, called Bribing Oneself With Promises of Books. It's working wonderfully.

The Superbowl came and left last night, and the Colts won. Fancy that. I picked a team at random and they just happened to be the team I chose (since neither the Packers nor the Steelers made it to the Superbowl this year). THANK GOD the Patriots weren't here this year; they've had their fun, it's time to let others have a go too. Then again, the Bears have been known to win several too, but that's beside the point. Enough sports rambling.

For those of you who don't know, I love learning new words. Banality was my word I discovered last week (it was part of an AFI song). The other day, I learned the word imbrue, which means to stain (especially with blood). I don't know where I heard this word, but as of yet I have not found a context in which to use it. It's not every day that I need to say, "Oh! Your shirt is imbrued! It seems you're bleeding profusely." Perhaps I can use it in CPR tomorrow.
Anyway, today's word is: mither. To pester someone, annoy.

I know how I can use this word! Perhaps in the next post, because this one is leaning towards the very-long side, once again.

Oh, and you have a favorite word or new word or just want to "Say something clever," please, please do so. (Click the button below that says "Say something clever..." Just in case you're as blog-ignorant as I was way back when.)

who set off the fire alarm?

2007-02-02T10:19:00.000-06:00

*Sigh*

No baby.

As a matter of fact, the hospital didn't want to admit her (she didn't want to go in anyay) so they came home at around 1 in the morning.
How very....depressing.

My mom ssent an email saying that it was a false alarm, and a friend replied saying: "I knew I should have checked on truthorfiction.com for this! (hee hee)"

Good idea.

It's Time!

2007-02-01T21:17:00.000-06:00

And.....they're off!

To the hospital. While my mum thinks that perhaps this may be another "false labor," Step-dad isn't taking any chances, and they're heading that way. The circumstances say that Josiah probably will be coming tonight!

Will keep you posted.

I have a lot to say

2007-02-01T19:03:00.000-06:00

I post this short - no, very short post to say that my incredibly long posts will not last forever. I seem to have much to say lately. I promise, I'll eventually talk myself dry of ideas. I think.

Reseal to maintain freshness

2007-02-01T18:43:00.000-06:00

I dreamt last night. A rather interesting, and I must say, long dream. Don't worry, I'm not going to post it all here. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, because dreams only let you remember so much and for so long before they pull themselves back away to grace the Land of Forgotten Dreams with their mysteries.

It was my brother's birthday, and we were rich. I say this because we had a huge house, a concert that came to play for him, about 50 friends, and indoor pool, and a backyard the size of a baseball field. Well, almost that big.

Everyone (except me) is playing outside in the "garden," I am inside rounding up loose dogs. Apparently we invited everyone's dogs too. That being completed, me and my friend (I don't know who, just some random human) decided to play a trick on the band members, by making them fall into the pool. We had almost succeeded when the dream took an eerie twist; no more light-hearted fun, but a sinister feel crept over the atmosphere.
Like this was common, everyday events, my Friend and I began talking about the Evil that was trying to get my brother. We discussed the Person who was chasing him at this very second, but for some reason, didn't think of helping. Until said Evil Person comes into the room, a challenging sneer on his face.

The dream skips like a scratched DVD, and I am now running through our yard by way of a narrow garden path. Bushes and flowers surround me as I lead the party guests, I'm assuming, to safety. The well manicured lawn looks more like a jungle now, trees reaching down to tangle my hair, scratch my face, and in any other way impede my progress. But they didn't need to, for the path itself was blocked. I stop, causing the rest of the group to halt also, and Jeremiah pushes through the crowd to my side. To my left, high up, my mom looks down from a balcony, expressionless. I try to think of how I can get my brother through the path blocked with a poisonous substance (I somehow know that if he touches it he will die), but before we can act, the Evil Person comes, carrying with him a Ziploc bag, the kind you buy beef jerky from Wal-Mart in. He threatens us with it, and then begins to open it. I shout and smack it from his hands, innately knowing that inside is a Spirit that will do whatever the Opener of its package wants. We fight for it, trying to pull it out of each other's grasp. Being the good guy, I win, and, facing the poison blocking our way under which the Evil Boss is hiding, I open the Ziploc, shaking the invisible contents out. Immediately the substance hisses, quivers, and disappears, leaving the Evil Person to scream in terror at the spirit. As its final act before it goes back into its baggy, the Spirit lifts us all off of the ground, and as we float effortlessly back into the yard, I seal the bag.

Then, I woke up.
I remember sometime in there trying to open a door, but because I have no weight as I float, I end up upside down trying to open it. I think I was doing better at the end of the dream though.

and i can't even spell hoola hoop

2007-01-31T22:40:00.000-06:00

I know that this is about my third period class, and I haven't blogged about the second, but oh well; I feel like writing about This right now. (So what if it's long. Deal with it. Or read it sectionally.)

Outside the Box:
The last period of the day, in which I act crazy with my friends. I walk to the room with my friends, D and S, and we claim our chairs. "This chair is for my bag, and this chair is for me," S states.
I sit on the table. "Well, this is my chair."
I get off the table as the other two guys come in, CO and CA (for the purpose of this post they are states), with Mr. California wearing a white bandana around his head. I must have had too much sugar in the previous class, cause I immediately began peppering him with a bunch of questions:
"Are you okay?
Are you dead?
Did you kill yourself?
Is your head bleeding?
Do you need help?
I know first aid!"

He smiles and sits down. California is the quietest in our group, but he's making progress. Being around people like Me, Sillyhead, and Big D is very infectious. Soon he'll be driving the Teacher crazy too.

Oh, let me explain the purpose of this class. In Outside the Box, we're supposed to think Outside the Box (even though the very name is quite Inside the Box) by solving puzzles and such. It's basically a logic, problem solving class.

We went from a game that involved dots and four straight, connecting lines, to a very fun bartering game. It's kinda a lengthy explanation, but, I'll just say that Sillyhead, Big D, and Me (excuse my grammar) were in a team, started bartering before they knew what hit them, and bam! We won by 2000 points.
That was a very pleasing game indeed.

Next were those word/picture puzzles I just now found out are called rebuses (rebus's? rebi?). Either way, it's a rebus puzzle.

Then came the fun part. While sitting against the whiteboard (Colorado got to do this first), someone writes a word above His or Her head. In this case, the Teacher wrote Sun on the board. We could only give one word clues, one at a time. So the Teacher said yellow, and I said Sky, and he guessed it. Since I was the last person to give a clue, I sat in the chair. On and on it went, around and around, each of us getting and giving clues; writing words and watching words being written. At one point, California got to write a word. S-T-A, he began spelling. "R," he says, "There: star!"
As Colorado and Me and Big D all burst out laughing, he covers his face. Fortunately for him, Sillyhead, who was the Against the Whiteboard Person, did not hear. The game continued.
I could not guess "Redneck," even after they said things like Hick and Sunburn and Inbred. I disregarded the latter word, because I was sure it had nothing to do with the Word above my head. Apparently, I was wrong.
Sillyhead was the Against the Whiteboard Person once again, and it was my turn to write the Word. I chose "Sticker."
Vending maching, Big D says, as if that will help her guess a sticker. She guesses candy. Scrapbooking, says Colorado.
In a great show of his grasp of Words, California says: Dora.
We all look at each other in confusion. O...kay....
I say Nametag, since the nametags each of us are wearing are Stickers which stick to our shirts. Impatience must have been overwhelming California, for he says:
"Dora, Nametags, Stickers, come on, it's not that hard."
He quickly covers his mouth as he realize what he's done, but alas, it's too late.
Another few rounds go by, and I again find myself having to rack my brain for a suitable Word. I begin to write. H-O-L- oops. I erase. H-O-O-L-A H-O-O-P. There.
Colorado point out that I've spelled it wrong. I disregard his observation, start trying to defend myself, offer to fix it, and then sit and do nothing all in less than 30 seconds. Big D begins.
Circular, is his clue.
After some thought and deep meditation, Colorado says: Hips.
The room begins to shake with laughter. What is so funny about Hips? I don't know, but everyone laughs as Sillyhead guesses correctly.
"And, you did spell it wrong," she adds as she erases the board.
Of course I did. I did it on purpose. Just to show I'm human and not completely unfallible-er. Right? Right.
By the way, it's spelled Hula Hoop.

when it's time, it's time

2007-01-31T17:02:00.000-06:00

Quick note to say:

We're not going to Wednesday night church (aka hang out with friends night) today, because, well.....

My mom's coming pretty close to having the baby. Right now, there are no interesting and factual information I can give you, but if you don't care about it being either intriguing or true, then I'll say that she thinks we'll have a new brother by tonight. Which, of course, may or may not be the case.

Either way, that's my news, and now we're going to eat or do something fascinatingly banal like that. Unless we go to the library, which is completely lacking any kind of banality or triteness.

Cheers to those who have siblings, and may you who do not, soon find yourself surrounded by a group of noisily chattering children.

Cannibalistic Person Review

2007-01-31T12:31:00.000-06:00

Some of you (and some of you may not) know that every week I go to a homeschool co-op for classes. (Yes, I'm homeschooled. Surprise surprise.)

I take three classes: CPR, College Prep, and Outside the Box. Since I usually take a great deal of time talking about something other people don't take five minutes or ten sentences, whichever comes first, to tell, I will explain one class at a time.

First off: CPR. I'm sure we all know what this is, and I know it's really not that hard, but try stretching a two hour course into eight weeks; an hour each class. What I'm insinuating is this: it's boring. Yesterday, during the class, I amused myself (and everyone else for that matter) by exaggerating the part of being unconscious (we had to practice what we would do if we found someone unconscious by breaking into groups of two; I was unconscious first in my group). Falling to the floor in a mock faint, the teacher stared at me.

"You're laying in the wrong spot," was the only thing she said.
"But I'm unconscious; unconscious people don't pass out in convenient places," I responded. I doubt she heard me, or else she didn't want to bother. Either way, I moved. I endured being "roused" (to which I did nothing), having my airway opened, a couple of fake rescue breaths (thank God they were fake; all we had to do was say "Breath, breath"), and being rolled over into a rescue position. Twice. After the first time, my partner's giggles subsided a bit more (she couldn't stop laughing before) and I was able to be completely and totally passed out. So then my turn at being half-dead was over, but wait - let's try that again says teacher, Mrs. R. In a Pirates of the Caribbean move ("Oh, the heat!") I planted myself back on the floor.

After that the class was pretty eventless; the teacher only had us do it once to our partners, so we weren't able to make them suffer as much as they did made us. But that was okay, because it was getting tiring because of the tedium. The class closed with Mrs. R telling us to read two chapters for homework. Upon leaving the room, I whispered to my partner, "I'll read it next week on the way here."

She giggled.

The Riddle

2007-01-29T19:03:00.000-06:00

Oh, I just realized that I haven't given the answer to the riddle from my earlier post.
If you haven't read that post yet, then, read it.
Before I give you the answer, you might want to watch this entertaining video: (there's a long intro, but the movie is hilarious)

Now, for the answer:
He should have said "Three," since there are three letters in "Ten;" just as there are six letters in "Twelve," and three letters in "Six."

Ha!

Currently Eventless

2007-01-29T14:46:00.000-06:00

One of the highlights of any highschooler's year: current events. I say this, of course, with my voice dripping with sarcasm. Oh, it's great fun to find an article and make fun of it, criticize it, and generally have fun, but that is, unfortunately, unacceptable for school. Take my snowball article, for instance. While I had fun writing it (and hopefully you guys had fun reading it), I couldn't submit that for American Government's current event, current as it may be.
So now, I sadly trudge through boring articles about, well, boring stuff.

My mind refuses to concentrate as the sound of Curious George reaches my ears (no, I'm not watching it, my siblings are), and I seriously consider the option of turning off the TV. That would probably just create more noise as my four siblings protest the action and defend their rights to watch the cartoon. And while they might have sounded cute a long time ago during the sponsor commercials (they can repeat every line, every theme song, every sound effect made by those commercial repeats), it's NOT CUTE ANYMORE!

And to think that we'll have another one soon.

as if i don't have enough pets

2007-01-27T21:17:00.000-06:00

I decided to adopt some baby pandas.

As long as they stay babies, of course.

yeah, sure

2007-01-27T11:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was doing basically nothing (nothing productive, at least), and my sister asked,

"Who's the most famous person in the world?"

That brought up an interesting conversation. I even looked it up online, and while there are plenty of people who give their own opinion (think Elvis and Brangelina), there was not one scientific, cultural, or otherwise dependable (as dependable as articles get) source of information. The first thing that had come to mind was our president, Mr. Bush. I refuse to acknowledge any actor, actress, or a combination of actor/actress as being the most famous person in the world. Not happening. Maybe an artist (music), but that's as much credit I'm going to give celebrities. Who is the world leader that everyone looks to? Bush. (Disclaimer: This is not stating or implying in any way that I do or do not support and/or approve of Bush. I am neutral at this point in time.)

Anyway, in between yesterday and now, I had the priviledge of witnessing something amazing; something fantastic: a shrimpy exercise.

At least he's trying to get some exercise; he must be sick of hearing from his peers that he's a weakling and a shrimp. *Hardy har har*

Yeah, I got a laugh out of that one...

sleep and silence

2007-01-26T16:08:00.000-06:00

I just realized how much I love and need silence.

Noise is not uncommon in a household of four kids between 4 and 9, but now, as I'm stuck downstairs (for reasons I will not elaborate upon), I'm missing my room with my door and my desk wedged in between the wall and the bed. It's quiet there.
Again, I stayed up too late. But tell me, what would you do if you were in the middle writing something that just kept coming? Would you stop just because it's 2am and you have to wake up in five hours? I wouldn't. Didn't.

Neither did I wake up five hours later. For shame.

Anyway, I'm still really excited about the stor(ies). I came to the saddening and daunting conclusion, however, that none of the four stories I'm connecting has an ending. No ending whatsoever, which means I'll have to make one up before I have a chance to make another beginning to a different story. *Sigh* Too much to think about right now. I'm still sorting out plots, connecting characters and adding three more, and...

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

And now, I must go. Hopefully I'll be able to post later tonight with some more interesting topics than the previously stated ones, but you never know. I might be just as brain-dead tonight as I am now.

pen and ink

2007-01-25T20:52:00.000-06:00

I started reading a new book the other day, Dragonspell. It's a pretty good book, even if I had to read a while before I got into it. I'm taking a break from reading right now because I'm in the middle of writing a story. I haven't written anything in a while, and some ideas just came to me. But, like many of my stories, it lacked crucial parts. Like the middle. And....the ending. I was going to save it in the ever-growing "Unfinished Stories" folder, but then I remembered some other stories that lacked a beginning and a plot. And another one that had no end, but an interesting plot. And yet another that had basically nothing, just some ideas for a middle of a story. As I sat at my desk, looking at the different stories (four of 'em), it all just kinda came together. I'm starting to weave the plots together, and the process is getting me really excited and hyper. I've had these stories sitting on my computer waiting to be finished for several months, and now, I'm finally going to finish them! It's one of my favorite things to do with unfinished stories: merge them. The story has no name yet; right now it's called simply: Merge. Who can guess why?

I watched Aladdin yesterday. It was my favorite movie when I was a kid. I thought the Genie was the coolest. Still do, actually; you just can't beat Robin Williams. I was reading about his role in the movie, and found out that most of his lines are improv. Witty, fast-paced, and hilarious; Genie is awesome.

So I thought that now would be a good time to write that review of Phantastes by George MacDonald.

The book starts out with the main character, Anodos, on his 21st birthday. He receives a key that opens the door to a fairy land, and his adventures begin. He meets with a friendly Beech tree, and evil Ash tree, many many fairies, sprites, and goblins, and various people, good and bad. Many things try to hinder him, even try to kill him, but he presses on to where he knows not. Often despairing, he travels wherever his instincts or circumstances lead him; at one point to the Fairy Castle. There he finds rest and enchanted halls full of mystery. As he continues to travel, depression and listlessness threaten to overwhelm him, but a friend helps him out of his despair. Even still, Anodos longs for his home, but will he ever return alive?

Phantastes is a riveting book; a book that I really find no equivalent to compare it to. You are invited to see into Anodos mind; hear his thoughts and understand his motives and actions. There are many subplots as Anodos finds himself reading enchanted books, or visiting places that seem to take place as if in a dream within a dream. The book is beautifully written; I want to say that C.S. Lewis's space trilogy are the only books I've read that comes close. (Note: I haven't read all of the space trilogy. I read the first one, went to buy the second one and got the third one instead. Then, next time I went to the bookstore, it was out of stock!) The dreamlike fantasy MacDonald creates with his words transports you to a place that is unlike any other land. It's quite a unique fantasy book. At times confusing because of the depth of the psychological thought, it's an inviting and thought provoking book that will leave you feeling as if you had been reading one of the enchanted books yourself.

So there's my review; I hope you guys will find time to pick up the book (I doubt you'll be able to put it down.)

oops...

2007-01-24T10:06:00.000-06:00

My week is completely messed up. Last night, when I wrote that this Friday is the party I "must" go to, I was mistaken. This Friday is the 26th, not the 3rd. For the past week I've been going by the wrong dates, although I'm not really sure how, since I wrote "January 23, 2007" just yesterday. Either way, it was kinda frustrating to know that my whole week has been off. But it's also nice to know I have more time than I thought I did.

So. Not this week, but next week, is the party that I MUST go to. So Josiah can come whenever (this week) he wants to.

aha!

2007-01-23T22:39:00.001-06:00

I finished it! (Phantastes, that is) I actually finished it let's see, Saturday night? Either Saturday or Sunday, but I'm pretty sure it was Saturday. Anyway, I absolutely adored the book, and hopefully I'll get around to writing a review of the marvelous work this next week or so. Depending, of course, on how busy I'll be.

Report: The baby is ready to come soon; I'm praying that it will come either tomorrow (Wednesday) or Saturday. Not in between. Reason being, is I have a party I MUST go to Friday. Yes, must. Just ask my friends. : )
Either way, of course we'll move our schedule's around the baby's; as if we had a choice. I'll write more as more comes.

In the meantime, solve this puzzle: A man who wanted the password to a top-secret Chess Club (hee hee) hid behind some bushes to listen to what the club members said when they were admitted. The first person to approach the door of the club knocked. The reply came: "Twelve." The member responded, "Six," and he was permitted to enter. The second member to knock was greeted with this word: "Six," to which she answered "Three." Thinking he had seen enough to know the codes, the man knocked on the club door. Like before, a number was spoken, this time the number was "Ten." Proud of himself, the man said, "Five," but, much to his dismay, was not allowed to enter. What should he have said instead?

not 7:00 am

2007-01-23T21:42:00.000-06:00

Who here is a morning person? Please leave now. I personally think you guys are insane. Who in their right minds would wake up when the sun is trying to warm the earth for the people to live in? Who would sleep before the moon was able to shine its full glory (which is well past midnight). Only crazy people. No offense. I don't think.

I'm not a vampire. Really, I'm not; I'm just...nocturnal. That's a good word. Here it is, what time is it? Past midnight? And I feel like it might as well just be noon. Okay not really, but still. There are pros and cons to being such a night owl. One pro: I write more prolifically at night. Whether I write better or not at night depends on the amount of sleep I've had from the night before. And whether I've eaten popcorn and/or jelly beans that day.
Cons? Well, I'm tired for school. I can't concentrate (not very abnormal though...), and I just want to sleep. Two, I don't dream if I stay up to late. All my energy is expending on, well, saving energy.
But still, night is my favorite. There's no other time in the day that I can be alone in complete silence (excluding the occasional train whistle) and just think. Some nights I'll just lie on my bed and stare into space. Other times, I'll talk with friends, but the serenity in the night is still the same; the moon still shines with silver radiance through my curtains, and the peaceful darkness still blankets the outside world. For now, if only for a moment, all is calm in my life, and I am reminded of God's peace.
So as I sit and think, I wonder what tomorrow will bring. But it doesn't really matter, because now, the night is in between me and whatever lays ahead of me. And I'll just relax in the beauty of the night.
P.S. Please remind me that two weeks from now is the full moon. Eh, ahem... I did not just say that.

(Written at 12:46, January 20)

duck, duck, boo!

2007-01-22T12:11:00.000-06:00

Rubber duckies are so cute. The little yellow smiley toys have captured the hearts of kids in the tub, to puppets who take them to bed with them.

Even real ducks can be cute. Our neighbor used to have two ducks, and when it rained and flooded our yard, we would see them paddling happily through our pond that used to be a yard. Apparently other animals don't see the cuteness; they just see lunch. One day, there was only one lonely duck, distressed that his best friend had been eaten by neighboring coyotes.

Coyotes aren't the only ones who want to see the ducks dead; hunters hunt the ducks too (an amazing concept, huh?). I find it funny though, that none of the ducks ever gang up on a hunter and scare him, just like the toys do on Toy Story. Maybe they think he won't care, or he'll be too into the hunt to really notice. I suppose that one duck realized that women were easier to scare than men, because after getting shot, and stuck in the refridgerator, she patiently waited for someone to open the door again. Two days later, her wish came true, and the wife of the hunter opened the fridge door. With large, innocent eyes (so I'm guessing; how else would she look at her?) she raised her head and looked straight at the hunter's wife. Whatever the duck was trying to accomplsh - probably to not be eaten - she was taken to the animal hospital where she has been getting better. Someone will probably feel sorry for her since her wing is crippled, and then adopt her and she'll have the time of her life without having to hunt, run away, or scare women.

Smart ducky.

Long Ride Home

2007-01-20T00:09:00.001-06:00

Oh, the curse of being a writer.

Okay I'm kidding, but seriously, why is it that I feel this need to write at 12:10 at night?

Anyway, I spent the majority of my night in a bus with a bunch of high schoolers. Yes, I am a high schooler, but, it's different when these kids are LOUD and obnoxious and crazy. Or ALL THREE. In the beginning, it was fun being LOUD as everyone around me was doing, but after about 20 minutes I felt like we really needed to stop. I sat in my seat and started reading Phantastes (I didn't get very far because I couldn't concentrate. This is the longest I've ever spent on a book; it's rather annoying.) Things calmed down a little, but then some of the girls broke out into spontaneous song. The guys, who were in the front, practically begged them to shut up, but no avail. I was starving, but the bus driver didn't want to stop cause we were late. Everyone else hadn't eaten either, because we were told that we would stop for fast food. Finally we had to settle for Burger King, and I got a strawberry milkshake and chicken fries. You know I never understood how that worked: a chicken fry? What was it, a fry or a chicken? Or did they fry the chicken? Or chicken the fry? Or what if it's not a chicken or a fry, what if it's beef? Or salmon?

We were late to the youth Bible rally thing, but we were there in time for some games (in which my friend had to eat whipped cream covered strawberries as fast as she could - with no hands!) and more food: hot dogs, chips and soda. I only drank soda.

On the way back, my friend was singing, and out of nowhere she stopped and made a weird face. "I have...whipped cream up my nose still." The group burst out laughing and someone tried to hand her a tissue. It was much fun. Until, at around 11pm they started getting annoying and I thought about going to the front of the bus. But I didn't, and I was forced to listen to round after round of "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes..." My voice is gone from screaming at them to be quiet. What a wonderful example I set.

So now it's late, 12:20 now, and I'm ready to kick the bucket. No, wait, that can't be right; must be the wrong euphemism. Ah, I don't know, my brain isn't fully working right now.

Tomorrow is Saturday; what fun. I can't wait to clean my room. I wonder if the sarcasm can come through the pixels of your computer screen. Either way, it's there. Oh! I remembered the phrase. I think. I'm gonna "hit the sack!"

Adios; buenas noches.

thoughts on a winter's eve

2007-01-17T22:12:00.000-06:00

I hate oatmeal.

It's so lumpy and squishy and slimy and, and, lumpy...ish. But it's one of those classic winter breakfast dishes mom's serve their freezing children when they wake up from their nice warm beds because they must be forced to greet the cold world. (That was so a run-on sentence.)

I like blankets.
Blankets are warm and soft and you can pile them on top of you two at a time until you feel like you're going to suffocate, then add more. They can be fuzzy and soft, or not fuzzy and soft, or not fuzzy and not soft, but as long as the not soft ones are on the top then it's all good.

Ladybugs come into my room in the winter. I suppose they think that the purple/green-ness of my room is spring, so they all camp out on my curtains, or inside my clothes, or other places. One's crawling on my laptop right now, but she's not going to be here for long, so I let her. Besides, they're so cute: little red circles complemented by black dots and short little legs underneath. I know they'll be gone soon, so I let them have free range of my room. Little tyrants is what they are; cute, lovable tyrants.

I put windchimes in my room for no apparent reason. Maybe it's a subconscious thing, since my room looks like a garden with green paint and ladybugs.

Hot tea is one of the bestest drinks the whole world. It can be peach, or raspberry, or huckleberry (something I thought I'd never try or like turned out to be my favorite), as long as it's a good tea with three lumps of sugar. I'm not English, but my mom thought it would be fun to pretend or something, and she bought this big package of sugar lumps. Now I want a horse. I always read about girls getting their own horses and sneaking out to give him lumps of sugar. Why else were sugar cubes made; we can measure our own sugar!

So now I'm going to go bundle up with a few blankets and some tea with my visiting ladybug guests, and just imagine the idea of winter and snow and such, cause I'm here in the heated room and the cold is out there behind the curtains and the glass.

All I have to do is think my thoughts on this winter's eve.

Live for Today

2007-01-16T17:47:00.000-06:00

This is a poem I wrote last year sometime, one of my first ones I actually took seriously. It was during this period, in March, I think, that I realized that writing is what I wanted to do the rest of my life. Some of my older poems I look at and shake my head, but this one still rings nicely in my head, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

Don’t ask for tomorrow,
For it might not ever come.
Don’t waste your today:
It’s the only one you have.
Don’t cry for the past,
It has already gone.
Don’t fear for the future;
Today is enough.
Don’t ask for what you do not know.
Don’t waste that which you cannot keep.
Don’t cry for what you cannot change.
Don’t fear for what will come.
Today is enough;
Live for today.

oh, the weather outside is frightful

2007-01-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

For the record, I hate winter.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the idea of winter, of the weather being nice and cold and me bundling up with a book by the fire, but that ain't happenin'. No, what is happening, is I'm being forced to go outside and clean water jugs to fill in case a) the power goes out, or b) the pipes freeze, or c) we decide to flood the house.

I have to pile so many clothes it's not even comfortable anymore. I feel like a walking pillow or something. Wearing hats is fine, as long as they aren't the scratchy warm ones that pop up everywhere in the winter; same goes for scarves. If they're decorative - fine. But otherwise, forget it. But I can't now! It's just too cold! See? Too cold.

I used to like rain. After a week and half of cold, nasty, miserable rain, I'm feeling kinda like Noah on the ark. And I really would like it to not rain anymore. Really.

The other thing I appreciate now is the sun. Even with its annoying way of blinding me every time I step out the door, even with its pleasure in roasting me alive in the summer, I have to admit I miss the sun.

Sure, I like the hot chocolate, but I drink hot chocolate in the summer too, so...that's kinda pointless.

But through all this despicable weather, I was reminded of one reason that winter is good. Yes, and I must agree; winter is not all bad. Because! (drum roll please) It's my bestest buddy's birthday!

So yes, I hate the winter.

And the rain.

And the cold. (I've been told I should just wrap up like a mummy.)

And the sick ickiness that comes from this kind of weather.

But! It's all good, cause if there was no winter, there would be no bestest buddy of mine, and I would go through a thousand winters all in a row and stacked up on top of each other before I would let that happen.

I guess winter's not that bad...nah, I would never replace it.

News: is any of it new?

2007-01-14T11:24:00.000-06:00

Surfing through the news plastered all over the internet, I've come up with a few rules to follow to help keep you out of the news.

It doesn't matter how much you think you can drink, or how badly you want the Wii, do not drink a couple gallons of water and then not go to the bathroom. It doesn't work that way. You'll die. (Also, to all you radio stations out there, might want to check this contest off your list. Who was the brainiac who thought up this one anyway?) http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4469122.html
Don't drink and drive. Unless you're Paris Hilton, who thinks it's good for image as "princess of the party." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14712866
If you don't like kids, don't get a job at Disney World. What will the poor kids think when Tigger smacks them on the head? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16506982/

4. If you're a millionare, you might want to put more thought into choosing your heirs than flipping open the phone book. Unless, of course, you land on my name. http://www.davesdaily.com/out.php?id=23636&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fs%2Fafp%2F20070113%2Fod_afp%2Fportugalwilloffbeat_070113213704
WD-40 and bee killer doesn't mix. Especially when you're throwing it at bees somewhere near your house, since it will, um, damage your house. By setting it on fire. http://www.davesdaily.com/out.php?id=23590&url=http%3A%2F%2Fapnews.myway.com%2Farticle%2F20070112%2FD8MJDUJ80.html

So there you have it. My list of five stupid things not to do, that is, unless you'd like to be in the news. If so, be sure to let me know so I can cover your demise - er, story.

everyone knows painting is an art

2007-01-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

I plugged into my creative side today. Well, my messy, painted creative side. I don't paint much. Or well, for that matter, but something possessed me to repaint the half-bath in my house. I shake my head as I recall my foolishness. "It will only take a few minutes!" I assured my mother. Hurrying to find a roller and all its counterparts, a paint tray, a paint brush, a drop cloth, some jelly beans, a paint stirrer, a paint can opener, a book, some popcorn, paper towels, and a hairtie (I couldn't risk turning my hair white now could I?), I was ready to paint. One problem. No paint.

Ah, right. I suddenly remembered how things were supposed to work. Find paint first, then paint the bathroom. Deep breaths.

Well, I found the paint, (changed into paint clothes somewhere in there), and began my quest to paint the bathroom. I decided it would be better if I just repainted the ceiling as opposed to the whole entire thing. It started easy. How hard could it be to dip a roller into paint and roll it across a ceiling? Not hard at all. I attracted a crowd. The crowd blocked the artist's sunlight, and I raised my voice: "Um, excuse me, why are you standing in the doorway?" Four little sibling voices, two not so little, replied, "What are you doing?"

"I'm rollerskating."

I wonder if they believed me. Anyway, easy part over, I had to paint the edges. That's what I brought the paintbrush for. Now, I want you all (not y'all; you. all.) to know, that I am experienced in the art of painting corners. I mean, I've watched people do it two or three times; I'm practically a pro. This is the general course of events at that point:

1. I dipped paintbrush into paint. Dropped paintbrush into paint. Oops.

2. Painted first corner, succeeded in dripping paint on the floor, on the wall, and on me. Everywhere but the corner. Deep breaths, Tiphanie, you can do this. Deep breaths...
3. "What are you doing?"

4. No comment.

5. Success at last!

6. Other corner, other edges; will this ever end?

7. Glaring at the less-than-perfect corners, wishing they would all just disintegrate and blow away in the wind.
8. Deciding that's good enough and calling it quits.

I walked away from it, though, feeling very proud of myself. I hung a couple pictures (on the walls, not the ceiling), and I thought it looked pretty good.

Then I stopped lying to myself. It turned out....pretty good for an experienced paint-watcher. But I learned my lesson: I do not paint. Ever. Especially places in the house.

Ever.

Next time, I'll stick with sidewalk chalk.

Snowballs for Sale

2007-01-13T09:05:00.000-06:00

Christmas is over.

The wrapping paper have long since been thrown away, the various boxes and packages are mostly gone, some still trying to get back at the toys by stealing their thunder, the leftovers are pretty much eaten or thrown away by now, and half the toys all the little children around America got for Christmas are either broken or forgotten. Still, some people started up the shopping again, especially those "after Christmas sales." It's a time to finish off your wish list by yourself. But I guess it's also a time for overindulging parents to further their cause to spoil their children. They didn't get the right Bratz doll, they need a different one; they didn't get the right color bike, they need a different one; the kids didn't get snow, so by golly Dad will get some.

Have you heard this one?

A couple of days ago a bidding was held on eBay selling snowballs. The woman selling? She thought it was a good joke. I agree. But apparently some people wanted snow so badly that they searched eBay for snow for sale. Imagine seeing that on a sign in someone's yard. So a loving dad started bidding for three snowballs. Three days and a hundred bidders later, a Chris Hansen of Connecticut came out the winner. The money he paid, though not specified, was apparently a tidy sum. The woman from Colorado who sold it said it will help buy a snowblower. So why did he buy three snowballs? He says that his daughters got everything they wanted for Christmas except snow. Oh, the poor, deprived children, how will they survive?

But now, I think everyone's stopped at the obstacle which is quite obvious: how do you ship snow from Colorado to Connecticut? That's a little over 2,000 miles. Oh, and the trick is, the snow can't melt.

At least they know their dad will go to the end of the world and back for them.

I think I'm going to start my own business: mosquitoes. For those people from up north who don't have the wonders of mosquitoes, I'm going to start catching them and selling them on eBay. I bet it will be a hit. While I'm there, I might order some ocean water from California, or cow patties from Oklahoma. Or I might just start a wishlist.

Read the article:

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4460521.html

Nesting

2007-01-12T13:03:00.000-06:00

I'm not nesting, but my mother is. For those of you who have never had the priviledge and deep satisfaction of witnessing and being an unwilling assistant in nesting, here's what that process entails:

Usually around the 8th month of pregnancy, women (or maybe just my sweet mommy) get a fanatical urge to clean everything around them. The speck of dust on the clock is offensive to them. The splash of Kool-Aid on the refridgerator shelf is obscene. There is invisible dirt on all the walls. Germs abound on kitchen counters, even after being cleaned and scrubbed by yours truly. But you see, that far into a pregnancy, it's a little hard for my mom to get around. So me and my five siblings are the janitors for the day. Or week. Or longer. So far we've cleaned every inch of the kitchen, dining room, living room, foyer, study/baby's room, pantry, and the wash room. (And why are we cleaning the wash room?) My arms hurt from reaching up to clean the dust on the ceiling fans. My fingers are pruny from cleaning dishes and other things. My legs hurt from walking back and forth between various places. And I'm sure we're not done yet.

But you know, as I think about the wonder of new life, of a birth, everything comes into perspective. Sure, the spring cleaning got pushed back a couple of months. But I realized: we're making way for a new brother! A brother who I will be priviledged to watch grow, and learn.

So I don't mind the frantic nesting of my mom. A neighbor friend came over to help, even, and all of us will work to make our house the most welcome home he can have. Because Josiah is on his way.

Candy

2007-01-11T21:43:00.000-06:00

I recently aquired a new custom-chosen package of jelly beans. They're all green. It's ironic, because I hate the color green, and yet my favorite jelly beans are in that color. So there's the brown-speckled, translucent center Pear, the sour Watermelon with the juicy pink filling, and Kiwi, the most beautiful jelly bean there is, complete with light-to-dark shading and a crisp white filling.

If, by now, you haven't noticed, I'll tell you right off hand. Not only am I in love with jelly beans, but I am also... a tad dramatic. But really, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should go out to the store and buy some of the afore-mentioned candies. You'll know exactly what I'm talking about then. But, you must get Jelly Belly's. There is no other way to go. The jelly beans you see above are Kiwi, but because they are a photograph, the full glory and splendor of the delicious candy is not fully shown.

Why am I going on about jelly beans? Because I like them. And currently I cannot have any, because jelly beans rot your teeth. Or so I'm told. Either way, I find that writing of them helps curb my sweet tooth, just for a while. Of course, the delectable picture doesn't help any.

Tomorrow, after (or before...sh!) lunch, I'm going to get some, whether I have to sneak or not. A bribe works nicely.... Okay, I'm kidding. But mark my words: I will get some green jelly beans!

New Beginnings

2007-01-11T13:51:00.000-06:00

How do you begin a new blog?

I suppose like this, since this is how I'm doing it. Either way, the point is I'm starting a blog, one on which I'll post my thoughts or opinions and sometimes a creative work I've finished (poetry or a short story).

I love sunrises. New beginnings, fresh starts as the sun brings itself up over the horizon. And it's so beautiful, knowing that God is there, causing the sun to shine brightly and the earth to orbit in circles; it just amazes me. He is so good.

So now I welcome you to my blog, thank you for taking the time to read it, and I hope you will stay tuned for more adventures with.... Me. :)

(Yes, I know it sounds like a bad cartoon ending, but oh well.)

~Tiph