Time to say Goodbye!

As Christians, our lives are not ours. Our time is not ours. My time is not mine.

Lately, I have felt a call on my heart to devote the time that I spend blogging to God. That may mean volunteering or just studying the word, or praying, but I know that I am finished with blogger.
I would also encourage you to take a look at the time that you spend blogging, or looking at blogs and see if you can put it to better use.
So, as a set-in-iron resolution this year is to not blog. It is kind of an odd resolution, but I am going to stick to it.
New videos that Bracie and I make will be on Bracie's blog. The two posts below are some of my best videos and posts. I hope you enjoy them!

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

I have the time that I spend blogging. I can spend it 'abounding in good works' and by God's grace I will try it this year.

Remember everyone: April 22 is talk like Shakespeare day
December 8 is Act like a Time Traveler day
September 19th is Talk like a Pirate Day
December 5 is day of the ninja
August 8 is sneak some zucchinis on your neighbors porch.

Stay Weird!

Some of my favorite posts...

I fear. In which I reveal my fear to the world...



I go on an adventure In which I save the world. Sort of.



Wishes. In which I turn 14.



My fan club. 1, 2, 3 3.5 Ha! You didn't think I had one, did you?

Typical Bracie

The Country Bumpkins Visit the Big City

With Every Christmas Card I Write...

Fishynessishness

Ophelia, the car-jacking hoodlam.

Story

Mr. Leif B. Gonn

Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy!

Battle of the Armrest

The Latest to Today Show Episodes:

The Alphabets

Celtic Zucchinis



Annnnddddd...

Elderly Elevator

We clean our room!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Let it Snow

I'm gonna...

Giles

Horse vs. Chicken

Habitat. The word conotates a natural home, a perfect environment, the right place, a sense of belonging. Today, when I went out to feed the pets, I was unnerved to discover clucking coming from the horses' stalls. We own four chickens, and I found two inside.

Hm. 4-2=2. I trotted over to the chicken coop/run to see if the others were already inside.

I discovered a little more than I bargained for. Trapped in the tiny coop was my beautiful horse! He was caught, held inside by my two evil chickens, who would flap their wings every time he attempted to get out.

Eventually, I got the poor dear out, but the event made me laugh: I found the chickens in the horse stall, and the horse in the chicken coop.

I never would have guessed that in the scenario: horse vs. chicken, chicken would come out on top!

Help!

Help! I need a name for a male villain.

He is very, very awesome. He just doesn't have a name. =(

Pizza Pranks #2

As promised...



Tonight, Ophelia (me!) neglected to defrost the chicken need for the night's dinner. (Wait, did I say that was me? heheh.) Consequently, there was no dinner. Therefore, her Mom made an executive decision to order pizza. Can you imagine the reaction?

Bracie, Gabby (who happened to be over) and Ophelia crept to a corner and feverishly began to whisper. Conspiratorial grins snuck over their faces, and Ophelia rubbed her fingers together.



Gabby's eyes gleamed. "Something must be done!"



"Singing!" Bracie hissed.



Ophelia cackled. "We should sing sppspspspspspspsps [insert movie-ish whispers here] and then spspspspspspppsppppspspppstchhhhhh? [etc.]"

"What?" Bracie said, and Ophelia abandoned whispering and switched to giggling.

"We should sing Time to Say Goodbye!!!" Ophelia said.

Bracie countered her. "No! We should sing When You Say You Love Me!"

Gabrielle asked, "But what if it's a pizza delivery girl?

Bracie shot her a withering look. "Then we sing Happy Birthday."

"I am all for singing When You Say You Love Me- as long as we make it obvious that we are singing to the pizza."

When the eagerly anticipated knock came, we crowded around the door. After commencing such details, as... paying... we burst into operatic song. Our voices rose, melodious (well, more or less,) and enthusiastic (to say the least.)
The look on his face? Priceless. As he walked away, rather quickly (for some odd reason), we switched songs.

Time toooooooooo say goooooooodbye!!!!

And now the famous...

Torvill and Dean. Because today it snowed. And then it melted.

It left me in a wintry mood, so I had to post this quintessential ice dance.

Dreamy, aint he?

I love Schroeder.

Merrily on high...

Because, as I heard in an impromptu speech at club today, bells are important.

Bell choirs, yes or no?

Erg.

And by erg, I mean ahrg, to those of you who speak pirate rather than English.
I didn't maliciously stop following your blog. My following box just POOF! ceased to be filled with all the marvelous blogs that I usually visit. I guess I followed one too many or something?

Anybody know how to fix this?


Update: Nevermind! It magically started working. I am sure you can imagine my grin.

Excuses.

Ahem. Following this announcement, let it hereby be known that the author of this blog, (in name, Ophelia. [But I'm sure you all knew that.]) is taking the following weeks off of blogging to do the following:

Making utterly ridiculous (and hopefully delightful) movies.
Writing dramatic and tragic short stories. Okay, so maybe there'll be a couple slightly humorous ones.
Polishing her school work
Reading the Grapes of Wrath
Riding her lovely horses through the snow
Romping with her magnificent (and maybe smelly) doggies through the mud
Caroling until someone throws tomatoes
Stuffing her face with holiday baked goods
Wishing random persons a Merry Christmas
Putting together presents
Slapping together strange and mysterious and likely awe striking Christmas crafts for her siblings to do

And altogether banging people on the head with Christmas cheer until they join her or perish.

This isn't to say she will not post. Hopefully that will happen. Hopefully. But rather to state that Christmas is taking precedence over the internet, which is right and good and proper.

My current motto:

Procrastinators unite! ...some time later.


I already have several ideas up my sleeve, but does anyone have extra ideas on how to soak a pizza person without harming the pizza? (Hehe! You have got to love my priorities.)

Pizza Pranks #1

Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours. ~Doug Larson

If you establish pizza as your dinner, you establish it as a goal, yes?

Which is alright. If you don't let it deprive you of interesting detours. Any experienced mischief maker will tell you that pranks are (at the very least) interesting detours.

So cometh a series of posts. I call "101 ways to make life miserable, Oops! I mean interesting, for pizza boys." By writing this series, I hope to provide some excitement in dreary routine. I promise to fill your mind with some delightful ideas which can be practised on your local pizza person.

Let's establish that by pizza boy, I mean the-person-who-shows-up-at-the-door-bearing-Italian-bread-circles-topped-with-tomato-sauce-and-other-such-deliciousness, be they man, woman, boy, or girl.

The inspiration for this fantastic scheme was provided when, two days ago, we ordered out for pizza and the world's Most Boring Pizza Dude in the history of the universe delivered the food.
Bracie, Gabby, and I looked long and hard at each other and decided that something had to change. Break the monotony! Salvage these humans from dullness! Provided a spark of hilarity!

You. Be the change. When I post Pizza Pranks, dare to detour! Hurrah! Huzzah! And all that.

Protest gravity!

The forces of nature and the principles of science have been conspiring against me.


It's true. They are malignant, always seeking to bring me down. Why? I don't know. Go ask a hurricance. But, every morning for the past week, they have sought to keep me from waking up at a decent time. I want to get up at seven. It is an apt time, because much earlier, and I won't get up at all. *blushes* Yes, it is too true: I am sadly um, sad, when it comes to getting up. The malicious forces of nature and principles of science know this, and are using it to my disadvantage.

How? It's all a matter of alarm clocks. Through a startling discovery I made in the past couple days, I now know what the lowest point of gravity is on an alarm clock.

In researching the subject, I found this poignant quote: "“Gravity is a myth, the Earth stinks."

First of all, that quote can't be true, because, well, people in Australia aren't falling off the side of the earth. Secondly and more importantly, it is true because my alarm clock doesn't wake me up at 7 in the morning. It wakes me up at the lowest point of gravity. 6.

Yesterday, (at 6 a.m., I might add) I found that the spring which holds the alarm in place on my analog clock is broken. Don't even think of that! It was gravity's fault, not mine! It broke when it fell, and the world fell determines that gravity was involved.
So every morning, the alarm sets itself to six and wakes me up too early, which in turn causes me to fall back asleep, which in turn causes me to wake up at eight, not seven, which in turn causes me to miss my morning run, which in turn causes me to not be tired at ten p.m. when I'm supposed to be going to bed!

In conclusion, alarm clocks are ruining my life. I am now protesting gravity.

(And in case you know me, yes, this is the clock that I got from Z at a white elephant gift exchange two Christmasses ago.)

Today is the end.

NonNaNo: Lately, I've been feeling so lost and alone. My soul is woeful
NaNo: [Mutters] Absolutely clackety-click. Forty-seven thousand, three hundred sixty three.
NonNaNo: My heart is so heavy! It seems as though I have no where to turn. Except for you. We haven't talked much this past month, and I miss our heart to heart conversations.
NaNo: Absolutely. [feverishly] Forty-seven thousand, three hundred seventy two.
NonNaNo: They improve my outlook so much! So, what's your advice for me?
NaNo: Absolutely. Without a doubt.
NonNaNo: Are you even listening to me? Life is so empty! No one cares about me.
NaNo: [in a preoccupied manner] Absolutely.
NonNaNo: Uhg! The anguish! What shall I do?
NaNo: If you were an elf being chased by a Minotaur, and you were about to fall off a cliff, what would you do? I need help. I'm stuck in my story? What shall I do? I have four thousand words to write. Help!
NonNaNo: [draws up from the floor on which she had been sobbing] Absolutely.


Today is the day. Today is the time. Today is the day that all you poor NaNoWriMo ers desparately scramble to scratch out those last three thousand words. We NonNaNoers, let us take a universal moment of silence to pity those souls.

Perhaps not, let's rejoice! Family of NaNo ers, let's unanimously throw metaphysical hats in the air. Huzzah! After today, our siblings/relatives will return to us! Gone will be the days of lonely contemplation as my beloved sister types and clacks away at the old keyboard.

Tomorrow we celebrate the return of the authors!

Ready yet?

Ready? Huh? Huh? Huh? How 'bout now? Now? NOW?

Can you tell that I am EAGERLY anticipating Christmas? The following are several comics that resonate beautifully with my frame of mind this season of joy, festivity, etc. etc.

Right.

(Click to make bigger)

Up.

Up is the new cool. Cool is not up. Up.

No, I am not talking about a fantastical children's animation. No, I am not referring to a weird song by the second rate country singer Shania Twain. No, I am not mentioning the name of the United Polictics party.

Up is the new positive adjective.

So, Lib, from Random Jotdowns beat me to writing it in a blog post, but I am now announcing the eve of a new term for what used to be "cool." I even have the effrontery to suppose that it could unseat the vague, "awesome. "

WARNING:

"Up" is not for wannabees or for the fainthearted. It must be said with a lazy assurance that conotates absolute conviction. After it is uttered, it may NOT be followed with an explanation. Otherwise, you're trying too hard.

By the way, I am calling down the fury of a thousand evil poodles on whoever wrote the Very Personal Tag that's been going around. Blech. =P

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I AM LISTENING TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just had to let y'all know. Usually, we wait until atfter Thanksgiving, but I couldn't resist. =D

Interesting question:

Do you think that Thanksgiving will slowly become forgotton because it's not a very marketable holiday?

Tournament Attire.

At speech tournaments, we are all required to wear professional... wear. You know, suits and sweaters and pencil skirts and that sort of thing. The type of garment that induces everyone to suppose you are older than you really are. The sort of clothing that, combined with a brisk walk, sends everyone running out of your way, because you look like you have somewhere to be, some deadline to fill, something IMPORTANT to be doing. Professional wear.

Anyhow, as I sat waiting outside of my Apologetics room, I overheard a interesting conversation. A young man woefully said,

"It's not fair. Girls don't have to worry about keeping their shirts tucked in all the time."

"No kidding!" his friend responded. "Plus they don't have to wear ties."

HA! If only they knew. HA! Why? Because girls are supposed to wear hose to be professional. And you can't get much worse than that. Ties and tucked in shirts don't even compare.
Wincing from the pain from my Very Professional, Very Uncomfortable high heels, I turned back to my apologetics box and said nothing.

Hehe! I can't believe I typed out the word: hose! Don't tell anybody. =D

Home Sweet Home!

I have sore feet. From walking around in high heels for a day...
I have chapped lips. From talking way too much...
I have incredibly messy hair. Good thing that's not on the ballot.

G'Night!

Speech Tournament!

"Of course, people are silly to worry. Just because one of of every four boats hits an iceberg, it doesn't mean that we will." ~Dick Winters, Drama on the High Seas. (Bracie and my interpretation piece.)

Today is a Round Robin speech tournament. AAAAAhhhh!

This will be interesting. I suppose tomorrow I'll have lots of hilarious messups to write about. That's a rather disturbing thought.

I. love. Gerber.

And I don't mean baby food. Here are three of my Gerber knives. Aren't they beauts?

The latest acquisition:

Sorry. I am in a violent mood today. Bear with me as best you can.

The fateful twelve...

First, list twelve characters from any fandom, then answer the questions below.

1. Curdie, from the Princess and the Goblin He's the shorter miner.

2. Bertie Wooster, from Jeeves and Wooster


3. Elsie Dimsnore from Elsie Dinsmore. (Prepare yourselves for some Elsie-bashing, people.)

4. Henry Huggins, from Beverly Clearly's work.

5. Johnny Tremain

6. D'Artagnan, from the Three Musketeers

7. Faramir. Because I had to have someone from Lord of the Rings

8. Alice, from Alice in Wonderland

9. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

10. Sunny Baudelaire Series of Unfortunate Events

11. Fay, from That Thing You Do. She's the wardrobe management. Oh yeah. Actually, her job is to hold sunglasses for Guy. (She's Liv Tyler in the middle)

12. Ludovic Lavenham ~The Talisman Ring. He's a exicitable smuggler who likes to shoot people. Tragically, I could not find a picture for him, but he's awesome.

1. Who would make a better collage prof, 6 or 11? D'Artagnan is rather lacking in the brains department, so probably Fay. She could teach music I guess.

2. Do you think #2 is hot? Okayyyyyy. Not my preferred adjective. Bertie Wooster? He thinks mustaches are goodlooking. Need I say more?

3. 12 sends 8 out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed? Ludovic sends Alice on a mission. Hmmm. I think he would tell Alice to marry Beau Lavenham so that she could inspect his jewelry collection for a talisman ring. Yeah. Actually, that's scarily realistic.

4. What is or what would be 9's favorite book? Mrs. PiggleWiggle's favorite book would probably be 1001 Recipies for Delicious Cookies. That woman is a gem.

. Would it make more since for 2 to swear fealty to 6, or the other way around? Bertie Wooster would swear fealty to any scary-dude with a sword, and then promptly forget about it. D'Artagnan would swear fealty to any pretty girl who chanced his way. As Bertie is not a pretty woman and as D'Artagnan is a scary-looking dude with a sword, I think Bertie would swear fealty. And Jeeves would get him out of it, of course.

.6. For some reason, 5 is looking for a roommate. Should (s)he room with 9 or 10? Johnny Tremain should stay with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle so she can cure him of all his vices. Everyone should stay with Mrs. PW.

.7. 2, 7 and 12 are going out to dinner. Where do they go and what do they discuss? Bertie Wooster, Ludovic Lavenham, and Faramir. Wow. First of all, Bertie only came because his Aunt Agatha made him. He takes everybody to the "Mottled Oyster" a cheap nightclub. Although he tries to tell the party about the prize he won for scripture knowledge in grammar school, Faramir and Ludovic start fighting. (Of course.) Faramir is convinced that a flaming arrow can do as much damage as a pistol. Ludovic disagrees. They start firing projectiles at the candlebra in an attempt to prove their marksmanship.

8. 3 challenges 10 to a duel, who wins?

Sunny easily wins. In the first place, Elsie is such a coward that the only person she can challenge is a baby. But right before Sunny immobilzes Elsie with her razor-teeth, Elsie calls for her daddy. Coward.

9. If 1 stole 8's most precious possession, how would (s)he get it back? Curdie would never, ever, ever steal. It goes against everything in him.

10. Suggest a story title in which 7 and 12 both attain what they desire. Hmmm. Faramir's desire is Eowyn. Ludovic's desire is a golden ring. How to fit that in a title?

11. What kind of plot device would you have to use if you wanted 1 and 4 to work together? I'd tell Curdie that Henry Huggins was surronded by goblins who were mussing his hair. Then Curdie would appear, full of powerful rhymes to drive 'em away.

12. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would it go? Great! We'd give each other haircuts. And go riding. And I'd make Faramir teach me archery. Plus, we'd get into metaphysical discussions on the proper method for running a nation.

13. If you could command 3 to perform any service or task for you, what would it be? What could Elsie do for me? I don't think she CAN do ANYTHING! I know: I'd get her to knit a purse for me, just so I could keep her occupied and AWAY FROM ME!

14. Does anyone on your friends list write or draw 11? Nope. Poor Sunny isn't exactly a romantic figure.

If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, what side would (s)he choose? Bertie would ask Jeeves, and then do whatever he'd say.

16. What might 10 shout out while charging into battle? Sunny can't talk yet.

17. If you had to choose a song to best describe 8, what would it be? I haven't a clue.

18. 1, 6 and 12 are having a dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets it?

Curdie, D'Artagnan, Ludovic. Hmmm. D'Artagnan would challenge Ludovic to a duel over it. While they fought, Curdie would promptly snatch and eat it.

19. What would be a good pickup line for 2 to say to 10? I think Sunny is a little young for Bertie.

20. What would 5 most likely be arrested for?

Well, he WAS arrested for stealing a silver cup, but he was innocent.

21. What is 6's secret? D'Artagnan likes to fancy himself full of secrets. Which one to choose?

22. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first? Definitely Fay. Athletics isn't Mrs. PW's thing.

23. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, who would you feel more comfortable walking with, 7 or 8? Absolutely Faramir. Alice isn't exactly physically powerful.

24. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them,but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic? Curdie and Mrs. PW, team up against Henry? No. They like children. Fay isn't subtle enought to spy, Henry is incapable of capturing Ludovic, and Elsie couldn't complete anything. Coward.

Whew! That's a long tag. I hope I didn't bore you to tears. I hope you actually know who some of those characters are.

Anywho, I tag:

Phil Wordy,

Bethany

Equus Delirus

SPLUFF!

SPLUFF! Spluff.

Spluff. It is the melodiac sound of...

A cream pie hitting you in the face!

My friend, Quipster. came up with that particular onomatopoeia. Many thanks. I'm addicted to saying it. If I had more time, I think I would bake a cream pie exclusively for the pleasure of spluffing some hapless soul in the face with it.

Speaking of time, I don't have much of that elusive stuff to spend blogging. So, go read Problematic's awesome blog. She does things like waltz in the rain and ponder the meaning of gummy bears.

Besides, if you read my blog too much longer, you're liable to get hit in the face with a cream pie.

Swamped.

Properly practiced creativity can lift your claims out of the swamp of sameness and make them accepted, believed, persuasive, urgent. William Bernbach.

Just so ya'll know, I am in the swamp of sameness. Up to my waist in it. Expository essays are the epitome of the swamp of sameness.

Music and Worship

This is the only version of Paul Balouche/Brenton Brown's Glorious I could find on youtube. I love this song! It was really cool to be able to see both writers perform this song separately and see their different takes on the same song.

Last night, we also got to see Newworldson which was crazy awesome. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the performance. Here's one of the songs we got to hear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKGOnAQllP0&feature=channel

Concerts are so amazing, amazing, amazing.

Comment tag (If you read this, you've gotta comment) : Who performed at the last concert you went to?

Musicians Unite!

This weekend, I am attending a musician's worship conference-ish thingy. It's amazing, but the days are long! So hang in there while I'm gone!

For me it's been an excellent time of worship, despite the fact that I can't sing because I don't have a voice.

Bye!

Me poooor neglected readers!

I haven't ex'zackly been feeling on the top of things lately, so you must excuse my infrequent posting.

And now, for some amazing news...

Giles is now 13! Huzzah! Happy Birthday!!!

He is insanely awesome, to put it into verbal terms.

Good Morning!

Last night I awoke from Deep and Relaxing Sleep. In, fact, I was rather pleased with myself at having got up some fifteen minutes or so before the old alarm sounded the cry. Now, self-satisfaction is hardly ever an acceptable emotion, but it is capital motivation when it comes to getting up early.

There's nothing like sitting around with a group of kids at some function or another and after listening to so-and-so say, "I got up at 6:00" and after hearing what's-his-name say, "I got up at 5:45," have the ability to announce, "Well! I've been up since 4:00!"

Of course, the triumph is a small reward for having to get up at four.

Anyway, on this particular instance, I got up, yawned, stretched and what-not. I jumped out of my pjs and into a pair of clean clothes. I walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and washed my face.


Why is this the least bit interesting? Read on.

While scrubbing away at the pearly whites, I glanced out the window at the dark horizon. It was a very literal dark horizon. Odd. It's usually lighter than this at 6:30. However, I brushed the thought away with recollections of the recent daylight savings.

Then I noticed that my entire family was already up. And it's not exactly common for my siblings to be up at 6:30, especially if it's dark.

Then, I noticed that the dinner dishes were still on the table.

Then, I noticed that my dear mother and father weren't back yet from the dinner they had gone to the night before.


Then, I noticed it was still yesterday. I don't think I'll ever take another nap. They are way too confusing.

Yeah, I think I'll step right in the shoes of Einstein.

Awesome video:

I love this video. It is epic.

http://www.archive.org/details/PingPong_1

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”~C.S. Lewis.


Argh! Yes! Brisingr was not long enough! Such a good series! However, I was a little disappointed with the lack of a climax. = ( I was waiting for the climax, waiting, waiting...

And then the book just ended. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Here's another excellent quote by C.S. Lewis:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
He is such a wise man.




So, per request of Libby, Peach, and Kei, I am posting these videos.

Do not feel obligated to watch it. You probably won't be amused.

A laugh for all you NaNoWriMo-ers:

Here is a hilarious, indispensible quote from William Somerset Maugham:
(It made me burst out in giggles, [yes, giggles mind you] when I first read it)

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

Is that hysterically, tragically true? Boy, do I know it. I am in the process of creating a villain (not for NaNo, for school!) and I have decided to make him as interesting as the main character. Huh. Easier said than done.

Anyway, here's some inspiration for you writers:





I am convinced that most bloggers decrease posting by half in November, if they are doing NaNo. Not that I blame them or anything.

Here's to NaNo-ers! Best wishes to you and have fun writing. I hope your eye's don't dry out from staring at the computer screen!

Church Bus Trip!

Yesterday was the delightful church bus trip. We sang the Sound of Music, danced the Chicken dance (and the bunny hop) discussed the meaning of life as it relates to toenails, listened to a beautiful sermon, worshipped, fellow-shipped, played soccer, and altogether had a jolly time.

My entire family succeeded (like we always do) in getting absolutely no photographs. We are quite adept at always forgetting the camera. However, there was an abundance of cameras on the bus. The count ended somewhere around 10. I took unwilling part in multiple camera wars. Here's some proof (blurry, because they're taken from a video camera) that I won a couple battles. All of these persons at some point or another participated. I missed the last five people. And I didn't get a picture of Problematic(See bloglist in sidebar). =P

I got some videos with my Flip, Audie. Sort of. They're rather... unprofessional. Of course, all my videos are, but these ones are particularly incoherent...

Peach dropped her candy on the floor and was forced to blow the germs off. Hence the picture.

Between the pages...

I guess you could say I am stuck between the pages of Brisingr right now.

Stuck. Absorbed. Submerged. Immersed. Enthralled.

Whatever you want to say, I am enjoying it!

I am sure my fellow readers understand my state of being at the moment. Perhaps even enough to forgive this Very Short blog post.

Oh how difficult it is to try and finish Murder in the Cathedral (T.S. Eliot, for my literature discussion) when that epic book is calling! However, by sheer force of willpower, I shall accomplish it.

After I finish this chapter.

Yipppeeeeee!!!

Huzzah! Hooray! Hurrah! Cheers!

To me. I finished my speech that was due a month (oh, wait, a year) ago and now I get to read Brisinger! You see, only a month after Brisinger came out, Mom bought it for Bracie and I. She looked us deeply in the eyes and said,

"You can read this only after you write a speech."

And I've been through a year and about 5 speech topics, but I finally found one that worked and I wrote it.

Now I am going to curl up on my bed, wearing fuzzy socks and sipping hot chocolate and listening to epic music...

After I cite about a million sources in MLA format. Bleh. Research essay classes are joy smushing. Anywho, if I have to cite resources, I might as well do it in fuzzy socks.

What are your reading habits? Nooks?

They just might take over the world.

You know what are really, really, weird?

Monchichis.

They seriously creep me out. What are they exactly??? Some kind of strange mutant monkey with bows? Dahhhhhh!

Watch this and tell me what you think. Personally, I believe they are plotting to take over the planet, nevermind the cuddly exterior.

In which I come to a realization:

Today, I sat down at the computer and realized...

That I have been blogging for over a year. It was rather startling.

And I realized that this is only my 250th post. Hmmm...

365
- 250

That doesn't come out quite right. Ah well.

Anyway, I have put up a poll.

Sublimate!

My current vocabularily word is SUBLIMATE.

The official definition is:

sublimate (sub' le mait) [limen sublimate (sub' le mait)

To turn aside an instintual, perhaps primitive impulse in favor of a more socially or culturally acceptable activity.


However, I have redefined the word. Here's what it now means:

sublimate:

To suppress the desire to squeeze a brand new tube of toothpaste in the middle. To chose to not eat the first bite out of every apple. Deciding not to hurl the chair you just stubbed your toe on half-way across the room.

In a sense, sublimate means, "Don't anything Ramona Quimby would do."

Sublimating is choosing not to throw the Murder in the Cathedral commentary at the librarian's head because it's the commentary and not the actual play. It means to not bang the keyboard in frustration when the computer deletes the resource page that you've been collecting for the last hour.

Yup. It's been a great Monday.

Enough complaining. You know what I need to do? I need to go write a story about a character who attracts misfortune. Right now. Then, if I can make enough horrid things happen to them, then I will feel better.

After all, didn't Jonathon Swift say, "Nothing is bigger or smaller except by comparision."? So by comparison with this story I am going to write, my little troubles will melt away like, um, er, uh, butter?

Here's a song for you all:

One last Marian post:

Two poems too exhilarating to not share:

And what eye hath e'er seen such a sweet Maiden Queen,
As Marian, the pride of the forester's green?
A sweet garden-flower, she blooms in the bower,
Where alone to this hour the wild rose has been:
We hail her in duty the queen of all beauty:
We will live, we will die, by our sweet Maiden queen. Thomas Love Peacock

"A bonny fine maid of noble degree,
Maid Marian called by name,
Did live in the north, of excellent worth,
For she was a gallant dame.

For favour, and face, and beauty most rare,
Queen Helen she did excel;
For Marian then was praised of all men
That did in the country dwell." ~I actually don't know who wrote that. Sorry...

More Marian Photos

The following are just Marian-ish photos. Thank you Kei!

Modern Marian #2

Last night, my dear dad suggested to me that I was perhaps I was going a little overboard on the Marian thing.

It made me think...

...Nah.

Look at those gorgeous leaves! Beautiful!

The lovely Bracie, my dear sister:

Modern Marian#1:

Bring back capes! (made by the wonderful Rowena @RandomJotdowns) Here are some of my pictures for a Modern Marian clothing (does anyone else dislike the word fashion?)

Alright, so perhaps the outfit without the cape will do just fine.

The below picture is of moi gracefully jumping off the wrong side of my horse. Way to go me. Chess doesn't mind, the angel.

This picture is very blurry, but it caught my fancy.

And of course I had to have the boot/knife picture. It is essential to Marian. =D

If feels very odd to simply post pictures of just me, so here's a picture of Lib (excuse me, I mean Rowena,) Peach, and Bracie. The ever marvelous Kei is taking the photo.

Photo credit: All of the blurry ones were taken by Bracie (don't worry, she'll readily admit to that. It's all our camera's fault.) and all of the nice ones were taken by Kei.