Monday, November 30, 2009

"Life," said Piggy expansively, "is scientific, that's what it is."

Remember when I used to post every day? Or at least every other day?
Those sure were the days.
One reason is that the half-broken laptop (as in, the only thing that worked was Appleworks)(which is mildly ironic because... apple works. It was the only application that worked.) (Ha.) broke completely, so I can't type on it and then transfer to this Internet-capable computer. Another reason is that I don't have the time to blog anyway.
It's not like I really have anything to blog about. Blogging used to be fun, but now it just sort of feels like a responsibility. I feel guilty if I go too long without posting.
And okay, now I have a dentist appointment. *goes to the dentist*
*returns from the dentist*
Hi.
My teeth felt lovely and refreshed for all of ten minutes. Then I had to eat a salad for dinner, and there are bits of walnut and spinach and feta cheese and dried cranberry stuck in all the little crevices.
Christmas.
I have done almost all of my Christmas shopping, and it's only the first day of December. I also have done almost all of my Christmas-crafting. For my dad, I papier-mached the letters "F-A-M-I-L-Y," then ModPodged family photos onto them and strung them into a thingie to hang on the door or a wall or something. And for my mom, I made bath jellies, a bar of oatmeal soap, and these awesome little things called "bath cookies." To make them, you have to bake them in the oven like real cookies, and they come out looking like cookies, too: but instead of eating them, you drop them in the bath and they dissolve and make the whole bathroom thick with the scent of sweet vanilla.
My mom is actually more of a florals kind of gal. But I love the smell of vanilla. I will be lying on the floor outside the bathroom whenever she uses a bath cookie, nose pressed to the crack beneath the door where it doesn't quite meet the ground. Inhaling.

Today I realized that sometimes people go out of their way to be incomprehensible. It is very inconvenient when I am trying to understand what they mean when they say this or do that. But I guess I can sympathize with those who are too insecure to be their honest selves.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The werewolves looked like kitties!

Despite my refusals, my friends were able to drag me, kicking and thrashing, into the theater showing New Moon. I sat in one of those retarded chairs that flop upwards when you stand up staring at the screen and trying to convince myself that this was the worst movie I had ever seen in my entire lifetime.
Darn. I accidentally liked it. Especially the part where Robert Patterson got smashed into the marble stairs. That was my favorite scene, that one with him getting tossed around. It wasn't bloody or icky, so don't think I'm a morbid freak. Though I may be one.
It was hilarious in that theater though: people laughed out loud when they saw Lautner with his nasty long-haired wig on. And then they screamed with excitement when he took his shirt off. I did too for the fun of it, but I thought he looked COMPLETELY NASTY with these all bulbous muscles in extra places where nobody even has muscles in real life.
Umyeahwell, it was better than the first one for sure. Not really a good movie at all, but not a wretched mess.
I always just have one thing to say, and then I wait to post until I have something else to add to it because I don't want the post to be so short, but then whatever I had to say gets old and I don't want to post it anymore because it happened three weeks ago, so I just delete it.
From now on, I'm just going to post what little tidbits I write anyway. Starting... NOW.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

"Ew! Broccoli is so good!"

OKAY SO.
The school newspaper has this section called "Overheards," which is a collection of random and often humorous quotes that the newspaper people have heard in the hallways. Since they don't know anybody's names, the quotes are anonymous. One of them this month was "Ew! Broccoli is so good!"
I SAID THAT.
I feel so proud. I'm practically famous! (not really.) But it is completely out of context. My friend was saying that cheesecake was her favorite food and that she hated broccoli. I hate cheesecake and love broccoli, so naturally I said, "Ew! Broccoli is so good!"
Yeah. That's the only thing I had to blog about. I'm so happy I have time to blog today. High school means so much WORK. Now homework consumes most of the weekend, and I'm out with my friends for whatever is left of it. Poor blog. I neglect you.
And now it's dinnertime.
Sorry for the lame post.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Or are we ashes and wine?

Okay. I know I have urged you to listen to A Fine Frenzy songs far too many times, and if you dismissed anything of hers before because it was too slow for you, give this song a chance. It's much catchier than what she usually does. Listen.
I also want to nominate "Bird of the Summer" (by her) as the best lyrics ever. I used to think "Minnow and the Trout" was so clever with its whimsical stories, but this song is so pretty:

You came with the season, as the first swallow sang
A brown-headed stranger, with a five-letter name

We planted our kisses where the wild berries grow
My feet sprouted wings and I flew all the way home

My cheeks red like fire engines racing
Straight to the heat of your skin
And I know our days are numbered, early bird of the summer
You'll fly south just as the fall begins

The leaves changed their colors and the schoolyards were filled
My coat with the patches barely keeps out the chill

You sent me a postcard from a town out of state,
I wish it were warmer and I hope you're the same

The fields where we wandered were golden
Now only muddy my boots
And I know I should recover, you're a bird of the summer, I was wrong to try and capture you

I met someone walking in a park by the lake, it don't fly like we did but it don't fly away

Gone is the pale hand of winter
Here is the first flush of May
And soon I will discover whether birds of the summer fly in circles or just fly away

I must be boring all the non-A Fine Frenzy fans to tears. Sorry about that.
We have to memorize all the states and capitals AGAIN, for World Cultures. Plus some physical features to spice things up and make us feel like we haven't been transported back to the fifth grade.
I'm excited for this weekend. There's a race in Monterey that I do every year, and it's this Sunday. I don't do too many organized races, but this one is really nice. The route goes right along the water, so you've got a nice view of the ocean to enjoy while you run.
And the weekend after that, I'm going down to Palm Springs to visit all my relatives who migrated down there as soon as they turned forty and refused to ever come back and live Northern Cali ever again. We're eating Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant, which is so untraditional and lame that I don't think I've be able to choke down the turkey.
Just kidding. It will taste fine.
I'm going to go to this little store that I went to last year for my (very very early) Christmas shopping. They have all these cute little stationary sets, jewelry, plushies, and things like that, and I will probably get the majority of my gifts for my friends there. I always get impatient for Christmas. I'm going to start my season a month early.
Okay, I keep getting distracted with things, sooooooooo
bye.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sanna Croose.

SO today I went to Santa Cruz. Beautiful place. My family and I occasionally decide it's time for some salty air, so we drive over there and park about an hour from the wharf. Then it's an hour's stroll along the ocean, enjoying a constant view of powerful waves crashing onto the rocks.
Almost every other time we've gone to Santa Cruz, I have bought a chocolate-covered strawberry at this festive little candy store on the wharf. For the first time ever today, I bought a bag of caramel corn instead. Everybody crunched and munched the delicious confection all the way back to the car. I felt sugar-buzzed and content as we pud-pud-pudded around the downtown area. There was a bookstore that I spent at least an hour in. I bought three used books for less than ten dollars, and read this one book that made me literally laugh out loud several times. Luckily there were few other patrons to stare at me.
My mom bought a knife at a kitchen store. The blade could not have been more than two inches long. She apparently found in in the clearance section and was charmed by its soft lime-green rubber handle. I asked her what she was planning to cut with the dinky doll's knife.
"Little things, you know, like radishes and stuff," was her reply.
The last time I ate a radish, I was nine years old.
In the Urban Outfitters, several quirky objects stole my heart. A flashlight shaped like a cat, and when you turned it on, the lights came from its eyes. A plug-thingie that was shaped like a little man, with a face and limbs that you plugged extension cords into. A magnetic clip that looked like a mousetrap; the trap could be lifted and could snap down and clip papers. A phone shaped like a hamburger: the bun flips open to reveal the keypad. A drawing pad that you could draw on, then look at your drawings through special glasses and they would look like they were popping off the page. A Rubik's Cube with a little screen that would function as a clock, thermometer, timer, or one other thing that I forget, depending on which way you turned the top row of sqaures. Who comes up with these weird little items? Can it be my job when I grow up?

Anyway, when we got back I decided to make a pair of shoes out of duct tape. My dad got mad at me for wasting expensive duct tape, but they were awesome shoes.

Oh my golly gee, I forgot to mention. On Friday I attempted to teach two of my non-softball-playing friends how to play softball. I never realized how hard it is to teach somebody a new skill. I will never be a teacher, I guess. I was like, "Okay first we'll learn how to throw yay," and I threw a ball, and then was like "You go now!!!" and of course they didn't know how. Then I had to go, "Ummm well you put your arm back kinda like that, and then you just sorta bring it upwards and then like, go like... that, and then you're done."
Trying to explain how the game worked was even harder.
"Okay soooo if the batter hits it and it hits the ground before any of the fielders touch it, they have to throw it to first, which is that one, and if the batter gets there first then they're in, and if the first baseperson gets it and steps on the base first, they're out... oh and they're allowed to run through first base, but not second or third, those ones, because if they do then the fielders can tag them even if they already touched the base, but you're allowed to go back if you run it as long as you're not tagged first... but if the batter hits it and it goes in the air, one of the fielders has to catch it and the batter is out automatically, and the batters on base can't advance to the next base, because if somebody hits the ball and you're on, for example, second, you can run to third and even home if you have enough time..."
I'm so bad at explaining things. I left them dazed and confused.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Clever trick

Today I was walking home from school, and I saw this candy wrapper on the ground. It was for Air Head Extreme-o's or something. That exact wrapper had been lying there for as far back in the school year as I can remember. I have been taking the same route home every day, and I've noticed that wrapper on the ground the same way I notice the cracks in the sidewalk or the fallen leaves scudding across driveways. It's always just been there, part of the scenery.
Today I realized it was litter. So I stopped, and picked it up, and threw it away. It's something I should have done weeks ago.
But now I'm worried I'll miss it. Maybe my life will change somehow, because I purposely altered it by getting rid of something that has always been a part of my daily routine. You never know.

A little later, still walking home, I realized I was smiling. I immediately stopped, thinking it would look stupid to be smiling at nothing. But then I thought, why not? I smiled all the way home. Why is it considered idiotic to be smiling when you're alone with nothing funny or cute or whatever? I protest this unwritten law. I will smile all day tomorrow.

I have an urge to go to a park with somebody and sit on the grass tell them my entire life story, and then talk about randomities such as the ones listed above for an entire afternoon.
Any takers?