The news for today.

I felt artsy today and decided to play with my camera since I can't draw or paint or anything like that.

I was looking through all the old documents I have saved on this computer and it was...entertaining, and weird, and a little bit embarassing too. My favorite document is the letter I wrote to my sister, which I believe I had planned to send to her before we left for camp, so she would receive it at camp. It basically outlined a secret mission I was giving her, that she had to complete because I was going to become evil in the next couple of days.

I'm thinking I'm definitely going to finish that letter, and send it to her while we're at camp this year.

Anyway, on to the other news of the day: I learned stick shift!

Sort of. Me and my dad practiced in one of the many parking lots across from the Mall of America, as I had to go there for shopping anyway. It was fine; I stalled the car quite a few times, but I didn't hit anything!

Bought a dress at the mall, and shoes because I have somehow managed to lose my black flats (yeah...I don't know how I managed to lose a pair of shoes either.) Then we came home and a friend came over, and we watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the beginning of Rebel Without a Cause.

I'm going to be honest: Rebel Without a Cause was a pretty "meh" type movie for me. I felt as though James Dean was (accidentally or on purpose) playing a character who was either drunk throughout the entire movie, or mentally impaired, because he slurred his words, and was just generally crazy.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was better, and I actually liked it - though part of the reason may have had something to do with the fact that William Goldman was the screenwriter. He did The Princess Bride as well (and wrote the book), and that was probably one of my all-time favorites as a child.

AND FINALLY: I will announce the challenge for February tomorrow; as this challenge is done, and I failed, I will also announce my punishment.

Tonight's the full moon y'all!

Went ice skating, and fell three times, of course. There was some kind of festival thing going on, so there was music and hot chocolate, and snacks. It was really fun, and then we came home and made crepes, which were delicious!

Most of my day besides that was spent watching Lost, and trying to catch up. I think I might make it (sort of)...at the very least I'll be at Season 4 by Tuesday, and I can probably finish that and Season 5 by the time the episodes are being taken down on Hulu.

On another note, the Winter Olympics are coming up! Are YOU prepared?

-> The current book I'm trying to finish.

This is the moooorning report...

So, as predicted something happened that was of note: my sister crashed into a tree, and is, as we speak (or type?) getting stitches. Not because the cut was horrible or anything, but because it'll probably scar otherwise, and as it's on her chin, my dad decided it'd be worth it to go to the hospital.
I, meanwhile, fell once, and dropped a glove once on the ski lift, so yesterday's predictions came true! Thankfully that was the worst of it all, which means my rocrd for broken bones and stitches is still intact: 0-0
While the two of them are gone, I watched No Reservations. I don't think I've ever mentioned on this blog how much I LOVE happy endings. Especially ones where there is romance. So this movie was good, especially after a long day, and fulfilled my romance quota for the week.
And that is pretty much all...
Except, I guess I never did say what song it was from three (three? four?) posts ago: 121 (or I2I, not sure which) from A Goofy Movie (again, I don't know if I've already mentioned it, but I also really like soundtracks. If you can name the movie/musical the title of this report came from, you're awesome.)
(no photo today, sorry, our computer is spazzing at me right now.)

The end is in SIGHT.

Well, we are nearing the finish of this month, and finals are OVER, thank the lord.

Ummm....so today I watched Fringe. As always. And the Muppets, because they are awesome. And we went out to eat at Bonfire, and me and my sister got weird looks/comments from the waiters after we asked for children's menus so we could color. Is that so weird? I like coloring! Waiting for food is boring.

Tomorrow I get to go skiing! I'm sure I'll have some stories then; either I'll fall epically at some point or I will lose one of my skis/poles on the ski lift. Or both! (I've done all three too! Multiple times.)

In which we change things up a bit...

Okay, now for that new idea I mentioned to y'all:
I will attempt (and by attempt, I mean try my hardest) to finish a challenge every month. If I fail to complete these challenges, I'll do some sort of punishment. This will maybe/hopefully make this blog slightly more interesting for the both of us.
So for example: this month's challenge was to blog every day. I failed, obviously, so I'll try to come up with some sort of punishment idea. Unless there are suggestions? (come on people. I know there are some of you out there. Please, please let there be some of you out there...) Also, as one would suspect, this means the rest of the months I won't be blogging everyday, which may work out, or may mean I end up never writing on here at all. We'll see how it works for February and go from there. ¹
And that's all for today folks! Off to study for finals and watch Psych!

¹ Note: while I am not blogging everyday, I will be taking pictures everyday still. Just not here.

A missed day! Oh dear!

Written 1/25/10:

Well, I excuse myself, because yesterday WAS CHAOS.

As was most of the day in school today. Ah well.

Written today:

FINALS. GAH.

I do have an idea I just recently thought of involving challenges and making this more interesting, buuuut, that's gonna have to wait til tomorrow, as the cuckoo clock is going off and that means it's BEDTIME!

We're back in business people!

A pretty sketchoad I got from the architecture thing I did over the summer. I'm too afraid to put anything in it, unfortunately, for fear of messing it up.

I've spent a large majority of my time on the computer today, online and doing homework stuff. I'm trying to catch up on all sorts of videos, but it's an uphill battle. I did find out about some new music by some people I follow on Youtube, so I've been listening to that for a bit now. And I'm finally as caught up as I can be on White Collar.

Ok, so some new lyrics: "Got myself a notion/One I know that you'll understand/To set the world in motion/By reaching for each other's hand."

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

I am continually sleep deprived.

That is all for today because I am too tired to write more.

Similarly, I couldn't be bothered to take a photo with anything actually going on.

So here I am, scratching my head.

Nope, not even lyrics. That would involve going and getting my iPod. The only movement I will be making after this is going upstairs to sleep.

ETA: Ok, so I'll at least tell you yesterday's lyrics: Nowhere Man by The Beatles.

I feel that I am better at the short posts.

Started this today; I'm super excited, and so far it's pretty good. It does move A LOT faster than the original Pride and Prejudice. Also, it has some pretty awesome pictures.

Tomorrow's the Music Listening Contest, and I am...sort of prepared. Kinda. Maybe. Apparently we (that is, our school) have a habit of SUCKING at this, so. It'll be interesting at the very least.

Yesterday's: Put Ur Hand Up by Family Force Five.

Today's: "Doesn't have a point of view/Knows not where he's going to/Isn't he a bit like you and me?"

A longer post than usual

Today I started reading Julia & Julia, and it got me to thinking about the Internet. (Because she starts a blog and stuff...) And I started wondering how it is I even know what I do about the Internet - because I look at my sister, and I realize I was a lot more Internet-savvy than she is when I was in 6th grade (at least, I like to think I was). And while I'm no expert, I like to think I know a little more than the Average Joe.
But anyway, all that's weird because really, what prompts this type of thing? What is it that gets us started in on these things, until we know what we do about them? I don't know about you, but I never remember the underlying cause, the second when I thought, "Ah yes, I'm going to read webcomics." so that now I follow ten or eleven of them.
And for me, it's because I liked to explore.
The only reason this would be revolutionary is because it's something I never associate with myself. I'm so used to thinking of myself as a scaredy-cat, and a bit of a wimp - both are which are completely true statements, but perhaps not as true as I once thought, if you know what I mean. And in case you don't: I'm not as much of a scaredy-cat and a wimp as I thought.

An example: I hate shots. I mean, HATE them - I once suffered through some serious vomitting and stomach cramps rather than use my EpiPen. But shots are a part of life - you have to get vaccinations all the time, and I have to get flu shots every year thanks to asthma - so I learned to deal. And they aren't so bad anymore; I'm not afraid of them anymore. And roller coasters - I love them. Not afraid at all, something I thought was totally natural, before trips to Valleyfair with friends. So I've slowly begun to realize, I'm not so pathetic and weak, like I thought.

And this realization relates to exploring how? Well, my point would be that when you think explorer, you think bold; certainly not a wimp or someone who's afraid to take risks (read: me) And because I suck at athletics (like, really. Asthma, and also, I'm lazy) and I've read too many books to think going into spooky abandoned houses is a good idea, I'm not the ideal model in terms of curiosity or fitness, another two traits generally associated with explorers.

But I do enjoy it, just not the conventional, backpack-all-day-in-the-Amazon version of it. Really, and I express it in music and books and the Internet, by spending hours researching and looking for things, and clicking random links, and writing down all the books mentioned anywhere in the books I was reading (yup, I did that last one). And sometimes I will express it with actual, conventional exploring: at camp, or when camping with friends, with trails and things. And at home sometimes, wandering around random neighborhoods, sneaking through people's backyards (okay, I don't do that last one much. Or, you know, ever.)

And, well, this isn't all that relevant to you in life or anything, but it was an interesting thing for me. It's just a thought, and this blog seemed like an appropriate place for it. Also, it seemed like a fun coincedence that my dad brought home a coonskin hat right when I realized this.

In other news, I lost my library card and had to buy a new one; also, the tuba I use at school is officially broken.

Yesterday's lyrics: Through Heaven's Eyes from The Prince of Egypt
Today's: "One listen up loud and clear/because we got a little something to put in your ear/I know you came to have a good time/so kick off your shoes and relax your mind"

Whoops, almost forgot a title!

So, I just found some things out in the last 3 minutes that are unnerving to me, and they will be summarized briefly right here:

1. Neil Gaiman (who is an awesome author) and Amanda Palmer (who is an awesome singer) are getting married.

This is sincerely surreal for me, because Amanda Palmer is someone who I associate my past with, as my dad listened to The Dresden Dolls, and I grew up with Coin-Operated Boy, while Neil Gaiman is much more firmly implanted in the future (despite the fact that I read Coraline when I was in 4th grade) because only recently have I begun to read his books/blogs/see him in general mentioned on the Internet.

2. Crazy fan is crazy.

There's some girl who, basically, stalked someone from a band I actually used to listen to quite a bit, and saw, and looked up his address, and waited in his bushes, and was generally creepy, and crazy and this would be yet another surreal moment as I learned of these goings-on from the lovely Cleolinda - this would be yet another case of different aspects of my life colliding and relating and it sort of weirds me out.

And that is the news for today.
Yesterday: It Ends Tonight by The All-American Rejects Today's: "A lake of gold in the desert sand/is less than a cool fresh spring/And to one lost sheep a shepherd boy/is greater than the richest king"

Today me and some friends made some bracelets to be sold at lunch tomorrow for a dollar, to raise money for Haiti. We also made some friendship bracelets too, cause those are awesome.

This of course inspired me to make more friendship bracelets, and that is string I'm holding in my hand right there; there're so many COLORS!

Today's first song on Shuffle was part of the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack, and thus had no words (awesome title though: "Is it Poison, Nanny?") The second song, on the other hand, goes something like this: "It's my fault when you're blind/You're blind/But all these thoughts locked inside/Now you're the first to know" Yesterday's song was Johnny Tarr by Gaelic Storm.

Discoveries, and some slight cheating

For those of you who, like me, didn't know, if you stand further back, you can actually see the image better. IT'S AMAZING!!!1!!11

Anywho, today was a vegetable kind of day, though I did make a couple bracelets to help the whole Haiti thing - they'll be sold in the cafeteria during lunch I think, for one dollar, definitely on Tuesday, possibly on other days as well.

Completely forgot to have lyrics yesterday, but no one seemed to notice, so no harm done right? Those from two days ago were Baba O'Riley by The Who (<3)

So for today's lyrics:

"See, I wasn't there, I swears I have an alibi/I heard it from a man who knows a fellow who says it's true."

I'm going to be honest: this was not the first song that came up when I pressed Shuffle. In fact, I didn't even do this on my iPod; it was on my dad's. But while the first song that came up is in my iPod, I've never listened to it. So I decided to keep skipping until I found a song that's both on my iPod and that I've listened to at least once. (For those interested, the original song would have been FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake)

Books, books, and more books

God my To-Be-Read pile has reached gargantuan sizes.

One of my goals for this year was to shrink it until it was no taller than my knee; I have quite a ways to go, as you can see.

I really enjoy reading. It's the best form of escape; you can go anywhere, and see people and places you couldn't normally, and fantastic things can happen. And even better than movies, because you never have to worry about bad actors, or effects, because all of its in your imagination. And all of this has been said a million and one times, but it's still true.

In other news, my family watched Julie & Julia, and I still really like that movie. It's happy and fun and has great music, three of my favorite things in a movie, and it was based on a book based on a true story, which is always a huge plus. I also got around to watching 9 finally, and it was pretty good, though it seemed really short. It's funny how much longer movies have gotten; the movie was about an hour and 15 minutes, which used to be the norm, yet it seemed short. Meanwhile, Julie & Julia was almost two hours and that seemed just right.

(ETA: Whoops, I forgot to say the song! It was Baba O'Riley by The Who)

Today's picture was brought to you by the Imwatchinu Corp. of America.

So.

Today, inspired by The Omnivore's Dilemma (I caved and bought it so I could finish), I will begin yet another new thing (ye gods, how am I going to manage to do all this?!): keeping track of the food I eat during the day. It probably won't be written on here though, as that's not so interesting to read, I wouldn't think.


Second order of business: Yesterday's lyrics and today's. Yesterday: We're Not Afraid by Sing It Loud. Today's, brought to you by my father's iPod are: "We fight for our meals/We put our back into our living/I don't need to fight/to prove I'm right/I don't need to be forgiven." (As a side note: I love this song. It will forever remind me of A Bug's Life, as it's the song that plays at the very end, towards the end of the credits. HINTHINTHINT)

Nothing else of note happened today, besides my first Behind-the-Wheel, which was more uneventful than most of my driving sessions with my mom.

Mellifluous is a cool word.

So. First off, the answer to the games will be posted in the following day's post, due to the unforseen problem of a non-white background.

Second, I tried to finish The Omnivore's Dilemma because of Geography, and failed pretty badly. Oh well.

Third, I love Fringe. But what else is new?

Fourth, today's lyrics: "I wanna know if there's a way that you could take my hand/with yours before I slip and fall/and fall again"

And that's all for tonight, folks!

In which we invent a new game...

Today on The Daily Blog, we will be introducing a new game, because a blog about what happens to me every day is way too boring, and I don't have it in me, quite frankly, to write long blogs every day. Or even most days. (though today I do have some news: I drove on the highway for the first time!)

Anyway, the game is called Name that Song, and the rules are simple: name the song the lyrics go to without using a search engine to look them up. The answer will be in white; highlight it to see.

So I put my iPod on Shuffle, and today's lyrics are:

"I met you before the fall of Rome/And I bet you to let me take you home/You were wrong; I was right/You said goodbye, I said goodnight."

It's All Been Done by The Barenaked Ladies.

ETA: Unfortunately, it has been discovered that this font still shows up on the post. So. We'll have to rethink this plan.

Also: text "Haiti" to 90999 and you donate $10 to relief funds (billed to your phone)

And if you do that, I will send you this cat*:

*Offer valid only through 01/12/10

Yet another post in which nothing happens

I hate Pep Band, but I love Orangina!

Today is awesome because I got a dress in the mail and it is pretty, even though I can't wear it for at least another two months.

Also, because I took a two hour nap, which was good, because I literally fell asleep in band today. I half-dreamed Mr. Oyen was talking about reading.

Today was not awesome because carrying the tuba up and down flights of stairs and to the gym is not fun at all, and because half-falling asleep in all my classes was not very condusive to actually getting work done.

TITLE

I don't think I picked the best tangerine of the bunch...

Today is Fringe!

And because I don't know of anything else I can say, here! Have a quote!

"(Fiction is) the unlivable life, the strange room tacked onto the house, the extra moon that is circling the earth unbeknownst to science." -Lorrie Moore

Avatar.

I think it makes me look like something from Spirited Away.


Today my family and I saw Avatar, after an unsuccessful attempt yesterday.
It. Was. Amazing.
Can I just go live on Pandora? Can someone arrange that for me please?
I have, of course, already got the soundtrack, because I am obssessive like that.

In other news, I think I'm getting sick. Woo-hoo. My ears seemed to be blocked or something, and everything sounds really fuzzy, which is actually kind of fun. The headache, of course, is not so much fun.

And finally, I believe it's time to revive the tallies:
Books read: 4
Days missed: 1

Gotta catch 'em all!

Someone on dailybooth had a link to make yourself a Pokemon!

I love Pokemon; I grew up with them. I still have my cards, and occasionally, I'll go through them, and sometimes, I even get new ones. Yes, this is nerdy, but I am a nerd, so there you go. Can I say one thing that upsets me though? The new Pokemon. There used to be only 150, and when the 151 Pokemon was discovered, they made an entire movie about it. Now, there's nearly 500. Can you memorize 500 Pokemon using a rap? I think not.

Gadzooks! OR I can't think of a better title!

Nothing much new to report today, except I haz da Sherlock Holmez CD nao!

And the lack of Fringe disturbed and saddened me.

AND I finished the English paper.

I'm beginning to realize the fatal flaw in this plan: it means I have to figure out something interesting to write everyday. Ho-boy.

A new idea

So yes. I stole this idea from Ms. Malika Dale, who is off gallivanting around France right now.¹

It's a simple concept: a picture a day.
Today's picture was brought to you by Premium Soup & Oyster Crackers.

¹Gah, so jealous.

Oh hey look, I think maybe the blog's gone moldy...

...*pokes*
So...how've you all been? Any New Year's resolutions?
Does anyone else think resolutions are a bit silly? I mean, how many of them do you remember by the end of the year? I never remember mine. And they're always the same too, aren't they? I will exercise, read, practice, study, sleep more. I will procrastinate, pig out, be annoying less.
So this year, I'll make mine easier to remember and keep: my one and only resolution will be to be happy more.
And maybe to clean more too.

Statistics for 2009:
Books read: 100
Music on iPod: 3656
Weird faces made: Over 20,000
Most grapes put in mouth: 13
Cookies consumed: Classified information
Dogs adopted: 1
Number of visits to the doctor: 5
Days spent at camp: 13
Days spent wishing I were back at camp: not as many as last year
Episodes of Fringe watched: All of them
Episodes of Lost watched: Up to Season Three