Between War & Peace

One More Step Towards Adulthood

2011-07-03T17:57:00.000-04:00

After being declined by my own bank, I received a letter from Discover telling me all about how splendid their credit card is and how I should totally get one with their special code. Of course, there is nothing special about a credit card, it is just non-existent money, sends many into debt, and helps build a credit score. For this little college student, it is the latter that I'm interested in!

It is a scary step, but I really needed to start building some credit if I intend to get things accomplished when I'm rich and famous. I've already begun to further my education, become engaged, set the plot-lines for my career, and aside from living in/owning my own place, this is one the last few steps to adulthood! Intimidating and enticing, this card creates a slippery slope... one I don't intend to fall down. Thus far, I have made one purchase: a "www.shirt.woot.com" shirt. No reckless spending for me!

Any of you all have suggestions or even horror stories about credit cards?

The Relationship Bug

2011-06-23T16:14:00.000-04:00

I could easily jump in on my work right now, but I want to blab this out before the words flutter away!

Maybe it's just me, but it seems as if so many relationships around me are smoldering out and people are breaking up, getting divorced, and leaving behind the ones they proclaim to (at least at one point have) loved dearly. I won't point scolding fingers or drop names like bombs, but it just seems to be happening with such a high frequency for many of my friends recently. It's almost like it is a virus spreading its vile nature around and making lives miserable! I wish I could squash it out and zap away its powers to make people hurt, lonely, and destroy relationships. I know I don't have super powers to do that, though! (I say "relationships" meaning both intimate and platonic... losing/drifting apart from a close friend can hurt just as much as it does with a significant other.) I’ll put it out there for everyone to know: I’m always going to be there for my friends, those closest to me, and even those who just seem like they need someone.

I’ve got little actual relationship experience, having only dated two people, and both instances were not fleeting puppy love that lasted for a little pinpoint in time, like many school-age relationships do. But, I do know a lot about what it feels like to lose a friend (actually, MANY friends – life has a tendency to send everything adrift in its ocean), have a family member die, endure heartbreak, be unwanted by those who should want you (*nods to my dad’s side of the family*), and struggle to fill the aching gaps left in the path of something tight-knit like a relationship or a friendship that fell to pieces. Granted, I know that not all things are meant to last. Even in my peculiar brain, I know that some people aren’t meant to be together, some friendships are bound to fizzle out, and not everyone in your family will love you (despite the common thought of “I love you. I have to love you because we’re family”). It is these icky trials and tests that make us human, define who we are, and force us to feel the entire range of emotion.

I’ve always had a sort of unwritten rule that goes along the lines of things said in confidence, in secrecy, or in private to a close friend, or lover (now that I’ve got a love bug of my own), should remain confidential, secret, or private even after there’s been a falling out or after the world finds a way to end the niceness of being close to someone. I honestly think that people shouldn’t go spurting out such things, even if you’re no longer friends or close together because it is just wrong to break the trust that was there. But, with this recent massive flood of relationships teetering and breaking apart I witness more and more instances of people saying horrible things, divulging top-secret tidbits, being slanderous, and even leaving behind all sense of morality just to stab someone they once loved in the back, to “get even” for being left behind. (I’ve got a whole other story involving my previous relationship on this topic, but that’s for another day.)

It truly saddens me to see people miserable after something like a breakup happens, and it irks me to know that some people can be so cruel as to shatter another person’s well-being with such harsh words… but I know it happens. I see it often.

Maybe it is just me, but I see this relationship bug infecting people particularly around the summer time. It might be because most of my buddies, pals, peers – whatever you want to call them – are still revolving around a school calendar. Every year as the summer creeps in and warms our skin, it seems like people take that opportunity to create close relationships, but also begin losing other ones, possibly due to the fact that people are moving away, going to a different school, seeking new employment, or whatever it may be. But, that’s just my little observation.

With all of that jibber-jabber being said, I am thankful to say that Josh and I have avoided this relationship bug and its viral tendencies, and we are contentedly happy and aren’t soiling each other with mud-slinging or broken hearts. It is a great thing to have someone to provide stability in this massive drifting ocean. I just hope everyone else can find that, even if it involves becoming the “crazy cat lady” (*nods to Mom and her love for her fur-babies*).

(Bonus reading, for you over-achievers.) I’ve even chatted with friends on facebook about the dreaded relationship bug. A gal-pal of mine noticed it, too, and made it her status and tried to console the masses while saying that it really isn’t the end of the world. And, another friend (the second little tale) was rather down about his recent breakup.

“Right there with you. So many of my friends have had their relationships fall apart this year. Josh and I have called it the relationship bug (or something like that) and have been questioning who is next. I can totally understand why some relationships go down the drain, and I can relate to there being scars and damage left in the wake. I even understand missing once in a while. But, I can't understand people doing some of the horrible things they do against their "partner" (for lack of a better, more encompassing word) after a break up or even during a relationship! I simply cannot fathom cheating on someone ... if it sucks that much, then break up, don't add salt to the wounds by going behind someone's back. I also can't imagine the horrible things people say/do to their once-upon-a-time lover after a breakup. Smearing their reputation, lying, telling secrets that were once said in confidence, all of that... It shocks me. Relationships are a thing of love and trust and connection. People shouldn't desecrate them so horrendously, during or after. And, no matter what, it's always okay to remember the good times, just don't let the bad times haunt or dwell too much on the good of the past that doesn't need brought back.”

“Having not been in your position, I can't say something like "I feel ya" or "I can relate." :/ But I do understand what it is like to have such a big piece of your life just fall away and it's weird functioning without that stability. It is hard to surpass the void left behind, but I'm sure you can handle it. You've got friends by your side to help. Now you live for you until you find something greater to live for (some find another person, some turn to religion, others delve into work... stuff like that)."

A New Life

2011-06-19T00:13:00.000-04:00

So much has happened within my hiatus, most of it not noteworthy. (I have graduated high school, became engaged, transformed into a stronger employee, continued my education, sought involvement in school programs, got involved in modern gaming, and even acquired a new car.) In summation, there have been many little changes! But, there is one piece that began as a little change which has now blossomed into a big whopping chunk of my life... and is certain to grow!

At the beginning of the Spring '11 semester, I thought to myself something along the lines of "Hey, be awesome and start something here on campus - A psychology club!" But, I lacked all get-up-and-go, gumption, and the elbow grease to put it in motion. Two days later, a classmate announced to the class his interest in making a psych club and I jumped on board instantly. Though I can't say it was only my brain-child, I can say that it has opened many doors that I didn't even know were on hinges and in place! Weeks later, Nicholas (the classmate), and I had become members of the Student Activities Council in an attempt to further the creation of the club. Less than a month later a friend of mine, Kelsey, who had been involved in SAC all year, glided on up to me hoping I could help her out. Turns out she wanted to run for President of the SAC and have me as her running mate for VP! My heart leaped at the chance to help her out and maybe even get some good things rolling on campus. A hop, skip, and a jump into the future, the Psych Club became a proper noun and a real entity on the campus and I became the secretary, campaigns were underway for SAC (we were, as they say "Friends in the SAC"), finals were just around the corner, and scheduling for the fall became chaotic (split enrollment *insert Macaulay Culkin's Home Alone face*).

This has morphed into me becoming not only the Secretary for the Psych Club (a position I chose because I didn't want the duties or pressure of anything higher up), I am also the Vice President of SAC and have been placed into many sub-facets of SAC. Summer vacation even became school-enveloped as the cabinet members of SAC had to entirely revamp the constitution, organize new standing and ad-hoc committees, and plan for next semester. So, I've also become the chair of the Programming Committee and an appointed (by the Dean) member of the Complaint Review Board! PHEW!

Now... I just need to figure out how to handle going to both KSU-Tuscarawas and KSU-Stark campuses simultaneously (for some classes not offered at Tusc, despite being told they would be, because a professor went on sabbatical). Bleh...

Brain Drain

2010-03-29T16:37:00.000-04:00

"The Man" is trying to suck all brain power out of every student! It started with the vile SAT and the ACT for college-bound students. That morphed into the OGT - Ohio Graduation Test for high school sophomores, which birthed the proficiency tests that plague the elementary schools. All to put kids into a percentile and to decide who has ascertained the most with wrote learning.
It's gonna be the death of me!
April 10th will be the third time I've taken the ACT (the more common of the two college aptitude tests in Ohio). Every time I walk in mentally prepared at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning... By noon when I stumble out the testing room doors, I am about an inch away from a coma! My mind is so exhausted that it makes me physically fatigued! And, it's the same thing for any of those same style tests. OGT was easy, but it still took a WEEK of my time; not to mention I had Mono when I was taking it! The elementary-level ones do the same darn thing, and it's every other year -- how atrocious?!
Do other states have their version of the OGT or is Ohio just lead by sadists who want to make students suffer to prove that their 12 years of education set in at least a little?

Spring Break, Splurges, and Smiles

2010-03-27T13:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a long while, but I miss doing this. Somehow I've managed to keep up with facebook and my journal, so I guess I should be able to keep this updated (at least relatively so).
My last day of class before break was Thursday, and heck, that day was already a party! Kyle brought in his Wii system, and some of the "Loungies" (people of the lounge at my college) played an old middle school favorite: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yesterday, Friday, Mom and I went shopping and I splurged most of my money for the month on over $40 in books -- so worth it! And, Mom bought her new Nook; now she won't stop saying how she's going to get "nookie in bed tonight." Yup, gotta love her. Along with going to the Barnes & Noble for all of that, we went to Sam's Club and I got my monthly stash of jalapeno poppers. ... And a new laptop! Good thing I'm great with money had have enough already saved up so I didn't break the bank! I've already put about 1/16 of my music on it and all of the school files I'll need.
The future forecast says that I've got some even more smiles coming! Wed-Thurs Josh will be spending the night here and we'll celebrate our one-year anniversary. Then, Fri-Sat I'll spend the night at his house since he doesn't have work. Then, I've got Easter Sunday where I hope to meet Uncle Brian's elusive new lady friend... They must be serious because in all previous relationships, he just never told us anything about her. This time there was a Valentine gift and a romantic evening we were filled in about and also given some tantalizing tips as to what kind of chick she is. Somewhere in those plans, Josh and I plan to go up to the Football Hall of Fame -- the Christmas gift I got him this past December.
All in all, I have high hopes for this coming week! Woo hoo for spring break! I need it... After this, I've got two projects to work on for my lit class and two tests in the same week we return from break. Talk about reality crashing back down. And, then the ACT the Saturday after the first week back! Lovely!

Back Again, Only to Pack Again! PART TWO!

2009-07-27T19:02:00.006-04:00

I came home from Camp McPherson on Friday. And lo and behold, Josh showed up that evening as we all celebrated my birthday at Texas Roadhouse.

Later Jordi came over and gave me her gifts. All in all, I got a twilight shirt, a necklace, and a box Total Cereal (best choice ever!) from Jordanne; a twilight game from Heather, my sister; two Edgar Allen Poe books (one of which was published in 1904, awesome), and an art project of his that I've always admired from Josh; a facial powder container that is an antique from Mom (because I love loose facial powder and I always use Coty powder); and an antique candy dish from Grandma (with candies included)!
Camp was amazing. The only downfall was that my camera broke. A friend of mine, Dennis, set out to fix it when it broke on Wednesday. He discovered the problem upon opening it up, hooked a few wires back together, and it was fixed! I was estatic that he could fix it! But, while the microchips were exposed, a girl came up behind us in the pavilion and broke a waterballoon all over it (by accident). So, there was no salvation for my camera while at church camp. But, the next morning, when I went in for my breakfast dose of food meds, the nurse said I could use her camera all I wanted! How amazing! She couldn't essentially leave the nurse's office that much, and therefore couldn't get pictures she wanted; so, she was more than willing to let me use hers, provided I took care of it (of course, I did). The day I returned she emailed me all the pictures that were taken with her camera and I didn't miss a single camp memory!
The weather was actually to my liking most of the time. It was hot-ish out (80s), but the rain and 24/7 fog and misty-rain cancled that out. It made for some amazing pictures and felt nice with the heat.
We were organized by tribes (the twelve tribes of the bible, of course!) and my tribe was Tribe Zebulun.

I really liked this years challenges, they all resembled Survivor challenges. It was pretty cool, and the way they made it this year, there wasn't much of a "compitition" factor to it where people tend to get carried away, but more fun than anything.
But, now I'm back home again, and I'm getting all my missed work compleated so that I can be ready for when my family and I leave to go to Virginia to see my step-mom and her kids (the woman my dad married and her kids from another marriage). We're going to leave very soon. We've got it planned perfectly so that I can return home again in time to celebrate Jordi's 17th birthday and go to Ceder Point with her and Tony and Josh.
By the time I get back, it will almost be time to get ready for school to start up again! Oh my goodness!

Back Again, Only to Leave Again.

2009-07-17T21:28:00.002-04:00

Our plans for the Indian's game fell out and we simply all congregated at my house and watched movies, went to the mall, to Wal-Mart, and then our separate ways. I stuck with Josh and spent the night (and the next night--from Wednesday until this afternoon) at his house. I think that I need to simply plaster a sign up on the back porch that says "Loungie's Hang Out" (we all met at the lounge at Kent) that way it's official.
With Josh, I had my first encounter with an X-Box 360. I actually played a real video game! The only other game systems I've ever played was one of the black and white gameboys, and the Wii we got for this past Christmas. We played Halo 3. He got this X-Box for ten bucks! What a steal! But, anyway, I actually didn't die the first time I played, Ryan just took over for me when it came to the flying part. Granted, I still suck at it; I have no coordination for that kind of stuff whatsoever.
Today we went out to eat and I got soooooooo much food. But it was so good! Despite being full after the appitizer, I couldn't let the food just sit there because he paid for it and I didn't want to waste it. So, I ate. ... Only to regret it as we went to GameCrazy. No more needs said on that, because if you didn't get the hint, then you don't need to know. :)
But, I finally got back home, and I'm leaving Sunday! Right now I'm in the midst of doing laundry, making a packing list, and tring to figure out what bag I should take. Too bad I don't have a Josh-sized bag... I could smuggle him into camp! lol. But then I'd have to smuggle in all my Loungie friends, because you can't have one without the whole group.

Oh, My God! What Is That!?

2009-07-14T18:06:00.002-04:00

I had a huge scare last night. Mom and I went shopping yesterday and afterwords, we went to a Rally's drive-thru and dined at one of the outside tables. We were by a busy street and Mom felt something hit her back and said, "Hey, someone just threw something at me." I was surprised that something could actually hit her from where we were sitting. So, putting down my milkshake, I glance around the ground to see what hit mom. Nothing. Then as I twist back around to the table, I glance two big, beady, black eyes staring straight at me from Mom's back! I screamed and jumped out of my seat and ran a few steps back, screaming "Oh, my God, what is that!?" The giant bug was clinging to her back, and it had shiny wings and a green-ish body (but, it was dark, so it could have been a different color). She started to scream too, and people eating in their truck a few spots away started to rubberneck wondering what could possibly have happened. Mom jumped out of her seat and started dancing around trying to get it off. It fell to the ground and we looked puzzled at the odd insect. It was a cecada. I'd never seen one alive, only the shells on headstones and trees. It laid on the ground, belly up. It was surely dead. So, we went back to eating, laughing about it, but still creeped out and hoping we saw no more. I was truly grossed out. When we finished eating, the guys from inside Rally's came out to see what had happened. We went to the car, and they stood around it, looking at it and laughing like we did. Then as Mom was about to pull away, the cecada took flight again! We thought that little bugger was dead! We ate by it! *GAG* The guys jumped back and cackled with laughter. We idled the van a few moments more and watched it's creepy flight around the overhead lights above the drive-thru.
YUCK! It left my skin crawling.

PARTY MONTH!

2009-07-09T19:59:00.000-04:00

so, this is my party month. I am hardly going to be home all month long. I spent the 3rd - the 6th of july at Josh's house. We lit fireworks all weekend long. we went to the Canton mall (where i'd never been) and bought myself a swimsuit. Also, I purchased two video games for Josh's birthday (he wanted them and I said i'd make them his gift).
This weekend i'm at Kings Island for the rides and a christian concert- Spirit Song. Thus far, its amazing! I'm listening to Skillet as I type this, and Switchfoot is next! Rides all day, concerts all evening. I'm here until Sunday with some people from my youth group (this is the prize for completing the bible reading challenge). Friggn woke up at five in the morning today so we could get our rooms by ten-ish. The rooms weren't ready until 3! But its all good!
Next weekend is Josh's birthday and College ID Night for the indians ball game, and me, Josh, Tony, and Jordi are going to that. Then the week after is my week long summer camp with my youth group. Then the weekend that is between July and August is when me and my family are going down to virginia beach to be with my step family.
Then after all of that moving around, I am going to Jordi's 17th b-day party, and then everything after August 6th is up in the air. This shall prove to be fun!

Sleep-Overs And Camping

2009-06-12T11:14:00.002-04:00

With summer break underway, my schedule has freed up. Already, I have spent the night at Josh's house, and it was a blast. Since everyone seems to flock to my house, it was nice to go over there for once. On the fourth (of June) Mom drove me out there to his house. Keep in mind, this is, I think, her third attempt at finding his house. Granted, the previous times were in the darkness of night, but we always have had trouble, and the GPS struggled with the maps of the boonies. But, thank heavens! We made it out there with no problem. I guess the third time really is the charm.
Once there, we found Josh in the driveway shooting hoops. As soon as we got there, he couldn't get a single shot in! It was hilarious to watch him try and try and try. Then somewhere along the lines, the previous night's one-on-one game between Josh and his sister's boyfriend. Josh had made fun of how he knew he was going to beat him. But then he was down by eight. (Needless to say, he did win.) He joked with us about how his sister's boyfriend would shoot the ball, because he looked more effeminate than masculine, shooting it with one arm, and dangling his wrist. Josh decided to demonstrate! It was the only shot he got in the entire time we were sitting in the driveway with my mom still in the car. We laughed so much, because the only shot he got was the one he made fun of the most, the "gay-boy" shot.
After mom left, he tried a few more shots, and then we went inside and got all my stuff settled. A mere twenty minutes into my stay, he gets a call from a friend who is stuck in Canton with no ride home. So, Josh and I hop in the car and head out to get him. About ten minutes into the drive, his phone rings. Bruce had a change of plans and he didn't need us to go get him at all! Oh, I would have been so frustrated if that had happened to me, if I were the person driving. But, it was a fun drive, I got to see the back roads from his house to Canton.
By the time we got back, dinner was being set up and we ate a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and macaroni salad. We stayed up late, until like four in the morning. His sister's friend was over (and surprise! She was an ex-girlfriend of his....). Collectively, we played guitar hero, and later, Josh played this basketball game, because I challenged him, saying I wanted to see how well he could play it. After I had tried to sleep, but couldn't, eight o'clock rolled around, and I decided to slip out and go to the bathroom and change out of my pjs. And then, suddenly, sleep hit me, and I just crashed. But of course, Josh had slept more solidly before then, and was awake when I was asleep. Eventually, after pleading for thirty more minutes (and then another thirty more minutes) I got up and indulged in pancakes his mom had made! They were delicious. Later on, we went out to his work, Goodwill, and I splurged on some old books that were in too good of condition to let just sit on a shelf in a store. Then, we went out to lunch, and that was DELICIOUS! I can't wait to eat there again. Afterwords, we went to my house, and met up with the rest of the loungies as the day went on. By nine pm, Tony, Jordanne, Hayden, and Kara were all at my house with me and Josh, we watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop and hung out.
Now, camping... To pull that it was quite a stunt. Tony has a camper out at a local camp ground/lake/marina, and he works there, at the gate house often from 4pm to midnight. So, on the eighth, I picked up Jordanne, and then Josh took us out there. We staked out at the gate house until he got off work at midnight, and together, we sat around and watched Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Later, we hung out in the trailer for some time, attempting to teach Jordi Eucher, then around two in the morning, we crashed. Morning rolled around, and I woke up when grounds keepers started their lawn mowers. Not long after, the guys went out to Giant Eagle to get some food for lunc, and Jordanne and I jumped in the showers. While the guys were gone, we cleaned up the trailer for Tony, and then upon their return, they went to the showers, and we continued cleaning! Lunch was easy, just ham sandwiches and whatever else Tony had in the fridge. Not long after, we had to rush out in order to get Jordi home in time for work. I took Tony's car and drove us to my house, got my car, left his, and took her up to her house and to work, while the guys cleaned up lunch, and closed up the awning.
So, yeah, it was a great time. And, hopefully, we can do it again over summer break!

What a Day!

2009-05-23T02:41:00.002-04:00

Oh, my! Today has been quite the day.
It's almost three in the morning as I type this, and yet I'm fairly awake, despite it being a LONG day. But, it was a FUN day.
I woke up at about 7:30am and did my normal routine, preparing to head to the high school and planning on arriving at 9:40 like always. But, then, as nine o'clock rolls around, I realize, it's Friday! Friday means squeeze schedules at the high school. Third period starts at twenty-one after, and I’m running late! Makeup isn’t done, hair is frizzy, this is exam review day, I can’t risk falling behind. Without a doubt, I start panicking. So, I race through my morning routine, and manage to get to the classroom right at 21 after. But… no one is in there, not even the teacher. Time for more panic! I go through the hall and look for where my teacher and the class could be. Several doors down, I find her in another teacher’s classroom. As it turns out, it ISN’T squeeze schedule, and I am, in fact, early to class! After she explains this and we head back to the classroom, I take advantage of the extra time and work ahead on the massive review packet.
In class, my teacher invited the entire class over to her newly built (still in process, I should say) geo-dome home for a tour and cookies. The entire year she has kept the class updated on the progress of her new home. Pictures, stories, and all that good stuff. She said that the class could stop by any time between three and five; she even gave us directions.
I plan out the rest of my day on the car ride back to the house. Josh comes over after he returns from driving Bruce to Canton at around 12:30, which means I have from 10:40 until then to do math homework, fix my hair again, eat something, and other random things. Then, he’d hang out until 2:30, at which point we’d head over to the Dome Home. By four o’clock, Josh and I would be back home, and head out to Wooster to deliver some money to an acquaintance of his that he owed him from when school was in session. We’d be back by 6, which gave us time to eat dinner with the family, hang out, and play Wii.
Those plans promptly went out the window.
At 11:40-ish, Grandpa called and said he needed me to drive out to the Garage (the place where he works on cars) because he needed to compare the way my convertible’s ragtop was attached to Heather’s new car (which is basically identical to mine) so that he could properly install her ragtop. So, there went all of my prep time. I drive out there, and Grandpa says that it’ll only take twenty minutes or so. Needless to say, I don’t make it home in time, so I have to tell Josh to show up at my house later than planned since I wouldn’t be there. I had no problem helping Grandpa, though. I like being able to help.
I get home, and the instant I walk in the door, Josh is calling, asking when it’s ok to show up. He arrives five minutes later, and 45 minutes after that, we head out to the Dome Home.
The tour was amazing. That house is so MASSIVE and spacious and beautiful! Once everything is finished, the house will be gorgeous. But, since Josh and I are on a time constraint because we need to meet the person he owes money to at a set time, we have to head out before most of the people show up.
We go back to my house, jump in his car, and head out north on I-77, assuming that we know exactly what we’re doing. Well, it doesn’t take long to discover that we have NO IDEA what we’re doing.
We get lost, nearly end up in Cuyahoga Falls (which is close to the northern-most point of Ohio, right by Lake Erie). At that time, we decide to turn around, call his mom, and admit we’re lost without any sense. She miraculously knows exactly how to get us from this random place to a town we’ve never been in, all right from the mental maps resting on the tip of her tongue. What could have been a 30 minute drive turned into an hour and a half drive just to get there! Then, we can’t find the meeting spot, and we end up in the “getto” (if you can call it that) of Wooster. Now we call his friend and he somehow figures out where we are, meets us, and guides us to a safer place. There, we make idle chat, and Josh pays him what he owes. Then he tells us how to get back to my house. I don’t think we got home until 6:40 or so… It was CRAZY! We got lost so many times, over and over, on our way to Wooster (which turned out to be a lot closer than we thought to where I live), and then on the way home, it’s smooth sailing because we have accurate directions from his mother combined with that of his friend we met. Both of which collaborated with what my grandma said we should do.
Finally, when we made it back to I-77, I called Mom that she should have Grandma start the food right away because both Josh and I are famished.
Back at the house, we sit at the table talking for nearly an hour after we finish our meal of home-made hamburgers (YUM!) and discuss all sorts of random stuff, most of which often got turned dirty. Then we finally get all settled in, and Mom and Grandma have to leave to pick up Heather from some party thing, leaving Josh and me alone in the house, which shocked me. Granted, nothing dirty or bad happened, and they knew it wouldn’t, but it still was a surprise.
Then, towards the end of the night we watch the Cavs game and each time Mom walked in, they started losing; it didn’t take long for us to banish her. Needless to say, with just the last second left on the clock, they managed to come up and WIN! It was amazing. They were down a few points, and with one wild shot, the game was won. It was just awe-striking.
And per usual, Josh didn’t leave until about 1am. Frequently, he just crashes on the couch, often with another guy (Tony, or Billy, thus far), and just sleeps here. Mom loves having him around. It’s amazing how well they get along. I love it.
So, yeah, my day was crazy.

Can I Finally Breathe?

2009-05-21T19:44:00.003-04:00

Yikes, I'm back! I have started working for my mom as part of her transcription business. Recently, she had fallen behind, and I caught the over-flow work. It never seemed to end. Right now I'm finally to a point where we're comfortably behind, rather than drastically behind. So, that has kept me from blogging.
Kent is officially over for the spring, and I shall return in the fall. Now, all I have to worry about is the one class I have at the high school. Amazingly, my teacher said that she would let me attend her third period class in place of the first period class that I'm enrolled in. The coursework is exactly the same, and it runs at the same identical pace as the first period class, the only difference is the time. This way, I can sleep in two more hours. So, that works out wonderfully for me! And soon enough, the high school shall be done for the season as well! Summer break, Here I come!

Picture It... In The Nut House... 2009

2009-05-09T23:04:00.016-04:00

Anyone out there ever watch The Golden Girls? Well, any time I would get sick and stay home, it seemed like that and The Nanny on Lifetime were always on. So, I watched. Point being, the title for this blog comes from something Sophia used to say (by the way, she just recently died). As she'd begin one of her stories, she'd say, "Picture it, Sicily..." and state some random year then prattle of some story that always had Sal in it.
Well, as I promised earlier, now you can TRULY "picture it" with me. This entry, I shall try and stay within time order, starting at the beginning of all this insanity from this semester.

Some of the loungies back in March, this was just as i was starting to talk to them and not sit in the corner (as I am when I took this picture).

This would be Josh and Tony in March, making a pop bottle explode with Mentos.

My sister, Heather, blew up a condom after watching youtube videos, all the while my mom was video taping it and grandma was howling with laughter.

Here is the first time Tony and Josh ever came over to my house. They're playing Wii Baseball... I think it was more fun for me to watch than it was for them to play! Even though it was a nice March day, they still played inside.

At aproximately 2:00 AM, Josh started giving Billy the ride of his life! Somehow we always end up at Wal-Mart. Here, we're in the parking lot. But, this instance, no one is meowing.

And then there's Coney...

And then there's the day we built a fort made out of couch chairs in the lounge (and got yelled at for it.) Eventually, it spanned the entire width of the room and was taller than any of the people building it.

Life: Revisited

2009-05-07T16:31:00.001-04:00

My Goodness! Have I really been away this long? Alright, it's time for me to get back into the game. So much has happened. My second semester of college has been one giant party with a dash of soap opera. I shall try to do a condensed version of the past 4 months.

When classes started in January, I had a gap of free time between classes from noon until five thirty. It didn't take me long to discover that the lounge was full of interesting and entertaining people. I even have class with two of the people that were in there at the same time with me. Soon, I learned names and we became friends. The lounge became the highlight of my day. Within time, we all started gravitating to my house and hanging there. Before long, we were playing games, making noise, and hanging out at every chance possible. February followed suit. (Literally, we played card games like euchre all the time.)

By the time March rolled around, drama slowly seeped in. As most of my people know, I have been dating Corey for a long while; almost a year and a half. But there had been rocky spots in the past where we fought over the topic of sex... needless to say, the issue became the death of our relationship and he broke up with me because of it at the end of March. Directly before and for several weeks after some NASTY things were said by him, but I don't need to rehash healing wounds. But there were many soap-opratic moments. For those of you who read this blog at the clear begining, remember Jordanne? Well, Corey tried asking her to date him, she declined, and he persisted. During the time that he thought he would be able to date her, he was happy after the break up, all the while I was misserable (because he was trying to secure a date with her WHILE we were still dating, before he would break up with me). But then, at Wal-Mart at two in the morning, Josh asked me out. Then the tables were turned. Corey had no girl and wanted me back, but all chance of that had been ruined with the things he said and by his actions. So, now, he was misserable and I became the happy one.

With Josh, Tony, Hayden, Jordanne, and all of my other peeps that I've been blessed to meet and become close with in the Lounge (go loungies!) I was able to keep myself sane during all of the drama that the issues eminating from Corey and miscellanious other people. I stayed entertained and preoccupied with trips to Wallyworld, the mall, card games in the lounge, Hayden's rice crispies (home made... BY HIM), roadtips to random places, and of course, by people staying over at my house. Oh, and by the way, Tony and Josh both LOVE my mother and she ADORES them! She talks every chance she can get with them on IM, and when they're at my house, she joins in on the fun! It's amazing the way everyone seems to get along with her.

Before I started dating Josh, I was oblivious to MANY things. As it turns out, the guys were hitting on me! ME! The silent little girl who sits in the corner and reads. It all started with one day, Tony and Josh took over my laptop as I had the webcam up and running, trying to chat with mom. They ended up being flashed by my grandma, trying to sell me to a czechoslovakian pedophile goat farmer, and counting urinals in the boy's bathroom with my mom. That was at the begining of January (yes, back to the begining, a nice little back-track). Then apparently, they constantly hit on me. I was totally oblivious and missed every instance. As it turns out, three of the guys in the lounge actually LIKED me in a sense that could go beyond friendship. But, I haven't had so much fun in the longest time. This semester has been a blast. Before I even started dating Josh, he and Tony were constantly over at my house... One time Josh even stayed past 2:30 in the morning! Another time, a week or two ago, Josh and Tony crashed at my place after Jordanne and Hayden left, just because they could! It was amazing.
Inbetween all of that, Josh was going through hell trying to sort out what to do with his girlfriend, Katie, who had broken up with him, slammed him on myspace and with her friends, only for them to get back together. Without a doubt, that was a mistake of hers. His heart broke and he lost trust in her and faith in their relationship. It wasn't long until they broke up the final time. Now, I get to be the happiest girl on Earth by dating him. Her loss.

(WARNING: here comes a small dosage of "gush" time)
I don't know how all the cards fell into place and I was able to actually meet him, let alone date him. Mom says this is the happiest she's ever seen me. He can always make me laugh, no matter what, and he treats me "like a princess" (his words). I never imagined that I would date a guy like him; he's fun constantly, loves hanging with me every chance he gets, and has a great personality, doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs! (End Gushing)

And then, just a week or so ago, Tony started talking with Jordanne. Meanwhile Jordi was in a relationship with a guy named Adam, whom she wasn't all too thrilled about. So, within a week of Jordi and Tony talking via IM, she dumped Adam and is now on cloud nine with Tony!

Now, we are trying to hook Hayden up with a friend of Jordanne's just so that we can all have someone. And, if it works, she shall be Hayden's first girlfriend!

Tomorrow (Friday), we are all meeting up at my house (as we do almost every friday night, and frequently throughout the week) and then just have a blast hanging together. Shall be fun!

My next post, I shall toss in some pictures of everyone.

Devious Plans

2009-01-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

Very frequently, my friends and I devise our devious plans to execute our deranged but fun ideas. We just so happened to have two of these instances in one day.
Yesterday, on my SECOND trip to Sams Club that day, Elizabeth called me and said she has a devious ploy to make it so that me and Corey can eat lunch together even though he has closed lunch and goes to a school on the other side of town. You see, Elizabeth's mom actually works for the school both she and Corey attend, and she has many connections. There is a restaurant on grounds that supports the Culinary Arts class (which Liz is in) and this restaurant is open to the public... and I am public! So, Lizzie's mom, in all of her devious glory, is going to pull Corey from his lunch and get him the proper permission to eat with me at the restaurant! All of this came about because Liz's mom wanted to eat lunch with Elizabeth and Liz took it from there!
Last night at my weekly youth group, my pastor announced our next party. Elizabeth, sitting next to me, devised a devious plan to get a bunch of people to come. Pastor Chris said that the price was $8 and if you brought one guest who had never been to our youth group before than you have to only pay $4 as well as your guest. With two guests you all get in free! So, Elizabeth's devious plan involved getting all of the names of all the students who get emailed the announcements since they aren't actually at the High School to hear them, like me and Elizabeth. There are about twenty or so name, Juniors and Seniors, on this list. And all we have to do is scan in our party invite! Then we can get a bunch of people there and get in free. Now it's only a matter of actually doing it.
So devious.

Retreat

2009-01-04T14:17:00.002-05:00

I've been gone for a leadership retreat and now, I am home... and nothing has changed. Shocking.
The little trip of mine was a good way to relax and ignore the world around you. I always love going out to Camp. It was hosted at the same camp I go to every summer and winter, and each time I always wish it would never end. But, now I am back, and ready to type in my blog! Sadly, nothing exciting has happened that would be worth of writing. So, you, dear readers, have a job! Give me some ideas on what I can write about.

2009

2009-01-01T13:46:00.004-05:00

It wasn't too long ago that I watched the New Millennium roll in with all of it's splendor. Sadly, the next eight years went down the crapper. Y2K, George W. Bush's election, 9/11, War on Terror, "Axis of Evil", Dubya's re-election, more war, more terror, economic meltdown, recession, and now we're back to where we started: a new president-elect, and the masses scared. Only, this time it is a Democratic president and the population isn't scared of technology, but rather the people who use it.
What do I think will happen this year? Not much. President Obama (yes, he will be the president, any skeptics will have to just deal with it. Denial time is over.) will start a slow but desperately needed turn-around for the economy, but won't have it attributed to his name in the history books because it's too massive to fix in one term. There will be more terror, and the financial crunches will tighten in the world, even though people continue to purchase Apple products valued in the $500 range. More people will accept Global Warming and realize that the miniscule degree adjustments really do make a detrimental difference. New trends will grip the US. And people will still be dying in third-world countries of diseases for which we have cures abounding in industrial areas. So, yeah, for the most part, everything will stay the same this year.
This does't have to be the case, but we all know that and I digress because that's a rant for another day.
For me, 2009 shall be a good year. And if it isn't you ask? --- Then I'll make it one. From what I can see, I've got school beyond the clutches of the High School Monster, amazing (-ly crazy) friends, a family who loves me, a boyfriend who (unexplaibly) adores me, and the outdoors to calm my phillosophic, hyperactive, overanylizing, and obsessive mind on the days when things take a down-turn. So, yeah, I pretty much demand this year be good despite the bad.
As for the "new years resolutions"... I don't need a specific time of year to make me decide when to better myself, I can do it when I please, thank you very much.

A Returning!

2008-12-30T23:01:00.003-05:00

Just for you, Unhinged! I have finally sat down to make up another blog entry.
Not much has been happening here, just the same ol' same ol' stuff. SSDD. So, I suppose I shall just ramble on about the randomenss of my life. Nothing special. Grandpa and my uncle have been "paying their West Virginia taxes" by going down there (remember, we live in Ohio) to gamble (a recreation Ohio has yet to approve). So, while they go down there, their dog, Camshaft, get tossed over here. This leaves our cats to go hiding downstairs in the basement with the door tightly shut to keep themeselves from becoming chew toys. Unlike our last cats who stood up for themselves against our dog (no longer with us) who stood up for themselves, these two are chickens.

For Christmas I got a brand spanking new laptop from Dell complete with fingerprint security, touch sensitive music keys, LED screen, and Windows Vista. Mom secretly started setting it up so that it would be all ready for me on Christmas morning, but then the touch pad stopped working. Easily, she attached a usb mouse and continued on... She typed in my name into the computer and it became a steady decline as the computer stopped working. All technology is repelled by my touch. It just stops working whenever I use it. But this, it couldn't even live with my name. So it committed computer suicide. So, I ended up finding out because Dell sent out a guy to repair it (which didn't work out well) right when I was home. So, the replacement finally came on Monday (a few days late for Christmas, but I was just as thrilled) and it's been one day, and I have it fully ciustomized. See, this is what a girl can do when she has no school hindering her time! Blogging and computer setup and reading (of course).
Also, because of my 3.2 gpa in my Kent classes, Mom surprised me by giving me her phone that syncs with outlook, has a full keyboard, and has Windows Mobile 6.1. It was Mom's most favorite phone ever. She went in to the Altel store with the intentions of giving me a new one identical to hers, but they had none in stock so she just got a new one and gave me her phone that was working perfectly fine. That is, until it was in my hands. Within ten minutes, nothing on it worked. I had only sent out one text message from it and it just died. Right there as we ate lunch at Taco Bell. So, we ordered a new one because this one couldn't go to sleep (the backlight turns off and saves energy) because whenever it did, it would STAY that way and you couldn't even turn it off. I had to take out the battery and replace it each time I went to turn it on! But, all is well. I have a new one and it, too, is fully customized.
So, there you have it. A breif overview of the mundane life of moi.

Desperation

2008-09-20T22:59:00.005-04:00

For my writing class (one of the many at Kent) I had to write an essay expressing the importance of a piece of artwork and "demystify" it for the reader. I chose to do my project (the first of the year!) based around the song "The Approaching Curve" by Rise Against (not to be confused with Rise Against the Machine... *cough* mother *cough* ).
Sadly, there is no video, but I doubt that any video could capture the magnitude of the song. It took some time to find a proper home-grown video that had good sound quality, but here it is!

Feel free to read my essay below. It took me for ever to finally figure out a way to put it up here since Blogger would not accept the way I had it designed in Microsoft Word. Finally I just posted it to my Google docs. I've yet to publish something with my Google docs account... so, I hope this works!
Click here for my essay: Desperation.

Absent

2008-09-08T19:58:00.000-04:00

I have been absent from my blog because I'm too busy trying not to be absent from school. Homework is yet again the moving and all encompassing force in my life. But, no worries, I'm going to be working on several blogs for the future. I'm still trying to get that video of my new youth room that I've been boasting about to all of my real life friends. Hopefully it will be my next entry.

A Work in Progress

2008-08-28T22:08:00.005-04:00

I have finished my first week of college classes (four, not five, days a week of classes)! Ahead of me I can see my long weekend and a decent amount of homework. Thus far, all of my assignments have been doable and I've managed to get ahead in the game! But, not by much.
Right now, my hardest task is keeping my room and desk clean since that's where I do all of my homework. On a regular summer day I have "clothing-colored carpet" and my desk is so cluttered that it's virtually unusable beyond the title of storage area. But, this school year I've been fairly good at keeping up on it. Each day when I come home I toss all of last night's clothes in my hamper and clear a working space on my desk. After everything is in order I can begin the tedious studies I've devoted myself to this year.
So, in an attempt to show you all just how much crapola I do... take a look at this picture! Heck, there's even a bottle of hand sanitizer hiding behind my books (the green bottle). And if you want to see the picture, just click it to view a bigger image.

Prison Escape

2008-08-21T09:57:00.003-04:00

While school sometimes can seem as an escape from reality where Ritual had sex with Systematic Order and together they birthed the hum-drum monotony that will glide a student easily through about eight hours of a day, it can also use those same elements to become a torturous prison. Last year it was a prison. But this year, I am making a daily prison break as I scramble out of the school doors, gasping for the clean air of the outside world-- an air that is not filled with echoes of long division, John Brown, nor participial phrase lessons. How can I manage this and not be marked truant as I walk out right pass the principal standing guard? Well, I only have one class at the high school and the rest are at Kent. Luckily for me, HS started on Wednesday while Kent doesn't classes until next week.
It's giving me time to get things organized and get back into the swing of things for school. All the while I get to snicker as everyone else is trapped listening to lectures upon rants upon self-help videos. But, I can't help but to feel as if I should be deathly ill because that's the only time that I'm home from school.

Rant and Rave

2008-08-16T13:50:00.001-04:00

She rants, and everyone who reads it raves! Unhinged has some of the best rants by far... check out this one! http://stillunhinged.blogspot.com/2005/12/75-minutes.html

I Need Some Drugs!

2008-08-15T17:24:00.004-04:00

Well, at least that's what my mom told a friend of hers-who works in a doctor's office-in this email... Read and enjoy!

From: DiAnne
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 12:01 PM
To: 'TRUDE'
Subject: Hey...wanna be my drug supplier??

Yo! How would you like to fix my daughter up for a supply of those good things that the drug reps bring in?

Of course, I’m talking about pens and post-it notes and whatnot. She’s not into the actual drugs, just the, errrrrr, paraphernalia that they bring!

Anyway, Beth starts school next week and she was just going through my “goodie drawer” where I keep all the office supplies and she was saying, “ooh!! I like this, can I have it?” “Cool! This is mine!!” She particularly liked the yellow Januvia pen that had post-it flags attached to it. She also liked the Zometa pop-up post-it packages. Plus, pens, pens, pens. Of course, she has to sort through the drug names and make sure there aren’t any Levitra, Cialis, or Viagra names on them (because those pens make it HARD to write LOL).

So anyway, I don’t know what the supply is like at the office, but we were thrilled with the last goodie bag you handed me. If you get a chance before we have dinner next week, could you see if there is anything else you could get? Of course, if it is a problem, don’t worry about it.

Looking forward to dinner! I finally remember the name of the restaurant – Hot Rod Heaven or something like that. Yumm!

DiAnne

Economy Down, Gardens Up!

2008-08-13T23:48:00.004-04:00

Across the street from my house, every thursday when crop season hits a climax, there is a Farmers' Market where people tote their personally harvested crops from their backyards or farms and sell them in the park. Generally, if one doesn't get there by 9am everything is gone; and, on a regular day, the farmers usually show up around six or seven in the morning... their customers are quick to follow. My grandma and I would frequently go over and purchase an astounding variety of fruits and vegetables (granted, sometimes she'd have to go without me because I'd sleep in). Their prices were often far below that of the prices at the store and we'd stock up-- filling the picnic basket many times! (and because I'm such an amazing granddaughter, I would carry it for her.) This year, we've only gone once! The economy has been in such a horrible downturn that a) people cannot accommodate the high priced-and continually rising- price of foods that are basic staples, and b) the farmers can only purchase enough seed to fill their family with little to sell.
But, the lack of goods worth buying at the Farmers' Market is not why we have only made it once, it's because grandma has been growing her own garden!
I absolutely love it because I can create a salad in my mouth each time I walk out to the back yard to get into my car, all I have to do is grab a piece of leaf lettuce or romaine and snatch up a cherry tomato from the vine and just pop it in my mouth! She doesn't use pesticides for this very reason. The other day I went out there with a salad bowl and prepared a salad as I sat in the garden! Of course, I added more when I went inside.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, leaf lettuce, romaine, and zucchini all from the garden along with store bought mandarin oranges, crasins, and pumpkin seeds topped off with French Flair spritzers dressing with a side of natural black tea. Amazing. Grandma can actually make her own tea from the peppermint plant we have in the garden, but we've raided it so many times that we need to let it grow some more before we can harvest it again, but just let me assure you, it is delicious to have something so home made as that tea.

A Fashion Show and When Two Worlds Collide

2008-08-12T12:34:00.008-04:00

Saturday, I spent the day in my room cleaning, organizing clothes, ditching the unnecessary, and folding the good ones to be placed in an orderly fashion in my dressers--which are now virtually bare.
A ritual I absolutely despise, and always have but seem to be forced into: "Fashion Show"
In my family, we all tend to be pack-rats and never get rid of anything, despite it's uselessness. (We actually have an old record turn table that has never been used; we purchased it in hopes that Mom would transfer our old records into cds. Never happened.) When Mom takes it upon herself to enforce the fashion shows, Heather and I have to take EVERYTHING out of our dresser drawers and closets and compile each thing into one massive pile. Each of us try on every article of clothing to see if it fits and then decide if we would ever wear it again, then toss the unwanted things into one mega pile and the keeps in another pile to be folded later. Such a grueling process that takes hours of my life that shall never be returned-- it should be banned! It is a necessary evil.
The reason this year was unique is because this year was the first time I was unleashed to do it on my own rather than under mom's watchful eye.
Starting with this:

And eventually I whittled it down so that most of it ending up in two baskets that were set to become profits for Goodwill (our favorite store). As proof that we are extreme pack-rats, I found clothes in there that I wore in FIFTH GRADE and that haven't seen the light of day since then.... pack-rats.
After that catastrophic explosion of clothes followed by impulsive organizing I got onto IM and held a conversation that proves that individual lives, unique worlds, collide daily and can prove to be quite interesting.
Usually, I do not bother with discussing shopping, fashion, or money situations just in a principal basis, but this was one exception. Jordanne and I experienced our world colliding! (I cut out the excess to spare you, the reader, of our mindless rantings and senseless babble that could only be understood by those who delve into our heads.)

Jordanne says (10:06 PM): How was your day
Jordanne says (10:06 PM): It was interesting
Beth says (10:07 PM): my day was spent organizing my clothes
Beth says (10:08 PM): 20 school shirt 15 home shirts (pj shirts) 1pj outfit 5 undershirts
Jordanne says (10:08 PM): New?
Beth says (10:08 PM): that's all that i have... left
Beth says (10:08 PM): total
Beth says (10:08 PM): i don't go school shopping every year
Beth says (10:08 PM): we don't have the money to do that
Beth says (10:09 PM): so, yeah, i weeded through my old clothes and that's what i have left that i'll actually wear... the rest were stuff from like eighth grade and whatnot
Jordanne says (10:10 PM): that sucks...
Beth says (10:11 PM): how's that suck? that's a lot of clothing!
Jordanne says (10:11 PM): that you dont get to indulge in getting new clothes
Jordanne says (10:11 PM): but then again you're not much of a shopper
Beth says (10:11 PM): pfft, even when i get "new clothes" they're from goodwill
Beth says (10:11 PM): lol
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): lol
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): mom can't keep me from to things: new clothes and healthy food
Beth says (10:12 PM): *two
Beth says (10:12 PM): and if given the money, i'd love to shop my little heart out for clothes
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): i probably get new stuff every 3 months...but only a thing or two
Beth says (10:12 PM): but, i don't have that money
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): yes i kno
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): two
Jordanne says (10:12 PM): lol
Beth says (10:13 PM): :P
Jordanne says (10:13 PM): haha
Jordanne says (10:13 PM): i didn't think you liked to shop
Beth says (10:14 PM): it's a bother when you don't have the money to do it because you have to function under a budget and not to mention the entire thing of looking at myself in a mirror to test out the stuff... but yeah, if i were to actually have the right money, i'd probably enjoy shopping for clothes
Beth says (10:15 PM): WAIT! YOU SHOP FOR NEW CLOTHES EVERY FEW MONTHS!
Jordanne says (10:15 PM): ???
Jordanne says (10:15 PM): !!!
Beth says (10:16 PM): that's insane!? like, how much do you get.... better yet, how much do you spend?
Jordanne says (10:16 PM): Depends on who I'm with
Jordanne says (10:16 PM): It's not that insane...do any of your other friends do that?
Beth says (10:16 PM): ok... um no!
Beth says (10:17 PM): but then again, i only have two other close friends
Beth says (10:17 PM): that are girls
Jordanne says (10:18 PM): Kayli's family lives from paycheck to paycheck and she gets new stuff every few months...but anyway...i don't know a few shirts a pair of pants/jeans or two
Beth says (10:18 PM): that means nothing... how much do you actually spend!?
Beth says (10:18 PM): jeans can run from 5 bucks to 50 bucks
Jordanne says (10:19 PM): Well...hot topic, a&e, aeropostale and hollister stuff...but i get stuff on the sale rack at hollister...with mom, about 60 bucks. with charlie anywhere from 50-120
Beth says (10:20 PM): damn!
Beth says (10:20 PM): mom spends max of 50 between heather and i both!
Jordanne says (10:20 PM): :(
Jordanne says (10:20 PM): I'm sorry
Beth says (10:20 PM): nothing to be sorry about
Beth says (10:20 PM): i'm jsut shocked
Jordanne says (10:20 PM): I've never had that reaction before
Beth says (10:21 PM): dang, now i want a shopping spree with your step mom
Jordanne says (10:21 PM): Haha
Jordanne says (10:21 PM): A little thrown off
Beth says (10:21 PM): ?
Jordanne says (10:21 PM): Might as well mooch off of dad while I can
Jordanne says (10:21 PM): She's spends more than I do when we go haha
Jordanne says (10:21 PM): She loves Pac Sun
Beth says (10:21 PM): heh, wish i could do that. my dad would spend buckets of money on my clothes... he used to
Beth says (10:22 PM): anyway
Beth says (10:22 PM): still!!!! DAMN! i wish i could have that much money to buy clothes
Jordanne says (10:23 PM): Ahhh
Jordanne says (10:23 PM): You make me feel insecure
Jordanne says (10:23 PM): lol
Beth says (10:24 PM): how so? i shouldn't...
Beth says (10:24 PM): it's just different money situations
Jordanne says (10:24 PM): I'm not used to that kind of a reaction
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): that's all
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): i kinda feel bad
Beth says (10:25 PM): what kind of reaction shock?
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): i always give mom crap about not having more stuff
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): yea lol
Beth says (10:25 PM): !!!!
Beth says (10:25 PM): what!?
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): Jeez
Jordanne says (10:25 PM): Bad Beth*hits nose*
Beth says (10:26 PM): no, honestly. that's shocking... :P
Jordanne says (10:26 PM): Not a lot
Jordanne says (10:26 PM): Of crap
Jordanne says (10:26 PM): I mean
Jordanne says (10:26 PM): Just sometimes
Jordanne says (10:26 PM): Very rarely
Beth says (10:27 PM): well, i gotta get off here quickly... apparently we have a newly set 11pm bed time
Jordanne says (10:28 PM): Yikes
Beth says (10:28 PM): and dearie, don't let it get you down. it's just shocking to me... it's just two different lifestyles.
Jordanne says (10:28 PM): Shocking to me too
Beth says (10:28 PM): heh
Jordanne says (10:29 PM): You guys spend more on books and timewarner
Jordanne says (10:29 PM): tell mom to get dial up and you guys will have more clothes
Beth says (10:29 PM): lol... we hate timewarner... but its the only thing avalible
Jordanne says (10:29 PM): lol
Beth says (10:30 PM): well, chickadee... i gotta go to bed now... well, shower, then bed

That was quite strange... Now I just wish that her step mom would abduct me and take me on a shopping spree with Jordanne to council me for my lack of fashion sense.

Baby Got What?

2008-08-07T23:45:00.002-04:00

We've all heard Sir Mix-A-Lot and his famous one-hit-wonder song "Baby Got Back" but have you ever heard Southpaw's "Baby Got Book"? Compare and see if you get my point. It's hillarious how good the spoof is, and I love it.

Baby Got Back

Baby Got Bible

A Second Home

2008-08-02T20:04:00.002-04:00

Everyone has a place that they tend to frequent where the other inhabitants know you by name and you feel welcomed. It may be a friend's house, a local hang-out, a church group, or even school. Mine is the local library-- my second home. I have found pictures of me (a few among the many thousands) of me wearing a pink coiled bracelet that had my key-chain sized library card attached to it... I was five. Each librarian knows me by name, as I am in there at least once a week-- often more than that.
A year or so ago, Mom acquired a mega-sized bag that says Boston Public Library on it and it has become my bag that I tote around when I make my trek to the library. I frequently check out 6-10 books, so this bag is ideal rather than the small, plastic, grocery bags they offer. Yesterday, I dragged Corey with me to the library; to keep him occupied I showed him the music books in the non-fiction half of the library. I naturally ventured off into the Fiction section. After about thirty minutes I developed a stack of six books and headed for the check-out (Corey was relieved).
Today, when I sat down to engross myself in the world of books, I opened a book and a small piece of paper slithered its way out onto my lap. It was a cut-away piece of notebook paper with perfectly cut edges. A smile crept over my face. It was my bookmark from the last time I had checked out this book; I had failed to find the time to read it all.
But, this incident raises the question: How many students actually read? For a bookmark to be left in a book for TWO years provides a slightly dismal testimony to the fact that most people of my generation are too attached to their video games, the internet, and their cell phones to take the time to expand their minds with one of the earliest forms of entertainment.

Everywhere Vampires!

2008-08-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

Recently there has been a lot of hype for everything Vampire-related. With teen girls and their mothers going wild for Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, and the impending movie and new book release (I've read every book and seen every movie trailer), there has been a notable increase in every other thing that relates to vampires (or vampyres if you so desire). To make my point even more clear, this is a picture I took while in Borders of their lovely vampire display that was all prepared for the party taking place tonight for the release of Breaking Dawn (see the poster?). This is the living proof that even things that "suck" can sell!
Along with all the hype that stores world wide have placed on the new release of Breaking Dawn, there has been serious coverage on the Internet, TV, and in many magazines. The other day when Heather brought in the mail she directly handed the Entertainment Weekly to me, even though I only really look at the books section. Puzzled, I looked at the magazine in my hands... it was all Twilight! They had done an entire section based around the books, and then toped it off with a section all about the movie! I abducted Mom's toilet reading and took it to my own room and devoured each word. They not only discussed that in there, they also illuminated other vampire books. Inside, there was a chart that I skimmed over only to discover that I have read nearly every book they discuss! They chart the abilities of various vamps that live in the public eye via novels and television. I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to decide which powers the vampires in your mind are endowed with.
On the side column it reads: Sleep in Coffins, Repelled by Garlic, Affected by Sunlight, Retractable Fangs, Obsessed with counting

Then it lists the compared vampires: Twilight, Interview With a Vampire, Bloodsucking Fiends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 30 Days of Night, Blade, Marked, and Count Von Count (from Sesame Street).
It surprised me the next week when this showed up in the newer EW magazine. I was, in fact, so taken aback that my sister and went to the website listed and checked out to see if it would just be a promotional spoof for Breaking Dawn. Nope, it had no mention of Stephenie Meyer or her books, it was all informational! I checked the quote at the top again and discovered that it says "Vampire Were People Too"... the first time I glimpsed it, I made the wrongful assumption that it said "We're" rather than "Were" and that made it all the more funny!

So, it is official! Vampires are everywhere (even if they may only exist in fictional media---- but, I'll let you be the judge of that).

*** And if any of you want to see the picture in their full view, just click them and they'll appear bigger so you can read them.

One Step Below Heaven!

2008-07-30T02:45:00.000-04:00

Wii games, swimming, Chinese candy, Donnie Darko jokes, bass guitars, and above all else, my boyfriend! Tuesday, all day, I was at my boyfriend's house and just about one step below heaven. I didn't have the usual chaos of life at home to deal with, but I suppose that whenever anyone is away from home, they enjoy themselves because it's a change of pace.
For the first time, I played Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl... and died many times. Despite death and not knowing anything about how to play, it was entertaining. Also, Corey has an in-ground pool in his yard, and I can squarely say that water is my element, so that was amazing! I swam around like I was a fish that would die if I got out!
My friend Jordanne, who introduced Corey and me, lives a few houses down from him and we frequently hang out. One day we watched Donnie Darko (apparently, it's a cult smash hit!) and since then it has slowly seeped it's way into our lives without us even knowing it. We made fun of how obsessed the people on the bonus disk were and how they said they saw things like it and believe it to have religious connections. But, now, we find ourselves quoting lines and pretending to pull hoods over our heads "Donnie Darko-style." So, when I headed out for the day at Corey's, I also took along a bunny mask ( "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?" "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?") to spook Jordanne with. It was worth the laugh!
And as usual, Corey and I practiced bass. I'm currently still trying to obtain muscle memory and the proper speed with which I will move up and down the bass's neck. So far, I've gotten to attempt the opening for Another One Bites the Dust as well as Under Pressure (both by Queen, if you've never had the pleasure of hearing Freddy Mercury sing), and today I started to try out Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. Honestly, I'm not good at it, but I plan on getting better. It still thrills me beyond belief when I get a few notes to harmonize.
Then, best of all, all of this I got to do with my boyfriend. Most people do not get a chance to talk about heaven, because, you have to be dead to know it, but, I figure this was fairly close (and yes, I do know that reads like a 13 year-old, gum-popping, Nancy Drew-reading girl's myspace blog rather than that of a 17 year-old, salad munching, Stephen King-absorbing girl's blogger).
Tuesday combined a mass of my favorite things into a lovely day. Too bad every day can't be like that.

Random Survey

2008-07-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

This survey showed up in my inbox the other day, and I think it just may be blog-worthy. So, here you go! Feel free to pass it on to your friends with your own answers, but be sure to copy/paste when forwarding any email!

1. What is your occupation right now?

Slave (to the school)

2. What color are your socks right now?

Well, they’re coated in invisible ink, so you can’t see them! HA!

3. What are you listening to right now?

Mother Nature (and the mother of the kids across the street yelling at children)

4. What was the last thing that you ate?

Homemade granola with store bought yogurt (a delicious breakfast meal that is healthy!)

5. Can you drive a stick shift?

Nope, but I want to!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?

Alright everyone, all at once: gasp! … I talked with Corey, my boyfriend!

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?

No way! She’s an evil, sadistic, all around meanie with psychotic tendencies! Of course, this is my loving and caring mother who raised me all my life.

8. How old are you today?

Gah, it’s an odd number! 17

9. What is your favorite sport to watch?

The young guys across the street playing whatever the heck they play (basketball (shirtless of course), baseball, tennis, skateboarding, anything)

10. What is your favorite drink?

Water all the way, man!

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?

Once, permanently, burgundy, and if I could, I would go to that color again and again. I loved it. Then the wash-outs, I’ve done green, yellow, and blue (spikes, streaks, tips, anything).

12. Favorite food?

Fruit (the all-encompassing category)

13. What is the last movie you watched?

Eh… hmm… Vantage Point (awesome movie)

14. Favorite day of the year?

Any day where it’s 65 degrees Fahrenheit and I am able to hike through the woods.

15. How do you vent anger?

Getting away from the things that make me angry will always do the trick, so, locking myself off from the world with blasting music and a good hike or hiding out in my room if weather doesn’t provide.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?

PUFFY! She is currently in a display case with stitches and “puffy-stuffing” to hold her together because she was so well loved that she started falling apart, and each time I’d go to my grandma’s house, she’d have to fix a new hole.

17. What is your favorite season?

Very late fall. Of course, in Ohio , it’s snowing already and there are leaves to still rake, but it’s nice and chilly, just the way I like it. It’s the best of my two favorite seasons!

18. Cherries or Blueberries?

Blueberries, particularly if they’re home-grown

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?

Email me this, that and the other! I love emails from friends.

20. Who is the most likely to respond?

Jordi.

21. Who is least likely to respond?

My Mommie Dearest, since she already did this.

22. Living arrangements?

A psychotic sister, sadistic mother, and deranged grandmother make up my close-knit household; a lovely three-generation household full of estrogen and strange happenings. We also have two cats, Melody (the sneeziest cat in the world) and Harmony (the horniest, spayed cat in the world).

23. When was the last time you cried?

At Camp this summer.

24. What is on the floor of your closet?

A bench and several old bookbags stacked in the corner

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?

It’s a tie between Elizabeth and Jordanne (couldn’t live without you two chickies by my side!)

26. What did you do last night?

Stayed up until 1-is on IM and then proceeded to read in my room for however long it was.

27. What inspires you?

A good book can put the most interesting thoughts in my head. (Try the Gospel According to Larry if you want a good punk-rocker book about changing the world Walden-Pond-Style… it’s amazing)

28. What are you most afraid of?

Losing someone I’m close to, it’s happened before and it kills me to even think about it.

29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?

ICK! I don’t like hamburgers (boca burgers are another story, those are yummy!)

30. Favorite dog breed?

Mid-sized dogs are the best, the yipping ones get on my nerves, and big dogs can be vicious.

31. Favorite day of the week?

Saturday – because I don’t have to be up early and I don’t have to be in bed early (I’ll stick with my mom’s answer for that one!)

32. How many states have you lived in?

Ohio , but that will change eventually. I have grandeur plans to travel the world with no ties to any one location (Walden-Pond-Style, of course).

All Hail the Great Transcriptionist

2008-07-25T11:09:00.000-04:00

Within the past few weeks, my mother has been hired for 4 jobs in addition to her other two jobs. She now has quit her one job that came from Florida via the internet that was hitting a low point because of the season. Since she works from home and can contract work from anywhere that has an internet connection (if they are digital, that is), she has the ability to maintain a nighty as her work uniform as she types at her astounding speed of 110wmp.
Then on Thursday, she was actually bowed to by one of her ex-clients that she took back up. Apparently, she has saved them from the poor transcriptioning of their previous employee. I wish I could have been there, it would have been a sight to see. But, as shocking as it is, my mother was actually bowed to!

So, Were Have I Been?

2008-07-24T11:42:00.003-04:00

After disappearing off the net for almost two months, I make yet another return. Between an amazing week at church camp (despite what my boyfriend thinks, it was a wonderful experience), learning guitar (then deciding i want to learn bass, my true desire), scurrying about to replace everything lost in The Great Toaster Fire of '08, trying to find room on my computer to put on my multitude of pictures, and reading every book in sight, I simply ran out of time to do anything more than possibly have a side-thought of writing an entry.
The upcoming school year--my impending doom-- is drawing ever closer. This will be my most challenging year yet, and I made it all the more challenging by deciding to add to being a Junior in high school with being a Freshman at college! But, before that self-induced torture engrosses my life (hey, does that make me a masochist?) I get to go to Ceder Point for the second time this summer! The first time around, I went with the select group of kids from my youth group who completed the school-year-length bible reading challenge; it was just Adam, Samantha, and me accompanied by Pastor Chris and his wife, Anna (sans baby). I rode almost every single roller-coaster there and even got Adam, who is terrified of heights, to ride a few! We got there at opening time and left at closing, and that's the way to do it!
My next trip there will be with a close friend, Jordanne, for her 16th birthday. Her dad and step mom told her to pick three friends to take a long, and I just so happened to be one of those lucky few. We leave one day, get a hotel, and ride all day long the next day. It shall be epic!
Today I get my car sterio put in to my little Barbie Car (a '91 Geo Metro for all you car folks) that I love. Mom and Grandma (materialgirl for all of you who read the toaster link's comment) (those links say what I don't have time to say) both pitched in and got me a sterio/radio/cd player for my birthday (17 now! I'm an old fogey!) this past Sunday. Also, I got a new journal from Sam, along with a glass bear that is amazingly cool; several cds from Jordi; and since Corey upgraded his bass, I get his old one (now I get to learn what i really want to learn! YES!); then I got a Shawshank Redemption screenplay from Elizabeth (she knows how much I adore anything King-related).
So, that's life for me, well, at least the things worth mentioning.

Break

2008-06-03T14:19:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the first real day of Summer Vacation for me, and what did I do? I loafed around the house and enjoyed my reading time. Summer break is always my break from reality, I would read till time ends if it weren't for the necessity of food and a bathroom.
Delving into the parallel universes in all three of the books (all of which are a part of a series) that I am reading currently.
The Raison Strain that will kill the world and send Earth to ruins, and in turn provide for the rise of tangible elements of good and evil beings (ie God and the Devil).
A world full of "vampyres" and a prep school for the "new-born" fledglings filled with all the usual preps, jocks, Daughters of Darkness, geeks, and loners.
Followed by a good dose of time travel and 17th century kilt-wearing Scotsmen.
And if you are a TV watching bum and cannot figure out what those books are, well, then I guess I must tell you. The Raison Strain is found in Ted Dekker's Circle Series, Black. While the very obvious "teen fiction" book (not the best read ever, not a challenge at all) about vampyres is found in the House of Night novels by P.C. and Kristin Cast, the first one being Marked, the book I am currently reading. And last but not least (by far), The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon, the opening novel is the title of the series. This story I am listening to on audio rather than reading.
Quite clearly, delving into worlds unknown and drowning myself in letters on pages is a big hobby of mine. If reading three books at once astounds you, then be glad I didn't prattle off all the names of the books I just finished reading (over 20 checked out from my local library at once... tee-hee).
For those of you who don't read frequently, GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTTS AND CRACK OPEN A GOOD BOOK! I'll gladly offer names to any of you who ask. It's soooooo much fun to read. Once you get into a good story, it grabs you and pulls you deep within and soon you find yourself 300 pages later and 2 hours gone with your mind swirling full of other people's lives. Amazing.

The Boyfriend

2008-06-01T19:48:00.002-04:00

No, this is not about the play that my school put on last year entitled "The Boyfriend"... rather, this is about my boyfriend. June 13th will be our 8 month anniversary. This may not sound like much to anyone out of high school, but to maintain a relationship more than two weeks is an accomplishment to be proud of for any student.
A friend of mine was dead-set on getting me hooked up with one of her friends and she knew she would have to be careful with who she set me up with since I tend to be pretty leery of people. After some trial and error, she thought that Corey (and yes, I'm dropping the usage of cover-up code names), a friend of hers from school, would be an interesting match. So, Jordanne arranged everything back in October of 2007 over the internet (basically over IM) and the end result became that Corey took me to his Homecoming dance on the 13th of that month. Things progressed and now, here we are. We are steadily dating and there don't seem to be any major incompatibilities. He has just completed his Junior year of high school, and I my Sophomore year. Now that it is the summer we are no longer restricted to seeing each other every Saturday... :)
He plays the piano and soon enough I will post a video of him playing, it's just a matter of editing it to fit since my camera records on such a high resolution. Also, Corey is currently learning the Bass guitar. He is pretty good with computers and writing codes, also.
All because of Jordanne The Match Maker I am now in my first relationship. *Shouts* Thanks, Jordi!!

New Self

2008-05-11T17:57:00.003-04:00

So much time has gone by since my last post, and I'm not even going to try to fill my readers in on my past few months; I'm just going to dive right in and tell about the newest happenings.
I was accepted into my local branch of Kent Stat University for the post secondary programs. (If you want more details, check out my mom's blog, there's a link in the side bar.)
I began driving a lot more than ever before. School, church, friends' houses, the library, and all over are my new destinations rather than just my infrequent trips to a store for Mom.
I took the AP US History exam and we (the entire class) skipped school and went out to eat at a fast food restaurant of our choice and then reconvened at an ice cream shop near the school and then only went to the last period of school.
I dyed my hair with burgundy low-lights. Admittedly, it went a little more to the degree of a full dye-job and looks like my natural color is the high-lights. But, I like it. Sadly, my favorite shirt some how got the dye on it even though I changed out of it while Mom was doing the dye and all that jazz, so, I have no idea how it got stained.
I got a 21 on my ACT (similar to the SAT, only the highest score is 36--a hard score to reach for Seniors), and since I'm just a Sophomore and had mono while taking it, I think that's a fairly good score. Most students my age get 16-23 on the test. (LOL, apparently I'm average!! WOO HOO!!)
And then I'm still bogged down with homework... *gag*

Breathe in, Breathe out; Repeat as Needed

2008-03-21T13:56:00.002-04:00

First day of spring break and I'm comfortably still in my pajamas! Spring break, hmm... I always figured I would have more spare time than this, but no! I had to get sick the week before so now I am stuck inside, doing take-home tests, make up work and studying for tests that I will be taking when I go back to school. So, maybe if I scramble enough and work my bum off I will be able to have half of spring break devoted to the ever-elusive "me time" that I miss so much.
As for what I've been doing... I have spent a lot of time doing work. Ugh. Maybe some day it will all pay off. Luckily I have my music to keep me sane. Here is one of my most recent obsession songs...

That's "Still Dreaming" by Silverstein

And then this one is an old favorite of mine by The Fray - "How to Save a Life" (and yes, I know there are other versions other than this. And by the way, later on there will be another entry all about this song... but give me time)

If you don't already know this song, then please, go find the lyrics and memorize them! It's such a great song, and I love it to no end.

She Lives!

2008-03-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

After several weeks of being down and out with various ailments, I am officially alive. I feel human this weekend for the first time in this entire month. No stuffed/runny nose, my head isn't spinning, no more all over body aches, my throat is no longer on fire or being bombarded with knives, and I am actually very lucid! For a while I was down and out with just some random bug that was going around, then after about 2 days of "feeling human" I was sick again! After several doctor visits I was told I had Mono-- The Kissing Disease! Uh-oh... my boyfriend never had it! Dum-dum-dummm! What had I been up to!? Was I bad!? NO! :P But, it did wipe me off my feet during the worst possible time: Ohio Graduation Tests (state required testing sucks!)
So, all last week I went in to school and from 7:45 through 10:30 I took the tests (against the doctor's wishes), and then went home (in accordance to his and my mother's wishes). I slept, and slept and slept. Only broken was my ritual by intervals of small half bites of food, doctor visits, and trips to the bathroom. Being diagnosed with mononucleosis was not the worst of it; no, the worst was the fact that I couldn't sleep in my own room.
With the snow melting, the ground became very saturated. My room is in the basement and the cracks in my cement floor meant that my floor- carpet and all- was soggy. So, as we've done several times before, we gutted my room (we being my mother, I was sick) stuck the dehumidifier in the middle of the room and proceeded to let it air out... the entire time I was sick. Due to the lack of a bed in my bedroom, I slept on the couch upstairs. I slept better there than I ever have in my own bed! But, I didn't have any of the "bedroom comforts" (absolutely no light, no noise, cool air, and all that jazz) so it was awkward. But, I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, I got a clean room out of the deal! WOO HOO!
So, I'm back now. Life is just as insane as ever, but I don't have time to recap anything else yet because I'm swamped with makeup homework. Ugh.
*robotic voice* I am a slave to the school.

"A... C... [phlegm]...?"

2008-02-29T15:52:00.003-05:00

Recently I've been watching Comedy Central's actual comics rather than tv shows, and one day I watched Jeff Dunham preform. He uses puppets in his act and if you've ever been in my house, then you will know that we quote his acts frequently... so, enjoy! This is Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Terrorist.

Flu!

2008-02-28T22:36:00.003-05:00

I apologize for being gone so long, but most of that was because I was either chained to my school work or sick in bed. This new flu bug that they don't have a vaccine for hit me hard enough to make me miss school (something that never used to happen). Most of that time I slept, and slept, and slept, and then slept some more. So, of course I fell behind in school... oh, joy! -_-
Well, anyway, I'm alive and I plan to be writing a real entry soon enough.

Cupid McLovin

2008-02-20T16:53:00.001-05:00

This week the students at our school have been taking $2.00 and buying their love. A few weeks ago in class we were handed out a survey to complete about ourselves, which was all going to be compiled into a formula to match student's to other students. The questions tend to be about dating preferences, but there are a few silly ones like "do you believe in UFOs?"
Today and yesterday I've been reading people's lists (you get one of just the people in your grade and you get one of the entire school's population of students) and I've discovered some people have very interesting names (made up names, that is)...
Cupid McLovin
Islamy McMuslim
Dirty Sanchez
Chuck Noris
Those are just the ones that I have seen that made it through the system! There are several more that the people who check the names actually caught (although I don't know how you could miss such a name as Dirty Sanchez and not realize it's connotations)! In my 6th period class I was lucky enough to be able to see some of the ones that got booted from the list like "Satin Lucifer," "Iwanna Humpallday," and there was one other... but it's just bad enough that I'm not going to say it.
If I come across any more, then I'll post an edit and share.

Shutter-Bug

2008-02-14T15:43:00.002-05:00

I have a new baby! It's name is Kodak and it is black. So far I have taken over 70 pictures with it and now I never want to let it out of my hands. And if you haven't figured out yet that it is a Kodak digital camera, then you may want to seek mental help from your local therapist!

So, that is what it looks like, and I adore it! It works only slightly different than my old one that died from over-use! My previous camera went through many ordeals: two natural disasters, a broken face plate, a faulty batter, being dropped countless times, used everywhere I ever went, and it probably got kicked once or twice while it was in my purse at school...

So, now, after several months of not really getting much use out of it because it's battery lifespan was about 5 minutes (that drove me nuts, not having a camera of my own!) I finally purchased my new baby. There wasn't much to learn about it, so I just started snapping pictures once I got it out of the box. I did discover a few new features that this one has that my old one didn't, like the "undo delete feature" or the "Kodak Perfect Touch technology." Now, the major difference is that I went from 5 mega pixels to 12 mega pixels, which I will defiantly take advantage of when I go in and edit my photos to make spoof pictures of all of my friends! This new camera, not that I have a use for it yet, can record in HD! Too bad that I don't have an HD TV to play them on! But, it will be fun for when I Photo Shop some videos this summer!

Obsession

2008-02-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

No, this is not about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder... it's about my newest obsession songs. I've combed through my massive music medley and with all of the new additions, I've come up with new songs that I simply can't stop drooling over (well, for the record, they're new to me, not necessarily new on the music scene).
So, if you are wanting a new song to listen to fanatically, try these:
Animal I have Become by Three Days Grace
Be Yourself by Audioslave
Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks
Dreams of Psilocbin by Finch
Faust, Midas, and Myself by Switchfoot
Hey Montana by Eve 6
I Will Protect You by Korn
Little Death by +44
Little House by The Fray
Monster by Meg
Never Leave by Seether
Red Sam by Flyleaf
Roadside by Rise Against
Still Dreaming by Silverstein
Walking Disaster by Sum 41
You Save Me by Kenny Chesney
45 by Shinedown
(Then there's the entire Still Searching album by Senses Fail because each song is connected and when all put together in order they make up a story.)
If you want to hear any of these, just go on over to YouTube and check out the videos!

Reprieve

2008-02-12T07:32:00.000-05:00

The entire Eastern side of Ohio got a reprieve from the "case of the Mondays" that usually comes with having to drudge into class after a long weekend. From what I hear there was 492 school cancellations in the North-Eastern Ohio region, but don't quote me on that number. It was already planned that my school would have a pre-scheduled 2-hour delay (something new my school is trying out this year, and I have yet to figure out why) and Sunday night it was about 11pm that I got the first phone call from a friend saying that we may not have school on Monday! Eventually, it started coming down to the wire and the schools directly north of me and south of me were all closed long before, and ours had yet to close. Mom was starting to say that we needed to head to bed soon so I headed downstairs to my room; all of the sudden I hear pounding feet shaking the ceiling of my room. School is canceled!
So, all day Monday I slack off and enjoy the fact that I don't have any homework. Granted, I still have house work to catch up on since I've been so swamped this year with school, but it all eventually got done. :P
Later into the evening people start thinking that we might not even have school on Tuesday! The night drifts on and there are only three schools closed by my "bedtime" and I have to give up and try to sleep... yet again I'm still awake at one in the morning anyway, but that is aside from the point. (No thanks to Puppy and her BF, but seriously, you guys have some interesting conversations! LOL!)
This morning at about 4:50 my mind wakes up and I become aware that I can still try to sleep for another hour and a half. But, I don't fall asleep, so I end up just reading. 6am rolls around and I crawl off of my air mattress (I'll fill you in on that later) and check the internet to see if my town has school canceled. Nope, just like the day before, the schools directly north and south of me are canceled, but we are not! I trudge upstairs and ask grandma if the radio has any more recent updates on school closings and she says that my school is closed! YES! I go back downstairs and call Cookie Monster like I promised her I would if school was closed and then I get on the internet again. This time the website says that my school is closed, and that it was updated at 6:10... ten minutes after I had checked it and it said we still had school in session! Oh, well...
I tried for sleep again and it didn't come, yet again! Elusive little sneak! So, I curl up in that stupid air mattress (I'd rather sleep on the floor, but Mom isn't too keen on that idea) and read some more. Even though I have about 300 pages left in my book, I want to finish it all today!
So, here I am again, it's 7:30am and I have no intention of going to sleep! (But, boy oh boy would it be good to get some sleep!)
*raises a glass* Here's a toast to snow days!!!

A Normal Day

2008-02-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

Normal is not a word I use frequently, since it is so hard to define. But, I can easily say that in a "normal" day for me, there is a good dose of insanity. My morning started with my printer absolutely refusing to work for me so I couldn't print out my Spanish homework that was due today before noon! I scrambled and ended up having to re-adjust my document's settings to make it print. Then when I was at school, I realized that all that scrambling meant that I didn't have any makeup on! So, I go to the bathroom and make myself presentable before class starts. In first period, my teacher assigned me to write about something and rather than just writing, I ranted. It was an issue that my little group of friends and I have talked a lot about: our school's false sense of security and how anyone could walk in with a gun and shoot us up. In second period, my art teacher nearly has a breakdown when we miss the announcements and then when she finally gets them working, other students start doing work when they aren't suppose to and she just starts pointing at people and shaking as if she had a seizure! Then study hall was boring as usual, but, Cookie Monster had an adventure in the girls restroom on the other side of the school! She went to the restroom and called her mom, but when she was re-adjusting in the stall (or something along those lines, she may have already been calling or texting or whatever) she dropped the cell into the dirty toilet water! It didn't turn back on. At lunch, she told Elmo, Pimp and me about it and Pimp thought it was so funny that she squirted milk out her nose!
The rest of the school day was fairly bland and I managed to only come home with Geometry homework. Later on at home, Mom told me that I could get on IM once my homework was all done...
Well, when I was on IM today, I was talking with Cookie Monster and we went into an awkward silence so I decided to break it by singing a song. The conversation went like this:
Oscar says (9:01 PM):
... the itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout...
Cookie Monster says (9:01 PM):
what
Oscar says (9:01 PM):
... down came the rain and washed the spider out...
Oscar says (9:01 PM):
(continue it!)
Cookie Monster says (9:01 PM):
out came the sun
Cookie Monster says (9:01 PM):
and dried up all the rain
Cookie Monster says (9:01 PM):
and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again
Oscar says (9:02 PM):
:D
Cookie Monster says (9:06 PM):
the itsy bitsy emo searched to find a vain in went the razor and out went the pain the emos blood dripped to the floor and the itsy bitsy emo cried a little more!!

Now, that is messed up...

Down Time

2008-02-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

I could have watched the half time on my down time on Sunday, but when I walked into my room (homework all done) I sat at my desk and asked myself "what should I do?" I sat there for a few minutes mindlessly playing solitaire and then it hit me! I can work on my story! Being the writer that I am, I was thrilled so much that I ran upstairs and went screaming to Mom, full of glee. I haven't had time to work on it yet this school year since my homework load has been so, well, loaded. I sat down and worked my heart out on it, mostly editing though. But now I've got my creative juices running and I find that I've got little snip-bits of ideas for the upcoming chapter and little poems that I could pen out later all floating around in my head! Oh, how I do miss my free time!
The next day at school I brought the story with me on a flash drive and started bilking the school's paper and ink supply. They have a 10 page limit rule for printing things out... but I went around that rule. I needed to print out my story for a hard copy since my computer has been crashing so frequently recently, and I made a solution since I didn't want to waste all of my precious little amount of ink. I went in before my first period to the school's library and printed out ten pages, then during second period art class when I had finished everything, my teacher let me go down and print some "stuff" and I printed off ten more. Next period was my study hall and I printed out 10 more pages. Then at lunch I had Elmo print off ten more pages! Forty pages already taken care of! The next day (today) I finished it off doing the same little trick.
79 pages total, and the story seems to finally be taking form. I personally don't think it is all that great (but I'm defiantly not an optimist, so...)but my school friend who sits beside me in Bio... hmmm, I need a name for him... don't have one yet though... anyway, he said it was great, and so does Elmo and Stalin and Cookie Monster. They're the only ones who have read it so far.
At one point I thought about publishing it on here in little intermittent chunks, but I doubt that it would work.

Future

2008-01-30T21:24:00.001-05:00

A school teacher may ask a second-grader what they want to be when they grow up, well as a sophomore in high school, I still cannot answer that simple question. Some little kids may say they want to be a firefighter, police officer, nurse, astronaut, or a mom or dad even, but my mind has offered no reply!
In school it's getting to that time where they really start to pressure you to think of your future; the scheduling for our junior year revolves around what we want to do with our lives. I'm actually looking at doing Post Secondary for my junior year rather than finishing up at my school. I, being just a random young lady, have never really thought much on my actual future, and now it is really starting to hit me that maybe I should have been planing. There are plenty of things that I could "grow up to be." I have the grades and the brains- not necessarily the commitment nor the time- to go to college and become an influential part of the world but money seems to be a very big issue. So, Post Secondary... free schooling... no book fees... high school and college credit... it seems as if it is a very wise choice, but I worry about the work load, the fact that I won't be around friends, and of course, I worry about the acceptance of having classes with people who could be at least five years older than me.
All my life I've been a "people watcher"... that leads me into the psychology/ sociology field. I love to help people... nursing, social worker, law enforcement and all that good stuff. I love science, anatomy, biology (and all the things like that)... that list gives me anything medical basically. There is just so much that that could metamorphose from this little person named "Beth."
*sigh* If only I could jump to the future and figure out what will come of all of this schooling... or just in general, I don't even know what my future will look like in general!
And now I need to end this rant and go finish up my last worksheet before bed.

exasperated sigh

2008-01-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

Finally, my computer is reformatted, granted, there is nothing on here except what I've got on my flash drive... which (lucky me) is all homework *rolls eyes*...
So, here I am again, depriving my brain of thought by turning out the lights, blasting music (this time from an old cd of mine since there is no music on my computer), and drowning myself in homework.
Speaking of which, I need to go finish the last few details on my power point presentation and the report for Bio.
See you all another day.

Girls Rock!!

2008-01-23T17:33:00.000-05:00

I've been asked to put up a few videos by various people. One of which was "Monster" by the rising punk stars Meg and Dia. Check out the video; I absolutly love this entire song and the lyrics.

While I was looking at this video I got the idea to just do an entire entry of chick rock bands, so enjoy my little collection!

I saw Flyleaf sing this song in concert about 2 years ago; here is "All Around Me"

Here is Kelly Clarkson's video of "Because of You"

Paramore's "Misery Business"

Hijacked!

2008-01-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

All technology must have a very severe aversion towards me since it seems like everything that I come in contact with that has a microchip decides to self-destruct. I came home from camp to find all sorts of things wrong with my computer (which I just reformatted less than a month ago), like one day when I came home from school my computer had managed to turn itself on, access the web and bring up all sorts of "nasty" pop-ups and banner ads. I noticed that on the title bar of each thing that would come up it would say "outerinfo." My computer-geek mother and I scavenged the internet and found out what it was... turns out it's a computer hijacker. In the past 24 hours my computer has been turning on and off by itself and then proceeding to try and say that it's opening up something but then just shuts down again only to restart the cycle. I couldn't keep it turned on any longer than a minute before it would shut off of it's own accord. So, I couldn't get any of my school files off to save them! My entire Biology report would be gone! All of my notes for classes! But luckily, Mom, being the genius that she is, told me how to put it into "safe mode" so that only the basic drivers would run and I would be able to salvage my important files. Now, this blasted computer needs to be reformatted AGAIN before I can use it! Mom has set me up with her work laptop so that I can do my school work (which I'm allegedly doing at this very moment).
And to hit home the point that all technology hates me, just as I was telling Elmo about this story today after school, the toaster decided to make weird buzzing noises right as I popped in my waffle. Just my luck...
Well, I need to go back to figuring out how to use Mom's Vista so that I can work on my homework. Camp stories will come later... but no one died and there were no mega natural disasters this time!

Adios, mi amigos

2008-01-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

Alright, for those of you who don't know Spanish, that was "goodbye, my friends." I will be leaving for camp tomorrow and not returning until Sunday. Even though you may die a little on the inside with out my blogging to read, I know you will survive.
I love camping, without a doubt in my mind, I absolutely love to get away from it all and be connected with nature and have some quality down-time to sketch and think and relax, all of which are things I haven't done since school started! We aren't permitted to take along cellphones or mp3 players or any kind of electronics; and, besides you would not get service where we go anyway. I can live without music easily (even though I will always love my music) and as a plus, I get to have time to finally sit and sketch and be outdoors where I can open my eyes and not have homework in front of me!
The only downside to me going is the social part. I can come straight out and say that I'm generally a shy person at school with the people I've known since second grade. But when you toss me in with people from all over the state that I've never met (some people I've met once or twice), that's when I become a real introvert and the queen of being anti-social. If anyone out there in blogger land has ever seen me in a group of people, they'll know that I'm always the person standing off near the back that will avoid eye contact and only speak when spoken to (and only then, speak in a quiet voice for that matter). Believe it or not, I wasn't always like this, back in roughly 6th grade is when I became as introverted as I am now. But, I doubt that I shall ever become as social as I was then. At home and with people I am very familiar with, I tend to be more outgoing, but still not to the point of what I use to be. With my friends like Cookie Monster and Elmo who I go to school with, they get to see both sides, the quiet side and the hyperactive side.
Well, it's past ten, and anyone that I would normally be talking to has gone to bed. My classes won't be session tomorrow since we have a teacher in-service, preparing for the new nine weeks, and updating teachers on news that they should know about (like the levy that isn't passing which will eventually lead to cutbacks and pay to play). So, while all of my friends from other schools have class tomorrow, I'm lucky enough to have the perfect schedule! I don't have to rush after school to make it to the church parking lot to meet up with my youth group like I've had to do in previous years.
*sigh*
Ok, I need to go check on the laundry and start packing up now. So, I'll be back on Sunday, see you all later!

zzzzzzzzzzz....

2008-01-16T22:08:00.000-05:00

There's a bunch of songs about sleep out there, and knowing my music colection, I probably have most of them. :D
One of my favorites is "Who Needs Sleep" by the Barenaked Ladies. The song goes like this:

Now I lay me down not to sleep
I just get tangled in the sheets
I swim in sweat three inches deep
I just lay back and claim defeat

Chapter read and lesson learned
I turned the lights off while she burned
So while she's three hundred degrees
I throw the sheets off and I freeze

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

My hands are locked up tight in fists
My mind is racing filled with lists
of things to do and things I've done
Another sleepless night's begun

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

There's so much joy in life,
so many pleasures all around
But the pleasure of insomnia
is one I've never found
With all life has to offer,
There's so much to be enjoyed
But the pleasures of insomnia
are ones I can't avoid

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Hala Hala Hala...

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

Who needs sleep?
(well you're never gonna get it)
Who needs sleep?
(tell me what's that for)
Who needs sleep?
(be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War)

And then there's this strange video that I found, the first 2 minutes (and 14 seconds if you want to be exact) are kinda pointless... but if you've ever had to pull an all-nighter because of school, then you get why it's key to this video. After those two minutes though, the video gets good. I liked it, but then again, this is the strange girl who doesn't often sleep who loves this song.

Ok, well, I promised myself that I would be in bed, and under the covers by 10:45... I've got a little less than 15 minutes. So, I hope all of you out there taking your Semester Exams or just trying to stay caught up in school can mannage to get some sleep!

(This just occurred to me, it's really stupid, but I'm going to tell it anyway. In place of "procrastinators unite tomorrow" it could be "insomniacs unite in our dreams!")

Wednesdays...

2008-01-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I am thrilled that I don't have any vital homework due tomorrow, just studying for the second part of my Honors Language Arts exam and working on the projects I have for Bio and AP US History. So, this means that I can have time for the youth group I attend. Recently I haven't had time to go since I have such a heavy homework load, but tonight, I plan on going.
Over the past few years I started attending a church in my town, and slowly but surly I am starting to make sense of this entire "religion thing" that people always talked about. So, that's where I'll be tonight. And this weekend I have Winter Camp with my youth group, so I still need to do laundry and pack up, we leave on Friday and come back on Sunday. I won't have any blogs posting during then since I'll be out of town.
So, now I am going to go upstairs and start a load of laundry and then do more homework and start packing up!
I'm still kind of iffy as to if I want to go to camp since I don't really like "social settings." Everyone there knows everyone else, and I've only been there twice... no wait, three times, one summer, then winter, then this past summer, and now this will be my fourth.
If I have some extra time before I leave, I will tell the horror story of my first time at camp... tornadoes, floods... yeah, it's interesting.
Ok, now I've got to go do laundry! (oh, joy...)

Insanity

2008-01-15T15:32:00.000-05:00

The headlines of every newspaper should read: School Causing Mental Breakdowns and Insanity in Millions of Teens!
Exams suck.
Now that that's on the record, I can continue to back up that headline.
Some people will look back on their high school years and think "man, those were the best years of my life, I won't ever want to forget those beautiful memories."
But, there's always the other end of the spectrum. Someone may reflect back to their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years as the worst, most torturous, dreadful of their life. There is so much drama and emotion tied into school. It's a near-deadly mix when you combine all of your classes with homework, house work, friends, family, exams, scheduling, home life, social life, school life, and (if you're lucky enough- or unlucky enough- depending on your past relationships) a boyfriend or girlfriend. It can get out of hand...
I can stand in the hallway before school starts and hear hundreds of conversations. People walk by and it just seems as if everyone is kind of loosing their head about things recently. Including myself, I must admit.

Now I am left wondering, "will things get better for anyone?"
All of my friends are having their own conflicts (both internal and with other people) and we're all trying to help each other, but the reality is: how can one help a friend to cope when one can't even cope in the first place?

Today my friends and I have talked and passed notes and made phone calls... it seems as if each one has been all "doom and gloom" with not a single strand of anything good happening in the lives of anyone.

It seems strange to me, why is it that when one thing goes bad, that it seems to have a domino effect? One word seems to be inscribed on everyone's domino chain somewhere: past.

I've been watching five of my friends and I'm fairly sure that I can see their impending doom (sadly at times I think I've even seen my own) coming both directly and indirectly from that singular domino.

Now, if only someone could figure out how to take out bad dominoes and leave just the good dominoes.

Too Random

2008-01-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

As I was studying for my Honors Language Arts exam I heard "Truth" by Seether.
That was when it hit me, I should post up their strange video! They've got awesome songs... but always the strangest of videos. This one has various holiday icons fighting each other in a wrestling ring. But, the song in and of itself is a very good song, I absolutely love the lyrics.

Shaking The Rafters

2008-01-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

It's about time that I start making your speakers vibrate off of your desk. So, check out these awesome videos. (And P.S. Elmo, you actually might like the lyrics just not the sound of the song... so try looking up the lyrics as you watch these. I promise, they're not as bad as they seem. Remember, don't judge a book by it's cover!)

Breaking Benjamin's "Rain"

Here is Three Day's Grace singing "Animal I Have Become"

And this next one is up here specifically for Elmo and Cookie Monster... we can have fun with this one! (Cookie Monster, don't get any ideas, I'M JOKING!)
The Dixie Chicks - "Goodbye Earl" (these subtitles are wrong... frequently... but it was the best I felt like looking for at the time. Deal with it.)

... Aw, crap! I lost track of time, and I have to be in bed by 10pm! Sorry Mom!

Pounded!

2008-01-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

I'm pounded with homework!
I'm pounding my head onto my keyboard!
I'm wanting to pound my homework into the fireplace!

Hmm... Let's see here, everything from scheduling to tests to exams to projects.
From bottom to top:
Little blue booklet: College Board AP Bulletin about the upcoming exam in May
Little white booklet: "Getting Ready"packet for scheduling for next year, provided by the school
Purple binder: Honors Language Arts 10; I have an exam in that class on Tuesday the 15th and on Thursday the 17th
Green binder: Biology, I have to write out answers for the exam review packet (consisting of over 80 questions) due Monday; Exam on Tuesday and Wednesday (15th and 16th); I have to recopy all of the notes ever taken in this class, which is due Wednesday the 16th
Orange book: Biology book
Big white binder: AP US History binder
Tattered old book: Borrowed from my History teacher in order to do a project that is due Monday the 14th
Workbook: AP US History workbook to study for the Chapter 23 test on Monday the 14th
Book with poker booksock: AP US History book so that I can read chapter 23
Purple folder: (has all sorts of miscellaneous papers in it that I've yet to sort into my binders) Contains my Honors Language Arts "quick question" note cards that I have to answer for Monday the 14th; Geometry paper that I have to do all about Unit Circles and Special Triangles and Trig questions about both of those
Spiral ring notebook: recent notes from any of my 7 classes, homework list, and other various information is scattered throughout it
TI84 Plus Silver Edition calculator for all of my Geometry homework
Green Pencil bag: (the name says it all...) And here, is my memory key where I'm storing all of my information for my Biology project that is due on Monday the 28th about Hemophilia!

So, that's what my USUAL homework load is like. Not exaggerating, not at all.

*sigh* Now I have to go and do homework and study and slowly die from my impending caffeine overdose that I'm going to have from the 2 cups of coffee that I've had and the 6 cans of energy drinks that I bought for this weekend so that I can cram for my exams and get everything done!

P.S.: I don't have a caffeine addiction, this is a very rare thing for me to require energy drinks to do homework. But me running on 3-6 hours of sleep a night all throughout the school week and 0-2 hours over the weekend is normal, and after 5 years, it's catching up to me.

Hey, Cookie Monster, let's do that circle...

"Feed me, Seymour!"

2008-01-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

I frown upon all of you who don't get the "Little Shop of Horrors" reference! But that's aside from the point, if you haven't seen it, go IMDB it so that you know what I'm going to be rambling about today (then of course, you have to rent it so you can laugh at an 80's musical).

"Feed me, Seymour," is something my stomach will never gurgle because I have no desire to eat the people who wronged me, that would be cannibalism.
But also because recently I haven't been all that hungry (yeah, sure, I say this as there is a pack of half-eaten saltines sitting on my desk) recently for some unknown reason. At lunch I usually eat a few bites of each thing and then just sit there twirling my fork until Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Pimp (she wanted her nickname to be that, so it is!) are all done eating. Then when dinner rolls around at my house at around 5pm I eat about 1/2 servings of everything. It use to be that I would get light-headed if I didn't eat enough food, but now, my stomach has trouble keeping things down and I simply don't eat much anymore.
Back in October, Puppy asked me if I was anorexic! (I promise, I'm not!)
Then recently I don't even feel hungry at all! Strange...
I know that I need to eat, so I do, but the more I eat, the more upset my stomach becomes! Sometimes I can't keep down what I eat (or keep it just runs through me)! But, that's a major TMI

Today, my stomach has been so upset that it literally feels like my insides are tied up in knots! (hence the saltines sitting on my desk, they're the only thing I can always keep down.)

And there you have it, my little rant for the day. I have a stomach that has gone to war on me and the toilet. :S

Average? Wire?

2008-01-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

*Sigh*
All of my homework is done! YES! For once in all of my memory of this year, I have no homework in AP US History!
So, all of my work is done, it seems implausible!
The question is: now what would the average teen do?
Why, work on tomorrow's homework, of course!
Well... I guess I'm far from average, because no other teen in this universe would sit here and work ahead of the class.
My workload is so huge everyday that I usually have 4 binders, 3 school books, 2 folders, 1 workbook, and 1 calculator to take home!
I've yet to crack under this pressure; I just wish I could say the same for some of my friends. Recently, school has become a mammoth on my back that craps in my face each time I try to look for a silver lining in the dark clouds up above.
I don't have the "average classes," the "average workload," the "average home," or let alone the "average life!" LOL! But it helps that I don't have the "average mindset of a teenager."
The only way I've managed to get through this school year is by the saving grace of my music! Ever since I can remember I've been listening to music, and it's always been an escape for me when I'm stressed, or when life isn't "good" in general.
Each day i walk the halls and sit in class listening to music in one ear and listening to teachers in the other.
My friends and I all "wire" ourselves before we head out for school in the morning. Since it's the popular look to wear a tank-top underneath of a tee-shirt (or whatever else you wear) we just run the wires from our MP3 players in our pockets, under the tee-shirt (but over the tank), and around to our backs, up to our ears and the headphone wires are hidden by our hair! We even have little holes cut into our hoodies behind the pockets so that we could pop the wires through there into the pockets rather than into our pants pockets! All we have to do to hear a teacher talk is hide one headphone down under our shirt on our shoulder!
Most teachers don't notice, and some teachers don't care if you listen to music in their class in the first place! Technically it's against school rules to permit any electronics in class (like cells or cd players or MP3 players) but if you look in the back of any guy's pocket, there will most likely be a Zune or an iPod or something like that; and, the same goes for any girl, they've probably got one in their purse! But most teachers will let you listen to music on down time.
So far, my grades have yet to suffer from this, and I've been doing it since 7th grade when I got my first MP3 player.
To recap: I'm far from average, and I'm always wired! lol!

First Instalment

2008-01-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

Well, everyone has been bugging me to post my story about this past Friday and Saturday, but I have the bad habit of writing novels when it comes to telling things that happen in my life. So, this will be the first instalment of what all of my readers have been wanting to read. This has just been sitting in a Word document waiting for me to publish it, I thought I would get further, but I have failed miserably since I'm trying to stay caught up on my homework!

So, here it is, enjoy! :P (I promise that I'll finish the story later, just let me get done with my homework!)

We have officially reached the eye of the storm where everything has an eerie silence and the air is electric as if when some one would say even a word that they may get violently shocked. Everyone is watching their words (except for my forever uncensored mother) and trying not to step on any toes for fear of getting a knife in their back.
My computer is reformatted and gorgeous once again! Yea! For a while I thought that I had lost half of my music, but it all worked itself out in the end. (phew!)

… *exasperated sigh*
So, I guess all of you are waiting for me to tell the story of Friday and Saturday, right? (Cookie Monster: Feel free to make any corrections, because my memory is a little muddled on some details)
Well, Friday at about 7pm I got in my car and pulled out of the driveway to go to Cookie Monster’s house; my trunk loaded down with clothing, schoolwork, Wii-motes, and board games. When I’m about two blocks away from her house I realize that I’ve foolishly forgotten to drop off my music cds that needed returned to the library, and that I left my pills on the counter back at the house. I just kept on driving to her house, and when I pulled up Cookie Monster was opening the door to check out me finally driving on my own. I tell her what all I forgot to do as we head into her house and we resolve to go to the library, even though I am well aware of the rule that I am not suppose to have people in the car with me for the time being. We get there and she jumps out and puts the cds in the night deposit box (our library closed at 6pm since it was a Friday). Then while she is dropping it off in the box, I pull up out of the way into a parking spot… and turn of the car. My car has issues. It doesn’t always start (among the handful of other things that don’t always go well with my car). Well, this time, my car did not start! And after a few tries I decided that I needed to get in the trunk for something (my cell phone from my purse I think, but I’m not sure anymore). It was frozen shut. I finally jimmied it open. I do whatever I was going to get, and then close it, and that’s when I realized that because it was so frigid outside, the tumblers on the lock for my trunk had bent my key! That’s when I realized I was screwed. I told Cookie Monster to slip behind her seat and poke through the Velcro cover that separated my trunk from the area behind the two seats since I knew that I would probably have to call mom. As she hid, I tried to reshape my key with my hands. That failed to work. So, I went to the trunk and worked the key into it and twisted it the other way, which managed to bend the key back into place. Back in the driver’s seat, I tried the engine again; still nothing, even after about 20 desperate tries.

Hiatus

2008-01-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

Right now my computer is being reformatted and I won't be able to check into my blog very much. The reformatting started up yesterday (Saturday) while Stalin was here. On Friday after school at around 7pm I went over to Cookie Monster's house (as most of you already know, this was when I got in trouble for a little sneak trip to the Library) and we stayed up until about 3 playing the Wii and talking and doing other miscellaneous stuff. The entire computer stuff was suppose to be done then, but Mom was mad enough at me to say that it could wait (and I understand that).
So, for now as my mom struggles with the task of reformatting my computer, I am sitting right behind her typing on Angel's computer to put up this little entry.
Well, for once all of my homework is done! WOOO HOOOO! Maybe this will mean that I can finally have time to do some "fun" stuff like cleaning my room, doing laundry (my bedroom floor has "clothing colored carpet" as my mom would say) and reloading all of my music (over 4,500 songs and over 4,000 tracks of audio books).
When I am done tossing in a load of laundry, if it's alright with mom, I will be back to tell the story of Friday and Saturday night. *sigh* I am in serous trouble for that, but no one has died because of it yet! (yet being the key word!)

Code Names #2

2008-01-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

*over loudspeaker*
Attention All Blogger Readers

Ok, everyone who has a code name (you know who you are) please use them rather than writing in your own name, that defeats the purpose otherwise! And if anyone wishes to talk about people that I've written about, please just write in their code names rather than using their real names! *glares at mom*

That is all, thank you

Uh-oh :S

2008-01-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

I'll tell you all the rest of the story from my end later, but until I get all of my homework done, you will just have to read this...

www.stillmtheaded.blogspot.com

That's my mom's blog.

(for lack of a better term)
I am in deep shit.

Code Names!

2008-01-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

Rather than using my friend's real names, i am going to assign each one a code name... they'll know who they are once they see it, but that's it, no one else would know who they were...

So, let's see... we've got Cookie Monster, Elmo, Puppy, Angel, Domino, and Stalin.

Then my mom will just be Mom and my grandma will just be Gram or Grandma... same running for the rest of my family.

An Uneventful Return

2008-01-03T16:34:00.001-05:00

This is my uneventful return to Blogger. After four months of torture and unwilling enslavement to the school and their evil homework, I finally decided that it is time for me to create a blog and actually attempt to keep it up, even if that means my entries are only two sentence explanation of why I don't have time to write!

My recent highlights in life other than being continuously swamped with homework are: 1) got a permit 2)had an amazing birthday party ( got a car for my birthday!) 3) started dating Stalin 4) passed the driving test with flying colors

Nothing all too interesting without me going through and recapping every detail. I'll just start filling you all in from her on rather than trying to catch you up.

Enjoy my insane ramblings! :D

-----EDIT-----
Stalin is not fourth on my personal list of things that happened... I just did it in time order. If it weren't for that then he would be first!! :D :P