awesomeness

I need a concise list of awesome things. Please leave your suggestion in a comment or e-mail them to me. Or, if you live nearby (or even far away), just come and tell me in person. Or you could send me a letter, or call me... really, most conventional forms of communication are acceptable. A fax is non-preferable.

EDIT: I'll make it concise, you just ramble on and on and on...

Merry third day of Christmas.

I got worse.

Standing up long enough to get a bowl of cereal is really tiring.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be better.

I got sick.

Merry second day of Christmas.

hey you

Fröhliche Weinachten.

Seventh Contest!

Okay, so I'm late.

Last week:

GRAND WINNER

PLOT: The Fifth Twilight Book (Bella finds a new boyfriend)
TITLE: I REALLY DO LOVE YOU! (Nick)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Plot: A girl buys too much fabric, stacks it on her bookcase, but one day adds one bolt too many and it all falls on her and she can’t get out.
  Title: Calico Captive (Squishy)
• Plot: A guy buys an engagement ring, but can’t decide among 8 girls whom to give it to.
  Title: The Fellowship of the Ring (Squishy)
• Plot: A woman tries to make the ultimate salsa
  Title: The Five Little Peppers (Squishy)
• PLOT: The story of a baseball player and his addiction to whiskey.
  TITLE: Catcher in the Rye (Ethan)
• PLOT: the story of the person who drowned in a ink pot
  TITLE: Inkdeath (Nick)

Um... next contest is come up with a weird gift and why you should be grateful for it.

Example: A rotten egg to throw at your brother.

You have at least a week for this one, who knows if I'll be on time. :P You know me.

something hates us

My family is here. Dad, Mom, Amanda Pearl, Naomi, Nat, Sita, and Susie. So. Happy, right? Yes. Except Amanda has to leave on Wednesday and Naomi + girls have to leave on Tuesday. Well, that's not so bad. We just have to have the Christmas present thing today, Monday. Well, that would be fine if Mom didn't get sick and the heater turn itself off. We can't even have more than one space heater on in the family room else we break the breaker.

At least this give me a good excuse to cuddle the girls.

big girl

I helped Nat move a little furniture and got stuff down from the attic (during which we sat in the attic and looked at old stuff for a long time), and then I set up the tree, put lights on it, most of the ornaments, and set up half the other house-decorations.

And then I edited my NaNo, and then I wrapped a few presents, and then I went to bed.

And now - hopefully - I'm going to go to the library.

Sixth Contest!

(sorry, this may have been accidentally posted earlier as a blank post with the title "Fifth")

A plot with a bad/ironic title. You may use existing plots and/or titles, but combinations must be original. You may provide as little or as much detail as possible, remembering that if it's too long, I'll just get bored and delete it. :P

Examples:
(not original)
PLOT Harry Potter book seven
TITLE Harry Potter and the Prolonged Camping Trip

(original)
PLOT The tragic love story of two leaves
TITLE Gone with the Wind

the four types of writers

1. There is the type that writes a first draft the way a first draft is meant to be written, and in the second draft expounds on it and makes it longer.
2. There is the type that writes a first draft fairly the way it will be in the end, which takes longer, and in the second draft cuts out all the trash and strengthens a few points, but overall makes it shorter. (Me.)
3. In-betweens.
4. Freaks.

This is my excuse that my NaNo is being cut down to between 35k and 40k. I'd kind of like to replace some of the parts that weren't worthy of being read, but who knows how long that would take me.

book challenge

I'm taking up this challenge to read 100+ books in 2009. Obviously, that means roughly 2 books a week, and I don't know if I can do it. But I can certainly try... and the only bad thing that'll happen if I lose is I'll be shamed for life. So.

Some rules:
1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.

2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.

3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

6) All books count: children’s, YA, adults, fiction, non-fiction, how-tos, etc.

I will be posting my books below:

1. Coraline by Niel Gaiman 01/02/09 – 01/03/09
2. Wolf Princess by Alexa 01/02/09
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling 01/04/09 – 01/05/09
4. 90/40/10 lloɹɹɐɔ sıʍǝl ʎq puɐlɹǝpuoʍ uı sǝɹnʇuǝʌpɐ s,ǝɔılɐ
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling 01/06/09 – 01/07/09
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling 01/07/09 – 01/08/09 (I feel like I'm cheating, starting this year with rereading. Easy rereading at that.)
   
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling 01/08/09 – 01/12/09
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling 01/12/09 – 01/18/09
   
9. MirrorMask by Niel Gaiman 01/15/09 – 01/15/09 (I liked this.)
   
10. Water for Elephants 01/15/09 – 01/15/09 (I didn't like this. It was not compelling. I wouldn't've finished it if I hadn't been lead to believe that it would have a good ending - which it didn't.)
11. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 01/18/09 (aprox.) – 01/21/09 (aprox.)
    
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 01/21/09 (aprox.) – 01/23/09
13. Nathan Quist and the Curious Affair of the Crescent Earrings by Adam Stück (I don't remember what day)
14. Here's Lily! by Nancy Rue 02/03/09 – 02/03/09 (Cute and ultra-predictable with annoying characters.)
15. A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories by Robin McKinley 02/03/09 – 02/05/09
    
16. Wesley Intrepid by Squishy 02/07/09 – 02/07/09
17. Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire
18. Nanny McPhee by Christianna Brand 02/03/09 – ? (meh)
19. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
20. The Metamorphosis: the Graphic Novel by Franz Kafka, adapted by Peter Kuper 02/22/09 – 02/22/09 (Hilarious. It only took about ten minutes to read, too.)
21. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card 02/22/09 – 02/23/09 (within 24 hours) (First time EVER.)
22. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott o2/23/09
    

InterWorld

by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves.

I was going to say a whole lot on this, but now I don't think I will.

I have to assume that Neil Gaiman did the plot and Michael Reave did the writing, because that's just how it is. The writing is... okay. I wouldn't've finished the book if it wasn't for the plot, because I liked that part. Plot and subplot and all of it.

See? Very little written on it. Tsk tsk.

Semland quotes

(Terrible)
Semmy: I feel about Texas how Europe feels about America, you know?
Finnish Semmy: Oh. That they're a bunch of pompous hicks? ... something to look at in a zoo?

(On the way to chapel)
Semmy 1: Are you ready for some Jesus?
Semmy 2: Let's get some Jesus.

(My favorite)
Semmy: You should never have a face like that! Ever!

*twitch*

I think I may be slightly Obsessive-Compulsive. It's either that or I have a bunch of weird habits that just look like OCD. Examples... I blink way more often than I need to, and occasionally in groups of three. I'm always clearing my throat (I do this very quietly), just over and over again until I get distracted. I don't think about it anymore, though. And I count stairs - though I don't care if I remember them or not. I count them in groups separated by landings, because that just makes sense. For instance, going upstairs is ten-four. (Go ahead. Make a joke. You know you want to.) Going out the front door down to the sidewalk is four-seven. In Germany, the first place we stayed was four-seven-four-eleven. In Semland, going downstairs of the commons is eight-four-ten. Going up (or down) the stairs next to the lake up to chapel is twelve-twelve-twelve. I also get prejudices based off of these numbers. I like the number twelve (like the stairs down to Pastor's basement), and whatever number my age is, and I don't like the number five. (You may already know this.) I find it somewhat annoying if the stairs are an odd number, at least because it's harder to skip along them. Grandma's upstairs is seventeen steps away, and I'm still wondering whose idea that was.

I need a new paragraph.

Or two. When I tap my feet or my fingers, I usually have a pattern, usually in groups of four. (I've wondered if this is because of all my musical groundings. You know, most measures are in four-four time. I generally imagine my beats as quarter notes.) It sometimes goes (R=right foot L=left foot) RLRL RRLL LRLR LLRR LRLR LLRR RLRL RRLL. And that's dotted quarter note, eighth note, six quarter notes. Repeat repeat repeat. And then I'm done. But I do this all the time... have you ever noticed me tapping my fingers in a pattern? If so, that's my "habit," or sometimes I'm just hyper.

Like now.

Oh, and I have keratosis pilaris for sure, but it's okay. It affects 40% of adults and 50-80% of adolescents, and women more than men. It doesn't hurt. I think the ways of getting rid of it are expensive lotion or just waiting a while. Good to know, though.

magic? is it me or them?

Bob Dies, Paul Dies, Aaron Dies, Nick Dies, and Nathan Dies: These are all real people on facebook. There's also an Eric Dies. "Ethan Dies" yielded somewhat creepy results, first time I tried and somehow accidentally made it search the web.

Fourth Contest!

Results last week's contest:

GRAND WINNER

• Birthdays are lots of fun. Now that you’ve eaten chocolate cake, you’ll weigh a ton. But that’s okay, cuz I /love you anyway/ and to prove it I will say:/HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (Squishy)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• My love,
  ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’
  Something to aspire to. (Me)
• Happy New Year. I bet not all your resolutions are about your lack of talent this year. Congratulations! (Me)
• Happy Birthday to you!/You look good in blue,/Though you’ve worn black and red/Since your husband turned dead. (Me) (I’m no good at anything rhymed, yet I keep trying. Why?? It’s not like I’m *that* fantastically interested in it, that I want to get better. Sure, it would be nice, but I honestly don’t care enough. I can let other people be poets. Like Paul.)
• ‘Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.’ Is this how you feel about me? (Me)
• I love you, I love you, I love you... but I love someone else more. (Me)

Happy Birthday, Nat.

This week's contest: A conversation between to foreigners of different languages, neither of whom are good at English. Limit of 50 words.

Example:
"I don't take orange juice. I don't like the pulp."
"Who does not like the Pope?"
"Who?"
"What?"
"How?" (etc.)

(Played Madrigal Dinners twice today (Saturday), once yesterday, a rehearsal the day before, and one more performance tomorrow. Will expound if told to.)

Somewhere...

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

It actually doesn't look very pretty to me.

EMILY IS AWESOME

You know it's true.

tips on dealing with a cranky or otherwise emotional fifteen-year-old girl

(I try not to go into this subject much, but it seems some people would benefit instruction. Statistically, I'm probably not looking at you, whoever you are.)

1. If something you said seems to have struck a nerve, do not comment on this fact.
2. If she's upset, probably just leave her alone. She's sulking. Attention will make it worse.
3. If she's angry, don't be condescending. It will not help.

I'll probably think of some more later when I'm less calm.

applications

Now is the time to apply for your prize(s)! Remember, within reason, people. Some of them will need details cleared with me. Anan, Rachel D, Squishy, could you each tell me again exactly what prize(s) you want? I just want to be sure I get them right. Emily, I know yours.