where the wild things abide sometimes

Wait.

2011-12-27T20:57:00.002-05:00

I was gonna say something. Um.

I dreamed Vati turned evil (like Hitler, despite his well-known case of disagreeing with Hitler) and took over HT and the next conference was obligatory (mandatory? wait, I can't decide) and oppressive and dystopic and everything was wrong, and some MHers and I had to take it down from the inside like the D. A.

Diligence: a fate I would hate.

2011-10-20T13:46:00.004-04:00

Firstly and most importantly: Sam(my(-Wammy( the Lamby))) is adorable. (And healthy.) I will even take a picture from facebook to prove it:

Awwwwwwwwww. Little newborns and their silly faces.
He was born opening night of Camelot.

Speaking! of shows and whatnot! I got a part in Bethel's spring musical, Little Women. I = Mrs. Kirk. I have lines, guys. And, like, my own part in a duet or trio or something. Maybe. Actually maybe it's me and Professor Bhaer on on part and Jo on the other... oh, well, anyway, I'm excited. Hopefully I'll come back to this thing (blog) after rehearsals start and let you know what my part actually is. I read the script, but I didn't retain a whole lot. :P

Ummmmmmmmm. So it's cold and stuff.

In the not-wackily-happy section, I'm bored. D:

Today's thoughts.

2011-07-20T00:32:00.003-04:00

Jesus came off my crucifix. It seems like less of a statement now.

There's something I really like about the image of a fiery windmill.

I miss my sandwich.

Nat was looking for a bottle of cologne that had been one of his wedding presents. I had an urge to call it and just follow the ringing to find it.

I don't think I will ever not wear this petticoat again. It's the best thing since blue.

IT IS SO HOT HERE.

I didn't realize when I auditioned how much innuendo is in Camelot. Oops...

I made my blog private so I could complain about Bethel without any of them seeing, but it occurs to me that probably no one cares.

I'm cleaning! ... my e-mail inbox. I'm doing well, though. I got it from the 1800's yesterdayish to the 1400's todayish.

Coram Deo--Illinois was probably the biggest the Emmaus youth group has ever been, and I'm the only one in it who also went to Dare to be Lutheran--St. Louis in 2005. I feel SO OLD, guys.

My alarm clock does not understand "off."

I Will Go, I Will Go (Scottish folk), Il Sospiro (Donizetti), and If I Can't Love Her (Beauty and the Beast) make an interesting combination to be stuck in my head.

31 years together. Yayyyyy parents.

I keep adding more thoughts to this in the hopes that I'll remember the third one I actually planned. I think it may be gone forever.

Seriously, though, it was a great sandwich.

Yo Ho Ho and a bowl of ice cream.

2011-07-19T22:05:00.001-04:00

When the dishes are all dirty and I need a spoon and I open the dishwasher and see it's full of clean dishes, it's like finding treasure.

That's how mundane my life is at the moment.

Oh, YouTube.

2011-07-17T19:17:00.001-04:00

Free your egg.

What.

Yes, but what about self-defense?

HP7.II movie

2011-07-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

So I just saw the most recent Harry Potter movie. I won't spoil it, but if you want to be 100% surprised (id est, not even know my reaction), don't read on.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Parts of it: I loved. I clapped; I squealed; I got teary-eyed, which is really saying something.

The majority, and overall: I am furious. I want to punch faces.

Who else has seen it?

Till with the Vision Glorious her longing eyes are blest...

2011-06-28T11:30:00.001-04:00

T minus four days, y'all. Things are getting mighty intense around here.

liiiiiiiiiiiife

2011-05-15T01:01:00.000-04:00

Life is sad sometimes. Colin Meloy shares a birthday with his wife (awwwww), but their five-year-old is autistic. Also Jenny Conlee has breast cancer.
THANKS A LOT WIKIPEDIA i'll never browse you again

I need sleep.

und ZWEI:

2011-05-08T20:59:00.001-04:00

Ta da:

Dear Friends and Relations;

Nathaniel Rhein and Sarah Harrison are pleased to announce their recent engagement and forthcoming wedding. You are cordially invited to share our joy on Saturday, the Second Day of July, Year of our Lord 2011, at 10:00 a.m. as we are joined in Holy Matrimony at Emmaus Ev. Lutheran Church in South Bend, Indiana.

We apologize for the shortness of this notice as we realize that it may prevent certain dear friends from joining us on this day. Details of location, reception, area hotels, and registry will be forthcoming. Please send us your address, if you consider attending, so that we may send you a more detailed invitation (message or E-mail your address to us; there's no need to post it publicly on the Wall here).

Peace and Joy of this Blessed Eastertide to you all!

~ Sarah and Nathaniel

Snarthahniel forever!

eins:

2011-05-05T13:14:00.002-04:00

Kavouras baby = Samuel Phillip.
Due September 21st, I believe.

Are you dreaming I'm about to kiss you?

2011-02-12T22:31:00.002-05:00

Bethel did Cinderella this weekend. I went twice.

So prince Christopher Rupert mumble mumble Carl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman Gregory James sings his love to Cinderella and she walks off a few steps, looking troubled. He says, "I suppose it's not a good sign if you tell someone you love them and they don't say anything," and she says, "I'm afraid that if I say anything I'll wake up," and then he replies with the post title. These may be paraphrased.

Anyway, I think there are better ways it could have been handled. Especially since the actor who played the prince looks just young to me. Last fall he played a boy about thirteen and that was actually about right.

It's decidedly weirder to know the actors as almost peers. (Most of them are at least Sophomores, so I still feel a bit young next to them.) I ended up enjoying it a lot because of knowing them and being happy that they were doing so well, but it was hard to romanticize it like I've always done with the musicals when I was younger. Partially because I don't totally love this musical. It's just kind of light and fluffy. The bad people are silly. There's not much conflict. You know exactly how it's going to end.

Can you tell I'm procrastinating on my homework? I'm rambling.

I have found her. She's an angel with the dust of the stars in her eyes.

2011-02-12T22:25:00.002-05:00

Alternately, awesome neiphling #3 in her womb and also she's my sister Naomi. YAAAAAAAY

I'm pretty sure y'all knew that already though. Whatever. It's still superhappytimes news, and I mean that.

w r sns nd hrs f grc

2011-02-02T17:22:00.002-05:00

The other day in class, while someone was talking, she said something I considered to be a very good line, twitching the context a little. I whispered "wow," (one of my classmates heard me and gave me a weird look, whatever) and grabbed my notebook to write it down.

It's been a little while since I've done that.

WEARING A COZY KNIT HAT ALL DAY
Pro: tres comfy. Con: My head looks like a mushroom.

snooooooooow daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay why must you end?

What?

2011-01-13T16:27:00.002-05:00

Margaret gets zero points for participation today.

I was trying to not take the cold medicine all the time every day, and since I only had one class today I thought perhaps I'd forgo it. So yeah. An hour and a half of loud coughing and blowing my nose and being too out of it to answer questions. Smart.

Okay, now I'm just whining because the medicine tastes nasty.

Maybe I'll blow off talking language!

2011-01-12T15:48:00.002-05:00

I remember having a blog.

Auditions for The Importance of Being Earnest are on Monday. I'm feeling kind of cynical about going. I mean, there are only four female roles.

I'm memorizing Death, be not proud (John Donne, 1633) for Written Comm III.

What is it with me and having a cold?

I will read ALL THE BOOKS.

2010-12-28T13:48:00.012-05:00

So yes, It's the 28th of December and I still have to read three books to make 100 for 2010. WELL! Here we go making plans for 2011: one hundred AND ONE books (WOAH)! Also, I will give at least, um, one quarter of them starred reviews SURE WHY NOT. (ETA: "Review" is a rather loose term.)

MAGGIE'S BOOKS

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. (Raises questions like "If I forgot my life for the last four years, would I be ashamed to be me?")
Acting by Richard Boleslavsky. (Very interesting, but since I don't plan to dedicate my life to theatre, I don't know how much it really helped me.)
Suicide Notes: a novel by Michael Thomas Ford. (Three stars (of five). Eh. The reviewers I read were far too enamored of this.)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. (Four stars.

I don't mean to follow trends, but I'm very interested in zombies right now and this was an angle I hadn't seen before. It takes place generations after the outbreak--so long that nobody really knows when. Mary lives in a small, entirely self-contained village ruled by the Sisterhood (nuns taken up a whole bunch of notches) and enclosed by an elaborate fence, outside of which is a literal tree-forest, but it's also full of zombies.

The Z word is never actually used. They're called Unconsecrated because of the heavy religion that controls the village.

It was definitely not worthy of five stars because I am getting really tired of love triangles. And it was more like an awkward love-and-commitment tetrahedron, anyway. (I'll draw you a diagram if I have to.) AND I will be annoyed if I decide it's actually anti-religion. If it's anti-extremism, I'm fine with that, but I have a feeling that the Sisterhood represents all Christians ever.

Definitely reading the sequel.)
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. (Four stars. Really pretty good. I happened to read it on Groundhog Day. Haha.)
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin. (Two. Bleck. If I hadn't been procrastinating so hard I wouldn't've finished it. Just not worth it.)
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, writer; Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, artists; Todd Klein, letterer; Robbie Busch, colorist; selected recoloring by Daniel Vozzo; Dave McKean, covers. (Five stars. Less than three. (HAHA.))
Stardust by Neil Gaiman. (I wanted something old and comfortable to read while I donated blood. Of course, they ended up just poking around in my arm and giving me a big bruise because I don't have veins or something, but it's a good book anyway.)
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian. (Three. I officially do not get the hype about Siobhan Vivian. (Cool name, though.) This was "good..." and there will always be that ellipsis adding "but not very.")
The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman, writer ETC. (Not gonna lie, I'm reading these for the Gaiman and would have a hard time caring less about the illustrators. I mean, it's nice and all, but whatever.)
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins; read by Paul Boehmer. (Four, probably.)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling; read by Jim Dale.
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. (Five.

“A poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers...” (A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children by Gabriel García Márquez.)

Four or five years ago I babysat a pair of sisters every week. The younger one died two and a half weeks ago, of a heart defect that wasn't supposed to be causing trouble. She was twelve. I won't pretend we've kept in touch the past few years, but I would still see her now and then. Her death is quite possibly the reason I found this book so heartbreaking.

It's about Lennie, whose older sister Bailey--to whom she was closer than to anyone else--just died of a random heart defect. Lennie had always lived happily in Bailey's shadow, and now she needs to figure out how to be her own person. Other things happen too, less pertinent to my point--they have a grandmother, an uncle and a lack of a mom, a boyfriend (ex?), a best friend and a new friend. Bailey acted. Lennie plays clarinet (or avoids it) and writes poems about loss and then buries them, or drops them, or leaves them behind.

Second book ever to make me cry.)
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. (Better than the first. Yaaaaaay.)
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr. (Very relateable. (It's a word now.) I definitely liked it better than Sweethearts, which I'd heard was her best. Fourish, I guess.)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding. (Five stars, naturally. This is one of my favorite books. I picked it for my final paper this semester, so I spent one intense day rereading and highlighting the life out of an old garage sale copy. I suspect you shall be receiving multiple posts on the book before my paper is finished, so I shan't keep you now.)
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.
Paper Towns by John Green.
You by Charles Benoit. (An actually good book in second person.)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. (Continuing, of course, my re-reading of my favorites.)
Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Charles Vess.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. (Three and a half. I don't have any particular complaint except that it was super depressing and not at all what I expected. For those not in the know, it is from the perspective of a dog, Enzo. Obviously, I was expecting a fun, light-hearted book highly reminiscent of Dug from Up, or, if GS insisted on making it sadtimes, the heartbreakingness of a sad puppy who has no idea what's going on (though it might be obvious to the reader). Nope, we have a human-type mind that is fully capable of understanding his and his owner's miseries.)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card.
Daniel from the Bible.
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. (I enjoyed these rather less this time around. Sigh.)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: a novel by Aimee Bender. (Four. The premise is still super amazing, but the execution was maybe just not my style.)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, read by Jim Dale. (Not exactly life-changing. I mean, I realize that I already knew what was going to happen, but still.)
100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson. (For a book discussion I ended up missing. It was a fun book.)
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, read by Erin Moon, Michal Friedman, and Suzanne Toren. (Modern-day Little Red Riding Hood sisters hunt werewolves. Four stars. It was pretty good, even though it made me feel less awesome for reading something so faddish, and also SO MANY OF THEIR PROBLEMS WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED WITH CELL PHONES. Or walky-talkies, at least. Note: I really liked the narrators, and I spoke in a Georgian accent for a few days because of them.)
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger. (Two and a quarter, maybe. I can see why JDS has been a popular author; twenty pages into the book and I felt I either loved it or hated it. As the story wore on I grew more apathetic, but in the end I hated it somewhat more than loved. I can see the point (moral?) of the book, but it seems to me like a kind of flimsy argument. Also, it's in two parts, and the first part is entirely unnecessary, except it's rather good at making this reader feel uncomfortable. YAY. And one of the characters was apparently so obsessed with something that she stopped eating and got the flu? Because she's that much a genius? Anyway, I feel slightly more pretentious for having read this (and then typing out Buddy's letter to Zooey as an experiment), but I rather wished I had used that time doing something else.)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, read by Nick Podehl. (Seeing how recommendable the audiobook is. It's fine, but I definitely still prefer reading.)
The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman etc. (Five. Very good etc. A Midsummer Night's Dream was my favorite, but I fairly loved the others too.)

Best finds of the year so far: 7, 10, 13, 20, 35.

introvert

2010-12-22T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I'm too tired for social interaction. Is that okay?

I'll give you a sec to catch your breath!

2010-12-08T02:03:00.002-05:00

We have had a crazy-interesting time getting my Bethel bill paid. It shouldn't've been that hard, but we'd keep getting letters even AFTER we supposedly took care of it all. Apparently they automatically gave me an EXTRA loan for which I did not ask. So Vati went through all the nonsense to get that taken care of, and ended up with an 800 number he was supposed to call to resolve everything. He called, WITHIN the specific time, and got an automated message that they weren't answering questions right now. So perhaps if I go online and fill out a form, it'll be done and all. You want to know why they changed procedure and we got in this stupid mess?

Obamacare. Apparently it's been a HUGE pain for (at the very least) the Bethel financial aid office. INTERESTING, RIGHT? Just saying.

I want another brownie.

Look at these wings, so perfect to hold you!

2010-10-31T21:07:00.003-04:00

NaNoWriMo, cats and kittens.

That's all.

"Fa la la la la." She shook her little head. "Nay, nay, that cannot be."

2010-10-28T15:46:00.003-04:00

What are my priorities?

After church, school, sleeping (and not usually enough of that), eating, and enough socializing that I don't die, I hardly have any time left to write. That's probably my lack of organization, but that's not going to change any time soon.

Bleahhh. I WILL figure this out for NaNoWriMo.

Don't panic.

2010-10-07T14:07:00.002-04:00

Preface: Nobody's hurt or anything.

We had a burglary. The grand list of stuff gone, being very specific:
Main computer
monitor
2 laptops
2 laptop cases
mouse
modem
DVD (it was in my laptop)
TV
portable DVD player
Wii
Wii remote (only one; they didn't see the other
sound system thing (I'm not sure what it's called)
two cheapish point-and-shoot digital cameras
nicer digital camera
bike
papers for bike (we think)

It amounts to about $6000 worth of stuff. Also they broke open a window screen and made some rooms smell like cigarettes.

Seriously this year.

2010-09-27T21:13:00.003-04:00

Unless something big comes up, this:

It's on October 9th, a Saturday (naturally).

The picture is a link.

Gotta get back to HT! Gotta get away from school! Gotta get back to HT, where everybody knows I'm cool!

2010-09-26T23:42:00.002-04:00

Bethel tries to be Higher Things. It's also school, of course, but it's trying to get me excited and go to all their "services" and the sessions (classes, which I actually do go to, because they're required and sometimes interesting) and hang out with all them other youths between.

That's my main point: it wants my school friends to be like my HT friends. And it works, for a lot of people; I see people hanging out all the time and have THE BEST TIMES apparently. I mean, that's what Freshman Year Experience is for, making bestest friendses. I think the "block" is the equivalent of an assigned youth group or something.

So guess what. After having classes with them, hanging out during orientation and going to a block party and even (gasp!) occasionally greeting them outside all these activities, I am in fact a little fond of these people. None of them are terribly annoying at this point in our acquaintanceship, and some of them are entertaining. However, most days I'd still rather be alone. I'm an introvert, okay? It's only the people I really, really like that I want to spend time with.

You hear me, Bethel? (No you don't, you're not invited. Also you're inanimate.) I DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS THERE. And don't force them on me. I'm actually pretty happy this way.

I think this is about the most I've ever missed Higher Things—not only the company, but also the GOOD theology etc. Y'all who have experienced Post-HT Blues knows how drastic that is.
I can't wait for next year.

I should sleep.

Practical "You" Paper (15%)

2010-09-20T20:00:00.001-04:00

You will complete a short paper (not to exceed four typewritten pages) in which you will write your "Jesus Story." How did you begin your journey with Jesus? Have you experienced any detours, speed bumps, or potholes in your journey with Him? Where are you right now in your journey? Where would you like to be? What is your greatest challenge/joy in following Jesus? Don't just answer the questions but use them as a catalyst that will help you to engage your journey with Jesus and share about the real you. In conjunction with your personal journey with Jesus select a Bible character that you relate to or one has encourage you in your journey and briefly share why they are meaningful to you. How has their journey with Jesus encouraged your helped you? Maybe it is someone from the Gospel of John!

For Exploring the Christian Faith. Ugggghhhhhhh!!

Salvation unto Us Has Come, LSB 555.

2010-09-19T14:46:00.002-04:00

4. From sin our flesh could not abstain,
Sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
Our guilt was e'er increasing.
None can remove sin's poisoned dar
Or purify our guileful heart—
So deep is our corruption.

9. Faith clings to Jesus' cross alone
And rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
With love and hope increasing.
For faith alone can justify;
Works serve our neighbor and supply
The proof that faith is living.

Notes From Organ Workshop, 2008 edition.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

2010-09-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

I can't stop.

Weirdo arches.

2010-09-10T21:32:00.001-04:00

Sooooo this. I've been skating ice. Except my feet are all weird and malformed or something so the skates hurt, even when I'm wearing my arch supports. On the other hand, I picked up the whole moving-and-not-falling thing pretty quickly, so that's fun. Today I worked on going backwards.

I probably looked pretty stupid.

Also! My blog is private. I'm pretty much inviting random people I know read my blog, so if I seem to have forgotten someone just let me know. My arches probably deleted them or something.

dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2010-08-28T20:31:00.002-04:00

eeeeeeeeeeeeem

SO in my dreem we were putting on a play of The Matrix, only it was also Harry Potter AND The Hunger Games. Exciting times! (The color-coding is for those who are not familiar with all these series.)
Anan was the director.
I played Trinity/Ginny.
Robin/Tavi played Hermione/Prim.
Gary Oldman played Sirius/Morpheus.
Someone unknown played Neo/Ron/Peeta.
(Oh, and I mean that Trinity and Ginny were the same person, et cetera.)

Also, the play was also an amusement park ride, which was also a pair of earrings in a very surreal movie-type way. (As in the camera zooms in on the earrings and you see there are people on it and hey, now the movie is set here.) I got the earrings for free from a company called Orange Orange Orange because I was famous.

So while we were doing the play, Anna was organizing my shoes (because directors aren't really needed for plays, apparently). She organized them by colour and suddenly I had about a dozen pairs of gray shoes, a dozen pairs of black shoes and a few navy shoes and that was it. Some of them didn't have matches (mainly the navy ones) and most of them weren't even my size.

This created a problem when I wanted to go try on awful prom dresses with Robin. I needed the right shoes! Luckily, she still had the bouquet left over from her prom, so even though it carried so many bad memories she'd hated it to death, I could hold that and she could hold the sunflowers from our backyard. Which was also where the play/ride was, which also went very deep into the earth to the dwarfen mines, where it was so hot you'd melt if you stayed there longer than about ten minutes.

Also, my room was clean, which was silly.

Farid.

2010-07-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

In Arabic, "فريد" or "farid" means "unique."

Because I specialize in free time!

2010-07-06T21:53:00.005-04:00

Well, seeing as I have nothing to do this week but continue being anti-social and chewing slowly (see: minor oral surgery), I'm going to try another book challenge. Well hey, the one I'm doing now is actually going pretty well.

The rules are enough that I'll let you follow the link and find out for yourself.

CHALLENGES COMPLETED

Read Your Doppelganger:
Blogroll Roulette: The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel. (Unfinished.)
100 Best Book: Something from here. (Unfinished.)
Prize Winner Book:
Title Word Count:1
Genre Switch-Up:
Break A Prejudice:
Real and Inspired:
Same Word, Different Book:
Become A Character:
All in the Family:
Author Anthology Pick:

Comments.

2010-07-06T10:41:00.002-04:00

Comments is maybe broke.

In Sylvia Russia, comments leave you!

The end result of which is I want to make people fall in love, mess up, fall in love myself, mess that up, and fail to be bitter about it. Ha ha, etc.

2010-07-06T01:27:00.005-04:00

Watched the first three hours of Emma this morning/early afternoon, then all of Funny Girl this evening. Two fantastic movies, you know?

Oh, and how I wouldn't've liked to spend this day in a car, to arrive in a confusing place with a bad cafeteria.

Why am I up late? After watching most of Emma with my Maglena and two little girls, I came home quick to teach piano. Turns out two social activities in one day is too much; I took my darvocet and slept nearly forever.

Goo goo g'joob, y'all. Sheepdog out.

Of puppies and wisdom.

2010-07-04T19:00:00.000-04:00

Or: things I no longer have.

I got my wisdom teeth out. It was something like this:
Go in.
Get asked a dozen times if I'm okay, lie and say yes.
Get put in a chair and told the dangers (which we already learned about—and signed we understood—when we came in for the consultation).
Get a pep talk.
Get an IV.
Take deep breaths. (I counted; I only got to 4.)
Wake up puffy-faced and fuzzy-minded, need help walking to next room.
Lie down with an ice pack, get up and go home with an ice pack, wonder why I'm not asleep.
Seriously, didn't everybody say I'd fall asleep?
Still don't fall asleep.
When tongue has regained enough movement to swallow, take pill with yogurt.
Finally fall asleep.
Spend next days napping and eating pudding and rinsing mouth out with warm saltwater (which is actually lovely because for a moment my mouth actually feels clean).
Stay home and don't go anywhere until you feel better!!
Etc.

Also, I need protein! Only I can't use my molars. So here's the food I've been able to eat so far (minus beverages, those are easy):
yogurt
pudding
gelatin
ice cream
flan
mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce
tomato soup
banana
blueberries
strawberries
tuna salad

Also pertinent, I think: I'm missing my first HT conference since I started going the year I turned 12. D: D: D: I just want to take a moment to say THIS IS NOT COOL.
Okay, moment over. I can no longer complain about this. (Haha, like I'll stop.)

Wordsworth

2010-07-04T16:27:00.009-04:00

I know most of you know this, but not all—
Tuesday night we came home from church and Wordy was dead. The vet suspects a heart attack (or something similar) as he's been in perfect health as far as we could see. Vati took him up to TQ/Snap/et all's place and he was buried.

I'd go on for a while with eloquence, but there's not much to say. Sorry.

Wordy, baby, you're the sweetest dog I ever knew. I love you always.

Huge sewing etc. giveaway link!

2010-06-20T13:42:00.002-04:00

Ummm, so I guess I haven't posted in... two months... oops. It felt like I was posting 'cause I kept updating my book list (which needs to be updated again).

ANYWAY the point of this post: get sewing stuff GO GO GO

I like the kind of e-mails I sometimes get in my Bethel account.

2010-04-23T11:32:00.001-04:00

A squirrel trap with a squirrel in it was stolen from outside the library between 12:00pm and 1:30pm this afternoon, Thursday, April 22, 2010. I would appreciate any information on this theft. The person who took the squirrel should also be aware that the squirrel may have sarcoptic mange, a disease which is contagious to humans. I would appreciate it if the squirrel is 1) released unharmed, and 2) that my trap is returned undamaged. Also, the individual should know that only those with a scientific purposes license are allowed to trap and handled squirrels, and thus, they are in violation of Indiana state law. Stealing the trap also was illegal. If the trap is damaged in any way, that is vandalism, which is also illegal. If anyone has information or saw who committed these crimes, please let me know as soon as possible.

The individual should also know that I do have a PhD in wildlife ecology and management, and I do know what I am doing, and that the squirrel was not going to be harmed.

Really? We're down to stealing squirrels?

Okay, okay, so I can't keep up a lie. I can accept that.

2010-04-01T22:42:00.003-04:00

April Fool, my darlings. The video thing was true, the tinily worded bit was not.

I spoke too soon.

2010-04-01T22:30:00.004-04:00

My OT Lit teacher does, in fact, know about Holy Week. At the end of our class on Wednesday, after studying Isaiah, he played us two videos.

The first was a collection of clips from The Passion of the Christ accompanied by Amazing Grace sung in the heavily stylistic, jazz-inspired way that is so dear to Bethelites. The second was O Sacred Head, Now Wounded in the same style, for which I may never forgive them. Afterward several of my classmates and my teacher were crying. It was really awkward and painful.

Speaking of awkward and painful... a certain... pink-hatted fellow I knew slightly asked me out the other day. I didn't mention it to anyone, but I figured I'd have to sometime.

Pop quiz!

2010-03-29T21:19:00.003-04:00

1. What do you call the week leading up to Easter?
ANSWER: HOLY WEEK.

2. How do you act during Holy week?
ANSWER: SOLEMN.
[Edit: I will also accept partially synonymous answers such as "prayerful," "sad," or "contemplative."]

Congratulations! YOU NOW KNOW MORE THAN THE PEOPLE AT BETHEL. Yes, meine Freunden, Easter is already being celebrated at Bethel. A Christian college.

There were plastic candy-filled eggs in the cafeteria (except this one girl near me kept finding eggs filled with salad) and my teachers talk about Easter as if it's pretty much here.

REALLY, BETHEL? Are you too optimistic for that tiny matter of CHRIST'S DEATH? You know, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART EVER???

In case you can't tell, I'm REALLY REALLY APPALLED at this behavior.

Behavioral Self-Management.

2010-03-20T17:15:00.002-04:00

Read Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Please. It's pretty short, and one of the characters is named Margaret Cadaver.

Anyway, what this post is really about: School, for duh. In Psych we have an assignment to manage our behavior. (See post title.) We picked a behavior—say biting your fingernails or drinking water. (*Nudgenudge*, Snap.) For one week—last week—we observed how often we performed this behavior. Say we bit our fingernails 30 times a day or drank 0 glasses of water. Then we set goals for ourselves for the next three weeks: Get down to 20 bitings a day, or 1 glass of water a day for the first week, 10 bitings or 2 glasses the second week, 0 bitings or 3 glasses the third week. The point is gradually changing.

To do this, we also set daily and weekly rewards.

My behavior is writing, seeing as I don't seem to write at all. For one week I observed how much extracurricular prose I wrote, rounding it down to the nearest hundred. I wrote 0 all week. (Despairing emoticon.) So this week I'm just writing 500 words a day. If I get that before midnight, I can read facebook and other peoples' blogs. If I do it every day for a week, I can call someone. (Y'all might know how I like to talk on the phone sometimes.) Also—for every 1,500 mark I get in any particular story, I can read a chapter of Forest Born. And I don't mean I can write 1,500 in one story and 1,500 in another; I mean once I hit the 1,500 mark in a story, then 3,000 in that story or a different one, then 4,500—etc. (There are 30 chapters in Forest Born, so I'll write 45,000 words.) This ought to be incentive to stick with a story, right?

Right?*

Over the next two weeks I'll increase it to writing 1,000 and 1,500 words a day.

The thing is, I didn't get enough words on Thursday. I was going to call zAaron after this week because I haven't talked to him, but now I can't. I'm sorry.

*Why do I keep writing my paragraphs long-short-long-short? It's kind of funny. I've been doing it for a long time.

If I would complain about any part of my writer's block, it would be sprinting. In November 2008 while I was writing that novel, I could write 500 words in 10 minutes, no sweat. I'd do two 10-minute sprints and a 20-minute sprint and have 2,000 words for the day. It was kind of tiring, but I was still able to do it. And now I can't get 500 words in under 13 minutes, and it's like pulling teeth. It's been a year and a third. Please, when can I start writing again?

What is it with all this SCHOOL?

2010-03-19T14:37:00.002-04:00

Fifth post in a row about school, and yes, I know I haven't even posted for going on two months.

So that computer program for Sight Singing & Ear Training is REALLY LAME. For SERIOUS. It makes things way harder than they need to be, and is extremely confusing. I had to just hope I was doing the right exercises because I needed to get them done and I didn't have time to troll through pages of "Help" to see if it addressed my problem. Fortunately, not only did I catch up my 3-weeks-of-homework-in-1, I accidentally did 6-weeks-of-homework-in-2, and am completely done for the semester. Whatever.

Psych is really fascinating. OT Lit as well, though it more often slips into questionable theology.

What is the definition of "friend" in college? Is it someone you say hi to in the halls, someone who'll make you a copy of their notes, someone whose dorm you've hung out in?

In case some of you haven't been checking, I've been updating my book list. It's SO EXCITING you will have a HEART ATTACK.

More happy, happy adventures in school!

2010-01-30T02:03:00.002-05:00

Doing homework to catch up with my new class, I learned:

if I want to get everything right, I'm going to be a bit slow by the computer's standards.
if I actually do it faster, the computer says "Too quick for accuracy. Your score is 0." EVEN IF I GOT THEM ALL RIGHT.
—despite my teacher saying this several times—the computer DOES NOT SAVE PROGRESS.

So there's an hour lost on frustrating, tedious stuff I already know, which I now have to repeat.

I suppose I'm exaggerating a little bit... it's more like forty-five minutes that was lost. For some reason the computer DID save what I did at first. Weirdo.

Happy fun shiny times!

2010-01-26T19:08:00.002-05:00

Sort of.

Apparently when one takes Music Theory I, one must also take Sight Singing & Ear Training I in the same semester. I'm signed up now (for 8:00–9:20 on Tuesday mornings, ugh), and have three weeks of homework to do and one week to complete it.

And most of it has to be done on a computer in the piano lab at Bethel.

Thank you, adviser, for not telling me about this class when I registered for my other classes. This is really just making my semester.

Okay, I'm going to go practice my solfege and be less sarcastic now. Maybe someday I'll blog again, and it will mean something.

School's cool.

2010-01-12T17:01:00.004-05:00

Music Theory I
9:00–9:50 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday

General Psychology
12:00–12:50 PM Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Old Testament Literature
1:00–1:50 PM Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Teaching Piano Lessons
2:30–3:30 PM Monday

Physical Science
4:30–5:00? 5:30? PM Monday

Voice Lesson
as yet unscheduled Wednesday or Friday

Homework
ALL THE TIME (except when I'm procrastinating)

Well... that was fun.

2009-12-16T09:51:00.002-05:00

Through my own silly fault I was ten minutes late to my Elements of Music final, so, sadly, twenty minutes later I was not the first one done. I tied with another girl. *Sigh.* I'd been so hopeful.

100+ books in 2010!

2009-12-10T20:47:00.055-05:00

Seriously, I'm going to remember this year. Or, at least, I'm going to remember for at least two months. Yay feasible goals!

ENTER
READ(!!!)
WIN*

*It's like NaNoWriMo, except I don't think you get a badge. Just bragging rights.

MAGGIE'S BOOKS

Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace. (Oh MHL, you make me nostalgic for your childhood.)
Pretties by Scott Westerfield.
a novella by a friend of mine. (!!!)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. (Oh GCL. I cannot say how much I love this book.)
The Enchanted Raisin by Jacqueline Balcells, translated by Elizabeth Gamble Miller. (Amanda Pearl read these stories to me when I was little, and I haven't looked at them in years. They've grown weird in the meantime.)
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman.
River Secrets by Shannon Hale. (Oh SH...)
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst. (Beauty and the Beast in the modern arctic... and then it explodes. My opinion might come later.)
Genesis by, um, God (also Moses). (NASB.) (At first I was asking if this counts, but I know it totally has to.)
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. (More rereading from when I was youngerish. Also, RM's prose is like pudding. I'd elaborate but I'd probably just go on a huge tangent like she does all the time. Deliciously, I mean, but wow.)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. (At least the third time through... I don't quite remember.)
Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Cathy's Book: if found call (650) 266-8233 by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman; interior design by Cathy Brigg. (Interesting. Kind of fun.)
The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler).
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. (Never read it before.)
Horseradish by Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler). (Quite meh, bordering on lame.)
Holes by Louis Sachar. (Again.)
Cathy's Key: if found call (650) 266-8202 by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weismann; interior design by Cathy Brigg. (This one wasn't as good as the first. It was half sequel, half anti-war diatribe, and Jewel was one of my least favorite kinds of unrealistic. She could and did get away with everything, and people constantly underestimated her, and she apparently didn't care about anyone but herself. Very annoying to read.
However, it's still a very fun kind of book and I hope it becomes popular. I can see this style being really amazing.)
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. (Interesting and a nice style.)
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. (Oh my goodness. I wish I'd read this before. Oh my goodness.)
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. (Yes, again. I nearly cried both times. Oh my goodness.)
Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. (The narrater is an autistic boy. Interestingish, but the plot's not amazing.)
Cathy's Ring: if found call (650) 266-8263 by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman; interior design by Cathy Brigg. (A pretty good ending to the trilogy, but relatively. The whole thing probably gets about three and a half stars.)
Little Bee by Chris Cleave. (Totally the best cover ever.)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (Reread.)
Sold by Patricia McCormick.
Artemis Fowl, The arctic incident: the graphic novel adapted by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin; art by Giovanni Rigano; color by Paolo Lamanna; lettering by Chris Dickey (originally by Eoin Colfer). (They seriously weren't meant to be graphic novels... yet I read the second. EC, why do I keep reading you? Aren't your books supposed to be for 12-year-old boys? Sigh.)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. (Reread. When will August get here?)
Chiggers by Hope Larson; lettered by Jason Azzopardi. (Really, really lame. I should really stop following such whims as led me to pick it up.)
Graphic Classics Volume 4: H. P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft, some adapters, and a bunch of artists. (:D)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff Kinney. (Still trying to keep updated on kid's lit.)
Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale. (Can definitely be stand-alone. Rather steampunkish. I liked it.)
Serenity Vol. 1: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad.
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, read by David Ackroyd.
Shug by Jenny Han.
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. (Aaaaaiii. Loved it.)
The Screwtape Letters with Screwtape Proposes a Toast by C. S. Lewis. (Still so brilliant.)
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks, read by Marc Cashman.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, read by Scott Brick. (I have trouble seeing how this became a movie starring Will Smith. What? Also, I liked Scott Brick. The reader really matters; I started Lawrence and the Arabs recently but had to stop almost immediately because what's-his-name that was reading it had an incredibly annoying voice.)
The Best Time Travel Stories of All Time edited by Barry N. Malzberg. (This was a very good collection. It has some big names, too. I may actually buy it.)
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness. (In which Mr. Hammar is promoted to Captain. Also, made me buy a full-price book from amazon.co.uk because the third in the trilogy is not freaking out in the US yet.)
Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. (Meh. The authors thought that every time a character came onto a new scene they had to reintroduce the nickname, and that was so annoying and pedantic and stupid.)
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness. (Aaaaaiiiiiii. Five stars of five. Patrick Ness, will you be my new best friend? You're my favourite.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale. (We have surprisingly few audiobooks; so if you see HP all over this list, that's because it's my go-to if I have to clean my room or such. It's really very handy to listen to something.)
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer, read by Enn Reitel. (I think it's better the second time through. I really am fond of this series.)
Ten Ways to Make my Sister Disappear by Norma Fox Mazer.
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. (Quite delightful. I'll probably read more Emma-Jean. She reminds me heavily of a character I had a few years ago, only Emma-Jean is nice. (Oh haha, I just realized that my characters initials were EJS. And I hadn't even heard of this book. Funny times!))
Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card.
Nightlight: a parody by The Harvard Lampoon. (Rather eh. It was too over-the-top to be brilliant, but it had some really awesome lines: "None of us were very good at saying good-bye. For some reason, it always came out good-BUH.")
Emma-Jean Lazerus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis.
Break by Hannah Moskowitz.
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah.
Lovingly Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia edited by Herbie Brennan (includes authors Sarah Beth Durst (see 8) and Diane Duane). (It was really good. I mean, I didn't agree with all of them, but it was quite interesting and afterward I felt like reading the Chronicles again.)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. (... which I then did.)
Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis.
The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" by C. S. Lewis.
The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis.
The Horse and his Boy by C. S. Lewis.
The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis.
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. (I've always really loved this one. Authors in Through the Wardrobe kept saying it's not as good because it's too overwhelmed by the biblical message—but I also love Revelations, so I guess I'm the odd girl out.)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. (Enjoyable, but not mind-shattering. I couldn't see Alex as human because he had no empathy. Ever.)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (Just getting ready for the imminent release of Mockingjay.)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale. (I needed something comforting and funny during orientation, only it turned out to be a bad decision, as I almost starting crying in the cafeteria. I don't know what crazy thing SH did to me, but this book just kind of locates my heart and twists it. Also my funnybone, but in a non-painful way.)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. (No official comment yet, except that it was surprising.)
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer. (EC really just can't stop. I thought that *maybe*, since this is the seventh book, it might be the ending, but no way he's stopping here. I think AF is doomed to be an eternal series, and will eventually become unendurable. Until then, however, I'm still enjoying them.)
Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn. (Really fun, and clever.)
Push by Sapphire.
All But Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. (Yeah, yeah, I know, shut up.)
Skinny by Ibi Kaslik. (Don't misunderstand this novel: It's not about anorexia. It's about two sisters and how they related to their father. Also one of them happens to be anorexic. It's also just poorly written. About halfway through I found the need to check if it was self-published. (It wasn't.))
The Giver by Lois Lowry. (I'd forgotten how much I enjoy reading LL. I'm really glad I read this book and intend to actually buy it.)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. (I noticed more flaws this time, but definitely still enjoyed it.)
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.
Messenger by Lois Lowry. (The further into these books I get, the stupider some of the first one looks. However, still cool.)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray.
The Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky. ((This and the next reviewish thing are Frankensteined from my 24-hour-read-a-thon notes.) Okay, this book just isn't that wonderfully-written. Too obvious about many things. It kind of throws its message at you. KL is too fond of her weird and made-up words. "Oh no, the bats are going to quank!" There's only so far I can take seriously. Oh, and KL changes person ALL THE TIME. I hated it. But it was still a fun book. Maybe I just like owls... dunno. Maybe it made me feel nostalgic. I haven' t read it in years.)
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. (I read a really good review for this ages ago, and picked it up randomly at the library because I was restless, and totally forgot what it's supposed to be about. It was... interesting. I'm not 100% sure I understand the her choice of places to have quotation marks. It really changes track partway through. Oh, and there's ickiness.)
Paper Towns by John Green. (Brilliant. It's about Quentin Jacobsen, but it's really about Margo Roth Spiegelman. It's in two parts. Part I sets up Margo Roth Spiegelman as one of those magic pixie dream girls you always hear about--in the noble tradition of Clarisse (Fahrenheit 451), Leslie (Bridge to Terabithia), and Stargirl (Stargirl). Always doing quirky things, always beautiful, always amazing... and then Part II deconstructs that image. And I did not know how it was going to end, in a good way.)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Room by Emma Donoghue. (Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. So. Flamazing.)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. (Breifly: Two boys called Will Grayson meet. However, it should be called Tiny Cooper, Tiny Cooper or Tiny Cooper and the Boys Who Loved Him or something. Yeah, it's not about Will Grayson OR Will Grayson; it's about Tiny Cooper. Also Tiny Cooper and one of the Will Graysons are gay, so. Warning, I guess.)
What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges. (For a class.)
The Gospel of John by John (God was there too). (ESV.) (For a class.)
The Gospel of John by John (God was there too). (ESV.) (Yep, twice.)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy, Book 2: The Return of Meteor Boy? by William Boniface. (Quite a good sequel, and an excellent book its age-range (about ten, I think). I read the first one around August of last year and was rather grateful for the reiteration of plot points, although I know that if I remembered them I would be annoyed as usual.)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. (Mary Sue alert! Chiyo/Sayuri is THE prettiest and THE smartest and THE kindest... and I'm not even kidding. That's the way the entire thing is. Everything always works out for her, overall. I mean, she's sold to be a geisha and her parents die and people are mean to her and everything, but you know she's going to be the best at everything she does and get her final goal and everything. Anyway, it was Thanksgiving break and I've hardly read anything all semester, so eh.)
The Book of Acts. (For school.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. (I have to clean my room a lot.)
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. (I really liked the premise, but I dunno... I actually can't remember what I didn't like about it. Or much what I did. It's a supremely forgettable book, apparently.)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling.
A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian. (You know, I kind of really like the cover. But I honestly didn't think Charlie's buttons were that brilliant.)
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. (I liked this more than I expected. A very cynical and interesting voice.)
Cut by Patricia McCormick. (Eh.)
Mary Anne's Makeover by Ann M. Martin. (I actually read this months ago but didn't want to admit it. Dumbest hour of my life, yes. Well, I was planning on burning it (for the heck of it) and didn't want to burn a book I didn't really know about. (I then lost it, so whatever.) But the shame of not making 100 would be greater than y'all knowing about my brain cell genocide.)
A plethora of baby/toddler books. (I read so freaking many I feel it must count.)

Best finds of the year: 21, maybe 25, 38, 42, 43, 45 maybe 70, 76, maybe 78, maybe 79, maybe 80, 83, 85.

SNOW

2009-12-07T12:17:00.001-05:00

HAPPY EMOTICON, GUYS

iojiefnvweicnwenwep

2009-11-23T22:52:00.002-05:00

You know those signs where you have letters you can arrange? And how it's amazing fun to rearrange them to say something witty? I was playing with one and some extra letters (A, A, D, E, E, E, G, N, N, N, N, S, T, and U) at Anna's old church and managed to spell

ANAN NEED GUTS

with only two letters left over. I'm still fairly proud of myself.

THIS is how much I don't want to do my homework.

2009-11-23T22:04:00.003-05:00

This came with our bath mat and it was funny. Also I'm procrastinating.

3D Bath Mat
DIRECTIONS FOR USE

The mat is made of vinyl meaning it will remain soft, pliable and luxurious to the touch. It is easy to keep clean because it is machine washable.

DIRECTIONS:

Unroll mat and allow it to lay flat for 24 hours before using. Re-rolling mat on the reverse side may help mat to lay flat. It is recommended soaking the mat in a tub of warm water for 10 minutes prior to your first use.
The bathtub or shower floor must be clean and free of any dirt or oils. Do not use mat on a textured bathtub surface or textured shower floor since suction cups will not hold properly.
Before filling the tub, center mat carefully in tub or shower floor with suction cups on underside.
Fill the tub to the desired level of water. Firmly press on the entire mat surface with your hands by kneeling outside of tub on a clean surface.
Step carefully on the mat while holding a grab bar, edge of tub or a secure object.
Step firmly on at least 8 to 10 places for proper vacuum hold.
Your weight should firmly anchor the mat. If the mat is not firmly anchored, repeat the instructions.
After use, lift mat at one corner and peel back. Rinse mat thoroughly, hang to dry. Do not dry with hair dryer or over a radiator.

CAUTION: Not recommended for use on textured surfaces. Keep tub surface clean. Bath oils may reduce the Bath Mat's safety. Please be sure to use all safety precautions when entering and exiting tub/shower as well as when in the tub/shower. The mat is designed to help prevent sipping, but the effectiveness of mat depends on your use and care.

If I really wanted to go into it, "DIRECTIONS FOR USE" was underlined except between "FOR" and "USE" and on the list, "5" was italicized… but I don't know how to do that here.

SO I WAS WRONG, GUYS.

2009-11-18T15:06:00.002-05:00

Dancing is actually NOT ALLOWED AT BETHEL.

NOT ALLOWED.

Not that I particularly FEEL like dancing when I'm at Bethel, but NOT ALLOWED! ARE YOU FOR SERIOUS??

This makes me wonder what we're going to do in Spanish class on Friday. We'd been scheduled to salsa, and I bet you can imagine how much I'm looking forward to that--awkward time with people I barely tolerate. At least I'm tall; then I can volunteer to dance the gentleman's part (since we're very low on guys in our block) and that will make things ever-so-slightly better. But can I get out of it altogether by saying it's unBethical? (Holly taught me that word today.)

This makes me want to start line-dancing or something right in the middle of campus to see what would happen. Would half a dozen security guards emerge from nowhere and tackle me? (This is what I've been envisioning. It's what I'd like to think would happen.) Something to contemplate when I feel like screaming.

I don't know if this is a happy or a sad day, Sis-'n. I know you'd count it as a reason to rejoice, but I don't like them infringing my freedom. If I want to kick my heels a bit, let me.

Siblinginess.

2009-11-14T20:19:00.002-05:00

Going to make a quick Taco Bell run a few weeks ago, Nat and I went through the regular ritual of finding our shoes, coats, and hats. I reflected to myself on how funny it was that we seemed to be getting dressed up to go to a fast food establishment; I don't remember what we were wearing, but it was our usual nicish attire that contrasts us against our classmates.

"Margaret," he said. I looked at him and he smiled a bit, which (obvious to me) meant laughter over what I had just been thinking.

"I know." Agreement and a little smile of my own were all that was needed.

Does it take as long as we've lived together to be able to speak without speaking? Or perhaps the last two or three years we've grown closer? How many such exchanges have gone by without my taking notice?

I love you, Nathaniel.

AURGHNESS

2009-11-13T23:22:00.002-05:00

I was very content with silently losing NaNoWriMo this year until I remembered my promise. Why did I have to predict myself so well?

If you look at my NaNoWriMo page and are worried about my word count, it's true: at this moment I have 3,091 words. It is now actually impossible for me to win NaNoWriMo, and I don't know when (if ever) I'm going to round up FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS. I really just CAN'T. *Kicks floor.*

D:!!

2009-11-03T15:12:00.002-05:00

I MISS YOU. (You know who you are. The ones that I just saw this weekend. Who live at least four hours away.)

SPARKLE.

Shut up, Zeke.

Shut up, Ethan and Aaron. I'm not.

DON'T, Elizabeth!

I danced with Edward, you guys.

I need my waif and my orphan.

I hate you.

*innocent face*

Skirt.

*hug*

THESE ARE SAD TIMES.

Lala!

2009-11-03T15:10:00.002-05:00

For those who don't read Pasto's blog, I guess.

Lala! You can listen to music for free (or for fee*)!

*HAHAHA

FOR SERIOUS, GUYS

2009-10-28T22:44:00.004-04:00

WRITE A NOVEL
also for kids

50,000 words
30 days
Happy emoticon!

what if i don't finish it?
YOU'LL HAVE A NOVEL STARTED!
(nobody finishes everything. it's okay.)

what if it's not very good?
YOU'LL BE BETTER AFTERWARD!
(you don't have to show anybody. it's okay.)

what if this is a wonderful opportunity and i don't know how to thank you for telling me about this?
YOU'LL HAVE A NOVEL STARTED!
(thank you, thank you, maggie! you're so amazing! <-- like that.)

Happy emoticon!

2009-10-15T01:04:00.003-04:00

yesterday
Spanish class ≠ entirely awful
!!!

I think this may have something to do with me sitting in a different place… one where my classmates don't pretend I don't exist. Of course, it would take some figuring to make this more permanent, because I was technically sitting in someone else's place. (My usual place had no chair.) She came over anyway so she could have her chat with the other girls, in English (not allowed), about shopping/clothes, and every time the teacher came near she would say a variant on "We're talking about Spanish, I swear." But I digress.

Could it be———is it getting better??

P. S. In Elements of Music, multiple girls now ask me directly about the homework. E. g. "Did I do this right?" "What does this mean?"

Bea

2009-10-13T21:33:00.002-04:00

In Elements of Music, the one who chose a song from Once for that first assignment. She also wears awesome skirts all the time. Well, yesterday we both came to class in trench coats and hats. I complimented her hat, explaining it was my favorite color. (Mine was sort of reddish and could not be called straight-out orange, unfortunately.)
Her favorite color is orange, too.
:O

Unfortunately, her bag sports an Obama button, so unless she has an excellent explanation, our friendship is not meant to be. (No offense, Amanda. You don't count; I love you no matter how wrong you are. Emoticon.)

Question.

2009-10-13T20:58:00.001-04:00

PHONE is to RING what BOOK is to ?

More bragging!

2009-10-13T20:42:00.002-04:00

I now have both Thaxted from Jupiter from The Planets by Gustav Holst and Sabre Dance from Gayaneh by Aram Khachaturian memorized. (Note: This does not mean they are without mistakes. It merely means I don't strictly need the book to practice.) They both are arranged for solo piano by Christopher Norton, as was Montagues and Capulets. (And in my opinion, he needed better editing on Thaxted. It was written more confusing than it could have been.)

Next: Romance from Lieutenant Kijé by Serge Prokofieff*.

Oh, 20th century classics. You are so insane. I love you.

*This is how it was spelled in the book. The alternate version is Sergei Prokofiev, and I don't know which is considered a closer translation or whatever.

No, I keep a blog because I DON'T want attention.

2009-10-12T23:37:00.002-04:00

(Title pretty much unrelated. From an imaginary conversation.)

Sorry for all this linkage, but it's in the rules for entering this giveaway that I must link it:

How Much Fabric? Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Anyway, it looks cool.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

2009-10-11T15:04:00.006-04:00

I can't decide if I'll participate or not. I mean, if I'm actually going to take the risks that come with losing that much sleep and all. I will be reading, of course.

The picture is a link.

Tip of the Day

2009-10-10T10:57:00.001-04:00

In Life……….

Shortcomings, Loss & Setbacks are INEVITABLE….

but…..

Suffering, Worry & Sadness are all OPTIONAL.

Be cheerful & happy always!!! Just take care of your health & family -

happiness will follow you wherever you go or be !!!

To all Star Wars fans!!

2009-10-08T19:59:00.001-04:00

Imagine that A New Hope was split into fifteen-second increments, and each increment was given to a different person to recreate IN THEIR OWN STYLE. Then these new clips are put together to make a fantastic new version of the original movie.

Absurd!

I present Star Wars: Uncut http://starwarsuncut.com/

At the time I am posting this, there are 157 clips free for the taking, and one person can take as many as three clips. Go!

Thank you, thank you, Vati.

2009-09-27T20:31:00.002-04:00

Did you know we have not only Katharine Hepburn's signature, but also a signed copy of Fahrenheit 451?

the road 'more traveled' by

2009-09-25T09:37:00.002-04:00

I was walking from Spanish to Elements of music and the path split. I considered, for a moment, whether I should take the path everybody was taking, or the slightly wigglier and less direct one that passed by the gazebo. As usual, I avoided the gazebo (empty gazebos make me sad) with the excuse that twice I've gotten compliments when walking the way I walk.

As I've never taken the path by the gazebo, I didn't know how many compliments I could be receiving, and was wondering about that when a passing girl said, "I like your hat."

Win.

That is now Compliment Corner. (OFHP's Kompliment Korner? Oh wait...) Next time I pass someone there, I'm spreading the happiness. Like germs, only not!

If you wonder why I'm blogging when I should be in Elements of Music, we had a test today. I was out in fifteen minutes--and if I wasn't a slowpoke [lastname], I bet would've been first out. Of course, if I wasn't a [lastname], I wouldn't know all the answers so well. (See, I'm arrogant too. Laughing emoticon.)

Things I should remember when biking in the humid, humid midwest:

2009-09-23T22:02:00.003-04:00

Do not bike when even a little tired; tired + sweaty + worn out + thick air = not paying attention = not good.
Be prepared to seriously need a shower; sweat abounds when there's too much water in the air.
Keep your mouth closed; gnats are gross. (Learned yesterday.)

me in the morning

2009-09-21T07:22:00.000-04:00

shut up
you stupid crickets

Mythical Creatures

2009-09-11T15:31:00.003-04:00

Blogger is annoying sometimes. Anyway, I think if you click on it you might see it better.

Pride.

2009-09-09T11:06:00.002-04:00

After 6-7 hours of practice spanning 5 days, I can play the simplified piano arrangement of Serge Prokofieff's Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet at the desired tempo with virtually no mistakes, when I'm alone.

The Actor and the Housewife

2009-09-04T15:00:00.001-04:00

by Shannon Hale.

I cried.

I curse my motherly feelings sometimes.

People at college.

2009-09-03T14:18:00.001-04:00

There is a reason I wear my hat to Bethel almost every day so people remember me. There are few people whose names I remember: Paul, who wears a pink hat. (Like Elizabeth's.) Bridget, whose hair is dyed. It has rainbow colors like an oil spill. Kait, who I sat next to twice in Spanish. Maggie, because what are the chances we'd sit next to each other? And one girl whose name I think is Bea (short for Beatrice) who, for the first Elements of Music homework assignment chose a song from Once. (I was apparently the only one who chose a classical piece.)

A problem that comes up is that I judge my classmates on how hard they apply themselves in the class, and since a language is required, many of them in Spanish don't care. I'm still trying to find someone to sit with who will make an effort to learn something.

Witness my amazing post-wrapping-up skills! *flees*

First Spanish class = win.

2009-08-28T08:26:00.002-04:00

(It was expected, though. Nat had this class yesterday.)

We had a substitute teacher! The main teacher is coaching soccer and will be starting next week. In the meantime, we could get started—if we had the right book! We didn't. There was a typo that made everybody buy the wrong book.

So he handed out the syllabus, and then we took it in turns to stand up and say, "¡Hola! Mi nombre es… [Maggie]. Soy de… [hometown/state]." It was riveting. Oh, and our assignment was to write our names on the piece of paper at the front of the class. He advised us to learn the alphabet, too.

Classes start today at Bethel.

2009-08-27T13:47:00.002-04:00

However, I don't have any Thursday classes.

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY
8:00 - 8:50 Spanish I
9:00 - 9:50 Elements of Music

MONDAY (I believe)
Exploring Creation through Physical Science with TQ and Snap's mother

TUESDAY
Teaching Oly'Anna's and Justinian's piano lessons

That's as far as I know right now. Tomorrow at 10 (after Spanish and Music) I'm going to have a voice lesson, and then we'll figure out a regular schedule. We'd set it regularly at 10 on Monday or Wednesday or Friday because that would be so handy, but that's when chapel is at Bethel, and while neither of us (as a teacher and a REACH student) are required to go, she is discouraged from teaching during chapel.

I just realized, I am apparently a Register Early to Achieve College Hours student. That's grammatically nonsensical.

---

Here I go again. This is unimportant. I merely feel obliged to relate it as it includes a few people who may read this.

I dreamed about getting an application from the tiny-branch library… they had this weird program going on where they took a character from three USA TV shows and that character was a librarian and also answered phone questions. My librarian was one of these characters, and she answered the theological questions. She got one while I was talking with her: "If the power's out and I'm scared, is God there?" and she answered, "Remember in Ephesians 5 when God says he is always there," and I was thinking, "That's not in Ephesians 5." So naturally I immediately asked her if the bread and wine of communion were truly Christ's Body and Blood or merely a symbol, and she did not answer. I digress.

One of the other characters doing the library thing was a villain, and I realized he was going to try to kill us all, so I got Nathaniel, Paul, Ethan and Zeke to come to the library to vanquish him. While I was getting them the library became multi-level and incredibly complex, with a few secret passageways for good measure. We were not very adept at navigating the labyrinth of stairways and books and seas and finding and fighting the villain. Nathaniel was useless, narrating us; Paul was comic relief; Ethan thought he was saving us all but really wasn't; and Zeke was the only one doing anything but I was the only one who could tell, even he didn't know. I was just kind of annoyed with them all.

Also I punched through about twelve brick walls.

I woke up before anybody actually won.

Three quotes.

2009-08-23T22:46:00.002-04:00

Smart people were valued because they could solve problems, not because they could speak pleasingly about them.

"Oh," said Grace, sounding disappointed. "I'm sorry to year you say something so stupid."

… so instead of having a romantic encounter, she wrote about one. This is a common dilemma among English majors.

I found these on post-it notes around my room. The first two are from an Enderverse book, probably Children of the Mind. I don't even remember where the third came from.

Names

2009-08-20T23:31:00.002-04:00

Wikipedia lists six Scottish forms of Margaret and they all look hard to pronounce:

Maighread
Mairead
Maisie
Marsaili
Mysie
Peigi

Why, oh why don't I know how to say you? This makes me sad.

EDIT: Okay, well, five of them look hard to pronounce. (FIVE.) Maisie is reasonably simple.

Incentive.

2009-08-18T11:54:00.003-04:00

Forest Born is coming out this fall.

You know I've been looking forward to it for a long time.

You may also know I've been feeling apprehensive about this year's NaNoWriMo.

So:

I'm not going to read Forest Born until I'm done with my novel. I don't know if it's going to be a Write-Five-Thousand-Words-and-Read-a-Chapter thing or just a Write-Fifty-Thousand-Words-and-Read-the-Whole-Thing thing. If I don't finish in November, well, I guess I'll have to wait even longer to read it. I'll figure it out later.

I really want to read it.

PAMA

2009-08-13T22:55:00.003-04:00

Sometimes—particularly when I am experiencing a great deal of emotion—I have trouble sounding sincere over the internet. I have a lot of rampaging thoughts and I type some of them and sometimes they're the wrong ones, or they don't make sense without the ones that are only in my head. So, sorry if that happens. I'm working on it.

(This is not because of any instance in particular; I just realized that some of the things I've said in the past may not have translated well, and I don't want to give the wrong impression in the future.)

And here is the obligatory emoticon to show I'm in a good mood: :)

Don't Be Cool, Stay In School

2009-08-11T22:50:00.003-04:00

I got my left ear pierced again. And then once more. Now all I have to do is swab it with alcohol three times a day for six weeks. Or two months, according to the lady who did it. She kept asking, "Are you sure you want it this way? Once I do it you can't change it. Are you sure?"

Okay, so my DREEM was like The Man Who Was Thursday, but entirely with circus freaks… Why do I post my dreams so often? I've heard it said that people telling their dreams is annoying. Is this annoying?

I'd like to get a job, but I need an ID. To get an ID, I need my social security card, proof of address, and a parent. Probably some other stuff too. Long story short, we had a fruitless trip to the license bureau and Mutti has decided that we might as well get me a driving permit, because it works and then we're ready in case, I don't know, suddenly we need a fourth driver for our three cars and the price of insurance for a minor goes down.

I'm not planning on actually learning how to drive yet.

We went to TQ and Snap's house to surprise OFHP for her birthday, and Pasto' G. and Dr./Mr. H., Snap and Erik, Anna and Matthew, Nick and Nat, TQ and I went canoeing, split up into those pairs. (Anna and Matthew were in a kayak, though.) Besides those wacky kayakers, TQ and I won two races, because our canoe was the only one with two females. (We held back in the third so we could soak Nick and Nat.)

Happy birthday, my OFHP! I miss you!

SOLA

2009-07-25T14:56:00.001-04:00

I is has sad.

Lovely Child.

2009-07-14T17:11:00.003-04:00

Last night Naomi had Susie (at the time 9 months, 26 days old) on her lap while she was on the computer and Susie kept kicking the laptop. While she did so I said "Kick, kick, kick…" in an attempt to make her smile. (She did.)

And then she said "Kick." She said it at least twice later.

I taught her her first word!

EDIT: Well, her first fully-pronounced word.

My Fortune.

2009-07-11T23:21:00.000-04:00

Q. What is contain it everything?
A. Wisdom.

Forest-Born

2009-07-10T23:26:00.000-04:00

I had this revelation a little while ago, and I just thought of sharing it.

The Goose Girl, page 6:

[Ani's aunt speaking:] "I've never known one with the gift of nature-speaking, though there are tales that insist it once was. I strain my ears and my eyes and my insides"—she tapped her temple lightly—"But I don't know the tongue of fire or wind or tree."

So I'm hoping Rin, the main character, has tree-speech. Wouldn't that be SO COOL?

Dreems in the plural.

2009-07-10T21:49:00.003-04:00

I just really love telling peeple my dreems, I guess.

As we left NYC it was getting very late and I quite tired, so I cleared the back seat of luggage and lay down for an hour or two, I don't know, I wasn't watching the clock, and had the fairly uneventful dreem of Amanda Pearl's name being in the newspaper. She got into all sorts of shows—including fabulous Broadway musicals—and was nominated for Tonys and such and didn't tell us.

(If you're reading this, Amanda, I haven't won at Solitaire on the iPod since we left you, and it's not for lack of trying.)

Which reminds me. Amanda got an iPhone. She didn't want to have both an iPhone and an iPod, so she got a little mp3 player for the gym, and gave me her 30 GB iPod to replace my 4 GB one that no longer works unless it's actively being charged. ( :D )

As a sidenote to explain the above parenthetical message to those who have not been traveling with us, I started playing the Solitaire right away, and I won easily 50% of the games, whereas Amanda had hardly ever won any.

So the second dreem, once we got to the Days Inn and settled down. We were on a grassy hill, me and Nat and Zeke and Paul and Ethan and a gril scout trying to sell me cookies. (Before you comment, that spelling was intentional.) Zeke's and Paul's faces were kind of blurred. (Have you seen The Ring? Kind of like the faces in the photos in that movie.) I didn't talk to Nat much. Ethan had a full black Irish beard. Yes, his hair was black too. Actually, he didn't look anything like Ethan. He just was.

We were all doing whatever it is we do, and the boys started playing some sort of game or something while the gs and I watched. After a little while people passing by started yelling and throwing rocks at Ethan, and I had to explain to the gs that sooner or later, everybody hates Ethan. Sometimes it's his fault, sometimes not, but if you don't understand this then you will hate him forever. If you're smart enough to comprehend, you kind of get over it. She was a bit dim and couldn't grasp the concept.

Also I bought a box of trefoils and two boxes of junior thin mints from her, even though a box was now $5.25. (When I was selling it was $3.00, though soon after I left it quickly escalated to $3.50.) I was slightly disappointed that the regular thin mints had been discontinued, but the new ones were not bad. She had a selection of about three dozen variaties, and was offering free samples.

P. S. We're not getting home on Wednesday like I thought, it's Tuesday. If it matters.

Bis bald.

2009-07-08T15:31:00.001-04:00

We're leaving for New York today. We'll be back next Wednesday.

July.

2009-07-02T15:07:00.004-04:00

I failed JunNoWriMo big time. Even worse than Script Frenzy.

I am accepting reviews for Paul Dies to put on the back of Ethan Dies. If you want to give one, e-mail it to me. It would get you a discount like last time, only I got tired of charging so they're free. (That doesn't mean one person can take all of them, though. I'll start charging again if you get greedy.)

Since Sita came I've started memorizing classic Disney songs. So far I know

Once Upon a Dream — Sleeping Beauty
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo — Cinderella
part of Cinderally, Cinderelly — Cinderella
A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes — Cinderella
Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho — Snow-White
Someday my Prince will Come — Snow-White
I'm Wishing — Snow-White
Pink Elephants on Parade — Dumbo
Baby Mine — Dumbo
Little April Shower — Bambi

Unfortunately, the book I'm using was published in 1979, which means it's missing some great ones, like Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

italicsitalicsitalics

2009-06-28T18:16:00.000-04:00

Zub died.

also

2009-06-02T00:13:00.001-04:00

I'm doing JunNoWriMo.

Spammers are idiots.

2009-06-02T00:08:00.003-04:00

Well, they did confuse me with the subject line; I thought it was something else.

Nope, it was idiocy.

Concerned,
The united nations development program (UNDP), in conjunction with the society for family health (SFH) and the European Union (EU), is giving out a yearly donation of US$1,000,000.00 (One million united states dollars) as a specific Donation/Grants to 5 Lucky international recipients worldwide, this is to assist against terrorism Note: All beneficiaries email addresses were selected randomly from over 100,000 internet websites, mini mart shops cash invoice around your area in which you might have purchased something from. Be Informed that no ticket were sold, you are required to fill the form below and email it to the office of our Executive Secretary with the below contact for qualification documentation and processing of your claims. You are to contact the EXECUTIVE SECRETARY with your Qualification numbers (N-222-6747,E-900-56).
=====================================
FUNDS RELEASED AND VERIFICATION FORM
=====================================
1.FULL NAME ............................
2.CONTACT ADDRESS:... .........
3.CITY/STATE:......................
4.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:..................
5.PRESENT COUNTRY:..............
6. MARITAL STATUS :............
7.NATIONALITY.............
8.SEX...........
9. AGE /DATE OF BIRTH: .............
10.TEL/FAX NR:.................
11.OCCUPATION :.....................
12. WINNING EMAIL ID:..............
========================================
CONTACT PERSON,
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Mrs Emmanuella Dickson
E-MAIL ADDRESS: mrselladickson_undp01@yahoo.com.hk
========================================
Respectfully
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary General
NOTE: SEND RESPONSE TO (mrselladickson_undp01@yahoo.com.hk)

I didn't even read past the part about giving me a million dollars to stop terrorism. Yeah.

Also I'm doublechecking any subject line in the future. Spammers may be idiots, but they're getting smarter.

P. S. Also the grammar isn't even correct. Ha ha ha.

What is wrong with me?

2009-05-30T21:49:00.002-04:00

You know how people talk about how one scene in a particular movie—be it Bambi or Pride and Prejudice—that made them cry? (Granted, almost entirely females.) And if not a movie, then a play, piece of music, literature, or something of the like?

Never happened to me.

Never.

It's not like I'm an overly dry-eyed individual in other respects. So why don't I? Am I not drawn into the story the same way? Is my heart a dramatic chunk of ice when it comes to fictional characters?

So a big fat prize goes to whomever can find/create something that will make me cry. (Out of grief for something in the story, not something it reminded me of, or out of happiness (good luck with that one, though; it's taken marriage and birth of immediate family members to do that in real life), or beauty, I suppose, and the like. No cheating.)

Look at the button!

2009-05-29T21:50:00.001-04:00

Adventures in baby-sewing is having a pattern giveaway.

Margaret wins at the game of Library.

2009-05-27T21:45:00.003-04:00

I went to the library yesterday, and

I brought my bike lock!
I brought my books to return!
it was open!
no assassins!

I had a lovely time browsing books, and I even was brave and talked to three librarians. I asked one about looking up what prize I'd won in the bookmark contest (I didn't go to the ceremony), but he had to do something else so I talked to a perky lady. After that I asked the perky lady about volunteering, and she got perkier and gave me an application and a list of things I might be asked to do. A few minutes after she left, the third librarian approached me with a hopeful look on her face and said, "Are you volunteering? I have a special craft that you could help with, and even if it was just a few hours for a few weeks, it would be a big help."

And then I sat on a couch for a while and half read, half watched a boy (about one and a half, I'd guess) playing with his parents. (Or his kidnappers, I suppose, but I hope not. He was cute.) His mother was expecting and looked quite far along.

Anyway. Success! I am happy with this library.

The books I got from the library:

2009-05-16T18:21:00.004-04:00

Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick
A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess
Interview with the vampire : a novel by Anne Rice
Chalice by Robin McKinley
Empire by Orson Scott Card
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
The Graveyard Book by Niel Gaiman
Anne Frank : the diary of a young girl translated from the Dutch by B.M. Mooyaart-Doubleday ; with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt

1, 2, 3, and 8 are classics. 4, 5, and 7 are by authors whose other books I've enjoyed. 6 has been recommended to me by several.

There is no doubt that The Host is better than the Twilight saga in many ways, but Stephanie Meyer has not learned from her mistakes. (Perhaps they need to be pointed out to her.) There was a plot point in Eclipse that I could not believe actually got published, and I dearly hoped never to see anything like it again, but lo and behold! It was in The Host, just different enough that you could pretend it was not the same.

If it was only that I would still like the book very, very much, but there was another large flaw I couldn't get past: Mary Sue-ism. Are you all familiar with the term? If a character is labeled a 'Mary Sue,' (or 'Gary Stu' or 'Marty Stu' or whatever variant you like) that means the character is unrealistic.

WIKI TIME.

A 'Mary Sue' (sometimes just 'Sue'), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors or readers. Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters described as "Mary Sues" is that they are too ostentatious for the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the character too highly. The author may seem to push how exceptional and wonderful the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience, sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the character fairly quickly; such a character could be described as an "author's pet".

I made bold the one phrase because that is where The Host's main character 'Wanderer' falls most short. I won't go into detail, but if you've read it I'm sure you can see what I'm talking about. If not, maybe I need to read it again, or maybe we should compare notes.

Anyway, other than that, it's a good book.

Less than success with the library again.

2009-05-16T18:18:00.003-04:00

I was going to pick up one more book to replace the one I'd returned, so I prepared for another little bike trip. I had everything: the bike lock/chain, a sweater, a water bottle, my library card, my helmet, shoes worthy of biking, the whole thing.

EXCEPT.

The library is not open on Saturdays.

Maggie went on a trip to the library.

2009-05-15T16:56:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday after Oly's and Tinny's piano lessons Anna came over and we biked to the library. (River Park Branch, the roundtrip of which is just under five miles, I think.) I didn't know that library was within biking distance; I kind of got carried away and got eight books. (One of them Anna had checked out before and was lending to me because most of the copies are checked out all the time.)

On Wednesday I decided to do something silly, so on Thursday I biked back to return one book.

I forgot my bike lock. Again.

So I handed the library's book to a lady that was going in with a plea for her to return it for me, and I went home again without much of a rest, which got me a little more tired than I would have liked, but it was fine. As soon as I got home I put a chain and a lock on my bike so I wouldn't forget next time.

I wasn't going to blog about this, but Monica practically begged me. (Are you happy, Potato Head?)

Hello, Dolly!

2009-04-12T23:43:00.003-04:00

Louis Armstrong is hilarious.

I got a bloody nose just before the 9:00 service. It was a little surreal, thoroughly annoying, and overall unpleasant. Other than that, though, Easter was simply lovely. It gets better every year.

I am about to collapse. Good night.

I HATE BEING TRICKED

2009-04-05T23:40:00.002-04:00

That was real mean, Shannon Hale. Real mean.

:O

2009-04-02T17:43:00.002-04:00

http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/04/hollywood-bound.html

aha!

2009-03-29T14:07:00.004-04:00

Now I get it. Maybe.

Sometimes people wonder how our ancestors could be so clueless and unnecessarily cruel, towards, for instance, African-Americans or Jews.

Maybe they just didn't understand that they are people too.

Logic Puzzles

2009-03-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

I'm reading a book on logic. It's called "aha! Insight" by Martin Gardner.

Anyway, there's a puzzle that might interest y'all:

Gloria, a young lady from Arkansas, is visiting in California. She wants to rent a hotel room for a week.
The clerk was very unpleasant.
Clerk: The room is $20 per day and you have to pay cash.
Gloria: I'm sorry sir, but I don't have any cash. However, I do have this solid gold bracelet. Each of its seven links is worth more than $20.
Clerk: Alright, give me the bracelet.
Gloria: No, not now. I'll have a jeweler cut the bracelet so I can give you 1 link a day. Then when I get some money at the end of the week I'll redeem it.
The clerk finally agreed. But now Gloria had to decide how to cut the bracelet. She was in a dilemma.
Gloria: I have to be careful because the jeweler is going to charge me for each link that he cuts and for each link that he joins when the bracelet is put back together again.
After thinking a while Gloria realized she didn't have to cut all the links because she could trade pieced back and forth. She couldn't believe it when she figured out how many cuts the jeweler had to make. How many cuts would you make?

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

ANSWER.
Only one link need be cut. It must be third from one end. This makes three pieces of 1, 2, and 4 links. And these are sufficient to trade back and forth so that each day the clerk gets one more link.

Two aha! insights are needed to solve this problem. The first is to realize that the smallest set of chains that can be combined in various ways to form sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 links is a set of chains with 1, 2 and 4 links; that is, with numbers in the doubling series. As we learned in the last problem, this is the power series that is the basis of binary notation.
The second insight is to realize that cutting only one link divides the bracelet into this desired set of three chains.

I got this one fine (after a time). But the thing is the following problem:

The problem generalizes to chains of longer lengths. For instance, suppose Gloria had a chain of 67 gold links that she wanted to cut and use in the same way she used her bracelet—to pay for 67 days, one link per day. The cutting of as few as three links will do the trick. Do you see how? Can you devise a general procedure that solves the problem, with a minimum number of cut links, for a chain of any length?

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

ANSWER. Provided by Nathaniel.
Alright. The maximum number of different lengths that can be rendered from one length by three cuts is seven. This is if you cut and remove three lengths, none of which are next to each other or at an end of the chain, and reattach none of them.

Let's figure out how many different combinations we can make with different lengths of chain (not counting zero as a combination):

1 length : 1 possible combination
2 lengths : 3 possible combinations
3 lengths : 7 possible combinations
4 lengths : 15 possible combinations
5 lengths : 31 possible combinations
6 lengths : 63 possible combinations
7 lengths : 127 possible combinations

You can either come up with this list the hard way, or you can realize that each step up necessarily is the previous step multiplied by two, plus one. For instance, the only possible combination for 1 length is:
A
For 2 lengths,
A, B, AB
For 3 lengths,
A, B, AB, C, CA, CB, CAB
And so forth. With each step, it's all the possibilities of the previous step, plus all the possibilities of the previous step with the addition of the new variable, plus the new variable alone.

So. From what we've done so far, it looks like it may be possible. 7 lengths renders a maximum of 127 possible, unique combinations—and we only need 67 combinations.

However, the ONLY way to render 7 lengths from 1 with 3 cuts is if three of the lengths are 1 chain long. So, let's see how many possible combinations we can make with different lengths of chain, if 3 of them are the same:

1 length : N/A
2 length : N/A
3 lengths : 3 possible combinations
4 lengths : 7 possible combinations
5 lengths : 15 possible combinations
6 lengths : 31 possible combinations
7 lengths : 63 possible combinations
8 lengths : 127 possible combinations

1 and 2 don't make sense. 3 is this:
A, AA, AAA
4 is:
A, AA, AAA, B, AB, AAB, AAAB
And so forth. As you can see, it's the same pattern as before, just removed by one place.

So. It is IMPOSSIBLE to make 67 different combinations with fewer than 8 lengths, if 3 of them are identical. Furthermore, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make as many as 7 different lengths unless at least 3 of them are identical. Finally, it is IMPOSSIBLE to allow for 67 different combinations with fewer than 7 different lengths. Therefore the problem is not soluble with as few as 3 cuts.

My question is: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Can you provide any holes in Nat's theory? They don't have the answer in the book.

In 1999,

2009-03-27T23:35:00.002-04:00

My (paternal) Grandma Ann was interviewed by her children so her story could go in a huuuge book called 'The [namehere] Family' which I believe my Mormon relatives made. It has extensive family trees in it.

Anyway, I liked this part about her and Grandpa.

Clint had decided that he wanted to get married, I think, not too long after he was in the service. But he was having those malaria spells, and he was in no condition to get married. He was living with his folks. I know he wanted me to marry him more than I wanted to. I had doubts about loving him, but he didn't seem to have any. When he asked me to marry him, I think I was at my parents' house. I remember saying to Clint, "I don't know if I really love you," and he said, "Maybe you will learn to fall in love."

(They got married in June of 1945.)