Happy 60th Post!

Can I congratulate myself?

Because I just did.

So, since March, I've gone from zero followers to seven, which is more than I thought I'd ever have, so, y'know, thanks, and stuff.

In the spirit of Christmas, today's post comes to you in TWO parts! (Also, I have no idea what that has to do with the spirit of Christmas).

Part one: December Favorites.

1. Fun socks. One of my general rules is that fun socks are good luck. I've been wearing them since the beginning of the month, mostly for Oz benefits. However, now that it's almost Christmas, fun socks are a given! 
2. Anything that's hot and contains chocolate. From mochas to ho-cho, I have been guzzling hot beverages for quite some time now. 
3. The Big Bang Theory. I started watching this show with my boyfriend before break started, and it was really pretty hilarious. I'd always thought it was mildly stupid, but it's actually really clever. And yes, it does have its stupid moments, but doesn't all quality television?
4. Criminal Minds and Bones. I've lumped these two together because they've been the majority of my life for the past two days. I just caught up with Bones, and I'm working my way through Criminal Minds. Apparently I missed pretty much all of both of their seasons what with my busy schedule. I also realized last night that I can name every Criminal Minds character and his or her corresponding actor. I hadn't realized I was that obsessed. 
5. Pinterest. Granted, I've only been a user for about three days, but it's very addicting. For those of you who don't get the concept, it's an online pinboard where you can share your favorite images from the internet with your followers. It's super fun. You have to be invited though, for some reason, so if you want to join, I'd be happy to send you an invitation. 
6. HelloGiggles.  Started by Zooey Deschanel and two other girls, this is a site purely for ladies. And it's great. It's organized really well, it's designed perfectly, and I'm kind of obsessed with it. 

Part 2: Personal updates, because I know how much you all care about my life.

1. I'm currently trying to submit a story to the less than three project, which I will try to update you on regularly. I've already finished the story, and I have until the end of next month to be successful in submitting it. 
2. About half of my Christmas shopping is finished. I've purchased gifts for everyone in my family, and now I just need to work on my friends. I think I have four or five left, most of which I hope to buy today, though my funds are getting dangerously low. 
3. I have a twitter! I didn't add it to my December favorites because it has yet to thrill me greatly. Feel free to follow me @ewalk2014. 

Okay, that's it. Kay bye. 

This is the time I've been waiting for...

The past month and a half-ish has been totally crazy. Mostly the past three weeks, because of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which I played a flower that dies and a nun, but it was still pretty much the greatest time of my life.

So what else goes on?

I somehow have to figure out where I'm going to get the money for all the Christmas gifts I have to purchase, I have to purchase said gifts, I have to write five and a half pages of a research paper by tomorrow at 8 AM, I have to get a tooth filled tomorrow at 10 AM (first day of break...thanks, parents), and I have to go see my Hanna Banana (of The Living Rainbow--check it out) dance about Christmas. And I have to hang out with my friends/boyfriend. And catch up on my Youtube subscriptions and the TV I've missed (mostly the entire season of Bones so far. And Psych. And Criminal Minds, but mostly Bones).

This week will be busy, but it will also be very enjoyable, because I just so happen to enjoy doing basically all of the aforementioned things. Except for writing research papers and getting my tooth filled. But otherwise, I'm a happy camper. I pretty much know all of the gifts I'm going to get everyone, so it's just a matter of purchasing them. What can I say? Life is awesome right now.

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas, and that the Glee Christmas special didn't make you shed too many tears of utter disappointment. Eat some cookies, drink some ho-cho, smell a tree, be merry.

I MISSED YOU SO MUCH.

Hey y'all! Miss me?

There are five days left of NaNoWriMo, I'm desperately behind (as in, not even halfway through. Thanks, exams.), and I'm procrastinating. Again.

Please forgive me for being caught up in the whirlwind romance of my two main characters, a broken down church, and a conspiracy-style car accident. Does it sound interesting? It's really not good. I'm just going to come right out and say that my book is an enormous pile of suckfest worthy of the latest Twilight movie. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Here's a few insiders:
-Whenever I hit a wall, somebody falls. So far, I've had someone falling through a hole in aforementioned church, and I just wrote a very boring paragraph about someone else falling out of a tree with a pair of malicious hedge clippers.

-I have no idea where I'm going. I really don't know when to start tying off my plot points, or how long I can stretch out a dead-end road trip in a town of less than 300 people.

-I feel as if I've chosen the wrong genre. It would be far more simple to write 50000 words of action filled fantasy fantasticness, which I am most definitely doing next year. Plot twists in fantasy make much more sense. When my hedge clippers land point-first in the ground, narrowly avoiding my character in a fantasy novel, nobody sees it as a last-ditch effort to make something interesting.

-I'm so sorry. But nobody is reading this piece of crap. I know I promised that I would let whoever wanted to  read it, but it's so embarrassingly shotty that I just do not feel comfortable sharing it with anyone. Next year, when I write my fantasy fantasticness, perhaps it won't be such a pile of stink and then you can read it.

Well, I'm going to continue my ridiculous endeavor now. Enjoy the BF savings! Eat some leftovers for me.

You're Never Too Old for Free Candy

Happy Halloween, blogosphere!

I went trick-or-treating tonight. It was so much fun. Even though we were probably acting like obnoxious teenagers, it was still great. So, in 2 and 1/2 hours, the world turns into November, and I have to write a book. I am so excited! I also just found out that I'm going to be a dancer in The Wizard of Oz. That should be interesting. We get to dance with umbrellas, as far as I know.

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. I don't do scary, which is pretty much the entire point. (Aside: Just saw a Breaking Dawn commercial. Yuck). There's just something about asking strangers for candy that's a little weird. The past few years haven't been any fun, either. I don't even remember going in 8th grade. Oh wait, yes I do. I was Thing 1 with one of my friends. That was pretty fun, I guess. This year was the first year that I actually fully enjoyed myself. It wasn't too cold, the group we had was perfect, I got good candy, and nobody yelled at us for being too old. It was the best. And now I have to go read Act II, Scene II of Hamlet. I'll see you guys in December! Miss me.

Prepare yourself.

Tomorrow, I will be writing my last blog post. Ever.

Just kidding. I'm just taking a 30-day break to focus on my novel. Blogging is a time-sucker, y'know. So anyways, I'm just letting you know right now so you can figure out ahead of time where you're going to get your entertainment. I hear Glee is back on this week. DAMMIT. I WON'T BE ABLE TO WATCH GLEE. Yay for realizations. Ok, it's official, I am scheduling an official Glee break at some point during the week. I need me some Glee. Wow, I totally just rambled on for about five sentences about Glee. Good job, Erin.

For those of you that are all disappointed and stuff that you won't have my blog posts for a while, just imagine all 50,000 shiny words you, my faithful readers, will get to read when I, Erin Walker, have written a book.

The Creative Process

As you veteran readers know, I'm participating in National Novel Writing month this year, which means that by the end of November, I can write "I've written a freakin' book" on my list of accomplishments. That is, if I win. And I plan on winning. Winning means that I have to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That's insanity, right there. I'm contemplating how I'm going to manage to write so much in so little time, especially with everything I have going on. I've thought about possibly deactivating my facebook for the month or not watching TV, but let's face it, I'm me, and I'm not going to succeed in doing either thing. So now to the topic for the day. Lots of things help my creative process, one of those things being books that other people have written that are in the same genre I plan to write in. Did that sentence make sense? You get the picture. Today I finished a book by Stephanie Perkins called Anna and the French Kiss, and after I read it I got this overwhelming feeling of needing to write something. I wanted to start my novel right that second. Instead of starting my novel early, which is against the rules, I decided I would review this book. Some of you have read my previous reviews, so here's another one. Happy Friday.

As a general rule, I judge books by their covers. Hard. The cover of a book can tell you so much about the book itself, which is why I was dubious about Anna and the French Kiss. First of all, it's called Anna and the French Kiss. That's kind of a corny name. Second, the cover art was a picture of a girl and half of a boy (cut off by the spine) sitting on a bench in front of the Eiffel Tower. If you don't get it, go look it up. Those kinds of covers always kind of annoy me a little, because I tend to imagine the main characters as the people on the cover, which kills the creative cogs in my brain. That wasn't the case for this book, and I'm not sure why. For some reason it was easy to picture my own characters rather than the cheeky female sitting on the bench. The reason I decided to read this book in the first place was the reviews I'd heard about it. John Green and Maureen Johnson, my favorite authors, both said fantastic things about this book. Not to mention my friend Liz, who doesn't even like YA Fiction, said it was an amazing book and she's read it three times, all in one sitting. I decided that I needed to read this book. And I am so glad I did.
I'll try not to give any spoilers here, because that's annoying. I always read past the spoiler alert in reviews and the like. Anyways. Anna and the French Kiss is the kind of book that makes you literally say "Awwwww!" out loud in the middle of your living room so loudly that you scare the dog. It's the story of a seventeen year old girl who is sent to a Paris boarding school by her author father (who is totally a Nicholas Sparks-type guy) and meets a boy named Etienne St. Clair. You know how this works. It's girl meets boy! Cheesy storyline, amazing story. I suck at summarizing, and I can't do it without spoiling anyway, so I'll just tell you what I thought about it.
The greatest thing about this book was that the story was so dang relatable. Sure, she goes to a boarding school in Paris, but the way the author describes her feelings is surprisingly real. I felt exactly what she was going through. The supporting characters are fantastic, because I genuinely cared about them and not just the main characters. There's an awesome extended metaphor in one part toward the end that Anna is comprehending and explaining as it happens, so the reader never misses anything. And Etienne is the kind of character that anyone could fall in love with. He's just cliche enough to be realistic. He's incredibly hot, but he's short and wears an ugly hat. He's incredibly smart and clever, but he's still capable of screwing around with his best friend. Of course, he has daddy issues. All good heroes have daddy issues. Percy Jackson, the gay Will Grayson, Dumbledore. All good heroes. All have daddy issues. Then the ending is the kind I really love. Everything is resolved and people are happy. I'm a sucker for happy endings. Sure, it's powerful and deep and thought-provoking when a book ends in some mysterious or otherwise unhappy fashion, but it always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I read a book with a fantasticly happy ending. In short, Anna and the French Kiss is easily the most adorable book I've ever read. It's highly recommended if you happen to be a teenage girl. If not, I guess you can read it anyway, but it would be kind of awkward-ish. So yeah. There you have it, folks.

In nerd-related news, there's a video up on Youtube of John Green reading the first chapter of his new book. Also good for the creative cogs. They were fed a lot today.

Y'know, words and stuff and things.

So, here are some updates for you cool people who care about my life and stuff. Also, Countdowns happen.

Countdown to NaNoWriMo: 9 freakin' days.
I'm terrified. 50,000 words in 30 days. Whatever I manage to spew out, I sincerely hope it's worth the read. I've been playing around with a couple of ideas now, and for those of you interested I can e-mail you the finished product when/if I finish. If it happens, and you read it, please give me some feedback. I am also now going to have to find time to write a novel every day next month. Yay. Challenge accepted.

Countdown to The Fault in Our Stars: 3 MONTHS AND 10 DAYS!
I think. My math isn't great, people. For those of you who do not read John Green books, you need to start. Today. Right now. Go to the library. Go to the bookstore. Come to my house. Read some John Green. Preorder his latest book on Amazon for ten bucks. All preordered copies will be signed. I am so excited to read this book. The cover was recently released, and I really like it. I think it's simple and striking and very worthy of a John Green novel. Seriously, go read some Green.

The Final Countdown: Pottermore. Registration at the end of the month, access time unknown.
Dear JK Rowling and the other people in charge of Pottermore:
Do you know how stressful it is to not know what house I'm really in? Do you? And then to tell me that although I can register at the end of the month, my account may not be activated for a few weeks and/or months? You're giving me a complex.
Love,
Erin.

Hello, Friends!

I think my blog is gaining popularity. Seven followers? GASP.

Hey, new readers! *cougholiviacoughhannacoughmatt*
And of course, old readers. *coughLIZ*

Why all the coughing? I don't know. A lot of people were talking about this bloggy thing today, so I thought I should acknowledge it or something. Sooo...thanks. And stuff.

How was my day? Less than average. I was tired, and then I was at school for eleven hours. That's always fun. Plus I started Taper today, so for those of you who don't know, that means I don't get to eat anything fun for two weeks. Fruits, veggies, protein...yay. I had my last meal at B-Dubs last night. It's not that bad, I'm just really freakin' hungry. I feel like I'm not eating anything that has actual substance in it, and that's probably because everything I'm used to eating is so filling. So yeah. I'm going to go eat a healthy and well-balanced meal, and then watch some 90210. And then do some homework. And then sleep. A lot. So much sleeping.

Dear Freshmen: Only 956 Days Left! That is...if I did my math right.

Which isn't likely, if you know me at all.

Why, hello there, blog! It's been almost a month. I bet you'll never guess what I should be doing right now. What was that? Homework? Oh. Good guess.

So, there's lots of things going on with me right now, including being ridiculously busy and loving every second of it. Okay, not every, but most. Between Cross Country, Theatre, homework, and having a social life/a minute to relax and catch my breath, I have had next to no time to blog. As a matter of fact, right now I am skipping my allotted Facebook time to write this. Alright, back to the topic for the day. So I had this idea last night about writing some advice for Freshmen. I know a lot of people will go "Hey now, you're a sophomore. That barely counts as superior." But that's exactly it: (we're learning colons in AP Lit-did I do it right?) my freshmen year is still fresh (ha ha, no pun intended) in my mind, plus I have a lot of freshmen as friends. And let's face it people, there have been way too many times this year when I have seen distinct freshmen behavior. Also, you know how in yearbooks and stuff they always go around and ask the seniors what advice they would've given their freshmen selves, and it's always some cliche nonsense like "be yourself"? I'm not going to do that here, because that's long term stuff. A freshmen is not going to wake up, look at himself in the mirror and say "today, I'm going to be myself." I think that piece of advice is a load of crap, but perhaps that's another blog post, and I'm already getting lengthy. So here it is, folks, my advice to high school freshmen:

1. Your teachers are there for you. I promise. Even the most tyrannical, overbearing, and homework junkie teachers want you to succeed. That's why they got the job. Maybe I'm biased because both of my parents are teachers, but it's always been true for me. You should learn early on how to communicate with your teachers, because they're the only people that can really help you in whatever class it is they teach. Your friend Suzy, no matter how smart she is, can not tell you what to do when you were out til all hours at a rehearsal for your school play and you didn't study and now you bombed your math test. Talk. To. Your. Teacher. Figure out when you can retake it or get extra help. They're there for you!

2. You will stay up way too late. Like I said, I'm a pretty busy person. I usually have a thousand and one different things that need to get done that I never get started until at least 8 at night. It's okay to stay up late and finish things up, but don't forget that you need your rest, too. I usually divide and conquer: what absolutely needs to get done tonight, and what can I do tomorrow at lunch or if I have free time in a previous class? It works pretty well. Most teachers don't care when the homework is done, just that it is. You'll get some that lecture you about being prepared for class, and don't get me wrong, it's really important. Just don't sweat it too much if you don't have the willpower to stay awake and push through it all in one night.

3. You will look stupid in front of everyone at least once. But that's okay, because everyone else does the same thing. I can't even tell you how many ridiculously unintelligent answers I've given in class due to zoning out or trying to BS my way through a question. That is my life in AP Euro right now. Don't get hung up on it, though, because you're not the only one to give a stupid response or have a panic attack after being forced to sing a song about passing bills to the tune of I Kissed A Girl in your AP Gov class. Wait...was that just me? Yes? Oh.

4. Stop worrying. Stop worrying about how all of your middle school friends aren't friends with you anymore. Stop worrying about how you're never going to graduate because you're having trouble keeping your grades up. Stop worrying about having a date to homecoming. Stop worrying about the sheer pile of busy you have sitting in your lap. You can do it.

5. Be yourself! Just kidding. More on that later.

Stuff Erin Likes.

So, Youtube is kind of a big part of my life because I follow a lot of vlogs and other videos, and that's basically where I get all my information about stuff. Today I happen to be stealing ideas from a couple of people, namely Phil DeFranco and Tyler Oakley, who both do favorite things type videos. So here are a few of my favorite things recently with links and explanations and such. Also, I say "so" a lot, and I'm never conscious of it until I start blogging and then I go back and try to start the sentence without saying "so". So there. See? Don't judge me.

1. A Very Potter Musical. This was one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen. I watched it with my friend Hanna about a week ago, and it was just the best thing ever. For those of you who don't know, it's a fan-made musical spoof on Harry Potter starring Darren Criss. The whole thing was done at the University of Michigan (I think...) in 2009. There's a sequel that I haven't watched yet, but the whole thing is up on Youtube or their website, which is linked to up in the title.

2. Michael Buckley. A lot of you probably know Michael from the What the Buck show, where he basically gives his views on a bunch of gossipy news stories. It's freaking hilarious, because he's fabulous and loud and funny. I love it. Just don't watch it if you have a headache.

3. The Phantom of the Opera. I'm not sure what to link to here, so I just won't. Anyway, I started being obsessed with Phantom of the Opera in the 7th grade or so when I saw a video for Music of the Night and sort of melted a little. Since then I've only seen the movie twice, but it's on my bucket list to see it live. I also tried to read the book once, but it was really boring so I quit after like three chapters. But if you haven't seen this movie yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's really powerful and the music and acting are all fantastic and the last time I watched it I cried three times. Love it. So much. And we're playing Music of the Night in orchestra and my stand partner was laughing at me because I was so excited.

4. Skinny Jeans. For a while I actually swore I'd never wear skinny jeans because I could never fit into them and never found any I liked and thought the whole idea was stupid. Well, I now own a single pair of skinny jeans! Basically, this year was my resolution to try on clothes that I had previously thought I couldn't pull off and see what happened. So I went to Delia's and tried a pair of skinny jeans and they are awesome. They fit really well and are super adorable. I think that skinny jeans have evolved enough that what used to be a normal straight leg is now skinny and there are varying levels of how skinny you can go. Like at Delia's, they go Flare, Bootcut, Skinny, Super Skinny, Jegging. They might have another level of skinny in there somewhere, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. So there! Denim.

5. That kinda weird new style of t-shirt. In my quest to pull off things I didn't think I could pull off, I tried on a couple of these t-shirts that are sort of cropped-ish and have flowy sleeves and stuff. They're a little strange, and they're supposed to be kind of shapeless. Of course, I now am the proud owner of four of these shirts in three different styles. Again, I blame the evolution of fashion. These shirts are definitely a newer style, because previously all shirts were meant to do was show off your figure. Okay, all shirts in stores that I shop at. Now it seems like we want to show off our top half less and our bottom half more, which is why we have things like skinny jeans and whort shorts. That is not a typo.

That is all, because I can't really think of anything else I want to share with you. New blog soon! Pinky promise. Also, imaginary prizes to whoever can find the most run-on sentences in this post! Ready? Go!

Slacking Off

I'm sorry.

There, I'm done. I refuse to dwell on the fact that I am horrible at keeping up with BEDA, and have already missed several days. I feel bad. I really do.

That being said, I really don't have anything to talk about. This weekend has sort of been slouch-ish for me. I did have a cross meet today, but after that I basically just took a nap. I haven't done anything productive. So here's my question: Is that okay? I know that every once in a while it's good to just chill out, kick back, and refuse to do anything that might benefit society. But let's say you have a deadline (maybe something along the lines of a week to finish up summer work), and honoring that deadline is pretty important. It sort of projects your future work ethic. If you've got stuff to do, is it okay to relax a little, especially if you're having a weird weekend? I don't know where I'm going with this. Forget it, I'm going to bed. See what I mean?

Alright, I'll apologize again, but this time it's for this really weird blog post. I'll think of something better eventually.

All the Other Kids With the Pumped Up Kicks run faster than me anyways.

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." --Oprah Winfrey

That's right, I just nailed you with an opening quote. From Oprah, nonetheless. So anyways, to make up for my crappy blogging of late, as in, y'know, slacking off and not even doing it, I'm going try and make today's good. I think that was a run-on sentence. Whatever. I shall be talking about running today, and we'll sorta see how this goes, because I haven't really thought of an organization yet. Here we go.

Unless you're completely oblivious to what goes on here at The Happenings, you know that I'm running cross country this year. I have yet to go as far as to say that I'm a cross country runner, because I'm still getting there. As of right now, my 5K time is 41 and a half minutes, which sucks if you know about long distance running, and I am consistently the slowest person on my team. Trust me, it gets freaking old being the slow one. Today I felt it a lot, because we did a lot of starting and then stopping to do something like stretch or hill sprints, so I was always behind while my team was already at the next location. It got really frustrating for me, because I knew they were all waiting on me, and I really don't know what I can do to be faster. When I start out slow, I just get behind right away. But when I start out fast I just get tired more quickly and then drop back later. Either way, I end up dropping back. I haven't yet figured out if it's my stride or my turn over, but some combination of the two constantly leaves me in the dust. That's not to say I don't work as hard as everyone else. Today especially I almost felt like I was working harder, just because it comes so much more easily to some of the other girls. On top of all this, running really sucks. You get tired as hell, your muscles ache and cramp up, you get cramps in your sides and you feel like you can't breathe. When the run is over, your spit kind of congeals on your lips and forms this weird gel stuff, which I know is beyond disgusting for those of you imagining what that's like. Then there's the whole "Oh my goodness, I can't freaking move anymore" feeling after the run is over, and you feel sort of dazed and trippy. Oh, and the sweat. Sometimes when you sweat, it's not a big deal and it sort of drips, and it's only in a few areas. On a run, you sweat frickin' everywhere, and it doesn't drip. It's just sort of a general uncomfortable wetness. Then you go to wipe your forehead with your hand, and your hands are sweaty, so you just make it worse. See how much fun cross country is? So why don't I quit? Why don't I just stop? For me, it's always about proving a point. Once I'm in, I'm all in, because I know that a lot of people don't think I can do it. It's why I did Tae Kwon Do for almost four years, and why I was on the wrestling team in 8th grade. Sometimes I just have to prove that even though I'm not athletic or strong, I can still kick ass. Another reason is being in shape, which is always good. I don't necessarily struggle with my weight. It's not like a serious issue, but I am a teenage girl, and you know how that goes. I'm not running to lose weight at all, but I like it because I know that it's keeping me healthy and active. I think the biggest reason, which I didn't even realize until the season started, is the team. I know I couldn't quit if I wanted to just because I'd miss the time I spend with those ladies. They're some of the most supportive and awesome people ever. Never once when I come in last do they chastise me for not being fast enough. I doubt they even think it. Almost every single time I'm running in, there's someone waiting for me and cheering me on to the finish. It's the best feeling in the world when the whole team comes back and runs with  you for the last couple of blocks, because you know that they've got your back. All of them are totally awesome, and totally funny and fantastic to be around. My coach is pretty fabulous herself, because she always runs with me at the end. I'm really glad I made the decision to run, because even though it's hard, it's so worth it. As my coach said today, "It hurts so bad it's good, right?". Exactly.

Baby Sloths and...what was that other thing?

Ready for your daily dose of adorable?

D'AAAWWWWWWW.

If you didn't have a reaction similar to the above statement, you are clearly a soulless, heartless, horrible human being. That there is a baby sloth, one of the most adorable baby animals on the entire planet. When they grow up they kind of look like stoners, mostly because they don't really move around a whole lot and they have really shaggy hair. We have one at the zoo. Here's the link to the Google image search of baby sloths, because I couldn't pick just one and thought I'd share the adorable with you. 

Wait, what? Oh, sorry, I had to go back to the image page to copy the URL, and I almost had a cuteness overload. They're in boxes! AAAWWWW. Gah, they're just so darn cute!

Alright, so I have to fess up and admit that I haven't blogged for like two straight days. Yesterday I was just really busy, and as most of you know I usually blog at the end of the day in case I miss something awesome, so by the time I finally went to bed it was midnight, so I'd already failed. The day before that I was just dead tired. Anyways, this blog post comes by request from Liz, who really loves baby sloths. There was something else, but I forgot, so I'll post about whatever it was tomorrow. Also, for those of you who know the author John Green, his new book is coming out in January and I pre-ordered mine yesterday. I am so excited. Mostly because every single pre-ordered copy will be signed by John Green himself, 5% or which will have an Anglerfish drawn on them by Hank Green. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, go here and/or here, you're welcome.

No other news here, so I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow!

Guys, Am I a Loser?

For those of you that know me, you know I like to start some of my sentences with "Kay, so", and it sounds like "queso", which is Spanish for cheese, and then whoever I'm talking to is like "Ha ha, queso". Yeah, yeah, I know, cool story bro. But still, I was going to start this with a Kay-so, and then I decided to just explain it, and yeah. So here we are, with what is officially an awkwardly started blog post.
My mom gave me the idea, through blog comment, to write a novel through blog posts. That's not a bad idea. I might do that eventually. It just sounds kind of daunting right now, because I know you internet people will be able to read it and stuff. Anyways, at least it's an idea to play around with, and she was the only one who followed my instructions yesterday! So there. One of these days, one of you guys will actually comment with a topic you want me to talk about in my next blog post. Remember infomercials? That Wall Street Journal article that got my panties in a twist? That sounds so weird when you type it out. Anyway, on to today's subject.
Please view title.
I know that some of you Gleeks out there (myself included, I guess) are like "But being a loser is fantabulous! Every one you wanna be probly started off like me!". So yeah, I understand that being a loser has its benefits. Guys, I was on the Quiz Bowl team. That is the frakking epitome of loserness. That's not the point. The point is that boys are effing stupid. Nothing else in the world turns me into a giggling, melty pile of teenage girl than a stupid boy. I'm one of those people that doesn't really like being plugged in to everyone's life all the time. That's why I haven't stooped to the level of Twitter yet. But heck, get me texting some boy I like and I babysit my phone like it's a newborn. I seriously do not take my eyes off the thing. And then I'll get a text from one of my friends and be like, "YESSSSS!!!! oh wait...awwww...". So I'm brought back to something my dad told me a couple months ago about not ignoring people. At the time, I was ignoring a text from a boy who was annoying me, and he was like "I hate being ignored! Don't ignore him, just tell him you can't talk or something." And so I told him that in teenage girl world (where I, unfortunately, live), if you just ignore people you could pass it off as not getting the message right away, or not hearing your phone go off, or your phone was dead (Some of you people are going YOU. BITCH. right now, I swear. Of course I've used these lines). But if you were to say you didn't want to talk to someone, you'd also be written off as bitchy. I mean, you can't always just lie to someone and tell them you're busy or you can't talk. That's just as bad as ignoring and then lying. So you're stuck with telling that person that you actually don't feel like talking to him or her, and that person feels like crap about him or herself. Now I try and text people back as much as possible, because it avoids either scenario. Just know that if you're texting me, I may not actually want to talk to you. This fits into my topic, because, as it turns out, I also hate being ignored. Especially when it's by a freaking boy. A freaking boy that hasn't freaking texted me all day, then texts me once, and I text him back and he still hasn't texted me back and that was like two freaking hours ago. Do you see what my life is right now? Do you see what I mean about melty pile of teenage girl? That's me right now. I might as well just start using terms like OMG and totes innapropes. Yeah, still not happening.

One of these days, I'll actually practice what I preach

So, I keep saying that I'm going to pick a topic and write up a nice, shiny, thought provoking blog for you guys, but I guess you'll just have to wait for inspiration to strike. Or you could actually listen to me and comment with what you'd like to hear my views on, which I've mentioned twice now. Just throwing that out there. Instead, I'm forced to search the internet for one of those silly little forwarded message/facebook note games that my dad loves just soooo much. So there! Seriously, I need better ideas than...

100 (I just picked the first 25 to spare you the suffering) Random Questions.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. "I'd ask Ali where Baba was, when I knew full well he was at the construction site, overlooking this, supervising that."
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch? My decoy book.
3. Before you started this survey, what were you doing? Blogging. Not wasting my time.
4. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Psych.
5. Without looking, guess what time it is. 10:42
6. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 10:34. I am a superhero with super time telling skill.
7. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? My fan. And my computer isn't actually making any noises, so I don't know what you're listening to.
8. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? About a half hour ago. I was looking for the moon. I couldn't find it. My mom asked if I checked the sky. 
9. Did you dream last night? Everybody dreams every night, sometimes you just don't remember. I happen to just not remember.
10. Do you remember your dreams? What did I just say?
11. When did you last laugh? Watching the latest Vlogbrothers video. Pretend I linked that, then look it up on Youtube yourself.
12. Do you remember why / at what? Again, what did I just say? Are my answers supposed to be some boring one worded crap?
13. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Paint. Posters. A mirror, a whiteboard. Blood. What?
14. Seen anything weird lately? Yeah, this piece of crap.
15. What do you think of this quiz? It's a piece of crap.
16. What is the last film you saw? I'm assuming you count Glee the 3D Movie/Concert Experience a film, right?
17. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? In a box under a bridge in Chicago.
18. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? A better house than my box in Chicago.
19. Tell me something about you that most people don't know. This is creeping me out now. Saying "me" implies that you're a person that can actually read my answers. WHO ARE YOU? PLEASE DON'T MURDER MY FAMILY.
20. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? I'd make sure all my homeless box neighbors have food and shelter. I know that sounded silly, but seriously.
21. Do you like to dance? Only if nobody's watching.
22. Would you ever consider living abroad? No, I don't do well with language barriers, especially since the only one I know well is dead.
23. Does your name make any interesting anagrams? Yen Liar Wren, NLK. What, you think that after reading An Abundance of Katherines I haven't already tried this? My name sucks for anagramming. Sun Drop, however, becomes Porn Sud, which is hilarious for no apparent reason.
24. Who made the last incoming call on your phone? Mr. Kapenga, my driver's ed instructor.
25. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? iTunes, maybe. And whatever happens when my computer randomly restarts and says it installed important updates.

I am so sorry, my faithful readers. You know how to fix this.

Babies and Writing

So, I got the opportunity to watch my neighbor's young 'un for a little while today, and it was quite the interesting experience. Babies really only have two emotions. One of them is "Alright, I guess this is cool" and the other is "This could be infinitely better". They express these emotions by crying. Basically anything can change the mood of a baby from one to the other, whether it be shifting positions or standing up, as I learned today. My neighbor's baby was cool when I was standing up, swaying a little, and talking to him, but uncool if I dared to sit down or shift him around a little. There was one instance where I sat in his rocking chair and either made up songs or sang him my renditions of classic rock, seeing as those are really the only things I have memorized and he was perfectly cool, staring right at me. It kind of made me feel a little less self conscious about my singing voice, but he was the calmest when I made any kind of constant noise, so maybe he couldn't really tell the difference.
Now on to my second topic of the day. I know I said I'd pick a legitimate topic to express my views on, but maybe I'll put that off for another day. I don't feel like being deep. Also, since I get most of my topic ideas from things I find on the internet, like a Cracked article or a Vlogbrothers video, I could blame it on lack of inspiration from my various sources. Anyways, my second thing to discuss is writing. Technically, this idea did come from a Vlogbrothers video, but it's not really a topic and it's a really old video and stuff. Basically, it was about how you have to suck at writing a lot and for a really long time before you get good. Most of you probably know that I am gearing up for NaNoWriMo, and that's kind of a terrifying prospect. I only kind of know what I want to write about, and I'm afraid that what I do write will suck a lot. But now I know that it's okay to suck before you're actually good. Mostly I'm kind of scared of people actually reading my sucky work. I guess that doesn't really matter. I have to put it out there at some point. Okay! Comment with topic ideas. Seriously, I know you're getting bored of my daily spiel. Only a couple more weeks! I want to get some good blogs in before the end of the month.

I Think This is a Stage of Acceptance...

I don't know which one, though. All I can think of right now is denial and anger, maybe blame. This might be anger. I'd go more with exasperation. It's just that there are days like today where nothing of note happened, and yet I still have to blog in order to keep my streak up. Plus, I've already missed one day, so it's not like I'm letting that happen again. But I just don't want to make you guys read the crappy recountings (not a word, apparently. Eff you, spell check.) of my boring and crappy day. I think the biggest challenge of BEDA is making it all 30 days without giving up due to lack of inspiration. Blogging is a good exercise for writing, and blogging every day is good practice for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It's going to be hard to strap down and write part of an actual novel everyday, especially when you're not supposed to go back and edit yourself until it's done. I guess we'll just have to see where this one goes. I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. See,  blogging at night is hard, but if you blog during the day then you might miss being able to blog about something awesome that happened after your blog for the day was already up. I just used blog three times in one sentence. Sometimes I tell myself to just write down my thoughts, but somehow whenever I do that I think "monkey monkey underpants" because of this one Gilmore Girls episode. It just doesn't go well. I have to go read The Kite Runner, which is really good and really refreshing after Sophie's World. I promise that tomorrow, I'm going to pick a topic and blog about that topic, because those seem to generate the best response. 

Drunken Party Apologies

This is the point at the figurative party in my head where I get fall-down drunk and start apologizing to people for everything under the sun. Including you, my faithful Blogians, who I failed last night by not submitting a post. I'll even be the first to admit that I have no good excuses besides that it completely slipped my mind. It was, however, the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning. I wasn't even that tired last night, nor was I going to bed that late. As a matter of fact, I had plenty of time to blog, but I just didn't. I remember something vaguely gnawing at the back of my mind as the Glee Project ended on Hulu and I closed my browser, but instead of thinking about any other important things I had to do, I just climbed right in to bed and fell asleep.

Translated into Drunk Girl At Party, I believe it's something along the lines of, "I am soooooo sorry, but I just (makes I-Don't-Know gesture and rasberries) FORgot to blog last night. And then, I 'member, I woke up this mornin', and I was like, (gesture/rasberry) WOOOPS, forgot to blOOOOg! An' I wasn't even tired or anything, but, nope, juuuust forgot! (gesture/rasberry)".

I find it funny how you could substitute Drunk Girl At Party for Five Year Old Boy Making Excuses. Both are reasonably similar, I suppose. I've seen more five year olds than drunks, so there you go. Well, tonight I actually am tired, so I'm going to bed before I fall asleep at the keyboard. Good night, my Blogians!

(On that note, I was thinking to day, why are ArgentinIans from ArgentinA, but AmericAns are from AmericA? That didn't translate as well into text as I thought it would. If you're curious and you know me, I'll do the emphasis in person for you.)

Oh Crap Moments

Everyone has them. Mine today happened when I realized I only had ten minutes left to blog. I refuse to lose, you guys. So today I went out to dinner with my friends, and we had an epic time as usual. I'm currently not trying to shed sparkles from my dress everywhere, but it's not really working. I am also completely exhausted, so coming up with a topic right now, or even a coherent sentence, is really working my brain. I also have to get up in less than 7 hours for cross country, where we'll be doing hill work, ab workouts, and lots of stretching. Ab workouts freaking suck. I imagine hill work does too, but I've never done it before. I think we're doing barefoot sprints, too. Driver's training is still boring, I still have a crap ton of homework to do before summer's up. I'm actually thoroughly enjoying The Kite Runner, as opposed to the previous Sophie's World, which I'm taking a break from. I did learn tonight that a couple of my other friends are also behind on summer work, so I feel better about myself. Well, I'm going to bed now. See you tomorrow with a better blog post!

I Like My Women Like I Like My Trivial Pursuit Questions

In categories. Here we go.

Type Number One: Typical Teen Girl.
Watch This. TTG is blonde. She's dumb. She has a crush on every boy. Typical Teen Girl likes her Starbucks ridiculously expensive and frothy. She's dating a quaterback and has 700 Facebook friends. This is the girl who (if you were ((well...are)) a guy) hated yet also were in love with in high school. If you're a girl, you hate her guts while simultaneously hanging on to her every word. She thinks she's the cat's pajamas. She's basically that one internet meme, Annoying Facebook Girl.

Type Number Two: The Power Mom.
Now, if you're my dad (which you might be), you might remember back to some of my earliest rants about power moms. Power Moms are the ones who take yoga and pilates and brag about how in shape they are. They sign their kids up for all kinds of crap their kids don't want to do in hopes of them becoming "well rounded". They have some sort of job that keeps them away from their kids long enough to develop abandonment issues, and they're usually single. Power Moms are the older version of Annoying Facebook Girl, because they're the ones who post statuses like "OMG vacay with the fam!!!". Power Moms are the target audience for infomercials, because they'll show all their friends The Thing With The Ridiculous Name and how they absolutely can't live without it.

Type Number Three: Unfortunately Stereotypical Asian/African American Woman
I won't go into too much detail here, because who knows who's going to get offended, but you all know who I'm talking about. There's always that one person you meet somewhere, whether it be at the drive through or on a plane or just while you're both out shopping who meets every single stereotype about their race. And these people are usually women, because women have even more stereotypes to live up to.

There are, of course, more types of women out there in the world, most that are normal and fall into none of these categories. I figured this would be entertaining, so here you go. I apologize for the long and awkward title, but it's too late to turn back now. See you tomorrow, when my post will hopefully be about something important.

QUICK!

YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO POUND OUT A BLOG POST BEFORE YOU LOSE!!! GO GO GO!!!!

Remember my internal monologue? She's still here.

Speaking of which, I suppose I'll just recap my day, because it was really quite interesting. This morning on my team run, I fell back (as usual) but then I decided that I didn't want to walk at all. I just kept going. Usually I set little goals for myself (One more hill! Good job!), and I'll give myself a walk break after some of the bigger ones. But today, after I broke each goal, I just kept setting new ones. I seriously don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I was seriously impressed with myself, especially when I kept going after I knew how far we'd already gone. I'll break down a 3 mile run for you. The first mile is okay, because it's still early and you've still got your lungs and legs all synchronized and you're pretty sure you're not going to die. The second mile sucks. So badly. It sucks more than a shop vac. It's the mile where you get tired and you know you've still got one more to go, and you start to realize that either your legs or your lungs aren't going to hold out too much longer. On mile three, you've made it to the point of no return. Stopping now would just make you feel like crap about yourself, so you might as well just power it through to the end. What's one more mile? The last block is the best, because your body completely takes over and goes "I'M ALMOST DONE!" and breaks into a dead on sprint so you'll stop making it do things. My body hates doing things.
Then, when we were finished running (still came in last, but only by two blocks!), I found 10 bucks in the parking lot. I choose to think of it as a reward from God, like he's up there going "Excellent job making yourself want to hurl this morning, Erin. Here's ten dollars." (God sounds like Doug, by the way).
I got a chance to hang out with one of my friends later, which was great. I discovered the addiction to Keeping Up With the Kardashians and the Tyra Show, and it was nice to just talk and eat junk.
And of course, because God forbid I have a perfect day, my fish dies. I've decided that it's a rite of passage to have to scoop a little dead fish out of the bottom of the bowl and carry him on that long, sad journey to the toilet. It's good for a kid to see it lying helplessly in the toilet bowl, then appear to almost swim again as the swirling water flushes it down into the sewer system.
Then I had Driver's Ed. Blahh. Boring.
Done! Five minutes to spare!

Thoughts from Places: South Bend, Indiana

When my dad told me we were going to the high school band reunion for one of his first teaching jobs, I was a little dubious as to how much fun I would have. I mean, seriously, what kid wants to go have a picnic with old people she's never met before that have embarrassing stories about her father? Well, aside from the latter, it didn't sound completely appealing to me. So today, when my family made the two hour trek, I didn't have very high expectations. It rained almost the whole way there, at one point so hard that cars were pulling over on the highway to wait it out. My brother was grumpy because we'd left at an awkward time so he hadn't eaten anything yet. It was frustrating and nerve wracking, but we made it to our destination at last. It's funny to be driven through a city you haven't been to since you were too young to remember anything by people who remember it from "back in the day". My parents commented on how this or that was still there, and my dad navigated the streets like he'd never left. We finally came to the high school where my dad worked, and he told us how much was added on and where the band practice field used to be. Across from the school was the park where the reunion was being held, and we were greeted amicably and enthusiastically. I shook hands with my dad's former students, band parents, and friends. I heard stories of beer in Happy Meals and bets on when my mom would wise up and break it off with my dad. There were pictures of my dad with actual hair and a mustache, wearing a trench coat or looking slightly high in the school hallway. I was really enjoying myself for a couple of hours, but eventually I got tired and bored of talk that I wasn't really involved in. Like the teenager I am, I found myself attached to my cell phone. I wondered briefly if this would be me in 20 years, talking with my orchestra director and old friends about where we'd been for the past few years and recalling old memories of Mackinac Island trips and concerts gone wrong. After another couple of hours, we left and drove past my dad's old apartment in a rundown looking building and my parent's first house, complete with a new porch the current owners had built. I thought about how strange it is that while I saw a small, red house with a porch and a truck parked out front, my parents saw their first little blue house just down the street from the Notre Dame campus. We then drove around the campus, stopping in at the bookstore and buying the first sweatshirts of the season. I discovered how big Touchdown Jesus actually is, and how a sculpture might make a good place for doing homework. After we'd had our fill of the campus, we went across the street to an Irish Pub, and I was again taken aback by how things can appear to different people. While I saw a modern city street with a Chipoltle and an Urban Outfitters, my dad saw what used to be old houses that students rented out that had become this new University controlled business opportunity. When we were fed, we hopped back in the minivan and headed back home. I again wondered if someday I'd be driving through my hometown or the first place I settled with my kids in the backseat, seeing something different than what I was seeing. Now, I can't imagine anyone else living in my house or the downtown area changing its layout, but someday I'll be driving a minivan painfully slowly down my street, pointing out what used to be mine to my kids who will have a new and different definition of home.

Apology Day...

I'm really tired. So much so that my fingers are all fumbly and I keep messing up my typing. So I'm not going to write a ton today. I appreciate your appreciation of my last blog post. It was fun to write and such. I went to a wedding today, and it was lovely. Weddings are fun. Y'know what else is fun? Bean bag chairs. Okay, list time, for lack of a better subject.

Ridiculous things:

1. Glow sticks.

2. Weddings with no funny drunks.

3. The fact that I can go from an awesome post to crap post in a 24 hours.

4. That guy from Fired Up is in Final Destination 5.

5. There are 5 Final Destination movies. Hello? It's called FINAL Destination.

Yep, that's it. I just did that to make this look longer. I'm sorry, I'll think of something better tomorrow.

Consider Yourself Amazed. But wait til the end.

In Which Erin compares Infomercials, Romantic Comedies, and (briefly) Car Accidents.
Now, I've seen my fair share of the first two, but I can't say that I've seen all too many car crashes. But I'm told that it's one of those things where it's really bad, but you just can't look away. I believe the same is true for romantic comedies and infomercials. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good romantic comedy. A GOOD one. Generally one that was not mass-produced in the Nicholas Sparks Recycled Plotline Factory. 500 Days of Summer was a good one. It was different, funny, light on the drama, with a happy ending that doesn't appear happy. The Last Song? A freaking terrible movie. Terrible! Who wants to listen to Miley Cyrus croak her way through crappy sappy dialogue with perhaps one of the most unattractive male actors ever? BUT WHY CAN'T I STOP WATCHING?? It's like when you're on commercial break, and all of a sudden you hear the deep, male voice going: "HATE doing things that are really easy? WANT to use a complicated device that doesn't really work to do those really easy things? THEN YOU NEED THE THING WITH THE RIDICULOUS NAME!!" All of this happens in the background of some video of a housewife in black and white struggling to do something that she could easily just use a nice brawny man arm for, and then the deep male voice (we'll call him Doug) announces The Thing With The Ridiculous Name, and everything springs to life in full-color, and you just think: "Oh, I get it. It's either describing an acid trip, or turning us into Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz". (Acid trip either way, really). All of a sudden this housewife can do everything she ever possibly dreamed of with this one ridiculously named device. Then Doug starts naming all the random crap you can do with TTWTRN, half of which you've never heard of before (Julienne fries, anyone?), the other half of which you never would've made in the first place. And while you're slicing and dicing and making Julienne Fries, all while keeping your family happy and healthy, Doug is throwing in a second TTWTRN for FREE! (Just pay seperate shipping and handling). Then they cut to the blue screen, read the phone number a bunch of times, and you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming and wonder when all those infomercial actors are going to turn into serial killers. The Last Song is exactly the same, except it's a romantic comedy. It follows Nicholas Sparks' favorite plot ever: Here we have Girl. Girl is in some way angsty or troubled. Girl meets Boy. Boy likes Girl, Girl is less than enthusiastic about Boy. Boy eventually makes Girl fall in love with him, even though she's been hurt before and is all troubled and angsty. Turns out Boy is unnaturally wealthy, This is a problem for Girl, who is not unnaturally wealthy. Boy's parents don't like Girl. Some random person dies, making Girl seem more tender hearted. Girl opens up. Something horrible happens. Girl and Boy have a big fight about nothing that important. Girl shuts Boy out. Eventually, Boy and Girl reconcile and make out somewhere cliche where nobody ever actually makes out in real life. If you switch the roles for Boy and Girl, change the order, and adjust the ages and/or era of Boy and Girl, you have pretty much every single Nicholas Sparks movie ever created. And yet they are as addicting as those stupid infomercials. You know how idiotic they are, and yet you can't look away. In the end, you're left confused and wondering why life doesn't happen that way. Why don't things immediately pop to color and we're handed a device that makes everything easier? Why are we not set to a specific storyline that matches those before us? This is freakin' real, right here. Nobody ever falls in love the way Boy and Girl do in Nicholas Sparks fashion. Sometimes we have to open jars with our bare hands and suck it up if our spoons roll around in the drawer.
I bet you didn't see a life lesson in this, now did you? Oh, I'm good.
See you tomorrow.

One of those days...

This is going to be one of those posts where I only have 51 minutes left before I officially fail BEDA, and I really don't have anything to write about other than complaints because I've had a long day and I'm tired and kind of grumpy. So I apologize in advance for my pissyness, and you don't really have to read this if you don't want to. Actually, it would make me feel better if you read it.
My summer life pretty much ends for me next week, because I've got official cross country practice starting and driver's ed in the evenings, and I've got so much homework. I'm really hoping that having a schedule and keeping busy will help me power through that summer work, because I have been procrastinating like a sixth grader with a science project.
Tomorrow, I'm zoo working and for the first time all summer, I'm really not looking forward to it. I've sort of developed this little crew with two other people, and neither of them are going to be there, so I have to actually talk to other people and try really hard not to feel awkward. Don't get me wrong, the people that work my day are completely awesome, but it's difficult to like people and actually carry on conversations with them at the same time. There are some pretty cool people I plan on hanging out with though, it's just a bummer that my usuals aren't gonna be with me.
Lastly, I'm over-analyzing. Because this is a public internet site, I won't go into too much detail with that one. Feel free, for those of you that know me well enough, to interpret what you think that means.
I'm sorry for such a craptastic post, my dear followers. I'll do something cool tomorrow. Comment with something you want me to write about! (my Most Faithful Liz is definitely on top of this).

Uncomfortable and Loving It

So, I was thinking a little bit today about what I was going to blog about, and I thought about discomfort. I had just talked on the phone with a friend, which I swear I never do because I hate talking on the phone, and I thought that sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone a little to open yourself up to new things. Then I logged on to Youtube, was relieved to find a new Vlogbrothers video after a four day dead period, and discovered it was Esther Day. Now, this just so happens to go along pretty well with my topic for today. For those of you who didn't feel like watching the video, it's about an awesome person named Esther who wanted people to talk about love and family on her birthday. She had cancer and died sometime last year. So today is her birthday, so I am going to talk about family and love and discomfort.

It can be so hard to tell a person you love her or him, but it has to be done. I'll throw up a common example. I have a seventeen year old brother who I don't have the most fantabulous relationship with, but that doesn't mean I don't love him. Even though I do love him, I never say it to his face because that's just not what you do when you're a little sister with a big brother. It's not something you do when you're a big brother with a little sister. There is no combination that makes it something you do.
So here it is, even though I doubt he'll ever read this:
I love you Nathan.
Whew. That wasn't so hard. But see, I wrote it on a blog that I'm not a hundred percent sure he'll even read, which makes it easier. Saying it to his face would be so much harder, especially in the context of, "Hey Nathan, this girl I've never met ever before died of cancer last year and wanted me to tell you I love you today, cuz it's her birthday. Sooo...yeah."
There are other people I love who I love in that way that they're amazing friends and I enjoy every second I'm with them, but it would just be weird to say I love you. Yes, I'm talking about my guy friends. Girls tell each other "I love you" an uncanny amount. But girls rarely ever tell their guy friends that they're loved. This brings me back to my "Girls Have it Easy" post (at least, I think that's what it was called...), in that guys never seem to be reassured that they're loved enough. So to all my guy friends out there, who I would name by name except I fear leaving one of you out, I love you.
And now comes the family part. I love everyone in my family so much. They are amazing people, and I'm proud to share a bloodline with them. (That sounds weird-ish). Anyways, it's easy to tell them I love them. So to Mom, Dad, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, Baylee (because I'm not sure how we're related), Grandparents, and the like, I love you.
All my ladies, you know how it is. I love you so much.
That last sentence sounded kinda funny. Oh well. On to the discomfort!
Love is not something that should be uncomfortable to share. It shouldn't be as hard as it is to tell my brother or my guy friends that I love them. There's just a fear of being rejected or the whole "Wooooow that's really weird that you said that..." thing.
And because it's uncomfortable not only for me to share this love but also to let people read what I write, I'm posting this on Facebook. (I know right, big woop. Leave me alone, I'm a cyber child).

I LOVE YOU. THAT IS ALL.

SPARE THE HALFLINGS!!!!

I watched The Fellowship of the Ring today. That is one pretty fantastic movie.

I also noticed some similarities between Harry Potter and LOTR, which I will point out to you in this very convenient list. (Shut up, Dad, I know you hate my lists.)

1. Horcruxes are a lot like The Ring, in that Sauron basically lives within The Ring. At least, I think that's how it works. For those of you who don't know Horcruxes, they're the objects Voldemort hides pieces of his soul so he'll never die.

2. Gandalf and Dumbledore are basically the same person. They're both really old with really epic beards, and they're also the wisdom figures who guide everybody. Also, it really sucks when they die.

3. Frodo is kind of like Harry. Neither of them are the kind of people you expect to be leading battles and stuff, but they are both in some way "the chosen one".

4. Ring Wraiths. Dementors. Think about it.

So, JK Rowling clearly got a few ideas from JRR Tolkien, possibly even the presentation of her name. Don't get me wrong, I'm still Die-Hard-Potter, but the fact that I've been exposed to both recently has sort of opened my mind a little.
I have to go read a mega stupid book about a 14 year old who corresponds with a philosopher about philosophy. Kill me. It's required for my AP Euro class, and I really can't stand it. I guess it's getting a little more tolerable now that I'm more into it, but it's just not as enjoyable to have to read something.
Well, I've procrastinated enough. See ya'll tomorrow.

It's another "A" month!!

You know what that means! Well, maybe not. That means it's time for Blog Every Day in August! BEDA yeah! Okay, so anyways, all excitement aside. I'm actually having a pretty decent day today, despite the fact that I was out in the hot all day. Today was Zeeland Band Camp day one, and it was lovely. I got to meet some cool new people and hung out with one of my friends for a while. Tomorrow I'm going to watch Lord of the Rings with another friend, so it's shaping up to be a pretty good week.
I'm not totally sure what to write about, but I figured if I missed BEDA day one I'd be off to a pretty horrible start. I've been thinking a lot lately about school starting and stuff. I have a ton of summer work that I have, of course, been putting off, but I'll probably get it all done in time for school. I've also been thinking about NaNoWriMo, or for you non-lingo-savvy folks, National Novel Writing Month. It's in November, and I officially have no clue what to write my novel on. I've been playing around with a few ideas, but nothing has really struck me as a fantastic idea. I was sort of working on a novel this summer, but my files didn't transfer to my new computer, so I'd have to use the old one and that's always in use by someone or other. I have writer's block on this college draft essay I'm supposed to write for my AP Lit class. There are a bunch of topics, and I have a few ideas, but they don't fit well together. Mostly because I have no fracking idea how to write a college essay, and if it's any different than a personal narrative, or what. I'm just a little frustrated. Plus, I'll be starting driver's training next week, so stay off the roads or something. I'm actually kind of excited about it. I just hope I know someone in my class. Well, I will enter again tomorrow, and for those of you who are e-mail subscribed to me, I will clog your inbox this month. Aren't you lucky?

Chloe

So, most of you guys know that I've been gearing up for cross country this summer, and I'd like to share a story with you that has sort of affected our team and our coach and the way we do things.
A couple weeks ago, Coach told us about a little girl named Chloe who is four years old. She has cancer. I'm not sure what kind of cancer she has, but it's heartbreaking to think of a girl that little and sweet having to deal with this. You can find her family's blog here and the crew that's helped get her an air conditioner here.
So what does this have to do with us?
On our run Monday, I ended up in the back with my coach and asked her how Chloe was doing. We also discussed  an idea on how to help her and her family out by doing a sponsored run. We would ask for people to sponsor us per mile we run. It would probably be during a whole week of practice, so we'd have like a "Chloe Week" or something.
Our Coach told us to keep in mind that we run because we can, and that it's really a blessing that we can go out and run for a few miles.
Guys, this is really important to me. I'm sorry if this is a bit of a break from my usual humor, but this is a serious thing for me. So thanks for sitting through this and stuff, there will be some comic relief sometime this week.

Sitting Upon a Sweater

I'll warn you now that this blog post will probably be extraordinarily random. It may also be short and pointless. Whereas my last post was quite lengthy and revolved around one topic with several subtopics, this will have no general topic. I'll just ramble on and on, because I really wanted to blog today, gosh dangit, and I couldn't think of anything intelligent to write about. So here we go.

I'm sure you noticed my odd title. I actually am sitting upon a sweater, because I couldn't find a pillow and my butt hurts. So I grabbed a sweater. Sweaters make very good butt cushions, as a matter of fact. 

There's a callous growing on my pinky from my cello playing that hurts every time I press the "a" key or the "shift" key or anything else I type with my pinky, but usually it's just those two. Did you know that pinky is underlined in red as a misspelled word? Pinky. Pinkie. Oh, there we go, apparently it's supposed to be spelled with an ie. 

I saw Winnie the Pooh yesterday, and it was so cute. I drew a picture of Pooh and Christopher Robin today. Here it is:

Ain't that just the cutest thing? I got whatever quote is on it from an internet site that is supposedly made up of Pooh quotes. I think Christopher Robin said this one, but I'm not sure. When I was little, we had this book called "Cooking with Pooh". Think about that for a second. Say it out loud to yourself. Get it? Okay. Moving on.

This callous is killing me, man.

I haven't really seen any other movies lately, but I really want to see Crazy, Stupid, Love. Oh wait, I saw Captain America. With a boy. Gasps. It wasn't a date, I pinky (pinkie) promise. 

Yesterday, I ran 2 1/2 miles and then rode a tandem with my dad for 16 miles. Today, I slept until 9:30 and watched Rizzoli and Isles.

Thursday, I'm going to a Taylor Swift concert. I am SO PUMPED. So pumped. You're jealous. 

I'm just going to refrain from using my pinkie from now on. this is going to be hrder thn i thought. ok, screw this. but it's kind of fun. but nywys, moving on.

Using my pinkie again. Still hurts. Y'know, I never get any comments on this blog. I have four followers, and none of you ever comment. C'mon!

I just got a text. From a boy. Just a sec. 

Ok, I'm back, not that there was any actual time taken up. So, I'll let you all get on with your lives now. Sorry I have wasted a chunk of it with my incessant word vomit. 

Somebody please comment on this. It would make me feel so special.

Alan Rickman is "Da Bomb"

I know you're all probably sick of Harry Potter by now. Honestly, since it basically took over my life last week, I'm ready for a break myself. But I figured maybe some of my exasperated feelings over seeing Facebook posts and Youtube videos would be resolved if I wrote it out, and then I figured I'd share it with you lovely people. I was going to organize this, but I guess we'll just see what happens.

Here are some small things that have been on my nerves. I don't know if any of you people have ever heard of LeakyCon, but I think it's basically this big old Harry Potter conference that's supposed to be really awesome. I want to be there. It's on my bucket list to go. Anyway, I keep hearing about it on Youtube and it grates my cheese to know that I probably won't be able to go until I'm like...in college. Another thing is Luna Lovegood. She's definitely one of my favorite characters, but she's also EVERYBODY'S favorite character. There are tons of people who think they're just like her because they're quirky and different. This only annoys me because Luna is so much more than that. She's one of the bravest and wisest characters, and I feel like sometimes some people don't see that and only focus on how she's funny and weird. I know there are others who know how awesome she is besides the obvious, but people bother me.
I saw the latest Harry Potter movie at midnight, just twelve hours after I finished the last book for the second time, and it was amazing. Being there with my friends and all those other die-hard fans was so much fun. And here, I think, we have come to the core of my problem. Sure, I got emotional. I knew it was going to be sad. But I didn't really cry at all, and I'd been preparing myself for weeks for the onslaught of sobbing it was sure to cause me. Then I'm sitting in the theatre while Harry walks calmly to his death (oops...spoilers.) and I'm just barely tearing up. That morning, when I read the book, I had to take a break because I literally couldn't read it any more. And you all know (Well, maybe not, actually...) that I am in love with the Weasley twins, and I didn't even tear up when Fred died. Maybe I had just built up everything in my head, and even though it was amazing, it just wasn't as monumental as I thought. I know, I know, I'm horrible, but maybe it was just the atmosphere. I'm going to see it again sometime soon, and maybe it'll be different the second time around. We'll see.
That brings us to the atmosphere in the theatre. It was awesome. I have never been to a movie where the audience is that silent. We all clapped when Molly killed Bellatrix, there were cheerings when Ron and Hermione finally kiss (my favorite part, just because I've been waiting for it since the last movie), and all whispered "yesssss" when it cut to the epilogue. Then again, I think with the audience and the atmosphere, I didn't get into it as much as I could. When I watched the Order of the Phoenix on Wednesday, I started crying when Sirius died just because I'd gotten so involved in watching it. I've never cried watching that movie before. Maybe it was my friends, because I've been known to sob during Titanic, and when I watch it with my friends I don't even really feel like crying. I know it's weird to not be able to cry in front of your friends. I felt like I was more involved in the atmosphere than in the movie (who's keeping track of how many times I've said 'atmosphere' and 'audience' in the last paragraph?). So I'll go again, maybe with only one friend, maybe like a loser by myself, maybe with my mom. I can't go with my Dad (sorry, Dad) because whenever I watch movies with him and it gets to awkward parts I'm always worried about what he thinks, so going with him would not help me to get into it more.
This all doesn't mean that I'm glad I went. Being a part of it was just as awesome as the movie was. Speaking of the movie, I've decided that the actor who is the best in all eight movies is Alan Rickman, who plays Snape. He's particularly fantastic in the last one, just because nobody ever sees the side of him that he has to portray. In the end epilogue scene, Albus Severus Potter is like the cutest eleven year old I've ever seen, except for maybe Rupert Grint when he was that age. Harry and Ginny's aging makeup stuff is actually pretty good, but Ron and Hermione's is kind of weird-ish. Like you can totally tell that it's make-up, kind of thing. Daniel Radcliffe literally looks like a middle-aged man. That scene was the only one where I was close to totally losing it. I like the way they did the Chamber of Secrets thing, just because they only talked about that in the book and never really showed it. I thought it was hilarious when Voldemort hugged Draco, just because it was so awkward. I was slightly disappointed in the ending battle scene between Harry and Voldemort, because it was really drawn out and when he finally defeated him nobody was around. It was kind of anticlimactic, or something.

So if you're still here, probably sick of my prattling, thank you. I only have one more thing, I promise. This has been built up as the end of something, but I don't see it that way. When I first started reading the last book this week, I cried a lot more in the beginning because I kept thinking about how it was going to be over in a few days. I know this is going to sound corny and sentimental, so brace yourselves. Harry Potter is not something that can end. It's meant so much to so many people, and we can still watch the movies and read the books over and over again. The best part of all this is that we've done it with people that love it as much as we do and can share our sadness and our happiness with those people. Something this big doesn't just end. To quote Albus Dumbledore, "It's not really goodbye, after all".

My Internal Monologue is a Bitch.

I've sort of recently taken up running (like, two months ago and I still can't make three miles straight), and it sucks so much. It sucks in that good way like vegetables or other healthy foods, though, where you know it's good for you so you kind of make yourself eat it. Making myself eat running is hard. Wanna know why? Take a gander at the title. Pair that with the fact that my body is physically stubborn, and it's a recipe for disaster. This song comes to mind every time I think about my internal monologue. Ironically enough, that song came on my iTunes when I was typing this, and I was like, "OMG, it knows!" sort of. I didn't say OMG. I don't say OMG. Anyway, speaking of iTunes, my frickin' iPod has been missing for weeks, no matter how much I stand in the middle of my room and yell ACCIO!!! at the top of my lungs. So, back to my internal monologue. I don't even know if I'm using the correct term here, but I don't even care. I was running today (well...walking, at this point) and I start telling myself that at the next corner I'm going to run all the way home (which didn't happen, by the way). In my head, this bitch is yelling at me like "Come on, Erin, you ran waaaay longer than this yesterday. You can do this. I don't care what anyone else thinks, you can kick everyone's butt at running," and I was like, well thanks, internal monologue, and then she goes "You are so tougher than this. You should be a freaking beast right now. What happened to that?" Great. I guess I'm just frustrated with myself or something, but I need to shut off that voice in my head that comes on whenever I run alone. Yesterday, our cross country team took our first team run, and I made it 2, probably 2 1/2 miles slightly sporadically. I mean, I'm not conditioned enough to run the whole way yet. So there were walk breaks. I've never had so much to talk to my doctor about. I keep sort of freaking out that I'm not going to make it, like "I'm asthmatic! I twisted my foot! OMG!" (see above). Then my internal monologue starts up again and goes, "You're fine, ya wimp. You're just out of shape." Which is probably mostly true. I can't run by myself, otherwise she gets to me, and my body's all like "Just watch me walk, skank." So there you go. I'm having an internal conflict or something. Add that to the list of my problems.

High School?

So, I'm doing this project to get fifty bucks. Basically, I'm doing a data-entry thing for a class reunion. Okay, sorry, I have to pause here and tell you something funny. My mom just came home from Target with Biodegradeable Poop Bags. Yes. Okay, anyway, I have this big packet of people that went to a high school in a town near here, and it's kind of really interesting to read all the names of these people. Only five people live outside the state. Five. That's kind of weird. Maybe not. Maybe everyone only thinks about leaving the state and going to college in some big fancy place and we all end up back here anyway. I don't necessarily plan on leaving, unless I have to go out of state for college and decide to move to that state because I like it there. Several people (I'm too lazy to go through the whole packet and count) are married to other people who went to high school with them. It's fun to imagine those kinds of stories. Have they been together since high school? Did they meet again at a previous reunion? Did they get together online? Did they just run into each other at the store or something? It could be anything, really. Going to the same high school is like an ice breaker for a conversation. Suddenly, with finding this thing you have in common, you can talk about teachers and classes and where you went to college and who your friends were and if you remember each other. Is it sad to be married to someone you've been with since high school? Somehow, I don't think so. Maybe it's just dedication or something. Then there are the ones who fall under the "Unable to Locate" category. I want to know what happened to those people. It's not likely they just fell off the face of the Earth. Maybe they joined the five that are now living in other states. Maybe they live in different countries. Maybe they developed a life of crime and are hiding under an alias. Okay, so that last one was perhaps a little far fetched, but we come back to the endless possibilities. Some people have a whole slew of information under their names, while others just have thier addresses. I also have to wonder how the committees for this reunion found all of these people. How do you track down so many people? You're only bound to keep in touch with a few, and there's no way everybody knows where everybody is. Some people cut themselves off completely from high school and rediscover themselves in college. Maybe those people are the ones who could not be located, the ones who decided they were headed for bigger and better things than keeping in touch with the class of 1976. I'm not saying that those who did stay in touch aren't doing bigger and better things. Maybe they're just sentimental. I could ponder for hours on the meaning of high school and old friends and reunions, but I guess it really comes down to people wanting to relive old times and see friends they haven't seen in years. Right now, I can't imagine leaving any of my friends behind when I go off to college, but it's inevitable. You have to lose a few people along the way. I believe that if someone is supposed to stay in your life, it will happen. Nobody can know the future, but the decisions we make now can determine the outcome. Will I cut myself off from high school once I graduate? Not likely. Will I still be close with all the friends I'm close with today twenty-five years from now? Also not likely. But something will stick. I doubt I'll forget these years.

Better Blog Coming Soon

I really should be blogging a lot lately, since I don't have a lot to do other than hang out downtown and go to the beach and sit around my house reading Cracked articles. And barf.

Wait, what?

Yeah, I'm kind of sick. I threw up like...an hour ago? I don't really know. I'll spare you the nasty details, but I basically feel like complete crap on a stick. So I'm going to go lie down and take a nap or something. My next post should be another joint review. Not a review about pot, you silly people. I mean a review combining a few movies I've seen and a couple of books I've read recently. Those of you who read my last post and reveled in the sheer awesomeness (I'm totally humble. And probably spelled 'revel' wrong) are most likely slightly dissapointed right now. Well, I'm sorry. Go find yourself a nice piece of literature or something and appreciate the fact that you know I'm still alive. For the most part. I'd post about my new job volunteering at the zoo, but we actually have to sign a form saying we won't put any behind-the-scenes stuff up on the internet, and I'm not totally sure what's okay and what's not, so I'm playing it safe by not saying anything. The komodo dragon's name is Precious. There, that's not top-secret. Neither is the fact that sometimes when you wash the windows of the baboon enclosure they jump out and scare you. Mostly, it's pretty fun and I have to talk to a bunch of strangers for eight hours a week. Anyway, I'm going to take a nap now.

Yet another person to add to the kill list...

Just kidding. Mostly. Here, read this. You'll need it to understand a single word I'm talking about.

Alright, Mrs. Gurdon. Argument number one. John Green.
John Green is a YA novelist who has written three books alone and cowrote another book with David Levithan. The book he cowrote is called Will Grayson, Will Grayson and is about coming to terms with accepting who you are. In it, two high schoolers named Will Grayson are affected by the presense of one Tiny Cooper, an enormous gay kid who wants to put on a musical about his life and love. He captures the heart of one Will Grayson romantically and the other in pure friendship. Though profane, this book hardly seems (and I quote), "So dark that kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18". Although profane in some parts, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is wholesome and hopeful and a beautiful story.
However, I just finished (for the second time) one of John Green's first books, Looking for Alaska. Not only is this book pretty profane in some areas, it also deals with (spoilers!!) teen death. I'd say suicide, but it's never confirmed. Not only that, but there is underage drinking and smoking. Good God, Mrs. Gurdon, hide the kids! But in all seriousness, Looking for Alaska not only pictures the troubles in the death of a friend, but the beauty in finding true hope after that friend is gone. So, even a darker, more profane novel by John green is full of that rainbow that always comes after the storm.

Argument two: mostly a rant about sheltering.
In my opinion, YA novels are the best way to portray information that is dark and profane. We need to know this stuff. Teenagers can't live in a world where everything is always rainbows and butterflies. I know there's enough in the news and online about such things as cutting and depression that we're not oblivious to the fact that it exists. Some novels depict these things in guesome detail, but it helps us to understand the why of the news we see everywhere. When an author writes a book about a teen that cuts herself, she's not just describing it in disgusting, gory detail. What Gurdon fails to understand (possibly because, and here's a shocker, kids! she's not a young adult) is that these novels also describe how that teen girl deals with her problem and how she came to have this problem. Adults don't seem to realize that we need to figure this out at some point before we're brutally shoved into the real world. Well, Mrs. Gurdon, are you going to teach your children about why some people are pushed to the brink of self-mutilation? Or are you just going to put your hand over their eyes and monitor every book they read?

Now I come to my third and final argument, which is somewhat like the first. Not all YA novels are dark and depressing.
There are at least forty books in my room. Basically all of them are YA. About six of them are dark. The other 34 or so are about things such as friendship, love, and other sorts of happy things. It appears that when Mrs. Gurdon did her research, she looked solely for the books with the creepy titles and covers and overlooked the books on the other side of the shelf. The ones that have happy, brightly colored covers and titles such as The Truth About Forever and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, neither of which, as you can imagine, have any of the things that Gurdon talks about within their pages.
At some point, we need to recognize that there are going to be controversial and dark books out there. We also need to recognize that teenagers will find these books and read them. However, most people leave it at that and hope for the best. What Mrs. Gurdon needs to realize is that the information is out there, and we're going to find it somewhere. Honestly, wouldn't she rather we read a profane book than go searching for internet porn? Now, I'll admit that's a little extreme, but still. We need to know. I credit most of who I am to reading YA novels. They've taught me about acceptance, love, and friendship through any sort of weather, whether it is dark or light.

Why am I such a klutz?

Is that even how you spell klutz? So many questions.
I fell down the stairs at school today. They're linoleum stairs. I have a significant bruise on my elbow. I was walking out of my last class, Microsoft Office, and wearing slippery shoes. All of a sudden, I slipped right off of the stair I was standing on, slid down a couple more, and finally landed on my elbows and pushed myself back up. Naturally, the first thing I said was, "I'm okay. I knew that would happen to me someday." Why would I say such a thing? Because I trip, slip, stumble, fall over, fall out of chairs, and run into things on a regular basis. Yes, I am clumsy.
I know I'm not the only one. At my age, everybody is kind of gawky and awkward. But I've never really been gawky. Awkward, maybe, but not gawky. So I wanted to know why I, of all people, am clumsy.
On Wikipedia (hey, hey, it's legit...sometimes...), clumsy goes off in a few different directions. I chose the "accident-proneness" route, because that sounds about right. Apparently, being accident-prone is actually, like, a thing. So, basically, there's this conception that some people actually have a predisposition to be more likely to suffer from accidents. Upon clicking the "nature and causes" link, I discovered this nugget of information:

"The exact nature and causes of accident-proneness, assuming that it exists as a distinct entity, are unknown. Factors which have been considered as associated with accident-proneness have included absent-mindedness, carelessness, impulsivity, predisposition to risk-taking, and unconscious desires to create accidents as a way of achieving secondary gains."

Okay. That sounds about right. I'm not sure if I actually have an unconscious desire to create accidents, but I guess that's up to my unconsciousness.

Things I Like

This is another list. Here are some things I like, in no particular order.

1. Cheesecake.
2. Silly teenage dramas like Make It or Break It.
3. Watching gymnastics.
4. Being in pajamas at 11:36 in the morning.
5. Harry Potter
6. The fact that Harry Potter is coming out in July so I can go at midnight.
7. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds
8. Garcia from Criminal Minds
9. John Green books
10. Tiny Cooper
11. Gay rights
12. Old Navy pajama bottoms
13. ULTA
14. Barnes and Noble
15. Applebee's.

I like other things too, but after I started this list I decided to expand upon it and list a few things I claim to like on Facebook.

1. Sue Sylvester Quotes
2. The Guilty Pleasure dance
3. Everything is funnier at 4 AM
4. Movies
5. Maximum Ride
6. Trale Lewous
7. Saying words over and over again until they lose their meaning
8. Waving at random people
9. Dentist stop talking to me, I can't talk your  hand is in my mouth
10. Peeta Mellark

There are some more ridiculous ones, but I decided to delve into the mind of one of my Facebook friends to find some really stupid ones.

1. "Do you like ____?" "No" But inside really yes I'm just not telling you!
2. Hey, I got a text! I hope it's from....OH MY GOSH LEAVE ME ALONE.
3. im sorry for staring but you just look reallyy HOT <3 <3 <3
4. Could you just shut up, like now?
5. Tall guy + short girl = cute. Tall girl + short guy = really awkward.
6. Where did all my bobby-pins go???
7. "Can I ask you a question?" "You just did"
8. Yeah I smile and say hi but I'm quite aware you're a two-faced whore
9. I'm waiting for your text...until I realize that I didn't reply.
10. Sometimes I feel like lying randomly on the floor.

I am dead serious. Some things should just stay off of Facebook. I'll admit I was a little wary when this person had 15 "likes" showing and "846 more". That's just ridiculous. C'mon, people. Most of the time Facebook likes don't even make sense. I mean, seriously. You would say to someone else "Yeah, I like movies." But you wouldn't say, "Yeah, I like Could you just shut up, like now?" It makes no sense. Liking should be reserved for things that can actually be liked in real life. I stopped liking things that didn't make sense a while ago, because it got annoying and stupid. So there you go. If you have a liking problem, just go through some of the things you "like", and ask yourself if it's actually possible to like those things.

Teachers are so funny.

So, maybe it's because it's the end of the year or maybe they're all brainwashed at staff meetings, but most of my teachers have gone crazy.
First of all, they keep making inappropriate comments that aren't really inappropriate but become so when said in front of high schoolers. Last week at a Quiz Bowl party, we were all playing Scrabble (Dear God, the nerdiness of that sentence...) and were joking about whether or not "numping" was a word. So my chemistry teacher, who was listening, was all like "Yeah, just use it in a sentence. Y'know, like 'I was numping around the neighborhood.'" Yep. And on Monday, I was standing outside the orchestra room when one of my friends started shaking my shoulders. My director came out of his office and said "Hey! Hands off the merchandise." To which I replied (after he'd left), "Wait a second...guys, am I a prostitute?"
General craziness also appears to be an issue. My Geometrey teacher constantly uses sound effects, but she's been using them a TON lately. And she keeps laughing at things that aren't really funny for a really long time. My English teacher is just kind of insane and ADD all the time, so nothing has really changed much there.

Guys, the end of the year is so close I'm about peeing my pants with excitement. (Not really, in case you were concerned). I only have to wake up 9 more times this year.
Interesting tidbits about my day:
There was a duck hanging out in a puddle on the roof. On. The. Roof.
We discoverd my friend Joe is the Pillsbury Doughboy. He's not fat, he just has big blue eyes and giggles when you touch his bellybutton.
Orchestra involved me getting the keys to the back room, getting three boxes of candy bars out of the back room, and then with ninja-like skills managing to close and lock the door whilst carrying three boxes of candy bars.
My Chemistry teacher asked "When there's a fire, who are you gonna call?" to which several people answered "GHOST BUSTERS!"
I learned how to spell Chernobyl. If that is indeed how you spell it.
We decided Chernobyl would make a lovely vacation hot-spot.
My Geometry teacher and I tried in vain to hook up my turntable to several different things, including the projector and the TV.
I completely forgot to bring my turntable home. adfpoaiuerak;jlhgalkgh.
There was dissappointment over a fight scene in A Lesson Before Dying. (The movie)

That's all, folks. Cue Porky the Pig.

Who Wants a Crap Sandwich?

I don't. You can have mine.

Ironically enough, I was going to post about happiness today because the sun was all shiny and the flowers and the trees were all blooming and the air smelled like springtime (and manure, but that's a different story).

However, when I got to school today, my happy little day of springtime became an utter crapsicle. That butt munch kid I keep talking about who likes me was being obnoxious, my stand partner was being obnoxious, we had to play Pomp and Circumstance like 43 times...and that's just first hour. I'm going off on a little pity party here, but it really sucks that I have to deal with so much stupid so early in the morning. I really don't like my second hour teacher and pretty much my only friend in that class has been annoying me a heck of a lot lately. Then at lunch, when I usually get to sit and hang out with my lovely friends, they weren't being so lovely. As I said to my dad on the phone today, it was like everyone had an extra dose of bitch this morning. Sorry, Grandma, excuse my French. Seriously, everybody was just cranky and irritable and being annoying and catty to each other. It was like somebody turned up the annoying dial on a few of my more annoying friends, who I usually love for their annoyingness, but nobody was in the mood to deal with it today. Finally I was just all like "Okay so seriously you guys, who's on their period right now?" Which may be too much information, but two people had hands up. Two others were sick, one had pressure of a soccer game this afternoon, and I couldn't really find an explanation for the obnoxiousness of the last one. And then in English I got an 85 on an essay, and I know you're all sarcastically like "Oooohhh noooo, an eighty-five!" Well, shut up. I. DON'T. GET. EIGHTY-FIVES. ON. ESSAYS. I get hundreds, gosh dangit! And I kind of harrassed my English teacher after class, because this pile of poop on top of everything else was just enough to push me to that verge of tears, so I kind of accosted him and said "Can we talk about this NOW?!?" Because I was freaking out. Like I said, I do not get 85's. Plus, the paper was out of 80 points, so all you math scholars know I got a 68, which looks really bad on paper, especially when the rule is "you can re-write at 71 and under". I expected to get full credit, dagnabit! I figured I'd be nowhere near close enough to having to do a re-write. So yeah, I now kind of hate my favorite teacher.

Then we had chemistry, which I just never like because it's farty. Yes, I just said chemistry is farty. So is Microsoft Office, which I had to deal with after that. That class is full of enough stupid people to scare Donald Trump. Of course then I had to get in the car with my brother, who I had an argument with because apparently I also took an extra dose of bitch this morning. Anyway, now I'm off to take a fast walk with my dog and my iPod. Hopefully no tourists stop me to ask for directions, because I'll probably accidentally (or purposefully, depending on how stupid the question is) send them in the wrong direction.