"She wandered the earth, alone and rejected." ~Anchor Baby, Tim Burton

I found my theme song. I kept finding ones that I thought were good enough, but I have found the perfect song.

"Why Must I Be Sad?"
~They Might Be Giants~

No More Mister Nice Guy
I Love the Dead
I've been thinking about it
Now I understand what he said

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)

No one knows these things but me and him
So I'm writing everything down in a spiral notebook
In the hopes that one day
Other people will feel as low as this

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)

No More Mister Nice Guy
I Love the Dead
I've been thinking about it
Now I understand what he said

Ask me now
I understand the words that Alice said
I kick the rocks beneath me
I squint at the sun
Sad, sad, sad, sad
Why must I be sad?
The rows of dandelions growing all around me
Why must I be sad? (Welcome to My Nightmare / Dead)
Why must I be sad? (Babies / Raped and Freezin' / You)
Why must I be sad? (Drive Me Nervous / Elected /)
Why must I be sad? (Generation Landslide / Un)
Why must I be sad? (der My Wheels / Muscle of Love /)
Why must I be sad? (School's Out / Only Women Bleed /)
Why must I be sad? (Billion Dollar Babies)
Why must I be sad? (sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad, sad)
(sad, sad)

I'm just tired of not being understood. I want to go back to a place where people know who I am and understand how life is for me. I'm tired of always trying to please everyone and then going home and crying till I fall asleep because I'm lonely. I wish people would talk to me instead of just accusing me of being a bad friend before I know what's going on. I wish that the most fun I have isn't walking alone at night, listening to the wind and feeling the rain on my face. I just wish I weren't so empty. Is that too much to ask?

Every day I walk His way. I seek His light. Do you see it in my eyes?

I wanted to start off with this excerpt from A Series of Unfortunate Events #12:The Penultimate Peril.
"We can ask for a second helping of pound cake, even though someone has made it quite clear that we will not get any. We can ask for a new watercolor set, even though it will be pointed out that we never used the old one, and that all of the paints dried into a crumbly mess. We can ask for Japanese fighting fish, to keep us company in our bedroom, and we can ask for a special camera that will allow us to take photographs even in the dark, for obvious reasons, and we can ask for an extra sugar cube in our coffees in the morning and an extra pillow in our beds at night. We can ask for justice, and we can ask for a hankerchief, and we can ask for cupcakes, and we can ask for all the soldiers in the world to lay down their weapons and join us in a rousing chorus of 'Cry Me a River,' if that happens to be our favorite song. But we can also ask for something we are much more likely to get, and that is to find a person or two, somewhere in our travels, who will tell us that we are noble enough, whether it is true or not. We can ask for someone who will say, 'You are noble enough,' and remind us of our good qualities when we have forgotten them, or cast them into doubt."

As I was reading this the other day, I couldn't help but think about the tender mercies of the Lord, and how much He has done to show me that I am a daughter of God and that I matter to Him. This may come in the form of other people, people who compliment you or just enjoy your company when your self-confidence is low. I know that the Lord has blessed me with many many tender mercies, and everyday I see indications that we are a chosen generation, and that He esteems us in His eyes. I am so grateful that the Lord blesses me in tiny ways, to show me that I am loved by Him, and that He wants me to come live with Him again.

In sacrament meeting today (1st ward sacrament), just after I took the sacrament, I looked down at the program and it had a picture of Christ with the little children around Him, and He has this beautiful smile on His face. And as I was sitting there, I could almost picture Him, in that chapel, waiting for me. And I imagined myself running into His arms, and feeling His arms wrap around me, and whispering in my ears, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." And I realized just how excited I was to see the Lord and to behold His face, and to feel His love while I look upon Him. Whether in this life or in the life to come, I can't wait to touch His hands and feet, and to have Him hug me with a love I've never known. I know I'll still make mistakes in my life, but I can't imagine Christ being disappointed in me, and so I'm doing all I can to serve Him and His children here on Earth. I want Him to be proud of me.

We watched a movie today in Sunday School about missionary work across the world (hence the picture) and I can't tell you how excited I am to go on a mission. I am willing to sacrifice all I need to be able to serve the Lord's children in a different land, or in this land if He so chooses to send me. But in the video, especially when they talked about the people from the Pacific Islands and the people from Eastern Europe, I felt an immense sense of gratitude for the missionaries who were brave enough to go to those countries to spread the gospel. I don't know why I love the Polynesian people so much, I've only been to Hawaii once and I know a family from Samoa, but I feel such an attachment to them. And also the people of Germany, because I've been there. I know what wonderful people are there, and I've seen where the Berlin wall once stood, and so I know how incredible it must have felt to be free from physical and spiritual bondage. I would love to serve a foreign mission, but I will go wherever the Lord sends me. And I will go, no matter what.

In this book I finished recently, The Silver Chalice, (which takes place in Rome soon after Christ's ministry), one of the characters is telling the main character (Basil) about the spirit Basil has felt while searching for the apostles. He tells Basil that he may believe in Jesus Christ, but he will someday reach the point where he simply wants to preach the gospel to everyone around him, and to tell the world of the joy he has felt through the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a true statement. There are times when I'm going about my life that I get so excited about the gospel that I simply can't hold it in, and I want to shout to the world how happy I am, and how they too can be happy by coming to the Lord. What an opportunity to be able to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary, to bring the truth to the children of God. What an amazing calling. I can't wait till that time comes.

To the many of you who will read this, you have been an immense blessing in my life, those that I have met here and those that I have left behind. Your influence in my life has helped me chose the better part, and for that I am eternally grateful. I love you all deeply. May joy fill your lives, even in times of trial. Shalom

Is this part of your master plan to destroy all joy from the universe?

Today is a dismal day in the life of Rebekah Jon Whittaker. I love Halloween, but I went to school as a Newsie, and all day I've been fighting to keep my hat, for what's a Newsie without his (or her) hat? But I can't contend with this many people, and I have surrendered. For the time being. I still want it back, but it's not in my power to get it right now. So my entire day has pretty much gone down the drain because I don't have my hat.

I don't even know if I want to go to this party tonight. Oh, I know I will, and I know I'll probably have fun, but I just don't want to be around people anymore. School is enough socializing for me, and then I'm ready to just go home and read a good book or watch a good movie or take a nap. Anything where I don't have to talk to people. I have fun for a while and then it just gets tedious, trying to make everyone happy and trying to keep up a cheerful act, when all I want to do is hide in my room and doodle and listen to music. Music has that amazing quality to calm me down. Or hype me up, depending on the music.

My head hurts, from people grabbing the hat off my head, but accidentally grabbing hair with it.

What I really want right now is a big bag of candy corn, a big cup of ice water, and to watch Newsies. Well, I can do the last one, I guess.

"Sometimes I just think-man, I could sure use a tuque right now!" ~Jen Lee

Today's subject: Tuques!

Here's a lovely little entry from Wikipedia on tuques that I recently found. It's quite amusing, actually. My favorite phrases are in bold.





"Tuque: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A tuque (Canadian French: tuque) is a knitted hat, originally usually of wool though now often of synthetic fibers, that is designed to provide warmth in winter. Sometimes considered Canada's national hat, all tuques are tapered and brimless, and they are often topped with pompons.
The word tuque is not etymologically related to the name of the chef's toque, although tuque is sometimes spelled "toque" (though still pronounced /tuk/) by assimilation. The word is also sometimes spelled "touque"; while this is technically a misspelling, it's a quite common one.
During the 1837 Patriotes Rebellion a red tuque became a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism, a symbol that was briefly revived by the Front de liberation du Quebec in the 1970s.
Today some consider tuques to be somewhat lacking in sophistication, though they are indispensable in cold climates. The most famous media characters to sport this kind of hat are the SCTV characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Michael Nesmith of the Monkees also wore this hat in his television series.
In the United States, this type of hat is usually referred to as a knit hat, knit cap, sock cap or stocking cap, and sometimes as a ski hat. In the U.S. southern states, it is sometimes called a toboggan.
There is also a town known as La Tuque, Quebec, named after a nearby hill that resembles a tuque.
A beanie is a similar type of hat."

Tuques are fun. I wore one to the football game, cause holy flippin Ice Age, it was cold. I had on a hoodie, and a jacket, and gloves, and my knee-high socks, and I was still cold. My toes were freezing. I left early to go buy milk and the heater was very welcome. But now it's really cold down here and I'm still all bundled up.

I really think that this tiredness thing is more than it seems. Take last night for example. I went to bed at nine, and got up at nine thirty, and I'm still exhausted. I'm taking vitamins, and they have iron, so who knows. I hope it's not anything serious. I doubt it, but I'm sick and tired of being...tired.

We bought this movie that I'm still contemplating if I want to watch it or not. It's about dance, so I think I'd like it, but from what I can see, it's pretty much like Center Stage, which I hated, cause it was all about this girl who danced who was trying to decide between the hot guy and the nice guy. Which is what this movie is supposed to be about. Big whoop. I'd like to see about a girl, or guy, who just has to work really hard to dance with no stupid romances cluttering the story.

Have you ever felt like there was something missing in your life? Like there could be something more? Not necessarily something spiritual, but something else to occupy your time. I don't know. But lately I haven't felt like socializing with anybody, even more than usual. The last two football games I've just sat by myself, but I wanted it that way. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to watch the game. I wouldn't really have minded if someone just came and sat with me, but most people seem to think that when you're with someone you have to talk, which isn't the cause. You can just be together without having to talk. It's rather nice actually.

I really can't think of anything else to say, so I'll leave you. Love to all, and an especially big hi to me mum and Liz, who happen to be in the same place. Shalom

Why are you looking at me like that? Haven't you ever seen a monkey before?

Ha, do you remember that Liz? That was when we were on the tour bus in Germany and we were both sleeping and we both woke up at the same time to the tour guide saying, "Why are you looking at me like that? Haven't you ever seen a monkey before?" You can imagine the confusion.

Guess what happened today? I got a letter, from Peter! Huzzah! It was very happy. And it was doubly wicked, because yesterday, I got a letter from Liz which contained seven CD's! Oh the jubilation! Not only was it mail for me, that wasn't college-ness, but it had wonderful CD's that I am now addicted to! What fun! It was amazing. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that it was naked. I love mail. Please send more.

I don't really have much to say.....it seems like I already said it all before, which I probably did in my letter back to Peter, so I guess he'll know it all and you won't. Ha ha! Actually, it was mostly about friendship and jedi boots and homecoming, so I doubt that you would all be interested anyway.

So what else? I seem to have been writing quite philosophical messages of late, so this will be a...relief? A change? A breath of fresh air? Who knows? I'm cold but I want ice cream. My hands are warm but my head hurts. You obviously don't care about any of this, cause I can just picture Steven skimming over this trying to see if there's anything of worth. Well, you know what, my fine fair-haired friend? There's NOT! So ha! Write in your own blog once in a while and maybe I'll write something interesting in here.

I miss me mum. She's a wonderful person, and we have such fun. I wonder when she's coming next...

There's a stake dance tomorrow night, and I haven't been able to find anyone who can tell me what the theme is or whether it's casual or dressy. We have to practice our song for Sunday and we have to plan the November dance. I have to make a poster for Psych, mend pants, clean the house and try and get some sleep!

Oh! One last thing before I go and leave you to continue drooling all over your keyboards. Mr George Winston is coming here, to La Grande of all places, for a concert on Sunday! And guess who's going? Not me. Actually, that's a lie, I am going, with me papi, and it's going to be great fun and lovely and amazing. So yeah. Be jealous.

I will leave you now, I love you all, and hope to talk to you (*cough cough* Liz! *cough cough*) soon! Shalom!

I'll tell myself that I never needed anybody anyway

The power of dance-Dance can fill you with such joy and comfort. When you become one with the music and it moves you, and you are no longer a part of the world. You become a spirit, a whisper of nature. The cares of the world are lifted off your body and you float, lifted by the passion that controls your movements. Your body has become a testament of your joys, your sorrows, your fears. All of your feeling has become movement. Dance can express what words cannot.
"We dance for laughter, we dance for tears
We dance for madness, we dance for fears
We dance for hopes, we dance for screams
We are the dancers, we create the dreams."
~Anonymous

The power of peace-I went to a peace rally this last weekend. It was quite interesting. There were many things said that I agreed with, and I was glad to be there as an advocate for peace. There was a wonderful band there called Trendy Indies, and they had some good, clean, peaceful songs that I quite enjoyed. But while I (and the other members of SFT present) was there to promote a peaceful attitude, there were many high school students there who were campaigning against the war. I agree, I don't wish the war to continue, I want to bring peace to our nation by bringing our soldiers home, but what they were doing was completely counter-productive to our message. They held obscene and offensive signs and were promoting anti-Bush attitudes. All that is accomplishing is making the community non-sympathetic to our cause. You cannot fight war with war. We are demonstrating for a peaceful attitude, which includes peaceful actions and the goal to unite as peacemakers to change the world. It is pointless to offend others.
"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate-thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising."
~Maya Angelou

The power of friendship-Steven and I don't really get to see each other very much anymore, because we have such conflicting schedules. The times when we see each other and talk to each other most are those wonderful Sunday evenings when I go help him with the racks. I look forward to that time, when we actually get to talk and learn more about each other. This Sunday, for example, was probably one of the more enjoyable evenings we've had together. After completing the racks, we drove up a lonely dirt road and sat on the hood of the car and gazed at the stars while talking. We talked of many things, of our hopes and dreams, of fears and comforts. It was nice, just talking together after hardly seeing each other, being so busy with other things. What tremendous gifts little evenings like that are.
"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies."
~Aristotle

The power of song-We went singing again this Sunday afternoon, 2 1/2 hours this time. It was so amazing. I griped a bit, it's true, but I was grateful for the opportunity afterward. We sang to many different people, some in need, and some just to brighten their day. It's so nice to know that you're helping someone feel better, just by doing something that you enjoy. I know I appreciate the beauty of music, and the calming peace it gives you. The simple pleasure of listening to a beautiful voice, a melodic piano, or a soothing guitar can change your mood and day within an instant. It's not a coincidence that the Lord gave us the gift of music on this earth, to share and to uplift others. Music can be harmful, of course, but the overall benefits of good music are astronomical.
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
~Berthold Auerbach

The power of life-We should live each day better than the last, constantly striving to do build our character and filling our minds and hearts with knowledge and experience. Life is a gift. Take it, enjoy it, use it. And show gratitude for the small and simple things that are given you.
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~Albert Einstein

Shalom

Hey howdy hey!

Hello to all my wonderful friends, and an especially big hello to Raage! Please go to

www.littlewheemindmisfires.blogspot.com

for the next piece of the puzzle! Have a wonderful day! Love to all!

Hi to all those I love!

Hey howdy hey and a great big hello to all my friends out there! I especially wanted to say hi to Raage! Hi Raage! What's up? Here's the next peice of the puzzle! Go to

www.littlewheemindmisfires.blogspot.com

Have a wonderful day and love to all!

Death kills 5 out of every 5 dead smokers.

I offer no explanation. I leave you to speculate.

Life has been interesting, to say the very least, of late. As a warning, this is not a "oh, my life sucks and terrible things keep happening to me" kind of blog. I do not want your sympathy. This is merely a blurb of feelings and speculations. I also did not allow for new comments on this blog, because I don't want to know what you think. This is what I think, and I need to allow some integrity for my blog. Not that what you think isn't important, it's just...inappropriate for this entry.

Actually, I really want a glass of milk right now.

How typical. Society is so bent on filling its material needs that it can't even reflect on its individual's lives without fulfilling physical desires first. Why is that? Was Maslow correct when he established the idea of his hierarchy of needs? Do our bodily needs outweigh our spiritual ones so much that we can't fill our spiritual needs until everything else is taken care of? Of course not. We've gotten so used to instant gratification that the time we have spared is not used for meditation, but for fulfilling more needs. I just want to step back and let the flow carry on without me, so that I can observe it from the sidelines and figure out what I'm supposed to do before diving back in to be swept along with the tide of life. I wish I had time for that sort of pondering, time to just sit back and learn through observation, and not in a school setting. I want to change things. I want to change people's lives, influence them for good, help someone back on their way, make people think!

I've noticed a lot about myself lately. I used to think that I really depended on someone to help me through the hard times and to give me advice and to just be there for me, to hold me when I needed it. But people move, people change, and sometimes you can't even count on your best friend. I always knew I was solitary, but it was mostly at home, to avoid arguments or conversation. But lately, I've noticed that I'm not so sure about people's company. I like to be with people. No. I like to laugh. And people sometimes do that. But more and more I've curled deeper into my books and away from the blaring, blinding bedlam of life. I don't enjoy company like I used to. I don't want to talk to people. I want to watch. And listen. And learn. I don't want to interact. I want to be done with public education and travel. Travel to different states and learn about different dialects. Travel to different countries and learn and imitate their culture, their language, their politics, their games. I'm not content with what I have. I want more, and then I want a way to share that information to wrest ignorance and prejudice from the close-minded. I want to share the peace I have found from the scriptures and the gospel. I want freedom to do what I want when I want. I want to learn tennis. I want to dance. I want a lot of things. And that opportunity just isn't here. Where to go? It seems that all fantasy stories involve a journey of some kind, a quest to rescue a maiden, or an adventure to find your true identity. That's what I want. I want to pack a backpack and start walking up the hills, and keep walking and walking to see what I'll find. Mountains seem to call to me. It seems that whenever I'm around mountains, I feel a pull, beckoning me to climb, climb and climb to see what's on the other side. Maybe there is no other side. Maybe I'll just keep traveling over hills and vales until I find a nice quiet spot to finally lay down my pack and settle down. Maybe if I'm really lucky, I'll find a young man on the way, to accompany me and share stories and ideas. But not get in the way. Be a constant companion who knows when to be quiet. Like an imaginary friend, but one you can actually hold. Words can enhance and they can hinder, and I feel that this is one of those hindering times. I can't really say what I want to. I can't express it in words, or pictures, or even colors. Touch maybe. That sense is used so rarely, and it has become a controversial action. It is also not entirely truthful. It can be, if the intentions behind it are well. People distrust each other so much now, that nothing can be taken seriously anymore. The brushing of hands, a casual hug. Innocence is not naivete. It is purity of intent, excellence of character, honesty of heart. It is so easy to lie. But to have truth emanate from every fiber of your being, till people know that you are true and honest in your dealings, and that everything from you can be trusted. It's hard. Which is why it is so unpopular. Chivalry has lost its place in this world. But there's always something better. There's always that beautiful sunset, that moonlight on you face, that whisper of wind through your hair. Beauty is not lost, just the appreciation.

Remember, this is not fact, nor even opinion. Speculation, nothing more. My intent was not to offend, but to broaden. You may disagree, but you now have the glimmer of another idea, another mind. Shalom. Peace be unto you, my friend.

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

I'm sorry to Peter for stealing his picture, but this is so amazing. I love it so much! These are my good friends Evan, Gary, and Brad. I can only imagine what was going on at this moment.

Hey howdy hey and a hullabaloo to all my wonderful friends out there! I know I haven't written in a very long time, but to be frank, I am not sorry at all. I guess I just haven't really wanted to write down what I was thinking or doing for a while. Secret Jedi activity that cannot be mentioned. But yeah, school's ok. I don't really like it that much, but it's not too difficult so I'm living through it. I have early morning seminary, no first period (which is nice), Psychology (which is really fun, I have it with Raage and Mike and Jason and it's fun), Choir (which is sooo frickin good this year! We're going to kick butt. And we have 26 guys!), Health 2 (which is a stupid and boring class, but I have it with Mollie and Elly and Coop), and then AP Comp (which is hard but I'm learning a lot and we have a good intelligent group). But that makes three classes with Raage, and then I have three next semester as well! It's great. And I only have choir with Steven, but he's a loser, so why would I want classes with him anyway! ; ) But yeah, it's tolerable, I suppose. But I'm not auditioning for the play, which is the Foreigner, cause there really aren't any parts I'm interested in. Or approve of. But I have to get a job anyway, so maybe this is my opportunity to do so and not die of exhaustion or stress.

I know I mentioned this before, but I love the night! There's such an energy that flows and gives you life. "Night juices" is what Steve calls it, but I prefer something a little more sacred. In fact, I can't even really think of a word or even a phrase that adequately describes it. I wish I lived a life where I could be nocturnal and sleep all day and then be up and doing things at night. Too bad most of society does it the other way, so I would really be able to work with anyone. Maybe if I become a writer I'll be able to do it that way. I get most of my inspiration and energy from the night anyway. I don't know. Maybe I'll try it some day.

You know, I'm not one to openly express my political views and all, but I do wish that we didn't have to fight over everything. We had to fight to free people, yes, but what about all the civilians that were killed in the process? Those people aren't free. In fact, quite the opposite. It would be a lot more convenient if the two opposing leaders merely dueled, or had a fist fight, and (according to the codes of war) whoever lost would have to give up their power. Then they wouldn't be dragging other people's husbands or wives or children into the whole she-bang. It would merely be a contest between the people who actually want the power, and leave all the rest of us out of it. So in the epic words of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes: "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." We certainly are a messed-up people.

Well, enough thinking for today. It's a holiday, not made for coherent sentences. But I'd better go anyway, since Melissa and I are going to try to pop down to the Baxter's and wish a wonderful birthday to a certain Mr. Mike Baxter, who is turning fifteen today. How weird. I just can't imagine that Mike and Dan are the same age. How weird. I guess because Dan's a year ahead in high school, and he's larger in stature, but it's just weird. So happy birthday Mike, even though you'll probably never read this. Hope to see you all at the dance! Love to all! Shalom

"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest man." ~Willy Wonka

I love this picture. It's at Hoover Dam, and just the implication it presents is funny. I enjoy it.

I can't write very much, cause we have to pack, but today was a very nice day. All of the speakers in sacrament were very intelligent and I learned a lot. I really felt the spirit today. Sunday School was about getting married in the temple, which is one of my favorite topics. ; ) Well, I love the temple, and I can't imagine getting married anywhere else, so it was a very nice lesson. And in Young Women's we learned about agency from Amy, who I love dearly. She's really funny. But I felt the Spirit a lot and it was just very comfortable. And I got to walk home from church cause Isha and Melissa had BYC, and the weather was very nice. Warm, but with a pleasant breeze to keep things cool. It was just very enjoyable.

I really have to go pack/clean, but I just wanted to say farewell and godspeed to Steven. He's been such a great friend, and I don't know if I can claim likewise, but he's been so patient and kind and a wonderful example to me. I am so grateful that I was able to meet him and become such good friends with him. We've had so many great experiences together, spiritual or just fun, and it's really something I've been needing lately. When I don't have anyone to turn to, I get rather depressed, and I'm just so thankful that he's been there for me, to chastise me or advise me. So thanks, Steven, you're a really neat kid, and I'm so glad that we're friends. So have fun without me, and see you when I get back!

So since I'll be gone for two weeks, ciao to all my wonderful and spiffy friends here, I love you all, and I'll miss you! Have the time of your life before school starts, and I guess I'll see you when school starts! Love to everyone and everything! Shalom

Steven "Breakage Boy" Baxter

K, are sloths not the weirdest animals on the face of the planet? Their fur looks like coconut fur, and they have weird claws and weird faces and they move slow and they're just all-around weird. I guess it would be fun to have a sloth for a pet though. If it was small you could cuddle with it, and it's really flexible so you could hold it in unnatural positions and you wouldn't really have to worry about losing it, cause it couldn't exactly run away. It would be fun.

But for the reasoning behind the title of this blog, if you didn't know, Steven broke something again, only this time it was his toe. I told Liz about this and she said he needed a new name like "the boy of glass" or "the boy of breakage" and I liked my version of the second one. So now his list of nicknames is up to three I believe. "Breakage Boy," "The Human Couch Cushion," and my personal favorite, "Magnet for Mockery." I wish I had that many cool nicknames. That would be a cool super hero name, Breakage Boy. That's almost as good as Work-Experience Boy.

Speaking of which, that boy is more elusive than the Scarlet Pimpernel. I haven't talked to him in forever, and I'm really starting to miss the kid. Dang soccer.

I wrote Liz a novel disguised as an e-mail today, and she sent me one back! Plus she called about a letter that we got sent, so I got to talk to her and read a really long e-mail from her! It was very nice. Plus I get to see her in ONLY THREE DAYS! How stoked am I. I cannot wait to see her and talk to her and laugh with her and do all the things we used to do when we were together. I love being her sister. She has been such a blessing to me, especially in our younger years when it was just us and our mom. Those were good days. I remember everything we used to do at the old apartment, swimming in the pool, racing each other up the steps, ridings bikes and going to the park with Rayana. Those were good times. And I'm so grateful for all the memories we made and can now share. We had a lot of fun together, and I'm glad that we can still have a lot of fun together, even if it's a different kind of fun. And I don't remember us ever having a really serious argument. We probably argued about who got to be which Barbie or something like that, but we never had a really big fight. And I guess I never really realized how blessed I am for that, even when hearing about how a lot of my friends always fight with their siblings. I guess I took for granted a little how close Liz and I were, and still are. It's harder now that she's gone, but I love her to pieces, and I couldn't have asked for a better sister on this earth. She's a really awesome girl, and I'm thankful for everything that she's done for me, and everything that we're able to do together. Yay for families!

I haven't done anything of worth today. I read HP, took a shower, ate, ate some more, watched William and Kyle play Super Smash Bro., watched David play Civilization, and now I'm on the compy. How boring. Someone come save me! And I guess it wouldn't be too bad if anyone decided to stop by. Cause then you could meet my cousins! They're pretty awesome kids. And it's going to kind of be a lazy day, since we're going to be so busy tomorrow. Oh well.

Well, I guess I really don't have anything else to say, so I hope that everyone is happy, and is having a wonderful day! Love to all! Shalom

Hello? Hello? I can't find my head.

You know, I really don't think I had my head the night I suggested we prank the Baxter's. On Tuesday, I convinced Jill to join me, and I got Isha and Melissa into it, but it quickly turned into a very bad idea. And so, the moment you've all been waiting for....

The Caper of the Cons
"One dark summer's night, a young girl was sitting at her computer, making conversations with friends and letting her mind wander to the mysteries of the world. Suddenly, a brilliant idea began to form in her mind. There were large branches that had fallen from a near-by tree that were cluttering her yard, so why not give them to someone else? And not just anyone else. Oh no. It must be someone whose life was not blessed with the presence of trees in their yard, so that they would be filled with confusion and distraught at the sudden arrival of two very large branches in their yard. Ah ha, she thought, the perfect family would be the Baxter's. With no trees in their yard and a lenient attitude toward pranking, they would be the perfect family to dispose of her branches with. Quickly contacting her friend and fellow felon, Jillian Wheeler, they decided to meet at an appropriate time in the secret where-abouts of this young girl's (whose name we disclose at her own risk, Rebekah Whittaker) house.

Their plans were soon made, and they were joined by two other members of Ms. Whittaker's family, Annalicia and Melissa. Dressed all in black, with fierce markings painted on their faces, the girls developed a code name for themselves, based on the fact that they were all wearing Chuck Taylors. After some difficulty, the girls managed to attach the two large tree branches to the top of the White Knight, and set of slowly towards the hill where the Baxter's dwelled.

Making it safely to the top of the hill, they parked and waited for any signs of movement. There was a distant light at the house of the Baxter's, but that was not to worry the brave young girls. For at that moment, a shooting star streaked across the sky and they regarded it as a good luck omen. How little did they realize just how wrong they were.

They stood in the road, surveying the land around them. They noticed that a certain man in a nearby house was watching them through an open window. Not regarding this as particularly ominous, they continued as planned. As they crept towards the house to scope out for those lying awake, a car suddenly made its way up the hill. Terrified, they ran back to the White Knight and hid behind it in horror, for the car found its way into the Baxter's driveway and a young woman made her way into the house! Still cowering behind the van, the girls were horrified to hear yet another car, this time from the man's house! A immense truck pulled out of the nearby driveway and pulled it's hideous nose right up to the White Knight! Flashing his brights while speaking into a phone, the Cons trembled with fright as the man slowly, oh so slowly drove away. Too scared to contemplate capture, the girls quickly drove the faithful vehicle right into the driveway of the Baxter's! The truck was circling the area like a vulture, awaiting the death of careless prey. Then, scampering around to the back of the house, they discovered the same young woman they had seen earlier (a lovely young lady named Kylie) in the kitchen! Risking communication, they spoke with the maiden, who graciously agreed to allow them to rid themselves of the branches and also cavort on the trampoline. The Cons also spotted a certain young man (by the name of Steven) awake and perusing a tome, but he was the least of their worries now, so they fought the urge to terrorize him and left him in peace.

So branches disposed of, and trampoline pranced across, the girls trundled back to the van and started to head home. The were momentarily disturbed by a large jalopy following them, and their relief was complete when the vehicle turned away. So safely back in the protection of their own abodes, the Cons split and quickly retired.

Looking back, the girls realized that this was perhaps not such a good idea, and you can rest assured that they will think twice before planning another such escapade."

So there you have it. Our adventure in legend form. It's not some of my best writing, but I'm rather fond of it. Hope you all enjoyed it, and sorry for the lack of pictures. The blogger refused to upload them, which was disappointing, but they weren't that good anyway. But be warned! If you ever decide to prank the Baxter's, it might be a good idea to have a look-out for that creepy neighbor man that seems determined to catch young mischief-makers. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and you should stop by sometime and meet my wonderful cousins, who will be here late tonight through Sunday! Oh! And celebrate, for Fab and Drew Barrymore broke up! He is no longer wasting his time on silly actresses! Huzzah! Love to all! Shalom

I think you just need to get laid.

I thought I would include this picture as a tribute to one of my favorite animals. Don't ask me why I like camels so much. I don't know myself. I just do. I had a dream about a camel once. My mom got me one for Christmas, and I named it Rosie. Then I lost it in Food 4 Less! It was very sad. She was a very good camel.

And sorry for the inappropriateness of the title, I was actually out of good quotes, and then I found this one. I think it's from a TV show or something.

Woah. I can see the moon from the little window facing the compy. It's very nice to have the moon watching over you. I love everything that has to do with night. It's such an amazing time, where you have the most startling revelations, in dreams and in wakefulness. I just was remembering the dream that I had about the temple, and it was so amazing. I wish I could have another dream like it. Now every time anyone says anything about the temple and the work that goes on in that sacred place, I think of that dream, and how I can't wait to go to the temple again.

I was bored while waiting for Liz to come online, so I decided to write in my blog, but then I realized that I really don't have anything to say......you're all cool, and I love you a lot, and I'm grateful for all the advice and testimonies you guys have given me through your words and examples. I have the company of such great friends, and I'm really glad that they call me their friend, even though I know sometimes I don't deserve it.

I'm listening to Enya right now, Tempus Vernum. There are so many good memories attached to this song. Krista Morgan and I used it in the dance concert (which I still need a copy of, gosh durn it!) as our interlude, where I sat on her back with my legs up while she crawled across the stage. It was really hard, and took a lot of balance and ab work on my part. And poor Krista's knees. She had to wear knee pads so that they wouldn't hurt her. And I remember her pants kept falling off cause they would drag across the floor. That was fun. And then on the last night of the show, Chelsea and I, as a prank, opened the show with a techno version of the Pink Panther and did a crazy dance to it. There are so many memories! I remember the night that the violinists were late (we did an improv piece to live violinists) and we were so mad! I was especially mad because we had to wear my costumes for that dance, when it was supposed to be a surprise, because the costumes had so much significance. It was so hard to choreograph my dance and to get everyone to do it, and I got rather impatient a lot of the time, but I was really proud of the class, I think that they did a very good job. I really miss dance. I mean, I dance at home, but I need to learn more technique and become more flexible and stuff, and I can't afford dance lessons. Besides, I don't think anyone does modern here, which is what I really want to do. But BYU has a terrific modern dance program, so hopefully I can get into that when....if I go there. I want to, but who knows if I'll get in? Cross your fingers.

As I was just previewing my blog, I just realized how funny that quote looks right above that picture.

You know, I really don't have anything else to say, and I'm talking to Andrea right now, so too bad for everyone who wanted more to read. I do love you though, so have fun in all you do, and talk to you later! Shalom

Today I'm going to see if I can hang from the ceiling with suction cups!

It's amazing what you can find on the internet. This picture for example. What? But that's not the point.

Summer has been pretty fun so far, pretty busy, and now I have a little bit of down time before family vaca/visiting my mom. I come back on the Friday before school starts, so yippee. I'm not really really excited for school. I want to do choir and plays, but the actual schoolwork just doesn't do it for me. And I'm going to be tremendously busy. But I'll manage.

My parents are gone on their anniversary trip, and they decided not the let Melissa and I go to the fair last night. I wasn't totally stoked for it, but I was willing to go so that Melissa could have some fun. But the parents left us some money to go to the play if we wanted to, but Melissa didn't want to go. So we ended up buying a pizza and watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. You know how amazingly great those movies are? I never get tired of them. The dialogue, and the characters, and the violence....oh wait. No, they're just really well-made movies. I enjoy them emmensely.

I haven't really done much today. I'm watering the lawns......oh my goodness, they've been in the same spot for quite some time now. I think I'll go switch them. Ok, I'm back. It's really quite warm out there. Well, the sidewalk is extremely hot on bare feet, that's all. I gave Abish a bath today, cause she smelled so bad. It was quite an experience, I'll tell you that. She really doesn't like it, and in the shower she's usually ok, but I was doing it outside to cool her off with the hose water, and she was not having fun. She kept shaking while I was trying to shampoo her up, and so I got soaked in the process. Oh well, at least she doesn't smell as bad now, and she's poofy. It's funny.

I have nothing profound or interesting to say, so I'll leave you now. Shalom

"That's right, it's a smoldering iron. The smoldering iron of justice."

Or the pogo stick of justice. Wouldn't be cool if there was a super hero called "PogoMan" or something and he got around on a pogo stick? That's why I included this amusing little picture, for this, in fact, is the now-retired PogoMan in his alter-ego attire. Looks like fun, doesn't it? I, for one, have never gotten the hang of pogo sticks, but I still find them entertaining.

There is one matter that I would like to address in this day's blog. I would like to say that I haven't been a very good friend lately, and I recognize that, and so I'm trying to fix that. Everyone that I'm associated with are amazing and wonderful and beautiful people, and I'm sorry that I haven't been treating you as such. I love and appreciate you all, and I really wouldn't be where I am today if it hadn't been for you. I've been so blessed in my life with wonderful friends to help keep me on the straight and narrow, and without that, I would have been long gone. So to all those, near and far, that have blessed my life with their friendship, thank you so much. I love you dearly and I mean to show you more abundantly, so that you know you're appreciated. Thank you for all that you've done for me. And if you ever find that I'm being a bit of a jerk, just go right ahead and shoot me in the foot to let me know. And don't worry about hurting me. I've already invested in a pair of special bullet-proof shoes for this very purpose.

You know how useful bullet-proof shoes would be, actually? I mean, in all the movies, you always see the good guy wrestling with the bad guy for a gun, and the bad guy always gets shot in the foot, where then he is distracted by the sudden loss of digits and is thwarted. So if you had on a pair of bullet-proof shoes, that wouldn't happen and you'd be able to fulfill the rest of your life with the proper number of toes. And if you were able to get them with one of those little knives that comes out of the toe of the shoe, that would be even cooler. Think how much more exciting action movies would be if the old "shoot the bad guy in the foot" trick didn't work. We should take this up with Hollywood.

And sorry to say, I'm still intrigued with this "Infidelity is No Laughing Matter" play of mine that somehow found it's way into my mind. I figured out a way to make it end happy so that no one is hurt, and that there's actually a moral to it. So I think I'll write it, or as much of it as I can, and see where it gets me. If I still lived in Medford, I might have even entered it into the play-writing section of Acting Comp. That would have been fun. I was going to do it anyway, with the help of Mama Tadema, but here in the wonderful town of La Grande, they don't do that sort of thing. Oh well. I'll make do.

I hope this makes you happy, Steven, since you complained about my last entry being so boring. I find it extremely and entertainingly (is that a word? If it isn't, too bad, I used it anyway) amusing that Steve now seems to have blogger admirers. I told him that 85% of the female population between the ages of 5-17 in La Grande have a crush on him, but he doesn't believe me. Now you can see that the fame and female fondness has spread beyond our borders. How very humorous, at least to me.

I recently re-read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and it's absolutely incredible how accurate to the book that Mr. Tim Burton was in his film edition. There's even exact dialogue taken directly from the book. I'm glad.

K, I really can't think of anything else to say, but if I think of something else, I'll add it later. I have a little picnic/BBQ-sort of thing to go to with Dad at 4:30, and I suppose that I should shower before that. So I'll go now. Enjoy your lives, I love you all, and go have fun with a pogo stick if your heart implies! Shalom!

"We kissed and kissed for what seemed like ages. I was thinking, I cannot believe this. Jude Law is snogging me."

Oh my gosh, I pulled a Steven and haven't blogged in almost a month. But that's ok. Besides EFY, which the most amazing thing that ever happened to me, not that much has happened.

EFY was so incredible though. I was able to learn so much about the gospel, and I was able to come so much closer to the Savior. My testimony grew so much. And I'm really glad that I was able to talk about it on Sunday, cause then I didn't have to wait till fast Sunday to share my testimony. I mean, Sis Chadwick called me today to tell me how much she appreciated my talk. It was so nice of her. Except for the fact that I cry SO MUCH and I hate crying in front of people. The only time I didn't feel really stupid was when I spoke in front of the Young Women at EFY. I was already crying but it was all good. I pretty much made all the counselors cry, so yeah. It was cool. And I want to share the same message with our Young Women cause maybe some of them need it. So many girls came up to me afterward and told me how much they needed and appreciated what I said. It was so nice, and it felt so good to be able to help other people. So I hope I can share what I learned with them. It was just an amazing experience. And no, I did not have a C.O.W.! Isha thinks it's a crime not to have a C.O.W. at EFY, but I didn't, so there. It was a very personal experience for me, and it gave me time to think about the Savior more, instead of focusing on silly boys the whole time.

I thought of an idea for a really funny play this morning. I was lying in bed, awake, but not getting up yet, and thinking about plays and stuff, and I got this great idea. I don't think I'll do anything about it though, cause it's pretty much about infidelity, but it would be funny. I thought of so much dialogue and so many situations that would be hilarious! But as I said, I don't think I write any of it, unless the idea persists. I don't support infidelity, so you all know, so I don't want to advertise that it's a laughing matter. Oh well. Maybe I'll think of something else. I've been in the mood to write for a while now, but I haven't had any flashes of inspiration or rushes of creativity. But a lot of my ideas come from everyday life and everyday funny experiences, so maybe I'll find something soon. Who knows.

I have to go get ready to go to Melissa's soccer game now, so see you all later! And I hope that you're all happy that I FINALLY wrote something after waiting for so long. Shalom

"We kissed and kissed for what seemed like ages. I was thinking, I cannot believe this. Jude Law is snogging me."

Oh my gosh, I pulled a Steven and haven't blogged in almost a month. But that's ok. Besides EFY, which the most amazing thing that ever happened to me, not that much has happened.

EFY was so incredible though. I was able to learn so much about the gospel, and I was able to come so much closer to the Savior. My testimony grew so much. And I'm really glad that I was able to talk about it on Sunday, cause then I didn't have to wait till fast Sunday to share my testimony. I mean, Sis Chadwick called me today to tell me how much she appreciated my talk. It was so nice of her. Except for the fact that I cry SO MUCH and I hate crying in front of people. The only time I didn't feel really stupid was when I spoke in front of the Young Women at EFY. I was already crying but it was all good. I pretty much made all the counselors cry, so yeah. It was cool. And I want to share the same message with our Young Women cause maybe some of them need it. So many girls came up to me afterward and told me how much they needed and appreciated what I said. It was so nice, and it felt so good to be able to help other people. So I hope I can share what I learned with them. It was just an amazing experience. And no, I did not have a C.O.W.! Isha thinks it's a crime not to have a C.O.W. at EFY, but I didn't, so there. It was a very personal experience for me, and it gave me time to think about the Savior more, instead of focusing on silly boys the whole time.

I thought of an idea for a really funny play this morning. I was lying in bed, awake, but not getting up yet, and thinking about plays and stuff, and I got this great idea. I don't think I'll do anything about it though, cause it's pretty much about infidelity, but it would be funny. I thought of so much dialogue and so many situations that would be hilarious! But as I said, I don't think I write any of it, unless the idea persists. I don't support infidelity, so you all know, so I don't want to advertise that it's a laughing matter. Oh well. Maybe I'll think of something else. I've been in the mood to write for a while now, but I haven't had any flashes of inspiration or rushes of creativity. But a lot of my ideas come from everyday life and everyday funny experiences, so maybe I'll find something soon. Who knows.

I have to go get ready to go to Melissa's soccer game now, so see you all later! And I hope that you're all happy that I FINALLY wrote something after waiting for so long. Shalom

"I'm a freshman in my fourth year at UCLA, but my goal is to become a veterinarian because I love children!"

Hey there everyone! Just a quick update before I come home tomorrow, which I'm really bummed about. I could use.....well, the rest of my life here. Anyway, here's what I did.

After writing in my blog on Sunday (well, I guess it was Monday by then) I wandered into the living room and ended up watching Van Helsing with Ray until 2:30 in the morning. Then we finally decided to go to bed, but because I went to bed so late, I slept in and missed the parade. Oh well, I've seen it before, and usually it's just the same sort of thing. So then we went shopping, which is always a barrel of laughs. But I did end up buying something, so it wasn't a complete waste of my time. Then I fell asleep again, and I was laying on my arms, and so I ended up having an imprint from by belt for a couple hours after that. We went to Gwen and Lenna's for a little fourth of July celebration, which involved a lot of food and sparklers. It was fun, but not anything extraordinary. I did catch on fire. That was fun. Then I ended up coming here to my grandparents to spend the night so that I could sleep in because we did stuff together today.

We went to San Fran again, and I love it so much! We went to the Legion of Honor to look at a special art exhibit about "wearable art" or ArtWear, as I think they called it. It was really cool to see what people made as fashion. Most of it wasn't designed to be worn, like the dress made out of shredded dollar bills, but it was really fascinating. I liked the hats the most. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. Then we also just wandered around the normal exhibit with all the paintings upstairs, and that was a lot of fun. We didn't have enough time to see everything, so I really want to go back someday. But it was a nice day to go to a museum, because it was foggy and rather cold in the city. And apparently Tuesdays are free, thanks to the Ford Motor Company Fund. But yeah, so now we're back here. My mom and uncle are coming to dinner, and then I'm going back home to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow. Gee, it's depressing. But I'm coming back next month, so I don't have to wait too long.

And I am not kidding you, La Grande is stalking me! I'm just trying to get away for less than a week, and what do I see yesterday? A big old sign on a building for a company owned by the Conklin Brothers! Not joking you! Oh well. I guess that even if I move back here someday, that I'll always be forced to remember La Grande, dang it. Well, I guess I'd better go, so love to all! Shalom

They're dead. They're all messed up.

Hey there everybody. Yeah, I know it's been a while. And this is going to be a frickin' long blog today, so if you're not patient, now would be the time to bail out and stop reading. Everyone happy? We lose those less-enthusiastic readers? Ok, here we go.

Thursday was the plane ride, and it was very interesting, to say the least. Instead of my plane leaving at 12:35 like it was supposed to (and then I would have a two hour layover in Reno), it was delayed two hours in Boise, which is definitely not as interesting as Reno. But I did end up watching most of the tennis match between Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova, and I must say that I'm very glad that Venus Williams ended up winning the women's tournament at Wimbledon. She played very well. But hey, what do I know. Anyway, so I sat next to this lady on the plane to Reno and her little girl. The little girl was named Hannah and she was three and she was just adorable. She just kept talking and talking. And I spoke with the mom on and off during the flight and she was very nice. And it's a small world after all, cause it turned out that her husband (who was sitting in front of us with their little boy) was from La Grande. Imagine that. But it was fun talking to her about planes and kids and stuff. And I didn't miss my connecting flight, I actually had time to wait, and I must tell you that it's simply weird to have slots and stuff in an airport. It was crazy. But I made it here safe, though very tired (I was going on like, three hours of sleep, it was pretty sweet), and it's been fun.

So Friday we went and saw War of the Worlds and I actually got to see the first twenty minutes of it. And it wasn't much, so don't like, lose sleep over it or anything Steve. And I honestly can't think of what else we might have done, but I know that I probably stayed up really late doing nothing.

Saturday was a ton of fun. We went to the city for the day, and it was soooooooo awesome. I love it there, I really do. It's really beautiful. But anyway, we rode the ferry there, which never gets old, and we just ended up wandering around Pier 39. We went into shops when we felt like it, and it was nice not to have a set schedule or anything, just doing whatever we felt like. We did ride the carousel, and Thnak, my valiant steed, did indeed win the race against that sorry steed, Snausage. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Then we went down to the Rainforest Cafe, and holy cow, I love that place. It would have been so much fun to design, honestly. We had to wait a long time for a table, but that was ok, cause we spent a lot of time wandering around the store, and then we sat in front of the store with Irving the gorilla watching the people come in. Then we ate, and wandered around some more, and then we went back to wait for our ferry, which was late. We went across the street to watch some break-dancers while we were waiting, but they were already done by the time we got there. But on the dock, we saw the CUTEST kids that I have ever seen in my life. I'll try to describe it, but you really had to be there. There was this little girl, maybe two, who would walk around the dock, but she didn't want to step on the cracks, and so she would very carefully step from one plank to another. Sometimes she would walk along the two planks straddling the crack, and no matter how much coaxing and showing her that she wouldn't fall into the cracks, she insisted on not stepping on any of them. It was so cute. Then her older brother, who was maybe four or five, would just run around and chase pidgeons. He came and helped his little sister by picking her up and taking her to their mom, and she gave him a kiss and it was so adorable! I seriously have never seen anything as cute in my entire one million and six years of existence. And I think part of the reason they were so cute was their racial background. Their mom was Asian, and their dad was black, and they were just beautiful! They looked almost Polynesian, but it was simply beautiful. And then the ferry finally came and we had to say goodbye and it was sad, but I was glad that we were able to watch them. It made the time waiting for the ferry fly by. Then when we got home I fell asleep on the couch while Ray went to pick up Gwen and Lenna, Ray's super-cool nieces. They came over and we watched the rest of the A's game....oh! Insert in story. On Friday we went to the A's game, and they won 6-2 to the White Sox, their third consecutive 6-2 win. Weird. So that's what we did on Friday. Sorry, continuing. So we watched the rest of the A's game, and they lost, which is sad, but especially sad because it was the fireworks game, and it's always sad when they lose that game. BUT they won today and so it's all happy. So we watched the game, and when it got dark we went and watched the fireworks that were at the Coliseum from across the estuary. It was really neat seeing them across the water, and you could really see them all. Not to mention the Oakland Temple was all lit up on the hillside like it always is. But then we went home and ate ice cream sundaes. It was a very good end to an excellent day. And as Gwen said, "what better way to end a Saturday than with a sundae!" I couldn't agree more.

And today was simply awesome. I went to church, just sacrament meeting, and while I remembered that it was testimony meeting, somehow it completely slipped my mind that fasting always comes at the same time. So yes, I ate. Forgive me. Anyway, church was totally awesome. I bore my testimony, and I felt really stupid cause I cried in front of total strangers. But something amazing happened because I really didn't say most of what I wanted to, but every single person who spoke after me talked about a principle that I had wanted to talk about. I was so grateful for that. And I'm grateful that one of the four sister missionaries they have (sister missionaries are so COOL!) spoke right after me and kinda saved my poor testimony. So I guess it turned out all right. And afterward a few people (including the cute couple that were sitting behind me) thanked me warmly for my testimony and asked where I was from and stuff. It really made me feel good, and those people were so nice. And I swear, La Grande is haunting me, cause the guy that gave the closing prayer was a Brother Nebekur! Tell me that's not freaky. Then I came home and slept for a little while, and then we went to the beach, and let me tell you, that was an adventure! The normal hour and a half drive to Capitola beach was lengthened to THREE hours because of all the traffic we ran into. I slept most of the way, so it didn't really bother me. And I guess it was a good thing, cause a lot of people were leaving as we were coming so it wasn't as crowded as it could have been. Even though there still were tons of people there. But Ray and I went up to this totally wicked sword shop they have in town to check out the swords and knifes. And this place is genuine. It's not the sort of place that sells those cheap fake "decorative" swords that have no function other than to rest on your wall. They are real, honest-to-goodness, functional swords, made for those in Renaissance re-enactments and stuff. It's one of those little shops that the people who actually use the swords know about, and that's where they go. It was really cool. And they have all the Lord of the Rings re-makes and stuff. Quality stuff, man. It rocked. But we just relaxed on the beach for a long time, walking up and down the beach when we felt like it, and I got this awesome tan line on my feet. I was sitting facing the sun reading my book, and I had my feet half-buried in the sand, so there's a faint line going across the top of my feet. It's pretty narly. So then while we were trying to drive back home, there was an accident or something on the highway, and so we were de-toured off so we headed out to Santa Cruz to wait till they opened the road again. We wandered along the boardwalk, watching the people screaming in roller coasters and other rides, and the little kids trying out the less intense rides. It was a lot of fun. And it was night by this time, and so the whole boardwalk was all lit up, and there was a sort of energy and excitement in the air. But then we finally got home, after an extremely short drive home compared to our drive there, and now I'm here. So I've had a totally blast so far. It's been great. I love the ocean, just the salt sea air, and the fog and the big crowds and the intensity and confidence of everything. I just love it here. I'm definitely going to have to live here or somewhere very near by when I grow up. I just love it too much.

Well, I had better go, even though we're not really doing anything tomorrow, except for the parade in the morning and fireworks in the evening, but my mom's trying to sleep and I think I'm keeping her up with this obnoxiously loud keyboard. So if you got this far, I hope that you enjoyed reading about everything I've done, and I'll try and keep you all posted until I get back on Wednesday. And I was just thinking, you know how you hear all these songs about people, usually girls? I was just wondering if those songs were written for them or merely about them. It would be interesting to find out. It would also be really cool if someone wrote a song for me. Oh well. Well, see you all later! Love to all! Shalom.

"What the heck, he thought, you're only young once, and threw himself out of the window."

I decided to take a page out of Liz's book and put a picture in my blog. And I rather like this one. Quite amusing. The title is about Ford Prefect by the way. He's definitely one of my heroes. You really have to read the book to fully understand his coolness.

Today has been a rather boring day so far. I still have to do my laundry (which I'm working on, but I can't continue it because I have to wash the clothes that I'm wearing, and I have to wear these clothes tonight, so I just have to wait to do my laundry until later tonight when I can get out of these clothes) and I still have to pack, but I figure that I'll probably end up doing that at like 11 tonight. Besides, we're going to Boise, and I can sleep in the car, and then there's two flippin' hours in Reno where I have nothing to do until my flight comes in. Oh well. I've saved my nickels. : )

So yeah. Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is truly genius. I'm not kidding. It's simply brilliant. I mean, all of the books are completely different, and so there's lots of threads of stories but then in the very end of the very last book it all comes together. It's the kind of thing where you just kind of nod and smile and go "oh yeah, that makes sense." It's wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone. Though beware. There is a bit of language in it, but it doesn't get too bad. Just be forewarned.

I get to go to California tomorrow! I'm so excited. We're going to the city on Saturday, and the baseball game, and I get to go to church and go to the beach and maybe go sailing! It's going to be great fun. Not to mention I'll be able to hang out with the coolest mom in the history of the Western Arm of the spiral of our galaxy! Huzzah! I'll keep you all updated, and if anything extremely weird or excited happens, I'll think about telling you.

Well, I'd better go, but I hope that Dan has a fun time in Eugene, Jill has an awesome time getting ready/going to Europe, and that everyone else will have fun in whatever they're going to do for the next week. So love to all! Shalom.

The bank claimed that seven minus four is three. And I'm like, "since when?"

Have you ever been so incredibly bored that you sat in front of a computer screen and watched Strong Bad e-mails for two hours straight? Yeah, neither have I. Never.....done anything.........like that..................never........

Have you guys checked out the letters between Hax and Willie that Liz so generously provided the link to on her blog? Man alive, they are hilarious! And so like them. I mean, most of you haven't met them so you wouldn't really be able to compare the letters to their actual personalities, so you're just going to have to either trust me, or eat magical porcupine spikes that give you the ability to brainwash sparrows. I really wish I could write like that though. It's amazing.

As for my mosquito bites, I am quite sure that the mosquitoes that bit me were not mosquitoes at all, but in fact small robotic aliens that removed my blood for secret alien testing, and that I will soon turn into a mad crocodile-woman who eats little children for breakfast and ice cream trucks for dessert. I only mention this because my small robotic alien injuries are now, indeed, purple.

And who on earth or any other part of this galaxy has ever heard of Rocket Robin Hood? Jen, you'll have to explain this one, as the cartoon is shown on Canadian TV. And speaking of Jen, you may have noticed that I added her blog to my list of links, and if you click on it, you will find that there is nothing in it. No fault of mine, you will have to complain directly to the source.

Life would be awfully boring if you were a bird.

Me mum got back from Canadia on Saturday, and she had a wonderful time there, and I am quite glad. I get to go there in three days, and I'm excited. I love the Bay Area, where the beach is actually close and there's enough people to walk down the street and never once see someone you know. Ah, I miss the big city. I must go to San Fran while I'm there, or I think I'll go crazy. The hustle and bustle, the anonymity, the fog from the bay, gee, I miss it. Oh well.

Youth Conference was totally awesome by the way. I loved dancing crazy, doing synchronized swimming with Jillian, and capsizing people's canoes. And I really believe that Conklin's story will get put into a church manual and that someday my grandchildren are going to learn from "The Parable of the Canoes" or something like that. I really liked Bro. Fawcett's talk, and Bro. Blake's too. He seemed like a really cool guy, and I think I would have liked taking seminary from him too. Micah was nice too, even though we never really met and we only talked for about thirty seconds. But hey. Testimony (or testAmony, if you're from John Day) was really good. "I also went to EFY..." Bah. Well I'm going, and then I can tell all my stories. And I simply cannot wait to go on a mission! I can't believe I have to wait till I'm 21. Well, as I told Steven last night, more time to prepare, I guess.

I suppose that that's all the insignificant information that I can supply you with at this time, so love to all! Shalom!

Oh, I'll be the only fat one.........ok, I need another piece of chicken.

Sorry I haven't written in so long. I'm just lazy, that's what it is. Oh well. So I hope everyone has been doing fine and dandy, and that this is merely a sort of entertainment for them and so no one has suffered an untimely death because of my lack of publication.

Not a whole lot has happened, let's see if I can remember everything. The week I had when it was just Dad and I was a lot of fun. We had a Star Wars party of the old ones kind of spread out through the week, we had pizza twice, and I pretty much had the house to myself until Dad came home, which was nice. Then on Monday we went and got Annalicia, and she told us all about EFY and how much fun it was and all the hot guys she met and we listened to the EFY CD about three times on the way home, and it is incredible! I love it so much, I stole it and made a copy for myself. But that week was fun too, Annalicia had many stories to tell, and I really enjoyed hearing them, and we're really good friends, and that makes me happy. Then Mary and Melissa came home on Saturday and we helped them move stuff into the garage and some of it to Lydia's room. The Mielke's (sp?) came to help which was very nice.

Since EFY Josef has changed so much and he's way cool! Isha and I decided to make cards for him telling him how much we appreciate his change and his respect for girls and the priesthood, and we gave it to him with a piece of yummy chocolate cake. When he came over to help move stuff, he said he really appreciated it, which made both of us feel good. Yay for being grateful and expressing that appreciation, like what Jill said. We should really let people know how much we appreciate them, and I like what she said on Sunday too. Her and Isha bore their testimony and talked about EFY, and one thing Jill said was that in one of the lessons she went to, the teacher said to set aside one prayer a day just to thank Heavenly Father for everything. Nothing else, just a prayer of gratitude. Well, that night, after the Elder Groberg fireside (which I'll talk about in just a sec) I tried it, and it was amazing how good I felt afterwards. And it was also amazing how many things I have to be grateful for. I just kept going and going and I stopped before I was even close to being finished. The Lord has truly blessed me, and I am eternally grateful for that.

So the Elder Groberg fireside thingy in Boise was on Sunday, and it was totally awesome. It was worth the three hour drive to get there, because it was so good. The drive there was fun, even. We watched Baptists at Our Barbeque and The Other Side of Heaven, and I read my scriptures and it was good. And Elder Groberg was so cool! His talk was funny and inspirational and engaging, and just overall good. One of the things I was most struck by was his incredible respect for women. He spoke about his wife with the utmost care and affection and respect, and overall he just seemed to have a very deep respect for women, which is always nice. And my favorite qoute of his was "true love is never shown in any way that violates God's commandments." And I was thinking of how true that was and it's really a good standard. But the whole thing was really cool. And there were a ton of youth there, and so there was just this energy that circulated around the room, and the fact that they were all in nice church dress was extremely comforting. And for the talk, we were like, right behind the stake presidents and so we were about five rows behind the podium! Wah! But yeah, it rocked. And on the way home, Steven and I listened to a talk on dating, and then the EFY CD, and then we read scriptures, and then we read scriptures together, which was nice. The whole day was totally wicked, in my opinion.

And Youth Conference is this weekend! I'm so excited. And for those of you that don't know, I'm going to EFY in less than a month! Yay! I'm so stoked, it's going to rock, I'm going to Provo and it's going to be a ton of fun. And from what I hear from all the others who went, I'm so excited to be around a ton of youth who are there to learn about the gospel, and who will be strong in their standards and want to be modest and kind and Christ-like, and oh it's going to be great.

This is an incredibly long blog, but I'm going to add just a little bit more. There's something really incredible about sharing a quiet moment with your best friend. You're just there together, and you don't have to talk. It's a comfortable silence, but just knowing that the other person is there is comforting and relaxing. And then you both have that little secret moment to hold on to and smile at each other about later. It's really amazing.

So I think that about covers it. And I just realized that the first sentence of the second paragrah is totally counterfacutal. Ha. And if I remember anything else, too bad. You'll just have to wait until I have the motivation to write it in here. And so in the words of that fabulous and hilarious author, Douglas Adams, "There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind." So love to all! Shalom.

"Life," said Marvin dolefully, "loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it."

And I am going to turn around and completely refute that statement. Refute? Is that the word I'm looking for? Hmmmm. One moment please. (dictionarying) Ah, yes. Refute. And I really like how I went to look up a word for a blog right after I made one up. How interesting.

Well, keeping with the making up of the wording, now for the refuting.

Life is wonderful. It really is. Sure there are low points, but there are also high points. And if there weren't any low points then you wouldn't really come to appreciate the high points. I mean, the high points wouldn't be very high if you weren't coming from somewhere low, as opposed to level ground, yeah? Or in the words of some of the craziest people on Earth, "eh?" And can you imagine how boring life would be if it were a completely flat road? Can you imagine going to a amusement park and paying ten bucks to ride something that stays on level ground the entire time? That's what trains are for. Geesh.

But going on, yeah, I've had some hard times. Who hasn't? But if you dwell on those hard times, then you won't see the good times or the high times or whatever you want to call it for what they really are. You just have to take what life throws at you. And when things get rough, just laugh it through, and you'll sure have some good memories to tell your grandchildren. Has anyone ever had those kind of grandparents who spend all their time telling you how horrible life was for them and how nothing ever went right and they survived a war and everything? I don't know about you, but that's not exactly cranberry sauce on my wheat rolls. (I've actually seen people do that, and somehow, it just doesn't appeal to me).

So in the words of that wise and caring spider, Charlotte, "chin up." There are many things in this life to be thankful for. And while there are things I regret, and paths I wish I didn't have to trod on, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, and the trees were green with life. (Try and get the imagery, if nothing else). I love you all, those to whom I am close, those who are just acquaintances, and those who I have yet to meet. You have all changed my life in some way, and I am grateful. For the ups and downs we've shared together, for the laughter and fun, for the tears when we parted. Thank you.

(And no, I'm not "on" anything. My prescription ran out a month ago. ; )

*And if you're looking for a little something to cheer you up, or just for a good laugh, this completely weird and delightfully entertaining video is now at your disposal. Just go to

http://savemartha.com/

and scroll down close to the bottom of the page, and click on "the singing kid video translated." And enjoy to the best of your ability.

Why DOES that chicken taste like tuna?

Today is a happy day, for numerous reasons.

The Tony's: Hugh Jackman hosted (and he is one very very attractive man), and SPAMALOT WON THE BEST MUSICAL AWARD! HUZZAH! I was so happy. I thought that "The Light in the Piazza" was a given, considering how many awards it got, but to my delightful surprise, it didn't and Spamalot got that wonderful honor. Yay! How exciting. And I want to see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." It looks funny.

My mom: my mom was here from Saturday through Monday, and it was really fun. We had fun spending time together. It's always fun to talk and just hang out, so that was enjoyable.

Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy: I have joined the cult as well. On my quest to find the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy to read, I discovered a marvel that I ended up buying. Each of the books was about $5.95 each, but I found a book that includes all five stories in the Hitch-hikers series, plus an extra story, for only $15. And of course I bought it. It's going to be lots of fun exploring the mysteries and comical pleasures of Douglas Adams.

Not to mention I have the house to myself for five days, AND I have access to a car. Yippee. This is going to be great.

On a final note, I would like to include this wonderful poem that I just recently discovered in this month's issue of the New Era.


On Trails Unknown
by Matthew Wright

Alone I travel on trails unknown,
On untrod paths far from my home,
But never will I question why,
Never, friend, will I deny
The truth.

Though I'm chased by murderous bands,
Savage mobs with bloodstained hands,
Who threaten me with calls to die,
Friend, I swear, I'll not deny
The sacred truth.

I'll fight with all my strength possessed,
'Til heart and mind lose life and breath,
'Til under mounds of earth I lie.
No, friend, I will not deny
The Christ.

Now to thee, these words I pass,
On worlds where truth may always last.
From olden days and times I cry,
Please, my friend, do not deny
The Christ.

Love to all! :)

"Yes, Jeeves," I said, "Yes, griping story full of action and human interest. You should set to it music sometime and sing it. Meanwhile..."

Well, me mum's here for the weekend and I'm awfully glad. I love spending time with her. It's great fun. I'm so excited for next week. Everybody's gone except for me and my dad, and it's going to be a lot of fun. We'll have good times together...when he's home that is. He works. And my two best friends are currently unavailable. Oh well. I'll get through it, and hopefully dance a lot. I don't mind dancing in front of people for a show or for a concert, but just when I'm dancing I care. So I'll have lots of opportunities to dance around my house without worrying if people are watching or not.

Medford was so much fun! And all the stress and worrying that I had to deal with to finish school was all worth it just to see CATS. It was incredible, and I am in love.

There are many things I love in this world, and I must say that the priesthood is one that I love the most. I love the blessing of the priesthood from receiving blessings from worthy priesthood leaders. It is amazing.

I finally turned my library books in after three days of being late. Oh well. The fines shouldn't be too heavy. And maybe if they do get heavy, I'll be lucky enough to move before I get a chance to pay them. Not that I've ever done that before...*cough cough*

You may have noticed that I added yet another link to someone's blog, that of my dear friend Daniel Harris. He's a nice kid, I like him quite a lot, he's very enjoyable to be around. And if he learns how to use proper punctuation, you may learn quite a lot from him.

Well, I'd better head out, but I hope that everyone is doing well, that they are reasonably happy in their dealings, and that the police aren't after them. And a dear and wonderful happy birthday to my other half and dearest friend Chelsea Horton. Ciao!

"Well, technically, they're not vermin. But I do hate them so, so from here on, vermin they shall be." ~Willie Ziebell

Yes, it's late. Well, technically early, but I still have to pack, and after watching two of the stupidest movies on the face of the planet, I'm wide awake. Especially now that I'm over my allergy attack. But yeah. I'm waiting for the dryer to be done, so I can take the stuff out of the dryer so I can put the stuff from the washer to the dryer so that I can put my stuff in the washer so that I can clean it so that I can pack. *whew* I'm excited, but I don't think that it will really hit me until tomorrow. But I'm glad that I finally got that music from Mr. J (no thanks to him!) so that I can have South's choir listen to it.

Oh funny story. It may not be funny to anyone else, but I found it amusing. So Maegan and I decided not to shave our legs (even though she welched on her deal, darn it!), and Cooper thought that it was pretty gross. So I said to him, I said, "Cooper, if God didn't intend women to have hair on their legs He would have created them that way." But anyway, the other day I wore shorts, and so when I saw Cooper, I told him, no, I didn't shave my legs. And Dan was with him, and they both were standing, one kind of in front of the other. And they both cocked their heads to one side, and sort of leaned over so that they could see my legs. And it was the same way and simulataneous. I found it amusing at least. I guess you had to have been there.

I hope that Chelsea and I can go rock-climbing sometime. I've always liked to try new things, and it's always sounded interesting. And I think that there's that fitness center or whatever it is right by her house. Since we don't have school on Monday we're going to try and have a sleep-over Sunday night to all get caught up on everything. It's going to be super-fun. But it's also going to be sad, you know? I've missed so much, and I'm going to miss so much. I'm going to cry a whole freakin lot at Thespian Banquet, with all my good friends being seniors and all. Especially Brandon. Gosh, I've missed that kid. He's always been a pretty good kid.

What more could a girl want than a box of Junior Mints and a conference issue of the Ensign? Granted, I don't have a box of Junior Mints, but I read a very nice issue from the November conference issue of the Ensign last night. That's why I'm glad that it's published. Because being a girl and all, I miss a lot of wonderful talks that happen in the priesthood session.

Oh, I found that website that had the pictures from the State Choir Competition on it, and I found Cleveland High, and I found the guy that was eyeing me when we were there. That was awesome. He was actually cute, too. Dang you, Steven! Over-protective guy friend. Psh.

Anyway, I should probably go and work on packing, even though I really don't want to. But I have to get up at like seven anyway, so that I can finish packing and do my job and all that in the morning before we go. So love to all, and I'll miss those that still have to go to a week more of school in La Grande (ha ha), and I hope that you all have wonderful lives. Arrivederci!

It's 2 o'clock already and I haven't attracted any hot guys yet! My life is unfulfilled.

Not really. I just thought it was a good phrase.

And it's not my fault I swear! I'm not avoiding certain people (Steven)! I can explain! And I will. Don't worry.

Bless me, I just sneezed. Ha ha. Snoze. Wow, I'm tired. But I know that as soon as the sun goes down then I'll be wide awake. Ew, gross. I just noticed that I sneezed all over my arm, and now it's covered in snot. Yuck.

I need to call Chelsea to find out when the dance concert is, because I think that we'll just drive straight to the school. I don't know though. And Mrs. Brock said that we can listen to our state competition CD, but if Mr. Jacobson doesn't bring it, I may have to stalk him at his house and steal it so that I can burn it. Cause he didn't bring it today. And I have a ridiculous amount of homework to do, but oh well. I've already resigned myself to doing most of it in Medford. Hopefully I won't get too distracted. And I already know that I'm going to go to my old math teacher if I have any questions. I'm excited! Yoo hoo!

Yoo hoo? I'm a very strange person when I get punchy. Which I am. Punchy, that is. Well, I'm strange too, but that's not what I meant. Nevermind. Ah! I want ice cream! Maybe later though.

Isha dissed the religion of Star Wars! She's watching Episode II, and I said, "Oh, I thought you were watching a good one." And she said that the effects were so horrible that she didn't want to watch it. Ah! True , the effects aren't good now, but they were great for the time and the acting is so much better. Much better actors. Oh well.

I'm going to go call Chelsea now, and I hope you're happy Steven, cause I actually wrote something. It's your turn now.

Love to all!

Our little army, we were commandos, gorillas with decoder rings!

I am stressed out. Seriously. And I haven't even received half the assignments that I have to do. Oh well. I know that I'll have to take some of my homework to Medford, so hopefully Chelsea will have some homework to do so that I'm not the only one. And since I'm going to school with her, there will probably be time then to do some of it. But I'm way excited for all the activities that I get to go to. There's the dance concert, Thespian banquet, their final choir concert, CATS. Oh, it's going to be great.

I really miss Jen. And I've only met her, what, twice? But she's really really freakin awesome, and my mom says that we look like sisters. Maybe I should have been born Canadian. But we have had some really interesting chats online, and I'm glad that I finally figured out who that e-mail address belonged to, so that we can talk a lot now. And I'm seriously considering my idea to run away to Canada to become a Mountie.

I'm seriously stressed, and I'm going to swtich compys. Hold up.

Ok, I'm back. The other compy was being weird, and when I would type, the word wouldn't show up for a second or two, so I would type, and then have to wait a few seconds till I could see it so that I could go back and edit my mistakes. I should be studying for my Pre-Cal test, so that I can do other things when I get home, but I really don't want to, and it's not required anyway. I have an insanely disgusting amount of things to do today, so hopefully with a little calmness and a lot of chocolate, I'll get through it all.

And guess what I have! Banana chips! Huzzah! Maybe this day won't turn out to be so bad after all.

Why, if we were all weiner dogs, all our problems would be solved.

I just thought of something else, something my dad always used to say to us.

"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things."

The first part is what's really important though. ; )

It's all part of Raymond's new miss a payment, lose a limb plan!

I think that people make life too complicated for themselves. Well, me too, but I've been trying to stop. I think that since we make our lives so complicated it makes us unhappy. I think that we should be content with what we have and not worry about things that might happen. I don't mean we shouldn't progress, but I think we tend to over-do it sometimes. Like things aren't as bad as they seem. I was thinking about this the other day and decided to share it. It's from a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.

Calvin: "My parents are the two stupidest people on earth. Just my luck they'd get married and have me. I hate everybody. I don't see how anyone could ever fall in love. People are jerks."

Hobbes: "Sometimes they are, but look at all the colors on the trees today."

I suggest that we all act like Hobbes, and notice the wonderful and beautiful things in life. And if we're having a little trouble, I hope that we all have someone to help point those things out.

Love to all.

Can you imagine how hard it would be to play baseball if you were an ice cream sandwich?

Today has been a very good day. There have been a few things that weren't so enjoyable, like waiting for school to get out and losing Steven in the locker room (that's right, Steven, I didn't enjoy it like you thought I did) but overall it has been very good. My mom came today, and we always have a fun time together. We went to the library but couldn't find the book we wanted (except in large print. Is that to be my fate?) Then we went down to the movie theatre to see when Star Wars was showing to see if we wanted to go that evening, and we ended up going then. Yes, Steven, I will debate the "frickin awesome" factor with you. There were good things and bad things. I still am partial to the old ones.

Then we went out to Pizza Hut and had some yummy pizza, and stayed there for about an hour and a half just talking about different things. Now we're here at my house and we just watched the A's win the game against San Fran (ha ha!) and we're going to have an awesome day tomorrow. I'm excited. I love weekends, especially when my mom comes.

I still have to write my book review for the Bell Jar. I tried, but I got total Writer's Block (why did I just capitalize that.....?) and so I didn't get much done. But my mom and I talked about it for a little bit, so I think I can do better now.

Sorry I don't have any exciting stories like Liz. This is just sort of like therapy for me, and I just enjoy writing about what I did. So sorry if I bore you.

Well, I'm going to head off, but love to all! And the prize goes to Jillian for guessing the author right on that other blog. Don't ask what prize. Shut up.

Where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it history.

Finale of CSI tonight. Do I care? I think not! But I do care about Without a Trace, but that isn't on till later. I should probably do my math homework, but that can wait too. I think I want to call my mom. And I am so happy! Our AP book review got postponed till Monday so I didn't have to worry about it today.

Speaking of happy, I think I am happy. I think the bell jar is smashed, or at least cracked. I got a blessing from my dad on Tuesday night when it got really bad. And I have felt a lot better since then. And I have noticed a few signs around that have made me a feel a lot better about it. So yeah, I don't think that the bell jar will descend again for a while.

Steven Baxter, you are such a jerk! I can't believe that you skipped school and went and saw Star Wars WITHOUT ME! Gah! Oh well, I suppose I'll get over it. Eventually.

You know, I've always wanted to try my hand at tennis. It has always seemed so fascinating to me, the science behind it. Not to mention I love the sound of tennis balls on the court, that nice "pocky" (shut up, that's how I describe it) sound. And the nice thwack from the racket. Anyway, someday.

Only a week and two days till I go to Medford! Whoo-hoo! I'm so stoked. But I know I'm going to cry the day I leave or something pathetic like that, and I'll end up crying myself to sleep for the next week. But I think I'll live. And if there's a week during the summer when I'm not doing anything (ha ha) and Chelsea isn't busy getting ready for college (sniff sniff) then maybe she can come up for a little while, which would be totally sweet.

K, I'm going to go, but love to all!

"A short, fat ballerina? It could happen. I knew this guy once, who was short, and fat, but he wasn't a ballerina." -Casey Halling

An interesting but delightful quote.

The end of "Everybody Loves Raymond!" How sad. We watched the final episode for FHE, and it was much fun watching it together. But it went kinda late, so sorry Steven. But it was very funny, and now I'm sad that it's over. Oh well. I don't watch much TV anyway, so I guess it's good that there's one less show for me to watch.

It's a bell jar day today. I don't even know why. Oh, I'm better now (thank you Jen) but earlier it was insane. It was even a good day today. Lots of good things happened. I finished the Oklahoma video and it got good reviews, I finally burnt copies of the All-State music for Michelle and Darcy, my mom's coming this weekend, only two more weeks till I get to go to Medford, and overall it was good. And the rain hasn't stopped. So why did the bell jar decide to descend today? It's quite unpredictable.

I need a good friend. Like a really really good friend. I need Chelsea, or Liz. Someone that I am so close to that they know that they just need to be there sometimes when I ask them. Not to talk. But just to sit there and think and know that they are there next to me. That's just as comfortable as waking up to someone. Knowing someone is there. I guess that's why I want to get married so much. Because when you marry someone who you know is the right one, then you are assured that they are always there for you. High school is such a drama, and it's so unpredictable, that you never know when something is going to happen that leaves you hanging all alone.

Dang this bell jar! Enough complaining. Someone slap me. I have a wonderful life, and I should be happy with what I have. I am happy. I just hope that this bell jar doesn't descend too often.