Christmasy Break

So I thought I should write up what I've been doing lately, how Christmas was, stuff like that.

A part of me said "Don't do it! It's boring! You'll ruin the already semi-terrible reputation of your beloved blog!"

But then I got over it.

First off, hope everyone's Christmas was awesome-de-possum and full of family fun (and awesome presents, fo sho, fo sho). OHHH!!! I JUST REMEMEBERED! K, so you all think I totally gave up on my doodle-quest right? WRONG! I just doodled presents, and therefore couldn't post them on here, because that'd be just sick and wrong! But now that Christmas is over, and hopefully everyone received their doodle-art gifts, I can safely show the rest of you's. Woot!

Back to Christmas. Life is good, man! In my little family, there was more than expected to go around, lots of delicious candy, and one awesome pinata of awesomeness (yes, the repeatative awesomeness was necessary). Best present?

Harry Potter: Film Wizadry book! Filled with millions of facts about the movies, behind the scenes stuff, interviews with the cast, MY OWN LETTER TO HOGWARTS... yes, I'm a geek, but I'm a very, very happy geek.

Oh, and I also go hot pink fuzzy boot slippers covered in sequins. Also awesome.

And yes, I already spent the Christmas money from relatives on books, so don't even ask. It should just be expected. They should arrive here tomorrow.

Um.... yeah. I haven't really gotten to spend much time with my friends returning from college-- I've randomly had a ton of plans with family. Me, have plans? I know, right? But it's true.

Oh! Mom and Dad and I went to the Wild Animal Park the other day! So cool! A lady my dad works with volunteers there one the weekends and gets free tickets, so she gave us some and took us our on personal tour!!! Sooooo cool! There was this baby cheetah passed out amongst stuffed animals, and an awesome bird show, and an up-close-and-personal meet and greet with this poor hyenna, and gorrillas (which I have discovered I am afraid of). Best part? There was a baby elephant born just hours before the park opened, and we got to see him! He was just trailing around after his mommy, all wobbly legs and not sure what his truck was for... to die for! Hopefully I'll get pictures up soon.

Um, yeah. I think that's all I have to say. Happy holidays, everyone. Hope you guys are all having a nice break from your normal lives and, might I request? you spend extra time with your families. Families rock, and we're blessed to have them. Show them that you love them.

Rain Rain Rain Come Down Down Down

Rain and I have a love-hate relationship.

I love the rain. It's by far my favorite type of weather, and if I had my way, I'd be living in some little English village in a thatched-roof house, watching the rain 75% of my days. Most people hate the rain, find it dismal and depressing. Uh-uh. Not me. I find it flipping fantastic and wouldn't mind if it rained everyday. (Okay, maybe, like, 350 days out of the year. I'd like SOME sunshine, just to mix it up. And because I'd be so disgustingly white everyone wouuld die of horror).

However, despite how deep my love for rain runs, rain hurts. Literally. For those with fibromayalgia (or however you spell it) and, who knows, probably some other musculartory system disease, maybe even auto-immune disease, it truly and literally hurts. Something about the change in barometric pressure aggrivates our easily-aggrivatiable muscles and joints and all that goodness.

Funny... when I was little, apparently "I feel it in my bones" was one of my favorite phrases. And now... I really can "feel it in my bones" when a storm in coming... hahahaha. Oh, the irony of life!

Doesn't matter. I may be hurting, but then I just sit by a window and watch it rain, and everything is all right again.

Hooray for rain!

200th Post!

200th POST!

Woohooo!

Therefore: Blog Makeover! Hope you like it, because if you stop reading my blog just because you don't like the new background, I'd be quite sad. Quite, quite sad.

I like it. :)

Thank you, Blogger, for making such asthetic changes so easy that even I can do it. I feel accomplished AND I get to look at something pretty. Win.

The Twelve Year Old Kid That Made Me Smile in the Orangy Glow of Dusk

There I was, driving home on a raining December evening, the sun just setting over the horizon and flooding the world of Shadowridge Road with the orangey glow of dusk...

(That dramatic opening was for you, Dad :D)

... And I saw this chubby kid, maybe 12, riding along on a Razor scooter with a fadora hat.

And, in the orangey glow of dusk, I thought: Never has a chubby twelve year old kid looked so cool.


The End.

Decemberly Updates

It has come to my attention (again) that I have not written anything entertaining (or anything thing at all, entertaining or otherwise) in the last week or two. This is because---
Well, actually, I don't have a very good reason. Life is just as normal as ever. I suppose I haven't been having enough entertaining thoughts...? Whatever the reason, I find my lack of posts a great loss for the good of my blog. Sorry, dear readers.

And still... I have nothing entertaining to say. Very sorry.

Um... updates?

FACT: It's raining! I do love the rain.

FACT: I realized this morning that I have had the same washcloth sitting on the window sill of my bathroom since I moved here. I has a picture of a dragon on it and says "Fighting Dragons is Dirty Business." I just so happen to love it.

FACT: I've listened to Christmas music maybe five times this month. This is a record low for the Empey household. Although we do have a tree, but it looks kind of weird this year. Don't know why. Maybe because there aren't very many ornaments on it. I don't know. Just weird.

FACT: Diego gnaws on the branchs of said christmas tree

FACT:.... while writing this, I forgot I had a batch of cookies in. I just took them out. They will be residing outside until they stop smoking.

(Bahahahaha)

FACT:

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to beat that last one. Happy Friday, everyone!

Puzzled

So, Mom and I attempted to make Snickerdoodles today, which, by the way, are one of my favorite cookies ever.

Okay, wait, I can't say that. I think EVERY cookie is one of my favorite cookies ever. Except maybe pumpkin cookies.. too soft. But peanut blossums, and chocolate chip deliciousness, and my grandma's merguine cookies with chocolate chips...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

But that's besides the point.

So, Mom whipped up the snickerdoodle dough, and I went to town rolling the stuff, getting it all over myself, of course, and dipping them in cinnamon and sugar... mmmmm...

And when they came out of the oven, they came out as crepes the size of your face.

.................. How????

Bitter Sweet Losses

There is always such a bitter-sweet sadness that comes with finishing a book.

You'd think that with as many books as I've finished in my life, I'd be used to it, and would have found ways to cope, and yet...

I suppose that is a mark of a good book. When you can't just sit up and continue on with normal life when you turn the last page, skim the acknowledgements for hope of some extra goodness (I've never found joy there, in the acknowledgement pages, but yet I always look, hoping for an extra taste of... some unknown joy) and close the cover. When there's still that lingering thought, where you feel like there's still a part of yourself lost in the pages, searching between the lines for extra goodness, and you can feel the loss.

Maybe I'm dramatic. Maybe I'm insane. Or maybe I've uncovered one of the greatest mysterious joys of life. Who knows?

I just want to find a way to make the good things last. Then again, who isn't looking for the exact same thing? I suppose I should just be like Dr. Suess said... "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Which, in and of itself, is an awesome thing. But applying it? Not so easy, my dear Doctor (and somehow I know you knew this as well).

O'Shaughnessy and I

Truth be told, I have no idea who he's referring to as "we," but I find this quote so completely and utterly describes myself :) Love it!

I am a dreamer of dreams :)


“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems.”
-Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

What I Hope My Words Say

I just saw a note on blogger that said ".....yada yada yada, Make money while blogging!"

Now who in their right mind would make people PAY to read blogs? Man, the people that read my blog deserve to be paid themselves, simply because they make me feel better about myself!

Now that, and this video I watched the other day about another Mormon woman who blogs, made me think about why I blog. Why DO I blog?

Maybe I do it for myself. So I can have the satisfaction of saying something clever and having it written down somewhere in public, where anyone could read it and behold my cleverness. Maybe because I just want to be heard. Maybe because I just need an outlet, and hey, why not let that outlet be open to not just my friends and family, but the rest of the internet as well?

All that is true to some degree. But, in the back of my mind, I hope that there is a bit of purpose buried in the words I write here. I write silliness. I write nonsense. I write of the irony of life and I write whatever the heck I want. My blog is nothing of consequence in the scheme of the internet, and that's quite alright. But in those words, I hope there is goodness.

The hope that I have for my blog (while still allowing me to share my clever thoughts with the world and feel better about myself in a very egotisitcal way) is that, while you and any other reader could be reading any filth or trash on the internet, you're getting none of that here. Here, sure, you're reading nonsense, but you're reading happy, uplifting nonsense where you'll never hear a swear word, you'll never find a dirty picture, you'll never hear about me getting drunk and making a fool or myself or about how much I want to go get high. Drugs and alcohol will never be promoted here.

The only things I want to have on my blog are things that are virtuous, or lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, or simply optimistic or, yes, even, silly. I hope that people can come away from reading something on my blog with a smile or a laugh, even if they're simply going to forget what I said two minutes after they read it. As long as they're not getting a dirty image or story burned in their mind, I'm quite alright with that.

Any way you see it, I'm just glad that I have an opportunity to write, and that people actually read what I say, and, occasionally, actually care about what I'm saying :) So thanks, my friends, for reading. It means a lot to me, and I hope it makes you smile every once in a while.

Love, Holly

Killer Sea Life of Doom (and other scary dreams)

I don't have nightmares. I have stress dreams.
Dreams that include:
The brakes not working in stop-and-go traffic...
or
not being able to remember where I parked my car...
or
.... no, basically, it's pretty much the brakes not working on the car. Psh.

And I know there's got to be some sort of pshyco-analitical reason behind this, but really, it's getting old.

But, when I don't dream about my car not working properly, I'm having nightmares about killer whales and other sea life. (Okay, so they're sort of nightmares. Not the type where I wake up screaming--I've never done that, although I have woken up crying a few times over the years--- but I'm pretty freaked out in the dream, which makes for an overly-stressful occasion of resting)

No no, it's not a joke. In the past, what? Four months? I've had at least a dozen and a half scary dreams about large, Holly-killing sea life. It started with Killer Whales. Then it evolved to include mostly only giant bat-ray things that always have nefarious plots and large, slick black bodies of doom and torture.

No wonder I get headaches all the time! I'm constantly worrying about being sucked in some evil bat-ray's eating/sucking hole when I'm sleeping, which is SUPPOSED to be the time that my brain RESTS!

Obviously, my brain never got that memo. Oh no. Being unconscious is when my brain comes to life. 9 times out of 10, my stories have begun with a crazy dream I had.

And while I enjoy having an alert imagination, sometimes, I just want to sleep. I sure never expected dreaming to be stressful, but then again, what do I know?

Exactly.

The Internet is Awesome

It doesn't take long for me to lose hours in reading a website. I sign on to look at one thing, and BAM, it's been three hours and I've read 36 pages of MLIA or whatever.

But the sites I frequent the most include:

http://www.mylifeisaverage.com/ (of course)

http://www.homemadepolariod.com/ (which usually consists of giraffe drawings)

http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ (speaks for itself)

http://www.theoatmeal.com/ (started with "how to pet a kitty" when Dani sent it to me a few weeks ago)

http://www.dearblankpleaseblank.com/ (which I believe I have talked about before :D)

Oh, and, you know. Blogger :) And Barnesandnoble.com, of course.

The Toaster Oven Scandal

About two hours ago, I decided, "Hey, I'm hungry. I think I'll make one of those disgusting looking french-bread pizzas that have been sitting in the freezer for the last few weeks, because we have nothing else to eat in the house."

So, naturally, I look at the box and say, "Half an hour? Shoot dang, I'm not cooking this thing in the oven for 30 minutes! I've got things to do! I'm hungry!" because, really, what else is there to say?

I decide to pop it in the ancient looking toaster oven, hoping against hope that it'll cook faster than the oven, but not make it all gross and soggy and half-way cooked like the ancient microwave we have in this house.

Needless to say, it burned the heck out of that poor little frenchbread pizza in less than six minutes.

But what's making me wonder... it's been over two hours, and despite the fact that I opened all the kitchen windows, turned on the overhead fan in the kitchen, and the microwave/fan/thing over the oven on full blast (making Diego run under the bed because it sounds like a jet plane is about to take off from our front porch), it still smells horrendously disgusting in here.


I had chocolate milk for lunch.

Jerks

Again, it is coming to my attention that, outside of the little world of Mormons which I so love to just dive into and surround myself with, there are many jerks in the world. Just plain old not-nice people that even I have a hard time finding some good trait within. Grinches of everyday life with terrible motives and selfish perspectives and just all around jerkiness. And, unfortunatly, these people-of-jerkish-nature tend to find high places in life, and typically are in positions where they can make our lives Hades and we just have to smile and nod, or else they fail you/fire you/take away your funding/don't let you out of your parking ticket.

Ugh.

Smile and nod, boys. Smile and nod. We'll get them in the end... because good always prevails, right? Right?

(And in the meantime, we'll just vent our frustrations on our blogs. Sigh).

Proof of Good Animal-Karma

Took a picture! Bahahaha...

Okay, so it's totally nonattractive, but I did just wake up. And it's blurry, but really, you can't blame my mom for her lack of camera phone skills.

This, my dear friends, is how I am forced to use my computer. With my cat thinking it's a personal, warm sling for him. (He's usually lying over both arms, but I'd shimmied the other one out to give the phone to my mom). It's a wonder I don't get carpal tunnel from it all...

Look at that innocent little face, like "What? How could this possibly inconvience you?"

Oh, Diego. You sure are spoiled.

Animal Karma

I like to believe that I have good animal karma. My cat is one of the most loved creatures out there. This does not mean that I feed him real, raw meat, or push him around in his own stroller so that he can come to the mall with me. I do not buy him costumes or sweaters (although he does get a big bow on Christmas, because, well, it's tradition). Nope, it's kitty kibble (although he does have a pretty expensive diet one that the vet prescribed, because he's quite... shall we say... plump) and tap water for Diego, but he is one happy boy, because we are all quite fond of him. Whenever he walks by, it's "Here, kitty kitty! Come see me!" or just a "Hey there, big boy!" greeting. We do enjoy our cat.

Okay, maybe I spoil him. He currently is lying on my arms, purring like a jet engine, cramping up my arm and making typing quite difficult. I really need to take a picture of this... And I did bejewel his collar when I was fourteen with star rhinestones that fell off and turqouise puffy paint, declaring "STUD MUFFIN."

ANYWAYS, besides Diego, back to my karmatic energy, animal-specified. I do quite enjoy animals, of the non-reptile variety, that is. I like them, and I like to think that they like me, and because I am kind, my animal-releated karma is quite good.

If I were to be reincarnated as an animal however, I do believe I would be someone else's housecat that, like Diego, is appreciated and sometimes given little pieces of donut and cheese-it crackers (his two favorite foods).

(Even though, you know, I don't believe in reincarnation. But I do think it is a very creative and fun concept :D)

In Case of an Earthquake...

Today, while standing in line to check out of the craft store, these two guys came up behind me to get in line. They were speaking with heavy Spanish accents, so I assumed they were speaking Spanish. When I realized they were really speaking English, and I could understand them, this is the comversation I then over heard:

GUY #1: Should we get in that other line?

GUY #2: Nah, we should stay here.

GUY #1: Why? The other one is shorter.

GUY #2: Because if there was an earthquake, this would be the safest line because it's closest to the door. We could just run outside.

GUY #1: Really?

GUY #2: Yeah. Or you could always just jump out the window.

GUY #1: Yeah?

GUY #2: No, no, no. You could jump out the window. I'll run through the door.

GUY #1: Okay.


It's good to be prepared. The Boy Scouts would be proud.

When You Move, Do You Dance?

When you move, do you dance? When you speak, do you sing?

To some, it may be an obscure method-acting technique, but to me it's a way of way. Being aware of your movement and appreciating your body and all the things it can do gives life a certain kind of joy and humanity that you can't get any other way.

It's not a crime to love life and enjoy the simple things. In fact, I highly recommend it.

More Doodles

My cup of Koolaid was happy today :)

Doodle #6? What I did yesterday in Health Care Essentials. Poop on that class and us no longer learning!

Scary Strange

Writers are freaks.

I've been following some authors, and recently, have been looking at blogs, random videos they put on Youtube, etc, and holy crap. These people are weird.

I suppose you need some eccentricity to write about someone, something, some situation that is so absolutely normal; you can only be strange if you can look at something utterly ordinary and pick it apart so unjudgemental, so objective, that you can create it so realistically that a reader will read it and not even notice.

You need to be eccentric to understand what I just said, because, seriously, that makes no sense whatsoever.

Now, I know I have always been on the unique side (silly, random, prone-to-dancing-at-innapropriate-times, etc). I've always been aware of this.

I know I am a writer.

BUT IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I AM JUST AS ECCENTRIC AND FLAT-OUT SCARY WEIRD AS THESE LEGIT AUTHORS, and not even realize it?

AHHH!!!!!!

Doodle Progress

Okay. So I WAS serious about learning how to doodle. And while I missed the last two days (I was doing other crafty-like things, like spending money at Michaels, painting random wooden letters for my room, and organizing our office full of craft supplies-- which was quite a feat, let me tell you), I have been trying to doodle a day.

It's been kind of fun, actually. In certain areas, I'm not as inadequate as I thought I was. Huh.

MY PROGRESS AS THUS:

Day 1, doodle #1! Eh.

Day 1, Doodle #2. I do enjoy this one :)

Day 2, doodle #3. I also enjoy this one :)

The most non-legit doodle ever. I was in class, watching the movie on parasites. That what was "Not Cool." Parasites suck. Thus, inducing sucky doodles.

Day 4. So, I'm counting this one. Haha, I was bored in class. Most terrible chapter ever. Yes, this is my textbook. :)

Please, no no no Parasites!

!_)*$#*!#*&$@#$%^(*#AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!@$*%#*$#*^*!@#*U@$

PARASITES!!!!!!!!!!!

Health Care Essentials, why must you show the freakiest, most disturbing, most disgusting, most TERRIFYING movies ever?

I never want to breathe, eat, drink, or touch anything again. Or go to Milwakee.

Parasites (or, as you might identify... WORMS) are absolutely revolting and terrifying and a fate worse than death. Parasites suck eggs. (Not literally. At least, I don't think so. It's just an obscure saying I like to use in dire circumstances such as this.)

Man, will I be saying my prayers tonight... THANK YOU FOR NOT GIVING ME WORMS!!! AHHH!!!

New Challenge: Doodle

It has come to my attention that I can not doodle.

Nope. For serious. I really can not doodle. I am hopelessly, dully, doodle-free, and it's quite pathetic.

How can I consider myself a creative person, and not know how to doodle? Impossible!

So I am creating myself a new challenge.

I will learn how to doodle. I will research, and I will study, and I will practice, and I WILL LEARN HOW TO DOODLE.

(In other words, I herby pledge to practice doodling daily until I am satisfied in my ability to efficiently add swirls, cartoons, patterns, and creative whatnot to whatever spare paper comes my way.)

Cat Nap

The other morning, I woke up to find my cat lying on my head.

Not by my head. Not on my pillow-but-not-quite-on-my-head.

On my head.

I believe this is because I pushed my pillow too far over to the right, where his designated corner of the week is (it changes on time of day, type of day, his mood, the position of the moon --- not really, but I don't understand cat logic, even if it is Diego), and he decided that he simply was not going to have any of that.

So he curled up, plopped down, and proceded to fall asleep while lying of my head.

I sat there, smothered by his fur, for a few minutes, trying to figure out how I slept through this development. How did the fact that twenty pounds of warm, fluffy, fat was suddenly pressed against my head not wake me up? I still do not know.

Then I realized, hey man, you're a cat. I'm a human. I've got opposible thumbs, you use a liter box.

Get off my face, fool.

Beach Day X 3

Going to the beach is something that I highly associate with my childhood. Going to the beach, in my mind, equals Oceanside, "cul-ta-sac beach," and all of my mom's family: the cousins, the aunts, the uncles, the grandma (Grandpa usually stays at home, but we see him afterwards). "Going to the beach" does not just include going to the beach. Not at all. It includes maybe four or five hours of beachy-time, then piling into our respective cars, and hauling back to Grandma's house to use the outside shower, one by one, to was off all the sand (yes, there is a shower curtain, and no, I'm still not sure that the neighbors can't see it from their attic window. Not that they'd want to see anything we've got.) When we were babies/toddlers, the shower was omitted and instead we got to hang out in the blue, plastic baby pool and pull various shells, sand clumps, and dead sand crabs from our diapers. (Or sand-craps, as Stephanie, quite famously, referred to them.) Later, we'd all chill in the family room, lethargic from the sun and red-skinned from lack of sunscreen reapplication, telling Grandpa about the beach and recalling who got tumbled by the waves, who got the worst sun burn, what weird people we saw at the beach. Then we'd decided we were too tired to make dinner, and since it was around four or five anyways, none of us wanted to go home yet because traffic would be terrible, so we sit around and debate for at LEAST half and hour over where we're going to get food from. Usually, if we planned the day ahead of time, it'd be this massive, disgusting excuse of a pizza (and I mean massive, we had to tilt it to get through the front door) where one would feed at thirty-whatever of us. That or some sort of Mexican takeout.

THIS TIME, however, our beach excursion differed from the norm of my childhood. It was just me, my mom, Grandma, my Aunt Lynne and my Aunt Lisa (give or take on differing days). We went three consecutive days in a row. That's a lot of beach time. Typically, my mom/aunts don't go in the water, don't swim. They leave that up to us kids. But this week, for some weird reason, it was a reverse tide, so you could walk straight out forever and it'd only be up to your ankles. For some reason, this delighted the women of Harris decent, and they spent hours frolicking in the water, searching for sand-dollars (of which we found dozens), and talking to the other beach-goers about how fun the reverse tide was.

I must say, I am pretty beached out. Three days in a row is quite a bit. And I'm not going to lie, I was seriously waiting for my mom's cell phone to ring with one of my aunts... "So, what do you think about going to the beach again today?" And although we'd laugh at how silly we're being, and how many errands and chores we have to do, but we'd just blow them off and go again.

However, it's Saturday, all my other cousins are free from school, and it turned out that nobody wanted to haul themselves to the beach. Three days turned out to be enough. I really don't think I could have handled any more vitamin D, to tell you the truth. I want to sit in a cave for a few hours--- I got too much sun! Haha.

And that, my friends, is the story of my beach-week. The end.

Poop on You, Universe

UGHHHHH.

It's one of those days.

No, actually, it's been one of those days, that turned into one of those couple of days, which looks like it's heading for one of those weeks.

Not. A. Happy. Camper.

Secrets

So, I've been looking at different writing exercises online, trying to hone in on my skills and (for certain stories) characterization. One I found that puzzled me... coming up with secrets.

Secrets. Ugh.

Secrets are way fun. I mean, in stories, secrets make things fun and fantastic. In real life, knowing someone else's secret makes you feel powerful, even if you would never actually spill. Having someone tell you their secret makes you feel loved and/or interesting, like you're in the know, and how many people has this person told beside you? It makes for great thinking and pondering.

However, I have lived a life of very minimual drama. Therefore, secrets haven't been a main part of my life. Even in childhood. Kids always "have secrets," right? That's just a part of being a kid (Or being a little girl, really, because I have no idea how little boys work).

I'm not good at coming up with secrets. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Shh... don't tell anyone!

Fibromylagia

Since FIBROMYLAGIA is one of the many conditions I suffer from, (and probably the most bothersome of all my illnesses... except maybe migraines, but that's a different story), and since I just got shots for it yesterday, I decided to do some research on it. So here's a quick study for fibromyalgia for you:

"You hurt all over, and you frequently feel exhausted. Even after numerous tests, your doctor can't find anything specifically wrong with you. If this sounds familiar, you may have fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain.

Fibromyalgia occurs in about 2 percent of the population in the United States. Women are much more likely to develop the disorder than are men, and the risk of fibromyalgia increases with age. Fibromyalgia symptoms often begin after a physical or emotional trauma, but in many cases there appears to be no triggering event.

Symptoms: Signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia can vary, depending on the weather, stress, physical activity or even the time of day.

Widespread pain and tender points: The pain associated with fibromyalgia is described as a constant dull ache, typically arising from muscles. To be considered widespread, the pain must occur on both sides of your body and above and below your waist.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by additional pain when firm pressure is applied to specific areas of your body, called tender points. Tender point locations include:
Back of the head
Between shoulder blades
Top of shoulders
Front sides of neck
Upper chest
Outer elbows
Upper hips
Sides of hips
Inner knees

Causes
Doctors don't know what causes fibromyalgia, but it most likely involves a variety of factors working together.

These may include:
Genetics. Because fibromyalgia tends to run in families, there may be certain genetic mutations that may make you more susceptible to developing the disorder.
Infections. Some illnesses appear to trigger or aggravate fibromyalgia.
Physical or emotional trauma. Post-traumatic stress disorder has been linked to fibromyalgia.

Why does it hurt?
Current thinking centers around a theory called central sensitization. This theory states that people with fibromyalgia have a lower threshold for pain because of increased sensitivity in the brain to pain signals.

Researchers believe repeated nerve stimulation causes the brains of people with fibromyalgia to change. This change involves an abnormal increase in levels of certain chemicals in the brain that signal pain (neurotransmitters). In addition, the brain's pain receptors seem to develop a sort of memory of the pain and become more sensitive, meaning they can overreact to pain signals." -(content provided by -Mayoclinic.com)

Again, again?

Soooooooo...

I've realized that since starting school, my creativity level has gone down. Significantly. It's like, I'm using a whole different part of my brain to work with the science and exactness of medicine and anatomy, so I haven't had time to really write or be creative...

I finished a test early yesterday, and I was just doodling on the back on my paper... and I just started writing, and I realized how much I miss it! Time to start back with prose and poetry... mmmm... just saying it sounds good!

Sock Money Slippers Of Joy

I saw these slippers once. They had sock-monkey faces on them. At Target. A while ago. I thought they were amazing, but I was there to buy envelopes, not adorable slippers... SO I DIDN'T buy them. Now I regret it like... like... like swallowing that quarter that one time. Yeah. Major regret.

I haven't found them in stores again ever since. WOuldn't matter anyways now, since I do not own money. Poop.

CHIRSTMAS, ANYONE?

I don't think my life will be complete until I own a pair.

Money in Your Pockets

I feel like leaving money in all my coat pockets just for a surprise when I put them on later this year. Seriously, isn't that the best thing ever? Putting on an old jacket, and finding random things in your pocket? Especially money?

(I say random things because one time I found a spoon. I never figured out why it was in there. But it still made me laugh.)

I think I should cheer up my future self and hide some money for myself to find.

.... Oh, wait. First I'd need money. Crap. There goes that idea.

Hurt Feelings and Health Care Essentials

So, I sit next to this lady in my Health Care Essentials class. I like her a lot. She's funny and randomly optimistic about strange things, and she always has funny stories to tell about her work--- she's a home health keeper for people who can't take care of themselves/need babysitting/etc.
The thing about my friend is that she sometimes lacks a filter from her brain to her mouth. When she has a thought or question, she blurts it out. She doesn't say anything inappropriate, she just says a lot of things. This annoys a lot of the other students.

I feel that it's lucky I sit next to her instead of someone else, because I find it easy to like people who lots of other people don't. I guess I'm patient, because she doesn't get on my nerves, even though she's always copying my notes or assuming I'll help her study just because I get better grades. She's my friend.

Last Wednesday, we had our first one-on-one conference with our teacher. Among other things, I asked my teacher how I should handle this lady, how I could encourage her to still be excited about what we were learning about without being obnoxious or annoying other students. He said that he was going to talk to her about it.

Turns out, some of the students had been sending him e-mails about how my friend was irritating and wasting class time and complaining about her. Instead of being sensative to the situation, our teacher flat out told her about the e-mails and that students found her irriating. How mean was that? He could have just told her that he was happy she was excited about the material, but to give the other students chances to answers to questions or something like that. He didn't have to hurt her feelings like that. It really hurt her.

Sure, my friend wanted to know that she was being irritating to others, but it could have been handled much better. I feel bad for her. We're having a study date tomorrow and hopefully I can heal some of the wounds, and we can sort out how she can still get involved with our materials in a more appropriate way that she's still excited about.

Dad---

Pop, you already went to bed, but I thought I'd let you know:

No, I haven't been getting your comments on my blog. Somehow they aren't getting through. Perhaps this is because you're not signing into your Google account first? Sometimes when you try to comment, it looks like it posted, but it will really be sending you a message to sign in.

Make sure you click back on the "comments" button on the post to double-check if your comment went through. It can be cranky sometimes.

Favorite Quotes

Some of my favorite OTHER quotes :)

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we die even the undertaker will be sorry." -Harold B. Lee

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Ann Frank

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." Dr. Seuss (one of my favorite people ever born)

"Questions are not a sign of weakness but of growth. We are not wrong when we doubt, but only when we fail to do something about it." -Brad Wilcox

"A smile will gain you ten more years of life." -Chinese Proverb

And, because I'm a dreamer of all dreams:
"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of deams..." -Arthur O' Shaughnessy

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you've imagined." -Thoreau

"No dreamer is ever too small, no dream is ever too big." -Unknown.

Spiritual Quotes

Some of my favorite Spirtiual quotes :)

"May we be strengthened with the understanding that being blessed does not mean theat we shall always be spared all the disappointments and difficulties of life." -Heber J. Grant

"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." -Luke 1:37

"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our guest, in that movement God will endow us power." - Ezra Taft Benson

"The greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and we obey, we will ALWAYS BE RIGHT." President Monson

"Have you ever thought of yourself as a junior angel crowned with glory and honor? Every one of our Father in Heave's children is great in His sight. If the Lord sees greatness in you, how then should you see yourself?" L. Tom Perry

Facts of my Childhood

FACT: In the fourth grade, I drank a glass of toilet water to impress my best friends older cousin (who was a boy). It worked.

FACT: In elementary school, my Razor scooter had orange handle bars and lightup wheels. It was amazingly cool.

FACT: I used to spit on people who smoked. My parents were not pleased. But secretly proud.

FACT: I was a pumpkin for my first Halloween.

FACT: I was a very PRETTY baby and toddler. Which is not a bragging thing, it’s a true thing.

FACT: My parents had to bribe me to stay in my car seat with gum. Otherwise I would climb out. Apparently, I climbed most things, quietly.

FACT: Aladdin was by far my favorite Disney movie. My dad still quotes it sometimes.

FACT: I broke my foot in the sixth grade by tripping over my own shoe. It was casted on Halloween. My dad pushed me around in a wheel chair, and I got a ton of candy that year.

FACT: My teddy bear was named Simon by my father, after Simon and Garfunkel. I don’t believe I’ve ever actually listened to Simon and Garfunkel. Simon still sits in my room, and he still wears the yellow coat I stole from my sister’s baby doll collection.

FACT: Steph and I’s Barbie’s were always naked. We’d take them into the bath with us, so their hair was permanently ratty. We tried to blow-dry their hair, and it started to smoke.

FACT: On Sunday mornings before church, my dad would blow-dry my hair. He’d be my stylist, and he’s ask if I wanted Cinderella hair, or Belle hair, or Odette hair.

FACT: When we went to buy a kitten when I was 8, Diego was curled up, fast asleep in the corner of the display window. I was way mad when my mom picked him, complaining that he was way lazy and boring. And look how it turned out.

(FACT: Diego is currently lying on my arms, watching me type like usual, making things very difficult. He is purring, because he loves me.)

FACT: I’ve only played video games a handful of times in my whole life. Steph and I weren’t into them. We played computer games.

FACT: I grew up on public television. We didn’t get cable until I was thirteen, when it showed up for free. Arthur is still my all-time favorite show.

FACT: I used to wear my tutu over my clothes. Everyday. For like, two years. That or bathing suits.

FACT: This was way fun to do. I think everyone should do a FACTS OF MY CHILDHOOD.

I couldn't find a picture of me as a chitlin on my computer. I think this was when I was 14. Oh well. Still funny.

IHOP: Cinn-a-stack Pancakes

What are my two favorite foods in the world?

1.Cinnamon rolls. 2. Pancakes.

Therefore, what would be the most delicious idea of all time?

HENCE: IHOP's Cinn-a-stack pancakes. You take three pancakes, and you slather them with cinnamon-roll filling, then top it all off with cream cheese icing.

YES PLEASE.

Also in Cin-a-stack French Toast. Also extremely delicious.

Thank you, IHOP, for making the world a better place.

Toothpaste

Anyone who has ever lived with me has witnessed the fact that I am physically incapable of brushing my teeth without getting it all over myself.

Why? Who knows. I just can't do it.

So, like always, when a tube of toothpaste ran out, I went to the store to get a new one. This time, I picked out some special teeth-whitening one, and guess what? It foams. Like crazy. Like I didn't have enough trouble... now it looks like I've got rabies and am about to pounce on the next innocent victim that passes my way.

Ha. Now I might have to pretend that I really do have rabies next time I brush my teeth.

....Where's my toothbrush?

Imperfect but Delicious

Deep thought for the day:


I wonder if I will ever eat a Reese’s where no part of the bottom has stuck to the paper.

Real Fun...

There’s a lady I sit by in A and P, and every night when she and her friend leave early, she says (and I quote):

“Ladies, it’s been real, it’s been fun, it (has or has not) been real fun.”

Seeing as she’s said it both times we’ve seen her, it makes me wonder just how often she uses this silly little phrase in real life partings. Hmmm.

Night School for Holly

So, basically, night school is rocking my adult-like socks. Honestly, if they had had a night-school version of high school, I would have done so much better it’s not even funny. I think I might have actually enjoyed some of it. Ah. Weird.


Right now I’m taking two classes (sort of the max), Anatomy and Physiology, and Health Care Essentials (the pre-requisite to any of their programs). Good times man, good times.

Health Care Essentials (while sometimes freaking me out) has been a really interesting class so far. Except for the time we watched the old 70’s (R rated) movie Coma… ugh. Can I just say? Fight scenes that involve anatomy labs and dozens of cadavers? NOT COOL. Freaked me out.

Otherwise, we’ve been talking a lot about culture, and how to give health care to people without offending their cultural beliefs and values and stuff. It’s been crazy interesting. Plus we’ve done all the legal stuff (gag me, scares me) and all that sorts of fun stuff.

***HIPAA: Human Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Which, in human words, means that I can’t say fricking NOTHING about patients. I’m just afraid that I’m going to slip and say something like, “This girl’s got a painful looking bruise” to a coworker who essentially doesn’t have a NEED to know this, and get totally busted over it. AGGG.

And, typically, I’m not a private person. I really couldn’t care less who knew about all my health problems. I don’t mind talking about them. I especially don’t care if other nurse or MA’s or other workers in a health care office know about my problems. Doesn’t matter to me. So, understanding that the rest of the world is super super sensitive about these subjects and want utter confidentiality is something I need to really keep in mind so I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings and/or get in trouble with the health care laws. EEEK.

Anatomy and Physiology has been interesting, to say the least. And not in the way you’d think. It’s just funny, because we have maybe an hour of lecture/slideshow at the beginning of class, where everything is taken just from our book. So, us smart people have realized that during these lectures, all we gotta do is highlite what’s on the slides. Others take down all the notes word for word. It’s just funny to me. Ugh, but then we get these super long packets to do, and it’s ridiculous, because the packets go with a different text book, so the information is never the same, and it’s ridiculously ridiculous and frustrating and heck to do. Then, with twenty minutes to go, our teacher passes around the key, so we just jot down the real answers anyways. SO. CONFUSING.

However, I think our teacher is a funny little lady. She makes some funny comments if you actually listen to her. I don’t know how many other people may have noticed this, but I have. She’s silly. Plus she liked our pipe-cleaner skelton the best.

The best part about A and P? My group, of course. We found each other in a sea of people who had absolutely no idea what was going on, we, the ones who are productive and don’t need to hear the instructions a million times over. Okay, that’s harsh, but sort of true. I have my two friends who are funnily cynical and ADD about the details that I simply don’t care about. We have a good time getting frustrated together.

Overall? Night school rocks my socks. YES!

Animals of the "Pet" Varierty

Question from Babynames.com: What are your pets names?

Well. Of course, I have my cat Diego, named because we lived near San Diego when we got him and couldn’t decide on a name. We’ve also had Buddy and Toby (cats) as well as fish called Gary (Bartholomew) and George. My neighbors cat used to come in my yard all the time, so I decided to come up with a name to refer to him as: Sir Larry. Turns out, when we moved, our neighbors wanted us to take Sir Larry (real name: Shadow) with us, because their other cat was beating him up. Saddest story ever.

However, I have heard from a lady in my old ward that they have had cats named, and I quote: “Smidgen McSmudge,” “Truffles,” and, best of all, “Shovel-face.”

Wow.

Later in life, with other pets I get, I’d enjoy the names: Boz, Beck, Jack. Then again, I decided that Diego is never going to die and therefore going to be in my life all my years, so who says I need another pet?

Firefighting Dinosaurs?

Life is good.

We get the keys to the house today. Mom and I are starting to take things over this afternoon.

Dad's in Utah, and EVERYTHING WE OWN fit into the moving truck. Major success.

But, best of all?

I saw the little boy I previously blogged about, and not only was he wearing a dinosaur shirt, his raincoat was a fireman jacket. Yeah. I'm seriously in love.

Holly-Culture

Holly-Culture entails:

-buying hot chocolate from Starbucks because it is most excellent
-buying books regularly
-singing when driving
-"Why walk when you can dance?" mentalilty
-hoarding all sorts of entertaining knick-knacks, perferrably from all over the world
-Garden Gnomes
-Loving Lady Gaga's music no matter how crazy she may be/others may think she is, simply because it's great for dancing
-never actually making sense while speaking aloud, but being obsessed with words and wordage
-being very animal-friendly
-finding most things adorable (including things that, frankly, aren't adorable)
-happiness and optimism
-finding way too much irony in life
-drawing on the rubber of your tennis-shoes. Sorry. It's a given at any age.
-being epically lazy at times
-usage of the words "epic," "ridiculous," "shwat," and "flippin," in extreme.
-frequenting Barnes and Noble and Target
-blogging on a frequent and sometimes obsessive basis
-having epic and extremely detailed dreams that often are in British or Southern accents
-being so ridiculously asthetic it's never possible to be satisfied
-frequenting sites such as icanhazcheeseburger.com, mylifeisaverage.com, and suchness
-wanting to go to the Harry Potter theme park more than anywhere in the world
-waiting for your Hogwarts letter until you're at least eighteen, when you offically are disappointed that it doesn't exist

Moodiness

So, despite the fact that I found out that my car is on the way out and may be sold/donated in the upcoming week, I was actually in a good mood today. Since then, my mood has rapidly declined. I don't know why I am telling you this, I just am. The fact that Palomar was being a jerk today and making me fill out this ridiculous survery that crapped out my internet connection for like half an hour was not super fun. Especially when it made me take it like five times. By the sixth, I just put "Decline to State" for all the answers just to be a jerk in response. It accepted that. I mean, I was dropping my only class. I shouldn't have to give them a ton of info about myself when I'm severing myself from them. Whatvever.

Maybe I'm just tired. Or maybe I'm cranky because I'm getting a headache (which is because I'm tired and annoyed). Although I did get my copy of "Beautiful Darkness" ordered. (Heehee, I accidentally spelled it Darnkess. That's funny.) OCTOBER 12! Woot.

Speaking of that, preordering books is SO the way to go, did you know that? Like this--- The original price of the book is like $17.99, but the online price for pre-ordering it by only like a few weeks was $9.07. And being a Barnes and Noble Member, I get freeeeeeeeeee shipping (YUS), which saved me another $4.95. My total? Ten bucks for a brand-new hardback IN THE MAIL. Can you get any better than that? No, my friends, you cannot.

*Truly, if you're a bookie like me, online is the way to go. And not just because you can get good deals on Amazon or whatever, but to be a B&N member and get free shipping. It SAVES greatly.

Maybe I just need to go read. Maybe that will make me feel better. But that means going back to my super-messy-and-not-likely-getting-picked-up-until-we-move-because-I-have-no-room-and-never-had-any room, which is just depressing. Then again, Diego is there. Hmmm. Pros, cons. Pros... cons.

An old lady just walked by with a really cute Seeing-Eye-Dog t-shirt. It was all like a painting. It made me happy. I guess my mood is improving a bit. I just i just needed to write things out. Ha, what a surprising.

I love Halloween, have I mentioned that? It's by far my favorite holiday.

HEY--- MAYBE THAT'S WHY I'M IN A BAD MOOD. I went to a Halloween superstore just minutes ago (trying to get a job), and just walked around for a while... sensory overload. Often, when I get really excited about something, I tend to get moody later on, in a negative way. Huh. You think I'd learn by now to space out my good-moodiness, but I haven't.

I guess once I start working, I'll have to wake up and have like a terrible hissy-fit in the morning so I can have nothing but happiness once for patients during the day. I wonder if it works that way.

(So, I was thinking... once we get to our new house, I won't---HOPEFULLY--- have to go to Barnes and Noble for internet. While this is an UBER good thing--- I'll actually GET THINGS DONE! AND FINALLY SEE A VERY POTTER MUSICAL--- I'm almost kind of sad. No more making friends with the security guards. It's the girl today, by the way, if anyone was wondering. Not my black-guy friend. I think he's recognizing me, just like the uber-adorable starbucks worker who always gets me my hot chocolate. That's another good thing--- my wallet will save money. No more delicious hot chocolates or book splurges. Okay, haha, that's a total lie. I'll still go get hot chocolate--- there's a Starbucks around the corner from me, I checked--- and I"ll STILL buy books all the time when I shouldn't. It's part of my culture. Holly-culture. Hmmm....)

"Stuff." (Of the Goodness Variety)

Gee, its been a while. Darn lack of internet. And now my Barnes and Noble connection won't let me connect to Facebook. Huh. Weird.

(Okay, confession: I watched a snippet of Southpark the other day, and apparently it was the Facebook episode--- I totally laughed. It was way funny, with all it's Farmville jokes. Oh, Farmville.)

SO! GOOD NEWS! They Empey's have finally found us a house to reside in for the next year! YUUUS. Guess who's moving in next week? I'm so stoked, you don't even understand. I know we're not supposed to be all materialistic, but I'm so ridiciously excited to have my STUFF again!!!!

Stuff just so happens to make life a better place. :)

My STUFF I've missed:

1. My garden gnomes.

2. My collection of nicknacks from around the world, including a penny-bank in the form of an British phonebooth that houses my left-over British change.

3. My random little chandlier thing with pretty beads.

4. My makeup organizer. GAH.

5. My bedroom FURNITURE. Weird, but I miss it like no other.

6. MY BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7. All my past journals and funny 4th, 7th, and 8th grade Language Arts assignment books (As a future published author and word-obsessor, these happen to be the most excellent remenants of my childhood).

8. HERMAN, the hand-painted piggybank dedicated to Ewan McGregor I made in middle school with Stephanie Lovett :) No, I miss all of those things we painted together. We went to Color Me Mine all the time. I miss that. I made some pretty killer plates and coaster and stuff, and it was always a ridiculously good time.

9. All the other stuff I'm forgetting at the moment.

10. INTERNET.

Today's Findings

(Anyone wondering about my likes/dislikes and/or reviews of books listed on my last post--- drop me a line and I'll be happy to answer. Or, as always, go to darklightlullabye.com)

I just spent a RIDICULOUSLY long time on foundmagazine.com. It's a site where people send in random notes and stuff they found around town. You know, the notes that were stuck in your desks at school, random papers that fall out of your library books, etc. You've seen 'em. You've written some. And somehow, it's really funny to read. Not just because you sit there wondering what in the heck people are referring to, but because you know that if someone got a hold of the notes you write to yourself/others, people would be so utterly entertained and/or confused. I want to submit notes I'VE written just because I think they would make a good addition.

But my favorite thing I found today? A girl I used to know posted a linnk to it on facebook (from the site dearblankpleaseblank.com, which is also awesome):

Dear Noah,
We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5.
Sincerely, Unicorns.

100 BOOKS! COMPLETED!

The quest to read 100 books in a year IS OVER!!!

IT'S OVER!!!

As of TODAY, Tuesday, September 7, at 3:34PM, I HAVE COMPLETED READING 100 books since January 1, 2010!

Hooray for finishing goals!

MY LIST:
1. Hush Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick

2. The Pale Assassin, Patricia Elliott
3. 68 Knots: A Novel, Michael Robert Evans
4. The Red Necklace, Sally Gardner
5. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaimen, Dave Mckean
6. When It Happens, Susane Colasanti
7. Perfect Chemistry, Simone Elkeles
8. I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak
9. Mr. Dracy, Vampyre, Amanda Grange
10. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, James Patterson
11. The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
12. Antsy Does Time, Neal Shusterman
13. Beastly
14. A Gift of Magic
15. The Year I Turned 16, Diane Schwemm
16. Remembering Issac, Ben Behunin
17. Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo, Obert Skye
18. Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret, Obert Skye
19. Evermore, Alyson Noel
20. Blue Moon, Alyson Noel
21. Shadowland, Alyson Noel
22. Maximum Ride 2: School’s Out, Forever, James Patterson
23. Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, James Patterson
24. Old Magic, Marianne Curley
25. Nightrunner, Max Turner
26. The Red Queens Daughter, Jacqueline Kolosov
27. The Hourglass Door, --Magnus
28. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling
29. City of Bones, Cassandra Clare
30. City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare
31. City of Glass, Cassandra Clare
32. The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong
33. The Awakening, Kelley Armstrong
34. The Reckoning, Kelley Armstrong
35. Beautiful Dead: Jonas, Eden Maguire
36. Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
37. Need, Carrie Jones
38. Lament, Maggie Stiefvater
39. (City of Ashes, reread) Cassandra Claire
40. Maximum Ride: James Patterson
41. Captivate, Carrie Jones
42. Maximum Ride: The Final Warning, Max, James Patterson
43. Ballad, Maggie Stiefater
44. Wings, Aprilynne Pike
45. The Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Steve Hockensmith
46. Stolen, Lucy Christopher
47. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart
48. Wondrous Strange, Lesley Livingston
49. Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev
50. The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
51. Shiver (reread), Maggie Steifvater
52. Heartbeat, Sharon Creech
53. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Trenton Lee Stewart
54. Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson
55. 68 Knots: A Novel (reread), Michael Robert Evans
56. City of Glass (reread), Cassandra Clare
57. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
58. Wondrous Strange (reread), Lesley Livingston
59. Darklight, Lesley Livingston
60. Perchance to Dream, Lisa Mantchev
61. River Secrets, Shannon Hale
62. Beautiful Dead: Jonas (reread), Eden Maguire
63. The Dark Divine, Bree Despain
64. The Iron King, Julie Kagawa
65. Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr
66. Spells, Aprilynne Pike
67. The Blue Girl, Charles de Lint
68. A Company of Swans, Eva Ibbotson
69. The Writing on the Wall, Wendy Lichtman
70. Werewolf Rising, R. L. LaFevers
71. Absolutely, Positively Not, David Larochelle
72. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
73. Ink Exchange, Melissa Marr
74. Fragile Eternity, Melissa Marr
75. My Ridiculous, Romantic Obsessions, Becca Wilhite
76. Radiant Shadows, Melissa Marr
77. Evermore (reread), Alyson Noel
78. Blue moon (reread), Alyson Noel
79. Shadowland (reread), Alyson Noel
80. Dark Flame, Alyson Noel
81. Linger, Maggie Steifvater
82. Bad Girls Don’t Die, Katie Alender
83. The Body Finder, Kimberly Derting
84. 13 to Life, Shannon Delany
85. Immortal, Gillian Shields
86. Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link
87. The Boy Book, E. Lockhart
88. The Treasure Map of Boys, E. Lockhart
89. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight, Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler
90. Betrayal, Gillian Shields
91. Fallen, Lauren Kate
92. Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
93. Old Magic, Marianne Curley
94. Once Dead, Twice Shy, Kim Harrison
95. The Red Necklace (reread), Sally Gardner
96. The Silver Blade, Sally Gardner
97. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
98. Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare
99. Imaginary Enemy, Julie Gonzalez
100. Plain Kate, Erin Bow

The End.
 
Sweet, sweet beans.

Music Mayday

An excerpt from my journal that I just realized was funny…

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010
8:08 PM

Lauren Woodfield gifted me nearly 2,000 songs the other day. I now have the lovely task of going through them all. I think I might rather die.

But my computer barely MOVES now… and this is why. Now I need to decide what I like, and delete what I don’t. Which is most of it. Yeah. Lauren has absolutely different tastes in music than I do. And aren’t Tegan and Sara lesbian? Which is really funny, because she isn’t lesbian at all.

I’ve gone through nearly one hundred songs. I am so incredibly sick and tired of this. I think I might just delete the rest.

Blllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh. Ha, my computer just capitalized that. Bahahaha. I think I need to just have something to do while I’m listening to all this music. Writing nonsense seems like a good thing to do. Maybe I’ll just write a whole lot of crap while I’m doing this, then go back and delete it so you don’t actually have to read it all.

Can I just say that I both like and hate Tegan and Sarah? Their voices are so freaking annoying, but their songs aren’t bad. But Lauren once played them for like an hour on a road trip, and it ruined pretty much all their prospects.

This isn’t going so well. I can’t tell if I love or hate these songs. Oh gee. This is so sucking right now. What am I talking about? This has always sucked. Why can’t I just like all music and be done with this?

I guess I won’t die if I delete songs after listening to only ten seconds of them. Yeah, sure, some of them are probably decent, but I’m not going to worry about it. Because I simply CAN’T.

SO I’M GONNA GET CRAZY WITH THE DELETE BUTTON!

I just realized I still have 2885 items to go through.

*Bangs head on laptop multiple, multiple times.*

NEW RULE: If I have to listen to thirty seconds of crappy weird sounds or nothing at all, then I’m deleting you. It doesn’t matter if the rest of you is the absolute best song ever: I shouldn’t have to wait and listen to crap to get to the good stuff. Nobody gets more than thirty seconds of intro.

WHOA! I found some stuff I like :D Down there in 164. Cool.

Wow. I just found a song called “Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left.”

Really? Reeeeally?

Oh, from the same guy: “Is Skin, My.” It’s in the Unknown Genre. Psh, that’s for sure. Oh, I wonder what “Not a Robot, But a Ghost” is like…. Still crappiness. Dang. I really don’t know what this is, really. It’s actually quite scary. It’s random noises and clinking with oboes. Dang, that could have been a cool song.

Just for the record, Andrew Bird is so not cool. ^^^^ Don’t ever buy his music.

Blah blah balh…

Why is it that songs with really cool names end up being crap? I’m so not a fan of that.

I have also figured out that most “music from the OC” is absolutely beyond ridiculous.

There’s so much yuckiness here… Lauren, why? Most of it hasn’t even been listened to… did you get all the bad stuff from your roommates? Are they truly the ones who have strange tastes in music? And is this permanently going to crap out my computer? And why am I so obsessed with the word crap tonight?

Automatic Loveletter could have been good. It’s not.

WOO HOO!!!! I’M TO THE B’S!!!!!!!!!! It’s been over an hour, but I’m onto the second letter of the alphabet!

I just heard a song say: “Please, baby please, open your heart and catch my disease.” Wow. How… awesome.

I think I need to see Twilight. It seems to have good music in it. At least the book soundtrack that she made for it (I don’t want to say her-- the author-- name because I’m a brat) was some of the best music I’d heard up until that point. AND MUSE TOOK OVER IT. MUSE = TWILIGHT. Which makes me cry on the inside, but you know, they had to do what they had to do to succeed. Now all these teenieboppers love Muse. Which is just weird.

I just spent twenty minutes listening to really terrible comedy songs. Probably the best spent twenty minutes yet.

345. It’s 10:15, and I’m on 345.

444. It’s 10:30, and I’m on 444. That was a productive fifteen minutes :)

Hey Hey! I’m on the C’s! Woot, man.

561. It’s 10:42, and I’m on 561. COME ON, GO FASTER!

Blahahahahahaha. And no, that was not me laughing. That was me throwing up my brain.

You know what I’ve decided? I’m totally okay with only having one song from a band. Cause turns out, most bands only have a few songs that are good. I’m okay with deleting all the crap. What do you know, I just got over a fetish of mine. Huh.

Woa. It wasn’t until I hit the 600’s that I finally hit a Disney song. And trust me. There are tons. :)

And at 737, I’m calling it a night. It’s a mash-up of all the number one hits of 2009. It’s pretty darn awesome. (It is also 10:58 PM)

Some pretty good work for… all that time. I’m not good at math. Actually, there are a million other things that would have been a better use of my time.

Lesson Learned: don’t ever Pod-To-PC someone else’s ipod (legally or otherwise. Mine was legally, thank you). Just force them to make you a CD of the best hits. Otherwise your brain will turn to mush, and really, having a brain is kind of essential and actually pretty nice.

Here and Now

UPDATES of my day-to-day life...

I've decided that going to a community college instead of a 4-year university is okay. At first I totally hated it, obsessing over the fact that I was living at home (and feeling like a lame shmuck for it), and how my friends/old roomates were going back WITHOUT ME, and I wasn't being independent at all... but now it's okay. I like taking the train everyday (it's awesome), and I like living at home simply because I get to be with my family all the time. Sure, I may not be as assertively responsible as if I were back out on my own, but you know what? That's okay.

(Did I mention I get to take the Sprinter train? It's currently the joy of my existence.)

And (finally) things are starting to fall into place. I'm taking The Fundamentals of Acting (which ROCKS, and I plan on writing a post simply on that), as well as an Institute class (who knew I got free parking for taking an Institute class? MORMONS ROCK!) Also, I am FINALLY enrolled in a Medical Assisting program! Vista Adult School, M & W nights. Fun fun stuff.

EEE! CLOCKWORK ANGELS just arrived in the mail!!! Anyone who was a Mortal Instruments fan (Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) knows my excitement. It's definitely a stay-up-until-3-o'clock-AM-to-finsh-reading-it night. SO STOKED.

I had more to say, but now I forgot it. I think this is how I finish every single one of my post. Because it's just what I do. Forget.

Um... well... happy Wednesday!

Adventures In Walmart

So. Walmart. It's an okay store, right? Good place for cheap things, when you want to get a whole bunch of random stuff at the same place. Sure, they use sweatshops, but whatever...

I went for some playdo and some leggings. I came out with an adventure. Who would have thought that so many random things could happen in one 1/2 hour trip to walmart?

So, first off, I run by the $5 movies, because, currently ALL MY MOVIES are in storage, in Utah, serving no purpose. And what do I find? WILLOW!!!! Bahahaha... anyone who took Mythology with Mr. Wilson knows what I'm talking about. It's this crappy 80's epic princess/castle/magician-style movie where the main character is a little person and it's cheesy and it was supposed to teach us "The Hero Cycle" (which it did). But, Mr. Wilson was in court or really sick for like, two weeks, and we had different subs, so we watched the maybe 2-hour movie in probably 8 CLASS PERIODS. You would not believe the number of times we saw certain scenes; there are some that are burned into my memories. Which is all made some much more fun by the fact that it's this RIDICULOUS movie. Seriously. Ever want some bad movie entertainment? Watch Willow.

Then, I was walking past the little girl's clothes section on my way to the socks (yes, I have a sick obsession with socks, it's a problem), and I saw this little girl night gown WITH BATMAN SYMBOLS ALL OVER IT. Why can't I be a little girl who wears night gowns again? I seriously mourned the not-being-able-to-fit-into-it's-awesomeness.

So then I was cruising down to the toy area (which was ridiculously hard to find), and it was totally creepy. Not only was it deserted, but the isles were super long and low-lighted. It was like the perfect horror movie setup: dark, flickering lights... over all the rows of princess-wear... I was convinced I was going to get jumped, right there next to the Barbies and Hotwheels. Thankfully, I got my Playdo and split before anything could happen. But if anything DOES ever go down in Walmart, my money is on it happening in the toy section. Just saying.

Also, randomly, there were a lot of preggo ladies at Walmart that night. Don't know why, especially since it was the one in Oceanside. I mean, if it were Utah, I'd understand. But I was walking around and as I passed the home-decor isle, I found this cute little pregnant lady with a cute sweater with her husband picking out drapes. I was like, AWWWW... that's what I want in a few years--- being all cute with my hubby, picking out drapes to our first little house with a bun in the oven. It was a ridiculously cute scene. And you know how some girls look so darn cute when their pregnant? Others tend to look way wiped out and dingy and in a bad mood, but on some women, it's totally adorable. Or maybe I'm the only one that notices such things...

Dang! There was something else, but I can't remember. Oh well. It was an epic day at Walmart. Hooray for random day-to-day silliness.

Libraries. Maybe. Kind of.

Here's the deal about libraries.

See, book stores, for the most part, only stock really good books that are going to sell. Libraries don't disimmigrate. They take the crap stories, too. So, when you're stnading in the funky smelling library, hearing the crackle of the annoying shirnk-wrap stuff (with the tape that always covers words on the back and inside, and you have to hold the book really weird to read the words underneath, of course), wondering just what those stains on the carpet is, you have almost no way of knowing if the books in front of you are worth your attention or not.

I've found that at any given library, out of a stack of five books you select, approiximately 2.5 of them are going to suck. Out of the books on the shelf, 63.7% of them are so not worth your time. An additional 12.34% of them are so funky and lack so much sense that they really should be burned because they are a disgrance to the literary world.

Okay, those numbers were made up, if you didn't guess. You just gotta be ready to be disappointed when you bring home some books from the library.

However, that doesn't mean that all libraries suck. I have found one particularly awesome one here in Oceanside. (Yes, I have my library card on my key ring. Suck it.) Although, yes, usually 30% of what I select dissapoints, I've found some awesome stuff on the shelves. I actually found a number of sequels and the like that I had been wanting to read but didn't have the money to buy. I was pretty exicted yesterday, actually, because I found a ton of newish books that I've seen at Barnes and Noble that I could actually read without spending money!

.... I just realized this is probably the absolute lamest post evvver. Evvvvver.

I seriously just spent time blogging about the pros and cons of libraries. Oh. My. Gosh. What has my life come to???? AHHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm going to go watch some Bravo or MTV or something. I need some culture.

My Amazing Train Rides

I have officially decided that taking the train to school everyday is awesome. Go Sprinter!

I feel so urban! I feel so collegey! I feel so awesome!

I sit there (avoiding the scary people, of course) and put my feet up on the opposite seat and read my book and plug in my ipod and just hang out for twenty minutes, and BAM! I'm at school! No needless stress of driving, and traffic, and not finding a parking spot... I just hop off the train, and take a flippin only two minute walk, and BAM AGAIN! I'm in class! So. Dang. Awesome.

I officially decided after the first day of school I would never, ever drive to Palomar again. Why? I arrived at campus at 10:35. I found a parking space and 11:05. I got to class at 11:20. I was officially twenty minutes late. Never again.

(However, I remembered one awesome difference between college and high school that I'd forgotten: no one gives a poop if you're on time or not. You can walk in and out any time you want. It's amaz-za-zing.)

So, I get to hang out and live relaxed-status to and from school everyday. I happen to think this awesome. You would, too. Just trust me on this one.

(image stolen from the internet!)

It's my ride!

Eyewear of Awesomeness

One thing I adore about California: sunglasses.

Would you believe that in other parts of the country, (okay, at least Utah) you feel like a freak if you wear sunglasses because no one does? I mean, come on. Ridiculous.

But here, sunglasses are practically an essential fashion accessory! Ah. I love it.

Sunglasses and I have a fantastic history. I've rocked my gold aviators, some rainbowy bug-eyes, my red-rimmed Rayband types. Currently, I have zebra stripped ray-bands.

Yeah. I'm that awesome :) teehee.

I propose that everyone protect their eyes and look good doing it and buy themselves a pair of rocking eyewear.

Flipflops of Joy

Today I figured out that my new flip-flops have no traction whatsoever. How did I spend my evening? Slip-sliding around my grandparents wood floors, of course!

Later, when actually going outside, I put the flip-flops on again. As I headed into the hallway, I slipped on accident and nearly gashed my head out on the wall. That's okay, the sliding was worth it.

NEW HOBBY? I THINK SO!!!

Phone History

(thought of something to say)

I got a new alert on my phone the other day. Now, whenever I get a text message, Harry Potter screams, "EXPECTO! PETRONUM!!!"

I happen to think it's fantastically awesome. My dad laughed.

Other cool ringtones I've had:

-The "Arthur" theme song

-The Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song

-a turkey gobbling (which I used for a ridiculously long amount of time. Whenever it went off, it caused me and whatever friend, roommate, or sibling sitting nearby to gobble back. It was epically awesome. The only reason I stopped using it was because that phone died and I don't remember how to get it back. Sad day.)

(SIDE NOTE: I'm on Book #91 in the quest to read 100 books in a year. These last twenty have been taking foreeeeeeeevvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr...)

Sunflowers and Seashells

Today has been a literary-good day. No, not a "literally" good day, (although, truth be told, it was) it had been a literary good day. As in literature.

Why?

1. My "all things literature blog," darklightlullabye.com is getting some awesome traffic. Aside from my new viewers, today I found out that a SECOND author came and read my review of the book she wrote... Bad Girls Don't Die (Katie Alender). It was a book I thoroughly enjoyed. No, she didn't Twitter about it (at least, I don't think so) and didn't bring a dozen new followers with her, but she did leave me a nice comment :) Hooray for authors reading my reviews of their works!

2. Got a letter in the mail today :) It was a happy letter. It told me that the poem I submitted to the National Amateur Poetry Competition made it to the semi-finals, which means (this is the exciting part) IT'S GONNA BE PUBLISHED! IN A BOOK! An "anthology," to be specific, or, as my letter says, "a volume of contemporary poetry," called Sunflowers and Seashells. Well, what do you know. Two of my favorite things. Tacky names and creative writing :)

I wish I had some witty, irrevelant story to tell that would make you laugh. But I don't. Sorry. Life has been pretty un-witty lately. Or, you know, the stories I have to tell wouldn't quite make sense over the internet: more of the "you had to be there to get it" sort of deal, and since I don't want to make you feel isolated and uncool, I will not put such a story on here. No making you feel bad. That's a big no-no for me. I don't make my viewers feel bad about themselves, because that's sick and wrong, like eating puppies!

:)

Weekend of Goodness!

(Question: is this hard to read? Should I change the background to something else? Hmmm....)

SO, BEST WEEK EVER. Nan White, my dear Minesottan friend from college, came down! What does that mean? BYUI roomie/FHE group reunion of GOODNESS!!!

So. Incredibly. Fun.

Check out my facebook page soon for pictures... but I do plan on putting up a few on here (I finally figured out how to put pictures on! Turns out I was working on the HTML page instead of the regular one for posting... whatever. I can do it now). Why? Because they are epically awesome beyond measure. Did I mention we got to hang out at the fire station? And ride around in a fire truck? And squirt the water from the truck?

Yeah. Be jealous. And that was only ONE part of ONE DAY!

My BYUI friends are the best :)

Versatile Blogger Award? Yes please!

K, so I know it sounds wack, but the internet is like Youtube, man. You get sucked right and spend hours reading blogs and following authors (in mycase) and looking for contests and hopefully winning contests and writing your own blogs and reading the blogs of the strangers that have "followed" you because you want to be and chivilorous (I know I spelt that wrong, so sue me)... ah! It's addicting!

(And yes, I am quite aware of the fact that Youtube is a part of the internet. I'm trying to make a point. A bad one, apparently.)

So, I just so happen to feel quite good about myself... a "follower" of mine (d'awww... I just love saying that... I have strangers who read my reviews and comment on them and tell me they like the same books and that they think my reviews are "awesome" and sometimes "beautiful!" Aw! New friends!) just gifted me the "VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD" (to be said in booming award-announcerman voice).

WOOT!!!

Okay, so she gave it to darklightlullabye.com, but I'm so proud that I'm putting my post regarding it up on BOTH of my blogs. (Therefore, you get to sit here and read it, too. Suck it up and read it, man.)

"When you recieve this awesome award all you do is share 7 things about yourself, pass on this award along to another 15 deserving blogs."


Thanks to http://randomteenshtuff.blogspot.com/ for giving me the award. D'awwww :) It still freaks me out that people actually read this stuff! Right on, folks!

My seven things:

1. I'm 19, and so far, every semester I've been in a new state, living with a new relative (or awesome roommates that are close enough that I consider my hand-picked family) at a new college. Huh.

2. Last week, I laid out on a back country road with two of my old friends and looked at the stars (it happens to be a secret favorite hobby of mine). I am now covered in bug bites. I regret nothing.

3. I always type. Always. Due to health issues, my hands shake slightly so my handwiritng sucks beyond measure. It also makes me write super slow and my mind goes on without my hand catching up. School was a beast.

4. Someone once told me I "bleed creativity from my ears." Best. Compliment. Ever.

5. I'm about as white-girl Wonderbread as it comes. I'm "a'ight" though, as it has been said. Sweet beans, man.

6. I loathe blow drying my hair. Loathe it. No partiuclar reason why. I just do.

7. I often run into doors, walls, and other free-standing furniture. This is because I often walk around at night thinking, "Nah, I know my way around the bathroom, I don't need to turn the lights on," but then I get groovin' to whatever song is currently playing in my mind and BOOM! Collision.


So, here's the deal. I'm only now discovering the blogging community... soooo... I don't know fifteen blogs to nominante. Lame, right? Sorry. So, instead, I'm nominating anyone who reads this! Yeah, you! Guess what, I just gave you the Versatile Blogger Award! Ha! Go spread the love, man. Thanks for wasting your time away with me :)

Sitting Outside

Awesome discovery!

I can get internet when I sit outside of my grandparents house! (And yes, I'm stealing it from one of my neighbors, but I can't tell whom. Oh well. THANKS, NEIGHBORS, for not putting a passowrd on your wifi!)

So, here I am, sitting on the outdoor couch, and Diego is sitting at the screen door, meowing his face off because he doesn't like me being out here. TAKE THAT, CAT! (He has been ornery lately, and I've had it up to here.)

Isn't that a strange word? Ornery? Funky spelling. It's just a word that I grew up using. Ornery.

Well... I'm off to the library with my grandma today... guess who gets a library card? CHUS. Not as good as new books, but I really can't afford those, no matter how much I try to get around it... Bah.

And. Yeah. I don't really have much to say. How's that for an unteresting post? Sorry. I'm slacking. :(

Inception

Everyone has a list of things (stories, books, MOVIES, in this case) that have absolutely blown their mind.

Inception is the newest addition to my list.

Blown. My. Mind.

SO GOOD.

Dad and I just saw it, and we were just laughing as we were walking to the car, we couldn’t come up with anything to say. Okay, I was laughing, and Dad was just shaking his head while I cried, “THAT. WAS. AWESOMMMMMMMME.”

So. I liked it. I’ve heard that a lot of people had a hard time keeping up with the story, which is true, but I found that I kept up quite fine. All the kicks coming back was a bit confusing, but overall it was twisty-turny and full of all sorts of fun.

But, now I’m thinking… and I’m wondering… first off, (SPOILER ALERT) Of course, the end. Was the top about to stop? Or, if not, who’s dream is it?

If it does stop, and Cobb is in reality… is he in TRUE reality, or is it a reality that he had created for himself that he has convinced himself is the REAL reality (even though it’s not)?

Wherever Cobb is, reality or not, will he dream? If he does dream, will it be “normal dreams” like you and I have, or will they be like his dreams from the beginning of the movie, where Mol is going crazy?

Also, do the other team members dream, like normal dreams? Or have they lost the ability to dream because they know how to manipulate dreams? Cause that would be sad :(

Also… Leonardo Decaprio grew up and lost his baby-face… awww. He’s no longer this baby faced kid that perpetually looked like he was sixteen despite the fact that he was thirty or whatever.

Your impressions?

Sigh. I’m a happy girl. Good movies make me happy. And Inception was ultimately good.

Creativity

I’ve always envisioned my creativity as a sort of lap-band that goes around my heart. Only instead of it being some piece of plastic or whatever constricting my stomach, I think of it as a ribbon wrapped around my heart that encourages it to grow bigger, pound harder, love stronger.

I’ve always wanted to take that ribbon and mash it all together until my creativity is just a big, pulsing ball of energy, then rip it open and let the colors splash across a paper. To have one canvas where you can point to it and say utterly complete, “This. Is. Me.” I want to know what mine would look like so badly.

I LOVE MAGGIE

OH MY FREAKING GOSH!

GUYS!!!!!!

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

Okay, so you know how I'm always trying to hype up my other blog, darklightlullabye.com? OH MY GOSH!!!

Okay, wait, so I posted on here my review of Shiver and Linger? Yeah, the really long post that you all skipped? MAGGIE STEIFVATER HERSELF READ IT. AND LIKED IT. AND TWEETED ABOUT IT.

*STARES FLABBERGASTED AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN*

You have NO idea how hyped I am. Okay, no, so even better? Apparently, when Maggie (<3) tweeted about it, she linked it to my site, darklightlullabye.com, so OTHER PEOPLE READ IT... Guess what that means?!?!? I HAVE FOLLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like, legit followers! Followers that I've never even met before! Strangers that subsribed to me so they can follow my reviews!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I seriously giggled and squealed when I found out. Yes, I was sitting in the Starbucks cafe in Barnes and Noble. Yes, people looked at me weird. No, I didn't care, BECAUSE I HAVE FOLLOWERS! 12 amazing strangers who get notified every time I post a review and leave nice comments like "beautiful review..."

:) :) :) :)

Talk about an ego-boost!!!!!

BAHH!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED WITH MYSELF!

Okay. I'm done ranting (although I'm still giggling sillily to myself. Sillily? Is that a word? You know what? I DON'T CARE! I HAVE FOLLOWERS!).

Take care. Read a book. Pet a puppy. Shave a walrus. Eat your brocoli. Be happy.