Thursday, 2 May 2024
Life, the universe, pies, hot-pink bunnies, world domination, and everything
We’ll be frank with you: July is a pretty sad month for new years. Fortunately, our resourceful friend Groundhog discovered that the Australian government starts its fiscal year on July 1. That’s good enough for us! The picture shows the Australian Treasury Department’s headquarters in Canberra. Woo-hoo, Australian money!
Date: June 30, 2011
Categories: At the Top of the Blog, Random craziness
Happy new year! I’ll be going to visit my grandmother next week, where I won’t have much access to Internet, and then to camp, where I won’t have Internet, but in between, I have my birthday, which is good. And DH2! I’m dressing up as Hermione because I couldn’t choose between her and Luna, and I look more like Hermione. Also Harry Potter day on the 31, with possible Pottermore!!
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Is this your grandmother that lives very close to my grandmother? If it is, I’m still up for a KoKon.
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That’s the grandmother! We’re not sure whether we’ll have time, though. My mom says she’ll send your mom an e-mail, so we’ll see.
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Cool!
Apparently Mm got it and replied, so we’ll see… *crosses fingers*
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*Mom. I’m not sure where the O went.
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Staying up for Camp NaNoWriMo… so excited!
*sips caffiene*
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It is exactly noon and so far my word count is zero. Yay.
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I played tennis for the first time today with my friends, and apparently I’m better than most of the girl’s tennis team, halfway because I’m good, and halfway because the girl’s tennis team is a joke. We went to Friendly’s afterwords (after playing for nearly 3 hours) and met up with one of our other friends.
While eating, we came up with the idea of taking our chem teacher out to dinner as an end of the year gift, so I texted her (yeah, she finally gave me her cell number) and she said she’d tell us dates that she’s free next week. 
And tonight, I was sewing and chatting with my dad a bit (which is very unusual, if you know anything about my relationship with my dad…) and he mentioned that he was going to visit his brother (my uncle and aunt and cousins) in MA this weekend, so I asked if I could come along. I mean, the car ride would be painful, but I haven’t seen them in so long. It might be nice. I could just sew I the back seat the whole time and listen to my iPod… I don’t know. I wonder if my mom would let me. And then my mom has a three day weekend off for fourth of July, so I was hoping to spend some time with her, because we haven’t spent a lot of family time together lately. I mean, we still have all summer, and I haven’t seen them in years. Also, my friend is going to the same area of MA that weekend, so we could possibly meet up.
Oh, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Life is confusing, my dears.
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Also, SFTDP.
My friend Maggie is going away to talented people’s camp for opera for a month, and my original plan was to have a party for her at my house and it was going to be so cool and she was going to love me forever because we’re BFF’s, but then my mom decided that I couldn’t have it because we were going to dinner with my grandparents and I had to cancel on all of these people I invited over, so naturally I was a bit miffed. I’d have it during the afternoon, but my mom didn’t want people over while she was at work. So I texted everyone a huge sorry, especially to Maggie. One of my friends, Aly, texted me that she could have it at her house instead, and at a time when I wasn’t going to be at dinner, so now everything is perfect. Maggie thinks she’s going to Aly’s for dinner, but she’s really going to an awesome surprise party. I’m baking a cake and everything.
Except for the fact that Maggie posted on her blog a huge rant about a ton of things that were annoying her, one of them being that her friends alway randomly cancel on her. Oops. She’ll get over it. 
I’m really excited I’m case you haven’t noticed.
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SFTTP
I’m mulling over the idea of trolling Maggie really hard. What if I made her think that we were hanging out somewhere without her tomorrow…?
No… I can’t…
But it would be so much fun…
I have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.
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Hey! When I was in Australia, the TV kept showing ads for EOFYS, or End Of Financial Year Sale. Now I know exactly when the financial year ended.
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Why have an entire calendar system just for money? Also, yay! I got my second first random thread post, and before my blogiversary to boot! I’ve never understood that expression, by the way; do any of you know where it comes from? I’ve never used it before, actually; I only just now realized that I liked it. I tend to use words I like, and it fitted, so I did.
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We have it here, too, but ours starts in October.
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So that penny from 1959 (a tiny thing we found) might have actually been from late 1958? Awesome!
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It’s not for coins — it’s for budgets. When Congress tells the government “you have X amount of money to spend this year,” the “year” runs from October 1 to September 30.
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Really? That almost makes sense, actually; I’m glad the inventor wasn’t completely insane.
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BUGS INVASION OF BEDROOM HAS COMMENCED
THEY ARE TINY AND CAN FLY AND LIKE TO LAND ON MY BEDSHEET AND SKIN
I HAVE KILLED AT LEAST 35 PROBABLY MORE I LOST COUNT
HOPING THAT THEY WILL LAND AND SHELOB WILL HUNT THEM DOWN AND DEVOUR THEM WHILE I SLEEP
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Hey, I used to live in Canberra! When I was two. But still. It’s a nice place.
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SFTDP: I’m reading Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins and in it, she refers to Lee Kuan Yew (not sarcastically) as “the dictator of Singapore.”
Is that the general perception of him here? I’d just never heard it before, even when I lived in the US.
Of course, owning Bushwhacked in Singapore is punishable by a $500 fine and a month in prison, so…
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i think unfortunately a lot of people don’t know a whole lot about singapore (or the rest of south east asia, actually…) but yeah that does sound about right. the impression i got from articles and things i’ve read is like “it
s clean and safe and DON’T YOU DARE STEP OUT OF LINE but it’s clean and safe we’re kind of okay with it i guess!!”
i dunno
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That just about sums it up, actually.
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I have to admit that until I came to MuseBlog, the only thing I knew about it was that it was in southeast Asia somewhere. I didn’t have the slightest clue about its government.
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I think I know a bit more about Singapore than average, since I’ve always used Singapore’s math curriculum, but I confess almost total ignorance as to their government system.
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Well, I’ve never been to that part of Canberra, but I have been to central Canberra, so… 
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Handover anniversary today! Chief Executive and other such important people attended a ceremony celebrating our return to China while a lot of the rest of Hong Kong marched in the streets protesting for more democracy.
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They let you march? Neat.
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Yes, they do let us march here! More than one million people took to the streets in 1989 after June 4th. I didn’t personally, though (both yesterday and 1989 – the former because I didn’t want to, the latter because I wasn’t born yet).
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I was too young to remember, but my aunt gave me a lot of her discarded newsmagazines and I remember reading about it several years later in those.
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My aunt lives in Canberra …
Also, happy Canada Day! *might get dual Canadian citizenship this summer*
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Really? Awesome! I want dual Canadian citizenship.
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BUT IF YOU DIE IN CANADA YOU DIE IN REAL LIFE [/xkcd]
If one or both of your parents was born in Canada, you’re eligible to be a citizen. I don’t think it works that way for all countries, though …
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Every conversation I’ve had in the last two days has ended in a quote from Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, or Monty Python. Life is good.
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I was weeding the garden, and now I am covered in dirt so I’ll make this quick.
WE ONLY HAVE ONE ZUCCHINI PLANT THIS YEAR
Yes, we have no zucchinis…
WHOOOOOOOOOO
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I… I’m sorry? No zucchinis? What do you have against zucchinis?
Random side note, when my cousin (I’ll just call her a cousin because I have no clue how we’re related) came here from Ireland, she had no clue what zucchini was, she called it by another name. Language is a strange thing.
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British and Irish people call them courgettes.
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That’s the name for it in French!
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What do I have against them?! They’re only the evilest vegetable on the planet!!!
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Meh, I knew a kid named Zucchini who stalked me for the better part of sixth grade. But now I feel guilty because everyone’s mean to him. So I’m nice to him.
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Who on earth would name their child Zucchini? I pity him.
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No, that’s brussels sprouts.
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But… zucchini bread…
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I like them! Zuchini-non-haters unite!
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I don’t like them, but I don’t really hate them, so *unites*.
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Same here.
*unites*
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Heading to the Taste of Chicago today! Should be delicious!
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I’m looking for a venue for our annual Harold & Maude watching day on Wednesday! I have a projector and everything. I’m super stoked. Now I just need a public place with a white wall, and hopefully I won’t get arrested for showing a movie in public (gasp!).
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It’s official: the Jericho pilot has more plot than all three Transformers movies combined.
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I´m in Irùn, Spain. Tomorrow I´m going to Madrid and I don´t know where I´m going to stay because I´m not getting there until 22:00 and oh my gosshhhh I sent messages to people on BACKPACKER WEBSITE to see if I can stay with someone in Madrid for a night because I´m only going to be there until 9 the next morning.
*hyperventilates*
The worst thing that could happen is that I spend 10 hours walking around Madrid at night and then get on a train in the morning without having slept. I don´t think that´s too bad. Spanish people stay up until 1 on normal nights anyway, so since it´s a weekend I´m sure I would find someone to wander with if BACKPACKER WEBSITE doesn´t help me.
(the caps are a pseudonym)
If any of you ever go to Spain, don´t go to Irùn. It´s boring. I´ve walked around the city about 3 times today, and I´ll probably do the same tomorrow until the train comes.
USEFUL INFORMATION: (also in the category of “things UP wishes she knew before”)
There is no direct train or bus between Toulouse, France and Madrid, Spain! By train it takes over ten hours, and it is difficult to synchronize the schedules because you must take a French line and a Spanish line. If you do a European trip, I advise against trying to travel from Toulouse to Madrid. (because it won´t work!)
This is the reason I´m in Irùn today and not in Madrid.
13-That made me think of “Yes we have no bananas”. Apparently it is a really hard piano song.
When I get home maybe I´ll do a one-a-day recap of the weird adventures I´ve had here.
I don´t want to go home. I want to get out of Irùn. I think that when I go back to the states I´ll get culture shock because I will understand all the conversations around me and there won´t be any trains and people won´t ask if you want to go to Brugge together 5 minutes after you meet.
I should just become a professional hitchhiker/train rider. YAAHH!
Bye!
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A HOSTEL, MAYHAP?
GURL, BE SAFE
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YOU’RE IN SPAIN!!! I’m in Spain too! We’re in the same country! *high five*
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For the record, I don’t think cockroaches should be allowed to perch on toilet paper rolls.
WE HAVE FOUR BOWLS OF BLACKBERRIES FROM OUR BUSH! WE SHALL MAKE COBBLER!
We were going to go to our cousins’ for Fourth of July tomorrow, but the traffic’s going to be so bad we’re going on Sunday.
The hat I was making for my sister got so stretched, I unraveled and started again.
I took a knitting class with my mom last night at the local knitting shop. I knew more about knitting than anyone there except the instructor. and I was the youngest one there.
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I just got back from summer camp!! I had a great time, not the least of which having ice cream on waffles for breakfast this morning. Archery, swimming, sneaking out at night to play capture the flag in the dark (Actually, the whole thing was very obviously scripted, but it was fun anyway)
I now have a C++ assignment that I need to do, and check up on my chess game. I might spend a few more minutes here though.
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Today was one of those days where it’s hot and sticky but you don’t feel like fighting it so you just accept the heat and sweat, a day for driving to nowhere in particular in a clunky sedan with the windows down in case a breeze happens to slip past, not thinking about anything, just watching the asphalt creep by underneath the still, thick air as your shirt clings to your back and the afternoon sinks into bleak evening.
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‘Hot and sticky’, ‘heat and sweat’, ‘thick air’, ‘shirt clings to your back’? That describes every day here, pretty much.
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Has anyone else seen the Three Turret Moon t-shirt? After I buy Portal, that’ll be my next major purchase.
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Back from the Taste! Sooo much good food. And sooo much walking. Now I’m tired x_x
Right when we got there, we got to see Giada’s cooking demo though, which was very cool.
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I should stop reading reviews of Transformers 3 and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. They’re just getting me steamed.
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Try reviews for Cars 2. Those will get you the most steamed you’ve ever been. M
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I don’t get it. Why?
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Because of the former’s representation of the Apollo program and the later’s replacing of a beautiful, gentle children’s story about an armchair explorer with a typical dumb family comedy.
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Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Perfectly decent children’s book. Now going to be a terrible computer-animated children’s movie with adgueigv;wiEVYG;ieyrfhpcouygrv;ire;Y;. I work in a movie theater. It makes me angry.
What are they going to do next, The Dark is Rising? Oh wait…
(Not to imply that Mr. Popper’s Penguins is anywhere close to on a par with the wonderfulness of The Dark is Rising…just in the vein of beloved books of my childhood.)
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Worse. It’s a live-action movie starring Jim Carrey.
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Oh god.
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…Jim Carrey. Starring in Mr. Poppper’s Penguins. WHYYY
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DON’T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT; I WILL THROW SOMETHING I AM THAT ANGRY ABOUT HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVES WHO RUIN EVERY PURE AND JOYFUL PART OF CHILDHOOD BY ADDING RUDE HUMOR.
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Ohh, did you like The Dark is Rising? I have heard all the bad reviews but am going to go see it anyway. I saw the sets for when they filmed sections of it (the destroying chicago bits)… hoping it’s better than the reviews make it out to be. And if not I will probably be a fan anyway, I love bad superhero movies.
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NO! The movie was APPALLINGLY BAD. Even though it had Christopher Eccleston. I saw part of it in Ashland and threw a whole box of plastic spoons at the television.
Also, it’s NOT a superhero movie. It’s THE DARK IS RISING. One of the best book series ever. Does it look like a superhero movie? Why are they destroying Chicago? Oh goddddddd……
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OH WAIT A MINUTE. I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE. WHICH IS CALLED “DARK OF THE MOON” HERP DERP SORRY BOUT THAT it is totally different.
WHOOPS.
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Although I am having fun reading the biting IMDb reviews. Ha.
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That’s the major consolation of misbegotten movies.
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I quite liked that book in second (ish? First? Third?) grade. The trailer… God. I’m not going to even read reviews.
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I saw a few seconds of the Mr. Popper trailer and I knew it was going to be dreadful.
…And now I’ve read some reviews and oh no why?
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Dear Robert,
I’ve printed out “Porcupines combine the inconvenient attributes of marmots, geckos, and sporks,” and hung it on our fridge.
CO
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That’s the 21st-century equivalent of embroidering a sampler. I am honored.
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Though taking rather less effort, of course.
Sorry.
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The upcoming 4th of July is making me remarkably angry this year. I mean, I’m usually vaguely anti-American in an absent-minded sort of way. (“FIREWORKS! Oh yeah, but America sucks. Except for the FIREWORKS!”) But this year I am legitimately angry, almost to the point where it eclipses my excitement for the fireworks. I’m afraid to speak to my friends or go to their party in case they actually care about America and I offend them.
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Just think of them as fireworks, without necessary patriotic tribute. I rather like America, but maybe that’s because I’ve spent so much time away from it. I’d advise going to the party (because, hey, there’s probably cake) and staying quiet during the national anthem.
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What do you mean, the national anthem?
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♬O-oh say can you seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…♪
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I think you’ve spent too much time in Asia. Most Americans don’t sing the national anthem at parties. Unless it’s not only the fourth of July but they have a famous singer there so that it’ll actually sound good! Then of course they take advantage of that and usually put it on television. But even then, they’d never do something so presumptuous as to ask their guests to do something requiring so much effort as singing.
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There’s no such thing as spending too much time in Asia.
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I beg to differ.
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Um, we’ve been to this guy’s 4th of July parties before. He sings.
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THIS SHALL NOT BE TOLERATED
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We were just talking to some Australian friends of ours, and we mentioned a Fourth of July party we were going to. They asked if we were bringing the turkey.
I’m in mostly the same mindset as you. Having been away from America for so long, it seems rather meh at the moment. Especially compared to places like Thailand and Uganda.
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human rights in uganda tho
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All that revolution stuff actually happened very shortly after we left. Honestly, Uganda was one of the places where we felt the safest, and we spent much of our time in the outskirts and slums of Kampala.
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no i mean they have really bad human rights, recently there was going to be a bill that made homosexuality an offense punishable by death.
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although i suppose we’re talking about two different things; i’m not making a comment on the people of uganda or the overall atmosphere, i guess my mindset was more towards the government. i don’t doubt that you had a wonderful time! i would still like to hear more about that, by the way
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I’m working on that. I’ll send a long summary of our entire trip to the GAPAs when it’s finished.
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Thailand FTW.
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May I ask why? I’m afraid I don’t see much reason to hate on an entire country.
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i dunno, i feel like most fourth of july parties are just an excuse to have a party in the same way that saying “american as apple pie” is an excuse to eat apple pie. i think maybe what you dislike is government and bureaucracy and politics and international finagling and blind patriotism, which is all justifiably disliked. but there is still good stuff! but i also think pretty much every country is the worst in some way so yep
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I’ve never heard anyone say that “American as apple pie” is an excuse to eat apple pie. And by the way, sometimes the United States messes up, but here we have free speech and police who mostly want to help us.
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i just mean that you know, apple pie is actually not an american thing, but if we say it is then it’s okay to eat four pies. maybe that’s only me. 
in the same way that i have 0% interest in the super bowl but darn if i won’t go to a super bowl party to eat snax for five hours straight.
and yes, i agree with that!
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I agree.
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Hey guys! Just checking in quickly. I got stung by a jellyfish two days ago and I still have the mark. It hurt like cake. Anyways, see you guys in three days!
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Do you know what kind of jellyfish it was?
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No, actually. It was small and green, and I was fairly close to the shore, if that helps. Eh, it’s only fun if you get a scar out of it. </httyd reference
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At least you didn’t eat a jellyfish… AND DIE!
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That NEEDS to be in a Harry Potter parody. Now.
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OH GOSH YES! At first I didn’t get it, but now I see!
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Are there any myths about starlings? They seem like they’d merit a good trickster tale.
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I think there’s something in celtic mythology, but I don’t know as much about that as other mythos (sadly, as it’s very good, I wish I could find more of it). Nothing comes to mind from Greek or Norse mythology, or Egyptian. Celtic(possibly) or probably Native American/American Indian (does anyone know what the current PC term even is right now?) is probably your best bet.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branwen#The_Starling_and_Br.C3.A2n_the_Blessed
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Thank you! That’s interesting; I didn’t get the impression they were particularly tameable. They’re smart, though, so it makes sense. I saw a lot of fledgling and juvenile starlings today when I went to feed the baby birds at my local wildlife rehab place, and they were much more… energetic than the other birds. (Read: If the cage is 1/3 open for a moment for cleaning or feeding, don’t dare take your eyes off it. Or your hand, although they might bite it and often try to perch on it. It was cute. I have a very strange definition of cute, of course, but they have so much personality that they fit under it. They’re untrustworthy, though)…
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ALL OF YOU LIST AN ANIMAL RIGHT NOW IF YOU WANNA BE IN MY NOVEL!
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TARDIGRADE.
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Musk ox.
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WOMBAT!
cutest creatures evar <3
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HOT PINK BUNNY
…Unless you’re not writing a horror story
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Geese
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NAKED MOLE RAT
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BLUE CORNISH PIXIE
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PESKIPISKI PESTERNOMI
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AMERICAN ALLIGATOR!!!!!!
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SQUID
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ALPACA
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Pig?
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Wombat.
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Do (certain species of) Pokemon count?
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Human
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Porbeagle.
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Eh?
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*Googles* Ah.
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There was a recent Muse issue about how it and other ugly endangered animals aren’t getting the attention they deserve.
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There was? I haven’t seen it…Was it the July issue? I haven’t gotten it yet.
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No, neither have I; I think it was the May/June one. It had the Saint Helena Earwig in it, and it talked about zoos.
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No, it can’t have been the May/June one. That’s the one about connections. With the wordle on the cover.
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It must have been the April one, then. Yes, that’s it; another article talked about the Northwest Pacific Tree Squid and the spaghetti trees.
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An otter.
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Uh, sea lion?
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Oliphaunt.
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Blobfish.
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Dolphin.
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My beloved Kindle has broken, so I won’t be on MB much in the future. 
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NOOOO!
* sympathy squid*
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*huggles and choklit* Please, please stay? Or at least come back soon?
My beloved Kindle broke once as well, so we got a new one. Although, I believe a desktop is more convenient to work with?
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I’ll be gone for about a week. Returning on the 9th.
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HAVE FUNNNNN WHERE ARE YOU GOING/IF YOU ARE BACK WHERE DID YOU COME FROM
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MONTEREY
KELP
OH YEAH.
And of course, we went to the aquarium and visited all the historic spots in it (by which I mean the filming locations for Star Trek: The Voyage Home).
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Monterey Bay! Did you visit the aquarium?
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She said she did…
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Leaving tonight for a week in England with the relatives, several days in Paris, a week’s cycling holiday in the south of France, and then a week of chamber music also in the south of France (I hope my French is good enough) – excited, but Internet access/posting will be sparse. Au revoir, MuseBlog!
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Goodbye! I’n going to Austin for a day or 2 in minutes.
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Hae a great time! That sounds amazing.
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Sel–Ooh, have fun in Paris!
I am going sailing on a nice tall ship! The one that my friend’s parents own. ‘Tis a historical schooner and they take people out on passenger cruises each summer. My friend comes with us to Baxter State Park and I go on their schooner for a trip! It’s quite a nice arrangement.
So I just wanted to say that I’m going out tomorrow (Unless one of their crew members can’t come, in which case I can’t go and this post is unnecessary.) and coming back on the 9th.
Happy early Independence Day!!!
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Awesome, lucky.
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TALL SHIP WHAT IS THIS WHICH ONE?
OR AT LEAST WHAT COAST IS IT ON?
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One o’ them Maine windjammers, I’ll be bound.
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I’m kinda worried about this kid – actually these two kids – who were in my classes before school let out. They’re always talking about how they shouldn’t be eating a brownie or whatever, how they feel guilty because they need to keep their weight off. One of them I think is trying to stay in shape for football season, but one is like the skinniest guy ever. The football guy refused to eat a popsicle at my barbecue the other night, and I asked the skinny guy if he actually thought he was fat and he told me yes. All our other classmates are constantly telling them they’re not fat, but…yeah, whatever. I’m just worried. I can’t really do anything about it, but I feel bad for those two.
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That is worrying. Maybe someone weighing only slightly more than them can ask them if they think en is fat, and if they say know, tell them their weight to show it’s more? I don’t know if it’ll help, though.
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Well, school’s out, so I don’t know.
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My family is having its Fourth of July party tonight (because it works better for one person, while it also prevents my sister and two of my cousins from coming)), but I can’t think of anything good to blow up. Ideas?
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A photo, perhaps? *is bombarded by atrocious-pun pies*
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We used to blow up toy cars and such when we lived in South Carolina where firecrackers were legal. It’s a wonder none of us were damaged by shrapnel.
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We did Hot Wheels a few years ago. Last year we colored all over a Barbie and then blew that up.
What places are fireworks illegal in, MuseBlog? I know that this year there’s quite a few places because of all the drought. Ironically, fireworks laws got more lax this year where I live–for two weeks before the Fourth you can buy and sell fireworks within city limits. In past years we’ve had to drive for a ways before we got to somewhere to buy fireworks.
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In Massachusetts, sparklers and fireworks are illegal. Which doesn’t stop us from sparklering at the Fourth party we always attend.
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Th-that’s your idea of a Fourth o’ July party? Some measly sparklers?
Man, I’m glad I live in Nebraska. The fireworks only start getting illegal here when they can, more or less, blow up a watermelon. That doesn’t mean no one has those sorts of fireworks, though–they’re quite a common sound, booming through the neighborhood.
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Here in New York, but the police men just watch the fireworks with the people setting them off.
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That’s my experience too. You can get a special license, but almost no one does and my neighbor had a nice fireworks display last night.
Sparklers are legal though, I think.
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Fireworks are completely illegal in Washington state, except on reservations.
When my dad was young, the only legal fireworks in the state were the ones that didn’t shoot up into the air. They could still have sparklers and fountains and such. He told me that one year, the state legislature liberalized the firework laws. Everybody could buy the big fireworks that shot up into the air!
Unfortunately, that Fourth of July, one of the senators who had voted for the bill had his house hit by one of those big fireworks that shot up into the air. Needless to say, by the next year, the laws got much more restrictive again! My family usually goes to the fireworks show that the local minor league baseball team puts on after their game on the Fourth, executed with a permit. Of course, there are lots of illegal displays as well.
I’m in New York right now visiting my grandparents, and I’ve been told that most everything is illegal here, too.
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they are legal a few places in southern california but mostly not since the area is basically a tinder box.
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You could go the Keith Moon route and blow up hotel-room toilets.
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Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet. Great idea, though, thanks, mom.
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Oh, and by the by, while I was out running errands I came across a pie stand — really and truly, it was a holiday fundraiser for veterans. So I stocked up: cherry, blueberry, AND strawberry. In other words, beware, I am armed to the teeth.
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We’ve found a new UU church! IT HAS AN ACTUAL BUILDING AND A REAL LIVE MINISTER! Although I do rather miss the old system of subversive meetings with downloaded sermons in living rooms. But this one is incredibly beautiful (so much stained glass) and the yUUth group is amazing.
Also, we’re getting an iMac. But who cares, we’ve found a new UU church!
Third of July party tonight. Should I go patriotically red-white-and-blue or sardonically Goth?
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Red, white, and blue.
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Awesome! Have fun with your new cronies ;).
Were it the fourth of July and not the third I’d say Goth, but since it’s the third both would probably get you looked at funny. Your choice.
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Goth. Always.
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Wore the blue-and-white skirt, but with the black top and eyeliner. And I threw in a witch’s hat just for kicks.
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YOU’RE A UU??? Cool!!!!! Now I know another UU besides my cousins and the ones in the church I go to!!!!!!
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There is SNOW. On the BEACH. In JULY. (I’m in the mountains of California right now.) It’s supposed to be blazingly hot and filled with mosquitoes. There is snow on the lake and beach and mountains. They had to cancel the Fourth of July parade.
What?!
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Just got home from my Christian youth group mission trip to the mountains in Maryland! I’ve honestly never had a better spiritual, mental and emotional experience and my faith in God has been completely restored, as well as meeting some amazing new friends. I’m so, so happy!
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This sounds awesome. Are you going back?
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Unfortunately, my youth group leader didn’t get a lot out of the experience because he’s lame, so we most likely won’t be going back next year (because I have to be going with a whole youth group in order to attend again, which majorly sucks). This makes me reaaaaally sad.
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Bibliophile and I had a somewhat unplanned KoKon today!
It was very fun. Unfortunately, no pictures, but since we didn’t really do anything that would be interesting to anybody else, you aren’t missing much.
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I can’t believe that in less than two months I will be going back to school and doing homework. I’m so excited for classes but godddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd I might cry.
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Went to the National Cathedral with my dad and saw the moon window and the Darth Vader grotesque. (It’s a special kind of gargoyle)
Tomorrow, the Mall will be crowded like nobody’s business, so I’m going to Somewhere Not The Mall. (I’m thinking Arlington National Cemetery, where I have not been yet.)
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My parents and I saw the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, tonight. I adored it. I think I was laughing, beaming, or sitting generally starry-eyed for most of the movie. I’m such a nostalgic.
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HEMINGWAYYYYYYYYY
HEARTS IN MY EYES
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And the FITZGERALDS
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Hemingway has tied with Holden for biggest literary-related crush in my heart.
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Okay guys so
I need $3000 by january
Well, before then, but I could probably get paretns to pay initially and pay them back.
BUT. THIS. THIS IS SO PERFECT IT HURTS. I have winter term januarys at my school. AND THIS:
“We need approximately ten volunteer research assistants to help with the census. Research assistants take part in two principal activities: counting diurnal primates in primary rainforest in the Caldera, and tagging sea turtles on the black-sand beaches of the southern coast of Bioko Island. While the expedition is a valuable source of field experience for those studying conservation biology, ecology, primatology, or anthropology, many research assistants find the trip alone is one of the formative experiences of their lives. For those who have never been to Africa, never camped in the bush, never been to places where tourists don’t go, and never seen life in those corners of the world that the twentieth century largely forgot, the trip is eye-opening and worthwhile far beyond the practical experience.”
HNNNG IT IS SO PERFECT IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME
AND I ACTUALLY QUALIFY FOR THE STUFF FOR IT INSTEAD OF NOT HAVING ENOUGH EXPERIENCE LIKE MOST
Seriously I wish wish wish I could do this but you have to apply by the end of september and I don’t know if I could pay for it (last winter term I stayed at college and it was like $800) but it would be so so so so awesome oh my god
I don’t even know if I’d get into it but I want to go so badly you have no idea
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say how much do you think kidneys are going for these days
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Auction off your belongings. IT’S WORTH IT THIS IS PERFECT.
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there has to be some way! you could sell stuff on ebay, or hmm…you could even tell relatives that in lieu of christmas present, THIS IS THE THING THAT YOU WANT. although if you don’t know yet i guess you can’t ask. when would you find out if you got into it? cause it does sound pretty amazing!
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This is the random thread, so I guess I’ll post this here:
Today I watched a fanfic being written that shipped Rainbow Dash (from MLP:FiM) with Space Core (from Portal 2). I’m sorry, MuseBlog, but other places on the internet are giving us a run for the money in the “indescribably random” field.
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ALPACAS
ALPACAS WITH JET PACKS
IN A VOGON SPACESHIP
…BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY TSUNAMIS
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AND THEN:
THE CIA’S SECRET ARMY OF MOLE PEOPLE REVOLT
no seriously, they TOTALLY have a mole-people army, they watch us, THEY ARE LIVING BENEATH US, THEY ARE TRACKING OUR EVERY MOVE, NO GROUND FLOOR IS SAFE
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Behold, the Underminer! I am always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me! I hereby declare war on peace and happiness! Soon, all will tremble before me!
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*puts superhero mask on*
BWA-DUM-BWAM-BA-DAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!
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AND THE TSUNAMIS ARE MADE OF RUBBER DUCKIES
WHICH THE ALPACAS ARE EATING
AND NOW THE ALPACAS TURN INTO RUTEBEGAS
Which I eat.
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Rutapacaduck: The next turduckin
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RUTABAGAS
AND AN ARMY OF ZUCCHINIS
Reposting from the old Quotations thread:
“Hey, the inside of Cleopatra smells like pencils!” -Me
((For the current purpouses, I shall pretend that this did not make sense in context.))
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I’M SAYING THERE’S A GHOST INSIDE OF YOUR COMPUTER.
THE GHOST OF THE LAB FROG YOUR UNCLE’S FRIEND’S COUSIN DISSECTED IN 1963.
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Good try, guys, but this fanfic was a lot more in-depth and thorough. And oddly well-written.
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SADLY, SOFTCOVER STUFF SPELLS SO SAD STRAY STATEMENTS R REALLY RARELY RANDOM.
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Mm, yes, quite.
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Okay. Maybe this is the slight dizziness from proximity to fireworks talking, or maybe it’s the late-night adrenaline, or maybe it’s the soda I had at the Third of July party, but… I love this country. Of course we have problems, but seriously, this is the most exuberantly happy place I’ve lived in. I’m so happy to be back. So many places in the world don’t have free speech, yet we do; and so if I wanted I could snark about NASA funding and debt crises and marriage inequality, but I can’t. Because I love this place. What a wonderfully odd nation it is.
By the way, despite fireworks being illegal here, my house between two others who have spent the last hour trying to outdo each other’s fireworks shows and have just called a coffee/nap break. I believe they’re starting up again. Gottagobye.
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Hear, hear. I feel that most people that talk about how horrible the US is don’t actually compare it to any other countries. Since you’ve spent a wee bit of time in one such other country, I think you have a more complete perspective. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” and whatnot. There’s a reason why America is a land of immigrants, why so many people in Central America and elsewhere are risking their lives to get here, why diversity is the norm, why we’re held as a standard around the globe.
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Me, I don’t love America because we’ve got free speech, or free religion, or those things (though make no mistake, I do appreciate them like crazy).
I love America because we are a nation founded on ideals. We weren’t created because some conqueror a thousand years ago brought his marauding tribe over and killed everyone until they agreed he got to be king. We don’t place our national pride in a dynasty of emperors, or place our faith in the supposedly supernatural powers of a single man.
When we created this nation, we decided to create it based on ideals: the ability of the people to choose their own government and the responsibility of the government to protect the rights of the people. And for that, I love this country.
And throughout history, have we always held up our ideals in an exemplary manner? Heh, no. But have we lost them permanently? Never.
So however much I may envy the pomp and circumstance of England’s monarchy, or the elegant beauty of Japan’s old temples, they can keep them. And I’ll keep my Statue of Liberty, and never stop working to ensure that one day America will truly deserve to have her here.
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Wow. You’ve done it again.
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Hear hear!
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When I first read that post I thought you were still living in Singapore, causing momentary confusion.
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Another 4th of July in Holland! (I don’t miss any fireworks though — my town does their fireworks show in September (for no apparent reason.)) So here I am typing on a horrifically slow computer that turns ” into an umlaut (like this: ä) half the time. Not that I have anything against umlauts, it just gets annoying when I forget to hit space after a “. Oh, and I’m going to go to Germany soon and I’m really excited!!! I’m going to see my friend M who lives there from late March to late August every year!!!
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I like to say “umlaut.” Umlaut umlaut umlaut.
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UmlautUmlautUmlautUmlaut… It IS fun!
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Happy 4th!
Fireworks set off at the neighbors around 11:00, probably illegal, but I was up anyway and they were fun to watch.
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I am about to leave for Switzerland!
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SFTDP
Beetles is, as well.
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HEY YOU GUYS IT’S INDEPENDENCE DAY
I’m going to a street fair today. And my Hufflepuff scarf is almost done.
Alice – I agree about the fireworks. I’m not especially patriotic (probably comes from having non-American parents …) but eh, explosions are cool. 
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Fourth of July fair! This being California, there were a number of people dressed in red coats and bearing muskets, marching around the park singing “God Save the Queen.” Unfortunately, that’s also the tune to “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” so there was a bit of a stand-off. But hey, free nachos!
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Every time you post about California, I’m just all “SQUEE you live in the Bay Area now someone else lives in the Bay Area.”
High five for weird locals!
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YOU LIVE IN THE BAY AREA WHY WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS.
Kokon? Please oh please?
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When was the last Kokon in California?… We could possibly get one planned? Sadly I have not really been to a Kokon before…
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Well, it depends on where in California, since I’m unlikely to be able to come to SoCal this summer, and SoCal MBers are unlikely to be able to come up here just to Kokon.
I’m free all summer… after the next three weeks.
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I’m free half of the summer which doesn’t exactly include most of the next half of summer and I’m in the Bay Area. Kokon? Please? I don’t know how my parents will react if i request their permission, but it’s definitely worth a try.
And also. I believe R101 is here for part of the summer, although I don’t know if it’ll work for her. Just mentioning it.
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The last Kokon in California was a year or two ago, with me and Rainbow and Rainbow’s sisters down here in Orange County. That was the “official” Kokon with pictures, but summer of ’10 we went to Girl Scout camp together for nine days. No pictures posted, but we are planning to see each other for the HP showing.
The link to the thread concerning the previous Kokon is here (be warned, I look awful in these pictures, and we were about 11 so we look different now): https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=1646
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Aw, you look fine. It’s possible I’m coming to SoCal in November- maybe then?
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YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DOWN I WOULD BE. Unfortunately, my mother believes everyone on the Internet is a creepy stalker rapist, so it’d take a while to convince her.
But guess what? YOU LIVE HERE. I LIVE HERE. WE LIVE HERE. We have two years to KoKon before I leave for college! This is why living in the Bay Area is awesome! (That and the local weirdos.)
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Yeah, so is mine. Let’s accidentally run into each other at the library. Or come up with some extremely plausible scenario for my parents, like Selenium and I did. Somehow this convinced my mother that she actually knew Selenium.
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Usually parents send e-mail to us GAPAs; then we send them one another’s e-mail addresses and let them take it from there. A little clunky, but it gets the job done.
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Hm. Well, as soon as I can convince my mom that I’m not being stalked by pedophiles on the internet, I’ll give it a shot. Oh, and we still have the pictures from the Singapore kokon! What to do…
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Well, there’s the matter of convincing her the GAPAs aren’t crazy creepy Internet stalkers as well.
And if I show her MuseBlog, I can’t get rid of the feeling that she’ll want to read through it and see what I’ve been doing. She has little to no concern for my privacy, especially when she’s worried about me, and this would definitely worry her– she’d want to make sure I was safe on here.
And there are some things I really don’t want her to go rummaging through, like every single post on the R&R thread, or anything involving my sexuality ever, or the Poems & Songs thread, or the Rants & Plaints thread. So. Issues there.
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…GAPAs? Crazy Internet stalkers? …*sniffle*
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I KNOW! But she doesn’t.
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51- Ah, red coats would be unbearably hot in July. Also, if there is one good thing about the formation of America, it is that it made the British Empire smaller, which is good because it was a massive tyrannical superpower. Too bad America turned around and became the next massive tyrannical superpower. We need some secessions.
It’s like 75 degrees here and I can’t go outside without feeling like I’m going to melt. WHAT IS THAT YELLOW GLOWY THING? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.
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WE HAVE TICKETS TO THE BACK-TO-BACK HARRY POTTER SHOWING AT MIDNIGHT. NOW I NEED TO MAKE NEW DIRIGIBLE PLUM EARRINGS BYE.
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13.1.2.1.1- That’s not his real name, it’s a blogreference nickname/codename for when I am being Secret Agent Lightning instead of just plain old AL. And when I needed to escape him last year.
A WEEK FROM NOW I SHALL BE AT BANDCAMP OH CALLOOH CALLAY BANDCAMP IS IN A WEEK OH I CANNOT WAIT.
Except my friend Flute will be there. And Tuba. And Tuba’s friends who used to go to this school. And Red. But he’ll be doing piano, not band with us. And Bassoon and Piano and Upright Bass and All that other stuff I don’t feel like typing, including musical theater. (The disadvantages of using people’s instruments as blogreference nicknames…) And we’ll all be in the same band… But Flute and I are rooming together and it’s going to be so much fun!!!!!!
Anyway, just got back from crabfeast at cousins. Gottago cleanmyroom byenow
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SFTDP I don’t mean Flute being there is a bad thing. It’s just that she and Tuba won’t mix.
Changingbackgravatarlaterbyenow
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Today’s post comes to you in nine parts.
1. Sooooo Anime Expo Saturday!
I was dressed as England, J went as Italy, Manda went as America, and Dani went as Hinata. We made friends with a Romano and a China.
I got a huge ton of compliments and I GOT A PRINT FROM HAKUKU HOLY CAKE HOLY CAKE.
Then we wore our cosplays into Souplantation and life was good. I’m still really tired.
2. I’ve been thinking about expanding my currently-plotless series into a big serious epic and the comic might be put on hold so I can establish some plot because someone that may or may not have appeared yet will be killed by the end of it. I like drawing gore too much.
3. my mother’s temper goes up and up as her daycamp draws closer datewise so internet will start to get even more restricted. *sigh*
4. I want to write a Hetalia/Death Note crossover, not just plotwise but the effect Kira has on the nations. Like what America thinks about the US standing down and the SPK, or just for all of them how it feels to have so many people killed. The pressure on Japan and how England feels about Wammy’s House and the boys.
5. Rainbow and I probably will be seeing HPDH7.5 together! It will be fun.
6. I really, really think the new version of Internet Explorer sucks, but my parents won’t change to another browser. This new thing they have? Really stupid.
7. I just learned that Helga Hufflepuff was Welsh. For some reason I think that fits insanely well.
8. My sister and my dad are visiting college sites and watching college videos and I don’t want Manda to leave. Most of my family life is very constant, my current household being around since I was born (yes, including my dog). The only death close to me in my family was when I was five.
The awkward thing is the fact that one of my friend’s dad died last March, which in turn convinced my dad to got to the hospital to be treated for back pain which turned out to be an infection and he was in the hospital for a week and Dani still doesn’t know about this, and J’s dad just walked out on them a month or two ago leave her family with no source of income. It’s very awkward to talk about my dad.
9. So apparently someone made a parody of Death Note called Death-a-Sketch and I really, really want to watch it so I’ll post and go do that now.
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It’s the fourth of July.
Happy independence day, MB!
It being the fourth has led me to think a bit about being an American, and being proud to be an American. There are times that I can’t stand this country, and there are many times that I know this country is a blessing, especially for me.
There has not been one time in the course of history that America has lived up to it’s ideals, not as a community or socially, but as a lawmaking force. Not one time where we have remembered the purpose of our government as applied to all people.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” (Declaration Of Independence)
And that makes me sad. It saddens me that we have not yet realized the spirit and intent that founded our country.
But I am also hopeful. I am hopeful because we are such a young country. We forget it, sometimes, but 235 years old is infantile compared to the thousands of years that countries have stood. And in those 235 years we have come so far in realizing that dream of equality. We have abolished slavery, we have ended Jim Crow laws, allowed women the vote, separated church and state. Despite the existence of racism, sexism, and discrimination based on religion in our society they are, for the most part, nonexistent in our laws.
We are so close, so very close, to realizing the principles that our country was founded upon. Each year we get closer yet.
I am, as are some of you, one of the people directly affected by unjust laws against the spirit of our country. The hypocrisy of this gets to me. It bugs me. But I know that we are close, closer than we’ve ever been, and I know I can be a part of that. I can help change my country. That’s why I love America. It allows me to fight for what I care about.
I was reading an article in the BBC the other day [http: //www.bbc.co.uk/ news/world-africa-13908662] about “corrective rape” and violence against lesbians in South Africa. First, it saddened me incredibly, as South Africa is legally and in theory the best place in Africa to be if you’re gay. Then, it made me incredibly grateful to be an American, specifically to be a Seattle-ite. I am incredibly grateful for my community, incredibly grateful that I don’t have to live in that kind of fear.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the fireworks,
Clare
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I hate to be a Negative Nancy, but America wasn’t actually founded on the ideals you refer to. When they said that all men were created equal, they unfortunately did mean white, landowning males. Lincoln himself viewed blacks as lesser beings, and he believed that whites and blacks could never live together as equals. True religious freedom was also never quite intended–as you mentioned, the Declaration specifically mentions a Creator, which (it can be certainly inferred) means the Judeo-Christian God, and it pushes for ideals based on that. Of course, there is no one opinion held by the foggy group we call the “Founding Fathers”. Among the founders of this country were some of the most bitter rivalries and disagreements in our history, and they were at each others’ throats trying to shape the fledgling country to agree with their personal views. These disagreements are still around today, in arguments about how much power the federal and state governments should have. The debate is raging.
America is founded on dissent. And that is what makes it great. Such a wide range of people make for an equally wide range of ideas and beliefs, and the systems that were set up in the eighteenth century have evolved continuously to support them. That is the ideal that the Founders wanted. Quite simply: the right for the people to express their personal beliefs and exercise an active role in shaping their own government.
In closing, a short thought I’ve been pondering the last few days: there is no greater praise for America than openly criticizing it.
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First off–with Creator:
A number of the founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, were Deist, not Judeo-Christian at all, which is why it says Creator instead of God. Many constitutions, even far more recent ones, say God so I figure we’re doing pretty well right off the bat.
Second off–I’m aware that at the time the constitution was formed “all men” referred to “all white, property owning, males.” However, I still believe the principles remain what I inferred them to be because at the time the social environment was such that the only people seen in society were “all white, property owning, (straight) males.” such that what the Declaration says is “all people seen in society are created equal.” As societies change and grow to include “all people, regardless of gender, race, religion, or [hopefully] sexual orientation”, the people visible, obviously, have changed. I interpret the spirit of the document, and of the act it signified, to not be literal but to be “all people” because as we change, our definition as a society of “all people” changes as well. I believe a document exists separate of its creators, and I believe this extends to the Declaration. The Founding Fathers, and what they would have done, is a completely ridiculous form of speculation in my opinion because it’s been 235 years, and they would no longer recognize the world.
Most importantly–I entirely agree that the highest form of American patriotism is criticism. Blind criticism of everything, no, but informed criticism is how our country was founded in the first place.
“that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
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So I spent my Fourth of July wandering around Arlington leaving white roses on astronauts’ graves.
Day well spent.
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D’awww.
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♥
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I was going to write something about how awesome that is and how awesome you are, but I think what Jade said summed it up pretty well.
Thank you for existing.
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Oh, shoot, I just realized that you won’t understand the “thank you for existing” thing. My friend had a dream that she met all of the people she looks up to, and couldn’t think of what to say to them, so she said, “Thank you for existing!”
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For me, this Fourth of July had no fireworks at all. There’s a burn ban here due to lack of rain, so not even the usual large planned ones were put on.
Ah well. I had hamburgers and water balloons and bubbles. What more could anyone ask for?
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Oh, was that what happened? I didn’t hear any, either, but I didn’t know why. I didn’t do anything much talk about hoping from Ireland that the evil Wizarding British DH government would be overthrown, but I had a Kokon the day before, so I don’t mind.
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Scattered post alert.
I actually had a very nice Fourth. I spent it marching in the morning, gardening in the afternoon, and with my boyfriend and our friends in the evening. The evening was the highlight of my day, though. We watched a movie after sitting outside and talking for a bit, then walked down to the school yard to watch fireworks. We were going to sit on the roof, but there were a ton of people around, so we just sat on the playground and got annoyed by drunk kids. There was one girl who talked to us for a bit though, who I thought was a total jerk, but was very nice to us. We had a very nice conversation, so she wasn’t drunk, or not very drunk.
My brother has been horrible to me lately- making fun of me and my boyfriend and my friends, and I keep on telling him to stop very kindly, but he keeps on going. I thought my mom would stop him by now, but she’s been getting in on the jokes. It’s terribly frustrating. Le sigh.
I arranged the flowers at the church this Saturday, and the priest saw. He wants me to arrange the flowers at his wedding in July. He and his partner have been together for a long time, but they can finally get married now.
Okay, that’s all.
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Life is theatre for me currently….
We go up in two days, tomorrow is a photoshoot instead of a tech rehearsal. You get to know people pretty caking well hanging out with them backstage this much. The Old Shepherd brought many glowsticks today, and Autolycus the Younger’s mother brought a random small American flag. The Clown somehow almost-but-not-quite missed every single one of his entrances — I take a perverse pleasure in watching him sprinting around trying frantically to get rid of all the glowsticks from his clothing before he goes onstage. He is cakin’ awesome. ^_^
Hermione is the spaciest actress in the history of spacey actresses. I have to go get her for her cue 90% of all scenes we have with her. It’s a bit stressful, but… whatever.
I love this theatre company, I really do. Most of the time. XD
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I spent the last four hours or so setting off fireworks at a friend’s house. We set them off to epic music. I stink of gunpowder and it was flamablamablous.
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Okay, I’m not a big fan of injections, but can I just say it’s nice to get them from someone who isn’t dancing to music on their iPod?
On another note, TB skin tests are alarming. Why would you need a bubble under your skin?
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Three cheers for… er… injections… without… dancing, I guess?…erm…
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Hey, you’re a rutabaga again! Congratulations!
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PG- If it’s not too late, ocelot. If it is, never mind. If that’s already taken, chinchilla.
BAND CAMP IN SIX DAYS
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Uhhhhg it is hot out. And my room hates me. It is below our attic which means it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer regardless of the temperature in the rest of the house. Heat/AC don’t seem to affect my room temp x_x I have my fan on high 24/7 right now and it is not helping, and while AC helps a bit dad refuses to turn it on because the rest of the house is FINE but this is the place where I SLEEP and I can’t do that if I want to crawl out of my skin UHG
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I had an excellent weekend; monsterpost ahead.
I hitched a ride with a friend to a French and Indian War re-enactment at Old Fort Niagara in upstate New York, then my dear twinny came and camped out too! It was awesome on many levels.
Barbara (my twin) is a really awesome person and I love her to pieces but hadn’t seen her since last summer/fall, so it was fantastic to have visiting time. She used to do Rendezvous (kinda-sorta re-enacting but not old-time-y instead of actually historically correct) but hadn’t been in a long time and had been missing it, so she was excited to do it (or something similar/better) again.
The event was good and the fort is beautiful. It’s earthen/brick with stone gates and buildings, right on lake Ontario and the Niagara river. The entire place has such a feeling of permanence, even more than my beloved local F&I stone fort. The buildings were amazing, even though it was 80+ degrees out, inside the buildings it was maybe 70-ish ir so and breezy. Part of it was that they’re massive stone buildings with thick, thick walls, but the way they sucked wind out of the light breezes outside was amazing. I’m certain it was at least partially by design, since other historical buildings I’ve been in have practically been built in a way that creates natural air conditioning. Why can’t we do that now?
Another exciting thing was that I found a gown! Now, a gown in 18th century terminology is a little different than it is today, but it’s close enough. What I found is a working-class gown, meaning it’s made out of a cotton-linen blend fabric and is a fairly simple construction without lots of embellishments. This is EXACTLY what I’ve been wanting, because the most common re-enactor outfit is shift, petticoat, shortgown (kind of a loose, jacket-y thing) and apron, which is almost right but not quite. There’s actually some question as to whether shortgowns were called shortgowns and whether they were regularly worn at all. They’re fairly easy to make, however, certainly more so than a fitted jacket or gown that needs to be draped, so most women just schlep around in them and assume that everyone in the 18th century wore them.
ANYWAY. Though thankfully there’s been a movement within the re-enactor community to get more women into gowns and fitted clothing that we see more often in period artwork, they’re not as common as some would like. I’ve been pining after a working gown for some time, but we’ve never made one (though we have the fabric), so this was amazing. You don’t usually find them on blanket sales.
The gown is dark-ish green with a center-meeting bodice part (no stomacher or laces, you pin it together with straightpins or baste yourself in if you’re prone to stabbing yourself) and open front skirt, so you wear a co-ordinating petticoat (skirt) underneath it, a fitted back (as opposed to a sackback or “saque” gown) and plain sleeves. It also came with a petticoat (which isn’t any great shakes, I like my own better) and some extra fabric from the gown.
All this for, wait for it, $20. When I asked the price I was expecting at LEAST $60 if not more. And it fits me perfectly. And it’s a color I love that goes with practically all my clothes. And it is exactly what I’ve been longing for the past few years.
I have an 18th century gown. I HAVE AN 18TH CENTURY GOWN. AAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Night before last I went swimming/took a bath in lake Ontario at sunset. It was one of those stunning sunsets where the sky is a pale but intense blue and the sun is throwing liquid streaks of peach-y orange across it and the seagulls were flying prettily over the lake. the horizon was misty, broken only by a ghostly, almost mirage-like cityscape of Toronto on the far shore.
I was the only person on the beach, so I stood waist-deep in the water and tried to soak in all the beauty and stillness around me before diving back under the glistening orange water. It was unspeakably beautiful and one of those moments that your soul needs now and then. Beauty, solitude and content. I haven’t felt contentment in awhile; I needed that. when I finally dragged myself out of the water (it was, after all, getting dark and I was the only person on the beach, I didn’t want my friends to worry that I’d drowned) I stood with the waves caressing my ankles and the rocky beach tugging at my feet and sang the Grey Funnel Line, one of the most beautiful and haunting songs I know. When I sing about being homeward bound, I realized yet again, I mean heading out onto the water on a ship, not the other way around.
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Sounds like you had a fabulous time! I love moments like the one you talked about in the last paragraph. I don’t consider my summer a real summer without a few of them.
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Everybody: KaiYves is in my office right now! I’ll log off so she can leave a message or three.
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Hi, Kai! Glad you could make it!
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Hey, everybody! Robert’s keyboard is a little hard to type on, it’s got this funny ergonomic (I guess) design. I came here after work and he showed me all around the offices of Science magazine and he introduced me to the woman who helped him answer Erin’s question! I got to see him moderate a little, too!
The elevators here are really cool. I’ve got to say I was nervous when I talked to the guard lady at the desk- I told the truth and said Mr. Coontz didn’t know me, but that I’d read his work, and for a second, I thought she was going to think I was one of those creepy insane women who stalk writers and send me away. But she called for him and he came down to see me!
You guys- He has the XKCD chart of “The Observable Universe” hanging in his office! And also a picture of some protohumans with writing on it in Japanese. And a Chandra poster. And a spyglass on his desk. And also some houseplants.
I am really, really excited right now!
Also, I think he edits the pictures of himself he posts, he has more gray hair in person- OW! LEGO! NO, DON’T DELETE IT- ROBERT I WAS JUST JOKING! LET ME COMMENT-
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*envy*
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That was my reaction, too, but then THEY TELEPHONED ME! Conference call! Yay!
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*EVEN MORE ENVY*
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Oops! I meant kokonference call, of course.
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Hehehe. Sounds awesome! And Robert your office sounds like I’d expect Although, the LotR timeline of characters and who they were with/when xkcd poster would have been my first guess probably ^^
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Any MBer who comes to Washington is welcome to visit.
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Next time I visit my grandparents. And I’m due for a visit, too.
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I just sprang out of my seat. I’M COMING TO WASHINGTON.
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OH MY MUSE
ENVYENVYENVYENVY
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I’m enjoying reading about others’ Independence Day celebrations. I, myself, visited with family after watching a parade. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to have candy flung at one from firetrucks. There’s something deliciously rule-breaking about a) grabbing candy from the road and b) accepting candy from strangers in one fell swoop!
[Insert clever segue here.]
A pair of teenaged guys in a go-cart, who were throwing candy to children of both genders and teenagers of the female persuasion, threw me some Skittles and toffee before yelling “Happy Chanukah!” (My aunt heard them yelling “Merry Christmas!” later on.) I rather like this holiday-mixing–after all, I once walked into a cafeteria in July wearing bunny ears and wishing people a happy Easter.
Thought some of you would be amused.
66.2–KaiYves: Congratulations on your successful GAPA stalking! Ahem. Sorry. Have fun in Robert’s Office of Magnificence!
What kind of houseplants? (I’m always curious about other people’s plants.)
I am also now curious about the nifty elevators in the offices of Science. What makes them nifty?
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I believe you may have just coined a great new codename for Robert’s Headquarters- Robert’s Office Of Magnificence, or ROOM for short.
I like it.
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I seem to remember posting a picture of Robert’s ROOM…ah, here it is, though it’s slightly out of date and he’s probably changed the decor:
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I suppose “Robert’s ROOM” is technically redundant, except it seemed rather awkward to just say “a picture of the ROOM” and anyway THAT wouldn’t work because then it would actually mean “the Robert’s &c” which sounds odd, and “a picture of ROOM” sounds even odder but maybe that’s just me. Robert’s OOM?
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Ah, the joys of acronym redundancy. PIN number, ATM Machine, SAT Tests
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I once heard someone say Personal PIN Number.
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I once read a book- a published, edited book- which included the phrase “BMI Index.”
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Yes, it’s a quick-and-easy “gotcha” — but is it really so bad?
When I was a typist at the Pentagon (one of my summer jobs in college), I had to memorize the style manuals of the Government Printing Office and the Associated Press. At that time, the GPO style manual said you were allowed to echo the last word of an acronym. For example, with the then-common acronym LDC for “less-developed country” or “less-developed countries,” it was okay to talk about “LDC countries.” The echo had to be exact, however; it was not permissible to talk about “LDC nations.”
That rule made sense to me. There are a lot of acronyms around, and sometimes you need a little nudge to remind you which one is which. “ATM machine” — which would pass muster with the GPO manual — strikes a nice balance, neither too concise nor too pedantically wordy, IMHO. So does “PIN number,” especially because “pin” is a real word with an unrelated meaning.
In cases like those, a little redundancy seems to me a small price to pay for clearer communication, even if it means having to pass up occasional opportunities to feel superior to other people.
</gapa_sermonette>
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I think of the abbreviations as almost adjectival when they need to be.
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Why not just say LD Countries or Pih Number, then?
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I like “a picture of ROOM”. It makes life sound like a text adventure.
You find yourself in ROOM. Exits are NORTH and EAST.
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Exit ROOM by EAST.
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You are in HALLWAY. There is a WINDOW with closed blinds. At the end of the hall there is a STAIRCASE. Exits are WEST and NORTH.
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Walk down STAIRCASE.
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I read that as “staircake.”
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You are in ATRIUM. There are POSTERS on the walls. Type YES to read the POSTERS.
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YES.
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Hey, woah, I’m the game here.
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You are in AUDITORIUM. The lights are all off, but you can see a PIANO on the STAGE. The air feels musty. Exits are SOUTH.
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>south
We really need an IF thread. GAPAs?
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There’s a Choose Your Path thread. Is that what you mean? I want it to be revived, but I don’t feel like starting a story, so I’d love it if you did.
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IF stands for Interactive Fiction, which is another way of saying text adventure game.
Error: Unknown user detected. Input discarded.
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Open PIANO.
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Okay, okay. I’ll make an Interactive Fiction thread.
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There’s a more recent picture on this year’s Towel Day thread. The plant has grown alarmingly since it was taken and has sent a stalk snaking toward my mouse pad.
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…it’s not trying to take over your administrative abilities, right?
Introducing: The Dieffenbachia GAPA.
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GIVE IT A USERNAME AND A KEYBOARD
NEW MUSEBLOG PET
Have you named it yet?
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I always wondered, what happened to the wungs? They used to be everywhere.
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They’re still flitting around. I think people just got used to them and stopped paying attention. Or maybe they’re out sightseeing in other dimensions. Time and space seem not to mean much to them.
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As KaiYves noted, I’ve also changed my hair.
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Cerulean Pyros: There’s just one plant, a Dieffenbachia that I inherited from a co- worker. It’s taller than I am.
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You press the button for the floor you want to go to before you get inside, so once the elevator comes, all you have to do is step inside and it takes you to that floor. (But you can’t change your mind.)
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In most places elevators are our servants, but here at Science they are the masters. There are five of them, which out of consideration for human frailty allow themselves to be known as A, B, C, D, and E. (Their real names are in machine code, and we couldn’t pronounce them.) When we tell them we need to go to a certain floor, they respond by telling us which of them will take us there. It’s best to do as they say.
The only drawback to the system is that now, when I’m in another building and have to deal with an ordinary servant elevator, half the time I forget to give it orders. The elevator gets confused, and other passengers give me funny looks.
I get along well with all of our elevators, but C is my favorite. It’s slightly bigger than the others and has padded walls for freight. It feels cozy, and sometimes you need those padded walls.
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I can’t deal with this. I don’t know how.
Last week my sister left for a prestigious music camp. She was going to stay six weeks. They’re sending her home.
They said she was cutting herself, burning herself, threatening people. She doesn’t do that. She never has. She’s always been fine.
What’s happening?
I can hardly stop cryinging long enough to write this. I don’t know what to do. I want to help. I want to hear that it’s all okay, she’s okay, that this last half hour didn’t happen. That none of these things happened.
But I won’t. The past can’t change. There’s nothing I can do.
Help. Please. Tell me if I can do anything. Tell me what I can do.
I’m being unreasonable. I know you don’t have all the answers. But I don’t know where else to turn.
Mom says she’s going to get help for her. I know that should mean that everything will be okay, but don’t know how to believe that yet.
I don’t know why I’m typing this. I don’t know what I hope to do. Maybe I just want to hear everybody say encouraging things. I don’t know.
I think I stopped knowing anything when I heard.
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It’s okay. Your family is doing the best they can for her and the most important thing is that your sister will get help, which it sounds like your mom is doing the best she can.
Take a deep breath.
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Okay. Take a deep breath. Just breathe for a second.
The thing is, it’s possible she did do that in the past. Hurting yourself is something you go to the scariest lengths to hide. It’s not your fault you didn’t know before. You don’t have to change the past. Don’t go looking for clues that you think were there. Absolutely do not blame yourself. It’s nobody’s fault.
Getting help doesn’t automatically mean she’s going to be okay immediately, but it does mean she’s already a lot better off than if this had gone on hidden. I’m glad your mother is getting help for her, because (I’ve probably said this before) its horribly difficult to help yourself. She needs this. No matter how much she lashes out, or how angry she is, or how much she insists she doesn’t need therapy. She needs it.
We’re here for you, all right? Good luck.
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What you can do is love her no matter what, love your family no matter what, love yourself no matter what and admit when you’ve overwhelmed. Know that this isn’t anyone’s fault, and that it can and will get better. Spend time with people who will support you and avoid those who won’t. Give yourself some quality self-time. Do things that relax you. Recognize when your stress levels get too high and let people know when you need time to calm down before trying to do anything, even things that seem very basic. Help your sister, family and friends meet their needs, but ask that they help you meet yours in return. Don’t be ashamed about your situation.
Know that we are all here to help you in any way you can. Know that we all love you, and will be holding your family in our thoughts and/or prayers. I don’t know whether you believe in prayer or not, but the way I see it is that positive thoughts can’t be a bad thing, regardless of different belief systems or lack thereof.
You can get through this, and so can your sister and your family. It can even bring you all closer. It can be okay. It’s going to be hard to get to that point, but it’s an achievable goal that I have every confidence you’ll reach. Try to see that this is part of a journey, not the end.
You’re going to be okay. I love you.
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Thanks. I’m feeling a lot better now, after taking some time to calm down and reading your posts. Everything will be okay if I just wait, and offer support whenever I can.
I hate feeling helpless, not knowing what I can do.
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*huggles and sympathy and choklit and squid and maybe a wung*
Love you, all right?
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Oh dear, dear. Hugs hugs hugs. I am thinking hard of things you can do. One thing that springs to the top is “keep being yourself” and “keep going on”. But I know those things are so hard so I offer hugs hugs hugs.
Another thing you can do is remember that we all are here for you. You have us.
And yes, like others have said, breathe.
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*hugs and squid for you and your family*
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Okay, so I feel bad that I didn’t get to write about everything that happened yesterday beyond that brief description.
I went to the supermarket to buy some flowers first, and the only kind they had that were all alike and that there was more than one bouquet of were white roses. So I bought two bouquets of those, and I carried them around in a National Archives bag so that people wouldn’t stare on the Metro.
At the Visitor Center, the free maps you can get have a listing of famous gravesites, and one of the categories is “Exploration and Space”, so I based my walking plan around that.
First, I found Admiral Byrd’s gravestone, which I could see from the path, and left one of the roses there. I felt very good that I found Byrd so easily, so I headed to section 7A and looked for Mike Smith, the pilot of the Challenger.
That was harder, because there were (as you can imagine) a lot of stones that just said “Smith” on the back, and I would go around to the front and see that it was some other guy named Smith. But I finally found his and left a rose.
By this time, I was by the Tomb of the Unknowns, so I headed there in time to watch the Changing of the Guard. I took some pictures, but I left before the old sentry was out of sight because I wanted to be ahead of the crowd. I found the Challenger and Columbia monuments right across the street, but I didn’t have time to do more than take some pictures before the crowd came over and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the flowers with all of those people watching.
So I waited until they were gone and went up to leave three roses each on each monument. The grave of the Challenger commander, Dick Scobee, is appropriately right next to the shuttle monuments, so I turned to it, but the grass was kind of long at the base of the headstone and it was hard to read the bottom of the inscription, so I bent down and pulled out some of the grass so you could see the whole thing. Then, I put the rose at the base.
“Are you family?”
I heard a woman’s voice behind me and turned my head. There were two women standing on the path looking at me.
“No, I’m not, just… just someone who cares.” I said, awkwardly.
“My dad said he saw it blow up. He was watching right there. I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. We grew up in Florida, in space country…” and she told me this whole little story. It was really moving.
So I went behind the monuments to take photos of the backs, and I saw that three of the Columbia astronauts were buried behind them, but their names weren’t on the map under “Exploration and Space”. No matter, they got their flowers.
Now, all of this was deceptively easy, and I thought I was going to find Gus Grissom in Section 3 without much trouble. But Section 3 was really big, and I tramped around for a long time and didn’t find it. It was really hot, and the bugs were eating me alive, and there wasn’t another living person within my sight. So I decided to go find the Park Rangers at Arlington House and ask them where it was.
So I walked up there, and they told me where to go, and on my way back to Section 3, I stopped to see JFK’s Eternal Flame. The view of the city from that hill is incredible, you can see the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol and the Washington Monument, and, to your right, the Pentagon, which is so big you can’t even see the whole thing at once without trees getting in the way. (The Vehicle Assembly Building still has more interior space, though.)
I found Gus Grissom in Section 3, and Roger Chaffee next to him. They were two of the crewmembers on the Apollo 1 mission, who died in a training accident before the mission- but the subsequent modifications to the Apollo spacecraft allowed Apollo 11 to land successfully on the moon.
Both of their headstones had lots of pebbles on the top, which is a symbol of respect that I saw on a lot of other graves. On top of Chaffee’s, though, someone had also left a coin. At first, I thought it was just a quarter, but when I got closer, I saw that it was one of these little tokens they sell at the Smithsonian. (Each museum has a different design, and you’re supposed to “collect them all”.) The Air and Space Museum one shows a moonwalk and the words “Apollo 11- July 20, 1969.”
And I was really touched that someone had thought to leave that for Roger Chaffee.
Because they were telling him that he didn’t die for nothing, that they made it. (I’m getting misty as I type this.)
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You are absolutely amazing.
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She really is. She also talks amazingly fast — fast even for a New Yorker, and that’s saying a lot.
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You said you could understand!
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Oh, I could. I worked in New York for three years about the time most of the older MBers were busy being born. It’s just a matter of resetting my internal baud rate.
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Fastest talker I ever met was actually from Oklahoma. He eventually did move to NYC, at some point in his late 20s. Perhaps that was inevitable.
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I talk fast as well, but I often interject it with long periods of indecisive silence.
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Kai doesn’t do that, as far as I can tell. Sometimes she’s so eager to get the words out that she interrupts herself. It’s great fun to listen to.
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Yeah, I do that too. KAI YOU MUST COME VISIT ME
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I want to meet Kai!
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That is incredible, and extremely touching.
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Aww … that’s so sweet.
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You just gained about 20 billion more awesome points.
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How many is she up to now? Her total must be pretty astronomical.
((Hoho, you see what I did there?))
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I’m sure visiting Robert added to that astronomical (HEHEHE Piggy) total as well.
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And calling Lady Bunniful.
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Kai, you’re brilliant.
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Awwww… thanks.
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You guys all sound like you had so much excitement the past few days. I spent last night throwing up anything that even remotely resembled food, then slept passed out for awhile. At least I’m feeling better now, and the flight attendant was really sweet.
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*huggles and choklit and squid*
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Ick. Very, very sorry. Stomach trouble is no fun at all.
*hugs*
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Oh, I’m sorry. Urgle.
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*hugs and squid*
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I got the Time Magazine Fourth of July issue a few days ago, and I was flipping through it when I noticed on odd article on The Culture page.
Apparently, overnight someone took a statue of Russian soldiers “liberating” Bulgaria and painted each of the soldiers into an american pop culture figure. Some of the people were made into Santa, The Wolverine, etc.
There are some really good before/after pictures if you google Bulgarian statue vandalism, and it looks really funny.
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Pandora: Enter a song, album, or artist that interests you.
Me: They Might Be Giants.
Pandora: Theme from Minas Morgul by Howard Shore.
I think Pandora is reading my mind.
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I don’t know what I did, but somehow my Pandora account reached a state where it plays things like the White Stripes in combination with the Used.
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watching poi videos on the internet
I want miiiine. They are in the mail, on their way from new zealand. So shipping is two weeks. Week and a half more to go… adldfhgs. I wan tto SPIN.
I also tried looking up circus workshops, and there’s a free hour arial silks one in chicago… when we are out of town. Hopefully there’ll be another next month : /
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Testing Gravatar… *pays PoPoPo chocolate just in case*
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Sugar.
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What does it say on the hat?
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“THE RESISTANCE”.
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I made the hat pic last year for a Visual Basic project. The picture was the logo of the “webpage”.
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My aunt sent me a plush strawberry cupcake. I am firmly of the opinion that this is the best birthday present ever.
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In addition, it is approximately a foot in diameter. It’s an enormous stuffed cupcake.
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I am firmly of the opinion that my stuffed tardigrade is the best birthday present ever. Or my gerbil. That sounds awesome, though!
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I found blond hair spray for my Luna costume! I’m kind of tempted to dye it permanently, but my parents would explode, and we don’t want that.
Shadowfire- I just knitted one of those!
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That feeling’s back again. The one where I build myself a cabin in the Rockies and never see another human again? It’s worse than ever. It’s physically heavy, weighing down my throat. I just need to be in some sort of nature. I don’t care whether it’s the mountains or the prairie or the desert or the oceanside or the forest or anything, just as long as there’s no signs of humans anywhere for hundreds of miles. Not like this suburb, buried in concrete and exhaust and plastic. I need out.
*buries head in hands* This doesn’t happen to anyone else, does it. It’s sort of funny, though. The closest I can get to nature is on the computer. The irony.
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Nah, I know a lot of people who would love to just find somewhere secluded and spend their days there, thinking about life and not having to deal with people. I get it once ever couple weeks for a few days.
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You’re far from alone in this. Happens to me fairly often. For me ocean or mountains are first choice. Mostly I have to get away inside my mind, but sometimes I can get away for real. Once when I was working in DC and didn’t own a car, I rented one and drove off to the Blue Ridge, put on nearly 800 miles in a weekend. Sometimes the zoo helps. Usually though it seems these attacks occur when there’s no opportunity to get away. Writing about it can take off some of the edge; that was the impulse behind Our Reclusive Gardens. Sometimes listening to nature recordings is useful.
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That happens to me occasionally. This year I couldn’t go to sleepaway camp and I miss the mountains. Maybe we should revive the Our Reclusive Gardens thread …
Also, your post reminded me of the Owl City song “Panda Bear”. *random*
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I’ve never felt that personally, but my friend says she’d rather be in the city than the suburbs for that reason. I like my city. There is a river with lots of wild areas running through the middle of it.
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I feel exactly like that every day. Closets help.
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I LOVE MY PANIC CLOSET
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Oh, no, don’t worry. That happens to me all the time. It’s like… suburban claustrophobia. I feel like I’m tied down to this place…
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So if everyone feels like this, why do we live in cities? Why do we let state and national parks be continuously underfunded? Why do we allow urbanization to remove more and more wilderness?
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Some people like living in cities, they don’t mind being around people an buildings. But there
Cities have lots of jobs in them, and in our society you either need a job to support yourself or wealthy parents/etc that allow you to do whatever you want. Even living in a hand-made cabin in the woods you are going to have to feed yourself, and it’s very hard to do so by just hunting/gathering on your own. Hell, Thoreau couldn’t even do it, he went to his mother’s house every weekend for dinner and got goodie baskets all the time (though he conveniently left that out of his book). And yes, there are jobs outside of cities, but most careers either need a) people to buy the items that they are producing/selling or b) for people to gather in one place and work together to make something. Both require areas that allow people to come together. This is easy to do in cities. Suburbs came about sort of from what you’re complaining about–people didn’t WANT to live surrounded by buildings and thousands of others, so those that could afford it left the cities and commuted in. Eventually some suburbs became self-sustaining enough not to need to go back to the cities for work.*
All of us on Museblog can afford to want that sort of thing right now, being able to get away from it all. We have our other basic needs taken care of–none of us are wondering where we’ll sleep tonight or if we’ll be able to eat dinner. I’d wager not many people here have jobs, especially since most of us are too young or too busy. But it’s a reality I’m realizing I have to face soon. My dream job would be wandering through forests or mountains, counting frogs or classifying insects, but quite frankly there are not many opportunities to make a living doing this. I probably won’t be able to for a while, I will need a way to really support myself first. There is a lot more work in research/facilities than there is in the field. And a lot of people want the outdoor, doing-things kind of job, so it’s really competitive. You have to have a lot of prior experience and all sorts of details. And a lot of people never get to that point.
And even then, these jobs are not well-paying. The people who care most about the wilderness, sadly, don’t have a lot of excess resources to devote to it–they have to pay back all their loans while being able to feed and shelter themselves, not to mention trying to get others to fund their research. Most of the high-paying jobs–CEOs, doctors, lawyers–they aren’t directly impacted by nature in most situations. They may feel bad about the destruction of the rainforest and global warming, but their work is also at the forefront of their mind, and for some reason people don’t like giving away their money to things that don’t affect them. Sure, some do, thankfully, whether because they care or because it lets them not feel as guilty. But the average citizen doesn’t have enough to give away, and sadly the ones who do don’t all seem to value nature.
Meh. Ramblerant done even though it could go rather on.
*I am talking about the towns outside of cities here, caused form the city spreading out, not the smaller towns not near major cities that obviously came about from other reasons (farmlands shifting to be more suburban as farms give way to housing/businesses, etc).
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Well, for one thing, if no one lived in cities, there would have to be a LOT fewer of us. There are more people than the countryside can support without becoming another urban area.
Second of all, I don’t know about everyone else, but I love the ability to socialize. Having lived in the wilderness, or something very like it, I remember the hours and days I spent sobbing because I was so very lonely (that sounds utterly ridiculous, but it’s true!). Now that I’m surrounded by people, I sometimes want to throw all my shoes in the river and go live in the woods far from civilization, but I never do because I like having friends.
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Hey, as soon as I graduate from college I’m taking a job as a columnist and setting up house in a yurt in Yosemite.
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Because cities are more efficient, and are often deemed more important by businesses, and businesses make money, and money makes the world go ’round.
Depressing, huh?
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It’s times like this when I’m glad I live in a rural area with a forest quite literally in my backyard, along with a creek. And my family’s going to a park with a lot of nature hikes and a swimming area and a waterfall to celebrate my birthday… I’m never living in a city if I can avoid it.
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If you need me to abduct you, let me know. I never get that feeling, but thinking about cities and urbanization and PEOPLE everywhere in nice lovely wilderness makes me cry. If I lived in a city or a suburb I think I would go crazy. I am so grateful that I live in an area where I’m by the ocean, and I have nature all around me.
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Watching Thumbelina at midnight with my friend across the internet. She was having a rough night so I’m making her watch a happy movie with me. Hopefully she’ll be able to sleep by the time it ends.
I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this one as a child.
LET ME BEEEE YOUR WINGS
LET ME BE YOUR OOOONLY LOVE
LET ME TAKE YOU FAAAAR BEYOND THE STAAAARS
LET ME BE YOUR WINGS
LET ME LIFT YOU HIIIGH ABOVE
EVERYTHIGN WE’RE DREAAAAMING OF WILL SOOOON BE OOOURS
♥
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Also heyyy another spider crawling somewhere in my bed. It’s not Shelob, though, I saw her in the bathroom earlier, and this one’s smaller. Some wort of wolf spider still though I think. Unsure how I feel about my room being taken over, although Queen of the Spiders could have a nice ring to it.
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piggy — i think…i feel that way in a sense. i definitely know what you mean about the last bit being ironic. and about suburban sprawl. i feel kind of smothered by it. taking small trips to nearby, less “developed” or populated areas does help but yeah not a permanent fix. bah, i dunno.
jade – BEST OUT OF CONTEXT QUOTE: “It’s not Shelob, though, I saw her in the bathroom earlier”
also, i hope your friend is feeling better!!!
hmm, i think i just accidentally a more interesting back story than the actual main plot…how does that happen?!
also i read the world’s saddest fanfic earlier and ugly cried for twenty minutes straight while reading it and I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS. SERIOUSLY, TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY FACE. JUST THINKING ABOUT IT IS MAKING ME TEAR UP. fhjknsrgnbsfkjngwekjb
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What fandom?
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SHERLOCK
I HAVE ENOUGH TEARS TO FILL AN OCEAN
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OH MY GOD IS IT THE ONE WHERE SHERLOCK GETS CANCER AND SPENDS HIS LAST DAY WITH JOHN
THAT ONE IS THE EVERYTHING
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OMG
IT
YES
I
I JUST
I CAN’T
AFHJKNEAKGA,BKJAGABJK
HOLDING ON BY HIS FINGERTIPS
MY LIFE IS OVER NOW
*CLINGS TO YOU*
I AM ACTUALLY TEARING UP RIGHT NOW. AGAIN. STILL.
;________________________________________; <— MY FACE
READING IT COINCIDED WITH NEW PICTURES FROM THE FILMING OF SEASON 2
CAN'T DEAL WITH IT
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PICTURES FROM SEASON 2 FILMING! WHEREEEEEEE??????? Oh my gosh I cannot cannot wait they’re doing Hound of the Baskervilles! Except calling it Hounds of Baskerville I think and it will probably be brilliantly twisty in every way and amazing.
I think that I would laugh at such a fanfic, merely because I find fanfic laughable. Also I do not need more tears right now.
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oh man i’m not sure how to direct you to them…if you search sherlock season 2 pictures, the third link will lead you to them. you’ll know it when you see it because sherlock and john are HANDCUFFED TOGETHER.
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And The Fandom Rejoiced.
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Hehehe.
And your backstory was probably more interesting anyway. We switched to A Very Potter Musical after Thumbelina and I think she drifted off during it, so yay.
And awww. *choklit*
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omg i meant for this thing i’m writing! I FEEL LIKE I INADVERTENTLY INSULTED YOU/THUMBELINA. ;___; ILU!!
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Ahhh that makes more sense. And I didn’t take it as in insult anyway XD
BUT THIS MEANS I GET TO QUESTION YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE WRITING NOW RIGHT?
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HAHA! OF COURSE! XD
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My friend’s sister who is an awesome trombonist may be coming over to help me with trombone! Yay!
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New life goal: meet every GAPA!
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Work people have NASA TV on because the launch is tomorrow, watching pre-launch briefings while I work.
I really wish I had Lori Garver’s grace, skill at public speaking, and unshakable perkiness.
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OMG I’M SO EMOTIONAL RIGHT NOW
WATCHING THE LAST HARRY POTTER PREMIERE STREAMING AND TEARS IN MY EYES
MY CREYS
MYYY CREEYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSS
I’M NOT CRYING
IT’S JUST RAINING
ON MY FACE
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I AM ABOUT TO POST ALL THE QUOTES THAT MADE ME CRY
“No story lives unless someone wants to listen. Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.â€- JK Rowling
“Dan, you didn’t get lucky. You were and are the perfect Harry, and will be, forever.†-Emma Watson
“What you’ve done for ginger people!” -Rupert Grint
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…” -A chanting crowd, to JK Rowling.
“You think the ones we love ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?â€-Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
cannot stop sobbing
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HNNNNG
HAVEN’T EVEN WATCHED YET (WAITING TILL I CAN BE A CRYING MESS IN PRIVATE) BUT I AM ALREADY FEELING TEARFUL
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THE DUMBLEDORE QUOTE
TEARS IN MY EYES
CAN WE JUST HAVE A BLOG-WIDE GROUP HUG RIGHT NOW
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HUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The moment when Emma said that line about Harry…and then Dan gives her a hug….I COULD NOT TAKE IT. I literally was laughing and crying all at the same time.
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So, shots are no fun and chest X-rays are even less so, and now I get to go clothes shopping. Goody.
Ah well, I finished the Ravenclaw emblem on my cloak, so all is well.
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I GOT MY POOOOIIII
A week earlier! And I had wanted them SO BAD yesterday! This is fabulous.
LESSON I AM TAKING FROM THIS: COMPLAINING WORKS. NOW TWICE-PROVEN.
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AND THEIR RAINBOW-GLOWING ABILITIES WORK WOOOOOO
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I read that at first as… well, you probably can guess.
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…HAHHAAHA I didn’t even consider that.
FOR CLARIFICATION: POI
http :// en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art)
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Poi is also a Hawai’ian food.
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It’s purple and odd-tasting.
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Especially considering how much the I looks like an exclamation point.
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I watched Doctor Who last night. I only got to watch two episodes, and it was a newer season because that was all that Netflix streaming had, but I think I am an addict.
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Oh my god Harry Potter oh my god I’m crying there are tears streaming down my face I don’t want this to ever end ever oh my god I need to reread everything why can’t I just be a witch and go to Hogwarts life is so unfair this is not fair at all why does it have to end why does it have to not be real this is so not cool not cool at all J.K. Rowling really seriously why did you have to write it so well I mean if you just wrote a really bad book we wouldn’t have to go through all of this emotional pain seriously now.
Okay, but seriously.
Harry Potter is what got me to enjoy reading. I used to be rather neutral towards it, but in fifth grade I started reading Harry Potter. You couldn’t rip me away from those books. I would read under the desks. My teacher got so mad at me because I happened to be very good at it, and she could never catch me.
Oh dear lord. Why is this over?
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“Whether you come back by film or by page, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.â€
CRYING
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STOPPPPPPPPPPPPP ITTTTTTT
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This is taped to my wall right now.
I have no words.
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At least Pottermore looks like it’ll take a while for us to see all of it. We won’t have received everything until… what, 2013? It seems like it might really help with Post-Potter Depression. Personally, I’m more excited about it than the movie. The movies are pretty good, but this is canon!!
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My math teacher caught me reading The Order of the Pheonix under the desk one day, and put it on the class end of the year slide show. Just the single math class one she made for just my 20 kid math class in 7th grade, but still…
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OMG YALL
SOMEBODY HOLD ME
SHAKING AND CRYYYINNGGG
I AM NOW LISTENING TO ‘SORROW’ BY THE NATIONAL ON REPEAT (TOTALLY UNRELATED TO CRY-A-THON FIC READING)
ROCKING BACK AND FORTH
DON’T LEAAAVE MY HYPERR HEART ALONNNNE ON THE WATER
I’M SORRY FOR CAPS BUT OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDD
I’M NOT GONNA MAKE IT THROUGH THIS MOVIE, GUYS
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OH GODDDD I HAVEN”T BEEN ABLE TO BRING MYSELF TO WATCH THE PREMIERE YET EVEN
I AM WAITING TILL TONIGHT SO I CAN BE A TOTAL MESS IN PEACE
*HOLDS*
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This morning I played this Flash game called “Snailiad,” and oh my Arceus the background music is SO amazing. It goes like, “dee da da ooo dee da da dee ooo na na dee dee ooo…” Now I just have the game open so I can listen to the music.
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Aah!! I still can’t stop listening to it and humming along!!
Dee da da ooo dee da da dee ooo na na dee dee ooo…
It’s like Lavender Town, only not creepy.
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Today I got this email:
To play your new games, just launch the Steam application on your computer and log in using your Steam account name. Your games will be available in Steam on the “Library†tab.
Any Downloadable Content (DLC) you’ve purchased is automatically downloaded and will be accessible from within the base game on Steam. To view your new DLC from within your Library, right-click on the base game and select “View Downloadable Content.â€
This email message will serve as your receipt. You can also access your Purchase History online at any time.
Portal Â
6.69 USD
Â
Subtotal Â
6.69 USD
Tax Â
0.00 USD
Â
Total Â
6.69 USD
W00T! And it was on sale too!
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I’m somewhere near Cartagena, Spain! It’s lovely and the beaches are pretty and I’m reallllyyy sunburned.
I’m staying at a really cute place in the country which is owned by British people. The lady makes amazing food. :]
OMGGG THE LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE IS COMING OUT AND I AM NOT IN A COUNTRY IN WHICH I AM PROFICIENT IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE!!!
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Don’t worry about it, I’m sure there’ll be a theater playing it in English somewhere. I saw the sixth Harry Potter movie on the day of its US release in Japan in English (there were Japanese subtitles).
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I saw the sixth Harry Potter movie both in Chinese and English.
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I think it’s time to give all these emotionally charged Potter-related outpourings their own thread.
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Apparently I have tuberculosis. Which means I can’t enroll in school until tomorrow. Grumpgrumpgrump.
On the upside, my best friend Allosaur is coming on Saturday! *joyful dance*
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Tuberculosis? Don’t they vaccinate you against that in Singapore? I have a TB vaccination, and I lived in the Philippines.
Well, get better!
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Oh no, it’s some sort of dormant form. I’m not ill. But apparently I am “at risk” of developing active tuberculosis, which means I have to take some sort of antibiotic muck for a while.
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Goodness. Well, I really hope you don’t get it actively. That’s a bit scary.
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Eep. I’m sorry.
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*hugs and protective squid*
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93- You actually have tuberculosis?
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ARGH ARGH ARGH
So Tokyopop has recently gone boom and Hetalia volume 4 came out a few weeks ago, but we don’t even have volume 3 yet and I’m seeing scanlations and the art is so much better and there is USUK fanservice BUT SPAIN IS STILL BADGERING THE WESTERN FANDOM TO BUY VOLUME 3 and this really, really sucks.
Oh well. I have DH2… but back to reading the scanlations! >:D
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I graduated last Sunday, but tomorrow feels like another graduation. Because when I think about the Space Shuttle, I’m going to be thinking of my life before roughly-18-and-a-half.
But I’m not any more sad or afraid than I was to graduate. Because I know it’s the only way to see all of the wonderful things that will be happening, in my college years and beyond. And maybe I’ll get to help with some of them.
So here’s to graduation.
“As we go on,
We remember,
All the times we
Had together.
And as our lives change,
Come whatever.
We will still be-
Friends forever.”
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re: Pottermore. At some point I read a comment by Robert about some sort of MB Bloggermore of some sort. Anyway, I wrote a note to myself that read, “MB’s Bloggermore was the fan page! What happened to that?” I forget if I was going to elaborate on that anymore.
Jadestone (6): I get the greatest satisfaction watching stink bugs smack against my screen window (from the outside). Another story: when I was backpacking last summer, one of my friends collected mosquitoes in a bag. She had seen an art exhibit in which someone made an outline of the United States with mosquitoes (or something like that) and wanted to make something similar herself. She had hundreds of squashed mosquitoes in a plastic bag by the end of the trip. Moral: Good luck!
Jadestone (44): That sounds so awesome! I hope you get to do it!
Choklit Orange (62): TB tests! I’ve had, like, a gazillion. Well, I think 5 or 6. But that’s still a lot. And then it’s nice to know that you don’t have turberculosis. Unless you do. Then it would be sad. // I just read comment 93. Good luck with your antibiotic muck! I’m sure you’ll be just fine.
Fiddler (65): Your life is awesome.
Robert/KaiYves (66): Yay! Exciting!
Piggy (77): Solution: Go backpacking, deep in the wilderness, climb huge mountains. I have to do it every few months or I go crazy. Even just sleeping in the woods for a couple of days should do the trick!
Piggy (77.7): I took a whole class on that last semester! Well, it wasn’t exactly on that. But we talked about that a lot.
PSA: EVERYONE PLANT A PEACH TREE. Dwarf peach trees are good, too (we have two, and they’re great). By this time in a few years, you’ll have wonderful delicious peaches. And then you will thank me 100 times over. Go! Do it! Now!
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I live nowhere near mountains or the woods, and (at least for another month or so) I don’t even have a driver’s license.
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i have a (white) peach tree! it was labeled as a nectarine tree but when it does deign to produce fruit, it produces an abundance of WONDERFUL PEACHES. i had the first one of the summer yesterday and it was so good.
so, I ENDORSE THIS MESSAGE.
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mm, peaches. We used to have a peach tree but it died So we got another pear. We have 2 pear and 2 apple now, though we sadly don’t get many edible apples anymore. Too many bugs. Oh well! We have lots of vegetables growing in the garden that should be ready soon. Can’t wait for tomato season, mm.
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I have actual, for-real dreads now. Whoo! They’re super tightly backcombed, have a proper dosage of wax and are all blunted and nice and I have one bead on them. I need to get more beads. I need to find some wire so I can put some seed beads on it and make a coil thing. Hmm…I’ll ask dad if he has any wire.
Anyway, I have far more confidence in this attempt than last one, seeing as the folks I had do it this time specialize in caucasion locks. They were fun and crazy hippies, too.
Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin for a family visit and celebration of life for grandma. It should be interesting and probably slightly traumatic. Grandpa’s always been off his rocker, but he’s now going even further off it. He boasted to mom the other day that he’s trapped and killed 33 chipmunks. 
Anyway, I’ll probably be hiding in the library a fair amount this week; it’s a good place to escape.
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ehehe that is awesome. Are you going to grow them out more so they’ll be longer, or keep them around the length you have?
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Our cat has killed 3 chipmunks in the last two days! The first two were found dead on the back porch in the morning, and then he came running into the house with one in his mouth and I was like “nooooo” and he dropped it and it was alive but it ran under the stairs and hid. And then it escaped from under the stairs and ran into the kitchen and then the living room and went under the couch and we couldn’t get it so we left the front door open for it all night but the next day it went back under the stairs even though they are RIGHT NEXT TO the open back door. And my plan was to wait until the cat caught it, let him take it outside, and then make him drop it so it could escape. But he caught it while I was at work and I came back and it was on the porch and i thought it was dead but it was breathing! Which was worse than it being dead because it was probably in pain. But it looked fairly unhurt so I wrapped it in a leaf and hid it in the woodpile away from the cats to recover. But this morning it was dead.
The cat has also killed a baby weasel and two rabbits, one of which we made stew out of, so at least that one wasn’t wasted. And an uncountable number of birds. But I am actually looking forward to living without a cat so I don’t have to deal with the carnage.
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Good luck with your dreads! Are you going to crochet hook them? Do you even need to?
I have sooo much frizz. I keep crochet hooking it but it seems to do nothing. When I was in Madrid I met some crazy hippies and they knocked out about 7 dreads in a night, so now I have 7 or so nice tight dreads and a bunch of loose terrible ones. 
Mine were done by a bunch of German girls in the exchange program.
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You have dreads too??
part of me still wants ot try them, but I also am in lovelovelove with my long hair and I don’t want to have to cut it off : /
I may do what penguini did and braid my whole head with the addition of ribbons/yearn to make it thicker. I’ve done just mini braids on my whole head before but my hair is kind of thin for that : /
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I did mini braids once! I imagined them all sticking out crazily all over but really they just kind of dangled there and there weren’t all that many, like maybe a twenty or so but not like fifty which was what I wanted. Then they all fell out over the course of like three days and then my hair was AMAZING and fluffy and wild-looking. It was totally worth it, but my hair is short so the crimpiness from all the tiny braids made it way thicker, but if it was heavier it probably would have just fallen out.
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I wanted to watch a movie tonight, but I do not know what. Which means I will probably find some television instead hrrrrm. IF THE HOBBIT WAS OUT I WOULDN’T HAVE THIS PROBLEM.
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THESE EXACT THOUGHTS PASSED THROUGH MY HEAD THIS EVENING
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have you seen the set pictures
martin freeman and his face made of kittens
omg i can’t deal with it
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Ahhhh Martin Freeman is wonderful in every way. And the hobbit hole! I am sooooooooooooooooooo excited!
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Okay, so, I just called my grandfather (Indian side) and we had a really great conversation. He isn’t angry that I’m not a Hindu anymore. He says it’s okay for me to wear shorts as long as they’re not too immodest. He’s even fine with me not wanting to be a doctor. He loves me. He wants me to be happy. My life is full of smiley faces.
… And so, thinking the world was going wonderfully and everything was going to be okay, I called my other grandfather, the one I haven’t seen for six years. And that went, um, not so well, seeing as he didn’t remember who I was at first, and then spent the rest of the call pretty much making me feel like crud until I just interrupted him, said “Goodbye,”and hung up before I started crying (I was already emotionally unstable from the Potter premiere speeches).
But nothing can quash my happiness. Smiley faces smiley faces smiley faces.
AND ALLOSAUR IS COMING ON SATURDAY AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!
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“Not too immodest”? Ha! Good luck buying shorts here!
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Can’t…play…Portal…because…I’m…leaving…TOWN! GAAH!
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My deleted Portal 2 account is similarly torturing me by beckoning me from the grave. I’m too lazy to go through the motions of repeating every level.
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No, it’s not that bad. I just won’t have access to my computer that has Portal on it for the next two days.
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Just… watched… Atlantis.
*crying*
It’s very surreal, to see this as an event I’ll tell my kids someday.
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AAAAH ATLANTIS AAAAH!!!!
I’m probably treading on Kai’s turf. Bye.
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I’m pretty sure Kai’s turf includes being happy to see other people excited about space. I doubt you’re treading on it.
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I’m pretty sure that if that’s the turf, then you’re supposed to tread on it.
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That’s what I meant. I’m pretty sure Kai likes people liking space.
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Why would I be mad at you for sharing your feelings?
Great moments belong to everyone.
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They do, and also I Iike the word “turf.”
You’ll not believe this- spellcheck insists “like” is not spelled correctly.
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*sniff* *sniff*
We watched it today. We don’t usually. Mom called us all upstairs about thirty minutes before it launched. I mostly sat, half excited that it launched safely, half sad that it would never soar again, after this.
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Not to toot my own horn but, OOOOOooooooOOooOOoooOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got a 5 on the AP Calc test!
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How did you get your AP score if you don’t mind sharing?
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Congratulations!
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5 out of what? At first I thought 5%, but then I realized that couldn’t be because it sounds like a good thing…
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5. It’s graded on a 1-2-3-4-5 system, based on essays (for some tests) and questions.
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Things That Have Happened Since I Have Been on MB:
1) I got my first job, working at a local self serve froyo place. It’s not bad or good, but at least it’s something.
2) I freaked out about Harry Potter. And then some.
3) I began writing yet another story, this one’s a bit different from the others in the sense that it’s more dystopian-esque.
4) I set a goal to watch all the Harry Potter movies before the midnight premiere that I’m going to (SQUEE) and so far have watched one and two.
5) I spent an unreasonable amount of money on a Deathly Hallows necklace.
6) I did cartwheels on the beach. (And realized how horrible I’ve gotten at them. Cartwheels, I mean. I used to be pretty good, now, not so much.)
7) I made a goal to write down every book I read and be more diligent about setting aside specific time to read, as I definitely don’t do enough of it. And re-reading doesn’t count, I have to read new books! (Currently I’m working on Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, because I’ve been told it’s a crime to not have read them by now, and then going to read City of Fallen Angles in the Mortal Instruments series since I just finished City of Glass.)
8) Moved to a new bedroom.
9) I…just like making lists. That is all.
Is anybody going to LeakyCon? I’m not, unfortunately, but I thought it’d be worth it to ask just to see because I will be JEALOUSJEALOUS if any MBers are but also that would be awesome. (And GAPA’s, if you don’t want me to ask that, that’s fine. I know it’s a pretty big conference, but for privacy and such, that’s alright if it’s not ok.)
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Soooo, I can’t even get the X-ray results back until this afternoon, meaning I might not even be able to register for school today, and since Allosaur is coming tomorrow and staying the week, and then I’m going to my aunt’s house for another week, I might not be able to register for ages. ARGH TIMING.
I’m still intermittently sobbing about Atlantis. It seems impossible that this is the last time for such a long while that NASA will launch people into space.. Isn’t this what space exploration is all about? People, not robots, exploring the cosmos? I know the plan is for spaceflight to be picked up by outside companies, but really that seems to me like a blight on the space program. Like it’s not about discovering anymore, just about the money.
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Don’t knock the robots, please. The Cassini-Huygens and Galileo spacecraft have discovered more about Jupiter and Saturn and their moons than astronauts could match in a hundred years — and a lot of those astronauts would die in the process. Robots are fearless and patient and indefatigable, they don’t need food or air or water, and they can withstand radiation that would fry a human being in seconds. They’re literally made to operate in space. We’re not. Robots ♥ ♥ ♥, I say.
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I don’t think en’s knocking robots, per se. Both humans and robots do their part to explore space. It’s a partnership.
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I don’t doubt they’re awesome, but they’re not people.
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I feel like a read an adorable and crushing webcomic about a robot, but I don’t remember where. It was probably xkcd but maybe not.
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It’s probably xkcd number 695, about the Spirit Mars rover.
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Yeah, that one.
Poor little robot.
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Every time I read that, I just want to give that poor little robot a hug.
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NO ALICE I DON’T NEED TO CRY MORE!
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Cassini-Hyugens launched the same day I was born. It’s my robot. ♥
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You have an awesome robot.
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*snork*
That sounded great out of context, by the way.
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Watched the final shuttle launch (a recording, not live–I accidentally till 4am and ended up sleeping in till about 10 minutes after it left).
Mixed feelings. A happy, successful launch, but the last one. The glory of the shuttle taking off… but we won’t see it’s like again.
Sigh.
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My friend’s sister who plays the trombone came over, and we worked on scales!!!
AND I’M GOING TO BANDCAMP THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
BUT I CANT SEE THE DH2 MOVIE WHEN IT COMES OUT
*sob* Okay, this should probably go on the obsessive capslock DH2 thread.
So I’m going to that thread now.
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I watched the launch in the auditorium at work and it was fantastic. Everybody was clapping and cheering, and when there was the pause at 31 seconds to go, everyone sighed and gasped at once and we were so tense…
… but then they did what they had to and it restarted and everyone was counting down and I have no idea what the announcer said at liftoff because we were all shouting and clapping too loudly. (Just like at Banana Creek, actually.)
And when there was the last holding-your-breath-at-“Go at throttle up” and the last exhaling when the boosters fell away: it was like the final exorcism of those memories, both for those who actually saw that disaster and those like me who know it through cultural memory.
MECO… oh man, MECO, when they finally were in orbit, another explosion of applause.
So, no more shots of tile replacement. No more gasping at throttle up, no more seeing the Earth floating above that tailfin, no more “Single-engine Zaragosa”, no more double sonic booms.
But those are, really, little things. Even though they mean a lot to me, they’re little things.
And by focusing on deep space while sponsoring the space taxi companies, we’ll be able to go farther. We’ll be able to test the engines and materials we need to go beyond low-Earth orbit again. We’ll be able to go to the moon, to the Lagrange points, to asteroids, to Mars, or to wherever the cake else catches our fancy.
There has to be a gap, that’s the way of the world. This gap isn’t even as bad as the gap after Apollo, because NASA astronauts WILL be flying into space on Soyuzes and Dragons (No, not ACTUAL dragons, it’s the name of a space capsule.) and Dream Chasers and the vehicles of whatever other companies qualify. Between Apollo-Soyuz and the shuttle, NASA didn’t send anybody into space AT ALL for five years.
Now THAT would drive me crazy, but that’s not what’s going to happen. And when the new systems are ready and we finally head off into deep space… oh sweet Koko, how glorious that will be.
A tree has to loose its leaves in the fall and stand leafless in the winter to grow new ones in the spring. But a tree in winter is not dead, merely resting. Without that winter rest, it could not stand green and glorious come spring.
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Today is a Good Day. I have recorded a poem with my brother and my friend and I beaded and my brother gave me new music and I have new earrings due to the beading and soon I finally get to see X-Men: First Class! Yesss.
Also a friend from college was finally on IM. Yay!
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Opening night of the play went well! There was some freakout about the sound, a lot of which became somehow unusable halfway through the show, but that was sorted out and it was a lot of fun. There were epic fight scenes (a Matrix-style hand-to-hand fight and a zombie fight involving most of the cast, among others) and people laughed at the jokes. And I am very tired and should prob’ly go to bed now.
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braiding my whole head
with yarn/embroidery floss in each strand
SO MANY COLORS WOO
Hopefully not gonna stay up to 5am tonight but we’ll see
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one side of my head is halfway done. Two more sides to go. This is taking a long time but I think I’ve worked out how to keep the stuff in better, so they should last longer. Woo!
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I just woke up from a 4-hour nap.
SLEEP SCHEDULE Y U NO PROPER
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I THROW MY HANDS UP IN THE AIR SOMETIMES
SAYIN’ AY AY OH
TELL ME Y U NO
Sorry. I just had to.
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Whoa. South Sudan. Why did I not hear of this before?
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I talked about it on the birthday thread.
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I’m leaving in a couple hours for a two-week summer program and I’m not exactly sure what the Internet situation is, so I may not be online A’s much (or at all?) in the next couple weeks.
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*Goes up to “Student Activities” bulletin board in Muse Academy hallway*
*Pulls out the following notice and attaches it with thumbtacks*
“I’m always incredibly inspired by the great response I’ve seen lately to space-related news and the fantastic success of our STS-134 informal promotion campaign and Yuri’s Night party. It really underscores, for me, the meaning of Muse Academy as somewhere that smart people can meet others like them and every beneficial interest is encouraged, no matter now nerdy or obscure it may seem to others.”
“If you are interested in the creation of an MA student organization focused on space exploration, please tear off one of the tags below and come to the H&H to discuss this possibility. Hopefully, we can have our club up and running by Moon Landing Day (July 20th).”
“Some guidelines:
– This is not just a technically-oriented club. It’s for everybody who has even a passing interest in space travel. Artists are definitely welcome, and nobody should ever be afraid to say “I don’t understand that, can you explain it?”
– This will be an informal organization. You will not be forced to do anything or shamed if you do not. There may be occasional meetings on one thread or another, but attendance will not be compulsory for all members.
– Like the Kokonspiracy and the Illumiminati, members are encouraged to do things in real life that promote knowledge of space exploration to the general public and share their stories with other members, but no project will ever be compulsory for all members.
– We will respect all forms of space exploration and not engage in debates of human vs. robotic, or government vs. private, although we will favor peaceful exploration above all else.
– The most important thing is that this club will be FUN. If it’s not fun, we’re doing it wrong.”
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*tears off tag*
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*also tears off tag* My passing interest has been caught.
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*tears off tag*
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HI! I am back! Sailing was wicked fun, I will do a longer post about it later. How’s everyone doing?
I missed my blogiversary. (Okay, I know I spelled that wrong.) ‘Twas yesterday. Oh well, I’ve officially been on MB for a year!
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Anyone have ideas for fundraising for my girl scout gold project? I’m doing an alphabet garden and a native grass field at the museum that I volunteer at.
Need. Lots. Of. Money.
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Senior picture proofs are IN.
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Still braiding x_x
Well, not quite STILL. I went to bed at 3am. And got up at 11 and did yardwork. But have been braiding since one.
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oh man! Thirty-one percent of my life! I REGRET NOTHING!
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YEAAAAH GIRL
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BEST EARLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER OMG OMG OMG YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!
W00T W00T W00T!
As some of you may have guessed. my issue of Muse came today. *is very happy*
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BANDCAMPBANDCAMPBANDCAMP
I will not be able to post updates. My cellphone has internet but almost all the threads overload the memory, so if I can get on one, I still can’t post. I can type comments, but the comment button won’t work for it. Auggh. Oh well, what do I care I’M GOING TO BAND CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KA- Awesome! Happy early birthday!
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Supreme Master TV is extremely odd.
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(male) friend: I wish I were handsome. I need a girlfriend.
Me: You’re plenty handsome. You’ll meet someone.
Friend: It’s never happened! I feel like girls just don’t like me!
Me: Calm down. Who do you want to date, anyway?
Friend: Any girl.
Me: You may need to narrow your parameters a bit.
Friend: Hey, you’re a girl!
Me: …Oh, well spotted.
MY LIFE IS HOGWARTS. THIS GUY IS NICE BUT A BIT OF AN IDIOT. ALLOSAUR IS COMING TODAY!
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Oh my god worst show night ever.
Mammillius was sick to his stomach, queasy-looking and shaking onstage, and opted out of the second half of the show, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be a leader in the shepherd’s dance and come back to life at the end. I screwed up on my opening dance with Autolycus the Younger the worst I ever had. The Clown entered something like three minutes late for 4.4, because apparently he had to wash poison ivy off his hands — thank god he didn’t miss any of his lines, but it was definitely awkward. The last scene was mangled almost beyond recognition — Leontes dropped a line, tried to remember it, came up with a different line after a long and awkward pause, other people tried to backtrack, and it all went downhill from there.
But shall I go mourn for that, my dear? The pale moon shines by night, And when I wander here and there, I then do most go right…
Our ASM brought chocolate-frosted cake backstage. Dion is warming up to everyone, he seems like a nice kid. Our audience was nice and large, and our applause was very satisfactory. The Uniformed Dude and Emilia are still hard at it, and god they’re hilarious. The Clown, who seems to be permanently sleep-deprived, fell asleep on my shoulder pre-show.
…Yeah, not too bad overall.
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Well wow. I’ve been on MB (or the Gaboomba) for 38% of my life.
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Hey all. Rambling ahead.
I’m at camp right now, although it isn’t camp in the strictest sense of the word. It’s an academic program (during the week at least) and it’s overnight. It’s only two weeks, and it’s twenty minutes from where I live, so my parents can come see me if I want them to (e.g.) next weekend. I’ve done camps before–last year I did a month in Switzerland for goodness’ sake–but despite this I’m nervous anyway. There is… a LOT of free time today. From past experiences I know that I’m much more susceptible to homesickness during free time (and I’m susceptible anyway). Also, during the afternoon/evening yesterday, people already seemed to be forming much more solid friendships than I feel I have. This morning feels kind of like if I don’t do just the right thing I’ll fall behind in friendships and be lonely for the next two weeks. I know that’s a little ridiculous but I’m scared. There isn’t anything scheduled at all until an optional campus tour at 12:30. There isn’t even a dining hall, just a few scattered restaurants.
Ennnh. I hate this kind of uncertainty.
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*encouraging pies*
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Thanks, Robert. (And those that pied this post.)
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Just go for it! The people at that camp are bound to be pretty intelligent and at least some of them must be nice and friendly as well. Besides, I know from experience that everybody should want you as a friend!
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TWO HOURS IS TOO LONG TO WAIT
I’m going to go update my RPG’s one last time before I go.
Happy birthday to everyone whose birthday I’m going to miss.
*hugs* to everyone to whom something bad might happen.
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I wrote a post last night and apparently forgot to submit it! I don’t even remember what it said anymore.
I have braided the sides of my head now. The back is left but I’m not sure I can do that on my own x_x
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HERE ARE MY SAILING ADVENTURES (Warning: monsterpost ahead. I don’t really feel that this belongs on the travel thread because I’ve been to most of the places a lot, so I will post it here):
Day 1–we set sail. I meet the current apprentice, hereby referred to as ‘Pudd’n’ because of her hair. I doubt I spelled that right but I’m going on sounding it out right now. Humph. (The pudd’n is a part on the motorboat at the stern of the ship that acts as a bumper so the motorboat can help the schooner along when there’s no wind. Like I said, I’m sure I spelled it wrong, but…at least you know what I’m talking about.) ‘Twas the 4th but we didn’t really do anything but sing patriotic songs because it was foggy. We anchored in a place that has really warm water, so a bunch of people (including me, best friend (hereby referred to as Fish), Pudd’n, and Fish’s little sister Monkey) went swimming despite the chilly air. (Then we huddled around the galley stove for a while.) I slept with Fish & Monkey’s family in their cabin, which was a bit cramped, with there being 5 people and all, but we fit.
Day 2–RACE DAY! All the schooners in the fleet that the Riggin is in headed over to the place where the race started and…raced. We were divided into classes; we were in the middle. It took us two hours to get across the starting line because there was no WIND. Finally a breeze picked up once we were across it. Fish, Monkey, Pudd’n, and I were sitting on the cabintop crocheting; it was fairly amusing. We saw a ton of other schooners, and that was really cool. AND THEN WE WON. THAT’S RIGHT, WE WON. THE RIGGIN PWNS!
Oh, but it was really not cool because a ship we were racing against, the one that had the trophies to distribute, is a sore loser and so they insisted that another schooner won. Nobody else thought so, though, including the ship that they said won. But we didn’t get the trophy, for whatever reason; maybe they still will.
Anyway, there were fireworks later that night. We climbed up on the boom and watched them. The crew tried to set off their own fireworks as well, and firecrackers too, but they failed. Mouse, Scoot, and Hoot (not real names but nicknames by which they are called) were kind of anxious to get the firecrackers out of their hands, so they fizzled and DIED. 8) We slept out on deck and it was BEAUTIFUL.
Day 3–We went ashore. Fish, Monkey, Pudd’n, and I crocheted for a while under a tree because we are just that awesome.
I should probably mention that the co-captain of the ship is an AMAZING cook and has, in fact, published a cookbook, besides having been on TV. I ended up in the galley most of the time, helping prepare the meals.
Lobster Bake was that night. We anchored near a nice island and went ashore, towing all of the Bake stuff in the peapod. The island was sandy (O.o) and there were sand dollars. Um, let’s just say these are pretty rare in Maine.
Lobsters were cooked in a big pot over a fire, along with corn on the cob (and a few crabs, since seaweed is put over the lobsters. :lol:) We had watermelon, chips…cool stuff. YUM, even though I don’t eat lobster. We were going to set off fireworks, but bleak and gloomy clouds were rolling in, so we decided to just get out of there. I did the dishes because Pudd’n has eczema on her hands (I felt so bad for her–she didn’t have anything to put on it and she still had to work; I had to practically wrestle the dishes out of her hands.) and then we went back. It did rain that night, though not until we were all in bed.
Day 4– We go ashore again and crochet. I think we saw a porpoise, though it may have been the next day. We had a nice day of sailing. We slept out on deck again, though Pudd’n slept with us.
Day 5–Crocheting, sailing…nothing remarkable, but it was a good day. It was Music Night, so while the two co-captains, Fish and Monkey’s parents, sang sea shanties and other random song, like the potato song, and I joined in occasionally. I love sea shanties. Fiddler’s Green is a personal favorite, though I also enjoy New York Girls/whatever it’s also called. (“Oh when I went down to Broadway, one evening last July, I met a maid she asked my trade, a sailor lad says I….”)
Day 6–We sail home. Sadness happened.
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Sounds like you had a great time! Riggin…I’ve looked that boat up before. I think it was one of the ones a friend recommended when I asked him where good places to look for jobs were.
At any rate, I’m glad you had fun sailing!
The song you mentioned is indeed called New York Girls, that and Fiddler’s Green are some of my favorites as well.
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Farewell, MuseBlog! I’m off to Alaska for two weeks. I’ll try to get back on here when I come home, but I’m leaving again shortly thereafter and can’t promise anything.
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okay. i am officially sequestering myself with my books. i need to finish a feast for crows, read Order of the Phoenix through Deathly Hallows, rewatch all the Harry Potter movies, and find more time to drown in my puddle of tears ALL IN THE NEXT TWO TO FIVE DAYS. and then i will have a dance with dragons to read. dsjkfsdgnmsdhjyk SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING AT ONCE.
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I’ve practically got ASOIAF memorized by now, so I may brush up on Feast for Crows, but I think I’ll just jump straight into Dance when it comes out Tuesday. (A smile spread across my face just typing those last four words.)
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OH MY GOD STILL HAVE HALF OF A FEAST FOR CROWS LEFT, LOCKING SELF IN CLOSET
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FFFFFFFFF–
REAL LIFE INTERFERES
MAY NOT HAVE GAS MONEY FOR TRIP TO BORDERS TUESDAY
HALP
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SELL SOUL
GET BOOK
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CANNOT FIND SOUL BROKER
BANNING SELF FROM INTERNET UNTIL ACQUISITION
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BUT THE INTERNET IS WHERE YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO FIND DRUG DEALERS AND DEMONS
DON’T YOU LISTEN TO THE NEWS YOUNG MAN
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EBAY WON’T WORK
SOMEONE TRIED IT ONCE BUT THE WEBSITE WOULDN’T LET THEM BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T PROVE IT EXISTED AND ANYWAY YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO SELL BITS OF PEOPLE THROUGH IT
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Really? Somebody actually tried that?
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Yes, I found the site’s response in Unwind by Neil Shusterman. They were remarkably nonchalant about the matter.
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That was an awesome but creepy book. The scene where what’s-his-name was getting unwound while conscious … *shudder*
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OH MY GOD HOW DID I MISS THIS COMMENT
…IF YOU CAN’T DO IT ON EBAY YOU COULD FOR SURE ON CRAIGSLIST.
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Good news! I can acquire the book without resort to soul-selling. My posts tomorrow evening will likely consist largely of keysmash.
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I ON THE OTHER HAND CANNOT
*THROWS SELF AROUND ROOM*
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NO
NONONONONONONONONONO
WHY
WHY DID YOU DO IT
GRRM YOU HORRIBLE HORRIBLE MAN
slakjfdiopashgidehagiodhsailfhdsio[afdsioajio;hgsajsjalkl
[/finished reading ADWD]
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wait what?! how can you be done already? did you read all day? i’m only on page 70 ;__;
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Yes, I read all day. No, I wasn’t going to tell you, I’m not that much of a jerk. You’ll know what I was screaming about the moment you read it.
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PS DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED
I DON’T THINK YOU WERE GOING TO
BUT JUST IN CASE
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If the gap is similar, we’re going to have to wait SIX MORE YEARS before Winds comes out. I’ll have graduated from college before I find out what happens to everyone. Especially… um… a certain POV character.
D: D: D:
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Today I got to ride a trike with square tires! It had a track calculated for it and it was awesome! I think Muse had an article on this once.
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Watching old SNLs last night, I found one with Simon and Garfunkel! 75, so like way after they split up. Oh my gosh, it was so cool and so sad and so much fun to watch them and I just remembered how awesome they were. So now I’m listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water (the album) and practically in tears for some reason that I’m not entirely sure of. Oh I am crying now and still have very little idea why. SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, WHAT IS THIS?
I think I need to eat. All I have eaten today was half a pint of cream, half a piece of toast, a Reese’s peanut butter cup (just one) and a cup of tea, which I drank so it doesn’t even count. And it’s 5 PM.
Going to go cry into my lentil salad now.
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I bought a Far Side book at the National Museum of Natural History today.
I had to force myself to stop thinking about it, because I kept thinking of some of the cartoons I’d already read in it and randomly bursting out laughing in public.
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I do that! Think about things that I read/that happened like six hours ago, and burst out laughing. It can be somewhat embarrassing.
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I just went on a girl scout trip that was really awesome! First we went to Schlitterbahn, which was fun, although I was a little afraid because I’d had an allergic reaction to an overchlorinated pool there when I was little and had to go to the emergency room, and then we went to the hotel. It had books! There was a really great one on how beautiful marshes are! There was also a book on herp conservation by Marty Crump, which got me really excited because that’s something I’m really interested in, and she wrote a great Muse article on cannibalism once, but it turned out I already knew most of what was in it. Still, the Marsh book was great! Then the next day, we got to see a real marsh!! It was beautiful! We went in a glass-bottomed boat and saw lots of fish and turtles, and then we got to walk around, and we saw a vulture really closeby, and we got to feed some geese and a huge turtle with a really interesting head!!! It was perfect. Then we went to see a cave, which was beautiful and looked like it really ought to have gnomes living in it. Then we saw bats on a bridge, and they were beautiful!! I bought a field guide to local butterflies and book of really cool projects for aspiring naturalists. The next day, we unfortunately had to go to a mall because that’s what everyone else wanted to do, and it lacked a bookstore, but I bought a Harry Potter robe for the DH movie that’s also a blanket.
Also, tomorrow’s my blogiversary! Yay!
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That sound really neat!
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HULK POST OFTEN ON MUSEBLOG
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I blame the clock.
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DON’T WORRY GUYS
I FOUND SHELOB
SHE’S BACK IN MY ROOM NOW.
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Ate noodles with Teriyaki sauce for dinner, and dried apple slices for dessert too soon after. I was fine with it at the time, but they didn’t sit well together in my stomach and I woke up in the middle of the night with gas. Don’t know how much sleep I ultimately got, but it wasn’t enough.
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“My Little Serenity”. Youtube. Watch it. NOW.
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I’m in driver’s ed right now! I’ve been analyzing the cinematography of the propaganda films. The sound effects are superbly gratuitous.
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Oh, Piggy.
I skipped Driver’s Ed, because it conflicted with a play I wanted to be in. I did get my permit but I have only driven once.
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I’m also cringing at the grammar mistakes in the handouts. Some of them are subtle, but they still bug me. At least there’s a non-secure wifi network here.
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What insidious messages are the propaganda films promoting? Drive carefully? While sober? And not texting? Way uncool.
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It technically is propaganda. One video told us that if we text while driving we will kill three babies at once. With squelching noises.
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True enough. Technically, “propaganda” can be used as a descriptive word that doesn’t imply anything about the value of the information being propagated.
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OK, so the message is good, but it’s basically presented in the least interesting, most condescending fashion possible. Seriously, we get it already! Are the people who are going to text and drive drunk really going to say “Oh, well we watched this video in driver’s ed, so I’d better not do that.” I wouldn’t. I’m not stupid, so I would obviously drive carefully, but if I was stupid, the school telling me to drive carefully would make no difference. I pretty much ignore anything the school says that pertains to my personal life. Their job is to teach me math and stuff, not tell me what to do. As long as I do all my homework and behave in class and don’t hurt anyone, I should be free to do whatever the cake I like.
…Granted, my doing “whatever the cake I like” usually complies with school advice, like not doing drugs or any of that jazz. But if I wanted to, it’s not really their business, is it?
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Drivers’ ed films are notoriously bad, and kids had already been laughing at them for decades when I took the course. I’m sure the people who make them know they’re being kitschy, too.
Still, I’m not sure that makes them ineffective. People my age might have considered “Red Asphalt” unbearably corny, but we all remember it.
And I do wish more people would get the message about texting and driving. Just yesterday while driving home, I saw a young woman cruising down a four-lane road that runs by my house, steering with her left hand while punching text messages into a cellphone with her right. She obviously didn’t see anything on the road, and it’s a good thing there wasn’t anything important to see. As far as I know, she didn’t kill any babies that time, but she certainly could have, and I’m glad I didn’t have to hear the squelch.
As for whether schools should be telling kids to obey the law and avoid doing things that could hurt them and other people — well, I could argue the case either way, but it’s not obvious to me that they shouldn’t. Some of those lessons are probably more useful than trigonometric identities.
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My sister is taking driver’s ed right now, and every once in awhile she’ll just randomly state a quote from her textbook:
“The steering wheel is used to turn the car, and is located in front of the driver’s seat”
“The brake is used to slow or stop the car”
I mean, seriously?
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My friend just finished Driver’s Ed, and she was complaining about her program, which was apparently made in the 70s or 80s. She said it was really especially bad when they started telling her about alternatives to having a tape player in her car.
My Driver’s Ed program is mercifully taught by my mom, and so is mostly free of completely inane statements.
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I HAVE A STORY ABOUT RED ASPHALT.
So I was doing Driver’s Ed with multiple tabs open, because dear lord I cannot get through those pages without a distraction. And I had Pandora open in one tab, set to my Magical Station That Only Plays Disney Songs. And Red Asphalt IV started, so I turned Pandora low and settled in to go “argh argh away oh my god is that his face aaaaaah”.
And then suddenly, out of nowhere, Pandora starts blasting in my ears: “IT’S A PROBLEM-FREEEEE PHILOSOPHYYYYYY, HAKUNA MATATA!!!!”
And I’m all like “AAH HIS FACE THE LION KING WHAT IS HAPPENING AAAH.”
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My life is pretty boring right now… Nothing to post about… Though I hit a triple on Saturday… But my team lost all four of our games…
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Yay, it’s my blogiversary! The 13th is Embrace Your Geekiness Day; could it please be on the calendar? Rosebud’s quite lucky…
Also, the 15th is Cow Appreciation Day, but that doesn’t need to go on the calendar; I’m just letting you know in case you want to celebrate.
What you really need to know about it Yellow Pig Day on the 17th. To quote my source, “Yellow Pig Day is a mathematician’s holiday celebrating yellow pigs (is there such a thing!?!), and the number 17. It is celebrated annually since the early 1960’s, primarily on college campuses, and primarily by mathematicians. On campus, Yellow Pig Cake and Yellow Pig Carols are tradition!” It sounds very Muserly. I’m going to have to look for some of those carols. I think this might be good on the calendar, too.
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Happy Blogiversary! We arrived on MuseBlog about the same time, didn’t we? (Er…3 days apart.) Huh! That’s cool.
What prescisely is a yellow pig? I’ve never heard of a pig that color, nor a mathematical concept by that name. I like the number 17 though. Yay primes!
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Thanks! Yes. I think it’s a mathematical in-joke. Here’s a quote from a much better source: “What’s a yellow pig? Well, what’s a purple cow? A yellow pig shouldn’t be too hard to imagine. Now, if you’ve seen a yellow pig, you are very lucky. Yellow pigs are rare because for some reason people are predisposed to think of pink pigs as pink or brown or even black but never yellow. There are some real yellow pigs, but they are rare. Not quite as rare are yellow pig statues, pictures, and stuffed animals.
Many people collect yellow pigs because they understand just how special these porcine creatures are. Yellow pig followers may choose to worship Her Majesty the Yellow Pig, but just as often they are more secular and instead work on math problems. They may celebrate Yellow Pigs Day by singing yellow pig songs. Most yellow pig followers have attended David C. Kelly’s awesome Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM). If you have a friend with a strange predilection for yellow pigs, chances are s/he went to this summer program.
Yellow pigs have seventeen eyelashes. That’s eight on one eye and nine on the other eye, but I refuse to say which because something must be kept a mystery. (That and they tend to change when the yellow pig flies through other dimensions.) Rumor, legend, and lore have it that the yellow pig was dreamed up by Michael Spivak “in a bar across the street”. I suspect it was a lot like seeing pink elephants. There are references to yellow pigs in several of his books on differential geometry. But when I questioned Kelly about the conception and history of the yellow pig, he simply replied “If you have to ask, you just won’t understand”. ”
And no, I didn’t go to the program myself. I just think they’re awesome.
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That is awesome!
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So a few days ago I downloaded a new texture pack for Minecraft, and–unlike most packs–it had custom paintings. I, like apparently everyone else who uses the pack, thought, “Huh, those are really good paintings. Like, really good.” It turns out that they’re pixelated versions of actual paintings the creator of the pack made. Now I want to buy all of his art. Especially one–it’s mixed media on wood, 3D painting of a whale in a forest at night. I just need to save up $750 plus shipping from Canada. *sigh*
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Which texture pack is that? I use Dokucraft light, but the netherrack in it looks weird, so I’ve been looking for a better one.
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Jolicraft.
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Update on sister situation: Turns out it was all a miscommunication, she’s perfectly fine, she wasn’t harming herself, she wasn’t trying to threaten anyone, she was being maybe a bit of an idiot.
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So glad. *hugs* (Not about the idiot part, but about everything else… XD)
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Actually she wasn’t even being that idiotic. She said some foolish things, made a couple of moderately bad choices, but I think that those were mostly because she lacked some moderately important information.
All this became clear very soon after she got back, but I sorta forgot to post it until now. Sorry if I worried you guys unnecessarily.
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No need to apologize. Just so glad you’re fine. *huggles*
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*relief*
*huggles*
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*is relieved*
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*is relieved*
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Thank goodness.
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Armada needs to start going to bed before midnight… *sighs* She is theoretically up to be writing fanfiction, but practically has writer’s block, so should definitely be going to sleep instead. But isn’t.
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Ahhh movie fail.
I watched 18 minutes of Withnail and I, which was odd but sort of funny. But not really funny enough. It was like the filmmakers really had no idea what the lifestyle they were trying to portray was like. Which was OK as long as you could imagine they were just some weirdos who never slept and lived in a dirty flat and didn’t have any money, but as soon as they were like “Oh yeah and they do SPEED” all credibility went out the window and I was like “what is this I am so done.” PAUL MCGANN, YOU DISAPPOINT ME. At least now when I run into that movie, I can say “nope, not very good” instead of being consumed with curiosity as to what it is and what is has to do with Hamlet (very little, at least in the first 18 minutes).
So then I watched about an hour of Wild in the Streets, which was rather better but totally silly and all they ever did was lay around and talk about how they wanted to vote and have psychedelic musical numbers which were not very good or very psychedelic. A SWIRLY GOBO DOES NOT PSYCHEDELIA MAKE. Also the baby boomers are old now and like to sleep so at the fair they make the music stop at 2 AM. So the whole time I’m like “pff, silly people, they’d be so mad if today’s teenagers did this” and it made what they were doing less cool.
So now it is midnight and too late to try to find a better movie. I find I have very little tolerance for mediocre movies these days. Mediocre television is slightly more tolerable, because at least it’s over sooner.
Tomorrow I have to go fiddle with fishing line to make chains of paper houses fall from the ceiling for Dead Man’s Cell Phone. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I will go insane. Also, buy bus tickets to Ashland wheeeeeeeeeeee!
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I’m in Switzerland! And all the keyboards here are different, so excuse any typos in the following post.
So this place is AMAZING. And I finally get to practice my française! Also I stayed up in this tiny little town way up on the mountains called Gimmelwald. It only has 120 residents. But the view was beautiful. From there, I went to the top of the Schilthorn, one of the Alps. The view there was flammablammablous! I’ve gone to many other places too, but I don’t have time to type all of them. I have to come back soon, though.
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Beetles:
We’re glad to hear that you’re enjoying yourself. What in particular amazes you? (We already know about Swiss scenery and chocolate.)
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Well, the two things that amaze me most are Swiss scenery and
chocolate (mainly after taking an AMAZING tour of the Callier Chocolate Factory) I guess I would say that I am amazed by how entirely and completely the Swiss are better at being efficient and organized than us. Such simple things I see here I make me think “Wow, why do we Americans never think of that?”
Also, I just got back, and I am doing HORRIBLE with jetlag.
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I (who also went on this trip) was also astounded by the Swiss scenery and chocolate. The mountains, in particular, looked like an illustration from a fantasy novel, but they were actually there, which was amazing. I also was particularly excited about going to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Meiringen, and then getting to visit Reichenbach Falls, the place where he and Moriarty died. (Except Holmes came back.) There was a white star at the location where the Sherlock Holmes Society of London decided that the fight must have happened. We also went to CERN’s museum, and learned a lot about the functions of the Large Hadron Collider. And, like Beetles, I was impressed the remarkably efficient Swiss transportation system.
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Caking cake.
I seem to have given myself carpal tunnel just as my wrist’s finally recovered from being sprained. It really hurts, and I’ve gotten about three hours of sleep total this whole night.
Please, let me stop doing stuff like this to myself… >.<
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Researchresearchresearch
I’m studying how ethanol affects the histone modification of Casper fish.
…
Basically, I’m giving fish embryos fetal alcohol syndrome to see how it alters their DNA.
BUT ALSO I am going to see the Deathly Hallows midnight premiere and then lab starts at 8:30 AM.
NEVER SLEEP, EVER
Also, ALL CAPS WOO
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YOU ARE LEARNING WELL, MY YOUNG PADAWAN.
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Learned my AP scores today: 4 on Biology, 5’s on Latin, Lit, Spanish, and Music Theory. It messes up my schedule a bit, but only a bit.
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*steeples fingers*
IX-cellent!
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9cellent?
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4 and 5 is 9, maybe?
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Nein. I was imitating Mr. Burns on “The Simpsons.”
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*steeples fingers together* RELEASE THE HOUNDS!
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HAHA OH MAN I DIDN’T FULLY READ YOUR FIST COMMENT well there you go, brainwaves and all that
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I’ve always thought there aren’t enough wordplay-based conversations on MuseBlog.
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Speaking of which, if you were to translate “Rats Live on No Evil Star” into Latin, I’ll bet it would make a spiffing motto for KaiYves’s space club. Everything sounds important in Latin — witness the Muse Academy motto, CRUSTO VOLANTI NOLI OBSTARE.
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Google translate comes up with “Vivamus in felis nec malum mures”, but that’s often off, so it might not be that great.
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That’s complete gibberish. “We may live in of a cat nor bad mice.”
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MURES NON SIDERE MALO VIVUNT
I went with sidere instead of stella for “star” because sidere also means “to settle” or “to remain fixed”–RATS live on no evil star, and they also don’t live to be motionless and inactive in regards to their cause.
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Does vivere also mean “inhabit” or “dwell”?
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Yes, so vivunt is “they live” or “inhabit” or “dwell”. Sidere is more a matter of being stationary.
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I think we get the word “subside” from sidere as well–to settle below, to sink down.
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I put that into Google Translate (I know it has something to do with flying pies, but wasn’t quite sure what) and it came back with, “Shell not to oppose a flying.”
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“Don’t stand in front of a flying pie.” (The shell in this case is a pastry shell.)
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I just saw Sherlock in my head.
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I misread that as “*staples fingers*”.
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My aunt Claire once stapled her finger, as I recall.
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Mine came today, too: 5’s on Biology and European History.
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I HAVE IT
I HAVE A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
OFFICIALLY SAYING GOODBYE TO THE WORLD FOR NOW
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I AM GETTING IT IN A COUPLE OF HOURS
SO HAPPY
WHY AM I ON THE INTERNET SO MUCH DANGER OF SPOILERS
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I DO NOT
DAD AND MOM ARE BOTH OUT AND PROBABLY WON’T WANT TO DRIVE
BUT FRIEND HAS IT
AND I’VE STILL GOT A BIT OF AFFC LEFT
SO I WIL PROBABLY BORROW HERS
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Piggy’s Advice of the Day:
If the world ever starts seeming less than awesome, just remember that birds are technically dinosaurs.
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A recent National Geographic article started with a similar sentiment: “Most wonders of nature are things most people will never see… (describes things happening in remote places, underwater, and in space)… but all you have to do is look out your window to see dinosaurs using their feathers to fly.”
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Great minds think alike, I guess. The thought struck me as I was eating chicken nuggets for lunch. I realized, “I’m consuming the flesh of dead dinosaurs. Neat.”
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Most Quintessentially MuseBlog quotes: “I’m consuming the flesh of dead dinosaurs. Neat.”
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Carl Sagan once said, “I know a world with a million moons.” He was talking about Saturn. Sometimes it takes a jolt of paradox or poetry to wake us up.
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I own a small dinosaur that lets me carry it around the house and preen its feathers. Awesome.
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ENVY. I’m in a dinosaur-watching group, though, and I feed rescued baby dinosaurs about once a week.
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My two dinosaurs almost got eaten by…cats.
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MY PARENTS BOUGHT ME A GUITAR
THE FIRST SONG I PLAYED ON IT WAS STILL ALIVE
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Well that’s good, you wouldn’t want to play a dead song.
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I looked up that song on YouTube and memorized all the lyrics. I have no life …
Also, I showed my family the Portal trailer on YouTube and have been dropping hints about it. Tangerine says she might get it for my birthday!
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YAY CAPS LOCK
MY BROTHER’S THIRD GOLDFISH DIED YESTERDAY. THEN HE WAS BEING A DRAMA KING. HONESTLY. BOYS.
</POPO *PAYS FINE IN CHOKLIT*
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…Someone died, and he was upset, and you’re… confused? Annoyed? Sure, it was a fish, and fish aren’t very smart, but any death at all is a perfectly valid reason for distress, especially the death of someone you live with. That fish gave something to the world, and now it’s been taken out of it. You yourself don’t need to be upset, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with your brother being upset. Don’t act like his sadness is trivial or comical.
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2.5 days. It lived with us for 2.5 days. And I told him it was going to die because he didn’t have an aerator, but he denied it. And then he got upset and that set of this whole chain reaction where he was whining about he can’t find anything to do. Let’s just say I’m a little fed up with him bawling at the drop of a hat.
I shouldn’t be ranting here. I really just wanted to post in CAPS-LOCK without it being a PoPo so I typed the first thing that came into my head. But thanks.
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Piggy (97.1): Yeah, I have the same problem (well, I live a few hours away from deep woods, but I can’t drive or anything like that). Does your future college have any sort of outdoors/wilderness program? I got really involved with that at my school, and it has opened a lot of doors for me in terms of trips and adventures.
Fiddler (98): Yay! What kind of wire do you need? We have lots of wire at my house because we used to do lots of beading.
Unintended Pun (104): Congratulations! That’s wonderful awesome exciting.
oxlin (127): That’s a lot. I just calculated–it’s 27% of my life for me.
Piggy (151): You are super. Congratulations!
Sentences from my life:
I’m almost halfway through my EMT course, and I feel like I can save anyone from anything!
My job is awesome, because I get to play with kids all the time, and I get into all of the museums for free.
I bike everywhere, up to ~15 miles every day (usually only about 8), including lots of hills, which is really wonderful and fun and rewarding. Everyone should bike everywhere!
I can now consistently walk all the way across the slackline in my backyard.
I made cookies today.
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I haven’t found anything like that where I’m going. There’s the Nebraska for the Upgraded Treatment of Squirrels (NUTS), but no wilderness stuff.
(Yes, that is an actual, official group.)
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I’m reading “Edison’s Conquest of Mars”.
It’s epic sauce.
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I totally have Lyme disease, guys.
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ARE YOU SERIOUS
This day just keeps getting worse.
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No, no, it’s totally cool. I got bit by a tick a week ago, and I got it off almost immediately but it was kind of red and I was like “haha, Lyme disease, but not really.” And it actually is, it’s got the concentric rings and everything. I’ve only had it a week though, and I’m getting antibiotics tomorrow, so I’m not going to DIE and probably won’t suffer from fatigue and depression for the rest of my life.
And now I can blame all my recent problems on Lyme disease rather than my personality.
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Ackpbth first the TB and now this… WILL EVERYONE STOP GETTING SICK.
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Also, I thought you were all happy because you got a book?
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But in the book, horrible things happened to all my favorite characters!
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Hm, maybe I won’t read it then. It’d be like watching Torchwood or something.
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Time has ran an article on fanfiction, and overall I’m pretty content. I still laughed when they mentioned Rule 34 and Mpreg, though. Any other thoughts?
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I thought it was brilliant. It’s so rare for people not in fandom to treat fanfic with anything other than disdain and repulsion, and label people who write it as sex-obsessed geeky men who live in their parents’ basement. The article was clearly well-researched, and the author took the time to discover the nuances and lingo of fandom culture. What person in the mainstream media before this has actually bothered to find out what the word canon means for us, or slashfic, or genderswap? I also appreciated how he dealt with the legal issues of fanfiction, and the always-knotty question of whether or not it has originality to it. I’m pleased that he seems to understand that fanfic isn’t about blindly copying another’s work, it’s about letting your own imagination run wild in a world you didn’t happen to create. Overall, great job.
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I once read a fic (that was written live between several people on an imageboard) that shipped a character with herself. It got confusing.
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That character wasn’t Narcissa Malfoy, was she?
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No, Rainbow Dash.
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…My Little Pony fanfic?
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You find this surprising? Really?
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Touche.
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I don’t understand the internet’s sudden obsession with My Little Pony … how did this start exactly?
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I’m not really fanfic obsessed, though I have read a few, but I thought it was a great article. They themed it around HP fanfic, though many others were mentioned, so it was very indepth, and a nice history of fanfic. I liked it.
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It’s good, especially because I’ve had to explain what fan fiction is to several of the NASA people I’ve met when they ask about the stories I write.
And I like that they explain that ALL fan fiction is not pornographic, violent, or just weird, but the fact that they did mention those aspects and the existence of some of the stranger forms might make future explainations *harder* if that’s the only part of the article people remember.
I don’t want the people to stop talking to me after I say “Well, it’s NASA fan fiction.” because they think it means the stories I write involve excessive sex and violence.
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I thought that was a fairly well-written article. I’m not a huge fan of fanfiction (though I do know a lot about it – thank you, TVtropes), but it was a good article.
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Oh, I saw that! I don’t really read fanfiction, but it was interesting to see an article about it.
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Is that article available online?
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I only have a few minutes, but Errata, I’m so glad about your sister, and Piggy, there’s a dinosaur in my backyard right now.
SAILING CAMP IS AWESOME OH MY GOD.
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POSOC- LET THE RECORD SHOW i just expect to be trolled in this fandom (THANKS TO ORIGINAL CRUEL TROLL GOD GRRM) so i was just making sure. i know you’d never spoiler anyone~
but now i am filled with le dread………….UGGGGGHHH
kay, back to reading….it is actually OVERCAST outside so i’m going to sit in the front yard and read
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NNNGH, I want to RANT to people about this but I’m probably one of the first people on the planet to finish the book! I don’t even know anyone else who reads it IRL…
Let me just say this. The Event is really bad. Not on the sheer “OMG WHY” scale of the Red Wedding, but it is a huge slap in the face right at the most triumphant moment of the arc, and the longer you think about it the worse it gets. But there is the tiniest sliver of hope, and it all depends on the actions of a certain character in Winds of Winter. Which I won’t get to read for another six years.
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162- I went to sailing camp in Seattle two years in a row, it was fantastic.
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PORTAL HAS CRASHED MY COMPUTER
THIS WAS NOT A HUGE SUCCESS
WHY DO I HAVE CAPS LOCK ON
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I guess it would be hard to overstate your dissatisfaction. *pied*
Anyway, I’m sorry. I hope your computer’s okay. *gives sympathy cake*
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Nah, it’s fine. Actually, it was my mom’s computer, so that would have been more of a problem, but a forcible restart did the trick.
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BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE DOES
YAY BANDWAGON-JUMPING!
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Got home at 2am this morning from Wisconsin.
Wisconsin visit actually went quite well. Met my great uncle Dick, my grandma’s brother who she talked about quite a lot, and his daughter and two of her daughters. Mom and Katie (mom’s cousin) hit it off again after not seeing each other for nearly 30 years, and my second cousins were cool, although we didn’t have much in common. (They’re big into sports. I’m not.)
Mom’s brother and his family are talking to us now, and actually being nice-wonder of wonders. It was nice to see them again, and thankfully my Demon Cousin isn’t so demonic anymore, just kind of apathetic. Also a teenager. Whoadang, how is that even allowed to happen? Please excuse me while I have a “how do kids grow up SO FAST?!” moment. I’m starting to have a lot more compassion for adults who say that about me now.
Anyway, grandpa mostly behaved himself while the rest of the family was there, and wasn’t too awful when they weren’t. Mostly we had uncomfortably silent meals and then he’d shuffle off to his room without talking to us. Alas. I feel bad going to visit him and then just trying to avoid contact, but so it goes.
It was strange to not have grandma there. I kept half expecting her to get back from a hair appointment or the reading room, or to be out in the yard picking up sticks, or to shoo me away from doing the dishes, but she never did.
Laundry today, putting some stuff in order in my room, crocheting my dreads (gah frizz and itchies), going to DH2 tonight. I’ll see if I can dig out the robes mom made me ages ago to wear tonight. Not going as any particular character, just a random student. Kind of channelling my inner Prof. Trelawney, what with the green scarf wrapped around my head and a moonstone pendant. Black skirt, blue tank top.
I wonder where my wand is?
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You people (Axa, Jade, POSOC) who are all obsessively CAPSLOCKING about a series… What series? Is it good? Should I read it?
I now have to take antibiotics for my Lyme disease…Oh, AND probiotics to replace all the helpful bacteria that I kill. HOW ANNOYING. But at least I don’t have encephalitis!
I am trying to pack for college. It is DIFFICULT. I have so much stuffffffffffffff and not enough boxes and bags to put it all in. Books especially, since I’m only taking like three with me but I have to pack all the rest anyway. Clothes are fairly easy, but packing books is like Tetris or something.
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it’s the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. it’s a fantasy series but it’s really more about political maneuverings (although there are dragons to be sure)
i hope all goes well with the medicine! DDD: also packing for college is The Worst. tetris is an apt comparison to make
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A SONG OF ICE AND FIIIIIRE
…I don’t even know why I capitalized it that time.
And if you think it is tetris now, just wait until you have to fit it all into the car.
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I have to help my mom pack up her spinning/yarn booth every week so she can go to the local craft/farmer’s market…I’m not scared of a few measly boxes! Also, most of it is just going to be stuffed in the attic because my parents believe, perhaps correctly, that I will have NO ROOM FOR ANYTHING.
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MF – Professor Trelawney would be a GREAT character to dress up as.
Speaking of which, Harry Potter- this belongs on the special thread, but I don’t feel like reading it all ( I just got back from a week in Florida and my goodness, you guys are prolific ). I feel like I’m missing out because I’m not going to a midnight showing ( yeah you guys are making me jealous ). I’m not even dressing up…I’m going this Friday. I always feel like I can do things later. But no, this time I can’t. Maybe I will dress up – make a speed costume. My friend Brenna who’s going with me would probably think it was weird though. I should really start getting motivated to do things more. I mean, I was in Florida when Atlantis launched, and I didn’t even watch it on TV. And I’ll probably cry through the whole Harry Potter movie. Harry, I will miss you so. My life I also feel like I should watch all the movies again, but I’ll settle for the books. Haven’t even started on GoF – it’s turbo time.
Also, Wizarding World of Harry Potter – best theme park in existence. It was totally worth standing in line for an hour and a half to go on the Forbidden Castle ride again.
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Have to write an essay for AP US History in the fall. I’m so motivated. Off to the racetrack.
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Today’s been great, though I’ll write about it later this evening. I think I’m going to go read outside while it’s still light. I just wanted to say I started rereading Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, and it reminded me of the shortened version I made on that thread oh-so-long-ago. Hehe.
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And why are you reading something that is not A Dance with Dragons? You need to finish so that I can rant about it!
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I remembered you don’t have a copy yet just as I hit Comment. My apologies. :'(
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XD Apology accepted, of course!
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OW. MY EAR. I HATE YOU YMCA.
My ear seriously really hurts and I’m going to a camp in four days. WHHHHHYYYYYYYY!!!
Ow. Owowowowowowowowow. Cake.
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What happened to your ear?
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Swimmer’s ear, I think. Ever since I was born, I’ve been strangely prone to ear infections. I got one when we went to Disney a couple years ago. It was not very fun.
It’s feeling better today, though, which is good.
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Was given more MLP stuff by my sister, and bought some on top of that: sticky notes, a notepad, markers, a coloring book, a tote bag, stickers, magnets, and a backpack. There was a deal that if you bought a backpack you’d get a free lunchbox too, but they didn’t have any pony lunchboxes, so I got one shaped like the Mystery Machine instead.
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I’m in Valencia!
It’s soooo nice! I’m really really sunburned.
My roommates here are cool. :]
Ummm… I don’t know what else to say now. It’s going to be really weird when I go home and I’m not old enough to buy alcohol. When I first got to Europe it was weird that drinking is so normal. As a kid I was always like “OMG alcohol is horrible and it’s like purified snake venom and if you drink it you will get addicted and become an alcoholic and destroy your family until your liver fails and I’M NEVER EVER GOING TO DRINK”. And now I’m in Europe and I’m like “hey, let’s walk down to the pub and have a drink.”
What the heck, American health class?
So, short story shorter, my American health class made me irrationally afraid of something that is perfectly normal.
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