blabber

Words can be used for so many things--but mostly talking, communicating. Words are a means of communication from one person to the next.

So who, exactly, am I supposed to talk to? My sister passes me off as a loser, and my brother only wants me to get off the Wii (which I haven't used in a YEAR and have a right to touch for a second) so he and his friend who comes over every single day can play with it. My mom and dad are good conversational people, but they're my parents, they're 30 years older than I am, and my peers...well, my peers are mostly all swamped in popular culture -- think Hannah Montana, Chris Brown, and the likes. I don't blame them for it; it's just a way to conform. They conform through pop culture, I conform through shoes, we're even. But still.

Maybe I should get a parrot. Yeah. Parrots agree with everything you say, PLUS they've got feathers.

Hmm.

Excuse me while I get a parrot.

the talented artist

Yup, that's me, the talented artist. This time, I have really a lot of new drawings, so I've embedded them in a slideshow on the left, underneath my profile. I hope you enjoy them! I used a new drawing book I got for Christmas called Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy by Christopher Hart -- click here to buy and read more about it -- to draw about half of them. Once I got used to the tactics, though, I branched out on my own to create unique pictures.

I've never really been into human features before, so tell me what you think.

By the way, I owe my dad one for scanning these in so fast! Thanks, Dad.

hacking

OK people, I just want to make sure you know you're warned...

If you're the one who took it upon yourself to CHANGE MY ICON to something seriously inappropriate tonight, you better WATCH YOUR @$$. I'm going to track you down, and when I do, well, you better hope I'm feeling merciful...because you'll be in a mighty fine predicament.

Sincerely,
a classy-not-trashy girl who doesn't want any goofing around

Imaginary Witness

Wow.

I just walked in the door from seeing Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust at the IFC, a stunning theatre in the heart of New York City. This movie portrays the different ways that people have attempted to capture the unimaginable horror of the "Nazi atrocities" that are the Holocaust through film. The most essential point I thought they made was that no one can ever really know how terrible what happened was except for those who were there in the death camps and survived to tell the tale. But these people, as the director (Danny Anker) mentioned in a session after the showing of the movie, are dying fast, and soon there will be none of them left--at which point only the stories captured on film will serve as testimony to this mark in history.

The image with a tomato in the corner is a quote from rottentomatoes.com, a site for movie reviews and honest criticism.

Orange You Glad?

Hey all my faithful readers!

Check out this orange I cloved. Usually the only benefit of these is a seriously awesome smell for a day or two (or until the oranges rot). But this time it's satire I achieve with "Two-Faced Orange."

Sorry if it looks weird that it's just my hand; my mom pointed out the valid point that internet pedophiles could acquire my picture and ruin my life by attaching my head to a nude body, so I figured only the hand was the way to go.

Peace and chicken grease, me

a post about posters...HAHA get it?

I was just thinking about the decoration of my room. The things on my wall are kind of bizarre. I've got a poster up for a lecture by Louise Leakey that I attended in April at the girls' school I used to go to, and for a talk by Sylvia Earle that I went to a year before that, sponsored by the same girls' school's Speakers Series program. Then I have a copy of the Declaration of Independence from an old New York Times and a framed drawing of Happy Bunny signed by Jim Benton from a book signing of his that I went to last year. Rounding out this weird collection, I have a mirror, a calendar where each month is a different black-and-white of Manhattan, and a painting I got last year from the Dumbo Arts Festival, which I go to every year because my aunt is an artist who lives and works in Dumbo.

There really isn't much room on the walls for anything else, save for the bulletin board I've got leaned against the wall on top of my dresser and the bookshelf standing next to my closet door, which takes up only about 6 square feet.

What quirky--or not quirky--stuff do you have plastered on your bedroom walls? (Jeez, this sounds like a prompt you get from school or something...)

RUN FROM THE EARWORM!

No, no, it's not some kind of freaky brain infection, jeez. It's the technical term for a song you have stuck in your head. I found this out about a year ago in some magazine, and for some reason it's stayed with me ever since--almost as if it were an earworm itself.

Right now I've got "With a Little Help from my Friends" going around and around in circles in my head, replaying itself over and over.

ARGH! I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN TAKE IT ANYMORE!

the delicate art of show and tell

Here's how it works. I show you this picture by M.C. Escher, and you tell me what you think of it.

This is my last resort to get you snickerdoodlish people to comment before I consent to posting boring articles and frickin' quotes to drag out your opinions.

It can't be as hard as you make it seem. All you have to do is click on the "comments" link and put a few words into the box. Surely I don't have to tell you how to type--if you don't know how to type, well tough luck, I just don't care.

I mean, if you don't know how to comment without forced prompting, we all know how to play "show and tell," at least...right?

more mindless drawings

OK peeps, here are my new drawings.

Actually, I take that back. They're not new, just late. My dad didn't scan them for about 3 or 4 weeks, but I finally bugged him enough this morning to get him to relent and scan them.

Personally, I only like Einstein (the last one...ha on you, I made you scroll all the way down to it), but whichever one you think is good -- or not -- I appreciate feedback, so cough it up, I know you got it.

Peace and pencils, you-know-who

pizza and chinese: a reflection

Pizza comes in many forms, and so does Chinese food. Personally, I like vegetable pizza and moo shoo pork -- and some may like 'em hot, but I like 'em cold. Ice-fishing cold. South-pole cold. Hitler's-heart cold. (That was a good one.)

Share your opinions please...

Love, the girlie with 3 identities

Adam Sandler rulez

here comes chanukah
~by Adam Sandler~

"You don't need Deck the Halls or Jingle Bell Rock
Cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock (both Jewish)"

Haha, he also does another great song here--

lunch lady land

SLOPPY JOE, SLOPPY SLOPPY JOE!!!!!!!!!!

EVIL CONTRACTOR

In June, my dad promised me that he'd get a contractor to plaster my room in September and that he'd have it painted by October. Understandably, I was excited.

BUT NOW IT IS STILL UGLY!

The contractor never called back, my dad never took initiative, and so my room remains a hideous yellow. I am so mad.

There are a few things to learn from this, though:
1. Men lie
2. If you want something, you gotta go out and get it yourself
3. Contractors are to be shunned

sports thoughts

I wonder what it would be like to be an Olympic athlete, with a myriad of trophies...I think I'd actually like it, not because I'm so strong or anything, but because I am super-competitive and love to win. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher almost banned me from playing games because I got so mad when I lost...haha.

I also really like swimming, softball, and soccer. I'm pretty good at soccer--my team is the best in the league--and also not half bad at swimming, either. This summer, I was on vacation for six weeks at this great place in New England with two lakes. It was great because I went swimming literally every day. By the end of the summer, I was pretty damn tan (for a redhead, at least) and muscled...great feeling. Beaches rule. I've done 4 or 5 years of softball but skipped it last year. I'm more into following professional baseball, but I can play OK.

I wish I could play basketball, but I'm truly bad. I get all gawky and ridiculous, and people hate me for it...everyone says that because I'm tall that I should be able to play well, but they are sadly wrong.

Wind

The other day, I was sitting outside at recess at a table. I was trying to read Jane Eyre, but the water bottle I used to hold it down kept rearing up and rolling away. I was very annoyed, not only because I now had to actually hold the freezing cold bottle in my hand, but also because I couldn't read anymore since the pages were flapping around like there was no tomorrow. So I ended up just stuck standing there in the wind. It was one of those times where it's just like, "Oh, come on, can't something go right just once?" Little, but infuriating. Ever have those moments?

Music vids you have to see/hear

Here are the links of a few music videos to songs I love. If you choose not to play these, you choose to go on my hit list. Just kidding, I am not psycho and don't have a hit list, but really. You don't even have to watch them or like them, just listen to them -- just the first 30 seconds, if you really can't stand it. Believe me, I have taste.

-"Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne
-"She Loves You" by The Beatles
-"Lonely Road" by Everlast
-"Loser" by Beck
-"It Must Be Summer" by Fountains of Wayne
-"I Should Be Allowed to Think" by They Might Be Giants
-"End of the Tour" by They Might Be Giants

Love,
the wild little lady from Austin, TX

December is here

YAY PEOPLE IT IS FINALLY DECEMBER!!!!!

This means Hanukkah and Christmas for me, plus two sweet weeks off for winter break! Aah, I lurve December.

Today, I had my piano recital. I played the Pochod Marsch by Prokofiev. Yes, I hesitated once or twice while I was playing it, but cut me some slack -- I've been sick for a couple of days now and am still not entirely 100 percent.

Hanukkah starts in three days. I can't wait to get my presents! Plus, my family plays this game every night of Hanukkah where, in the evening, when the candles are all lit, we bet on which candle will be the last one to burn out. It's a great outlet for my competitive nature because when I lose, at least it's not a big deal, so it really is just for fun.

apologies

I am sorry to God for taking His name in vain so much.
I am sorry to my mom for staying in my room all the time.
I am sorry to all the hungry people in the world for throwing away perfectly good food.
I am sorry to my piano teacher for never practicing.
I am sorry to my bat mitzvah tutor for never practicing.

And finally...

I am sorry to all you peeps out there for not posting more, and when I do post, not posting about anything much worthwhile to read.

Article: Boy Dies at Hockey Game Picking Up His Raffle Prize

Boy Dies at Hockey Game Picking Up His Raffle Prize

A 14-year-old boy from Scituate, Mass. died at a minor league hockey game between the Portland Pirates and the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence on Friday night. It was "Revival Night," an annual promotion by the team that attracts more than a thousand church congregants to the arena. The Providence Journal reports that that boy, a member of the Word of Life Fellowship Christian outreach program, stayed for the night's postgame festivities -- and that's when an unbelievable tragedy occurred:

The boy - who did not participate in the after-game competitions - won the raffle's grand prize, a Nintendo Wii game console, according to Lepore. "He came down from the stands to get his prize and he either tripped or fell or collapsed," Lepore said yesterday. The boy was taken by New England Ambulance to Hasbro Children's Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The Journal doesn't offer a clear geography of where this fall took place, and none of the sources offer insight as to how his injuries could have ended up being fatal. The paper reports that the Providence Police Department is investigating the death pending results of an autopsy. The P-Bruins have released a statement, which indicates that the Wii was being awarded by The Word of Life and not the team, and the P-Bruins planned a moment of silence before Sunday's game.

The Dunkin' Donuts Center had just reopened earlier this month after being closed for six months during "phase two" of a three-phase, $80 million renovation. Lepore told The Journal in a Nov. 14 story that his arena was "the safest public building in the country" because of the advanced life-safety measures added during that renovation.

Princeton

I just spent my weekend in Princeton, New Jersey--two nights staying in a city no more than an hour and a half from my home. Sounds odd, I know, and that's not just you; that's because it is.

We arrived at our destination on Friday afternoon, but our room wasn't ready yet because they were still cleaning, so we hung out in the lobby for a while before we were admitted. That night, we ventured into the city for a bite at Tom Yum Goong, a local Thai restaurant. I ordered coconut soup and Thai salad, but don't think for a minute that that means I didn't help myself to chicken satay, vegetable rolls, my sister's "Crazy Noodles," and my dad's...whatever it is that he got. Near the end of the meal, my siblings got bored and walked to a health food store across the street, where my mom allowed them to be alone for no longer than 30 seconds before freaking out that there might be "health food perverts" at the store who wanted to kidnap my brother and sister.

Yes, they are crazy, good observation.

Afterwards, we used the pool and gym, neither of which one under the age of 18 is allowed to enter without adult accompaniment.

Then yesterday, my mom took my brother and sister to the gym and subsequently the pool at 5:15 a.m. Of course, the pool didn't open until 6, so they were in the exercise room for 45 minutes before that. I tell you, crazy people, I live with CRAZY PEOPLE. Do I need any more evidence?

At a more natural time of the morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel -- I only had 2 cups of coffee because I'd had miniature rice cakes and some freaky sort of preserves from the accursed health food store of last night in the room and was not hungry. Then we walked around the freezing streets of Princeton, where I was eventually forced by the temperatures to buy fuzzy socks, which yes, I am wearing now.

We stopped at Hoagie Haven for sustenance. I got a hot pastrami sub. Yay. (Needless to say, I also extensively sampled my mother's cheese fries. Come on, they were so nice and hot! [Hot was my first word--double yay. Sorry, you probably don't want to know that much.])

La la la...boring boring...pool, gym, tennis, Mexican food, TV, whatever...

We left this morning at nine. When I felt how relieved I was to get away from "family time" and go back to my 3rd-floor closet-sized room, I realized just how much I like to be alone. Ahhh.

the meaning of Thanksgiving

Props to Mom, who gave me this idea, and without whom I would probably be stuck with eternal blogger's block.

Some of my younger friends might say that the meaning of Thanksgiving is to turn Thanksgiving Weekend into a "Thanxgiveaway Wiikend," as Comedy Central says. My siblings, bless their little hearts, may say the point of the holiday is to skim the marshmallows off the sweet potatoes when nobody seems to be looking. Different people might think the turkey's the thing and that the only real issue worth thinking about is where to find the little chef's hats that go on the ends of the turkey's legs. And still others may spew some crap about Christopher Columbus and his "discovery" of the New World (my least favorite legend).

Well, what do I think? Good question, even if you didn't ask it. I say the London Food Company has got it right--along with Crane's Deli and Food Shoppe, manufacturer of the fabulous Plymouth Turkey Sub. The meaning of Thanksgiving is to be thankful for all the different mediums this particular bird's meat can be translated into--pie, sandwich, stew, cold cuts--the possibilities are endless.

fluffy white stuff

OH MY GOD PEOPLE IT IS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean it was snowing yesterday too, all day, but that was just a flurry -- although playing soccer in it (and winning the championship, I might add, 3-0, go me!) was, to say the least, not the coziest experience.

But now it's snowing for real! Like, it's genuinely collecting! In a way the suggests actual depth!

WOOHOO!
(By the way, I love snow to almost a bizarre extent, not minding the ever-present and looming possibility of party-crashing snow on my birthday. It's still my favorite.)

Piano

There is really not that much I can do with the piano anymore. I have been playing for going on eight years. Seriously. For the first few years--I mean, come on, I was five years old, what was I supposed to do?--I was completely furious that I was being forced to play. But then last year I got really into it for some absurd reason that I can't even begin to know what it might have been. So now I am probably the most exhausted person on the planet, so I don't practice so much...about 3 or 4 times a week, basically. My mom is totally attacking me about it, and my dad keeps saying that I have to make sure I don't "squander" the talent I have for piano.

Personally, I think I'm doing fine. Not necessarily well, but decently at least.

Oh who am I kidding--I am not ready for this concert in 2 weeks!! I've memorized it but it's all so sloppy!

love, z-bop

my drawings

Hey guys!

Actually no boys have commented on here yet so I guess I should say girls. And Dad. Thank you for commenting, Dad.

Ahem.

So whoever you are, here are some pictures I drew. Enjoy and respond!

siblings

Annoying things they do:

-act like crippled ferrets with ADD when eating in restaurants
-invade your room, which is supposed to be your only refuge
-IM your friends and tell them things about your life
-chew your gum

Slightly more forgivable things they do:

-do you stuff when bribes are offered
-compliment you on your hair
-tell you that the B you are all freaked out about is actually a good quiz grade
-bring you home candy

Do YOU have younger siblings? For example, a 5th-grade sister or a 2nd-grade brother (those are what I have)? Spill it!

NYC

Good things about New York City:

1. It is New York City.
2. It is New York City.
3. HELLO!

So, has anyone ever been on a water taxi? I was on one twice before last night. And what was I up to last night, you may ask? Why, partying with my aunt, who makes a living off of her paintings, at her silent art auction in a fabulous water taxi on the Hudson River, of course. I mean, duh.

I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT ANYTHING HAS EVER ROCKED SO HARD BEFORE.

(Excepting me, of course, but that is a given. But anyway.)

And the presence of [pretty minor] celebrities was also...present, I guess. Have you ever heard of Jim Thirlwell, or his musician alter ego, Foetus? He used to be a big thing in music. However, unlike Cher or other unfortunate washouts like her, he remains cool to this day. Well, being of the worldly status that I am, I was
about 6 inches away from him and his interesting blond mullet. I mean, hello, as my little sister would say, coolness overload. Are there any other seventh graders out there who can say that last night, they were zooming through Manhattan on a privately booked boat with a celebrity who is only famous in the very artsy circles, eating chocolate truffles and other tastylicious food from the Blue Ribbon, run by their aunt's ex??? I think not.

So...I guess that's it, basically. My dad and I got home at about midnight and had Cheerios while my aunt and her art clan went out for celebratory drinks at Noodle Pudding, a New York hotspot.

Love and caramel, li'l texi

soccer!

Bonjour mes amies--

Just wanted to let you know that my soccer team KICKED SOME SERIOUS BUTT yesterday! Especially me, the total rocker chick.

I am probably the best defense girl the world has ever seen. I blocked so many goals...we won 2-1. My sister and I are on the same team -- and we defend together -- so they call us the Li'l Fergies. Because our last name is similar to Fergie.

Anyway...how is everyone else's sport doing? And if you just sit on your fat lazy hind parts all day long, how are the sports teams you (hopefully) follow doing? Football? What'd you think of the outcome of the baseball playoffs/championship? Personally, I think the Red Sox are sucky losers anyway but bad winners too. Of course, I may be biased because of my Yankee worship.

Anyone who plays on a school team?...Anyone?

Does anybody just want to tell me how great I am for doing those serious saves?

Then please comment!

Love, Li'l Fergie #1

being the -est

Wassup my loving fan-peeps?! I just wanted to point out how awesomely funnishly great it is to be the -est. The best, the prettiest, the smartest, the funniest...all that good stuff. Not that I am, but it must be nice for everyone else who is. :) Just a celebration of the nice things today, nothing about the loneliness or unrequited love or problems you see on my moodget.

<3 your faithful tex author

this one's for grandma

Hi, Grandma...if you're out there, here's your squirrel. Sorry about li'l Skippy and his army men. It just struck me as funny. But I'm willing to post this one, too.

To all my other devoted fans, this is my squirrel-lovin' grandma's tribute to her favorite rodent. She feeds them with corn on a special platform outside the front of the house. This is one of the fine critter specimens she takes so much care with clinging to the front door in what could probably be called interpretive dance...hmm...

shout-out to my friends

This picture is of my friend -- I miss you Ginny (and Jordyn, your tisking is not necessary; don't be jealous of Ginny's recognition!)!

P.S.: of course I miss you Kelci, you don't need me to put it up on some stupid blog just to know it, do you?

highway meat

Poor squirrel...too bad, so sad.

welcome to my little corner of the world

Hey everyone, this is it! My blog! Thanks to anyone reading this...if anyone's reading this...oh well. Whatever.

Well if you are, thanks anyway.

-texasgrrl95