It's a sin to kill a mockingbird

Writer's Block: Water Closets Reconsidered

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:40:07 GMT

Post some pictures of outhouses or bathrooms that have given you a lasting impression, and talk about what the restroom means to you.

View other answers

... a restroom? XD
M'kay well I don't have pictures (who takes pictures of bathrooms?) but uh... I'll pull some out of my memory, here...

When I was in middle school (we only got two years of being in it because we had an Intermediate school that taught fifth and sixth) I took the longer way home to avoid high schoolers because they were much bigger than I was and I also rode my bike which happened to be pink and was a source of amusement among my friends. Mostly among the male ones. Mostly among Ricky.

I ended up going this way for the two years and then I would only go that way if I visited Mrs. S, who was my favourite teacher in my two years of attending TMS. There's this sort of wood-area on that way home before you reach the intermediate school and the new, cookie-cutter houses that they insist on putting up (POPULATION: 7,175. I memorized that sign, dammit. XD) and I went walking in them once, it wasn't all that great. So we have this sort of bridge going over this very small river (it's really pretty) and in the woods you can see this tilting sort of shack. I never actually stopped to look at it until halfway through seventh grade and saw that it was actually an outhouse.

People had completely forgotten about it, I guess, and it was just sitting there with moss covering it because it was made out of wood. Then there was this GIGANTIC wind storm in December of my eighth grade year, the day before winter break, and when I went by it next, after all the debris had cleared, it had fallen down and part of it had collapsed. I ended up going by it again on the day before winter break this year (when one of my friends said he'd walk me home cos it would be the last time we'd be able to do that but he got tired of me hanging around waiting for the other kid who was supposed to be moving as well and he couldn't figure out his transfer-form thing... I was really upset, actually and told him so on Christmas ((my friend, not the kid)) when he told me to come outside. He lived right across the street from me XD) and it was still there so obviously no one cared about the thing.

This one is more from one memory even though we constantly visited it. There was one year when my family decided that for my birthday we would go to California not only to see my cousins who still live there but to see San Francisco because that was where I was born and I was just turning ten, so it was a sort of special celebration.

Basically we decided to stop by Klamath Falls, which is where my mom's parents live (this really cool old house they built themselves and my uncle Scott has a fantastic record collection) so we could see my aunt before she went back to England. Every time we go see them it's about a four hour drive and we stop at this one rest stop. Well I wasn't feeling very well and I remember my mother attempting to make hot dogs on the engine of our car because Logan and Gabriel were hungry.

We ate, and then sort of hung out for a while and Logan went to go play on this little swing set (it was a really forest-y area with loads of tall trees... I don't know why they had a swing set...) then we left and the next MORNING we left Klamath Falls to go to CA.

So while in CA I got really sick. Not just like I had a stomach ache but I was really sick and nobody could tell what was wrong with me. I wasn't throwing up or anything like that but I remember not being able to blow out the candles on my birthday cake and pretending that "I'm fine now everyone" so that we could still DO the party. Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese and I was so dizzy that basically everything about that trip to THAT restaurant feels like if you watch one of those independent movies or maybe a nature documentary where the camera is all shaky and sometimes it spins around... BUT I didn't want to tell anyone so I kept playing the games and finally I went up to my mom and told her I wasn't feeling well.

She told me to go lie down (which is what I'd been doing for a while, anyway. Just sort of laying down in one of the tunnels there) and I did as I was told when we got home, and the next day they FINALLY realized something was actually wrong with me and that it wasn't a cold, or a stomach flu or anything... I was really sick.

They took me to the doctor and I remember THAT bathroom because... well I mean, it was a bathroom that smelled like disinfectant, c'mon guys, wouldn't you remember that? And they asked me "Well have you thrown up" I said no and THEY (being the geniuses that they are) said "actually you HAVE been. You're just not admitting it". ... I'm sorry... wth? They asked me if I had diarrhea and I said no. They said the SAME. THING. Then to make it all better they prodded me with a whole bunch of big needles and gave me some plastic China-made toys then said "OH, SHE'S FINE."

I wanted to strangle those guys. Seriously. I could barely see straight and they tell me I'm fine... anyway to make this story less-long than it would be, we had a family reunion where I got to meet my step-aunt (Korean lady who called me fat... I really don't like her or her kids who are these very materialistic, vain, shallow teenagers) AND my grandmother showed up (before she died) and my great-grandfather... all these people were on my dad's side... but I felt better about the day before that and it was a WEEK LATER. So I got jabbed with some needles, told I was completely faking my whole illness and had a shitty tenth birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese where I slept in some tunnels.

... and only half of that had to do with bathrooms. :D

OH! I'm getting sent out to Oregon a week before my mom, my grandparents are picking me up, I get to see my uncle and his wife and their kids (they all just moved from Japan in December and the kids are SO ADORABLE, OMG.) THEN I'm going to Independence for lunch with one of the friends I wouldn't be able to see if I visited on the way back.

And I haven't seen him in forever. So I turned several shades of happy when I heard that.
Also, many apologies for the long entry-thing.

which is why I need a tablet

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:44:05 GMT

but I'd be awful with or without it so it doesn't matter XD
After some long discussions regarding literature on Neopets (the only place to discuss literature)... well it wasn't a discussion.
We just made fun of stuff.

Like Eragon... and we decided that to get names he banged his head against a keyboard.
ANYWAY we came to the conclusion that Eragon involved bad 70s haircuts, was a rip-off of Star Wars (which involved some guys on dragons with lightsabers) and not only that but somehow the main guy in the book is related to that elf... (or was she an elf? I haven't read that book in a looong time) and there's that awkward romance going on.

Then Edward is a masochist who is full of angst, he has a unibrow that glitters (because Stephenie Meyer goes into great lengths about EVERYTHING but his eyebrows. Why? Because he has a unibrow) and Bella is oblivious to everything then falls for Jacob's dad's wheelchair.

Which causes her to break her nose cos she sits down face-first.

Don't deny it, your eyes exploded and they're now big gaping holes of eye-goo.
So you're forced to sit there staring in horror in the general direction of the computer screen and when your eye-particles manage to regroup you look again and the cycle starts over.

It's like a car crash. It's awful but you can't look away.

M'kay I'm going t'bed now.

Voice Post

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:17:19 GMT

... wow. I'm extremely amused by the way that was transcribed XD
Half of what I said isn't even on there, either.
What I said was basically that it's my first voice post and my dog was eating lettuce off the floor. Furthermore, I was watching Chicago and there's nothing exciting to say.

Big Read Meme (thing)

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:44:26 GMT

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Put a line through the books you HATE.
5) Post your list in your blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
~~2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien~~
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
~~16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien~~
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (... this is a repeat)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [I've read quite a few of these]
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (... also a repeat)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I READ LOTS.
And Les Miserables took me about four months so I could read all the 1000-somethin' pages unabridged because I thought somehow that would be better. He... took forever to explain EVERYTHING. A bunch of pages on the French sewer system and its history and all that.

But it was good in the end. I like Grantaire (the drunk XD).

The concert last night was actually pretty good but we left early cos some people in front of us were smoking a shit-ton of pot and my younger brothers were with us. I personally think pot smells disgusting so when some lady walked by with it and all the smoke kind of came my way I ended up hiding behind a book for the rest of the night.

Funny thing. In the book, Frank Zappa was addressing drugs.
But they had this really insane harmonica player. We watched that and then left before the fireworks D:

Posted using TxtLJ

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:29:54 GMT

I'm at the concert, waiting in line cos they wont let anyone in. It. Is. Boiling. Out. Here.

... gross.

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:00:20 GMT

Today I feel a lot better. I ate some cereal and found out that the date of our Oregon trip has been moved so we don't even know if we're going anymore (and they were gonna send me out a week early but the one person I would stay with is someone I'm severely disappointed in and I am currently not in the mood to spend any time with her at all) which kind of made me sad and irritated. Mostly sad.

Anyway... I watched Peter Pan and went to go look for our copy of the book so when I stepped into my youngest brother's room to look for it I stepped in vomit. Apparently it had been there for a long time cos it was REALLY into the carpet and stuff... and I think I don't ever want to set foot in his room again for that reason alone. Well that and it smells really disgusting in there.

Found out for the fourth of July we're going to this place called Red Rocks which is somewhere near Denver and it's this sort of open area surrounded by these gigantic sandstone ledge-thingies. Our camera is broken... XD I'm taking cell phone pictures and stuff.

What made me REALLY pleased to go, though, wasn't that there were fireworks after these two bands that were performing (I like fireworks unless I'm trying to sleep and they keep going off LIKE LAST NIGHT). It was that The Beatles was THE FIRST band to play at the amphitheater. First band there. To play. And it was August 26th, 1964 (... wish it had been August 21st because then a Beatles-event would have taken place on my birthday and I would've been ecstatic).

Scratch that, they had a concert in Minneapolis August 21st 1965 so I feel slightly special now. But basically in August they have this Beatles-tribute show “1964” The Tribute and I really want to go see it... I could possibly pass it off to my parents as a birthday sort of thing especially since it's a Friday but whether or not I'll be able to go remains to be seen.

BUT STILL. BEATLES AT RED ROCKS... I'm mostly excited about that more than anything even if it was way before I was born.

you can even take your clothes off when you dance

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:53 GMT

... I really regret going against my first impressions of these little fish-stick thingies my brother made my dad buy today at the grocery store. I decided that since I didn't want to ask for a vegetable omelet (which is what I keep asking for these days) and make him do anything else I just asked for a fish stick (they was big fish sticks) and after eating it I decided that apart from being really greasy and a bit disgusting they were okay and I would never eat them again.

About ten minutes later I think my stomach exploded or something because I feel horrible. And even the Imagine Whirled Peace my dad bought mostly for me (I kept asking for it until King Soopers started carrying the stuff) looked unappetizing so I'm kind of going to just do this little idea I keep having and then go upstairs to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

She buried further within the covers, making sure that even the top of her head was hidden from the prying eyes of her friend who continued to sit cross-legged upon the edge of her bed with a concerned expression. It was better to just make him think she had just moved in her sleep rather than making him realize that she was actually awake which would result in questioning.

"I know you're up." For someone who wasn't very observant he sure had a habit of picking up those skills at the worst possible times.

"... says who?" That's what she had wanted to say but due to her clogged-up sinuses it came out garbled and none too attractive. Tentatively she peered over the edge of the blanket and caught sight of Leon, who wiggled his fingers in greeting. Almost instantly her eyes narrowed and she didn't hesitate to hide again.

There was a pause in which she could hear him shift and then a sigh. "Lu, your mom let me in..." When the silence continued he moved and the crinkle of plastic made her curious. However, it was her usual stubborn nature that kept her from peeking. "An' I got you a present."

Well that did it. She let the blankets fall down to her waist which revealed a rather embarrassing, blue nightshirt bearing a faded highland cow with black text reading Highland Coo beneath it. It was no problem, though, consiidering Leon had seen her in much worse before. "What kinda present?" From his smile she began to wonder why she had asked in the first place but the damage had been done and her friend was grinning at her. In a moment he had produced a teddy bear from behind his back and held it out to her.

To be fair it wasn't really a teddy bear so much as it was a stuffed sheep and a home-made card. The card wasn't quite as impressive as the sheep because Leon's handwriting was almost illegible and he was almost as bad an artist as he was a musician, but it got the point across that he really was hoping she would get well soon.

I dunno. Leon Pepper (his name has NOTHING to do with Sgt. Peppers, I swear) is one character I've been working on lately and I thought that maybe he and Tallulah Moon (... I don't know what's up with her name but I like it :D) could be buddies or something since they sort of balance each other out what with Leon's minor stupidity and his lack of musical skills and Tallulah's being socially awkward and her love of the oboe.

... urg. Wish someone gave me stuffed sheep when I felt sick D:
That shirt, by the way, is one I remember seeing when I took a tour of Edinburgh Castle in sixth grade and my mom thought it was hilarious.

internet died

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:53:25 GMT

Today the internet/cable/phone wasn't working because they were working on it or something... and I ended up reading a lot... andddd I wasn't feeling very well so most of my reading turned into sleeping at some point.

But I thought I'd walk down to Prospect (this little place with some weird houses a few blocks away) to get some iced tea and it was the first time I'd worn shorts in a LONG time. I mean, they weren't anything like the shorts half the other girls I know would wear because I hate shorts but I liked 'em and thought that it would be a good change from what I usually wear.

Sooo I was just sort of wandering around listening to my Zune and stopped in this little park area (park meaning three trees and a whole lotta grass with two benches on either side) and this little kid came up to me and we had this conversation that went like this:

Kid: ... what's that? -points to ankle-
Madeleine: It's a scar.
Kid: Gross.
Madeleine: ... um...
Kid: You're fat.

Why thank you, kid.

Best part about all of this? The kid himself looked like he was about six years old, was overweight (I don't mean "pudgy" I mean overweight) and was eating cheetos. CHEETOS, MAN. And his mom didn't say anything about it, she was sitting right next to us and was this really skinny woman. What's worse is I'll bet she tells her kid he's not fat he's just "big boned" which is a complete load of bullshit because this woman is feeding her child things like cheetos when she probably knows it's gonna bite him in the ass later.

At least I know I've got healthier eating habits. XD
So I ended up resisting the urge to kick the kid in the balls and run away laughing hysterically and just sort of blinked and walked away feeling sad and a bit triumphant that I didn't go all psychotic on him.

Although I think the worst part about all of this was the mother didn't even bother to tell him that it was rude to call someone fat. And on top of all that I'm kind of self-conscious about the scar on my ankle cos it IS really sort of disgusting even after two years and I don't like people looking at it... but I dunno. I'm convinced my sudden shorts-wearing brought this on and I ended up changing immediately after I got home.

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say to Ten Different People Right Now:
1. I wish we had spent more time together but I'd be too nervous
2. You're fucking up your life doing what you do and hearing that some cops got to you and you felt proud made me wonder why I bothered caring in the first place
3. ... I'm jealous.
4. Sometimes I'll call you and when you make an excuse to hang up on me I wonder why I even bother when you put me through so much shit in the seven years I've known you
5. Why are you so intent on breaking everyone apart? I haven't seen her for five years and now I probably never will.
6. I really wish I had your myspace but I'm too nervous to ask cos you might think I'm weird
7. Why didn't we talk more when we were still in the same area?
8. You piss me off only because I feel like you're the one that turned her against me, and that's the reason she doesn't ever want to talk.
9. I'm convinced that all of you will make other plans and forget I was coming to Independence just to visit you guys. And I feel like such a moron for thinking that.
10. I love you so much that when I say "I miss you" and you reply "ok" I feel a bit like, even if it's not the same form of love, isn't returned at all.

Nine Things About Myself:
1. When I was four years old I stuck my head inside a doll house to see if it could fit and I couldn't get out because my ears wouldn't let me go through.
2. I like to read books on really strange and violent subjects even if I'm all for peace and stuff.
3. My handwriting is awful and small and my History of Rock teacher told me he could barely read it on my Beatles essay.
4. Starr is my guinea pig and she doesn't want to eat her orange drops when I give 'em to her
5. My favourite colours are orange and olive green.
6. I'm OCD about locking car doors, washing my hands, and having doors closed when they should be (or things turned off when they should be) and if they aren't I get really anxious
7. I can't draw
8. I've been playing piano since I was four and my old teacher was so religious when she saw that there were gay people in RENT she wouldn't let me play one of the songs for a recital and then wouldn't let me come back the next year
9. As far as books go I have no idea what I like and therefore a lot of my library time is spent going through the fiction and non-fiction sections to find at least one thing.

Eight Ways to Win My Heart:
1. Be yourself.
2. Don't be cruel just to make yourself feel better
3. Take things lightly. Smile, laugh... etcetera
4. Don't attempt to force things on others
5. Share some common interests with me
6. ... hugs?
7. Be able to talk freely
8. Don't do drugs/drink excessively

Seven Things That Cross My Mind a Lot:
1. Why is it so hard to think of an honest answer for things?
2. How can I think I'll read all these books in three weeks?
3. When's that Oregon trip again?
4. I need to start riding my bike or something
5. Should I become vegan? What if I just gave up and ate meat...
6. Why can't my hair be all nice and straight (for the purpose of me getting one of them nice 60's hairstyles XD)
7. ... I'm hungry but I don't think there's anything I can eat.

Six Things I Do Before I Fall Asleep:
1. Procrastinate on the computer
2. Brush my teeth an' stuff
3. Feed Starr
4. Turn on -insert band/artist here- because I have to have some music going or else I won't sleep
5. Turn off the light and open the windows
6. Stare at the ceiling for a long period of time/attempt to find a comfortable position then curl up and sleep (usually under my blankets no matter how hot it is)

Five People Who Mean a Lot:
1. Dad
2. Mom
3. Logan
4. ... possibly Gabriel
5. My aunt Sarah

Four Things I'm Wearing Right Now:
1. My earrings and nose ring (but I've always got those on, usually)
2. My softball sweatshirt
3. Jeans
4. ... skin?

Three Songs That I Listen to Often (Currently):
1. "Cousin Kevin" - The Who
2. "Out Damn Spot" - Anthony Rapp
3. "La De Da" - Ringo Starr

Two Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. Write a somewhat-successful novel
2. Go to a decent college (this will never happen from what I've been told)

One Confession:
1. I have absolutely no idea who I am even if I seem like I do and as a result I'm very frustrated and a bit scared about the future.

... hooray bulletins

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:20:39 GMT

I just realized I never had any Ringo icons (on LJ. I have loads on this computer and my laptop which... crashed and will not be revived any time soon).

Soo I already knew about this (sure you guys did as well) but I got the myspace bulletin today and actually clapped my hands and cheered. Then got the desire to finish up that letter I wanted to send him but every draft kinda sucks.

Really sucks. XD

Asked what he'd like for his birthday next Monday, July 7, Ringo Starr answers, "Just more Peace & Love."

Ringo is planning a global Peace & Love movement, and he's asking for a little help from his friends!

On Monday, July 7, Ringo would like everyone - here, there and everywhere - at Noon local time wherever they are in the world, to join him in making the peace sign and saying, singing, shouting, whispering, signing, writing or quietly thinking one simply beautiful and universal message: "Peace & Love."

"Wherever you are," says Ringo Starr, "Office, home, bus, tube, sitting, standing, walking, alone or with others, doesn't matter -- at Noon on July 7 make the peace sign and think, say, shout, sing 'Peace & Love'."

Ringo will be in Chicago on July 7, where he'll be joined by others at Noon CT at the Buckingham Fountain for a group expression of Peace & Love. CNN will cover the Chicago gathering and other Peace & Love gatherings that day, and Ringo will be interviewed by Larry King for that evening's broadcast of "Larry King Live" on CNN.

Other planned gathering spots include Abbey Road Studios in London, Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Capitol Records in Hollywood, and Strawberry Fields in NYC's Central Park.

Please join Ringo Starr's worldwide Peace & Love movement next Monday, July 7 at Noon wherever you are!

MONDAY.
I'm also making... yeah. A cake. I fail with other deserts xD
Which reminds me, we need groceries.

;__;

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:52:59 GMT

... so I went to the library today (it's the only place I seem to go anymore) and got a book on Frank Zappa, one on Iggy Pop, then I also got a book on Charles Manson, a Velvet Underground CD, and a John Lennon one as well. Anyway on the way out everything went well then we got into the car and Logan got the front seat because he has longer legs than I do. To give me more room he scooted the seat up and then because he made it move up too far he decided to move it back. He made it go back really quickly and...

ripped off my toenail. There was blood everywhere. And now my toe hurts :/

Of course to make everything even... worse or better, your decision, I have a double-header softball game later today and it doesn't end until ten. And because the town is a ways away I won't get back for a while and so I'll get to sleep late.

But yeah.
I hate the back seats of cars. They never work out for me xD

XD oh dear

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:39:13 GMT

... it's like the thing is mocking my awful self-esteem (I love generators... they're fun)

You know the difference between you and me? I make madeleine look good.

Which movie was this quote from?

</div>

There were a few others besides this but it was the first one I got.
Softball t'night. We're playing Carbon Valley or whatever so it'll be interesting.

Of course, the fourth one I did was incredibly horribly amusing considering my momentary obsession with The Godfather a year ago. "Luca Brasi sleeps with the Madeleine" oh IT'S AWKWARD. And that actor was creepy. His nose scared me XD

Writer's Block: Where your memories began.

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:16:55 GMT

What is your earliest memory of your life?

View other answers

... I think it might have been when I was about four years old and I used to go to this preschool around where my aunt went to college (and she had a bunny. He ran away. XD) so I used to be going to this preschool until it got really dark because my mom was working nights and she couldn't pick me up, my dad worked at a bookstore and I don't remember where my younger brother was but he was just sort of with someone else.

Actually come t'think of it he might have gone with my mom when she was working at HP (a duck bit me on my foot there. Stupid bastard duck thing) ANYROAD I went to this preschool and once it got to be about eight o'clock, my best friend Israel had gone home and I was left by myself so eventually I was getting nervous because nobody had come to get me until my aunt showed up to see if I was still there, took me to WOU and got me a pretzel.

About the same time (dunno if it was before or after) there was this idiot of a kid going to the preschool I don't even remember his name now... but at nap time he would stand at the door of the room where we kept our mats and every time I would go up he would block it and ask me my name. When I told him it he'd make fun of me but let me in. So one day I told him I didn't have a name and he hauled off an' punched me in the stomach. I avoided him (Israel got angry at 'im though, God I wish I still talked to him D:) but we went down to the Gross-Moter Room (or however it's spelled the point is it was raining and we had mats an' climbing stuff down there so it was like outside only darker and there wasn't slides) and Israel and I were playing but that same kid came over and chucked a ball at my head.

So Israel got all pissed off again and went after him then the kid punched ISRAEL and I called the kid stupid so he kicked me in the leg and somehow Israel and I got in trouble. Then they told my parents. I think they were angry, but not as angry as the time I threw rocks (but in my own defense, at that point I was six and nobody had told me throwing rocks was a bad thing to do... my first grade teacher still made me out to be some horrible beastie from hell, though. She walks by and says "this is an example of irresponsibility". I wanted to cry, and smack her... her and her stupid "you can't hold a pencil this way" thing...)

basically you have that one teacher you wish would explode and die, right? Or most people... yeah so I had this teacher in first grade named Mrs. Riordan and she'd been there forever. This woman made my first real year of school (kindergarten an' preschool didn't count) really awful. And so there was this time my friend Brenda (who ended up being a real bitch and ended up stealing my stuff then tried to make out with me in a bathroom while being this really sort of abusive friend) and this kind named Ethan told me to throw rocks with them. Well I was never told it was a bad thing so I'm throwing rocks and one of my good friends now came up and said she told on us.

Sooo I went to the principal who told me I was doing something wrong I ended up talking to the school counselor because they thought I was all disturbed, and they sat us out in the hall. MEANWHILE my first grade teacher walks the class by us and says "this is an example of irresponsibility" and looks at me. Right at me. I wanted to curl up and die because she seemed to really hate me but I dunno what I did wrong.

Then after that Mrs. R got really bitchy about everything I did. We were learning how to "properly write" (I already knew how) and I held my pencil differently from everyone else so she would take my pencil or chalk away depending on what we were writing with and tell me I was doing it wrong. I remember we were practicing our letters and she took my chalkboard and chalk away from me (because she thought chalk and a chalkboard made letter writing more interesting? I dunno. I prefer paper) then told me I wasn't writing them the way SHE wanted.

And so basically if I didn't do things exactly HER way she would get angry at me and then I went on to other schools and such and when I went to an open house for IES for my younger brother back in October I saw her and she gave me a hug. Really. A hug. She's like "OH MADELEINE I'M SO GLAD T'SEE YOUUU" and I just kind of stood there like "gtfo me you ruined school". :/

Awkward place. XD

Are you playin' your love gaaaaaames with me?
anyway.

meme thing

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:50:29 GMT

Basically adding "thing" at the end of everything implies I don't know what to call it.

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Then, you make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

yaoi_chan chose these icons

Newsies icon! There is no actual scene in the movie about the 1899 newsboys strike (made into a musical) in which Jack says "jigga what?" but Christian Bale's facial expressions are many and they're all pretty ridiculous.

From the same movie (look, there's Jack in the background!) this, again, didn't actually happen. However, from what I remember when I ended up saving this icon it was a reference to this movie that the actors made with a really horrible video camera and a stereo held up to the camera for the music, in which Ivan Dudynsky (this blond guy who plays Dutchy) goes around his trailer asking "where's my porno magazines" and then gets killed by Don Knotts.

George! Um... yeah. That scene in A Hard Days Night when George is looking at the shirt and saying it's "dead grotty" so the guy ends up kicking him out and everything. I'm not sure how much more there is to explain EXCEPT when he says "I'd be quite prepared for that eventuality" my brain spazzes because he sounds amazing(er). :D

If you haven't seen Harold and Maude then I suggest you do. It's this old 70's movie and basically this guy (Harold)'s mom wants him to get married so she keeps bringing these girls over and HE keeps trying to commit suicide (or staging his death, anyway) to make them leave. Unfortunately this girl thought he was a brilliant actor and he showed her how to do that then his mom walked in.

Found this on a website. It's this quote from the first season of The Mighty Boosh and they're looking for the old owner of the zoo in a forest and HE'S MADE OF CHEESE. Then wackiness and mod wolves ensues!

... you've ruined Christmas!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:22:24 GMT

I did watch this. And I giggled. Hysterically.
Noel and Russell pretty much win this even if half of what they said made no sense
and Lily Allen looked like she was going to like... explode. o__o

Might I just add that Noel's answer in that same thing to what women of the Islam religion wear over their face was fantastic. "Peep scarf". It's incredibly offensive but REALLY. His face was priceless. XD

HARK

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:37:38 GMT

I come bearing more pointless, neopets prompt-inspired stories!

Not water.
Bugs.
Millions of little bugs skittering over your skin, inside your mouth, your eyes your NOSE and there are bugs. Too many bugs to count, but you don't bother counting after they come out at you.

Little legs, billions, trillions, any number higher and you're afraid you'll lose your mind. Water should have come out of the tap; metallic, disgusting water that you would wash away everything with. All the mistakes, like an eraser, the water was there to SOOTHE. But no more.

The bugs, spiders, beetles, cockroaches all skitter crazily over your skin in a sort of dance that makes you writhe and shriek. They drop from your hands, crawl up your pant legs and fall down the back of your shirt. Small fangs bite at your flesh, welts rise on your skin and yet you can't stop the drop of your jaw, the widening of your eyes as your mind attempts to wrap itself around the concept that this isn't water that's streaming through your fingers.

And you were tricked.

This one didn't win the contest because the judge didn't like bugs. I apologized, though. I started out thinking I'd write about my 1920's character who would be twelve, and going by the name of Tallulah. Then I came up with this and kind of felt like smacking myself over the head. XD

It was one of those moments when you weren't really able to comprehend everything that was happening around you. When the first scream echoed in your ears and your knees buckled, your body pitched forward as you crumpled and fell over the body of that little girl who continued to stare at you with glassy eyes even as you fell on top of her, pushing her farther into the mud.

When you thought at first glance that it would be a chance to be heroic, to save a life and gain some time away from the accusatory stares of those around you and yet you didn't have enough sense to LISTEN to the girl.

Because if you had listened you would have noticed the way his eyes flashed, the weapon in his hand moving with each flail of his limbs and although you wouldn't have heard it, you should have noticed the movement of the pointer finger as it pressed down.

But you didn't.

You couldn't.

And no one is getting out alive.

... I don't know what this is.

EDIT:

I made a figure out of clay
and on my desk I hope he'll stay
He's big of nose and small of leg
he never talks, I named him Meg.

But because of those big, bulging eyes
I feel I should apologize
For never in my useless life
have I been forced to use a knife.

You see, my dearest, darling Meg
the big of nose and small of leg,
While you still sit upon my desk
there is something I must confess.

Last night while the moon was bright
an orange candle I did light
and in the darkness with my knife
I turned you, dear, into my wife!

And I don't understand WHERE I could get such a thing considering at this point I was laying in bed listening to The Who and it was dark and about one in the morning, then I jumped up and ran over to my desk, wrote it down on some paper in my sketch book and doodled a little thing of "Meg".

blargh.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:24:26 GMT

... you know when you're so tired you can't keep your eyes open (barely) so you try and fall asleep but you can't no matter how hard you try? I'm kind of that walking-zombie person right now. Had two dreams last night when I was sleeping and one of them was when I went to go get a job at this grocery store (although because I'm not fifteen yet they wouldn't hire me anyway... no place actually wants to hire someone who's fourteen.) and they pretty much told me I was incompetent and then they actually had me thrown out because I hadn't done something right on the way out the door.

Next one was a repeat of that British spider dream thing and every time I have it I always end up waking up. Not to mention that I've been playing softball really late for the last two days and I need some sleep, but mosquitoes pretty much devoured anyone playing the outfield at the last two games and I was one of them so I've got these mosquito bites all over my legs that are driving me insane.

Well at least while I'm awake I get paid to babysit my brothers (even though they're not much younger than me).

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:27:21 GMT

In honour of Paul's birthday (and just because I got bored babysitting) I made a cake!
And frosting!
But I forgot the butter for the cake but it didn't taste any different... well... I haven't actually eaten it yet... and the frosting is weird but it tastes like butterscotch so it's all good. XD

... oh yeah... and my camera broke yesterday so I took that with my cell phone.

ahaha

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:22:38 GMT

We've killed Disney but I loved this.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:49:50 GMT

So I was on myspace today and came across this lovely little article.
(By the by, Ringo icon... totally giving the bird to the government with this one)

Sat Jun 14, 12:06 PM EST
Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.

Environmentalists said the new regulations give oil companies a blank check to harass the polar bear.

About 2,000 of the 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic live in and around the Chukchi Sea, where the government in February auctioned off oil leases to ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co. and five other companies for $2.6 billion. Over objections from environmentalists and members of Congress, the sale occurred before the bear was classified as threatened in May.

Polar bears are naturally curious creatures and sensitive to changes in their environment. Vibrations, noises, unusual scents and the presence of industrial equipment can disrupt their quest for prey and their efforts to raise their young in snow dens.

However, the Fish and Wildlife Service said oil and gas exploration will have a negligible effect on the bears' population.

"The oil and gas industry in operating under the kind of rules they have operated under for 15 years has not been a threat to the species," H. Dale Hall, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director, told The Associated Press on Friday. "It was the ice melting and the habitat going away that was a threat to the species over everything else.

"

The agency made no secret that oil and gas operations would continue in polar bear territory when it announced May 14 that melting sea ice threatened the creature's survival. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne assured the public that the bear population would not be harmed.

"Polar bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has more stringent protections for polar bears than the Endangered Species Act does," Kempthorne said.

Environmentalists already suing the agency over its determination that the bear's threatened status cannot be used to regulate global warming gases said Kempthorne's earlier assurances were misleading.

"Now, three weeks later, Interior issues a rule under the act that we view as a blank check to harass the polar bear in the Chukchi Sea," said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. He added that his group believes the new regulations are illegal.

Exploring in the Chukchi Sea's 29.7 million acres will require as many as five drill ships, one or two icebreakers, a barge, a tug and two helicopter flights per day, according to the government. Oil companies will also be making hundred of miles of ice roads and trails along the coastline.

"We are poorly equipped to address those risks and challenges," said Steven Amstrup, one of the foremost experts on polar bears and a scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center. "To assess what the impacts are going to be, we should know more about the bears.

"

Last year, the Marine Mammal Oversight Commission, an independent government oversight agency, told the Fish and Wildlife Service it lacked the information to conclude that exploration will not affect the bear population.

The seven companies will be required to map out the locations of polar bear dens, train their employees about the bears' habits and take other measures to minimize clashes with them. In exchange, the companies are legally protected if their operations unintentionally harm the bears. Any bear deaths would still warrant an investigation and could result in penalty under the law.

"These rules are essentially an insurance policy," said Marilyn Crockett, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, an industry group that in 2005 requested the new regulation. "They say if you conduct your operations in accordance to the requirement in this rule, you will not be held liable for the take of the bears.

"

Administration and industry officials said oil companies enjoyed similar status in the Chukchi Sea from 1991 to 1996 and in the Beaufort Sea since 1993 and there was no effect on polar bear populations.

There is no evidence of a polar bear being killed by oil and gas activities in Alaska since 1993, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1960, when the hunt for oil and gas began in Alaska, only two fatalities of polar bears have been linked to oil and gas activities in the state, the service said.

It pisses me off so badly because they're like "well polar bears are already protected, let's harass the hell out of 'em and pretend like we're not doing anything wrong" but I mean, if the polar bears are considered endangered, even if the fatalities are low, why give people a blank check to harass them?

... riddle me this... why hasn't PETA gotten on this yet?
Have they?
(I've got such a thing against PETA it's kind of sad)

... oh the hilarity

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:32:15 GMT

I have nothing better to do at 11:26 pm when virtually EVERYTHING can amuse me
including an advert for some skin stuff on myspace
I literally spent about four minutes following the little moving image where the lady's face went from all pretty to very old, and changing my facial features to match the image (basically pretty= raised eyebrows an' smile, old= scowl) and I thought it was hilarious.

oh, and that thing made me giggle.
"I HAVE SOME FUCKING PANCAKES"
Yes. Yes you do.

Today we lost our softball game 20 to 6... we kind of were really awful
and some girl on the other team kept saying "shake an' bake"
then on top of it the sun was like "HAI GUYZ IMA MELT UR FACES OFF"
because it was around 100 degrees or sommat and then you put a batting helmet on and sit in a dugout (the visiting team ALWAYS gets the sunny one... so... y'know... you screw up) then go onto the field and you're pretty much in softball hell.

Before the game one of the girls on my team (our lovely center fielder) was handing out aspirin and I took one and y'know, I'm really doubting my choice in taking aspirin from someone I both dislike and don't know very much.
Anyroad, it was so hot in the outfield she almost passed out and had to go sit out for the rest of the inning.
They kept hitting things my way.

I keep sneezing and it makes me laaaugh. XD

dreams

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:33:22 GMT

My dreams seem to have a horrible way of never being really "nice", more like horribly disturbing things revolving around whatever thing I'm most worried about at the moment. Like... when I still had Halloween (who was Starr's little guinea pig friend) I kept having dreams that my brother shoved dynamite down her throat and she exploded and killed Starr along with her :/

Ahaha good times. Or there was the dream when I was four where there would be this monster thing under a blanket and it would drag my family members under it and they'd come out with one eye hanging out and they kept wanting me to go in there. Then the next night it was one where my dad was chasing me through the house with an axe.

'S worse than the British talking spider.

In any case, Liverpool 8 arrived yesterday after about a week or two of waiting because the only book/music store carried all Ringo's CDs EXCEPT that one (curse you, Borders...) and I pretty much passed out after the softball game which lasted until about 10 and involved loads of running for those in the infield, which was me two out of three innings (they took forever) and I was listening to Liverpool 8 when I fell asleep.

I had a dream that I was back at my old house in Oregon and Starr was pretty much being disemboweled by one of my friends from Colorado. So when I woke up at around two in the morning I couldn't go back to sleep and just stayed there and stared at the ceiling before I looked through my library books and decided to start reading Fight Club and The Bhagavad Gita. Dunno. I think I fell asleep reading Fight Club :/

erg

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:48:44 GMT

I'm having one of those stupid breakdown times when I've been really frustrated and then I start crying. Grr. I hate that.
And it's all because my Zune won't allow ANY of my songs to sync and La De Da isn't syncing and it will only play for 30-something seconds before it stops so I'm about to tear my hair out by the roots because technology has decided to launch a campaign called "Screw You Madeleine, We're Gonna Make You Want to Kill Our Creators Dead"

Boooy I love how when I get on myspace what they're advertising is the thing that's causing me the extreme headache-inducing frustration.

And because this was just amusing:

Mask

curse you, writing prompts...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:49:10 GMT

Again with the timed writing prompts. I had five minutes and got the prompt "darkness inside" and I started writing this. When I posted it I was thinking "wait, something looks familiar" and then it hit me that it starts off sort of like one of the Beatles Christmas recordings (I don't remember which one, though)

so now I'm not really as proud of it was I probably was when I first wrote it out but... whatever... (and for the record Pudgy is actually a stuffed rabbit that resides in my room along with Paisley Beekeeper and a few others)

"...Basil?"

"Yes, Pudgy?"

The rabbit fiddled with the edges of his sleeves for a moment and cleared his throat awkwardly. "What... what if there's darkness inside of me?" His voice was high, unnatural for a rabbit of his age, but then again... most things about him were unnatural.

Basil looked up from his book, glasses sliding down his nose and forced back up with a single movement of his finger. His expression was one of shock, having never heard such a ludicrous statement from the young rabbit that sat before him, button eyes looking dolefully up at him.

"Well... I'm not certain. There must be some darkness in all of us..." He scratched his head, fingers parting the dark hair as his eyes remained fixed on his companion. "But surely not YOU, Pudgy."

Pudgy was, in no way, reassured by this statement. What did Basil know? He was hardly a philosopher and what his fate was, what lurked inside of him, was something that he shouldn't have bothered questioning in front of the old man.

None the less, the rabbit smiled, his red-thread mouth turning up at the corners as he thanked Basil and hurried outside where he proceeded to sit on the swing and ponder his fate.

G'awww Pudgy! You and your questions that confuse such an old man...

It's always frightening to look in the mirror and realize that you're growing older. Every line on your face, the gray streaks in your hair and the sagging quality your skin seems to develop. Of course, by the time you're sitting in a room full of people just like you, you can't help but wish for those days when you would spend all day agonizing about that one wrinkle by your eye, moaning about how it would undoubtedly be the end of your social life and any other fun that could possibly manifest itself in that cage you call a cubicle.

Just look at you, sitting there, your gnarled hands turned into claws and never moving from your knees as you sit upright in your wheelchair with your eyes covered in a milky film. It's disgusting, the way your mouth moves without a sound and only the flash of saliva-covered gums.

But you know all of this, don't you. You spend time every day staring at yourself in that mirror in the bathroom while that nurse with the pretty smile and the brown hair pulled back in a bun attempts to run a comb through your wispy white hair. Sometimes it still tangles, but you've gone beyond kidding yourself. It's just a charade put on to make you feel like you matter.

Your eyes fall on your hands again... those ugly liver spotted, vein-covered excuses for the things that once held your daughter, just a baby, close to your heart. What cemetery is she buried in? Do you even remember?

Or would you rather forget that you've outlived your children.

jeebus.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:34:58 GMT

It's like I actually think I'm capable of writing good non-fanfiction things again.
Well... good things an' this which I spouted off in a few seconds but
I'm still proud of it. I'm not a poet (AT ALL) so this was very surprising to me.

Based off some idiot who couldn't spell crimson when they gave the prompt
but they expected emo poetry... and got all angry at me because mine wasn't
"I am bleeding crimson blood and laying on the ground
whilst he rips out my heart and stomps it
into the tile and whatever lays around"
BECAUSE RHYME APPARENTLY EQUALS EMO POETRY IN THIS DAY AND AGE D:

Anyroad, here you are:

"Crinsom blood?
You stupid child
the word is CRIMSON now to the back of the room
and hide in your corner
until I say otherwise."

I'm sure it was just an extended punishment
but as I stand against the wall and hear the others
leave for their individual homes
(except Louise and Stephen cos they're twins)
I can't help but think that the professor forgot me.

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:59:49 GMT

I can actually apply the phrase "I've got blisters on me fingers" to life now! :D
Went to the batting cages to work on stuff and I had to go through the slow once, fast twice, slow twice, then the fast twice. The fast... I thought it'd kill me it went ZOOOOOM and then I couldn't figure out how to make it go lower. XD

But by the end I had blisters on my hands (and fingers) because... constant batting hurts if you don't have gloves.

It's crazy windy here and I'm babysitting... so I'm makin' pizza (here's hoping I won't burn the house down)