A Collection of Random, Somewhat Cryptic Statements

The title pretty much says it all. So far, today has been crazy. For your enjoyment (and/or befuddlement), a collection of random, somewhat cryptic statements.

1. It is incredibly unenjoyable to discover that rational people use the same logic you've spent months convincing yourself not to use.

2. Hurley Libby psych hospital Dave numbers what?! (HaufeCoffee - WHAT IS THIS?!)

3. Is kidnap still a crime if the person wants to be kidnapped? (KD, I love you muchably, darling.) Is it still a random, somewhat cryptic statement if it's actually a philosophical question?

4. I fail to understand the point of tying balloons to your ankles and then running around with nails to pop everyone else's balloons. Thanks, youth group.

5. People do a lot of really stupid things. Some of them don't know it. Some of them realize it later. Some of them know full well what they're doing and do it anyway.

6. "And even if your voice comes back again, maybe there'll be no one listening. And even if I find the strength to stand, it doesn't mean I won't go missing." -from "Crashin'," by Jack's Mannequin (GO LISTEN.)*

Love,

Bex

*The song links to Grooveshark, since I couldn't find a decent version of the song on YouTube. Grooveshark, by the way, is an amazing music-playing site.

Cracker Crumbs

For those of you who are curious about the title of this post, it derived from the small, rectangular plate on my desk. This plate has two things on it: a picture of snowmen, and cracker crumbs. I couldn't decide what the title should be, so I named it the first thing I saw. Cracker crumbs. From peanut butter Ritz Bits, if you were wondering, and by the way, they're amazing.

I'm not really sure why I'm blogging today. Probably mostly just because I feel like I should. I don't want to be one of those people who spreads her heart out for any random person on the internet to see. Much as I admire the people who have the courage to admit to all their problems and aren't afraid to let other people see who they are, I'm not one of those people.

See, there I go being all melancholy and such. It's probably because I just watched one of the saddest episodes of LOST I've seen yet. (Season 2, Episode 10, for the record. I'm hoping to squeeze in another one before I go to bed. This show is quite awesome. Thank you, HaufeCoffee.)

On a completely random note, my brother has recently found a country song he likes. I can't stand the song, but the words of the chorus (which I have heard entirely too often) are "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy."

I dunno about beer being good - the whole concept of beer is just disgusting to me - but God is definitely great. And people are definitely crazy.

On another completely random note, I haven't written anything on my story in ages. A paragraph or two here and there, but nothing really. I should go back and work on that. But if Chelsey, my MC, starts turning into me - which tends to happen when I'm thinking too much - we'll have a problem. I think she's a strong enough character to stay uniquely her, though.

One final completely random note: I have noticed that I am being somewhat philosophical tonight, only not so much that you'd really notice it that much just from reading the blog. So, here is something completely unrelated to anything remotely philosophical. I present to you...

Llamas with Hats.

Nothing we've never seen before, but it just popped into my head. Enjoy!

~Bex

Oh, Procrastination

My dear friend HaufeCoffee will be pleased to know that I am once again catching up on LOST. It's really an excellent TV show; the only problem is, I was completely unaware of it until season five, and season six (the final season) is about to start. And by "about to start," I mean the season premiere is Tuesday.

I am on season two. Episode six, actually, right now. It's open in another tab in my internet browser. And goodness gracious I want to watch it.

There's one slight problem with this.

My senior thesis topic proposal is due tomorrow. And it's not quite finished yet.

I think I've just solved my lack-of-motivation problem.

Laters,
Bex

On Daydreams

What with all the college-searching that's been going on lately (just another perk of being a high school junior; more on the college search some other time), I've kind of been daydreaming about Someday. A lot. It's kind of crazy to think about growing up and going off to college. For so long, Growing Up And Going To College was one of those Big Important Things That Will Happen To You Someday. But it's always been a very long way away. And now, suddenly, it isn't. Which means that Right Now Or Very, Very Soon is when I have to start figuring out what I want to do.

Problem: I want to do everything. Except math. And chemistry/physics. Okay, so really I want to do a lot of English- or art-related things. But I don't know what, specifically. Acting would be fun, especially film acting, but that's every kid's dream and I'm pretty sure by now that that isn't gonna happen. Cinematography is definitely something I'm looking into, and absolutely creative writing, and also music. But CHOICES arghblargh. (Yes, that is my frustration noise. Deal with it.)

The one thing about all of these Maybes is that I've spent a lot of time thinking about a lot of things that Might Someday Be. More than just in terms of becoming a famous author or the next (female) Spielberg. It's kinda fun. It's also kinda scary.

And then there's the type of daydream that is, quite literally, a dream had during the day. For example, when you have a moderately weird dream about horses when you fall asleep on your bedroom floor while doing Spanish homework. But of course, all of that is strictly hypothetical.

Or, you know, not so much.

On a completely unrelated note, I have Cartel's "Runaway" stuck in my head. It's an excellent song, but it is stuuuck in my head. You should listen to it anyway. Because it's awesome. And Cartel is awesome.

"Stop now, there's no point in breathing - it's not allowed. On the surface how can you find reason to move on? 'Til then you can runaway, do your best to hide your face. And oh, I know you best; I know you get what you get, you get what you deserve."

And now, I must finish that Spanish homework that I fell asleep on and read and mark up "Civil Disobedience." Hopefully, I'll be able to stay awake this time.

~Bex

Unintelligible Shouting

One thing that really irritates me is unintelligible shouting and/or screaming. That's one reason I've never been able to listen to all-out screamo music. I can handle songs where there's maybe a line or two that are screamed, as long as most of the song is actual melody, but anything where it's just yelling and no understandable words annoys me. The music matters, yes, but the lyrics are a very important part of the song too. If I can't understand them, I probably don't wanna hear the song.

Lately there seems to have been an increase in unintelligible shouting when I'm around. It's quite frustrating. My little brothers, for example, seem to spend most of their afternoons shouting about some video game or another. (I spend this time in my room, pretending that music will make them go away. Usually, it doesn't work.)

The next-door neighbors, twin eighth-grade boys, spend an awful lot of time in their backyard shouting unintelligibly, although, really, I can't usually tell whether it's unintelligible because of the volume or because of the fact that there are no words to understand. It may well just be shrieking.

My parents tend to shout unintelligible things, too...or maybe it's just that they're speaking to me loudly and I'm tuning them out. *innocent shrug* The freshmen on the bus tend to scream things that are probably just as well not being understandable, because the rare shout that actually makes sense is usually obscene and annoying. My ex-boyfriend shouted something unintelligible at his friend as he was leaving the dance I mentioned Friday night, which is weird because I don't remember him being a shouter. A senior in the hallway recently shouted something from right behind me. I completely failed to understand what he said, but apparently his friend by the stairwell got it, because he reacted to something. All I got out of it was a headache.

As I write this, my brother is shouting something in the other room. The only word I've caught is "cave," which 1) amuses me far more than it should (*cough*AF and CJ*cough*) and 2) means he's playing that stupid shoot-em-up game again, because that's usually what he's playing when he's screaming about caves. I am quite sick of the shouting.

And now, in a somewhat ironic acknowledgement of my tirade against shouting, I present "Breathe Into Me" by RED, which is a really, really excellent song that has been stuck in my head all day. It's also about as screamo as I get. (In my defense, the version I have is somewhat less scream-y than the one on YouTube. Either way, it's still not hard-core screamo.)

~Bex

Why I Love Relient K

Why, you ask, do I love Relient K? Well, it's because of songs like this.

I had it in my mind that I was going to share a quote from this song, only I can't figure out which bit to quote. Because it is so, so, so perfect. (The last verse is probably my least favorite. But the rest of it is made of awesome.)

It has also been stuck in my head all afternoon. But it's a really awesome song. So that's okay.

The name of the song is "Forgiven." And you should go listen to it. (Yes, I did just link to the same song twice in the same post. It's that amazing.)

"Cause we're all guilty of the same things; we think the thoughts whether or not we see them through. And I know that I have been forgiven, I just hope you can forgive me too..."

In case you missed it, I finally settled on a bit to quote. It's amazing. And that's not even my favorite part of the song. That bit's too long and emotive to post as a quote. Seriously though, go listen to this song RIGHT NOW. You'll love it. Guaranteed or your money back.

~Bex

An Assortment of Things

My dear little brother turned fifteen today. *sniffle* He's growing up so fast... *ahem.* This is the part where I realize that if I don't hurry up and take my road test, he'll be driving with Dad before I'm driving alone and he's a year and a half younger. Fun stuff there.

I have three songs stuck in my head, one of which is country (believe it or not) and two of which are most definitely not. These songs are "You're Not Sorry" (Taylor Swift), "Dear Jack" (Jack's Mannequin), and "Nothing Left to Lose" (Mat Kearney). They are all amazing, and you should go listen to them right now. The particular lyrics in my head right now are as follows. From "You're Not Sorry":

"You don't have to call anymore. I won't pick up the phone. This is the last straw, don't wanna hurt anymore. You can tell me that you're sorry but I don't believe you baby like I did before; you're not sorry, oh no..."

From "Dear Jack":

"You were the fighter, I was the kid against the world, I heard there's nothing gonna hold you down. I'll use a lighter so you can see what isn't there, we'll swing at air; swing enough, eventually you're bound, bound to the ground."

And, finally, from "Nothing Left to Lose":

"Come on and we'll sing, like we were free, push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us. Come on and we'll try one last time, I'm off the floor one last time to find you. And here we go, there's nothing left to choose. And here we are, there's nothing left to lose."

Of course, the rest of the lyrics to all of them (especially the latter two) are equally awesome, and the sounds are great too. As one would expect, the Taylor Swift one is a bit different; I like it, but if you're not a country fan, you probably won't. (Course, generally speaking I'm not a country fan either...)

Sincerest apologies. I'm rambling now. This is probably because I'm exhausted. I didn't go to bed until nearly 3am (which reminds me of the Matchbox Twenty song of the same name) because I was talking to KD. The details don't need to be posted all over the internet, but I think that conversation did a lot of good for both of us. So here's to you, K. I love you!!! ♥

And now, I am off to take a nap and do math homework. In the words of Tigger, TTFN!
~Bex

What Nerdy People Do at School Dances

Last night (Friday night) was the Nerd School's Coming Home games and dance. (No, it is not actually called the Nerd School. And Coming Home is the basketball version of Homecoming. Just to make sure we're all clear on that.) Apparently our basketball teams are much better than our football team; both of the girls' teams, JV and  varsity, won their games, and the varsity boys lost by one point with twenty seconds left in the game having had the lead for quite a while leading up to it. Fun to watch, to be sure, although I'm hardly a sports enthusiast and really I spent more time discussing YouTube with SH and TS and making Harry Potter references with AF and CJ.

Anyway, after the game ended, nearly all of the students crowded into the main hallway/senior lounge of the rather small school building and had a "dance."

After about twenty seconds, it was pretty clear that I didn't want to dance to the first song, so I wandered away from that; CJ, AF and I skipped up and down the halls a fair bit last night. As the night progressed, it became quite clear that they weren't going to play any "music" that was actually worth dancing to. CJ and I found AF, KD, and two seniors (SD and HM) playing Foosball just outside the school doors. So of course, we joined in. SH and MM joined us later as well, and we added another ball.

And for the record? Playing Foosball with 8 people and 2 balls, while loudly singing Disney songs and/or having HM sing to us in Chinese and attracting strange looks from the assistant principle and almost all of the other partygoers, is infinitely more fun than attempting to dance to that noise they were calling music.

Best school dance activity ever? I think so.

And now, it is time for breakfast. Catch ya later,
Bex

"This Is Such A Writer Conversation"

Because writer conversations amuse me oh-so-much, I just thought I'd share a few snippets of one I had with fellow writer and very good friend of mine HB on the bus today.

The scene is a crowded school bus on a cool January afternoon, around 3:30 in the afternoon. Freshmen are complaining loudly about their inability to drive, and the underclassmen in the back are shouting obscenities about the misfortunes of bus transport. Meanwhile, two juniors are discussing their writing. HB is describing the storyline of a new story she is developing.


BT: Aww, that's really cute! See, all of your stories are so adorable and light and funny. And sweet. Mine are all, like, death and mystery and spies and explosions. Really dark.

HB: Well, those are good too. We need those too. If my writing had a theme song, it would be like "la la la happy ponies, flowers, yay, la la la..." Yours would be something dark. Like the James Bond music.

BT: Your writing's theme song would be the "La La La" thing from the La Quinta commercials. Mine would be more like the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Both girls start humming the Imperial March. (Darth Vader's theme, for those of you who are not Star Wars fans. Bum bum bum, bum ba-dum bum ba-dum...) HB then goes on describing a few scenes from her story.


HB: ...and so she's like writhing in pain, thinking "I'm dying, I'm dying." Don't worry, she's fine though.

BT: Of course she's fine. You could not write a tragedy if you tried.

HB: I've killed people off before!

BT: You could not kill off your protagonist, dear. You just couldn't.

HB: Okay, no, you're right. I don't think I'm physically capable of killing off my protagonist. *sigh* So [sweet, dorky guy character the girls have been discussing] needs a name.

BT: Um. Well, the only thing that springs to mind is Travis, but I don't really like that.

HB: Trevor maybe?

BT: Meh...maybe. I like the "Tr" sound, and you can probably get away with "Ch" if you want...

HB: Yeah, but not something like Chad.

BT: Ew, no. He needs a two-syllable name.

HB: Yeah, he's definitely a two-syllable name. Y'know, Travis is starting to grow on me...

BT: You know, I kinda like it too now. I didn't before, but...I think it fits.

HB: *laughter* This is such a writer conversation.

End scene

HB, dear, I love you muchably. Even though you can't write a tragedy to save your life. Travis will be amazing. I love him already. Even though your story is not written yet.

To the rest of you out there, this is what a writer conversation looks like. At least in my world. On my bus. With my friends. In case anyone was curious.

Until next time,
Bex

The Evils of Math

Is it sad or just slightly dorky that I'm very seriously considering not doing my math homework in favor of writing a novel? I'm gonna go with "just slightly dorky" on that one because, well, math is evil. What's slightly sad is that I don't want to write a 2-page story for creative writing so I can work on chapter seven in my novel-to-be, but that's beside the point.

I have exactly no idea how to divide the cube root of 54 by the cube root of 32 times the cube root of -4 without using a calculator. It's not like I wasn't paying attention in class, either. I am 99% (see look! I can use numbers!) sure that we have not learned how to do this.

Oh wait -- now I remember Ms. P saying "I can't teach you how to do this, because there isn't really a way to solve these. You just have to figure it out."

If you want me to use logic to solve a MENSA puzzle and get from TOOTH to BRUSH in seven steps, sure, fine, no problem. Fantastic. I love puzzles. Puzzles like that are fun. But using logic to figure out division of cube roots? I think my brain's gonna implode.

Course, that's not helped by the fact that my two darling little brothers (*ahem*) are playing music very loudly in the next room, and singing along, and banging on the table. If they'd shut up, maybe the Great Spirit of Mathematics would come whisper in my ear how to do these problems.

Or maybe not.

I did promise something fun or interesting today, so I'm going to send you over to the webcomic Bear Nuts. Not exactly G-rated, but it's amusing. Have fun! Hopefully tomorrow's post will be less "I haz been eated by math"-like. Unless, of course, my brain goes ka-boom.

Speaking of brain kabooms, I would like to share an insight from last night's chemistry homework session.

This is your brain: O

This is your brain on chemistry: * 

(Note that the chemistry brain has shriveled and died.)

No offense meant to anyone out there who happens to love chemistry. I'm sure it's great for some people. I actually have a 100 in my Honors Chem class for this semester. But that was back before we were doing things like orbitals and line emission spectrums and (*shudder*) quantum mechanics. My brain hurts.

I'ma go do the math now. Because sadly, wishing it would go away will not make it vanish. Until next time,
Bex

An Urgent Message About Ducks

I am in hysterics here. I am breaking my One-Post-Per-Day rule because absolutely everyone HAS to see this video. It is entitled The Duck Song. You should go watch it right now.

Credit goes to KD for sending me here, and I believe TG gets credit for giving her the link. Beyond that, I have no idea how this link ended up on my computer. But ohmygoodnessgracious I love it.

That's all for now. I just thought the world needed to be aware of that. Or at least whatever small chunk of the world reads my blog.

Love and quacks,
Bex

Love Fest

I had a plan for today's post. It was going to be called "The Three M's." The Three M's were Music, Marriage, and Murder Mysteries.

For Music, I was going to say this: Absolutely everyone must go listen to "Breathe In Breathe Out" by Mat Kearney likerightnow. Also, you havetohavetohaveto listen to "Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace. I am addicted to this song. And the video is oddly disturbing but I watched it like three times last night. It's mesmerizing. Watch.

For Marriage, I was going to talk about the fact that my dear KD and I were supposed to get married at lunch today wearing blankets over our pajamas. Because teenagers have weird, unofficial wedding ceremonies all the time. And we love each other.

For Murder Mysteries, I was going to rant and rave about how ABSOLUTELY FREAKING AMAZING my favorite TV show is. ABC's CASTLE is the awesome and last night's episode was the ABSOLUTE BEST THING EVER.

But that cheery rant and rave was interrupted by the need to say a few words about love. This morning, at our dear Nerd School's first-ever Convocation (which none of us knew about until this morning), one of the seniors described our school as being a "love fest." At this point, I promptly reached over and held hands with my dear friend CJ, who was already holding hands with KD. (Yes, we are all girls.)

We took her remark in jest and laughed at all of our unbiologically incestuous weddings and hand-holding and suchlike. But I just want to take a moment to say, in all seriousness, that my friends are seriously the best friends a girl could ever have. I don't want to list anyone because I'll forget someone (I'm horrible at remembering and typing at the same time), but you guys know who you are. I'm gonna specifically call out KD, CH, AF, and SH, because I think they especially need to hear this right now, but it goes for all my friends: I love y'all. You seriously rock my world. Without you guys, I really don't know where I'd be right now. ♥ ♥ ♥

Tune in next time for your regular, more word-nerdily driven daily blog post. I just needed to put that out there. I promise I'll have something funny or interesting for you next time.

Love,
Bex

Writing Healthy

So people talk all the time about eating healthy, i.e., carrots are a good after school snack and cookies are not; eat salads or home-cooked dinners, not McDonald's (which, by the way, I one hundred percent agree with, because I personally cannot stand McDonald's...that's just my opinion, though); so on and so forth. And then there's healthy activities. Don't spend all day playing Flash games and being on facebook (which I'm ridiculously guilty of), go outside and play. Exercise often, spend time outside, don't slouch, etc.

You can read healthy, too. For example: if you're dealing with a situation that hurt you, don't go read a book about someone else dealing with the same thing. If you're beating yourself up for your now-ex-boyfriend's suicide attempt, don't read Jennifer Brown's THE HATE LIST (which is about the same thing). If you're not comfortable with trashy language and lots and lots of teenage sex, don't read GOSSIP GIRL or the like. (Please note that I'm not dissing people who like GOSSIP GIRL; it's just really not my thing. Personally, I don't think it has any substance to it. It's just "let's get drunk and have some f-ing sex," which is not something I'm interested in reading about. At all. I like plot.)

Healthy music is more subjective; sometimes it's really really helpful to listen to angry music and sometimes that just makes it worse. Sometimes you really need "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet" (which, I am proud to say, HaufeCoffee shared after I recommended it to him) and sometimes you need "Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)." Better not to listen to the wrong one at the wrong time.

But the one no one ever talks about is writing healthy. For the people who don't write much, it's not really relevant. But for people like me, who write constantly, it's really important to write healthy. Venting anger, frustration, etc. through poems is fine; rereading these poems constantly is not. If you sometimes have panic attacks because of a certain situation you went through, writing a character who has panic attacks is okay; spending a month writing a character going through the exact same situation you did and dealing with all of your issues probably isn't. Therefore, I have composed a list of the Five Rules of Writing Healthy:

1. You are not your characters. They are called characters because they are fictional. If they are similar to you, great; if they are identical to you in everything but name and appearance, this is unhealthy. STOP WRITING.

2. If something you are writing causes you to have an emotional breakdown because it reminds you too much of something that causes you to have panic attacks or similar emotional trauma, STOP WRITING.

3. All writing is first and foremost for the benefit of the author. Yes, you write to please an audience, but you do it for yourself. If something you are writing becomes a vendetta to, about, or for the benefit of an overly specific audience, STOP WRITING.
Corollary: Satire is an exception to this rule. And no, I am not saying that you should never consider your audience or even write to your audience when you write.

4. Do not try to write the final draft before the first draft. If you're losing faith in your writing while you're on the first draft of something, STOP WRITING and come back when you realize that published things go through months and months of revision before they're worth reading. First drafts are never perfect.

5. It is okay to stop writing something. If you need to take a break, do. If you need to work on something else for a while, do. If you're writing something just because you feel like you have to, STOP WRITING and come back after you've let your head clear for a bit.

Some of these may be impractical if you're a contracted novelist/screenwriter/etc., but for people like me (teens who write but aren't published [yet], or really anyone who's not published, I suppose), I think these are preeetty important. I've broken just about all of these "rules", and if I hadn't, I think I'd be happier and mentally better off for it.

That sounded so professional. I feel so important.

Catch ya later,
Bex

The Joys of Packing

Ahh, packing is such fun. I simply adore packing. The thrill of laying things out neatly and then fitting them into a suitcase and knowing that you haven't forgotten anything...what could be more fun?

Ahem. Please excuse me for a moment while I vomit.

In case you missed it, that opening paragraph was nothing but straight sarcasm. I hate packing. Hate, loathe, detest, despise. I always manage to forget something, and nothing ever goes into the suitcase neatly. I adore traveling, but packing, not so much.

Nonetheless, I am packing right now. For a weekend-long trip to Georgia. Specifically, to a rental house in Georgia where there will be no internet access.

Well, if I was concerned about blogging addiction, I suppose I've just found a temporary cure, anyway.

As of right now, I think I've managed to get all of my clothes together. In terms of hygiene, well, I'm making a list. Hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc. etc., I'll not go on. And then the technology: cell phone, iPod, laptop.

It's the iPod that will help me survive the hours-long car trip with my family. Recent favorites are On the Radio by Regina Spektor and, believe it or not, I Just Can't Wait to Be King from the Lion King. (Disney is awesome.) So I'll leave you with those, and also with a video that amused me greatly during Spanish class. The Spanish version of "I Like to Move It Move It" from the film Madagascar. Go watch it.

That's all for now, folks. More when I return.

Until Monday,
Bex

Blogs: Addictive Substances?

So I said earlier that the reason I stopped using the blog that I had around a year ago was that my posts became more and more infrequent because I had put myself in a box about what specifically I was going to blog about.

I looked at that blog again today and then I remembered why exactly I had put myself in a box: I was posting obsessively and way too often.

Seriously, as much as my friends and I love telling random pointless stories to each other, random people on the internet did not and do not care what I was/am thinking four or five times a day. But blogging was fun. So I posted four or five times a day, sometimes.

Even when I had absolutely nothing to blog about.

I have therefore created for myself a list of rules limiting myself to one post a day, about something completely relevant. (Well, as relevant as random trafficking of thoughts and ideas that any random stranger could read can possibly be.) If I have something very important that I feel it is entirely necessary to share, I might extend that to two. This is likely to happen if I find a TV show, YouTube video, song, website, etc. that makes me really really happy.

But for now, I am going to attempt to cure any blogging addiction before it starts (er, restarts). Because addiction...well, it's not such a good thing, generally. I mean, think of your coffee-drinking best friend before she's had her morning coffee. Scary, right? That's what caffeine addiction will do to ya.

Enough ranting and raving about not becoming addicted to my blog. I'm off to enjoy my one and only day of Not-Traveling over the long weekend.

Love,
Bex

Music to Write To and Dance To

Let the record show that I am one of those people who listens to music almost constantly. Music wakes me up in the morning, gives me something to dance to when I'm getting ready for school, gets me through bus rides home, accompanies me while I'm vegetating on the internet (which I confess to doing all too often), and perhaps most importantly, gives me something to write to and something to dance to.

Whenever I get the chance (read: whenever my disapproving-of-loud-music parents are out of the house), I crank my music up as loud as I can and sing/dance like crazy with a hairbrush in front of my mirror.

I have long since given up being embarrassed to admit to this.

My current favorite Dancing-To songs are Crushcrushcrush by Paramore and Forever & Always by Taylor Swift. The Paramore song is just loud and crazy and fun to dance to. The Taylor Swift...well, it's interesting. I really don't like country music all that much, but lately I have become minorly addicted to Taylor Swift. So I won't recommend much country, but you may find some Taylor links here. Because she's awesome, even if country on the whole is not appealing to me.

But the stuff I dance to, I cannot write to. It will drive me crazy. I need something more chill.

Recommendations here are Fire and Rain by Mat Kearney and Dear Jack by Jack's Mannequin. Go listen. Likenaow. <3

That's all, folks! Tune in next time for more about music or writing or perhaps something else entirely.
~Bex

A Very Short Post on Terrorism

This is going to be a short post, because I have been informed that "wow you write long posts." (Thank you, SP.) So. Thus begins the post of shortness.

Storyboarding is a very enjoyable, very useful way to resolve plot holes, as I believe I have mentioned before. It's even better when it means that you get to spend the majority of your morning discussing biological warfare, terrorism, double agents, possible triple agents, and plot twists with one of your bestest friends. (I love you dearly, SH.)

Side effects of this behavior may include being informed by your creative writing teacher, when he asks about what else the shed could be in a story he tells, that "a branch of an international drug cartel" is a bit extreme.

And now this post is on the verge of not being short anymore. Spyfully yours,
Bex

Music and Murder Mysteries

I'm breaking my own rule about Not Posting More Than Once On The Same Day, because I'm fairly certain I will find something to post about later today. (It is 12:39 AM, regardless of what Blogger's messed-up clock says.) But, I'm procrastinating.

It is probably slightly sad that I am putting off my creative writing homework because I would rather be writing a novel. I don't care.

And also I would like to take a moment to tell you that ABC's CASTLE is probably my absolute favorite TV show of all time ever. Granted, I don't watch much TV and this is the only one that I regularly watch. (I would watch LOST, but Hulu took down everything except the last five episodes aired, which means I am dependent on the library to catch up.)

CASTLE = amazingness. Go check it out. Like right now. I mean it. Go. Now.

AND, as if that isn't enough for a not-quite-1am blog post of awesome, I have a music rec for you all. My dear friend KD can pretty much claim responsibility for my love for the band Jack's Mannequin, and one of my favorite songs by them is Swim. (It's really quite amazing. You should go listen to it.) A while back, K introduced me to the music box version of the song. The vocals are a little different, and at first I dismissed it because of the wacky tune.

But then I heard it again. And while I'm still not a fan of the vocals, the marimba part is absolutely AMAZING. I am slightly in love. This is seriously the only song that has ever made me wish I played the marimba. Go listen to it.

And now, back to creative writing. Much love,
Bex

*The links for the songs are to YouTube. Not an illegal downloading site, but not iTunes either. If you're gonna download them, you should probably do it legally.

A Note on Notes (and Plot Holes)

For anyone out there who doesn't know, plot holes are evil, evil, evil things. When you're writing a story and everything is going nicely and there's lots of action and mystery and near-death experiences and maybe just a hint of romance, all the stuff you need to write an excellent spy story, and all of a sudden you realize that you have no idea how your characters ended up in the unmarked black car that set the second half of the story in motion because there is something drastic missing from your story...

Well, that, my friends, is a plot hole.

And they are evil.

Meanwhile, today in third-block AP US History, twenty or so students were dutifully taking notes. Some hovered over the information packets with highlighters and pencils, paying detailed attention to everything their dear history teacher said. Those students were very few and far between. Some students were looking over notes for other classes, preparing for the impending doom of fourth-block midterms. Still others' notes were actually doodles or games of tic-tac-toe.

My notes were about plot holes.

Because the easiest way to fix a plot hole is to figure out what plot goes there. And the easiest way to do that...well, for me it's drawing out strange semi-linear timelines of plot lines and passing notes with my very dear friend who understands the workings of my plotfully confused mind and can help fix things. (Much love to KD <3.)

Of course, when you pass notes during history class with one of your bestest friends while you're both half asleep, side effects may include having said bestest friend decide that you are getting married in jeans, a t-shirt, and a blanket cape. But this is entirely beside the point.

And in the creeperfully strange event that you're reading this, Mr. H, of course I would never do anything completely unrelated to history in your class. >_>

Much love to the internetfolk,
Bex

Internet + Lack of Motivation = Procrastination

Greetings again to all ye internetfolk. I don't really have anything interesting or exciting to tell you today. I'm writing a blog post because writing blog posts is far more entertaining than writing a research-based argument paper about reading in high schools or an analysis of Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me as a senior thesis project.

In case you missed it, those two assignments are what I'm supposed to be working on right now. They're both due tomorrow, one before first period and the other at the end of the day. And they are both incredibly tedious and uninteresting to write.

So instead of working studiously on my two major papers, I'm blogging, Facebooking, playing Bubble Spinner, and reading posts on MyLifeIsAverage (which, in case you didn't know, is probably one of the best websites in the history of ever).

I may completely fail at productivity, but procrastination is oh so much fun.

*sigh* I suppose I should get back to my homework now. Hasta luego, internetfolk!

~Bex

Greetings!

Hello, people of the internet! Wow, the internet is a big place. *waves hello to everybody* It's a bit insane, posting my thoughts for everybody to see...but hey, I guess that's what writers do. And don't get too excited, because it's not like I'm telling you anything important. I mean, it's not like I'm going to tell you that my cell phone number is...

Haha. Right. Nope, not posting any personal information on the internet. I don't need stalkers.

Anyway, I'm Becky, Bex to some people, and I used to blog over at Teenage Bibliophile, but earlier today I realized that I haven't updated it in several months, and I think that's because I put myself in a box. I decided that blog was going to be all about book reviews, and then I read too fast to keep up with my blog and my schoolwork and everything. So this isn't going to be about anything specific, because I'll bore myself again. Nope, this blog is about anything I want it to be about.

Of course, it'll mostly be about Reading, Writing, Music, and School, because those are the four things that basically dominate my life. (Well, those four things and my wonderfulamazing friends.) But I love words, and I love music, and...well, I have to go to school. But sometimes it's not so bad.

I think that's quite enough Sharing of My Personal Life on the internet for one day. *waves goodbye to people of the internet* Until next time!

~Bex