Oh Canada

Not much of interest happened today, aside from deliberating over what classes I should take next year (AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Spanish, AP Calc, Honors Physics, AP Music Theory, and Newspaper, in case you were wondering, which you probably weren't). But one interesting thing that did happen today was the closing ceremony of the Olympics.

I haven't talked about the Olympics a whole lot, even though they've been going for the last two weeks. But the fact that I haven't talked about them doesn't mean that I haven't watched them. Granted, I haven't watched much - mostly the ice skating. Pairs, men's singles, ice dancing, and women's singles. Also some of the skiing - mostly the jumps. But still.

I saw Evan Lysacek win the gold medal in the men's singles figure skating competition:

And I saw Kim Yu-Na win the gold medal in women's singles figure skating:

She was fantastic. She definitely deserved to win. Seriously, some of the best and most engaging figure skating I've ever seen. She was fantastic. (Okay, so I'm a dork. I love watching figure skating. So sue me. It's awesome.) But I also thought Rachael Flatt, seventeen-year-old American high school senior, and Mirai Nagasu, sixteen-year-old American, deserved medals for their fabulous skating.

And then of course there was the ice dancing. Oh my goodness gracious. Ice dancing was probably my least favorite of the figure skating events...up until this year. The competition was fantastic. Congratulations to Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who really skated wonderfully:

Tessa and Scott were amazing, they really were. But, I felt like the Americans - Charlie White and Meryl Davis - really deserved to win. They were absolutely fantastic. And I kind of loved watching them. They were what changed my mind about ice dancing being boring. Could have watched them for hours:

  

So congrats on your silver medal, guys. I felt like you deserved the gold. You were fantastic. You are also not reading this, but all the same. Seriously, guys, if you get a chance to watch a video of their performance, watch it. Especially their free skate to Phantom of the Opera music. It was really, really, REALLY awesome.

And now, I must go. School in the morning and all that jazz. Catch ya later!

Love,

Bex

Spencer and Scarlett

So. I encountered a boy, about a week ago I think, and since then I've gotten to know him pretty well. He's really fantastic. I like him a lot.

His name is Spencer Martin. He's older than me - he's 19. He's got an amazing sense of humor and rarely fails to make me laugh out loud. He can cook, and he's an actor - physical comedy. Basically he does all sorts of awesome stunts that are really funny and take a lot of talent, and he's not afraid to speak his mind in front of people or be onstage. This is a very admirable quality. Also, Spencer is sweet, and he's nice to his siblings (definitely a good thing) and he's very protective of his younger sisters (he has 3) and he's polite and respectful but not afraid to try things and he definitely has a sense of adventure. Summary: he's amazing.

Unfortunately, he's also completely fictional. He's from Maureen Johnson's made-of-absolute-awesome novel SUITE SCARLETT. The crazy part? Spencer isn't even the love interest. He's Scarlett's older brother.

SUITE SCARLETT is about a girl named Scarlett Martin. Her family owns a hotel in New York City, but business has been bad and the family is running low on money ever since her younger sister Marlene's cancer treatment. Her older brother Spencer (who you've heard quite a bit about already >_>) is an actor who has a scholarship to a culinary school but would much rather act because that's what he's really great at and it's his passion. Meanwhile, Scarlett's older sister Lola is working hard to help the family and dating a rich guy that none of the siblings except Marlene really likes.

On each Martin's fifteenth birthday, she (or he, in Spencer's case) becomes responsible for one of the hotel's suites. Scarlett gets the fabulous Empire Suite - and also gets a long-term guest, the eccentric and baffling Mrs. Amberson. Around the same time, Spencer gets a part in a play. He also gets a cast-mate, Eric, who Scarlett may or may not be very interested in... so, naturally, Scarlett is about to have one of the craziest summers she can imagine.

I absolutely adored this book. I really did. SUITE SCARLETT made me laugh out loud. No, seriously - KD, ES, CJ, and AF were giving me strange looks as I sat in one of the cushy chairs in the library, giggling manically over this book. But despite the hilarity, it also had its "aww!!!" moments. And the characters are so real and believable and amazing and you cannot help but love them. It was a really really really fantastic novel and I absolutely recommend it. Also, I'ma brag for a minute and mention that I met the author very briefly in November. She's very nice, and she wrote one of the pep talks for NaNoWriMo (which I'm entirely sure you'll hear more about later). Anyway, you can (and should!) find out more about SUITE SCARLETT, Maureen Johnson, and her other books at her website and her blog. Oh, and because it would just be wrong of me to blog without posting the book cover.... here tis:

Cute, yes? At least, I think so.

Now, I realize this post is getting a bit lengthy, but I just have a couple more things I want to say. First, the speakers on my computer randomly started working again. So I still have no CD drive, but I have sound. This is a definite plus. Maybe technology isn't quite as evil as I thought. Second, I apologize for not posting last night, but I was too busy having a fantastic time with CJ, KD, AF, ES, ZH, NG, and Ducky. I love y'all! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Third (and last), technology may not be as evil as I thought it was, but the internet is still an insane place. I had to turn off comments on my old blog because I kept getting these spam comments from random companies - "Hello, I bet you would like to find out how to get X Magic Product!" Everything from insurance salespeople to the company that sells Viagra. I mean really. So, no more comments on that one. (Don't worry, comments are still welcome here. Unless you're trying to sell me something I do not want or need.)

And now, I'm going to stop this post, because it is getting quite long and I suspect I'll be rambling soon. Next thing you know I'll be writing a whole long string of paragraphs about prom dresses and Disney songs and how I should probably be doing homework. I'll write more later (i.e. tomorrow), when I'm less likely to be incapable of shutting up. As Tigger says, TTFN: Ta Ta for Now!

Love,
Bex

How I Know Technology Is Evil

According to my computer, my CD drive has been completely nonexistent for several weeks now. Which is/has been very very VERY frustrating, but I can deal. Until today.

Because today, my computer decided that my speakers (which are built in to the computer) also do not exist. As in, iTunes/YouTube/Hulu/Pandora/Windows Media Player/any program on the entire computer that requires any sort of sound will not even run because I "do not have any sound output devices installed." Excuse me, what?

AND, my computer had been hibernating, and when I tried to wake it back up it popped up with a message telling me that it had failed to shut down properly, but it had in fact been shut down. Where did this come from? I know beyond doubt that it was hibernating, not shut down. Because I had made a point of not shutting it down. Because I had stuff open that I didn't want to close, so as not to lose data.

AND! The battery, which had been full, was randomly at less than 50% when I turned it on. No idea how this happened. It was plugged in until maybe an hour before this occurrence, and it's never drained battery while hibernating or, apparently, shut down before.

Maybe there are computer gnomes eating my computer. I don't know. But if I have to take my computer somewhere to get it fixed, then I will barely have enough computer access via the family computer to get all of my thesis work done, let alone do anything about Chelsey or blogging or author sites or any such thing.

This makes me sad.

This proves that technology sucks/is evil and plotting to take over the world. (Which is, after all, one of the Natural Laws of the Universe. Rule 5/5B, actually. Just ask CH or KD.)

I'm gonna go, so I can get my homework done and then attempt to defrag my computer, because that's really all I know to do...(thanks, CH, for the suggestion). But be warned: your technology IS out to get you. You're not paranoid. You're not schizophrenic. You're not paranoid schizophrenic. (*cough*creative writing today anyone?*cough*AF*cough*) It really is out to get you.

TTFN,
Bex

True Word Nerdiness

You might be a word nerd if...

...you can spend two hours talking to teachers about creative writing and come away thinking "oh my goodness, that was awesome." In this vein, talking to Dr. Livingston today was really, really fantastic. Just one of many wonderful things he had to say about writing: "We all know that we don't know what we're doing." Every writer has his or her own method, and we all think our way is the best way. "There is no magic bullet. No writer worth his or her salt will tell you that, because we all know that we don't know what we're doing." Ahhh I love talking to other writers. Especially when I can do that (which is productive and fun) instead of going to school (which may on rare occasions be productive, but is rarely fun except for the non-academic parts).

...you're really interested in the stuff that you're writing an academic paper about. I know a lot of people just slog through research papers and say "I can't wait to get to the interesting part where we actually experiment and do stuff," but I think all this screenwriting stuff is really interesting. Like, really interesting.

...you can be deeply interested in your topic and still not want to write it, but mostly because you would rather be writing your novel. I have missed Chelsey so much. If I don't go back to her story soon, she's going to die. Kind of like Tinkerbell with the whole believing-in-fairies thing.

...you literally choke trying not to laugh when someone asks if you've read Harry Potter, and have a similar (though less adamant) reaction when asked about Lord of the Rings. Maybe that just makes me a Potter nerd (which I am, and proud of it) or a fantasy dork (again, I will admit this shamelessly), but I think it counts.

...you completely forgot about your precal homework because you got sidetracked from the (still not-quite-finished) research paper assignment by adding NaNoWriMo, book, and wordplay flair to your board on Facebook.

About that still not-quite-finished research paper assignment. And the forgotten precal homework. Yeah, I should go do that. As much as I enjoy making lists, I even more enjoy not failing my classes. And even better than that is getting a good night's sleep. Until tomorrow, internetfolks...

Love,
Bex

Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?

Chances are, NO, it is not a good idea to microwave that. But it sure is fun to watch.

My friend MGC told me at lunch today about a wonderful series of videos on YouTube entitled "Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?" So, of course, when I got home, I had to look it up. Basically it's these two (three?) guys from Emerson College putting whatever they can find in a microwave and finding out what happens. I am very, very amused. You can get to the "show" homepage by clicking here. Prepare to be entertained. Thank you, M, for encouraging me to watch these. I have just finished watching Experiment #15: Is it a good idea to microwave marshmallow peeps? This is quite fun.

On a completely unrelated note, I might possibly maybe have a mentor for my senior thesis project soon. A professional screenwriter! I'm quite excited by this possibility.

That's quite enough insight into my personal life for today; now a brief snippet of the inside of my head. I have the song "Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin bouncing around and reverberating in my skull. I am not sure why. This song will not go away. It's not a bad song - in fact, it's quite a good song, that you might want to go listen to - but anything gets annoying when stuck in your head for long enough.

"Days go on forever, but I have not left your side. We will chase the dark together; if you go, then so will I..."

I just got sidetracked watching people light things on fire with microwaves. Seriously, go check out that show. And I'll go do my chemistry homework. Or just watch more of this microwave stuff. Laters,
Bex

Wheeee

As my sleep deficit (yay AP Pysch terms) increases, I have reached the next level of the tiredness scale. It can be described as the stage of "Wheeee. I am tired. So tired, in fact, that everything you do seems ridiculously hilarious, even though it is stupid. Stupid is a funny word. Tee hee. Tee hee. Tee hee sounds funny too...oh look I'm just gonna talk a lot and not shut up! Yay for being tired! For some reason this sentence amuses me greatly. Haha, that sounded strangely formal. Oh look, I still haven't shut up. I should learn to shut up. Hey - irony! I mean, what? >_> *laughs hysterically*"

The above description is basically a snapshot of me after the APUSH test and before the AP Lang Hour-And-A-Half-Of-Doom. Right now, I'm actually calmer. A little bit. Of course, I'm doing math homework (er...well, I'm blogging, but I have my math book open on my lap, does that count?), so that significantly drains some of the TiredBounceHyperBounceWheeee, but besides that.

You know what would be really good right now? Chocolate. Dark chocolate. Like one of those Hershey's Dark Chocolate Valentine Hearts candies? Mmm.

See, that was random. This is why I should not be left alone with the internet when I'm sleep-deprived to the state of Wheeee.

I'm gonna go now. Maybe I'll even be able to finish this math before my brain goes Ka-BOOM. You know, Ka-BOOM. Like this:

Ahh, how I love the Madagascar Penguins... "Yes, Rico. Ka-BOOM."

Okay, I should really get off the computer now before I make all of your heads go Ka-BOOM too. Random side note that I just thought of: I am still looking for a good music video song. If you have any ideas, you should share them with me. :) Really going now. Promise.

Laters,
Bex

Will You Still Call Me Superman?

I don't have time for a long post tonight, because I'm attempting to finish this RIDICULOUS 200-question chemistry review and then study for an APUSH test that I really need to do well on. But I do have time for a brief message.

Public Service Announcement! If you haven't heard, chemistry is evil. At least, this review packet is. 200 questions of math and chemistry and ickyness. Even the people who love chemistry hate this review packet. It is evil. And it just might eat me.

Since I've got chemistry on the brain tonight (and because I like this song), I have a chemistry-related song for you all. Well, ish... Krypton is an element. It counts. The song is "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down. And while I'm not a huge fan of most of their stuff, I really like this particular song:

"You called me strong, you called me weak, but still your secrets I will keep. You took for granted all the times I never let you down. [skip a bit] If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman? If I'm alive and well will you be there holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might, kryptonite..."

I should warn you, the video's a little weird. Okay, a LOT weird. But the song is quite good. And now, dear internetfolks, I must go finish my homework. Much love,
Bex