Do you know the truth about Cooties?

Yes we did!

For the first time in my life, I am truly proud of America. Obama won, and I'm ecstatic. Kay Hagen won, as well- North Carolina is moving away from our racist southern heritage and into a more accepting future. When I'm a senator, I'll talk to the Governor about legalizing gay marriage, and when I'm president, I'll make it legal everywhere. California may be a bigoted state, but North Carolina doesn't have to be.

Clod of wonderfulness.

Nothing extremely exciting or fascinating has happened lately, nor have I had a stroke of brilliance, so I'm just going to combine all the little stuff that has happened into one big clod of wonderfulness.

I got some new clothes, including a gold peace necklace and matching earrings, and a pretty black-and-white patterned shirt. They actually look really nice together. I also got some plum colored and vanilla colored eye shadow, which look really pretty when blended correctly. Then I bought dark gray eyeliner and a Hershey's bar. And french fries. And a McFlurie.

I also got my Twiggy costume, which is a navy blue mod mini-dress with a bright yellow belt. It's very Twiggy-esque, and it's going to rock. I'm wearing it with mod (hopefully yellow?) shoes, some fishnets which I am yet to find, my colorful bangles, and my new peace sign earrings. And a whole lotta eye makeup. It all looks really cool.

Have you ever had Izze clementine soda? If the answer is no, you fail at life and need to obtain some right now. Right. Now. I had a bottle at Starbucks yesterday (on the way to the dentist, hmmm...) and I was reminded how amazing it is.

So, in conclusion, I bought stuff, bought more stuff, and want you to buy some soda.
We are living in a material world...

State Fair!!

Today I went to the Fair with Allie, John, and Drew. It was a lot of fun, we went on a few rides that flipped us upside down. There was one that was so fun/scary/windy that everyone's eyes teared up from screaming and the cold wind. John was crying so hard he was dripping on me, which was pretty funny. I ate some pizza, coke, and a caramel apple, as well as a part of funnel cake, some cotton candy, and a plain apple. It was all really good. I got a few good pictures, that I'll post later.
Me and Allie went on this awesome ride that was like a tilted, super fast wheel that just spun and spun. The guys were too scared to go on it, and Allie was screaming in my ear, and I was just singing "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock.
We also went to see the pig/goat/duck races. That was really, really fun. My favorites were either the ducks or the baby pigs. One women was crowned "North Carolina Pig Queen 2008," but the catch was she had to kiss the pig.
She gave it an air kiss.
I would've done the same thing.


I also saw the ultimate example of irony, which was a little funny and a little sad. You know those air-brush tee shirts you can buy? I saw one couple buying one, and it had a Confederate flag on it. The painter was African-American. I wondered how he felt painting it, and if the people buying it even thought about it might affect him. It kinda reminded me of when I was in Eastern North Carolina, and people would have the Confederate flag right under the American flag. I wonder if it even means anything to them anymore, if they even can fully grasp the concept that they're displaying.
Sorry for the ramble.
Yay for the fair.

A Wonderful poem!

Here is a poem you might enjoy.
It's free-verse (duh) and for a project I'm doing for writing class.


The Candy-Man.

The Candy-Man
Wore gumdrop pants, a candy-corn hat,
And silver bells on his shirt.
The Candy-Man
Had the stars in his eyes
And a fairy that lived in his hair.
The Candy-Man
Lived in lollypop land
And spoke the language of mice, and dwarfs.
The Candy-Man
Taught us about snowflakes
And fairy-tales, and holding hands.
The Candy-Man
Was taken away
Hugging himself in a nice white coat.
The Candy-Man
Now lives in a soft room
And talks to his fairy (so he’s never alone.)
The Candy-Man
Takes magical pills
(And shares with the fairy and the mice and the dwarfs)
The Candy-Man
Gave me a mouse and his candy-corn hat.
Maybe, if I’m lucky,
I’ll get his nice white jacket, too.

Random Thoughts, a la me.

Nothing has really happened, but I feel important when I update my blog, so I'm going to take my hypothetical scalpel and hack away at my hypothetical forehead until you can see my hypothetical brain.
Okay, no, that's gross. Brains, even the hypothetical ones, are gray and fleshy and they pulsate, which isn't ever nice. So why don't I just tell you some stuff. Enjoy. Or not. Whatever. (Sheesh, now I've confused my self...)

Here are some blogs you need to see:

Greenfinch~nightingale by Johanna.
This is a pretty sweet blog run by a very talented graphic designer and poet, who also happens to be one of my best friends. Jojo likes "colors and musicals and being Jewish and contemplating life." Check out her blog, it's great.
http://greenfinchnightingale.blogspot.com/

If you can't convince them, confuse them, by Haleigh.
This cute little blog has just gotten started, and so far only has a few photos and a little infomercial about me, which was awesome. I love her to death, and she's really funny. Take a look-see.
http://adoretheshore.blogspot.com/


Yesterday was Alaina's 14th birthday.(Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo!) Haleigh, Alaina and I went out to eat and then I made her a blog for our law class, in which she's running for president. However, our teacher then told us she'd prefer it if we'd have a website on freewebs, which suck on a number of levels, but that's alright.

My mom got me and Bri these fierce Obama shirts. They're army green, and mine says "Once you go Barack you'll never go back," which doesn't rhyme, but whatever. Brianna's says "Go Obama," and the O's are Obama's head. We're quite the class act. :P

Fabulous-ness.

The two main things of interest that have happened as of late is I went to Holden Thorp's inauguration as chancellor, and I got an amazing shirt.
The speeches at the inauguration were really good. There was one that was hilarious, a poet (or something like that) was talking, and he really cracked me up. Holden's speech was great, (of course,) although I was a little depressed that there were no Beatles references. But that's just because I'm a dork. Nicole, Drew, and I took some great photos of our feet, the women in front of me, and the sky, but I think we did it in a thoroughly inconspicuous way, and hopefully distracted no one. I also designed a lovely airplane from grass and leaves.







The Shirt I bought at thrift store. Well, my mom bought it. But she wouldn't buy me a wedding dress. Or M&M's. The Shirt is a great example of the class and sophistication of the early 90's, I'm guessing. As you can tell from the photo's, it's fierce. I also got a white turtleneck and two pairs of jeans, but that's boring.




nice, huh?

Lock in! :D

Friday night was the EYC lock in. It was really fun. Most people stayed up all night long, and I lay awake for a while before falling asleep for a whopping twenty minutes. We did a lot of cool stuff, like... well, here are some photos. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I'm pretty sure I have a word limit. ;D

Stardoll!

Visit my Stardoll Suite

Visit my Stardoll Suite

This is my "medoll" on Stardoll.com, which is basically a social/fashion/doll dress-up website. It's pretty dumb, but really fun, and a good waste of time. It's also a great procrastination tool. :]]
You might be thinking my medoll is interesting looking. Compared to the other dolls on the site, it's gorgeous and high fashion. Trust me. And if an entire outfit doesn't show up, it's the blogs fault, not mine. :P

Screenplay

It just occurred to me that I've been writing a screenplay for a few months, and like four people know of it's existence. So I guess I'll post the plot line and you guys can tell me what you think.
It's a physiological Thriller called The Tale of Harlequin and The Nightbird, and it's about a man named Laurent. He lives in Paris with his daughter Madeline. his wife had died giving birth to Madeline, and when that happened he became very reclusive and secretive, and began writing horror novels. When Madeline was ten, he started writing a book called "Harlequin and The Nightbird," about a man who dresses in a clown costume and kills people, and his sidekick, a man who dresses in black and helps him. Laurent studies all sorts of famous murder cases, and he spends so much time locked away in his dark room reading about horrible things that he starts to go crazy. An imaginary raven that calls it's self the nightbird begins to come and watch him work, and sometimes talks to him.
Meanwhile, Madeline has begun to spend a lot of time with Jon, an old man who owns a nearby cafe. One day, Laurent decides that he needs to meet the man Madeline is always talking about. He goes to meet him, and the nightbird comes too. Jon is almost deaf, and having to talk so loudly irritates Laurent. He hits Jon really hard, and the old man falls down and hits his head. He dies. Laurent feels horrible about it, but he also feels slightly satisfied. He goes home.
A while later, he asks Isabel, his neighbor, on a date, and she agrees. After he walks her home, his memory blanks out, but the next morning she is laying next to him, dead, having been stabbed several times. He is terrified and wonders who did it, but then he finds his fingerprints on the knife and realizes it must have been him. He hides her body.
I'm not going to list all of his many murders, but they include an autistic boy and several young girls at a sleepover. Every time he kills someone, the Nightbird gets bigger and more controlling of him. Eventually, he is trying to kill Madeline because she discovers a body in the attic, but she convinces him to put down the gun. As soon as he turns his back, she shoots him and calls the police to turn him in. As Laurent/The Harlequin lays there dying, the Nightbird leaves him and sits on the shoulder of a female police officer who was taking the (unfinished) novel with her.

So, yeah. It's not amazing, but I think it would be a cool movie.

Props to Haleigh and Middlers.

This fabulous image was made by Haleigh via Wordle. Wordle is a website that makes "word clouds" from blogs and such. The bigger words are the ones I use the most, and the smaller ones are the ones I use the least. It's pretty nifty, huh?

I got back from Middlers yesterday. It was really, really good, second only to Bishop's Ball. Almost all of our old friends were there, although a lot of them (Nick, Will, Caroline, Asia) were on staff, a lot of the others weren't. We also met two really nice girls named Rachel, and Jane. Jane cracked me up. Her parting comment to us was "love," and she made a heart with her hands. She also took a picture of us, looked at it, and said "aww, cuties!" Rachel was super fun, Will and I made bird noises during a small group game and she freaked. It was great. The theme of the conference was lean on me, and during the closing service when we sang that song, I had the full weight of John, Julia, Allie, Kate, Josh, Drew, and Alaina, which was... heavy. :P I can't wait for bishop's ball. I think I might make my own dress this year.

Life without Brianna

Brianna's been at boarding school since Monday, and it's been really, really nice. I cleaned my room, and it's still clean. Mom cleaned the living room, and it's still clean. We've both been able to sleep a little later, and on Monday we went out to eat, which is always a big production when Bri's around. It wasn't with just the two of us! :)
Last night we randomly decided to go out for ice cream, another thing that would never happen. Mom decided that by getting Moose Tracks Ice Cream, I was making a political statement. I wasn't, but whatever. :p
Speaking of political statements, I worked a few hours at the Obama headquarters on Tuesday. I was mainly calling people to find out who they were voting for. Most people were really nice about it, and answered my questions politely, but one women yelled at me about how it didn't matter what we thought, and she would vote for whoever she wanted. I said of course we couldn't make her vote one way or another, but it might be helpful for her to know the facts before she voted. I also told her that I was sure that McCain's campaign would send her some information, and then she could compare their policies and choose. She told me to shut up and hung up. o.o
Me and Allie have been working a seventies sitcom that we're going to film together. It's about two college roommates who live together. My character, Shelly, is really wild, Valley-girl-ish, and stupid. Jennifer, Allie's character, is smart and nerdy. It's going to be great.
Today I'm audisioning for a play at the Artcenter.
Tomorrow I go to Middler's! I'm uber excited!

Another Video

I really laughed hard at this one. The pie part is the best.

Palin.

Yeah, funniest skit EVER. I'm sooo close to being able to do the accent. :)

Molly the Simpson?

I made myself into a Simpson character. I made my hair long because all the short hair was... strange.
To say the least.
My hair looks slightly green.
Ignore that.

And, now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

Drum roll, please...
A few people have requested to see my book when it's done, and it's not. But you CAN see the first chapter. I'm on chapter seven right now, but it would be helpful if you could give HONEST and constructive criticism. So... yeah. If walls of text scare you, just copy and paste it into a document. Happy reading/critiquing!


................................................................................


Chapter one:

Thomas brushed his blond hair out of his eyes and leaned his head against the cool window, hoping it would lesson his headache. The rain dashed angrily against the glass, filling the car with it’s tapping. He was unhappy, although he didn’t know why. He was back in his favorite country in the world, for an entire summer, with his best friend. It was the first time he’d gotten to take Marco to England, although his family went every summer and winter break. He supposed his unhappiness came down to a bad headache, a long flight followed by a long car trip, and the usual teenage angst.
“Mum, how much longer?” asked Charlotte, his younger sister. She was also leaning against a window, reading The Bad Beginning and fidgeting with her strawberry blond ponytail, as usual.
“I don’t know, Char. We’re pretty nearby, but who knows. We’ll get there when we get there.” There mother turned left and kept going. “You alright, Marco?”
The tall black boy sitting next to Thomas started. “Wha- yeah, I’m fine, Mrs. J, thanks. Just listening to Thomas’s ipod. He has an… uhm… interesting taste in music.” Thomas groaned.
“It’s classic. And better than that stuff you listen to, who’s even heard of The Alman Brothers or whatever?”
Mrs. Johnson laughed. “Just about everyone, Thomas. And Marco, I agree. He goes on about it, but I think it’s a bit odd. The seventies was not the most tasteful decade.”
“I think most of them were probably on dru- what?!” A very bemused expression flashed across Marco’s face. “He blew his mind out in the car? What the heck?!”
“Oh, that’s a day in the life,” said Thomas, suddenly perking up from his position against the window. “He didn’t know the light had changed, right? That’s a good one.”
“This is too weird.” Marco yanked the earbuds out and turned the ipod off, tossing it to Thomas. Mrs. Johnson turned onto a roughly paved road with a street sign that read Amesbury.
“Okay kids, we’re about five minutes away. This is what we’re going to do. I’ll drop you three off at Grandma’s, and then go get our key. We will then all go to Ciao Bella.”
Thomas and Charlotte cheered. Thomas leaned into Marco.
“Best Italian food outside of Italy. You’ll love it.”
“Thomas, I’m speaking. Remember that we’re eating out when Grandma tries to feed you. You are not underfed, no matter what she thinks. This goes for you, too, Marco. When we get in from eating, we will go to the house and choose rooms, and unload the car.”
The car pulled into a small circle of houses. They were all ancient and painted similar faded shades of brown and reminded Marco of gingerbread houses. “Grandma’s is the one with the geraniums!” declared Charlotte.
“There it is!” Thomas pointed excitedly at a peeling house with a porch swing, a rocking chair, and several pots of red geraniums. Mrs. Johnson pulled up in front of it.
“Get out, and you’d better run for it.”
The three children dashed out of the car, not pausing until they were safely out of the rain under the overhang. Marco raised his fist to knock on the door, when it flew open.
There stood a tiny and wrinkled lady in a faded cotton dress. “You must be Marco!” Her voice was surprisingly strong for it to be coming from such a small person. “All of you come inside.”
“Hullo, Grandma,” said Thomas as they were ushered down a dim and cluttered hallway to the living room.
“Make yourselves at home, please. I’ll make us some tea.” She bustled out of the room. Marco sat awkwardly on an old flowered couch. Charlotte and Thomas sat down and pulled off their damp shoes and sweaters. Moments later, their Grandma reentered the room. “Marco, here is some hot tea and please eat some cookies or fruit, you all look half starved…”
“We only ate about two hours ago, and mum said-” The old woman cut off Charlotte.
“Oh, I’m sorry Marco, you may call me Gene, if you like. I’m sorry the house is such a mess, it’s laundry day and it always gets messy then.” Marco glanced around the immaculate living room.
“This is cleaner than my house ever gets.” He drank some tea and almost spit it out. It was hot and bitter, and burnt his tongue and throat.
“Really? That’s sweet. You should get a maid. I have one named Lystra, she’s quite good.” She turned to Thomas. “Your mother is getting the key to your house?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued. “Very good. She should be here any moment-” They heard a knock on the door. “That’ll be her.” She left again, leaving Marco in a state of shock.
“You like ‘er?” asked Thomas thickly, his mouth full of a peach.
“She’s very… does she always talk that fast?”
“Yep,” said Thomas and Charlotte at the same time, grinning.
At that moment, Mrs. Johnson and her mother walked in. Marco thought it was amusing how different they looked- Mrs. Johnson in her chic New York clothes, at least six feet tall, and her tiny mother in her vintage frock. Despite Mrs. Johnson height, it was obvious who was in charge of the scene.
“You sit down and have some tea, I’ll get my coat and run a comb through my hair and we can go.”

About half an hour later, they pulled up to a small building, with a sign on the roof that said Ciao Bella in purple letters. They piled out of the car and walked inside; it was bright and airy inside, the walls were painted a light adobe color and there were false windows overlooking vineyards everywhere. A cheerful blonde waitress with a ponytail and stained apron led them to a table.
“Hello, welcome to Ciao Bella. I’m Sarah, and I’ll be your waitress. Our specialty wine for the day is Abbazia di Novacella Pinot Nero. Our pasta special is walnut and goat cheese tortellini.”
They ordered drinks. When Marco’s diet coke arrived, Charlotte had already knocked over the Parmesan twice and the salt once.
“I’m really sorry, Mum,” she said, reaching across the table for a breadstick and knocking over her Sprite.
The rest of the meal passed to quickly for Marco’s liking. His pizza was excellent, and it seemed like the three children never stopped laughing. Meanwhile, Mrs. johnson and her mother where talking, and she was sounding more and more British as the meal went on.
“So then Anne and Jacob decide they need to spill the soup on him, to get back for the-” Thomas stopped mid sentence, a look of pain on his face.
“What’s the matter?”
“My head. It’s been hurting all night, and now it’s getting worse.” He pushed his bangs out of the way. Just then, Sarah came bounding up and began to clear there plates.
“Is there anything else I can get you? No? I hope you enjoyed your meal!”

Out in the parking lot, the rain had slowed to a gentle mist. It was completely dark out, and there was no moon. The group got into their car, full and drowsy. They reached the house they were staying in, but Marco was too tired to really take anything in. Thomas led the way to a small bedroom, where they each got into one of two twin beds. Marco fell asleep instantly.
The light fell across his face and his eyes snapped open. Thomas was rummaging in his suitcase. “I know I packed my black Rolling Stones shirt! I know I did!”
“Mpgth.” Marco shut his eyes again; trying to remember the last strains of a dream he’d been having, something involving running. It was no use. The more he tried to remember, the more it slipped away. He sat up.
“I guess it’s at home- I thought I packed it!”
“Thomas, all of your shirts look the same. Just wear the black Beatles shirt.” Marco got up and pulled a red polo and kaki shorts out of his bag.
“They are NOT the same! See, this shirt says the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones one says the Rolling Stones! And see- this one says Elton John. Here’s the Eric Clapton one.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Marco glanced around the room they were in for the first time. There was a white stone fireplace on the wall with the door, and on the left there was a window that looked directly into the window of a house next door.
“And, this one says the Eagles! Are you listening to me?” Thomas looked up. Marco realized he’d been talking the entire time.
“No, I really don’t care about your shirts- sorry, man.”
“Well, I don’t care about your prep clothes.”
“Great.” Marco pulled a green hoodie on over his head and slipped on his Nikes. Behind him he could vaguely see Thomas deciding on one of twelve semi-identical shirts and putting it on. He then spent about twenty minutes lacing up his green converse. Marco, bored, started out into the hall. Charlotte appeared from the door across from him.
“Good morning, Marco!” She pulled at her strawberry blonde braid. “Is Thomas still putting on his shoes? He does that every morning. It’s weird.” She peeked into the room. “Ooh, you guys got a fireplace, too! So did I!”
“I think this house must be pretty old, you know, built when fireplaces were the only way to keep warm.”
“I saw this house built around the time of the civil war,” said Thomas, finally walking onto the landing, shoes fully tied. “It had short little doors, with builder’s name carved into the doorposts, fireplaces in every room, and secret passageways.” Charlotte perked up.
“Secret passageways? That would be so cool! We should look around!”
“I doubt there are any in this particular house, Char. I bet the one Thomas saw was on the Underground Railroad.” He didn’t want her hopes up, but he was also interested in looking around.
“Yeah, it was. They’d, like, found a little girl’s rag doll in there or something.”
“We could look on the door frames and see if there’s a name or a year,” suggested Char.
“We could, but I’m hungry.” Marco started down the stairs. “Let’s eat.” He looked all around this time, taking everything in. The house was very Elizabethan, with mullioned windows and an elaborate staircase. He turned left into the carpeted hall, and went to the end of it until he found himself in a kitchen that had obviously been added on later. Thomas’s mom was already there, making herself some coffee and watching CNN.
“Help yourselves to a biscuit, boys, and Charlotte, your oatmeal is on the stove.”
Marco looked questioningly to Thomas.
“The brat won’t eat anything else in the morning, she says it make her choke,’ he explained. Charlotte threw a biscuit at him.
“Mum! He called me a brat!”
“She threw a biscuit at me!”
“See what I have to deal with all the time, Marco?” Mrs. Johnson put the biscuit in the trashcan and poured a cup of coffee. “Do you drink coffee?”
“Sometimes, but not right now, thank yo-“
“I do!” Thomas interrupted. “Can I have a mocha?”
“No. It will stunt your growth.”
“What growth?” asked Char. Marco nearly choked on his biscuit, he was laughing so hard.
“Can I throw a biscuit at her head, mum?”
“No!” Mrs. Dupree looked increasingly frazzled. “Why don’t you lot go play with Mary?”
“Mary Morrison? Yeah, let’s do that!” Charlotte gulped down the rest of her oatmeal and ran outside.
“Yeah, I guess she’s cool.” Thomas looked at Marco. “Wanna?”
“Sure.” Marco stood up and started to follow his best friend out. He turned around at looked at Mrs. Johnson. “Are they always like that?” She laughed.
“They are. It will be so much easier when their father gets back…” He nodded and started out again.

The sun was hidden behind the masses of dark cloud that coated the sky, and the air was thick and humid. A thin breeze ruffled the trees, shaking off a few leaves.
“Mary’s house is this way!” Charlotte skipped ahead of the two boys. “You’ll like her, Marco. She’s really nice.”
“Will I really?” he asked Thomas quietly.
“Maybe. She’s cool, I guess. Nothing special.” Thomas looked down and kicked a small rock.
“Cool.” Marco looked around. They were nearing the house that they had visited Miss Gene in the night before.
“She’s our Grandma’s next-door neighbor. She lives in that house. Number seven.”
They arrived at number seven. The sound of muted music seemed to be coming from underneath the house. “Charlotte, go knock.” Thomas pushed his little sister up the path. She knocked loudly and the music stopped. Inside there was a scream and loud footsteps. The door flew open. A very pretty girl of around seventeen looked at Charlotte, and then at Thomas and Marco.
“You looking for Mary?” They all nodded. She turned around and screamed. “MARY!” There was the sound of someone running down the stairs, and an Indian girl with a dark brown braid appeared. She looked confused, and then her face lit up.
“Thomas? Char? Hey guys!” She jogged down the path, Charlotte behind her. “I haven’t seen you two since Christmas! Thomas, you haven’t grown at all!” Marco heard Thomas mutter something indistinguishable.
“I’m Marco,” he said.
“I’m Mary. I’ve heard all about you.” She beamed and turned to Thomas. “How long are you here? Do you guys want to go hang out at The Soda Shoppe?”
“Sure. I bet Marco’s never seen anything like it. And we’re here all summer. Should be fun.”


The Soda Shoppe turned out to be and old-fashioned ice cream shop with a bar where you could order any kind of drink you could think of, and they mixed them all right there. Behind the bar there was a girl who looked only a few years older than them. She was kneeling on the ground, stacking boxes of straws.
“The chocolate coke is really good,” suggested Charlotte. “But so are malts.”
“He won’t like malts.” Mary pulled herself onto a wooden bar stool and tapped the girl behind the bar on the head. “Hey Jenny!”
“Hey Mary.” She didn’t look up. “Cream soda?”
“Yeah.”
Jenny passed up a bottle of caramel colored soda. “Cream soda. I’ll get the ice in a minute. Any other orders?”
“I’d like a chocolate coke,” Charlotte piped up.
“And two more cream sodas.” Thomas pulled a few euros out of his pocket. “You’ll like cream soda,” he added to Marco. “It’s a bit like vanilla coke, but better.”
Jenny finally stood up and dusted her hands on the faded red apron she wore. She was very blond and pale, with a few freckles dusted across her nose and cheekbones. “Two cream sodas,” she plunked the bottles down, “and ice.” She slid open a freezer door and scooped three plastic cups full of ice, sliding them towards Mary. “And you want a chocolate coke?” She nodded at Charlotte.
“Yes, please.”
There was a soda fountain with red levers. Jenny pulled the first and about an inch of chocolate syrup dropped out of the hose into another cup. She then filled it the rest of the way with coke. “Here ya go! Enjoy!” She then turned to the new people that had walked in.
Marco twisted off the lid of his soda and poured it in the cup nearest him.
“So, Mary, how old are you?” he asked, taking a sip.
“Fifteen. Is it good?” She answered, drinking some of her own.
“Yeah, it’s great. I’m fifteen too. Thomas is still fourteen.”
“Loser.” Mary grinned at Thomas, who punched her lightly on the arm.
“You’re the loser!”
“You are. And don’t hit girls.” She giggled. “And Char, you’re eleven now?”
“Yep.” Charlotte was happily slurping her soda from a straw. “Did you see I’m as tall as Thomas now?”
“I did! Although it’s not a huge achievement, most people are…”
Thomas punched her again, harder this time. “Is this an abuse Thomas party?”
“Yes.” Mary and Marco had spoken at the same time. They caught each other’s eye and burst out laughing.



“Look, the king of hearts is the only one without a mustache.” Charlotte put her king on top of Marco’s seven. “And I win.” She took the pile of cards from the center of the circle.
“Did you know that the king commits suicide in the cards? This one has a sword through his head.” Thomas lay down his king in the middle.
“Elephants are the only mammal that can’t jump,” said Mary, looking up from her copy of Macbeth. She was leaned against a tree, while the other three played an increasingly vicious game of war. “And the USA has never lost a war in which mules were used.”
“Nice, but what does that have to do with cards?” asked Marco, laying a king on Thomas’s. “War.”
“Yeah, there you are again, Mary, knowing things no one cares about. Doctor Seuss invented the word nerd, and I think it was for you.” Thomas dealt three cards.
“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon 'em,” she countered. Marco dealt his three.
“Do you really think knowing the correlation between wars and mules makes you great?” asked Thomas. “Because that’s not my definition of greatness.” Mary kicked him in the back, and he dropped his card. It was an ace. Marco’s was the two of spades. “I win. That’s true greatness.”



The next morning, Marco woke up but didn’t open his eyes. He could remember his dream vividly this time. He was walking through the woods, when he heard a sound behind him. He began to run, stumbling over the gnarled roots that covered the forest floor. The sound was getting closer, he couldn’t quite tell what it was, but he knew it was terrible. Then he could feel it, like the hot breath of a wild beast on his back. It smelled bad, not like anything he’d ever smelled before. He glanced over his shoulder and nearly fell to the ground. The forest he’d just run through was gone. Only desert remained. And the thing that was chasing him, well, it wasn’t really a thing at all, and although he’d never be able to describe it, he’d never forget it either. And then there was a voice behind him-
“Was this your first encounter with the darkness?”
He whipped around and saw an old man.
Marco sat upright and looked over at Thomas.
“God, that’s a terrible dream,” said Thomas, eyes wide.
“Did you have a bad dream too?” Asked Marco.
“Oh yeah. I was running through these woods,”
“That’s funny, so was I-“
“And there was this thing behind me, no idea what, and it was ruining the forest or something, and it smelled bad, and… what? It was scary while I was sleeping, okay?”
For Marco had just made a disbelieving sound.
“I know, it’s just… that’s sounds just like my dream.”
“Weird.” Thomas got up. “I’m hungry.”
They didn’t mention it for the rest of the day, but Marco couldn’t get the image of the strange thing out of his mind.

Third Day!

The Third Day concert was really great. Will, Kate, Alex, Sara, Leslie, and I all went, It was really nice outside until it got dark, because then the grass got wet and we got cold. There was one song called "look at the stars," however, thanks to light pollution, there were only four stars visible. It was really loud, and I felt sorry for anyone who lived nearby. :p
Johanna sent me a great photo editor called a.viary.com, which I've been using. I made a pretty cool picture with it. :) I might post it sometime.

Art at the Ackland.

Today was "Art" Class. It gets quotation marks because there was no making art involved, it's more of a history lesson involving art. Today we learned about art and religion. The only exhibit I didn't already know everything about was the African one. I mean, the Christianity one was a cinch, after all, I did watch Veggie Tales when I was younger. (In church, bible stories play out in my mind with Cucumbers and Tomatoes as the characters) And Buddhism and Hinduism- well, I watch the Simpson's, so I know about those. :p
Alaina, Haliegh, and I hung out during the class, and afterwords Alaina and I went to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream. I don't know where Haleigh went, it was her Dad's birthday or something. It was really fun, I got to catch up with Kate Zoller, who's pretty funny and very sweet. :)
Tomorrow I'm going to a Third Day concert, which should be fun, because I love them and all the people I'm going with. Fall Middler's is coming up soon as well, which I'm uber excited about. :D

Life, ect.

On Tuesday we toured Brianna's new school, Wright School. For those of you who don't know, it's a boarding school for students with behavioral problems. It seemed like a nice place. I've wanted to go to a boarding school since I was around eight, so I find it rather unfair that she gets to. I suggested to my mom that I could develop a mental illness if it might bet me into a school. She was not amused.
If anyone has a camera that they really like, please tell me in the comments. I'll be buying one soon, and want to know what type is best. It's not just for casual photography, so it needs to have a very short lag time.
Today I had writing class with Alaina, Haleigh, and Allie. It was fun. We had to write the ending to The Lady or the Tiger? My ending was great. Three of the five people in it died. I think this means that I've officially read too much Shakespeare.
My book is still coming along great. Here's another paragraph to read:


The brig turned out to be a sort of a jail for a ship. It was extremely dark and unpleasant. There was water above Marco’s ankles in some spots, and the only furniture was a rotting wooden bench spanning the wall and a lantern on a hook. He sat on the bench, hoping it wouldn’t fall. It didn’t.
The man was locking the metal gate. “I’ll get you tomorrow morning. Someone will bring food.” He walked away, his bare feet sloshing loudly in the standing water. The was a moment of silence.
“This sucks.” Thomas was the first to break it.
“I think I see something in the water,” Charlotte said anxiously, drawing her feet out of it.
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Mary replied glumly, also removing her feet.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a snake.”
“It’s most likely an eel.” Marco started at Mary’s answer, and rolled up his jeans, folding his legs Indian-style on the damp wood.
“Do eels sting?” Charlotte asked, sounding even more frightened than before.
“I’ve always thought they shocked you. Or bit. They have lots of little teeth,” observed Thomas.
“Some of them, but others…” Marco wasn’t listening to Mary’s answer. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to care about eels.

It's the most wonderful time of the year-

Note the sarcasm. School is starting up again, as is writing, reading group, political process, drama, math, art, EYC, regular church attendance... So long, summer. Hello, stress.
That's not completely true. Brianna was accepted in her boarding school and will be leaving in two weeks. My novel is coming along nicely, I'm one ninth done with the third draft. Only eight ninths and one draft more, and that one's no re-writing, it's editing. Right now Marco, Thomas, Charlotte, and Mary have left king Tutankhamen and are sailing with Chinese pirates.
I got a debit card and a checking account, and I'm buying a camera for a photography class in October with... uhm... all of the money in both accounts. Ah well, I'll earn it back. :)
I wrote a poem about a pigeon, but it turned out not amazing, so it's gone now. My Beatles obsession has grown. Yay John, Ringo, Paul, and George!

Beach!

School is starting up again. I'm taking a writing class, and probably a Political Process class. I'm also going to be volunteering with the Obama campaign.
I worked a lot on my book today. I'm coming along pretty well. It's going to be very long, however, because there's five chapters so far and they're not even done wit the first time (of nine).

I just came back from a trip to the beach with Allie. During the weekend, John, Josh, Drew, Kate, and Corrie came and stayed with us. We went sailing and saw my favorite boat ever, the Sea Jewel. She's a yacht, and I want to buy her someday.
At the beach, we all wrote some amazing songs. Allie and I decided that they could join our band, We Need a Name. When we need a name was co-owned only by the two of us, we wrote Pop Hits such as Potentially Harmful Questions (About People's Dads) and spirituals such as Bobby Knows. Now we've branched into rap, barbershop, and country, producing things like Whitey-White Paste boy, I am a part of a Barbershop Quartet, and Farmer by Day, Clubber by night (My farmer's Tan)
It IS amazing. :p
Here's part of a rap we wrote:

We Need a Name,
It's insane.
We got the dough;
we make it rain.
You hear it on the radio,
we make it rain,
we make it flow.
Flow, flow, flow,
Nee how!
Flow, flow, flow,
Nee how!


Nee How is hello in Chinese.
Don't even ask. :p

Camp and new email!

I've not been posting for a while, so I'll update on everything that's happened. Earth Arts Camp was a nightmare, there was one kid who always hissed at me. :/ Another would attack me with a stick. The rest were just ANNOYING. The staff was really nice though, and I got payed, so it was worth it. :)
Brianna went to the hospital that Thursday, so Meridith, Ed and Allie took me to the boat to celebrate Allie's thirteenth birthday. It was fun, I didn't get Seasick, and we got to see pirates! There was a mock-up of a pirate invasion in Beaufort, and we sat in the Dingy and watched them ride in. Everything was cool, except one pirate shot herself in the arm or something and the coast guard had to save her. We were going to go to a pirate ball, but that didn't work out because they were sold out. So we went out to eat in pirate costumes instead. One kid stared at us, so Ed said "Arrgh." That REALLY made him stare! Me and Allie also invented a wonderful place called MarshellTown, where the Alphabet Soup is plentiful and the Moose roam freely around the moose preserve.
Then it was time for Anything Goes Camp, which was fun. There were some really sweet little campers, and a few older ones that I've been going to camp with for a few years, so it was a little like hanging out with my friends, getting to tell them what to do, AND getting payed for it!
Life is good. :)
One of the kids said that I'm the perfect mix of "responsible counceler" and "great friend," which I thought was sweet. :) All of the counceler's have one-on-ones, which is when we need to pay special attention to, because they might need extra help, or have behavioral problems. One time I had Allie. :p
Lastly, I got a new email. I'll still check my old one, but the new one is;
Protectedbyasilverspoon14@yahoo.com
If you want to know why it's called that, it's the second line of "She came in through the bathroom window," which is my third favorite Beatles song.
The 14 is not, in fact, my age, but it will be soon. :p

Covers. :)

I always find that things like music and art help me write, so last night I designed the cover for my book to get me writing. It really worked! I got a whole chapter and a half done. :)
Anywho, I thought I'd share the covers, because I'm fairly proud of them, and that's unusual for my work because I'm a huge perfectionist.

Some Things.

Music Man is officially OVER... and I'm experiencing mixed feelings of relief that I have a life again and sadness that I have a life again. Believe it or not, being cooped up in Playmakers with most of your best friends all day is fun. :p Thanks to all of the people who came to see me, I hope that you enjoyed the show and that my line was amazing.
Nothing really has been happening since Music Man has ended. I cleaned the kitchen and discovered the Simpson's. (Do'h!) I've also been doing some more photo editing. Here's some of the stuff. Click to enlarge if you can't read the text.

Opening night!

Last night was opening night, which went well, aside from two minor mistakes, neither of which were mine. :) Backstage was a little crazy, but that's normal. There is a lot of stressed running around and freaking out from some people, and some people are in their element. Here is a vidio of the rehearsal before the show.


Today is Josh's birthday! Yay!
Here's a video for you, cuz. :p

Tech....!

Last Thursday started tech week. For those of you non-actors, tech week is the most stressful/boring/painful/fun time of my life. We're starting to do costumes in rehearsal, (My dressing room ROCKS) and I'm kinda stressed about that since the costumer gave me three pairs of pants and NONE of them fit. I was also given cuff links that didn't link, and only one sock. Ah well, I get an AWESOME costume. Jade, the costume designer, is really cool. :) It's boring because, well, there is a lot of sitting while spotlights are adjusted and lines and bits of songs are repeated over and over again for five hours straight. It's painful because my hat itches and my shoes hurt, and because bouncing on a wooden bench repeatedly HURTS. But it's still really fun, because my friends are there and we do the most... interesting things during break. One time I drank a bottle of diet Sunkist in two minutes, and it almost gave me a nosebleed. o.o I'm at the theatre from one until around 9:40, and then when I get home I reveiw lines/ eat/ watch Jeeves and Wooster.
For those of you who haven't seen/read any of those books or movies, watch this... :) It's amazing!

Haircut!

I got a haircut today! Allie came with me. Here are some pictures! :) Notice how it sticks up at the top. The lady razored parts of it. I had songs from Sweeny Todd stuck in my head the whole time.

Rehearsal.

Yesterday, before rehearsal, I took a class on improvisation with Kathy Williams. We played some games and did some senses type stuff. I had to be in the younger group, because I'm not yet fourteen. My friends Ellie and Shaun were in my group, so it was okay.
I've done NO dancing yet, which is weird/good because I'm not the most talented in this area. I prefer acting.
My head hurts from a too-small hat and a straight hour of bouncing for the song Rock Island. Tom (the director) finished teaching me how to play poker, which Alex (Harold Hill) had begun teaching me last week.
For those of you who have never seen The Music Man, here is a video.


You can see why I was bouncing.
I'm one of the guys playing cards.
Our show will be better than this one though, because not only is our Charlie Cowell a guy with cornrows, I'm in it!:p

Everyone is fond of owls. Right?

See, this is why people like owls. They kill you if you don't like 'em. It's a conspiracy. If I go missing and/or am brutally murdered in my bed, you know why.
That's the price I must pay for reveling the sad truth about owls.
Info on conspiracy: all in a user-friendly animated song!




Oh. My. Gosh.
THIS is the meaning of life.
It's not love, or happiness, or whatever else they tell you.
It's not even 42.
It's Rhinos. Who have one tail four feet twelve toes.
My life is complete.

Wrocking with Corrie!

Me and Corrie went to see the wrock concert in Apex, but we only got to see the first band, And the only song I liked was "Dumbledore's gay, but that's O.K.," although "Trever the Toad" and "I wanna go to Honeydukes with you" were pretty decent. It was really hot, and I don't know HOW the people in cloaks were not dying of heatstroke. I bought a sweet pair of socks there.
For those of you who were wondering what wrock is, it stands for wizard rock. It's all Harry Potter themed music.
I am the epitome of geekyness.
So now I'm immersing myself in Draco and the Malfoys music.
"My dad is rich!
And your dad is dead!
My dad is rich and your dad is dead!
My dad is rich!
And your dad is dead!
My dad is rich and your dad is dead!"

My book!

People always ask me what the plot of my book is, so I'm going to post a summery, as well as some basic stuff about the four main characters, and, just because I'm feeling nice, a paragraph from it.

The title is... drumroll, please... Children of the Stones.
At least until I can think of a better one.

So. The plot.
Thomas, Charlotte, and Marco are staying in Amesbury, England for the summer, and they meet Mary, who lives there. They go to Stonehenge, where they meet an old man who tells them that, using the stones of Stonehenge, you can go back in time. Then he tells them that the four of them need to go back in time and collect a key from each time, so that they can lock the final stone "door", to prevent the "darkness" (original, huh?)from getting out. The darkness would come from the only door that leads to future. (actually to the apocalypse.)They go back to nine times, The Salem Witch trials Ancient Egypt, Pompeii, MLK's death, 9/11, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lincoln's death, the Chinese Pirates in the 1800's, and The Titanic.

The characters.

Marco Martin, 15.
Marco is a tall African-American boy, who plays football and dresses in only American eagle. He is very sweet and smart.

Thomas Johnson, 14.
Thomas is very short, with blond hair and gray eyes. He is very cynical and sarcastic, a bit of an idiot, and obsessed with seventies music.

Charlotte Johnson, 11.
Charlotte is Thomas's little sister, but the same height as him. She has strawberry blond hair, and is very shy and thoughtful.

Mary Morrison, 15.
Mary's Father is British, and her mother is from India. She is very dark with thick brown hair. She is very smart. She loves to read. Her favorites are Shakespeare, Balzac, and O. Henry. She also likes memorizing random facts and learning new words.

And here is a paragraph from the book!
It's from chapter one, when the four kids are hanging out and playing cards under a cherry tree. Mary is reading.

“Look, the king of hearts is the only one without a mustache.” Charlotte put her king on top of Marco’s seven. “And I win.” She took the pile of cards from the center of the circle.
“Did you know that the king commits suicide in the cards? This one has a sword through his head.” Thomas lay down his king in the middle.
“Elephants are the only mammal that can’t jump,” said Mary, looking up from her copy of Macbeth. She was leaned against a tree, while the other three played an increasingly vicious game of war. “And the USA has never lost a war in which mules were used.”
“Nice, but what does that have to do with cards?” asked Marco, laying a king on Thomas’s. “War.”
“Yeah, there you are again, Mary, knowing things no one cares about. Doctor Seuss invented the word nerd, and I think it was for you.” Thomas dealt three cards.
“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon 'em,” she countered. Marco dealt his three.
“Do you really think knowing the correlation between wars and mules makes you great?” asked Thomas. “Because that’s not my definition of greatness.” Mary kicked him in the back, and he dropped his card. It was an ace. Marco’s was the two of spades. “I win. That’s true greatness.”


It's not my best, but I think it's pretty good.

I was in the paper, Holden rocks, and my not-broken finger.

A few days ago I received the news that my Music Man character, Clarence Dunlop, is no longer Clarence Dunlop (the twelve-year-old) but a twenty-year-old farmer named Clarence something-or-other. I have a daughter, but it's a bit strange because my daughter Liliana is thirteen, and I doubt that there were many seven-year-old fathers in 1912. Kathy Williams thinks that Liliana might be my sister's child, or my little sister, but either way it involves at least two deaths and me being stuck with a kid. I also got a line!! I'm man #2. I get to shout at the mayor. There was a picture of all but one of the Rock Island salesman in the Daily Tarheel today, here's a picture and a link to the story. (I've circled myself in the picture so you know which one is me.)





http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2008/07/03/City/From-River.City.To.Unc-3387473.shtml


Tonight I went and saw Holden Thorp playing with his high school band "The Hang," which was pretty good. They only knew like seven songs, but that's seven more than I can play, so I was impressed. I'm thinking I need to get out my guitar and start learning one of the songs they played. It was really long, but good. (Free Bird, I KNOW you've heard of it.) I also want to learn how to play Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't know if UNC is ready for Holden to be in such a state of power, he was jumping around and singing and such.


Tonight I also got the pleasure of having my pinky finger examined by a doctor. It's not broken, like I thought it was, but it's bruised pretty badly and it hurts to bend it and to type. I had a pretty intense encounter with a feather, and know it'll be taped up until I can move normally again.

Music Man.

We are starting our second week of Music Man, and I'm having a lot of fun. My feet are hurting constantly from standing four hours straight, but it's worth it. All of the leads are really good, and so are us ensemble people. I think it's going to be a really good show. The girl who plays Marian, Nora, has a fantastic voice, and so does Alex, who is Harold Hill. Bennett, who plays Winthrop, is the cutest little boy you'll ever see.
So far I have one solo and one duet, neither of which are very impressive. My solo is in Rock Island, the very first song. I get to say "and the pigins," and in Wells Fargo Wagon I sing "or dishes" with my friend from Oliver, Ellie. I'm playing a guy, (again) and will probably have to get a haircut, which is good because I've been planning to cut off all my hair for a while now.
The music is very difficult, it took a whole week to learn all of the music. In Oliver it only took... four days. Heh. And I have to Google a lot of words that I've never heard before.

Merchant of Venice.

I read this book yesterday. I really liked it, but it made me realize how very anti-Judaism Shakespeare was. I also noticed this when I was reading Oliver Twist last summer. I also wonder if our culture's prejudices will be as apparent to future civilizations through our "classic" books.
Just a thought.
Anyways, it was very good, not as good as Macbeth, but better than Romeo and Juliet. I think I'm going to read King Lear next.
Shylock was a pretty nasty character, but Jessica was cool.
This is my favorite qoute from it:

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction.

Prince Caspian

I saw this for the second time the other day and thought I'd rant about it a little.

Good things:

Peter.
Google image him and you'll see what I mean.
*sigh* <3

Reepicheep.
imagine Capitan Jack Sparrow.
As a mouse.
good, huh?

Edmund.
My all time favorite Narnia character.
He does a few good stunts, and has a great scene with the king.

Lucy.
Adorable!

It's Susan's last movie!
Yay!!
She's so annoying...

Good battle scenes.
Very action packed and bloody, just the way I like them. :)


Bad things:

It wasn't true to the book.
That needs working on. They killed my favorite scene. :(


All in all, I think it's worth the admission price.
And I want to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

I think I know how to post photos!

Here are some images I've messed with.
Are they any good?
I have a lot of fun with these. I have like a bajillon I'll post some day...
Beware...

Edit: Socks seem to be a crowd pleaser, so here are some more socks and shoes. :p

What's this?

I'm going to use this blog to post snippets from my book, random thoughts I have, some photos I've edited, good books, and videos. Feel free to comment if you want.

Here's a video of me and my friend Mark being spies.
We're very sneaky.


You gotta love us.
More later.

Books.

As I'm sure you know, I really like to read, so I'm going to make a list of books that I fully expect you to go out and get.
And read.
And love.

Best book of all time:
Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
Truly beautiful language, and a fascinating story. I've read it WAY to many times. (I think I'm addicted. XD)

2nd best:
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
See a theme? More beautiful language, but I don't like the story *quite* as much.

3rd best:
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
I really hope you've read this one all ready...

4th:
The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger, by Lewis Lowry.
Very thought provoking. Possibly a glimpse of the future.

5th:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Also quite thought provoking, but not for the weak stomached.

6th:
Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Amazingly funny.

honorable mentions:
Twilight by Stephine Myers.
A sweet vampire love story. :)