... I just had a Monty Python moment. I'm the French guy. (skip to 3:48)
This morning I had a late start. So instead of waking up at 7:00am, I woke up at... 7:15?
Oh yeah, that's right. Anna, Kristen and I started our video that we are making. You know, the one where we try to convince Dan Brown to move to Kansas City. That one.
So instead of sleeping in, I woke up early, picked up Anna, and got hot chocolate while we made our game plan. All we had time to do today was get some shots of the Plaza, a Spanish-style outdoor shopping mall.
We were setting up a shot of a fountain (Kansas City is the City of Fountains), when two Plaza security guards started strolling up the block.
"Anna, we're allowed to film, right?" I mumbled in her ear.
"Yes."
"Okay, sorry, just thought I'd ask."
Just afterward, they walked up to us and asked what we were doing. Oh, just getting some shots of fountains. Is it for school? Yeah, it's for, um, a project. Alright, just wanted to ask.
As soon as they walked away, Anna started laughing. "I should have told them it was a top secret project! No, a conspiracy against the government!" I'm sure that would have gone over EXCELLENTLY, Anna.
After our short day of school, in which I pretty much failed a calc test that I wasn't remotely prepared for, Anna and Kristen came over. For the first time in over six months I turned on my Wii, and we played Mario Kart and trivia.
After Kristen went home, Anna and I decided to start a paper mâché project. The Wordsmith's friend, Bottomless Pit, was bored, so I told her to take pictures. I wanted to post them, but Blogspot is being a NOODLE DARK. You want me to turn on cookies? Okay, I'm all for cookies. What, I have to log in? I'm already logged in! Oh, so now you're just going to CLICK at me? *click click click click click* FINE! No pictures! *huffs*
Ahem. The paper mâché project, unlike the pictures, is going SPLENDIDLY. It's actually an assignment for my Spanish class. I have to make a piñata para Día de Los Muertos. It's going to be a skull. With sparkles. Because sparkles make everything better. Katherine agrees with me, yes?
Once we finished layering balloons in goup-soaked newspaper, I put them in the oven on really low, then propped the door open. This is to help them dry. Since everyone but my mom was out, we put in a movie and curled up on the sofa.
KABANG! One of the balloons exploded in the oven! The project was dry enough, so it held, but BOY was it alarming.*
Methinks that is all for now, dear readers of blog. May the sparkle be with you.
With an outrageous accent,**
Maggie
*All explosions have been exaggerated for dramatic effect. It wasn't actually very alarming at all.
**Outrageous accent is a reference to an earlier part of the Monty Python video. Now that the blog is all finished and whatnot, you may as well watch the rest of it. It's quite good.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Triple Rainbow Awesome...
... was aptly named.
If you follow my twitter, you got this succession of tweets from tonight:
Let's start with the first, shall we? Today I made COOKIES. But they were no ordinary cookies. They were my mother's special Easter cookies, so named because we make them every Easter. More importantly (and relevantly) I warped a gingerbread-man-shaped cookie cutter into a GENGAR CUTTER to make Gengar cookies! Oh. Yes.
After I did my homework (like the good girl that I am), I rolled out the dough I'd pre-prepared (is that redundant?), cut it into eensy leetle Gengars, baked them, dipped in glaze, and made them look somewhat ferocious. Except my mom came into the kitchen and said, "Maggie, these are just so cute!"
Cuteness:1
Ferocity: 0
Then I went to TRIPLE RAINBOW AWESOME. After Jason's set-- if I remember rightly-- I awkwardly went up to Kristina (yes, Kristina Freaking Horner)*, handed her the box of cookies, said something along the lines of "Uh.... I, um, made these for you? I'm going to... come look at merch later..." and then scurried awkwardly off. Because that is how I roll: awkwardly.
After giggling fangirlishly with my friends for a moment, we saw Kristina take the box over to Luke. And then Luke sent a picture to Twitter.
So, uh, that was slightly [very] awesome.
In between the Gengar tweet and the next we all danced like fiends, sung ourselves nearly hoarse, and got grossly sweaty (it was much too warm in there, even with a fan).
Aaaaaaaand then ALL CAPS finished playing Don't Unplug Me and everyone gravitated toward the merch table. Anna, Sarah and I had a conversation that went basically like this:
Anna: "You should go up and tell them that you play them in Mario Kart."
Me: "I'm sure that would go over splendidly. 'Hi, you've never met me, but I beat you in Mario Kart sometimes! Well, bye!' It sounds pretentious."
Sarah: "You could tell them that you made a video for..."
Me and Anna: "No."
After deliberating, I decided that I wanted a picture with them, and I also wanted them to sign my purse. So we shuffled on up to where they were standing, taking pictures and chatting with fans.
They gamely obliged my request for them to sign my purse (hey, a purse is more normal than a sandwich), but Anna decided to butt in saying,
"Maggie is way too shy to tell you this, but she plays you in Mario Kart, and sometimes she beats you."
Imagine how surprised I was when Luke DIDN'T say, "Whuuuuut? I don't know what you're talking about, but here's your purse." (Not that he would say it like that anyway, but...) What he actually did was yell across the room, "HEY JASON! JASON MUNDAY! JASON!"** And I guess Alex Carpenter (=O) had been paying attention or something, because he started yelling, "There's this girl who wants to beat you at Mario Kart!"
That was when I sent the second tweet, "*shock*"
Because it is a bit shocking. I mean, I think I've mostly gotten past the point where I see these people as pixelated stars on my computer screen. I still admire them, but they have become less celebral (made up word) and more like real people. But it is still shocking when these people who make music that I listen to, who make videos that I watch, actually know who I am and make a hullabaloo*** when they learn that I play Mario Kart with them.
That is all for tonight, dear readers of blog. I hope that this post kept you entertained, despite it's length.
With fangirliness,
Maggie
*That is her actual middle name.
**Jason was in the middle of taking a picture with some people, methinks.
***I'm sorry, I just can't be entirely serious. It can't be done.
If you follow my twitter, you got this succession of tweets from tonight:
"Operation Gengar status: success."
"*shock*"
"LOTS TO BLOG ABOUT. *still in shock*"
Let's start with the first, shall we? Today I made COOKIES. But they were no ordinary cookies. They were my mother's special Easter cookies, so named because we make them every Easter. More importantly (and relevantly) I warped a gingerbread-man-shaped cookie cutter into a GENGAR CUTTER to make Gengar cookies! Oh. Yes.
After I did my homework (like the good girl that I am), I rolled out the dough I'd pre-prepared (is that redundant?), cut it into eensy leetle Gengars, baked them, dipped in glaze, and made them look somewhat ferocious. Except my mom came into the kitchen and said, "Maggie, these are just so cute!"
Cuteness:1
Ferocity: 0
Then I went to TRIPLE RAINBOW AWESOME. After Jason's set-- if I remember rightly-- I awkwardly went up to Kristina (yes, Kristina Freaking Horner)*, handed her the box of cookies, said something along the lines of "Uh.... I, um, made these for you? I'm going to... come look at merch later..." and then scurried awkwardly off. Because that is how I roll: awkwardly.
After giggling fangirlishly with my friends for a moment, we saw Kristina take the box over to Luke. And then Luke sent a picture to Twitter.
So, uh, that was slightly [very] awesome.
In between the Gengar tweet and the next we all danced like fiends, sung ourselves nearly hoarse, and got grossly sweaty (it was much too warm in there, even with a fan).
Aaaaaaaand then ALL CAPS finished playing Don't Unplug Me and everyone gravitated toward the merch table. Anna, Sarah and I had a conversation that went basically like this:
Anna: "You should go up and tell them that you play them in Mario Kart."
Me: "I'm sure that would go over splendidly. 'Hi, you've never met me, but I beat you in Mario Kart sometimes! Well, bye!' It sounds pretentious."
Sarah: "You could tell them that you made a video for..."
Me and Anna: "No."
After deliberating, I decided that I wanted a picture with them, and I also wanted them to sign my purse. So we shuffled on up to where they were standing, taking pictures and chatting with fans.
They gamely obliged my request for them to sign my purse (hey, a purse is more normal than a sandwich), but Anna decided to butt in saying,
"Maggie is way too shy to tell you this, but she plays you in Mario Kart, and sometimes she beats you."
Imagine how surprised I was when Luke DIDN'T say, "Whuuuuut? I don't know what you're talking about, but here's your purse." (Not that he would say it like that anyway, but...) What he actually did was yell across the room, "HEY JASON! JASON MUNDAY! JASON!"** And I guess Alex Carpenter (=O) had been paying attention or something, because he started yelling, "There's this girl who wants to beat you at Mario Kart!"
That was when I sent the second tweet, "*shock*"
Because it is a bit shocking. I mean, I think I've mostly gotten past the point where I see these people as pixelated stars on my computer screen. I still admire them, but they have become less celebral (made up word) and more like real people. But it is still shocking when these people who make music that I listen to, who make videos that I watch, actually know who I am and make a hullabaloo*** when they learn that I play Mario Kart with them.
That is all for tonight, dear readers of blog. I hope that this post kept you entertained, despite it's length.
With fangirliness,
Maggie
*That is her actual middle name.
**Jason was in the middle of taking a picture with some people, methinks.
***I'm sorry, I just can't be entirely serious. It can't be done.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Nice hat, Maggie...
... It's a turban, dammit!*
I saw a scarf earlier and had the irrepressible urge to wrap it tuban-style around my head. So today, dear blog readers, I come to you... be-turbaned. Turbanized. The Turbanator. Like a turban, worn for the very first TIME!
This past Wednesday I did not have school. The leetle froshies had a retreat, and the sophmores and juniors were taking the PSAT. *dark chuckle* I am so done with all of that standardized test stuff. I got the scores I need. *holds up stack of scores*
Since I had the day off, I decided to be productive and go on a college visit! Tuesday night my mom and I drove four hours to Ames, Iowa.** The University actually has a hotel inside the Union, which is cool and convenient.
The next day I talked to the Honors program, the Engineering program, the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at Iowa State, and ate dorm food.***
I am not entirely sure that I will go to Iowa State, but I did decide something while I traversed the beautiful campus, saw the green, yellow, orange, and red trees, smelled the scent of fall, watched all the students streaming along the walkways and lounging on the lawn.
I will be happy and successful almost anywhere I choose to go. It's not as if there is ONE college that is right for me. Most colleges I've considered look spectacular, have great credence. But why stress myself out so much by filling out tons of applications and trying to narrow my search down?
I decided to just stick with the three schools that I've either already been accepted to, or have nearly finished my application for. After that, it's a matter of which campus feels best and/or which will end up costing the least.
I hope that I was able to get my thoughts across both coherently and captivatingly. I know, you must be riveted. But this is what is happening in my life right now, and that's what I can blog about.
With a college essay to finish,
Maggie
Reader Palooza:
Alysa: Of course you agree with me. I've impressed my philosophies into your brain throughout the many long talks we've had this year. You have no choice but to agree.
Hannah: Calculus is hard, and you shouldn't worry too much about it. I think it's my lowest grade right now (not bad, just not my best grade). I understand it, but math can be unforgiving sometimes, even if you know everything that's going on. That's why if you take the AP test, getting around a 60% will get you a kickass score.
And I've heard that plays tend to fall apart a lot before the actual performances, but that the opening show and the following ones end up being awesome! That's just what I've heard, of course. But it's all mental, like I said. It's all in your head. You're dreaming! This is juuuuust a dreeeeeammmm!
*Actual thing that my dad said to me, actual thing that I said back. My life is... well, you can fill in the blank.
**For those of you who don't know, Ames is where the Men of Ministry of Magic grew up. It is a magical place of wonderment. Jason, Luke, and Aaron actually went to the university I'm looking at. And Aaron actually studied engineering there. So I am going to be taking many of the SAME classes as Aaron Nordyke! =O
***I'll be the first to admit that I have been spoiled when it comes to food. I think that the dorm food will be the most difficult adjustment for me when I go off to do scholarly things whilst at University. *directs back up to blog*
I saw a scarf earlier and had the irrepressible urge to wrap it tuban-style around my head. So today, dear blog readers, I come to you... be-turbaned. Turbanized. The Turbanator. Like a turban, worn for the very first TIME!
This past Wednesday I did not have school. The leetle froshies had a retreat, and the sophmores and juniors were taking the PSAT. *dark chuckle* I am so done with all of that standardized test stuff. I got the scores I need. *holds up stack of scores*
Since I had the day off, I decided to be productive and go on a college visit! Tuesday night my mom and I drove four hours to Ames, Iowa.** The University actually has a hotel inside the Union, which is cool and convenient.
The next day I talked to the Honors program, the Engineering program, the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at Iowa State, and ate dorm food.***
I am not entirely sure that I will go to Iowa State, but I did decide something while I traversed the beautiful campus, saw the green, yellow, orange, and red trees, smelled the scent of fall, watched all the students streaming along the walkways and lounging on the lawn.
I will be happy and successful almost anywhere I choose to go. It's not as if there is ONE college that is right for me. Most colleges I've considered look spectacular, have great credence. But why stress myself out so much by filling out tons of applications and trying to narrow my search down?
I decided to just stick with the three schools that I've either already been accepted to, or have nearly finished my application for. After that, it's a matter of which campus feels best and/or which will end up costing the least.
I hope that I was able to get my thoughts across both coherently and captivatingly. I know, you must be riveted. But this is what is happening in my life right now, and that's what I can blog about.
With a college essay to finish,
Maggie
Reader Palooza:
Alysa: Of course you agree with me. I've impressed my philosophies into your brain throughout the many long talks we've had this year. You have no choice but to agree.
Hannah: Calculus is hard, and you shouldn't worry too much about it. I think it's my lowest grade right now (not bad, just not my best grade). I understand it, but math can be unforgiving sometimes, even if you know everything that's going on. That's why if you take the AP test, getting around a 60% will get you a kickass score.
And I've heard that plays tend to fall apart a lot before the actual performances, but that the opening show and the following ones end up being awesome! That's just what I've heard, of course. But it's all mental, like I said. It's all in your head. You're dreaming! This is juuuuust a dreeeeeammmm!
*Actual thing that my dad said to me, actual thing that I said back. My life is... well, you can fill in the blank.
**For those of you who don't know, Ames is where the Men of Ministry of Magic grew up. It is a magical place of wonderment. Jason, Luke, and Aaron actually went to the university I'm looking at. And Aaron actually studied engineering there. So I am going to be taking many of the SAME classes as Aaron Nordyke! =O
***I'll be the first to admit that I have been spoiled when it comes to food. I think that the dorm food will be the most difficult adjustment for me when I go off to do scholarly things whilst at University. *directs back up to blog*
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Not terribly uplifting...
*insert awkward bra joke here*
Hello my dearest blog readers. My, how much you have grown in the time since I haven't blogged! Come over here so I can measure you. *gestures* *makes pencil marks on wall*
I've been very busy of late with senior year and college searches and plans for things and I've just been feeling a bit overwhelmed. Yesterday, I was really tired while doing scholarship research, and I all of a sudden just felt like crying. Does that ever happen to you?
I'm quite alright, I was just tired and stressed, but it made me realise something-- I mean fully realise. I have a very happy personality.
I do not get depressed, I rarely get angry with people. But one thing that does get to me is seeing other people in any sort of pain. I want so desperately to show everyone how to not get stressed about things, why they shouldn't get worked up about this or that. But I can't. Everyone is wired differently, and I can't just go inside and change someone's inner workings.
I'm sorry this isn't a very uplifting post. I tried to start out light-hearted, but it didn't work out. I suppose it should end soon. I'd just like to leave it at this:
There are sucky things in life, and it is easy for them to seem so much more influential than the awesome things. But the awesome things can be hugely influential, too. Who cares if this group of people doesn't like me? They are not necessary to my happiness. There ARE people out there who care about me. And lastly: communication is so, so, so important. It can save a lot of trouble, anger, stress.
With so much love,
Maggie
Hello my dearest blog readers. My, how much you have grown in the time since I haven't blogged! Come over here so I can measure you. *gestures* *makes pencil marks on wall*
I've been very busy of late with senior year and college searches and plans for things and I've just been feeling a bit overwhelmed. Yesterday, I was really tired while doing scholarship research, and I all of a sudden just felt like crying. Does that ever happen to you?
I'm quite alright, I was just tired and stressed, but it made me realise something-- I mean fully realise. I have a very happy personality.
I do not get depressed, I rarely get angry with people. But one thing that does get to me is seeing other people in any sort of pain. I want so desperately to show everyone how to not get stressed about things, why they shouldn't get worked up about this or that. But I can't. Everyone is wired differently, and I can't just go inside and change someone's inner workings.
I'm sorry this isn't a very uplifting post. I tried to start out light-hearted, but it didn't work out. I suppose it should end soon. I'd just like to leave it at this:
There are sucky things in life, and it is easy for them to seem so much more influential than the awesome things. But the awesome things can be hugely influential, too. Who cares if this group of people doesn't like me? They are not necessary to my happiness. There ARE people out there who care about me. And lastly: communication is so, so, so important. It can save a lot of trouble, anger, stress.
With so much love,
Maggie
Friday, October 1, 2010
Just a small town girl...
... living in a LONELY woooorld! (This song has been stuck in my head for HOURS).
Have I ever told you that I love my school? I love my school.
We had a pep rally today. But this wasn't just ANY pep rally. It was the auction pep rally.
Every year, the students sell raffle tickets to raise money for our school auction. But who wants to sell tickets without incentive, right? Our incentive is our sweatpants,* which we can wear during the winter in place of our uniform skirt. If we sell 10 tickets, we can collect The STA Pant.
The Pant is very special, and the auction pep rally centers around it. But the most important part of the pep rally is that it is teacher-run. Only teachers and staff are part of the skits. Can you imagine how epic it is to see your geography, English, and Spanish teachers doing the Single Ladies dance?
My freshman year, the skit was all about Hairspray: excellent, although my memory is fuzzy. Sophomore year is clearer. The theme was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pant. Instead of jeans, it was the sweats, geddit? I seem to recall my history teacher dressing up as The Joker for that skit...
Junior year: I was upset because usually the theme is kept secret, but someone told me it was Twilight. I was apprehensive, since I don't actually like Twilight, but it was UTTERLY AMAZING. Instead of the vampires lusting for blood, they lusted for black sweatpants with bright green lettering (any guesses what our sweats looked like last year?).
This year was GLEE.** They did the single ladies dance, lip-synced to Don't Stop Believing, and "Coach Sue" got SLUSHIED. Literally. It was fantastic!
FORTUNATELY Anna and Kristen got video of the ENTIRE THING!!! It will be on our collab blog, Studio Dilettante, at some point. At that point, I will link it, and you can watch it, if it so pleases you.
Another thing that made this pep rally awesome is my status as SENIOR. Seniors get to sit in the front center, all together.*** And at the end, we all ran up on the stage and danced to Don't Stop Believing. There is a dance for everything.
This is a shift. I am shifting topics.
It's been about seven hours since I wrote that stuff up there. -points upward- In that time, I went to First Fridays, which is an art showing downtown that comes around on the first Friday of the month.
I enjoyed myself at first, because the group I was with walked to Chipotle and just talked for a long time. But once we actually got to the art district... I dunno.
There were a lot of people smoking, and smoke gives me a headache. We went into a couple galleries, but they were sweltering, and I'm pretty sure that I've told you that I don't particularly like the heat. At all.
I like walking around, but there just wasn't a lot of space to do that, since the art district is only a few blocks long and about two blocks wide. And I just got tired after a while.
I am so old. I cannot even go out on a Friday night without getting tired. I should just stay home and blog, since that doesn't take too much stamina.
With artliness,
Maggie
Reader Palooza!
Hannah: You should invest in some dinosaur rings. In this economy they could come in useful.
Alysa: There was no paint left on your face. I checked you carefully. Now, up your NOSE...
Rachel: Definitely hit up a themed restaurant sometime. It is so much fun!
*And Chipotle. And pizza. We girls are suckers for food.
**Actually, I don't watch Glee, but I know quite a bit about it. Shut up, I just don't watch tv at all.
***Some juniors parked themselves in the third row, and we made them move. It's stupid, I know, but at the same time, it's the senior section. Even worse, after they left, a freshman tried to sit down right as they left. I promise, I'm not some underclassmen-hating senior, nor am I unsympathetic to the odd person out. But this girl is SO weird, I have to think she is trying. She was barking before the pep rally started, when we were all talking. BARKING.
Have I ever told you that I love my school? I love my school.
We had a pep rally today. But this wasn't just ANY pep rally. It was the auction pep rally.
Every year, the students sell raffle tickets to raise money for our school auction. But who wants to sell tickets without incentive, right? Our incentive is our sweatpants,* which we can wear during the winter in place of our uniform skirt. If we sell 10 tickets, we can collect The STA Pant.
The Pant is very special, and the auction pep rally centers around it. But the most important part of the pep rally is that it is teacher-run. Only teachers and staff are part of the skits. Can you imagine how epic it is to see your geography, English, and Spanish teachers doing the Single Ladies dance?
My freshman year, the skit was all about Hairspray: excellent, although my memory is fuzzy. Sophomore year is clearer. The theme was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pant. Instead of jeans, it was the sweats, geddit? I seem to recall my history teacher dressing up as The Joker for that skit...
Junior year: I was upset because usually the theme is kept secret, but someone told me it was Twilight. I was apprehensive, since I don't actually like Twilight, but it was UTTERLY AMAZING. Instead of the vampires lusting for blood, they lusted for black sweatpants with bright green lettering (any guesses what our sweats looked like last year?).
This year was GLEE.** They did the single ladies dance, lip-synced to Don't Stop Believing, and "Coach Sue" got SLUSHIED. Literally. It was fantastic!
FORTUNATELY Anna and Kristen got video of the ENTIRE THING!!! It will be on our collab blog, Studio Dilettante, at some point. At that point, I will link it, and you can watch it, if it so pleases you.
Another thing that made this pep rally awesome is my status as SENIOR. Seniors get to sit in the front center, all together.*** And at the end, we all ran up on the stage and danced to Don't Stop Believing. There is a dance for everything.
This is a shift. I am shifting topics.
It's been about seven hours since I wrote that stuff up there. -points upward- In that time, I went to First Fridays, which is an art showing downtown that comes around on the first Friday of the month.
I enjoyed myself at first, because the group I was with walked to Chipotle and just talked for a long time. But once we actually got to the art district... I dunno.
There were a lot of people smoking, and smoke gives me a headache. We went into a couple galleries, but they were sweltering, and I'm pretty sure that I've told you that I don't particularly like the heat. At all.
I like walking around, but there just wasn't a lot of space to do that, since the art district is only a few blocks long and about two blocks wide. And I just got tired after a while.
I am so old. I cannot even go out on a Friday night without getting tired. I should just stay home and blog, since that doesn't take too much stamina.
With artliness,
Maggie
Reader Palooza!
Hannah: You should invest in some dinosaur rings. In this economy they could come in useful.
Alysa: There was no paint left on your face. I checked you carefully. Now, up your NOSE...
Rachel: Definitely hit up a themed restaurant sometime. It is so much fun!
*And Chipotle. And pizza. We girls are suckers for food.
**Actually, I don't watch Glee, but I know quite a bit about it. Shut up, I just don't watch tv at all.
***Some juniors parked themselves in the third row, and we made them move. It's stupid, I know, but at the same time, it's the senior section. Even worse, after they left, a freshman tried to sit down right as they left. I promise, I'm not some underclassmen-hating senior, nor am I unsympathetic to the odd person out. But this girl is SO weird, I have to think she is trying. She was barking before the pep rally started, when we were all talking. BARKING.
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