This or That- BEDA #7

...or perhaps the other.

I was originally going to write about my family (including my parents) acting like utter children at dinner two nights ago for this blog. It was going to be great, I was going to treat it like a novel (because sometimes I think in novel form. I'm not going to be a novelist, and I don't really have a desire to write them, but there it is), and it might have been funny.

Then I was going to write a blog about my upcoming year as a senior in highschool and discuss my ongoing college search. But after finishing that blog, I reread it and bored myself to tears. I'll just leave it at this: I'm going to be a senior, I got into all of my desired classes (US Government, AP Calculus, Physics, Spanish IV, Computer Graphics, Writing, Shakespeare), I'm starting to buckle down on my college search, and I am almost positive I want to be an engineer. Wow, I just consolidated that formerly very long boring blog into a very long boring sentence.

Dear readers, I am afraid that I am being boring. I don't want to be boring. But right now, my life is not very interesting. I have summer homework that I need to finish, and eleven hours of service that I need to complete. I want to be able to entertain you every day this month, but I'm not sure how. Ah, the tribulations of blogging.

I guess I'll end this post with some questions.

1. What is an adventure that you have been on or want to go on? I need some adventures, and who is more inspiring than other people?
2. What's a class you've taken that you really liked? Or one that you're looking forward to?
3. Who is one of your favorite YouTubers who is not so big? I really like TheGearsKeepTurning. He's pretty cool. And Welsh.


With a bit of borningness,
Maggie


Something I learned today: I hung out with one of my friends today whom I hadn't seen in about a month. And we talked a lot about the upcoming few years. So I learned through voicing my thoughts that I am both so ready for the freedom of college, but also not at all prepared to leave my family and my highschool. Quite the conundrum. What did you learn?

Also, if you guys have any suggestions whatsoever about ways for me to improve my blog, I promise the following: I will not be mad at you, I will carefully consider each suggestion, and I will be eternally grateful to know that you even care.

Home #BEDA 6

... sweet home.

I just drove from Nowhere, Minnesota to Kansas City, Missouri. In thirteen hours... *is slightly dazed*

Instead of actually blogging *slightly hysterical laughter* I am going to list the three things I love best about getting home after vacation.

1. This is incredibly obvious, but I get to sleep in my own bed. My own big, comfy, don't-have-to-share-with-my-sisters bed! And my own ROOM! It's amazing! *ogles*

2. I get to see my pets again. I have two dogs (Jake, Lucy) and two cats (Maud, Sohpie). Maud is my cat. I missed that tiny little devil. *sniff*

3. This is so stupid, but I love being back in our kitchen. We are those crazy people who have ABSOLUTELY everything one could possibly use in a kitchen.* Necessarily, when we go stay somewhere else for a week, we keep forgetting that they don't have a strainer, they only have two pots, there are no tongs, we need a couple spatulas. In addition, we keep a full stock of things like sugar, oil, and spices. It is so, SO weird to not have all of those things just lying around.

What are YOUR three favorite things about returning from vacation?


With only a little hysteria,
Maggie


*Except a blowtorch. We don't have a blowtorch. But it's on our list now, so don't worry about it. Also, I'll tell the story that involves the blowtorch tomorrow or something. It is funny. At least I think so, but I've just been sitting in a car for 13 hours and am slightly hysterical and sleep deprived. Haha! Ha.. ha.


Something I learned today: You can get headaches from sleep deprivation. I did not know this. I spoil myself when it comes to sleep. Except this week. We stayed up super late watching Agatha Christie mysteries, and I woke up early to do... er... vacationy things. What did you learn?

I don't have much to say... BEDA #5

... but if you vote for me all of your wildest dreams will come true.

It is highly possible that I will not post a blog tomorrow. We are leaving this lovely condo by the lake early in the morning. And because we are insane (as I think have mentioned once or twice), we are going to attempt to make the 11 hour drive back to Kansas City... in one go. *sigh*

Have I ever told you guys that I suffer from car sickness? Well, I do. I take Dramamine, which reportedly cures all symptoms! But it only makes it less likely that I will get a headache.

But let's not talk about such sad and silly things. Instead, let's talk about happy and silly things! How many of you remember that ALL CAPS video contest that Strawburry17 had? I want to see who won. My friends and I submitted a video* (though I do no expect to win, by any stretch of the imagination). We had fun, but I should like to hear the outcome anyway.

I think I'm going to go swimming in the lake today. But Maggie, yesterday you said that the water is really, really cold! Aha, my finely observant ficticious response! You have stumbled upon the same problem that I first saw with this plan! The water in Lake Superior is very cold! But about a minute away from our condo is an alcove, where water from land meets water in lake. The junction, I have been told, is a comfortable temperature. So later we will go and see for ourselves. There might be pictures. I do not know.

I do believe I have exhausted my topics for today. Granted, it is only 9:30, and all I've done in the two hours that I've been awake is eat breakfast and check facebook, youtube, twitter, blogs. So I'll leave with some questions:

1. What's a really cool word that you've recently learned or heard?
2. What is something you are looking forward to, be it long or short term?
3. What is something interesting you want me to blog about? Or something you think I should do or try?


With silliness,
Maggie


*The iPod in the video is one of my best friends, Anna. The girl singing Luke's parts is Kristen, another of my besties. Just so you can take notes. Yes, I know about that notebook that you keep, carefully accumulating little facts about me, piecing together my life bit by bit. Because I am totally someone who is stalker-worthy. *rolls eyes*


Something I learned today: No matter how early I rise, I will still be groggy in the morning. But then I'll actually wake up and be fairly alert. Doesn't matter how much sleep I've gotten. What is something you have learned?

She's the Dancing Diva... BEDA #4

... young and dramatic, only sixteen. -ABBA (sort of)

I sort of want to take a break from discussing my family and vacation. But I'm afraid that once I get back home, I'll run out of things to blog about. You can see my dilemma, I'm sure; I don't want to bore you now OR later. *sigh* My life is unbelievably difficult.

Today, my sisters and I decided to entertain ourselves by filming each other dancing stupidly. The Diva is surprisingly good at dancing (I say "surprisingly" because the rest of us can bring a room to tears with our terrible moves).* All the blinds were down from last night when we watched Agatha Christie's Poirot (very good). Emily, while dancing along to Shakira and Alejandro Sans' La Tortura,** was pulling on the chain to open the blind and it BROKE. My mom and I fixed it, though, so it's all good.

Yesterday after I wrote my blog, my sisters and I wandered around by the lake. We took off our shoes and tried to keep our feet in the water for as long as possible (though it's August, the water is really cold). The Diva, being the clever girl she is, dropped her shoe in the water. The waves carried it first just out of her reach. We scrambled to some rocks that were closer to the shoe*** and tried to reach without falling in. But why should you avoid the water, when it can come to you? We got soaked in a big splash that crashed on the rocks as we were leaning over. Did I mention that the water is cold? And we never even got her shoe. It's just out there somewhere, floating on the water, perhaps being used as a perch by a seagull.

I think I'll leave today's blog at that. Don't forget to tell me something you learned today!


With much soakedness,
Maggie


*I'll put a video at the bottom. The Diva is dancing, I am filming.

**Yes, I listen to Spanish pop music. It is really good, okay? Y me encanta español. De vez enseño en la lengua. But I digress.

***Scrambling on rocks while barefoot is both difficult and slightly painful.

Something I learned today: Always look at the mini Reese's cup you're about to pop in your mouth. Because there may have been a second paper lining that you didn't notice. And paper linings do not taste good.


The Diva Dances (I promise it is worthwhile to watch to the end. That is... if you are as insane as I):

Down by the Lake... BEDA #3

... where the watermelon grows.

Since I am on vacation, I am basically doing nothing. And I am doing all of this nothing with my family. So in terms of blogging, you (my dear readers) will be hearing quite a lot about this nothingness that transpires while I "chillax" with my parents and sisters. I promise, it won't last.

We are in a condo mere yards from the shore of Lake Superior. And it is quite the superior view (ahem). There are rocks for climbing, and waves for side-stepping. This morning, there is so much mist and fog curling up from the water that I cannot distinguish the sky from the water. And it is beautifully chilly.*

Last night The Diva, The Wordsmith, my mom, and I played Scattergories. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you roll a die with the letters of the alphabet, start a timer, and try to come up with words based on a list (for example, you roll "D," and have a list of 12 topics such as "things in this room" and "girls' names." Possible answers for me would be "Dad" and "Danielle.")

I tell you this because we, being the highly intellectual yet insane (and slightly giggly) group we are, had some... interesting answers. Scenario: I rolled the letter "F." I started the timer and we wrote furiously for however long that annoying ticking goes on. Then we shared our answers and tallied up our points. The bottom of The Diva's list looked like this:

10. Things at the beach: Frat boys
11. Things you dream about: Frat boys
12. Tools: Frat boys

Needless to say, we all guffawed appreciatively at this divinely-inspired humor. I seem to recall actually rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off. Later, for the subject "nicknames" and the letter "D," three of us had different variations on Dudley's nicknames; Diddikins, Dinky Diddium, etc. Which is a testimony to our Potterheaded-ness, which I am unabashedly proud of. My mom tried to make us skip List 3 Number 6 (four letter words) because we had the letter "F" (we ignored her, and put fork, fort, and funk). And for the letter "P" and category "Things that small bad" my mom graciously put "poop," which belatedly didn't even occur to the rest of us.

But enough about me and my trivial pursuits on the shore of Lake Superior. Here are questions three that I should very much like if you answered:

1. What is the last really yummy thing that you ate (or drank)?
2. What book are you reading, and do you recommend it?
3. What's something that makes you really happy? It could be something small and seemingly unimportant. (for example, Indian food and chilly weather make me insanely happy)

*I am what I call a "cold-weather person." I really don't know how I survive in the suffocatingly humid weather in Kansas City during the summer. I get cranky in the heat, and my hair frizzes like no one's business in the humidity (you should all note that my hair is very, very curly. It is a fact that I am much too proud of and will probably mention oft in my blog). This past winter we had tons and TONS of snow. I was, predictably, delighted. My friend Anna (who I will also reference a lot) and I made this video right here after/during/before a wonderful snowstorm (I recommend reading the video description). It's a music video for ALL CAPS' Snow Day, so if you're a fan there is more incentive to watch. =D


With much alliteration,
Maggie


Something I learned today: It's really hard to refrain from calling the lake "the ocean." When it looks like an ocean and sounds like and ocean, it must be an ocean, right? Wrong. Such a poser... What did you learn today?

And now the journey has ended- BEDA #2

"The journey" referring to the long drive to our vacation spot in Minnesota, which begun yesterday, and ended today.

Dear blog readers. Thank you for reading. Please continue, even if I almost scare you off. I promise, I cannot bite you through the computer. I also promise that not all of my blogs will be so insane. I am suffering from long exposure to my family of five, though it's not all bad. A perk of being constantly in the car with my two insane little sisters (who would want me to point out are not, in fact, all that little), is that they do some blog- worthy things. At least I think so. But I am equally as insane as they are, so my sense of humor is most probably warped. But I shall tell you my stories and let you be the judge.

We just a mere hour ago finished listening to an audio book by E. Lockhart.* The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks was, to say the least, amusing and enlightening. It made me think a lot, and I certainly recommend it. One of the short little dialogues that so amused me in the minivan stemmed from Frankie's nickname, "Bunny Rabbit." My littlest sister (a mere 14 years old) said, "Seriously, who nicknames their kid Bunny Rabbit?" I bluntly delicately reminded her that we called her Baby Cakes, to which she replied, "That is valid." Then we all burst out laughing. I suppose the hilarity of the situation was more a cause of being tired and having travelled for hours and hours, rather than an actual hilariousness. That, and our peculiar insanity, which I wish to remind you of.

A short while afterward, we stopped at a cafe to have lunch. My mom and middle sister (henceforth known as The Diva) ordered the blackberry iced tea, and my littlest sister (forthwith called The Batshit Insane Aspiring Novelist The Wordsmith) and myself ordered hot chai.** The iced tea came rather quickly, but was cast aside my my mother even quicker. According to her fine palate for tea (which I say in the least sarcastic way possible), it was "really bad." The Wordsmith and I, upon hearing this, of course had to see for ourselves. Collectively we all agreed that the tea tasted like butt. The Diva quite agreed with this, but continued drinking. I will again point out that she is insane.

Another testimony to her insanitude is the next dialogue that I wished to share. As I previously stated, The Wordsmith and I ordered hot chai. We are somewhat (okay, very) snobbish when it comes to tea, but decided that, despite the preparer having been cinnamon-happy, the chai was not actually bad at all. The excess cinnamon, however, pooled at the bottom of the mug, making the last dregs utterly indigestible. The Diva stated that she wanted to drink the cinnamony concoction (despite having just partaken in a rather lengthy conversation about the origin and inedibility of plain cinnamon). So, being the concerned older sister that I am, I handed her my mug.

"I'm not actually going to drink that!" she exclaimed, horrified.
"Then you're wiser than I thought."
"Okay, I'll drink it,."

What sane person would have said that? What sane person would then have actually drunk the cinnamon? But, as I said, we are not quite sane.

*As a side note, I should like to tell you all that all the authors that hang out together and tweet at one another and are generally authorish with one another have ALL suddenly popped up in my life. After I started high school, I stopped reading so often (I read almost nonstop in gradeschool). I blame the rigorous nature of The Academy (which you will no doubt hear more about in following blogs). But that is beside the point. The point is that we just bought/checked out a ton of books before leaving on vacation, and almost all of the authors that I have heard of through MJ have written one or two of them. It is very weird to know that all these reknowned writers of books sort of hang out together. As much as one can "hang out" when they often don't live in the same state.

**I realise that my use of "henceforth" and "forthwith" is questionable at best, but I like to use such verbiage whenever and wherever possible. Suffice to say, get used to it.


With much hilarity,
Maggie


Something I learned today: Adding sugar to iced tea that tastes like butt only makes it taste like sweet iced-butt. Which I think The Diva is going to try to market now. What have you learned today?

Thus the journey begins- BEDA #1

Today is day one of BEDA. Today my challenge to write a blog every day for a month begins. Today I leave on a jet plane. Well, in a minivan. They are almost the same, right?

I leave today for Minnesota with my parental units and my two sisters. But before I introduce you to my family, let me introduce you to myself, Maggie. My name is Maggie. On August 18th I start my senior year at my all-girls high school. In September I will turn 18, and in November I get the pleasure of voting in my first election. (I can see it now. I skip in, barely able to suppress a squeal. Whoever is there to log me in-- that's what they do with elections, right? You log in, get patted down, drug test, all that? But I digress-- Whatever authority figure I come across will look disbelieving at me. I'm positive I'm old enough? Oh, absolutely! *much beaming and giggling* And... I want to vote? Of course! I've done my homework, I know the dealio. Where do I get my finger prints taken?) I'm sure it will go over splendidly!

That was a very long interlude to my introduction. Let us plow on: in addition to being VERY MATURE and INCREDIBLY KNOWLEDGABLE about absolutely everything, I am a dilettante (ie: wandering soul who has little purpose or direction). I like most everything. I like art, I like music, math, science, shiny things, dark things, dancing crazily, sleeping, building things, destroying things, the colors blue, green, purple, pink, gold, ivory, cerulean. But I have a short attention span. If you are like me, you actually only skimmed that list that I just wrote. Which means that you missed my short story about a dyslexic squirrel. AND if you are like me, you will go back and read my entire list, and see that I just made that up. There is no such thing as a dixlesyc squirrel! *chortle* (A dyslexic Maggie on the other hand...)

But enough about me. You will probably get to know me uncomfortably well throughout the month. Let's talk about other people! How about... YOU! Yes, come on, don't be shy! Okay, I want you to answer some questions so that I can get to know you! (Oh chuckle-monkeys, now I have to come up with some questions. Too bad this is live and I don't have time to think before asking whatever insane inquiry first comes to mind.) PROCEED!

1. What is your name?
2. What is your quest?
3. What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
4. What the Bolshevik did I just reference? (Clearly I am too lame to come up with my own questions)

Okay, I think that is enough for now. Oh, one more thing. If any of you read Hayley or Kristina's blogs, you'll notice that they have little memes at the end. Well, I'm going to have a meme, too. I was divinely inspired (ie: stole the idea from my little sister) to write down something that I learned today. Because as the saying goes, you learn something every day.



With lots of curiousness,
Maggie



Something I learned Today: iTunes is a jerk. My sister (the divinely inspiring one) got a new iPod (she says, "It's shiny and yellow!"). We are trying to put music and such on it, but iTunes is just CONFUSING. We have had much frustration and moustache-pulling with the program before, but then we updated to a new version and were DELUDED into thinking that all was rainbows and peaches. All is NOT rainbows and peaches.


Ooh! You could tell me something YOU learned today in the comments! Yes, I should like very much if you would do that. That will also be part of the meme. We shall all be more knowledgable for it.