A Goodbye About Coats and Dreams

Songs are just poems to music

But I'm not good at poems, so I don't know what I'm doing

But I was on YouTube and my mind thought up a thing

And suddenly I thought of you

And I decided to do what I had to do

You remind me of my dreams

The good ones, I mean

The ones that are still confusing but bring a smile to my face anyway

And that's not such a bad thing

I promise that isn't bad to me

I remember when we first met

I had a good feeling about you

Though I knew I'd have to let you down

I thought I wouldn't regret it

And no

You were such a good friend

You listened to every stupid thing I said

I usually keep all that stuff in my head

You saw me in my highs and lows

None of that was done for show

You were always a highlight in my day

One of the best things I've found in Oregon

You remind me of my dreams

Like the one where people come 

To rob my house and I beat them up

Or the one where I became a ghost

And I roam the school and neighborhood

And everyone greets my spirit with a smile

I may be the armrest in this relationship

But I know I could lean on you if I ever needed to

Go ahead and hang the coats on me

Pile them up till I can't be seen

I need the warmth anyway

Cuz tomorrow's gonna be colder than today

Sorry I'm going

But that's what happens when you know me

You'll make a girl so, so, so happy one day

No matter what, my memories of you will never go away

You remind me of my dreams

Quickie Winter Break Update

Hello and Happy New Year, world!

Yeah, I didn't write this Sunday, even though there's still some stuff from weeks ago I need to cover! And this whole thing is kinda written in different chunks and then rearranged, so it might not transition that well between paragraphs...

So guess who arrived at my house for Christmas?! *excited*

My sister! (Yeah, sorry, not Santa Claus.)

She'd supposedly not been able to come for Winter Break, but at the last minute her boss- yes, her freaking boss- bought her a plane ticket to come spend the rest of the holidays with us. Isn't that crazy?!

I don't think it's recorded in this blog, but when we came back from Mexico, we actually hadn't told anyone, so my sister actually went to visit her friends at their houses and surprise them. She said her friends had the funniest reactions to her popping up out of nowhere when they thought she was in another country. One friend even cried (though she cries often) and tried to be mad at her but was also too happy to do so properly.

Yeah, she decided to pull something like that again, but with us, her family.

Since it's only been a few months since I last saw her, I wasn't bawling, but I was still slack-jawed and so happy to see her.

I don't think I'll ever get over how it feels to hug her after we've been apart for a while. The feeling of having realized one had been without the familiar touch of someone they care about but they're now here is so great. Even when we're adults and have our own houses and families, I bet I'll still relish hugging her when I have the chance to.

So on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we spent time watching Christmas movies along with all the normal TV shows we usually watch, especially when my sister's around. And yes, Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie. Everyone had gifts for each other, except me... I was hoping maybe I could tell them how much I love them, but didn't really know when to do that... and they know already...

My sister and I got a lot of leggings/tights along with chocolate from my mom, and my sister gave me and my mom a collection of Roald Dahl books. My grandma had also sent me a really cute and warm onesie, and we all assume a similar one was sent to my sister, but she'll have to wait till she goes back to her place to find out.

There was also a Skype call from Niisan! For some weird reason Skype wasn't working for my sister, so at the last minute I tried with my own account on my phone, and... Well, my sis and Niisan were using my phone for the call for, like, 2 hours. I managed to keep myself busy without my phone, but I felt bad because at that moment some of my online friends had been working on something and I just kinda randomly disappeared with no warning. They hadn't done much after I disappeared, though, so not too much guilt.

Now I'm gonna skip ahead to this week, since most of the time has been spent lazing around... Now to Monday!

Coatrack texted me in the morning, asking me if I wanted to hang out with him and his dad. It sounded a bit odd, and I felt like I might miss a day of bonding with my sister, but I said sure. (Turns out she didn't do much I would've been excited about anyway. And bonding with friends is important too, right?)

I spent basically the whole day with Coatrack and his dad. I ate lunch, dinner, and fro-yo with them, plus went to visit his mom at her store, went to the arcade, and I actually stuck around for his guitar lessons. Even though I don't play guitar, I feel like I actually learned something... that I'll never actually apply in real life, but it's still something. *shrug* I just felt sad because I can't play drums... When the day comes that I can play them again, it'll be quite great. And I'm gonna have to build up my speed again! Dang it!

Last thing we did was just hang out in his room, watching a bit of Netflix or Youtube, or just talking, or at one point actually singing and dancing a little. And it was at that point that I'd remembered the little song I'd come up with about him... And I managed to get myself to actually sing it to him. The moment I actually sung it it sounded like a really bad, stupid song to me, but hopefully he could get what I was trying to tell him with it. I mean, even if parts of it didn't make sense to him, I SANG to him! That is a show of true care, coming from me. I don't know if Darkrai remembers when I did that for him... That time it'd been "Glorious", not a song I wrote myself, but I was trying to tell him something with it then, too.

So, that's now done, but I still have something I wanna do for him... I've really wanted to give him a Book of Mormon. I've been hearing a lot of stuff about doing missionary work, which I feel would be really difficult in my case since I don't really know many people, and most of those people don't seem like they'd be willing to listen to religious topics... But I've kept thinking about Coatrack.

I said earlier that, more than anything, I hope he will at least understand what we do more and respect us a little more, but I don't want to do just that. I'm thinking that I should do this. Give him the BoM. Explain really well exactly what it is so he doesn't just tuck it away out of sight and pretend it never happened. (I doubt he'd throw it away... But he'd still not be very happy about having it.) Tell him how much it means to me and how much this gesture I'm doing means to me.

I honestly was having a hard time convincing myself this was best. But then I read I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. There's some things in the book I'd rather there wasn't, but in general it is actually a really good book, and it's one that boosts my own confidence in this and future endeavors.

It inspired me even more beyond just giving a BoM... because it empowered me to think that everyone needs a miracle, a person sent to do a kind act for them, no matter what that could possibly be... and that person could just possibly be me.

And so, when I feel the time is right, I'm gonna give Coatrack a Book of Mormon. Not just that, but my tiny one that I owned for who knows how long. I never really looked in it much, but it has my name on it and it's always been there... And I always felt like I should have it around, just in case. Now I'm thinking it was always around just for this. He works in mysterious ways, and I'm hoping this is one of them, because it feels right, no matter how I feel will be the reaction. I just don't care that I think Coatrack will react badly- the world can be surprising, and maybe he actually won't, if I explain enough. At the right time with the right words, I hope I can accomplish what I've wanted to do for so long... especially for a friend I really do care about, even though I haven't actually known him for very long.

I found the book, so I'm gonna pray for the best opportunity to give it and really hope I don't mess this up.

We went for dim sum this morning and my sis and I are going to a youth dance tonight, so I'm wondering if that'll actually be fun. Hopefully yes.

OH I can't believe I forgot to mention! Thanks to the help of another author, I managed to finish that chapter of Visiting Homeland I'd been stuck on forever! So once I figure out what I want for the next, I'll be that much closer to finishing the story! I don't know how long it'll take this time, but I'm hoping I'll have it completed by the time it's exactly a year since I posted the first chapter. That would be a nice ending.

Ugh, geez, so there's still the spiritual post I have to do, but I really don't think I can do that right now. I better do it soon!

I guess I'm gonna put up the song I sang to Coatrack now, along with a picture that's kinda an inside joke with us. Coatrack the Corgi. *slowly puts on sunglasses* *YEAH!*

Again, Happy New Year! I think some big stuff will happen next year, but hopefully it's all for the better, and I hope you guys have a great 2016 too. K bai!

So Many Als...

Hello world!

There's gotta be some brief mentions of things that happened last week, because some are important, but first...

WINTER BREAK BEGAN!!! *dance partaaay* I sure hope I'll use this break wisely- reading, writing, drawing, and actually being useful in helping my mom with preparing to move in the distant future. Ya know what, I've already done a bit of the first three on the checklist already, so I'll comment on those first.

Reading: Last week I finished The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan. I give it the Lileh seal of approval. *a-okay hand sign* I'm also working again on reading through all my FMA volumes, and plan to finish before New Year's. (Hehe. So a few days ago I'd brought the 5th volume to school, and when one guy saw I had it he winced and was like "Oooh..." I'd thought at first it was cuz he didn't like FMA, but it turned out it was cuz of the amount of feels this series has. He'd assumed it was my first time reading it and I was gonna be attacked and I wasn't prepared. I laughed and reassured him that I've already read it twice already plus watched multiple times all the other stuff so I knew the story perfectly well.)

Writing: I've gotten a few ideas for new stories, though I doubt they'll go far. One is so far called "The 7 Als of Justice" (for some reason I'm actually not entirely sure of, but I'm hoping it'll actually fit the story), where 6 other versions of Alphonse are somehow transported to another Alphonse's time and place. So, they're all trying to figure out how to get to their own times plus help the current Alphonse... and, well, during that, all the Alphonses and the current Ed will learn more about each other and themselves.

The 6 Alphonses all either come from the FMA or FMA:B/manga universe. So, there's two 9-year-old Als (one for each universe), then two 14-year-olds, and two 17-year-olds.

The Ed and Al they encounter are about 13 and 12, respectively, so they're already used to the State Alchemist business but haven't dealt with most of the things that occur in either series yet. And they're in the part of the story where there's few differences between 2003 and Brotherhood, so they're both somewhere in-between the series, or maybe even part of both at the same time. If I got serious about this story, I'd really have to work out their timeline.

I took some time figuring out what they'd all call themselves (because they obviously can't all be "Al") and came up with some... interesting results.

The current Alphonse is just gonna stick with Alphonse, because it's his own world and it would be weird to try to change his name.

The easiest to think of was the eldest on the FMA:B side of the family, cuz I'd immediately thought "Big Al"- you know, cuz he's the oldest and the tallest one out of everyone that is flesh and blood. (The eldest of FMA is a bit butthurt about it, since he's technically 17 too.)

The "second-eldest", the one that had come from the first series and CoS, I'd first thought "Pal", for "Ponytail Al", but he'd not deal with a stupid name like that. ("It's not even a real name!" he complained in my head.) So, I eventually thought that maybe he'd suggest a name he'd heard in Germany that he liked, and that ended up being Augustus (but shortened to August). I feel like I'm referencing to Wonder, but oh well! At least I'm not saying Auggie, cuz then that'd definitely be too close.

Next is 14-year-old Al from FMA:B. I knew that it was close to the Promised Day for him, so his "hair" would've already been chopped off at Briggs, so I thought "Cal" for his cut hair. (You can tell I first tried just adding prefixes to their names, right?) I realize that could be lengthened to a real name, Calvin, so there ya go.

14-year-old from 2003 got the same sort of treatment. When he realized he wasn't a Stone anymore (which realization and subsequent exclamation of surprise confused all the other Als), he ended up dubbed with Sal, for "Stone Al". It was also then that I realized a few of my Al names were sounding a bit mobster to me.

9-year-old Als were harder than most, because there weren't quite so many characteristics I could base a name off of. I eventually came up with the one from 2003 suggesting the name he'd given his favorite stuffed animal (and thus getting to use a name I like: Moe) and the one from FMA:B going by his "middle name", Van. People usually imagine Ed being the one with Van as his middle name, but whatever. Roll with it!

So, here's how they ended up, from eldest to youngest: Big Al and August, Calvin and Sal, Alphonse, Van and Moe.

The other two are from yesterday, actually. One was an idea that would kinda borrow from the 2003 series plus two fanfics I've read, "Mother" and "Substitute Soul" (the latter which I'll actually mention later!). So it'd be that Ed and Al actually made their mom, but she came back as a Homunculus... BUT a soul was stolen from somewhere else to fill in (preferably a guy's). So, three days later she shows up at the Rockbell doorstep. I was thinking it'd be interesting if it followed a lot of things that happened in Substitute Soul, but I later realized that it wouldn't be the same because it would be a lot weirder for Ed and Al to be like "yeah, my mom's following us around" rather than just another brother, no matter how boss she ended up. It could be an interesting one-shot, at least. *shrug*

The last idea is for one of those angst fics where it's after Ed's been tortured. (I've read way too many torture fics, geez.) It'd be that they'd been searching for Ed for a year or something and could never find any clues and were this close to giving up when he suddenly showed up out of the blue at the door (probably either Winry's house or Mustang's office), acting exactly as he always had, and thus being really weirded out at how everyone acted upon his apparent return. All his memories of whatever he'd gone through were... um... gone. Or, at least, they were hidden deep inside his brain where they wouldn't see the light of day.

But so, even though he looks perfectly fine at first (it was when he took off his long-sleeved shirt to go to bed later that he realized that no, he was definitely not fine according to the horrible scars and bruises on him), it is quickly decided he is actually affected by severe PTSD, since the most random things act as triggers to suddenly cause him to be paranoid, or terrified, or filled with pain, but he doesn't quite know why. Eventually, he starts getting actual flashbacks, which clue him and everyone else in a little at a time as to what happened while he was MIA and piece together the puzzle. And, well, they hope they can see the whole picture soon, so they'd know how best to help him recover, and be able to capture whoever did this to him... you know, before they come back to finish the job.

I'd definitely not be the one to write this, but I'd consider suggesting it to someone on FFN who is good at angst. Though, then again, angst fics kill me and everyone else who reads them inside, so maybe that's not such a good idea.

[Addition: I forgot to mention another from a few days ago! I noted in the manga that Ed said that Truth could take anything- his arm, leg, both, whatever!- including his heart, as long as it brought his brother back. So... I've had a similar idea before, but what if instead of losing his arm to seal Al's soul in armor, it took away his ability to feel emotions (which is ironically the only thing Al can feel), or at least feel love (thus "losing his heart")? Again, it'd probably just be a one-shot, but from the perspective of Al, who slowly clues in the reader as to what exactly is wrong with Ed. The idea that I'd had earlier I'd only written something small for for my archives, where when Ed sacrificed his limbs for Al, he actually managed to bring a whole lot more of him back, including flesh and blood, but he was missing a heart. Like, you literally couldn't even hear a heartbeat. (I don't know if that would mean he's now a Homunculus or this is just hugely AU.) So Al actually became very dangerous, because he didn't care about other people's emotions anymore and either felt nothing or felt anger against things, including Ed. Ed left Al behind in Resembool because who know what horrible things would happen with him around. Poor Winry must have to deal with Heartless!Al 24/7...]

Drawing: I got more drawing stuff done! Yey!

So, as a Christmas present, I sent a friend an attempt at drawing her favorite character. This is why I hadn't done a post last week; I spent most of the Sunday figuring it out. That's cuz it turns out her favorite anime has that art style where everyone has TONS of hair and they do a lot of hair strands and it's pretty impossible to draw. I decreased the amount of separate hair strands in my drawing, but otherwise did my best to keep true to how the character looks. It was then colored with colored pencils and eyeshadow. I actually did this thing that Scout had told me she does at girl's camp where she sprays her final drafts with hairspray so the pencil doesn't rub off. In this case, I was concerned about the eyeshadow going everywhere on my friend's fingers, but I think the hairspray thing actually worked. The thing is that, since hairspray has alcohol rather than a bunch of water, it dried a lot faster and didn't make the paper dry wonky like I'd been worried would happen. So even though I accidentally put the paper a little too close to the bottle while spraying, in the end the paper came out fine. Yay Scout!

I present to you Youko from Yu Yu Hakusho:

I didn't even know I could actually draw like that! I mean, I know I'm copying a picture (more like multiple pictures...) but still. I might practice drawing eyes more like that, but otherwise I have a feeling I won't draw like this much. So... much... effort... She better like it!!! (And she better not be reading this, since it spoils everything...)

Also, around the time I thought of that second story idea, I'd been reading a lot of Substitute Soul, and I'd actually had felt motivation to draw the main character, Alex. I'd always kinda been like "I kinda wanna draw that" when I could imagine a scene easily or something, but now I actually wanted to pick up a pencil and try it out.

The hardest part about this character is that it's technically a guy, but has parts of his personality and appearance that are kinda girly, like having a dangly earring. So... I didn't quite succeed at the whole "looking like an actual guy" thing that well, but otherwise I'm pretty happy by how they came out.

I think this is the most successful drawing at making Alex look male despite the hair and jewelry. I'm just seriously unhappy with the earring, though. That thing's a mess.

This one's about twice as big as the previous and the one after, so the earring and eyes have better detail, but the eyebrows are ugh. And his hairdo is Trisha-esque, so I'm not sure how to feel about that.

The eyes are too girly, I'm sorry! I regret drawing them like that! And the eyebrows are too dark! They look like mine! The rest of it looks pretty nice, though... I like the messy bun and jewelry.

Nevertheless my complaints to myself, I sent them to the author of Substitute Soul, who apparently really liked them! Though, again, they pointed out he wasn't quite boy-ish enough. I just am incapable of drawing more masculine boys. That's part of why Youko's drawing coming out decent surprised me, since he's a guy and I managed to keep him looking like one.

Now some stuff I've watched. Since the latest Star Wars movie came out last Friday (and I knew some people flipping out over that, including Coatrack) and I felt bad about having only seen about 2 of the movies, I ended up watching a few of the other ones with my dad. I'd seen the 1st and most of the 4th, I believe, so I saw part of the 2nd and all of the 3rd yesterday. So I guess we'll complete more my Star Wars knowledge by watching the 5th and 6th tomorrow, and then I'll decide if I'll actually go with my dad the watch the newest one... He'll go watch it regardless, but I'm not entirely sure I like Star Wars enough to go pay money to watch it in the theater rather than wait till it's available at home.

I'd watched a few movies last week, too, when Coatrack had come over. I was quite surprised that actually happened, since I'd only had one friend over so far, and that time hadn't actually been planned. But it happened, and apparently he had fun. ...When he wasn't close to falling asleep. Poor kid is always tired. I hope he gets lots of naps in during the break.

We watched The Italian Job and Treasure Planet, then I showed him a bit of DJ Hero 2 and Wii Music, though I don't think that worked out as well for us as it did when I played them with Beka. *nervous laugh* I'll try a different kind of game of he comes over some other time.

When he left, I saw in the suggestions in Netflix The Rugrats Movie, and... I actually thought "Why the heck not?" and watched it. It wasn't quite what I thought it'd be, but there were some things I liked regardless.

One of the biggest things for me was the pocket watch. (I know, I'm so predictable.) But lookit, it had similar symbolism to Ed's! Yes, they attained them by different ways- Tommy was given his by his dad, Ed earned his with his smarts, skills, and determination- but both ended up having the same meaning to them: their responsibility to their little brother. Deep, huh? (This caused me to wonder if Arakawa ripped off the pocket watch idea from Rugrats...)

Also, this movie made me realize just how smart and responsible Tommy is. He knew perfectly well how to feed and change his little brother's diaper when he was still in a diaper himself. If that's not advanced, I don't know what is.

All that's left for me to talk about is spiritual stuff, which I think would fit better in a separate post (especially since I think this post is already pretty long...), so hopefully I'll remember to do that one sometime this week. So, until then- Merry Christmas, guys, and remember to keep Christ in the celebrations!

C, D, and Sis On My Mind

Hello world!

Pardon about skipping a week. ...Okay, maybe I should stop apologizing, because I know that this time it was mainly cuz I just didn't feel like writing more than a paragraph, which happened to be the following:

So it turned out obersten actually did get my story! Apparently he liked it, but he hadn't bothered to put it up for everyone else yet, if he was actually planning to do so. He's such a nice guy! *pleased* Too bad he has interests in things that end up mingled in his posts that make me so uncomfortable. *the trauma though* *this is why I never looked at Tumblr before*

I also planned to show off my new nailz, since they have that cool sugar-textured polish. And my new cat's on my thumb.

Yaaas, Dr. Seuss footie PJs in the background.

I actually thought up a new song just yesterday! It's been a while since I've done so. I'm gonna post it in a few weeks, though- will give me the opportunity to revise later if I need to.

It came about when I was watching a girl with the YouTube channel Doddleoddle. She's really quite talented. I like how she is willing to perform songs she wrote about anything, which makes me feel a little better about my own. I like how she includes her little sister into some of the videos. And I like how she puts so much emotion into her performance when she sings. I mean, the lyrics aren't about death, and she's playing the freaking ukelele, but she can manage to make it such a sad song if she so desires.

Anyway, I think I was inspired by her songs, cuz at some point I suddenly thought of the line "you remind me of my dreams" even though it didn't really have anything to do with anything. I wrote it down, and suddenly I had more ideas as to how I continue that, and oops, I wrote a song. It's more like her style than my older stuff. Or just influenced by her style, I dunno.

Pretty soon in the process it suddenly became about Coatrack. Like, a letter to him. I don't know why, but the "you remind me of my dreams" thing seemed perfect, so it's kinda a chorus or running theme in there. I was thinking, maybe if I felt confident enough (cuz I had another wake up call yesterday that my voice actually isn't all that good) that I'd record it and send it to him via text on my last day here...

Coincidentally, Coatrack texted me this morning, so we're currently chatting by messages.

Would it be a good idea to do the song? I'm really unsure about it...

Let's keep going, shall we?

Last week my parents and I watched Little Big Soldier, which had a few great moments and quotes ("How wonderful! I am alive!", "In the wok, both the eagles and chicks are just meat.", and we can't forget the insult "little potato!"). Luv you, Jackie Chan~

We also saw The Saratov Approach, which we wanted to watch ever since it came out but never did. It was really good, trust me. It scrambled up my heart guts a little, but in a good way. Respect for the missionaries leveled up!

I did a rough draft for a drawing last week where it'd be Ed and his family from A Boy Named Ed walking down the street together, and on the side or corner or something I wanna write "How good to be alive", which was from a LDS Youth song I heard and suddenly inspired me to draw this. As expected, it looks horrible, but I'd drawn it knowing it definitely would not be considered a final product, just a sketch. I wonder when I'll have the motivation to draw the final draft...

My dad had sent me and my mom and sister a quiz he'd found online that determined how you were cognitively... It had almost 50 questions, I think, so that part wasn't fun. But the results surprised me with the accuracy. I clicked on the descriptions of the main cognitive development profile it placed me with and its two runner-ups... And they sounded so much like how I really am. Seeing those descriptions of basically who I am gave me a sense of, like, being totally understood by someone, even though whoever wrote those descriptions didn't know it. It was a really great feeling, and I seriously nearly teared up. How couldn't I? I mean, I knew I was being understood, but this whole thing meant there were people that thought the same way I did everywhere, a few of them maybe even with the exact same results as mine.

It was also nice to see that there was an emphasis in the descriptions that I had firm beliefs and standards and was unshakable, unable to be swayed away from them for anything, no matter the situation or decision I had to make. I knew that probably (*coughdefinitelycough*) had to do with the gospel. The true believers have a firm foundation and stick to their values, right?

I was surprised to see that my dad had actually come up with a few of the same results, though it wasn't all of them. I didn't think we were very alike in that aspect... Like father, like daughter, I guess.

So my results were INFP, ENFP, and ISTJ. I wonder if I did this quiz again when I'm a lot older I'd have the same results...

I'll jump back to this week for a moment to say we finally saw The Minions at home. We waited a while, I know. We might've gone to see it in Mexico months ago, but my sis didn't want to. Also, a guy came to our apartment yesterday and bought our couch, so we're once again couch-less. At least there's more room for the table now. *shrug*

Okay, I have three more topics left, but not sure what order to do... Eh, I guess chronologically.

So, since my current school is always too cold for me, I've been mastering the art of layers- I mean, I'm used to doing layers, but not to this extent. It's basically part of my winter fashion 2015 to have layers. Anyway, one day I put too many layers on, and I was getting a little too hot. Then, after a while, my heart/chest area had that odd sting-ish, burn-ish pain that occurs when I've done more exercise than I can handle (yes, the exact same pain), and I was like "whaaaaaaat?" So is that really from me overheating, not working my heart too much? Or is it both? I don't even know anymore!

Last week, one of the days in Health was about depression and suicide. Coatrack had actually told me it would happen the Friday before, and I sort of wish he actually didn't, because after that I ended up contemplating about Darkrai and my sis and their lives for about as long as I used to, which I don't think is usually a healthy amount, and I kept worrying about if I was gonna end up having a hard time during the class. Though it's still a little bit of a sensitive subject to me, I actually was pretty much okay during the class, actually, and I learned stuff. I now hold respect for the people that do the suicide hotlines and stuff, because it turns out some of them actually grapple with depression themselves- so they know what it feels like- and they decided they wanted to help whoever they can with their problems, so they volunteered for the hotline. Coatrack said he wanted to volunteer too, but the location they do it at is a little too far.

Ya know, I really wish I knew more about him. I know when I'm with my good friends I tend to end up disclosing more information about myself than they do about their lives. (🎤I wanna know, can you show me? I wanna know about the strangers like me🎶) I bet you're interesting, but you don't tell me more!

Last item on the list: I read a book titled Repossessing by A. M. Jenkins. There was some stuff I liked about it. Like, for example, it had an interesting take on the whole "heaven and hell" thing. And the main character also was just so excited to finally experience being human. He relished in taste and touch and seeing and hearing ("Fascinating!") and it was heartwarming. We really are lucky to have all these things, and it kinda gave me more appreciation for life.

I really don't think I should be like "I totes recommend!" though, because there were things in the book that I really wish weren't there. I had to skip a whole chapter that was about... *shiver* I can't say it.

So... my feelings about the book are mixed. As much as it made me smile, it equally or more made me cringe.

I heard we're having tempura today, which I'm excited about, so I'll just leave you now and hope I didn't forget something! Bai!

Pecha Panda Plot Twist

Hello world!

🎶It's a pillow, it's a pet... it's a CASTANET!🎶 *freezes with cheesy grin and jazz hands* ...No? Okay, fine, it's a Pillow Pet. No sense of humor... *grumbling under breath*

I might've mentioned a long time ago- back when we were in Utah, so maybe 2 years- a frog Pillow Pet. I gave it to Winnie, along with most of my stuffed animal collection, before we moved out of AL. (I hope she's taking good care of them...) I'll be honest- as stupid as Pillow Pets were and as much as I saw the commercials and heard the jingle over an over and over, for the longest time I longed to have one. Some of them really are so cute! The price was too much, in my opinion, so my mom and I agreed maybe once the price dropped or something. But did the price ever drop? Haha, nope. And, by the time they did do sales, it was for the later generations of Pillow Pets that weren't very cute.

But a few days ago, I came home and went to drop my backpack off in my room... And there, on my sister's mattress, sat...

A panda Pillow Pet.

My mom explained she saw it and planned to give it to me for Christmas, but then got worried about whether I still wanted a Pillow Pet or not.

Of course I'd totally be up for another stuffed animal. Wow, talk about not knowing your daughter. *playful scoff*

I'd definitely gotten excited when she said she got it from Ross for $4. By then I was like "HECK YES!"

The surprise got ruined, but I'm still considering this my Christmas present.

The panda's sooo cute!~ I remember it being one of the cutest in the commercials. This one is kinda funny cuz it has a few mistakes- the head is permanently turned to the left, for example- but I've always been cool with my stuffed animals having things like that. Just makes it look sillier and feel more unique, cuz no one else has a stuffed animal quite like mine. *teeheet*

I'd been so scared about doing a PowerPoint presentation in Child Development, cuz I basically had to memorize what I was gonna say to get the best grade (cuz it was supposed to be a Pecha Kucha). I did more preparation at home- on my own time- to make sure I did this presentation well, but I still really hoped I wouldn't talk too fast or too slow or, please no, choke up.

Luckily for me, it turned out that we didn't have to do it in front of the whole class, just the teacher- so we were at the computers in the library, and she'd come to a group, who'd pull up their PowerPoint on their computer and give a mini-presentation to the teacher. I know teachers often have us do presentations to the whole class so we get more used to public speaking, but doing it this way made a perfect amount of sense to me. People could keep working if they needed to while others presented, and she could probably go through all of them a lot faster, and thus we don't use so many days just for presentations like what often happens in other classes.

Doing the practicing at home really helped out, cuz I said just about everything I'd put in the script. I couldn't quite loosen up all the way with the teacher, and I was still nervous, but it was a lot better than doing it in front of everyone. The teacher actually was engaged and looked interested in what I had to say, which is usually not the case with other students, so I liked that. She said I did a good job, and that she kinda wished I did do it in front of the whole class- but she mentioned it wasn't really part of my personality to enjoy public-speaking, so she wasn't gonna force me or anything. I appreciated that. She really is a great teacher; I just wish she didn't usually have to deal with such horrible kids. She deserves better than you pooheads!

It's ironic that I mentioned thinking of doing the presentations that way made perfect sense, cuz it turns out I have to do a group presentation with a poster for two other classes in the near future- exactly what I had managed to get out of in Child Dev. *deep breath*

Honestly, I think I am more likely to learn more through notes than through group projects. Sure, I tend to research and learn things I wouldn't have learned just with notes, but it's only on one specific topic within the bigger topic, and maybe doesn't even have much to do with what we're supposed to be learning in class. And kids often don't come out of this with greater knowledge- many are seriously reading off their posters, not even remembering vaguely what was written there, and others are dead asleep while students present. Just... no. There's a reason we do traditional notes and don't depend on other kids to teach us!

I read the last book of All the Wrong Questions by Lemony Snicket today. It was interesting and definitely had some unexpected answers for questions (and a PLOT TWIST!), but I don't think I'm fully satisfied with how it ended. *mrrrrr*

My family's starting to watch Project Runway again, and will probably get to the newest season of America's Next Top Model afterward. I'm also starting to try to get caught up with some of my favorite cartoons. Turns out Gravity Falls has had many more episodes since I last watched than I thought! *tear* And PHINEAS AND FERB HAD THEIR FINAL EPISODE IN THE SUMMER! At least I know I've basically seen every other episode except maybe one or two... I'd really rather not go looking for what that would be. There's also Adventure Time and The Amazing World of Gumball that I need to watch. (I watched "107 Facts" YouTube videos for a lot of cartoons, including some mentioned in this paragraph, and found out some interesting stuff. Check it out if it won't spoil any endings for you. *thumbs up*)

That's... pretty much everything. I have Thanksgiving Break this week, so I wonder what we'll do~

It Is Done

Hello world!

This is my final entry for my Faith project. (Finally!)

My new YW president had come up with a cool idea with one of her old friends back in Chile. Now they're both in a position in the Young Women's presidency in their respective wards, so they'd thought it'd be cool if we could videochat with the girls in Chile. And yesterday, that actually happened.

Me and 3 other girls arrived at the president's apartment (I'll call her Rena for short). Turned out they'd wanted to use Facebook videochat (though I'd been expecting Skype), so we all had to go through todo el rollo of friending the girls from Chile on FB before we could all get the chats working. It took a long time to get everything figured out, but eventually it was done. Eventually, we sat face-to-face with girls on the Southern Hemisphere, all the way on the other end of the Americas' landmass. It was a little weird to think about.

Conversation was a little awkward at times, since we had to do questions like "What's your name? Age? Hobbies?" etc. but I think, overall, it was fun for everyone. There was one girl, Claudia, who I had the feeling I would get along with the best if we met in person.

We used a lot of time just on asking each other about their lives and stuff, but there were a few minutes near the end of the activity where we were supposed to go one-on-one with one of the girls from Chile to talk about spiritual stuff. I'll admit that, while I doubt anyone noticed, I was glad to get Claudia for this bit.

We both ended up talking about Faith- a little bit about how we got it, why it's important in our lives, stuff like that. I wish her audio worked a bit better, cuz sometimes I missed a few words that she said. I didn't want to mention that, though, because then maybe a long time would be spent trying to fix the issue instead of talking. So, I sucked it up and hoped I got the good parts of what she was saying, cuz I remember that I liked a lot of what I heard.

The thing that stuck out the most to me was that I'd started to say how I was grateful for temple sealings and all that, and she responded that she hasn't gotten to do that because her parents were separated. The separation had happened just a little bit before her family met the missionaries. I felt a bit bummed out that she can't until her whole family baptized, but she was still excited about using the opportunity to have an eternal family when it comes. I was excited about it, too, because... Yeah, the eternal family deal is one of my favorite things about being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our family has a strong tie beyond what most people get to have, one that cannot be broken. We will see and live with each other and be a family after death. But I can feel that tie even while on Earth. It's part of what helped me feel better about my sister moving out. We're still connected, and we're literally sisters forever!

I'd actually said so to Claudia (with words that weren't quite as good), and she seemed to like it... I hope.

Yeah, I just hope she gets to get sealed with her family. That would be so awesome.

Anyway, after that, we had to finish up with the activity. Rena and her friend in Chile thanked us and each other for being part of this, we took some pictures with the girls in Chile (by sitting in front of the TV, hehe), and then said goodbye.

While Rena's husband went to pick up pizza (and after we ate), she wanted us to do little interviews about the experience, and I ended up going first. Yeah, I seriously lack eloquence when it comes to just talking. I have much more with written word, and even then sometimes it's not very eloquent. Yeah, I struggled with coming up with something good to say. I somehow got out the words to say a few things for the questions (and some of the things I'd said earlier in this post I mentioned), though I'm wondering how much editing I'd need on that video she's putting together that documents this whole thing... Probably more than the other girls, since they probably had more time to think about what to say and stuff.

A question I was supposed to answer was "How has Personal Progress helped you in your life?" I'd actually immediately thought back to this, the Faith project, which sadly took over a year to finish, but I'm glad to say is now done.

At the very beginning I'd been scared of trying to do this, because I was having the hardest time trying to think of experiences to write about. I mean, I don't really remember when I got my testimony for the Church; just kinda felt like I always had it. Unsurprising, since I was born into the gospel and I hardly remember anything from my childhood.

But, as this project kept going, I realized I have had more spiritual experiences than I gave myself credit for. I'd felt the love and blessings I'd received from God more than I thought. If I only just bothered to remember that day, and how I felt...

Many times since I've started this project, I've had thoughts that affirmed my testimony in how being part of the Church blesses lives and blesses my own. I can get so frustrated or confused or whatever sometimes, but I can be happy that I know the truth about many things. Here's a good quote I'd thought up a week or two ago that I just wanna mention:

It's easier to live with a purpose when you know the truth.

It's true, really. People say "What's the meaning of life?" as a joke lots of times, but everyone wants to actually know. And we know the answer. 

I don't know what can't be appealing about knowing for sure that you're never alone, that you can be forgiven, that you can be with your family forever... The wonderful messages always given that we may take for granted at church, especially after hearing it so many times, is exactly what we need to hear sometimes.

I know I'd already talked about the temple, but I actually have something else to mention. My parents had been asked to accompany the missionaries to an investigator house. They'd wanted my parents to talk to the parents there about the importance of marriage and eternal marriage, and maybe help them feel a little better about baptizing.

It was weird to hear about their story, because they were one of those couples that after aaaaaaall this time if having a family, they never had bothered to get legally married. They said they hadn't been to their old church, the Catholic one, in years because they had sinned. I'd wondered why they didn't just freaking get married if they actually loved each other- they're still together and have three kids, so they probably do- and people freaked cuz they weren't wearing the rings. Now I realize that maybe just getting married wouldn't have solved the problem in the Catholic Church's eyes, so they didn't see the point.

Look, guys. Just like what my mom had said on that visit, being legally married isn't just what will allow you to get baptized and be able to make covenants and receive many blessings, but it's good for your family and your kids. It's good for your kids to be able to know that their parents are happy in their marriage.

Don't give me that look, people that don't believe in marriage and/or abstinence before marriage. It is proven your kids are happier. Heavenly Father knows how families can be happiest, and having kids while already in a healthy marriage is how it's done.

Anyway. While this was going on, I was basically just watching the whole thing, but, while the adults had been talking about the blessings of going to the temple and stuff, I felt really strongly like I should say something. Say something about how I am grateful to have an eternal family, and how great it was to enter the temple for the first time, and stuff like that.

I don't know how much help I would've been, since I would've been kinda reiterating some stuff that had already been said, but I really felt like it should be said. My heart beat fast and my mind and my mouth were like "SAY SOMETHING!"

If only everyone had stopped talking for longer than a second, I could've entered the conversation. But nope, I literally didn't get the chance, and they shifted to a different topic, and I just kinda internally deflated.

GAH!

Well, at least my testimony was shared to myself as I thought about what I'd say and felt the Holy Ghost being like "Yeah, that's good, I like that! It's true!"

I also hope that couple get baptized. That would mean they'd get married, then baptized, and later get sealed, and be happier and happier!

I know that we can see the hand of God working in our lives in both the small and big things (which is why I've been mentioning more and more things like the un-coincidences in my everyday life in my diary) if we just try to see it. I know Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all real and love us very much. I know the Book of Mormon is true and all the modern prophets were called to serve Him. Joseph Smith was not a fake. Nothing ever taught in our Church was made up one day- this is all what Jesus Christ taught and asked of us. The Church is here to make our lives better and happier. Christ's Second Coming is so close, and we must do what we can to prepare for it, like gaining a testimony and maintaining it. May we all endure to the end. Amen.

Those Who Face the Unlucky

Hey world!

Ironically, while the world was burning down, I had a pretty good week.

This Friday the 13th was fun until, at the end of the day, I heard that there was earthquake in Japan again, crazy terrorist attack in France, and a bunch of other natural disasters and attacks around the world. Whether the "Friday the 13th" thing was purposely planned for some of this or not, it's still one of the days I'm sick of others of my species. It's shameful to be a human when I know other humans are out there doing absolutely horrible things. A very small minority participates in terrorist activity, but that very small minority shouldn't even exist.

The only good thing about this is that the signs for the Second Coming are ever clearer and it's definitely close. I am almost thinking it'll come before I finish college- or, heck, maybe even before I finish high school! I sure hope it's really soon, because things will continue to just deteriorate from here, and I don't want to imagine how much worse the world will get.

I think my positivity and pessimism towards life flips back and forth a lot... *sweatdrop*

Something... surprising? Yeah, that's the word. Something surprising happened- of course, it all began soon after I posted the last entry.

I mentioned in my last one that my sister worked at an apparently quite awesome school, but I'd said I probably couldn't get in. Turns out I was wrong!

My sister explained by phone in a lot more detail how the school works, and told us that she'd see if I could get in, an she actually thought I could be in at least by next year.

She asked the principal the next day (or the day after that?), and- according to her words- she hadn't even finished her whole speech about how I'd be a good student and stuff when he said "Okay." She actually paused and was like "Wait... What'd you say?!" as it sunk in. I guess she has a good reputation around there, so just her recommendation made it much easier for me to get in. I don't even need to do the application! Just gotta show up and can get started!

And, around the same time we got the news, my dad got a job interview for a job in Utah! Coincidence? WE THINK NOT.

So, as far as I understand, we'll definitely try to move over Winter Break. I mean, the sooner the better for that school, in my opinion. (The thing about the school is that I can earn a ton of college credit while there, and do the class as fast or slow as I need!)

I just feel bad because there's a few things I'll miss if I'm not at my current school for second semester. I have Creative Writing and Musical Theatre on the schedule, both of which I really wanted to take this year! (I actually have wanted the latter since freshman year.) And... There's also self-defense club.

I've been friends with Coatrack (I like this more than Apple- it's an inside joke,

in case you were wondering) since around the second week of school. He's a great guy, though he's often more subdued than I'm used to. (I dunno why, but he's constantly tired. I blame his lack of sleep or whatever on his subduedness, cuz I know he can be silly just like me!) I am in his club, which is the self-defense club. He just barely started it this year, so there aren't a lot of members- particularly, committed members. I try to go when I can, but I've missed two or three meetings because of drama club. He's also still trying to figure out the best way to teach and the best location and stuff, but I know he's trying. Despite the craziness, I've had fun and learned, so I feel bad I'll miss out on being there after just one semester. I think we grew close fast, since I feel like I can tell him a lot of things about myself and my day that I don't bother with telling most people. I also know he has a crush on me, though I've sort of indirectly turned him down... on purpose and accident at the same time... Still, I hope it won't be too hard for him when I'm gone. (And of course I'll miss him too! He's a great friend.)

I don't know if it's good or sad that it's just electives and Coatrack/his club that I'll miss... I have plenty of good memories for everywhere I've lived, and I'll have some for here, too, so otherwise no regret!

Speaking of good memories: on Friday, after I'd lazed around at home after my mom and I went to do errands for a few hours (hours), my mom went to a baby shower. I'd decided to not go because I thought it was a for a lady I don't even know. Even when I'd heard a bit of my mom and dad talking and realizing I was wrong and it was for a lady I knew, I had a feeling I should stay home anyway.

My mom was not gone long when she called me and said she was bringing home a girl in my Young Women's class, and said "You guys can just watch a movie or something." I was actually really nervous because this was the first time a friend was gonna come over. A depressing fact considering we've been here for about half a year already, but less because I'm not exactly a super-social person and I still haven't exactly been at school here for that long, only a term.

Anyway, she came over, (my mom left to return to the baby shower,) and we were kinda being awkward teenagers, but we eventually got to watching Netflix. She decided that I needed to watch Once Upon a Time, so I agreed to putting on the first episode. (Are you proud of me now, Blondie?) I'll admit, I was intrigued, so maybe sooometime I'll watch a bit more.

But I'd thought to myself "Hey, since she made the first pick, maybe I can decide what show we watch after this episode!" And, of course, the first show I'd thought of was Fullmetal Alchemist.

I had a feeling none of the girls in my YW class liked anime, so I'd never mentioned it... much. I guess the closest I did was when I carved a cute anime face out of my pumpkin in the activity before Halloween. (By the way, my jack-o-lantern is still out there, and has been kept up by the rain.)

Anyway, I told her as such, and she gasped and was like "Fullmetal Alchemist's the only anime I've ever liked!"

Yep, I screamed like a huge fangirl just then.

We finished up the episode and I put on the first episode of FMA:B. I know that watching by yourself and watching with someone else is often pretty different experiences, but that fact was reiterated now. Somehow, it seemed like I was watching the first episode for the first time all over again- besides that I knew already a lot of what happens. I guess it was like someone had already given me a detailed summary of the episodes but I hadn't actually watched it until then. Yeah, it was kinda like that.

It was clear she'd watched it a long time ago, but her memories were starting to come back as we continued. It was great to finally watch it with someone else who loved the show too. The times Niisan and my dad were in the room while I watched the first anime don't count because they weren't really watching.

Even by the time my mom and her mom came back and were chatting, we kept going strong and got through more episodes. We got about a quarter through the 6th episode when our moms were like "C'mon, girls, it's late."

It was while they were preparing to leave that I first heard about the Paris attack.

Don't you love when you have an awesome day and then it gets ruined because you realize while you were having fun, others were having the worst days of their lives somewhere else? People died?

I guess I sound stupid to be talking like that, depending on the kind of tone you think I'm using, but I'm not using the selfish one like "That ruined a perfectly good day!" No, I mean to use the guilty one that's like "I feel bad I had fun, oblivious to the horrors happening at the same time."

Three more things to mention and I'm out. One, we'd actually had most of the week off, so that was cool. I got to read and get back into AQ (I'm back, baby! Dunno what my parents think, though, now that they know I've played this game before and I'm picking it back up again.) I also got my homework done. Woo. I just wish I'd gotten more sleep...

Two, I got a bunch of books at the library again, mainly manga with one novel. I saw Noragami, so I was super excited to grab that. I've heard the anime is good, so I was like "Heck yeah, I wanna read it!" It was nothing like what I expected (as lame as it sounds, I could only think how the name reminds me of "origami". FWI: the "gami" is used not in the way that it's used in "origami", but like it's used in "shinigami". Entirely changes the meaning, huh?), but I'm perfectly okay with that. Sometimes, something I hadn't expected is a lot better than what I did expect! Like finding out that girl loves FMA! (I really hope we meet up to watch on Fridays or something. Now I need to think of an alias for her for this blog...)

Three: I actually wrote a quickie one-shot and sent it to someone. There's this guy on Tumblr (which I don't have an account for, hah) named obersten who does a lot of FMA stuff. He swears way too much and sometimes writes or draws something I'd seriously not like to see (*coughcoughsevereRoyEdcough*) but he can draw really well and he can come up with cool AUs. I don't think I mentioned finding one called the Overexposure AU, which is crazy creepy and awesome, a few months back. A few days ago, I decided to look at what else he's got. Some of them are sick! (In a mainly good way!) I wish there was more material in a lot of them, though.

Anyway, I'd actually been inspired by one of the comics he made for the Timeskip AU, so I wrote a one-shot about it and continued the scene. I know it was nowhere close to as good as other stuff already in the AU, but I thought I'd presented some decent writing and an idea to make the AU even better. (AKA it adds more suffering to Ed. Sorry, Ed, we authors just love to torture you. You're so tortureable.) And, hoping I wouldn't get negative feedback, I submitted it to him... with the name "lilaclily00" on it. I hope this doesn't backfire on me. *big sweatdrop*

It's been a few days and it hasn't shown up on his Tumblr, so either he hasn't seen it yet or he didn't like it and just didn't bother even replying. Maybe both, I dunno. I'm guessing the worst that can happen is that he just ignores it. That wouldn't exactly be a happy ending, but it wouldn't be that bad either. But yeah, if it turns out he DOES reply and it shows on his Tumblr, I really hope he at least is like "There's an interesting thought in here" or even "This isn't that bad" and not "What is this?!" with a really confused and/or scoffy look. Please no.

I'll tell you what happens if something happens.

As promised, that's everything, so bai!

Good Grief

Hello world!

Firstly, may I just say that The Peanuts Movie was pretty perfect? It kept true to the world and characters of the comic strip; it had good jokes and good taste; it made you cheer for everybody (especially Charlie Brown, of course!) and feel good feels; overall, great movie.

It was while I was picking out an appropriate outfit for it (AKA Peanuts-themed) that I realized I now own 4 shirts with Snoopy and Woodstock on them, plus a few pairs of socks. Too bad I didn't also have a hat or some sort of jewelry like I have for Spongebob. Sigh...

Now that that's over, I shall continue with matters related to school.

One thing: as expected, I didn't make it into the school play. I'll admit I didn't do as good as I wish I did, but I still gave it my best shot. (Hit me with your best shot! (x3) Fire awaaaay!~)

Two thing: another teacher has mentioned to me that they thought I should do AP next year, this time my English teacher. And, I'll be honest, I'm more open to the idea than I was before the school year started.

I saw through my friends that were in AP last year that it seriously was NOT fun, but... At this school, I feel like I really am farther ahead than what they're teaching. Yeah, that's happened before, but to a lesser degree. As much as I like my teachers, I need to learn more than what I feel like I'm learning now from them.

I'd want to be really careful about what AP classes I do. For one, I'd really rather not do history, cuz I know that screws up with a lot of my friends. As long as I know the workload isn't too ridiculous, maybe I could try English, Spanish, and Chemistry AP?...

I still don't know when we'll move, but I've been thinking that, if we move after this semester (oh yeah, first term ended this week! Halfway there!), I could try switching to AP classes at my new school even though I would only be there for the second half of the year. I'd skip some projects- YES!- and, hopefully, be able to catch up quickly with material taught and still do well on the final tests. I'd be really worried about trying that with history, and chemistry maybe would take longer to catch up on, depending on how much more they do compared to the class I'm in now... But I tend to do relatively good at exams, so I think I'd at least do decent with all of them.

My Child Development class is actually a dual-credit class, which means it gives me credits for college if I do good in it, so it's essentially AP with just slightly different requirements to gain those credits. Though it can be hard, I'm still doing pretty good in it. It's nice to know I'm actually gonna have a small portion of my college classes done with (in this case, just the electives). If I know I can do a few more classes like this without breaking down from stress, then I guess I should try them... Right?

There would be more work, which would suck, but... I know I should be more challenged at school right now. I don't want to let my teachers down by always taking the easy way. In YW today the lesson was about the importance of education, so I'm feeling more the thing about doing more at school...

So, yeah, that's my plan. Move next semester and try to convince the new school to let me come into one or two AP classes, then only join one club. I'm in two right now, and I like both, but trying to attend both as much as I can I'd stressful. I know it's stupid, but I want to be in both!

If we end up sticking around till the end of the year... Well, I guess my grades won't be as impressive when I send college applications. I really want to go to BYU, but gaining any sort of scholarship, as my father pointed out in such a sweet manner, would require really impressing the admissions office, and... While people are always telling me I'm so smart and stuff, my grades probably aren't as awesome as other kids who really do try to push themselves in high school.

Another option that my dad wants to consider is the school my sis works at now, which is more like teaching yourself at school, with teachers and tutors around to just help you out when you need it. It sounds interesting, but the prob, Bob, is that I remember my sis telling me a few weeks ago that you'd have to apply to get in, like, a year before you can actually go. And, well, I can't really plan that far ahead at the moment, considering our ever-changing lives.

Three thing: my English teacher had given me full points (5 out of 5!) for all aspects of an essay I had to write except sentence fluency (just docked by one point, which is still a good score, but I wanna do better at writing if I can improve!). I'd been wondering why and was planning on asking her sometime... But, yesterday, after I replied to Scaehime's reviews for VH (she finally got to reviewing some chapters after being so busy lately with college), I decided to read the chapters she'd reviewed just for old time's sake. By now, I'm more detached from the older chapters, so it's easier to see mistakes and places that could be better, and I realized my teacher was right. Sure, she'd been talking about a school essay and not my stories, but the weakness was still prevalent in both. I could see that it really didn't flow as well as I'd previously thought.

So, now, I guess I'm gonna focus less on asking my teacher why but how to improve on that. Writing is my thang, my craft, it's lief! I wanna do better and work on it, even if I didn't realize I needed to work on that certain thing until now!

Four thing: it's pretty gosh-dang cold in my school- like, seriously, I think it's worse than all my other schools, and last year's was ridiculous with the air conditioner. I've started wearing gloves for a few classes, but it sucks cuz then I end up having to take them off for Ceramics or something, and then by the time I have the next class, my hands are already frozen, and so I can't just put them on again- they won't help me unless I manage to fully warm up again first.

I've worn layers, and even with those I'm sometimes still really cold! NO! That is just ridiculous! TURN UP THE HEAT ALREADY, MY NAILS ARE ALMOST BLUE AND THAT IS NOT GOOD!

Now just a few final comments...

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Random Riggs is unlike anything I've read before. It's different and a little complicated, and that's just how I like 'em! I wish it had a bit more creepiness in it and some of the photos were explained more, but otherwise it was pretty great. Funny enough, one of the missionaries saw that I was reading it and fanboyed a little. *amused chuckle* He said it was his favorite book! 

It says at the end that they seriously found all those photos, not Photoshopped them... I wanna know so bad if that's totally true. A few of them I have a hard time believing they're not fabricated by the author... But I also want to believe they're all real!

I think I'm doing a bit more writing, luckily, so I've gotten a bit farther in VH's next chapter (FINALLY!) and in a new fic I'm just writing for myself. There's also When Friends Are Magnets (at this point I can't remember whether I've actually talked about it or not), though I'm getting a bit stuck as to developing the plot more. I need to talk to someone so I can get help, but it has to be someone I can actually talk to, because just typing every detail would be difficult to do. It also has to be someone that cares about writing. I'm thinking maybe Allakai by Skype, but I don't know if he'd actually have some suggestions for me... But I don't think I know any people at my school that would actually want to hear me ramble about WFAM... Ugh. My life.

I watched the CoS movie for the third time on Friday! (Yes, I must and will continue to mention every time I watch it.) I think, this time, I understood more the plot and actually related more to the characters... somehow. That part where the feels would hit me so hard didn't hit me that bad this time, though.

There was a small detail I noticed this time that I liked. Al's voice is often really expressive, especially in the movie. It got crazy as he shouted at Ed near the end (though a few small points in the movie I thought the voice was overdone, most of the time it was spot-on and realistic)- but then, by the time he and Ed were together again, his voice changed. It wasn't deeper, but more mature, because he regained years of memories. He still sounded perfectly like himself, just one that acts older and wiser. Seriously, Aaron Dismuke, you did great with Al's voice! *respect*

Stay in school, kids! And do more schooling if you have the time and money, adults! The more knowledge, the better! *Ed grin and thumbs up*