Dancing With Drunk Old Men

Hello world, welcome to my blog thing!

This is my second post made while in Mexico.

We've stayed with my youngest aunt on this side of the family for the past few days. I generally really like coming to her apartment. She's nice and silly, I can talk to my cousins (though the middle child- the one about my age- I haven't gotten to talk to as much because he works for most of the day), we watch movies (this time we watched Red Dawn, Seventh Son, and Coraline), we dance, and... She has lots of cats!~

I'm sorry, I love Abuelita's pets, but sometimes I love my aunt's cats more.

Especially because now she has a super tiny turtleshell calico kitten that weighs almost nothing! *squee* My sis said its fur pattern makes it look like a jellybean, so that's its *English* name now. C'mere, Jellybean! *snuggles with meowing, struggling kitten*

On Friday we went to a place that's basically a bar, but they also have a dance floor. They play live music for most of the night and it's all music for dancing (like salsa). It was pretty fun even though the food wasn't (we got a thing that was just an appetizer plate, I think, but it was small and half the plate was cold!). I can't believe they get away with making food so expensive! Even the juice was expensive, though that was actually good. (We all just drank two glasses of pineapple juice- luckily, my aunt doesn't drink alcohol.)

But then there arose an issue. We were all women (or young women, in my case) and only one guy was with us, my cousin. I figured we'd all take turns with him and the rest would just dance with each other.

But then some stranger asked my aunt to dance.

We were all surprised by it, but she still said yes and danced with him for a song.

And then a little later he asked another person from the table- me.

Since my aunt had gone with him and didn't come back in pieces, I figured he really only wanted to dance, and so I said yes too.

The guy danced with basically everyone (except my guy cousin, of course) at least twice, I think, though for some reason he danced with me the most. Maybe 4 times?

But then, some other old guy, nothing to do with the first, came and asked me to dance!

I mean, we're all saying yes to be nice, and nothing happened to us (besides getting dizzy every once in a while because of all the turns), so I figured it was safe.

Yeah. I danced with him.

He's one of those guys that like to have a conversation, so I ended up telling him my mom is better at dancing than me, which ended up making her get asked by him for the next song.

Can I just say, it's surprising how well old men can still dance even when drunk? Perhaps really drunk?

I don't think I really wanna have an experience like that again, so, uh... If we go to a place like that in the future, I think we should bring more guys for dance partners so it's less likely we have to dance with drunk old guys instead.

And last night, when reading ma' scriptures, I was in the part where there's the 3 disciples that say they want to be on the Earth, ministering, until Jesus returns again. (3 Nephi Ch. 28) That's one of my favorite stories from the Book of Mormon. I mean, how cool is it to think that's there's three people in the world that have been around since Jesus's time? And they are dedicating that whole time to teaching and being good people?

But then that reminded me of Van Hohenheim. *ahahahaaaa* I know, totally ruining the spirituality.

But there's actually kinda similarities... Kinda. I mean, look- (but beware the spoilers... As if my posts aren't already littered with them.)

Both Van and the disciples are at least hundreds of years old.

Van is the Great Sage of the West, who taught the Purification Arts, a version of alchemy good for healing. Not exactly the same as teaching the gospel, but it's still a good thing for people to know.

Beards.

Yeah, that's pretty much all I can think of. But still, it's fun to think about. Fun enough it used up half this post.

Update on my fanficness: I've pretty much only added to W4AS lately. I need to add more to VH, doh! And I want to put more in Lab RatsxFMA. Maybe I can find a way to shorten that... LRFMA? LRxFMA? Yeah, I'll roll with the second. Oh, and I still haven't lost the writer's block on all the older stories. Sucks butts. 

I'd Rather Think About Crossovers, But RIP

Hellos to the world!

Oh geez, if I thought the previous trips to Mexico were exhausting...

I'll just say about the whole thing that I really do not like the LA airport.

As usual, we've spent most of the time lazying around Abuelita's house, but I think this time I have more stuff to occupy myself with. True, a few years ago I'd been writing Mai's StoryZ while here (and would have an actual title if I could think of a decent one), but now I have more than one story, plus actual paper!!! This is great, since I was able to write down the little notes I wanted in the little journal thing, and was able to draw when I wanted to.

Wednesday I finished the drawings of (most of) the main characters, from the Lab RatsxFMA crossover (which I'm really hoping I'll think of a good title for too!). I think I actually did pretty decent on them considering I didn't have reference pics with me when I drew everything. I just barely got some yesterday, though, while at my aunt's (who has wifi), and finished up making a few tweaks on people. I drew all the Homunculi but Sloth (I'm sorry, he just seems way too difficult to draw, especially in the small space I left for him), then Ed and Al on the back of the paper. I was gonna draw Van and Trisha too, but... Ugh. I've already done so much work. Though it was gonna be interesting trying to put Trisha in modern clothes...

As usual, Al came out better than Ed. Ed's legs look too short, and his hair is still so FRUSTRATING! Of the Homunculi, I'm probably happiest with Lust, surprisingly, though I think Greed came out good too. (If you were wondering, the things on Wrath's sides are the sheaths for his swords, and Ed's holding his smartphone, though it just looks like a black rectangle. Because it is.)

On one of the planes here (we always have connecting flights) there were actually TVs, which I think we've had maybe one time before? I took the cue from the kid in the row in front of me and put on The Lego Movie first- which, like when I saw it at the movie theater, it was awesome. After taking a break from the earbuds and TV screen, I then was like "Hey, there was also Enchanted on the list, why not watch it now?"

Oh my gosh, I'd forgotten how much I love this movie.

The music is fantastic, it's funny, the music is fantastic, it's like Disney is making fun of itself in a tasteful way, the music is fantastic, it's cute, and did I mention the music is fantastic? It's all the way up there song-wise with Tarzan and Tangled.

And I actually know at least some of the words for all the songs because my sis and I were in Up With Kids! the years they did Enchanted and Alice in Wonderland. In Enchanted, I played Princess Jasmine and Grumpy. *amused cackle*

Anyway, I'd forgotten the names of the characters (besides Giselle, of course!) since I hadn't watched in a long time, so I almost laughed out loud when it turned out the prince's name was Edward.

So that got me thinking about Edward Elric, as you'd expect.

And I wondered... What if Ed Elric came to rescue Giselle in the beginning instead of Prince Edward?

So, once I had the moment, I started writing up an EnchantedxFMA crossover.

I'd at first thought I would just keep it short and sweet, but then I realized... Ed thinks in a totally different way than Edward, so why would he have come to Giselle? So I had to rethink that initial approach to the story... And then add some more beyond that... And before I knew it, I was figuring out how to put him through the rest of the movie. *sweat drop*

I did manage to watch most of the movie during the plane trip, but not all of it, sadly. I do remember some of the ending, but not enough to just write it out, so once we're back home, I'm going to watch the movie again the whole way through to make additions and adjustments and hopefully actually get this good enough for FFN! I am thinking people will probably not find it since I doubt any other crossovers like this are out there, but there's also the chance that because of that same reason people will freak out over it (in a good way), so we'll just see what happens, I guess...

Okay, serious time. A few days ago, and woman and her sons got run over by a bus right in front of Abuelita's neighborhood. We heard that all three died, but my cousin heard the younger son, about 2 or 3 years old, is actually still in intensive care in the hospital. Either way, it's horrible. I saw the woman's dead body on the ground.

Since then, that's been the most popular topic in the household, and it's driving me mad. I mean, of course it'd be horrible to just act like nothing happened, but I don't exactly like thinking about death and car accidents.

Especially because we found out yesterday that the bus driver didn't stop once he accidentally hit the family- no, he kept driving over them to make sure they stayed dead.

It's so horrible to know that the mindset of drivers around here is that if you have a big debt to someone, or accidentally hit someone hard, it's better if you kill them than let them live. (The companies' top machos even tell the drivers it's cheaper if you make sure whoever you hit stays dead.) And my cousin, who's a lawyer, admitted that that's true in the eyes of the messed-up law in Mexico.

For a while, there was a group of people in front of the neighborhood. I know some of them are probably still mourning over the family, but I just felt it in my gut that some of them weren't there for that reason. That they were there to do something that just would not make things any better.

Abuelita heard that they were planning to burn down the buses that took the same route as the one that ran over the lady and her kids.

As far as I know, they didn't get to do that- maybe the police finally made them go away- but it just made me lose more faith in humanity.

Killing? Rioting? Are people really this horrible and vengeful?

And of course, it made me think about how close my dad was once to dying because of a car crash. It was so bad he shouldn't have even survived, let alone have lived the life he has now. If he died then, he wouldn't have married my mom, have gone to college, had a family, had a career, have any of the experiences he's had now...

And I feel worse than ever about what I did to a character in "Family History".

It already hurt to put a person, even just a fictional one, through a crash, especially because of my reason for doing so, but it was with a heavy heart that I realized it was the most realistic way to go.

I already knew I was planning to let her be okay- at least as okay as can be- but now more than ever I want her story to end happy, for all of the other people who've gone though an accident and it truly changed- or perhaps finished- their lives forever.

Guys, these kinds of things really happen. Don't be so reckless as to assume that whatever you do on the road won't make something bad happen. Don't think nothing will happen to you. It can happen to anyone, and it will if you go on not being careful about your actions. Drive as safe as you can (or, even better, don't drive if you are unable to drive well, no matter the reason) because, if you don't, sooner or later it's going to ruin your and a whole lot of other people's lives.

And, in respect to my dad, please, please, don't drive around one of those huge trucks that barely fit in the parking spot just because you want to. They are dangerous for everyone around you when you drive. If you have it because it's part of your job, fine. Otherwise, don't be a *swear word* and just drive a normal car. You don't look manly in a big truck, you look like a giant snot.

Call Me Rhythm

Hello world!

So I spent most of last week at girl's camp. I had some good experiences, but there was some stuff going on that made me... confused.

For one thing, there was Ward Day. It was halfway through the week. The time between breakfast and dinner was spent with 11-year-olds. I was put as a 4th-year, so I had to help be in charge of them, which included teaching them when it came to certification stuff (which I hadn't actually done at actual girl's camp before, so I needed to learn it while teaching). 

May I just say I felt this was unnecessary? I mean, sometimes they let girls go to the whole camp when they're eleven (but almost twelve) in other states. They don't just give them a day to run around, they're there for the whole week, just like everyone else. Especially because the campsite is usually about 2 hours away! It's stupid to just be there for a few hours!

Same with what happens after that. Bishops and other ward members come for dinner and maybe stay for the campfire afterwards. I mean, I didn't think it was that bad to hang out with the bishop and Young Women leaders over lasagna, but did you really have to make them drive all the way here for a meal?

The way everything was arranged, including the schedule, was different. For one, everyone was in a cabin depending on their year (and the YCLs name their cabin, often referring to a movie). The one for 4th-years (our groups were Big Hero 6 and The Snuggly Duckling- the latter a reference to Tangled. I was part of the Ducklings) was the biggest and nicest, but also one of the farthest from the rest of the camp, so that generally sucked. Everyone ate every meal at the same time in one big cafeteria-ish lodge. There was a set time after lunch for 3 hours in which you could do whatever the heck you wanted, and there were sign up sheets for activities like canoeing, archery (which I tried- I am not good at aiming and don't even know how to aim with a bow, and so therefore was the only girl to kill a tree), and making a dessert of some kind. They had a pool and Slip-n-Slide, though I don't know if anyone used the latter. Everyone did something that had to do with camp certification every day. There was something called the campfire every night, which I did have before, but I think this was longer and later. On one of the last nights they did something called the Circle of Lights, where everyone got in a circle while holding a (real) candle, and we sang hymns and spiritual camp songs.

And then there's the camp names.

I believe I mentioned the last time I went that I picked out the name Shanghai as my camp name. As far as I know, we were really the only group to do that, but it was still fun. Here, it's a whole nuther deal.

See, they had me fill out a paper a few weeks before camp that asked questions about my likes, hobbies, what I wanna be when I grow up... You know, just stuff about me. They also left a space so my parents (and my sister) could write about me. (I wish I got to see what they wrote.) They used that information to decide on my camp name. Only 4th-years get camp names. It's not just a random name for fun, it's a name that says something about who you are. Therefore, it's a big deal. Girls dream about the moment they get their name since their first year.

The campfire in which the whole naming ceremony would happen was crazy. When they rolled around to that, the excitement, anticipation, nervousness, all kinds of emotion was in the air. There is a near-sacredness about this moment. In a way, I think it's almost like a mini-patriarchal blessing and a part of your self-discovering journey as you get into adulthood. Mine was Rhythm, probably more to do with the whole playing-drums thing than anything else, but I know that it means more. Here, let me write the description they proclaimed:

"[Rhythm] is the meaning of thought expressed through the measure or movement in sound or form. Rhythm brings balance, joy and satisfaction. It is as individual as a heartbeat and as dynamic as the pace of populations around the world."

I thought about it, and I thought maybe it means I have my own rhythm different from everyone else- like that line in "Cool Kids" that goes "And they all got the same heartbeat, but hers is falling behind." And it's a good thing. That I'm unique in my personality, in the way I think, how I dress, everything, and I should be darn proud of it. Also, there's that part in the description that says "Rhythm brings balance, joy and satisfaction." I totally agree that a song with a good rhythm is better than one that's confusing or changing a lot, therefore bringing balance, joy, and satisfaction. In my own life, things are constantly changing, but I'm still satisfied with my general everyday and feel like I have never really changed that much since I was born (like I've always had the same constant beat). I might be more complicated, but I'm still kinda the same, right? And, hopefully, I really do bring joy to the people I know, especially my family and close friends.

I'm also taking this as a sign that maybe I should focus on music more. While I'm definitely a drummer, music isn't my life. If my camp name has to do with music, does it mean it should be my life or at least a bigger part of it? Or that it will be? Am I supposed to bring the rhythm to something important in the future? I dunno, but... Whatever it is I do when I'm older, music-related or not, I hope it's whatever's best for me and those around me, and that it's awesome. (Maybe it'll be that I'll be the mom in a rock band in the basement like my dad did when I was little. I do not remember that at all, but he loves to remind me of it anyways.)

Back to the naming ceremony. They did it alphabetically by first names, so I went up about halfway through. They called us up one by one, gave the description of us, gave the name ("We bestow upon you the name Rhythm.") and then said the definition of the name while everyone is gasping and "aw"ing and getting emotional. They placed a tiara on your head as they gave you the name. On your way back to the seat, the other 4th-year girls were blowing bubbles of congratulation (including me- they gave me a bottle, and I thought it was a cute touch) towards you and you got big hugs from your tearful friends.

I made friends quite fast while there- really, I think I felt closer to these girls than I did my first time around at girl's camp. I made a friendship with (using camp names as codenames) Galaxy (everyone loved her name, especially her), Scout, Safari (though I started just calling her Saf); friendship-but-not-as-close with Valor (her real name is Lily and she loves cats too! She's actually making a Furry), Masterpiece, Saffron (she's so cute), Sweetpea, Starburst, Sriracha, Akira, Kazoo, and the girls I met at the Zumba activity- now dubbed Shamrock and Jazzy. For the Secret Sister thing I received a friendship bracelet from Pirouette (real name Phoenix, which I think is really awesome) and I gave some stuff to Sweetpea. I wish I could've done a better job of making the things I gave her look nice and meaningful, but I hope she still liked the stuff anyways.

Galaxy, perhaps my bestest camp friend of all, actually lives in Utah and just visits Oregon for the summer, so therefore has been to this camp more than any in Utah. She is huge on anime- apparently has watched over 200 series. She also loves cosplaying at conventions. I'd call her a real otaku. She can be loud and obnoxious and be physically slow, but I still like her.

I'm hoping maybe, once we live in Utah again, I'll go to a convention with her, whether it be Anime Banzai or Comic Con or whatever. Maybe I can even get in on whatever cosplay she's doing.

Well, I'd really like to hang out with Scout too. She loves drawing and is ridiculous. I told her about Gordon Ramsey (Future Me, imagine if they actually acted out that Kodak Moment we sent in! *bends over laughing* Also, remember when that girl passed out during first aid demonstration and the Dwarves, Larry and Darryl and Darryl and Darryl and Darryl, did their skits and when the Titanic showed up?) using words like "gorgeous" and "sexy" to describe dishes when clearly they aren't women, and she started a whole thing of speaking in a British (though accidentally more Australian) accent and telling you to do stuff like caress the cheese and tell it it's beautiful so that your pizza will come out the sexiest it can be.

I did not mean to start that, but I apologize anyways for anyone- especially adults- if they were nearby and heard the whole conversation.

Anyway, she's real cool, and likes a lot of the same stuff as me, and I wanna stay friends with her! Too bad I might not end up being at camp next year... Who knows, my dad might get a new job before I even have the chance to try the school in this neighborhood. We could end up sticking around until I graduate. We just don't know.

Just a reminder that this week we're going to go visit family. I might manage to post something once or twice within the next month, but I generally won't have access to the Internet. This is my first time going to Mexico after getting into fanfics and stuff, so I'm terrified about how many story updates I'm gonna end up missing. *tear* Within the weekend I can get, like, 10 updates, so 3 weeks? Ooooooh boy.

Manjiro's Da Man!

Hai world!

Happy Belated 4th of July!

Another apostle has passed away. *tear* Boyd K. Packer! We'll miss both of you! My Sunday School teacher showed us part of the last General Conference talk he shared, and it was about the Atonement. He said Packer must've felt that his time was ending and wanted to give us a final reminder of what he thought was most important. Everyone in the General Presidency is such a sweetie! I love watching all of them speak.

While it's sad to lose these great leaders, it also means that at the next General Conference we will be able to meet new ones that we will come to love! The teacher mentioned earlier said he hoped one of them would be Mexican. *conspiratorial wink and giggle*

I highly recommend Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus. I read this book today and loved it. It is such a crazy story and it's true! I wanted to tell my sis everything that happened in the book and get her as excited and amazed as I am! Too bad she seemed uninterested... I think it had to do with the book having to do with Japan, since by now she seems pretty bugged by that kind of thing because I like Japanese stuff. She's probably like "Not again!" Not my fault Japan's cool and makes for interesting stories! *sassy snap* 

Dude, Manjiro is, like, my hero! *gushing a small amount of fangirliness* And the Captain is pretty cool, too.

The only part I wanted to complain about was that he never went out with his crush! Or at least we could've been told about who he actually married... Gosh, am I really turning into a romantic? Well, I'm definitely not as bad as some *coughmostcough* girls I've met... And some guys like Darkrai.

Speaking of... Darkrai, where are you? I hope you're just busy, not in a bad place... I hope you know, bud, that I'm totally up for texting sometime if you want to.

Okay, stuff I did outside of reading! *yay*

On Friday, we all went to Seaside, which is basically next to Cannon Beach. Seaside has more of a variety of things like restaurants, stores, and other things besides being out in the sand, but Cannon Beach is prettier. The sand was also really hot and burned my sister's feet. *tear* At least she got something else out of going to Seaside... She got her first henna tattoo! It's a turtle on her ankle. She was disappointed I didn't want to get one too (same as when I don't want to dye my hair) but we both still think the creature on her skin dubbed Mr. Turtle is cool.

Honestly, I actually had been thinking of getting a specific henna tattoo in a certain place... Wouldn't it have been FREAKING AWESOME if I got Al's blood seal on the back of my neck? Just a little one, as little as it could be, in a place where some shirts would cover it and some wouldn't.

There's problems with that, the biggest one being that no one would get it. The amount of people that like anime in the world is surprising, but it's still not really that many people once you compare it to the vast majority. The henna artist (most likely) wouldn't get it, my family wouldn't get it- any otakus roaming the school might get it, but I haven't even gone to school here yet, and it would be gone by the time I did anyway! (There's also the fact that my hair would probably cause problems while it was being drawn and while it was drying. And, even though it's only temporary, I just really have a hard time imagining myself with a tattoo of any sort. Same with dying my hair! It's just not me. I'd appreciate it if you didn't push me to do something so I look like someone I'm not.)

I don't think I've mentioned this awesome person on Tumblr: rollingthediices. (I don't even have a Tumblr account and I know how awesome they are. I feel like that should mean something.) They make cool FMA art, stuff I really hope with all my heart will end up catching on in FFN and become unofficial headcanons there. 

One is FireBreathing!Roy/Dragon!Roy. Basically, he doesn't use his fire alchemy gloves (or at least doesn't have to use them). He has the fire alchemy circle tattooed on his neck- on the front, not the back. So when he uses his fire alchemy, fire shoots out his mouth, not his hands. He breathes fire. (There's also another AU made as a joke where Roy is just a dragon with a wig.)

Yeah. Awesome.

And later on Friday, I checked up on their site to see if they have made anything else that'll make my life, and I saw something that made me nearly pee my pants from laughing.

Just... see it for yourself. Go to rollingthediices.tumblr.com and look up the tag #fma crop top movement. Do it and you will not regret.

Anyway, when I found this golden treasure (I died at the pic of Al), I wanted- no, I needed- to share it with someone who would appreciate this just as much as me. I considered Facebook- no, imagine what would happen if Grandma got curious and clicked on it? A few relatives already got upset over me and my sis watching Dexter for a few days. I considered putting it in an AN on "Visiting Homeland"- no, not enough people read that. And just publihing something new that tells people to go look at the page wouldn't work either. Same with Wattpad. Someone just barely commented on "Family History" on that site. The first someone.

Hey! I thought. How about I find a really popular page on Facebook about FMA or at least sometimes posts about FMA and tell them about #fma crop top movement so they can tell their followers?

I tried a few different character names, then I settled with just typing in the search bar "Fullmetal Alchemist" and seeing if there's anything really popular. Sadly, I didn't really find a page with enough likes for me to believe they'd spread the word successfully. Though, my search ended up with me finding something else...

Old statuses from my old friend. Back from before I even owned a Facebook account. Probably before I'd even met her. And she posted she was watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. 3 different times.

No. Way.

I never knew she had ever been into anime when we were friends. True, I myself hadn't become a fan until after our friendship had basically ended... But if I'd known, who knows how everything could've been. Maybe I would've ended up watching more animes and seen them a lot sooner. Maybe I would've met different people in middle school. Maybe we'd still be friends...

I actually considered sending the rollingthediices link to her by FB Messaging, to see if our friendship would start up again... I actually started writing the message. I thought it was a bad, maybe horrible, idea- I mean, how awkward is it to not talk to someone for a few years then they show up out of the blue sending you weird fanart for a show you watched a long time ago? Yeah... I dunno what happened, but my message got erased before I finished typing. I took that as a sign that I shouldn't send it, and didn't try again.

Man, dude, I haven't even talked about what happened yesterday! (Wear the flag colors with PRIDE! But please don't have any clothing articles like American flag leggings...) My family went to watch Inside Out. It made me cry near the end. (♪Tears come streaming down your face...♪) WHY, PIXAR?! 

But seriously, it was a good movie. My dad commented afterwards that it actually wasn't far off from how the mind really works, and was kinda more directed to adults in a sense. We all laughed pretty hard at some parts and others just made me smile big because it was so cute. It's not the kind of movie I'll watch a gazillion times... But it's not one to just watch once in your lifetime either.

After that we went to the mall, but we just ended up in H&M and then leaving again. *shrug* While there, I got two plain shirts (it's astounding how many I have- as in, I only had maximum 3 plain tees until I got these) and a cool red, white, and blue jacket. It doesn't look cheesy and patriotic, actually, though I suspect I'll use it around Independence Day next year besides all the other times I will wear it.

Super lame, I know, but I actually never saw fireworks. I didn't go outside last night. I opted for reading a Gravity Falls fic ("Walk the Line") that's actually a bit scary. As you get further into the story, you watch Dipper become more and more like Bill... And not once can you figure out where the author is actually going with the story. I'm still not sure what direction it's taking. But it gets you hooked.

I've got things ready for when we go to Mexico- well, just my iPod. I actually went and copy-and-pasted WIP stories into my iPod Notes so I'll get to add to them while at Abuelita's house. "Visiting Homeland", of course, is top priority, but, along with "Speak No Feeling" and the FMAxLab Rats crossover I already had there, I put "Waiting For a Sign", "No Light, No Light", "Adventure Time With Ed and Al" (I hope that, if I ever post this crossover, by then I would've thought of a more creative title)... and I even added "Two Souls, One Armor", even though that work is a few years old by now (right?) and is on a permanent hiatus... Or it was, at least. I dunno, maybe I can find little things to improve flow of what's there, find inspiration in it for VH, maybe suddenly take it out of hiatus and start really working on it... And, if nothing else, it'll be something to read. I still have "Mai's StoryZ" in my Notes for the same reason- to read when there's nothing better to do, and see if I've really improved. Yep, I have definitely improved from that era in my life. Even though I still feel like my work is pitiful compared to some authors, at least it isn't like that anymore. Gosh, I was once a bit proud of that work, and now I know it's not actually that good. It has its moments, but it's mainly rushed and all over the place, changing direction and being a bit aimless at the same time... Wait, that last part sounds like my current work too. Oh dear.

See ya after Girl's Camp! K bai!

I Love Libraries

Hello world! (And Kathryn, who I just found out followed this blog! Whaaaaaaaaat?!?!?! Hey, gurl!)

I ended up using a lot of time on Sunday reading a book- plus we went to the park for a bit- so I didn't have time to post.

Not yesterday, but the time before that that we went to the library (I guess it was Friday or Saturday?) I made some discoveries. One- I found Tegami Buchi: Letter Bee! I'd wanted to read that for a few years now! I used to have this app that had iPod wallpapers, and I'd found some pictures from animes there that I didn't know about until a while after. I'd accidentally found pics from Black Butler, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Bleach, maybe Soul Eater (looks kinda like Death? Maybe it's some other skeleton?)... and, as said before, Letter Bee! There's still some pics there that I haven't found the source of, but every time I realize I'd already had a pic for it before seeing the anime, it makes me more excited to watch. *giggle*

Two- I found a few Pandora Hearts manga books! And so far, almost everything is exactly the same as in the anime. Which I'm totally not complaining about! I'm hoping, though, that if I read a lot more of the books, that they'll help me understand some of the things that happened more. Even if it's pretty cool, Pandora Hearts can be so confusing. *Oz and Gil together forever but not romancey just as friends cuz it's so cute!*

Three- Lemony Snicket! You guys know A Series of Unfortunate Events, right? He's the guy that wrote them. (I've always wondered how he came up with that penname, and if he uses it because his real name is really normal-sounding...) Turns out he's started coming out with a new series (though it's gonna be shorter) called All the Wrong Questions. It's more of a mystery thing. I'm confused by some stuff, but, since I've only read the first book, I'm sure the answers to that are gonna be revealed.

People that read mystery books like to say that they like to go along trying to figure out 'who did it' and see if they're right at the end. Honestly, I'm not all that good with detective work, so I don't really try. *sweat drop* I might ask a question or two to myself and stuff, but I'm really not doing that much work, I just read the book. *chuckle* I'm gonna be equally surprised by the end, anyways, so why even try?

Four- Simon's Cat! I love the videos, and I knew from said videos that Simon had actually published a few books too. I actually found one at the library. Of course, I checked it out. It was cute and actually made me laugh out loud one or two times, but... I dunno, I think I have problems with books that don't have words. I mean, I've read a ton of Calvin and Hobbes (which both me and my mom just adore) and Peanuts, which Simon's work isn't far off of. But at least those have talking and stuff, right? Not bashing on Simon or his cat! It's just... I like the videos more. *shrug*

There were more and there's still more- I actually also spent time on Sunday getting holds on a bunch of books I have in a list that I wanna read, and we went to pick up some yesterday- but those are just kinda the prominent DISCOVERIES! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

For two days last week, my sis and I went on a big Netflix binge. We finally finished Roswell (she freaked when she was like "They left out Jessie?! He's the only bf/gf that is actually married into the family, and they just leave him out anyway?!") and needed something else to watch. We ended up watching Dexter.

I have seen a lot of shows by this point that have innuendos and sex and swearing and stuff, but... the amount in Dexter is a little much, don'chu think? Can we not focus more on the whole serial killer thing, guys? That's the part I like. The part I luv. There's enough crazy plot twists and stuff as it is without the other stuff. I mean, the finale to the first season was insane! I would've never seen that coming!!!

Partway through the second season, though... I just kinda gave up. The show kinda felt like it was messing with me. Not the killing part, all the swearing and stuff mentioned earlier. I was worried by this point I was gonna be close to actually blurting a bad word out loud! Which I REFUSE to let happen! I told my sis my worries, and she was just like "Okay, we'll watch something different."

So come Monday, she turns on That 70's Show. *deadpan* *facepalm* Uh... P.S., sis... THAT'S NOT EXACTLY BETTER! AT LEAST IN DEXTER I HAD MASS MURDERINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO!

I found all my Lego people, so they are now standing around with Zane and his dragon. *pleased Honey-sempai flowers* (Broranges corrected me on that during Winter Break. Is it actually -senpai or does it not matter?)

On Saturday, me and my family drove to Cannon Beach, which was a little further away than my dad had anticipated, but still close enough to just drive there in the morning and come back home in the late afternoon. It is pretty cute there, and felt good to be in the sand. And, one of the best parts was that in one of the little shops in town we bought a few things, including this awesome teal vintage-ish hat! I love it! I'd been worried about whether I'd actually wear it enough for it to be worth buying (since stuff there is kinda expensive). My sister was like "Really? You practically lived in a Spongebob snapback. I think you're good." I wanted to respond, "I'm pretty sure I actually wore my Scooby-Doo hat a lot more..." but I could see her point. If I really like a hat, I'm gonna find all the opportunities to wear it. As is tradition, I'm gonna do the same with this hat (and maybe bring my Spongebob hat back too)- at least until winter, when I can wear all my other hats.

I could tell you about more stuff you probably don't care about at all, but I'll just finish with something a little important. This month (July), I'm gonna be going to girls' camp, and then the week after to Mexico. It's been a few years since we went to visit relatives there, so. Like before, we're gonna be there for 3 weeks, mainly staying with my grandma who doesn't have internet and now just the local channels on her little TV. I'll post if I get the opportunity, but that just might be once, maaaaaaaaybe twice. I'm hoping I'll end up writing a lot more for my WIP fics and stuff during that time, though.