Silence Breaks with Poetry

I haven't posted all summer, and we'll see whether with 4 APs and 1 Honors I'm allowed to post again. You can find frequent updates at www.innovativeteen.blogspot.com. Here is some Elizabeth Barrett Browning for your consideration.

The Best Thing in the World

What's the best thing in the world?
June-rose, by May-dew impearled;
Sweet south-wind, that means no rain;
Truth, not cruel to a friend;
Pleasure, not in haste to end;
Beauty, not self-decked and curled
Till its pride is over-plain;
Love, when, so, you're loved again.
What's the best thing in the world?
-- Something out of it, I think.

Examine Me Happy

Cumulative SAT: 2120
Verbal + Math : 1440
Exam (Latin IV Honors): 96
Exam (Math Analysis/Trig): 100*
Exam (Foods & Wellness): 97
Exam (Journalism): 100
Exam (AP Chem): 95
Exam (Honors English): 99
Gabrielle: Very, very happy

*I was worried I was going to get a C on this... for once, YAY MATH! But don't quote me.

Crappy Reading Luck

I checked out about ten books from the library yesterday and haven't liked any of them. They were all either poorly written or weird. AAH!

Movies, Movies and More Movies

Summer is basically here.

I'm in the throes of exam week, and soon need to understand polar coordinates (WHY, I ask, WHY?) in order to remain stable grade-wise (I have a borderline B, needed to KEEP it that way.) Otherwise, I've seen All About Eve, Hollywoodland, 27 Dresses and lots of other movies. Ah, good cinema is like... something poetic, anyway.

On the upnote: I've finished my harp recital (but not harp lessons), I have three college interviews scheduled and the challenge of giving myself a structured-but-not-structured schedule for my summer.

Once I survive exams.

Making Peace with Debussy

My life is about to change, again.

School is rapidly closing. After prom (which was WONDERFUL and deserving of a separate post), we had standardized testing which took over the schedule. This was my last full week of school. It's crazy how fast this year has gone by.

The summer is shaping up. I'll be working 20-25 hours/week at one job and hope to grab some extra babysitting hours. I'm saving up for our Big European Trip and other things. I'll be suffering in summer school (never did take U.S. History) and doing ballroom dance, and writing like a woman possessed. I have a novel to finish. My writing clips from this summer are probably some of the last that will go on my college resume, because...

I will be applying to college. That scares the crap out of me, some days. College is something you talk about forever in high school, laugh at, cry over, but it's always in the future. Not anymore. I will be talking to admissions officers about my crazed transcript, writing all my essays, filling in all the stuff about being Caucasian and my dad's Ph.D. And reporting my SATs.

Remember when I was whining about the SATs and math prep a few weeks ago? Friends, it paid off. I was shocked, because I seriously expected it to go down, but NO! I am the proud new owner of a 1440 (out of 1600) and 2120 (out of 2400.) I'm now in the middle 50% for name-that-big-Ivy-League-school.

You daydream about this stuff for ages, and now it's happening. I love that. I get a high off of it, this insane feeling that unlike the rest of high school (sometimes), this part is going to count and count for a lot. It will mean something. It will change something.

And I'm very happy to announce that I have made peace with Debussy. I played "La Fille" on my teacher's new piano and surprised myself-- it actually sounded like something semi-good. Who knew?

Losing It

Things I Have Lost

Phone*

Twilight

Calculator

Purse (3 times)*

Driver's permit*

Textbook (Maybe? Where is it?)

Freakin' mind

*: designates item was recovered.

regularly posting to return when mind is found

My Life in Vignettes

Listening to Relient K's Five Score and Seven Years Ago almost every morning

Spending 2-3 hours on AP Chem every night and realizing I'll still get a C for the year

Crossing out Johns Hopkins from my school list

Looking fabulous every day

Attending the incredible school musical

Becoming a vegetarian (lacto-ovo pescetarian, actually)

Watching the Twilight trailer a bazillion times

Not writing (see: sleep, AP Chem)

Needing shorts

Getting excited about prom

Making plans

Living life

Posting later

The Up and Up

About six months ago, I was getting ready for the SATs. The day before I had a minor nervous breakdown, the product of several months of loneliness and an incredible amount of homework. I remember that Friday-before-SATs clearly. It felt like you feel after you've cried for a very long time.

I called it the Day It All Fell Apart.

I went shopping for my homecoming clutch that day, and would go on to have an amazing homecoming with friends in Faulkner. I would get my 800 verbal on the SATs the next day.

Where am I now? I am happy. I am incredibly happy. I'm working hard but I enjoy it-- most of it-- and I have friends and I love the people I'm surrounded with. I've overcome a lot of my crazy self-expectations, and set some better ones. I haven't had to fall apart much. I'm going to prom in two weeks with one of my best friends from Faulkner. I need to raise my math score by like 60 points, if possible. We'll see. Relient K, as always, has words of wisdom.

To be prosperous
Would not require much of me
You see contentment is the one thing
It entails

To be content with where I am
And getting where I need to be
I'm moving past the past
Where I have failed

But I'm finally catching onto it
And now the past is just a conduit
Right there at the end
Is where I'll be
Oh

Cause I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up
And I haven't given up
Given up on what
What I've gained from love

And I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up
Yeah there's nothing left to prove
Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me
For you
A better version of me
For you

- Relient K, Up and Up

Words to Live By

It is better to be alone, she figures, than to be with someone who can't see who you are. It is better to lead than to follow. It is better to speak up than stay silent. It is better to open doors than to shut them on people.

She will not be simple and sweet. She will not be what people tell her she should be. That Bunny Rabbit is dead.

She watches the boys as they peel off in different directions and disappear around corners and into the buildings of Alabaster.

She doesn't feel like crying anymore.

-The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart

S (tupid) A (norexic) T (imed) s (sheetsofpaper)

I think I really am growing up.

I join, against all principles, the thousands of students once again in re-taking the SATs this Saturday morning. I'd like to up my math score by about 60 points, as well as my writing score. It's a matter of making sure colleges don't scratch their heads when they see my College Board report.

O, how I hate College Board.
I hate their seductive College QuickFinder,
their costly exams
the hours and dimes they steal from us
the poor overachieving youth
who only need
another hour
of sleep

Ahem. Poetry moment over.

Seriously, this whole college business is beginning to get serious. Thursday I can start scheduling my W&M interview for this summer. I have to narrow down my list of 10 schools to 7-- it costs $75 just to apply to these places. I've already crossed out JMU and once I tour Columbia & NYU, I expect to cross out one or the other.

The grades war continues. My trig teacher is under the impression that I have an A in his class, according to the online grading report. Brilliant! I just got a 50 on his quiz, so that won't last too long. I have tests in math and chemistry tomorrow which should be... interesting.

In one way I'm grateful for blogging. It helps me reflect publicly over this time in my life. It's unique and stressful-- SATs and hormones mixed in-- but it's special. It stands out. It stands out as being happy, too, inspite of all this gross stuff I'm learning about polar coordinates and multiple choice questions.

Whirligig

Today I

had a Latin Club meeting (now a VP) about going to a local elementary school and reading pic books in Latin

made hummus

worked on my College Extra-Curric Activities Resume

read Edmund Spenser in front of a hundred of my peers for National Poetry Day (Sonnet 30, Amoretti)

went outside to take notes in AP Chem

was interviewed for a school peer-mentoring club

wrote a sentence in English and translated to Latin

failed a math quiz

did homework and sleep in study hall

went on a good walk

showed my grandmother how much i've improved in music

went to harp ensemble

am exhausted.

Favorite Song of the Week

Relient K is becoming one of my favorite bands. Sure, I steal the e-CD from my sister, but they're just so cool. Love their lyrics, their music, their sound, their message... sigh. So, amazing song of the week.

Must Have Done Something Right

We should get jerseys cause we make a great team
But yours would look better than mine, cause you're outta my league
And I know that it's so cliche to tell you that everyday
I spend with you is the new best day of my life

Everyone watching us just turns away with disgust
It's Jealousy, they can see that we've got it going on
And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say

You're ok with the way this is going to be
This is going to be thing we've ever seen
If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I gotta say is I musta done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I musta done something right
I musta done something right

Maybe I'm just lucky cause it's hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you'd end up with someone like me
And I know that it's so cliche to talk about you this way
But I'll push all my inhibitions aside
It's so very obvious to everyone watching us
That we have got something real good going on

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say
You're ok with the way this is going to be
This is going to be thing we've ever seen

If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I gotta say is I musta done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I musta done something right
I musta done something right

Sunday Homework Overload

It's in the water.

Ever since Spring Break teachers everywhere have been dumping homework like it is chemical waste. The sheer magnitude of this is frightening. I even did some homework (okay, about thirty minutes) yesterday and I still have about five hours left. Therefore, I have read my weekly dose of The New York Times (Sunday Styles and Arts & Leisure; not the Book Review because they're always snooty) and eaten too many chocolate chip bagels and am setting down for Real Work. And blogging.

I also gave in and watched Transformers last night (bored.) It was funny but kind of silly, too; all those bright-colored trucks. Geez.

White Washed Walls Suck

I think my GPA (okay, grades are averaging out to 92.4 this quarter) would vastly improve if they just painted the walls of all the classes colors. RED. YELLOW. GREEN. BLUE. Instead of white.

The white makes it feel like a prison or concentration camp. It makes me cry (literally; I have sensitive eyes.) It makes me want to close my eyes and sleep. It does not make me work harder because I'm so happy because of all the pretty colors.

I NEED COLORS.

Having said that, I just came back from volunteering at a dance for senior citizens at school. I actually didn't dance with any senior citizens-- I'm more scared of them than boys -- but it was really fun. I'm listening to Relient K's "The Best Thing," which is appropriate. Coming to school was the best thing I could have done.

I don't even want to go back to Faulkner, anymore. Just to visit (and I need to do that soon.) I miss my friends terribly, miss being physically with them going through life. But life is really looking up, as long as I have sleep and don't get a defeatist attitude. Who the heck succeeds with a defeatist attitude?

Can you tell this is a stream-of-consciousness blog post?

Exhaustion + Driver's Ed = No Harp

I canceled my harp lesson yesterday out of pure exhaustion. Hit a wall. Shut down. Many words to describe this. Needless to say I have dieted on sushi and lots of American Idol. For lack of original content, here are lyrics to another fabulous song. Um... which one can I pick?

My love she throws me like a rubber ball
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
She wont catch me or break my fall
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Babys got blue skies up ahead
But in this Im a rain cloud
You know she likes a dry kind of love

Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Im losing you
Hey hey hey, Im losing you yeah
Aint love the sweetest thing

I wanted to run but she made me crawl
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Eternal fire, she turned me to straw
Oh oh, the sweetest thing
You know I got black eyes

But they burn so brightly for her
Mine is a blind kind of love
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Im losing you
Oh oh oh, Im losing you yeah
Aint love the sweetest thing

Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Oh oh, yeah
Blue-eyed boy and this brown-eyed girl
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
You can sew it up but you still see the tear
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Babys got blue skies up ahead
And in this Im a rain cloud
You know we got a stormy kind of love
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
...

- U2

So Stirfry

OK, that's what I had for dinner (stirfry.)

Today was a Day Devoted Unto Cars. We went to Carmax to look at two used PT Cruisers, one bright blue and one dark (navy) blue. I loved them and the idea of driving a Cruiser is a great one. We shall see, after the parents debate, whether we end up as a Cruised family and I start driving on the road!

Then Dad and I spent forty-five minutes in our school parking lot Practicing Driving. That went better than I've done before, but I still can't wait for a small car (see: Cruiser.)

After my Day of Socialization -- Friday-- I had a Day of Introvertism. I watched To Catch a Thief, The Bourne Ultimatum, Love Comes Softly and then a few more minutes of To Catch a Thief. I love Grace Kelly! I love Cary Grant! I love the clothes! The Hitchcockiness! I need to pick up Rear Window next; Mandy Moore apparently covets Kelly's entire wardrobe in that movie. I walked for about an hour and a half by myself, and in general chilled out.

Now, of course, I've got loads to do. I have harp and piano to practice, a Latin quiz to study for and a crucial AP Chem retest to study for. Ack. There really is so little time... when you love the movies.

Feeling Slightly Hungover

But that is more because I had people overdose than anything alchohol-related. In fact, there was nothing alcohol-related except when I picked up a bottle of my parent's beer (see below) to demonstrate that I was breaking the law. I don't even like the smell of beer.

Yesterday we had a glorious half-day which was more like pretend school than anything. Half-days are really just to make the administrators feel better about letting us out of school. I read 24 girls, 7 days by Alex somebody and it was OK; and then our friends lent me The Gospel According to Larry which was pretty good. After school I went over to Arby's with Vithya and some other girls, and then to Vithya's house for a Leo diCaprio marathon.

I watched The Departed (or rather: not watched, since I closed my eyes at half of it and thus fulfilled suspicions of being a nice Christian girl. The language is terrible, but twenty minutes into it you stop being shocked and become interested in how creatively they use the f-word.) We were partly into William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet when Mom picked me up for a big party at our digs.

Lots of food, lots of people, lots of me ranting against certain policies of certain schools. Didn't get to sleep till about midnight or so, thus the hungover feeling.

Wanton Parents, Angel Child

There is beer in my house.

At least six, if not eight, bottles of beer are sitting on my kitchen counter in a cooler like they are Kool-Aid. Exhibit A of my parents' moral turpitude and their own trust in my anti-teenagerness.

Well, they aren't exactly getting drunk. We're having a big party here tonight in conjunction with Dad's work and some family friends are driving in this morning. I, on the other hand, have a half-day and then possibly the first school-caused social event of my public school career. Read: The Departed and Arby's.

The half-day is because the first quarter is over, and report cards will be coming. I will be receiving the first C on my report card EVER. Like since ever, an 82 in AP Chem because of a 64 I got on an Atomic Structure test. Grrr.

I just spit out my Frosted Wheats. They are gross and old.

The Irresponsible Student

I may have, uh, accidentally gotten sidetracked by the rather large (and charitable) AMERICAN IDOL GIVES BACK show tonight for, uh, a while. But they seriously had more stars there than the Oscars. (And I have a report due tomorrow which uh.... needs work.)



Best act of the night was by far Robin Williams' "Anti-American Idol."



My picks for Idol are Brooke White, Jason Castro, David Cook and David Archuleta. I have no idea who will win past that, though I am SERIOUSLY trying to get my sister to buy Over the Rainbow by Jason Castro... that song was so chill.

Words to Live By

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

[Chorus:]

Hey now you're an All Star get your game on, go play
Hey now you're a Rock Star get the show on get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold
It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now but wait 'til you get older

...

Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas
I need to get myself away from this place
I said yep what a concept I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change

...
never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

- Smash Mouth
Version by Astro Lounge

I HATE Boys (and the Girls who Like Them)

I just got off the phone with one of my best friends in Faulkner. Last week she had asked this guy called... Bob... to the prom and we were SO proud of her! She's kind of shy but really cool and her school scores like zilch in the Male Dept. She doesn't "like-like" Bob but they hang out and so we, the female friends of Victim, were so thrilled because she'd have a great date and a good time.

THEN.

Apparently Bob was going to his own school prom with another female friend ("The Hag") which is entirely acceptable, seeing as Bob and Victim are not dating. Well, we thought it was acceptable. Apparently The Hag (prom date to Bobschool) was "uncomfortable" with Bob and Victim going to Victim's prom "as friends." So Bob bailed out on Victim, making her a victim.

I HATE BOYS. AND GIRLS.

UGH.

Blogs, Weekend Craziness

Alas, not a philosophical post. Unless you hate philosophical posts. Just items of interest.

I have added two new blogs to my Google Reader, MissCouturable and LyonsLiterary. One is fashion-writing and the other wriitng. Fashion and writing and friends pretty much sum up my Reader.

Driver's Ed looms again. Let us hope I am better with time management and don't stay up till midnight doing homework and getting sick thereafter.

That extra credit test grade I talked about? I kinda-sorta need to write it this week. ACK and there's still a submission I have to send out now. WHERE IS MY TIME?

BOOKS I HAVE READ THIS WEEKEND Bet on Me by Jennifer Crusie, A Time to Kill by John Grisham, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

BOOKS I AM READING Chanel: A life by somebody and Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Or Jackson.

BOOKS I MUST READ: Agatha Christie, the biography, along with Christietown by Susan Kandel.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

I have waited for this book and it looks like FINALLY today I will read it. I cannot wait. It's gotten starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, The School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews and more. I love E. Lockhart.

Gabrielle Gets Sick

I'm thinking I need to start a series of picture books, Gabrielle Gets Irritable, Gabrielle Feels Yucky in First Period, Gabrielle Goes to the Nurse, Gabrielle Goes Home...

Although I did NOT fake feeling ill (I came home and slept for two and a half hours) it did get me out of an AP Chem test that I'm (still) not prepared for. Eek. But I've enjoyed my first Jennifer Crusie novel (Getting Rid of Bradley) a lot; she's a plot/dialogue/description genius. AKA Amazing Writer.

I haven't done any pondiferous posts in a while, one will be coming up shortly. My only (okay, one of many) complaint (s) at the moment is that I have to take the SAT again and improve my 1390. The math kind of stunk. And I hate that I (my parents) have to pay College Board another forty bucks. Yucky.

I've been looking at colleges, though, and here are a few on my list:

www.smith.edu
www.duke.edu
www.hofstra.edu
www.princeton.edu

Vroom, Vroom: Gabrielle's Activities Take Off

HAH! I knew it wasn't my fault. On the driving range in Driver's Ed today, I did AWESOME in a small car. This all proves that the Yukon is to blame and my intelligence is not.

I'm beginning to organize my activities for next year. I will be running for VP of the Latin Club, applying to a Peer Aid club (mentoring/helping out teens) and to the Debate & Forensics team, hopefully. I'm taking a dance class this summer and hopefully will continue that and maybe a musical, the first in a long time.

AND I'll be driving and although taking four APs, will be a senior applying to college.

Wow.

Life may not sound exciting and it probably isn't. It's always interesting.

Gabrielle Behind the Wheel (Gasp!)

It ain't a pretty sight.

I've started Driver's Ed, possibly the most practical course I will ever take in high school. However, it is making time management the eighth golden virtue and spontaneity the eighth deadly vice. Between the class time and the homework, I'm packed. And exhausted.

Dad took me out driving tonight. Nascar is still not a career option. Every time I brake my passengers risk whiplash, and I am scared of our family Yukon. It is so comfortable when I'm sitting in it, but once I start driving, it is a monster who wants me to die. HELP! However, we're getting another car this month (smaller, safer, happier) so maybe my days of Yukonstress are over.

My days of homeworkstress are not.

School Bells Ring...

A LIST OF NUMBERS:

2 AP Chem assignments I'm proscratinating till tomorrow
3 writing contests with deadlines in the next two or three weeks I haven't started on
1 writing assignment that must go out
1 semi-edible lunch to pack
3-5 colleges left to visit
2 full months of school until we're out for the summer
95 grade I'm hoping-against-hope-almost for on my Latin test
18.8% of applicants accepted at Duke University
9.5 hours of sleep I hope to get tonight
TOO MANY classes of Driver's Ed to suffer through

And, in spite of the math, I'm very happy to go to school tomorrow.

The Fabulously Glamorous Reentry to Sayers

Around 2:30 Thursday morning, the day of our departure from Disney World, I began feeling queasy. By 3:30, I began the re-viewing of my past meals. I have not thrown up in years-- I mean years and years and years. I have now crossed out bulimia as an acceptable dieting option. Anorexia, however, was looking pretty enjoyable as I crawled-- I mean, crawled on my butt literally through security at Orlando International Airport. I was afraid I was going to pass out and then throw up on the person in front of me. It was pretty much hell.

However, I didn't eat ANYTHING yesterday (a sip of ginger ale was all) in the midst of our long trip from Orlando to Sayers. We finally got home in the mid-afternoon and I went promptly to bed, and woke up at 7:30 this morning.

I think it was either the kalamari I had for dinner (squid; great, but will not be trying again) or the off-tasting brownie I had at Goofy's Candy Shop. Even at that steep price to pay, however expensive, Disney World is worth it. I have photos up at innovativeteen.blogspot.com and will have more up here, later.

Keep Hooooolding Onnnnn

Also known as a rather annoying/semi-good Avril Lavigne song, also known as the motto of my week. I have been extraordinarily busy this week, stressed out and CRAZY so thank GOD it's Spring Break next week. I have to make Roman food tonight, perform a scene from Hamlet to conclude my Shakespeare test, and study for an AP Chem re-test that unless I ace I will fail Chemistry forever. Of course, my locker completely jammed so I missed the bus this afternoon and spent fifteen/twenty minutes asking people to help un-jam it.

Still, I will take my cue from dark-lined Avril and keeeeep.... holllldinnnngggg.... onnn...

Blog Updated

Few of you know the blog I have for my European travels, www.girlmeetseurope.blogspot.com, but I've just updated it with the goal of doing so more often. Revie, Madeline and I are giving ourselves a graduation present of going to Europe in 2009. If you're at all interested in how we handle logistics, money, and eventually handle ourselves in FOREIGN COUNTRIES, check it out.

How Life Has Changed

This is the fifty-first post of You Got Schooled! and I have been for a total of two months next week. Thinking of this as a kind of anniversary, here's a list of how my life has changed by attending (GASP!) public school, in no particular order.

1. I'm happier. I can honestly say that. Excusing a bad hair day or a bunch of C quizzes, I am happy every day.
2. I have structure for five days a week, and then none whatsoever for the weekend. Works out fine for me.
3. I no longer have a long commute to my place of education. I LOVE this. I LOVE walking home from school on a beautiful day.
4. I have less free time but, refuting an original worry, I still have time to read blogs, write articles, get published and do music. This might change if I get a second job.
5. I've made friends for the first time in Sayers. It's ridiculous how fast people were friendly, which is a testament to prayer and to the coolness of Maud Lovelace kids.
6. I've realized how I hate overachieverism. Especially now as I hang out with all the math/science geniuses, I see how they all stress about grades (okay, not ALL that much.)
7. I'm SO much more chill! To translate for the geriatrics: I'm much calmer and less likely to pounce on people or burst into tears. I have cried so much less, it's unbelievable. My tear ducts don't know me.
8. And as a carryover, I'm at peace with myself. Most of the time. The inner Gabrielles have an occasional battle.

My friends have even noticed the change in my voice on the phone. "Gabby, I hate you! Your life is too cool!" Yes, yes it is. I have been given so much: in happiness, in clothing (which is happiness), in circumstance. If it were less, it would be payback, but it's not. It's a gift and I thank God for it.

Scones for School

I'm baking scones tonight, as I have two parties in classes tomorrow. One is for Foods & Wellness, where we are celebrating our International Foods project. I did England (go figure.) And then in English, we are concluding The Great Gatsby by throwing a 1920s party and I am bringing even more scones to that as well. My family is grumbling because it's a great recipe and I'm only giving them a few scones. So goes life.

It's so weird to think we're finishing Gatsby. Not because it's super special (although it's a fantastic novel). It's just an iconic book for eleventh grade, the way you read Macbeth senior year. I'm nearing the end of my junior year of high school. Bizarre.

Ode to Teacher, Part Two

Dr. Klimpson

My Latin teacher for this year. He is one of the best teachers I've ever had. I mean this is the strict sense of the word: he is organized, he assigns regular and the right amount of homework, he communicates very well, he laughs with us without getting buddy-buddy, and the students respect him. And he loves Latin without it being annoying.

I've had one-two-three-four-five Latin teachers now, but Dr. K probably takes the prize-- maybe. I've done Latin in various uncoventional settings.

ACH! It's late and I still have so much to do! Well, Dr. Klimpson is an excellent teacher and one I'm very proud to be taught by. Except when I get 77s on his tests.

Celebration of Mediocrity

I'm all for mediocrity right now as I received two As, two Bs, one C and two exempt (either slack teacher or study hall = no grades) on my interim today. Happily for all those C-westioning my intelligence, the C is really a B after the 93 I got on an AP Chem test. YAY!

It's big doings over at Innovative with our interview with E. Lockhart. Check it out at www.innovativeteen.blogspot.com, it's the third post down.

After this weekend, two huge writing projects will be out of my hands (one already is) and I'll have more time to blog about lovely life. Life really is lovely right now, in spite of various high ups and low downs.

Revie said on the phone, "You sound so happy!"

I am.

A Before School Memo

My bus will be here soon, but I wanted to document several noted changes.

1. I will be rising at 6:30 am every school day and Saturday morning to get writing done. For school, this means doing the shower-packlunch-setclothesout deal at night and getting to bed by 10:30/11pm.

2. I will be increasing my daily walk to 40 minutes/day. I'll be taking Driver's Ed soon and I won't be able to visit my exercise class as often... sad face...

3. Um... um... I will be reading too! I have books on hold about Coco Chanel, Robespierre and Michelangelo.

Little changes but I want to remind myself of them. It's something that Christina Katz (thewritermama.wordpress.com) has done and I think it is a good idea.

A Lovely Day

Thanks to SOLs, our county gave an afternoon half-day to all upperclassmen. Meaning? I didn't have to show up at school till 11:30 am. I slept in, then had time to do my hair (wonder of wonders!) and ease my way downstairs at 9:45. I proceeded to check my phone and discovered Vithya had invited me to join a bunch of kids from AP Chem at Panera's for brekkie.

It was a lot of fun (chocolate croissants and science geeks mix well) and I got a ride to school, which was also lovely because... hello... we have a half-day! I also re-tested in AP Chem (and I think I did really well!), got a 105 and 101 on Latin quizzes and got a B on a math test. Good grades, good grades.

Tonight? No homework clouds the horizon so I'm planning on fitting in an instrument before my dance/exercise class, and then crying for the Project Runway Season 4 Finale tonight.

The Spring Book Preview

Books I'm very excited about that are coming out this Spring! I'll edit this post some and then post it on Innovativeteen.blogspot.com. Will be adding more as I find them.

This looks like a new take on Patricia Wrede's classic Sorcery and Cecelia.
Dark fairy tale? I'm in. Both of these are debut authors.
E. Lockhart! She's interviewing with us next week, and I am so excited about this book. It comes out March 24, I believe. I'll be in Disney World; but maybe they have bookstores...
More E. Lockhart! This book is tri-authored, and looks very interesting.
This is the sequel to a series I enjoyed, though I thought the writing was a bit newbie-ish. It's too high fashion for me to miss, though.

Nothing a Good Book Can't Cure

Sorry for the lack of posting late. I went to Faulkner over the weekend to celebrate Madeline's quite belated birthday. We watched The Other Boleyn Girl, The Jane Austen Book Club, Shakespeare in Love, Casablanca and Bewitched. Then I got home on Sunday to sleep for 13 hours and then my week happened so... yeah.

I've begun a habit of spending my study hall in the school library. It's a fairly large library and very quiet and pleasant, instead of the stressful awfulness of my regular study hall. And I'm about two-thirds of my way into Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, which is excellent and making me want to move to Italy immediately. Since an immediate move doesn't seem practical, I'll settle for a year after college.

An Ode to Teacher, Part I

I'm tired from an hour-long aerobics class, but I had a great day at school. Great mostly because nothing huge happened. I spent lunch with Vithya talking about books, strong women and a common adoration of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Stress, however, is never far behind. I've lost my wallet somehow (containing debit card, driver's permit, gymn card...), have to find my friend's headband before her birthday this weekend, have one article due to one editor, a short story (as yet unwritten) due by this weekend to a second, and a major writing contest deadline (that requires between thirty and fifty pages) in two weeks. I have practiced harp already, though, which means I'm started.

I don't have time to do all at once, but I thought I'd do a little series of posts on teachers that have influenced me. Names changed, of course, but they remain the same.

Mr. McDouglass

My history teacher, sophomore year. He knew my dad before he met me, which added layers to the student-teacher relationship. Basically, he made every class fun without any intention of doing so. I remember his class as a time to talk about important stuff (like racism, women's rights) without it being stuffy or annoying. He's black, in a school of mostly whites, which made for good conversation and a better understanding of Black History Month.

I was impressed by his dedication to social activism, his cool-headedness, his never-ending male chauvinism (faked, in order to get some kind of male academic ambition out of the guys in our class) and the fact that he argued with me. He constantly took our small school and asked us all to look beyond our puny walls and see the world, past and present and future. Here's to Mr. McDouglass.

I sip my symbolic sparkling cider.

The Mystery of Music and Other Things

Most all of you know that I play the harp and piano. I'm at that funny level that comes after playing for more than seven or eight years. I'm good-- I play classical, and can do it well-- but not good like "OMG Little Mozartina!" Music takes up a lot of my time and is a definite stressor. But I could not imagine my life without playing either instrument, and I have a brilliant imagination. It's a weird sort of satisfaction, not like a great feeling when I practice, but... being satisfied in the feel of my fingers as I press down the harmonies of a Bach Fantasia.

One of the evil things about life is how teenagers can't just do things for fun anymore. In sports, in music, in art: you are either brilliant at what you do and are going to get paid for it, or you don't try at all. For example, I like swim team. I am an absolutely horrible and slow swimmer (I have like a 2:10 lap) but I really enjoy the experience and it's a great form of exercise. But I can't really do swim team or swim class any more, because all the other kids my age are amazing swimmers and competitive about it.

With music, I'm so the in-between. To non-musicians, I'm incredibly musical and gifted. To fellow teen musicians, I'm never good enough because I don't practice for two hours a day and don't listen to classical music in my sleep. This is why I like that music is mainly a solo deal: it's you, the instrument, and occasionally your teacher.

But maybe I'm wrong. I've met increasing numbers of teenagers who started playing the piano three or four years ago. They're not very good but they love it playing, and they love talking about it. It's not the biggest part of their lives but it gives them great joy.

As to me. Music gives me great joy.

A Date of One

I just got back from a lovely night. Date. With myself.

I was not stood up.

Kids from AP Chem had talked about seeing a movie this weekend, but it didn't work out because I had a harp thing. But I thought, I would like to go to Barnes & Noble's and just read by myself for a while. You know, I'd like to see a movie, too. So I got dolled up (I looked--look--fabulous, by the way, and with a new haircut) and tonight I had a date by myself. I went to B&N and read the latest Private novel, which sucked in entirety but brought back good memories. Then I went to see Definitely, Maybe which was adorable. I really love going to the theater by myself. It's a very different experience.

Afterwards, I went back to the bookstore to finish the novel and then place my order for Breaking Dawn, the last in Stephenie Meyer's mind-blowing perfect series. The book happens to come out in August, and the clerk clearly thought I was crazy for pre-ordering so soon ("they don't even have a cover yet.") But I wanted to.

E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks comes out in mid-March and Melissa Walker releases Violet by Design next week, both of which I'm excited about.

However, my father had his doubts about my "date of one," distrusting his daughter of sixteen years who has only lied to him once (I was about six, and it concerned a bucket, I believe... okay, maybe I've lied to them more than that, can't remember), and half-asked my mother whether I was meeting someone. I was extremely offended when informed by my amused mother. What kind of male chauvinist thinks that a girl will get dressed up and go out and have a good time only because she is going to meet a boy?

And didn't he think I would be more creative about it if I was sneaking around with someone? Like, I would have totally gone for the grunge look AND I would have said I was meeting a girlfriend that my parents didn't know AND... I probably would have lied to them about the movie. Gosh. I do read, you know.

But my feministic fury is spent. I should probably practice piano and do AP chem homework, but instead I'm going to cuddle up with Twilight and spend time with Edward Cullen, the only man I would sneak around and lie to my parents and sell my soul for. Because, you know, he's a totally hot vampire.

The Art of Ruining a Day

1. Stand in line for 1.5 hours for summer school registration. Line is still too long, so you go to the last part of first bell.

2. In the middle of salsa-baking second bell, get a call from Attendance snapping that "You did not attend first bell."

3. Go deal with attendance office to prevent getting suspended, and deliver proof from guidance that I in fact was at school on time.

4. Fail a quiz in English and miss a reading assignment, all because I forgot to read the reading schedule.

5. Get yelled at by AP Chem teacher for going to register for summer school during AP Chem... which is when guidance calls for me. (I got an 80 on her test.)

6. Get a sales call from the DC area (DC???) in the middle of Latin class. Phone is, of course, on all the way and so phone is taken by Latin teacher.

7. Get an 82 on his quiz.

8. Study hall: have to sneeze. No tissues. Spend entire study hall in extreme stress and mortification.

9. Go to principal's office to pick up phone. Assistant principal is out. No phone until tomorrow.

10. Come home and cry.

I got a 91 on my trig test and lunch was fun. So it isn't a complete waste of daylight.

Do you know that scene in Bridget Jones' Diary where she's talking on the phone to her BFF and then Hugh Grant walks over and she pretends to be talking to a professor, but HG realizes it and shows her up and she doesn't say anything but you see

F****************************************************

right across the screen?

Let me say that that was repeated often-- very often--- mentally throughout my entire day so far.

Feminism and Fevers

So, I've basically been sick since Wednesday but my three-day weekend took a turn for the terribly worse with fevers and chills and sore throats and blotchy noses... I love, love, love my English heritage, but the only thing I complain about is that whenever I cry/have a cold, my nose turns positively red and freezes that way... WHY THIS WEEKEND?? Still, I'm having a hard time swallowing so I may not be at school tomorrow. We shall see.



I have spent the weekend attempting to get up, and when failing, reading and watching TV. Sunday I read Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher and watched The River Runs Through It with my parents (which, I must own, I did not completely understand.) But I got Pipher's book. I had read this 90s-bestseller before but was too young to appreciate it. She basically is lambasting the way young women are portrayed by mass culture and judged by people in general, saying that it poisons their character and stereotypes them to a point of destructive behavior. I really enjoyed her book and the stories she told about her therapy clients. A few things are outdated now in the 2000s, what with internet and a small wave of feminism working its way back in, and I disagree with her on a few issues. In whole, her work has been beyond important for America to see its young women as they are, and not as they "should" be.



Today, I woke up feeling much better... until like 10 AM. Then I started to burn up and feel awful. So I watched multiple episodes of Project Runway and read The Awakening by Kate Chopin this afternoon. This was an incredible book, especially if you realize when it was written. It's the story of a married woman in Louisiana who finds herself lost in a shallow, too-small world. If it were published for the first time today, it might be nodded at and applauded; but it was published in 1899!!!!



So, still sick, now checking prices on European hostels. WHY DID I HAVE TO GET SICK ON MY THREE DAY WEEKEND?

Recipe for I-Feel-Awful Mexican Mush

Still feeling pretty bad, inspite of two doses of Zicam, multiple green teas and about nine straight hours of televsion (everything from Lifetime movies to Sister, Sister to Leo DiCaprio's Romeo & Juliet.) For lunch, however, I cooked up some Mexican mush that was actually pretty good. If you want to replicate this gourmet dish, here you go:

1/2 can refried beans
1/2 can corn
1/2 can peeled & diced tomatoes
about 1/4 cup of leftover meat
1/2 tsp chile powder

Mix all in a small frying pan and then sprinkle Mexican cheese on top. Makes 2 servings, great for uneasy stomachs.

Officially Sick

So Maud Lovelace will get its first day free of Gabrielle since last semester. I feel fine within myself but then I try to start moving... it's just a cold gone bad. Uck. So tomorrow I will be reposing in mine chamber (read: really messy room) and catching up on homework and looking forward to a reunion with my dear old big giant school on Valentine's Day.

It will be a gift to have a day to step outside my swirling world of academics and then be able to go back and feel good. I felt pretty crappy at school today.

Briefly Before Feeling Sick

I feel kind of cold-like if you know what I mean, but I do have chores to do and an e-zine to publish and two instruments to practice before caving in to my slumberly desires.

Basically, this weekend I shopped, went to church and watched hours of television. I don't watch that much TV during the week because of school (no-brainer) so I've watched quite a bit. It feels good to vegetate, although--

I need to read something a bit more mind-stretching that hasn't been published in the last 5 years. Any recommendations? I just need books, really, and one in particular that I'm supposed to write an article about NEXT WEEK... eeek.

Well, off to cleaning. You know that's my vocation in life.

Pep-Pep-Perray!

Friday we had a pep rally in honor of our upcoming games against the Arch Rival, Carolyn Keene High School. The cheerleaders sucked, the dance team was all right but the step team was hilarious. For those uninitiated, stepping is like rap-dancing; usually an African-American girl thing with movements timed perfectly with a beat, etc. It's quite cool when done well. Anyway, as I was standing with two THOUSAND other kids in the gym and specifically with some very funny AP Chem kids, the step team comes out with their hoodies all pulled in so you can't see their faces. All but one begin to dance. After the first number, a team member goes to the remaining hoodied person and rips off the hoodie to reveal.... a skinny white junior boy!

It was SO FUNNY.

He then began to dance with all these voluptuous black girls and he was GREAT. It was the best part of the pep rally. He was the talk of the pep rally. Kudos to him!

Today I slept in till ten and then went shopping. Didn't get much, because the dresses at H&M were too short (sad face, they were quite cute) but I did manage to get my hands on a pair of Antonio Melani shoes for $20 (adorable tan snake-skin patterned peep heels) and a cute basic white shirt from NY&C.

I really love shopping. It makes me wonder whether I should consider the fashion mag world, just to fund and indulge in clothes and beauty. I don't know whether I'd be any good at it, but it sure would be fun.

Over My Head... Maybe?

When people ask me how my school days have gone, I say "okay." I mean that in the true sense of the word, as in "there were good times and bad times." Good times like lunch, where the AP Chem girls adopt me and we have fun talking about boys, Jane Austen and SAT prep classes (I know, I really have a life.) Bad times like my locker refusing to open and I feel like my face is all red and gross and I get an 84 on a quiz and am still waiting for the F on the other one. Or like right now, on my sixteenth birthday, where I am about 50% done with my AP Chem homework and still need to figure out how to work a new laptop.

I am not coming to school for the academics, but it's like an incurable disease-- I can't not care. I've tried. It is too embedded into my psyche, due to highly educated genes and an overachiever complex. And it also stresses me out a lot, and I missed my daily walk-- huge destresser-- today. I feel like a salmon with a broken fin and malfunctioning GPS system, trying to sail the wrong way up the stream. I need to remember that nobody expects me to swim perfectly.

Yes, I think I had a nice birth-day. My bday celebrations have been going on for the whole month of January, it feels like, and so today is kind of anteclimatic. All I want to do know is to go to sleep!

More school and b-day related stuff tomorrow. For now: carry on, Mr. Bowditch.

Tips on Coffeehouse Performing

1. "Shorter" is equal to "better." No buts.
2. Be honest about your talent. If you suck... walk away from the mic.
3. Lie desperately about your amount of confidence. If you act like you're all that (AND funny!) people will like you.
4. Dedicate your Broadway song to "all the girls out there" and they will love you for it. It also helps to have a fantastic voice.
5. Be perfectionistic about sound levels and sound equipment.
6. Laugh at the emcee's terrible jokes.
7. If you are a teacher, your song better be 1 minute long or your voice must have won you American Idol.
8. Remember your audience. This goes back to Aristotle's view of rhetoric, but please. Please. Remember your audience.

While I Should Be Doing Homework...

I had a great relaxing weekend, and was thrilled by the events of the Super Bowl last night (although sad I didn't watch the House episode; Rev said it was amazing!) School went by quickly today, and was entertaining. Except for the evil study hall boys who were making racket for the foreign substitute teacher. Oh wait-- they always make racket.

I walked home from school today. It was really nice. I'm off now to AP Chem and trig/analysis... and music... so that I can go to this coffeehouse thing at school tonight.

But first, Student Snapshots:

Vithya, the Indian girl in my AP Chem class, who was laughing and telling us about her grandmother who has instructed her to only marry a Bengali.

Amanda, the girl next to me in Foods & Wellness, who has a great sense of fashion and is planning to be a doctor.

Lunch girls: all math & science nerds who are fun and funny, surrounded by parents who pressure them to get higher SAT scores. Alas.

Shell Shocked

I have just completed my first week of public high school.

To warn you: I am so tired that all I want to do is drink hot chocolate and watch Sister, Sister. Blogging will hopefully happen, but... all I can say is that I had such a freeze-out on my trig/analysis quiz... I left half of it blank. Half of it blank. I just completely shut down. I probably would have burst into tears, except I am attempting to develop a good rep at Maud Lovelace.

Forget the wheel and the iPod. The weekend is looking like one of God's best creations, and this one is officially declared Pamper Shell-Shocked Gabrielle While Making Her Do Her Homework Weekend. See ya later, gang.

Here Comes the Prom Queen

So I'm not prom queen yet... but I do plan on crashing the next prom committee meeting! The AP Chem teacher is the sponsor or whatever, so she gave me the details. Gabrielle is quite excited.

B-day pics WILL be coming, but I have a lot of studying & music to do AND sissie wants the computer. So, in a nutshell, snippets from my day:

My trig/analysis teacher, the perfect Southern gentleman, who has the prettiest eyelashes. He's also about fifty or sixty and built like a football player, but he's such a sweetie.

The quiet kid in my Foods & Wellness class who totally popped the entire bag of Nestle chocolate chips when we attempted to make choco chip cookies... like all over the floor.

Lunch! sitting for the first time at an all-junior table and asking the very friendly, crazy girls from AP Chem to tell me who's who. I had a great time.

Journalism Skills: My teacher asks me in front of the whole class if everyone's been nice to me at Maud Lovelace. I say, "Yes, everyone's been very nice." He goes, "Well, if they're not, let us know." I go, "Well, after I beat them up, I'll let you know." Nobody laughs. Puhleez, people, I was wearing a lace shirt. How macho am I? Fortunately he referred me to the head of the Lovelace Mafia-- a freshman who probably weighs about 80 pounds.

More pics and deetz this weekend as I crash and do homework.

Birthday Bash

Revie being shocked at George Washington.
Ashley looking splendid.
Um... someone's hair?
Beautiful Colonial Williamsburg.
The birthday girl. Do you see the papparazzi in the background?

Ashley looking crazy in the bus.
Peanuts!!!


Why was George Washington sculpted shirtless?? that's so weird.

It truly was a sweet sixteen to remember.

The Locker: A List of Accomplishments

1. I rode the bus to school.

2. I got a locker, although I couldn't open it without help from multiple people.

3. I talked with two girls in my Foods & Wellness class about bright spring colors, prom and preventing falls in the kitchen.

3.b. I got a 95 on a quiz in English, about an essay I had just read the night before.

4. I talked to a very nice girl in AP Chem.

5. I entered the cafeteria, bought a Subway sandwich, and walked around trying to see if there was anyone I could potentially sit with. As there was none in sight, I sat down at a table by myself. Three seconds later, a girl who I had neither talked to nor shared classes with-- I had just seen her in AP Chem during break-- asked me to sit with her group of friends.

6. They totally bought my "I-transferred-to-Maud-Lovelace-Because-I-got-caught-smuggling-marijuana" line. Like totally. It was so funny.

7. I had a great time at lunch.

8. Latin was so much fun. I love my Latin class.

9. I was able to open my locker twice without help (and twice with.) Yay!

10. I wore my glasses in two classes.

One step forward... well, I can't go much further backward. So just one step forward, I hope.

The Art of Being Schooled, or Letters from Day 1

It wouldn't be a first day if I didn't miss the bus. So of course, in honor of a tradition dating from sophomore year, I missed the bus.

Still, the day wasn't too bad. I woke up about an hour before we left to take care of necessary academic preparations (read: makeup, hair and clothes.) An aide in the guidance department gave me a tour when I got there, and then I trotted off to Journalism Skills. I am also taking AP Chemistry, Foods & Wellness, Honors English 11, Latin IV, Math Analysis/Trig and a study hall. This is the first time I've had study hall in a real school and not in a homeschool co-op and I am looking forward to enjoying it.

Obse--

I had to pause because I accidentally set my microwave s'more to 1 hour and not 20 seconds... i have no idea how this happened. now it is pleasantly smoking up my kitchen and I have to be at harp in half an hour. I love my harp teacher, but I am about as excited as investigating year-old poop about this lesson.

Anyway. Observations about teenagers:

1. They all dress really badly. Like, they all get their clothes from the same faded-color, cheap graphic-tee store and they have NO sense of style. The few that do are all older girls, and the style usually stops at H&M.

2. They love to curse like sailors. Since sailing is a less popular career avenue now, I believe the new correct phrase is "cursing like teenagers." It's so glam to them.

3. They're all crazy and lovable. OK, scrap the lovable. You have to love the joie de vivre of teenagerness, though.

I feel so old there. Like I'm a college student moonlighting as a teen.

Well, as first days go, it's been all right. First days are never really dramatic, and the only reason you could feel like crying/laughing is because you are tired. Like me. I am exhausted and all I want to do is go upstairs and listen to Sara Bareilles and Michael Buble. But I have a fried s'more in the microwave.

No More Full House

Tis the night before I get schooled. Again.

Ever since, I don't know, September or so, my sister and I began a tradition of watching Full House every weekday afternoon. We were both home-schooled, and it gave structure to our afternoons. I have now come to know the inner workings of the Tanner household, as well as learned about Jesse's Elvis obsession and Joey's puerile state of mind. It's not the wittiest show around (House) or most fashion-forward (Project Runway) or amusing (What Not to Wear.) But it's funny, and sweet, and so early 90s.

But now I will miss Full House because I don't get home from school until it's over. This is one of the things I am giving up, along with a fully (or thereabouts) stocked pantry open 24/7, leisure time, and... I can't think of much more. Thus signifying my complete resolution to enter public high school tomorrow.

For the record, to protect my parents from future lawsuits: I confess I am doing this of my own free will.

The month of January has been extraordinary. I have lazed about and done a lot of writing and worked in my dad's office and listened to music and practiced music and gone to Florida and had a birthday party and SHOPPED. Thanks to Christmas presents, gifts from my grandparents and a gift card from my parents, I have officially been shopped out. I have completely re-vamped my wardrobe from The Semester of Purgatory (official title). I have absolutely divine clothing. I don't think I can spend another cent on clothes, shoes, purses or jewelry without cringing.

So. Am I ready for school? Not exactly. I have pencils to sharpen, binders to find, backpacks to pick, paper to stuff, lunch to prepare, outfit to lay out, class schedule to confirm... but at least I know I'll look good.

Some things, like friends and school, are worth sacrificing for, as long as you're wearing the right pair of shoes.

The Origin of Maud Lovelace, and Other Literary Allusions

The reason I chose the title of Maud Lovelace for my public high school can be easily explained. Lovelace was the author of the infamous Betsy-Tacey-Tib series, set at the turn of the century set in the Pacific Northwest-ish area. I have read Betsy and Joe, the book about the trio in their senior year of high school, about twenty times. No joke. My copy defines the word "dog-eared."

I love the story of such a typical Americana high school experience. I love Betsy and Joe. I love Maud Lovelace. Thus the title for my school.

I was thinking about how so many YA books and movies are written about kids who start a new school in the first chapter. Here is a list of what I can think of; add on any that I've missed.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Private by Kate Brian
Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian
The Queen Geek Social Club by Laura Preble (Becca, although she doesn't start until like chapter 3)
10 Things I Hate About You ... I miss you, Heath Ledger.
Mean Girls (don't worry, I get the similarities)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian that won this year's National Book Award. I haven't read it yet, but I think it's about this.

Still Alive, Attempting to Avoid Thought of School

Contrary to popular belief, I have not disappeared but rather have been under the avalanche of a Sweet Sixteen birthday bash (my own) and preparations for Tuesday, my first day of school. B-day pics will be coming, but for right now I can just say I had an excellent time.

Right now, all the stuff I have to do is:

Write the article for my e-zine this week
Chores... child abuse, i tell ya.
Start a book (yup, I'm putting the last one on hold.)
Listen (again) to a CD my friends burned me

Okay, okay, not the toughest life around. Tomororw is crazy however, with work, me getting my first pair of glasses (official geekification), a lunch party at home and a piano lesson later. I have been working on this Bach Fantasia like crazy, hope it will show.

May I say that my new loves in life are Michael Buble and Sara Bareilles? Google the lyrics to her "Fairytale" and listen to her "Gravity," as well as buying Buble's "Everything," "Sway," and basically every single song he has ever sung.

Getting Schooled in Florida: Day 6 Photos

Funny looking boat.

Bird Isle.
Mom Mom's pole.


My feet!

Look at all the birds!!



Look at that water!!!

Boats, boats...


Boat being taken out of water by giant crane!!!

Again, reminds me of the AT&T commercial.

Getting Schooled in Florida: Day 6

Yesterday, in Day 6 of my Floridan adventure, was a gorgeous day. Mom Mom and I picked up magazines for my flight travel (Seventeen and Elle now) as well as stopping by Stein Mart. I grabbed a beautiful vinyl plastic BRIGHT YELLOW aviator jacket (loads of adjectives) combining money from Mom Mom & Pop Pop's birthday gift and part of Nana & Grandee's school clothes gift. Talk about a grandparental collaboration!

After lunch at the club (magnificent quesadillas and cookies) we went fishing! We took the boat for a grand two hours and it was sublime. I got lots and lots of photos which I will present in a moment. I even tanned a bit, which is saying something. It was really wonderful.

I watched another Miss Marple but an old one this time, not the one with Helen Hayes. Then Mom Mom cooked shrimp alfredo fettucini (fabulous) and she and I watched the Masterpiece Theatre rendition of Northanger Abbey which was much better than the old one.

This morning, we went surf fishing! That's when you fish off the beach. I don't have any photos, but it was really fun because it's pretty today. I learned how to throw the line out (casting that has nothing to do with drama) and right at the end I caught a small bass. It was lovely, but not eatable so it got to live another day and I got a nice feeling out of it.

I have had a really amazing time in Florida. More reflections and all later, but for now, pray for safe travel and that my culture shock back into Sayers won't be too bad!

Getting Schooled in Florida: In Pictures

Mom Mom and I took the Starbucks road to breakfast while driving to the outlet malls. YAY!
A look at a beeyoutafull Liz Claibourne bag I got for like $15, and a short look at an Ann Taylor wrap blouse.
Yes, I got NINE WEST SHOES. TWO OF THEM. FOR A RIDICULOUSLY LOW AMOUNT OF MONEY.
The full entourage of what we got (of course, Mom Mom found a lot of stuff for herself, too.)

The Ann Taylor blouses. Bella!
The pig in my grandparents' condo. I always think she's real. Maybe she comes alive at night.
Example of beautiful day.
Example 2 of beautiful day.
Driving to the outlet mall, scenic Florida.

Palm trees by night, after a dinner of grilled mahi-mahi (which PopPop told me is really dolphin, but restaurant people don't want guests thinking they're eating Flipper or porpoise, so they call it mahi-mahi) and shrimp and sweet potato fries, and one fabulous viewing of 27 Dresses. I LOVED that movie.
More palm trees by night, before watching Vanity Fair and First Daughter.
One last look at Palm Trees by Night.
The two Liz Claibourne purses. I freak every time I see them they are so pretty. My Nana (British grandmother) gave me some money for school clothes, most of which I spent in Sayers on some fab pieces of clothing (piccies to come later when I figure out Mom's camera.)
The three pairs of shoes I bought (two of them Nine West.) The peeps are pretty nifty too.