Lindsay Loves

It started snowing this morning, out of nowhere. It wasn’t supposed to start until tonight, and it snowed steadily throughout the day, so they decided to close the schools 3 hours early. We were all on the bus, and we heard the announcement over the radio, and everyone got really quiet trying to hear it. Our bus driver even told us to have a blessed weekend, instead of a blessed day like she normally does.

Whenever they modify the schedule, we do one of three things in any given class: busy work, a test/quiz that the teacher refuses to postpone, or absolutely nothing. Mrs. Anderson took that third option in first period today, so we all just sat around. I sat around with Greg. xD I am reassured that I made the right decision whenever I spend time with him. And he has very warm hands. =)

Dr. J mentioned something about the Ch. 18/19 test being tomorrow, which apparently went right over my head. Still, I started (copying) the problems for Ch. 18, and I remember doing all of this electronic systems stuff last year, so I should be okay. (92% on the last test – w00t!) And I have extra time to do it today, so there ya go. Off to do some more surfing now; will be back later tonight.

I’ve got “Can’t Nobody” (Kelly Rowland) stuck in my head right now. I was listening to the radio not long ago, finishing this awesome book, and that came on. First time I’ve heard it on the radio; must be her new single. I would’ve suggested… I don’t know, maybe “Past 12”?

The book was The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I remember someone reviewing it back in the eighth grade (we were doing Newbery books; I picked Dicey’s Song, which was also good), and it sounded interesting, so when I saw it in Borders a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a go. Having finished it, I have one comment: Wow. Just… woah. Seriously. I don’t usually read mysteries, but the premise of this one was too good to pass up. Millionaire Samuel W. Westing dies, offering sixteen people the chance to win $200 million if they can determine who among them killed him. The players, however, are not all who they seem. One is a doctor, one a judge, another a dressmaker, another a secretary. But one is also a bookie, another a bomber, and another a burglar. Some are adults, others children. All are swept in the Westing game, with clues and unforseen events that keep you guessing and laughing to the very end. I can see why this won such a prestigious award, though I would not classify it as a children’s book.

The Westing Game is number 78 on my list. I started keeping it during the fall of sophomore year, when I finished To Kill a Mockingbird. At first, I wrote down the book title before I started reading (so I couldn’t forget to record it), but then I quit reading one book and it screwed up my numbering. Technically, there are only 76 books, though, because I added Draco Dormiens and Draco Sinister, which are novel-length fanfiction. Either way, I have managed to not re-read any of the books on my list. And it’s a lovely incentive to read more quickly. My record for 2001 is two days (The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros), but unless I made a mistake, I read Charmed Life (Diana Wynne Jones) in one day last year. Hmm.

I am proud of my narrative. I will continue to be proud of it until/if she decides to dissect them again. It was not fun last time — informative, but not at all fun.

Am working on summer work/internship plans. Am frustrated. This warrants a grr. Grr. On the sort-of-yay side, two hour delay tomorrow. Are we ever going back to school?

The Mythology of Astrology: Virgo

This constellation is said to be the figure of a goddess, not an animal or a human. According to Greek legend, during the Golden Age (often thought to be under Titan rule instead of Olympian) the gods and goddesses lived on the Earth among men. Things began to change in the beginning of the Olympian era. Zeus was a harsh and strict ruler during these times, as many new rulers tend to be. He saw humans as rather lowly creatures who were far beneath immortals, and in fact should be treated as animals.

Prometheus, a Titan, became the protector of men and sided against Zeus. He even went so far as to steal fire from the Olympians and give it to humans. Outraged, Zeus chained Prometheus to the top of the Caucasus Mountains, intending to leave him there forever. However, Zeus was not finished punishing Prometheus — or the human race — yet. He sent down Pandora, the first woman. Ancient Greeks believed that women were the source of all evil and discomfort. The symbolic representation of women’s corruption of humanity is Pandora’s Box, which was filled with all the demons which torture humanity, from Greed to Spite. After Pandora unleashed these demons, the remaining immortals on earth quickly departed for Olympus. The last one to leave was Astraea, the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She was also the sister of Pudicitia, or Modesty. Astraea was the goddess of virtue. Although she went to the heavens, she still hopes to return to earth, and she watches from the sky every night to see when earth will be ready for her to return.

Well, that was interesting. I love mythology, and I love astrology as well. (Only profiles, though. I’m not into predictions. Just because someone says I’ll meet someone mysetrious from my past doesn’t mean I’ll go flipping through yearbooks and scrutinizing every person I pass.) Surprisingly, though, I’ve never been to Astrology.com before. I’ll have to remember that one…

The personal factoid surveys are still trickling in (I sent it to a bunch of people cause it was so interesting). So many nice things. It’s weird: You think you know people so well, but when you ask random questions like that, [::sings, a la Pocohontas::] you’ll find things you never knew you never knew. I think surveys are my current favorite trend. Speaking of which… I found another neat one on uJournal, but the server’s being wonky today, so I can’t post it. Will edit to add it later.

Must finish Lifsey report and English narrative editing now. Ciao.

EDIT: Here’s that uJ survey.

[ x ] Spell your first name backwards – yasdnil
[ x ] The story behind your Uj user name – the Fearless book series’ main character is named Gaia
[ x ] Are you a lesbian – no! ::is weirded out::
[ x ] Where do you live – Maryland
[ x ] 4 words that sum you up – kind, smart, funny, real

DESCRIBE YOUR
[ x ] Wallet – I got it at a little shop in Germany: the front is holographic, with alternating smiley faces and smiley-face flowers, it’s pretty spiffy
[ x ] Hairbrush – black (who cares what color it is as long as it works?), oval-shaped, paddle style
[ x ] Toothbrush – at the moment, purple and white
[ x ] Jewelry worn daily – my watch and my yin-yang necklace from the Czech Republic
[ x ] Pillow cover – light blue with little moons and stars
[ x ] Blanket – dark blue with a bunch of mini stars (like the pillows)
[ x ] Coffee cup – don’t drink coffee, but my hot chocolate mug is white with hieroglyphics all over it (from the British museum in London)
[ x ] Sunglasses – don’t have any (they’d be expensive, anyway, cause my eyes are so bad)
[ x ] Underwear – today? ::peeks:: dark purple Hanes Her Way
[ x ] shoes – usually blue and white running shoes (even though i hate running…)
[ x ] Handbag – khaki with black trim (got it at Wal-Mart for $8, but it’s still cute)
[ x ] Favorite shirt – hmm… my *NSync concert t-shirt?
[ x ] Cologne/Perfume – Tommy Girl, and this vanilla body spray
[ x ] CD in stereo right now – 3: BBMak “Into Your Head”, Avril Lavigne “Let Go”, and Kelly Rowland “Simply Deep”
[ x ] Tattoos – ha
[ x ] Piercings – just my ears
[ x ] What you are wearing now – jeans, a turquoise t-shirt, and my Old Navy zip-up hoodie
[ x ] Hair – black, long, relatively straight, longish bangs
[ x ] Makeup – concealer, powder, and lip gloss (i’m generally low-maintenance… i just move kinda slow)

WHO or WHAT (was/is/are)
[ x ] In my mouth – (who?!?!?) nothing now, was lunch
[ x ] In my head – my bf, Greg [ x ] Wishing – i didn’t still have to finish my report for Lifsey on Monday
[ x ] Person you wish you could see right now – Greg [ x ] Is next to you – desks, another computer, chairs, the ironing board
[ x ] Some of your favorite movies – A Walk to Remember, Men in Black, Harry Potter (both), The Lord of the Rings (both), Shrek, Never Been Kissed, Pleasantville
[ x ] Something you’re looking forward to in the upcoming month – hmm… March… enjoying being with Greg?
[ x ] The last thing you ate – lunch: sandwich (turkey… maybe chicken), applesauce, Tostitos Scoops
[ x ] Something that you are deathly afraid of – failure, being alone, being depressed, spiders
[ x ] Do you like candles – i guess so
[ x ] Do you like hot wax – um…
[ x ] Do you like incense – again, umm…
[ x ] Do you like the taste of blood – ew, not a vampire…
[ x ] Do you believe in love – yes
[ x ] Do you believe in soul mates – yes
[ x ] Do you believe in love at first sight – no, love builds over time
[ x ] Do you believe in Heaven – yes
[ x ] Do you believe in forgiveness – yes, but sometimes it’s really hard
[ x ] What do you want done with your body when you die – i just want to be buried
[ x ] Who is your worst enemy – i don’t have one… i don’t think…
[ x ] If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be – a white tiger
[ x ] What is the latest you’ve ever stayed up – 5:30 AM when babysitting, but 4 AM by choice
[ x ] Ever been to Belgium – actually, yes, we have Belgian furniture
[ x ] Can you eat with chopsticks – yep, i’m pretty good
[ x ] What’s your favorite coin – i like that golden dollar coin…
[ x ] What are 5 cities you wouldn’t mind relocating to – ? anywhere with my family… i make new friends every time we move… but i’m happiest here
[ x ] What are some of your favorite pig out foods – chocolate, ice cream, any kind of chips… (mM_mmm)
[ x ] What’s something that you wish people would understand – that differences make life more interesting
[ x ] What’s something you wish you could understand better – people in general (or boys… whatever)
[ x ] Anyone you miss that you haven’t seen in a long time – my friends from Germany, definitely (Kat, Andra, Niki, Tanya, Julie, Kaicee, David, Vince)… oh, and Greg

1. New book-themed quotage. One new item in blog-hopping, my good friend Jenn from Japan. Almost forgot she had a blog. Added a link to my uJournal in navigation, if you feel like stopping by. I use it mostly for private entries, but I threw in a few surveys and lists. Thinking about changing blog to have those colors. (Rajni: I friend-ed you on uJ, hope you don’t mind.)

2. Finished English narrative. Have not yet edited. Will do later, along with Lifsey report, which has been avoided all week. School on Monday. Bleh.

3. Had an interesting chat with Andra (friend from Germany), Niki (ditto, now in South Carolina), and David (Niki’s bf). Have decided that weirdness is indeed contagious. Also decided that catching weirdness is not necessarily a bad thing.

4. Piano lesson tonight, around 8-ish. Must go practice more.

5. Today was generally a non-spiffy day. :|

Some of you received that personal-info-survey type thing via-email, either from me or Alanna. I’ve never actually filled one out before, and it looked interesting enough, so I sent it out. Let me tell you, I am loving the responses. I was especially curious about how the questions directed at the sender (do you like the person that sent you this, etc.) would be answered. Dude. I feel so special now. Greg’s answers were sweet, as always (That’s an ego-booster if I ever saw one. [Also, I finally found out that Kat’s bf and little sister have names (Eric and Gabriela… in that order).]

Then, in the guestbook, Megan calls all my English assignments “good”. That’s the point! They’re just “good” — they could be “really good” or even “great”. I have the potential to write something that “sings” (as Mrs. Anderson puts it when she’s talking about the AP test), but I can’t seem to do it. I think part of what hurt my writing was my new penchant for procrastination. Most of those essays were written, like, right before I turned them in. And my distaste for them was so strong, I didn’t even want to try and write a better version when she extended deadlines, so I was stuck with a B+ when I could have come up with something A-worthy. Bleh. This narrative (narration?) is looking pretty spiffy, though. =)

Last night, while chatting with Greg, Thomas, and Alanna, I finished coding the first four chapters of The Fall of a Dark Lord. So, if anything confused you (like the segments of inner dialogue/thoughts), feel free to go back and re-read it. (Linkage is… under linkage.) Greg’s still working on Chapter 6, so it might be a while before that’s up. Omega-ing takes long enough, even when I don’t have to code as well. [Not that I mind coding, dear. It’s all in the name of artistic expression, right? And thank you for the happy strut. Too bad I wasn’t around to trip you. ;)]

Off to omega, finish my narrative, and tweak the blog. Not everyone loves purple as much as I do, and even I’m tired of this. New color scheme soon, I promise.

After checking three sites, I discovered that school is indeed canceled until next week. This is like an unexpected Spring Break; they might take away our real Spring Break on account of this. That doesn’t seem fair, though. It’s not our fault that there’s two feet of snow on the ground and the plows only got around yesterday. I heard from Stephanie’s mom that PG and Montogomery Counties are going to petition to not have us make up these days, because it’s a state emergency. That makes sense, but it doesn’t sound likely.

I did the extra credit questions earlier. They weren’t too hard, and I could probably use the extra points. Nothing like a little grade-padding to begin to make up for massive procrastination. Still working on my narrative. It might actually be good this time. I got a great idea from my piano teacher (and her husband — he’s like the assistant or something, and he doesn’t even play piano — that’s enough for a short rant, really). I tried prewriting this one, and it’s coming along okay. I started to ramble, and I think she said it can’t be over 3 pages, so I had to do some quick editing. If it’s good enough, I might put it up online.

Speaking of online, I’m going to go code The Fall of a Dark Lord after I finish blogging. Now that I know the italics will show up, I have to get them all in there. And, since the new versions will pop up in the Recently Updated list, maybe we’ll get some more traffic. Yay-ness.

Last night it ocurred to me that the snow kept all the mail trucks away. With the volume of mostly-worthless college mail I get, I expected a pile today. But no, only one letter. I am surprised.

Hope has a spiffy new layout. I really feel like changing this, but not much. I love the structure, so maybe I’ll just change the colors. And perhaps I should look into getting another page to put my fanlisting buttons on. They shouldn’t take that long to load, and the important part (the blog) comes up first cause it’s just text. I just love them so much! Grr.

Okay, off to code a bit before Birds of Prey comes on. I kinda like that show, but I understand that they’re cancelling it. At least they’re giving it a proper ending, not like Glory Days. I was like, when’s the next episode coming on?, and then I found out they cancelled it due to low ratings. That sucks. Still going to watch the finale, though.

~*~

Greg: Sorry your day was so non-spiffy. On the plus side, I managed to get some work done today, which leaves me more time to talk to you… tomorrow. Don’t call; our “at-home date” was awesome, but it is very difficult to watch tv and talk at the same time. My ears don’t know how to multi-task. I might be back around 10, though. (And don’t even say it — we already discussed that you will live.)

I seem to blog at night lately. It makes me look like such a night owl, and causes me to stay up far later than I should. I tried setting my [insert negative and mildly profane adjective] alarm clock for 9:30, thinking I could manage to get dressed before noon, but no such luck. I just turn it off and lay in bed until 10 or so. I am so not a morning person.

Today I frowned at my physics homework and started my English narrative. I think I might do those extra credit questions, cause the story looked so interesting that I skimmed it already. One more quick read-through, and the extra points are mine.

No school again tomorrow. Boo. This just means that I felt the need to procrastinate again today, and that they’re going to take away other no-school days later in the year when we’ll actually want them. Not cool.

In general, did nothing today. Not much to blog about. Therefore, I shall hit up The Topics Blog for an interesting question.

Were you named after someone? If so, who? Why? Yes. In the mid-80’s, there was a tv show featuring a character called the Bionic Woman. She was played by an actress named Lindsay Wagner. We have the same initials. I have no idea why, I just know that that’s where my mom got my name from. (It’s Old English as well; something about “from the isle of the Linden trees”.) Ttfn.