New computer!

Five-and-a-half years ago for Christmas I received my first laptop.

It has served me well these past years.

I can't say that I treated it the same, especially these past few months. We started having problems when I broke off the little thing on the inside of the computer that you plug the power cord into. My dad and I took apart the computer and managed to plug in the cord to the loose plug-in-thingy... and we proceeded to tape the power cord to the computer, ensuring that it wouldn't fall out.

 

It doesn't help that my computer can't go fifteen minutes without it's power cord before it feigns death.

Then there was the unfortunate incident where I dropped my computer... Twice.

Now it looks something like this:

   

But, hark! do you see what looms in the background?

My new computer which is, happily, duct-tape free!

It can actually go more than fifteen minutes without it's cord! And it doesn't do this:

 

 

Huzzah!

 

 

Beautiful. 



It's Saturdaaaayy

My internal clock woke me up at 5:00 saying: "ABBEY GET UP THERE'S AN ECLIPSE HAPPENING! GO SEE IF IT'S TOO CLOUDY TO SEE!" So I got up and it was, indeed, too cloudy. Or, maybe it wasn't. Maybe I just couldn't see because I'm short and there was a shed and a couple of evergreen trees in the way. Anyway, I went back to bed and curled up with the dog who—miraculously—stayed curled in my arms until my mom came in at 8:00 to say that she and my dad were going to church to plant flowers.
I intended to sleep only until nine, but the next time I opened my eyes it was 10:30. Oops. I got up, poured myself some cereal, and finished reading The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. 
Now, I'm typing this blog post in an attempt to put off an essay quiz as long as possible.

Don't tell my teacher that I'm showing you this picture. I'm not sure if it's technically allowed...

I have a big day in front of me and thought I'd take you along for the ride. Stay tuned for further updates...

11:57 AM: WOO HOO! 100% on my essay quiz! This is really quite amazing because my average score on these quizzes are 70%. I think this is only the third 100% that I've gotten.
At first I though there was seemingly no rhyme or reason why one week I would get 40% on a quiz and the next week I would get 80%. Now, I think I know the reason. I don't do well on the quizzes that ask vaguer questions; questions like "In this sentence, what is the author trying to convey?" "What is the most probable reason that the author wrote two sentences instead of combining them into one?" "What is the intended tone of this passage?" With these types of questions, I always end up second guessing myself and changing my answers (usually from the right answer to the wrong answer).
With more logical questions like, "What is Kennedy's main argument?" or "Which rhetorical mode did Broadhurst use to get his point across?" I do much better. I'm more confidant in my answers and I don't end up switching my answers so often and, therefore, get better scores.

I have several options of what to do next. Lunch? Shower? Finish 1984? I think I shall eat some chicken and then take a shower.

Chicken, and celery with cashew butter and raisens.

It's 5:00 and I've finished 1984. Let me say... huzzah! The book went downhill as it progressed, in my opinion (though I still like Orwell's writing style), and I shall tell you why in my review (which will be written sometime in the nearish future, hopefully). Now I can give my attention books I am infinitely more interested in:

This is why I shouldn't be allowed in the library. I'll probably end up reading only a few of these books... Although now that I've finished 1984, I feel fairly confidant that I can whiz through several of these books quickly. Young Adult books and books in the children's section tend to be quick reads for me, more so than books which are deemed "classics," which doesn't make sense to me because I enjoy reading classics more than I enjoy reading YA (though perhaps not children's fiction). Maybe because I don't feel like I have to concentrate on YA, whereas I WANT to concentrate on classics. Classics certainly stay with me longer than YA books.

After practicing piano, the family and I settled down for a nice game of Carcassonne.

And after that? Me and my dad finally buckled down and decorated the gingerbread house. Let's just call it an Easterbread house, shall we?

Side Daddy

Side Abbey. Someone strung my Christmas (um, Easter) lights crooked...

And now, after making a birthday card for a girl at church, I am finally starting on my Camp NaNoWriMo writing for the night. Let's see if I can get a thousand words before 11:00.

Until next time, live long and prosper.

"I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor!"

I'm here to do a tag today! Jack tagged the first 11 people to comment on her post... which included me. So, once again, I present to you... ME! to do the Liebster Award (you know the one... the good, old elevenses tag).

They changed the award picture. I like it.

Rules:
A. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
Thank you, Jack!

B. Answer 11 questions which they give to you:

1. Have you ever listened to the Snoopy vs. The Red Baron songs?
I didn't know there was a song! But I'm listening to it now, so can I say "yes"? I have seen and read the cartoon if that gives me bonus points.

2. What's tatters?

PO-TA-TOES. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!

3. What would be your opening lines to your Great American Novel?

CALL ME ISHMAEL!

Wait, that's already taken? Okay... How about:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

...That one's already taken too?? Okay, how about:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

That's a Great British Novel, you say? Ugh! Um, I'm going to have to get back to you on this one, Jack.

4. Are you over Tadashi yet?

NO.

That scene (and subsequent ones) is right up there with the death of Nemo's mother is terms of sadness. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who still had to fast forward through that scene?)

5. How well can you crash a plane?

I don't know, I've never tried. Hmmm...

"Relax, I interviewed a pilot once."

6. What color are the socks you're wearing right now?

Black socks, they never get dirty the longer you wear them the blacker they get... Sometimes, I think I should wash them, but something inside me says don't wash them yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. (You're welcome.)

Not just any black socks, though...

Beatles black socks!

7. What is the one thing you always carry with you and why?

I usually take a book everywhere I go. And a pencil. I take my purse quite a few places, too; and in my purse I always keep a Bible, the Constitution of the United States, and a deck of cards.
 

8. Are you six foot something with a scary nose?

No... although I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing... No, I'm a 5'2" something with a roundish nose.

9. What's the stupidest thing you ever done which inflicted pain on yourself?

I literally can't think of anything. This is horrible! The thing is, I lose my balance a lot, but I never fall (wow, that sounds like a song lyric). I run into things, but I never hurt myself (I'm sensing a trend here. I may just have to write a song about this).

I tripped up the stairs once and skinned my knee... I forced myself to read The Old Man and the Sea... I picked up my dog and she scratched me. (That rhymed! I'm unintentionally writing a song here, people!)

Wary. Is Abbey going to pick me up or is Abbey not going to pick me up, that is the question.

10. Do foods which don't go bad scare you?

Not terribly, no. I wouldn't want to eat them... but they don't scare me. Why? Should they? 0_0

11. How well do you get along with cockroaches?

I've never met a cockroach, but if I ever did, I don't think we'd be the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin of our generation.

C. Give 11 random facts about yourself.

1. I can count the amount of times I've teared up during a book/movie on one hand. The Benji movie, the Doomsday Doctor Who episode, Feathertail's death in the Warriors books, aaaandd... there's one more, but I can't remember what movie it was. It must have made a huge impact. Ha.

2. Even thought I'm not a book/movie crier, I tear up when I get really excited, when I see a really good pun, and when something really epic happens in a book (whether it be an epic word picture, an epic snarky remark, or an epic spelling/grammar fail). But I only tear up when I start to TELL someone about it, never when I'm just reading it to myself.

3. I can't wait for Once Upon a Time to come back this Sunday! I mean, what WAS that huge break all about?

 
4. I really really really really REALLY hope that we get a picture of Lewis and Louis in Haphazardly Implausible #3. Actually, can we just get a huge cast picture of everyone? Is that too much to ask? Like this picture from Scott Westerfeld's Manual of Aeronautics:

5. I want to be... under the sea... in an octopus' garden... in the shade.
Well, maybe I don't want to be under the sea, but I certainly am longing to be near the sea.

6. I want some cereal.

7. I got cereal.

8. In music lessons I'm singing "The Jewel Song, from Faust." MWAHAHAHAHAHA. It makes me feel powerful.

9. I'm watching the Frasier episode where Noel teaches Frasier a Klingon blessing instead of a Hebrew blessing and Frasier says it at his son's bar mitzvah.

10. Speaking of the Jews... in my reading-through-the-Bible-in-one-year study, I've hit the part of the Bible where God is detailing all the sacrifices the Israelites are supposed to do.

11. I deleted the Netflix off my computer. So far, it has been a very good decision.

D. Nominate 11 bloggers.
Anyone who wants to may answer all or some of the following questions on their blog or in the comments.

E. Give said bloggers 11 questions to answer.

1. What kind of cereal do you like to eat?
2. If you could write a song, what would it be about?
3. Do you know any Klingon words?
4. Have you ever read the Haphazardly Implausible books by Jack Lewis Baillot? You should, they are great!
5. Do you prefer going to the city, to the beach, to the woods ("Into the woods without delay, but careful not to lose the way..."), or staying at home?
6. What do you wish?
7. Night or day? Moon or sun?
8. Have you ever interviewed a pilot (be it once or more than once)? Do you "get that reference" (or how about that one?)?
9. Have you ever heard Bernadette Peters sing a Broadway song (or any other type of song)? You should, she is great!
10. What's your favorite Aesop's Fable?
11. What's your favorite mystical/fantastical creature/race/being?

Live long and prosper!

P.S. Funny story... I went looking for an song lyric to be the title of this post and somehow ended up listening to music from the musical Cinderella... and I still don't have a title.
...Thought of one. Because, you know, someone has got to do these tags. We can't leave those 11 questions unanswered. So, like Frodo, I took on the burden. But now I am tired. Who will take the weight of the ring from me? Who will answer my eleven questions??

Why is John Ratzenberger in my math program?!

Most of you probably know John Ratzneberger as the recurring voice actor in Pixar's movies...

Or even for his small role in Star Wars...

But in the 80s he starred in the popular sitcom "Cheers" which ran for eleven seasons.

Where everybody knows you naaamme... and you're always glad you caaaammeeee...

John Ratzenberger plays the loveable Cliff Clavin, mailman extraordinaire, and maker-up of facts.

Today in math, Cliff made an unexpected appearance...

WHOEVER WROTE THIS PROGRAM ROCKS!

Live long and prosper.

I always feel like somebody's watching me-e... (I got no privacy)

We all knew Wil Wheaton was a pretty neat guy... (after all, he does play strategy board games and was in Star Trek...)

But did you know that he's got a pretty cool wife too?

She, along with another person, have started a new trend. It's called "Vandaleyes." Let me show you an example:

Basically, you take googly eyes, and inconspicuously place them in public places.

Guess who got a bag of googly eyes today?

A Day in the Life

Summer break? What is summer break? Here is a day in my life over the past few months:


In between 8:00 and 10:00, get up, eat breakfast, and do devotions. After that, I do two lessons of math. By then it is usually lunch time, and, therefore, I eat. After lunch, it's time to read a chapter of church history or watch a church history lecture, depending on what's next on the schedule.
Now it is into the afternoon, when I practice both piano and voice.
The evening consists of watching Netflix, reading, writing, or all three.


And there you have a day in my life. Next week Monday, school officially starts, though I haven't stopped doing it all summer. Monday is when one of my online classes starts. Who knows what kind of schedule I will have in the fall, winter, and springtime? Stay tuned...


Live long and prosper.

Bouquet for an Author

I sharpened 72 pencils today.

Is there anything more glorious than holding 72 sharp pencils in your hand?

And they're all mine... mwahahaha... Well, after we use them on Saturday for a big party. Then they will all be mine.

Bouquet for an Author.

Ironically, as I write this, Paperback Writer by the Beatles just came on the radio.

Live long and prosper!

An all around update of sorts.

First of all... math is getting ridiculous:

Oh, so now we're dealing with imaginary numbers, are we?

Today I found out that I need my bottom wisdom teeth removed. Instead of coming in right side up, like they are supposed to, they are coming in sideways and at an angle, so they are pushing up against my other molars. Also, the bottom left wisdom tooth is nearly on top of some sort of vocal tube thingy... So, on June 17, I'll have them surgically removed. I'm not looking forward to it, but at least the top ones don't have to come out (yet)!

In February my new story came to a halt. There was an aspect of one of my character's back story that I wasn't comfortable with and it kind of ground the whole story to a standstill. Well, the other day, I had an idea that clears up the back story problem, but allows me to keep the plot in tact too! Huzzah! Hopefully I can start work writing again. I miss it.

I have a summer reading list all written out, which I will post to my blog sometime next week. Last year having a reading list was really fun, and I can't wait to do it again this year! It features three biographies and I'm toying with the idea of adding a fourth...

I can't wait for summer!! And camping! And summer! And August! And reading and writing my way through summer!

What ho, chappies!

I used to be called a picky eater. Now I'll eat almost anything. (But stick a bowl of spinach in front of me and you've lost me.)

I'm also a rather picky reader, unless the book has been written before the 1950's. Even then, oft times, I can only read a book if I'm 'in the mood' for it, unless it's for literature.
Speaking of books... I just finished My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. It's the "early stories," so to speak, of Jeeves and Wooser, the most diverting "foil" couple that I've had the pleasure of reading since discovering Holmes and Watson several years ago.
Bertie Wooster is a rich English chap, living in New York City (at least in this collection of short stories. I think he goes back to England later on). Jeeves is his man, you know. His man-servant. There's also a TV series from the 90's, adapting the short stories and novels on Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie (it's strange to see Mr. Palmer from Sense and Sensibility so... cheerful) and Stephen Fry (the master of Laketown!).
P.G. Wodehouse is considered one of the greatest comic writers of the 20th century. His books (or at least this one) certainly attest to that! It is one of the most hilarious things I have ever read. And not in a Garfield the Cat sort of way... In a "This is brilliant, go read this" sort of way.

And I've been writing... not as much, maybe, as I would like... But I am determined to get this book done by November, so I can type it up/rewrite it for NaNoWriMo (though technically going in with an already written novel is kind of against the rules... but the tracking-your-word-count method works so well).
Anyway, I don't want to talk about writing.
Let's go back to books.

I finished King's Warrior, which is a self-published book by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt.
Wow, what a great book! As I said, I'm a rather picky reader, made even pickier when the books are self-published because you really don't know what you're going to get. I was very happy with this book, however! It was wonderful! The beginning was a bit slow, maybe, but then I got into the story. And wow that ending! And wow the characters! They were wonderful.

And I re-reading Pride and Prejudice for literature. Oh my goodness Mr. Darcy! I really didn't like him very much the first time reading the book, and second time I liked him because I knew what he was. He's never been my favorite Jane Austen hero (and still isn't) but this time, I'm reading the book, taking careful note of everything Mr. Darcy says and does.
You know what I'm finding? Mr. Darcy is a perfect gentleman! Lizzy has totally judged him wrong and is the one being rude! She even says so later in the book. Anyway, it's really super fun to take notes on one particular character. It really shows who the character actually is, without getting caught up in what's going on around the character.

More on that later, when I do my review.

Toodle-pip!

Happy Sunday to you

A storm is rolling in and I have a front row seat... I love looking out my bedroom window when I'm writing, or out the front windows when I'm doing Hanon exercises on the piano. There is a mini-mountain just over the peak of my neighbors house and I love watching the trees. Often they're not doing much; sometimes they're shrouded in fog.
Today they're outlined against a pale gray sky.
The evergreens one street over wave gently in the wind. I'm waiting for the wind to pick up so the tress dance a jig. The rain will start to pour soon too, pelting against the windows, and the wind will whistle through the fireplace.
Am I crazy for thinking it adventurous and fun living under evergreens during storms?
Anyway, I have my new story with me to work on.
Can you believe it, I filled one whole notebook already! Well, 2/3rds of a notebook, at least. The first third was filled with other stories. But then I started writing this new story... and now Notebook #1 is filled, and Pencil #1 is all but spent. I've moved on to a
new, Beatles notebook, and a longer pencil.
I've got my Grieg (Peer Gynt Suites) playing (perfect for fantasy writing) and the trees are now starting to bend back and forth... time to start writing!


~a minute later~


I'm about to set pencil to paper when I casually glance down at my pant leg.
"GARHHHHH! SPIDER!"
Notebook goes flying across the room, pencil goes flying across the room... I go flying across the room.
Now the question is... where did it go? Several shivers and "ughs!" later, my dad is searching and I've shed my jeans (and one sock) for pajama pants. My dad shakes out my pants and sock... nothing there... Under the couch? There's the culprit! Get it! Kill it! Burn it!
Good. That spider is dead.
Forget about writing in the front room with a good view of the mountain... back to the kitchen where it's safe! Only now my leg keeps tingling and I keep imagining a spider crawling up it... bleh.
I glance suspiciously around.
I don't see any more spiders...
...time to write?


Several hours later, I did get a few pages written! Yay!


Live long and prosper.

*whistles*

I dooon't... have anything to saaaay...

It's cold like Minnesota here... 20 degrees, what? Snow on Saturday! Huzzah!

Today at Costco we found Doctor Who. For $12.99. Okay, half a season for $12.99. BUT STILL. So we came home with seasons six and seven. Which makes me happy. Even happier because the last time we were at Costco, they were selling an individual season of Doctor Who for $60, and we got the same individual season for $26.
If you wait long enough, Costco will eventually have AMAZING prices on Doctor Who. Last spring we found seasons 1-4 for $20 each.

The Seahawks won the Superbowl. That's exciting. I didn't watch the game... but after it was over, I went outside and people were setting off fireworks one street over. Our neighbors were cheering loudly. People one street over were yelling "WOOOOOOOOOO SEAHAWKS! GOOOO! YEEAAAAAHHH!!! WOOOO!" at the top of their lungs.
While part of me says, "Man, it's just football," the other part of me is enjoying watching how crazy everyone is over this. Over 700,000 people packed into Seattle today for a special Seahawks parade and rally. It's hard to imagine what 700,000 people looks like... but you know what? Everyone was peaceful! Isn't that amazing? 700,000 people and there was no major damage done!

Did you know that this guy:

from The Hobbit is actually called Lindir?

Elladan and Elrohir are missed. (Elrohir is such a cool name too!)
Lindir is also this guy from the Lord of the Rings, who interrupted Arwen's vision-thing of her son with Aragorn. "You never told me there was a son!"

He's ALSO the guy who wrote this song for the latest Muppet movie:

Am I a man or a Muppet?
At least Lindir doesn't have freaky elf-eyes like the Royal Elves.

 

 

 Yup, can you say creepy? Thranduil's worse, though.

I've been reading lots of fantasy lately. I think it's because my new story is fantasyish.

I spy Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Alice in Wonderland. Also, Eclipse from the Twilight saga, but who cares about that?

Anyway, it's about time for me to go to bed and I've run out of things to ramble about so goodnight!