America is over-dependent on technology

Oh my gosh, I sooo fell in love with Smike last night!!!!!

ahem. sorry. i have this bad habit of starting every story right in the middle...which is probably why people don't usually have a clue what I'm talking about, come to think of it.

and if you haven't read Nicholas Nickleby, you still probably won't have a clue what I'm talking about, so just kinda skim and jump around, :{) (that's s'posed to be my made-up smiley-with-a-mustache)

it was the part where Nicholas goes to confront his uncle at his mother and sister's house, and the he tells them he's leaving again (even though he has no idea where), and he comes back to his house, and Smike is there. and he's like, I tried to leave a couple times today, but I couldn't every time I thought about how nice you were to me, and I couldn't leave without saying goodbye. and then he tries to say goodbye, and Nicholas basically tells him he's the best thing that ever happened to him, and he can't ever leave!!! *sigh* I'm very much a romantic teenage girl at heart (evidence being how hard it is to get rid of Orlando posters that have been under my bed for about a year...)

and then Smike won't let Nicholas carry their luggage, he carries it all himself. and he's basically clueless about everything in the world, but he's still so...so...relatable? maybe? i don't know, he just makes you feel good about being clueless yourself, because really, no one knows what's going on in the world half the time anyway.

and now we are in the company of the right honourable Crummleses, Mr Vincent Crummles, Mrs. Vincent Crummles, the two younger Crummleses, and the infant phenomenon (who has been ten for the last five years at least).



*sigh* I <3 Dickens. and Smike.



today was difficult. my head was in the clouds and my feet were somewhere very high off the ground. that doesn't make for good cage decorations. but I'm getting closer to done...i think.

and everything electronic in Mom's office is malfunctioning (computer, printer, etc.), so she's not very happy today (she can't do much of anything without her electronics, since she's secretary on the board at co-op).

oh yeah and we stayed up til 11 last night going through my room and "cleaning" and throwing stuff out so it 1)looks nicer and 2)is easier to pack.

BUT, I'm going to our new church's youth group for the first time tonight, whith I'm really looking forward to! everyone keeps bugging me to come, drat them (JK) :) and one of the girls goes to the same driving school as me, and had to do a make-up class last night, so we were in the same class. the only two lonesome Christians in the class...
so tonight should be fun. i have a lot in common with the kids there i think, and they're all very friendly, and it just occured to me that this must look a lot like a journal entry instead of a blog post.

bear with me. you all love me, right? ;P

do you want to hear about my cage decorations? well I'm going to tell you anway! it's golf themed this year (BTW this is for the Fair, my cat's cage), and I'm using astro-turf for the floor so it looks like a tee box, and the back wall is going to be a view of a fairway with a green at the end. the floor goes over the litter box, and I have a hole cut out over the litter box so it looks like a sand trap. ;) the two side walls will be kind of like golf ball wallpaper (only i couldn't find wallpaper so I'm making them myself with pictures of golf balls all pasted together, isn't Word wonderful?) I'm going to use two blue bocce balls as the tee box markers (to show which tees men hit from), and then make two half golf balls out of clay and hollow them out for food and water dishes. my cat's bed is going to be hidden behind a cardboard building front that says "Clubhouse and Pro Shop" on it.

the top of the cage has another layer of astro-turf, with a raised portion that says "practice green" on it, a sign with an arrow pointing to "golf cart rentals," and either chocolate or regular golf balls in a range bucket. it all depends on if we can find chocolate golf balls for less than forty bucks, and it will probably be too hot for them anyway. the fair frowns on home-made food, otherwise I'd make some myself with a golf ball mold or something...
range bucket will be on top of a golf towel, two funny golf humor books, and lastly, a sign that says "Fore-H Golf and Country Club."

oh yes. and two crossed golf clubs taped to the bottom front of the cage. kind of reminds me of PotC crossed swords (doesn't everything remind me of PotC or LotR?) haha.



now, I'm sure you all really wanted to hear all about that!

I hate driver's ed. i really do. and I know i'm not supposed to, but i can't fathom how people my age could talk like that, dress like that, be so disrespectful to themselves, their peers, and adults, act like that...i just don't get it. and i know I'm supposed to love them, but it's so hard...



i'm hungry. and I'm getting grumpy, so i think I'll go now and see if dinner is ready. thank you for putting up with my extra shot of weirdness today.

~Verya

oh one last thing! the information about the little girl in India we are sponsoring through bridge of hope came yesterday!!! she is the cutest little girl in the world!!! I'll post a pic of her later. she lives in Tamil Nadu, which is in south india. Please pray for her.

Arrrggghhh!!!!! Why does everyone have to live an hour away?!?!?!?

ahem. sorry. soon they won't. and soon I'll have high-speed all the time!!! i seriously think we'll be moving within the next two months. WOW.

i'm teaching myself HTML. Anna, you may expect some phone calls or e-mails soon, ha-ha. we'll see how this goes...i wish you didn't live an hour away.

this really sucks: Em and Eowyn are both going to be farther away after we move!!! NOOOO!!!!! :( but we really need to PLAN *gasp* times to get together. we hardly see each other as it is.

summer is awesome, isn't it? when does everyone get out of school? I'm trying to get all of my stuff ready for Fair so I'll have more time during the day to read, etc. today i made zucchini bread and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...and was working on my cage decoration ideas. it's going to be golf-themed, which should be rather interesting. it's coming along pretty well though.

dad and I went chipping and putting at a golf course about half and hour away earlier, and i drove both ways. no driver's ed today of course, which was HEAVEN!!! it was a good day. Beth, how did you like PotC3? oh, hem...sorry about the song lyrics, lol. i told Lego I'd post them ;)


Yo, ho, haul together,
Hoist the Colors high.
Heave ho,
Thieves and beggars,
Never shall we die.

The king and his men
Stole the queen from her bed
And bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
And by the powers
Where we will well roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
Hoist the Colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
Never say we die.

Some men have died
And some are alive
And others sail on the sea
-with the keys to the cage...
And the Devil to pay
We lay to Fiddler's Green!

The bell has been raised
From its watery grave...
Do you hear its sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
Pay heed the squall
And turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
Hoist the Colors high...
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
Never say we die.


we very much likeses that song, precioussss


guess that's about it. except: Nicholas Nickleby rocks!!! and Smike is my hero!!! and John Browdie is awesome when you can understand what he's saying!!! and Newman Noggs is such an optomistic pessimist!!! And I <3 this book!!!!!!!!! Anna, when am I going to read a book you haven't read lol?

Why is the rum gone?

the end has begun.

the end of Spiderman's short-lived record, that is, ;)

don't worry, no spoilers. i won't say anything or make anyone mad at me.



i just had to post, that's all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and OH MY GOSH it's amazing!!!

if you go, stay through the credits. there's a clip at the end you don't want to miss.

my grandpa got asked twice for his signature from people who thought he was Johnny Depp, and we got lots of weird looks, and walked about three blocks to two different Starbucks that were both closed, and did the black spot thing from dead man's chest (where you flutter your hands and turn around and spit) in the middle of the line!

i <3 :

Orlando Bloom (yes Em, you may cringe but it won't change my mind)
Johnny Depp
Kiera Knightly
Jack Davenport (Norrington!!!!!)
Klaus Badelt/Hans Zimmer
Geoffrey Rush
Stellan Skarsgard
anyone else? don't think i missed anyone. oh wait! yeah, Jack the monkey

and Dominic Scott Kay is so cute! (little boy cute, lol)



i soooo can't wait for tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bootstrap's bootstraps...

Lol we're doing our marathon right now!!! i'm soooooooooooooo excited I can't wait for tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

let's just say there may be multiple posts today as the time draws near...

em and ryan, you're going to see it tonight, right?

oh dear. hold on - will is drowning. i must go.



i've got a jar of dirt! i've got a jar of dirt!

Pirate of the Caribbean: At World's End

NO

MORE

DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




*goes crazy*

Charles Dickens, No. 48 Doughty Street, Mecklenburgh Square:

"Where stars and suns that we behold not burn,
Higher even than here, though highest was here thy place,
Love sees thy spirit laugh and speak and shine
With Shakespeare and the soft bright soul of Sterne,
And Fielding's kindliest might and Goldsmith's grace;
Scarce one more loved or worthier love than thine."


Ok, Ok, you all wanted a post - here it is!

Saturday
Well my modem quit for like three days which was why I didn't post a little sooner, and then yesterday was co-op and out medieval feast. Anyway, today I'm at least home a little bit. The past month has been pretty crazy.

I started driver's ed three weeks ago and had my first drive last Monday. It went fairly well...and I have the same instructor for my second drive, so that should be good too. Next drive is a highway/freeway drive, which I'm a little nervous about, but I drove home last night on the freeway from our feast (in the rain) and didn't kill anyone; that's always a plus, right...? i'm enjoying driving a lot, and my dad's getting me out as much as he can. still learning stick shift in mom's car, ha-ha. (the only reason I haven't killed anyone in that yet is because I'm still on the driveway.)

oh I remember what the other thing was i really wanted to post about! A young man at our church is on a mission trip right now in the Middle East (of all places, rather ironic considering our discussion in village square, lol), in Turkey right now, and he'll also be going to Beirut, Iraq, and Lebanon. He send e-mails fairly regularly with prayer requests and updates, etc., and I was wondering if any of you guys might like me to forward those e-mails on so you can see what he's doing too! If you would, just comment and I'll be sure and send them to you as I get them. If you don't want the e-mails, please pray for him anyway. He is in a very anti-Christian part of the world, but a part ready for harvest! His name is Ryan.

Sunday
Well I thought I was going to be home yesterday, but after our 4-H cat thingy we went to some friends' house to watch the Mariners and hang out and stuff. don't you love inviting yourself over places? ;P

hmm...church today was AMAZING!!! the worship was very inspiring and I wore my selwar kameez (Indian outfit) for the first time in a while. I used to wear it pretty often, but since we changed churches I haven't since we're still getting to know people...don't want to scare anybody off. and you guys are gonna love this - it looks like I'm a Calvinist now, ha-ha. It came up in the sermon and I talked to the pastor a little bit afterwards about it; he explained it in a different way; I think we were all just having some communication problems in our earlier discussion about it, lol! So he explained it in a way I got it, and i think I pretty much agree with it all. either I was misunderstanding Calvinist teachings, or I was interpreting the Bible the wrong way...either way they didn't work together in my mind and now they do.

I was gonna post on village square, or comment rather, on the whole Middle East discussion, but I was late and it all worked out. the only thing I really had to say (I agreed with at least one thing everyone else said!) was how unless we go there, we can never fully understand their culture. actually, we can't really even come close. The way religion impacts every little detail of their lives, every single thing they do, whether it's obvious or not...I guess I'm really thinking of India and Hinduism, but I've also seen it in Muslims, and how we in America have religious freedom, but most use it as freedom from religion, rather than freedom of religion. People here don't have to believe anything so religion doesn't shape their lives. (not saying this is good or bad, though as Christians our entire lives should be shaped by our faith) In other countries, religion defines them as much as fashion, etc., defines us. Where Ryan is right now, they turn the power off in the city for like two hours every day because they can't afford to keep it going all 24 hours. just image...no we can't imagine that here. it's two totally different worlds.

I've been looking at a lot of colleges lately...missions and Bible colleges...this one looks great! Ryan is going there when he gets back from the Middle East, and I really like the look of their program. They have one year of school, then up to 16 months of overseas internship in mission work, then debriefing and final preperation for full-term future work when you get back. BA in Cross-Cultural Studies, :)
Multnomah in Portland also looks good...here. And I heard that Wycliff has a branch called ISL that is for linguistics, which is of course right up my alley! (ahem, Elvish, Dwarvish...) that is here.

well in church I ended up finding out that two girls who I kind of know (they are still more or less acquaintances) also both want to go to India. one is Ryan's sister, and she told me that their youth group's prayer team sponsors I think both a missionary and a child through Bridge of Hope with GFA. BTW I'm waiting to hear back from a GFA person on the payment schedule thingy. it's an automatic withdrawal that starts as soon as you begin sponsoring, but I'm not sure yet when the monthly payments are due. That's what I'm waiting to hear back on.

yesterday was our 4-H cat clinic at the Fairwood library. I AM IN LOOOOVE WITH THAT LIBRARY!!!!!!!!!!! it's perfect! they even have Hindi books!!! *coughs* not that I can read any of them fluently yet... but it was really cool. the cat clinic thing was just classes on anatomy and breeds. blah. it was not really fun, but I did learn a lot. i guess nothing's that fun when you're sick. oh yes and that library has a whole section just for teen classics (Jane Austen, Watership Downs, Wuthering Heights, etc.) the only sad part was that I only got to spend 15 minutes there *sadface* :( before they closed. you should see their ginormous golf section! (ah yes, I went to a golf clinic thingy last Thursday too. that was neat) BTW I'm probably going to finish Oliver Twist in the next couple of days if I don't have to go too many places. The it's Nicholas Nickleby. I'm looking forward to that! we're doing testing this week then it's SUMMER BREAK!!!!!!!! very very excited.

FOUR MORE DAYS TIL PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLDS END COMES OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ugh, I'm sick right now. i think i'll go lay down on the couch and watch a movie. sounds very good. did you give me your bug over the phone Lego? lol. actually it's more of a throat cough thingy.

i'll post about my piano recital and medieval feast later. i'm gonna go now...*waves* bye!!! :P


~Verya

P.S.
interesting fact of the day: Pintel is Ragetti's uncle, according to Wikipedia!


I get turned around
And I mistake my happiness for blessin
And I'm blessed as the poor
Still I judge success by how I'm dressing...

So keep 'em coming, these lines on the road
And keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load
Keep me guessing with the blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes