Yay... I'm not COMPLETELY abnormal...

Daddy always says I got it from my mom. She can't stand the smell of gasoline/exhaust. I get a headache whenever I get a whiff of gasoline, exhaust, perfume, mold, cleaning materials, paint and did I mention perfume? Not only that, but normal smells are overwhelming to me, even if they don't give me a headache. For example, at night, we turn off our A/C and open our windows. When I get up in the morning and come downstairs, the garage doors are open, and the screen door from the kitchen to the garage is letting in fresh air. At least, that's what my family thinks. I think that the whole kitchen smells like SOMETHING from the garage, and whatever it is, it is NOT appetizing to me. It's one of the most disgusting smells ever.

Another thing that really annoys me... I can tell when the pool deck hasn't been cleaned very recently. It smells like a wet dog. And none of my teammates understand. I've stopped asking them if they smell it, because they inevitably begin to think that they are the source of the smell, and I have to stumble over myself and assure them that that's absolutely impossible, and that I can still smell the scent of their shampoo/body wash from when they last showered... and yes, I can actually smell it over the chlorine. Thank goodness the smell of chlorine doesn't bother me. And one time, I was swimming almost in the middle of the pool (4 or 5 lanes away from the side of the pool) and I got a headache from the lifeguard's cologne. :\

Cigarette smoke instantly makes me cough, and I can smell it outdoors when the person smoking is about 50 feet away. It's not just a smell to me, it overwhelms my whole sense of smell, and smells so strong that I can taste it. I don't know what it would be like if I ever tried smoking myself, but you can be certain I wouldn't even think of trying it.

The detergent aisle is pure torture. I can smell the aisle from two aisles away. And some clothes I find at Goodwill I can't buy, because there's a particular detergent smell that give me a headache INSTANTANEOUSLY and the smell won't go away no matter how many times I wash the clothes. I found a really cute shirt one time that smelled horrific (I couldn't even touch it because the smell would linger on my hands) and tried washing it again and again and it still gave me an instant headache. I have to use organic detergent on my clothes.

I usually can't wash my hands with the soap in public bathroom dispensers, because any time I tuck my hair behind my ear, or rest my chin in my hand after that, I'll get a headache. And the smell lasts for at least 2 hours, even if I try to wash it off, or cover it with lotion. There was a bathroom at a basketball tournament once where the soap smelled so bad, it seemed like the bathroom was FLOODED in that soap, and it was a horrible anti-bacterial smell too. I carry natural hand sanitizer.

Strangely enough, though, even some "natural" and "organic" lotions, soaps, etc. give me headaches too. But very rarely.

Also, "tagless" tags (where the tag is printed on the shirt in a rubbery-type ink) gives me a rash, which I've discovered in research, is probably a chemical burn from the phthalates and other chemicals in the "tagless" tag.

Anyway, the point of that long rant was to say that, apparently, there's actually a name for it! Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). I don't have too bad of a case, though, since I only get headaches and rashes. I suppose I might get fatigue and mood disturbances... I've never noticed if any fatigue and mood disturbances were caused by anything particular, other than lack of sleep. =P

Funny how "they" come up with names for everything. I suppose that makes it seem more safe to people who actually have the particular problem. I just want to know if I can get rid of it... but then, I guess having a noticable sensitivity is better than being unknowingly harmed by all those chemicals. *sigh* What a wonderful world...

~Lizzie

The Way We Live Now

I know I've gotten complaints before about my negative reviews. But I figured out why I prefer negative reviews: I like to give spoilers when I review, and out of respect for the movies I really like, I avoid spoilers. For movies that disgust me, I have no scruples spoiling the plot for two reasons; out of spite for the movie, and in confidence that no one would want to see the movie after I share the spoiler. So with that said...

"The Way We Live Now" was horrible. I'm sorry to say it about an Andrew Davies movie, but there it is. It was an interesting movie, I have to give it that, but the ending is such that you just think, "Wow, I just blew 5 hours of time that I could have spent watching the long version of Pride and Prejudice instead."

There are several interwoven plot lines. First, there's the young lady, Henrietta, who lives in England with a mother somewhat like Mrs. Bennet and a jerk brother (played by Matthew MacFadyen! Mr. Darcy! I'll never be able to watch the new Pride and Prejudice again. Ever). She "falls in love at first sight" with her cousin's ward, Paul (who's in charge of the construction of a railway in America). Paul "loves" her too, and her cousin, Mr. Carbury, is also in love with her. So the two men are at odds because they both want to marry her. Paul has a problem though: he's already engaged to an American woman.

Henrietta's brother, Felix, is a gambler and a cad. He has a woman he flirts with in the the country, and a rich woman in the city that he wants to marry, but only for her money. The woman in the country has a good man who wants to marry her, but she won't marry him because she thinks she's in love with Felix. And the woman in the city, Miss Melmotte, is starved for love and rather odd, and falls head over heels for Felix. Her father, Mr. Melmotte, is a greedy, rich Frenchman who is heading the board for Paul's railway. But Mr. Melmotte doesn't actually intend to BUILD a railway, he just wants to get people to buy the stock and then take all their money.

So. Felix proposes to Miss Melmotte, and tries to get her father's consent. He will NOT consent, because Felix gambled away all his money and is basically penniless, and Mr. Melmotte could get much richer men for his daughter. Miss Melmotte tries to convince Felix to run away with her, because she really loves him, but he only wants the money that she won't get unless she marries with her father's blessing and will not run away until she mentions that she has a lot of money of her own. She steals some money for a train ticket and ship passage, which he spends gambling and getting drunk. While he slouches off home to his mother (who dotes on him in a sickening way) she is trying to meet him. But she is "arrested" for stealing, and taken back to her father, who won't allow her to see Felix. Miss Melmotte manages to get a note to Felix's sister, Henrietta, who delivers the note to her brother and then returns with his message to Miss Melmotte: "he is giving her up. He doesn't love her, and never did." Miss Melmotte is heartbroken.

Paul tries to convince his fiancee, Mrs. Hurtle, to release him so he can ask Henrietta to marry him, but she refuses, and claims that he cannot break the engagement because "only the woman can dissolve an engagement." Finally, she tells him that if he spends one more night with her and takes her to the beach before he goes to Mexico (to oversee the railway) then when he comes back he can choose the woman he really wants. While they're at the beach, they run into Mr. Carbury, who is none too pleased to see his competition in company with another woman after all the trouble that Paul took to "steal" Henrietta from him.

Felix's country woman comes to the city to marry him, but he has no intention of marrying her. He just uses her for a little fun, putting her off about getting married, "Oh, of course, sometime..." He finally blurts out that he never intended to marry her, and she storms off. He chases her, and just then, the good man that STILL wants to marry her shows up and lays Felix flat with one punch. (That was good! Best part of the whole movie!)

Paul comes back from his trip and asks Henrietta to marry him, and she accepts. But Felix knows about Mrs. Hurtle and when Henrietta announces her engagement, he tells her the whole story. She talks to Paul and he tells her that he was trying to break everything off with Mrs. Hurtle, and that he thought it was already over between them when Mrs. Hurtle showed up in England claiming otherwise. Then Henrietta visits Mrs. Hurtle, and Mrs. Hurtle leads her to believe that she and Paul are still involved. So she breaks off the engagement.

Paul finally finds out about the railway scam, and leaks to the newspapers. Mr. Melmotte is ruined and commits suicide. Miss Melmotte, however, is still rich from the money in her own name that she refused to share with her father and goes off to live her life, hardened by Felix's betrayal.

Mrs. Hurtle comes to see Henrietta and confesses that she deceived Henrietta, and that Paul had been faithful to her, at least for the past 2 years. Henrietta still refuses to forgive him. He stops by one last time before he leaves for a second railway opportunity, and she hides on the stairwell while he give her mother all sorts of "I'll always love her" and "I wish her the best" messages. And then he leaves. And she runs after him. And we can only hope they live happily ever after.

And the last shot you see is Felix, with a new conquest in sight.

Miss Melmotte should have found someone to really love her, Henrietta should have married Mr. Carbury, Paul should have been devastated and gone crawling back to Mrs. Hurtle, Mr. Melmotte should have been put in jail instead of the escape of suicide, and Felix should have been left miserable in some way. Or at least shaped up and acting like a man. I didn't like it. At all.

However, the filming was spectacular, the acting was very good and if you don't mind a more "real life" kind of ending, then it's a pretty good movie. Personally, it left me feeling disgusted. But maybe that's just me.

~Lizzie

Humph.

Well, I had something I was going to write about. And I can't remember what it was, and I asked Sarah (because she was there when I decided to write about whatever it was) and she said that she can't remember either, but whatever it was, it was boring. *pouts*

Ah! I just thought of something to rant about. First, look at this link (Warning: creepy and gross): Link... Have you looked? Don't read on until you looked and really studied the picture. And read the description. That's important too. If you're still reading and you thought you could get away without looking at the article, you were wrong!

Okay, everyone read it now? And looked at the picture? Good.

Oh, MY, GOSH!!!! That has GOT to be the WORST book to ever be written! Quick, enjoy the last month and a half before publication, when life as we know it will suddenly become 10 times worse! AHHHHH!!!!! It's sacrilege! It's indescribably awful! How can you combine ZOMBIES, of all the most childish, stupid, horrific and idiotic fantastical creatures, with something as classic, genteel, well-written and beyond amazing as Pride and Prejudice? It's malicious! Ooooh. *shudders*

I'm so disgusted.

~Lizzie

Broadway is losing it!!

What do you think of when someone mentions Broadway? I think of "Wicked" and "West Side Story." "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King" (even though I'm kinda undecided about the respectability of those two). And, my ultimate, all-time favorite, "Phantom of the Opera." "Shrek the Musical"?? NO!! No, no, no, no, no!!!! The stupidest children's movie ever! How about "Monsters Inc" or "Toy Story"? Both of which would be bad enough on Broadway! Intelligent people do NOT pay $85 - $135 (just a guesstimate) for a CHILD'S show! Are you going to take little Johnny and Emily up to NYC and pay more than $500 to let them see something they won't even appreciate? Are YOU going to want to see a "baby" Broadway show?

Jessica told me about Shrek going on Broadway at swimming (was it last week?) and we were disgusted enough then. Jessica, you need to look at the Broadway listings. Decent shows (like Phantom) are the MINORITY. Guess what else I found is on Broadway? "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush" starring Will Ferrel. Are you KIDDING me?!?!?

The final blow: Phantom is going OFF Broadway.

Broadway, you have officially lost ALL my respect and the respect of every decent American who still knows what a good show is. You have crumbled under the pressure to dumb down and become nothing better than extremely expensive mind-congealing TV muck on a stage. And by the way, what in the WORLD were you thinking with Ariel's costume for "The Little Mermaid"?

Well, I was going to post a picture so those of you who may not have The Little Mermaid videos on YouTube could understand what I was talking about. But I guess I'll have to post a video. *huge sigh* Like those instruction manuals that warn that toasters are hot, I feel compelled to mention that her top consists of two, um... shells.



And now after watching that video, I have another rant. First of all, I can't believe that they twisted the story so that SHE is the one who saves the day and that the actress says it's important in our day and age. I would say that our day and age makes it MUCH MORE important that the MAN still be the hero. And secondly, I always have and always will hate the line in that song, "maybe on land, they understand, that they don't reprimand their daughters... bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand..." She is not bright; she's disobedient and... and I don't remember the story very well, but she deserves a lot more than a reprimand. So there.

~Lizzie

The Sequel to the Vacuum series.

Introducing: The CD Player of Sauron. My luck with electronics couldn't possibly be worse. Sometimes I think my pride in my Irish heritage gives me opposite luck. Or maybe the person who came up with "the luck o' the Irish" was being sarcastic, 'cause frankly, they don't seem very lucky to me.

So yes, before I explain the problem I will confess that I still own a CD player, despite the advent of iPods and their docks which were supposed to replace CD players, not to mention alarm clocks and decorative sculptures. I will also remind you that I don't own an iPod, (I have a Creative "Zen" MP3 player) which is why I don't own one of those nifty weird-shaped-alarm-clock-iPod-dock things that would make my life complete.

Whenever I listen to CD's in my outdated, miserable CD player, I now have to tolerate hic-up-jumps in the music. They have become so frequent that I really wouldn't have cared if the stupid player would just completely break and stop playing music. I removed the CDs and took the casing off, stripped half the screws, observed nothing fixable, dusted it out (how does dust get in there anyway?) and tried to put the casing back on. I nearly ruined the antenna, but that's okay, because I tried to play a CD (I honestly can't believe it still worked at all) and the hiccuping was worse. So much worse in fact, that I have completely given it up.

Oh, woe is me...

~Lizzie

Prince Caspian, Take Two.

So we bought the DVD. (Couldn't resist.) And just watched it again. First of all, the cover is making me sick. It looks so Disney. Sarah even pointed out a sprinkling pixie dust. HOW is that related???

So, with the second watching I've already resigned myself to the fact that they ruined almost everything. (For a more complete review, you may check back to my original post: Prince Caspian) But this time I was actually a little more annoyed with it. I remembered liking Ben Barnes' (Caspian) acting, but this time it struck me as lame. Sometimes he's okay, sometimes... not. And I noticed several phrases from the Pevensies that seemed too modern even for London in the early 1900's, and especially for Narnia.

My disgust and abhorrence for Caspian and Susan's romance has only increased. But now I think more that Caspian doesn't deserve Ramandu's daughter. He and Susan are perfect for each other. Too bad he can't go back to London with her and be replaced by a cooler Caspian who can act.

They've dumbed it down til it's just like all the other greasy cheeseball Disney movies. As a matter of fact, I gagged over so many of the lines this second time that I saw it that it almost equaled High School Musical for gag-worthiness. It's all Andrew Adamson's fault. I despised and loathed Shrek so completely and instantaneously that I didn't even finish watching it. And THAT was the man honored with the responsibility of taking a literary work of art like Narnia and making it a movie? Ah, my feelings require an overly cheesy and dramatic exclamation... "Narnia is about to be annihilated!" *sobs*

Thank goodness for Michael Apted! I'm hoping and almost praying that Voyage of the Dawn Treader will manage to overcome the reputation of its precedors and be more than just another slimy, idiotic Disney movie.

Sarah and I watched the credits. Please don't ask me why, we usually watch the credits in movie theaters, and we watched the credits tonight. Anyway, I noticed some very amusing titles that people were credited with. For example: "2nd 2nd assistant director." Yes, that's two "2nd's." And: "'a' camera 2nd assistant camera." Others were prop-buyers, "2nd payroll assistant" and chaperones. All listed in the credits. Oh, and they also mentioned that the piano used for that production was a Steinway maintained by Steinway and Sons, London. Which I thought was cool. Apparently they actually had a piano... for the music recording I guess. I should watch the credits again and see who the artist was that played the piano.

And now I will avoid watching Prince Caspian.

~Lizzie

Scarves and Free Hot Chocolate

The Lighthouse Homeschool band played at The Lighting of Wake Forest tonight. And as you may have gathered from previous posts, Sarah plays in the band, so we went outside to freeze to death while being supportive. Just kidding, it really was fun. But I was really cold. And I was trying to wear a scarf because I really wanted the extra protection from the cold, but I just can't stand scarves. For some odd reason, when I wear a scarf, it causes me to jut my head forward into bad posture. Which gives me a headache, decreases my air flow, and makes my neck ache.

But the good news was that after I was thoroughly chilled and despairing of ever being warm again, the people who were selling hot chocolate decided to give away the last of it, thereby making it possible for me to have some! It was soooo nice and hot... it warmed my hands up through my gloves, and, of course, warmed my insides too.

We have a really busy week coming up. Monday the boys have basketball practice and Sarah has band, then Tuesday we have swimming and the boys have a basketball game. Wednesday we have swimming and water polo, Sarah has band and her private flute lesson, and then we're going caroling. Thursday we have a light swim practice, a swim meet and Sarah's band concert. Friday is another basketball game and Saturday yet another basketball game. And somewhere in there I'm supposed to be doing school so I can GRADUATE. SO not happening... and have I mentioned that after than insanely crazy week we'll only have two weeks to prepare for Christmas? There are at least 5 parties to plan, a million gifts to buy, food to cook, and then right after that, NEW YEARS.

Wow, just thinking about all that makes me exhausted. I'm going to go get some sleep while I can.

~Lizzie

First Law of Iced Drinks

It's happened to everyone. Or, at least, it should have. If it hasn't happened to you, perhaps you are merely protected from this torture by your ignorance of its occurrence, and what I'm getting ready to say will begin your introduction to the horrible experience of ice explosion. But for the sake of my ranting, let's assume it has never happened to you.

It's happened to me too many times to count. I innocently put some ice in my glass, and then pour my chosen beverage. For most of the drink, I blissfully enjoy the refreshing coldness provided by the ice. But then... my drink is almost gone. The ice is packed into one interesting ice formation at the bottom of my glass, and there's one more swallow of liquid left. I tilt the glass slowly, because I'm expecting the ice mass to slide down and hit my lip while I drain the last drops of juice, but instead the ice structure collapses, and that suddenly plentiful last collection of probably red or purple juice sloshes onto my face and streams onto my clean shirt.

It has the effect of making one feel that perhaps one should not have yet graduated from sippy cups, but I determined that it's just the the First Law of Iced Drinks: Ice Will Clump Together and Then Collapse at the Most Inopportune Moment to Cause You as Much Inconvenience and Embarrassment as Possible.

I was further intrigued by my recent scientific discovery when I asked my dad if he'd ever encountered this dangerous phenomenon. He replied that it used to happen to him when he was a teenager. My mind raced. So maybe it was true! Some kind of horrible degeneration of drinking abilities that would suggest that perhaps teenagers should revert to sippy cups! Then Daddy grinned and announced that he'd quickly learned to shake his glass before drinking the last bit.

If it's possible, I felt even more miserable than when I was contemplating myself using sippy cups. Why had I not realized how simple a fix there was? If you never allow your ice to clump into interesting formations then it can't collapse. Apparently I am quite useless at thwarting petty annoyances.

Now I know... but what else am I missing??

~Lizzie

Elsie Dinsmore

The Elsie Dinsmore books by Martha Finley were very popular amongst Christian homeschool girls back when I was younger. I even knew a guy who read them. I've read them several times over the course of my life, and my impressions each time were very interesting.

The first time I read them I was 8. I thought Elsie was amazingly perfect. The way all the "good" people treated each other was sickeningly sweet, and the "bad" people weren't too awful. They actually came up with some pretty funny remarks.

The next time I was about 10. I noticed that Elsie actually wasn't perfect; there were at the most, two instances where she was slightly less than perfect. Their interaction with each other were still so sweet as to be sickening, but the "bad" people seemed worse.

I read them again when I was 14. By this time I realized that Elsie definitely wasn't perfect, but still close enough as to put me to shame. Strangely, the the over-use of "dearest" and "darling" in conversations was only becoming more unpleasant for me, even as I realized that Elsie wasn't as good as I'd originally thought, and that the "wicked" relatives were worse than I'd previously thought.

I thought when I'd read them at 14 that I'd probably already changed my opinion as much as I ever would, but I just began reading them again this week, and my opinions have continued to change. Elsie, far from being perfect, really has some pretty petty and childish moments. She and her father are very prejudiced against the "lower class," and while they are kind, they avoid contact unless to preach the gospel. This is particularly annoying to me as I would qualify as the lower class in their million-dollar world. Their frequent use of endearments annoys me even more than it did 3 years ago.

Besides that, their slaves do everything for them, and in one book Elsie admits that she's never so much as put on her own shoes and stockings, and they proclaim themselves tired after something as ridiculous as a carriage ride! And Elsie, as a grown woman, is requested by her father that she not carry her own child! A baby! And I know many 9-10 year old girls who quite frequently carry 2-year-old's with little difficulty. They are pathetically weak, susceptible to disease, and, dare I say, lazy!

The final straw has been this fourth book. Perhaps I will be able to recover some of my former interest in these books, but right now my Southern pride is aroused. They are supposed to be southerners, but they hide in England for the duration of the Civil War, chiding the South for attempting to succeed, from across the Atlantic Ocean. The Civil War was, as some people don't know, actually over state's rights. The federal government was becoming too powerful, so some Southern states decided to leave the Union. I wish the South had won, I think our country would be in a much better position today if they had. I'm completely disgusted with Martha Finley for creating such awful characters.

I can't read them any more. I wish I'd left the Elsie Dinsmore books as a pleasant childhood memory. Perhaps I can erase my memory of this reading and remember it as I did: a fairy-tale story of a little girl too perfect to be real.

~Lizzie

Brace Yourself

When you see the rushing wind, feel the pouring rain
Hear the thunder now, as the clouds roll in
And you’re blinded by the lightening
Do you also hear that still, small voice saying
It’s okay, you’re not alone
You may be scared to death but I won’t let you go
You may think the sky above is falling
But can you hear Jesus calling?
"Jesus Calling" ~ 33Miles

Thus begins four years of Barack Hussein Obama as the president of the United States. Be prepared for much worse than you were expecting. Trust me, it’s best to imagine the worst. Then you might be pleasantly surprised. Hoping that it won’t be as bad as you thought only sets you up for disappointment. That’s what I get for hoping that McCain would make it. Now I’m fully expecting everything I didn’t want and more: the banning of homeschooling, the beginning of communism, the return of terror attacks, schools becoming training camps for “Hitler” youth, the persecution of Christians, infanticide, the end of the world and the return of our Lord. Actually, the return of Jesus doesn’t fit on that list, because that would be a good thing that I will hope for my whole life. I did want to get married and have a dozen kids first though.

Something gives me the feeling that Obama might not be just ‘an’ anti-Christ, but maybe THE anti-Christ. Yes, I know many people have been suspected of being the anti-Christ for approximately 2000 years. And no, I haven’t really researched it, mostly because I’m freaked out about Obama enough as it is and I have plenty more pleasant ways to spend my time than reconciling his description to the description in the Bible. Not to mention that it’s enough for me that he’s been called “the Messiah” (which he does not deny), that he’s proclaimed himself to be our Savior and that so many people like him despite his creepiness. If Obama gets mortally wounded, I won’t be the least surprised when he rises from the dead…. on the third day. Just horrified and disgusted.

Don’t panic, life on earth has always been pain and frustration cushioned by little pleasantries and sweet moments. It’s just that I only recently realized it. And believe it or not, I'm actually a happy person sometimes... mostly when I don't have time to think about deep things.

Does 'easy' rhyme with 'greasy'?

~Lizzie

Have you ever felt....

such intense frustration that you felt like you might implode? That tingling kind of sensation that makes you want to slam you entire body against the floor repeatedly? The rip-your-hair-out-and-then-put-yourself-into-a-blissfull-coma agony?

It was a very simple task. I maintain the website for Christian Community Sports. I have an overly obsessive fascination with making everything the same. So on the homepage where there are links to the current sports, it bugged me that the link for basketball was to the "sports" page instead of to the pdf (which wasn't available yet). The pdf became available, and I changed the link to go to the pdf, (that's ALL I changed!) and then put it on the server..... and about half of the information (on only that page!) is immediately erased. See for yourself..... www.christiancommunitysports.com. Does that look right? NO! The file looks fine on my computer, it uploads to the server fine, but as soon as it appears on the server it's half the size (2 KB instead of 4). I've tried renaming it, naming other files "index" and completely recreating the index page from scratch. NONE OF IT WORKED. I am completely and utterly confused. It doesn't make logical sense and I have no idea what to do. And what's really driving me nuts is that IT WAS PERFECTLY FINE THE WAY IT WAS. If I'd only kept a copy of the old page then maybe everything would be fine now.

Or maybe the age of artificial intelligence really is here, and the server is evil and nothing would make it fine. The world is going to explode soon. But don't panic, there are plenty of other planets and we have the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

~Lizzie

*shudders*

I watch movies to escape real life. I DO NOT watch movies to see the hero killed right after the heroine finally gives in and admits to loving him. That was probably the worst movie I've ever seen in that respect.

I have two main rules for entertainment: 1. The good people always live happily ever after and 2. The bad people either realize the error of their ways, or are punished for their misdeeds and rendered incapable of interfering in the happily ever after of the heros and heroines.

Now I'm depressed. Is entertainment supposed to make you depressed? I DON'T THINK SO!

~Lizzie

Never watch trilogies..

Pirates of the Caribbean, LOTR, X-Men .... all started out okay/good and ended terrible. It's like the producers go, "Ah, I know, let's sucker some people in with 2 great movies and then bum them out with the 3rd. If we all do it, they'll never suspect that we're intentionally disappointing them, they'll just think it was slump. And then we do it all over again with another trilogy. And what really great is that when the first movie comes out, they won't know it's a trilogy, so even if they figure it out, we can still grab them with the first movie and have them so hooked on the story-line that they'll watch the others anyway, even though they know that it'll be horrible."

The director of the Bourne trilogy messed it up though. He did an entirely good series and woke up the public, and now we can recognize horrible endings. I'm not sure whether or not to be grateful. Anyway, all that to say, *spoiler*

Never watch the X-Men series. At the end of the trilogy, the hero kills the heroine to protect humanity when all he had to do was give her a shot. And it would have been just as easy to give her the shot as kill her. It royally stunk.

I can't believe the ratio of movies I like to movies I despise.

~Lizzie

Radical Wednesday

We had a nice prayer meeting, with only a few interruptions.... David fell out of his chair, (read more about that here) some mature people over the age of 10 were playing with.... shoes. Someone had an unfortunate case of the hic-ups, a stack of boxes were almost knocked over by someone, and another someone tried to steal someone else's keys. All during prayer.

I really enjoyed the meeting though, after we stopped talking about all the disturbing things going on in America, even more so than usual because Mr. M was there and brought his guitar so we got to sing. The M's don't come very often.

Then after the meeting, we were all standing in the parking lot talking (pretending to leave) and two of the *respectable* older boys found... a squished snake. Yep. And then? They picked it up. Yes, with their bare hands. Boys are so weird. And THEN..... the older one (you'd think he'd know better... being 19, right? No.) takes it over to his sister and wiggles it by her shoulder. She and I thought it was fake at first. *I* didn't believe that they were crazy enough to TOUCH it if it was real. So then we realized it was real and freaked out. AND THEY WERE STILL HOLDING IT. *shudders* That is soooo much worse than the typical chase-girl-with-a-frog trick..... UGH!

*shudders again*

~Lizzie

My life needs a pause button.

Or, as Monk would say, a 'picture freezer' button....

Recently, it has been brought to my attention (again) that I have not been posting as often as I should be. (read: as often as Lizzie) Therefore, I shall now post a post explaining why I do not post. Ironic, right?

First, I have no time. As I write this I am continually reminding myself of the numerous other thing I should be doing instead.
Right now, I'm in the middle of 3 art projects, need to start 4, and have then all finished by the State Fair deadline. Which is in a little over a week... I think.

Also, I should be practicing flute. Some of you know that I have recently joined the Lighthouse Christian Homeschool band. Having never been in a band before, I REALLY need to be practicing right now. BTW, for anyone who cares: Band is the reason I'll not be at Water Polo for a while. (Who knows how long a while is...)

Tuesday is voice lessons/Broadway dance class/musical theatre, an I gotta practice for that too. *is overwhelmed, and bangs head on desk* .... I decided, I am definitely not a dancer, unfortunately, it a requirement for musical theatre. We're doing "Oklahoma!" BTW. Somehow, it's gonna be made do-able.

Then of course, there's swim team, Radical Wednesday... baseball and basketball (OK, I don't do those, but they still use my time.) Yesterday, I had a grand total of about 30 mins of free time from 6:30 AM 'till 8:00 PM. (Don't get me wrong I enjoyed nearly every minute of it, it just doesn't leave time for posting)

That's just my first reason, but don't worry, that was my main one, the second reason will be shorter. :)

Second, I have nothing to write about. (Have you noticed this post doesn't have a plot??) Nothing worth writing about happens to me that doesn't happen to Lizzie, and we can't post the same thing. *Hehe*

That's it. (See? I told you the second reason would be shorter)

Random Question: does it seen strange to any of y'all that I enjoy mowing the lawn?? My neighbor was making fun of me yesterday for enjoying it. [/random question]

There you have it, in a considerable more amount than a nutshell, the incredible hectic-ness of my life right now, and the reason I have not been posting. Be happy. Be VERY happy. ... or else.

Now, if you will please excuse me, (no applause necessary) it's 6:15, and I have only had half a energy drink, half a 6 inch sub, half a root beer, and a few potato chips. Needless to say, I'm hungry. (ever thought it was funny that people say "needless to say" and then go ahead and say whatever it was that was needless to say anyway?)

--Sarah

Move the Picture 2

Sarah and I went out to get some art supplies and groceries and stopped at the mall just to see if they had any good sales. (They didn't.) And have you ever noticed that people at the mall seem to have a less than average understanding of how parking lots work?? I got stuck with the back of my car sticking out in a somewhat busy area going by the food court because I made the mistake of trying to go down a parking aisle behind a car that stopped in the middle of the lane waiting for a van to pull out of parking spot. Then, after the van finally got out, it was coming our way, but the car in front of me was in the middle of the lane, and I was to the left of them trying to pull in as far as I could and keep my trunk from getting blown off.

So we had a van coming our way and we had the entire lane blocked. The car managed to pull around and get in the parking space, but I was stuck because a huge group of people walked right in front of me, and the van was just sitting there. I could feel the glare. The people sauntered on down the middle of the lane (people walk sooooooo slooooowww) and I finally managed to get out of the van's way. Then I barely inched along as the mall-goers continued to give me no room to get by. I did eventually park. Miraculously.

But anyway, the whole point was to mention the Move the Picture petition of a month ago. A&F still has that picture up. I guess the protesters lost. And I bet A&F keeps that picture up even longer than they originally would have in the first place. "www.movethepicture.com" is a blank page now. They just slunk off quietly like whipped dogs. And really, that seems like how we, as Christians, take everything. We can fight vigorously for a day or two, but when it comes down to it, we usually don't have the endurance, strength and belief in our cause to keep fighting. We just give up.

I hope that changes. We will probably have to fight for the right to homeschool in NC in the next decade. I hope we fight to the end, and never give up. And I hope we win.

~Lizzie

New Music!

So I felt industrious (read: I felt like procrastinating) and instead of practicing all my pieces, I cleaned off my unsightly music rack. And I found this huge book of music that I don't think I've ever played before! It looked kinda old, so I thought, "Maybe Mom got me this at a yard sale and put it here for me and I've just now found it! Perfect timing!" (The cleaning of the music rack was finished then, and I still felt like procrastinating.) I was looking through the index and it has all these great songs that I've always wished I could play - popular songs that almost everyone knows. 274 songs! I opened the book to the page number of one of my favorites and...... it's a tiny little "baby" book, as my teacher calls really easy music. It doesn't even have a bass clef! The note heads are humongous and they actually have the note name (i.e. A, B, C, etc.) written ON the note heads! (Yeah, that's how big the note heads are.) I've never been more disappointed (okay, yes I have...).... *sniff* No wonder I've never played it. It's been almost 9 years since I played music that easy.

As soon as I saw all the paper that it took just to print those gaudy, gigantic, sickening notes I knew that it was printed before my time. No one would get away with wasting that much paper nowadays. I think I'm going to recycle that book. :P

I should have known 274 great songs in one big book was too good to be true.

Depressed just because of a book,

~Lizzie